THE KINGDOM OF CONGO AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES.
By Editor
THE following is a portion of an article written by the Rev. John Leighton Wilson, missionary in Western Africa, which was published in the Bibliotheca Sacra, of January, 1852. The article, somewhat condensed, will continue through several numbers of the SIGNS, and will, we think, be found very interesting and profitable.
No part of Western Africa is so well known to history as the kingdom of Congo. And the circumstance that has contributed to its notoriety, but not to its honor as a nation, is the fact that from the earliest period of its discovery by the Portuguese up to the present moment, it has always borne the lead in the foreign slave trade, and, in all probability, has furnished a larger number of victims for the markets of the New World than any other region of Africa whatever. Congos or their descendants may still be identified in many parts of the United States, throughout the West India Islands, and in large numbers in Brazil, where they have not yet laid aside their vernacular tongue.
But the circumstance which, above all others, has contributed to give it interest in the eyes of the civilized world, is the fact that it has been the stage upon which has been achieved one of the most successful experiments ever made by the Church of Rome, to reclaim a pagan people from idolatry. For more than two centuries, the kingdom of Congo, according to the showing of the missionaries themselves, was as completely under the influence of Rome as any sister kingdom in Europe; so that if the inhabitants of that country are not now, in point of civilization and Christianity, what Rome would have them to be, or all that a pagan people are capable of being made under her training, the fault lies at her own door. In relation to the missions which she planted about the same time in India, China, and other parts of the world, it has been alleged, with some degree of justice, that her designs were thwarted in consequence of political changes in Europe, which placed Protestant nations in the ascendant, and gave them a preponderant influence in those countries where her missions had been established. With no less justice it has been urged that the failure of her efforts among the Indian tribes, both of North and South America, ought to be ascribed to the fact that these tribes have been overshadowed and borne down by the presence of more powerful races, without allowing sufficient time for the full development of her peculiar principles. But whether these things can be regarded as satisfactory explanations of the causes of failure in other parts of the world or not, nothing of the kind can be urged in relation to her missions in Congo. Here she has always had the field to herself; and for more than two centuries enjoyed facilities and advantages for propagating her religion among this people, which she can scarcely ever expect to have again in any future efforts of the kind that she may make.
It is our intention in the present article to examine the character and results of this mission. But in order to render our views intelligible, we must give a hasty sketch of the civil as well as the religious history of the country, before entering upon the proposed investigation.
The kingdom of Congo, as also the great river of the same name, was discovered by the Portuguese about the year 1485. It was not a new or isolated discovery, but an extension of those they had made some years previously higher up the coast. At the time, however, it was regarded as immensely valuable, and it awakened an interest in Portugal, in behalf of this people and country, that has not entirely subsided after the lapse of more than three centuries.
The kingdom of Congo lies entirely on the south side of the river, which forms its northern boundary; while on the south it is bounded by the Portuguese province of Angola, on the west by the Atlantic, and on the east by the mountains of Matamba, which separate it from the country of the savage and war-like Giaghis. It is of an oblong figure, extending along the sea-coast about 250 miles and interiorwards about 350. At the time of its discovery, or very soon afterwards, it was divided into six provinces, viz., Sogno, Bamba, Pemba, Batta, Pango, and Sundi, to the chiefs of which the Portuguese gave the names of dukes, counts and marqueses, which they ever after retained. Of these provinces, Sogno and Bamba were the largest and altogether the most important.
San Salvador, the capital and metropolis of the whole kingdom, was situated in the province of Pemba, about 50 Italian miles southeast of the mouth of the Congo, and about 140 northeast of Loando St. Paul, the capital of Angola. It was situated upon the summit of a high mountain, and not only enjoyed a magnificent prospect of the surrounding country, but was reputed healthful even for Europeans. It was not only the residence of the king, but was the headquarters of the missionaries, as also for a large number of Portuguese merchants, who resorted thither on account of the facilities it offered for trade. At the time of its greatest prosperity, which was probably the early part of the seventeenth century, it is said to have contained about 40,000 inhabitants.
For many years, a bishop and his chapter, a college of Jesuits, and a monastery of Capuchins, were supported in San Salvador at the expense of the Portuguese Government. The only other towns of any considerable importance were the capitals of Sogno and Bamba, neither of which, however, is supposed to have contained more than six or eight hundred houses. In both of these there were monasteries of Capuchins, and in Sony, the capital of Sogno, there were six churches, the largest of which could contain five or six hundred people. Sony was situated upon a small creek, that emptied into the Congo a few miles from its mouth, and was the great sea-port of the kingdom.
Diego Cam, the original discoverer, having entered the river and learned by signs from natives whom he found upon its banks, that there was a great kingdom in the interior by the name of Congo, was so much elated by the discovery that he took very little time to verify these equivocal proofs, but made all speed back to Portugal to report his success. The interest which this discovery awakened in the mind of the king and people of Portugal was scarcely less than that felt by Diego Cam himself; and he was sent back almost immediately with three Dominican friars. On his second arrival he had an interview with the king, and was treated with the utmost kindness and courtesy. Two of the friars that accompanied him died soon after their arrival, probably of the effects of the climate; and the third was killed some years after by the Giaghis, while acting as chaplain to the Congolan army.
On his third voyage to Congo, Diego Cam took with him twelve missionaries more, of the Franciscan order, who are regarded as the founders of the Christian religion in the kingdom of Congo. The count of Sogno, and the king of Congo, his nephew, were among the first converts to Christianity. For a time the latter showed great zeal in promoting the new religion among his subjects; but as soon as he found that he was required to give up the multitude of wives and concubines with which he was surrounded, and be married to a single wife, he renounced it and returned to the religion of his fathers. His son and successor, Don Alphonso the First, felt no such difficulty. He not only embraced Christianity himself, but did all he could to promote its interests throughout his realms. His brother Pasanguitama was a man of a very different spirit, and finding there was quite a popular dislike to the new religion, availed himself of it to raise a rebellion against his brother. The armies of the two brothers had scarcely engaged in battle when St. James was distinctly seen fighting on the side of the king; and victory, of course, soon turned in his favor. Pasanguitama was not only beaten, but was made a prisoner. He refused to ransom his life by embracing Christianity, and was accordingly executed. It fared differently with his general, who was pardoned on the condition of becoming a Christian, but had to do penance in the way of bringing water for all who were baptized in the capital. Soon after this signal victory in behalf of Christianity, a large re-enforcement of missionaries was sent out by the Society de Propaganda Fide , most of whom were from the Italian States; and in the course of fifteen or twenty years the entire population of Congo was gathered into the pale of the Roman Catholic Church.