IV 
THE STORY OF CROWTHER 
V 
While these people are not in need of our 
sympathy on account of their physical condition, 
the miseries which are the natural fruit of gross 
spiritual darkness poison all their temporal bless¬ 
ings ; and their wretchedness should excite in the 
heart of every true Christian, feelings of the liveliest 
compassion. They are the tortured slaves of 
superstitions which destroy everything like peace 
of mind, and they know nothing of that happi¬ 
ness that is found in every place worthy of the 
name of a Christian home. In this life they are 
in constant dread of the unseen power of malig¬ 
nant spirits; and in death, not a single ray of 
hope disperses the gloom of the grave: they 
seem to pass away in sullen, speechless despair. 
In religious things, their minds are a desert, a 
wilderness. But of this I shall say more in an¬ 
other part of my story. 
A number of missionaries, both English and 
American had labored for years in Abeokuta be¬ 
fore I saw the place and their faithful efforts to 
lift up the people had been crowned with reason- 
37 
