Page images
PDF
EPUB

"In Africa, there are various means whereby it may effectually work to the same end. One of the great impediments at present existing to the advancement of knowledge, is the state of the native languages of Western and Central Africa.

"Amongst the many nations which inhabit those regions, there are certainly many different dialects, and not improbably several leading languages. A few only of those languages have yet been reduced into writing; and, consequently, the difficulty of holding intercourse with the natives, and imparting knowledge to them, is greatly increased. By the adoption of effectual measures for reducing the principal languages of Western and Central Africa into writing, a great obstacle to the diffusion of information will be removed, and facility afforded for the introduction of the truths of Christianity.

"There is another subject, of no light importance, which would legitimately fall within the views of this institution. In Africa, medical science can scarcely be said to exist; yet in no part of the world is it more profoundly respected. As at present understood by the natives, it is intimately connected with the most inveterate and barbarous superstitions; and its artful practitioners, owing their superiority to this popular ignorance, may be expected to interpose the most powerful obstacles to the diffusion of Christianity and of science.

"To encourage, therefore, the introduction of more enlightened views on this subject, to prevent or mitigate the prevalence of disease and suffering among the people of Africa, and to secure the aid of medical science generally to the beneficent objects of African civilization, must be considered of immense importance; nor would its benefits be confined to the native population. It is equally applicable to the investigation of the climate and localities of that country. To render Africa a salubrious residence for European constitutions may be a hopeless task; but to diminish the danger, to point out the means whereby persons proceeding thither may most effectually guard against its perils, may, perhaps, be effected; nor must it be forgotten, that, in however humble a degree this advantage can be attained, its value cannot be too highly appreciated.

"Various other measures may come within the legitimate scope of this institution. It may be sufficient to recapitulate a few: The encouragement of practical science, in all its various branches. The system of drainage best calculated to succeed in a climate so humid and so

hot, would be an invaluable boon to all who frequent that great continent, whatever might be their purpose. Though this Society would not embark in agriculture, it might afford essential assistance to the natives, by furnishing them with useful information as to the best mode of cultivation; as to the productions which command a steady market, and by introducing the most approved agricultural implements and seeds. The time may come, when the knowledge and practice of the mighty powers of steam might contribute rapidly to promote the improvement and prosperity of that country.

"Even matters of comparatively less moment may engage the attention of the Society. It may assist in promoting the formation of roads and canals. The manufacture of paper, and the use of the printing-press, if once established in Africa, will be amongst the most powerful auxiliaries in the dispersion of ignorance, and the destruction of barbarism.

"It is hoped that enough has now been stated, to justify the Society in calling for the aid and co-operation of all who hold in just abhorrence the iniquitous traffic in human beings; of all who deeply deplore the awful crimes which have so long afflicted, and still continue to devastate, Africa; of all who remember with deep sorrow and contrition that share which Great Britain so long continued to have in producing those scenes of bloodshed and of guilt. A variety of collateral means has thus been suggested, sufficiently important and interesting to demonstrate the necessity of a distinct Society, and to entitle it to the best wishes and firmest support of every sincere friend of Africa.'

(Pages 3-9.)

It is gratifying to discover, that Mr. Buxton and his friends set out upon the principle, that Christianity is the primary means of civilization. Had they not duly recognised this principle, they might have met with a disappointment similar to that which was experienced in America, as the result of endeavours to civilize the native Indian population. Persevering efforts to raise a barbarous people to the condition of civilized nations, without the application of the Gospel, were made on a grand scale in the United States; but the experiment completely failed and the removal of the Indians to the far west was then resolved

:

upon, on the assumed principle, that they were incapable of being trained and fitted to hold peaceful, beneficial intercourse with their civilized white neighbours. Most erroneous was the conclusion to which the disappointed philanthropists of America came; for some of those very tribes which were thus given up as irreclaimable, were afterwards, under the teaching of Christian Missionaries, elevated and civilized. But that whole history serves to show how important it is, that a work of philanthropy be commenced upon sound principles, that we may be saved from the temptation to abandon the work itself as impracticable, when success is withheld from ill-judged mea

sures.

On the primary importance of Christianity, Mr. Buxton, however, shall speak for himself.

[ocr errors]

"The Gospel," he argues, "ever has been, and ever must be, the grand civilizer of mankind. Happily for Africa, a mass of evidence is to be found, corroborative of this assertion, in the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, in the sessions 1833 and 1834, on the Aborigines Question; appointed to consider, amongst other things, 'what measures ought to be adopted to promote the spread of civilization among the aborigines of our colonies, and to lead them to the peaceful and voluntary reception of the Christian religion.' A main branch of that inquiry was, whether the experience of the several Missionary Societies led to the belief, that it would be advisable to begin with civilization, in order to introduce Christianity, or with Christianity, in order to lead to civilization.' It is a striking fact, that the representatives of the Missionary bodies who were examined on that occasion, without any previous concert between themselves on the subject of the inquiry, arrived at precisely the same conclusion; namely, that there is no means so effectual, under the divine blessing, to benefit man for the life that now is, as well as that which is to come, as Christianity.' (Pages 502, 503.)

[ocr errors]

Having given copious extracts from the evidence of Messrs. Coates, Beecham, and Ellis, the Missionary Secretaries referred to in the preceding quotation, and also of Mr. Elisha Bates, a member of the So

ciety of Friends in America, Mr. Buxton concludes :

"From these facts, gathered from different sources, the inference does not appear by any means doubtful, that, whatever methods may be attempted for ameliorating the condition of untutored man, THIS alone can penetrate to the root of the evil, can teach him to love and to befriend his neighbour, and cause him to act as a candidate for a higher and holier state of being.

"The hope, therefore, of effecting Africa's civilization, and of inducing her tribes to relinquish the trade in man, is, without this assistance, utterly vain. This mighty lever, when properly applied, can alone overturn the iniquitous systems which prevail throughout that continent. Let Missionaries and Schoolmasters, the plough and the spade, go together, and agriculture will flourish; the avenues to legitimate commerce will be opened; confidence between man and man will be inspired; whilst civilization will advance as the natural effect, and Christianity operate as the proximate cause, of this happy change."

(Pages 510, 511.)

Had Mr. Buxton, and the Society which he has had the honour of originating, confined themselves, like the philanthropists of a former day, simply and exclusively to the extinction of the slavetrade, we are not prepared to say that that object might not, after all, have been accomplished, to a considerable extent, without the direct application of the Gospel. It is a fact which deserves to be noticed, that, wherever British settlements have been planted in Africa, the slave-trade has been stopped. This is the case at Sierra-Leone, the Gambia, and the Gold-Coast, on the western side of Africa; and on the south-eastern coast, so far as the influence of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope extends, say for one thousand miles, the slave-trade has no existence; but no sooner do we get within the range of Portuguese influence, than immediately the accursed traffic is again discoverable, in all its horrors. Such striking facts may possibly warrant the conclusion, that were British settlements, for the purposes of legitimate

commerce, multiplied along the coasts of Africa, the slave-trade would thereby be greatly diminished. But its suppression, by such a process, would not meet the whole case of Africa. Her population would not be elevated and civilized by such means. The interior might, notwithstanding, remain a theatre of blood, on which the most dreadful scenes would still be perpetrated; for the reason that the slave-trade is not the only cause of the native wars. In this edition, Mr. Buxton has greatly enriched the first part of his work, by adding a chapter on the superstitions and cruelties of the Africans. And we may remark, that these fruitful sources of misery would remain, were the slavetrade abolished on such a limited plan as we are now supposing. În places where the slave-trade might be extinguished, simply by the influence of British commercial settlements on the coast, the native African would remain, notwithstanding, a fierce and uncivilized barbarian. Legitimate commerce will not, of itself, civilize; and abundance of evidence could be adduced, were it necessary, to show that, in parts of Africa, where an innocent commerce, instead of the traffic in human flesh, has been carried on during the last thirty years, the natives remain as much as ever under the influence of their cruel and demoralizing customs and superstitions.

To meet the entire case of Africa, and to make suitable reparation for the wrongs which we have inflicted upon her by the encouragement of the slave-trade, the introduction of Christianity, it thus appears, is indispensably necessary. That alone can break the influence which superstition now exerts upon the native mind, and introduce the peaceful and tender humanities into social and domestic life; and in the course of this regenerating process, the extinction of the slave-trade will take place as one only of the delightful results of true civilization.

There is yet, however, another view under which the importance of Christianity might be argued. With

out it, the domestic slavery of Africa cannot be extinguished. Mr. Buxton's plan has, indeed, been objected to, on the ground that it will cherish domestic slavery; and that may possibly be its apparent tendency for a time; but it is far less open to the objection than any other plan which has yet been submitted to the public. The objection would seem to rest upon the principle, that African domestic slavery is merely a concomitant of the foreign slave-trade, and that it would soon die away, were the slave-trade itself abolished. A more erroneous view of the subject could not possibly be entertained. Domestic slavery enters into the genius of African polity, and is interwoven with the entire social and domestic superstructure. By whatever method, then, the foreign slavetrade may be abolished, this great evil would remain untouched, unless, at the same time, means have been employed to change the African character. The native Kings and Chiefs would still have the time, the service, and the lives of their slaves at their absolute disposal; and would employ them in the cultivation of the ground, or in any other way which would provide for themselves the means of sustenance, and minister to their wants and gratification. If, then, the plan of Mr. Turnbull and others should be carried into effect, and the slave-trade should be abolished simply by cutting off the demand on the other side of the Atlantic, the domestic slavery of Africa would remain the same. The labours of the slaves might be partly directed into a new channel; but they would remain slaves still, wholly at the beck of their imperious lords. This, we say, would be the inevitable result of such a plan; because it is not framed with a view to operate directly upon Africa herself, and effect a change in the African character. Mr. Turnbull calculates that his plan will indirectly promote legitimate commerce and industry in Africa; but, should this be the case, it would be more likely that domestic slavery would be thereby encouraged, than on the plan of Mr. Buxton, which is to be worked out, not

on the other side of the Atlantic, but in Africa itself; which will embrace every provision that prudence can dictate for discountenancing domestic slavery, and affording encouragement to free labour; and which, above all, contemplates the general diffusion of the Christian religion. If this grand and comprehensive scheme be fully carried into effect, and the African despot be taught to recognise, and treat as a brother, the abject slave who now trembles at his frown, the final and complete extinction of domestic slavery will follow as another of its legitimate results. But let all parties be solemnly assured, that, by whatever means the foreign slave-trade may be eventually abolished, unless the Gospel be fully and fairly applied, and the native character be moulded and fashioned anew by Christianity, domestic slavery will continue to crush the far greater portion of the population of Africa.

[ocr errors]

concurring in a common standard of doctrine and form of worship for Africa. And, after all, it is better that the work of Christian instruction should be left to Missionary bodies. The dissemination of the Gospel will be accomplished much more effectually by institutions formed for that express purpose, than by a Society which should have a multiplicity of objects in view. Had the African Society proposed to impart Christian instruction by agents of their own, the work of Christianizing the African could only have shared their attention with many other departments of useful exertion; but Missionary Societies devote to this work their undivided attention and care, and are, consequently, the most likely agents to prosecute it with vigour and success. And, more than this, their agents will obtain more readily the confidence of the African. Making it their one business to promote his spiritual and eternal interests, they will more easily convince him that they have no sinister ends in view, but that they are really his friends, intent on promoting his welfare, than as if they were mixed up and identified with commercial plans and undertakings.

But, although the African Society, for weighty reasons, does not impose upon itself the task of imparting religious instruction, it will prove a powerful coadjutor to Missionary Societies, and, indirectly, at least, contribute in many ways to the spread of Christianity in Africa. This will appear, as we proceed with the examination of its plans.

The African Society, as we will designate the new institution, for the sake of brevity, do not, however, propose to teach Christianity, directly and immediately, by an by an agency of their own. Distinctly avowing, that the substitution of our pure and holy faith for the false religion, idolatry, and superstitions of Africa, is, in their firm conviction, the true ultimate remedy for the calamities that afflict her;" they, notwithstanding, devolve upon others the task of providing the appointed means for its introduction and diffusion. At first sight, the course which they mark out for themselves may appear somewhat contradictory to the views they express; but, on consideration, it will be found, that the Society have been guided by sound wisdom, in the practical conclusion which they have adopted. The attempt would have been hopeless, to frame a common method of Christian instruction, which a Society, composed of individuals of so many different religious persuasions, could agree to adopt. The same reasons which attach them, as individuals, to their own respective creeds and modes of worship, would naturally have prevented them from VOL. XIX. Third Series. JULY, 1840.

The expedition to the Niger is the first specific measure which demands attention. Where shall the work of African civilization be commenced? was the question which presented itself, as soon as it was determined that the extinction of the slave-trade should be sought by the regeneration of Africa herself. The plan of commencing on the western coast, where British settlements already exist, and of penetrating from thence into the interior, was destitute of plausibility; but it was preferred to aim, in the first in2 T

not

stance, directly at the heart of Africa, and begin with the countries contiguous to the Niger. It redounds greatly to the credit of Her Majesty's Ministers, that they entered cordially into the philanthropic scheme; and, early in the present session, recommended to Parliament that an exploratory expedition should be dispatched to the Niger, for the purpose of collecting information, and otherwise facilitating the work of African civilization. An extract of a letter, under date December 26th, 1839, from the Right Honourable Lord John Russell, to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, which is given in the Appendix to this volume, will be read with interest; as explanatory of the important objects which, in the apprehension of the Government, this expedition will be calculated to accomplish. Having dwelt at length on the increase of the slave-trade, in defiance of all the means hitherto used to prevent it, his Lordship proceeds :

"Her Majesty's confidential advisers are therefore compelled to admit the conviction, that it is indispensable to enter upon some new preventive system, calculated to arrest the foreign slave-trade in its source, by counteracting the principles by which it is now sustained. Although it may be impossible to check the cupidity of those who purchase slaves for exportation from Africa, it may yet be possible to force on those by whom they are sold the persuasion, that they are engaged in a traffic opposed to their own interests, when correctly understood.

"With this view, it is proposed to establish new commercial relations with those African Chiefs or powers within whose dominions the internal slave-trade of Africa is carried on, and the external slave-trade supplied with its victims. To this end, the Queen has directed her Ministers to negotiate conventions or agreements with those Chiefs and powers, the basis of which conventions would be, first, the abandonment and absolute prohibition of the slave-trade; and, secondly, the admission for consumption in this country, on favourable terms, of goods, the produce or manufacture of the territories subject to them. Of those Chiefs, the most considerable rule over the countries adjacent to the Niger, and its great tributary streams. It is there

fore proposed, to dispatch an expedition, which would ascend that river by steamboats, as far as the points at which it receives the confluence of some of the

principal rivers falling into it from the eastward. At these, or at any other, stations which may be found more favourable for the promotion of a legiti mate commerce, it is proposed to establish British factories, in the hope that the natives may be taught that there are methods of employing the population more profitable to those to whom they are subject, than that of converting them into slaves, and selling them for exportation to the slave-traders.

"In this communication, it would be out of place, and, indeed, impracticable, to enter upon a full detail of the plan itself; of the ulterior measures to which it may lead, or of the reasons which induce Her Majesty's Government to believe that it may eventually lead to the substitution of an innocent and profitable commerce, for that traffic by which the continent of Africa has so long been desolated. For my immediate purpose, it will be sufficient to say, that, having maturely weighed these questions, and with a full perception of the difficulties which may attend this undertaking, the Ministers of the Crown are yet convinced that it affords the best, if not the only, prospect of accomplishing the great object so earnestly desired by the Queen, by her Parliament, and her people.

"Having instituted a careful inquiry as to the best and most economical method of conducting the proposed expedition, I find, from the enclosed communication from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that it will be necessary to build three iron steam-vessels for this service, and that the first cost of those vessels, including provisions and stores for six months, will amount to £35,000. It further appears, that the annual charge of paying and victualling the officers and men will be £10,546. The salaries of the conductors of the expedition, and of their Chaplain and Surgeon, will probably amount to £4,000. In addition to this expenditure, presents must be purchased for the Chiefs, and tents, mathematical instruments, with some other articles of a similar kind, will be indispensable, for the use of the persons who are to be engaged in this service, when at a distance from their vessels. I have some time since given directions for the completion of this additional estimate; but with those directions it has not hitherto been found practicable to comply. The charge for this branch of the

« PreviousContinue »