296 Sierra Leone and [MARCH, 



would be more likely to learn corruption from the infamous and evi- 

 dently retrograding populace of Sierra Leone ! The Commissioners 

 (p. 47) may well say : " It will probably be inferred from the preceding 

 part of this report, and it is with regret that we state it as our con- 

 scientious opinion, that the progress hitherto made towards the civiliza- 

 tion of the liberated Africans, as exemplified in their present habits and 

 condition, falls infinitely short of what might have been reasonably 

 expected from the liberal means dedicated to this benevolent under- 

 taking." 



Such being the state of society, need we wonder that the different 

 African tribes, even those living within the pale of the colony, or occa- 

 sionally residing there, continue to be either pagans or Mahommedans, 

 adhering to their own superstitions and equally adverse to Christians and 

 Christianity;* and that so far from any thing having been attempted 

 towards the civilization of Africa by sending missionaries to spread 

 the light of the gospel, a white man, as in the case of Major Laing, 

 would, within eighty or a hundred miles of the colony, be considered a 

 curiosity ? 



Much has been said in this country about the " fourteen" churches, 

 and numerous schools and other public buildings erected in the capital 

 and villages. Our limits will not permit us to particularize the state of 

 each, but we find the list of schools and churches composed of houses 

 " in bad condition," " out of repair," in a " ruinous state," and " aban- 

 doned," " not finished," and never likely to be so one church so 

 ruinous that dogs and goats get in at any time, and " by no means," 

 say the Commissioners, " kept in that clean and respectable condition 

 which one would look for in a place dedicated to divine worship," others 

 " never finished," and " out of repair," " a cattle house thatched 

 with grass," in which divine worship is also performed" girls' schools 

 in a very inferior ' ' wattle house" several boys' schools no better 

 " doors and window shutters much wanted" other expensive buildings, 

 owing to the " bad construction" and te insufficiency of the workman- 

 ship," in a state of ruin. The large building intended for a church at 

 Freetown stands unfinished, the service being performed in the court- 

 house. It is said, that after having been used as a market-place, where 

 negroes were publicly flogged, it is now, or was lately, used as a govern- 

 ment commissary's store ! It is evident the colonists " care for none of 

 these things." " The neglect of public worship is very prevalent among 

 the resident Europeans;" the congregation of Mr. Raban, the only 

 officiating clergyman of the established church, did not on any occasion 

 exceed twelve Europeans, fifteen persons of colour, the military, and 

 some school boys. 



The superintendants' houses are, however, generally in good order, 

 and form a striking contrast with those for religious purposes. They 

 are generally on a very expensive scale. At the Banana Islands, they 

 are the only public buildings which, " like most of those built by the 

 superintendents for their accommodation, appear unnecessarily large, 

 thereby entailing expense, without ensuring the comfort which the climate 

 requires" " A mud-house is there used as a church and boys' school, but 

 it is by no means in a state to protect them from the weather." The Isles 

 de Loss were purchased in 1818, in the hopes of finding them a healthy 



* CaffliK's Travels, vol. 1., p. 195, 25C. 



