136
by them in this glorious work, and I hope He will continue to do so. I only regret they are not sufficiently catholic. In London the coloured children go to school with the whites, the latter feel themselves not disgraced by the association. For the want of such Christian-like union, many of the coloured children are growing up in ignorance, even in a land of freedom, and so it will be until they are able to establish and sustain their own institutions, as I hope by the grace of God ere long they will. The elevation of a people depends more upon themselves than upon their neighbours. I have long been convinced the sentiment of the emiment poet is quite true:
Themselves must strike the blow.
Cowper.
These people are perfectly willing, and manifest a disposition to receive instruction, as the following extract will demonstrate. I quote from the Report of the Church School Society for 1859, page 27.
"The Tracts are still valued by the poor Fugitives who can read. They are sometimes returned to be exchanged with such expressions as the following. 'That's a nice book, it is so sweet and comforting.' 'I thought the last my daughter read to me was the best I ever heard in my life,' said a poor Fugitive the other day.
