396

THE POWER OF PACIFIC PRINCIPLES.

people of God," and the certain prospect of meeting her in the heavenly world.

*

In consequence of the locality of Mosheu's people, the distance from our station being one hundred and fifty miles, they have been given over to the Paris Society, and a missionary went a year ago to reside among them. To this brief detail, the following fact may be added, which has been communicated since my visit to England. This little Christian band had met, on a sabbath morning, with the people in the centre of the village, to hold the early prayer-meeting before the services of the day. They were scarcely seated, when a party of marauders approached from the interior, whither they had gone for plunder, and not having succeeded to their wishes, had determined to attack this Coranna village on their return. Mosheu arose, and begged the people to sit still and trust in Jehovah, while he went to meet the marauders. To his inquiry, what they wanted, the appalling reply was, "Your cattle; and it is at your peril you raise a weapon to resist." There are my cattle," replied the chief, and then retired and resumed his position at the prayer-meeting. A hymn was sung, a chapter read, and then all kneeled in prayer to God, who only could save them in their distresses. The sight was too sacred and solemn to be gazed on by such a band of ruffians: they all withdrew from the spot, without touching a single article belonging to the people.

Before closing the account of the Bechuana mission, it will be proper to state, that during the years 1837, 1838, a rich blessing descended on the labours of the brethren at home, at the out-stations, and, indeed, at every place where the Gospel was read and preached. Large additions of Bechuanas to the church at Griqua Town have already been noticed; and in 1838, great accessions were made to that of the Kuruman. Under the very efficient and assiduous superintendance of Mr. Edwards, the number of readers connected with the mission had increased in equal ratio; while the Infant School, commenced and carried on by Mrs. Edwards, with the assistance of a native girl, gave the highest satisfaction. The people made rapid advances in civilization; some purchasing wagons, and breaking in their oxen for those labours which formerly devolved on the

When Andries was once asked by the author how they spent the sabbath, he replied with great simplicity, "We read much in God's word, and pray and sing, and read again, and again, and again, and explain what we know to those who do not understand the Sechuana language."

A MERCHANT SETTLES ON THE STATION.

897

female sex. The use of clothing became so general, that the want of a merchant was greatly felt, to supply the demands for British commodities. This induced us to invite Mr. D. Hume, in whom we placed implicit confidence, who had already traded much with the natives, and travelled a great distance into the interior, to take up his constant abode on the station for that purpose. He built himself a house, and the measure has succeeded beyond our expectations. Mr. H. had also rendered a very considerable amount of gratu itous labour, in assisting the late Mr. Hugh Millen in raising the walls of the chapel, and subsequently in finishing it. The place of worship was so far in readiness, that it was opened in November, 1838. This was a deeply interesting season to all, and especially to the missionaries and the church which has been gathered from among the heathen. Between eight and nine hundred entered those walls, now sacred to the service of Jehovah. A deep sense of the Divine presence was felt during the services on that memorable oc casion. The Rev. P. Lemue, of Motito, took part with the resident missionaries in the solemnities. In the afternoon of the following sabbath, one hundred and fifty members. united in commemorating the dying love of Him who had redeemed them by his blood, and brought them, by his pro vidence and grace, from tribes-some very distant-to par ticipate in the heavenly banquet. Many, with eyes suffused with tears, compared their present happy condition with the ignorance and degradation from which they had been graciously delivered. The church has since increased to two hundred and thirty.

Mothibi, the chief of the Batlapis, had long turned a deaf ear to the invitations of the Gospel, and his declining years and fading faculties led us to fear that he was following some of his contemporaries who had died without hope, after having possessed abundant means of becoming wise unto salvation. By a letter, however, lately received from Mr. Edwards, we have the following delightful intelligence, which cannot fail to proclaim to all the potency of the everlasting Gospel to one who was truly subdued by it in the eleventh hour. Two of his sons, with their wives, were already members of the church; and Mahuto, his wife, was some years ago baptized by the Griqua Missionaries.

"Mothibi, our old king, feeble from age, stood forth with others to make a public profession of his faith, by being baptized. He has for some time been reckoned among the dead; his people viewing him as one of the past generation. I had heard, a few months before he last

398

MOTHIBI'S EXPERIENCE.

visited us, that he was becoming much concerned about the state of his soul, and could no longer conceal his fears, which only increased the longer he kept silent. Being quite overwhelmed, he made known his alarm to the believers, and requested their counsel and sympathy. Morisanyane, the native reader at his residence, was made useful to him. Mothibi at length urgently entreated his sons 'to take him to Kuruman, to see his own missionaries:' immediately on his arrival, he bent his feeble steps to the mission house. Never before, I believe, did he visit a missionary with so much anxiety and diffidence. I found him not inclined to speak much, but rather to hear what might be said to him. He said, however, that he had come to speak about his soul-that he was an old man, great from age, but without understanding: there is nothing left,' he exclaimed, but my old bones and withered skin; I heard the word" from the beginning (twenty-five years ago,) but never understood, and now have no rest night nor day; my soul is sorrowful, and burning with anguish; my heart is sick, and rises into my throat; my mind is dark, and my memory cannot retain the good word; but though it forsakes me, it does me good; it leaves something behind in my soul, which I cannot explain, but which causes me to hope. I wish to cast myself at the feet of Jesus the Son of God, in hope and expectation that he will have mercy on me. I feel that it will be my wisdom to sit at the feet of believers, who are grown to manhood in knowledge, to be ever instructed by them in the paths of duty and salvation.'

"On inquiring among those who had observed him of late, I found that they all thought favourably of him, for they had seen him weep repeatedly over his sins, and his lost state as a sinner. He expressed ardent desires to live and die at the feet of Christ, and to be united to his people; and there being no scriptural objection, he was proposed, and received by the church in this place. Though the rightful chief of 20,000 Bechuanas, Mothibi stood with as much humility, as others of his people beside him, whom he formerly considered as his 'servants' or 'dogs,' to receive the ordinance of baptism. He may not be a bright star among the believers, but if enabled to follow up his desire, 'to live and die at the feet of Jesus,' though he go halting the few remaining days of his life, he will be at last received to glory, a monument of what grace can do even in the eleventh hour."

In reference to this pleasing event, Mr. Hamilton remarks, "Things are now coming to close quarters. The surrounding heathen chiefs are in a state of consternation, at the father of their cause embracing the faith, and becoming a little child in the kingdom of God; and on being assured that this is really the case, shake their heads as mournfully as if he were dead."

It is a remarkable fact, that some of the heathen chiefs, upwards of one hundred miles distant, are opposed to the introduction of the Gospel among their people, though they view missionaries as their benefactors, receive them with civility, and attend upon their ministry; when, at the same time, those of more distant tribes are anxiously desiring to have missionaries both for themselves and their people. To us this is not at all surprising, the latter being sensible only of the temporal benefits enjoyed by those who have received

THE BASUTO MISSION.

399

the Gospel, but comparatively ignorant of the strict requirements of the word of God; while such as live nearer, and have mingled with Christians, often have the enmity of their carnal hearts aroused by witnessing the havoc it makes among their heathenish customs and darling sins, without having tasted the blessedness of being turned from them to serve the living God.*

CHAPTER XXXIV.

HAVING already exceeded the limits of the present work, the Author feels it necessary to confine the different subjects on which he intended to dilate within a very narrow compass. It is with the greatest satisfaction he refers to the French and Wesleyan brethren in the Basuto country, south-east of the Kuruman, whose labours have been abun dantly blessed, not only in that district, but to the borders of the Colony. Mosheshe, king of the Basutos, had long desired to receive a missionary, in order to procure for his subjects those advantages which he had heard other tribes had derived from the residence of a missionary among them. After long reflection, in 1833, he sent two hundred oxen to some of his servants, ordering them to go and find the great chief of the white people, and obtain from him, in exchange for the cattle, men capable of instructing his subjects. His servants obeyed; but, after a few days' march, they fell in with some Corannas, who deprived them of their cattle. This adverse circumstance did not discourage Mosheshe; for, having heard that a Griqua from our missionary station at Philippolis was hunting in his dominions, he sent for him, inquired respecting the object and labours of the missionaries, and entreated the stranger's assistance in the accomplishment of his wishes. This was promised; and on the Griqua's return to Philipolis, he related the affair to his missionary; and it is worthy of remark, that just at this junc

* Mr. Edwards accompanied by one of the younger missionaries has lately gone into the interior, with the prospect of commencing a mission among the Bakone tribes.

400

THE SPEECH OF MOSHESHE.

ture three missionaries from the Paris Society arrived at the station. They were on their way to the Bechuanas beyond the Kuruman; but, on learning this circumstance, they could not but consider it as an unequivocal call, which they were bound to obey. That was a part of the country which had been but little traversed by Europeans, and had been made the theatre of crime and bloodshed by the Bergenaars. The brethren arrived in July, 1833, when Mosheshe gave them a most friendly reception, and assisted in selecting a suitable spot for a mission station, which they called Morija. Messrs. Casalis, Arbousset, and Gosselin, commenced this important mission, and they now exert an influence over at least twelve thousand souls. Public worship is well attended, and the Sabbath punctually observed, by those of the people who make a profession of the Christian religion. The unremitting and self-denying labours of these valuable men have been remarkably blessed, and their hands have been strengthened by additional labourers from the same Society. They have translated portions of the word of life into the native language. The influence exerted by Mosheshe over the minds of the people has been a most effective auxiliary to the labours of our brethren. The following remarks, in a speech of his, taken from the journal of J. Backhouse, Esq., who himself heard it, will show that he is a man of considerable talent:

“Rejoice, you Makare and Mokatchani! you rulers of cities, rejoice! We have all reason to rejoice on account of the news we have heard. There are a great many sayings among men. Among them some are true, and some are false; but the false have remained with us, and multiplied; therefore we ought to pick up carefully the truths we hear, lest they should be lost in the rubbish of lies. We are told that we have all been created by one Being, and that we all spring from one man. Sin entered man's heart when he ate the forbidden fruit, and we have got sin from him. These men say that they have sinned; and what is sin in them is sin in us, because we come from one stock, and their hearts and ours are one thing. Ye Makare have heard these words, and you say they are lies. If these words do not conquer, the fault will lie with you. You say you will not believe what you do not understand. Look at an egg! If a man break it, there comes only a watery and yellow substance out of it; but if it be placed under the wings of a fowl, there comes a living thing from it. Who can understand this? Who ever knew how the heat of the hen produced the chicken in the egg. This is incomprehensible to us, yet we do not deny the fact. Let us do like the hen. Let us place these truths in our hearts, as the hen does the eggs under her wings; let us sit upon them, and take the same pains, and something new will come of them."

Mosheshe's son is a convert, and several have been admitted into church fellowship. In 1840 they had a large