Page:Cole (1885) The Hope of Sherbro's Future Greatness.pdf/20



Having contrasted the present with the past, let us see what hopes can be cherished for the future. Our detractors have often affirmed that the hope of Africa is buried in oblivion but to their great disappointment, “The morning light is breaking, the darkness disappears.” This is becoming a reality in British Sherbro, as is evinced by the religious lives of many. The introduction of the temperance society and other social meetings, the desire for higher education, the liberality and enthusiasm with which the cause of missions is supported by native converts, prove to the world that “we have yet a soul and dare be free.”

The hope of the future greatness of the Sherbro country must be the result of its religion, commerce, agriculture, and education. The religion we have embraced is a religion of humility and unanimity. It is simply the religion of Jesus, “believe and live.”

The true spirit of Christianity and love which impelled the founder of the United Brethren Church, Otterbein, to embrace Boehm in the presence of a large congregation and exclaim, “We are brethren,” has its echo still reverberating. This sound from Dayton, Ohio, is heard upon our shores, “We are all one in Christ.”

Above all, it is from the educated youths of this country that we expect to realize our hope of Sherbro’s future greatness. It is from them that the United Brethren Church or its missionary society, and the Freedmen’s Aid Society, will reap the rewards of their labors. The mind of an ignorant man is chained down to the bondage of superstition, and