Lott Gary closed his sermon with this thought:
I am about to leave you and expect to see your faces no more. I long to preach to the poor Africans the way of life and salvation. I don't know what may befall me, whether I may find a grave in the ocean, or among the savage men, or more savage wild beasts on the Coast of Africa; nor am I anxious what may become of me. I feel it my duty to go; and I very much fear that many of those who preach the Gospel in this country, will blush when the Saviour calls them to give an account of their labors in His cause and tell them, "I commanded you to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature;" (very emphatically he exclaimed) the Saviour may ask where have you been? What have you been doing? Have you endeavored to the utmost of your ability to fulfill the commands I gave you, or have you sought your own gratification, and your own ease, regardless of My commands?[56]
A distinguished Presbyterian minister said to Gurley, "A sermon which I heard from Lott Gary, shortly before he sailed for Africa, was the best extemporaneous sermon I ever heard. It contained more original and impressive thoughts, some of which are distinct in my memory, and never can be forgotten."[57] Elder John Bryce, assistant pastor of the First Baptist Church, afterwards confessed that he had never been so deeply interested in a sermon.[58]
Readjustment on African Soil
By the twenty-third of January, 1821, Gary and his church were ready to sail.[59] At half past six in the morning[60] the Nautilus, carrying 28 colonists and a number of children, left Norfolk, Virginia, en route to Sierra Leone.[61]
As the agents of the American Colonization Society, who made the journey, had not completed their negotiations for the purchase of a site for the settlers, the party remained at Freetown, Sierra Leone, for some months.[62] From there Cary wrote the Corresponding Secretary of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, March 13th:
Rev. and Dear Sir
I am happy that an opportunity is now afforded me, to inform the Board through you, the only proper medium of communication with them, that we all arrived safe in Africa. We had a long passage of forty four days, yet we were wonderfully preserved by the great Ruler of the winds and the seas....
I am truly sorry, that the hopes and expectations of the Board cannot be realized, as to our missionary labours; for, as it pleased you to have us connected with the Colonization Society, and the agents of the Society upon their arrival here, finding their prospects of getting lands very gloomy, so much so that they disowned us as colonists; and the government's agent had captured Africans for whom he was bound, by the laws of the United States, to procure a place, in order to settle them, or until there can be a more permanent settlement obtained, the agent received us as labourers and mechanics, to be settled with them in order to make preparations for the reception of others; we are therefore bound to the government's agent. He has rented a farm, and put us on it, and we must cultivate it for our support, and for the support of these Africans; and pay as much of the rent as we can. And as this obligation will last until lands are purchased by the agents of the Colonization Society, I am greatly afraid it will not end soon; and until it does end, our mission labours will be very few. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, when he came on his mission into this world, was found often with a broad axe in his hand: and I believe that a good many corn field missionaries would be a great blessing to this country, that is if they were not confined to the field by law and by necessity. We are bound by both. I converse very freely with you on this subject, because with me it is a very important one, and because of the interest which the Board has taken in this mission.[63]
Mrs. Cary, "a sensible woman and an exemplary Christian,"[64] was sick at this time and soon died, leaving her husband the care of their two children.[65] Despite this and the appalling circumstances of the first settlers, they wrote to the Board rejoicing that they were in the country of their forefathers and hoping that His gracious approbation would crown their labors.[66] Lott Cary kept constantly in mind the great object of his mission. He not only preached as often as opportunity would permit but he established a mission among the Mandingoes.[67]
Nevertheless, there was danger for some time that the whole enterprise would be abandoned. Whereupon, Captain Robert F. Stockton was sent to Africa in the armed schooner Alligator with full powers from President Monroe and the American Colonization Society to make arrangements for a new and permanent settlement.[68] On December 11, he and Doctor Eli Ayres, the Society's agent, who had left America in July, anchored off Cape Mesurado or Montserado and, with John Mills, an English mulatto and slave dealer, as interpreter, made negotiations with King Peter, the principal chief around the Cape, for the purchase of a settlement. After much parleying and delay on the part of the king and treachery on the part of Mills,[69] they finally exchanged gunpowder, tobacco, rum, iron pots, beads, looking glasses, "four Hats, three Coats, three pair Shoes"[70] and other minor articles not worth more than $300 for that valuable tract of land[71] which was the nucleus of what is now the Republic of Liberia.[72]
Arrangements were made for the colonists to take possession of their new home the 7th of February, 1822.[73] The territory, finally including ninety miles of coast lying between the Junk and Sesters Rivers and extending nearly seventy miles into the interior, presented, on the one hand, an excellent opportunity to work among the Bassa, Vey, Dey and Kroo tribes,[74] who numbered about 125,000, and exhibited, on the other hand, many obstacles, for the natives were hostile, and the rainy season was approaching, at the time when provisions were scarce.