o prepare for
departure he was informed by Lott Gary that he was determined not to
go. Nearly all the colonists were induced to follow his example.

In the event they suffered severely; nearly 1,000 natives attacked
them in November, 1822, but were repulsed. During this and similar
encounters with the natives, which lasted through the months of
November and December, Lott Cary cooperated wisely with the Agent,
Jehudi Ashmun,[75] and, although several of the colonists were killed
and wounded, with only 37 men and boys he, on one occasion, drove back
with considerable loss 1,500 wild and exasperated natives who were
bent on extirpating the settlement. Lott Cary compared the little
company of disturbed settlers to the Jews, who "grasped a weapon in
one hand, while they labored with the other" to rebuild the city. But
he is said to have asserted: "There never has been an hour or a
minute, no, not even when the balls were flying around my head, when I
could wish myself again in America."[76]

These colonists planted their church at Monrovia and soon had under
way the nucleus of a flourishing Sunday-school.[77] Cary extended his
labors to communities far and near, and by 1823 had 6 converts.[78]
The following resolution adopted by the General Missionary Convention
speaks for itself the sentiment of that body respecting the work of
Cary and Teague up to May 7, 1823:[79]

The committee states that the present condition and prospects of
the mission are encouraging. Brethren Cary and Teague are at
present much occupied in aiding in the establishment of the
colony at Cape Mesurado. Their conduct has been good and that of
the former, in particular, has been specially commended by the
Agent of the Colonization Society. The committee recommends that
an able white missionary be stationed, as soon as practicable, at
Cape Mesurado. The mission has a double effect. While it tends to
introduce the gospel into Africa, a mission establishment on the
coast will essentially aid in the suppression of the slave trade.

In spite of the fact that his associate, Colin Teague, had returned to
Freetown, Sierra Leone,[80] Lott Cary was adding some few of the
natives to the church. In 1824, he baptized 9. One by the name of John
from Grand Cape Mount, a town about eighty miles distant, proved a
valuable helper by the good influence which he exerted. Some word from
Hector Peters[81] had touched him