The tour, of which the following pages contain the record, was undertaken at the request of the Treasurer and Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society. Its object was primarily to investigate the religious condition of the numerous Baptist Churches which have been formed in the islands of the West, especially as that condition has been affected by the Act of Emancipation.

Emancipation was itself the fruit of the religious sentiments of Great Britain, and it has been found impossible, in judging of its results, to separate the religious from the social aspect of it. For in the elevation of the negro, even freedom, with all its stimulating influences, stands second in power to religion, and, without extending our view to other races, it will be seen that the advantages already gathered from liberty, owe their life and hopefulness to the influence which Christian truth exercises over the minds of the enfranchised.

I cannot doubt that the evidence here collected will satisfy both the friends of Christian Missions and the philanthropist, that their efforts have not been in vain; that the Creoles of the West Indies are not deserving of the reproaches which have been of late so freely cast upon their character as wanting in industry and intelligence.