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 The Hope of 
 Sherbro * s Future 
 Greatness 
 

 
 
 
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 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
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 PRESENTED BY 
 
 
 
 Rufus H. LeFevre 
 
 
 
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 FEB 11 1953 
 
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 Hope o! Sherbro's Future Greatness. 
 
 A LEOTUR-El 
 
 DELIVERED AT SHAINGAY BY 
 
 \^ 
 
 1. A. Gole^ a r2atiVe of We5ten2 Africa. 
 
 DEDICATED TO 
 
 Bishop D, K, Flickinger, D. D., 
 
 At the request of Chief T. N. Caulker, as a grateful acknowledgement 
 
 •f his great interest and anxiety for the evangelization 
 
 and civilization of Sherbr* Country. 
 
 Dayton, Ohio, (U. S. A.): 
 
 ¥niti» Brbthrbk Publishing House. 
 
 i»85. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/hopeofsherbrosfuOOcole 
 
Tlie Hope of Sherbro's Future Greatness. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladles, and Gentlemen: — 
 
 Though conscious of my inability to do justice to the sub- 
 ject now before us, as it deserves to be handled, yet I shall 
 consider my feeble efforts as having been amply rewarded if 
 my poor country, Africa, derives any benefit, or the cause of 
 God be more extended, by any suggestion that I may advance. 
 
 In treating of the future hope of a country or a nation, it 
 is necessary that one should be acquainted with its past his- 
 tory and its present progress. The past history of the Sher- 
 bro country, as it is with the past history of the whole of 
 Africa, is written in characters of blood. 
 
 As early as the year 1740 the whole of the Sherbro country 
 was one extensive mart, whence Europeans exchanged 
 beads, spirits, and tobacco for cargoes of human beings. John 
 Newton, the cruel slave-dealer, afterward the evangelical 
 Newton of England, had at that time his principal slave- 
 factory at the Plantation Island, where the ruins of his slave- 
 pen can still be seen, and also a branch factory at Diiblin, 
 on the Bananas Island, — then belonging to Sherbro, — where 
 a lime-fence, planted by him when engaged in his nefarious 
 traffic, is still standing, as a monument of the sufferings of 
 our fathers. 
 
 The Portuguese, the French, and the Spaniards rushed 
 into the country, obtaining the sons and daughters of Africa 
 for foreign goods and Spanish gold, spreading wars, rapine, 
 and murder in all lier borders. 
 
— 4 — 
 
 " Auri sacra fames/ quid non morsalia pectora cogis.^^ "O 
 thou execrable desire for gold, what dost thou not compel 
 mortal souls to do ! " 
 
 In his dispatches in 1825, Major-general Turner, then 
 governor of Sierra Leone, wrote that he entered into treaties 
 with native chiefs on the Sherbro rivers, who agreed to cease 
 from destructive internal warfare, to give up the slave-trade, 
 and form a friendly alliance with England, for the benefit 
 of protection, and of trade in the productions of Africa in 
 exchange for European commodities. He recommended 
 strongly that the Sherbro rivers should be blockaded, and 
 that by so doing the government would be able to prevent 
 an annual exportation of 30,000 slaves from Sherbro alone. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the governor died of fever while 
 writing his letter. Hence his plan was not then executed. 
 
 A few years after the return of John Newton to England 
 a vessel came laden with goods, with Messrs. Cleveland, 
 Tucker, and Caulker. Mr Cleveland landed at the Bananas 
 Island, and established himself at the slave-factory of John 
 Newton. Mr. S. Caulker came to the Plantain Island, and 
 Tucker sailed south-east and settled in the country of 
 the Gbas. 
 
 The locality of the Plantain Island, and the prosperity 
 of the Caulkers, raised a spirit of jealousy in the Clevelands^ 
 A great enmity soon arose between them, which ended in 
 war. Mr. Cleveland collected a good army and suddenly 
 attacked Mr. Caulker in the Plantain Island, so that he 
 had to surrender. The island was then claimed by the 
 Clevelands, and Mr. Caulker submitted to be employed by 
 them, and was removed to their head-quarters in the Bana- 
 nas Island. Whilst in his employment at the Bananas, Mr. 
 Caulker appropriated all his income to the preparation of 
 
— 5 — 
 
 implements of war, and in sending presents to the various 
 chiefs in the Sherbro country, as far up as to the Boom, 
 Kittam, and Bompeh rivers. Thus he continued for several 
 years, until he felt himself strong enough for retaliation. 
 Then he gave up his employment, and marched his army, 
 consisting of men from the various tribes of the Sherbro 
 country, into the Plantain Island, where a single day's 
 engagement restored him to his right, and made him once 
 more monarch of the island. Mr. Cleveland afterward died, 
 and Caulker with his brother remained masters of the 
 island without further opposition. 
 
 Time will fail us to dwell on the various struggles and 
 bloodshed through which this country has passed — Canrab- 
 ah Caulker's war, and the attempt of the French to rob 
 Bendoo from the Sherbroes, which led to the transference of 
 that and many other parts in Sherbro to the British 
 government. 
 
 In the year 1847 disturbances arising from boundary 
 questions and rivalries arose, which were the cause of great 
 confusion. In 1849 the British government had to interfere. 
 Accordingly, on the fourth of July, a treaty was signed at 
 Tasso between Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine, Esq., then 
 acting governor of Sierra Leone, and Thomas Stephen Caul- 
 ker, chief of the Plantain Island, and Canrabah Caulker, 
 chief of Bompeh, arranging the division of the territories 
 among them to save future misunderstandings. 
 
 From the year 1849 we pass over to 1855. Early this 
 year Revs. W. J. Shuey, D. C. Kumler, and D. K. Flicking- 
 er sailed out to this country — not with chains and shackles 
 for orang-outangs, but with the living word. Two of this 
 number soon returned to America, and the third one also, 
 after being here some over a year. But the command, Go 
 
— 6 — 
 
 bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends 
 of the earth, so influenced the minds of the United Breth- 
 ren Board of Missions that Revs. D. K. Flickinger, J. K. 
 Billheimer, and Dr. W. B. Witt returned in Januar}^, 1857. 
 At this time the United Brethren Church was established 
 in Sherbro. 
 
 For the past twenty-eight years the history of Sherbro 
 has been so influenced by religion that great changes have 
 taken place. One of the greatest changes, attributed to 
 missionary efforts, is the peace existing between the two 
 cousins, the Caulkers of Bompeh and of the Plantain 
 Island. The influence of religion led them to this decision 
 of living peaceably with all men, and actuated them to sign 
 the following agreement in the government house of Free- 
 town, on the 11th of June, 1870: 
 
 We, the undersigned, do solemnly agree to withdraw all 
 personal complaint laid before the governor-in-chief for 
 hearing and arbitration ; and we further agree that no al- 
 leged wrongs of which either party complain prior to this 
 date shall be brought into consideration or discussion at 
 any future time. 
 
 Signed. Thomas Stephen Caulker. 
 
 R. C. B. Caulker. 
 
 George S. Caulker. 
 
 Canrabah Caulker. 
 
 Charles Canary Caulker. 
 
 If the gentlemen above named meant what they said, does 
 it not prove that the true spirit of Christianity had entered 
 deeply into their minds? Two years afterward the same 
 spirit was manifested, when through the influence of Rev. 
 J. Gomer and Mr. LeFevre, Chiefs George Caulker and 
 Richard Caulker were reconciled with each other, in the 
 
presence of hundreds of people who came to witness the 
 sight. We are thankful to God that the same spirit is still 
 existing in our present chief, T. N. Caulker, and is man- 
 ifested by the friendly conference he had with Chief Rich- 
 ard Caulker, but a few months ago. And his willingness to 
 receive and protect missionaries, his abhorence of war, 
 which led him often to give up his rights, and his discour- 
 agement of slavery, brings forcibly before our eyes the 
 influence and power of the gospel. 
 
 Thus have we attempted to briefly sketch the past history 
 of the Sherbro nation, from the dark days of slavery to the 
 golden age of the Caulkers and the establishment of Chris- 
 tianity in this country. The civilization, customs, morals, 
 religions, and manners of this country during those ages can 
 not be expected to supersede those of the Germans, French, 
 and Britons when they were first invaded by Ciesar. Of the 
 French he says, " JSatio est omnis Gallorum admodum dedita 
 rellgionibus^'' (C. J. Ca'saris Lib. VI., Cap XV.) ; that is, The 
 whole country of French, or Gaul, is greatly addicted to 
 superstition. They offered human sacrifices, and owned the 
 god Pluto as their great ancestor. Hence they reckoned 
 time by nights. Of the Britons he says, "They had their 
 wives in common, and children sometimes married their 
 parents." The Germans, on the other hand, neglected agri- 
 culture, lest any desire of money should arise, whence spring 
 factions and dissensions. (Lib. VI., Cap XI.) 
 
 But in proportion as Christianity was advancing, idolatry 
 and superstition sunk. The groves of Druid ism took their 
 flight, the mistletoe became merely a plant, reason supplant- 
 ed fear, and these once uncivilized nations are now the most 
 civilized and the most powerful in the world, whilst Rome, 
 once the mistress of the world, is "Rome no more." 
 
— 8 — 
 
 Through patience and perse verence, hope has realized for 
 them what she for nearly 2,000 years had been toiling for ; 
 namely, their future greatness. We, too, expect the day of our 
 visitation. We hope soon to possess in full those things 
 which belong to our peace. In climbing up the hill of fame, 
 however high, we must move slowly, but surely, for we 
 have no wings and can not fly. 
 
 The heights by great men reached and kept, 
 
 Were not attained by sudden flight; 
 But they, whilst their companions slept, 
 
 Were toiling upward in the night. 
 
 I shall close this section of my subject in the words of a 
 writer, a friend of Africa : "The history of the past ages for- 
 bids despair in regard to Africa. Cities may yet arise to rival 
 the fame of the ancient cities of Carthage and Alexandria; 
 but, if not, inferior marts of commerce may spring up in 
 numerous directions. Teachers may arise resembling her 
 Cyprian, Athanasius, and other celebrated defenders of the 
 Christian faith. Christianity and various kinds of knowledge 
 will have so*happy a tendency to undermine all debashing 
 superstitions. Commerce, science, and Christianity will be 
 able to proceed in unison when scattering their seeds over 
 the fields of Africa, from which fruits kiay be expected, 
 alike to recompense the enterprise of the mercantile ad- 
 venturer and the efforts of Christian philanthropists." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PRESENT AND PAST. 
 
 In contrasting the present with the past we cherish great 
 hope for the future of the Sherbro country. A great and fear- 
 ful battle of twenty-eight years has been fought with the king 
 of darkness by the missionaries, and Jesus is the conqueror. 
 Purrowism, polygamy, idolatry, superstition, and Moha- 
 medanism are now falling victims at Immanuel's feet. 
 
 Purrowism, which is a secret society, is losing its poAver and 
 influence over the minds of the people. Some societies of this 
 kind are to be found among almost all African nations. The 
 Magi (confounded with the Magicians) of Egypt is a class of, 
 or the origin, of these secret societies. They do nothing 
 openly. Neither could one fully understand them without 
 being a member. They conceal crime and protect a guilty 
 member from punishment, however heinous the offense may 
 have been. This society was founded by Zoroaster, a Per- 
 sian. From the Arabs it spread through India and Egppt, 
 whence it traveled in various corrupt forms to Soudan and 
 western Africa. Herodotus says that this society had great 
 influence in the political as well as religious affairs of the 
 state, and that a monarch seldom ascends the throne with- 
 out their previous approbation. He says they also pay 
 particular homage to fire. A careful comparison of the dif- 
 ferent African private society will prove what we have 
 affirmed of their derivation from the Magi of Egypt, as it is 
 the same in law and many other respects. The Avudu rela- 
 tive to the Shagoes are lightning worshipers. They have 
 great delight for fire. I have witnessed an Avudu worship- 
 
— 10 — 
 
 er, when excited by his charms, devour a good quantity of 
 live coals from a fireside with the same pleasure, seemingly, 
 with which one would enjoy cakes. This may have been 
 done by some enchantment, or may not have been a reality, 
 but it so seemed. I have heard the Kofong and magician 
 Sama, of this place, boasting of his capability of dancing in 
 two different places at the same moment. This comes very 
 closely to what is said of Pythagoras, the philosopher, 
 magician, and fire-worshiper, — that he appeared on the 
 same day and at the same instant in the cities of Crotona 
 and Metapontum. But the whole, I believe, is based on 
 deceitfulness and falsehood. 
 
 The secret society of the Sherbro country was once her 
 governor and legislature. The king was not exempt from 
 fines or capital punishment should he violate its laws or re- 
 veal its secret. But its power has greatly diminished, and 
 its influence is dying out. In conversation a few weeks ago 
 with Chief T. N. Caulker on the subject, he said, "I believe 
 the society will, in God's time, die out of our midst. It 
 will not be by violence, but by the power of the gospel." 
 
 The great contest with ignorance and sin was begun by 
 Rev. D. K. Flickinger, twenty-eight years ago, and contin- 
 ued by these self-sacrificing and self-denying men. Revs. 
 J. K. Billheimer, J. A. Williams, the sainted 0. Hadley, 
 and others whose names shall forever be engraved in the 
 memory of Africans as Christian philanthropists and fathers 
 of Sherbro's civilization. They did what they could, and 
 all they could. 
 
 In the year 18.70, the United Brethren Church adopted 
 the policy of an English philanthropist who once claimed, 
 "The evils of slavery and the superstition of the dark con- 
 tinent must be rooted out! It is by African exertions 
 chiefly that it can be destroyed." Accordingly a negro. Rev. 
 J. Gomer, was sent out, to whom the present stage of Sher- 
 bro's civilization is largely attributed. The work of evangel- 
 
—11 — 
 
 ization was carried on with Herculean might on the 
 gigantic shoulder of this man of God, insomuch that the 
 United Brethren Church in Africa is known among us as 
 Gomer's mission. The radical change and the improve- 
 ments during the thirteen years of his labors and ministra- 
 tion reminds one very vividly of Oberlin, the pastor of Ban 
 de la Roche, his untiring effort, his humble and unas- 
 suming character, his anxiety to see every one around 
 him engaged, his own example, like St. Paul, of working 
 with his own hands. " This man's great exertions, with 
 those of the missionaries now in the field, and Mrs. M. 
 Mair, late of Rotufunk Station, lifted Sherbro to a new 
 and higher scale of progression. The success of these 
 missionaries induced the American Missionary Society 
 two years ago to transfer to them their stations for a 
 term of years, and the Freed men Missions Aid Society 
 in England is now, through the United Brethren Church, 
 stretching out its hand to the rescue of the perishing 
 sons and daughters of Africa. 
 
 Decency is also one of the characteristic changes which 
 have taken place. Years ago the Sherbroes wore nothing on 
 their persons but a totranger, and many were to be found 
 in a state of entire nudity. But to-day, instead of the tot- 
 ranger, we find among the male a desire for the white man's 
 trousers and baltic shirts pervading the whole country, 
 whilst the females would pay anything for fine wrappers, 
 and English shawls to cover their shoulders. I do not mean 
 to advance this as the case in every town, but at Shaingay 
 there could not be found at present as much as four young 
 females with totrangers fastened to a girdle of beads (or 
 Mayemgb©), which, as hitherto, make up the principal 
 dressing of a maiden. 
 
 Another improvement is the steamer John Brown. It 
 affords an extensive view of European civilization. On 
 the day of her arrival, a young man from Manoh coming 
 from the mission was asked whether the mail-boat arrived 
 
— 12 — 
 
 said, "No, but a large canoe with smoke just bring Ba 
 Gomer. He big ; you can see bottom far away." We hope 
 the steamer will remain long, so as to facilitate communica- 
 tion between this and civilized countries, and relieve some 
 of the fears of missionaries in their frequent travels by 
 water, thereby encouraging and introducing Christianity, 
 commerce, and civilization into this land. 
 
 The building of a pier-head and a substantial mission- 
 wharf, with the extension of the mission-business in a new 
 and larger store, is also a great advancement toward the 
 civilization of Sherbro. Many may differ from me on this 
 point, or may see differently than I do, therefore I shall 
 enlarge a little here. I have often heard talented and civil- 
 ized men, both here and in Sierra Leone, crying down the 
 Shaingay misssonaiies as traders, or, using their term, 
 " Merchant missionaries ; " and it seems to me that this is 
 the opinion of the highest authorities by their recently 
 subjecting to license duties on their boats as those of ordi- 
 nary traders, whereas the custom regulations exempt mis- 
 sionary boats from paying license. Though my opinion 
 may be feeble on this point, yet it demands your reasonable 
 attention. It is not my intention to proselyte you to my 
 faith in the suitability of combining ministerial work with 
 trade. I do not argue that because Peter was a fisherman 
 and St. Paul a tent-maker, therefore missionaries are to 
 combine evangelistic works with commerce. Missionary 
 labors in enlightened and Christian countries differ. Ex- 
 tensive commerce in connection with missionary operations 
 in civilized countries where the wants of pastors are ade- 
 quately met either by subscription or donation, is unneces- 
 sary. But in a heathen country like Africa, — a country 
 degraded and corrupted by the slave-trade, — the introduc- 
 tion of innocent commerce, together with Christianity, 
 even where the needs of missionaries are adequately sup- 
 plied, is a necessity and a part of Christian duty. Gom- 
 zalez, the first European slave-dealer, who came to Africa 
 
— 13 — 
 
 in the year 1434, would have been very unsuccessful in his 
 wicked designs had it not been for the anxiety of our 
 fathers to procure European commodities. They wanted 
 the white man's goods, and he in turn their children ; and, 
 worst of all, the chief articles exchanged for human beings 
 were spirits, tobacco, swords, gun-powder, and guns. Inno- 
 cent and well-conducted commerce in cotton goods and 
 tools for the improvement of agriculture were kept away 
 from them. They must be supplied with the white man's 
 rum to render them more stupid, that they might be kid- 
 napped and stolen away with greater facility. They must 
 have gun-powder and swords enough to make war on their 
 brethren and get plenty captives to give the white man's 
 vessel a good cargo of souls. In 1771, one hundred and 
 ninety-eight slave-ships left England for Africa, fitted for 
 50,000 slaves. Our friend William Wilberforce, in one of 
 his statements, said "that the value of British -manufac- 
 tures exported to Africa was only £500,000, and that En- 
 gland exported during that year as much gun-powder to 
 Africa as to all the world put together. In 1835, twenty- 
 eight years after the abolition of slavery in England and 
 her colonies, the value of gun-powder exported to Africa 
 for that year alone was £150,000. Its degrading influence 
 spread all over the continent, scattering the seeds of demor- 
 alization and barbarism everywhere to such extent that, as 
 the great traveler Lander informed us, the Bouchees sold 
 their own children for beads, and that the effect of the 
 slave-trade introduced petty wars into the country as a pro- 
 fession. Agriculture was neglected, and cannibalism took 
 its place on account of famine. We are not astonished at 
 this when we remember that an Israelite woman prepared 
 her own son for breakfast from the same cause. The 
 Mendis, who are supplied with spirits and implements of 
 war by Europeen merchants along the Sherbro country, 
 for which both they and the Sierra Leone government are 
 now suff'ering from dullness of trade and decrease of reve- 
 
— 14 — 
 
 nue, will soon find that through the introduction of a mild, 
 innocent, and Christian commerce, it will be more profita- 
 ble and advantageous to employ a servant in cutting five 
 bushels of palm-kernels to pay for eight pieces of cloth (or 
 one head money) than to exchange him for it. 
 
 Is it not then an indisputable fact that if Africa becomes 
 evangelized and civilized it must be through the power of 
 the gospel combined with innocent commerce? We read 
 of the cruel king of Dahomey refusing to accept missiona- 
 ries because they were no traders. 
 
 In one of his discourses at Flickinger Chapel I once 
 heard Rev. J. Gomer remark that "certain men offered to 
 attend divine service for biscuits. While it is true that 
 some may have come for biscuits, it is also true that God 
 sent them away with the bread of life." It is said that the 
 chief of Casegut, one of the Bissago islands, built a chapel 
 with a bell to induce Europeans to come and trade in his 
 country. Governor Randall, late of Gambia, in one of his 
 letters to the duke of Wellington, said, " Of all the meas- 
 ures calculated to insure the prosperity of Africa, none 
 promises so well as the encouragement of its legitimate 
 commerce and agriculture. * ^ * * Give an impulse 
 to industry by establishing model plantations; let moral 
 and religious education go hand in hand." Mr. McQueen 
 says, "The future prosperity of Africa will be attained only 
 by teaching the negroes useful knowledge and the arts of 
 civilized life, and when by the influence of innocent com- 
 merce the native chiefs are taught that they may be rich 
 without selling men, and to depend upon the cultivation of 
 the soil." "Example is better than precept," and "men live 
 more by example than reason." Is it not then absolutely 
 necessary that Christianity should be combined with in- 
 dustry, and a model farming, with an example of innocent 
 commerce, be established in heathen countries in order to 
 civilize the inhabitants? 
 
— 15 — 
 
 It is unfortunate for the Sherbro country that all along 
 her rivers there is no factory engaging in what might be 
 strictly styled innocent commerce. The natives are suppli- 
 ed too early with guns, gun-powder, swords, and other dan- 
 gerous articles which are often inducements and encourage- 
 ment to the many factions and petty wars. 
 
 It is from the American mission's commerce, now in its 
 infant but progressive state, that we hope to have a model 
 of innocent and mild commerce combined with prosperous 
 agriculture. The combination of trade with religious ob- 
 jects in Sherbro is indeed a necessity ; and I am of the 
 opinion that if properly directed, as it is at present, there 
 will be grand results. 
 
 The experiment of Professor Francke, at Halle, and his 
 great success proved this. The past history of the successes 
 attending the efforts of the United Brethren Church by this 
 method attest to the same. Rev. Thomas Sims of Winches- 
 ter (forty-ibur years ago), though he himself was a clergy- 
 man of the Church of England, strongly commended and 
 recommended this system. He pointed out Antigua as a 
 result of their successful missionary enterprise, where the 
 gospel, though combined with trade, had been so generally 
 received by the negroes, and the slaves had become so im- 
 proved in habit and conduct that only one negro was con- 
 demned to death during a period of eight years. Martial 
 law was found also to be no longer necessary on Christmas- 
 day, and the militia was dissolved. 
 
 We are thankful for the improvements of this country 
 through the influence of Christianity, commerce, and agri- 
 culture introduced by the United Brethren Church. 
 
 The well-managed road from the mission to Shaingay, 
 the naming of the roads on the mission-farm, the cultiva- 
 tion of kolan-nuts, coffee, and arrow-root by the natives, 
 with the improvements on some of the houses at Shaingay, 
 the publication of the mission-paper Early Dawn, and the 
 establishment of a debating class for the improvement of 
 the minds of Sherbro youths, are among the advancements 
 of the day. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 Having contrasted the present with the past, let us see 
 what hopes can be cherished for the future. Our detractors 
 have often affirmed that the hope of Africa is buried in ob- 
 livion ; but to their great disappointment, " The morning 
 light is breaking, the darkness disappears." This is becom- 
 ing a reality in British Sherbro, as is evinced by the relig- 
 ious lives of many. The introduction of the temperance 
 society and other social meetings, the desire for higher edu- 
 cation, the liberality and enthusiasm with which the cause 
 of missions is supported by native converts, prove to the 
 world that "we have yet a soul and dare be free." 
 
 The hope of the future greatness of the Sherbro country 
 must be the result of its religion, commerce, agriculture, 
 and education. The religion we have embraced is a religion 
 of humility and unanimity. It is simply the religion of 
 Jesus, "believe and live." 
 
 The true spirit of Christianity and love which impelled 
 the founder of the United Brethren Church, Otterbein, to 
 embrace Boehni in the presence of a large congregation and 
 exclaim, " We are brethren," has its echo still reverberating. 
 This sound from Dayton, Ohio, is heard upon our shores, 
 "We are all one in Christ." 
 
 Above all, it is from the educated youths of tliis country 
 that we expect to realize our hope of Sherbro's future great- 
 ness. It is from them that the United Brethren Church or 
 its missionary society, and the Freedmen's Aid Society, will 
 reap the rewards of their labors. The mind of an ignorant 
 man is chained down to the bondage of superstition, and 
 
— 17 — 
 
 he continues wallowing in the mire and clay of stupidity. 
 He sees differently from an educated man. He sees men 
 like trees, walking, and sometimes takes trees for men. 
 
 The Sherbro language can be improved, but it needs edu- 
 cation to shape it; and from what we have stated it may 
 he clearly seen that an establishment of a good school in 
 Sherbro, where science would be taught, and where amongst 
 other languages the Arabic might be introduced, will do 
 much for Africa. And we hail the day when through the 
 miraculous influence of a proper education, a full, regener- 
 ated, and purified written language of this vast country 
 shall spring from the ashes of the old, stepping forward to 
 take its place in African nomenclature, when the cocoa-nut, 
 now called "bell-poto," or "white man's palm-kernel," shall 
 be substituted by another word, denoting its property or 
 quality. 
 
 The fact at present that the language, though defective, 
 is composite, is a great encouragement for the future. 
 There was no written Anglo-Saxon literature .until after 
 their education and the conversion of the people to Chris- 
 tianity by the Romans. How harsh and ridiculous would 
 the Anglo - Saxon expressions, " Free-necked man " and 
 "blood-weight" now appear to an Englishman. And one 
 would be at a loss in retracing the word good-by to "Good 
 be wud ye," or God be with you, and the title, "beef-eater," 
 from buffet, a small side-board, and that from the 15,000 
 different words composing the works of Shakespeare, the 
 champion of English literature, 1,154 are from other lan- 
 guages, which makes the English language, as Grimm says, 
 " possesses a veritable power of expresssion, such as perhaps 
 never stood at the command of any other language of 
 man," after a struggle of about two thousand years, to re- 
 main in its present excellency, a composite and strictly 
 borrowed language. 
 
 If we are to be truly civilized, it must be by the improve- 
 ment of our language. He who hath no language of his 
 
— 18 — 
 
 own should not exist. The English language is not ours ; 
 and he is either a madman or a fool who prefers a foreign 
 language to his own. 
 
 True education will find appropriate words to build up 
 the most deficient and rough hxnguage, and assist the nation 
 to express its thoughts more fully without the splicing and 
 patching up of words. It is for this education we are crav- 
 ing. Our hope depends on it ; and it is from the friends of 
 Africa in England and the churches of America we expect 
 it. The lives lost and all the money spent for this great 
 cause of redeeming Africa will have no effect and no future 
 success without a system of good and sound education. 
 Rev. D. F. Wilberfoi'ce, in his " Appeal from the Dark Con- 
 tinent to the Church in America, said, " If the church in 
 Africa is to have that rapid growth which God intends, if 
 the tribes far and near are to be brought to the saving 
 knowledge of God, it can only be done by educating native 
 youths for the work." If the Sherbro countr}' is to be great, 
 if there is to be any prosperity in the future, it must depend 
 on her present exertions. It is now for her to 
 
 "Pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon, 
 Or dive into the bottom of the deep, 
 Where fathom-line could never touch the ground 
 And drag up drowned honor by the lock." 
 
 The brevity of life commands us, "What thou doest, do 
 quickly." Let the present be combined with the future by 
 labor and patience, and the future hope of Sherbro's great- 
 ness will soon be a reality. Horace says, 
 
 " Spatio brevi 
 Spem longam receses : diwi loquim ur, furgerit invida 
 Aestas; carpe diem, quam minimum credula posterio" 
 
 That is, from the short space of time you should exclude 
 distant hopes; for whilst we speak the envious hours are 
 passing away; enjoy the present time, trusting as little as 
 
— 19 — 
 
 possible to futurity. The same spirit of the Latin poet 
 runs through those beautiful lines of Francis : 
 
 "Thy lengthened hopes will produce bound, 
 Proportioned to the flying hour : 
 Whilst thus we talk in careless ease 
 The envious moments wing their flight, 
 Instant the pleasing pleasure sieze 
 Nor trust to-morrow's doubtful light." 
 
 In conclusion, I have a word for African youths. Africa 
 is ours by divine gift, and we are responsible for her pros- 
 perity according to the proportion of advantages and light 
 given us. We have great advantages. The eye of the 
 civilized world is upon us. This moment the Germans, 
 English, French, and Americans are on our continent. 
 We can say that they that are with us are greater than 
 those that are against us. We must not be discouraged by 
 the noise of our detractors, for they too will soon be made 
 to pity us. 
 
 John Newton, the great African slave-dealer in the Plan- 
 tain and Bananas islands, was miraculously turned by God 
 to a preacher of the gospel, and he was both the patron 
 and adviser of William Willberforce in his great struggles 
 for the abolition of slavery. Charles Sumner, the Wilber- 
 force of America, was struck down in congress whilst de- 
 fending the black man ; and we have on record the names 
 of many missionaries who gave their very life for the good 
 of Africa. The vast number of missionaries throughout 
 our continent and the numerous expenses and exertions 
 of American missionaries in Sherbro alone prove that God 
 has raised up friends for us. Rev. D. K. Flickinger has man- 
 ifested from his repeated visits, some of which were un- 
 dertaken at his own expense, and his zeal at home in 
 lecturing for the good of Africa, a yearning desire for the 
 elevation and salvation of our race. May he have his re- 
 ward. William Wilberforce was shot at in London, and 
 
^20 — 
 
 was hunted like a deer in the streets of Liverpool and 
 Bristol. Rev. John Smith, of the Independents, was con- 
 demned to be hanged at the Island of Demarara for defend- 
 ing the rights of negroes and from harsh treatment. He 
 died in prison, in 1824. Rev. William J. Shrewsbury, a 
 Wesleyan missionary, was driven from Barbadoes by an in- 
 furiated mob of European slave-dealers for communicating 
 with Sir Fowel Buxton about the brutal treatment of Afri- 
 cans. And though the Wesleyan chapel was demolished, 
 yet the society did not give up. When he was on his 
 death-bed, Wesley's last words to Wilberforce were, *' Per- 
 severe in the glorious enterprise of effecting the abolition of 
 the traffic in the sinews and blood of men. Go on in the 
 name of God and the power of his might, till even Amer- 
 ican slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall vanish 
 away before it." 
 
 It could be said of our country, since the time of the 
 slave-trade, that the continent of Africa '^ suffereth violence 
 until now, and the violent taketh it by force." Many even 
 in America are this day made to suffer violence for their zeal 
 in rescuing us and embracing us as brethren. I remember 
 reading just a few months ago an article headed, " Persecu- 
 tion in Virginia." A kind-hearted and philanthropic 
 white man was accounted unfit for the position of a pub- 
 lic school-director for associating himself with negroes. 
 
 You will, my countrymen, be able to judge from this th« 
 •ondition under which we are still regarded by some Chrii- 
 tian men in civilized countries. 
 
 Christianity, education, commerce, and agriculture shall 
 ■catter the gloom that now OTerhangs the Sherbro country, 
 and make all to be fr«e, both body and ioul.