s are of course the
opulent of the nation, they oppose us. You observe in Caffreland, as
elsewhere, it is 'hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
heaven.' I have asked the chiefs why they will not come to church, and
their reply has been, 'The great word is calculated to lessen our
pleasures and diminish the number of our wives; to this we can never
consent,'"

"But still you say you have made some progress."

"If I have, let it be ascribed to the Lord, and not to me and my
otherwise useless endeavors; it must be His doing; and without His aid
and assistance, the difficulties would have been insurmountable. It is
for me only to bear in mind the scriptural injunction, 'In the morning
sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest
not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both
shall be alike good.'"

"But have they no idea whatever of a Supreme Being, either bad or good?
have they no idea, as some of the African tribes have, of the devil?"

"None; and in their language they have no word to express the idea of
the Deity; they swear by their kings of former days as great chiefs,
but no more. Now if they had any religion whatever, you might, by
pointing out to them the falsity and absurdity of that religion, and
putting it in juxtaposition with revealed Truth, have some hold upon
their minds; but we have not even that advantage."

"But can not you make an impression upon their minds by referring to the
wonders of nature,--by asking them who made the sun and stars? Surely
they might be induced to reflect by such a method."

"I have tried it a hundred times, and they have laughed at me for my
fables, as they have termed them. One of the chiefs told me to hold my
tongue, that his people might not think me mad. The Scriptures, indeed,
teach us that, without the aid of direct revelation, men are also
without excuse if they fail to attain to a certain knowledge of the
Deity,--'even his eternal power and God-head,'--by a devout
contemplation of the visible world, which with all its wonders is spread
out before them as an open volume. But beyond this, all knowledge of the
origin or manner of creation is derived, not from the deductions of
human reasoning, but from the Divine testimony; for it is expressly
said, 'Through faith we understand that the worlds were made by the word
of God.'"

"Nevertheless you must admit that, among the civilized nations of
Europe, many w