JUDGMENT APPROACHES. 
247 
the Ashantee throne. Three or four years ago, Akwamu 
begged for help against Krepe, the Ashantees obeyed the 
call, and brought some white men here and much booty. 
The chiefs have now marched against the Coast, the war 
is going against us, the enemy threatens. The chief of 
Akwamu entreats incessantly for the white men, for until 
they are set free he will have no peace, and perhaps be 
taken to the Coast. What is to be done ? I do not wish 
for our successors to say my son was the cause of the dis- 
turbance of the sixty nkurow" (towns, i.e., the whole land). 
"From olden times it has been seen that God fights 
for Ashantee if the war is a just one. This one is unjust. 
The Europeans begged for the imprisoned white men. 
They were told to wait until Adu Bofo returned. Adu 
Bofo came back; then they said they wanted money. 
The money was offered, and even weighed. How then 
can this war be justified ? The building of the house 
cannot be given as a hindrance, for if peace were once 
declared, the governor would gladly send builders. Taking 
all into consideration, I strongly advise that the white 
men should be sent back at once, and God can help us." 
The chiefs adjourned. Hard as it appeared to them 
they knew that their reduced half-starved army could 
not stand against fresh troops, so we thought they would 
try to soften the enemy by setting us free, while they still 
had a choice. 
On the 21st we were filled with gratitude at the birth 
of a little son, whom we felt constrained to name Im- 
manuel, in memory of God's faithful guidance throughout 
our captivity. It was noticeable that this boy spent his 
first months in almost entire obscurity, the Ashantees re- 
garding it as an ill omen when a son is born to an enemy 
on their territory ; his existence was therefore as perfectly 
ignored, as was that of his little sister noticed, wondered 
at, and rejoiced over. 
