It lessens the distance between the white man and the black, and
an acquaintance with the English language engenders a taste for
English habits. The first dawn of civilization commences with a
knowledge of our language. The native immediately adopts some
English customs and ideas, and drops a corresponding number of
his own. In fact, he is a soil fit to work up on, instead of
being a barren rock as hitherto, firm in his own ignorance and
prejudices.
In the education of the rising native generation lies the hope of
ultimate conversion. You may as well try to turn pitch into snow
as to eradicate the dark stain of heathenism from the present
race. Nothing can be done with them; they must be abandoned like
the barren fig-tree, and the more attention bestowed upon the
young shoots.
But, unfortunately, this is a popular error, and, like all such,
one full of prejudice. Abandon the present race! Methinks I hear
the cry from Exeter Hall. But the good people at home have no
idea to what an extent they are at present, and always have been,
abandoned. Where the children who can be educated with success
are neglected at the present day, it may be imagined that the
parents have been but little cared for; thus, in advocating their
abandonment, it is simply proposing an extra amount of attention
to be bestowed upon the next generation.
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