The state in which we found the A-kànga mother-church arose perhaps somewhat from the fact that there had been for some time a great deal of friction between my predecessor and it, from a cause as creditable to him as it was disgraceful to the church. One morning on his way from his house to the city he came upon a poor slave woman in chains, sitting crying by the roadside (a most unusual sight--I never saw such a one), and as the chains had broken the skin of her neck and ankles they were bleeding, and she was besmeared with blood. He was so touched and exasperated by the sight that he returned home, and at once wrote to the queen telling her of what he had seen. Her Majesty sent and had the woman brought into her presence, and she was so touched, shocked, and angered by the sight of the poor creature, besmeared with her own blood, that she ordered the chains to be taken off at once and put upon her owner! A most drastic proclamation was drawn up there and then on the subject of the treatment of slaves, and even printed at the government press; but what its tenor was we never knew, as it was suppressed; for after the queen had cooled down the prime minister and cabinet represented to her that to put the woman’s master in chains, and to issue the proclamation, would cause a revolution, and might cost her not only her crown but her life, and theirs also, as the people were not ripe for such drastic measures. On their knees they pleaded with her to revoke the proclamation, which she wisely did. There was great excitement over the affair, during which my predecessor found out that the heartless owner of the slave was a member of the A-kànga church. He at once brought the matter before a church meeting, representing that a man who would treat any human being, especially a woman, in that manner was unfit to be a member of the church. To his astonishment and disgust the meeting sided with the slave owner almost to a man (as of course all the other slave owners had made a point of being present), and from that time my unfortunate predecessor was opposed and thwarted by the semi-heathen portion on almost every possible occasion.