40 
GOD'S BLACK DIAMONDS. 
they have to depend upon the services of an inter- 
preter, but this method is not always satisfactory. 
Mary Slessor once caught a Calabar interpreter 
telling the congregation not only what the preacher 
had said, but adding something of his own which 
was in flat contradiction to the teaching of the 
address. The subject was, The rich man and 
Lazarus,'* and the interpreter told the people that 
— no matter what the preacher said — it was much 
better to be the rich man ! I have sometimes heard 
it said that in England people read Christians 
through their lives rather than through their speech. 
Africans, particularly, do both. As soon as the 
Etubom or Moruti, as they call him, comes to live 
in their midst they not only listen to what he has 
to say, but they watch him very closely every day. 
They take stock of all he does and form their own 
conclusions. If his life proves their first opinions 
wrong, they change them and begin to look upon 
him as a friend. When Mr. Fell left Kanchindu 
in order to visit this country, the people who used 
to be suspicious of missionaries and thought hard 
and wicked things about them, gave him a splendid 
present just to show how much they admired and 
loved him. After years of patient waiting and hard 
work the people now know Mr. Fell and his col- 
leagues, and the Gospel is given the chance of prov- 
ing the power of God unto salvation. 
