A Brief History of the Wesleyan Missions on the West Coast of Africa: Including Biographical Sketches of All the Missionaries Who Have Died in That Important Field of Labour; With Some Account of the European Settlements, and of the Slave-Trade

Excerpt from A Brief History of the Wesleyan Missions on the West Coast of Africa: Including Biographical Sketches of All the Missionaries Who Have Died in That Important Field of Labour; With Some Account of the European Settlements, and of the Slave-TradeFor many generations the name of Africa has produced a kind of talismanic effect upon various parts of the civilized world. It has arrested the attention and awakened the sympathies of mankind; and brought into action some of the noblest energies - mental, moral, and physical - with which human nature is endowed. The philanthropist and the philosopher, the man of science and of commerce, the statesman and the Christian, have all alike in their turn directed their attention to "that realm of wonder," to that once bright, but long since (and still) dark, continent. No part of the globe is richer in all the three kingdoms of nature, animal, vegetable, and mineral; and yet, alas! no part of the world is more deeply degraded, demoralized, and polluted.The very name of Africa, therefore, prepares us for revolting scenes of wrong, oppression, and cruelty; for deeds of danger, of desolation, and of death. The following pages will exhibit this unhappy country in some of its darkest features: with its brutal rites and ceremonies, its demon-worship, and its millions of inhabitants slain in battle, and millions more the victims to the sacrificial knife, the instrument of a sanguinary superstition, and still millions more pining away in the horrid holds of the slave-ships! But without referring to this awful loss of life, which to a great extent occurs annually, what a number of valuable lives have been sacrificed in exploring its unknown regions, in tracing the sources of its mighty rivers, in attempting to mitigate some of its untold miseries, and in scattering, by means of Christian missions, the blessings of a Saviour's love among some of the numerous tribes skirting that long line of coast!The present work owes its existence to a desire long felt, on the part of the writer, to see placed upon record some brief memorial of departed worth in connexion with the last class of European agents who have lost their lives in the welfare of Africa. Soon after his arrival in England in the summer of 1843, he was requested by an intelligent gentleman to publish some account of his missionary labours; but he did not then entertain the proposition. Since that period he has been frequently solicited by other esteemed friends to enter on this undertaking; but he still declined.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.