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by J. W. E. Bowen (Editor), J. W. E. Bowen (Author)
NOTE TO THE READER: This is the LARGE PRINT EDITION of Africa and the American Negro. A congress on Africa Why not? What land is more entitled to our best thought, or more deserving the most helpful service we can render? Where the country with a history of more romantic interest, or one whose peoples have had a more varied experience or presented more serious problems for the study of mankind? Men, whose names are among the greatest in history, have been its explorers, and the students of its languages and of its dialects. It is so rich in soils and in minerals as to excite the greed of the world, and the nations of the earth have contended with each other for a division of its treasures. In the interests of commerce the steamers of the merchant princes navigate its waters, and the markets of the world are open to its products. A literature on Africa, rich in every way, has been created by scholarly men, who have made the most heroic sacrifices that they might acquaint the world with the present greatness and future possibilities of "The Dark Continent." These men, and others such as they, will continue to enrich with the best equipments those who wish to wisely study the many phases of the growing questions in relation to Africa. This Congress was surely in the order of Divine Providence. God uses men in the development of His plans. In this instance it was His servant, the Rev. W. F. Stewart, through the agency of whose consecrated wealth this "Missionary Foundation" was established, and the holding of this congress was made possible. Men of scholarship, and imbued with the spirit of Christ, deeply interested in the evangelization of Africa, came together from various parts of the United States and other countries, and presented well prepared papers on the subjects which had been assigned them. The discussions, which followed, revealed mental grasps of the subjects and the hearty interest of the speakers in the principles underlying the whole question. From the beginning of the congress to its close the audiences were large and the interest very great. The utmost harmony prevailed in all the deliberations, and this volume, which is the result of the congress, is an evidence of the oneness of spirit that was at all times manifest, and also of the fervent conviction that pervaded all hearts that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to arise and go forth and evangelize Africa, thus obeying the command of the Lord to "Go into all the world."
