Note 137 — Chapter X · CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

The Portuguese Church had produced the first Roman Catholic negro bishop, in the 16th century. He was Bishop of the Congo, was a member of the royal family of Kongo, and was educated at Lisbon and Rome. Samuel Crowther was an Egba slave-boy from Lagos, who by education acquired the intellect and outlook of a European. He was an upright, sensible man who wrote valuable works on African philology, and did much towards founding British Nigeria and exploring the Niger and the Benue.