FLOGGING A SHADOW 



minutes they returned and again took their places, sit- 

 ting down as before. Again the old chief rose to his feet 

 and addressed the missionary and myself as follows, 

 "Sirs, your words are good, this we do not doubt. But 

 we are old men and would ask you to have patience 

 with us. You are going too fast for us, old men as we 

 are. Behold, what you say may be good for our sons, but 

 not for us. For ourselves we will follow the beliefs of 

 our fathers. What was good for them and for their 

 fathers, must be good for us. As for our sons, it is for 

 them to choose what they will do. If you wish them to 

 go to your Missionary School and that is their desire, we 

 will not hold them back, but one thing we pray you, 

 spare us our daughters. If you take them away from 

 us you break up our family life; when they have gone, 

 there is nobody to tend the young children. We beg you 

 to listen well to this request which we make, and of 

 your mercy grant it." 



That speech both sums up the attitude of the passing 

 generation and opens before us the pressing problems 

 of today. 



In the case of the Arabs the great change that has 

 come to them is the abolition of slavery. If the invasion 

 of Western ideas amongst the Highland tribes of Africa 

 created amazingly difficult problems, it came as a catas- 

 trophe to the coast Arabs who in many ways are the 

 greatest sufferers from the new ideas and conditions. 

 The Arabs were the aristocrats, dependent upon their 

 slaves, without whom they were helpless. Although 



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