The attempts of the Christian Church to evangelize the western districts
of Africa constitute one of the saddest and most discouraging records of
history. From the first attempt of the Roman church in 1481, it has been
one continuous narrative of a futile struggle against disease and death.
A whole army of martyrs has gone bravely to its doom leaving no trace of
its sacrifice save unmarked and forgotten graves. It has indeed been a
bitter experience that has proved this work can be successfully
undertaken only by men of African blood, for whom the climate has no
terrors. And the superiority of an established Christian community to a
few isolated missionary stations requires no demonstration. From the
first the colonists were active in spreading a knowledge of the Gospel
among the natives. Lot Cary, one of the earliest emigrants, was an
earnest missionary, and besides efficient work at home he established
mission stations at Cape Mount and elsewhere.
In 1826 four emissaries of the Basle Missionary College made Monrovia
their headquarters, and did some good work; but they soon succumbed to
the climate. The American churches of those denominations most largely
represented in Liberia--the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist and
Methodist--made strenuous efforts, and sent out a succession of
missionaries, most of whom fell victims to the fever. Later, after
learning the salutary lesson, they accomplished much through the
organization and direction of the work of Liberian missionaries. In
this way the gospel is safely and successfully propagated among the
natives.
A foe more stubborn than paganism is to be met in the ranks of Islam.
There seems to be something in its teachings which renders the native a
ready convert. Its simplicity is readily understood; and it sanctions
the practices of polygamy and slave-holding to which he is accustomed.
Under the zealous proselytism of the Mandingoes the Mohammedan faith has
taken a strong hold on the interior, and is spreading rapidly to the
very doors of Liberia. Candor compels the admission that it brings with
it a marked improvement in the condition and intelligence of the
converts. Intemperance--which in many cases follows in the tracks of the
Christian merchant--disappears. A knowledge of Arabic is soon acquired
and the Koran is eagerly read and its principles put in practice. The
whole life of the convert is transformed, and he becomes in turn zealous
in the dissemination of the faith. The efforts of missionaries alone can
never stem this torrent; if any impression is to be made upon the
Mohammedan tribes it must be by the extension of Christian settlements
and civilization.
5. _As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing Competition
in America._
It would be unnecessary to bring into review the causes that are
operating daily to make the conditions of earning a living in America
more difficult. However much or little credence we place in the
Malthusian theory of the increase of population, in the doctrine of
diminishing returns, or the iron law of wages, all thinking men are
agreed that the country is already entering upon a new era. The period
of expansion, of the taking up of new territory by the overflowing
population of the older districts, is practically ended; future
development will be intensive, the country will be more thickly settled,
and the sharpness of competition will be immeasurably increased. The
possibility of rising in life will be reduced to a minimum; and there
will exist a class, as in the older civilizations of Europe, who live,
and expect to see their children live, in a subordinate or inferior
relation, without the prospect of anything better.
There may be under this new régime a number of occupations in which the
Negro, by contentedly accepting a subordinate position, may hold his
ground. Or the conditions of life may become so severe that a sharp
struggle for existence will leave in possession the race which shall
prove fittest to survive. To follow the train of thought would lead into
all the unsolved difficulties of the Negro Problem. But surely there
will be some among all the millions of the race who will become
dissatisfied with their life here. Some will aspire to higher things,
some will seek merely a field where their labor will meet an adequate
return; many will be moved by self-interest, a few by nobler motives. To
all these Liberia eagerly opens her arms. The pressure in America finds
an efficient safety-valve in the colonization of Africa.
With such additions to her strength, the resources of Liberia will be
brought out and developed. Communication with America will be made
easier and cheaper. The toiling masses left behind will have before them
the constant example of numbers of their race living in comfort and
increasing prosperity under their own government. Many will become eager
to secure the same advantages, and gradually a migration will begin that
will carry hundreds of thousands from the house of bondage to the
promised land.
It is absurd to declaim about "expatriation" and to declare such a
movement forced and unnatural. The whole course of history reveals men
leaving their homes under pressure of one cause or another, and striking
out into new fields. The western course of migration has reached its
uttermost limit, and the tide must turn in other directions. One vast
and rich continent remains; upon it the eyes of the world are fixed.
Already the aggressive Aryan has established himself wherever he can
gain a foothold; but the greater part of the country is forever barred
to him by a climate which he cannot subdue.
To whom then can this rich territory offer greater inducements than to
the colored people of the United States? And what is more natural and
rational than that they, when the population of the country approaches
the migration point, should follow the line of least resistance and turn
their steps to the home of their forefathers.