AN 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 In fundamental principles, unity— on doubtful points, liberty— 
 in all things, and above all things, cAari/y.— Matthew Heney. 
 
 NEW-YORK 
 LEAVITT, LOUD & CO., ISvi imOADWAY. 
 
 ' 1834. 
 
APPEA% IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 Shall we longer hold our peace ? ^ Shall the 
 Lybian cry still dwell on appealing ^lite, and touch 
 no nerve of sympathy ? 
 
 We are aware that, the very name of Africa has 
 already become annoying tQ public feeling, from the 
 injudicious collision of opposing parties. And while 
 these parties have been collecting and arraying their 
 forces, charging their artillery and prepafing for bat- 
 tle, many lovers of the cause have hid Iheinselves Lor 
 a little moment, till this gust of passion should be 
 overpast. But although these dark clouds, (to use 
 the figure of another,) have come int^jf^tual contact, 
 they yet discharge no genial showers. No — there 
 seems nouffht but the lightning's flash, and the thun- 
 der's roar; the clashing of steel and the 4re of armfe; 
 and could we at this critical moment contribute a sin- 
 gle iota towards allaying the mighty conflagration of 
 public feeling, it would satisfy our fondest hopes. 
 
 In doing this, we espouse no party interest, save 
 that of bleeding humanity ; we enlist under no ban- 
 ner, save that of love. We plead for Africa, suflfering, 
 degraded Africa, whose tl^lling cry is stunned by 
 the party harangue and^olitical debate of those who 
 profess to be laboring for her good. And shall this 
 cry be hushed in death, and these sii^l^ings find rest 
 
4 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 in the grave, while the philanthropist and Christian 
 are quarreling about the best measures for their relief? 
 They profess to be fighting for the Prince of Peace ; 
 but would He tread His hallowed foot upon such 
 bloody ground ? No ; these things are fitting ambi- 
 tious hopes of earthly glory ; not the soldiers of that 
 cross, whose motto is, "Peace be with you, love one 
 another." The Christian's life is indeed a warfare, 
 but it is with the powers of darkness, not with their 
 brethren, the children of liffht. 
 
 It is a lamentable fact, that the spirit of party has 
 so diffused itself through our benevolent institutions. 
 We expect party in politics, but not in religion; es- 
 pecially among those acting for the same family, chil- 
 dren of the same parent ; while a part are now 
 groaning under the rod of the civil oppressor, the rest 
 in bondage to a barbarous chief, and the still more des- 
 potic rule of their own unrestrained passions and ap- 
 petites — equally entitled to sympathy and relief. And 
 were the two societies already engaged in their behalf 
 to go on in harmony and enlightened zeal, we have 
 no doubt, with the blessing of Heaven, the rod of the 
 oppressor would soon be broken, and Ethiopia become 
 as the garden of the TiOrd. But while one not only 
 says " I am of Paul," and another, " I am of Apol- 
 los," but we are not brethren, we fear there must be 
 very little of Christ, whose command is not merely 
 " be pitiful," but, " be courteous." 
 
 It is not our object to collect statistics or accumu- 
 late facts, an array of which, in all their obnoxious 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 5 
 
 exaggeration, are constantly presented to the eye of the 
 sensitive public; but simply, in view of the command, 
 "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature ;" of the law of jubilee, when every bond- 
 man and bondmaid should go free, and every man re- 
 turn unto his own possession ; and in fear of Him who 
 said, " Behold ye fast for strife and debate ; is not this 
 the fast that I have chosen, to undo the heavy burdens 
 and let the oppressed go free — we would repeat the 
 reiterated claims of this suffering country. 
 
 There is perhaps no heathen nation, who has, with 
 Africa, equally strong and peculiar claims on our gra- 
 titude. 
 
 It is to Africa we are indebted for the rich inheri- 
 tance of civilization and the arts; some relics of which 
 still remain, to speak the praise of her departed glory ; 
 her catacombs of complex skill, lofty pyramids which 
 have stood in their might for thousands of centuries, 
 and the art of embalming, which, though it might, 
 (as has been asserted,) have arisen from necessity, 
 having neither fuel to burn their dead, nor safe or 
 accessible places of interment ; yet, as all efforts to re- 
 vive it have been unavailing, we may suppose it to 
 have been no ordinary discovery. But because most 
 of her inventions have been merged in the history of 
 other countries, we forget their origin. We eulogize 
 the genius of Homer ; but he, like most of the Grecian 
 authors, is thought to liave travelled into Egypt, and 
 brought from the priests there, not only their learning, 
 but their manner of conveying it in fables and hiero- 
 
6 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 glyphics. We still look back with wonder and delight 
 on the noble specimens of Grecian art; we admire 
 the lofty columns, the massive walls, and the tasteful 
 architecture of the Pantheon ; we almost deil'y the 
 noble figure of the Rhodian Colossus, and the famous 
 temple of the goddess Diana. We can dwell with 
 the eye of an amateur on the exquisite skill of an 
 Appelles, or listen with enthusiastic devotion to the 
 songs of the Athenian bard ; while we forget that 
 these wonderful creations had their birth in Egypt ; 
 who, while all around was the blackness of darkness, 
 stood brightly forth, like one solitary star ; a glorious 
 one indeed, from whose radiant beams have emana- 
 ted the light of science, and the power of art. That 
 in this little repository were collected those elements of 
 civilization, of genius, of knowledge and of power, 
 which have scattered beauty, wealth, and fame in the 
 white man's path ; which have been the pride and glory 
 of our happy Republic. A repository which, like the 
 ark of Noah, floated on the dark waters of barbarism 
 which deluged ihe earth ; and whose scattered trea- 
 sures, long after, supposed to have come down from 
 Heaven, were made gods, and wrought by the master- 
 workmen of Greece and Rome into their system of 
 Theogony. 
 
 Shall we then boast ourselves against her sons, 
 and still treat them as a people scattered and peeled, a 
 nation meted out and trodden under foot ? We know, 
 many who venerate the memory of ancient Egypt, 
 look with contempt on the degraded negro : and ridi- 
 
IN BKFIALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 7 
 
 cule the idea of a Hannibal or a Candace with 
 woolly hair and a colored skin, — but we have good 
 historical reason to believe that these lofty spirits were 
 not clothed in light, nor their organs of invention and 
 combination covered with auburn locks, but were 
 identified in their race with the untameable Bushman 
 and filthy Hottentot. 
 
 Since, then, our rich blessings of civilization were 
 preserved through one quarter of Africa,* and since 
 from that point issued the light of science, which, with 
 all its accumulated splendor, is still feasting our intel- 
 lectual world, has she no claims on our gratitude ? 
 Yes, claims which command a four-fold restitution. 
 Not only should we labor for the north, but the south, 
 the east and the west of Africa, to restore in the 
 bosom of her degenerate sons, that spark of genius 
 which so immortalized their illustrious ancestry. 
 
 Africa has claims, too, on our/oi;e of civil andjio- 
 litical prosperity. 
 
 When man shall have shaken off those selfish, 
 sordid chains which fasten him down, soul and body, 
 to a single patch of earth — when he shall, from the 
 high eminence of his holy ambition, look on the loorld 
 as his field, and its farthest inhabitant his neighbor ; 
 then, and not till then, will he stand ready to answer 
 
 • The people of the ancient prie.itly etatpof Meroi-, according to He- 
 rodotus, were Negroes. They had a fixed constitution, government, 
 laws niid religion. Several colonies went from Meroi', and the first 
 civih/.ed state in Egypt, that of Thebes, must have originated thence. 
 — I^vnj. Aiiieriratia. 
 
 The F.thiopian Quern Candace, whose treasurer is mentioned Acts 
 viii. 27, was probably (iuten of Merot-, where a succession of females 
 reigned, who all bore the aame name. — Rob. Calmet. 
 
8 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 the demand we have suggested ; it is nevertheless 
 binding, especially from a country, whose sad reverse 
 makes her adversity the more commiserable. 
 
 Who, that appreciates intellectual worth, can be- 
 hold the mass of mind buried in sloth, sensuality and 
 the most degrading vices, on the vast continent of Af- 
 rica, unmoved ; spirits that came forth from the breath 
 of the Almighty, now scarce vicing in sagacity or dis- 
 crimination with the dog or the elephant — who, could 
 they live and breathe in their own native element, or 
 be nurtured by the fostering hand of pitying genius, 
 would yet feel and glow and burn ? Who that has 
 felt the sweets of home, the rich endearing luxuries 
 of social life, can look with cold indifference on the 
 contentions, brawls, and brutish barbarity of an Afri- 
 can kraal, where jealousy and revenge, for veriest 
 trifles, break over the fondest relations of life, and fill 
 whole neighborhoods with terror and dismay? Or 
 who that glories in the peace, the plenty, the mild po- 
 licy, and the free institutions of our happy America, 
 will not commiserate the precarious safety of those 
 miserable hordes, where turmoil, war, and bloodshed 
 mark the way to power; whfere the strongest man 
 rules, and his arm is the law? Here is a field for the 
 philanthropist, the statesman ; for all who seek the 
 mental improvement, social happiness and equal rights 
 of man ; and hard indeed must be the heart and pal- 
 sied the energies, that will not feel and act for this 
 sutfcring, helpless country. 
 
 We are apt to associate witli Africa every thing 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 9 
 
 dark, cheerless and unlovely. We view it as an extend- 
 ed waste of scorching sands, where "genius sickens, 
 and where fancy dies ;" an isolated spot, marked out 
 for the judgments of Heaven, (but no, 'tis the accursing 
 cruelty of man.) Here grow many of the temperate, 
 and all the tropical productions in rich variety and 
 profusion ; and there needs but the hand of the skill- 
 ful agriculturalist to bring forth joyous harvests. For 
 advantages of commerce, too, it stands unrivalled, 
 with such an extended coast, so central, and so easy 
 of communication with the other quarters of the 
 world. And with all these facihties for improvement, 
 shall we still breathe no prayer, or make no effort to 
 secure to Africa her civil rights and political eleva- 
 tion ? Yes, let men of intelligence, of enterprise and 
 of moral worth, plant themselves along her borders, 
 and penetrate her trackless deserts. liCt us bring our 
 tithes into the store-house, and hire and send forth 
 laborers into this vineyard, till her wilderness shall 
 become a garden, her deserts bud and blossom like a 
 rose; till her commerce shall fill our seas, and her 
 ships become Bethels, bearing missionaries of the cross 
 to some still longer neglected spot. 
 
 But, says an objector, why do all this for a race 
 of idiots, who can never appreciate or enjoy social 
 and civil happiness, whose minds are black as their 
 skin, and who are formed for hewers of wood and 
 drawers of water ? Nay, but oh vain man ! Who 
 art thou in thy fair skin and polished locks, that thus 
 scornest thy brother? " Who maketh thee to differ? 
 
10 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 And what hast thou, thai thou didst not receive ?" The 
 excuser says, I can never believe in the unity of the 
 human origin, and they have no claims on me as 
 brethrett. Very well ! But, remember that thy caste 
 must be as contracted as thy narrow heart, though 
 not so lofty as thy pride ; for, if this distinguishing 
 theory be true, neither the Indian nor the Asiatic is 
 thy brother ; and the Circassian would look on thee 
 with the same contemptuous indifiFerence, with which 
 thou reo;ardest the deo;raded negro. 
 
 Even the believer in divine Revelation, which 
 says, God " hath made of one blood all the nations," 
 feels within a lurking scepticism, when he compares 
 the squalid features, and black complexion of the Hot- 
 tentot, with his own florid face and manly form ; but 
 this difficulty may be readily obviated by so arranging 
 the several varieties of the human species, that the 
 unpleasant contrast of black and white is softened 
 down by shades. For example, place in order, first, 
 the snowy, symmetrical Circassian ; second, the Euro- 
 pean ; third, the red man of the forest; fourth, the cop- 
 per-colored Malay; next, the Moor; and last, the Gui- 
 nea-man ; and we shall not be so shocked with the 
 fact, that they all sprang from our common father, 
 Adam. We find them with erect forms, with the 
 same animal structure, the same bones, sinews and 
 muscles, diflering only so much as is easily supposa- 
 ble from difference of climate, education, habits of 
 life, and many other causes to which we might refer. 
 We find them too, with souls of the same heavenly 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 11 
 
 Stamp, differing from their sympathetic interest in 
 the same physical causes. 
 
 If it be a fact that habits of indolence and effemi- 
 nacy, even among the civilized and enlightened, 
 are unfavorable to intellectual advancement, what 
 ought we to expect from a race of beings who, from 
 generation to generation, have lived through a long 
 course of years in the grossest sloth, subsisting on the 
 spontaneous products of the earth, having nothing to 
 excite their ambition, or hope of better things ? Let 
 us rejoice that these causes may yet be removed, that 
 there lives one spark, even in the blackest covering, 
 which, with the fan of love, may yet be kindled to a 
 flame of intellectual glory here, and by the power of 
 grace, shine as a star in the firmament of heaven for 
 ever and ever. And where is the magnanimity of 
 the philanthropist, where the Christian zeal, which 
 can suffer such materials to lie unimproved ; mate- 
 rials which can fill the degraded land of Africa with 
 happy families, peaceful villages, republican institu- 
 tions, and the richer feasts of mind 1 
 
 Again, Africa has claims on our justice. 
 
 She demands, as a right, the restoration of those 
 privileges of which our ignominious avarice has so 
 cruelly deprived her. We are her debtors, and the sum 
 of her account has been accumulating with matchless 
 rapidity for many generations, and now threatens our 
 country with hankruptcy, unless speedily liquidated ; 
 debtors not only for her degradation, the spoiling of 
 her beauty, the destruction of her peace, and the gold 
 
12 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 of her shores ; but for sons, who, but for our in- 
 humanity, might have become plants ; for daugh- 
 ters, who might have become corner-stones ; yes, for 
 life which is now calling upon the divine Avenger for 
 the fulfillmenl of that legal denunciation, " Whoso 
 sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be 
 shed." And if the blood of one so cried from the 
 ground, as to reach the ear of Jehovah, how much 
 more thatof miUions of Africans who have fallen vic- 
 tims to the cruelty of the slave trade. Slave trade ! 
 Our very heart sickens at the name of such a com- 
 merce. We shrink with terror from a sacrifice of 
 blood, of human blood, thus guiltily offered on the 
 altar of avarice, whose polluted smoke is now rising 
 in thick volumes of blackness, , a swift witness be- 
 fore the judgment seat of heaven. 
 
 Oh, the fiendish barbarity of this dealer in human 
 merchandise ! With an ear deaf to the cry of humaai 
 woe, and a heart callous to human sufierings, he 
 seizes for his prey — not the aged, whose strength be- 
 gins to tremble, whose grinders have ceased, and 
 whose windows are darkened ; (No, these were too 
 insensible to his cruelty, two worthless for his avari- 
 cious grasp,) but, the pride of manhood, the flower of 
 youth, and the bud of early blossom ; yes, and the 
 helpless infant who knows no joy but in its mother's 
 smile, must be torn from her bleeding, agonizing 
 breist, to satisfy his cruel thirst ; while neither her 
 shrieks of agony, nor the nursling's melting sobs can 
 move his more than adamantine heart. Look on 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 13 
 
 such a scene as this, oh ye fond parents, who regard 
 your tender offspring as the apple of your eye, and be 
 still deaf if ye can to Afric's pleading injuries. And 
 what does the slave dealer give to palliate these woes 7 
 He scatters around him liquid poison, which, while 
 it lulls the sense of right, that he may the more easily 
 effect his purpose, leaves behind the sting of the adder, 
 and the bite of the serpent ; as if not content with tor- 
 turing and murdering his captives, he must destroy 
 the bodies and souls too, of those he leaves behind — 
 that none may escape his withering power. 
 
 It is needless, perhaps, to follow the dealer in his 
 rapacity ; the master in his barbarous tyranny ; or 
 the helpless slave in his silent, unrevenged oppression. 
 The very word, Slave trade, like the magician's wand, 
 calls up a host of crimes ; the guilty stain of which 
 may yet blot the stars from our American escutcheon. 
 The crowded galleys with their heaps on heaps, with 
 nought to breathe but sickly, suffocating air ; the 
 heavy, galling chain ; the brutish sale ; the lash ; 
 the scorpion ; and last of all, the intellectual and 
 moral gloom their servitude involves — and this by 
 man, free, enlightened man ! " Who finds a fellow 
 guilty of a skin not colored like his own, and having 
 power to enforce the wrong for such a worthy cause, 
 dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey." And 
 can we look on such wrongs as these with cold in- 
 difference? In the moving strain of Shylock — Hath 
 not a slave eyes ? Hath not a slave hands, organs, 
 dimensions, senses, ajfcctions passions 1 Fed with 
 2 
 
14 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject 
 to the same diseases, healed by the same means, 
 warmed and cooled by the same winter and sum- 
 mer as an A?nerican ? If you prick him does he not 
 bleed ? If you tickle him, does he not laugh 7 If you 
 poison him, does he not die 7 And if you wrong him, 
 shall he not revenge ? Yes, if he is too weak, or his 
 fellow-man too callous to avenge his wrongs, he has an 
 advocate above. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, 
 saith the Lord." " I tremble," said Jefferson, speaking 
 of slavery, (when less of moral and political light illu- 
 mined our country than now,) " when I reflect that 
 God is just, that his justice cannot sleep for ever." 
 Let us not boast in our security. " When He maketh 
 inquisition for blood, He forgetteth not the cry of the 
 humble and, although God is slow to anger, and of 
 long suffering, yet retribution will come, and we fear 
 speedily too, with overwhelming force, unless averted 
 by our penitence, prayers, and powers. Yes, already 
 hear we a murmuring in the tops of the mul- 
 berry trees, we feel a shaking in our political fabric ; 
 and shall we sit still in infatuated stupidity, till it 
 crumbles and falls ? No ; let us arise in our strength, 
 and shed forth the blaze of truth, till this secret ene- 
 my shall quail before its searching scrutiny. Let us 
 fight with the strong weapons of Gospel love, till not 
 only the foiuidation, but the top-stone of our republi- 
 can edifice shall be laid in liberty. And, if neither 
 the cries of her degraded sons at home, nor the sigh- 
 ing of her prisoners abroad, can affect our sympathies 
 
« 
 
 IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 15 
 
 in behalf of Africa"; will not the fear of these threaten- 
 ins: calamities ? Shall we not make haste to restore 
 to her those rights she so justly demands, if so be, we 
 may yet avert from us the judgments of Heaven. 
 
 But why all this ado about Africa ? Why this 
 reiteration of her claims? Oh, we are spell-bound 
 in iron fetters, by the love of ease, and the love of 
 gold ! If our sons and daughters were imprisoned in 
 a foreign land, or degraded at home, and our fair 
 country despoiled of its beauty and peace by a foreign 
 power ; how would our hearts bleed, our tears flow, 
 and our eloquence plead for restitution. But (" Tell it 
 not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon !") 
 dark Lybia sues for aid ; the voice of justice cries 
 awake ! restore ! and still we heed it not. " Then 
 what is man 1 and what man, seeing this and having 
 human feelings, does not blush 'and hang his head to 
 think him.'self a man? " We are happy to acknow- 
 ledge some honorable exceptions in our denunciation. 
 We fully appreciate the independence, self-denial, and 
 luitiring zeal of those happy few, who have dared to 
 enlist in the redemption of Africa ; but her demand 
 against us is national, and requires a nation's strength 
 and a nation's treasury to cover it. Let us then 
 never boast of the speedy reduction of our national 
 debt, till Africa's just claims are canceled. 
 
 Lastly — Africa claims from us the glad news of 
 salvation. 
 
 However successfiilly we may, by logic, sophis- 
 try, or sheer indifference, elude the point of other 
 
16 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 arguments ; we cannot gainsay the Saviour's broad 
 command, " Go ye into all the world and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature." It is direct, positive 
 binding — binding on us. He would have us go into all 
 the world ; then we must go to Africa. He would 
 have us preach the Gospel to every creature ; then we 
 must tell the poor negro of a Saviour's dying love. 
 We talk much about the fulfilment of this command, 
 we anxiously and earnestly watch for the dawn of 
 that happy period ; but what do we ? Shall we wait 
 for it, as if, like the sun, it would roll itself along, and 
 burst upon our view, in all its brightness, without 
 any effort of ours ? No — we cannot be mere lookers- 
 on in this scene of interest ; we must be actors — and 
 the stronger, more zealously, more perseveringly 
 we act, the sooner will the Millennium come. No 
 miraculous hand shall write " Holiness to the Lord," 
 on our possessions. We are the instrump.nt wliich 
 must engrave this sacred inscription. No bright 
 seraphim shall then, with golden wings, enwrap the 
 earth. In man are found the elements, which, 
 purified and brightened, may reflect this rich light of 
 the celestial world, and constitute the glory of the 
 latter day — a glory which shall cover the earth. No 
 blackness of darkness shall then rest on Africa. We 
 know in her evangelization there are many obstacles to 
 be removed, dangers to be encountered, and sufferings 
 to be borne ! But these mountains must be brought 
 low, and it is time the fire and the hammer were al- 
 ready at work. Does the effort bring trial ? " Trib- 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 17 
 
 ulation worketh patience." Does it bring death? 
 " To die is gain." Are her subjects filthy and naked? 
 How enviable the privilege to offer them the garment 
 of salvation, and the washing of a Saviour's blood ! 
 Are they degraded and senseless ? Who would not 
 love to raise an almost brute to the spiritual height 
 and glory of an angel ? There is no time to be lost. 
 Africa must be evangelized ; and unless we act with 
 more efficiency, that glorious era we had almost hoped 
 to see ourselves, may never be witnessed, even by our 
 children's children. 
 
 We would by no means have other fields abandon- 
 ed, or the energies now engaged in their cultivation 
 turned upon Africa. We only claim for her an inclo- 
 sure in the vineyard of the Lord ; and inasmuch as 
 the soil is barren, and many stones to be removed, is 
 it not high time the fallow-ground was breaking up? 
 If our efforts for the heathen were, as they should be, 
 in direct ratio of their wants ; if their depth of degra- 
 dation and misery constituted the turning point in 
 our inquiries after duty; Africa, with her hundred 
 millions pleading in blood, would sooner have obtain- 
 ed our sympathies, prayers and aid. And shall we 
 longer delay ? The work is great and difficult. A 
 hundred languages and dialects are to be acquired — 
 extensive fields of enterprise explored — advantages of 
 manufacture, commerce, and agriculture sought out — 
 schools and churches to be built — and not a moment 
 should be lost. While we are waiting, the ground is 
 covered with the battle's dead ; the sword and the cup 
 2« 
 
IS APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 are plunging their thousands into eternity ! Mission- 
 aries — yes, hundreds of missionaries, ought now to be 
 on the field, studying its Babel of tongues, exploring 
 its trackless deserts and boundless plains, suffering its 
 acclimation, and surveying its objects of interest. 
 The land is to be possessed, if there be any truth in 
 inspiration; and, if there be any fidelity in God's ser- 
 vants, should be possessed by 7is. Let us then hasten 
 to redeem our cruelties to Africa ; and, for the spoil- 
 ing of her beauty, make her wilderness to bud and 
 blossom like a rose ; for the destruction of her peace, 
 give her the rich consolation of the Gospel, which is 
 glad tidings of peace ; for the gold of her shores, trea- 
 sures which neither moth nor rust doth corrupt ; for 
 her sons and daughters^ missionaries of the jcross, 
 sons and daughters of God ; and, if we have poison- 
 ed her fountains of life, open to h^r the wells of sal- 
 vation. Let us give her " beauty for ashes, the oil of 
 joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit 
 of heaviness." 
 
 But the question arises, Has no one yet enlisted in 
 behalf of Africa ? Yes, the spirits of Mills and Ash- 
 man are reaping in heaven the reward of their deeds 
 for her ; and some, we trust, are now making among 
 her sable sons, stars for their crown of rejoicing. But, 
 " the end of the commandment is charity, from which 
 some having swerved, have turned aside unto vain 
 jangling." This is a whirling, rushing age — and it be- 
 comes those who would not be borne heedlessly along 
 by party impetuosity, to look well to the foundation 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 19 
 
 of their faith ; to take a bold and elevated stand in 
 defence of truth. There is a baneful spirit of pride, 
 which is gnawing the very vitals of some of our be- 
 nevolent institutions ; a bigotry and self-sufficiency, 
 which have yet to learn the humiliating lesson, " Let 
 nothing be done through strife or vain-glory ; Let him 
 that glorieth, glory in the Lord." But here are claims 
 too pressing, too irresistible to be averted by party 
 feuds, — claims of a nation, on our gratitude, for the 
 bright heritage of her glory — on our justice, for the 
 restitution of her stolen goods — on our compassion, 
 for the rich gifts of the Gospel. 
 
 Still, what is to be done ? Much, every thing ; 
 and can any, for the sake of two millions at home, 
 withhold not their alms only, but their sympathies 
 from the hundred millions perishing in fearful suc- 
 cession in Africa ? We ought perhaps to preface in 
 such a time of excitement, " No leveled malice infects 
 one comma in the course I hold ;" but, to see pro- 
 fessed friends of civil and moral liberty holding back, 
 even opposing efforts directed to the regeneration of 
 Africa, is a cause of deep regret. Is not her advance- 
 ment in political prosperity worthy the philanthropist ? 
 Should not her deliverance from civil thraldom touch 
 the heart of an American '? And can her deep immer- 
 sion in sin and idolatry fail to awaken the energies of 
 the Christian ? If the deliverance of the captive in our 
 borders is an object of so much importance, as to be 
 effected at the risk of internal order, plighted faith 
 and social happiness ; should trifles, prejudices, piques 
 
20 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 prevent the emancipation of a nation, not only from 
 a galling civil yoke, but from the harder bondage of 
 sin and Satan ? Though the lovers of human happi- 
 ness have a right to choose objects of benevolence for 
 themselves, they have no right to oppose efforts in be- 
 half of any part of God's heritage. Africa must be 
 regenerated ; and we can conceive of no better way 
 than through the auspices of societies. If there 
 be any objection to one or other society, organize a 
 third. We are not fighting for Liberia or Cape Pal- 
 mas, but for Africa, and must patronize these colonies 
 'till others be planted. If any objection to their lo- 
 cality be raised, select another site ; only "let there 
 be no strife I pray thee, for we are brethren. Is not 
 the whole land before us ?" 
 
 Away with this bitter spirit ! Act like fellow-men, 
 like brethren ; and no longer attempt to give liberty to 
 the captive by binding heavier burdens, and more 
 grievous to be borne, on his friend — his advocate — 
 his liberator. The commands. Break every yoke, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature, issued from 
 the same mighty authority. It was the same prophetic 
 spirit breatlied the cheering promises, every bond- 
 man and bondmaid sliall go free ; and Ethiopia shall 
 stretch forth her hands unto God. We have often 
 admired the wisdom of Providence in so variegating 
 the means of benevolence, as to suit the peculiar tastes 
 and partialities of all who are disposed to aid the 
 cause of human happiness ; as well as the harmony 
 with which each, touched by the same moving springy 
 
IN BEHALF OF AFRICA. 
 
 21 
 
 fulfilled its separate end. There has hitherto been no 
 jarring, no discord, no worldly policy. A laudable 
 spirit of emulation has indeed been often excited by 
 the zeal and efforts of kindred societies, and the sleep- 
 ing energies of many a band of love have been arous- 
 ed to action by the pleading note of a more daring 
 brother ; but, whoever heard, even in times of highest 
 excitement, of one organ of benevolence lifting up its 
 heel against its fellow? Who ever heard the Tract say 
 to the Bible society, we have no need of thee ? Or 
 the Home Missionary society say to the Foreign, stand 
 by, for I am holier than thou ? Why — this spirit is an 
 anomaly in the benevolent world ! A mo7ister in the 
 sisterhood of charity ! Ah ! 'tis such disputations give 
 strength to the infidel, and make the scoffer's glory. 
 Take heed then, lest, through misdirected, injudicious 
 measures, you bring reproach upon the cause you 
 have espoused. 
 
 It is indispensable to the stability and success of 
 benevolent enterprises, that their foundation be strong, 
 their first principles sound ; and we think it might not 
 be amiss for the societies enlisted in the African cause 
 to test their secret springs by the touch-stone of cha- 
 rity ; to search out and discard all " envy and jealousy 
 and evil speaking" they may find lurking within their 
 territories. Exclude every thing corrupt from youf 
 system. Make the tree good. Remember, that "if 
 any man love not his brother whom he hath seen, 
 how can he love the Father whom he hath not seen ?" 
 That, " if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there 
 
22 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, 
 leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; 
 first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and 
 oflFer thy gift." Bring together your prayers, and your 
 interests ; act in harmony as twin sisters of the same 
 parent of love : then may you ask boldly a Father's 
 care ; then will the sable children of your beneficence 
 call you blessed. 
 
 We shall not attempt to answer objections, either 
 to the Abolition or Colonization societies. The grand 
 principle of both is, professedly, the elevation of the 
 negro race. And we see no reason why they should 
 not move in concert, as different artisans in rearing the 
 same sanctuary of human blessedness. Let the Anti- 
 slavery society raise her note of alarm, and sound 
 loud and long the horrors and abominations of the 
 slave trade ; let her bring to light its fiendish barbarity, 
 and dwell on the dark, inhuman deeds of that merci- 
 less traffic, till her pity and indignation shall pro- 
 nounce its death-dirge — and we will rejoice. Let the 
 Abolitionist alarm, (not denounce) the conscience of 
 the owner, and show him the blackness of his crime ; 
 let him visit our southern brethren, and plead with 
 them in accents of love and kind compassion, the lib- 
 eration of his fellow-bondmen — and we will bid him 
 God speed. Yea, let churches and school-houses, 
 academies and colleges be built for the colored freed- 
 man, and give him all the privileges, social, civil and 
 religious, which we enjoy — and we will glory in his 
 exaltation. Then let the Colonizationalist transport 
 
IN BEHALF OP AFRICA. 
 
 23 
 
 to Africa her sons who love their native soil ; and 
 plant her colonies from east to west, and from north 
 to south. Let manufactures, commerce, and agricul- 
 ture be extended; the arts and sciences cultivated: let 
 a republican policy of government and a high tone of 
 morality prevail : and let the Gospel banner there un- 
 furl its heaven-born motto, " Peace on earth, good will 
 to men ;" and we may hope yet to see the ignorance 
 and cruel ferocity of those barbarous nations, melting 
 away before the light of knowledge and the power of 
 truth. 
 
 And there, where science shot a ray- 
 Across the white man's darken'd way ; 
 Shall Gospel light in glory rise, 
 And beam with love o'er Afric's skies. 
 
 The regeneration of Africa is no puny underta- 
 king. A vast continent of more than one hundred 
 millions of inhabitants, sunk in the lowest degradation 
 and misery ! And were it the work of such slothful 
 instruments alone, our hearts would faint in view of 
 it, and we should exclaim with the Apostle, " Who is 
 sufficient for these things?" But our Father smiles, 
 and we take courage. The arm of Jehovah moves 
 forth, and the work is done. Nevertheless, he will be 
 enquired of ; He will achieve this glorious enterprise 
 through the agency of man. Why then shall we not 
 believe ? And why do we not act ? Ah ! this faith- 
 lessness and this indolence are too cruel in these 
 days of mighty works. AVith such indiflerence, 
 when shall these dear heathen be given to Christ for 
 
24 APPEAL .0 P-CHES, ETC. 
 
 an inheritance 1 Whert shall the heralds of the cross 
 fly swiftly across the Atlantic, to answer the thrilling 
 Ethiopian cry; " Come over and help us ?" When 
 shall the filthy Hottentot, and the tameless Bushman, 
 wash in the fountain of redemption and bow meekly 
 to the Gospel yoke ? And when shall the tyrant and 
 his subject, the bloody chieftain and his helpless victim, 
 lie down together in the quiet shade of the olive-branch 
 of peace ? Never, never, till Ave awake to the inju- 
 ries of pleading Africa ! Never, till the friends of hu- 
 manity, and the lovers of the gates of Zion, arise in 
 their strength, to dispel those spirits of darkness now 
 haunting her groves and prowling about her deserts. 
 To arms, to arms, ye soldiers of the cross ! March 
 on in the strength of the Lord of Hosts against their 
 wily prince, and his arm shall be broken, his throne 
 crumble and fall, and his dominions be given to the 
 Prince of Peace. Scatter the word of life, and that 
 dry and thirsty land shall become a fruitful field ; her 
 barren deserts, springs of life ; her rivers overflow 
 with gladness ; the mountains break forth into sing- 
 ing, and all the hills clap their hands with joy ; and 
 the valley and the plain shout forth loud anthems of 
 thanksgiving to God for this mighty deliverance ; — 
 and in heaven, mid the high praises of these ran- 
 somed ones, washed white in the blood of the Lamb, 
 may ye find your reward.