HAMPTON, VA.: Normal School Steam Press , V . ' ■ - • . . > ' .. ' ■ . ■ ]y - • . ■. .. ► ■ • . ’ .. .. ;■ ;■ V.*;:; ’■ 'A WINNING AN EMPIRE. y~~ by , WvW'CAWv Uo ppln oe.r Among the notable movements of the time is the material and religious progress going on in Africa. That vast region, still far be- hind the rest of the world, is advancing rapidly into the light. Di- plomacy, science, exploration and commerce on the one hand, and colonization and missionary influence on the other, are opening the Continent and establishing the Gospel of Peace. No portion of the earth will make in the last quarter of this century more progress than Africa. GOVERNMENTAL. Africa is the scene at present of armed expeditions and treaties with native tribes, similar to those which marked the first settlement of America. England, France, Portugal, Germany and Italy are pushing forward to obtain titles to the country. England has “ annexed ” some forty miles of coast line territory to her colony of Sierra Leone, taking it from the feeble Republic of Liberia, assumes control in Basuto land, has appointed Capt. Foot, R. N. Consul in the Nyassa country and adjoining lake districts, and is making her strong arm felt in other portions of the Continent. France continues encroachments in Madagascar, and is forcing her way on the Senegal and towards the headwaters of the Niger. She has taken King Tofa, of Porto Novo, under her protection, threatens to “ annex ” the coast from the Gaboon to the Congo — some two hundred and fifty miles — is extending her possessions inland on the Gaboon, and claims the commerce of the Ogove, and through the latter is running her lines to Stanley Pool, on the ‘upper Congo. The Chamber of Duputies has granted the De Brazza mission a credit of 1,275,000 francs, by a vote of 449 to 3. Portugal has opened negotiations with the British government looking to the cession of Whydah to England, in return for the ac- knowledgment by the latter of the sovereignty of Portugal over ter- ritories at the mouth of the Congo. The Portuguese government has appointed the explorers Capello and Ivens, to complete their tour and map of Angola, and to examine the Congo country. The Official Gazette of Angola, October 11, publishes a circular from the Governor, addressed to the foreign consuls at that place, informing Note. — For many of the facts in this article the writer is indebted to the Christ- ian Advocate of New York, Missionary Herald of Boston, Foreign Missionary of New York, African Times of London, and L’Aprique Explores of Geneva. 2 EXP LORA TIONS. them of the occupation of Chi Loango, and the establishment of Por- tuguese authority at Kacongo and Massabi. A treaty is reported be- tween the Sultan of Zanzibar and Portugal, interdicting slavery and the slave trade by the subjects of each. The German Reichstag has increased its annual appropriation of 75,000 to 100,000 marks for the exploration of Africa. Rohlfs is in Abyssinia, the bearer of a communication to King John from the Em- peror of Germany. This famous explorer is favorably impressed with the Abyssinians, and predicts a bright future for them if they are fairly treated. Italy has dispatched a party to Abyssinia for geographical and mercantile purposes, and to prosecute investigations in the di- rection of the new colony of Assab. To promote these objects the government has granted 20,000 liras. Italy has also concluded three treaties which promise to make Assab a centre of commerce. They . include a convention of commerce and friendship with the King of Shoa, the Sultan of Aussa, and the chiefs of the Danakil tribes. The caravans from Assab to Shoa, and vice versa, will, in future, be pro- tected by these rulers. The Sultan of Morocco has authorized Spain to take possession of Santa Cruz del Mar. The Sultan of Zanzibar has purchased the steamers Malacca, Merka and Ovoca, formerly the property of the Peninsular and Oriental Company. To these must he added the Nyanza, Akala and Swordsman. It is announced that these six su- perior vessels are intended to form a regular coast service in the interest of commerce and for the suppression of the slave trade. EXPLORATIONS. Mr. Joseph Thomson has left Mombasa to conduct investigations about Mount Kenia in the hope of finding an easier and more direct route to the eastern shores of the Victoria Nyanza. Consul H. E. O’Neil is to lead an expedition of observation from Mozambique to the Nyassa. A French expedition has been organ- ized to follow up De Brazza's discoveries. M. Revoil has started from Marseilles for Zanzibar on a scientific mission to the East Coast and the interior. Dr. Holub is planning a four-years’ examination of the central regions of South Africa. Drs. Bachmann and Wilms have commenced a journey of several years in the Transvaal, having special reference to its botany and zoology. Dr. H. R. Flegel has been en- gaged for three years in making a survey of the Niger and of its tribu- tary, the Binue. The sources of the latter, according to his report, he has succeeded in discovering. Dr. Herr Krause is to make an inves- tigation of the languages and social status of the people about the COMMERCIAL. 3 Niger and lake Tsad. Two Portuguese naval officers, Lieut. Cardosa and Dr. Franco, have set out from Mozambique for Imbambane, and thence to Umzila's. Their object, in part, is the development of cer- tain mines near Manica. M. Girand has gone to the Bangweola to survey the Zambesi and thence the Moero and Congo. The Geogra- phical Society of Hamburg is to send a party, lead by Dr. Fischer, to cross the Snow mountains and then penetrate to the north of the Gallas country. A meteorological station is to be founded on the Cameroon mountains, of which M. Rogozinski is to be chief. Captain Casati has succeeded in traversing the country of the Niams-Niams. Dr. Pogge and Lieut. Wissmann have successfully crossed the Continent. A report of their journey has been given by the latter, from which it appears that in going from the West Coast to Nyangwe, on the Lualaba, they passed several fine tribes of natives. The Tushilange and Basonge are spoken of as friendly, laborious and skilled in many of the industrial arts. After crossing the Lubilash.a tributary of the Congo, they came upon the Beneki, a tribe whose villages are described as models : well built and clean, the houses sur- rounded by gardens and palm trees. Some of these villages are so large that four or five hours were spent in marching through, and the population is estimated as numbering hundreds of thousands. The people are agricultural and well-to-do. Further on towards Nyan- gwe, the population Was dense. From this point, memorable in con- nection with Livingstone and Stanley’s explorations, Dr Pogge re- turned westward, while Lieut. Wissmann went eastward, crossing lake Tanganyika to Ujiji, and on by way of Mirambo’s and Mpwapwa to Zanzibar. Dr. Stecker has returned from his five years' exploring tour, and, besides his travels in company with Rohlfs, he reports about a dozen countries discovered by himself alone, east of South Abyssinia, which no European had before entered. M. Ferdinand De Lesseps has returned to Paris after spending a month in Tunis to inspect the course of the proposed canal which is to let in the waters of the Mediterranean, and by flooding the Chotts, to create an inland sea fourteen times as large as the lake of Geneva. A favorable report on the scheme has been made by the commission of contractors who accompanied him. COMMERCIAL. The National African Company of London declared, in April, an a d interim dividend on its shares at the rate of ten per cent, per an- num. A joint stock company had been incorporated at Brussels, to be known as the “ Belgian Company of African Merchants,” with a capital of _£io,ooo. Of this sum about. £p.,ooo was used in the pur- 4 BANKING. chase of the ship Akassa. It is intended to increase the funds of the com- pany until it has a capital of 600,000 francs, and ultimately two or even five millions of francs. Care should be taken to avoid confusing this organization with the International African Association, and the Comite des Etudes des Haul Congo. A German colony has been commenced at the bay of Angra Pe- quena, about one hundred and eighty miles north of the Orange river. Three hundred square miles is its area, purchased by a Bremen com- mercial house. The bay forms a superior harbor, stretching for some ten miles into the land and affording good shelter for vessels on a coast otherwise almost devoid ol harbors. Little Namaquland, on the south of the Orange river, belonging to Cape Colony, has for years been known for its abundance of copper ore, although the mining en- terprises have hitherto been followed with miserable results, with the exception of that of the Ookiep mines of the Cape Copper Mining Company. These mines are situated at Springbok Fontien, from which a railway of sixty miles takes the ore to the coast at Robben Bay, whence it is shipped to England. The Germans intend to make a thorough examination of their newly acquired territory in the con- fident expectation of meeting with copper there also. A two. masted schooner has been sent from Bremen to Augra Paquena, with coffee, sugar, salted meat and other goods, for carrying on trade with the natives. The schooner itself is intended to keep up regular communication between the new colony and Cape Town. The Ger- man government has so far marked its approval of this colonial en- terprise by permitting the national flag to be raised over the settle- ment, so that the trading station may be regarded as a sort of tenta- tive German colony. A society has been formed in Paris to aid in the elevation of Africa through enlightened civilization. While keeping its work dis- tinct from that of missions, properly so called, it will encourage mis- sionaries, European or native, especially those who have advanced furthest into the interior, by furnishing them with portable canoes, medicines, tents, seeds for vegetables and fruits, mechanical tools and agricultural implements. BANKING. The Commercial Bank of West Africa was opened at Sierra Leone in January. It marks a wide step in the advancing civilization of the coast that this effort should be made by an enlightened native African, Dr. J. A. B. Horton, author of several valuable works on the diseases of Western Africa, and whose death, October 15, is viewed as a public misfortune. GOLD MINES. LOADS. STEAMSHIPS. 5 OOLD MINES. Several of the West African Gold Mining Companies have passed from clearing the forest and building and tunneling, to cutting aurifer- ous lodes and erecting improved machinery and stamping. The first proceeds of crushing at the mines of the African Gold Coast Compa - ny — the pioneer organization — consisting of one hundred ounces of fine gold, has reached Liverpool. The yield is stated to have been ^5 per ton. Consignments of gold of a superior quality have followed from the mines of the Wassaw Company. ROADS. Surveys have been completed at an outlay of ^2,500 for a railway between the seaboard at Axim and Tacquah — a distance of some forty-five miles. Tacquah is in the heart of Wassaw, where a dozen or more organized gold mining operations by European companies are located. Estimates for the building of the line have been pre- pared, and most of the means for its construction are looked for from the government of the Gold Coast Colony. The railway to connect the French colony at Senegal with the Niger is in course of completion. Sixteen millions of francs had been granted by the French Government, and a further appropria- tion was made in June of 4,677,000 francs. A wagon road has been finished on the north bank of the Congo past the cataracts to Stanley Pool, from which river routes to a vast interior exist in all directions. His Majesty the King of the Bel- gians is deserving of all honor for the support he has so wisely and generously given to this work. An important work in opening up the Lake district is the forma- tion of a wagon road connecting the Nyassa and Tanganyika, so that steamers plying between the north end of the Nyassa and the falls of the river Shire (a tributary of the Zambesi) might receive goods, &c., after a few days’ land transit from like vessels delivering them at the southernmost port of Tanganyika. This enterprise was in charge of Mr. James Stewart, a talented engineer who left the canals of India for the lakes of Africa, and who c'ied of fever August 30. STEAMSHIPS. Twenty-five years ago the entire steam communication between England and the West Coast of Africa was comprised in what could be effected by one moderately sized steamship per month, for which the African Steamship Company received a handsome subsidy from the English government for the conveyance of mails. Soon a fort- nightly steamer proved to be decidedly successful, and in 1869 the Glasgow ship-builders and merchants formed the British and African 6 THE CONGO. Steam Navigation Company; starting with three steamers, each of about 1,200 tons. This company now runs twenty first-class steam- ers of an aggregate tonnage of 30,000; and the African Steamship Company owns fully 15,000 tons. The Anglo-African Steamship Company, capital ^500,000, in 50,000 shares of £\o each, is a new and formidable competitor in the remarkable development of the carrying trade of West Africa. The vessels of this company, which are to be specially constructed for the carriage of passengers and freight, and to cross the bars of the princi- pal African rivers, are to be dispatched from London and Hamburg, and to take cargo for Havre, Rotterdam and Antwerp. It is stated that some of the steamers at present in this trade have paid as much as 15 per cent, per voyage, occupying about eighty or ninety days. Each vessel can make from three to four voyages per annum. In view of the probable development of the traffic and of conse- quent future requirements, it has been determined to extend the British and African Steam Navigation Company’s capital to ^750,000, in 15,000 shares of ^50 each. THE CONGO. This river is considered the largest but one on our globe. For one hundred and fifteen miles from its mouth there is a water way in which ocean steamers might ply. Then rapids occur, but after these are passed, as they can be bv Stanley’s road, there is uninterrupted navigation far into the interior. Stanley has been neither idle nor silent since his return to the “ Dark Continent,” and his indomitable energy and self-command are surmounting the most formidable natural obstacles. He is opening the way inland, not for Belgium, whose enlightened sovereign has assisted the enterprise from his private purse to the extent of ^50,000 per annum, but (or the world. What Stanley has done so far to let civilization into the heart of Africa, and to open an avenue of trade to the coast, is thus summed up in one of his letters : “ We are now advanced into the interior as follows : principal sta- tions — (1) mouth of the Congo to Vivi, 115 miles; (2) Vivi to Isangila, 52 miles (English) ; (3) Isangila to Manyanga, 74 miles (Geo.) ; (4) Manyanga to Leopoldville, 95 miles (Eng.) ; (5) Leopoldville to Mowa- tu, 87 miles (Geo.) ; (6) Mowatu to Bolobo, 79 miles (Geo.) ; (7) Bolobo to Lukolela, 92 miles (Geo.) ; (8) Lukolela to the Equator, 105 miles (Geo.) ; total, 699 miles.” Stanley is carefully exploring as he proceeds and has made dis- coveries, of which he states — “ I have discovered another lake, Man- tumba, north of lake Leopold II. There are only thirty miles dis- THE CONGO. 7 tance between the southernmost extremity of lake Mantumba and the most northern point of lake Leopold II. The outlet of lake Mantum- ba is at a point 50 miles south of the Equator; that of lake Leo- pold 1 1 is the Kwango. The population of the shores of lake Mantum- ba is so dense that were it uniform throughout the Congo basin we should have about 49,000,000 persons, or 55 to the square mile. I also ascended the river called Ikelemba on my map. This river is the Mobindu, and not the Ikelemba ; the latter is now said to be a small river higher up. The Mobindu's left bank is studded with villages with only limited spaces unoccupied between them.” Should the Portuguese re-assert their claims to the Congo terri- tory and control the mouth of the river, it is feared that the magnifi- cent prospect now open to commerce and Christianity will be blasted. Stanley writes with apprehension, and urges with all his power that England establish a protectorate in the interest of trade civilization and Christianity. If, he remarks, England allows the people of the lower Congo to pass into the hands of the Portuguese, she will deliver them “ soul and body to hell and slavery.” He says : ‘ • Despite every prognostication to the contrary, this river will yet redeem the lost Continent. By itself it forms a sufficient prospect; but when you consider its magnificent tributaries, which flow on each side, giving access to civilization to what appeared hopelessly impene- trable a few years ago, the reality of the general utility and benefit to- these dark tribes and nations fills the sense with admiration. Every step I make increases my enthusiasm for my work, and confirms my first impressions. Give 1,000 miles to the main channel, 300 to the Kwange, 120 to lake Mantenba, 300 to the Mobimdu, probably 800 to the Kaissal, 300 to the Sankena, 500 to the Aruwimi, and 1,000 more to undiscovered degrees — for there is abundant space to concede so much— and you have 4,520 miles of navigable water. Such an ample basin, with such unlimited space for navigation, with its unmeasured resources, would you bestow as a dower upon such people as the Por- tuguese, who would but seal it to the silence of the coming centuries.” Equatorial Africa is not to be colonized by Europeans, like Al- giers on the north or Cape Colony on the south ; nor is it a region whose own resources can defray the cost of ruling, protecting and de- veloping it like India. White men can scarcely exist there on account of the climate. Whatever nation may obtain predominant influ- ence on its shores, the neutrality of the Congo ought, in any case, to- be stipulated for by the Powers of the world. The International Law Institute, at Munich, recommends that the Congo region should be kept for all nations. A feasible plan would be the establishment of an international commission on a footing some- P UBLICA TIONS. ENGLISH MISSIONS. 8 what similar to that of the Danubian Commission. Nor is the ma- chinery wholly wanting. In 1878, the International African Associa- tion was formed for the establishment of a series of stations which should in time extend across Africa. The King of the Belgians would be a most suitable president of an international commission for the regulation of the commerce and navigation of the Congo and the maintenance of order and justice on its banks. M. Savorgnan De Brazza reports that his plans are developing without serious obstacles, and that they have been far advanced by the possession of Loango, which is to be the starting point of the fu- ture railway to Brazzaville, running through the valleys of the Quillou and the Niara. PUBLICATIONS. Newpapers published on the West Coast contain articles that do honor to the intelligence of their editors and contributors. Sierra Leone furnishes the Reporter, Methodist Herald, and the Express : Bathurst (Gambia,) the Observer; Monrovia (Liberia) the Observer: the Gold Coast Colony the Times , and Lagos the Times and the Observ- er. Africa, a quarterly review and journal, is published by the Native African Mission Aid Society. A new monthly Magazine devoted to Missions in Africa, has appeared in England, entitled Central Africa. Subscriptions to the weekly papers and monthlies and quarterlies of England and the United States are rapidly on the increase from the African Continent. A valuable monograph upon “The Water Highways of the Interior of Africa” has appeared from the pen of James Stevenson, Esq., F. R. G. S. of Glasgow, whose bounty has made so many things possible in Central Africa. ENGLISH MISSIONS. The mixed and difficult problems which have embarrassed the missionary work in the interior lake country have been apparently solved. King Mtesa is now affording every facility for the establish- ment of missionary stations. On Tanganyika, missionaries have been enabled to plant themselves on a firm footing. In Mirambo’s coun- try, great influence has been acquired over the King, and a prosperous work has been commenced. The Livingstone Inland, and the Baptist Society have reached the upper waters of the Congo from the south- west, and the vicinity of Stanley Pool has become a promising mis- sion field. These successes have been purchased at a sacrifice of health and life as well as the endurance of toil and privation. The Niger Mission, in charge of the African Arch-deacons John- son and Crowther, continues to meet with gratifying success. Ten years ago heathenism and barbarism prevailed where now 4000 are un- AMERICAN MISSIONS. 9 der Christian instruction. 45 adults have been baptized lately :a hos- tile King has ordered his people to observe the Sabbath and arranged for Christian sendee in his own court; the Onitsha converts go volun- tarily to neighboring towns to make known the knowledge of salva- tion, and Arch-deacon Johnson being invited to attend one of them found 1500 persons waiting to hear him. Steamers built in Europe for the express purpose of carrying the “‘glad tidings” are dotting with the white puffs of their steam pipes the waters of the rivers Niger, Congo and Zambesi, and of lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika. AMERICAN MISSIONS. The Mission of the American Board at Bailunda seems deeply rooted. One of the missionaries writes that he found spots in Maine, while a district school teacher, whose “moral standard was lower than that of Chilume.” A station of the Presbyterian Board has been locat- ed at Nyangwe, on the Ogove, 150 miles from the seaboard, and another station is to be formed soon still farther in the interior. The Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmasthus reports some of the dif- ficulties and encouragements to Christian effort in his jurisdiction : — “The appropriation for this work for the year from September, 1 882, to September, 1883, was $17, 500. With this amount and what could be gotten in the field, we have supported : One bishop, 13 clergymen, 13 catechists, and 4 lay-readers. We board, clothe and teach near- ly 200 children in our boarding schools, and teach 134 in our day-schools, with 557 in the Sunday-schools. The school at Cape Mount, with its 120 boarding-scholars has been organized since my going to Africa in 1877, and notwithstanding this more than doubling of our boarding- scholars with all the expense of farming, buildings, etc., the appropri- ation was $17,500 in 1882 and ’83, against $20,200 in 1876 and ’77, and this too when there was no bishop’s salary to pay. Thus we see the work has grown while the expenses have decreased. “ Again, if we compare our African work with the other fields un- der our charge, using last year’s report of statistics of work in these fields, and the latest report of the treasurer of our Foreign Commit- tee for the amounts paid to them, we have China, with 336 commu- nicants, giving $540, having 566 Sunday-school scholars, had 2 con- firmed, and receives from us $44,617. Japan has 105 communicants, 87 Sunday-school scholars, contributes $500, had 9 confirmed, and receives from us $23,957. Africa has 408 communicants, 557 Sunday- school scholars, gave $890, had 46 confirmed, and receives from us $17,868. “ I present these figures and facts to correct what I believe to be an erroneous opinion in regard to the work in Africa. For some JO LIBERIA. years past there has been a strong tendency to look upon this field as the most discouraging, and of less importance than the others under our supervision. If this be true, it must be traced to other causes than want of results proportionate to the expenditures. “ The chief cause of difficulty lies, as is well known, in the un- healthiness of the climate. We have had three clergymen, two doc- tors, three laymen, and four ladies go out since I entered upon the work in December, 1877. Of these the two doctors, who were native born, are dead ; also one of the clergymen. Three of the ladies and the three laymen have had to come back on account of ill-health. Of the two clergymen, one had to return permanently, and the other temporarily, and it is by no means certain that he can ever go back to the work. Thus we are left with one lone woman as the sole rep- resentative of our white workers.” LIBERIA. Originating in a most benevolent purpose, the American Coloni- zation Society has done great good in its long period of service. For six- ty-three years it has given continuous aid to the emigration of persons of the colored race to Africa; the whole number thus going to Liberia hav- ing been 15,655. Besides these, 5,722 recaptured Africans were, through the efforts of the Society, enabled to settle in Liberia ; making 21.377 persons to whom the Society has afforded homes in Africa. Of 178 voyages of these emigrants, not one vessel has been wrecked or lost. And this movement has by no means yet ceased, notwithstanding the improved condition and prospects of the colored race under freedom in this country. Liberia is far more promising than ever. The general advance of late in the condition of her population has been marked. In the re- cent Annual Message of President Gardner it is stated : “We have been blessed during the year with health throughout ourcommunities, and the earth has yielded more than her usual supplies. The rice crop has been abundant, and the coffee trees have also afforded an un- usual yield. There has been a manifest improvement in our relations with the Aborigines. Roads long closed have been opened. The na- tive wars which have been going on in the vicinity of Cape Mount have nearly ceased. These periodical wars are, for the most part, the result of long standing feuds arising from the horrible slave trade, and they will be effectually suppressed only by the progress of civilization, , the development of systematic agriculture, and the increase of wealth among the inhabitants. Friendly communications continue between this government and Ibrahimi Sissi, King of Medina, who has been assiduous in his efforts to open the road for trade.” OUR COLORED PEOPLE. ii An English company has proposed to the government of Liberia to run a telegraph line connecting Monrovia, Bassa, Sinou and Cape Palmas with Sierra Leone and Cape Coast Castle, and thence by cable to Madeira and to Europe ; the Liberian government to protect the wires, stations and operators within its jurisdiction. Liberia College, under the administration of its able and learned President, Rev, Edward W. Blyden. LL. D., is in a condition of ad- vancing prosperity. It is expected before long to be removed from Monrovia to the interior, for nearer access to the natives and to af- ford room for agricultural and industrial departments. Liberia has now reached a period in her history when she sorely needs and is fully able to bear a considerable influx of enlightened de- scendants of Africa from the land of their exile. An important addi- tion to her population is imperatively demanded if she is to go on ex- tending her influence and pushing her free institutions among the denizens of the forest, and to hold her own against the encroachments of foreigners. The natives in the intei lor of the Republic are anxious for the planting of civilized settlements on the beautiful hills and in the fertile valleys which diversify their interesting country. OUR COLORED PEOPLE. The colored people of the United States are making progress. Two pamphlets— one by Rev. Dr. C. K. Marshall of Vicksburg, Miss, and the other by Rev. Dr. Alexander Crummell of Washington, D. C.* show this by facts and statistics. Dr. Marshall praises them as being the best peasantry on the face of the earth, their vices no greater, less cringing and craven, freer from begging, more manly and polite, and having a higher estimate of human rights and obligations. “They are less profane — very much less — than white people ; less bitter, vin- dictive, and blood-thirsty ; less intemperate, and far, far less revenge- ful.” Dr. Crummell proves by his own experience in Africa, and by the testimony of leading African travelers that the African is not innately vicious. He considers mental and material improvement sustained by the facts that the freedmen have nearly 1,000,000 children at school; furnish some 16,000 teachers ; have about 15,000 in the high schools and colleges; about 2,000,000 members in the Methodist and Baptist churches; and that they publish 80 newspapers; that in less than twenty years they own 680,000 acres of land in Georgia alone, and over 5,000,000 in the whole South ; and that the increase in the production of cotton since emancipation has been 1,000,000 bales per year, or one-third more than when working as slaves ; that $56,000,000 were deposited in the “ Freedmen’s Bank ; ” and that colored men are assessed for over $91,000,000 of taxable property. 12 A VIRGIN MARKET. Allusion has been made to the formation of the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention by the colored Baptists of the United States. To its credit and to that of the race it should be said that the Society has lately sent two educated colored ministers and their wives to labor among the Vey tribe, in Liberia. The African Methodist Episcopal Church has taken steps to raise $1,200 annually, to constitute a fund for the education and training of young men and women to serve as missionaries and teachers in Africa. The Spring Hill Baptist Associa- tion of Alabama reports that “ there is no subject that interests the Africo-American more than the mission work in Africa. It is especially the work of the colored Christians of America. Over two hundred years ago we were brought here as bondsmen. In 1865 the terrible chain of thraldom was severed by the Omniscient One, by which five millions of people were liberated. For us to remain dormant and leave it for God to use other means and others as agents in the evangelization of Africa, is to be in every manner possible criminal and wholly recreant to the most sacred trust committed to our care. God always redeems a people by members of the people to be redeemed. When He would emancipate the Jews, Moses is selected. And all through history this truth stands out most prominently. Ethiopia will never stretch forth her hands to God until Ethiopians shall have been used as agents. Africa is to be redeemed through the instrumentality of Africans.” The African Trade Society is an organization of colored men at New Orleans for the purpose of petitioning Congress for an appropria- tion to establish a direct postal service between the United States and Liberia. All our West African mails now go and come via Liverpool. Rev. Dr. Henry M. Turner, Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, himself a Negro, and by the duties of his high office brought into contact with large numbers of his race throughout the United States, says through the Christian Recorder : “ There nev- er was a time when the colored 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, Savannah or Charleston, they would be crowded to density every trip they made to Africa. There is a gen- eral unrest and a wholesome dissatisfaction among our people in a number of sections of the land, to my certain knowledge, and they sigh for conveniences to and from the Continent of Africa. Some- thing has to be done.” A VIRGIN MARKET. That religion and philanthropy have something to do with the interest that the European world has, of late years, taken in the A VIRGIN MARKET. I S opening of Africa, is unquestionable. That Continent may be re- garded now as the only virgin market, of any extent, remaining for the rapidly increasing surplus, everywhere, of manufacturing industry. If the United States do not at present feel the want of such a mar- ket as much as other nations, the time will come when they will no longer have the advantage of England or France or Germany in this respect ; and they should not forget that they have a foothold in Africa that no other nation enjoys. From the mouth of the Mediter- ranean southward to the English settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, there is no one spot that offers greater facilities for introducing trade and civilization into the interior of the Continent than Liberia. Slowly, yet steadily and surely, a nation is growing up there, whose sympathies, if we retain them, will give us practically the benefit of a colony without the responsibility of a colonial system — a nation which, at the end of sixty-three years, is further advanced than were many, if not all, the colonies of America, after the same lapse of time. Surely such a nation is not to be regarded with indifference, but may be considered as no unimportant factor in the commercial and man- ufacturing future of the United States — to say nothing of its peculiar fitness for conferring upon Africa the benefit of Christianity and civilization. \Editorial from The Sun, of Baltimore, December ji, r