LESSON XXIII. The Missionary's Child.-MISS SARA STICKNEY. My heart is where the palm-tree waves My heart is with the chosen few, Oh! waft me to that distant shore, My mother's grave is in the shade, My father at her side is laid, And lonely comes the night to me. The wintry wind is howling round, The clouds are dark, the mountains drear, I pine before the stranger's hearth, Their songs of joy, can ne'er be mine.. Oh! Shepherd of the wandering sheep, P LESSON XXIV. The Use of Biography.-JANE TAYLOR. THAT "what man has done, man may do," is a most stimulating truth. It is this consideration chiefly, that renders the lives of individuals, who have distinguished themselves in their day and generation, so interesting to their fellow creatures; and it is a remark which should be borne in mind, whether we are studying the actions of great good men, or of great bad men. In the former case, we should inquire whether we are not possessed of the same qualities, powers and opportunities (generally speaking), with which they were favored; and, in the latter, that we partake of the same depraved nature, and are liable to the same temptations, that led them astray. It is a common remark, that biography is one of the most useful studies to which we can apply. But we must remember, that its usefulness to us depends entirely upon our right application of it. It is idle, indeed, to take up a book, of any kind, merely with a view to entertainment. We would, therefore, recommend, especially to the reader of biography, to keep one grand object in view; and to make this close inquiry, whenever such a volume is opened, -In what respects is this applicable to me? How can I make it subservient-to my own improvement? Whatever is, in itself, excellent, is worthy of our attention, and more or less of our imitation, however widely our circumstances may differ. Great talents and splendid achievements are necessarily confined to a few: as we may be virtuous and happy without them, this is not to be regretted. But it is the duty and interest of every individual to aim at excellence in his own sphere, however humble. Many of the very same qualities are requisite to make a good tradesman, or skilful mechanic, which are needed to form a great statesman or general. We shall find that such a man was not discouraged by difficulties, but rather stimulated by them to more vigorous efforts; that he never consulted his own ease or gratification, when they stood in the way of his grand design; and that he was characterized by a disregard to trifles of all sorts, and by a steady aim at the most important ends. Now, as these, among other good qualities, ensured to him success and distinction, so we may be as certain that the same causes will produce the same effects, in whatever situations they are applied. Thus far a little apprenticeboy may learn of Peter the Great, and become, by and by, as distinguished in his trade as the czar was in his empire. From the lives of distinguished bad men we may see the small value, in themselves, of those shining qualities which dazzle mankind. What is genius without virtue ?—It is but a splendid curse, proving still more baneful to the individual himself, than to those within the sphere of his influence. There was a time when Nero appeared amiable and humane. Let us not, therefore, conclude that we shall never be guilty of a crime, because we now shrink from the thought of it; but rather, if we find that we have not resolution to resist the small temptations of the present moment, let us remember that we are in the high road to vice, although, as yet, but at its commencement. It is presumption and ignorance of ourselves, to imagine that the power of resistance will increase with the strength of temptation. We should learn, "when we think we stand, to take heed lest we fall." . LESSON XXV. First Christian Mission in Cafferland.-THOMAS Pringle. THE tribe of Amakosa, usually termed Caffers, inhabit the territory adjoining to the colony of the cape of Good Hope, on its eastern extremity. They are an athletic and handsome race of men, with features approaching to the Asiatic or European standard; and, excepting their woolly hair, exhibiting scarcely any of the peculiarities of the negro race. In their customs and traditions, and, as some writers assert, also in their language, there are indications of their having sprung, at some remote period, from a people of Arabian or Hebrew lineage, and probably of much higher civilization than is now any where to be found among the tribes of Southern Africa. The rite of circumcision, strictly and universally practised among them, and several other traditionary customs, which seem allied to the rules of purification in the Levitical code, strengthen this hypothesis, which is further corroborated, in some degree, by etymological research. In the year 1798, the first mission to Cafferland was undertaken by Dr. Vanderkemp, under the patronage of the London Missionary Society; but, owing to causes which Dr. Philip has succinctly detailed in his valuable Researches in South Africa, after eighteen months' trial, the enterprise was, at that time, of necessity, abandoned. For fifteen years, no attempt was made to renew this mission, although repeated solicitations had been made by the Caffers themselves. Any such attempt was, in fact, discouraged, and, latterly, authoritatively prohibited, under the most flimsy pretexts, by the government of the colony. At length, in 1815, a dangerous rebellion having broken out among the semi-barbarous and ignorant African boors on the eastern frontier, it was discovered that attempts had been made, by these disaffected men, to persuade the Caffer chiefs to join them in attacking the British troops; and, with a view to prevent such machinations in future, by the presence of an English resident in the Caffer country, permission was given to Mr. Williams and his wife, missionaries, just arrived from England, to proceed thither. The spot fixed on for their residence was upon the Kat river, in the vicinity of the kraal, or encampment, then occupied by the chief Gaika. On their way to the frontier, Mr. Williams was assailed with every sort of discouragement, both by the Dutch colonists and the British officers. By the poor Caffers they were received in a different spirit; and they were enabled, ere long, to say, with the great apostle of the gentiles, "The barbarous people showed us no little kindness." At first, doubtless, they had many difficulties to encounter, chiefly from unacquaintance with the language and manners of the people, and in consequence of the Hottentot servants, whom they brought from the colony, deserting them, from groundless apprehensions of danger. In this state of desertion, and not unimpressed, doubtless, by the frightful accounts received of the ferocity of the Caffers, from the frontier colonists, Mrs. Williams describes, very graphically, her terrors on their hut being suddenly surrounded, one day, by a numerous band of naked warriors on foot and horseback. She was alone, and scarcely understood a word of their language. After ascertaining that Mr. Williams was not there, but at a little distance up the river, they proceeded, with much apparent violence of demeanor, towards the place. "I took my little boy in my arms," she says, "and went after them, with trembling heart and limbs; for I expected nothing else but to find my dear partner murdered before I got there." But, on reaching the spot, she found how vain had been her terrors. This fierce-looking band were merely a party of Gaika's warriors, who had been out hunting, and who, on their way home, had come to behold the Christian missionary and his wife, who, as they expressed it, "had brought back to them the Great Word over the deep sea water." Placed thus, unprotected and alone, in the midst of this wild and warlike people, whom, he had been assured, "nothing but powder and ball could tame," Mr. Williams continued to labor with quiet but indefatigable perseverance. He was a man of great prudence and integrity, of an ardent and disinterested spirit, wholly devoted to the great object of his mission; and his wife was a woman worthy of such a husband, and well adapted to aid his Christian exertions. His labors, both of head and hands, were of the most arduous description. With no assistance, except such as could be obtained from native assistants, totally unacquainted with European arts, he erected a comfortable dwellinghouse and school-room-the latter serving, also, for a chapel; enclosed and cultivated a large piece of ground, for a garden and corn-field; and constructed, with immense toil, a dam across the river, to enable him to lead out the water for irrigation, without which, no culture can be successfully conducted in that part of the country. While engaged in these manual toils, with a view to support his family in comfort by his own industry, and, at the same time, to give the natives a practical proof of the advantages of the arts of civilized life, Mr. Williams was incessantly occupied, still more intently, on the higher objects of his mission. Within twelve months from his first settlement, he had collected a little congregation of about one hundred hearers, and a school of from fifty to sixty pupils, including many |