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From the Southern Intelligencer.

SKETCH OF LOWER VIRGINIA.

THERE is something melancholy in the whole aspect of this region. Plantations settled when our ancestors first occupied this country, are now entirely grown up, chiefly with pines, which cast their sombre shade over many a mile of flat sandy road; and utter their melancholy murmurs on the blowing of every breeze. There grow on many places, on ditches thrown up for enclosures, trees which show that they have been standing from fifty to a hundred years.

As one rides along and is presented frequently with objects such as these, he cannot help inquiring in his own mind what has be come of the families which once dwelt here, and manifested the old fashioned and generous hospitality to every guest, stranger or neighbour? This question carries the thoughts away to the regions of the West, where many a son of Virginia has wandered in search of a home. But here lies the bones of their fathers! This idea is suggested by the appearance of a once stately and elegant church, now in ruins. The traveller, involuntarily stops his horse at this sight, dismounts, and ties him to the pendant bough of one of the old oaks, under the shade of which the forefathers of the parish used to sit and enjoy friendly converse, while waiting for the coming of their minister. Then with slow and pensive steps, he traverses the church yard, and endeavours to decypher names and dates that now scarcely appear on the old broken grave stones. There is only one cheering thought in all that is before him; it is the reference made, always where Christianity prevails and no where else, to the doctrine of the resurrection. On fragments of marble, once laid with pious tenderness over the ashes of a parent or a child, a husband or wife, one may trace fragments of scripture texts, showing how, in the days of their affliction, they, who once dwelt in this region, sought consolation in the precious truths of the Bible. For instance, *** Resurrect -* the Life *** ******* Sorrow as *** no hope, &c. &c. On seeing such things as these, faith triumphs amid the ruins that surround the spectator; and he looks forward with exultation to the time, when every part of earth and sea that has been made a grave, shall give up its dead; when "this corruptible shall put on incorruption; this mortal shall put on immortality, and the saying shall be brought to pass, Death is swallowed up in victory." With some such feelings as these, on one occasion, I turned from the grave yard to examine the church. The sound "blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," seemed to be echoing in my ears. As I entered the door, the first object which caught my eye was the remnant of the painting over what was once the altar. Scarcely a trace of this could be perceived except the letters, in Hebrew, of the name Jehovah, which seemed to stand in VOL. VI.

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their original freshness, while every thing around then was mouldy and decayed. This object for a few minutes strongly attracted my attention, and filled me with religious awe. This feeling made the whole scene, presented inside of the church, extremely painful. All was ruin and desolation. The altar and the pulpit and the pews were broken down-the beautiful flag stones* with which the aisles had been laid, were for the mos part removed; and the floor of the church resembled a farmer's barn-yard, where domestic animals of all kinds are accustomed to make their lodgment! Nor was this a solitary case. The spectacle of churches in ruins, which, as they once were, would have been no disgrace to any of our cities, is quite common. Even the cheerful chirp of the sparrow is not heard in these temples of the Lord of Hosts; but the bat is seen there; and the owl is heard there; and whatever our country produces of evilomened bird or beast nestles and broods there. I thought while beholding this sight, of the beginning of the cxxxvii. Psalm, in which the pious Jews so pathetically bewailed the desolations of Zion. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps on the willows, in the midst thereof."

It is impossible to say, how much is added to the gloominess of the country by such objects as these. And while the traveller exults in hope respecting the mouldering tenants of the tomb, who died in the faith; he cannot but inquire, with a mournful spirit, respecting the provision made for the spiritual interests of the present and future generations. This is a subject of very great importance to the well being of this country; and imperiously calls for most serious consideration.

* In one instance I saw the porch of a small tavern at which I was obliged to stop to feed my horse, laid with flags most manifestly brought from a church at no great distance.

Religious and Missionary Intelligence.

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WESLEYAN-METHODIST MISSIONS IN SOUTH-AFRICA.

We extract from the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, the following particulars respecting the Mission among the Caffrees of South-Africa conducted principally by Mr. WILLIAM SHAW:—

In compliance with the promise in my last, I transcribe from my Journal an account of our late journey into the country of the Caffrees.

Saturday, Aug. 3d, 1822.-I obtained permission from the Landdrost and Commandant, to proceed on a short visit to Caffreland; the Brethren KAY and THREEFALL, with JAN T'ZATZOE an Interpreter, were also included in the passport. It was agreed that Brother KAY and I should proceed forward on the road to Fort Wiltshire to-night, with the view of preaching to the soldiers at that place tomorrow: that MR. THRELFALL should remain at Graham's Town until Monday morning, to preach to the English; and that M'ZATZOE should remain with him,

and preach to the Hottentot congregation; Brother KAY and I are to wait at Fort Wiltshire, until Brother T. and T'ZATZOE arrived. About sun-set Brother KAY and I commenced our journey; we arrived, very late, at Hermnaan's Kraal, a military post. The serjeant's wife behaved to us with remarkable civility, but she could not furnish us with beds; however, we slept pretty well on the floor with blankets, and had our saddles for pillows.

Sunday, 4th.—I intended preaching this morning to the soldiers, at the post, but, to our great disappointment, found that they all had to proceed, at day-break, to Fort Wiltshire. We therefore saddled our horses, with the view of reaching Fort Wiltshire, in time to preach at night. We rode to the heights above the Great Fish River, took off our saddles to allow the horses to graze, partook of some refreshment, which we had brought in our haversacks, and spent some time under a bush, in reading the Scriptures, and imploring the divine blessing upon our present journey. We found it "good to draw nigh to God," and were much comforted by thinking that, although by ourselves, on the borders of an immense forest, or wood, yet many thousands in our native land were praying for us. We proceeded on our journey through the dismal pass, over the Great Fish River, and saw many evident proofs of the place being much infested by elephants. We arrived safely at Fort Wiltshire; but the distance proving greater than we expected, and having after the sun set missed our way, we arrived too late to hold service; a circumstance which we greatly regretted: but we had "done what we could."

Monday, 5th.-MAJOR ROGERS, and the Officers of the Garrison, behaved with great politeness, ordering a couple of beds to be made up for us, and otherwise treating us with very great kindness. We breakfasted with MAJOR R. this morning, and afterwards spoke with several of the soldiers, who had been Methodists in England, and who seem deeply to deplore the loss of the means of grace, since they came to this part of the world. They belong to the Sixth Regiment, and were stationed at Leeds and Hull, not long ago. I saw about 200 Caffrees at a pass in the Keiskamma River. These Caffrees belong to the tribe whose Chief or Captain is named BOTMAN; they are a fine looking race of men; their colour varies; but a deep, jet black is the most common. They are well proportioned in their limbs; and appear in general, very agile and expert. They had no covering whatever on their bodies, excepting the kaross, which is made of ox-hide, peculiarly dressed, and hung carelessly over their shoulders. We regretted very much that we could not preach to them, T'ZATZOE and Brother THRELFALL not having arrived: they came, however, towards night. We dined with the Officers, and I preached to about two hundred of the soldiers, in a long and good building, erected for the stables of the cavalry. The people appeared very thankful for the opportunity; may it be a benefit to their souls! How painful is it, in going in pursuit of the lost Heathen, to find on the borders of their country so many "lost sheep of the house of Israel," for whose souls no man cares. If it were possible, we would visit this place occasionally from Graham's Town, but it has not hitherto been in our power.

Tuesday, 6th.-The whole party set off for Chumie, a missionary Station formed under the immediate patronage of the Colonial Government. I could not avoid a smile, when looking round upon our little company. Persons who travel in Africa need an extraordinary kind of outfit. I and my Brethren appeared with trowsers, made of sheep-skins; jackets we found more convenient than coats; our heads were covered, some with straw hats, and others with caps. Brother KAY carried a fowling-piece; T'ZATZOF, a heavy musket; and we all had haversacks slung over our shoulders, in which we carried our provender, &c. An extra horse bore our heavy great coats, which were needed for night-wear. Thus equipped, we rode on our way, about eighteen miles, and then arrived at a village, or, as it is called here, a kraal of Caffrees, a short distance from our path. Six men ran towards us with their assagays, or spears, in their bands; they begged for buttons, which were given them; and being informed who we were, and what was our design in visiting the country, the Chief asked, why he could not have Missionaries, saying he should be very glad to receive them. We passed several kraals, and saw others at a distance. After dark, we arrived safely at Chumie.

Wednesday, 7th.-I was much pleased with the appearance of the congregation here. Last night, about one hundred and fifty, chiefly Caffrees, were present: they

sang melodiously a sort of native air, to some expressive words of praise to God, said to be composed by a native captain; and repeated, as with one voice, answers to the catechetical examination, which was conducted by MR. BROWNLEE. Considering the short period that has elapsed since the commencement of this Institution, and the peculiar circumstances of the country, much has been effected. The site of the village is well chosen; it affords abundance of good timber, pasturage, water, &c.; and, which is of great consequence in Africa, the stream has been so led out by conduits, as to render irrigation practicable, to a considerable extent. The village is laid out, on a regular plan, to which all the Caffrees submit, on coming to build upon the place. The neighbourhood is very populons. I was surprised at the number of kraals, all full of people, which we passed in the course of an hour's ride from the Missionary station. MR. Bennie, of the Glasgow Society, has a number of children in his school; he writes out for them Caffree words, which they appear to learn to read with facility. On the whole, I think the Missionaries at this place will, by the blessing of God, produce à great change on the mass of the people in their neighbourhood. MR. KAY ques tioned some of the candidates for baptism, at the request of the Missionaries; and at night I addressed the Caffree congregation, through the medium of the interpreter, who understands Dutch. A messenger was sent to GAIKA, the King saying that we wished to speak with him; it is, however, doubtful, whether he will come.

Thursday, 8th.-I spent an hour in prayer this morning with my Brethren, and the three Missionaries on the Station, when many fervent petitions were offered to God for the Caffrees. Human agency was acknowledged before the Lord to be weakness itself, and the abundant effusion of the HOLY SPIRIT, to prosper Missionary labours among the Caffrees, was successively solicited in prayer, by all the Brethren present. O that God may give us the desire of our hearts! We commenced our journey shortly after the prayer-meeting; and in less than an hour arrived at the kraal of MAKOOA, the eldest son of GAIKA, whom, with two of his wives, we met on the road, a short distance from his house. He immediately turned back; and we were soon surrounded by a number of his people. After some conversation respecting an interview with his father, and desiring him to inform the King at what village we intended to sleep to-night, we rode on, and arrived at the intended place about sun-set. We saw, a number of kraals, or villages, on the road as we journeyed. The principal man at this kraal sent of women to the neighbouring kraals, to say that we intended to preach the Gospel at his place, and to invite them to attend. We were allowed to take up our abode in their encircled threshing-floor; and while we were boiling our kettle, a number of Caffrees assembled around us. We desired them to ask us any questions they thought proper respecting the Gospel, when the following conversation with a Caffree took place, to which the rest listened with attention.

Caffree.-God requires men to pray all their lives, even to death; now this is too hard. If God would be satisfied with two or three days' praying, that might be done; but to pray all our lives is too hard.

Missionary.-Those who pray sincerely will soon find, that it is not a hard work, but a pleasure and delight -a child finds it very difficult, at first, to attempt walking, but it soon takes great delight in running about.

Caffree. I am now growing old; I have lived long in the world, without God; therefore, it is of no use for me to change now.

Missionary.You should consider it a mercy, that now, at the latter end of your life, God has sent his word to you; the older you are, the more reason there is for you to change, because you must soon appear before the judgment-bar of God.

Caffree. But you say God is almighty, and can do all things: why does he not change me at once himself, without sending teachers to tell me what I must be? Missionary-God is truly almighty; but he uses means to effect what he designs; it is the same with the soul, as with the body. He can give us corn from heaven; but he gives none, until the women dig, and plant, and sow; then he sends his rain upon it, and we receive corn and pumpkins, for food. Now it is just so with our souls; God sends teachers; you must hear and believe them, repent of your sins, and pray to God; and he will change your heart, and save you.

Caffree. Why does not God change the Devil first; he is very wicked; he

sides I know that he troubles me, and pushes me on to bad things; why does not God first convert him?

Missionary.—The Devil was the first sinner; no person tempted him; and as he sinned without being tempted, God cast him into hell, and there he must remain for ever. God will not have mercy on him: but it pleased God to have pity upon man; yea, he loved man so much that he gave his only-begotten Son to die for us, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Here the subject of redemption by Christ was enlarged upon.

I have transcribed a part of this conversation, in order that you may have some idea of the acuteness which these natives occasionally display. The questions were proposed by one Caffree; the eyes of some of his companions seemed to sparkle with satisfaction, when they thought they had asked a question which would puzzle us. The answers were given by us all three; sometimes one, and then another of us, taking up the subject, and replying to the inquiries of this shrewd man. We more than once had the satisfaction of hearing from T'ZATZÓE, after interpreting some of our replies, "Now he is stom," (dumb,) by which he meant that his objections were silenced.

After this conversation was ended, the principal man of the kraal made an animated oration of a quarter of an hour long, which T'ZATZOE* informed us was to the following purpose:-"That every thing, mountains, rivers, grass, cattle, down to even his kaross, or cloak, proved the being of a God. God had sent Missionaries into the land, to speak of Him, and they ought to receive and hear them. If even a child were to call out to them, as they passed a kloof, or a bush, and begin to tell them any thing respecting God, they ought to stop and bear; much more when such men as these speak, who are now in the land. The words of the Missionaries should be believed, and not reasoned about; (alluding to the man who had asked us the above questions.) You allow, that you know nothing; then why should you cavil at the word. These men are much superior to you, and they know more: besides, they have God's word," &c.-He delivered all this with such animation, and display of natural oratory, as surprised us and the people listened to his speech with profound attention. We sung a Hymn in English, with which the natives were delighted. T'ZATZOE prayed in the Caffree language. About nine o'clock, the night threatened rain; we, however, lay down in the open air, in preference to sleeping in a native hut; with our saddles for pillows we slept very well, although it was very cold.

Friday, 9th.-GAIKA did not come; we set off for the kraal of which T'ZATZoe's father is the Captain, or Chief, and which is just in the neighbourhood of the place where GAIKA was understood to be. We passed a number of villages on the road, and saw several more at a distance. We crossed the finest river 1 have seen in Africa, a most beautiful stream of excellent water; the country over which we have travelled is also very fine. There is clearly an improvement in the magnitude of the rivers, and the appearance of the country, the further a traveller proceeds to the east from the colony. We arrived at Captain T'ZAT ZOE's kraal, in the afternoon; and found about fifty men assembled, cutting up an ox, which they had just slaughtered, and were about to cook. After a pause about two minutes, on our presenting ourselves before them, during which time we silently gazed at each other, old Captain T'ZATZOE recognized, in our interpreter, his son: and, on his rising to welcome him, we were presently surrounded by all the people, who eagerly shook hands with us. They gave us about twenty pounds of the beef they were cutting up, as our share. We took up our abode under the enclosure of a plot of ground, intended to be sown with corn. About sun-set the heavens gathered blackness, and threatened a storm; a little rain fell at night, which did us no great mischief, but induced us to praise God for the comfort of a large fire, at which to warm our cold feet. We held service after dark; a great number attended, and when they had seated themselves round our 'fire we sang a hymn, and delivered, in short sentences, a few simple truths. We find it an advantage to draw them into conversation on religion. They were here, as in all other places, in a dreadful state of ignorance. Indeed, in Caffreland, if any where, gross darkness hath covered the minds of the people.

* I often mention TZATZOE, our interpreter: he belongs to the London Society's Mission, taving been given by his father, a Caffree Chief, many years ago, when very young, to the late DR. VANDERKEMP, to be brought up. TZATZOE is now a credit to those under whose care he was placed. He reads Dutch, is a good carpenter, is truly converted to God, and an occasional Preacher at Theopolis.

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