To Blyden, Taylor, Dickens, and Smith, conversion and civilization were not about the individual and his/her change. They were concerned about changing the entire African culture to become exactly like England. In this view, the process of civilization would take generations before it became reality. Some British officials questioned the idea that over long periods of time, Christianity would take root and effect change. In 1842, an inquiry into British settlements and missionary activity stated that little had been accomplished in changing African culture, morality, or religion. Dr. Richard Robert Madden, one of the key figures in the inquiry, told the Select Committee that the British settlements had "not proved instrumental to the promotion of the civilisation [sic] of Africa." The pagan customs were very much in place, despite the work of the missionaries. He would not say that there was no progress, but not the progress there should be compared to the degree of effort that the Government had made. When a member of the committee questioned whether the pagan customs would stop unless the Africans converted, he replied no, but said, "I think we might have expected, after the length of time for which we have had establishments there, that religion would have made advances to stop that" (Dr. Richard Robert Madden to the Select Committee on West Coast of Africa, 18 July 1842, British Parliamentary Papers, Colonies Africa vol. 2 (Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1970), 638-640).
During the inquiry, Coates protested the truth of that letter, stating facts to the contrary. Out of a population of 40,000, he argued, 6,000 were educated in the schools and 6,000 attended public worship. These statistics provided ample ammunition for Coates to rebut Governor Findlay's accusation and state that they afforded "very decisive proof as to the progress and efficiency of the Mission" (D. Coates, 395). But did that actually equal 12,000 out of 40,000? From Coates' ambiguous statement, some of the first 6,000 could be counted in the second 6,000. Although there were many who agreed with Coates, it did not change the perception of those who felt that the missionaries' work had achieved little. After all, what was the population of Sierra Leone (populated mostly with freed slaves) as compared to the multitudes of "savage natives" in the interior?
