The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-07-27
BUILT BY NATIVES.
A Beautiful Church in a Central
African Village.
Erected Entirely by the People
Of That Region.

some church adorns a village in the
lake region of Central Africa or that
1t was built, from the making of the
bricks to the driving of the last nail,
BY natives who few years ago had
never seen white man in their lives2
Such is the case, however, and there
is many town in England and Amer
lea that cannot show so fine a church
edlfice as this, which is the wonder
and the admiration of all white men
who visit Blantyre, in the Nyassa
highlands. J. Scott Kettle, in his new
book on ''The Partition Of Africa"
says: "A church has quite recently
been erected in the heart of what is
still savage Africa; a creditable and
even handsome church it is, with
many graceful points of architecture,
an apse, double-towered front,
dome, and variety Of tasteful adorn-
ments.
1t might grace even a London
suburb. 1t stands on the Blantyre
highlands, consecrated by the name of
Livingston, near the banks of the
Shire River, to the south Of Lake
Nyassa. 1t is a region that for
centuries has been devastated by slave
raiders and native wars. This church,
designed by u Scotch missionary, was
built entirely by the natives with free
labor. He and his colleagues taught
the natives to make bricks, burn lime,
and hew timber. All the materials
were found on the spot except glass,
the internal fittings, and some portion
of the roof; and they were put to-
gether, brick by brick, by the natives,
under white uperintendence."
The church was completed on May
10, 1891. 1t is in the form Of Latin
cross, with short choir and an apse
half circular in form. It's length Is
106 feet, it is 80 feet wide, and from
the ground TO the caves is 35 feet high.
Seven years ago the missionaries began
to teach the natives to make brick, and
in 1890 the foundations of the church
were laid. By this time other natives
had become skilled as carpenters,
masons, aud plasterers, and other
blacks made lumber from the fine tim
ber around Blantyre, using portable
sawmil.
This CONSPICUOUS achievement in Gen.
tral Africa, wrought by trained native
crastsmen, is due to the genius of one
mar, Scottish missionary named
Scott, who is ono of the most remark
able men that missionary societies have
ever sent to Africa. He has unfailing
tact in dealing with the natives. He
is able to inspire them with his zeal
and enthusiasm. Under his guidance
these natives work as though they
love labor and had been trained all
their lives to industrious habits.
The well-known explorer, j. Thom-
son, who rarely becomes enthusiastic
over anything, thus writes of Scott:
"About the Rev. d. c. Scott, the
head of the Blantyre Mission, can
only speak in superlatives at the risk
of appearing to exaggerate. The least
advertised of missionaries, he yet
stands head and shoulders above every
man / know of in the African mission
field, whether you consider his per-
soDal magnetism, his breadth of, view,
his depth Of culture, or simply the
work he has achieved. The church
be has planted and built is, in its way,
the most wonderful sight l have seen
in Africa. His methods Of teaching
goes far to solve the difficult problem
how best to influence the negro for
good"
When Archdeacon Naples Of the
Universities Missions visited Blantyre
last year he wrote: "Mr. Scott's Won
derful brick church is above all price
as an example of what the negro can
do, and it will endure as monument
worthy of his genius and his skill.
The new mission buildings are built
around great square which is filed
with flower gardens through which
run shady walks The buildings
around the beautifully laid out square
with its homelike turf, its flower beds,
and its beautiful church at the end of
the garden, all form picture which
surpasses anything that ! have seen in
Africa"