In spite of these great enterprises, which must have been so absorbing of time and energy, this busy man found opportunity and strength to search out the squalid back streets of New York, and to go from house to house of its wretched inhabitants, giving sympathy, speaking words of Christian love and instruction, and where they would receive them leaving the word of God and good books. CHAPTER IX. THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY--MILLS, AS ITS AGENT, VISITS AFRICA. Abraham Lincoln, when a young man, made a journey into the South. Of all the impressions which those new scenes made upon him, the one deepest and strongest was that of slavery. It filled him with loathing, but kindled a zeal which never slumbered, until it cost his priceless life. It was such a spark which became a fire in the breast of Mills. What he saw and what he heard, during those southern tours, made him a willing martyr for the sake of Africa's sons and daughters. Their degradation made him ready to endure all things if only he could pierce the black cloud overshading them. His first effort resulted in a school, called the African School, for training young colored men to teach and preach to their own race. He then lent essential aid in the formation of the American Colonization Society. This society was composed of noble-minded men whose pitying attention was fastened upon the bondage, afflictions and heathenism of their black brothers, in this so called free land. Their aim was to furnish a refuge, in their own country, for those who were emancipated here, and it was their hope that such a scheme would do much toward the abolition of slavery. Their first effort was the collection of information: first, in regard to the condition of the slave here, that they might enlist general sympathy in their work. In a letter written by Mr. Mills about this matter, he said: "State facts. Facts will always produce an effect, at least on pious minds. You can easily possess yourself of facts, the bare recital of which will make the heart bleed." From the extensive observations he had made in the South, and by having the subject so long in his mind, he was very ready to "state facts," and did so in every time and place. The information needed, in the second place, by the society was in regard to a suitable location for the colony, and the methods which would be required to obtain it. Mr. Mills was made their agent. He chose as a colleague, to share his responsibility, the Rev. Mr. Burgess. After some months of preparation they left America, planning to visit England first for information and assistance and then Africa, for the accomplishment of their errand. His father says of the "good-bye" which he bade him, at the time, that "he enjoyed peculiar peace of mind, committing himself entirely to the guidance and protection of the Almighty." He, who had endured so many hardships for Christ's sake, knew in whom he trusted.