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 BV 3525 .T7 H67 1875 
 Smith, Thornley, 1813-1891. 
 Memoir of the Rev. Thomas 
 Laidman Hodgson 
 
 ■ v w ) Maeo 
 
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MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REY. THOMAS LAIDMAN HODGSON, 
 
 WESLEYAN MISSIONARY 
 
 IN SOUTH AFEICA. 
 WITH COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM HIS JOURNALS. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REY. THORNLEY" SMITH, 
 
 Mljnr nf ''Innlli ifrixa iflinratcii." 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. MASON, 14, fc IXTrROAP ; 1 --'-i^ 
 
 SOLD AT 66, PATERNOSTER-iOW. 
 
 1854. 
 
'Tis ours to sow the precious grain, 
 
 Though falling where the pari-hed soil 
 May seem to mark our labour vain, 
 
 Long ere with fruit it bless the toil. 
 'Tis Heaven's to send the sovereign devr, 
 
 To haste the gladsome harvest-time, 
 When earth shall all be crown'd anew, 
 
 Crown'd as in Eden's vernal prime." 
 
 Anon. 
 
 H. T. &' J. ROCHF, PRINTERS, 25, HOXTON-SQUARE, tONDOK, 
 
TO 
 
 THE WIDOW AND DAUGHTER 
 
 OF THE DECEASED, 
 
 Cjirs 3ilmiiir, 
 
 PllEPARED AT THEIR REQUEST, 
 IS 
 
 AFPECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY 
 
 THEIR SINCERE FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 
 A 2 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 A FEW months ago, a brief Memoir of 
 Mr. Hodgson appeared in the pages of the 
 *' Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine." But it was 
 deemed desirable that a more extended account 
 of his labours should be written ; and I have 
 attempted, therefore, to prepare a Memoir a 
 little more worthy of his name and memory. 
 To the Greneral Secretaries of the "Wesleyan 
 Missionary Society my thanks are due, for the 
 loan of all Mr. Hodgson's letters to the Com- 
 mittee from the commencement to the close of 
 his Missionary career ; and I have been greatly 
 indebted also to the Eev. S. Broadbent, for 
 the use of his Journals kept during the time 
 that he was Mr. Hodgson's fellow-labourer. 
 The Journals of Mr. Hodgson himself were 
 fiu-nished to me by Mrs. and Miss Hodgson; 
 
b ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the latter of whom, ■s\'ith true filial affection, 
 took great pains to copy some portions that 
 were scarcely legible, as well as several letters, 
 &c., &c., relating to circumstances in her 
 father's history. And now this volume is com- 
 mitted to the press, with the earnest hope 
 that it may be rendered useful to the chui'ch 
 of Christ, especially in awakening sympathy 
 for Africa, and in exciting to liberality for its 
 more rapid evangelization. 
 
 T. S. 
 
 Plymouth, Decemher, 1853. 
 
CONTENTH. 
 
 Page. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ENTRANCE ON THE MINISTRY .... 22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FAR HENCE AMONG THE CiENTILES ... 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PERILS IN THE AVILDERNESS .... 52 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TOILS AND SUCCESSES 68 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 BOOTCHAP 88 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ENOLAND AND THE CAPE ...... 106 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 VISIT TO NAMACQUALAND 126 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NAMACQUALAND AND CAPE-TOWN . . . 144 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ILLNESS AND DEATH 161 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REY. THOMAS L HODGSON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Mis dJarlq f ifp. 
 
 The biography of Christian Missionaries is 
 generally replete with interest and instruction. 
 It furnishes instances of genuine heroism ; it 
 illustrates the influence of the Gospel in awaken- 
 ing in the himian mind the deepest practical 
 sympathy for the outcasts of the human family; 
 and it proves that patient toil in the work of 
 the world's evangelization v,ill ever meet with 
 its reward. 
 
 Our literature is rich in records of this kind. 
 The lives of Eliot and of Brainerd, of Schwartz 
 and of Buchanan, of Coke and of Martyn, to- 
 gether with those of many female Missionaries, 
 of whom we may mention Mrs. Judson and 
 Mrs. Cryer, are standard works, which will 
 probably be read by future generations with 
 as great, or with even greater interest, than 
 they are at present. For labourers of such 
 zeal, disinterestedness, and courage, the church 
 is greatly indebted to the providence of Grod, 
 
10 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and earnestly should she pray for a succession 
 of such evangelists. It is her province to send 
 into the field the agents placed at her disposal ; 
 but they can be raised up and qualified for theii' 
 important work only by the Lord Himself. 
 
 Wesleyan Methodism has sqldom wanted 
 candidates for this department of its work. 
 Essentially Missionary in its spirit, it has, from 
 the first, been favom-ed with men who, animated 
 with the love of Christ, have "not counted 
 their lives dear unto themselves," but have 
 been willing to go into any part of the world, 
 for the pui'pose of proclaiming the tidings of 
 the Cross. How numerous, already, are the 
 records of the toils, the trials, and the successes 
 of this section of the Christian church in the 
 Mission-field ! Xor does a year pass away with- 
 out witnessing the fall of one or more of its 
 evangelists ; some in youth, some in the vigour 
 of their days, and some — ^but they are few, for 
 few survive so long — in age. Do we regret 
 this ? We regret the loss of valuable agents in 
 this holy enterprise ; and the early removal of 
 some, especially, is most mysterious to us, and 
 most painful. But we bow to the dispensations 
 of an all- wise Providence, rejoicing that while 
 some are gathered to their fathers, others are 
 raised up to occupy their posts. The labourers 
 die, but the work lives ; and there are many at 
 this moment, panting to go forth and to attack 
 the strongholds of the enemy in Africa, in the 
 East, or in the islands of the Southern Seas. 
 
 But the memory of the depai'ted should be 
 
HEV. T. L. HODGSON. 11 
 
 dear to us, and vre should study tlieir examples 
 with peculiar care. From the life of a devoted 
 Missionary, every Minister, whether labouring 
 at home or in a distant land, every office-bearer 
 in the chiu'ch, and every private member, may 
 derive considerable good; whilst to young 
 men, especially, on whose breasts the fire of 
 Missionary zeal has been enldndled, and who 
 contemplate offering themselves to the church 
 as ambassadors to the Heathen, the records of 
 the toils and of the triumphs of others cannot 
 but be fraught with special interest and value. 
 It is, then, ^\dth a view to the benefit of the 
 living, and not of pronouncing an eulogy on 
 the dead, that the following Memoir is sub- 
 mitted to the attention of the reader. To many 
 who will peruse these pages, Mr. Hodgson was 
 intimately known, but to others only by the 
 accounts they have seen of his indefatigable 
 labours in a distant land. Who, however, that 
 has formed even a partial acquaintance with 
 him, vrill not feel a desire, now that he has 
 gone, to know something of his history, his 
 character, and his work ? That such a desire 
 may be gratified, the story of his life is briefly 
 sketched. 
 
 Tho:!j:as Laidman Hodgsox was born in 
 Darlington, in the county of Durham, on the 
 12th of June, 1787. His parents were highly 
 respectable persons; and his maternal grand- 
 father, Dr. Laidman, was well known and much 
 esteemed in Darlington, where, for some time, 
 B 2 
 
12 MEMOIK OF THE 
 
 lie practised as a physician. At the age of ten 
 years, Thomas was deprived of his father by 
 death, and, two years later, of his beloved 
 mother. Thus early was he left an orphan; 
 but a gracious Pro\ddence took care of him, 
 and dii'ected all his steps. Together with two 
 sisters and two brothers, he was committed to 
 the charge of a distant female relative, with 
 whom he continued to reside, in the dwelling 
 which had been occupied by his parents. 
 
 He received his education, fii'st, in the Gram- 
 niar-School of Darlington, and subsequently in 
 a private academy. Of his boyhood little is 
 known; but it is said that, finding himself 
 free from any strong resti'aints of government, 
 he was for some years led away by the vanities 
 and amusements of the world. Even then, 
 however, he was under the influence of the 
 restraining grace of God, and never gave him- 
 self up to the follies in which youths thus 
 circumstanced too often indulge. In a brief 
 record of his earlj' days, found among his 
 papers, he says : ''I was often taken to the 
 AVesleyan chapel, where I was brought to view 
 sin in its proper light, and to admire the 
 beauty of religion. Hence I grew up with a 
 respect for pious persons, and a love for Gospel 
 truth." His grandfather, Dr. Laidman, wished 
 that he should be trained to the profession of 
 medicine ; but, at a suitable age, he was placed 
 in the bank of his native town, where, by his 
 abilities and upright conduct, he so won the 
 esteem and confidence of the Directors, that he 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 13 
 
 afterwards became its chief manager, in A\iiicli 
 situation he continued until his entrance into 
 the Christian ministry. 
 
 One who became acquainted with him when 
 he was nineteen years of age observes, that he 
 was a youth of very pleasing manners, and 
 that his conduct was wholly unblemished. 
 When, therefore, he began to turn his atten- 
 tion to religion, and to think very seriously of 
 becoming a member of the Wesleyan Society, 
 it was asked, by some of his friends, what he 
 had done to render this necessary. Like many 
 other persons, they considered morality all that 
 was -essential to the favour of God; and ima- 
 gined that, because the character of Thomas 
 was so amiable, there was no need for him to 
 trouble himself on the subject of religion. But, 
 happily, he himself had been made to feel 
 that, to secure the salvation of his soul, he 
 must be born again. During an extensive 
 revival of religion that took place in Darling- 
 ton, impressions never to be erased were made 
 upon his mind ; and no sooner was he con- 
 vinced that it was his duty to unite himself to 
 the church, than, notwithstanding the persecu- 
 tions to which he became exposed, he took the 
 step, and oi^enly declared himself a disciple of 
 the Lord Jesus. This decision was formed 
 when he was twenty years of age, and was 
 doubtless the means of preserving him from 
 many temptations by which he might have 
 been led astray. For, as he observes, in the 
 record abeady mentioned, he was exposed, at 
 B 3 
 
14 MEilOIll or THE 
 
 this time, to very great daug-er. He had no 
 one of sufficient authority to control him ; and 
 having always a little cash at command, the 
 temptation often suggested itself that he should 
 cast off the fear of (Jod, and laiuich out a little 
 into the pleasures., of the world. But for his 
 imion with the Wcsleyan Society he would 
 probably have done this ; and who can tell 
 where he would have stopped ? 
 
 It was not until after he had joined the 
 church that he felt the burden of his sins 
 intolerable. Tor awhile he was dra^^ii as by 
 the cords of love. Subsequent!}', however, he 
 became greatly troubled under a sense of his 
 obligations to God's mercy, and of his *^base 
 ingratitude " in not discharging them. Some- 
 times he doubted whether his repentance was 
 sincere ; and, on one occasion, he was led to 
 ask his brother what degree of contrition he 
 conceived it necessary for a penitent to feel. 
 But, soon after, he was taught, as he himself 
 expressed it, ''that the degree of repentance 
 necessarj' is that which brings us to Christ, 
 and to Him only, for salvation." One evening, 
 on retui^ning home from his class, in deep dis- 
 tress of mind, he retired to his chamber, and 
 there wrestled with God in prayer during the 
 greater part of the night. Nor did he plead 
 in vain. His cry was heard. He was enabled 
 to cast himself on the atonement of the Cross, 
 and God revealed His Son in his heart, so that 
 he could rejoice in a sense of the pardon of his 
 sins. The biu^den of his guilt T\as at once 
 
iu;v. T. L. noDGsox. 15 
 
 removed, and he became a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus the Lord. This ''happy change," 
 to use his own expression, took place in the 
 year 1809 ; and, in a letter to his sister-in-law, 
 dated June 1 7th of that year, he thus writes : 
 ''I may safely say, that since I saw you last, 
 I have been enabled to make much progress in 
 the Di^'ine life, and to overcome spiritual 
 temptation closely urged upon me. I now 
 feel that peace which the world can neither 
 give nor take away. I anticipate that you will 
 say, surely my doubts respecting justification 
 are now removed. I am happy to say that 
 they are; for I feel the love of God shed 
 abroad in my heart, and have no doubt that 
 He is now reconciled unto me through the 
 death of His Son." 
 
 In expressing himself thus, was Mr. Hodgson 
 a fanatic ? or are the views of Christian doc- 
 trine which these sentiments embody contraiy 
 to the word oi God ? So, doubtless, will the 
 advocate of baptismal regeneration, and of the 
 efficacy of the sacraments, affiirm. But this 
 experience — and it is the experience, sub- 
 stantially, of thousands in the Wesleyan and 
 in many other churches — is strictly in accord- 
 ance with the views entertained of spiritual 
 religion by the most eminent Divines of the 
 Church of England, by the Protestant Eeform- 
 ers, and by the early Fathers of the Chiu'ch. 
 Justification by faith, the witness of the Spirit, 
 and the regeneration of the heart by the power 
 of the Holv Ghost, are doctrines v>^hich may be 
 
16 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 traced in the writings of the best Church 
 teachers, up to the age of the Apostles ; whilst 
 in the pages of the New Testament itself they 
 shine so clearly, that it is almost unaccountable 
 how any one can fail to see them. Let Chris- 
 tian churches who have received these doc- 
 trines, take heed that they hold fast the treasui'e. 
 They are the basis of experimental and of 
 practical religion. No superstructiu^e of good 
 works, however attractive to the eye of man, 
 can stand, that is not reared on this foundation. 
 The piety that has not its origin here is but 
 formalism, or mysticism, which may, indeed, 
 pass current with the world, but is defective 
 in what constitutes the very essence of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 The piety of Mr. Hodgson, thus originated, 
 became deep, vigorous, and most decided. He 
 was no waverer. Having made choice of the 
 paths of wisdom, he never felt disposed to 
 leave them; for he found them to be paths of 
 pleasantness and peace. But he suffered greatly 
 from severe temptation. It was once suggested 
 to his mind, that he should renounce his religion 
 by a desperate act of swearing to God that he 
 would never offer to Him another prayer ; and, 
 when attempting to worshij) Him as usual, he 
 felt, in two or three instances, mysteriously 
 restrained from uttering his petitions, and spent 
 the wonted time upon his knees in silence. 
 How often are those whom Providence designs 
 for special spheres of usefulness subject, in the 
 early part of their religious historj", to extra- 
 
REV. T. L. IIOLXJSOX. 17 
 
 ordinary mental suffering ! In this respect, as 
 in many others, the Christian is made like 
 unto his Lord, who, prior to His entering on 
 His public ministry, " was led up of the Spirit 
 into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." 
 Is the reader a young man, just entering on 
 the Christian life ? and is he sorely harassed 
 by the powers of darkness ? Let him know 
 that such has been the painful discipline to 
 ^^'hich some of the most eminent of God's 
 servants have been subject; and let him be 
 assured that the adversary is thus permitted to 
 assail him, for some wise pui-pose, to be here- 
 after understood. Those only who have had 
 experience of Satan's devices are prepared to 
 warn others of their danger. Luther's mental 
 exercises were doubtless one of the principal 
 means by which he was prepared to enter on 
 his bright career. 
 
 Genuine religion excites to activity. "No 
 man who is animated with the love of Christ 
 can look upon a world lying in the wicked 
 one, and be content to be idle. He must do 
 something to effect its rescue. He may be 
 deeply and j)ainfiilly conscious of his feeble- 
 ness; but feeble as he feels himself to be, he 
 cannot rest while souls are perishing whom 
 Christ died to save. Mr. Hodgson could not. 
 He felt it his duty to employ the talent com- 
 mitted to his trust for the benefit of his fellow 
 men ; and, accordingly, soon after his conver- 
 sion, he began to labour in the Sunday-school, 
 to take part in meetings for prayer and inter- 
 
18 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 cession, and to visit the beds of the sick and 
 dying. Many a Sabbath did he spend in the 
 important task of giving- religious instruction 
 to the young ; and many an hoiu' did he devote 
 to the still more solemn one of reading to, and 
 of praying with, those who were on the con- 
 fines of the eternal world. These imobtmsive 
 labours would attract but little attention from 
 men; but they were doubtless registered in the 
 book of God, and, in His estimation, were of 
 far more value than many deeds that are em- 
 blazoned on the page of history. 
 
 About the year 1811, considerable efforts 
 were made to extend the operations of Method- 
 ism in the villages around Darlington. To 
 carry the Gospel into the smallest hamlets of 
 our country has been one part of the mission 
 of the Wesley an church ; and the fact that 
 there are very few villages of any importance 
 through the length and breadth of the land 
 that have not their Methodist chapel, or, at 
 least, a room or a cottage where the Methodists 
 worship, is proof sufficient that it has not been 
 faithless to its trust. The project met with 
 the approval of many of the inhabitants of 
 those villages, and several additional places 
 were opened for the ministry of the word of 
 God. Additional labourers were, consequently, 
 required ; and Mr. Hodgson was urged, by both 
 Ministers and people, to enter upon a more 
 public sphere of usefulness. He could not 
 refuse ; for he heard also an inward voice, the 
 voice of the Holy Spirit, calling him to the 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 19 
 
 work, and he began, therefore, to preach and 
 to point sinners to the Cross. His preaching 
 was both acceptable and useful : it was cha- 
 racterized by considerable energy and zeal, 
 whilst at the same time it was clear, scrip- 
 tiu'al, and forcible. He had not neglected the 
 improvement of his mind or the careful read- 
 ing of the holy Scriptures ; whilst, as is often 
 the case, his labours in the Sabbath- school had 
 also tended to prepare him for the work he now 
 commenced. He entered on it, however, with 
 much fear and trembling, but in humble de- 
 pendence on the help promised from on high. 
 
 About this time, also, a new chapel was 
 erected in the Cu'cuit-town (Darlington), in 
 reference to which Mr. Hodgson took a deep 
 and lively interest. The projDosal had been 
 entertained for a considerable length of time ; 
 but the difficulties which presented themselves 
 were, for awhile, insurmountable. By patient 
 perseverance, however, they were ultimately 
 removed; Mr. Hodgson, together with other 
 young men, several of whom had but recently 
 been added to the church, rendering essential 
 service to the cause. In the year 1813, the 
 chapel, being finished, was set apart for the 
 worship of God by the Eev. Samuel Bardsley 
 and the Eev. Jabez Bunting. 
 
 Methodism in Darlington has ever since this 
 period occupied a very respectable position. 
 It has been subject, as in many other places, 
 to trials and vicissitudes ; but it has vigor- 
 ously held on its way, and been to many the 
 
20 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 instrument of incalculable good. That it 
 niu'tured in its bosom Thomas Laidman Hodg- 
 son, is not one of its least honours ; for the 
 church that gives a Missionary to the world, 
 and especially such a Missionary as he became, 
 renders to it a service, the full value of which 
 can never be estimated until time shall pass 
 away. 
 
 In this, the first chapter of Mr. Hodgson's 
 life, we find the secret of his future useful- 
 ness. He gave his heart to God in youth, and 
 by this one act was the whole of his career 
 determined. ^\Tiat a contrast do his early 
 days present, to those of many youths, who, 
 though possessed of greater talent, and moving, 
 perhaps, in far more influential spheres, enjoy 
 no real happiness, and do no real good ! One 
 of England's poets, when in the very bloom of 
 life, thus wrote ; — 
 
 " My days are in the yellow leaf, 
 
 The flowers, the fruit of love, are gone ; 
 The worm, the canker, and the grief 
 Are mine alone. 
 
 " The fire that on my bosom preys 
 Is lone as some volcanic isle ; 
 No torch is lighted at its blaze, 
 A funeral pile !" 
 
 How sad! how affecting! Could he have written 
 thus had he been in possession of the consolations 
 of the Gospel ? A young man may have fortime, 
 rank, genius; everything, in short, of which the 
 world can boast ; but if he has not the fear and 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 21 
 
 loTc of God, lie is a stranger to all true enjoy- 
 ment, and will be of little service to mankind. 
 Are these sentiments trite and common-place ? 
 I am ready to admit it ; but they are not the 
 less important, nor the less necessary to be 
 impressed upon the youthful mind. They 
 were recognised by Mr. Hodgson; and he acted 
 on them, and chose for his portion the ** one 
 thing needful." 
 
22 mi;moir of the 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 lis (ButrawB m Ijjr Blinislni. 
 
 The sovereignty of God is seldom more con- 
 spicuous than in the selection from among men 
 of the instruments of His will. He chose 
 Samuel, a mere child, to rebuke the folly of 
 the High-Priest Eli ; Da^-id, a shepherd, to be 
 ruler of His people ; and Saul of Tarsus, a fiery 
 persecutor, to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. 
 In later times, also, have persons whom the 
 world, and even the church, would not have 
 thought of, been made choice of for the accom- 
 plishment of the most important purposes. 
 ^\^ho would have supposed that a tinker's son 
 of Elstow, by name John Bunyan, would have 
 been chosen to write the '' Pilgrim's Progress?" 
 or who would have imagined that Carey, a 
 shoemaker, would have become the founder of 
 the Baptist Missions in India ? Truly may it 
 be said that God's '* ways are not as our ways, 
 nor His thoughts as our thoughts." He sends 
 by whom He will send, nor is it for man to 
 call in question the fitness and propriety of His 
 choice. 
 
 The leading traits in Mr. Hodgson's character, 
 after his conversion, were courage, firmness, and 
 decision, combined with a generous heart, and 
 the most fervent zeal for Christ; qualities which 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 23 
 
 were absolutely requisite in the individual who 
 should engage in the work to which he was 
 subsequently called. The Great Head of the 
 church, who knows what each of His servants 
 is fit for, and who assigns to each his post of 
 duty, knew what Mr. Hodgson was capable of 
 doing; and, passing by others, whom man 
 would probably have thought more suitable, 
 chose him to bear His name among the Gen- 
 tiles, in a land at this time enveloped in the 
 densest moral gloom. The race is not to the 
 swift, nor the battle to the strong ; and he who 
 has courage to go forth with a sling and a stone 
 to encounter the Philistine before whom others 
 tremble, is the man best qualified for the 
 enterprise, and most likely to succeed. 
 
 From the time of his beginning to preach, 
 Mr. Hodgson felt that his call was to be sepa- 
 rated to the work of the ministry. But he was 
 afraid of intruding on the sacred office, and, as 
 no one spoke to him on the subject, he often 
 doubted whether he ought to dedicate himself 
 to the work or not. That he gave up the idea 
 at one time is probable from the fact that in 
 the year 1813 he married; a step which he 
 would not have taken just then had he been 
 quite decided as to his future course. The 
 object of his choice was Miss Ann Forster, of 
 Darlington, a lady of considerable intelligence, 
 and of deep and fervent piety. "\\Tien she united 
 herself to Mr. Hodgson, she little thought of 
 being called into such a sphere of usefulness as 
 she subsequently occupied : but she proved 
 c 2 
 
24 mp:moir or the 
 
 herself admirably fitted for the post, both iu 
 the work at home, and iii the more arduous 
 toils of the Mission-field abroad. 
 
 His marriage, however, did not prevent his 
 being called out into the ministry. The high 
 esteem in which he was held, and the promise 
 which he gave of being eminently useful, in- 
 duced the Rev. Thomas Yasey, the Superin- 
 tendent of the Darlington Cii'cuit, to request 
 him to leave his situation, and to take an 
 appointment at the ensuing Conference. His 
 worldly prospects, at this time, were somewhat 
 flattering, and the claims of two younger sisters 
 on his care and attention were rather ui'gent ; 
 but he resolved to follow the leading of Di\4ne 
 Providence, and, whatever it might cost him, 
 to leave himself in the hands of God. '* The 
 way of man is not in himself : it is not in man 
 that walketh to direct his steps." Our lot in 
 life, our sphere of usefulness in the church, is 
 chosen for us by Him who worketh all things ac- 
 cording to the counsel of His ot\ti will. Hajojjy, 
 then, is the man who is willing to follow the 
 cloud that goes before him, and to take just 
 that place which is assigned to him by Pro- 
 vidence. He might perhaps find an easier, 
 and, as far as this world is concerned, a more 
 lucrative position ; but a safer and a better one, 
 ^'iewed, as our earthly course should ever be, 
 in reference to eternitj-, he cannot find. Man's 
 highest happiness is dependent on his submis- 
 sion to the will of God. 
 
 At the Conference of 1815, Mr. Hodgson was 
 
RET. T. L. HODGSON. 25 
 
 proposed as a candidate for the Wesleyan 
 ministry, and accepted. Greatly to his honour, 
 his own Circuit asked to be favoured with his 
 laboiu's; but he was sent to Stockton, where 
 he met with a veiy cordial reception, and 
 where he soon found himself at home. Here 
 he laboured two years ; and subsequently he 
 travelled in the Brigg, Lancaster, and Eetford 
 Circuits, in all which he was both useful and 
 beloved. In reference to Lancaster, he ob- 
 serves in his Journal, under date July 27th, 
 1819 : ''In siu^veying the last Methodistic 
 year, I see much cause for gratitude to Almighty 
 God. My apj)ointment to Lancaster, which 
 was unsought both by the people and myself, 
 has been, I trust, a blessing both to me and to 
 the Circuit. I leave this aJffectionate people 
 with regret, having to tear myself fi'om them, 
 impelled by sti'ong domestic reasons to solicit 
 an appointment in the neighboui'hood of 
 Horton. I leave the Circuit with an in- 
 crease of one hundred and sixty-two members, 
 and the Societies in general more alive to 
 God." 
 
 When he went to Retford, ''he was " (says 
 his friend, Mr. J. Otter) "in the vigour of his 
 days, and his piety was equally fresh and 
 glowing." His character was marked by deep 
 humility, great kindness, and a calmly fervent 
 zeal. In his efforts to do good, he was incessant 
 and untiring. His addresses, which were 
 plain, fervent, and heart-searcliing, were 
 usually accompanied with power from on high ; 
 c3 
 
26 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 SO that his ministry drew hxrge congregations, 
 and was eminently snccessful. During the 
 two years that he remained in Retford, there 
 were added to the Society as the result of the 
 united labours of himself and his colleague, 
 three hundred members. Yet he did not glory 
 in success, but only in the Cross. Grace kept 
 him in the lowly yale. He cast his trophies 
 at the feet of Christ, and gave the praise to 
 Him. 
 
 His Journal testifies the truth of these 
 remarks. October 9th, 1819, he observes: 
 '' Eetiu'ning from the outer part of the Circuit, 
 I felt my mind much revived both as to laj 
 personal experience, and the cause of God, 
 having witnessed at least thirty persons 
 earnestly crying for mercy. At Rampton the 
 power of God was peculiarly present. I Avas 
 in the spirit of my work, and all the people 
 seemed to be impressed while I spoke from 
 1 Peter iv. 18." Yet a few days afterwards, 
 October 12th, he wiites : '^I have felt my mind 
 this day much harassed, and have been strongly 
 tempted to despondency from having been 
 deprived of my usual liberty in preaching both 
 on Sunday and last night. But I acquiesce in 
 the will of God, since it is necessary that I 
 shoid.d be humbled in the place where I am 
 the most blessed. The success of last week 
 was calculated to raise my mind above its 
 proper standard ; and Satan fails not, on such 
 occasions, to suggest, 'Thou art something.' Eut 
 I nm thankful for even pulpit-trials ; and now 
 
IlEV. T. L. HODGSON. 27 
 
 feel myself in the dust before God, and less 
 than the least of all His servants." 
 
 Such, doubtless, are often the feelings of the 
 faithful Christian Minister. Xow he is 
 encouraged, anon depressed ; now upon the 
 mount, anon within the vale. But it is not 
 every Minister who is thankful '* for even 
 pulpit-trials ;" for, of all things, they are the 
 most humbling to the pride of man. For this 
 very reason, however, they are necessary; for 
 if there is a place in the world where God 
 alone should be exalted, it is the place which is 
 o'ccupied by the ambassador of the Cross, when 
 he is holding forth the word of everlasting life. 
 
 But though Mr. Hodgson was thus success- 
 ful in the work at home, another, and a more 
 arduous sphere of laboiu* was before him. His 
 convictions of duty relative to preaching the 
 Gospel of Christ were accompanied by a strong 
 desire to offer the blessings of that Gospel to 
 the Heathen. The condition of a perishing 
 world had been brought before his attention ; 
 and he panted to go Ibrth, and to lift up the 
 standard of the Cross in lands where the 
 Redeemer was not known. That his motives 
 were of the purest kind, there is not the 
 slightest doubt. It is possible for a Minister 
 to be prompted by ambition, by a love of 
 novelty, or by a spirit of romance, to go into 
 the Mission-field. Unacquainted with the 
 difficulties of the enterprise, he may fancy it a 
 most pleasant and delightful task, and, inasmuch 
 as it will afford to him opportunities of seeing 
 
28 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 more of the world and of mankind, he may 
 prefer it to the labours of a Pastor and Minister 
 at home. Actuated by such views, however, 
 he is altogether unfit to be employed in it ; and 
 the probability is, that if he enters it, he will 
 soon rejDont, and will be glad of an excuse to 
 retiu'n as soon as possible. Motives of the 
 highest and of the purest nature should actuate 
 the candidate for Missionary service ; motives 
 of the highest and of the purest nature will 
 alone sustain him in his arduous toil. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson had entertained the idea of a 
 Missionary life for some time ; but many of his 
 friends were opposed to his "siews, and thought 
 that he ought to remain at home. But so strong 
 had bis con\TLctions of duty on the subject 
 become, that nothing short of some interference 
 of Divine Providence in hedging up his way 
 could induce him to remain any longer in the 
 home work. JSTo such interference occurred; 
 and hence his resolution, notwithstanding the 
 advice of friends to the contrary, was formed to 
 go far hence among the Gentiles. He was 
 then in the height of his popularity and useful- 
 ness ; and it might naturally be thought that 
 the success which attended his ministrj^ at 
 home was an indication of Providence that he 
 was in his proper sphere. But it by no means 
 follows that because the labours of a Chiistian 
 Minister are eminently owned of God in his 
 native land, he has no call to exercise his 
 ministry elsewhere. The man who is use- 
 ful in the work at home, is likelv to be 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 29 
 
 useful iu the Avork abroad. It is ti'ue lliat 
 different qualifications are required for different 
 dei^artments of the vineyard to be cultivated ; 
 and it may be that a Minister who is well 
 adapted for usefulness among a home population 
 is not so well adapted for it among a heathen 
 people. But in deciding whether he shall 
 labour among the one or among the other, he 
 must not come to the conclusion that, because 
 he is successful at home, he ought to remain 
 there ; for how can he tell but that abroad his 
 success will be far more ample ? Mr. Hodgson 
 weighed, and weighed with considerable care, 
 all such arguments; and, having done so, he 
 resolved to tender his services to the Wesleyan 
 Missionary Committee. 
 
 The Eev. W. Swan, in his admii'able letters 
 on Missions, observes : " Our duty to God and 
 to man is involved in the question of dis- 
 seminating the Gospel ; but we cannot discharge 
 that duty unless the love of God and man 
 warm our bosoms, and put spirit and life into 
 oui' obedience. ' The love of Christ constraineth 
 us; because we thus judge, that if One died 
 for all, then were all dead : and that He died 
 for all, that they which live should not hence- 
 forth live unto themselves, but unto Him that 
 died for them, and rose again.' Unless thus 
 influenced, thus ' constrained,' and carried 
 beyond the base and selfish considerations of 
 the hireling, the vain pretences of the hypocrite, 
 and the dreams of the enthusiast, there can be 
 no faithful and persevering devotement of a 
 
30 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 man's all to the Missionaiy work. AYhen God 
 says, ' Whom shall I send ? ' and when, in the 
 spirit of lowly and trembling, but rolling, con- 
 secration, a man can say, ' Here am I, send 
 me ;' then, and then only, does he ' present 
 himself a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
 God, which is his reasonable service.'" It was 
 in such a spirit that Mr. Hodgson laid himself 
 on the Missionary altar; constrained, not by 
 sinister or selfish views, but by a noble and 
 disinterested desire to save the souls of those 
 who were perishing for lack of knowledge. 
 His off'er to the Missionary Committee was 
 accepted, and he was ap^Dointed to labour in 
 South Africa. At that time South Africa, as 
 a field of Missionary toil, was but very little 
 known. The Eev. Barnabas Shaw had entered 
 on his career in that country a few years before, 
 and the Eev. William Shaw had just gone 
 forth on his errand of mercy to the land ; but 
 comparatively little was known, either of the 
 difficulties connected with such a Mission, or of 
 the results which would be likely to attend it. 
 It was not altogether an untiied field, it is 
 true ; for the ^Moravian Missionaries and the 
 Missionaries of the London Society had laboured 
 in it, and not without success : but, in com- 
 parison with what is now known of it, its 
 interior, at least, was a terra incognita ; and 
 Mr. Hodgson, therefore, could form but a very 
 inadequate conception of the territory he was 
 about to cultivate. He went by faith, "not 
 knowing whither he went;" but assured that 
 
R?:v, T. L. HODGSON. 31 
 
 liowever wild the country, and however bar- 
 barous its inhabitants, he would find the presence 
 of his Master there, as well as in the sanctuaries 
 of his native land. 
 
 Preparations for his departure were now 
 made. On the 8th of February, 1821, he left 
 Eetford for Darlington, to pay a farewell visit 
 to his fiiends. On the 23d he took his leave / 
 of them, and in his Jom-nal he observes: ''I 
 am thankfiil that the Lord has so graciously 
 disposed the minds of so many of my friends 
 to ajDprove of my becoming a Missionary, and 
 softened down the objections of those who 
 cannot attach sufficient importance to the 
 reasons by which I am governed ; so that I 
 have met with nothing but kindness. The 
 parting-scene was distressing, and I shall never 
 forget the pain I felt at leaving dear Bell, to 
 whom I had long stood in the endeared relation 
 of a brother, and felt all the anxiety of a parent 
 for her temporal comfort and eternal welfare. 
 But the grace of God was abundantly sufficient 
 for me ; and I not only felt the approbation of 
 my own judgment, but also that of Heaven." 
 Such passages as the above let us into the 
 secret emotions of the heart, and teach us that 
 religion, far from rendering its possessors stoical 
 to natural affection, makes them more sus- 
 ceptible of feeling. Who loves so ardently as 
 the Christian ? or who feels so tenderly as he 
 the pang of separation from his friends ? Yet 
 in the midst of sorrow he has hope and joy; 
 for to him the prospect opens of a reunion with 
 
32 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 his companions, from whom he separated here, 
 in a brighter world above. 
 
 On the 5th of March, Mr. Hodgson preached 
 his last sermon in the town of Retford. It 
 was both to him and his congregation a me- 
 morable day. He knew not that he should ever 
 return to the Circuit ; and many who heard 
 him then were quite siu'o that, in the very 
 nature of things, they would never hear him any 
 more. Under these circumstances, that "fare- 
 well sermon" was not an ordinary one, nor, it is 
 hoped, was the effect of it merely transient. On 
 the following day Mr. Hodgson and his family 
 left Eetford for London, and were received at 
 the Mission-house with great affection. 
 
 March 14th, Mr. Hodgson thus "v\T:ites : 
 '* This morning I took leave of the Missionary 
 Committee, and with Messrs. Leigh, Horton, 
 and Walker for Xew South Wales, and Mr. 
 Croscombe for Gibraltar, was addressed by 
 Messrs. Clarke, Atmore, and Marsden. I felt 
 it a solemn time, especially while Mr. Marsden 
 was engaged in prayer. In the evening I was 
 set apart for the Missionary department of oiu' 
 work. Mr. Watson gave the address, Mr. 
 Morley read the form of ordination, and put 
 the close and important questions, which I 
 answered as in the presence of Almighty God. 
 My mind was much impressed with the increased 
 responsibility under which I am laid to God 
 and His church. May I ever be faithful to 
 the grace given, and improve every opportunity 
 of doing good." 
 
RET. T. L. HODGSON. 33 
 
 Of the venerable fathers here mentioned, 
 one only — the Rev. George Marsden — sur\'ives. 
 Dr. Clarke, Mr. Atiuore, Mr. Morley, and Mr. 
 Watson, have all jDassed away fi'om the church 
 militant on earth, and joined the church tri- 
 umphant in heaven. To the cause of Missions 
 they were all devotedly attached; and it is well 
 kno^vn that Mr. AYatson, especially, took a very 
 lively interest in the Mission in South Africa. 
 Some years after this he even indulged the idea 
 of visiting Cape-ToA^Ti, and would probably 
 have done so, had it been deemed expedient 
 and proper. ''Had the Committee called," he 
 says, in his letter to the Rev. B. Shaw on the 
 subject, *' I would have obeyed." 
 
 '' Our fathers, where are they? and the 
 Prophets, do they live for ever?" Ah! no. 
 l^early all the founders of the Wesleyan Mis- 
 sionary Society, together with many of its ear- 
 liest Missionaries, have gone to their reward. 
 May their spiiit rest on their successors ! May 
 the same disinterestedness and zeal characterize 
 those who have entered on their laboiu's ! That 
 Methodism is still favoiu-ed, both at home and 
 abroad, with agents worthy of their noble pre- 
 decessors, is evident from the aspect which its 
 Missions now present. The lapse of thirty 
 years has tended to consolidate, strengthen, and 
 enlarge them: and whereas in 1821 the income 
 of the Missionary Society was less than £50,000, 
 and its members less than 30,000; in 1853 its 
 income is upwards of £100,000, and the number 
 of its members 108,286. 
 
34 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Mr. Hodgson and his family embarked for 
 their destination in '* The Duke of Marlbo- 
 rough," March 17th; but their voyage can 
 scarcely be said to have commenced until the 
 oth of April, as they were detained by contrary 
 winds, &st in the Downs, and afterwards in 
 Plymouth-Sound. The detention was trying 
 to their patience ; and, having no Christian 
 friends on board the ship, they began to feel 
 the loss of the fellowship of saints, so pleasant 
 and so j)rofitable to the believer's soul. At 
 Plymouth, Mr. Hodgson went on shore, and 
 once again, prior to his leaving England, en- 
 joyed the society of a few spirits kindred to his 
 own. Plymouth has often had the honour of 
 '' a last visit" fi'om the Christian Missionary, 
 and from its beautiful bay has many a one 
 taken his farewell view of the shores of his 
 native land. 
 
REV, T. L. HODOSOX. 35 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^u jiBcrp amnng tlj^ d^rEtilps. 
 
 Ox the 5th of April a steady breeze from 
 the north set in, and presently the " Duke of 
 Marlborough" was under weigh, and was 
 sailing down the Channel at the rate of nine 
 knots an hour. And now the Missionary was 
 faii'ly on his way to his new sphere of labour, 
 — how fared it with him ? and what were his 
 views and feelings while on the mighty main ? 
 Were I wiiting a history of the Mission merely, 
 I should be disposed to pass over the incidents 
 of the voyage ; but as it is a personal memoir 
 that I am endeavouring to prepare, a few ex- 
 tracts from his Joui*nal kept at sea will not be 
 out of place. 
 
 '' April 8th. — Quite free from sea-sickness. 
 Was enabled to read prayers and preach on 
 deck from the first five verses of the first Psalm. 
 Gave away some Tracts, lent two books to read 
 in the steerage and forecastle, and spent some 
 portion of the day in attending to Dr. Clarke's 
 Commentary and Dwight's ' Svstem of Theo- 
 
 logy.' " 
 
 "April nth. — The day, I ti'ust, has been 
 
 spent to a little profit. How amazingly the 
 
 power of Omnipotence appears in the mighty 
 
 ocean on wliich we sail, in resti'aining the 
 
 D 2 
 
36 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 element within its prescribed bounds ! How 
 great the loving-kindness of the Lord in pre- 
 serving us in this comparatively little floating 
 prison from apparent danger and death ! How 
 striking the idea of some philosophers, that if 
 the bed of the sea were empty, all the rivers of 
 the world flowing into it with a continuance 
 of their present supplies, it would occupy eight 
 hundred years to fill it to its present height !" 
 
 ''April 14th, — Awoke last night under the 
 apprehension, from the rolling of the vessel, that 
 the ship was in danger. But a few moments' 
 reflection caused me to resume my wonted con- 
 fidence in God, and proved my fears ground- 
 less. Numbers become so accustomed to 
 dangers by habit as to regard them but little ; 
 but how much is to be preferred the peace 
 which proceeds from confidence in the Divine 
 protection ! Enjoyed upon deck one of the 
 finest mornings I ever beheld; the ship moving 
 in full sail with a fine breeze, and the sun 
 beaming forth with astonishing splendour, — a 
 bright emblem of its Creator, to vrhom my 
 mind was raised while walking the deck before 
 breakfast." 
 
 " The undevout astronomer is mad," says 
 Young; and scarcely less so is the undevout 
 observer of those majestic scenes which are 
 often witnessed on the mighty sea. The above 
 and similar passages in his Journal show that 
 Mr. Hodgson's mind was excited by these 
 scenes to devotion of the purest kind. But his 
 vras not that religion, merely, which nature's 
 
RF-V. T. L. HODGSON. 37 
 
 wonders enkindle in the breast : he had an eye 
 to adniire the rising of the sun j but he had a 
 heart to adore the Sun of righteousness. 
 
 '' April 2 2d. — This morning ushers in the 
 remembrance of one of the most important of 
 all events to man, the resurrection of Christ, as 
 the first-fruits of them that sleep. I addressed 
 our company on deck under the awning, on the 
 subject of the resurrection ; but, alas ! we have 
 no communion of saints in this spiritually 
 barren wilderness. 0, how I envy my Chris- 
 tian friends in England the spiritual privileges 
 they are now enjoying with the different assem- 
 blies of God's people in the places where His 
 name is recorded! However, the providence 
 of God is conveying me to a useful and honour- 
 able sphere of action ; and I cheerfully re- 
 nounce the enjoyment of Christian society, 
 and long to be the honoured instrument of 
 hastening Christ's kingdom on the earth. I 
 feel satisfaction in doing that in act wliich I 
 have done before in heart." 
 
 There is a beautiful simplicity in these ex- 
 pressions, denoting the increase of that invalu- 
 able grace of the Holy Spirit, acquiescence in 
 the will of God. Often in heart had Mr. Hodg- 
 son given himself up to the work of a Mission- 
 ary : now he was doing it in act, and he possessed, 
 in consequence, a calm and settled peace. 
 
 ''May 12th. — We passed the equator early 
 this morning, in long. 25° west of London ; 
 and, having met with the south-east trade- 
 wind, there is now the prospect of reaching 
 D 3 
 
38 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Cape-Town in about five weeks. Witnessed 
 the ceremony observed by the sailors on passing 
 the line, which, through the influence of 
 Captain Hollett, was conducted with less folly 
 than is usual on such occasions. The ladies 
 were treated with the utmost civihty ; and I 
 had merely to accompany Xeptiuie and his 
 party to his barber, where I had a glass of 
 sea-water poured upon my right hand, as an 
 initiation into the liberty of the seas. But 
 some of the sailors and of the steerage passen- 
 gers had their faces covered with tar and dirt, 
 Avhich was scraped off with a huge razor, after 
 which they were washed with buckets full of 
 sea- water. As the men were not allowed to 
 get intoxicated, the day passed off with singing 
 songs, &c. ; and nothing particularly indecent 
 was permitted. But, after all, how low is 
 human nature sunk ! and to what absurd re- 
 sources men fly for happiness ! It was truly a 
 ludicrous sight to see Neptune and his wife 
 seated on his car, accompanied by his barber, 
 secretary, and constables, disfigiu^d in the 
 most fi'ightful manner ; and that part of the 
 ceremony which I witnessed impressed me with 
 the thoughtlessness and folly apparent in the 
 character of seafaring men in general." 
 
 It is gi'atifying to know that this absiu'd 
 custom is falling into desuetude ; and that in 
 ships of the most respectable class it is ob- 
 served, if at all, T\'ith much less annoyance to 
 passengers than formerly. The most that 
 can be said for it is, that it relieves the ennin 
 
KEV. T. L. HODGSOX. 39 
 
 induced by a long voyage ; bnt surely some- 
 thing more rational might be contrived, which 
 would answer such a purpose quite as well. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson's mind was often deeply pained 
 with the wickedness of many of the crew ; and 
 he frequently entered into conversation with 
 them, and reproved them for sins. Whenever 
 it was practicable, he conducted Divine service 
 on the Lord's day, and bore his testimony, to 
 all who heard him, in favour of religion, and 
 its paramount claims on the attention of man- 
 kind. That some of the precious seed thus 
 scattered would afterwards bear fruit, there is 
 surely every reason to hope ; but the results of 
 these efforts on the part of the Missionary will 
 be known only at the final day. 
 
 The voyage was a long and tedious one. 
 Thirteen weeks transpired from the ship's 
 lea"VTJig Gravesend ere the promontory of South 
 Africa appeared in view. At length, however, 
 "the stormy Cape" was reached; and, after 
 the usual tossing experienced in its vicinity, 
 the "Duke of Marlborough" dropped her 
 anchor in Table-Bay, on the 18th of June, to 
 the no small joy of all on board. On the fol- 
 lowing morning, Messrs. Shaw and Broadbent 
 were soon on board, to give a cordial welcome 
 to Mr. Hodgson ; and, in a short time, he ac- 
 companied them on shore, and exchanged the 
 cabin of his ship for the comfortable accommo- 
 dations of the Mission-house. 
 
 A few days more, and Mr. Hodgson entered 
 on his work. To make himself acquainted 
 
40 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 with the Dutch language, he both taught, and 
 received instruction, in the native school. 
 " June 25th. — This evening was occupied in 
 teaching, in Dutch, about twenty adults, 
 chiefly slaves. Five or six were instructed 
 privately, by Mr. Shaw, on religious subjects; 
 after which, Mr. Broadbent gave a short ex- 
 hortation to the whole. June 26th. — This 
 evening sixteen children, principally slaves, 
 were taught to read. I joined the children in 
 theii' instruction, and was taught my alphabet 
 and monosyllables by a child about the age of 
 seven years." 
 
 Here is a scene : the Missionary learning the 
 Dutch alphabet from a little slave-child ! The 
 sounds of many of the letters in the Dutch 
 language differ from those in the English ; and 
 probably that little slave-child could pronounce 
 them more correctly than any one else whom 
 Mr. Hodgson could then obtain to teach him. 
 He did not, therefore, hesitate to become a 
 child himself, and to sit and listen to that 
 infant- tongue. 
 
 On the 10th of Jvlj, Mr. Hodgson had an 
 interview with Major-General Donkin, the 
 acting Governor of the Cape, to whom he pre- 
 sented a letter from the Missionary Committee, 
 and by whom he was received with considerable 
 politeness. The Governor manifested the ut- 
 most readiness to comply with any reasonable 
 wish expressed by the Committee, and spoke 
 pointedly of the satisfaction he had felt with 
 the Missionaries already sent into the colony. 
 
ELY. T. 1.. nODGSOX. 41 
 
 That excellent functionary proved himself a 
 sincere friend to Missionary oj)erations; and 
 when, on another occasion, he was visited by 
 Messrs. Shaw and Archbcll, he said, " Gentle- 
 men, your work is far more important than 
 that of any Colonial Governor ; and though my 
 predecessor, in some measure, opposed Mission- 
 aries going to those distant tribes, yet I will 
 not. If you wish to go, do so ; and I Avish 
 you every possible success." The beneficial 
 effects of religious instruction had already 
 begun to appear in the conduct of some of the 
 children whom the Missionaries had taken 
 under their charge. 
 
 ''July 14th. — I was much pleased," says 
 Mr. Hodgson, '' with a little slave-girl, about 
 nine years of age, one of the childiTn taught 
 at the Mission-house, and who attends all our 
 means of grace with manifest delight. A 
 fellow-slave is at present ill; and the little 
 girl went, a few evenings ago, to request 
 Mr. Shaw to visit her, and appeared anxiously 
 desirous that 'Meester' would pray with the 
 sick slave; from whom Mr. Shaw learnt that 
 the child had several times attempted to pray 
 with her herself, and always went and talked 
 to her on returning from the school, or evening 
 service at the Mission-house." This incident 
 is truly beautiful, and furnishes another proof 
 of the fact, now happily more generally ac- 
 knowledged than it was then, that under a 
 black skin there may be a tender, affectionate, 
 and loving heart. Think, dear reader, of the 
 
42 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 little slave-giii at Cape-Town praying with 
 her fellow- slave, and say whether the African 
 is an alien fr'om the human race. 
 
 At the time of which I write, slavery existed 
 in South Africa, as well as in other possessions 
 of the British crown, in some of its very worst 
 forms. Most of the respectable European in- 
 habitants of Cape-Town had slaves resident in 
 their houses, and waiting at their tables ; and, 
 whilst nothing was done to instruct the poor 
 creatui'es, they naturally became exceedingly 
 degraded. 
 
 "July 15th. — My pity was much excited from 
 seeing what is called the slave-dance, which is 
 a weekly profanation of the Sabbath, under the 
 sanction of the British Colonial Government. 
 The slaves were chiefly from the Mozambique 
 Channel; and, doubtless, from the awful state 
 of ignorance they are in, less guilty in the 
 sight of God than many who profess and call 
 themselves Christians. It is surprising to see 
 the enthusiastic ardour with which they keep 
 up their amusement. Some had their heads 
 ornamented with feathers and pieces of the 
 akins of wild beasts ; and their legs were bound 
 round with a kind of beads, formed of the leaf 
 of the bamboo, in which were enclosed small 
 stones, to make a rattling noise. Their ap- 
 pearance was terrific ; and their dance was 
 accompanied, at least occasionally, by the in- 
 harmonious clang of the tom-tom, the clapping 
 of hands, and the shouting of both slave- 
 spectators and the slaves themselves." 
 
REV. T. L. IIODGSOX. 43 
 
 This was at Cape-TowTi, the capital of the 
 Cape colony. But, happily, we may add, that 
 such things are numbered only "with the past. 
 Slavery exists no more under the shadow of 
 the British flag; and the state of society at 
 Cape-Town is now considerably improved. The 
 Sabbath is as sacredly observed in that cit}" — 
 for to this designation it has risen — as in any 
 town or city in oiu' native land. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson was anxious to be employed in 
 the Namacqualand Mission ; but to that Mission 
 Messrs. Archbell and Edwards were appointed, 
 and Mr. Hodgson remained for awhile in Cape- 
 Town, assisting Mr. Shaw in devising and carry- 
 ing out plans for promoting the spiritual welfare 
 both of the English and of the coloured popu- 
 lation. For the benefit of the latter a school- 
 room was erected, and for the use of the former 
 a substantial chapel. This chapel was opened 
 by the Eev. Dr. Philips, of the London Mission- 
 ary Society, and the Eev. Mr. Beck, one of the 
 Dutch Ministers of the town ; the collections at 
 the opening services amounting to upwards of 
 £33. 
 
 But Mr. Hodgson was not satisfied to re- 
 main in Cape-Town. He heard of tribes in 
 the interior of the country who were perishing 
 for lack of knowledge, barbarous and degraded 
 to an exti^eme degree ; and he longed to go and 
 plant the standard of the Gross where others 
 had not laboured, to break up the fallow- 
 ground of Heathenism, and to scatter in the 
 imperishable seed of truth. A Mission to the 
 
44 MEMOIK OF THE 
 
 ' Bechuanas had already been projected, and two 
 "^Missionaries had left Cape-Town with a Tiew 
 to its commencement; but the health of one of 
 them suddenly gave way, and the zeal or the 
 courage of the other failed him ; and hence Mr. 
 Hodgson, who felt a deep interest in it, feared 
 that it would not then be entered on. He 
 therefore offered to go into the Bechuana 
 Country himself, and, at a meeting of the 
 brethi^en, was appointed to the charge of that 
 Mission: the Eev. S. Broadbent being requested 
 to accompany him, if the state of his health 
 would permit. 
 
 Considerable difficulties, however, presented 
 themselves, and a delay of several months oc- 
 curred ere the enterprise could be undertaken. 
 In July, 1822, we find Mr. Hodgson still at 
 Cape-Town; and on the 23d there is the 
 following entry in his Journal : — 
 
 ''Walked out with Eev. B. Shaw, before 
 breakfast, to see the six ships which were 
 driven on shore by the violent storm that has 
 agitated the Bay for several days. The ' Olive 
 Branch ' is a wreck ; and the * Leander ' past 
 recovery, having been driven upon the rocks. 
 The Captain of the ' Sun ' volunteered his 
 services courageously to fetch the men from 
 the latter brig, and succeeded in reaching it, 
 and brought the first boat-load safely to shore. 
 But the second time the boat was, unhappily, 
 upset by the surf, and Captain Middletou 
 drowned ; while Captain Murray, of the ' Sun,' 
 naiTowly escaped with his life. It was truly 
 
IIKV. T. L. HODGSON. 45 
 
 distressing to sec some of the men driven on 
 shore by the force of the waves, and those who 
 ching' to the boat struggling for deliverance. 
 How uncertain is life ! The imfortunate 
 Captain escaped from the T\T.'eck, but perished 
 in a few feet of water, and within a hundred 
 yards of land." 
 
 In the month of September, 1822, Mr. 
 Hodgson and his family embarked in the 
 *' Mary" for Algoa-Bay, whence they intended 
 to proceed to the coimtiy of the Bechuanas. 
 They reached their destination on the 1st of 
 October, and, having obtained a waggon, &c., 
 set off on their journey into the far interior. 
 At Salem, in the Albany District, they were 
 welcomed by the Rev. W. Shaw, and the Rev. 
 W. Thi'elMl; and thence they proceeded to 
 Graham's-Town, which at that time contained 
 about three hundred houses, and a population 
 of perhaps one thousand souls. 
 
 Travelling in Africa, as the reader is pro- 
 bably aware, is performed chiefly in a waggon 
 drawn by oxen. The roads are generallj' 
 wretched, and the rate of progress is neces- 
 sarily slow. Days, and even weeks, are often 
 spent in getting over a very small tract of 
 country ; and if the weather be wet, the pro- 
 bability is that you will be unable to proceed 
 at all. To Mr. Hodgson and his devoted -wife 
 this mode of travelling was not a little trying ; 
 but they bore their cross with all cheerfulness 
 and courage. At Graaf-Reinet they found the 
 Rev. S. and Mrs. Broadbent, who were to be 
 
 E 
 
4G Mr.AIOIE OF THE 
 
 their companions in the entei-prise before 
 them ; and thence the whole pai'tj journeyed 
 on together to the countiy into which they 
 wished to introdnce the Gospel. 
 
 But pro\dsions for the way were necessary ; 
 and of Mr. Van Huren, a Dutch farmer, they 
 purchased thii'ty goats, forty sheep, and two 
 cows ; and their retinue consisted, in addition, 
 of three waggons, three w'tiggon-drivers, and 
 two leaders, one ox- watcher, and two women, 
 the wives of two of their men. 
 
 The incidents of each day were carefully 
 noted by Mr. Hodgson in his Journal; but 
 I must quote a few passages only, illustrative 
 of the country through which he passed, and 
 of the native tiibes with whom he came in 
 contact. 
 
 '' Sunday, November 1 7th. — Left our resting- 
 place a little after sunrise, with the view of 
 reaching a Missionary Institution for the Bush- 
 men, under the management of Jan Goemau, a 
 native Teacher from Bethelsdorp. Our journey 
 proved much longer than we expected, and we 
 were only able to reach it in time for the 
 evening service, with which I was much 
 pleased. It was conducted through an inter- 
 I^reter; the person addressing them speaking 
 in Dutch, and the interpreter in the Bushman 
 language. At present, there are about twenty 
 Bushmen resident on the spot, but the usual 
 number is about sixty, the rest having gone to 
 a distance in search of what they term rice, — 
 the eggs of ants, which they prepare for food. 
 
HEV. T. L. HODGSON. 47 
 
 The native Teacher is considered a good man, 
 and his manners are voiy prepossessing. Ho 
 lives in a reed-house, but is building one of 
 bricks." 
 
 The Bushmen of South Africa must un- 
 doubtedly be placed, both physically and in- 
 tellectually, in the very lowest scale of human 
 society. Their dialect, which to the ear of a 
 stranger is altogether unintelligible, and con- 
 sists of a number of disagreeable soimds formed 
 by clapping the tongue upon the roof of the 
 mouth, allies them to the Hottentot tribes, 
 whose language was originally the same. 
 But their physical organization is much in- 
 ferior to that of, at least, many of the Hot- 
 tentots; and though they certainly possess 
 minds capable of cultivation, — a fact which 
 certain philosophers, so called, have denied, — 
 yet their mental powers are extremely limited, 
 so much so as to preclude the hope that they 
 will ever rise high in the scale of civilisation. 
 Yet the Bushman can be both kind and hos- 
 pitable. He will share vrith his friends the 
 smallest portion of food that he obtains; and " d. 
 hungry mother," says Mr. Moffat, ''will not 
 unfrequently give what she may receive to her 
 emaciated children, without tasting it herself." 
 T^or is it true that the Bushman is incapable 
 of understanding the message of redemption. 
 The self-denying labours of the Christian Mis- 
 sionary among this degraded people have been 
 attended, in very many instances, with the 
 most gratifying results. The poor Bushman 
 
48 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 has listened to the truth, comprehended the 
 tidings of a Saviour's love, and been made a 
 partaker of the consolations of the Gospel. It 
 might have been affirmed, some years ago, 
 that he could never be converted ; for the ex- 
 periment had not then been made; but now 
 that he has been brought under religious 
 culture, and that it is found that, wild as he 
 is, it is possible to improve him, and to train 
 him to habits of industry' and devotion, scep- 
 ticism must be silent, and, however reluctantlj'-, 
 admit that he is a member of the family of 
 man. 
 
 ^Nevertheless, how wretched is his history ! 
 and what a mj'sterj- in Divine Pro^dclence is 
 the state in which we find him ! 
 
 Lea^-ing Philipolis, (the name of the Bush- 
 man village, ) Mr. Hodgson and his companions 
 journeyed on, frequently falling in T\ith parties 
 of Bushmen, who assailed them most earnestly 
 for pieces of tobacco, a luxury of which they 
 are passionately fond. By December 4th they 
 reached the banks of the Gariep, or Great 
 Orange Eiver, which takes its rise in the 
 Quathlamba range of moimtains, and after 
 pursuing a westerly course of several hundred 
 miles, diu'ing which it is joined by numerous 
 tiibutaries, falls into the Atlantic, in south 
 lat. 29° 4', east long. IG'^ 2'. 
 
 The river was full, and there was no bridge, 
 so that floats, consisting of the trunks of trees, 
 had to be constructed, on which the whole 
 party, together with the waggons, were earned 
 
KEV. T. L. HODGSON, 49 
 
 over. The natives proved themselves remark- 
 ably expert in this kind of business ; and the 
 landing on the opposite side was effected 
 without any misfortune or disaster. 
 
 At a Mission- station called Campbell, after 
 the name of the somewhat celebrated ti^aveller, 
 they were kindly welcomed by the Missionarj-, 
 Mr. Sass ; and at Griqua-Town, which they 
 reached after another day's journey, with equal 
 kindness by Mr. Melville and his family. How 
 pleasant to meet, in the far-off wilderness, 
 with Chiistian bretliren, to enjoy their con- 
 versation, and to unite with them in prayer! 
 Mr. Hodgson had met with Mr. Melville in 
 Cape-Town, and had greatly admired his de- 
 votedness and zeal ; for he had relinquished a 
 situation under Government, worth seven 
 thousand dollars (£500) per annum, for one of 
 not more than one thousand dollars, chiefly with 
 the view of spreading the Gospel among the 
 native tribes. And now he was living as an 
 agent of the Government among the Griquas, 
 and endeavouring to promote both their tem- 
 poral and their spiritual good. 
 
 An American poet has beautifully said, that 
 
 " All through life there are way-side inns, where 
 man may refresh his soul Avith love : 
 Even the lowest may quench his thirst at rivulets 
 fed by springs from above." 
 
 Yes ; and doubtless our travellers found one 
 
 of those way-side inns at Griqua-Town. It 
 
 Avas long ere they found another like it ; for 
 
 E 3 
 
.50 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 tliere was, at that time, no Mission- station 
 beyond it in the line of Mr. Hodgson's track. 
 
 The Griquas, or, as they were formerly 
 called, the Bastaards, are a people descended 
 from intermarriages of the old Dutch colonists 
 of the Cape with the Hottentots and Xamac- 
 quas. The name Griqua is said to be an 
 abbreviation of Cherigriquois, the name of a 
 tribe living to the south of the Little JS^amacquas. 
 A slave, named Adam Kok, the great-grand- 
 father of the individual of that name known 
 in Colonial history, purchased his freedom, and 
 procured a farm among the Cape colonists. 
 Many Hottentots, and other coloured people, 
 gathered around him, and acknowledged him 
 as their Chief. He sold his domain, and emi- 
 grated into the countiy of the Kamacquas, 
 where his subjects increased by the addition of 
 large numbers of the natives. But in course 
 of time calamities befell them ; and about the 
 year 1799, Mi\ Anderson, a Missionar}^ of the 
 Loudon Society, found them wandering on the 
 banks of the Gariep, in a state of barbarism, 
 poverty, and wretchedness. He offered to 
 become their instructor and friend ; and, after 
 following them in their wanderings for several 
 years, induced them, at length, to fix upon a 
 spot as a settled habitation, to renounce their 
 superstitions, and to cultivate the soil. The 
 spot selected was called Griqua-Town, where, 
 as early as the year 1808, Mr. Anderson minis- 
 tered the Gospel to a congregation of eight 
 hundred persons, and where, from that time to 
 
EJ:T. T. L. HODGSON. 51 
 
 the present, notwithstanding mimerous trials, 
 arising from the wariike disposition of the 
 surrounding tribes, the church, thus founded, 
 has been graciously preserved.''' At the time 
 of Mr. Hodgson's visit, however, it did not 
 present a very promising appearance. 
 
 * See Moffat's "Missionary Labours;" aud Arbousset's 
 "Narrative," translated by Brown. 
 
52 MEMOIK OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ^^rnls in lljp 'ilnltrpriipss. 
 
 Teayelld^g in the interior of South Africa 
 may, for a few days, be sufficiently romantic 
 to render it agreeable; but when the novelty 
 of it is gone, it becomes exceedingly wearisome, 
 tedious, and disagreeable. Our friends had 
 already been many weeks upon their journey, 
 having no other habitation, day or night, but 
 their waggons; and they had yet to submit to 
 the hardship for a considerable time longer. 
 Leaving Griqua-Town, they proceeded north- 
 wards to the country of the Bechuanas, 
 among whom they were anxious to proclaim 
 the Gospel. 
 
 "Missionaries in Africa cannot be gentlemen," 
 observes Mr. Hodgson in his Journal, under 
 date January 3d, 1823. Indeed they cannot, 
 if by that term we are to understand those 
 who are imable to put their hands to any 
 arduous work. A Missionaiy in Africa must 
 be willing to fell timber, mend waggons, build 
 houses, or perform any other kind of service 
 which is requisite. Mr. Hodgson's waggon 
 wanted a new axle-tree; and to obtain one, he 
 had, with considerable difficulty, to cut doAvn a 
 thom-tree, the wood of which is exceedingly 
 hard; and then, with the help of one of his 
 
hev. t. l. noDGSoy. 53 
 
 native attendants, to put it into shape. "For 
 the fost time in my life I engaged myself," 
 says Mr. Hodgson, ''in the employment of a 
 Tvaggon-mender." 
 
 The waggon being repaii'ed, the jonrney was 
 again resumed. Herds of bufialoes, quaggas, and 
 springboks frequently enlivened the country 
 which was traversed ; but occasional thmider- 
 storms broke over the travellers, and compelled 
 them to shut themselves up in their waggons 
 as closelj' as they could. 
 
 On the 5 th of Januaiy they reached the Yaal 
 river, which takes its rise in a mountain, called 
 by the French Missionaries, Mont aiix Sources, 
 in south lat. 29°, east long. 30° ; thence pur- 
 sues, in the first instance, a course to the north, 
 afterwards sweeps round to the west and south- 
 west, and finally empties itself in the Great 
 Orange Eiver, in nearly the same latitude, and 
 in east long. 25°. 
 
 Imagine that you see the Missionaries and 
 their wives encamped by the side of the above- 
 named river. AVhat a change fi'om the comfort 
 they had enjoyed in their fatherland ! but they 
 were not disposed to murmur or complain. It 
 was the Sabbath ; and, assembling together the 
 native attendants, Mr. Hodgson attempted to 
 preach to them in Dutch. Alas ! he failed, as 
 others in like circumstances have often done 
 since ; for he had not yet acquired a sufficient 
 knowledge of the language ; and thus he 
 laments over the painful circumstance: — "The 
 difficulty I find in using the Dutch language, 
 
54 MEMOia OF THE 
 
 is the only thing I am discDuraged with in my 
 Missionary labours ; but this is a source of 
 strong temptation, leading me to think that I 
 have not done right in leaving my native 
 land." Yet Mr. Hodgson subsequently became 
 a very respectable Dutch Preacher; for, as 
 Eliot said, when he had completed his Gram- 
 mar of the Indian language, ''Prayer and 
 pains, through faith, will do anything." 
 
 Among the greatest trials which a Missionary- 
 traveller encounters in South Afiica, is that 
 which arises from the temper of his native 
 servants. They are generally indolent, self- 
 willed, and awkward; and it is often with 
 considerable difficult}^ that they can be induced 
 to proceed on the journey when required. 
 Towards the evening of the day Mr. Hodgson 
 thought it prudent to "inspan," as it is called, 
 and requested the men to make preparations 
 accordingly. One of them positively refused, 
 and, on being reasoned with on his conduct, 
 threw himself into a violent rage, and declared 
 his resolution to leave the Missionaries on the 
 spot. He induced the rest to join him ; and, 
 packing up their clothes, such as they were, 
 they left the travellers with but two boys, each 
 twelve years of age. Their situation was 
 one, as Mr. Hodgson observes, "which called 
 for strong faith in the providence of God;" but 
 he and his companions felt that they were 
 under the guardianship of Heaven, and, even 
 under these circumstances, they that night re- 
 tired to rest in peace. Their confidence wa,^ 
 
REV. T. I. HODGSOX. 55 
 
 not misplaced ; for the Chiistian's God is in 
 the wilderness, as ■svell as in the city, and can 
 protect His servants in the greatest perils. 
 '' Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy 
 days, so shall thy strength be." Mark, reader, 
 hovr they were preserved. 
 
 " About ten o'clock the sheep were disturbed 
 by the approach of some animal, and di'iven 
 from the place where I had left them. Walk- 
 ing round the camp, with a loaded gun in my 
 hands, I saw nothing to excite alarm, and, ad- 
 justing the arrangement of our cattle, I retired 
 to the waggon, where I enjoyed refreshing 
 sleep until one o'clock, when I was awoke by 
 my wife, who heard the approach of a number 
 of people. Looking out, I saw ten men on 
 oxback, and two on horseback, one of whom 
 had a gun, and one an assagai, several of them 
 clothed merely in theii* skin-karosses. The 
 sight was novel, and calculated, in our defence- 
 less state, to awaken fear; but I rose to greet 
 them, and, as they approached the waggon, 
 found them friendly." 
 
 They were a party of Corannas from a neigh- 
 bouring ki-aal, who, having heard of the arrival 
 of the Missionaries, had come to visit them. 
 How opportune was their coming ! Who will 
 not say that the hand of God was in it ? And 
 now several of the servants, finding, perhaps, 
 that help had come to the Missionaries from 
 another quarter, retiu-ned, and offered to pro- 
 ceed with them a little further. 
 
 Thev arrived at a large Coranna village, 
 
56 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 where the Chief received them with great 
 cordiality, and where they remained several 
 days. But when they signified a wish to pro- 
 ceed, the Chief, whose name was Chudeep, 
 endeavoured to j)revent them. *' I hope," said 
 he, " that you are come to teach me and my 
 peoj)le the great word." "We are glad to 
 hear you say so," replied the Missionaries; 
 " but we are sent by our fathers to the Bechu- 
 anas, to whom we are on our way." " But 
 would not your fathers be pleased if you stopped 
 with me?" "We cannot tell without asking 
 them, and they are at a great distance from 
 us," The Chief, however, was not satisfied, 
 and when the Missionaries were about to depart, 
 he ran before the waggons, to try to detain them, 
 and, after using many arguments to induce the 
 strangers to remain, he at length said, with 
 deep feeling, " If, after all, you do lea/ve me, I 
 ivill lay me down, and sigh my life out.^^ " Our 
 hearts," observes Mr. Hodgson, ''were moved; 
 for, instead of having to protect oiurselves from 
 those engaged in war, our chief difiiculty at 
 this time was to tear ourselves from those who 
 were ready to contend which tribe should have 
 the messengers of peace. Had not our Mission 
 been expressly to the Bechuana nation, we 
 could not have done violence to our feelings in 
 resisting the urgent claims of the old man and 
 of his people." 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that the 
 urgency of this Chief arose from any sense of 
 the value of the Gospel, "\^^lat could he, a 
 
HEV. T. L. HODGSON. 57 
 
 wretched Heathen, who had never until now 
 even heard the name of Christ, understand of 
 the designs of the ambassadors of the Cross? 
 Doubtless his hope was to derive, from the 
 residence of the Missionaries with him, certain 
 temporal advantages. War was at that time 
 raging in the neighbourhood ; and perhaps he 
 thought that the white man would be able to 
 afford him some help, in case the enemy should 
 approach his village. But whatever the motives 
 were by which he was actuated, Mr. Hodgson 
 would "willingly have complied with his request, 
 had he felt himself at liberty to do so. Glad 
 indeed was he to find that any of the tribes of 
 the country were willing to receive him, even 
 though they did not understand the object of 
 his Mission. 
 
 The Corannas are a tribe of Hottentots. 
 Their name is derived fi'om a Chief called Cora, 
 who formerly lived in the neighbom^hood of 
 Cape-Town, and who sold a considerable por- 
 tion of the territoiy he occupied to the early 
 Dutch settlers. Compelled afterwards, by their 
 encroachments on the remainder, to retire into 
 the interior, he and his people led a wandering 
 life, and fell, still lower than they were before, 
 into barbarism, wi^etchedness, and vice. Sad is 
 the tale of the treatment experienced by many 
 of the native tribes of Africa at the hands of 
 the Dutch colonists, and terrible will be the 
 account which they will have to give at the bar of 
 the righteous Judge of the whole earth. Many 
 of the calamities which have since come upon 
 
58 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 South Africa may, undoubtedly, be traced to 
 this one cause ; but the guilty parties have 
 passed to their account, and in the hands of the 
 Avenger of the oppressed, be they white or 
 black, they must be left. Happy should we 
 be were we able to say that none of their 
 descendants have inherited their spirit; but, 
 alas ! events testify to the contrary. 
 
 Of the character of the Corannas little can 
 be said which is in any degree favourable. 
 They are proverbially indolent, crafty, and 
 rapacious. At the time that Mr. Hodgson 
 travelled through their villages, and for many 
 years after, they were at war with the sur- 
 rounding tribes ; and though an attempt was 
 subsequently made to gather them together, 
 and to bring them under the influence of Chris- 
 tian teachers, it was successful only to a very 
 limited extent. 
 
 The journey was resumed, but difficulties 
 multiplied. Now the cattle were lost, anon 
 the sheep were missing, and once the inter- 
 preter decamped. The loss of the sheep, on 
 which the travellers had partly to depend for 
 subsistence, was a serious matter; and Mr. 
 Hodgson was under the necessity of mounting 
 an ox and riding off in search of them. Listen 
 to his dcscrijDtion of this adventure : — 
 
 *' This is the first time I have moimted an 
 ox; but I found it a more agreeable mode of 
 travelling than I had anticipated, and it is 
 certainly well suited to this country and the 
 habits of its people. The ox used for riding 
 
KEV. T. L. HODGSOX. 59 
 
 has a stick run through its uose, to which is 
 fastened a piece of a hide, as a bridle. Upon 
 his back are placed one or more sheep-skins, 
 girt round his body with a rein, to which two 
 other reins are fastened, one on each side, to 
 answer the purpose of stirrups. In this way 
 the traveller must journey; and with a good 
 sambock, — a whip made out of the hide of the 
 hippopotauius or other large animal, — though 
 not so comfortable as on the back of a horse, 
 and though subject to an occasional blow from 
 the animal's tail, he may make good progress." 
 Unhappily the sheep were not found. After 
 two days' search, ^h\ Hodgson was obliged to 
 give up the pursuit, concluding that they had 
 been either devoured by wild beasts, or driven 
 away by some of the natives that were wander- 
 ing through the country. 
 
 War was devastating the land. A com- 
 mando of Ka&s, or of some other tiibe, had 
 come do^Ti from the north, and were spread- 
 ing in their track misery and death. Our 
 travellers fell in with numerous deserted vil- 
 lages, the inhabitants of which had fled in 
 consternation before the anticipated aj^proach 
 of the enemy. How touching is the follow- 
 ing !— 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Broadbent, my wife, and 
 myself walked to one of the adjoining villages, 
 a mile distant, and again beheld marks of the 
 hasty manner in which the people had left 
 theii* recent habitations. At a distance we 
 observed three dogs, fat and well-favoui-ed ; and, 
 F 2 
 
GO MEMOIll OF THE 
 
 upon approaching the centre of the village, 
 Mr. Broadbcnt saw a little child sitting by a 
 small house, peeping through the upper part of 
 a kaross with which it was covered. It was a 
 mere skeleton, unable to stand from weakness, 
 and altogether an object of the greatest pity 
 and wonder, as it must have been several days 
 without any one to communicate to its wants, 
 and most likely without food, except what it 
 may have gathered from the leaves of the 
 bushes adjoining the kraal." 
 
 This destitute one proved to be a girl about 
 six years of age, who had been abandoned by 
 her friends, and left, as for as they knew or 
 cared, to perish. She became the protege of 
 Mrs. Hodgson, who called her Orphena, noiu'- 
 ished her, and brought her up ; and, with 
 considerable difficulty, (for she was not easily 
 managed,) instilled into her mind the principles 
 of religious truth. She afterwards came to 
 England, in Mrs. Hodgson's service, and was 
 an object of considerable interest to all who saw 
 her. On Mr. Hodgson's second voyage to the 
 Cape, she returned with him to her native land. 
 
 The travellers were now approaching the 
 territory of Siffonello, a Chief of the Bechuanas, 
 with whom it was their intention, shoidd their 
 way be opened, to commence a Mission. 33ut 
 the oxen were again missing ; and again Mr. 
 Hodgson, having sought them for some time 
 "\\dthout success, resolved, if possible, to find 
 out the residence of the Chief, and to endeavour 
 to obtain some assistance from him. In com- 
 
KEV. T. L. U0DU60X. 61 
 
 puny with the interpreter, who had found his 
 way back, and two liochuanus, he left his coni- 
 panions, and, journeying on foot, proceeded in 
 the direction in which he understood Siffonello 
 lived. 
 
 "February 8th, 1823.— My bed, last night, 
 was between tAVO rocks, with a stone for my 
 pillow; and having nothing but the ground 
 to lie upon, which was veiy uneven, and, the 
 night being cold, I had very little sleep. We 
 were able, however, to proceed on oiu- journey 
 before the sun appeared ; and, passing an ex- 
 tensive plain, we descended a little, towards a 
 river, on the banks of which were seen an 
 astonishing number of wild beasts, of different 
 descriptions, whilst one part of a distant hill 
 Avas perfectly black with thousands of blesboks, 
 which were feeding on its side. I passed the 
 river, when, just as I had got over, one of 
 the men observed, behind some reeds, and but 
 sixty yards from us, eight lions, six full-grown, 
 and two small ones. He immediately apprised 
 us of our danger, and we all quickly retii'ed a 
 little up the hill, when we had a distinct view 
 of all the lions, which, after looking at us for 
 awhile, went in a body to another part of the 
 river. Had they been pressed by hunger, or 
 had any circumstance occurred to excite their 
 rage, we were most certainly in their power ; 
 and, but for the kind providence of God leading 
 me to cross the river where I did, I should 
 have gone among the reeds, in expectation of 
 meeting with better water." 
 F .3 
 
G2 MEMOIR OF TILE 
 
 After another day's journey, Mr. Hodgson 
 reached the residence of the Chief. He was 
 sitting near his hut, under the shade of a tree, 
 Avith several of his people. But outward signs 
 of dignity there were none. A Kaffir or a 
 Bechuana Chief is often clad, as are the mean- 
 est of his subjects, in a filthy skin-kaross ; 
 and, though he possesses almost unlimited 
 authority over his tribe, and is fully conscious 
 of his greatness, yet he makes but little dis- 
 play of it to the eye, and is generally as mean 
 and ignoble in his manners as the lowest 
 individual at his feet. 
 
 He received the Missionary with great cor- 
 diality, gave him abundance of milk and corn, 
 and, on being made acquainted with the fact, 
 that his oxen were lost, promised to come and 
 visit his encampment, and to render him assist- 
 ance in the recovery of the cattle. The Mis- 
 sionary then asked for a couple of oxen, on 
 which to return back to his family and friends ; 
 but these were at first refused, the Chief being 
 anxious to retain his visiter as long as possible. 
 At length, however, they were granted; and 
 Mr. Hodgson hastened to retiu^n. . But let us 
 hear his own words : — 
 
 ''While dining, I was informed that two 
 oxen had arrived ; and, hun^ying William," 
 (his servant,) ''we prepared for our journey 
 without delay, thanliful that my ^udsh had 
 been so unexpectedly complied mth. The 
 oxen being ready, we took leave of our new 
 friends, and mounted. But we foimd the 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 63 
 
 finimals the most unmanageable I had ever 
 mtnessod. William was thrown from the 
 one he rode, and I was nearly so, more than 
 once. After contending with them for some 
 time, and travelling about a mile, meeting 
 with some natives, we sent the oxen back, 
 and went forward on foot. After walking 
 about six hoiu's, we were compelled to rest in 
 the middle of a large plain, where we could 
 find nothing to screen us fi'om the weather but 
 a tuft of grass." 
 
 "Were not these hardships. Christian reader ? 
 And for what were they endui-ed ? For worldly 
 gains, honours, and distinctions ? J^o ! But for 
 the sake of carrying into the interior of South 
 Africa the tidings of the love of Christ. 
 
 After two days' journey, the Missionary 
 reached the waggons. ''About six o'clock p.m., 
 I was welcomed by my dear wife and friends, 
 whom I joined with much gratitude to our 
 heavenly Father for His mercies to us all 
 during my absence. This journey, while it has 
 been attended with much anxiety of mind, great 
 waste of bodily strength, and not a little danger, 
 will, I hope, tend to further the object of our 
 Mission, as intercourse is now open with the 
 Chief with whom we wish to settle." On the 
 next day, February 13th, he writes thus: — 
 ''How agreeable is repose after fatigue; the 
 comfort enjoyed in the bosom of my family 
 after an absence of a few days I Our pleasui^es 
 in this life arise much from contrast. My 
 waggon, compared mth my hai'd bed on the 
 
64 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ground, was like a palace. Surely the mercies 
 of the Lord are great." 
 
 The Journals of Mr. Hodgson, from which I 
 can give but a few brief exti'acts, are full of 
 pious sentiments of this kind, indicating that, 
 in the midst of all his difficulties, his mind 
 was still kept in a spiritual frame, and that 
 the source from which he drew his consolations 
 W'as the throne of grace. 
 
 According to his promise, the Chief, accom- 
 panied by several of his people, visited the 
 Missionaries, bringing with him an ox for 
 slaughter, and a quantity of thick milk. From 
 Siffonello Mr. Hodgson hoped to obtain some 
 oxen, to enable him to proceed ; but the Chief 
 had none that had been trained to di-aw, and 
 the Missionaries resolved, as the only expedient 
 to which they could have recourse, to send to 
 Campbell for oxen they had left behind. This, 
 however, would involve a detention of several 
 days; and great, therefore, was their anxiety 
 in being obliged to submit to it. But while 
 Mr. Broadbent and Mr. Hodgson were writing 
 their letters to the Missionaries resident at 
 Campbell, what was their astonishment when 
 they saw their lost oxen approaching, driven 
 by three Bechuanas ! They had been stolen ; 
 but the thieves having been alarmed at the 
 rejDort of the guns which were fired by the 
 men who had gone in pursuit of them, fled 
 from the spot, leaving the cattle behind, which, 
 being thus left, wandered about the countiy, 
 imtil they were found by some of Siffonello' s 
 
HEV. T, L. nODGSON. 65 
 
 men. This very opportune deliverance excited 
 in the breasts of tlie ^lissionarics the highest 
 joy. They saw in it the hand of God. They 
 recognised His providence in all that had tran- 
 spired. Even the loss of the oxen had been 
 overruled for good ; and, now that they were 
 recovered, the gratitude of the ti'avellers was 
 all but inexpressible. 
 
 ''How wonderful and mysterious," says Mr. 
 Hodgson, " are the ways of God ! How fi-aught 
 with wisdom and with mercy are all His dis- 
 pensations ! It is necessary for a Missionary 
 often to stand still, and see the salvation of 
 God. We were often tempted to say, with 
 Jacob, ' All these things are against us ; ' but, if 
 we ma}^ hazard an opinion on the operations of 
 His providence, we may indeed say, ' He hath 
 done all things well.' " 
 
 And now, after three weeks' delay, the 
 waggons were again set in motion. Conducted 
 by a number of the people amongst whom 
 they proposed to take up their abode, the 
 Missionaries journeyed on to the place where 
 the main body of the tribe was stationed. The 
 Chief himself, wrapped in his skin-kaross, 
 carrying his shield, spears, and umbrella, (the 
 latter formed of ostrich-feathers fastened on 
 a stick, on the top of which was Mr. Hodgson's 
 hat, to which he had taken a great fancy,) led 
 the way, accompanied by his son and heir, and 
 by foui'teen of his people, armed with shields, 
 battle-axes, and assagais. Thus were the 
 heralds of the Cross welcomed to the country of 
 
66 MEMOIll OF THE 
 
 the barbarous Bechiianas. How novel was 
 the scene ! One could wish that some artist 
 had been there to sketch it. 
 
 The residence of the Chief being reached, the 
 Missionaries halted, and began to hope that 
 now, at length, they would be able to enter on 
 their evangelistic toil. But the nomadic habits 
 of the tribe rendered it impossible to commence 
 operations. The Chief, having no settled 
 dwelling-place, was uncertain whether he 
 should remain in that part of the country or 
 remove elsewhere. What, then, could the Mis- 
 sionaries do ? They could only wait until 
 Providence should still further clear their way, 
 and, making their tents and waggons their 
 habitations, take such opportunities of preaching 
 and giving instruction to the people as were 
 afforded them. Meanwhile they were frequently 
 annoyed with the prjing curiosity of those 
 around them, and still more Avith their avarice 
 and cupidity. The Chief himself was con- 
 stantly coming to them for presents of tobacco, 
 beads, and other articles in their possession, 
 which they required for barter; whilst his 
 wives (of whom he had five) and many of his 
 subjects were equally unreasonable. 
 
 Is the reader fully aware of the trials attend- 
 ant on the Missionary enterprise; or has ho 
 been accustomed to view it as a work of 
 ordinarj^ difficulty? There are persons who 
 wonder that the Gospel has not been more 
 successful in South Africa, and who are dis- 
 posed to think that the efforts of the Chi-istian 
 
TIEV. T. L. HODGSON. 67 
 
 Missionary in that country have been all but 
 futile. AVoulcl they not, were they fullj^ ac- 
 quainted with the mighty obstacles which had 
 in the first instance to be overcome, wonder 
 rather that the success has been so great ? To 
 estimate aright the result of any noble enter- 
 prise, we must know something of the difficulties 
 by which it was beset. Ponder, then, the inci- 
 dents related in this chapter. Think of all this 
 preparatory toil through which the Missionary 
 and his companions had to pass, ere a single 
 effort of any great importance could be made to 
 plant the standard of the Cross. You will then, 
 perhaps, be prepared to judge more favourably 
 of the success which iLltimately cro^^Tied his 
 efforts. 
 
68 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Umb an!r litrrrars. 
 
 Passixg over a variety of incidents, we shall 
 now conduct the reader to the Makwasse 
 mountains, where the Chief Siffonello resolved 
 to take up his abode, and whither Mr. Hodg- 
 son and his friends accompanied him. As they 
 journeyed on, the Chief would fi^equently enter 
 into conversation, and ask of the Missionaries 
 a variety of questions. Could they make 
 rain, he inquired one day. He was answered 
 in the negative, and informed that none but 
 God could make rain. " And what is God 
 like?" he asked: ''is He the air?" Of a 
 spirit he had no conception, and but a faint 
 idea of a future state. Will our modem scep- 
 tics say that he did not need the light of 
 r, Christianity ? 
 
 r" The Makwasse mountains are situated about 
 ' south lat. 27"^ 10^ east long. 27°. Here, then, 
 the Missionary began his work : here the import- 
 ant enterprise commenced. A suitable site 
 ha\dng been selected for the Station, prepara- 
 tions were made for building a Mission-house. 
 Many days were occupied by Mr. Hodgson in 
 cutting down timber, collecting stones from the 
 rocks, digging for a foundation, and, with the 
 
RET. T. L. HODGSON. 69 
 
 help of the natives, erecting a dwelling : but 
 all this toil he cheerfully endured ; and, mean- 
 while, he and his colleague, Mr. Broadbent, 
 endeavoured to instruct the people in the ele- 
 ments of religious truth. During the week 
 they spent several hours each day in manual 
 labour, whilst the Lord's day was sacredly set 
 apart for God, and employed in duties strictly 
 ministerial. By degrees, the habitation was at 
 length completed ; and, 0, the joy with which 
 the Missionary and his family, after residing so 
 many months in a waggon, entered on the pos- 
 session of it ! It was but a very humble cottage, 
 but to them it seemed almost like a palace. 
 
 The true character of Heathenism cannot be 
 mistaken. They who tallv of the innocence of 
 '' the child of natiu'e " are mere theorists, who 
 speak of what they are wholly ignorant. Man, 
 everywhere, destitute of the Gospel, is cruel, 
 selfish, and without natural affection. Such 
 Mr. Hodgson found him in the interior of 
 South Africa. The natives would sometimes 
 bring their children to him, offering to sell 
 them for a few strings of beads. One daj- 
 Siffonello himself came to the Mission-house, 
 bringing a boy about six years of age, enfeebled 
 by hunger, whom he asked the Missionaries to 
 buy. They remonstrated with him on the 
 cruelt}^ of his conduct ; but to this he was in- 
 sensible, and he left the child in the hands of 
 Mr. Broadbent. Many children had been sold 
 by their friends ; and thus slavery in some of 
 its very worst forms was found to exist even 
 
70 MEMOTH OF THE 
 
 amongst those whom some would call the unso- 
 phisticated Bechuanas. 
 
 A few months after the commencement of 
 the Mission, Mr. Hodgson and his family went 
 to Griqua-Town to obtain provisions, leaving 
 Mr. Broadbent in charge of the Station. About 
 this time (June, 1823) occuiTed the famous in- 
 vasion of the country by the Mantatees, so 
 graphically described by Mr. Moffat. These 
 marauders were called originally the Batlokuas, 
 but they changed their name in honour of a 
 female Chief called Mantatee. They appear to 
 have come from the neighbourhood of Dela- 
 goa-Bay, whence they were driven westward 
 by some other tribes in that locality who had 
 become their most inveterate foes. Tall and 
 robust in stature, and exceedingly fierce in 
 their disposition and appearance, they caused 
 consternation wherever they approached; so 
 that, as the news of their depredations spread, 
 the whole of the country from Latakoo to Gri- 
 qua-Town became fearfully excited, and the 
 various tribes fled in ahnost every direction, 
 hoping to escape, and to save themselves from 
 the enemies' attacks. Mr. Moffat, at the risk 
 of his own life, took a journey to Griqua-Town, 
 for the piu-pose of obtaining the assistance of the 
 Griquas in an attempt to repel the progress of the 
 invaders; and, subsequently, the Griquas, armed 
 with muskets, having arrived at Latakoo, joined 
 by the Bechuanas, met the Mantatees, when the 
 latter were defeated and fled, leaving multitudes 
 dead or dying on the ground. 
 
IIEV. T. L. nODGSOX. 71 
 
 It was soon after this battle that !Mr. Hodg- 
 son, not knowing what had taken place, arrived 
 at Griqua-To-sMi. He thus refers to the par- 
 ticulars of his visit : — 
 
 "July 21st. — I reached Griqua-Town early 
 in the afternoon, and met with a most kind and 
 welcome recej^tion from our friends there, who 
 have felt much concern for our safety, and who 
 received us as those that were alive from the 
 dead. Messrs. Hamilton and ^lofflit, as well 
 as Mr. Sass, with their respective families, arc 
 here, having deemed it prudent to return from 
 Latakoo, where the Mautatees have been 
 attacked by a commando fi^om this place, con- 
 sisting of one hundred men on horseback, armed 
 with guns. Mr. Melville was present at the 
 battle, and expresses himself astonished at the 
 resolute ferociousness of the enemy; and says 
 that the Bechuanas were like children before 
 them, and that they numbered, of men, women, 
 and children, at least thirty thousand." 
 
 But Mr. Hodgson became anxious for his 
 colleague, Mr. Broadbent, who was left at 
 Makwasse without any means of escape ; and, 
 feaiing lest the retreating Mantatees should 
 fall upon the Station, and perhaps slaughter 
 the Missionary, he resolved, with noble hero- 
 ism, to leave his wife and child under the 
 charge of Mr. Sass, and to hasten back to 
 Mr. Broadbent' s succour. He reached the spot, 
 and, to his great joy, found Mr. Broadbent and 
 his family safe, but in great danger, as they 
 had previously sent their waggons to Griquu- 
 G 2 
 
72 MEMOIR 01' THE 
 
 Town, and could not, therefore, have removed, 
 had the enemy approached. Happily, Mr. 
 Broadbent was not aware of the perilous cir- 
 cumstances in which he had been placed until 
 Mr. Hodgson arrived, and informed him of the 
 events that had occurred. Xot unfi-equently 
 is the Christian kept in ignorance of the 
 dangers that surround him, until those dangers 
 pass away. Were he fully aware of them at 
 the time, he would probably be overwhelmed 
 Avith fear ; and, therefore. He who gave the 
 promise, ''As thy days, so shall thy strength 
 be," graciously and wisely hides them from 
 his view. 
 
 Of the terrible results of the Mantatee in- 
 vasion, the distress and misery it entailed 
 upon the country, the families it ruined, and 
 the tribes it scattered and dispersed, many 
 touching illustrations occur in Mr. Hodgson's 
 Journal ; of which, however, we can mention 
 but the following : — 
 
 ''August 12th. — Upon opening the door of 
 the house this morning, the first salutation I 
 heard was, 'The crows are eating a dead 
 body ! ' an exclamation which proceeded from 
 two boys who were approaching the place 
 where the body lay. I immediately joined 
 them, and found a female dead upon the 
 ground, with one eye pecked out, and j^art of 
 one breast torn off. She appears to have died 
 in the night, no doubt from hunger. I fear 
 we are surrounded by numbers who must 
 share the same fate. Many visit us who are 
 
liKV. T. L. HODGSON. 73 
 
 on the point of starvation ; and it is out of our 
 power to relieve them, as we cannot obtain 
 oxen for skiughter. The body was imme- 
 diately interred. 
 
 ''August 13th. — A party of Siffonello's men 
 met with twelve stragglers from the retreating 
 enemy, all of whom they killed. In this act 
 of cruelty they triumphed as if they had 
 caused the whole body of the enemy to flee." 
 
 The danger from the Mautatees being con- 
 sidered past, ILi'. Hodgson went back to Griqua- 
 Town, whence he returned with his family to 
 Makwasse, bringing ^vith him, also, Peter 
 Links, who had come from Khamiesberg to 
 assist in the newly-established Mission. Soon 
 after, the Rev. E. Edwards was appointed to 
 Makwasse, and Mr. Hodgson removed to Cape- 
 Town. Subsequently, a warlike tribe, called 
 the Bataws, made an attack upon the Station, / 
 destroyed the whole of the Mission property, yC 
 and swept off large numbers of Siffonello's 
 cattle. Mi\ Broadbent's health having failed, 
 he was under the necessity of returning to 
 England; and thus this Mission, commenced 
 with so much toil and suffering, was for a 
 while suspended. Deeply painful was it to 
 the Missionaries to be obliged to leave a spot 
 which had become endeared to them by their 
 evangelistic labours; but the standard of the 
 Cross had been uplifted amongst the barbarous 
 Bechuanas, and a deep impression made upon 
 their minds in favour of the truths which 
 they had heard ; and the brethren left Mak- 
 G 3 
 
74 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 wasse with the hope that the seed which they 
 had scattered would spring up, and bear some 
 fruit in after-days. They had at least broken 
 up the fallow-ground of Heathenism in that 
 locality, and prepared the way for future 
 operations; and they felt assured that the 
 Lord Jesus, in whose name they had gone 
 forth, would not allow their efforts to be 
 wholly ineffectual. 
 
 Nor were they disappointed. Not to refer 
 here to the results of their efforts in a spiritual 
 point of view, there were several indirect 
 advantages which the natives of the country 
 reaped fi'om their labours. Some of these are 
 stated in two deeply interesting papers con- 
 tributed by Mr. Broadbent to the Wesleyan 
 Magazine, in the year 1850. One was ''the 
 discovery of fountains of water, by which the 
 aborigines and their cattle are now refreshed, 
 and lands, long barren, are irrigated and fer- 
 tilised." "VYhen the Missionaries began to 
 build their habitations, and had already made 
 an excavation in the ground for clay, it oc- 
 curred to them that, by digging deeper, they 
 would probably obtain water. Mr. Broadbent, 
 therefore, set a number of females, who had 
 come to the Station in great distress, to work, 
 and they dug to the depth of fourteen feet; 
 when, to the great siu-prise of Siffoncllo and 
 his people, they obtained an excellent supply 
 of water. The Chief could scarcely believe 
 what he saw. AVhen Mr. Broadbent had 
 drawn a bucket of water, he offered it to him 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 75 
 
 to drink ; ■when he took it in his hands, and, 
 looking suspiciously, iii'st on his attendants, 
 and then at the Missionary, as if afraid of 
 being bewitched or poisoned, said, ''Is it good? " 
 a question which he twice repeated. Mr. Broad- 
 bent, seeing he was afraid to drink, took the 
 bucket, and drank himself, and then offered it 
 to him again. He then ventured to taste, and 
 the bucket passed round from one to another, 
 each one exclaiming, as he drank, ^' How cool ! " 
 This incident produced a remarkable effect 
 upon the native mind; and the Missionaries 
 might have taken advantage of it, had they 
 chosen, to secure for themselves extraordinary 
 honours. " '^ov^ I am sure," said the Chief, 
 "you have an acquaintance Avith God, and He 
 has told you this, or you never could have 
 found it out." But he was assured that if he 
 would dig, he also would find water ; and he 
 did so, and succeeded, to his great surprise. 
 
 Another of these incidental benefits to the 
 natives was the introduction of wheat into 
 their countiy. On Mr. Hodgson's return from 
 Griqua-to^vn to Makwasse, after the Mantatee 
 invasion, he halted one night by the side of a 
 bush, when a lion sprang out of the thicket on 
 the oxen, which suddenly turned round, and 
 upset the waggon. A number of articles were 
 strewed upon the ground, amongst which were 
 three bushels of wheat in a leather sack. During 
 the night, a hy?ena fell upon the sack, and 
 gnawed the leather, so that a considerable 
 portion of the wheat was lost. Some of it, 
 
76 MEMOIK OF THE 
 
 however, was preserved, and the Missionaries 
 tried with it several experiments, with a view 
 to ascertain whether wheat could be cultivated 
 in that part of the country. The results were 
 satisfactory, and now wheat is an article of 
 food to tens of thousands who previously knew 
 nothing of it. The Rev. John Ayliff, who 
 visited the Bechuanas in the year 1844, ob- 
 serves : — ^' "VYith one circumstance I was struck, 
 and greatly pleased ; namely, that the Dutch 
 farmers, living near the Orange E-iver, had 
 passed out of the colony with waggons in the 
 Bechuana country, to purchase ivheat of the 
 Bechuanas. Christianity and civilisation are 
 steadily pacing through the land. At present 
 there is peace. Schools and churches are pros- 
 pering. The land is in a coui'se of being highly 
 cultivated ; and all this amongst a people who, 
 prior to the introduction of Christianity, were 
 ruined by intestine w^ars." 
 
 These two facts may be viewed as symbols 
 of those spiritual blessings which the j\Iission- 
 aries were the instruments of bringing into the 
 land. The opening up of springs was indicative 
 of a supply of the water of eternal life, for 
 want of which the inhabitants were perishing. 
 '* I will open rivers in high places, and foun- 
 tains in the midst of the valleys ; I will make 
 the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry 
 land springs of water," is God's gracious pro- 
 mise in relation to the times of the Messiah; 
 and in the interior of Afiica it was both lite- 
 rally and spiritually fulfilled. And what shall 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 77 
 
 we say of the introduction of wheat ? Was it 
 a symbol of the bestowment of the bread that 
 Cometh down from heaven ? How many of the 
 Eechuanas have since this period eaten of the 
 true manna, and been saved ! Of the mes- 
 sengers of peace it may indeed be said, ''The 
 wilderness and the solitaiy place shall be glad 
 for them, and the desert shall rejoice and 
 blossom as the rose." 
 
 As Mr. Hodgson's fcllow-laboui'er at Mak- 
 wasse retui'ncd to England, and will not, therefore, 
 be mentioned again in immediate connection with 
 the Mission, I wiR here introduce the remarks 
 with which he has favoured me on the character 
 of !Mr. Hodgson at the time they were associated. 
 
 ''Fellowship in suffering," observes Mr. 
 Broadbent, " creates a sympathy peculiar to 
 itself, with which a stranger to such com- 
 panionship intermeddleth not. It was my 
 providential lot to be associated with the Rev. 
 T. L. Hodgson, in South Africa, at the com- 
 mencement of the Wesleyan Mission in the 
 Bechuana country, in which we suffered toils 
 and privations known only to ourselves and the 
 omniscient One. The following words of St. 
 Paul are strictly applicable to our cii'cumstances 
 during the years 1822 and 1823: — 'In jour- 
 neyings often, in perils of waters, . . in perils 
 by the heathen, . . in perils in the wilderness ; 
 in weariness and painfulness, in watchings 
 often, in hunger and thirst.' I sit down to 
 sketch a few traits of his character with as 
 vivid a recollection of those circumstances as 
 
78 MEilOIK OF THE 
 
 though they were of yesterday, and under the 
 influence of feelings awakened thereby, which 
 somewhat embarrass me, from a consciousness 
 of my inability to do justice to my own sense 
 of his moral worth. 
 
 " He possessed, in an eminent degree, a 
 meek and gentle disposition, in combination 
 with great courage and firmness in the path of 
 duty. These graces were often called into 
 exercise, sometimes by refractory hirelings, 
 and often by perfidious Heathen ; but I never 
 saw them fail him, even in the most tr\iug 
 circumstances. His prudence and discretion 
 were also equal to his fortitude and meekness. 
 An erratic or eccentric man, or one deficient in 
 self-possession and sound judgment, is not a 
 suitable person to go among a people like the 
 Eechuanas. Moreover, his zeal, which was the 
 pure flame of love, no difficulties, disappoint- 
 ments, or delays could quench : it burnt with 
 a constant, steady flame. 
 
 " The principal of these varied excellencies 
 was deep, evangelical piety, fed and sustained 
 by much prayer, and close communion with 
 God through the Spirit." 
 
 Of the truth of these remarks several illus- 
 trations have alreadybeen given, and others will 
 present themselves in the course of this Memoir. 
 How difi'erent, in many instances, are the ways of 
 God from the calculations and the expectations 
 of man ! The writer of the above lines was the 
 subject, in Africa, of severe afiiiction, and was 
 supposed, at one time, to be near to death ; yet 
 
^lEA^ T. r.. iiodgsox. 79 
 
 lie recovered, and even still survives; whilst 
 his then strong and athletic friend has already 
 finished his career. 
 
 As previously stated, Mr. Hodgson, prior to 
 the dcsti'uction of Makwasse by the Eataws, 
 was aj)pointed to Cape-Town. He was exceed- 
 ingly reluctant to leave the Bechuanas; but 
 some one was required to take charge of that 
 Mission, and both the Committee at home and 
 his brethren on the spot thought that he was 
 the most suitable individual. '^'But when," 
 says Mr. Broadbent, ''his waggon moved off 
 from Makwasse, myself and my wife sat and 
 wept in silence for a long time, feeling as if 
 we were suffering a bereavement which would 
 leave us in the most desolate condition." 
 
 To his brief sojourn in Cape-Town my limits 
 "will not permit to refer. In the year 1824 he 
 retui'ned to the Bechuana country, and joined 
 the Eev. J. Archbell in the re-establishment of 
 the Mission which had been so inauspiciously 
 broken up. But the whole countrj' was in a 
 state of agitation, occasioned by intertribal wars, 
 and it was for some time doubtful whether any 
 steps could be taken towards the accompKsh- 
 ment of this desirable object. Mr. Hodgson 
 was deeply distressed ; and in his Joiunal, dated 
 January 28th, 1825, he thus gives utterance to 
 the emotions of his breast : — '' 0, how I feel 
 the painful situation into which we are brought ! 
 To be restrained from prosecuting our object is 
 most disti'essing ; and the idea of being obliged 
 to leave this country, and of abandoning the 
 
80 MEMOIR or THE 
 
 Mission among the Becliiianas, oppresses me 
 much. Poor Bechuanas ! And shall I be com- 
 pelled to leave a people \rith Avhom I trusted 
 to live, and among whom I could almost Tvish 
 to die?" 
 
 What noble sentiments are these ! All the 
 suffering which the Missionary had experienced 
 had not tended in the least to cool the ardour 
 of his zeal. His heart was still set on the 
 evangelisation of this degraded race ; and thus, 
 when the prospect is beclouded, and his che- 
 rished plans seem on the eve of failure, does 
 he lament over them, even as a parent for his 
 children. 
 
 In the month of July, Mr. Hodgson found 
 Siffonello, who, since the attack of the Eataws 
 on the Station, had been leading a roaming and 
 unsettled life, in a state of great distress. 'Not 
 only had the hostile tribes risen up against 
 him, but even the Griquas had taken advantage 
 of his circumstances. They had heard, or they 
 pretended to have heard, that he himself had 
 destroyed the Mission property; and for this 
 alleged act, of which he was entirely guiltless, 
 had made him pay a fine of six hundred head 
 of cattle. To Mr. Hodgson this circumstance 
 was the source of much grief. He could not 
 boar to see even a Heathen suffer ^vrongfiilly ; 
 and, having obtained the clearest evidence of 
 Siffonello' s innocence, he laid the case before Sir 
 Andreas Stockenstrom, and requested that the 
 grievance might be properly redressed. His 
 eif\7rts were, to some extent, successful ; for the 
 
REV. T. L. IIODGSOX. 81 
 
 character of the Chief was vindicated, and 
 part, at least, of the cattle were returned. 
 
 Siffonello promised to return to Makwasse ; 
 and thither Mr. Hodgson accompanied him, 
 wdth the hope of being able to re-commence 
 the Mission. A\Tiat a scene presented itself on 
 his arrival at the spot ! Here were the ruins 
 of the habitations which he and his colleague 
 had erected; — portions of furniture scattered 
 about the place, a remnant of Dr. Clarke's 
 " Commentary," part of the " Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica," and several other valuable works, 
 so far destroyed as to be altogether useless. 
 The heart of the Missionary was sad enough ; 
 yet he set to work to erect another house ; and 
 on Sunday, September 25th, he held, with 
 great comfort, a religious service in his new 
 habitation. 
 
 But other trials yet awaited him. Siffonello 
 and his people, having attacked their enemies 
 and suffered a defeat, resolved to leave the 
 neighbourhood immediately; and Mr. Hodgson, 
 unable to dissuade them from their j)lans, had 
 the sad mortification of witnessing their de- 
 parture. We will give the story in his own 
 words. 
 
 " Thui'sday, September 29th. — Early this 
 morning all the people were in motion, and 
 we had now the painful feeling of seeing them, 
 under their respective Chiefs, quit their habita- 
 tions and their lands, together with the galling 
 reflection that in a few hours we must bend 
 our course in the same direction, and leave 
 
 H 
 
82 MEMOIR OF XnE 
 
 Makwasse, perhaps to retimi to it no more. 
 After eight weeks' hard labour, during which 
 time we had completed two comfortable rooms, 
 four j^ards square inside, and nearly enclosed 
 ground for a large garden, in which two wells 
 were dug, seed was sown, &c., — when we were 
 in expectation of enjoj-ing some family com- 
 forts, and of having opportunities of studpng 
 the language, with a view to the spiiitual 
 benefit of the people, — it is, indeed, a painful 
 dispensation to be obliged to leave : but, as it 
 is, we have no prospect of continuing the 
 Mission here." 
 
 Again, then, it was the lot of this devoted 
 servant of Christ to make his waggon his 
 house, and to wander about in a wild and 
 trackless country, until it should please the 
 people to fix on some pennanent abode. But 
 all this he patiently endured, for the sake of 
 the great object he was anxious to promote, 
 and, generally, his mind was kept in great peace. 
 He availed himself of eveiy opportunity, even 
 in his wanderings, of proclaiming to the people 
 the message of salvation ; until, at length, a 
 place was found, which was deemed suitable as 
 a site for a Mission-station, and which the 
 Chief, Siffonello, agreed to fix upon as a home. 
 Here Mr. Hodgson, together with his col- 
 league, Mr. Archbell, began, therefore, to build 
 a habitation, and afterwards to erect a house 
 for God. The place was called Plaatberg, 
 from a. flat mountain adjoining it; but by the 
 natives it was designated Motlhina Pike, or 
 
REV. T. L. nODGSOX. 83 
 
 the Jaw-bone of a wild horse, which was the first 
 article found by the Chief, near the fountain, 
 when he went to inspect it. And now a school 
 was commenced, the printing-press brought 
 into operation, regular religious services estab- 
 lished, and every effort put forth which was 
 practicable to promote the welfare of this bar- 
 barous people. But a considerable length of 
 time elapsed ere any fruit appeared in their 
 conversion, and the faith and patience of the 
 Missionaries were severely tried. The Bechu- 
 anas were a most ignorant and degraded race, y 
 Like the Kaffirs, whom, in many respects, they 
 much resemble, they had no gods, and no 
 temples; but they were highly superstitious, 
 and were addicted to the most vile and abomin- 
 able practices. Siffonello himself professed to 
 be a rain-maker; and on one occasion, when 
 rain had fallen after a long drought, he con- 
 tended with Mr. Hodgson that he had brought 
 it. The following extract from Mr. Hodgson's 
 Jouraal furnishes an illustration of their ignor- 
 ance and folly : — 
 
 " December 29th. — Siffonello, with the rain- 
 maker, (another of the profession,) and several 
 children, went in procession to the river. There 
 they washed a sheep in the water, plunged into 
 it themselves, and then returned home ^vith a 
 little water in vessels, the children singing all 
 the way. At the village the water was made 
 warm, when Siffonello asked the gii'ls, ' Who 
 has a desire to make rain?' One of the girls 
 answered, ' I ;' upon which the rain-maker 
 n 2 
 
H 
 
 84 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 dipped a cow's tail into the water, and sprinkled 
 her with it. The Chief then inquii-ed, ' Who 
 l^limged into the river first ?' and the same 
 girl answering, ' I,' was again sprinkled with 
 water. After this the rain-maker threw water 
 into the air, calling for the rain ; and then the 
 children were dismissed." 
 
 Such is Heathenism as it exists among the 
 Bechuanas. Is it surprising that minds under 
 the influence of a system so degrading do not 
 readily receive the Gospel? Yet the promise 
 is, " My word shall not return unto Me void;" 
 and though for a time the Missionaries seemed 
 to stand up merely as witnesses for the truth, 
 they were at length cheered by manifest tokens 
 of success, and Plaatberg became the birth- 
 place of many an immortal soul. After 
 Mr. Hodgson left the country, the station was 
 removed to another locality, several miles to 
 the east, where, notwithstanding numerous 
 wars, which have threatened its destruction, it 
 continued to be the scene of some of the most 
 successful Missionary operations in the interior 
 of South Africa. The Eev. T. Arbousset, of 
 the Paris Missionary Society, who visited it a 
 few years since, observes : *' The station num- 
 ers two hundred inhabitants, who, thanks to 
 the strictness of the Weslej^an discipline, and 
 to the zeal and energy of theu^ spiritual in- 
 structer, have made no small progress in the 
 Christian life. It presents a religious asj)ect 
 much more satisfactory than many a village in 
 Europe. The day of rest is, generally speak- 
 
KKV. T. L. HODGSON. 85 
 
 ing, well observed; the attendance on the 
 sanctuary is numerous, and the people are 
 attentive and devotional. Oftener than once 
 have we been sui-prised and refreshed by 
 hearing the more advanced members of the 
 chni'ch sj)eak of their spiritual feelings with 
 that simplicity which is so characteristic of 
 Pagan converts : ' I am a dull fellow : I un- 
 derstand but very little of these holy truths. 
 I have only a little love to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ.' Such is the simple way in which 
 they express themselves in conversation, whe- 
 ther with one another or with, strangers." 
 
 More recently Plaatberg has been subject ■ 
 to great alarms. "AYe have, as a family," 
 writes the Eev. E,. Giddy, from Plaatberg, to 
 the Missionary Committee, October 13th, 1852, 
 " been placed in very great danger ; but a kind 
 and gracious Providence has continually 
 watched over us. We have suffered in many 
 ways ; but we have not sustained any personal 
 injury. My most ardent wish is, that we may 
 have peace, so that we could resume our work 
 with vigour ; but war is the curse and bane of 
 »Southern Africa. AVe commence a station, 
 gather together a body of people, build a 
 chapel, God blesses our work, souls are con- 
 verted, a Society is formed, and we would fain 
 hope that all would go on and prosper ; when 
 a dire and ruthless war between the different 
 tribes scatters our people, destroys that which 
 it took years to accomplish, and involves all in 
 unutterable confusion. This is the case with 
 
 il o 
 
A 
 
 86 MEXOIR OF THE 
 
 Plaatbeig. We had here a Society of nearly 
 two hundred members, a day-school, a Sab- 
 bath-school, and a sewing-school; we had 
 some twelve Native Class-Leaders, and a 
 number of efficient Native Sabbath-school 
 Teachers ; everything was going on well, and 
 we were looking forward to still brighter 
 days, and planning more efficient and extensive 
 operations on the surrounding villages, when 
 the war burst out ; and in one day the whole 
 of our people, with the exception of one that 
 was sick, fled from before their more powerful 
 neighbours. Since that, the war has raged so 
 violently, that they have not been able to 
 return mthout incurring the risk of utter 
 destruction. They are encamped near the 
 Modder River ; and I feel happy that they are 
 sufficiently near to our stations, Thaba-Unchu 
 and Bloem-Fontein, to benefit by the \T.sits of 
 the brethren who are stationed at those places. 
 They are looking to the British Government 
 for that protection, and just consideration of 
 their circumstances, which the Government 
 promised them, and to which, as allies of the 
 British, they have an undoubted claim."* 
 
 Let the reader of this narrative offer up his 
 fervent prayer on behalf of that distracted 
 land; and, in memory of those who, amidst 
 60 much toil, suffering, and privation, there 
 commenced the Missionary entei'prise, but are 
 now gathered to their rest, let him offer of 
 
 * Report of the Weeleyan Missionary Society, 1853. 
 
EEV. T. L. HODGSON. 87 
 
 his substance to the Lord, that the work may 
 still be carried on. There are still grounds 
 for encouragement and hope. Through the 
 dense dark cloud the light occasionally breaks ; 
 and even Africa, barbarous and warlike as it 
 is, shall one day be evangelized and saved.-^ 
 
 * It may be well to observe, that it is this portion of 
 South. Africa which is called " the Orange River Sove- 
 reignty," and which was placed, by Sir II. Smith, under 
 the protection of the British Crown. It is now proposed 
 to abandon this territory, and to permit the Dutch Boers, 
 who reside here in large numbers, to form an independ- 
 ent government ! For the honour of the British name, 
 it is to be hoped that the measure will, on no account, be 
 adopted ; for, if it be, the native population of the country 
 will be exposed to violence and injustice, and the work of 
 Christian Missions, to a great extent, if not wholly, frus- 
 trated. 
 
88 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " There is something more reqiiii^ed in a 
 ^lissionaiy," says the late Melville Home, in 
 his admirable Letters on Missions, " than cold 
 approbation, or that general disposition to do 
 the will of God, which influences eveiy pious 
 man. ^Ye look for a strong, decided predilec- 
 tion, — ajMssion for Missions, if I may be allowed 
 the tenn; that species of commendable enthu- 
 siasm which enables professional men to 
 magnify the dignity and importance of their 
 respective arts, and to pursue their object under 
 every discouragement, until they have carried 
 their art to a perfection which men of colder 
 minds could never have supposed it capable of 
 receiving." 
 
 Such a passion for Missions had Thomas 
 Laidman Hodgson. Nothing less than this 
 would have enabled him to sustain, with so 
 much fortitude, the difficulties of his enterprise, 
 or have induced him to persevere in it amidst 
 so many discouragements. He was the subject 
 of an ardent zeal, which no hardship that he 
 met with could either quench or cool. 
 
 At Plaatbcrg he was called to sustain the 
 loss of his only cliild a little daughter, who, 
 
EEV. T. L. nODGSON. 89 
 
 by her engaging manners, had greatly endeared 
 herself to her parents, and whose innocent 
 conversation beguiled many a tedious hour in 
 the wilderness. To Mr. Hodgson and his de- 
 voted "^Tife this was a most painful stroke ; and 
 what made it more distressing was, that Mr. 
 Archbell and his family had gone to Griqua- 
 Town but a few days before, so that they had 
 none but natives around them to render them 
 any aid. They themselves watched over the 
 child in her sickness, closed her eyes in death, 
 laid her in her coffin, and committed her to the 
 dust. Thus Mr. Hodgson writes : — 
 
 ''l^ovember 22d, 1826.— In the afternoon of 
 this day we took a last look of the cold remains 
 of our girl; and I had the painful task of 
 screwing down the coffin, (a box, upon which 
 she had often sat, while travelling in the 
 waggon,) carrying it to the grave, adjusting it 
 there, and performing, in every respect, the 
 part of the sexton. The scene was more painful 
 than any which I had before exj)erienced ; but 
 the grace of God enabled me to pass through 
 it without repining, though not without the 
 feelings which a fond parent may be supposed 
 to experience on being deprived of an only 
 child." 
 
 Ah ! ye bereaved parents ! deep as is yoiu' 
 sorrow, your cup has not been mingled with 
 ingredients such as these. It is distressing to 
 lose yoiu' children under any circumstances : 
 but what must it be to lose an only child under 
 circumstances such as are here described ? Yet 
 
90 MEilOIR or THE 
 
 we sec that Divine grace was sufficient to 
 sustain the minds of Christ's servants, even 
 under such a trial ; for both Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hodgson were enabled to bow with meek sub- 
 mission to the painful sti'oke. 
 
 And now Mr. Hodgson contemplated the 
 commencement of another important ^Mission. 
 The Griquas, to whom reference has already- 
 been made, were divided into several clans, 
 some of which were residing in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the Bechuanas. At Bootchap, 
 (or Buchuaap,) a \411age about fifty miles west 
 of Plaatberg, there lived a Griqua Chief, of the 
 name of Barend Barends, whose people were, 
 at this time, wholly destitute of religious in- 
 struction, and who himself applied to Mr. 
 Hodgson, and invited him to go and take them 
 under his pastoral and ministerial care. With 
 the full consent of the Missionaries of the 
 London Society, before whom he laid the case, 
 Mr. Hodgson resolved to undertake the task; 
 Mr. Archbell agreeing to remain at Plaatberg. 
 
 But before going to Bootchap, he and Mrs. 
 Hodgson took a journey to Graham' s-Town, for 
 the piu'pose of obtaining the necessary stores. 
 Here they had the pleasure of meeting with 
 the Bev. W. Shaw and family, and of holding 
 Christian fellowship with the members of the 
 church. After a life of so much privation, 
 this was most refreshing to their spirits ; and 
 Mr. Hodgson experienced considerable satisfac- 
 tion, especially in ministering, several times, to 
 an English congregation. Having piu'chased 
 
liKV. T. L. HODGSON. 91 
 
 such articles as were requisite, he bade fare- 
 well to his friends in Graham's-Town, and took 
 his departure for the intended Station, with 
 fresh resolutions of fidelity and zeal. The 
 journey was a tedious one; but he and his 
 excellent wife had become inured to the diffi- 
 culties of travelling, and in a few w^eeks they 
 reached Plaatberg in safet}^ where they learned 
 that the Chief Sitfonello had died but a little 
 time before, leaving his brother Moroko regent 
 during the minority of Sitalo, the rightful heii* 
 to the government of the tribe. 
 
 They soon entered on their new sphere at 
 Bootchap. Here they had engaged a native 
 hut, and expected that on their arrival it 
 would be ready for them to occupy; but, in- 
 stead of this, it was inhabited by a Griqua, 
 A\dth a numerous family, whose filthy skin- 
 karosses were scattered about the floor, render- 
 ing the place unfit to enter. Who can wonder 
 that Mrs. Hodgson wejDt ? The noble-minded 
 woman had long endured privations of no ordi- 
 naiy kind ; and it was hard work to be thus 
 disappointed of a residence, and to be obliged, 
 as she feared, to live in a waggon several weeks 
 longer. But both she and her husband rose 
 above the trial; and the hut was, ere long, 
 cleared and occupied. It must have been a 
 very comfortless affair, however ; for it con- 
 sisted of but one apartment, and had neither 
 window nor chimney. Yet it was better than 
 the waggon, or the open air ; and the Mission- 
 ary and his wife were thankful to obtain it. 
 
92 MEMoin or the 
 
 An artisan having arrived from Graham' s- 
 Town to assist him, Mr. Hodgson began again 
 to build ; and, after several weeks, like David 
 Brainerd among the Indians of America, he 
 got into his house. He was, however, a little 
 better off than Brainerd ; for Brainerd says, 
 after taking possession of his hut, "I am now 
 quite alone : no friend to communicate my 
 sorrows to, or take sweet counsel together;" 
 whereas Mr. Hodgson had a beloved wife, the 
 willing sharer of his burdens, and the sweetener 
 of his toils. It would have been better, per- 
 haps, for Brainerd, had the noble-minded Miss 
 Edwards, who watched over him in his last 
 illness, who died soon after him, and who was 
 buried by his side, been his companion in the 
 wilderness. Would not the tone of his piety, 
 in that case, have been more cheerful ? 
 
 And now, for the first time, the holy Sabbath 
 was observed by the inhabitants of this village, 
 a school commenced for the instruction of the 
 young, and the message of mercy regularly 
 proclaimed. The Missionary did not begin his 
 laboui's, as did the fii^st ]\Ioravian Missionaries 
 in Greenland, by discoursing to the people on 
 the attributes of God. He told them of the 
 love of Christ ; of His sufferings and His 
 death; of His resurrection, ascension, and in- 
 tercession with the Father ; and of the blessings 
 which had thus been pui'chased for mankind. 
 He addressed the people as sinners, and endea- 
 voured to show them the sinfulness of sin ; 
 but he told them, also, how sin might be for- 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 93 
 
 given, and how God was waiting to receive the 
 penitent, to admit him into His lamily, and to 
 constitnte him an heir of heaven. Nor was it 
 found that these topics were above their com- 
 prehension. On the contrary, while they lis- 
 tened with astonishment, they listened with 
 dehght ; and it was not long ere signs began to 
 manifest themselves that light was penetrating 
 the benighted mind, that conscience was at 
 work, and that God was blessing the efforts of 
 His servant on behalf of the benighted sons of 
 Africa. 
 
 Sometimes individuals were deeply wrought 
 upon under the ministry of the word, and, 
 feeling that they were sinners, wept aloud. 
 At other times persons came, after the public 
 service, to the Missionary or his TVT-fe, in deep 
 distress, asking what they must do to be saved ; 
 while others, in a similar state of mind, would 
 retire into the bush, there to plead with God 
 for the pardon of which they felt their need. 
 A class was formed, which soon numbered from 
 twelve to twenty members, respecting whom 
 there was reason to believe that they were 
 earnest seekers of salvation. Of these, the 
 greater part, if not the whole, were ultimately 
 admitted into the Christian church by the 
 solemn rite of baptism. 
 
 The following incidents are worthy of in- 
 sertion, as illustrations of some of the statements 
 now made : — 
 
 ''April 21st, 1829.— Greet Bergomen (a 
 female, so called) visited me this morning, to 
 
 I 
 
 -^- 
 
94 MEMOIK OF THE 
 
 relate how the Lord had blessed her soul. 8he 
 has been long under a gra(;ioiis concem for 
 salvation, and deeply humbled by a sense of 
 her sinful and dangerous condition; but, for 
 some time, obtained no lasting comfort. Yes- 
 terday she was powerfully affected in the class, 
 and, dui'ing the night, was brought into a 
 state of extreme distress. She heard the 
 IBechuanas dancing and singing ; and she 
 thought within herself, ' How is it they can 
 thus serve the devil, while I have no pleasure 
 in attempting to serve God?' She felt herself 
 as if in midnight darkness, utterly destitute of 
 anything that was good, and wholly without 
 power to help herself. She saw, too, that she 
 was unfit to appear in the presence of God; 
 and, from the number and magnitude of her 
 sins, she dreaded death. This morning, how- 
 ever, while engaged in prayer at the first cock- 
 crow, she felt access to God — the cloud broke ; 
 she felt that Jesus was her Saviour ; the fear 
 of death was taken away ; and she had peace, 
 a peace which Avas accompanied, not so much 
 with ecstatic joy, as v^dth deep reverential awe. 
 She now feels that she cannot be sufficiently 
 thankful to God, and praise sits upon her lips." 
 ''June 16th. — After the prayer-meeting, three 
 women came to speak with me respecting their 
 spiritual state. Two of them were much con- 
 cerned, and the other (a believer) seemed to 
 feel the narrowness of her heart to receive the 
 unbounded love of God. One observed that 
 she felt herself as if built into a Avail, from 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 95 
 
 which there appeared no way of escape ; and 
 the other regretted that she could not feel so 
 much concern about her salvation as she saw 
 was necessary." 
 
 "July 5th (Sunday). — After the usual ser- 
 vices of the day, we were much gratified to 
 hear several of the boys engaged together in 
 singing and prayer in the school-room, while 
 some of the elder girls were so employed in 
 one of the people's houses. This method of 
 employing the Sabbath evening arose entirely 
 fi'om themselves." 
 
 " July 8th. — Last night's prayer-meeting was 
 foimd profitable to many. The wife of William 
 Rapitain was much affected, and cried aloud in 
 the disquietude of her soul ; but this morning 
 she came to say that the Lord had manifested 
 Himself to her while at private prayer, and 
 that she felt that all condemnation was re- 
 moved." 
 
 Such were some of the gracious results of 
 Mr. Hodgson's labours. And now, doubtless, 
 he was rewarded for his patient toil. To see 
 the penitential tear, and to hear the penitential 
 sigh, is ever, to the faithful Minister of Christ, 
 a source of joy; but it is specially so in a 
 heathen land, and amidst a people who have 
 been long imder the bondage of superstition. 
 For, when a Minister enters on such a field of 
 labour, he enters a valley fall of dry bones; 
 and he asks, as he surveys the scene, '' Can 
 these dry bones live ?" "VYhat, then, must be 
 his emotions, as he sees, if not the whole vallev 
 
 i2 
 
96 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 become instinct with life, yet a few raised up 
 from the death of sin, and animated with the 
 spirit of Christ Jesus the Lord ? He is encour- 
 aged ; he is satisfied that his labours are not 
 wholly useless ; and his faith in the efficacy of 
 the Gospel, as the grand instrument of the 
 world's regeneration, is sti'engthened and con- 
 firmed. So was it with Mr. Hodgson. Ex- 
 pressions frequently occur in his Journals 
 which indicate that, at Bootchap, he was often 
 filled with joy at the sight of penitents weeping 
 at the cross, and of believers exulting in the 
 consciousness of pardon. He saw that Chris- 
 tianity was adapted to the wants of Griquas 
 and Bechuanas, barbarous as they were, as well 
 as to those of the most civilised of mankind. 
 He preached it, therefore, with the greatest 
 confidence. Whether any other means were 
 necessary, or any other system was required to 
 effect a moral change in the inhabitants of 
 South Africa, he never for a moment stopped 
 to ask ; but, like the great Apostle of the 
 Gentiles, he proclaimed Christ crucified, — to 
 some, indeed, a stumbling-block, and to others 
 foolishness, but to all that believed, Corannas, 
 Griquas, or Bechuanas, Christ the power of 
 God and the wisdom of God. 
 
 One event of a most gratifj^ing nature was 
 the conversion of the nephew of the Chief, 
 referred to in the foUo-^dng extracts : — 
 
 "August 3d, 1829. — I visited BarendBarends, 
 who has been for some weeks ill, and was 
 gratified to find that he had been awakened to 
 
BEV. T. L. nODGSOX. 97 
 
 a sense of his condition as a sinner. He is, 
 however, quite deaf; and it is with difficulty 
 that we can understand what he says, his voice 
 being nearly gone. When I entered his dwell- 
 ing, his uncle, the Chief, was sitting on the 
 ground, near him, endeavouring, by signs, to 
 direct his thoughts to Christ. Before praj-ing 
 for him, we sang a hymn, strikingly descriptive 
 of the love of God to sinners in the gift of 
 Jesus Christ, and which he endeavoured to read 
 while we sang. At prayer, though he heard 
 nothing that was said, he manifested great 
 anxiety ; and, as he had learned to read the 
 New Testament since we came here, the book 
 he had used at school was brought, that, when 
 he was able, he might read such portions as 
 were suitable to his state of mind. He appeared 
 engaged in prayer the whole of the day, fre- 
 quently uttering the penitent's cry, ' God be 
 merciful to me a sinner.' When able, he 
 warned the children of the school not to leave 
 the concerns of their souls to a deathbed ; and 
 said that he would pray till the sun went 
 do"^Ti. 
 
 ''August 4th. — I was called up at the fii'st 
 cockcrow to see Barend Barends, who was 
 thought to be dying ; but he revived again after 
 struggling some time with violent pain. After 
 breakfast Mr. Rapitain, the assistant, visited 
 him again, and prayed for him. He sat up 
 while we prayed, and appeared anxious to join 
 in our petitions. After lea^-ing him, his uncle 
 followed us to say that Barend had received 
 i3 
 
98 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 some comfort, and had expressed his confi- 
 dence that his way was open, and that he 
 hoped his sins were pardoned. In the course 
 of the forenoon he sent his respects to me ; 
 which induced me again to visit him, accom- 
 panied by Mr. Eapitain. Whilst at prayer he 
 recovered his hearing and his voice to a con- 
 siderable degree, joined most heartily in the 
 petitions, and said with confidence, ' Jesus is 
 my Saviour ; my sins are forgiven ; I shall go 
 to heaven.' After this he addressed his friends, 
 and said that he should now leave them, as he 
 had found the Lord ; and calling his sister, he 
 exhorted her to seek the Saviour while she 
 was in health." 
 
 "August 5th. — I was awoke betwixt four 
 and five o'clock by the cry of those in distress, 
 and repairing to the house of Barend, found 
 that he was dead. The Chief was endeavour- 
 ing to reconcile Barend' s wife (to whom he 
 had been married nine months) to the painful 
 bereavement, by those consolations which reli- 
 gion alone presents." 
 
 How gratifying is this narrative ! what a 
 proof does it fui-nish of the power and value of 
 the Gospel ! Here is a young man, but lately 
 ignorant of the first principles of religion, a hea- 
 then, and addicted to many heathen practices, 
 who, receiving light through the ministry of 
 the truth, seeks on his deathbed, and at length 
 obtains, " the favour and the grace of God ;" 
 and, dying, leaves a testimony behind him of 
 his assurance of eternal life. 
 
EEV. T. L. nODGSON. 99 
 
 The Christian sacraments are eminently 
 calculated to produce on the minds of such a 
 people as those among whom Mr. Hodgson 
 laboured the most beneficial results. That of 
 baptism, as administered to adults, is soon under- 
 stood as the sign of admission into the Chris- 
 tian church, and that of the Lord's supper, as 
 setting forth the death of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as the great atonement for the sins of the 
 "world. Both these solemn rites were, there- 
 fore, introduced at Bootchap; and, from time 
 to time, persons of mature age, having given 
 satisfactory evidence of the sincerity of their 
 repentance, were baptized, and afterwards ad- 
 mitted to the table of the Lord. Children too 
 were brought to the baptismal font, and dedi- 
 cated, by their Christian parents, to the Lord ; 
 and Mr. Hodgson had the satisfaction of re- 
 ceiving many into the visible chui'ch of Christ, 
 respecting whom he could indulge the liveliest 
 hopes of their ultimate salvation. On one occa- 
 sion he thus writes : — 
 
 ^' Sunday, JM'ovember 8th. — I baptized the 
 children of five of the members of the Society, 
 and in the evening administered the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's supper to thirteen persons, 
 by all of whom, it was found, I believe, a 
 season of peculiar profit. A solemn sense of 
 the Divine presence was felt among us. One 
 person declined to receive the elements, (though 
 she was present with us,) from a consciousness 
 of being unfit to approach the Lord's table ; 
 and another I excluded, finding that she had 
 
100 MEMOIR OF TUE 
 
 iiii unchristian feeling towards one of the 
 members of the class." 
 
 The Christian life is everywhere made up of 
 lights and shades, sunshine and clouds, days of 
 brightness and days of gloom. Sometimes the 
 lights appear to predominate for awhile, and 
 several weeks, or even months, roll on Avithout 
 any extraordinary trial or calamity. But it is 
 not well, perhaps, that the Christian should have 
 simshine alwaj's ; and anon, the heavens grow 
 black, and the storm rises and bursts, and he 
 is thus reminded that the world is not his rest. 
 Mr. Hodgson had now laboured two years at 
 Bootchap, during which he had experienced 
 many proofs of the Divine goodness, and had 
 WT-tnessed many signs of God's power among 
 the people ; but towards the close of the year 
 1830, he was called to pass through one of the 
 most painful dispensations of Providence that 
 marked his eventful life. Mrs. Hodgson had 
 given birth to a daughter, and was now suffer- 
 ing severely from an abscess in the breast. No 
 medical advice could be obtained at Bootchap ; 
 and Mr. Hodgson, whose mind was much dis- 
 tressed, thought it his duty to leave the Be- 
 chuana country, and ultimately, to take a 
 voyage home, With great reluctance, but 
 doubtless under the dii'ection of the Pro\T.- 
 dence of God, he bade adieu, December 5th, 
 1830, to the people among whom he had lived 
 so long. It was no ordinary tiial to be obliged 
 to leave them. Bootchap had become endeared 
 to him by many pleasing associations. The 
 
REV, T. L. HODGSON. 101 
 
 work of God was evidently prospering. The L 
 Sabbath congregation amounted to nearly two | 
 hundi'ed persons ; thirty- three persons had been 
 admitted into the church ; and there were 
 fifteen candidates for Chiistian baptism. No 
 wonder, then, that Mr. Hodgson felt deeply on 
 taking his farewell of this interesting charge. 
 The following is his account of the last Sabbath 
 spent at Bootchap : — 
 
 '^December oth, 1830. — Preached twice, and 
 took leave of those whose salvation had for 
 upwards of two years been the burden of my 
 mind and the subject of my prayers. Though 
 I fully acquiesce in the dispensation of Divine 
 Providence in my removal from Bootchap, and 
 prepare for my journey without a murmur; 
 yet I feel keenly at parting with a people to 
 whom I have been blessed, and who have long 
 shown the greatest affection towards me and 
 mine. jS^ever did I see so clearly the force of 
 that evidence of discipleship spoken of by our 
 Lord, ' By this shall all men know that ye 
 are my disciples, if ye have love one to another;' 
 (John xiii. 35 ;) for while I parted vrith many 
 vrith feelings of pity for them as sinners, yet 
 I felt the yearnings of a parent over others 
 who had set out for the kingdom, but were 
 yet the lambs of Chiist's flock. May the great 
 Head of the chui'ch preside over and abundantly 
 bless them! I administered the Lord's sup- 
 per to twenty-five persons, two of whom were 
 young men belonging to the school. The 
 Lord was graciously present." 
 
102 MEMOIIl OF THE 
 
 Who does not admire the simplicity of these 
 remarks? There is here no colouring, no 
 attempt to make the most of these cii^cum- 
 stances. Indeed Mr. Hodgson's Journals were 
 kept only with a view to private purposes, and 
 not Avith the design that they should ever be 
 made public. He occasionally made extracts 
 from them, which he sent to the Missionary 
 Committee in England; but in these exti'acts 
 he kept himself, as much as possible, out of 
 view. His humility was most sincere, and the 
 success of his labours he ever attributed to the 
 mercy and the grace of God. 
 
 Bootchap continued, after Mr. Hodgson left 
 it, to be the scene of Missionary toil for several 
 years. It does not now, however, stand on 
 the Missionarj^ report; for, in consequence of 
 the removal of the inhabitants to other locali- 
 ties, it was ultimately abandoned. And, indeed, 
 the IVIission in the Bechuana country has been 
 subject to numerous Aicissitudes ; for, as Neander 
 strikingly observes, ^' We may often notice in 
 the history of Missions, how a rapid, and, to a 
 supei:fi.cial dreamer, a very promising spread of 
 Christianity has been succeeded by a rallying 
 of the forces of Heathenism ; and the final 
 victory of Christianity is not achieved till after 
 a fresh conflict, which serves to separate the 
 genuine and the spurious."*' Yet the seed 
 scattered was not lost. The produce of it re- 
 
 * Missions in the Middle Acres. 
 
IIEV. T. L. HODGSON. 103 
 
 mains to this day. Many whom Mr. Hodgson 
 was the instrimient of enlightening have been 
 gathered into the fold above ; and others still 
 live in fellowship Avith the church on earth. 
 To the value of Missionary' effort in the interior 
 of South Africa, testimonies have been often 
 borne by travellers, some of whom, however, 
 have pui'sued a course of conduct calcidated to 
 neutralise the effects produced. Among this 
 class must be ranked Mr. Gordon Cumming, 
 the jS^imrod of that country, who, in his Travels, 
 observes of the Griquas, that they are ''given 
 to gross superstitions, which the pains-taking 
 Missionary stiives to abate and to extirpate by 
 the education of their children ;" but then 
 proceeds to narrate some of his own exploits, 
 which, as he himself states, the Missionary, 
 Dr. Livingstone, declared, would produce an 
 injurious influence on the native mind.^' "\Yell- 
 merited are the censures on Mr. Cumming by 
 the " Quarterly Eeview " in the folloA^-ing 
 passage, which I quote as a highly valuable 
 testimony to the importance of the labours of 
 such men as the subject of this Memoir. After 
 
 * He had made the Bechuanas believe that the rubbing 
 of his hands with sulphur was the cause of his being able 
 to hit a target whilst the Chief missed it ! and he then 
 observes, " When Dr. Livingstone was informed of this 
 circumstance, he was veiy much shocked, declaring tbat 
 in future the natives would fail to believe him when he 
 denounced supernatural agency, having now seen it prac- 
 tised by his own countryman." — A Hwiter's Life in 
 South Africa, vol. ii., p. 72. 
 
104 ITEMOIE OF THE 
 
 citing a passage from Mr. Gumming in which 
 he relates how he practised on the supersti- 
 tions notions of the Bechuanas, the reviewer 
 obsen-es : — 
 
 ''It is a relief to turn from this picture of 
 the use of superior knowledge and power to 
 another one. The Anglo-Saxon Missionary 
 voluntarily expatriates himself, and takes up 
 his abode permanently in those remote wilder- 
 nesses where to spend a few ' sporting seasons* 
 is a rude trial for the strong-blooded enthusiast 
 of the chase. Here the homely Moravian, or 
 desj)ised Methodist, bent to achieve the con- 
 quest over himself, a victory far above any that 
 can be attained over the brute beasts, tasks 
 himself with all those duties that may tend, in 
 any measure, to the dispersion of the dense 
 mist of ignorance and superstition which has 
 long clouded the minds of the dark brethren 
 around him. He shows them better methods 
 of cultivating the soil (vol. i., p. 225) ; he 
 laboriously studies their dialect, and reduces it 
 to writing (/^., p. 226) ; he teaches the young, 
 — sows the good seed of humane principles and 
 charities in their fresh minds {ib., p. 225) ; and, 
 working at his humble printing-press, diffuses 
 the same princijoles wherever he has prepared 
 the groimd by the art of reading ; he hastens 
 to the relief of the wayward wanderer, who 
 may have thwarted his best endeavours 
 (vol. ii., p. 280) ; in a word, his daily practice 
 exemplifies the precepts which he specially 
 inculcates on the Christian Sabbath, the Divine 
 
EEV. T. L. HODGSON. 
 
 105 
 
 Author of which he feels himself commissioned 
 to make knowii to those who have never before 
 had preached to them the Gospel of peace; 
 and all this Mr. Gumming relates, without 
 apparently one surmise of the inevitable 
 deduction."* 
 
 * "Quarterly Review," December, 1851. 
 
 
 
 
 s. 
 
106 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER Yll. 
 
 <0nglan!i an!i tljp Capr. 
 
 Stepping on board "the Courier," at Port- 
 Elizabeth, with his afflicted wife and infant 
 daughter, Mr. Hodgson bade, as it proved, a 
 temporary adieu to Southern Afiica, and on the 
 25th of May, 1831, landed at St. Katherine's 
 Dock, London ; whence, in a few days, he 
 proceeded to Darlington, where he met with a 
 most cordial reception from a large cii'cle of 
 friends, and where he Avas appointed by the 
 ensuing Conference to labour during the 
 following year. 
 
 And now the stroke which he so much 
 feared, but which he had hoped might possibly 
 be averted, fell upon him. On the 30th of 
 September, 1831, his beloved Ann exchanged 
 mortality for life. But her death was calm 
 and peaceful. On the day previous to her 
 departure, her husband observed to her, " You 
 can smile at death:" to which she answered, 
 "Yes, and triumph in death;" adding, "Pre- 
 cious Jesus ! precious Jesus ! I did not think 
 that the Lord would have blessed me as He 
 does. Glory ! glorj^ !" " Much she saw and 
 suffered," observes Mr. Hodgson, " in this e^dl 
 world; and now that she is removed to that 
 pure and holy rest, faith decides that all is 
 
REV. T. L. nODGSOX. 107 
 
 right. The strength of natural affection some- 
 times makes me feel under the bereavement ; 
 but my judgment is quiet, and tells me that 
 my heavenly Father hath done all things well." 
 Mr. Hodgson's consolations were those which 
 the Gospel furnishes. He was not stoical, but 
 neither did he sorrow as others who have no 
 hope. And, doubtless, though the pain of 
 separation was so bitter, he was thankful that 
 he had possessed so valuable a help-meet. He 
 would have adopted — and who that knows any- 
 thing of the delights of friendship Avould not 
 adopt ? — the sentiment so beautifully expressed 
 by Tennyson : — 
 
 " I hold it true what e'er befall ; 
 I feci it when I sorrow most ; 
 'Tis better to have loved and lost, 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 In the society of his friends at Darlington, 
 Mr. Hodgson found some solace for his mind ; 
 and here he laboured, with considerable benefit 
 to the Circuit, for a period of two 3'ears. He 
 then removed to Eetford, where his ministry 
 had been so successful at an early period of 
 his life. "Although," obseiTcs his friend, 
 Mr. Otter, '' from exposures and heavy trials 
 in a distant land, his physical energies were 
 much reduced, yet he still manifested the same 
 spirit, the same zealous effort to save souls; 
 and a large amount of success again attended 
 the joint labours of himself and his excellent 
 colleague, the Rev. Robert Ramm." His pulpit 
 K 2 
 
108 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 exercises, as several of his manuscript sermons 
 are sufficient to XDrove, were characterized by- 
 clear, plain, and forcible exhibitions of the 
 great doctrines of the Gospel ; and if there was 
 nothing brilliant in his j)reaching, there was — 
 what is of far more value — much e^wnestness 
 and zeal in making Christ known as " the way, 
 the truth, and the life," — the *'one Mediator 
 between God and man," A Missionary in the 
 interior of South i\irica has but few opportuni- 
 ties for reading and study, and Mr. Hodgson 
 often expressed his regret that he had not been 
 able to give more attention to pursuits of an 
 intellectual nature ; but, as we have seen, his 
 time in the Bechuana land was otherwise jQlled 
 up. He had, however, made himself thoroughly 
 conversant with God's own book, and was '' a 
 workman that needed not to be ashamed, 
 rightly dividing the word of truth." 
 
 But, though highly acceptable in his Circuit, 
 and greatly blessed in the work in which he 
 was engaged, his heart was still in Africa, and 
 he panted to return to the foreign tield. He, 
 therefore, (having previously married again,) 
 offered himself to the Missionary Committee for 
 a re -appointment to that country. Tor awhile, 
 however, no suitable opening for him presented 
 itself to the Committee in South Africa ; and 
 hence the General Secretaries wished him to 
 take the oversight of the Irish Missions and 
 Schools, — a position for which they thought 
 him well qualified. But, though urged to 
 accept that honourable post, he declined it; 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 100 
 
 Avitli the hope, no doubt, that his way would 
 idtimately be made plain to return to his 
 former sphere of toil. 
 
 It was made plain. In the year 183.5, much 
 to the regret of his friends in England, he 
 received an appointment to Cape-Town ; and 
 immediately after the Conference of that year, 
 he made preparations for, a second time, leaving 
 liis native land. Was it no trial to him ? 
 Let the following extract testify : — 
 
 ''October 6th, 1835.— Left Darlington by 
 coach ; and had to do violence to my feelings 
 in lea\*ing many kind relations, whom, perhaps, 
 I may never see again until the morning of 
 the resurrection. Providence kindly opened 
 my way to escape the pain of parting with my 
 dear sister Parker ; and I was able, Tvdth some- 
 thing like manly fortitude, to leave my dear 
 relatives at Darlington, though painfully re- 
 minded of the scenes through which I passed 
 in March, 1821." '' On the coach, I had time 
 for reflection, and could not help shedding 
 tears at leaving a place where I was born, and 
 born again ; where I spent some of the happy 
 years of my youth, and where there arc many 
 who retain, in their affections, a warm feeling 
 towards me. However, I was soon enabled to 
 recover the calm state of mind which I have 
 enjoyed in yielding to the convictions of my 
 breast." 
 
 At Retford, and in the neighbourhood, he 
 received numerous proofs of the high estimation 
 in which he was held by his fiiends. At 
 K 3 
 
110 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Gringley, for example, after preaching Ms last 
 sermon, he was presented with the sum of £10, 
 by a number of fiiends, some of them members 
 of the ChuiX'h of England, accompanied with 
 the following address : — 
 
 *^ Permit us, Eev. Sir, as members of our 
 National Church, to oifer to you the assurance 
 of our kindly disposition towards your person 
 and office, which ourselves and others of our 
 communion have good reason for entertaining 
 for such a series of years. On this ground it 
 is that we, and others of your o^\^l Body, have 
 ventured to give expression to our feelings by 
 uniting oiu' prayers with our sacrifices; and 
 beg that you ^ill consider this feeble token of 
 our love and esteem for the cause of Chris- 
 tianity in no other light than conveying an 
 earnest msh and desire that Almighty God 
 would, in His good pro\ddence, give you and 
 yours His future blessing, and make you 
 more than ever the happy instrument in 
 diffusing His light. His truth, and His salva- 
 tion to those who are sitting in darkness and 
 the shadow of death." 
 
 Not more gratifying to Mr. Hodgson was 
 the address, and the gift by which it was 
 accompanied, than it was honourable to the 
 parties by whom it was presented. The money 
 he was at liberty to appropriate either to his 
 personal convenience, or to the general interests 
 of Christian Missions ; and, with the generosity 
 by which he was always characterized, he 
 immediately resolved to devote it to the latter. 
 
KEV. T. L. HODGSOX. Ill 
 
 On the day of his departure from Ectford, 
 large numbers of friends assembled to give to 
 their beloved Pastor a last shake of the hand ; 
 and, as the coach passed through the villages 
 of Roekley and of Tuxford, the streets pre- 
 sented a most lively appearance, many having 
 left their habitations to catch a farewell look. 
 He arrived, ^dth his family, in London, on the 
 16th of October, and ten days after embarked 
 in the "Mary Eliza," bound for the Capo 
 of Good Hope, &c., &c. The voyage was, 
 like most voyages to non-seafaring people, 
 tedious and long, vHth occasional storms, and 
 a few calms ; but it was rendered agreeable by 
 the company of the Eev. Messrs. Jackson and 
 Oarncr, and their wives, and of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Tindall, all of whom had been appointed to 
 diiferent spheres of Missionary labour in 
 Southern Africa. The ship dropped her anchor 
 in Table-Bay, on the 16th of January, 1836; 
 ■and in a short time Mr. Hodgson and his family 
 repaired to the Mission-house adjoining the 
 "VVesleyan chapel, Burgh-street, where they 
 received a cordial welcome from Mrs. Shaw, — 
 her husband, the Rev. Barnabas Shaw, not 
 being at home. 
 
 And now Mr. Hodgson entered tigain on his 
 beloved employment ; and, with nearly all his 
 3'outhful zeal, began to exert himself for the 
 ■extension of the liecleemer's kingdom. But he 
 and his colleagues met with opposition. Among 
 the coloui'ed population of Cape-Town, there 
 "was a considerable number of unruly persons, 
 
112 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 who attempted, on several occasions, to disturb 
 the public worship of God. Open-air preach- 
 ing was commenced on the parade, but was 
 soon abandoned, in consequence of the annoy- 
 ances to which the Preachers were subject. 
 Mr. Hodgson appealed to the Superintendent 
 of the Police ; but, though the privilege of 
 preaching in the open-air had been granted by 
 His Excellency the Governor, little redress 
 could be obtained. Some of the scenes en- 
 acted were most disgraceful ; resembling, more 
 or less, those which were witnessed in England, 
 during the early days of Methodism, and ori- 
 ginating, doubtless, from a similar cause — 
 hostility to the doctrines of the Cross. 
 
 Kor were the coloured classes the only par- 
 ties connected witli this movement. There 
 were persons behind the scenes, who, from 
 extreme dishke to Methodism, instigated, or, at 
 least, abetted the mob. In a certain news- 
 paper, pubhshed in the Dutch language, in- 
 flammatory articles made their appearance, 
 abusing the Wesleyan Ministers and Local 
 Preachers in no very measured terms. The 
 attempts which were made to break in upon 
 the ranks of Satan, roused the ire of his ser- 
 vants, and even of some who professed to be 
 the followers of Christ. Here is a description 
 of one of those scenes : — 
 
 ''July 24th. — At four o'clock in the after- 
 noon, I repaired to the parade, accompanied by 
 two of our friends, where I was afterwards 
 joined by many of the Society; and, on taking 
 
EEV. T. L. HODGSON. 113 
 
 my stand for the purpose of preaching, was 
 surrounded by several hundred persons. Dui'ing 
 the first hymn the mob was tolerably quiet, 
 and also at pra5^er, with the exception of a few 
 persons crpng out, ' Speak up,' ' We cannot 
 hear,' &c. But while singing the second 
 hymn, several made themselves prominent in 
 pushing about among the crowd, and, before 
 we had finished the hymn, a considerable com- 
 motion had commenced. Blows were struck ; 
 and, seeing one or two indi\T.duals intoxicated, 
 one man without his coat, blood flowing fi^om 
 one or two persons, Mr. Jordaine's exhortation 
 to listen to what I had to say disregarded, and 
 our friends, who were most active and cou- 
 rageous, unable to stop the commotion, I felt a 
 little alarmed for the consequences, — not as 
 affecting my personal safetj^, but the credit of 
 our cause, lest sufficient forbearance should not 
 be shown, and lest we should be censured for 
 persisting in the duty of open-air preaching. 
 AYhile I attempted to preach, several stones 
 were thrown, one of which hit me on the 
 head, and another on the hand. After con- 
 tinuing the service, such as it was, the usual 
 time, we sang a hymn, and I dismissed the 
 congregation by pronouncing the benediction. 
 Upon this, I retired through the mob towards 
 the lower end of the parade, where a gig was 
 waiting to convey me to Wynberg, where I had 
 to preach at six o'clock; and was followed by 
 some hundreds, saluting us with shouting, and 
 occasional stones, one of which hit me on the 
 
114 MEMOIIl OF THE 
 
 back. At the bridge over the small brook and 
 stile through which we had to pass, on leaving 
 the parade, a considerable rush was made by 
 the mob, probably to induce our being thrown 
 into the ditch ; but I hastened on, and took 
 my place in the gig, lea\'ing the rude rabble, 
 under a vulgar salute and a shower of stones, 
 thankful that I had sustained no injuiy in 
 maintaining the right of offering the Gospel 
 where Sabbath-breakers, and all kinds of 
 sinners, of all ranks and all ages, are wont to 
 resort, and that I was honoured in bearing, in 
 any measure, the reproach of Christ." 
 
 Eut these circumstances were in several 
 ways overruled for good. A gentleman, belong- 
 ing to the East India service, sent to Mr. 
 Hodgson a donation of £5 for the Wesleyan 
 Missionary Society ; and a Memorial to His 
 Excellency the Governor, in favoiu' of the 
 AYesleyan Missionaries, was drawn up and 
 signed by sixteen gentlemen of the first re- 
 spectability in Cape- Town, and published in 
 the " South African Commercial Advertiser." 
 Justice was also obtained, at length, from the 
 authorities of the town, and two of the ring- 
 leaders in the disturbance fined. ** I left the 
 Police-court," says Mr. Hodgson, " thankful 
 for the termination of this imhappy affair, and 
 for the cordial sujjport which had been afforded 
 me by some most respectable gentlemen, with 
 a hope that active hostilities will cease, and 
 that the public will perceive that the prose- 
 cutions have been instituted onlv to further 
 
UF,V. T. L. HODGSON. llo 
 
 the rights of justice. I feel myself much in- 
 debted to Mr. Jordaine for his kind and cou- 
 rageous behaviour; for he not only addressed 
 tlie mob, and exhorted to peace, but encouraged 
 me to persevere in my efforts." 
 
 From the day that St. Paul preached at 
 Ephcsus, and '' the whole city was filled with 
 confusion," even to the nineteenth century, has 
 Chi'istianity met with opposition. All the 
 Avorld over have its Ministers been persecuted, 
 and all the world over have the votaries of 
 error and of sin assailed it mth their might. 
 The reason is ob-sious. It strikes at the root 
 of all those evils which fallen human nature 
 cherishes so fondly. " Sii's," said the makers 
 of shrines for Diana, '^ ye know that by this 
 craft we have our wealth." How then was it 
 likely that they could allow Paul to preach 
 against Diana, and thus to ruin their trade, 
 with imjDunits' r And for the like, or for 
 similar reasons, — ^because it endangers their 
 craft, or their pleasure, or, perhaps, their 
 reputation, — men almost everywhere, whether 
 civilised or barbarous, oppose the faithful pro- 
 clamation of the Gospel. 
 
 Early in the year 1837, the Rev. Barnabas 
 Shaw returned to England ; and Mr. Hodgson be- 
 came Chairman of the Cape District, and, some 
 years latei', the General Superintendent. On him 
 the care of the Mission now, therefore, princi- 
 pally devolved ; and the duties he was called 
 to discharge were exceedingly onerous and 
 important. He felt his responsibility ; but he 
 
116 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 proved fully equal to the task assigned him. 
 In his hands no department of the work was 
 suffered to languish for want of attention and 
 of care ; for, with all the energy he could com- 
 mand, he watched over the various interests of 
 the District more assiduously than a parent 
 over those of his own family. 
 
 On his aiTival in Cape-Town there was one 
 excellent and commodious chapel, which had 
 been erected several years; but another was 
 required in a somewhat neglected part of the 
 town, and by the united efforts of Mr. Hodgson 
 and his colleagues it was built, and on the 26th 
 of February, 1837, dedicated to the worship of 
 the one true God, by the Eev. AY. Shaw, 
 who had just returned from England, and the 
 Eev. B. Shaw, who was on the eve of his de- 
 parture. Towards the erection of this chapel, 
 a bazaar was held ; which was patronised by the 
 presence of Lady D'Urban, Sir J. Wilde, and 
 other distinguished personages of Cape-Town ; 
 and which realised the sum of £50, with a 
 small balance, which was set apart for the 
 commencement of a Dorcas Society. 
 
 The new chapel was situated in Sydney- 
 street ; and I well remember the j)leasure I 
 experienced when in Cape -Town, on visiting 
 this little sanctuary, and ^^itncssing its highly 
 interesting congregation and school. Here 
 many a benighted mind has been enlightened, 
 and many a poor sinner directed to the Cross. 
 I^ot long after it was opened, the Divine 
 -blessing was very largely given to the ministry 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 117 
 
 of the -word of God, and several individuals 
 wore brought into fellowship with the church 
 of Christ. The Malay and coloured population 
 of Cape-Town were the special objects of Mr. 
 Hodgson's attention, and he had the satisfaction 
 of seeing the schools which had been ah^eady 
 ostabHshed for their benefit flourish, and a 
 third commenced for the instruction, more 
 particularly, of girls. In this institution his 
 liiend, James Backhouse, Esq., who ^-isited 
 South Afiica in the year 1838, took a lively 
 interest. Mr. Backhouse had been a school- 
 fellow of Mr. Hodgson's, and after a separation 
 of twenty years they met at Cape-ToA^Ti on 
 the 27th of June, 1838, on which day Mr. 
 Backhouse and his companion Mr. AYalker 
 landed on the shores of Afiica. Mr. Hodgson 
 tlius alludes to the circumstance : — 
 
 *' Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, two 
 * Friends,' who have been travelling in various 
 parts to obtain information as to the state of 
 religion, &c., arrived in the Colony from the 
 Mamitius. With Mr. Backhouse I was at 
 school, in Darlington. I have not seen him 
 for twenty years. Little did either of us 
 think, when boys, that we should ever meet 
 on a foreign shore." 
 
 And in his personal narrative, Mr. Back- 
 house observes: — ''8th month, 13th. We 
 accompanied Thomas L. Hodgson to a school 
 belonging to the Wesleyans, in Sydney-street, 
 a district of the toT\Ti in which many poor 
 Irish and coloured people reside. Upwards of 
 
118 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 one hundred pupils are taught here by a pious 
 young man, on a modification of the system of 
 the British and Foreign School Society. A 
 precious sense of the overshado^ving of our 
 heavenly Father's love attended our minds while 
 hearing a few of the lessons, and subsequently ex- 
 tending some religious counsel to the children." 
 
 The abolition of slavery in all the possessions 
 of the British Crown, one of the noblest acts 
 ever performed by the English Government, was 
 a boon conferred on Southern Africa, and one as 
 joyously received as in the West India islands. 
 The day on which the Act came into operation 
 was one of general gladness and rejoicing; the 
 owners of the slaves alone refusing to take 
 part in the festivities of the occasion. " It was 
 observed," says Mr. Hodgson, ** by assembling 
 the Sunday-school children in the Government- 
 Gardens, where they and others were addressed 
 by Mr. Clough, and the childi^n regaled with 
 beef and bread. The day passed off with great 
 hilarity. We had three hundred and ten children 
 from our three schools ; a very large number, 
 considering that many of our children are yet ap- 
 prentices, and were prevented from joining us." 
 
 But in the midst of numerous tokens of the 
 Divine favour with which Mr. Hodgson was 
 visited, he was called to sustain peculiar trials. 
 The spirit of faction which in 1835 disturbed 
 many of the Weslej^an chiux-hes at home, 
 reached even to Cape-Town; where several 
 persons (some of whom lived to repent of their 
 conduct) endeavoured to sow the seeds of 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 119 
 
 disaiFoction among the members of the Society, 
 to set aside all lawful authority, and to intro- 
 duce practices utterly adverse both to the 
 interests of Methodism and of the Gospel of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. That such sad exhi- 
 bitions of the spirit of lawlessness which then 
 occurred, and which have still more recently 
 been Avitnessed in jVIethodism, should have 
 ever taken place, is not to be attributed to 
 defects in its constitution, as it has been 
 repeatedly affirmed, but to the disposition of 
 our fallen nature, which, when under the 
 influence of pride, vanity, and disappointed 
 ambition, is ever ready to find fault with 
 governments, both civil and ecclesiastical, and 
 that, too, under the plea of a love of liberty 
 Mr. Hodgson was alarmed for the peace of the 
 flock over which he had to watch, and ho 
 endeavoured firmly, but "uith the greatest 
 kindness, to maintain his position as a Christian 
 Pastor. His difficulties were numerous, but 
 he happily succeeded. All manner of abuse 
 was, however, heaped on him by his opponents, 
 and charges the most frivolous were preferred 
 against him. The illness and death of Mr. 
 Goodrick, a young man of considerable energy 
 and zeal, who had been sent to assist him, 
 occurring about this time, added greatly to Mr. 
 Hodgson's sorrow. The ministry of Mr. 
 Goodiick had been highly useful, and the 
 loss of such a colleague was peculiarly painful. 
 But this is one of the trials to which the 
 Christian Missionary is frequently exposed, — -to 
 L 2 
 
120 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 see his fellow -labourer smitten down by sick- 
 ness, and to close his eyes in death. 
 
 But cheering instances of the power of Di^dne 
 grace encoui'aged Mr. Hodgson to piu'sue his 
 work. The following account, which appears 
 in his Journal, is strikingly illustrative of the 
 simplicity of the means which God often em- 
 ploys for the conversion of the sinner : — 
 
 ''August 30th, 1839. — Martenas Stammen 
 was interred in the burial-ground of the Dutch 
 Eeformed Church, of which he died a member. 
 In his removal we have sustained a great loss ; 
 as he promised, from his attachment to 
 Methodism and desire to be useful among the 
 coloured people, to be a great acquisition to 
 our body. Stammen was left an orphan at an 
 early period of life, and was adopted by Mr. 
 A. De Smidt, in whose family he gained the 
 greatest respect. Through affliction he was 
 brought under deep concern for his soul's sal- 
 vation, and in this state of mind attended 
 several places of public worship, but without 
 obtaining the instruction which was suited to 
 his case. One evening, passing by a store, in 
 Long-street, where a Local Preacher was ex- 
 horting a few coloured people in Dutch, he 
 entered, and was struck with what he heard. 
 He at once resolved to become acquainted with 
 the Wesleyans, joined the Sabbath-class, and 
 in about three months found peace with God. 
 He soon began to take part, mth the coloured 
 population, in the prayer-meetings and the 
 school department; and his piety, zeal, and 
 
KKV. T. L. nODGSOX. 121 
 
 Christian dcvotcdness became apparent to all 
 with whom he thus associated. 
 
 ''After eighteen months union with the 
 Society, he was sent to Somerset, Hottentot's 
 Holland, as a hired schoolmaster; where he 
 iilso acted as a Local Preacher. At Somerset 
 he soon collected fifty children, and his con- 
 duct in his situation was irreproachable. But he 
 took cold ; and his delicate frame, which was 
 predisposed to consumption, beginning to sink 
 under the influence of disease, he was obliged, 
 most reluctantly, to return home. During his 
 illness he was always happ}'; and on the Sun- 
 day evening previous to his death, his soul 
 overflowed with the love of God, and appeared 
 as happy as it was possible to be in the body. 
 He longed to depart, and prayed, ' Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly.' He was sensible to the last ; 
 and receiving a little water from one present 
 he was thankful, and said, ' Ik lieh niets meer 
 noodigj' and calmly fell asleep." 
 
 "I need nothing more." How ha^Dpy he who 
 can thus express himself in the hour of death ! 
 But he only is able to do this in whose heart 
 Christ is formed ' the hope of glory;' for none 
 but Chi'ist can satisfy the soul's desu-es, and, in 
 such a season, especially, give peace and joy. 
 
 In the year 1839, the Centenary year of 
 Methodism, a considerable number of Mission- 
 aries were sent out by the Society to reinforce 
 the Missions in the South Seas and in South 
 Afiica. The ''Triton," destined for the Pacific, 
 but having on board two Missionaries for Africa, 
 l3 
 
122 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 arrived at Cape-To"svTi on the 23d of January, 
 1 840 ; and scarcely had she sailed again, ere 
 the '^ George," vnth. a large part;^^ of Mission- 
 aries, all appointed to South Africa, reached the 
 same port. To Mr. Hodgson and his excellent 
 Tvife these events caused very great joy; and by 
 hearts as warm as ever beat in human breasts, 
 were the whole party welcomed to the Mission- 
 house at Cape-Town. The hospitality they 
 experienced (and the writer, being of the num- 
 ber, feels that he is bound to speak of it) was 
 unlimited. Eveiy comfort the Mission-house 
 could afford was liberally supplied, and every 
 effort made to render this then- first landing on 
 the shores of Africa as agreeable as possible. 
 Mr. Hodgson possessed no little of " the milk 
 of human kindness," and many Missionaries 
 and their families, going to or retiu^ning from 
 the South and East, have found in him a coun- 
 sellor and a friend. 
 
 The Eev. James Smeeth, one of the party in 
 the "George," was appointed to the Cape, and 
 to him I am indebted for the foUo^dng remarks 
 on Mr. Hodgson's character; of which, as he 
 laboured with, him for two or thi-ee years, he 
 had opportunities of forming a proper esti- 
 mate : — 
 
 "Mr. Hodgson," he remarks, "possessed a 
 sound and vigorous constitution. Persons of 
 more delicate health may be, and doubtless are, 
 very useful in some departments of God's ser- 
 vice; but not in South Africa, where the 
 Missionary, like St. Paul, must be 'in jour- 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 123 
 
 neyiiigs oft, in perils in the wilderness.' What 
 Mr. Hodgson endured, during his twenty-six 
 years of service in that country, eternity alone 
 will reveal ; but, without detracting fi'om 
 others, we may safely say that in this respect 
 he had no superiors, and but few equals. 
 His abilities as a man of business were of a 
 high order. The manner in which duties of 
 this class were discharged by Mr. Hodgson was 
 often the subject of admiration on the part of 
 Government-oiScers, as also of the most re- 
 spectable bankers and merchants of the toT\Ti. 
 Some may suppose that his Christian and min- 
 isterial character would suffer from so much 
 application to matters of mere finance; but, 
 whatever may have been the danger, liis 
 uniform piety, powerful prayers, and un- 
 wavering faith were evidences to the contrary. 
 He was not unwont to pass fi'om the most 
 exciting business or the most engaging society 
 to the bedside of the sick and dying, and there 
 to plead with God, until his fellow- worshippers 
 felt that the answer would be given. His 
 talents as a Minister were respectable. Had 
 he been favoured with leisure for extensive 
 reading and pulpit-preparation, he would have 
 been, in the best sense of the term, a popular 
 Preacher. But a man who in early life was 
 breaking up the fallow-ground of a heathen 
 desert, whose only abode for months together 
 was a waggon, and who, in the latter part of his 
 career, (besides his full share of Circuit- work,) 
 was constantly devising or executing plans for 
 
124 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 the extension of the work of God, could find 
 but little time to round his periods, or to 
 prepare his addresses in Yciy measured terms 
 and sentences. Mr. Hodgson made many 
 sacrifices for Christ, and the sacrifice of literary 
 pursuits was not the smallest. But his preach- 
 ing was with power. Duiing the time that I 
 was with him, it was characterized by fervour, 
 energy, and success. Many of the sable sons 
 and daughters of Ham were led, by that min- 
 istry, to Him of whom Moses and the Prophets 
 A\Tote. But what shone most conspicuously in 
 Mr. Hodgson was a deep and ardent spirituality. 
 It was impossible to be much in his company 
 without feehng that he was 'an Israelite in- 
 deed.' He was keenly alive to anything like 
 imkinduess from man, and deeply sensitive 
 when afiliction came from the hands of God ; 
 but, under both, he possessed his soul in 
 patience. Often, when his name had been 
 vilified in the public papers, have I heard him 
 pray that the poor inquiring Heathen might 
 not be thus turned from the way of peace, and 
 that those who reproached him might have 
 mercy, and not judgment, at the bar of God. 
 He was faithful, withal, in the discharge of his 
 most painful pastoral duties, and his attention 
 to the interests of the AYesleyan Missionary 
 Society was unwearied. Unlike some of his 
 brethren, he had the means to be liberal 
 whenever an appeal was made to his sym- 
 pathies. Often did I think him indiscreetly 
 free in the distribution of his own property ; 
 
KEY. T. L. HODGSON. 125 
 
 but over evciy part of the Society's resourced 
 he watched with a most jealous eye." 
 
 To this testimony I add the following from 
 the Eev. J. Gostick, now of Devonport, who 
 visited the Cape on his passage from India, and 
 who observes, — 
 
 " lirief as my acquaintance with Mr. Hodg- 
 son was, I shall always retain a "^dvid and 
 agreeable impression of his character. It was 
 in ' a time of need ' that I saw him. I had 
 been torn, by domestic affliction, from my 
 ' loved employ ' in India, and was landed for 
 a week at the Cape of Good Hope in the course 
 of oiu' voyage to England. Never shall I 
 forget the consoling and hallowing influence 
 of Mr. Hodgson's society. A man one would 
 like to meet ajiywhere, he was .just the man for 
 a case like mine. He was laboming under a 
 little indisposition at the time, so as to be con- 
 fined to his room ; but he strove in every possi- 
 ble way to make my stay at his house useful as 
 well as agreeable, and conversed with me more 
 constantly than, for his o^^^l sake, he ought to 
 have done, with a solemn dignity, and yet a 
 gentleness and sweetness, that greatly charmed 
 me. I had an opportunity of preaching in 
 English, twice in Cape-Town and once in the 
 vicinity, during my visit; and I learned how 
 much esteemed he was by the people of his 
 pastoral charge. I should not do justice to Mrs. 
 Gostick's and my own grateful recollections, did 
 I not add that Mrs. Hodgson was a worthy help- 
 meet of her revered and lamented husband." 
 
126 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 Ilisit tn Jilamarijiialaiitt. 
 
 Infant churches require considerable care. 
 The occasional \'isits of senior and experienced 
 Ministers to them are, therefore, of great im- 
 portance, and are generally valued both by 
 the Pastors of such churches, and the flock. 
 The Missionary journeys of St. Paul were 
 undertaken, not only with a view of planting 
 churches where they did not yet exist, but also 
 of confirming several which had abeady been 
 commenced, and of imparting to them spiritual 
 gifts. And though no Christian Minister has now 
 all the authority possessed by an Apostle, yet, 
 even in these later times, Missionary churches 
 — churches planted in heathen lands — have 
 reaped no little benefit from the visits of those 
 whom parent churches have sent forth upon 
 the errand. 
 
 In his official capacity, as the General Super- 
 intendent, Mr. Hodgson visited, in the year 
 1841, the Missions in Xamacqualand, which 
 were included in the District of which he had 
 the charge. There is so much that is interest- 
 ing in connection with the history of the com- 
 mencement of these Missions, that the reader 
 will pardon a moment's allusion to it. The 
 Rev. Barnabas Shaw, on being appointed to the 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 127 
 
 C*apo, found that at Cape-Town there were 
 liindcvaneesto liis labouring among the coloured 
 ])opidation, and he resolved therefore to go into 
 the interior. He set out upon his journey; 
 when, having crossed the Elephant liiver, and 
 entered on the Karoo, he met a Xamacqua 
 Chief and four of his people, who had travelled 
 about two hundred miles, and were on their 
 way to Cape-Town ''in search of a teacher." 
 In this remarkable circumstance Mr. Shaw 
 perceived the finger of Divine Pro\ddence, and 
 offered to return with the Chief to his kraal. 
 The ofier was joyfully accepted, and the estab- 
 lishment of a Mission at Lily-Fountain in Little 
 Xamacqualand was the consequence. Another 
 Station in Great o^amacqualand was subse- 
 quently commenced ; and thus did the light of 
 C'hristianity break forth ujDon a country which > 
 had hitherto been T\T:apped in moral gloom. 
 
 The Xamacquas are ethnologically allied to 
 the Hottentots. They are similar to them in 
 appearance, though somewhat taller ; and their 
 language, which has to some extent been super- 
 seded by the Dutch, is of the same character 
 as the Hottentot, and had, doubtless, the 
 same origin. Their manners and customs 
 resemble those of the tribes of Southern Africa 
 in general ; but of religious notions they are 
 said to have been, when fii'st ^dsited by Mis- 
 sionaries, almost wholly destitute. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson was not a stranger to Xamac- 
 qualand, having visited the country in the 
 year 1824. He contemplated this journey, 
 
128 JCEMOm OF THE 
 
 therefore, with considerable interest ; and has 
 left a Journal of each day's incidents, from 
 which I make the follo^ving extracts. 
 
 He left his home and family on the 2d of 
 March, on horseback, accompanied by a Namac- 
 qua, named Jacob, as his assistant and guide. 
 An *' endeared friend" had presented him, 
 some time previously, with a little book of 
 Scripture passages for each day of the year, 
 entitled, ''The Threefold Cord," which he 
 took with him to use on the journey whilst the 
 horses rested. It proved to him a soiu'ce of 
 considerable help . Each day' s text was read and 
 pondered ; and often, when depressed in spirits, it 
 was manna to his soul. After several days' jour- 
 ney, he arrived at the residence of Mr.Yan Zyl, a 
 Dutch farmer ; where he obtained a waggon 
 and oxen, which had been sent from Kliamies- 
 Berg, and whatever else was necessary for the 
 journey yet before him. He thus alludes to 
 the hospitality of his host : — 
 
 "March 8th. — In preparing to set forward 
 on my journey, had comfort in the promise of 
 the day, (Isai. Hi. 10,) and felt honoui-ed in 
 taking any humble part in causing ' the ends 
 of the earth ' to ' see the salvation of our God.' 
 May my journey bear upon this grand object ! 
 When I came out of my chamber, all was bustle, 
 as if the attention of every one must be directed 
 to my wants. The father was finishing the 
 drying of some fruit which I was to take with me ; 
 the mother was busy with her maidens baking 
 about twenty loaves of bread, some of which I 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON". 129 
 
 was constrained to accept ; the son was count- 
 ing the sheep and goats, and ordered my man 
 to take of the best of the flock, which young 
 Mrs.Yan Zyl prepared for our use; and one of 
 the men was seen riding to the other farm to 
 obtain fruit from the garden. The waggon 
 was soon ftu-nished with meat, bread, butter, 
 apples, pears, figs, water-melons, and I know 
 not what besides, that I might have a feast in 
 the wilderness, where, I was told, I should 
 not have ' a bit too much.' I certainly never 
 felt more oppressed with kindness, ui'ged upon 
 me with so much Cluistian simplicity ; and at 
 last I was obliged to lock the door of a cham- 
 ber where Mrs. Yan Zyl thought there was 
 sometliiug that would add to my comfort. To 
 crown the whole, Mr. Yan Zyl requested his 
 son to yoke his oxen, and bring the waggon 
 through some heavy sand and over an adjoin- 
 ing mountain, by which favour the strength of 
 our oxen was materially saved for the whole 
 journey." 
 
 At six the following morning Mr. Hodgson 
 reached the "Heere Lodgement," which, he 
 observes, '^ is a natural curiosit}', and ought to 
 be seen by all travellers ; though a little appall- 
 ing, from the projecting of the shelving rocks, 
 which form the cave. It is a spacious apart- 
 ment, thirty feet by twelve, aff'ording "an 
 agreeable shelter from the scorching rays of 
 the sun, and the hea^y rains which fall at this 
 season of the year. Some of the rocks seem 
 suspended by a very slender support ; but they 
 
 M 
 
130 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 have been in tliis position for ages, and will, 
 perhaps, remain so until the time when ' the 
 elements shall melt with fervent heat.' " 
 
 After passing the Elephant Eiver, south 
 latitude 31° 35', east longitude 18° 20^ Mr. 
 Hodgson anived at " Ebenezer," a Mission 
 Station of the Ehenish Society ; where he met 
 with a most cordial reception from the Mis- 
 sionaries, and found an institution quite in its 
 infancy, where about a hundred and eighty 
 persons were under the influence of religious 
 instruction. The Missionaries were contem- 
 plating great imj)rovements, and were deeply 
 devoted to their self-denying work. 
 
 Several days' travelling brought him to 
 Khamies-Berg, (Lily-Eountain,) where the Rev. 
 J. Jackson was labouring, who had but just 
 recovered from a dangerous illness. 
 
 ''March 15th. — Eose at two, and proceeded 
 on our journey. Rested to take coflee near 
 Draai Klip, where I was glad to meet brother 
 Jackson, particularly after an affliction which 
 had threatened his life. I mounted one of his 
 horses, and passing Horn Gaat, reached Mrs. 
 Jackson and the children much sooner than I 
 should have done by the waggon. Lily-Fountain 
 is about four or five thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea, and forty miles distant from 
 the coast. Consulting with Mr. Jackson as to 
 future proceedings, I resolved to set oif to- 
 morrow to Nisbett-Bath, to confer ^vitli brother 
 Cook as to our affairs, and, if necessary, to 
 induce him to return with me to Lily-Eoun- 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 131 
 
 tain; where the affairs of both Stations, and 
 especially the subject of the Damara Mission, 
 might be considered with more advantage, and 
 our united judgment officially recorded." 
 
 In accordance with the above resolution, 
 Mr. Hodgson, though somewhat indisposed, 
 ^et forward the following day, on horseback, 
 for Nisbett-Bath. His guide, however, misled 
 him, and, after travelling some distance, he 
 was obliged to retiu'n to Lily-Fountain to 
 obtain a guide better acquainted with the road. 
 Such disasters will happen sometimes, and 
 especially in Southern Africa. A second effort 
 was more successful. 
 
 And now the journey was over a sandy 
 plain, where water was somewhat scarce, and 
 both men and horses soon became faint. ''By 
 digging in the sand, however," says Mr. Hodg- 
 son, on one occasion, " we obtained such as we 
 could use for our coffee, which I drank ' under 
 the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.' 
 "VYe obtained water for the horses in the same 
 way, using my pewter plate as a spade. But 
 I was amused with my horse ' Prince ;' for 
 when he found that there was water in the 
 sand, he dug for it himself with his fore-feet, 
 and would have supplied himself with a suf- 
 ficient quantity had we given him no assist- 
 ance." 
 
 On reaching the Great River (the Gariep), 
 
 Mr. Hodgson, as indeed he expected, found it 
 
 full, and his difficulty now was how to get 
 
 across it. He was greatly fatigued for want 
 
 M 2 
 
132 MEMOIH OF THE 
 
 of sleep, and an intense thirst occasioned him 
 considerable distress. Finding two men, a 
 Namacqua and a Bnshman, he sent them to a 
 native kraal to ask some of the inhabitants to 
 come and assist him in getting through the 
 river; but they rctui^ned, stating that their 
 application had met with a refusal. Mr. Hodg- 
 son was obliged, therefore, again to make his 
 bed on the sand, as he had done before ; but 
 the ground being '^somewhat hard," and the 
 mosquitoes not a little troublesome, he got 
 scarcely any rest. The text for that day, in 
 ^' The Threefold Cord," he found peculiarly 
 suitable : '' Let patience have its perfect 
 work." 
 
 The next day he proceeded to the village 
 himself; and writing a note to Mr. Cook, he 
 gave it to a ITamacqua to take care of, and 
 deliver to any person whom he might meet 
 ^vith fi-oni Nisbett-Eath. The man, however, 
 was afi*aid, having, XDrobably, some superstitious 
 notion respecting it, and could not be induced 
 to take charge of the note. It was therefore 
 tied to a tree, and he was requested, if any one 
 came that way, to point them to the paper. 
 Mr. Hodgson hoped by this means to get in- 
 formation of his position conveyed to Mr. Cook : 
 but this, of course, was imcertain ; and he was 
 glad, therefore, at this juncture, to meet with 
 a Bushman, who, less superstitious in this in- 
 stance than the ISTamacqua, took the note, 
 promising to comply with Mr. Hodgson's re- 
 quest. The Jom-nal thus proceeds : — 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 133 
 
 ** We left our temporary residence early, and 
 were led by the ^amacqua over one of the 
 highest and most rugged mountains I ever 
 passed in South Africa. It was trulj^ terrific 
 to look do^^Ti some of the precipices, and 
 dangerous to lead our horses over the rocks. 
 I found a little copper ore at the top of the 
 mountain, and two hours' traveUing brought us 
 to a village consisting of five houses only; 
 where, however, we were received with great 
 kindness. The Captain at once promised us 
 the necessary assistance; but, not having a 
 sufficient number of swimmers with him at 
 present, he sent to a neighbouring village to 
 request three of his friends to join him to- 
 morrow at the ford. 
 
 ''March 23d. — Eose early, and prepared for 
 our journey to the Great Eiver, with the persons 
 who had engaged to swim us over. Several 
 women came fi'om a neighbouring tillage to 
 hear 'the great word;' and, of coiu-se, I held 
 Divine service with them. About two hours' 
 travelling brought us to the river, where we 
 were soon joined by the men who had been 
 engaged to assist us. Three blocks of dry 
 willow-wood were soon procured, and my guide 
 was conducted over a wide and strong stream 
 with safet}^ ; after which, the horses were 
 taken across. I was obliged to remain until 
 the following morning, as arrangements could 
 not be made in sufficient time to complete our 
 work. 
 
 "March 24th. — As early as the s^dmmcrs 
 M 3 
 
134 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 could b€ induced to move, the saddle-bags 
 were conveyed to the other side of the river; 
 and upon the return of the men, I entrusted 
 myself to the charge of two of them, between 
 whom I rested on a ti'ansverse beam, fastened 
 to a log of wood on each side, upon which the 
 men rested their bodies, grasping a peg, driven 
 into the log, "svith one hand, and using the 
 other to swim with, — a method both simple 
 and safe, and by which the natives can swim a 
 considerable distance even in the sti'ongest 
 stream." 
 
 And all this to get to Nisbett-Bath; and that, 
 too, on a temporaiy visit ! Yes, kind reader, 
 Christian Missionaries are not gentlemen, pass- 
 ing their lives in ease and quietness. The} 
 do not shrink from difficulties, or even from 
 hazarding their lives when duty calls them and 
 they think that thereby Christ's cause can be 
 advanced; but, like the great Apostle of the 
 Oentiles, a measure of whose spirit many of 
 them have received, are *^in labours more 
 abundant," for the welfare of mankind. 
 
 The following day Mr. Hodgson arrived at 
 Nisbett-Bath, greatly fatigued by his journey, 
 and suffeiing severely from having eaten food 
 which had not agreed with him. Here he 
 found Mr. and Mrs. Cook, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Tindall, the latter (Mrs. T.) but just recovering 
 from a violent attack of fever. A night's rest 
 proved highly beneficial, and Mr. Hodgson was 
 able to take part, the following morning, in an 
 early prayer-meeting. The next day was the 
 
EEV. T. L. HODGSON. 135 
 
 Sabbath, and an account of its services is thus 
 given : — 
 
 '' March 28th.— The chapel, which will hold 
 three hundred persons, was occupied at an early 
 hoiu' by the people, who conducted a prayer- 
 meeting among themselves, in the I^amacqua 
 language. At ten o'clock I preached to up- 
 wards of two hundred persons, who were most 
 attentive. In the afternoon Mr. Cook took the 
 service, and in the evening a prayer-meeting 
 was held in the chapel, while I preached, in 
 English, to the Mission families. The day was 
 spent with spiritual profit ; and I was highly 
 gratified with the attention of the people, and 
 with the facility with which the interpreter 
 spoke. I baptized Mr. Cook's little girl after 
 the morning service." 
 
 Msbett-Bath is situated in Great ISTamacqua- 
 iand, in south latitude 28° 20', east longi- 
 tude 18° 40^ In the year 1 832 Josiah Msbett, 
 Esq., a gentleman from India, promised to give 
 to the Wesleyan Missionary Society the noble 
 sum of £200, if something could be done 
 for that part of Afiica. The Eev. E. Cook, 
 hearing of this offer, volunteered to go ; and, 
 with the Committee's consent, entered on his 
 labours. They were, to a great extent, suc- 
 cessful ; and Mr. Hodgson found, from the 
 records of the Stiition, that since its commence- 
 ment one hundred and fifty-five persons had 
 been baptized, and seventy-three couples mar- 
 ried, — a result which, considering the degraded 
 condition of the Namacquas when the Gospel 
 
136 MEMOIR OF TUE 
 
 was first sent to them, must be viewed as most 
 encouraging. Two sub-stations had also been 
 formed, called respectively Blyderverwacht and 
 Jerusalem ; the former of which was under the 
 care of David Africaaner, a son of the once 
 notorious heathen Chieftain, Titus Africaaner, 
 whose name was a terror through the land. 
 "We must make room for the account of Mr. 
 Hodgson's visit, which he paid in company 
 with Mr. Cook. 
 
 ''On the road," he observes, "I examined 
 one of the community -hir d' s nests, consisting 
 of a number of nests united into one, each nest 
 being separate as to its entrance, and distinct 
 as to its occupation, yet all under one roof, so 
 formed as to throw off the rain like an um- 
 brella. The bii'ds congregate in this way in 
 great numbers, so as nearly to cover the higher 
 branches of a large tree. They enter these 
 habitations from beneath. ^' * ^' On reaching 
 the village, we were welcomed with exjn^essions 
 of the utmost delight. The wiinkled by age, 
 and the youngest child that could walk, ap- 
 peared to feel it a duty to shake hands with 
 us ; and such was the pressure fi'om without, 
 that I was obliged to pass through the cere- 
 mony with expedition, to shake hands right 
 and left, using both hands at the same time. 
 In the evening I had much satisfaction in 
 holding a religious service with at least thi^ee 
 hundred persons, called together by the sound 
 of a koedoe's horn (a large antelope). Their 
 attention to the truth addressed to them, 
 
EEV. T. L. nODOSON. 137 
 
 through David, as interpreter, was most pleas- 
 ing. I sat under the shade of a large camel- 
 thorn tree, and conducted the service by the 
 light of the moon. David Africaaner is one of 
 the seven sons of the notorious robber, Titus 
 Africaaner, whose original residence was Jeru- 
 salem and Blyderverwacht. Here he heard 
 the Gospel from the late Missionary, Albrecht, 
 of the London Missionary Societj^, and left 
 Jerusalem some years ago, with the other 
 branches of his family, for the Damara country ; 
 where, though in a backsliding state, his con- 
 science would not allow him to follow the 
 course of life his brothers were pursuing, in 
 robbing the Damaras of their cattle, and hence 
 he resolved to return to Jerusalem. He is now 
 employed as interpreter, exhorter, and Scrip- 
 titre-reader ; and is made a great blessing to 
 the people amongst whom he resides. He lives 
 in the possession of Christian experience, 
 having been restored to the enjoyment of the 
 Divine favour ; and in his labours we have a 
 striking instance of what may be effected by 
 native agency judiciously directed." 
 
 Here (at Blyderverwacht) Mr. Hodgson also 
 met with Titus Afi'icaaner, who in 1824 had 
 given him much anxiety when travelling 
 through the coimtry of the Bushmen. Titus 
 was at that time a great marauder, and by his 
 robberies of the native tribes, was spreading 
 amongst them the greatest consternation. But 
 the lion had become a lamb, and Mr. Hodgson 
 now found him a penitent believer in the Lord 
 
138 MEMOIll OF THE 
 
 Jesus Christ. In the Missionary Report for 
 the year 1839, Mr. Cook thus speaks of him: — 
 *^ At the name of Jesus, his contiite heart is at 
 once overwhelmed, and his subdued cries and 
 lamentations, at the thought of having grown 
 old in sin, are deeply affecting. He had been 
 addicted to diinking the intoxicating liquor 
 made by the natives from honey ; but upon his 
 conversion he destroyed the vessel it was made 
 in. He had also been accustomed to smoke 
 hemp, and had some fine healthy plants in his 
 garden ; but these he also destroyed, and thi'ew 
 away some seed which he had laid up for 
 future use." '' He is now," says Mr. Hodgson, 
 *' sitting, in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus, 
 enjoying peace with God and man, and is 
 evidently the retired, humble, unassuming Chris- 
 tian." "What a trophy of the power of grace ! 
 
 A Branch Missionaiy Society was formed at 
 Blyderverwacht during Mr. Hodgson's visit, 
 towards which the people promised eight 
 sheep. One of the strongest proofs which 
 persons converted from Heathenism can give 
 of the reality of the change, is liberality to the 
 cause of Christ ; and hence the Christian Mis- 
 sionary does right in asking theii' assistance, 
 even were it not absolutely needed, and, in 
 training them to acts of this kind, confers on 
 them no small benefit. 
 
 At Jerusalem, ten miles fru'ther, Mr. Hodg- 
 son found the remains of a dwelling-house, 
 built by Mr. Albrecht and Mr. Moffat, and 
 the foundations of a church laid by the former, 
 
TIEV. T. L. nODGSON". 139 
 
 which, owing to his removal, was never 
 finished. Here were several families, to whom 
 the Missionaries preached. They then re- 
 turned to Nisbett-Bath. The day follomng 
 a Missionary Meeting was held, an account of 
 which Mr. Hodgson thus furnishes : — 
 
 " April 2d. — In the course of the forenoon, 
 several persons were noticed coming to the vil- 
 lage from the outposts, to attend the Missionary 
 Meeting, which had been announced the pre- 
 ceding Sabbath. At three o'clock the bell was 
 rung; and the people, to the number of at 
 least two hundred and fifty, hastened to the 
 chapel. The Meeting was opened by Mr. Cook, 
 with singing and prayer. He then addressed 
 the congregation on the subject of Missions, 
 and was followed by myself and Mr. Tindall. 
 The state of the heathen world, the benefits 
 arising from Missionary effort, the desire ex- 
 perienced to send the Gospel to the Damaras 
 and the Bushmen, and the readiness of many 
 young men in England to embark in the 
 arduous toil, were severally brought before 
 them. A subscription-list was then opened, 
 and three cows, ten oxen, one heifer, three 
 calves, sixty sheep, and seven goats, were 
 given, to commence the Xisbett-Bath "Wes- 
 lej-an Auxiliary Missionary Society. After the 
 evening ser\T.ce, one calf, fifty-three sheep, and 
 eighteen goats, additional, were given." The 
 value of these cattle amounted, on a moderate 
 calculation, to six hundred and three rix- 
 doUars, or £67. 14-9. 6^. 
 
140 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Let the reader look for Nisbett-Batli on the 
 map, which he will find on that of Mr. Moffat, 
 or on that published by Mr. Wyld; and let 
 him consider the darkness of the suri'ounchng 
 country, and tlie moral ^Tetchedness of its 
 wandering population ; and then let him think 
 of the power of Christianity, by which, in such 
 a wilderness, so beautiful a garden has been 
 planted, and surely he will be disposed to 
 say,— 
 
 " Hark ! the wastes have found a voice : 
 Louely deserts now rejoice, 
 Gladsome hallelujahs sing, 
 All around with praises ring. 
 Lo ! abundantly they bloom ; 
 Lebanon is hither come ; 
 Carniel's stores the heavens dispense, 
 Sharon's fertile excellence." 
 
 For this £67. 14.5, 6^. was but an outward 
 indication of the existence of something far 
 more valuable. It was a jjroof, and a very 
 striking one, that the fallow ground of heathen 
 hearts had been broken uj), and that the 
 precious seed which had been deposited in 
 those hearts was beginning already to bear 
 fruit. " Upon the whole," says Mr. Hodgson, — 
 and who can wonder at his saying it? — ''I con- 
 sider this an era in the history of the Mission, 
 and one of the most glorious days that Great 
 IS'amacqualand has seen. ^' '^' It is worthy 
 of remark, that when Mr. Cook first arrived at 
 this Station with the people whom he brought 
 fi'om Khamies-Berg, it was with the utmost 
 
REY. T. L. irODOSON. 141 
 
 difficulty that he could obtain a few sheep, 
 even of the poorest kind ; and that his supplies, 
 as to food, were, for some time after, di-awn 
 from the Colony. Eut now the people, by the 
 blessing of God on the industrj- and economy 
 enforced upon them, have not only cattle to 
 sell for clothes, but are able, at the first Mis- 
 sionary Meeting ever held in Great Namacqua- 
 land, to present liberal subscriptions in cattle, 
 as a thank-offering to Heaven." Yes ; this is 
 what the Gospel has done, and is still doing, 
 for South Africa, — training its degraded tribes 
 to industiial habits ; awakening in their breasts 
 emotions of gratitude and thankfulness ; raising 
 them from a condition of almost abject destitu- 
 tion; and, above all, directing them to the 
 one great Source of happiness and peace, God, 
 reconciled to man through Christ. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson spent another Sabbath at " the 
 Bath," where he preached to a congregation of 
 upwards of three hundred persons. Some ad- 
 ditional contributions to the Missionary Society 
 were offered; and one old man, standing by 
 the door of the chapel, said, " I have only two 
 old ewes, but I will give one of them ;" and 
 another " stood up boldly, and gave in his 
 name, wishing, no doubt, to have it enrolled 
 with so noble a band ;" but, on being asked 
 the amount of his contribution, the eyes of his 
 friends being fixed upon him, on account of 
 his poverty, he replied, ''Alas ! I have nothing 
 to give." His name was, of course, put down 
 on the list, with the hope that some one would 
 
142 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 present him with a sheep or a goat, to enable 
 him to appear as a contiibutor, like the rest. 
 
 On the following clay Mr. Hodgson took 
 leave of jSTisbett-Bath, with feelings of pleasure 
 at what he had witnessed ; mingled, however, 
 with regret that he could not stay. The sjnnt 
 which had animated him in his earlier days 
 had been revived ; and he would gladly have 
 returned to what he looked upon as strictly 
 Missionary work, — preaching Christ to the 
 tribes of the interior. " I leave the Bath," he 
 observes, " fully impressed with its importance 
 as a Mission Station, It presents a valuable 
 field for extending the work successfully, hj 
 means of a native agency, which is already in 
 operation ; and it is pleasing to see the people 
 so much disposed to receive instruction from 
 pious persons of their o^vn class and tribe. 
 This Station is of importance, too, because of 
 its being connected with Abraham, the Chief 
 of the ' Bundle Zwaarts,' the richest and most 
 powerful of the Xamacqua clans ; giving access 
 to at least two thousand persons under his 
 immediate authority; preserving peace among 
 the more distant tribes ; and exerting a moral 
 influence, even to the borders of the Damara 
 country. I have confidence that Mr. Cook's 
 expectations will be realised in the emplopnent 
 of an extensive native agency, and that the 
 word of God will go forth from ' Jenisalem,' 
 the residence of David Africaaner, to enlighten 
 the whole of Great Namaequaland. Mr. Cook 
 rode with me about an hour, and then we parted." 
 
EEV. T. L. HODGSON. 143 
 
 In less than two years this devoted Mission- 
 ary, Edward Cook, terminated his career, at 
 the age of thirty-six. His health having 
 failed, he was induced to set out on a journey 
 to Cape-Town ; but the fatigue of travelling 
 was more than his wasted energies could bear, 
 and he only reached the banks of the Great 
 River when the summons came which called 
 him to his rest. His beloved wife, and the 
 Assistant-Missionary, Mr. Tindall, were with 
 him ; and the latter, seeing that he was near 
 his end, said to him, " Brother Cook, is Christ 
 precious to you?" when, lifting his eyes to 
 heaven, he replied, "I trust I have a good 
 hope through Him." Shortly after this, whilst 
 Mr. Tindall supported his head, he calmly 
 ]3assed away. His remains were taken back 
 to ^isbett-Bath, and there interred. 
 
 N 2 
 
144 MEMOIK or THE 
 
 CHAPTEll IX. 
 
 Jflainarpalaiiii aiiii iCaiir-ttnuin. 
 
 Havixg parted with Mr. Cook, whom he 
 was to meet no more on this side heaven, Mr. 
 Hodgson went on his way, reached the Orange 
 E-iver, and was carried across it in the same 
 manner as before. 
 
 On arriving at the village, where he had 
 left some horses in charge, he found that they 
 had been permitted to stray, and that a search 
 for them, of three days, had proved unsuccess- 
 ful. This was very mortifjing, for he was 
 anxious to proceed ; but he induced the people 
 to lend him two pack-oxen, on which, the 
 following morning, his saddle-bags were placed, 
 and, with the horses he had brought from 
 Msbett-Bath, hejoiu-neyed on. In three days 
 he reached Lily-Fountain, where he was glad 
 enough of the opportunity of taking rest. 
 
 Here scenes of a similar nature to those 
 which took place at Nisbett-Bath occurred, 
 which ^^T.11 be best described in Mr. Hodgson's 
 own language : — 
 
 '^ AjDril 1 1th. — The usual prayer-meetingwas 
 held in the morning; and, at ten o'clock, I 
 addressed an interesting and attentive congre- 
 gation. Mr. Jackson preached in the afternoon 
 to three hundred persons, who heard with 
 
EEV. T. L. HODGSON. 145 
 
 that becoming reverence which might be ex- 
 pected from a peo2)lc who have long enjoyed, 
 and greatly valued, the Gospel of Christ. The 
 evening was occupied by prayer-meetings in 
 different parts of the village, in the jS^amacqua 
 language, conducted by the native Leaders. 
 
 '' April 12tli. — This being the day for hold- 
 ing the Missionary Meeting, a prayer-meeting 
 was held a little after sunrise, and at ten 
 o'clock I preached to as many as could attend. 
 In the afternoon, the bell announced the hoiu' 
 for assembling in the chapel, and the Meeting 
 was opened by Mr. Jackson with singing and 
 prayer. He then inti'oduced the subject to the 
 attention of the audience in a suitable address ; 
 and I followed with some general observations 
 on the duty of sending the Gospel to the 
 Heathen, &c., &c., and then alluded to the 
 astonishing liberality of the Bundle Zwaarts, 
 and the marked interest shown by the people 
 of !Nisbett-Bath, in reference to Missions. Five 
 of the natives then sjDoke, in succession, in a 
 manner calculated to call forth the best feelings 
 of the Christian's heart. The Meeting was 
 truly a means of grace. A gracious Di^dne 
 influence rested upon us ; and, from the spirit 
 of the people, and the interest they appeared 
 to take in the proceedings, I am satisfied that 
 their liberal contributions were given from a 
 proper principle of love to God. At the close 
 of the Meeting, Mr. Jackson received the 
 voluntary conti'ibutions of the people for the 
 year. The following is the result : — 
 N 3 
 
146 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 THE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £. s. 
 
 d. 
 
 In cash 
 
 , 
 
 
 12 6 
 
 2 
 
 Ten goats, and five 
 
 sheep, 
 
 value 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 A draught ox . 
 
 . 
 
 ^^ 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 Two bulls . 
 
 
 )> 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 One heifer 
 
 , 
 
 5» 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 Corn . 
 
 . , 
 
 • n 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 Total 
 
 £17 12 
 
 8 
 
 *^ During tlie arLUounccment of the subscrip- 
 tions, I was much gratified with about twenty 
 children, some of whose parents were very- 
 poor, bringing their pennies and halfpennies, 
 to have their names enrolled on the list; and 
 the cheerfulness which was depicted on their 
 swarthy countenances, conveyed to my mind the 
 impression that they felt themselves honoured 
 in being permitted to cast their mite into the 
 treasury of the Lord." 
 
 Such services as these may, to some minds, 
 appear comparatively ti'ifling ; but on the 
 hearts of a people just emerging out of Hea- 
 thenism, they exert a powerful influence. 
 They have been introduced on all our Mission- 
 stations in South Africa, and it has been found 
 that their tendency is to enkindle in the 
 breast a class of emotions of the noblest kind ; 
 emotions to which the Kaffii', the Bcchuana, 
 and the jS'amacqua were previously strangers. 
 Human nature is essentially the same through- 
 out the world. One of its worst propensities 
 is selfishness. The Christian Missionary should 
 labour, therefore, to inculcate liberality; and. 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 147 
 
 even when the people are poor, to encourage 
 them to do something towards alleviating the 
 necessities of their fellow-men. If he succeeds 
 in doing this, he accomplishes a great triumph, 
 for he breaks in upon one of the strongest 
 fortresses of Heathenism, a characteristic of 
 which, everywhere, is, to be indifferent to the 
 wants of the ignorant and distressed. Let 
 converts to Christianity in the Mission-field be 
 taught to contribute of their substance, be it 
 in monej^, corn, or cattle, towards the diffusion 
 of the truth, and they will the more highly 
 value the blessings they have realised, whilst 
 they will also learn to look upon the tribes 
 around them with an eye of tenderness and 
 compassion. 
 
 The attention of Mr. Hodgson, whilst at 
 Lily-Fountain, was dii'ectcd to certain questions 
 which related to the rights of the Xamacquas 
 against the claims of the farmers residing in 
 the neighbourhood. The old spirit which in- 
 duced the early Dutch settlers to encroach 
 upon the property of the native tribes is, alas ! 
 not yet extinct ; and the Christian Missionary 
 has, not unfrequentty, to lilt up his voice 
 against the acts of injustice which are often 
 perpetrated. Sometimes he is successful ; but, 
 at other times, the poor native, being the 
 weaker party, must go to the wall. It is 
 greatly to be feared, that if the Government of 
 this coimtry abandon the Orange-Eiver sove- 
 reignty, many of the Bechuana tribes w^ill 
 sutler not a little from the oppression of Boers 
 
148 HEMOIE OF THE 
 
 iiihabiting that country. May Heaven avert 
 BO terrible a calamity ! 
 
 On bidding farewell to Lily-Fountain, Mr. 
 Hodgson makes the following remarks : — 
 
 ''April 1 5th. — Left Lily-Fountain this morn- 
 ing, and parted with my old fiiends, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Jackson, with feelings of increased at- 
 tachment, and much impressed in their favour 
 as to their suitability for the work to which 
 thej are called. I \T.sited this Station in the 
 month of April, 1824, just seventeen years 
 ago, during which interval it has been a great 
 blessing to the many hundred persons con- 
 nected with it as a Missionary institution. 
 An improvement in their worldly circum- 
 stances, together with the fact that many have 
 died happy in God, and that many more are 
 walking in the light of His salvation, present 
 sufficient proofs to satisfy those who have been 
 stationed here, and the Christian pubhc, that 
 they have not laboui'ed in vain. I was struck 
 "with the civil and respectful behaviour of the 
 people generally ; their reverent deportment in 
 the house of God, and their apparently con- 
 tented and grateful spirit; and I leave the 
 Station, satisfied that it deserves to be viewed 
 as one of our most useful and successful insti- 
 tutions. Seven hundred persons are imder the 
 care of the Missionaries. The new Mission- 
 house is a most comfortable residence ; the 
 church, spacious and well-built; and the 
 out-buildings, such as stable, waggon-house, 
 &c., &c., do credit to the industry of those 
 who erected them." 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 149 
 
 A journey of three days brought Mr. Hodgsou 
 to '* Ebenezer," (the Ehenish Mission Insti- 
 tution before-mentioned,) "vi'here he preached 
 to thirty-five jjersons. The next day he 
 reached the residence of his kind friends, the 
 Van Zyls, where he lodged for a night, and 
 the day following bade them adieu, with much 
 regret. On the journey, he fell in with a 
 young famier, ''a plain, ignorant, self-conceited 
 man," who, among other questions, asked him 
 the meaning of Gog and Magog, mentioned in 
 the E-evelation of St. John ; and, " not being 
 satisfied with the answer, offered an opinion 
 of his own, which was, that he thought it 
 refeiTed to a black uninstructed heathen child 
 being angry at another child, and crjdng out, 
 "Gog," whilst the other rebuts the insult by 
 replying, ''Magog," the word being pro- 
 nounced with a deep-toned Dutch guttural ! 
 The reader will be disposed to smile at this 
 novel and absurd interpretation; but it is a 
 specimen of the mode in which some of the 
 Dutch Boers explain the Scriptui^es. Having 
 lived for several generations beyond the pale 
 of civilised life, and, in many instances, far 
 from the reach of a Chiistian ministry, they 
 have sunk into a state of barbarism, similar, 
 in many respects, to that of the native tribes 
 around them. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson's guide being taken ill, he 
 was obliged to send him back to Mr. Yan Zyl, 
 and to proceed on the journey home, a distance 
 of a hundred and fifty miles. 
 
150 MEMOIE OF THE 
 
 '^ April 22(1. — Rode to Mr. Jan Basson's, a 
 friendly, open-hearted farmer, wliose kindness 
 I remembered to have experienced seventeen 
 years ago. Mrs. Basson was dead, and he him- 
 self had been seriously ill. I saw him much 
 altered in appearance, having retained a dis- 
 tinct impression of his person and disposition. 
 Passed a farm-house, where a person, appa- 
 rently the mistress, was standing at the door. 
 I inquired of her if I was taking the right 
 road to Cape-To^vn ; to which question she 
 made no replj^, but rudely asked, ^Who are 
 you ? ' I repeated the inquiry, and she hastily 
 answered, ' Yes ;' but added, most rudely, 
 *Who are you?' The inquisitiveness of the 
 people of this country as to name, occupation, 
 age, and family, is exceedingly annoying. In 
 the evening I reached the house of a farmer, 
 son-in-law to Mr. Marrais, upon whom I called 
 on the 4th ultimo, and by whom I was received 
 with the greatest kindness. Mrs. Basson was 
 brought up by her pious grandmother, whose 
 instructions she now felt the benefit of, and 
 highly valued, not only retaining in her mind 
 the religious ti'uth she had been taught, but 
 also the interest she had felt in Divine things. 
 She read a chapter in Dutch ; and, after the 
 family had sung a hymn in the usual manner, 
 invited me to pray. I was much pleased both 
 with her conduct and conversation, and con- 
 sider her a woman fearing God, and working 
 righteousness. 
 
 *^ April 23d. — Hose between four and five ; 
 
HEV. T. L. IIODGSOX. 151 
 
 aud, having engaged in praj^er with this kind 
 and God-fearing family, I set forward home. 
 About seven o'clock, passed Mr. Theron's, 
 where I had been treated A\'ith so much kind- 
 ness on the 4th. Called upon Mr. M. Smith, 
 and obtained forage for my horses ; and, about 
 six o'clock in the evening, passed through 
 IMalmesbuiy, a village of considerable import- 
 ance, and rapidh' increasing in size. Here a 
 Missionary ought at once to be placed by our 
 Society-. AVishing to reach home as early as 
 possible to-morrow, I ventm^ed to travel by 
 starlight, on a road with which I was but im- 
 perfectly acquainted. While the atmosphere 
 remained clear, I could discern Table-]\f ountain, 
 and felt satisfied that I was right ; but about 
 ten o'clock I became doubtful, and, coming to 
 a deserted farm-house, I dismounted, and held 
 the bridles of the horses in my hands till break 
 of day, when I was glad to discover that I was 
 not far from Mr. Tennison's, by whom I had 
 been entertained a few weeks before. 
 
 " April 24th. — After an excellent breakfast, 
 I set forward, and reached my family, whom 
 I found in good health, at six o'clock, after an 
 absence of fifty-four days. During this time I 
 have ridden on horseback above eleven hundred 
 miles, travelled a hundred and fifty miles in 
 a waggon, and slept on the ground twenty- 
 two nights. The journej^ has been one of 
 fixtigue and sufi'ering ; but I have experienced 
 great mercies, and seen so distinctly the hand 
 of a gracious Providence, as to possess increas- 
 
152 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 iug confidence that wherever the Lord calls 
 He will make plain our path, and will deliver, 
 while Ave stand still to see His salvation." 
 
 Thus terminated a " \*isitation tour," truly 
 worth}' of such a designation, and one which 
 would doubtless contribute, in many ways, to 
 promote the interests of the Mission in Xa- 
 macqualand, and the spiritual welfare of 
 thousands of its inhabitants. The labour 
 spent, the toil endui'cd, and the seed scattered, 
 on such a journey as this, would not be thrown 
 away. The fruit might not immediately ap- 
 pear, but *' after many days" it would spring 
 up, and ripen, to the gloiy and the praise of 
 God. A Cliristian Missionary must " sow 
 beside all waters ;" nor must he be in haste to 
 gather in the harvest. And, indeed, as one 
 has truly said, " in proportion as zeal is puri- 
 fied from the alloy of self, it carries on the 
 work of God, in the consciousness that neither 
 is he that planteth anything, nor he that 
 watereth anything, but God that giveth the 
 increase ; and it v,'i\l leave it to Him when 
 and where to give that increase." 
 
 Kiamies-Berg, orLily-rountain, andNisbett- 
 Bath are still in a flouiishing condition. Of the 
 former the resident Missionary but recently 
 observed, — ''I have been greatly encouraged 
 by the general progress of the work of God. 
 We have been permitted to witness the con- 
 version of a few sinners, and two old back- 
 sliders have been brought again into the fold 
 of the Eedeemer. To His name be all the 
 
REV. T. L. HODOSOX. lo3 
 
 glory !" " The day-school has given me much 
 pleasure. During the summer season the 
 number of children on the books was one 
 hundred and sixty-six, and the average attend- 
 ance about one hundred and fifty. In the 
 winter the people are scattered; but, never- 
 theless, seventy children have attended, whose 
 improvement in learning, and in their moral 
 conduct, is very pleasing. The religious in- 
 struction given in the school has been a blessing 
 to several. Tavo hundred persons, children 
 and adults, also attend the Sabbath-school, 
 and their improvement is generally satisfac- 
 tory." 
 
 But of the latter it is stated that it has 
 again suffered from drought, in consequence 
 of which the people have been scattered over 
 a wide tract of countiy in search of pasture ; 
 many have suffered great spiritual injury, and 
 some have altogether forsaken the right way. 
 The abundant rains, wliich have more recently 
 fallen, have, however, led them to return in 
 great numbers to the Station ; and indications 
 of a better state of feeling are not wanting. 
 The schools have not suffered to the same 
 extent vrith the Society; for some of the chil- 
 dren remained on the Station, to enjoy its 
 privileges, when they had neither bread, milk, 
 nor flesh, — literally nothing to subsist on, but 
 gum and roots. 
 
 AUusion was made in the preceding chapter 
 to a contemplated Mission among a people 
 called the Damaras. These people occupy the 
 
 o 
 
154 MEMOTR OF THE 
 
 territory on the western coast, between Great 
 !N"amacqnalancl and Eenzncla. They consist 
 of two distinct tribes, — the Hill Damaras, who 
 speak the I^amacqna language, and are there- 
 fore supposed to be of the same race and stock ; 
 and the Plain or Cattle Damaras, whose dialect 
 belongs to the Kaffir and Ecchuana family of 
 languages, and who are, no doubt, ethnologi- 
 cally allied to those nations. Mr. Hodgson 
 felt a lively interest in the project of a Mission 
 to these tribes ; and, after his visit to ISTamac- 
 qualand, Mr. Cook, who had previously been 
 among the Damaras, and had succeeded in 
 establishing friendly relationships between 
 them and the ISTamacquas, visited them again, 
 and, had his health permitted, would have 
 remained, and would have endeavoured to com- 
 mence a Station. For such a task, however, 
 he felt himself physically incompetent j but he 
 found that the Chief, Ameral, was exceediugly 
 anxious that a Missionary should be sent to 
 him, and the Eev. E,. Haddy, after labouiing 
 in South Africa for twenty years, offered to 
 undertake this very arduous enterprise. He 
 went ; and the Gospel was thus introduced 
 into a country within the tropics : but, though 
 a noble-minded lady presented to the Society 
 the sum of £700 towards the expenses of this 
 Mission, it was found, in the course of a few 
 years, that the cost of maintaining it was 
 greater than the Society had funds to meet, 
 and it has consequently been suspended, 
 though, we ti'ust, only for a few years. But 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 155 
 
 even though this Mission should not be re- 
 sumed, it must not be supposed that the labour 
 bcsto^Yed upon it was thrown away. We 
 hold that even a temporary Mission to such a 
 j3Cople is of immense advantage. Seed is scat- 
 tered which can never perish. Thoughts are 
 awakened which can never die. Impressions 
 are made which will never be erased. The 
 Damaras now know what the Gospel is. They 
 have heard of Chi'ist. They have beheld the 
 blood-stained banner of the Cross. And who 
 can tell, but that from among themselves evan- 
 gelists may arise, to proclaim and spread the 
 truth ? It may be observed, too, that the 
 Rhenish Missionary Society is extending its 
 operations among the Damaras ; and hence the 
 field is still partly under Christian cultivation, 
 and will yet, in due season, bring forth fruit. 
 But how true it is ^vith reference to Africa, 
 as well as to many other portions of the world, 
 that " the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers 
 are few !" ! when will the Christian church 
 have the means of sending forth an adequate 
 supply of men to put in the sickle, and gather 
 in the waving corn .^ Pray, dear reader, that 
 the Lord of the harvest may thrust forth 
 labourers into His harvest. 
 
 The death of Mr. Cook, together with the 
 failure of the health of other Missionaries in 
 the District, rendered the position of the 
 General Superintendent exceedingly difficult ; 
 and, being for awhile almost left alone in 
 Cape-Town, his labours were considerably in- 
 
 2 
 
156 MEMOIll OF THE 
 
 creased : so that, had not help speedily arrived, 
 he would probably have sunk under the burden 
 he Avas called to bear. The return to Africa, 
 in 1843, of the Ecv. Barnabas Shaw, bringing 
 with him two other brethren, was the means 
 of relieving Mr. Hodgson's mind ; and to that 
 A'onerable man he would gladly have resigned 
 the General Superintendency, had he been 
 willing to accept the office. Writing home to 
 the Committee on his arrival at the Cape, Mr. 
 Shaw bore testimony to Mr. Hodgson's efforts 
 to supply the lack of service on the part of 
 his sick and dying brethren ; and observed, 
 ''Mr. Hodgson has almost killed himself with 
 hard labour. I wonder he has held out so 
 long." 
 
 Among other projects which had occupied 
 his attention, was that of the erection of a 
 chapel at Rondebosch, a village between Cape- 
 Town and Wynberg. An eligible piece of 
 ground having been purchased, the chapel was 
 at length built; and was opened, at Mr. Hodg- 
 son's request, by the Rev. B. Shaw. Several 
 Ministers of other denominations also preached 
 in connexion with the dedicatory services ; 
 and highly gratifying was it to witness the 
 interest excited in the neighbourhood, both 
 among the Dutch and the English. The 
 chapel, which is an exceedingly neat little 
 building, stands at the foot of Table-Mountain, 
 beautifully embowered with trees; and on 
 either side of it stands a neat dwelling-house, 
 one of which is the residence of the Minister. 
 
EEV. T. L. nODGSOX. 157 
 
 Mr. Shaw, in alluding to tlie event, ob- 
 serves: — 
 
 ''At the invitation of Mr. Hodgson, I was 
 at Rondebosch, to be present at the opening of 
 the new chapel. I could not but refer to the 
 time when, more than twenty-nine years ago, 
 I preached in Cape-Town, in a chaff-house, or 
 forage-loft, above the horses, by the heels of 
 which we had to pass, to reach a ladder which 
 led to this sanctuary. * *•' Our commence- 
 ment at Rondebosch was in and near the 
 prison: now Mr. Hodgson has succeeded in 
 raising a suitable chapel, where both whites 
 and people of colour blend together to Avorship 
 Him who is Lord of all." 
 
 Though Mr. Hodgson was never ashamed of 
 his principles as a AYesleyan Methodist, he 
 possessed an eminently catholic spirit, and was 
 ever ready to unite with Ministers and mem- 
 bers of other churches in promoting the exten- 
 sion of the kingdom of Christ. His o-^ti pulpits 
 were often filled, on special occasions, by the 
 Pastors of the Dutch and other chui'ches in 
 Cape-To"wn ; and a proposal being made to 
 form amongst the Ministers of the town a kind 
 of '' Evangelical Alliance," he readily entered 
 into the plan. To promote this object, it was 
 agreed among the Ministers who accorded with 
 it, that they would breakfast together once a 
 month at each other's houses, in rotation, 
 spending an hour previously in prayer and 
 supplication for the Divine blessing on their 
 various labours. The wi'itcr was present at 
 o3 
 
158 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 one of these social meetings, held, on that 
 occasion, at the liouse of Mr. Hodgson; and 
 the hallowed feeling that seemed to pervade 
 the minds of all the Ministers who were there, 
 both whilst prayer was offered up, and in the 
 conversation that afterwards ensued, was most 
 refreshing. It was, indeed, 
 
 " The feast of reason and the flow of soul," 
 
 To another of these occasions the Rev. B. 
 Ridsdale thus refers, when writing to the Com- 
 mittee, in March, 1849 : — "Towards the end 
 of last month, the Rev. J. Freeman, one of the 
 Secretaries of the London Missionarj^ Society, 
 arrived in the 'Lady Flora.' At our next 
 Ministers' breakfast-meeting, which was held 
 at Mr. Hodgson's house, he, together with 
 nine other Ministers of various denominations, 
 attended ; and, on the following Sunday, 
 kindly preached, in our Burg-street chapel, 
 from Rev. xxii. 17." Happy will it be for 
 the churches of Great Britain when their 
 Pastors can heartily unite in promoting one 
 another's spiritual weal. A new era will then 
 dawn upon the land, and the churches them- 
 selves begin to lose sight of their petty differ- 
 ences, and to combine their efforts against the 
 common foe. 
 
 Family circumstances in England rendered 
 it very desirable that Mr. Hodgson should 
 visit, about the year 1847, his native land; 
 and he obtained the full consent of the Com- 
 
nEV. T. L. IIODGSOX. 159 
 
 mittcc to do so. But attaclimcnt to the work 
 in which he was engaged, and the supenor 
 chdms of the Mission in Cape-Town, led him 
 to defer his visit until some more convenient 
 opportunity should present itself. ^' I leave 
 the subject," he observes, in one of his letters 
 to the General Secretaries, " satisfied that my 
 way is not quite plain to rctm-n at present. 
 Should I (at length) do so, it will be duty, and 
 not inclination, that leads me to such a step ; 
 as, at my age, I have no time to spare from 
 the work to which the Lord has called me, for 
 the mere gratification of seeing friends and 
 country." 
 
 Such sentiments as these were worthj- of 
 him. He was a Missionary to the close of his 
 career. In comparison ^dth his task as an 
 ambassador of Jesus Christ, all other things 
 were but as dross and dung. His great object 
 was to finish the work which his Lord had 
 given him to do. 
 
 And his self-denying labours continued to 
 be crowned mth considerable success. In the 
 year 1849, a remarkable revival broke out in 
 Cape-Town, many being awakened to a sense 
 of sin, and a considerable nimiber of young 
 persons, especially, brought into the enjopnent 
 of Christian liberty. A detailed account of 
 this revival, fi'om the pen of the Rev. B. Rids- 
 dale, ^villbe found in the "Missionary Xotices," 
 for October, 1849, from which I make the fol- 
 lowing extract : — 
 
 '' It is scarcely necessarj^ to remark, that our 
 
160 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 esteemed Chairman and Superintendent, "Mr. 
 Hodgson, has been cheered unspeakably by 
 * the times of refreshing' which I have briefly 
 described. He has himself witnessed many a 
 delightful scene during their continuance ; and 
 nothing could have given him greater satisfac- 
 tion and joy than to see the work of the Lord 
 thus prospering in a town in which he has 
 sj)ent so many years of ministerial toil, and in 
 which he has sowed so much of the seed of 
 life." 
 
 Yes ; he was indeed cheered, as every faith- 
 ful Minister, on witnessing the springing up 
 of the seed he has scattered, must be ; and 
 writing himself to the Committee, in August, 
 1849, he observes: " It vrill afford you plea- 
 sure to learn that perfect peace and harmony 
 continue most delightfully to prevail, in every 
 branch of our work in this Circuit. At our 
 last Quarterly Meeting we realised a small 
 but satisfactory increase in the financial de- 
 partment; and we have now, in town, three 
 hundred and three persons meeting in class, 
 being an increase of eighty upon the corre- 
 sponding quarter (June) of last year." 
 
 It was not for nothing, then, that Mr. Hodg- 
 son waived his intended visit to England. 
 Seldom does the Christian forego any personal 
 gratification for the sake of Christ and of His 
 church, without reaping a reward. From 
 some other source enjoyment sj)rings; and 
 what he loses in one way, is more than made 
 up to him in another. 
 
REV, T. L. HODGSON. 161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Sllntss ani IDratl;. 
 
 Affliction tries the Christian's character 
 even more severely than do the most arduous 
 duties of active life. Yet, when sanctified, it 
 is of inestimable value. It refines and purifies 
 the aftections of the soul, and leads it to 
 aspire more ardently after God and heaven. 
 ''In sickness," says Bishop Jeremy Taylor, 
 ''the soul begins to dress herself for immor- 
 tality. By the help of sickness she knocks off 
 the fetters of pride and vainer complacencies. 
 Then she draws the curtain, and stops the 
 light fi'om coming in, and takes the pictures 
 down, those fantastic images of self-love, and 
 gay remembrances of vain opinion and popular 
 noises. Then the spirit stoops with the so- 
 bneties of humble thoughts, and feels cor- 
 ruption chiding the forwardness of the fancy, 
 and allaying the vapours of conceit and factious 
 opinions. For humility is the soul's grave, 
 into which she enters, not to die, but to 
 meditate and inter some of her troublesome 
 appendages."^' 
 
 We have followed the subject of this memoir 
 
 *" Holy Dying." 
 
162 MEMOIll 0¥ THE 
 
 through various scenes of toil and peril, — in 
 the >\'ildcrncss, among heathen tribes, and in 
 the midst of refined and civilised society ; but 
 Tve have now to follow him into the chamber 
 of affliction, to watch him when laid aside 
 from labour, to mark how he enters '^the 
 swellings of Jordan," and finally to witness 
 his triumph over death. It is of " the inner 
 life" of the Christian, more especially, that 
 this chapter treats, and of that inner life 
 diuiug the most important of all seasons, when 
 the "outward man" was failing, and about to 
 "perish." 
 
 Disease began to i^rey upon Mr. Hodgson's 
 frame as early as the year 1844. He was 
 jDroceeding, on one occasion, to his appointment 
 at Simon' s-Town, and, as he was crossing the 
 sands at a late hour of the night, he took a 
 severe cold, so that on the Sabbath he was 
 scarcely able to get through the service. 
 During the night he became much worse ; but 
 his kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. E-onquest, at 
 whose house he lodged, paid him every atten- 
 tion, obtained medical advice, and sent for 
 Mrs. Hodgson, with whom he was able, in a 
 few days, to return to Cape-Town. Mr. and 
 JVIi's, Ronquest were for many years devoted 
 friends of the Wesleyan Ministers ; but they 
 both joined " the spirits of just men made 
 perfect" some time before the subject of this 
 memoir. 
 
 In the year 1847, Mr. Hodgson had another 
 serious attack of sickness, when James M. 
 
HEV. T. L. HODGSON". 163 
 
 MajTiard, Esq., kindly offered him the use of 
 one of liis lioiises at Wjniberg, hoping thus to 
 contiibiite to his restoration. For this kind 
 offer, the sufferer was truly grateful, though, 
 as he found the sea-breezes of Cape-ToAvn 
 beneficial, he declined it. He had contemplated 
 a second visit to Namacqualand ; but this, he 
 now found, it would be impossible for him to 
 undertake. 
 
 From this attack he partially recoYered ; but 
 early in 1850 the symptoms re-appeared, and 
 in a much more alarming foim. Writing to 
 the Committee, April 19th, he observes : — 
 *' Your letter of December 20th reached me 
 on the 24th ult., and found me seriously ill 
 from inflammation, and doubtful as to my 
 recovery. Eemedial means were blessed of 
 God to my present convalescence. I was 
 never so reduced before in South Africa. Even 
 to wi'ite is difficult, and preaching is quite out 
 of the question. At present I wish to declare 
 oiu- united attachment to our beloved cause, 
 and confidence in those who preside over us in 
 the Mission-field ; our condolence with the 
 Committee, and high esteem for our beloved 
 Secretaries. We all "svish Methodism to be as 
 it is, and ever has heen, subject to improvements 
 consistent with the grand principles on which 
 it is based ; and most sti'ongly reprobate the 
 agitation produced by the trium^-irate." 
 
 This impressive testimony in favour' of Wes- 
 leyan Methodism, and against the proceedings 
 of a party who have made themselves suffi- 
 
164 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ciently notorious, is borne in one of the last 
 letters that Mr. Hodgson wrote to the Com- 
 mittee. He saw in those proceedings, as every 
 imprejudiced mind must see in them, nothing 
 but evil, and he did not hesitate to express his 
 views. 
 
 JFor some time, hopes were entertained that 
 he would again recover ; but a wise Providence 
 had determined otherwise. In defiance of the 
 skill of his medical attendant. Dr. Abercrombie, 
 whose efforts on his behalf were most assiduous 
 and untiring, the disease gained ground. Up to 
 this period he had continued to preach ; but he 
 was now forbidden to do so any more. One of his 
 last pulpit-efforts was at Wesley chapel. Burg- 
 street, when he took for his text, "Ee ye also 
 ready; for in such an hour as ye tliink not, 
 the Son of Man comcth :" and ''never," says 
 Miss Hodgson, " will his friends forget the 
 deep feeling he then evinced, and with what 
 earnestness he exhorted all classes of persons 
 to be prepared for death." The following 
 morning, a j^oung man called, and told him 
 that he had been deeply impressed under the 
 sermon, and had resolved to save his soul. 
 His last sermon was in Dutch, at Sydney-street 
 chapel; but he was then so feeble, and suffered 
 so much pain, that it was with great difiiculty 
 he could walk home, though the distance 
 was but short. 
 
 It was with great reluctance that he gave 
 up the hallowed work in which he took so 
 much delight ; and, even after he was unable 
 
KEV. T. L. nODGSON. 165 
 
 to preach, he was still anxious to be employed, 
 in some way, in his Master's cause ; and, for 
 several weeks, he met a class in his own 
 house, consisting of coloured persons who were 
 candidates for baptism, all of whom were ad- 
 mitted into the church by that solemn rite, 
 before he died. 
 
 As his affliction increased, he became per- 
 suaded that it would terminate in death. And 
 now the enemy of his soul harassed him 
 severely, and he was strongly tempted to 
 believe that his religion had been mere h5q)o- 
 ciisy. But the foe was baffled, and he would 
 often say, ''I know that I am Christ's! I 
 know that I am Christ's ! but I want to love 
 Him more." He was visited on one occasion 
 by the Rev. R. Griffiths, from India, who 
 afterwards remarked, '' How delightful it is to 
 see Mr. Hodgson in such a peaceful, happy 
 frame ! He seems so folly to acquiesce in the 
 dispensations of Pro\'idence." And one morn- 
 ing, his daughter, having entered his room, 
 found him propped up with pillows, with his 
 Bible on his knee, which he was perusing 
 alone, tears of joy rolling down his cheeks, 
 and his soul almost overwhelmed with a sense 
 of the goodness of Almighty God. 
 
 About the middle of May, his colleague, 
 Mr. Bidsdale, kindly drove him out in a gig : 
 and one day he was able to walk as far as 
 Sydney- street, where he rested for a while at 
 the house of one of the members; and, on 
 several persons coming in to see him, he 
 
 p 
 
166 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 engaged in prayer. On returning home, he 
 passed the chapel, — that chapel which had 
 been raised by his own exertions, and in which 
 he had experienced so many precious seasons ; 
 and, the door being open, he could not resist 
 the desire of going in, and once more ascending 
 the pulpit. On reaching home, he told his 
 family that he thought, if he could not stand 
 and preach, he might have a seat placed in 
 the pulpit, and still be allowed, whilst sitting, 
 to engage in his much-loved work. But this, 
 of course, was impracticable, as it was manifest 
 to every one that the disease was still making 
 rapid progress. On the 31st of May he sub- 
 mitted to undergo a painful operation, which 
 his medical attendant hoped would afford him 
 some relief. Under the suffering it occasioned 
 he was resigned and patient ; and, on its being 
 remarked to him afterwards by one of his 
 brethren, ''At such times we feel the need 
 and the comfort of Divine grace," he repHed, 
 *' Yes, both its need and its comfort ;" and he 
 then observed that he had for some time past 
 held the world with a veiy loose grasp. 
 
 On the 1st of June he was considerably 
 worse, and said to his daughter, *' 0, Isabella ! 
 it requires some fortitude to look death fully 
 in the face." And on the recurrence of a 
 violent attack of pain, he said he could roll on 
 the floor from agony ; but added, '' I am afraid 
 I murmur. I do not wish to murmur." On 
 the following day, which was the Sabbath, he 
 was somewhat relieved, and had such a precious 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON". 167 
 
 manifestation of his Saviour's presence and 
 love, that he said to a fiiend afterwards, '' I 
 felt He was in my chamber, and so sweetly 
 and sensibly near, that I could have sprung 
 forward to embrace Him." The same day he 
 sent a message to Mr. Eidsdale, who was 
 preaching at Wesley chapel, desiring him to 
 ask the prayers of the congregation on his 
 behalf. It was probably in answer to theii' 
 prayers that he was so remarkably comforted 
 and blessed. 
 
 June 3d. — Mr. Eidsdale visited him, and 
 was struck with his unusually altered appear- 
 ance. But he entered into conversation, and 
 spoke of the child-like spiiit with which the 
 late Dr. Adam Clarke was wont, in his public 
 prayer, to approach the throne of God. '^ It 
 was," said he, ''just like a child aj)proaching 
 its father." 
 
 June 5 th. — In the night he was very rest- 
 less; but to an excellent coloured woman, a 
 member of the Society, who was waiting on 
 him, he said, after a paroxysm of pain, ''All is 
 well ! all is right that the Lord does ! I hope 
 I do not murmur or repine." The following 
 night was also one of suffering ; but he said to 
 'Mrs. Hodgson, " I hope I am Avilling to suffer. 
 Pain itself is not sweet, but as the grace of 
 God enables us to bear it. It is that which 
 enables us to submit to and acquiesce in the 
 will of God." 
 
 On Sunday, June the 16th, he was able to 
 converse but little, yet what he did say was 
 p 2 
 
168 MEMOIR or xnE 
 
 expressive of his firm confidence in Christ. 
 Towards evening, his mind was in a very calm 
 and happy frame, and Mrs. Hodgson read to him 
 a portion of the Eev. R. W. Hamilton's work on 
 the " Revealed Doctrine of Rewards and Punish- 
 ments." "When the subject bore on the eter- 
 nal joys of the saints in the immediate presence 
 of Christ, his countenance beamed with delight, 
 and he seemed to be inspired with a still more 
 glorious hope that, unworthy as he viewed 
 himself, he should see his Saviour's face. On 
 the following day Mrs. Hodgson said to him, 
 " My dear Laidman, if the Lord take you, what 
 shall I and Isabella do?" He replied, "God 
 will take care of you both : you need not fear. 
 How good the Lord has been to me ! I was 
 left to contend with difficulties, yet you see He 
 has never left me ; and He will not leave me." 
 '^ Go on," said he, a few days later, to his 
 colleague, Mr. Godman, " preaching God's 
 truth. If ever I should preach again, I would 
 be plainer than I have ever been. Don't 
 soften any of the truths of God. By being 
 plain, you may offend some ; but go on, and 
 God will bless you." And to Mrs. Godman, 
 who visited him on another occasion : '' My 
 earthly tabernacle is being taken down; pin 
 after pin is loosening." But, he remarked, in 
 answer to the observation, " You have a build- 
 ing of God, a house not made with hands," 
 ^' yes, I have no doubt on that subject, 
 though it is a solemn thing to die." He then 
 referred to the early part of his life, and said, 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 169 
 
 *' How often have I hurried over my dinner 
 that I might secure a little time, in the middle 
 of the day, for prayer ; then hastened to my 
 room, when, after spending, perhaps, a quarter 
 of an hour on my knees, my soul has been so 
 filled with the love of God that I have bounded 
 down-stairs like a hart, and off to business ! 
 I have often left my house on a very incon- 
 venient evening in the week to go to chapel ; 
 and I cannot imderstand how it is that so 
 many now allow trifles to keep them from the 
 house of God on a week-night." 
 
 Impressive observations these. Here was 
 the secret of Mr. Hodgson's piety. It was 
 noiuishcd by habits of prayer formed in early 
 life. Hence it was not a sickly plant, that 
 could not bear the storms of adversity and 
 temptation. Rather, was it like the sturdy 
 oak, the roots of which have fii^m hold upon 
 the soil, and which, therefore, bids defiance to 
 the fiercest blast. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson continued in a most exalted 
 frame of mind for several days, exhorting and 
 encouraging all who ^dsited him, and express- 
 ing his unshaken confidence in the goodness of 
 Almighty God. One day Mrs. Ridsdale and 
 Mrs. Godman called to see him ; and of this ^dsit 
 Mrs. Godman says, " We found our venerated 
 father evidently near his end ; but his soul was 
 tranquil and happy, fully resting on the promises 
 of God." He said that he had always desired 
 to be saved fi'om sudden death; ''For," he 
 observed, '' I like to do the thing deliberately, 
 p 3 
 
170 MEMOIR OF TnE 
 
 and to Imow the ground on which I am build- 
 ing." To another fiiend he said, ^' I want to 
 go to Jesus ; but I want some to go with me. 
 I have a hope. Praise Him ; praise Him ! 
 Elesscd Jesus!" Mrs. Hodgson repeated the 
 line, — 
 
 " Thrice blessed, bliss-inspiring hope ;" 
 
 when he added, with considerable energy, — 
 " It lifts the fainting spirit up," 
 
 and then exclaimed, " My Jesus is there : let 
 Him come. He does sustain me ! There is 
 Jesus !" 
 
 During the night of June 19 th, his sufferings 
 were extreme. About half-past one he slept a 
 little, but soon awoke. His colleague, the 
 Rev. B. Ridsdale, Mrs. Hodgson, and his 
 daughter, being present, he said, " 0, how I 
 long for the salvation of those who are not 
 saved ! There is room in heaven for all." 
 Then, breaking out in earnest prayer, he said, 
 '^ I want the fulness. I scarcely dare ask. A 
 promise here, a promise there : when they 
 all come together, they are too great for me. 
 O, the height and depth of the love of God, 
 which passeth knowledge !" To Mrs. Hodgson 
 he said, " I will praise Him ; but I cannot 
 praise Him enough. Precious Jesus ! He will 
 be precious to you and to Isabella." And 
 again he broke out in prayer, " Lord, save, save 
 souls!" 
 
 " The death of the saints," says Hooker, 
 "is precious in God's sight. And shall it 
 seem superfluous at such times as these are, to 
 
REV. T. L. nODGSOX. 171 
 
 hear in what manner they have ended their 
 lives ? The Lord Himself hath not disdained 
 so exactly to register in the book of life in 
 •what sort His servants have closed their days 
 on earth, that He descendeth to their very 
 meanest action ; what meat they have longed 
 for in their sickness ; what they have spoken 
 nnto tlieir children, kinsfolks, and friends; 
 where they have willed their dead carcasses to 
 be laid; how they have fi-amed their wills and 
 testaments," We linger, then, in the chamber 
 of our suffering friend, that we may see how 
 mercifully God dealt with him in the final 
 conflict. 
 
 But now we approach the closing scene. 
 Early in the morning of Friday, June 21st, 
 which was the day of his departure, he said, 
 " I have had such a glorious view of Mount 
 Zion, the Jerusalem above ! But 0, how pure ! 
 how holy ! It would almost make one tremble 
 to enter. But all our unfaithfulness, all our 
 shortcomings may be forgiven, they are for- 
 given, through the blood of Jesus. I see the 
 pearly gates : they are open for me, unworthy 
 me ; and I shall enter in." Sir Harry Smith 
 was reviewing the troops on the Parade, and 
 Mr. Hodgson was somewhat disturbed by the 
 noise of the musketry; but after it had ceased, he 
 remained for some time tranquil. Mr. Ridsdale 
 remarking, ^'"What a blessed part of our 
 Saviour's intercessory prayer is that, ' Father, 
 I will that they also whom Thou hast given 
 Me, be with Me where I am, that they may 
 behold Mj' glory!'" his face brightened, and 
 
172 MEMOm OF THE 
 
 he replied with animation, " Yes, I have been 
 meditating on that all night and all yesterday," 
 quoting at the same time the words, " In My 
 Father's house are many mansions : if it were 
 not so, I would have told you. I go to pi^e- 
 pare a place for you." At this moment the 
 Rev. E. Edwards and his two daughters entered 
 the room ; and Mr. Hodgson, sitting upright 
 in bed, remarked, ''Well, brother Edwards, 
 you see I live yet, and I am happy yet ;" and 
 then he addressed the daughters, urging on 
 them the choice of true religion, and quoting 
 Prior's well-known lines : — 
 
 " Sweet peace she brings wherever she arrives, 
 She builds our quiet, as she forms our lives ; 
 Lays the rough paths of peevish nature even, 
 And opens in each breast a little heaven." 
 
 "The whole scene," it is observed by one 
 who was present, " was truly beautiful and 
 impressive." 
 
 A few hours later, Mr. Eidsdale, who had 
 left him, was re-called, and at once perceived 
 that he was rapidly approaching the eternal 
 world. His mind wandered for a moment or 
 two, but soon resumed its wonted frame ; and, 
 as his fiiends stood around his bed, he ex- 
 claimed with rapture, " Victory ! victory ! 
 victory ! victory ! through the blood of the 
 Lamb ! the blood of the Lamb ! the blood of 
 the Lamb!" And soon after, ''He is mine — 
 mine — mine — for ever, for ever, for ever." In 
 reply to a kind friend, who asked if he could 
 give up Mrs. Hodgson and Isabella, he said, 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSOX. 173 
 
 *' I have given all up. I do give all up. Let 
 me be gone : I long to be gone." After a few 
 moments' silence, he exclaimed, with a weak 
 but clear voice, " Victor}" ! victory ! victory ! 
 victory! victory!" Mr. Eidsdale engaged in 
 prayer, and was asking for a mitigation of his 
 sufferings, when he stopped him, and said, 
 '^Brother Ridsdale, don't put anj-thing into 
 my mind, or out of it. I have no will : I only 
 wish to be and to suffer just what God would 
 have me." This remark was probably made 
 in reference to a passage which had been read 
 to him diu'ing an earlier part of the day, — 
 *' And they gave Him to di^ink wine mingled 
 with myrrh, but He received it not." Allu- 
 sion had been made, at the time of reading, to 
 the custom of administering a stupefying potion 
 to those about to suffer; and Mr. Hodgson's 
 refusal to allow his friends to pray for the 
 mitigation of his sufferings, probably arose 
 from a desire to imitate his Saviour in this 
 respect also, and to endure all that God might 
 please to inflict. His resignation to the Divine 
 will seemed perfect. He was meek and passive 
 as a lamb. But what he would not ask for, 
 was bestowed. The violent pain left him, and 
 did not return. After a silence of a few 
 minutes, he began to repeat the names of some 
 of his deceased relatives; and then, as if the 
 intercourse with the spiritual world had 
 ah'eady opened, he exclaimed, somewhat in- 
 distinctly, ''Hosts, hosts, hosts r^ These 
 were his last words. He afterwards lay 
 for some time in silence, his eyes directed 
 
174 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 upwards; when at length, as many of his 
 fiiends stood watching him, the summons 
 came, — his eyes closed, he ceased to breathe, 
 without one struggle the spirit fled, and left 
 its tenement of clay, a temporary prey to 
 death, until, when the archangel's trumpet 
 shall sound, "death" shall be " swallowed up 
 in victory." 
 
 Thus lived and thus died Thomas Laidman 
 Hodgson. He honoured God by the consecra- 
 tion of his life to the great and glorious enter- 
 prise of Missions ; and God honoured him, by 
 giving him to see considerable fruit of his 
 labour, and by granting him a peaceful and 
 triumphant end. To speak of such a man's 
 failings, is not our province; and though he 
 had them, yet they were counterbalanced by 
 so many excellencies, that they may well be 
 buried in oblivion. He himself was conscious 
 of them, and often moiu-ned on their account ; 
 but he was '' washed, he was sanctified, he 
 was justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 and by the Sjniit of his God." He was in- 
 debted, as he himself was ever ready to 
 acknowledge, for all he had to grace. He 
 made choice of religion in very early life ; and, 
 though not possessed of either extraordinary 
 talents or extensive learning, he became one of 
 the most eminent and successful of modern 
 Missionaries. 
 
 On the Sabbath after his death his remains 
 were interred in the English burial-ground, 
 Cape-Town. A vast concoiu'se of spectators, 
 composed of persons from Simon' s-Town, Wyn- 
 
REV. T. L. HODGSON. 175 
 
 berg, Dicp-River, and Rondcbosch, together 
 Trith large numbers of the most respectable 
 inhabitants of Cape-Town, was gathered to- 
 gether on the occasion; so that by the time 
 the procession had reached the burial-ground, 
 it was computed that there were present not 
 less than six thousand people. Such a funeral 
 had seldom, or never, been witnessed in Cape- 
 Town. Persons of all ranks were there, — Dutch 
 and English, white and coloured. Six or seven 
 Ministers of other denominations, besides five 
 of his own, followed in the train ; and thus an 
 almost universal desire was manifested to pay- 
 respect to Mr. Hodgson's memory. He had 
 lived down prejudice; he had turned enemies 
 into friends ; and now nearly the whole town 
 acknowledged that it had lost one of its best 
 and noblest citizens. The man who, a few 
 years before, had been hooted in the streets, 
 and exposed to the violence of a senseless mob, 
 was now committed to the grave amidst the 
 tears of thousands. 
 
 The funeral- service was read by the Rev. 
 Messrs. Shaw and Edwards ; and sermons were 
 subsequently preached in all the chapels of 
 Cape-Town and the neighbourhood. A neat 
 tablet to his memory, bearing an appropriate 
 inscription, was put up in Burg-street chapel by 
 the members of the church and congregation. 
 
 Mr. Hodgson was in the sixty-third year of 
 his age, and the thirtj-fifth of his ministry. 
 By far the greater part of that ministry was 
 spent, as the preceding narrative shows, in 
 Southern Africa; and the fi'uits of it were both 
 
176 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 rich and ample. He lived to see Christian' 
 churches planted in many portions of that 
 country, which, when he entered on his labours, 
 were wholly destitute of religious culture ; and 
 he had the satisfaction of kno^ving that, as the 
 result of his own and of his brethren's efforts, 
 accompanied as they had been with the bless- 
 ing of Almighty God, the moral aspect of 
 South Africa had undergone, in thirty years, 
 a most decided change. The long dark night 
 which had settled on the land had been suc- 
 ceeded by the morning's dawn; and the ter- 
 ritories of Heathenism, from the Damara 
 country to Port-JS'atal, had been ti^odden by 
 the feet of the messengers of peace. 
 
 The gradual progress of the Wesleyan Mis- 
 sions in South Africa, is exhibited in the fol- 
 lowing statement: — In the year 1829, the 
 number of Stations in the Cape, Albany, and 
 Bechuana Districts was 12 ; of Missionaries, 
 13; and of members, 434. In 1839, the 
 number of Stations was 22 ; of Missionaries, 
 23; and of church-members, 1,551. And in 
 1849, the number of Stations was 42 ; of Mis- 
 sionaries, 38; and of church-members, 4,233, 
 Thus in the first ten years the number of 
 Stations and of Missionaries was nearly doubled, 
 and that of members nearly trebled ; whilst in 
 the second ten years the number of members 
 was more than doubled, and the number of 
 Missionaries and Stations nearly so. In the 
 Cape District alone there were more members 
 in church-fellowship with us, at the time of 
 Mr. Hodgson's death, than, in 1829, we uum- 
 
UEV. T. L. HODGSON. 177 
 
 bered in the whole of Southern Africa; and 
 during the fifteen years in which he had 
 charge of the Missions in that District, the 
 number of members increased sixfold. 
 
 And then, within the last thirty years, con- 
 siderable portions of the sacred Scriptures have 
 been translated into the Bechuana and Kaffir 
 languages, printed and circulated to a very 
 large extent. In the Dutch language, too, 
 hymn-books, tracts, and sermons, including 
 several of Mr. Wesley's, have been prepared 
 and pubUshed ; and thus, among all the native 
 tribes of Southern Afiica, the means now exist 
 of becoming, to some extent, at least, acquainted 
 with the truths of Christianity. What en- 
 couragement do these facts present to the 
 Christian Missionary who is entering on some 
 comparatively new and untried field of toil ! 
 Let him contemplate them; and let him go 
 forth upon his errand with the firm conviction 
 that, though he may labour for some years 
 before any fruit appears, — nay, may even fall 
 ere a single blade springs up, — yet, never- 
 theless, his efforts shall not be unavailing, but 
 he shall ultimately reap, if he faint not. 
 
 The first Missionary Meeting held in Cape- 
 Town after Mr. Hodgson's death was a memor- 
 able one. Dr. Abercrombie, who had been 
 his medical attendant, occupied the chair ; and, 
 alluding to his departure, struck a chord 
 which vibrated on the hearts of all present. 
 The Hon. E,. Godlonton, and a Missionary of 
 the London Society, followed, and spoke in the 
 
 Q 
 
178 MEMOIR OF THE REV. T. L. HODGSON. 
 
 most affectionate terms of the deceased. All 
 mourned the loss of so excellent a man, yet all 
 rejoiced in his triumphant end. 
 
 ''Elessed are the dead which die in the 
 Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, 
 that they may rest from their labours; and 
 their works do follow them." (Eev. xiv. 13.) 
 Yes, ''from henceforth," that is, even now, from 
 this present time. For what is death ? the 
 sleep of the soul ? It cannot be. The saints 
 who are ''absent from the body" are "present 
 with the Lord." They all live unto God. 
 They have entered into immediate rest. The 
 doctrine of a long night, during which the 
 spirit is unconscious, is a cheerless one indeed; 
 but derives no countenance either from phi- 
 losophy or Scripture. 
 
 ^' I live, move, am conscious : what shall bar my 
 
 being ? 
 Where is the rude hand, to rend this tissue of 
 
 existence ? 
 Not thine, shadowy Death ! what art thou but a 
 
 phantom ? 
 Not thine, foul Corruption! Avhat art thou but a 
 
 fear ? 
 For death is merely absent life, as darkness absent 
 
 light; 
 Not even a suspension, for the life hath sailed away, 
 
 steering gladly somewhere." 
 
 Reader, thou art immortal ! Imitate the 
 EXAMPLE of Christ and of His followers, 
 
 AND thus SHALT THOU SECURE AN IMMORTALITY 
 OF BLESSEDNESS. 
 
 H. T. & /. ROCHE, PRINTERS, 25, HOXTON-SQUARE, lONDON. 
 
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