hink that must be right
which they perceive is done by those to whom they look up as their
superiors. It may induce them to inquire and to receive
information--eventually to be enrolled among the followers of our
Saviour. It is, however, not to be denied that in some few instances
persons have been chosen for the office of missionaries who have proved
themselves unworthy; but that must and will ever be the case where
human agents are employed. But it argues no more against the general
respectability and utility of the missionaries as a body, than the
admission of the traitor Judas among the apostles. To the efficacy of
their works, and their zeal in the cause, I myself, having visited the
station, have no hesitation in bearing testimony. Indeed I can not but
admire the exemplary fortitude, the wonderful patience and perseverance,
which the missionaries have displayed.

"These devoted men are to be found in the remotest deserts, accompanying
the wild and wandering savages from place to place, suffering from
hunger and from thirst, destitute of almost every comfort, and at times
without even the necessaries of life. Some of them have without
murmuring spent their whole lives in such service; and yet their zeal is
set down as fanaticism by those who remain at home, and assert that the
money raised for their equipment is thrown away. Happily, they have not
looked for their reward in this world, but have built their hopes upon
that which is to come."

"That the people who joined the Mission stations have become more
civilized, and that they are very superior to their countrymen, is
certain," observed the Major; "but have you seen any proof of
Christianity having produced any remarkably good effect among the
natives?--I mean one that might be brought forward as convincing
evidence to those who have shown themselves inimical or lukewarm in the
cause."

"Yes," replied Swinton, "the history of Africaner is one; and there are
others, although not so prominent as that of the party to whom I refer."

"Well, Swinton, you must now be again taxed. You must give us the
history of Africaner."

"That I will, with pleasure, that you may be able to narrate it, when
required, in support of the missions. Africaner was a chief, and a
descendant of chiefs of the Hottentot nation, who once pastured their
own flocks and herds on their own native hills, within a hundred miles
of Cape Town. As the Dutch colonists at the Cape increased, so di