Page:The looking-glass.djvu/61

Rh mother of all the branches, has revolted twice already; then was guilty of oppression, and violated the discipline of the Church and rules of government from motives of malice and revenge; and even, with three bishops at her head, made a most stupid mistake and blunder in Conference at Buffalo, N. Y., in the year 1853, of which I may speak hereafter. I thank the Lord that I left you, with my own skirts untarnished by your blood. Nothing could induce me to be a bishop among you. I thank the Lord that I am a free man in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and I am an humble Elder in the Church of God, on board of the barque Isla de Cuba, with a two-fold mission for Monrovia, Liberia, Western Africa; firstly, to bear the Gospel to my brethren and see how they do, and secondly, to see and hold an interview with the head of that Government, touching the condition of those who are there, and the prospect for those who are about to go to that quarter of the globe. I go also to see what good results from cultivating the minds, as well as the lands, of the heathen. I believe that great treasures are embedded in those lands, and that only understanding and enterprise are wanting to bring them to light. It remains for us to go forth, sons and daughters of Ethiopia, embrace our privileges, obtain 6