INTELLIGENCE.

A HOTTENTOT'S TESTIMONY TO THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE.

(From the Speech of Andries Stoffles, at Exeter Hall, 10 August, 1836.)

"I will tell you what the Bible has done for us. There are three gentlemen in this country who are witnesses to what Africans were – Dr. Philip, Mr. Read, and Mr. Campbell. I wish to tell you what the Bible has done for Africa. What would have become of the Hottentot nation, and every black man in South Africa, had you kept the word of God to yourselves ? When you received the word of God you thought of other nations who had not that word. When the Bible came amongst us we were naked; we lived in caves and on the tops of the mountains; we had no clothes, we painted our bodies with red paint. At first we were surprised to hear the truths of the Bible. The Bible charmed us out of the caves, and from the tops of the mountains. The Bible made us throw away all our old customs and practices, and we lived among civilized men. We are tame men now. Now we know there is a God; now we know we are accountable creatures before God. But what was our state before the Bible came? We knew none of these things. We knew nothing about heaven. We knew not who made heaven and earth. The Bible is the only light for every man that dwells on the face of the earth. I thank God, in the name of every Hottentot-of all the Hottentots in South Africa, that I have seen the face of Englishmen. I have been looking whether a Hottentot found his way to this meeting, but I have looked in vain : I am the only one. I have travelled with the Missionaries in taking the Bibles to the Bushmen, and other nations. When the word of God has been preached, the bushman has thrown away his bow and arrows. I have accompanied the Bible to the Caffre nation, and when the Bible spoke, the Caffre threw away his shield and all his vain customs. I went to Lattakoo, and they threw away all their evil works, they threw away their assagais, and became the children of God. The only way to reconcile man to man, is to instruct man in the truths of the Bible. I say again, the Bible is the light, and where the Bible comes, the minds of men are enlightened. Where the Bible is not, there is nothing but darkness; it is dangerous, in fact, to travel through such a nation. Where the Bible is not, man does not hesitate to kill his fellow; he never even repents afterwards of having committed murder."

THE PRAYER OF THE CAPTIVES.

Exodus ii, 23—25.
Where gloriously the Nile's deep waters glide,

Gladdening with cooling streams the thirsty earth,
Bearing rich blessings on their rising tide,

And welcomed with sweet song and jocund mirth,
Far other music once was heard to flow,
The deep-toned utterance of a nation's woe.
A captive nation ! ah ! they well may sigh

When freedom from their bands her flight hath taken,
Well may the plain re-echo to the cry,

“Hath God his chosen ones for aye forsaken? “ Altho' our fathers rest in dreamless sleep, “ Oh God! thy cov’nant to their children keep!” And years passed on, and yet that cry arose,

And heaven hath heard that loud unceasing wail ;
Look on the sea by Egypt's shore that flows,

And read the oppressor's dark mysterious tale ;
That sea, to Israel's host a sheltering wall,
To Egypt's warrior-hands, a shroud and pall.
Britain ! my country! read the warning lines

With lowly thankfulness and reverend awe,
Glad that the glorious sunlight never shines.

On slaves in thraldom kept by British law,
That wheresoe'er thy banner floats on high,
There is the blessed shrine of liberty !
And ye, who yet the chain of slavery bind

Around your fellow men, with jealous care,
Yet seeking to direct the untutored mind

To Him who listens to the captive's prayer ; Shall not their pleading voice ascend on high ?

And shall not God avenge that ceaseless cry? Ob ! break the fetter, set the prisoner free, Nor forge the chains of your own destiny ! E, M. I. THE PURITAN'S GRAVE.

Ye are gone !-and no more on the mountain's brown heather,
Shall ye fervently worship your Father on high ;
When in danger and doubt ye assembled together,
Your altar the earth, and your temple the sky.
No organ's deep notes in full harmony swelling,
Nor censers of silver shed sweet fragrance there,
But the soft voice of rills, from the mountain's side swelling
Was your music; your incense, the incense of prayer !
Stern men of the iron-hand, matchless in might,
Wise in the council, unequall'd in war,
Ye have run the good race, ye have fought the good fight,
And won that ye wrestled, and combatted for.
They call'd ye fanatics, and vainly they strove,
To brand you as hypocrites, prove you insane;
0, say was it fantasy's power that drove
Oppression and pride from their tyrannous reign.
No menials in gorgeous dresses attending
Adjusted their robes, or their wishes supplied,
But ’ministering spirits from heaven were bending,
The guardians of those for whom Jesus had died.
On heraldry's rolls though their name ne'er had been,
Their mansions were houses uprear'd without hands,
On the bright book of Life they were sure to be seen,
The happy possessors of heavenly lands.
From nobles and priests, and the great of the nation,
They look'd with contempt to a higher command,
Nobles by right of an earlier creation,
Priests by the gift of a mightier hand.
Softly the dews on the wild flowers weep,
That grow on the hillock where sweet ye repose,
And grace the still spot were the Puritans sleep,
All finished their warfare, their griefs, and their woes.
In no high sculptured domes, are their bodies enshrin'd,
No trophies of victory over ye wave,
The flag that floats o’er ye shakes light in the wind,
'Tis the long grass that covers the Puritan's grave. B. W. B.

THE PILGRIM FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND.

Hemans.

“What sought they thus afar ?

Bright jewels of the mine ?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war ?

They sought a faith's pure shrine.
• Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod !
They have left unstained what there they found,

Freedom to worship God.”
They had left their childhood's home

For the wide and stormy sea;
It had driven them o'er its giant waves

To the country of the free.
For the star of truth was shaded,

And the dark and dreadful doom
Of the faithful and the righteous few,

Hid their native land in gloom.
There was one in that lone bark

She languished day by day,
Till at length her gentle spirit fled

On its unfettered way.
Far from her home they buried her :

They dug her lowly grave
On the border of a rock-bound isle,

'Mid the wild Atlantic wave.
They reached that savage shore,*

And a lonely band they stood,
And their hearts within them sank with fear,

In the gloomy and silent wood.
But the beacon-lights of holy writ

Amid the darkness shone,
And their lips the accents of prayer sent forth

To the throne of th' Eternal one.
And the wondering Indian heard,

As he stood 'neath the star-lit skies,
Or as he lay in his wig-wam rude,

The song of praise arise.
Edinburgh,

A. R. B. TO A FRIEND.

When Christian friends are called to part,
Severed from every kindred heart,

For a short space below:
They need not mourn ; they still can meet
Around a gracious mercy seat,

And there sweet comfort know.
What, though a thousand miles divide,
Mountains, or hills, or seas, or tide,

Our God is still the same ;
His truth for ever firm shall stand,
When mountains, hills, and seas, and land,

No more shall speak his fame.
When at his throne of grace you bend,
And for his love petitions send,

Do not forget me there.
Unworthy, though I oft may prove,
Pray for my interest in his love,

And he will answer prayer.

And though we never met before,
And though we never may meet more,

Accept my parting prayer ;
May God on high, his blessings.pour
Upon you in a fruitful shower,

And guard you with his care.
Penrith.

E. P.

“ONE THING IS NEEDFUL.”

The“ one thing needful”—is it needful NOW?
Time writes his answer on the wrinkled brow,
Faith, on the heart by sov’reign grace imprest,
And pity in the famished worldling's breast.
“ Seek it,” says Wisdom, “ O ye sons of men,
To-day !” but clam'rous Folly still asks when ?
And while she strives to still the warning cry,
The wailings of eternity reply.