Yes, great are the works of the Lord already here in the porches of the Temple;-what will they be in the Holy of holies? They "are sought out of all that have pleasure therein." This joy in the Lord is our strength, and our comfort in all tribulation, and urges us in this accepted time, which is still, as in the Apostle's days, an evil time, to redeem our days and hours, and in our several stations to show that faithfulness which is so important and yet so difficult, that we may be found good stewards of the treasures of grace entrusted to us; good soldiers, striving lawfully, and willing to endure all things for the elect's sake; good ministers of Jesus Christ, rightly dividing the word of truth. May our compassionate High Priest grant you and me, the least amongst my brethren, the unction requisite for this! Remember me in your

prayers.

The Conference now closed in the usual way with prayer and singing.

APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN.

O, my brother, what a story is that of our Christian discipleship! a story of unfaithfulness, of ingratitude, of inconsistency, of departure, of fluctuating love, of spiritual treacheries, the very mention of which should make us ashamed; a story at which heaven might shudder were it not a brilliant comment on the grace of God; such a story that it must drive us back-back-to despair, were it not for the measureless efficacy, the matchless sufficiency, of the blood of Christ.

Why! when we were washed in that blood of atonement; when Christ came to us and whispered, "Son,-daughter, thy sins are forgiven, go in peace;" when he came to us in the midnight darkness of our conviction, as we stood pale and trembling at the foot of the mount that thundered and flashed and shook with tempests, and said: "It is I, be not afraid,"-we said we would be his. We said so in secret places. We came to his altar and said so there. We made our vows in his sanctuary. We took upon us the seal of his covenant. We declared-we published, that to us he was the chief among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely. And how has it been with us since? Where have we been? What have we been? How have we kept our vows? What return have we made for his redeeming love? What return for his special, electing, renewing grace? What return for the precious hope of immortal life? What return for deliverance from the lashings of conscience? What return for our precious seasons of closest fellowship? What return!-Why we forget him! We forget him!

I say WE FORGET him! The thunders of the law were

hushed; the smart of our scourgings subsided; the flashing of the fire that burneth passed away; our wounds were healed-yes, by his stripes, by his blood-and we forget our Deliverer ?

The tempter spread his charms before us; the world smiled; subtle enticers begged us to taste the cup of enchantment; and we were snared-we yielded-we tasted. The smile of fleshly indulgence seduced us from the smile of Jesus Christ, and we plunged ―with his seal upon us, with his vows upon us,-amid the buzz and tumult of worldly business and relationships. We put him who brought us salvation, to open shame.-We wounded him in the house of his friends. The love of our espousals has cooled. The fervor of our purpose has abated. We have been treacherous to our beloved. We have broken our vows. We have forgotten our purposes and our obligations.

Where have been our fruits? our good fruits? What have been our labors for Christ? What have been our self-denials for Christ? What has been our spiritual mindedness? Where has been the brightness of our piety? Who can tell where? Who can tell-what?

And our neglects of duty-how many?-And our indulgences in sin-how many?-The occasions which we have given to others to despise spiritual religion-how many?-The times in which we have made our profession a by-word and a contempt-how many?

Do you say that this picture is too dark for you? Do you doubt whether it be not overwrought? For me, my brother, it is not. I know it is not for me and I verily believe it is not for you. I believe that by and by it will appear that this is not half the truth.-Lessons at the Cross.

FOREIGN MISSIONS.

SOUTH AFRICA.

(From "Periodical Accounts.")

The intelligence from the eastern portion of our South African field continues to be, on the whole, of an encouraging complexion. Not only is Shiloh rising again from its ashes, but it is becoming the resort of a larger native population than inhabited it at any previous period. Of the 700 persons now under the care of our missionaries, about 500 are Fingoos or Caffres, and 200 Hottentots. The latter have been received with a degree of hesitation, which the remembrance of past occurences might well inspire; but, independent of the earnest request of the Government, there were weighty considerations which induced our brethren not to close the

door against them. That the Governor would only consent to the renewal of Goshen, on condition of the exclusion of both Caffres and Tambookies, was a subject of regret the station having been formed expressly for the benefit of these races. It is to be hoped, that, if the renewal really takes place, this prohibition may be withdrawn. At Shiloh, the temporal state of the mission was improving, the thirsty soil had been refreshed by copious rains, and the labor of cultivation seemed likely to be rewarded. At Enon, great poverty continued to prevail, owing in part to the previous want of remunerative employment. That the disorganised and scattered state of these congregations should have been attended with spiritual declension, will not excite surprise it is, however, satisfactory to hear, that in both there are signs of revival.

The opening of the chapel-schools at Twistwyk and Hout-kloof, two interesting out-posts of Genadendal, is an event which promises blessed results to districts, in which the preaching of the gospel was much needed. At the yet more important out-station of Goedverwacht, the labors of the native teacher, Joseph Hardenberg, continue to produce good fruits.

From br. C. R. KOELBING.

DEAR BROTHER,

GENADENDAL, August 15th, 1853.

From Shiloh we have had several letters. The roof of the church had been finished. If a portion of the crops of the Fingoos had not been saved from the ravages of the locusts, it would have been impossible to get a sufficient supply of straw for the purpose. I presume, and hope, that the church, the walls of which have been witness to such mournful scenes, is to be used only as a temporary place of worship, and will afterwards be turned into a school-house. Whittlesea is almost deserted; but, unfortunately, two canteen-keepers remain behind, to sow the poisonous seed, to the injury of the poor people at Shiloh. The missionaries, on taking down the names, ascertained that there were 500 Fingoos and Caffres, and 200 Hottentots residing at that place. It was found next to impossible to avoid admitting so many Hottentots, though, on several accounts, an undesirable measure. peculiar circumstances of their families, as well as the request of the Governor, pleaded for it. The applicants were required to sign an agreement, to submit implicitly to all regulations of the place, and be faithful subjects of the British Government.

The

All the missionaries at Enon were well, not excepting br. and sr. Lehman. On the 21st, of June, br. Lehman's cattle-herd was caught by a party of six Caffres and one Hottentot. He was dis

armed, his gun, cartridges, tobacco, knife, etc., were taken, but they told him, they would do him no harm. They wanted only to know how it went with the war; two messengers, sent by them to Caffraria, not having returned. At last they dismissed him, restoring gun, knife, and everything, saying they would now return to Caffraria, and only kill some oxen for their own use on passing the last farms. They informed him, they had many times been near the oxen belonging to Enon, but they would do no harm to that place. They had taken what they wanted in the Karroo. This shews again, how graciously our people have been protected by the Lord from such a set of marauders, often without even knowing that they were in danger.

Br. Jannasch has paid a visit in Goedverwacht. He remained there over the 24th and 25th of July; held meetings, baptized a child of the schoolmaster, Joseph Hardenberg, and attended an examination of the school-children, which proved very satisfactory. Joseph keeps the Sunday-school, holds prayer-meetings and bible-classes with the adults, and is universally esteemed by the people. Br. Jannasch found the people very anxious to hear the Word of God. Notwithstanding the drenching rain, many came from a great distance to the services, though the Sunday before they had come in vain. Here, at Genadendal, five adults were baptized by me on the 24th of July. We give daily instructions to the candidates for holy baptism. This is very useful, but you would be astonished, how difficult it is to make some of them answer correctly the most simple questions concerning the fundamental truths of Christianity; with others, you would be much pleased. At the same time, I kuow well enough, from my own experience, that such as are not able to give any proper answer, feel often more deeply in their hearts than others who have learnt to speak more fluently. The last time, I was much pleased with the attention paid by my catechumens, especially during the closing lessons. During the baptism, they were all deeply affected. Yesterday was a day of blessing to our congregation, when we celebrated the festival of the 13th of August. At the Holy Communion, in the evening, we had about 400 communicants present. Four had been confirmed during the last week by br. Scharf.

Provisions are at high price; corn twice the average, meat still dearer. About ten years ago, sheep were sold for 4s. 6d., and in the eastern districts bartered away for a Genadendal knife. Now the price is from 15s. to 17. More grain has been sown this year than ever before, both by our own people and by the farmers. The corn is springing up in a very promising manner.

September 12th.

Two chapels have been dedicated since my last letter. The 21st of last month, that at Twistwyk was opened. After singing the hymn, "Now let us praise the Lord," accompanied with trom

bones, I read the confession of faith from the Easter-morning Litany, then 2 Chron. vi., next followed the Consecration-prayer. After the singing of some verses, br. Suhl preached on Eph. ii. 19-22. The pupils of our Training-school performed an anthem, under br. Hartman's direction; and br. Kuehn having delivered a short address, on Gen. xxxii. 26, we concluded with prayer. The chapel, which holds about 200 persons, could not contain all the hearers; for, besides the inhabitants of Twistwyk and Gænsekraal, many had come from Kopjes and Genadendal. Mr. Linde and his family, with many other farmers, were present. The church had been decorated by the people with flowers and garlands. The open door (for many had to stand outside) shewed the prospect of a grand mountain range, with the primeval forests clothing its sides and fringing its glens, and the snow glittering on its summits. It was a very fine spring day; but, what was best of all, we felt the presence of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. The collection amounted to 47. 5s. The School, anxious as we are to have one, cannot be opened, till we receive answers from Government to my application for aid.

September 4th.-The church at Hout-kloof was opened. Brn. Nauhaus, Mueller, and Lemmertz came from Elim; brn. Kuehn, Scharf, Hartman, Th. Kuester, and myself from Genadendal. After a short discourse by br. Mueller in the old chapel, we walked in procession to the new church, preceeded by our trombone players. The building was crowded with attentive hearers, and had not the heavy rain on Saturday night prevented, many more would have been present. The various services were a counterpart of those I have described above, except that, in the afternoon, br. Kuehn delivered an address with more especial reference to the children. It was, in truth, a day of peculiar grace; some of the Hout-kloof people, deeply affected, came to express their thankfulness for the blessing enjoyed far beyond their expectations. Our general impression is, that there are many there who are truly desirous of living to the Lord. We were not remiss in reminding the heads of families of the importance of public worship, and urging it as a duty upon those who have hitherto been too negli gent of it. Br. Suhl is on a journey to Zoar, the Berlin Missionary-station, where, likewise, a new church is to be dedicated, and they wished us to assist at the solemnity. Br. and sr. Theodore Kuester arrived here on the 27th of August, and will remain for some time, in the hope that br. Kuester's stay among us may be beneficial to his health.

The Caffre-war relief committee has voted 507. for Enon, 50%. for Salem, and 507. for Kat-river. Br. Lehman mentions that a piece of ground, given to Enon in 1822, to be used as a grazing ground during his Excellency's pleasure, has been applied for by farmers. The loss of it would be ruinous to Enon, where gardens and fields are so often unproductive on account of drought. I have,