DEPARTURE OF THE “AZOR.”
The departure of the Azor with the first instalment of the African exodus, from Charleston, S. C., marks an epoch in the history of the colored race.
It may have been a question in some minds whether the freedman could be aroused by the missionary spirit. By some, even of the teachers in our schools, fears have been felt that, perhaps, the call for missionaries might come and the people not be ready to respond. The question is decided that, whenever this call shall be made, there will be no lack of men. We have more to fear now from unbridled enthusiasm than from want of zeal.
This African Exodus Association had its origin, undoubtedly, among disaffected politicians, but it soon became a sort of religious crusade. It gained but little progress among the people, until the idea was suggested that it be made a missionary enterprise. From the time the Azor sailed into the harbor until her departure, on the 21st of April, with her living freight for Liberia, the wharves and streets of the city were thronged with people of all sexes and ages, eager to view the African “Mayflower.” Hundreds, who had engaged their passages months before, were left behind, for want of room. How long this enthusiasm will continue, and what may be the success of this first company, of course are questions to be answered by and by. We dare not venture any prophecy, either good or evil. It is an experiment, some features of which are not in the line of our ideas; but if, in the providence of God, it shall prove to be to Africa what the Pilgrim enterprise has been to America, we shall rejoice. We should prefer to have a different class of emigrants undertake this work, and lay the foundation of African civilization upon a broader foundation. Our object is to raise up men of intelligence, and sound and broad religious principle, for this work, and we naturally look with some anxiety to the effect of turning loose in Africa the freedman, as we find him in the South at present. We hope for the best, however, and shall pray for the success of the movement, that God may overrule all our fears, and make it for good. This one question we are glad to have settled, as we think it is by this movement, that there is no lack of enthusiasm in the negro heart for his fatherland; and that, when the call shall come for more laborers in that field, we shall have this enthusiasm on our side.