,s. \/j. y GLIMPSES OF AFRICA BISHOP WILLIAM BURT Glimpses of Africa By BISHOP WILLIAM BURT A visit to the African Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church was made in December, 1906, and in the early months of 1907, by Bishop Burt. A partial record of this jour¬ ney is here given through extracts taken from the Bishop’s letters. AFRICA DIAMOND JUBILEE COMMISSION BOARD OP FOREIGN MISSIONS OP THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 150 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK PRINTED MAY, 1909 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA We left our home in Zurich on the evening of December 12, 1906, and arrived in London the following day at 4:30 p. m. A few minutes after our arrival Bishop and Mrs. Hartzell and the Bishop’s Secretary, Mr. Cyrus F. Stoddard, called, and we soon planned how we might best employ the next day, prior to our taking the steamer for Madeira and Africa. In the morning Bishop Hartzell and I called on Sir Edward Grey, Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He received us very cor¬ dially. Though comparatively young, he is one of England’s great men, and carries in his hands the destinies of nations. We discussed very freely the relation of our work in Africa to the present and the future, and endeavored to show him that wher¬ ever the Methodist Episcopal Church is it stands for fraternal relations among races. We also called on Mr. Boyd, Secretary of the Ehodes Trust. This interview was most interesting. It is remarkable how Bishop Hartzell has gotten hold of so many influential men in England and made them interested in his work in Africa. He is held in high esteem by those who know the situation on the Dark Continent. Most of the afternoon was spent in preparing our outfit for the journey. Saturday morn¬ ing, December 15, we left London for Southampton, from which port we were to sail for Funchal, Madeira, on the steam¬ ship Saxon, a fine ship of 12,385 tons. Funchal is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants. There are more than 150,000 people on the two Madeira islands. These islands belong to Portugal and for centuries have been under the dominion of Eomish priests with the usual results of igno¬ rance, superstition, and fear. Nearly ninety per cent of the people are illiterate. On landing at Funchal we were taken immediately to our Mission House, which is very beautifully and centrally located, opposite the public gardens. Bishop Hartzell found friends to give him the money with which to buy this splendid property. 4 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA It can be made an important center for the evangelization of the Portuguese on the Madeira Islands, the Azores, the Cape Verde Islands, and the Portuguese possessions in West and East Africa. Here men can be trained, books, papers, and tracts printed, and tired missionaries can rest and recuperate their strength. On the day of our arrival at Funchal we visited San Antonio de Serra and Machico. An excellent opportunity was here given to observe the peasants, whose faces are marked with the same ignorance, superstition, and fear as those of their co-religionists at Pome. The good seed of Protestant evangelism was first sown here many years ago by Dr. Robert R. Kalley, a physician and minister of the Free Church of Scotland, who arrived in Madeira in 1838. The priests thought that by their cruel per¬ secutions they had crushed out Protestantism on the whole island, but some of the good seed remained, and later, under the care of the Rev. and Mrs. William G. Smart, bore fruit to the glory of God. This work has come, in a very providential way, into our care, and the station has been named Mount Faith, being 2,150 feet above sea level. The property is worth about five thousand dollars and is free of debt, the money hav¬ ing been raised by Bishop Hartzell through special gifts. Here the Rev. George B. Nind is doing a good work. In addition to his duties as pastor and teacher he has translated into Portuguese the important parts of our Discipline, and has prepared an excellent hymn book. A Port of Call for Ships of Every Hation I doubt if many of our people understand the importance of Funchal as a stopping place for ships of every nationality. Naval fleets, training ships, excursion steamers, and merchant ships from all nations call here. During the three days we were at Madeira not less than twenty large steamers called at Funchal, and we were informed that during the year the number is more than fifteen hundred. We are conducting a work here for the sailors of these many ships. There are tracts in seven¬ teen different languages which are carefully distributed. There is a reading room where the sailors may rest, read and write. MADEIRA ISLANDS AND LIBERIA 5 and where they may also obtain a cup of tea or coffee, and even a substantial meal, for which they pay. Of course all beginnings are difficult, especially in Roman Catholic countries. Portuguese laws do not admit of much religious liberty, but, thank God, the bitter persecutions of ten years ago are now unknown. A substantial beginning has been made at Madeira, some good workers are now on the field, and the outlook is promising. The enterprise is worthy of the most cordial support. First View of the Dark Continent We sailed from Madeira, December 23, for Monrovia, and spent Christmas Eve anchored in the beautiful harbor of Las Palmas, Grand Canary Islands. Christmas morning we called at Teneriffe, where Nelson lost his flag and his arm. From Teneriffe we steered a straight course to Liberia, and after a very pleasant voyage of seven days from Madeira we anchored early Monday morning, December 31, off Monrovia. It is impossible for me to describe my feelings as I looked on the shores of the Dark Continent, and especially on those of Liberia, “the land of the free,” the first foreign missionary field of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the resting place of our first foreign missionary, as well as of other heroic men and women, black and white, who counted not their life dear if they might serve Christ and redeem Africa. It was with a heart full of sympathetic love that I lifted my hat and saluted Liberia. Liberia is on the West Africa coastland between Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. Hence it is bounded on the east and north by French territory, on the west by British territory and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Its coast line is about three hundred and fifty miles and is very important, because it is nearly parallel to the course taken by the great steamers plying between Europe and South Africa. There are no natural harbors along this coast, but there are several places at which it is quite safe to land. At a distance of from ten to forty miles from the coast there are dense forests which cover nearly the whole country, an area of about forty-three thousand square miles. In fact, Liberia is the culmination of the West Africa forest 6 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA region. Nowhere else are these forests more thick or more luxuriant than here. The interior of Liberia is still among the least opened up parts of Africa. It is known, however, that the surface of the hinterland is nearly everywhere hilly, and in parts there are mountains rising up perhaps to ten thousand feet. The rain¬ fall in the country is very heavy, averaging about one hundred inches per year. Rain falls nearly every month in the year, but the rainy season is from May to November. The coolest month is August, the middle of the rainy season, and the hottest is December. Of course, the temperature is uniformly high, rang¬ ing from seventy-five degrees at night to one hundred degrees in the day. Sometimes, however, it falls to fifty-six degrees and sometimes rises to one hundred and five degrees. The soil is rich and what grows is luxuriant. The chief exports are coffee, ginger, india-rubber, ivory, hides, kola nuts, palm oil, and palm kernels. At present the exports amount to about a million dollars, but they might easily be increased to ten times this amount. The committee had assigned me to the charming home of Dr. Ernest Lyon, resident minister and consul-general of the United States to Liberia. It means much that we have at Monrovia one who represents our government with so much ability, dig¬ nity, and honor, and whose home is the center of high ideals and elevating influences. Bust Days in Liberia At 4:00 p. M. on the day of our arrival we attended a thanks¬ giving meeting, to thank God for His care and protection dur¬ ing our journey. Then Bishop Hartzell, Bishop Scott, Dr. Lyon, and I went to the cemetery, and as the sun was setting, stood with uncovered heads at the grave of the Rev. Melville B. Cox, the first foreign missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On New Year’s Day we were invited to a reception and lunch¬ eon given by the President of the Republic. This gave us the opportunity of meeting not only President and Mrs. Barclay, but also the members of the President’s cabinet, senators, judges. LIBERIA 7 and other dignitaries of the Liberian government. We talked with them all freely concerning the present condition and future prospects of the Republic. We remained in Liberia until January 11, 1907, and were busy every hour of the time. Besides presiding with Bishop Scott at the session of the Annual Conference, preaching, lectur¬ ing, and making addresses, we visited Kroo-town, and went twenty-five miles up the Saint Paul River to our industrial school. We also visited our schools, printing house, and many of the homes of our people in Monrovia. We were sorry that we had not two months for Liberia alone. The only means of getting to many of the places is by steamer, and the steamers are neither frequent nor regular. During our stay we suffered very little more inconvenience from the climate than we would have suffered attending Conferences at home in July or August. We were glad to note the absence of flies, fleas, and mosquitoes. This Liberia is but a tiny portion of the great continent of Africa set apart as an independent state for the intellectual, civil, and moral development of the black man; a little garden in which he may show what his skill, husbandry, and character can accomplish. It would certainly not be fair to expect that he should accomplish in the same length of time as much as England, France, or Germany have done or may do in other parts of Africa with unlimited resources of men, money, and material equipment. From what, however, has been done dur¬ ing the past seventy-five years, may we reasonably hope for ultimate success? We sincerely do. Methodism’s First Foreign Mission Field The history of the church in Liberia is contemporaneous with the history of the country itself. On the ship, Elizabeth, which brought the first negro colonists from America, Daniel Coker organized a church according to the rules and discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1832 Bishop Hedding appointed as missionary to Liberia the Rev. Melville B. Cox. He was a New Englander of good education but of frail body. To one who urged him not to go he replied, ‘T do not expect to live long there, but if I am spared to commence the work I shall 8 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA establish a bond of union between the Methodist Episcopal Church and Africa which shall never be broken.” He longed to go that even his grave might be a sermon on the deathless passion of Christ for lost men. He said to a friend before leav¬ ing, ‘‘If I die in Africa you must come and write my epitaph.” He sailed November 6, 1832, spent Christmas on the Cape Verde Islands, and landed at Monrovia March 8, 1833, where he died just four months and fourteen days after his arrival. He said, “Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up.” His few months in Africa were full of intense activity. He purchased the prem¬ ises belonging to the Basel Mission, and soon put in operation the services and means of grace of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and initiated plans for educational institutions and evangelistic work. At present the Secretaries of the Treasury and of the Interior, the Postmaster-General and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Governor of the County of Montserrado, the Collector of Customs, and many other ofl&cials and representatives of the government, as well as some of the p]-incipal merchants, are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The church at Monrovia not only pays all its own expenses, but also helps Bishop Scott in his work among the heathen at Kroo-town. The other self-supporting churches, however, do not pay their ministers more than $450, which is a small allow¬ ance in view of the expensiveness of living. In the smaller places the people are not able to pay one half or even a third of this amount. What follows? The minister perforce must make his living in some other way, and hence he becomes a trader, farmer, or government employee. His attention and interest are divided and our work suffers. Salaries should be so adjusted that the members of the Liberia Conference can give all their time to the work of the ministry. If we will raise up and educate on the field a native ministry equal in grade to those who, during the past ten years, have been transferred from the United States, then our future will be secure. Bishop John F. Hurst, in his History of Methodism, Volume VII, p. 580, says: “From 1850 to 1884 the mission was almost entirely in the hands of colored men. Though some of the ablest teachers and preachers have been, and are, colored men ANGOLA 9 and women, it seems to be admitted that the Liberia work has been at its highest efficiency and hopefulness when white and colored missionaries were working together.” This lesson is repeated over and over again to one who travels in Africa. The negro is now having his chance under the leadership of, and in cooperation with, the friendly white man. Enroute to Loaxda From Monrovia we took an English steamer for Loanda, and started on a twenty-five days’ voyage along the coast, during which time the evils of slavery, drink, and immorality were forced upon our minds in their vilest forms. The Scotch Presbyterians have a strong mission in Southern Nigeria, for which they contribute $45,000 a year—more than we give for the whole continent of Africa. We had the privilege of visiting their industrial schools, also the government hospital, and of dining with the Vice-Governor and two other govern¬ ment officials. We were sorry to see that through a wily Jesuit the Roman Catholics are getting into Nigeria. It seems so strange to us to hear even Protestants praise the results of Roman Catholic Missions in Africa. Again and again we have asked. Why? The replies show that the reason is not because the priests or monks develop any initiative or independence in the negro, but because the Romanists agree with some white officials over here in keeping the black man in subjection and in compelling him to contribute to their selfish desires. Roman¬ ism has nothing to offer the negro for his good. Priests will only complicate and hinder the redemption and elevation of the colored race. What Africa needs is light, liberty, and love, while Rome stands for darkness, repression, and strife. It was about 11:00 p. m., February 5, when we entered the spacious harbor of Saint Paul de Loanda, too late, of course, to land. The Custom House officials were exceedingly kind, and caused us no inconvenience whatever; hence we soon arrived at our mission compound. This is a magnificent property, splendidly located, overlooking the city and sea, and visible from almost every point. The fifteen acres of land allow plenty of space for future growth and development. There was no mistake made 10 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA in the selection of this property and much wisdom has been dis¬ played by enlarging it. AVe were delighted as we walked over the place. Angola’s Natural Resources Angola was discovered by the Portuguese in 1486. It is one of the largest territorial divisions of Africa, and because of its geograpliical situation, variety of climate, richness of soil, and mineral wealth, is one of the most important divisions. It has an area of 484,000 square miles, a coast line of about 1,000 miles, with two of the best harbors on the whole AVest Coast. Its neighbors are Germany on the south, England on the south¬ east, and the Congo Free State on the northeast. The popula¬ tion is variously estimated at from two to four millions. The whole of Angola is tropical, but the temperature is greatly modified, on the coast by the sea breeze, and in the interior by the elevation of the land. The coast for the most part is low and arid. Back of this about 150 miles is the hill-country, where vegetation is luxuriant, mineral treasures abundant, and the scenery grand. Still back of this there is the highland plateau rising from two to six thousand feet. Here are fields and parks, the home of antelopes, zebras, and great herds of cattle. It is said that the white man can live here almost as well as in Europe. All the country is well watered with rivers. The problem here is that of transportation and travel between these hinterlands and the seaports. A Wise Government Needed The chief products of Angola are palm oil, sugar, rubber, wax, gum-copal and other gums, coffee, and cocoanuts; also, malachite, copper, salt, and some gold, silver, and ivory. There are indications also that there may be an abundance of coal. Wliat is needed is a wise government, and money and enter¬ prise to work all these resources. A railroad has been built by the state for about 240 miles into the interior. But the tariff on freight is so high that one can get things cheaper from Europe than from places one hundred miles distant from ANGOLA 11 Loanda; hence there is no incentive whatever to produce except for local needs. We must not forget that Angola is a penal colony of Portu¬ gal, hence it has been, and is, the dumping place for criminals. The worst cases are confined in the old fortresses or made to work as convicts, while others are free to live and trade among the people, but are constantly under police surveillance and are not allowed to leave the country. It was necessary for us to have a clean bill from the police before we could board our steamer. It is easy to imagine the influence of such a class of whites on the natives, who see in them the very worst types of European civilization. Then to make the situation even worse Portugal is Eoman Catholic, and hence Angola is a Eoman Catholic province. The poor, ignorant, superstitious native is told that he may be saved in his sins rather than from his sins, that one fetich or charm may be substituted for another, that the Christian reli¬ gion consists in observing certain rites and ceremonies of the church rather than in a radical change in the individual character. How sad it was to witness these poor natives observing carnival! Our Conference was held during carnival week. Sev¬ eral days before Shrove Tuesday the noise and the dance con¬ tinued up to midnight and then to one or two o’clock in the morning, but on the night preceding Ash Wednesday it con¬ tinued all night. There can be no description of it. It was hell let loose and the worst passions of men and women un¬ bridled. I do not believe that I shall ever get so far away from Africa, in this world, that I shall not be able to hear the beat of the native drum or the shrieks of the reveling mob. We were assured that hundreds of natives die every year as a result of this mad custom. Slavery is still in Angola. The law' forbids it, but neverthe¬ less it exists throughout the whole province. Polygamy is also everywhere. The number of wives is generally regarded as indicating a man’s wealth. The money, however, which a man pays to the parents of the girl who is to become his wife is regarded not as a price but as a pledge, which may be demanded again by the husband if she should prove unfaithful. 12 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA Methodism in Angola In March, 1885, Bishop Taylor brought his heroic band of pioneers to start work here. The selection of this field was a good one, and the purpose which brought these heroic men and women to Africa was holy, but the methods adopted were im¬ practicable. Bishop William Taylor was a prophet, but some of his followers were mere religious enthusiasts. Others have been and are among the most faithful workers in the West Central Africa Conference. In 1897 Bishop Joseph C. Hartzell appeared on the scene to save the enterprise, and only through his constant and energetic exertions to procure special gifts both in America and in Eng¬ land has he been able to baring the work up to its present efficiency. We now embrace a territory of 200,000 square miles, where there is no other evangelical mission. Bishop Hartzell’s policy has been to conserve as much as possible of the past work, to fix on a few healthful strategic centers, to create confidence and sympathy for Africa among friends at home, to inspire intelli¬ gent young men and women with the desire to give their lives for Africa, and to found schools for the training of native workers. The property interests of the mission are chiefly centered in the city of Loanda, where we have fifteen acres of land, a large mission house, a schoolhouse with chapel underneath, a storehouse, and a small house for native helpers, all valued at $23,000. Loanda has a population of 23,000 blacks and 5,000 whites. This is the chief center of the province and the head of the government. It is necessary that we be strong at this point. In other places there are large landed properties which have become ours by the law of occupation, in some places even three and five hundred acres. Quiongoa is another chief center, where is located our mission press, worth $3,000, provided for by special gifts secured through Bishop Hartzell. The other two centers are Pungo Andongo and Quessua. About four years ago the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society began work in this mission at Quessua, and we understand that the Girls’ School under the two ladies in charge is quite pros- SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA 13 perous, so that additional quarters are required. We sincerely hope that soon the ladies at home will be able to find the needed funds and the suitable persons to open a first-class Girls’ School at Loanda. At our other stations in Angola, only native helpers are in charge. The plan is that around each central station where a missionary lives there shall be a number of stations manned by native helpers, forming a circuit of which the missionary shall be preacher in charge. At this central station he shall also have a training school for native workers, both boys and girls, in which special attention shall be given to industrial training. All our property in Angola is now valued at $33,665, and there is not a cent of debt on any of it. In South Africa After leaving Saint Paul de Loanda, February 15, we sailed for Capetown. Our destination was Inhambane, the seat of our mission in Portuguese East Africa, but we wished to take in Capetown, Kimberley, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Lorenzo Marquez on the way. One must pass over the country and visit these centers of activity in order to have any just conception of what South Africa means, or of what it is destined to become. We spent Sunday, February 24, at Johannesburg, and Bishop Hartzell and I preached in two of the Wesleyan churches. On the following Monday and Tuesday we visited the great gold mines and many other places of interest, and also met and talked with many influential people. This wonderful city, 6,000 feet above the sea and only twenty years old, has already a population of nearly three hundred thousand souls, one hundred and twenty-five thousand white people, one hundred thousand Kaffirs, and sixty-five thousand Chinese. A visit to the Bible House revealed the fact that the Bible is being sold here in sixty different languages. From Johannesburg we again descended to the sea at Lorenzo Marquez (Delagoa Bay), where we received much kindness at the hands of Consul-General Hollis. From here we took a small Portuguese steamer for Inhambane, where we arrived on Saturday afternoon, March 2. Dr. and Mrs. E. H. Richards have their headquarters at Gikuki, about five miles across the 14 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA bay. Our mission headquarters, which are beautifully located, overlooking the magnificent bay, consist of the mission home, chapel, and printing house, all of which are substantially made and well adapted for the purposes designed, and are entirely free from debt. On the East Coast The church at Gikuki was built by the natives themselves. There is also a new mission house at Kambini which has cost $2,000, mostly provided for by Bishop Hartzell through special gifts. In many respects this work on the Inhambaue District is very remarkable. There is probably nothing like it on all the East Coast. There are now thirty-two stations, and each station means a school and a church, or center for evangeliza¬ tion. The special feature of this work is the primary school in every station for teaching the heathen, children and adults, to read the word of God. This work is carried on mostly through special gifts raised by Bishop Hartzell and Dr. Richards. Through their paper. The Inhambane Christian Advocate, Dr. and Mrs. Richards keep the friends of the mission informed as to what is being done and through the Raven Club they gather supplies for the increasing needs. Dr. Richards also puWishea a paper in the native language. Dawn of Day, which is accom¬ plishing great good. Much other valuable literature has been published by the Inhambane Press, both in English and in the native languages. On Monday afternoon, March 4, we boarded a German steamer for Beira, the port of entry for Eastern and Southern Rhodesia, and 205 miles by rail from IJmtali, the seat of the East Central Africa Mission Conference. We were glad to get up again on the plateau and among the hills, where the nights' are cool and permit sleep. Here, too, we were gladdened by letters from home. The Beautifue Country of Rhodesia Rhodesia is the territory of the British South Africa Com¬ pany, and covers an area of 750,000 square miles. It is mostly a plateau 3,500 feet above the level of the sea. One of the most peculiarly picturesque features of the whole area is the upright RHODESIA 15 granite kopje (hillock or boulder). The climate of Rhodesia is good. In the summer (October to March) the heat is quite intense during the day, but the nights are nearly always cool. The country is rich in minerals and in nearly all kinds of agricultural products. It is destined to become one of the great cattle farms of the world. There are now about 13,000 white people in Rhodesia and 620,000 natives; an increase of twenty- seven per cent in five years, and two thirds of this number are in Mashonaland, where our Methodist work is. These natives own 145,000 head of cattle, 48,000 sheep, and 450,000 goats, and many of them have good cash accounts in the banks. Many parts of Rhodesia are very beautiful, but none more so than Umtali, a beautiful village of English people, 205 miles from the sea and 3,500 feet above the sea. It is on the Beira and Mashonaland railroad, and about halfway between Beira, the port of entry, and Salisbury, the capital. It is charmingly located amid surrounding hills, and reminds one of some of the prettier parts of Switzerland. It was found impracticable to carry the railroad through to where TJmtali was first located, and hence Cecil Rhodes said: “Since the railroad cannot go to Umtali then let us bring Umtali to the railroad.” The present town is about ten miles from Old Umtali. These two places, Umtali and Old Umtali, are the chief centers of our work in Eastern Rhodesia. When the town was moved to its present site all the buildings of the old town were left vacant. It was providential for us that Bishop Hartzell arrived upon the scene at the opportune moment. His vision was broad enough to take in the situation, and he had the ability and courage necessary for the occasion. The British South Africa Company gave to the Methodist Episcopal Church through Bishop Hartzell many of the build¬ ings of Old Umtali and 13,000 acres of surrounding land. We doubt if there has ever been any other one such gift to any of our missions in the world. Since then Bishop Hartzell has relinquished 10,000 acres of the land with the privilege of taking up farms amounting to as many acres in different parts of Rhodesia. This also was a wise step and much to our advantage. Our church still retains at Old Umtali the buildings and 3,000 16 GLIMPSES OF AFKICA acres of land, of which at least 1,500 might immediately be put under the plow. We have seen the buildings and land, read the title deeds, and we do not hesitate to express our un¬ bounded admiration. Here we have buildings and land and equipment worth at least $75,000 with no debt or financial obligations of any kind. The conditions imposed by the com¬ pany ‘‘^have been more than met” according to the words of Sir William Minton, the present Governor of Ehodesia. On this property we have a large mission house, cottages for the district superintendent, the director of the industrial department and his assistant, school buildings and work shops and homes for 100 native boys, besides buildings connected with the farm. Other buildings are being added. There is room for growth. Under wise management and earnest cooperation Old IJmtali may become one of the great mission centers of Africa. In the new Umtali is our academy for the education of white children, a beautiful church for white people, and a prosperous church and school for natives. It would have been very unwise if we had devoted all our attention to the natives and neglected the white people. By evangelizing and educating the white population we are not only saving them, but also making it easier to do a more effective and permanent work among the natives. The Eoman Catholics are zealous in their endeavors to get hold of the white children, who are to be the future builders of this great empire. We should have entirely missed the mark if we had neglected them, especially since nearly all this white work is largely self-supporting. Additions, extensive repairs, and improvements had been made to the buildings at Old Umtali. Successful experiments had been made on the farm, and stock improved. The native boys, who, when they come to our school, pay down $30 for their tuition, have been kept at work in the afternoons as carpenters, bricklayers, stone masons, or farm laborers. Many of these native young men have become efficient helpers, and they go out into the surrounding villages, where they are exerting a beneficent influence on the heathen about them. The reports made of the Conference session in March from the districts, the academy, the native schools, and the Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ sionary Society all called for hymns of thanksgiving. This, our AFRICA’S APPEAL 17 youngest mission in Africa, is certainly destined to become our great mission in Africa. Africa’s Needs To-day One has compared Africa to the Great Sphinx on the banks of the Nile. There it stands or rather crouches, partly buried by desert sands, a strange figure, gigantic, grotesque, voiceless, looking toward the rising sun, as if waiting for a dawn which has been long in coming. It has taken more than a century to open up this vast con¬ tinent and to bring it into relation with the rest of the world. But out of the slumber and seclusion of thousands of years the greater part of the Dark Continent has now been awakened. The term Dark Continent is used not only because the in¬ habitants are black, but because morally and religiously they are in the blackness of darkness. The most gloomy picture cannot surpass the reality. The poorest, narrowest, and most joyless religious conceptions are those of the unenlightened native African. His gods are malignant spirits, demons in all their hideousness. He cannot love them. The African thinks him¬ self beset on every side and at all times by these evil spirits which are constantly seeking his injury and death. To placate these he offers sacrifices, even human sacrifices, wears on his person all kinds of charms, and uses every manner of incantation. It was the missionary spirit which first penetrated the Dark Continent. Hence, in a peculiar sense, Africa should be the mis¬ sionary’s possession. Trade and commerce and civilization have advanced here on the stepping stones of missionary graves. But these missionaries gave their lives not for conquest or glory or personal gain, but for the salvation of Africa. It is a shame therefore that the white man, who has entered into this inher¬ itance, should prostitute it to his own avarice. What an impression one gets in Africa of the wrongs perpe¬ trated by the white man on his black brother! There lingers with us yet the memory of the slave trade, the night raid, the burning villages, families torn apart, the yoke, the chains, the long weary march, and the dismal voyage. All this came troop- 18 GLIMPSES OF AFRICA ing back as we looked upon the hulk of an old slave ship high and dry on the banks of the Congo. In place of this, and for the sake of sordid gain, shall we allow rum to brutalize and modern vices to enslave the negro race ? The importance of Africa to the world does not depend so much upon its material resources as upon what the native of Africa will become, for in the last analysis the world’s wealth is in character and not in gold. Livingstone said, “The opening up of the country is a matter of congratulation only in so far as it opens up a prospect for the elevation of the race,” and this can be done only through missionary agencies. What Africa needs to-day to save her vast millions from fetich idolatry, Mohammedanism, and modern vices, is the Gospel of human kindness and Christian love, the Gospel of the Son of God which saves the whole man. It is the duty of Christian America especially to give to Africa this means of her salvation, and in this matter certainly “the King’s business demands haste,” because it is now or never with a large part of the great continent. What is done now will be more effectual and accomplish greater good than a thousand times more in the years to come. In this Jubilee I wish Bishop Hartzell had asked for a larger sum, for in the four Mission centers he will need many times over the sum named. I sincerely trust, however, that the Church will make it $500,000 instead of $300,000, and thus help to hasten the day of Africa’s redemption. If the coming Jubilee shall provide the necessary means, in fifty years great wonders may be seen in the Dark Continent.