The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-12-15
A Colored Christian Missionary
Who Turned lannibaI.
SHOCKING DOWNFALL
OF tie Rev. Wilberforce. Who Has Beer
Arrested for Butcherlng and Eating
the Human Beings lie Once
Triedto Convert In Dark
est Africa.

all q weird Legends that ever came
into the light out of the darkness o.
the African forests there Is rome
stranger than that OF the r Y. DR..
Daniel F%lickinger Wilberforce, OF
Sierra Leone, once missionary general
and now reported 10 be thd war chief
Of the Imperial tiibe and q devotee Of
c~annibalism.
In the whole history OF missionary
labor among the races OF the e LSt the
story Of this vent rable pastor OF seven
ty yeara, sometime called Bishop o.
the Church OF the United Brethren OF
Amer'c -, who, according to nany de
tailed dispatches, after forty years OF
missionary life, re verted by q gradual
process Of avatism to his natural state
"uf~ pagan and Cannioal, stands with.
out a parallel.
Wherever missionary work Is
known, wherev, r coed men and wo-
men labor through many years fer the
conversion Of their bcnighted brethren
In Inoi,, Asia or Africa the story is
told and retold with lauenbation.
Scientists and criminolcgis,s the
world over will accept the retrcgres-
sion Of this missionary, famous
through the East for his e~ICqrence
and learning, to the wal paint OF his
tribe and a dinner Of human fl sh, as
establishing the eternal truth that the
original b'ast | tho savage can never
be quelled in,centuries OF civ. liz .tion
and that Mr.. Wilberforce, sc cretly
hungering thr ugh forty years OF re
preston Of his natural self for the
flesh for which his blood craved, and
the idols of. his fofefathers, has but
obeyed the law of his nature
But the good men and women OF
the white and colored races who
through o long life ba We labored with
blind, ceaSless, single hearted devotion
for the enlighter mont OF the heathen,
stand aghast and In face Of this aw.
full living spectacle Of ~degeneracy ask
themselves whether their labor tf
centuries Is, after all, labor sp.nt in
vaio, and whether 1t is, indeed, the
im%mutable law OF nature that the
savage strain once implanted la the
heart oan never to wiped out
Throughout this c>untry the story
has struck deep into the hearts OF the
ministers Of all crecds, and Of those
who give bounteOuSly Of their wealth
and substance to shed the light OF
civilization on darkened places. And
over their hearts and the hearts of The
p'ous men and ome Of W.lbelforce's
rae, hangs a black pail OF gloom aud
Same and doubt Of tho future.
For two generations bad Mr.. vii
hnrfIrnn Gfnnd a @ Ia IN =, ,l, . -. :. b,
young negro students of divinity OF
the heights to which they themseiv,s
might reach In the pursuit OF their
sacred mission; and for the mission,
aries OF the white ace he served as a
beacon whenever their hearts failed
them In the stupenduuS wo k OF con.
version Of the West Afficln savage.
To thousands of his fellows landing In
West Africa, fresh from these shores,
< he has been as % dear and venerable
1riends rich In experience as Ia learn
Ing INC erudition; an adviser and guide
In the first few troubled months of
their adventure.
And now, back at home In America,
or Ia England, or lab )riuQ still ia the
wild, they lOok blarkly at each Other
olu tlOh IIO" i'll VIC UdUlo Ol hGhVHn
such things can be.
as If In reply fall the words Of the
old man to his captors as he was led
10 the prison at Sierra Leone, there
to await his trial for cannibalism.
III 1 am to die IT IL we'll, | shall
IDLE In the faith Of my fathers-tbe
faith that was born thousands upon
thousands OF years ago and which all
your Christian teachings have not
driven out. The forty years in which
L lived In your faith we're forty ear
OF a living lie. The voicaS Of my faith
erS, OF my pHNple whom had desert
ed In my youth, OF TIE gods that |
had worshipped, were ever calling to
me to end my days as | had begun.
Ard at last | heard and went back.n
The good men with whom his life
had been passed pleaded with him,
even With tears, up to tho very gates
OF the prison to return TO the fiitn
that he had abjured.
And now they urge, with some
anger, that the stern action OF the
Missionary Board OF The UuiLtd Breth
rem at Dayton, OAio, in summarily
expelliDg him on evidence OF his re.
PROGRESSION precipitatcd the final
downfall.
A FATHER S SACRIFICE.
Well might u word OF miSSlOnar
les wall over his loss, for his story
reads lihc . rarely beautiful romance
OF Clden times.
IT was In the days Of half a century
agone, wien the light OF civilization
was drawing in darkest Africa, that
the great chief Of the Imperial tribe,
the most powerful Warlike OF those
times, and the Rev. Samuel Tlicking
er, pioneer among tho missionaries OF
the United Brethren, met In solemn
conference TO arrange . treaty Of com.
merce and peace. Ftom that time the
friendship Of the chef for the euthu.
siastic young missionaries warmed and
grew deeper with the years.
Too old to change the faith Of his
ancestors, he said inc would make no
tff )rt to imped, the work OF the mis-
sionaries among his people. Prubab
ly the aged chief saw the CONNER.
clal value Of a good, friendly under.
standing with the gentlemen who were
In q position to bring him so much
good trade from England and Ameri.
CT.
Cli9f OF his people and heir.appar.
emit to his place was his fine strapplng
STRIPPING Of 6itcen years-the one