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mented by the raging fever which burnt in their veins, while the little children were often crying for the nourishment their parents could no longer give them, we were filled with grief; but when we discoursed with the poor sufferers on the love of Jesus, and heard them patiently resign themselves to the will of God, and express their humble assurance that He would receive them into His heavenly kingdom for their Saviour's sake, we forgot pain and sorrow, and our hearts overflowed with thanskgiving."

LESSON 43.

THE OPEN WINDOW.

THE old house by the lindens
Stood silent in the shade,
And on the gravelled pathway
The light and shadow played.

I saw the nursery windows
Wide open to the air;

But the faces of the children,
They were no longer there.

The large Newfoundland house-dog
Was standing by the door;
He looked for his little playmates,
Who would return no more.

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The birds sang in the branches

With sweet, familiar tone;
But the voices of the children

Will be heard in dreams alone!

And the boy that walked beside me,

He could not understand

Why closer in mine, ah! closer,
I pressed his warm, soft hand!

LONGFELLOW.

LESSON 44.

MISSIONS TO THE HOTTENTOTS.—PART IV.

FOR a short time there was peace in Europe, and the English restored the colony to the Dutch. The new governor proved as good a friend to the missionaries as the English had been: he came to the settlement, and inspected the work that was going on there, and when he saw the change that had been wrought-the desert converted into a fruitful field, and the miserable, ignorant Hottentots into industrious Christian men and women-he was so pleased that he begged the place might no longer be called Bavian's Kloof, but Genadenthal, the valley of grace-and this has been its name ever since. War soon broke out again, and in 1806 the English once more became masters of the Cape Colony; and it has continued in their possession ever since. The English governors have always protected the missionaries; and the farmers, finding out at last that the Hottentots who had been educated at Genadenthal, generally proved better

labourers and servants than others, ceased to harass the Moravian teachers. In 1808, Lord Caledon asked the missionaries to form another settlement at Greenkloof, between Cape Town and Saldanha Bay, and gave them a piece of land there. Two missionaries removed thither, and a party of Hottentots came to meet them, and said they were very glad they were coming to live amongst them. The missionaries told them that if they were disposed to hear the word of God, and to live in obedience to it, it would be desirable that they should take up their abode near their teachers, for they had been used to rove about from place to place; now, however, a good many of them agreed to place their huts near the dwelling of the missionaries. The missionaries gave a little bit of land to each family, and showed them how to manage it at the end of a year, there were one hundred Hottentots in this settlement, one of whom had been baptized, and nine were under instruction for that holy sacrament. The people seemed very happy in their new way of life; they had cleared the ground from the thick brushwood which covered it, and their land was producing plentiful crops, the first-fruits of which they brought to the missionaries, as a mark of their gratitude to God for sending teachers of His word to them. In after-years many Hottentots came from the most remote parts of the Colony beyond the mountains, to place themselves under the teaching of the missionaries, and brought their families and all that they possessed with them. The hearts of some of these people had been already prepared to receive the gospel. One of them said, "I have had great difficulty to come here, but I could not rest without

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trying to come, for long ago some Hottentots who were travelling through my country told me that white men had come from a distant land who spoke of a great person who had come down from heaven, and who would bring us after death to a pleasant place, and not to that black pit of darkness of which some white people had told us dreadful things; and from that time I thought day and night how I could get here." And another, a Hottentot woman, told the missionaries that, when she was a little girl, her father had called his children together, and spoken to them in these words:" My children, what your father says is truth. You are Hottentots and despised of men, but continue to behave well, for I am sure that God will one day send teachers to our nation from another land. I am old, and probably shall not see that day; but you are young, and will see with your eyes, what I have now told you. As soon, therefore, as you hear that such people have come, hasten to them, stay wherever they settle, be obedient to them, and it will be well for you." Natives of the Kafir tribes, who inhabit the land north and east of the Cape Colony, came sometimes to the missionsettlements, and many of these took up their abode there, and were, in the end, baptized. The missionaries formed settlements also in other parts of the Colony, and they have at this time some thousands of native Christians under their care. But of all their settlements, Genadenthal, as it is the oldest, is also the chief for size and beauty. The slopes and glens are now well wooded; and the whole valley, which is from two to three miles long, smiles with corn-fields and gardens. Six hundred children are taught in the

schools; and there are workshops of all kinds where the natives learn to exercise useful trades. One of the most pleasing features of the place is the burialground; it is kept as neatly as a garden, enclosed with a hedge of roses, and shaded by stately groves of oaks and pines. A very solemn and affecting service is held there on Easter-day. Very early in the morning, the whole congregation meet amidst the graves to remember the resurrection of their Lord. A short sermon is preached; and the brethren and sisters, who have been committed to the grave during the past year, are called to mind by name, and the service concludes with hymns of praise to the risen Saviour, who has taken away the sting of death, and enabled His people to say, “O grave, where is thy victory?".

LESSON 45.

HYMN.

THERE's not a leaf within the bower;
There's not a bird upon the tree;
There's not a dewdrop on the flower—
But bears the impress, Lord! of thee.
Thy hand the varied leaf designed,

And gave the bird its thrilling tone;
Thy power the dew-drop's tints combined,
Till like the diamond's blaze they shone.
Yes; dew-drops, leaves, and buds, and all,

The smallest, like the greatest, things,
The sea's vast space, the earth's wide ball,
Alike proclaim thee King of kings.

But man alone to bounteous heaven
Thanksgiving's conscious strains can raise ;

To favoured man alone 'tis given

To join the angelic choir in praise.

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