Part II.

Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Richard J. Shiffer

and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

HISTORY

OF THE

NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA

_FROM 1619 TO 1880._

NEGROES AS SLAVES, AS SOLDIERS, AND AS CITIZENS;

TOGETHER WITH

A PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATION OF THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN

FAMILY, AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF AFRICA, AND AN

ACCOUNT OF THE NEGRO GOVERNMENTS OF

SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA.

BY

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS,

FIRST COLORED MEMBER OF THE OHIO LEGISLATURE, AND LATE JUDGE

ADVOCATE OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF OHIO, ETC.

_IN TWO VOLUMES._

VOLUME I.

1619 TO 1800.

NEW YORK:

G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS,

27 AND 29 WEST 23D STREET.

1883.

TO THE

REV. JUSTIN DEWEY FULTON, D.D.,

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK;

AND TO THE

HON. CHARLES FOSTER,

GOVERNOR OF OHIO;

WHO, AS CLERGYMAN AND STATESMAN, REPRESENT THE PUREST PRINCIPLES

OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH AND STATE.

To the Illustrious Representative of the Church of Christ:

WHO, FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, HAS STOOD THE INTREPID CHAMPION OF

DIVINE TRUTH, AND THE DEFENDER OF HUMANITY: DURING THE DARK DAYS OF

SLAVERY, PLEADING THE CAUSE OF THE BONDMEN OF THE LAND; DURING

THE WAR, URGING THE EQUALITY OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS, DURING

RECONSTRUCTION, ENCOURAGING THE FREEDMEN TO NOBLE LIVES

THROUGH THE AGENCY OF THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL, AND

EVERMORE THE ENEMY OF ANY DISTINCTION BASED UPON

RACE, COLOR, OR PREVIOUS CONDITION OF SERVITUDE.

To the Distinguished Statesman:

WHO, ENDUED WITH THE GENIUS OF COMMON SENSE, TOO EXALTED TO BE

INFLAMED BY TEMPORARY PARTY OR FACTIONAL STRIFE, AND WHO,

AS CONGRESSMAN AND GOVERNOR, IN STATE AND NATIONAL

POLITICS, HAS PROVEN HIMSELF CAPABLE OF

SACRIFICING PERSONAL INTEREST TO PUBLIC WELFARE;

WHO, IN DEALING WITH THE NEGRO PROBLEM, HAS ASSERTED A NEW DOCTRINE IN

IGNORING THE CLAIMS OF RACES: AND WHO, AS THE FIRST NORTHERN GOVERNOR

TO APPOINT A COLORED MAN TO A POSITION OF PUBLIC TRUST,

HAS THEREBY DECLARED THAT NEITHER NATIONALITY NOR

COMPLEXION SHOULD ENHANCE OR IMPAIR THE CLAIMS

OF MEN TO POSITIONS WITHIN THE GIFT OF

THE EXECUTIVE.

TO THESE NOBLE MEN THIS WORK IS DEDICATED,

WITH SENTIMENTS OF HIGH ESTEEM AND PERSONAL REGARD, BY THEIR

FRIEND AND HUMBLE SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

I was requested to deliver an oration on the Fourth of July, 1876, at

Avondale, O. It being the one-hundredth birthday of the American

Republic, I determined to prepare an oration on the _American Negro_.

I at once began an investigation of the records of the nation to

secure material for the oration. I was surprised and delighted to find

that the historical memorials of the Negro were so abundant, and so

creditable to him. I pronounced my oration on the Fourth of July,

1876; and the warm and generous manner in which it was received, both

by those who listened to it and by others who subsequently read it in

pamphlet form, encouraged me to devote what leisure time I might have

to a further study of the subject.

I found that the library of the Historical and Philosophical Society

of Ohio, and the great _Americana_ of Mr. Robert Clarke containing

about eight thousand titles, both in Cincinnati, offered peculiar

advantages to a student of American history. For two years I spent

what time I could spare from professional cares in studying the whole

problem of the African slave-trade; the founding of the British

colonies in North America; the slave problem in the colonies; the

rupture between the colonies and the British Government; the war of

the Revolution; the political structure of the Continental government

and Confederation; the slavery question in local and national

legislation; and then traced the slavery and anti-slavery question

down to the Rebellion. I became convinced that a history of the

Colored people in America was required, because of the ample

historically trustworthy material at hand; because the Colored people

themselves had been the most vexatious problem in North America, from

the time of its discovery down to the present day; because that in

every attempt upon the life of the nation, whether by foes from

without or within, the Colored people had always displayed a matchless

patriotism and an incomparable heroism in the cause of Americans; and

because such a history would give the world more correct ideas of the

Colored people, and incite the latter to greater effort in the

struggle of citizenship and manhood. The single reason that there was

no history of the Negro race would have been a sufficient reason for

writing one.

The labor incident upon the several public positions held by me

precluded an earlier completion of this task; and, finding it

absolutely impossible to write while discharging public duties or

practising law, I retired from the public service several years ago,

and since that time have devoted all my energies to this work. It is

now nearly seven years since I began this wonderful task.

I have been possessed of a painful sense of the vastness of my work

from first to last. I regret that for the sake of pressing the work

into a single volume, favorable to a speedy sale,--at the sacrifice of

the record of a most remarkable people,--I found my heart unwilling,

and my best judgment protesting.

In the preparation of this work I have consulted over twelve thousand

volumes,--about one thousand of which are referred to in the

footnotes,--and thousands of pamphlets.

After wide and careful reading, extending through three years, I

conceived the present plan of this history. I divided it into nine

parts. Two thoughts led me to prepare the chapters under the head of

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. _First_, The defenders of slavery and the

traducers of the Negro built their pro-slavery arguments upon biblical

ethnology and the curse of Canaan. I am alive to the fact, that, while

I am a believer in the Holy Bible, it is not the best authority on

ethnology. As far as it goes, it is agreeable to my head and heart.

Whatever science has added I have gladly appropriated. I make no

claim, however, to be a specialist. While the curse of Canaan is no

longer a question of debate, yet nevertheless the folly of the

obsolete theory should be thoroughly understood by the young men of

the Negro race who, though voting now, were not born when Sumter was

fired upon. _Second_, A growing desire among the enlightened Negroes

in America to learn all that is possible from research concerning the

antiquity of the race,--Africa, its inhabitants, and the development

of the Negro governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia, led me to

furnish something to meet a felt need. If the Negro slave desired his

native land before the Rebellion, will not the free, intelligent, and

reflective American Negro turn to Africa with its problems of

geography and missions, now that he can contribute something towards

the improvement of the condition of humanity? Editors and writers

everywhere throughout the world should spell the word Negro with a

capital N; and when referring to the race as Colored people employ a

capital C. I trust this will be observed.

In PART II., SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES, I have striven to give a

succinct account of the establishment and growth of slavery under the

English Crown. It involved almost infinite labor to go to the records

of "the original thirteen colonies." It is proper to observe that this

part is one of great value and interest.

In PART III., THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION, I found much of an

almost romantic character. Many traditions have been put down, and

many obscure truths elucidated. Some persons may think it irreverent

to tell the truth in the plain, homely manner that characterizes my

narrative; but, while I have nothing to regret in this particular, I

can assure them that I have been actuated by none other spirit than

that of candor. Where I have used documents it was with a desire to

escape the charge of superficiality. If, however, I may be charged

with seeking to escape the labor incident to thorough digestion, I

answer, that, while men with the reputation of Bancroft and Hildreth

could pass unchallenged when disregarding largely the use of documents

and the citation of authorities, I would find myself challenged by a

large number of critics. Moreover I have felt it would be almost cruel

to mutilate some of the very rare old documents that shed such

peerless light upon the subject in hand.

I have brought the first volume down to the close of the eighteenth

century, detailing the great struggle through which the slavery

problem passed. I have given as fair an idea of the debate on this

question, in the convention that framed the Constitution, as possible.

It was then and there that the hydra of slavery struck its fangs into

the Constitution; and, once inoculated with the poison of the monster,

the government was only able to purify itself in the flames of a great

civil war.

The second volume opens with the present century, and closes with the

year 1880. Unable to destroy slavery by constitutional law, the best

thought and effort of this period were directed against the extension

of the evil into the territory beyond the Ohio, Mississippi, and

Missouri rivers. But having placed three-fifths of the slave

population under the Constitution, having pledged the Constitution to

the protection of slave property, it required an almost superhuman

effort to confine the evil to one section of the country. Like a

loathsome disease it spread itself over the body politic until our

nation became the eyesore of the age, and a byword among the nations

of the world. The time came when our beloved country had to submit to

heroic treatment, and the cancer of slavery was removed by the sword.

In giving an account of the _Anti-Slavery Agitation Movement_, I have

found myself able to deal briefly with methods and results only. I

have striven to honor all the multifarious measures adopted to save

the Negro and the Nation. I have not attempted to write a history of

the Anti-Slavery Movement. Many noble men and women have not even been

mentioned. It should not be forgotten that this is a history of the

Negro race; and as such I have not run into the topic discussed by the

late Henry Wilson in his "Rise and Fall of the Slave Power."

In discussing the problem of the rendition of fugitive slaves by the

Union army, I have given the facts with temperate and honest

criticism. And, in recounting the sufferings Negro troops endured as

prisoners of war in the hands of the Rebels, I have avoided any spirit

of bitterness. A great deal of the material on the war I purchased

from the MS. library of Mr. Thomas S. Townsend of New-York City. The

questions of vital, prison, labor, educational, and financial

statistics cannot fail to interest intelligent people of all races and

parties. These statistics are full of comfort and assurance to the

Negro as well as to his friends.

Every cabinet minister of the President wrote me full information upon

all the questions I asked, and promptly too. The refusal of the

general and adjutant-general of the army did not destroy my hope of

getting some information concerning the Negro regiments in the regular

army. I visited the Indian Territory, Kansas, Texas, and New Mexico,

where I have seen the Ninth and Tenth Regiments of cavalry, and the

Twenty-fourth Regiment of infantry. The Twenty-fifth Regiment of

infantry is at Fort Randall, Dakota. These are among the most

effective troops in the regular army. The annual desertions in white

regiments of cavalry vary from ninety-eight to a hundred and eighteen;

while in Negro regiments of cavalry the desertions only average from

six to nine per annum. The Negro regiments are composed of young men,

intelligent, faithful, brave. I heard but one complaint from the lips

of a score of white officers I met, and that was that the Negroes

sometimes struck their horses over the head. Every distinction in law

has disappeared, except in the regular army. Here Negroes are excluded

from the artillery service and engineer's department. It is wrong, and

Congress should place these brave black soldiers upon the same footing

as the white troops.

I have to thank Drs. George H. Moore and S. Austin Allibone, of the

Lenox Library, for the many kind favors shown me while pursuing my

studies in New-York City. And I am under very great obligations to Dr.

Moore for his admirable "History of Early Slavery in Massachusetts,"

without which I should have been put to great inconvenience. To Mr.

John Austin Stevens, late editor of "The Magazine of American

History," who, during several months residence in New-York City,

placed his private library and office at my service, and did every

thing in his power to aid my investigations, I return my sincerest

thanks. To the Librarians of the New-York Historical, Astor, and

New-York Society Libraries, I return thanks for favors shown, and

privileges granted. I am especially grateful to the Hon. Ainsworth R.

Spofford, Librarian of Congress, for the manner in which he

facilitated my researches during my sojourn in Washington. I had the

use of many newspapers of the last century, and of other material to

be found only in the Congressional Library.

To Sir T. Risely Griffith, Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of Sierra

Leone, I am indebted for valuable statistics concerning that colony.

To the Assistant Librarian of the State Library of Ohio, the

accomplished and efficient Miss Mary C. Harbough, I owe more than to

any other person. Through her unwavering and untiring kindness and

friendship, I have been enabled to use five hundred and seventy-six

volumes from that library, besides newspaper files and Congressional

Records. To Gov. Charles Foster, Chairman of the Board of Library

Commissioners, I offer my profoundest thanks for the intelligent,

active, and practical interest he has taken in the completion of this

work. And to Major Charles Townsend, Secretary of State, I offer

thanks for favors shown me in securing documents. To the Rev. J.L.

Grover and his competent assistant, Mr. Charles H. Bell, of the Public

Library of Columbus, I am indebted for the use of many works. They

cheerfully rendered whatever aid they could, and for their kindness I

return many thanks.

I am obliged to the Rev. Benjamin W. Arnett, Financial Secretary of

the A.M.E. Church of the United States, for the statistics of his

denomination. And to all persons who have sent me newspapers and

pamphlets I desire to return thanks. I am grateful to C.A. Fleetwood,

an efficient clerk in the War Department, for statistics on the

Freedmen's Bank. And, above all and more than all, I return my

profoundest thanks to my heavenly Father for the inspiration, health,

and money by which I have been enabled to complete this great task.

I have mentioned such Colored men as I thought necessary. To give a

biographical sketch of all the worthy Colored men in the United

States, would require more space than has been occupied in this work.

Not as the blind panegyrist of my race, nor as the partisan apologist,

but from a love for "_the truth of history_," I have striven to record

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I have not

striven to revive sectional animosities or race prejudices. I have

avoided comment so far as it was consistent with a clear exposition of

the truth. My whole aim has been to write a thoroughly trustworthy

history; and what I have written, if it have no other merit, is

reliable.

I commit this work to the public, white and black, to the friends and

foes of the Negro, in the hope that the obsolete antagonisms which

grew out of the relation of master and slave may speedily sink as

storms beneath the horizon; and that the day will hasten when there

shall be no North, no South, no Black, no White,--but all be American

citizens, with equal duties and equal rights.

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS.

NEW YORK, November, 1882.

CONTENTS.

Part I.

_PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS_

* * * * *

CHAPTER I.

THE UNITY OF MANKIND.

The Biblical Argument.--One Race and One Language.--One

Blood.--The Curse of Canaan. 1

CHAPTER II.

THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF PHILOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND EGYPTOLOGY.

Cushim and Ethiopia.--Ethiopians, White and Black.--Negro

Characteristics.--The Dark Continent.--The Antiquity of the

Negro.--Indisputable Evidence.--The Military and Social

Condition of Negroes.--Cause of Color.--The Term

"Ethiopian." 12

CHAPTER III.

PRIMITIVE NEGRO CIVILIZATION.

The Ancient and High Degree of Negro Civilization.--Egypt,

Greece, and Rome borrow from the Negro the Civilization that

made them Great.--Cause of the Decline and Fall of Negro

Civilization.--Confounding the Terms "Negro" and "African." 22

CHAPTER IV.

NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA.

BENIN: Its Location.--Its Discovery by the

Portuguese.--Introduction of the Catholic Religion.--The

King as a Missionary.--His Fidelity to the Church purchased

by a White Wife.--Decline of Religion.--Introduction of

Slavery.--Suppression of the Trade by the English

Government.--Restoration and Peace.

DAHOMEY: Its Location.--Origin of the Kingdom.--Meaning of

the Name.--War.--Capture of the English Governor, and his

Death.--The Military Establishment.--Women as

Soldiers.--Wars and their Objects.--Human Sacrifices.--The

King a Despot.--His Powers.--His Wives.--Polygamy.--Kingly

Succession.--Coronation.--Civil and Criminal Law.--Revenue

System.--Its Future.

YORUBA. Its Location.--Slavery and its Abolition--Growth of

the People of Abeokuta.--Missionaries and Teachers from

Sierra Leone.--Prosperity and Peace attend the

People.--Capacity of the People for Civilization.--Bishop

Crowther.--His Influence. 26

CHAPTER V.

THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE.

Its Location and Extent.--Its Famous Kings.--The Origin of

the Ashantees Obscure.--The War with Denkera.--The Ashantees

against the Field conquer two Kingdoms, and annex

them.--Death of Osai Tutu.--The Envy of the King of

Dahomey.--Invasion of the Ashantee Country by the King of

Dahomey.--His Defeat shared by his Allies.--Akwasi pursues

the Army of Dahomey into its own Country.--Gets a Mortal

Wound and suffers a Humiliating Defeat,--The King of Dahomey

sends the Royal Kudjoh his Congratulations.--Kwamina deposed

for attempting to introduce Mohammedanism into the

Kingdom.--The Ashantees conquer the Mohammedans.--Numerous

Wars.--Invasion of the Fanti Country.--Death of Sir Charles

McCarthy.--Treaty.--Peace. 34

CHAPTER VI.

THE NEGRO TYPE.

Climate the Cause.--His Geographical Theatre.--He is

susceptible to Christianity and Civilization. 45

CHAPTER VII.

AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES.

Patriarchal Government.--Construction of Villages.--Negro

Architecture.--Election of Kings.--Coronation

Ceremony.--Succession.--African Queens.--Law, Civil and

Criminal.--Priests.--Their

Functions.--Marriage.--Warfare.--Agriculture.--Mechanic

Arts.--Blacksmiths. 50

CHAPTER VIII.

LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION.

Structure of African Languages.--The Mpongwe, Mandingo, and

Grebo.--Poetry: Epic, Idyllic, and Miscellaneous.--Religions

and Superstitions. 66

CHAPTER IX.

SIERRA LEONE.

Its Discovery and Situation.--Natural Beauty.--Founding of a

Negro Colony.--The Sierra Leone Company.--Fever and

Insubordination.--It becomes an English Province.--Character

of its Inhabitants.--Christian Missions, etc. 85

CHAPTER X.

THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.

Liberia.--Its Location.--Extent.--Rivers and

Mountains.--History of the First Colony.--The Noble Men who

laid the Foundation of the Liberian Republic.--Native

Tribes.--Translation of the New Testament into the Vei

Language.--The Beginning and Triumph of Christian Missions

to Liberia.--History of the Different Denominations on the

Field.--A Missionary Republic of Negroes.--Testimony of

Officers of the Royal Navy as to the Efficiency of the

Republic in suppressing the Slave-Trade.--The Work of the

Future. 95

CHAPTER XI.

RÉSUMÉ.

The Unity of the Human Family re-affirmed.--God gave all

Races of Men Civilization.--The Antiquity of the Negro

beyond Dispute.--Idolatry the Cause of the Degradation of

the African Races.--He has always had a Place in History,

though Incidental.--Negro Type caused by Degradation.--Negro

Empires an Evidence of Crude Ability for

Self-Government.--Influence of the two Christian Governments

on the West Coast upon the Heathen.--Oration on Early

Christianity in Africa.--The Duty of Christianity to

evangelize Africa. 108

* * * * *

Part II.

_SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES_.

CHAPTER XII.

THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA.

1619-1775.

Introduction of the First Slaves.--"The Treasurer" and the

Dutch Man-of-War.--The Correct Date.--The Number of

Slaves.--Were there Twenty, or Fourteen?--Litigation about

the Possession of the Slaves.--Character of the Slaves

imported, and the Character of the Colonists.--Race

Prejudices.--Legal Establishment of Slavery.--Who are Slaves

for Life.--Duties on Imported Slaves.--Political and

Military Prohibitions against Negroes.--Personal

Rights.--Criminal Laws against Slaves.--Emancipation.--How

brought about.--Free Negroes.--Their Rights.--Moral and

Religious Training.--Population.--Slavery firmly

established. 115

CHAPTER XIII.

THE COLONY OF NEW YORK.

1628-1775.

Settlement of New York by the Dutch in 1609.--Negroes

introduced into the Colony, 1628.--The Trade in Negroes

increased.--Tobacco exchanged for Slaves and

Merchandise.--Government of the Colony.--New Netherland

falls into the Hands of the English, Aug. 27, 1664.--Various

Changes.--New Laws adopted.--Legislation.--First

Representatives elected in 1683.--In 1702 Queen Anne

instructs the Royal Governor in Regard to the Importation of

Slaves.--Slavery Restrictions.--Expedition to effect the

Conquest of Canada unsuccessful.--Negro Riot.--Suppressed by

the Efficient Aid of Troops.--Fears of the Colonists.--Negro

Plot of 1741.--The Robbery of Hogg's House.--Discovery of a

Portion of the Goods.--The Arrest of Hughson, his Wife, and

Irish Peggy.--Crimination and Recrimination.--The

Breaking-out of Numerous Fires.--The Arrest of Spanish

Negroes.--The Trial of Hughson.--Testimony of Mary

Burton.--Hughson hanged.--The Arrest of Many Others

implicated in the Plot.--The Hanging of Cæsar and

Prince.--Quack and Cuffee burned at the Stake.--The

Lieutenant-Governor's Proclamation.--Many White Persons

accused of being Conspirators.--Description of Hughson's

Manner of swearing those having Knowledge of the

Plot.--Conviction and Hanging of the Catholic Priest

Ury.--The Sudden and Unexpected Termination of the

Trial.--New Laws more stringent toward Slaves adopted. 134

CHAPTER XIV.

THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS.

1633-1775.

The Earliest Mentions of Negroes in Massachusetts.--Pequod

Indians exchanged for Negroes.--Voyage of the Slave Ship

"Desire" in 1638--Fundamental Laws adopted.--Hereditary

Slavery--Kidnapping Negroes--Growth of Slavery in the

Seventeenth Century--Taxation of Slaves--Introduction of

Indian Slaves prohibited.--The Position of the Church

respecting the Baptism of Slaves--Slave Marriage--Condition

of Free Negroes--Phillis Wheatley the African Poetess.--Her

Life--Slavery recognized in England in Order to be

maintained in the Colonies--The Emancipation of

Slaves.--Legislation favoring the Importation of White

Servants, but prohibiting the Clandestine bringing-in of

Negroes.--Judge Sewall's Attack on Slavery.--Judge Saffin's

Reply to Judge Sewall. 172

CHAPTER XV.

THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS,--CONTINUED.

1633-1775.

The Era of Prohibitory Legislation against Slavery.--Boston

instructs her Representatives to vote against the

Slave-Trade.--Proclamation issued by Gov. Dummer against the

Negroes, April 13, 1723.--Persecution of the

Negroes.--"Suing for Liberty."--Letter of Samuel Adams to

John Pickering, jun., on Behalf of Negro Memorialists.--A

Bill for the Suppression of the Slave-Trade passes.--Is

vetoed by Gov. Gage, and fails to become a Law. 220

CHAPTER XVI.

THE COLONY OF MARYLAND.

1634-1775.

Maryland under the Laws of Virginia until 1630.--First

Legislation on the Slavery Question in 1637-38--Slavery

established by Statute in 1663--The Discussion of

Slavery.--An Act passed encouraging the Importation of

Negroes and White Slaves in 1671.--An Act laying an Impost

on Negroes and White Servants imported into the

Colony.--Duties imposed on Rum and Wine.--Treatment of

Slaves and Papists.--Convicts imported into the Colony--An

Attempt to justify the Convict-Trade.--Spirited

Replies.--The Laws of 1723, 1729, 1752.--Rights of

Slaves--Negro Population in 1728.--Increase of Slavery in

1750--No Efforts made to prevent the Evils of Slavery.--The

Revolution nearing.--New Life for the Negroes. 238

CHAPTER XVII.

THE COLONY OF DELAWARE.

1636-1775.

The Territory of Delaware settled in part by Swedes and

Danes, anterior to the Year 1638.--The Duke of York

transfers the Territory of Delaware to William Penn.--Penn

grants the Colony the Privilege of Separate

Government.--Slavery introduced on the Delaware as early as

1636.--Complaint against Peter Alricks for using Oxen and

Negroes belonging to the Company.--The First Legislation on

the Slavery Question in the Colony.--An Enactment of a Law

for the Better Regulation of Servants.--An Act restraining

Manumission. 249

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT.

1646-1775.

The Founding of Connecticut, 1631-36.--No Reliable Data

given for the Introduction of Slaves.--Negroes were first

introduced by Ship during the Early Years of the

Colony.--"Committee for Trade and Foreign

Plantations."--Interrogating the Governor as to the Number

of Negroes in the Colony in 1680.--The Legislature (1690)

passes a Law pertaining to the Purchase and Treatment of

Slaves and Free Persons.--An Act passed by the General Court

in 1711, requiring Persons manumitting Slaves to maintain

them.--Regulating the Social Conduct of Slaves in 1723.--The

Punishment of Negro, Indian, and Mulatto Slaves, for the Use

of Profane Language, in 1630.--Lawfulness of Indian and

Negro Slavery recognized by Code, Sept. 5, 1646.--Limited

Rights of Free Negroes in the Colony.--Negro Population in

1762.--Act against Importation of Slaves, 1774. 252

CHAPTER XIX.

THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND.

1647-1775.

Colonial Government in Rhode Island, May, 1647.--An Act

passed to abolish Slavery in 1652, but was never

enforced.--An Act specifying what Times Indian and Negro

Slaves should not appear in the Streets.--An Impost-Tax on

Slaves (1708).--Penalties imposed on Disobedient

Slaves.--Anti Slavery Sentiment in the Colonies receives

Little Encouragement.--Circular Letter from the Board of

Trade to the Governor of the English Colonies, relative to

Negro Slaves.--Governor Cranston's Reply.--List of

Militia-Men, including White and black Servants.--Another

Letter from the Board of Trade.--An Act preventing

Clandestine Importations and Exportations of Passengers,

Negroes, or Indian Slaves.--Masters of Vessels required to

report the Names and Number of Passengers to the

Governor.--Violation of the Impost-Tax Law on Slaves

punished by Severe Penalties.--Appropriation by the General

Assembly, July 5, 1715, from the Fund derived from the

Impost Tax, for the paving of the Streets of Newport.--An

Act passed disposing of the Money raised by

Impost-Tax.--Impost-Law repealed, May, 1732.--An Act

relating to freeing Mulatto and Negro Slaves passed 1728--An

Act passed preventing Masters of Vessels from carrying

Slaves out of the Colony, June 17, 1757.--Eve of the

Revolution.--An Act prohibiting Importation of Negroes into

the Colony in 1774.--The Population of Rhode Island in 1730

and 1774. 262

CHAPTER XX.

THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY.

1664-1775.

New Jersey passes into the Hands of the English.--Political

Powers conveyed to Berkeley and Carteret.--Legislation on

the Subject of Slavery during the Eighteenth Century.--The

Colony divided into East and West Jersey.--Separate

Governments.--An Act concerning Slavery by the Legislature

of East Jersey.--General Apprehension respecting the rising

of Negro and Indian Slaves.--East and West Jersey surrender

their Rights of Government to the Queen.--An Act for

regulating the Conduct of Slaves.--Impost-Tax of Ten Pounds

levied upon each Negro imported into the Colony.--The

General Court passes a Law regulating the Trial of

Slaves.--Negroes ruled out of the Militia Establishment upon

Condition.--Population of the Jerseys in 1738 and 1745. 282

CHAPTER XXI.

THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

1665-1775.

The Carolinas receive two Different Charters from the Crown

of Great Britain.--Era of Slavery Legislation.--Law

establishing Slavery.--The Slave Population of this Province

regarded as Chattel Property.--Trial of Slaves.--Increase of

Slave Population.--The Increase in the Rice-Trade.--Severe

Laws regulating the Private and Public Conduct of

Slaves.--Punishment of Slaves for running away.--The Life of

Slaves regarded as of Little Consequence by the Violent

Master Class.--An Act empowering two Justices of the Peace

to investigate Treatment of Slaves.--An Act prohibiting the

Overworking of Slaves.--Slave-Market at

Charleston.--Insurrection.--A Law authorizing the carrying

of Fire-Arms among the Whites.--The Enlistment of Slaves to

serve in Time of Alarm.--Negroes admitted to the Militia

Service.--Compensation to Masters for the Loss of Slaves

killed by the Enemy or who desert.--Few Slaves

manumitted.--From 1754-76, Little Legislation on the Subject

of Slavery.--Threatening War between England and her

Provincial Dependencies.--The Effect upon Public Sentiment. 289

CHAPTER XXII.

THE COLONY OF NORTH CAROLINA.

1669-1775.

The Geographical Situation of North Carolina favorable to

the Slave-Trade.--The Locke Constitution adopted.--William

Sayle commissioned Governor.--Legislative Career of the

Colony.--The Introduction of the Established Church of

England into the Colony.--The Rights of Negroes controlled

absolutely by their Masters.--An Act respecting

Conspiracies.--The Wrath of Ill-natured Whites visited upon

their Slaves.--An Act against the Emancipation of

Slaves.--Limited Rights of Free Negroes. 302

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

1679-1775.

The Provincial Government of Massachusetts exercises

Authority over the State of New Hampshire at its

Organization.--Slavery existed from the Beginning.--The

Governor releases a Slave from Bondage.--Instruction against

Importation of Slaves.--Several Acts regulating the Conduct

of Servants.--The Indifferent Treatment of Slaves.--The

Importation of Indian Servants forbidden.--An Act checking

the Severe Treatment of Servants and Slaves.--Slaves in the

Colony until the Commencement of Hostilities. 309

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

1681-1775.

Organization of the Government of Pennsylvania.--The Swedes

and Dutch plant Settlements on the Western Bank of the

Delaware River.--The Governor of New York seeks to exercise

Jurisdiction over the Territory of Pennsylvania.--The First

Laws agreed upon in England.--Provisions of the

Law.--Memorial against Slavery draughted and adopted by the

Germantown Friends.--William Penn presents a Bill for the

Better Regulation of Servants.--An Act preventing the

Importation of Negroes and Indians.--Rights of Negroes.--A

Duty laid upon Negroes and Mulatto Slaves.--The Quaker the

Friend of the Negro.--England begins to threaten her

Dependencies in North America.--The People of Pennsylvania

reflect upon the Probable Outrages their Negroes might

commit. 312

CHAPTER XXV.

THE COLONY OF GEORGIA.

1732-1775.

Georgia once included in the Territory of Carolina.--The

Thirteenth Colony planted in North America by the English

Government.--Slaves ruled out altogether by the

Trustees.--The Opinion of Gen. Oglethorpe concerning

Slavery.--Long and Bitter Discussion in Regard to the

Admission of Slavery into the Colony.--Slavery

introduced.--History of Slavery in Georgia. 316

* * * * *

Part III.

_THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION_.

CHAPTER XXVI.

MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES.

1775-1780.

The Colonial States in 1715.--Ratification of the

Non-Importation Act by the Southern Colonies.--George

Washington presents Resolutions against Slavery, in a

Meeting at Fairfax Court-House, Va.--Letter written by

Benjamin Franklin to Dean Woodward, pertaining to

Slavery.--Letter to the Freemen of Virginia from a

Committee, concerning the Slaves brought from

Jamaica.--Severe Treatment of Slaves in the Colonies

modified.--Advertisement in "The Boston Gazette" of the

Runaway Slave Crispus Attucks.--The Boston Massacre.--Its

Results.--Crispus Attucks shows his Loyalty.--His Spirited

Letter to the Tory Governor of the Province.--Slaves

admitted into the Army.--The Condition of the Continental

Army.--Spirited Debate in the Continental Congress, over the

Draught of a Letter to Gen. Washington.--Instructions to

discharge all Slaves and Free Negroes in his Army.--Minutes

of the Meeting held at Cambridge.--Lord Dunmore's

Proclamation.--Prejudice in the Southern Colonies.--Negroes

in Virginia flock to the British Army.--Caution to the

Negroes printed in a Williamsburg Paper.--The Virginia

Convention answers the Proclamation of Lord Dunmore.--Gen.

Greene, in a Letter to Gen. Washington, calls Attention to

the raising of a Negro Regiment on Staten Island.--Letter

from a Hessian Officer.--Connecticut Legislature on the

Subject of Employment of Negroes as Soldiers.--Gen. Varnum's

Letter to Gen. Washington, suggesting the Employment of

Negroes, sent to Gov. Cooke.--The Governor refers Varnum's

Letter to the General Assembly.--Minority Protest against

enlisting Slaves to serve in the Army.--Massachusetts tries

to secure Legal Enlistments of Negro Troops.--Letter of

Thomas Kench to the Council and House of Representatives,

Boston, Mass.--Negroes serve in White Organizations until

the Close of the American Revolution.--Negro Soldiers serve

in Virginia.--Maryland employs Negroes.--New York passes an

Act providing for the Raising of two Colored Regiments.--War

in the Middle and Southern Colonies.--Hamilton's Letter to

John Jay.--Col. Laurens's Efforts to raise Negro Troops in

South Carolina.--Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton inducing

Negroes to desert the Rebel Army.--Lord Cornwallis issues a

Proclamation offering Protection to all Negroes seeking his

Command,--Col. Laurens is called to France on Important

Business.--His Plan for securing Black Levies for the South

upon his Return.--His Letters to Gen. Washington in Regard

to his Fruitless Plans.--Capt David Humphreys recruits a

Company of Colored Infantry in Connecticut.--Return of

Negroes in the Army in 1778. 324

CHAPTER XXVII.

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS.

1775-1783.

The Negro as a Soldier.--Battle of Bunker Hill--Gallantry of

Negro Soldiers.--Peter Salem, the Intrepid Black

Soldier.--Bunker-hill Monument.--The Negro Salem Poor

distinguishes himself by Deeds of Desperate Valor.--Capture

of Gen. Lee.--Capture of Gen. Prescott--Battle of Rhode

Island.--Col. Greene commands a Negro Regiment.--Murder of

Col. Greene in 1781.--The Valor of the Negro Soldiers. 363

CHAPTER XXVIII.

LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION

1775-1783.

The Negro was Chattel or Real Property.--His Legal Status

during his New Relation as a Soldier--Resolution introduced

in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to prevent the

selling of Two Negroes captured upon the High Seas--The

Continental Congress appoints a Committee to consider what

should be done with Negroes taken by Vessels of War in the

Service of the United Colonies.--Confederation of the New

States.--Spirited Debate in Congress respecting the Disposal

of Recaptures.--The Spanish Ship "Victoria" captures an

English Vessel having on Board Thirty-four Negroes taken

from South Carolina.--The Negroes recaptured by Vessels

belonging to the State of Massachusetts.--They are delivered

to Thomas Knox, and conveyed to Castle Island.--Col. Paul

Revere has Charge of the Slaves on Castle

Island--Massachusetts passes a Law providing for the

Security, Support, and Exchange of Prisoners brought into

the State.--Gen Hancock receives a Letter from the Governor

of South Carolina respecting the Detention of Negroes--In

the Provincial Articles between the United States of America

and His Britannic Majesty, Negroes were rated as

Property.--And also in the Definite Treaty of Peace between

the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty.--And

also in the Treaty of Peace of 1814, between His Britannic

Majesty and the United States, Negroes were designated as

Property.--Gen. Washington's Letter to Brig-Gen Rufus Putnam

in regard to a Negro in his Regiment claimed by Mr.

Hobby.--Enlistment in the Army did not always work a

Practical Emancipation. 370

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE NEGRO INTELLECT.--BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER.--FULLER THE

MATHEMATICIAN.--DERHAM THE PHYSICIAN.

Statutory Prohibition against the Education of

Negroes.--Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer and

Philosopher.--His Antecedents--Young Banneker as a Farmer

and Inventor--The Mills of Ellicott & Co.--Banneker

cultivates his Mechanical Genius and Mathematical

Tastes.--Banneker's first Calculation of an Eclipse

submitted for Inspection in 1789.--His Letter to Mr

Ellicott.--The Testimony of a Personal Acquaintance of

Banneker as to his Upright Character.--His Home becomes a

Place of Interest to Visitors.--Record of his Business

Transactions.--Mrs. Mason's Visit to him.--She addresses him

in Verse.--Banneker replies by Letter to her.--Prepares his

First Almanac for Publication in 1792.--Title of his

Almanac--Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson.--Thomas

Jefferson's Reply.--Banneker invited to accompany the

Commissioners to run the Lines of the District of

Columbia.--Banneker's Habits of studying the Heavenly

Bodies.--Minute Description given to his Sisters in

Reference to the Disposition of his Personal Property after

Death.--His Death.--Regarded as the most Distinguished Negro

of his Time.--Fuller the Mathematician, or "The Virginia

Calculator."--Fuller of African Birth, but stolen and sold

as a Slave into Virginia.--Visited by Men of Learning.--He

was pronounced to be a Prodigy in the Manipulation of

Figures.--His Death.--Derham the Physician.--Science of

Medicine regarded as the most Intricate Pursuit of

Man.--Early Life of James Derham.--His Knowledge of

Medicine, how acquired.--He becomes a Prominent Physician in

New Orleans.--Dr. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with

him.--What the Negro Race produced by their Genius in

America. 385

CHAPTER XXX.

SLAVERY DURING THE REVOLUTION.

1775-1783.

Progress of the Slave-Trade.--A Great War for the

Emancipation of the Colonies from Political

Bondage.--Condition of the Southern States during the

War.--The Virginia Declaration of Rights.--Immediate

Legislation against Slavery demanded.--Advertisement from

"The Independent Chronicle."--Petition of Massachusetts

Slaves.--An Act preventing the Practice of holding Persons

in Slavery.--Advertisements from "The Continental

Journal."--A Law passed in Virginia limiting the Rights of

Slaves.--Law emancipating all Slaves who served in the

Army.--New York promises her Negro Soldiers Freedom.--A

Conscientious Minority in Favor of the Abolition of the

Slave-Trade.--Slavery flourishes during the Entire

Revolutionary Period. 402

CHAPTER XXXI.

SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM.

1775-1800.

British Colonies in North America declare their

Independence.--A New Government established.--Slavery the

Bane of American Civilization.--The Tory Party accept the

Doctrine of Property in Man.--The Doctrine of the Locke

Constitution in the South.--The Whig Party the Dominant

Political Organization in the Northern States.--Slavery

recognized under the New Government.--Anti Slavery Agitation

in the States.--Attempted Legislation against

Slavery.--Articles of Confederation.--Then Adoption in

1778.--Discussion concerning the Disposal of the Western

Territory.--Mr. Jefferson's Recommendation.--Amendment by

Mr. Spaight.--Congress in New York in 1787.--Discussion

respecting the Government of the Western

Territory.--Convention at Philadelphia to frame the Federal

Constitution.--Proceedings of the Convention.--The Southern

States still advocate Slavery.--Speeches on the Slavery

Question by Leading Statesmen.--Constitution adopted by the

Convention in 1787.--First Session of Congress under the

Federal Constitution held in New York in 1789.--The

Introduction of a Tariff-Bill.--An Attempt to amend it by

inserting a Clause levying a Tax on Slaves brought by

Water.--Extinction of Slavery in Massachusetts.--A Change in

the Public Opinion of the Middle and Eastern States on the

Subject of Slavery.--Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Address to the

Public for promoting the Abolition of Slavery.--Memorial to

the United-States Congress.--Congress in 1790.--Bitter

Discussion on the Restriction of the

Slave-Trade.--Slave-Population.--Vermont and Kentucky

admitted into the Union.--A Law providing for the Return of

Fugitives from "Labor and Service."--Convention of Friends

held in Philadelphia.--An Act against the Foreign

Slave-Trade.--Mississippi Territory.--Constitution of

Georgia revised.--New York passes a Bill for the Gradual

Extinction of Slavery.--Constitution of Kentucky

revised.--Slavery as an Institution firmly established. 412

HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA.

Part I.

_PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS._

CHAPTER I.

THE UNITY OF MANKIND.

THE BIBLICAL ARGUMENT.--ONE RACE AND ONE LANGUAGE.--ONE

BLOOD.--THE CURSE OF CANAAN.

During the last half-century, many writers on ethnology, anthropology,

and slavery have strenuously striven to place the Negro outside of the

human family; and the disciples of these teachers have endeavored to

justify their views by the most dehumanizing treatment of the Negro.

But, fortunately for the Negro and for humanity at large, we live now

in an epoch when race malice and sectional hate are disappearing

beneath the horizon of a brighter and better future. The Negro in

America is free. He is now an acknowledged factor in the affairs of

the continent; and no community, state, or government, in this period

of the world's history, can afford to be indifferent to his moral,

social, intellectual, or political well-being.

It is proposed, in the first place, to call the attention to the

absurd charge that the Negro does not belong to the human family.

Happily, there are few left upon the face of the earth who still

maintain this belief.

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis it is clearly stated that

"God created man," "male and female created he them;"[1] that "the

Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his

nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul;"[2] and

that "the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden

to dress it and to keep it."[3] It is noticeable that the sacred

historian, in every reference to Adam, speaks of him as "_man_;" and

that the divine injunction to them was,--Adam and Eve,--"Be fruitful,

and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have

dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and

over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."[4] As among the

animals, so here in the higher order, there were two,--a pair,--"male

and female," of the human species. We may begin with man, and run down

the scale, and we are sure to find two of a kind, "male and female."

This was the divine order. But they were to "be fruitful," were to

"replenish the earth." That they did "multiply," we have the

trustworthy testimony of God; and it was true that man and beast, fowl

and fish, increased. We read that after their expulsion from the

Garden of Eden, Eve bore Adam a family. Cain and Abel; and that they

"peopled the earth."

After a number of years we find that wickedness increased in the

earth; so much so that the Lord was provoked to destroy the earth with

a flood, with the exception of Noah, his wife, his three sons and

their wives,--eight souls in all.[5] Of the animals, two of each kind

were saved.

But the most interesting portion of Bible history comes after the

Flood. We then have the history of the confusion of tongues, and the

subsequent and consequent dispersion of mankind. In the eleventh

chapter and first verse of Genesis it is recorded: "_And the_ WHOLE

EARTH _was of_ ONE LANGUAGE, _and of_ ONE SPEECH." "The whole earth"

here means all the inhabitants of the earth,--all mankind. The medium

of communication was common. Everybody used one language. In the sixth

verse occurs this remarkable language: "And the Lord said, Behold, the

people is _one_, and they have all _one_ language." Attention is

called to this verse, because we have here the testimony of the Lord

that "the people is _one_," and that the language of the people is

one. This verse establishes two very important facts; i.e., there was

but one nationality, and hence but one language. The fact that they

had but one language furnishes reasonable proof that they were of one

blood; and the historian has covered the whole question very

carefully by recording the great truth that they were _one people_,

and had but _one language_. The seventh, eighth, and ninth verses of

the eleventh chapter are not irrelevant: "Go to, let us go down, and

there confound their language, that they may not understand one

another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon

the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there

confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord

scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

It was the wickedness of the people that caused the Lord to disperse

them, to confound their speech, and bring to nought their haughty

work. Evidently this was the beginning of different families of

men,--different nationalities, and hence different languages. In the

ninth verse it reads, that "from thence did the Lord scatter them

abroad upon the face of all the earth." There is no ambiguity about

this language. He did not only "confound their language," but

"scattered them from thence," from Babel, "upon the face of all the

earth." Here, then, are two very important facts: their _language_ was

_confused_, and they _were_ "_scattered_." They were not only

"scattered," they were "scattered _abroad upon the face of all_ the

earth." That is, they were dispersed very widely, sent into the

various and remote parts of the earth; and their nationality received

its being from the latitudes to which the divinely appointed wave of

dispersion bore them; and their subsequent racial character was to

borrow its tone and color from climateric influences. Three great

families, the Shemitic, Hamitic, and Japhetic, were suddenly built up.

Many other families, or tribes, sprang from these; but these were the

three great heads of all subsequent races of men.

"That the three sons of Noah overspread and peopled the

whole earth, is so expressly stated in Scripture, that, had

we not to argue against those who unfortunately disbelieve

such evidence, we might here stop: let us, however, inquire

how far the truth of this declaration is substantiated by

other considerations. Enough has been said to show that

there is a curious, if not a remarkable, analogy between the

predictions of Noah on the future descendants of his three

sons, and the actual state of those races which are

generally supposed to have sprung from them. It may here be

again remarked, that, to render the subject more clear, we

have adopted the quinary arrangement of Professor

Blumenbach: yet that Cuvier and other learned physiologists

are of opinion that the primary varieties of the human form

are more properly but three; viz., the Caucasian, Mongolian,

and Ethiopian. This number corresponds with that of Noah's

sons. Assigning, therefore, the Mongolian race to Japheth,

and the Ethiopian to Ham, the Caucasian, the noblest race,

will belong to Shem, the third son of Noah, himself

descended from Seth, the third son of Adam. That the primary

distinctions of the human varieties are but _three_, has

been further maintained by the erudite Prichard; who, while

he rejects the nomenclature both of Blumenbach and Cuvier,

as implying absolute divisions, arranges the leading

varieties of the human skull under three sections, differing

from those of Cuvier only by name. That the three sons of

Noah who were to 'replenish the earth,' and on whose progeny

very opposite destinies were pronounced, should give birth

to different races, is what might reasonably be conjectured;

but that the observation of those who do, and of those who

do not, believe the Mosaic history, should tend to confirm

truth, by pointing out in what these three races do actually

differ, both physically and morally, is, to say the least, a

singular coincidence. It amounts, in short, to a presumptive

evidence, that a mysterious and very beautiful analogy

pervades throughout, and teaches us to look beyond natural

causes in attempting to account for effects apparently

interwoven in the plans of Omnipotence."[6]

In the seventeenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, twenty-sixth

verse, we find the following language: "And hath made of one blood all

nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath

determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their

habitation."[7] The Apostle Paul was a missionary. He was, at this

time, on a mission to the far-famed city of Athens,--"the eye of

Greece, and the fountain of learning and philosophy." He told the "men

of Athens," that, as he travelled through their beautiful city, he had

not been unmindful of its attractions; that he had not been

indifferent to the claims of its citizens to scholarship and culture,

and that among other things he noticed an altar erected to _an unknown

God_. He went on to remark, that, great as their city and nation were,

God, whose offspring they were, had created other nations, who lived

beyond their verdant hills and swelling rivers. And, moreover, that

God had created "all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of

the earth" out "of one blood." He called their attention to the

fact that God had fenced all the nations in by geographical

boundaries,--had fixed the limits of their habitation.

We find two leading thoughts in the twenty-sixth verse; viz., that

this passage establishes clearly and unmistakably the unity of

mankind, in that God created them of one blood; second, he hath

determined "the bounds of their habitation,"--hath located them

geographically. The language quoted is very explicit. "He hath

determined the bounds of their habitation," that is, "all the nations

of men.[8] We have, then, the fact, that there are different "nations

of men," and that they are all "of one blood," and, therefore, have a

common parent. This declaration was made by the Apostle Paul, an

inspired writer, a teacher of great erudition, and a scholar in both

the Hebrew and the Greek languages.

It should not be forgotten either, that in Paul's masterly discussion

of the doctrine of sin,--the fall of man,--he always refers to Adam as

the "one man" by whom sin came into the world.[9] His Epistle to the

Romans abounds in passages which prove very plainly the unity of

mankind. The Acts of the Apostles, as well as the Gospels, prove the

unity we seek to establish.

But there are a few who would admit the unity of mankind, and still

insist that the Negro does not belong to the human family. It is so

preposterous, that one has a keen sense of humiliation in the assured

consciousness that he goes rather low to meet the enemies of God's

poor; but it can certainly do no harm to meet them with the

everlasting truth.

In the Gospel of Luke we read this remarkable historical statement:

"And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian,

coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he

might bear it after Jesus."[10] By referring to the map, the reader

will observe that Cyrene is in Libya, on the north coast of Africa.

All the commentators we have been able to consult, on the passage

quoted below, agree that this man Simon was a Negro,--a black man.

John Melville produced a very remarkable sermon from this passage.[11]

And many of the most celebrated pictures of "The Crucifixion," in

Europe, represent this Cyrenian as black, and give him a very

prominent place in the most tragic scene ever witnessed on this earth.

In the Acts of the Apostles we have a very full and interesting

account of the conversion and immersion of the Ethiopian eunuch, "a

man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of

the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come

to Jerusalem for to worship."[12] Here, again, we find that all the

commentators agree as to the nationality of the eunuch: he was a

Negro; and, by implication, the passage quoted leads us to the belief

that the Ethiopians were a numerous and wealthy people. Candace was

the queen that made war against Augustus Cæsar twenty years before

Christ, and, though not victorious, secured an honorable peace.[13]

She reigned in Upper Egypt,--up the Nile,--and lived at Meroe, that

ancient city, the very cradle of Egyptian civilization.[14]

"In the time of our Saviour (and indeed from that time

forward), by Ethiopia was meant, in a general sense, the

countries south of Egypt, then but imperfectly known; of one

of which that Candace was queen whose eunuch was baptized by

Philip. Mr. Bruce, on his return from Abyssinia, found in

latitude 16° 38' a place called Chendi, where the reigning

sovereign was then a queen; and where a tradition existed

that a woman, by name Hendaque (which comes as near as

possible to the Greek name [Greek: Chandakê]), once governed

all that country. Near this place are extensive ruins,

consisting of broken pedestals and obelisks, which Bruce

conjectures to be those of Meroe, the capital of the African

Ethiopia, which is described by Herodotus as a great city in

his time, namely, four hundred years before Christ; and

where, separated from the rest of the world by almost

impassable deserts, and enriched by the commercial

expeditions of their travelling brethren, the Cushites

continued to cultivate, so late as the first century of the

Christian era, some portions of those arts and sciences to

which the settlers in the cities had always more or less

devoted themselves."[15]

But a few writers have asserted, and striven to prove, that the

Egyptians and Ethiopians are quite a different people from the Negro.

Jeremiah seems to have understood that these people about whom we have

been writing were Negroes,--we mean black. "Can the Ethiopian," asks

the prophet, "change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" The prophet

was as thoroughly aware that the Ethiopian was black, as that the

leopard had spots; and Luther's German has for the word "Ethiopia,"

"Negro-land,"--the country of the blacks.[16] The word "Ethiop" in

the Greek literally means "sunburn."

That these Ethiopians were black, we have, in addition to the valuable

testimony of Jeremiah, the scholarly evidence of Herodotus, Homer,

Josephus, Eusebius, Strabo, and others.

It will be necessary for us to use the term "Cush" farther along in

this discussion: so we call attention at this time to the fact, that

the Cushites, so frequently referred to in the Scriptures, are the

same as the Ethiopians.

Driven from unscriptural and untenable ground on the unity of the

races of mankind, the enemies of the Negro, falling back in confusion,

intrench themselves in the curse of Canaan. "And Noah awoke from his

wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said,

Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his

brethren."[17] This passage was the leading theme of the defenders of

slavery in the pulpit for many years. Bishop Hopkins says,--

"The heartless irreverence which Ham, the father of Canaan,

displayed toward his eminent parent, whose piety had just

saved him from the Deluge, presented the immediate

_occasion_ for this remarkable prophecy; but the actual

_fulfilment_ was reserved for his posterity after they had

lost the knowledge of God, and become utterly polluted by

the abominations of heathen idolatry. The Almighty,

foreseeing this total degradation of the race, ordained them

to servitude or slavery under the descendants of Shem and

Japheth, doubtless because _he judged it to be their fittest

condition_. And all history proves how accurately the

prediction has been accomplished, even to the present

day."[18]

Now, the first thing to be done by those who adopt this view is, to

prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Noah was inspired to pronounce

this prophecy. Noah _had_ been, as a rule, a righteous man. For more

than a hundred years he had lifted up his voice against the growing

wickedness of the world. His fidelity to the cause of God was

unquestioned; and for his faith and correct living, he and his entire

household were saved from the Deluge. But after his miraculous

deliverance from the destruction that overcame the old world, his

entire character is changed. There is not a single passage to show us

that he continued his avocation as a preacher. He became a husbandman;

he kept a vineyard; and, more than all, he drank of the wine and got

drunk! Awaking from a state of inebriation, he knew that Ham had

beheld his nakedness and "told his two brethren." But "Shem and

Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and

went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their

faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness."[19]

It is quite natural to suppose, that, humiliated and chagrined at his

sinful conduct, and angered at the behavior of his son and grandson,

Ham and Canaan, Noah expressed his disapprobation of Canaan. It was

_his_ desire, on the impulse of the moment, that Canaan should suffer

a humiliation somewhat commensurate with his offence; and, on the

other hand, it was appropriate that he should commend the conduct of

his other sons, who sought to hide their father's shame. And all this

was done without any inspiration. He simply expressed himself as a

fallible man.

Bishop Hopkins, however, is pleased to call this a "prophecy." In

order to prophesy, in the scriptural meaning of the word, a man must

have the divine unction, and must be moved by the Holy Ghost; and, in

addition to this, it should be said, that a true prophecy always comes

to pass,--is sure of fulfilment. Noah was not inspired when he

pronounced his curse against Canaan, for the sufficient reason that it

was not fulfilled. He was not speaking in the spirit of prophecy when

he blessed Shem and Japheth, for the good reason that their

descendants have often been in bondage. Now, if these words of Noah

were prophetic, were inspired of God, we would naturally expect to

find _all of Canaan's descendants in bondage_, and all of Shem's out

of bondage,--free! If this prophecy--granting this point to the

learned bishop for argument's sake--has not been fulfilled, then we

conclude one of two things; namely, these are not the words of God, or

they have not been fulfilled. But they were not the words of prophecy,

and consequently never had any divine authority. It was Canaan upon

whom Noah pronounced the curse: and Canaan was the son of Ham; and

Ham, it is said, is the progenitor of the Negro race. The Canaanites

were not bondmen, but freemen,--powerful tribes when the Hebrews

invaded their country; and from the Canaanites descended the bold and

intelligent Carthaginians, as is admitted by the majority of writers

on this subject. From Ham proceeded the Egyptians, Libyans, the

Phutim, and the Cushim or Ethiopians, who, colonizing the African

side of the Red Sea, subsequently extended themselves indefinitely to

the west and south of that great continent. Egypt was called Chemia,

or the country of Ham; and it has been thought that the Egyptian's

deity, Hammon or Ammon, was a deification of Ham.[20] The

Carthaginians were successful in numerous wars against the sturdy

Romans. So in this, as in many other instances, the prophecy of Noah

failed.

Following the chapter containing the prophecy of Noah, the historian

records the genealogy of the descendants of Ham and Canaan. We will

quote the entire account that we may be assisted to the truth.

"And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and

Canaan; and the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah,

and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and

Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in

the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore

it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the

Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech,

and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that

land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city

Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah:

the same is a great city. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and

Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and

Casluhim (out of whom came Philistim), and Caphtorim. And

Canaan begat Sidon his first-born, and Heth, and the

Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the

Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite,

and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the

families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the border of

the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto

Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah,

and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. These are the sons of Ham,

after their families, after their tongues, in their

countries, and in their nations."[21]

Here is a very minute account of the family of Ham, who it is said was

to share the fate of his son Canaan, and a clear account of the

children of Canaan. "Nimrod," says the record, "began to be a mighty

one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.... And the

beginning of his kingdom," etc. We find that Cush was the oldest son

of Ham, and the father of Nimrod the "mighty one in the earth," whose

"kingdom" was so extensive. He founded the Babylonian empire, and was

the father of the founder of the city of Nineveh, one of the grandest

cities of the ancient world. These wonderful achievements were of the

children of Cush, the ancestor of the Negroes. It is fair to suppose

that this line of Ham's posterity was not lacking in powers necessary

to found cities and kingdoms, and maintain government.

Thus far we have been enabled to see, according to the Bible record,

that the posterity of Canaan did not go into bondage; that it was a

powerful people, both in point of numbers and wealth; and, from the

number and character of the cities it built, we infer that it was an

intellectual posterity. We conclude that thus far there is no

evidence, from a biblical standpoint, that Noah's prophecy was

fulfilled. But, notwithstanding the absence of scriptural proof as to

the bondage of the children of Canaan, the venerable Dr. Mede says,

"There never has been a son of Ham who has shaken a sceptre over the

head of Japheth. Shem has subdued Japheth, and Japheth has subdued

Shem; but Ham has never subdued either." The doctor is either

falsifying the facts of history, or is ignorant of history. The

Hebrews were in bondage in Egypt for centuries. Egypt was peopled by

Misraim, the second son of Ham. Who were the Shemites? They were

Hebrews! The Shemites were in slavery to the Hamites. Melchizedek,

whose name was expressive of his character,--_king of righteousness_

(or a righteous king), was a worthy priest of the most high God; and

Abimelech, whose name imports _parental king_, pleaded the integrity

of his heart and the righteousness of his nation before God, and his

plea was admitted. Yet both these personages appear to have been

Canaanites."[22] Melchizedek and Abimelech were Canaanites, and the

most sacred and honorable characters in Old-Testament history. It was

Abraham, a Shemite, who, meeting Melchizedek, a Canaanite, gave him a

tenth of all his spoils. It was Nimrod, a Cushite, who "went to Asher,

and built Nineveh," after subduing the Shemites, So it seems very

plain that Noah's prophecy did not come true in every respect, and

that it was not the word of God. "And God blessed Noah and his

sons."[23] God pronounces his blessing upon this entire family, and

enjoins upon them to "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the

earth." Afterwards Noah seeks to abrogate the blessing of God by his

"cursed be Canaan." But this was only the bitter expression of a

drunken and humiliated parent lacking divine authority. No doubt he

and his other two sons conformed their conduct to the spirit of the

curse pronounced, and treated the Hamites accordingly. The scholarly

Dr. William Jones[24] says that Ham was the youngest son of Noah; that

he had four sons, Cush, Misraim, Phut, and Canaan; and that they

peopled Africa and part of Asia.[25] The Hamites were the offspring of

Noah, and one of the three great families that have peopled the

earth.[26]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Gen. i. 27.

[2] Gen. ii. 7.

[3] Gen. ii. 15.

[4] Gen. i. 28.

[5] Gen. vi. 5_sq._

[6] Encycl. of Geo., p. 255.

[7] If the Apostle Paul had asserted that all men resembled each other

in the color of their skin and the texture of their hair, or even in

their physiological make-up, he would have been at war with

observation and critical investigation. But, having announced a

wonderful truth in reference to the unity of the human race as based

upon one blood, science comes to his support, and through the

microscope reveals the corpuscles of the blood, and shows that the

globule is the same in all human blood.

[8] Deut. xxxii. 8, 9: "When the Most High divided to the nations

their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the

bounds of the people according to the number of the children of

Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his

inheritance."

[9] Rom. v. 12, 14-21.

[10] Luke xxiii, 26: Acts vi. 9, also second chapter, tenth verse.

Matthew records the same fact in the twenty-seventh chapter,

thirty-second verse. "And at they came out, they found a man of

Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross."

[11] See Melville's Sermons.

[12] Acts viii. 27.

[13] Pliny says the Ethiopian government subsisted for several

generations in the hands of queens whose name was _Candace_.

[14] See Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon.

[15] Jones's Biblical Cyclopædia, p. 311.

[16] The term Ethiope was anciently given to all those whose color was

darkened by the sun.--_Smyth's Unity of the Human Races_, chap. i. p.

34.

[17] Gen. ix. 24, 25. See also the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh

verses.

[18] Bible Views of Slavery, p. 7.

[19] Gen. ix. 23.

[20] Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride. See also Dr. Morton, and

Ethnological Journal, 4th No p. 172.

[21] Gen. x. 6-20.

[22] Dr. Bush.

[23] Gen. ix. I.

[24] Jones's Biblical Cyclopædia, p. 393. Ps. lxxviii. 51.

[25] Ps. cv. 23.

[26] If Noah's utterance were to be regarded as a prophecy, it applied

only to the Canaanites, the descendants of Canaan, Noah's grandson.

Nothing is said in reference to any person but Canaan in the supposed

prophecy.

CHAPTER II.

THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF PHILOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND EGYPTOLOGY.

CUSHIM AND ETHIOPIA.--ETHIOPIANS, WHITE AND BLACK.--NEGRO

CHARACTERISTICS.--THE DARK CONTINENT.--THE ANTIQUITY OF THE

NEGRO.--INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE.--THE MILITARY AND SOCIAL

CONDITION OF NEGROES.--CAUSE OF COLOR.--THE TERM ETHIOPIAN.

There seems to be a great deal of ignorance and confusion in the use

of the word "Negro;"[27] and about as much trouble attends the proper

classification of the inhabitants of Africa. In the preceding chapter

we endeavored to prove, not that Ham and Canaan were the progenitors

of the Negro races,--for that is admitted by the most consistent

enemies of the blacks,--but that the human race is _one_, and that

Noah's curse was not a divine prophecy.

The term "Negro" seems to be applied chiefly to the dark and

woolly-haired people who inhabit Western Africa. But the Negro is to

be found also in Eastern Africa.[28] Zonaras says, "Chus is the person

from whom the Cuseans are derived. They are the same people as the

Ethiopians." This view is corroborated by Josephus.[29] Apuleius, and

Eusebius. The Hebrew term "Cush" is translated Ethiopia by the

Septuagint, Vulgate, and by almost all other versions, ancient and

modern, as well as by the English version. "It is not, therefore, to

be doubted that the term '_Cushim_' has by the interpretation of all

ages been translated by 'Ethiopians,' because they were also known by

their black color, and their transmigrations, which were easy and

frequent."[30] But while it is a fact, supported by both sacred and

profane history, that the terms "Cush" and "Ethiopian" were used

interchangeably, there seems to be no lack of proof that the same

terms were applied frequently to a people who were not Negroes. It

should be remembered, moreover, that there were nations who were

black, and yet were not Negroes. And the only distinction amongst all

these people, who are branches of the Hamitic family, is the texture

of the hair. "But it is _equally_ certain, as we have seen, that the

term 'Cushite' is applied in Scripture to other branches of the same

family; as, for instance, to the Midianites, from whom Moses selected

his wife, and who could not have been Negroes. The term 'Cushite,'

therefore, is used in Scripture as denoting nations who were not

black, or in any respect Negroes, and also countries south of Egypt,

whose inhabitants were Negroes; and yet both races are declared to be

the descendants of Cush, the son of Ham. Even in Ezekiel's day the

interior African nations were not of one race; for he represents Cush,

Phut, Lud, and Chub, as either themselves constituting, or as being

amalgamated with, 'a mingled people' (Ezek. xxx. 5); 'that is to say,'

says Faber, 'it was a nation of Negroes who are represented as very

numerous,--_all_ the mingled people.'"[31]

The term "Ethiopia" was anciently given to all those whose color was

darkened by the sun. Herodotus, therefore, distinguishes the Eastern

Ethiopians who had straight hair, from the Western Ethiopians who had

curly or woolly hair.[32]. They are a twofold people, lying extended

in a long tract from the rising to the setting sun."[33]

The conclusion is patent. The words "Ethiopia" and "Cush" were used

always to describe a black people, or the country where such a people

lived. The term "Negro," from the Latin "_niger_" and the French

"_noir_," means black; and consequently is a modern term, with all the

original meaning of Cush and Ethiopia, with a single exception. We

called attention above to the fact that all Ethiopians were not of the

pure Negro type, but were nevertheless a branch of the original

Hamitic family from whence sprang all the dark races. The term "Negro"

is now used to designate the people, who, in addition to their dark

complexion, have curly or woolly hair. It is in this connection that

we shall use the term in this work.[34]

Africa, the home of the indigenous dark races, in a geographic and

ethnographic sense, is the most wonderful country in the world It is

thoroughly tropical. It has an area in English square miles of

11,556,600, with a population of 192,520,000 souls. It lies between

the latitudes of 38° north and 35° south; and is, strictly speaking,

an enormous peninsula, attached to Asia by the Isthmus of Suez. The

most northern point is the cape, situated a little to the west of Cabo

Blanco, and opposite Sicily, which lies in latitude 37° 20' 40" north,

longitude 9° 41' east. Its southernmost point is Cabo d'Agulhas, in

34° 49' 15" south; the distance between these two points being 4,330

geographical, or about 5,000 English miles. The westernmost point is

Cabo Verde, in longitude 17° 33' west; its easternmost, Cape

Jerdaffun, in longitude 51° 21' east, latitude 10° 25' north, the

distance between the two points being about the same as its length.

The western coasts are washed by the Atlantic, the northern by the

Mediterranean, and the eastern by the Indian Ocean. The shape of this

"dark continent" is likened to a triangle or to an Oval. It is rich in

oils, ivory, gold, and precious timber. It has beautiful lakes and

mighty rivers, that are the insoluble problems of the present times.

Of the antiquity of the Negro there can be no doubt. He is known as

thoroughly to history as any of the other families of men. He appears

at the first dawn of history, and has continued down to the present

time. The scholarly Gliddon says, that "the hieroglyphical designation

of 'KeSH,' exclusively applied to _African_ races as distinct from the

Egyptian, has been found by Lepsius as far back as the monuments of

the sixth dynasty, 3000 B.C. But the great influx of Negro and Mulatto

races into Egypt as captives dated from the twelfth dynasty; when,

about the twenty-second century, B.C., Pharaoh SESOUR-TASEN extended

his conquests up the Nile far into Nigritia. After the eighteenth

dynasty the monuments come down to the third century, A.D., without

one single instance in the Pharaonic or Ptolemaic periods that Negro

labor was ever directed to any agricultural or utilitarian

objects."[35] The Negro was found in great numbers with the Sukim,

Thut, Lubin, and other African nations, who formed the strength of the

army of the king of Egypt, Shishak, when he came against Rehoboam in

the year 971 B.C.; and in his tomb, opened in 1849, there were found

among his depicted army the exact representation of the genuine Negro

race, both in color, hair, and physiognomy. Negroes are also

represented in Egyptian paintings as connected with the military

campaigns of the eighteenth dynasty. They formed a part of the army of

Ibrahim Pacha, and were prized as gallant soldiers at Moncha and in

South Arabia.[36] And Herodotus assures us that Negroes were found in

the armies of Sesostris and Xerxes; and, at the present time, they are

no inconsiderable part of the standing army of Egypt.[37] Herodotus

states that eighteen of the Egyptian kings were Ethiopians.[38]

It is quite remarkable to hear a writer like John P. Jeffries, who

evidently is not very friendly in his criticisms of the Negro, make

such a positive declaration as the following:--

"Every rational mind must, therefore, readily conclude that

the African race has been in existence, as a distinct

people, over four thousand two hundred years; and how long

before that period is a matter of conjecture only, there

being no reliable data upon which to predicate any reliable

opinion."[39]

It is difficult to find a writer on ethnology, ethnography, or

Egyptology, who doubts the antiquity of the Negroes as a distinct

people. Dr. John C. Nott of Mobile, Ala., a Southern man in the widest

meaning, in his "Types of Mankind," while he tries to make his book

acceptable to Southern slaveholders, strongly maintains the antiquity

of the Negro.

"Ethnological science, then, possesses not only the

authoritative testimonies of Lepsius and Birch in proof of

the existence of Negro races during the twenty-fourth

century, B.C., but, the same fact being conceded by all

living Egyptologists, we may hence infer that these

Nigritian types were contemporary with the earliest

Egyptians."[40]

In 1829 there was a remarkable Theban tomb opened by Mr. Wilkinson,

and in 1840 it was carefully examined by Harris and Gliddon. There is

a most wonderful collection of Negro scenes in it. Of one of these

scenes even Dr. Nott says,--

"A Negress, apparently a princess, arrives at Thebes, drawn

in a plaustrum by a pair of humped oxen, the driver and

groom being red-colored Egyptians, and, one might almost

infer, eunuchs. Following her are multitudes of Negroes and

Nubians, bringing tribute from the upper country, as well as

black slaves of both sexes and all ages, among which are

some _red_ children, whose _fathers_ were Egyptians. The

cause of her advent seems to have been to make offerings in

the tomb of a 'royal son of KeS_h_--Amunoph,' who may have

been her husband."[41]

It is rather strange that the feelings of Dr. Nott toward the Negro

were so far mollified as to allow him to make a statement that

destroys his heretofore specious reasoning about the political and

social status of the Negro. He admits the antiquity of the Negro; but

makes a special effort to place him in a servile state at all times,

and to present him as a vanquished vassal before Ramses III. and other

Egyptian kings. He sees no change in the Negro's condition, except

that in slavery he is better fed and clothed than in his native home.

But, nevertheless, the Negress of whom he makes mention, and the

entire picture in the Theban tomb, put down the learned doctor's

argument. Here is a Negro princess with Egyptian driver and groom,

with a large army of attendants, going on a long journey to the tomb

of her royal husband!

There is little room here to question the political and social

conditions of the Negroes.[42] They either had enjoyed a long and

peaceful rule, or by their valor in offensive warfare had won

honorable place by conquest. And the fact that black slaves are

mentioned does not in any sense invalidate the historical

trustworthiness of the pictures found in this Theban tomb; for

Wilkinson says, in reference to the condition of society at this

period,--

"It is evident that both white and black slaves were

employed as servants; they attended on the guests when

invited to the house of their master; and, from their being

in the families of priests as well as of the military

chiefs, we may infer that they were purchased with money,

and that the right of possessing slaves was not confined to

those who had taken them in war. The traffic in slaves was

tolerated by the Egyptians; and it is reasonable to suppose

that many persons were engaged ... in bringing them to Egypt

for public sale, independent of those who were sent as part

of the tribute, and who were probably, at first, the

property of the monarch; nor did any difficulty occur to the

Ishmaelites in the purchase of Joseph from his brethren, nor

in his subsequent sale to Potiphar on arriving in Egypt."

So we find that slavery was not, at this time, confined to any

particular race of people. This Negro princess was as liable to

purchase white as black slaves; and doubtless some were taken in

successful wars with other nations, while others were purchased as

servants.

But we have further evidence to offer in favor of the antiquity of the

Negro. In Japan, and in many other parts of the East, there are to be

found stupendous and magnificent temples, that are hoary with age. It

is almost impossible to determine the antiquity of some of them, in

which the idols are exact representations of woolly-haired Negroes,

although the inhabitants of those countries to-day have straight hair.

Among the Japanese, black is considered a color of good omen. In the

temples of Siam we find the idols fashioned like unto Negroes.[43]

Osiris, one of the principal deities of the Egyptians, is frequently

represented as black.[44] Bubastis, also, the Diana of Greece, and a

member of the great Egyptian Triad, is now on exhibition in the

British Museum, sculptured in black basalt silting figure.[45] Among

the Hindus, Kali, the consort of Siva, one of their great Triad;

Crishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu; and Vishnu also himself,

the second of the Trimerti or Hindu Triad, are represented of a black

color.[46] Dr. Morton says,--

"The Sphinx may have been the shrine of the Negro population

of Egypt, who, as a people, were unquestionably under our

average size. Three million Buddhists in Asia represent

their chief deity, Buddha, with Negro features and hair.

There are two other images of Buddha, one at Ceylon and the

other at Calanee, of which Lieut. Mahoney says, 'Both these

statues agree in having crisped hair and long, pendent

ear-rings,'"[47]

And the learned and indefatigable Hamilton Smith says,--

"In the plains of India are Nagpoor, and a ruined city

without name at the gates of Benares (perhaps the real Kasi

of tradition), once adorned with statues of a woolly-haired

race."[48]

Now, these substantial and indisputable traces of the march of the

Negro races through Japan and Asia lead us to conclude that the Negro

race antedates all profane history. And while the great body of the

Negro races have been located geographically in Africa, they have

been, in no small sense, a cosmopolitan people. Their wanderings may

be traced from the rising to the setting sun.

"The remains of architecture and sculpture in India seem to

prove an early connection between that country and

Africa.... The Pyramids of Egypt, the colossal statues

described by Pausanias and others, the Sphinx, and the

Hermes Canis, which last bears a strong resemblance to the

Varaha Avatar, indicate the style of the same indefatigable

workmen who formed the vast excavations of Canarah, the

various temples and images of Buddha, and the idols which

are continually dug up at Gaya or in its vicinity. These and

other indubitable facts may induce no ill-grounded opinion,

that Ethiopia and Hindustan were peopled or colonized by the

same extraordinary race; in confirmation of which it may be

added, that the mountaineers of Bengal and Benhar can hardly

be distinguished in some of their features, particularly in

their lips and noses, from the modern Abyssinians."[49]

There is little room for speculation here to the candid searcher after

truth. The evidence accumulates as we pursue our investigations.

Monuments and temples, sepulchred stones and pyramids, rise up to

declare the antiquity of the Negro races. Hamilton Smith, after

careful and critical investigation, reaches the conclusion, that the

Negro type of man was the most ancient, and the indigenous race of

Asia, as far north as the lower range of the Himalaya Mountains, and

presents at length many curious facts which cannot, he believes, be

otherwise explained.

"In this view, the first migrations of the Negro stock,

coasting westward by catamarans, or in wretched canoes, and

skirting South-western Asia, may synchronize with the

earliest appearance of the Negro tribes of Eastern Africa,

and just precede the more mixed races, which, like the

Ethiopians of Asia, passed the Red Sea at the Straits of

Bab-el-Mandeb, ascended the Nile, or crossed that river to

the west."[50]

Taking the whole southern portion of Asia westward to Arabia, this

conjecture--which likewise was a conclusion drawn, after patient

research, by the late Sir T. Stanford Raffles--accounts, more

satisfactorily than any other, for the Oriental habits, ideas,

traditions, and words which can be traced among several of the present

African tribes and in the South-Sea Islands. Traces of this black race

are still found along the Himalaya range from the Indus to Indo-China,

and the Malay peninsula, and in a mixed form all through the southern

states to Ceylon.[51]

But it is unnecessary to multiply evidence in proof of the antiquity

of the Negro. His presence in this world was coetaneous with the other

families of mankind: here he has toiled with a varied fortune; and

here under God--_his_ God--he will, in the process of time, work out

all the sublime problems connected with his future as a man and a

brother.

There are various opinions rife as to the cause of color and texture

of hair in the Negro. The generally accepted theory years ago was,

that the curse of Cain rested upon this race; while others saw in the

dark skin of the Negro the curse of Noah pronounced against Canaan.

These two explanations were comforting to that class who claimed that

they had a right to buy and sell the Negro; and of whom the Saviour

said, "For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay

them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with

one of their fingers."[52] But science has, of later years, attempted

a solution of this problem. Peter Barrère, in his treatise on the

subject, takes the ground that the bile in the human system has much

to do with the color of the skin.[53] This theory, however, has drawn

the fire of a number of European scholars, who have combated it with

more zeal than skill. It is said that the spinal and brain matter are

of a dark, ashy color; and by careful examination it is proven that

the blood of Ethiopians is black. These facts would seem to clothe

this theory with at least a shadow of plausibility. But the opinion of

Aristotle, Strabo, Alexander, and Blumenbach is, that the climate,

temperature, and mode of life, have more to do with giving color than

any thing else. This is certainly true among animals and plants. There

are many instances on record where dogs and wolves, etc., have turned

white in winter, and then assumed a different color in the spring. If

you start at the north and move south, you will find, at first, that

the flowers are very white and delicate; but, as you move toward the

tropics, they begin to take on deeper and richer hues until they run

into almost endless varieties. Guyot argues on the other side of the

question to account for the intellectual diversity of the races of

mankind.

"While all the types of animals and of plants go on

decreasing in perfection, from the equatorial to the polar

regions, in proportion to the temperatures, man presents to

our view his purest, his most perfect type, at the very

centre of the temperate continents,--at the centre of Asia,

Europe, in the regions of Iran, of Armenia, and of the

Caucasus; and, departing from this geographical centre in

the three grand directions of the lands, the types gradually

lose the beauty of their forms, in proportion to their

distance, even to the extreme points of the southern

continents, where we find the most deformed and degenerate

races, and the lowest in the scale of humanity."[54]

The learned professor seeks to carry out his famous geographical

argument, and, with great skill and labor, weaves his theory of the

influence of climate upon the brain and character of man. But while no

scholar would presume to combat the theory that plants take on the

most gorgeous hues as one nears the equator, and that the races of

mankind take on a darker color in their march toward the equator,

certainly no student of Oriental history will assent to the

unsupported doctrine, that the intensity of the climate of tropical

countries affects the intellectual status of races. If any one be so

prejudiced as to doubt this, let him turn to "Asiatic Researches," and

learn that the dark races have made some of the most invaluable

contributions to science, literature, civil-engineering, art, and

architecture that the world has yet known. Here we find the cradle of

civilization, ancient and remote.

Even changes and differences in color are to be noted in almost every

community.

"As we go westward we observe the light color predominating

over the dark; and then, again, when we come within the

influence of damp from the sea-air, we find the shade

deepened into the general blackness of the coast

population."

The artisan and farm-laborer may become exceedingly dark from

exposure, and the sailor is frequently so affected by the weather that

it is next to impossible to tell his nationality.

"It is well known that the Biscayan women are a shining

white, the inhabitants of Granada on the contrary dark, to

such an extent, that, in this region, the pictures of the

blessed Virgin and other saints are painted of the same

color."[55]

The same writer calls attention to the fact, that the people on the

Cordilleras, who live under the mountains towards the west, and are,

therefore, exposed to the Pacific Ocean, are quite, or nearly, as fair

in complexion as the Europeans; whereas, on the contrary, the

inhabitants of the opposite side, exposed to the burning sun and

scorching winds, are copper-colored. Of this theory of climateric

influence we shall say more farther on.

It is held by some eminent physicians in Europe and America, that the

color of the skin depends upon substances external to the _cutis

vera_. Outside of the _cutis_ are certain layers of a substance

various in consistence, and scarcely perceptible: here is the home and

seat of color; and these may be regarded as secretions from the

vessels of the _cutis_. The dark color of the Negro principally

depends on the substance interposed between the true skin and the

scarf-skin. This substance presents different appearances: and it is

described sometimes as a sort of organized network or reticular

tissue; at others, as a mere mucous or slimy layer; and it is odd that

these somewhat incompatible ideas are both conveyed by the term

_reticulum mucosum_ given to the intermediate portion of the skin by

its orignal discoverer, Malpighi. There is, no doubt, something

plausible in all the theories advanced as to the color and hair of the

Negro; but it is verily all speculation. One theory is about as

valuable as another.

Nine hundred years before Christ the poet Homer, speaking of the death

of Memnon, killed at the siege of Troy, says, "He was received by his

Ethiopians." This is the first use of the word Ethiopia in the Greek;

and it is derived from the roots [Greek: aithô], "to burn," and

[Greek: ôps], "face." It is safe to assume, that, when God dispersed

the sons of Noah, he fixed the "bounds of their habitation," and,

that, from the earth and sky the various races have secured their

civilization. He sent the different nations into separate parts of the

earth. He gave to each its racial peculiarities, and adaptability for

the climate into which it went. He gave color, language, and

civilization; and, when by wisdom we fail to interpret his inscrutable

ways, it is pleasant to know that "he worketh all things after the

counsel of his own mind."

FOOTNOTES:

[27] Edward W. Blyden, LL.D., of Liberia, says, "Supposing that this

term was originally used as a phrase of contempt, is it not with us to

elevate it? How often has it not happened that names originally given

in reproach have been afterwards adopted as a title of honor by those

against whom it was used?--Methodists, Quakers, etc. But as a proof

that no unfavorable signification attached to the word when first

employed, I may mention, that, long before the slave-trade began,

travellers found the blacks on the coast of Africa preferring to be

called Negroes" (see Purchas' Pilgrimage ...). And in all the

pre-slavetrade literature the word was spelled with a capital _N_. It

was the slavery of the blacks which afterwards degraded the term. To

say that the name was invented to degrade the race, some of whose

members were reduced to slavery, is to be guilty of what in grammar is

called a _hysteron proteron_. The disgrace became attached to the name

in consequence of slavery; and what we propose to do is, now that

slavery is abolished, to restore it to its original place and

legitimate use, and therefore to restore the capital _N_."

[28] Prichard, vol. ii. p. 44.

[29] Josephus, Antiq., lib. 2, chap. 6.

[30] Poole.

[31] Smyth's Unity Human Races, chap. II, p. 41.

[32] Herodotus, vii., 69, 70. Ancient Univ. Hist., vol. xviii. pp.

254, 255.

[33] Strabo, vol. I. p. 60.

[34] It is not wise, to say the least, for intelligent Negroes in

America to seek to drop the word "Negro." It is a good, strong, and

healthy word, and ought to live. It should be covered with glory: let

Negroes do it.

[35] Journal of Ethnology, No. 7, p. 310.

[36] Pickering's Races of Men, pp. 185-89.

[37] Burckhardt's Travels, p. 341.

[38] Euterpe, lib. 6.

[39] Jeffries's Nat. Hist. of Human Race, p. 315.

[40] Types of Mankind, p. 259.

[41] Types of Mankind, p. 262.

[42] Even in Africa it is found that Negroes possess great culture.

Speaking of Sego, the capital of Bambara, Mr. Park says: "The view of

this extensive city, the numerous, canoes upon the river, the crowded

population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding country,

formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence which I

little expected to find in the bosom of Africa." See Park's Travels,

chap. ii.

Mr. Park also adds, that the population of this city, Sego, is about

thirty thousand. It had mosques, and even ferries were busy conveying

men and horses over the Niger.

[43] See Ambassades Mémorables de la Companie des Indes orientales des

Provinces Unies vers les Empereurs du Japan, Amst., 1680; and

Kaempfer.

[44] Wilkinson's Egypt, vol. iii. p. 340.

[45] Coleman's Mythology of the Hindus, p. 91. Dr. William Jones, vol.

iii., p. 377.

[46] Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. pp. 436-448.

[47] Heber's Narrative, vol. i. p. 254.

[48] Nat. Hist. of the Human Species, pp. 209, 214, 217.

[49] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p 427. Also Sir William Jones, vol.

iii. 3d disc.

[50] Nat. Hist. Human Species, p. 126.

[51] Prichard, pp. 188-219.

[52] Matt. xxiii. 4.

[53] Discours sur la cause physicale de la couleur des nègres.

[54] Earth and Man. Lecture x. pp. 254, 255.

[55] Blumenbach, p. 107.

CHAPTER III.

PRIMITIVE NEGRO CIVILIZATION.

THE ANCIENT AND HIGH DEGREE OF NEGRO CIVILIZATION.--EGYPT,

GREECE, AND ROME BORROW FROM THE NEGRO THE CIVILIZATION THAT

MADE THEM GREAT.--CAUSE OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NEGRO

CIVILIZATION.--CONFOUNDING THE TERMS "NEGRO" AND "AFRICAN."

It is fair to presume that God gave all the races of mankind

civilization to start with. We infer this from the known character of

the Creator. Before Romulus founded Rome, before Homer sang, when

Greece was in its infancy, and the world quite young, "hoary Meroe"

was the chief city of the Negroes along the Nile. Its private and

public buildings, its markets and public squares, its colossal walls

and stupendous gates, its gorgeous chariots and alert footmen, its

inventive genius and ripe scholarship, made it the cradle of

civilization, and the mother of art. It was the queenly city of

Ethiopia,--for it was founded by colonies of Negroes. Through its open

gates long and ceaseless caravans, laden with gold, silver, ivory,

frankincense, and palm-oil, poured the riches of Africa into the

capacious lap of the city. The learning of this people, embalmed in

the immortal hieroglyphic, flowed adown the Nile, and, like spray,

spread over the delta of that time-honored stream, on by the beautiful

and venerable city of Thebes,--the city of a hundred gates, another

monument to Negro genius and civilization, and more ancient than the

cities of the Delta,--until Greece and Rome stood transfixed before

the ancient glory of Ethiopia! Homeric mythology borrowed its very

essence from Negro hieroglyphics; Egypt borrowed her light from the

venerable Negroes up the Nile. Greece went to school to the Egyptians,

and Rome turned to Greece for law and the science of warfare. England

dug down into Rome twenty centuries to learn to build and plant, to

establish a government, and maintain it. Thus the flow of civilization

has been from the East--the place of light--to the West; from the

Oriental to the Occidental. (God fixed the mountains east and west in

Europe.)

"Tradition universally represents the earliest men

descending, it is true, from the high table-lands of this

continent; but it is in the low and fertile plains lying at

their feet, with which we are already acquainted, that they

unite themselves for the first time in natural bodies, in

tribes, with fixed habitations, devoting themselves to

husbandry, building cities, cultivating the arts,--in a

word, forming well-regulated societies. The traditions of

the Chinese place the first progenitors of that people on

the high table-land, whence the great rivers flow: they mike

them advance, station by station as far as the shores of the

ocean. The people of the Brahmins come down from the regions

of the Hindo-Khu, and from Cashmere, into the plains of the

Indus and the Ganges; Assyria and Bactriana receive their

inhabitants from the table-lands of Armenia and Persia.

"These alluvial plains, watered by their twin rivers, were

better formed than all other countries of the globe to

render the first steps of man, an infant still, easy in the

career of civilized life. A rich soil, on which overflowing

rivers spread every year a fruitful loam, as in Egypt, and

one where the plough is almost useless, so movable and so

easily tilled is it, a warm climate, finally, secure to the

inhabitants of these fortunate regions plentiful harvests in

return for light labor. Nevertheless, the conflict with the

river itself and with the desert,--which, on the banks of

the Euphrates, as on those of the Nile and the Indus, is

ever threatening to invade the cultivated lands,--the

necessity of irrigation, the inconstancy of the seasons,

keep forethought alive, and give birth to the useful arts

and to the sciences of observation. The abundance of

resources, the absence of every obstacle, of all separation

between the different parts of these vast plains, allow the

aggregation of a great number of men upon one and the same

space, and facilitate the formation of those mighty

primitive states which amaze us by the grandeur of their

proportions.

"Each of them finds upon its own soil all that is necessary

for a brilliant exhibition of its resources. We see those

nations come rapidly forward, and reach in the remotest

antiquity a degree of culture of which the temples and the

monuments of Egypt and of India, and the recently discovered

palaces of Nineveh are living and glorious witnesses.

"Great nations, then, are separately formed in each of these

areas, circumscribed by nature within natural limits. Each

has its religion, its social principles, its civilization

severally. But nature, as we have seen, has separated them;

little intercourse is established between them; the social

principle on which they are founded is exhausted by the very

formation of the social state they enjoy, and is never

renewed. A common life is wanting to them: they do not

reciprocally share with each other their riches. With them

movement is stopped: every thing becomes stable and tends to

remain stationary.

"Meantime, in spite of the peculiar seal impressed on each

of these Oriental nations by the natural conditions in the

midst of which they live, they have, nevertheless some grand

characteristics common to all, some family traits that

betray the nature of the continent and the period of human

progress to which they belong, making them known on the one

side as Asiatic, and on the other side as primitive."[56]

Is it asked what caused the decline of all this glory of the primitive

Negro? why this people lost their position in the world's history?

Idolatry! Sin![57]

Centuries have flown apace, tribes have perished, cities have risen

and fallen, and even empires, whose boast was their duration, have

crumbled, while Thebes and Meroe stood. And it is a remarkable fact,

that the people who built those cities are less mortal than their

handiwork. Notwithstanding their degradation, their woes and wrongs,

the perils of the forest and dangers of the desert, this remarkable

people have not been blotted out. They still live, and are multiplying

in the earth. Certainly they have been preserved for some wise

purpose, in the future to be unfolded.

But, again, what was the cause of the Negro's fall from his high state

of civilization? It was forgetfulness of God, idolatry! "Righteousness

exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people."

The Negro tribes of Africa are as widely separated by mental, moral,

physical, and social qualities as the Irish, Huns, Copts, and Druids

are. Their location on the Dark Continent, their surroundings, and the

amount of light that has come to them from the outside world, are the

thermometer of their civilization. It is as manifestly improper to

call all Africans Negroes as to call, Americans Indians.

"The Negro nations of Africa differ widely as to their

manner of life and their characters, both of mind and body,

in different parts of that continent, according as they have

existed under different moral and physical conditions.

Foreign culture, though not of a high degree, has been

introduced among the population of some regions; while from

others it has been shut out by almost impenetrable barriers,

beyond which the aboriginal people remain secluded amid

their mountains and forests, in a state of instinctive

existence,--a state from which, history informs us, that

human races have hardly emerged, until moved by some impulse

from without. Neither Phoenician nor Roman culture seems to

have penetrated into Africa beyond the Atlantic region and

the desert. The activity and enthusiasm of the propagators

of Islam have reached farther. In the fertile low countries

beyond the Sahara, watered by rivers which descend northward

from the central highlands, Africa has contained for

centuries several Negro empires, originally founded by

Mohammedans. The Negroes of this part of Africa are people

of a very different description from the black pagan

nations farther towards the South. They have adopted many of

the arts of civilized society, and have subjected themselves

to governments and political institutions. They practise

agriculture, and have learned the necessary, and even some

of the ornamental, arts of life, and dwell in towns of

considerable extent; many of which are said to contain ten

thousand, and even thirty thousand inhabitants,--a

circumstance which implies a considerable advancement in

industry and the resources of subsistence. All these

improvements were introduced into the interior of Africa

three or four centuries ago; and we have historical

testimony, that in the region where trade and agriculture

now prevail the population consisted, previous to the

introduction of Islam, of savages as wild and fierce as the

natives farther towards the south, whither the missionaries

of that religion have never penetrated. It hence appears

that human society has not been in all parts of Africa

stationary and unprogressive from age to age. The first

impulse to civilization was late in reaching the interior of

that continent, owing to local circumstances which are

easily understood; but, when it had once taken place, an

improvement has resulted which is, perhaps, proportional to

the early progress of human culture in other more favored

regions of the world."[58]

But in our examination of African tribes we shall not confine

ourselves to that class of people known as Negroes, but call attention

to other tribes as well. And while, in this country, all persons with

a visible admixture of Negro blood in them are considered Negroes, it

is technically incorrect. For the real Negro was not the sole subject

sold into slavery: very many of the noblest types of mankind in Africa

have, through the uncertainties of war, found their way to the horrors

of the middle passage, and finally to the rice and cotton fields of

the Carolinas and Virginias. So, in speaking of the race in this

country, in subsequent chapters, I shall refer to them as _colored

people_ or _Negroes_.

FOOTNOTES:

[56] Earth and Man, pp. 300-302.

[57] It is a remarkable fact, that the absence of salt in the food of

the Eastern nations, especially the dark nations or races, has been

very deleterious. An African child will eat salt by the handful, and,

once tasting it, will cry for it. The ocean is the womb of nature; and

the Creator has wisely designed salt as the savor of life, the

preservative element in human food.

[58] Physical History of Mankind, vol. ii. pp. 45, 46.

CHAPTER IV.

NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA.

BENIN: ITS LOCATION.--ITS DISCOVERY BY THE

PORTUGUESE.--INTRODUCTION OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION.--THE

KING AS A MISSIONARY,--HIS FIDELITY TO THE CHURCH PURCHASED

BY WHITE WIFE.--DECLINE OF RELIGION.--INTRODUCTION OF

SLAVERY.--SUPPRESSION OF THE TRADE BY THE ENGLISH

GOVERNMENT.--RESTORATION AND PEACE.

DAHOMEY: ITS LOCATION.--ORIGIN OF THE KINGDOM.--MEANING OF

THE NAME.--WAR.--CAPTURE OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNOR, AND HIS

DEATH.--THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT.--WOMEN AS

SOLDIERS.--WARS AND THEIR OBJECTS.--HUMAN SACRIFICE.--THE

KING A DESPOT.--HIS POWERS.--HIS WIVES.--POLYGAMY.--KINGLY

SUCCESSION.--CORONATION.--CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW.--REVENUE

SYSTEM.--ITS FUTURE.

YORUBA: ITS LOCATION.--SLAVERY AND ITS ABOLITION.--GROWTH OF

THE PEOPLE OF ABEOKUTA.--MISSIONARIES AND TEACHERS FROM

SIERRA LEONE.--PROSPERITY AND PEACE ATTEND THE

PEOPLE.--CAPACITY OF THE PEOPLE FOR CIVILIZATION.--BISHOP

CROWTHER.--HIS INFLUENCE.

BENIN.

The vast territory stretching from the Volta River on the west to the

Niger in the Gulf of Benin on the east, the Atlantic Ocean on the

south, and the Kong Mountains on the north, embraces the three

powerful Negro kingdoms of Benin, Dahomey, and Yoruba. From this

country, more than from any other part of Africa, were the people sold

into American slavery. Two or three hundred years ago there were

several very powerful Negro empires in Western Africa. They had social

and political government, and were certainly a very orderly people.

But in 1485 Alfonso de Aviro, a Portuguese, discovered Benin, the most

easterly province; and as an almost immediate result the slave-trade

was begun. It is rather strange, too, in the face of the fact, that,

when De Aviro returned to the court of Portugal, an ambassador from

the Negro king of Benin accompanied him for the purpose of requesting

the presence of Christian missionaries among this people. Portugal

became interested, and despatched Fernando Po to the Gulf of Benin;

who, after discovering the island that bears his name, ascended the

Benin River to Gaton, where he located a Portuguese colony. The Romish

Church lifted her standard here. The brothers of the Society of Jesus,

if they did not convert the king, certainly had him in a humor to

bring all of his regal powers to bear upon his subjects to turn them

into the Catholic Church. He actually took the contract to turn his

subjects over to this Church! But this shrewd savage did not agree to

undertake this herculean task for nothing. He wanted a white wife. He

told the missionaries that he would deliver his subjects to

Christianity for a white wife, and they agreed to furnish her. Some

priests were sent to the Island of St. Thomas to hunt the wife. This

island had, even at that early day, a considerable white population. A

strong appeal was made to the sisters there to consider this matter as

a duty to the holy Church. It was set forth as a missionary

enterprise. After some contemplation, one of the sisters agreed to

accept the hand of the Negro king. It was a noble act, and one for

which she should have been canonized, but we believe never was.

The Portuguese continued to come. Gaton grew. The missionary worked

with a will. Attention was given to agriculture and commerce. But the

climate was wretched. Sickness and death swept the Portuguese as the

fiery breath of tropical lightning. They lost their influence over the

people. They established the slave-trade, but the Church and slave-pen

would not agree. The inhuman treatment they bestowed upon the people

gave rise to the gravest suspicions as to the sincerity of the

missionaries. History gives us the sum total of a religious effort

that was not of God. There isn't a trace of Roman Catholicism in that

country, and the last state of that people is worse than the former.

The slave-trade turned the heads of the natives. Their cruel and

hardened hearts assented to the crime of man-stealing. They turned

aside from agricultural pursuits. They left their fish-nets on the

seashore, their cattle uncared for, their villages neglected, and went

forth to battle against their weaker neighbors. They sold their

prisoners of war to slave-dealers on the coast, who gave them rum and

tobacco as an exceeding great reward. When war failed to give from its

bloody and remorseless jaws the victims for whom a ready market

awaited, they turned to duplicity, treachery, and cruelty. "And men's

worst enemies were those of their own household." The person

suspicioned of witchcraft was speedily found guilty, and adjudged to

slavery. The guilty and the innocent often shared the same fate. The

thief, the adulterer, and the aged were seized by the rapacity that

pervaded the people, and were hurled into the hell of slavery.

Now, as a result of this condition of affairs, the population was

depleted, the people grew indolent and vicious, and finally the empire

was rent with political feuds. Two provinces was the result. One still

bore the name of Benin, the other was called Waree. The capital of the

former contains about 38,000 inhabitants, and the chief town and

island of Waree only contain about 16,000 of a population.

Finally England was moved to a suppression of the slave-trade at this

point. The ocean is very calm along this coast, which enabled her

fleets to run down slave-vessels and make prizes of them. This had a

salutary influence upon the natives. Peace and quietness came as

angels. A spirit of thrift possessed the people. They turned to the

cultivation of the fields and to commercial pursuits. On the river

Bonny, and along other streams, large and flourishing palm-oil marts

sprang up; and a score or more of vessels are needed to export the

single article of palm-oil. The morals of the people are not what they

ought to be; but they have, on the whole, made wonderful improvement

during the last fifty years.

DAHOMEY.

This nation is flanked by Ashantee on the west, and Yoruba on the

east; running from the seacoast on the south to the Kong mountains on

the north. It is one hundred and eighty miles in width, by two hundred

in breadth. Whydah is the principal town on the seacoast. The story

runs, that, about two hundred and seventy-five years ago, Tacudons,

chief of the Foys, carried a siege against the city of Abomey. He made

a solemn vow to the gods, that, if they aided him in pushing the city

to capitulate, he would build a palace in honor of the victory. He

succeeded. He laid the foundations of his palace, and then upon them

ripped open the bowels of Da. He called the building _Da-Omi_, which

meant Da's belly. He took the title of King of Dahomey, which has

remained until the present time. The neighboring tribes, proud and

ambitious, overran the country, and swept Whydah and adjacent places

with the torch and spear. Many whites fell into their hands as

prisoners; all of whom were treated with great consideration, save the

English governor of the above-named town. They put him to death,

because, as they charged, he had incited and excited the people of

Dahomey to resist their king.

This is a remarkable people. They are as cruel as they are cunning.

The entire population is converted into an army: even women are

soldiers. Whole regiments of women are to be found in the army of the

king of Dahomey, and they are the best foot-regiments in the kingdom.

They are drilled at stated periods, are officered, and well

disciplined. The army is so large, and is so constantly employed in

predatory raids upon neighboring tribes, that the consuming element is

greater than the producing. The object of these raids was threefold:

to get slaves for human sacrifices, to pour the blood of the victims

on the graves of their ancestors yearly, and to secure human skulls to

pave the court of the king and to ornament the walls about the palace!

After a successful war, the captives are brought to the capital of the

kingdom. A large platform is erected in the great market space,

encircled by a parapet about three feet high. The platform blazes with

rich clothes, elaborate umbrellas, and all the evidences of kingly

wealth and splendor, as well as the spoils taken in battle. The king

occupies a seat in the centre of the platform, attended by his

imperturbable wives. The captives, rum, tobacco, and cowries are now

ready to be thrown to the surging mob below. They have fought

gallantly, and now clamor for their reward. "Feed us, king!" they cry,

"feed us, king! for we are hungry!" and as the poor captives are

tossed to the mob they are despatched without ceremony!

But let us turn from this bloody and barbarous scene. The king is the

most absolute despot in the world. He is heir-at-law to all his

subjects. He is regarded as a demigod. It is unlawful to indicate that

the king eats, sleeps, or drinks. No one is allowed to approach him,

except his nobles, who at a court levee disrobe themselves of all

their elegant garments, and, prostrate upon the ground, they crawl

into his royal presence. The whole people are the cringing

lickspittles of the nobles in turn. Every private in the army is

ambitious to please the king by valor. The king is literally monarch

of all he surveys. He is proprietor of the land, and has at his

disposal every thing animate or inanimate in his kingdom. He has about

three thousand wives.[59] Every man who would marry must buy his

spouse from the king; and, while the system of polygamy obtains

everywhere throughout the kingdom, the subject must have care not to

secure so many wives that it would appear that he is attempting to

rival the king. The robust women are consigned to the military

service. But the real condition of woman in this kingdom is slavery of

the vilest type. She owns nothing. She is always in the market, and

lives in a state of constant dread of being sold. When the king dies,

a large number of his wives are sacrificed upon his grave. This fact

inspires them to take good care of him! In case of death, the king's

brother, then his nephew, and so on, take the throne. An inauguration

generally lasts six days, during which time hundreds of human lives

are sacrificed in honor of the new monarch.

The code of Dahomey is very severe. Witchcraft is punished with death;

and in this regard stalwart old Massachusetts borrowed from the

barbarian. Adultery is punished by slavery or sudden death. Thieves

are also sold into slavery. Treason and cowardice and murder are

punished by death. The civil code is as complicated as the criminal is

severe. Over every village, is a Caboceer, equivalent to our mayor. He

can convene a court by prostrating himself and kissing the ground. The

court convenes, tries and condemns the criminal. If it be a death

sentence, he is delivered to a man called the Milgan, or equivalent to

our sheriff, who is the ranking officer in the state. If the criminal

is sentenced to slavery, he is delivered to the Mayo, who is second in

rank to the Milgan, or about like our turnkey or jailer. All sentences

must be referred to the king for his approval; and all executions take

place at the capital, where notice is given of the same by a public

crier in the market-places.

The revenue system of this kingdom is oppressive. The majority of

slaves taken in war are the property of the king. A tax is levied on

each person or slave exported from the kingdom. In relation to

domestic commerce, a tax is levied on every article of food and

clothing. A custom-service is organized, and the tax-collectors are

shrewd and exacting.

The religion of the people is idolatry and fetich, or superstition.

They have large houses where they worship snakes; and so great is

their reverence for the reptile, that, if any one kills one that has

escaped, he is punished with death. But, above their wild and

superstitious notions, there is an ever-present consciousness of a

Supreme Being. They seldom mention the name of God, and then with fear

and trembling.

"The worship of God in the absurd symbol of the lower

animals I do not wish to defend: but it is all that these

poor savages can do; and is not that less impious than to

speak of the Deity with blasphemous familiarity, as our

illiterate preachers often do?"[60]

But this people are not in a hopeless condition of degradation.

"The Wesleyan Missionary Society of England have had a

mission-station at Badagry for some years, and not without

some important and encouraging tokens of success.... The

king, it is thought, is more favorable to Christian missions

now than he formerly was."[61]

And we say Amen!

YORUBA.

This kingdom extends from the seacoast to the river Niger, by which it

is separated from the kingdom of Nufi. It contains more territory than

either Benin or Dahomey. Its principal seaport is Lagos. For many

years it was a great slave-mart, and only gave up the traffic under

the deadly presence of English guns. Its facilities for the trade were

great. Portuguese and Spanish slave-traders took up their abode here,

and, teaching the natives the use of fire-arms, made a stubborn stand

for their lucrative enterprise; but in 1852 the slave-trade was

stopped, and the slavers driven from the seacoast. The place came

under the English flag; and, as a result, social order and business

enterprise have been restored and quickened. The slave-trade wrought

great havoc among this people. It is now about fifty-five years since

a few weak and fainting tribes, decimated by the slave-trade, fled to

Ogun, a stream seventy-five miles from the coast, where they took

refuge in a cavern. In the course of time they were joined by other

tribes that fled before the scourge of slave-hunters. Their common

danger gave them a commonality of interests. They were, at first,

reduced to very great want. They lived for a long time on berries,

herbs, roots, and such articles of food as nature furnished without

money and without price; but, leagued together to defend their common

rights, they grew bold, and began to spread out around their

hiding-place, and engage in agriculture. Homes and villages began to

rise, and the desert to blossom as the rose. They finally chose a

leader,--a wise and judicious man by the name of Shodeke; and one

hundred and thirty towns were united under one government. In 1853,

less than a generation, a feeble people had grown to be nearly one

hundred thousand (100,000); and Abeokuta, named for their cave,

contains at present nearly three hundred thousand souls.

In 1839 some colored men from Sierra Leone, desirous of engaging in

trade, purchased a small vessel, and called at Lagos and Badagry. They

had been slaves in this country, and had been taken to Sierra Leone,

where they had received a Christian education. Their visit, therefore,

was attended with no ordinary interest. They recognized many of their

friends and kindred, and were agreeably surprised at the wonderful

change that had taken place in so short a time. They returned to

Sierra Leone, only to inspire their neighbors with a zeal for

commercial and missionary enterprise. Within three years, five hundred

of the best colored people of Sierra Leone set out for Lagos and

Badagry on the seacoast, and then moved overland to Abeokuta, where

they intended to make their home. In this company of noble men were

merchants, mechanics, physicians, school-teachers, and clergymen.

Their people had fought for deliverance from physical bondage: these

brave missionaries had come to deliver them from intellectual and

spiritual bondage. The people of Abeokuta gave the missionaries a

hearty welcome. The colony received new blood and energy.

School-buildings and churches rose on every hand. Commerce was

revived, and even agriculture received more skilful attention. Peace

and and plenty began to abound. Every thing wore a sunny smile, and

many tribes were bound together by the golden cords of civilization,

and sang their _Te Deum_ together. Far-away England caught their songs

of peace, and sent them agricultural implements, machinery, and

Christian ministers and teachers. So, that, nowhere on the continent

of Africa is there to be found so many renewed households, so many

reclaimed tribes, such substantial results of a vigorous, Christian

civilization.

The forces that quickened the inhabitants of Abeokuta were not all

objective, exoteric: there were subjective and inherent forces

at work in the hearts of the people. They were capable of

civilization,--longed for it; and the first blaze of light from

without aroused their slumbering forces, and showed them the broad and

ascending road that led to the heights of freedom and usefulness. That

they sought this road with surprising alacrity, we have the most

abundant evidence. Nor did all the leaders come from abroad. Adgai, in

the Yoruba language, but Crowther, in English, was a native of this

country. In 1822 he was sold into slavery at the port of Badagry. The

vessel that was to bear him away to the "land of chains and stocks"

was captured by a British man-of-war, and taken to Sierra Leone. Here

he came under the influence of Christian teachers. He proved to be one

of the best pupils in his school. He received a classical education,

fitted for the ministry, and then hastened back to his native country

to carry the gospel of peace. It is rather remarkable, but he found

his mother and several sisters still "in the gall of bitterness and in

the bonds of iniquity." The son and brother became their spiritual

teacher, and, ere long, had the great satisfaction of seeing them

"clothed, in their right mind, and sitting at the feet of Jesus." His

influence has been almost boundless. A man of magnificent physical

proportions,--tall, a straight body mounted by a ponderous head,

shapely, with a kind eye, benevolent face, a rich cadence in his

voice,--the "black Bishop" Crowther is a princely looking man, who

would attract the attention of cultivated people anywhere. He is a man

of eminent piety, broad scholarship, and good works. He has translated

the Bible into the Yoruba language, founded schools, and directed the

energies of his people with a matchless zeal. His beautiful and

beneficent life is an argument in favor of the possibilities of Negro

manhood so long injured by the dehumanizing influences of slavery.

Others have caught the inspiration that has made Bishop Crowther's

life "as terrible as an army with banners" to the enemies of Christ

and humanity, and are working to dissipate the darkness of that land

of night.

FOOTNOTES:

[59] The king of Dahomey is limited to 3,333 wives! It is hardly fair

to suppose that his majesty feels cramped under the ungenerous act

that limits the number of his wives.

[60] Savage Africa, p. 51.

[61] Western Africa, p. 207.

CHAPTER V.

THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE.

ITS LOCATION AND EXTENT.--ITS FAMOUS KINGS.--THE ORIGIN OF

THE ASHANTEES OBSCURE.--THE WAR WITH DENKERA.--THE ASHANTEES

AGAINST THE FIELD CONQUER TWO KINGDOMS AND ANNEX

THEM.--DEATH OF OSAI TUTU.--THE ENVY OF THE KING OF

DAHOMEY.--INVASION OF THE ASHANTEE COUNTRY BY THE KING OF

DAHOMEY.--HIS DEFEAT SHARED BY HIS ALLIES.--AKWASI PURSUES

THE ARMY OF DAHOMEY INTO ITS OWN COUNTRY.--GETS A MORTAL

WOUND AND SUFFERS A HUMILIATING DEFEAT.--THE KING OF DAHOMEY

SENDS THE ROYAL KUDJOH HIS CONGRATULATIONS.--KWAMINA DEPOSED

FOR ATTEMPTING TO INTRODUCE MOHAMMEDANISM INTO THE

KINGDOM.--THE ASHANTEES CONQUER THE MOHAMMEDANS.--NUMEROUS

WARS.--INVASION OF THE FANTI COUNTRY.--DEATH OF SIR CHARLES

MCCARTHY.--TREATY.--PEACE.

The kingdom of Ashantee lies between the Kong Mountains and the vast

country of the Fantis. The country occupied by the Ashantees was, at

the first, very small; but by a series of brilliant conquests they

finally secured a territory of three hundred square miles. One of

their most renowned kings, Osai Tutu, during the last century, added

to Ashantee by conquest the kingdoms of Sarem, Buntuku, Warsaw,

Denkera, and Axim. Very little is known as to the origin of the

Ashantees. They were discovered in the early part of the eighteenth

century in the great valley between the Kong Mountains and the river

Niger, from whence they were driven by the Moors and Mohammedan

Negroes. They exchanged the bow for fire-arms, and soon became a

warlike people. Osai Tutu led in a desperate engagement against the

king of Denkera, in which the latter was slain, his army was put to

rout, and large quantities of booty fell into the hands of the

victorious Ashantees. The king of Axim unwittingly united his forces

to those of the discomforted Denkera, and, drawing the Ashantees into

battle again, sustained heavy losses, and was put to flight. He was

compelled to accept the most exacting conditions of peace, to pay the

king of the Ashantees four thousand ounces of gold to defray the

expenses of the war, and have his territory made tributary to the

conqueror. In a subsequent battle Osai Tutu was surprised and killed.

His courtiers and wives were made prisoners, with much goods. This

enraged the Ashantees, and they reeked vengeance on the heads of the

inhabitants of Kromanti, who laid the disastrous ambuscade. They

failed, however, to recover the body of their slain king; but many of

his attendants were retaken, and numerous enemies, whom they

sacrificed to the manes of their dead king at Kumasi.

After the death of the noble Osai Tutu, dissensions arose among his

followers. The tribes and kingdoms he had bound to his victorious

chariot-wheels began to assert their independence. His life-work began

to crumble. Disorder ran riot; and, after a few ambitious leaders were

convinced that the throne of Ashantee demanded brains and courage,

they cheerfully made way for the coronation of Osai Opoko, brother to

the late king. He was equal to the existing state of affairs. He

proved himself a statesman, a soldier, and a wise ruler. He organized

his army, and took the field in person against the revolting tribes.

He reconquered all the lost provinces. He defeated his most valorous

foe, the king of Gaman, after driving him into the Kong Mountains.

When his jealous underlings sought his overthrow by conspiracy, he

conquered them by an appeal to arms. His rule was attended by the most

lasting and beneficent results. He died in 1742, and was succeeded by

his brother, Osai Akwasi.

The fame and military prowess of the kings of the Ashantees were borne

on every passing breeze, and told by every fleeing fugitive. The whole

country was astounded by the marvellous achievements of this people,

and not a little envy was felt among adjoining nations. The king of

Dahomey especially felt like humiliating this people in battle. This

spirit finally manifested itself in feuds, charges, complaints, and,

laterally, by actual hostilities. The king of Dahomey felt that he had

but one rival, the king of Ashantee. He felt quite sure of victory on

account of the size, spirit, and discipline of his army. It was idle

at this time, and was ordered to the Ashantee border. The first

engagement took place near the Volta. The king of Dahomey had

succeeded in securing an alliance with the armies of Kawaku and

Bourony, but the valor and skill of the Ashantees were too much for

the invading armies. If King Akwasi had simply maintained his

defensive position, his victory would have been lasting; but,

overjoyed at his success, he unwittingly pursued the enemy beyond the

Volta, and carried war into the kingdom of Dahomey. Troops fight with

great desperation in their own country. The Ashantee army was struck

on its exposed flanks, its splendid companies of Caboceers went down

before the intrepid Amazons. Back to the Volta, the boundary line

between the two empires, fled the routed Ashantees. Akwasi received a

mortal wound, from which he died in 1752, when his nephew, Osai

Kudjoh, succeeded to the throne.

Three brothers had held the sceptre over this empire, but now it

passed to another generation. The new king was worthy of his

illustrious family. After the days of mourning for his royal uncle

were ended, before he ascended the throne, several provinces revolted.

He at once took the field, subdued his recalcitrant subjects, and made

them pay a heavy tribute. He won other provinces by conquest, and awed

the neighboring tribes until an unobstructed way was open to his

invincible army across the country to Cape Palmas. His fame grew with

each military manoeuvre, and each passing year witnessed new triumphs.

Fawning followed envy in the heart of the king of Dahomey; and a large

embassy was despatched to the powerful Kudjoh, congratulating him upon

his military achievements, and seeking a friendly alliance between the

two governments. Peace was now restored; and the armies of Ashantee

very largely melted into agricultural communities, and great

prosperity came. But King Kudjoh was growing old in the service of his

people; and, as he could no longer give his personal attention to

public affairs, dissensions arose in some of the remote provinces.

With impaired vision and feeble health he, nevertheless, put an army

into the field to punish the insubordinate tribes; but before

operations began he died. His grandson, Osai Kwamina, was designated

as legal successor to the throne in 1781. He took a solemn vow that he

would not enter the palace until he secured the heads of Akombroh and

Afosee, whom he knew had excited and incited the people to rebellion

against his grandfather. His vengeance was swift and complete. The

heads of the rebel leaders were long kept at Juntas as highly prized

relics of the reign of King Kwamina. His reign was brief, however. He

was deposed for attempting to introduce the Mohammedan religion into

the kingdom. Osai Apoko was crowned as his successor in 1797. The

Gaman and Kongo armies attached themselves to the declining fortunes

of the deposed king, and gave battle for his lost crown. It was a lost

cause. The new king could wield his sword as well as wear a crown. He

died of a painful sickness, and was succeeded by his son, Osai Tutu

Kwamina, in 1800.

The new king was quite youthful,--only seventeen; but he inherited

splendid qualities from a race of excellent rulers. He re-organized

his armies, and early won a reputation for courage, sagacity, and

excellent ability, extraordinary in one so young. He inherited a

bitter feeling against the Mohammedans, and made up his mind to

chastise two of their chiefs, Ghofan and Ghobago, and make the

territory of Banna tributary to Ashantee. He invaded their country,

and burned their capital. In an engagement fought at Kaha, the entire

Moslem army was defeated and captured. The king of Ghofan was wounded

and made prisoner, and died in the camp of the Ashantee army. Two more

provinces were bound to the throne of Kwamina; and we submit that this

is an historical anomaly, in that a pagan people subdued an army that

emblazoned its banner with the faith of _the one God_!

The Ashantee empire had reached the zenith of its glory. Its flag

waved in triumph from the Volta to Bossumpea, and the Kong Mountains

had echoed the exploits of the veterans that formed the strength of

its army. The repose that even this uncivilized people longed for was

denied them by a most unfortunate incident.

Asim was a province tributary to the Ashantee empire. Two of the

chiefs of Asim became insubordinate, gave offence to the king, and

then fled into the country of the Fantis, one of the most numerous and

powerful tribes on the Gold Coast. The Fantis promised the fugitives

armed protection. There was no extradition treaty in those days. The

king despatched friendly messengers, who were instructed to set forth

the faults of the offending subjects, and to request their return. The

request was contemptuously denied, and the messengers subjected to a

painful death. The king of Ashantee invaded the country of the enemy,

and defeated the united forces of Fanti and Asim. He again made them

an offer of peace, and was led to believe it would be accepted. But

the routed army was gathering strength for another battle, although

Chibbu and Apontee had indicated to the king that the conditions of

peace were agreeable. The king sent an embassy to learn when a formal

submission would take place; and they, also, were put to death. King

Osai Tutu Kwamina took "_the great oath_," and vowed that he would

never return from the seat of war or enter his capital without the

heads of the rebellious chiefs. The Ashantee army shared the desperate

feelings of their leader; and a war was begun, which for cruelty and

carnage has no equal in the annals of the world's history. Pastoral

communities, hamlets, villages, and towns were swept by the red waves

of remorseless warfare. There was no mercy in battle: there were no

prisoners taken by day, save to be spared for a painful death at

nightfall. Their groans, mingling with the shouts of the victors, made

the darkness doubly hideous; and the blood of the vanquished army, but

a short distance removed, ran cold at the thoughts of the probable

fate that waited them on the morrow. Old men and old women, young men

and young women, the rollicking children whose light hearts knew no

touch of sorrow, as well as the innocent babes clinging to the

agitated bosoms of their mothers,--unable to distinguish between

friend or foe,--felt the cruel stroke of war. All were driven to an

inhospitable grave in the place where the fateful hand of war made

them its victims, or perished in the sullen waters of the Volta. For

nearly a hundred miles "the smoke of their torment" mounted the skies.

Nothing was left in the rear of the Ashantee army, not even cattle or

buildings. Pursued by a fleet-footed and impartial disaster, the

fainting Fantis and their terrified allies turned their faces toward

the seacoast. And why? Perhaps this fleeing army had a sort of

superstitious belief that the sea might help them. Then, again, they

knew that there were many English on the Gold Coast; that they had

forts and troops. They trusted, also, that the young king of the

Ashantees would not follow his enemy under the British flag and guns.

They were mistaken. The two revolting chiefs took refuge in the fort

at Anamabo. On came the intrepid king, thundering at the very gates of

the English fort. The village was swept with the hot breath of battle.

Thousands perished before this invincible army. The English soldiers

poured hot shot and musketry into the columns of the advancing army;

but on they marched to victory with an impurturbable air, worthy of

"_the old guard_" under Ney at Waterloo. Preparations were completed

for blowing up the walls of the fort; and it would have been but a few

hours until the king of Ashantee would have taken the governor's

chair, had not the English capitulated. During the negotiations one of

the offending chiefs made good his escape to a little village called

Cape Coast; but the other was delivered up, and, having been taken

back to Kumasi, was tortured to death. Twelve thousand persons fell in

the engagement at Anamabo, and thousands of lives were lost in other

engagements. This took place in 1807.

In 1811 the king of Ashantee sent an array to Elmina to protect his

subjects against predatory bands of Fantis. Three or four battles were

fought, and were invariably won by the Ashantee troops.

Barbarians have about as long memories as civilized races. They are a

kind-hearted people, but very dangerous and ugly when they are led to

feel that they have been injured. "_The great oath_" means a great

deal; and the king was not happy in the thought that one of the

insolent chiefs had found refuge in the town of Cape Coast, which was

in the Fanti country. So in 1817 he invaded this country, and called

at Cape Coast, and reduced the place to the condition of a siege. The

English authorities saw the Fantis dying under their eyes, and paid

the fine imposed by the King of Ashantee, rather than bury the dead

inhabitants of the beleaguered town. The Ashantees retired.

England began to notice the Ashantees. They had proven themselves to

be a most heroic, intelligent, and aggressive people. The Fantis lay

stretched between them and the seacoast. The frequent invasion of this

country, for corrective purposes as the Ashantees believed, very

seriously interrupted the trade of the coast; and England began to

feel it. The English had been defeated once in an attempt to assist

the Fantis, and now thought it wise to turn attention to a pacific

policy, looking toward the establishment of amicable relations between

the Ashantees and themselves. There had never been any unpleasant

relations between the two governments, except in the instance named.

The Ashantees rather felt very kindly toward England, and for

prudential and commercial reasons desired to treat the authorities at

the coast with great consideration. They knew that the English gave

them a market for their gold, and an opportunity to purchase

manufactured articles that they needed. But the Fantis, right under

the English flag, receiving a rent for the ground on which the English

had their fort and government buildings, grew so intolerably abusive

towards their neighbors, the Ashantees, that the British saw nothing

before them but interminable war. It was their desire to avoid it if

possible. Accordingly, they sent an embassy to the king of the

Ashantees, consisting of Gov. James, of the fort at Akra, a Mr.

Bowdich, nephew to the governor-in-chief at Cape Coast, a Mr.

Hutchinson, and the surgeon of the English settlement, Dr. Teddlie.

Mr. Bowdich headed the embassy to the royal court, where they were

kindly received. A treaty was made. The rent that the Fantis had been

receiving for ground occupied by the English--four ounces of gold per

month--was to be paid to the king of Ashantee, as his by right of

conquest. Diplomatic relations were to be established between the two

governments, and Mr. Hutchinson was to remain at Kumasi as the British

resident minister. He was charged with the carrying out of so much of

the treaty as related to his government. The treaty was at once

forwarded to the home government, and Mr. Dupuis was appointed consul

of his Majesty's government to the court of Ashantee. A policy was

outlined that meant the opening up of commerce with the distant

provinces of the Ashantee empire along the Kong Mountains. In those

days it took a long time to sail from England to the Gold Coast in

Western Africa; and before Consul Dupuis reached the coast, the king

of Ashantee was engaged in a war with the king of Gaman. The Ashantee

army was routed. The news of the disaster was hailed by the Fantis on

the coast with the most boisterous and public demonstrations. This

gave the king of Ashantee offence. The British authorities were quite

passive about the conduct of the Fantis, although by solemn treaty

they had become responsible for their deportment. The Fantis grew very

insulting and offensive towards the Ashantees. The king of the latter

called the attention of the authorities at the Cape to the conduct of

the Fantis, but no official action was taken. In the mean while Mr.

Dupuis was not allowed to proceed on his mission to the capital of the

Ashantees. Affairs began to assume a very threatening attitude; and

only after the most earnest request was he permitted to proceed to the

palace of the king of Ashantee. He received a hearty welcome at the

court, and was entertained with the most lavish kindness. After long

and painstaking consideration, a treaty was decided upon that was

mutually agreeable; but the self-conceited and swaggering insolence of

the British authorities on the coast put it into the waste-basket. The

commander of the British squadron put himself in harmony with the

local authorities, and refused to give Consul Dupuis transportation to

England for the commissioners of the Ashantee government, whom he had

brought to the coast with the intention of taking to London with him.

A war-cloud was gathering. Dupuis saw it. He sent word to the king of

Ashantee to remember his oath, and refrain from hostilities until he

could communicate with the British government. The treaty stipulated

for the recognition, by the British authorities, of the authority of

the Ashantee king over the Fantis. Only those immediately around the

fort were subject to English law, and then not to an extent to exempt

them from tax imposed by the Ashantee authorities.

In the midst of these complications, Parliament, by a special act,

abolished the charter of the African Company. This put all its forts,

arsenals, and stations under the direct control of the crown. Sir

Charles McCarthy was made governor-general of the British possessions

on the Gold Coast, and took up his head-quarters at Cape Coast in

March, 1822. Two months had passed now since Dupuis had sailed for

England; and not a syllable had reached the king's messenger, who, all

this time, had waited to hear from England. The country was in an

unsettled state. Gov, McCarthy was not equal to the situation. He fell

an easy prey to the fawning and lying Fantis. They received him as the

champion of their declining fortunes, and did every thing in their

power to give him an unfriendly opinion of the Ashantees. The king of

the Ashantees began to lose faith in the British. His faithful

messenger returned from the coast bearing no friendly tidings. The

king withdrew his troops from the seacoast, and began to put his army

upon a good war-footing. When all was in readiness a Negro sergeant in

the British service was seized, and put to a torturous death. This was

a signal for the grand opening. Of course the British were bound to

demand redress. Sir Charles McCarthy was informed by some Fantis

scouts that the king of Ashantee, at the head of his army, was

marching for Cape Coast. Sir Charles rallied his forces, and went

forth to give him battle. His object was to fight the king at a

distance from the cape, and thus prevent him from devastating the

entire country as in former wars. Sir Charles McCarthy was a brave

man, and worthy of old England; but in this instance his courage was

foolhardy. He crossed the Prah River to meet a wily and desperate foe.

His troops were the worthless natives, hastily gathered, and were

intoxicated with the hope of deliverance from Ashantee rule. He should

have waited for the trained troops of Major Chisholm. This was his

fatal mistake. His pickets felt the enemy early in the morning of the

21st of January, 1824. A lively skirmish followed. In a short time the

clamorous war-horns of the advancing Ashantees were heard, and a

general engagement came on. The first fighting began along a shallow

stream. The Ashantees came up with the courage and measured tread of

a well-disciplined army. They made a well-directed charge to gain the

opposite bank of the stream, but were repulsed by an admirable bayonet

charge from Sir Charles's troops. The Ashantees then crossed the

stream above and below the British army, and fell with such

desperation upon its exposed and naked flanks, that it was bent into

the shape of a letter A, and hurled back toward Cape Coast in dismay.

Wounded and exhausted, toward evening Sir Charles fled from his

exposed position to the troops of his allies under the command of the

king of Denkera. He concentrated his artillery upon the heaviest

columns of the enemy; but still they came undaunted, bearing down upon

the centre like an avalanche. Sir Charles made an attempt to retreat

with his staff, but met instant death at the hands of the Ashantees.

His head was removed from the body and sent to Kumasi. His heart was

eaten by the chiefs of the army that they might imbibe his courage,

while his flesh was dried and issued in small rations among the

line-officers for the same purpose. His bones were kept at the capital

of the Ashantee kingdom as national fetiches.[62]

Major Chisholm and Capt. Laing, learning of the disaster that had

well-nigh swallowed up Sir Charles's army, retreated to Cape Coast.

There were about thirty thousand troops remaining, but they were so

terrified at the disaster of the day that they could not be induced to

make a stand against the gallant Ashantees. The king of Ashantee,

instead of following the routed army to the gates of Cape Coast, where

he could have dealt it a death-blow, offered the English conditions of

peace. Capt. Ricketts met the Ashantee messengers at Elmina, and heard

from them the friendly messages of the king. The Ashantees only wanted

the British to surrender Kudjoh Chibbu of the province of Denkera; but

this fugitive from the Ashantee king, while negotiations were pending,

resolved to rally the allied armies and make a bold stroke. He crossed

the Prah at the head of a considerable force, and fell upon the

Ashantee army in its camp. The English were charmed by this bold

stroke, and sent a reserve force; but the whole army was again

defeated by the Ashantees, and came back to Cape Coast in complete

confusion.

The Ashantee army were at the gates of the town. Col. Southerland

arrived with re-enforcements, but was beaten into the fort by the

unyielding courage of the attacking force. A new king, Osai Ockote,

arrived with fresh troops, and won the confidence of the army by

marching right under the British guns, and hissing defiance into the

face of the foe. The conflict that followed was severe, and

destructive to both life and property. All the native and British

forces were compelled to retire to the fort; while the Ashantee

troops, inspired by the dashing bearing of their new king, closed in

around them like tongues of steel. The invading army was not daunted

by the belching cannon that cut away battalion after battalion. On

they pressed for revenge and victory. The screams of fainting women

and terrified children, the groans of the dying, and the bitter

imprecations of desperate combatants,--a mingling medley,--swelled the

great diapason of noisy battle. The eyes of the beleaguered were

turned toward the setting sun, whose enormous disk was leaning against

the far-away mountains, and casting his red and vermilion over the

dusky faces of dead Ashantees and Fantis; and, imparting a momentary

beauty to the features of the dead white men who fell so far away from

home and friends, he sank to rest. There was a sad, far-off look in

the eye of the impatient sailor who kept his lonely watch on the

vessel that lay at rest on the sea. Night was wished for, prayed for,

yearned for. It came at last, and threw its broad sable pinions over

the dead, the dying, and the living. Hostilities were to be renewed in

the morning; but the small-pox broke out among the soldiers, and the

king of Ashantee retired.

Sir Neill Campbell was appointed governor-general at Cape Coast. One

of his first acts was to call for all the chiefs of the Fantis, and

give them to understand that hostilities between themselves and the

king of Ashantee must stop. He then required Osai Ockoto to deposit

four thousand ounces of gold ($72,000), as a bond to keep the peace.

In case he provoked hostilities, the seventy-two thousand dollars were

to be used to purchase ammunition with which to chastise him. In 1831

the king was obliged to send two of his royal family, Kwanta Missah,

his own son, and Ansah, the son of the late king, to be held as

hostages. These boys were sent to England, where they were educated,

but are now residents of Ashantee.

Warsaw and Denkera, interior provinces, were lost to the Ashantee

empire; but, nevertheless, it still remains one of the most powerful

Negro empires of Western Africa.

The king of Ashantee has a fair government. His power is well-nigh

absolute. He has a House of Lords, who have a check-power. Coomassi is

the famous city of gold, situated in the centre of the empire. The

communication through to the seacoast is unobstructed; and it is

rather remarkable that the Ashantees are the only nation in Africa,

who, living in the interior, have direct communication with the

Caucasian. They have felt the somewhat elevating influence of

Mohammedanism, and are not unconscious of the benefits derived by the

literature and contact of the outside world. They are a remarkable

people: brave, generous, industrious, and mentally capable. The day is

not distant when the Ashantee kingdom will be won to the Saviour, and

its inhabitants brought under the beneficent influences of Christian

civilization.

FOOTNOTES:

[62] The following telegram shocks the civilized world. It serves

notice on the Christians of the civilized world, that, in a large

missionary sense, they have come far short of their duty to the

"nations beyond," who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

"MASSACRE OF MAIDENS. LONDON, NOV. 10, 1881.--Advices from

Cape Coast Castle report that the king of Ashantee killed

two hundred young girls for the purpose of using their blood

for mixing mortar for repair of one of the state buildings.

The report of the massacre was received from a refugee

chosen for one of the victims. Such wholesale massacres are

known to be a custom with the king."--_Cinn. Commercial._

CHAPTER VI.

THE NEGRO TYPE.

CLIMATE THE CAUSE.--HIS GEOGRAPHICAL THEATRE.--HE IS

SUSCEPTIBLE TO CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION.

If the reader will turn to a map of Africa, the Mountains of the

Moon[63] will be found to run right through the centre of that

continent. They divide Africa into two almost equal parts. In a

dialectic sense, also, Africa is divided. The Mountains of the Moon,

running east and west, seem to be nature's dividing line between two

distinct peoples. North of these wonderful mountains the languages are

numerous and quite distinct, and lacking affinity. For centuries these

tribes have lived in the same latitude, under the same climatic

influences, and yet, without a written standard, have preserved the

idiomatic coloring of their tribal language without corruption. Thus

they have eluded the fate that has overtaken all other races who

without a written language, living together by the laws of affinity,

sooner or later have found one medium of speech as inevitable as

necessary.

But coming south of the Mountains of the Moon, until we reach the Cape

of Good Hope, there is to be found one great family. Nor is the

difference between the northern and southern tribes only linguistic.

The physiological difference between these people is great. They range

in color from the dead black up to pure white, and from the dwarfs on

the banks of the Casemanche to the tall and giant-like Vei tribe of

Cape Mount.

"The Fans which inhabit the mountain terraces are altogether

of a different complexion from the seacoast tribes. Their

hair is longer: that of the women hangs down in long braids

to their shoulders, while the men have tolerably long

two-pointed beards. It would be impossible to find such long

hair among the coast tribes, even in a single instance.

"In the low, swampy land at the mouth of the Congo, one

meets with typical Negroes; and there again, as one reaches

a higher soil, one finds a different class of people.

"The Angolese resemble the Fula. They are scarcely ever

black. Their hands and feet are exquisitely small; and in

every way they form a contrast with the slaves of the

Portuguese, who, brought for the most part from the Congo,

are brutal and debased.

"I have divided Africa into three grand types,--the

Ethiopian, the intermediate, and the Negro. In the same

manner the Negro may be divided into three sub-classes:--

"The bronze-colored class: gracefully formed, with

effeminate features, small hands and feet, long fingers,

intelligent minds, courteous and polished manners. Such are

the Mpongwe of the Gaboon, the Angolese, the Fanti of the

Gold Coast, and most probably the Haoussa of the Niger, a

tribe with which I am not acquainted.

"The black-skinned class: athletic shapes, rude manners,

less intelligence, but always with some good faculties,

thicker lips, broader noses, but seldom prognathous to any

great degree. Such are the Wollof, the Kru-men, the Benga of

Corisco, and the Cabinda of Lower Guinea, who hire

themselves out as sailors in the Congo and in Angola

precisely as do the Kru-men of North Guinea.

"Lastly, the typical Negroes: an exceptional race even among

the Negroes, whose disgusting type it is not necessary to

re-describe. They are found chiefly along the coast between

the Casemanche and Sierra Leone, between Lagos and the

Cameroons, in the Congo swamps, and in certain swampy plains

and mountain-hollows of the interior."[64]

That climate has much to do with physical and mental character, we

will not have to prove to any great extent. It is a fact as well

established as any principle in pathology. Dr. Joseph Brown says,--

"It is observed that the natives of marshy districts who

permanently reside in them lose their whole bodily and

mental constitution, contaminated by the poison they inhale.

Their aspect is sallow and prematurely senile, so that

children are often wrinkled, their muscles flaccid, their

hair lank, and frequently pale, the abdomen tumid, the

stature stunted, and the intellectual and moral character

low and degraded. They rarely attain what in more wholesome

regions would be considered old age. In the marshy districts

of certain countries,--for example, Egypt, Georgia, and

Virginia,--the extreme term of life is stated to be forty in

the latter place.... In portions of Brittany which adjoin

the Loire, the extreme duration of life is fifty, at which

age the inhabitant wears the aspect of eighty in a healthier

district. It is remarked that the inferior animals, and even

vegetables, partake of the general deprivation; they are

stunted and short-lived."

In his "Ashango Land," Paul B. du Chaillu devotes a large part of his

fifteenth chapter to the Obongos, or Dwarfs. Nearly all African

explorers and travellers have been much amazed at the diversity of

color and stature among the tribes they met. This diversity in

physical and mental character owes its existence to the diversity and

perversity of African climate.

The Negro, who is but a fraction of the countless indigenous races of

Africa, has been carried down to his low estate by the invincible

forces of nature. Along the ancient volcanic tracts are to be found

the Libyan race, with a tawny complexion, features quite Caucasian,

and long black hair. On the sandstones are to be found an intermediate

type, darker somewhat than their progenitors, lips thick, and nostrils

wide at the base. Then comes the Negro down in the alluvia, with dark

skin, woolly hair, and prognathous development.

"The Negro forms an exceptional race in Africa. He inhabits

that immense tract of marshy land which lies between the

mountains and the sea, from Senegal to Benguela, and the low

lands of the eastern side in the same manner. He is found in

the parts about Lake Tchad, in Sennaar, along the marshy

banks of rivers, and in several isolated spots besides."[65]

The true Negro inhabits Northern Africa. When his country, of which we

know absolutely nothing, has been crowded, the nomadic portion of the

population has poured itself over the mountain terraces, and,

descending into the swamps, has become degraded in body and mind.

Technically speaking, we do not believe the Negro is a distinct

species.

"It is certain that the woolly hair, the prognathous

development, and the deep black skin of the typical Negro,

are not peculiar to the African continent."[66]

The Negro is found in the low, marshy, and malarious districts. We

think the Negro is produced in a descending scale. The African who

moves from the mountain regions down into the miasmatic districts may

be observed to lose his stature, his complexion, his hair, and his

intellectual vigor: he finally becomes the Negro. Pathologically

considered, he is weak, sickly, and short-lived. His legs are slender

and almost calf-less: the head is developed in the direction of the

passions, while the whole form is destitute of symmetry.

"It will be understood that the typical Negroes, with whom

the slavers are supplied, represent the dangerous, the

destitute, and diseased classes of African society. They may

be compared to those which in England fill our jails, our

workhouses, and our hospitals. So far from being equal to

us, the polished inhabitants of Europe, as some ignorant

people suppose, they are immeasurably below the Africans

themselves,

"The typical Negro is the true savage of Africa; and I must

paint the deformed anatomy of his mind, as I have already

done that of his body.

"The typical Negroes dwell in petty tribes, where all are

equal except the women, who are slaves; where property is

common, and where, consequently, there is no property at

all; where one may recognize the Utopia of philosophers, and

observe the saddest and basest spectacles which humanity can

afford.

"The typical Negro, unrestrained by moral laws, spends his

days in sloth, his nights in debauchery. He smokes hashish

till he stupefies his senses or falls into convulsions; he

drinks palm-wine till he brings on a loathsome disease; he

abuses children, stabs the poor brute of a woman whose hands

keep him from starvation, and makes a trade of his own

offspring. He swallows up his youth in premature vice; he

lingers through a manhood of disease, and his tardy death is

hastened by those who no longer care to find him food.... If

you wish to know what they have been, and to what we may

restore them, look at the portraits which have been

preserved of the ancient Egyptians: and in those delicate

and voluptuous forms; in those round, soft features; in

those long, almond-shaped, half-closed, languishing eyes; in

those full pouting lips, large smiling mouths, and

complexions of a warm and copper-colored tint,--you will

recognize the true African type, the women-men of the Old

World, of which the Negroes are the base, the depraved

caricatures."[67]

But the Negro is not beyond the influences of civilization and

Christianization. Hundreds of thousands have perished in the cruel

swamps of Africa; hundreds of thousands have been devoured by wild

beasts of the forests; hundreds of thousands have perished before the

steady and murderous columns of stronger tribes; hundreds of thousands

have perished from fever, small-pox, and cutaneous diseases; hundreds

of thousands have been sold into slavery; hundreds of thousands have

perished in the "middle-passage;" hundreds of thousands have been

landed in this New World in the West: and yet hundreds of thousands

are still swarming in the low and marshy lands of Western Africa. Poor

as this material is, out of it we have made, here in the United

States, six million citizens; and out of this cast-away material of

Africa, God has raised up many children.

To the candid student of ethnography, it must be conclusive that the

Negro is but the most degraded and disfigured type of the primeval

African. And still, with all his interminable woes and wrongs, the

Negro on the west coast of Africa, in Liberia and Sierra Leone, as

well as in the southern part of the United States, shows that

centuries of savagehood and slavery have not drained him of all the

elements of his manhood. History furnishes us with abundant and

specific evidence of his capacity to civilize and Christianize. We

shall speak of this at length in a subsequent chapter.

FOOTNOTES:

[63] See Keith Johnson's Map of Africa, 1863.

[64] Savage Africa, pp. 403, 404.

[65] Savage Africa, p. 400.

[66] Savage Africa, p. 412.

[67] Savage Africa, p. 430.

CHAPTER VII.

AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES.

PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENT.--CONSTRUCTION OF VILLAGES.--NEGRO

ARCHITECTURE.--ELECTION OF KINGS.--CORONATION

CEREMONY.--SUCCESSION.--AFRICAN QUEENS.--LAW, CIVIL AND

CRIMINAL.--PRIESTS.--THEIR

FUNCTIONS.--MARRIAGE.--WARFARE.--AGRICULTURE.--MECHANIC

ARTS.--BLACKSMITHS.

All the tribes on the continent of Africa are under, to a greater or

less degree, the patriarchal form of government. It is usual for

writers on Africa to speak of "kingdoms" and "empires;" but these

kingdoms are called so more by compliment than with any desire to

convey the real meaning that we get when the empire of Germany or

kingdom of Spain is spoken of. The patriarchal government is the most

ancient in Africa. It is true that great kingdoms have risen in

Africa; but they were the result of devastating wars rather than the

creation of political genius or governmental wisdom.

"Pangola is the child or vassal of Mpende. Sandia and Mpende

are the only independent chiefs from Kebrabasa to Zumbo, and

belong to the tribe Manganja. The country north of the

mountains, here in sight from the Zambesi, is called Senga,

and its inhabitants Asenga or Basenga; but all appear to be

of the same family as the rest of the Manganja and Maravi.

Formerly all the Manganja were united under the government

of their great chief, Undi, whose empire extended from Lake

Shirwa to the River Loangwa; but after Undi's death it fell

to pieces, and a large portion of it on the Zambesi was

absorbed by their powerful Southern neighbors, the Bamjai.

This has been the inevitable fate of every African empire

from time immemorial. A chief of more than ordinary ability

arises, and, subduing all his less powerful neighbors,

founds a kingdom, which he governs more or less wisely till

he dies. His successor, not having the talents of the

conqueror, cannot retain the dominion, and some of the abler

under-chiefs set up for themselves; and, in a few years, the

remembrance only of the empire remains. This, which may be

considered as the normal state of African society, gives

rise to frequent and desolating wars, and the people long in

vain for a power able to make all dwell in peace. In this

light a European colony would be considered by the natives

as an inestimable boon to inter-tropical Africa. Thousands

of industrious natives would gladly settle around it, and

engage in that peaceful pursuit of agriculture and trade of

which they are so fond; and, undistracted by wars or rumors

of wars, might listen to the purifying and ennobling truths

of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Manganja on the Zambesi,

like their countrymen on the Shire, are fond of agriculture;

and, in addition to the usual varieties of food, cultivate

tobacco and cotton in quantities more than equal to their

wants. To the question, 'Would they work for Europeans?' an

affirmative answer may be given; if the Europeans belong to

the class which can pay a reasonable price for labor, and

not to that of adventurers who want employment for

themselves. All were particularly well clothed from Sandia's

to Pangola's; and it was noticed that all the cloth was of

native manufacture, the product of their own looms. In Senga

a great deal of iron is obtained from the ore, and

manufactured very cleverly."[68]

The above is a fair description of the internecine wars that have been

carried on between the tribes in Africa, back "to a time whereof the

memory of man runneth not to the contrary." In a preceding chapter we

gave quite an extended account of four Negro empires. We call

attention here to the villages of these people, and shall allow

writers who have paid much attention to this subject to give their

impressions. Speaking of a village of the Aviia tribe called Mandji,

Du Chaillu says,--

"It was the dirtiest village I had yet seen in Africa, and

the inhabitants appeared to me of a degraded class of

Negroes. The shape and arrangement of the village were quite

different from any thing I had seen before. The place was in

the form of a quadrangle, with an open space in the middle

not more than ten yards square; and the huts, arranged in a

continuous row on two sides, were not more than eight feet

high from the ground to the roof. The doors were only four

feet high, and of about the same width, with sticks placed

across on the inside, one above the other, to bar the

entrance. The place for the fire was in the middle of the

principal room, on each side of which was a little dark

chamber; and on the floor was an _orala_, or stage, to smoke

meat upon. In the middle of the yard was a hole dug in the

ground for the reception of offal, from which a disgusting

smell arose, the wretched inhabitants being too lazy or

obtuse to guard against this by covering it with earth.

"The houses were built of a framework of poles, covered with

the bark of trees, and roofed with leaves. In the middle of

the village stood the public shed, or palaver-house,--a kind

of town-hall found in almost all West-African villages. A

large fire was burning in it, on the ground; and at one end

of the shed stood a huge wooden idol, painted red and white,

and rudely fashioned in the shape of a woman. The shed was

the largest building in the village, for it was ten feet

high, and measured fifteen feet by ten. It is the habit of

the lazy negroes of these interior villages--at least, the

men--to spend almost the whole day lying down under the

palaver-shed, feeding their morbid imaginations with tales

of witchcraft, and smoking their _condoquais_."

But all the villages of these poor children of the desert are not so

untidy as the one described above. There is a wide difference in the

sanitary laws governing these villages.

"The Ishogo villages are large. Indeed, what most strikes

the traveller in coming from the seacoast to this inland

country, is the large size, neatness, and beauty of the

villages. They generally have about one hundred and fifty or

one hundred and sixty huts, arranged in streets, which are

very broad and kept remarkably clean. Each house has a door

of wood which is painted in fanciful designs with red,

white, and black. One pattern struck me as simple and

effective; it was a number of black spots margined with

white, painted in regular rows on a red ground. But my

readers must not run away with the idea that the doors are

like those of the houses of civilized people; they are

seldom more than two feet and a half high. The door of my

house was just twenty-seven inches high. It is fortunate

that I am a short man, otherwise it would have been hard

exercise to go in and out of my lodgings. The planks of

which the doors are made are cut with great labor by native

axes out of trunks of trees, one trunk seldom yielding more

than one good plank. My hut, an average-sized dwelling, was

twenty feet long and eight feet broad. It was divided into

three rooms or compartments, the middle one, into which the

door opened, being a little larger than the other two....

Mokenga is a beautiful village, containing about one hundred

and sixty houses; they were the largest dwellings I had yet

seen on the journey. The village was surrounded by a dense

grove of plantain-trees, many of which had to be supported

by poles, on account of the weight of the enormous bunches

of plantains they bore. Little groves of lime-trees were

scattered everywhere, and the limes, like so much golden

fruit, looked beautiful amidst the dark foliage that

surrounded them. Tall, towering palm-trees were scattered

here and there. Above and behind the village was the dark

green forest. The street was the broadest I ever saw in

Africa; one part of it was about one hundred yards broad,

and not a blade of grass could be seen in it. The _Sycobii_

were building their nests everywhere, and made a deafening

noise, for there were thousands and thousands of these

little sociable birds."[69]

The construction of houses in villages in Africa is almost uniform, as

far as our studies have led us.[70] Or, rather, we ought to modify

this statement by saying there are but two plans of construction. One

is where the houses are erected on the rectilinear, the other is where

they are built on the circular plan. In the more warlike tribes the

latter plan prevails. The hillsides and elevated places near the

timber are sought as desirable locations for villages. The plan of

architecture is simple. The diameter is first considered, and

generally varies from ten to fifteen feet. A circle is drawn in the

ground, and then long flexible sticks are driven into the earth. The

builder, standing inside of the circle, binds the sticks together at

the top; where they are secured together by the use of the

"monkey-rope," a thick vine that stretches itself in great profusion

from tree to tree in that country. Now, the reader can imagine a large

umbrella with the handle broken off even with the ribs when closed up,

and without any cloth,--nothing but the ribs left. Now open it, and

place it on the ground before you, and you have a fair idea of the hut

up to the present time. A reed thatching is laid over the frame, and

secured firmly by parallel lashings about fifteen inches apart. The

door is made last by cutting a hole in the side of the hut facing

toward the centre of the contemplated circle of huts.[71] The door is

about eighteen inches in height, and just wide enough to admit the

body of the owner. The sharp points, after the cutting, are guarded by

plaited twigs. The door is made of quite a number of stout sticks

driven into the ground at equal distances apart, through which, in and

out, are woven pliant sticks. When this is accomplished, the maker

cuts off the irregular ends to make it fit the door, and removes it to

its place. Screens are often used inside to keep out the wind: they

are made so as to be placed in whatever position the wind is blowing.

Some of these houses are built with great care, and those with domed

roofs are elaborately decorated inside with beads of various sizes and

colors.

The furniture consists of a few mats, several baskets, a milk-pail, a

number of earthen pots, a bundle of assagais, and a few other weapons

of war. Next, to guard against the perils of the rainy season, a ditch

about two feet in width and of equal depth is made about the new

dwelling. Now multiply this hut by five hundred, preserving the

circle, and you have the village. The _palaver-house_, or place for

public debates, is situated in the centre of the circle of huts. Among

the northern and southern tribes, a fence is built around their

villages, when they are called "kraals." The space immediately outside

of the fence is cleared, so as to put an enemy at a disadvantage in an

attack upon the village. Among the agricultural tribes, as, for

example, the Kaffirs, they drive their cattle into the kraal, and for

the young build pens.

The other method of building villages is to have one long street, with

a row of houses on each side, rectangular in shape. They are about

twenty-five or thirty feet in length, and about twelve to fifteen feet

in width. Six or eight posts are used to join the material of the

sides to. The roofs are flat. Three rooms are allowed to each house.

The two end rooms are larger than the centre one, where the door opens

out into the street. Sometimes these rooms are plastered, but it is

seldom; and then it is in the case of the well-to-do class.[72]

We said, at the beginning of this chapter, that the government in

Africa was largely patriarchal; and yet we have called attention to

four great kingdoms. There is no contradiction here, although there

may seem to be; for even kings are chosen by ballot, and a sort of a

house of lords has a veto power over royal edicts.

"Among the tribes which I visited in my explorations I found

but one form of government, which may be called the

patriarchal. There is not sufficient national unity in any

of the tribes to give occasion for such a despotism as

prevails in Dahomey, and in other of the African

nationalities. I found the tribes of equatorial Africa

greatly dispersed, and, in general, no bond of union between

parts of the same tribe. A tribe is divided up into numerous

_clans_, and these again into numberless little villages,

each of which last possesses an independent chief. The

villages are scattered; are often moved for death or

witchcraft, as I have already explained in the narrative;

and not infrequently are engaged in war with each other.

"The chieftainship is, to a certain extent, hereditary, the

right of succession vesting in the brother of the reigning

chief or king. The people, however, and particularly the

elders of the village, have a veto power, and can, for

sufficient cause, deprive the lineal heir of his succession,

and put in over him some one thought of more worth. In such

cases the question is put to the vote of the village; and,

where parties are equally divided as to strength, there

ensue sometimes long and serious palavers before all can

unite in a choice. The chief is mostly a man of great

influence prior to his accession, and generally an old man

when he gains power.

"His authority, though greater than one would think, judging

from the little personal deference paid to him, is final

only in matters of every-day use. In cases of importance,

such as war, or any important removal, the elders of the

village meet together and deliberate in the presence of the

whole population, which last finally decide the question.

"The elders, who possess other authority, and are always in

the counsels of the chief, are the oldest members of

important families in the village. Respect is paid to them

on account of their years, but more from a certain regard

for 'family,' which the African has very strongly wherever I

have known him. These families form the aristocracy."[73]

Here are democracy and aristocracy blended somewhat. The king's power

seems to be in deciding everyday affairs, while the weighty matters

which affect the whole tribe are decided by the elders and the people.

Mr. Reade says of such government,--

"Among these equatorial tribes the government is

patriarchal, which is almost equivalent to saying that there

is no government at all. The tribes are divided into clans.

Each clan inhabits a separate village, or group of villages;

and at the head of each is a patriarch, the parody of a

king. They are distinguished from the others by the

grass-woven cap which they wear on their heads, and by the

staff which they carry in their hands. They are always rich

and aged: therefore they are venerated; but, though they can

exert influence, they cannot wield power; they can advise,

but they cannot command. In some instances, as in that of

Quenqueza, King of the Rembo, the title and empty honors of

royalty are bestowed upon the most influential patriarch in

a district. This is a vestige of higher civilization and of

ancient empire which disappears as one descends among the

lower tribes."[74]

"The African form of government is patriarchal, and,

according to the temperament of the chief, despotic, or

guided by the counsel of the elders of the tribe. Reverence

for loyalty sometimes leads the mass of the people to submit

to great cruelty, and even murder, at the hands of a despot

or madman; but, on the whole, the rule is mild; and the same

remark applies in a degree to their religion."[75]

When a new king is elected, he has first to repair to the pontiff's

house, who--apropos of priests--is more important than the king

himself. The king prostrates himself, and, with loud cries, entreats

the favor of this high priest. At first the old man inside, with a

gruff voice, orders him away, says he cannot be annoyed; but the king

enumerates the presents he has brought him, and finally the door

opens, and the priest appears, clad in white, a looking-glass on his

breast, and long white feathers in his head. The king is sprinkled,

covered with dust, walked over, and then, finally, the priest lies

upon him. He has to swear that he will obey, etc.; and then he is

allowed to go to the coronation. Then follow days and nights of

feasting, and, among some tribes, human sacrifices.

The right of succession is generally kept on the male side of the

family. The crown passes from brother to brother, from uncle to

nephew, from cousin to cousin. Where there are no brothers, the son

takes the sceptre. In all our studies on Africa, we have found only

two women reigning. A woman by the name of Shinga ascended the throne

of the Congo empire in 1640. She rebelled against the ceremonies,

sought to be introduced by Portuguese Catholic priests, who incited

her nephew to treason. Defeated in several pitched battles, she fled

into the Jaga country, where she was crowned with much success. In

1646 she won her throne again, and concluded an honorable peace with

the Portuguese. The other queen was the bloodthirsty Tembandumba of

the Jagas. She was of Arab blood, and a cannibal by practice. She

fought many battles, achieved great victories, flirted with beautiful

young savages, and finally was poisoned.

The African is not altogether without law.

"Justice appears, upon the whole, to be pretty fairly

administered among the Makololo. A headman took some beads

and a blanket from one of his men who had been with us; the

matter was brought before the chief; and he immediately

ordered the goods to be restored, and decreed, moreover,

that no headman should take the property of the men who had

returned. In theory all the goods brought back belonged to

the chief; the men laid them at his feet, and made a formal

offer of them all: he looked at the articles, and told the

men to keep them. This is almost invariably the case. Tuba

Mokoro, however, fearing lest Sekeletu might take a fancy to

some of his best goods, exhibited only a few of his old and

least valuable acquisitions. Masakasa had little to show: he

had committed some breach of native law in one of the

villages on the way, and paid a heavy fine rather than have

the matter brought to the doctor's ears. Each carrier is

entitled to a portion of the goods in his bundle, though

purchased by the chief's ivory; and they never hesitate to

claim their rights; but no wages can be demanded from the

chief if he fails to respond to the first application."[76]

We have found considerable civil and criminal law among the different

tribes. We gave an account of the civil and criminal code of Dahomey

in the chapter on that empire. In the Congo country all civil suits

are brought before a judge. He sits on a mat under a large tree, and

patiently hears the arguments _pro_ and _con_. His decisions are

final. There is no higher court, and hence no appeal. The criminal

cases are brought before the _Chitomé_, or priest. He keeps a sacred

fire burning in his house that is never suffered to go out. He is

supported by the lavish and delicate gifts of the people, and is held

to be sacred. No one is allowed to approach his house except on the

most urgent business. He never dies, so say the people. When he is

seriously sick his legal successor steals quietly into his house, and

beats his brains out, or strangles him to death. It is his duty to

hear all criminal cases, and to this end he makes a periodical circuit

among the tribe. Murder, treason, adultery, killing the escaped

snakes from the fetich-house,--and often stealing,--are punished by

death, or by being sold into slavery. A girl who loses her standing,

disgraces her family by an immoral act, is banished from the tribe.

And in case of seduction the man is tied up and flogged. In case of

adultery a large sum of money must be paid. If the guilty one is

unable to pay the fine, then death or slavery is the penalty.

"Adultery is regarded by the Africans as a kind of theft. It

is a vice, therefore, and so common that one might write a

Decameron of native tales like those of Boccaccio. And what

in Boccaccio is more poignant and more vicious than this

song of the Benga, which I have often heard them sing, young

men and women together, when no old men were present?--

'The old men young girls married.

The young girls made the old men fools;

For they love to kiss the young men in the dark,

Or beneath the green leaves of the plantain-tree.

The old men then threatened the young men,

And said, "You make us look like fools;

But we will stab you with our knives till your blood runs forth!"

"Oh, stab us, stab us!" cried the young men gladly,

"_For then your wives will fasten up our wounds_."'"[77]

The laws of marriage among many tribes are very wholesome and

elevating. When the age of puberty arrives, it is the custom in many

tribes for the elderly women, who style themselves _Negemba_, to go

into the forest, and prepare for the initiation of the _igonji_, or

novice. They clear a large space, build a fire, which is kept burning

for three days. They take the young woman into the fetich-house,--a

new one for this ceremony,--where they go through some ordeal, that,

thus far, has never been understood by men. When a young man wants a

wife, there are two things necessary; viz., he must secure her

consent, and then buy her. The apparent necessary element in African

courtship is not a thing to be deprecated by the contracting parties.

On the other hand, it is the _sine qua non_ of matrimony. It is proof

positive when a suitor gives cattle for his sweetheart, first, that he

is wealthy; and, second, that he greatly values the lady he fain would

make his bride. He first seeks the favor of the girl's parents. If she

have none, then her next of kin, as in Israel in the days of Boaz. For

it is a law among many tribes, that a young girl shall never be

without a guardian. When the relatives are favorably impressed with

the suitor, they are at great pains to sound his praise in the

presence of the girl; who, after a while, consents to see him. The

news is conveyed to him by a friend or relative of the girl. The

suitor takes a bath, rubs his body with palm-oil, dons his best armor,

and with beating heart and proud stride hastens to the presence of the

fastidious charmer. She does not speak. He sits down, rises, turns

around, runs, and goes through many exercises to show her that he is

sound and healthy. The girl retires, and the anxious suitor receives

the warm congratulations of the spectators on his noble bearing. The

fair lady conveys her assent to the waiting lover, and the village

rings with shouts of gladness. Next come the preliminary matters

before the wedding. Marriage among most African tribes is a coetaneous

contract. The bride is delivered when the price is paid by the

bridegroom. No goods, no wife. Then follow the wedding and feasting,

firing of guns, blowing of horns, music, and dancing.[78]

Polygamy is almost universal in Africa, and poor woman is the greater

sufferer from the accursed system. It is not enough that she is

drained of her beauty and strength by the savage passions of man: she

is the merest abject slave everywhere. The young women are beautiful,

but it is only for a brief season: it soon passes like the fragile

rose into the ashes of premature old age. In Dahomey she is a soldier;

in Kaffir-land she tends the herds, and builds houses; and in Congo

without her industry man would starve. Everywhere man's cruel hand is

against her. Everywhere she is the slave of his unholy passions.[79]

It is a mistaken notion that has obtained for many years, that the

Negro in Africa is physically the most loathsome of all mankind. True,

the Negro has been deformed by degradation and abuse; but this is not

his normal condition. We have seen native Africans who were jet black,

woolly-haired, and yet possessing fine teeth, beautiful features,

tall, graceful, and athletic.

"In reference to the status of the Africans among the

nations of the earth, we have seen nothing to justify the

notion that they are of a different 'breed' or 'species'

from the most civilized. The African is a man with every

attribute of human kind. Centuries of barbarism have had

the same deteriorating effects on Africans as Prichard

describes them to have had on certain of the Irish who were

driven, some generations back, to the hills in Ulster and

Connaught; and these depressing influences have had such

moral and physical effects on some tribes, that ages

probably will be required to undo what ages have done. This

degradation, however, would hardly be given as a reason for

holding any race in bondage, unless the advocate had sunk

morally to the same low state. Apart from the frightful loss

of life in the process by which, it is pretended, the

Negroes are better provided for than in a state of liberty

in their own country, it is this very system that

perpetuates, if not causes, the unhappy condition with which

the comparative comfort of some of them in slavery is

contrasted.

"Ethnologists reckon the African as by no means the lowest

of the human family. He is nearly as strong physically as

the European; and, as a race, is wonderfully persistent

among the nations of the earth. Neither the diseases nor the

ardent spirits which proved so fatal to North-American

Indians, South-Sea Islanders, and Australians, seem capable

of annihilating the Negroes. Even when subjected to that

system so destructive to human life, by which they are torn

from their native soil, they spring up irrepressibly, and

darken half the new continent. They are gifted by nature

with physical strength capable of withstanding the sorest

privations, and a lightheartedness which, as a sort of

compensation, enables them to make the best of the worst

situations. It is like that power which the human frame

possesses of withstanding heat, and to an extent which we

should never have known, had not an adventurous surgeon gone

into an oven, and burnt his fingers with his own watch. The

Africans have wonderfully borne up under unnatural

conditions that would have proved fatal to most races.

"It is remarkable that the power of resistance under

calamity, or, as some would say, adaptation for a life of

servitude, is peculiar only to certain tribes on the

continent of Africa. Climate cannot be made to account for

the fact that many would pine in a state of slavery, or

voluntarily perish. No Krooman can be converted into a

slave, and yet he is an inhabitant of the low, unhealthy

west coast; nor can any of the Zulu or Kaffir tribes be

reduced to bondage, though all these live on comparatively

elevated regions. We have heard it stated by men familiar

with some of the Kaffirs, that a blow, given even in play by

a European, must be returned. A love of liberty is

observable in all who have the Zulu blood, as the Makololo,

the Watuta, and probably the Masai. But blood does not

explain the fact. A beautiful Barotse woman at NHLe, on

refusing to marry a man whom she did not like, was in a pet

given by the headman to some Mambari slave-traders from

Benguela. Seeing her fate, she seized one of their spears,

and, stabbing herself, fell down dead."[80]

Dr. David Livingstone is certainly entitled to our utmost confidence

in all matters that he writes about. Mr. Archibald Forbes says he has

seen Africans dead upon the field of battle that would measure nine

feet, and it was only a few months ago that we had the privilege of

seeing a Zulu who was eight feet and eleven inches in height. As to

the beauty of the Negro, nearly all African travellers agree.

"But if the women of Africa are brutal, the men of Africa

are feminine. Their faces are smooth; their breasts are

frequently as full as those of European women; their voices

are never gruff or deep; their fingers are long; and they

can be very proud of their rosy nails. While the women are

nearly always ill-shaped after their girlhood, the men have

gracefully moulded limbs, and always after a feminine

type,--the arms rounded, the legs elegantly formed, without

too much muscular development, and the feet delicate and

small.

"When I first went ashore on Africa, viz., at Bathurst, I

thought all the men who passed me, covered in their long

robes, were women, till I saw one of the latter sex, and was

thereby disenchanted.

"While no African's face ever yet reminded me of a man whom

I had known in England, I saw again and again faces which

reminded me of women; and on one occasion, in Angola, being

about to chastise a _carregadore_, he sank on his knees as I

raised my stick, clasped his hands, and looked up

imploringly toward me,--was so like a young lady I had once

felt an affection for, that, in spite of myself, I flung the

stick away, fearing to commit a sacrilege.

"Ladies on reading this will open their eyes, and suppose

that either I have very bad taste, or that I am writing

fiction. But I can assure them that among the Angolas, and

the Mpongwe, and the Mandingoes, and the Fula, I have seen

men whose form and features would disgrace no

petticoats,--not even satin ones at a drawing-room.

"While the women are stupid, sulky, and phlegmatic, the men

are vivacious, timid, inquisitive, and garrulous beyond

belief. They make excellent domestic servants, are cleanly,

and even tedious in the nicety with which they arrange

dishes on a table or clothes on a bed. They have also their

friendships after the manner of woman, embracing one

another, sleeping on the same mat, telling one another their

secrets, betraying them, and getting terribly jealous of one

another (from pecuniary motives) when they happen to serve

the same master.

"They have none of that austerity, that reserve, that

pertinacity, that perseverance, that strong-headed stubborn

determination, or that ferocious courage, which are the

common attributes of our sex. They have, on the other hand,

that delicate tact, that intuition, that nervous

imagination, that quick perception of character, which have

become the proverbial characteristics of cultivated women.

They know how to render themselves impenetrable; and if they

desire to be perfidious, they wear a mask which few eyes can

see through, while at the same time a certain sameness of

purpose models their character in similar moulds. Their

nature is an enigma: but solve it, and you have solved the

race. They are inordinately vain: they buy looking-glasses;

they will pass hours at their toilet, in which their wives

must act as _femmes de chambre_; they will spend all their

money on ornaments and dress, in which they can display a

charming taste. They are fond of music, of dancing, and are

not insensible to the beauties of nature. They are indolent,

and have little ambition except to be admired and well

spoken of. They are so sensitive that a harsh word will

rankle in then hearts, and make them unhappy for a length of

time; and they will strip themselves to pay the _grills_ for

their flattery, and to escape their satire. Though naturally

timid, and loath to shed blood, they witness without horror

the most revolting spectacles which their religion

sanctions; and, though awed by us their superiors, a real

injury will transform their natures, and they will take a

speedy and merciless revenge.

"According to popular belief, the Africans are treacherous

and hostile. The fact is, that all Africans are supposed to

be Negroes, and that which is criminal is ever associated

with that which is hideous. But, with the exception of some

Mohammedan tribes toward the north, one may travel all over

Africa without risking one's life. They may detain you, they

may rob you, if you are rich; they may insult you, and

refuse to let you enter their country, if you are poor: but

your life is always safe till you sacrifice it by some

imprudence.

"In ancient times the blacks were known to be so gentle to

strangers that many believed that the gods sprang from them.

Homer sings of the Ocean, father of the gods; and says that,

when Jupiter wishes to take a holiday, he visits the sea,

and goes to the banquets of the blacks,--a people humble,

courteous, and devout."[81]

We have quoted thus extensively from Mr. Reade because he has given a

fair account of the peoples he met. He is a good writer, but sometimes

gets real funny!

It is a fact that all uncivilized races are warlike. The tribes of

Africa are a vast standing army. Fighting seems to be their

employment. We went into this matter of armies so thoroughly in the

fourth chapter that we shall not have much to say here. The bow and

arrow, the spear and assagai were the primitive weapons of African

warriors; but they have learned the use of fire-arms within the last

quarter of a century. The shield and assagai are not, however, done

away with. The young Prince Napoleon, whose dreadful death the reader

may recall, was slain by an assagai. These armies are officered,

disciplined, and drilled to great perfection, as the French and

English troops have abundant reason to know.

"The Zulu tribes are remarkable for being the only people in

that part of Africa who have practised war in an European

sense of the word. The other tribes are very good at bush

fighting, and are exceedingly crafty at taking an enemy

unawares, and coming on him before he is prepared for them.

Guerilla warfare is, in fact, their only mode of waging

battle; and, as is necessarily the case in such warfare,

more depends on the exertion of individual combatants than

on the scientific combinations of masses. But the Zulu tribe

have, since the time of Dhaka, the great inventor of

military tactics, carried on war in a manner approaching the

notions of civilization.

"Their men are organized into regiments, each subdivided

into companies, and each commanded by its own chief, or

colonel; while the king, as commanding general, leads his

forces to war, disposes them in battle-array, and personally

directs their movements. They give an enemy notice that they

are about to match against him, and boldly meet him in the

open field. There is a military etiquette about them which

some of our own people have been slow to understand. They

once sent a message to the English commander that they would

'come and breakfast with him.' He thought it was only a

joke, and was very much surprised when the Kaffirs, true to

their promise, came pouring like a torrent over the hills,

leaving him barely time to get his men under arms before the

dark enemies arrived."[82]

And there are some legends told about African wars that would put the

"Arabian Nights" to the blush.[83]

In Africa, as in districts of Germany and Holland, woman is burdened

with agricultural duties. The soil of Africa is very rich,[84] and

consequently Nature furnishes her untutored children with much

spontaneous vegetation. It is a rather remarkable fact, that the

average African warrior thinks it a degradation for him to engage in

agriculture. He will fell trees, and help move a village, but _will

not_ go into the field to work. The women--generally the married

ones--do the gardening. They carry the seed on their heads in a large

basket, a hoe on their shoulder, and a baby slung on the back. They

scatter the seed over the ground, and then break up the earth to the

depth of three or four inches.

"Four or five gardens are often to be seen round a kraal,

each situated so as to suit some particular plant. Various

kinds of crops are cultivated by the Kaffirs, the principal

being maize, millet, pumpkins, and a kind of spurious

sugar-cane in great use throughout Southern Africa, and

popularly known by the name of 'sweet-reed.' The two former

constitute, however, the necessaries of life, the latter

belonging rather to the class of luxuries. The maize, or, as

it is popularly called when the pods are severed from the

stem, 'mealies,' is the very staff of life to a Kaffir; as

it is from the mealies that is made the thick porridge on

which the Kaffir chiefly lives. If a European hires a

Kaffir, whether as guide, servant, or hunter, he is obliged

to supply him with a stipulated quantity of food, of which

the maize forms the chief ingredient. Indeed, so long as the

native of Southern Africa can get plenty of porridge and

sour milk, he is perfectly satisfied with his lot. When

ripe, the ears of maize are removed from the stem, the leafy

envelope is stripped off, and they are hung in pairs over

sticks until they are dry enough to be taken to the

storehouse."[85]

The cattle are cared for by the men, and women are not allowed to

engage in the hunt for wild animals. The cattle among the mountain and

sandstone tribes are of a fine stock, but those of the tribes in the

alluvia, like their owners, are small and sickly.

The African pays more attention to his weapons of offensive warfare

than he does to his wives; but in many instances he is quite skilful

in the handicrafts.

"The Ishogo people are noted throughout the neighboring

tribes for the superior quality and fineness of the

_bongos_, or pieces of grass-cloth, which they manufacture.

They are industrious and skilful weavers. In walking down

the main street of Mokenga, a number of _ouandjas_, or

houses without walls are seen, each containing four or five

looms, with the weavers seated before them weaving the

cloth. In the middle of the floor of the _ouandjay_ a

wood-fire is seen burning; and the weavers, as you pass by,

are sure to be seen smoking their pipes, and chatting to one

another whilst going on with their work. The weavers are all

men, and it is men also who stitch the _bongos_ together to

make _denguis_ or robes of them; the stitches are not very

close together, nor is the thread very fine, but the work is

very neat and regular, and the needles are of their own

manufacture. The _bongos_ are very often striped, and

sometimes made even in check patterns; this is done by their

dyeing some of the threads of the warp, or of both warp and

woof, with various simple colors; the dyes are all made of

decoctions of different kinds of wood, except for black,

when a kind of iron ore is used. The _bongos_ are employed

as money in this put of Africa. Although called grass-cloth

by me, the material is not made of grass, but of the

delicate and firm cuticle of palm leaflets, stripped off in

a dexterous manner with the fingers."[86]

Nearly all his mechanical genius seems to be exhausted in the

perfection of his implements of war, and Dr. Livingstone is of the

opinion, that when a certain perfection in the arts is reached, the

natives pause. This, we think, is owing to their far remove from other

nations. Livingstone says,--

"The races of this continent seem to have advanced to a

certain point and no farther; their progress in the arts of

working iron and copper, in pottery, basket-making,

spinning, weaving, making nets, fish-hooks, spears, axes,

knives, needles, and other things, whether originally

invented by this people or communicated by another

instructor, appears to have remained in the same rude state

for a great number of centuries. This apparent stagnation of

mind in certain nations we cannot understand, but, since we

have in the latter ages of the world made what we consider

great progress in the arts, we have unconsciously got into

the way of speaking of some other races in much the same

tone as that used by the Celestials in the Flowery Land.

These same Chinese anticipated us in several most important

discoveries, by as many centuries as we may have preceded

others. In the knowledge of the properties of the magnet,

the composition of gunpowder, the invention of printing, the

manufacture of porcelain, of silk, and in the progress of

literature, they were before us. But then the power of

making further discoveries was arrested, and a stagnation of

the intellect prevented their advancing in the path of

improvement or invention."

Mr. Wood says,--

"The natives of Southern Africa are wonderful proficients in

forging iron; and, indeed, a decided capability for the

blacksmith's art seems to be inherent in the natives of

Africa, from north to south, and from east to west. None of

the tribes can do very much with the iron, but the little

which they require is worked in perfection. As in the case

with all uncivilized beings, the whole treasures of the art

are lavished on their weapons; and so, if we wish to see

what an African savage can do with iron, we must look at his

spears, knives, and arrows--the latter, indeed, being but

spears in miniature."

The blacksmith, then, is a person of some consequence in his village.

He gives shape and point to the weapons by which game is to be secured

and battles won. All seek his favor.

"Among the Kaffirs, a blacksmith is a man of considerable

importance, and is much respected by the tribe. He will not

profane the mystery of his craft by allowing uninitiated

eyes to inspect his various processes, and therefore carries

on his operations at some distance from the kraal. His first

care is to prepare the bellows. The form which he uses

prevails over a very large portion of Africa, and is seen,

with some few modifications, even among the many islands of

Polynesia. It consists of two leathern sacks, at the upper

end of which is a handle. To the lower end of each sack is

attached the hollow horns of some animal, that of the cow or

eland being most commonly used; and when the bags are

alternately inflated and compressed, the air passes out

through the two horns.

"Of course the heat of the fire would destroy the horns if

they were allowed to come in contact with it; and they are

therefore inserted, not into the fire, but into an

earthenware tube which communicates with the fire. The use

of valves is unknown; but as the two horns do not open into

the fire, but into the tube, the fire is not drawn into the

bellows as would otherwise be the case. This arrangement,

however, causes considerable waste of air, so that the

bellows-blower is obliged to work much harder than would be

the case if he were provided with an instrument that could

conduct the blast directly to its destination. The ancient

Egyptians used a bellows of precisely similar construction,

except that they did not work them entirely by hand. They

stood with one foot on each sack, and blew the fire by

alternately pressing on them with the feet, and raising them

by means of a cord fastened to their upper ends.

"When the blacksmith is about to set to work, he digs a hole

in the ground, in which the fire is placed; and then sinks

the earthenware tube in a sloping direction, so that the

lower end opens at the bottom of the hole, while the upper

end projects above the level of the ground. The two horns

are next inserted into the upper end of the earthenware

tube; and the bellows are then fastened in their places, so

that the sacks are conveniently disposed for the hands of

the operator, who sits between them. A charcoal-fire is then

laid in the hole, and is soon brought to a powerful heat by

means of the bellows. A larger stone serves the purpose of

an anvil, and a smaller stone does duty for a hammer.

Sometimes the hammer is made of a conical piece of iron, but

in most cases a stone is considered sufficient. The rough

work of hammering the iron into shape is generally done by

the chief blacksmith's assistants, of whom he has several,

all of whom will pound away at the iron in regular

succession. The shaping and finishing the article is

reserved by the smith for himself. The other tools are few

and simple, and consist of punches and rude pinchers made of

two rods of iron.

"With these instruments the Kaffir smith can cast brass into

various ornaments, Sometimes he pours it into a cylindrical

mould, so as to make a bar from which bracelets and similar

ornaments can be hammered, and sometimes he makes studs and

knobs by forming their shape in clay moulds."[87]

Verily, the day will come when these warlike tribes shall beat their

spears into pruning-hooks, and their assagais into ploughshares, and

shall learn war no more! The skill and cunning of their artificers

shall be consecrated to the higher and nobler ends of civilization,

and the noise of battle shall die amid the music of a varied

industry!

FOOTNOTES:

[68] Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi, pp. 216, 217.

[69] Ashango Land, pp. 288, 289, 291, 292.

[70] Western Africa, p. 257 _sq._

[71] Through the Dark Continent, vol. i. p. 489.

[72] Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. chap, vii.

[73] Equatorial Africa, pp. 377, 378.

[74] Savage Africa, p. 216.

[75] Expedition to Zambesi, pp. 626, 627.

[76] Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi, pp. 307, 308.

[77] Savage Africa, p. 219.

[78] See Savage Africa, p. 207. Livingstone's Life-Work, pp. 47, 48.

Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. 1. pp. 71-86; also Du Chaillu and

Denham and Clappterton.

[79] Savage Africa, pp. 424, 425.

[80] Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi, pp 625, 626.

[81] Savage Africa, pp 426, 427.

[82] Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. p. 94.

[83] Through the Dark Continent, vol. i. p. 344 _sq._; also vol. ii.

pp. 87, 88.

[84] Livingstone's Zambesi, pp. 613-617.

[85] Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. p. 146.

[86] Ashango Land, pp 290, 291.

[87] Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. pp. 97, 98.

CHAPTER VIII.

LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION.

STRUCTURE OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES.--THE MPONGWE, MANDINGO, AND

GREBO.--POETRY: EPIC, IDYLLIC, AND MISCELLANEOUS.--RELIGIONS

AND SUPERSTITIONS.

Philologically the inhabitants of Africa are divided into two distinct

families. The dividing line that Nature drew across the continent is

about two degrees north of the equator. Thus far science has not

pushed her investigations into Northern Africa; and, therefore, little

is known of the dialects of that section. But from what travellers

have learned of portions of different tribes that have crossed the

line, and made their way as far as the Cape of Good Hope, we infer,

that, while there are many dialects in that region, they all belong to

one common family. During the Saracen movement, in the second century

of the Christian era, the Arab turned his face toward Central Africa.

Everywhere traces of his language and religion are to be found. He

transformed whole tribes of savages. He built cities, and planted

fields; he tended flocks, and became trader. He poured new blood into

crumbling principalities, and taught the fingers of the untutored

savage to war. His religion, in many places, put out the ineffectual

fires of the fetich-house, and lifted the grovelling thoughts of

idolaters heavenward. His language, like the new juice of the vine,

made its way to the very roots of Negro dialects, and gave them method

and tone. In the song and narrative, in the prayer and precept, of the

heathen, the Arabic comes careering across each sentence, giving

cadence and beauty to all.

On the heels of the Mohammedan followed the Portuguese, the tried and

true servants of Rome, bearing the double swords and keys. Not so

extensive as the Arab, the influence of the Portuguese, nevertheless,

has been quite considerable.

[Transcriber's Note: A breve diacritical mark, a u-shaped symbol above

a letter used to indicate special pronunciation, is found on several

words in the original text. These letters are indicated here by the

coding [)x] for a breve above any letter x. For example, the word

"tonda" with a breve above the letter "o" will appear as "t[)o]nda" in

the following text.]

All along the coast of Northern Guinea, a distance of nearly fifteen

hundred miles,--from Cape Mesurado to the mouth of the Niger,--the

Kree, Grebo, and Basa form one general family, and speak the Mandu

language. On the Ivory Coast another language is spoken between Frisco

and Dick's Cove. It is designated as the Av[)e]kw[)o]m language, and

in its verbal and inflective character is not closely related to the

Mandu. The dialects of Popo, Dahomey, Ashantee, and Akra are

resolvable into a family or language called the _Fantyipin_. All these

dialects, to a greater or less extent, have incorporated many foreign

words,--Dutch, French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, and even many

words from Madagascar. The language of the Gold and Ivory Coasts we

find much fuller than those on the Grain Coast. Wherever commerce or

mechanical enterprise imparts a quickening touch, we find the

vocabulary of the African amplified. Susceptible, apt, and cunning,

the coast tribes, on account of their intercourse with the outside

world, have been greatly changed. We are sorry that the change has not

always been for the better. Uncivilized sailors, and brainless and

heartless speculators, have sown the rankest seeds of an effete

Caucasian civilization in the hearts of the unsuspecting Africans.

These poor people have learned to cheat, lie, steal; are capable of

remarkable diplomacy and treachery; have learned well the art of

flattery and extreme cruelty. Mr. Wilson says,--

"The Sooahelee, or Swahere language, spoken by the

aboriginal inhabitants of Zanzibar, is very nearly allied to

the Mpongwe, which is spoken on the western coast in very

nearly the same parallel of latitude. _One-fifth of the

words of these two dialects are either the same, or so

nearly so that they may easily be traced to the same root_."

The Italics are our own. The above was written just a quarter of a

century ago.

"The language of Uyanzi seemed to us to be a mixture of

almost all Central African dialects. Our great stock of

native words, in all dialects, proved of immense use to me;

and in three days I discovered, after classifying and

comparing the words heard from the Wy-anzi with other

African words, that I was tolerably proficient, at least for

all practical purposes, in the Kiyanzi dialect."[88]

Mr. Stanley wrote the above in Africa in March, 1877. It was but a

repetition of the experiences of Drs. Livingstone and Kirk, that,

while the dialects west and south-west of the Mountains of the Moon

are numerous, and apparently distinct, they are referable to one

common parent. The Swahere language has held its place from the

beginning. Closely allied to the Mpongwe, it is certainly one of great

strength and beauty.

"This great family of languages--if the Mpongwe dialect may

be taken as a specimen--is remarkable for its beauty,

elegance, and perfectly philosophical arrangements, as well

as for its almost indefinite expansibility. In these

respects it not only differs essentially and radically from

all the dialects north of the Mountains of the Moon, but

they are such as may well challenge a comparison with any

known language in the world."[89]

The dialects of Northern Africa are rough, irregular in structure, and

unpleasant to the ear. The Mpongwe we are inclined to regard as the

best of all the dialects we have examined. It is spoken, with but

slight variations, among the Mpongwe, Ayomba, Oroungou, Rembo, Camma,

Ogobay, Anenga, and Ngaloi tribes. A careful examination of several

other dialects leads us to suspect that they, too, sustain a distant

relationship to the Mpongwe.

Next to this remarkable language comes the Bakalai, with its numerous

dialectic offspring, scattered amongst the following tribes: the

Balengue, Mebenga, Bapoukow, Kombe, Mbiki, Mbousha, Mbondemo, Mbisho,

Shekiani, Apingi, Evili, with other tribes of the interior.

The two families of languages we have just mentioned--the Mpongwe and

the Bakalai--are distinguished for their system and grammatical

structure. It is surprising that these unwritten languages should hold

their place among roving, barbarous tribes through so many years. In

the Mpongwe language and its dialects, the liquid and semi-vowel _r_

is rolled with a fulness and richness harmonious to the ear. The

Bakalai and its branches have no _r_; and it is no less true that all

tribes that exclude this letter from their dialects are warlike,

nomadic, and much inferior to the tribes that use it freely.

The Mpongwe language is spoken on each side of the Gabun, at Cape

Lopez, and at Cape St. Catharin in Southern Guinea; the Mandingo,

between Senegal and the Gambia; and the Grebo language, in and about

Cape Palmas. It is about twelve hundred miles from Gabun to Cape

Palmas, about two thousand miles from Gabun to Senegambia, and about

six hundred miles from Cape Palmas to Gambia. It is fair to presume

that these tribes are sufficiently distant from each other to be

called strangers. An examination of their languages may not fail to

interest.

It has been remarked somewhere, that a people's homes are the surest

indications of the degree of civilization they have attained. It is

certainly true, that deportment has much to do with the polish of

language. The disposition, temperament, and morals of a people who

have no written language go far toward giving their language its

leading characteristics. The Grebo people are a well-made, quick, and

commanding-looking people. In their intercourse with one another,

however, they are unpolished, of sudden temper, and revengeful

disposition.[90] Their language is consequently _monosyllabic_. A

great proportion of Grebo words are of the character indicated. A few

verbs will illustrate. _Kba_, carry; _la_, kill; _ya_, bring; _mu_,

go; _wa_, walk; _ni_, do; and so on. This is true of objects, or

nouns. _Ge_, farm; _bro_, earth; _w[)e]nh_, sun; _tu_, tree; _gi_,

leopard; _na_, fire; _yi_, eye; _bo_, leg; _lu_, head; _nu_, rain;

_kai_, house. The Grebo people seem to have no idea of syllabication.

They do not punctuate; but, speaking with the rapidity with which they

move, run their words together until a whole sentence might be taken

for one word. If any thing has angered a Grebo he will say, "_E ya mu

kra wudi_;" being interpreted, "It has raised a great bone in my

throat." But he says it so quickly that he pronounces it in this

manner, _yamukroure_. There are phrases in this language that are

beyond the ability of a foreigner to pronounce. It has no

contractions, and often changes the first and second person of the

personal pronoun, and the first and second person plural, by lowering

or pitching the voice. The orthography remains the same, though the

significations of those words are radically different.

The Mpongwe language is largely polysyllabic. It is burdened with

personal pronouns, and its adjectives have numerous changes in

addition to their degrees of comparison. We find no inflections to

suggest case or gender. The adjective _mpolo_, which means "large,"

carries seven or eight forms. While it is impossible to tell whether a

noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter, they use one adjective for all

four declensions, changing its form to suit each.

The following form of declensions will serve to impart a clearer idea

of the arbitrary changes in the use of the adjective:

First Declension. (Singular, _nyare mpolu_, a large cow.

(Plural, _inyare impolu_, large cows.

Second Declension. (Singular, _egara evolu_, a large chest.

(Plural, _gara volu_, large chests.

Third Declension. (Singular, _idâmbe ivolu_, a large sheep.

(Plural, _idâmbe ampolu_, large sheep.

Fourth Declension. (Singular, _omamba ompolu_, a large snake.

(Plural, _imamba impolu_, large snakes.[91]

We presume it would be a difficult task for a Mpongwe to explain the

arbitrary law by which such changes are made. And yet he is as uniform

and strict in his obedience to this law as if it were written out in

an Mpongwe grammar, and taught in every village.

His verb has four moods; viz., indicative, imperative, conditional,

and subjunctive. The auxiliary particle gives the indicative mood its

grammatical being. The imperative is formed from the present of the

indicative by changing its initial consonant into its reciprocal

consonant as follows:--

_tonda_, to love.

_ronda_, love thou.

_denda_, to do.

_lenda_, do thou.

The conditional mood has a form of its own; but the conjunctive

particles are used as auxiliaries at the same time, and different

conjunctive particles are used with different tenses. The subjunctive,

having but one form, in a sentence where there are two verbs is used

as the second verb.[92] So by the use of the auxiliary particles the

verb can form the infinitive and potential mood. The Mpongwe verb

carries four tenses,--present, past or historical, perfect past, and

future. Upon the principle of alliteration the perfect past tense,

representing an action as completed, is formed from the present tense

by prefixing _a_, and by changing _a_-final into _i_: for example,

_t[)o]nda_, "to love;" _at[)o]ndi_, "did love." The past or historical

tense is derived from the imperative by prefixing _a_, and by changing

_a_-final into _i_. Thus _r[)o]nda_, "love;" _ar[)o]ndi_, "have

loved." The future tense is constructed by the aid of the auxiliary

particle _be_, as follows: _mi be t[)o]nda_," I am going to love."

We have not been able to find a Mandingo grammar, except Mr.

MacBrair's, which is, as far as we know, the only one in existence.

We have had but little opportunity to study the structure of that

language. But what scanty material we have at hand leads us to the

conclusion that it is quite loosely put together. The saving element

in its verb is the minuteness with which it defines the time of an

action. The causative form is made by the use of a suffix. It does not

use the verb "to go" or "come" in order to express a future tense.

Numerous particles are used in the substantive verb sense. The

Mandingo language is rather smooth. The letters _v_ and _z_ are not in

it. About one-fifth of the verbs and nouns commence with vowels, and

the noun always terminates in the letter _o_.

Here is a wide and interesting field for philologists: it should be

cultivated.

The African's nature is as sunny as the climate he lives in. He is not

brutal, as many advocates of slavery have asserted. It is the

unanimous testimony of all explorers of, and travellers through, the

Dark Continent, that the element of gentleness predominates among the

more considerable tribes; that they have a keen sense of the

beautiful, and are susceptible of whatever culture is brought within

their reach. The Negro nature is not sluggish, but joyous and

vivacious. In his songs he celebrates victories, and laughs at death

with the complacency of the Greek Stoics.

"Rich man and poor fellow, all men must die:

Bodies are only shadows. Why should I be sad?"[93]

He can be deeply wrought upon by acts of kindness; and bears a

friendship to those who show him favor, worthy of a better state of

society. When Henry M. Stanley (God bless him! noble, brave soul!) was

about emerging from the Dark Continent, he made a halt at Kabinda

before he ended his miraculous journey at Zanzibar on the Pacific

Ocean. He had been accompanied in his perilous journey by

stout-hearted, brave, and faithful natives. Their mission almost

completed, they began to sink into that listlessness which is often

the precursor of death. They had been true to their master, and were

now ready to die as bravely as they had lived. Read Mr. Stanley's

account without emotion if you can:--

"'Do you wish to see Zanzibar, boys?' I asked.

"'Ah, it is far. Nay, speak not, master. We shall never see

it,' they replied.

"'But you will die if you go on in this way. Wake up--shake

yourselves--show yourselves to be men.'

"'Can a man contend with God? Who fears death? Let us die

undisturbed, and be at rest forever,' they answered.

"Brave, faithful, loyal souls! They were, poor fellows,

surrendering themselves to the benumbing influences of a

listlessness and fatal indifference to life! Four of them

died in consequence of this strange malady at Loanda, three

more on board her Majesty's ship Industry, and one woman

breathed her last the day after we arrived at Zanzibar. But

in their sad death they had one consolation, in the words

which they kept constantly repeating to themselves--

"'We have brought our master to the great sea, and he has

seen his white brothers. La il Allah, il Allah! There is no

God but God!' they said--and died.

"It is not without an overwhelming sense of grief, a choking

in the throat, and swimming eyes, that I write of those

days; for my memory is still busy with the worth and virtues

of the dead. In a thousand fields of incident, adventure,

and bitter trials, they had proved their stanch heroism and

their fortitude; they had lived and endured nobly. I

remember the enthusiasm with which they responded to my

appeals; I remember their bold bearing during the darkest

days; I remember the Spartan pluck, the indomitable courage,

with which they suffered in the days of our adversity. Their

voices again loyally answer me, and again I hear them

address each other upon the necessity of standing by the

'master.' Their boat-song, which contained sentiments

similar to the following:--

'The pale-faced stranger, lonely here,

In cities afar, where his name is dear,

Your Arab truth and strength shall show;

He trusts in us, row, Arabs, row'--

despite all the sounds which now surround me, still charms

my listening ear.[94] ...

"They were sweet and sad moments, those of parting. What a

long, long, and true friendship was here sundered! Through

what strange vicissitudes of life had they not followed me!

What wild and varied scenes had we not seen together! What a

noble fidelity these untutored souls had exhibited! The

chiefs were those who had followed me to Ujiji in 1871; they

had been witnesses of the joy of Livingstone at the sight of

me; they were the men to whom I intrusted the safe-guard of

Livingstone on his last and fatal journey, who had mourned

by his corpse at Muilala, and borne the illustrious dead to

the Indian Ocean.

"And in a flood of sudden recollection, all the stormy

period here ended rushed in upon my mind; the whole panorama

of danger and tempest through which these gallant fellows

had so stanchly stood by me--these gallant fellows now

parting from me. Rapidly, as in some apocalyptic vision,

every scene of strife with Man and Nature, through which

these poor men and women had borne me company, and solaced

me by the simple sympathy of common suffering, came

hurrying across my memory; for each face before me was

associated with some adventure or some peril, reminded me of

some triumph or of some loss. What a wild, weird retrospect

it was,--that mind's flash over the troubled past! so like a

troublous dream!

"And for years and years to come, in many homes in Zanzibar,

there will be told the great story of our journey, and the

actors in it will be heroes among their kilt and kin. For me

too they are heroes, these poor, ignorant children of

Africa, for, from the first deadly struggle in savage Ituru

to the last staggering rush into Embomma, they had rallied

to my voice like veterans, and in the hour of need they had

never failed me. And thus, aided by their willing hands and

by their loyal hearts, the expedition had been successful,

and the three great problems of the Dark Continent's

geography had been fairly settled."[95]

How many times we have read this marvellous narrative of Stanley's

march through the Dark Continent, we do not know; but we do know that

every time we have read it with tears and emotion, have blessed the

noble Stanley, and thanked God for the grand character of his black

followers! There is no romance equal to these two volumes. The trip

was one awful tragedy from beginning to end, and the immortal deeds of

his untutored guards are worthy of the famous _Light Brigade_.

On the fourth day of August, 1877, Henry M. Stanley arrived at the

village of Nsanda on his way to the ocean. He had in his command one

hundred and fifteen souls. Foot-sore, travel-soiled, and hungry, his

people sank down exhausted. He tried to buy food from the natives; but

they, with an indifference that was painful, told them to wait until

market-day. A foraging party scoured the district for food, but found

none. Starvation was imminent. The feeble travellers lay upon the

ground in the camp, with death pictured on their dusky features.

Stanley called his boat-captains to his tent, and explained the

situation. He knew that he was within a few days march of Embomma, and

that here were located one Englishman, one Frenchman, one Spaniard,

and one Portuguese. He told the captains that he had addressed a

letter to these persons for aid; and that resolute, swift, and

courageous volunteers were needed to go for the relief,--without which

the whole camp would be transformed into a common graveyard. We will

now quote from Mr. Stanley again in proof of the noble nature of the

Negro:--

"The response was not long coming; for Uledi sprang up and

said, 'O master, don't talk more! I am ready now. See, I

will only buckle on my belt, and I shall start at once, and

nothing will stop me. I will follow on the track like a

leopard.'

"'And I am one,' said Kachéché. 'Leave us alone, master. If

there are white men at Embomma, we will find them out. We

will walk and walk, and when we cannot walk we will crawl.'

"'Leave off talking men,' said Muini Pembé, 'and allow

others to speak, won't you? Hear me, my master. I am your

servant. I will outwalk the two. I will carry the letter,

and plant it before the eyes of the white men.'

"'I will go too, sir,' said Robert.

"'Good! It is just as I should wish it; but, Robert, you

cannot follow these three men. You will break down, my boy.'

"'Oh, we will carry him if he breaks down,' said Uledi.

'Won't we, Kachéché?"

"'_Inshallah_!' responded Kachéché decisively. 'We must have

Robert along with us, otherwise the white men won't

understand us.'"

What wonderful devotion! What sublime self-forgetfulness! The world

has wept over such stories as Bianca and Héloise, and has built

monuments that will stand,--

"_While Fame her record keeps,

Or Homer paints the hallowed spot

Where Valor proudly sleeps_,"--

and yet these black heroes are unremembered. "I will follow the track

like a leopard," gives but a faint idea of the strong will of Uledi;

and Kachéché's brave words are endowed with all the attributes of that

heroic _abandon_ with which a devoted general hurls the last fragment

of wasting strength against a stubborn enemy. And besides, there is

something so tender in these words that they seem to melt the heart.

"We will walk and walk, and when we cannot walk we will crawl!" We

have never read but one story that approaches this narrative of Mr.

Stanley, and that was the tender devotion of Ruth to her

mother-in-law. We read it in the Hebrew to Dr. O.S. Stearns of Newton,

Mass.; and confess that, though it has been many years since, the

blessed impression still remains, and our confidence in humanity is

strengthened thereby.

Here are a few white men in the wilds of Africa, surrounded by the

uncivilized children of the desert. They have money and valuable

instruments, a large variety of gewgaws that possessed the power of

charming the fancy of the average savage; and therefore the whites

would have been a tempting prey to the blacks. But not a hair of their

head was harmed. The white men had geographical fame to encourage them

in the struggle,--friends and loved ones far away beyond the

beautiful blue sea. These poor savages had nothing to steady their

purposes save a paltry sum of money as day-wages,--no home, no

friends; and yet they were as loyal as if a throne were awaiting them.

No, no! nothing waited on their heroic devotion to a magnificent cause

but a lonely death when they had brought the "master" to the sea. When

their stomachs, pinched by hunger; when their limbs, stiff from

travel; when their eyes, dim with the mists of death; when every vital

force was slain by an heroic ambition to serve the great Stanley; when

the fires of endeavor were burnt to feeble embers,--then, and only

then, would these faithful Negroes fail in the fulfilment of their

mission, so full of peril, and yet so grateful to them, because it was

in the line of _duty_.

Cicero urged virtue as necessary to effective oratory. The great

majority of Negroes in Africa are both orators and logicians. A people

who have such noble qualities as this race seems to possess has, as a

logical necessity, the poetic element in a large degree.

In speaking of Negro poetry, we shall do so under three different

heads; viz., the _Epic_, _Idyllic_, _Religious_, or miscellaneous.

_The epic poetry_ of Africa, so far as known, is certainly worthy of

careful study. The child must babble before it can talk, and all

barbarians have a sense of the sublime in speech. Mr. Taine, in his

"History of English Literature," speaking of early Saxon poetry,

says,--

"One poem nearly whole, and two or three fragments, are all

that remain of this lay-poetry of England. The rest of the

pagan current, German and barbarian, was arrested or

overwhelmed, first by the influx of the Christian religion,

then by the conquest of the Norman-French. But what remains

more than suffices to show the strange and powerful poetic

genius of the race, and to exhibit beforehand the flower in

the bud.

"If there has ever been anywhere a deep and serious poetic

sentiment, it is here. They do not speak: they sing, or

rather they shout. Each little verse is an acclamation,

which breaks forth like a growl; their strong breasts heave

with a groan of anger or enthusiasm, and a vehement or

indistinct phrase or expression rises suddenly, almost in

spite of them, to their lips. There is no art, no natural

talent, for describing, singly and in order, the different

parts of an object or an event. The fifty rays of light

which every phenomenon emits in succession to a regular and

well-directed intellect, come to them at once in a glowing

and confused mass, disabling them by their force and

convergence. Listen to their genuine war-chants, unchecked

and violent, as became their terrible voices! To this day,

at this distance of time, separated as they are by manners,

speech, ten centuries, we seem to hear them still."[96]

This glowing description of the poetry of the primitive and hardy

Saxon gives the reader an excellent idea of the vigorous, earnest, and

gorgeous effusions of the African. Panda was king of the Kaffirs. He

was considered quite a great warrior. It took a great many

_isi-bongas_ to describe his virtues. His chief _isi-bongas_ was

"O-Elephant." This was chosen to describe his strength and greatness.

Mr. Wood gives an account of the song in honor of Panda:--

"1. Thou brother of the Tchaks, _considerate forder_,

2. A _swallow which fled in the sky_;

3. A swallow with a whiskered breast;

4. Whose cattle was ever in so huddled a crowd,

5. They stumble for room when they ran.

6. Thou false adorer of the valor of another,

7. That valor thou tookest at the battle of Makonko.

8. Of the stock of N'dabazita, _ramrod of brass_,

9. _Survivor alone of all other rods_;

10. Others they broke and left this in the soot,

11. Thinking to burn at some rainy cold day.

12. _Thigh of the bullock of Inkakavini_,

13. Always delicious if only 'tis roasted,

14. It will always be tasteless if boiled.

15. The woman from Mankeba is delighted;

16. She has seen the leopards of Jama,

17. Fighting together between the Makonko.

18. He passed between the Jutuma and Ihliza,

19. The Celestial who thundered between the Makonko.

20. I praisethee, O King! son of Jokwane, the son of Undaba,

21. The merciless opponent of every conspiracy.

22. Thou art an _elephant_, an _elephant_, an _elephant_.

23. All glory to thee, thou _monarch who art black_."

"The first _isi-bonga_, in line 1, alludes to the ingenuity

with which Panda succeeded in crossing the river so as to

escape out of the district where Dingan exercised authority.

In the second line, 'swallow which fled in the sky' is

another allusion to the secrecy with which he managed his

flight, which left no more track than the passage of a

swallow through the air. Lines 4 and 5 allude to the wealth,

i.e., the abundance of cattle, possessed by Panda. Line 6

asserts that Panda was too humble minded, and thought more

of the power of Dingan than it deserved; while line 7 offers

as proof of this assertion, that, when they came to fight,

Panda conquered Dingan. Lines 8 to 11 all relate to the

custom of seasoning sticks by hanging them over the

fireplaces in Kaffir huts. Line 14 alludes to the fact that

meat is very seldom roasted by the Kaffirs, but is almost

invariably boiled, or rather stewed, in closed vessels. In

line 15 the 'woman from Mankebe' is Panda's favorite wife.

In line 19 'The Celestial' alludes to the name of the great

Zulu tribe over which Panda reigned; the word 'Zulu' meaning

celestial, and having much the same import as the same word

when employed by the Chinese to denote their origin. Line 21

refers to the attempts of Panda's rivals to dethrone him,

and the ingenious manner in which he contrived to defeat

their plans by forming judicious alliances."

There is a daring insolence, morbid vanity, and huge description in

this song of Panda, that make one feel like admitting that the sable

bard did his work of flattery quite cleverly. It should not be

forgotten by the reader, that, in the translation of these songs, much

is lost of their original beauty and perspicuity. The following song

was composed to celebrate the war triumphs of Dinga, and is, withal,

exciting, and possessed of good movement. It is, in some instances,

much like the one quoted above:--

"Thou needy offspring of Umpikazi,

Eyer of the cattle of men;

Bird of Maube, fleet as a bullet,

Sleek, erect, of beautiful parts;

Thy cattle like the comb of the bees;

O head too large, too huddled to move;

Devourer of Moselekatze, son of Machobana;

Devourer of 'Swazi, son of Sobuza;

Breaker of the gates of Machobana;

Devourer of Gundave of Machobana;

A monster in size, of mighty power;

Devourer of Ungwati of ancient race;

Devourer of the kingly Uomape;

Like heaven above, raining and shining."

The poet has seen fit to refer to the early life of his hero, to call

attention to his boundless riches, and, finally, to celebrate his war

achievements. It is highly descriptive, and in the Kaffir language is

quite beautiful.

Tchaka sings a song himself, the ambitious sentiments of which would

have been worthy of Alexander the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte. He had

carried victory on his spear throughout all Kaffir-land. Everywhere

the tribes had bowed their submissive necks to his yoke; everywhere he

was hailed as king. But out of employment he was not happy. He sighed

for more tribes to conquer, and thus delivered himself:--

"Thou hast finished, finished the nations!

Where will you go out to battle now?

Hey! where will you go out to battle now?

Thou hast conquered kings!

Where are you going to battle now?

Thou hast finished, finished the nations!

Where are you going to battle now?

Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

Where are you going to battle now?"

There is really something modern in this deep lament of the noble

savage!

The following war song of the Wollof, though it lacks the sonorous and

metrical elements of real poetry, contains true military

aggressiveness, mixed with the theology of the fatalist.

A WAR SONG.

"I go in front. I fear not death. I am not afraid. If I die,

I will take my blood to bathe my head.

"The man who fears nothing marches always in front, and is

never hit by the murderous ball. The coward hides himself

behind a bush, and is killed.

"Go to the battle. It is not lead that kills. It is Fate

which strikes us, and which makes us die."

Mr. Reade says of the musicians he met up the Senegal,--

"There are three classes of these public minstrels,--1,

those who play such vulgar instruments as the flute and

drum; 2, those who play on the ballafond, which is the

marimba of Angola and South America, and on the harp; 3,

those who sing the legends and battle-songs of their

country, or who improvise satires or panegyrics. This last

class are dreaded, though despised. They are richly rewarded

in their lifetime, but after death they are not even given a

decent burial. If they were buried in the ground, it would

become barren; if in the river, the water would be poisoned,

and the fish would die: so they are buried in hollow trees.

_The idyllic poetry_ of Africa is very beautiful in its gorgeous

native dress. It requires some knowledge of their mythology in order

to thoroughly understand all their figures of speech. The following

song is descriptive of the white man, and is the production of a

Bushman.

"_In the blue palace of the deep sea

Dwells a strange creature:

His skin as white as salt;

His hair long and tangled as the sea-weed.

He is more great than the princes of the earth;

He is clothed with the skins of fishes,--

Fishes more beautiful than birds.

His house is built of brass rods;

His garden is a forest of tobacco.

On his soil white beads are scattered

Like sand-grains on the seashore._"

The following idyl, extemporized by one of Stanley's black soldiers,

on the occasion of reaching Lake Nyanza, possesses more energy of

movement, perspicuity of style, and warm, glowing imagery, than any

song of its character we have yet met with from the lips of unlettered

Negroes. It is certainly a noble song of triumph. It swells as it

rises in its mission of praise. It breathes the same victorious air of

the song of Miriam: "_Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed

gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea_." And

in the last verse the child-nature of the singer riots like "The May

Queen" of Tennyson.

THE SONG OF TRIUMPH.

"Sing, O friends, sing; the journey is ended:

Sing aloud, O friends; sing to the great Nyanza.

Sing all, sing loud, O friends, sing to the great sea;

Give your last look to the lands behind, and then turn to the sea.

Long time ago you left your lands,

Your wives and children, your brothers and your friends;

Tell me, have you seen a sea like this

Since you left the great salt sea?

CHORUS.

Then sing, O friends! sing; the journey is ended:

Sing aloud, O friend! sing to this great sea.

This sea is fresh, is good and sweet;

Your sea is salt, and bad, unfit to drink.

This sea is like wine to drink for thirsty men;

The salt sea--bah! it makes men sick.

Lift up your heads, O men, and gaze around;

Try if you can see its end.

See, it stretches moons away,

This great, sweet, fresh-water sea.

We come from Usukuma land,

The land of pastures, cattle, sheep and goats,

The land of braves, warriors, and strong men,

And, lo! this is the far-known Usukuma sea.

Ye friends, ye scorned at us in other days.

Ah, ha! Wangwana. What say ye now?

Ye have seen the land, its pastures and its herds,

Ye now see the far-known Usukuma sea.

Kaduma's land is just below;

He is rich in cattle, sheep, and goats.

The Msungu is rich in cloth and beads;

His hand is open, and his heart is free.

To-morrow the Msungu must make us strong

With meat and beer, wine and grain.

We shall dance and play the livelong day,

And eat and drink, and sing and play."

_The religious and miscellaneous poetry_ is not of the highest order.

One of the most remarkable men of the Kaffir tribe was Sicana, a

powerful chief and a Christian. He was a poet, and composed hymns,

which he repeated to his people till they could retain them upon their

memories. The following is a specimen of his poetical abilities, and

which the people are still accustomed to sing to a low monotonous

air:--

"Ulin guba inkulu siambata tina

Ulodali bom' unadali pezula,

Umdala undala idala izula,

Yebinza inquinquis zixeliela.

UTIKA umkula gozizuline,

Yebinza inquinquis nozilimele.

Umze uakonana subiziele,

Umkokeli ua sikokeli tina,

Uenza infama zenza go bomi;

Imali inkula subiziele,

Wena wena q'aba inyaniza,

Wena wena kaka linyaniza,

Wena wena klati linyaniza;

Invena inh'inani subiziele,

Ugaze laku ziman' heba wena,

Usanhla zaku ziman' heba wena,

Umkokili ua, sikokeli tina:

Ulodali bom' uadali pezula,

Umdala uadala idala izula."

TRANSLATION.

"Mantle of comfort! God of love!

The Ancient One on high!

Who guides the firmament above,

The heavens, and starry sky;

Creator, Ruler, Mighty One;

The only Good, All-wise,--

To him, the great eternal God,

Our fervent prayers arise.

Giver of life, we call on him,

On his high throne above,

Our Rock of refuge still to be,

Of safety and of love;

Our trusty shield, our sure defence,

Our leader, still to be:

We call upon our pitying God,

Who makes the blind to see.

We supplicate the Holy Lamb

Whose blood for us was shed,

Whose feet were pierced for guilty man,

Whose hands for us have bled;

Even our God who gave us life,

From heaven, his throne above,

The great Creator of the world,

Father, and God of love."

When any person is sick, the priests and devout people consult their

favorite spirits. At Goumbi, in Equatorial Africa, this ceremony is

quite frequent. Once upon a time the king fell sick. Quengueza was the

name of the afflicted monarch. Ilogo was a favorite spirit who

inhabited the moon. The time to invoke the favor of this spirit is

during the full moon. The moon, in the language of Equatorial Africa,

is Ogouayli. Well, the people gathered in front of the king's house,

and began the ceremony, which consisted chiefly in singing the

following song:--

"_Ilogo, we ask thee!

Tell who has bewitched the king!

Ilogo, we ask thee,

What shall we do to cure the king?

The forests are thine, Ilogo!

The rivers are thine, Ilogo!

The moon is thine!

O moon! O moon! O moon!

Thou art the house of Ilogo!

Shall the king die? Ilogo!

O Ilogo! O moon! O moon!_"[97]

In African caravans or processions, there is a man chosen to go in

front and sing, brandishing a stick somewhat after the manner of our

band-masters. The song is rather an indifferent howl, with little or

no relevancy. It is a position much sought after, and affords abundant

opportunity for the display of the voice. Such a person feels the

dignity of the position. The following is a sample:--

"_Shove him on!

But is he a good man?

No, I think he's a stingy fellow;

Shove him on!

Let him drop in the road, then.

No, he has a big stick:

Shove him on!

Oh, matta-bicho! matta-bicho!

Who will give me matta-bicho_?"

Of this song Mr. Reade says,--

"_Matta-bicho_ is a bunda compound meaning _kill-worm_; the

natives supposing that their entrails are tormented by a

small worm, which it is necessary to kill with raw spirits.

From the frequency of their demand, it would seem to be the

worm that ever gnaws, and that their thirst is the fire

which is never quenched."

The Griot, as we have already mentioned, sings for money. He is a most

accomplished parasite and flatterer. He makes a study of the art. Here

is one of his songs gotten up for the occasion.

I.

"The man who had not feared to pass the seas through a love

of study and of science heard of the poor Griot. He had him

summoned. He made him sing songs which made the echoes of

the Bornou mountains, covered with palm-trees, ring louder

and louder as the sounds flew over the summits of the trees.

II.

"The songs touched the heart of the great white man, and the

dew of his magnificence fell upon the Griot's head. Oh! how

can he sing the wonderful deeds of the Toubab? His voice and

his breath would not be strong enough to sing that theme. He

must be silent, and let the lion of the forest sing his

battles and his victories.

III.

"Fatimata heard the songs of the Griot. She heard, too, the

deeds which the Toubab had accomplished. She sighed, and

covered her head with her robe. Then she turned to her young

lover, and she said, 'Go to the wars; let the flying ball

kill thee: for Fatimata loves thee no longer. The white man

fills her thoughts.'"

The most beautiful nursery song ever sung by any mother, in any

language, may be heard in the Balengi county, in Central Africa. There

is wonderful tenderness in it,--tenderness that would melt the

coldest heart. It reveals a bright spot in the heart-life of this

people.[98]

"_Why dost than weep, my child?

The sky is bright; the sun is shining: why dost than weep?

Go to thy father: he loves thee; go, tell him why thou weepest.

What! thou weepest still! Thy father loves thee; I caress thee:

yet still thou art sad.

Tell me then, my child, why dost thou weep?_"

It is not so very remarkable, when we give the matter thought, that

the African mother should be so affectionate and devoted in her

relations to her children. The diabolical system of polygamy has but

this one feeble apology to offer in Africa. The wives of one man may

quarrel, but the children always find loving maternal arms ready to

shelter their heads against the wrath of an indifferent and cruel

father. The mother settles all the disputes of the children, and cares

for them with a zeal and tenderness that would be real beautiful in

many American mothers; and, in return, the children are very noble in

their relations to their mothers. "Curse me, but do not speak ill of

my mother," is a saying in vogue throughout nearly all Africa. The old

are venerated, and when they become sick they are abandoned to die

alone.

It is not our purpose to describe the religions and superstitions of

Africa.[99] To do this would occupy a book. The world knows that this

poor people are idolatrous,--"_bow down to wood and stone_." They do

not worship the true God, nor conform their lives unto the teachings

of the Saviour. They worship snakes, the sun, moon, and stars, trees,

and water-courses. But the bloody human sacrifice which they make is

the most revolting feature of their spiritual degradation. Dr.

Prichard has gone into this subject more thoroughly than our time or

space will allow.

"Nowhere can the ancient African religion be studied better

than in the kingdom of Congo. Christianity in Abyssinia, and

Mohammedanism in Northern Guinea, have become so mingled

with pagan rites as to render it extremely difficult to

distinguish between them.

"The inhabitants of Congo, whom I take as a true type of the

tribes of Southern Guinea generally, and of Southern Central

Africa, believe in a supreme Creator, and in a host of

lesser divinities. These last they represent by images; each

has its temple, its priests, and its days of sacrifice, as

among the Greeks and Romans."[100]

The false religions of Africa are but the lonely and feeble reaching

out of the human soul after the true God.

FOOTNOTES:

[88] Stanley's Through the Dark Continent, vol. ii. pp. 320, 321; see,

also, pp. 3, 78, 123, 245, 414.

[89] Western Africa, p. 455.

[90] Western Africa, p. 456.

[91] Western Africa, p. 470.

[92] Equatorial Africa, p. 531.

[93] Savage Africa, p. 212.

[94] Through the Dark Continent, vol. ii. pp, 470, 471.

[95] Through the Dark Continent, vol. ii. pp. 482, 483.

[96] History of English Literature, vol i. pp. 48. 49.

[97] Equatorial Africa, pp. 448, 449.

[98] On the intellectual faculties of the Negro, see Prichard, third

ed., 1837, vol. ii. p. 346, sect. iii. Peschel's Races of Men, p. 462,

_sq._, especially Blumenbach's Life and Works, p. 305, _sq_ Western

Africa, p. 379,--all of chap. xi.

[99] See Prichard, fourth ed., 1841, vol. 1. p. 197, sect. v. Moffat's

Southern Africa; Uncivilized Races of Men, vol 1. pp. 183-219.

[100] Savage Africa, p. 287, _sq._

CHAPTER IX.

SIERRA LEONE.

ITS DISCOVERY AND SITUATION.--NATURAL BEAUTY.--FOUNDING OF A

NEGRO COLONY.--THE SIERRA LEONE COMPANY.--FEVER AND

INSUBORDINATION.--IT BECOMES AN ENGLISH PROVINCE--CHARACTER

OF ITS INHABITANTS.--CHRISTIAN MISSIONS, ETC.

Sierra Leone was discovered and named by Piedro de Cintra. It is a

peninsula, about thirty miles in length by about twenty-five in

breadth, and is situated 8° and 30' north latitude, and is about

13-1/2° west longitude. Its topography is rather queer. On the south

and west its mountains bathe their feet in the Atlantic Ocean, and on

the east and north its boundaries are washed by the river and bay of

Sierra Leone. A range of mountains, co-extensive with the

peninsula,--forming its backbone,--rises between the bay of Sierra

Leone and the Atlantic Ocean, from two to three thousand feet in

altitude. Its outlines are as severe as Egyptian architecture, and the

landscape view from east or west is charming beyond the power of

description. Freetown is the capital, with about twenty thousand

inhabitants, situated on the south side of Sierra Leone River, and

hugged in by an amphitheatre of beautiful hills and majestic

mountains.

"On the side of the hill [says Mr. Reed] which rises behind

the town is a charming scene, which I will attempt to

describe. You have seen a rural hamlet, where each cottage

is half concealed by its own garden. Now convert your linden

into graceful palm, your apples into oranges, your

gooseberry-bushes into bananas, your thrush which sings in

its wicker cage into a gray parrot whistling on a rail; ...

sprinkle this with strange and powerful perfumes; place in

the west a sun flaming among golden clouds in a

prussian-blue sea, dotted with white sails; imagine those

mysterious and unknown sounds, those breathings of the

earth-soul, with which the warm night of Africa rises into

life,--and then you will realize one of those moments of

poetry which reward poor travellers for long days and nights

of naked solitude."[101]

In 1772 Lord Mansfield delivered his celebrated opinion on the case of

the Negro man Sommersett, whose master, having abandoned him in a

sick condition, afterwards sought to reclaim him. The decision was to

the effect that no man, white or black, could set foot on British soil

and remain a slave. The case was brought at the instance of Mr.

Granville Sharp. The decision created universal comment. Many Negroes

in New England, who had found shelter under the British flag on

account of the proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton, went to England.

Free Negroes from other parts--Jamaica, St. Thomas, and San

Domingo--hastened to breathe the free air of the British metropolis.

Many came to want, and wandered about the streets of London, strangers

in a strange land. Granville Sharp, a man of great humanity, was

deeply affected by the sad condition of these people. He consulted

with Dr. Smeathman, who had spent considerable time in Africa; and

they conceived the plan of transporting them to the west coast of

Africa, to form a colony.[102] The matter was agitated in London by

the friends of the blacks, and finally the government began to be

interested. A district of about twenty square miles was purchased by

the government of Naimbanna, king of Sierra Leone, on which to locate

the proposed colony. About four hundred Negroes and sixty white

persons, the greater portion of the latter being "women of the

town,"[103] were embarked on "The Nautilus," Capt. Thompson, and

landed at Sierra Leone on the 9th of May, 1787. The climate was

severe, the sanitary condition of the place vile, and the habits of

the people immoral. The African fever, with its black death-stroke,

reaped a harvest; while the irregularities and indolence of the

majority of the colonists, added to the deeds of plunder perpetrated

by predatory bands of savages, reduced the number of the colonists to

about sixty-four souls in 1791.

The dreadful news of the fate of the colony was borne to the

philanthropists in England. But their faith in colonization stood as

unblanched before the revelation as the Iron Duke at Waterloo. An

association was formed under the name of "St. George's Bay," but

afterwards took the name of the "Sierra Leone Company," with a capital

stock of one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with such

humanitarians as Granville Sharp, Thornton, Wilberforce, and Clarkson

among its directors. The object of the company was to push forward the

work of colonization. One hundred Europeans landed at Sierra Leone in

the month of February, 1792, and were followed in March by eleven

hundred and thirty-one Negroes. A large number of them had served in

the British army during the Revolutionary War in America, and,

accepting the offer of the British Government, took land in this

colony as a reward for services performed in the army. Another fever

did its hateful work; and fifty or sixty Europeans, and many blacks,

fell under its parching and consuming touch.[104] Jealous feuds rent

the survivors, and idleness palsied every nerve of industry in the

colony. In 1794 a French squadron besieged the place, and the people

sustained a loss of about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Once

more an effort was made to revive the place, and get its drowsy

energies aroused in the discharge of necessary duties. Some little

good began to show itself; but it was only the tender bud of promise,

and was soon trampled under the remorseless heel of five hundred and

fifty insurrectionary maroons from Jamaica and Nova Scotia.

The indifferent character of the colonists, and the hurtful touch of

the climate, had almost discouraged the friends of the movement in

England. It was now the year 1800. This vineyard planted by good men

yielded "nothing but leaves." No industry had been developed, no

substantial improvement had been made, and the future was veiled in

harassing doubts and fears. The money of the company had almost all

been expended. The company barely had the signs of organic life in it,

but the light of a beautiful Christian faith had not gone out across

the sea in stalwart old England. The founders of the colony believed

that good management would make the enterprise succeed: so they looked

about for a master hand to guide the affair. On the 8th of August,

1807, the colony was surrendered into the hands of the Crown, and was

made an English colony. During the same year in which this transfer

was made, Parliament declared the slave-trade piracy; and a naval

squadron was stationed along the coast for the purpose of suppressing

it. At the first, many colored people of good circumstances, feeling

that they would be safe under the English flag, moved from the United

States to Sierra Leone. But the chief source of supply of population

was the captured slaves, who were always unloaded at this place. When

the English Government took charge of Sierra Leone, the population was

2,000, the majority of whom were from the West Indies or Nova Scotia.

In 1811 it was nearly 5,000; in 1820 it was 12,000; it 1833 it was

30,000; in 1835 it was 35,000; in 1844 it was 40,000; in 1869 it was

55,374, with but 129 white men. On the 31st of March, 1827, the slaves

that had been captured and liberated by the English squadron numbered

11,878; of which there were 4,701 males above, and 1,875 under,

fourteen years of age. There were 2,717 females above, and 1,517

under, the age of fourteen, besides 1,068 persons who settled in

Freetown, working in the timber-trade.

With the dreadful scourge of slavery driven from the sea, the sanitary

condition of the place greatly improved; and with a vigorous policy of

order and education enforced, Sierra Leone began to bloom and blossom

as a rose. When the slaver disappeared, the merchant-vessel came on

her peaceful mission of commerce.

The annual trade-returns presented to Parliament show that the

declared value of British and Irish produce and manufactures exported

to the West Coast of Africa, arranged in periods of five years each,

has been as follows:--

EXPORTS FROM GREAT BRITAIN.

1846-50 . . . £2,773,408; or a yearly average of £554,681

1851-55 . . . 4,314,752; " " " 862,950

1856-60 . . . 5,582,941; " " " 1,116,588

1861-63 . . . 4,216,045; " " " 1,405,348

IMPORTS

The same trade-returns show that the imports of African produce from

the West Coast into Great Britain have been as follows. The "official

value" is given before 1856, after that date the "computed real value"

is given.

Official value, 1851-55 . . . £4,154,725; average, £830,945

Computed real value, 1856-60 . . 9,376,251; " 1,875,250

" " " 1861-63 . . 5,284,611; " 1,761,537

The value of African produce has decreased during the last few years

in consequence of the discovery of the petroleum or rock-oil in

America. In 1864 between four and five thousand bales of cotton were

shipped to England.

It is to be borne in mind, that under the system which existed when

Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Gold Coast settlements were maintained

for the promotion of the slave-trade, the lawful commerce was only

£20,000 annually, and that now the amount of tonnage employed in

carrying legal merchandise is greater than was ever engaged in

carrying slaves.[105] W. Winwood Reade visited Sierra Leone during the

Rebellion in America; but, being somewhat prejudiced against the

Negro, we do not expect any thing remarkably friendly. But we quote

from him the view he took of the people he met there:--

"The inhabitants of the colony may be divided into four

classes:--

"First, The street-venders, who cry cassada-cakes, palm-oil,

pepper, pieces of beef, under such names, as _agedee_,

_aballa_, _akalaray_, and which are therefore as

unintelligible as the street-cries of London. This is the

costermonger type.

"Second, The small market-people, who live in frame houses,

sell nails, fish-hooks, tape, thread, ribbons, etc., and who

work at handicrafts in a small way.

"Third, The shopkeepers, who inhabit frame houses on stone

foundations, and within which one may see a sprinkling of

mahogany, a small library of religious books, and an almost

English atmosphere of comfort.

"Lastly, The liberated Africans of the highest grade, who

occupy two-story stone houses enclosed all around by

spacious piazzas, the rooms furnished with gaudy richness;

and the whole their own property, being built from the

proceeds of their ... thrift."

When England abolished the slave-trade on the West Coast of Africa,

Christianity arose with healing in her wings. Until slavery was

abolished in this colony, missionary enterprises were abortive; but

when the curse was put under the iron heel of British prohibition, the

Lord did greatly bless the efforts of the missionary. The Episcopal

Church--"the Church of England"--was the first on the ground in 1808;

but it was some years before any great results were obtained. In 1832

this Church had 638 communicants, 294 candidates for baptism, 684

sabbath-school pupils, and 1,388 children in day-schools. This Church

carried its missionary work beyond its borders to the tribes that were

"sitting in darkness;" and in 1850 had built 54 seminaries and

schools, had 6,600 pupils, 2,183 communicants, and 7,500 attendants on

public worship. It is pleasant to record that out of 61 teachers, 56

_were native Africans!_ In 1865 there were sixteen missionary

societies along the West Coast of Africa. Seven were American, six

English, two German, and one West-Indian. These societies maintained

104 European or American missionaries, had 110 mission-stations,

13,000 scholars, 236 schools, 19,000 registered communicants;

representing a Christian population of 60,000 souls.

The Wesleyan Methodists began their work in 1811; and in 1831 they had

two missionaries, 294 members in their churches, and 160 pupils in

school. They extended their missions westward to the Gambia, and

eastward toward Cape Coast Castle, Badagry, Abbeokuta, and Kumasi; and

in this connection, in 1850, had 44 houses of worship, 13

out-stations, 42 day-schools, 97 teachers, 4,500 pupils in day and

sabbath schools, 6,000 communicants, 560 on probation, and 14,600 in

attendance on public worship. In 1850 the population of Sierra Leone

was 45,000; of which 36,000 were Christians, against 1,734

Mohammedans.

Sierra Leone represents the most extensive composite population in the

world for its size. About one hundred different tribe are represented,

with as many different languages or dialects. Bishop Vida, under

direction of the British Parliament, gave special attention to this

matter, and found not less than one hundred and fifty-one distinct

languages, besides several dialects spoken in Sierra Leone. They were

arranged under twenty-six groups, and yet fifty-four are unclassified

that are distinct as German and French. "God makes the wrath of man to

praise him, and the remainder thereof he will restrain." Through these

numerous languages, poor benighted Africa will yet hear the gospel.

Some years ago Dr. Ferguson, who was once governor of the Sierra Leone

colony, and himself a colored man, wrote and an extended account of

the situation there, which was widely circulated in England and

America at the time. It is so manifestly just and temperate in tone,

so graphic and minute in description, that we reproduce it _in

extenso_:--

"1. Those most recently arrived are to be found occupying

mud houses and small patches of ground in the neighborhood

of one or other of the villages (the villages are about

twenty in number, placed in different parts of the colony,

grouped in three classes or districts; names, mountain,

river, and sea districts.) The majority remain in their

locations as agriculturists; but several go to reside in the

neighborhood of Freetown, looking out for work as laborers,

farm-servants, servant to carry wood and water, grooms,

house-servants, etc.; others cultivate vegetables, rear

poultry and pigs, and supply eggs, for the Sierra Leone

market. Great numbers are found offering for sale in the

public market and elsewhere a vast quantity of cooked edible

substances--rice, corn and cassava cakes; heterogeneous

compounds of rice and corn-flower, yams, cassava, palm-oil,

pepper, pieces of beef, mucilaginous vegetables, etc.,

etc., under names quite unintelligible to a stranger, such

as _aagedee_, _aballa_, _akalaray_, _cabona_, etc., etc.,

cries which are shouted along the streets of Freetown from

morn till night. These, the lowest grade of liberated

Africans, are a harmless and well-disposed people; there is

no poverty among them, nor begging; their habits are frugal

and industrious; their anxiety to possess money is

remarkable: but their energies are allowed to run riot and

be wasted from the want of knowledge requisite to direct

them in proper channels.

"2. Persons of grade higher than those last described are to

be found occupying frame houses: they drive a petty trade in

the market, where they expose for sale nails, fish-hooks,

door-hinges, tape, thread, ribbons, needles, pins, etc. Many

of this grade also look out for the arrival of canoes from

the country laden with oranges, _kolas_, sheep, bullocks,

fowls, rice, etc., purchase the whole cargo at once at the

water-side, and derive considerable profit from selling such

articles by retail in the market and over the town. Many of

this grade are also occupied in curing and drying fish, an

article which always sells well in the market, and is in

great request by people at a distance from the water-side,

and in the interior of the country. A vast number of this

grade are tailors, straw-hat makers, shoemakers, cobblers,

blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, etc. Respectable men of

this grade meet with ready mercantile credits amounting from

twenty pounds to sixty pounds; and the class is very

numerous.

"3. Persons of grade higher than that last mentioned are

found occupying frame houses reared on a stone foundation of

from six to ten feet in height. These houses are very

comfortable; they are painted outside and in; have piazzas

in front and rear, and many of them all round; a

considerable sprinkling of mahogany furniture of European

workmanship is to be found in them; several books are to be

seen lying about, chiefly of a religious character; and a

general air of domestic comfort pervades the whole, which,

perhaps more than any thing else, bears evidence of the

advanced state of intelligence at which they have arrived.

This grade is nearly altogether occupied in shopkeeping,

hawking, and other mercantile pursuits. At sales of prize

goods, public auctions, and every other place affording a

probability of cheap bargains, they are to be seen in great

numbers, where they club together in numbers of from three

to six, seven, or more, to purchase large lots or unbroken

bales. And the scrupulous honesty with which the subdivision

of the goods is afterwards made cannot be evidenced more

thoroughly than this: that, common as such transactions are,

they have never yet been known to become the subject of

controversy or litigation. The principal streets of

Freetown, as well as the approaches to the town, are lined

on each side by an almost continuous range of booths and

stalls, among which almost every article of merchandise is

offered for sale, and very commonly at a cheaper rate than

similar articles are sold in the shops of the merchants.

"Two rates of profit are recognized in the mercantile

transactions of the European merchants; namely, a wholesale

and retail profit, the former varying from thirty to fifty

per cent, the latter from fifty to one hundred per cent. The

working of the retail trade in the hands of Europeans

requires a considerable outlay in the shape of shop-rent,

shopkeepers' and clerks' wages, etc. The liberated Africans

were not slow in observing nor in seizing on the advantages

which their peculiar position held out for the successful

prosecution of the retail trade.

"Clubbing together, as before observed, and holding ready

money in their hands the merchants are naturally anxious to

execute for them considerable orders on such unexceptionable

terms of payment while, on the other hand, the liberated

Africans, seeing clearly their advantage, insist most

pertinaciously on the lowest possible percentage of

wholesale profit.

"Having thus become possessed of the goods at the lowest

possible ready-money rate, then subsequent transactions are

not closed with the expense of shop-rents, shopkeepers' and

clerks' wages and subsistence, etc., etc., expenses

unavoidable to Europeans. They are therefore enabled at once

to undersell the European retail merchants, and to secure a

handsome profit to themselves; a consummation the more

easily attained, aided as it is by the extreme simplicity

and abstemiousness of their mode of living, which contrast

so favorably for them with the expensive and almost

necessary luxuries of European life. Many of this grade

possess huge canoes, with which they trade in the upper part

of the river, along shore, and in the neighbouring rivers,

bringing down rice, palm-oil, cam-wood, ivory, hides, etc.,

etc., in exchange for British manufactures. They are all in

easy circumstances, readily obtaining mercantile credits

from sixty pounds to two hundred pounds. Persons of this and

the grade next to be mentioned evince great anxiety to

become possessed of houses and lots in old Freetown. These

lots are desirable because of their proximity to the

market-place and the great thoroughfares, and also for the

superior advantages which they allow for the establishment

of their darling object,--'a retail store.' Property of this

description has of late years become much enhanced in value,

and its value is still increasing solely from the annually

increasing numbers and prosperity of this and the next

grade. The town-lots originally granted to the Nova-Scotian

settlers and the Maroons are, year after year, being offered

for sale by public auction, and in every case liberated

Africans are the purchasers. A striking instance of their

desire to possess property of this description, and of its

increasing value, came under my immediate notice a few

months ago.

"The gentlemen of the Church Missionary Society having been

for some time looking about in quest of a lot on which to

erect a new chapel, a lot suitable for the purpose was at

length offered for sale by public auction, and at a meeting

of the society's local committee, it was resolved, in order

to secure the purchase of the property in question, to offer

as high as sixty pounds. The clergyman delegated for this

purpose, at my recommendation, resolved, on his own

responsibility, to offer, if necessary, as high as seventy

pounds; but to the surprise and mortification of us all, the

lot was knocked down at upward of ninety pounds, and a

liberated African was the purchaser. He stated very kindly

that if he had known the society were desirous of purchasing

the lot he would not have opposed them; he nevertheless

manifested no desire of transferring to them the purchase,

and even refused an advance of ten pounds on his bargain.

"4. Persons of the highest grade of liberated Africans

occupy comfortable two story stone houses, enclosed all

round with spacious piazzas. These houses are their own

property and are built from the proceeds of their own

industry. In several of them are to be seen mahogany chairs,

tables, sofas, and four-post bedsteads, pier-glasses,

floor-cloths, and other articles indicative of domestic

comfort and accumulating wealth.

"Persons of this grade, like those last described, are

almost wholly engaged in mercantile pursuits. Their

transactions, however, are of greater magnitude and value,

and their business is carried on with an external appearance

of respectability commensurate with then superior pecuniary

means: thus, instead of exposing their wares for sale in

booths or stalls by the wayside, they are to be found in

neatly fitted-up shops on the ground-floors of their stone

dwelling houses.

"Many individual members of this grade have realized very

considerable sums of money,--sums which, to a person not

cognizant of the fact, would appear to be incredible. From

the studied manner in which individuals conceal their

pecuniary circumstances from the world, it is difficult to

obtain a correct knowledge of the wealth of the class

generally. The devices to which they have recourse in

conducting a bargain are often exceedingly ingenious; and to

be reputed rich might materially interfere with their

success on such occasions. There is nothing more common than

to hear a plea of poverty set up and most pertinaciously

urged, in extenuation of the terms of a purchase, by persons

whose outward condition, comfortable well-furnished houses,

and large mercantile credits, indicate any thing but

poverty.

"There are circumstances, however, the knowledge of which

they cannot conceal, and which go far to exhibit pretty

clearly the actual state of matters: such as, _First_, the

facility with which they raise large sums of cash prompt' at

public auctions. _Second_, the winding up of the estates of

deceased persons. (Peter Newland, a liberated African, died

a short time before I left the colony: and his estate

realized, in houses, merchandise, and cash, upward of

fifteen hundred pounds.) _Third_, the extent of their

mercantile credits. I am well acquainted with an individual

of this grade who is much courted and caressed by every

European merchant in the colony, who has transactions in

trade with all of them, and whose name, shortly before my

departure from the colony, stood on the debtor side of the

books of one of the principal merchants to the amount of

nineteen hundred pounds, to which sum it had been reduced

from three thousand pounds during the preceding two months.

A highly respectable female has now, and has had for several

years, the government contract for the supplying of fresh

beef to the troops and the naval squadron; and I have not

heard that on a single occasion there has been cause of

complaint for negligence or non-fulfilment of the terms of

the contract. _Fourth_, many of them at the present moment

have their children being educated in England at their own

expense. There is at Sierra Leone a very fine regiment of

colonial militia, more than eight-tenths of which are

liberated Africans. The amount of property which they have

acquired is ample guaranty for their loyalty, should that

ever be called in question. They turn out with great

alacrity and cheerfulness on all occasions for periodical

drill. But perhaps the most interesting point of view in

which the liberated Africans are to be seen, and that which

will render their moral condition most intelligible to those

at a distance, is where they sit at the Quarter Sessions as

petty, grand, and special jurors. They constitute a

considerable part of the jury at every session, and I have

repeatedly heard the highest legal authority in the colony

express his satisfaction with their decisions."

But this account was written at the early sunrise of civilization in

Sierra Leone. Now civilization is at its noonday tide, and the hopes

of the most sanguine friends of the liberated Negro have been more

than realized. How grateful this renewed spot on the edge of the Dark

Continent would be to the weary and battle-dimmed vision of

Wilberforce, Sharp, and other friends of the colony! And if they still

lived, beholding the wonderful results, would they not gladly say,

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy

word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared

before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and

the glory of thy people Israel"?

FOOTNOTES:

[101] Savage Africa, p. 25.

[102] Précis sur l'Établissement des Colonies de Sierra Léona et de

Boulama, etc. Par C.B. Wadström, pp. 3-28.

[103] Wadström Essay on Colonization, p. 220.

[104] This led to the sending of 119 whites, along with a governor, as

counsellors, physicians, soldiers, clerks, overseers, artificers,

settlers, and servants. Of this company 57 died within the year, 22

returned, and 40 remained. See Wadström, pp. 121, _sq._

[105] See Livingstone's Zambesi, pp. 633, 634.

CHAPTER X.

THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.

LIBERIA.--ITS LOCATION.--EXTENT.--RIVERS AND

MOUNTAINS.--HISTORY OF THE FIRST COLONY.--THE NOBLE MEN WHO

LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE LIBERIAN REPUBLIC.--NATIVE

TRIBES.--TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT INTO THE VEI

LANGUAGE.--THE BEGINNING AND TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

TO LIBERIA.--HISTORY OF THE DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS ON THE

FIELD.--A MISSIONARY REPUBLIC OF NEGROES.--TESTIMONY OF

OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL NAVY AS TO THE EFFICIENCY OF THE

REPUBLIC IN SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE-TRADE.--THE WORK OF THE

FUTURE.

That section of country on the West Coast of Africa known as Liberia,

extending from Cape Palmas to Cape Mount, is about three hundred miles

coastwise. Along this line there are six colonies of Colored people,

the majority of the original settlers being from the United States.

The settlements are Cape Palmas, Cape Mesurado, Cape Mount, River

Junk, Basa, and Sinon. The distance between them varies from

thirty-five to one hundred miles, and the only means of communication

is the coast-vessels. Cape Palmas, though we include it under the

general title of Liberia, was founded by a company of intelligent

Colored people from Maryland. This movement was started by the

indefatigable J.H.B. Latrobe and Mr. Harper of the Maryland

Colonization Society. This society purchased at Cape Palmas a

territory of about twenty square miles, in which there was at that

time--more than a half-century ago--a population of about four

thousand souls. Within two years from the time of the first purchase,

this enterprising society held deeds from friendly proprietors for

eight hundred square miles, embracing the dominions of nine kings, who

bound themselves to the colonists in friendly alliance. This territory

spread over both banks of the Cavally River, and from the ocean to the

town of Netea, which is thirty miles from the mouth of the river. In

the immediate vicinity of Cape Palmas,--say within an area of twenty

miles,--there was a native population of twenty-five thousand. Were we

to go toward the interior from the Cape about forty-five or fifty

miles, we should find a population of at least seventy thousand

natives, the majority of whom we are sure are anxious to enjoy the

blessings of education, trade, civilization, and Christianity. The

country about Cape Palmas is very beautiful and fertile. The cape

extends out into the sea nearly a mile, the highest place being about

one hundred and twenty-five feet. Looking from the beach, the ground

rises gradually until its distant heights are crowned with heavy,

luxuriant foliage and dense forest timber. And to plant this colony

the Maryland Legislature appropriated the sum of two hundred thousand

dollars! And the colony has done worthily, has grown rapidly, and at

present enjoys all the blessings of a Christian community. Not many

years ago it declared its independence.

But Liberia, in the proper use of the term, is applied to all the

settlements along the West Coast of Africa that were founded by

Colored people from the United States. It is the most beautiful spot

on the entire coast. The view is charming in approaching this country,

Rev. Charles Rockwell says,--

"One is struck with the dark green hue which the rank and

luxuriant growth of forest and of field everywhere presents.

In this it respect it strongly resembles in appearance the

dark forests of evergreens which line a portion of the coast

of Eastern Virginia ... At different points there are capes

or promontories rising from thirty to forty to one or two

hundred feet above the level of the sea; while at other

places the land, though somewhatuneven, has not, near the

sea, any considerable hills. In some places near the mouths

of the rivers are thickly wooded marshes; but on entering

the interior of the country the ground gradually rises, the

streams become rapid, and at the distance of twenty miles or

more from the sea, hills, and beyond them mountains, are

often met with."

The physical, social, and political bondage of the Colored people in

America before the war was most discouraging. They were mobbed in the

North, and sold in the South. It was not enough that they were

isolated and neglected in the Northern States: they were proscribed by

the organic law of legislatures, and afflicted by the most burning

personal indignities. They had a few friends; but even their

benevolent acts were often hampered by law, and strangled by

caste-prejudice. Following the plans of Granville Sharp and William

Wilberforce, Liberia was founded as a refuge to all Colored men who

would avail themselves of its blessings.

Colonization societies sprang into being in many States, and large

sums of money were contributed to carry out the objects of these

organizations. Quite a controversy arose inside of anti-slavery

societies, and much feeling was evinced; but the men who believed

colonization to be the solution of the slavery question went forward

without wavering or doubting. In March, 1820, the first emigrants

sailed for Africa, being eighty-six in number; and in January, 1822,

founded the town of Monrovia, named for President Monroe. Rev. Samuel

J. Mills, while in college in 1806, was moved by the Holy Spirit to

turn his face toward Africa as a missionary. His zeal for missionary

labor touched the hearts of Judson, Newell, Nott, Hall, and Rice, who

went to mission-fields in the East as early as 1812.[106] The American

Colonization Society secured the services of the Rev. Samuel J. Mills

and Rev. Ebenezer Burgess to locate the colony at Monrovia. Mr. Mills

found an early, watery grave; but the report of Mr. Burgess gave the

society great hope, and the work was carried forward.

The first ten years witnessed the struggles of a noble band of Colored

people, who were seeking a new home on the edge of a continent given

over to the idolatry of the heathen. The funds of the society were not

as large as the nature and scope of the work demanded. Emigrants went

slowly, not averaging more than 170 per annum,--only 1,232 in ten

years: but the average from the first of January, 1848, to the last of

December, 1852, was 540 yearly; and, in the single year of 1853, 782

emigrants arrived at Monrovia. In 1855 the population of Monrovia and

Cape Palmas had reached about 8,000.

Going south from Monrovia for about one hundred miles, and inland

about twenty, the country was inhabited by the Bassa tribe and its

branches; numbering about 130,000 souls, and speaking a common

language. "They were peaceful, domestic, and industrious; and, after

fully supplying their own wants, furnish a large surplus of rice, oil,

cattle, and other articles of common use, for exportation."[107] This

tribe, like the Veis, of whom we shall make mention subsequently, have

reduced their language to a written system. The New Testament has been

translated into their language by a missionary, and they have had the

gospel these many years in their own tongue.

The "Greybo language," spoken in and about Cape Palmas, has been

reduced to a written form; and twenty thousand copies of eleven

different works have been printed and distributed. There are about

seventy-five thousand natives within fifty miles of Cape Palmas; and,

as a rule, they desire to avail themselves of the blessings of

civilization. The Veis occupy about fifty miles of seacoast; extending

from Gallinas River, one hundred miles north of Monrovia, and

extending south to Grand Mount. Their territory runs back from the

seacoast about thirty miles, and they are about sixteen thousand

strong.

This was a grand place to found a Negro state,--a _missionary

republic_, as Dr. Christy terms it. When the republic rose, the

better, wealthier class of free Colored people from the United States

embarked for Liberia. Clergymen, physicians, merchants, mechanics, and

school-teachers turned their faces toward the new republic, with an

earnest desire to do something for themselves and race; and history

justifies the hopes and players of all sincere friends of Liberia.

Unfortunately, at the first, many white men were more anxious to get

the Negro out of the country than to have him do well when out; and,

in many instances, some unworthy Colored people got transportation to

Liberia, of whom Americans were rid, but of whom Liberians could not

boast. But the law of the survival of the fittest carried the rubbish

to the bottom. The republic grew and expanded in every direction. From

year to year new blood and fresh energy were poured into the social

and business life of the people; and England, America, and other

powers acknowledged the republic by sending resident ministers there.

The servants of Christ saw, at the earliest moment of the conception

to build a black government in Africa, that the banner of the cross

must wave over the new colony, if good were to be expected. The

Methodist Church, with characteristic zeal and aggressiveness, sent

with the first colonists several members of their denomination and two

"local preachers;" and in March, 1833, the Rev. Melville B. Cox, an

ordained minister of this church, landed at Monrovia. The mission

experienced many severe trials; but the good people who had it in

charge held on with great tenacity until the darkness began to give

away before the light of the gospel. Nor did the Board of the

Methodist Missionary Society in America lose faith. They appropriated

for this mission, in 1851, $22,000; in 1852, $26,000; in 1853,

$32,957; and in 1854, $32,957. In the report of the board of managers

for 1851, the following encouraging statement occurs:--

"All eyes are now turned toward this new republic on the

western coast of Africa as the star of hope to the colored

people both bond and free, in the United States. The

republic is establishing and extending itself; and its

Christian population is in direct contact with the natives,

both Pagans and Mohammedans. Thus the republic has,

indirectly, a powerful missionary influence, and its moral

and religious condition is a matter of grave concern to the

Church. Hence the Protestant Christian missions in Liberia

are essential to the stability and prosperity of the

republic, and the stability and prosperity of the republic

are necessary to the protection and action of the missions.

It will thus appear that the Christian education of the

people is the legitimate work of the missions."

At this time (1851) they had an annual Conference, with three

districts, with as many presiding elders, whose duty it was to visit

all the churches and schools in their circuit. The Conference had 21

members, all of whom were colored men. The churches contained 1,301

members, of whom 115 were on probation, and 116 were natives. There

were 20 week-day schools, with 839 pupils, 50 of whom were natives.

Then there Were seven schools among the natives, with 127 faithful

attendants.

Bishop Scott, of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal

Church, was, by order of his Conference, sent on an official visit to

Liberia. He spent more than two months among the missions, and

returned in 1853 much gratified with the results garnered in that

distant field.

"The government of the republic of Liberia, which is formed

on the model of our own, and is wholly in the hands of

colored men, seems to be exceedingly well administered. I

never saw so orderly a people. I saw but one intoxicated

colonist while in the country, and I heard not one profane

word. The sabbath is kept with singular strictness, and the

churches crowded with attentive and orderly

worshippers."[108]

The above is certainly re-assuring, and had its due influence among

Christian people at the time it appeared. At an anniversary meeting of

the Methodist Church, held in Cincinnati, O., in the same year, 1853,

Bishop Ames gave utterance to sentiments in regard to the character of

the government of Liberia that quite shocked some pro-slavery people

who held "_hired pews_" in the Methodist Church. His utterances were

as brave as they were complimentary.

"Nations reared under religious and political restraint are

not capable of self-government, while those who enjoy only

partially these advantages have set an example of such

capability. We have in illustration of this a

well-authenticated historical fact: we refer to the colored

people of this country, who, though they have grown up under

the most unfavorable circumstances, were enabled to succeed

in establishing a sound republican government in Africa.

They have given the most clear and indubitable evidence of

their capability of self-government, and in this respect

have shown a higher grade of manhood than the polished

Frenchman himself."[109]

The Presbyterian Board of Missions sent Rev. J.B. Pinny into the field

in 1833. In 1837, missions were established among the natives, and

were blessed with very good results. In 1850 there were, under the

management of this denomination, three congregations, with 116

members, two ordained ministers, and a flourishing sabbath school. A

high-school was brought into existence in 1852, with a white

gentleman, the Rev D.A. Wilson, as its principal. It was afterward

raised into a college, and was always crowded.

The American Protestant-Episcopal Church raised its missionary

standard in Liberia in 1836. The Rev John Payne was at the head of

this enterprise, assisted by six other clergymen, until 1850, when he

was consecrated missionary bishop for Africa. He was a white gentleman

of marked piety, rare scholarship, and large executive ability. The

station at Monrovia was under the care of the Rev. Alexander Crummell,

an educated and eloquent preacher of the Negro race. There was an

excellent training-school for religious and secular teachers; there

are several boarding-schools for natives, with an average attendance

of a hundred; and up to 1850 more than a thousand persons had been

brought into fellowship with this church.

The Foreign Missionary Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in

1845 turned its attention to this fruitful field. In 1855, ten years

after they began work, they had 19 religious and secular teachers, 11

day-schools, 400 pupils, and 484 members in their churches. There were

13 mission-stations, and all the teachers were colored men.

We have said, a few pages back in this chapter, that the Methodist

Church was first on the field when the colony of Liberia was founded.

We should have said _one_ of the first; because we find, in "Gammell's

History of the American Baptist Missions," that the Baptists were in

this colony as missionaries in 1822, that under the direction of the

Revs. Lot Carey and Collin Teage, two intelligent Colored Baptists, a

church was founded. Mr. Carey was a man of most exemplary character.

He had received an education in Virginia, where he had resided as a

freeman for some years, having purchased his freedom by his personal

efforts, and where also he was ordained in 1821.

"In September, 1826, he was unanimously elected vice-agent

of the colony; and on the return of Mr. Ashmun to the United

States, in 1828, he was appointed to discharge the duties of

governor in the interim,--a task which he performed during

the brief remnant of his life with wisdom, and with credit

to himself. His death took place in a manner that was

fearfully sudden and extraordinary. The natives of the

country had committed depredations upon the property of the

colony, and were threatening general hostilities. Mr. Carey,

in his capacity as acting governor, immediately called out

the military forces of the colony, and commenced vigorous

measures for repelling the assault and protecting the

settlements. He was at the magazine, engaged in

superintending the making of cartridges, when by the

oversetting of a lamp, a large mass of powder became

ignited, and produced and explosion which resulted in the

death of Mr. Carey, and seven others who were engaged with

him. In this sudden and awful manner perished and

extraordinary man,--one who in a higher sphere might have

developed many of the noblest energies of character and who,

even in the humble capacity of a missionary among his own

benighted brethren, deserves a prominent place in the list

of those who have shed lustre upon the African race.

"At the period of Mr. Carey's death, the church of which he

was the pastor contained a hundred members, and was in a

highly flourishing condition. It was committed to the charge

of Collin Teage, who now returned from Sierra Leone, and of

Mr. Waring, one of its members, who had lately been ordained

a minister. The influences which had commenced with the

indefatigable founder of the mission continued to be felt

long after he had ceased to live. The church an Monrovia was

increased to two hundred member; and the power of the gospel

was manifested in other settlements of the Colonization

Society, and even among the rude natives of the coast, of

whom nearly a hundred were converted to Christianity, and

united with the several churches of the colony."[110]

We regret that statistics on Liberia are not as full as desirable; but

we have found enough to convince us that the cause of religion,

education, and republican government are in safe hands, and on a sure

foundation. There are now more than three thousand and eighteen

hundred children, seven hundred of whom are natives;[111] and in the

day-schools are gathered about two thousand bright and promising

pupils.

Many noble soldiers of the cross have fallen on this field, where a

desperate battle has been waged between darkness and light, heathenism

and religion, the wooden gods of men and the only true God who made

heaven and earth. Many have been mortally touched by the poisonous

breath of African fever, and, like the sainted Gilbert Haven, have

staggered back to home and friends to die. Few of the white teachers

have been able to remain on the field. During the first thirty years

of missionary effort in the field, the mortality among the white

missionaries was terrible. Up to 1850 the Episcopal Church had

employed twenty white teachers, but only three of them were left. The

rest died, or were driven home by the climate. Of nineteen

missionaries sent out by the Presbyterian Church up to 1850, nine

died, seven returned home, and but three remained. The Methodist

Church sent out thirteen white teachers: six died, six returned home,

and but one remained. Among the colored missionaries the mortality was

reduced to a minimum. Out of thirty-one in the employ of the Methodist

Church, only seven died natural deaths, and fourteen remained in the

service. On this subject of mortality, Bishop Payne says,--

"It is now very generally admitted, that Africa must be

evangelized chiefly by her own children. It should be our

object to prepare them, so far as we may, for their great

work. And since colonists afford the most advanced material

for raising up the needed instruments, it becomes us, in

wise co-operation with Providence, to direct our efforts in

the most judicious manner to them. To do this, the most

important points should be occupied, to become in due time

radiating centres of Christian influence to colonists and

natives."[112]

In thirty-three years Liberia gained wonderfully in population, and,

at the breaking-out of the Rebellion in the United States, had about a

hundred thousand souls, besides the three hundred thousand natives in

the vast territory over which her government is recognized. Business

of every kind has grown up. The laws are wholesome; the law-makers

intelligent and upright; the army and navy are creditable, and the

republic is in every sense a grand success. Mr. Wilson says,--

"Trade is the chosen employment of the great mass of the

Liberians, and some of them have been decidedly successful

in this vocation. It consists in the exchange of articles of

American or European manufacture for the natural products of

the country; of which palm oil, cam-wood, and ivory are the

principal articles. Cam-wood is a rich dye-wood, and is

brought to Monrovia on the shoulders of the natives from a

great distance. It is worth in the European and American

markets from sixty to eighty dollars per ton. The ivory of

this region does not form an important item of commerce.

Palm-oil is the main article of export, and is procured

along the seacoast between Monrovia and Cape Palmas. The

Liberian merchants own a number of small vessels, built by

themselves, and varying in size from ten or fifteen to forty

or fifty tons. These are navigated by the Liberian sailors,

and are constantly engaged in bringing palm-oil to Monrovia,

from whence it is again shipped in foreign vessels for

Liverpool or New York. I made inquiry, during a short

sojourn at this place in 1852 on my way to this country,

about the amount of property owned by the wealthiest

merchants of Monrovia, and learned that there were four or

five who were worth from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand

dollars, a large number who owned property to the amount of

ten thousand dollars, and perhaps twelve or fifteen who were

worth as much as five thousand dollars. The property of some

of these may have increased materiallv since that time.

"The settlers along the banks of the St. Paul have given

more attention to the cultivation of the soil. They raise

sweet-potatoes, cassava, and plantains, for their own use,

and also supply the Monrovia market with the same.

Ground-nuts and arrow-root are also cultivated, but to a

very limited extent. A few individuals have cultivated the

sugar cane with success, and have manufactured a

considerable quantity of excellent sugar and molasses. Some

attention has been given to the cultivation of the coffee

tree. It grows luxuriantly, and bears most abundantly. The

flavor of the coffee is as fine as any in the world; and, if

the Liberians would give the attention to it they ought, it

would probably be as highly esteemed as any other in the

world. It is easily cultivated, and requires little or no

outlay of capital; and we are surprised that it has not

already become an article of export. The want of disposition

to cultivate the soil is, perhaps, the most discouraging

feature in the prospects of Liberia. Mercantile pursuits are

followed with zeal and energy, but comparatively few are

willing to till the ground for the means of subsistence."

Liberia had its first constitution in 1825. It was drawn at the

instance of the Colonization Society in the United States. It set

forth the objects of the colony, defined citizenship, and declared the

objects of the government. It remained in force until 1836. In 1839 a

"Legislative Council" was created, and the constitution amended to

meet the growing wants of the government. In 1847 Liberia declared

herself an independent republic. The first article of the constitution

of 1847 reads as follows:--

"ARTICLE I. SECTION I. All men are born equally free and

independent, and among them natural, inherent and

inalienable rights, are the rights of enjoying and defending

_life_ and LIBERTY."

This section meant a great deal to a people who had abandoned their

homes in the United States, where a chief justice of the Supreme Court

had declared that "a Negro has no rights which a white man is bound to

respect,"--a country where the Federal Congress had armed every

United-States marshal in all the Northern States with the inhuman and

arbitrary power to apprehend, load with chains, and hurl back into the

hell of slavery, every poor fugitive who sought to find a home in a

professedly free section of "the _land of the free and the home of the

brave_." These brave black pilgrims, who had to leave "the freest land

in the world" in order to get their freedom, did not intend that the

solemn and formal declaration of principles contained in their

constitution should be reduced to a _reductio ad absurdum_, as those

in the American Constitution were by the infamous _Fugitive-slave

Law_. And in section 4 of their constitution they prohibit "the sum of

all villanies"--_slavery_! The article reads:--

"There shall be no slavery within this republic. Nor shall

any citizen of this republic, or any person resident

therein, deal in slaves, either within or without this

republic."

They had no measure of _compromise_ by which slavery could be carried

on beyond certain limits "for highly commercial and business interests

of a portion of their fellow-citizens." Liberians might have grown

rich by merely suffering the slave-trade to be carried on among the

natives. The constitution fixed a scale of revenue, and levied a

tariff on all imported articles. A customs-service was introduced, and

many reforms enforced which greatly angered a few avaricious white men

whose profession as _men-stealers_ was abolished by the constitution.

Moreover, there were others who for years had been trading and doing

business along the coast, without paying any duties on the articles

they exported. The new government incurred their hostility.

In April, 1850, the republic of Liberia entered into a treaty with

England, and in article nine of said treaty bound herself to the

suppression of the slave-trade in the following explicit language:--

"Slavery and the slave-trade being perpetually abolished in

the republic of Liberia, the republic engages that a law

shall be passed declaring it to be piracy for any _Liberian

citizen_ or vessel to be engaged or concerned in the

slave-trade."

Notwithstanding the above treaty, the enemies of the republic

circulated the report in England and America that the Liberian

government was secretly engaged in the slave-trade. The friends of

colonization in both countries were greatly alarmed by the rumor, and

sought information in official quarters,--of men on the ground. The

following testimony will show that the charge was malicious:--

"Capt. Arabian, R.N., in one of his despatches says,

'Nothing had been done more to suppress the slave-trade in

this quarter than the constant intercourse of the natives

with these industrious colonists;' and again, 'Their

character is exceedingly correct and moral, their minds

strongly impressed with religious feeling, and their

domestic habits remarkably neat and comfortable.' 'wherever

the influence of Liberia extends, the slave trade has been

abandoned by the natives.'

"Lieut. Stott, R.N., in a letter to Dr. Hodgkin, dated July,

1840, says, it (Liberia) promises to be the only successful

institution on the coast of Africa, keeping in mind its

objects; viz., 'that of raising the African slave into a

free man, the extinction of the slave-trade, and the

religious and moral improvement of Africa;' and adds, 'The

surrounding Africans are aware of the nature of the colony,

taking refuge when persecuted by the few neighboring

slave-traders. The remnant of a tribe has lately fled to and

settled in the colony on land granted them. Between my two

visits, a lapse of only a few days, four or five slaves

sought refuge from their master, who was about to sell, or

had sold, them to the only slave-factory on the coast. The

native chiefs in the neighborhood have that respect for the

colonists that they have made treaties for the abolition of

the slave trade.'

"Capt. Irving, R.N., in a letter to Dr. Hodgkin, Aug 3,

1840, observes, 'You ask me if they aid in the slave-trade?

I assure you, no! and I am sure the colonists would feel

themselves much hurt should they know such a question could

possibly arise in England. In my opinion it is the best and

safest plan for the extinction of the slave-trade, and the

civilization of Africa, for it is a well-known fact, that

wherever their flag flies it is an eye-sore to the

slave-dealers.'

"Capt. Herbert, R.N.: 'With regard to the present state of

slave-taking in the colony of Liberia, I have never known

one instance of a slave being owned or disposed of by a

colonist. On the contrary, I have known them to render great

facility to our cruisers in taking vessels engaged in that

nefarious traffic.'

"Capt. Dunlop, who had abundant opportunities for becoming

acquainted with Liberia during the years 1848-50, says, 'I

am perfectly satisfied no such thing as domestic slavery

exists in any shape amongst the citizens of the republic.'

"Commodore Sir Charles Hotham, commander-in-chief of her

British Majesty's squadron on the western coast of Africa,

in a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, dated April

7, 1847, and published in the Parliamentary Returns, says,

'On perusing the correspondence of my predecessors, I found

a great difference of opinion existing as to the views and

objects of the settlers; some even accusing the governor of

lending himself to the slave-trade. After discussing the

whole subject with officers and others best qualified to

judge on the matter, I not only satisfied my own mind that

there is no reasonable cause for such a suspicion, but

further, that this establishment merits all the support we

can give it, for it is only through their means that we can

hope to improve the African race.' Subsequently, in 1849,

the same officer gave his testimony before the House of

Lords, in the following language: 'There is no necessity for

the squadron watching the coast between Sierra Leone and

Cape Palmas, as the liberian territory intervenes, and there

the slave-trade has been extinguished.'"[113]

The government was firmly and wisely administered, and its friends

everywhere found occasion for great pleasure in its marked success.

While the government had more than a quarter of a million of natives

under its care, the greatest caution was exercised in dealing with

them legally. The system was not so complicated as our Indian system,

but the duties of the officers in dealing with the uncivilized tribes

were as delicate as those of an Indian agent in the United States.

"The history of a single case will illustrate the manner in

which Liberia exerts her influence in preventing the native

tribes from warring upon each other. The territory of Little

Cape Mount, Grand Cape Mount, and Gallinas was purchased,

three or four years since, and added to the Republic. The

chiefs, by the term of sale, transferred the rights of

sovereignty and of soil to Liberia, and bound themselves to

obey her laws. The government of Great Britain had granted

to Messrs. Hyde, Hodge, & Co., of London, a contract for the

supply of laborers from the coast of Africa to the planters

of her West India colonies. This grant was made under the

rule for the substitution of _apprentices_, to supply the

lack of labor produced by the emancipation of the slaves.

The agents of Messrs. Hyde, Hodge, & Co. visited Grand Cape

Mount, and made an offer of ten dollars per head to the

chiefs for each person they could supply as _emigrants_ for

this object. The offer excited the cupidity of some of the

chiefs; and to procure the emigrants and secure the bounty

one of them, named Boombo, of Little Cape Mount, resorted to

war upon several of the surrounding tribes. He laid waste

the country, burned the towns and villages, captured and

murdered many of the inhabitants, carried off hundreds of

others, and robbed several factories in that legion

belonging to merchants in Liberia. On the 26th of February,

1853, President Roberts issued his proclamation enjoining a

strict observance of the law regulating passports, and

forbidding the sailing of any vessel with emigrants without

first visiting the port of Monrovia, where each passenger

should be examined as to his wishes. On the 1st of March the

president, with two hundred men, sailed for Little Cape

Mount, arrested Boombo and fifty of his followers, summoned

a council of the other chiefs at Monrovia for his trial on

the 14th, and returned home with his prisoners. At the time

appointed, the trial was held, Boombo was found guilty of

'_high misdemeanor_' and sentenced 'to make restitution,

restoration, and reparation of goods stolen, people

captured, and damages committed: to pay a fine of five

hundred dollars, and be imprisoned for two years.' When the

sentence was pronounced, the convict shed tears, regarding

the ingredient of imprisonment in his sentence to be almost

intolerable. These rigorous measures, adopted to maintain

the authority of the government and majesty of the laws,

have had a salutary influence upon the chiefs. No outbreaks

have since occurred, and but little apprehension of danger

for the future is entertained."[114]

The republic did a vast amount of good before the Great Rebellion in

the United States, but since emancipation its population has been fed

by the natives who have been educated and converted to Christianity.

Professor David Christy, the great colonizationist, said in a lecture

delivered in 1855,--

"If, then, a colony of colored men, beginning with less than

a hundred, and gradually increasing to nine thousand, has in

thirty years established an independent republic amidst a

savage people, destroyed the slave-trade on six hundred

miles of the African coast, put down the heathen temples in

one of its largest counties, afforded security to all the

missions within its limits, and now casts its shield over

three hundred thousand native inhabitants, what may not be

done in the next thirty years by colonization and missions

combined, were sufficient means supplied to call forth all

their energies?"

The circumstances that led to the founding of the Negro Republic in

the wilds of Africa perished in the fires of civil war. The Negro is

free everywhere; but the republic of Liberia stands, and should stand

until its light shall have penetrated the gloom of Africa, and until

the heathen shall gather to the brightness of its shining. May it

stand through the ages as a Christian Republic, as a faithful

light-house along the dark and trackless sea of African paganism!

FOOTNOTES:

[106] Ethiope, p. 197.

[107] Foreign Travel and Life at Sea, vol. ii. p. 359.

[108] Bishop Scott's Letter in the Colonization Herald, October, 1853.

[109] In Methodist Missionary Advocate, 1853.

[110] Gammell's History of the American Baptist Missions, pp. 248,

249.

[111] Edward W. Blyden, L.L.D., president of Liberia College, a West

Indian, is a scholar of marvellous erudition, a writer of rare

abilities, a subtle reasoner, a preacher of charming graces, and one

of the foremost Negroes of the world. He is himself the best argument

in favor of the Negro's capacity for Christian civilization. He ranks

amongst the world's greatest linguists.

[112] Report of Bishop Payne, June 6, 1853.

[113] Colonization Herald, December, 1852.

[114] Ethiope, pp. 207, 208.

CHAPTER XI.

RÉSUMÉ.

THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN FAMILY RE-AFFIRMED.--GOD GAVE ALL

RACES OF MEN CIVILIZATION.--THE ANTIQUITY OF THE NEGRO

BEYOND DISPUTE.--IDOLATRY THE CAUSE OF THE DEGRADATION OF

THE AMERICAN RACES.--HE HAS ALWAYS HAD A PLACE IN HISTORY,

THOUGH INCIDENTAL.--NEGRO TYPE CAUSED BY DEGRADATION.--NEGRO

EMPIRES AN EVIDENCE OF CRUDE ABILITY FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT.--INFLUENCE

OF THE TWO CHRISTIAN GOVERNMENTS ON THE WEST COAST UPON THE

HEATHEN.--ORATION ON EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA.--THE DUTY OF

CHRISTIANITY TO EVANGELIZE AFRICA.

The preceding ten chapters are introductory in their nature. We felt

that they were necessary to a history of the Colored race in the

United States. We desired to explain and explode two erroneous

ideas,--the curse of Canaan, and the theory that the Negro is a

distinct species,--that were educated into our white countrymen during

the long and starless night of the bondage of the Negro. It must

appear patent to every honest student of God's word, that the slavery

interpretation of the curse of Canaan is without warrant of Scripture,

and at war with the broad and catholic teachings of the New Testament.

It is a sad commentary on American civilization to find even a few men

like Helper, "Ariel," and the author of "The Adamic Race" still

croaking about the inferiority of the Negro; but it is highly

gratifying to know that they no longer find an audience or readers,

not even in the South. A man never hates his neighbors until he has

injured them. Then, in justification of his unjustifiable conduct, he

uses slander for argument.

During the late war thousands of mouths filled with vituperative wrath

against the colored race were silenced as in the presence of the

heroic deeds of "the despised race," and since the war the obloquy of

the Negro's enemies has been turned into the most fulsome praise.

We stand in line and are in harmony with history and historians

--modern and ancient, sacred and profane--on the subject of the unity

of the human family. There are, however, a few who differ; but their

wild, incoherent, and unscholarly theories deserve the mercy of our

silence.

It is our firm conviction, and it is not wholly unsupported by

history, that the Creator gave all the nations arts and sciences.

Where nations have turned aside to idolatry they have lost their

civilization. The Canaanites, Jebusites, Hivites, etc., the

idolatrous[115] nations inhabiting the land of Canaan, were the

descendants of Canaan; and the only charge the Lord brought against

them when he commanded Joshua to exterminate them was, that they were

his enemies[116] in all that that term implies. The sacred record

tells us that they were a warlike, powerful people,[117] living in

walled cities, given to agriculture, and possessing quite a

respectable civilization; but they were idolaters--God's enemies.

It is worthy of emphasis, that the antiquity of the Negro race is

beyond dispute. This is a fact established by the most immutable

historical data, and recorded on the monumental brass and marble of

the Oriental nations of the most remote period of time. The importance

and worth of the Negro have given him a place in all the histories of

Egypt, Greece, and Rome. His position, it is true, in all history up

to the present day, has been accidental, incidental, and collateral;

but it is sufficient to show how he has been regarded in the past by

other nations. His brightest days were when history was an infant;

and, since he early turned from God, he has found the cold face of

hate and the hurtful hand of the Caucasian against him. The Negro type

is the result of degradation. It is nothing more than the lowest

strata of the African race. Pouring over the venerable mountain

terraces, an abundant stream from an abundant and unknown source, into

the malarial districts, the genuine African has gradually degenerated

into the typical Negro. His blood infected with the poison of his low

habitation, his body shrivelled by disease, his intellect veiled in

pagan superstitions, the noblest yearnings of his soul strangled at

birth by the savage passions of a nature abandoned to sensuality,--the

poor Negro of Africa deserves more our pity than our contempt.

It is true that the weaker tribes, or many of the Negroid type, were

the chief source of supply for the slave-market in this country for

many years; but slavery in the United States--a severe ordeal through

which to pass to citizenship and civilization--had the effect of

calling into life many a slumbering and dying attribute in the Negro

nature. The cruel institution drove him from an extreme idolatry to an

extreme religious exercise of his faith in worship. And now that he is

an American citizen,--the condition and circumstances which rendered

his piety appropriate abolished,--he is likely to move over to an

extreme rationalism.

The Negro empires to which we have called attention are an argument

against the theory that he is without government, and his career as a

soldier[118] would not disgrace the uniform of an American soldier.

Brave, swift in execution, terrible in the onslaught, tireless in

energy, obedient to superiors, and clannish to a fault,--the abilities

of these black soldiers are worthy of a good cause.

On the edge of the Dark Continent, Sierra Leone and Liberia have

sprung up as light-houses on a dark and stormy ocean of lost humanity.

Hundreds of thousands of degraded Negroes have been snatched from the

vile swamps, and Christianity has been received and appreciated by

them. These two Negro settlements have solved two problems; viz., the

Negro's ability to administer a government, and the capacity of the

native for the reception of education and Christian civilization. San

Domingo and Jamaica have their lessons too, but it is not our purpose

to write the history of the Colored people of the world. The task may

be undertaken some time in the future, however.

It must be apparent to the interested friends of languishing Africa,

that there are yet two more problems presented for our solution; and

they are certainly difficult of solution. First, we must solve the

problem of African geography; second, we must redeem by the power of

the gospel, with all its attending blessings, the savage tribes of

Africans who have never heard the beautiful song of the angels:

"_Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward

men_." That this work will be done we do not doubt. We have great

faith in the outcome of the missionary work going on now in Africa;

and we are especially encouraged by the wide and kindly interest

awakened on behalf of Africa by the noble life-work of Dr. David

Livingstone, and the thrilling narrative of Mr. Henry M. Stanley.

It is rather remarkable now, in the light of recent events, that we

should have chosen a topic at the close of both our academic and

theological course that we can see now was in line with this work so

near our heart. The first oration was on "The Footsteps of the

Nation," the second was "Early Christianity in Africa." Dr.

Livingstone had just fallen a martyr to the cause of geography, and

the orators and preachers of enlightened Christendom were busy with

the virtues and worth of the dead. It was on the tenth day of June,

1874, that we delivered the last-named oration; and we can, even at

this distance, recall the magnificent audience that greeted it, and

the feeling with which we delivered it. We were the first Colored man

who had ever taken a diploma from that venerable and world-famed

institution (Newton Seminary, Newton Centre, Mass.), and therefore

there was much interest taken in our graduation. We were ordained on

the following evening at Watertown, Mass.; and the original poem

written for the occasion by our pastor, the Rev. Granville S. Abbott,

D.D., contained the following significant verses:--

"Ethiopia's hands long stretching,

Mightily have plead with God;

Plead not vainly: time is fetching

Answers, as her faith's reward.

God is faithful,

Yea, and Amen is his word.

Countless prayers, so long ascending,

Have their answer here and now;

Threads of purpose, wisely meeting

In an ordination vow.

Afric brother,

To thy mission humbly bow."

The only, and we trust sufficient, apology we have to offer to the

reader for mentioning matters personal to the author is, that we are

deeply touched in reading the oration, after many years, in the

original manuscript, preserved by accident. It is fitting that it

should be produced here as bearing upon the subject in hand.

EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA.

ORATION BY GEORGE W. WILLIAMS,

ON THE OCCASION OF HIS GRADUATION FROM NEWTON THEOLOGICAL

SEMINARY, NEWTON CENTRE, MASS., JUNE 10, 1874.

Africa was one of the first countries to receive

Christianity. Simon, a Cyrenian, from Africa, bore the cross

of Jesus for him to Calvary. There was more in that

singular incident than we are apt to recognize, for the time

soon came when Africa did indeed take up the Saviour's

cross.

The African, in his gushing love, welcomed the new religion

to his country and to his heart. He was willing to share its

persecutions, and endure shame for the cross of Christ.

Africa became the arena in which theological gladiators met

in dubious strife. It was the scene of some of the severest

doctrinal controversies of the early Church. Here men and

women, devoted to an idea, stood immovable, indomitable as

the pyramids, against the severest persecution. Her sons

swelled the noble army of martyrs and confessors. The

eloquence of their shed blood has been heard through the

centuries, and pleads the cause of the benighted to-day.

It was Africa that gave the Christian Church Athanasius and

Origen, Cyprian, Tertullian, and Augustine, her greatest

writers and teachers. Athanasius, the missionary of

monachism to the West, was the indefatigable enemy of

Arianism, the bold leader of the Catholic party at

Alexandria, at the early age of thirty (30) elevated to its

bishopric, one of the most important sees in the East. Ever

conscientious and bold, the whole Christian Church felt his

influence, while emperors and kings feared his power. His

life was stormy, because he loved the truth and taught it in

all boldness. He hated his own life for the truth's sake. He

counted all things but loss, that he might gain Christ. He

was often in perils by false brethren, was driven out into

the solitary places of the earth,--into the monasteries of

the Thebaid; and yet he endured as seeing Him who is

invisible, looking for the reward of the promise, knowing

that He who promised is faithful.

Origen was an Alexandrian by birth and culture, an able

preacher, a forcible writer, and a theologian of great

learning. His influence while living was great, and was felt

long after his death.

In North Africa, Cyprian, the great writer of Church polity,

a pastor and teacher of rare gifts, was the first bishop to

lay down his life for the truth's sake. The shadows of

fifteen centuries rest upon his name; but it is as fadeless

to-day as when a weeping multitude followed him to his

martyrdom, and exclaimed, "Let us die with our holy bishop."

The weary centuries intervene, and yet the student of Church

polity is fascinated and instructed by the brilliant

teachings of Cyprian. His bitterest enemies--those who have

most acrimoniously assailed him--have at length recognized

in him the qualities of a great writer and teacher; and his

puissant name, sending its influence along the ages,

attracts the admiration of the ecclesiastical scholars of

every generation.

Tertullian, the leader of the Montanists, fiery, impulsive,

the strong preacher, the vigorous writer, the bold

controversialist, organized a sect which survived him,

though finally disorganized through the influence of

Augustine, the master theologian of the early Church, indeed

of the Church universal.

Other fathers built theological systems that flourished for

a season; but the system that Augustine established survived

him, has survived the intervening centuries, and lives

to-day.

Africa furnished the first dissenters from an established

church,--the Donatists. They were the Separatists and

Puritans of the early Church.

Their struggle was long, severe, but useless. They were

condemned, not convinced; discomfited, not subdued; and the

patient, suffering, indomitable spirit they evinced shows

what power there is in a little truth held in faith.

Christianity had reached its zenith in Africa. It was her

proudest hour. Paganism had been met and conquered. The

Church had passed through a baptism of blood, and was now

wholly consecrated to the cause of its Great Head. Here

Christianity flowered, here it brought forth rich fruit in

the lives of its tenacious adherents. Here the acorn had

become the sturdy oak, under which the soldiers of the cross

pitched their tents. The African Church had triumphed

gloriously.

But, in the moment of signal victory, the Saracens poured

into North Africa, and Mohammedanism was established upon

the ruins of Christianity.

The religion of Christ was swept from its moorings, the

saint was transformed into the child of the desert, and

quiet settlements became bloody fields where brother shed

brother's blood.

Glorious and sublime as was the triumph of Christianity in

North Africa, we must not forget that only a narrow belt of

that vast country, on the Mediterranean, was reached by

Christianity. Its western and southern portions are yet

almost wholly unknown. Her vast deserts, her mighty rivers,

and her dusky children are yet beyond the reach of

civilization; and her forests have been the grave of many

who would explore her interior. To-day England stands by the

new-made grave of the indomitable Livingstone,--her

courageous son, who, as a missionary and geographer spent

his best days and laid down his life in the midst of Africa.

For nearly three centuries Africa has been robbed of her

sable sons. For nearly three centuries they have toiled in

bondage, unrequited, in this youthful republic of the West.

They have grown from a small company to be an exceedingly

great people,--five millions in number. No longer chattels,

they are human beings, no longer bondmen, they are freemen,

with almost every civil disability removed.

Their weary feet now press up the mount of science. Their

darkened intellect now sweeps, unfettered, through the

realms of learning and culture. With his Saxon brother, the

African slakes his insatiable thirstings for knowledge at

the same fountain. In the Bible, he leads not only the one

unalterable text, "Servants, obey your masters," but also,

"Ye are all brethren." "God hath made of one blood all

nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth."

"He is no respecter of persons."

The Negro in this country has begun to enjoy the blessings

of a free citizenship. Under the sunny sky of a Christian

civilization he hears the clarion voices of progress about

him, urging him onward and upward. From across the ocean,

out of the jungles of Africa, come the voices of the

benighted and perishing. Every breeze is freighted with a

Macedonian call, "Ye men of the African race, come over and

help us!"

"Shall we, whose souls are lighted

By wisdom from on high,--

Shall we, to men benighted

The lamp of life deny?"

God often permits evil on the ground of man's free agency,

but he does not commit evil.

The Negro of this country can turn to his Saxon brothers and

say, as Joseph said to his brethren who wickedly sold him,

"As for you, ye meant it unto evil but God meant it unto

good; that we, after learning your arts and sciences, might

return to Egypt and deliver the rest of our brethren who are

yet in the house of bondage."

That day will come! Her chains will be severed by the sword

of civilization and liberty. Science will penetrate her

densest forests, and climb her loftiest mountains, and

discover her richest treasures. The Sun of righteousness,

and the star of peace shall break upon her sin-clouded

vision, and smile upon her renewed households The anthem of

the Redeemer's advent shall float through her forests, and

be echoed by her mountains. Those dusky children of the

desert, who now wander and plunder, will settle to quiet

occupations of industry. Gathering themselves into villages,

plying the labors of handicraft and agriculture, they will

become a well disciplined society, instead of being a

roving, barbarous horde.

The sabbath bells will summon from scattered cottages

smiling populations, linked together by friendship, and

happy in all the sweetness of domestic charities. Thus the

glory of her latter day shall be greater than at the

beginning, _and Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto

God_.

It is our earnest desire and prayer, that the friends of missions in

all places where God in his providence may send this history will give

the subject of the civilization and Christianization of Africa

prayerful consideration. The best schools the world can afford should

be founded on the West Coast of Africa The native should be educated

at home, and mission stations should be planted under the very shadow

of the idol-houses of the heathen. The best talent and abundant means

have been sent to Siam, China, and Japan. Why not send the best talent

and needful means to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cape Palmas, that

native missionaries may be trained for the outposts of the Lord? There

is not a more promising mission-field in the world than Africa, and

yet our friends in America take so little interest in this work! The

Lord is going to save that Dark Continent, and it behooves his

servants here to honor themselves in doing something to hasten the

completion of this inevitable work! Africa is to be redeemed by the

African, and the white Christians of this country can aid the work by

munificent contributions. Will you do it, brethren? God help you!

FOOTNOTES:

[115] Deut. xii. 2, 3, also 30th verse.

[116] Deut. vi. 19.

[117] Deut. vii. 7.

[118] News comes to us from Egypt that Arabi Pacha's best artillerists

are Negro soldiers.

Part II.

_SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES_.[119]