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like leaving á sanctuary, in which God dwells. O pray for me!"

Christian duty. One of the men saidI know nothing that lies heavier on my heart, than when I am not at peace with my neighbour. Lately this was the case with me, and I could not get any sleep for it at night. This kind of sleeplessness is very different from that occasioned by illness or pain, which is not to be compared with it; being much more intolerable.'

February." In the first days of this month, Brother Beinbrech and his wife were employed in speaking with the baptized admitted as candidates for the communion. Their report to the conference was very edifying. They say 'We can assure our brethren, that the grace and power of our Lord and Saviour is in truth made manifest among our Hottentots. We were greatly edified by the confessions and declarations of many of them, and discovered very encouraging traces of the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of these poor people.

"An instance is here quoted, to shew the manner in which they express themselves:

"Africaner Kloete, a candidate for baptism said-'I was once servant to a German gentleman, who took great delight in catching tortoises. He used to tie them together, and shoot at them. On his death-bed, he became very uneasy in his mind about this piece of wanton cruelty, and said, that though he believed that the Lord Jesus would forgive him many sins, yet he thought this would remain unforgiven. I then remembered, that, as a boy, I used to find great pleasure in tormenting birds, and I am now afraid that that sin will not be forgiven.' We answered, that it was indeed a crime of no small magnitúde to exercise cruelty toward any poor creature, but that he had committed a much greater crime, for by his sins he had crucified the Lord of Life and Glory. He replied—' O yes, I have done it: that is, alas! too true. God be merciful to me a sinner.' Some days after, he was baptized, and came to express his thanks for this great favour. 'I have often,' said he, 'heard, that at baptism, we feel something in our hearts which words cannot express, but I could not believe it but now I know what it is. On that day I forgot almost the existence of my body, thinking only of my soul. But now I must again go to the farmers to work, and shall leave Gnadenthal with grief of heart; it is

"March 3. We called to mind, at the public meeting, what great things the Lord has done for this congregation, since the 3d of March, 1793; when the Brethren Marsveld, Schwinn, and Kuehnel entered into the first house built by them in this place.

"March 4.-The Field Commandant, Jacob Linde, arrived here with an order to enlist 120 of our most able men, to join the waggon-train, and accompany the commando of armed farmers going from Zwellendam to resist the Caffres. Having previously been informed of this measure, we had prepared a list of all our single men, fit for the purpose, which we presented to Mr. Linde; hoping that the fathers of families would be spared; but some of the single men having been rejected, and the number chosen being below a hundred, several of the fathers of families were obliged to be taken. We were, however, very thankful to Mr. Linde, for executing his commission with every kind attention to the sparing of our people as much as possible. He was satisfied with 105 men, who were directed to appear at his farm on the 12th instant. It may be supposed, that this circumstance occasioned considerable alarm throughout the congregation; as there was scarcely a family, out of which a brother, son, or relative had not been appointed to join the commando: and we, therefore, postponed the celebration of the holy communion, till the minds of our people had acquired more serenity. "March 10. We spoke with every individual of those who are appointed to accompany the troops into the interior, and therefore must be ab sent from the congregation for a shorter or longer time: to each we endeavoured to give such advice as we deemed best suited to his circumstances. We were pleased to find, that they all considered it their duty to serve Government with willingness and due faithfulness. Many mourned over their not having made a better use of the privileges enjoyed in the congregation, now that they must leave us. The depend ence which they placed on our Saviour, for the preservation both of their souls and bodies, was truly edifying to us.

"March 11.-In the evening we met at the church, to take leave of those of our people who were to join the commando on the following day. The church

was crowded, and we commended our dear people, now leaving us, some per haps never to return, to the mercy and compassion, grace and protection, of God our Saviour, in fervent prayer. The congregation then sang a farewell hymn, in a spirit of true brotherly love and participation, which affected and comforted us much.

March 12.-In the forenoon, all these dear travellers came to our dwellings, once more to take leave of their teachers. Many of them took this opportunity of requesting forgiveness for all that they had done to grieve us as they said they could not tell whether they should ever see our faces again in this world. Se veral were so much affected, that they could not speak for weeping. This, and the whole scene, quite overpowered us. A great part of the congregation, with the wives, children, and relatives, had assembled under the trees in the grove, singing verses, expressive of their good wishes and prayers for their departing friends and brethren; which had such an effect upon all present, that not a dry eye was seen. The thought that perhaps great trials awaited them, made us look at them with an interest and compassion which pierced our hearts. Our farewell benedictions were expressed more by tears and other tokens, than by words.

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"March 22 & 23.-Classes were held with the baptized, being not yet communicants. We have a custom, that those who have been admitted to the Lord's Supper attend once more to take leave of their former class, which generally produces a salutary impression upon the minds of those left behind. In general, all belonging to one class take great share in one another's welfare; and such as have been baptized at the same time consider each other as near relations, and their mutual love and participation are very edifying.

“April.—The celebration of the Pas sion-Week and Easter was again attend. ed with great blessing. Every evening we read that portion of our Saviour's last discourse addressed to the people at large, and particularly to His disciples, previously to His sufferings, which belonged to the day, with prayer that He would deeply impress on our hearts a sense of that great love which caused Him to suffer and die for us. On the 5th, we spoke with all our communicants; and had reason to rejoice over the many proofs of the work of the Holy Spirit in their s, and their

earnest desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. In our con ference on the 6th, seventy-one persons were appointed to advance in the privis leges of the church; namely, eleven to be candidates for baptism, five received, fifteen baptized, nineteen candidates for the Lord's Supper, nineteen confirmed, and two to be re-admitted. Having been called by the chapel servants, they all approached our house, in a kind of procession, to be informed, in turn, of the favour that awaited them. It is not easy to conceive what we feel, when we see and speak with such a number of candidates for union with the Christian church, who, but lately, have been ignorant and unprincipled heathen.

"Good-Friday, when we contemplated the last sufferings and dying scenes of our Redeemer, was no less made unto us a day of great blessing; to which, both our own people and many visiting strangers bore testimony from the fulness of their hearts. A great many neigh bours, both farmers, slaves, and Hot tentots, were diligent attendants at our church at Easter and during the holidays.

"On Easter Monday, the above-men tioned fifteen adults were baptized; and five, baptized as children, received into the congregation.

"April 18.-About 100 persons, who had attained either to baptism or to the Lord's Supper since Easter last year, met as usual, on the Sunday after Easter, to return thanks to the Lord for the mercy shewn unto them, and expressed their joy with great hus mility.

"April 28.-The remains of Elias Kuester, a worthy member of our congregation, were interred. He was bap tized in 1807; and, in 1809, became a communicant. We may truly declare, that he had not received the grace of God in vain. His walk among us was exemplary; and when he spoke of the state of his soul, we were much edified by his humility and earnest desire to grow in grace. His anxious disposition sometimes beclouded the peace of his mind; but he was soon restored to faith and confidence in his Saviour, and was in general in a tranquil and happy state. Being a very clever cutler, he was ap pointed foreman in the cutlery watched over good order and proper behaviour among his fellow-workmen, and was respected by them all. His early decease, therefore, (for he was in the prime of

life.) proved to our whole establishment a very serious loss. In the congregation he served with great faithfulness as an Opsiener (Overseer) and Chapelservant. The last meeting at which he was present was one appointed in February, for the Chapel-servants; in which he spoke most sensibly, and to much edification, of the favour of serv. ing in the House of God, and of the state of his own soul.

"May 1.-We received, by a letter from Brother Schmitt, the afflicting account of the murder of uine Christian Hottentots, by the Caffres, on the Witte Revier, and of the flight of their whole congregation to Uitenhagen. The communication of this intelligence, in the Evening Service, greatly affected the congregation; and we cried to the Lord in fellowship for his support and deliverance, under these painful dispensations.

"May 2.-At the holy communion, nineteen persons, who had been previously confirmed, were made partakers; and a baptized Caffre, residing here, was present as a candidate.

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earnest wish to live unto the Lord, and walk worthy of the Gospel. Her whole demeanour was exemplary; and, by a certain upright, decided, and resolute manner, which was natural to her, and made her differ from the Hottentots in general, she acquired great esteem with all, whether superiors or inferiors. She retained, however, from long habit, certain Hottentot manners and ideas: for instance, she thought that no age screened a child from parental anthority and discipline: if she had reason to find fault with and resent her children's conduct, though they were upward of fifty years old, she would not only scold but would make them submit to personal chastisement: one could not help smiling to see this aged, infirm person, hobbling along, scarcely able to support herself on her trembling knees by means of a crutch, dealing out her feeble blows on the backs of her unresisting grey-headed children, who took it all in good part, since she considered it a discharge of parental duty. In the latter part of her life, she seldom could leave her bed; but she cleav ed unto and rejoiced in the Lord, without wavering. Her end was very gentle, and the ceasing of her breath hardly perceptible.

"Whitsuntide was celebrated by us with great blessing, and the Lord's Supper closed the solemnities of Whitsunday.

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"May 20.-We celebrated, with the whole Christian church, the festival of the Ascension of our Lord; and rejoiced in the experience of the fulfilment of his gracious promise, Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.' “ May 24.—A very aged Hottentot woman, -Magdalen Kleff, departed this life. She had had twenty-four children, most of whom have gone before her into eternity. She was the last person here, so far as we know, who knew our late venerable father, George Schmidt. She had been one of his scholars; and sometimes spoke, with tears in her eyes, of the last meeting that he held with the children, and the fervent prayer with which he concluded his farewell dis course. She afterward removed into another part of the country: but, on hearing that some brethren were come again and had settled at Bavianskloof, she said to her children, To that place, we will go; for these are certainly the same sort of people as George Schmidt was. You shall go to school to them.' Thus she arrived here with all her children; and it was soon perceived, that the seed sown in her heart half a century before had not perished. At the "June 10.-We received a letter consecration of our new church, in from one of those men who had been 1800, she, with six other adults, was commanded from hence to serve baptized; and, in 1803, became a com- with the army on the frontier. He inmunicant. formed us, that all the Gnadenthal HotWe can testify, that it was her tentots were well and unhurt and often

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May 25. We spoke with all our communicants, previous to the Lord's Supper to be held on Sunday next. They seemed to feel the pressure of the present times more than usual, and some were rather faint-hearted, on account of their outward poverty and distress. They were, however, willing to believe that the Lord, in his own time, would grant relief; and resolved anew, with all their griefs, to make him alone their refuge, and cleave to him under all circumstances. And, indeed, on the 27th, when we partook together of the holy communion, the peace of God revived and strengthened them anew. We heard afterward, in their classes, on the 28th and 29th, very pleasing declarations of their renewed faith and trust in him, who is the only helper in all need!

on the frontier, they have all returned home, in perfectly good health.

called to mind what they had heard and who must serve about two months longer, experienced in this place. They begin conveying provisions to the soldiers ged that they may now and then receive letters from us; and we gladly seize every opportunity to send them a word of exhortation and comfort, in the distant part to which they are removed. / State of the Mission, at the Close of 1819. The Rev. H. P. Hallbeck, in a letter of Dec. 21, 1819, writes

"All the Missionaries here are tolerably well; and, thanks to God, united in the bond of brotherly love. Of the 100 Hottentots who were commanded against the Caffres, by the wonderful preservation of God not one has suffered the least injury; and, except about ten,

"The country is, this year, every where blessed with a plentiful harvest. Our Hottentots also have their labour in the sowing season richly repaid. The conséquence is, that wheat is much cheaper: we may now buy for 80 rixdollars, what was before sold for nearly 200. The trees that have been lately planted thrive also amazingly well; and many oaks, that appeared dead last year, have revived: even the acorns, that did not come up last year, have now made their appearance."

VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

FOREIGN.

FRANCE.-Little has occured in this country during the last month which is worthy of remark. It appears, however, that a considerable degree of uneasiness begins again to prevail, respecting the ascendency which the Ultra-Royalists, as they are termed, are supposed to be acquiring in the national councils. A profound dread is entertained of the designs of this party by the bulk of the population. They view, in their return to power, the risk of something like a retrogradation to the ancient regime, the disturbance of the rights of property sanctioned by the Revolution, and the gradual restoration of those feodalités which it swept wholly away. And these apprehensions are so widely spread, and so sensibly felt, that the stability of the Bourbon throne must be very essentially compromised by a strong suspicion of their growing influence. It would be wise, therefore, in the king to remove all just ground for such a suspicion. The transactions in Italy have also served strongly to agitate the public mind, and the more as M. de Blacas, who represented France at the Congress of Troppau, was thought to have expressed himself in favour of the invasion of Naples, with a decision which seemed to involve that government as an accessary in the aggression. The French funds fell from 85 to 71 per cent. in a few days. Confidence has again been in part restored by the publication of a circular from the minister of foreign affairs to the ministers at foreign

courts, disclaiming all participation in the counsels or designs of Austria, and expressing the determination of the government to maintain the most undeviating neutrality; but the public mind is still much agitated. " SPAIN. The Spanish Cortes have again assembled. The king opened the session in person; and after giving a brief exposition of the state of the kingdom, both in its external and internal relations, he informed the Cortes of the necessity he had been under to dismiss his ministers, complained of the insults and indignities to which he was exposed from the populace of Madrid, and requested both their protection against such outrages, and their counsel as to the new ministers he should appoint. The Cortes recommended that the executive authority should use its power for the repression of all disorder, and promised to afford it their best support, but declined interfering in the nomination of ministers, which was the exclusive prerogative of the crown. The king has appointed men to fill the different offices of state, who have hitherto been little known in public life, but with whom the Cortes appear to be satisfied, and we have heard nothing said of any farther tumults at Madrid.

The American provinces seem now to be almost wholly lost to Spain. Peru is said to be in the power of the patriots from Chili. Mexico alone still remains attached to the parent state.

PORTUGAL.-The Portuguese Cortes proceed with the work of framing a constitution, which they seem dis

posed to mould on a more liberal system, as to the freedom of the press, than their neighbours in Spain. The island of Madeira has been revolutionized without any bloodshed, and has sent deputies to Lisbon. The flame of liberty has extended even to the Brazils, and the province of Bahia, by the last accounts, had declared for the new constitution. The other provinces are likely to follow this example. NAPLES, &c. Every other topic of foreign interest is at the present moment absorbed in the afflicting aspect of affairs in Italy, which has once more become the theatre of war, and that under circumstances which have justly excited a powerful sympathy for the invaded party, and a very general indignation against the invaders. A declaration, containing the views of those of the allied powers who agree in the expediency of attacking Naples, has been published in the Vienna official Gazette. It traces the revolution in Naples to the secret machinations of the Carbonari, and the "violent threats and actual force" which, in a moment of surprise, rendered it necessary for the king to give (a temporary sanction to measures which compromised the welfare of the country and the dignity of the Sovereign." It then alludes to the interview of the king with the allies at Laybach, who frankly informed him, that “they would not suffer the present order of things in Naples, and that if they were not amicably -dissolved, arms must be employed;" and that "they left it wholly to the *king to give his people a just and wise -constitution." The declaration added, that orders had been given to the Austrian army to cross the Po; and that in case of a formal war, the emperor of Russia, "convinced of the necessity of putting down so great an evil," would join his forces to those of Austria. No "declaration," however, can get over the outrage and injustice of foreign powers presuming, under circumstances like the present, to controul the internal proceedings of independent states; and as for "the danger of example," into which the declaration ultimately resolves its argument, it is, as Lord Castlereagh justly remarked, "an argument by which a vicious nation might justify itself in waging war for the propagation of universal depravity."

entertained on the continent for royal, ty, and of the disrespect which is shewa to the power and authority of sovereigns. And there is, doubtless, some ground for such complaints. But does not a great part of the evil originate with themselves? May not their degradation in public esteem be attributed, in a considerable measure at least, to their own selfish, unthinking, and dishonourable conduct? The time is past when persons in authority can safely brave public opinion, and set at nought, with impunity, the obli gations of morality and justice. In the present instance, we have three powerful monarchs professing to make the pure principles of Scripture the sole rule of their policy, foreign and domestic, who have not shrunk from openly inviting, and almost compelling, another monarch to violate, in the face of Europe, the solemn engagements he had entered into with his own people, and to sport with the oaths by which he had bound himself to them; and who are now proceeding to visit his people with the various extremities of suffering which march in the train of hostile armies with misery, conflagration, and blood-and all this not on the pretence of any actual injury to themselves, but on an apprehension of some distant danger lest their sovereign dignity may hereafter be in some way or other compromised by the circumstance that their royal brother, on the universal demand of his subjects, consented to substitute a free, in place of a despotic, form of government. When such things happen, can it be matter of surprize that all the sympathies of human nature should be enlisted in favour of such a people, and against their confederated oppressors? Or can we wonder that the effect of such feelings, when thus produced, should be to precipitate the very consummation which a shortsighted, crooked, and criminal policy had vainly thought to avert?

The march of the Austrians, who have poured their troops in large numbers into the north of Italy, and into the Ecelesiastical States, with a view to the forcible occupation of Naples, has roused the enthusiasm, and united the hands and hearts of the Neapolitans, who seem fully resolved to defend themselves to the last extremity, rather than submit to the insolent and deWe hear many complaints in the grading dictation of their invaders. present day of the conte The Parliament of Naples have adopt

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