“Caffres”

BIPOC Voices in the Victorian Periodical Press

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CAFFRES.

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Brownlee, (who was originally sent out by the London Missionary Society in 1816, but who is now a Missionary to the Caffres, under the direction of the Colonial Government) to Dr. Philip, who introduces it to the secretary as follows:

MY DEAR SIR—The friends of the Society will be very much gratified with the enclosed communication. It is extracted from a letter of Mr. Brownlee, dated Jan. 28, 1822. I hope Mr. Brownlee, with his associates, will, by the blessing of God, be enabled to carry on this great work among the Caffres, happily begun by our late excellent Missionary, Mr. Williams. Considering the short time Mr. Williams was engaged in that interesting Mission, the good he appears to have been the instrument of doing is truly great, and entirely refutes all the nonsense which has been advanced against missions to savages. The harvest is great, O that the Lord may send us abundance of such men as Pacalt and Wilhams into his vineyard. Under the blessing of God, all depends upon the character and qualifications of the Missionary.     I am,     &c. JOHN PHILIP.


I AM much obliged to you for the information communicated in your last letter. As it respects us in our work, I have little to communicate; we have no reason to be discouraged; and since I wrote to you, we have had a considerable addition to the Institution, so that the members belonging to it exceed 200. Some of them have made considerable increase in knowledge; and from what I can learn from close observation, it appears there is a sort of general desire for teachers expressed by many of the distant Caffres. I believe were Missionaries to go to any part of the Caffreland, if not too near to Gaika, they would be able, in a very short time, to collect a congregation. All the people who came here lately belonged to a kraal that was formerly near the Institution on the Cat River. The head of the kraal died in May last, and his conduct ever since the death of Mr. Williams was like that of one who had tasted that the Lord is gracious. It was his constant practice, after he had gained a little knowledge, to communicate the same; and for this purpose they met in a large hut, built on purpose, twice a day for worship. And in all the different vicissitudes they experienced since the above mentioned period, wherever they wandered, they erected a hut for the worship of God, amidst the reproach and persecution of the surrounding Caffres.

On the day in which Sicana died, all of the people of the kraal met as usual for worship in the morning. He was present, and addressed his audience in a very solemn and affecting manner to the following effect: "I now speak to you for the last time, from a conviction that this day I shall die. It has pleased God to afflict me with sickness; but to this I have been resigned, knowing that God can both give health or disease as he sees fit. My soul and body are both in his hands. You are in the midst of wolves, therefore as quickly as possible remove to the teacher, as he is the only friend you have in this land, and rather than give up the service of God suffer death, as the situation of all without Christ is wretched. They are dead and without God. On my decease, go and say to all the chiefs amongst the Caffres, that God's word is sent amongst them, and they will do well to listen to it, otherwise they may expect the most serious consequences.

He died at the time he signified, and his last injunction has been complied with, and the whole of the people that belonged to his kraal came here in June, and I am happy to say that their conduct for the most part is superior to that of the other people who have been much longer at the Institution.

Digital Publication Details

Title: “Caffres”

Subtitle(s): “Extract of a Letter From Mr. Brownlee, (Who Was Originally Sent Out by the London Missionary Society in 1816, but Who is Now a Missionary to the Caffres, Under the Direction of the Colonial Government) to Dr. Philip, Who Introduces It to the Secretary as Follows”

Creator(s): [John Philip]; Brownlee

Publication date: (1822) 2022

Digital publishers: One More Voice, COVE

Critical encoding: Trevor Bleick, Kenneth C. Crowell, Kasey Peters, Adrian S. Wisnicki

One More Voice identifier: liv_025015

Cite (Chicago Author-Date): [John Philip], and Brownlee. (1822) 2022. “Caffres.” Edited by Trevor Bleick, Kenneth C. Crowell, and Kasey Peters. In “BIPOC Voices,” One More Voice, solidarity edition; Collaborative Organization for Virtual Education (COVE). https://onemorevoice.org/html/bipoc-voices/digital-editions-soas/liv_025015_HTML.html.

Rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

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