It was thus that the Republic of Liberia was ushered into existence. Sixty years were gone, since the establishment of Sierra Leone. How wide the contrast between its history and that of Liberia! Liberty, at Sierra Leone, had been rudely driven to the “bush.” Its people were held in pupilage, bound by laws not of their own enactment, and governed by officers of a race who had ever claimed the lordship over them. Taught Religion, but deprived of Liberty, the manhood of mind could not be fully developed. Uninstructed in human rights, they now yielded a slavish submission to a distant throne. Not so in Liberia. Here, Liberty and Religion had been rocked together in the same cradle. It was Religion that had given Liberty to the Liberian. He knew nothing of the one unconnected with the other. The Religion that had broken his fetters, was itself free. Religious and political freedom, therefore, was a principle dear to his heart. He spurned the idea, that man must submit to dictation in religion and government; and, from the first, had looked forward to the day, when his country should become a Christian Republic. That day has come, and gone: and there the Liberian stands, a citizen—a Christian; with no law—no restraint—no rule of conduct—but what emanates from himself or his God.
The Republic stands, pre-eminent, as an auxiliary to missions. Its political system, embraces all the known elements of civil, social, and intellectual advancement; while its citizens are controlled by the preservative element of Christian morals. Its policy makes it but one grand agency for overturning African barbarism. Its advantages over every other scheme are so obvious, that it must be regarded as the model system, to which all others should be conformed; and as the rule by which, alone, missions to Africa must hereafter be conducted.
The conquests of Liberia, over African barbarism, have been legitimate results of the principles involved in her social and civil organization. She offered to the natives an asylum from the merciless slave-catchers: they removed within her limits to enjoy her protection. She employed them in household affairs, agriculture, and the mechanic arts: they were thus incorporated into her social system, attended the Church, and sent their children to school. They wore gri-gris and practiced polygamy: these customs debarred them from political privileges. They offered human sacrifices to their deities, and compelled those suspected of witchcraft to drink a poisonous tea: the laws punished the taking of life, in such modes, with the penalty of death. The surrounding tribes, for their own safety, sought alliances with her: by the terms of the treaties, she has kept them at peace, and prevented the trafficking in slaves.
Thus has Liberia, by offering the natives political equality, induced them to abandon polygamy and superstition; thus has the fear of punishment deterred them from the practice of their murderous cruelties; thus has war been prevented and the slave-trade suppressed within her bounds: and thus has American Colonization solved the great problem of African Redemption.
APPENDIX.
The Opposition to Colonization and African Missions.
We quote the following remarks, on the primary sources of opposition to the Civilization of Africa, from the Church Missionary Intelligencer, December, 1853. This periodical is the organ of the English Episcopal Church, and the opinions expressed are entitled to the most grave consideration. Whatever interest the slave-trader may have in driving English missionaries from Africa, will apply equally to those from America, and to the labors of our Colonization Society. The writer, after noticing the efforts made to withdraw the English squadron from the coast of Africa, so as to leave the slave-trade once more free to the traffickers in human flesh, says:
“But we have something more to say on this subject. The Missionary element has also been introduced into the comments which have been made on this affair, and has received no small amount of condemnation. Our Missionaries at Lagos have thus been placed between two fires. The efforts of Kosoko’s attacking party were evidently directed against their dwellings, and this we can understand, for Kosoko and his abettors well know that the extension of the Gospel carries with it the eventual destruction of the slave-trade, and of every other enormity under which human nature suffers. Christianity does that which the squadron can not do. The latter cuts down the branches of the poison-bearing tree, but the former kills it in its root. If this latter be not done, it will sprout again. The strength of the slave-trade lies in the latent sympathy of chiefs and people; and Christianity, by indisposing them to it, and by directing their energies into other and wholesome channels, is drying up the secret sources from whence its power has been derived. The greatest benefit which the squadron has conferred upon Africa has been to afford opportunity for the introduction of this beneficial influence; and after a time, by the blessing of God, that influence will have so increased, and the African mind, in consequence, have undergone so complete a revolution, that the further presence of the squadron on the coast will become unnecessary. That time has not come yet, but it will do so, perhaps more rapidly than we could venture to anticipate. We can, therefore, easily understand Kosoko’s antipathy to Missionaries, and the exultation with which he would have seen them compelled to quit the coast.
“But there is an unfriendly feeling on the part of some at home, which is not so intelligible. It betrays itself in a readiness to entertain serious charges against Missionaries on ex-parte evidence. * * *
“We fear that in many quarters there is much misapprehension as to the character and tendency of Missionary operations, and that by some they are distrusted as being far otherwise than tranquilizing in their influence. Has the Missionary element a tendency to complicate matters, and render them more difficult of adjustment than they would otherwise be? Is it irritating and war-producing? It has been so insinuated, if not openly asserted. And we can understand from whence such insinuations originate. The Gospel, in its action, must be subversive of the plans and objects of numbers, especially in connection with Africa and the slave-trade. There have been many sleeping partners in that traffic, men who never touched a slave, but who have often clutched the gain; men who have fed the traffic in secret, and furnished the materials for its prosecution. It has been a wide-spread conspiracy for the degradation of the African family. Men in Europe, America, Africa, have been bound together in this unholy compact, each having assigned to him his own particular department, and each full of energy in the prosecution of it. Where were the printed goods fabricated that were used in barter between the foreign and native slave-dealer? Where were forged the bolts, and fetters, and chains, by which the limbs of the captured African were constricted, and he was reduced to an incapability of resistance? Perhaps nearer home than we could have imagined.[[55]] Where was launched the well-found bark, with such admirable sailing powers, the floating prison of the poor slave? Whence the nautical skill that designed the craft, and the able workmen who wrought it out, until she sailed from the port which gave her birth, in every respect equipped and fitted for the slave-trade, but not to be so used until, on the African coast, transferred to other hands than those which took her there?[[56]] How various and extensive the interests which were engaged in the prosecution of the slave-trade, all which have been interfered with by the interruption of the traffic on the coast. Many of these, to save themselves from stagnation, have engaged in lawful commerce; but it is with regret they have done so. Of course, in the eyes of such parties, everything that interferes to prevent a return to the palmy days of slave-trading prosperity, when abundant opportunity was afforded for the gratification of more than one evil passion, becomes an object of antipathy. The squadron on the coast, and the Missionaries on shore, are alike detestable. If both could be removed something might be done, and what so likely means as misrepresentation? The Missionaries are self-interested, and obstruct the development of lawful traffic. The squadron is unnecessary, and its interference on such occasions as that of Lagos is in the highest degree mischievous. Credulous ears are not wanting to become the depositories of whisperings such as these; and soon the whole gloss finds its way into the columns of the daily press, and influential journals become the exponents of charges which would be serious indeed if they could be proved. But these misstatements require to be promptly met, otherwise their effect might soon appear in a gradual diminution of the repressive force on the coast, until it became materially weakened. Meanwhile, the devastations of the cholera in Cuba have been seriously diminishing the supply of working hands, and many eager eyes are directed towards Africa to see whether the attempt could be made to reopen the traffic with any prospect of success. Already new vessels have been fitted out, and we may soon have painful evidence that the trade is not extinct, and that, if we remove our foot from the neck of our prostrate but not slain foe, he will rise up to resume the contest.”