Now, in view of this rather gloomy presentation, does any one say, “Let us abandon the Mendi Mission; money enough has been spent, lives enough have been sacrificed”? I have not written with any such object in view. My purpose has been to state plain facts as they exist, for the consideration of wise men, believing that if there is any lack of tangible results, it is not all the fault of management or workers, and that great things ought not to be expected in the immediate future.
But there are grounds for hope as well as for despondency. The mission has a good name. The labors of Raymond, Thompson and others, are fragrant in the memories of natives and foreigners, so that even the British colonists in Sierra Leone are loud in their praise. The industrial work, instituted and carried on by the wonderful ingenuity and energy of Mr. Burton, has secured the good will of traders and foreign residents. I heard many encomiums upon the mission, especially upon its early history.
The Mendians are a numerous people, occupying a belt of territory of some hundred miles upon the sea, and reaching far back into the interior, all of which region is drained by the Sherbro river, near the mouth of which is located our Good Hope station. Our mission was established among them many years before those of other societies, and its work is far ahead of that of the Wesleyans and Church of England, and if these should greatly increase their efforts there would still be room for us.
By the assiduous labor of Mr. Claflin, the language of the Mendi people has been reduced to writing, an elementary grammar and small vocabulary have been published, and portions of the New Testament translated, so that the acquisition of the native tongue is comparatively easy.
The land and buildings of the mission constitute a valuable property; the Good Hope station, with its regular steamboat communication with Freetown, furnishes a needed base of operations, and the sawmill at Avery will provide lumber for future buildings.
The fact that this mission is right in the heart of the old slave grounds, ought to furnish inspiration for its support. Between it and Freetown on the Bomana Islands were the old slave pens of the infamous and afterward illustrious John Newton. Kaw Mendi is supposed to be the centre of the region from which the Amistad captives were dragged from their homes to be sold into slavery, and is the point at which they settled after their return from these Connecticut shores, through what might be called a series of special providences. At Kaw Mendi it was my privilege to see and converse with two surviving members of that slave cargo. Special interest in such a field as this is something more than mere sentiment. It is the breath of the God of Love sweeping across the chords of the soul.
Then too, in addition to the name and history of the mission, its valuable property, its large field, its written language, and its providential beginning, it has living material that can be utilized in its future extension. The station at Debia, where the lamented Barnabas Root labored for a time, is well carried on by a native educated at the mission; and another efficient helper of the same training is employed at Good Hope. And there are several traders and carpenters, mission-educated, who could render good service in penetrating the interior.
The great call at present is for two or three men of ability and culture, of broad views, of practical sense, of considerable business experience, and of deep consecration, who are ready to enlist for a long term of service, and take the lead in this enterprise.
The foundations have been laid, the material for the structure is at hand and the work is waiting for a wise master-builder.
Let a disciple of the Lord see those people there in their degradation, superstition, and poverty, and then let him visit some of our communities in the South, and see those of the same color, features, and form, living in comfortable houses, clad in decent garments, cultivating large fields of their own, and supporting the school and the church, and let him realize that these pictures present the same race and perhaps the same tribe of people, and that he can be instrumental under Providence, even in an ordinary life-time, in bringing about a repetition of this wonderful transformation, and he ought to need no stronger inspiration.