II. _The Missions in the English Colonies of Recaptured Africans._

These Missions are next in importance, and have been next in success, to

those of Liberia. The term, _recaptured_, has reference to the natives

rescued from the slave-ships, on the coast of Africa, by the English

squadron. The principal Colony of this class, is at Sierra Leone. It was

first established as a private enterprise, through the exertions of

GRANVILLE SHARP, afterwards placed under the control of a chartered

company, and, finally, taken under the care of the British government.

It had for its object, chiefly, the suppression of the slave trade and

the civilization of Africa.

The origin of this Colony has such an intimate connection with the rise

of the Anti-Slavery sentiment in England, and the adoption of the

measures which have done so much toward the redemption of Africa, that

the principal facts of its history must be stated.

On the 22d of May, 1772, Lord Mansfield decided the memorable Somerset

case, and pronounced it unlawful to hold a slave in Great Britain.[23]

Previous to this date, many slaves had been introduced into English

families, and, on running away, the fugitives had been delivered up to

their masters, by order of the Court of King’s Bench, under Lord

Mansfield; but now the poor African, no longer hunted as a beast of

prey, in the streets of London, slept under his roof, miserable as it

might be, in perfect security.[24]

To GRANVILLE SHARP belonged the honor of this achievement. By the

decision, about 400 negroes were thrown upon their own resources. They

flocked to Mr. Sharp as their patron; but considering their numbers, and

his limited means, it was impossible for him to afford them adequate

relief. To those thus emancipated, others, discharged from the army and

navy, were afterwards added, who, by their improvidence, were reduced to

extreme distress. After much reflection, Mr. Sharp determined to

colonize them in Africa.

Here, then, was first conceived the idea of African colonization; but

this benevolent scheme could not be executed at once, and the

blacks—indigent, unemployed, despised, forlorn, vicious—became such

nuisances, as to make it necessary they should be sent somewhere, and no

longer suffered to infest the streets of London.[25] Private benevolence

could not be sufficiently enlisted in their behalf, and fifteen years

passed away, when Government, anxious to remove what it regarded as

injurious, at last came to the aid of Mr. Sharp, and supplied the means

of their transportation and support.[26]

In April, 1787, these colored people, numbering over 400, were put on

shipboard for Africa, and, in the following month, were landed in Sierra

Leone. A plentiful supply of rum had been furnished, and, for reasons

unexplained, they were accompanied by 60 whites, most of whom were

females of the worst character.[27] Intemperance and debauchery so

generally prevailed, during the voyage, that nearly one half of them

died on the passage and within four months after landing. The sickness

of their chaplain, the deaths of their agents, and the consequent

desertions of the emigrants, reduced the Colony, during the first year,

to 40 persons, and endangered its existence. The next year, 39 new

emigrants arrived, with abundant supplies, and the deserters returned,

so as to secure a force of 130 persons to the Colony. During the

following year, internal discord, succeeded by an attack from a native

chief, dispersed the colonists throughout the country; and, again,

through Mr. Sharp’s exertions, an agent was sent to their relief, who

collected them together, and furnished arms for their defense.

In March, 1792, a reinforcement of 1,131 blacks, from Nova Scotia,

arrived at Sierra Leone. These men were fugitive slaves, who had joined

the English during the American Revolutionary war, and had been promised

lands in Nova Scotia; but the government having failed to meet its

pledge, and the climate proving unfavorable, they sought refuge in

Africa. A fever which had attacked the emigrants in Halifax, and from

which 65 had died on the passage, still prevailed among them after

landing; so that, from its effects, together with the influence of the

climate, 130 more died the first year in Sierra Leone.

About this time the Colony passed from the care of Mr. Sharp, to that of

the Company. This led to the sending of 119 whites, along with a

Governor, as counselors, physicians, soldiers, clerks, overseers,

artificers, settlers, and servants. Of this company 57 died within the

year, 22 returned, and 40 remained.[28]

As soon as health would permit, the Nova Scotia fugitives proceeded to

work vigorously, in clearing lands and building houses; and, in the

succeeding year, two churches were erected, and a school of 300 pupils

established.

These fugitives must have been men of more than ordinary energy of

character. This opinion is sustained by the subsequent events of their

history. When the French fleet, in 1794, burned their houses and

destroyed their property, it was but a short time until the Colony was

again in a prosperous condition. But their physical energy and industry,

were not their most remarkable characteristics. When Granville Sharp’s

mild system of government, admitting colored men to share in its

administration, was superseded by the more rigid laws of the Company,

which excluded them from office, they resisted the change. Though, in

America, they had fought on the side of Britain, in Africa, they

espoused the cause of Republican principles. Their disappointment in not

receiving the promised lands in Nova Scotia, had given them no very

favorable opinion of English justice. When required to submit to the

authority of the Governor, and to a different policy from what they had

embraced on emigrating, they denied they owed subjection to the new

laws, or to any laws except of their own enactment. Ascertaining that

the legal powers of the Company were inadequate to the enforcement of

its authority, they boldly asserted their claim to the sovereignty, and

their right to exclude from the administration all but officers of their

own choice. Parliament, on learning the posture of affairs, at once

granted the Company ample powers to extinguish this little blaze of

Democracy; but the Colonists as resolutely determined to resist; and, on

September 10th, 1800, announced their purpose of assuming all political

power in the settlement. The Governor, left in the minority, had to

employ the natives to aid him. As the insurgents refused all

accommodation, there was no alternative but a resort to force. At this

moment, 550 Maroons, (free negroes,) from Jamaica,[29] were landed; and,

joining the Governor, he was enabled to defeat the rebels. Three of the

leaders in this struggle were taken and afterwards executed; and so well

pleased was Parliament, at seeing Democracy cut up by the roots, that it

voted the Governor $105,000, to erect a fortification and aid in paying

the Company’s debts.

Two subsequent attacks by the natives, together with the urgent appeals

of the Company, led the Government, the first of January, 1808, to

assume the sovereignty over the Colony, and provide for its safety. This

measure was the more agreeable to Granville Sharp and the Company, as he

had sunk $7,000 and it $410,000 in the enterprise. The arrangement was

equally necessary to England, as, in that year, she rendered herself

illustrious by the abolition of the slave trade; and needed Sierra Leone

to carry on her operations, and to provide for the slaves she might

rescue from the traders.

Missions for the benefit of this Colony, were first attempted in 1792,

again in 1795, and in 1797; but all these efforts failed; because of the

disaffection of the Nova Scotia fugitives, and because the slave trade,

then a legal traffic to British subjects, was prosecuted everywhere upon

the African coast, and even within Sierra Leone. In 1804, the Church

Missionary Society sent out its missionaries, with orders to seek for

stations out of the colony, because of the opposition within it; but in

this they did not succeed. In 1808, when the slave trade was abolished,

these missionaries commenced ten stations beyond the limits of the

Colony, according to their instructions, but were unable to sustain

them. The natives, interested in the slave trade, burned the mission

houses and churches, destroyed the growing crops of the missionaries,

threatened their lives, and otherwise persecuted them. When England

abandoned the traffic in slaves, she but surrendered its monopoly to

France, Spain and Portugal; hence, there was no diminution of its

extent, or abatement of its horrors, but a vast increase of both:[30]

and, as the missions from 1792 to 1808, failed both in and out of the

Colony; so the continuance of the trade, beyond its limits, after 1808,

drove the missionaries within its jurisdiction, to enjoy its protection.

But these stations were not abandoned, until after a long struggle to

sustain them—the last one having been maintained until 1818.

From 1808, the work of missions in Sierra Leone, was successfully begun;

and the first dawn of hope for oppressed Africa, arose with the first

blow aimed at the slave-trade. Up to this date, the slave-trader had

held undisputed sway on the coast of Africa, and the introduction of the

Gospel was impossible. The slave-trade, it would seem, is an evil so

horrid, that the Almighty refused to give success to the missionary,

unless that outrage upon humanity should first be suppressed.

The Episcopal mission, established in Sierra Leone, in 1808, has been

continued without interruption, except what necessarily arose from the

great mortality among the missionaries. A college and several schools

were established at an early day, in which orphan and destitute children

were boarded and instructed.[31] Besides teaching the schools, the

missionaries preached to the adults, a few of whom embraced the Gospel;

but no very encouraging progress was made for many years. In 1817,

however, the labors expended began to unfold their effects, and the

mission to make encouraging advances; so that, by 1832, it had 638

communicants and 294 candidates in its churches, 684 Sabbath school

scholars, and 1,388 pupils in its day-schools.

Thus, in 45 years after the founding of Sierra Leone, and 24 after the

abolition of the slave-trade, was the basis of this mission broadly and

securely laid. Since that period it has been extended eastward to

Badagry, Abbeokuta, and Lagos. In connection with all these missions,

but chiefly in Sierra Leone, the Episcopal Church, in 1850, had 54

seminaries and schools, 6,600 pupils, 2,183 communicants, and 7,500

attendants on public worship. Of the teachers in the schools at Sierra

Leone, it is worthy of remark, that only _five_ were Europeans, while

_fifty-six_ were native Africans. Such is the prosperous condition of

these missions, at present, and the amount of superintendency they

require, that the REV. MR. VIDAL has been ordained a Bishop for West

Africa, and sent forth to his field of labor.

The English Wesleyan Methodists, through the influence of the Rev. Dr.

Coke, sent a missionary, in 1811, to the Nova Scotia free blacks, in

Sierra Leone; and, in the course of a year, the converts were reported

at 60.[32] In 1831, _twenty years_ after the commencement of the

mission, it included but 2 missionaries, 294 church members, and about

160 pupils in its schools. The Wesleyan Mission, like the Episcopal,

progressed slowly at first; but, as it collected the elements of

progress within its bosom, it also, began to expand, and is now

advancing prosperously. Its stations have been extended westward to the

Gambia, and eastward to various points, including Cape Coast Castle,

Badagry, Abbeokuta, and Kumasi. In connection with these missions, the

Wesleyan Methodists, in 1850, had 44 chapels, 13 out-stations, 42

days-chools, 97 teachers, 4,500 pupils, including those in the Sabbath

schools, 6,000 communicants, on trial 560, and 14,600 attendants on

public worship.

But these colonies of Recaptured Africans, are too important an agency

in the redemption of Africa, to be passed over without further

consideration; so that their position and that of Liberia, in this

respect, may be clearly comprehended. In addition to Sierra Leone, they

include several minor stations; two of which are on the Gambia, and the

others on the coast east of Liberia.

From documents presented to Parliament, it appears, that, in 1850, there

was a Christian population, in Sierra Leone, of more than 36,000, out of

about 45,000. In this population, it was estimated, that there were

representatives of no fewer than one hundred different tribes, speaking

different languages and dialects; so that there are already converts

prepared, as far as the knowledge of the languages is concerned, to go

forth in every direction, and to explain to their countrymen, in their

own tongue, the truths of revelation. Since the subject was before

Parliament, BISHOP VIDAL has commenced his labors, and this question has

received particular attention. It has been ascertained that no fewer

than 151 distinct languages, besides several dialects, are spoken in

Sierra Leone. They have been arranged under 26 groups; but there still

remain 54 unclassified, which are more distinct from each other, and

from all the rest, than the languages of Europe are from one another;

thus unfolding to the view of the Christian philanthropist, an agency,

in the course of preparation, which, under Divine Providence, may carry

the Gospel to the unnumbered millions of immortal souls inhabiting the

continent of Africa.

A few facts will show that this is not an idle speculation, but that she

has successfully entered upon her great mission.

Among the Recaptured Africans introduced into Sierra Leone, and brought

under the civilizing influences of its Christian institutions, none have

made such rapid progress as the people of Yoruba, a country lying

eastward of the kingdom of Dahomey. Their first appearance in the Colony

was about 1822. Many of them soon acquired a considerable amount of

intelligence and a little property. In 1839, they had become quite

numerous, and a party of them purchased a vessel, hired a white captain,

and commenced a traffic with Badagry. This town is at a point on the

coast from which the Yoruba country can be most easily reached. The

trade thus begun soon led to a rapid emigration from Sierra Leone, and

the planting of missions at both Badagry and Abbeokuta, the capital of

Yoruba.

Abbeokuta is a walled city, founded in 1825, from the fragments of the

tribes of the kingdom of Yoruba, who escaped the invading armies of the

Fellatahs, while this powerful people were the principal “slave hunters”

for the traders of the western coast of Africa. It contains the remains

of 130 towns, and at present embraces a population of nearly 100,000.

Badagry, in 1850, contained about 11,000 inhabitants. The Sierra Leone

emigrants, at the former city, numbered three thousand, and, at the

latter, several hundred. At the period when the emigration commenced,

and for several years afterward, the slave-trade prevailed on the coast;

and the people of Badagry and Abbeokuta were engaged in supplying the

market with slaves. This led them to wage frequent wars, and kept up

feelings of hostility throughout the country. In these slave hunts, the

people of Lagos bore a conspicuous part. This town is about 36 miles to

the eastward of Badagry, is large and populous, and had hitherto been

the head-quarters of the slave-trade in the Bight of Benin. The river

Ossa, a lagoon, running parallel with the coast, unites these two

places.

The Episcopal Mission at Sierra Leone, sent an exploring committee to

Abbeokuta in 1842, and early in 1845 its first missionaries landed at

Badagry. In both instances they found the Wesleyans in advance of them.

Being unable to reach Abbeokuta, on account of existing wars, a mission

was founded at Badagry. In 1846, a noted slave-dealer of the coast,

forced the warring tribes to cease hostilities, that he might collect

his slaves from the interior; and the missionaries, embracing this

moment of peace, were enabled to reach Abbeokuta.

Among the Episcopal Missionaries, was the Rev. Samuel Crowther, a native

of Yoruba, who had been captured by the Fellatahs, in 1821, and sold to

the traders at Lagos. Shipped on board a slaver for Brazil, recaptured

by an English cruizer, educated at Sierra Leone, ordained to the

ministry of the Gospel in England, he had now returned, after

twenty-five years of sanctified captivity, to proclaim the way of

salvation to his relatives and countrymen; and he had the inexpressible

gratification of finding his mother and two sisters, soon after his

arrival, and of being instrumental in her conversion to Christianity.

The chiefs of Abbeokuta received the missionaries with kindness; and, no

wonder, as some of them had relatives of their own, sitting by them, who

had been liberated by the English.

With the favorable regard of the chiefs, and the co-operation of many of

the emigrants from Sierra Leone, the Gospel, for a time, had free course

in Abbeokuta; and its population listened with a willing ear to the

offers of eternal life. But, in 1848, the native priests, priestesses,

and slave-catchers, stirred up a spirit of persecution against the

converts, and the Gospel was greatly hindered. This persecution

continued, with some intervals in its violence, throughout the two

succeeding years. In January, 1851, the British consul, Mr. Beecroft,

visited Abbeokuta, and his presence had a salutary effect in overawing

the enemies of Christianity, and disposing the chiefs to abandon the

slave-trade. He gave them notice, also, that the king of Dahomey had

projected an attack upon their city, in his next campaign for capturing

slaves, and that his Amazons had doomed it to destruction.

Thus warned, the walls were somewhat repaired, and the population roused

to a sense of their danger; when, on March 3d, 1851, the Dahomian army,

of 10,000 men and 6,000 women, made an assault upon the city. Abbeokuta

had only 8,000 warriors to oppose this force; but many of its women ran

to and fro, amidst the flying bullets, with food and water for the

soldiers on the walls, that they might remain at their posts to fight

for life and liberty. For six long hours the murderous strife continued,

when the Dahomians began to waver, and the Abbeokutans, rushing out, put

them to flight; and, pressing closely on their rear, continued the

slaughter until darkness led them to return. At early dawn the pursuit

was renewed, and, at seventeen miles distance, another battle ensued in

which the Abbeokutans were again victorious. The loss of the Dahomians

was 3,000 killed and 1,000 taken prisoners. Of the slain nearly 1,800

were left before the walls of Abbeokuta. These were the flower of the

enemy’s army, chiefly women, who are always placed foremost in the

battles, as more reliable than the men.[33]

Thus was Abbeokuta and its missionaries mercifully delivered from

destruction. Even the heathen openly acknowledged that they owed the

victory to the God of the Christians; and all felt that the missionaries

were their truest friends.[34]

In November, following, Capt. Forbes, of her Majesty’s navy, was

commissioned to negotiate treaties with the authorities of Abbeokuta. He

found but little difficulty in persuading the chiefs to sign a treaty

for the abolition of the slave-trade and human sacrifices—enormities

which had extensively prevailed—and for the extension of the missions

into the interior, and the toleration of religion. Having taken with him

several cannon, he planted them on the walls of the city, and taught

some of the citizens how to use them.

The mission in Abbeokuta, being thus freed from embarrassment, is

prospering, and the missionaries are extending their operations to the

neighboring towns. It would seem, indeed, as if the whole of the Yoruba

territory were bidding the missionary welcome, and encouraging him

onward in the work of its evangelization.[35] The Gospel, it is true,

still meets with opposition; but the chiefs, mostly, are friendly and

send their children to the schools. Open persecution is no longer

permitted; and, but for the continual apprehension of another attack

from Dahomey, the missionaries would seem to be secured against farther

interruptions.

But while the missions are prosperous at Abbeokuta, far different have

been the results at Badagry. The events that have transpired at the two

places, have also been very different. Akitoye, the lawful king of

Lagos, was driven away in 1845, and fled first to Abbeokuta and then to

Badagry. Kosoko, the usurper, being in league with the king of Dahomey,

engaged largely in the slave-trade and kept up constant wars on the

neighboring towns. Some of the chiefs at Badagry espoused the cause of

Akitoye, while others resolved to support Kosoko. Akitoye was friendly

to the missions and attended the Sabbath-school and preaching; but his

opponents were the enemies of the missionaries and engaged in the

slave-trade. In June, 1851, Kosoko and his party attacked Akitoye, in

Badagry, and for two days the demons of cruelty, rapine, and murder,

reigned triumphant in the town; and only left it when it was reduced to

ruins. Fire and sword had done their utmost on Badagry; and nothing

escaped the devouring element but the two mission premises, and the

chief part of the English trading house. During the remainder of the

year, all was confusion and ruin. The Abbeokutans sent 800 men to the

aid of Akitoye, and by one party or the other, the towns along the Ossa

were destroyed without mercy.

It is worthy of remark, that at Badagry, as at Sierra Leone, the mission

made no progress while the population were engaged in the slave-trade.

Neither of the three Episcopal missionaries, who labored in Badagry,

either alone or conjointly, were permitted to see any satisfactory fruit

of their spiritual labors.[36] The town yet remains nearly in ruins—a

few of the inhabitants, only, having returned and rebuilt their houses.

Lagos, therefore, was selected as the head-quarters of the mission, and

Badagry reduced to an out-station, with only a catechist.

The treaty between the chiefs of Abbeokuta and Captain Forbes, bound

them to promote the interests of the missions, and to abolish the

slave-trade. It secured to them, in turn, the protection of England. But

Kosoko, of Lagos, and his confederates, resolved to prevent the

introduction of Christianity, civilization and legitimate traffic into

that region, to destroy Abbeokuta, and to persevere in the slave-trade.

The British squadron, therefore, having found its efforts by sea, to

suppress the traffic, altogether unavailing, and to save its ally,

Abbeokuta, from destruction, proceeded to Lagos, December, 1851,

bombarded the town, took it in possession, dethroned Kosoko, and

restored Akitoye to his rightful possessions. So imminent was the danger

to Abbeokuta, that Kosoko had marched at the head of a large army to

destroy it, and was only diverted from his purpose by the attack upon

his capital. The Portuguese slave-dealers were immediately expelled, and

thus, for the moment, the slave-trade was suppressed in the Bight of

Benin.

But the hateful slave-trade, of which Lagos had long been the chief

mart, had thoroughly engrained itself in the thoughts, habits, and

hearts of the people. Taught by the slave-dealer to consider the English

as natural enemies, they only awaited a suitable opportunity to renew a

trade so lucrative as the capture and sale of their fellow men.

Accordingly, about nine months after the expulsion of Kosoko, the

Portuguese traders returned and secretly renewed the traffic in slaves.

Akitoye, faithful to his treaty with the English, interposed his

authority for its suppression. This led to an insurrection against him

and for the restoration of Kosoko. The Portuguese supplied the

insurgents with arms and ammunition; and, on the morning of August 6th,

1853, the war commenced in the streets of Lagos. The contest was kept up

till night, many were killed and wounded on both sides, and the greater

part of the town destroyed by fire. One of the mission houses was

consumed, with nearly all of its contents; and the other would have

shared the same fate, but for the protection afforded by the army of

Akitoye, and by Capt. Gardner, of the British navy, then in port with

his vessel. A cessation of hostilities took place for a few days, during

which Kosoko entered the town and joined the rebels. The union of his

forces with theirs, gave him a great superiority over Akitoye; and the

missionaries, and the English consul, had no other expectation but that

they would all be murdered. At this critical moment, Admiral Bruce, with

a part of his squadron, appeared in sight, landed nine gun-boats, well

manned, and sent a detachment of marines to protect the missionaries.

This alarmed Kosoko, and, on the night following, August 13, he and his

allies stole out of Lagos. Thus was the mission once more providentially

delivered from destruction.[37]

On the 2d of September, King Akitoye died suddenly, and his son, Dosumu,

was elected in his stead. How far he may be able or willing to resist

the renewal of the slave-trade remains to be seen. The missionaries, at

the latest advices, were greatly discouraged, being worn down with

fatigue and anxiety, and almost shut out from the hope of planting the

Gospel in Lagos, as it has been done in Abbeokuta.

These important movements show how the English Colonies are operating as

agencies in extending civilization and the Gospel in Africa; and how the

Providence of God is overruling the wicked actions of men for the

advancement of the kingdom of Christ.

But while we present these cheering evidences of the success of the

missions in this field, we would call attention to an important

difference in the results here and in Liberia. Sierra Leone and Liberia

were founded with similar objects in view: the removal of a class of

persons unhappily situated, the improvement of their condition, the

civilization of Africa, and the suppression of the slave-trade. In both

cases the colonies were founded in the midst of barbarous tribes; and

with men but recently escaped or liberated from the bonds of slavery.

Sierra Leone received her emigrants nearly all at once; while Liberia

was more than ten years in obtaining an equal number. With the exception

of the few survivors of the London expedition, the settlers in both

colonies had the same early training, under the slavery of Virginia,

Maryland, and the Carolinas. Up to 1800, the emigrants to Sierra Leone

had been enlightened men, mostly from the same region which,

subsequently, supplied to Liberia her citizens. From that period, the

population of Sierra Leone has been increased, not by additions of

civilized men,[38] but first by the Maroons, and afterward by natives

introduced by the English cruizers; until, at present, _sixty-six years_

from the founding of the colony, it includes 45,000 people, reckoned

subjects of Great Britain. With the exception of a few recaptured slaves

landed in Liberia, by American cruizers, its population, each succeeding

year from the first, has received accessions of civilized men, who have

won the confidence of the surrounding tribes, added them to their

communities, instructed them in the arts of civilization, allowed them

the benefits of their schools, and a participation in civil affairs;

until, at present, _thirty-three years_ after the commencement of the

colony, it includes 80,000 people, recognized citizens of the Republic.

Now, mark the difference: in 66 years, Sierra Leone, aided by a large

naval squadron, has grown into a British Colony of 45,000 subjects;

while, in 33 years, or half the time, Liberia, with an influx of only

1,044 recaptured Africans, has become a Republic of 80,000 citizens.[39]

As to the success of the Missions in the two colonies, accurate

statistics are not at hand; but from what has been stated, it appears

that for the first 30 years of their existence, the increase in Liberia

has been more than double that in Sierra Leone.

With these facts before us, it becomes a matter of great moment to

determine what has been the cause of the difference in the prosperity of

the two Colonies. It can not be attributed to any great inequality

between their emigrants, as, mostly, they had an identity of origin; nor

to any great difference among the natives, as the diversity of languages

in the one, would be balanced by the greater degradation of the

other.[40] Then, as there was, originally, no material difference in

their populations, the greater success of the citizens of Liberia, in

maintaining their civil and religious institutions, can not be a result

of their attainments under the slavery of the United States, but must be

a consequence of their intellectual advancement after reaching the

Colony. Neither can the cause of the difference be found in the

educational and religious institutions of the two Colonies, as these are

identical in both. The difference, therefore, can exist, only, in the

greater extent of the social and civil privileges which the Liberians

have enjoyed in their form of government. Look at the facts. From the

time Sierra Leone passed out of the hands of Granville Sharp, the

colored people have been excluded from participating in the government.

The offices have been filled with white men, who reside among the

negroes, in the position and attitude of a superior race, born to

command; while the colonists are made to feel that their destiny is to

obey: hence, in prosecuting their education, the youth of that Colony

have had their mental powers dwarfed, by the absence of the stimulants

which the hope of social and political advancement afford. In Liberia

the policy has been the reverse. From the beginning, the minor offices

were held by the colored men; and for the past twelve years, no white

man has held any office, civil or military, in the Colony. Thus, the

posts of honor have been open to the competition of every Liberian; and,

catching the progressive spirit of the age, the colonists have aspired

to the dignity of Nationality; have established an Independent Republic;

and have progressed, in their civil and religious relations, with a

rapidity doubly as great as Sierra Leone.[41]

But time will not allow us to extend our comparisons. The superiority of

the free institutions of Liberia, as an agency for overcoming the

obstacles to civilization and Christianity in Africa, will be farther

noticed in the progress of our investigations. At present we need only

say, in relation to both Colonies, that, as the result of English and

American philanthropy, there is now a line of coast of more than 1,800

miles, from the Gambia on the West, to Lagos on the East, where the

slave-trade is suppressed, and Christianity is introduced; and, that

within this region, once the undisputed empire of the slave-trader,

there are now 30,000 attendants on public worship, 10,300 church

members, 152 schools, 13,600 pupils, and a band of teachers, nearly all

of whom are natives or Liberians.

Such are the results within these Colonies, where the missionaries have

enjoyed the protection of Government, and the aid of civilized colored

men; such are the fruits of the English and American Colonization of the

African race on the soil of their Father-land; and such the prospects of

the moral redemption of the people of that continent, by the return of

its captive sons, bearing in their hands the lamp of the Gospel.

III. _The Missions among the Native Tribes, beyond the Influence and

Protection of the Colonies._

A full history of these missions, including the facts illustrative of

the obstacles to the progress of Christianity, where the restraints of

civil government are not felt by the population, would be of thrilling

interest. But this would require a volume. We must limit ourselves to

two or three; and shall first direct attention to those of the American

Board on the Gaboon, in West Africa, and among the Zulus, in South

Africa.

The first of these missions was begun in 1834, at Cape Palmas; but owing

to mistaken impressions in relation to the influence of the Colonies on

the work, it was removed, in 1842, to the Gaboon, 1200 miles eastward.

On entering this region, the missionary, the Rev. J. L. Wilson,

encouraged by the attention of the chiefs, entertained such hopes of

success, as to lead the Board to send additional missionaries to his

aid. Some of the native converts at Cape Palmas, accompanying him to the

Gaboon, served as a nucleus for a church at the new station. But on

trial, the difficulties inherent in African heathenism were found to be

much more perplexing and insurmountable, in his new field, than those he

left behind in his old one.

The Report of the Board for 1850, says: “There is yet but one Church in

the mission, and this contains 22 members, 11 of whom were received on

profession of their faith, in 1849—a greater number than have been

received in all the years since the removal of the mission to the

Gaboon. Here, as in South Africa, the habit of taking many wives, or

rather concubines, operates as a great hindrance to the Gospel; and the

evil is much aggravated by the late free introduction of American Rum,

which has exerted a most pernicious influence all along the coast.”

A letter from the Rev. Mr. Wilson, of March, 1851, draws a still more

discouraging picture of the prospects of the mission: “In some

respects,” he says, “our missionary operations seem to be quite

stationary. We have had no accessions to our church for some time past;

and some who were added last year, do not give us all the satisfaction

we had hoped for. If we had other converts, we should be almost afraid

to receive them into the church, by reason of the many temptations to

which they are exposed; growing out of the loose and perverted state of

morals in this community. Nor do we see how society can be placed on

such a footing as to make it possible for us to organize a pure Church,

until there is a general outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the people.”

Then, depicting the general prevalence of polygamy, or what is worse,

Mr. Wilson thus concludes: “Demoralizing as this state of society is,

the people are, nevertheless, firmly attached to it, and will continue

to be so, until they are inspired with better and purer feelings by the

Holy Ghost.”

Dr. Ford, another member of this mission, in an appeal for more female

laborers, draws a still darker portraiture of the deep moral degradation

existing around him. “The condition of African women is beyond

description deplorable. No one can appreciate it without seeing it. They

are bought and sold, whipped, worked, and despised. Unquestionably they

become surly, malicious, and perverse; and under the detestable system

of polygamy which prevails everywhere, they are perfectly faithless to

their husbands. They are our most bitter enemies, bearing a great

dislike to religion, and this they communicate to their children.”

The Report for 1851, speaks more encouragingly, though it records no

increase of members. The Report for 1852, shows that the mission stood

thus: 4 stations, 6 missionaries, 1 physician, 4 female assistants, 5

native helpers, and 5 schools with about 100 pupils. One member had been

added during the year, two Christian marriages solemnized, and four

persons baptized. A considerable reduction of the missionary force had

occurred during the year, from deaths and the failure of health; so that

only two of the stations had been sustained during the whole year. The

Report for 1853, records no new admissions to the church. Only two

ordained missionaries were left in the mission, and only two stations

have been occupied since July.[42] It is remarked, that though the

intelligence from the mission “is less cheering in some respects than we

might wish, in others it is satisfactory and encouraging. Two things,

however, are greatly needed. The converting energy of the Spirit is a

constant and palpable necessity; and the mission should be largely

reinforced without delay. Who will cry mightily unto the Lord for his

quickening grace? Who will devote themselves to the missionary work

among the benighted children of Africa?”[43]

Mr. Preston has settled 60 miles above the Baraka station, which is near

the mouth of the Gaboon, to study the Pangwe language, and to explore

the hill country; where the mission has been directed to establish a new

station, on account of its greater healthiness, and to operate among the

Pangwe people. He has found the country disturbed by wars, and that the

Pangwe tribe are cannibals. Prisoners of war and persons condemned for

witchcraft, had been eaten, to Mr. Preston’s own knowledge. Such things,

he says, are of frequent occurrence; and yet these people work very

neatly in iron of their own smelting, and in brass obtained from

traders—thus affording evidences of a nearer approach to civilization

than the tribes on the coast.

Though the progress of this mission has been slow, and but few converts

have been gathered into the church; yet the labors of the missionaries

have, by no means, been unproductive of good results. The native

languages have been mastered, portions of the scriptures translated into

them, and the pupils in their schools will soon be able to read the

sacred word, to their parents and friends, in their native tongue.

The Rev. Mr. Wilson, the founder of this mission, has been obliged to

retire from the work, on account of ill health. At the meeting of the

American Board, in 1852, he was present, explained the condition of the

mission, its encouragements and discouragements, and urged an extended

effort to take advantage of the present friendly disposition of the

natives to gain footholds for schools and churches throughout the

country. In relation to the discouragements, he said, that in

penetrating the interior, they found the difficulty of traveling very

great—their progress being embarrassed by the want of an organized

government. They were thus exposed to the attacks of robbers and

marauders, who might kill them without being amenable to any power on

earth.

From these facts it would seem, that Civil Government is greatly needed

for the protection of the Gaboon Mission; and, that instead of its being

considered an obstacle, as was the case at Cape Palmas, it is now viewed

as necessary to its success: and, if necessary at the Gaboon, it must be

equally so in all other parts of Africa.

If this view were generally admitted, a great impulse would be given to

our system of African Colonization. Civil government has not been

organized in Africa, except by Colonization from either Europe or

America; nor can it exist, except among civilized men. Before it can be

organized at the Gaboon, an emigration of civilized men must supply the

necessary population; or a generation or two pass away, while the work

of education prepares the natives for the adoption of civilized customs.

The climate forbids the settlement of white men at the Gaboon, or upon

any part of the western coast of Africa; and civil government,

therefore, can not be introduced by them. Colored men, alone, can live

in the enjoyment of vigorous health in that region, and they alone can

accomplish this work. As the United States, alone, can supply a

sufficient number of intelligent colored men to fill it with colonies;

it follows, that colonization, from the United States to Africa, is

necessary to the speedy organization of civil government and the more

rapid extension of Christianity in that country.

The Mission of the American Board to the Zulus, in South Africa, was

begun in 1835. One station was commenced among the maritime Zulus, under

king Dingaan, who resided on the east side of the Cape, some 70 miles

from Port Natal; and the other among the interior Zulus, under king

Mosilikatsi.[44] This station was broken up in 1837, by a war between

the Zulus and the Boers, who were then emigrating from the Cape. The

missionaries were forced to leave, and join their brethren at Natal;

but, in doing this, they were compelled to perform a journey of 1,300

miles, in a circuitous route, 1,000 of which was in ox wagons, through

the wilderness, while they were greatly enfeebled by disease, and

disheartened by the death of the wife of one of their party.

The missionaries to the maritime Zulus, when their brethren from the

interior joined them, had succeeded in establishing one station among

king Dingaan’s people, and another at Port Natal, where a mixed

population, from various tribes, had collected among the Dutch Boers,

then settling in and around that place. In 1838 a war occurred between

Dingaan and the Boers, which broke up the missions and compelled the

missionaries to seek refuge on board some vessels, providentially at

Natal, in which some of them sailed to the United States, and others to

the Cape.

Peace being made in 1839, a part of the missionaries returned to Natal

and resumed their labors. But a revolt of one half the Zulus in 1840,

under Umpandi, led to another war, in which the new chief and the Boers

succeeded in overthrowing Dingaan. His death by the hand of an old

enemy, into whose territory he fled, left the Zulus under the rule of

Umpandi. This chief allowed the mission in his territory to be renewed

in 1841. But, in 1842, a war broke out between the Boers, at Natal, and

the British; who, to prevent the Boers from organizing an independent

government, had taken possession of that place. In this contest, the

Boers were forced to submit to British authority, and British law was

extended to the population around Natal. This led to large desertions of

the Zulus to Natal, to escape from the cruelties of Umpandi; and he,

becoming jealous of the missionary, attacked the mission and butchered

three of the principal families engaged in its support. Thus, a second

time, was this mission broken up and the mission family forced to

retreat to Natal.

Here, then, at the opening of 1843, nearly eight years after the

missionaries reached Africa, they had not a single station in the Zulu

country, to which they had been sent; and they were directed, by the

Board, to abandon the field. From this they were prevented, by the

timely remonstrances of the Rev. Dr. Philip, of the English mission at

the Cape.

A crisis, however, had now arisen, by which the conflicting elements,

hitherto obstructing the Gospel, were rendered powerless or reduced to

order, by the strong arm of Great Britain. The fierce Boers had

destroyed the power of both Mosilikatsi and Dingaan, and taught the Zulu

people that they could safely leave the standard of their chiefs; while

the Boers, in turn, had been subjected to British authority, along with

the Zulus whom they had designed to enslave. The basis of a colony,

under the protection of British law, was thus laid at Natal, which

afforded security to the missionaries, and enabled them to establish

themselves on a permanent basis. An attempt was also made to renew the

mission in the Zulu territory, but Umpandi refused his assent, and the

strength of the mission was concentrated within the Natal Colony.

Owing to the continued cruelties of Umpandi, the desertions of his

people to Natal increased, until the Colony included a native

population, mostly Zulus, of nearly 100,000.

No serious interruptions have occurred, since the British occupied

Natal; and opportunities have been afforded for studying the Zulu

character, and the remaining obstacles to missionary success among that

people. Time has shown, that the tyranny of the chiefs, and the wars of

the tribes with each other, or with the whites, are not the most

obstinate difficulties to be overcome.

From the Report of the Board for 1850, we learn, that though there were

then, in this field, 12 missionaries, 14 assistants, 6 native helpers,

18 places of preaching, and 8 schools; there were but 78 church members

and 185 pupils. The Report attributes the slow progress made, to the

extreme moral degradation of the population; and, in mentioning

particulars, names polygamy as the most prominent. As among the native

Africans generally, so is it here, superstition and sensuality are the

great barriers to the progress of the Gospel.

But these difficulties do not deter the American Board from persevering

in their great work of converting Africa. The men composing the Board

know, full well, that the evils existing in all mission fields can only

be removed by God’s appointed means, the Gospel; and, that to withdraw

it from Africa, would be to render its evils perpetual. Hence, as

obstacles rise, they multiply their agencies for good: and, in view of

the consistent conduct and piety of the native converts, the Report of

1850, recommends the establishment of a Theological school for training

a native ministry for that field. The Reports for 1851 and 1852 are more

encouraging, and show an increase of 86 church members, 16 children

baptized, and 15 Christian marriages solemnized. The Report for 1853 is

less encouraging. The whole number of church members is now 141, of whom

only 8 were received during the year. Family schools are sustained at

all the stations; _but none of the heathen send their children_. Three

day-schools are taught by native converts, in which the children of

those residing at the stations, where they are located, receive

instruction. One girls’ school, consisting of about 20 pupils, is taught

by Mrs. Adams.[45] The Christian Zulus are advancing in civilization and

in material prosperity; but the heathen population are manifesting more

and more of stupid indifference or bitter hostility to the Gospel. This

is more particularly indicated in their refusal to send their children

to school.

The passage of this mission from the class beyond the protection of the

Colonies, to that of those deriving security from them, released it from

the annoyances occasioned by native wars, and left it to contend with

the obstacles, only, which are inherent in heathenish barbarism. It had,

consequently, begun to progress encouragingly. But a new element of

disturbance has recently been introduced, which threatens to be no less

hurtful than the old causes of interruption and insecurity. We refer to

the immigration of the English into the Natal Colony, and their efforts

to dispossess the Zulus of their lands.

Before taking any further notice of this threatening evil, we must call

particular attention to another point, the importance of which has,

perhaps, been too much overlooked. In January, 1853, the Rev. Mr. Tyler

thus wrote:

“I have many thoughts, of late, concerning the great obstacle which lies

in the way of elevating the Zulus. It seems to me that it is _their deep

ignorance_. We find it exceedingly difficult to throw even one ray of

light into minds so darkened and perverted by sin. * * Of the great mass

who attend our services on the Sabbath, but few, probably, have any

clear knowledge of the plan of salvation through faith in Christ.

Especially is this true of the female sex, whose condition, both

temporal and spiritual, seems almost beyond the reach of improvement.”

Mr. Tyler proceeds to show, that the Zulus, in their _religious belief_,

their _worship_, and their blind submission to the _witch-doctors_,

evince the most deep, gross, and stupid ignorance imaginable; but he

presents nothing as belonging to that people, which is not common to the

African tribes generally. Without, at present, remarking on the relation

which the _ignorance of barbarism_, bears to the progress of missions,

we shall recur to the effects of the immigration of the whites into the

Colony of Natal.

When the Zulus deserted their king and took refuge at Natal, there were

but few whites present to be affected by the movement, and allotments of

lands were readily obtained for them. Soon afterwards, however, an

emigration from Great Britain began to fill up the country. The main

object of the whites was agriculture, and the best unoccupied lands were

soon appropriated. The new immigrants then commenced settling on the

possessions of the Zulus. The designs of the whites soon manifested

itself so openly, that the missionaries have been obliged to interpose

for the protection of the natives. Accordingly, a committee of their

number was deputed to wait upon the Lieutenant Governor, to learn his

intentions on the subject. The report of the interview, as made to the

American Board, reads as follows:

“He plainly gave us to understand, that instead of collecting the

natives in bodies, as has hitherto been the policy, it was his purpose

to disperse them among the colonists, and the colonists among them. The

natural result will be, to deteriorate our fields of labor, by

diminishing the native population, and by introducing a foreign element,

which, as all missionary experience proves, conflicts with

christianizing interests. Nor did he assure us that even our stations

would not be infringed by foreign settlers; but our buildings and their

bare sites, he encouraged us to expect, would at all events remain to us

undisturbed. But lest this statement convey an impression which is too

discouraging, we would say, that many of our fields embrace tracts of

country so broken, as not to be eligible as farms for the immigrants;

and, hence, no motive would exist for dispossessing the native

occupants, unless it would be to transfer them to the more immediate

vicinity of the white population, in order to facilitate their obtaining

servants; which at present is so difficult as to be considered one of

the crying evils of the colony. So deep is the feeling on this subject,

that many and strenuous are those who advocate a resort to some system

of actual imprisonment. This seems a strange doctrine to be held by the

sons of Britain!”

Then, after expressing an opinion that the obstacles in the way of this

measure may prevent its execution for some years to come, the report

concludes:

“Yet it is more than probable, that some of our stations will experience

the disadvantages of the too great proximity of white settlers. The

evils of such a proximity are aggravated by the prejudices which exist

against missionaries and their operations. And perhaps we should say,

that, as American missionaries, we are regarded with still greater

jealousy. We fear it will require years to live down these prejudices.

Public opinion is more or less fashioned by the influence of

unprincipled speculators, alike ignorant of missionaries, their labors,

or the native people. Such men, greedy of the soil of the original

proprietors, are naturally jealous and envious of those who, they

suppose, would befriend the natives in maintaining their rights. If we

speak at all, of course we must say what we think to be justice and

truth. If we remain silent, as we have hitherto done, we are

misrepresented, and our motives are impugned. So that whichever course

we take, we can not expect to act in perfect harmony with all the

interests of all the men who, within the last few years, have come to

the colony.”[46]

The danger from the inroads of the whites must be imminent, when the

missionaries venture to speak so freely in their official report. The

grounds of these fears will be understood, when we present the facts

connected with our next class of missions. The fate of the Kaffirs,

doubtless, awaits the Zulus, if English cupidity is not restrained by a

merciful Providence.

The Bishop of Cape Town, in speaking of the disastrous effects of the

late Kaffir war, has recently expressed the opinion, that, in less than

five years, another equally terrible in its results, in all probability,

will occur between the whites and the Zulus; and as a consequence of the

large number of Europeans who are mixing among them, and whose chief

object appears to be their own enrichment, at the expense of that

people.

THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION, which is organized on strictly

Anti-Slavery principles, has a mission at Kaw-Mendi, 50 or 60 miles

north-west of Liberia, which belongs to the class of native missions.

This mission had its origin in the return of the “Amistad Slaves,” to

their native country, in 1842. The Rev. Mr. Raymond went out at the head

of this mission. On reaching Africa, he found wars everywhere prevailing

to such an extent, that he could not reach the Mendi country, to which

these people belonged, and was forced to settle at Kaw-Mendi, but 40

miles from the coast. The continuation of these wars greatly hindered

the progress of the mission, as long as Mr. Raymond lived, and for more

than a year after his successor, the Rev. George Thompson, took charge

of the station, in 1848. Mr. Thompson thus became painfully familiar

with African warfare; and represents it as having been conducted with

the utmost cruelty—whole towns being depopulated and multitudes driven

to the coast and sold to the slave-traders of the Gallinas. Mr. Thompson

was in Africa about two years and a half, and was also greatly hindered

by these wars in his efforts to instruct the people; until, happily, the

British squadron forcibly suppressed the traffic in slaves, at Grand

Cape Mount and the Gallinas, and thus put an end to the market. The

supplies of European merchandise being thus cut off from the

slave-trading kings, along the coast, they were induced to sell their

territory to President Roberts, and place themselves under the

jurisdiction of Liberia. One of the stipulations in the treaties,

requires the Liberians to establish trading posts in the territory, for

the supply of goods to the native population; that they might no longer

have any excuse for continuing the slave-trade.

Kaw-Mendi is in the rear of the Gallinas. The termination of the demand

for slaves, at once disposed the tribes around the mission to make peace

with each other; and Mr. Thompson was eminently successful in

reconciling the warring parties to each other. But several months

elapsed, from the date of the destruction of the slave-factories, before

peace could be restored or the Gallinas purchased. Though often

attempted, neither of these objects could be accomplished during the

existence of the slave-trade; and, when effected, both were the result

of the adoption of measures for the purchase of Gallinas, as a new field

for the operations of the American Colonization Society. It is a curious

coincidence, that the letter of the Rev. Mr. Thompson, informing the

Board of his success in making peace among the tribes; and that of

President Roberts to the Colonization Society, announcing the purchase

of Gallinas, were both written on the same day.

Mr. Thompson had so many urgent solicitations from the chiefs, for

missionaries to come and reside in their territory, that the society

sent out a reinforcement of eight males and females, in December, 1850;

and he, himself, returned to the United States, during the same month,

to remove his family to Kaw-Mendi. The new missionaries reached the

mission in safety, in February, 1851, and found Mr. Brooks, in whose

care it had been left, in the peaceful pursuit of his duties, and the

people urgent for more teachers. Before the close of the year, however,

the mission was shrouded in gloom. “The war had recommenced its ravages;

and sickness and death had performed a fearful work among the little

company of missionaries.” Three of the females had died by the 10th of

June. The Board report the condition of the mission, at the close of

1851, as encouraging, and that some additions had been made to the

church during the year.

The Report for 1852, says, that the mission has labored under serious

embarrassments, and that its operations have been retarded throughout a

great part of the year, by the illness of many of its members; and that

it has been impossible to commence the new stations authorized the last

year. The Board, during this year, appointed a large number of new

missionaries, so as to increase the Mendi mission to 17, including males

and females. This reinforcement was accompanied by the Rev. George

Thompson and his family, who now returned to the field of his former

labors.

The Report for 1853, informs us that the new missionaries had reached

Africa, early in February; and that all of them had suffered more or

less from sickness during the acclimating season. The older

missionaries, too, continued to suffer from the debilitating influence

of the climate. In June the eldest son of Mr. Thompson died, and soon

afterwards Mrs. Thompson’s health so far failed that she had to be

removed by her husband to the United States. Mr. Arnold and his wife

have also been compelled to ask for a dismission from the service, on

account of the state of his health.

During the whole of the year reported, the country has been suffering

under one of the most wide-spread and desolating wars that has been

known there since the establishment of the mission. It has so far

hindered the progress of the work, as to allow of the opening of but one

of the stations contemplated, that of Tissana, up the Big Boom river.

The latest advices from the mission, says the Report, encourage the hope

that the war will soon be brought to a close; and the opinion is

expressed that the infamous slave-trade was at the bottom of it.[47]

The school at Kaw-Mendi has received several additions to its numbers

during the year, and the new one at Tissana has been commenced with

encouraging prospects. The chiefs, with but a single exception, have

consented to the establishment of missions and schools among their

people. The Report closes by remarking, “that the published observations

of other laborers on that continent serve to show, that white men can

live and labor there; and that there are in the interior, towards which

they are pressing, more civilized, intelligent, and powerful nations and

regions of country, not only less inimical than those they now occupy,

to the health of the white man, but even more healthy than many parts of

the United States. The Spirit and providence of God thus beckon us

onward, and woe will be upon us if we falter in our course.”

The Report is dated September, 1853, and Mr. Thompson, in company with

Mr. Condit, sailed again for Africa, in November. Letters have been

received from him at Sierra Leone, where he landed in January, on his

way to Kaw-Mendi. Thus has this devoted missionary, for the third time,

braved the dangers of the African climate.

Intelligence from Kaw-Mendi, as late as October, 1853, has been

received. The mission at Tissana has been abandoned, on account of the

distracted state of the country between it and Kaw-Mendi, produced by

the continuation of the wars; and, in lieu thereof, a station has been

commenced at Sherbro Island, where peace and safety prevail. The school

at Kaw-Mendi, is prospering, writes Dr. Cole; but “of the one hundred

children there gathered, the mass,” he says, “are yet heathen, with the

habits that ignorance, superstition and nakedness beget. Bad as these

are, they form the most hopeful material for missionary culture, and it

is for their elevation and purification our missionaries toil. Oh! how

much they need the sympathies and prayers of God’s people.”[48] Mr.

Gray, who went out three years since, has returned with his wife to

recruit his health.

To gain a clear view of the hindrances to the missions among the

natives, we must add the testimony of Bishop Scott, to that already

presented.

The first difficulty which meets the missionary, he says, on going to

this people, is an unknown and uncultivated tongue; a tongue, too, which

varies so much, as he passes from one tribe to another, within the space

of only a few miles, that it often amounts to a different language. The

nature of this obstacle will be so easily comprehended, that the details

given by the Bishop, need not be quoted. He thus proceeds:

“But now another difficulty assails him—one which his knowledge of men

in other parts of the world had given him no reason to anticipate.

Though he may in some way get over the difficulty presented in a rude

foreign tongue, yet he now finds, to his utter surprise, that he can not

gain access to this people unless he _dash_ them, (that is, make them

presents,) and only as he dashes them. When, where, or how this wretched

custom arose I can not tell, but it is found to prevail over most parts

of Africa, and, so far as I know, nowhere else. But what shall our

missionary now do? Will he dash them? Will he dash them ‘much plenty?’

Then they will hear him—they will flock around him—nay, he may do with

them almost as he wists, and a nation may be born in a day. But let him

not be deceived, for all is not gold, here especially, that glitters. So

soon as he withholds his dashes, ten to one they are all _as they were_.

But is he poor and can not dash them?—or able, but on principle will

not? Then, as a general fact, he may go home. They will not hear him at

all, nor treat him with the least respect. Indeed, they will probably

say, ‘He no good man,’—and it will be well for him if they do not get up

a palaver against him and expel him from their coasts. This dashing is a

most mischievous custom—dreadfully in the way of missionary labor, and I

know not how it is to be controlled. I am sick of the very sound of the

word. The Lord help poor Africa!

“But the difficulties multiply. Now a hydra-headed monster gapes upon

our missionary, of most frightful aspect, and as tenacious of life as

that fabled monster of the ancient poets. It is _polygamy_. He finds to

his grief and surprise, that every man has as many wives as he can find

money to buy. He must give them all up but one, if he would be a

Christian. But will he give them up? Not easily. He will give up almost

any thing before he will give up his wives. They are his slaves, in

fact; they constitute his wealth. And then it is difficult, not to say

impossible, to persuade him that it is not somehow morally wrong to put

them away. ‘Me send woman away?—where she go to?—what she do?’ This I

consider the hugest difficulty with which Christianity has to contend in

the conversion of this people, and makes me think that she must look

mainly to the rising generation.

“But here, too, a difficulty arises. The female children are contracted

away—are sold, in fact—by their parents while they are yet very young,

often while they are infants; and if the missionary would procure them

for his schools, he must pay the dower—some fifteen or twenty dollars.

“But our missionary finds that the whole social and domestic

organization of these people is opposed to the pure, chaste, and comely

spirit of the Gospel, and that, to succeed in this holy work, it must

not only be changed, but revolutionized—upturned from the very

foundation. Is there no difficulty here? Are habits and customs, so long

established and so deeply rooted, to be given up without a struggle? The

native people, both men and women, go almost stark naked, and they love

to go so—and are not abashed in the presence of people better dressed;

they eat with their hands, and dip, and pull, and tear, with as little

ceremony and as little decency as monkeys, and they love to eat so; they

sleep on the bare ground, or on mats spread on the ground, and they love

to sleep so; the men hunt or fish, or lounge about their huts, and smoke

their pipes, and chat, and sleep, while their wives, _alias_ their

slaves, tend and cut and house their rice—cut and carry home their

wood—make their fires, fetch their water, get out their rice, and

prepare their ‘chop,’—and all, even the women, love to have it so. And

to all the remonstrances of the missionary, they oppose this simple and

all-settling reply. ‘This be countryman’s fash.’ They seem incapable of

conceiving that your fash is better than theirs, or that theirs is at

all defective. Your fash, they will admit, may be better for you, but

theirs is better for them. So the natives of Cape Palmas have lived, in

the very midst of the colonists, for some twenty years, and they are the

same people still, with almost no visible change.”

The Bishop next notices their superstitions and idolatries, and the

evils connected with their belief in witchcraft; and says, that though,

by the influence of the colony and missions, their confidence is, in

some places, being shaken in some of them; they generally even yet think

you a fool, and pity you, if you venture to hint that there is nothing

in them. But we must not quote him farther than to include his closing

remarks:

“But what! Do you then think that there is no hope for these heathen, or

that we should give up all hopes directed to that end? Not I, indeed.

Very far from it. I would rather reiterate the noble saying of the

sainted Cox: ‘Though a thousand fall even, in this attempt, yet let not

Africa be given up.’ I mention these things to show, that there are

solid reasons why our brethren in Africa have accomplished so little;

and also to show, that the Churches at home must, in this work

particularly, exercise the patience of faith and the labor of love. We

must still pound the rock, even though it is hard, and our mallets be

but of wood. It will break one day.”

Our inquiries into the condition of the Missions among the natives,

where civil government exerts no influence, must now be closed. The

state of things is about this: The chiefs, ambitious of distinction and

avaricious, often favor the settlement of missionaries, on account of

the consequence it gives them, or from mercenary motives; the division

of the population into small tribes, and their marauding dispositions,

leads to frequent wars; the tyranny of the chiefs, and their fear of

losing their influence, often leads them, after having admitted the

missionary, to oppose his work and deter their people from attending his

preaching; the existence of slavery and hereditary chieftainism, leaves

the mass of the population incapable of independent action; the

ignorance of barbarism, overshadowing their minds, renders them

incapable of comprehending moral truth; the superstitions of ages are

not to be given up, readily, for a religion they can not comprehend; the

custom of receiving _dashes_, tends to prejudice the native against the

missionary; and, above all, the practice of polygamy, ministering to the

indolence and sensuality of the men, and reducing the women to the

condition of slaves, stands as a wall of adamant in the way of the

progress of the Gospel.

These are the more prominent barriers to the success of missions in

Africa, where civil government exerts no power, and the influence of

Christian society is not felt.

It will not be improper here, to pause and observe, that there seems to

be a marked difference between the agencies necessary to secure success

in propagating the Gospel among an Asiatic and an African population.

Both, it must be remembered, are heathen; but the minds of the one are

enlightened, of the other barbarous. In Asia, where a knowledge of

agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and the mechanical and fine arts

prevail, the mental culture of the people renders them accessible to the

Gospel. Many of them can comprehend its truths, when heard from the lips

of the preacher, or when read in the printed Scriptures. For this

reason, some of the prominent missions in India have relied upon the

preaching of the word, as their principal agency; while circulating the

Scriptures and teaching the youth, have been employed only as

auxiliaries. Others have relied mainly upon the multiplication of

facilities for educating the youth; while spreading the printed word,

and employing the foreign preacher, have been considered as secondary

matters—the chief hope being in the preparation of a _native ministry_,

who should ultimately enter largely upon that work. Others, again, have

combined all these agencies, as means which God has blessed in the

conversion of sinful men. The whole of these systems have been

successful in Asia, and their supporters, respectively, see but little

cause for changing their measures.

But in Africa, and among the North American Indians, where the

intellectual faculties of the population are shrouded in the darkness of

barbarism,[49] the preaching of the word, in the commencement of a

mission, has been but rarely successful in producing conversions; while

the total ignorance of letters among these people, has rendered the

circulation of the Scriptures useless. Christian missionaries,

therefore, in attempting to introduce the Gospel among the Indians or

Africans, have been forced to rely upon the education of youth as the

means of success.

But whether in North America, Africa or Asia—whether converted while

training in the schools, or under the reading or preaching of the

word—the multiplication of native agents to take part in the work,

greatly promotes the progress of the Gospel. So well is this now

understood, that the preparation of native teachers and preachers, has

become the chief aim of all missions to the heathen; and the persistence

in one or the other of the systems of operations to which we have

referred, is due to the importance they respectively attach to an

educated ministry.

While, however, teaching, reading, and preaching, are the chief

instrumentalities for the conversion of the world; the progress of the

Gospel, everywhere, is greatly accelerated by the presence of a

Christian population, whose example aids in overturning the customs and

superstitions of the people, and commends the religion of Christ to

their confidence. As a mission, then, adds to the number of its

converts, or receives additions of civilized emigrants, its ability of

becoming more and more aggressive is increased, and its powers of

progression multiplied.

Where reliance is placed upon education, mainly, for introducing the

Gospel, its progress is necessarily slow; because a generation, or two,

is needed to bring forward a competent number of agents to take

possession of the field. The drawbacks, too, are very great—much seed

being sown, which falls upon stony ground. If schools are conducted upon

a large scale, the children must be supported by their parents; and, in

such cases, the superstitions and vices of heathenism have, but too

often, an easy victory over the doctrines and precepts of Christianity.

In this respect no new principle has been discovered. In Christian

countries, where custom, law, and the example of parents, combine to

give the ascendency to virtue, who can hope that his children will

escape moral contamination, if they be permitted to mingle, at will,

with the vicious and depraved. How much more, then, are the children of

the heathen endangered, if left in the care of licentious and idolatrous

parents, among a population where the laws of virtue are unknown?

To avoid these evils, Bishop Scott urges, that the native children,

attending the Methodist schools in Liberia, be taken into the families

of the missionaries—a system which has been pursued with success, by

some of the other societies.

But we need not extend these observations. It is not difficult to

comprehend the connection which exists between Colonization and the more

rapid extension of the Gospel in Africa; and to see the superiority of

the missions in Liberia, to those among the natives. Look but a moment

at its advantages. Liberia contains a greater number of the elements of

success, than are embraced in the missions to the natives, or in those

of any other class; and, consequently, must be more efficient in

promoting the evangelization of the African people. The overawing

influence of its laws upon the natives—the permanency of its schools—the

circulation of the Scriptures and religious tracts among those taught to

read—the protection afforded by its government to the missionaries—the

constant preaching of the word—the high morality of its Christian

population—the influx of civilized emigrants who are the descendants of

those cruelly torn from their shores in former years—all tend directly

to promote the work of missions. Colonization, therefore, supplies to

the missions in Liberia, at once, the instrumentalities which those

among the natives are only able to acquire after many years of toil.

IV. _The Missions in Connection with the Colonies of White Men in South

Africa._

We must refer a moment to the civil history of South Africa, as it is

essential to the proper understanding of its Missionary history.

The Dutch took possession of the Cape in 1650, and this occupancy was

followed by an extensive emigration of that people to Cape Town and its

vicinity. The encroachments of the emigrants upon the Hottentots, soon

gave rise to wars, which resulted in the enslavement of this feeble

race. The English captured Cape Town in 1795, ceded it back in 1801,

retook it in 1808, and still hold it in possession.

The climate of South Africa being favorable to the health of Europeans,

an English emigration to the Cape commenced soon after it became a

British province. This led to further encroachments upon the native

tribes, and to much disaffection upon the part of the Dutch, who were

designated by the term _Boers_.[50] They remained in the Colony,

however, until 1834, when the emancipation act, of the British

Parliament, set the Hottentots free. This so enraged the Boers, that

they emigrated in large bodies beyond the limits of Cape Colony. In

seeking new homes, they came in contact with the Zulus, as already

stated, and aided in the subjugation of that powerful people. Driven by

the English from the Zulu country, the Boers passed on to the

north-west, far into the interior, where we shall soon hear from them

again.

The English, in extending their settlements to the north-east of Cape

Town, soon came into collision with the Kaffirs; who, being a powerful

and warlike race, made a vigorous resistance to their advances. The

Kaffirs stole the cattle of the whites, and the whites retaliated on the

Kaffirs. These depredations often resulted in wars, each of which gave

the English government a pretext to add a portion of the Kaffir

territory to its own. As war followed on war, the Kaffirs improved in

the art, acquired something of the skill of their enemies, and learned

the use of European weapons. Thus every Kaffir war became more

formidable, requiring more troops, costing more money, and, of course,

demanding more territory. In consequence of these various annexations

from the Kaffirs, Zulus, and others, the English possessions in South

Africa now cover a space of 282,000 square miles; 105,000 of which have

been added since 1847—the year of the great failure in the cotton crop

of the United States.

The Missionary History of South Africa, though of great interest, must

also be very brief.

A Moravian mission, begun in 1736, among the Hottentots, was broken up

at the end of six years, by the Dutch authorities, and its renewal

prevented for 49 years. Having been resumed in 1792, it was again

interrupted in 1795, but soon afterwards restored under British

authority. Here, the hostility of the Dutch government to Christian

Missions excluded the Gospel from South Africa during a period of half a

century.

A mission to the Kaffirs, begun in 1799, by Dr. Vanderkemp, was

abandoned in a year, on account of the jealousies of that people towards

the whites, and their plots to take his life. The other missions, of

various denominations, begun from time to time, in South Africa, have

also been interrupted and retarded by the wars of the natives with each

other, and more especially with the whites.

The pecuniary loss to the English, by the war of 1835, was $1,200,000;

and by that of 1846–7, $3,425,000. This, however, was a matter of little

importance, compared with the moral bearings of these conflicts. The

missions suffered more or less in all the wars, either by interruptions

of their labors, or in having their people pressed into the army. In

that of 1846–7, the London Society had its four stations in the Kaffir

country entirely ruined, and its missionaries and people compelled to

seek refuge in the Colony.

But the most disastrous of all these conflicts, and that which has cast

the deepest gloom over the South African Missions, was the Kaffir war of

1851–2–3. These missions, with the exception of that to the Zulus, are

under the care of ten missionary societies, all of which are European.

They had recovered from the shocks of the former wars, and were in an

encouraging state; when, in December, 1850, the Kaffir war broke out. In

consequence of that war, many of the missions have been reduced to a

most deplorable condition; and afford a sad commentary on the doctrine

that the white and black races, in the present moral condition of the

world, can dwell together in harmony.

The missions of the Scotch Free Church were in the very seat of war, the

buildings of two of them destroyed, and the missionaries forced to flee

for their lives; while the third was only saved by being fortified.

The Berlin Missionary Society, had its missionaries driven from two of

its stations, during the progress of the war.

The Mission of the United Presbyterian Synod of Scotland, which

consisted of three stations, were all involved in ruin. The war laid

waste the mission stations, scattered the missionaries and converts,

suspended entirely the work of instruction, and has done an amount of

evil which can scarcely be exaggerated. The Report for 1853, says, that

the mission can not be resumed on its old basis, as the Kaffirs around

their stations are to be driven away; and though the native converts,

numbering 100, might be collected at one of the stations, it is deemed

better that a delegation visit South Africa, and report to the Board a

plan of future operations.

The London Missionary Society also suffered greatly, and some of their

missionaries were stript of every thing they possessed. The Report, for

1853, says: “This deadly conflict has at length terminated, and

terminated, as might have been foreseen, by the triumph of British arms.

The principal Kaffir chiefs, with their people, have been driven out of

their country; and their lands have been allotted to British soldiers

and colonists. And on the widely extended frontier there will be

established military posts, from which the troops and the settlers are

to guard the colony against the return of the exiled natives.”

Such, indeed, was the hostility of the whites toward the missionaries

themselves, at one of the Churches in the white settlements, that

_bullets_ were not unfrequently dropped into the collection plates.[51]

Both Moravian and Wesleyan Missions have been destroyed. In one

instance, 250 Hottentots perished by the hands of English soldiers, in

the same Church where they had listened to the word of God from the

Moravian missionaries; not because they were enemies, but in an attempt

to disarm a peaceable population. Such are the cruelties incident to

this war!

The Paris Missionary Society, has thirteen stations in South Africa. Its

Report, for 1853, complains of the interruptions and injuries which its

missions have suffered, in consequence of the military commotions which

have prevailed in the fields occupied by its missionaries. In alluding

to the obstacles to the Gospel, which everywhere exist, Dr. Grandpierre,

the Director of the Society, says: “But how are these obstacles

multiplied, when the missionary is obliged to encounter, in the lives of

nominal Christians, that which gives the lie to his teachings. Irritated

by the measures which are employed against them, may not the aborigines

rightfully say to the whites, with more truth than ever, ‘You call

yourselves the children of the God of peace; and yet you make war upon

us. You teach justice; but you are guilty of injustice. You preach the

love of God; and you take away our liberty and our property.’”

One of the Scotch Societies, near the close of the Kaffir war, when

summing up the effects it had produced, draws this melancholy picture:

“All missionary operations have been suspended; the converts are either

scattered or compelled, by their hostile countrymen, to take part in the

revolt; the missionaries have been obliged to leave the scenes of their

benevolent labors; hostile feelings have been excited between the black

and white races, which it will require a long period to soothe down; and

the prospects of evangelizing Kaffirland have been rendered dark and

distant.”

But we are not yet done recounting the obstacles to the progress of the

Gospel in South Africa, and the oppressions to which its population are

subjected. Our last reference to the Boers, left them emigrating toward

the interior of Africa. It appears that they have selected territory and

organized themselves into a government, under the title of the “Free

Republic;” and that, in the course of the last year their independence

has been acknowledged by Great Britain. The Boers, although recognized

as a nation, seem little disposed to peace; but have, lately, proceeded

to destroy some of the stations of the London Missionary Society, and to

drive two English missionaries from their territory. They have also

attacked and plundered three of the native tribes, killing 60 men and

taking a number of women and children prisoners. Their movements seem to

indicate that they are determined to prevent the English from extending

northward into their vicinity; and it is feared they will enslave or

ruin the native tribes among whom they have settled. When charged with

this design, they denied it, and claimed that the servitude they adopt

is not _slavery_, but a system of _apprenticeship_—such, we suppose, as

the English have established, to secure laborers for their West India

plantations. The missionaries, however, have ascertained that the

natives are bought and sold by them; and from this fact it is inferred,

that the fate of the Hottentots, in former years, will, doubtless, be

the lot of the natives who are now in the power of the Boers. Alas! for

poor Africa!

Referring to these events, the London Society expresses the opinion,

that, hereafter, the missionaries will not be left untrammeled, or the

liberty of the natives preserved, in the “Free Republic,” unless the

British nation shall utter its voice distinctly and earnestly in behalf

of these unoffending myriads.[52] In that event, doubtless, the liberty

of the natives might be prolonged, until English emigrants should demand

their lands; and then, the fate of the Kaffirs would await them.

We must here close these investigations. In reflecting upon the

consequences attending the emigration of the English and Dutch into

South Africa, we can not but be struck with the sameness of the results

there, and those connected with European emigration among the North

American Indians. Unlike the emigration of the colored people into West

Africa, that of the whites into South Africa and North America, has

tended to the destruction of the native heathen, and not, as in Liberia,

to their moral redemption. Nor are the inducements to exchange heathen

customs for those of Christianity, as strong in South Africa as in

Liberia. The natives, in the former, on abandoning heathenism only

become subjects of British law, and not freemen, as in the latter,

participating in the affairs of government. The South African chief, has

even less reason than his people, to forsake his barbarism; as he only

thereby loses his power, and, from being himself a king, he becomes a

subject, and compelled to bow to the white man, who has robbed him of

his greatness. These obstacles to missionary progress in South Africa,

are daily on the increase, by additional European emigration; as each

white man, who sets his foot upon the Cape, but adds to the necessity

for robbing the natives of additional lands. On the contrary, each

colored emigrant to Liberia, by adding to the strength of the Republic,

is aiding in extending to the natives the blessings of freedom and of

peace, and securing to them their right to their homes under the

sanction of Christian laws.

Thus, it appears, that, as the colonization of colored men in Liberia

elevates the native population, secures harmony of feeling and unity of

interest between the parties, gives distinction to the race, and secures

the more rapid extension of the Gospel; so the emigration of white men

into South Africa, tends to degrade the natives, produces enmity of

feeling and diversity of interest, destroys whatever of nationality they

possessed, and erects a mighty barrier against their conversion to

Christianity.

The total missionary force in South Africa, is under the care of eleven

Missionary Societies, ten of which are European, and one American. Their

condition, in 1850, before the commencement of the Kaffir war, was as

follows:[53] Missionaries 214, assistant missionaries 155, native

assistants 8, communicants 12,116, schools 60, scholars 20,100.