Chapter XVII (4)

“We next proceeded to inspect that part of the forest lying between the Poort and the sea. The Poort is a pass through the great forest, running over a very steep ridge, on each side of which are deep ravines, and others branching out from them in various directions into the depth of the forest, all thickly wooded, and in some instances filled with very large timber trees. The slope from the ridge to the right is more gradual than that on the other side, and leads to the forest of Springfield, where the greater part of the timber for the Dutch and English governments has been cut from the earliest period. On the left a part of the forest overhangs some tremendous ravines, from whence it had hitherto been deemed impossible to get out the noble timber which is growing in them. In the present state of abundance, it is not necessary perhaps to make the effort, but should a scarcity of valuable timber ever be felt, there is little doubt of the energy of the Dutch settlers procuring it from situations even still more difficult. We were accompanied in this inspection by Mr. Rex and Mr. Squire, the naval Resident and Inspector, and by several active and intelligent wood-cutters, and were highly gratified with the opportunity thus afforded us, of forming a judgment respecting the means which this part of the forest held out, for a supply of timber and plank, for naval, colonial, and commercial purposes.

“We returned to Mr. Rex’s with the intention of setting out early on the following day, on a visit to that part of the great forest lying between the Knysna and the Gawkamma, called the Levenbosch. Mr. Rex had recommended this place as best calculated to supply the demands made by the Navy, now that the entrance of the Knysna had been found practicable, as the timber might be brought down to the west ford with ease.

“This part of the forest lies upon the western slope of the range of hills, and there are none of those precipitous ravines which intersect the country in almost all other directions; so that an admirable timber road would soon be formed from thence to the river; even by dragging the logs as they were cut over the hard soil of which the surface of the intervening ground is formed, the distance from the Knysna being only five miles. We accordingly began our excursion on the morning of the 18th. We found in the forest timber of every size and description, but particularly the Stink wood so much required for naval purposes. I shall reserve what we have to say on the subject of timber in general for a chapter intended to be devoted to that purpose, confining myself for the present to a brief account of our journey, and to a description of the impressions made upon us by the first view of this extraordinary country. I quite concurred with Mr. Rex in the opinion that whatever establishment I might be permitted to form, for the purpose of procuring timber for the Navy, should be in the Levenbosch; and I decided accordingly upon placing it there; having the timber carried to the west ford, and from thence floated down to the east ford, the place intended to embark it from; where also I proposed to have a depôt of timber, and a slip for building vessels.

“We found here a few wood-cutters with their huts on the skirts of the wood; they were employed in sawing planks and cutting beams for household purposes. It is impossible to conceive a more wretched degree of mismanagement and want of energy than this little settlement offered to our observation. In the first place it was made at an unnecessary distance from the forest, in consequence of which, the trees when felled, were brought to the pit with much more labour and expence than was needful. In the next place, in order to procure a beam of nine inches square, a tree of eighteen inches diameter when stripped of its bark was taken and lined out, leaving the beam required in the very heart of the tree, and cutting off all the strength in the side slabs. These again became offal wood, in consequence of the manner in which they were taken off; not being sawn, but chopped as Robinson Crusoe is described to have prepared his plank.

“One of the Boors who had set up his party here, had come unprovided with the means of supporting them; depending as he said upon finding a supply of corn in the neighbourhood; although he must have known, that the inhabitants never grew sufficient for their own use. He was obliged in consequence to take his slaves, his wagon, and his oxen a journey of five days to procure what he wanted; and at the end of this period he was equally unsuccessful; for without any previous enquiry he proceeded to the Gauritz River, in order to get a load of corn from a relative, which he expected to have at a low price. The relative had none to spare, and with great difficulty he got a supply elsewhere. To this expedition of ten days in time, was to be added the injury done to his cattle and wagon in passing such formidable places as the Traka de Vrow, the Kayman’s Gut, &c. He acknowledged to have lost two of his oxen. Such improvidence was but too frequent among the Boors.

“On our way to the woods I observed two small patches of wheat, apparently in excellent order, but lying at a great distance from each other. On enquiry I found that they both produced a fair amount of crop; that the spots had not been selected on account of any particular quality in the soil; but that the whole of the plains over which we were passing to the forest was of the same description, and might with a very little trouble be made equally productive; and yet there was neither energy nor judgment sufficient among these people to induce them to devote the labour of their slaves and cattle, for one week in the year, to growing corn here, instead of passing many weeks on the road in search of it.

“In passing the Knysna this day, both Colonel Warre and his Hottentot had a narrow escape. We were fording the river on horseback, and the Colonel and his man having diverged a little from the direction in which the others of the party were following the steps of their guide, both disappeared; the top of the Colonel’s hat, and the floating carcase of his attendant only appearing above water. We had scarcely time to feel alarmed, when they were seen to emerge from the river, and to gain the bank. They had fallen into a deep hole, of which many exist in the bed of the river, and render it very dangerous to strangers. A smart gallop of some miles soon dried their clothes again, and restored the Colonel at least to comfort; that of the Hottentot probably had never been interrupted.”

The narrative of the journey closes here, and though that journey terminated, as has been already stated, under circumstances so distressing to a parent’s mind, the observations which were made during its progress, and the information which was gained, were not lost sight of afterwards or neglected. Sir Jahleel brought back with him strong convictions of the importance of the Cape as a Colony; while at the same time the misery which he had seen in some of the settlers, and the general want of that, without which earthly prosperity is but a very doubtful advantage, led to long and reiterated efforts for the improvement of the Colony, both in a religious and commercial view. And these efforts might have been attended with the happiest effects, had they been appreciated and received as they ought to have been.

Perhaps it is not saying more than is due to the profession to which he belonged, that if ever patriotic feelings were really and effectively developed, it was among the officers of the Navy at the close of the last war. Accustomed to traverse the whole surface of the globe in their country’s cause; conscious that the character, the interests, the security of their country were entrusted to them individually; they looked at every thing in this connection, and considered how it might be turned towards the public good. The dream of universal empire never crossed their minds, but the hope of universal influence was unquestionably theirs; and while the liberties of the world seemed to find their best defence from the flag of Britain, it was not unnatural that men thus formed, and educated in their country’s service, should identify the world’s welfare with the extension of their country’s power, and think that every increase of British influence was a fresh security for the happiness of mankind.

The Journal which has been just presented to the Reader is no inadequate exhibition of the spirit which was at that time so characteristic of the British Navy, and which made every officer alive to the means of enlarging or strengthening the resources of his country.

Sir Jahleel perhaps may be thought to have had an official duty to perform; and to have been required as Naval Commissioner to remark on the resources which the colony included, and which might be called for by the Arsenal at Simon’s Town. But it is evident that his views were extended beyond any such temporary advantage; and that he delighted in describing the resources of the colony, while regarding it as a constituent part of the empire, as offering fresh fields for the diffusion of the power and influence of Great Britain, and of the numberless blessings connected with the principles which seem belonging to that influence. He anticipated the moment when the varied surface of its territory might be brought into cultivation by the energy and intelligence of British settlers, and a fresh field for the manufacturing industry of the mother country might be opened in the prosperity of the colony. He saw what the country was, its natural advantages and capabilities; and he wished to see those advantages improved, and those capabilities employed, by the introduction of an active, intelligent, and well principled population. Above all he looked forward to a time, when under the influence of the gospel, and through its stated ministrations, that wilderness might be made to blossom as a rose, and the desert be like the garden of the Lord. He saw that the settlers scattered as they were along the line of coast, and surrounded as they were with a redundancy of the means of subsistence, were still, if contemplated in a higher sense, like sheep scattered in a wilderness, cut off by distance from all opportunity of religious observances, and separated from every influence that could restrain or regulate their inclinations. The occasional insight that he had gained into their domestic arrangements, supplied a painful contrast with the external welfare of their condition; and he brought back with him the conviction, that no real improvement of the Colony could be effected, unless something was done for the moral and religious improvement of the people. His feelings naturally led him to look to the Church of England, as the agency by which this good work should be undertaken; and it would have been well for the Colony, if the Church of England had had the power of extending its influence so far; or if the Government of the mother country would at once have given to the church, the power of amalgamating and uniting to herself, the distant dependencies of the Empire. Had the suggestions which Sir Jahleel Brenton then addressed to the Bishop of London been adopted, had some large and comprehensive scheme for the religious organization of the Colony been introduced, it is hardly necessary to say, that the affairs of the Cape of Good Hope would have stood on a very different footing from that which they occupy now; and that the painful and insurrectionary movements which have retarded its advance, and which have sown widely and deeply the seeds of future trouble, might have probably been avoided. Had schools and churches been generally built, and provided for at the time of which we write, the population of the country would by this time have assumed a more stable and advanced character. Settlers of a superior quality, and in larger numbers would have been attracted to the Colony. The old inhabitants would have been more attached to the British Government, and the Hottentot population would have been reclaimed. The transition from slavery to freedom in their case would have been more completely accomplished, and with less disturbance to the prejudice of the Boors. The influence of law would have been generally felt throughout the province, and civilization would have proceeded more rapidly, while it was pressed on principles which all could recognize, and which all felt to be beneficial to themselves.

But it was not likely that a man situated as Sir Jahleel Brenton was, should know the difficulties which beset every endeavour to do good, and the obstacles which in every old and remote government retard or hinder the efforts of benevolent individuals. He did however what he ought, for he did what he could. He addressed to the one Bishop, who by a strange legal fiction was supposed to be charged with the spiritual care of the Colonies, a letter on the subject; pointing out what he had seen, and suggesting the steps which he thought it would be desirable to take. That the letter was read and acknowledged by the venerable individual to whom it was addressed, there can be no doubt; though no copy of the Bishop’s answer remains. That it excited in his mind a deep and painful feeling, by the mention of a destitution which he could not relieve, and of opportunities which he could not improve, may be assumed as equally certain; and though no result followed; and though this was to be numbered among the many efforts which it would seem must in every case be made, before any thing of real importance is to be accomplished; it still is due to the subject of this memoir, that this instance of his zeal should meet with a record here, if it has obtained no better record in the effects which it produced.

TO THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON.

“CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 24 MARCH, 1818.

“MY LORD,

“My professional duty as Commissioner of His Majesty’s Navy
resident in this Colony, lately induced me to take a journey
through the south eastern parts of it, in order to visit a
port recently discovered at the mouth of the river Knysna;
and in the course of it, I have made such observations upon
the state of the country, through which I have passed, with
respect to its inhabitants, as appear to be deserving of your
Lordship’s notice. Under such an impression I take the liberty
of offering them, in the conviction that should they open any
means of extending the influence of the Church of England, and
consequently of diffusing the knowledge of the gospel, your
Lordship will excuse the intrusion.

“Throughout the whole extent of country between Hottentots
Holland and Plattenberg Bay, there are but three clergymen,
viz. one at Caledon, one at Georges, and the third at
Zwellendam. The population exceeds seven thousand, and is
constantly increasing. The dwellings of the inhabitants,
generally speaking, are scattered through these districts at
such a distance from the places above mentioned, that very
few can form a part of the weekly congregation. The farmers
have no means of instruction within themselves; in some few
instances a schoolmaster is kept in the family, or rather a
person, who can barely read and write, of low origin, and often
of vicious habits. Books of any description except the Bible
(and not always that) are seldom to be seen in their houses.
The Boors of this colony are by no means deficient in capacity,
or good dispositions; on the contrary, I have generally
remarked amongst them great intelligence, much frankness, and
disinterestedness; and their hospitality is a theme of praise
with all who have had recourse to it.

“Their defects and privations arise from inveterate prejudices,
inherited from the early colonists, and fostered by the state
of gross ignorance, in which they have been brought up.

“No amelioration can take place whilst these obstacles exist;
and I feel convinced they can only be removed by religious
instruction. No legislative measures for the improvement
of the country (of which it is greatly susceptible) can be
efficacious, until the understandings of these people are made
parties in the cause. At present, they are in direct hostility
to any change however advantageous. The radical evil, I
consider to be the state of slavery in this country, or rather
the manner in which this wretched class of men are viewed
by the colonists. The slaves here labour under disabilities
which I believe are peculiar to this country. They are, by
the existing laws of the colony, prohibited from becoming
Christians and from marrying.

“The first of these cruel restrictions has in a few instances
been dispensed with, but the latter never. On the contrary it
is most pertinaciously adhered to. The effect of such laws is
but too evident, not only to the judgment, but to experience.
The first gives the utmost facility to the diffusion of
the Mahometan tenets, whilst it impedes the progress of
Christianity; and the most immoral and pernicious consequences
inevitably result from the latter. These are too obvious and
too well known to admit of their being dwelt upon. I will only
observe that the youth of some of the most opulent families,
are, in consequence of such a system brought up, in total
abandonment of those principles, from which alone they can
ever be expected to become worthy and exemplary fathers of
families. The most unquestionable authority may be referred to
in support of these observations. Many of the principal slave
proprietors, it is notorious, give a preference to their slaves
being Mahometans instead of Christians; in the first place,
because they conceive that it induces sobriety; and in the
next, as it gives them a power over their female slaves which
is incompatible with Christianity. These practices, which in
the educated colonists are to be viewed with just abhorrence,
must amongst the illiterate Boors be deplored as the effect
of dark ignorance. A total reformation of the former class I
consider as almost hopeless. They may be awed by the expression
of public reproach, but the inclination will remain, and
every means will be resorted to, to retain their power. With
the latter class (the great majority) it is very different.
They err from want of knowing better, and I am convinced
possess feelings which, if properly directed, would glorify
their God, and bring down his blessings upon their country.
The disposition of the present government of this colony to
annihilate these evils, is all that can be wished. Repeated
efforts have been made by his Excellency the Governor, to
ameliorate the situation of the slaves, and lower classes; but
his power is not sufficient to produce the desired effect. The
persons of influence amongst the colonists are too jealous of
the articles of capitulation to hear of the smallest alteration
being made in these laws; they instantly take the alarm, and
join unanimously to reject every idea of improvement, which
they suspect may in any way, however remote, interfere with
their interests; and their slaves are considered as the most
valuable part of their property. All hopes of reform must be
derived from the exertions of the mother country; not by an
infringement of its engagements with the colonists, but by
earnest recommendations and persevering efforts to increase
the Christian population; by the instruction of the Hottentots
and Negroes, as well slaves as free. I am prepared to find
that the first endeavours may not be greatly successful, but
they will gradually increase in influence, and the public
mind, may in the meantime be improved and enlightened by
religious instruction. The success of the Moravians at their
establishment, for the conversion and civilization of the
Hottentots at Bavian’s Kloof, which I visited on my journey,
affords the strongest encouragement to similar efforts being
made by the Church of England. The contemplation of the truly
benign effects, resulting from the mild and patient conduct of
these excellent people—the rapid progress their converts were
making in religion, and in the acquisition of the comforts of
life, first excited in me the wish to address your Lordship,
firmly impressed with the conviction, that one amiable,
benevolent, and consistent clergyman of the Church of England,
would in the course of a very short time, produce effects
equally salutary not only on the poor and destitute inhabitants
of the colony; but that his influence would extend to the
wealthy farmer, and his dependents. The expence of such an
undertaking need not be great. A certain extent of land given,
in the first instance, by the Crown, for a Church and Glebe,
and another for distribution amongst free persons of every
description, whether Europeans, Hottentots, Negroes, or Malays,
might be granted whenever required. These settlers should be
assisted in the infancy of the institution with a small—but a
very small—portion of capital, so as to enable them to provide
articles of the first necessity, such as clothes, furniture,
implements for building, cattle, and corn for the first
year, the amount of which might be paid off by very moderate
instalments.

“I am firmly convinced, my Lord, that the happiest effects
would very soon result from such an undertaking. It would be no
wild speculation, but one that must be of essential benefit to
the colony, and thence to the mother country, for the expences
would in a short time be defrayed by increase of trade, and
national property. I beg leave to give your Lordship an
instance of the value that becomes immediately attached to land
in this colony, when put under cultivation, or rather when it
is only in contemplation to cultivate it.

“The proprietors of different estates in Hottentots Holland,
about thirty miles from the Cape, were desirous of building a
church to which their families might resort on the Sabbath,
instead of having a journey of twelve miles to perform, in
going to the church at Stellenbosch. A piece of ground was
selected for the purpose, and purchased by subscription for
23,000 guilders; a portion of it was marked out for the
church, another for the clergyman’s house and garden, and
as there remained a considerable quantity beyond what was
required for these purposes, it was sold by auction in small
lots, for building houses near the church, and brought the
extraordinary price of 161,000 guilders. A similar effect,
although probably not so great in degree, will result whenever
a Government establishment may take place. By building and
endowing a church, Government would be enabled to sell the
contiguous ground so advantageously, as to remunerate them for
all the expences; and by sending inhabitants from England for
these new settlements, the chief want of the colony would be
supplied, that of population; whilst numbers now starving and
destitute in the mother country would be provided for, and the
poor rates relieved in proportion. But what is of still greater
importance, the Christian religion would be promoted in every
part of this extensive colony. An establishment of this kind
would be particularly desirable in the vicinity of the Knysna,
of Mossel Bay, and the Brede River. The Knysna and the Brede
River are secure and valuable ports, only ascertained to be
such within the last two years, and Mossel Bay, may at a very
trifling expence become such in a very short time. They are
all situated in fertile corn countries. The Knysna has the
additional advantage of being in the immediate vicinity of an
extensive and valuable forest, where timber for building the
largest ships is to be had in abundance and with facility.

“Upon an attentive consideration of all these circumstances,
I cannot resist the impulse I feel to entreat your Lordship’s
notice of them, and that you would be pleased to recommend
the measure of even one Clergyman of the Church of England
being sent out, and established in either of the places above
mentioned, with a very limited number of poor families from
England, by way of an experiment, upon the success of which
may depend the extension of the plan.

“The sum required for such a beginning as might settle twenty
families in comfort, need not exceed one thousand pounds
sterling, including their passage out to this country. The
materials for building, if in the neighbourhood of the Knysna,
are to be had, as well as fuel, without any other expence than
that of labour; the soil is excellent, easily cultivated, and
may provide for any number of inhabitants after the first
year. Meat is at two pence half-penny sterling the pound, and
would be considerably cheaper, were the families sufficiently
numerous to share an ox among them. The whole of their labour
will be necessarily required during the first year of their
establishment to provide for their immediate wants; but in the
second, many may begin to pay off the sums which have been
advanced to them, by cutting timber for Government, or in any
other way in which their industry may turn to account.

“I have the honour to be, &c.

“JAHLEEL BRENTON.”

“TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.”

But if these efforts for public improvement were unsuccessful, a mind like that of Sir Jahleel Brenton did not suffer the disappointment to cool his ardour, or to check similar endeavours. He had done what he could in that direction, and when he failed there, he did what he could in another. Some men offended at the indifference with which these representations were received, might have given up all attempt at doing good; and considered themselves as justified in their inactivity by the treatment they had met with. But the religion by which he lived, had taught him patience, and the spirit of the profession he belonged to had given him perseverance. His desire to do good remained unbroken, and the failure of one scheme, merely turned his attention to others, which seemed more within his reach, and less dependent on the support to be derived from distant friends; for while there was no object so great, which he would not have endeavoured to grasp for the sake of doing good to others, there was no evil so trifling which his sensibility was not ready to notice. It may easily be supposed then, that the black servants of such a family would not be neglected; but that they would be carefully taught the principles of that religion, the fruits of which they saw exhibited in their master’s daily practice. The observance of the sabbath naturally became more strict as the importance of its employments was more distinctly understood; and though the kindness of Sir Jahleel’s character, as well as the simplicity of his religious views, saved the sabbath from all appearance of rigour, and rendered it in the fullest sense of the word a delight to every one within his influence; he could not but see more clearly the necessity of a strict observance of the institution, as he felt the difficulty of inculcating the knowledge of religion on the uneducated and half civilized natives. Men of various countries and of different dispositions were here placed under his charge; either as domestic servants, or as labourers in the Dockyard. Each, according to the opportunity which their situation offered, were made the objects of his Christian kindness and care; and many it is hoped carried into other services, or into other lands, the seed which had been sown through his instruction, and the impression that had been made on their hearts by his example. Of all these, the most singular, and perhaps at one time the most hopeful, was a lad belonging to that strange and degraded tribe called the Bushmen, to whom the name of Hermes had been given, and who was well known among the friends of Sir Jahleel in England by this significant denomination. Dr. Barry, the talented young Physician who was mentioned above, as having attended Lady Brenton during her last illness, had rescued this boy, when a mere child, from the tyranny of a Dutch woman, his mistress, who abusing the power which the law gave her over a slave, was about to commit him to prison on account of some trifling theft, which he had been guilty of. Dr. Barry, touched with compassion at the boy’s appearance, ransomed him from slavery, and was then glad to consign his purchase to the care of his benevolent patron. The boy thus admitted into Sir Jahleel’s family, gave remarkable evidences of intelligence and quickness. Irritable and revengeful when wronged, he was in no ordinary degree attached and grateful when treated kindly; and his readiness of answer, and activity, made him a general favourite in the house; while his docility, and rapidity of comprehension encouraged hopes, that this child of the wilderness might be sent back as a messenger of peace, and a herald of mercy to his persecuted and benighted countrymen.

With Sir Jahleel this boy came to England, where the peculiarity of his appearance (for of all the sections of the human race, the Bushman most nearly resembles the monkey) attracted general observation; and in his family he remained discharging with correctness the several duties of a domestic servant; subject to no other interruption than that which his vivacity and quickness of temper contrived to draw from the common occurrences of the day. One of these may be mentioned, as exhibiting the character of the boy’s mind, and the strength of feeling which may exist even in the most uncouth representation of our nature. A Lady of rank who had heard of Hermes, expressed so strong a wish to see him, that he was sent to her house; and under the directions that had been left, was turned into the drawing room, where the lady intended to meet him. Poor Hermes who had never been in such a place before, looked round with wonder on articles of luxury, of which he hardly knew the use; and at last, when his mind was bewildered by the splendour of the scene, turning suddenly round he beheld an object still more astonishing than sofas, and tables, and porcelain vases, a Bushboy of his own height and colour, looking at him with features of surprise. To dart towards his brother, and to rush into his embraces, was the act of a moment. A loud crash was heard, the servants hurried into the room; a large pier glass was found shivered, and Hermes lying stunned with the blow, and senseless on the floor. It is hardly necessary to say, that the bushboy was the figure of Hermes reflected in a glass which reached to the ground, and that the illusion arose from the fact, that he had never before seen his own figure exhibited in such a manner.

It is satisfactory to know that the hopes entertained concerning this lad have not been entirely frustrated. After having remained some time in England, after having acquired and adopted all the usages of civilized life, and apparently overcome his earlier propensities; the irritability of his temper and restlessness rendered it inconvenient to retain him in the family; and as his health was suffering from the climate of England, it was thought expedient to send him back to the Cape, and to place him in such a situation there, as might maintain the influence of his new habits, and prepare him for future usefulness in the country. It was reported that the original nature of the boy had resumed its sway, when he was placed in his original situation. It was said that he had disappeared from the Colony, plunged again into the bush, and become the wild timid wanderer that he had been; but the Editor is happy to add, that recent information received from the Cape, describes Hermes as settled in a respectable situation there, and as retaining a lively and grateful recollection of the kindness he experienced from his former master.

In these benevolent employments Sir Jahleel formed the acquaintance of the Rev. Dr. Philip, who has long filled the important situation of Missionary to the Cape, in connexion with the London Missionary Society, and whose name is well known to every one acquainted with the progress of missions in Africa, and as generally and deservedly respected. His acquaintance with Dr. Philip does not appear to have taken place before Lady Brenton’s death; but the common interest they took in all measures for the improvement of mankind, soon after that time produced an intimacy, which led to much and confidential correspondence; and this correspondence was probably very beneficial to Sir Jahleel at this period in his life. His religious convictions had been gradually gaining strength, and his religious views acquiring maturity. He had seen the insufficiency of that formal religion, which, at first, had been contemplated as the end and object to be aimed at; and the regular study of the Scriptures, combined with other books, and particularly that of Mr. Wilberforce’s Essay on Practical Christianity, had enabled him to take a wider and a juster view of the privileges and requirements of the gospel, than he at first possessed. Trials, repeated trials, had been the blessed means by which these clearer views of truth were made matters of experience. He knew in whom he had believed. He had felt that there was a power in the gospel, by which he had been enabled to overcome the world, and to realize in himself a change, which, at an earlier period of his life, he might have thought visionary, or improbable. He had resigned to the God who gave it, the blessing which up to that moment had seemed to be the substance of happiness, the object on which the warmest feelings of his heart had been centered; and in which he had experienced as much of earthly comfort as usually falls to the lot of man; and he had found that he could resign it, and still have such comfort within his reach, as enabled him cheerfully to fulfil the duties of his office, and to go on rejoicing in the hope of a more perfect rest, a more abiding happiness hereafter. To a mind thus constituted, and thus prepared, led by a gradual process to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and having had that knowledge proved by trial, and confirmed by experience, the intercourse of one like Dr. Philip, a man advanced in spiritual things, and familiarized with the difficulties which beset the believer’s path, must have been welcome, if not necessary; and it was natural, therefore, that under the circumstances in which Sir Jahleel was placed, the society and counsel of Dr. Philip should be sought with that peculiar eagerness with which an awakened mind, and a wounded spirit are apt to seek the only consolations that meet their wants. On the other hand it was equally natural that Dr. Philip should be struck by the characteristic openness and integrity of the Commissioner, and that he should be drawn towards him by that irresistible charm, which the sweetness of his temper threw over his conversation and address. He must likewise have felt, that in the position which he himself occupied at the Cape, where he was viewed with coldness by the Government, and with jealousy and hatred by the Boors, who suspected the effect that his missionary efforts would have on the Hottentot population, and imagined that every attempt to raise that degraded race was a wrong to themselves, and an injury to their interests; the friendship and patronage of a man of high professional character, and holding a distinguished government office, was a help of no ordinary magnitude, and might have been regarded, at the time, as a support vouchsafed by providence. But it is certain that he must soon have found, in the state of Sir Jahleel’s mind, in the anxiety of his enquiries, and in the sincerity of his pursuit of truth, the grounds for a deeper and more abiding feeling; and he must have rejoiced, that in a country where there was much to sadden a Christian’s heart, there was one case before him, where the grace of God was so manifestly working, and where the fruits of the Spirit were so largely brought forth. Acquaintance under such circumstances soon ripened into friendship. They found themselves, in many cases, united in one common work; and still more frequently, the only two who felt alike on the subjects that came before them; and each had reason to rejoice in the associate thus unexpectedly discovered. A long correspondence on religious questions is still preserved; but as the letters are chiefly occupied in the discussion of books, which had then recently appeared, but are now generally known, it does not seem necessary to repeat remarks or arguments, which must be familiar to most, and which do not tend directly to illustrate the character of the writers.

Of these, Dr. Chalmers’ address to the inhabitants of Kilmaney seems to have engaged a large share of their attention; and there can be little doubt that the intercourse which was thus maintained, and the free discussion of the great and momentous truths which were involved in these subjects, tended to clear Sir Jahleel’s views on the essential doctrines of the gospel, and to give the same correctness to his theory of religion, which had long been exhibited in its practical application.

The Works of John Newton had been a favourite study with him. To them he owed much of what he had learned; in them he met with the breathings of a heart, congenial to his own, and the records of an experience which might have reminded him of his own trials; and in Dr. Philip he not only found a man of a kindred spirit with Newton; but one who had had the advantage of personal knowledge, and easy confidential intercourse with him. One letter of Dr. Philip’s, therefore, it seems allowable to introduce, not merely as exhibiting the tone of correspondence between him and the subject of this memoir, but also on account of the original and characteristic sketch which it gives of the venerable old man whose writings they are discussing.

“MY DEAR SIR JAHLEEL,

“I am ashamed when I look at the date of your last kind letter;
you must think me a very poor correspondent, I scarcely know
what apology to make. I cannot altogether begin with the old
stale excuse ‘I have been so busy that I could attend to
nothing but what forced itself upon me,’ for there have been
several days in which I have done nothing, if I except the
ordinary routine of business in the way of writing. The truth
is, I have lately been under the necessity of writing so much,
that I have contracted such an aversion to writing, such a
horror of mental exertion, that the very thought of doing
anything which requires application of mind is ready almost to
turn me sick. I do not know whether you can sympathize with
me in this, shall I call it loathing of exertion, this mental
despondency.

“Accept of my best thanks for your introductory letter to
the Admiral; it was very gratifying to my worthy friend, and
after what Admiral Lambert has heard from Captain Vernon and
others, he will be pleased to see our African traveller and his
curiosities. I mentioned to Mr. Campbell, that if Buonaparte
had heard of him and his horn, they might be sent for to
Longwood. He was flattered by the joke.

“In my former letter I believe I informed you, that I was busy
correcting Mr. Campbell’s Journal. My labours have been more
connected with blotting, than with filling up; but if I have
not added much to its beauty, I have pared off things, which
might have offended—deformities; and reduced it to a more
reasonable size than my worthy friend would have been disposed
to confine it to, had he been left to follow his own judgment.
Mr. Campbell is a man of sterling principle, he lives with God,
and he would not for the world do what he might consider as
an unjust, or a dishonourable thing: but when we can say all
this for him, as a man, and as a Christian, we must confess we
cannot say so much for him as a writer of Travels.

“I am not at present in possession of Newton’s Works, and
the passage respecting which you ask my opinion, I do not
recollect; but I perfectly agree with him, that a continuance
in sin is inconsistent with assurance. But it must be wilful
transgression which Mr. Newton intends in this passage. I have
known few men more sensible of the depravity of human nature
than Mr. Newton was. The language he used respecting himself
was always expressive of the deepest abasement and humility.
Complaining to him one day of the badness of my own heart, he
comforted me rather in a singular way, by assuring me that if
I had lived as long as he had done, I should feel ten times
more of it. ‘I know,’ said he, ‘more evil of my own heart in
one day, than I know of the greatest profligate I have ever
known.’ I think he was seventy-two years of age when he used
this language, and yet while he had those views of himself, he
had the firmest assurance. It was the same morning he expressed
himself in this manner, that he observed to me, ‘I am like a
ship waiting the first fair wind to carry her out of port; I
have everything on board, I am quite ready for sea. I never lay
my head down at night, but I feel it matter of indifference
whether I awake in this world or the next.’

“I must confess, though I have failed to make the matter
so intelligible as I could have wished, that there is to
my apprehension some difference between Mr. Newton and Dr.
Chalmers, in the Kilmaney address on this point. The one
requires certain things should be done to prepare us for the
consolations of the Gospel, the other brings us to the Saviour
for those consolations, as necessary to enable us to do those
things. The difference is most visible in the first approaches
of the penitent to the Saviour for consolation; although all
through Mr. Newton’s writings it appears to me, the amiable
saint was more intimately, and experimentally acquainted with
the way of access to God, and the grounds of a sinner’s peace
with God, than Dr. Chalmers was, when he wrote the address in
question.

“If a man oppresses the fatherless and the widow, if he
accumulates a fortune by unrighteousness, or if he has done
these things, or things of a similar nature without repentance
and restitution as far as in his power, he can have no claim to
the consolations of the Gospel; but a man may feel a constant
invasion of vain thoughts, the burden of a worldly spirit, evil
passions occasionally struggling for the mastery; and still
have the comfort of assurance. If sin is the cause of grief, if
it is resisted, it is not inconsistent with a lively hope in
the mercy of God. The sin which grieves us, and is resisted,
says an old writer, will not condemn us. I frequently feel
these evils. I feel that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
I frequently feel cold and formal in my devotions, and these
feelings occasionally disturb my peace; but I invariably feel
my consolations restored by a renewed application to the blood
of Christ. If any man confess his sin, God is faithful and just
to forgive him his sin, and to cleanse him from all iniquity.
I believe we are both travelling in the same road: that we are
both minding the same things: and if we are not exactly of the
same opinion in all things, the things in which we are not
quite agreed are minor points, and God according to his promise
will eventually reveal those things unto us.

“There is an excellent Sermon among Mr. Newton’s Discourses on
the doctrine of Assurance. I do not know whether you noticed
that sermon; if you have not seen it, I would recommend it to
your attention. It is many years since I read it, and I cannot
state in a particular manner, but I derived much advantage from
it, at the time I read it, and the impression made upon my mind
by it remains fresh even now. I shall be glad to see the volume
you mention, but you need not be in any hurry sending it; I may
perhaps see you before I can read much of it.

“With best respects to Miss Brenton, and Miss Isabella, in
which Mrs. P. desires to unite with me.

“I am, my dear Sir Jahleel,

“With unabated affection and esteem,

“Your’s sincerely,

“JOHN PHILIP.”

“CAPE TOWN, FEBRUARY 27, 1821.”