In the year 1780, Sunday, the 14th of July, Mr. T. Middleton, a respectable Local Preacher from Scarborough, came to preach to the townspeople. He stood upon what is called Stock's-Hill, from which place he spake unto the people "the word of eternal life;" but his word unto them was as an idle tale; nay, they poured upon him all manner of contempt. One man had the hardihood to fetch a pot of ale, which he presented to the Preacher to drink; but every attempt to make him do so was abortive; and Mr. Middleton finally succeeded in putting him away, and concluding his discourse.

Soon after, in the same year, Messrs. Holder and Middleton again visited Seamer. They took their stand near the smith's shop. This was on one Sunday morning; and as the people had been led to expect them, the men of God were also prepared to expect an assault. The men of the "baser sort" had previously collected together a quantity of rotten eggs, and other offensive missiles, with which to annoy them; but in this mischievous design they were almost completely frustrated; for there was only one egg thrown, and it missed the individual against whom it was aimed, and not very agreeably marked one of their own party.

In 1785, Seamer was first visited by an Itinerant Preacher, who also formed the first class, which consisted of seventeen members, one of whom was a person who daily wrought for H. Sanders, Esq., the Deputy Agent on behalf of the Duke of Leeds. This individual calculated much on his authority, and began to persecute his faithful servant, William Harland, whom he threatened to dismiss from his employment for "being righteous overmuch."

After this, the Rev. Alexander Kilham was appointed to preach here one Sunday morning. He came according to this arrangement; and while preaching in the street to a large assembly of people, Mr. Sanders presented himself to Mr. Kilham, and asked him by whose authority he preached to the people. Mr. Kilham replied, "By the King's authority I stand here and preach." "Then," said Mr. Sanders, "I will pull you down by my authority." This daring assault emboldened the people to take up small stones and other missiles, and hurl them at the Preacher. This rude treatment, however, did not prevent him from finishing his discourse with all due decorum.

But, while Mr. Kilham was preaching, Mr. Sanders attempted to take down the names of the Methodists who were gathered together; but he was so much agitated, that he could not accomplish the task: he therefore called upon the Constable to write down their names; but he declined. He then called upon the Deputy-Constable, who wrote down the names of John Harker, William Harland, Thomas Stephenson, George Humpleby, William Atkinson, and William Cook, Constable. Those men were all summoned to appear before the Magistrates at Pickering, to answer for their conduct; and being placed before the Magistrates, and asked what they had to say in their defence, they replied, that what they had done they would do again, inasmuch as they conceived they had done no man any wrong. This being the case, they were severally subjected to pay a certain fine; the Constable two pounds for declining to write down the names of the persons present; and the other individuals, four shillings each, for disorderly conduct but they one and all positively refused to pay the sums demanded by the Magistrates.

A short time after this, Mr. Sanders obtained another summons for the Rev. A. Kilham, and the men above-mentioned, to appear again before the

Magistrates; when Mr. Beal, of Malton, and Mr. T. Middleton, of Scarborough, appeared to speak in behalf of the accused individuals; but those friends, being supposed infected with the same kind of enthusiasm, were not heard. Then Mr. Sanders applied to the Magistrates for a warrant to levy the respective sums on the furniture of those persons who were accused of Methodism; but before the warrant was enforced, Mr. Middleton, without any solicitation, voluntarily paid the sums demanded, and put a stop to all further proceedings.

Soon after this, the Superintendent of the Scarborough Circuit wrote to Mr. Wesley, to inform him of the persecution which had taken place at Seamer against the Methodists: Mr. Wesley immediately wrote to the Duke of Leeds, and requested his interference in behalf of the persecuted. The Duke then wrote, by his chief Agent, and commanded persecution to cease, and that the Methodists should have full liberty to worship in any house. He did not, however, himself approve of their meeting in the

street.

A short time after this, the Seamer estate passed from the Duke of Leeds to W. J. Denison, Esq., who continued to allow the Wesleyans to worship in a dwelling-house till the year 1814; at which time the Wesleyans applied for a piece of ground on which to build a chapel. This request was acceded to, first during his life-time, afterwards during the life of his successor; and finally, it has been made over to them in perpetuity, with an additional piece of land adjoining it, should the chapel require enlargement in future days.

In the autumn of 1844, Mr. Denison visited Scarborough, and was waited upon by Mr. W. Atkinson, an aged member of the society, who had joined the Wesleyans in 1785, to thank him for his grant of ground, not only for the chapel, but also for the additional piece in reserve for future enlargement. He was not only received in the most handsome manner by Mr. Denison, but Mr. D. expressed himself much gratified by the visit, and said that it was his wish that all his tenantry should have full liberty to worship God in the manner they thought the most acceptable to Him.

Persecution has long since ceased at Seamer; and the Wesleyans have a good chapel and society there. Mr. Sanders, who put himself at the head of the persecuting party, and threatened the Wesleyans with a speedy dismissal from the village, was the first himself to leave the place. In reviewing the above occurrences in the order of time in which they transpired, we cannot help seeing the hand of the Lord displayed, in the protection and defence of his people. R. A.

SKETCHES OF SOUTH AFRICA.

BY THE REV. THORNLEY SMITH.

(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)
(Continued from page 1224.)

CHAPTER VI.-GRAHAM'S-TOWN.

EARLY in the year 1842, we removed to Graham's-Town. Here I succeeded my friend and former fellow-student at Hoxton, the Rev. John Richards, who is now pursuing his Missionary toils at Port-Natal; and here I had the privilege of being associated with the Rev. William Shaw,

and the Rev. William B. Boyce, and, during the second and succeeding years of my residence in the Circuit, with the Rev. Henry H. Dugmore. I mention their names because of the honour in which I hold them as fellow-labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, and because of the advantages I derived from their counsel, society, and prayers. How greatly would the minds of Christian Missionaries be sustained, if, in every place, two at least could labour together, mutually assisting and praying for each other! But nearly all our stations in South Africa (and the remark applies to the Mission-field in general) are supplied with only one Missionary, who, in many instances, is separated from his brethren, by a distance of from fifty to sixty miles, and can seldom, therefore, enjoy the privileges of communion with them, or obtain that aid which his circumstances require. In the Colony, the disadvantages of this system are not so greatly felt; but in the interior they often press severely, both on the Missionary and his work. Christ sent forth his disciples two and two; and were his example to be followed by our churches generally, and the ambassadors of the cross to heathen lands to go in pairs, the conversion of the world might be greatly accelerated, and an abundant harvest of immortal souls more speedily gathered in. An additional expenditure would, of course, be incurred, which our Missionary Societies, with the ample territory before them needing cultivation, are not, at present, able to meet; but were the tide of Christian liberality to swell, as undoubtedly it must and will, the attention of their directors should be turned to this great question, and the inquiry instituted, whether, by an arrangement of this kind, their operations would not be far more mighty and successful.

Thirty years ago, the spot on which Graham's-Town now stands was comparatively a barren waste. It received its name from Colonel Graham, the Commander of the British troops, in one of the earlier wars with the Kaffir tribes, in the year 1811; a man who bore a very high character, and to whose memory there is a cenotaph in the Episcopal church, which states that he taught the Hottentots religion and morality, and made them active and efficient soldiers. From a military fort of the very humblest character, the town has gradually extended and increased, until it has become equal in size and respectability to some of the smaller towns of England, having a population of six or seven thousand souls, and commanding a trade in the produce of the country of the most flourishing and valuable description. Some travellers have spoken of it with contempt; but, I think, unjustly, especially if we consider the circumstances under which it has risen up, and the comparatively short period that has elapsed since it first was occupied by civilized man. It may be said to owe its existence chiefly to the British settlers of 1820, whose enterprise, industry, and perseverance have already been crowned with a very rich reward; and which, but for the aggressions of the Kaffir tribes, would by this time have rendered the Eastern Province one of the most valuable colonies of the British Crown.

The town stands in a basin formed by a range of sandstone, lime, and other hills; among some of which iron pyrites is abundant, attracting often the electric fluid, which, in consequence, sometimes proves fatal to cattle, sheep, or horses, grazing in the neighbourhood. It is distant from CapeTown upwards of four hundred miles, from the borders of Kaffraria thirty, and from the sea-coast, in a direct line, twenty-five. No river flows through it, except one of the branches of the Kowie, which is a mere streamlet; so that all the transport to and from the town is done by land-carriage, and that of the most tedious kind. Our merchants at home would have no

patience to wait for their goods, as do the merchants here. They would imagine that the world was about to stand still, and trade and commerce to be utterly ruined. A bale of goods will sometimes be as long in getting from Port-Elizabeth to Graham's-Town, as it was in crossing the ocean, so great is the unavoidable delay before it can be forwarded, and so tedious the transit across the country of the waggon in which it is conveyed. The construction of a railway from Cape-Town has been talked about; nor would it, I presume, be at all impracticable, considering that by tunnels, viaducts, and bridges, all kinds of difficulties are overcome; but the question is, where is the capital? Perhaps fifty years hence, should the Colony continue to flourish, the scheme will be seriously entertained: at present the grand object must be to improve the ordinary roads.

The principal buildings of Graham's-Town are the Episcopal church, a most unsightly structure in the middle of the main street, the Baptist, Independent, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan chapels, the Court-House, library, and barracks, the latter erected by the Government at considerable expense. Many of the private stores and dwellings are beautiful and costly, and, being all plastered or stuccoed, present an appearance remarkably light and pleasing. In the earlier part of the day the town is constantly alive. Numbers of waggons laden with the produce of the interior, or with merchandise from England and other parts of the world, are observed in every direction. The movements of troops also occasion considerable interest. Military bands are seen parading the streets, always headed by a number of half-wild Hottentots, dancing to the music, in the most grotesque and ridiculous manner. Now and then, too, you are favoured with the visit of some Kaffir Chief, making his entry on the back of an ox or of a horse, clad in nothing but a filthy blanket, and accompanied with a retinue of half a dozen wives, and several counsellors or amapakati. More stringent regulations are necessary in reference to the natives, both for their own sakes, and for that of the order of the town. It is an outrage on society that they should be permitted to appear in the Colony, unless they are properly clad; and were a law of this kind enacted and enforced, it would have the effect of inducing them to procure European apparel, as many of them have already done.

Our work in this Circuit very much resembled that of a Circuit in England, beside that which is peculiar to a strictly Missionary station. The English chapel, which was erected by the inhabitants in the year 1832, is capable of seating eight hundred persons, and is crowded on the Sabbath by attentive worshippers. It is the second chapel built by the Wesleyans in Graham's-Town since the arrival of the settlers in 1820; and, having become much too small, a third is now in course of erection, the foundationstone of which was laid by Mrs. Shaw on the 10th of April, 1845, and which, but for the recent war, would ere this have been completed. Bright and happy was the day on which the event occurred. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the landing of the settlers on the shores of Africa, for which reason the edifice is to be styled the "Commemoration Chapel ;" and the entire services of the day gave evidence of a spirit of Christian zeal of the purest and most genuine kind. The present chapel, when the new one is completed, will be devoted to the use of the native congregation; and for them it will be a most beautiful cathedral. How often have I ministered here the word of everlasting life! The recollection of many of the Sabbath hours spent in this sanctuary is still fresh upon my memory; nor were my ministrations, as I trust, in vain. A flourishing Sunday-school is connected

with the chapel, the school-rooms being situated on one side of the building. On the week-day they are occupied by the Government school, an institution of considerable value to the rising population of the town.

The progress of Wesleyan-Methodism in Graham's-Town has kept pace with that of the town itself. From a mere handful of members, who met together in a carpenter's shed, the church has multiplied to four hundred and thirty, whilst numbers have been continually drafted from it, and have gone to reside in different parts of the country. Other denominations of Christians have also flourished, and Zion is still extending her borders, and diffusing far and wide the blessings of the Cross. Is she not destined to embrace within her arms the whole of the continent of Africa? Yes, and through the instrumentality of Christian emigrants, whom, perhaps, necessity drives from their father-land, will she be aided in the accomplishment of her evangelistic work. Our churches at home may lament, that, through the pressure of the times, many of their members, whom they have nourished and brought up, are taking their departure to distant lands: but let them not grieve; these individuals, if truly Christians, are carrying with them the torch of truth, the savour of religion, and the word of God; and they will spread the tidings of salvation in those regions far beyond, to which an all-wise Providence directs their steps.

But it is to the native department of our work that I would invite more special attention. In the suburbs of the town, there is a considerable native population, chiefly of the class designated Fingoes. Of these people, to whom frequent reference has been made, I have gathered a few notes, which I will here introduce. They are the remnants of several once powerful tribes, that resided far in the interior, to the north-east of Port-Natal, in a country contiguous to that of the Zulus, the most warlike and terrible of the Kaffir tribes. Their national names, which they still retain among themselves, (that of Fingoes, which signifies "bondmen," having been given to them by the Kaffirs,) are the Ama-Zizi,* or “ people that bring;" the AmaHlubi, "the people that tear;" the Aba-Shwawa, "the people that revile;" the Ama-Bele, "the people of mercy;" the Aba-Sekunene, or "right-handed people;" and the Ama-Gobizembi, or "axe-benders," &c., &c. Between twenty and thirty years ago, that portion of South Africa inhabited by these tribes was visited with the scourge of war. Chaka and Matawan, Chiefs of the Zulu nation, having overrun the country in the neighbourhood of Delagoa-Bay, proceeded to devastate the territory still further to the west and south-west, and, falling upon the above-named tribes, swept off their cattle, burnt their houses, and drove them into the wilderness, a prey to famine and to death. The progress of the warriors was like that of a flight of locusts, and in every direction desolation followed in their train. The poor Fingoes suffered miseries incredible. Thousands of them fell before the assegais of their enemies, and thousands more perished in their flight for want of food. The track over which they travelled is to this day strewed with their bones, which lie bleaching in the sun, and which tell a tale of woe that would melt the hardest heart. "It was affecting," observes the Rev. William J. Davis, "when, not long since, they were assembled by the Missionary (at Fort Peddie) to consult as to some plans for the more efficient education of their children, to hear them say, 'Yes, we have children; but they are few,

* Some observations are made relative to this tribe by Thompson. (Travels, vol. i.) They appear to have dwelt on the banks of the Mapoota river, which empties itself into Delagoa-Bay, south lat. 26°. 20′.