those young gentlemen, is but a revival of that good old way which was practised by the best people of the first ages; or rather, that it is the very same path which their great Master has pointed out to bring them thither; narrow indeed and straight, but most assuredly tending to life.

I need make no reflection on the particular unseasonableness of making such an outcry against (a supposed excess in) religion at this time, when the world is running into the very opposite extreme, of crying down the very show and appearance of it. Can they be friends to the thing itself, who raise greater clamours at zeal for religion (whatever indiscretion there may be supposed) than at all the horrid and barefaced insults of blasphemy and profaneness?

If we suppose indiscretion in some part of these young men's conduct, how can it well be otherwise in the first setting out? Perfection is a work of time and experience. But where might we expect proper help and direction for young beginners, if not at Oxford? Surely the letter-writer could not have contrived a more effectual way of exposing that learned body, than by referring the case of these young Methodists to Mr. Fog's correction, and to leave the world to suspect there is not skill or judgment enough in any of those grave doctors and professed guides of youth, to rectify any mistaken methods (if any) in their practice or devotions.

It is necessary, indeed, that zeal should ever be attended with knowledge. So religion speaks of herself. "I wisdom dwell with prudence." (Prov. viii. 12.) This sentiment also carries in it a double advice; not only to novices and beginners in a religious course, that they ought to put themselves under the conduct and direction of some knowing guide, but likewise to those who pretend to be guides, that they should apply their better skill, not to extinguish the zeal itself, but only correct its mistake; to make straight paths for their feet, lest that which is lame and imperfect be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

What I have related will show, that these young gentlemen have proceeded with great prudence and caution, in observing the above advice, as far as it concerns themselves. I wish I could say the same of their opponents, or of those rather whose more immediate part it is to pilot them aright; and that they would not countenance the insults cast upon so hopeful a design, and thereby break the bruised reed, and quench the smoking flax.

It is not to be questioned, but most of the clamours raised against these gentlemen are owing to misapprehension and misrepresentation. The duties they practise, and the good they do, and are inclined to do, must proceed from motives that cannot deserve these clamours, or to be discountenanced or ridiculed. Bad as the age is, there are not wanting, blessed be God, even among the many, enough to admire and applaud, if not so strictly as they ought to practise, what is laudable in itself, when it appears to be so to them. Were the rules, by which these young gentlemen are acted, known as well to the world as they are to me, in virtue of the inquiry I have made, other thoughts would be conceived of them by all serious men, and by such as have not a strong taint of scepticism and infidelity, and are not bad, if one may so say, upon principle. Let such make an abstract of the narration I have given, which I solemnly declare, upon the strictest examination, I believe to be the truth, and let them hate or oppose them if they can. They will find the matter thus come out, (to sum up briefly what has been already said,)—that those gentlemen think themselves obliged in all particulars to live up to the law of the Gospel; that the rule they

have set themselves, is not that of their own inventions, but the holy Scriptures, and the orders and injunctions of the Church; and that, not as they perversely construe and misinterpret them, but as they find them in the holy canon: that, pursuant to these, they have resolved to observe with strictness all the duties of the Christian religion according to their baptismal engagements, and particularly the fasts, the prayers, the sacraments of the Church; to receive the blessed communion as often as there is opportunity; and to do all the good they can, in visiting the sick, the poor, the prisoners, &c., knowing these to be the great articles on which they are to be tried at the last day; and in all things to keep themselves unspotted from the world. It would be found, that, if they rise earlier than ordinary, if they are sparing in eating or drinking, or any expensive diversions, it is to save time and money for improving those glorious ends; and not (as is unfairly insinuated) that they make such things to be essentials in religion, much less out of a gloomy and pharisaical spirit, to shun the company or upbraid the practice of others. These are the rules, this the method, they have chosen to live by.

Let all the serious part of mankind, who alone are appealed to in this case, be judges between them and this letter-writer, who has so ludicrously and, in some cases, so wilfully misrepresented them.* To live by rule, especially a good rule, was ever esteemed a sure sign of wisdom: to live by none, much more to be against all rule and method, must be a flagrant mark of folly. And I will venture to add, that if these young gentlemen persevere to the end in this good method, they shall receive a crown of glory.

I hope, Sir, you will excuse my prolixity. You say, you love to receive long letters from me; and I think I have now tried your patience sufficiently, and that indulgence with which you have always favoured, Your most humble servant, &c.

THE GREAT DESERT.

THE Great Desert is at times subject to sudden inundations, which are very destructive in a country so flat and so extensive, that an army might be destroyed by them. A few days before the French expeditionary column arrived at Laghouat, several Arab douars had been swept away in this manner. Throughout the desert the sand is of the same nature, resembling a reddish yellow sandstone reduced to powder. The beds of sand commence near Taguine; they become larger at the Ksars, Djebel Sahary, and Djebel Ammour, and beyond they are still more extensive. On elevated places, or on the faces of steep acclivities, there is little sand; but in the low grounds, in the ravines, in the beds of rivers, and against obsta

*The "common title" by which these "Oxford Methodists" were designated by their fellow-collegians was, "The Godly Club." (Works, vol. i., p. 12.) This name gave great offence to his brother, Mr. Samuel Wesley, and probably led to the ideas of a society; for in a Ms. letter from Mr. Clayton to Mr. John Wesley, in July, 1733, he says, "We had a deal of talk about your scheme of avowing yourselves a society, and fixing upon a set of rules. Dr. Deacon seemed to think you had better let it alone, as it would be an additional tie upon yourselves, and perhaps a snare upon the consciences of those weak brethren that might come among you." Mr. Wesley's first acquaintance with Mr. Clayton commenced April 20th, 1732. Sce Works, vol. i., p. 13; vol. xii., p. 6.

cles that have a southerly exposure, it accumulates rapidly. Near Laghouat some precipitous mountains are situated, against whose southern sides are piled immense sand banks, whilst on the others there are none. These sands are most probably not the debris of the soil in the immediate neighbourhood, but have been gradually deposited here by the sand-laden winds of ages. This reddish, yellow sand, which covers the whole country, imparts its own peculiar tint to the landscape, and even to the sky, near the horizon, when it is blowing hard from the interior. It penetrates everywhere, and is the cause of many diseases of the eye; but the most serious consequences ensue from its collecting in the hollows and in the beds of rivers, where not only what is blown into them remains, but much of what lay on the higher ground during the summer is carried by the winter's rain into the water-courses. The streams continue to flow as long as they are able to carry away the sand, which they can only do where the river runs over a hard rocky bed, with but a thin covering of loose soil; for when the stream arrives at a deep mass of sand, which it has assisted to form, it disappears. Then if, when lower down, the bed of the river rises near the surface, by reason of the layer of sand becoming thinner, the river re-appears. Thus the springs of Aoueta and of Assafia do not pass the limits of the gardens, at those places, more than one hundred and fifty yards, when they lose themselves in the sand. The Oued Mzi, above Tejmout, is a beautiful stream, with a copious supply of good water, which spreads itself over an extensive bed of sand; after flowing a short distance, the river disappears, returns to the surface at Recheg, vanishes again to re-appear above Laghouat, and then finally disappears for ever. On this account, at Ksir and Aïrane water is only to be procured from wells dug to the depth of twelve or fourteen feet. The course of the river underground is marked at times by the fall of the water during the inundations, and by the dampness of the soil, which gives birth to trees and herbs. The quicksands of the Oued Mzi are very dangerous; horsemen, who, through ignorance of the localities, attempt to cross at any but the safe spot, being frequently swallowed up. When the Oued Mzi overflows, it leaves, on retiring, a rich slime, which renders fertile for a time the banks of the stream last year (1844) the river had risen three times, and the additional strength of the herbage from this cause contributed greatly to the good condition of the horses during the expedition to Laghouat.—From “ Algeria and Tunis," by Capt. J. C. Kennedy.

SKETCHES OF SOUTH AFRICA.

BY THE REV. THORNLEY SMITH.

(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

(Continued from page 773.)

CHAPTER II. THE COLONY.

66

"COLONIES," says Heeren, are indispensable to every seafaring and commercial nation." Great Britain is essentially such. Girt around by the ocean, she must hold intercourse with other lands by means of ships; and hence there is enkindled in the breast of her inhabitants a spirit of enterprise, the almost necessary result of the command of the seas.

Her

children have spread themselves to the very antipodes of the globe. Some have gone in quest of wealth, others to establish markets for our various manufactures; and others, again, have left their native land to plant new homes for themselves and for their children in other countries, where, instead of contending with poverty, they might gain an honest and comfortable subsistence.

Political economists are generally agreed on the importance of emigration. It cannot be denied, that the population of these islands is much too large to maintain itself with comfort; a fact which an Indian Chief who lately visited this country perceived; observing, "It is no wonder that you are poor, for you stand too thick upon the ground." And it is doubtless in the order of a superintending Providence, and accordant with the spirit of the original command, "Increase and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it," that man should go forth, and occupy those countries which are lying waste, or are but thinly peopled, but which, if cultivated, would yield a rich supply of all the necessaries of life. Hence colonization is not to be condemned as a whole. Evils have been associated with it; but these evils are not necessary parts of the system; and as the principles of justice and humanity spread, they will be separated from it, and be numbered only among "the things which were." We may establish our colonies without, perforce, robbing of their possessions the original proprietors of the soil. Instead of oppressing them and making them our enemies, we may secure their confidence and make them our friends. We may send them Bibles, and Missionaries, and Schoolmasters; and this were far better than sending soldiers, and planting against them our engines of war. All colonization schemes should recognise everywhere the rights of man; and every true philanthropist cannot but rejoice, that, whatever other Governments may do, the British Government now knows that it is its duty to listen to the voice of the oppressed, even though it come from the remotest regions of the earth.

The entire Colony of the Cape of Good Hope is situated between the 28th and the 35th degrees of south latitude; and, taking the Garriep or Great Orange River as the northern boundary, comprises an area of about two hundred thousand square miles, being six hundred miles in length from west to east, and three hundred and thirty miles in breadth from north to south. A glance at its history may not be unacceptable.

If we may credit the story of Herodotus, Africa was circumnavigated by the Phoenicians. Necho, King of Egypt, being anxious to ascertain the boundaries of the continent, sent out a number of Phoenician sailors, who, proceeding down the Red Sea, entered the Indian Ocean, and made the circuit of the southern promontory, passing through the Pillars of Hercules, and ascending up the Mediterranean back to Egypt. This account the historian received from the Egyptian Priests; but he himself was inclined to disbelieve it, for a reason which, in our opinion, on whom modern science has shed her rays, would operate in its favour; namely, that these navigators affirmed that they saw the sun at their right hand, that is to say, in the north.*

But whether this story be true or not, for the actual discovery of Southern Africa we are indebted to the Portuguese. The fifteenth century was the age of maritime enterprise and inquiry. Though the science of navigation was then in its infancy, and the mariner's compass but little under

* Book iv., chap. 42.

stood, there were not wanting a few bold spirits who, actuated by an ardent passion for discovery, ventured to brave the terrors of the deep, far from the sight of land. In the year 1487, Bartholomew Diaz, under the patronage of John II. of Portugal, fitted out a fleet, and, proceeding along the coast of Africa, made at length the southern promontory. But it was "the Cape of Storms," as he himself called it; and his ships being damaged, and his crew becoming mutinous, he returned without effecting a landing on its shores. Ten years later Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape; and to him belongs the honour of first setting foot upon the coast. But the treasures of the East were the object of pursuit by the Portuguese; and in "the naked cliffs and cheerless vales" of this newly-discovered territory, they probably saw nothing to induce them to occupy it. Upwards of another century elapsed ere civilized man there fixed his dwelling. For though the ships of the Dutch and East India Companies touched at the Cape in their passage to and from India, it was not until the year 1652 that, according to the statement of Vaillant, " Riebeck, the Surgeon, returned from India, and opened the eyes of the Directors of the East India Company to the importance of a settlement at the Cape;" and that "they wisely thought that such an enterprise could not be performed better than by the genius who had planned it." Van Riebeck proceeded to the Cape with a considerable number of adventurers, and a colony was then formed. For a few small presents of tobacco, spirits, beads, and various other articles, the Quaiquæ, or Hottentots, who then occupied the country, were induced to dispose of certain tracts of land; and then, as the colony increased, and additional territory was required, "the Dutch took possession, indiscriminately at different times, of all the land which Government, or individuals befriended by the Government, thought proper or found convenient for them."*

There can be no doubt of the truth of this representation: alas! that so foul a blot should stain the history of this delightful colony. But even in the nineteenth century, avarice and ambition will lead men to sacrifice every generous motive and every upright principle, and forcibly to wrest, as in the aggressions of the French upon Tahiti, a beautiful island of the sea from the hands of the rightful occupants of the soil.

On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes many of the French Protestant refugees emigrated to the Cape, where they were settled by the Dutch Government in a fertile valley, to which was given the name of Fransche-Hoek, "French-corner;" a spot that has been rendered additionally interesting by one of the sonnets of the poet Pringle. These refugees began to cultivate the vine, and both the climate and the soil were found to be congenial to its growth. From that time to the present the care of the vineyard has occupied a considerable part of the attention of the Cape farmer, and the wines of Constantia especially have become celebrated nearly all the world over. In many parts of the country you will often see the vine trained over verandahs in the front of dwelling-houses, and in gardens hanging in rich festoons over poles and lattice-work; but in the vineyards, some of which are several acres in extent, it is planted in rows of short bushy trees. The ordinary wines made at the Cape are light and inferior, and are sold at from three to five dollars (four and sixpence to seven shillings) per gallon.

In the year 1795, the Colony was seized by the British Government.

* Vaillant's Travels in Africa, vol. i.