He a literary man, who has taken his degree equal to our M.A. We had him for our own teacher two years before our return to England, and knew he was to be trusted. comes daily from nine o'clock till one, and from three till four in the afternoon. Mr. Young questions the children daily on what they have learned, to see if they understand it thoroughly, and if not, he explains it more plainly to them. The children attend public worship twice on Sundays, after which they are questioned regarding the sermon. Last Sabbath morning the subject was the history of Moses. In the afternoon the children gave a very satisfactory account of the sermon. They also attend the Chinese women's meeting every Tuesday afternoon. We are anxious to give them every opportunity of receiving religious instruction. We hope by-and-by they will be able to read the Bible in their own language, in which, as yet, their education has been entirely conducted. It is our desire that they may become as fluent in that as possible, and we think they will be better able to convey to their parents and relatives what is communicated to them in that, than through the medium of any other. The English language is spoken by very few of the natives here. We have no one about our house that speaks a word. This was at first a great difficulty to me, but I think it has proved an advantage, as I have learned more Chinese than I think it possible I should otherwise have done. I have been obliged to learn, in order to get even necessary wants supplied. Mr. Young advised my keeping house from the first, although having no servant that could speak a word of English, and not being able to speak a word of Chinese myself, I was often much perplexed, yet I followed his advice, and by that means gained a good deal more than I should otherwise have done, and now I can order all my household affairs with ease, and talk a little to the parents of the children, and other women who come to visit me from time to time. The girls'-school has proved a good auxiliary to our women's meeting,-it brings out the mothers and grandmothers, and other female relatives, to attend them. There are now meetings for women in three or four different places. When I left, ours was the only one. I sometimes go to visit the women at their own houses. They always treat me very kindly, and seem glad when any of the ladies go to see them. These are all small beginnings here, but we hope they will increase. May I beg the prayers of yourself and other Christian friends on behalf of these poor Chinese women and girls, and upon all our missionary efforts here? And now I am come to a part of my letter I would have left unwritten, if it were possible to have done so, but I think it my duty to request aid of Christian friends, and so I will make a short statement with regard to the funds of the school. When I left England, I brought from different sources three boxes of fancy articles which were sold at Hong-Kong, and the money we have on hand from the sales, and a few sums I have collected here, will just carry me to the end of this year, but not beyond it. I have support for two children pledged yearly from the Young Ladies' Society in Hackney, but nothing more from any source, except friends in England will be kind enough to assist my object. There is the teacher to pay £15 a year, and an old woman to cook, wash, and take care of the children, £7 10s. a year, six boarders, and seven day-boarders, to keep, and the six boarders to clothe, besides books and stationery required from time to time. We would willingly devote a part of our own salary, if it lay in our power, but it is not sufficient to supply more than our own necessary wants. Will you kindly take this case under your consideration, and see if you can get any of your friends to assist in aiding you? It would be a pity for the first and only girls'-school here to be given up for want of funds to carry it on. Any sum, be it ever so small, will be thankfully received, or any kind of clothing, as remnants of print, two or three yards long, for jackets and trowsers, or unbleached calico, or coarse woollen cloth for the winter, or in fact anything you can spare. I hope to be able to write soon again. Young unites with me in kind regards to Mr. M. and to all your family circle; and accept the same from Yours sincerely, POETRY. O. A. YOUNG. CLOUD OR SUN. HE sendeth sun, he sendeth shower, A trusting, loving child to thee; Mr. BECHUANA COUNTRY. THE FORGIVING SPIRIT. PROBABLY no stronger proof could be adduced of the transforming power of the Gospel among the barbarous tribes of the Bechuana country than that which is described in the following statement from the Rev. Robert Moffat. Beneath the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness, hearts that were once filled with rage and cruelty are growing gentle and kind, and the national law of vengeance, even for unintended injury, is gradually softening down into a lovely spirit of forgiveness. In this touching narrative, we behold a Christian believer, dying from a mortal wound, pleading for the life of the man by whom it was inflicted; and that man received under the special protection of his Chief, who, in former days, would have been the first to execute vengeance for the deed. Under date of January last, our brother, Mr. Moffat, thus writes: We are thankful to report that the good work still continues to advance. It is true we do not see all that our fondest hopes would realise, but we see sufficient to assure us that our labours are not in vain. In my last visit to our out-stations on the Kolong River, I was gratified with the progress which I observed in the general affairs of those stations. Of the men upon whom Church-discipline had been exercised, on account of their taking part in the destruction of a Bushman Village, ten were again received into the Church at Borigelong and three at Lingopeng. The account they gave of their experience, and their whole deportment, afforded entire satisfaction to the Native Teachers and believers at those stations, on whose testimony they were received back, with deep thankfulness and joy, into the bosom of the Church. Immediately preceding my visit, a melancholy accident occurred to Molehabongue, one of the late King's sons, and brother to Gasibonoe, the Chief. He had been out hunting, in company with his servant and others; and an ostrich passing between him and his servant, the latter fired his gun, not at all aware that his master was within range of his ball. But, unhappily, the shot entered his shoulder close to the neck, grazing the jugular vein and breaking one or two of the ribs. He was carried home, lived a few days with slight hopes of recovery, was seized with a fit of coughing, when the vein burst and he almost instantly expired. As was usual in their heathen state, the innocent manslayer fled, expecting to be killed; but, at the request of his dying master, and by order of his Chief, he was pursued, brought back, and told that his life would be spared. It was, however, rumoured that a party of the heathen desired his death. This, with his non-appearance, led Molehabangue to fear that the deed had been done. He sent his wife to the Chief to entreat that the life of his servant might be guarded, and expressing a wish to see him with his own eyes. The fugitive was sent, but so strongly was he affected on entering the presence of his master (page 483), that the meeting was too much for the wounded man, who requested him to retire till the gush of his sorrow should subside. On returning, he was told by Molehabangue, with great feeling, that he was not to blame; that every event was under Divine control; and that all was well which God either did or permitted to be done; adding, "When I die, do what you can to serve my children." On his death being announced, some of the heathen again loudly demanded the death of the servant. "No," replied Gasibonoe, "he shall not be killed-he is innocent; and I abide by the dying request of my brother." The above, and much more, I had from the lips of Gasibonoe himself, immediately after the afflictive event. A younger brother conducted Mrs. Moffat and myself to the little mound where lay the remains of Molchabangue, near to those of his late father, sleeping in hope. Whilst standing there, our minds were forcibly struck with the change the Gospel had produced in the habits and feelings of the people. Formerly the dead, even the royal dead, were put in a round hole in the fence of the cattle-fold, or in its centre, as if to obliterate the very remembrance of the departed, or to associate with their memory feelings of melancholy disgust. Now, though they do not garnish the tombs of their dead, they look on them as places of rest, and as spots containing something still dear. CONVERSION OF A NATIVE CHIEF. In 1847, Mr, Livingston removed with his tribe from Chonuane to a more eligible station on the Kolobeng River, about forty miles to the North-West. There he has strenuously exerted himself to establish a permanent and effective Mission, and God has set the seal of His approbation on the labours of our brother at this advanced post. In the past year his ministry has been blest to the conversion of the Chief, and he who was notorious as a transgressor is now equally prominent for the warmth and vigour of his Christian character. This remarkable triumph of the Gospel-the earnest, it may be hoped, of the surrender of a whole tribe to Christ is recorded in the ensuing communication, forwarded by Mr. Livingston in November last : No portion of our lives ever seemed to glide more swiftly away than the year which has elapsed since our location on the Kolobeng. Our operations have been characterised by a pleasant variety, but, of necessity, almost confined to our own people. The re sults, though considerable as compared with nothing, are but small when contrasted with what remains to be done. Many incidents have occurred to cheer us in our solitude, and an interest has been imparted which often served to lighten the manual labour in which, during the intervals of service, it was necessary to engage. Circumstances have also developed considerable opposition, though of a kind which afforded us much encouragement, for our most bitter opponents seemed to entertain no personal animosity, and never alluded to their hostility to the Gospel in our presence, unless specially invited to state their objections. An event that has excited more open enmity than any other was the profession of faith and subsequent reception of the Chief into the Church. The circumstances which led us to receive his confession as genuine are somewhat peculiar : at their time of life, to think of another Saviour. Sechele, though generally intelligent, had imbibed largely of the prevailing superstition; and, in addition to being the chief Rain-doctor of the tribe, we have evidence that he was reckless of human life. Though he had the reputation among other tribes of being himself addicted to witchcraft, he thought it highly meritorious to put all suspected witches to death. From the first day of our residence with the Bakwains, he attended school and all our services with unwearying regularity. The first indication of deep feeling which I observed in the Chief was when, sitting together under our waggon during the heat of the day, I endeavoured to describe to him the "great white throne," and "the judgment set." He said, "These words shake all my bones-my strength is gone." The existence of our Lord previous to his appearance among men, and His Divine nature, were facts that greatly surprised him. During the three years we have been with the Bakwain Tribe, we have often observed that when the Word of God entered the soul, it was with power; and this we particularly noticed in the case of Sechele. As his knowledge increased, he professed among his own people a firm belief in the truth of Revelation, and great thankfulness that the Gospel was sent to him while so many remained in darkness. The greatest sacrifice he had to make was the renunciation of polygamy: of all other sins, the natives had an idea that they were wrong, but this practice they never regarded as sinful. His superfluous wives were decidedly the most amiable females in the town-our best scholars, too; and, hoping that their souls The state of the Bakwains, about three years ago, was very unlike that of the tribes adjacent to the Kuruman, among whom the Gospel had been in silent operation for nearly a quarter of a century. I have never been able to contemplate the condition, especially of the old, without a painful foreboding that our entreaties and warnings would only render their doom the more terrible: they generally resist an invitation, or if they listen to our message, it is with the firm persuasion that they have been preserved to old age by ome me dicine or other, and it would be folly, might also be given to us, we did not feel called upon otherwise to press the point in question than by publicly endeavouring to declare the whole counsel of God. Two of them were the daughters of under-chiefs, through whose influence, on the death of his father, Sechele succeeded to the Chieftainship. This circumstance made his parting with them assume the appearance of ingratitude, and led him to propose to remove to some other country for four years, in order that they might, in the interval, forget him and become married to others. From the evident change in his disposition and improvement in his character, and the fact of his sending two of his wives to their parents, with the message, that the "Word of God had come between him and their daughters," followed by the expression of his desire to observe the laws of Jesus, we no longer hesitated to receive him into our communion. A third wife was taken to her own tribe, because she had no relatives among the Bakwains, and she left us with many tears. A fourth, although in the same situation, we thought should remain, since she has a little daughter. Each wife was allowed to take away all the pro perty which belonged to her, and the Chief gave them all presents of new clothing previous to sending them home to their friends. On the morning after it was known that the Chief had renounced his wives on account of the Gospel, a general consternation seemed to seize both young and old-the town was as quiet as if it had been Sunday-not a single woman was seen going to her garden. Pechos (or Councils) were held during the night, in order to intimidate him, and make him renounce his purpose; but, after being tried in various ways for a period of two months, he stood firm, and we proceeded to administer to him the ordinance of baptism. Many of the spectators were in tears on the occasion; but these were, in general, tears of sorrow for the loss of their Rain-maker, or of grief at seeing the closest ties of relationship to him completely broken. We commend him to your prayers, in the lively hope that he may be preserved to the day which will declare " every man's work of what sort it is." To the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ, through the influence of whose Spirit alone we hope for success, be the undivided honour and glory for ever! CHINA. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE MISSIONARY WORK. EARLY in September last, Mr. Edkins arrived at Shanghae and entered on his initiatory services as a Missionary of the Cross. In the following statement, forwarded in the month of January, he communicates an interesting account of the labours which occupied him on his first Missionary tour; the various facts that fell under his observation upon that occasion; and the impressions which were made upon his mind by actual contact with the idolatry of China. He confirms all the former statements of his senior brethren respecting the moral and mental condition of the people, and the facilities which exist for spreading amongst them the knowledge of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent; and it is gratifying to receive his assurance, (to which we would specially direct the attention of those who may be cherishing any intention of personal consecration to the Missionary work in China), that, after an actual trial of some months, he considers the acquisition of the language, for the purpose of direct communication with the Chinese, by no means so difficult as many suppose. I have been very much gratified (writes Mr. Edkins) with the facilities for communicating Christian truth at this station. The half-yearly letters of the brethren furnish full information of the state of the Mission, and the progress made in teach ing the surrounding inhabitants the blessed religion of the Scriptures. But, remember. ing the anxiety you expressed, at our farewell meeting last March at the Mission House, to receive the most full and particular accounts, I wish to do my humble part in conveying to you the impressions made on the mind of the Missionary in this land of idolatry. |