'
v; . i.
.
Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Gift of
Randall K. Burkett
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM
AND THE
NEGRO RACE.
EDWARD W. BL.YDEN, LL.D.
[All Bights Reserved.]
CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM
AND the
NEGRO RACE.
EDWAKD W. BLYDEN, LL.D.,
Author of " Liberia's Offeringand "From West Africa to Palestine.
With an INTRODUCTION by the HON. SAMUEL LEWIS,
Barrister-at-Law, and Member of the Legislative Council of Bierya Leone.
SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
W. B. WHITTINGH AM & CO., 91, GRACECHURCH STREET.
1888.
[All Bights Reserved.]
W. B. WHITTINGHAII & Cfi.,
PRINTERS,
" THE CHAETEKHOUSE PRESS,"
91. GRACECHURCH STREET, E.C.
AND
44 & 45, CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE,
LONDON.
CONTENTS.
Preface to the Second Edition i
Preface to the First Edition viii
Introductory Biographical Note xii
Mohammedanism and the Negro Eace 1
Fraser's Magazine, November, 1875.
Christianity and the Negro Eace 30
Fraser's Magazine, May, 1876.
Christian Missions in West Africa 54
Fraser's Magazine, October, 1876.
The Aims and Methods of a Liberal Education for Africans ... 82
Inaugural Address as President of Liberia College, January 5,1881.
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation 108
Discourse at the Anniversary of the American Colonisation Society, January, 1888.
Ethiopia stretching out her hands unto God (Africa's Service
to the World) 130
Discourse delivered in the United States in 1880.
Echoes from Africa 150
The American Missionary, Dec., 1878, Jan. and Feb. 1879; and The Three Despised
Races in the United States, an Address by Joseph Cook, New York, 1878.
Philip and . the Eunuch 174
Discourse delivered in the United States in 1882.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa 199
Methodist Quarterly Review, January, 1871.
Sierra Leone and Liberia 217
Lecture at Sierra Leone, April, 1884.
Islam and Eace Distinctions 277
Fraser's Magazine, November, 1876; Islam under the Arabs, 1876; Mohammed and
Mohammedanism, 1874.
Africa and the Africans 298
Fraser's Magazine, August, 1878.
Life of Lord Lawrence and its Lessons 325
The Mohammedans of Nigritia...
African Colonisation
... 350
... 383
Appendix 425
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
THE generosity which has made a second edition of this
volume necessary is no less surprising than gratifying.
It was originally written chiefly with a view of instructing
Negro youth in Christian lands eager to study the history,
character and destiny of -their race. In my early years I sorely
felt the need of some such work to assist my own studies and
direct my aspirations. Wherever I turned for light and guid¬
ance, I found only what the dominant white man had said in
his own way aiid for his own-purposes; or discovered, now and
then, some crude literary effort of the Negro in exile and
bondage, giving in broken utterances and in forma pauperis
the conceptions of a blurred past and the hopes of an indis¬
tinct and troubled future. As I advanced in my studies and
researches, difficult and hampered as they were, I determined
to do, as soon as I felt able, whatever in me lay to supply the
desideratum. The reception which my first effort in this
direction has met has far exceeded my expectations. The
volume appears to have been read with interest and profit, not
only by my own people, but by foreigners in the highest literary
walks, both in Europe and America.
One very interesting and important effect of the generous
reception accorded to the work will be to convince the intelli¬
gent Negro youth, first, that in the Republic of Letters, as
Mr. Herbert Spencer once said to me, there is no such thing
as caste; and, secondly, that if any man, whatever his race,
has anything to say worth listening to, men of all races who
think will give him more than a respectful hearing.
ii
The Christian Negro has, hitherto, as I have tried to show
throughout this volume, rarely been trained to trust his own
judgment, or to think that he can have anything to say
which foreigners will care to hear. His subordinate position
everywhere in Christian countries has made him believe that
what his foreign teachers think is the only proper thing to think
and that what they say is the only right thing to say. He is»
therefore, untrue to the natural direction of his powers, and
attempts to soar into an atmosphere not native to his wing.
This is what often brings that shadow of disappointment over
the brows of his best friends, as his profound disqualifications
for the work for which they suppose they had trained him, be¬
come apparent. The faulty estimate which he himself enter¬
tains of the true field for his energies is not corrected by his
guides, who, familiar with and strong on their own ground, can
conceive of no other, and do not suspect the vicious estimate of
himself and of his destiny in the mind of their protege. It is
difficult for the European to put himself in the place of the
Christian Negro. But it is evident that there can be hope for
the future improvement of the African only as he finds out his
work and destiny and, as a consequence, learns to trust his own
judgment; and it is hoped that this volume and the reception
it has met, while stimulating effort in that direction on the
part of the rising generation of Africans, will encourage their
European guides and patrons to allow greater scope and
freedom, not only for their mental and moral, but for their
social and political evolution.
Of the numerous reviews of the work which I have had
the opportunity of seeing, I have studied none with greater
attention and respect than those which have appeared in the
Church Missionary Intelligencer, as expressing the views of
that large and influential body of Christians who, of all
Missionary organisations labouring in Africa, must take pre¬
cedence for the magnificence of their liberality and the breadth
iii
of their conception in planning for the erection of a Christian
Church in Africa, and to whose patient and untiring efforts it
is owing, notwithstanding existing perplexities, that so many
difficulties have been overcome and so many drawbacks
removed from the normal development of a genuine African
Church.
But I have noticed with regret that the reviewer in the
Intelligencer for November, 1887, proceeding upon the assump-'
tion that Mohammedanism is eulogised in this volume to the
disparagement of Christianity, devotes a large portion of his
article to bringing charges against Islam. The tu quoque
argument is never satisfactory, dignified or edifying; and in
this case it is especially and sadly irrelevant, when the neces¬
sity is so pressing for a careful consideration of the elements
in the methods of foreign Christian workers in Africa which
prevent wider and more permanent results—a subject to the
discussion of which the work is chiefly devoted, but which the
reviewer seems either to ignore or to deliberately put aside.
Most reviewers, however, have discovered no attack upon'
Christianity itself, but only a serious arraignment of the
methods of the Christian teachers of the Negro.
The earlier Missionaries laboured for the people to the
extent of the possibilities of that time, and they did noble and
exemplary work. The later Missionaries seem not to recog¬
nise the altered circumstances and the tendencies created by
previous training to growth on racial lines, but wish to walk
in the footsteps of their predecessors, as if they still had to
deal with a tabula rasa. The result is, that all real life is
strangled in a body whose form, notwithstanding advancing
years, they strive to retain. They increase their expenditure
in certain directions, and wonder that the reproductive power
of their work does not fulfil its earlier promise orjs not com¬
mensurate with the pecuniary outlay. " So long as you treat
us like children," said a wealthy African merchant to the
iv
Rev. Henry. Venn, late Honorary Secretary of the Church
Missionary Society, more than thirty years ago, we shall
behave like children. Treat us like men and we shall behave
like men." 1
The foreign teachers of the African are able to deal with
accidental and external peculiarities—like the names and
dress of the people. They secure by large expenditures of
money outward conformity, but they have no means of shaping
a healthful evolution; indeed, the word " evolution " implies
spontaneity. It demands, for its effective operation, the
carriere ouverte aux talents in Church and State. Nature
suppressed, if vigorous, will make an outlet for itself, and there
is no telling the shape it will take when once it has found or
made that outlet. But it certainly will not conform to the
regulations of those who would keep it down. It is by due
attention to these things that Mohammedanism, with its more
elastic social and political system, threatens the whole of
Africa. "What our religious and political teachers should pray
for is the gift to recognise the necessity of increasing measures
of freedom on the part of their proteges as the condition of
social as well as spiritual advancement, so as to afford full
scope for the expansion of the inherent energies of the mind.
But, as long as they believe that there are no inherent
energies to be expanded, they will aim at making the Negro
what they think he ought to be, by the plastic hand of
European religious organisations and the moulding force of
European laws; and these will have no influence beyond
European settlements, and, even there, they will stifle all true
life in the people. The intelligent Negro of the interior,
whether Pagan or Mohammedan, looks upon many of these
regulations and laws as not only despotic but absurd, and will
reject them as calculated to put him and his people in an
awkward and helpless position.
1 Memoir of Eev. Henry Venn, B.D., p. 546.
V
The reviewer in the Church Missionary Intelligencer for
November, says, "Another topic is abundantly dwelt upon in
Dr. Blyden's volume. It is largely devoted to hymning the
praises of Liberia."
Perhaps explanation is necessary. That Republic repre¬
sents two principles for which, in common with all intelligent
Christian Negroes, I should contend: First, the return of the
exiled African from the house of bondage ; and, secondly,
Christian Negro autonomy in Church and State on African soil.
Liberia is the only country which redeems Christianity, or
rather Christians, from the charge of appropriating the country
of another people as a reward for giving them the highest
religion. There is no other country in the world belonging to
any dark race which, evangelised by Christians, has been left
to the control of the natives. All Christian countries, except¬
ing Liberia and Haiti, are under the government of Europeans
or white people. But we have Mohammedan countries under
the rule of men of all the races—Caucasian, Mongolian and
Negro—from North-western China to West Africa. Moham¬
medan conquests mean subjugation to the Koran, and not to
Arab or Turk. If I have " hymned the praises of Liberia,"
it is because, whatever its present difficulties or failures, it
represents an important principle, and may be made the
instrument of a great work.2
Did Sir William Hunter realise the full effect upon the
minds of thinking people among unevangelised races of the
eloquent utterances at the close of his able lecture on " The
Religions of India," delivered a few weeks ago before the
Society of Arts ? He said, " Speaking as an Englishman, I de¬
clare my conviction that English missionary enterprise is the
highest modern expression of the world-wide national life of
our race. I regard it as the spiritual complement of England's
instinct for colonial expansion and Imperial rule."
2 See Appendix.
vi
Does lie know that Chinese, Japanese and African critics o
"English missionary enterprise" attribute the energy and
zeal displayed to the restless desire for foreign possessions
" for colonial expansion and Imperial rule? "
I am convinced that it is utterly impossible for Christianity
to penetrate this continent by the methods now in general
favour. I venture to think that if the desire is to convert
Mohammedans, Christians should give up their bitter hostility
and study Islam—not at second hand, but as far as possible in
its original records—with greater sympathy and liberality.
The agency of the press diffuses rapidly to the remotest parts
of the earth everything said and done in Christian countries.
Mohammedan newspapers are reporting foreign intelligence to
their people. When Missionary Societies, in their official
publications, denounce Mohammed as a "false prophet," still
reproducing the unchastened conceptions of the Middle Ages,
they cannot expect that their agents will be received without,
to say the least, suspicion in Mohammedan countries.
In view of the past and present position of Islam, Christians
have no ground for special exultation. Ishmael holds his own
before Isaac. The Cross has surrendered to the Crescent the
very locality which it first consecrated. The voice of the
Muezzin is heard in the plain of Sharon and in the hill country
of Judea; on the banks of the Jordan, and by the waters ol
Abana and Pharpar; at Bethlehem, Hebron, Nazareth. Over
one of the gates of the " Holy City," the Muslim formula is
displayed, " There is no God but God and Mohammed is the
Apostle of God." If in those countries Islam has lost its pro¬
ductive and conquering energy as a dominant force, Christi¬
anity has not regained its ancient influence. Intelligence
furnished by Christian missionaries in the Turkish Empire does
not show that Mohammedanism is growing any weaker at its
centre. As a rejoinder to the attacks made upon Islam in the
recent or pending controversy in England and America the
vii
highest Turkish authorities propose the enactment of a law
restricting or abolishing the privileges formerly enjoyed by
Christian missionaries in the establishment and conduct of
schools. Dr. Washburn, the President of Robert College, at
Constantinople, has just furnished in the New York Independent
(Feb. 9) the translation of an important letter written by the
Sheikh-ul-Islam, giving an official statement of Mohammedan
doctrine for the instruction of recent and expected converts to
Islam.3
As to India, Sir "William Hunter has recently told us of the
new vitality awakened among the Mohammedans of that
country. " The sternly religious character," he says, " of
their early teaching gives a vigorous coherence to Islam in
India which may yet be productive of great political results."4
In Central Africa, the religion of Arabia shows its pristine
vitality and expansive power, carrying on its operations by
indigenous agents and simple methods; while Christianity
attempts to confront it by an expensive missionary system and
exotic agencies—by various sects and a complicated ecclesiasti-
cism. The experience of each day, especially when we contrast
the results of the two systems, convinces the careful and earnest
student of the question that an effective missionary among the
Natives of interior Africa, whether Pagan or Mohammedan, must
begin with "Silver and gold have I none" and continue
with, " Stand up; I myself also am a man." And it is becoming
more and more apparent that an enterprise which requires so
much and such continuous foreign aid and oversight—such an
apparatus of alien training and directing agencies—is ill-
adapted to compete with that energetic and cosmopolitan
system from Arabia, whose agents are indigenous and stand 011
their own legs, pursuing methods, which, if under the inspira¬
tion of the Koran, are " racy of the soil."
West Afbica, March 20th, 1888.
3 See Appendix. i Religions of India.
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.
THE Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886, which, has brought
together in London men of all races and climes, and of almost
every degree of civilisation, has been the immediate occasion—not
the cause—of the publication of this volume, and it is hoped that
the interest in West Africa which may have been awakened by the
" Exhibits " from this part of the world may lead many, who might
not otherwise have been attracted by the subject, to a perusal of its
pages.
The chapters which it contains have, many of them, appeared, at
various times, in the shape of articles in English periodicals, or in
those of the United States. They are an attempt to deal with the
grave questions which affect Africa and the Negro race—to set forth
to Africans and to their foreign helpers, secular and religious, some
of the conditions of the problem before them, as they have presented
themselves to an African who has enjoyed exceptional opportunities
of travel and observation in the Eastern and "Western hemispheres
—in Central Africa, in Egypt and Syria, in Europe, in North and
South America, and in the West Indies.
Much has been written about Africa and the African. The
character, position and destiny of the Negro race have been dis¬
cussed by Europeans of every nationality. Travellers from all parts
of the civilised world have visited the country, and have furnished
facts—or, what seemed to be facts—for brilliant essayists and
incisive critics. But very little has been written by the African
himself of his country and people—very little, that is, which has
attracted the attention of the higher class of readers in Europe and
ix
America. Africans at home have no problems to solve except those
which pertain to their local or domestic affairs. They are not forced,
either by intellectual, or by social, or by material exigencies, to take
interest in the outside world. Were it not for foreign interference,
they would never, in any numbers, have left their ancestral homes
for residences in other lands.
It is different with the outside, especially the European, world.
Europe and America, for the multifarious purposes of their complex
life and wonderful growth, have, during the last three hundred years,
needed the aid of Africa and the African. And in return for the
services which, though forced from them, have been effectually
rendered, many and noble have been the efforts put forward towards
the opening and improvement of the continent, by those who have
been benefited by the labours of her children. Religious convictions
and philanthropic impulses have induced active and self-denying
exertions for the amelioration of the people; but the drawbacks
have been, and are still, numerous and diversified.
Two great religious systems are exerting their influence in Africa
—Christianity and Mohammedanism. These systems have many
things in common. Christians speak of Abraham as " the Father
of the Faithful," and "the pattern of believers," and Mohamme¬
danism professes to be a revival of the Abrahamic faith and worship.
The Koran admits the Divine authority of the Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments. It is with these two great systems in their
effect upon the African, through the methods of their respective
propagators, that many of the following pages deal.
Another subject dealt with in this book is the important part in
the development of Africa that may be played by the settlement
therein of civilised and Christian Negroes, drawn from the Western
hemisphere. It is now universally admitted that the acclimati¬
sation of Europeans in Tropical Africa is impossible. No Europeans
will ever be able to live in the Soudan or Congo and work as farmers,
mechanics or labourers. But, without the example of communities
engaging steadily in such employments, the task of civilising the
natives, in any large numbers, is hopeless. The Eepublic of Liberia
presents an example of the, at least, comparative, success which
B
X
attends the efforts of
organised' communities.
of civilised Africans living and working m
lies, with their farms, workshops, stores, school-
houses and churches.
The other method, of a few Europeans settled as missionaries,
Government officials, or traders, "has, so far, made very little
impression on the Continent. We have no example in tropical
Africa of hundreds of Europeans living together, and engaged in the
arts and practices of civilised life. But, even if this were possible,
a few hundreds of Europeans could exert no influence capable of
spreading civilisation among the millions in Africa, and of develop¬
ing the industrial and commercial resources of so vast a continent
> It is the African converts to Mohammedanism and the Negro
colonists from Christian countries, who have, thus far, done most
for the permanent advance of civilisation in equatorial Africa; and
it is these who seem to me to be the only capable and efficient
agencies for the work of African regeneration. Mohammedanism—
by its simple, rigid forms of worship, by its literature, its politics, its
organised society, its industrial and commercial activities—is rapidly
superseding a hoary and pernicious Paganism. The exiled Negro in
the Western hemisphere, on the other hand, in spite of slavery, in
spite of the bitter prejudices, the dark passions of which he has been
the victim, has come under influences which have given him the
elements of a nobler civilisation. The seed of a spiritual, intellectual,
industrial life has been planted in his bosom, which, when he is
transferred to the land of his fathers, will grow up into beauty,
expand into flower, and develop into fruit which the world will be
glad to welcome.
It is gratifying to know that there are thousands in America look¬
ing to Africa as their future home, who have been kept so much
apart from the alien race in whose country they live, that their race-
strength has not been undermined nor their race-vitality absorbed,
by surrounding influences. They will return to their ancestral
home bearing, it is true, the marks of slavery to a foreiVn ra.™ hnfc
xi
have never been crushed under the pressure, or forced into the
mould, of foreign prejudices. Christians and Mohammedans •will
meet face to face, as they have never confronted each other before,
and in a field where there are no other disputants ; the professors of
each being of the same race, and both believing in their duty to
convert the Pagans. And it is an advantage that the Negro
Christian who is thus brought into a religious rivalry should be of
that class which brings nothing to the conflict but an unwavering
belief in the truth of Christianity; for he will confront Mohammedans
whose unreasoning adherence to their faith has not been influenced
by the disease of European casuistry. The new comer from the
"West will infuse spiritual life into the formalism of the Muslims, a
vital and spontaneous activity into the mechanical regularity of
their worship; while the Muslims by their disciplined intellect and
respect for order, will confront the pretentions of ignorant and
unlettered religious guides, and rebuke the wild impulses of religious
fervour, the. indifference to learning, the license (mistaken for
liberty) imported from the house of bondage.
It is chiefly to point out these things that the following pages
have been written, with the conviction that, if Christianity cannot
conquer the whole of Africa—a task which it can never accomplish
through European agency alone—it may, by the efforts and influence
of its African converts, at least divide the empire of the Continent
with Islam; Paganism, with all its horrors and abominations,
having been forever abolished.
Liberia, West Africa,
May, 1887.
INTRODUCTORY BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE,
BY THE
HON. SAMUEL LEWIS.
TH~fl opportunity which has been unexpectedly offered to me of
writing a brief biographical introduction to Dr. Blyden's work
on " Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race," will not, I trust, be
misemployed if, at the outset, I venture to express a hope that its
bearings on the great question of Negro progress may secure for it
an extensive circulation, as well as the sympathetic study of all
who are interested in the condition of Africa. Nor can I doubt
that a careful consideration of its contents will ultimately lead, if
not to the adoption of methods altogether new, at least to an
extensive modification of those older methods which have been,
hitherto, regarded as most conducive to the civilisation of the Dark
Continent.
A Negro myself, of unadulterated African blood, I believe that,
in the ideas which underlie and interpenetrate this volume, and
which lead up, by different but converging paths, to the general
conclusion that the aim of philanthropists should be, not to distort
or to destroy any of the characteristics which are most distinctive
of the Negro race, but to ensure to them, as far as possible, their
normal and natural development, Dr. Blyden is only giving eloquent
expression and emphasis to the sentiments and aspirations of every
enlightened member of his race. Foreign influence may—indeed it
xiii
must—for some time to come do much for Africa, but not least, by
recognising the fundamental fact that when all has been said and
done by Europeans and Americans that they can either say or do,
the African himself is, and must always remain, the fittest instru¬
ment for the development of his country. He it is who can best
be trained to utilise the vast resources of Africa, not only for her
own good, but for the benefit of the human race.
What may be the precise means which are best adapted for
that end, I need not here enquire; nor whether it is Mohamme¬
danism or Christianity which, under the present condition of Africa
is likely to be the most important factor in its development. Many
enlightened Africans are inclined to think, on grounds which are
sufficiently explained in this volume, that Islam is, at the present
moment, able to do more for the Pagan Negro than its great
rival. But those who, like myself, believe in the ultimate triumph,
throughout Negroland, of the Christian faith, will, none the less,
be glad to learn that Dr. Blyden does not, in any degree, attribute
the spread of Mohammedanism in Africa to its sensualism. Such i
_ an explanation is, at once, unworthy of a great religion and insult¬
ing to the Negro race, although it is one to which some European
travellers of recent date—more qualified to traduce an unfortunate
people than to engage in the philosophical investigation of their
character and history—have not been ashamed to attribute it3
rapid spread and its wide influence. The facts and arguments
accumulated in Dr. Blyden's Essays on this important subject will,
I am convinced, repay the study of the Christian Evangelist no less
than of the Christian Statesman.
Edward Wilmot Blyden was born in the Danish Island of
St. Thomas, West Indies, and is of the purest Negro parentage.
Inspired, in early youth, with a love for the Fatherland, and a
desire to labour for its amelioration, he went to the United
States in his seventeenth year, with a view of pursuing certain
studies to fit himself to work in Africa. Influential friends
endeavoured to secure for him admission to some institution of
learning there, but so strong was the prejudice against his race at
that time that the effort proved unavailing. He was advised to
xiv
proceed at once to Liberia, where the Board of Foreign Missions of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States was about to establish
a High School, under the care of Rev. David A. Wilson, M.A., a
graduate of Princeton College, now Dr. Wilson of Missouri. After
a few months' residence in Liberia, young Blyden entered the new
institution among its first pupils. By diligence and perseverance
he soon rose to the headship of the school, and, after filling that
office for three years, to the satisfaction of all concerned, was,
in 1862, elected to a Professorship in the newly-founded College
of Liberia. In 1864, he was appointed Secretary of State by
the President of Liberia, and managed, for two years, to combine
the duties of that office with his educational work. In 1869,
he made a journey to the East, visiting Egypt and Syria, chiefly
with the view of studying the Arabic language, in order to its
introduction into the curriculum of the College.
In 1871, he resigned his Professorship, and, after a brief visit to
Europe, spent two years in Sierra Leone, during which time he
was sent by the Governor of the Colony—which was then under
the administrations, successively, of Sir Arthur Kennedy and Sir
John Pope Hennessy—on two diplomatic missions to the powerful
chiefs of the interior. His Report on one of these Expeditions was
published at length in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical
Society.
In 1877, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary bf the
Republic of Liberia at the Court of St. James', and was received
by Her Majesty at Osborne, July 30, 1878, being introduced by the
Marquess of Salisbury, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
He was soon after elected an Honorary Member of the Athenaeum
Club. In 1880, he was elected a Fellow of the American Philo¬
logical Association. In 1882, he was made a Corresponding and
Honorary Member of the Society of Science and Letters of Bengal.
In 1884, he was elected Vice-President of the American Colonisation
Society. The honorary degrees of Master of Arts, Doctor of Divinity
and Doctor of Laws have been conferred upon him by different
American Colleges. In 1885, he was nominated by the Republican
Party of Liberia a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic.
XV
Dr. Blyden has, in the course of his labours, been brought into
contact—epistolary or personal—with some of the most remarkable
literary men of his day. Among them may be mentioned Lord
Brougham, Mr. Gladstone, Dean Stanley, Charles Dickens, Charles
Sumner.
He seems from his earliest years to have had a central idea, a
dominant conviction, about the Negro and his country, which has,
all along, guided and sustained him in his efforts. He believes his
views to be true, and he is only gradually elaborating the exact
method by which they may be brought home to others.
The following articles, though written at different times, will
appear, when read carefully, to be linked together. They are not
only the sentiments of a careful observer and diligent student, but
they are the exponent of a purpose—the patriotic purpose of a
lover of his race.
Many of the thoughts are new, but they are such as will be
read with profit by all who are interested in the solution of the
great problems which beset the work of the civilisation of Africa,
and the genuine progress of humanity.
SAMUEL LEWIS.
Freetown, Sierra Leone,
• October 1 kth, 1886.
Mohammedanism and the
Negro Race.
TO students of general literature in Europe and the United States,
until within the last few years, the Orientals most celebrated
in religion or politics, in literature or learning, were known only
l>y name. The Oriental world, to the student aiming at practical
achievements, presented a field of so little promise that he scarcely
■ever ventured beyond a distant survey of what seemed to him a
boundless and impracticable area. But, thanks to the exigencies
of commerce, to philanthropic zeal, and to the scientific impulse,
the East is daily getting to be " nearer seen and better known,"
not only in its outward life, but in those special aspects which, in
xeligion and government, in war and policy, differentiate Eastern
from Western races. It has been recently stated by a distinguished
authority that " the intimate acquaintance with the languages,
thoughts, history and monuments of Eastern nations is no longer a
luxury, but a necessity." And the visits, within the last ten years,
of Oriental rulers to Europe—the Sultan of Turkey, the Khedive
of Egypt, the Shah of Persia, and the Seyyid of Zanzibar—
Ihave stimulated in the popular mind a livelier curiosity as to the
character, condition, and influence of Mohammedan countries.
Drawn away from the beaten track of Eoman and Greek antiquity
by considerations, for the most part, of a material nature, and
"wandering into paths which, heretofore, were trodden only by such
enthusiastic pioneers as Sir William Jones, the Western student
finds rewards far rarer and richer than he had anticipated. And
2 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
even those who have not the opportunity of familiarising themselves
with Oriental languages find enough in translations—inadequate
and unsatisfactory as they often are—to inspire them with a desire
not only to increase their acquaintance with Eastern subjects, but
to impart the knowledge they glean to others.
To the latter class belongs Mr. E. Bosworth Smith, the author
of the work before us.1 He informs us at the outset that " the only
qualification he would venture to claim for himself," as a writer on
Islam, " is that of a sympathetice interest in his subject," his work
having been " derived in the main from the study of books in the
European languages."
Mr. Bosworth Smith, who is a graduate of one of the English
Universities, of only twelve years' standing, and therefore, we
gather, a comparatively young man, may be regarded as one of the
earliest collateral results of that increased activity in Oriental
research which Dr. Birch has told us "marks the advance of
civilization." And if he does stand upon the shoulders of Caussin
de Perceval, Sprenger, Muir, and Deutsch, he may, without im¬
modesty, claim to be taller than they; for we are very much
mistaken if his book does not form an important starfcing-point on
the road to a more tolerant—if not sympathetic—view among
popular readers of the chief religion of the Oriental world. The
works of the writers just mentioned were designedly not popular,
but written by scholars for scholars, maintaining or opposing
theories for the most part of merely literary or historical signifi¬
cance. Mr. Bosworth Smith has brought to his work not only
a thorough appreciation of the literary and historical questions
involved, but an earnest respect " for the deeper problems of the
human soul," cherishing the sound and fruitful conviction, which
he strives to impart to his readers, "that Mohammedans may
learn much from Christians, and yet remain Mohammedans; that
Christians have something at least to learn from Mohammedans,
1 Mohammed and Mohammedanism.—Lectures delivered at the Royal Institu¬
tion of Great Britain, in February and March, 1874, by E. Bosworth Smith,
M.A., Assistant-Master in Harrow School, late Fellow of Trinity College,
Oxford.—London : Smith, Elder and Co.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. 3
which will make them not less but more Christian than they were
before."
Mr. Bosworth Smith pursues the discussion of this important
subject, which, as a labour of love, he entered upon, with a degree
of earnestness, perspicuity, catholicity, and force of reasoning
that renders his work not only most instructive, but highly inte¬
resting as an indication of the tendency and direction of cultivated
thought in England. He has entered into the spirit of Islam in a-
manner which, but for the antecedent labours of Lane, Sprenger,
Deutsch, and Weil, would be astounding in a Western scholar and
an Englishman.
Dean Stanley's lecture on the same subject, though marked by
the breadth of view, generous impartiality, and geniality of spirit
which so honourably distinguish all the writings of that scholarly
and Christian divine, is fragmentary—necessarily limited in its-
range by the nature and scope of the work. To Mr. Bosworth
Smith, then, must be awarded the credit not only of having fully,
fairly, and freely investigated the practical features of Islam, but
of having rendered a clear, unbiassed, and unambiguous verdict,
the influence of which, whether acknowledged or not, must be felt
throughout the literary world. Such works as those of Maracci,
Prideaux, and White are hereafter impossible in polemico-religious
literature. No cultivated man, however inquisitorial his tempera¬
ment, will ever, in the future, be tempted—or at least yield to the
temptation—to subject any religious system to the Procrustean
ordeal.
And, so far as Islam is concerned, scholars are arising within
its ranks imbued with Western learning, and taking the part not
only of defenders of their faith, but of interpreters between the
Eastern and Western world. It has recently occasioned some
surprise and comment that a Mohammedan writer should have
written an able work in the English tongue, " challenging Euro¬
pean and Christian thinkers on their own ground." 2 Since the
2 British Quarterly Review for January, 1872, in a Review of 'A Series of
Essays on the Life of Mohammed,' &c.; by Syed Ahmed Khan Bahador, O.S.I.,
Vol. I.—London, Triibner and Co., 1870.
4 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
appearance of Syed Ahmed's essays, another work has appeared m
the English language, written by a young Mohammedan, in which
he has briefly, temperately, and ably discussed the various subjects
in relation to which Islam is usually assailed.3
But it is not only in recent days, as the writer in the British
Quarterly Beview would seem to imply, that Mohammedans have
availed themselves of the power of the pen, in defence of their
faith. There have always been, and there are now, able contro¬
versialists among them altogether unknown to Western fame.
The celebrated work of Dr. Pfander, the Mizan-al-Hakk, attacking
the Mohammedan system, has been reviewed in the Arabic
language by a Mohammedan scholar, Eahmat Allah, in a learned
and incisive reply, in which he reveals a marvellous acquaintance
with European literature. "We have heard of no attempt at
a rejoinder to the work of Eahmat Allah. We saw a copy of
this book in the hands of a West African Mohammedan at Sierra
Leone, who was reading and commenting upon it to a number of
his co-religionists.
We are glad to notice that Mr. Bosworth Smith's book has
been republished in the United States, and that the able article
of iDeutsch on Islam has been reproduced in the same volume as
an appendix. They are fit companions—par nobile fratrum. The
traveller, contemplating a visit to Mohammedan countries, or the
theologian wishing to get a clear view of a religious' system which
is shaping the destiny of millions of the race, may now carry in
his pocket a complete compendium of Mohammedan literature. If
we except the very remarkable article on the 4 Historical Statements
in the Koran,' written in 1832, by the then stripling reviewer,
Mr. J. Addison Alexander, of Princeton, and the able 1 Review of
the Koran,' by Professor Draper, of the New York University, in
his History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, American
scholarship has as yet, as far as we are aware, produced nothing of
importance in this branch of literature.
3 A Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of Mohammed ; by Syed
Ameer Ali Moulvi, M.A., LL.B., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law, &c.—
London : Williams and Norgate, 1873.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. 5
The portion of the interesting work now before us, which we
propose more particulary to notice, is that part of the first lecture
which refers to the character and influence of Islam in Western
and Central Africa. Dean Stanley says :—
It cannot be forgotten that Mohammedanism is the only higher religion
which has hitherto made progress in the vast continent of Africa. Whatever
may be the future fortunes of African Christianity, there can be no doubt that
they will be long affected by its relations with the most fanatical and the most
proselytising portion of the Mussulman world in its Negro converts.4
If this view is correct, then the Christian world cannot be
indifferent to the discussion of a subject so full of importance
affecting one branch of the philanthropic interests into which the
Christian Church, more than ever before, is now pouring its most
eager life.3
Three streams of influence have always penetrated into Negro-
land : one, from Egypt, through Nubia, to Bornou and Hausa;
another, from Abyssinia to Yoruba and Ashantee ; the third, from
the Barbary States across the desert to Timbuktu. By the first
two, Egypt and Arabia exchanged their productions for the raw
materials of the Soudan. By the third, the ports of the Mediter¬
ranean, through the Great Desert, having Timbuktu as a centre,
became outlets for the wealth of Nigritia. Even in the days of
Herodotus there appears to have been intercourse between the
region of the Tsad and the Mediterranean, and the valuable
products collected at various centres by the itinerant traffic, which
still flourishes in the interior, shared by numerous caravans, found
their way by means of Phoenician ships to different countries of
Europe and the Levant.
Central Africa has never been cut off commercially from
European and Asiatic intercourse. But it was not until the ninth
4 Eastern Church, p. 259.
5 Mr. Monier Williams, the Boden Professor of Sanscrit at Oxford, has
recently expressed the opinion, in a paper read at the Conference on Foreign
Missions, held at the Cannon Street Hotel in London (June 22, 1875), that,
unless a fresh and powerful impulse is given to Christian missionary effort,
Mohammedanism will speedily overrun the whole African continent.
6 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
century of the Christian era that any knowledge of the true God
began to penetrate into Negroland. To Akbah, a distinguished
*Muslim general, belongs the credit or discredit of having subdued
North Africa to Islam. He marched from Damascus at the head
of ten thousand enthusiastic followers, and in a short time spread
his conquests along the shores of North Africa, advancing to the
very verge of the Atlantic, whose billows alone checked his west¬
ward career.6 But the energy which could not proceed westward
turned northward and southward. In its southern progress it
crossed the formidable wastes of the Sahara, penetrated into the
Soudan, and established the centre of its influence at Timbuktu.
In less than a century from that time several large Nigritian tribes
had yielded to the influence of Islam; and it shaped so rapidly the
ideas, the manners, and the history of those tribes, that when in
the Middle Ages Ibn Batoutah, an Arab traveller, visited those
regions, he found that Islam had taken firm root among several
powerful peoples, had mastered their life and habits, and dominated
their whole social and religious policy. Among the praiseworthy
qualities which attracted his attention as a result of their con¬
version, he mentions their devotion to the study of the Koran, and
relates the following illustrative incidents, which we give in the
French version now before us:—
lis ont un grand zele pour apprendre par coeur le sublime Coran. Dans le
cas ou leurs enfants font preuve de negligence a eet egard, ils leur mettent des
entraves aux pieds et ne les leur Stent pas qu'ils ne le sachent reciter de
memoire. Le jour de la fete, etant entre chez le juge, et ayant vu ses enfants
enchaines, je lui dis: "Est-ce que tu ne les mettras pas en liberte ? " II
repondit: " Je ne le ferai que lorsqu'ils sauront par coeur le Coran." Une autre
jour, je passai devant un jeune n£gre, beau de figure, revetu d'habits superbes,
et portant aux pieds une lourde cliaine. Je dis a la personne qui m'accom-
pagnait: " Qu'a fait ce ganjon? Est-ce qu'il a assassin^ quelqu'un?" Le
jeune n&gre entendit mon propos et se mit a rire. On me dit: " II a ete en-
chaine uniquement pour le forcer 4 apprendre le Goran de memoire."'
Mohammedanism in Africa counts in its ranks the most energetic
and enterprising tribes. It claims as adherents the only people
6 Gibbon's Decline and Fall, &c., chap. li.
1 Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah, texte et traduction; par Defremery et Sangui-
aetti.—Paris, 1858; vol. iv, pp. 422, 423.
Mohammedanism and, the Negro Race.
7
who have any form of civil polity or bond of social organisation.
It has built and occupies the largest cities in the heart of the
continent. Its laws regulate the most powerful kingdoms—Futah,
Masina, Hausa, Bornou, Waday, Darfur, Kordofan, Senaar, &c.
It produces and controls the most valuable commerce between
Africa and Foreign countries; it is daily gaining converts from the
ranks of Paganism; and it commands respect among all Africans
wherever it is known, even where the people have not submitted
to the sway of the Koran.
No one can travel any distance in the interior of West Africa
without being struck with the different aspects of society in different
localities, according as the population is Pagan or Mohammedan.
Not only is there a difference in the methods of government, but in
the general regulations of society, and even in the amusements of
the people. The love of noisy terpsichorean performances, so
noticeable in Pagan communities, disappears as the people come
under the influence of Mohammedanism. It is not a fact that
" when the sun goes down, all Africa dances but it might be a fact
if it were not for the influence of Islam. Those who would once
have sought pleasure in the excitement of the tom-tom, now repair
five times a-day to the mosque, where they spend a quarter of an
hour on each occasion in devotional exercises. After the labours of
the day they assemble in groups near the mosque to hear the Koran
recited, or the Traditions or some other book read. In traversing!
the region of country between Sierra Leone and Futah Jallo in
1873, we passed through populous Pagan towns ; and the transition
from these to Mohammedan districts was striking. When we left
a Pagan and entered a Mohammedan community, we at once"
noticed that we haH^ntered a moral atmosphere widely separated
from, and loftier "far than, the one we had_left. We discovered
that the character, feelings, and conditions of the people were
profoundly altered and improved.
It is evident that," whatever may be said of the Koran, as long
as it is in advance of the Shamanism or Fetichism_of the African
tribes who accept it—and no one will doubt that Islam as a creed
is an enormous advance not only on all idolatries, but on all
8 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
i systems of purely human origin—those tribes must advance beyond
]their primitive condition.
The Koran is, in its measure, an important educator. It exerts
among a primitive people a wonderful influence. It has furnished
to the adherents of its teachings in Africa a ground of union which
"has contributed vastly to their progress. Hausas, Eoulahs, Mandin-
goes, Soosoos, Akus, can all read"the same books and mingle in
worship together, and there is to all one common authority and
one ultimate umpirage. They are united by a common religious
sentiment, by a common antagonism to Paganism. Not only the
sentiments, but the language, the words of the sacred book are
held in the greatest reverence and esteem. And even where the
ideas are not fully understood, the words seem to possess for them
a nameless beauty and music, a subtle and indefinable charm, in¬
comprehensible to those acquainted only with European languages.
It is easy for those not acquainted with the language in which the
Koran was written, and therefore, judging altogether as outsiders,
to indulge in depreciation of its merits.8 Such critics lose sight of
the fact that the Koran is a poetical composition, and a poetical
composition of the earliest and most primitive kind, and that
therefore its ideas and the language in which they are conveyed
cannot well be separated. The genuine poet not only creates the
conception, but the word which is its vehicle. The word becomes
the inseparable drapery of the idea. Hence the highest poetry
cannot be translated". We see this in the numerous versions by
which it has been sought in every age to reach the sense of the
poetical portions of the Bible. No words yet furnished by Greek,
Roman, or Teutonic literature have been fully adequate to bring
out the subtle beauties of the Semitic original. Among Moham¬
medans, written or printed translations of the Koran are dis¬
couraged. The Chinese, Hindoos, Persians, Turks, Mandingoes
8 The case cited by Dr. Miihleisen Arnold, in his work on Islam, of an Arab
philosopher and unbeliever in Mohammed, who lived in the eighth century
depreciating the literary merits of the Koran, is no more in point as L
argument against the book, it appears to us, than if a Mohammedan con¬
troversialist were to quote from Voltaire or Tom Paine against the Bible
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. ^ gj
Foulahs, &c., who have embraced Islam, speak in their " own
tongues wherein they were born," but read the Koran in Arabic.
Mr. Bosworth Smith was right to begin his preparations
for the valuable work he has written by a careful study of the
Koran. But it is to be regretted that he had not access to the
force and beauty of the original, which neither Sale, Kasimirsky,
Lane, nor Eodwell have been able—though they laboured hard to
do so—to retain in their excellent translations. A distinguished
Oriental scholar and critic says :—
There can be no doubt that, to understand thoroughly this wonderful book
the aid of those learned men, Arabs and others, who have devoted themselves
to the careful study of it, is not only desirable, but necessary. . . . The subject
is of sufficient importance to men of research to render it advisable that it
should be examined from all points of view, for by no other means can we hope
to obtain as clear an insight into the origin of Islam, as by a careful study of
the book which contains its fundamental principles.9
To the outside world, easily swayed by superficial impressions,
and carried away by matters of mere dramatic interest, there may j
be nothing attractive in the progress of Islam in Africa, because, as
far as known to Western readers, the history of African Moham¬
medanism is deficient in great characters and in remarkable <
episodes. There has been, it is supposed, no controlling mind
developed, which has moved great masses of men. But the words
of Horace are applicable here:—
Omnes illacrimabiles
Urgentur, ignotique longa
Nocte, carent quia vate sacro.
It is not, however, that no bard has written, but they have had
very few readers in Christian countries. To those acquainted with
the interior of Africa—to the Mohammedan world of North Africa
and Arabia—it is well known that numerous characters have arisen
in Africa—Negro Muslims—who have exerted no little influence in
the military, political, and ecclesiastical affairs of Islam, not only
in Africa, but in the lands of their teachers. In the biographies of
9 W. Nassau Lees, in the preface to his edition of the Commentary of
Zamalchshari.
c
io Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Ibn Khallikan are frequent notices of distinguished Negro Moham¬
medans. Koelle, in his Polyglotta Africana, gives a graphic account
of the proceedings of the great Fodie, whose zeal, enthusiasm, and
bravery spread Islam over a large portion of Nigritia.
One of the most remarkable characters who have influenced
the history of the region of country between Timbuktu and the
West Coast was a native of Futah Toro, known as the Sheikh
Omaru Al-Hajj. He is said to have been a Waleeu,30 a man of
extraordinary endowments, of commanding presence, and great
personal influence. He was educated by the Sheikh Tijani, a
Muslim missionary from Arabia. Having spent several years under
the instruction of this distinguished teacher, visiting Mecca in the
meanwhile, he became profoundly learned in the Arabic language.
After the death of his master, he went twice to Mecca on pilgrimage.
On his return to his country the second time, he undertook a series
of proselytising expeditions against the powerful Pagan tribes on
the east and south-east of Fatah Toro. He conquered several
powerful chiefs and reduced their people to the faith of Islam.
He banished Paganism from Sego, and purified the practices of
several Mohammedan districts which had become imbued with
heathenish notions. He thus restored Jenne, and Hamd-Allahi,
and was on his way to Timbuktu, about ten years ago, when,
through the treachery of the Arabs of that region, he was circum¬
vented and killed at a town in Masina. One of his sons, Ahmadu,
is now King of Sego, another rules over Hamd-Allahi, two of the
largest cities in Central Africa.
Al-Hajj Omaru wrote many Arabic works in prose and poetry.
His poems are recited and sung in every Mohammedan town and
village, from Futlah-town, in Sierra Leone, to Kano. His memory
is held in the greatest respect by all native students, and they
10 This word is used by the Mohammedans of Negroland in a peculiar sense.
It means one called of God, and endowed with special gifts to exercise authority
in ecclesiastical and sometimes political matters, inferior in official rank—
according to their estimation—only to a prophet. Such men have, from time
to time, arisen among African Mohammedans, and have carried out important
reforms in Church and State.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. n
attribute to him many extraordinary deeds, and see in his successful
enterprises, literary and military, proofs of divine guidance.11
We have heard of numerous instances of these " half-military,
half-religious geniuses," as Mr. Bosworth Smith calls them, " which
Islam always seems capable of producing."
To the Mohammedans of Negroland, far away from the complex
civilisation of European life, with its multifarious interests, the
struggle for the ascendancy of Islam is the one great object which
should engage the attention of a rational being. It is a struggle
between light and darkness, between knowledge and ignorance,
between good and evil. The traditional enthusiasm of their faith
makes them utterly indifferent to the sufferings of any who stand in
the way of the dissemination of the truth, and patient of any evils
they may have to endure in order to ensure the triumph of their
cause. " Paradise is under the shadow of swords," is one of their
stimulating proverbs.
There is one passage in Mr. Bosworth Smith's book, of which
we do not think that the author, who, as it seems, has not himself
been in Africa, perceived the full import, but which the Christian
world, it appears to us, would do well to ponder. It is as follows
Christian travellers, with every wish to think otherwise, have remarked that
the Negro12 who accepts Mohammedanism acquires at once a sense of the<
dignity of human nature not commonly found even among those who have
been brought to accept Christianity.13
Having enjoyed exceptional advantages for observation and
comparison in the United States, the West Iudies, South America,
11 Report on the Expedition to Timbo made to the Governor of Sierra Leone,
1873. See also the African Sketch Booh, by Winwood JReade, vol. i, p. 317.
12 Mr. Bosworth Smith writes this word with a small "n," but we do not
see why, if it is used to designate one of the great families of man, it should
not be entitled to the same distinction as such words as Indian, Hindoo, China¬
man, &c. Why give more dignity.to the specific than to the general ? Why
write Ashantee, Congo, Mandingo, with capitals, and Negro, the generic
appellation, with a small " n" ? Is not this in deference to the sort of prejudice
against which Mr. B. Smith himself protests ?
13 Lecture I, p. 32.
12 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Egypt, Syria, West and Central Africa, we are compelled, however
reluctantly, to endorse the statement made by Mr. B. Smith. And
we are not surprised at his seizing hold, in his researches, of this
most important fact and giving ifc such prominence—a prominence
it richly deserves—in the discussion. Wherever the Negro is found
in Christian lands, his leading trait is not docility, as has been often
alleged, but servility. He is slow and unprogressive. Individuals
here and there may be found of extraordinary intelligence, enterprise,
and energy, but there is no Christian community of Negroes any¬
where which is self-reliant and independent. Haiti and Liberia,
so-called Negro Republics, are merely struggling for existence, and
hold their own by the tolerance of the civilised powers.14 On the
other hand, there are numerous Negro Mohammedan communities
and states in Africa which are self-reliant, productive, independent,
and dominant, supporting, without the countenance or patronage of
the parent country, Arabia, whence they derived them, their political,
literary, and ecclesiastical institutions. In Sierra Leone, the
Mohammedans, without any aid from Government—Imperial or
local—or any contributions from Mecca or Constantinople, erect
their mosques, keep up their religious services, conduct their schools,
and contribute to the support of missionaries from Arabia, Morocco,
or Futah when they visit them. The same compliment cannot be
paid to the N egro Christians of that settlement. The most enlightened
native Christians there look forward with serious apprehension—
and, perhaps, not without good grounds—to the time when,
if ever, the instructions and influence from London will be with¬
held. An able paper on the ' Condition and Wants of Liberia,' by
an intelligent and candid Liberian, has the following:
We want, as a people, the spirit of liberality. We have learned to depend
upon foreign institutions to support our churches. This should not be so. If,
indeed, we have not enough of the Christian religion to induce us to contribute!
liberally to the cause of the Gospel; if we have not enough zeal for the cause
of Christ to make us willing to sacrifice time and money for its good, &c., w&
14 The Official Journal, dated May 1, 1875, contained intelligence of a.
conspiracy which had just been suppressed, and a Presidential decree banishing,
forty of the conspirators.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. 13
had as well give up churches and religion I have known some persons to
change a two cent piece so as to get one cent for the church. Alas, for such
religion! alas for the churches thus supported ! 15
In the recent Ashantse war the most trustworthy Negro troops
were the Haussas, who are rigid Mohammedans. The West
India Christian Negro troops were not relied on to the same extent.
Now, what has produced this difference in the effects of the
two systems upon the Negro race ? In reply, we remark generally
that the^fference must be attribut^d^^The^ife^cenF^e
conditions under which the systems came to those of the Negro
rt k-ihes6litiW MwMUUatMK&u* mJUAiifttrA' » 1 'Ink A*c*fe
race who embraced the one or the other. Mohammedanism*
a j , L*r ^ „ *eS«ji •.wwu-wwv mi» \
found its Negro converts at home in a state of freedom and
independence of the teachers who brought it to them. When it
was offered to them they were at liberty to choose for themselves.,
The Arab missionaries, whom we have met in the interior, go
about without "purse or scrip," and disseminate their religion
by quietly teaching the Koran. The native missionaries—Man-
dingoes and Foulahs—unite with the propagation of their faith
active trading. Wherever they go, they .produce the impression
that they are not preachers only, but traders; but, on the other
hand, that they are not traders merely, but preachers. And,
in this way, silently and almost unobtrusively, they are causing
princes to become obedient disciples and zealous propagators of
Islam. Their converts, as a general thing, become Muslims from
choice and conviction, and bring all the manliness of their former
condition to the maintenance and support of their new creed.
When the religion was first introduced it found the people
possessing all the elements and enjoying all the privileges of an
-untrammelled manhood. They received it as giving them additional
power to exert an influence in the world. It sent them forth as
the guides and instructors of their less favoured neighbours, and
endowed them with the self-respect which men feel who acknow¬
ledge no superior. While it brought them a great deal that
was absolutely new, and inspired them with spiritual feelings
io The Annual Address delivered before the City Council and Citizens of
Monrovia, July 27, 1874 ; by Jehu T. Dimery.
14 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
to which they had before been utter strangers, it strengthened
and hastened certain tendencies to independence and self-reliance
which were already at work. Their local institutions were not
destroyed by the Arab influence introduced. They only assumed
new forms, and adapted themselves to the new teachings. In
all thriving Mohammedan communities, in West and Central Africa,
it may be noticed that the Arab superstructure has been super¬
imposed on a permanent indigenous substructure ; so that what
really took place, when the Arab met the Negro in his own home,
was a healthy amalgamation, and not an absorption or an undue
repression.
The Oriental aspect of Islam has become largely modified in
Negroland, not, as is too generally supposed, by a degrading
compromise with the Pagan superstitions, but by shaping many of
its traditional customs to suit the milder and more conciliatory
disposition of the Negro. As long as Timbuktu, which was but a
continuation of Morocco, retained its ascendency, Islam kept up its
strictly Arabian aspect; but since the seat of literary activity and
ecclesiastical influence has been transferred to Kuka, and since Kano
has become the commercial centre—two purely Negro cities grown
up under Muslim influence—and since the religion has taken root
among the large indigenous communities near the source of the
Niger, it has been largely affected by the geographical and racial
influences to which it has been exposed. The absence of political
pressure has permitted native peculiarities to manifest themselves,
and to take an effective part in the work of assimilating the new
elements.
Christianity, on the other hand, came to the Negro as a slave,
or at least as a subject race in a foreign land. Along with the
Christian teaching, he and his children received lessons of their utter
and permanent inferiority and subordination to their instructors, to
whom they stood in the relation of chattels. Christianity took
them fresh from the barbarism of ages, and forced them to embrace
its tenets. The religion of Jesus was embraced by them as the only
source of consolation in their deep disasters. In their abject
miseries, keen anguish, and hopeless suffering they seized upon it
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. 15
as promising a country where, after the unexampled sorrows of
this life, " the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at
rest." It found them down-trodden, oppressed, scorned ; it soothed
their sufferings, subdued their hearts, and pointed them, in its
exhaustless sympathy, to the " Man of Sorrows, and acquainted
with grief." In their condition of outcasts and pariahs, it directed
their aspirations to a heavenly and eternal citizenship; it put new
songs in their mouths—those melodies inimitable to the rest of
the world—which, from the lips of emancipated slaves, have
recently charmed the ears and captivated the hearts of royalty
and nobles in Europe by a tenderness, a sweetness, an earnestness,
and a solemnity, born of adversity, in the house of bondage. A
popular London preacher says :
The Negro is more really musical than the Englishman. . . . Singing very
often merrily with the tears wet upon his ebony cheek, no record of his joy or
sorrow passed unaccompanied by a cry of melody, or a wail of plaintive and
harmonious melancholy. If we could divest ourselves of prejudice, the songs
that float down the Ohio river are one in feeling and character with the songs
of the Hebrew captives by the waters of Babylon. We find in them the same
tale of bereavement and separation, the same irreparable sorrow, the same wild
tenderness and passionate sweetness, like music in the night.16
These are great and precious advantages; but, nevertheless,
owing to the physical, mental, and social pressure under which the
Africans received these influences of Christianity, their development
was necessarily partial and one-sided, cramped and abnormal.
All tendencies to independent individuality were repressed and
destroyed. Their ideas and aspirations could be expressed only in
conformity with the views and tastes of those who held rule over
them. All avenues to intellectual improvment were closed against
them, and they were doomed to perpetual ignorance.
Mohammedanism and learning to the Muslim Negro were
coeval. No sooner was he converted than he was taught to read,
and the importance of knowledge was impressed upon him. The
Christian Negro came in contact with mental and physical pro¬
scription and the religion of Christ, contemporaneously. If the
Mohammedan Negro had at any time to choose between the Koran
16 Rev. H. R. Haweis in Music and Morals, p. 500.—London, 1874.
16 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and the sword, when he chose the former, he was allowed to wield
the latter as the equal of any other Muslim ; but no amount of
allegiance to the Gospel relieved the Christian Negro from the
degradation of wearing the chain which he received with it, or
rescued him from the political and, in a measure, ecclesiastical
proscription which he still undergoes in all the countries of his
exile.17 Everywhere in Christian lands he plays, at the present
moment, the part of the slave, ape or puppet. Only a few here
and there rise above the general degradation, and these become
targets to their unappreciative brethren—
Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto.
Is it any wonder, then, that " Christian travellers, with every
wish to think otherwise," in commenting upon the difference
between Christian and Mohammedan Negroes, with respect to true
manliness, must do so to the disadvantage of the former ?
I Another reason for the superior manliness and amour propi~e of
Negro Mohammedans may be found in the fact that, unlike their
Christian brethren, they have not been trained under the depressing
influence of Aryan art. Deutsch says:—
The Shemites from some strange idiosyncrasy, perpetuated by religious
ordinances, abhorred, all of them, at certain stages, the making visible pictures
of things they revered, loved or worshipped.18
The Second Commandment, with Mussulmans as with Jews, is
construed literally into the prohibition of all representations of
living creatures of all kinds; not merely in sacred places but
everywhere.19 Josephus tells us that the Jews would not even
tolerate the image of the emperor, which was represented on the
eagles of the soldiers.20 The early Christian Fathers believed that
painting and sculpture were forbidden by the Scriptures, and that
17 For an interesting discussion of this subject from the pen of a Negro, see
Tanner's Apology for African Methodism in the United States.
18 Literary Remains, p. 161.
19 Mischat ul-Masabih, vol. ii, p. 368.
20 Antiq. xviii—iii, 1, &c.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race.
17
they were therefore wicked arts. Among the Mohammedans
of Negroland it is considered a sin to make even the rudest repre¬
sentation of any living thing on the ground or on the side of a house.
We shall never forget the disgust with which a Mandingo from
Kankan, who was, for the first time, visiting the sea-board at
Monrovia, turned from a marble figure in the cemetery through
which we were showing him, exclaiming, " Amdl Shaitdn ! amdl
Shaitdn /"—the work of Satan.21
No one can deny the great aesthetic and moral advantages which
have accrued to the Caucasian race from Christian art, through all
its stages of development, from the Good Shepherd of the
Catacombs to the Transfiguration of Raphael, from rough mosaics
to the inexpressible delicacy and beauty of Giotto and Fra
Angelico.22 But to the Negro all these exquisite representations
exhibited only the physical characteristics of a foreign race; and,
while they tended to quicken the tastes and refine the sensibilities
of that race, they had only a depressing influence upon the Negro,
who felt that he had neither part nor lot, so far as his physical
character was concerned, in those splendid representations. A
strict adherence to the letter of the Second Commandment would
have been no drawback to the Negro. To him the painting and
sculpture of Europe as instruments of education, have been worse
than failures. They have really raised barriers in the way of his
normal development. They have set before him models for
imitation; and his very effort to conform to the canons of taste
thus practically suggested,'has impaired, if not destroyed, his self-
respect, and made him the weakling and creeper which he appears
in Christian lands. It was our lot not long since to hear an
illiterate Negro in a prayer-meeting in New York entreat the Deity
to extend his " lily white hands " and bless the waiting congrega¬
tion. Another,23 with no greater amount of culture, preaching from
21 See Koran, v, 92.
22 See a paper 011 the Roman Catacombs, &c., read by Dean Stanley before
the Royal Institution, May 29, 1874.
23 The putting forward of thoroughly illiterate men to expound the Scriptures
among the Negro Christians has been another great drawback to their proper
development.
18 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
1 John, iii, 2, " We shall be like Him," &c., &c., exclaimed,
"Brethren, imagine a beautiful white man with blue eyes, rosy
cheeks, and flaxen hair, and we shall be like him." The conceptions
of these worshippers were what they had gathered from plastic and
pictorial representations as well as from the characteristics of the
dominant race around them. The Mohammedan Negro, who is
not familiar with such representations, sees God in the great men
of his country. The saying is attributed to an ancient philosopher24
that if horses, oxen, and lions could paint they would certainly
make gods in their own image :—
If oxen or lions had hands, and could work in man's fashion,
And trace out with chisel and brush their conception of Godhead,
Then would horses depict gods like horses, and oxen like oxen,
Each kind the divine with its own form and nature endowing.
This is no doubt true, and the Negro who grew up normally
would certainly not be inferior to lions, horses, and oxen. The
Christian Negro, abnormal in his development, pictures God and
all beings remarkable for their moral and intellectual qualities with
the physical characteristics of Europeans, and deems it an honour
if he can approximate—by a mixture of his blood, however irregu¬
larly achieved—in outward appearance, at least, to the ideal thus
forced upon him of the physical accompaniments of all excellence.
In this way he loses that " sense of the dignity of human nature "
observable in his Mohammedan brother.
A third very important influence which has retarded the
development of the Christian Negro may be found in the social
and literary pressure which he has undergone. It is not too>
much to say that the popular literature of the Christian world
since the discovery of America, or, at least for the last two hundred,
years, has been anti-Negro. The Mohammedan Negro has felt
nothing of the withering power of caste. There is nothing in
his colour or race to debar him from the highest privileges, social
or political, to which any other Muslim can attain. The slave
who becomes a Mohammedan is free.25 Mohammedan history
24 Xenophanes of Colophon (six centuries b.o.).
25 Ockley's History of the Saracens, sixth edition.—London, 1871, p. 14.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. 19
abounds with examples of distinguished Negroes. The eloquent
Azan, or " Call to Prayer," which to this day summons at the
same hours millions of the human race to their devotions, was
first uttered by a Negro, Bilal by name, whom Mohammed, in
obedience to a dream, appointed the first Muezzin, or Crier.26 And
it has been remarked that even Alexander the Great is in Asia
an unknown personage by the side of this honoured Negro. Mr.
Muir notices the inflexible constancy of Bilal to the faith of Islam
under the severest trials.27 Ibn Khallikan mentions a celebrated
Negro Khalif, who reigned at Bagdad in the ninth century.28 He
describes him as a man of great merit, and a perfect scholar.
None of the sons of Khalifs spoke with greater propriety and
elegance, or composed verses with greater ability. The following
lines were addressed to him by a contemporary poet:—
Blackness of skin cannot degrade an ingenious mind, or lessen the worth of
the scholar or the wit. Let blackness claim the colour of your body; I claim
as mine your fair and candid soul.
The poet Abu Ishak Assabi, who lived in the tenth century,
had a black slave named Yumna, to whom he was greatly attached,
and on whom he wrote some remarkable verses, which are much
quoted by Muslims. Notice the following:—
The dark-skinned Yumna said to one whose colour equals the whiteness of
the eye, " Why should your -face boast its white complexion ? Do you think
that by so clear a tint it gains additional merit ? Were a mole of my colour on
that face it would adorn it; but one of your colour on my cheek would dis¬
figure me."
Here is another :—
Black misbecomes you not; by it you are increased in beauty; black is
the only colour princes wear. Were you not mine, I should purchase you with
all my wealth. Did I not possess you, I should give my life to obtain you.29
Ibn Muslim eh, an enthusiastic lover, exclaims, " If a mole be
set in an ugly cheek it endows it with beauty and grace ; how then
26 Muir's Life of Mahomet, vol. iii, p. 54.
27 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 129.
28 Biographies of Ibn Khallikan, translated by Baron de Slane, vol. i, p. 18.
29 Ibn Khallikan, vol. i, p. 32.
2o Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
should the heart-stricken be blamed for looking upon his mistres
as a mole all over ? "30
Mr. Gifford Palgrave, whose travels in Eastern countries hav
no doubt diminished the sensitiveness of his Western prejudices
concludes his brilliant Essays on Eastern Questions with a poer
composed by a Negress in memory of her celebrated semi-Ara
sou, who had perished in one of his daring adventures.
Now, it must be evident that Negroes trained under the ir
fluence of such a social and literary atmosphere must have a deepe
self-respect and higher views of the dignity of human nature tha
those trained under the blighting influence of caste, and under th
guidance of a literature in which it has been the fashion for mor
than two hundred years to caricature the African, to ridicule hi
personal peculiarities, and to impress him with a sense of pei
petual and hopeless inferiority. Christian literature has nothin
to show on behalf of the Negro comparable to Mohammeda
literature; and there is nothing in Mohammedan literature corre
sponding to the Negro—or "nigger," as even a liberal clergyma]
like Mr. Haweis will call him81—of Christian caricaturists. A dis
tinguished American scholar and thinker has noticed this. H
says:—
The black man in literature is either a weakling or caricature. The comi
side of him alone comes into view. The single sonnet of Wordsworth upon th
chieftain Toussaint, and the " sparkles dire of fierce, vindictive song " from th
American Whittier, are almost the only literary allusions to the sublime an
tragic elements in the Negro's nature and condition ; certainly the onl
allusions that, without any abatement and introduction of ludicrous trait:
ally him solely with human
. . . Exultations, agonies,
And love, and man's unconquerable mind."32
No one will charge the.Negro Mohammedans with giving groun
30 The Assemblies of Al-Hariri. Translated by Thomas Chenery; Willian
and Norgate, 1870. This work is also called the Makamat, &c.
31 Music and Morals, p. 550.
32 Professor W. G. T. Shedd, in an Address delivered before the Massachi
setts Colonisation Society, Boston, May 27, 1857. The remarkable Address <
Wendell Phillips on Toussaint L'Ouverture must not be forgotten. Mr. Philli]
is the only American orator who has had the temerity to lavish the flowers of
brilliant rhetoric in adorning the memory of a Negro.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race. 21
for the notion, put forward recently from a very distinguished
source, that the African entertains "a superstitious awe and dread
of the white man." Ibn Batoutah, cited before, though a Moham¬
medan, experienced no greater respect among the Muslims of
Negroland on account of his colour, than a Negro in the same
position would have received. He complains of the cool and
haughty bearing of a certain Negro prince towards himself and a
number of European and Arab traders who appeared in the royal
presence. "It was then," he says, "that I regretted having
entered the country of Negroes on account of their bad educa¬
tion, and the little regard they have for white men." And what
was the evidence of this " bad education and little regard for white
men?" The chief chose to speak to them through a third party,
" although they were very near him." " This was done," observes
the sensitive traveller, "solely on account of his contempt" for
them. Rene Caillie, the French traveller, who made the journey
from West Africa to Morocco, via Timbuktu, was compelled to
travel in strict disguise as a poor Muslim. His sojourn in Tim¬
buktu was of only fourteen days; and, as he was in constant danger
of being discovered, he could neither move about freely nor note
down all that he wished. Even Barth was obliged, for a short
time, to adopt the character of a Muslim. Of course these things
occurred before the days of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who, in a grave
official document, thought it necessary to reassure his troops in
the following terms :—
It must never be forgotten by our soldiers that Providence has implanted
in the heart of every native of Africa a superstitious awe and dread of the
white man that prevents the Negro from daring to meet us face to face in
combat.83
But Sir Garnet also deemed it important to bring to bear against
these awe-struck Negroes armed with cheap flint muskets, all the
appliances of modern warfare, and, no doubt, bore in mind the
Eoman poet's advice—Ne crede colori. As a ruse de guerre—a.
military expedient—the statement served its purpose, and is one
among the many evidences of Sir Garnet's skill and readiness in
33 Notes issued for use of the troops by order of Sir Garnet Wolseley, dated
Cape Coast Castle, December 20, 1873.
22
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
not only availing himself of advantageous elements in the situation,
but of creating them, if they do not exist. In this case, he adroitly
played upon the " superstition " of white men:—
An dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat ?
A cool and discriminating critic at home, however, at the close
of the war assured us that, " without arms of precision, guns and
rockets, and English skill and discipline, no invader could have
made his way to Coomassie."
Had Sir Garnet, even before his practical experience, read the
history of the great Civil War in America, he would have found
in the thrilling records of many a desperate encounter, in which
the Negro proved himself no mean antagonist when he met the
white man " face to face in combat," materials for imposing a check
upon that exuberance of imagination which tempted him to so
sweeping an assertion. We admit that the Negro in Christian lands,
and all along the Coast where he has been under the training of
the white man, exhibits a cringing and servile spirit; but this,
as we have endeavoured to show, is the natural result of that
habit of mind which it was the interest of his masters to impress
upon him. Sir Garnet's dogma is only one of the innumerable
lessons which the Negro is constantly made to imbibe, even at
times from his religious guides and teachers,34 the tendency of
which is to blunt his " sense of the dignity of human nature."
j Another very important element which has given the Moham¬
medan Negro the advantage over his Christian brother is the more
complete sympathy which has always existed between him and his
foreign teacher. Mr. Bosworth Smith says :—
The Mussulman missionaries exhibit a forbearance, a sympathy, and a
respect for native customs and prejudices, and even for their more harmless
u See an article on the 'Negro' in the Church Missionary Intelligencer for
August 1, 1873. The special correspondent of the Daily News at Cape Coast,
uhder date of October 2, 1873, speaks of the Native Chiefs as follows :—" There
is nothing that seems to signify power about their dignity ; and knowing, as we
did, that it has been our policy on the Coast for years to deprive these chiefs of
all real influence, their very solemnity of manner left on me an impression of
the theatrical."
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race.
beliefs, which is, no doubt, one reason of their success, and which our own
missionaries and school-masters would do well to imitate.35
Long prior to the rise of Islam, as we have seen above, the
Arab merchant had been in communication with the interior of
Africa, and had opened the way for the Arab missionary. When,
therefore, the Muslim missionary came as the propagator of a higher
religion than any that had been known, he did not enter the country
as a stranger. The political and social institutions of the Arabs
had already been tried and found suitable to the wants and tastes
of the Negro tribes; indeed, the two peoples, if not of cognate origin,
have by protracted intercommunication, and by the similarity of
the physical influences which have, for ages, operated upon them,
become similar in tastes ; and it was not difficult for the Arabs to
conform to a great extent to the social and domestic customs of the
Africans. The Muslim missionary often brought to the aid of his
preaching the influence of social and domestic relationships—an
influence which in all efforts to convert a people is not to be
entirely ignored. " The conversion of the Eussian nation," we are
told by Dean Stanley, " was effected, not - by the preaching of the
Byzantine clergy, but by the marriage of a Byzantine princess." 36
So the Arab missionaries often entered into the bonds of wedlock
with the daughters of Negroland;37 and by their teaching, by their
intelligence, by their intermarriages with the natives, by the trade
and generosity of their merchants, they enlisted so many interests
and such deep sympathies, that they rapidly took abiding root in
the country. Some of the brightest names in the annals not only
of Islamitic but of pre-Islamitic literature, are those of the de¬
scendants of Arabs and Africans. One of the authors of the
Muallakat, for instance, was half Arab and half Negro.
The sympathy, therefore, between the Arab missionary and the
African is more complete than that between the European and the
ss p. 34.
36 Eastern Church, p. 34.
37 Mr. Palgrave tells us that intermarriages between Arabs and Negroes
have been at no period rare or abnormal; to such admixtures, indeed, the East
owes not a few of her best celebrities.—Essays on Eastern Questions, p. 337.
24 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Negro. With every wish, no doubt, to the contrary, the European
seldom or never gets over the feeling"of distance, if not of repulsion,
which he experiences on first seeing the Negro.38 While he joyfully
admits the Negro to be his brother, having the same nature in all
its essential attributes, still, owing to the diversity in type and colour,
he naturally concludes that the inferiority which to him appears on
the surface must extend deeper than the skin, and affect the soul.
Therefore, very often in spite of himself, he stands off from his
African convert, even when, under his training, he has made con¬
siderable advance in civilisation and the arts. And especially is this
the case in West Africa, where, living among large masses of his
countrymen, the African Christian, who from the pressure of cir¬
cumstances has been forced into European customs, presents very
often to the foreign observer, in contrast with his native brethren,
an artificial and absurd appearance. And the missionary, looking
from a comfortable social distance, surveys the Europeanised native,
sometimes with pity, sometimes with dismay, seldom with thorough
sympathy. He
Back recoils, he knows not why,
Even at the sound himself has made.
Or, like the stream it Racine, at the sight of the monster it had
washed to the shore :—
Le flot qui 1'apportat recule epouvante.39
The African convert, under such practical teaching, looking
upon his instructor as superior to himself—or at least apart from
himself, not only in spiritual and temporal knowledge, but in every
other respect—acquires a very low opinion of himself, learns to
88 Bishop Heber, in one of his letters written on his first arrival in India,
says: " There is, indeed, something in a Negro which requires long habit to
reconcile the eye to him, but for this the features and hair, far more than the
colour, are responsible."—Life of Heber, by Taylor; 2nd ed., p. 147. And what
this distinguished prelate experienced and so candidly avowed, must be ex¬
perienced in a still greater degree by minds of less calibre and less culture tTmn
his. . " The more ignorant the whites are," says Dr. Charles Hodge, of Princeton,
New Jersey, "the more violent and unreasonable are their prejudices on this
subject."—Hodge's Essays and Reviews, p. 519.
39 Racine: Phedre, Acte V, Sc&ae VI.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race.
depreciate and deprecate his own personal characteristics, and
loses that " sense of the dignity of human nature " which observant
travellers have noticed in the Mohammedan Negro.
The Arab missionary, on the other hand, often of the same com¬
plexion as his hearer, does not " require any long habit to reconcile
the eye to him." He takes up his abode in Negroland, often for
life, and, mingling his blood with that of the inhabitants, succeeds,
in the most natural manner, in engrafting Mohammedan religion
and learning upon the ignorance and simplicity of the people.
Innocent of the scientific attainments of the day, and with no other
apparatus than his portable bed and dingy manuscripts, he may be
inferior to the theological and classical scholar fresh from College in
Europe or America, but he has the advantage of speaking to the
people in a sympathetic and perfectly intelligible language.
We will conclude with one more extract from Mr. Bosworth
Smith:—
That Mohammedanism may, when mutual misunderstandings are removed,
be elevated, chastened, purified by Christian influences and a Christian spirit,
and that evils such as the slave trade, which are really foreign to its nature,
can be put down by the heroic efforts of Christian philanthropists, I do not
doubt; and I can, therefore, look forward, if with something of anxiety, with
still more of hope, to what seems the destiny of Africa, that Paganism and
Devil-worship will die out, and that the main part of the continent, if it cannot
become Christian, will become what is next best to it—Mohammedan.40
West Africa has been in contact with Christianity for three
hundred years, and not one single tribe, as a tribe, has yet be¬
come Christian. Nor has any influential chief adopted the religion
brought by the European missionary. From Gambia to Gaboon,
the native rulers, in constant intercourse with Christians, and in
the vicinity of Christian settlements, still conduct their government
according to the customs of their fathers, where those customs have
not been altered or modified by Mohammedan influence. The
Alkali of Port Loko, and the chief of Bullom, under the shadow of
Sierra Leone, are quasi Mohammedan. The native chiefs of Cape
Coast and Lagos are Pagans.41 So, in the territory ruled by Liberia,
40 P. 40.
41 See Governor Pope Hennessy's Blue Book Report. Papers relating to Her
Majesty's Colonial Possessions. Part II, 1873, 2nd division.
D
26
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
the native chiefs in the four countries—Mesurado, Bassa, Sinou,
and Cape Palmas—are Pagans. There is not a single spot along
the whole coast, except, perhaps, the little island of Gorisco,
where Christianity has taken any hold among large numbers of the
indigenous tribes.
But we do not believe that these tribes are hopelessly inac¬
cessible to the influence of the religion of the Gospel. We believe
that " when mutual misunderstandings are removedwhen the
race is better understood; when the effort at indiscriminate
Europeanising ceases; when the missionary keeps before his
mind—if he knows, or learns if he does not know—that " the
idiosyncrasy of a people is a sacred gift, given for some Divine
purpose, to be sacredly cherished and patiently unfolded ;"42 there
will be nothing to prevent Christianity from spreading among the
Pagan tribes, and from eventually uprooting the imperfect Moham¬
medanism which so extensively prevails. In the meantime, we
ought not to grudge the Africans the glimpses of truth which they
catch from the Koran; for "a knowledge of a part is better than
ignorance of the whole." 43
A singular anxiety seems to prevail in certain quarters to dis¬
parage and depress the character of Mohammedan influence,
especially in Africa, by endeavouring to show that wherever it
prevails it erects an insurmountable barrier to our further progress
—that it produces a far greater than Chinese immobility. We are
surprised that a writer, apparently so well informed as the author
of the article on Mahomet, in the British Quarterly Review for
January, 1872, should have put forward the following :—
Islam is a reform which has stifled all other reforms. It is a reform which
has chained down every nation which has accepted it at a certain stage of moral
and political growth.
In keeping with this is a remarkable statement of Mr.
Freeman's is his History and Conquests of the Saracens, a work
described by a recent subtle and eloquent writer as "more
42 Compare the views of Stopford Brooke in Sermons on Christ in Modern
Life, p. 58.
43 Abu-l-Fida.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race.
27
equitable and conscientious than Gibbon's " ! Mr. Freeman says
that Mohammedanism has " consecrated despotism; it has con¬
secrated polygamy; it has consecrated slavery;" and Dean
Church, to whom we are indebted for the quotation, not only
endorses it, but adds, " It has done this directly, in virtue of its
being a religion, a religious reform." u
A Mohammedan writer, taking the same superficial view of the
effects of Christianity, and with the same love for epigrammatic
terseness, might say, "Christianity has consecrated drunkenness;
it has consecrated Negro slavery; it has consecrated war;" and
he might gather ample materials for sustaining his position from
the history of Christianity during the last three hundred years,
especially in the Western hemisphere. "When we see so many
evils known to be antagonistic to the Christian religion still, after
eighteen hundred years, prevalent in Christian lands, why should
Mohammedanism be so fiercely assailed because, during the twelve
hundred years of its existence, it has not extirpated from the
countries in which it prevails all social evils ? Must we not suppose
that, as with other creeds so with Islam, its theology is capable
of being made subservient to worldly interests ? May we not
believe that many of the evils in lands under its sway are due,
not to its teachings, but to human passions? "As late as the.
fifteenth century," we are told by Mr. Maclear, "the Church in
Europe was engaged in eradicating the remains of Sclavonic;
Heathenism, and protesting against a rude Fetishism and serpent
worship."45
It is to be regretted that statements such as those referred to
above continue to be made by men whose character, position, and
literary ability make them the guides of thousands. They tend to
perpetuate in the Christian Church the feeling of distrust in any
effort to evangelise the Mohammedan—to keep alive the suspicion
that "the successes of the Mohammedan missionary condemn
beforehand the labours of the Christian missionary to be in vain"
44 Lectures on the Influences of Christianity, &c.; by R. W. Church, M.A.,
Dean of St. Paul's; p. 8.
45 Apostles of Mediccval Europe, p. 32.
28
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
•—feelings which a closer acquaintance with the facts—we speak
especially for Africa—does not justify. We are satisfied, however,
that with the light which, increasing every day, is now being
thrown upon the religion of Mohammed, writings based more upon
the opinions and theories of the Middle Ages—as Mr. Bosworth
Smith has so well shown—than upon the demonstrated facts of
to-day, are almost sure, in proportion to the growth of a more
accurate knowledge and a more thoroughly discriminating and
literary appreciation of Islam, to be riddled out into oblivion as
inappropriate platitudes and barren superfluities.46
"—y We entertain the deliberate conviction—gathered not from
reading at home, but from travels among the people—that, whatever
it may be in other lands, in Africa the work of Islam is preliminary
|&nd ]arej)amtor^ Just as Ishmael came before Isaac in the history
of the great Semitic families, so here the descendant of Ishmael
has come before the illustrious descendant of Isaac. The African
!! Mohammedans, as far as we have observed, are tolerant and
accessible, anxious for light and improvement from any quarter.
They are willing to have Christian Schools in their towns, to have
I the Christian Scriptures circulated among them, and to share with
Christians the work of reclaiming the Pagans.47
In view, then, of the work which Islam has already accom¬
plished for Africa and the Negro race, and the work which it may
lyet accomplish, we may express the belief of Mohler, quoted by
Ithe Guardian,48 that " one day the true labourers may find (in
46 See an able discussion of this subject in Syed Ameer Ali's Life and Teach¬
ings of Mohammed, chap. 15.
47 Bishop Crowther, in his Eeport for 1874, says: "I have not met with a
stern opposer of Christianity, as far as I had conversation with Mohammedans,
up the Niger The reception of an Arabic Bible, which was presented to
the Emir of Nupe, from the Church Missionary Society, with a childlike glee,
in the presence of his courtiers, was a proof that this people desire to hear and
search after the truth. Another copy was sent through him to Alihu, the King
of Ilorin, who is also an Arabic scholar In all our religious conversation
with these Mohammedans we never met with an obstinate disputer, or a
bigoted denial of what we read or said to them."—Monthly Reporter of Church
Missionary Society, February, 1875.
48 November 4,1874.
Mohammedanism and the Negro Race.
29
Africa) a harvest ready for their reaping, and the Gospel speed
thither on its way rejoicing, and Mahomet prove a servant of
Christ." Till then, all earnest Christians may consistently join in
the prayer of Abraham, adopted in the liturgy of the Moravian
Church, " Oh, that Ishmael may live before Thee ! "
Christianity and the Negro
Race.
ME. GLADSTONE, in the exordium of his celebrated article
on the Church of England, in the Contemporary Review
(July, 1875), says :—
To uphold the integrity of the Christian dogma, to trace its working, and to
exhibit its adaptation to human thought and human welfare, in all the varying
experience of the ages, is, in my view, perhaps the noblest of all tasks which it
is given to the human mind to pursue. This is the guardianship of the great
fountain of human hope, happiness and virtue. But with respect to the
clothing which the Gospel may take to itself, my mind has a large margin of
indulgence, if not of laxity, both ways. Much is to be allowed—I can hardly
say how much—to national, sectional, and personal divergencies.
This is a view to which the very highest minds in the world—
the best cultivated and the most enlightened—would at once
readily subscribe. By the word " dogma " Mr. Gladstone evidently
means, not the petrified formula of any particular sect or race,
deduced according to their view from the Word of God, but the
whole system of Christianity itself, as a living organism, in esse
and in posse, in its essence as well as in its capabilities and poten¬
tialities ; for in the same paragraph he uses the word " Gospel " as
synonymous with " dogma." Looking at the Gospel system as a
whole, it may be called, with no inconsiderable propriety, the
"Christian dogma," or that system of belief which distinguishes
the Christian world from all others.
We have said that the very highest minds would readily sub¬
scribe to the view of Mr. Gladstone, for only the highest minds
would cordially agree with the whole paragraph. A very large
number—perhaps the whole Christian Church—would give their
Christianity and the Negro Race.
3i
sanction to the first two sentences ; but the number is compara¬
tively small who would read the last two sentences without feeling
disposed to brand the author as a latitudinarian and unsafe guide.
And yet those sentences contain the lessons which all practical
experience teaches must be learned by the aggressive portion of
the Church before the Gospel can take root in " all the world,"
and become the spiritual life of " every creature."
There is, we doubt not, one and only one Prophet for all times
and for all nations—the immaculate Son of God ; and the teachings
which He inculcated contain the only principles that will regenerate
humanity of all races, climes, and countries. But the Gospel,
though it has been promulgated for eighteen hundred years, has, as
yet, taken extensive root only among one race—the Indo-European.
It is established in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and on all the
islands of the sea, but, for the most part, in regions and localities
occupied by different branches of the same Aryan family.
When Dean Church wishing to illustrate the ' Influences of
Christianity on National Character,' had passed in review the
Greek, Latin, and Teutonic races, he evidently felt that his subject
was exhausted. Dean Merivale went as far afield as the facts
would allow him to go, when after concluding his lectures on the
' Conversion of the Roman Empire,' he proceeded to discuss the
' Conversion of the Northern Nations.' Indeed, so convinced was
the learned author that his two courses of lectures embraced all he
could say on the subject of the spread of Christianity in the con¬
version of nations, that, in his preface to the second course, he
remarks, that if, at some future time, he should print them together,
he will probably give them the general title of the " Conversion ol
the Ancient Heathens." But would such a title be strictly accurate
in view of the " Ancient" Semitic, Mongolian, and Negrc
" Heathens " who have been left out of the lecturer's calculations;
The omission of the little word " the " from the proposed nev;
title would probably meet the wish to have a comprehensive title
without transcending the bounds of strict accuracy.
It could not have escaped the distinguished lecturer, that onlj
comparatively small portions of the Semitic, Mongolian, and Negrc
32
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
families of man have as yet embraced the religion of Jesus. And
we are disposed to think that one chief reason why the progress of the
Gospel among races foreign to the European has been so limited,
lies in the fact that the last two sentences of Mr. Gladstone's
paragraph quoted above are not yet understood and heeded by those
who may be called the missionary nations of the earth, and who,
having the vigorous and dominant instincts of the Aryan race, have
become providentially the instruments through which the Semitic
conceptions of Deity and the Semitic inspirations of Christianity
are to be spread through all nations.
The object of this paper is to trace the influence of Christianity
upon the Negro Eace, and to enquire how far the method of its
11 dissemination has affected their reception of it. And our illus¬
trations will be drawn principally from the Western world, as
containing the largest portion of the Negro race who have been
brought under the influence of Christianity, and especially from the
United States, where the largest number of Negroes live together
under the same Christian Government.
Everybody knows how it happened that the Africans were
carried in such large numbers from Africa to America; how one
continent was made to furnish the labourers to build up another;
how the humanity of a Eomish priest, while anxious to dry up tears
in America, was indifferent to unsealing their fountains in Africa.
It was out of deep pity for the delicate Caribs, whom he saw
groaning under the arduous physical toil of the Western hemi¬
sphere that Las Casas strove to replace them by robust and
indefatigable Africans. Hence the innumerable woes which have
attended the African race for the last three hundred years in
Christian lands. In justice, however, to the memory of Bartolome
de las Casas, it should be stated that, before he died, he changed his
mind on the subject, and declared that the captivity of the Negroes
was as unjust as that of the Indians,1 and even expressed a fear
that, though he had fallen into the error of favouring the
importation of black slaves into America from ignorance and
1 Ser tan injusto el cautiverio de los Negros como el de los Indios.—Ticknor's
History of Spanish Literature; vol. ii, chap. vi.
Christianity and the Negro Race.
33
goodwill, he might, after all, fail to stand excused for it before the
Divine Justice.
But the tardy, though commendable, repentance of Las Casa&
did not arrest the flow of that blood-red stream which, from the
fountain opened by his mistaken philanthropy, poured incessantly,
for three hundred years, from East to West. It was not long before
the transference of Negroes from Africa to the Western hemisphere
assumed the importance of a national policy. Even England,
under a contract with Spain, enjoyed the monopoly of the traffic
in slaves for thirty years.2
The first slaves were landed in North America in 1620, and men
whose characters were otherwise irreproachable, were induced by
the habits of thought then prevailing, and by the supposed necessity
and convenience of slave labour, to purchase the African captives
brought to their shores. Some even of the most eminent divines-
were so far implicated in the error, that, with perfect ease of
conscience, they held Negroes in bondage. The distinguished
William Penn, the Bev. George Whitefield, of world-wide celebrityr
and President Edwards, author of several standard works in the¬
ology, were slave-holders. Good and conscientious men were led
away by the plausible arguments of those who, while they were
busy turning to pecuniary account the benighted Africans, alleged,
that they were thus being brought under the influence of the Gospel,
But, according to Mr. Bancroft, there were among the colonists
some far-seeing men who foresaw the mischiefs that would ultimately
result from the introduction of slavery into the colonies. Virginia
and South Carolina did place some restrictions upon the importation
of Negroes. But the British Goverment, listening to her African
slave merchants rather than to her American colonists, not only
neutralised those restrictions, but obliged the noble-hearted Ogle¬
thorpe to relax his determination that in Georgia, the colony which
he founded, there should be neither slavery nor slave trade.3
2 The Assiento contract stipulated that, from the first day of May, 1713, to
the first day of May, 1743, the English should have the Exclusive privilege oi
transporting Negroes into the Spanish West Indies at the rate of four thousand
eight hundred a year.
8 Bancroft's History of the United States, chap. xxiv.
34
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Thus, for nearly two hundred years, Negroes were poured into
North America without restriction. During six generations, large
interests grew up out of the system, giving it in the eyes of those
upon whom it had been entailed, a sanction and a sanctity which it
*was regarded as sacrilegious to question.
Of course, the slaves who were introduced during the first
hundred years, we may presume, died Heathens, or with only im¬
perfect glimpses of Christian teaching. For the Christianisation
of their descendants, a system was invented which so shocked the
feelings of John Wesley that, in view of its resulting enormities, he
denounced American slavery as the " sum of all villanies."
That which the early colonists of Virginia, South Carolina, and
Georgia had opposed, having now grown into gigantic proportions,
was not only apologised for by their descendants, but eulogised as
eminently necessary and useful to the proper development of
society; and all the religious, political, and scientific teachings of
the time were not only tinged, but deeply steeped, in pro-slavery
sentiments. Generations descending from Huguenot and Puritan
ancestry were trained to believe that God had endowed them with
the right to enslave the African for ever. And upon those Africans
-who became members of the Christian Church, the idea was im¬
pressed that it was their duty to submit, in everything, to their
masters. Christian divines of all shades of opinion, in the South,
taught this doctrine, and embodied it in books prepared specially
ior the instruction of the slaves—their " oral instruction," for they
were not allowed to learn to read.
For example, the Eight Eev. William Meade, Bishop of the diocese
of Virginia, published a book of sermons, tracts, and dialogues, for
masters and slaves, and recommended them to all masters and
mistresses to be used in their families. In the preface of the book,
the Bishop remarks:—
The editor of this column offers it to all masters and mistresses in our
,Southern States, with the anxious wish and devout prayer that it may prove a
blessing to themselves and their households.
On page 93 he says :—
Some He hath made masters and mistresses for taking care of their children
And others that belong to them. . . . Some He hath made servants and slaves,
Christianity and the Negro Race.
35
to assist and work for their masters and mistresses, that provide for them ; and
others He hath made ministers and teachers to instruct the rest, to show them
what they ought to do, and to put them in mind of their several duties.
On pages 94 and 95 he'says, addressing the slaves:—
Almighty God hath been pleased to make you slaves here, and to give you
nothing but labour and poverty in this world, which you are obliged to submit
to, as it is His will that it should be so. Your bodies, you know, are not your
own ; they are at the disposal of those you belong to, &c.
Again, on page 132 :—
When correction is given you, you either deserve it or you do not deserve it.
But whether you really deserve it or not, it is your duty, and Almighty God
requires that you bear it patiently. You may, perhaps, think that this is hard
doctrine, but if you consider right you must needs think otherwise of it.
Suppose, then, that you deserve correction, you cannot but say that it is just
and right you should meet with it. Suppose you do not, or at least you do not
deserve so much, or so severe a correction for the fault you have committed,
you perhaps have escaped a great many more, and are at last paid for it all.
Or, suppose you are quite innocent of what is laid to your charge, and suffei
wrongfully in that particular thing, is it not possible you may have done some
other bad thing which was never discovered, and that Almighty God, who saw
you doing it, would not let you escape without punishment one time or another?
A clergyman of another denomination wrote a catechism for the
use of slaves, in which we find the following:—
Q. Is it right for the servant to run away, or is it right to harbour a run
away?—A. No.
Q. What did the Apostle Paul to Onesimus, who was a runaway ? Did h<
harbour him, or send him back to his master?—A. He sent him back to hi:
master with a letter.4
A right reverend prelate tells the slave, in another work writter
for his " oral instruction," that " to disobey his master is to yielc
to the temptation of the devil." 3
It will be noticed that both these works, though written fo
slaves, carefully conceal on the title-page the unfortunate class fo
whom they were intended under the softening euphemism, in th
•one case, of "coloured persons," and in the other of "those whi
cannot read." That Christian divines should publish books drawi
4 Catechism of Scripture Doctrine, and for the Oral Instruction of Coloure
.Persons ; by C. C. Jones.—Charleston, 1815 ; p. 120.
5 A Catechism to be taught Orally to those who cannot Read; by Bishop Ives.-
_New York, 1848 ; p. 30.
36 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
from the Scripture for "slaves," no doubt seemed to clerical
educators an incongruity which, even in those days of ardent pro-
slavery views, they hesitated to perpetrate.
But the politicians were not so scrupulous. In order to up¬
hold the system, they did not hesitate to brand with folly the
founders of the Eepublic, and to pour contempt upon the judgment
of the wisest of their statesmen.
Chancellor Harper, in his Memoir on Slavery, takes up the
sentence of Jefferson, that "All men are born free and equal, and
endowed with certain inalienable rights," &c.; and proceeds in a
most elaborate, but false and sophistical discussion, to demonstrate
that Jefferson was wrong.
The most audacious utterances we have read on this subject
are those by General Hammond in his notorious Letters to Clarkson.
That gallant and chivalrous gentleman says, under date of January
28th, 1845, writing from Silver Bluff, South Carolina:—
I firmly believe that American slavery is not only not a sin, but especially
commanded by God himself through Moses, and approved by Christ through
His Apostles I endorse without reserve the much-abused sentiment of
Governor McDuffie, that " slavery is the corner-stone of our Republican edifice
while I repudiate as ridiculously absurd that much-lauded but nowhere ac¬
credited dogma of Mr. Jefferson, that " all men are born equal." . . . Slavery
is truly the " corner-stone " and foundation of every well-designed and durable
Republican edifice.
Again:—
If the slave is not allowed to read the Bible, the sin rests upon the abo¬
litionists ; for they stand prepared to furnish him with a key to it, which would
make it, not a book of hope, and love, and peace, but of despair, hatred, and
blood; which would convert the reader, not into a Christian, but a demon.
We wonder what key would be required when such wide doors-
into the temple of liberty as the following stand so constantly open
—Jeremiah xxxiv, 17 ; Matt, vii, 12 ; Luke iv, 18 and 19 ?
Nor was such teaching confined to divines and politicians.
Philologists and scientific men, brought contributions from their
peculiar fields to strengthen and adorn the infamous fabric whose
corner-stone was slavery. John Fletcher, of Louisiana, in Studies on
Slavery in Easy Lessons, published at Natchez in 1852, brings the-
resources of the Hebrew language to the support of his idol. H&
Christianity and the Negro Race.
37
gives the public a paradigm of the Hebrew verb cibad, to slave, in
kal, niphal, piel, pual, hiphil, hophal, hithpael; and a declension of
the "factitious, euphonic segholate " noun ebed, a slave. Messrs.
Nott and Gliddon contributed to the same honourable worship the
results of their scientific researches.
But these reasoners have, one and all, been easily beaten on
their own fields. Not one of these writers for slavery, whether
political, theological, or scientific, ever produced anything with the
mark on it of original observation or genius. None of their effusions
ever passed the limits of the time or place at which they were
produced. Entirely local and temporary, they have added nothing
to the sum of human knowledge.
At last, when Charles Sumner was hurling those thunderbolts
against the system which made it tremble from its base to its apex
—when he was exposing the degenerate departure of the South
from every noble American tradition, and when Calhoun, the great
11 nullifier," was no more, and the voice of Hayne, the brilliant and
accomplished orator and politician, was silent—there came on the
floor of the Senate a warrior from the South, not to hurl back in
impassioned oratory, as Calhoun would have done, the charges of
Sumner; not to neutralise their immediate effect by a gorgeous
rhetoric, as Hayne would have done ; but to appeal to brute force,
and by one blow to exile the great Senator from his seat for four
years.6 Non opus est verbis, sed fustibus.
Such were the circumstances under which the Negro through¬
out the United States received Christianity. The Gospel of Christ
was travestied and diluted before it came to him to suit the
"peculiar institution" by which millions of human beings were
converted into " chattels." The highest men in the South, magis¬
trates, legislators, professors of religion, preachers of the Gospel,
governors of states, gentlemen of property and standing, all united
in upholding a system which every Negro felt was wrong. Yet
these were the men from whom he got his religion, and whom he
was obliged to regard as guides. Under such teaching and
discipline, is it to be wondered at that his morality is awry—that
~ 6 Preston S. Brooks.
38 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
his sense of the " dignity of human nature " is superficial—that his
standard of family and social life is low and defective?
Not so much by what Christianity said as by the way in which,
through their teachers, it said it, were the Negroes influenced.
The teachings they received conveyed for them no clear idea or
definite impression of the religion of Christ. As regards their
religion, they were left less to their intellectual apprehension of the
truth than to their emotional impulses. The emotions were their guide
on Sunday and on Monday, in the conventicle and in the cornfield.
No change was wrought upon their moral nature, for there was
nothing to act upon it. Nothing was imparted from without, and
nothing was checked and stifled within. The influence of the
Church was exerted continually to repress—to produce absolute
outward submission. Such influence, even if it had been whole¬
some, could not penetrate deep or mould with much force the inner
working of the soul. It produced an outward conformity to the
views and will of their masters, while it left the heart untouched.
Or, perhaps, it might be more accurate to say that their whole
nature was taken possession of, and all its capacities for thought
and feeling, for love and hope, for joy and grief, were completely
under the control of their taskmasters.
Nevertheless, by that mysterious influence which is imparted to
man independently of outward circumstances, to not a few of them
the preaching of the Gospel, defective as was its practical exempli¬
fication, opened a new world of truth and goodness. There
streamed into the darkness of their surroundings a light from the
Cross of Christ, and they saw that, through suffering and affliction,
there is a path-to perfect rest above this world ; and, in the hours
of the most degrading and exhausting toil, they sang of the eternal
and the unseen ; so that while the scrupulous among their masters
often with Jefferson " trembled for their country," the slaves who
had gained a new language and new faculties were enjoying them¬
selves in rapturous music—often labouring and suffering all day,
and singing, all night, sacred songs, which, in rude but impressive
language, set forth their sad fortunes and their hopes for the future.
No traveller in the South, who passed by the plantations thronged
Christianity and the Negro Race.
39
with dusky labourers, and listened to their cheerful music, could
ever dream that they beheld in that suffering but joyous race the
destroyers of the Southern whites. The captive Jews could not
sing by the waters of Babylon, but the Negroes in the dark dungeon
of American slavery made themselves harps and swept them to
some of the most thrilling melodies. From a people who were so
full of music no mischief could have been apprehended, excepting by
the delinquent of the drama, who "fears each bush an officer."1
It is the man " who hath no music in his soul" who is fit for
stratagems and treasons and all dark deeds. We do not wonder
that the Westminster Review, some years ago, made the following
remark: " Were we forced at this moment to search for the saints
of America, we should not be surprised to find them amongst the
despised bondsmen." 7
Saints, no doubt, there were among the bondsmen, but they
became so not in consequence, but in default, and often, we may
say, in defiance of, instruction. And it cannot be expected that
a people brought out of savagery into contact with a new, if a.
higher life, would, under such circumstances, produce, as a rule,
such characters as " Uncle Tom." There have been " Uncle
Toms " in the South, but they were the exceptions. As a rule, the 1
Christianity of the Negroes is just such a grotesque and misshapen,
thing as the system under which they were trained is calculated
to produce.
The Africans who were carried to the Western world were, as a.
general rule, of the lowest of the people in their own country.
They did not fairly represent the qualities and endowments of the
race. Even the traditions of their country they carried away in
the most distorted form. And in the midst of their sorrows in a,
strange country, they constructed out of their dim recollections of
what they had seen at home, a system of religion and government
for themselves, which they' curiously combined with what they
received from their new mastersand so the elements of civilisation
and barbarism—of Christianity and Heathenism—not only subsisted
side by side, but, so far as the Negro was concerned, were inlaid,
i January, 1853.
4o
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
so to say, into each other, in a sort of inharmonious mosaic all over
the Western hemisphere.
This accounts for the singular fact that a system of Heathenish
worship—now rare among the tribes of West Africa—is found
among the Negroes, especially in the West Indies, where, the
climate being more congenial and the flora similar to the
African, they could produce with greater facility the rites and
practices of their native land. Canon Kingsley, in the record of
his travels in the West Indies,8 gives an account of the horrible
Obeah system prevalent in some of those islands, which, allowing
for the necessary exaggerations into which a writer must fall who
gathers his information during a flying trip, conveys a pretty fair
idea of a state of things which still lingers among the more ignorant
of the Negro population of those islands, and which the Christianity
they have thus far received, seems powerless to eradicate.
Since the emancipation in the United States, the defective
Christian character of the Negroes of the Southern States is con¬
stantly made the theme of essay, lecture, and newspaper article.
In the report of Dr. W. H. Ruffher, Superintendent of the Public
Schools of Virginia, for 1874, we find the following:—
Much, of the glamour with which the Negro has been covered by philan¬
thropic zeal, acting at a distance, has passed away as knowledge has increased;
but the real character of this people can be learned only from those who have
long lived among them. The Southern Negroes are polite, amiable, quiet,
orderly, and religious ; and hence it is hard to believe that as a class they are
without moral character. And yet such is the unhappy fact. . . . Occasionally
a high type is manifested by individuals; and while there is a great deal of
religious sincerity and earnestness among them, and whilst the style of piety is
modified by the character of the religious instruction they have received, and
whilst families and congregations which have enjoyed special privileges exhibit
better results, yet with the masses of those who claim to be Christians, their
piety is of an unintelligent, sometimes superstitious, and always spasmodic type,
and it covers a multitude of sins.
The American Missionary newspaper publishes the following
from a Northern teacher who is at work among the Negroes in
Louisiana:—
Good teachers and preachers are very much needed in this State. I heard a
8 A Christmas in the West Indies.
Christianity and the Negro Race.
4i
preacher telling his hearers that they must go to hell, and leave their sins on
the mud-sills of hell before they can say that they are born again. To prove this,
he said that he would quote the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Now, what do
you think he quoted? Why, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in relation to
Christian's leaving the City of Destruction, and the falling-off of his burden at
the foot of the cross. The mischief of the thing was that the people appeared
to believe that what he was saying was really in the Bible. What it is to be a
pure Christian very few of these people understand. They profess to be religious,
yet the Ten Commandments are a dead letter to them.
In the Spirit of Missions for June, 1875, the organ of the
Episcopal Church in the United States, we find the following:—
It is quite time that Christian people at the North should be brought face to
face with the fact that the salvation of the nation depends not only upon giving
the Negro a secular education, but also upon radically reforming his notions of
what religion is . . . The absence from his religion of the ethical element is a
radical defect, and one that will bring the Negro and the nation to ruin together,
if it be not speedily supplied.
We are less surprised at the existence of such a state of things
among a people of savage ancestry who have lived two hundred
years as " chattels " in a Christian land, than we are at the apparent
surprise of the writers quoted above, when everybody knows the
sort of school into which the Negroes were introduced when, wild
and untamed, they were brought from Africa. It will not be
possible in a generation to correct the results of the radically
defective teachings of such popular and influential periodicals as
De Bow's Review, the Richmond Examiner, et id genus omne. They
established a system of political and social morality in which the
" ethical element," if not "absent," was wholly distorted and cari¬
catured—and to this system the Negro, having no other guide,
endeavoured at a humble distance to conform. It will be a long
time before the intelligent Negro will be able to forget the injustice
done to the moral instincts of his race, while he has access to the
thrilling " narratives " of such heroic and eloquent fugitives from
slavery as Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, Henry Bibb,
Eoper &c.; and he will be able to understand, if his quondam
oppressors will not, why it is that, with his less favoured brother,
plunder and prayer are not supposed to be incompatible ; why, like
the Italian brigand, he can be pious without leaving a disreputable
profession.
42
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
But, even now, -while white Christians in the North are shocked
at the moral character of Southern Christian Negroes, they do not
cease, by their practical teaching, to impress upon the minds of
the blacks that there is one standard of morality for white
and another for black men. The shadow of the slave system
still throws such a gloom over the land, that, where the Negro is
concerned, right and wrong are only indistinctly seen.
Many prominent Christians in the South still hold to the
opinion that it is right to enslave the African,9 and these exert a
degree of influence upon the North which, if it does not lead them
to desire a renewal of the slave system, perpetuates among them
the old feeling of contempt for the Negro. All the Christianity in
the country seems helpless to remedy a state of things in which the
following occurrence is possible.
Professor C. H. Thompson, D.D., of Straight University, a
graduate of a theological seminary, for several years a beloved
pastor in Newark, New Jersey, chosen moderator of the Presbytery,
of which he was the only coloured member, and whenever his turn
comes appointed to examine candidates for licence in Greek and
Hebrew, finds himself excluded from hotel accommodations in
travelling to and from a National Congregational Church, which
he has been appointed to address, because he is a Negro.
We have before us the American Citizen, a Negro newspaper,
published at Lexington, Kentucky, dated February 27, 1875,
containing a most touching Appeal, addressed "to the American
People," by the Bishops of the African Methodist Church, craving
protection against the impositions and oppressions which they
9 In the Narrative of the State of Religion issued by the Southern General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the year 1864, is a sentence which
declared that it was the mission of the Southern Church to " conserve the
system of African slavery." Against this, however, the Northern Presbyterian
Church earnestly protested, and still protests. Dr. Charles Hodge, the veteran
professor at Princeton, celebrated for his sententious and epigrammatic
utterances, embodied the indignant feeling of the North in one memorable
sentence: "That since the death of Christ no such dogma stains the record of
an ecclesiastical body." Chief Justice Taney's celebrated decision in the Dred
Scott case in 1856, that " the Negro has no rights which white men are bound
to respect," is the political counterpart of the dogma of the Southern Assembly.
Christianity and the Negro Race.
43
and their people suffer. They open their pathetic Address as
follows:—
As Bishops of the oldest and most numerous organisation of coloured persons
in the country, we beg permission to lay the distress of our people before you.
Never were Christian pastors doomed to witness the despoiling of their flocks
as we have been. Before freedom, we were the hapless victims of wrong, well
characterised by the great Wesley as the " sum of villanies." Since freedom,
while we expected our liberty to cost us much, yet did we console ourselves
with the belief that the strong arm that had shivered the chains which did
fetter us would secure protection throughout the trying ordeal. But, alas,
we have been doomed to miserable disappointment.
Now, as long as the sad and practical lessons suggested by the
above are still impressed upon the Negro, as long as the Christianity
he sees stands in such striking contrast to the Christianity of Christ,
how can the " ethical element" be prominent in his religion ? How
can he be trained to any sense of 'the " dignity of human nature,"
to any feeling of human brotherhood ? How can he acquire un¬
shaken faith in those great truths about God and man which his
teachers would impress upon him ? How can he ever rise to the
recognition of a high moral ideal? How can he ever conceive a
pure and lofty standard of family and social life ? How can his
general character be strengthened, elevated, expanded, or refined ?
The advantages enjoyed by the Negro in the Western world,
now that he is free, are hardly greater for the attainment of true
manhood than when he was in bondage. And a far more serious
difficulty lies in the way of his genuine progress than the mere
physical inconveniences which his colour entails, and that is, the
impossibility, in the countries of his exile, of securing a proper
individual or race development. The Negro in Christian lands,
however learned in books, cannot be said to have such a thing as
self-education. His knowledge, when brought to the test, often
fails him. And why ? Because he is taught from the beginning
to the end of his book-training—from the illustrated primer to
the illustrated scientific treatise—not to be himself, but somebody
else. We might illustrate what we mean by some of the most
ludicrous and painful incidents—but this is not the place to
record them—of the efforts of Christian Negroes of intelligence
to force their outward appearance into, as near as possible, a re-
44
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
semblance to Europeans. From the lessons he every day receives,
the Negro unconsciously imbibes the conviction that to be a
great man he must be like the white man. He is not brought up
—however he may desire it—to be the companion, the equal, the
comrade of the white man, but his imitator, his ape, his parasite.
To be himself in a country where everything ridicules him, is to be
nothing—less, worse than nothing. To be as like the white man
as possible—to copy his outward appearance, his peculiarities, his
manners, the arrangement of his toilet, that is the aim of the
Christian Negro—this is his aspiration. The only virtues which
under such circumstances he develops are, of course, the parasitical
ones. Every intelligent Negro, in the lands of his exile, must feel
that he walks upon the face of God's earth a physical and moral
incongruity, and as legitimate a* subject of laughter as Horace's
famous heterogeneous picture, the creation of i£ a sick man's
dream ":—
Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
Jungere si velifc, et varias inducere plumas
Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
Desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne.
Imitation is not discipleship. The Mohammedan Negro is a
much better Mohammedan than the Christian Negro is a Christian,
because the Muslim Negro, as a learner, is a disciple, not an imi¬
tator. A disciple, when freed from leading-strings, may become a
producer; an imitator never rises above a mere copyist. With the
disciple progress is from within; the imitator grows by accretion
from without. The learning acquired by a disciple gives him
capacity; that gained by an imitator terminates in itself. The one
becomes a capable man; the other is a mere sciolist. This explains
the difference between the Mohammedan and the Christian Negro.
Since the proclamation of freedom in the United States, how¬
ever, the effect of the schools which have been thrown open to the
Negro is becoming more and more palpable. We observe in the
discussions in American newspapers published by Negroes, an
incipient movement towards mental emancipation. But the effect
of their educational training must, for some time yet, be chiefly
negative or preparatory—in removing the pressure of external evils.
Christianity and the Negro Race.
45
in dissipating the superstitions and prejudices of both races, and so
opening a wider sphere for the free play and development of the
moral and spiritual nature of the Negro. But as his mind is
strengthened and expanded by the wide and inviting prospects
which continually open before him, he will feel the need of
increasing measures of freedom, social and ecclesiastical as. well
as political. By the nature of things, he can never enjoy this
complete, emancipation in the United States. When this period
arrives, when the Negro begins to feel the need of wider scope for
the full expansion of the inherent energies of his mind, he will seek
refuge in his Fatherland, for entrance into which Liberia is the
most promising door.
We have followed with deep interest a discussion, which has
been going on recently in the leading coloured journals in the
United States, on the relative claims of the Roman Catholic and
Protestant Churches to the respect and allegiance of the Negro.
The Eev. John M. Brown, a Negro of high culture, and a bishop of
the African Methodist Episcopal Church, wrote an article, which
appeared in the Independent newspaper, warning the coloured
people against the aggressions upon their ranks of the Roman
Catholics. To this article George T. Downing of Washington, said
to be "a coloured gentleman of education, property, and influence
among his people, and a special friend of the late Senator Sumner,"
wrote an able and vigorous reply, in which, in the course of a long
argument, he says :—
For one, I, as a coloured man, would ask the Independent what there is in
the Catholic Church to repel me from its communion? I would like to ask
also, what there is in monarchy more hideous, more to be dreaded, than this
cruel spirit of caste, which thus finds sympathy and protection under a
Protestant Republic ? . . . The Protestant Church proclaims the doctrine of
the brotherhood of man, and then tramples upon that which it professes to
revere ... If I were a Russian subject to-day, I should enjoy more liberty
under the Empire of the Czar than I do as a coloured man in Republican
America. I should possess more real equality, more justice, more protection
for all that constitutes " life," than I how possess as an American citizen.
... I remember when my own State slammed the door of its schools in the
face of my little ones (schools that my taxes helped to support), that the
Catholic Church opened wide its school doors to those little ones. I remember
gratefully that my children, thus excluded from Protestant schools, partook
46
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
freely, on terms of equality, of the blessings of education and kindly sympathy
thus extended . . . The Catholic Church has to-day in its schools over 300,000
coloured children. It is educating coloured youth at Rome for its missionary
work in America and Africa. In the West Indies, Central America, and South
America, nearly 9,000,000 of Africans acknowledge its faith.10
"Whatever may be tlie ecclesiastical connection of the thoughtful
And cultivated Protestant Negro—though he may ex animo sub¬
scribe to the tenets of the particular denomination to which he
belongs, as approaching nearest to the teachings of God's Word—
yet he cannot read History without feeling that the Negro race
owes a deep debt of gratitude to the Eoman Catholic Church. The
only Christian Negroes who have had the power successfully to
throw off oppression, and maintain their position as freemen, were
Eoman Catholic Negroes—the Haitians; and the greatest Negro
the Christian world has yet produced was a Eoman Catholic—
Toussaint Louverture.
In the ecclesiastical system of modern, as was the case in the
military system of ancient Eome, there seems to be a place for all
races and colours—
Colchus an Assyrius, Thebis nutritus an Argis.
At Eome, the names of Negroes, males and females, who have
been distinguished for piety and good works are found in the
calendar under the designation of " saints." Protestantism has no
Negro saints. Mr. Ticknor tells us of a Negro at Granada, in the
sixteenth century, who, brought as an infant from Africa, rose by
his learning to be Professor of Latin and Greek in the school
attached to the Cathedral of Granada. He is the same person
noticed by Cervantes as "el Negro Juan Latino," in a poem pre¬
fixed to Don Quixote. He wrote a Latin poem in two books. He
was married to a lady of Granada, who fell in love with him, as
Eloisa did with Abelard, while he was teaching her; and after his
10 Several adverse criticisms have appeared from influential quarters upon
Mr. Downing's position, but we find him, in his latest utterances, reaffirming
his views as follows:—" I am fully persuaded that a general alliance, on the
part of the coloured people of America, with the Catholic Church of America,
would be the most speedy and effective agency to break down American caste,
based on colour."
Christianity and the Negro Race.
47
death his wife and children erected a monument to his memory in
the church of Sta. Ana, in that city, inscribing it with an epitaph,
in which he is styled "Filius Ethiopium, prolesque nigerrima
patruin."11 No such record occurs in the annals of Protestantism.
In what Protestant university would a Negro professor he tolerated ?
The most distinguished Negro produced by a Protestant country, of
whom we have read, was Benjamin Banneker; and the only
literary recognition he ever received was in an appreciative letter
from Thomas Jefferson, the reputed infidel.
It is said that in all the histories of Brazil the name of Henry
Diaz, the distinguished Negro general, is extolled. The Portuguese
historian, Borros, says that Negroes are, in his opinion, preferable
to Swiss soldiers, whose reputation for bravery has generally stood
high. In 1703 the blacks took arms for the defence of Guadaloupe,
and were more useful than all the rest of the French troops. At
the same time they bravely defended Martinique against the
English. When and where has there ever been a Negro general
in a Protestant army? If it "is asked why Protestant Negro
soldiers are not equally efficient—why the West India troops did
not distinguish themselves in the recent Ashantee war—we have no
other reply than the query of the poet:
Quis enim. virtutem amplectitur ipsam
Prsemia si tollas ?
The Negro, under Protestant rule, is kept in a state of such
tutelage and irresponsibility as can scarcely fail to make him
constantly dependent and useless whenever, thrown upon himself,
he has to meet an emergency.
The Deputy for the colony of Martinique in the French National
Assembly in 1872 was M. Pory-Papy, a Negro. The idea of repre¬
senting the British colonies in the House of Commons is often
discussed. If it should ever be realised, would the people of
Jamaica and Barbadoes be as liberal and enlightened as those of
Martinique ? For the present, we fear not.
We saw published some years ago the "Bill of Sale of an
American Clergyman." This clergyman was a Negro, who on
ii Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. ii, p. 582.
48
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
account of his learning had received from a German university the
degree of D.D. He was a minister of one of the leading Protestant
denominations in the United States; but he was a "chattel"—a
fugitive from slavery. South of Mason and Dixon's line he would
have had neither name nor character. His German diploma would
have been no more than so much waste paper. His liberty had to
be paid for in gold before he could become a man. We question
whether such a thing has ever occurred, or could ever occur, under
the administration of the Roman Catholic Church.12
The American nation, by the force of its peculiar circumstances
and the genius of its political institutions, and, perhaps, also from
its composite character, is far more advanced in its dealing with
the Negro than is the mother country. In Church and State, laws
are being passed giving him larger measures of freedom.
The American Episcopal Church has recently consecrated a pure
Negro as Bishop of Haiti. A curious but significant circumstance
occurred in the Episcopal Convention held in New York in October,
1874, at which it was decided to consecrate this Negro' Bishop.
The only Episcopal voice raised during the discussion of the subject,
in a tone at all dissentient, was that of Dr. Courtenay, the English
Bishop of Jamaica, who, in the course of his remarks, among other
things said:—
We have not, as .yet, in Jamaica, one priest of purely African race. ... At
the present moment no Negro in Holy Orders could command that respect in
Jamaica which a white priest could command. Whether this condition of
affairs in Jamaica is to control the position in Hayti is another question.13
Now, the question that must arise is : Why is it that, after two
hundred years' residence in Christian Jamaica, and after forty
years of freedom, the Negro population, so largely outnumbering
the whites, have not been able to produce one priest? Why is
it that, " at the present moment, no Negro in Holy Orders could
command that respect in Jamaica which a white priest could
command?" Is this a creditable state of things, after so many
12 The documents connected with the sale and manumission of Eev. J. W«
G. Pennington, D.D., are published in an appendix to Theodore Parker's
Additional Speeches, vol. xi.
13 The Church Journal, New York, Oct. 29, 1874.
Christianity and the Negro Race. 49
years of Christianising effort ? Is not this state of tKmgs owing to
that peculiar defect in the machinery and administration of the
Anglican Church noticed by Lord Macaulay in his review of
Ranke's History of the Popes, and which he says gives her less-
elasticity and less assimilating power than her Roman ancestor?
An able writer on Jamaica, in the Quarterly Beview for July,.
1875, reveals the cause of the backwardness of the Negro in that
island—it lies in the strong Anglo-Saxon prejudice against his
elevation. Though the Reviewer writes with a degree of candour,
sobriety, and generosity which it is refreshing to see in these days
of sensationalism, yet he could not repress his instinctive Saxon
aversion to the fuil manhood and equality, intellectual and social,
of the Negro. He says (p. 72) with remarkable naivete, as if he*
were writing in the middle of the eighteenth century, or in defence
of the Assiento Contract: " The cane-field, the plantation, the
provision ground, and the pasture-land, not [[even] the work-shop
or the engine-room, are the African's heritage."
On page 44 the writer had remarked with justice that " the
Negroes have given unmistakable evidence of a notable and con¬
stantly increasing amelioration in every respect, moral and intel¬
lectual, no less than physical."
Now, we ask, if the Negro is "constantly " improving in those
respects, why relegate him to the "cane-field?" Why wish to
confine him to menial occupations if he has the ability to perform
higher work ? Is his colour to be the excuse for always keeping
him in a state of degradation ? If such be the case—if such is the
teaching which is sought to be impressed by able reviewers and by
Colonial Bishops upon the British public at home and in Jamaica—
then two hundred years more will roll round and the Bishop
Courtenay of that day will have again to announce that " there is-
not, as yet, one priest of purely African race in Jamaica."
But does it not occur to the learned reviewer that the destiny
of man, though he be a Negro, may include higher spheres of
labour than the " cane-field," and higher purposes than to produce
sugars, raise potatoes and rear stock ? And may it not be worth¬
while to consider, if only briefly, whether the Negro may not lend
50 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
something to the intellectual as well as moral resources of an
island where, for generations, he has been confined to the labour of
the beasts that perish ?
This leads us to call attention to another remarkable fact
which has struck us in our researches—viz., that the defenders of
the Negro during the days of his bondage, and the advocates of his
full manhood and equality now that he is free, are, as a rule,
found among those who are not regarded as orthodox in the
Christian Church. Not the Evangelical churches in the United
States, but the Unitarian, have furnished the ablest and most
prominent defenders of the slave. The Channings, Theodore
Parkers, Garrisons, Wendell Phillipses, Emersons, Longfellows,
have preached the most celebrated sermons, written the most
brilliant essays, delivered the most stirring lectures, and composed
ihe most touching poems on behalf of the oppressed Negro.
American Evangelicalism cannot show such an array of first-class
literature in his favour.
In England, not the Edinburgh—at least, since the days of
Jeffrey, Brougham and Macaulay; not the Quarterly, but the
Westminster Beview, has been the constant and uncompromising
defender of the Negro. It has never joined in the general merri- -
ment of Christian civilisation at his expense. When certain
^portions of the literary world were in a buzz of gleeful amusement
«,t the attacks made by Mr. Carlyle on the Negro, in 1849,u the
Westminster Beview did not participate in the roar of laughter, but,
on the contrary, administered the following timely and touching
rebuke:—
For the first time in the sad history of his race, the good name of the Negro,
his character as a man, had become of value to him—for the " chattel" has
neither name nor character. Was it generous, then, of the greatest master of
sarcasm of his age—of the first portrait painter of any age—to welcome into
•civilisation this—its long-excluded guest, with nicknames and caricatures ? to
brand him with the opprobrium of idleness, to give him a bad character as a
•servant because his master was wanting in the faculty of mastership—was
wanting in wisdom and justice—was himself wanting in industry, in the energy
14' Occasional Discourse on the Nigger Question,' Fraser't Magazine,
December, 1849.
Christianity and the Negro Race. 51
needed to work out the difficulties, and supply the demands of his changed
position ?15
Who would say that this able review is not entitled to bear on
its title-page that noble sentiment of Goethe—" Wahrheitsliebe
zeigt sich darin, dass man iiberall das Gute zu finden und zu
echatzen weiss" (Love of truth shows itself in this, that one
always knows how to find and cherish that which is good)—which
the Anglo-Saxon, from his peculiar temperament, perhaps, does
not, as a rule, exemplify in his dealings with foreign races—a defect
which unfits him, in a great degree, as an instrument in the work
of reconstructing fallen humanity in distant lands ?
On the other hand, professors of orthodox Christianity do not
hesitate occasionally to indulge in a chuckle at the expense of
" Quashee."
Lord Macaulay has noticed this divorce between precept and
practice—however it is to be accounted for—in professing
Christians, as contrasted with the proceedings of men who
paraded their dislike and opposition to the Christian faith.
Speaking of the sect of philosophers which arose in Paris in
the last century, Lord Macaulay says :—
While they assailed Christianity with a rancour and unfairness disgraceful
to men who called themselves philosophers, they yet had, in far greater measure
than their opponents, that charity towards men of all classes and races which
Christianity enjoins. Religious persecution, judicial torture, arbitrary im¬
prisonment, the unnecessary multiplication of capital punishments, the delay
and chicanery of tribunals, the exactions of farmers of the revenue, slavery, the
slave trade, were the constant subjects of their lively satire and eloquent
disquisitions The ethical and dogmatical parts of the Gospel were
unhappily turned against each other. On one side, was a Church boasting of the
purity of a doctrine derived from the Apostles, but disgraced by the massacre of
.St. Bartholomew, by the murder of the best of kings, by the war of Cevennes, by
the destruction of Port Royal. On the other side, was a sect laughing at the
.Scriptures, shooting out the tongue at the sacrament, but ready to encounter
principalities and powers in the cause of justice, mercy and toleration.16
Such are the curious facts which history unfolds. And what
do they teach? Only that the best and holiest of men are not
15 Westminster Review, April, 1853.
16 Review of Ranke's History of the Popes.
52 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
infallible—not perfect—only what the Apostle Paul announced
eighteen hundred years ago—" We have this treasure in earthen
vessels that the excellency of the power may be of Godr and
not of us."
Nevertheless, because the "treasure" does exist, notwith¬
standing the base and humble material of the "vessel/' the
Negro race is largely indebted to instruments who, in spite of
themselves, have been the means of conveying to thousands o£
Africans a knowledge of the true God. The annals of orthodox
Christianity are graced with innumerable names of champions of
the Negro. The names and brilliant efforts of the Wilberforces,.
Buxtons, Yenns, Gurneys, in England; of the Beechers, Cheeversr
Finneys, Whittiers, Stowes, in America, can never be forgotten.
And if they could have infused into their adherents and followers
the lofty philanthropic spirit which actuated them—if they could
have imparted more of their elevated and generous enthusiasm
—the condition of the Christian Negro would be far different
from what it now is. But notwithstanding all disadvantages,
the influences of direct Christian doctrine were silently infiltrating
themselves into the Negro minds; and though, in their suffering,,
comparisons at times glanced through their minds ; though they
could not help often making contrasts which were not always-
favourable to their own church; still they understood that the
conduct pursued by their teachers towards them was not only
not dictated by the religion they professed, but was in opposition
to its teachings ; hence the singular fact is patent, that, wherever
Negroes exist in large numbers, in Protestant countries, they are,
for the most part, members of the orthodox denominations. The-
only ecclesiastical organisation developed among the Negroes in
the United States, which nearly copes in numbers, wealth and
aggressive power with the most favoured religious sects of the-
land, is the African Methodist Episcopal Church.1,1 And we are-
persuaded that the form of Christianity which will be introduced
into Africa by Christian Negroes from abroad will be Protestantism
of the orthodox stamp.
17 See Tanner's Apology for African Methodism in the United States.
Christianity and the Negro Race.
53
Whatever, then, the shortcomings of our teachers, they have
been the instruments of introducing large numbers of us into
the Kingdom of God. The lessons they have taught us, from
their uplifting effect upon thousands of the race, we have no doubt
contain the elements of imperishable truth, and make their
appeal to some deep and inextinguishable consciousness of the soul.
While, therefore, we recognise defects—a discrepancy, at times, on
their part between precept and practice—we cannot withhold from
them the tribute of our respect and gratitude. In no case would
we apply the harsh sentence of the great Italian poet towards
his teacher, but we may address to them these magnificent and
touching words of that great master of song:—
Che in la mente m' e fitta, ed or m' accuora
La cara e buona imagine paterna
Di voi, quando ....
M' insegnavate come 1' uo m s' eterna:
E quant' io 1' abbo in grado, mentre io vivo
Convien che nella mia lingua si scerna.18
18 Inferno, xv. In my memory is fixed, and now goes to my heart, the
dear, kind, paternal image of you, when you taught me how man may become
immortal. And, while I live, it becomes my tongue to show what gratitude I
have for it.
Christian Missions in West
Africa.
IT is little more than half a generation since four millions of
Africans were held in apparently hopeless bondage in the
United States—a condition which determined their status as one
of social subordination and inferiority in all Christian lands. The
emancipation in the British, French, Danish and Dutch colonies
was able, it seems, to effect little towards improving the standing
of the Negro. He was bound to a servile position until the
supremacy of the cotton empire of the West was overthrown
The proclamation of freedom in the United States gave to the
Negro at once a position which he had never before occupied;
and, though he is in America numerically weak, and, in a measure,
personally insignificant, still the barriers in the way of his progress
are rapidly disappearing.
But it is not easy to efface impressions which have been busily
taught and cheerfully imbibed during centuries. The Christian
world, trained for the last three hundred years to look upon the
Negro as made for the service of superior races, finds it difficult to
shake off the notion of his absolute and permanent inferiority.
Distrust, coldness or indifference, are the feelings with which,
generally speaking, any efforts on his part to advance are regarded
by the enlightened races. The influence of the representations
disparaging to his mental and moral character, which, during the
days of his bondage, were persistently put forward without contra¬
diction, is still strong in many minds. The full effect of the new
status of the Negro race will not be sufficiently felt during the
Christian Missions in West Africa.
present generation to enable even his best friends to get rid entirely
of the pity or contempt for him which they have inherited, and.
which is, to a great extent, to be accounted for by the fact that
the civilised world has hitherto come in contact, for the most partr
only with the more degraded tribes of the African continent.
One of the most important of the results of the labours and
sufferings of Livingstone is the light which he has been able to
throw upon the subject of the African races at home, and which
has awakened doubts even in the minds of the most apathetic as-
to the fairness of the representations disparaging to the Negro's
character which have been for so long a time in unimpeded
circulation. The whole Christian world has been aroused by
that humble missionary to the importance of " healing the open
sore of the world," and penetrating "the dark continent"
with the light of Christianity and civilisation. Catholics and
Protestants—Christians of every name and nationality—are
vying with each other in endeavours to promote the work of
African regeneration.
One sanguine or sensational letter from Mr. Stanley calling
attention to a favourable opening for missionary operations in East
Africa fell upon the British public like seed into prepared soil, and,
in a short time, a bountiful harvest was reaped, in the shape of
thousands of pounds, in response to the more urgent than " Mace¬
donian cry." This prompt liberality shows that there are Christian
men and women in England who are deeply in earnest in the work
of disseminating the truths of the Gospel in Africa.
It is evident that, at the present moment, there is no mission
field in which the Christian public are so anxiously interested for
the safety, welfare and success of the missionaries as the African;
and there is none, moreover, whose successful working by Euro¬
pean missionaries must, in the long run, depend so absolutely upon
special and constant study of the mental and moral habits of the
people and climatic peculiarities of the country. And yet in the
constant necessity which presses upon missionary committees at
home, and upon missionaries themselves, to find what may hold the
public ear, in the impatient demand for immediate visible results
56 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
in the unceasing strain after fresh subjects for exciting paragraphs,
no leisure or repose is left for quiet thought, for grappling with
new facts, or for giving due weight to views out of their accustomed
groove of thought.
"We do not set before ourselves, in the present paper, the
ambitious task of propounding or discussing any new theory of
African Missions. To describe accurately or intelligibly how
missions in Africa ought to be conducted so as to come nearer than
they have yet done to a realisation of the expectations of their
supporters in Europe and America—so as in some measure to
Christianise the African tribes—would probably be as difficult and
impossible a task as any thinking man could well undertake. We
are, for our own part, inclined to cut the Gordian knot by express¬
ing the belief that it will not be given to the present generation
of foreign workers in this field to solve the problem—or rather,
problems—presented by the enormous work of African Christian-
isation. This is a privilege, we venture to believe, reserved for the
" missionaries of the future."1
Still, it may not be altogether unprofitable to consider some of
the results thus far attained, and the hindrances in the way of
more satisfactory achievements.
It is now nearly four hundred years since the first attempt was
made to introduce Christianity into the Western portion of Africa.
The summary of Christian Missions on this coast may be given in
a few words.
The Roman Catholics come first. In 1481 the King of Portugal
sent ten ships with 500 soldiers, 100 labourers, and a proper com¬
plement of piiests as missionaries, to Elmina, The Romish missions
thus founded, lingered on for a period of 241 years, till, at last, in
1723, that of the Capuchins at Sierra Lieone was given up, and
they disappeared altogether from West Africa. They had made
i The relations of the present generation of Europeans with the African
races have not been such as to allow them to be unbiassed workers in the
African field. While, like David, they may receive commendation for having
conceived the idea of building the great Christian temple in Africa it may be
only given to them to open the way, collect the materials, &c • other hands
may have to rear the superstructure. '
Christian Missions in West Africa. 57
no impression, except upon their immediate dependants ; and what
little impression they made on them was soon totally obliterated.
Protestant missionary attempts were begun by the Moravians
in 1736, and continued till 1770. Five of such attempts cost
eleven lives, and were not followed by visible results.
The Wesleyans come next. In the Minutes of the Conference
of 1792, we find Africa for the first time included in the list of
Wesleyan missionary stations, Sierra Leone being the part
occupied, and in the Minutes for 1796, the names of A. Murdoch
and W. Patten are set down as missionaries to the Foulah
country, in Africa, to which service they were solemnly set apart
by the Conference.
The Church Missionary Society sent out its first missionaries in
1804. They established and attempted to maintain ten stations
among the aborigines, but they could make no progress owing to
the hostility of the natives, who appear to have preferred the slave-
traders. The missionaries were forced to take refuge in Sierra
Leone, the only place where at that time they could labour with
safety and hope.
The Basle Missionary Society—one of the most successful on
the coast—had their attention directed to Western Africa as early
as 1826; but it was not until 1828 that their first company of
missionaries reached Christianborg, near Akra, the place which the
Moravians had attempted to occupy more than thirty years pre¬
viously.
The United Presbyterian Synod of Scotland began a mission
on the Old Calabar Eiver, in the Gulf of Benin, in April, 1846.
Five denominations of American Christians—Baptists, Metho¬
dists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans—are represented on
the coast—in Liberia, at Lagos, the Island of Corisco, and Gaboon.
The first American Mission was established on the coast in 1822.
Now, what has been the outcome of these missionary opera¬
tions ? These results thus far achieved are, in many respects, highly
interesting and important. At the European settlements estab¬
lished at various points along the coast from Senegal to Loanda,
and at the purely native stations, occupied by the Niger
58 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
(native) missionaries, the Scotch missionaries and the American
missionaries, some thousands of natives, having been brought
under the immediate influence of Christian teaching, have professed
Christianity, and, at the European settlements, have adopted
European dress and habits. Numerous churches have been
organised, and are under a native ministry, and thousands of
children are gathered into schools under Christian teachers.
The West African Reporter, a "weekly newspaper owned and
published at Sierra Leone exclusively by natives, and itself an
interesting evidence of the progress of civilisation on the coast,
gives, in its issue for January 4, 1876, the following:—
The Niger Mission and the native pastorate—which latter has received the
encomiums of friends and foes—are standing monuments of the [Church
Missionary] Society's labours, and proofs of the permanence of results thus
far achieved. Bishop Crowther, the first Negro Bishop, the Rev. James Johnson
of Lagos, Dr. Africanus Horton, the distinguished physician and author, and
numerous others, less widely known but not less useful, sat under the instruc¬
tions which have been imparted in the Church Missionary College at Fourah
Bay, in Sierra Leone.
But other useful men besides preachers have been raised up
under the instruction of the missionaries; many able and useful
Government officials, skilful mechanics—especially at the Basle
Mission—and merchants, who by their intelligence, industry and
enterprise have risen to an equality in wealth and influence with
the European merchants on the coast.
Still, these results, in their largest measure, are confined almost
exclusively to the European settlements along the coast and to
their immediate neighbourhood. No mission station of any im¬
portance has been established among any of the powerful tribes
in the interior, or on the coast at a distance from European settle¬
ments. In the evangelistic operations of the Niger Mission, we
can hear of no central station of influence among any of the
leading tribes. Bishop Crowther's last Eeport of the " Mission
among the Natives of the Bight of Biafra, at Bonny, Brass and
New Calabar Rivers,"2 after ten years' labour, is not particularly
encouraging.
2 Church Missionary Intelligencer, August, 1875.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
59
The work done at Sierra Leone and in Liberia cannot be
regarded as done upon the indigenous elements of those localities.
The native populations of Sierra Leone and Liberia—the Timnehs,
Soosoos, Mendis, Veys, Golahs, Bassas, Kroos, &c. — are still
untouched by evangelical influence. The visitor at Sierra Leone
and at Monrovia is at once struck by the exotic appearance of
everything. The whole black population of those settlements who
have made any progress in Christian civilisation have been
imported—in the case of Sierra Leone, from other parts of Africa,
and, in that of Liberia, from America. If everything extraneous or
imported were taken away from these settlements to-morrow, the
regions they occupy would wear an aspect similar to that which
they presented to Sir John Hawkins three hundred years ago, but
it is to be feared that the inhabitants would not present the pleasing
moral characteristics attributed to them while they were as yet
un-Europeanised, by that great pioneer of English-African slave-
traders. Nor is even the civilising work done in the settlements
without its drawbacks.
In the African Times for January 1, 1876, the editor, after the
labour of half a generation in the cause of West African progress,
opens the year with the following lament:—
Lagos has grievously disappointed our hopes and expectations. She is not
what she ought to be after years of annexation to the British Crown. It is no
cause for wonder, therefore, that she has not exercised that influence on the
Heathen within her and in the neighbouring countries which we looked for
from her. . . . The professed Christians of Lagos ought to be a mighty phalanx
against the surrounding Heathenism ; but we do not see that they have made
any successful attack upon it.
Governor Berkeley, in his Blue Book Report of the Settlement of
Lagos for 1872, estimates the population of the entire settlement
at 60,221, out of which there were only 92 whites ; and he adds:—
This settlement contributes nothing towards the promotion of religion or
education. The Church Missionary Society, the Wesleyan Society, and the
Roman Catholics are all represented in the shape of ministers, churches and
schools.8
8 Papers relating to Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions; part i, 1874, p, 138.
6o
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Sir Charles Adderley, after a full and careful investigation of the
subject, says:—
Barbarism survives, for all we expend in lives and taxes to establish what
must prove, after all, an ineffectual administration of English power in the
West African country.4
In the West African Reporter (February 1, 1876) we are
informed that:—
The Timnehs of Quiah to this day look with wistful eyes to the Peninsula
of Sierra Leone, the Bananas Island down to Carmaranca Creek, the Ribbee
and Bompeh rivers, and their hearts are burning with revenge against the
Powers that wrenched these places from the hands of their ancestors. Their
chiefs are dissatisfied with the stipends they receive, as being no equivalent
remuneration for the occupation and use of their lands by our Government;
and they are only prevented from making any mischievous move by want
of power.
The Hon. James S. Payne, the new President of Liberia, in his
Inaugural Address, delivered January 3, 1876, refers to the actual
state of things in Liberia, which does not exist at Sierra Leone
only "from want of power" on the part of the aborigines. He
says:—
The war now raging (between the Americo-Liberians and the aborigines
of Cape Palmas) has been the subject of consideration for more than three
years, of which frequent intimations were given without being accredited.
It has for one of its objects the re-possession of the territory at the cost of
exterminating the entire civilised population. It is a war against civilisation
and Christianity. Upwards of forty years of untiring Christian Mission effort
among them as preferred objects of the missions of the Presbyterian and
Protestant Episcopal Missions, has made them rather to hate than to admire
Christian civilisation.
Now let us see what is the view too often taken of
African Mission proteges by intelligent Pagan natives. We have
heard several expressions in regard to " Christianised " natives made
in our hearing by native chiefs in whose country we have, travelled;
but we prefer to quote the criticism of the King of Dahomey, as
given to the world by Commodore Wilmot in a dispatch to
Admiral Walker, under date of January 21, 1863. The Commodore
was remonstrating with the King against making war upon
i Colonial Policy and History, p. 218.
Christian Missions in West Africa. 61
the people of Abbeokuta, among whom were many professed
Christians:—
He promised faithfully for my sake (says the Commodore, to spare all the
Christians and send them to Whydah, and that his general should have strict
orders to this effect. I asked him about the Christians at Ishagga. He said,
"Who knew they were Christians? The black man says he is a white man,
calls himself a Christian, and dresses himself in clothes : it is an insult to the
white man. I respect the white man, but these people are impostors, and no
better than my own people." I reasoned with him no longer on this subject
(adds the Commodore), because I thought his observations so thoroughly just and
honest.5
Now here is a Christian European of intelligence and influence
endorsing the disparaging estimate of Christian Africans as given
by a Pagan African of intelligence and influence.6
Sir Charles Adderley calls attention to " the strange graft of
skill upon barbarous fanaticism which natives acquire who have
been played with by dilettante philanthropists in distant un¬
concerned authority."7
The foreign virtues these natives acquire never rise above the
parasitical. Their culture is superficial, and its effects artificial,
presenting very often an appearance of insincerity and absurdity
both to the foreign observer and the Pagan of intelligence. Pagans
o'f discernment know that the black man among them who " calls
himself a Christian and dresses himself in clothes" adheres to
European habits and customs with a reserved power of disengage¬
ment, much as a limpet clings to a rock. These customs seldom strike
root in his mind, and grow up as an independent plant. Africans
who have been educated even in England, on returning to their
own country and among their own people, have again adopted the
native dress and habits. And it would show a very slender know¬
ledge of human nature to expect anything else.
Now, why is it that the evangelisation of the tribes of West
Africa, after so many years of effort and so vast a sacrifice of life
and money, is so backward ? The first and most generally admitted
8 British and Foreign State Papers, 1868-64 ; vol. liv, p. 351.
6 " Educated natives " is often used by Europeans on the coast as a phrase
of contempt.
i Colonial Policy and History, p. 158.
62 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
cause is the unhealthiness of the climate ; and this cause, we may
premise, affects injuriously all progress and growth in "West Africa
to a far greater extent than is generally supposed. No on® will
undertake to dispute at this day that the moral and intellectual
character of a people is very largely dependent upon their physical
environments. No great man, physically or mentally, has ever
been developed in the inhospitable regions of Greenland or Tierra
del Euego. In some countries a high degree of even material
progress is impossible. In Brazil, for instance, Mr. Buckle tells us,
" the progress of agriculture is stopped by impassable forests, and
the harvests are devoured by innumerable insects. The mountains
are too high to scale—the rivers too wide to bridge." A portion
of the indomitable Anglo-Saxon race from the southern States of
North America have had an opportunity recently of testing these
statements. They attempted to found a colony in Brazil, but the
obstacles presented by Nature proved insuperable. They have
returned to the United States.8
Now it is well known that a belt of malarious lands, which are
hotbeds of fever, extends along the whole of the West Coast of
Africa, running from forty to fifty miles back from the sea-coast.
In this region of country neither cattle nor horses will thrive.
Horses will not live at all. Sheep, goats and hogs drag out an
indifferent existence. At Sierra Leone, Monrovia and other
settlements on the coast, fortunes have been expended by lovers
of horses in trying to keep them alive, but in spite of all that care
and money can do, they pine away and die. The experiment of
keeping them constantly housed, like human beings, and imposing
upon them the regulation, " early to bed, and early to rise," has, we
believe, not yet been tried.9
The healthfulness of a country or district, at any given time,
8 The Times, January 18, 1876.
9 In 1871, Dr. McCoy, Colonial Surgeon (of Sierra Leone), sent to the Eoyal
Veterinary College, London, a report on the then so-called "loin disease" (of
horses), and the opinion formed thereon by the professor of the College was
that the disease arose out of the poisoned state of the blood, the disease being
conveyed into the system by means of the atmosphere.—Sierra Leone West
African Reporter, February 1, 1876.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
63
may generally be determined by the condition of the animals. In
pestilential disorders, four-footed animals are said to be first
attacked, from their living more in the open air than man, and
being, therefore, more exposed to the action of the atmosphere.
Ovprjas {azv Trpiorov &ru^ero nai Kvvas apyovs.
Avrap hrtiT avrotcri j3eXoc i^etrevKes,
BaXV.10
In the elevated regions of the interior of West Africa, where
there are no dense primeval forests, extensive swamps, and pesti¬
lential jungles, cattle and horses show no sign of " infection "
or " poisoned state of the blood." They flourish in uncounted
herds. And in those regions men are healthy, vigorous and
intelligent.
The interior tribes who have, from time to time, migrated to the
coast have perished or degenerated. Every child born on the coast
is stunted physically and mentally in the cradle by the jungle fever,
which assails it a few days after birth. European infants seldom
survive such attacks. The Vey tribe, occupying the country about
Gallinas and Cape Mount, have traditions that they came to the
coast as conquerors, driving before them all the tribal organisations
which opposed their march. They were a numerous, intelligent,
handsome people. Now, only melancholy traces of what they
onc'e were can be discovered in individuals of that waning tribe.
" It is to be observed," says the West African Beporter,n " that
the Mendi, as he approaches the sea, becomes more degenerate.
Laying aside his innocent, manly exercises, he betakes himself to
plundering." It would appear that by a process of natural selection
the finest organisations die. Those most capable or "fittest"
to endure the pestilential regions, by reason of a coarser or more
brutal nature, " survive." We have, then, morally speaking, the
" survival" of the " unfittest."
The steady physical, if not mental, deterioration going on
among the descendants of re-captives at Sierra Leone is sometimes
10 On mules and dogs the infection first began,
And last the vengeful arrow fixed in man.
11 February 1,1876.
64 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
attributed by superficial observers to their having enjoyed facilities
for European education superior to their fathers. But the same
decay is observable among the Mohammedan Creoles who have not
deviated much from the customs of their ancestors. The Rev. S.
W. Koelle, an experienced German missionary, called attention,
some years ago, to the important contrast as to salubrity between
the coast and the interior. In the preface to his Bornou Grammar,
he says:—
The natives of dry and arid countries, as e.g., Bornou, Hausa, the Sahara,
&c., die very fast in Sierra Leone; their acclimatisation there seems to be
almost as difficult as that of Europeans.
In the course of thirty years, two hundred Bornouese residents
of Sierra Leone had been reduced to thirty. And, as we have said,
those who do not die, degenerate, and become dependent upon the
tribes of the healthier regions. All the coast tribes, from Senegal
±0 Lagos, where no alien influence interferes, are held under the
ssway of the inferior tribes. Everybody now knows that the tribes
of the Gold Coast are no match in intelligence, enterprise and
energy for the Ashantees.
Under such circumstances, unless missionary boards or com¬
mittees, and the American Colonisation Society in America, are
content to repeat the sacrifices they have already made of life and
treasure, during another fifty years, with similar inadequate results,
would it not be wisdom to try operations in the healthy regions of
the interior, where " every prospect pleases," and " man " is not so
" vile " ? As long as the malarious vegetation and deadly mangrove
swamps occupy so large a proportion of "West African territory,
there will be no more probability of making any permanent moral,
or even material, progress on the coast, or of developing a great
mind, than there is of improving the haunts of the polar bear and
the reindeer.12 Of course, the resources of the philanthropic world
12 Professor Draper, in his Conflict between Religion and Science, tells us of a
civilisation that had been accomplished in Central America resting on an
agriculture that had neither horse nor ox nor plough. If the way could be
discovered of accomplishing a civilisation in these days with the slender
appliances which such a statement would imply, then there might be hope for
West Africa.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
65
in men and money are inexhaustible, and they have the power of
prolonging the experiment indefinitely; and it may be the highest
philanthropy to labour to prepare men for the " world to come "
in a country where they can have no reasonable hope of enjoying
the " world that now is." Many a European visiting this coast
returns to his country never to enjoy the vigour of health again.
Tor northern constitutions, the effect of a residence in this country,
generally speaking, is similar to that said to have been produced
xipon the ancients by a visit to the cave of Trophonius—they never
smile again.
But another drawback to the success of missions on this coast
is the inadequate, not to say contemptuous, view often entertained
by European missionaries of the materials with which they have to
deal; and this may be assigned as one of the leading causes why
iio serious effort is made to go to the healthy " regions beyond." They
come to the coast imbued with the notions they have derived from
oooks, of the " sanguinary customs " and " malignant superstitions "
•of the natives. And under the influence of their malarious sur¬
roundings they gain more in irritability of temper than in liberality
of view, often acquiring greater ignorance of the people than they
had before they came. We were startled some time ago by reading
a remarkable description of African character, as given by an
American missionary from West Africa in the course of an address
delivered in the United States. He said:—
The Chinaman meets you with the stolid morality of his Confucianism; the
Hindoo with astute logic for his Pantheism. The missionary among those
peoples is assaulting strongholds, bristling with guns and bayonets. When I
-carry my torch into the caves of Africa, I meet only filthy birds of darkness
bats, owls, and evil things of night, that, bewildered by the light, know not how
to blunder out, or out, blunderingly dash themselves in again.13
Similar to this are descriptions we have read from time to time
in missionary periodicals.14 Now, we earnestly protest against
such utterances as not only gross exaggerations, but as, to the last
18 Address delivered before the American Colonisation Society, by Rev. E. H.
Nassau, M.D., January 21, 1873.
14 See an article on ' The Negro' in the Church Missionary Intelligencer
London) for August, 1873.
56
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
legree, pernicious in their influence, since they are made to apply not
)nly to the natives of the coast demoralised by their physical sur¬
roundings and by European vices, but to all Africans, and they lead
young and inexperienced missionaries entirely astray as to the
sourse they should pursue with the people. Coming to the coast
under such teaching, they are induced to adopt a method of dealing
with the natives, and to maintain a demeanour which, in spite of
their educational and other services, inspire the people among whom
they labour with feelings of impatience, if not of dislike. And it is-
not difficult to see that the missionary entertaining such views-
must labour under very great subjective disadvantages. From his
out-look, the work is magnified to enormous proportions. The
African mind is regarded as a great blank, or worse than a blank,
filled with everything dark and horrible and repulsive. Everything
is to be destroyed, and replaced by something new and foreign-
Not such were the views entertained of Africans by the Eev. J.
Leighton "Wilson, who, having been from childhood acquainted
with Negroes in the United States, spent twenty years as a mis¬
sionary in West Africa, where he had opportunities of visiting every
place of importance along the sea-coast, and made extensive ex¬
cursions in many of the maritime districts. He studied and reduced
to writing two of the leading languages of the country. In the
record of his African experiences, he says:—
Looking at the African race as we have done, in their native country, we have
seen no obstacles to their elevation which would not apply equally to all other
uncultivated races of men.
We do not expect Africans, under any circumstances, to possess the energy,
the enterprise, or the inventive powers of the white man. But there are other
traits, quite as commendable as these, in which, if properly trained, he will
greatly excel his white compeer. Naturally, the African is social, generous,
confiding, and, when brought under the benign influence of Christianity, he
exemplifies the beauty and consistency of his religion more than any other
human being on the face of the earth. And the time may come when they may
be held up to all the rest of the world as examples of the purest and most
elevated Christian virtue.15
The more slender the outfit as to educational training and
experience of those who come as instructors to the coast, the more
15 Wilson's Western Africa, chap. xi.
Christian Missions in West Africa. 67
supercilious—as, of course, must be the case—is their bearing. Many
and amusing are the instances encountered by intelligent Africans,
of the very limited qualifications, coupled with large pretensions, of
not a few who are sent to the ccast as instructors. While sitting,
on the passengers' deck of one of the African mail steamers, a few
years ago, we heard a young Englishman who had been engaged in
educational work on the coast, and was returning home on leave,,
descanting upon the "utter inferiority of the African"—and, by
the way, these men who come to guide the " benighted" seldom
hesitate (such is their high breeding) "to indulge in most con¬
temptuous utterances about the race in the hearing of any
member of it who may be a stranger to them. ■ This young man—
we say young man, though his hair was slightly sprinkled with
grey—overflowing with erudition, and anxious to make known
the extent of his researches in African philology, remarked to a
comrade, "The stolidity of these Africans is astonishing. Their
words are mostly monosyllabic, and even those tribes whose-
vocabulary is the most copious possess no expressions for abstract
ideas." Attracted by the Johnsonese character of the sentence,,
we turned towards him and said, " Sir, the words in the sentence
which you just uttered, that convey any idea at all, are either
Eoman or Greek. All the purely English words you employed are
monosyllabic, expressing no abstract thought." " Oh," he replied,,
with some surprise, " but that only proves that we possessed
the ability to appropriate and apply such foreign terms as we=
considered serviceable—a feat which your people are unable to-
achieve." To this second outburst of almost pure Latin we made-
no reply, but turned away, leaving our learned pedagogue to enjoy
the belief that, under the influence of his irresistible argument, we-
had succumbed; but we noticed that he took care during the
remainder of the voyage to indulge, while in our hearing, in no-
more "high falutin."
We are not of those who deprecate international prejudices
they will exist, probably, until the millennium; for God, " who-
hath made of one blood all nations of men," hath also " appointed
the bounds of their habitation," and within those "bounds " special
68 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and divergent tastes will arise among the nations. We remember
when, accompanied about six years ago, on a tour in the interior of
Monrovia, by Mr. Winwood Reade, we arrived at Boporo,16 a town
about seventy-five miles from the coast, where' a white man had
rarely been seen, how the women and children fled in every direction
at the appearance of Mr. Reade ; and it was not until we had been
there several days that the children would venture near enough to
speak to him. We are told that a charitable old woman who afforded
Mungo Park a meal and lodging, on the banks of the Niger, could
not refrain, even in the midst of her kindness, from exclaiming,
xt God preserve us from the devil !" as she looked upon him.
These deprecatory feelings doubtless arise from the erroneous
impressions entertained by Africans of the interior of the mental
and moral concomitants of a white skin. The white man, in the
imagination of the unsophisticated African, is a cannibal. The
Negro of the ordinary traveller or missionary—and perhaps of
two-thirds of the Christian world—is a purely fictitious being,
•constructed out of the traditions of slave-traders and slave-holders,
who have circulated all sorts of absurd stories, and also out of
prejudices inherited from ancestors, who were taught to regard the
Negro as a legitimate object of traffic. And, perhaps, as Bishop
Heber has remarked, the "hair and features" of the Negro, "far
more than his colour," are responsible for these erroneous concep¬
tions. We entertain no resentment at such feelings on the part of
Europeans; but as the object of missionary labour is undoubtedly
success, we may venture to suggest that such views, cherished by
missionaries, and allowed in a marked manner to influence their
demeanour on mission ground, may possibly interfere with the
wholesome results at which they aim.
But with regard to all the charges of superstition, &c., made
against native Africans, and in consequence of which a hopeless
•" incapacity of amelioration " is sometimes attributed to the whole
race, we may remark, that there is not a single mental or moral
16 This visit is described in Reade's African Sketch Booh, vol. ii. Mr. Eeade
correctly represents the impressions of Africans on first seeing a white man.
Vol. i, pp. 328-29.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
69
deficiency now existing among Africans—not a single practice now
indulged in by them—to which we cannot find a parallel in the
past history of Europe, and ev6n after the people had been brought
under the influence of a nominal Christianity. " Out of savages,"
says Professor Tyndall, unable to count up to the number of their
fingers, and speaking a language containing only nouns and verbs,
arise at length our Newtons and Shakespeares." 17
Take Polygamy. We are told by Dr. Maclear that—
Nowhere was the Ancient Slavonic superstition more deeply rooted than in
Prussia. Every native of the country was allowed to have three wives, who were
regarded as slaves, and on the death of their husbands they were expected to
ascend'the funeral pile or otherwise put an end to their lives.18
And Mr. Lecky says :—
The practice of polygamy among the barbarian kings was for some centuries
unchecked, or at least unsuppressed, by Christianity. The Kings Caribert and
Chilperic had both many wives at the same time. Dagoberfc had three wives,
as well as a multitude of concubines. Charlemagne himself had at the same
time two wives, and he indulged largely in concubines.19
Take Slavery. Slavery and the trade in slaves was almost more
difficult to root out than Paganism, and the inhuman traffic was in
full activity as late as the tenth century between England and
Ireland—the port of Bristol being one of its principal centres. 20 In
the canons of a Council in London in 1102, it is ordered that no one
from henceforth presume to carry on that wicked traffic by which
men in England have hitherto been sold like brute animals.21
Tate Hirnian Sacrifices. Tacitus tells us that the old Teutons,
generally sparing in offerings, presented on certain days human
victims to Wodan. The old Swedes, every nine years, on the great
national festival, celebrated for nine days, offered nine male animals
of every chief species, together with one man daily. The Danes,
assembling every nine years in their capital, Lederun, sacrificed to
w Address at Belfast, 1874, p. 52.
18 Apostles of Mediceval Europe, p. 259.
19 Lecky's History of European Morals, vol. ii, p. 363.
20 Maclear's Mediceval Europe, p. 259.
21 Influence of Christianity on Civilisation ; by Thomas Craddock.—Longmans,
1856.
jo Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
their gods, 99 horses, 99 dogs, 99 cocks, 99 hawks, and 99 men.
The Prussians, previous to an engagement, offered through their
high priest (Criwe) an enemy to their gods, Pikollos and Potrimpos.
The Goths thought victory impossible unless they had before offered
a human sacrifice. The Saxons, after their war with Charlemagne,
killed on the holy Harz-mountain all the Frankish prisoners in
honour of their god Wodan.24 And what shall we say of those
human hecatombs offered during a period of three hundred years
by Christians to the god of the slave trade ?
Hearest, Thou, O God, those chains,
Clanking on Freedom's plains
By Christians wrought ?
Them who those chains have worn
Christians have hither borne,
Christians have bought.
We have referred to only a few of the instances we might cite,
many of which show that human sacrifices have prevailed most
among communities that had advanced in the path of civilisation;
and we have quoted these instances not merely as a sort of tu quoque
argument, but because so many careless writers are fond of dilating
upon the " malignant superstitions " and " sanguinary customs " of
the Africans, as if these things, owing to some essential inferiority or
inherent disposition to wanton cruelty in the Negro, were peculiar
to him; and as if, moreover, they could be at once abolished by a
few homilies on the stupidity and cruelty of such customs.23
Now, as to the " sanguinary customs " of the King of Dahomey.
Every candid mind who will take the trouble to read carefully the
descriptions of intelligent travellers who have visited the Dahomeyan
capital—Norris, Forbes, Wilmot, and even the cynical Burton-
will find out that the accounts often circulated of the large numbers
killed are gross exaggerations, and that the customs, far from
being the result of a wanton desire to destroy human life, are " a
practice founded on a pure religious basis, designed as a sincere
22 Kalisch's Commentary on Leviticus, Part I. •
23 See a letter addressed to Mr. Winwood Eeade by Mr. A. Swanzy on the
possibility of effecting important reforms in Dahomey by personal interviews
with the King.—Beade's African Sketch Book, vol. ii, p. 510.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
7i
manifestation of the King's filial piety, sanctioned by long usage,
upheld by a powerful priesthood, and believed to be closely bound
up with the existence of Dahomey itself." It is not in the power
of the King to abrogate the custom. Its gradual extinction must
be the result of the increasing intelligence of the people.
Commodore "Wilmot had the opportunity of witnessing one of
the " annual customs " at the capital of Dahomey, in reference to
which the King said to him :
"You have seen that only a few are sacrificed, and not the thousands that
wicked men have told the world. If I were to give up this custom at once, my
head would be taken off to-morrow. These institutions cannot be jpped in
the way you propose. By-and-bye, little by little, much may be done ; softly,
softly, not by threats. You see how I am placed, and the difficulties m the
way; by-and-bye, by-and-bye."
Dr. Draper says :—
In vain the Spaniards excuse their atrocities on the plea that a nation like
the Mexican, which permitted cannibalism, should not be regarded as having
emerged from the barbarous state, and that one which, like Peru, sacrificed
human hecatombs at the funeral solemnities of great men, must have been
savage.' Let it be remembered that there is no civilised nation whose popular
practices do not lag behind its intelligence. In America, human sacrifice was
part of a religious solemnity, unsustained by passion.24
But not only are there exaggerated tales in circulation in foreign
countries disparaging to the Pagan natives of Africa, there are
equally erroneous impressions abroad about the Mohammedans.
There is something lamentable—we were going to say grotesque—
in the ignorance of some who assume to be authorities and guides
on African matters, of the condition of things at even a little distance
from the coast. The editor of the Church Missionary Intelligencer,
in what purports to be an examination of Mr. Bosworth Smith's
statements on the subject, informs his readers that "in the waiting-
room of Euston Square Station all the Mohammedan Negroes in
Africa who have read the Koran, even once, might be most com¬
fortably accommodated. The priests themselves cannot distinguish
between ' mumpsimus' and 'sumpsimus' when they jabber the
Koran, and do not attempt to understand other Arabic books." 25
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, chap. xix.
23 Church Missionary Intelligencer, August, 1847, p. 247.
72 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
"We read and explained this passage to a young Mohammedan from
the interior; his only reply to it was an outburst of uproarious
laughter, and he could not, for a long time, suppress his merriment
at what seemed to him an extraordinary lack of information on the
part of one of the' "people of the hook," as to the condition of
things in Africa. Not by such weapons is Africa to be penetrated.
The work requires earnestness and accuracy of information. The
day is past for such summary disposition of important and per¬
plexing questions. All efforts which ignore the importance of
accurate information of the people and the country must utterly
fail, as being behind the times.
Sic fatus senior, telumque imbelle sine ictu
Conjecit: rauco quod protenus aere repulsum,
Et summo clypei nequidquam umbone pependit.26
Only a few hours' travel from Sierra Leone—if he would venture
to visit the coast—would take the writer of the paragraph quoted
above to a Mohammedan town where he would be able to count
hundreds of Arabic volumes read and understood by their owners,
and where he would find little boys who have read the Koran
through.
In January, 1873, the present writer visited, in company with
Governor Pope Hennessy, of Sierra Leone, the Mohammedan
Literary Institution at Billeh, on the Great Scarcies Eiver, about
sixty miles N,E. of Freetown; and in an interview with lode
Tarawally, the venerable head of the institution, we had an oppor¬
tunity of examining his library. By order of the Governor, the
Arabic writer to the Government took down the names of the
principal works. In the list submitted were the titles of eighty-
nine volumes, among which we noticed the following : Commentary
of Jelaladdin on the Koran, Commentary of Beidhaivi, Traditions of
Bukhari; Law Book, by Khalii Ishak (2 vols.); Rizalat of Imam,
Malik, Medical Treatise, Metrical Guide, Grammar, Bhetoric,
Prosody, Makamat of Hariri), Ancient History, &c., written by Arabs.
There were also volumes of Prayers, Poetry, Ehetoric, History,
composed by Mandingo and Foulah authors. The library of this
26 Yirgii's JEneid, Book II, pp. 543-545.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
73
distinguished Sheikh, who is considered to be the most learned
Mohammedan in this portion of West Africa, embraced well-nigh
all the branches of human knowledge and research—theology,
medicine, history, astronomy, grammar, &c. He entered into an
interesting discussion on the respective merits of the different
commentaries on the Koran, and seemed to give the preference to
Beidhawi. Among his co-religionists, complete confidence is placed
in the exactness of his traditional information, and on all doubtful
questions his opinion is final. One of his sons composed calamo
currente, an acrostic poem in Arabic on the name of Governor
Hennessy.27
At a town not far from Billeh, a Foulah boy, not more than
fourteen years old, was introduced to us as a Hafiz—one who
knows the Koran by heart. We tried him on several long chapters,
and he recited them verbatim, literatim, et punctuatim, without the
slightest hesitation. But he was only one of a number of such
youths, whom we met in subsequent travels in the interior, who
could recite not only the Koran, but many of the standard Arabic
poems. Are there many youths in Christian lands who could
recite even one book of the Bible from memory ?
Every traveller who enters the Mohammedan regions of West
and Central Africa with sufficient basis of information to understand
what he sees and hears, is forced to admit that the man makes a
great mistake who approaches the Negro Muslims with the idea
that they are " benighted Africans."
Mohammedanism in Africa, instead of being treated in the off¬
hand and contemptuous manner adopted by some, who seem to
have gathered all their knowledge of the religion from the Arabian
Nights, ought to be approached with earnestness and respect; for
there is much in it which Christians may profitably study, and from
which they might glean important lessons. Mr. Bosworth Smith
remarks, in his Lectures on Mohammed and Mohammedanism, that
41 Christians have something at least to learn from Mohammedans
which ^ill make them not less but more Christian than they were
27 see a paper read by Governor Hennessy before the Society of Arts, April 29,
1873 ; and Reade's African Sketch Booh, vol. i, p. 312 (foot-note).
G
74 Christianity, Islam, and Negro Race.
before,"28 and no one who has seriously studied the subject will
deny the truth of the remark. In the pending controversy, for
example, about religious and secular education, Christians might
profit by the example of Mohammedan communities where the
one involves and is inseparable from the other. Their educa¬
tion is religious and their religion educational. The example set
by them in the constant and unremitting study of their sacred
book, the Koran, is not unworthy of imitation. Sir Wilfred
Lawson, again, in his laudable efforts in behalf of temperance,
might appeal to the effective Mohammedan legislation on the
subject, and gather encouragement from the practical exemplifica¬
tion in all Mohammedan countries of the ultimate result of his
theories. The advocates of a " beneficent Erastianism " might
study Islam with profit. The Mohammedans have certainly attained,
though on a lower ground, a degree of religious unity not yet
witnessed in the Christian Church. At all events, those who are
engaged in missionary work in Mohammedan countries would not
lose anything by heeding the thoughtful and common-sense advice
of Barthelemy Saint Hilaire:—
II y a aujourd'hui dans trois parties du monde plus de cent millions de
Mussulmans, et voila douze cents ans passes que leur religion r£gne sur une
bonne partie de l'Asie, de 1'Afrique et meme de l'Europe. A moins de traiter
avec une legerete aveugle cette portion considerable de l'humanite, qui a
cependant 4 peu pres les memes idees que nous sur Dieu et sa providence, il faut
bien prendre aux s6rieux un fait aussi vaste et aussi durable. Le Mahometisme
n'est pas pres de disparaitre ; et pour faciliter les rapports qu'on a n^cessaire-
ment avec lui, il faut t&cher de le comprendre dans tout ce qu'il a de vrai et de
bon, et de ne pas l'exclure, malgre ses d^fauts trop r6els, de cette bienveillance
universelle que recommande la charite Chretienne.20
Growing out of the general misunderstanding of the people, the
first and constant effort of the missionaries is to Europeanise
them, fwithout reference to their race peculiarities or the climatic
conditions of the country J and this course has been attended with
many serious drawbacks, preventing any healthy or permanent
result. The missionary, often young and inexperienced, and having
28 Mohammed and Mohammedanism ; preface to first edition
29 Mahomet et la Coram, p. 213. > p. xi,
Christian Missions in West Africa.
75
no model before him but that which he has left at home, en¬
deavours to bring things in his new field as nearly as possible into
conformity to the old. Everything is new and strange to him, and
nearly everything he regards with contempt for being so un-
European ; and with the earnest vigour and sanguine temper which
belong to youth he preaches a crusade against the harmless customs
and prejudices of the people—superseding many customs and
habits necessary and useful in the climate and for the people by
practices which, however useful they might be in Europe, become,
when introduced indiscriminately into Africa, artificial, ineffective
and absurd. The " thin varnish of European civilisation," which
the native thus receives, is mistaken for a genuine mental metamor¬
phosis, when, as a rule, owing to the imprudent hurry by which
the convert's reformation has been brought about, his Christianity,
instead of being pure is superstitious, instead of being genuine is
only nominal, instead of being deep is utterly superficial, and, not
having fairly taken root, it cannot flourish and become repro-
'SS*
ductive. And here we cannot do better than quote from the
utterances of a native clergyman of ability who, educated on the
coast under missionary teaching, has felt the drawbacks of the
system, He says:—
In the work of elevating Africans, foreign teachers have always proceeded
with their work on the assumption that the Negro or the African is in every one
of his normal susceptibilities an inferior race, and that it is needful in every¬
thing to give him a foreign model to copy; no account has been made of our
peculiarities—our languages, enriched with the traditions of centuries; our
parables, many of them the quintessence of family and national histories ; our
modes of thought, influenced more or less by local circumstances; our poetry
and manufactures, which, though rude, had their own tales to tell; our social
habits and even the necessities of our climate. It has been forgotten that
European ideas, tastes, languages and social habits, like those of other nations,
have been influenced more or less by geographical positions and climatic
peculiarities ; that what is esteemed by one country polite, may be justly
esteemed by another rude and barbarous ; and that God does not intend to
have the races confounded, but that the Negro or African should be raised
upon his own idiosyncracies. The result has been that we, as a people, think
more of everything that is foreign, and less of that which is purely native ; have
lost our self-respect and our love for our own race, are become a sort of non¬
descript people, and are, in many things, inferior to our brethren in the interior
countries. There is evidently a fetter upon our minds even when the body is
76 Christianity, Islam and the Negr0 Race'
. 1 strength, and barrenness
free ; mental weakness, even where there is pnys
even where there appears fertility.80 _ .
Such, is the able and pathetic protest of a hig y intelligent
native, well known as a hard worker for the improvement of his
people in the right direction. And as the natives advance in
intelligence and culture, they will see things more and more as
Mr. Johnson sees them ; their views on social questions will diverge
in important particulars from those of their European teachers.
We regret to notice that there has been an outcry, among some
who should rejoice, against those distinctive features and really
moral and beneficial results of the contact of the native mind with
European culture. The objectors to such deprecatory utterances
from intelligent natives seem blind to the embarrassing social
problems which must spring up among a distinct race from the new
conditions. But it ought to be evident to them that there is no
solution to be found in sneering at the aspirations and yearnings of
the people and in scorning their "instincts." If there is danger
for the future of West Africa, it does not arise from the new aspect
which things are assuming, and will, more and more, assume,
among the enlightened natives, but from the insufficiency of the
agency employed to cope with the new conditions, and to direct
and organise the forces evolved.
A/i The attempt to Europeanise the Negro in Africa will always be
a profitless task. This is the feeling of the most advanced minds
of the race. If it were possible—which, happily, it is not—to
civilise and Christianise the whole of Africa according to the notions
of some Europeans, neither would the people themselves nor the
outside world be any great gainers by it; for the African would
then fail of the ability to perform his specific part in the world's
work, as a distinct portion of the human race. The warnings of
history on this subject are numerous.
Neither Greek science nor Eoman culture (says the Eev. Stopford Brooke)
had power to spread beyond itself. . . . The fact was that Rome did not try
to civilise in the right way. Instead of drawing forth the native energies of
so From a letter addressed by Eev. James Johnson, native pastor of Sierra
Leone (now of Lagos), to Governor Pope Hennessy, dated December 24th 1872,
and published in the Negro newspaper, January 1, 1873. '
Christian Missions in West Africa.
77
these nations, while it left them free to develop their own national peculiarities
in their own way, it imposed upon them from without the Roman education.
It tried to turn them into Romans. Where this effort was unsuccesful, the men
remained barbarous; where it was successful, the nation lost its distinctive
elements in the Roman elements, at least, till after some centuries the over¬
whelming influence of Rome had perished. Meantime they were not Britons
nor Gauls, but spurious Romans. The natural growth of the people was arrested.
Men living out of their native element became stunted and spiritless.31
The same mistake is being committed in Africa, and, probably,
from the same leading cause which is assigned by Mr. Brooke for
the mistake of the Eomans : "The Romans," he says, " considered
the barbarous Western nations incapable of culture."
There is a solidarity of humanity which requires the complete
development of each part in order to the effective working of the
whole. To make the African a parasite upon the European would
be no gain to mankind. The problem, it appears to us, which
the imagination, the wisdom, and the Christian charity of the
missionary world has to solve is, how to elevate the African, or
enable him to elevate himself, according to the true Christian
standard, upon the basis, as Mr, Johnson suggests, of "his own
idiosyncrasies." Any progress made otherwise must be unreal,
unsatisfactory, precarious, transitory.
If the African is a part of humanity, there need be no fear—if his
progress be normal—that he will not eventually come into thorough
harmony with the laws of humanity, rejecting whatever may be the
result of any distortions or eccentricities in his individuality. "We
are unwilling, for one moment, to admit the idea that Africans
cannot acquire those trusts and convictions and that moral and
spiritual development essential to human peace and guidance in
this world, and to life everlasting in the world to come, without
being east in the European mould. We believe that Africans can
attain to a knowledge of science, receive intellectual culture, acquire
skill to develop the resources of their country, and.be made "jvise
unto salvation," without becoming Europeans; "for God is no
respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him."
31 Sermons on Christ in Modern Life, p. 58.
78
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Some of the best European thinkers deprecate any effort to
cause the African to part with his special characteristics. A distin¬
guished American writer says :—
When the epoch of the civilisation of the Negro family arrives, in the lapse
of ages, they will display in their native land some very peculiar and interesting
traits of character, of which we, a distinct branch of the human family, can at
present form no conception. It will be—indeed, it must be—a civilisation of a
peculiar stamp : perhaps, we venture to conjecture, not so much distinguished
by art as a certain beautiful nature, not so marked or adorned by science as
exalted and refined by a new and lovely theology—a reflection of the light of
heaven more perfect and endearing than that which the intellects of the
Caucasian race have ever exhibited. There is more of the child, of unsophis¬
ticated nature, in the Negro race than in the European.32
With this corresponds the view of Governor Pope Hennessy as
stated in his reply to Mr. Johnson's letter quoted above. He says:—
Fortunately, the injurious influences to which you refer have left almost
untouched and uninjured the great mass of your race. It is only along the
coast that the degenerating effect is seen. Dr. Livingstone bears testimony to
the high intelligence and honourable character of your countrymen, as he has
met them in the heart of Southern Negroland. Dr. Barth and others have
done this for Central Nigritia. The many chiefs and messengers who have
come to me from the northern valleys of the Niger have been in themselves
witnesses of the same fact. In these times, when sceptical and irreverent
inquiries have become the fashion in what are called the leading nations of
Europe, it is satisfactory to know that your race is distinguished by a child-like
capacity for faith. By keeping your race pure, you will preserve that all-
important characteristic. As a student of history and a clergyman, you cannot
have failed to see that mixed races are in this respect inferior to your own.83
Another drawback—and the last we shall notice at present—
to the success of missions on the coast, is the pernicious example
of European traders and other non-missionary residents. From
the time of the discovery of the Negro country by the Portuguese
to the present, Europe has sent to the coast as traders some of its
vilest characters.
They (Europeans) spread themselves (says a leading article in the Times of
December 21, 1872) over the world, following everywhere the bent of their own
nature, doing their own will, following their own gain, too generally being and
doing nothing that a Heathen will recognise as better than himself. These
32 Alexander Kinmont, quoted by Dr. W. E. Channing in his Works, vol. vi.
33 Published in the Negro newspaper for January 1, 1873.
Christian Missions in West Africa.
79
preach something, and have their own mischievous mission. They preach
irreligion, and the views that go with it. Their gospel does its work, and reaps
its fruit.
No stone should be left unturned (says the Standard, August 27, 1874) to
convince both Mussulman and Brahmin, Caffre and New Zealander, Fantee
and Ashantee, that Christianity is the religion of the best men whom Europe
boasts of, and that the leaders of science and philosophy, of government
and society, profess the same faith as is preached to them by the humble
missionary.
The settlements along the coast where it has been thought fit
to establish and keep up missionary operations are commercial sea¬
ports, with all the disadvantages attaching to such localities. The
population consists of a heterogeneous crowd—Government officials,
itinerant mercantile agents, traders from the interior, and permanent
native merchants, all intent upon worldly gains. Mohammedans
or Pagans coming from the interior, and forming the larger part
of the floating population, do not get the most favourable view of
Christianity. But such a view as they get they carry back to their
country. The intelligent natives of the interior with whom we have
conversed in our travels between Sierra Leone and the head-waters
of the Niger, look, with hardly an exception, upon the religion and
books of the white man as intended not to teach men the way to
heaven, but how to become rich and great in this world.
It is unfortunate for the English and other European languages
that, in this part of Africa, they have come to the greater portion
of the natives associated with profligacy, plunder, and cruelty, and
devoid of any connection with spiritual things; while the Arabic is
regarded by them as the language of prayer and devotion, of religion
and piety, of all that is unworldly and spiritual.
The Church Missionary Society has wisely devoted a great deal
of time and money to the task of reducing to writing some of the
' leading languages of West and Central Africa. The indigenous
tongues will be far more effective instruments of conveying to the
native mind the truths of the Gospel than any European language.
The Eev. James Johnson—himself an adept in his native tongue,
the Aku—in a speech delivered at a recent meeting of the Lagos
branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society, made the sagacious
remark that " as the African Church failed once in North Africa in
8o
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
days gone by, so it will fail again, unless we read the Bible in our
own native tongue." 34
We need hardly mention that one of the most pernicious elements
in the demoralisation of the coast tribes is ardent spirits. It is a
very fortunate circumstance for Africa that the Mohammedans of
the interior present so formidable and impenetrable a barrier to the
desolating flood which, but for them, would sweep across the
continent. The abstemiousness of Islam is one of its good qualities
which we should like Africans to retain, whatever may be the future
fortunes of that faith on this continent. The Negro race, in their
debilitating climate, do not possess the hardihood of the North
American Indian or of the New Zealander; and, under the influence
of that apparently inseparable concomitant of European civilisation,
they would, in a much shorter time than it has taken the last-
named nations, reach the deplorable distinction of being " civilised
off the face of the earth." And Mr. Galton, by a much easier
process than he proposed, would have an opportunity of introducing
his " hardy and prolific Chinese " proteges to take the place of the
" lazy, palavering savages," who, according to that accomplished
traveller, now " cumber the ground " of a whole continent.35
And we cannot help thinking that it would be a step in advance
in the intercourse of European Governments with the Pagan tribes
along the coast if their agents were discouraged in the injudicious
practice of giving ardents spirits as presents to the chiefs—a practice
inaugurated by Europeans in the days of the slave trade. The
correspondent of the Daily News refers to the practice, as he saw it
at Cape Coast in 1873, as follows:—
At the end of the speech (Sir Garnet Wolseley's) it was announced by the
interpreter that the " usual present" would be made to the kings. This present
consisted of a certain quantity of gin, which, according to immemorial usage,
appears, on these occasions, to have been issued to the chiefs. It would clearly
not have been possible to have broken through the rule at that moment; but as
meeting after meeting subsequently took place, at which the chiefs begged for
more gin, one began to doubt the advantages of the system.36
34 Beported in the African Times, January 1, 1876.
35 The Times, June 5, 1873.
36 Ashantee War, by the Daily Neivs Special Correspondent: p, 52.
Christian Missions in West Africa. 81
Commodore Wilmot states in an official despatch that, during
his visit to Dahomey, he distributed rum to the people in the way
of " dash."37
We may remark, in conclusion, that, in view of the great work to
be done in Africa, and the innumerable hindrances thereto, it will be
seen that a profound conviction of the exclusive truth of the Gospel
and an earnest zeal for the conversion of souls—though necessary
and indispensable—are not the only qualifications needed by the
missionary. The Christian missionaries in Africa should not only"|
be well trained, highly educated, and large-minded men, but they
should be men of imagination, logical power, and philosophic spirit,
understanding how to set most effectively to work in clearing away
what is really evil, in order to lay a durable foundation and erect a
permanent superstructure of good. They should be men who
understand that it is useless to pour new wine into old bottles, and
who will be content to prepare the soil by the painful and judicious
husbandry of years, if not of generations. *■"
The following weighty words of Dean Stanley are suggestive
and reassuring for the future of missionary work:—
Above all, it is now beginning to be felt that education is in itself a powerful,
almost indispensable, engine, for the introduction of the Gospel. From time to
time the truth has been recognised that Christianity depends for its due effect
on the condition of those who receive it. It was recognised by Gregory the
Great, when be warned the hasty missionary who first planted it amongst our
Saxon forefathers, that we move by steps, not leaps. It was recognised by
Innocent III, when he warned the first evangelisers of Prussia that they must
put new wine into new bottles. It was recognised by the Moravians in their
simple phrase that they must teach their converts to count the number Three
before they taught them the doctrine of the Trinity.38
37 British and Foreign State Papers, 1863-1864, p. 325.
38 Sermon on the ' Prospect of Christian Missions.'
THE
Aims and Methods of a Liberal
Education for Africans.
A COLLEGE in West Africa, for the education of African youth,
by African instructors, under a Christian government conducted
by Negroes, is something so unique in the history of Christian
civilisation, that wherever, in the civilised world, the existence of
such an institution is heard of, there will be curiosity as to its
character, its work, and its prospects. A college suited, in all
respects, to the exigencies of this nation and to the needs of the
race cannot come into existence all at once. It must be the result
of years of experience, of trial, of experiment.
Every thinking man will allow that all we have been doing in
this country so far, whether in church, in state, or in school—our
forms of religion, our politics, our literature, such as it is—is only
temporary and transitional. When we advance further into
Africa, and become one with the great tribes on the continent,
these things will take the form which the genius of the race shall
prescribe.
The civilisation of that vast population, untouched by foreign
influence, not yet affected by European habits, is not to be organised
according to foreign patterns, but will organise itself according to
the nature of the people and the country. Nothing that we are
doing now can be absolute or permanent, because nothing is normal
or regular. Everything is provisional or tentative.
The College is only a machine, an instrument to assist in carry¬
ing forward our regular work—devised not only for intellectual ends,.
Liberal Education for Africans.
83
but for social purposes, for religious duty, for patriotic aims, for
racial development; and when as an instrument, as a means, it fails,
for any reason whatever, to fulfil its legitimate functions, it is the
duty of the country, as well as the interest of the country, to see
that it is stimulated into healthful activity; or, if this is impossible,
to see that it is set aside as a pernicious obstruction. We cannot
afford to waste time in dealing with insoluble problems under im¬
possible conditions. When the College was first founded, according
to the generous conception of our friends abroad, they probably
supposed that they were founding an institution which was to be at
once complete in its appointments and to go on working regularly
and effectively as colleges usually do in countries where people have
come to understand, from years of experience and trial, their intel¬
lectual, social, and political needs, and the methods for supplying
those needs. In their efforts to assist us to become sharers in the
advantages of their civilisation, they have aimed at establishing in¬
stitutions a priori for our development. That is, they have, by a
course of reasoning natural to them, concluded that certain methods-
and agencies which have been successful among themselves must
be successful among Africans. They have, on general considerations,
come to certain conclusions as to what ought to apply to us. They
have not, perhaps, sufficiently borne in mind that a college in a
new country and among an inexperienced people must be, at least
in the earlier periods of its existence, different from a college in
an old country and among a people who understand themselves
and their work. But, from the little experience we have had on
this side of the water, we have learned enough to know that no
a priori arrangements can be successfully employed in the pro¬
motion of our progress. We are arriving at the principles necessary
for our guidance, through experience, through difficulties, through
failures. The process is slow and sometimes discouraging, but, after
a while, we shall reach the methods of growth that are adapted
to our wants. The work of a college like ours, and among a people
like our people, must be at first generative. It must create a
sentiment favourable to its existence. It must generate the intel¬
lectual and moral state in the community which will give it not
84
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
only a congenial atmosphere in which to thrive, but food and
nutriment for its enlargement and growth; and out of this will
naturally come the material conditions of its success.
Liberia College has gone through one stage of experience. We
are, to-day, at the threshold of another. It has, to a great extent,
•created a public sentiment in its favour; but it has not yet done its
generative work. It is now proposed to take a new departure and,
by a system of instruction more suited to the necessities of the
country and the race—that is to say, more suited to the develop¬
ment of the individuality and manhood of the African—to bring
the institution more within the scope of the co-operation and
enthusiasm of the people. It is proposed also, as soon as we can
command the necessary means, to remove the College operations
to an interior site, where health of body, the indispensable condition
of health of mind, can be secured; where the students may devote
a portion of their time to manual labour in the cultivation of the
fertile lands which will be accessible, and thus assist in procuring
from the soil the means for meeting a large part of the necessary
expenses; and where access to the institution will be convenient to
the aborigines. The work immediately before us, then, is one of
reconstruction, and the usual difficulties which attend reconstruc¬
tion, of any sort, beset our first step. The people generally are not
yet prepared to understand their own interest in the great work to
be done for themselves and their children, and the part they should
take in it; and we shall be obliged to work for some time to come,
not only without the popular sympathy which we think our due,
but with utterly inadequate resources.
This is inevitable in the present condition of our progress. All
we can hope is that the work will go on, hampered though it may
be, until, in spite of misappreciation and disparagement, there can
be raised up a class of minds who will give a healthy tone to
society, and exert an influence widespread enough to bring to the
institution that indigenous sympathy and support without which
it cannot thrive. It is our hope and expectation that there will
rise up men, aided by instruction and culture in this College, im¬
bued with public spirit, who will know how to live and work and
Liberal Education for Africans.
85
prosper in this country, how to use all favouring outward condi¬
tions, how to triumph by intelligence, by tact, by industry, by
perseverance, over the indifference of their own people, and how
to overcome the scorn and opposition of the enemies of the race—
men who will be determined to make this nation honourable
among the nations of the earth.
We have in our curriculum, adopted some years ago, a course
of study corresponding, to some extent, to that pursued in European
and American colleges. To this we shall adhere as nearly as.
possible; but experience has already suggested, and will, no doubt,
from time to time suggest, such modifications as are required by
our peculiar circumstances.
The object of all education is to secure growth and efficiency,
to make a man all that his natural gifts will allow him to become
to produce self-respect, a proper appreciation of our own powers
and of the powers of other people; to beget a fitness for one's
sphere of life and action, and an ablility to discharge the duties it
imposes. Now, if we take these qualities as the true outcome of
a correct education, then every one who is acquainted with the
facts must admit that, as a rule, in the entire civilised world, the
Negro, notwithstanding his two hundred years' residence with
Christian and civilised races, has nowhere received anything like
a correct education. We find him everywhere—in the United
States, in the West Indies, in South America—largely unable to
cope with the responsibilities which devolve upon him. Not only
is he not sought after for any position of influence in the political
movements of those countries, but he is even denied admission to
ecclesiastical appointments of importance.
The Eev. Henry Venn, late Secretary of the Church Missionary
Society, writing in 1867 to the Bishop of Kingston, Jamaica, of the
Negro of that island, says :—
There can be no doubt in the minds of those who have watched the
progress of modern missions that a chief cause of the failure of the Jamaica
Mission has been the deficiency of Negro teachers for the Negro race. 1
1 Memoirs of Rev. Henry Venn, B.D., p. 215.
86
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
With regard to the same island, Bishop Courtenay, in an address
before the American Episcopal Convention in 1874, said :
We have not, as yet, in Jamaica, one priest of purely African race. At the
present moment no Negro in holy orders could command that respect in
Jamaica which a white man could command.2
Bishop Mitchinson, of Barbadoes, at the Pan-Anglican Council
in London, in 1878, said with regard to his diocese :—
Experience in my diocese has taught me to be mistrustful of intellectual
gifts in the coloured race, for they do not seem generally to connote sterling
■work and fitness for the Christian ministry. ... I do not think the time
has come, or is even near, when the ranks of the clergy will be largely recruited
in the West Indies by the Negro race.3
But this testimony is borne not only by white people, who
might be supposed to be influenced by prejudice; it is the expe¬
rience also of all thinking Negroes who set themselves earnestly to
consider the work and disqualifications of the Negro in civilised
lands. All along this coast, in the civilised settlements, there is a
dissatisfaction with the results, so far, of the training of native
Africans in Europe and America, and even with their training on
the coast under European teachers.
The West African Reporter, of Sierra Leone, complains as
follows:—
We find our children, as a result of their foreign culture (we do not say, in
spite of their foreign culture, but as a result of their foreign culture), aimless
and purposeless for the race—crammed with European formulas of thought and
expression so as to astonish their bewildered relatives. Their friends wonder
at the words of their mouth ; but they wonder at other things besides their
words. They are the Polyphemus of civilisation, huge but sightless—cui
lumen ademptum.
This paragraph has been quoted in several American periodicals.
The American Missionary, the organ of the American Missionary
Association, in commenting, adds: " To some extent, the same
holds true of Negroes from the South, educated in the North, for
work in their old homes." The Foreign Missionary, organ of the
2 The Church Journal; New York, October 29, 1878.
8 The Guardian, July 3, 1878,
Liberal Education for Africans.
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, referring to the same
paragraph, says:—
We would further add, that Negroes educated anywhere out of Africa labour
under certain disadvantages in becoming missionaries to the Heathen of their
own race. As foreigners, with foreign habits, they fail to exert the influence
wielded by Anglo-Saxons. We cannot hand over the evangelisation of Africa
to the coloured race, except so fast and so far as they can be trained, like
Bishop Crowther's men, on the soil.
To a certain extent—perhaps to a very important extent—
Negroes trained on the soil of Africa have the advantage of those
trained in foreign countries; but in all, as a rule, the intellectual
and moral results, thus far, have been far from satisfactory. There
are many men of book-learning, but few, very few, of any capability
—even few who have that amount, or that sort,*of culture, which
produces self-respect, confidence in one's self, and efficiency in
work. Now, why is this ? The evil, it is considered, lies in the
system and method of European training to which Negroes are,
everywhere in Christian lands, subjected, and which everywhere
affects them unfavourably. Of a different race, different suscepti¬
bility, different bent of character from that of the European, they
have been trained under influences in many respects adapted only
to the Caucasian race. Nearly all the books they read, the very
instruments of their culture, have been such as to force them from
the groove which is natural to them, where they would be strong
and effective, without furnishing them with any avenue through
which they may move naturally • and free from obstruction.
Christian and so-called civilised Negroes live, for the most part in
foreign countries, where they are only passive spectators of the
deeds of a foreign race; and where, with other impressions which
they receive from without, an element of doubt as to their own
capacity and their own destiny is fastened upon them, and inheres
in their intellectual and social constitution. They deprecate their
own individuality, and would escape from| it if they could. And
in countries like this, where they are jfree from the hampering
surroundings of an alien race, they still read and study the books
of foreigners, and form their idea of everything that man may do,
or ought to do, according to the standard held up in those
88 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
teachings. Hence, without the physical or mental aptitude for the
enterprises which they are taught to admire and revere, they
attempt to copy and imitate them, and share the fate of all
copyists and imitators. Bound to move on a lower level, they
acquire and retain a practical inferiority, transcribing, very often,
the faults rather than the virtues of their models.
Besides this result of involuntary impressions, they often re¬
ceive direct teachings which are not only incompatible with, but
destructive of, their self-respect.
In all English-speaking countries the mind of the intelligent
Negro child revolts against the descriptions given in elementary
books—geographies, travels, histories—of the Negro; but though
he experiences an instinctive revulsion from these caricatures and
misrepresentations, he is obliged to continue, as he grows in years,
to study such pernicious teachings. After leaving school he finds
the same things in newspapers, in reviews, in novels, in quasi
scientific works; and after a while—scepe cadendo—they begin to
seem to him the proper things to say and to feel about his race,
and he accepts what, at first, his fresh and unbiassed feelings
naturally and indignantly repelled. Such is the effect of repetition.
Having embraced, or at least assented, to these errors and false¬
hoods about himself, he concludes that his only hope of rising in
the scale of respectable manhood is to strive after whatever is most
unlike himself and most alien to his peculiar tastes. And whatever
his literary attainments or acquired ability, he fancies that he must
grind at the miil which is provided for him, putting in the material
furnished to his hands, bringing no contribution from his own field;
and of course nothing comes out but what is put in. Thus he can
never bring any real assistance to the European. He can never
attain to that essence of progress which Mr. Herbert Spencer
describes as difference; and therefore, he never acquires the self-
respect or self-reliance of an independent contributor. He is not an
independent help, only a subordinate help; so that the European feels
that he owes him no debt, and moves on in contemptuous in¬
difference of the Negro, teaching him to contemn himself
Those who have lived in civilised communities, where there are
Liberal Education for Africans. 89
different races, know the disparaging views which are entertained
of the blacks by their neighbours—and often, alas ! by themselves.
The standard of all physical and intellectual excellencies in the
present civilisation being the white complexion, whatever deviates
from that favoured colour is proportionally depreciated, until the-
black which is the opposite, becomes not only the most unpopular
but the most unprofitable colour. Black men, and especially black
women, in such communities, experience the greatest imaginable in¬
convenience. They never feel at home. In the depth of their being
they always feel themselves strangers in the land of bheir exile, and
the only escape from this feeling is to escape from themselves.
And this feeling of self-depreciation is not diminished, as I have
intimated above, by the books they read. Women, especially, are
fond of reading novels and light literature; and it is in these
writings that flippant and eulogistic reference is constantly made
to the superior physical and mental characteristics of the Caucasian
race, which, by contrast, suggests the inferiority of other races—
especially of that race which is furthest removed from it in
appearance.
It is painful in America to see the efforts which are made by
Negroes to secure outward conformity to the appearance of the
dominant race.
This is by no means surprising; but what is surprising is that,
under the circumstances, any Negro has retained a particle of self-
respect. Now in Africa, where the colour of the majority is black,
the fashion in personal matters is naturally suggested by the
personal characteristics of the race, and we are free from the
necessity of submitting to the use of " incongruous feathers awk¬
wardly stuck on." Still, we are held in bondage by our indis¬
criminate and injudicious use of a foreign literature ; and we strive
to advance by the methods of a foreign race. In this effort we
struggle with the odds against us. We fight at the disadvantage
which David would have experienced in Saul's armour. The
African must advance by methods of his own. He must possess a
power distinct from that of the European. It has been proved
that he knows how to take advantage of European culture, and
H
go
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
that he can be benefited by it. This proof was perhaps necessary,
but it is not sufficient. We must show that we are able to go alone,
to carve out our own way. We must not be satisfied that, in this
nation, European influence shapes our polity, makes our laws,
rules in our tribunals, and impregnates our social atmosphere.
We must not suppose that the Anglo-Saxon methods are final,
that there is nothing for us to find out for our own guidance, and
that we have nothing to teach the world. There is inspiration for
us also. We must study our brethren in the interior, who know
better than we do the laws of growth for the race. We see among
them the rudiments of that which, with fair play and opportunity,
will develop into important and effective agencies for our work.
We look too much to foreigners, and are dazzled almost to blind¬
ness by their exploits—so as to fancy that they have exhausted
the possibilities of humanity. In our estimation they, like Long¬
fellow's Iagoo, have done and can do everything better than
anybody else:—
Never heard lie an adventure
But himself had made a greater ;
Never any deed of daring,
But himself had done a bolder;
Never any marvellous story
But himself could tell a stranger.
No one ever shot an arroiv
Half so far and high as he had ;
Ever caught so many fishes,
Ever killed so many reindeer,
Ever trapped so many beaver.
None could run so fast as he could ;
None could dive so deep as he could;
None could swim so far as he could:
None had made so many journeys;
None had seen so many wonders,
As this wonderful Iagoo.
But there are possibilities before us not yet dreamed of bv the
Iagoos of civilisation. Dr. Alexander Winchell, Professor in one of
the American universities—who has lately written a book, in the
name of Science, in which he reproduces all the old slanders against
the Negro, and writes of the African at home as if Livingstone.
Liberal Education for Africans.
Barth, Stanley and Cameron had never written—mentions it, as
one of the evidences of Negro inferiority, that in " Liberia he is
indifferent to the benefits of civilisation."4 I stand here to-day to
justify and commend the Negro of Liberia—and of everywhere
else in Africa—for rejecting with scorn, " always and every time,"
the "benefits" of a civilisation whose theories are to degrade him
in the scale of humanity, and of which such sciolists as Dr. Winchell
are the exponents and representative elements. We recommend
all Africans to treat such "benefits" with even more decided
" indifference " than that with which the guide in Dante treated
the despicable herd—
Non ragionam di lor, ma guarda, e passa.
Those of us who have travelled in foreign countries, and who
witness the general results of European influence along this coast,
have many reasons for misgivings and reserves and anxieties about
European civilisation for this country. Things which have been of
great advantage to Europe may work ruin to us; and there is often
such a striking resemblance, or such a close connection between
the hurtful and the beneficial, that we are not always able to dis¬
criminate. I have heard of a native in one of the settlements on
the coast who, having grown up in the use of the simple but efficient
remedies of the country doctors, and having prospered in business,
conceived the idea that he must avail himself of the medicines he
saw used by the European traders. Suffering from sleeplessness he
was advised to take Dover's powders, but, in his inexperience,
took instead an overdose of morphine, and next morning he was a
corpse. So we have reason to apprehend that in our indiscriminate
appropriations of European agencies] or methods in our political,
educational, and social life, we are often imbibing overdoses of
morphine, when we fancy we are only taking Dover's powders!
And it is for this reason, while we are anxious for immigration
from America and desirous that the immigrants shall push as fast
as possible into the interior, that we look with anxiety and concern
at the difficulties and troubles which must arise from their miscon¬
ception of the work to be done in this country. I apprehend that
4 Pre-Adamite Man, p. 265.
g2 Christianityj Islam and the Negro Race.
in their progress towards the interior there will be friction, ir ' ^ "
and conflicts; and our brethren, in certain portions of the United
States, are, at this moment, witnessing a state of things among
their superiors which they will naturally want to reproduce in this
country, and which, if reproduced here, will utterly extinguish the
flickering light of the Lone Star, and close forever this open door of
Christian civilisation into Africa.
Mr. Matthew Arnold reminds us5 that when some one talked to
Themistocles of an art of memory, he answered, " Teach me rather
to forget." The full meaning of this aspiration must be realised in
the life of the Christian Negro before he can become a full man, or
a successful worker in his fatherland.
In the prosecution of the work of a college in America for the
education of Negro youth, it seems to me, therefore, that the aim
should be, to a great extent, to assist their power of forgetfulness
■—an achievement of extreme difficulty, I imagine, in that country
where, from the very action of the surrounding atmosphere, " the
interstices with which Nature has provided the human memory,
through which many things once known pass into oblivion, are
kept constantly closed."
In the prosecution of the work of a college for the training of
youth in this country, the aim, it occurs to me, should be to study
the causes of Negro inefficiency in civilised lands; and, so far as it
has resulted from the training they have received, to endeavour
to avoid what we conceive to be the sinister elements in that
training.
In the curriculum of Liberia College, therefore, it will be our
aim to increase the amount of purely disciplinary agencies, and to
reduce to its minimum the amount of those distracting influences
to which I have referred, as hindering the proper growth of
the race.
The true principle of mental culture is perhaps this: to preserve
an accurate balance between the studies which carry the mind out
of itself, and those which recall it home again. When we receive
8 Preface to Johnson's Lives of the Poets.
Liberal Education for Africans,
93
impressions from without we must bring from our own conscious¬
ness the idea that gives them shape ; we must mould them by our
own individuality. Now, in looking over the whole civilised world
I see no place where this sort of culture for the Negro can be better
secured than in Liberia—where he may, with less interruption from
surrounding influences, find out his place and his work, develop
his peculiar gifts and powers ; and for the training of Negro youth
upon the basis of their own idiosyncracy, with a sense of race-
individuality, ' self-respect, and liberty, there is no institution so
well adapted as Liberia College with its Negro faculty and Negro
students.
We are often told of the advantages which students of the
African race are enjoying in the institutions established for their
training in America; but listen to the testimony of Dr. Winchell
with regard to the position of the students in one of the best of
them, namely, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee. He says:—
I have sometimes, when visiting Fisk University at Nashville, looked with
admiration at some magnificently formed heads which are there working,
under all the discouragements] of social repression, for knowledge, culture, and
high respectability. My sympathies have been deeply moved at the evidences
of their earnestness and conscious strength, coupled with a keen and crushing
perception of the weight of the social ban which their race brings upon them.
I will not refrain from expressing here the hope that such cases may receive
every encouragement and mark of appreciation.6
This testimony, coming from one who is ostentatiously anti-
Negro, is peculiarly striking; but one is amused at the naivete
exhibited in the expression of the " hope" recorded in the last
sentence by a man who has assailed the Negro with every weapon
of antipathy which could be drawn from his imagination, and is
doing all in his power to swell the Negrophobic literature, and
to intensify a public sentiment sufficiently hostile to that class
of people.
It has always been to me, let me say in passing, a matter of
surprise that there should be found white men who—in spite of this
anti-Negro literature, with the Notts and Gliddons and Winch ells
and Bakers to instruct them, with the prophets of ill on every hand
6 Pre-Adamite Man, p. 182 (note).
94 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
—are still willing and ready to give their means and their time and
their labour for the promotion of the intellectual training of such a
race. It is astonishing, not that so little money is spent on African
education, but that any at all is spent by men who, from their
childhood, have been imbibing from the books they read, and from
their surroundings, sentiments of disparagement and distrust of the
possibilities of the African race.
We may conclude, then, that there is no field so well adapted
for the work of Negro training as Liberia; and it must be our aim
to bring Liberia College up to the work to be done in this peculiar
and interesting field. Now, what is the course to be adopted in
the education of youth in this College ?
I have endeavoured to give careful consideration to this im¬
portant subject; and I propose now to sketch the outlines of a
programme for the education of the students in Liberia College,
and, I may venture to add, of the Negro youth everywhere in Africa
who hope to take a leading part in the work of the race and of the
country. I will premise that, generally, in the teaching of our
youth, far more is made of the importance of imparting information
than of training the mind. Their minds are too much taken
possession of by mere information drawn from European sources.
Lord Bacon says that "reading makes a full man;" but the
indiscriminate reading by the Negro of European literature has
made him, in many instances, too full, or has rather destroyed his
balance. " The value of a cargo," says Huxley, does not com¬
pensate for a ship being out of trim;" and the amount of knowledge
that a man has does not secure his usefulness if he has so taken it
in that he is lop-sided.
We shall devote attention principally, both for mental discipline
and information, to the earlier epochs of the world's history. It is
decided that there are five or six leading epochs in the history of
civilisation. I am following Mr. Frederic Harrison's classification.
First, there was the great permanent, stationary system of human
society, held together by a religious belief, or by social custom
growing out of that belief. This has been called tthe Theocratic
state of society. The type of that phase of civilisation was the old
Liberal Education for Africans.
95
Eastern empires. The second great type was the Greek Age of
intellectual activity and civic freedom. Next came the Roman
type of civilisation, an age of empire, of conquest, of consolidation
of nations, of law and government. The fourth great system was
the phase of civilisation which prevailed from the fall of the Roman
Empire until comparatively modern times, and was called the
Mediaeval Age, when the Church and Feudalism existed side by side.
The fifth page of history was that which began with the breaking-
up of the power of the Church on the one side, and of feudalism oa
the other—the foundation of modern history, or the Modern Ager.-
That system has continued down to the present; but, if sub¬
divided, it would form the sixth type, which is the Age since the
French Revolution—the Age of social and popular development,
of modern science and industry.
We shall permit our curriculum the unrestricted study of the
first four epochs, but especially the second, third and fourth, from
which the present civilisation of Western Europe is mainly derived.
There has been no period of history more full of suggestive energy,
both physical and intellectual, than those epochs. Modern Europe
boasts of its period of intellectual activity, but none can equal, for
life and freshness, the Greek and Roman prime. No modern writers
will ever influence the destiny of the race to the same extent that
the Greeks and Romans have done.
We can afford to exclude, then, as subjects of study, at least in
the earlier college years, the events of the fifth and sixth epochs,
and the works which, in large numbers, have been written during
those epochs. I know that during these periods some of the
greatest works of human genius have been composed. I know that
Shakespeare and Milton, Gibbon and Macaulay, Hallam and Lecky,
Froude, Stubbs and Green, belong to these periods. It is not in
my power, even if I had the will, to disparage the works of these
masters; but what I wish to say is, that these are not the works on
which the mind of the youthful African should be trained. It was
during the sixth period that the transatlantic slave-trade arose, and
those theories—theological, social, and political—were invented for
the degradation and proscription of the Negro. This epoch con-
g6 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
tinues to this day, and has an abundant literature and a prolific
authorship. It has produced that whole tribe of declamatory
Negrophobists, whose views, in spite of their emptiness and imper¬
tinence, are having their effect upon the ephemeral literature of
the day—a literature which is shaping the life of the Negro in
Christian lands. His whole theory of life, quite contrary to what
his nature intends, is being influenced, consciously and uncon¬
sciously, by the general conceptions of his race entertained by the
manufacturers of this literature—a great portion of which, made
for to-day, will not survive the next generation.
I admit that in this period there have been able defences of the
race written, but they have all been in the patronising or apolo¬
getic tone—in the spirit of that good-natured man who assured the
world that—
Fleecy locks and dark complexion
Cannot forfeit Nature's claim.
Poor Phillis Wheatly, a native African educated in America, in
her attempts at poetry is made to say, in what her biographer calls
" spirited lines "—
Remember, Christian, Negroes, black as Cain, *
May be refined, and join the angelic train.
The arguments of Wilberforce, the eloquence of Wendell Phillips,
the pathos of Uncle Tom's Cabin, are all in the same strain—that
Negroes have souls to save just as white men have, and that the
strength of Nature's claim is not impaired by their complexion and
hair. We surely cannot indulge, with the same feeling of exulta¬
tion that the Englishman or American experiences, in the proud
boast that—
We speak the language Shakespeare spoke,
The faith and morals hold which Milton held ;
for that "language, in some of its finest utterances, patronises
and apologises for us, and that "faith " has been hitherto power¬
less to save us from proscription and insult.
It is true that culture is one, and the general effects of true
culture are the same; but the native capacities of mankind differ,
-and their word and destiny differ, so that the road by which one
Liberal Education for Africans.
97
man may attain to the highest efficiency, is not that which would
conduce to the success of another. The special road which has led
to the success and elevation of the Anglo-Saxon is not that which
would lead to the success and elevation of the Negro, though we
shall resort to the same means of general culture which has enabled
the Anglo-Saxon to find out for himself the way in which he ought
to go.
The instruments of culture which we shall employ in the College
will be chiefly the Classics and Mathematics. By Classics I mean
the Greek and Latin languages and their literature. In those
languages there are not, as far as I know, a sentence, a word, or a
syllable disparaging to the Negro. He may get nourishment from
them without taking in any race-poison. They will perform no
sinister work upon his consciousness, and give 110 unholy bias to
Ms inclinations.7
71 have noticed a few lines in a poem, by some, attributed to Virgil, de¬
scribing a Negress of the lower class, which are made to do duty on all occasions
when the modern traducers of the Negro would draw countenance for their
theories from the classical writers; but similar descriptions of the lower European
saces abound in their own literature. The lines are the following, used by
JNott and Gliddon, and recently quoted by Dr. Winchell:—
Interdum clamat Cjbalen; erat unica custos ;
Afra genus, tota patiiam testante figura ;
Torta cotaam, labroque tumens, et fusca oolorem,
Pectore lata, jacens mammis, compressior alvo,
Cruribus exilis, spatiosa prodiga planta;
Continuis rimis calcanea soissa rigebant.
[Meanwhile he calls Cybale. She was his only (house) keeper. African by
race, her whole figure attesting her fatherland ; with crisped hair, swelling lip,
and dark complexion ; broad in chest, with pendant dugs, and very contracted
abdomen; with spindle shanks and broad enormous feet; her lacerated heels
were rigid with continuous cracks.]
But hear how Homer, Virgil's superior and model, sings the praises of the
Negro Eurybates, who signalised himself at the siege of Troy:—
A reverend herald in his train I knew,
Of visage solemn, sad, but sable hue.
Short woolly curls o'er-fleeced his bending head,
O'er which a promontory shoulder spread
Eurybates, in whose large soul alone,
Ulysses viewed an image of his own.
98
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
The present civilisation of Europe is greatly indebted to tlie
influence of the rich inheritance left by the civilisations of Greece
and Rome. It is impossible to imagine what would be the con¬
dition of Europe but for the influence of the so-called dead
languages and the treasures they contain.
Had the Western World been left to itself in Chinese isolation, says
Professor Huxley, there is no saying how long that state of things might have
endured ; but happily it was not left to itself. Even earlier than the 13th
century the development of Moorish civilisation in Spain, and the movement of
the Crusades, had introduced the leaven which from that day to this has never
ceased to work. At first, through the intermediation of Arabic translations,
afterwards by the study of the originals, the Western nations of Europe became
aquainted with the writings of the ancient philosophers and poets, and, in time,
with the whole of the vast literature of antiquity. Whatever there was of high
intellectual aspiration or dominant capacity, in Italy, France, Germany and
England, spent itself for centuries in taking possession of the rich inheritance
left by the dead civilisations of Greece and Borne. Marvellously aided by the
invention of printing, classical learning spread and flourished. Those who
possessed it prided themselves on having attained the highest culture then
within the reach of mankind.8
Passing over, then, for a certain time, the current literature of
Western Europe, which is, after all, derived and secondary, we will
resort to the fountain head ; and in the study of the great masters,
in the languages in which they wrote, we shall get the required
mental discipline without unfavourably affecting our sense of race
individuality or our own self-respect. There is nothing that we
need to know for the work of building up this country, in its moralr
political and religious character, which we may not learn from the
ancients. There is nothing in the domain of literature, philosophy,,
or religion for which we need be dependent upon the moderns^
Law and philosophy we may get from the Romans and the Greeks,
religion from the Hebrews.
Even Europeans, advanced as they are, are every day devoting
more and more attention to the Classics. A very recent writer
remarks:—
We have not done with the Hellenes yet, in spite of all the labour spent and
all the books written on them, and their literature bequeathed to us It has,
8 Inaugural Address at the opening of Mason Science College, Birmingham,
September, 1880.
Liberal Education for Africans.
99
indeed, been said that -we know nearly as much about the Greeks and Romans
as we shall ever know; but this can only be true of the mass of facts, to which,,
without some new disooveries, we are not likely to add greatly. It is not in the
least true in regard to the significance of Hellenic history and literature.
Beyond and above the various interpretations placed by different ages upon the
great writers of Greece, lies the meaning which longer experience and more
improved methods of criticism, and the test of time declare, to be the true one.
From this point of view, much remains, and will long remain, to be done,,
whether we look to the work of the scholar or to the influence of Hellenic
thought on civilisation. We have not yet found all the scattered limbs of
Truth ; it may be that we are only commencing the search The Gorgias
of Plato and the Ethics of Aristotle are more valuable than modem books on the
same subjects, for the simple reason that they are nearer the beginning. They
have a greater freshness, and appeal more directly to the growing mind."9
If we turn to Eome, we find equal instruction in all the elements-
of a correct and prosperous nationality. " The education of the
world in the principles of a sound jurisprudence," says Dean
Merivale, " was the most wonderful work of the Eoman Conquerors,
It was complete, it was universal; and in permanence it has far-
outlasted—at least, in its distinct results—the duration of the
empire itself."
" As supernatural wisdom came from God through the mouths-
of the prophets," said St. Augustine, " so also natural wisdom,,
social justice, came from the same God through the mouth of the
Eoman legislators.''10 [Leges Romanorum divinitus per ora principum-
emanarunt.]
Eoman civilisation produced not only great men but good men, of high views-
of human life and human responsibility, with a high standard of what merL
ought to aim at, with a high belief of what they ought to do. And it not only
produced individuals, it produced a strong and permanent force of sentiment
it produced a character shared very unequally among the people, but powerful
enough to determine the course of history. . . .Certainly, in no people which
the world has ever seen has the sense of public duty been keener or stronger
than in Rome, or has lived on with unimpaired vitality through great changes
for a longer time. . . . Its early legends dwelt upon the strange and terrible
sacrifices which supreme loyalty to the commonwealth had enacted and
obtained without a murmur from her sons. They told of a founder of Roman
freedom dooming his two young sons to the axe for having tampered with a con¬
spiracy against the state ; of great men resigning office because they bore a>
9 Hellenica; edited by Evelyn Abbott, M.A., LL.D.—London, 1880.
10 Quoted by P&re Hyacinthe in the Nineteenth Century, February, 1880.
IOO
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
dangerous name, or pulling down their own houses because too great for priva e
citizens ; of soldiers, to whose death fate had bound victory, solemnly devoting
themselves to die, or leaping into the gulf which would only close on a living
•victim; of a great family purchasing peace in civil troubles by leaving the city
and turning their energy into a foreign war in which they perished , of the
captive general who advised his countrymen to send him back to certain torture
and death, rather than grant the terms he was commissioned to propose as the
price of his release. Whatever we may think of these stories, they show what
was in the mind of those who told and repeated themand they continued to
be the accredited types and models of Roman conduct throughout Roman
.history.11
It is our purpose to cultivate the study of the languages of the
two great peoples to whom I have referred as among the most
■effective instruments of intellectual discipline.
A great deal of misapprehension prevails in the popular mind as
to the utility, in a liberal education of the so-called dead languages,
and many fancy that the time devoted to their study is time lost;
hut let it be understood that their study is not pursued merely for
the information they impart. If information were all, it would be
far more useful to learn the French and German, or any other of
the modern languages, during the time devoted to Greek and Latin;
but what is gained by the study of the ancient languages is that
strengthening and disciplining of the mind which enables the
student in after life to lay hold of, and, with comparatively little
difficulty, to master, any business to which he may turn his attention.
A recent scholarly and experienced writer says on this subject:—
Even if it were conceivable that a youth should entirely forget all the facts,
pictures, and ideas he had learned from the Classics, together with all the rules
■of the Greek and Latin grammar, his mind would still, as an instrument, be
•superior to that of every one who has not passed through the same training,
Nay, even the youth who was always last in his class, and who dozed out his
nine years on the benches of a classical school, only half attentive to his
teacher, and not doing half his tasks— even he will surpass, in mental mobility,
the most deligent scholar who has been taught only the modem languages and a
quantity of special and disconnected knowledge. One of the first bankers in a
foreign capital, lately told me that, in the course of a year he had given some
thirty clerks, who had been educated expressly for commerce in commercial
schools, a trial in his offices, and was not able to make use of a single one of
them; while those who came from the German schools (and had studied the
11 The Gifts of Civilisation; by Dean Church.—New edition. London, 1880.
Liberal Education for Africans.
ior
Classics), although they knew nothing whatever of business matters to begin
with, soon made themselves perfect masters of them.12
The study of the Classics also lays the foundation for
the successful pursuit of scientific knowledge. It so stimulates-
the mind that it arouses the student's interest in all problems
of science. It is a matter of history that the scientific study
of Nature followed immediately after the revival of classical
learning.
But we shall also study Mathematics. These, as instruments of
culture, are everywhere applicable. A course of Algebra, Geometryr
and Higher Mathematics must accompany, step by step, classical
studies. Neither of these means of discipline can be omitted
without loss. The qualities which make a man succeed in master¬
ing the Classics and Mathematics are also those which qualify him
for the practical work of life. Care, industry, judgment, tact, are
the elements of success anywhere and everywhere. The training
and discipline, the patience and endurance, to which each man
must submit in order to success; the resolution which relaxes no
effort, but fights the hardest when difficulties are to be surmounted
—these are qualities which boys go to school to cultivate, and these
they acquire, in a greater or less degree, by a successful study of
Classics and Mathematics. The boy who shirks these studies, or
retires from his class because he is unwilling to contend with the
difficulties they involve, lacks those qualities which make a
successful and influential character.
It will be our aim to introduce into our curriculum also the
Arabic, and some of the principal native languages—by means of
which we may have intelligent intercourse with the millions
accessible to us in the interior, and learn more of our own country.
We have young men who are experts in the geography and customs
of foreign countries; who can tell all about the proceedings of
foreign statesmen in countries thousands of miles away; can talk
glibly of London, Berlin, Paris and Washington; know all about
Gladstone, Bismarck, Gambetta, and Hayes; but who knows any-
12 Karl Hillebrand in Contemporary Review, August, 1880.
102 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
■thing about Musahdu, Medina, Kankan, or Sego only a few hun¬
dred miles from us ? Who can tell anything of the policy or doings
of Fanfi-doreh, Ibrahima Sissi, or Fahqueh-queh, or Simoro of
Boporu—only a few steps from us ? These are hardly known. Now
as N egroes, allied in blood and race to these people, this is disgrace¬
ful ; and as a nation, if we intend to grow and prosper in this
•country, it is impolitic, it is short-sighted, it is unpatriotic; but it
lias required time for us to grow up to these ideas, to understand
our position in this country. In order to accelerate our future
progress, and to give to the advance we make the element of per¬
manence, it will be our aim in the College to produce men of ability.
Ability or capability is the power to use with effect the instruments
in our hands. The bad workman complains of his tools; but, even
when he is satisfied with the excellence of his tools, he cannot pro¬
duce the results which an able workman will produce, even with
indifferent tools.
If a man has the learning of Solomon, but, for some reason,
either in himself or his surroundings, cannot bring his learning
into useful application, that man is lacking in ability. Now what
'we desire to do is to produce ability in our youth; and whenever
"we find a youth, however brilliant in his powers of acquisition, who
lacks common sense, and who, in other respects, gives evidence of
the absence of those qualities which enable a man to use his
knowledge for the benefit of his country and his fellow-man,
-we shall advise him to give up books and betake himself to other
walks of life. A man without common sense, without tact,
as a mechanic or agriculturist or trader, can do far less harm to
the public than the man without common sense who has had
the opportunity of becoming, and has had the reputation of being,
& scholar.
I trust that arrangements will be made by which girls of
our country may be admitted to share in the advantages of this
College. I cannot see why our sisters should not receive exactly
the same general culture as we do. I think that the progress of
the country will be more rapid and permanent when the girls
receive the same general training as the boys; and our women,
Liberal Education for Africans.
besides being able to appreciate the intellectural labours of their
husbands and brothers, will be able also to share in the pleasures
of intellectual pursuits. We need not fear that they will be less
graceful, less natural, or less womanly; but we may be sure that
they will make wiser mothers, more appreciative wives, and more
affectionate sisters.
In the religious work of the College, the Bible will be our text¬
book, the Bible without note or comment—especially as we
propose to study the original language in which the New Testament
was written; and we may find opportunity, in connection with the
Arabic, to study the Old Testament. The teachings of Christianity
are of universal application. " Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid." The great truths of the Sermon on the
Mount are as universally accepted as Euclid's anxioms. The mean¬
ing of the Good Samaritan is as certain as that of the forty-seventh
proposition, and a great deal plainer.
Christianity is not only not a local religion, but it has
adapted itself to the people wherever it has gone. No language
or social existence has been any barrier to it ; and I have
often thought that in this country it will acquire wider power,
deeper influence, and become instinct with a higher vitality than
anywhere else.
When we look at the treatment which our' own race and
other so-called inferior races have received from Christian
nations, we cannot but be struck with the amazing dissimilitude
and disproportion between the original idea of Christianity
as expressed by Christ, and the practice of it by his professed
followers.
The sword of the conqueror and the cries of the conquered have
attended or preceded the introduction of this faith wherever carried
by Europeans, and some of the most enlightened minds have
sanctioned the subjugation of weaker races—the triumph of Might
over Eight—that the empire of civilisation might be extended; but
these facts do not affect the essential principles of the religion.
We must gather its doctrines not from the examples of some of its
adherents but from the sacred records. But even as exemplified in
104 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
human action, notwithstanding the drawbacks to which I have
referred—
It has so manifested its superiority, says Dr. Peabody, in beneficent
action, to all the other working forces of the world combined, that the
experimental evidence for it under this head is oppressive and unmanage¬
able from its multiplicity and fulness. • .. It is in the exclusively
Christian elements that the great workers of the last eighteen centuries have
been of one mind and heart. No matter what their sphere of labour, wherever
we see pre-eminent ability and success in a life-work worth performing, we find
but the reproduction of the specifically Christian elements of St. Paul's energy,
a spirit profoundly moved in grateful sympathy with a loving suffering Redeemer,
a strong emotional recognition of human brotherhood, and a merging of self in
the sense of a mission and a charge from God. ... If you were to take away
Christian work and workers from the world, and destroy the vestiges of what has
been wrought in Christ's name, I doubt whether those who now reject or despise
the Gospel would think the world any longer worth living in.13
Now this is the influence which is to work that great reformation
in our land for which we hope. This is the influence which is to
leaven the whole country and to become the principle of the new
civilisation which we believe is to be developed on this continent.
It has already produced important changes, notwithstanding its
slow and irregular growth, notwithstanding the apparent scantiness
and meagreness of its visible fruits; and it shall be the aim of this
College to work in the spirit of the great Master who was manifested
as an example of self-sacrifice to the highest truth and the highest
good—that spirit which excluded none from his converse, which
kept company with publicans and sinners that he might benefit
them, which went anywhere and everywhere to seek and to save
that which is lost. We will study to cultivate whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, we will endeavour to think on these
things.
Our fathers have borne testimony to the surrounding Heathen of
13 Christianity and Science, by Andrew P. Peabody, D D t,T, d "NT
York, 1875. '' ' •~JNew
Liberal Education for Africans.
the value and superiority of Christianity. They endeavoured to
accomplish what they saw ought to be accomplished; and, according
to the light within them, fought against wrong and asserted the
right. Let us not dwell too much on the mistakes of the past.
Let us be thankful for what of good has been done, and let us do
better if we can. We, like our predecessors, are only frail and im¬
perfect beings, feelers after truth. Others, let us hope, will come
by-and-bye and do better than we—efface our errors and correct our
mistakes, see truths clearly which we now see but dimly, and truths
dimly which we do not see at all. The true ideal, the proper work
of the race, will grow brighter and more distinct as we advance
in culture.
Nor can we be assisted in our work by looking back and
denouncing the deeds of the oppressors of our fathers, by per¬
petuating race antagonism. It is natural, perhaps, that we should
at times feel indignation in view of past injustice, but continually
dwelling upon it will not help us. It is neither edifying nor
dignified to be forever declaiming about the wrongs of the race.
Lord Beaconsfield once said in the House of Commons that Irish
members were too much in the habit of clanking their chains
on rising to speak. Such a habit, when it ceases to excite pity,
begets contempt and ridicule. What we need is wider and deeper
culture, more intimate intercourse with our interior brethren, more
energetic advance to the healthy regions.
As those who have suffered affliction in a foreign land, we have
no antecedents from which to gather inspiration.
All our traditions and experiences are connected with a foreign
race. We have no poetry or philosophy but that of our taskmasters.
The songs that live in our ears and are often on our lips are the
songs which we heard sung by those who shouted while we groaned
and lamented. They sang of their history, which was the history
of our degradation. They recited their triumphs, which contained
the record of our humiliation. To our great misfortune, we learned
their prejudices and their passions, and thought we had their
aspirations and their power. Now, if we are to make an independent
nation—a strong nation—we must listen to the songs of our
i
106 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
unsophisticated brethren as they sing of their history, as they tell
of their traditions, of the wonderful and mysterious events of their
tribal or national life, of the achievements of what we call their
superstitions; we must lend a ready ear to the ditties of the Kroomen
who pull our boats, of the Pesseh and Golah men, who till our
farms; we must read the compositions, rude as we may think them,
of the Mandingoes and the Veys. We shall in this way get back
the strength of the race, like the giant of the ancients, who always
gained strength, for his conflict with Hercules, whenever he touched
his Mother Earth.
And this is why we want the College away from the seaboard—
with its constant intercourse with foreign manners and low foreign
ideas—that we may have free and uninterrupted intercourse with
the intelligent among the tribes of the interior; that the students,
even from the books to which they will be allowed access, may
conveniently flee to the forests and fields of Manding and the
Niger, and mingle with our brethren and gather fresh inspiration
and fresh and living ideas.
It is the complaint of the intelligent Negro in America that the
white people pay no attention to his suggestions or his writings;
but this is only because he has nothing new to say—nothing that
they have not said before him, and that they cannot say better
than he can. Let us depend upon it, that the emotions and thoughts
which are natural to us command the curiosity and respect of others
far more than the showy display of any mere acquisitions which we
have derived from them, and which they know depend more upon
our memory than upon any real capacity. "What we must follow is
all that concerns our individual growth. Let us do our own work
and we shall be strong and worthy of respect; try to do the work of
others, and we shall be weak and contemptible. There is mag¬
netism in original action, in self-trust, which others cannot resist.
I think we mistake the meaning of the lines of the poet which are
so often quoted—
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Liberal Education for Africans.
How shall we make our " lives sublime " ? Not by imitating
others, but by doing well our own part as they did theirs. We are
to study the " footprints " that when we are " forlorn," or have been
" shipwrecked," we may " take heart again;" not to put our own
feet in the impressions previously made, for by so doing we should
be compelled at times to lengthen, and at times to shorten our
pace—sometimes to make the strides of Hiawatha, and sometimes
to crawl—and thus not only cut a most ungainly figure, but
accomplish nothing, either for ourselves or the world.
Whilst I read the poets, says Emerson, I think that nothing new can
be said about morning and evening; but when I see the day break, I am not
reminded of these Homeric or Shakespearian or Miltonic or Chaucerian pictures.
No; but I am cheered by the moist, warm, glittering, budding melodious hour,
that takes down the narrow walls of my soul, and extends its life and pulsation
to the very horizon. That is morning—to cease for a bright hour to be a prisoner
of the sickly body, and to become as large as Nature.
We have a great work before us, a work unique in the history
of the world, which others who appreciate its vastness and import¬
ance, envy us the privilege of doing. The world is looking at this
Republic to see whether " order and law, religion and morality,
the rights of conscience, the rights of persons and the rights of
property," may all be secured and preserved by a government
administered entirely by Negroes.
Let us show ourselves equal to the task.
The time is past when we can be content with putting forth
elaborate arguments to prove our equality with foreign races. Those
who doubt our capacity are more likely to be convinced of their
error by the exhibition, on our part, of those qualities of energy
and enterprise which will enable us to occupy the extensive field
before us for our own advantage and the advantage of humanity—
for the purposes of civilisation, of science, of good government, and
of progress generally—than by any mere abstract argument about
the equality of races. The suspicions disparaging to us will be
dissipated only by the exhibition of the indisputable realities of a
lofty manhood as they may be illustrated in successful efforts to
build up a nation, to wrest from Nature her secrets, to lead the
van of progress in this country, and to regenerate a continent.
The Origin and Purpose of
African Colonisation.
THERE is not a thinking being, whatever his religious belief,
who does not recognise the fact that everything in the
physical and moral world proceeds according to some plan or
order; that some subtle law, call it by whatever name you please,
underlies and regulates the movements of the stars in their courses
and the sparrows in their flight. It is also the belief of all healthy
minds that that law or influence is always tending towards the
highest and best results; that its prerogative and design are to
make darkness light, crooked things straight, and rough places
smooth ; or, in the misty phraseology of modern criticism, it is the
" Eternal, not ourselves, that makes for righteousness "—that its
fiats are irrevocable and their outcome inevitable. With this
understanding, men are now constructing the science of History,
the science of Language, the science of Religion, the science oi
Society, formulating dogmas to set aside dogma, and consoling
themselves that they are moving to a higher level and solving the
problems of the Ages.
Among the conclusions to which study and research are con
ducting philosophers, none is clearer than this—that each of th(
races of mankind has a specific character and a specific work. Th<
science of Sociology is the science of Race.
In the midst of these discussions, Africa is forcing its claims fo:
consideration upon the attention of the world, and science an<
philanthropy are bringing all their resources to bear upon it
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. log
exploration and amelioration. There is hardly an important city in
Europe where there is not an organisation formed for the purpose
of dealing with some of the questions connected with this great
continent.
There is "The International African Association," founded at
Brussels in 1876, of which the King of the Belgians is the patron ;
" The Italian National Association for the Exploration and Civilisa¬
tion of Africa; " the " Association Espanola para la Esploracion del
Africa " (the King of Spain has taken great practical interest in
this Society); " The German Society for the Exploration of Africa,
founded in 1872 by the German Geographical Associations—it
receives assistance from the Government ; the " Afrikanische Gesell-
schaft," in Vienna, founded in 1876, also under royal patronage;
" The Hungarian African Association," founded in 1877; " The
National Swiss Committee for the Exploration of Central Africa."
The French Government and the French Chamber of Commerce
have made large grants of money to aid in African exploration.
Then, there is an African Association at Rotterdam, besides the
great Royal Geographical Society of England, which has a special
fund for African researches, and has recently sent Thomson to
explore the snow-covered mountains of Eastern Africa.
This anxiety to penetrate the mysteries of Africa, this readiness
to turn from the subtleties of philosophy and the fascinations of
science, in order the better to deal with the great physical fact
of an unexplored continent, is not a new experience in the world.
It is to be found among the ancients also. With a zealous
curiosity, overcoming the promptings of the finer sentiments and
the desire for military glory, Caesar proposed to abandon his
ambitious exploits for the privilege of gazing upon the source of
the Nile.
The modern desire for more accurate knowledge of Africa is
not a mere sentiment; it is the philanthropic impulse to lift up the
millions of that continent to their proper position among the
intellectual and moral forces of the world ; but it is also the com¬
mercial desire to open that vast country to the enterprises of trade.
Europe is overflowing with the material productions of its own
no Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
genius. Important foreign markets, which formerly consumed
these productions, are now closing against them. Africa seems
to furnish the only large outlet, and the desire is to make
the markets of the Soudan easily accessible to London, Manchester
and Liverpool. The depressed factories of Lancashire are waiting
to be inspired with new life and energy by the development of a
new and inexhaustible trade with the millions of Central Africa;
so that Africa, as frequently in the past, will have again to come
to the rescue and contribute to the needs of Europe. Emergencies
drove homeless wanderers to the shores of Libya:—
Defessi iEneadae, quae proxima litora, cursu
Contendunt petere, et Libyae vertuntur ad oras.
But the plans proposed by Europeans for opening up Africa, as
far as they can be carried out by themselves, are felt to be in¬
adequate. Many feel that commerce, science and philanthropy
may establish stations and trace out thoroughfares, but they also
feel that these agencies are helpless to cope fully with the thousand
questions which arise in dealing with the people.
Among the agencies proposed for carrying on the work of
civilisation in Africa, none has proved so effective as the American
Colonisation enterprise. People who talk of the civilising and
elevating influence of mere trade on that continent, do so because
they are unacquainted with the facts. Nor can missionaries alone
do this work. We do not object to trade, and we would give every
possible encouragement to the noble efforts of missionaries. We
would open the country everywhere to commercial intercourse.
We would give everywhere hospitable access to traders. Place
your trading factories at every prominent point along the coast,
and even let them be planted on the banks of the rivers. Let
them draw the rich products from remote districts. We say, also,
send the missionary to every tribe and every village. Multiply
throughout the country the evangelising agencies. Line the banks
of the rivers with the preachers of righteousness—penetrate the
jungles with those holy pioneers—crown the mountain-tops with
your churches, and fill the valleys with your schools. No single
agency is sufficient to cope with the multifarious needs of the
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. in
mighty work. But the indispensable agency is the Colony. Groups
of Christian and civilised settlers must, in every instance bring
up the rear, if the results of your work are to be widespread,
beneficial and enduring.
This was the leading idea that gave birth to the Society whose
anniversary we have met to celebrate. To-day we have the Sixty-
sixth Annual Eeport of the American Colonisation Society. This
fact by itself would excite no feeling, and, perhaps, no remark ; but
when we consider that, although this is but the sixty-sixth year of
its existence, it has been successful in founding a colony which
has now been for thirty-five years an independent nation, acknow¬
ledged by all the Powers of the earth, we cannot but congratulate
the organisation upon an achievement which, considering the cir¬
cumstances, is unparalleled in the history of civilisation, and which
must be taken as one of the most beautiful illustrations of the
spirit and tendency of Christianity.
When the Society began its work, its programme was modest,
and in the early declarations of its policy, it was found expedient to
emphasise the simplicity of its pretensions and the singleness of
its purpose. In describing its objects, one of the most eloquent of
its early supporters, Dr. Leonard Bacon, said: " The Colonisation
Society is not a missionary society, nor a society for the sup¬
pression of the slave trade, nor a society for the improvement
of the blacks, nor a society for the abolition of slavery: it is
simply a society for the establishment of a colony on the coast of
Africa."
But, in pursuance of its legitimate objects, its labours have been
fruitful in all the ways indicated in Dr. Bacon's statement. It has
not only established a colony, but it has performed most effective
missionary work; it has suppressed the slave trade along six
hundred miles of coast; it has improved the condition of the blacks
as no other means have ; and it is abolishing domestic slavery
among the aborigines of that continent.
Like all great movements which are the outcome of human
needs, and have in view the amelioration of the condition of large
masses of people, it attracted to its support, at the opening of its
112
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
career, men of conflicting views and influenced by divers motives.
Some of its adherents gave one reason for their allegiance, others
gave another ; and sometimes, to the superficial observer or to the
captious opponent, these different reasons furnished grounds for
animadversions against the Society. Though it owed its origin to
the judicious heads and philanthropic hearts of some of the best
men that ever occupied positions of prominence and trust in this
nation, yet there were those who ridiculed the scheme as wild and
impracticable. Some opposed it because they loved the Negro;
others discountenanced it because they hated the Negro. Some
considered that the Society—in wishing to give him an opportunity
for self-government—placed too high an estimate upon his ability;
others thought that the idea of sending him away to a barbarous
shore was a disparaging comment upon his capacity, and a robbing
him of his right to remain and thrive in the land of his birth. To
not a few, who neither loved nor hated the Negro, but were simply
indifferent to him, the idea of transporting a few emancipated
slaves to Africa, with the hope of bringing about a general exodus
■of the millions in this country, or of building up a nation in that
far-off land of such materials, seemed absurd and ridiculous.
The Society had hardly been fifteen years in operation when it
met with organised opposition in the American Anti-Slavery Society,
the founders of which looked upon the work of Colonisation as an
attempt to evade the duty and responsibility of emancipation. At
this time, Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, a leader of the Abolition
movement, was the most eloquent and persistent of the assailants
of the Society. He carried the war against it into England, and
pursued with unrelenting scorn and invective Mr. Elliott Cresson,
who was then representing the cause before the British public. In
the interesting life of the great anti-slavery reformer, by Oliver
Johnson, it is said that when Mr. Garrison returned to this country
from England in 1833, he brought with him a "Protest " against
the Colonisation scheme, signed by Wilberforce, Macaulay, Buxton,
O'Connell and others of scarcely less weight.1
1 William Lloyd Garrison and his Times, by Oliver Johnson ; p. 130
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 113
But Mr. Garrison ought to have known, and probably did know,
lat it was not the Colonisation scheme as conceived by its
>unders that these philanthropists opposed, for they were men of
spirit kindred to that which animated Samuel J. Mills, and the
'inleys and Caldwells, whose labours brought the Society into
eing. What they did oppose was the scheme as they saw it under
he representations of Mr. Garrison, who, himself benevolent at
leart, had been influenced by personal reasons and by the in-
udicious utterances of certain advocates of Colonisation. They
)pposed it as they saw it through the glasses of such good old
Negroes as Father Snowden, of Boston, who, in those days, offered
a, prayer for the Colonisation Society so striking in its eloquence as
to have deserved a place, in the judgment of Mr. Oliver Johnson,
in a serious narrative of the doings of the great anti-slavery leader.
" 0 God," said the simple and earnest old man, " we pray that that
seven-headed, ten-horned monster, the Colonisation Society, may
be smitten through and through with the fiery darts of truth, and
tormented as the whale between the swordfish and the thresher."2
I say that the friends of Africa in England did not oppose
African Colonisation in itself, for just about the time of Mr.
Garrison's visit to England, or very soon after, they adopted, under
the lead of Sir Thomas Eowell Buxton, a scheme for the regenera¬
tion of Africa by means of her civilised sons, gathered from the
countries of their exile, and, at great expense, sent out an expedition
to the Niger, for the purpose of securing on that river, a hundred
square miles of territory on which to settle the returning exiles.
-Capt. William Allen, who commanded the first Niger expedition,
on his return in 1834, when describing the advantages of a civilised
colony, used these words:—
The very existence of such a community, exalted as it would be in its own
estimation, and in the enjoyment of the benefits of civilisation, would excite
among its neighbours a desire to participate in those blessings, and would be
at once a normal or model society, gradually spreading to the most remote
2 Garrison and his Times, p. 4. Mr. Oliver Johnson, throughout his work,
shows his own conception of the status and functions of the Negro by never
vising a capital letter in writing the word that describes the race.
ii4 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
regions, and calling forth the resources of a country rich in so many things
essential to commerce, might change the destinies of the whole of Western
Central Africa.3
In a letter addressed by Stephen Lushington and Thomas
Fowell Buxton to Lord John Russell, August 7, 1840, all the
arguments used by the American Colonisation Society for settling
civilised blacks in Africa, are reproduced.
Thomas Clarkson, writing to a friend, under date September 12,
3842, says:—
I am glad to find that, in the Friend of Africa, you lay such stress upon
native agency, or the agency of the black people themselves to forward their
own cause. Good sense would have dictated this; but God seems to point
it out as one of His plans. He has raised up a people by the result of
emancipation, qualified, both in intellect and habituation to a hot climate, to
do for us the grand work in Africa. You know well that we can find among
the emancipated slaves people with religious views and with intellectual
capacity equal to the whites, and from these, principally, are we to pick out
labourers for the African vineyard You cannot send two or three only
to a colony. In the smallest colony there must be more; there must be enough
to form a society, both for the appearance of safety and for that converse for
which man was fitted by the organs of speech to pass the time usefully to
himself and others.4
The experience of years and the progress of Liberia have only
served to illustrate the soundness of these views. European
workers for Africa feel more and more the importance of such
agencies as the Colonisation Society has been instrumental in
establishing for civilising Africa. A writer in the London Times for
May 31, 1882, says:—
As I have recently returned from Zanzibar, and can speak from some
personal experience, may I be allowed to draw the attention of your readers to
an attempt to bring about these results (viz., the abolition of the slave trade
and civilisation of the people) with remarkable success ? It is the formation of
self-sustaining communities of released slaves in the countries whence they
were originally brought by the slave dealers, in order that, by their example
and influence, they may teach to the surrounding people the advantages of
civilisation. The sight of a body of men of the same race as themselves, living
in their midst, but raised to a higher level by the influence of Christianity and
civilisation, has naturally produced in them a desire of raising themselves also.
8 Narrative of the Expedition to the Niger ; vol. ii, p. 434.
4 African Repository ; vol. xvi, p. 397.
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 115
In an article on ' The Evangelisation of Africa,' in the Dublin
mew, January, 1879, written by a Roman Catholic Prelate, the
iter asks—" Why should not the example given by the American
)lonisation Society, in founding Liberia, be followed by us in
her parts of Africa? "
In a lecture delivered in 1872, in New York, by the same dis-
Qguished author, he says :—
We have come to evangelise the coloured people in America. But our
ission does not terminate with them. We are travelling through America to
lat great unexplored, unconverted continent of Africa. We have come to
tther an army on our way, to conquer Africa for the Cross. God has his
asigns upon that vast land The branch torn away from the parent stem
1 Africa, by our ancestors, was brought to America—brought away by Divine
ermission, in order that it might be engrafted upon the tree of the Cross. It-
rill return in part to its own soil, not by violence or deportation, but willingly,,
nd borne on the wings of faith and charity.
It is sometimes supposed and asserted that the efforts of the
colonisation Society stir up a feeling of unrest among the coloured
)opulation, and make them dissatisfied with their condition in this
jountry. But this charge is brought only by those who have no-
idea of the power of race instincts. The descendants of Africa in
this country have never needed the stimulus of any organisation of
white men to direct their attention to the land of their fathers.
Just as the idea of a departure from the "house of bondage" in
Egypt was in the minds of the Hebrews long before Moses was-
born, even when Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones;
so, long before the formation of the Colonisation Society, there were
aspirations in the breasts of thinking Negroes for a return to the
land of their fathers. The first practical Colonisationist was not a»
white man, but a Negro, Paul Cuffee. This man took thirty Negro
emigrants from New Bedford, in his own vessel, to Africa, in 1815.
The la,w of God for each race is written on the tablets of their
hearts, and no theories will ever obliterate the deep impression, or
neutralise its influence upon their action ; and in the process of
their growth they will find or force a way for themselves. Those
who are working with or for the race, therefore, should seriously
consider, in any great movement in their behalf, the steps which
n6 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
"the proper representatives deem it wise to take. " March without
the people," said a French deputy, " and you walk into night;
their instincts are a finger pointing of Providence, always turning
toward real benefit."
The Colonisation Society was only the instrument of opening a
field for the energies of those of the Africans who desired to go and
avail themselves of the opportunities there offered. Boswell, in
his life of Samuel Johnson, tells us that when the sale oiThrale's
Brewery was going forward, Johnson was asked what he really
■considered to be the value of the property which was to be disposed
of. He replied, " We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and
vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams
of avarice." So the founders of this Society looked to the
*' potentiality " of the few seeds they were planting on the coast of
Africa. In their reply to opponents they said :—" We are not here
simply to send a few Negroes to Africa, and to occupy with them a
few swampy regions on the margin of a distant country, but we
are endeavouring to stimulate for a race and a continent their
potentiality of unlimited development."
They assisted a few courageous men to go and plant a colony
on those distant and barbarous shores, in days when nearly every
body doubted the wisdom and expediency of such a step. Who,
then, could have divined the results? Considering the circum¬
stances of those pioneer settlers and the darkness of the outlook
when they started, no man could have believed, until he learned it
as a matter of history that those few men could have established
an independent nation on that coast. The story of their trials and
■struggles and conquests would furnish the material for an exciting
novel—many portions of it would resemble chapters, not from
Froude or Hallam, but from Thackeray or Scott. The string of
■episodes in the first thirty years of their history would form the
basis of an interesting epic.
Now what is the work thus far accomplished and being accom¬
plished on that coast ? If, when those colonists landed on those
shores, inexperienced and uneducated ex-slaves as they were, they
had had to contend with simple barbarism or the absence of
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 117
civilisation, their task would have been comparatively easy; but-
they had to deal with tribes demoralised by ages of intercourse
with the most abandoned of foreigners—slave-traders and pirates,
who had taken up their abode at various points of the coast,
and had carried on for generations, without interruption, their
work of disintegration and destruction. When, therefore, the
colonists found themselves in possession of a few miles of terri¬
tory, they very soon perceived that they had more to do than
simply to clear up the land, build and cultivate. They saw
that they had to contend, not with the simple prejudices of the
Aborigines, but with the results of the unhallowed intercourse
of European adventurers. But they were brave men. Their
spirits, though chastened by the burden of slavery and the
sorrows of oppression, were never clouded by any doubt in their
destiny. They felt themselves able to build up a State, and
they set themselves cheerfully to deal with the new and difficult
problems which confronted them. Fierce were the struggles
in which they had to engage before they succeeded in expelling the
pirates from the neighbourhood of their settlements. And after
they had dislodged these demons in human form, the mischievous
consequences of their protracted residence in the land continued,
and still, to a great extent, continue.
In his last Message to the Liberian Legislature, the President
of the Republic, referring to the difficulties at Cape Mount, says:—
" The native wars which have been going on in the vicinity of Cape
Mount have now nearly exhausted themselves. These periodical
wars are, for the most part, the results of long-standing feuds
arising from the horrible slave trade, that dreadful scourge which
distinguished the intercourse of the European world with Africa,
for more than ten generations."
Having secured an undisturbed footing in the land of their
fathers, the next step on the part of the colonists was to con¬
ciliate the Aborigines and to enlarge the borders of the Colony
by purchase from the native lords of the soil. In this way, the
Colony increased in power and influence, until 1847, when it
became a sovereign and independent State. As such it has been
n8 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
acknowledged by all the Powers of Europe and by the United
States.
The special work which, at this moment, claims the attention oJ
"the Republic is to push the settlements beyond the sea-board to the
elevated and salubrious regions of the interior, and to incorporate
the Aborigines, as fast as practicable, into the Republic. Native
chiefs are summoned to the Legislature from the different counties,
and take part in the deliberations; but, as yet, only those Aborigines
who conform to the laws of the Republic as to the tenure of land,
are allowed to exercise the elective franchise. All the other questions
which press upon independent nations, questions of education, of
finance, of commerce, of agriculture, are receiving the careful
attention of the people. They feel the importance of making pro¬
visions by judicious laws and by proper executive, legislative
and judicial management, for the preservation and growth of the
State.
In educational matters, there is daily noticeable improve¬
ment. We are developing a system of common schools, with
a College at the head as a guarantee for their efficiency. The
educational work is felt to be of the greatest possible importance;
education, not only in its literary and religious forms, but also in
its industrial, mechanical, and commercial aspects.
The effort now is to enlarge the operations and increase the
influence of the College.
We have application for admission to its advantages from
numerous youths in various institutions of learning in this
country, who wish, on the completion of their course, to labour in
Africa. Influential chiefs on the coast and in the interior are also
anxious to send their sons; and we shall, before very long, have
young men from the powerful tribes in our vicinity—Mandingoes,
Foulahs, Yeys, Bassas, Kroos, Greboes.
A female department has also lately been established in con¬
nection with this Institution, and a Christian lady of education and
culture, in this country, longing to labour in the land of her fathers,
has been appointed as first Principal. She will sail in a few
months.
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 119
In financial matters the Republic is hopeful. The public debt is
Dt so large that it cannot, by the reforms now contemplated, be
isily managed and placed under such control as to give no incon-
snience to the State. There are evidences of an abundance of gold
1 the territory of the Republic. The precious metal is brought to
lie coast from various points in the interior. But the Government
5 not anxious to encourage the opening of gold mines. We
refer the slow but sure, though less dazzling process, of becoming
1 great nation by lapse of time, and by the steady growth of
nternal prosperity—by agriculture, by trade, by proper domestic
iconomy.
In commercial matters, there is also everything to encourage.
Three lines of steamers from England and Germany, and sailing
vessels from the United States, visit the Liberian ports regularly for
trading purposes. And the natural resources of the Republic have,
in various portions of it, hardly yet been touched. Palm oil, cam¬
wood, ivory, rubber, gold-dust, hides, beeswax, gum copal, may be
produced in unlimited quantities. For the enterprising merchants
of this country—coloured or white—there is no better field for the
investment of pecuniary capital.
The agriculture of the country is rapidly on the increase. Liberia
has been supplying the Coffee Planters of Ceylon and Brazil with a
new and superior kind of coffee for their agricultural industry. The
Liberiaa coffee is considered among the best in the world, and the
people are now turning their attention largely to its cultivation.
As immigrants arrive from this country, extensive farms under
their persevering industry are taking the place of the dense forests.
The new settlements, pushing out to the rich valleys and fertile
slopes of the interior, are a marvel to those who, a few years ago,
saw the country in its primitive condition; and to the N egro new
comer from this country in search of a field for his energy and
enterprise, there is no picture which, for inspiration and grandeur,
can ever equal the sight of these new proprietors of land and these
new directors of labour engaged in their absorbing and profitable
pursuits. When he sees the thriving villages, the comfortable
dwellings, the increasing agriculture, all supervised and controlled
120
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
by men just like himself, who had only been more fortunate in
preceding him by a few years, a feeling of pride and gratification
takes possession of him. Like iEneas, when he witnessed the
enterprise of the Tyrian colonists in the building of Carthage, he
exclaims,—
0 fortunati, quorum jam moenia surgunt.
But, unlike the mythical author of that exclamation, he feels
that he has a part in the rising fortunes of the settlements; that
what he beholds is not only what he himself may accomplish, but
is the promise and pledge of the future greatness of his adopted
country.
The nations of the earth are now looking to Liberia as one of
the hopeful spots on the continent of Africa. The President of the
United States, in his last Message, referred to the interest which this
Government feels in that youngest sister of the great international
family. To a deputation from the Colonisation Society, which
called upon him a year ago, President Arthur said that he " had
always taken great interest in the work of the Colonisation Society,
which was, in his judgment, eminently practical."
President Gardner, who has for the last five years presided over
the little nation, expresses the views entertained by its most
enlightened citizens as follows;—
The ship of State which, in 1847, we launched in fear and trembling, is still
afloat, with timbers sound and spars unharmed. The Lone Star of Liberia,
untarnished, is pushing its way eastward, successfully achieving victories of
peace even to the slopes of the Niger, gathering willing thousands under its
elevating and hopeful folds. The American Colonisation Society must feel
greatly strengthened in its work. It has achieved what no other philanthropic
agency in modern times has accomplished, and what, perhaps, no nation could
have effected, viz., the giving to the Negro an independent home in the land of
his fathers, where he has unlimited scope for development and expansion. Had
Liberia been the colony of a powerful government, political and commercial
jealousies, and the purposes of party spirit, might have prevented the surrender
of the colony to the absolute control of the colonists. Hayti had to fight for
her independence. It is not practicable for Great Britain to give up Jamaica,
or Barbadoes, or Sierra Leone, or Lagos, But the American Colonisation
Society founded a nation, and continues to strengthen it. So God takes the
weak things of the earth to confound the things that are mighty.
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 121
In a letter dated at the Palace of Madrid, February 11, 1882,
King Alfonso XII, of Spain, writes to the President of Liberia as
follows:—
Gbeat and Good Friend,
Desiring to give you a public testimony of my Royal appreciation
and my particular esteem, I have had special pleasure in nominating you
Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Isabel the Catholic. I am
pleased by this action also to furnish new proof of the desire which animates
me to strengthen more and more the friendly relations which happily exist
between Spain and the Republic of Liberia; and with this motive I repeat to
you the assurance of the affection which I entertain towards you, and with
which I am, Great and Good Friend,
Your Great and Good Friend,
Palace at Madrid, February 11,1882. Alfonso.
The Eepublic of Liberia now stands before the world—the
realisation of the dreams of the founders of the American Colonisa¬
tion Society, and, in many respects, more than the realisation. Its
effect upon that great country is not to be estimated solely by the
six hundred miles of coast which it has brought under civilised law.
A sea of influence has been created, to which rivulets and large
streams are attracted from the distant interior; and up those
streams, for a considerable distance, a tide of regeneration con¬
tinually flows. Far beyond the range of the recognised limits of
Liberia, hundreds of miles away from the coast, I have witnessed
the effects of American civilisation; not only in the articles of
American manufactures, which I have been surprised to see in those
remote districts, but in the intelligible use of the English language,
which I have encountered in the far inland regions, all going out
from Liberia. None can calculate the wide-spreading results of a
single channel of wholesome influence. Travellers in Syria tell us
that Damascus owes its fertility and beauty to one single stream
—the river Abana. "Without that little river, the charm and glory of
Damascus would disappear. It would be a city in a desert. So the
influence of Liberia, insignificant as it may seem, is the increasing
source of beauty and fertility, of civilisation and progress, to
West and Central Africa.
As time has gone on, and the far-reaching plans of the Society
have been developed, its bitterest opponents among the whites
K
122 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
have relaxed their opposition. They see more and more that the
idea which gave rise to it had more than a temporary or provisional
importance; that, as long as there are Christian Negroes in this
land who may do a civilising work in Africa, and who desire to go
thither, so long will this colonisation enterprise be a necessary and
beneficent agency.
Coloured men of intelligence are also taking a more compre¬
hensive view of the question. The coloured people in various parts
of the country are not only asserting their independence of party
trammels, but are taking higher ground with regard to their rela¬
tions to Africa. The Colonisation Society no longer stands between
them and the land of their fathers as a dividing agency; no longer
the gulf that separates, but, for many, the bridge that connects.
Liberia is producing the elements which—if they do not, to the
minds of the thinking coloured people, vindicate the methods of
some colonisationists in days gone by—amply justify the policy
of the Colonisation Society. The leading men of colour are
recognising the distinction between Liberia as an independent
nation, claiming their respect and support, and the Colonisa¬
tion Society, which, from their standpoint, contemplated their
expatriation.
Your speaker has had the honour of being listened to on the
various occasions on which, recently, he has spoken in this city, by
full houses composed of the most intelligent classes of the coloured
population, who, a few years ago, would not have thought of
attending any meeting which had the remotest connection with
Liberia. He has also had the privilege of being the guest,
for several days, at Uniontown, of the leading coloured man of
the United States, better known than any other Negro in both
hemispheres; and this address was written under his hospitable
roof, and, perhaps, on the same table on which, in years gone by,
had been forged those thunderbolts which he hurled with so much
power and effect against Colonisation; but tempora mutantur nos
et mutamur in illis—the times are changed, and we are changed
with them.
The dawn of a new day in the history of the coloured people is
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation.
not only inspiring them with new views, but bringing forward new
actors or leaders. It is not that those who are coming forward are
superior to those who have passed away, or are passing away. No ;
the giants of former years—the Wards and Garnets and Douglasses
—can never be surpassed, or even reproduced. They were the
peculiar product of their times. But it is, that the present times
require different instruments, and leaders are arising with different
purposes and different aspirations. I saw, in large letters, in a
prominent part of Mr. Frederick Douglass's residence, the scriptural
injunction, "Live peaceably with all men"—a fitting motto, I
thought, for the soldier who, after the hard-fought battle and the
achievement of the victory, has laid down his arms. The motto in
the days of Douglass's greatest activity was, "Eight the good fight."
Now the days of peace have come. The statesman's office comes
after the soldier's. Cedant arma togae. The Negro youth—as a
result of the training which he is now so generously receiving in
the schools—will seek to construct States. He will aspire after
feats of statesmanship, and Africa will be the field to which he will
look for the realisation of his desires. Bishop Turner, of the
African Missionary Episcopal Church, who enjoys exceptional
opportunities for knowing the feelings of the coloured people of this
country, said, in a newspaper article published a few days ago:—
There never was a time when the coloured people were more concerned
about Africa, in every respect, than at present. In some portions of the
country it is the topic of conversation; and if a line of steamers were started
from New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah or Charleston, they would be crowded
to density every trip they made to Africa. There is a general unrest and a
wholesale dissatisfaction among our people in a number of sections of the
country, to my certain knowledge, and they sigh for conveniences to and from
the continent of Africa. Something has to be done ; matters cannot go on as
at present, and the remedy is thought by tens of thousands to be a Negro
Nationality. This much the history of the world establishes, that races either
fossilised, oppressed, or degraded, must emigrate before any material change
takes place in their civil, intellectual, or moral status; otherwise extinction
is the consequence.3
The general practice among superficial politicians and irre-
6 Christian Recorder; January 4,1883.
124 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
, •<, +io ignore and
sponsible coloured journalists m this country, ,
deprecate the craving for the fatherland among the egr p p
tion. But nothing is clearer to those who know any g
instincts and tendencies than that this craving is a perma
irrepressible impulse. For some reason the American overnment
has never seen its way clear to give any practical recognition to
these aspirations. In vain, apparently, does the American Colo¬
nisation Society, from year to year, present the cries and petitions
of thousands and hundreds of thousands who yearn for a home in
the land of their fathers. Individual philanthropists may admit
that such cries deserve respectful sympathy, but the Government
takes no note of them. It must be stated, however, that the
Government is ever ready to extend assistance to Liberia, and on
the ground, partly, as often urged in their diplomatic corres¬
pondence, that Liberia is to be the future home of thousands of
American citizens of African descent.
Has not the time now come when an earnest and united effort
should be made by all sections of this great country to induce the
Government to assist the thousands who are longing to betake
themselves to those vast and fertile regions to which they are
directed by the strongest impulses that have ever actuated the move¬
ments of humanity? "While it is true that there are causes of
dissatisfaction with his position in this country on the part of the
Negro, still he will be carried to Africa by a higher impulse than
that which brings millions to this country from Europe. Mr. Bright,
has said: '' There are streams of emigration flowing towards-
America, and much of this arises from the foolishness of European
peoples and European Governments," and he quotes from
Mr. Bancroft the statement that " the history of the colonisation of
America is the history of the crimes of Europe."
No natuial impulses bring the European hither—artificial or
te-TheNegrois^t0.
States and go '' CO'°u"jd Pe"P,a shoald leave the United
the present, at least, " "* **
, ertamly it iS not indispensable..
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 125
Eor the work to be accomplished much less than one-tenth of the
six millions will be necessary. "In a return from exile, in the
restoration of a people," says George Eliot, " the question is not
whether certain rich men will choose to remain behind, but whether
there will be found worthy men who will choose to lead the return.
Plenty of prosperous Jews remained in Babylon when Ezra
marshalled his band of forty thousand, and began a new, glorious
epoch in the history of his race, making the preparation for that
■epoch in the history of the world, which has been held glorious
enough to be dated from forevermore."
There are "Negroes enough in this country to join in the return—
descendants of Africa enough, who are faithful to the instincts of the
race, and who realise their duty to their fatherland. I rejoice to
know that here, where the teachings of generations have been to
disparage the race, there are many who are faithful, there are men,
and women who will go, who have a restless sense of homelessness
which will never be appeased until they stand in the great land
where their forefathers lived ; until they catch glimpses of the old
sun, and moon and stars, which still shine in their pristine brilliancy
upon that vast domain; until, from the deck of the ship which bears
them back home, they see visions of the hills rising from the white
margin of the continent, and listen to the breaking music of the
waves—the exhilarating laughter of the sea as it dashes against the
beach. These are the elements of the great restoration. It may
come in our own life time. It may be our happiness to see those
rise up who will formulate progress for Africa—embody the ideas
which will reduce our social and political life to order; and we may,
before we die, thank God that we have seen His salvation; that the
Negro has grasped with a clear knowledge his meaning in the world's
vast life—in politics, in science, in religion.
I say it is gratifying to know that there are Negroes of this
country who will go to do this great work—cheerfully go and brave
the hardships and perils necessary to be endured in its accomplish¬
ment. These will be among the redeemers of Africa. If they suffer
they will suffer devotedly, and if they die, they will die well. And
what is death for the redemption of a people ? History is full oi
126 Christianityj Islam and the Negro Race.
, . for the advance-
examples of men who have sacrificed themse Every man
ment of a great cause-for the good of their coun ry. ^ ^
who dies for Africa—if it is necessary to die—au
element of salvation, and hastens the day of her redemp 10 .
when God lets men suffer and gives them to paan ^ * »
not the abandoned, it is not the worst or the guiltiest, but the best
and the purest, whom He often chooses for His wort, for they will do
it best. Spectators weep and wonder; but the sufferers themselves
accept the pain in the joy of doing redemptive work, and rise out of
lower levels to the elevated regions of those nobler spirits the
glorious army of martyrs—who rejoice that they are counted worthy
to die for men.
The nation now being reared in Africa by the returning exiles from
this country will not be a reproduction of the American. The re¬
storation of the Negro to the land of his fathers will be the restora¬
tion of a race to its original integrity, to itself; and working by
itself, for itself and from itself, it will discover the methods of its own
development, and they will not be the same as the Anglo-Saxon
methods.
In Africa there are no physical problems to be confronted upon
the solution of which human comfort and even human existence
depend. In the temperate regions of the earth there are ever-
recurring problems, first physical or material, and then intellectual,
which press for solution and cannot be deferred without peril.
It is this constant pressure which has developed the scientific
intellect and the thoughtfulness of the European. Africa can afford
to hand over the solution of these problems to those who, driven
by the exigencies of their circumstances, must solve them or perish.
And when they are solved, we shall apply the results to our purposes,
eaving us leisure and taste for the metaphysical and spiritual,
a large1^ an agricultural country. The people, when
iu<?f n proper impulse from without—and they need this help
lamelv in ^ ^ raC6S ^ave needed impulse from without—will live
"rthem—"e the
shall contribute to the comfort Ind e ^ " SU°h f°rmS "
mtort and even elegance of life in that
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 127
country; while the African, in the simplicity and purity of rural
enterprises, will be able to cultivate those spiritual elements in
humanity which are suppressed, silent and inactive under the
pressure and exigencies of material progress. He will find out, not
under pressure, but in an entirely normal and natural way, what
his work is to be.
I do not anticipate for Africa any large and densely crowded
cities. For my own taste, I cannot say that I admire these agglo¬
merations of humanity. For me, man has marred the earth's surface
by his cities. " God made the country and man the town."
It is the cities which have furnished the deadliest antagonisms
to prophets and reformers. The prophets and apostles are nurtured
in the Nazareths and Bethlehems of the world. I cherish the
feeling that in Africa there will never be any Jerusalem, or Eome, or
Athens, or London; but I have a strong notion that the Bethlehems
and Nazareths will spring up in various parts of the continent. In
the solitudes of the African forests, where the din of "Western
civilisation has never been heard, I have realised the saying of
the poet that the " Groves were God's first temples." I have felt
that I stood in the presence of the Almighty; and the trees and
the birds and the sky and the air have whispered to me of the great
work yet to be achieved on that continent. I trod lightly through
those forests, for I felt there was " a spirit in the woods." And I
could understand how it came to pass that the prophets of a race—
the great reformers who have organised states and elevated peoples,
received their inspiration on mountains, in caves, in grottoes. I
could understand something of the power which wrought upon
Sakya Muni under the trees of India; upon Numa Pompilius in
the retreat of the Nymph Egeria; upon Mohammed in the silent
cave; upon Martin Luther, Xavier and Ignatius Loyola in the
cloisters. One the sweetest of American poets—Whittier—in his
poem on the Quaker Meeting, pictures the beauty and instructive
power of unbroken stillness—
And so I find it well to come
For deeper rest, to this still room;
For here the habit of the soul
Feels less the outer world's control.
128 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
And from the silence multiplied.
By these still forms on either side,
The world that time and sense have known
Falls off, and leaves us God alone.
So to the calmly gathered thought
The innermost of truth is taught,
The mystery, dimly understood,
That love of God is love of good.
It is under such circumstances that the African will gather
inspiration for his "work. He will grow freely, naturally unfolding
his powers in a healthy progress.
The world needs such a development of the Negro on African
soil. He will bring as his contribution the softer aspects of human
nature. The harsh and stern fibre of the Caucasian races needs
this milder element. The African is the Feminine; and we must
not suppose that this is of least importance in the ultimate develop¬
ment of humanity. " "We are apt," says Matthew Arnold, " to
account amiability weak and hardness strong," but even if it were
bo, there are forces, as George Sands says, truly and beautifully,
" there are forces of weakness, of docility, of attractiveness or of
suavity, which are quite as real as the forces of vigour, of encroach¬
ment, of violence, of brutality."6
Soon after the close of the war it was the favourite cry of some
that the Colonisation Society had done its work and should be
dropped. But that cry has been effectually hushed by the increasing
light of experience, and under the louder cries of the thousands and
tens of thousands, who in various parts of the country are asking
for aid to reach the land of their fathers. Both white and coloured
are now recognising the fact that the Society with its abundant
knowledge, with its organised plans, is an indispensible machinery
for the diffusion of that special information about Africa of which
the American people are generally so destitute, and for the inof-
e iT Creat*on arDOrig the Negro portion of the population of those
to °-P1^ons about the land of their fathers, and their duty
with inf lr Wbicl1 lead some at least of them to enter upon it
With intelligence and efficiency.
6 Nineteenth Century, June, 1881
Origin and Purpose of African Colonisation. 129
There is evidently, at this moment, no philanthropic institution
before the American public that has more just and reasonable
claims upon private and official benevolence than the American
Colonisation Society. And the Christian sentiment of the country,
as I gather it from the east and from the west, from the north and
from the south, is largely in favour of giving substantial and
generous aid to that struggling Christian Republic in West Africa,
the power of which, it is conceded, it should be the pride of this
nation, as it is its commercial interest, to increase and perpetuate.
Ethiopia stretching out her
hands unto God;
OR,
Africa's Service to the World.
THERE was, for a long time, in the Christian world considerable
difference of opinion as to the portion of the earth, and the
precise region to which the term Ethiopia must be understood as
applying. It is pretty well established now, however, that by
Ethiopia, is meant the continent of Africa, and by Ethiopians, the
great race who inhabit that continent. The etymology of the word
points to the most prominent physical characteristics of this people.
To any one who has travelled in Africa, especially in the portion
north of the equator, extending from the West coast to Abyssinia*
Nubia and Egypt, and embracing what is known as the Nigritian
and Soudanic countries, there cannot be the slightest doubt as to
the country and people to whom the terms Ethiopia and Ethiopian,
as used in the Bible and the classical writers, were applied. One of
the latest and most accurate authorities says: " The country which
the Greeks and the Romans described as Ethiopia, and the Hebrews
-as Cush, lay to the south of Egypt, and embraced, in its most
extended sense, the modern Nubia, Senaar, Kordofan, &c., and in its
more definite sense, the kingdom of Meroe, from the junction of the
Blue and "White branches of the Nile to the border of Egypt." 1
Herodotus, the father of history, speaks of two divisions of
Ethiopians, who did not differ at all from each other in appearance,
1 Smith's Dictionary of the Bible—(sub voce).
Africa's Service to the World.
except in their language and hair; " for the eastern Ethiopians," he
says, " are straight haired,-but those of Libya (or Africa), have hair
more curly than that of any other people."2 "As far as we know,"
says Mr. Gladstone, " Homer recognised the African coast by
placing the Lotophagi upon it, and the Ethiopians inland from the
east, all the way to the extreme west."8
There has been an unbroken line of communication between the
West Coast of Africa, through the Soudan, and through the so-called
Great Desert and Asia, from the time when portions of the de¬
scendants of Ham, in remote ages, began their migrations westward,
and first saw the Atlantic Ocean.
Africa is no vast island, separated by an immense ocean from
other portions of the globe, and cut oft through the ages from the
men who have made and influenced the destinies of mankind. She
has been closely connected, both as source and nourisher, with some
of the most potent influences which have affected for good the
history of the world. The people of Asia, and the people of Africa
have been in constant intercourse; No violent social or political
disruption has ever broken through this communication. No chasm
caused by war has suspended intercourse. On the contrary, the
greatest religious reforms the world has ever seen—Jewish, Christian,
Mohammedan—originating in Asia, have obtained consolidation in
Africa. And as in the days of Abraham and Moses, of Herodotus
and Homer, so to-day, there is a constantly accessible highway from
Asia to the heart of the Soudan. Africans are continually going to
and fro between the Atlantic Ocean and the Eed Sea. I have met
in Liberia and along its eastern frontiers, Mohammedan Negroes,
born in Mecca, the Holy City of Arabia, who thought they were
telling of nothing extraordinary when they were detailing the inci¬
dents of their journeyings and of those of their friends from the
banks of the Niger—from the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone and
Liberia—across the continent to Egypt, x\rabia and Jerusalem. I
saw in Cairo and Jerusalem, some years ago, West Africans who
2 Herod, iii, 94; vii, 70.
3 Homer and the Homeric Age; vol. iii, p. 305.
132
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
had come on business, or on religious pilgrimage, from their distant
homes in Senegambia,
Africans were not unknown, therefore, to the writers of the
Bible. Their peculiarities of complexion and hair were as well
known to the ancient Greeks and Hebrews, as they are to the
American people to-day. And when they spoke of the Ethiopians,
they meant the ancestors of the black-skinned and woolly-haired
people who, for two hundred and fifty years, have been known as
labourers on the plantations of the South. It is to these people,
And to their country, that the Psalmist refers, when he says,
" Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hand unto God." The word
in the original, which has been translated " soon," is now under¬
stood to refer not so much to the time as to the manner of the
action. Ethiopia shall suddenly stretch out her hands unto God, is
the most recent rendering.
But, even if we take the phraseology as it has been generally
understood, it will not by anyone acquainted with the facts, be
held to have been altogether unfulfilled. There is not a tribe on
the continent of Africa, in spite of the almost universal opinion to
the contrary, in spite of the fetishes and greegrees which many of
iihem are supposed to worship—there is not, I say, a single tribe
which does not stretch out its hands to the Great Creator. There
is not one who does not recognise the Supreme Being, though
imperfectly understanding His character—and who does perfectly
understand His character ? They believe that the heaven and the
-earth, the sun, moon, and stars, which they behold, were created by
an Almighty personal Agent, who is also their own Maker and
Sovereign, and they render to him such worship as their untutored
intellects can conceive. The work of the Christian missionary is to
declare to them that Being whom they ignorantly worship. There
are no atheists or agnostics among them. They have not yet
attained, and I am sure they never will attain, to that eminence of
progress or that perfection of development; so that it is true, in a
certain sense, that Ethiopia now stretches out her hands unto God.
And if the belief in a common Creator and Father of mankind
is illustrated in the bearing we maintain towards our neighbour, if
Africa's Service to the World.
133
Dur faith is seen, in our works, if we prove that we love God, whom
we have not seen, by loving our neighbour whom we have seen, by
respecting his rights, even though he may not belong to our clan,
tribe, or race, then I must say, and it will not be generally disputed,
that more proofs are furnished among the natives of interior Africa
of their belief in the common Fatherhood of a personal God by their
hospitable and considerate treatment of foreigners and strangers
than are to be seen in many a civilised and Christian community,
Mungo Park, a hundred years ago, put on record in poetry and in
prose—and he wished it never to be forgotten—that he was the
object of most kindly and sympathetic treatment in the wilds of
Africa, among a people he had never before seen, and whom he
never could requite. The long sojourn of Livingstone in that land
in contentment and happiness, without money to pay his way, is
another proof of the excellent qualities of the people, and of their
practical belief in an universal Father. And, in all history, where
is there anything more touching than that ever-memorable con¬
veyance, by "faithful hands," of the remains of the missionary
traveller from the land of strangers over thousands of miles, to the
country of the deceased, to be deposited with deserved honour in
the " Great Temple of Silence " ?
And this peculiarity of Africans is not a thing known only in
modern times. The ancients recognised these qualities, and loved
to descant upon them. They seemed to regard the fear and love
of God as the peculiar gift of the darker races. In the version of
the Chaldean Genesis, as given by George Smith, the following
passage occurs: " The word of the Lord will never fail in the mouth
of the dark races whom He has made." Homer and Herodotus
have written immortal eulogies of the race. Homer speaks of
them as the " blameless Ethiopians," and tells us that it was the
Ethiopians alone among mortals whom the gods selected as a
people fit to be lifted to the social level of the Olympian divinities.
Every year, the poet says, the whole celestial circle left the
summits of Olympus and betook themselves, for their holidays, to
Ethiopia, where, in the enjoyment of Ethiopian hospitality, they
sojourned twelve days.
134 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
The Sire of gods and all the etherial train
On the warm limits of the farthest main
Now mix with mortals, nor disdain to grace
The feasts of Ethiopia's blameless race ;
Twelve days the Powers indulge the genial rite,
Returning with the twelfth revolving night.
Lucian represents a sceptic, or freethinker, of his day, as saying,
in his irreverence towards the gods, that on certain occasions they
do not hear the prayers of mortals in Europe because they are
away across the ocean, perhaps among the Ethiopians, with whom
they dine frequently on their own invitation.
It shows the estimate in which the ancients held the Africans,
that they selected them as the only fit associates for their gods.
And, in modern times, in all the countries of their exile, they have
not ceased to commend themselves to those who have held rule
over them. The testimonies are numerous and striking, in all the
annals of this country, to the fidelity of the African. The news¬
papers of the land are constantly bearing testimony to his un¬
swerving faithfulness at this moment, notwithstanding the
indignities heaped upon him.
But there is another quality in the Ethiopian or African, closely
connected with the preceding, which proves that he has stretched
•out his hands unto God. If service rendered to humanity is service
rendered to God, then the Negro and his country have been, during
the ages, in spite of untoward influences, tending upward to the
Divine.
Take the country. It has been called the cradle of civilisation,
-and so it is. The germs of all the sciences and of the two great
religions now professed by the most enlightened races were fostered
in Africa. Science, in its latest wonders, has nothing to show equal
to some of the wonderful things even now to be seen in Africa. In
Africa stands that marvellous architectural pile—the great Pyramid
—which has been the admiration and despair of the world for a
hundred generations. Scientific men of the present day, mathema¬
ticians, astronomers and divines, regard it as a sort of key to the
universe—a symbol of the profoundest truths of science, of religion,
.and of all the past and future history of man. Though apparently
Africa''s Service to the World.
135
closely secluded from all the rest of the world, Africa still lies at the
gateway of all the loftiest and noblest traditions of the human race
—of India, of Greece, of Bome. She intermingles with all the
Divine administrations, and is connected, in one way or another,
with some of the most famous names and events in the annals
of time.
The great progenitor of the Hebrew race and the founder of
their religion sought refuge in Africa from the ravages of famine.
We read in Gen. xii, 10, " And there was a famine in the land; and
Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was
grievous in the land." Jacob and his sons were subsequently saved
from extinction in the same way. In Africa, the Hebrew people
from three score and ten souls multiplied into millions. In Africa,
Moses, the greatest lawgiver the world has ever seen, was born and
educated. To this land also resorted the ancient philosophers of
Greece and Eome, to gaze upon its wonders and gather inspiration
from its arts and sciences. Later on, a greater than Moses and
than all the prophets and philosophers, when in infancy, was pre¬
served from death in Africa. " Arise," was the message conveyed by
the angel to Joseph, " Arise, and take the young child and his mother
and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." When, in his
final hours, the Saviour of mankind struggled up the heights of
Calvary, under the weight of the Cross, accused by Asia and
condemned by Europe, Africa furnished the man to relieve him of
his burden. " 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."
And all through those times, and in times anterior to those,
whether in sacred or profane matters, Africa is never out of view, as
a helper. Egypt was the granary of Europe, often furnishing relief
to starving populations out of her inexhaustible abundance. Then in
modern times, when the enterprise and science of Europe had added
a fourth continent to the knowledge of mankind by the discovery of
America, the discoverers found themselves helpless in their efforts
to utilise the richer portions of the vast domain. The Aborigines,
136 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
who welcomed them to the strange country, were not available for
industrial purposes. The imagination of the new comers was
dazzled with visions of untold wealth, but they were powerless to
avail themselves of it. The feeble frame of the Mexican could not
support the burdens of his Spanish taskmaster, and the whole race
was passing away, with the throne of Montezuma, before the mailed
warriors of Castile. The despairing cries of a moribund population
reached the ears of the sympathetic in Europe, when the Negro with
his patience, his stronger physical qualities, and his superior
powers of endurance, was thought of, and Africa, the grey-haired *
mother of civilisation, had to be resorted to for the labourers who
could work the newly-discovered country, and thus contribute
towards the development of modern civilisation, and towards
making this almost boundless territory what it now is. The dis¬
covery of America without Africa, would have been comparatively
useless, but with Africa, the brilliant eulogy recently pronounced
upon this country by Mr. Bright, has become appropriate.
" If we examine," says that distinguished orator and statesman,
" all those old empires, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Parthian
or the Roman ; or if we go still further back in time and place, and
examine what we know of the great empires of India or of China;
or if we go to a more modern time and regard the fall of ancient
Rome; if we look, in our own time, at the growth of the empire
of Russia; if we look at the French Revolution, with all its vast
results ; if we look at the present power of Germany in Europe; if
we look at the vast empire over all the world, of most of which we
in this little island are, for a time, the centre, I think we shall
admit, after all, that there is nothing, in all these transactions of
history, which for vastness and for permanence, can compare with
the grandeur there is in the discovery of the American continent
by Christopher Columbus."
But in bringing about these great results, in helping to achieve
this material and moral grandeur, Africa has borne an important
part. He who writes the history of modern civilisation will be
culpably negligent if he omit to observe and to describe the black
stream of humanity, which has poured into America from the heart
Africa's Service to the World.
137
of the Soudan. That stream has fertilised half the Western con¬
tinent. It has created commerce and influenced its progress. It
has affected culture and morality in the Eastern and Western
hemispheres, and has been the means of transforming European
colonies into a great nationality. Nor can it be denied that the
material development of England was aided greatly by means of
this same dark stream. By means of Negro labour sugar and
tobacco were produced; by means of sugar and tobacco British
commerce was increased; by means of increased commerce the arts
of culture and refinement were developed. The rapid growth and
unparalleled prosperity of Lancashire are, in part, owing to the
cotton supply of the Southern States, which could not have risen to
such importance without the labour of the African.
The countless caravans and dhow-loads of Negroes who have
heen imported into Asia have not produced, so far as we know, any
great historical results; but the slaves exported to America have
profoundly influenced civilisation. The political history of the
United States is the history of the Negro. The commercial and
agricultural history of nearly the whole America is the history of
the Negro.
Africa, in recent times, also, has been made, incidentally, to
confer an important political benefit upon Europe, and probably
upon the whole of the civilised world. When, two generations ago,
Europe was disturbed and threatened by the restless and un¬
controllable energy of one of whom Victor Hugo has said that he
put Providence to inconvenience (il genait Dieu); and when the
civilisation of the whole world was in danger of being arrested in its
progress, if not put back indefinitely, by a prolific and unscrupulous
ambition, Africa furnished the island which gave asylum to this
infatuated and maddened potentate, and, by confining to that sea¬
girt rock his formidable genius, gave peace to Europe, restored
the political equilibrium, and unfettered the march of civilisation.
And now that Europe is exhausting itself by over-production, it is
to Africa that men look to furnish new markets. India, China and
Japan are beginning to consume their raw material at home, thus not
only shutting Europe out from a market, but cutting off the supplies
L
138
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
of raw material. Expedition after expedition is now entering the
country, intersecting it from east to west and from north to south,
to find out more of the resources of a land upon which large portions
of the civilised world will, in no very remote future, be dependant.
In the days of the slave-trade, when the man of the country was
needed for animal purposes, no thought was given to the country.
In those days Africa was not inaptly compared to "An extensive
deer forest, where the lordly proprietor betakes himself at times in
quest of game and recreation. He has certain beats, which he
frequents, where the deer have their tracks, and to which his beaters
drive them. Here he takes his stand and watches for his prey,
while the deep recesses of the forest remain to him a perfect terra
incognita. In the same way the nations of Europe had planted
their establishments upon that coast, upon those lines which
communicated most freely with the interior, and there awaited the
approach of their prey, while little thought was given to the
country beyond."
But now things have changed. The country is studied with
an almost martyr-like devotion, but with a somewhat contemptuous
indifference as to the inhabitants. In their eager search, the
explorers have discovered that Africa possesses the very highest
capacity for the production, as raw material, of the various articles
demanded by civilised countries. English, and French, and
Germans, are now in the struggles of an intense competition for
the hidden treasures of that continent. Upon the opening of Africa
will depend the continuation of the prosperity of Europe. Thus
Providence has interwoven the interests of Europe with those of
Africa. What will bring light and improvement, peace and security,
to thousands of women and children in Africa, will bring food and
clothing to thousands of women and children in Europe.
Thus, Ethiopia and Ethiopians, having always served, will con¬
tinue to serve the world. The Negro is, at this moment, the
opposite of the Anglo-Saxon. Those everywhere serve the world;
these everywhere govern the world. The empire of the one is
more wide-spread than that of any other nation; the service of the
other is more wide-spread than that of any other people. The
Africa's Service to the World.
139
Negro is found in all parts of the world. He has gone across
Arabia, Persia, and India to China. He has crossed the Atlantic
to the Western hemisphere, and here he has laboured in the new
and in the old settlements of America; in the Eastern, Western,
Northern and Southern States; in Mexico, Venezuela, the West
Indies and Brazil. He is everywhere a familiar object, and he is,
everywhere out of Africa, the servant of others. And in the light
of the ultimate good of the universe, I do not see why the calling
of the one should be considered the result of a curse, and the
calling of the other the result of special favour. The one fulfils
its mission by domination, the other by submission. The one
serves mankind by ruling; the other serves mankind by serving.
The one wears the crown and wields the sceptre; the other bears
the stripes and carries the cross. Africa is distinguished as having
served and suffered. In this, her lot is not unlike that of God's
ancient people, the Hebrews, who were known among the
Egyptians as the servants of all; and among the Eomans, in later
times, they were numbered by Cicero with the "nations born to
servitude,"4 and were protected, in the midst of a haughty popula¬
tion, only " by the contempt which they inspired." The lot of Africa
resembles also His who made Himself of no reputation, but took
upon Himself the form of a servant, and, having been made perfect
through suffering, became the " Captain of our salvation." And
if the principle laid down by Christ is that by which things are
decided above, viz., that he who would be chief must become the
servant of all, then we see the position which Africa and the
Africans must ultimately occupy. And we must admit that through
■serving man, Africa—Ethiopia—has been stretching out her hands
unto God.
But, if we understand the phrase to mean " suddenly," there is
-every indication that it will receive literal fulfilment. Men are
now running to and fro, and knowledge of Africa is increasing.
The downfall of Negro slavery in this country was sudden. The
most sanguine philanthropists, thirty years ago, did not dream of
4 Kenan's Hibbert Lectures, p. 47.
140 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
so sudden a collapse of that hoary institution. And more has
been learned of Africa in the seventeen years since slavery has
been abolished, than was ever known during all the previous period
of modern civilisation, or, perhaps, of the world's history. And
now, every possible interest that can give impulse to human
activity is aroused in connection with that land ; and the current
which is moving the civilised world thitherward, gains every day
in force, in magnitude and in importance. The man of science is
interested on account of the wonderful things that must be con¬
cealed in that vast continent. The statesman and politician is
interested in the possibilities of new states yet to be founded in
the march of civilisation. The merchant is interested in the new
and promising outlets for trade. The philanthropist is interested
in the opening of a career of progress, of usefulness, and of happi¬
ness before the millions of that country.
Another indication of the suddenness of Africa's regeneration is
to be found in the restlessness of her descendants in this country.
There are thousands of Negroes, in comfortable circumstances
here, who are yet yearning after the land of their fathers ; who are
anxious, not so much to be relieved from present pressure, as to
obtain an expansive field for their energies; who feel the need not
only of horizontal openings—free movement on the plane which
they occupy—but a chance to rise above it—a vertical outlet.
Within the last thirty years, the sentiment of race and of nation¬
ality has attained wonderful development. Not only have the
teachings of thinkers and philosophers set forth the importance of
the theory, but the deeds of statesmen and patriots have, more or
less successfully, demonstrated the practicability of it. The efforts,
of men like Garibaldi and Cavour in Italy, of Kossuth in Hungary,,
of Bismarck in Germany, of the Ashantees and Zulus in Africa,,
have proved the indestructible vitality and tenacity of race.
Notwithstanding the widespread progress of Mohammedanism
in Africa, and though it has largely influenced the organic life of"
numerous tribes in the vast regions of the Soudan, yet the Arabs,
who first introduced the religion, have never been allowed to obtain
political ascendancy. None of the Nigritian tribes have ever abdi-
Africa's Service to the World.
141
cated their race individuality or parted with their idiosyncracies in
embracing the faith of Islam. But, whenever and wherever it has
been necessary, great Negro warriors have arisen from the ranks of
Islam, and, inspired by the teachings of the new faith, which
merges all distinctions in one great brotherhood, have checked the
arrogance of their foreign teachers, and have driven them, if at any
time they affected superiority based upon race, from their artificial
ascendancy. In the early days of Islam, when the Moors from
the north attempted to establish political supremacy in the
Nigritian countries, there rose up a Negro statesman and warrior,
Soni Heli Ischia, and expelled the Moorish conquerors. He
destroyed the ecclesiastical strongholds, which were fast growing
into secular kingdoms, and erected upon their ruins one indigenous
empire, having conquered all from Timbuctoo westward to the sea,
and eastward to the frontier of Abyssinia, making about three
thousand miles in length. Since then, Islam in Africa has been
very much modified in its practices by the social peculiarities of
the people. And, within the last twenty years, a distinguished native
scholar and warrior, Omaru Al-Hajj, suppressed the undue influence
of the Arabs at Timbuctoo—attacked that city in 1864, expelled
the Arabs, and, with the same troops, confined the French to the
western side of the Niger. His son Ahmadu now reigns at Sego,
and, both by diplomacy and force, is checking or controlling the
renewed operations of the French in the valley of the Niger.
This seems to be the period of race organisation and race con¬
solidation. The races in Europe are striving to group themselves
together according to their natural affinities. The concentration
and development of the Sclavonic power in deference to this im¬
pulse is a menace to other portions of Europe. The Germans are
confederated. The Italians are united. Greece is being recon¬
structed. And so this race impulse has seized the African here.
The feeling is in the atmosphere—the plane in which races move.
And there is no people in whom the desire for race integrity and
race preservation is stronger than in the Negro.
And I may be permitted to add here, that on this question of
race, no argument is necessary or effective. Argument may be
142 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
necessary in discussing the methods or course of procedur *
preservation of race integrity, and for the developmen
efficiency, but no argument is needed as to the necessity o sue
preservation and development. If a man does not feel it ^
not rise up with spontaneous and inspiring power in his eart
then he has neither part nor lot in it. The man who needs con
viction on this subject, had much better be left unconvinced.
The Rev. Henry Venn, the late able Secretary of the Church
Missionary Society, frequently dealt with this subject in the
" Instructions given to Missionaries at their dismission from
Salisbury Square. In one of these inimitable addresses he says,
with large practicality and clearness of judgment:—
The importance of taking into account national distinctions is forced upon
us by the enlargement of our missionary experience The com¬
mittee warn you, that these race distinctions will probably rise in intensity with
the progress of the mission. The distinctions may be softened down by grace;
they may be hid from view in a season of the first love, and of the sense of unity
in Christ Jesus ; but they are part of our nature, and, as the satirist says, "You
may expel Nature for a time by force, but it will surely return." So, distinctions
of race are irrepressible. They are comparatively weak in the early stage of a
mission, because all the superiority is on one side; but as the native race
advances in intelligence, as their power of arguing strengthens, as they excel in
writing sensational statements, as they become our rivals in the pulpit and on
the platform, long cherished but dormant prejudices, and even passions, will
occasionally burst forth.5
But to return after this digression. It is no doubt hard for you
in this country to understand the strong race feeling in the Negro,
or to appreciate the existence of such a feeling. As you glance over
this land at the Negro population, their condition is such as to-
inspire, if not always the contempt, the despair, of the superficial
observer, as to their future ; and as you hear of their ancestral home,
of its burning climate and its fatal diseases, of its sandy deserts and
its malarious swamps, of its superstitious inhabitants and degraded
populations, you fancy that you see not one glimpse of hope in the
dim hereafter of such a race. But let me assure you that, ignoble
as this people may appear here, they have brought a blessing to
5 Instructions of the Committee, June 30, 1868. See Memoir of the Rev H
Venn; by Eev. William Knight, M.A.—Longmans, Green and Co., London E c!
Africa's Service to the World.
143
your shores; and you may rely upon it, that God has something in
store for a people who have so served the world. He has some¬
thing further to accomplish by means of a country of which He
has so frequently availed himself in the past; and we may believe
that out of it will yet come some of the greatest marvels which are
to mark the closing periods of time.
Africa may yet prove to be the spiritual conservatory of the
world. Just as in past times, Egypt proved the stronghold of
Christianity after Jerusalem fell, and just as the noblest and
greatest of the Fathers of the Christian Church came out of Egypt,
so it may be, when the civilised nations, in consequence of their
wonderful material development, shall have had their spiritual
perceptions darkened and their spiritual susceptibilities blunted
through the agency of a captivating and absorbing materialism, it
may be, that they may have to resort to Africa to recover some of
the simple elements of faith; for the promise of that land is that
she shall stretch forth her hands unto God.
And see the wisdom and justice of God. While the Africans
have been away rendering service their country has been kept for
them. It is a very insignificant portion of that continent, after all,
that foreigners have been permitted to occupy. Take any good
map of Africa, and you will see that it is blank everywhere almost
down to the sea. Senegambia, that important country north of the
equator, has been much travelled over, and yet it is only on the
coast and in spots here and there that it is occupied by Europeans.
Going down along the west coast, we find the French colonies of
Senegal and Goree, the British settlements at the Gambia, Sierra
Leone, the Gold Coast and Lagos, the French colony of Gaboon,
the Spanish island of Fernando Po, and the Portuguese colony of
Loanda. The most important parts of the coast are still in the
hands of the aborigines ; and civilised and Christian Negroes from
the United States occupy six hundred miles of the choicest territory
in Africa, called the Republic of Liberia. All travellers along the
Coast pronounce the region of country included within the limits of
Liberia, as the most fertile and wealthy along the entire coast, and
commanding a back country ol untold resources. Europeans tried
44
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
or centuries to get a foothold in that territory; but the natives
rould never consent to their settlement in it, while they gladly
welcomed their brethren returning from exile in this country.
The exiled Negro, then, has a home in Africa. Africa is his, if
Le will. He may ignore it. He may consider that he is divested
f any right to it; but this will not alter his relations to that
ountry, or impair the integrity of his title. He may be content
o fight against the fearful odds in this country; but he is the
iroprietor of a vast domain. He is entitled to a whole continent
»y his constitution and antecedents. Those who refuse, at the
(resent moment, to avail themselves of their inheritance think they
lo so because they believe that they are progressing in this country.
?here has, no doubt, been progress in many respects in their con-
lition here. I would not, for one moment, say anything that would
:ast a shadow upon their hopes, or blight, in the slightest degree,
heir anticipations. I could wish that they might realise to the
ullest extent their loftiest aspirations. It is indeed impossible not
o sympathise with the intelligent Negro, whose imagination,
dndled by the prospects and possibilities of this great country, the
and of his birth, makes him desire to remain and share in its future
itruggles and future glories. But he still suffers from many draw-
jacks. The stranger visiting this land, and going among its coloured
nhabitants, and reading their newspapers, still hears the wail of
slavery. The wail of physical suffering has been exchanged for
,he groans of an intellectual, social, and ecclesiastical ostracism.
!tfot long since the touching appeal of a coloured man, almost in
forma pauperis, before a great ecclesiastical assembly for equal
rights in the Church,6 was wafted over the country, and sent its
shrilling tones into many a heart, but yet the only response has
Deen the reverberation of the echo. And who cannot understand
;he meaning of the hesitancy on the part of the powers that be to
^rant the appeal ? " He who runs may read."
As a result of their freedom and enlarged education, the de-
6 Eev. Mr. Hammond before the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, held at Cincinnati, in May, 1880, on the question of the
election of a coloured bishop.
Africa's Service to the World.
145
scendants of Africa in this country are beginning to feel themselves
straitened. They are beginning to feel that only in Africa will they
find the sphere of their true activity. And it is a significant fact
that this impulse is coming from the Southern States. There is the
great mass of the race ; and there their instincts are less im¬
paired by the infusion of alien blood and by hostile climatic in¬
fluences. There we find the Negro in the almost unimpaired
integrity of his race susceptibility, and he is by an uncontrollable
impulse feeling after a congenial atmosphere which his nature tells
him he can find only in Africa. And he is going to Africa.
As long as he remains in this country, he is hampered both in
mind and body. He can conceive of no radiance, no beauty, no
inspiration in what are ignorantly called " the Wilds of Africa."
The society in which he lives in the lands of his exile he supposes,
from knowing no other, to be the normal condition of man, and
fancies he will suffer if he leaves it. But when he gets home
he finds the atmosphere there a part of himself. He puts off the
garment which has hampered his growth l^ere, and he finds that
he not only does not take cold, but has a chance for healthful
development.
There is not a single Negro in the United States on the road to
practical truth, so far as his race is concerned. He feels something
in him, his instincts point to it, but he cannot act out what he feels.
And when he has made up his mind to remain in America, he has
also made up his mind to surrender his race integrity; for he sees
no chance of its preservation. There is in him neither hope enough
to excite the desire to preserve it, nor desire enough to encourage
the hope of its preservation. But, in Africa, he casts off his trammels.
His wings develop, and he soars into an atmosphere of exhaustless
truth for him. There he becomes a righteous man; he casts off his
fears and his doubts. There for him is perpetual health ; there he
returns to reason and faith. There he feels that nothing can
happen to the race. There he is surrounded by millions of men, as
far as he can see or hear, just like himself, and he is delivered from
the constant dread which harasses him in this country, as to what
is to become of the Negro. There the solicitude is in the opposite
14& Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
direction. There he fears for the white man, living in a climate
hostile, and often fatal to him.
But there are two other facts, not, perhaps, generally known, to
which I would like to call attention. The first is, that, notwith¬
standing the thousands and millions who, by violence and plunder,
have been taken from Africa, she is as populous to-day as she ever
was ; and the other is, that Africa has never lost the better classes
of her people. As a rule, those who were exported—nearly all the
forty millions who have been brought away—belonged to the
servile and criminal classes. Only here and there, by the accidents
of war, or the misfortunes of politics, was a leading African
brought away. Africa is often called the Niobe of all nations, in
allusion to the fact that her children in such vast numbers have
been torn from her bosom ; but the analogy is not strictly accurate.
The ancient fable tells that Niobe clung to her children with warding
arms, while the envious deities shot child after child, daughters
and fair sons, till the whole twelve were slain, and the mother,
powerless to defend her offspring, herself became a stone. Now
this is not the fact with Africa. The children who were torn from
her bosom she could well spare. She has not been petrified with
grief; she has not become a stone. She is as prolific to-day as in
the days of yore. Her greenness and fertility are perennial. It
was said of her in the past, and it may be said of her to-day, that
she is ever bringing forth something new.
And she has not been entirely bereaved even of those who have
been torn from her bosom. In all the countries of their exile,
severe as the ordeal has been, they have been preserved. It might
be said of them as of the Hebrews in Egypt, " the more they
afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew."
No ; if we are to gather an analogy to Africa, from ancient
fable, the Sphinx supplies us with a truer symbol. The Sphinx
was said to sit in the road side, and put riddles to every passeDger.
If the man could not answer, she swallowed him alive. If he could
solve the riddle, the Sphinx was slain. Has not Africa been,
through the ages, sitting on the highway of the world? There
she is, south of Europe, with but a lake between, joined on to
Africa's Service to the World. 147
Asia, with the most frequented oceans on the east and west of
her—accessible to all the races, and yet her secret is unknown.
She has swallowed up her thousands. The Sphinx must solve her
own riddle at last. The opening up of Africa is to be the work of
Africans.
In the Providence of God, it seems that this great and glorious
work is reserved for the Negro. Centuries of effort and centuries
of failure demonstrate that white men cannot build up colonies
there. If we look at the most recent maps of Africa, we see that
large tracts have been explored: English, German, Belgian, French
and American expeditions have lately described large portions of
the continent; but every one must be struck by the enormous
gaps that remain to be filled in—the vast portions which the foot
of the white man has never trodden. With the exception of the
countries south of Egypt, the great lake region, and the strip of
country from east to west, containing the routes of Cameron and
Stanley, and if we leave out the portion of North Central Africa
explored by Barth—the country is still as unknown to foreigners
as it has been throughout all history, from the days of Herodotus
and Ptolemy to the present. Who knows anything of the moun¬
tains of the moon ? of all that vast region which lies directly east
of Liberia, as far as the Indian Ocean ? What foreigner can tell
anything of the interior of Bonny, or of Calabar ? If we examine
the Continent, from the extreme north to the extreme south, from
Egypt to Kaffraria or the country of the Zulus, we see very little
yet accomplished. The most successful effort yet made in colonising
Africa is in Liberia. This will be permanent, because the colonists
are of the indigenous stock. There are six hundred miles of coast,
and two hundred miles of breadth, rescued for civilisation, I mean,
in that extent of country, over a million of people are on the road
to self-elevation. They come in contact with an atmosphere of
growth.
Now the people who are producing these changes have a peculiar
claim upon this country—for they went out from this nation
and are carrying American institutions into that Continent. And
this great country has peculiar facilities for the work of African
148 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
"Civilisation. The nations of Europe are looking "with anxious
■eyes to the " Dark Continent," as they love to call it, probably
for the purpose of kindling their religious zeal, or stimulating their
commercial instincts. But not one of them has the opportunity of
•entering that Continent with the advantages of the United States.
They cannot send their citizens there from Europe to colonise—
they die. France is now aiming at taking possession, by railroads,
of the trade of the Soudan, from Algeria and Senegal. But the suc¬
cess of the scheme, through European agency, is extremely proble¬
matical. The question has been mooted of transferring their Negro
•citizens from the West Indies—from Martinique and Guadaloupe—
but they cannot spare them from those islands. England would
like to transport to the countries of the Niger, and to the regions
interior of Sierra Leone, civilised blacks from her colonies in the
Western hemisphere : but to encourage such a movement would be
to destroy Barbadoes, Jamaica and Antigua. The King of the
Belgians, in his philanthropic and commercial zeal for the opening
and colonising of Africa, has no population available. The United
States is the only country which, providentially, can do the work
which the whole world now wants done. Entering on the West
•Coast, through Liberia, she may stretch a chain of colonies of her
own citizens through the whole length of the Soudan, from the
Niger to the Nile—from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
This country, said Dr. Storrs, has thousands of liberated and Christianised
Africans in it, just at the moment when that dark continent is suddenly opened
to the access of the Gospel. God has been building here a power, for the glory
■of His name, and for His service in the earth. I see the stamp held in the
hand, and the liquid wax lying before it; and I do not doubt that the purpose
is to fix the impression on that wax from the engraved brass or stone. I see
the men whom man has brought here, and whom God has converted, and before
them those vast outstretching realms made ready for the truth ; and I cannot
doubt that His purpose is to fix by these men, upon those prepared lands, the
inscription of the Gospel and the Cross! And it seems to me that in the end
all men must feel this."7
Some have already gone, the pioneers in this great work.
Leaving the land of their birth, where they have laboured for
7 Discourse before the American Missionary Association, October, 1879.
Africa's Service to the World.
149*
generations, they have gone to brave the perils of another wilder¬
ness, to cut down forests, to clear away jungles, to make roads, to-
build towns, to cultivate farms, and to teach regular industry to-
their less favoured brethren; and they ask you to follow these new
settlements, as they push into the heart of the continent, with all
the aids and appliances of your advanced civilisation.
In visions of the future, I behold those beautiful hills—the
banks of those charming streams, the verdant plains and flowery
fields, the salubrious highlands in primaeval innocence and glory,,
and those fertile districts watered everywhere as the garden of the-
Lord; I see them all taken possession of by the returning exiles
from the West, trained for the work of rebuilding waste places-
under severe discipline and hard bondage. I see, too, their brethren
hastening to welcome them from the slopes of the Niger, and from
its lovely valleys—from many a sequestered nook, and from many
a palmy plain—Mohammedans and Pagans, chiefs and people, all
coming to catch something of the inspiration the exiles have-
brought—to share in the borrowed jewels they have imported, and.
to march back hand-in-hand with their returned brethren towards
the sunrise for the regeneration of a continent. And under their
united labours, I see the land rapidly, reclaimed—raised from the
slumber of ages, and rescued from a stagnant barbarism; and then,
to the astonishment of the whole world, in a higher sense than
has yet been witnessed, " Ethiopia shall suddenly stretch out her
hands unto God."
Echoes from Africa.
HE fate of the Negro," it has been said "is the romance of
onr age." The events which have transpired in his history,
since the great emancipation in the United States, and which are
now transpiring, are in the highest degree romantic. There
will always gather around the history of the race a pathetic
interest, which must kindle the imagination, touch the heart,
and awaken the sympathies of all in whom there is a spark of
humanity.
The intelligence we have just received from America of large
migrations of Negroes from the Southern to the Western States is
full of melancholy and suggestive interest. To reflecting minds
acquainted with the history of Southern society during the last fifty
years these events are not surprising. Betributive justice may
linger, but it is sure. A prosperity built up on the wrongs of a race
by the unrequited labour of a whole people, ought not to have been
expected to be permanent. In 1858, the chivalry of Louisiana
passed a law forbidding free blacks to come in; now they would
pass a law forbidding them to go out.
Many years ago, we are informed by a writer of Southern birth, an artist of
Philadelphia was engaged by the State of South Carolina to paint some national
emblematic picture for her State House. Jefferson Davis was requested to act
with the South Carolina Committee at Washington in criticising the studies for
this work. The most creditable sketch presented was a design representing the
North by various mechanical implements ; the West by a prairie and plough ;
while the South was represented by various things, the centre-piece, however,
being a cotton-bale with a Negro upon it fast asleep. When Mr. Davis saw it,
he said, " Gentlemen, this will never do; what will become of the South when
the Negro wakes up ? "
The discussions which the reconstruction laws have made
Echoes from Africa.
possible in the South, the circulation of newspapers, the education
of Negro youth as preachers and teachers, have roused the Negro,
and startled him to his feet. The thunders of the Civil War awoke
him from his profound slumber ; but he lay on the cotton-bale with
his eyes open, uncertain where he was. The man who has been sud¬
denly roused from a long sleep takes some time to recover himself.
The Negro is now up—stupid, perhaps, as yet, from a protracted and
undisturbed slumber, but he is up, and wants to adjust his relations
to the cotton-bale upon an equitable footing, or leave the bale and
its owner to their fate. Hence the exodus and migration idea,
which menaces the South in every department of its organic life.
And this is a specially inopportune moment for the carrying out of
such an idea on anything like a large scale. The prosperity of the
South has been rapidly returning under free labour, and was being
placed on a satisfactory and enduring basis. Mr. Jefferson Davis
lately declared that the ex-slaveholders were so far satisfied with
the change that they would not, if they could, revert to the former
system. And yet the owners of these reviving estates have been
so unwise and reckless as to adopt such a system of treatment as
has spread dissatisfaction among their hands. And, from all we
can gather, this harsh and oppressive treatment has not been of a
hap-hazard or isolated character, but the result of a deep-laid
scheme. The plan seems to have been so to impoverish their
labourers as to make them helplessly dependent, to check by a
tyrannical repression the normal impulse of advance, to arresb
the people through their elementary needs at a capriciously-
chosen point in their progress, and fix them in it, and thus
bring about a species of serfdom very little better than the
former bondage.
The Eev. Joseph Cook, the celebrated Boston lecturer, in an
address before the American Association, furnishes the following
information:—
Last summer, on Lake Chautauqua, while I had a little leisure, I fell into
conversation with one of the acutest members of Washington society—I dare
not describe him more definitely—and he said to me : " The Negro is getting in
debt. He is a peasant; he rents land ; he has only very small wages ; he buys
his groceries at a store owned by his landlord, and runs up a bill there; and
152
Christianityj Islam and the Negro Race.
the silent scheme of the South is to get the Negro into debt. Then he cannot
very well leave town until his debts are paid. He becomes a fixture, in many
cases, because of his indebtedness ; and, to make the story short, sir," said my
informant, " some of us fear that fifty years hence a considerable portion of the
freedmen will be in a state of peonage. They will be bankrupt tenants under
the power of landlords. And it is often whispered in the South that this will
be the next best thing to the restoration of slavery." 1
No people having their eyes open and standing on their feet
would long submit to such a state of things. But the intelligent
among the Negro population do not seem to consider that any
migration in the United States will materially affect for the better
the social and political status of the coloured people.
The People's Advocate (Feb. 1, 1879), a coloured paper published
at Washington, in an able editorial on the subject, says:—
There has been a very respectable partial migration, and no perceptible
change has come over the South in its ideas of Negro citizenship. In 1869-70,
60,000 left Virginia and North Corolina for Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Arkansas. They left Georgia by the thousands for Arkansas, Mississippi,
and Louisiana, and have gone from Eastern Virginia to New York and New
England; but the feeling is nearly as bad to-day in Virginia and Georgia as it
was years ago,
And they are now fleeing from Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana.
'Tis but a poor relief they gain
Who change the place but keep the pain.
And it strikes us, viewing matters from this distant standpoint,
that the feeling toward the Negro will continue to be "bad" in the
United States, if being "bad" means the non-recognition of his
social and political equality with the white man. For the Negro,
pure and simple, there is no country but Africa, and in America his
deeper instincts tell him so. He will never be understood, nor will
he ever understand his European guide and teacher, as long as he
remains in the countries of his exile. He is often misled by the
overflowing and ceaseless generosity of white men into a belief that
his benefactors are getting nearer to the idea of practical oneness
and brotherhood with him. But among the phenomena in the
relations of the white man to the Negro in the house of bondage
i ' The Three Despised Kaces,' &c., p. 25.
Echoes from Africa.
153
none has been more curious than this : that the white man, under
a keen sense of the wrongs done to the Negro, will work for him,
will suffer for him, will fight for him, will even die for him, but he
cannot get rid of a secret contempt for him.
Mr. James Parton, in his article on 'Antipathy to the Negro,'2
says:—
When Miss Kemble came first to Boston, in 1832, she sat next to the late
John Quincy Adams at dinner one day, and the conversation turned upon the
tragedy of " Othello." Miss Kemble has since reported one of Mr. Adams'
remarks on this subject:—" Talking to me about Desdemona, he assured me,
with a most serious expression of sincere disgust, that he considered all her
misfortunes as a very just judgment upon her for having married a nigger." If
this anecdote had not come to us on such respectable authority, we could
hardly believe it of a man who, during the last and best ten years of his life,
was looked upon as the black man's champion.
Theodore Parker, who, in pleading for the slave, could " stir his
hearers to the bottom of their hearts and soften them to tears
who, in his famous letter to Millard Fillmore (Nov. 21, 1850),
could say:—
I would rather lie all my life in jail and starve there, than refuse to protect
one of these parishioners of mine William Craft and Ellen were
parishioners of mine. They have been at my house. I married them a fort¬
night ago this day. After the ceremony I put a Bible and then a sword into
William's hands, and told him the use of each There hang beside me in
my library, as I write, the gun my grandfather fought with at the battle of
Lexington—he was a captain on that occasion—and also the musket he cap¬
tured from a British soldier on that day, the first taken in the war for inde¬
pendence. If I would not peril my property, my liberty, my life, to keep my
parishioners out of slavery, then I would throw away these trophies, and should
think I was the son of some coward, and not a brave man's child.3
Theodore Parker, who could say, " I should like of all things to
see an insurrection of slaves ;"4 who could pronouce that pathetic
and touching but terrible discourse over the great Webster; this
same Theodore Parker did not think it inconsistent with his high
2 North American Review, Nov.-Dec., 1878.
3 Biography of Theodore Parker ; by Octavius Brooks Frothingham.—Boston,
James R. Osgood & Co., 1876; pp. 410, 411.
^ Ibid., p. 475,
M
154 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
ideal of human liberty and equal rights to write in a private letter
as follows:—
Last night I could not coax the thermometer down below 79 degrees any
"way we could fix it. Now, at eight and a-half a.m., I dare not look at it, it is
eo high. In the midst of the heat, there just came a monstrous African black!
O dear, how black he was! Fat! bless me, he looked like a barrel (no, a sugar
hogshead) of tar, so black, so fat! What an aggravation, with the thermometer
at 90 degrees in the shade!5
"We should have taken this for the irrepressible overflow of
harmless witticism but for other disparaging references to the
Negro. To Miss Hunt he writes, under date November 10,1857 :—
There are inferior races which have always borne the same ignoble relation
to the rest of men, and always will. For two generations what a change there
will be in the condition and character of the Irish in New England! But, in
twenty generations, the Negroes will stand just where they are now ; that is, if
they have not disappeared. In Massachusetts there are no laws now to keep
the black man from any pursuit, any office, that he will; but there has never
been a rich Negro in New England; not a man with ten thousand dollars,
perhaps none with five thousand dollars; none eminent in anything except the
calling of a waiter.6
Again: " In respect to the 'power of civilisation, the African is
at the bottom, the American Indian next.'"7 Again; "When
slavery is abolished, the African population will decline in the
United States, and die out of the South as out of Northampton
and Lexington."8
Mr. Parker, after all he said and did for freedom, seems to have
had an invincible contempt for weak and oppressed races. He
waged uncompromising warfare against the process by which such
peoples are degraded, but had no charity toward those suffering
from the results of such process. He fought againt the parent,
and ridiculed the offspring. The abstract to him was hateful; the
concrete examples contemptible or ludicrous. He scorned the
Irish and laughed at the Negro. He speaks of the Irish as
follows:—
I don't know but these Paddies are worse than the Africans to the country.
We made a great mistake in attracting them here and allowing them to vote
under less than twenty-one years of quarantine. Certainly it would take all
5Biography, p. 311. 6 Ibid., p. 467. 7 Ibid., p. 327. 8 Ibid., p. 473.
Echoes from Africa.
155
that time to clean a Paddy—on the outside, I mean; to clean him inwardly
would be like picking up all the sands of the Sahara. There would be nothing
left when the sands were gone.9
It is a pity that in speaking of the " gintleman from Car-r-r-k,"
as in caricature he describes the Irishman, and of "the poor
wretches from Africa," he did not conform to his own canon of
criticism. Speaking of Pierpont, he says : "Just now, considering
all that he has done and suffered, it would seem a little ungenerous
to be quite just. All pictures must be painted in reference to the
light they are to hang in and be looked at."10
Mr. Parker knew the " light" of prejudice and contempt in
which his picture of the Negro was to " hang," and yet, making no
allowance for circumstances, and uninfluenced by the laws of
moderation, he holds the balance between light and shade with an
indifferent hand, paints in the gloomiest possible colours, and thus
encourages rather than disarms the falsifying faculty of the
observer, predisposed to an unfavourable impression.
Would Mr. Parker have joined Dennis Kearney, and raised a
crusade in favour of the inhospitable legislation proposed by the
opponents of Chinese immigration? In view of the splendid results
in the United States, and in the world generally, of the manly
struggle which Mr. Parker maintained for truth and freedom—in
view of the large sacrifices which he unquestionably made in the
cause of free humanity—many errors of temper and judgment on
his part may be forgotten; but the Negro can never forget the
slurs upon his race, of which, however, no one, perhaps, more
readily than Mr. Parker would now admit the impolicy, if not the
injustice. For how do such utterances differ in character and
effects from those of the Notts and Gliddons, of the Calhouns
and Jeff. Davises? And the fact—which should be suggestive to
thinking Negroes in the United States—that they are reproduced
in the Biography by Mr. Prothingham, shows that there is a
feeling that they are the proper thing to say, even now, about the
Negro. Can Congressional legislation remedy the evils produced
f Ibid., p. 473.
10 Biography, p. 329.
156 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
by such caricatures and misrepresentations ? Congress may decree
civil rights to the " despised " race in America, and the exigencies
of party may occasionally bring the Negro to the front, but what
progress can he make when a public sentiment against him is
fostered in the writings and in the private intercourse of his
friends ? In the language of the Liberian Declaration of Eights,
" Public sentiment, more powerful than law, will never frown him
down."
The Negro, pure and simple, may rely upon it that, for him, the
most enthusiastic of his benefactors sees nothing but the lowest
occupations. In the case of the most liberal of his advocates, he
will have occasionally to exclaim, Et tu, Brute 1
A writer in the Methodist Quarterly Review for January, 1875,
on ' The Negro,' has the following among the closing sentences of
an able and plausible defence of the race:—
Without the Negro, the top-stone of our national greatness will not be lifted
to its predestined lofty altitude for centuries yet to come. Expatriate the
Negro, and our cotton-fields whiten no more; our turpentine orchards become
silent as the grave; our rice-fields grow up into canebrakes, sheltering the
alligator and wild boar.
But does the American conscience ever look forward to the
time when, in the United States, the Negro will have any common
interest in, or any—the slightest possible—control over, the political
and financial elements of the country—when he will be needed as
a part of the directing agency in the halls of legislation, in counting-
houses, and in banking establishments ?
Mr. Parton, in the North American Review, says:—
The South is most happy in possessing the Negro, for it is through his
assistance that there will be the grand agriculture in the Southern States,
which cannot flourish unless there is a class to labour and individuals to con¬
trive. The Southern farmer, by the black man's help, can be a " scholar and
a gentleman," and at the same time secure and elevate the black man's life.
Such utterances " give colour to the idea " that the Negro was
made to live and improve only in the service, and under the
guidance of, a superior. If this view is correct, then why does not
the great Creator allow the elect masters to have free access and
safe incursion into the natural home of the created slaves, and
Echoes from Africa.
157
live in a land where they might hold their predestined proteges in
unlimited numbers, and in comfortable service ? Why did He
make for the slaves so magnificent a country, and surround it with
a wall of fire, so that if the master comes to the threshold, he
either beats a hasty retreat, or perishes in the attempt to pene¬
trate ?
Massa run away,
Darkee stay, oh oh!
No ; the destiny of the Negro and his marvellous country is veiled
from the view of the outside world according to the wise and
beneficent purposes of Omniscience.
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
He can wait, if the impatient Caucasian cannot.
The American Missionary Association (whose publications we
have added to this paper in the contents page) in their work of lofty
and noble purpose throughout the South, are endeavouring to pre¬
pare the Negro for higher spheres of labour than "cotton-fields,
turpentine orchards, and rice-fields." Every Negro who is at all
acquainted with matters in the United States must have the highest
admiration for that Association. Almost alone among the benevolent
institutions of that land in the days of the great struggle, they never,
for one moment, yielded to the imperious dictates of an oligarchical
monopoly, but gave expression to the idea which they inscribed
upon their banner, that one of the chief purposes of their organisa¬
tion was to resist the tyranny of the autocracy which doomed the
Negro to perpetual servitude. No one could be enrolled among
the members of their Society who was a "slave-holder." They
have the gratitude of the Negro race.
But history will have a brighter page than even that with which
to adorn their annals, when she comes to recount the devotion and
sacrifices of the hundreds who have been sent forth, under their
auspices, as uplifters of the prostrate host in the South, to whom,
left as they were, paralysed by slavery, free movement and real
progress were intrinsically impossible without the aid of such
agencies as the American Missionary Association. As time rolls
158 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
on, the romance which clings to those heroes who fought to un¬
fetter the body of the slave will fade beside the halo which will
surround those who have laboured to liberate his mind.
We have read, with the deepest interest, the Eeport and some
of the addresses made at the Thirty-second Anniversary of this
Association, held in October, 1878, as well as letters from various
portions of the field under its supervision. In reading the accounts
of the struggles and sufferings of the missionaries, their sorrows
and disappointments, their battles and their victories among the
lowly in remote and sequestered districts, it is often impossible to
repress tears—tears of sympathy, of gratitude, and of joy.
At the Annual Meeting, the Eev. C. M. Southgate said:—
We heard words of hearty praise this afternoon, telling of the success of the
work. They tell hardly enough. But these eSorts should be redoubled. We
want more institutions like those at Atlanta, New Orleans', Charleston, and the
other large Southern cities where high culture and intelligence rule. The
scholarship can be compared without fear with similar grades at the North. I
never heard, in our boasted common schools, such recitations as I have heard
from boys as black as the blackest. I know what Yale and Harvard and
Dartmouth can show; but, in Greek and Latin, those coloured students can
rival their excellence. The culture in morals and manners is at least not
inferior, nor the religious instruction less fruitful. The report from the
Churches shows as large and as healthy success as we can show here. The
young men and women in these institutions have an intense longing to be at
work for the Master. The desperate condition of their race rests upon them
like a pall. God is making them His prophets, and speaking through them,
and sending redemption.
The Eev. Dr. Bascom, in a letter from Alabama, says:—
I see abundant proofs of the beneficent work of your Society here. Could
its influence have been exerted in like manner among all our coloured people
of the South, the problem so perplexing to politicians and philanthropists, as
to the future of this class in our country, would have been already solved.
The Committee on the " Normal Work of the Association"
reported that—
The eagerness of the coloured people to obtain at least a rudimentary
education has ever been a most encouraging sign. The young man who, last
year, walked fifty miles with his trunk upon his back that he might enter
school, recalls the zeal of the late Dr. Godell, of Constantinople, who, in his
youth, also walked sixty miles with a trunk strapped upon his back, that he
Echoes from Africa.
159
might enter Phillips Academy, at Andover. The demand for teachers from the
normal schools—quite beyond the ability to supply them—is one of the surest
indications tha t the schools are meeting an urgent need.
We regret that Professor Hartranft, in his able address on the
"Five Tests of American Civilisation," should have spoken of the
11 brutality of the Negro." In what portion of the United States
has that " brutality " been shown ? Such a charge is in flagrant
contradiction to all the testimony borne of the Negro by those who.
know him best.
And here we must venture to enter our earnest protest against
the use of such phrases as " The Despised Races," which we
see frequently used of late in the publications of the American
Missionary Association. The Eev. Joseph Cook addressed the
Association on the " Three Despised Races," and he was followed
by the Rev. C. M. Southgate on " Puritanism and the Despised
Races." Such expressions as "The Despised Race" and "The
Dark Continent," applied to the Negro and his ancestral home,
have not, we fancy, the most salutary effect either upon those
who employ them or upon those to whom they refer; in the one
they often beget arrogance; in the other, servility or resentment.
They do more than serve the ad captandum purposes for which
they are probably intended. In using " great plainness of speech "
the instructors of humanity should be " wise as serpents and
harmless as doves," which, according to a Negro interpreter,
means " an ounce of serpent to a pound of dove." Moreover,
the whole of the rest of mankind does not hold the European,
in view of his past history, in such unqualified admiration as to
admit without serious question that he has a right to embody in
terse phrases, and to parade in the titles of books, pamphlets,
and addresses his contempt for other races. There are those
of other races who also sneer and scorn and " despise." Some
of the proceedings of Baker and Stanley in Africa must frequently
have impressed the natives with the feeling that those energetic,
travellers came from much " darker continents " than any their
unsophisticated imaginations had ever before suggested to them.
The African now coming forward through education and culture
160 Christianity> Islam and the Negro Race.
cannot have unlimited respect for all the qualities of the European
races: "A people with a passion for taking away the countries
of others and dignifying the robbery as conquests; and whose
systematic cruelty has been shown for ages, in chaining, buying,
and selling another race." The intelligent Negro feels that the
part of the oppressor is not less to be despised than the part of the
oppressed—that the part of the man-stealer and man-seller is far
more contemptible than the part of the man stolen and sold. And
this he will feel more and more. The brilliancy of the universal
and prolonged success which has given the European the idea that
he has a right to despise others, and to proclaim the fact—the
glories which have followed in the wake of his progress and con¬
quests—are getting sadly dimmed in the light of a fuller under¬
standing of the Gospel of Christ. Under the searching criticisms
of rising intellects imbued with the essence of a Christian philo¬
sophy, and influenced by the spirit of a science properly so called,
those brutal instincts which received the eulogiums of the past are
finding their proper recognition as elements of character to be
reprobated and suppressed. The Bosworth Smiths of to-day are
superseding the Carlyles of yesterday. Might no longer makes
right. The motto on the British coat-of-arms is being slightly
altered—not " God and my Eight," but " God and the Eight."
Whatever " smacks of saltpetre "11 is being deprecated and con¬
demned. Says the eloquent author of Carthage and the Cartha¬
ginians :—
It is equally reprehensible, whether it be the plunder of half of Europe by
the representative of one of its most enlightened nations, the arch-robber of
modern times, Napoleon; or the sack of a Chinese palace by those whom the
Chinese had a right, in this instance at least, to style Barbarians. If good men
and great nations have hitherto often followed the example of Cicero in
drawing a broad contrast between the extortions of a Yerres and the high¬
handed plunder of Marcellus, a Warren Hastings, or a Napoleon, it is because
they have not yet reached the moral standard which condemns the public
robber; they look askance only at a thief.12
11 Lord Salisbury's Speech in the House of Lords, 1879.
12Carthage and the Carthaginians; by E. Bosworth Smith, M.A., Assistant
Master in Harrow School, &c.—London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1878. When
Echoes from Africa.
161
History, then, as it is read by the thinking Negro, will not
diminish the vehemence of his protest against the injustice of being
regarded by the European as belonging to a "despised race," nor
lessen the grounds of his desire to reciprocate the disparaging
sentiment. His hands are free from the blood of other men. He
has not in any "way oppressed other races. He has suffered, and
that is all. He has been scattered and peeled, despoiled and
plundered, abused, persecuted, and down-trodden, and that is all.
The late Professor Tayler Lewis, of Union College, when he was
once asked the flippant question, " What shall we do with the
Negro ? " replied, " And pray, sir, what shall the Negro do with
you? It is my logic, with no disrespect to anybody, that one
question is as fair as the other."13
The Negroes on the African continent who have not read
European history are divided into two classes, namely, those who
have seen and had intercourse with the Europeans, and those who
have never seen but only heard of them. The view taken by the
former at this moment was exactly that described by Mungo Park
a hundred years ago.14 A century has made no change. Of the
impressions of the latter we have a fair specimen in one of Stanley's
amusing anecdotes. That distinguished traveller, describing the
people on the south-western shores of Lake Tanganyika, says :—
The conduct of the first natives to whom we were introduced pleased us all.
They showed themselves in a very amiable light, sold their com cheaply and
without fuss, behaved themselves decently and with propriety, though their
principal men, entertaining very strange ideas of white men, carefully concealed
themselves from view, and refused to be tempted to expose themselves within
view or hearing of us.
Their doubts of our character were reported to us by a friendly young Arab
as follows: " Kassanga, chief of Ruanda, says, ' How can the white men be
good when they come for no trade, whose feet one never sees, who always go
covered from head to foot with clothes ? Do not tell me they are good an
Dr. Johnson expressed a hope that he might never hear of the Punic Wars
again, he never anticipated anything like this brilliant and charming work—
this startling investment in flesh and blood of the dry bones of Carthaginian
history.
18 Methodist Quarterly Review, Oct. 1878, p. 617,
14 Park's Travels.
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
friendly. There is something very mysterious about them; perhaps wicked.
Probably they are magicians; at any rate, it is better to leave them alone, and
to keep close until they are gone.' "
And again :—
In these people we first saw the mild, amiable, unsophisticated innocence
of this part of Central Africa, and their behaviour was exactly the reverse of
the wild, ferocious, cannibalistic races the Arabs have described to us.15
After the disparaging view of the Negro taken by Professor
Hartranft, it is not surprising that he should have exclaimed :—
As to the African, there are not a few Americans, even in this day, who
think a righteous solution of the African question is to ship them all off to the
Dark Continent. So far as the American Colonisation Society keeps in view
education and other Christian instrumentalities I bid them God-speed; but if
they desire to send the Negro out of the country, I say, No !—a thousand times,
No ! Let us solve the problem right here where God has placed them.
We cannot help repeating the last words of the paragraph—
" right here where God has placed them "—and we think of the
sanguinary scenes attending the capture and deportation of their
fathers from the ancestral land; the devastation of flourishing
districts; the desolation and ruin by fire and sword; the pillage,
the plunder, the murders, and the horrors of the middle passage.
There was among philanthropists a difference of opinion when
these people, or their fathers, were being shipped to America; and
Professor Hartranft is not alone in his benevolent scruples about
shipping them back to the " Dark Continent."
The Eev. Sylvanus Heywood, who seems to have a higher
appreciation of the race and of its work, speaks of the Negro as the
" black diamond plucked out of Africa," and advocates for him an
education the same in character and completeness as that given to
the white man. He says:—
You may enact laws and hedge them about with penalties for securing the
rights of the blacks, but law alone will prove a failure. But give to them the
highest Christian culture, and they will not only demand, but command, their
rights.. Give them a common school education, and it will be a blessing to
them ; but with nothing more they will remain but hewers of wood and drawers
of water. They will be in society, but not of it. But give them the highest
culture among cultured men, and the case will be far different. It is too late in
15 Through the Bark Continent; vol. ii, pp. 68, 69.
Echoes from Africa.
163
the day to raise the question whether they are capable of this. This Association
has demonstrated that day by day. I have spent ten years as a teacher among
the whites, and two among the blacks, and I must say that I accomplished
more in those two years than in ten—more in the way of giving instruction. I
say, it is too late to raise that question at all. It is already demonstrated.
Let them be educated with broad culture. Let them have the training that
will put them in possession of practical skill, such as shall win success. Let
them have their own lawyers well trained in legal lore, so that they shall be
able—in that natural eloquence in which they excel—to carry conviction to
dignified courts. Let them have clergymen, not only earnest and sanctified,
but able to cope with the deep things of science and theology—men able to-
stand before the most learned bodies. Let them have statesmen, well grounded
in philosophy, history, and government, so that they will be able, not only to'
win victories upon the stump, but in the halls of legislation. Let their homes
become homes of Christian culture and social refinement. Then, and not till
then, will they cease to struggle for their rights and take them.
But Mr. Heywood takes also a much broader view of the logieaL
and necessary sequence of all this high culture—of all this effective^
training. He points to the fatherland. His philosophy is corrects
For the Negro, pure and simple, this is the only real solution of his
difficulties. He says:—
The ways of God are mysterious. We must walk by faith, and not by sight.
We hear His voice saying, " This is the way ; walk ye in it." In this darkness
we see His hand. In the raising of this Society and the doing away with
slavery, we can see almost visibly the hand of God displayed upon the midnight
sky, pointing to that dark continent, saying we should send these freemen
forth as the apostles of light to purify and make glad their ancestral homes.
No man who has any proper conception of the capacities and
work of the Negro, and has caught anything like a glimpse of his-
ultimate destiny, can fail to arrive at Mr. Heywood's conclusion..
To the intelligent and earnest Negro in America, there is, as he
rises in culture, an ever-widening horizon of duty and of liberty—
Home, or rather the place of his birth, gets too narrow for liberty,,
too circumscribed for work, and he looks to Africa as the field
for both.
In an able article in the London Times for May 19, on the
Negro migration in the United States, the following words occur:—
The truth is, that the Negro is not a migratory being. He did not come of
his own accord to Virginia, or any other Southern State; nor will he willingly
leave it again now that he is acclimatised there. He has found an Africa in
the South which is quite as congenial to him as that from which his fore¬
fathers were transported.
164 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
On the subject of the Negro, The Times and everybody else, not
African, are utterly in the dark. An acknowledged mystery hangs
about him and his destiny. Foreigners do not know the Negro.
They have never had an opportunity of knowing him. Foreign
•slavery on the one hand, and aboriginal barbarism on the other,
.are the only circumstances under which they have had an oppor¬
tunity of contemplating him. It is true that the " Negro is not a
migratory being." He would never have appeared on American
.soil, if he had not been taken thither by violence. And the restless¬
ness he now shows is among the strongest proofs of his freedom.
He is now free to think and act for himself, and the consciousness
■fof being a stranger in a strange land is beginning to operate upon
.him. The Times admits that " this is not the first symptom of
desire for change among the coloured citizens; " and yet it fancies
that the Negro has found " an Africa in the South which is quite
.as congenial to him as that from which his forefathers were trans¬
ported." The fact is, that the Negro is getting, every day, more
and more into a position to show himself no longer a dormant, but
.an active, factor among the forces of civilisation, and the European
will witness, almost daily, new developments in his character—the
exhibition of qualities never suspected. Next to ridicule, one of
the most repulsive things to a sensitive mind is sympathy unduly
-extended, especially when the sympathiser has no means of
-correctly estimating the situation which he imagines should call
forth his sympathy. There are very few Europeans who are
.qualified either to guide or to sympathise with the Negro in the
countries of his exile; and gratuitous advice, even from these, in
vital questions of his race, has no practical influence upon him.
" The enthusiasm for Liberia " has not died out, as The Times
imagines. The American Colonisation Society has at this moment
five hundred thousand applicants for passage to Liberia. Dr. A. L.
Stanford, a Negro of culture, who was sent last year as Commis¬
sioner to Liberia from his people in Arkansas, returned with a
favourable report, in which he says:—
After travelling extensively in Liberia and observing the prosperous
-condition of the colony which the American Colonisation Society has planted—
Echoes from Africa.
165
and, I am convinced, firmly established—I am prepared to lend my aid in
disabusing the public mind in regard to the noble efforts put forth by that
Society in elevating the downtrodden Negro race. I entertain very different
views from what I held before. I verily believe that Africa is the natural
home of the Negro, and that ere long the remnant of her descendants,
wherever dispersed, will return to that land. I favour a gradual emigration
of the more enterprising, hard-working, and intelligent class of American
Negroes. I believe such a course would prove a blessing to Africa and to-
the race.16
It is admitted by all travellers to the coast that Liberia occupies
five hundred miles of the finest and most picturesque portion of
West Africa, with an interior extending two hundred miles or
indefinitely back, abounding in everything necessary for the
growth and prosperity of a people. The whole valley of the Niger
is accessible to this Eepublic, teeming with a population everywhere
hospitable and friendly, ready and anxious to welcome to their
salubrious, prolific, and picturesque home, their brethren returning
from the countries of their exile.
In the trade and commerce of this country there seems to be
a special interest, not only for the Negroes in the United States,
but for the whole American people. There would be unlimited
demand for American productions in that vast region now almost
untouched. Gold, and hides, and beeswax, and rubber, as well as
the finest coffee, might be had in unlimited quantities. Not far
from Liberia are the unvisited but easily accessible and wealthy
countries north and west of Ashantee and Dahomey, possessing
the very highest capacity for the consumption of manufactured
articles and for the production of raw material—from which a
prodigious trade, struggling for an outlet, filters through, in very
small quantities, to the Gulf of Benin.
Viewing the subject in this light, it becomes a practical business
question whether there are no large capitalists in the Northern or
Southern States willing to invest in an entirely virgin country, so
much nearer to the United States than many of those countries
from which at great expense tropical productions are now obtained
for the American market—a field where agriculture may find
16 African Repository, April, 1879 ; pp. 40, 41.
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
unobstructed, scope; where so many results, moral, political and
pecuniary, may be at once achieved.; and where a Christian nation,
with its multifarious agencies for diffusing civilisation, may be
built up. If American capitalists desired to engage in agriculture,
and to produce the far-famed Liberia coffee, or any other tropical
product, they could themselves select and send out able hands
from America for this work, who, while building up a congenial
home for themselves and their children, and. making "the wilder¬
ness and solitary place glad" for their presence, would be also
•enlarging the wealth of their patrons.
At a banquet given in Paris on the 19th of May, 1879, in
commemoration of the abolition of slavery, M. Victor Hugo said:
" In the nineteenth century, the white man has made the Negro
a man, and, in the twentieth century, Europe will make Africa
a world."
We admire the epigrammatic form of this sentence, but we
venture to disagree with the sentiment it contains. As philo¬
sopher and prophet, the great poet is in this instance mistaken.
Poetical inspirations do not always suggest sound political lessons.
But what he said further on in his speech should be carefully
pondered by all intelligent Negroes everywhere. He said :—
The day had come for the vast continent which alone among the five parts
of the world had no history, to be reformed by Europeans. The Mediterranean
was a lake of civilisation, and it was the duty of Greece and of Italy, of France
and of Spain, the four countries that occupied its northern shores, to recollect
-that a vast territory lay unredeemed on the opposite coast. England was
also worthy to take part in the great work. She, like France, was one of the
great free nations of the globe; and, like France, she had begun the colonisation
and civilisation of Africa. The latter held the north and east, the former the
south and the west. America had joined in the task, and Italy was ready to
do so. This showed the unity of spirit which pervaded the people of the world.
M. Victor Hugo then described the magnificent scenery, the fertility, and the
navigable rivers of Central Africa in eloquent language, and concluded by
exhorting the European nations to occupy this land offered to them by God,
to build towns, to make roads, to cultivate the earth, to introduce trade and
commerce, to preach peace and concord; so that the new continent should not
be the scene of strife, but, free from princes and priests, should enjoy the
"blessings of fraternity.17
" Daily Telegraph, Slay 20.
Echoes from Africa.
167
It is really high time that a " unity of spirit should pervade the
peoples of the world " for the regeneration of a continent so long
despoiled by the unity or consent of these same peoples. Thinking
.Negroes should ask themselves what part they will take in this
magnificent work, the work of reclaiming a continent—their oiun
continent. In what way will they illustrate their participation in
the " unity of spirit " which pervades the peoples for the redemption
of their fatherland ? Compared to this, most of the questions with
which they are endeavouring to grapple in the United States, sink
into insignificance. The local can bear no comparison to the
universal, nor the temporary to the eternal.
Victor Hugo exhorts the European nations to " occupy this land
offered to them by God." He has forgotten the prudent advice of
Csesar to the ancestors of those nations against invading Africa.
The Europeans can hold the domain " offered to them " by only a
precarious tenure. But it already belongs to the exiled Negro. It
is his by creation and inheritance. Every man, woman, and child
of the Negro race out of Africa ought to thank God for this glorious
heritage, and hasten to possess it—a field for the physical, moral,
and spiritual development of the Negro, where he will live under
the influence of his freshest inspirations; where, with the simple
shield of faith in God and in his race, and with the sword of the
spirit of progress, he will grow and thrive; where, with his sym¬
pathetic heart, he will catch stray, far-off tones, inaudible to the
foreigner, which, penetrating through the local air, will waken
chords in his nature now unknown to the world, and unsuspected
even by himself. He will come under the influence of powers
which will haunt him with strange visions, and indicate the way he
should go. Emerson says :—
A man's genius, the quality that differences him from every other, the
susceptibility to one class of influences, the selection of what is fit for him,
the rejection of what is unfit, determines for him the character of the universe.
A man is a method, a progressive arrangement, a selecting principle, gathering
his like to him wherever he goes. He takes only his own out of the multiplicity
that sweeps and circles round him. He is like one of those booms which are
set out from the shore on rivers to catch drift-wood, or like the loadstone
among splinters of steel A few anecdotes, a few traits of character,
manners, face, a few incidents, have an emphasis in your memory out of all
168 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
proportion to their apparent significance, if you measure them by th ' ^
standards. They relate to your gift. Let them have their weig , an o no
reject them and cast about for illustrations and facts more use u o ^ a' e#
What your heart thinks great is great. The soul's emphasis is a ways rig
When Professor Hartranft says, " Let us solve the Negro pro¬
blem right here," in America, to what "problem does he refer?
and how does he propose to solve the great questions of the African
race in the United States? There are certain problems at times
set before a people by accidental and temporary circumstances;
these may admit of solution by extraneous help. There are others
which grow out of their natural, inherent, and unchangeable relation
to the outside world, or the universe; these are to be solved by the
people themselves under favouring circumstances; the trusts and
i-esponsibilities which these impose are special, incommunicable,
and inalienable. But probably Professor Hartranft means the
problem pressing upon the white man in his relations to the
Negro ; the problem of his duty toward the " despised" race—his
power to arrive at a satisfactory solution being a "test" of his
civilisation. In regard to this, of course, we can suggest nothing.
But, from all we can gather, it appears that the chief problem held
up to the Negro for his solution by his friends in America is that
of " conquering the caste prejudices of the whites " around him; of
becoming, as the usual phrase is, "a man among men" (white
men); of "wiping out the colour line," &c. Now, we beg most
respectfully, with all the earnestness and deference becoming the
subject, and with the serious emphasis which we know the en¬
lightened of the race would authorise us to employ, to assure our
white friends that these are matters for which the Negro, when
cultivated up to Mr. Heywood's standard, will care very little. He
will then feel that, in his own race-groove and on his own con¬
tinent, he has a work to accomplish equal to that of the European,
and that caste or race prejudices are as natural to him as to
the white man. The passion for equality does not always exert an
elevating influence on the character, but may be positively mis¬
chievous where, to produce or sustain it, certain sentiments in the
18 The Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson; vol. i, p. 292.
Echoes from Africa. i6g
mind are flattered by holding the higher attributes in abeyance, or
brought into prominence at the expense of judgment and love of
truth.
Ripe scholarship and disciplined thought, even under the
training he is receiving in America, will give to the Negro a fresh¬
ness, a manliness, a hopefulness, and a faith which will deliver him
from the tyranny of his surroundings, widen his view of his own
capabilities, make him conscious of belonging to a race which has
rich things in store for the world, and glorify his heart with a
thousand strange and fruitful sympathies, and with endless heroic
aspirations.
The Negro who is really restless on the subject of caste in
America is he who, from defective culture or lack of culture, has
not half found out the calling of his race; who, consequently,
unduly impressed by his surroundings, is eager for immediate
success, and anxious to play his part well amid the circumstances
in which he finds himself—aiming at technical skill, which is
popular or fashionable, rather t^ian artistic life, which may be
unique and unpopular. Fascinated by the present, he cannot con¬
ceive anything else, and harasses himself with the ever-recurring
and ever-unsatisfying and unsatisfactory task of imitating imitators.
The Negro, raised to Mr. Heywood's standard, will feel the force of
Emerson's words:—
We like only such, actions as have already long had the praise of men, and
do not perceive that anything man can do may be divinely done. We think
greatness entailed or organised in some places, or duties in certain offices or
occasions, and do not see that Paganini can extract rapture from a catgut, and
Eulenstein from a jew's-harp, and a limber-fingered lad out of shreds of paper
with his scissors, and Landseer out of swine, and the hero out of the pitiful
habitation and company in which he was hidden. What we call obscure
condition or vulgar society is that condition and society whose poetry is
not yet written, but which you shall presently make as enviable and renowned
as any.19
Eecognising the force of these truths, the cultivated Negro will
have insight enough to discover his exact relation to surrounding
superficial phenomena, and self-respect and independence enough
19 Prose Works, vol. ii, p. 291.
N
170 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
to acknowledge the fact that his peculiar work cannot be done
under the overshadowing influence of a foreign race; that there he
cannot " communicate himself to others in his full stature and
proportion;" and, feeling this, he will turn to the fatherland, to
"the one direction in which all space is open to him," and under
the conviction that " he has faculties inviting him thither to endless
exertion."
The teachers of the Negro in America cannot have failed to
observe that there seems always to be in the mind of their pupils
some reservation which they cannot overcome—some hesitancy
which they cannot explain, but which they attribute to a sort of
modesty growing out of a sense of inferiority in the pupil. But
the fact is, that, under the influence of the means of culture to
which he has access, his race-consciousness is kindled into active
and sensitive life, and he receives, under mental protest, many a
dogma, which for European growth and development is orthodox
and inspiring. Not only the physical and metaphysical teachings
often puzzle and contradict his deepest feelings, but even the
Scriptures are, at times, a perplexity to him; and as he becomes
acquainted with the original languages in which they were written,
he feels that there is in them a temporary and local element which
must be separated from the permanent and universal, before the
sacred records can utter what, in the depths of his being, he wants
to say. But, in America, he will never be able to make the dis¬
crimination that will be useful to him. He will never be able to
translate the letter, which is often adapted to another age and
race, into the spirit of his own times and race. He is, therefore,
lonely with his secret, with which nothing around him seems to
sympathise. Development is denied him ; he cannot expand. He
fills his belly with theories and dogmas which to him are like the
dry, hard husk. He cannot digest them, and they afford him no
nourishment. Nearly everything he produces comes from the
memory; very little flows fresh from the heart. The African
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States is the result, in
part, of just such experiences on the part of the Bishop Aliens of a
former day. They found that the waters flowing from the fountain
Echoes fvom Africa.
171
which God had opened in their soul were slackened and half-choked
by being forced through the pent-up and artificial channels pro¬
vided for them in the white Churches, and they established that
noble organisation—the admiration of Negroes everywhere, which
during the last fifty years has attained such wonderful growth—
that the living streams of their unfettered nature might wind their
own sweet way along the meadows of an ecclesiastical Liberia.
If the fare with which they were furnished in the new religious
Eepublic was ridiculed by their enemies as " ash cake," it was to
them more than the wheat bread upon which they were starved in
their previous connection. The food now dispensed to them was
to their souls the very bread of life.
But there are many drawbacks to this imperium in imperio. It
grew out of a temporary and local necessity, and, like all such
products, must be partial and limited in its influence. Does it not
become this most honourable and useful body—this first-born of
African Churches—this pledge and proof of Africa's future evangeli¬
sation—to inquire whether they may not increase their efficiency
and even develop their central strength by taking a wider, deeper,
and more practical interest in the land of their fathers, in their kith
and kin in Africa ? Their system is capable of indefinite develop¬
ment in the vast and unoccupied field which this continent presents.
The message to them, as a Church of Christ is, " Go ye into all the
-world"—not only over the United States, from California to New
York and from New England to Texas, but to "regions beyond,"
especially to the lost sheep of their own race. Their talents, it
occurs to us, are not as useful and as profitable as they might be
made. This is a drawback and a mistake. If it be sinful to wrap
our talent in a napkin and hide it in the earth, it is only one degree
less sinful so to handle it as to make it yield twofold only where it
might yield ten. We are persuaded, however, that it is not the
-courage they lack for the work, but conviction. The same self-
control and self-reliance, the same energy and independence, which
led to the founding of the African Churches in the United States
-would readily, if there were earnest conviction on the subject,
sacrifice the charms of home, the comforts of civilisation, the aesthetic
172 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and sensuous attractions of an enlightened country, for the labours
and toils and privations of the wilderness. They are quite equal to,
and have shown themselves worthy of, the great achievement of
taking possession of the whole valley of the Niger for Christ. Let
them arise and come, and they will find in the home of their
widowed parent that " the barrel of meal will not waste, nor will
the cruse of oil fail." Freedom from restraint ought not to be our
ultimate and final object, but freedom to worship God ; and the
desire for such freedom is, in certain aspects of the subject, among
the happiest of the popular instincts of the Negro race.
It is remarkable that the message which Moses was commanded
to bear to the tyrant Pharaoh was not " Let My people go that they
may he free," but " Let my people go that they may serve Me." As
long as they remained in a strange country under a foreign race they
could not render that service for which they were fitted, and which
God requires of every man. They could not serve the Lord with
their " whole heart," the undiminished fulness of their nature, in
carrying out the purposes of their being. " How could they sing the
Lord's song in a strange land ? " Their race-impulses and instincts
were hampered, confused and impaired. So with the Negro in
America. Although their gatherings, of whatever nature, are usually
marked and enlivened by a stream of religious feeling which
continually flows with a rapid, and sometimes boisterous, current,
still they cannot fully know God in that land, for they see him
through the medium of others. Here and there there may be a
" Caleb, who has another spirit within him, and follows the Lord
fullybut the masses are distracted by the disturbing media. The
body, soul, and spirit do not work in harmony. The religious passions
are predominant in their influences among them, and they show a
co-operative and successful energy in ecclesiastical organisations;
but, in their political struggles, there is no attempt at any logical
or reasoned solution of their difficulties. " The Negro," says Rev-
Joseph Cook, " has gone to the wall in Mississippi, in spite of having
a majority there and the suffrage. And he is likely to go to the wall
in South Carolina. He is going to the wall even where he has a
majority; and his inferiority in politics results from his lack of
Echoes from Africa.
173
education "—such an education as tie can never receive in America.
But let him be delivered from the restraints of his exile; let him be
set free from the stocks that now confine him, and he will not only
arise and walk, but he will point out the way to the eminent success,
which, in his particular line, only he can find out, and which he must
find out for himself. He will discover the central point from which
the lines may be easily and infallibly drawn to all the points of the
circle to which he is to move effectively, in the true work of his race,
for his own elevation and the advantage of the rest of mankind. He
will prove that what in African history and character seems
nebulous confusion is really a firmament of stars. There are stars,
astronomers tell us, whose light has not yet reached the earth ; so
there are stars in the moral universe yet to be disclosed by the
unfettered African, which he must discover before he will be able to
progress without wandering into perilous seas and suffering serious
injury. Let him, then, return to the land of his fathers, and
ACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH GOD, AND BE AT PEACE.
Philip and the Eunuch.
THERE is no people, except the Hebrews and other ancient
inhabitants of Palestine, more frequently mentioned in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments than the Ethiopians ;
and there is no country more frequently referred to than Ethiopia;
and the record of no people, whether in sacred history or in ancient
secular history, has less of the discreditable than the record of the
Ethiopians.
Let us see what is said of them in sacred history.
The first time that we meet with any distinct mention of the
Ethiopian is in the account given in the twelfth chapter of Numbers,
of the disagreement between Moses and his brother and sister in
the matter of his marriage with an Ethiopian woman. The next
mention of this people is in 2 Chron. xiv, where we read of Zerah,
the Ethiopian general, who commanded an army of a thousand
thousand men and three hundred chariots. The next mention is in
Jeremiah xxxviii, where we learn of Ebedrnelech, who, having
deeper spiritual insight, and understanding more the ways of the
Lord than the king and all the other Hebrew inhabitants of
Jerusalem, believed the unpopular utterances of the prophet
Jeremiah, and rescued him from his unpleasant and perilous
condition in the dungeon of Zedekiah. For his faith and spiritual
perception he was rewarded, in the time of trouble.
A singular passage in 1 Chron. iv, 40, gives an important clue to
the opinions entertained in those days, and by the sacred writers,
of the character of the descendants of Ham. Describing a certain
district to which the children of Simeon had migrated, the chronicler
Philip and the Eunuch.
T75
says: " They found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide
and quiet and peaceable, for they of Ham had dwelt there of old."
The secular poets and historians of those times also bear witness
to the excellence of the Ethiopian character. Homer, the prince of
poets, and Herodotus, the father of history, both speak in praise of
them.
In the earliest traditions of nearly all the more civilised nations of antiquity,
the name of this distant people is found. The annals of the Egyptian priests
were full of them ; the nations of inner Asia, on the Euphrates and Tigris, have
interwoven the fictions of the Ethiopians with their own traditions of the
conquests and wars of their heroes; and, at a period equally remote, they
glimmer in Greek mythology. When the Greeks scarcely knew Italy and Sicily
by name, the Ethiopians were celebrated in the verses of their poets; they
spoke of them as the "remotest nation," the "most just of men," the
" favourites of the gods." The lofty inhabitants of Olympus journey to them,
and take part in their feasts; their sacrifices are the most agreeable of all that
mortals can offer them. And when the faint gleam of tradition and fable gives
way to the clear light of history, the lustre of the Ethiopians is not diminished.
They still continue the object of curiosity and admiration; and the pen of.
cautious, clear-sighted historians often places them in the highest rank of
knowledge and civilisation.1
When Cambyses, the Persian monarch, had spread his conquests
over Egypt, had gratified the impulses of national envy and jealousy
in the destruction of the magnificent city of Memphis, had disfigured
the Sphinx with his battering-rams; and had failed, after two
years' effort, to demolish the mysterious Pyramids, he turned his
covetous eyes to Ethiopia, and was anxious to pluck and wear the
inaccessible laurels, never before nor since his day worn by Euro¬
pean or Asiatic brow, as the conqueror of Ethiopia. Before entering
upon this dazzling enterprise, he took the precaution of sending his
spies to examine the country and report to him. The account
which Herodotus gives, of the interview between the spies and the
Ethiopian monarch, has forever embalmed Ethiopian character in
history. The fragrance of the name, despite the distance of time
and the counter-currents in the literary atmosphere, has floated
over the fields of history, triumphantly lingering in the hostile air,
and has come down unimpaired to us.
1 Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i, pp. 293, 294.
176
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
When the spies of Cambyses arrived before the king of Ethiopia,
they offered the treacherous gifts from their roaster of which they»
were the bearers, and delivered the following address :—
Cambyses, king of the Persians, desirous of becoming your friend and ally,
has sent us, bidding us confer with you; and he presents you with these gifts,
which are such as he himself most delights in.
But the Ethiopian, knowing that they came as spies, spoke thus
to them:—
Neither has the king of the Persians sent you with presents to me because
he valued my alliance, nor do you speak the truth; for ye are come as spies of
my kingdom. Nor is he a just man; for if he were just, he would not desire
any other territory than his own, nor would he reduce people into servitude who
have done him no injury. However, give him this bow, and say these words to
him: " The king of the Ethiopians advises the king of the Persians, when the
Persians can thus easily draw a bow of this size, then to make war on the
Macrobian Ethiopians with more numerous forces; but, until that time let
him thank the gods, who have not inspired the sons of the Ethiopians with a
desire of adding another land to their own." 2
2 Dr. George Ebers, the German novelist, has woven this incident into one
of his popular romances, entitled An Egyptian Princess. A superficial criticism,
guided by local and temporary prejudices, has attempted to deny the intimate
relations of the Negro with the great historic races of Egypt and Ethiopia. But
no one who has travelled in North-eastern Africa, or among the ruins on the
banks of the Nile, will for a moment doubt that there was the connection, not
of accident or of adventitious circumstances, but of consanguinity between the
races of inner Africa of the present day, and the ancient Egyptians and
Ethiopians. To 'get rid of the responsibility of brotherhood to the Negro, an
American professor, in an elaborate work, claims for the tropical African a
pre-Adamite origin, and ignores his relation with Ham. His arguments, how¬
ever, are, as yet, beneath the level of scientific criticism. Stat pro ratione
voluntas. The impressions of Yolney, the great French traveller, after visiting
the magnificent ruins of Egypt, are expressed as follows : " When I visited the
Sphinx, I could not help thinking the figure of that monster furnished the true
solution of the enigma; when I saw its features precisely those of a Negro, I
recollected the remarkable passage of Herodotus, in which he says : ' For my
part, I believe the Colchi to be a colony of Egyptians, because, like them, they
have black skins and frizzled hair (lib. ii); that is, that the ancient Egyptians
were real Negroes, of the same species with all the natives of Africa
This historical fact affords to philosophy an interesting subject of reflection.
How are we astonished when we reflect that to the race of Negroes, at present
our slaves, and the objects of our extreme contempt, we owe our arts, sciences,
and even the very use of speech! " (Volney's Travels, vol. i, ch. iii.) Catafago,
in his Arabic and English Dictionary, under the word Kusur (palaces), says :—
Philip and the Eunuch.
177
This reply of the Ethiopian monarch expresses the characteristic
of the African as seen even to this day. In a recent account, given
of some European missionaries in East Africa, it is said; "They
are much respected by the people, who say of them, ' These are
men who do not covet other people's goods;' the highest praise in
their eyes, as the other white men they had seen came among them
only to enrich themselves at their expense."3
If we come down to New Testament times, we find, again,
Africans and their country appearing in honourable connections.
When the Saviour of mankind, born in lowly circumstances, was
the persecuted babe of Bethlehem, Africa furnished the refuge for
his threatened and helpless infancy. African hands ministered to
the comfort of Mary and Joseph while they sojourned as homeless
and hunted strangers in that land. In the final hours of the Man
of Sorrows, when His disciples had forsaken Him and fled, and
only the tears of sympathising women, following in the distance,
showed that His sorrows touched any human heart; when Asia, in
the person of the Jew, clamoured for His blood, and Europe, in the
Eoman soldier, was dragging Him to execution, and afterwards
nailed those sinless hands to the cross, and pierced that sacred
side—what was the part that Africa took then ? She furnished the
man to share the burden of the cross with the suffering Redeemer.
Simon, the Cyrenian, bore the cross after Jesus. " Fleecy locks
and dark complexion " thus enjoyed a privilege and an honour, and
was invested with a glory in which kings and potentates, martyrs
" The ruins of Thebes, that ancient and celebrated town, deserve to be visited,
as just these heaps of ruins, laved by the Nile, are all that remain of the
opulent cities that gave lustre to Ethiopia. It was there that a people, since
forgotten, discovered the elements of Science and Art at a time when all other
men were barbarous, and when a race, now regarded as the refuse of society,
explored among the phenomena of Nature those civil and religious systems
which have since held mankind in awe." A more recent investigator, Dr.
Hartmann, in an ' Encyclopaedic Work on Nigritia' (Saturday Review, June 17,
1876), contends for the strictly African extraction of the Egyptians, who, he
seems to consider, may have dwelt upon the shores of the inner African sea,
whose desiccation has formed the existing Sahara.
3 Dublin Review, April, 1881.
178
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and confessors in the long roll of ages, would have been proud to
participate.
But what of the country of the Africans ? "What of Ethiopia
itself? It has always worn a forbidding aspect to foreigners.
Although the ancients, on account of the amiable qualities of the
inhabitants, made the country frequently the scene of Olympic
festivities, with Jupiter as the presiding genius, yet they had the
most curious notions of the country. And it may be that, in
keeping with a well-known instinct of human nature, to surround
sacred things with mystery, the land was invested with repellent
characteristics because it was the occasional abode of the gods.
Herodotus (iv, 91), in describing the interior of Africa, says :—
This is the region in which the huge serpents are found, and the lions,
the elephants, the bears, the aspicks, and the horned asses. Here, too, are the
dog-faced creatures, and the creatures without heads, whom the Lybians declare
to have their eyes in their breasts ; and also the wild men, and the wild women,
and many other far less fabulous beasts.
And from that day onwards, the ideas of Africa, entertained by
the outside world, were calculated to produce only fear and
abhorrence. Dante, the classic poet of Italy, has preserved
the opinions of his day in one of the cantos of the Inferno, in the
comparison he makes of an indescribable region, which he saw in
Malebolge, with Africa. After picturing the horrors of the place,
that master of Italian song says :—
I saw within a fearful throng of serpents, and of so strange a look that even
now the recollection scares my blood. Let Libya boast no longer with its
sand; for though it engenders chelydri, jaculi and parese, and cenchres with
amphisbsena, plagues so numerous or so dire it never showed, with all Ethiopia,
nor with the land that lies by the Red Sea.4
4 E vidivi entro terribile stipa
Di serpenti, e di si diversa mena,
Che la memoria il sangue ancor mi scipa.
Piii non si vanti Libia con sua rena:
Che, se chelidri, jaculi, e faree
Produce, e cencri con anfesibena;
N& tante pestilenzie, n6 si ree
Mostrd giammai con tutta 1' Etiopia,
Ne con cio che di sopra '1 mar Rosso ee.
(Inferno, Canto xxiv., lines 85-90.)
Philip and the Eunuch.
179
Shakespeare makes Othello win Desdemona by the horrible tales
he tells of interior Africa:—
Of antres vast and deserts idle,
* « * * *
And of the cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders.
And these notions cannot be said to have been entirely dispelled
until within our own day—within the last five-and-twenty years.
Those who dealt, even forty years ago, with African geography,
are now proved to have been wrong in every detail. They denied
the existence of great lakes and broad rivers flowing from the centre
to the coast. They spoke of the great mass of Central Africa as
consisting of vast deserts, bare of vegetation, bare of animal life,
and, above all, bare of men. There was so much of uncertainty
and indefiniteness in the maps constructed by those writers on
Africa as to justify the witty lines of Swift:—
Geographers in Afric's maps
With savage pictures fill their gaps;
And o'er imhabitable downs
Place elephants, for want of towns.
But what physical glories, what mountains and lakes, and rivers,
and what a wealth of population have been unfolded to the aston¬
ished gaze of the present generation ! In the former years all was
gloomy and mysterious and forbidding. The country seemed to
the ancients to have been created only as the scene of the happy
residence of the gods and of the native races. And it is a noticeable
fact that no other race than the Ethiopian, in its different varieties,
has ever had permanent or extensive foothold in that land. To-day,
whether in its northern or southern extremities, the tenure of
foreigners might be described simply as an "armed occupation."
Let us, for a moment, glance at the history of foreign efforts in
Africa. Of the secular agencies which have operated from abroad,
the Egyptian power—if we take for granted the modern notion that
the Egyptians were an alien race—has been, perhaps, the mosfc
important. But even this has been subject to such vicissitudes
180 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and changes as to have left no distinct or wide-spread impression
upon the country. Dynasty after dynasty has arisen and dis¬
appeared ; and these, while they lasted, have prospered only when
in alliance with the undoubtedly indigenous and interior races.
And even with these alliances, they have not been able to push
their power beyond the alluvial regions—the country called, from
its geological origin, " The gift of the Nile." The natives beyond
have always held their own ; and, even to this day, the indigenous
power neighbouring to Egypt is a source of constant anxiety and
concern to the Albanian rulers of that " house of bondage." Eecent
intelligence informs us that King John of Abyssinia is using the
present crisis in Egypt to take possession again of those provinces
which Egypt had taken away from Abyssinia, i.e., Mensa and Bagos.
The so-called False Prophet of the Soudan, emerging with un¬
counted warriors from the regions of the Sahara, has been lately
spreading alarm among the adherents of the Khedive.
The next important secular influence, planted by foreigners in
Africa, was the Carthaginian Empire. That empire flourished for
seven hundred years, and its people were the most enterprising of
the nations of their day. They sent out exploring expeditions by
sea and by land. They circumnavigated the continent and pene¬
trated its interior. Their sway extended from the coast of the
Mediterranean down towards the Niger. They collected by traffic
the valuable products of the Soudan; the elephants and their ivory
answered their purposes for war and for commerce; but with all
these advantages, they disappeared without having produced any
impression upon the inner portions of the continent. It is certain
that when their cities fell before the military energy of the Romans,
many of them fled to the regions south of their country, but they
were soon lost in the boundless forests of the Soudan and in the
oblivion of the Desert.
The Romans next essayed to colonise and conquer Africa. They
could overpower Carthage, after years and even generations of
persistent warfare; they could destroy her cities, overthrow her
monuments, and, with the wanton indifference of a cruel jealousy,
scatter her literary treasures; but they could construct no lasting
Philip and the Eunuch.
181
power in that land. They could not even rival the African glories
of Carthage. Their boasted power, and the weight of their crushing
influence, availed them little here. They disappeared from the
continent like a shadow and a dream; and one of their rulers,
in the last moments of his life, solemnly deprecated the invasion of
Africa by the Romans.5
A modern European power, of great military reputation, has
been recently, and is now, endeavouring to force its way inward by
arms, by railways, by commercial expeditions, by diplomatic
finesse ; but its successes so far warn us that what the conquerors
of ancient Gaul could not accomplish, there is no evidence that the
descendants of the conquered will ever achieve. In spite of all the
efforts made in that quarter, the state of things at the head-waters of
the Niger, around Lake Chad, and throughout the Western Soudan,
is not very different from what it was when Hannibal marshalled
his legions against Eome, and drew many of his warriors, with their
trained elephants, from the regions south of the Great Desert.
Many have been the plans adopted, both in ancient and modem
times, for taking possession of that continent; and all, whether
military, commercial, or philanthropic, as conducted by Europeans
or Asiatics, have had but temporary success. With regard to all,
history has been obliged to write, sooner or later, the words with
which Herodotus closes his account of the disastrous expedition of
Cambyses into Ethiopia : " Thus ended the expedition."
Among the foreign Christian agencies which have operated in
Africa, may be noticed: first, the Church in Egypt, with its ten
thousand anchorites; the Church of North Africa, with its three
8 The Romans appear to have penetrated to the Niger; for Pliny mentions,
that, like the Nile, it swelled periodically, and at the same season, and that its
productions were also the same. He likewise relates that Suetonius Paulinus,
the first of the Romans who crossed Mount Atlas, made an expedition during
winter into the interior parts of Africa, and marched through deserts of black
dust and places uninhabitable from excessive heat, where the very rocks seemed,
to be scorched. (I saw such rocks in the neighbourhood of Timbo and Falaba,
about three hundred miles north-east of Sierra Leone; but their appearance has
not been caused by heat.) It does not appear, however, that the Romans formed
any settlements among the aboriginal tribes.
182
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
thousand towns and villages, and its five hundred and sixty-
episcopal sees—the Church that produced Tertullian, Cyprian and
Augustine. These, after flourishing for a time, fell away without
affecting the continent—like the morning cloud and the early
dew.
Later on in history came the extensive missionary efforts of the
Roman Catholic Church. The great missionary movement set in
with the Portuguese conquests in the fifteenth century, and it.
continued during the sixteenth and into the seventeenth, with great
success. In the Portuguese possessions in Africa, and their neigh¬
bourhood, such were the zeal and energy of the Roman Catholic
missionaries, that the conversion of all Africa seemed at one time
to be at hand. The Rev. H. Rowley, of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel, pays the following tribute to the zeal
and earnestness of the first Catholic missionaries to Africa:—
As the Portuguese were, at first, as zealous for the extension of God's
kingdom as for their own aggrandisement, it seemed as though they would be
equal to their opportunity, and build up great Christian empires on either side
of the continent. The missionary zeal of the Portuguese at this, the best
period of their history, was great. No ship was permitted to leave their coasts
"without being accompanied by one or more priests, and no nation ever had more
devoted missionaries. They made the kingdom of Congo the field of their
principal efforts, but they also laboured zealously to convert the natives of
Loango and Angola. For a time it appeared as though nothing could withstand
the religious energy of the good men who strove for the conversion of Congo.
The King was among the first of their converts. No danger appalled them ;
they shrank from no suffering; and they died willingly in the performance of
their duty. This, indeed, may be said of almost all the missionaries who, for
nearly one hundred years, laboured amongst the Heathen in those parts of Africa
which were brought under the power and influence of Portugal. Though many
of them quickly succumbed to fatigue, privation, and disease—others, nothing
daunted, filled their places. Within fifty years of its discovery, the population
of Congo had become nominally Christian. The success obtained in Loango and
Angola was almost as great.
But there is very little trace now of the results of the great
missionary work done by those zealous and self-denying men. We
have it, on the testimony of Roman Catholic writers, that " At
present, not only are the Portuguese settlements in the lowest
state of degradation, but that they are positively hostile to the
Philip and the Eunuch.
183
missionary operations of the Church, whose presence they will not
tolerate within their frontiers."6
It is not yet one hundred and fifty years since the first
Protestant missionary efforts commenced in Africa, and while a
great deal has been accomplished within European colonies, and
in their neighbourhood on the coast, very little indeed has been
effected among the aborigines of the country away from the
settlements. Protestant missionary efforts, in purely native regions,
have been undertaken, on anything like a large scale, only within
the last twenty years. They are the Universities' Mission,
established between Lake Nyassa and the East Coast; the Mission
of the London Missionary Society, near Lake Tanganyika; the
Church Missionary Society's Mission, near the Victoria Nyanza ;
and the Missions of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, recently opened in "West Central Africa. These
missions, excepting that of the American Board, are all manned
by white men, and the usual mortality has prevailed. The nine¬
teenth death among the missionaries of the Universities' Mission at
Lake Nyassa was, a few months ago, reported, and, very recently,
the death of Bishop Steere has been announced.
In view of the serious obstacles which have so far confronted
the work of African evangelisation and civilisation through
European agency, it is a matter of serious concern among Christian
workers as to how the work should be done. There is, perhaps,
not one of the members of missionary boards or committees, whose
experience in the African work extends over ten years, who does
not feel a measure of discouragement.
Now, in view of these melancholy experiences, what is to be
inferred as to the will of Providence ? It is evident that the Gospel
of Jesus Christ is designed for all countries and climes—for all
races and nations; but it is also evident that we have this
" treasure in earthern vessels," which subjects it to human
conditions and limitations. The constitutions of mortal men, who
are to be instruments of proclaiming the glad tidings, are not
6 Dublin Review, January, 1879.
184 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
adapted to all countries and climates; yet the command is, « Go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." This
was the parting injunction of the Saviour to His disciples. But He
had told them before, that the Spirit of Truth, whom He would
send to them after His departure, would explain what He had said
unto them, and guide them into all truth. Now, after the Spirit
had come, and had filled the disciples with power for their mission,
and they began to organise for aggressive work, it was found
necessary to add to the number of evangelistic agents. Accordingly,
under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, seven men were
chosen as evangelists, among whom was Philip. This man, after
the murder of Stephen, went away from Jerusalem, and preached
with great success in the city of Samaria. The injunction not to
enter into any city of the Samaritans had been withdrawn, and the
whole world was now opened to the preachers of the gospel. They
went over into Europe, penetrated farther eastward into Asia, went
south to Arabia. But there lay Ethiopia, with its inhospitable
climate and difficulty of access. "What was to be done? The
Spirit which was to guide them into all truth met the emergency.
An African had come up in search of truth to Jerusalem, and,
having completed his mission, was returning to his home, and was
so far on his journey as to have reached the southern confines of
the Holy Land, when Philip the Evangelist received a message
from Heaven concerning him : " The angel of the Lord spake unto
Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, unto the way that
goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he
arose and went, and behold 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, was returning; and, sitting in his chariot, read Esaias the
prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join
thyself to this chariot."
instrumpnf1*8 * ta^e to ke a symbolic one, indicating the
lttorthe ;,,meth°d3 °< Africa's —selisation. The
African himself. Thil TOs'tUspiT instrument'the
was the Spmt s application and explication
Philip and the Eunuch.
of the command, " Go ye into all the world," &c.—giving the
gospel to a man of Ethiopia to take back to the people of
Ethiopia.
We are told that after the singular and interesting ceremony,
" the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw
him no more ; and he went on his way rejoicing." Philip was not
to accompany the eunuch, to water the seed he had planted, to
cherish and supervise the incipient work. If he desired to do so—
and perhaps he did—the Spirit suffered him not, for he "caught
him away."
The eunuch " went on his way rejoicing." Strange must have
been his delight as he listened to the wonderful words which fell
from the lips of Philip. Strange must have been his joy—strange
the exulting rush of his heart, in this, his first communion with
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. A member of a race separated
by indelible physical characteristics from the people among whom
he had been to worship, and thinking of the millions, like himself,
who would be blest by the new revelation, who can tell the dreams
of the future which he cherished in his soul, kindling the hope of a
total revolution in his country through the words he had heard ?
The vision of communities regenerated and saved, through the
sufferings and death of Him whom the prophet had described,
loomed up before him and filled his soul with joy.
And there was something symbolic, also, of the future sad
experience of his race—and at the same time full of consolation—
in the passage which he read. It was holding up Christ as the
" man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," as if in anticipation
of the great and unsurpassed trials of the African. These were to
be the words of comfort and uplifting to these people in their exile
and captivity. They were to remember that if they were despised
and scorned, a far greater than themselves had had a similar
experience. Christ was to be held up to the suffering African not only
as a propitiation for sin, and as a Mediator between God and man,
but as a blessed illustration of the glorious fact that persecution
and suffering and contempt are no proof that God is not the loving
Father of a people—but may be rather an evidence of nearness to
o
i86
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
God, seeing that they have been chosen to tread in the footsteps of
the first-born of the creation, suffering for the welfare of others.7
Tell me, now, ye descendants of Africa, teil me whether there is
anything in the ancient history of your African ancestors, in their
relation to other races, of which you need to be ashamed. Tell me,
if there is anything in the modern history of your people, in their
dealings with foreign races, whether at home or in exile, of which
you need be ashamed? Is there anything, when you compare
yourselves with others, to disturb your equanimity, except the
universal oppression of which you have been the victims? And
what are suffering and sorrow but necessary elements in the progress
of humanity ? Your suffering has contributed to the welfare of
others. It is a part of the constitution of the universe, that out of
death should come life. All the advancement made to a better
future, by individuals or races, has been made through paths
marked by suffering. This great law is written not only in the Bible,
but upon all history. " Without the shedding blood there is no
remission." We may say, then, in the language of the poet—
In all the ills we bore,
We grieved, we sighed, we wept—
We never blushed.
We could not blush physically, and we had no need to blush
mentally or morally.
Among the beautiful legends which are scattered throughout
ancient Jewish literature is the following, which is not less applicable
to us than to the Hebrew race.
When the Decalogue was given, the Israelites said to the Lord;
" Thou forbiddest us to attempt the life, the honour, or the interest,
i In Mrs. Stowe's inimitable novel we read the following. It was after her
principal character had suffered most unjust and brutal treatment: "I saw
m, said Uncle Tom, throw my coat in that ar corner, and in my coatpocket
is my Bible; if Missis would please get it for me."
Oassy went and got it. Tom opened it at once, to a heavily-marked
fre headed! WOm' ^ ^ ^ °f Him whose stripes we
"If Missis would only be so good as to read that ar'-it's better than
water. —Lncle loms Cabin, ch. xxxiv.
Philip and the Eunuch.
187
of our fellow-man* Thou forbiddest us to lie, to covet, to return
evil for evil, blow for blow. But if this prohibition is not addressed
also to the other nations of the earth, we shall become, alas ! their
victim." The Lord answered: " My children, when I created the
lamb it came to me and said, ' 0, Lord! Thou hast given me
neither claws to tear with, nor teeth to bite with, nor horns to
strike with, nor even swift feet with which to flee away. What
will become of me in the midst of other animals if I am thus weak
and defenceless ? And I answered the lamb, 'Would'st thou, then,
prefer to thy feebleness the cruelty of the tiger or the venom of the
serpent?' 'No, Lord,' answered Me the lamb; 'I prefer my
feebleness and my innocence, and I thank Thee that Thou hast made
me rather the persecuted than the persecutor.' So thou, 0 my
people Israel. Thou shalt be a lamb in the midst of the nations.
Let them tear thee ; let them sacrifice thee ; thy triumph shall be
in thy calmness, in thy resignation, in thine innocence."
Two characteristics of the African are brought out in the
narrative before us. Firstly his teachableness. The eunuch was
reading with an earnest desire to understand—to arrive at the
knowledge of the truth—but, at the same time, with a dim con¬
sciousness that he was only imperfectly apprehending it. " How
can I, except some one should guide me?" Secondly, his courtesy
and hospitality. " He desired Philip that he would come and sit
with him." Though a man of great power and influence, he did
not distain to invite the wandering pedestrian to a seat in his
chariot; giving him a real and unaffected welcome, and placing
himself at his feet; becoming the guest and pupil, and giving the
stranger the place of host and instructor. All truthful travellers in
Africa testify to the courteous disposition of the interior natives—
those who have never been tampered with by either Arabs or
Europeans. They are confiding, unsuspicious, childlike, hospitable,
honest, peaceable, and anxious to learn. Thomson, the youthful
explorer, who has written one of the best of the recent books on
Africa, says: " Of the natives, I have for the most part nothing
but good to say. In the majority of places I found them peaceable.
Rarely did they attempt to throw any obstacles in my way.
188 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Almost everywhere, I was received with genuine hospitality and
friendship."8
The eunuch returned to his country with his heart full of joy
and peace and love—with a new-born and unquenchable en¬
thusiasm, and became the founder, it is believed, of the Abyssinian
Church, which, through various trying vicissitudes, continues to
this day. It has resisted all attacks from Paganism on the one
hand, and Mohammedanism on the other. In one hundred and
fifty years after the death of Mohammed, the victorious banners of
Islam had been carried from Arabia into Judea and Palestine; had
wrested Egypt and North-western Africa out of the hands of
Christians ; had pushed its conquering -svay to Constantinople, and
had taken possession of Spain ; but it was unable to transcend the
limits of Abyssinia. The Abyssinian Church is the only real African
Church yet founded whose priests and people are all of the African
race.9
It is a curious fact that historians, in speaking of the African
Church, seldom meant by that phrase the Abyssinian Church, which
is far more entitled to that description than any other. Some
mean the Church of North-eastern Africa—the Church of Clement
of Alexandria, and Origen; others mean the Church of North¬
western Africa—the Church of Tertullian and Cyprian.
8 In the ' Annals of the Propagation of the Faith,' a Roman Catholic mis¬
sionary describes his reception by the natives of Southern Kordofan as follows ;
" On the evening of the 21st September, 1875, I was extremely surprised to
find, at half a day's journey from the station of Delen, the great chief of the
Noubas coming to meet me, followed by fifty Noubas armed with firearms and
lances. He had scarcely seen me, when he dismounted, approached my camel,
kissed my hand, saluted me profoundly several times, and said to me in good
Arabic, in the dialect of Kordofan, ' God has sent you amongst us ; and behold—
we, our little children, our wives, our young daughters, our oxen, cows, sheep
and goats, our houses and lands, all are now placed at your disposal. You are
our father, and we are your children; we will do all you command us, and we
shall be happy.' "—Dublin Review, April, 1881, p. 413.
9 The growing system of indigenous missionary work under Bishop Crowther
—the nascent Church of the Niger—if left to struggle through the difficulties
incident to youthful life, without the hampering influence of unsympathetic
alien oversight, and the injury of misplaced praise or censure, will, in the next
generation, be a second Abyssinian Church in aboriginal vigour and permanence.
Philip and the Eunuch.
189
And here I cannot avoid pointing out the fact that the continent
of Africa comes into view again, in the case of these two Churches,
as contributing to the enlightenment and welfare of humanity.
The two most wonderful and productive of all the primitive Chris¬
tian Churches were both located in Africa, namely, the Greek-
speaking Church in North-eastern Africa, and the Latin-speaking
Church in North-western Africa. The Latin-speaking Church
produced those three great Latin-Africans—Tertullian, Cyprian,
and Augustine. Through them the north-western African Church
has permanently affected all Western Christendom—Protestant as
well as Roman Catholic, the New World as well as the Old World.
The African Tertullian Latinised the theological and ecclesiastical
language of the West; and in all controversies on the constitution
of the Church, the appeal has been by Western Christians to the
African Cyprian; while no one has contributed so much to Western
theology as the African Angustine. " Africa, not Rome," Dean
Milman has said, " gave birth to Latin Christianity."
Yet this Church was extinguished before the energy of the
Saracens. Why ? It is sometimes said that these Greek and Latin
Churches fell away because they were not missionary churches—
because they were not aggressive. But the reason lies more on the
surface than that. They withered away because they had not
much depth of earth. They had not taken root among the people
of the country. Neither the Western Church of Carthage, nor
the Eastern Church of Alexandria, was ever a national Church—
had ever become indigenous. The Church of Tertullian and
St. Augustine was Latin, not Punic; the Church of Origen and
St. Athanasius was Greek, and not Egyptian.
The case has been far different with the third African Church—
the Abyssinian or Ethiopian. Founded by a native, it took hold of
the inhabitants of the country, and struck its roots deep into the
soil. And we have had very recent illustrations of the vigour and
activity of that Church. Only last year the Abyssinian monarch
told certain Catholic and Protestant missionaries, who sought to
establish themselves in this territory, that he did not want either of
them, because the Ethiopians were already Christians, and had
I go Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
held fast their faith under a strain which had destroyed that of
more prosperous and civilised peoples. He boasted that his own
community was the only African Church which had held fast its
Christian faith, century after century, against the successive
onslaughts of Heathenism and Mohammedanism. Even the
Mohammedans believe in the irrepressible and aggressive vigour of
the Abyssinian Church. There is an old prediction among them
that from Abyssinia—not from Russia, or any part of Europe—will
come the conquerors of Arabia and the destroyers of the Holy City
of Mecca. This may be taken as representing the idea that the
power of Islam will disappear in Africa, under the influence of
African Christians led by African teachers.
The 105th chapter of the Koran is devoted to celebrating the
deliverance of Mecca from the Christian king of Abyssinia, who, in
the year that Mohammed was born, with a large army and some
elephants, marched upon Mecca for the purpose of destroying the
Kaaba. And yet it was Abyssinia that afforded shelter to the
persecuted Muslims, who, in the early days of Islam, had to fly from
Arabia for their lives. When Mohammed found that his few
followers were likely to be crushed by the opposition at Mecca, he
advised their flight into Abyssinia; and there, when the refugees
proved to the king, from the Koran, that they were worshippers of
the true God and believed in Jesus, they were protected from the
destruction which would have extinguished Islam.10 If then, the two
10 This was the first Hijra, or Flight. Abu'l Feda, the Mohammedan
historian, gives the following account of it: " In the year 626, when Mohammed
was forty-five years old, the Koreish became more severe in their persecutions.
Mohammed therefore gave permission to those who had no family, to betake
themselves to the land of the Ethiopians. The first who went forth were twelve
men and four women. Amongst these, Othman, the son of Affan, and his wife
Rakia, the daughter of the Apostle of God ; and Zobeir, the son of Awami j and
Othman, the son of Matani; and Abdullahi, the son of Masadi; and Abdul
Rahman, the son of Awsi. All these betook themselves to the Nagashi, sailing
across the sea, and dwelt with him. Then Iafar, the son of Abu Talib, went
forth an exile, whom other Muslims followed, one after another. All who took
flight into the country of the Ethiopians were eighty-three men and eighteen
women, besides children and those who were born there. The Koreish sent two
men to demand them—Abdu Mahun, son of Abu Rabia, Amru, son of Al-Asi.
They both came, therefore, to Al-Nagashi, and demanded of him the fugitives
Philip and the Eunuch.
191
principal religions had not their origin in Africa, yet Africa was
the cradle which cherished their helpless infancy.
Now, what are the lessons to be gathered from the preceding
discussion ? I conceive that they are : First, That Ethiopia and
Ethiopians have ever been connected with the Divine administra-
tion and manifestations, and that that great country and its
people are not left out of the beneficent purposes of the Almighty.
Second, That the Gospel, to be successfully carried into Africa,
must be carried by Africans. To "a man of Ethiopia" must be
entrusted the message to Ethiopians. This truth, I believe, is
being recognised now by all foreign workers in Africa. The
Mohammedans have acted upon it from the beginning, and this is
the chief secret of their widespread and increasing influence on
that continent. The finest University for training the propagators
of their faith is in Africa. This is established at Cairo, in Egypt.
Ten thousand students are to-day gathered under its roof, pre¬
paring to go out as missionaries of the Muslim faith. A celebrated
traveller has given the following description of this great institu¬
tion, the educational pride and glory of Islam :—
This University is nine hundred years old (older than Oxford), and still
flourishes with as much vigour as in the palmy days of the Arabian conquest.
There I saw collected ten thousand students. As one expressed it, " There were
two acres of turbans " assembled in a vast enclosure, with no floor but a.
pavement, and with a roof over it supported by four hundred columns, and at
the foot of every column a teacher surrounded by his pupils. As we entered,
there rose a hum of thousands of voices reciting the Koran. These students
are not only from Egypt, but from all parts of Africa—from Morocco to
Zanzibar. They come from far up the Nile, from Nubia and the Soudan, and
from Darfour, beyond the Great Desert, and from the Western Coast of Africa.
.... They live on the charities of the faithful; and when their studies are
ended, those who are to be missionaries mount their camels, and, joining a
caravan, cross the desert and are lost in the far interior of Africa,
where they become the effective propagators of Islam.11
But he did not yield them. Then Amru, son of Al-Asi, said, ' Ask them what
they have to say about Jesus.' And Nagashi asked them. And they replied
with the words which God the Exalted told them, among which is the address
which God, through Gabriel, addressed to the Virgin Mary."—Koran, iii, 40-45.
11 It is a mistake to suppose that Mohammedanism is conquering Africa
merely or mainly by arms. The school and the mosque are the most common
rg2 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
And this plan of propagating religion in Africa, through
indigenous agency, is followed by no Christian Church with greater
zeal and determination than the Church of Rome. That Church,
ever ready to recognise and utilise those elements in human nature
which can be made subservient to her interests, is now everywhere
educating Africans for the African work. The Dublin Review, an
able exponent of Roman Catholic thought, said not long since :
We are convinced that the only hopeful, promising, and effective way of
procedure in respect to Africa is that which may be summed up in the words,
the conversion of Africa by the Africans. Christian black settlements ought to
be attempted—all over Africa, even, if need be, as among the Mohammedans—
after the difficult and costly manner followed by Monsignore Comboni. The
task is full of hardship, but no other system will avail. . . . Whether it will
be practically possible to organise bands of the Catholic Africano-Americans for
the settlement and conversion of Africa—as their Protestant brethren, who sail
to Liberia in numbers varying annually from two hundred to five hundred, are
organised for that very purpose—remains to be proved. Large funds are
required—hard heads and generous hearts to direct and carry out such an
enterprise ; but genuine Faith, Hope and Charity are Divine and creative
forces, and we must look for great results where they exist and are brought into
energetic action.12
The Roman Catholic Church now possesses a number of native
black priests ; other natives are pursuing their theological studies
under the auspices of that Church, in Africa ; and a community of
over thirty Sisters is rendering immense service to the cause of
religion on the West Coast.
A third lesson which we gather from the narrative of the text
is that, in carrying the Gospel into Africa, the favour of men of
influence is not to be despised. While it is true that " not many
noble are called," it is also true that, in all ages, the nobles of the
earth have been pillars of the Church. The " man of Ethiopia "
was " an eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the
agencies. Richardson, the African traveller, says: " I was generally called a
marabout (i.e., a religious teacher) in the Desert. This arose from the people
seeing me without arms, and occupied in reading and writing."
« The regions in the vicinity of the Congo River, now about to be occupied
flilf B™zza'ufder the auspices of the French government, would be a capital
field for the settlement and energies of " Catholic Africano-Americans."
Philip and the Eunuch.
193
Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure." Christianity in
Africa, so far as brought by Europeans, has only to a very limited
extent affected the higher classes; and this is why, wherever it
seems to have been established, its hold has been so precarious.
It is true that Jesus Christ humbled himself, and took upon himself
the form of a servant, but he did not spring from the servile classes.
He came of the ruling tribe of Judah, and of David's royal line.
No great reforms can be effected without enlisting members of
"the household of Csesar." Reforms, after all, come from above.
" The conversion of the Eussian nation," says Dean Stanley, "was
effected, not by the preaching of the Byzantine clergy, but by
the marriage of a Byzantine Princess."13 Notwithstanding the
violent persecutions suffered by the Church in her earlier history,
it still remains true that "kings have been her nursing fathers and
queens her nursing mothers," sitting at her cradle and fostering
her helpless infancy.
A fourth point to be noticed in the narrative is the fact that the
teacher received patronage from the taught. The evangelist was
offered, and accepted, the hospitality of the eunuch. The first
preachers of the gospel were received as guests, and were taken
care of by those to whom they ministered. They were the labourers
worthy of their hire. They were not the dispensers of worldly
patronage. They imparted of their spiritual things, while they
received of the temporal things of those among whom they laboured.
When Stanley wrote his famous letter from Uganda, which
appeared in the London Daily Telegraph for November, 1875,
asking for missionaries to be sent to Mtesa, he suggested such an
•outfit for the missionary as would suit a trading expedition. It
may be that everything he recommended was necessary for
Europeans going to a new, difficult, and unhealthy country; but
many of the articles hardly seemed in keeping with that spirit
which enjoined it upon the first missionaries to take "neither purse
nor scrip."
It is possible that where the gospel has taken root, and the
Church has been established, it is not incompatible with its spirit,
13 Eastern Church, p. 34.
194
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
or with the service of God, that outward magnificence should be an
accompaniment of worship. It may be, at times, a duty to bring of
our best, and lay it in that form at the feet of our Maker. David
would not offer unto the Lord of that which cost him nothing. It
was among the excellent qualities of the early Romans, as noted
by one of their historians, that they were magnificent in the
worship of their gods (magnifici swppliciis deoTuvi). And when the
stranger from distant and primitive countries visits this land, he
cannot help admiring the wonderful triumphs of architecture as
displayed in the splendid and costly structures you have erected for
the worship of God.
But these are not the conditions of the spread of eternal truth
among a primitive people. We must go practically without purse
or scrip; and, after the truth pure and simple has made its way,
then, in the process of its growth, and in the course of its develop¬
ment, it may take to itself aesthetic forms according to the genius
of its recipients.
The true principle is simplicity in those who bring the glad
tidings. Herein lies another secret of the success of the Moham¬
medan missionaries in Africa. In going from town to town and
village to village, they go simply as the bearers of God's truth.
They take their mats or their skins, and their manuscripts, and are
followed by their pupils, who, in every new Pagan town, form the
nucleus of a school and congregation. These preachers are the
receivers, not the dispensers, of charity. I have met, in my travels
in the interior of Liberia and Sierra Leone, missionaries from
Kairwan, Cairo, Morocco, with nothing—dependent for their daily
food upon those whom they instructed; and I have had the
humiliating privilege of being benefactor to some of these self-
denying men, as missionary to missionary.
The other system—that now pursued by foreign Christian
missionaries, and which is perhaps unavoidable—of being the
patrons of their disciples, is beset with dangers and temptations.
There is the danger on the one hand, of injudiciously patronising
—not in the sense of assisting, simply, but in the sense of pauperis¬
ing—the native converts, and begetting in them a spirit of depen-
Philip and the Eunuch.
195
dence and servility; and there is, on the other hand, the tempta¬
tion to the missionary to become proud, supercilious and dictatorial-
There was sound philosophy, founded upon an absolute knowledge
of human nature, in the direction given by Christ to the first
missionaries, when he commanded them to take " neither purse nor
scrip." But how is it possible for the European missionary to-
practise this sort of self-denial, when, to keep his health, energy
and life on that continent, he must not be too far from his base
of supplies? This, again, shows the necessity of "the man of
Ethiopia " for the working the country of the Ethiopians. The
Negro missionary, born and brought up in foreign countries, is,,
to a large extent, in the position of the foreigner; but he has the
advantage of physical adaptation, which gives the opportunity
for protracted labour; and, from the unfailing and indelible in¬
stincts of race, he can more fully enter into sympathy with th&
people; and, - meeting with an unsuppressed and untrammelled
response, can arrive at effective methods of dealing with novel
questions, as, from time to time, they arise. Thus he is enabled to
train the thoroughly indigenous elements which will rise up, and lay
deeper foundations, and give more continuous impulse to the truth
which he has introduced. It is in this way that American Negroes,,
who have gone to Africa from this country, have been able to do a,
great and permanent work there; and it is in this way, and even
more effectively, that the thousands now being trained in this
country—at Lincoln, Fisk, Hampton, Atlanta, Biddle, and other
institutions—will accomplish wonders for the evangelisation and
civilisation of the land of their fathers.
A fifth point, to be observed in the narrative, is the absence of
all forms, the freedom from pomp and circumstance, which
attended the conversion of the eunuch. He had been up to
Jerusalem, the city of sacred associations, and was probably there
during the exciting times of the crucifixion, of the Pentecostal
manifestation, and of the accusation and murder of Stephen; but.
his attention was not drawn to the new revelation. He wasr
perhaps, too much engrossed by the novel sights he was daily
witnessing in the metropolis of Judea, to pay any attention to the
196 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
•execution of felons, the demonstrations of fanatics, or the stoning
of a blasphemer. Or, perhaps, his earnest and enquiring mind had
been perplexed by the endless discussions of the Sadducees and
"Scribes: the one denying the existence of everything spiritual, of
-everything which could not be demonstrated by the senses the
•agnostics of their day; the other spending their time in investi¬
gating the letter of the Scripture, and failing to catch its spirit ;
while another party made broad their phylacteries, lengthened
their prayers, and multiplied their fasts, insisting that that was the
true religion. And, no doubt, bearing in mind the disputations he
had heard concerning the Law and the Prophets, he availed
himself of those hours of silence, while passing through the desert,
to read for himself the sacred pages, and " he read the prophet
Esaias." Here was a mind anxiously seeking the truth, and his
•effort was not to be in vain. " Wherever a great problem of the
human spirit is growing towards its solution, and the soil of
humanity is prepared for new seed from heaven, God sends his
chosen creature to proclaim the truth which brings the light."
Philip was directed to " arise and go toward the south, unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.'"
And there, in that solitude, the truth was revealed to the inquiring
eunuch. There was nothing to distract the mind or distort the
impression received. When he reached his home there would
be only the three things to remember—the Word, the Evangelist,
the Desert. With nothing but the air around them, the freedom of
whose motion represented the Spirit's influence, blowing where it
listeth—and the sunlight, emblem of the Sun of Righteousness,
which was rising to illumine the new way on which the eunuch
was entering—Philip " preached unto him Jesus." There was no
form, no ritual, no liturgy, no action, no rites. A new spirit was
•coming upon Ethiopia, and it would create new forms for itself.
This I take to be the significance of the peculiar circumstances of
the eunuch's admission into the Christian Church; and the incident
furnishes a most instructive commentary on the words of Christ,
that the Kingdom of God " cometh not with observation" or
outward show. The hour had come when the worship of the
Philip and the Eunuch. 1-97
Father was to be confined neither to holy mountain nor holy city -r
therefore the new religion was imparted to him, who was ta
represent it in a new country, divested of forms and elaborate
ceremony, in the freedom and silence of the desert.
The next lesson we gather from this interesting narrative is-
that the preaching of Christ, and Him crucified, is the regenerating
power by which Africa is to be reclaimed—the simple story of
the Cross.
Observe now, in conclusion, the simplicity of the confession
required of the eunuch. " "What doth hinder me to be baptized ? ""
he asked, in his anxiety to take upon himself the obligation of
membership in the new Church. The reply of the evangelist was,
"If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest." We have
no hard condition there, no insisting upon difficult dogmas. Well,
what was he to believe ? We have it in the prompt answer of the
eunuch : " I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." This is-
the sum and substance of the requirements of the Gospel. This is
the faith which, Jesus said to Peter, flesh and blood do not reveal,,
and upon which the Church is founded. This was the one essential
article of faith in the Apostolic Church. It is the radical idea, the
central truth, of the Christian system ; and it is the only influence
that has power to reform the world.
I need not pause here to remark that one of the chief hindrances
to the progress of the truth in Africa has been the constant desire
to give prominence to deductions made by men from the great facts-
of revelation, instead of lifting up Christ, and believing the words
that He spake unto His disciples ; " I, if I be lifted up, will draw
all men unto Me" Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls" Come unto Me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. These-
are the words that bring light and beauty and encouragement a
strength to the benighted. Instruct them by the simple tea ^ g
of Christ-the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord s
Instruct them by the simple method of Christ. e
the ordinary life ot men and drew
He saw—the sower and the seed, the beia, ine
19S Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
boat, the rain that fell, the ways of the sheep, the vine and the
branches, Through all these He taught His disciples, and brought
instruction and refreshment to their souls, illustrating by His sur¬
roundings—by the birds of the air and the lilies of the field—the
tender care of God the Father over all His children. This is the
teaching that will save men of all races and climes—adapted to
men in the lowest stages of society, and adapted to men in the
highest walks of life. " For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life."
Mohammedanism in Western
Africa.
EORGE SALE has prefixed to the title-page of his able trans¬
lation of the Koran the following motto from St. Augustin:
•" Nulla falsa doctrina est, quce non aliquid veri permisceat." Recent
discussions and investigations have brought the subject of Moham¬
medanism prominently before the reading public, and the writings
of Weil, and Noldeke, and Muir, and Sprenger, and Emanuel
Deutsch have taught the world that " Mohammedanism is a thing of
vitality, fraught with a thousand fruitful germs;" and have amply
illustrated the principle enunciated by St. Augustin, showing that
there are elements both of truth and goodness in a system which
has had so widespread an influence upon mankind, embracing
within the scope of its operations more than one hundred millions
of the human race; that the exhibition of gems of truth, even
though " suspended in a gallery of counterfeits," has vast power
over the human heart.
The object of the present paper is to inquire briefly into the
condition and influence of Mohammedanism among the tribes of
Western Africa. Whatever may be the intellectual inferiority of
the Negro tribes (if, indeed, such inferiority exists), it is certain
that many of these tribes have received the religion of Islam
without its being forced upon them by the overpowering arms of
victorious invaders. The quiet development and organisation of
a religious community in the heart of Africa has shown that
Negroes, equally with other races, are susceptible of moral and
200 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
spiritual impressions, and of all the sublime possibilities of religion.
The history of the progress of Islam in this country would present
the same instances of real and eager mental conflict, of minds in.
honest transition, of careful comparison and reflection, that have
been found in other communities where new aspects of truth and
fresh considerations have been brought before them. And we hold
that it shows a stronger and more healthy intellectual tendency, to
be induced by the persuasion and reason of a man of moral noble¬
ness and deep personal convictions to join with him in the intro¬
duction of beneficial changes, than to be compelled to follow the
lead of an irresponsible character, who forces us into measures by
his superior physical might.
Different estimates are made of the beneficial effects wrought
by Islam upon the moral and industrial condition of Western
Africa. Some are disposed to ignore altogether any wholesome
result, and regard the Negro Moslems as possessing, as a general
thing, only the external appendages of a system which they do not
understand. But such a conclusion implies a very superficial
acquaintance with the state of things among the people. Of course
cases are found of individuals here and there, of blustering zeal
and lofty pretensions—qualities which usually exist in inverse
proportion to the amount of sound knowledge possessed—whose
views, so far as they can be gathered, are no more than a mixture
of imperfectly under stood Mohammedanism and Fetichism ; but all
careful and candid observers agree that the influence of Islam in
Central and West Africa has been, upon the whole, of a most
salutary character. As an eliminatory and subversive agency, it
has displaced or unsettled nothing as good as itself. If it has
introduced superstitions, it has expelled superstitions far more mis¬
chievous and degrading. And it is not wonderful if, in succeeding
to a__debasing Heathenism, it has, in many respects, made compro¬
mises, so as occasionally to present a barren, hybrid character J. but
what is surprising, is that a religion quietly introduced from a
' f-oreigQ country, with so few of the outward agencies of^civilisation,
1 should not, in process of time, have been altogether absorbed by
the superstitions and manners of barbarous Pagans. But not only
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 201
has it not been absorbed—it has introduced large modifications in
the views and practices even of those who have but a vague con¬
ception of its teachings.
Mungo Park, in his travels seventy years ago, everywhere
remarked the contrast between the Pagan and Mohammedan tribes
of interior Africa. One very important improvement noticed by
him was abstinence from intoxicating drinks. " The beverage of the
Pagan Negroes," he says, " is beer and mead, of which they often
drink to excess; the Mohammedan converts drink nothing but
water."1 Thus, throughout Central Africa there has been established
avast Total Abstinence Society; and such is the influence of this
society that where there are Moslem inhabitants, even in Pagan
towns, it is a very rare thing to see a person intoxicated. They
thus present an almost impenetrable barrier to the desolating flood
of ardent spirits with which traders from Europe and America
inundate the coast, and of which we have recently had so truthful
and sadly suggestive an account from a missionary at Gaboon.2
Wherever the Moslem is found on this coast, whether Jalof,
Foulah, or Man dingo, he looks upon himself as a separate and
distinct being from his Pagan neighbour, and immeasurably his
superior in intellectual and moral respects. He regards himself as
one to whom a revelation has been "sent down " from heaven. He
holds constant intercourse with the " Lord of worlds," whose
servant he is. In his behalf, Omnipotence will ever interpose in
times of danger. Hence he feels that he cannot indulge in the
frivolities and vices which he considers as by no means incompatible
with the character and professions of the Kafir or unbeliever.
Nearly every day his Koran reminds him of his high privileges, as
compared with others, in the following terms :—
Verily those who believe not, among those who have received the Scriptures,
and among the Idolators, shall be cast into the fire of hell, to remain therein for
ever. These are the worst of creatures. But they who believe and do good
works, these are the best of creatures; their reward with their Lord shall be
gardens of perpetual abode.3
1 Park's Travels, chap. ii. 2 Mr. Walker, in Missionary Herald, Feb., 1870.
8 Sura, xcviii.
P
202 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Whoso taketh God and His apostle and the believers for friends, they are
the party of God, and they shall be victorious.1
But there are no caste distinctions among them. They do not
look upon the privileges of Islam as confined by tribal barriers or
limitations. On the contrary, the life of their religion is aggressive¬
ness. They are constantly making proselytes. As early as the
commencement of the present century, the elastic and expansive
character of their system was sufficiently marked to attract the
notice of Mr. Park. " In the Negro country," observes that cele¬
brated traveller, " the Mohammedan religion has made, and con¬
tinues to make, considerable progress." " The yearning of the
native African," says Professor Crummell, " for a higher religion, is
illustrated by the singular fact that Mohammedanism is rapidly
and peaceably spreading all through the tribes of Western Africa,
even to the Christian settlements of Liberia."5 From Senegal to
Lagos, over two thousand miles, there is scarcely an important
town on the seaboard where there are not at least one mosque, and
active representatives of Islam, often side by side with the Christian
teachers. And as soon as a Pagan, however obscure or degraded,
embraces the Moslem faith, he is at once admitted as an equal to
their society. Slavery and the slave trade are laudable institutions,
provided the slaves are Kafirs. The slave who embraces Islam is
free, and no office is closed against him on account of servile blood.
The Pagan village possessing a Mussulman teacher is always
found to be in advance of its neighbours in all the elements of
civilisation. The people pay great deference to him. He instructs
their children, and professes to be the medium between them and
Heaven, either for securing a supply of their necessities, or for
warding off or removing calamities. It must be borne in mind
that people in the state of barbarism, in which the Pagan tribes
are usually found, have no proper conceptions of humanity and its
capacities. The man, therefore, who by unusual strength or cunning
achieves something which no one had achieved before him, or
of which they do not understand the process, is exalted into an
4 Sura, v.
8 Future of Africa, p. 305.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 203
extraordinary being, in close intimacy with the mysterious powers f
of Nature. The Mohammedan, then, who enters a Pagan village
with his books, and papers, and rosaries, his frequent ablutions
and regularly-recurring times of prayers and prostrations, in which
he appears to be conversing with some invisible being, soon
acquires a controlling influence over the people. He secures their
moral confidence and respect, and they bring to him all their
difficulties for solution, and all their grievances for redress.
To the African Mussulman, innocent of the intellectual and
scientific progress of other portions of the world, the Koran is
all-sufficient for his moral, intellectual, social and political needs.
It contains his whole religion, and a great deal besides. It is to
him far more than it is to the Turk or Egyptian, upon whom the
light of European civilisation has fallen. It is his code of laws,
and his creed, his homily, and his liturgy. He consults it for
direction on every possible subject; and his Pagan neighbour, seeing
such veneration paid to the book, conceives even more exaggerated
notions of its character. The latter looks upon it .as a great
medical repository, teaching the art of healing diseases, and as a
wonderful storehouse of charms and divining power, protecting
from dangers and foretelling future events. And though the prog¬
nostications of his Moslem prophet are often of the nature of
vaticinia post eventum, yet his faith remains unshaken in the
infallibility of "Alkorona." He therefore never fails to resort, in
times of extremity, to the Mohammedan for direction, and pays
him for charms against evil. These charms are nothing more than
passages from the Koran, written on slips of paper and inclosed
in leather cases about two or three inches square—after the manner
of the Jewish phylactery—and worn about the neck or wrist. The
passages usually written are the last two chapters of the Koran,
known as the " Chapters of Refuge," because they begin, " Say, I
take refuge," &c. In cases of internal complaint, one or both of
these chapters are written on certain leaves, of which a strong
■decoction is made, and the water administered to the patient. We
have seen these two chapters written inside a bowl at Alexandria
for medicinal purposes.
204 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Rac
^^e+nntlv about their persons
The Moslems themselves wear constant y
Pcertain texts from the Koran, called Ayat-dM* ve s fprate*
tion or preservation, which are supposedto keep away every
species of misfortune. The following are m most common »Se:
" God is the best protector, and He is the most merciful of those
who show mercy." 6 " And God compasseth them behind. Verily
it is a glorious Koran, written on a preserved tablet."' Sometimes
they have the following rhymed couplet.
Auzu billabi min es-Slxaytan arrajim,
Bismi illalii arrabini.8
This couplet is also employed whenever they are about to read
the Koran, as a protection against the suggestions of Satan, who
is supposed to be ever on the alert to whisper erroneous and
hurtful constructions to the devout reader.
The Koran is almost always in their hand. It seems to be their
labour and their relaxation to pore over its pages. They love to
read and recite it aloud for hours together. They seem to possess
an enthusiastic appreciation of the rhythmical harmony in which
it is written. But we cannot attribute its power over them
altogether to the jingling sounds, word-plays, and refrains in which
it abounds. These, it is true, please the ear and amuse the fancy,
especially of the uncultivated. But there is something higher, of
which these rhyming lines are the vehicle; something possessing a
deeper power to rouse the imagination, mould the feelings, and
generate action. Gibbon has characterised the Koran as a
" tissue of incoherent rhapsodies."9 But the author of the Decline
and Fall was, as he himself acknowledges, ignorant of the Arabic
language, and therefore incompetent to pronounce an authoritative
judgment. Mr. Hallam, in a more appreciative vein, speaks of it
a book confessedly written with much elegance and purity,"
mng ■'ust anc* elevated notions of the Divine nature and
6 Sura xii, 64. 70,
e r + i Sura 20.
ercitul, the Compassionate.
a Char>. i.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 205
moral duties, the gold ore that pervades the dross."10 The historian
of the Middle Ages, a most conscientious investigator, had probably
read the book in the original—had been charmed with its sense as
well as its sound. Only they who read it in the language of the
Arabian author can form anything like an accurate idea of its
unapproachable place as a power among unevangelised communi¬
ties for moulding into the most exciting and the most expressive
harmonies the feelings and imaginations. A recent able and
learned critic says:—
The Koran suffers more than any other book we think of by a translation,
however masterly. The grandeur of the Koran consists, its contents apart, in
its diction. We cannot explain the peculiarly dignified, impressive, sonorous
mixture of Semitic sound and parlance ; its sesquipedalia verba, with their
crowd of prefixes and affixes, each of them affirming its own position, while
consciously bearing upon and influencing the central root, which they envelop
like a garment of many folds, or as chosen courtiers move round the anointed
person of the king.11
The African Moslem forms no exception among the adherents of
Islam in his appreciation of the sacred book. It is studied with as
much enthusiasm at Boporo, Misadu, Medina and Kankan,12 as at
Cairo, Alexandria, or Bagdad. In travelling in the interior of
Liberia, we have metvulemas? or learned men, who could reproduce
from memory any chapter of the Koran, with its vowels and dots,
and other grammatical marks. The boys under their instruction
are kept at the study of the book for years. First, they are taught
the letters and vowel marks, then they are taught to read the text,
without receiving any insight into its meaning. When they can
read fluently, they are taught the meaning of the words, which they
commit carefully to memory; after which they are instructed in
what they call the " Jalaleyn," a running commentary on the
Koran. While learning the Jalaleyn, they have side studies
assigned them in Arabic manuscripts,' containing the mystical
traditions, the acts of Mohammed, the duties of fasting, prayer,
10 Middle Ages, chap. vi.
11 Emanuel Deutsch, in the Quarterly Review (London) for October, 1869.
12 Mohammedan towns, from seventy-five to three hundred miles east and
north-east of Monrovia.
2o6
Christianity, Islam and the Negv° Race'
alms, corporal purification,18 &c. Young men who intend to be
enrolled among the ulemas take up history and chronology, on
■which they have some fragmentary manuscripts. Before a student
is admitted to the ranks of the learned, he must pass an examina¬
tion, usually lasting seven days, conducted by a Board consisting
of imams and ulemas. If he is successful, he is led around the
town on horseback, with instrumental music and singing. The
following ditty is usually sung:—
Allahumma, ya Rabbee,
Salla ala Mohammade,
Salla Allahu alayhe wa Sallama.14
After this, the candidate is presented with a sash or scarf, usually
of fine white cloth, of native manufacture, which he is henceforth
permitted to wind round his cap, with one end hanging down the
back, forming the Oriental turban. This is a sort of Bachelor of
Arts diploma. The men who wear turbans have read through and
recited the Koran many hundred times; and you can refer to no
passage which they cannot readily find in their apparently con¬
fused manuscripts of loose leaves and pages, distinguished not by
numbers, but by catchwords at the bottom. Carlyle tells us that
he has heard of Mohammedan doctors who have read the Koran
seventy thousand times.15 Many such animated and moving con¬
cordances to the Koran may doubtless be found in Central and
West Africa.
But the Koran is not the only book they read. We have seen,
in some of their libraries, extensive manuscripts in poetry and
prose. One showed us at Boporo, the Makamat of Hariri, which
he read and expounded with great readiness, and seemed surprised
that we had heard of it. And it is not to be doubted that some
valuable Arabic manuscripts may yet be found in the heart of
Africa. Dr. Barth tells us that he saw, in Central Africa, a manu¬
script of those portions of Aristotle and Plato which had been
" The student at this stage is called « Talib," that is, one who seeks
.knowledge.
14 O God, my Lord, bless Mohammed ! God bless him, and grant him peace!
15 Heroes and Hero Worship, p. 80.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 207
translated into Arabic, and that an Arabic version of Hippocrates
was extremely valued. The splendid voweled edition of the New
Testament and Psalms recently issued by the American Bible
Society, and of which, through the kindness of friends in New
York, we have been enabled to distribute a few copies among them,
is highly prized.
We have collected, in our visits to Mohammedan towns, a
number of interesting manuscripts, original and extracted. We
will here give two or three specimens as translated by us. We
should be glad if we could transfer to these pages the elegant and
ornamental chirography of the original.
The first is from a talismanic paper written at Futa Jallon,
copies of which are sold to the credulous as means of warding off
evil from individuals and communities, to be employed especially
during seasons of epidemics. It is as follows :—
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. 0 God, bless
Mohammed and save him, the seal of the prophets and the imam of the
apostles, beloved of the Lord of worlds !
After the above is the conveying of health, and the completing
of salutation and honour :
Yerily, the pestilence is coming upon you, beginning with your wealth, such
as your cows, and after that with yourselves ; and verily if all of you provide
water and bread, namely, of your men and your women, and your man-servants
and your maid-servants, and all your youths, they shall not endure it. And
after that write out the Chapter, ' Opener of the Book'16 and the' Verse of the
Throne,'17 and from " God is light " to " Omniscient," 18 and from " God created
16' Fatihat el-Kitab,' the first chapter of the Koran.
17 ' Ayet el-Kursee,' Sura ii, iv, 256. This verse is repeated by the pious
Moslem nearly every time he prays. ' It is as follows : " God ! there is no God
but He; the Living, the Eternal. Nor slumber seizeth Him, nor sleep ; His,
whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth! Who is he that
can intercede with Him but by His own permission ? He knoweth what hath
been before them, and what shall be after them; yet nought of His knowledge
shall they grasp, save what He willeth. His throne reacheth over the heavens
and the earth, and the upholding of both burdeneth Him not; and He is the.
High, the Great.—Bodwell's Translation.
18 Sura xxiv, 35.
208 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
3very," the whole verse, to " Omnipotent,"19 and the ' Two Chapters of Refuge ';
md write, " They who, when they have done foully and dealt unjustly by their
)wn souls, shall remember God, and seek forgiveness for their sins, (and who
'orgives sins but God ?) and shall not persevere in what they have done while
;hey know it."20 And if you do this, God shall certainly turn back the punish-
nent from you, if God will, by this supplication Because that is the
vay of escape obligatory on every Moslem man and woman. This document is
>y a man of wealth, who travelled, travelling from Futa to Mecca on pilgrimage,
i>nd stayed three months, and departed to El-Medina, and settled there three
rears, and returned to Futa. Written by me, Ahmad of Futa, to-day. O God,
•less Mohammed and save him! The end.
The next paper professes to be a history of the world. Beginning
housands of years before Adam, it gives account of the successive
pochs through which the earth passed before man was created.
3ut we omit all those periods, which might, perhaps, be of interest
o the enthusiastic geologist, and come down to the account given of
he first meeting of Adam and Eve. Says our author
When Adam first met Eve he was walking upon the sea, and he said to her,
Who art thou? " And she said, "I am the destroyer of mercies." And
.dam said, " Who art thou?" And she said, "I am the destroyer of wealth;
e who finds wealth finds me, and he who does not find wealth does not find
le." And Adam said, " Who art thou?" And she said, "I am one in whom
0 faith is to be reposed—I am Eve." And Adam said, " I believe thee, 0 Eve."
nd Adam took her, and she conceived, and brought forth forty twins, a male
nd a female at each birth, and all died except Seth, who was the father of
'oah," &c.
The author then proceeds to trace the descendants of Noah,
ssigning to Shem, Ham and Japheth the countries in which it is
ommonly understood that they respectively settled.
The next paper is a very elaborate and accurately written
aanuscript, styled " The Book of Psalms which God sent down to
)avid." We have been puzzled to account for the origin and
urpose of this paper. "Whencesoever it comes, it is certain it
oes not come out of the Psalms of David. It contains, however,
Dme excellent moral teachings, written not in Koranic language,
ut, on the whole, in very good Arabic, singularly free from those
19 Sura xxiv, 44.
20 Sura iii, 129. An item in a list of classes of persons who shall be blessed
1 this world and go to Heaven when they die.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 209
omissions and misplacements of diacritical points which are so
"troublesome in some Arabic writings. The arrangement of the
Trowels reveals a thorough acquaintance with the niceties of
•classical Arabic. It was copied for us from an old manuscript
brought by a scribe from Kankan, but he could give no information
as to its original source. The statement that it is the Psalms is
probably a mere freak of the compiler or copyist, unless we suppose
the existence of some Mohammedan pseudo-psalmist in the interior.
Moreover, the word anzala, used in the manuscript, which we have
translated " sent down," is not the word applied in the Koran to
David's revelations. The word there used is ata, signifying to
" commit," to " give," etc. The paper is divided into six chapters or
parts. We will give, with the introductory formula and blessing,
the first, fourth, and fifth parts:
In the name of God, &c. God bless our lord Mohammed, His prophet, and
his family, and his wives, and his descendants, and his friends, and keep them
safe.
This is the Book of Psalms, which God sent down to David. Peace upon him !
Paet the Piest.
I wonder at him who has heard of Death, how he can rejoice.
I wonder at him who has heard of the Reckoning, how he can gather riches.
I wonder at him who has heard of the Grave, how he can laugh.
I wonder at him who grieves over the waste of his riches and does not grieve
over the waste of his life.
I wonder at him who has heard of the future world and its bliss and its
enduringness, how he can rest when he has never sought it.
I wonder at him who has heard of the present world and its transitoriness,
how he can be secure about it when he has never fled from it.
I wonder at him who is knowing in the tongue, and ignorant in the heart.
I wonder at him who is busy with people's faults, and forgets his own faults.
I wonder at him who knows that God considers him in all places, how he can
rebel against Him.
I wonder at him who has purified himself with water, and is not pure in his
heart.
I wonder at him who knows that he shall die alone, and enter the grave
alone, and render account alone, how he can seek reconciliation with men,
when he has not sought reconciliation with his Lord.
There is no God but God, in truth ; Mohammed is the Envoy of God. God
bless him and save him !
!IO
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Kace.
Pakt the Fourth.
Son of Man! Be not of them who are long of repentance and long of hope,21
«nd look for the last day without work, and say the say of the servants, and
rork the work of the hypocrite, and are not satisfied if I give to you, and endure
Lot if I keep from you; who prescribe that which is approved and good, and do
t not, and forbid that which is disapproved and evil, and forego it not, and love
he faithful and are not of them, and hate the hypocrites and are of them—
ixacting and not exact.
Son of Man ! There is not a new day but the earth addresses thee, and thus
says she her say unto thee :
Son of Man!
Thou walkest on my back, but thy return is to my belly;
Thou laughest on my back, and then thou weepest in my belly;
Thou art joyful on my back, and then thou art sorrowful in my belly;
Thou sinnest on my back, and then thou sufferest in my belly;
Thou eatest thy desire on my back, and then the worms eat thee in my belly;
Son of Man!
I am the house of desolation, I am the house of isolation;
I am the house of darkness, I am the house of straitness ;
I am the house of question, I am the house of terrors ;
I am the house of serpents, I am the house of scorpions ;
I am the house of thirst, I am the house of hunger ;
I am the house of disgrace, I am the house of fires;
Then cultivate me, and burn22 me not.
Past the Fifth.
Son of Man ! I did not create you to get greatness by you instead of little¬
ness, nor to get companionship by you instead of desolation, nor to borrow by
you anything I wanted; nor did I create you to draw to me any profit, or to
thrust from me any loss (far be it from Him the Exalted !). But I have created
you to serve me perpetually, and thank me greatly, and praise me morning and
evening.28 And if the first of you and the last of you, and the living of you and
the dead of you, and the small of you and the great of you, and the male of
you and the female of you, and the lords of you and the servants of you, and
the men of you and the beasts of you, if they combine to obey me, this will not
add to my dominion the weight of a grain of dust. " Whoever does good service,
does good service only for himself; and whoever is unthankful—why, God is
independent of the three worlds."24
21 That is, waiting on Providence, without attempting to "work out one's
own salvation."
22 This is probably a warning against the practice among the natives of
denuding the earth by burning the wood when preparing to plant.
28 Compare Psalm i, 7-14.
24 Koran, xxix, 5.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 211
Son of man!
As thou lendest, shalt thou borrow;
As thou workest, shalt thou be recompensed;
As thou sowest, shalt thou reap.
We have been surprised to notice that the manuscripts which |
we receive generally from Boporo, Misadu, and Kankan are much
better written, and of a much more edifying character, than those
we have seen from the Gambia and that region of country. Some
of the latter, consisting of childish legends and superstitious details,
are often curious philologically, being mixtures of Arabic and the
vernacular dialect. It is said also by those who have seen
Mohammedan worship conducted by the Jalofs and Foulahs about
the Gambia and Senegal, and have witnessed similar exercises
among the Mandingoes in the region of country east of Liberia,
that the latter exhibit in their bearing and proceedings during their
religious services greater intelligence, order, and regularity than
the former.
During a visit of three weeks made to Boporo in the Moham¬
medan month of Eamadhan (December and January, 1868-69), we
had an opportunity of seeing the Mandingo Moslem at home. It
being the sacred month of fasting and religious devotedness, we
witnessed several religious ceremonies and performances.
As in all Moslem communities, prayer is held five times a-day.
When the hour for prayer approaches, a man appointed for the
purpose, with a very strong and clear voice, goes to the door of the
mosque and chants the adhan, or call to prayer. This man is
called the Mueddin.25 His call is especially solemn and interesting
in the early hours of the morning. We often lay in bed between
four and five o'clock listening for the cry of the Mueddin. There
was a simple and solemn melody in the chant at that still
hour, which, after it had ceased, still lingered pleasantly on the
25 The first Moslem crier was an Ethiopian negro, Bilah by name, " a man of
powerful frame and sonorous voice." He was the favourite attendant of
Mohammed. Mr. Irving informs us that on the capture of Jerusalem he made
the first adhan, "at the Caliph Omar's command, and summoned the true
believers to prayers with a force of lungs that astonished the Jewish.
inhabitants."—Irving's Successors of Mahomet, p. 100.
:2 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
r, and often, despite ourselves, drew us out to tlie mosque. The
Drning adhan, as we heard it at Boporo, is as follows: AllahiL
obar (this is said four times). Ashhadu an la ilaha ill' Allah
vice). Ashhadu anna Mohammadu rasoolu 'llah (twice). Heiya
% Salah (twice). Heiya alal-felah (twice). Saldtu Tcheiru min
naumi (twice). Allahu Akbar (twice). La ilaha 'ill Allah (once).26
Says Mr. Deutsch:
May-be some stray reader remembers a certain thrill on waking suddenly
the middle of his first night on Eastern soil—waking, as it were, from dream
;o dream. For there came a voice, solitary, sweet, sonorous, floating from on
?h, through the moonlight stillness—the voice of the blind Mueddin, singing
3 "Ualh," or first call to prayer The sounds went and came—" Allahu
'■bar, Allahu Akbar"—and this reader may have a vague notion of Arabic and
>ranic sound, one he will never forget.27
At Boporo and other African towns we have visited, this call
made three times within the half-hour immediately preceding
Drship. Before the third call is concluded the people have
nerally assembled in the mosque. Then the Imam proceeds with
e exercises, consisting usually of certain short chapters from the
oran and a few prayers, interspersed with beautiful chanting of
e Moslem watch-word, "La ilaha ill' Allah, Mohammadu rasoolu
ahi"—" There is no God," etc. We may remark, by the way, that
eir tunes are not set in the minor key, as is almost always the
.se among the Arabs. Their natures are more joyful. They
:ult in the diatonic scale of life, and leave their Oriental co-
ligionists to wail in the sad and mournful chromatics of the
>sert
The Mandingoes are an exceedingly polite and hospitable people,
ae restraints of their religion regulate their manners and control
eir behaviour. Both in speech and demeanour, they appear
ways solicitous to be en regie—anxious to maintain the strictest
■opriety; and they succeed in conforming to the natural laws of
26 The English is, " God is mojce great" (four times). " I testify that there is
i deity but God " (twice). " I testify that Mohammed is the apostle of God "
vice). " Come to prayer " (twice). " Come to security " (twice). " Prayer is
tter than sleep " (twice). " God is most great" (twice). " There is no deity but
>d " (once).
27 Quarterly Review, October, 1869.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 213
etiquette, of which they seem to have an instinctive and agreeable
appreciation. In their salutations they always try to exceed each
other in good wishes. The salutation "Salaam aleikum "—" Peace
be with you "—common in Oriental Mohammedan countries, is
used by them very sparingly, and, as a general thing, only 011
leaving the mosque after early morning worship. The reply is,
"Aleikum-e-Salaam, wa rahmatu 'llahi wa barakatuhu"—"With
you be peace, and the mercy of God and His blessing." If " Salaam
Aleikum " is addressed to them by a Kafir or Pagan they seldom
reply; if by a Christian, the reply is, " Salaam ala man taba el-
huda "—" Peace to him who follows the right way."
Those who speak Arabic speak the Koranic or book Arabic,
preserving the final vowels of the classical language—a practice
which, in the hurry and exigencies of business life, has been long
discontinued in countries where the language is vernacular; so
that in Egypt and Syria the current speech is very defective, and
clipped and corrupted. Mr. Palgrave informs us, however, that in
North-east Arabia the "grammatical dialect" is used in ordinary
conversation. " The smallest and raggedest child that toddles
about the street lisps in the correctest book Arabic that ever
De Sacy studied or Sibaweeyah professed.28 So among the Arabic
scholars whom one meets in the interior of Liberia. In proper
names we hear Ibraheema, Aleew, Suleimana, Abdullahi, Dauda,
etc.; in worship Allahw, Akbarw, Lailaha, ill'Allahw, etc.; and it is
difficult for the mere tyro in Arabic pronunciation either to under¬
stand or make himself understood unless he constantly bear in
mind the final vowels in nouns, verbs, and adjectives. A recent
number of the Saturday Beview,w in a notice of General Daumas's
new work on Arabic Life and Mussulman Society, remarks, " One
comfort for the learner will be, that the oft-pressed distinction
between what is termed the learned and the vulgar (Arabic) tongue
is a mere fiction of European growth. It has no foundation in
native usage." We fear that the theoretical comfort which the
2M Palgrave's Arabia, vol. i, p. 311.
23 March 2G, 1S70.
214 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
soothing reviewer attempts to administer to the learner of Arabic
will be found of no practical avail when applied to the intercourse
of daily life in Syria and Egypt. Only such learned natives as Mr.
Bistany, of Beyroot, and Dr. Meshakah, of Damascus, speak the
language so as to be understood by one versed only in Koranic
inflections. And even they generally avoid that style as stilted,
pedantic, and absurd. Says a high authority:—30
Les populations Arabes, en general, etant fort ignorantes, par leur misere
d'abord, et ensuite par 1'extreme difficulty de l'etude et de l'application de leur
idiome, le langage usuel des diverses regions est soumis a bien des varietes, soit
de prononciation, soit de denomination des idees et des choses.
Among the Moslems of West Africa there are some peculiarities
in the sounds of the letters. The fourth letter of the alphabet is
generally pronounced like s ; the seventh like the simple h; the
ninth like j in jug; seen and sheen have both the sound of s. The
fifteenth letter is sounded like I; the nineteenth, whose guttural
sound is so difficult to Western organs, is sounded like k; the
twenty-first like g hard.
J The introduction of Islam into Central and West Africa has
(been" the most important, if not the sole, preservative against the
desolations of the slave trade. Mohammedanism furnished a
"protection to the tribes who embraced it by effectually binding
them together in one strong religious fraternity, and enabling them
by their united effort to baffle the attempts of powerful Pagan
slave-hunters. Enjoying this comparative immunity from sudden
hostile incursions, industry was stimulated among them, industry
diminished their poverty; and, as they increased in worldly sub¬
stance, they also increased in desire for knowledge. Gross super¬
stition gradually disappeared from among them. Eeceiving a
degree of culture from the study of the Arabic language, they
acquired loftier views, wider tastes, and those energetic habits which
so pleasingly distinguished them from their Pagan neighbours.
Large towns and cities have grown up under Mohammedan
energy and industry. Dr. Barth was surprised to find such towns
80 M. Bresnier, professor of Arabic in the Normal College of Algiers, in his
Cours Pratique et Theorique de Langue Arabe.
Mohammedanism in Western Africa. 215
or cities as Kano and Sokoto in the centre of Africa—to discover
the focus of a complex and widely-ramified commerce, and a busy-
hive of manufacturing industry, in a region which most people had
"believed to be a desert. And there are towns and cities nearly as
important farther west, to which Barth did not penetrate, still
affording scope to extend the horizon of European knowledge and
the limits of commercial enterprise. Mr. Benjamin Anderson, the
enterprising Liberian traveller, who has recently visited Misadu,
the capital of the Western Mandingoes, about two hundred miles
east of Monrovia, describes that city as the centre of a considerable
commerce, reaching as far north as Senegal and east as far as
Sokoto.
The African Moslems ,ara. also great travellers. They seem to
travel through the country with greater freedom and safety than
any other people, on account, probably, of their superior intelligence
and greater usefulness. They are continually crossing the continent
to Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. We met a few weeks ago at Toto-
Coreh, a town about ten miles east of Boporo, a lad who informed
us that he was born at Mecca while his parents were in that city
on a pilgrimage. We gave him a copy of the New Testament in
Arabic, which he read with unimpeded fluency, and with the
Oriental accent and pronunciation.
The general diffusion of the Arabic language31 in this country,
through Mohammedan influence, must be regarded as a preparatory
circumstance of vast importance for the introduction of the Gospel.
It may be—
The plan of Providence that these many barbarous nations of Africa are to be
consolidated under one aggressive empire of ideas and faith, to prepare the way
for evangelisation through the medium of one copious, cultivated, expressive
tongue, in the place of leaving to the Church the difficult task of translating
31 The natives love and revere the language. All documents of a serious
character must be written in that language. Bishop Crowther, of the Niger, in
a letter dated October 30, 1869, tells us of his visit to King Masaba, a distin¬
guished Mohammedan sovereign, with whom he entered into a written agree¬
ment with reference to the establishment of a Christian mission in his capital.
" I drew up his promise," says the Bishop, " in English, which he handed over
to his Maalims to be translated into Arabic.'"—Christian Observer, January, 1870.
216
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and preaching in many barbarous languages, incapable of expressing the finer
forms of thought.32
Already some of the vernaculars have been enriched by expres¬
sions from the Arabic for the embodiment of the higher processes
of thought. They have received terms regarding the religion of
one God, and respecting a certain state of civilisation, such as
marrying, reading, writing, and the objects having relation thereto,
sections of time, and phrases of salutation and of good breeding;
then the terms relating to dress, instruments, and the art of
warfare, as well as architecture, commerce, &c.33
} Mohammedanism, in this part of the world, could easily be dis¬
placed by Christian influence, if Christian organisations would
enter with vigour into this field. The Eev. G.W. Gibson, Sector of
Trinity Church, Monrovia, in a letter published in the Spirit of
Missions for April, 1869, says :—
Whatever may have been the influence of Mohammedanism on races in
other parts of the world, I think here, upon the African, results will prove it to
be merely preparatory to a Christian civilisation. In this country, and almost
immediately in our vicinity, it has recovered millions from Paganism, without,
I think, having such a grasp upon the minds of the masses as to lead them
obstinately to cling to it in preference to Christianity, with its superior
advantages. The same feelings which led then to abandon their former religion
for the Moslem will, no doubt, lead them still further, and induce them to
embrace ours when properly presented. I express this opinion the more readily
from several interviews I have had lately with prominent parties connected
with some of these tribes.
\ We are persuaded that, with the book knowledge they already
possess, and their love of letters, many of them would become
ready converts of a religion which brings with it the recommen¬
dation of a higher culture and a nobler civilisation. And, once
brought within the pale of Christianity, these Mohammedans would
be a most effective agency for the propagation of the Gospel in
remote regions, hitherto impervious to European zeal and enter¬
prise, and the work of African regeneration would proceed with
uninterrupted course and unexampled rapidity.
82 Prof. Post, of Syrian Protestant College, Beyrout.
83 See Barth's Collection of Central African Vocabularies, part i, p. 29.
Sierra Leone and Liberia:
Their Origin, Work, and Destiny.
THERE is historical evidence that the portion of Africa where
are situated the Colony of Sierra Leone and the Republic
of Liberia was known to the ancients. The earliest authentic
account we have, however, of any visit to this coast by foreigners
is contained in a fragment of Carthaginian literature, called the
Periplus of Hanno, which shows that five hundred years before
Christ, or more than two thousand years ago, Sierra Leone was
visited. This document is said to be " the one relic of Cartha¬
ginian literature which has come down to us entire." It has been
preserved, however, not in the Carthaginian original, but in a
Greek translation.1
In modern history, the Portuguese claim to have .discovered
Sierra Leone about 1415, and they are said to have planted a
settlement here in 1463, twenty-nine years before the discovery
of America by Columbus. The priority of discovery is, however,
disputed by the French, who pretend that the merchants of Dieppe
visited these coasts in 1346, seventy years earlier. Two of their
authors, Villault and Robbe, detail at some length the origin and
progress of the French settlements at Sierra Leone, Cape Mount,
River Sestos, and Elmina.
The object of these early establishments was legitimate com¬
merce—no thought of carrying the people away into slavery had
at that time occurred. The discovery of America in 1492 was the
fountain and source of that transatlantic traffic in men which, for
i Bos worth Smith's Carthage and the Carthaginians, p. 48.
218 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
more than three hundred years, entailed woes innumerable upon
the people of this country. The slave trade was regularly estab¬
lished by Spain twenty-five years after the great exploit by
Columbus.
The first Englishman who engaged in the odious traffic was
Sir John Hawkins, and the first scene of his disastrous labours
was Sierra Leone. He sailed from England for thi^port in October,
1562. Here he found the aborigines living in peace and quiet¬
ness, producing by agriculture and trade all that their necessities
required. By the sword and other means, he obtained possession
of three hundred persons, sailed with them to St. Domingo, where
he exchanged them for hides, ginger, sugar, and a good quantity
of pearls, returning to England in September, 1563. He sub¬
sequently obtained the sanction of Queen Elizabeth, and a grant
of two of Her Majesty's ships for his nefarious expeditions. It
must be stated in justice to the Queen, however, that she strongly
objected to the traffic, and remonstrated against it; but she was
assured that none were transported from Africa but those who
voluntarily offered themselves as labourers; that their religious
condition was improved by being taken away from their native
superstitions. The Queen seems to have contented herself
with issuing some stringent injunctions against the employment
of force, with which those interested in the trade promised to
comply.2
The principle of African colonisation in modern times, with
a view to the improvement of the country and the people, must
be attributed to the Swedes. To them belongs the glory of forming
the first specific plan for alleviating the evils which the inhuman
traffic had caused and was causing to this country; and to the
Danes must be assigned the credit of first carrying into execution
the idea of an agricultural establishment for instructing the natives
in the cultivation of their fertile soil.
'A society formed in Sweden, in 1779, obtained a charter from
His Swedish Majesty, Gustavus III, empowering forty families
to settle on this coast under the protection of Sweden, to organise
2 Walker's History of the Slave Trade, p. 37.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
219
their own government, to enact their own laws, and to establish
a community entirely independent of Europe. In the report of
those who were sent out to examine the coast, Cape Verde
appeared the most eligible situation; but it was claimed by the
French, who had twice purchased the whole peninsula. After
Cape Yerde they fixed upon Cape Mount and Cape Mesurado,
where now stands the capital of the Republic of Liberia. Cape
Mount was represented as the Paradise of New Guinea.3
The idea of ^restoring free blacks as colonists, from the countries
of their exile in the West to the land of their fathers, originated!
in England with Granville Sharp and a few others of like philan¬
thropic spirit. Through the -efforts of Sharp, a decision wast
obtained from Chief Justice Mansfield in 1772, laying down the
principle that " as soon as any slave sets foot on English ground
he becomes free." At that time, there were in England numerous
slaves who had been carried from the West Indies and America
by their masters. When this decision was published, they were
either driven from the houses of their masters or they left of
their own accord. Several hundreds of this class of persons were,
therefore, found wandering about London homeless and starving,
and Sharp and his friends made themselves responsible for their
unprotected and suffering condition.
To provide means for their relief a society was organised. In
the meanwhile, Granville Sharp conceived the idea of sending
them back to Africa, and sketched the outline of a plan for a
settlement for all such persons. In July, 1783, while this plan was
under serious consideration, Dr. Smeatham, who had spent several
years on the coast of Africa, wrote an interesting letter to Dr.
Knowles, which came to the notice of Sharp, suggesting the idea
of a free Negro settlement at Sierra Leone, " for the purpose of
checking and putting down the slave trade, and of diffusing the
principles of the Christian religion among the natives."
8 Villault, who saw Cape Mount in 1667, said : " L'Afrique serait preferable
a l'Europe, si toutes les parties de cette vaste region resemblait aux environs du
Cap Monte."
220 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
A commercial company, called St. George's Bay Company,
organised about 1756, h^d established its operations at Sierra
Leone.4 Through this company Granville Sharp and his associates
secured a considerable district of land for the purpose of settling
the emancipated slaves. In the year 1787, a subscription of a
few thousand pounds having been raised for assisting the destitute
blacks to reach Africa, the Government very liberally seconded
these views by taking upon itself the expense of transporting them
to their destination, and of supplying them with necessaries
during the first six or eight months of their residence in Africa.
The number that left England was four hundred and sixty, of
whom eighty-four died during their detention in the Channel or on
the passage; and near a hundred more fell victims to the hardships
to which they were exposed during the first rainy season. They
landed here in May, 1787. In May, 1887, three years hence,
we shall have reached the centennial anniversary of the settle¬
ment. It is to be hoped that it will be duly celebrated by all the
inhabitants, and that the occasion will be marked by some suitable
memorial.
In the year 1791, the St. George's Bay Company was incor¬
porated by Act of Parliament under the name of the Sierra Leone
Company. In consequence of this recognition by the Government,
the capital of the company rapidly increased, and the Directors
had the opportunity of sending to the colony an additional number
of black colonists acquainted with the English language and
accustomed to labour in hot climates. In relation to this matter
I take the following from the first Official Report of the Directors
of the Sierra Leone Company, made in 1793:—
When the Act of Parliament had passed for incorporating the Sierra Leone
Company, a delegate from a body of blacks in Nova Scotia, supposed to amount
to a few hundred, who was then in England, represented that the persons who
sent him hither had migrated to Nova Scotia at the end of the American war,
having received from Government certain promises of lots of land which had
never been strictly fulfilled; that both the soil and the climate of Nova Scotia,
4 This was not the earliest English establishment. Villault' found an
English factory on Bunce Island in 1666.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
221
as well as many other circumstances in their situation, were complained of by
them, and that many of them were desirous of becoming colonists at the
settlement which they understood was likely to be made at Sierra Leone.
The Directors concurred with the delegate in applying to His Majesty's
Ministers for a passage for them at the expense of Government, and having
obtained a favourable reply, they immediately availed themselves of the
services of Lieutenant Clarkson, who very handsomely offered to go to Nova
Scotia in order to make the necessary proposals, and to superintend the
collecting and bringing over of such free blacks to Sierra Leone as might be
willing to migrate.5
The Nova Scotians were a portion of those slaves, who, during
the American War of Independence, ran away from their masters
and took refuge in the King's army. They were born in North
America of African progenitors.
The number of Nova Scotians, the Eeport continues, who were willing to
embark for Sierra Leone proved, to the great surprise of the Directors, to be no
less than 1,196. In the month of February, 1792, the Company sent out the
Nova Scotians in a fleet of sixteen vessels, from which there were landed in
Sierra Leone, on the 28th of March, 1,131 blacks, many of them labouring under
the effects of a fever first contracted in Halifax, of which 65 had died during
the passage.
About this same time, a few gentlemen in the United States,
headed by the Revs. Drs. Hopkins and Stiles, of Ehode Island,
having several years previously conceived the idea of a missionary
settlement in Africa of Christian blacks, were endeavouring to
induce merchants to send out a vessel with a few emigrants, and
with goods, the profits on which would diminish the expense of
the enterprise, and enable them to procure lands on which to make
a beginning. But this plan did not succeed from want of funds.
On the 15th of January, 1789, two years after Granville Sharp's
first emigrants had been sent out, Dr. Hopkins wrote to him
enquiring whether, and on what terms, and with what prospects,
blacks from America could join his colony. But it appears that no
satisfactory answer was received.
In 1800 and 1801 the colony received another accession of
5 An account of the colony of Sierra Leone, from its first establishment in
1793, being the substance of a Eeport delivered to the Proprietors. Published
by order of the Directors, London, 1795.
222 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
emigrants from Jamaica, called Maroons, 550 in number. On their
arrival they found the Nova Scotians in rebellion against the
Company, on account of a ground-rent or quit-tax which had been
imposed upon their farms. They contended that the lands had
been granted to them by the Crown. The Maroons joined the
Company in the effort to restore order, and the rebellion was put
down. This was the cause of bitter alienation of feeling between
the settlers and the Maroons. But hostile and powerful attacks
made upon the colony by the natives forced the two parties
together, and made them feel that their cause was one, and that
their only safety was in union and co-operation.
About this time, a charter of justice was obtained from the
Crown, authorising the Directors of the Sierra Leone Company to
make laws, not repugnant to those of England, and to appoint a
Governor and a Council with a similar power of making laws
subject to the revision of the Court of Directors. It placed the
criminal jurisdiction in the hands of the Governor and Council, the
determination of civil suits in a Mayor's court, and the recovery of
small debts in a court of requests, and, in civil and criminal cases,
the right of a trial by jury.6
Though Dr. Hopkins died (December 20, 1803) before his
philanthropic plan could be carried out, yet his ideas had been
gradually spreading in the United States. In 1800, James Monroe,
then Governor of the State of Virginia, was authorised by the
Legislature of his State to correspond with the President of the
United States, on the subject of the removal of free blacks from
the limits of the United States. President Jefferson, whose
sagacious and humane mind had led him to say, in view of the
sufferings of the Negro in America, " I tremble for my country
when I consider that God is just," seized at once upon the idea,
and recommended Africa as the country to which the free blacks
should be removed. Having heard of the colony of Sierra Leone,
he corresponded with the British Government concerning the
transfer of blacks to the new settlement, but without success,
Eeport of Dr. Madden, Her Majesty's Commissioner to Western Africa, 1840.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
223
the British Government having at that time no control over the
colony.
The spirit which had been evoked in England in favour of
freedom by the legal question raised by Granville Sharp, and
decided by Lord Mansfield, led, after twenty years of struggle and
conflict, to the abolition of the slave trade. British vessels, taken
in the horrible traffic, were to be seized and their captives released.
This Act passed the English Parliament in 1807. As a convenient
place for landing and sheltering recaptives, Sierra Leone was fixed
upon, and it was transferred by the Company to the Government?
in 1808. Henceforward the resources of a great nation were to be
devoted to making the colony what it was designed to be—namely,
an establishment for the suppression of the slave trade, and the
religious and moral improvement of the natives.
It is a very interesting fact that on the spot where Englishmen
first began the work of African demoralisation, Englishmen should
begin the work of African amelioration and restoration. England
produced Sir John Hawkins, known to Sierra Leone by his fire
and sword policy. Two hundred years later, England produced
Granville Sharp, known by his policy of peace, of freedom, and of
religion. The land of Pharaoh was also the land of Moses. Alone,
amid the darkness of those days, stood Sierra Leone—the only
point at which the slave trade could not be openly prosecuted—the
solitary refuge of the hunted slave. The geographical position of
the peninsula might be taken as an emblem of its moral status.
For hundreds of miles on either side of the colony the coast is low
and swampy; but here the land rises into mountains of considerable
height, and a bold promontory stretches out into the sea, forming
an excellent natural harbour for ships pelted by the storm—
beautiful emblem of the sublime moral attitude of the principles
upon which the colony was founded, and of the rest and protection
which the persecuted slave might find here.
Quorum sub verfcice late Aequora tuta silent.7
Sierra Leone—" mountain of the lion "—was a prophetic appek
lation, for it is the mount of moral elevation from which the roaring
7 Virgil's AZneid, i, 163, 164.
224
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
of the lion of the nations has saved hundreds of thousands from an I
untimely death, or a protracted and cruel bondage worse than death.
The slave trade was a serious interference with African life.
Early travellers to this coast describe the pacific character of the
people, and their quiet and successful industry. Had the traffic
between the natives and Europeans continued regular and normal
:—such a trade, for instance, as there has been between China
or Japan and Europe, a trade in which men did not form a com¬
modity—this country would not now be behind any other tropical
country in productive capacity. Before the demand for Negro
labour in the Western hemisphere taught the people of the coast
districts to make war upon each other, there was continuous
intercourse between Sierra Leone and the interior. An extensive
agriculture beautified the landscape on every hand. There was
gradual, regular growth in the elements of civilisation. But when
the necessities of the slave trade spread confusion and disorder
through all the maritime regions, legitimate trade retired from
this part of Africa, and found its way across the desert to the
Mediterranean.
In the sixteenth century, about the same time that John
Hawkins was conducting his unhallowed operations, John Leo, or
Leo Africanus, was travelling in the interior, about the headwaters
of the Niger, where he witnessed a degree of civilisation which
could not have failed to develop, by this time, into considerable
importance. He thus describes the Kingdom of Melli, which is
probably the modern Masina or Bambarra :—
In this kingdom there is a large and ample village, containing to the
number of six thousand or more families, and called Melli, whereof the whole
kingdom is so named. And here the king hath his place of residence. The
region itself yieldeth great abundance of corn, flesh and cotton. Here are
many artificers and merchants in all places; and yet the king honourably
entertaineth all strangers. The inhabitants are rich, and have plenty of wares.
Here are great store of temples, priests and professors, which professors read
their lectures in the temples. The people of this region excel all other Negroes
in wit, civility, and industry.8
8 A Geographical Historie of Africa, written in Arabicke and Italian. By
John Leo, a Moor, born it Granada and brought up in Barbary. Translated by
John Pory, of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.—London, 1600.
Sierra Leone and Liberia. 225
This was three hundred years ago. But one hundred years ago
Bornou was described as follows:—
Bornou is a very extensive and powerful monarchy. The capital thereof is
eo large that travellers, in describing its magnitude, state that Cairo, which
contains half-a-million of people, " is a trifle to it." Kashna, which is subject
to Bornou, is said to contain one thousand towns and villages. The country is
represented as being very pleasant, beautifully diversified with hill and dale,
very fertile, well cultivated, abounding in flocks and herds, and very populous.9
Residents of Sierra Leone, who know, by experience, something
of the activity and value of the trade from the interior, even now,
after all the waste of the slave trade, can find no difficulty in
crediting the accuracy of these descriptions.
Mungo Park tells us that the Mandingo manufacturers furnished
the Moors with clothing. Perhaps some present will be surprised
to learn that large quantities of ready-made clothing are imported
into the settlement from Sego and other places on the Niger. These
articles are made by native tailors, of stuff manufactured in the
interior. The material is sold at three and four times the price
charged for the blue baft from England, which is an inferior imita¬
tion of the Mandingo article.
The ancestors of these people understood the use of the cotton-
plant, and the manufacture of cotton, when Julius Caesar found the
Britons clothing themselves in the skins of wild beasts. Visitors
to the British Museum may see, in the Egyptian department,
cloth of the very same material and texture wrapped around the
mummies. This cloth was made by those who understood the lost
art of embalming, but who, when they retired by successive revo¬
lutions, into the interior—the heart of the Soudan, where the
conditions of climate forbade the practice of embalming—lost that
valuable art, but never forgot the manufacture of the cloth used in
the process. Another proof, this, of the connection of the Nigritian
tribes with the ancient Egyptians.
Between sixty and seventy years ago Sir Charles McCarthy,
then Governor of Sierra Leone, set his heart upon developing the
interior traffic of which he had heard so much, and again attracting
8 McQueen's Central Africa, p. 219.
226 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
it to the coast. His able and zealous efforts met with, no little
measure of success. In a letter to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, under date May 17, 1814, he depicts the state of things
before he began his labours, as follows :—
Three-fourths of the produce of the very rich mines of Bambouk was allowed
to find its way to the Barbary States, from whence the Bambarra Kingdoms
derived all their articles of commerce, and even for several years back these
mines have been almost totally neglected.
On the eye of his departure from Senegal, where he had been
administering the Government (Senegal being then a British colony),
he wrote to the Secretary of State, under date May 6, 1814 :
I have great pleasure in reporting to your Lordship that I leave this colony
in a perfect state of tranquility. I have received from the Moors and Negro
Princes every possible assurance of a wish on their part to cultivate a good
understanding with the British Government and encourage trade. The imports
into the colony have exceeded double the amount of last year, and the exports
of gum and gold will be in the same proportions.
Here I must crave your indulgence while I digress for a moment,
to say a few words on the injurious notion which largely prevails
among civilised Negroes, chiefly in foreign lands, gathered from the
books they read, that the Negro has had no past, and that all his
ideas of civilisation and all his tendencies to growth have been
obtained from European instruction and example.
Now it is not surprising that this impression should prevail
among white people, who see the Negro only in exile or along this
coast, which still suffers from the demoralisation of centuries. But
it is not for intelligent Negroes to allow themselves to imbibe this
poisonous misrepresentation, especially those in this portion of
Africa, who have the opportunity, by only a few days' Journey from
the coast, to learn the truth about their people. It is this false
conception of what Africa has been, and of its actual and possible
condition away from the coast, which misleads so many who come
for philanthropic and other work from Europe and America.
There is such a thing as the poetry of politics, what is some¬
times called sentiment. It is the feeling of race—the aspiration
after the development on its own line of the type of humanity to
which we belong. Italians and Germans long yearned after such
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
227
development. The Slavonic tribes are feeling after it. Now,
nothing tends more to discourage these feelings, and check these
aspirations, than the idea that the people with whom we are con¬
nected, and after whose improvement we sigh, have never had a
past, 01* only an ignoble past—antecedents which were " blank and
hopeless," to be ignored and forgotten.
We have then nothing upon which to base any hopes for the
future, or from which to derive a sense of obligation to posterity.
"We have a feeling that those who have gone before us have done
nothing for us, and why should we do anything for posterity?
Under such circumstances, there can be no such thing as a real
national history—no continuity or transmission of organic feeling ;
but without such a feeling there can be no progress. A true respect
for the past—a consciousness of a real national history—has not
only a binding force but a stimulating effect, and furnishes a
guarantee of future endurance and growth. That which has been
achieved in the past is a prophecy of what may be done in the
future. You may call this poetry if you like, but it is the kind of
thing on which nations thrive. Mr. Matthew Arnold has recently
told us that "more and more mankind will discover that we have
to turn to poetry to interpret life for us, to console and sustain us."
When Napoleon on the burning plains of Egypt called out to his
soldiers, " Forty centuries look down upon you from the summit of
those Pyramids," it was not only the military but the poetic instinct
that suggested the words. He borrowed from the past achieve¬
ments of an alien race inspiration for his exhausted troops. They
connected themselves with humanity and took courage from the
past deeds of the despised African.
While Sir Charles McCarthy was earnestly labouring in every
way to bring the colony up to the performance of the work it was
intended to achieve, the idea of transferring free blacks from the
United States to Africa was assuming definite and practical shape.
In the year 1815, Captain Paul Cuffee, a Negro of some means,
brought out to Sierra Leone, in his own vessel, thirty emigrants. (I
have been able to find no mention in the records of the colony of
this arrival.) This philanthropic and patriotic deed was suggestive
228
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and instructive. "What the white people had been thinking anc
talking about for thirty years was thus carried into effect by one o:
the oppressed class whose condition they were considering—thus
showing that the project in contemplation was in harmony with the
instincts and desires of the Africans in America.
Two years after Paul Cuffee's enterprise, the American Colonisa¬
tion Society was organised (January 1, 1817). In November of
that year Samuel I. Mills and Ebenezer Burgess were sent to this
•country as commissioners of the Society to select a site for a colony.
Arriving in England in December, on their way out, they were
-courteously received by Hip Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester,
patron and president, and by the other officers of the African
Institution. Mr. Wilberforce introduced them to Earl Bat hurst,
then Secretary of State for the Colonies, who gave them letters to
Sir Charles McCarthy, the Governor of Sierra Leone and other
officers of the Colony, directing them to aid the explorers in their
•explorations. But before they could reach the colony, Sir Charles
McCarthy, having already heard of the enterprise, addressed the
following despatch to the Secretary of State:—
Government House,
Sierra Leone, January 2, 1818.
My Lord, —Understanding that it is in the contemplation of the Government
-of the United States of America to form an establishment of their people of
•colour in some part of Africa near this place, and being thoroughly convinced
that such a measure would not only prove highly prejudicial to the interest of
this Colony, but ultimately prevent all commercial intercourse with Great
Britain, I beg leave to solicit your Lordship to adopt such measures as you
may deem most advisable to prevent an establishment of that nature being
formed either to the north of Sierra Leone, or nearer to the south than Cape
Palmas. . . .
I have the honour, &c.,
The Eight Honourable (Signed) C. McCabthy.
Earl Bathurst, K.G., &c., &c., &c.
Messrs. Mills and Burgess arrived at Sierra Leone March 22nd,
1818, a little less than three months after the letter was written,
.and were received by the Governor with great personal kindness.
He gave them every facility for prosecuting their enquiries, though
lie did not conceal his unwillingness that an American Negro
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
22g
colony should be established in the vicinity of Sierra Leone. They
examined the coast as far as Sherbro, and obtained promises that
on the arrival of colonists suitable land should be furnished for
their settlement. They then returned to Sierra Leone, and on
May 22nd, embarked for England on their homeward voyage.
It appears that nothing more was heard at Sierra Leone of the
projected colony until March 9th, 1820, two years after the
departure of the explorers, when the ship Elizabeth, having sailed
from New York, February 6th, arrived in the harbour of Freetown
with the first settlers for the new colony—eighty-eight in number—
from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.
Sir Charles McCarthy, three days after their arrival, wrote to
Earl Bathurst as follows :—
Government House,
Sierra Leone, March. 12, 1820.
My Lord,—I have the honour to inform your Lordship that the merchant
ship Elizabeth, having left New York on the 6th February, arrived in this
harbour on the 9th inst., having on board as passengers, four Agents from the
United States of America, with Government stores, tools, provisions, and eighty-
eight people of colour—men, women and children, labourers and mechanics—for
the purpose (as their senior Agent, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, states to me) of com¬
mencing an asylum for liberated Negroes in the River Sherbro, or in such other
place to the leeward of this as they may find most convenient. I understand
that the Elizabeth was to have sailed under the convoy of the American sloop-
of-war Cyane, but lost sight of her in getting out of the harbour. She (the
Cyane) is intended to afford the settlement or settlements protection, and at
the same time to cruise on this coast. I hear also the Cyane is authorised to
detain all American slave-vessels, to land the slaves at the new establishment,
and send the vessels, for disposal, to America.
Although I am willing to give due credit to the humane and benevolent
intentions which have led to the present measure, and that the superintendents-
are strongly recommended to me by the Honourable Bushrod Washington, and
I may add that I trust I shall ever be found anxious to give my weak support
and good wishes to any establishment of that description, yet I conceive it my
duty, as Governor of this colony, to state that I fear any colonisation of a
foreign power so immediately in our neighbourhood may be productive of
considerable inconvenience, and even losses, in the trade of the colony. I had
the honour of addressing your Lordship to the same purport on the 9th of May,
1818 (No. 144) and 20th same month (No. 150) ; and as your Lordship had been
pleased to state in your answer dated 30th September, same year, that you
concurred in my opinion, I had been led to hope that the Government of the
230
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
United States would have paid some deference to your advice. I have not yet
seen sufficiently of the gentlemen entrusted with the commission of the United
States to be able to state positively that they will not attend to my own
suggestions of forming their establishments farther to leeward. I shall transmit
to your Lordship a copy of the documents they have communicated to me. The
Cya/ne is not yet arrived. I scarcely need to observe that I shall show to
the superintendents those marks of attention and civility to which they are
entitled.
I have the honour, &c.,
Bight Honourable Earl Bathurst, K.G. (Signed) 0. McCarthy.
For the opportunity of perusing and copying these letters, I am
indebted to the courtesy of His Excellency Governor Havelock,
who kindly allowed me access to the archives at Government
House for the purposes of this lecture. These despatches not only
illustrate the very inadequate conception of that day as to the laws
of trade, but also furnish one of the proofs, which are everywhere
found in the records of that period, of the zeal and solicitude of Sir
Charles McCarthy for the future welfare of the colony. It appears
that four years after the American settlers had occupied Cape
Mesurado, in 1825, opinion had so far advanced that General Turner
attempted, by treaties with the native chiefs, to extend the colony
of Sierra Leone to the Gallinas Eiver in the direction of Liberia.
Sir John Jeremie subsequently attempted the same thing, with a
view chiefly to the suppression of the slave trade, but the untimely
death of these energetic Governors caused the project to fail.
The progress of events—the growth of the two countries—has
shown that not only has Liberia not interfered prejudicially with
Sierra Leone, but it has presented a field for the energies, indus¬
trial and commercial, of many a native of the settlement. An
interesting fact in the present history of Liberia, which Sir Charles
McCarthy could hardly have foreseen, is this, that a native of
Sierra Leone, brought up amid the institutions of the colony, is a
successor of Messrs. Mills and Burgess, as agent of the American
Colonisation Society, having charge of the location and rationing
of all emigrants arriving in Liberia from America. This native of
Sierra Leone is also the Mayor of the city of Monrovia, the capital
of the Republic. On the other hand, a citizen of Liberia was, not
Sierra Leone and Liberia. 231
very long ago, entrusted with the interior matters of this settle¬
ment, and executed—by appointment from the Governor-in-Chief—
important diplomatic missions to powerful chiefs, for which he
received the commendation and thanks of the Secretary of State
for the Colonies. These things, I take it, are only indications of
the future relations of the two countries. The two peoples are one
in origin and one in destiny ; and, in spite of themselves, in spite
of local prejudices, they must co-operate.
For some years past, a strong desire, just the reverse of that
entertained by Sir Charles McCarthy, has prevailed among the
Governors of this colony—a desire to carry out the policy of General
Turner and Sir John Jeremie. It has been felt that the cause of
civilisation and commerce would be subserved not by widening the
gulf between the two countries, but by bringing them more closely
together. And this desire has been recently realised by making
the boundaries of the two countries conterminous. The Liberians,
however, have protested against the manner of this junction.
" Mohammed has gone to the mountain," but the mountain has
shrunk at his approach. The lion has lain down with the lamb,
but a part of the lamb has been absorbed.
The present feeling at Government House here on the subject
of Sierra Leone and Liberia is expressed in a recent unofficial
communication from the Governor-in-Chief as follows: " It is
perfectly obvious that cordial and close relations between Liberia
and the British Colonies adjoining her would be beneficial to both
parties."
Governor Havelock in 1884, and Sir Charles McCarthy in 1818,
are two generations apart. The spirit of both is the same—intent
upon the welfare of the colony under their rule; but the one utters
vaticinia post eventum, while the other, through the difficult mists
of probabilities, puts forth his prophecies at a venture. After what
has already happened in the history of the two countries, who will
undertake to say that they will not be brought into even closer
connection than the mere physical one ? Lord Derby, Secretary
of State for the Colonies, said, in a speech a few weeks ago, that
" Experience of public-life had taught him that the words ' Never '
232 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and ' Forever' ought to have no place in a statesman s vocabu¬
lary." 10
A few days after the arrival of the Elizabeth at Sierra Leone,
the emigrants were taken to Sherbro Island, at the mouth of the
Sherbro Eiver. Here the agents were discouraged in their attempts
to purchase land for a permanent settlement. The hardships,
sickness, and deaths which the colonists had to undergo, compelled
their return to Sierra Leone, and they found temporary residence
at Fourah Bay, where some now he buried. The remnant sub¬
sequently removed to Cape Mesurado, 260 miles to the south-east,
where, after they had occupied for three months a small island
at the mouth of the Mesurado Eiver, they were permitted to
obtain a permanent foothold.
Thus it will be seen that the British Colony of Sierra Leone
and the American Colony of Liberia are one in origin, not only as
respects the philanthropic purpose that gave them birth, but as to
the materials of the first settlement. Both were planted by
Negroes who, having passed through the baptism of slavery on
American soil, brought with them as spoils from the land of their
captivity the elements of Anglo-American civilisation, finding their
first shelter in the land of their fathers, under the shadow of the
" lion mountain," and getting refreshed during their first fevers
from the brooks of King Jimmy and King Tom. Both colonies
were founded by private enterprise and for philanthropic purposes.
Both received the same name. Freetoivn is the Saxon for the idea
of which Liberia is the Latin. Both were given up by their original
founders, one after twenty-five years of supervision, and the other
after twenty-seven years.
Sierra Leone entered upon effective colonial existence, having
the care, attention and guidance of the mother country, drawing
within the circle of its influence representatives of the different
tribes, and giving the Negro the opportunity for rest from the per¬
secutions of s]ave-traders. Benign agencies from Europe over¬
shadowed the settlement to protect it from malignant agencies from
10 Times, March 4th, 1884.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
233
the same quarter. A succession of able philanthropic representatives
of the Queen has furnished continuous impulse to civilisation.
Liberia continued a colony of the American Colonisation Society
until, as it began to grow and extend along the coast, questions of"
trade and territorial rights arose which could be adjusted only
between sovereign powers. The United States Government, owing
to its peculiar institutions, and, perhaps, to the view then taken of
the Monroe doctrine, could not assume the direction of the colony.
The Liberians found that if they were to retain their existence
at all they must become an independent community, with the right
of final legislation for themselves, the power to enter into treaty
relations with foreign powers, to regulate and restrict trade, &c.
Therefore the people voted—October 27, 1846—in favour of
assuming the entire responsibility of their government. The
Legislature, at its next session, ordered a Convention of Delegates
to form a new Constitution. The Convention assembled, and after
twenty-one days of deliberation, adopted—on the 26th day of July,
1847—their new Constitution and Declaration of Independence. In
September, the Constitution was ratified by the almost unanimous
vote of the people in their primary assemblies.
The Governor, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, was elected the first
President. On the 3rd day of January, 1848, he delivered his
inaugural address, and the new Government went into operation.
In the course of that year, the Independence of the Republic was
formally acknowledged by the Governments of Great Britain and
France. . It has since been acknowledged by all the leading States
of Europe and America. In 1850, when the Republic was two years
old, Her Britannic Majesty's Government presented the youthful
nation with a gunboat, to act as a revenue cutter and guarda costa,
with a view to assist the infant State in her efforts to suppress the
slave trade. When that vessel, named the Lark, became un-
seaworthy, the British Government gave to Liberia another war
schooner called the Quail.
Sierra Leone, in the meanwhile, and for fifty years after it was
taken over by the Home Government, grew rapidly in population
by accessions of recaptives from various parts of the coast. On
R
234
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
their arrival these strangers received instruction in the ways of
civilisation from the American and West Indian settlers whom
they found here. The new comers at first turned to the soil for
support, but found, with their limited means and want of skill in
systematic agriculture, that it was impossible to do anything in
that line with the barren, rocky and mountainous country with
which they had to contend. The fact of the inferior quality of the
soil had been noticed when the Sierra Leone Company first
attempted to settle their emigrants on it. After several unsuccessful
experiments at farming on this side, the Governor and Council,
towards the end of 1792, purchased a small tract of land on the
Bullom shore for enlarged agriculture, but they met with no better
success there. Very recently a native member of the Legislative
Council has made expensive outlays in the same region with a view
to extensive agricultural operations, but his prospects of success, he
informs me, are not very cheering. With a soil so unfavourable,
the people turned naturally to trade, for which the situation of
Sierra Leone furnished splendid opportunities. By strict attention
to business, by persevering diligence and economy, many very soon
rose to respectability and influence.
The settlers gradually died out, and there being no further
accession from America, the recaptives11 and their descendants
naturally and properly came to the front, until they now own most
of the valuable property in the colony; and by their enterprise,
intelligence, and energy, are successfully competing with European
commercial houses on the coast. But this element, which has
11 The ward recaptive, which I have just employed, like the word Negro,
seems to some to convey the idea of contempt and degradation ; but both are
good words, and express important facts —one a fact of nature, the other a fact
of history. "Negro" means a man of certain physical characteristics, whose
colour and hair differentiate him from other races of men. In America it is
applied indiscriminately to all persons of whatever colour who have Negro blood
in their veins. " Becaptive " means one captured again. In the case before
us it was the stronger saving the weaker from unscrupulous oppression. It was
an intervention to suppress intervention. The word embodies the history not
only of the sad dealings of Europeans with our people on this coast, but of
the " fruits meet for repentance" which they brought forth when the iniquity
of the nefarious traffic dawned upon them.
Sierra Leone and Liberia. 235
♦
superseded the Nova Scotians and Maroons is not exactly in¬
digenous. As the Negroes from across the sea gave place to them,
so they, receiving no accessions, will give place to the indigenous
tribes. But this fading away will be less marked if, by judicious
intermarriages, the Creoles blend with the surrounding tribes. And
I am glad to learn that this process is gradually going on, especially
in the villages. Timnehs, Susus, and Mendis are now uniting in
marriage with Eboes, Akus, and Congoes, so that in the course of
time the tribal peculiarities, which have often been a source of
misunderstanding and disunion, will be happily effaced.
Notwithstanding the reports sometimes put forward of the
indisposition of the natives to work, they have won, even from the
soil of this barren, rocky, and mountainous country, astounding
victories. There are very few places in the world where the
vegetable market is better stocked than in Sierra Leone. When
one looks at the arid and parched character of the soil, and sees
the attractive variety of fruit, greens, and vegetables which appears
every morning, one wonders by what magic power such pleasing
results are produced. It is almost like the miracle of bringing
honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock. But not only
mere garden products, but the heavier articles of agriculture are
exported from the colony. The large quantity of ginger brought
to market this season has been something marvellous—marvellous
in view of the possibilities, or rather impossibilities of the soil.
Some of the leading natives are expending of their means
accumulated in other business for the purposes of agricultural
industry, not merely for the pecuniary results in the future, but
for the sake of the example, and to prove that by diligence, enter¬
prise, and industry, agriculture, which is the only reliable basis
of national prosperity, can be successfully pursued in Sierra
Leone. Your leading barrister has been, for the last three years,
giving his spare time to an enterprise on Bunce Creek, about 17
miles from Freetown, which promises well for the future, but has
not yet risen above the character of a most costly experiment.
This patriotic and self-denying effort must be remunerative in its
moral and industrial results. And here I must beg your indulgence,
236 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
md I am sure you will all sympathise with me while I pause and
Irop a tear over the memory of our dear friend, William Grant,
Rrhose foresight and anxiety for the welfare of his country led him
to forsake another walk of life, in which he had been eminently
successful in a pecuniary sense, to take the lead in this most im¬
portant and difficult work, and to suffer the fate of all pioneers in
every noble cause—to die that others might live. The remembrance
of my personal loss in the death of that African patriot is one of
the shadows in my existence that will depart only when its earthly
career ceases.
The trade of the colony has seldom, within recent years,
presented so encouraging an aspect as during the current season.
The influx of " gold and hide strangers " has been almost unpre¬
cedented. In the months of January, February, and March, there
arrived 3,726 persons with products seeking a market—Mandingoes,
Foulahs, Seracoulies, Bundukahs, and Soosoos. From the 1st to
the 15th of April, 738 arrived. ■ This number is exclusive of traders
from the Limba, Loko, Timneh, and other countries within two
hundred miles of the coast. It was, indeed, an inspiring sight a
few weeks ago, while walking the streets, to meet those stalwart
men, with flowing robes and majestic tread, from every important
city in Nigritia for a thousand miles from the sea. The streams
poured into the settlement, sometimes hundreds a day, from the
golden hills of Boure, the shining plains of Wasulu, the pasture
grounds of Futah, and the populous districts of Bambarra, from
Timbuctoo, from Jenne, from Sego, from Kankan. And we heard,
on every hand, the same vocal sounds which may be heard in
the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, of Morocco and of Tunis.
This was a proof that the obstructions to trade are being rapidly
removed. The Hooboos, those renegade Foulahs, who for thirty
years have been a terror to caravans passing through the districts
which they infested, have been scattered by the military energy of
Samudu, a Mandingo chieftain from the Konia country, due east of
Liberia. Abal, the chief of the Hooboos, has been captured and
banished to a distant region.
An important event, fraught with significance to this colony and
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
2 37
to Liberia, took place in the early part of last month. I refer to
the arrival of the special embassy to the Go vernor-in-Chief from the
King of Sego. I do not know that any such delegation has ever
visited a British Governor on the coast since the days of Sir
Charles McCarthy. And it is gratifying to know that prompt
measures were taken by the authorities to encourage and develop
the relations which their visits ought to establish.
An incident in connection with Sego, published by the great
traveller, Mungo Park, ought to make that city an object of special
interest to all intelligent Africans. The incident has been repeated
for nearly a hundred years, in all parts of the civilised world, as an
evidence of the thoughtful hospitality of the African.
It appears that when Mr. Park arrived in the vicinity of Sego,
a white man not having been seen there before, he was regarded
by the people with fear and astonishment. He had to cross a river
before he could get to the king, but no one would cross bim; and,
moreover, the king had sent word that he could not possibly see
the strange traveller until he had learned his object in visiting the
country. But let the author recount the story in his own words.
He says:—
I was obliged to sit all day without victuals, in the shade of a tree ; and the
night threatened to be very uncomfortable, for the wind rose, and there was
great appearance of rain; and the wild beasts are so very numerous in the
neighbourhood that I should have been under the necessity of climbing up t*he
tree and resting among the branches. About sunset, however, as I was preparing
to pass the night in this manner, and had turned my horse loose that he might
graze at liberty, a woman, returning from the labours of the field, stopped to
observe me, and perceiving that I was weary and dejected inquired into my
situation, which I briefly explained to her. Having conducted me into her hut,
she lighted up a lamp, spread a mat on the floor, and told me I might remain
there for the night. Finding that I was very hungry, she said she would
procure me something to eat. She accordingly went out, and returned in a
short time with a very fine fish, which, having caused to be half-broiled upon
some embers, she gave me for supper. The rites of hospitality being thus
performed towards a stranger in distress, my worthy benefactress (pointing to
the mat, and telling me I might sleep there without apprehension) called to the
female part of her family, who had stood gazing on me all the while in fixed
astonishment, to resume their task of spinning cotton, in which they continued
to employ themselves a great part of the night. They lightened their labour by
songs, one of which was composed extempore, for I was myself the subject of
238
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
it. It was sung by one of the young women, the rest joining in a sort of
chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive, and the words, literally translated,
were these:—
The wind roared, and the rain fell.
The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree.
He has no mother to bring him milk; no wife to grind his corn.
Chorus.
Let us pity the white man;
No mother has he to bring him milk;
No wife to grind his corn.
Trifling as this recital may appear to the reader, adds the author, to a person in
my situation the circumstance was affecting in the highest degree. I was
oppressed by such unexpected kindness, and sleep fled from my eyes. In the
morning I presented my compassionate landlady with two of the four brass
buttons which remained on my waistcoat, the only recompense I could make
her.12
The name of the woman, and the alabaster box of precious
ointment; the nameless widow, who, giving only two mites, had
given more than all the rich; and this nameless woman of Sego,
form a trio of feminine beauty and grandeur of which the sex in all
ages may be proud.
An English lady, who was not more distinguished for her rank
than for her beauty and accomplishments,13 to whom this incident
was communicated, was so gratified and thought so highly of the
improvised song that she made a version of it with her own pen,
and caused .it to be set to music by an eminent composer.
Her version is as follows :—
The loud wind roar'd, the rain fell fast;
The white man yielded to the blast;
He sat him down beneath our tree,
For weary, sad, and faint was he ;
And oh, no wife or mother's care
For him the milk or com prepare.
Chobus.
The white man shall our pity share;
Alas, no wife or mother's care,
For him the milk or corn prepare.
12 Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, performed in the years 1795, 1796
ancl 1797 ; by Mungo Park, Surgeon (chapter xv).
13 The Duchess of Devonshire.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
239
The storm is o'er, the tempest past,
And mercy's voice has hush'd the blast;
The wind is heard in whispers low,
The white man far away must go—
But ever in his heart will bear
Remembrance of the Negro's care.
Chorus.
Go, white man, go—but with thee bear
The Negro's wish, the Negro's prayer ;
Remembrance of the Negro's care.
The following is the description which Mr. Park gives of Segtf
as it was one hundred years ago :—.
Sego, the capital of Bambarra. at which I had now arrived, consists, properly
speaking, of four distinct towns ; two on the northern bank of the Niger, called
Sego Korro and Sego Boo; and two on the southern bank, called Sego Soo
Korro, and Sego See Korro.14 Prom the best enquiries I could make, I
have reason to believe that Sego contains altogether about thirty thousand
inhabitants. 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 civilisation and magnificence which I
little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.
It is to be hoped that we shall soon witness regular and un¬
interrupted intercourse between Sego and this settlement. The
recent difficulties with the Erench have closed up Senegal and
Dakar as outlets for the trade of that region of the country, and
the king is anxious that it should take this direction. But the
effects of the disorders introduced by the slave trade are still felt in
the maritime districts. The feuds created through generations of
intertribal wars, the habits engendered, and the tendencies im¬
pressed upon the people, still show themselves in the periodical
interruptions to trade which so perplex civilised governments on
the coast, anxious for the progress of civilisation and the develop¬
ment of commerce. These troubles do not extend further than
two hundred miles from the coast. Beyond that, the powerful
tribes have the habits of order and of work; they possess valuable
property and other interests wThich cannot be endangered by petty
14 These names are still retained.
240 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
jealousies and rivalries. The ambassadors from Sego, the other
day, gave assurance that the only difficulty in the way of an
abundant and uninterrupted trade between their country and this
part of the coast is that which arises from the wars on this side of
the hills. They said if the Government could keep the roads on
this side safe, they could manage the difficulties, such as they are,
on the other side.
Liberia will also take a part in this work, and share in the
results of this new direction of the interior trade. There is not,
however, the amount of capital in that little republic which this
settlement enjoys, and which is necessary for the attraction and
development of the interior trade.
There have been, ever since the arrival of the first settlers, at
least two immigrations a-year from the United States, averaging
250 a-year; but the people are chiefly mechanics and farmers.
Besides being thrown upon their own resources, they suffer the
inconvenience of a national policy which restricts the intercourse of
foreigners with the country. This has kept away foreign capital
and foreign enterprise. The restrictive law was to allow the colony
to grow up in keeping with the original idea of its foundation. To
prevent the fatal interference with this idea, which must have
occurred, had Europeans been allowed to take part in the political
arrangements of the country, a similar policy was adopted by the
Sierra Leone Company in the early history of the colony, " for they
had conceived," so the Directors say, in their report published in
1795, " the first success of their colony essentially to depend on
the exclusion of all Europeans, those alone excepted who, being in
the regular pay of the Company, were entirely subject to them."
They were afraid that even a few men from hence (England) of
an improper cast, in the situation of independent settlers, might
materially prejudice or endanger the undertaking; that they might
corrupt the morals of the colony, refuse due obedience to the
Government, as well as excite a spirit of general discontent; and
if, for any of these causes, they should be excluded from the settle¬
ment, that they might then be driven—especially if they had left
debts in England—to seek a precarious livelihood, by various
Sierra, Leone and Liberia.
241
improper means, among the neighbouring natives, and perhaps
•even to turn slave-traders.13
The reasons that led to the restrictive laws of Liberia could not
be better stated. The ideal Liberia has, of course, not yet been
realised. The Liberia of the self-denying and courageous pioneers,
of the impassioned Lot Cary, and the statesman-like Elijah
Johnson, has not yet been quite organised; but the restrictive clause
in the constitution has not suffered the raison d'etre of the Republic
to be lost sight of or obscured. At first, the Liberians, driven by
their necessities, generally engaged in trade as yielding quicker
results; but, fortunately for them, the soil was fertile, and the
country well watered everywhere. They were thus allured to-
agriculture, and they have, with commendable diligence, improved
their advantages. Within the last few years, the production of
coffee, sugar, and cocoa is bringing the Republic into American and
European markets. Besides these articles, Liberia exports largely
palm oil, camwood, ivory, rubber, and palm kernels. Every week
the steamers of each of the three English companies touch at the
ports of entry of the Republic, of which there are now ten. German
steamers call twice a-month, going and returning; and there are
American and Dutch sailing vessels engaged in the trade.
In Sierra Leone there are not now any legal enactments
restricting the intercourse of foreigners. The law of Nature has
put barriers in the way of their multiplication here. The mountains
are lofty, the air on their summits salubrious, but the soil is
forbidding, in many places as arid as the nether millstone; so
that those breezy heights have not, like the mountain slopes of
Madeira, invited the establishment of European quintas, and the
skilful cultivation of European farmers. The settlement has,
therefore, continued to grow as a distinctly Negro colony. Accord¬
ing to Koelle, the German missionary, 100 different African tribes
were, in 1849, represented here. Mr. Griffith, the Colonial Secretary
of the colony, stated in his excellent paper, read before the Royal
Colonial Institute, in 1881, that no less than 60 languages were
15 Report of Directors of the Sierra Leone Company; read May, 1793,
pp. 14, 15.
242 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
spoken in Freetown. Sierra Leone possesses, in fact, what Liberia
possesses in theory and possibility—a Negro nationality. This
colony is on a small scale what India is on a large scale—an
indigenous nation tinder a foreign protectorate. As soon as a man,
alien to the African, lands here, he finds himself at once a stranger.
He looks around, and everywhere he sees men unlike himself:—
Negroes on the right of him;
Negroes on the left of him;
Negroes in front of him;
Negroes in the rear of him ;
until the whole land seems to him the very blackness of darkness,
and he himself, and all he represents, appear to dwindle into
comparative insignificance. No wonder that in some there is a
revulsion of feeling which makes them retaliate by contemptuous
utterances about the place and people. This is the revenge which
brooding and irregular minds take when suddenly confronted with
the inevitable. " I soon discovered," says Winwood Eeade, " that
Sierra Leone is a true paradise of blacks." Captain Ellis begins
one of his glowing paragraphs with the remark, " Sierra Leone is a
very nice place—for Negroes." Not knowing what to say, they
swear. "Come, curse me this people," said Balak to Balaam,
when he saw the surging multitudes of Hebrews filling the plains
of Moab. Sierra Leone has been over and over again cursed, and
the prejudice still continues, owing, mostly, to representations
which proceed from persons oppressed by the presence of a strange
race and unusual customs.
But this vituperation of the colony must come to an end,
because the English language is limited in its vocabulary. The
stock of adjectives in the Queen's English, though extensive, has
yet a limit; and as only a certain percentage of them are uncompli¬
mentary, an end must come to this sort of thing at last. After
denouncing a man as an idiot, and a liar, and a villain to begin
with, you cannot very well, at a later stage, produce an effect by
saying that his conduct is not thoroughly sagacious and moral.
You have to keep on calling him a fool, a liar, and a rogue, until
you become a bore. And this is what we see in the disparaging
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
243
writings of those who find amusement in abusing the settlement.
Reade follows Burton, and Ellis follows Reade, and smaller men
follow these. Like a flock of sheep, all tread in the path of their
leader. Notwithstanding the love of originality which men possess,
yet it would seem that the passion for ridiculing and abusing others
is stronger in a certain class of minds than the desire to be original;
so that rather than strike out a new line in describing Sierra Leone,
which must, of course, be complimentary and respectful, they prefer
to ring the changes with dull and tiresome monotony upon those
words of contempt and -vituperation, of which only a limited number
can be found in the English dictionary. If I were to collect
instances I could fill this page with adjectives, and even substan¬
tives, in the use of which these writers seem to revel, bringing
to mind the reputation (I believe the ancient reputation) of Shore-
ditch and Billingsgate. It is of course an economy of argument to
prove by misrepresentation that the objects of our hatred or con¬
tempt are odious or ridiculous. Happily for the race, those who
are fond of employing those contemptuous epithets are generally
men who from excessively defective training have not a full
acquaintance with even the limited vocabulary of vituperative terms.
And this we have noticed also, that the men who take pleasure in
dilating upon their race superiority, and in emphasising their con¬
nection with the ruling race, are not the men who rise into power,
or ever have the opportunity of ruling.
Destiny seems to have forbidden the extension of Sierra Leone
to the northward, and to have favoured her growth to the south¬
east, so that now that her territory adjoins that of Liberia, we have
a continuous English-speaking Negro State from the Sierra Leone
River to the San Pedro River—a distance of over 800 miles. For
200 years, the Portuguese language was spoken along this coast.
Viilault says when he landed here, at Cape Mount and at Cape
Mesurado in .1666, " all the Negroes who came to trade spoke the
Portuguese language." But the English language has everywhere
driven it out. The English language and English laws assist and
regulate the intercourse of the tribes of this whole region and for
hundreds of miles inland. French is confined to the countries.
244
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
north of the Gambia; Portuguese to the region of the Congo.
English is, undoubtedly, the most suitable of the European languages
for bridging over the numerous gulfs between the tribes caused by
the great diversity of languages or dialects among them. It is a com¬
posite language, not the product of any one people. It is made up
of contributions by Celts, Danes, Normans, Saxons, Greeks and
Romans, gathering to itself elements from all peoples, from the
Ganges to the Atlantic. In this respect, the Sierra Leone vernacular
resembles it. The speech of the Sierra Leone streets cannot be
called a patois of English. It is not the pigeon English of China nor
the unintelligible lingo of the West Indies. It is not the dialect of
Quashee nor the humourous slang of Uncle Remus. It is a trans¬
fusion, so to say, of numerous African idioms and phrases. Words
from the Timneh, Eboe, Aku, Mandingo, Foulah, Soosoo, and
Arabic, are blended with words from the English language, which
is itself a mixture—so that the proper designation of the Sierra
Leone vernacular would be—mixture of mixtures, all is mixture. It
has become something more than the only medium of communication
known to the masses. It has acquired a sacredness of its own.
There are certain ideas which have been expressed in it—certain
images created—which lose their full flavour if rendered into other
words.
Mr. Lewis assures me that it has an unwritten but recognised
syntax, and he gave me an amusing specimen of verbal inflection
by going over the verb " to go " in its various moods and tenses,
according to the unwritten grammar of the vernacular.
Its idioms are Oriental. It has grown up of itself. It has had
no grammarian to formulate its rules, nor can it be known how the
common agreement among the people was attained. But the fact
remains that it exists, and it will linger long among them. It is
the language of the domestic life, of courtship, of marriage, of death,
of intensest joy and deepest grief. The people will not consent to
speak of the private matters of the heart—to discuss matters
affecting their domestic well-being in any other tongue, any more
than they would discuss such things in company with strangers.
To those acquainted with it, it has a convenient flexibility and
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
245
certain picturesque aspects. It is easily acquired by natives from
the interior, and forms a convenient bridge from their dialects
to the English language. It cannot be used for descriptions of
occult causes; but it is by no means unadapted for comparison,
of physical things, for descriptions of sensations, for parables
and proverbs drawn from visible objects. It has no capacity for
fine subtleties ; but it has sometimes a terse expressiveness, which,
in one single sentence, will convey an amount of satire or irony
which would require a whole paragraph of English. What can
surpass the concentrated contempt of such a question as the follow¬
ing ? Referring to the abuse heaped upon Sierra Leone in a recent
publication, I asked an acquaintance why there had been no formal
reply. He answered, in one of the picturesque metaphors of the
vernacular, " Who dat go wase powder pon condo ? "16
In the political features of their life, Sierra Leone and Liberia
seem to have diverged; but the main purpose of that life has nob
been defeated. Although Sierra Leone continues a colony under a
powerful Imperial Government, and Liberia is a nation still
struggling with the problems of independent nationality, yet our
political institutions have the same origin. The same jurisprudence
which contributes to the prosperity and elevation of Sierra Leone;
which protects property, maintains order, and punishes crime here,
has been adopted by Liberia, upholds the majesty of the law there,
and guards us in the exercise and enjoyment of the rights of free¬
men. The form of government is a mere incident, and does not
interfere with the original idea and special work of the colony.
Like the great streams of this part of Africa, taking their rise in the
same watershed, some flow eastward and some westward, but all
contribute to the fertility and wealth of the same vast region. So,
if the paths of the two countries seem to be divergent, they diverge
only that they may the more effectually perform their work, by
taking within the circle of their influence wider interests, and
bringing together larger contributions for the upbuilding and honour
of the race.
io " Condo " is the local name for the red-headed lizard.
246 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Before the American Civil War, which gave the coup de grace to
the transatlantic slave trade, Sierra Leone was kept in a constantly
unsettled state, owing to the frequent accessions of individuals of
different tribes and languages, who, soon after their arrival, found
out the persons belonging to their particular tribe, and, from the
convenience which a common language and the same tribal
instincts and prejudices afforded, easily formed themselves into
separate clans, and gathered around leaders whom they felt to be
their natural organs. The chief work of the Government and of
missionary societies for years was to infuse into these inco¬
herent masses the unifying ideas of British law and of the Christian
religion—to effect the fusion of many disconnected atoms into
one organic whole. But the clannish tendencies of the people
furnished to adventurers from abroad, who were for the most part
only partially allied to the Negro race, but whose superior educa¬
tional advantages gave them influence over the minds of the
uninformed and unsuspecting men, the opportunity to stimulate,
whenever their own ends could be subserved thereby, the tribal
prejudices and antipathies of the people.
Passing travellers of superficial mental habitudes, looking at
this state of things, which, under the circumstances, would have
been considered natural in any other country and among any
other race, attributed it to the ignorance and dishonesty of the
Negro, and fastened upon the jury system as one of the instruments
in the political arrangements of the colony which fostered and
encouraged the clannishness of the people, in consequence of
which, it was alleged, some sections of the community could never
obtain justice. Trial by jury in civil cases was—through repeated
attacks upon it in newspapers, pamphlets, and books of travel—
lost to the settlement. It could hardly have been otherwise. The
people at that time had to rely for representation in judicial
matters, in cases of public or private grievances, upon aliens or
half-aliens, who did not and could not express the will and feelings
of the people, and were, in many important respects, misrepre-
sentatives. It was evident that the whole arrangement was
artificial, unstable and unreliable. Trial by jury in civil cases was
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
247
abolished; but, in the natural course of events, it is becoming
clearer and clearer that the alleged abuses were only temporary,
due to the peculiar circumstances of those times.
For more than twenty years, now, there has been no accession
of new comers of conflicting tribal characteristics. A new gene¬
ration is appearing on the stage; and the pecuniary advancement
of the people has enabled them to give their children an education
suitable to the requirements of an enlightened government. The
result is, that the population becoming more and more homo¬
geneous, with one language as the medium of communication, and
represented at the bar and in the Legislative Council, in the schools
and in the church, by their natural organs, two conditions of social
and political confidence have been reached which must obliterate
all tribal distinctions and organisations, if any such still exist. An
indication of this wholesome tendency in the public feeling is the
desire on the part of some of the members of the Native Associa¬
tion to change the descriptive part of their title to one less local
and restrictive.
The communication made by Lord Derby a few months ago to
the people of Jamaica should be suggestive and instructive to the
inhabitants of this colony. His lordship did not give an absolute
refusal to the request of the people of that colony for popular
suffrage and increased representation, but said that, in the judgment
of the Government, the time for these things had not yet arrived,
intimating that when the time arrived the Government would not
withhold the privileges they craved. It is not the business of a
Crown Government to develop the liberties of the people—it is their
business to recognise and protect what is established. It is their
part to give safety, and quietness, and repose; to inspire confidence
in the people, and thus give them time for growth.
The original idea of the colony has been gradually realised under
the influence of British law. Notwithstanding the frequent changes
in the colonial administration, the tendency of the procedure of
the Imperial Government has been in keeping with the original
idea—in accordance with a desire to promote the educational,
social, moral, and political improvement of the natives. And
248 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
under that enlightened system of 'government which protects the
rights, the liberty, the life, and the property of every individual, of
whatever race or religion, the people have been advanced in civilisa¬
tion and well-being. They have been educated up to the position,
the duties, and the privileges of British citizens; and they have not,
as we have seen, been slow to avail themselves of the opportunity
for material growth, and for educational advancement. The
bulwarks of political strength have thus been provided before their
political self-consciousness has been stimulated.
The strong objection to direct taxation does not arise simply
from the fact that there was sometimes oppressive, not to say
cruel, enforcement of the law—the cause of the opposition lay
deeper than that. It was because the people who paid the taxes
felt no identification of interests between those who imposed the
taxes and themselves, They did not attribute any representative
character to those who controlled the proceeds of these taxes.
Now, everywhere, taxation without representation is considered
tyranny. But even where there is representation, people do not
enthusiastically, or even cheerfully, welcome impositions laid upon
them by government, though they know that the people must bear
the burdens of government. A strong feeling of inborn loyalty is
necessary to reconcile men everywhere to the inevitable frictions
and burdens of government.
Now, this feeling of inborn loyalty will be secured when a city
corporation shall be organised, composed chiefly of natives, and
whatever honour or fame they may achieve will carry a thrill of
exultation to the hearts of the people. The Government will be
their own. They will share in its beneficial results as well as bear
the odium of mal-administration. The feeling of responsibility will
produce internal and domestic improvements never yet witnessed
in the colony. When we look back upon what has been achieved
in the colony, we cannot allow ourselves to find any fault, so far,
with the action of the Government in details of administration, or
even upon what are called constitutional questions.
The question of municipal government now before the people is
one of great importance to the stability and prosperity of the insti-
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
249
tutions of the country; and while great care should be taken at
every step of the movement, yet it is evident that a city cor¬
poration, with its burdens and responsibilities, its duties and its
privileges, is necessary to the proper growth and full development
of the people. It is essential to their training in self-reliance and
self-respect. In the days of Sir Charles McCarthy, as I gather
from the books at Government House, a Municipal Council existed
in the colony, with its Mayor, and Aldermen, and Magistrates. It
may interest you to hear the following:—
"When the Prince Regent lost his only daughter (Princess
Charlotte, I think), Sir C. McCarthy forwarded an address of con¬
dolence from the people of the colony to His Eoyal Highness,
accompanied by the following note to Earl Bathurst:—
Government House, Sierra Leone, March 4th, 1818.
My Lord,—At the request of the Members of His Majesty's Council, Mayor
and Aldermen, Magistrates, Clergy, Freeholders, and principal inhabitants of
the Colony of Sierra Leon^, I have the honour to forward herewith enclosed the
humble and dutiful Address of Condolence to His Royal Highness the Prince
Regent, and I beg leave to solicit your Lordship's favour to lay the same at the
foot of the Throne.
I have, &c,,
To the Right Honourable Earl Bathurst, K.G. (Signed) C. McCarthy.
But this was before the influx of the heterogeneous tide of un-
instructed people which made it the prime function of the Govern¬
ment to deal with the very elements of civilisation and with the
rudiments of government, to instruct the consciences of the people,
and to superintend the elevation of the whole moral and intel¬
lectual standard ; and a great deal has been effected when tribal
antipathies, .narrowness and exclusiveness, which prevented growth,
have been broken up. The people are now in a condition to move
for themselves as a working social organisation. Their political
future is greatly in their own hands ; and it is an encouraging sign
that young men are rising up who grasp the situation, and are
making themselves equal to the necessities of the country. Activity,
change, development, aspiration—these are the end of man's being
on earth. Apart from them his destiny is frustrated. Such is
the law of progress, Whatever others may do for us, there are
s
250 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
some things we must do for ourselves. No outward protection,
no friendly intervention, no deed of gift can give those personal
virtues—those attributes of manhood—self-reliance and indepen¬
dence, without which all past efforts in behalf of the colony will be
in vain; and the Negro's part'in the political future of Sierra
Leone will be extremely doubtful. It has been observed with
gratification by friendly foreigners that many of the natives show
a power and a breadth of capacity in managing their business—a
shrewdness and far-sightedness in dealing with the difficulties of
trade which prove that they are fitted for the conduct of some of
the details of their political life.
At present their whole activity, physical and mental, is absorbed
in the business of the shop; and some who have no inconsiderable
accumulations, sit down and simply feel the gratification of looking
at a golden heap, not even thinking of the methods by which that
heap, so industriously and carefully piled up, shall be preserved.
It is said that when the boa-constrictor has over-gorged itself, it
lies in a state of torpidity or stupefaction; but man's life on earth
was not made to be like that of the boa-constrictor.
It is clear that if in some respects the natives of this colony
continue in a position of social or political disadvantage, it is
because they choose themselves to acquiesce in it, and to foster
those conventional opinions which suspect every attempt to push
them a step forward in self-government, and to place upon them
the responsibiHties which that government involves.
But God has bestowed certain gifts upon the natives of this
community, as upon others, and He will not allow those gifts to
remain unused. If the talent is laid up in a napkin or buried in
the earth, He will resume that talent or give it to those who have
power and disposition to use it. The gifts of God are not ours to
do as we please with. If we prevent their application or diffusion
for the good of others, or for the benefit of our country, He will
remove us from them or them from us. We may have our plans
for ourselves—for our individual gratification, but God has His
plans, which are for the country, for the race, for humanity ; and
His plans will be carried out. The agents for carrying them out
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
251
are on every hand, in the air, in the -water, in the fire. In the
operation of the laws of Providence, "The individual dwindles,
while the race is more and more." And when we have reached a
certain stage of progress, and the next step which that degree of
progress necessitates is pointed out to us, it is not ours to say,
" Let things remain as they are." There is no such thing as
standing still in this life. The law is either forward or backward ;
if there is no conscious movement forward, there is an unconscious
movement backward.
There is no bitterer satire passed upon us, no graver injustice
done to the race than by those of its members who assume that
they are unfit for higher duties than that which consists in the
comparatively unintellectual work of barter. And it is but a
refined remnant of the institution of slavery, which we profess so
much to dread and abhor, when we attempt to cramp the stature
of our people, and to forbid by persecution their advance beyond
the narrow limits which we have prescribed for ourselves.
All communities of thinking men naturally divide themselves
into two parties—conservative and liberal—the party of stability
and the party of movement, as they have been called. We find
two such parties in Sierra Leone. We see men who are not sure
that what is really exists ; who are ever trying to secure the past,
to clench the nail that has been driven, rather than attempting to
open the future. But there are others who feel a deep, an
insatiable thirst for something beyond; who are anxious to open
roadways for the people and for themselves where before only
unbroken and undisturbed forest existed.
These men are often discouraged by the difficulties in the way
raised by a conscientious and dogged conservatism. ' They some¬
times fall into despair, and declare that the problems which they
set before themselves cannot be worked, much less solved, under
the actual conditions and by the available agencies.
But every now and then some sudden emergency arises and
becomes what may be called a dynamic element independent of
human control or management, which introduces unexpected
movement. Some sudden disaster comes upon the community—
252
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
an epidemic, a storm, a flood, a fire—which arouses into activity
the energies of the most dormant. The liberal influence receives
an accession of strength—a momentum—that forces the whole
community into new and original directions, and the road is made
through the forest, or the causeway thrown up across the swamp.
There is some show of reason on the side of the conservatives.
They are apprehensive that any apparent progress will be only
apparent, and may lead to a reaction that will be worse than the
present state. They fear to act the part of the dog in the fable,
who threw away the substance to grasp at the shadow. But these
nervous individuals should be reminded that revolutions never go
backward. The course of things will rather resemble what one
sees when one goes from the alluvial and swampy lands of this
coast to the beautiful countries of the interior. On the eastern or
north-eastern frontier of the Loko country, the traveller is suddenly
confronted with lofty hills, which, if he could, he would avoid by
some circuitous route; but there is no other way, the road lies over
those rugged mountains. He is, therefore, obliged to nerve himself
for the task of ascending ; but after toiling up those weary heights,
he finds to his surprise that instead of a corresponding declivity
on the eastern side, he has reached the level of a grand plateau,
where the air is purer and cooler. He has reached an elevated
region, which slopes gradually to the rich valley of the Niger. So
will it be after the people have climbed the heights of political
progress, which look so precipitous and threatening. They will
have a wider view and a healthier atmosphere, and the advance
will be by easier stages to a well-watered and fertile region of
political freedom and self-reliance. But at first the progress must
be slow and gradual. " Chi va piano va sano, chi va sano va
lontano."
We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
But the question of all others upon the solution of which will
depend the character of the political future of the colony, is the
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
253
educational one. We sometimes wonder why the efforts for the
higher education of our people on this coast seem to meet with so
many drawbacks. But the reasons, if we look below the surface of
things, will be clear and satisfactory. Happily, the educational
work, both here and in Liberia, has hardly got beyond its initial
stage. The people are getting educated first to the life of the
country before the education of books comes. It is not without its
providential purposes that hindrances have so frequently arisen in
the way of the only two colleges on the coast—Fourah Bay College
and Liberia College. Had these institutions gone on and succeeded
on the line which their founders had marked out for them, numbers
of our people would have passed through a course of discipline
which would probably have impaired their natural powers, and
aroused on the part of foreign observers hopes, or awakened
antagonisms, which would have been based upon artificial and
unstable phenomena. The drawbacks and interruptions are giving
us time to find out the system of regulation and instruction which
"will best fit us for the work we have to do.
What is needed in the education of the Negro on this continent
is not so much a change in the subjects, for everywhere the
instruments of culture, in their better forms at least, must be the
same, but a change in the whole method is required. In our
contact with the Christian world, our teachers have of necessity
been Europeans, and they have taught us books too much, and
things too little—forms of expression, and very little the impor¬
tance of thought. The notion, still common among Negroes—
educated Negroes I mean—is, that the most important part of
knowledge consists in knowing what other men—foreigners—have
said about things, and even about Africa and about themselves.
They aspire to be familiar, not with what really is, but with what
is printed. Very few among us have got past this step. Hence,
some of us are found repeating things against ourselves, which are
thoroughly false and injurious to us, and only because we read
them in books, or have heard them from foreign teachers. The
idea never seems to occur to such persons that there are subjects
of enquiry, especially in this large and interesting country of theirs,
254
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
about which the truth is yet to be found out—people and customs
and systems about which correct ideas are to be formed. We have
neglected to study matters at home because we were trained in
books written by foreigners, and for a foreign race, not for us—or
for us only so far as in the general characteristics of humanity we
resemble that race ; and from some of these books we learned that
the Negro at home was a degraded being—a Heathen, and worse
than a Heathen—a fool; and we were taught everything excellent
and praiseworthy about foreigners. Therefore, we turned our backs
upon our brethren of the interior as those from whom we could
learn nothing to elevate, to enlighten, or to refine. A result of
this is that we have not yet acted for ourselves. We have had
history written for us, and we have endeavoured to act up to it;
whereas, the true order is, that history should be first acted, then
written. It is easy to account, then, for the want of genuine life
and spontaneous activity in the people.
^ It would be a melancholy outlook for Africa, with its vast
territories and countless tribes, if its development and prosperity
were altogether contingent upon the labour of foreigners, or even
upon the genius and life of a few natives, educated on foreign
models and in foreign ways of thinking, to be produced and brought
upon the stage of action by the machinery of an alien people. I
say the prospect would indeed be dark if we had no security from
the law, by which nations and races are controlled, that the men
to lead and guide in the affairs of this race shall appear among
the people at the right time and place, and with aptitudes for the
needful work.
, It is a very interesting fact that the main body of the settlers
who planted civilisation on these shores in both colonies were men
deeply imbued with the religious spirit. Like the puritans of
America, the Bible was their code of laws, for civil and religious
life. The following graphic and suggestive description is given by
Mr. J. B. Eliott of the circumstances attending the first arrival of
the Nova Scotians, on the 28th of March, 1792:
The colony was then quite a forest, thickly populated with wild and ferocious
animals, without any passage of approach to the new, beautiful, and principal
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
255
town, Freetown. Pioneers, from the number of these Nova Scotians, were
despatched on shore to clear or make a roadway for their landing; which being
done, they all disembarked and marched towards the thick forest, with the
Holy Bible and their preachers (all coloured men) before them, singing the
hymn taken from the late Countess's Hymn Book, commencing—
Awake and sing the song
Of Moses and the Lamb ;
Wake ! every heart and every tongue
To praise the Saviour's name.
They proceeded immediately to worship God, thanking Him for His goodness
and mercy in bringing them in safety to the land of their forefathers
They were anxious to procure an altar, or place of worship, for the God of
Jacob. This they did. The place fixed upon was under the shade of a large
gree-gree tree, then standing in George Street, now one of the most populous
in Freetown, containing the Church of England, the Colonial Office, &c.
There they continued in social worship of Almighty God, with their brethren
of the Methodist and Baptist Societies—who all arrived together from Nova
Scotia—until they were able to provide better accommodation. This they lost
no time in doing, for each Society was able, after a short time, to build a hut
as a chapel for itself.
The Directors of the Sierra Leone Company, in their Report
for 1794, bear the following testimony to the character of the
settlers:—
From that class of vices which comes less under the cognisance of a public
court, the Nova Scotians are in some respects remarkably free ; marriage is
extremely general among them, and all those evils which more particularly
result from its being in disuse, are therefore in a great measure avoided.
Drunkenness is by no means common, swearing is hardly ever heard; their
attention to the Sabbath is also great; they, on that day, abstain entirely from
work, dress themselves in very good (and some of them even in very gay) attire,
and repair, together with their children, to church, where their deportment
during the service, and their whole appearance, are represented to be such as
form a very striking spectacle. There are five or six black preachers among
them, raised up from their own body, who are not without a considerable
influence ; and it is supposed that the discipline which they preserve in their
little congregations, has contributed materially to the maintenance of the
general morals which have been spoken of.17
Thirty years after, Mr. Ashmun, one of the earliest Governors
of Liberia, writes of the colonists as follows
It deserves record that religion has been the principal agent employed in
laying and confirming the foundation of the settlement. To this sentiment—
" Report, pp. 78-80.
256
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
ruling, restraining, and actuating the minds of the colonists—must be referred
the whole strength of the civil government.
In Sierra Leone, excepting, perhaps, Lady Huntingdon's
Connexion, there was no regular organisation for religious worship
until the plans set on foot by the Church Missionary Society, with
the aid of the Government, were carried out in 1817.
The English Baptist Missionary Society sent out two mission¬
aries in 1795 ; but owing to indiscretion on the part of one, and the
failure of health on the part of the other, the mission was speedily
abandoned. I11 the following year, an united attempt was made by
the Scottish, the Glasgow, and the London Missionary Societies to
Eorm a station, but owing to sickness and dissension among the
agents, this effort was attended with no better success.18
The opening of the present century witnessed the organisation
3f the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East. No
Englishman being found to undertake missionary work on this
mhealthy coast, the Society sent out in 1804, as their first mission-
tries, two Germans, Eevs. Messrs. Eenner and Hartwig. They
vere, however, appointed not to labour in the colony, but among
he Soosoos to the north. It was evident from the beginning that,
n view of the state of the country and the character of their
nachinery, they could not accomplish very much in that direction,
'.n 1816, the Society sent out Rev. Edward Bickersteth to look
nto their work. His report influenced the committee to turn
ts attention to Sierra Leone, although Sir Charles McCarthy,
wo years before, had, without apparent success, suggested to
he Society to employ their missionaries in labours among the
ecaptives. In the Seventeenth Annual Report of the Church
Missionary Society they say:—
After Mr. Bickersteth's return, the committee lost no time in laying the
ubstance of his communication before His Majesty's ministers. A deputation
ccompanied his lordship the President in presenting a memorial to Earl
5athurst, in which a plan formed by His Excellency, Governor McCarthy, for
ividing the colony of Sierra Leone into parishes, was recognised; and offers
rere made, on the part of the Society, to assist in bringing that plan into full
xecution. His lordship received the deputation with his accustomed courtesy,
18 Moister's Africa and the West Indies, p. 93.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
257
and expressed his cordial wish to support the designs of the Society for the
benefit of the colony. By a subsequent communication from his lordship, your
committee learnt with pleasure that measures would be immediately taken for
the erection of two churches in Freetown, and afterwards churches in the
several country parishes of Sierra Leone.
Thus began that series of operations in this colony, conducted
by the Church Missionary Society, at first with Government aid,
which has given to Africa and the Negro race the Sierra Leone
Native Church, with its magnificent institutions of the Native
Pastorate and Grammar Schools, whose influence is felt all along
the coast and far up the Niger.
Dr. Coke, who has been called the father of the Wesleyan
Missions, had devised a scheme in 1769, eighteen years before the
arrival of the first settlers sent by Granville Sharp, for missionary
work among the Foulahs interior of Sierra Leone ; but the under¬
taking proved an entire failure, chiefly for want of adaptation in
the agents employed.
The beginning of Wesleyan work in the settlement dates from
1811, when the Eev. G. Warren and three school teachers were sent
out. The results of the self-denying labours of these men are seen
on every hand throughout the settlement. Its Training Institution,
under a native principal, is giving satisfaction, and furnishing
interesting proof of the reality of the work which has been
accomplished,
The educational and religious training of the people of Sierra
Leone, for fifty years, devolved almost wholly upon the Church
Missionary Society and the Wesleyans. The effects of their self-
denying labours are visible in the intellectual, moral, and religious
progress of the people. Whatever Sierra Leone is, she owes
mainly to the fostering care of those two great bodies of Christians.
In 1864 came the Roman Catholic Church, and met with no
little difficulty in establishing itself in a town where two strong
Trotestant bodies and other smaller ones had apparently occupied
the whole ground. The Catholic priest, with his mediasval dress,
supposed alien sympathies, and celibate life, was an object of
antagonism; but by patience and perseverance they have so far
overcome the opposition as to have now in process of erection, to
258 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
answer their actual demands, a magnificent cathedral, with the
prospect of a resident bishop in Freetown. Negroes will prove
that among them, as among other races, there are sympathies
broad as the variety of the human mind and comprehensive as the
diversity of human temperament; that the ecclesiastical landscape
among them will be as diversified in appearance as elsewhere.
Whatever may be thought by some of the Eoman Catholic
Church, there are four things which can be said in its favour, and
which it behoves us carefully to consider:—
1. The Eomish Church presents an uncompromising front in
the warfare against infidelity in all its forms. Evolution, Agnos¬
ticism and Positivism find no place within its fold.
2. The Church of Rome has always been and is now a pro¬
testing power—a conservative force—against the onslaughts of
Socialism—against those attacks upon constituted authority which
are now perplexing true patriots and statesmen in Europe and
America.
3. Catholicism sets its face, especially in America, against the
freeness and facility of divorce. It respects the integrity of the
family, and, through the much-abused confessional, it exercises a
watchful care over childhood. Catholics are wiser than Protestants
as to the children of the Church.
4. The Eoman Catholic Church respects races. It holds to the
belief that those words of St. Paul, which declare that " God hath
made of one all nations of men to dwell upon the face of the earth,"
are words of inspiration.
They recognise in their calendar Negro saints, and have in their
cathedrals the statues and representations of holy men of the
African race. In Eoman Catholic countries Negroes have always
had a fair chance. I have read of Negroes in Brazil, in Peru, and
even in Cuba, and I have seen them in Venezuela, occupying civil,
military, and social positions to which they aspire in vain in
Protestant countries. This, however, it is sometimes said, is owing
not so much to the teachings of the religion as to the peculiar
disposition of the Celtic races, who are largely Eoman Catholics.
The caste feeling, it is alleged, is not so strong in Celt as in Anglo-
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
259
Saxon. I do not know whether that distinguished nobleman, tho
Marquis of Bute, has Celtic blood in his veins, but he has recently
selected a Negro sculptress to execute for him an important piece
of artistic work.
These are facts in the history of Roman Catholics—not eulogies
of the Church of Rome. They are great truths to be recognised in
all the estimates we may form of the relations of that Church to
the work to be done on this great continent, and to the race to
which we belong. We may say that Romanism has its faults ; but
Protestantism also has its faults. We may say that the Romish
Church has its irregularities; but so has the Protestant Church.
We have, in this country, nothing to lose by welcoming all the
agencies which have contributed to the civilisation and upbuilding
of Europe, Asia, and America.
Now, these two great systems of Christianity—Protestant and
Roman Catholic—are endeavouring to extend their operations
among the interior tribes, to subvert and supersede Paganism and
Mohammedanism. Let us take a brief view of the Paganism
and Mohammedanism which have to be confronted and overcome.
We are sometimes discouraged by what appears to us the
obstinacy of Paganism—the stubbornness of a hoary superstition;
but when we consider how large tribes, both here and in other parts
of Africa—Jaloonkas, Korankos, Limbas, Ashantees, Zulus—are
kept in subordination, and fulfil many a national function without
any knowledge of letters or written revelation, it must appear that
there is something in the Paganism of Africa as in the Paganism of
other lands—some subtle, indefinable, inappreciable influence which
operates upon the people and regulates their life. And this religion
of the imagination, or of the fancy, if you like, has had its influence
upon some of the greatest minds, whose words or deeds have
graced the annals of history. Socrates, with his measured, settled,,
and logical intellect, in his last moments ordered a cock to be
sacrificed to iEsculapius. The ancient Greeks and Romans had
their sacred groves and " mysteries "—their Porroh and Bundo
rites. There exists a very touching letter from Plutarch to his
wife, written at the time he lost his only daughter, and when they
260 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
were in the deepest affliction and desolation. He writes to his
wife, who was away from him at the time, a very kind and loving
letter, trying to give her comfort and hope. He says to her,
" Remember the beautiful things we have seen together in the
Mysteries of Bacchus." Some people believe that the Mysteries of
Bacchus were nothing but drunkenness and disorder; they were
something else. They were like the Mysteries of Ceres—the
Goddess of Corn—and like the representations, in other cases, of
the immortality of the soul. And owing to the hold which these
things have upon the minds of those brought up to believe in them,
and who get comfort from them, it is impossible suddenly to uproot
them. In fact, superstitions are never thoroughly eradicated from
any country. In many parts of Europe the rural superstitions of
the old mythology are alive to-day. The peasant holds to rites
and ideas that his ancestors practised while they were still savages.
We must believe that time, and contact with others who have
enjoyed superior advantages for information, will remove from the
minds of our Pagan brethren many of the objectionable things in
their belief.
But in the evangelistic efforts of Christians, as they push to
the interior, they will have to meet also the great Mohammedan
religion, which has come across the continent from the deserts of
Arabia. Between Sierra Leone and Egypt the Mohammedans are
the only great intellectual, moral, and commercial power. The
tribes intervening have for more than three hundred years been
under the influence of Islam. It has taken possession of, and has
shaped the social, political, and religious life of the most intelligent
tribes. Its adherents control the politics and commerce of nearly
all Africa north of the Equator. From their great cities on the
Niger and the Yolta they send caravans to every point of the
compass—to Abyssinia and Egypt, Algiers and Morocco, Sierra
Leone and the Gambia, Liberia and Cape Coast. No one can
travel any distance in the interior from this settlement without
finding that Islam is the ruling influence. In my journeys a few
years ago to Falaba, the capital of the great Pagan kingdom of
Soolimia, I passed through the Timneh, Loko, Limba, and Koranko
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
261
sountries, which are also Pagan states ; and when, subsequently, I
went to Timbo, the capital of Futah Jallo, a Mohammedan power,
I passed again through several Pagan districts; but I did not pass
through a single town on the two routes—going and returning—
where I did not find Mohammedans taking a leading part, and
where I did not hear the name of Mohammed and his mission
publicly proclaimed at least once a-day. I observed that no public
speech was delivered without being preceded and followed by the
words—" Alia humma, Salla ala Mohammadi, wa ala ali Moham-
madi; " and the audience responded—" Salla Allahu alayhi wa
sallam." The meaning is—" 0 God, bless Mohammed, and the
people of Mohammed." Answer—" God bless him and grant him
peace." This has become, all through the country, not only a
religious, but a political formula, like " God save the Queen." Thus
the distinguishing dogma of Islam, that Mohammed is the Apostle
of God, is held up and proclaimed every time an assembly meets.
It is sometimes said by some who, anxious not merely to dis¬
parage the intellectual influence of Islam upon the mind of the
African, but the intellectual capacity'of the Negro, that there is no
correct knowledge of Arabic possessed by these people. But this
is never said by anyone having the slightest knowledge of the
language. A hundred years ago, Mungo Park found considerable
knowledge of Arabic among the natives in whose country he
travelled. He was astonished on perceiving the encouragement
which was given to learning. He says that the vessel in which he
returned from Africa contained 127 slaves, most of them from the
neighbourhood of the coast, but some from the interior of the
country; and that out of this number there were seventeen or
eighteen who could read and write Arabic fluently ; but the master
of the ship, he adds, threw the books belonging to the slaves into
the sea, for fear a perusal of them "would make them sick at
heart." He calculates that one seventh part of the slaves in the
West Indies were, in his day, able to read the Arabic Bible, were it
put into their hands. In another place he says:—
The poor Africans, whom we affect to consider as Barbarians, look upon us,
I fear, as little better than a race of formidable but ignorant Heathens. When
262 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
I produced Richardson's Arabic Grammar to some Slatees (native merchants),
on the Gambia, they were astonished to think that any European should
understand and write the sacred language of their religion. One of them
offered to give me an ass and sixteen bars of goods if I would part with the
book.
When on the expedition to Timbo, I spent a day and a-half at
the town of Telico, two days' journey on this side of the Foulah
capital. As I sat writing my diary on the evening after my arrival,
just after the sunset prayer, having at my side Momodo Waka,
who is now the Assistant Government Arabic Interpreter, I
heard a melodious voice at the door reciting, in chant-like style,
some Arabic verses. I recognised some of the words as from the
Makamat of Hariri. I said to Momodo, " Open the door and see
who that is, and ask him in." It was one of the wandering min¬
strels, or itinerant teachers, who live on the alms of the faithful.
These minstrels travel from town to town, and village to village.
Crowds gather around and hang on their Hps while they recite in
glowing terms some episode in the Prophet's life, or some exploit of
one of their own warriors or poets. These men go from Africa
and travel through Arabia and Syria, drawing crowds just as eager
to listen to them. When I was at Beirut, in 1866, there was a
celebrated " rawi," or minstrel, from the Soudan, of jet black com¬
plexion, drawing crowds every evening by the eloquence of his
recitals. The object of my visitor on this occasion was to solicit
a gift from the stranger. The words he recited were from the
Fifth Assembly of Hariri, called ' Koufa,' and were the following,
according to the late Professor Preston's translation:—
Inmates of this abode, all hail! all hail!
Long may you live in plenty's verdant vale !
0 grant your aid to one by toil opprest,
Way-worn, benighted, destitute, distrest;
Whose tortured entrails only hunger hold
(For since he tasted food two days are told) ;
A wretch who finds not where to lay his head,
Though brooding night her dreary wing hath spread,
But roams in anxious hope a friend to meet,
Whose bounty, like a spring of water sweet,
May heal his woes, a friend who straight will say,
" Come in ! 'Tis time thy staff aside to lay ;
A welcome and a meal are thine to-day ! "
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
263
I should like you to hear the words in the original Arabic by a
Mandingo native, -who is only one of thousands acquainted with
the Makamat of Hariri, one of the most difficult of the poems of
Arabia. It consists of fifty books, and there are many who have
committed to memory the whole. The Arabs have a harsher, or
more strongly guttural accent. In general, the Soudanic languages
—excepting, perhaps, the dialects of Timbuctoo and Bambarra—
are devoid of strong gutturals. The Mandingoes, Foulahs, and
the Nigritian tribes generally, who use Arabic, soften the
sound of the harsher letters—shin, Tcha, hha, ghain, ain, gaf;
the reason being that they have a softer and more effeminate
intonation in their speech, suited to their genius and physical
constitution.19
There are young men born in Freetown, children of recaptives,
who can not only read and write, and with ease and propriety
converse, in the language of Arabia, but can translate readily from
Arabic into Aku and English, and from English into Arabic and
Aku. When I passed here in June last, there was a brilliant Arab
youth, from the schools of Bagdad, on a missionary visit to the
Mohammedans of the settlement. He called upon me with one of
the Sierra Leone Creoles, who astonished me by the fluency with
which he could converse with the stranger from the East in the
tongue of the Prophet. The other day, when the ambassadors
from Sego were leaving, and the Administrator wrote an important
letter to the king, it was a Creole youth who put it into the Arabic.
I have been surprised that while Mohammedan youth are practi¬
cally acquainted with three languages, which would make them at
home in any part of the Soudan, Christian young men content
themselves with only one. I am astonished that they have not
long since realised the advantages of their contact with this great
Oriental language, and with the treasures of its literature, in which
the Negro so largely shares.
It is not the part of wisdom to ignore a fact—not only an irre¬
pressible, but an aggressive fact. The Mohammedans must always
19 See Observations on the Touarick Alphabet, by James Richardson.—London
1847.
264 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
have a powerful influence in Africa. They have given the initiative
of intellectual progress to the tribes of the interior. It is through
them that the natives have acquired all they have of knowledge of
the outside world, or of past history, sacred or profane. They
have given unity to the great tribes of the continent, and have
placed millions of Africans—by means of their language, letters,
and books—under the same inspiration. Suppose Africa had been
obliged to wait till now for knowledge of letters and books from
Europeans, what would have been the condition of things, at this
moment, in the interior ?
But it is not simply the religion of the Arabs, but the race of
the Arabs which has given them such influence over the tendencies
of the great tribes. They belong to a cognate race. Before the
days of Mohammed, Negroes shared in the learning and politics of
Arabia. Herodotus, in those early days, discovered the relation¬
ship of the two peoples. He represents them as belonging to the
same great race. His description of the country of the Eastern
Ethiopians corresponds to Southern Arabia; while his description
of the region inhabited by the Western Ethiopians takes in Nigritia
as far as Sierra Leona and Liberia,
Before the rise of Islam, it was customary to hold in Arabia,
once a-year, a national gathering, at which tribes made up their
dissensions, exchanged prisoners of war, and competed with one
another in extempore poetic contests. The poems which were
successful were transcribed in letters of gold and suspended on the
wall of the Kaaba, where they would be seen by every pilgrim
who might visit the most sacred place in the country. These
poems were honoured with the title of Moallacat, or " suspended."
Seven of them have been deemed worthy of preservation, and are
much admired by European students of Arabic for the beauty of
the language and wild richness of the imagery. One of the prize
poems was composed by the warrior and poet Antarrah, the son
of a negress slave. He was so black that he was nicknamed
" Gharab," crow. When some of the members of his clan, who early
embraced Islam, went as deputies to Medina to visit Mohammed,
and make profession of faith on the part of their brethren, the
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
265
prophet told them that the warrior whom he most desired to have
seen was the Negro Antarrah.20
For twelve centuries the Adzan, or call to prayer, has been
sounded five times a-day from every mosque in the Mohammedan
world. The traveller from Fourah Bay to North-western China is
startled in his sleep at early dawn by Muezzins crying aloud from
their various minarets, the words " Allahu Akbar," &c. (God is
great, &c.).
These self-same words are used by Muslims of every nation¬
ality. Turks, Persians, Hindoos, Chinese, Foulahs, Mandingoes,
Akus, &c., all use the same Arabic words. Now, it ought to be
interesting to us to know that these words were first uttered and
composed, in part, by a Negro, named Bilal.21 Sir William Muir
says, "He was tall, dark, and gaunt, with Negro features and
bushy hair." He was among the earliest converts to Islam.
Mohammed distinguished him as "the first-fruits of Africa"; and on
account of his physical and moral qualities, appointed him the first
Muezzin, or crier to prayer. After crying the Adzan, Bilal would
come to the door of Mohammed and rouse him thus : "To prayer,
oh, Apostle of God ! to salvation." Then Bilal would take his stand
in the first row of worshippers, who used strictly to follow his
example in the prayers and genuflexions.22
So that the forms of daily worship now used throughout the
Mohammedan world were fixed by a Negro.
This distinguished man, like many other Moslem warriors, was
granted landed property at Damascus, where he died, a.h. 20, aged
60 years; and where his tomb is still shown. There is not a
Christian country governed by Europeans where the tomb of any
Negro, whatever his merit, has been preserved for even a hundred
years. The Negro came into contact with Christianity as a slave
and a follower at a distance. He came into contact with Moham¬
medanism as a man, and often as a leader. Whatever men of
other races may do, can the Negro turn contemptuously upon a
20 The words, " Prayer is better than sleep," were introduced by Bilal.
21 Chenery's Assemblies of Hariri, vol. i, p. 318.
22 Muir's Life of Mahomet,
T
266 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
religion in which he has had a part, and listen without protest to
the statement of those who, while bringing him Christianity, tell
him that his past has been " blank and hopeless? "
Mohammed not only loved the Negro, but regarded Africa with
peculiar interest and affection. He never spoke of any curse hang¬
ing over the country or people. When in the early years of his
reform, his followers were persecuted and could get no protection
in Arabia, he advised them to seek an asylum in Africa. " Yonder,"
he said, pointing towards this country, " yonder lieth a country
wherein no man is wronged—a land of righteousness. Depart
thither; and remain until it pleaseth the Lord to open your way
before you."23 This recalls to us Homer's " blameless Ethiopians,"
and the words of the Angel to Joseph : " Arise and flee into Egypt,
and be thou there until I bring thee word again."
You can understand why it is then that Islam has such a hold
upon the African tribes who have embraced it. They gather under
the beams of the Crescent not only for religious, but for patriotic
reasons; till they are not only swayed with one idea, but act as
one individual. The faith becomes a part of their nationality, and
is entwined with their affections. Arguments from outsiders have
no weight with them. There are names and phrases which have
such effect upon their minds, and so thrill them as to supersede
and transcend all argument: and many of these names and phrases
are names and phrases held in reverence by Christians. All the
great tribes are held under the same inspiration. Europeans who
speak to them speak as outsiders. They listen with the conscious¬
ness that they know things altogether hidden from the European
propagandist of the Christian religion. It is impossible to ignore,
even in religious matters, the fundamental distinctions of race.
That theory which attributes the success of Islam in Africa to what
are frequently denounced as the sensual aspects of the religion is
based upon ignorance, not only of the system, but of the elementary
facts of human nature. No religion could exert so powerful a
sway over two hundred millions of people—of all races and climes
23 Muir's Life of Mahomet, p. 74.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
207
—for more than a thousand years, which appealed chiefly to the
lower passions. But in our discussion of the Mohammedan
question we do not consider the theology of the system, but its
anthropology : those practical features of it which affect man—the
natural man, and especially the African man. And in viewing it in
this manner, as we become acquainted with its history and litera¬
ture, we cannot but feel a deep personal interest in the system.
Notwithstanding the copiousness of the Arabic language and ibs
exhaustless fertility, it has no forms of expression to describe any
race, which are contemptuous or insulting.
The late Professor Palmer, Arabic Professor at Cambridge,
made a translation of the beautiful poems of Beha-ed-din into
English, in which he ventured to degrade the language and idea of
the original Arabic by using the word " Nigger "to represent the
respectable and harmless word " aswad" used by the poet, which
simply means "black." These are the things in English literature
which repel the Negro student. If, in modern English poetry, the
word " Nigger " is the most suitable phrase by which to describe
the Negro, I for one must eliminate modern English poetry from
the subjects taught to Negro youth.
There is now in one of the adjoining Mohammedan villages a
work in manuscript, composed in Egypt or Nubia, describing the
exploits of distinguished Negroes in the early history of Mohamme¬
danism ; so that the Mohammedan youth, from the books they read,
liave a far better opportunity of becoming acquainted with the great
men of their race than the Christian youth, and therefore of acquiring
deeper self-respect, and an earnest attachment to a religion in
which their own people have performed such achievements.
It is interesting to feel that the religion of Isaac and the
religion of Ishmael, both having their root in Abraham, confront
each other on this continent. Japheth introducing Isaac, and
Shem bringing Ishmael, Ham will receive both. The moonlight of
the Crescent, and the sunlight of the Cross, will dispel the darkness
which has so long covered the land. The "Dark Continent " will
no longer be a name of reproach for this vast peninsula, for there
shall be no darkness here. Where the light from the Cross ceases
268 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
to stream upon the gloom, there the beams of the Crescent will give
illumination; and as the glorious orb of Christianity rises, the
twilight of Islam will be lost in the greater light of the Sun of
Righteousness. Thus Isaac and Ishmael will be united, and rejoice
together in the faith of their common progenitor—Ibrahim Khalil
Allah—Abraham, the Friend of God.
Let us now enquire what are the advantages of the Colony and
the Eepublic over each other ? Perhaps it may be well to review
briefly here their financial status. I regret that I have not at
present accessible the financial statistics of Liberia; but, through
the kindness of the Governor-in-Chief, I am able to furnish a few
facts with regard to Sierra Leone.
It is interesting and instructive to contrast the present position
of Sierra Leone, as a contributor to the world's well-being, with its
position a hundred years ago, when the chief articles of export
were human beings.
The total value of articles exported from Sierra Leone during
the year 1882 was £420,015 2 8
Total value of articles imported 398,814 19 9
Excess of exports £21,200 2 11
These exports and imports were distributed chiefly as follows :—
The exports to Great Britain amounted in value to £189,120 11 6
The imports from Great Britain amounted in value to 272,195 6 2
Excess of imports from Great Britain £83,074 14 8
Exports to America amounted in value to £23,354 8 6
Imports from America amounted in value to 34,436 16 8
Excess of imports from America £11,082 8 2
Exports to France £77,861 2 11
Imports from France 15,790 3 1
Excess of exports to France £62,070 19 10
Exports to Germany amounted in value to £23,152 17 0
Imports from Germany 20,639 19 6>
Excess of exports to Germany £2,512 17 6
Exports to Belgium £217 4 01
Imports from Belgium
Excess of Exports £217 4 0
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
269
I have mentioned tlie chief places out of Africa which carry-
on trade with Sierra Leone, and you will notice that Anglo-Saxon
influence largely predominates. England and the United States
together send articles to the value of £223,556 17s. 2d., while
France and Germany together send only £36,430 2s. 7d., just a
little over what America alone sends. Sierra Leone supplies
France with produce to the value of £77,861 2s. lid., and receives
in return £15,790 3s. Id.
It may be, however, that a large portion of the articles going
to and coming from France and Germany are shipped via Liverpool
and London ; and yet there are steamers going direct from here to
Hamburg and Marseilles.
Let us look now at the traffic between Sierra Leone and places
on the coast.
The total value of the articles exported from Sierra Leone to
Gambia, in 1882, was £26,909 10 11
Value of articles imported 5,892 14 7
Excess of exports £20,0.16 16 4
Value of articles exported to Windward Coast £63,451 7 3
Value of articles imported 11,135 13 8
Excess £52,315 13 7
Exports to Leeward Coast £4,743 11 4
Imports from Leeward Coast.. £1,568 7 3
Excess £3,175 4 1
Exports to Liberia £1,220 10 7
Imports from Liberia ....' 203 12 5
Excess £1,016 18 2
The total revenue of the colony, for 1882, was £65,537 8 8
The total expenditure of the colony, for 1882, was 62,912 19 5
Excess of revenue £2,624 9 3
The revenue from imports was £36,251 18 7
,, ,, exports was 7,788 15 0
,, „ wharfage was 4,380 5 1
„ ,, tonnage dues was 2,814 5 6
,, ,, light was 1,246 16 9
,, ,, harbour was 547 16 9
,, ,, warehouse rent was 809 19 2
,, ,, auction dues was 2 2 2
£53,841 19 5
The balance was made up from licenses and other local impositions.
270 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
The revenue for 1883 was £62,282 8s. lid., less than the
revenue of the preceding year by about £3,000. The average
monthly income of the colony is about £5,000. X was surprised
to find that, while the revenue for January and February, 1883,
wa3 £5,658 14s. lid. and £6,359 4s. 3d. respectively, the revenue
for the month of August, which is considered one of the dullest
months of the year, was £7,948 3s. 7d. Only one month last
year yielded less than £4,000, and that was the month of March,
when the revenue was £3,969 Is. The months of January,
February, May, August and December, yielded each over £5,000.
The impression to be gathered from this statement I take to be
that there is a regular and steady improvement in the trade of the
colony; and now, with the prospect of open roads and enlarged
intercourse with the distant interior, we may safely predict that,
within a comparatively brief period, the colony will be able not
only to pay off its debts, but to carry on with ease many much-
needed internal improvements.
The average annual expenditure for the Civil Service may be set
down at about £60,000. A similar amount may be laid down as
the expenditure for the Military Service. I find from the Blue
Book for 1882 . that the expenditure for the military was £33,829.
2s. 9d. But this amount did not include—
1. The value of provisions, clothing, accoutrements, arms, ammunition and
stores sent out from England.
2. The pay of regimental officers, which is paid in England.
3. The pay of departmental officers on leave.
4. The cost of passages of officers to and from England.
5. Transport of troops to and from the West Indies.
6. The whole proportionate expense of the naval squadron,
7. The Imperial grant in aid of the Colonial steamer, Prince of Wales.
The colony contributes nothing on account of its military
defence.
The idea of a local force for the defence of the colony is not
altogether lost sight of by the Government. Colonel Ord, the
Commissioner of Inquiry on the West Coast of Africa, sent out
in 1865, in his recommendations on this subject, made the following
remark:—
Sierra Leone and Liberia. 271
Protected as tlie West Coast Settlements have been hitherto by a body of
regular troops, it would not be expedient to make suddenly the experiment
of confiding their security entirely to a local force, but as a sufficient number
of Haussas can be organised, a reduction may be effected in the strength of the
garrisons, especially of the minor settlements.
I11 the trade of the colony of Sierra Leone there is a large
consumption of European manufactures. The most sanguine
anticipations of Glarkson and Wilberforce as to the beneficial
results of abolishing the slave trade have been more than realised.
In the days of the slave trade England exported £1,000,000 to the
whole of Africa. Now she exports one-fifth of that amount to
Sierra Leone alone. Eor the first three years after she had
abolished the slave trade, British exports for lawful trade to Africa,
the Cape of Good Hope included, averaged £88,000 annually,24 less
than one-half the value of her present exports to Sierra Leone.
And, even as late as 1840, the total value of British and Irish
produce and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom to
Sierra Leone and the coast, from the Eiver Gambia inclusive to
the Eiver Mesurado, was only £93,640.25
The annual revenue of Liberia may be stated at £25,000. The
sources of this revenue are—customs, import and export duties;
tax on real estate one-half per cent, on the assessed value; poll-
tax on all the inhabitants of one dollar per head; military fines.
Liberia, of course, makes no pretensions to defend herself against
any foreign power ; but she has been able, by her simple military
arrangement, which is only a militia system, not only to hold her
own against aboriginal aggression, but to exercise, from half-a-dozen
effective settlements, along five hundred miles of coast and a con¬
siderable distance inland, a very wholesome influence. In the
days of the slave trade, that little Republic succeeded in completely
suppressing the external operations of that nefarious traffic.
She exercises a useful jurisdiction among the neighbouring
tribes, and affords facilities for safe and peaceful traffic between
the interior and the coast.
24 McQueen's Commercial View of Africa.
23 Report from the Select Parliamentary Committee on the West Coast of
Africa, 1842; part ii, p. 509.
272 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Only a few weeks ago hordes of predatory Kossohs were
expelled from the region of Little Cape Mount, and their chief
captured by the Liberian forces. This great warrior is now in
confinement at Monrovia, awaiting trial. The actual material
advantages of Sierra Leone over Liberia are that it possesses
the finest harbour on the coast; that by means of the large
rivers in its neighbourhood it has great facilities of intercourse
with the interior; that it is protected and upheld by a strong
government; that its extensive trade gives it a large revenue,
and puts money in circulation. On the other hand, the advan¬
tages of Liberia are a larger area of territory; a soil of far
greater fertility, and adapted to the production of every tropical
article demanded by commerce; a population thrown, in the earlier
stages of their growth, upon their own resources, and therefore
possessed of greater self-reliance and individual independence. If
Sierra Leone can count more English sovereigns, Liberia can count
broader acres. If Sierra Leone can boast of a more extensive
commerce, Liberia may be proud of its larger agriculture. It is,
perhaps, natural that those who are able to entertain such angels
as are stamped at the Royal Mint should have a good opinion of
themselves; but they must not be surprised if those who are able
to sit under the vine and fig-tree of their own planting are disposed
to think rather highly of their own advantages.
In the moral, and even political, possibilities of the two countries,
I do not see that one has any advantage over the other. The
possibilities of Sierra Leone, in one direction, may be limited and
defined by the regulations for Crown Colonies; in another, those
possibilities are boundless. The limitations imposed in one direc¬
tion need not be dwelt upon, when we consider that the possible
achievements in the other case are, as I have pointed out, real ethnic
or race independence and commercial ascendancy in this part of
the continent. There need not be, between the Sierra Leoneans and
Liberians, any present or prospective jealousy. That community of
the two, will, in the long run, rule more widely which rules more
wisely ; and superior energy, enterprise and skill will carry off the
advantages of trade, and draw the prizes from the interior.
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
273
The true policy of Liberia is to direct its energies to the im¬
provement of internal administration, both of the country and
general governments, to the extension of education, and to the
development of the vast natural resources. The same, mutatis
mutandis, seems to be the proper policy of Sierra Leone. The slow
growth of capital is the great drawback of Liberia; the drawback
of Sierra Leone is the frequent changing of rulers, which it seems
the necessities of the colonial service, not to say the perils of this
climate, require.
Now, what guarantee have we that these two countries will be
allowed to grow and develop on their own line ?
It has been predicted that the Negro race will die out of Africa.
Within three hundred years, we have been told, there will not be a
Negro left. The suggestion has been made to supersede them by
■Chinese. Winwood Eeade, in closing his book on Savage Africa,
draws a brilliant picture of the future of this country when
Europeans, or their descendants, shall occupy the great centres of
±he Niger. In the amiable task of spreading civilisation over
Africa, the natives may be exterminated.
But (says Mr. Eeade) a grateful posterity will cherish their memories.
When the cockneyB of Timbuctoo have their tea-gardens in the oases of the
Sahara; when hotels and guide-books are established at the sources of the
Nile; when it becomes fashionable to go yachting on the lakes of the Great
Plateau ; when noblemen, building seats in Central Africa, will have their
elephant parks and their hippopotami waters; young ladies on camp stool s,
Tinder palm-trees, will read with tears—The Last of the Negroes; and the Niger
"will become as romantic a river as the Rhine.26
It is a curious thing that, notwithstanding the experience of
thousands of years, men seem so slow to learn that in forming
plans for carrying out their theories as regards countries and races
—especially as regards this country and this race—there are
■certain invisible barriers that confront them like the angel in the
path of Balaam, which cannot be descried by the most piercing
sagacitv, and which therefore cannot be taken into their most
•careful calculations. It was a solemn and suggestive piece of
26 Eeade's Savage Africa, p. 587.
274 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
advice that one of the Roman rulers, in his last momenta, gave
when he -warned his people against attempting the invasion of
Africa.
No earnest effort yet made by foreigners to take possession of
this continent has ever met with permanent success. Something
has always happened to divert them from their purpose. Persians,
Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans, have all tried, and failed.
Alexander the Great, conqueror of Europe and a great part of Asia,
sat down, in a fit of despondency, and wept for worlds to conquer.
But here was Africa, with her vast territory and teeming popu¬
lation. He tried his energy and skill in a small section of the
country. But after his famous journey to the oracle of Jupiter
Ammon, he looked only askance at this magnificent field for
military exploits—
Nor felt the joy that warriors feel
In foemen worthy of their steel.
When, in modern times, Portugal had magnificent schemes for
the colonisation and occupation of Africa, and had built up
extensive establishments, her attention was called away by the
discovery of America and the demand for labour in that new
country. The spirit, strength, and influence of her African
enterprises received a check from which she has never since
recovered. Her extensive colonies were lost, and dwindled into
marts for carrying on the slave trade.
The desire of the French to own large possessions in Africa,
is no new idea born of the teachings or inspired by the discoveries,
of Livingstone and Stanley. No; near the close of the last century,
or in the beginning of this, France had large plans for possessing
Africa. The plan of Talleyrand and of the first Napoleon was to
make Africa the great field for cultivating tropical produce, and
this cultivation was to be carried on by means of the native
population. But the ambition of Napoleon diverted his energies to
European wars, and finally he was confined a prisoner to am
African island—sorry ending this of his magnificent schemes of
occupation. Instead of holding Africa, a small sea-girt rock near
Africa held him till his death. But his plans are not yet lost sight
Sierra Leone and Liberia.
275
of by the French. They have vast schemes for taking charge of
Senegambia, and controlling the trade of the Upper Niger, and
have made large expenditure in that direction; but, after years of
preparation and effort, their energies are at this moment diverted
to other regions. And I have not the slightest doubt, judging from,
the past, that when the efforts now making on the Congo become
serious and really threatening to the true interests of the people,,
some unseen emergency—some distant or neighbouring compli¬
cations—will draw them off, and another generation will have to*
wrestle anew with the African problem. It may be said that the
facts I have referred to are mere accident, and that it is super¬
stitious to base conclusions upon fortuitous circumstances. Well,
African students of history must be excused—in view of the hard
lot of the race—if they are disposed to attach significance to any
event, or concourse of events, which indicates the future preser¬
vation of their people.
But besides the invisible agencies, there is another guarantee
against future oppression of the tribes of this country by foreigners,
and that lies in the progress of liberal sentiments in Europe.
England, which, in the extent and power of her sway, resembles-
the Eoman Empire, is careful of her proceedings in dealing with
Africa. The rising elements of power in that great country are
transferring their political homage from tradition to principles,
from men or families to rights and duties, from the privileges of the
few to universal justice and right. "Rescue and retire" is the
modern principle of intervention. And this will be the motto in
future of all England's operations in Africa. It should be, and no
doubt ere long will be, inscribed upon the banners of all organi¬
sations, whether political or philanthropic, at work in Africa.
In conclusion, I may remark that these two countries may be
said to represent the true principle or method by which civilisation
is to be introduced into Africa. There is no part of West Africa
where the openings and opportunities for introducing civilisation and
Christianity into this continent are greater than these contiguous-
states present. The attractions which they offer to the efforts
of the philanthropist and African Colonisationist (in the American
276 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
sense of that phrase) are not without just grounds. For whether
we look to the origin and purpose of these settlements, or to their
bearing upon the future civil and religious condition of these tribes,
or to the influence they have already exerted upon thousands, it is
scarcely possible to estimate too highly their importance to the
•continent as inlets of wholesome impressions from without, or to
Europe and America as outlets of a valuable commerce. While
they will gather—when the proper policy is pursued by the
respective governments—into their bosom, as into a capacious gulf,
"the main streams, and even the lesser tributaries, of a commerce
which only for want of proper facilities has poured its treasures
into other regions, they will send up those streams by the returning
tide the lessons and principles of order and law, of religion and
liberty, of science, literature, and art. And it is not difficult to
predict the effect of all this upon the general interests of civilisation,
upon the welfare of the Negro race, and upon the great cause of
humanity.
Islam and Race Distinctions.
IF the divinity of a religion may be inferred from the variety
of races among whom it has been diffused, and the strength
of its hold upon them, then there is no religion that can prefer
greater claims than Islam. Of the three missionary religions—
we adopt the classification of Max Muller1—none has in so
marked a degree overstepped the limits of race as the religion of
Mohammed.
Christianity is more widespread than either Buddhism or
Mohammedanism, having made its way across oceans and over
continents to distant islands of the sea ; but it has followed
chiefly the migrations and settlements of members of the Aryan
race. In no case has it taken possession of whole races or
communities belonging to non-Aryan races, if we except the
Sandwich Islands, the inhabitants of which, we now learn, are
fast passing away under the influence of the new civilisation they
have received.
It is remarkable that the eight distinct religions of which
history gives account all had their origin in Asia, and the three
highest religions—the Jewish, the Christian, the Mohammedan—-
took their rise among Semitic peoples. And it is equally remark¬
able that since Christianity left the place of its birth it has
seemed to be the property exclusively of the European branch
of the human family. And, so far as it has become the possession
of the Western Aryans, it has shared the fate of that other great
1 Lecture on Missions, delivered in Westminster Abbey on December 3, 1873.
278
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
religion which arose among the Eastern branch of the Indo-
European family, viz., - Buddhism, as being for the most part
confined to one or two races.
It would be interesting to inquire why the religions of the Indo-
Europeans—whether we take those which arose among themselves,
Brahminism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism; on the one, incom¬
parable and Divine, which they derived from the Shemites—seem,
tinder their administration, to transcend with difficulty the limits of
race; why the grand Semitic idea of the conversion to Divine
truth of all the races of mankind, and their incorporation into one
spiritual family, seems, under European propagandism, to make
such slow progress. If Judaism, as Professor Max Miiller holds,
was, in its practice, non-missionary, yet it contained the germs of
which Christianity is an outgrowth and development, and the
missionary idea must be regarded as, after all, a Semitic conception.
Can we refer the want of Aryan success among foreign races to
the original idiosyncracy impressed upon the races in their cradles,
and fitting each for a specific work ? It would seem that the
tendency of West Aryan genius is ever to divorce God from His
works, and to lay great stress upon human capability and achieve¬
ment. Man is an end, not a means. The highest man is the
highest end to which all' things else must bow. The aggregate
must bend to the individual if he is superior to other individuals in
intellectual or pecuniary might. The more favoured race must
•dominate and control the less favoured race. Eeligion is to be
cherished as a means of subserving temporal and material purposes.
Those of the Aryans, therefore, who have received the Semitic
religion look upon it as complete, perfect and final, given to man¬
kind, ages ago, through chosen and exceptional instrumentalities,
and once for all. There is now no more direct communion with or
inspiration from God necessary or possible. Everything now
depends upon man. Everything else is within his grasp. He may
even by searching find out God. Material progress is the end of
the human race. The speculation of those intellects who are in one
direction pre-eminent in their generation—the Darwins, Tyndalls
and Huxleys—are typical of the spirit and tendencies of the Indo-
Islam and Race Distinctions. 279
-European mind. What their ancient relatives, the Greeks, strove
to express in material forms, they strive now to indicate by scien¬
tific theories; we have " atoms" and "protoplasms," "evolution "
and " natural selection," instead of exquisite statues and paintings.
And as far back as we know anything of the great Indo-
European race we find the same underlying principles, unlike as
the surface may be. The Hindoo sees God in all material things,
and is content with a dreamy Pantheism which centres in no clear
conceptions of Eight and Truth, and prompts to no effort to realise
them objectively, while the growth of society is arrested by the
blighting spirit of caste—and what the Brahmins are to the other
tribes of India that the Anglo-Saxons hold themselves with respect
to other nations and races. The Greeks materialised their Gods,
clothing them in human bodies, and with human feelings and
attributes. With them the divine and sesthetic were identical: Kalos
might be taken to mean the physically beautiful or the morally
good. The Romans, who, in certain respects, might be regarded as
the ancient representatives of the Anglo-Saxon race, directed tbeir
attention to government and law, politics and jurisprudence. Their
constant effort was to secure power and supremacy. And the deities
whom they invented were striking exemplifications of their materia
aims and tendencies. Their highest achievements, therefore, were
individual and Eoman.
Tu regere imperio populos, Eomane, memento;
Hse tibi erunt artes ; pacisque imponere morem,
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.2
When a people possessing the peculiarities described above
received the Semitic religion they gave it, in a great degree, the
colouring of their own minds. The first and most striking de¬
parture from the original simplicity of Christianity in deference to
national or race instincts may be seen in the medieeval Church,
which bore a striking resemblance, in its worship and organisation,
to Buddhism. The religion became a great objective mass of rites
and dogmas, more stress being laid upon the material and visible
than upon the unseen and spiritual. But even after the Reforma-
2 Virgil's JEneid, vi, 851-53.
280
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
tion, brought about by men of cold Northern temperaments, wha
protested against the peculiarities which Greeks and Italians
had imported into the Church, Aryan genius still asserted itself.
Wherever these Protestants went, their aim was to realise a king¬
dom of God in the civil constitutions of men, and to confine it by a
system of caste almost Brahminical to their own people. Presby¬
terians from Scotland, Episcopalians from England, Puritans who
supported Cromwell, all went to foreign shores with high and
earnest purpose, but they were hampered in the attainment of any
philanthropic result by their race-intolerance and impracticable
narrowness. They aimed at securing material aggrandisement at
any cost. Indian and Negro must be made, willing or unwilling,
tools in the prosecution of their design. The human soul—the im¬
material—was of secondary and subordinate importance.
The Semitic mind, on the other hand, destitute, it has been
alleged, of the scientific instinct,3 looks upon man—every man—as
standing in direct relation to God, who has not ceased His com¬
munications with His creatures, still speaking to them at times in
dreams and visions, and at other times by the ordinary events of
life. Nature is regarded as inanimate; her powers proceed from
and are moved by the will of God. " Pantheism, in the Greek
sense, is utterly unknown to the Shemites."4 By its very nature,
the Semitic mind will ever throw itself confidently upon those
primal intuitions which, if they do not admit of scientific or logical
proof, are yet superior to scientific or logical disproof. Its inquiries,
in spite of Tyndallism or Darwinism, will never go beyond the
simple truth, that " In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth." The government of the world offers to the Shemite an
infinite problem which man can never solve ; and hence the greatest
aim of man should be the cultivation of those qualities in which he
may most resemble God. The Shemite lays most stress, in religion,
8 A part la superiority de son culte, le peuple juif n'en a aucune autre; c'esfc
un des peuples les moins doues pour la science et la philosophie parmi les peuples
de l'antiquit6.— M. Renan, quoted by Max Miiller, in Chips from a German
Workshop ; vol. i, p. 350.
4 Deutsch, Literary Bemains.
Islam and Race Distinctions.
28r
upon prayer; the Aryan upon preaching. Among the Hebrews there
were no adepts in science or art; no architects; no city builders ;
no sculptors; no painters. Development among them was not
in material, but in moral and intellectual, forms. Hence, while the
Greek or Indo-European paid more attention to physical than to
moral excellence, to the Shemite, the spirit, the mind of man, was
the great object of development and cultitre—the inward character
rather than the outward form. And this devotion to external
forms—this respect for appearances—is the great drawback to the
Aryan in disseminating a religion which was meant for, and is
adapted to, all mankind.
The Mohammedan religion, on the other hand, an offshoot from
the Semitic mind, disregarding all adventitious circumstances, seeks
for the real man, neglects the accidental for the essential, the
adventitious for the integral. Hence it extinguishes all distinctions
founded upon race, colour, or nationality. " I admonish you to
fear God," said Mohammed to his followers, " and yield obedience to
my successor, although he may be a black slave."5 And,therefore,
throughout the history of Islam, in all countries, race or "previous
condition" has been no barrier to elevation. Frequent are the
instances in which proud Arabs have submitted to the rule of
aliens, even if those aliens were Negro slaves. Mr. Talboys
Wheeler, in his History of India, speaks in the highest terms of
Kutb-ud-din, the first of the "Slave Kings" in the Mohammedan
dynasty in that country, and classes him among the four Sultans
whom he thinks the only ones deserving of remembrance in the
course of three centuries. One of the most distinguished of the
Mohammedan rulers of Egypt was Kafur, " a Negro of deep black
colour, with a smooth, shining skin," who rose to be Governor of
Egypt, from the position of a slave. He had shown himself equally
great as a soldier and a statesman. His dominion extended not
only over Egypt, but Syria also; and public prayers were offered up
for him, as sovereign, from the pulpits of Mekka, Hijaz, Egypt and
the cities of Syria, Damascus, Aleppo, Antioch, Tarsus, &c.6
5 Mischat-al-Masabih.
6 Biographies of Ibn Khallikan; translated by Baron de Slane, vol. ii, p. 524.
U
282
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
An American missionary, resident in Egypt, calls attention to
the entire absence of all colour or race-prejudice in tliat country,
which seems to have struck him the more from his experience of
the unreasonable and superstitious caste-prejudices in the land of
his birth.7 This liberality, so far as the Negro is concerned, may
.be chiefly the result of Muslim rule, but it is partly also the result
■of the traditional respect for the race which has never disappeared
from that country since the days of its ancient glory, in which it is
now certain that the Negro took a leading part.8
In noticing the absorbing influence which, in consequence of
its democratic spirit, Islam has exercised over foreign races, Ibn
Khaldun, a celebrated Mohammedan author, makes the following
observations:—
It is a curious circumstance that the majority of the learned amongst the
Muslims belonged to a foreign race; very few persons of Arabian descent
having obtained distinction in the sciences connected with the law, or in those
based upon human reason; and yet the promulgator of the law was an Arab,
and the Koran—that source of so many sciences—an Arabic book.
The above remarks have been suggested by the title and scope
of Major Osborn's Islam under the Arabs. This book is, as the
author informs us, to be followed by two other volumes which will
deal with Islam under the Persian and Indian races. "Works
might be written also on Islam under the Mongolians, and Islam
under the Negroes; for the religion, originating at Mekka, has
t Lansing's Egypt's Princes.
8 Catafago in his Arabic and English Dictionary, under the word " Kusur "
(palaces), says: " The ruins of Thebes, that ancient and celebrated town,
deserve to be visited, as just these heaps of ruins, laved by the Nile, are all that
remain of the opulent cities that gave lustre to Ethiopia. It was there that
a people, since forgotten, discovered the elements of science and art, at a time
when all other mefi were barbarous, and when a race, now regarded as the
refuse of society, explored among the phenomena of Nature those civil and
religious systems which have since held mankind in awe." A more recent
investigator, Dr. Hartmann, in an ' Encyclopaedic work on Nigritia ' (Saturday
Review, June 17, 1876), contends for the strictly African extraction of the
Egyptians, who he seems to consider, may have dwelt upon the shores of the
inner African sea, whose desiccation has formed the existing Sahara. See
a remarkable passage bearing upon this subject in Yolney's Travels, vol. i,
chap. iii.
Islam and Race Distinctions. 283
extended west, across Africa, to the Atlantic, and east to North¬
western China, north to Constantinople, and south to Mozam¬
bique, embracing men of all the known races ; and embracing them
not as occasional and individual. converts, but as entire com¬
munities—whole nations and tribes—weaving itself into the national
life, and giving colour to their political and social, as well as eccle¬
siastical existence.
The religion of Jesus, after eighteen hundred years, nowhere
furnishes such practical evidence of cosmopolitan adaptation and
power. " Christianity is not to blame for this," to use the
suggestive words of Mr. Bosworth Smith, " but Christian nations
are."9
One of the most signal and melancholy instances of the failure
of Aryans, in possession of the highest religion, to convert or save
a foreign race, is that presented by the history of the Europeans
in America, who, for more than three hundred years, have been in
contact with large portions of the Mongolian race with very meagre
beneficial result. Within the last few months, the military
disaster suffered in an attack upon the Indians has sent a thrill
of horror through the United States. Theodore Parker, in his
Thoughts on America, unveils the reasons of the difficulty in his
characteristic and incisive style. He says :—
The Anglo-Saxon disdains to mingle his proud blood in wedlock with the
" inferior races of men." He puts away the savage—black, yellow, red. In
New England, the Puritan converted the Indians to Christianity, as far as they
could accept the theology of John Calvin; but made a careful separation
between white and red, " my people and thy people." They must dwell in
separate villages, worship in separate houses ; they must not intermarry. The
General Court of Massachusetts once forbade all extra-matrimonial connection
of white and red, on pain of death ! The Anglo-Saxon has carefully sought to
exterminate the savages from his territory. The Briton does so in Africa, in
Van Diemen's Land, in New Zealand, in New Holland—wherever he meets
them. The American does the same in the Western world. In New England
the Puritan found the wild woods, the wild beasts, and the wild men ; he under¬
took to eradicate them all, and he has succeeded best with the wild men—there
9 It will be understood, of course, that we are not here instituting a com¬
parison between the two systems of religion, but only between the methods and
proceedings of their respective professors and propagators.
284 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
are more bears than. Indians in New England. The United States pursues the
same destructive policy. In two hundred years more there will be few Indians
left between the Lake of the Woods and the Gulf of Mexico, between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.10
"Whatever may be the exaggerations in the above paragraph, no
one can deny that, on the whole, there is too much truth in it;
yet, in the face of this heartrending truth, some American writers
on the Indian question talk flippantly and unfeelingly of a " law of
decay," and console themselves with the superficial theory of the
" inferior race vanishing before the superior." But a thoughtful
writer in a recent number of one of the leading American quarterlies
takes a far more serious view of the subject:—
Those who give but little attention (he says) to Indian affairs, take it for
granted that the race is doomed to utter extermination, without thinking of the
fact that until they came in contact with white civilisation, they were rapidly
increasing in numbers. . . . The story of the Creeks, Cherokees, Ghoctaws,
and Chickasaws has been often told, and only one conclusion has ever been
reached by any Christian giving it serious attention, and that is, that the United
States Government committed a grievous wrong and crime in removing these
tribes from their old home " by force," and placing them on a " reservation " in
the far south-west . . . The great error we commit toward the Indian is
failing to recognise in him that common humanity which should lead us to call
all men brothers and citizens. They are men and women like ourselves ; they
have the same hearts to touch by kindness and warm by friendship, and the
same love for home that is common to all mankind, in a greater or less
degree.11
We venture to express the belief that no such appeal would
have been necessary had that interesting race of men been in
contact with thirty millions of Mohammedans, instead of thirty
millions of Christians. The wars fought against them would have
been wars not of extermination but of proselytising. They would
have been repetitions, probably in their manner, but certainly in
their results, of the Syrian wars of Omar and Ali, the African wars
of Amru and Akbah, and the Spanish wars of Musa and Tarik.
The millions who were found on the continent would now be alive
in their descendants, and absorbed in the national life. The
10 Additional Speeches, vol. ii.
11 Presbyterian Quarterly and Princeton Review, January, 1876.
Islam and Race Distinctions.
285
" bears in New England" would have been extirpated, and the
Indians would have been saved.12
But let us turn more particularly to the works before us.
Mr. Grant-Duff enumerates ten ways in which British influence
is leavening India. Major Osborn proposes an eleventh way,
namely, that the dominant race should familiarise themselves with
the history and traditions of the various peoples whom they govern.
And the object which he set before himself in the important work
he has undertaken is to put within the reach of his countrymen,
and especially of his fellow-officers, " historical sketches of the
races from which the native army in India is chiefly recruited."
Islam under the Arabs, the first instalment of Major Osborn's
work, is written in a remarkably clear and lively style. There is
very little danger of misunderstanding the author's meaning. He
has brought together in a small compass some of the most
important facts in the early history of Islam, not a few of which
will, no doubt, be entirely new to a large majority of readers. It is
evident that he has given considerable attention to the external
history of Islam; and had he confined himself to a narrative of
events, for which his qualifications seem eminently adapted, his
book would have taken its place among those valuable works on
Oriental subjects for which the world is largely indebted to the
literary tastes and industry of British soldiers, and, as a repertory
of facts, would have always been referred to with confidence ; but
his reflections and comments on the theological aspects of the
subject are so far behind the enlightened and tolerant spirit of the
age, and, in many instances, so contrary to the view taken by
Christian writers acquainted with Mohammedan history and
literature, and of course by enlightened Mohammedans, that his
book will not only be read, even in its most accurate parts, with a
constantly hesitating, if not dissenting spirit, by those who are
even partially acquainted with the facts, but will mislead those
wholly ignorant of the subject, for whose benefit it is professedly
12 A portion of another race—the Negro—carried to that land by force, has
grown and multiplied in spite of repressive laws and regulations in Church and
State,
286
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
written, by inciting them to a contemptuous intolerance; and thus
the lofty and praiseworthy object of the writer will fail to be
secured.
As the contribution, however, of an industrious and skilful
delineator of the course of Mohammedan history in its earlier
periods, the work will repay careful perusal; and, in spite of its
laboured effort to place the theology of Islam in an unfavourable,
and often ridiculous light, it will add its quota to the general
enlightenment on that irrepressible faith which, after all that may
be said, has attained a majestic stability and permanence in the
history of India. When the series is finished, the general reader,
anxious to get a clear and connected account of the leading facts of
early Mohammedan history, without referring to original and not
always accessible sources, will have at his disposal a convenient
little library of the annals of Islam. But unless the two volumes
to follow are written- with a clearer insight into the system of
which the author treats, unless, by further research, he becomes
imbued with a more thorough appreciation of the facts which he
collects, and a more liberal spirit in dealing with them, we need
expect no fresh views respecting the secret of the power of Islam,
and no livelier prospect as to the conciliatory and harmonising
influence of the work.
Dr. Badger, in the Contemporary Review for June, 1875, gives
us the following information:—•
The first English translation of the Kuran was made from the French of
Andre du Ryer, by one Alexander Ross, and published in London in 1649. It is
accompanied by an introduction styled ' A needful Caveat or Admonition,1 which
runs thus: " Good reader, the great Arabian impostor, now at last, after a
thousand years, is, by the way of France, arrived in England, and his Alcoran,
or Gallimaufry of Errors (a Brat as deformed as the Parent, and as full of
heresies as his scald head was of scurf), hath learned to speak English."
The education of two centuries (adds Dr. Badger) has chastened the style of
our national literature, and added much to our knowledge of Eastern subjects
generally; nevertheless, there is good ground for presuming that the foregoing
description of the Kuran and of its reputed author is in accordance sub¬
stantially with the views still held by the great majority of Englishmen.
Aye, and of Englishmen who have lived in Mohammedan
countries, and who profess to have an acquaintance with the
Islam and Race Distinctions. 287
literature of Islam. Major Osborn does not seem to have come
■within the influence of " the education of two centuries." He
repeats, -with the credulity and confidence of those who have
gathered their information mainly from Gibbon and Prideaux, the
opinions entertained of Islam in the Middle Ages. So far as he is
concerned, the labours of Sprenger, Muir, Deutsch, and the host
of recent investigators, seem to have been in vain. This, however,
he warns us in his preface, is no fault of his, but a " misfortune
inseparable from writing history in a remote country like India."
The following summary may be given of the system of Islam as it
is described in Major Osborn's pages: Its creed is a bald mono¬
theism, absolute and unchanging decrees, introduced by a prophet
who felt it to be his Divine mission to exterminate all professors
of a religion different from his; a Hell of material fire depicted
with Dantesque realism; a Heaven of sensual indulgences and
delights. The ideal man of Islam—the saint of the religion—is
he who can say, "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is
his Prophet," and who for this creed is ready to sacrifice relatives,
friends, country—even life itself. He may be ignorant, treacherous,
cruel, sensual, anything, so far as character is concerned, and yet
look forward to the highest reward of the faithful. Any and
every true and noble element of manhood may be left out, and yet,
if faithful to his creed and system, the beautiful houris await
him in his paradise above.
Such will be the impressions of the system of Islam which will
be gathered from Major Osborn's pages by the majority of unin¬
formed readers; and this is, no doubt, the view entertained of that
religion by the generality of Christians. We cannot refrain from
pronouncing Islam under the Arabs, so far as its theological aspects
are concerned, a retrogression in Oriental literature. It does not
come up to the standard which the critical and historical power
of the age—the extension of thought and information on Oriental
subjects—now require. Major Osborn surely cannot believe that
the representations which he makes of Islam will further the
objects he has in view. The natives of India are, no doubt, gratified
by seeing foreigners—especially the foreigners who rule over them
288 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
—take a lively interest in their religion, literature, and antiquities,
in "the memories which still thrill them with pleasure or pride."
But to treat these subjects profitably, to make the knowledge of
;hem " a potent magnet for winning the hearts of the native
soldiers," a little more is needed than mere reading and superficial
observation; the writer must possess, in no small degree, that
quality which Mr. Gifford Palgrave, in the dedication of his Essays
m Eastern Questions to the Earl of Derby, recognised as marking
)he foreign policy of that distinguished statesman, namely, " a
statesmanlike insight into character and race," a quality which
joth by experience and observation, Mr. Palgrave must have found
io be very rare among his countrymen.
We will now give a few specimens of the results of Major
Dsborn's reading and observation. He tells us on pp. 26 and 301:
Fatalism is the central tenet of Islam, In the Koran, the root conception
3 the idea of God as an immovable fatality. This is the tenet that has been
iurned indelibly into the heart and brain of the Mohammedan world. And,
aider its withering shadow, the idea of " order " has been unable to strike root
ownwards or bear fruit upwards.
And yet Major Osborn, on p. 70, mentions prayer as one of the
'five pillars" on which the religion of Islam is sustained. What
vhere the utility of prayer in a system which regarded the object of
fc as inflexible and inexorable—" an immovable fatality " ? But
iow do the following passages from the Koran agree with Major
)sborn's idea of the Mohammedan's God ?
Whoever shall turn him to God after his wickedness, and amend, God truly
rill be turned to him; for God is "forgiving and merciful."—(Sura v, v. 43)
lodwell's Translation, p. 638.
Your Lord hath laid down for Himself a law of mercy; so that if any one of
ou commit a fault through ignorance, and afterwards turn and amend, He will
urely be gracious, merciful.—(Sura vi, v. 54) Rodwell, p. 406.
Then was He turned to them, that they might be turned to Him, for God is
le that turneth, the Merciful.—Rodwell, p. 629.
Know they not that when His servants turn to Him with repentance, God
ccepteth it, and that He accepteth alms, and that God is He who turneth, the
lerciful ?—Rodwell, p. 626.
God turned to him, for He loveth to turn, the Merciful.—Rodwell, p. 433.
But as for those who turn to Me, and amend and make known the truth, even
nto them will I turn Me, for I am He who turneth, the Merciful.—Rodwell,
. 451.
Islam and Race Distinctions. 289
We might adduce numerous other passages which prove the
absolute fallacy of the notion that Fatalism is a doctrine of the
Koran; it teaches the very contrary doctrine. "Mohammed's
■whole system," says Mr. Deutsch, " is one of faith built on hope
a,nd fear."
The following is the estimate which Major Osborn has formed
•of the founder of Islam (p. 91) :—
At Medina, the religious teacher is superseded by the ambitious politician,
and the idols of the Kaaba fall before the mandate of the successful chieftain,
inot under the transforming influences of a spiritual regenerator. To achieve
worldly dominion, he has recourse to assassination ; he perpetrates massacre; he
makes a Heathen superstition the keystone of his faith; and delivers to his
followers, as a revelation from God, a mandate of universal War. With every
advance in wordly power he disencumbers himself of that spiritual humility
•which was a part of his earlier faith. He associates himself with God on a footing
■approaching to equality.
The italics are ours. We have emphasised the passage because
of the shocking impiety which such a notion would convey to the
most undevout Muslim; and we cannot conceive it possible that
Major Osborn could be ignorant of this. We would commend to
him the following philosophical and accurate view of M. Barthelemy
St. Hilaire :—
On n'a point remarque suffisamment cette circonstance dans la carri&re de
Mahomet. Oui, personnellement il s'est cru prophete; il a cru de toute l'im-
Petuosite de son ame a sa mission, et il a eu raison de se prendre parmi ces
peuples barbares pour un instrument de Dieu. Mais ce n'est pas sa volonte
propre, ce n'est pas la convoitise de son ambition qui en a fait un general et un
conquerant. Des 6venements exterieurs plus forts que lui, et qu'il ne pouvait
prevoir, l'ont precipite. II s'est trouve sans le savoir, sans le vouloir, le plus
grand homme de guerre de son pays, le politique le plus habile, et il a fonde un
•empire presque malgre lui. . . . Le Coran, qui revile toute la pensee morale de
Mahomet, ne porte pas trace, pour ainsi dire, d'une pensee politique. . . . Et il
faut l'imagination d'un poete tel que Voltaire pour lui preter, a mille ans de
distance, des desseins qu'il n'a conQus.13
But we can refer to Mohammed's own utterances, as recorded
in the authorised traditions. The Prophet said :—■
I am no more than a man; when I order you anything respecting religion
13 Mahomet et le Coran; preface.
290 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
receive it; and when I order you about the affairs of this world, then I am
nothing more than a man.14
Again, Major Osborn gives us the following dissertation on the
Jihaad :—
The one common duty laid upon the faithful is to be the agents of God's
vengeance on those who believe not. These are to be slaughtered till they pay
tribute, when they are to be allowed to go to hell in their own way without
further molestation. . . . When Mohammed interdicted the faithful to prey
upon each other, he was compelled to find occupation for their swords elsewhere.
Oat of this necessity sprang the command to inherit heaven by fighting on the
path of God. This is the doctrine which has rendered Islam so fascinating
, a faith to savage and barbarous races. It exacts from them no endeavours
after a higher life. It tells them that they can win an immortality of sensual
bliss by merely giving free scope to their most imperious passions. . . . The
Mohammedan still conceives himself to be the elect of God. He regards not
with compassion—that word is too humane—but with contempt unspeakable,
as " logs " reserved for " hell fire," the votaries of all other creeds. Wherever
he has the power, he holds it to be his mission to trample upon and persecute
them.
The ninth sura is that which contains the Prophet's proclamation of war
against the votaries of all creeds other than that of Islam.—Pp. 27, 52, 290, 380,
The ninth sura of the Koran contains no such proclamation.
Even Mr. Rodwell's translation, upon which Major Osborn relies,
does not justify such inference. Those against whom war is>
declared in that chapter are described in the original as Mushrikim
—a term in which the radical idea is that of association—the asso¬
ciating one thing with another—and it cannot in strictness be
rendered by the comprehensive phrase of " Polytheists," employed
by Rodwell, or of " Idolaters," as used by Sale. The sura is
addressed to Arabs who believed in and worshipped only the true
God, and refers to the treatment to be accorded by them to those
Arabs who joined the worship of idols with that of the true God, as
Mr. Eodwell explains in a parenthesis in the first verse. In the
opening sentences of his book Major Osborn truly says :—■
There is one remarkable assumption that runs through all the warningsy
denunciations and appeals of the Koran. The God of whom the Prophet speaks
is not an unknown God. The guilt of his fellow-tribesmen, the justification of
their impending doom, are deduced from the fact that they did know this
God, while they honoured dumb idols.
14 Mishkat-al-Hasdbih, vol. i, p. 46.
Islam and Race Distinctions.
291
It is strange that, with knowledge so clear and accurate, Major
Osborn should have failed to catch the real drift of the ninth sura
of the Koran. Nowhere in the Koran are Muslims enjoined to-
make indiscriminate war upon Christians or Jews. On the
contrary, there are numerous passages that inculcate an enlightened
tolerance, which writers of the temper of Major Osborn would do-
well to emulate. The following are among the Koranic utterances
on this important subject:—
Dispute not, unless in kindly sort, with the people of the Book; save with
such of them as have dealt wrongfully with you: And say ye, " We believe in
what hath been sent down to us, and hath been sent down to you. Our God and
your God is one."—Rodioell, p. 328.
God is your Lord and our Lord; we have our works and you have your works ;
between us and you let there be no strife; God will make us all one; and to-
Him shall we return.—Rodwell, p. 337.
Among the people of the Book are those who believe in God, and in what He
hath sent down to you, and in what He hath sent down to them, humbling
themselves before God.—Rodwell, p. 521.
Verily Muslims and they who follow the Jewish religion, and the Christians,,
and Sabeites13—whoever of these believeth in God, and the Last Day, and doeth
that which is right, shall have their reward with their Lord; fear shall not come
upon them, neither shall they be grieved.—lb., p. 437.
There is nothing in the original teachings of the Mohammedan
religion that requires hostility to Christians. There are, no doubt,
bigots and fanatics among Muslims, as there have been and are
now, bigots and fanatics among Christians; but the spirit of the
religion, as taught in its original records, is tolerant. And here we
cannot but protest against the unwarrantable emphasis with which
Christians generally persist in calling themselves "Infidels" when
professing to represent the light in which they are held by Muslims.-
No such term is ever applied to Christians either in the Koran or
by intelligent Mohammedans. And for Christian controversialists;
to insist upon such a use of it is only to foster prejudices which, in
this enlightened age, ought to be entirely eliminated from the
popular instincts of Christian countries.
13 The Sabeites are identical with the Mendaites, or so-called Christians of
St. John, residing in the marshy district at the mouth of the Euphrates, bCTfc
are not the same with star-worshipping Sabians of Harran, in Mesopotamia.—
Rodwell (Note).
292 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Under the Moorish Governments of Spain, when Islam enjoyed
political ascendency, the large masses of native Christians were
protected by a wide toleration, not as a political expedient, but
according to the laws of Islam. The Christians were permitted to
Jhave their bishops, churches and monasteries, and to be judged by
-their own laws and tribunals, whenever the question at issue was
■one that related only to themselves.16
But we can refer to modern instances of more immediate
interest to the British public, and bearing directly upon the objects
which Major Osborn has in view. During the startling crisis
through which the British Indian Empire passed about twenty
years ago, many and touching were the illustrations of Moham¬
medan toleration and friendship towards Christians, which it is
singular that a man of Major Osborn's profession should so soon
have forgotten.
From the outbreak to the suppression of the Mutiny, and from one end of
India to the other, thousands upon thousands of Mohammedans, high and low,
rich and poor, princes and servants, soldiers and civilians, not only refrained
from lifting a finger against the British Government or any Christian individual,
but rendered active and most useful service—at the hazard often of their lives
.and fortunes—to both it and them. Of native princes, the Nawab of Rampore—a
Mohammedan of the Mohammedans—and the Begum of Bhopal, were not merely
faithful but signally helpful. The Nawab of Tonk, son of the celebrated Ameer
Khan, a formidable leader in the Pindaree war, who probably ruled over more
Mohammedan fanatics than any prince in India, stood by the British Govern¬
ment with exemplary firmness.17
" In a word," says the Saturday Review, at the close of an
interesting article on Sir Salar Jung (May 27, 1876), " our new
guest is the man who, when Delhi had fallen and our power was
for the moment tottering in the balance, saved Southern India for
England. Sir Salar Jung spared us the expenditure of countless
lives and countless millionsand furnishes in himself, the reviewer
might have added, the practical evidence that a Mohammedan may
become an effective reformer without abdicating his faith.
In the face of these facts, and with his knowledge of the
16 Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. iii, p. 460.
17 Edinburgh Review, October, 1866, p. 306.
Islam and Race Distinctions.
293
teachings and spirit of his religion, what must be the feelings of
Sir Salar. Jung when he reads a work of the temper of Islam, under
the Arabs, in which the author, a British officer of some experience
in Mohammedan countries, shows that he not only shares, but is
willing to reproduce in elaborate pages, the vulgar estimate held in
Christian lands of the Mohammedan religion.
We had marked several other passages in Major Osborn's book
for remark, but the want of space compels us to turn to the deeply-
interesting and valuable work which, we are happy to say, furnishes
a full and complete reply to the principal charges, and gives ample
correction to all the erroneous statements and inferences of Islam
under the Arabs.
Mohammed and Mohammedanism is the second enlarged and
revised edition of a course of lectures delivered at the Eoyal
Institution in 1874. The following remarks in the preface to the
second edition reveal the lofty aim and eminently catholic spirit of
the writer, but can give no adequate clue to the charming style of
the composition—the transparent clearness, the vigour, the glowing
enthusiasm, with which the subject is handled:—
To denounce fundamental conditions of Oriental society ; to ignore the law of
dissolution, to which Eastern no less than Western dynasties are subject; to
confuse the decadence of a race with that of a creed; to be blind to the distinc¬
tion between progressive and unprogressive, between civilised and uncivilised
peoples; to judge of a religion mainly or exclusively by the lives of its professors,,
often of its most unworthy professors ; to forget what of good there has been in
the past, and to refuse to hope for something better in the future, in despair or
indignation for what is—all this may occasionally be excusable, or possibly even
necessary ; but it cannot be done by me so long as I think it neither excusable
nor necessary.
It is a very easy task, and, no doubt, in entire keeping with the
feelings of the dominant race, to show the faults committed at
different times and in different countries by Mohammedan rulersr
in entire obliviousness of the parallel which might, in almost every
instance, be adduced from Christian history. But the careful and
philosophical historian performs a far more agreeable task to-
himself, and possibly more profitable to his readers, when he dwells
011 the acts of philanthropy and heroism, the achievements in
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
literature and science, which, for five hundred years, attended the
progress of Islam; and this pleasant task Mr. Bosworth Smith
has not only taken upon himself, but has executed in the most
.admirable manner. If we had any control in the matter we should
.arrange that an earnest inquirer into the history and principles
of Islam should first give to Major Osborn's work, when the series
is completed, a careful perusal, and then take up Mr. Smith's book,
both as the complement and expounder of the facts collected by
Major Osborn.
The influence of race in the matter of religion does not seem to
be taken into consideration by the generality of writers on such
subjects. To this important element in the development of religious
systems Mr. Bosworth Smith frequently calls attention. While it
is known that the Christian system has received large modifications
as to outward form and expression, and even as to some of its
dogmas, from the influence of country and race, it is too generally
taken for granted that Islam is a rigidly uniform system; that
Mohammedans are all alike, and that the Turk is the type and
representative of the whole Muslim world. But nothing could be
more erroneous. Says Mr. Smith:—
The Persians are of a race and genius widely different from the Arabs; but
the surroundings and general mode of life are the same in each, and the
exception—so far as it is an exception—to the rule I have laid down, tends
rather, in its results, to prove its general truth, for the hold of Mohammedanism
on them has been much modified by the difference of race It cannot be
said that the religion proved itself altogether suited to the people. In other
•countries the scymitar had no sooner been drawn from its scabbard than it was
sheathed again. But in Persia the scymitar had not only to clear the way, but
for some time afterwards, to maintain the new religion. The Persians corrupted
its simplicity with fables and miracles; they actually imported into it some¬
thing of saint-worship, and something of sacerdotalism; and, consequently, in
no nation in the Mohammedan world has the religion less hold on the people
as a restraining power. The most stringent principles of the Koran are set at
nought.
Mr. Matthew Arnold, following Gobineau, has suggested that
the division of the Muslim world into the two great sects of Shiahs
and Sunis has its true cause in a division of races rather than in a
difference of religious belief.18 Islam, among the Indo-European
18 Essays on Criticism, p. 298.
Islam and Race Distinctions.
295
races, as in Turkey, Persia and India, is quite different from what
it is among the Semitic and semi-Semitic races in Arabia and
Africa.
Mr. Gladstone, in his recent pamphlet on the Turkish Question,
puts forward the following thoughtful and suggestive paragraph:—
It is not a question of Mohammedanism simply, but of Mohammedanism
compounded with the peculiar character of a race. They are not the mild
Mohammedans of India, nor the chivalrous Saladins of Syria, nor the cultured
Moors of Spain. They were, upon the whole, from the black day when they first
entered Europe, the one great anti-human specimen of humanity. Wherever
they went, a broad line of blood marked the tract behind them ; and, as far as
their dominion reached, civilisation disappeared from view. They represented
everywhere government by force, as opposed to government by law.
So far as India is concerned—the country which Major Osborn
hopes will be favourably affected by the work he has written—
there seems to be very little probability that Christianity, as
clisseminated by Europeans, will ever secure the ascendency over
tribal or national life which either Buddhism or Mohammedanism
has attained. The achievements of the Christian religion thus far
have been chiefly among the lower classes, who, as in all other
countries, having nothing to lose, readily accept revolutionary
changes in their politics or religion.
One of the most thoughtful and appreciative observers of the
results of Christian Missions in India, in a most elaborate article,
which has attracted considerable attention on both sides of the
Atlantic, refers to the present status of Christian converts in the
following terms;—
We regard with special interest, but also with special anxiety, the progress
which the native Church that has been planted in some districts in India is
making towards maturity. It is already distinguished for docility and liberality •
but we should wish to see it, on the one hand, freer from inherited faults and
failings, and, on the other, more self-reliant, more progressive, more compre¬
hensive, extending with equal zeal and rapidity anongst the higher and the
lower classes. At present too large a proportion of the native converts belong
to the lower classes and the aboriginal tribes When Hindus have become
Christians, they have not at the same time become English people, and that
means a great deal. It means they have not ceased to be timid, and they have
not become self-reliant, highspirited, and manly.19
19 Quarterly Review, April, 1875.
296
Christianity, Isjam and the Negro Race.
The rationale of this state of things is given by Mr. Bosworth
Smith as follows:—
In India Mohammedans make converts by hundreds from among the
Hindus, while Christians with difficulty make ten; and this, partly at least,,
because they receive their converts on terms of entire social equality, while
Europeans, in spite of all the efforts of missionaries to the contrary, seem either
unwilling or unable to treat their converts as other than inferiors. The Hindu
who becomes a Christian loses, therefore, his own cherished caste without being
admitted into that of his rulers. The Hindu who turns Mohammedan loses his
narrow caste, but he becomes a member of the brotherhood of Islam.
If a pariah becomes a Muslim he may rise to the throne. The
pariah who turns Christian is a pariah still.
An able and liberal writer in the Quarterly endorses this sad
view of things. He says:—
A considerable portion of the prejudice with which native Christians are
often regarded is owing, we believe, to pride of race. If caste pride prevails
largely amongst natives, pride of race prevails quite as largely amongst Euro¬
peans. Many of the English in India regard all natives with indiscriminate
aversion.
The only Christian effort or quasi-Christian effort which seems
to make any way among the higher classes is that inaugurated by
Keshub Chunder Sen, but it would seem that his efforts do not find
much favour in the eyes of the missionaries, who "feel towards
him as Athanasius might have felt towards Ulfilas, the Arian
Bishop of the Goths." 20
Major Osborn no doubt gives a correct account of the results
thus far achieved by British rule in India in the following vigorous
passage:—
What we have done for India is to convert it into a gigantic model prison.
The discipline we have established is admirable, but the people know they are
prisoners, and they hate us their jailers. And until a prison is found to be an
e ffective school for the inculcation of virtue, and a jailer a successful evangelist,
it is folly to expect the regeneration of India. Reports on her material and
moral progress will, of course, continue to be written; but if we estimate the
effects of British rule, not by trade statistics, but by its results on the spirits of
men, we shall find that the races of India have declined in courage and manliness,
and all those qualities which produce a vigorous nation, in proportion to the
period they have been subjected to the blighting influence of an alien despotism.
There is no human power which can avail to arrest the progress of decay in a
people bereft of political freedom, except the restitution of that freedom. This
20 Miiller's Chips, vol, iv, p. 274.
Islam and Race Distinctions. 297
sentence of doom glares forth from the records of all past history, like the
writing of fire on the wall of Belshazzar's palace. It is an hallucination to
suppose that British rule in India is a reversal of the inexorable decree.
Strange that one thus capable of appreciating the situation did
not strive, by making more adequate preparation for the work he
undertook, to do justice to the creed of so large a portion of his
fellow-subjects, and thus, as far as in him lay, to diminish by
literary tact and fairness the bitterness of grievances, which he
admits to be real, but which he alleges can never be removed by
the present social and political agencies !
We think we can understand, however, how difficult it must be
for a member of the conquering race, especially one of Major
Osborn's calling, to entertain any practical sympathy with the
feelings and aspirations of the subject race. It would seem that
the very qualities which render Anglo-Saxons irresistible as con¬
querors—that unrelenting sternness and uncompromising hardness
—disqualify them for the subtle and delicate task of assimilating
subject races and winning their confidence and affection.
Such a work as Major Osborn has proposed to write is no doubt
greatly needed; but, until either he himself, or someone else of
similar literary aspirations, and at his point of influence, conceives
the proper spirit and method which should be brought to the
execution of so important a task, we must recommend British
officers and intelligent Mohammedans in India to study the
valuable work of Mr. Bosworth Smith as a natural and genuine
product of the advancing civilisation of the age, supplying at once
an interesting illustration of the liberal and tolerant spirit of
Christianity, and a most effective agency in the noble work of
bringing about that mutual understanding and goodwill, which it
would appear is more needed in India than in any other country in
the world, between the comparatively small numbers who govern
and the millions over whom it is their lot to bear rule.
x
Africa and the Africans.
THE abolition of slavery in the United States was not an
isolated phenomenon. It was an important link in the great
chain of events which are leading up to the regeneration of Africa.
A Negro writer of the present day on Africa and African questions,
therefore, can neither forget American slavery nor the great
American Emancipation. He must, ever and anon, like the manu¬
mitted Hebrews of old, recall the " house of bondage," not only as
the fons et origo malorum to a large portion of his race, but as-the
type and representative of all the oppression which has everywhere
afflicted the Negro in the countries of his exile. He must also
remember the great deliverance, when the door of his prison-house
was forcibly opened, and five millions of his race marched out into
the open air of personal freedom, not only as the starting point for
a large section of his people on a loftier and nobler career, but as
an important step towards the amelioration and reconstruction of
his fatherland—as Heaven's intervention in the solution of a great
and intricate problem as the pledge and proof of God's providential
care and .beneficent purposes for Africa and the African.
Before the abolition of slavery in the United States, it was
generally taken for granted that, as things had been, so far as the
Negro was concerned, so they would continue to be; that there
was no other destiny for Africa than to be the hunting-ground for
unprincipled men of all other countries, and no other destiny for
the Negro than to continue in servitude to the man-hunters and their
abettors. And many an intelligent Christian thought he saw in
the Bible a clear warrant for this view.
Africa and the Africans.
299
But hardly had the Negro come out of the house of bondage in
America, when traditional views on the subject of his destiny-
began to fade away among the unwholesome superstitions of the
past. Events began to turn attention to his ancestral home.
The emancipation of millions of people of a foreign and uncongenial
race, in a country governed by republican institutions, could not
but awaken serious reflections in the minds of the thoughtful.
Here was a new problem for solution, and one which, to the minds
of many, presented terrible contingencies. They could not conceive
of five millions of blacks living among thirty millions of whites in
any other relation than that of servitude, especially when servitude
had been the uniform antecedent relation. But that relation had
been abruptly severed. The five millions of slaves were now free
men.
There were several proposals made for the disposition of this un¬
welcome and inconvenient element. Many thought that they should
be sent to the Great West, and be formed into a " territory " of the
United States. Others held that they should be absorbed into the
body politic under reconstruction laws. Others proposed their
concentration as free men and independent in the Gulf States.
Not a few advocated their deportation to the West Indies, or
Central America. A small number contended that an endeavour
should be made to return them to the land of their fathers. For
several years, this last proposition was ridiculed and contemned,
but it could not long be suppressed. It was founded upon a
principle inherent in humanity. It appealed to the irresistible
instincts and sympathy of race, and it has recently gained an
immense popularity among the blacks. Organisations for emigra¬
tion to Africa, called "Exodus Associations," are being formed
among them. While we write this, we learn that near two
hundred thousand are ready to leave for Africa. Those of the
Negroes in the United States who comprehend this movement and
aid it, and avail themselves of it, will be elevated, and will save
their posterity from perpetual degradation, or, possibly, extinction.
Those who ignore it, and fight against it, will be baffled and
thwarted in all their attempts at elevation in the land of their"
300 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
former oppressors, if they are not altogether crushed by the odds
against them. This is the teaching of all history.
In the meanwhile, events have been co-operating for the opening
of Africa. Scarcely had the emancipation proclamation been pro¬
mulgated, when Livingstone disappeared from the civilised world,
and lost himself in the wilds of Africa, just as the intensest interest
had been excited in the work of exploration which, as an humble
missionary, he had begun. In attempts to ascertain the where¬
abouts of the lost traveller, more and more of the country was
revealed to the outside world; and in the fifteen years which
have elapsed since the abolition of slavery in America, more
has been learned of Africa by the civilised world than was ever
previously known. Explorers from all the leading nations are
entering the country from every quarter. One of the Sovereigns
of Europe turns aside from the cares of State, and from the
great questions now interesting Europe, to give his personal
influence to stimulate the work of African exploration and
civilisation. The Eoyal Geographical Society has shown its
increased interest and determination in the matter, by instituting
an " African Exploration Fund," to be appropriated " to the
scientific examination of Africa (especially the central part of the
continent), in a systematic and organised manner."1 A proposition
has been laid before the American Congress for a preliminary
survey of the countries east of Liberia, with a view to the con¬
struction of a railroad from Monrovia to Central Africa. In Africa
itself, magnificence and beauty are being disclosed where the most
forbidding natural features were expected. More than a dozen
lakes have been discovered in regions formerly supposed to contain
only " trackless deserts of shifting sand." The continent has been
crossed from east to west by youthful and enthusiastic explorers.
So that the exiled African, returning to the land of his ancestors,
will not be journeying to a country of which he has no knowledge.
The general ignorance of this continent, which only a few years
ago prevailed, when it used to be said that " our maps of the moon
1 Circular issued by the Koyal Geographical Society, 1877.
Africa and the Africans.
301
were more correct and complete than those of interior Africa," can
never again exist.
But, while every effort is made to explore and describe the
country, very little attempt is made to study the man of Africa.
It is very natural that adventurous travellers should deem it the
most important part of their mission to describe the country, to
spend their time in telling of what the outside world is consciously
and confessedly ignorant, and of which, therefore, there is the
greatest anxiety to gather information. The geographical problem
presses for solution. As to the Man, there is not this anxiety.
The outside world thinks it knows the Man of Africa. Has not the
Negro been seen as a labourer in every part of the world ? Has he
not for centuries been on the plantations in all the Western hemi¬
sphere ? Have not numerous travellers written about him, and has
he not been minutely described by scientific men, from his skull to
his heels ? But it is beginning to be apprehended now by the
more thoughtful, that, after all, the Man of Africa is not under¬
stood. There is now more thinking, writing, learning, and talking
about Africa than ever before. Still the notions of Europeans are
extremely vague about the Man, On two points only they seem to
be clear, viz., first, as to the irrepressible or inextinguishable
character of the Man—that, he will not fade away or become
extinet before Europeans,- as the American and Australian abori¬
gines have done ; and, secondly, that in any calculations looking to
the material improvement or aggrandisement of his native home,
he cannot be wisely ignored. Further than this, all is dark to the
European mind. Only the Negro will be able to explain the Negro
to the rest of mankind.
We have travellers in Africa belonging to all the principal
nations of the world, and all, in a greater or less degree, indulge in
strains of disparagement of the Man. And this not as a rule, and
not even generally, from a desire to be unfair, but partly from
preconceived notions of the Negro, imbibed from reading or hear¬
say in the course of their preparation for their journey; partly
from the influence of their atmospheric surroundings in the field
of their investigations; and partly, also, on the principle that it is
302 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
easier to pull down than to build up; and that there is a sort of
fame attached to the great destroyer. The names of the builders of
mighty pyramids may be forgotten with the ages, while the name
of the destroyer of a magnificent temple has lingered in the
memory of generations.
There is no possibility of entering Africa, either from the east
or west, without passing through a belt of malarious country by
which the strongest constitutions are affected. A pernicious
miasma receives strangers at the threshold of the continent. Their
whole nervous system becomes disordered—the action of the liver
is deranged. They become the prey of melancholy in its literal,
etymological sense, and in this abnormal state of mental impressi¬
bility they take the most gloomy views of the people, and reproduce
their own preconceived or favourite types of the African. In a
letter to the New York Herald, Dr. Livingstone says:—
The irritability produced by disease made me pigheaded. The same cause
operates with modern travellers, so that they are unable to say a civil word
about the natives." Savages seldom deceive you, if put upon their honour; yet
men turn up the whites of their eyes, as if deception showed an anomalous
character in the African. Modern travellers affect a tone of moral superiority
that is nauseous.
And in his works he frequently warns the reader against
accepting, without qualification, the statements of some African
travellers about the natives. Dr. Johnson says, " Every man is a
rascal as soon as he is sick."
While, therefore, we duly appreciate the geographical or mate¬
rial results of the labours of modern explorers of Africa ; while we
cannot but admire their gigantic physical and moral courage, the
inextinguishable faith in themselves and their destiny which sus¬
tained them in their perilous labours, we cannot admit that the
philosophical results of their efforts have been satisfactory. When
they attempt to transcend the physical- m material, there js con^
tradic£ion^n3*aonfusion. There is want of clearness in the pictures
they draw; and the most skilful and accurate delineator has suc¬
ceeded in producing but clumsy daguerreotypes or distorted photo¬
graphs of the superficial life of the people?" TEe^European "world
is, as yet, only in the infano
Africa and the Africans.
303
No European statesman or philanthropist has, as yet, even at-'
tempted to grapple with it. Far more difficult of settlement than the
sources^ of the Nile, the intellectual character and susceptibility
of the Negro will probably, for ages yet, elude the grasp and com¬
prehension „of the most sagacious European.'? Livingstone was
the first of modern Europeans to approach the source of the Nile
and indicate its locality; so, likewise, he has come nearer than any
other European to understanding the Man of Africa. And, like all
true philosophers, he never dogmatises as to the results of his
investigations" in that direction. He of all travellers made the
Man an object of his study, and the benefit of the man the ultimate
•aim of his labours. "When one travels," he said, "with the
specific object in view of ameliorating the condition of the natives,
every act becomes ennobled."2
In his letter to James Gordon Bennett, under date November,
1871, he says: "If my disclosures regarding the terrible Ujijian
slavery should lead to the suppression of the East Coast slave
trade, I shall regard that as a greater matter by far than the
discovery of all the Nile sources together."
The African is now judged by the specimens in exile and along
a coast—more spoilt and debauched than benefited by foreign
intercourse—just as the physical character of the interior was
inferred, in former times, from the lowlands and swamps seen along
the margin of the continent. No Eoderick Murchison has arisen
yet in the intellectual world to lay down with any definiteness the
character of the mental landscape of the Negro. No Professor
Hall has yet descried the remote satellite of his genius. Living¬
stone has come the nearest to fulfilling the office of such a
philosopher. He had the first and most important pre-requisite
to proficiency in that class of study, viz., sympathy with his subject.
He not only loved Africa, but the African. He had an instinctive
appreciation of the peculiarities and varieties of African character,
and so remarkable a power of blending his observations into a
harmonious whole, that he was able, in no little degree, to
2 Last Journals, vol. i, p. 13.
304 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
emancipate himself, notwithstanding his physical sufferings, from
the trammels of his race-prejudices, and with that insight and
discrimination which a correct sympathy gives, to select the
materials for his delineation of African character—dealing with
Africans not only in their abnormal and degraded forms, upon
which most travellers love to dwell, but studying the deeper aspects
and finer capacities of the people. He has thus become the
popular and most trustworthy teacher of the best portion of the
Christian world with regard to the African.
Nearly all other modern travellers have regarded the Man of
Africa with contempt, in comparison with the natural features—the
physical grandeur and material resources—of the country. Solum
melius jpopulo. Mr. Herbert Spencer, with the aid of his friends,
has prepared a basis for a work on African Sociology, in the shape
of a classified compilation of materials taken from the works of
writers on Africa. But as his facts have been drawn so largely
from second-hand sources, and from the writings of travellers
whose observations were confined to very small localities, and
made under the disturbing influence of disease, we cannot expect
that the work, when completed, though it will be one of con¬
siderable merit and a monument of industry, will be a trustworthy
guide. The author will have relied, to a very large extent, upon
isolated cases and ex parte statements.
It has been to us a source of surprise and regret to notice that
the Westminster Review, usually so fair and candid in dealing with
the Negro, should have allowed itself—chiefly under the guidance
of Sir Samuel Baker—to carry on a discussion on Africa and the
African in the spirit and temper manifested in its article oh ' Slavery
in Africa ' (April, 1877). The Eeviewer endorses as correct the
superficial and contemptuous estimate of Negro character as given
by Sir Samuel Baker. With the writings of Livingstone before
him, and with numerous admissions in favour of the African from
Sir Samuel Baker himself, the Eeviewer yet makes every available
use of Baker's works, not to accept his liberality, but to emphasise
the suggestions of what we cannot but characterise as his in¬
veterate prejudices.
Africa and the Africans.
The intelligent Negro traveller in foreign lands comes across
four classes of Europeans. First, the class who are professionally
philanthropic. These, at the sight of the Negro, go into ecstasies
•over this " man and brother," and put themselves to all sorts of
inconvenience to prove to this unfortunate member of the human
xace that they believe God hath made of one blood all nations of
men, &c. The second class is composed of those who, at the
sight of the Negro, have all their feelings of malice, hatred, and
all uncharitableness excited, and who adopt every expedient and
avail themselves of every occasion to give exhibitions of their
vehement antagonism. The third class regard him with con¬
temptuous indifference, and care to exhibit neither favour nor
dislike, whatever his merit or demerit. The fourth class consists
of those who treat him as they would a white man of the same
degree of culture and behaviour, basing their demeanour altogether
upon the intellectual or moral qualities of the man. To the
cultivated Negro, of course, the last class is the most interesting
to meet, and if he had his choice between classes first and second,
he would choose the second. Writers on Africa and the African
race may be divided into very much the same classes; and the race
has scarcely suffered more from the violent antagonism of its
foes than from the false and undue admiration of its friends.
Before pointing out some of the errors of the Westminster
Reviewer, we will take a brief survey of the past and present history
of the African slave trade, and see how far it has introduced waste
and disorder into Africa, and prevented the progress of the people.
Of course we have no detailed account of the proceedings of the
slave-hunters who captured the unfortunate creatures represented
on Egyptian monuments; but we have pretty full accounts of the
origin and character of the modern slave trade, and we give here a
summary from an able and well-informed source :—
Within two centuries after the suppression of slavery in Europe, the
Portuguese, in imitation of those piracies which existed in the uncivilised ages
of the world, made their descents on Africa, and committing depredations on
the coast, first carried the wretched inhabitants into slavery. This practice,
thus inconsiderable at its commencement, became general, and our ancestors,
together with Spaniards, French, and most of the maritime powers of Europe,
3°6
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
soon followed the piratical example; and thus did the Europeans revive a
custom which their own ancestors had so lately exploded from a consciousness
of its impiety. The unfortunate Africans fled from the coast, and sought, in the
interior parts of the country, a retreat from the persecution of their invaders;
but the Europeans still pursued them, entered their rivers, sailed up into the
heart of the country, surprised the Africans in their recesses, and carried them
into slavery. The next step which the Europeans found it necessary to take
was that of settling in the country, of securing themselves by fortified posts,,
of changing their system of force into that of pretended liberality; and of
opening by every species of bribery and corruption a communication with the
natives. Accordingly they erected their forts and factories, landed their
merchandise, and endeavoured by a peaceful deportment, by presents, and by
every appearance of munificence, to allure the attachment and confidence of
the Africans. Treaties of peace and commerce were concluded with the chiefs
of the country, in which it was agreed that the kings on their part should from,
this period sentence prisoners of war and convicts to European servitude;
and that the Europeans should supply them in return with the luxuries of
Europe.3
Thus began that horrible traffic which for generations has
distracted the African continent. The discovery of America stimu¬
lated the traffic and intensified its horrors.
Africans were deported to slaughter virgin forests, to test the capability of
virgin soils, and to enrich both hemispheres with sugar, tobacco, cotton and
wines. And it is due to the terrors of its harbourless coast, the malaria of
its mangrove swamps, its burning deserts, its dangerous beasts and reptiles, its
impenetrable jungles, its wary tribes prepared either for fight or flight, that
Africa was not entirely depopulated to satisfy the greed of Christian nations for
slaves, during the last four centuries.
Though, under the pressure of enlightened Christian sentiment,
the traffic has been abandoned by Christian nations, still the
continent is made to bleed at almost every pore. Notwithstanding
all that has been written and said on this subject, those who have
seen anything of the horrors of the traffic—which no pen can
adequately describe—are solemnly impressed with the necessity of
urging continually upon the public mind, with every possible
emphasis and reiteration, the importance of its suppression.
Livingstone says:—
"When endeavouring to give some account of the slave trade of East Africa it
was necessary to keep far within the truth, in order not to be thought guilty of
exaggeration; but in sober seriousness the subject does not admit of exaggera-
3 Rees's New Cyclopedia; art. 'Slavery.'
Africa and the Africans.
307
tion. To overdraw its evils is a simple impossibility. The sights I have seen,,
though common incidents of the traffic, are so nauseous, that I always strive
to drive them from my memory. In the case of most disagreeable recollec¬
tions I can succeed, in time, in consigning them to oblivion; but the slaving
scenes come back unbidden, and make me start up at dead of night, horrified
by their vividness.
Sir Samuel Baker, in his Albert Nyanza, describes an attack
made upon a village for slaves, as follows:—
Marching through the night, guided by their Negro hosts, they bivouac within
an hour's march of the unsuspecting village, doomed to an attack about half
an hour before the break of day. Quietly surrounding the sleeping villages, they
fire the grass huts in all directions, and pour volleys of musketry through the
flaming thatch. Panic-stricken, the unfortunate victims rush from the burning
dwellings, the men are shot down like pheasants in a battue, while the women
and children are kidnapped and secured, the herds of cattle are driven away,
and the human victims lashed together, forming a living chain, while a general
plunder of the premises ensues.
In his Ismailia he say:—
It is impossible to know the actual number of slaves taken from Central
Africa annually The loss of life attendant upon the capture and
subsequent treatment of the slaves is frightful. The result of this forced
emigration, combined with the insecurity of life and property, is the withdrawal
of the population from the infested districts. The natives have the option of
submission to every insult, to the violation of their women and the pillage of
their crops, or they must either desert their homes or seek independence in
distant districts, or they must ally themselves with their oppressors to assist in
the oppression of other tribes. Thus the seeds of anarchy are sown throughout
Africa. The result is horrible confusion, distrust on all sides, treachery,
devastation and ruin.4
Graves and numerous skeletons (says Cameron) testified to the numbers
whose lives had been sacrificed on this trying march, whilst slave-clogs and forks-
still attached to some bleached bones, or lying by their side, gave only too
convincing a proof that the demon of the slave trade still exerted his influence
in this part of Africa.5
Schweinfurth, the German traveller, who travelled for some
time in charge of the Nile slavers, and witnessed their diabolical
proceedings, says that the " traders of Darfoor and Kordofan are as-
coarse, unprincipled, and villainous a set as imagination can
conceive."
An avenging N emesis must surely follow in the footsteps of such
unparalleled atrocity and wickedness.
* Ismailia, vol. i, pp. 4, 5. 5 Across Africa, vol. ii, p. 256.
3°8
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
The Westminster Eeviewer, with all these facts before him, and
after quoting from Livingstone a statement which justly attributes
the backward condition of Africans to the disturbing influence of
.the slave trade, chooses to select the very lowest tribes upon which
to make his unfavourable comments, and from which to infer the
•character of the whole race, and seems to suppose that he has
clenched and riveted his disparaging work by introducing the
following sketch of the Negro as furnished to his hand by Sir
Samuel Baker:—
Negroes seldom think of the future; they cultivate the ground at various
seasons, but they limit their crops to their natural wants; therefore an unexpected
bad season reduces them to famine. They grow a variety of cereals, which, with
-a minimum of labour, yield upon their fertile soil a large return. Nothing
would be easier than to double the production, but this would entail the
necessity of extra store-room, which means extra labour. Thus, with happy
indifference, the native thinks lightly of to-morrow. He eats and drinks while
his food lasts, and when famine arrives he endeavours to steal from his
neighbours . . . nothing is so distasteful to the Negro as regular daily labour,
thus nothing that he possesses is durable. His dwelling is of straw or wattles,
his crops suffice for support from hand to mouth; and as his forefathers worked
-only for themselves and not for posterity, so also does the. Negro of to-day.
■Thus, without foreign assistance, the Negro a thousand years hence will be no
better than the Negro of to-day, as the Negro of to-day is in no superior position
to that of his ancestors some thousand years ago.
Such is the indictment against a whole race drawn by an
amateur philanthropist, who only saw portions of the people in one
corner of the continent, where, by his own account, they are so
harassed and persecuted by the slave-traders that progress is
impossible. None more eloquently or truthfully than Sir Samuel
.Baker has described the horrors of the slave trade and its blighting
effects upon the country and people. "What curse," he asks, " lies
•so heavily upon Africa ? " He answers :—
It is the internal traffic in slaves. All idea of commerce, improvement, and
.the advancement of the African race must be discarded until the traffic in
slaves shall have ceased to exist.
In a curious paragraph the Eeviewer apparently apologises for
4he slavers by involving the native chiefs who sell slaves in equal, if
not greater, guilt; but in the very next sentence he recovers his
mental equilibrium and sense of justice, and tells us of—
Crafty slave-dealers, who, under various pretexts, set chief against chief,
Africa and the Africans.
309
knowing that whichever wins they will be the gainers, obtaining thereby the
numerous slaves they covet.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that, under such circum¬
stances, Africans sell each other. Who was it that sold those-
Angles whom Gregory saw in the slave-market at Rome ? Is it not
well known that Saxon husbands and parents sold their wives and
daughters ? Did not slavery prevail in every country in Europe ?
Now, suppose that during the days of European ignorance and
darkness, when the people sold their own children, the large alien
populations of Asia had agreed to make constant incursions into
Europe and stimulate the traffic in slaves. Suppose the result of
the battle of Marathon had been different and Europe had become
the vassal of Asia, and Asiatic hordes had entered its territory for
the purposes for which both Europeans and Asiatics have entered
Africa, and had continued their depredations to this period, what
would be the condition of Europe to-day ?
It cannot have escaped the most superficial reader of African
history that the ravages introduced by the slave trade have had a
distinctly marked effect not only on the personal or tribal character
of the inhabitants, but on their social organisation—on the whole
industrial and economic life of the country. Their condition for
centuries has been one of restless anarchy and insecurity.
Both Livingstone and Baker describe regions free from the
slave trade, where the people were superior and had many of the
elements of progress; but they enjoy only a sort of insular
immunity with all the disadvantages of such a position. Their
dwelling-places are like islands in piratical seas, kept, as it were,
constantly under martial law, with the means of defence always
carried about or accessible at a moment's notice—forever on the
alert to hold their own against the traders who menace them from:
every quarter. These regions the cowardly marauders avoid.
Speaking of the warlike Baris, Sir Samuel Baker says:—
I discovered that these people had never had any communication with the
slave-traders, who were afraid to molest so powerful a tribe.
Mr. Stanley, in his address at Cape Town in November last,
when fresh from his great achievement of the discovery of the
3io
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
course of the Lualaba-Congo River, described certain inaccessible
localities as follows:—
I can assure you that on this map—and it will probably be the last part of
Africa to be explored—there is a part close to Zanzibar which every expedition
takes good care to avoid. It lies between Mombassa and Lake Victoria, and
there lives there the ferocious tribe of the Wahomba. An expedition of a
thousand men could go there and penetrate the country, but with an ordinary
travelling expedition it would be impossible. Then there is the Somab country ;
I should like to see what travellers would make of that. And there is another
district which would tax the skill of the best explorer. From the north end of
Lake Tanganyika to the south end of Lake Albert Nyanza there is a pretty and
very interesting district, but it is a country where you will have to fight if you
want to explore it. Here is another little district close to the West Coast, and
yet in two hundred years the Portuguese have been unable to explore it.
Between St. Paul and a part called Ambriz, a distance of only sixty miles,
there is no communication by land, and yet it is Portuguese territory. There
are martial as well as pacific tribes.6
Still, formidable as are the " martial" tribes, tlie exigencies of
their condition are a perpetual bar to progress.
We can scarcely enter into the feelings (says Livingstone) of those who are
harried by marauders. Like Scotland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
harassed by Highland Celts on one side and English Marehmen on the other,
and thus kept in the rearward of civilisation, these people have rest neither for
many days nor for few.7
The Eeviewer, after pulling the Negro down to the lowest
possible point in the scale of being, to which Sir Samuel Baker in
his aggressive dogmatism and satirical humour has reduced him,
suggests the uselessness of endeavouring to educate him, in the
ordinary sense and by the ordinary methods, we presume, of
European education. He says :—
That the Negro is not incapable of civilisation, has indeed been proved, yet
the testimony of Dr. Livingstone would tend to show that education with the
Negro does not necessarily fit him for helping to elevate his race. " Educated
blacks from a distance " (says Livingstone) "are to be avoided; they are ex¬
pensive, and are too much of gentlemen for your work."
With regard to the character of the " education " which the
Negro has received, and is now, as a general thing, receiving from
his European teacher, and to the estimate which the Negro, as he
rises in civilisation, intelligence, and culture, will put upon that
G Times, November 30, 1877. 7 Last Journals, vol. ii, p. 143.
Africa and the Africans.
311
" education," we venture to refer the Eeviewer to articles dealing
with this subject in Fraser's Magazine for November, 1875, and
May and October, 1876.
Then, as if struck by the injustice of his general line of argument,
the Eeviewer believes himself to have fallen upon instances which
must beyond all cavil substantiate his conclusions. He proceeds :—
If it should be considered unfair to judge of the Negro in his present con
dition in his native land, ruined and demoralised as it undoubtedly is by the
slave trade, no objection can be raised to an inference drawn from his condition
as a free man in our colonies, or in those native free states to which he has
been consigned by a freedom-loving people. If we look at the present state of
Hayti, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, the attempts of the Negro at self-government
are not encouraging; these attempts seem generally to end in anarchy, in a
burlesque of everything civilised, and constant revolutions.
Then, as if still conscious of the unfairness of his position, the
Eeviewer adds:—
It could, perhaps, hardly be otherwise; we can scarcely expect people down¬
trodden for ages to develop at once, on recovering their freedom, a love of order
and an aptitude for civilisation, which have been with us the slow growth of
many' centuries. All impartial writers are agreed in considering the sudden
emancipation of the Negro as a great political blunder.
But the evil in so-called Negro civilised communities lies deeper
than anything suggested by the Eeviewer—deeper than the down¬
trodden condition for centuries of the people—deeper, far deeper,
than their " sudden emancipation."
Among the evils wrought by the slave trade, none has been
more damaging to Africa and the Negro race than the promiscuous
manner in which the tribes have been thrown together and con¬
founded in the lands of their exile. And in dealing with the Negro
question European writers overlook this fact altogether. There are
Negroes and Negroes. The numerous tribes inhabiting the vast
continent of Africa can no more be regarded as in every respect
equal than the numerous peoples of Asia or Europe can be so
regarded. There are the same tribal or family varieties among
Africans as among Europeans. And the Eeviewer does not seem to
be ignorant of this. He says :—
We must not lose sight of the fact that there are many races in Africa—that
the typical Negro with prognathous jaw and woolly hair, who has been so'
3 12 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
eagerly sought ag a slaves in all ages, is quite as distinct from the Kaffir, and
from many of the races described by travellers in the interior, as from the
diminutive Bushman, the feeble remnant of an older race now extinct.
This is true : there are the Foulahs inhabiting the region of the
Upper Niger, the Mandingoes, the Housas, the Bornous of Sene-
gambia, the Nubas of the Nile region, of Darfoor and Kordofan, the
Ashantees, Fantees, Dahomians, Yorubas, and that whole class of
tribes occupying the eastern and middle and western portions of the
continent north of the equator. Then there are the tribes of Lower
Guinea and Angola, so much ridiculed by Winwood Eeade and
Monteiro; all these, differing in original bent and traditional
instincts, have been carried as slaves to foreign lands and classed
as one. And in speaking of them they are frequently characterised
in one or two sentences. Now it should be evident that no short
description can include all these people; no single definition, how¬
ever comprehensive, can embrace them all. Yet writers are fond
of selecting the prominent traits of single tribes with which they
are best acquainted, and applying them to the whole race. So
the Eeviewer makes a disparaging inference as to the character
and capacity of all Africans from the want of success which has
attended the efforts of so-called Negro communities in Christian
lands, who, under the government of Europeans, show no marked
ability; or who, as in the case of Hayti and Liberia, have set up
for themselves, as alleged, ill-contrived, unsuitable, or unstable
governments.
In the first place, these Negroes, as far as they are purely
African, do not represent even the average intellectual or moral
qualities of the African at home. The Africans who were carried
into slavery were mostly of the lowest orders—of the criminal and
servile classes—the latter of whom had lived for generations at
home with " half their worth conveyed away," and who, it was not
to be supposed, would improve in manly qualities under the circum¬
stances to which they were introduced in foreign lands. Only here
and there a leading mind—a real Man—-was carried into captivity.
And where these did not succumb under the new conditions, and
become " the foul hyena's prey," they invariably took prominent
Africa and the Africans.
313
positions among their own people. In the United States and the
West Indies there were numbers, whose descendants may be seen
to this day wearing the mark of superiority, who were neither
criminal nor servile in their antecedents. These inspired the
respect, confidence and even admiration of the oppressors of their
race; and, for their sakes, the dominant class would have made
large concessions to the African ; but as no rule could be established
to meet exceptional cases, they were obliged to deal with all accord¬
ing to the regulations established for the majority.
And where under the lead of the superior few of the race, as in
Hayti, or, under the philanthropic suggestions of the benevolent
among their oppressors, they are assisted in the establishment of a
separate nationality, as in Liberia, still the specific gravity of the
majority has a continual tendency to hamper and thwart the efforts
of the minority.
There is a perpetual struggle between the very few who are
aiming to forward the interests of the many, and the profanum
vulgus, largely in the majority.
If any cannot imagine such differences between Negroes and
Negroes, perhaps their imagination may be stimulated if we call
their attention to differences equally marked which grew up
between white men and white men in a highly civilised country.
Travellers in the Southern States of America, before the abolition
of slavery, described two classes of whites—the rich, aristocratic
planters, and the poor, mean whites—" white trash " as they were
sometimes called. They were described by all writers, especially
Mr. Frederick Law Olmstead, as
Loafers, squatters, dwellers in the woods, hangers-on among the cities, amount¬
ing to several millions, and forming, in fact, a numerical majority, and about as
ignorant, squalid and brutal as could well be imagined. The dislike which
the planters felt to the neighbourhood of the poor whites on account of their
thievish habits and contagious idleness induced them to buy out the poor
whites as fast almost as they settled near them.
Yet these people enjoyed equal social and political rights with
the wealthiest or best educated whites. Now, suppose, by some
means, the comparatively wealthy few had been reduced to an
equal pecuniary condition with the " white trash,' the latter retain-
Y
314 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
ing the numerical superiority, and they had been required or had
undertaken to form an independent state on democratic principles,
without extraneous stimulus or repression, what should we
naturally expect to be the result ?
The cruel accidents of slavery and the slave trade drove all
Africans together, and no discrimination was made in the shambles
between the Foulah and the Timneh, the Mandingo and the Mendi,
the Ashantee and the JFantee, the Eboe and the Congo—between
the descendants of nobles and the offspring of slaves, between
kings and their subjects—all were placed on the same level, all of
black skin and woolly hair were " niggers," chattels, having no
rights that their oppressors were bound to respect. And when, by
any course of events, these people attempt to exercise independent
government, they start in the eyes of the world as Africans, with¬
out the fact being taken into consideration that they belong to
tribes and families differing widely in degrees of intelligence and
capacity, in original bent and susceptibility.
But the laws affecting other portions of humanity are not
supposed by certain writers to affect the Negro. He is an excep¬
tional being, made, if not now by the consent of enlightened men
for perpetual servitude, at least for the finger of scorn to point at.
Learned reviewers, masters of style, and apparently the ablest
minds, do not think it an unworthy amusement to rail at the Negro
—to make him the object, if not always of energetic vituperation
and invective, of satirical humour and practical jokes. In reading
through the African experiences of Sir Samuel Baker, as furnished
by himself, especially in his Ismailia, one cannot help noticing that
however panegyrical the terms in which a benefactor may be intro¬
duced on the stage, he is never dismissed without whatever short¬
comings he may have had being brought into prominence. He is
sure not to be let go without a parting touch of satirical disparage¬
ment. In describing the departure from Khartoum (February 8,
1870), he says with a sneer, "I had had to embrace the governor,
then a blacJc pacha, a rara avis in terris." This habit of indulging
in caricature for the sake of amusement easily leads to a spirit of
misrepresentation and calumny.
Africa and the Africans. 315
In speaking of the love of music for which. Africans are every¬
where noted, Sir Samuel Baker says, with a touch of exaggera¬
tion :—
The natives are passionately fond of music. I believe the safest way to
travel in these wild countries would be to play the cornet without ceasing,
which could insure a safe passage. A London organ-grinder would march
through Central Africa followed by an admiring and enthusiastic crowd,
who, if his tunes were lively, would form a dancing escort of most untiring
materials. ... A man who, in full Highland dress, could at any time
collect an audience by playing a lively air with the bagpipe, would be regarded
with great veneration by the natives, and would be listened to when an arch¬
bishop by his side would be totally disregarded.
After quoting this passage, a grave American divine, in an
elaborate article on Africa in an American Review, could see
nothing from which to infer any noble qualities in the Negro, and
could not let the opportunity pass without indulging in the
conventional giggle. Continuing Baker's joke, he still further
degrades the impression, in order, apparently, to develop the smile
into a " broad grin." He says :—
An African's religion finds vent at his heels. Songs and dances form no
inconsiderable part of the worship at a Southern coloured camp-meeting. If
we were constructing a ritual for the race we should certainly include this
Shaker element.8
"An African's religion" is inferred from what takes place at
" a Southern coloured camp-meeting." " A ritual for the whole
race" must " include the Shaker element." We would assure the
reverend doctor that such a " ritual" would be an egregious failure.
The " Shaker element " prevails chiefly, if not entirely, among
Negroes or " coloured " people, who have been trained under the
influence of the denomination of which Dr. Wentworth himself is a
distinguished ornament. But only a comparatively small number
of Africans are shouting Methodists. The greater portion of the
race who are not Pagans are either Mohammedans or Roman
Catholics, and their "religion " does not " find vent at their heels."
The traveller in Africa will find himself in need of far more solid
acquirements when passing through Mohammedan districts, than
the ability to play the cornet, organ, or bagpipe. It is due,
8 Methodist Quarterly Review (New York); January, 1876.
316 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
however, to the qualities whose presence is implied by the African s
love of music that bilious and irritable travellers pass through
their country not only with impunity, but receiving the kindest
treatment.
Wo man singfc, da lass dicli ruhig nieder,
Bose Menschen haben keine Lieder.
And here we cannot but call attention to a fact which, in the
intelligent negro, undermines his admiration of foreign races, viz.,
that his race, numerically the weakest, has been through the ages
selected for oppression and ridicule by the other branches of the
human family. If there are, according to the present estimate,
twelve hundred millions of human beings upon the earth, two
hundred millions of whom are Africans, we have in the treatment
which Africans have received from the rest of mankind one of the
remarkable illustrations of the advantage the strong are prone to
take of the weak. Ten hundred millions against two hundred
millions. Ten persecuting, abusing, ridiculing two. And this has
been the case in all the ages, ten against two. And yet, men,
apparently thoughtful, affect to wonder that Negroes have appeared
in all the historic periods as slaves—have been represented on all
the monuments of Egypt as carried in chains in triumphal pro¬
cessions.
But in spite of all, the Negro race has yet its part to play—a
distinct part—in the history of humanity, and the continent of
Africa will be the principal scene of its activity. The mistake which
Europeans often make in considering questions of Negro improve¬
ment and the future of Africa, is in supposing that the Negro is the
European in embryo—in the undeveloped stage—and that when,
bye-and-by, he shall enjoy the advantages of civilisation and culture,
he will become like the European; in other words, that the Negro
is on the same line of progress, in the same groove, with the
European, but infinitely in the rear. The Saturday Revieiv, not
long since, in a remarkable leading article on American politics,
in which some curious inaccuracies occurred, made the following
statement:—
On their own continent, Africans seem to be irreclaimable, but after two or
three generations of servitude they begin to resemble inferior Europeans. The
Africa and the Africans. 317
slave trade may perhaps eventually prove to have been the first cause of Negro
civilisation. The mimetic instinct of the Negro race tends, like the similar
faculty in children, to accelerate the progress of unconscious education,9
This view proceeds upon the assumption that the two races are
called to the same work and are alike in potentiality and ultimate
development, the Negro only needing the element of time, under
certain circumstances, to become European. But to our mind it is
not a question between the two races of inferiority or superiority.
There is no absolute or essential superiority on the one side,
nor absolute or essential inferiority on the other side. It is
a question of difference of endowment and difference of destiny.
No amount of training or culture will make the Negro a European;
on the other hand, no lack of training or deficiency of culture will
make the European a Negro. The two races are not moving in the
same groove, with an immeasurable distance between them, but on
parallel lines. They will never meet in the plane of their activities
so as to coincide in capacity or performance. They are not identical,
as some think, but unequal; they are distinct but equal; an idea
that is in no way incompatible with the Scripture truth that God
hath made of one blood all nations of men.
All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of time ;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low ;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.10
The African at home needs to be surrounded by influences from
abroad, not that he may change his nature, but that he may im¬
prove his capacity. Hereditary qualities are fundamental, not to
be created or replaced by human agencies, but to be assisted and
improved. Nature determines the hind of tree, environments
determine the quality and quantity of the fruit. We want the
eye and ear of the Negro to be trained by culture that he may see
8 Saturday Review, March 24, 1877.
10 Longfellow.
318 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
more clearly what he does see, and hear more distinctly what he does
hear. We want him to be surrounded by influences from abroad to
promote the development of his latent powers, and bring the poten¬
tiality of his being into practical or actual operation. He has
capacities and aptitudes which the world needs, but which it will
never enjoy until he is fairly and normally trained-^ Each race is
endowed with peculiar talents, and watchful to the last degree is
the great Creatorj?ver-the individuality, the freedom and indepen¬
dence of each. In the music of the universe each shall give a
different sound, but necessary to the grand symphony. There are
several sounds not yet brought out, and the feeblest of all is that
hitherto produced by the Negro ; but only he can furnish it. And
when he does furnish it in its fulness and perfection, it will be
welcomed with delight by the world.
When the African shall come forward with his peculiar gifts,
he will fill a place never before occupied. But he must have
a fair opportunity for his development. Misunderstood and
often misrepresented even by his best friends, and persecuted and
maligned by his enemies, he is, nevertheless, coming forward,
gradually rising under the influences of agencies seen and unseen.
It is the fashion of some friends of the African to deplore his
past, or lack of a past, and to infer from this fact an " inferior
faculty of self-development " in the race.
But, with the facts before us, we cannot admit the fairness of
such an inference as these sympathising critics of the race are
disposed to draw. No one who has paid any attention to the
subject at all will aver that there is any possibility of development
without the interference of a higher type of intelligence or energy,
which must either come from without or must be assisted by
favourable conditions within, in order to become continuous or
general. Mr. Stanley, having become, on a second journey through
Africa, better acquainted with the people, takes a far more accurate
view of them than he was disposed to do when he passed through
the country in his hasty and impatient search for Livingstone.
In his address at Cape Town, he endeavoured to show
the kinship in habits, propensity and feeling between the
Africa and the Africans. 319
black man and the white man, illustrating this by several com¬
parisons between Central Africa at present and the Homeric age.11
And in his address in London, before the Eoyal Geographical
Society, in February last, he remarked : " It has been said that the
African is unimprovable and irredeemable; but. that I wholly and
utterly deny."
It is a fact that a description of the condition of things in portions
of Central Africa truthfully given would read like an account of the
earlier ages of Greece and Eome. We have ourselves visited remote
and sequestered districts about the head-waters of the Niger, where
we have found Negro Mohammedan students devoting themselves
to literature with an indifference to the outside world which
reminded us of the habits of the monks in the middle ages, who,
in retirement and seclusion, pursued literature for its own sake ;12
and if the proceedings of chiefs in council which we have witnessed
were written down in plain, unadorned style, the account would
read like descriptions in Caesar's Commentaries of the doings of the
Celts in the days of their unsophisticated habitudes. Now, if
Greeks, Romans, or Celts had been smothered in the cradle of their
civilisation by extraneous violence perpetuated to this time, is it
unreasonable to suppose that they would be found at this day in
much the same condition that Stanley found some of the African
tribes ? That these tribes have ever advanced so far is astounding,
considering what they have had to contend against.
Through the labours of Mr. Herbert Spencer and other thinkers
in that line, it has now come to be regarded as an elementary fact
among scientific men that societies are determined in their growth
by their environment, whether physical or human. " The self-
development of a society is limited by its environment." In
primitive and rudimentary societies there may occur exceptional
cases of individual power, where mental energy may introduce
changes and begin improvements; but if surrounding circumstances
are hostile, the influence will die with the introducer, and the
11 Times, Nov. 30, 1877.
12 See Barth's Travels in Central Africa; vol. iii, p. 373.
320 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
improvements will not be perpetuated. We are told by Mr. Spencer
that among the Karens "now and then a little Napoleon arises,
who subdues a kingdom to himself and builds up an empire.13 The
dynasties, however, last only with the controlling mind." There
have been similar experiences in Africa. Changes of vast importance
have taken place in the interior as a result of internal activity—of
individual intelligence and energy ;■ but instead of being perpetuated,
they have been destroyed by the hostile influences from without.
Dr. Barth tells of the ruins of the ancient capital of Bornou,
Ghasreggomo, about 13° N. lat., 22° E. long., situated in the finest
country in Bornou, with a rich alluvial soil; a country which
formerly teemed with hundreds of villages and was laid out in
cornfields, but which is now (or was when he saw it) almost
deserted, and covered with dense forests and impenetrable jungle,
and has become the haunt of the monkey and the hog, the elephant
and the lion. Barth noticed also the admirable brick structures of
the ruins of former towns in this neighbourhood, so much more
durable than the frail buildings of the present day. All this is
proof that there was a beginning of social advancement and well-
being in the days of security; but Negro slaves were wanted for
the Caucasians in North Africa and South-eastern Europe ; razzias
were encouraged, the slave-hunting Tawareks invaded the country,
and all progress was checked. And this is only one instance out of
thousands which might be recited. Thus the African has gone on
from generation to generation furnishing, in remote ages, materials
to swell the triumphal processions of Egyptian kings, and, in modern
times, strong arms for the plantations of the Western hemisphere,
and is taunted by his persecutors (and his friends) with his inability
to rise against this pressure.
In no part of Central Africa have any human agencies from
without exerted any uplifting power; no planetary influences,
according to mediaeval theory, have operated to produce any vari¬
ation from the regular type ; and, as we have just seen, there is no
internal tendency in any individual or race, as a rule, to vary
18 Principles of Sociology; p. 485.
Africa and the Africans.
321
from the ancestral organism. Africa needs wholesome interference
from without. There has been interference, but it has been for the
most part an interference of violence which, through the centuries,
has prevented the survival of any variation from the original type,
which would have pushed forward improvements in the country.
And now that the effort of the enlightened portion of humanity is
to suppress the violent interference and introduce agencies for the
improvement of the people, it is of the greatest possible importance
that the people be understood. From the want of appreciation of
their capacities and susceptibilities, innumerable are the theories
proposed for the amelioration of their condition, Sir Samuel Baker
advocates military discipline. He says:—
I believe that if it were possible to convert the greater portion of African
savages into disciplined soldiers, it would be a most rapid stride toward their
future civilisation. A savage who has lead a wild and uncontrolled life must
first learn to obey authority before any great improvement can be effected.11
He would apply force everywhere. Civilise Africa by force.
They must be " regimented " under captains of industry who will
•compel them to their task. The scourge and the sword must carry
out the views which Sir Samuel thinks good. He concludes a
glowing account of one of his military expeditions with the following
flourish:—
The Bari war was now over; on every side the natives had been thoroughly
subdued.15
Subdued! yes, possibly, but not brought over to respect and
affection. It is surprising that Sir Samuel Baker should not have
been able to see that his proceedings among the Baris, judging from
his own " unvarnished tale," were nothing of which to boast. " It
is probable," Livingstone generously says, " that actual experience
will correct the fancies which he (Sir Samuel) now puts forth as to
the proper mode of dealing with Africans."16 We cannot help
feeling that the erroneous theories held by travellers as to the
African seduce them often into serious blunders and grievous wrongs,
making the nationality and religion they represent an opprobrium,
and exposing themselves or their successors to needless peril.
14 Ismailia ; vol. i, p. 302. 15Ibid., vol. ii, p. 428. 16 Last Journals,\ol. ii, p. 155.
322 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
It is owing, in a great measure, to the inadequate theories held
by those who undertake to deal with the African, whether as friend
or foe, that while in the colonies along the coast European influence
and teaching furnish new elements of commercial and religious-
life, they are helpless to raise the people above the "mimetic"
stage, and endow them with creative or reproductive power. What
we want is, that the foreign information introduced should properly
educate the people—that is, should be so assimilated as to develop,,
and be fertilised by, native energy. We want to see the foreign
leaven so introduced as- to spread beyond the coast, transcend the-
malarious regions of the continent, and, taking possession of the
healthier and nobler tribes of the interior, leaven the whole lump,
I In order to bring about these results, those who from abroad
Assume to be teachers and guides should study the people so as to-
|>e able to deal scientifically and not empirically with them. By
this we mean that they should study the laws of growth as they
affect or pertain to the Negro race. The present practice of the
friends of Africa is to frame laws according to their own notions for
the government and improvement of this people, whereas God has
already enacted the laws governing in these affairs, which laws
should be carefully ascertained, interpreted and applied ; for until
they are found out and conformed to, all labour will be ineffective
and resultless. We may be told that this is a very difficult, if not
impossible task, for the European to perform, and that it is very far
to look ahead to the time when the Negro shall be able to do this
work for himself. This may be so ; but what we are aiming to
show, is, that in this direction, and this direction only, lies the hope
of Africa's future. Her ultimate usefulness and happiness will be
secured, so far as human instrumentality can bring them about,
on this line; and this is a subject to be carefully studied, especially
by the missionary, if Christianity is to take root at all in Africa,
or to be to the native anything more than a form of words. A
little common sense will do more for this country than a great
deal of moral preaching and the loftiest philanthropic purpose
without that elementary but rare quality.
We do not expect to see this continent, or any large portions of
Africa and the Africans.
323
it, under one government, either foreign or indigenous. But we do
expect to see, following the extinction of the slave trade, and the
introduction from abroad of facilities for internal communicationr
the increase of intelligence, the development of wealth, and the
growth of free principles. We expect to see the native tribes or
communities so evenly balanced among themselves as to bury for
ever in oblivion even the tradition of tribal or individual aggression y
with a public sentiment so elevated and purified that the general
sense against wrong or injustice of any kind will preponderate and
render impossible the existence of single malefactors who now have
it in their power to distract extensive regions and check the opera¬
tions of husbandry. And we should expect to see in Africa all the
progress we have indicated above as the result of a few years of
internal tranquility and order, which the continent has never within
the memory of man enjoyed. There will be an exhibition of virtues
not dreamt of in the Caucasian world, a sudden development of
energies latent for ages. "Ethiopia shall suddenly stretch forth
her hands unto God."
Next, then, to the exploration of the country, the most im¬
portant preliminary to the general civilisation of the African tribes
is the suppression of the slave trade. And it is fit that the nations
of Europe should unite for the extinction of the horrible traffic.
Shem and Japheth have largely participated in the guilt of the
enslavement of Ham. Shem, having lagged behind Japheth in the
march of enlightenment, persists in the perpetration of the hideous-
wrong. But, under pressure, the dilatory brother is being urged
on to his duty.
Africa has been spoiled by all the races alien to her, and, under
their stimulating example, by her own sons. Other races have
passed through the baptism of slavery, as a stepping-stone to
civilisation and independence, but none has toiled under the
crushing weight of a servitude so protracted and inflicted from so-
many sources. Milleniums mark the period of the bondage and
humiliation of Africa's children. The four quarters of the globe
have heard their groans and been sprinkled and stained with their
blood. All that passed by have felt at liberty to contemn and-
324 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
plunder. The oppressors of this race have been men with religion,
:and men without religion—Christians, Mohammedans, and Pagans.
Nations with the Bible, and nations with the Koran, and nations
without Bible or Koran—all have joined in afflicting this continent.
And now the last of her oppressors, tearing from her bosom
annually half a million of her children, are nations with the Koran.
All travellers tell us that when the Arab traders in East Africa are
suppressed the work will be done. This will, no doubt, be accom¬
plished before very long. The Viceroy of Egypt is pledged to
England to suppress the traffic, and in a given time to abolish
slavery altogether.
It was a long time before the Christian world discovered, or
rather admitted, the wrong in the slave trade; and we are persuaded
that just as the truth in Christianity produced, though tardily, a
Wilberforce and a Clarkson, so the truth in Islam will raise up—
is now raising up—Muslim philanthropists and reformers who will
give to the Negro the hand of a brother, and perhaps, outstripping
their Christian brethren in liberality, accord him.an equal share
in political and social privileges—a liberality in dealing with weaker
races which some Europeans confess themselves unable to exercise.
Dr. Livingstone seems to have thought that there might be
some possibility of a Muslim Wilberforce, if we may judge from his
immortal prayer, written, according to Mr. Waller, just one year
before his death, and recorded on the tablet near his grave in
Westminster Abbey, and which, in conclusion, is here most
fervently reiterated :—
All I can add in my loneliness is, may Heaven's rich blessing come down
on every one—American, English, or Turk, who will help to heal the open
sore of the world.17—Amen.
17 Last Journals, vol. ii, p. 182,
The Life of Lord Lawrence
and its Lessons.
THIS model biography, published in 1883, has already passed
through six editions. It has produced remarkable results in
the mean time. In the United States it has been received with
far more honour than is usually accorded to biographies of
illustrious Englishmen. We learn that the United States Govern¬
ment has paid it the unique compliment of ordering a copy to be
placed on board every ship in the navy and in every public library
in the United States. Such a compliment is by no means un¬
deserved. Mr. Bosworth Smith has performed a patriotic and
philanthropic work. He has done a service to England and a
kindness to humanity by writing the life of Lord Lawrence as he
has written it. That such a work has been so generally and
enthusiastically welcomed is a significant and interesting com¬
mentary on the intellectual and moral progress of the present
generation of Englishmen and Americans, and reassuring as to-
their future policy in dealing with those whom they still haughtily
designate "inferior races."
We purpose in the following pages to gather from this remarkable
book some of the practical lessons which we believe it was the aim
of the author to inculcate by means of the character and deeds of
one of the most interesting and suggestive natures which it has
ever been our good fortune to contemplate. There are few books,
it seems to us, which could be put with as much advantage into
the hands of young men who, entering the civil, military, or naval
services of England or the United States, aspire to positions of
honour, of responsibility and of trust.
A writer in the Quarterly Bevieio (April, 1883), himself, we
326
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Relieve, an old Indian official, tells us that "some months after
the funeral at Westminster, when it became known that the widow
of Lord Lawrence had committed the task of writing her husband's
history to a Harrow Master—to one who had never seen India—
there were grievous misgivings and great searchings of heart
among the Anglo-Indian legions." It was feared »that a civilian
who had never visited either India or the Colonies would not
have sufficient grasp of the subject—that his ignorance of details
and lack of local experience would lead him into serious
mistakes.
It was, indeed, a bold undertaking for a comparatively young
man with the antecedents of the author, practically a stranger to
India and Indian affairs, to come forward as a historian and critic
of matters apparently so entirely out of his line; to treat of a
period which has not yet passed into the domain of history, seeing
that so many who acted amid the scenes described are still
living; to deal with facts and principles, with the merits and
demerits of various actors, in which not a few survivors still feel a
keen interest, and with regard to which they entertain views more
or less decided.
It required no little courage to write fully and freely on so
important a subject—rather on so many important subjects—with
the consciousness that such high authorities as Lord Napier of
Magdala, Captain Eastwick, Sir Richard Temple, Sir Bartle Erere,
Sir Charles Eaikes, Sir Henry Norman, Sir Ashley Eden, Sir
Erederic Goldsmid, &c., were waiting to read the record, and to
bring to its perusal not only a deep personal interest, but a
thorough knowledge of the subject of the biography and of the
times and scenes of his activity.
But, after all, considering the large number of works which
have been written on India, by men of eminent ability and vast
local knowledge, what seemed to be now needed was not so much
narrative and description, as critical appreciation of events and
personal character; and it is really refreshing to sifc down to the
perusal of a work not only undefaced by technicalities unintelligible
to the ordinary reader, but displaying a practical sagacity capable
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
327
of forming a distinct view of all the mingled objects with which it
las to deal, while it conveys lessons of the highest importance at
this particular time, when Indian affairs are becoming more and
more a topic of general interest in England.
Mr. Bosworth Smith has not dealt with what may be called the
subterraneous elements of the Indian question, which only a few
can appreciate or understand, but with what is above ground, and
clear to the apprehension of all classes and colours, of all creeds
and races. That which gives is real and enduring value to the book
is not only that it is eloquent, but that its eloquence is instinct with
faith and love ; not only that its paragraphs are glowing, but that
they glow with passion for goodness, for truth, and for liberty.
Whatever else the book lacks, these elements will cause it to live.
Two of the Anglo-Indians, whose criticisms we have read, have had
.an opportunity of correcting what, from their standpoints, seem
to be mistakes or omissions in the author. But, upon the whole,
they give the work their indorsement. Very few are the real
blemishes which their vast experience of the circumstances and
details of Lord Lawrence's career could detect or point out.
It is acknowledged on all hands, that, in spite of the enormous
difficulties in the way, Mr. Bosworth Smith has been able to give
a true picture of a hero and of a stormy period, which even the
severest criticism cannot seriously impair—a picture which will,
we may believe, influence for good every successive generation of
Englishmen. The blows he has dealt, heavy at times, at the cause
of war, aggression, cruelty and the pride of race, may be resented
in certain quarters now, but they point to a glorious future for
England, and for weaker and so-called inferior races over whom
she now bears, or may hereafter be called to bear rule. They
tend to strengthen, to perpetuate and to diffuse the traditional
instincts of his country for the useful and the just. Wherever the
book is read in the British colonies, especially among races alien
to the Anglo-Saxon, it will inspire confidence and give assurance
as to the real aims and motives of the British Government in its
colonial administration.
No amount of residence and Government service in India would
328 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
have given the qualifications for the production of such a work;
nor would any amount of mere scholarship have made a biographer
of Lord Lawrence such as Mr. Bosworth Smith has proved himself
to be. The book might have been written with greater local
knowledge; it might have been more at home in technical details;
it might even have given a fuller picture of the outward form—the
flesh and blood and bones—of Lord Lawrence ; but we know of no
other living writer who, after having drawn the sketch, prepared
the skeleton, constructed the body, could have informed it with the
life, the soul, the spirit of the hero. Mere scholarship, or mere
geographical or political knowledge of India, would have been
helpless to make Lord Lawrence move among us, as he now
moves, living, breathing, teaching, inspiring.
Sudet multum frustraque laboret
Ausus idem.
Something else was needed, and that Mr. Smith possesses, namely,
that thorough sympathy with his subject which arises from simili¬
tude of character.
The task was not only within the compass of his mental
powers, but entirely congenial to his intellectual and moral tastes.
We did not need the assurance of the author that he entered upon
his work with a "keen sense of responsibility and with a genuine
enthusiasm." This is apparent on every page. Judging from the
tone and tendency of the previous works by which Mr. Bosworth
Smith became known to the literary world, we cannot imagine
that he would have undertaken this, if he had not satisfied himself
beforehand that the life and labours of the subject were such as
to furnish an opportunity for enforcing those lessons of justice and
truth, of tolerance and freedom, which it has been his aim to in¬
culcate. Mohammed and Mohammedanism, and Carthage and the
Carthaginians were composed not for the purpose merely of filling a
blank in religious and historical literature, but for high moral ends.
No statesman can read his work on Carthage, and no theologian or
Christian missionary can read his work on Mohammedanism
without getting clear views as to the highest and most effective
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
329
methods of dealing "with questions which frequently confront them
in their respective callings.
There is, as we have said, a certain resemblance of mind and
spirit between the biographer and his subject. In his delineations,
we may readily believe that Mr. Smith is not unfrequently reveal¬
ing his own life and personal experiences. His vivid descriptions
of Lord Lawrence's character give a clue to his own. His repre¬
sentations of that remarkable man are not always pure, dramatic
expressions, but they are also self-revelations. He himself has lived
inwardly the life he so successfully portrays. He has enjoyed the
felicitous domestic surroundings to which, in the experiences of
Lord Lawrence, he is so fond of recurring, and with ever-fresh
delight.
It cannot be doubted that the wife of John Lawrence exerted a
most beneficial influence upon him in softening the hard outline
which, in consequence of his peculiar calling, his character was apt
to assume. And in this the biographer resembles his subject. It
is said that in all his literary labours—a fact which is more than
hinted at in his graceful dedication of Mohammed aud Mohammed¬
anism—Mrs. Bosworth Smith has taken an important part, and, in
the work before us—Lfrwe mistake not—traces of her influence are
everywhere to be seen. It is not our wish to intrude upon the
sacredness of domestic privacy, but we are gratified to be able to
pay this tribute to one to whose devoted and self-sacrificing labours
the world is more largely indebted than it knows, for a great deal
that Mr. Bosworth Smith has been enabled to teach it.
In a country like India, the help of such a woman to an English
official, who holds a responsible position, or to any thoughtful
European, is simply incalculable. Even the letters written from
home by such women to their relatives or friends in that distant
land have an inspiring effect. Colonel Sleeman, in his Rambles
of an Indian Official, touchingly refers to this in addressing his
sister:—
Were anyone to ask your countrymen in India (he says to her) what had
been their greatest source of pleasure while there, perhaps nine in ten would
say, the letters which they receive from their sisters at home. . . . And while
thus contributing so much to our happiness, they, no doubt, tend to make us
33° Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
better citizens of the world and servants of Government than we should other¬
wise be ; for, in our " struggles through life " in India, we have all, more or less,
an eye to the approbation of those circles which our kind sisters represent—who
.may therefore be considered in the exalted light of a valuable species of unpaid
magistracy to the Government of India.
John Lawrence, throughout the greater part of his career in
India, lived under the sweet but effective influence of such a
" magistracy," unpaid, indeed, by Government recognition or
pecuniary stipend, but reaping a constant reward from the con¬
sciousness of duty done or help given to a loved one to rise, in
his great work, to higher levels—a reward to her " more precious
than gems or stores of gold."
Only a writer of spirit kindred to that of Lord Lawrence, " in
reading over thousands of letters " written by his subject for the
purpose of preparing a readable biography, would have so borne in
mind the cause of the weak and oppressed, as to have noticed that
" not a single expression occurred which would wound the pride of
the most sensitive of natives," and that " not in one single instance
does he use the opprobrious term which is the very first to come to
the mouth of too many young officers or casual visitors to India."
The following will be read with admiration and gratitude by
thousands in India, in Africa, in America, who are " guilty of a
skin not coloured," like the white man's:—
Englishmen there have been, and still are in India, who, priding themselves
on their race or their colour, their superior strength of body and strength of will,
despise the natives, keep aloof from them, call them by the opprobrious name
of " niggers," and strike and maltreat them in a way in which they would not
venture to treat a European. But such Englishmen have happily always been
in a small minority. They may be found sometimes among the youngest and
most empty-headed officers of the army, or among the frivolous and fashionable
and scandal-loving society of the great towns. But they are not to be found in
the ranks of the civil service, or among those soldier-statesmen who have built
up and have preserved our Indian Empire. It is not in the writings, the
conversation, or the acts of men like Sir Thomas Munro, or Lord Metcalfe, like
Outram or Havelock, like Henry or John Lawrence, and of the hundreds of good
men and true, of whom these are, after all, but the most brilliant representatives,
that we can find a word or deed indicative of other than the deepest and most
affectionate interest in the helpless and voiceless millions over whom they
rule. ... These are the men who know the natives, who sympathise with them
and have learned to love them; who, in the spirit of a truly imperial race, look
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
331
upon themselves as the servants of those whom they rule, and rule by serving
them; who do everything that in them lies to bridge over the yawning gulf,
which, by our fate or by our fault, still separates colour from colour, race from
race and creed from creed.1
Throughout his life, even in the early Delhi and Punjab days, John Lawrence
had set his face strongly against practices which it is easier to understand than
to describe, and which were then all too common among our countrymen in
India. No one whose character was not above suspicion in these respects
could hope to stand well with him, even in the early times. ... No one ever
dropped an impure word or made an impure allusion in his presence. No one
ever scoffed at religion, whether his own or that of the natives. No one ever
spoke contemptuously or harshly of the natives themselves without receiving from
him a stern and sometimes a sledge-hammer rebuke. On one occasion, a lady
who was sitting at the Yice-regal table allowed herself to sneer at the Bible.
Sir John Lawrence looked sternly on her and said, with all his dignity, but with
more of sorrow than of anger in his words, " How can you speak like that of
God and of God's book, in the presence of these young men ? " The next minute
he was talking with her of other subjects as if nothing had happened. But the
rebuke had done its work on her and on the assembled company. On another
occasion, a young officer in the army, who was talking, after the manner of his
kind, contemptuously of the natives, happened, in Sir John's hearing, to speak
of them as "those niggers." "I beg your pardon," said Sir John, "of what
people were you speaking ? " And here again the rebuke did its work right well.
Thus the Yice-regal Court was in his time what, happily, it has been in the case
of most of our Viceroys, and what the English Court has been throughout the
reign of Queen Victoria—the centre, as far as its chief occupant could make it
so, of everything that was pure, everything that was lovely, everything that was
of good report and from it, as from a fresh fountain, flowed forth lessons of
purity, of simplicity, of reverence, of manliness, of hard work, of all the domestic
charities which were felt more or less through all ranks of English society in
India. Would that it had always been so in India before and since ! Would
that it may always be so hereafter! Would that intelligent and inquiring
natives may never find one of their most forcible arguments against Christianity
in the language, in the actions, in the policy, in the surroundings of its so-called
Christian rulers!2
This is the first time, so far as we know, that this subject—one
of great importance to the coloured races of the globe, and which
is generally considered too delicate to be handled or too insignifi¬
cant to deserve attention—has been treated with such dignity
and seriousness and in a work destined to wield so wide an
influence. The intelligent English-speaking African, even more
1 Life of Lord Lawrence j by H. Bosworth Smith, M.A. (vol. i, pp.* 157, 158).
2 Ibid; vol. ii, pp. 511, 512.
332
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
than the Indian, has frequently, in his reading and in his travels,
to encounter gratuitous insults, and from quarters where he would
naturally not look for them. A few months ago, an English Dis¬
senting clergyman, whom we will call Mr. A., was a passenger
from New York to Liverpool on one of the "White Star steamers.
He had lived in the Southern States of America, and though now
living in London and in charge of a respectable congregation there
he could not conceal the prejudices which had grown upon him in
America. There sat opposite to him at the Captain's table—■
assigned seats there by the consideration and courtesy of the Captain
himself—two passengers of African descent—one, a lady of edu¬
cation and culture, wife of a diplomatic officer of the United States,
on the way to join her husband; the other, the presiding officer
of a literary institution in Africa. Mr. A. did not feel at home
in the company of his coloured fellow-passengers, and not
unfrequently went out of his way, in speech and manner, to
exhibit and emphasise his uncomfortable state. There sat on his
right hand another English Dissenting clergyman who had been
spending a few weeks in America, but who possessed all the
qualities of a Christian gentleman and scholar. This gentleman
was often shocked by the utterances of his brother minister in
defence of Negro slavery, and always rebuked him for them. On
one occasion, at the dinner-table, while the passengers sitting near
them were proposing and answering conundrums, in which the
African passengers participated, he suddenly said: " Now, tell me,
where is the Negro mentioned in the Bible ? Several answers
were given, which he would not accept as correct. At last, when it
was " given up," he blurted out, with rude and vulgar emphasis,
the wretched pun, " Nigger demus," to the general disgust of the
company.
Mr. James Parton, in a remarkable article, published, not very
long ago, in the North American Review, on 'Antipathy to the
Negro,' says:—
This colour repugnance is usually observed to be strongest in the meanest.
Among the educated people of the Southern States it was never half so strong
as in the " white trash " and in the adventurers from other regions who had an
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
333
interest in flattering the poor "white trash." The man who made the dis¬
turbance about the coloured person in the omnibus was generally a snob more
or less disguised. He might be a gorgeous gambler, a sham D.D., a pushing
store keeper, a small politician; but, commonly, the soul of a scamp was in
him. In the North it was never the really educated man or women who felt
aggrieved at the presence of a decent coloured man.
Would that these sentences conveyed " the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth." But, if we are to judge from
outward appearances, they do not do so. We cannot see the soul.
But there are, we regret to say, some outwardly respectable persons
in England, as well as in America, who speak and write in a manner
which indicates the kind of soul referred bo by Mr. Parton. One
of the most flagrant cases is that of Dr. Edward A. Freeman in
his last work on America. During a visit which we paid, in 1882,
to the United States, we found a feeling of wide-spread indignation
among the intelligent coloured classes in view of the insult offered
them by Dr. Freeman, in his articles on the United States.
These articles appeared in the Fortnightly Review and Longman's
Magazine. They are now republished in a volume.3
The following are some of his more offensive utterances :—
The bestowal of citizenship on the Negro4 is one of those cases which show
what law can do, and what it cannot. The law may declare the Negro to be the
equal of the white man ; it cannot make him his equal. To the old question,
" Am I not a man and a brother? " I venture to answer: No. The Negro may
be a man and a brother in some secondary sense ; he is not a man and a brother
in the same full sense in which every Western Aryan is a man and a brother.
The eternal laws of Nature, the eternal distinction of colour, forbid the
assimilation of the Negro.
We are told that education has done, and is doing, much for the younger
members of the once-enslaved race. But education cannot wipe out the eternal
distinction that has been drawn by the hand of Nature.
I cannot help thinking that those in either hemisphere who were most
zealous for the emancipation of the Negro must, in their heart of hearts, feel a
secret shudder at the thought that, though morally impossible, it is constitu¬
tionally possible that, two years hence, a black man may be chosen to sit in
the seat of Washington and Garfield.3
3 Some Impressions of the United States; by Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L.,
LL.D.—London. 1883.
4 Dr. Freeman writes the word with a small " n."
5 Dr. Freeman is an ardent and untiring opponent of the Mohammedan
religion, which teaches that it is morally possible and religiously right that, if
334
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
To me at least the Negro is repulsive. Of the two, one is more inclined to
hail a man and a brother in the Indian than in the Negro. Such Indians as
I saw were certainly less ugly than the Negroes. But then they lacked the
grotesque air which often makes the Negro's ugliness less repulsive. Not
repulsive, like the Negro, from the mere lines of the face, they were repulsive
from the utter lack of intellectual expression.
Very many approved when I suggested that the best remedy for whatever
was amiss would be if every Irishman should kill a Nergo and be hanged for it.
Those who dissented, dissented most commonly on the ground that, if there were
no Irish and no Negroes, they would not be able to get any domestic servants/'
Dr. Freeman knows that there are many Negroes, men and
women, in America, who can read, and will read, his book, and he
thoughtlessly flings these insults into their faces. He knows, also,
that these people are manfully struggling to rise against a heavy
burden of prejudice and contempt, and he wantonly piles up
arguments against them for the use of their oppressors. Is Dr.
Freeman a Christian, or has he, for the nonce, thrown off his
incrustation of modern culture to give full play to the pure latent
Briton? Or is it the old Norman pride ?
The jargon of describing the Negro as " unfit for freedom " being
now, to a great extent, obsolete, his personal peculiarities, as he is
seen chiefly in the countries of his exile, must be brought forward
for ridicule, in order to intensify the prejudice against him and per¬
petuate the social hostility by which he is oppressed. Prejudice is,
partly, an instinct, and, partly, a result of surrounding circumstances.
Sometimes it has a mercenary quality, or, rather, originates in
mercenary motives. The prejudice against the Negro, in America,
is both instinctive and circumstantial; in Englishmen, it may be
only instinctive, the result of race-pride or exclusiveness; but it
has, at times, in Englishmen in America, partaken of a mercenary
nature. It used to be said, in the days of slavery, that Englishmen
who had accepted Southern hospitality always had Southern
sympathies. Possibly the inability of the historian of the Norman
a black man has the necessary qualifications, he should rise to the head of the
Government, and sit in the seat of the Sultan—a doctrine which, in the history
of Islam, has often been practically carried out. Ought the Negro to follow
Dr. Freeman's teaching on this subject, or Mohammed's?
6 Some Impressions of the United States; chap. x.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
335
Conquest on this subject may be accounted for by the fact that
he has a son who has become a Virginia planter. Shortly after
the civil war, it was, and it probably still is, the fashion, with some
leading spirits of Virginia, to denounce Negro education and en¬
franchisement as necessarily hostile to the industrial interests of
the country; and Dr. Freeman could not escape the contagion,
while on a visit to his son, in 1881-82. Indeed, he says himself,
referring to this very subject, " What I venture to say on the
housetops has been whispered in my ear in closets by not a few
in America, who fully understand the state and needs of their
country."
Dr. Freeman is, probably, not aware that the " whisperers "
in " closets " are numbered by loyal Americans among the " unre¬
constructed," who feel regret for the absence of those laws and
regulations by which the Negro was doomed to be a perpetual
chattel, and which fostered that race hostility, which, by the excess
of its violence, served not indeed to prevent the amalgamation of
the races—for that was going on continually—but as the pillar and
buttress of slavery. The agitation against the Negro by Americans
in some parts of America is intelligible and, perhaps, natural,
though it is, in a great measure, unjust and unreasonable. But
it is strange indeed that an Englishman should go out of his way
to add fuel to the fire, and, it can only be accounted for, by
the fact, that, in the Southern States, foreigners have thought it
prudent, at times, not only to profess to share, but even to excite,
the popular antipathy against the Negro, that they might utilise it
for their own ends. Dr. Freeman, indeed, warns the reader in his
preface that " the impressions are those of one who looks at things
for his own purposes, and from his own point of view." Mr. Herbert
Spencer, who visited the United States not long after Dr. Freeman,
did not, in recording his impressions of the country, say a single word
which might increase the load of odium under which the Negro
labours, and he was probably as keen in his appreciation of the
"state and needs of America" as his distinguished countryman.
But, true to his English instincts, that eminent philosopher did not
think it creditable to " hit a man when he is down." The absence
336 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
of any " axe to grind," and freedom from obligations incurred in
a ay particular section of the country, left his nobler nature its full
play.
But Dr. Freeman parades his antipathy not only to the Negro,
but to the Irish, the Indian, the Chinese. He selects for his persecu¬
tion the weaker races. There are blows to give, he thinks, but none
to take. We do not object to his criticisms, coarse as we deem them,
of the looks of the different races; for good looks or bad looks in
individuals or classes depend upon the standpoint from which the
objects are viewed. Stanley tells us that when he came out of the
interior of Africa, where, for two years, he had been accustomed to
the black or bronze colour of the natives, the white complexion of
the foreigners he met on the coast at first repelled him. He says:—
The sight of the pale faces of the Embomma merchants gave me the slightest
suspicion of a shiver. The pale colour, after so long gazing on rich black and
richer bronze, had something of an unaccountable ghastliness.
I could not divest myself of the feeling that they must be sick; yet, as I
compare their complexions with what I now view, I should say they were olive,
sunburnt, dark.7
Winwood Eeade, in his African Sketch-Booh, gives an
amusing and suggestive account of the impressions of an intelligent
African youth in the interior of Africa, on his first seeing a white
man. We would commend to Dr. Ereeman a perusal of that
account, if, with all his research, he has not yet learned that what
may be "ugly" in Europe is not necessarily "ugly" in China,
India, or Africa. If Dr. Ereeman were bound to travel in Africa,
we venture to predict that the natives would never make any dis¬
paraging comments—whatever their opinions—upon his personal
appearance, where he would be likely to hear them ; and this, from
an innate good breeding, which, though they lack mental culture,
is ever visible, in spite of what may be called their unpolished
exterior.
But does it not occur to such writers as Dr. Freeman that the
world is tired of hearing stereotyped phrases of contempt for the
African? For three hundred years this has been going on. The
7 Through the Bark Continent, vol. ii, p. 462.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
337
"world is tired, and is now changing its tone. The enquiry among
the most earnest men is, What can be done to lift up this race ?
How shall that vast continent, from which millions have been torn
to engage in unrequited toil for strangers, be delivered from the
•disadvantages of ages ? These are the problems to which some of
the best and most vigorous minds of the age are directing their
attention. The Eip Van Winkles have lost their influence. The
rising generation of English scholars has very little sympathy with
the narrow, racial prejudices of their fathers. And, with such
teachers to guide them, as Mr. Bosworth Smith, the youth now in
the schools of England, when they come upon the stage of action,
will eliminate from their literary and scientific discussions those
relics of barbarism—the opprobrious terms now applied to foreign
and weaker races—and they will wonder how, with all the refinement
-and culture of their predecessors, there could have been exhibited
that odious selfishness, that want of magnanimity and consideration
for others, which often disfigure their literary productions.
It is a significant sign of the times and of the progress of liberal
sentiments in England that the great reputation of Mr. Carlyle,
who believed that " God had put a whip in the hand of every white
man to flog the Negro," is undergoing the shock and revision
which were sure to come when that large population, which he
■characterised as " mostly fools," recovered from the fascination of
one who, as time goes on, will seem to them, more and more, a
stupendous charlatan. We were amused, not long since, at the
■excitement and bitterness created in certain quarters by Mr.
Froud's straightforward honesty in publishing the picture which,
with severe but repulsive truthfulness, Mr. Carlyle had drawn of
himself. The worshippers of a generation have revolted at the
hideousness of their fetish ; and the enlightened Negro feels a sense
of relief that the real character of one who sneered at the philan¬
thropies of Christianity and the humanities of the age, and ridiculed
what he called " Nigger emancipation," has been disclosed, and
by his own hands. The agencies for good are mightier than the
.agencies for evil. A righteous Nemesis may be slow, but it is sure.
The ploughman of Ayrshire has proved a deeper thinker and truer
338 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
prophet than " the philosopher of Chelsea." The song of the rustic
poet will ring down the ages when the sensationalisms and
affectations of his cynical countryman are all buried in their
merited oblivion.8
For a' that and a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That man to man the world o'er
Shall brothers be for a' that.
As it has happened to Mr. Carlyle, so will it happen to all who'
use the gifts bestowed upon them by the common Father of all to-
ridicule or oppress any portion of His creatures. They will be
classed, in the ultimate judgment, even of men, with poltroons and
cowards, who think it necessary to pull down others in order tO'
assure a standing and opportunity for themselves; and in the great
hereafter they will rank with Dante's contemptible herd—
le genti dolorose,
C'hanno perduto il ben dell' intelletto,
********
Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa ;
Miserioordia e Giustezia gli sdegna.9
We are glad to notice that, in the midst of an interesting and
absorbing narrative of the siege and capture of Delhi, Mr. Bosworth
Smith pauses to record his indignation at baseness and brutality,,
and to brand with just condemnation the deeds of Captain Hodson,
We do not care to reproduce here the horrible charges which, on
substantial evidence, direct and collateral, are preferred against the
man; but this we may say, that in our opinion Hodson was,
morally speaking, one of the worst specimens of all of whom we
have ever heard or read as claiming relationship with Englishmen.
A'to-^tcTTOs Se dvrjp vtto 'IAiov rjrjXOev.10
It is consolatory to believe that there were only two other
Englishmen like Hodson in India, and we are glad that their names
8 How much there is (says Professor Max Miiller) in Carlyle's histories that
might safely be consigned to oblivion.—India, p. 16.
9 Inferno, iii.
10 Iliad, ii.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
339
are not given by the biographer. Mr. Bosworth Smith's reference
to a life of this man by his brother, " extolling him as a model
of Christian chivalry and honour," reminds us of a passage in
Macaulay's terrible indictment of Barere. And as it fell to the lot
of Barere, under the caustic pen of that brilliant essayist, so has
it fallen to the lot of Hodson, under the indignant and incisive pen
of Mr. Bosworth Smith. We imagine that from the eminence of
infamy on which Mr. Smith has placed his character, no attempt
to prove him a " model Christian " will ever take it down.
The animadversions on the proceedings of Frederick Cooper
seem to us even more necessary than the impaling of Hodson,
Hodson was an exceptional character, rough-hewn and of a base
nature. Cooper represented the ordinary English official of whom
hundreds go to India and the colonies. He was of finer nature
and higher culture than Hodson, and his example, if not reprobated
and condemned, as it has been in this book, might be followed by
the large number who, in the English service, are likely to secure
positions similar to that which he held.
We do not see, however, that full justice has been meted out to
John Nicholson. There is about this man, "we must admit, a great
deal that is attractive; and, perhaps, in the fearful crisis through
which British India was then passing, such a character—" turbulent
and imperious"—was necessary. He was evidently courageous,
deserving to the full, no doubt, the enconiums bestowed upon him
by Lord Lawrence in an after-dinner speech at the " Great Durbar
of Lahore;" but we confess that our admiration is marred when
we read the curt and apparently unfeeling note in which he
announced to the Chief Commissioner the death of a man who had
fallen by his nervous and fatal shot—
Sir,—I have the honour to report that a man came into my compound to-day
intending to kill me, and that I shot him dead.
Your obedient servant,
John Nicholson.
His cool and apparently indifferent remark after hacking to
death a brave enemy who had stood manfully prepared to die at
his post, has a tpuch of the unmanly in it. The Reviewer in the
34° Chris ianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Quarterly, thinks that Nicholson is aptly described by the lines
which Horace applies to Achilles—
Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer,
Jura sibi negat, nihil non arrogat armis.
Whatever else he possessed, he seems to us to have been devoid
of many of the elements of the real hero. Whether we contemplate
him from a military or ethical point of view, we cannot but regard
his character as seriously incomplete and defective. "In the
English," says Mr. Bosworth Smith, " as in all imperial races,
there is an element of the wild beast." Nicholson exemplifies this
remark. Perhaps in all conquering races this indomitable element
is a necessity—this overbearing and insolent spirit, which alone
knows how to conquer. But we shudder in the presence of a
nature so relentless'and implacable.
No one can fail to read with interest and admiration the follow¬
ing passing tribute paid to the weak—the natives who bore their
part in the capture of Delhi:—
The coolness and the courage of the old Sikh Artillerymen, who had been
picked out by Sir John Lawrence in person, and of the despised Muzbi Sikhs,
■whom he had also sent down to Delhi, were as conspicuous as that of the
Europeans themselves. And the passive endurance of the water-carriers and
native servants, who, amidst the hatreds of colour and race which the fierce
conflict had engendered, had not always received the best of treatment at their
.masters' hands, and were now expected to wait on those same masters amidst
storms of shot and shell, was, perhaps, more wonderful than either.11
Mr. Bosworth Smith is not a philanthropic agitator, but he is
intensely patriotic. He is intensely English, swayed by the noblest
feelings of his people. He is anxious for the honour of England.
He wishes that England should be everywhere feared and loved,
especially in her colonies. He believes that England, upon
the whole, possesses more of the elements and possibilities of
beneficent and conservative rule than any other European nation;
and he never loses an opportunity to point out that it is the
aim of the Imperial Government that righteousness should at
.all times enter as a dominant, predominant factor in English
policy toward weaker races. But he is also, at the same time.
11 Life of Lord Laivrence ; vol, ii, p. 184.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
341
aware that, under colonial rule, such a policy is not always-
carried out. He is anxious that it should be. He is anxious that
full scope should be given for the just ambition of native races,
and that their abilities should be utilised in every way compatible
with the rights and welfare of all; and he believes that such a-
course comes " within the range of practical politics." He looks
upon the possibilities of the British Empire precisely as Dean
Stanley looked upon the possibilities of the Church of England,,
as able to make room, not for one race only, nor for one element
of human nature only, but for all the races and all the various
elements of the whole world. Not that he would bring them all to
a dead uniformity. He would respect the religious and social
institutions of alien and non-Christian races, and he would not
interfere with their harmless customs.
Those acquainted with the character and temper of the men
who, happily for humanity, come to the head of the Government at
home from both the great parties, know that Mr. Bosworth Smith
by no means exaggerates when he represents Henry and John
Lawrence as the embodiment of the spirit and intention of the
Imperial Government. " Taking them both together," he says,'' the
chivalry, the generosity, the sympthy of the one ; the strength, the
judgment, the magnanimity of the other; the name of Lawrence
may, now and forever, present to the people of India the noblest
impersonation of English rule—a rule unselfish and unaggressive,
benevolent and energetic, wise and just."12
Considering the peculiarities of human nature, the excellencies-
and defects which are almost always found in some of the
ablest rulers, ifc is not to be wondered at that the beneficent con¬
ceptions of the Imperial Government should find realisation in the
administrative acts of but comparatively few of its representatives-
abroad ; and this, because the majority of men lack that imaginative
sympathy which enables us to put ourselves in the place of
others.
Of one of the most distinguished of the British rulers of India
Mr. Bosworth Smith says :—
12 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 160.
342
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Lord Dalhousie seems, from his letters, hundreds of which lie before me, to
have been unable to clothe himself sufficiently with the feelings, the prejudices,
the aspirations, the ideas of those over whom he ruled; and he was unable,
therefore, to understand how the natives of India, recognising, as many of them
did the general benevolence of our intentions and the undoubted beneficence of
our rule, were yet disposed to look back with yearning and regret on the days
■when, if they were oppressed, plundered, murdered, they were so by men of
their own race, their own language, or their own creed. . . . Nor is there in
the whole of his letters, brilliant and incisive and racy, as they all are, a single
sentence which inclines the reader to pause and say, as he does again and again,
when he is reading the much less brilliant and incisive letters of Metcalf, or
Outram, of Henry or John Lawrence, " Here is a man whose chief claim to rule
India was that he so thoroughly understood her people. If, therefore, there
has been no abler, or more commanding, or more conscientious, or more
successful Governor-General of India than Lord Dalhousie, there have been, in
my opinion, Governors-General who were more sympathetic with the natives
and more beloved.13
The West African settlements, the only ones of the British
colonies with which we are acquainted, notwithstanding all the
drawbacks of climate, have numbered among their rulers, especially
within the last twenty years, some of the best representatives of the
English spirit, The names of Sir Arthur E. Kennedy, Sir John
Pope Hennessy, Sir Samuel Bo we, Governor A. E. Havelock, will
long be remembered on these shores as reflecting one of the best
traditions of Downing Street.
One of the chief faults of the Indian administration, to which
Mr. Bosworth Smith often incidentally alludes, is that it leaves so
few outlets for native talent, has so little real insight into the
native character, and is too anxious to engraft Western progress
wholesale on Eastern conservatism and stagnation. It is grati¬
fying to know that in the colonies in West Africa—thanks to
the enlightened efforts of some of the rulers to whom we have
referred—matters, in these respects, are improving. The fault
which administrators find with the natives is a want of regular
and continuous development. Their later career does not seem
to fulfil the promise of their earlier years. But this happens,
more or less, in all countries and among all races. Everywhere
the talents and conduct of boys or young men develop them-
13 Ibid., vol. i, pp. 434, 435.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
343
selves very differently. Some are precocious, expand with a show
of rapidity, and then, all at once, stand still or deteriorate. But,
in the West African settlements, this is perhaps more noticeable,
and so it will be in all colonies where Englishmen rule over an
alien and weaker race. The remedy is, " more outlets for native
talent," greater " insight into native character," and less anxiety
to engraft European progress wholesale on African conservatism
and stagnation. A more comprehensive system of education and
better teachers would, in a short time, give the natives all the
accomplishments in which they are now so deficient; and they
would soon prove that Nature has not denied them the talents and
the perseverance necessary to adopt the manners and the habits
suited to positions of responsibility and trust under an enlightened
government.
The following is worthy of reproduction, preservation, and wide
circulation: After the fall of Delhi, some of John Lawrence's
friends wrote to him expressing their earnest hope that he would
u plough up Delhiothers, that he would at least destroy the Great
Mosque. In reply to the latter proposal, he writes to Pelham Burn,
who had consulted him in the matter, "I will on no account consent
to it. We should carefully abstain from the destruction of religious
edifices, either to favour friends or to annoy foes." And, when some
of the chief authorities in his province—and many of them his
intimate friends—came in solemn deputation to him to urge the
same step, and pointed out, as a convincing argument, that to destroy
the finest place of Muslim worship in the world would be felt as a
blow to their religion by Muslims everywhere, he first reasoned out
the matter calmly with them, but finding that he could produce no
effect, he jumped up from his seat, and, slapping the foremost of
them on his back, said, " I'll tell you what it is: there are many
things you could persuade me to do, but you shall never persuade
me to do this; so you may as well spare your pains." 14
Thus the mosques of Delhi were not desecrated; that the inhabitants were
not left to shift for themselves as homeless outcasts ; that the whole city, with
its glorious buildings and its historic memories, was not levelled with the
14 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 222.
344
Christianity, Islam mid the Negro Race.
ground and the plough driven over its site; in one word, that the lasting shame-
emblazoned in letters of blood and fire in the annals of Imperial Borne, by her
ruthless destruction of Carthage and Corinth, is not written in equally indelible
characters in the annals of English rule in India, was due, in great part at
least, to the justice and the humanity, the statesmanship and the Christian
spirit of John Lawrence.13
Lord Lawrence did not parade his religion, says his biographer:
No more sincere Christian ever lived. He walked as in the sight of God,
He read the Bible every morning of his life with prayer, and regarded it as the
only, and as the sufficient, guide to heaven. But he rarely talked on religious
questions, and still more rarely did he make use of the phraseology which was
current in religious circles of the strictly Evangelical type. The religious
expressions made use of in his letters are of the simplest and most childlike
kind.16
The following testimony is borne by Captain Eastwick, an
intimate friend, who himself partakes largely of the Lawrence spirit.
The hospitalities of his pleasant home in London are always acces¬
sible to the deserving stranger of whatever race or colour. He says:
No man understood better than Lord Lawrence that living for others is the
first step towards living for God, The extent to which he laboured in this
sphere of Christian charity is known only to the cherished partner of his earthly
pilgrimage, the partaker of his joys and sorrows, and the sole sharer of every
secret of his inner life. . . . Prom the earliest period of my acquaintance
with him he was a decided Christian ; a simple, God-fearing man, who, to the
best of his ability, translated into daily practice the precepts of the Bible.17
The celebrated letter of Lord Lawrence, in reply to Colonel
Herbert Edwards, wherein he lays down the course which a
Christian Government should pursue in dealing with non-Christian
subjects, has been generally studied in Asia, Europe, Africa and
America, and furnishes very important hints to Christian mission¬
aries and missionary committees. It shows the " insight, grasp,
calmness and toleration of a Christian statesman." The letter was
written, under his instructions, by his Secretary, now Sir Eichard
Temple, who has borne, since that time, a part in the government
of nearly every province in India, and is distinguished as an
enlightened friend of Christian missions. We quote one or two
striking passages:—
15 Ibid., p. 226, 16 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 270 " Ibid., vol. ii, p. 325.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
345
Sir John Lawrence, I am pleased to state, says the Secretary, entertains the-
earnest belief that all those measures which are really and truly Christian
can be carried out in India, not only without danger to British rule, but, on
the contrary, with every advantage to its stability. Christian things done in
a Christian way will never, the Chief Commissioner is convinced, alienate the
Heathen. About such things there are qualities which do not provoke or excite
distrust, nor harden to resistance. It is when unchristian things are done in the
name of Christianity, or when Christian things are done in an unchristian way,
that mischief and danger are occasioned.
The greatness of Lord Lawrence was English greatness. He
cannot be regarded as an isolated phenomenon in the modern
history of England. He embodied in himself the characteristics of
the English people. He was the result of the soundness of the
central character of England. The beginning of his career in India
witnessed the beginning, in England, of that series of reforms which,
in the last fifty years, have changed the whole of the economic and
political character of Great Britain. No other period in the modern
parliamentary history of that great country has been so fruitful
of beneficent measures; in none has there been such a variety
of philanthropic legislation. During the first decade of John
Lawrence's residence in India, the Reform Bill, the Bill for the
Abolition of Slavery, the Bill for the Removal of the Disabilities of
the Jews, the Poor Law Amendment, the Tithe Commutation Acts,
were fully discussed and passed by Parliament.
In the subsequent decade, under the guidance of Sir Robert
Peel, the same spirit of improvement was displayed in financial and
commercial changes, ending with the abolition of the Corn Laws
and of the Navigation Laws. The speeches delivered in Parliament
and elsewhere in England during the discussion of these measures,
were all, no doubt, eagerly read and studied by John Lawrence in
his remote sphere of labour, and they were in themselves a liberal
education. Living in a strange country, among a strange people
and unfamiliar surroundings, and anxious to keep abreast of events
as they happened at home, it is probable that he enjoyed greater
opportunity and had greater inducements for studying and mastering
the questions which came before him in letters and newspapers, than
he would have had in England. While in the districts of Delhi
and Paniput, he was accumulating those treasures of experience,
2 a
346 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
he was, at the same time, getting instruction from the noble
^utterances of such able teachers as Brougham, Macaulay, Thomas
Powell Buxton, and acquiring those habits of which the results are
seen all through his subsequent labours, whether in the Indian
Council, the Palace at Calcutta, or the House of Lords. His mind
was getting direction from the great orations of Bright, Cobden, Peel,
Gladstone, Disraeli. He grew up and his first official deeds were
performed during the time that the greatest orators of the present
century were swaying the minds of the English people, creating an
enthusiasm for the masses, and finding co-operation in the Muse of
the greatest contemporary poet, who taught in stirring song that
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.
Under such influences was the character of John Lawrence formed
—a character which, it cannot be doubted, was the result of the
constitutional history and national character of England. It was
an evolution—a blossom which took shape from the rising sap, and
was tinted by the light of English history.
It is matter for gratulation that the Life of Lord Lawrence has
been added to the literature of Great Britain—a literature upon
which the sun never sets, and which may be compared to a beautiful
and variegated landscape. The traveller over it is surprised and
delighted at each turn of the road. There are stretches which,
beautiful with fragrant flowers, minister to the aesthetic intuitions
and necessities of his nature; along these he loves to linger ; but
the only feeling that remains, after he has passed them, is one of
exhilaration. There are others where luscious fruits abound,
which, besides delighting the eye, regale the appetite and satisfy a
craving deeper than mere artificial taste. Here he finds not only
delight, but profit. There are beautiful and charming works in
English literature which are only beautiful; they do not nourish.
There are others which feed the hungry, while they send the rich
empty away; others, still, minister to the taste of the rich, while
they leave the poor to starve; while others once more afford sus¬
tenance to the needy and guidance and help to the rich. The Life of
Lord Lawrence belongs to the last class. Mr. Bosworth Smith has
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
347
fulfilled the conditions laid down by the poet for complete success
in literary art:—
Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulce
Lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.18
The atmosphere of the book is refreshing and uplifting. It will
bear protracted reading aloud in any thoughtful circle. Its moral
and intellectual tone throws a brightness over virtue and benevo¬
lence, and makes vice and brutality seem darker. It brings to
mind the experience one has in a tropical tornado when it is just
approaching. The quarter of the heavens whence it proceeds looks
blacker from the clearness of the sky in the opposite direction.
The storm clouds deepen in their density and gloom, while the sun
appears to shine with increased intensity in the opposite quarter.
So the unsparing vindictiveness, savage brutality and insatiable
avarice of Hodson, the stern and calculating cruelty of Cooper,
the fierce and distorted temperament of Nicholson, seem more
repulsive in the light of the exalted heroism, the generosity and
love of the Lawrences, and other noble characters, who have been
made to pass before us. The light gives a greater depth to the
shadow.
Taking into consideration the moral influence of this work, it
is, we venture to think, far more important to humanity than any
of the productions of the fine arts—of sculpture, painting, or music.
So far as their effect upon human progress is concerned, what are
the frescoes of the Vatican, the exquisite grace of Raphael, or the
sublimity and energy of Michael Angelo, compared to the practical
and philanthropic influence of such a book ? Viewing its effect
upon the welfare of humanity, we would not exchange it for all the
awful and beautiful things in the Sistine Chapel. Its triumphs are
not aesthetic, but humanitarian. The high problems of political
and social economy and ethics, of race, education, religion and
diplomacy, are all dealt with in a truly Christian spirit. Not taste
but righteousness is consulted, and the great law is enforced, by
precept and living examples, of doing unto others as we would that
they should do unto us.
18 Horace, ' Epistola ad Pisones.'
34§
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
We sincerely hope that this work may not remain an isolated
phenomenon in the biographical literature of England. We trust
that the successors of Lord Lawrence may find biographers who
may be not only disciples but successors in spirit, of Mr. Bosworth
Smith. In one sense, Lord Lawrence will have no successor.
There are some qualities which are individual and belong to a par¬
ticular time—and only to that time—neither communicable nor
transmissible. Lord Lawrence could not form a Lawrence school
any more than Shakespeare could train a Shakespeare. A doctrine,
a principle, a method, a discovery, may be communicated or trans¬
mitted. But how shall a spirit be embodied? Who shall give to
others that "heroic simplicity," that rapid penetration into the
obscurities of a question, that prompt intuition into peculiar cases,
which cannot be judged by general rules, and which distinguished
Lord Lawrence ? These gifts are personal and peculiar.
But non omnis moriar.
The essential principles underlying all that Lord Lawrence wrote and
thought and did will be as true a hundred years hence as they are to-day; and
from these principles, as from a mine of wealth, many generations of Indian
statesmen may gather treasures new and old, bearing alike what is the practical
ideal at which Indian rulers ought to aim, and what are the dangers which it
most behoves them to avoid.19
It has been a joy and a profit to us to study these volumes, and
we lay them down with regret that we could not deal with
more of the important questions they suggest. We should be
puzzled to say which has given us the greater pleasure, the beauty
and the skill with which the story has been told, or the sentiments
of justice and love which permeate the record. The two chapters
on ' John Lawrence as Conqueror' and ' John Lawrence as
Pacificator' ought to be published separately in tract form, and
scattered over not only the British Empire, but the world. We
have been able to deal with but one side of the work—that side
which makes it so encouraging to non-European races, and so
instructive to Englishmen who have to deal with them, either as
rulers, missionaries or traders, and that side, probably, which will
give to the work its most permanent influence and value.
19 Life of Lord Lawrence; vol i, p. 309.
The Life of Lord Lawrence.
349
We congratulate Mr. Bosworth Smith on his great achievement.
He has erected a monumentum are perennius, which will ever be
an honour to his country.
It will be a delight to remember both the hero and his bio¬
grapher. The country which is proud to have produced John
Lawrence must be proud to have produced Bosworth Smith. The
land of Achilles is also the land of Homer. We look for immediate
and direct results from the influence of this book; and we look for
remote and far-reaching results. It will make itself felt in existing
society, and in the thinking and actions of generations yet unborn.
The Mohammedans of
Nigritia.
IN the present discussion, by Nigritia must be understood all the
region of West Central Africa embraced between Lake Tchad
on the east, and Sierra Leone and Liberia on the west, and between
Timbuktu on the north, and the Bight of Benin on the south, in¬
cluding the Niger from its source to its mouth. The European
travellers who have described various portions of this country are
Mungo Park, Denham and Clapperton, the Landers, Laing, Caillie,
and more recently, Richardson, Barth, Overweg, Vogel, and
Winwood Reade; the Liberian travellers are Benjamin Anderson
James L. Sims, and George L. Seymour.
The country east of Lake Tchad to the Red Sea is occupied
largely by Mohammedans; but we will now deal only with the
countries west of Lake Tchad, in which are situated the well known
cities of Kano, Sokoto, Illorin, Timbuktu, Sego, Kankan, Timbo,
Musardu.
This part of Africa, although so near to Europe, seems to have
been shut out from the knowledge of Europeans, until the publica¬
tion of the travels of Mungo Park, about one hundred years ago.
His descriptions are characterised by a marvellous fidelity and
accuracy. It is a remarkable fact that the accounts of the earlier
African travellers are, as a rule, more trustworthy than the state¬
ments of more recent adventurers. In all delineations which de¬
pend for their intelligibility upon the reflective power, and not
merely upon the perceptive organs, the older travellers are far
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
351
superior to their successors. There are some transactions—
or, rather, there is a condition of things—which can be made
intelligible only by an imaginative delineation of their accompani¬
ments. Alike in the statement of facts which need only to be
narrated, in order to be understood, and in the delineation of
conditions, which need the help of the imagination in order to their
thorough appreciation, the older African travellers are far safer
guides than those who, in countless numbers, are following them.
The earlier travellers came out unfurnished with any previous ideas
of the objects they were to explore. Their minds seem to have been
a complete tabula rasa in relation to the country and people. The
result was that the facts were given as they appeared to them,
not coloured or modified with a view to support or disprove any
theory. The greatest masters in any art are those who have first
trodden the way. Others must necessarily be imitators. It has
been so with sculpture, painting and music ; and it is so with travels
in Africa. In an old Atlas, published at Amsterdam, in 1665, the
position of the Victoria Nyanza, there called " Zaflan lacus," is laid
down with wonderful accuracy, whereas Central Africa appears
almost as a pure blank in the maps of forty years ago. For the
Nigritian country, therefore, we would recommend Mungo Park's
Travels; and, after his, those of Denham and Clapperton, Caillie
and the Landers. The modern traveller is hampered by a commercial
exigency. He is under the necessity of making a book that will sell;
and he is more anxious to conform to, and perpetuate popular
notions, than to give a faithful portraiture of what he sees, for he
would then have to walk in the old goove. He must bring forth
something new, something original, something sensational. Sir
Richard F. Burton, an experienced African traveller, has recently
made the following just observation :—
In Africa, strangers had two things to learn; in the first place, what there
was, and in the second place what there was not; and generally, what there was
not was more circumstantially reported than what there was.1
In the days of Park, Denham and Clapperton, the countries
which they visited were chiefly Pagan. They are now, through
1 Remarks at Meeting of Royal Geographical Society, June 29th, 1885.
352 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
the energy and zeal of Negro converts to Mohammedanism, all
under the rule of Islam. They enjoy a settled constitution, a written
code of laws, and a regular government.
Mohammedanism was not quite half a century old when it was
introduced into North-western Africa. Its conquests swept like a
whirlwind over the northern portion of the continent, from Egypt
to the Atlantic. An incident illustrative of the passionate faith,
the vigour and fervour of its first propagators, is given by Gibbon:
The title of " Conqueror of Africa " is justly due to Akbah. He marched from
Damascus at the head of ten thousand of the bravest Arabs. ... It would be
difficult, nor is it necessary, to trace the accurate line of progress of Akbah. . . .
He plunged into the heart of the country, traversed the wilderness in which his
successors erected the splendid capitals of Fez and Morocco, and at length
penetrated to the verge of the Atlantic and the Great Desert- . . . The career,
though not the zeal, of Akbah, was checked by the prospect of a boundless ocean.
He spurred his horse into the waves, and raising his eyes to Heaven, exclaimed,
with the tone of a fanatic, " Great God! if my course were not stopped by
this sea, I would still go on to the unknown kingdoms of the West, preaching
the unity of Thy holy name, and putting to the sword the rebellious nations
who worship any other gods than Thee." 2
Through the irrepressible energy of these indomitable Arabs,
the Mohammedan religion superseded a higher creed, which seemed
powerless to penetrate the continent. Various reasons have been
assigned for the failure of the North African Church to maintain
its position, and extend its influence. These reasons refer mainly
to defects in the Church itself, to its internal differences and dis¬
sensions ;3 but it did not yield to the attacks of the Eastern
propagandism without determined and protracted resistance.
It must not be believed (says Cardinal Lavigerie) that the African church
disappeared at a single thrust from the Arab's sword. This is a mistake too
widely spread, and against which our filial piety feels bound to protest.
Leo XIII has just proclaimed it loudly, with an authority that
dispenses with the necessity of any further proof. In the Bull
' Materna Ecclesiae caritas,' he says :—
Even as the Church of Africa had grown and increased with honours, even so
it accepted its destruction with dignity. The Faith of these unhappy popula.
2 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. li.
3 Lloyd's North African Church, p. 18.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
353
tions did then struggle long and desperately with its persecutors. Fourteen
times, according to the account of Ebn-Khaldoun, it was driven back by the
sword into apostacy, and, fourteen times, it returned to its ancient Faith. In spite
of the banishment to the deserts of Arabia of multitudes of men of all ranks—
senators, wealthy lords, women, children, simple plebeians ; in spite of solicita¬
tions, seductions, caresses, the Catholic Church remained steadfast at its post at
Carthage and in Tunis proper, for more than six centuries after the Mussulmans'
conquest. We have proof of this in the letters of Popes Saint Leo IX and
Saint Gregory the Great, during the 11th century and during the 13th, in the
• testimony of the historian of the Crusades, who mention in the time of St. Louis,
regiments belonging to the Sultan of Tunis composed of Christian natives.4
But, notwithstanding so much faith, so many catastrophes, and
such heroism, the Crescent superseded the Cross. We are dis¬
posed to regard it as a question at least open to entertainment,
whether, upon the whole, the continuance and growth of the
•Christians in the North of the continent would have promoted the
welfare or contributed as much to the future civilisation of the
people, as the triumph of the Saracens. When we consider what
has happened to the native races of other continents where
Christianity is said to have established itself, we are inclined to the
conclusion that the North African Church failed because it was
not competent to deal with the indigenous races of the country.
The Gospel, pure and simple, would have been an unspeak¬
able blessing. But it would not have come pure and simple.
A writer in the Church Missionary Intelligencer (July, 1885)
candidly says :—•
It is cheering to observe that as the veil is gradually being withdrawn from
unknown Africa, some attempt, however incommensurate with the resources of
a Christian nation, is being made to send to the population the only blessing
which can possibly compensate them for the privilege of being made known, namely,
the glorious Gospel of Christ.
There is no evidence that Christianity, or, rather, professing
Christians (in all we say we refer to the professors, not the system)
would have been less unscrupulous in their dealings with natives
of Africa, than they have been with the natives of America, of
Australia, of New Zealand. We can hardly doubt that, in the
wake of Christianity, would have followed such transactions as
•would have inspired the eloquent and indignant pen of some
i Annals of the Propagation of the Faith; March, 1885.
354 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Prescott or Robertson. There would have been the counterparts
of Cortez and Pizarro, and probably no Las Casas to check, if he
could not altogether prevent, the extermination of the aborigines.
The greater divergence of race would have intensified the antago¬
nism. The successful invaders would have assumed a right to
the persons and labour of the natives, slavery would have been
the normal condition of the aborigines, and the cruelty and
rapacity of their European masters would have exceeded any¬
thing witnessed in the New World—a whole continent would have
lain prostrate at the feet of unprincipled greed and irresponsible
tyranny.
Mohammedanism, in Africa, has left the native master of him¬
self and of his home ; but wherever Christianity has been able to
establish itself, with the exception of Liberia, foreigners have taken
possession of the country, and, in some places, rule the natives with
oppressive rigour.5
Mr. Anthony Trollope, in his work on South Africa, says the
white people of Natal told him there were no workmen to be found,
5 In a pamphlet issued in 1884, by the Committee of the Wesleyan Foreign
Missionary Society, they make pathetic and forcible appeal, in behalf of the
"Natives in Bechuanaland, and the Transvaal, against European oppression."
The Committee says—
1st. It is a fundamental law of the constitution of Boer Government that no
Native can purchase or hold land in Ms own name. The natives, therefore, simply
occupy land under the Boer, its owner. No amount of genius or skill, no
measure of industry or enterprise on the part of the native, can ever raise him
to the position of a joint-ownership.
2nd. They are further oppressed by " The Location System " which may be
thus described : A Municipality, however large or small, formed by the Boers of
any town, enacts that the natives shall not be allowed to reside within the area
of said town, but shall have a portion of land assigned to them somewhere in
the neighbourhood, on which they must locate. A tax is exacted from the
occupant of every shanty in the " location."
3rd. The " Curfew Bell," with its most invidious associations, afflicts them.
4th. There is the absence of all marital laws and rights of the native people
within the area of the Transvaal. They have no standing within the " funda¬
mental law " of the Boer as to marriage.
5th. The natives are plundered with impunity by the Boers under the title
of " Commands."—The English Government and the Natives in Bechuanaland and
Transvaal. Published at the Wesleyan Mission House, London, 1884.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
355
though the streets were full of Zulus, who will do anything for
a shilling, and half anything for a sixpence. In Bloemfonteinr
no coloured person is allowed to walk about after eight o'clock
in the evening. And, with the unfeeling hardness of the cold
Northern intellect, the eminent novelist makes the following
comment:—
There are cases in which justice—abstract justice—cannot be executed.
Had justice only been done, there would have been no United States, no British
India, no Australia, no New Zealand, no South Africa, Humanity, forbearance
and Christianity must put themselves as closely as possible into alliance with,
physical supremacy, and, together, make the best they can of the bargain.6
This is not the way the Founder of Christianity taught it to the
world. He said, " All things whatsoever ye would that men should
do unto you, do ye even so to them."
Christianity, then, failed in North Africa, and a people was
brought from a distance, of a race cognate with the African, whose
social sympathies, and foreseeing, and discriminating laws as to
food and drink, and other matters—supported, as they believed,
by Divine sanction—supplied elements for the preservation of the
natives. The Atlantic interposed its threatening billows to the
progress of Islam; the Sahara interposed its perilous sands to
the progress of Christianity. The propagators of Christianity
constructed for themselves the conveyances in which they crossed
the Atlantic. The bearers of Islam had the " ships of the desert"
created for them. The ocean was a highway for Christianity; the
desert a highway for Islam. Europe could not penetrate Africa;
Arabia could. A slave and an African was the mother of Ishmael,
the progenitor of the founder and first followers of Islam. Shem
and Ham unite in Mohammed. Instances of the union of Shem
and Ham are frequent in Holy writ. We have Joseph and the
Priestess of On; Moses and the Ethiopian woman ; Solomon and
Pharaoh's daughter. They have been together in ruling and in
serving, on the throne and in the dungeon. So, when the descen¬
dants of the union of these two great families appeared in the
north and north-east of Africa with their religion, Central Africa
6 Trollope's South Africa, p. 108.
356 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
readily opened to them. The desert gave forth water, and the fever
tempered its intensity. Japheth and Ham have never yet come
together in large numbers, except in the capacity of master and
slave. And, if the present attempt of Europeans to take possession
of the vast regions of the Congo could succeed—but happily it
•cannot—they could not make their acquisition of any value without
introducing a system of enforced labour, which is slavery.
After the first conquests of the Muslims in North Africa, their
•religion advanced southward into the continent, not by arms, but
by schools, and books, and mosques, by trade and intermarriage.
They could not have brought a force sufficient to subjugate the
people, for they had to deal with large, powerful and energetic
tribes. The Nigritian and Soudanic tribes have never been subdued
by a foreign foe, but they have, over and over again, driven back
both Arabs and Europeans. We learn from a distinguished African
geographer, that when the Portuguese discovered and took pos¬
session of the western coast, they found a Negro king who had not
•only extended his conquests from the centre of Housa to the
border of the Atlantic, and from the Pagan countries of Mose, in
12° north latitude, as far as Morocco, but governed his subjects
with justice, and adopted such of the customs of Mohammedanism
as he thought conducive to civilisation.7
Major Denham gives a graphic account of the disastrous issue
-of two expeditions made by Arabs against natives, armed only with
spears and arrows, in one of which he himself nearly lost his life.
In both cases the rout was complete—the Arabs fled in dismay.
When Major Denham was flying, in a naked and miserable state,
irom the victorious enemy, he experienced something of the hospi¬
tality of the African, of which Mungo Park gives so many interesting
instances. A young African prince pulled off his own trousers and
gave them to him."8
7 See Cooley's Negroland of the Arabs.
8 Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the
Years 1822, 1823 and 1824; by Major Dixon Denham, of His Majesty's 17th
.Regiment of Foot; and Gaptain Hugh Clapperton, of the Royal Navy.—London?
1826.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
357
Neither by the wars of the ancients, nor by the improved
methods of modern warfare—neither for political nor religious ends-
—have foreigners been able to penetrate and occupy the Soudan.
It was after the great tribes had been peaceably converted to Islam
that we hear of Jihads—military expeditions to reduce Pagans to
the faith. This religious propagandism, conducted by native
warriors, has been carried on with wonderful activity and success
during the last fifty years. Thirty years ago, a religious devotee
and military genius—a native of Futah Toro, Al-Hajj Omaru—■
reduced large districts on the Upper Niger to the faith of Islam,
He received the title, "Al-Hajj," "The Pilgrim," after he had per¬
formed the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was well versed in the-
Arabic language and literature, and wrote a number of books on
his travels, and on religious subjects, which are in circulation
throughout Nigritia.9
He has had several successors in the work of disseminating the
Mohammedan creed; and they are rapidly bringing the whole of
Africa north of the equator under the influence of the Crescent. The
most important kingdoms in this portion of the continent which are
still subject to Paganism are, Dahomey and Ashantee, and their
conversion is a question of a short time only. There is, at this
moment, an energetic promoter of the Jihad, having under his com-
mand scores of thousands of zealous Mohammedans anxious for the
spoils of time and the rewards of eternity. By means of these, he
is reducing to the faith the most warlike and powerful tribes. His
name is Samudu, born about forty years ago, in the Mandingo
country, east of Liberia. His fame has gone far beyond Nigritia, all
through the Soudan. It has crossed the Mediterranean to Europe,
and the Atlantic to America. A narrative of his proceedings now
lying before us, written in Arabic, by a native chronicler, contains
an interesting account of his method and achievements. The in¬
troductory paragraph we translate as follows.—
This is an account of the Jihad of the Imam Ahmadu Samudu, a Mandingo r
an inhabitant of the town of Sanankodu, in the extreme part of the Koniah
9 A sketch of Al-Hajj Omaru's life is given by Lieutenant Mage, in his
Voyage d'Exploration dans le Soudan Occidental.
358
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
country. God conferred upon him His help continually after he began the
•work of visiting the idolatrous Pagans, who dwell between the sea and the
country of Wasulu, with a view of inviting them to follow the religion of God>
which is Islam.
Know all ye who read this—that the first effort of the Imam Samudu was at
a town named Fulindiyah. Following the Book and the Law, and the
Traditions, he sent messengers to the King at that town, Sindidu by name,
inviting him to submit to his government, abandon the worship of idols, and
■worship one God, the Exalted, the True, whose service is profitable to His people
in this world and in the next; but they refused to submit. Then he imposed a
tribute upon them, as the Koran commands on this subject; but they persisted
in their blindness and deafness. The Imam then collected a small force of
about five hundred men, brave and valiant, for the Jihad, and he fought against
the town, and the Lord helped him againt them, and gave him the victory over
them, and he pursued them with his horses until they submitted. Nor will
they return to their idolatry, for now all their children are in schools, being
taught the Koran, and a knowledge of religion and civilisation. Praise to be
God for this.
Alimami Samudu then went to another idolatrous town called Wurukud,
surrounded by a strong wall, and skilfully defended, &c.
The same course was adopted as with the former town, and this
is the method pursued in all his operations. Large and powerful
states which, two years ago, were practising all the irrational and
debasing superstitions of a hoary Paganism, are now under the
influence of schools and teachers, and the regular administration of
law. In 1872, the present writer visited Falaba, the capital of the
Soolima country, two hundred and fifty miles east of Sierra Leone,
as Special Commissioner to the King from the British Government.
He found the King and his people intelligent, warlike, brave, and
energetic, but determined Pagans. .For fifty years, the Foulah
Mohammedans, by annual military expeditions, had striven to bring
them over to the faith of Islam, but they had always successfully
resisted every attack. To-day, however, Falaba is Mohammedan,
having fallen two years ago, before the troops of Samudu, under
the melancholy circumstances detailed in the following letter,
addressed to us by the Government Interpreter of Sierra Leone:—
Freetown, Sierra Leone,
October 30, 1884.
Dear Sir,—I am sure you will be sorry to hear that Falaba is taken. As you
have visited that region of country on two occasions, I know that you must take
.a deep interest in it. The King, Royal Family, and principal men, were killed;
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
359
and the rest of the inhabitants hurried into slavery, in countries above and
below Falaba, by the captors, under the command of Alfa Samudu and Mahmudi
Daranii. The latter is reported to have since died. It is reported that when
Sewah, King of Falaba (well known to you), found that he could do no more to
save his capital, together with its inhabitants, and numerous villages, from being
taken by the armed Mohammedans, he invited the whole Eoyal Family, and
many of the principal persons, into a large house, where he had a large quantity
of gunpowder, and addressed them in the following words :—
" Falaba is an ancient country, and never has been conquered by any tribe ;
it has always been ruling, and never has been ruled. I will never submit to
Mohammedanism. If any of you choose [to become Mohammedans, you are at
liberty to do so." All unanimously replied " They would rather die than become
Mohammedans.'
The King then threw a lighted torch into the powder, which immediately
■caught fire, and the whole place and people were burnt to death. Thus was
Falaba taken by the great Mohammedan war, now coming to the coast. It is
reported that Suluku, the chief of Big Boumba, in the Limba country, has
surrendered and taken a new name, Ahmadu Sofala, Should I learn anything
.further, I will inform you. With kind regards,
I remain, dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
THOMAS Or. LAWS ON,
Dr. E. W. Blyden. Govt. Interpreter.
This letter was published in the West African Beporter (Nov. 22,
1884), upon which the Editor remarked as follows :—
The capture of Falaba, the capital of the Soolima country, by the troops of
Alfa Samudu, will form an important epoch in the history of the Western Soudan.
The brief but graphic description of the circumstances of the capture of this
important city, as given by Mr. Lawson in this issue, will be read with painful
interest. . . , For more than three months, Falaba successfully resisted the
forces of Samudu, commanded by three distinguished generals—Fode Darami,
Infalli and Bilal. These men believed themselves to be fighting for the
establishment of the true religion, and for the freedom and security of trade.
Falaba felt itself fighting for national life. The strife was exacerbated by
fanaticism on the one hand, and the phrensy of personal peril and menaced
independence on the other. At length, Samudu gave orders to cease active
operations, and having a large number of men and vast resources at his command,
established a siege, which he maintained with relentless vigour, for several
months, until the fatal surrender. Starvation did what his troops could not do.
The troops of this energetic commander are now moving west¬
ward toward the Atlantic. He has no quarrel with Christians,
whom he treats with consideration and respect, and he would be an
important auxiliary in the interior operations of Christian Govern-
360 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
ments on the coast, if only they knew how to utilise him. He displays
in all his dealings a soldierly, as well as fatherly, heroism; so that
he has the art, as a rule, without carnage, of making his iconoclastic
message acceptable to the sympathies of the Pagans whom he
summons to the faith. In every town taken, either by force of
arms or by its own voluntary submission, he plants a mosque and
schools, and stations a teacher and preacher. He lays great stress
upon education. He trusts to the Koran and to the schools far
more than to the sword, as instruments for the determination of the
great moral and political controversy between him and the Pagans,
and for the general amelioration. Indeed, throughout Mohammedan
Africa, education is compulsory. A man might now travel across
the continent, from Sierra Leone to Cairo, or in another direction,
from Lagos to Tripoli, sleeping in a village every night, except in
the Sahara, and in every village he would find a school. There is
regular epistolary communication throughout this region in the
Arabic language—sometimes in the vernacular, written in Arabic
characters. Bishop Crowther informed us that he received a letter
at Lagos, which had come across the continent from Tripoli.
The book chiefly taught in the schools, and with a view to the
educidation of which all other books are studied, is the Koran. It
is called Alkitab, " The Book," par excellence, just as the Bible is
by us. It is composed in the purest Arabic, and offers many diffi¬
culties to those not acquainted with the idom of the Desert Arabs,
who alone speak the language in its perfection. The books which,
beside the Koran, are taught in all the schools, are various theo¬
logical treatises and the Moallakat—the six poems, which, in a
literary contest of all Arabia, before the days of Islam, carried off
the prize for grammatical excellence, purity and style. One of
these poems was written by a Negro, and wTon the special admira¬
tion of Mohammed. Another work which is much studied is the*
MaTcamat, or Assemblies of Hariri, which are said, in fifty books or
parts, to contain the whole Arabic language. This work is the
result of the literary system of a period in which not only the
sciences, but the useful arts of life, were sacrificed by the ingenious
and studious of a great nation to a profound grammatical
The Mohammedans of Nigritia. 361
research into the structure and resources of their own most copious
language. The theological student, anxious to master Hebrew, and
the Hebrew Scriptures, should know enough Arabic to read the
Makamat. Gesenius, in his lexicon, frequently explains a Hebrew
root by reference to this treasury of Semitic philology.
The African Mohammedans are still in that period in which
devotion to the one divine book, and to whatever serves to illustrate
it, supersedes every other feeling. Great attention is paid to gram¬
matical analysis; indeed, the language is said to have been first
reduced to system by Abu'l Aswad, Father of the Black of African
extraction.10 Nearly every Mandingo, or Foulah trader, or itinerant
teacher, carries among his manuscripts the Alfiyeh of Ibn Malik,
the most complete and celebrated of the Arabic grammatical poems.
The regular subjects of study are grammatical inflexion and syntax,
rhetoric, versification, theology, the exposition of the Koran, the
traditions of the Prophet, and arithmetic. But, besides treatises on
serious subjects, they have an abundance of light reading, story
books, &c. Kichardson says:—
Yusuf has been reading an Arabic book, which I at first thought was some
commentary on the Koran; but to-day I was undeceived. He related what he
read. It reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. A tall man walks through the sea,
cooks fish in the sun, and destroys a whole town, whose inhabitants had insulted
him, by the same means that our comparative giant saved the palace of
Liliput from conflagration.11
There are numerous native authors who have written in the
Arabic, Foulah, Mandingo, and Jalof languages ; but great reverence
is paid to Arabic; it is the language of devotion, of civil and eccle¬
siastical law, of inspiration. It is the opinion of the Nigritian
Mohammedans that Abraham spoke Arabic. They say it was
carried—by the Father of the Faithful, the Friend of God, and his
son Ishmael—into Arabia, where it was kept, and was not allowed
to be diffused until it was enshrined by the message of the Prophet.
After it was embodied in the Koran, where it would be certain of
preservation, it was allowed to go forth and to come into contact
Biographies of Ibn Khallikan; vol. i, p. 662.
11 Narratives of a Mission to Central Africa ; vol. i, p. 57.
2 B
362 Christianityj Istam ancl the Negro ttacc.
with other rites and customs; and they affirm that the Africans
were the first people to whom it was sent.
There is, no doubt, some ground for the opinion of the African
Mohammedans as to the antiquity of the Arabic language. Hebrew
is regarded by Semitic scholars as really a dialect. Arabic com¬
prises many peculiar and original formations, pointing to a remoter
time and much earlier stage. And it is remarkable that a language
confined to the Arabian peninsula until the seventh century after
Christ should have attained such copiousness. And when it came
into contact with new conditions, and strange races and customs,
such is its wonderful elasticity that it adapted itself, not only by
adaptations of existing roots, but by words already formed and in
use, to the intelligible expression of the innumerable new notions,
and even to the new ideas of modern thought and life. It is adapted
to the solitudes of the desert, and to the multifarious and complex
activities of the city; to the simple nomadic life of the Bedouin,
and to the artificial civilisation of Alexandria, Beyrut and Bagdad.
" In Arabia, as in Greece," says Gibbon, " the perfection of
language outstripped the refinement of manners, and her speech
could diversify the fourscore names of honey, the two hundred of
a serpent, the five hundred of a lion, the thousand of a sword, at a
time when this copious dictionary was entrusted to the memory of
an illiterate people."
But it is interesting to meet, and to be able to converse with,
one of the learned men from the heart of Nigritia, who knows
nothing of the scientific discussions and discoveries of the day.
It is our privilege, as we write this—one we rarely enjoy—to have
the company, almost daily, of such a character. He is a man, not
much over thirty, of the Mandingo tribe, now visiting the coast for
the first time. He is learned in all the theological, controversial
and political literature of Arabia and of his native country; is
himself the author of several small treatises, speaks Arabic fluently
and several native languages, and is now taking English lessons.
He has in his possession two copies of the Arabic Bible (Beirut
translation), and is familiar with its contents. We asked him to
give, in writing, his opinion on several points on which we had
The Mohammedans of Nigritia. 363
conversed. We send you his views in his own handwriting (Arabic)
on the Bible, on Slavery, on Pictorial and Plastic Representations,
marked respectively No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. It might, perhaps,
interest your readers if you could give a facsimile of each, or a
portion of each, in the pages of the Revieio. We give below trans¬
lations :—
THE BIBLE AND THE! KORAN.
Manifest differences between the Holy Bible and the illustrious Koran are
presented to the careful observer. We mention five.
In the book of Genesis (chap, i and v. 27) it is said, " God created man in
His own image, in the image of God created He him." This is contrary to his
word, the Exalted, in the chapter on ' Counsel' (Koran, xlii, 9). " Creator of
the heavens and the earth ! He hath made for you pairs from among your own
selves, and pairs from cattle—by this means he multiplies you. There is naught
like Him
Again ! in Genesis, chap, ii, ver. 2, 3, it is said : " He rested on the seventh
day." This is also contrary to the word of the Exalted, in the chapter on ' The
Cow ' (Koran, ii, 111). " Maker of the Heavens and the Earth! and when He
decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, ' Be,' and it is." This is the truth accepted
by us, that God (may He be exalted) does not work by means of tools—only by
His word. " Be," and it is. This is truth without contradiction. Glory be to
Him. Weariness be far from Him. Rest is sought only after weariness or
fatigue, and fatigue comes from effort through labouring with the hand or with
implements, and this is not applicable to the method of our Lord. (May he be
honoured and glorified !)
Again : in. the book of Exodus, xxxii, v, 2-4, it is said, " And Aaron said unto
them, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your
sons and your daughters, and he received them and fashioned it with a graven
tool after he had made it a golden calf." This is contrary to the words of the
Exalted in the chapter,' Ta Ha ' (Koran, xx, 90-92), "And so did Samiri cast, and
he brought forth to them in bodily shape a lowing calf, &c., &e. And Aaron had
before said to them—O my people ! by this calf are ye only proved, and verily
your Lord is the Merciful : follow me, therefore, and obey my bidding.12
Again : in the Gospel of John (chap, xix, 16-18), it is said, " And they took
Jesus; and led Him away; and He, bearing His cross, went forth into a place
called ' The Place of a Skull,' which is called in the Hebrew, < Golgotha,' where
they crucified Him and two others with Him, on either side one and Jesus in the
midst." This is contrary to the words of the Exalted in the chapter on
' Women ' (Koraniv, p. 156). Their saying, " Verily, we have slain the Messiah,
Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God.
12 See note on this passage in Rodwell's translation of the Koran. Moham¬
medans affirm that Aaron was opposed to the making of the calf.
364 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Yet they slew him not, but they had only His likeness,18 and ven y, °__
differed about Him were in doubt concerning Him. No sure know e ge1 a
they about Him, but followed only an opinion ; and they did not really s ay im,
but God took Him up to Himself.
Again: In the prayer, " Our Father, who art in heaven. This is contrary to
His word (May He be exalted). " Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures."
The import of the words, " Our Father," is an affirmation of Fatherhood on the
part of God, the Truth, and disowns his Lordship (May He be glorified), and
rejects the servitude (servanthood expresses the idea of the original letter) of the
creature affirming sonship on their part.
This is not a doctrine acceptable to the people who hold to the unity14 of God.
The words, " Lord of all creatures," affirm dominion, sovereignty, on the part of
God, the Truth, for this is His prerogative, and submission and obedience on the
part of the creature, which is their proper position. It is finished.
No. 2.—SLAVERY.
Saith God, the Exalted (and He is the most righteous of speakers) : Yeriiy,
the most honourable of you in the sight of God is the most pious of you
(Koran, xlix, 13).
From this the intelligent may understand that no creature can be a slave
to a creature. God suffereth one to come into the possession of another as a test
of the compassionate or merciful disposition of the possessor, and the nature of his
gratitude to Him, the Exalted; and for the possessed (the slave), a test of the
measure of his submission to the decree and power of God. And that it may
be made manifest to thee that God is the controller of His creatures, verily
the Exalted may make His enemy ruler over His friend, as He tried His
servant Joseph—the righteous, the honourable, son of the honourable, who
was son of the honourable, who was son of the Friend of God. He made
him the slave of Potiphar, a ruler in Egypt, and he submitted to the decree
of his Lord and to His power; and God changed his servitude to the most
excellent rank, and made him chief and King over the people of his time.
Very often a man purchases a slave with his money, and he serves him till
he dies ; and notwithstanding this, he is nearer to God than his master, as
was the case with the Children of Israel who, in their time, on account of
the revelation granted to them, were superior to all other people ; yet God
gave them in servitude to Pharaoh, with all his arrogance and Heathenism,
until the period of the departure of Israel by the hand of his patient and
prudent servant" Moses, the son of Amram (Peace be upon them both).
'I his was a trial to them, and a humiliation for their sins. Therefore, O
man of understanding, be not arrogant over your slave or make yourself superior
to him. Seek from him with kindness what God has decreed to you of profit
18 Literally, " One was made to appear to them like Jesus."—Rodwell. The
Mohammedans believe it was an eidolon, and not Jesus Himself, who was
crucified.—Palmer's translation of the Koran, in loco.
14 Not only the oneness, but the unapproachable singularity of the Divine
Being.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia. 365
from him, and know that God, who made you ruler over him, is able to make
him ruler over you. Thank God for His gift, and be not ungrateful. Gratitude
secures favour, ingratitude dismisses it. Saith God (May He be honoured and
glorified) in his Book—chapter on the ' Prophets ' (Koran, xxi, 36)—" For trial, we
will prove you with evil and with good, and unto us shall ye return." Oh God,
I entreat Thee grant me firmness in the faith and preservation in this world,
and in the next. Oh God ! bless our Lord, Mohammed, and keep him safe, and
all the Prophets and the Apostles, brethren of Mohammed. May the blessing
of God be upon them all. Praise be to God, Lord of all creatures.
No. 3.—PICTURES.
Moses and Jesus (Blessing and peace upon them), were prophets indeed, and
in truth. Their excellence and superiority are not hidden, but they have no
followers. I have not seen their followers, nor have I heard of them from
the mouth of men. I have not seen among them, i.e., those to whom has been
given the Bible, any opposition to the making of images and figures in their
houses and churches, and on walls. I have even seen in the markets loaves
of bread made into figures—some to resemble men, and some other things.
Now, among things well understood by those to whom there is the slightest
perception in this : that in the Holy Bible, God, through the prophets and
their followers, forbade the making of images and the worship of them. He
has explained that He is a jealous God, and said, " Thou shalt not make unto
thyself any graven image, &c." Is this abrogated ? Why, then, is not the
verse shown by which it is abrogated ? And if you ask them concerning this,
what is their answer ? Do they not say that this is an old prohibition ? Or
they say, " When we make images and pictures it shows our intelligence ; " or,
" God has forbidden the worship of images, not the making of them. Verily
this is the delusion of Satan to them. The house has neither foundation nor
support. Know that the making of images, as well as the worshipping of them,
after receiving the Divine revelation against it, is a work of the devil; who,
through his envy of the believing followers of the prophets, whispers this
wickedness into the hearts of the servants of God—from among those who have
the books of Moses and Jesus and our Prophets, and deceives many, except
those who believe and do the things that are right of the people of Mohammed.
Some of those of whom we have heard, of the followers of Moses and Jesus, who
bow down before images, say falsely that they are the images of those whom
they love and honour, of the prophets, and great men who followed them—that
they worship God (May He be glorified) by means of these images. But they
do not perceive that such work is contrary to the command of God, and cannot
be pleasing to Him. They are carried away by this mockery of Satan, who
rejoiceth in their degradation through these deeds of theirs. May the curse of
God rest upon the devil and his associates; and may God separate between the
people of Mohammed and the accursed, as He separates between them and His
Forgiveness and His Paradise. He is over all things mighty !
It must be interesting to every intelligent and earnest Christian,
366 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
to get the glimpse which these papers which we have laid before
them, give of the views and feelings of the Negro Mohammedans of
Africa, on the questions discussed. It will be seen in No. 1, that
one of the most precious doctrines of Christianity has no place in
the Koran—the doctrine of the atonement of the vicarious sufferings
and death of Christ.
It will, no doubt, strike the reader with astonishment, also, to
learn from the same paper, that the Fatherhood of God, as under¬
stood by Christians, is not accepted by Mohammedans. With them
the Lord is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Sovereign of the
universe, Lord of all creatures. The description of God, in the
Koran, is as follows :—
God! there is no god but He l the living, the subsisting; neither slumber
seizeth Him, nor sleep; His, whatsoever is in the Heavens, and whatsoever is
in the Earth! Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His own per¬
mission? He knoweth what is present with his creatures, and what is yet
to befall them ; yet naught of His knowledge do they comprehend, save what
He willeth. His throne reacheth over the Heavens and the Earth, and the
upholding of both burdeneth Him not, and He is the High, the Great! " 13
The Muslim's idea of God is that of a Being too exalted to have
any relations with his creatures, even remotely resembling earthly
relationship. Their system admits neither anthropomorphism nor
circumlocutions of any kind. They would accept the unrivalled
definition of God as given by the Westminster Assembly's Shorter
Catechism. But, notwithstanding this distance to which the God
of the Mohammedan is removed, yet they act far more fully than
some who would condemn them upon the other idea, which is a
result of the belief in the Fatherhood of God, viz., the Brotherhood
of men. " Write me down," said Abou ben Adhem, "as one who
loves his fellow-men." Many Christians who say " Our Father,"
reject the truth in practice. Eecent American papers are full of
illustrations of the extreme difficulty experienced in that eminently
Christian country on the question of dealing with the'Negro on the
broad platform of Christian brotherhood. The Annual Council of
the Diocese of Virginia has just adopted a Canon (May, 1886)
15 Sura ii, p. 256.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
367
■which provides a separate organisation for the coloured Episco¬
palians, to be known as the " Coloured Missionary Jurisdiction " of
the Diocese of Virginia. There were cast for the measure 114
votes out of 164. No doubt, these 114 voters said " Our Father "
every morning and evening. The Bishops of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, in their quadrennial address (May,
1886), held the following language :—
The attitude of the Negro toward all the institutions of the country is a
problem, civil and spiritual, which becomes hourly more difficult of solution.
Nor must we, on the other hand, be hurried forward by sentimental extrava¬
gance in the direction of the discoloured current of social equality, through the
agency of the schoolroom, the congregation, or the conference ; for there is no
conceivable result that would compensate for the crime against Nature which this
theory deliberately contemplates.16 But this is a reproduction of the doctrine
of the late Bishop Pierce, formally announced on the occasion of his golden
wedding, February 3,1884. He said :—The Negroes are entitled to elementary
education, the same as the whites, from the hands of the State. It is the duty
of the Church to improve the coloured ministry, but rather by theological
training than by literary education. In my judgment, higher education, so
called, tvould he a 'positive calamity to the Negroes. It would increase the
friction between the races, produce endless strifes, elevate Negro aspirations
far above the station he was created to fill, and resolve the whole race into
a political' faction, full of strife, mischief, and turbulence. Negroes ought
to be taught that the respect of the white race can only be attained by
good character and conduct. Their well-doing and well-being, all right-
minded citizens desire, and would rejoice in. Agriculture and all the
mechanical pursuits are open to them, and in them they might find lucrative
employment. In these directions they may support their families, get
property, and become valuable citizens. If Negroes were educated, inter¬
marriages in time would breed trouble; but of this I see no tendency now.
My conviction is, that Negroes have no right on juries, in legislatures, or in
public office. . . . The whites can never tamely, and without protest, submit
to the intrusion of coloured men into places of trust and profit, and responsi¬
bility.1?
The views which Southern bishops are enforcing by elaborate
1(3 We copy these paragraphs from the correspondence of the New York
Independent (May 13, 1886). The correspondence describes the address as " an
able and comprehensive document, in plain and vigorous English." The Editor
makes no remark.
17 Methodist Review ; May, 1886, p. 339.
368
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
argument, Southern professors are putting in telling epigrams.
" Poor Sambo! " exclaims Professor Noah K. Davis, " lie asks
for bread, and. you build Him a college \ tie asks for a fisli, and
you send him a professor." Dr. Curry calls this epigrammatic
wit.18
But, with all this, the Negro is hopeful for the future. "We
wish we could share this hope; but we do not believe that what
race-prejudice begrudges to the fathers will be conceded to the
children, In spite of the barriers which argument and ridicule and
outrage strive to put into the way of the education of the pro¬
scribed class, many will, no doubt, rise to heights of scholarship
and become adepts in science, while the oppressors may grow in
liberality; but the involuntary limits of their mental and social
sympathies will always prevent them from according to their former
chattels, of a distinct race, equal, or rather identical, privileges, with
themselves. John F. Morgan, in the North American Review, July,
1884, says, in view of the future, " The same party which claims to
have emancipated the Negro, will become the most active in his
disfranchisement."
In the same Beview (November, 1884), Prof. E. W. Gillian,
speaking of the efforts to elevate the freedmen, says:—
The final result must be race-antagonism, growing in intensity, and menacing
malignant evils. One race must be above, the other below, with a struggle for
position. Equality is impossible. The African must return or be returned to
Africa.
The Christian Recorder (June 24, 1886) says that, " A few
weeks ago, a distinguished man in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, deferred the consideration of the question of social equality
to the year 1986." Let us hope that, in 1986, hundreds of thou¬
sands of Christian Negroes from the United States will be, in this
hemisphere, successfully vying with their Mohammedan brethren
in reclaiming the continent from Paganism, and introducing the
reign of the Prince of Peace. Long before that time the "colour
line " will have been washed out by the broad Atlantic, and the
white man, rejoicing in the homogeneousness of his great country,
will wave in triumph across the briny deep, to the "brother in
18 Ibid.; July, 1886, p. 626.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
369
black," the handkerchief' of social recognition, and wonder at the
former aberration of opinion on this subject. In the meanwhile, it
seems to be expected that the Negro in America will "order himself
lowly and reverently to all his betters."
But the Christian Negro meets with trouble from his brethren
•of a different race in other quarters than the United States. The
British Wesleyans of the West Indies, on account of the pre¬
ponderance of the coloured population, find it impossible, after
one hundred years of labour in those islands, to organise a West
Indian Conference.19 The leading official organ of English
Wesleyans, in an elaborate article on 'Wesleyan Foreign Missions,'
which caused some stir at the time of its publication, thus describes
-the situation:—
Taking the Islands as a whole, the Colonial element is not strong. The
■coloured population greatly predominates. This is true of the West Indian
Churches generally. It is barely fifty years ago since slavery was abolished in
the West Indies. As a rule, every man who is over fifty years of age was once
a slave, redeemed by British justice, with British gold. With rare exceptions)
every man who is over thirty years of age is the child of parents who were born
in slavery—a slavery which was the tradition of generations. The evils which
that slavery had so cruelly inwrought into the enslaved race cannot all bo
remedied in the course of the first generation. Where freedom does not flourish,
■conscience must needs be exotic. Duplicity breeds distrust. The knowledge
that notions of truth and honesty are commonly lax, will necessarily hinder
one from confiding in another. That the coloured men of the islands are, in
many cases, able to assert their rights, and to hold themselves equal, in con¬
scious integrity and business power, to the best among their whiter comrades,
need not be denied. The truth remains that, in more islands than one, it is
difficult to persuade one darkskinned man to trust another. Lay officers are
few and hard to find. These things have been too often affirmed to be regarded
as strange. They were known to the Missionary Committee three years ago
as fully as they are known to-day; and it is an open secret that, because
they were known, the Committee was in no haste for the constitution ox the
Conference.20
No wTonder, after such a statement, we should find that at tne
Wesleyan May Meeting, in July, 1886, there was not a little dis¬
couragement. The English correspondent of the Sieira Leone
Methodist Herald says, under date June 15, 1886:—
19 We learn that since this was written the West Indian Conference has been
■organised.
2° London Quarterly Review, July, 1885.
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Sincere heart-searchings and close self-examination, have been occasioned
in many quarters by the falling-off in missionary contributions, as reported
at the present Anniversary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, as well as by
the diminished attendance at the Exeter Hall and some other meetings, and
the decrease of membership. Hence we have had much correspondence in
our religious papers, especially in the Christian World, on the question, ' Is-
Methodism declining ? '
By an interesting coincidence the writer of the letter from
which we take this extract is no other than the veteran Wesleyan
missionary—now retired—the Rev. William Moister, who has been
in labours so abundant, both in Africa and in the West Indies.
When he read the startling sentences in the London Quarterly, he
must have recalled his own statements, made twenty years ago,
as to missionary success in the West Indies. In his History of
Wesleyan Missions (p. 92), he says:—
In the West Indies, we can point to Christian ministers, physicians, lawyers,,
magistrates, legislators, philosophers, of African descent, who perform their
duties with as much efficiency and dignity as persons of any other country,
although some of them have had but slender means of raising themselves to-
their present honourable position.
If the statement of the London Quarterly is not the invention of
prejudice, what a falling-off there must have been in the last two
decades.
In the United States there are the Methodist Episcopal Church
and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, having the same creed,
polity and language. The separation is caused by the elemental
differences of race and colour; evidently no fault of the Negro
Church; for it displays on its banner, with almost pathetic distinct¬
ness and reiteration, the sentiment of which Mohammedans do not
admit the first part, but practise the second, "God our Father;
Man our brother." The formal and continuous holding forth of
this truth would be superfluous, if it were universally recognised.
But its presentation by the weaker—by the so-called inferior and
despised party—wears to us the aspect of a humiliating appeal for
recognition and sympathy—the argumentum ad misericordiam. It
is the " Am I not a Man and a Brother ? " of the days of Slavery,
The excellent device of the Christian Recorder would have weight,
it seems to us—we mean, not inherent, but relative weight—if it
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
3 71
were displayed by the stronger and superior, with a view of attract¬
ing the weaker. But coining from the weaker, it appears to us
that the desired effect is destroyed. All force is withdrawn from the
strongest phrases in the language when employed by those who
cannot command, but only beg. The offer of liberality is effective
only when made by those who have the means to be liberal. The
offer of beneficence on the part of those who have no benefits to*
confer, is meaningless. We do not say that those who have adopted
the motto have no justification for it. They have not only strong
foot-hold in reason and common sense, but they have good ground
in the Gospel of Christ. We do not believe that such a brotherhood
is beyond the possibilities of Christianity. We believe that the pur¬
pose and tendency of the system is to make hearts divided by the
distinctions of race, or rank, or intellect, clasp one another in the
close embrace of a common faith. Was not this its effect in the
primitive Church ? Our Mohammedan friends are charmed by that
beautiful picture drawn by Luke of the simple and loving life of the
Apostolic Church—" And all that believed were together, and had
all things common; and sold their possessions and goods; and
parted them to all men, as every man had need And the
multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul;
neither said any of them that ought of the things which he pos¬
sessed was his own; but they had all things common." The theory
of the Church of Christ, as taught by the Divine Founder and his
immediate successors, is a spiritual Kingdom whose citizens are all
sons of God, and therefore brothers and sisters one of another. " For
this cause " says St. Paul, " I bow my knees unto the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in earth and heaven is
named." But, alas, in a materialistic age, the noble device held
forth by the Christian Becorder is simply "the voice of one crying
in the wilderness." Vox clamantis in deserto.
The views of our author on 4 Slavery' (No. 2) are very different
from those attributed to Muslims by the popular opinion of Christian
countries. But they are the views held throughout the Mohammedan
world. " Slavery, from the first to the last," says Mr. Palgraver
" after the manner in which it is practised here (in Arabia) from time
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
immemorial, has little but the name in common with the system,
hell-branded by those atrocities of the Western hemisphere.
Mohammed, at the beginning of his mission, caused such excite¬
ment among the slaves by the liberality of his teaching, that some
of the large slaveholders found it necessary to remove their slaves
from the vicinity of his labours, lest they should all turn converts.
His system was a social, as well as a religious and political,
revolution. Says an able reviewer:—
Under Mohammed there sprang up, ex necessitate rei, a form of democratic
•equality, more absolute than the world has elsewhere seen. Claims of birth
and wealth could be of no value, or the presence of a master whose favour
•implied the favour of the Deity. The proudest Arab could not murmur if God
chose a slave like Zeid to be the leader of armies, and visibly confirmed his
■choice with the seal of victory. It is a principle, also, of the new sect, that Islam
extinguished all relations. The slave, once a Muslim, was free ; the foe, once a
Muslim, was dearer than any kinsman; the Pagan, once a Muslim, might
preach, if the Prophet bade, to attentive listeners. Mohammed was enabled,
therefore, at all times to command the absolute aid of every man of capacity
within his ranks. No officers of his threw up their commissions because they
were superseded. If he selected a child, what then ? Could not God give
victory to a child ? Moreover, all the latent forces which social order restrains
were instantly at his disposal. Every strong man, kept down by circumstances,
had an instinctive desire to believe in the faith which removed at a stroke every
■obstacle to his career. To this hour, this principle is still of vital importance in
all Mohammedan countries. A dozen times has a Sultan, utterly ruined, stooped
among his people, found—in a water-carrier, a tobacconist, a slave, or a rene¬
gade—the required man; raised him in a day to power, and supported him to
save the empire. If the snuff-dealer can rule Egypt, why should he not rule
Egypt ? He is as near to God as any other Mussulman, save only the heir of
-the Kalifate; and accordingly, Mohammed Ali finds birth, trade and want of
education, no obstacles in his path. The pariah who, in Madras, turns Christian,
is a pariah still; but if he turns Mohammedan, the proudest Muslim noble
will, if he rises, give him his daughter, or serve him as a sovereign, without a
thought of his descent.22
Mohammed appointed a Negro slave, Bilal, to call the faithful
to prayer at the stated times. And from those Negro lips the
beautiful sentiment first found utterance—" Prayer is better than
sleep: Prayer is better than sleep." It is repeated every day
throughout the Mohammedan world; and the most distinguished
21 Eastern and Central Arabia; vol. ii, p. 271.
22 National Review, October, 1861.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
European of which history can boast is, in Asia and Africa, an
unknown personage by the side of the slave, Bilal. Mohammed
gave this man precedence to himself in Paradise. On one occasion
the Prophet said to Bilal, at the time of the morning prayer,
" 0 Bilal, tell me 'an act of yours from which you had the greatest
hopes; because, I heard the noise of your shoes in front of me in
Paradise, in the night of my ascension."23
It is said that the intellectual part of Christendom is in revolt
against the received forms of Christianity ; that there is a growing-
alienation from the recognised standard of belief; but among
African Mohammedans, the Church of the people is identical with
the intellect of the people. The possibilities of every individual in
the nation, whatever his race or previous condition, give social
stability and spiritual power to the system. Frederick Douglass,,
as a Mohammedan, would have been a waleess—a saint of the
religion, an athlete of the faith; as a Christian, his orthodoxy is-
snspected, arid his very presence is deprecated in a church in the
capital of the nation; and further south, his domestic relations
would probably earn him a home in the penitentiary.
In No. 3, on ' Pictures,' &c., our author says, " Jesus and Moses
have no followers." The intelligent Mohammedan from the interior
who visits the Christian settlements on the sea-board, is struck
with the discrepancy between what he has read in the Bible and
what he sees in the customs of the people. He knows nothing of
the argument, from necessity or expediency, by which, in Christian
countries, much of the letter and spirit of the Word is set aside
and neutralised.24 In a conversation with our learned friend, he
expressed his surprise at what he regarded as the sinful taste for
pictures displayed in the houses of Christians whom he had visited,,
and. quoted the Second Commandment to support his view. We
said, " They have them simply as a part of house furniture, as-
ornaments, and not as objects of worship." He replied, " Why
28 Mischat-ul-Masabih; vol. i, p. 285.
24 Some things there may be in the structure of society to-day, as in the days.
of Moses as in all the days since Moses—which must be tolerated temporarily,.
because of the hardness of men's hearts.—Methodist Review; July, 1886, p. 598.
.374
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
.are they not satisfied with the ornaments which Nature has
furnished, in such lavish profusion around them the blue sky, the
white clouds, the beautiful flowers, the living birds, the real horses,
sheep, and goats, the prolific cow ? " &c. We then asked him to put
his opinion on the subject in writing, when he wrote at once No. 3.
Besides the passage in the Koran which forbids the making of
images, Mohammed, in private instructions, constantly impressed
upon his followers the evil of such practices. The Prophet said,
" Those will be punished the most severely, at the day of resur¬
rection, who draw likenesses of God's creation." " If you must
make pictures, make them of trees, and things without life."24
This prohibition has not been without its advantages to the
Negro convert to Islam. His Arab teacher having no pictures by
which to aid his instruction, was obliged ' to confine him to the
book. In this way, his thinking and reasoning powers were
developed rather by what he read and heard than by what he saw.
He saw neither busts nor pictures, but men. He did not study
books, but character. And among the first lessons he learned was,
that a man of his own race, a Negro, assisted at the birth of the
religion he was invited to accept; and, in his subsequent training,
his imagination never for one moment endowed the great men of
whom he heard or read with physical attributss'essentially different
from his own. When—in 1873, at the court of the Mohammedan
King of Futah Jallo, three hundred miles north-east of Sierra
Leone, we saw him, surrounded by his venerable chiefs and sheikhs,
all men of fine forms, who looked to us more like the old prophets
and kings than any other group we ever saw—we asked him what
was his conception of the personal appearance of Mohammed and
the first Khalifs, he replied: " They looked just like the men you
see here." This man had never seen a picture, and his imagination
reproduced the great men of Islam in the forms with which he was
familiar. So, the boys who are being educated in the Nigritian
schools are not subject, like their Negro brethren in Christian lands,
to those intermittent exertions of the faculty of insight which,
25 Mischat-ul-Masabih; vol. ii, p. 369.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
375
sometimes make them look upon themselves as full men, with
all the possibilities of men; but at other times, forced by the only-
pictorial examples they see of greatness, to doubt their capacity
to attain to the excellence they admire. The white boy who
looks at the glories of the canvas, or the exquisite forms brought
out in the marble, feels an elevation of sentiment, a rush of in¬
spiration and aspiration. He grasps some fragment of the beauty
of the marble, or gathers some flying whisper from the magnifi¬
cence of the canvas, and echoes it back in the language of his own
consciousness, and feels, "I, too, am a white man ! " The Negro
youth sees only the surface—it is all obscure allegory to him, and
his feeling is frozen into language subtler than the marble he looks
upon, as he asks himself, " What part or lot have I in this ?"
While, therefore, he stands in art galleries amid admiring crowds,
there never was a man to whom a yellow primrose is, in so true a
•sense, nothing more than a primrose.
Bishop Turner complains that, in the United States, even in
the estimate of the generality of Negroes, " White is God, and black
is the Devil." What wonder that it is so? The Negro imbibes
this lesson through every avenue of his soul. For him, then, there
would have been no loss if the Second Commandment had been
rigidly enforced : " Thou shall not make unto thyself any graven
image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." 23
This verse is omitted in the shorter catechism, both of the
Lutherans and of the Eoman Catholics. One can hardly see why
since it is given, in full, in Luther's Bible and in the Vulgate.
Dogmatic motives, probably, caused the omission by the Eoman
Catholics, as one of the chief methods of instructing the masses in
the Middle Ages was supplied by art. " The only teaching of the
people," says Dean Milman, " was the ritual." Artists were em¬
ployed to execute on the walls of churches, picture histories.
Church, chapel, corridor, were completely transformed into one
great and harmonious picture. Such paintings were the books of
23 Exodus, xx, 4.
376 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
the unlettered people. " Illiterati, quod per Scripturam 11011 possant
intueri, hoc per quaedam picturae lineamenta contemplantur was
the Declaration of the Synod of Arras, in 1205. One of the popular
artists of that day is made to say, "We painters give attention to
naught, but to make male or female saints on the walls and on our
panels, thereby, to the great despite of the demons, to render men
more devout and better."
Happily for the development of the Negro in Africa, a different
method has been adopted in his training. No art can represent
him. The " rich black and richer bronze " of his complexion has
never yet been reproduced in marble or on canvas ; and neither
brush nor chisel can give his peculiar expression. Any representa¬
tion made of him must be untrue to Nature. He can, therefore,
dispense with plastic or pictorial art as a means of perpetuating his
memory, and we see that, as a means of his education, it is worse
than useless.27
Let N egro readers of this paper ponder the views of one of their
learned brethren from the heart of Nigritia, innocent of race-
oppression and race-prejudices, and know that there are millions
like him, on this continent, who hold these views.27 In their eyes,
Michael Angelo, Eaphael, Leonardo, Georgione, Titian, were all
sinners of the deepest dye, working, in their sublimest perform¬
ances, under an afflatus, not from above, but from below. The
Moses of Michael Angelo, rising before us in all its commanding
sternness, as the figure before which Pharaoh trembled, would be
27 We have discussed this subject more fully elsewhere.—See Fraser's
Magazine, Nov., 1875 ; and Edinburgh Review, January, 1878.
28 Cardinal Lavigerie, of Algiers, who is said to be the best living authority
in regard to the extent and influence of Mohammedanism in Africa, says
that, "There are at present, from the Soudan to the Niger and Senegal, more
than sixty millions of Mussulmans." We are glad to see it announced
(Christian Recorder, June 17,1886) that a Negro—Rev J. C Ayler—who has just
.graduated in a full course of Theology at the Reformed Theological Seminary,
New Brunswick, N.J., has finished a special two-years course in Arabic. This
is the first case, as far as we know, of any Negro in the United States devoting
himself to the study of this language; and yet, for effective missionary work, in
the most important part of Africa, a knowledge of Arabic, is indispensable!
More Negroes read and write this language than any other.
The Mohammedans of Nigritia. 377
pronounced a falsehood, as the artist never saw Moses—amal
Shaitan—the work of Satan.
The question of the future of Islam in Africa is one which is
claiming the attention of the thinkers in Europe. The opinion
seems to prevail that it has lost its power to influence the nations
of Europe and Asia, and this is owing to decadence of the race
among which it had its rise. A vigorous German writer in Die
Nation (May 29, 1886), in a review of a recent work on Zanzibar,
thus speaks of the Arab :—
The Arab of to-day, gifted as lie is, if he learns, it is little more than to
read, to write, and the Koran ; all other knowledge is gone to sleep. Even its
medical science, which gave to Europe its first physicians, has dwindled into
domestic medicines and magical art; and industry, in the general absence of
needs, has declined from the construction of the Alhambra to the manufacture
of the most primitive implements. The spirit has lost its impulse to an all-
embracing activity; the body does not need it. The nobles buy European
products. Our own science shows itself incapable of making any impression on
their peculiar mental organisation.
But, whatever may be the case in Arabia, there is an irre¬
pressible activity—intellectual, commercial, political and religious
—among the adherents of the creed in Nigritia. They pursue an
extensive agriculture ; they spin, weave, sew, work in the metals,
engage in the craft of the potter and of the tanner. Dr. Barth
(1849-1855) travelled through a large portion of this country. He
describes certain districts as abounding in rich pastures, in valleys
of very fertile land, and in mountains clothed to their summits
with noble trees. The towns and cities were walled, and respect¬
ably built; the markets were numerously attended, and a con¬
siderable trade carried on. He found commerce radiating in every
direction from Kano, the great emporium of Central Africa, and
spreading the manufactures and the productions of an industrious
region over the whole of Western Africa. The fixed population of
this city he estimated at 30,000 ; but, on the occasion of the great
fairs, at 60,000.
The principal commerce of Kano consists in native produce;
namely, the cotton cloth woven and dyed here, or in neighbouring
towns, in the form of tobes; turkedi, or the oblong piece of
2 c
378 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
dress of dark-blue colour worn by the women; the zenne, or plaid
of various colours. There is also a large trade in sandals and tanned
hides, and in the cloth fabrics manufactured at Nupe. Throughout
these districts a large variety of European goods may be seen.
Arabic books, printed at Morocco and -Fez, in red morocco binding,
form an important article of traffic. The Koran, the Traditions of
Bochari, the Commentaries, &c., are exchanged by Moorish traders
for the fine cloth manufactured by the Nigritians, and for gold dust
and gold trinkets.
There is in this country an activity not suspected by the outside
world. Boys, who go from remote districts to the great centres of
trade, wonder at the crowds and the different wares, as country
youth in England and America wonder when they visit such centres
as London or Liverpool, Boston or New York. And they have not
the remotest, idea that in any other portion of the globe—if, indeed,
the knowledge of the existence of any other portion of the globe
has dawned upon them—there exists so populous, so industrious,
so wealthy a community.
And all this industry and activity is controlled by the Moham¬
medan tribes. In Central Africa, Islam is an aggressive, conquer¬
ing force; and it is, of course, infinitely superior to the Paganism
which is has abolished. It has established in the minds of its
adherents the sense of responsibility beyond this life, and the fear
of God ; and this sentiment—which is the condition of all other
progress—it is not only diffusing, but transmitting to posterity.
This is the element which has given stability and upward impulse
to the social and political forces of advanced countries, and it will
have the same effect in the dark corners of this continent. And
what is an interesting fact is, that in this vast region—as large as
the whole of Europe—no such question can arise as Bishop Foster
solemnly put the other day: " What shall be done with Bum?"
This problem has never yet arisen, and will never arise. There is
no necessity for Dr. Talmage's proclamation of a" universal strike
against strong drink." We can count upon at least, sixty millions
of water drinkers.
It is said that General Gordon had an idea of utilising the
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
Muslim power, with Khartoum as a centre, for carrying on the work
of civilising the millions of equatorial Africa. He believed that
Mohammedanism possessed enough truth for this regenerating
work. In his Journal, under date September 12, 1884, he says :—
I am sure it is unknown to the generality of our missionaries in Muslim
countries, that, in the Koran, no imputation of sin is made to our Lord ; neither
is it hinted that He had need of pardon ; and further, no Muslim can deny that
the Father of our Lord was God (vide chap, iii of Koran), and that He was
incarnated by a miracle. Our bishops content themselves with its being a
false religion; but it is a false religion possessed by millions on millions of our
fellow creatures. The Muslims do not say Mohammed was without sin; the
Koran often acknowledges that he erred; but no Muslim will say " Jesus sinned."
As far as self-sacrifice of the body, they are far above the Roman Catholics, and
consequently above Protestants The God of the Muslims is our God.29
We do not envy the man who deems himself sufficiently en¬
lightened to be able to smile at the beliefs and proceedings of this
people; and dissenting, as we very decidedly do, from many of their
doctrines, we dissent still more emphatically from the bigotry
which refuses to recognise in their teachings and methods, many
of the elements of goodness, of truth and righteousness. Now,
what prospect is there of the spread of the Gospel among these
people ? We have purposely reserved for the close of our discussion
the question which must chiefly excite the interest of the Christian
world, viz.: What is the disposition of the African "Mohammedan
in relation to the religion of Jesus, and how far are they accessible
to its influence ? Let the following fact answer.
Sometime ago, through the benevolence of an English lady,
we were able to send a large number of Arabic Bibles and Testa¬
ments to different countries which lie behind Liberia and Sierra
Leone. Among acknowledgments which have come to us of their
receipt and circulation from parties to whom we sent them, is the
enclosed Arabic letter, marked No. 4, of which the following is a
translation:—
Praise and glory to the Creator of the earth and the heaven. This letter
comes from the youth, native of the Futah country, to the possessor of honour
and knowledge, namely, the learned Abd-ul-Karim, called among the Christians
Mr. Blyden. Peace to you, and to your family. How are you ? I am in good
29 The Journal of Major-General Gordon at Khartoum.
380
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
health. I have received the books which you sent me. I distributed them
among the people, and I distributed them as you directed me—I sent one copy
to Mohammed Akibu, in the town of Dinkerawi. I gave two copies to Almanie
Sanusi; one to Murri Ishmael; one to Almanie Amara Silla; one to Baraka,
a stranger from Sego. I sent six copies to our country, Futah Jallo. I gave
several to the little boys at Fulah town. When the news spread, the people
asked me, " Wherfe have you procured books like these ?" I told them that a>
Christian man, who loves the Muslims, gave them to me, that I might give them
to you to read, that we might all be one. They wondered. I then took a
passage from the Koran (sura ii, verses 2nd and 3rd), which is as follows :—
" The God-fearing are those who believe in the unseen, and observe prayer,
and out of what we have bestowed upon them, expend for God ; and who believe
in [the Koran] what hath been sent down to thee ; and what hath been sent down
before thee [the Bible]It was their opinion that the Koran superseded the
Tourat (Old Testament) and Injil (New Testament): that God revoked the
Tourat and Injil when he revealed the Koran. I told them, " No ! this book is
the Tourat and Injil." They then rejoiced very much and said, "A deed like
this is better than sending liquor." Many believe that there is no other book,
and no other religion leading to Heaven, except that of Mohammed. He is their
intercessor and guide to Heaven. When I first saw the Holy Bible in the Arabic
tongue, a learned man informed me that the original tongues were Hebrew
and Greek. I wondered, and I entered upon the reading of it, and I saw things
different to what I had seen in the Koran, the great (John xiv, 6, and x—),
" Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father but by me." " I am the door; by me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." I took these two
verses and wrote them on the back of each one of the books and gave it to
them, and they promised me to read it. And after some days there came
to me a man named Alfa, and sojourned with me fifteen days, that I might
explain to him some of the verses in the Gospel. The words were Matt, xx, 30.
He said, " How does the Koran promise us houris in Heaven? " I said to him,
" Be patient; only read on and your burden will be lightened." He wondered.
The sending of religious books to the people is a beautiful work. Therefore, I
send this letter to you to inform you of what has taken place among us. One
of them to whom I gave the books, said, " The words which I read in this book,
do the Christians have words like these?" I said, " Yes," and he contradicted
me twice. He said, " Those who have books like this, never get drunk."
There are left with me now ten copies of the Psalms, and three of the whole
Bible. I never give a copy to any except to those who know the Arabic
language. When the time for the caravans comes, I will send the remainder
as you have directed me. May the Lord your God bless you and keep you.
Peace from your friend, Momodo Waka.
Written on the sixth day of the month of Ramadhan, in the year of the
Hijra, 1201 (June 18,1885).
It will appear that the Mohammedans do not object to reading
The Mohammedans of Nigritia.
381
the Christian Scriptures, and that they pay close attention to their
contents. Many of those who visit Sierra Leone for trade, purchase
Arabic Bibles at the bookstore there. It is a great thing to know
that they read the Bible. Now, where is the living evangelical
teacher to propound to them, and follow up with Gospel teaching,
the question of Philip to the Eunuch, " Understandest thou what
thou readest? "
The Christian world seems slow to understand who the instru¬
ments in this work must be. Just as Africa has been, and is being,
conquered for Islam, not by Arabs, but by Negro converts to the
system, so will she be conquered for Christianity by the Negro
converts to the religion. No others can do it. The American war
furnished the symbol of the method of Africa's regeneration. The
war, in the Divine purpose (whatever man's plans and intentions
may have been), was evidently for the freedom of the Negro ;30 and
no success could crown its arms until the Negro himself was called
to the front. " We thought, first," says Frederick Douglass, " we
could carry on the war politely. It was to be done by gentlemen—
by white men. We fought with our soft, white hands, while we
kept our hard, black hand chained behind us. But, after a while,
we learned wisdom ; and we put an eagle on the Negro's button, a
musket on his shoulder, and a knapsack on his back, and told him
to help, and he did help. He responded full two hundred thousand
strong.31
So, for the spiritual war which is being carried into Africa, the
Church must utilise the African. No cheering news will come
from the front until some of those millions who assisted in procuring
the temporal emancipation of the race are allowed and assisted
to take part in the great work of the spiritual redemption of their
Fatherland. Providence has already prepared the political and
ecclesiastical organisations. Liberia is the pioneer in the political
movement, founded by far-seeing Christians, philanthropists and
statesmen, in America. Let her be generously assisted and sup-
so Colonel McClure, of the Philadelphia Times, in his great lecture on ' The
Lessons of the War,' delivered at Lexington, Va., June 16, ignores this issue.
Lectures on John Brown.
382 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
ported in her advance into tlie continent. The African Methodist
Episcopal Church in the United States (soon to be joined by the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and similar organisa¬
tions), in machinery and appliances, and in physical adaptation,
leads the way. The Negro Baptists of the South are already in the
field. There are Negro Presbyterians and Negro Episcopalians.
These will all be utilised when a few more years, and a little more
experience, have satisfactorily demonstrated to the American Church
the utter impracticability of the present methods. "Arm the
Negroes ! Arm the Negroes! " will again ring through the American
nation. Arm the Negroes, in the name of Christ, if Africa is to be
conquered for Christ. " The solution of Africa in America," said
the late Bishop Haven, with true Christian insight, after visiting
this vast country, " is America in Africa;" and there can be no
other solution. ' Bishop Taylor is calling for Negro recruits from
America, for his great inward march from Liberia. May the
response be large, generous, multitudinous !
African Colonisation.
THE series of brilliant explorations of Africa witnessed by the
present generation has filled up the larger part of the blank
spaces on maps of the " Dark Continent," and a country has been
revealed such as the outside world, fifty years ago, never suspected.
Previous to that time, the little that, from the coast settlements,
could be discerned of the interior, encouraged the belief that not
only was it inaccessible, but unworthy of the pains and sacrifices
required to attempt access. But, within the last five-and-twenty
years a whole library has been written, giving minute particulars of
the country and people in the heart of the continent; unfolding
regions that seem fresh from the hands of God; only waiting
the energies of man to bring to perfection the numerous products
of the soil—great rivers, extensive pasturage and tillage, cities
of respectable size, a large inland commerce, countless millions of
people; in some parts with the rudiments, at least, of history, and
with a capacity for receiving and contributing to an advanced
civilisation.
These discoveries have turned the attention of Europe to Africa
with renewed curiosity and interest. And, very recently, this
interest has so much increased that the competition among the
leading European powers for the possession of territory on the
coast has been described by the London Times, with no touch of
exaggeration, as " The Scramble for Africa."
An European writer, delighting in epigrammatic rhetoric, has
recenty said, " The eighteenth century stole the black man from
his country; the nineteenth century steals his country from the
black man." And, just as the stealing of the man in the eighteenth
century originated in philanthropic ideas, so the motive for stealing
384 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
his country in the nineteenth century is put into philanthropic
language. The nations engaged in the " scramble are all models
of the highest civilisation, and their aims and purposes are all in
the interest of enlightenment and progress. The Congo Conference
laid down admirable rules for occupation and protectorates, what¬
ever the native may have to say against them. But they will not
countenance any acts against right and justice. They are at once the
invaders of his country and the protectors of his rights. The spirit
of the international alliance is the spirit of liberty and equity
for Africa.
But it does not seem probable to us that what foreigners have
failed to accomplish in all the past ages will be achieved by their
descendants of this generation. Modern Europe, with all its vast
machinery of intellectual and material progress, and with all its
humanitarian intentions—with all its appliances for civilising,
instructing and elevating—stands paralysed before difficulties not a
whit less appalling than those which, for centuries, have confronted
European efforts in this country. To any thinking man, of what¬
ever race, who, living in West Africa, surveys the current of events,
the reflection must bring a feeling of discouragement that the very
extension and multiplication of means of foreign communication
with the country, which give material facilities for the task of her
regeneration, throw moral obstacles in the way of its accomplish¬
ment, by allowing or encouraging counteracting social forces to
have equal access to the field.
It is in view of the physical obstacles which beset the efforts of
foreigners, and of the moral difficulties raised by the introduction
of European civilisation that we purpose, in the following pages, to
attempt to show how closely all prospect of regenerating the
African continent is connected with human elements in the United
States, which seem to be superfluous there, and with the principle
represented by the American Colonisation Society.
The Negro, in exile, is the only man, born out of Africa, who
can live and work and reproduce himself in this country. His
residence in America has conferred upon him numerous advantages.
It has quickened him in the direction of progress. It has pre-
African Colonisation.
385
disposed him in favour of civilisation, and given him a knowledge
of revealed truth in its highest and purest form. We believe that
the deportation of the Negro to the New World was as much
decreed by an all-wise Providence, as the expatriation of the
Pilgrims from Europe to America. When we say that Providence
decreed the means of Africa's enlightenment, we do not say that
He decreed the wickedness of the instruments. When the depor¬
tation first began, it was looked upon as simply the transportation
of Africans to America for purposes of labour; but with a view,
also, as Sir John Hawkins made Queen Elizabeth believe,1 to
their spiritual improvement. But, in course of time, human
passions became mixed up with, and wicked hands prosecuted,
what it had been before determined should be carried out; and
the enterprise, having, at first, a beneficent aim and a humane
iorm, became the slave trade, with all its unspeakable enormities.
It was not the. first time that wicked hands were suffered to
execute a Divine purpose. No special guilt on the part of the
African, no special merit on the part of the European, made one
the slave and the other the master. Many a wicked man became
master, and flourished the rod of the oppressor over the head
•of his moral and intellectual superior. The good are often in
distress; the wicked in prosperity. " They are not in trouble as
other men ; neither are they plagued like other men."
Says Cotta, in Cicero's treatise on the Nature of the Gods,
arguing against a moral government of the world—
Why did the Carthaginian overbear, in Spain, the two Scipios, the bravest
and the best of men ? Why did Maximus bury his son, who had already been
■consul ? Why did Hannibal slay Marcellus ? Why did the field of Cannae snatch
away Paulus ? Why was the body of Begulus given up to the cruelty of the Poeni ?
Why did not his own roof cover our Africanus ? . . . The day would fail me,
were I to tell of the evils that have befallen the righteous ; no less so, were I to
recount the successes of the wicked. For why did Marius die so happily in his
home in a ripe old age, and consul for a seventh time ? Or, why did Cinna, the
cruellest of all men, rule so long ? 2
But the Christian has been taught, that whatever is done,
1 Walker's History of the Slave Trade, p. 37.
2 De Natura Deorum ; lib. iii, c. 32.
386 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
is done, not from the caprice of the gods, but because it seems
good in the sight of a merciful Father, infinite in wisdom, power,
justice, holiness, goodness and truth. No grief, therefore, at the
recollection of the ravages in Africa; no memory of the evils of the
" middle passage" ; no abhorrence of successful and damnable
crime ; no indignation at the iniquities of unparalled oppression in
the house of bondage, can prevent us from recognising the hand of
an over-ruling Providence in the deportation of Africans to the
Western world, or interfere with our sense of the incalculable profit
—the measureless gains—which, in spite of man's perversity,
cruelty and greed, must accrue to Africa and the Negro race from
the long and weary exile.
Africans were carried away by millions. There is no means
of estimating the number. Had they been taken to the foreign
school as individuals, and been brought back after their training,
the desirable results would not have been attained. Individuals
might have lost their knowledge of their own people, and their
interest in them ; or, receiving foreign training, under circumstances
of personal isolation, might have received it under a sort of mental
protest as having no relation to the interest or happiness of their
people at home ; or, returning to their country as the prophets of a
new era, they would have shared the proverbial fate of the solitary
reformer among his own people. They were, therefore, carried
away in such numbers, that, while under the control of a civilised
people of a different race, and undergoing the process of enforced
improvement, they might be sufficiently numerous to find among
themselves encouragement, sympathy and support, amid the
rigours of their schooling ; and, on returning might exert the
influence of organised communities, able to introduce and establish
wholesome reforms.
Careful observers have noticed that the Negroes have retained
their manliness, self-reliance and self-respect, to a far greater
degree in those sections of the United States, and in the West
Indies, where they could exist in large numbers, and where the
climate more nearly resembled their own, than in countries where
the paucity of their numbers and an uncongenial climate made
African Colonisation.
387
them always feel like strangers. And in tropical, or semi-tropical
sountries, they were, though slaves in some respects, masters of
bhe situation; for they had often to instruct their European over¬
seers in the art of tropical agriculture, and in the value and use of
tropical productions. They had the advantage, at times, of being
able to dictate, and to see their suggestions adopted. But, in
temperate climes, where for six months of the year, they had to-
deal with frost, ice and snow—with a flora and fauna entirely
unknown to them—they were obliged to ignore all their past
experience. Their knowledge previously gained amounted to
nothing. They had to be told everything, and to render, even in
the merest trifle, mechanical obedience; hence, they hung in
helpless dependence upon their masters. For them the modus
vivendi was absolute submission. Whenever they moved they
must move in the track of their guides. Reason and judgment
were abdicated, and the mimetic faculty took their place. No such,
combination against their oppressors as occurred in Hayti or
Jamaica, was possible to them. Nature, instead of affording them
the sympathy and shelter of her recesses, repelled them. The
wintry stars, in their courses, fought against them ; and trusting to
the white man became as complete an instinct as keeping their
balance. Though the condition of the Negroes of the Northern
States was theoretically better than that of their brethren in the
South, they have not held their own either in numerical or
intellectual importance. They have steadily decreased in numerical
and social status.
In the meanwhile, the Fatherland has been left a prey to Euro¬
pean greed, and to its own untutored devices, enjoying only here
and there, isolated efforts of a timid and cautious philanthropy.
The chief obstacle to the wholesome influence of Europeans in
Africa is the climate. From the earliest antiquity this has been,
the insuperable barrier. Barth says that the relics of Roman
dominion in North-central Africa are chiefly sepulchral monu¬
ments.8 Such monuments, alas, are still the melancholy reminders,.
® Travels, <&c., in North and Central Africa, in the Years 1849—1855 , vol. i,
p. 156.
388 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
all along the West coast, of European efforts. And notwithstand
ing the increase of foreign conveniences, and the vast progresi
accomplished in climatology, the climate of Africa produces 01
European constitutions the same fatal effects. Recent advicei
state that the mission of the London Missionary Society, on Lak(
Tanganyika, is nearly abandoned, on account of the repeated
deaths of the missionaries. The Eev. Bowen Eees, one of the
missionaries, in tendering his resignation to the Committee,
pathetically says:—
Having been unwell since I have settled in this country, and there being at
present no signs of my getting well; also, that I see my fellow missionaries
falling one after the other, I am convinced that Europeans are not qualified,
physically, for the climate of this part of Africa. Consequently, I feel that I am
■compelled to return home as soon as possible.
Given a healthy climate, or even a less pernicious climate, for
Europeans, and all other difficulties would be overcome. But it is
a melancholy fact, that wherever, and as far as they can penetrate
and live, the concomitants of their successful residence have
largely hindered the improvement which their presence is supposed
to stimulate.
Bishop Foster, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by his
address before the General Missionary Committee of his Church,
in November last, has furnished serious matter for thought and
reflection. The Bishop has travelled, and knows whereof he affirms.
We do not know whether he has visited West Africa, but this we
know, that, whatever may be the fact im other parts of the world,
every word of his address, so far as it applies to this country,
should be emphasised by capitals. We will give the testimony on
this subject of the earliest of modern explorers of this portion of
Africa, and the result of the observations of the very latest.
Mungo Park recorded his impressions as follows :—
Although the Negroes, in general, have a great idea of the wealth and power
■of Europeans, I am afraid that the Mohammedan converts among them think
but very little of our superior attainments in religious knowledge. The white
traders in the maritime districts take no pains to counteract this unhappy
prejudice The poor Africans, whom we affect to consider as barbarians,
look upon us, I fear, as little better than a race of formidable but ignorant
Heathen.4
4 Travels in 1795, 1796, 1797; p. 161.
African Colonisation.
389
The Landers observed, that the natives, in proportion as their
aspect and attire showed symptoms of intercourse with Europeans,
became always more barbarous and lawless.3
A century has made no change for the better, Mr. Joseph.
Thomson, the well-known traveller, visited the Nigritian countries
last year, and in a recent article detailing his experiences, he
says:—
My voyage along the coast of Africa, and visits to all the principal places,
have astonished me profoundly. I looked forward with pleasure to a study of
the influence which a century of contact with civilisation has effected in the
barbarous tribes of the seaboard. The result has been unspeakably disappoint¬
ing. Leaving out of consideration the towns of Sierra Leone and Lagos, where
the conditions have been abnormal, the tendency has been everywhere in the
line of deterioration. There is absolutely not a single place where the natives
are left to their own free will, in which there is the slightest evidence of a
desire for better things. The worst vices and diseases of Europe have found a
congenial soil, and the taste for spirits has risen out of all proportion to their
desire for clothes In these villages, men, women, and children, with
scarcely a rag upon their persons, follow you about beseeching you for a little
gin or tobacco. Eternally gin, tobacco, or gunpowder. These are the sole
wants aroused by a century of trade and contact with Europeans.6
When Mr. Thomson speaks of places "where the natives
are left to their own free will, he means, places where the un¬
bridled propensities of godless Europeans are unchecked by law or
public sentiment. In these places the morality with which the
natives come into contact is of the lowest character. The ge¬
nerality of the trading agents act upon the theory that European
trade with Africa is a species of one-sided contract, in which all the
benefit must be on the side of the European, and all the dis¬
advantages on the side of the African. They are men, as one of
their own countrymen has recently described them, " who left
their country for their country's good." They bring with them the
arts and the strength of civilisation, but, personally, they are at
large from the influence of its higher principles. They resemble
the men who resorted to David in the cave of Adullam. ' Every
5 Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination of the Niger;
by Richard and John Lander, 1832.
6 Good Words; January, 1886.
39°
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every¬
one that was discontented." Such reckless spirits are utterly in¬
different to the character of the method, or to the moral results of
their intercourse with the natives.
But these sad results occur, not only "where the natives are
left to their own free will," but even where civilised governments
are supposed to control, and where the "conditions are described
by Mr. Thomson as "abnormal." The strict application of Free-
trade principles to the sale of spirits, within, and in localities adjoin¬
ing, British colonies, is attended with deplorable consequences; and
often, by the disturbances created, the philanthropic objects of Free-
trade are largely defeated. Sir Arthur Conynghame, in his work,
My Command in South Africa, gives the following melancholy
account:—
The facility with which these untamed savages (Kafirs) can obtain any
amount of villainous drink, is one of the most fruitful sources of danger. Some
of the chiefs, being aware of the evil, forbid canteens in their localities, and have
repeatedly requested that the same prohibition should be extended among the
adjoining (British) districts. The answer of authority has always been, " that
the natives should place a moral restraint on themselves, and not imbibe more
than is beneficial; and that trade cannot be impeded, simply because it may
engender evil consequences among the natives.
What a " simply." During the visit of Cetewayo, King of the
Zulus, to England, a few years ago, a deputation from the British
National Temperance League called upon him, to urge their views
as to the evils produced in native races by the use of spirituous
liquors. After they had spoken, the King replied as follows :—
I can only say that, as a nation, my people are, so to speak, abstainers; or, at
all events, they are not accustomed, nor do they, as a people, partake of spiri¬
tuous liquors. The beer which they use, which is actually a food, is like gruel—
our beer is really a food; but the others—your spirits and your intoxicants—are
death. It may be interesting to the gentlemen of the deputation, to know that
there was an order issued, or a proclamation by me, that spirits were not to be
introduced, or allowed to enter my country. But I think that the right place to
shut the door is the side from which the spirits come. It is no good my shutting
the door on my side, for I have no distilleries. But I think the proper way
would be for the Natal Government to assist, by placing restrictions upon the
introduction of spirituous liquors into my country.
The Zulus are celebrated as logicians. The above is a specimen
African Colonisation.
39i
of the unanswerable answers which, in verbal fence, they are
accustomed to give to Europeans.
Rev. E. H. Nassau, M.D., of the Presbyterian Mission on the
Ogowe, writes (Dec. 31, 1881):—
The inroad of intoxicating liquor into the mission premises, and used by-
Church members and inquirers, distressed us exceedingly, and burdened our
hearts as the carking care of station work alone would not have done.
Eev. David A. Day, of the Lutheran Mission in West Africa,
with pathetic indignation, says :—
The vilest liquors imaginable are being poured into Africa in shiploads from
almost every quarter of the civilised world. On one small vessel, in which
myself and wife were the only passengers, there were, in the hold, over 100,000
gallons of New England rum, which sold on the coast for one dollar a gallon in
exchange for African produce.
The religious press in "West Africa is loud in its denunciations
of the infamous traffic. The Methodist Herald (December 9, 1885),
published at Sierra Leone by natives, making grateful record of
the proceedings of the Missionary Conference held at Bremen,
October 27, to protest against the trade in spirits, says :—
In considering the advance of European civilisation into Africa, one of the
chief sources of anxiety for the future in the minds of intelligent Africans is
the introduction of ardent spirits, which seem to be, along the coast, the chief
article of European traffic with the natives. It is gratifying, therefore, to see
that the attention of one of the most powerful of the European Governments
whose citizens are enlarging their trade with the country, is being earnestly
and seriously directed to this evil. We do not believe that the article is indis¬
pensable to the African trade. The spirits introduced are confined to the coast?,
the interior natives knowing little or nothing of them. If European traders
would agree to eliminate the articles from their African trade, they could do a
far more flourishing business without them. Money the natives now spend for
the poison would be devoted to far more useful things. The revenue of civilised
Governments would not be diminished. We have hope that, owing to the
energetic protests being made in various Christian countries against the manu¬
facture and sale of the poison, Africans will be saved the melancholy fate
which has befallen some other races, through their contact with foreigners who
are indiscriminate in their trade.
Mr. Stanley, who has been, for many years, a close and sympa¬
thetic observer of missionaries and their work in this country,
says:—
Pious missionaries have set forth devotedly to instil into the dull, mindless
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
tribes the sacred germs of religion; but their material difficulties are so great,
that the progress they have made bears no proportion to the courage and zeal
they have exhibited.7
The indefatigable traveller turns, with more hopeful prospects
and for wider beneficial results, to " the missionaries of commerce.
But we have seen how, as a rule, their work has affected the
African.
The next agency proposed for Africa's regeneration is Colonisa¬
tion. From the preceding discussion it may be inferred that no
great hopes can be placed on the achievements of European
colonists. There is, first, the physical difficulty which unfavourably
affects the colonists ; and next, the moral difficulties which injuri¬
ously affect the natives. European colonists have been able to
settle in no large numbers in equatorial Africa.
The equatorial regions of Africa (says Mr. Stanley) have for ages defied
Islamism, Christianity, science and trade. Like the waves beating on a rocky
shore, so Islamism has dashed itself repeatedly from the North in its frantic
effort to reach the line of the equator. Christianity has also made ineffectual
attempts, for the last three centuries, to obtain a footing in the same region,
hut ignorance of the climate caused its retirement. Science has directed
strategic assaults upon the closely-besieged area, and has succeeded in retiring
with brilliant results ; its success, however, has been only temporary, as Trade,
which ought to have followed, stood dazed with the difficulties which the
pioneers encountered Civilisation, so often baffled, stands railing at the
barbarism and savagery that presents such an impenetrable front to its efforts.
.... Had a few of those waves of races, flowing and eddying over Northern
Africa, succeeded in leaping the barrier of the equator, we should have found
the black aboriginal races of Southern Africa very different from the savages we
meet to day.8
The fact is, we should not have found them at all; and this is
the reason why the races who drink the waters of the Niger and
the Congo, and dwell on the borders of the great lakes, have been
severed from the interests of Europe by insurmountable barriers of
sand, and by inhospitable shores.
In South Africa, where European settlements have been possible,
the results for the aborigines have been far from encouraging.
During the three-quarters of a century that England has held that
7 The Congo, and the Founding of its Free State; vol. ii, p. 377.
8 Congo Free State ; vol. ii, pp. 372, 373,
African Colonisation.
393
portion of the continent, her administration has been attended by-
ceaseless troubles, and the clash of arms has rarely been silent, for
many years at a time. Nothing but the extraordinary vitality of
the Kafirs has kept them from extermination. An able writer in
the Edinburgh Review,9 said sometime ago :—
There is one most striking and all-important peculiarity, in which, the Kafirs
differ from almost all aboriginal tribes with which our colonists have come in
contact. To the Bed Indians, and New Zealanders, the Australians, and even
their own Hottentot neighbours, Christian (European) civilisation has been as
an Upas tree, destroying them by its diseases, or still more fatally poisoning
them by the infectious contamination of its drunkards and debauchees; but the
Kafirs have shown that they can live on the borders of a civilised community,
and unless killed off by war, or by famine caused by war, they keep up their
numbers.
The history of European civilisation has, indeed, but too plainly proved
how hard it is for a strong race to do more for a weak race than to bestow
upon it its vices; and too quickly deducing from the sad facts of this history
the conclusion that that which is hard must be impossible; there are many
persons who advocate severe measures against the Kafirs, as against all savages,
on the principle that it is more humane to kill them quickly with powder and
shot than slowly by drink or disease. The Boers, we are told, are great readers
of the Old Testament; and comparing themselves to the Israelites, as did the
Puritans of New England, they shoot a native on the strength of a text out
of Joshua.
But events, every day occurring, are forcing the world to accept
the truth, that Europeans cannot occupy equatorial Africa, either
for their own advantage, or that of the natives.
They cannot occupy it by force. One of the officers of Bamudu,
the celebrated Mohammedan military chieftain of Nigritia, said
to the present writer a few weeks ago : " As long as it is not
possible for the white man to send armies composed of iron men,
who need no food or drink, who are impenetrable by sun or rain,
so long will it be impossible for them to take our country by war,
or to achieve and maintain ascendancy away from the coast." In
the interior, European artillery and ironclads, nitro-glycerine and
panclastite are of no avail. With all the appliances of modern
warfare, the troops of the most wealthy of European nations found
the Nort-eastern Soudan inaccessible. The Marquess of Salisbury,
9 July, 1854.
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
in announcing the policy of the new Conservative Government, in
the House of Lords (July 6, 1885), referred to the British invasion
-of the Soudan as follows:—
One of the most complicated and entangled problems ever submitted to
a Government to solve, is the problem of the present position of Egypt. . . .
Now, the first of all the difficulties with which we have to contend, is, that we
have a triumphant enemy on the frontier. On the frontier at Khartoum, and
on the frontier at Suakim, we have an enemy who, at all events, according to
his own ideas, has been triumphant in the recent struggle. He has prevented
us from attaining the objects we had in view, and he has seen us retire from
the ground which we occupied.
In the entry made in his Journal under date September 17,
1884, General Gordon said :—
From a professional military point of view, and speaking materially, I wish I
was the Mahdi, and I would laugh at all Europe.
Under date September 12th, he wrote :—
The people are all against us, and what a power they have ; they need not
fight, but have merely to refuse to sell us their grain. The stomach governs the
world, and it was the stomach (a despised organ) which caused our misery from
the beginning.10
It is impracticable to occupy the interior of Africa by European
colonies. It is being found out that, even if the insuperable climatic
difficulty could be overcome, the resources of Africa are not so con¬
veniently accessible as the imagination of enthusiasts had pictured.
On the 15th of November, 1884, the Plenipotentiaries of all the
Powers of Europe, and of the United States, met in conference at
Berlin. One of the objects of this illustrious gathering was to
decide the formalities to be observed for the valid annexation of
territory in future on the African Continent. No assembly of such
importance in connection with Africa had ever met in Europe
before, if we except the Congress of 1815, at Vienna, which made
the celebrated declaration against the slave trade. In keeping with
the understanding arrived at in Berlin, Germany, France, England,
Italy and Portugal, have been appropriating African territory.
But the most elaborate bit of recent machinery for the occupa¬
tion and civilisation of Africa is that at the head of which stands
10 The Journals of Major-General Gordon, at Khartoum.
African Colonisation.
395
that Royal philanthropist, Leopold II, King of the Belgians. He
has already, with more than regal munificence, lavished a vast
fortune in the Congo country with a view to the extinction oi
Slavery and the introduction of a select civilisation among the
aborigines. It is a noble purpose, a magnificent aim, to build up
a civilisation in Africa by free labour. But Europeans have never
achieved such a result in the tropics. No Europeans will ever go
to the Congo and work as farmers or labourers. Serious draw¬
backs are presenting themselves. Dr. Fischer, the recent German
traveller, in his work entitled More Light on the Dark Continent,
scouts the idea that Europeans will never be able to colonise
Africa. The natives, he says, will not work without being com¬
pelled; and therefore, slavery, or life service, as he puts it, is
inevitable.
Mr. William P. Tisdel, United States Agent to the Congo Free
State, in his Eeport to the Department of State, dated June 29th,
1885, gives a startling account of the condition of things in the
Congo Free State.11 According to his statement it was an exception
to find a white man anywhere in good health. Out of six hundred
whites who had contracted with the Association to serve for three
years, only five have been able to remain the full time. Only two
Americans have ever been employed by the Association, and of
these, one returned to the United States, ill with African fever, and
committed suicide while under its effects; and the other was left
by Mr. Tisdel, dangerously sick, in the Congo country. It is said
that the Belgian Government have appointed an independent
Commission for the investigation of the circumstances of the new
State.
It appears that the Germans did not hit upon an El Dorado
when they annexed Angra Pequena. Several Saxon miners who
went out when the acquisition was first made, and hopes were
brilliant, have returned home. They report unfavourably on the
scarcity of water.
Another recent observer, Mr. W. Montague Kerr, in a paper
read before the Eoyal Geographical Society (November 30, 1885),
" United States' Consular Beports; No. 55 (August, 1885), pp. 551, 552.
396 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
describing ' A Journey Overland from Cape Town, across the
Zambesi, to Lake Nyassa,' said—
It had not been, his good fortune to fall upon any extraordinarily fertile spots
which would offer inducements to the inhabitants of overcrowded Europe. In
every instance, the discouragements had been greater than the inducements, to
foster the colonisation of Africa by European subjects.12
Mr. Kerr took the opportunity to bear the following testimony
to the character of the natives—
From the time he left the Cape of Good Hope till he arrived at the shores of
Lake Nyassa, he was never robbed of a single bead or a yard of cloth, though,
for months, the goods were completely at the mercy of the natives.
From what we have seen, it will appear that Europe must give
up the idea of regenerating Africa through colonies of her own
subjects. Hearty, thrifty, energetic colonisation for whites, must
be in climates where the winter or cold weather brings its healthy
and recuperative influences to body and mind. Nature will not
allow herself to be tied down to the theories of even the wisest and
most benevolent of men, however high their aims or exalted their
motives. Those who, instead of humbly searching for a knowledge
of Nature's laws, arrogate to themselves the right of making laws
for Nature, must always fail. Expelled with a pitchfork, she will
ever return.
After this survey of the nature of the difficulties which confront
and attend European effort in Africa, we are forced to the conclusion—
which any careful reader will have seen was with us, from our
protracted experience and observation on the spot, a foregone
conclusion—that the instruments for the regeneration of this con¬
tinent are the millions of Africans in the Western hemisphere,
where, after nigh three hundred years of residence, they are still
considered as strangers. It seems to us that European and
American workers for Africa should recognise this fact; and those
nations who actively co-operated in the work of their deportation
should as earnestly co-operate in the work of their restoration.
This is the redress which Nature is waiting for before she will lend
a finger to European effort. Justice must precede mercy. Be
12 London Times, December 1, 1885.
African Colonisation.
397
just before you are generous. Under some Assiento Contract13
the work of restoration should begin. We are sometimes told that
the descendants of Africa are in America to stay there. A similar
view was taken of slavery, by the generality of masters, in the days
when it was surrounded by all the safeguards that intelligence and
wealth, and even piety, could contrive. It was thought that by
Divine arrangement, the institution was to be perpetual, and not
simply disciplinary and preparatory. Different views on that
subject now prevail. The Negro never accepted the abnormal
relation as permanent, and was ceaseless in his prayers for
deliverance, and looked for deliverance. So now, not a few seem to
think that all the preparation of the days of bondage, and all the
instruction now imparted, are simply to produce a population of
domestic servants, to be kept in a subordinate place by the
dominant race. This Samson for African achievements is to grind
at the mill of the Philistines. The great Artist and Architect is
to fail of the ideal foreshadowed :
Amphora ccepit
Institui; currente rota cur urceus exit ? u
But, as in the days of slavery, so now, the Freedman feels some¬
thing in his soul—"God put it'there," he says—which tells him
that, if not for himself, at least for his children, there are scenes
of wider freedom, higher duties and larger proprietorships, in
the land whence his ancestors were torn.
And in Africa there is sympathetic response. The elder
natives tell of the bitterly-tragic scenes which took place on the
coast, as children in the grasp of the murderous trader were being
wrenched from the embrace of their parents—the wail of sorrow
and unutterable grief which went up to heaven, and the prayers—
prophetic prayers—the passionate and fervent appeals to the Judge
of all the earth, not for vengeance on the robbers, but for the return
is For forty years, during tlie last century, England, under tlxe Assiento
Contract, had the monopoly of carrying Negroes to the Western world.
14 Horace: ' Ars Pcetica,' 21:—
A vase was meant; how comes it, then, about,
As the wheel turns, a common jug comes out ?
Sir Theodore Martin's Translation.
398 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
of the stolen ones. Those sublime and awe-striking prayers are
still before the throne of Supreme Justice, waiting to be answered;
and they will not cease to be heard until, by the return of the
exiles, they are merged in such music of exultation and triumph,
as has never been heard since the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons' of God shouted for joy.
To the present - generation of whites and blacks in America, it
may seem that the Negro "is there to stay," but the next genera¬
tion will take a different view. Descendants of Africa have never
been permitted to feel at home in those countries, even where they
are most numerous, and where the geographical and climatic con¬
ditions are congenial. Freedmen from Brazil and other parts of
South America, are continually making their way back to the
Fatherland, anxious to breathe again the ancestral air, and to lie
down at last, and be buried with their fathers.15
In the United States, notwithstanding the great progress made
in the direction of liberal ideas, the Negro is still a stranger. The
rights and privileges accorded by constitutional law, offer him no
security against the decrees of private or social intolerance. He is
surrounded by a prosperity—industrial, commercial and political—
in which he is not permitted to share, and is tantalised by social
respectabilities from which he is debarred. The future offers no
encouragement to him. In the career of courage and virtue, of
honour, emolument and fame, which lies open to his white neigh¬
bours, and to their children, neither he himself, nor his sons or
daughters, can have any part. From that high and improving
fellowship, which binds together the elements from Europe, how¬
ever incongruous, the Negro child is excommunicated before he is
born.
One fatal drawback to the Negro in America is the incubus of
imitation. He must be an imitator; and imitators see only results
—they never learn processes. They come in contact with accom-
15 It is stated that the new Governor of Lagos, Captain Alfred Moloney,
C.M.G., looks with favour upon the return, to the part of the coast under his
jurisdiction, of the exiles from South America; and with a sagacious and
judicious statesmanship, is disposed to do all in his power to facilitate it.
African Colonisation.
399
plished facts, without knowing how they were accomplished. They
never get within, so as to see how a thing originates or develops.
Therefore, when they attempt anything, they are apt to begin at the
end, without the insight, patience or experience which teaches that
they begin at the beginning. They are impatient theorists—in the
literal sense—who can neither understand, nor wait for the slow
results and precarious combinations of arduous and prolonged
effort. Hence they are ready to criticise processes, to find fault
with details. The destructive faculty is largely developed ; but to
originate, and point out methods of effective action, is impossible
to them. John Jasper is a respectable Negro preacher of Virginia,
who has constructed his own theory of the solar-system; and the
fact that he has constructed something, and has the temerity to
explain and defend his theory against the theories of the learned,
causes a large following, and he has lately been invited to lecture
in Europe as a curiosity. His earnestness and acuteness, in spite
of his defiance of grammar, and his ignorance of scholastic methods,
command the respect of the intelligent listener. It is easier to
smile at his scientific perversity, than to give the reasoning by
which the mighty results of astronomy have been obtained.
Whatever may be said of the advantages of education and
civilisation, and a great deal is being said just now, and, perhaps,
so far as the Negro is concerned, a great deal ought to be said—it
seems certain that such advantages are not without serious dangers.
It is our earnest belief that a real independent moral growth,
productive of strength of character and self-reliance, is impossible
to natures in contact with beings greatly superior to themselves.
This is one reason, we suppose, why our spiritual training was
not entrusted to angelic beings, why "we have this treasure in
earthen vessels." Everybody knows that a powerful, massive
character—though it be nearly perfect—may positively injure those
within the circle of its influence by giving them a bent in a
direction opposite to their own natural tendencies, so as to make
it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to shake them¬
selves free.
This is one of the great drawbacks to the introduction of
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
civilisation by foreigners into Africa. In the European settlements
on the coast there are visible the melancholy effects of the fatal
contagion of a mimic or spurious Europeanism. Sonje who have
been to Europe, bring back and diffuse among their people a
reverence for some of the customs of that country, of which the
more cultivated are trying to get rid. But, happily, the inhospitable
and inexorable climate prevents this pseudo-civilisation, called
"progress," from spreading to the interior. The tribes still retain
their simplicity and remain anaffected. And may they remain so
until they pass by normal and regular progress and natural steps
to a higher plane on the line of their own race-development, when
European habits and customs will be aimed at as accessories,
rather than a principle of life.
But, besides the drawbacks in the learning of the schools, tlie
educated Negro, in the United States, in the enjoyment of the
advantages of culture, has come in contact, throughout the period
of his training, with influences which warp him in the direction
of self-depreciation, even more powerfully than the books which
he reads, or the teachers to whom he listens. The instruction
of the schools does, to a certain extent—perhaps to a great extent—
improve, but it can neither reverse or supersede the far more
efficient education which comes from the experiences of daily life,
which—
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
eontrol and give direction to the mind.
Living as the wards of a people, who, out of their own habitat,
instinctively dread deterioration—the loss of vitality and vigour—
and who believe that their existence and growth depend upon
constant self-assertion, as against all alien comers; and who,
therefore, can neither give place nor opportunity to their former
slaves, the Africans must be subjected to experiences which, in
spite of the training received in the schools, must warp them out
of the moral and intellectual perpendicular, and incline them to
the attitude and practices of the creature who either climbs
or crawls. Bishop H. M. Turner, of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, is constantly calling attention, in his outspoken
African Colonisation.
401
and energetic style, to tlie disadvantages of the Negro in America;
but nowhere has he given a more vivid presentation of the dreary
and discouraging subject, than in a recent short article in the
Quarterly Beview, of his Church.16 To some, his picture will,
perhaps, appear as a repulsive photograph. Still, he writes with a
kindly indignation—with a deep and fervid earnestness, and a
surprising humour and fun, that compel attention. He says ;—
I need not repeat my well-known convictions as to the future of the race.
I think our stay in this country is but temporary, at most. Nothing will
remedy the evils of the Negro, but a great Christian nation upon the continent
of Africa. White is God in this country, and black is the Devil. White is
perfection, greatness, wisdom, industry, and all that is high and holy. Black
is ignorance, degradation, indolence, and all that is low and vile; and three-
fourths of the coloured people of the land do nothing day and night but cry:
" Glory, honour, dominion and greatness to White." Many of our so-called leading
men are contaminated with the accursed disease or folly, as well as the thought¬
less masses ; and, as long as such a sentiment pervades the coloured race,
the powers of Heaven cannot elevate him. No race of people can rise and
manufacture better conditions while they hate and condemn themselves. A
man must believe he is somebody, before he is acknowledged to be somebody
Hundreds of our most educated young men will put on as many airs over a
position that requires them to dust the clothes of white men, as a superior man
Trould over an appointment to the President's Cabinet. I deny that God
himself could make a great man out of such a character, without a miracle—
" Mit dummheit Kampfen Gotter selbst vergebens."17
The imagination of the Negro has been taken captive by his
surroundings. His consciousness is not sufficiently disengaged to
•enable him to respect his own peculiarities. He can conceive of
nothing different from his surroundings; and he does not wish to
•conceive of anything different, believing as he does that the Ultima
Thule of progress has been reached by the Anglo-Saxon. The
Negro of the most powerful intellect must work by the pattern
before him, and reproduce only what he has seen with his bodily
eyes. The ideal faculty has not fair play, or any play at all.
He is bound to endless imitation. If any original image is formed
in his mind, it must be banished, or it is crowded out by the
pressure of the actual. There is neither time nor opportunity to.
16 The African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, January, 1885.
17 " With stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain."
402
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
work it out. He must spend his days longing for the crumbs of
social and political existence which fall from the white man s-
table:—
Simile ad uom che va di porta in porta
Mendicando la vita.
There must be Africans in America who feel all this, who feel
that they have a life of their own—a life destined to last; who-
protest against many things they see around them, even while they
are bound to respect them. We are told that when Michael Angelo
looked at the lofty dome of the cathedral at Florence, he exclaimed,
" I will not make one like you; I cannot make one better than
you." There must be, among the seven millions, some, if not
many, who share the proud humility of the great artist. To such,
at times, there must come the tears of another artist: not, however,,
because they have exhausted their ideals, but from the conviction
that there is no opportunity to work them out; and that, even if
there were such opportunity, the result would mean nothing amid,
incompatible and unsympathetic surroundings; that, like the
monolith in Central Park, though fitted to beautify and adorn other
scenes for thousands of years, the result of their conceptions, if not
still-born, would rapidly crumble to decay under the action of an
inhospitable and uncongenial climate. To such, there must be a*
longing for other scenes, where, forgetting the things that are
behind, they may reach forward to things which promise vitality,
usefulness and prosperity to their race. But there are many, alas,
who may never gain the fructifying atmosphere—who must always
resemble those figures one sees in museums in Europe, which
would be magnificent if they were complete; as they now stand,
they are only splendid torsos—melancholy suggestions of unattain¬
able possibilities.
It is a curious and suggestive fact, however, that the Negroes
of country districts in the Southern States, who have had the
slenderest educational opportunities, enjoy a comparative freedom
from the deleterious effects of the general oppression. They are-
largely unsophisticated. They have neither been elevated nor
vitiated by the conventionalities of society. Their condition is not.
African Colonisation. 403
tliG deplorable one of their educated brother, wlio feels, with greater
keenness, the disabilities to which he is subject; and whose case, in
many instances, is that of a despised man—as Bishop Turner points
out—who despises himself and his race. The Southern Negro
denizens of rural districts make, therefore, as a rule, better colo¬
nists in the Fatherland than those who are able to declaim, in the
language of the schools, about the wrongs and rights of the race,
but whose sympathies and admiration go to the dominant class—
who step out of the ranks of their own people, without elevating
themselves above them—continually wandering away from the
crowd in sullen and contemptuous isolation, but compelled always
to keep the same social and political plane. These make unsatisfied
and unsatisfactory colonists. The pioneer and self-sacrificing
spirit is altogether absent from their mental, moral and physical
constitution.
It should not be surprising, that a people, living under such con¬
ditions. should find it difficult to recognise any leader among them¬
selves ; or that those, whom circumstances have thrust to the front,
should suffer from the jealous and irritable susceptibilities of those
forced to follow. Everything tends to disintegration and dissolution
—to the separation of chief friends and the making a man's foes
those of his own household, or race. A man like Frederick Douglass*
who is, by common consent, acknowledged to be 'primus—hardly
primus inter pares—standing among his people, like the Bartholdi
statue among the steeples of New York—is often selected for
ill-mannered criticisms, by some to whom his labours assisted in
bringing, not only freedom, and ability to write and speak, but
the freedom to walk and move without feeling the friction and
hearing the clanking of the ancestral chains. These things tend
to increase and perpetuate the difficulties of the coloured man &
position. The prejudices against him, now slowly dying out alas,
too slowly!—are thus unfortunately perpetually confirmed and
fanned,
But the Negro's residence in America, in spite of all drawbacks,
has been of incalculable advantage to him ; nor has it been without
peculiar benefits to the dominant race. The discussions which
Christianityj Islam and the Negro Race.
have arisen in consequence of his presence there have taught
numerous wholesome lessons to the ruling class. One book on the
subject of the Negro's wrongs unsealed the fountain of tears in all
countries and among all races. Human rights have been better
understood, and have been placed upon a firmer footing than ever
before. The assumption of the right to hold slaves was deeply
rooted in the minds of men, derived from antiquity, transmitted in
the writings of philosophers, and accepted by all legislators,
Asiatic, European, African and American. This right was un-
•qestioned until Negro emancipation first established the principle
that no circumstances justify the making or holding of slaves.
And it may be, as Dr. Reeve contends,18 that the presence of the
Negro in the Western world is still necessary to teach other lessons
equally important in the direction of Christ-likeness, to the hard
and conquering Anglo-Saxon; to impress upon him the truth of the
essentia] sociability and solidarity of humanity. We can quite
believe that if the day should ever come when this man of love, and
suffering, and song, shall leave the United States, after his 260
years of residence, there will be left an insatiable void. Taking
this view of the work of the Negro in America, we can earnestly
say of those who choose to remain, " Peace be within their walls,
and plenteousness within their palaces;" for our brethren and
■companions' sake, we wish them prosperity.
But still we believe that there is a wider sphere, and there are
loftier achievements, for those who come to take part, on the spot,
in the work of the regeneration of Africa.
An Eglishman who visited the United States in the Autumn of
1884, has made the following remarks on the condition of the
Negro in the country:—19
The Negro is eager to learn, and is steadily improving his position. But the
old antagonism of the races is as strong as ever; if, indeed, not stronger than
ever The black man is despised as of old, and no one hails him as a
18 Dr. J. B. Reeve, a Negro clergyman, of Philadelphia, in the African
Methodist Episcopal Church Review, July, 1885.
13 Macmillan's Magazine, November, 1885.
African Colonisation.
405
jrother. His children must go to separate schools—he must travel by separate
sars on the railway.20 Will it be so always with these six millions of free
citizens of the American Republic. It is a grave and difficult question
[n an alien land, at least, he has not the independent vitality which gains-
cespect for its originality and strength; at best, he is but a weak imitator of
his old enslavers. What may be the future of the dark continent and its
inhabitants, is one of the great problems of the world. But it is my own con¬
viction, that the tribes and peoples which have been sold from it into slavery,
will never reach the height of perfect manhood in the countries of their exile,,
until the race from which they spring develops a new endemic civilisation in
Africa. . . .The new experiment with the African must be made in his own
magnificent home.
After this survey of the European in Africa, and the African in
America, it is difficult to escape the conclusion forced upon Bishop
Haven, after visiting Liberia, that the solution of Africa in
America, is America in Africa; and further, that the solution of
Africa in Africa, is Africa in America. This brings us to a con¬
sideration of the work and its results, of the only agency which is-
labouring to bring about the solution by the means just suggested,,
namely, the American Colonisation Society.
This Society had its origin in a sympathy with the noblest
aspirations of the bondman in exile. Its object was to secure for
him not only personal liberty, but effective political organisation, in
the land of his fathers. It is the only agency capable of effectively
obliterating painful recollections, by providing, for him, in the
ancestral home, a future worthy of his ambition. But the objects-
of the Society were not simply to affect the political status of the com¬
paratively few descendants of Africa in America. The most eminent
among its founders looked to the higher results to be produced upon
Africa, recognising, as they did, even at that time, the impossibility
of effective white agency in this land. Just as they believed that
the black man could not be prosperous and comfortable in America,,
so they read in the dispensations of Providence, that Africa had
been absolutely interdicted to the white man. Daniel Webster, in*
almost the last public address he made, said solemnly, as from
the verge of the eternal world :—
20 The Jubilee Singers, at one time the guests of the Prime Minister oi
England, are refused accommodation in the hotels of their native country.
406 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
Gentlemen,—There is a Power above us'which sees the end of all things from
the beginning, though we see it not. Almighty God is His own interpreter
of the ways of His own Providence ; and I sometimes contemplate with amaze¬
ment—and, I may say, with adoration—events which have taken place through
the instrumentality of the cupidity and criminality of men, designed, neverthe¬
less, to work out great ends of beneficence and goodness, by our Creator
African slaves were brought hither, to the shores of this Continent, almost
simultaneously with the first tread of a white man's foot upon this, our North
America. We see in that—our shortsightedness only sees—the effect of a
desire of the white man to appropriate to himself the results of the labour of
the black man, as an inferior and a slave. Now let us look at it.
These Negroes, and all who have succeeded them, brought hither as captives,
taken in the wars of their own petty provinces, ignorant and barbarous, without
the knowledge of God, and with no reasonable knowledge of their own character
and condition, have come here; and here, although in a subordinate—in an
inferior, in an enslaved—condition, have learned more, and come to know more,
of themselves and of their Creator, than all whom they have left behind them
in their own barbarous kingdoms. It would seem that this is the mode—as far
as we can judge—this is the destiny, the rule of things, established by Provi¬
dence ; by which knowledge, letters, and Christianity shall be returned by the
■descendants of those poor ignorant barbarians, who were brought here as slaves
to the country from which they came.21
The Hon. Edward Everett, in one of his inimitable orations,
said :—
Mark the providence of God, educing out of these natural disadvantages
{disadvantages to man's apprehension), and this colossal moral wrong—the
African slave trade ; out of these seemingly hopeless elements of physical and
moral evil—out of long cycles of suffering and crime, of violence and retribution,
such as history can nowhere parallel—educing, I say, from these elements, by
the blessed alchemy of Christian benevolence, the means of the ultimate
regeneration of Africa All other means have been tried in vain. Private
adventure has miscarried; strength, and courage, and endurance, almost super¬
human, have languished and broken down; well-appointed expeditions, fitted
out under the auspices of powerful associations and powerful Governments,
have ended in calamitous failure ; and it is proved, at last, that the Caucasian
race cannot achieve this long-deferred work.
When that last noble expedition, which was sent out from England—I think
in the year 1841—under the highest auspices, to found an agricultural settlement
in the interior of Africa, ascended the Niger, every white man out of one
hundred and fifty sickened; all but two or three—if my memory serves me—
died; while, of their dark-skinned associates—also one hundred and fifty in
number—with all the added labour and anxiety that devolved upon them, a
few only were sick; and they, individuals who had passed years in a temperate
21 Address before the American Colonisation Society, January, 1852.
African Colonisation.
climate, and not one died. I say, again, Sir, you Caucasian, you proud Anglo-
Saxon ; you self-sufficient, all-attempting white man, then, you cannot civilise
Africa. You have subdued and appropriated Europe ; the native races are
melting before you in America, as the untimely snows of April before a vernal
sun; you have possessed yourself of India ; you menace China and Japan; the
remotest isles of the Pacific are not distant enough to escape your grasp, nor
insignificant enough to elude your notice—but Central Africa confronts you, and
bids you defiance. Your squadrons may range or blockade her coast; but
neither on the errands of peace, nor on the errands of war, can you penetrate
the interior. The God of Nature, no doubt for wise purposes, however inscrut¬
able, has drawn across the chief inlets a cordon you cannot break through. You
may hover on the coast, but you dare not set foot on the shore. Death sits
portress at the undefended gateways of her mud-built villages. Yellow fevers,
and blue plagues, and intermittent poisons, that you can see as well as feel,
await your approach as you ascend the rivers. Pestilence shoots from the
mangroves that fringe their noble banks; and the glorious sun, which kindles
all inferior nature into teeming, bursting life, darts disease into your languid
system. No, you are not elected for this momentous work. The Great Disposer,
in another branch of His family, has chosen out a race, descendants of this
torrid region, children of this vertical sun, and fitted them by ages of stern
discipline, for the gracious achievement.
Prom foreign realms and lands remote,
Supported by His care,
They pass unharmed through burning climes,
And breathe the tainted air.
Sir, I believe the auspicious work is begun; that Africa will be civilised—
civilised by her offspring and descendants. I believe it, because I will not think
that this mighty and fertile region is to remain for ever in its present state ;
because, I can see no other agency adequate to the accomplishment of the
work, and I do behold in this agency a most mysterious fitness.22
The objects and aims of the Colonisation Society, at the time
of its organisation, seventy years ago, met the sympathy of leading
statesmen and divines in all parts of the United States, as offering
a solution of the difficulties at once legitimate and eminently
humanitarian. But there were two classes who could not tolerate
its pretensions, namely, those who looked upon the institution of
slaverv as having Divine sanction, and, therefore, permanent, and
those who thought it the " sum of all villanies, and insisted upon
its immediate abolition. It was a significant fact, often remarked
in the days of the struggle, that the Colonisation Society was
22 Delivered before the American Colonisation Society, January, 1853.
408 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
charged by the one with having " abolition affinities and ten¬
dencies," and by the other with being " the twin, sister of slavery."
The most elaborate and ingenious argument against Colonisation
we have ever seen was from the pen of a Southerner, Professor
Thomas E. Dew, of William and Mary College, Virginia. In
an. exhaustive article, written in 1832, in defence of Slavery, the
Professor uttered the following prediction of the result of Colo¬
nisation :—
We look confidently to the day, if this wild scheme should be persevered in
for a few years, when the poor African slave, on bended knee, might implore a,
remission of that fatal sentence which would send him to the land of his
forefathers We do not see how the whole scheme can be pronounced
anything less than a stupendous piece of folly.23
" This wild scheme" has been persevered in for more than fifty
years since the prophet spoke, and thousands of African ez-slaves
(a class not contemplated in his prophecy) are to-day imploring aid
to reach the land of their " forefathersand the promoters of the
" wild scheme," not yet defunct, are unable to supply facilities for
the transportation of earnest applicants for passage. Fifty years
hence (we now prophecy), the current of African humanity setting
eastward will be absolutely irresistible.
From the Northern, or Abolition standpoint, the reasoning
which has most forcibly impressed us is summed up in an eloquent
paragraph in a letter denouncing Slavery, addressed, in 1839, to
Jonathan Phillips, Esq., by Dr. W. E. Channing.
No man can say, positively, what ought to be done in a matter
of such serious importance as the destiny of a race. But men are
prone to dogmatise on questions entirely beyond them. They often
prefer to be guided by what, from the circumstances of their
training, they think God ought to do, rather than to study, with
unbiased temper, His providence, and find out what He has done
and is doing. The fact, however, is, that the Anti-Slavery and the
Colonisation Society were both born of the liberal and emancipative
tendencies of the age. In the early days of the abolition move-
23 The Pro - Slavery Argument, p. 399.—Charleston: Walker, Eichards and
Co., 1852.
African Colonisation.
merit, some of its promoters favoured a scheme of colonisation,
of the blacks. Benjamin Lundy, editor of The Genius of
Universal Emancipation, obtained, about the year 1835, a grant
of land from the Mexican Government on which to settle
coloured people.24 Mr. Garrison was a Colonisationist before
he became an Abolitionist. It was the misapprehension of
the policy of the Colonisation Society, in its full scope and
meaning, that furnished the theme and motive of the satire of
Garrison, the invective of Douglass, and the rhetorical pyro¬
technics of Phillips.
Nearly all the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society
have passed away. Of the founders of the American Colonisation
Society and the pioneers of Liberia, among the few living are Hon.
John H. B. Latrobe, President of the Society; Dr. James Hall,
the founder of the County of Maryland, in Liberia ; and H. M.
Schieffelin, Esq., New York, the founder of a promising settlement
in Liberia—all full of years and honour. The active life of
Mr. Latrobe has been coeval with the life of Liberia. It was he
who suggested, or rather formed, the name of Liberia, from the
Latin word liber ; and the name of its capital Monrovia, from that
of President Monroe. He has had only four predecessors in the
office of President of the Society; Justice Bushrod Washington,
elected in 1817; Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, elected in 1830;
Ex-President James Madison, elected in 1833; Hon. Henry Clay,
elected in 1836. Mr. Latrobe was elected in 1853. The records of
the Society for the sixty years of its existence are full of the
most remarkable specimens of eloquence, delivered from time to
time with inexhaustible fervour and freshness by this veteran
colonisationist. We have read them nearly all, and all are so
impressive that we find a difficulty in selecting any for especial
tribute or recognition. Even the platitudes of the African
cause are made luminous and instructive by the ardour of his zeal
and the glow of his intelligence. These early friends of colonisa¬
tion have seen Liberia in her darkest hours ; they have all exceeded
24 Life of Samuel J. May; Boston, 1876 ^ p. 140.
2 e
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
the allotted years of man, but they are still strong in the hopes for
the Negro nationality, which inspired their early efforts ; and they
•are realising that they did not exaggerate their prognostications of
the future of the colony.
Those only (exclaimed Mr. Latrobe, with thoughtful enthusiasm) accom¬
plish great ends among men, who are prophets with a conviction of the
truthfulness of their visions, and who have the patience to wait without
despondency. No doubter ever won a battle or realised a fortune. Our success,
up to this time, in the prosperity and order of our colonies ; in the contentment,
healthfulness and numbers of their people; in the commerce that has sprung
up around and with Liberia; far surpasses the like experience of all preceding
colonisation. We have had, in truth, nothing to discourage us.25
But, in view of the great work to be done, the narrowness of its
resources, and the vast ignorance prevailing among multitudes of
Negroes on the subject of their Fatherland, the Society is still the
"voice of one crying in the wilderness." They persist, however,
with the same intense and profound belief in the rightness and
righteousness of their cause; and stand, with regard, both to the
past and the future, like the Chevalier Bayard, sans peur et sans
reproche.
No one can read the accounts—their own reminiscences—put
before the world from time to time, by these veteran friends of
Liberia, of the early days of the colony, without feeling that it was
a daring enterprise on the part of the Colonisationists to plant
peaceful settlements on the coast of Africa, which, at the time they
began operations, was the scene of war, plunder and piracy. In
1822, the year after the settlement was founded, the British
Minister at Paris wrote :—
There seems to be scarcely a spot on that coast (from Sierra Leone to Cape
Mount) which does not show the traces of the slave trade, with all its attendant
horrors; for, the arrival of a ship in any of the rivers on the windward coast,
being the signal for war between the natives, the hamlets of the weaker party
are burnt, and the miserable survivors carried off and sold to the slave-
traders.26
25 Address delivered at the Anniversary of the American Colonisation Society
January 17, 1854.
23 Sir T. Fowell Buxton on the ' Slave-trade, and its Bemedy.'
African Colonisation.
411
In 1825,-Mr. Ashmun, the first Governor of the Colony, wrote
to«fche Society:—
From eight to ten, and even fifteen, vessels were engaged at the same time
in this odious traffic, almost under the guns of the settlement. In the month
of July contracts were existing for eight hundred slaves to be furnished in the
short space of four months, within eight miles of the Cape (Monrovia). Four
hundred of these were to be purchased for two American traders.27
Several times, through the diabolical intrigues of the miscreant
traders, the settlements were on the verge of extinction. But the
courage and energy of the resolute colonists thwarted the plots
of the demons.
With all their alleged contempt of the Negro, colonisationists
had faith enough in him to believe that he could hold his own away
from the leading-strings of his master. Mr. Ashmun, the white
Governor, and the only white man in the colony, at the time when
the slave-traders were concentrating their forces in the neighbour¬
hood of Monrovia for its destruction, expressed entire confidence in
the ability of the colonists to maintain their position. "The
colony only wants the right," he writes to the Society; " it has the
power to expel this traffic to a distance, and force it, at least, to
conceal some of its worst enormities."
In the United States, many influential slaveholders supported
the Society, gave liberty to their slaves, and sent them to Liberia,
because they believed in their manhood, or rather, in their
possibilities of manhood. Ex-President Monroe assured Elliott
Cresson, that eminent philanthropist and colonisationist, " that if
adequate funds were possessed by the Colonisation Society, he
could procure ten thousand slaves, by voluntary emancipation, in
his native state alone."28
The struggles of the early Eiberian colonists against the
ignorant opposition of their own untutored people, stimulated by
slave-traders, have a species of pathos and romance to which the
struggles of the first colonists in America offer nothing similar.
The battles of the African pilgrims were not for empire over an
alien race; not for power or dazzling wealth ; but for room in the
27 Gurley's Life of Ashmun, p. 261. 28 African Repository; 1839, p. 298.
412
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
land to which they had a hereditary right, De vita et sanguine
certant,w The pathetic aspect of their position was, that they had
to confront a ferocity, not natural, but generated under the dark
influence of incarnate fiends—to fight against a people allied to them
by blood, and probably, identical in their antecedents, who would
gladly have welcomed them but for the malevolent interference
of those supreme criminals of humanity—Jiostes generis humani—
who had ruthlessly robbed their fathers of their homes.
We could here recite—if this were the place fox it—the thrilling
experiences of these courageous pioneers. We could tell of their
hardships and heroism, of their hunger ana thirst and nakedness,
of their chills and fever ; of their confronting, with axe in one hand
and gun in the other, the illimitable forests and the malarious
swamps; of the devotion and bravery of their women, by whose
unswerving fidelity and magical inspiration one was made to chase
a thousand, and two were able to put ten thousand to flight. But
it is enough to say that they were triumphant over all obstacles, and
succeeded in laying in suffering and sorrow, and in indomitable
faith, the foundation of a State. The colony, in the twenty-seventh
year of its existence, became an independent Eepublic, and as such
now enjoys the confidence and respect of all foreign nations.
The late Bishop Haven, after seeing Liberia, in 1877, wrote :—
The St. Paul's River is the heart of Liberia, the key to its future, the hope
of the African in Africa. In no other colony is there such developed country
life. Sierra Leone is city ; South Africa is white ; the rest is savage. This is
country, and country always ; and country only makes country. Let Liberia
fill up her land with farms, and she will conquer Africa
It only remains to be seen whether America will help her firstborn—her
representative, her child still, in every pulse—to win this honour for herself and
for us. Such an enterprise will give our trade and manufactures a new
impulse. Let the North Pole remain in its icy isolation; while this vaster,
nobler, and more useful undertaking is furthered by our Government.
The heroic William Taylor, "Bishop of Africa," after holding
his first Conference at Monrovia, in January, 1885,30 wrote of
Liberia as follows :—
29 JEneid; xii, 736.
30 Bishop Taylor is now (January 30, 1S83) holding his second Conference at
Grand Bassa, Liberia.
African Colonisation.
413
Liberia is the garden spot of West Africa ; splendid soil, well watered, good
spring water for use, salubrious climate, and more exempt from flies and
mosquitoes than any tropical country in which I have laboured. I am very
sorry that the Liberian Government has, by bad management, got into debt. I
hope our Government will feel maternal interest in it, and help it out of its
embarrassment If our Government won't help the Liberians, our
coloured people should give them one dollar each—about a million of them—
for the sake of their race. There is a grand future yet for Liberia, if they will
learn by what they have seen and suffered, in the past fifty years.
We might cite here the concurrent favourable testimony of
several naval officers, American and English, who have, 'from time
to time, visited Liberia; but space allows us to give only one.
It is the testimony of that most distinguished and useful officer,
Commodore Perry. After spending some time on the Liberian
coast, he wrote :—
In truth, I cannot but believe that the colony of Liberia is firmly and per¬
manently established; and that it possesses, at this early period of its existence,
the germ of a powerful empire, to be populated by a class of people hitherto
unknown, at least to modern times—a community of Macks, destined to enjoy all
the advantages of civilisation, and to exercise its full share of political influence in
the family of nations.
Liberia is a Eepublican State, modelled after the United States.
She is superior in self-reliance and self-control to Sierra Leone,
now on the eve of her centennial anniversary. In that British
colony, the foreign soldier—and, until very recently, the Bishop of
the Church of England—took part with the civil officer in the work
of government. And, to this day, when the Governor is absent,
his place is supplied by the " Officer commanding the Troops."
In Liberia, there is no standing army; and if any difference is
observable in the public security of the two places, the difference
is not to the disadvantage of the Republic.
With astonishing success has Liberia been able to impress
the aboriginal tribes in favour of her Government and laws. While
the neighbouring colony of Sierra Leone is, not unfrequently,
troubled by raids of marauders into British territory, the aborigines,
throughout Liberia, are getting to understand the political creed of
the Eepublic, and to sympathise with the national aims. They
are beginning to look upon Liberia as their own—a social, political
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
and industrial commonwealth, which includes them, and contem¬
plates their highest interest; so that, with no large material
resources for offensive or defensive purposes, the Republic is able to
keep in check the predatory tendencies of the wayward elements.
Celsa sedet iEolus arce,
Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos, et temperat iras.31
JEolus, throned on high, the sceptre sways,
Controls their mood, their wrath allays.
Coning ton's Translation.
The theory of the American Colonisation Society is verified, as
their proteges take their place in Liberia, and come under the
influences of the Fatherland. As they advance to maturity in the
ancestral home, the propensity to imitation grows weaker and
weaker, and their improving faculties gradually divert them from
the models they left in the house of bondage, to ideal standards,
more in accordance with their tastes and instincts. White is
dethroned, and black takes its proper position. The habit of
thinking, of observation, of reflection—without the disturbing action
of any alien influence—adds, as it were, a new eye to the mind;
slumbering faculties are aroused ; and they learn many things,
which, with less freedom to be themselves, less responsibility, and
less necessity for intellectual concentration, it would have been
impossible for them to acquire.
The men, who, as a rule, succeed in Liberia, are of two classes :
Firstly, those who were born, or have grown up, and were
educated in the country; and, secondly, adult emigrants of humble
educational attainments, who have been taught to use their muscles,
and to rely upon themselves; and who, on their arrival, feel that
they have entered a new school, where they have much to learn.
Excellent fruits of their former schooling are not lacking. They
make good farmers, good carpenters, good brickmakers, good shoe¬
makers, good blacksmiths—in short, they prove to be capable
in most of the ordinary branches of useful industry. Large
numbers of them are members of the various Christian Churches,
and are, as a rule, orderly in their walk, and firm in their
31 JEneid i, 56, 57.
African Colonisation.
415
belief. Their views of morals are often criticised as defective, yet,
they display in their new homes, sterling moral qualities ; not
only habits of industry, but of obedient subordination; of reverence
for authority, human and Divine. They come from that set of
men who won the admiration of the world, for their fidelity and
self-control, during the crisis which came upon their masters five-
and-twenty years ago, and, of whom, the following testimony is
born by an ex-slaveholder of learning and culture:—
When the South was largely overrun by a hostile soldiery ; when every able-
bodied white man of that section had been hurried to the front; when none
were left for the protection of our women and children but mere boys and
infirm old men, our slaves cultivated our fields, protected our property, and
stood by our families in their helpless condition, thus becoming an element of
strength instead of weakness, of security rather than danger.82
History shows no parallel to this. Europe, from all precedent,
looked on at the commencement of the Civil War with an in¬
describable intensity of interest and anxiety. The Times despatched
its able and graphic correspondent, Mr. W. H. Russell, to the
scene. Writing from the spot, he said, reflecting the feeling of
the Old World:—
If the Negroes occasion any trouble, there is no saying how far the difficulties
of the Slave States may not go; but, at present, they are possessed with a con¬
fidence, which may be Mind or farseeing, that their slaves will remain quiet, if
not faithful; and the absence of any white element from the population o
whole districts is very remarkable. The spectacle of an uprising of 4,000,000
of Negroes in the plantations, burning, plundering, and destroying the whites,
is one which, I confess, I am not humanitarian or Abolitionist enough to be
prepared to desire or to enjoy.
The slaveholders trusted to the loyalty of their slaves to
those whom the world believed to be in the utmost degradation,
and in the depths of savagery—and were not disappointed. It
might have been otherwise if they had been alone, or altogether,
responsible, for slavery; but it was an inheritance, which they
could not have got rid of by any safe or normal means. They were,
as we believe, providentially, the guardians of Africa s future re-
82 The Education of the Negro; an Address by Gustavus J. Orr, LL.D., State
School Commissioner of Georgia.—1880.
4x6 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
generators; and while, as individuals, they may have been at times
punished for abuse* of their trust, yet, when it was possible, and
probable, in the view of strangers—when the instinctive reasoning
of the human conscience concluded that the time had come
for retaliation and retribution by human hands — this awful
calamity was not permitted. They were not allowed to suffer,
m,s a class, through the unbridled passions of their slaves, for a
relationship and its concomitants which they did not originate, and
- could not abruptly terminate. They suffered only so far as they
Jailed to recognise the handwriting on the wall, stating that the
time had come, and pointing out the methods for safe emancipation.
Pharaoh was punished, not for having held the Hebrews in bondage,
but for refusing to let them go when commanded to do so.
Yet, when everything else connected with the Negro's residence
in America is forgotten, this wonderful story of his loyalty and self-
control, will be recited to generations yet unborn, as a brilliant
page—perhaps the only brilliant page—in the record of Africa in
America. Surely, if all the years of toil and suffering are not
sufficient to strengthen the appeal for help now made by thousands
of these people, who are anxious to return to the land of their
fathers; surely, this last act of theirs, this incomparable, this
more than loyal devotion, ought to bring abundant assistance and
relief to the "cry of the exile towards the graves of the beloved
over the sea, that weeps and is not weary."
The refusal to listen to these pathetic appeals, constantly
made through the Colonisation Society—this melancholy chorus
that comes from the south and south-west, on every wind that
blows—may bring the punishment, at least, of remorse. We are
" verily guilty, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he
besought us, and we would not hear." Yes ; when he besought us.
We look in vain in the wills of dying millionaires for one cent
given to aid the return of these faithful servants. But we are sure,
if these wealthy stewards of God's gifts could have heard the bitter
cries on board those " floating tombs of gasping humanity, on the
mighty deep," as they bore away their suffering freights to the
Western world, they would be anxious to make some compensation,
African Colonisation.
417
if only in sending back one who may be anxious to return. Let the
facilities to return to their ancestral land be given to this people ;
let a generous God-speed be extended to them; let them be urged
to take possession of the hills and plains awaiting their advent:
Ply all the sinews of industrious toil,
Glean up the refuse of a generous soil;
Kebuild the towns that smoked upon the plain,
And hope the sun will gild their roofs again.
This merciful dealing with the needy will be twice blessed
—blessing him that gives, and him that takes.
Next to the Christian religion, the most important element of
strength and prosperity in Liberia, is her possession of the English
language. This gives her an advantage with the outside world,
for it connects her with the life of the most vigorous and pro¬
gressive of modern .nations. " The English Language," says
President Eliot, "is the native tongue of nations which are pre¬
eminent in the world by force of character, enterprise and wealth;
and whose political and social institutions have a higher moral
interest, and greater promise, than any which mankind has hitherto
invented." It is the language in which knowledge, secular and
religious, is most abundantly diffused; two great nations being
engaged in printing and circulating in it, in the cheapest possible
form, the best thoughts of past and contemporary humanity. It
partakes of the character of the people who speak it, and is, there¬
fore, a wonderful stimulus. The native African, like all Oriental or
tropical people, can see no reason or propriety in extra work, as
long as he has enough to supply his wants. But he is imitative.
And as the English language is diffused in his country, vivified by
its domiciliation on the American continent,38 with its constantly-
increasing vocabulary, its numerous words and phrases—some of
which, produced by a restless and invincible activity, suggest and
inspire activity—the native will be raised unconsciously; and, in
spite of hereditary tendencies and surroundings, will work, not,
then, in order to enjoy repose—the dolcefar niente but to be able
83'The American Language,' is the subject of an interesting chapter by
Mark Twain. The language spoken by the Liberians, is known throughout
the adjacent interior countries as " 'Merican.
418 Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
to do more work, and to carry out higher objects, Climate, after
all, is not an insuperable barrier to progress. Every variety of
climate has produced an indigenous civilisation, by outward
stimulus.
One of the most important counteracting influences to Moham¬
medanism in Africa, will be the pressure of the English language.
Dr. Nassau Lees, says, that the Koran was written for conquerors;
so the English language, with its multitudinous books and news¬
papers, is the language of conquest—not of physical, but of moral
and intellectual conquest.34 The schoolmaster against the soldier ;
the primer against the sword. It has everywhere, on the coast,,
driven out other European languages. The French are struggling,
against its irrepressible aggressiveness in their own colony at-
Gaboon. Dr. Lenz found the language at Cameroons, the new
German acquisition, to be universally English. Official notices-
are drawn up in English and German. Dr. Fischer, says, that in
Zanzibar the natives say, " All good things come from England.""
Mr. Joseph Thomson has been recently making treaties on behalf
of the English African Trading Company, with the most powerful
tribes on the Niger. They refused to entertain the proposals for
similar arrangements of a German trading agent.35 And where the
English language once takes root, it is a permanent occupant. In
the West Indies, we find the Danish, Dutch and Swedish flag®
floating over an English-speaking population. The only rival in
Africa that will offer anything like stubborn resistance to the pre¬
tensions of English, is Arabic. But the increasing desire of the
interior tribes for material advancement, and the effort to hold
communication with the outside world, which, for them, as Liberia
and Sierra Leone extend eastward, will be more and more the
English-speaking world, will diminish the practical importance of
Arabic, and be a powerful stimulus to their civilisation and
Christianisation. The force of material interests will divert the
Pagan element from Mohammedan influence.
34 In the steamship, in the railway, in the thoughts that shake mankind,
85 London Times, Oct. 27, 1885.
African Colonisation.
419
A writer in MdcmillcLii s Magazine (April, 1885) says: " It is our
bad luck at present that there are only two independent English
nations." The writer has probably not heard of Liberia. By recent
negotiations, the territory of Liberia has become conterminous with
that of the British Colony of Sierra Leone. On the occasion of the
settlement of this long-pending question, the British Commissioner,
Sir Samuel Eowe, remarked:—
The happy duty, now devolved upon me, of signing, on behalf of Her Majesty,
the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, that Convention, which, having been
signed also by the accredited Commissioners of the Government of Liberia, will,
I trust, set at rest those differences, which, from time to time, have impeded
the progress of civilisation, and lessened, perhaps, the harmony which it always
is desirable should exist between States whose territorial limits are con¬
terminous Sister States, side by side on this Eastern shore of the broad
Atlantic, peopled by members of the African race, who have adopted the habits
of Western civilisation, cannot be other than united by the ties of one common
duty; and that duty is, the furtherance of civilisation in this African land,
amongst those native tribes, their immediate neighbours, who have not enjoyed
the opportunities afforded to the inhabitants of Sierra Leone, and to the
emigrants from the United States to Liberia, of becoming acquainted with that
higher life and purer thought, which we of the Northern clime maintain
pervades the people of Europe and America.
It is now expected that the relations of Liberia and Sierra
Leone will become more intimate, and that there will be, in
course of time, uniform tariff regulations, by which the trade of
the two countries may be carried on under the same rules. And
this would seem not unreasonable, when it is considered that
the Mannah River, fixed by England as the south-east boundary
of Sierra Leone, and the north-west boundary of Liberia, is not
an ethnological frontier, but cuts off and takes into Sierra Leone,
a portion of the Yey tribe, the majority of whom are in the recog¬
nised limits of Liberia; so that British subjects and Liberian
citizens speak across the boundary to each other in the same
aboriginal tongue, and obey foreign laws couched in the same
European language, and based on the same system, of juris
prudence. Gallinas and Sulymah belong, geographically and
ethnographically, to Liberia; they belong, politically and terri¬
torially, to Sierra Leone, through the accidents of diplomatic
42 o
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
management. The idea of joint-legislation, then, it may be
seen, is by no means alien to the purposes and aims of the
two communities, nor is it repugnant to the spirit of the age.
The impression has been produced in West Africa, by articles in
American newspapers, and private letters from the United States,
that the American Government is likely, in future, to take greater
practical interest in Liberia than has been hitherto customary.
Whether this notion is well founded or not, it is evident that, in
view of the vast energies, pecuniary, intellectual and moral, being
expended by Europe upon the solution of the African problem, the
"United States cannot sit much longer as an indifferent spectator,
possessing, as she does, to a far greater extent than any other
nation, the facilities for effective work on this continent.
It is not for nothing, that to the United States has been
committed the trust of millions of Africa's descendants, the natural
and appointed agents in the regeneration of the continent; and
it is not without meaning, that they should have been set at
liberty at the precise period when the vast field of their future
energies was being opened to the gaze of an astonished world.
It cannot be unwise for the United States Government to employ
some of its surplus capital—not too much—in opening the way to
a career for millions of people, who can have none in a country to
whose material progress they have so largely contributed. We
looked in vain in the last Message of President Cleveland, for a
single reference to the continent of Africa, the original home of
millions of his hapless fellow-citizens, who are anxious to return.
But we do not imagine that this was the silence of indifference.
It was rather, we suspect, the reticence which often comes from
earnest practical interest—the silence which scans the distance
before taking the leap.
It seems to us, that the United States Government is now
standing, so far as Africa is concerned, at the parting of the ways.
And if the lingering at the bifurcation be not too long, or long
enough to cause insuperable doubts and fears, the hesitation will
do good, and Africa may hope for great things from the new regime.
But some of the best friends of colonisation have entertained
African Colonisation.
421
doubts as to whether such an enterprise ought to be, or can be,
legally assisted by the United States Government. Daniel Webster,
the great expounder and defender of the Constitution, had no
doubt on this score. He said, shortly before his death
It appears to me that this emigration is not impracticable. What is it to
the great resources of this country to send out a hundred thousand persons
a-year to Africa ? In my opinion, without any violation of the analogies which
we have followed in other cases, in pursuance of our commercial regulations, it
is within our Constitution—it is within the powers and provisions of that
Constitution, as a part of our commercial arrangements—just as we enter into
treaties and pass laws for the suppression of the slave trade. If we look, now,
to other instances, we shall see how great may be the emigration of individuals,
with slight means from Government.36
Mr. Webster then referred to the vast emigration from Ireland
to the United States, under the stimulus of " very slight Govern¬
mental support."
On the several grounds of justice, humanity and expediency, it
seems to us that the Government should give its aid. In contem¬
plating the possibility of such assistance, the only drawback that
occurs to us is that the immigration might be so excessive as to
imperil the vital interests of the colony. But this would depend,
greatly, upon the class of people sent. A few ambitious and turbulent
spirits, who, in America, supposed themselves to be ascending in the
scale of political life, and determined, on their arrival in Africa, to
make way for themselves by the methods of American demagogism,
would soon upset the nascent institutions of the young Eepublic.
But thousands of industrious, hard-working farmers and mechanics,
would be no source of danger or anxiety. They would go to work,
and the aborigines would gladly welcome them as returning
brethren, similar to themselves in aspect, in origin, and in destiny.
With such immigrants, however numerous, we can imagine no serious
difficulty. As long as Liberia includes vast tracts of fertile land
unoccupied and uncultivated, there will be space and opportunities
to afford safe outlets for any inconvenient accumulations of working
energy. Where abundance of land is so easily accessible, there is
no danger of local congestions of population. They will be allured
38 Address before the American Colonisation Society, January, 1852.
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race.
to the rich forests and the fruitful plains, and will very soon find
out that Africa is the best country in the world for an absolutely
poor man. Meat, fire, and clothing, may also be regarded as
luxuries in a climate so genial, and to them, so congenial.
There are in the various counties of Liberia—Montserrado,
Bassa, Sinou, Maryland—in the rich countries drained by the
St. Paul's, the St. John's, the Sinou, the Cavalla and the San
Pedro Rivers—eligible sites for profitable farms, for villages and
towns, commanding a lucrative trade in the valuable products of the
wealthy interior. And there is an active, intelligent native population
ready for co-operation, for an interchange of ideas, of produce, of
transactions, and of capital, which must unite their country with
Liberia by the, closest civil and social, as well as political, ties.
Their Government, as a rule, has very few of the features of what
is understood by royalty, or monarchy. The people govern,
and they furnish everywhere most interesting specimens of Re¬
publicanism.
The Christian Church in the United States should recognise the
instruments at their door for the African work.
It would seem to have been designed that Christianity should
not come into Africa from Europe, where it had been taken from
its Semitic mould, and either Latinised or Teutoni^ed ; but that it
should cross the ocean, and acquire larger freedom and greater
elasticity, under new conditions, and be imparted to millions of
Africans, who should be the bearers of it to their Fatherland.
American Christianity, though having its roots in Europe, differs
from European Christianity in many important respects—in the
wide tolerance which pervades it, in the form which it has assumed,
and the impression which it leaves on the mind. It is the religion
of a democratic people.
Liberia is blamed because she has made no greater progress.
But where, in Western Africa, has there been greater progress
in proportion to the means used or effort put forth ? At Senegal,
the authorities are perplexed by the obstructive operations of
hostile Mohammedans. At the Gambia, the adjacent tribes, when
they please, disorganise the trade by wars. Sierra Leone is one
African Colonisation.
423
hundred years old, and the aborigines around it are ready, at any
time, to defy its authority, and menace its existence. At the Gold
Coast, the Ashantees periodically put the Settlements in jeopardy.
Lagos is under the influence of the interior tribes. Foreigners are
confined to the coast, or admitted to the wealthy and populous
inland districts by the edicts at Abbeokuta. At Gaboon, Dr. Lenz
tells us, that the whole native population is being rapidly driven to
the interior by the Fans. In the Congo country, serious difficulties
environ the situation. Liberia, and her influences, compare
favourably with all these.
APPENDIX.
THE BEPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.
0 agency has yet been tried for Africa's regeneration which
promises so much and is capable of so much for the
permanent welfare of the people as the method of the American
Colonisation Society in the establishment of Liberia. All other
efforts from abroad may be classified under two heads—the
disorganising and the corrective. The work of one set of foreigners
is to introduce the agencies of helpfulness; of the other, the instru¬
ments of mental and moral degradation. The missionary represents
the one; the trader the other. In districts subject only to Pagan
rule, the traders really govern the country. Everything is made
to subserve the interest of their trade. They appeal to the
cupidity of ignorant chiefs, and fix the standard of morality. The
missionary is helpless.
European colonies, though existing for a higher purpose, and
though under their protection and stimulus the missionary can do
an unmolested and even apparently aggressive work, yet, in such
colonies, the measure of progress allowed to the natives must be
limited, seeing that the power and prestige of the Europeans and
the promotion of European interests must be made the first
consideration.
The United States, then, have furnished Africa with the most
effective instrument of unlimited progress and development in the
Republic of Liberia. The basis of the Liberian political life is the
2 F
426
Appendix.
American Constitution and Laws. But the earlier legislators of the
new State very soon discovered that American precedents, in not a
few important respects, would have to be set aside; and it is
creditable to their statesmanship that they were able to introduce
with prudence such modifications into the American system as
made it applicable to their new circumstances and practicable for
their purposes. Their successors are finding more and more that
as they advance into the continent and develop national life new
modifications will be necessary. These must take place if there is
normal growth—if the nation is to be the true expression of the
race. The friends of Liberians abroad cannot help them to
national or racial expression. They must fight their own battles
and achieve their own victories, if they are not to be overawed,
depressed and overcome, not so much by the merits and virtues as
by the vices and failings of foreigners, whose literature they read
and whose commodities they purchase.
The theory upon which Liberia was founded has thus far stood
the test. It is a theory with definite practical consequences, which
every one who is earnest in the desire for African regeneration and
acquainted with tlie facts must accept, and which no one in these
days, however antagonistic to the Negro in exile, will strenuously
oppose.
In the European colonies along the coast there may be the
evidences ^of material prosperity, but it proceeds with the heavy
and crushing indifference of the car of Juggernaut, and, like the
conductors of that ponderous vehicle, it looks upon the possible
destruction of individuals as no serious evil; as possibly for their
own good and for the advancement of the cause. There is no
recognition, therefore, of the fact that there are hearts that feel, no
notice taken of sensibilities that may be rudely lacerated, no effort
to nurse the well-spring of a nobler life within. The native is, as a
rule, simply the victim of an unsympathetic apparatus of political
and commercial machinery.
The Republic of Liberia.
42 7
In Liberia matters are entirely different. The people, with all
the drawbacks incident to their necessarily isolated life, have the
legislative control of at least five hundred miles of coast, and of an
indefinite interior. They recognise the necessity—the prime ne¬
cessity—of the moral and religious emotions. Their minds are
strengthened and expanded by the wide and glorious. prospects
which their independent nationality and the vast continent on
which they live with its teeming millions of their blood relations
open before them ; and they stretch out their hands to the United
States for the return of their exiled brethren, to increase their civi¬
lised and Christian force. They ask for greater educational and
religious facilities. They could have greater material prosperity;
but they look upon the life as more than meat, and the body as
more than raiment. For more than half a century they have
resisted the appeals of Europeans for an indiscriminate trade in the
country, and have thus kept an extensive region both on the coast
and in the interior in a virgin state waiting for their brethren from
abroad, who will know how to protect themselves against the
influence of a vicious foreign trade, and who will be able to
introduce in a regular and healthful form the blessings of freedom and
civilisation. As an example of the work in promotion of a genuine
Christian civilisation which Liberia, as an independent nation,
whose laws are final, has the power of performing, see the recent
law enacted against Sabbath-breaking, which applies only to the
seaboard and to the proceedings of foreign vessels (African
Repository, July, 1887). You would understand the import of this
fact and its bearing upon Christianity in this country if you could
see how all along the coast out of Liberia the Sabbath is dis¬
regarded by foreign traders, while the missionaries look helplessly
on. In course of time, Liberia will banish the traffic in spirits from
the whole of her domain \ and in this effort she will be sustained by
the great Mohammedan trading community on the east and north.
Now, here is an instrument—indigenous, sympathetic and
428
Appendix.
permanent—for the aggressive work of the American Church. If
American Christians will deal with this question earnestly and
wisely, they can in a few years revolutionise the Nigritian countries.
America possesses the elements—the human instruments—now
needed for the work in Africa, and they are anxious to come. This
desire of the Negroes for emigration to the fatherland is sometimes
said to be exaggerated by colonisationists; but I find in The Church
at Home and Abroad the following from Rev. H. N. Payne, Field
Secretary of the Freedmen's Board :—
" Much as the coloured people are attached to the places where
they grew up, thousands of them would gladly go to Arkansas,
to Texas, or to any other place where they would better their
condition ; bnt they cannot raise the money to emigrate, and must
stay and suffer where they are."
Now here is disinterested testimony, put not half as strongly as
the facts warrant. The any other place is Africa; and if these
hapless creatures do not name Africa in the utterance of their
tearful longings, it is because thousands do not dream that there is
any possibility of ever getting to this distant country. I found,
during my travels in the South, in 1882, that hundreds were turning
their faces to Arkansas and Texas, who had never heard of Liberia
or of the American Colonisation Society.
Now, ought not the Church, in contemplating the magnitude of
the work in Africa, to consider whether this superfluous energy
might not be utilised ? Here, at least, is the physical basis of a
great moral and physical superstructure. Do not go about lament-
ing your incapacity to help Africa when you have with you the
elements of effective assistance, but which, on account of its
apparent insignificance, you despise. Remember Longfellow's
baffled and disheartened artist:—
Then a voice cried, " Kise, 0 Master ;
From the burning brand of oak
Shape the thought that stirs within thee ! "
And the startled artist woke—
The Republic of Liberia.
429
Woke, and from the smoking embers
Seized and quenched the glowing wood ;
And therefrom he carved an image,
And he saw that it was good.
O thou sculptor, painter, poet!
Take this lesson to thy heart:
That is best which lieth nearest;
Shape from that thy work of art.
Do not wait until you have trained the Negroes up to your
ideal—in your peculiar modes of thinking. You cannot make them
Anglo-Saxons. You never will make them so in spirit and possi¬
bilities, if I interpret the providence of God aright. The Hebrews
in Egypt remained illiterate and ignorant, though surrounded for
four hundred years by the splendours of a brilliant civilisation.
That civilisation was not for them, though they had, by provi¬
dential direction, been brought into contact with it. It was not
suited to the peculiar work for which they were destined. So the
children of Africa among you have in them the possibilities of a
great work in the Fatherland. Eemove them from the pressure in
your country to the freedom and congeniality of their ancestral
home, and so open a wider sphere, for the play and development of
their social, moral, and spiritual nature. It is not the best plan to
rely upon college training to fit them for work in Africa.
The fugitive Hebrew slaves, without the learning of the schools,
received the law for their guidance'—found the truth for their race
—in the solitudes of the desert. In Africa, the merest rudiments
of Western learning will have more power upon the Negro than the
highest culture in America. There is something in the atmosphere,
in the sunshine, the clouds, the rain, the flowers, the music of the
birds, that makes the a b c of your culture more valuable to him
than all the metaphysics and philosophy you can possibly give him
in America.
In contrasting the results of the methods of his Mohammedan
teachers upon the Negro with those produced upon him by the
efforts of his Christian guides and instructors, one is reminded of
43°
Appendix.
the old story of Falconnet, a vain French artist, who was once
lecturing a class of students on the horse of Marcus Aurelius. For
a time he was critical and captious, pointing out little faults of
detail and contrasting them with a more perfect anatomical model
of his own. But at last the spirit of the artist overcame pro¬
fessional jealousy, and he exclaimed, "After all, gentlemen, that
ugly horse lives, and mine is dead." Something of the same feeling
comes over the thoughtful observer as he studies the results of the
two religious systems upon the African. The Christian Negro,
equipped with ail the apparatus of the schools, appears at a disad¬
vantage by the side of his Mohammedan brother. The training of
the latter is admitted to be faulty and imperfect, but he is at home
in Africa and dominant in the land of his fathers. After all, the
ugly horse is alive.
If Christians in America will trust to the healing and restorative
power of Nature, and will help the thousands to migrate to Africa,
and then, under the influence of the earth and sky and sea of the
ancestral home,-will further assist them with elementary schools
and plain Gospel preaching, and with tools for mechanical and agri¬
cultural work, Africa will soon lift up her head.
The methods generally pursued, apart from the principle of the
Liberian enterprise, will never cause Christianity to penetrate the
interior with any hope of bringing the tribes under its sway. Of
another thing I am not much less assured, that Mohammedanism
—unless Liberia is strengthened and stimulated by an increase of
civilised population and schools—will extend its influence to the
sea along the whole of Upper Guinea, and will control the indi¬
genous tribes. This it will do with the countenance and support of
European governments, dependent for their revenues upon a trade
largely under the control of the sober and energetic Moslems.
The religion of Arabia has the advantage of numbers in its work
in Africa. The religion of America may also have this advantage,
if the Church there will get near enough to the unsophisticated
The Republic of Liberia.
43i
Negro to understand his broken utterances about Africa. Dr.
Ellinwood told the General Assembly at Omaha that " the Moham¬
medan College in the little African state of Tripoli, with one
thousand students, sends to the interior not less than three hundred
missionaries every year; and the great Azar in Cairo, with ten
thousand students, sends to the Moslem mission fields not less than
two thousand a-year.''
The Nigritian Mohammedans are wonderful propagandists.
Half scholars, half merchants, they are devoted to trade, literature
and religion; they are also pilgrims and adventurers. You will
find them in every important city on the coast; and in the interior
they haunt the busy centres of trade and lead in all the places of
popular devotion. They have in their favour certain elements of
truth—enough to make them grow and thrive. The Koran appears
to the cursory and superficial reader self-contradictory, dull—" a
tissue of incoherent rhapsodies; " but it is impregnated with a few
grand ideas, which stand out strongly from the whole. On the
St. Paul's River one frequently sees huge trees standing on high
banks overhanging the stream, with just enough root in the soil to
hold them, but growing in all the luxuriance of the trees in the
fertile valley or on the rich mountain side. These river-side trees
are a picture of Islam. It is a mighty tree standing on apparently
very little soil, but soil enough to hold it. Every rising tide seems
to threaten its downfall, but the water recedes ; freshets come and
go, and leave it more firmly rooted in the earth than before. It is
a power to be reckoned with, then, in all attempts to evangelise
Africa; and no isolated missionary effort can resist the organised
force it brings.
Bishop Taylor has recognised this important fact, and he is
endeavouring to demonstrate the feasibility and necessity of colonies
for the greater and ultimate success of mission work in Africa. He
has recently wisely adopted Liberia as a base and strategic point
for his operations, where, protected in his rear by a regular govern-
432
Appendix.
merit in sympathy with his work, he will not be subject to the
intrusion of the many conflicting influences to which he is exposed
in the Congo country.
Shall Liberia, for the want of a generous and far-sighted sym¬
pathy, be compelled to linger in the unhealthy regions of the coast,
circumscribed in the field of her operations,* and paralysed by
physical and moral malaria, while thousands of possible agents of
an effective work, within and beyond her borders, wander uselessly
about your country, asking, " Who will show us any good?"
In the great speech of Dr. Ellinwood before the Assembly, so
full of the philosophy and the results and the hopes of foreign mis¬
sions, not one word is said of the work in Africa, or of the future of
this continent. Perhaps she is so near America, in the millions of
her representatives there, that she is regarded as a part of the home
mission field. Then deal with her as a part of your household,
and remember the apostolic estimate of the man who fails to
provide for his own household.
ED. W. BLYDEN.
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One Hundred Biographical Essays. By P. R.
Drummond, F.S.A.
The Nonconformist says: "The volume is simply full of the
raciest material, on the whole well laid out, and cannot fail to prove of
interest to many beyond the circle of Perthshire men into whose hand
it may have the good fortune to come. Mr. Drummond had no purpose
to serve in writing the book beyond giving vent to his wide knowledge
and his love of the subject. He was a bookseller in Perth, and it is
evident that to nothing in literature or in human life was he indifferent.
All the notables he knew ; and he treasured up ana year by year simply
because it fell in with his tastes and enjoyments to do so . . . The
book is full of delicious morsels."
The Athenaeum says: " It contains a great deal of sound sense,
and many amusing stories."
Second Edition. 440 pages. Post 8vo. Cloth. Price js. 6d.
CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM AND
THE NEGRO RACE.
By Edward W. Blyden, LL.D., Author of
" Liberia's Offering," and " From West Africa
to Palestine." With an Introduction by the
Hon. Samuel Lewis, Barrister-at-Law, and
Member of the Legislative Council of Sierra
Leone.
Mr. R. Bosworth Smith, in the "Nineteenth Century,"
says :—" . . . One of the most remarkable books I have ever met.
. . . . It is in the pages of Mr. Blyden's book that the great dumb,
dark continent has at last begun to speak, and in tones which, if I
mistake not, even those who most differ from his conclusions will be
glad to listen to and wise to ponder. ... If ever any one spoke
upon his special subject with a right to be heard upon it, it is
Mr. Blyden, and for this simple reason that his whole life has been a
preparation for it."
The Literary World says:—"This book is an invaluable
one, and contains information about the Negro and his relations to
Mohammedanism and Christianity, which we should have great
difficulty in procuring elsewhere. Dr. Blyden is a very earnest and
competent writer." . .
The St. James's Gazette says:—" This is a remarkable and
important book upon a great subject which has hitherto received but
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
4
W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
crsnt attention in Europe. Its interest is enhanced by its being written
by a Negro of scholarship and wide reading This book is
a valuable contribution to the literature of a fascinating subject, and it
is to be hoped that it will receive the attention it deserves."
The Record says:—This book is a remarkable and well-timed
work. It is the voice of the educated travelled Negro ; it is the work
of a well and widely-read man The subjects discussed in
this book are of the highest importance, especially as they profess to
be examined at all times from the Christian standpoint."
The Athenaeum says:—"All that Dr. Blyden writes about—
the disadvantage with which the Negro Race has had to contend,
especially in America; his suggestions for the future, both there and
' in Africa, and his description of its peculiar gifts and probable destiny—
are ingenious as well as thoughtful and impassionate."
The Academy says :—" Dr. Blyden has given us a very interesting
and remarkable volume He speaks with the authority of
one who is a Negro himself, and who has had more experience—both
of the Christian white and the Mohammedan black—than almost
anyone else."
Fourth Edition, with important Additional Chapters.
Demy 8vo. Price 10s. 6d.
TEA—Cultivation and Manufacture.
By Lieut.-Col. Edward Money.
The Saturday Review, in the course of an extended notice,
says :—" We think that Col. Money has done good service by throwing
into the form of a book an essay which gained the Prize awarded by
the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, in 1872. The
author is one of a well-known Anglo-Indian family. . . . He has
had plenty of practical experience, and has tested the labours of other
men Col. Money's general rules and principles, as far as
we can form a judgment, seem to have reason as well as experience
on their side. . . . No tea planter can afford to disregard his
experience."
The Indian Agriculturist says :—" Col. Money has advanced
with the times, and the work under review may well be considered the
standard work on the subject, and it ought to be in every tea planter's
hand in India, Ceylon, Java, Japan, China or America; the merit and
sterling value of his essay has been universally and deservedly
acknowledged We recommend our readers who re¬
quire full information and sound advice on the subject to procure
Col. Money's book."
Allen's Indian Mail says" The publication of so thorough,
clear and instructive a directorium as Col. Money's work is in itself
91, GRACECHUECH STEEET, LONDON.
5
I. B. WHITTINGHiSJ and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
a proof of the attention devoted to this important industry, which has
a great future before it. No one who desires to understand the con¬
dition of its development; still more—no one who has a pecuniary
interest in a tea garden, can feel that the subject of tea is known
until this work has been studied."
The China Express says:—" The experience gained since
.1872 is added to the work, and it now forms a most complete guide for
the tea planter. The great progress the cultivation of tea is making
in India renders a practical work of this kind very valuable; and the
method in which Colonel Money deals with the subject shows his
thorough knowledge of it."
The Planter's Gazette says :—"The cultivation of tea in the
British dominions is becoming a rapidly-extending industry, and we
are glad to see that Colonel Money's prize essay has reached a third
edition, for it is full of practical information and deserves to be studied
by every tea planter."
35° pages. 8vo. Price 28s.■
THE TEA CICLOPjEDIA.
A Compilation, by the Editor of the Indian Tea
Gazette, of Information on Tea, Tea Science
and Cultivation, Soils and Manures, Statistics,
&c., See., with Coloured Plates on Blights.
The Grocer says :—" One of the most valuable and exhaustive
contributions to tea literature which we remember to have seen. . . .
The cultivation of the plant in the different districts and provinces, the
selection of soils and manures, and buildings for its manufacture, &c.,
are all ably treated in this work ; and as it deals thoroughly with the
scientific, statistical, and domestic branches of the subject, it is a
manual deserving the attention of the tea planter, importer, dealer, and
consumer. The experience of practical growers and cultivators is here
fully narrated, the opinions of the most competent authorities on dis¬
puted points are clearly given and explained ; and, in short, every matter
connected with the history of the tea trade, as a growing industry and
a widening channel of commerce, is gone into with a completeness and
precision which leave nothing to be desired."
The American Grocer says :—" The Tea Cyclopaedia is one we
can commend to our importers, grocers, and dealers, as being the most
complete work of its kind on Indian teas, as well as furnishing innumer¬
able items of interest to those engaged in the sale of China and Japan
teas."
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
6
W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Super-Royal 8vo. Half-roan. Price 21s.
THE TEA PLANTER'S YADE MECTJM.
Compiled by the Editor of the Indian Tea Gazette.
The Indian Planter's Gazette says:—"The compilation is
comprehensive and varied, and the book will no doubt commend itself
to planters as a useful and ready work of reference."
THE INDIAN TEA GAZETTE.
A Tea Review and Tea Chronicle, devoted to the
interests of Tea Planters, Tea Owners and Tea
Shareholders ; and to all matters concerning the
Tea Industry of India.
Published twice per month. Annual Subscription 32/-, payable
in advance.
Demy 8vo. Price 10s. 6d.
COFFEE—Its Cultivation and Peofit.
By Edwin Lester Arnold, Author of " On the
Indian Hills; or, Coffee Planting in Southern
India," " A Summer Holiday in Scandinavia,"
&c.
The Daily Telegraph, says:—" A very interesting monograph
on the subject has been written by Mr. E. Lester Arnold, who gained
a practical knowledge of coffee planting in Southern India some years
ago, and is the author of a former book thereon. With facts and
figures regarding the cultivation of the plant, its proper soil and
climate, labour and labourers, planting, pruning, harvesting, pulping,
preparing, cost, and profit, Mr. Arnold mingles as pleasantly as
modestly, and always with a quiet and graphic effect, his own
reminiscences. . . . Such are the pictures which are called up
here and there in this excellent book on Coffee Cultivation, which
contains, along with pictures and recollections entertaining to the
general reader, all the facts and statistics indispensable to the young
coffee planter, and the best available advice for those who seek their
fortunes in this cultivation. The volume will, no doubt, become a
standard authority on its subject."
The Scotsman says:—"An excellent practical treatise, embody¬
ing the results of several years' actual experience in India, as well as
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
7
I. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
of study of the methods of cultivation adopted in other countries. .
. . . _ He treats the economic aspects of Coffee Cultivation clearly
and minutely, and at the same time he is able to impart interest to
his theme by his command of a pleasant, unaffected literary style."
The Overland Mail says:—"This is truly a handbook of
practical information on its subject, which no Coffee Planter's library
should be without. It is got up. too, in a very handy and serviceable
form. Anyone can read it with pleasure, and will find it not only not
dry, but written with clearness and a thorough knowledge of the
subject; the author having in view to interest the capitalist as well as
the planter, we do not doubt that it will effect the author's object—
' That it may prove useful and convey a lucid impression of the " facts
and figures" of coffee cultivation.' The publishers deserve praise
for the manner in which they have produced it."
The Athenaeum says:—"The Author knows a great deal about
Coffee, and he delights in his theme."
The Field says:—" A really good practical handbook on Coffee
Cultivation."
Allen's Indian Mail says:—•< It might not inappropriately
have been entitled ' A Handbook for Intending Coffee Planters,' as
which we think it excellent. Such persons will here find, in few,
well-digested words, the fullest information as to the countries most
favourable to their enterprise, the regulations as to grants of land
which obtain in each of these countries, the peculiar soil to be selected,
and the way to treat it during its transmutation from virgin forest land
into a productive plantation This Coffee Planter's vade
mecum is a full yet tersely and well-written guide to this branch of
agriculture, and should be in the hands of everyone who desires to
devote himself to it."
[In the Press.]
Second Edition.
RUTHERFORD'S CEYLON
TEA PLANTER'S NOTE BOOK.
Price 6d.
INDIAN v. CHINESE TEAS.
By Lieut.-Col. E. Money, Author of " The
Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea," &c.
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
8
W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Third Edition. Crown 8vo. Cloth, 3s. 6d.
THE ART OF TEA BLENDING.
A Handbook for the Tea Trade ; a Guide to Tea
Merchants, Brokers, Dealers and Consumers,
in the Secret of Successful Tea Mixing.
The Grocer's Chronicle says :—" The book ought to be in the
hands of every grocer of the United Kingdom."
The Grocer's Journal says:—" We cordially recommend ' The
Art of Tea Blending' to our readers as giving useful instruction and
guidance."
Allen's Indian Mail says:—" The author gives full technical
instructions for the professional tea-blender and tea-taster; and in
doing so, he imparts much information that will be found both valuable
and interesting to the tea-drinking public."
The Grocer says :—" This is the third edition of a book which we
have previously noticed with favour, and which has met with consider¬
able success. Although the art of successful tea-blending is not one
which can well be gleaned from mere book-lore—practical experience
being essential to its acquisition—there are many young beginners, and
possibly also some older hands, who will derive a good deal of informa¬
tion from the work now under notice. It has evidently been prepared
with much care, and in its way is a very useful handbook."
The Grocer's Gazette:—" This is a work which has now
reached its third edition, and which fully bears out its claim as an
excellent handbook on the subject. Not only is it a useful book to all
professionally engaged in the trade, but it is also calculated to educate
those who have not had the benefit of a practical experience, by
teaching them how to obtain a knowledge of the different classes of
teas and the proper method of mixing them. To the mature grocer
the work will be of interest, while the uninitiated may by its aid learn
how to select proper teas, please his customer's palate, and sustain
his reputation by keeping up the character of his mixings."
2 vols., 8vo. Cloth, 24S.
INTERNATIONAL LAW (MANUAL OF)—
For the use of Navies, Colonies, and Consulates.
By Jan Helenus Ferguson (Minister of the
Netherlands in China).
The Saturday Review says:—" He [a consular agent] will
probably be able to carry about with him in this work a wider range
of the kind of technical information he is likely to want than in any
other two volumes extant. Mr. Ferguson has gone to the right
authorities in every part of the subject; and, so far as we can judge
from a cursory inspection, he has epitomized them with care and
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
W. B. WHITTIKGH4M and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
competence. Altogether the work seems well fitted for
its expressed purpose, of supplying ' a manual for practical use and
ready reference in the hands of those who have no occasion or time to
consult elaborate text-books.' "
The Daily Telegraph, says :—" The arrangement of the work
is admirably adapted to the object—general use by practical men—for
which it was designed. No doubt the business-like character of these
volumes has arisen from the fact that Mr. Ferguson has himself taken
an active part in performing the duties pertaining to those branches of
State-service which he has so clearly and succinctly expounded."
The Publishers' Circular says :—" Those who give even a
cursory examination to the book will soon be convinced of its value in
regard to comprehensiveness, arrangement, and the clear citation of
cases in point."
The Daily News says :—" He has compiled a manual of prac¬
tical utility for those who have to discharge consular duties, and he
has most assuredly spared himself no pains to make public property
the results of wide and miscellaneous researches."
The Literary "World, says:—" As a work of reference it is all
that could be desired."
Post 8vo. Cloth. 400 pages, 5s.
SPIRITUAL LIGHT AND LIFE.
By Henry Varley, B.A.
The Saturday Review says:—"There is a freshness and
originality about them [the sermons] which raise the volume un¬
mistakably above the mere echo of the ordinary literature of
edification. . . His [the author'sj teaching is throughout positive
and direct, not negative and critical, and those who think his
theology faulty or defective may still find much—as, e.g., in the very
striking discourse on ' God's Revelation in Childhood'—that is
helpful and suggestive."
Public Opinion, says:—" We deem the essays, as a whole,
eminently helpful to seekers after Spiritual Lig-ht, and to those^ who,
engaged in diffusing it, look for refreshment and aids to opinion in
the writings of the men of the time."
The British Quarterly Review says —"These sermons,
which Mr. Varley has preached to an ordinary mixed congregation,
are marked by not a little freshness of thought and illustration. . . .
The sermons have the merit of mingling the doctrinal and practical
in a very pleasing way, and the volume we are sure will be welcomed
and appreciated bv a large number of readers."
The Christian Age says" In power of analysis, in fresh-
ness. clearness and beauty of thought, and in vigour of s*yj-e.> we
have often been reminded of Mr. Robertson s sermons. This is
high praise, but it is deserved." # .
The Bookseller says:—"In the intensity of his thought,
Mr. Varley reminds one of Robertson at his truest, and his style
is eloquent and forcible."
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
W. B. WH1TTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Limp cloth, plain, is.; Cloth gilt, gilt or red edges, is. 6d.
THE LIVING EPISTLE;
Or, The Influence of Christian Character.
The Christian says :—" Unflinching in its loyalty to the highest
of all standards, simple in its delineation of what Christian character
should be, earnest in its appeals to the heart and to common sense, this
little book brings to its readers a draught of clear, pure air, and ought
to send them on their way invigorated and quickened in their desires
after holiness."
The Freeman says:—" A really ingenious and beautiful expo¬
sition of the inspired description of Christian life. The volume is from
the pen of the late Dr. Jenkyn, formerly of Coward College, and is
worthy of a place by the side of other works we owe him."
Crown 8sjo. Cloth, is.; Cloth gilt, is. 6d.
THE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
AND CHANT BOOK.
For Occasional or Regular Use in supplementing
Extempore Prayer, with Responses and Chants.
The Christian "World says:—"Those ministers and people
belonging to free churches who desire the inclusion of liturgical
services in public worship should make the acquaintance of ' The
Devotional Service and Chant Book.' There are six distinct services,
with a large number of the Psalms and other canticles pointed for
musical use. Many of the prayers are the most familiar and the
best-liked in the Book of Common Prayer. The responsive portions
of the services are admirably arranged. We do not know a better
book of its kind, and we earnestly commend it to the inspection of
all churches that contemplate the introduction of a liturgical form of
worship. It is very clearly and suitably printed, and is, we doubt not,
published at a price adapted to general convenience."
The Rev. Newman Hall says:—"I feel increasingly that
Nonconformist worship needs this element—not to supersede-—but
as supplementary to spontaneous utterance."
The Baptist Messenger says:—"The book is well' and
carefully prepared, and is thoroughly evangelical in its tone. .
It has also the advantage of cheapness."
The Christian Chronicle says:—" Liturgical services- are
becoming very general amongst Dissenters now-a-days, and iro very
many instances the innovation is a decided improvement. People
want to take a more active part in public worship. «The Devotional
Service and Chant Book' has been compiled to meet the growing
demand, and we can recommend it to the earnest consideration of
any church wishing to introduce a book of the kind. The book is
got up very neatly, and the printing is clear and not overcrowded'.
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
II
W. B, WHITTIHGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Crown 8vo. Price 6d.
LIFE OF WTCLIF.
A Chapter from English Church History. By
Henry Varley, B.A.
Third Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth elegant. Price 2s.
SERMONIO FANCY WORK.
On the Figures of our First Acquaintances in
Literature. By John Paul Ritchie.
I. Little Jack Horner. The Spirit of Self-Satisfaction.
H. Peter White. How we are led by the Nose.
HI. Humpty Dumpty. The Spirit of Exclusiveness.
IV. Little Miss Muffit. The Education of Fear.
V. Jack Spratt and his Wife. The Perfect Law of Liberty.
VI. Jack and Jill. The Climbing Spirit and its Incumbrances.
VII. Little Bo-peep. The Kecovery of the Lost Sheep.
VIII. Beauty and the Beast. The Union of the Strong and Beautiful.
The Literary Churchman says:—"Pungent, amusing, and
replete with clever satire."
The Christian says:—"In this ingenious and novel experiment,
gravity and mirth go hand in hand. The style is energetic andpbinted,
and the matter pregnant and suggestive."
The Sword and Trowel says:—" Very clever."
The Nonconformist says :—" Under the guise of commentary
on texts from old nursery rhymes and stories, Mr. Ritchie really gives
us some admirable discourses—' Sermonic Fancy Work' in very deed.
It is astonishing how, by the help of a slight vein of paradox and a
nimble fancy, he can pass, almost imperceptibly, from mild fun to very
sad earnest, touching not a few of our most ingrained faults in the
most efficient way."
The Scotsman says :—"a clever, wholesome, readable little
book."
The Homilist says:—" The sermons are really good. They have
satire, but it is satire which consumes religious rubbish and nonsense.
They have fun and humour, but you are made to laugh in order that
you may think with more vigour and seriousness."
The Freeman says:—"It is the sort of book that a reader with
any humour in him will find it difficult to lay down before he has
read it right through."
Fcap. 8vo. Price is.
MAXTMS OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.
Translated by Lewis Winter.
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
1. B. IHITTIMHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Crown 8vo. Cloth, 3s. 6d.
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR-POEMS,
Old and New.
By Guy Roslyn.
Crown 8vo. Cloth, 3s. 6d.
WOMAN'S FORTITUDE.
A Tale of the Indian Mutiny. By Lieut.-Col.
Edward Money.
Public Opinion says:—"The author has managed to convey
the characteristic tone of garrison talk in a very clear manner. ....
There is much good narrative and brilliancy of dialogue."
The Daily Chronicle says:—"Thehorrors enacted at Cawnpore
during the Indian Mutiny give a tragic interest to this thrilling tale."
Crown 8vo. Cloth elegant, bevelled boards, gilt edges.
Price 5s.; plain, 3s. 6d.
JEMIMA.
A Story of English Family Life. By Adelaide.
With Frontispiece.
The Times says:—" 'Jemima,' by Adelaide, is another tale that
girls should care to read, with sufficient proportion of story, and of a
more original type than girls' books generally are. The humour, of
which there is an unusual proportion for such works, is not, perhaps,
of a very subtle or rich quality, but it is easy and simple, and appropriate
to the characters. Any humour, so long as it is neither vulgar nor
obscene, is surely preferable to the long-drawn melancholy which is too
apt to pervade girls' books—for what reason we could never under¬
stand ; girls are no more naturally prone to sadness than boys."
The Scotsman says:—"A better story of its kind than ' Jemima'
cannot easily be met with. The book is written with a freshness
and exuberant buoyancy of manner that suit the subject admirably."
The Academy says:—"'Jemima' is a very natural and
charming story of a very natural and charming little girl. It is
91, GRACECHUECH STREET, LONDON.
13
I. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
exactly what it pretends to be—' a story of English family life '—but
it has a distinctness of quality which is by no means common in stories
of English family life."
The Daily Chronicle says :—" The story of English family life
told by Adelaide, under the title of 'Jemima,' is of a much more
realistic character. Lively and amusing throughout, there is also an
element of good sense introduced, which keeps the juvenile escapades
within reasonable bounds, and extracts a lesson even from naughtiness."
Cloth, 2s. 6d. ; Boards, is. 6d.
THE LITTLE ONE'S TEXT BOOE
(ILLUSTRATED),
With Selected Passages for Reading, and Original
Verses. By Rev. P. M. Eastman.
The Church. Review says" Charmingly got up."
The Methodist Recorder says :—" The texts are well chosen,
and a simple verse is added to each ; the pages are all printed with an
illuminated border; and the volume contains several good illustrations.
If you wish to give a child an attractive present you will not easily find
a better one than this."
The Northampton Mercury says"Admirably suited for
a present."
Sword and Trowel says:—" We have not had a better text
book under our eye. In the half-crown form it is a charming birthday
album for a little boy or girl."
i6mo. Cloth. Price is.
DAN,
An Every-day Tale for Young Headers. By
A. J. F. Illustrated by W. Parker Hanks.
The Christian says :—" a well written and pathetic story.
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
14
I. B. IHITTINGH4M and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Second Edition. Price js. 6d.
WHITTINGHAM'S
SKELETON TELEGEAPH CODE-
A Secret Expansive Code for ordinary Business
Purposes—with CodeWords representing Pounds
Sterling, Numbers, every Date in the Year,
Weights, &c., in addition to Words and Spaces
available for 4,500 Special Messages. All Code
Words revised under the latest International
Regulations.
The Standard, says:—" Appears to us to answer admirably the
purpose for which composed."
8vo., roan. Price 5s.
THE SOCIAL CODE.
Compiled for Family Use in Telegraphing to
Friends abroad.
DE. AGEE'S TELEGEAPH CODES.
Duplex Combination Standard Code, 150,000
Words, £6 6s.; Ditto, 195,000 Words, ^"7 17s. 6d.
Standard Telegram Code, 100,000 Words,
£55s.; 10,250 extra Code Words, 15s.; Standard
Supplementary Code, 215.; Telegram Code,
3rd Edition, £2 15s.; Skeleton, 12s. 6d. ; Corn
Merchants, £1 115. 6d.; General and Social,
10s. 6d. ; Alphabetical, £i 11s. 6d.
[In the Press.]
Post 8vo. Eight Illustrations. Price js. 6d.
LUX BENIGNA,
Being the History of Orange Street Chapel,
otherwise called Leicester Fields Chapel. By
Rev. Richard Free, M.A.
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
15
W. B. WHITTIHGHAI and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS-
Price 5s.
THE PREMIUM CALCULATOR
An Office Manual, with Cut Index, for the use of
Underwriters, &c. By C. McKay Smith.
New and Revised Edition. 8vo. 2 vols. 10s. each.
VOCABULARY OF THE
ENGLISH-MALAY LANGUAGES.
With Notes. English-Malay Vocal Dialogues.
By Frank A. Swettenham, C.M.G., British
Resident, Selangor, Malay Peninsula.
Crown 8vo. Cloth is. 6d.; Boards is.
BOLD RETRENCHMENT;
Or the Liberal Policy which will save One-
half the National Expenditure. With In¬
troductory Letters from Mr. Gladstone and
Sir W. V. Harcourt, and Contributions from
Mr. Labouchere, Lord Hobhouse, Hon. B.
Coleridge, Financial Reform Association, and
others.
Price 2s. 6d.
A NEW CLEARING.
A Medley of Prose and Verse. By Planters'
Mate.
■Price . 6d.
How to Fight the Wateb Companies
without a Solicitor.
By L. Washington.
91, GRACECHUECH STREET, LONDON.
i. „J. . -J »» !<•;'* \ * *
4 ■ j /y r H* f»i ♦ r1 f ■ V«»-V J* —*
W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. Price ys. 6d.
SEATS AND SADDLES,
Bits and Bitting, Draught and Harness, and the
Prevention and Cure of Restiveness in Horses.
By Major Francis Dwyer.
Bell's Life says:—" The work which Major Dwyer has so
successfully carried through the press in two former editions is, for
the third time, presented to the public in a new and enlarged form. In
all the details of horse management the author is perfectly at home,
and the practical way in which he deals with his subject cannot fail
to be appreciated by equestrians or those who keep studs. The first
portion of the volume is devoted to a lengthy dissertation on the all-
important subject of Seats and Saddles We assure our
readers that the whole contents of the book are well worth perusal.
It may be well, however, to mention that the question of bits and
bitting is thoroughly considered, while Part III is taken up with
remarks on the true principles which should be observed in matters
of draught and harness. The concluding portion of the book deals with
that worst of all vices in the horse, restiveness, its prevention and cure."
The Saturday Review says:—" It is a book which we should
recommend to the notice of young cavalry officers."
Monthly, 3d. Annual Subscription, 3s. pott free.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ART JOURNAL,
High Class ILLUSTRATED Monthly.
Contains the Photographic and Fine -Art News
for the Month, information on modern progress
in Photography to Professionals and Amateurs.
Correspondence, Reviews, &c. A Series of
Articles on Practical Amateur Photography, by
Mr. Buchanan Wollaston, commences in the
September, 1888, Number.
Journal of the College of Science,
Imperial University, Japan.
Vol. I.—Part 1, 7s.; Part 2, 3s. 6d.; Part 3, ys.
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
W. B. WHITTINGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
Demy 8vo. 520 pages. Fully Illustrated. Price 15s.
SERVICE CHEMISTRY—
Being a Manual of Chemistry and its applications
in the Naval and Military Services. By Vivian
B. Lewes, F.I.C., F.C.S., Professor of
Chemistry, Royal Naval College, Greenwich;
Associate of the Institution of Naval Architects,
See., &c.
The Globe, says:—"Undoubtedly meets a want, and we may
expect for it a ready welcome from officers of both Services. It is far
removed on the one hand from those severely technical treatises on
science which it needs a long preliminary training to understand, as it
is, on the other hand from those namby-pamby science-made-easy
handbooks, which, intended to ' amuse and instruct,' generally suc¬
ceed in doing neither. ' Service Chemistry' is not a dis¬
cursive treatment of certain matters connected with the science of
chemistry which may be of interest to the Service, but is a manual of
chemistry in which the principles and theories are illustrated and
explained by reference to Service matters. The value of the book as
an educational text book is enhanced by the appendix, containing some
three hundred questions for examination upon the contents."
The New York Herald says :—"The illustrations scattered
through the text are, in every case, well drawn and carefully engraved-
In the Services, this important volume has, we believe, already met
with a hearty reception. It should also take its place as a work of
reference in all public and technical libraries."
The Hampshire Telegraph says:—" Professor Lewes is to be
congratulated on having written a book which is at once scientific, yet
readable, and which will find its way into the hands of not only naval
and military officers, but which will be read with the keenest interest by
every one who takes an intelligent interest in the affairs of the country
and in scientific progress."
The Admiralty & Horse Guards Gazette says:—"Pro¬
fessor Lewes, in his book on ' Service Chemistry,' has given us a
remarkably clear exposition of the facts and theories underlying the
science, and has then expanded the various branches of chemistry,
and has shown their applications to many of the questions which more
particularly interest naval and military circles, the value of the work
being greatly enhanced by the clear and vigorous English in which it
is written. . . . The book is in every respect well got up, whilst
the importance of the subjects of which it treats is so fully realised at
the present time, that it will quickly find a place on the book shelves
of all who are interested in the welfare of the Services."
91, GRACECHUKCH STREET, LONDON.
1' r ' * ' y6 . Lyt'—
< W* B. WHITTIHGHAM and CO.'S PUBLICATIONS,
.K(/i <**-U
340 pages. Post 8vo. Illustrated. With copious
1 f C\ Index. Cloth, 3S4 6d. ' * i»«r *
#V f *K« ? #4 M .* d.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY.;* 6?c / f /:
/ With a shorf^ac^oun{' more important
* applications. By"VTVTAN B. Tewes,"*F.C.S.,
j * F.I.C., Author of " Service Chemistry," Pro-
\ (*' fessor of Chemistry, Royal Naval College;
I Lecturer on Chemistry to the Society for the
** . 1 Extension of# University Teaching.
,n
230 pages. Demy 8vo. 30 Illustrations,
it L Jm* £ C Coloured Map. \ Price M.
THE LAND OF-GOLD,
Being a Comprehensive Handbook and Guide to
jC the Colonies, States and Republics of South
3
0
11
and East Africa. By J. F. Ingram, F.R.G.S.
The Saturday Review says:—" An excellent handbook for
U-
, "teen of all sorts and conditions who go down to the sea in the ships of
twthe Union Steam Ship Company, whether it be to mine or delve, to
f explore or settle on the soil of South Africa."
fi; South Africa says:—"It is written with an amount of
picturesqueness which is not common in guide book lore. The purpose
■ of the volume is to present at one view a clear, concise and valuable
record of the past history and present condition of South ancji East
Africa, and the purpose has been well fulfilled." /
ica, and the purpose has bepn well tu
*
Uo k ^L8Wcc!±J,t%l?k C(, / 4
THE PHILOSOPHY OF CIVILIZATION-
A Sociological Study. By Jan Helenus
Ferguson, Author of " Manual of Inter¬
national Law.'.'
91, GRACECHURCH STREET, LONDON.
-