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The origin of this Colony has such an intimate connection with the rise of the Anti-Slavery sentiment in England, and the adoption of the measures which have done so much toward the redemption of Africa, that the principal facts of its history must be stated.

On the 22d of May, 1772, Lord Mansfield decided the memorable Somerset case, and pronounced it unlawful to hold a slave in Great Britain. Previous to this date, many slaves had been introduced into English families, and, on running away, the fugitives had been delivered up to their masters, by order of the Court of King's Bench, under Lord Mansfield; but now the poor African, no longer hunted as a beast of prey, in the streets of London, slept under his roof, miserable as it might be, in perfect security.

Here, then, was first conceived the idea of African colonization; but this benevolent scheme could not be executed at once, and the blacks--indigent, unemployed, despised, forlorn, vicious--became such nuisances, as to make it necessary they should be sent somewhere, and no longer suffered to infest the streets of London. Private benevolence could not be sufficiently enlisted in their behalf, and fifteen years passed away, when Government, anxious to remove what it regarded as injurious, at last came to the aid of Mr. Sharp, and supplied the means of their transportation and support.

In April, 1787, these colored people, numbering over 400, were put on shipboard for Africa, and, in the following month, were landed in Sierra Leone. A plentiful supply of rum had been furnished, and, for reasons unexplained, they were accompanied by 60 whites, most of whom were females of the worst character. Intemperance and debauchery so generally prevailed, during the voyage, that nearly one half of them died on the passage and within four months after landing. The sickness of their chaplain, the deaths of their agents, and the consequent desertions of the emigrants, reduced the Colony, during the first year, to 40 persons, and endangered its existence. The next year, 39 new emigrants arrived, with abundant supplies, and the deserters returned, so as to secure a force of 130 persons to the Colony. During the following year, internal discord, succeeded by an attack from a native chief, dispersed the colonists throughout the country; and, again, through Mr. Sharp's exertions, an agent was sent to their relief, who collected them together, and furnished arms for their defense.

In March, 1792, a reinforcement of 1,131 blacks, from Nova Scotia, arrived at Sierra Leone. These men were fugitive slaves, who had joined the English during the American Revolutionary war, and had been promised lands in Nova Scotia; but the government having failed to meet its pledge, and the climate proving unfavorable, they sought refuge in Africa. A fever which had attacked the emigrants in Halifax, and from which 65 had died on the passage, still prevailed among them after landing; so that, from its effects, together with the influence of the climate, 130 more died the first year in Sierra Leone.

About this time the Colony passed from the care of Mr. Sharp, to that of the Company. This led to the sending of 119 whites, along with a Governor, as counselors, physicians, soldiers, clerks, overseers, artificers, settlers, and servants. Of this company 57 died within the year, 22 returned, and 40 remained.

As soon as health would permit, the Nova Scotia fugitives proceeded to work vigorously, in clearing lands and building houses; and, in the succeeding year, two churches were erected, and a school of 300 pupils established.

These fugitives must have been men of more than ordinary energy of character. This opinion is sustained by the subsequent events of their history. When the French fleet, in 1794, burned their houses and destroyed their property, it was but a short time until the Colony was again in a prosperous condition. But their physical energy and industry, were not their most remarkable characteristics. When Granville Sharp's mild system of government, admitting colored men to share in its administration, was superseded by the more rigid laws of the Company, which excluded them from office, they resisted the change. Though, in America, they had fought on the side of Britain, in Africa, they espoused the cause of Republican principles. Their disappointment in not receiving the promised lands in Nova Scotia, had given them no very favorable opinion of English justice. When required to submit to the authority of the Governor, and to a different policy from what they had embraced on emigrating, they denied they owed subjection to the new laws, or to any laws except of their own enactment. Ascertaining that the legal powers of the Company were inadequate to the enforcement of its authority, they boldly asserted their claim to the sovereignty, and their right to exclude from the administration all but officers of their own choice. Parliament, on learning the posture of affairs, at once granted the Company ample powers to extinguish this little blaze of Democracy; but the Colonists as resolutely determined to resist; and, on September 10th, 1800, announced their purpose of assuming all political power in the settlement. The Governor, left in the minority, had to employ the natives to aid him. As the insurgents refused all accommodation, there was no alternative but a resort to force. At this moment, 550 Maroons, from Jamaica, were landed; and, joining the Governor, he was enabled to defeat the rebels. Three of the leaders in this struggle were taken and afterwards executed; and so well pleased was Parliament, at seeing Democracy cut up by the roots, that it voted the Governor 5,000, to erect a fortification and aid in paying the Company's debts.

Two subsequent attacks by the natives, together with the urgent appeals of the Company, led the Government, the first of January, 1808, to assume the sovereignty over the Colony, and provide for its safety. This measure was the more agreeable to Granville Sharp and the Company, as he had sunk ,000 and it 0,000 in the enterprise. The arrangement was equally necessary to England, as, in that year, she rendered herself illustrious by the abolition of the slave trade; and needed Sierra Leone to carry on her operations, and to provide for the slaves she might rescue from the traders.

Missions for the benefit of this Colony, were first attempted in 1792, again in 1795, and in 1797; but all these efforts failed; because of the disaffection of the Nova Scotia fugitives, and because the slave trade, then a legal traffic to British subjects, was prosecuted everywhere upon the African coast, and even within Sierra Leone. In 1804, the Church Missionary Society sent out its missionaries, with orders to seek for stations out of the colony, because of the opposition within it; but in this they did not succeed. In 1808, when the slave trade was abolished, these missionaries commenced ten stations beyond the limits of the Colony, according to their instructions, but were unable to sustain them. The natives, interested in the slave trade, burned the mission houses and churches, destroyed the growing crops of the missionaries, threatened their lives, and otherwise persecuted them. When England abandoned the traffic in slaves, she but surrendered its monopoly to France, Spain and Portugal; hence, there was no diminution of its extent, or abatement of its horrors, but a vast increase of both: and, as the missions from 1792 to 1808, failed both in and out of the Colony; so the continuance of the trade, beyond its limits, after 1808, drove the missionaries within its jurisdiction, to enjoy its protection. But these stations were not abandoned, until after a long struggle to sustain them--the last one having been maintained until 1818.

From 1808, the work of missions in Sierra Leone, was successfully begun; and the first dawn of hope for oppressed Africa, arose with the first blow aimed at the slave-trade. Up to this date, the slave-trader had held undisputed sway on the coast of Africa, and the introduction of the Gospel was impossible. The slave-trade, it would seem, is an evil so horrid, that the Almighty refused to give success to the missionary, unless that outrage upon humanity should first be suppressed.

The Episcopal mission, established in Sierra Leone, in 1808, has been continued without interruption, except what necessarily arose from the great mortality among the missionaries. A college and several schools were established at an early day, in which orphan and destitute children were boarded and instructed. Besides teaching the schools, the missionaries preached to the adults, a few of whom embraced the Gospel; but no very encouraging progress was made for many years. In 1817, however, the labors expended began to unfold their effects, and the mission to make encouraging advances; so that, by 1832, it had 638 communicants and 294 candidates in its churches, 684 Sabbath school scholars, and 1,388 pupils in its day-schools.

But these colonies of Recaptured Africans, are too important an agency in the redemption of Africa, to be passed over without further consideration; so that their position and that of Liberia, in this respect, may be clearly comprehended. In addition to Sierra Leone, they include several minor stations; two of which are on the Gambia, and the others on the coast east of Liberia.

From documents presented to Parliament, it appears, that, in 1850, there was a Christian population, in Sierra Leone, of more than 36,000, out of about 45,000. In this population, it was estimated, that there were representatives of no fewer than one hundred different tribes, speaking different languages and dialects; so that there are already converts prepared, as far as the knowledge of the languages is concerned, to go forth in every direction, and to explain to their countrymen, in their own tongue, the truths of revelation. Since the subject was before Parliament, BISHOP VIDAL has commenced his labors, and this question has received particular attention. It has been ascertained that no fewer than 151 distinct languages, besides several dialects, are spoken in Sierra Leone. They have been arranged under 26 groups; but there still remain 54 unclassified, which are more distinct from each other, and from all the rest, than the languages of Europe are from one another; thus unfolding to the view of the Christian philanthropist, an agency, in the course of preparation, which, under Divine Providence, may carry the Gospel to the unnumbered millions of immortal souls inhabiting the continent of Africa.

A few facts will show that this is not an idle speculation, but that she has successfully entered upon her great mission.

Among the Recaptured Africans introduced into Sierra Leone, and brought under the civilizing influences of its Christian institutions, none have made such rapid progress as the people of Yoruba, a country lying eastward of the kingdom of Dahomey. Their first appearance in the Colony was about 1822. Many of them soon acquired a considerable amount of intelligence and a little property. In 1839, they had become quite numerous, and a party of them purchased a vessel, hired a white captain, and commenced a traffic with Badagry. This town is at a point on the coast from which the Yoruba country can be most easily reached. The trade thus begun soon led to a rapid emigration from Sierra Leone, and the planting of missions at both Badagry and Abbeokuta, the capital of Yoruba.

Abbeokuta is a walled city, founded in 1825, from the fragments of the tribes of the kingdom of Yoruba, who escaped the invading armies of the Fellatahs, while this powerful people were the principal "slave hunters" for the traders of the western coast of Africa. It contains the remains of 130 towns, and at present embraces a population of nearly 100,000. Badagry, in 1850, contained about 11,000 inhabitants. The Sierra Leone emigrants, at the former city, numbered three thousand, and, at the latter, several hundred. At the period when the emigration commenced, and for several years afterward, the slave-trade prevailed on the coast; and the people of Badagry and Abbeokuta were engaged in supplying the market with slaves. This led them to wage frequent wars, and kept up feelings of hostility throughout the country. In these slave hunts, the people of Lagos bore a conspicuous part. This town is about 36 miles to the eastward of Badagry, is large and populous, and had hitherto been the head-quarters of the slave-trade in the Bight of Benin. The river Ossa, a lagoon, running parallel with the coast, unites these two places.

The Episcopal Mission at Sierra Leone, sent an exploring committee to Abbeokuta in 1842, and early in 1845 its first missionaries landed at Badagry. In both instances they found the Wesleyans in advance of them. Being unable to reach Abbeokuta, on account of existing wars, a mission was founded at Badagry. In 1846, a noted slave-dealer of the coast, forced the warring tribes to cease hostilities, that he might collect his slaves from the interior; and the missionaries, embracing this moment of peace, were enabled to reach Abbeokuta.

Among the Episcopal Missionaries, was the Rev. Samuel Crowther, a native of Yoruba, who had been captured by the Fellatahs, in 1821, and sold to the traders at Lagos. Shipped on board a slaver for Brazil, recaptured by an English cruizer, educated at Sierra Leone, ordained to the ministry of the Gospel in England, he had now returned, after twenty-five years of sanctified captivity, to proclaim the way of salvation to his relatives and countrymen; and he had the inexpressible gratification of finding his mother and two sisters, soon after his arrival, and of being instrumental in her conversion to Christianity.

The chiefs of Abbeokuta received the missionaries with kindness; and, no wonder, as some of them had relatives of their own, sitting by them, who had been liberated by the English.

With the favorable regard of the chiefs, and the co-operation of many of the emigrants from Sierra Leone, the Gospel, for a time, had free course in Abbeokuta; and its population listened with a willing ear to the offers of eternal life. But, in 1848, the native priests, priestesses, and slave-catchers, stirred up a spirit of persecution against the converts, and the Gospel was greatly hindered. This persecution continued, with some intervals in its violence, throughout the two succeeding years. In January, 1851, the British consul, Mr. Beecroft, visited Abbeokuta, and his presence had a salutary effect in overawing the enemies of Christianity, and disposing the chiefs to abandon the slave-trade. He gave them notice, also, that the king of Dahomey had projected an attack upon their city, in his next campaign for capturing slaves, and that his Amazons had doomed it to destruction.

Thus warned, the walls were somewhat repaired, and the population roused to a sense of their danger; when, on March 3d, 1851, the Dahomian army, of 10,000 men and 6,000 women, made an assault upon the city. Abbeokuta had only 8,000 warriors to oppose this force; but many of its women ran to and fro, amidst the flying bullets, with food and water for the soldiers on the walls, that they might remain at their posts to fight for life and liberty. For six long hours the murderous strife continued, when the Dahomians began to waver, and the Abbeokutans, rushing out, put them to flight; and, pressing closely on their rear, continued the slaughter until darkness led them to return. At early dawn the pursuit was renewed, and, at seventeen miles distance, another battle ensued in which the Abbeokutans were again victorious. The loss of the Dahomians was 3,000 killed and 1,000 taken prisoners. Of the slain nearly 1,800 were left before the walls of Abbeokuta. These were the flower of the enemy's army, chiefly women, who are always placed foremost in the battles, as more reliable than the men.

Thus was Abbeokuta and its missionaries mercifully delivered from destruction. Even the heathen openly acknowledged that they owed the victory to the God of the Christians; and all felt that the missionaries were their truest friends.

In November, following, Capt. Forbes, of her Majesty's navy, was commissioned to negotiate treaties with the authorities of Abbeokuta. He found but little difficulty in persuading the chiefs to sign a treaty for the abolition of the slave-trade and human sacrifices--enormities which had extensively prevailed--and for the extension of the missions into the interior, and the toleration of religion. Having taken with him several cannon, he planted them on the walls of the city, and taught some of the citizens how to use them.

The mission in Abbeokuta, being thus freed from embarrassment, is prospering, and the missionaries are extending their operations to the neighboring towns. It would seem, indeed, as if the whole of the Yoruba territory were bidding the missionary welcome, and encouraging him onward in the work of its evangelization. The Gospel, it is true, still meets with opposition; but the chiefs, mostly, are friendly and send their children to the schools. Open persecution is no longer permitted; and, but for the continual apprehension of another attack from Dahomey, the missionaries would seem to be secured against farther interruptions.

But while the missions are prosperous at Abbeokuta, far different have been the results at Badagry. The events that have transpired at the two places, have also been very different. Akitoye, the lawful king of Lagos, was driven away in 1845, and fled first to Abbeokuta and then to Badagry. Kosoko, the usurper, being in league with the king of Dahomey, engaged largely in the slave-trade and kept up constant wars on the neighboring towns. Some of the chiefs at Badagry espoused the cause of Akitoye, while others resolved to support Kosoko. Akitoye was friendly to the missions and attended the Sabbath-school and preaching; but his opponents were the enemies of the missionaries and engaged in the slave-trade. In June, 1851, Kosoko and his party attacked Akitoye, in Badagry, and for two days the demons of cruelty, rapine, and murder, reigned triumphant in the town; and only left it when it was reduced to ruins. Fire and sword had done their utmost on Badagry; and nothing escaped the devouring element but the two mission premises, and the chief part of the English trading house. During the remainder of the year, all was confusion and ruin. The Abbeokutans sent 800 men to the aid of Akitoye, and by one party or the other, the towns along the Ossa were destroyed without mercy.

It is worthy of remark, that at Badagry, as at Sierra Leone, the mission made no progress while the population were engaged in the slave-trade. Neither of the three Episcopal missionaries, who labored in Badagry, either alone or conjointly, were permitted to see any satisfactory fruit of their spiritual labors. The town yet remains nearly in ruins--a few of the inhabitants, only, having returned and rebuilt their houses. Lagos, therefore, was selected as the head-quarters of the mission, and Badagry reduced to an out-station, with only a catechist.

The treaty between the chiefs of Abbeokuta and Captain Forbes, bound them to promote the interests of the missions, and to abolish the slave-trade. It secured to them, in turn, the protection of England. But Kosoko, of Lagos, and his confederates, resolved to prevent the introduction of Christianity, civilization and legitimate traffic into that region, to destroy Abbeokuta, and to persevere in the slave-trade. The British squadron, therefore, having found its efforts by sea, to suppress the traffic, altogether unavailing, and to save its ally, Abbeokuta, from destruction, proceeded to Lagos, December, 1851, bombarded the town, took it in possession, dethroned Kosoko, and restored Akitoye to his rightful possessions. So imminent was the danger to Abbeokuta, that Kosoko had marched at the head of a large army to destroy it, and was only diverted from his purpose by the attack upon his capital. The Portuguese slave-dealers were immediately expelled, and thus, for the moment, the slave-trade was suppressed in the Bight of Benin.

But the hateful slave-trade, of which Lagos had long been the chief mart, had thoroughly engrained itself in the thoughts, habits, and hearts of the people. Taught by the slave-dealer to consider the English as natural enemies, they only awaited a suitable opportunity to renew a trade so lucrative as the capture and sale of their fellow men. Accordingly, about nine months after the expulsion of Kosoko, the Portuguese traders returned and secretly renewed the traffic in slaves. Akitoye, faithful to his treaty with the English, interposed his authority for its suppression. This led to an insurrection against him and for the restoration of Kosoko. The Portuguese supplied the insurgents with arms and ammunition; and, on the morning of August 6th, 1853, the war commenced in the streets of Lagos. The contest was kept up till night, many were killed and wounded on both sides, and the greater part of the town destroyed by fire. One of the mission houses was consumed, with nearly all of its contents; and the other would have shared the same fate, but for the protection afforded by the army of Akitoye, and by Capt. Gardner, of the British navy, then in port with his vessel. A cessation of hostilities took place for a few days, during which Kosoko entered the town and joined the rebels. The union of his forces with theirs, gave him a great superiority over Akitoye; and the missionaries, and the English consul, had no other expectation but that they would all be murdered. At this critical moment, Admiral Bruce, with a part of his squadron, appeared in sight, landed nine gun-boats, well manned, and sent a detachment of marines to protect the missionaries. This alarmed Kosoko, and, on the night following, August 13, he and his allies stole out of Lagos. Thus was the mission once more providentially delivered from destruction.

On the 2d of September, King Akitoye died suddenly, and his son, Dosumu, was elected in his stead. How far he may be able or willing to resist the renewal of the slave-trade remains to be seen. The missionaries, at the latest advices, were greatly discouraged, being worn down with fatigue and anxiety, and almost shut out from the hope of planting the Gospel in Lagos, as it has been done in Abbeokuta.

These important movements show how the English Colonies are operating as agencies in extending civilization and the Gospel in Africa; and how the Providence of God is overruling the wicked actions of men for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.

Now, mark the difference: in 66 years, Sierra Leone, aided by a large naval squadron, has grown into a British Colony of 45,000 subjects; while, in 33 years, or half the time, Liberia, with an influx of only 1,044 recaptured Africans, has become a Republic of 80,000 citizens.

As to the success of the Missions in the two colonies, accurate statistics are not at hand; but from what has been stated, it appears that for the first 30 years of their existence, the increase in Liberia has been more than double that in Sierra Leone.

With these facts before us, it becomes a matter of great moment to determine what has been the cause of the difference in the prosperity of the two Colonies. It can not be attributed to any great inequality between their emigrants, as, mostly, they had an identity of origin; nor to any great difference among the natives, as the diversity of languages in the one, would be balanced by the greater degradation of the other. Then, as there was, originally, no material difference in their populations, the greater success of the citizens of Liberia, in maintaining their civil and religious institutions, can not be a result of their attainments under the slavery of the United States, but must be a consequence of their intellectual advancement after reaching the Colony. Neither can the cause of the difference be found in the educational and religious institutions of the two Colonies, as these are identical in both. The difference, therefore, can exist, only, in the greater extent of the social and civil privileges which the Liberians have enjoyed in their form of government. Look at the facts. From the time Sierra Leone passed out of the hands of Granville Sharp, the colored people have been excluded from participating in the government. The offices have been filled with white men, who reside among the negroes, in the position and attitude of a superior race, born to command; while the colonists are made to feel that their destiny is to obey: hence, in prosecuting their education, the youth of that Colony have had their mental powers dwarfed, by the absence of the stimulants which the hope of social and political advancement afford. In Liberia the policy has been the reverse. From the beginning, the minor offices were held by the colored men; and for the past twelve years, no white man has held any office, civil or military, in the Colony. Thus, the posts of honor have been open to the competition of every Liberian; and, catching the progressive spirit of the age, the colonists have aspired to the dignity of Nationality; have established an Independent Republic; and have progressed, in their civil and religious relations, with a rapidity doubly as great as Sierra Leone.

But time will not allow us to extend our comparisons. The superiority of the free institutions of Liberia, as an agency for overcoming the obstacles to civilization and Christianity in Africa, will be farther noticed in the progress of our investigations. At present we need only say, in relation to both Colonies, that, as the result of English and American philanthropy, there is now a line of coast of more than 1,800 miles, from the Gambia on the West, to Lagos on the East, where the slave-trade is suppressed, and Christianity is introduced; and, that within this region, once the undisputed empire of the slave-trader, there are now 30,000 attendants on public worship, 10,300 church members, 152 schools, 13,600 pupils, and a band of teachers, nearly all of whom are natives or Liberians.

Such are the results within these Colonies, where the missionaries have enjoyed the protection of Government, and the aid of civilized colored men; such are the fruits of the English and American Colonization of the African race on the soil of their Father-land; and such the prospects of the moral redemption of the people of that continent, by the return of its captive sons, bearing in their hands the lamp of the Gospel.

A full history of these missions, including the facts illustrative of the obstacles to the progress of Christianity, where the restraints of civil government are not felt by the population, would be of thrilling interest. But this would require a volume. We must limit ourselves to two or three; and shall first direct attention to those of the American Board on the Gaboon, in West Africa, and among the Zulus, in South Africa.

The first of these missions was begun in 1834, at Cape Palmas; but owing to mistaken impressions in relation to the influence of the Colonies on the work, it was removed, in 1842, to the Gaboon, 1200 miles eastward. On entering this region, the missionary, the Rev. J. L. Wilson, encouraged by the attention of the chiefs, entertained such hopes of success, as to lead the Board to send additional missionaries to his aid. Some of the native converts at Cape Palmas, accompanying him to the Gaboon, served as a nucleus for a church at the new station. But on trial, the difficulties inherent in African heathenism were found to be much more perplexing and insurmountable, in his new field, than those he left behind in his old one.

The Report of the Board for 1850, says: "There is yet but one Church in the mission, and this contains 22 members, 11 of whom were received on profession of their faith, in 1849--a greater number than have been received in all the years since the removal of the mission to the Gaboon. Here, as in South Africa, the habit of taking many wives, or rather concubines, operates as a great hindrance to the Gospel; and the evil is much aggravated by the late free introduction of American Rum, which has exerted a most pernicious influence all along the coast."

A letter from the Rev. Mr. Wilson, of March, 1851, draws a still more discouraging picture of the prospects of the mission: "In some respects," he says, "our missionary operations seem to be quite stationary. We have had no accessions to our church for some time past; and some who were added last year, do not give us all the satisfaction we had hoped for. If we had other converts, we should be almost afraid to receive them into the church, by reason of the many temptations to which they are exposed; growing out of the loose and perverted state of morals in this community. Nor do we see how society can be placed on such a footing as to make it possible for us to organize a pure Church, until there is a general outpouring of God's Spirit upon the people." Then, depicting the general prevalence of polygamy, or what is worse, Mr. Wilson thus concludes: "Demoralizing as this state of society is, the people are, nevertheless, firmly attached to it, and will continue to be so, until they are inspired with better and purer feelings by the Holy Ghost."

Dr. Ford, another member of this mission, in an appeal for more female laborers, draws a still darker portraiture of the deep moral degradation existing around him. "The condition of African women is beyond description deplorable. No one can appreciate it without seeing it. They are bought and sold, whipped, worked, and despised. Unquestionably they become surly, malicious, and perverse; and under the detestable system of polygamy which prevails everywhere, they are perfectly faithless to their husbands. They are our most bitter enemies, bearing a great dislike to religion, and this they communicate to their children."

The Report for 1851, speaks more encouragingly, though it records no increase of members. The Report for 1852, shows that the mission stood thus: 4 stations, 6 missionaries, 1 physician, 4 female assistants, 5 native helpers, and 5 schools with about 100 pupils. One member had been added during the year, two Christian marriages solemnized, and four persons baptized. A considerable reduction of the missionary force had occurred during the year, from deaths and the failure of health; so that only two of the stations had been sustained during the whole year. The Report for 1853, records no new admissions to the church. Only two ordained missionaries were left in the mission, and only two stations have been occupied since July. It is remarked, that though the intelligence from the mission "is less cheering in some respects than we might wish, in others it is satisfactory and encouraging. Two things, however, are greatly needed. The converting energy of the Spirit is a constant and palpable necessity; and the mission should be largely reinforced without delay. Who will cry mightily unto the Lord for his quickening grace? Who will devote themselves to the missionary work among the benighted children of Africa?"

Mr. Preston has settled 60 miles above the Baraka station, which is near the mouth of the Gaboon, to study the Pangwe language, and to explore the hill country; where the mission has been directed to establish a new station, on account of its greater healthiness, and to operate among the Pangwe people. He has found the country disturbed by wars, and that the Pangwe tribe are cannibals. Prisoners of war and persons condemned for witchcraft, had been eaten, to Mr. Preston's own knowledge. Such things, he says, are of frequent occurrence; and yet these people work very neatly in iron of their own smelting, and in brass obtained from traders--thus affording evidences of a nearer approach to civilization than the tribes on the coast.

Though the progress of this mission has been slow, and but few converts have been gathered into the church; yet the labors of the missionaries have, by no means, been unproductive of good results. The native languages have been mastered, portions of the scriptures translated into them, and the pupils in their schools will soon be able to read the sacred word, to their parents and friends, in their native tongue.

The Rev. Mr. Wilson, the founder of this mission, has been obliged to retire from the work, on account of ill health. At the meeting of the American Board, in 1852, he was present, explained the condition of the mission, its encouragements and discouragements, and urged an extended effort to take advantage of the present friendly disposition of the natives to gain footholds for schools and churches throughout the country. In relation to the discouragements, he said, that in penetrating the interior, they found the difficulty of traveling very great--their progress being embarrassed by the want of an organized government. They were thus exposed to the attacks of robbers and marauders, who might kill them without being amenable to any power on earth.

From these facts it would seem, that Civil Government is greatly needed for the protection of the Gaboon Mission; and, that instead of its being considered an obstacle, as was the case at Cape Palmas, it is now viewed as necessary to its success: and, if necessary at the Gaboon, it must be equally so in all other parts of Africa.

If this view were generally admitted, a great impulse would be given to our system of African Colonization. Civil government has not been organized in Africa, except by Colonization from either Europe or America; nor can it exist, except among civilized men. Before it can be organized at the Gaboon, an emigration of civilized men must supply the necessary population; or a generation or two pass away, while the work of education prepares the natives for the adoption of civilized customs. The climate forbids the settlement of white men at the Gaboon, or upon any part of the western coast of Africa; and civil government, therefore, can not be introduced by them. Colored men, alone, can live in the enjoyment of vigorous health in that region, and they alone can accomplish this work. As the United States, alone, can supply a sufficient number of intelligent colored men to fill it with colonies; it follows, that colonization, from the United States to Africa, is necessary to the speedy organization of civil government and the more rapid extension of Christianity in that country.

The Mission of the American Board to the Zulus, in South Africa, was begun in 1835. One station was commenced among the maritime Zulus, under king Dingaan, who resided on the east side of the Cape, some 70 miles from Port Natal; and the other among the interior Zulus, under king Mosilikatsi. This station was broken up in 1837, by a war between the Zulus and the Boers, who were then emigrating from the Cape. The missionaries were forced to leave, and join their brethren at Natal; but, in doing this, they were compelled to perform a journey of 1,300 miles, in a circuitous route, 1,000 of which was in ox wagons, through the wilderness, while they were greatly enfeebled by disease, and disheartened by the death of the wife of one of their party.

The missionaries to the maritime Zulus, when their brethren from the interior joined them, had succeeded in establishing one station among king Dingaan's people, and another at Port Natal, where a mixed population, from various tribes, had collected among the Dutch Boers, then settling in and around that place. In 1838 a war occurred between Dingaan and the Boers, which broke up the missions and compelled the missionaries to seek refuge on board some vessels, providentially at Natal, in which some of them sailed to the United States, and others to the Cape.

Peace being made in 1839, a part of the missionaries returned to Natal and resumed their labors. But a revolt of one half the Zulus in 1840, under Umpandi, led to another war, in which the new chief and the Boers succeeded in overthrowing Dingaan. His death by the hand of an old enemy, into whose territory he fled, left the Zulus under the rule of Umpandi. This chief allowed the mission in his territory to be renewed in 1841. But, in 1842, a war broke out between the Boers, at Natal, and the British; who, to prevent the Boers from organizing an independent government, had taken possession of that place. In this contest, the Boers were forced to submit to British authority, and British law was extended to the population around Natal. This led to large desertions of the Zulus to Natal, to escape from the cruelties of Umpandi; and he, becoming jealous of the missionary, attacked the mission and butchered three of the principal families engaged in its support. Thus, a second time, was this mission broken up and the mission family forced to retreat to Natal.

Here, then, at the opening of 1843, nearly eight years after the missionaries reached Africa, they had not a single station in the Zulu country, to which they had been sent; and they were directed, by the Board, to abandon the field. From this they were prevented, by the timely remonstrances of the Rev. Dr. Philip, of the English mission at the Cape.

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