The Bishop next notices their superstitions and idolatries, and the evils connected with their belief in witchcraft; and says, that though, by the influence of the colony and missions, their confidence is, in some places, being shaken in some of them; they generally even yet think you a fool, and pity you, if you venture to hint that there is nothing in them. But we must not quote him farther than to include his closing remarks: “But what! Do you then think that there is no hope for these heathen, or that we should give up all hopes directed to that end? Not I, indeed. Very far from it. I would rather reiterate the noble saying of the sainted Cox: ‘Though a thousand fall even, in this attempt, yet let not Africa be given up.’ I mention these things to show, that there are solid reasons why our brethren in Africa have accomplished so little; and also to show, that the Churches at home must, in this work particularly, exercise the patience of faith and the labor of love. We must still pound the rock, even though it is hard, and our mallets be but of wood. It will break one day.” Our inquiries into the condition of the Missions among the natives, where civil government exerts no influence, must now be closed. The state of things is about this: The chiefs, ambitious of distinction and avaricious, often favor the settlement of missionaries, on account of the consequence it gives them, or from mercenary motives; the division of the population into small tribes, and their marauding dispositions, leads to frequent wars; the tyranny of the chiefs, and their fear of losing their influence, often leads them, after having admitted the missionary, to oppose his work and deter their people from attending his preaching; the existence of slavery and hereditary chieftainism, leaves the mass of the population incapable of independent action; the ignorance of barbarism, overshadowing their minds, renders them incapable of comprehending moral truth; the superstitions of ages are not to be given up, readily, for a religion they can not comprehend; the custom of receiving _dashes_, tends to prejudice the native against the missionary; and, above all, the practice of polygamy, ministering to the indolence and sensuality of the men, and reducing the women to the condition of slaves, stands as a wall of adamant in the way of the progress of the Gospel. These are the more prominent barriers to the success of missions in Africa, where civil government exerts no power, and the influence of Christian society is not felt.