DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIGIOUS BODIES OF THE DIAMOND FIELDS FROM THE
EARLIEST DAYS.—EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS.—THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.—ROMAN
CATHOLICS FROM THE DEATH OF FATHER HIDIEN TO THAT OF FATHER
WALSHE.—DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH.—DOPPERS.—WESLEYANS.—PRESBYTERIANS.—GERMAN
LUTHERANS.—JEWS.—MAHOMETANS.—HINDUS.—“BISHOP MELLET.”—NATIVES.—NEGLECTED
OPPORTUNITIES.—ADVENT OF SALVATION ARMY.—SUNDRY VISITORS.—BIRDS OF
PASSAGE.
The average diamond digger, in the first wild rush, “the feverish race
for wealth,” was not of a markedly irreligious disposition, as might
have been expected, judging from the analogy of mining camps in other
parts of the world.
The distance of the Vaal River from any colonial town, and the expense
of reaching the diggings on its banks made it a matter of impossibility
for men without means, either to reach the place or to support
themselves after their arrival; hence, the first comers were, as a
matter of course, above the general stamp of those who constitute a
digging community. They were men, as a rule, well educated and well
brought up, and it was not likely that they would altogether forget
their early religious training or to allow these duties to lapse into
utter neglect; but at the same time the results of the complete absence
of women and children, and the sobering effect which their influence
produces, was in the early days more or less observable.
The first clergymen of the Church of England who visited the new El
Dorado, were Archdeacons Kitton and Croghan, of the diocese of
Bloemfontein, who visited Klipdrift, on the Vaal River, in 1870, where
amidst the most strange and unusual surroundings they held religious
services for the diggers.
I have still a vivid recollection of the primitive state of things
existing, even when I arrived some months afterward. On the first Sunday
that I spent on the Diamond Fields in November 1871, I attended a
“Church of England” service at the New Rush or Colesberg Kopje, as
Kimberley was then called. This was held in a canvas tent billiard-room,
situated near the spot where the “Blue Posts” still remains. On entering
I beheld a full-robed clergyman officiating at one end of a billiard
table, which served for his reading desk, whilst a large and attentive
crowd sat around the other end, some on rude benches which were fixed
along the walls, others perched upon gin cases, buckets reversed, or any
other make-shift that came to hand. The congregation behaved with
suitable decorum, but I confess it was not easy to keep the mind from
wandering to the incongruity of the surroundings. Whilst the parson was
earnestly engaged imploring our deliverance “from all the deceits of the
world, the flesh and the devil,” I caught many an eye looking askance at
the cues in the corner, no doubt indulging in reflections on the past,
and in speculations as to the success or non-success of some match to be
played in the future. Moreover, when the parson was praying or the
people singing, it was not particularly edifying to be interrupted by
the lively chaff and occasional bursts of blasphemy, which we could
plainly hear through the canvas party-walls, which separated us from the
adjoining bar and its half tipsy occupants. Defoe’s lines:
“Wherever God erects a house of prayer,
The Devil always builds a chapel there.”
had here a liberal interpretation indeed—although I am not sure that
they were strictly applicable in this instance, seeing that our parson
had knowingly thrust himself into the devil’s own domain.
Notwithstanding these drawbacks, and despite the fiascos which resulted
from our unfortunate attempts to properly render the appointed hymns, it
was nevertheless refreshing to hear the grand old service once again and
have the recollection of one’s early days brought back, even amidst such
inharmonious concomitants.
The Rev. Canon Doxat was the first clergyman of the Church of England
who took general charge of the diggings, and until his health gave way
and he returned home invalided in 1877, both here, and in later years at
Barkly, he was indefatigable in his work, whether as parish priest,
attendant on the sick, or instructor of the young. The Rev. W. Rickards
succeeded him at the dry diggings in 1871. During his rectorship a
raw-brick structure, now a store, was erected in place of the canvas
building which hitherto had done ecclesiastical duty, the congregation
meanwhile growing rapidly in numbers and influence. During the whole of
this period Mr. Rickards was also assiduous in pushing forward the cause
of education, which had been much neglected. After this working
minister’s leaving for England, three clergymen, the Revs. Messrs.
Maude, Borton and Hanbury successively held the rectorship. During the
incumbency of the first gentleman a new and larger church, of corrugated
iron, was built in a more central part of the town, which, just on
nearing its completion in 1879, was blown to the ground, a complete
ruin, but it was quickly rebuilt, and opened for worship in 1880.[90]
The church and schools during the incumbencies of these gentlemen
gradually increased in numbers under the organization of the Right Rev.
Allan B. Webb, D. D., bishop of Bloemfontein, under whose spiritual
jurisdiction the English Church in Griqualand West was then placed.
Bishop Webb, however, later on in 1882, resigned his see, and after an
interval of three years the Rev. G. W. H. Knight-Bruce was appointed,
last year (1886), to fill the vacant bishopric.
At the present time the Rev. Canon Gaul, who is rector of St. Cyprian’s
and rural dean of Griqualand West and Bechuanaland, with four assistant
priests, conducts the services of the church in Kimberley and
Beaconsfield, while two native mission churches, one in Kimberley and
one at Phokoane, in Bechuanaland, are ministered to by faithful and
devoted clergy. I may add that several new churches and buildings are
projected, but although the amount of money raised for church purposes
during the year ending Easter, 1885, was £6,815, yet the church’s
present financial condition still requires a zealous effort to be made
by its supporters to clear it from the burden of debt.
The services, both at St. Cyprian’s, Kimberley, and at All Saints,
Beaconsfield, may by some be considered of a High Church, if not
ritualistic character, but although a tendency in that direction may
exist, I am glad to state that these services are not conducted by High
Church clergymen of an emasculate or hysterical type, men indulging in
man millinery or ritualistic playthings, but by earnest, honest workers,
in genuine sympathy with their fellow creatures.
Turning to the Roman Catholics, I am only doing justice to the memory of
Father Hidien, the first Roman Catholic priest who visited the Fields,
in stating that he was the leading figure in the religious world of the
early days. Not only was he beloved by the members of his own faith, but
a kindly disposition, never weary in well doing, and a boundless,
practical charity, caused him to be revered by the members of every
denomination. Dr. Allard, then bishop of, and who at the time visited
the diggings, placed the Catholics on the Diamond Fields under his care,
but this charge he did not long retain, for the summer of 1871, among
its many victims, snatched away the good father from his work. Father Le
Bihan, who had worked for several years among the natives of Basutoland,
then came to take Father Hidien’s place. At that time the Catholics of
Du Toit’s Pan, like the Hebrews of old in the desert, assembled for
divine worship in a tent, while their priest, living in a tent wagon
close by, was ready to follow his congregation wherever a new Rush might
draw them.
When Colesberg Kopje (Kimberley mine) developed into a permanent
digging, Father Le Bihan followed, and it was here through his
instrumentality that a permanent church of wood and iron was erected.
When this was out of debt, Father Le Bihan turned his attention to
education, and built in an incredibly short space of time the three
first schools in Griqualand West, one for boys, one for girls, and the
third for infants. Just at this juncture Bishop Rickards paid the Fields
a visit from Grahamstown, and at a banquet which was given in his honor
on that occasion, I recollect that Mr. R. W. Murray, Sen., the
vice-chairman, telling the company “that his experience of the Catholic
church in South Africa was, that wherever the Catholics erected
churches, schools at once followed, of which Kimberley was an instance
in point.” The truth of the vice-chairman’s observations was felt by
all. Later on the same evening the bishop responding to the special
toast of “Education,” which had been entrusted to me, gave the first
public intimation of his intention to introduce Trappist monks from a
monastery in Algeria into South Africa, saying: “These would teach the
sanctity of labor, and prepare the natives to receive the great truths
of Christianity.” This scheme the bishop afterward endeavored to carry
out, but the work at Dunbrodie, near Port Elizabeth, led to
disappointment, the climate, drought and heat not favoring the efforts
of the monks. Subsequently they removed to Mariann Hill, near Pinetown,
in Natal, where every success is following their work.
Bishop Jolivet, however, soon discovered that Father Le Bihan’s labors
could not longer be spared from the scene of his former triumphs, and
Father Walshe took his place here in 1876, and entering at once heart
and soul into the work of his predecessor, remained until the beginning
of 1878. Then leaving he became a soldier of the cross in more senses
than one, his tall form familiar alike to sick persons and young
children and to prisoners and captives, his genial, happy disposition
and his wonderful influence being transferred to scenes where his
courageous devotion and his readiness at the call of duty could perhaps
be even more appreciated than with us—as military chaplain during the
Zulu war, the Sekukuni campaign and the Transvaal outbreak. He also was
chaplain in the perhaps unnecessary, and to a certain section annoying,
because bloodless, Bechuanaland expedition. He seemed to possess a
charmed life. It mattered not to him whether he was cheering the wounded
at Ulundi, regardless of the bullets raining around, or whether he was
tending the sick in the beleagured fort of Lydenburg, duty was ever
paramount, and he was indeed one of those
“Quos non profani tessera proclii
Duxit in bellum.”
It was my melancholy lot to see him (in consultation) during his last
illness, bravely struggling for life against a severe attack of lung
inflammation, which carried him off on Sept. 12th, 1885.
The Rev. Father Lenoir, the present parish priest, who succeeded Father
Walshe in 1878, at once set to work with indomitable energy. Noticing
the lack of opportunity which existed for the education of Roman
Catholic girls, he built a convent, and with the hearty concurrence of
Bishop Jolivet procured from Europe some Sisters of the Holy Family to
assist in the meritorious work.
The ancient Greek proverb declares that “the beginning is the half of
the whole,” or as the homely Saxon saw puts it, “Well begun and half
done;” and now the Rev. Mother, Lady Superior, in a double sense of the
word, and the Sisters of the Holy Family, perform their daily duties in
buildings, which for Kimberley, a place but a few short years ago an
uninhabited grassy plain, are simply magnificent.
Not content with this Father Lenoir commenced the construction in stone
and brick of a building designed for a new church, the old one built by
Father Le Bihan having become too small for the congregation. The
foundation stone was laid by Bishop Jolivet on Nov. 1st, 1879, and in
one year the most handsome sacred building in Kimberley was opened for
divine worship. Father Lenoir told his congregation at the time that
“nothing was too grand for the service of the Almighty,” and right well
they had seconded his efforts, for this magnificent structure,
possessing beautiful altar paintings and appurtenances which cost over
£7,000, is entirely free from debt. A lesson from this might easily be
learned by the members of the Church of England. In 1883 a new church
and school were also erected at Beaconsfield.
These are under the care of the Sisters of the Holy Family and the
priests of Kimberley, while a home for destitute children is in course
of erection at Barkly.
The Indians as well, who have found their way here from Hindostan,
Mauritius and Natal, of whom a considerable number are Roman Catholics,
receive their share of attention, no less than 200 being taught at the
mission school. I may mention in conclusion that not only in spiritual
but also in temporal matters the Catholic priesthood has endeavored to
forward the public welfare.
St. Mary’s Benefit Society, of which since its formation in 1876 I have
had medical charge, contributes greatly to the assistance of any of its
members who may be stricken down by disease, and also aids in Catholic
matters generally, while at the same time its thorough organization and
its deeds of charity are assisting to make Roman Catholicism influential
in the country.
In the early days of the Diamond Fields, when Griqualand West, which
comprises _the_ four diamond mines of the world, was still the property
of the Orange Free State, and the institutions of the place were
administered by its officials, the Dutch people and language occupied a
position of importance. The Dutch as a rule are highly conservative in
their religious tendencies, and it can well be imagined the Dutch
Reformed Church, with its synod and kirkraad, its ministers, elders and
deacons was not long in following and taking care of its nomadic
adherents. The Dutch Reformed Church, which is Calvinistic in doctrine,
was founded in the Netherlands in the year 1579. It then accepted as its
chief doctrinal standard the Belgic Confession, translated in 1562 from
the “Confession de Foy” of Guido de Brès. This confession was revised at
the synod of Dordrecht in the years 1618 and 1619, and since that time
the standards of the Dutch Reformed Church have been the following,
viz., 1. The Heidelberg Catechism, containing instructions in the
Christian religion. 2. The Belgic Confession, with more elaborate
details, and 3. The Canons of Dordrecht, which are mainly supplementary
to the Belgic Confession.
The earliest congregation in South Africa of the members of the Dutch
Reformed Church, a branch of the Church in Holland, was formed at the
very commencement of the Cape Colony, the first minister coming from
Holland in 1665 to attend to its wants.
The Dutch Reformed remained the Established Church of the Cape of Good
Hope, notwithstanding the interim of English rule, which lasted from
1795 to 1802. In this latter year the Treaty of Amiens, having brought
the Colony back to its former relationship with Holland, the
administration of Cape affairs was resumed by the Dutch until 1806, when
the Government of the Dutch was finally closed by the articles of
capitulation agreed to at the foot of Sir Lowry’s Pass, and afterwards
ratified at the Castle in Capetown in January of the same year between
General Baird and General Janssens, the English and Dutch commanders.
Public worship on that occasion received special mention. In the 8th
Article of Capitulation it was stipulated that, “Public worship as now
in use will also continue without interference.” And so it did, for the
Dutch Reformed remained the Established Church in South Africa, and
received state aid as well; no less than 30 congregations (until the
passing of Saul Solomon’s “Voluntary Bill” in 1879 put an end to further
state patronage) acquiring grants averaging £200 per annum each.
At the diggings on the Vaal River, the Dutch were not neglected by the
pastors of their Church, ministers from the Cape Colony and the Orange
Free State paying periodical visits to the camps. It was not, however,
until there was a pretty certain prospect of the dry diggings becoming
more than a passing dream that churches were built, congregations
established, and ministers appointed, at Du Toit’s Pan and Kimberley in
1872. These congregations, which were large, numbering at Kimberley some
3500 souls, and at Du Toit’s Pan more than 1500, were in the first place
independent, but became subject to the Synod of the “Dutch Reformed
Church in South Africa,” (the official name for the Dutch Reformed
Church of the Cape Colony,) when Griqualand West was annexed to the Cape
Colony.
Owing to the decadence of mining by individual diggers, and the
consequent falling away of the population, these churches have suffered
much in the number of their adherents, the congregation of Kimberley now
numbering about 1200 only and Du Toit’s Pan about 600 souls.
The Dutch Reformed Church has no missions standing in connection with
the parish of Kimberley, as the field is already taken up by the Berlin
Missionary Society, and the Wesleyans and Independent bodies, but they
have a native church at Beaconsfield founded in 1878, and a church for
colored people, with fine buildings and parsonage, built in 1883.
At Kimberley the Rev. J. D. Kestell, the present pastor, has for some
years been most zealous in superintending the erection of the new church
just completed, situated in the Newton Market Square.
This church is unrivalled on the Diamond Fields. Built solidly of brick
in Roman style, it has a most commanding appearance, and its interior,
with beautifully fitted pews and panelled ceiling, is a fine specimen of
chaste simplicity of architecture. To crown all, it has little or no
debt, although nearly £6000 has been spent on its construction. At
Beaconsfield the Dutch Reformed Church has a fine building for divine
worship, while both there and at Kimberley, as well as at the Mission
School for colored people, the cause of education is not forgotten.
Before concluding my description of the Dutch Reformed Church, I must
not forget to mention a sight, which occasionally was beheld some ten
years ago, flitting across the view like the spectre of a bygone age.
This was a visitor who appeared as singular in his garb as a Quaker of
the old school would be to twentieth century eyes, for with a peculiarly
shaped black cloth tunic, long hair cut in a circle round his neck and
forehead like a Russian Cossack, a rough beard, lips cleanly shaved, and
a hat oval and low crowned with a tremendous broad green-lined brim, to
shade his ruddy cheeks, he used to be the “observed of all observers.”
This picture is that of a “dopper” farmer who used occasionally to be
seen selling his corn on our market, but who, I fear, from his continued
absence, has long since been gathered to the garner filled with “the
bearded grain and the flowers that grow between.”
These “doppers,” relics of the past, of whom, I believe, President
Kruger is a representative in the Transvaal, do not differ essentially
from the members of the Dutch Reformed Church in doctrine; they are
simply more conservative in feeling, less liberal in action, very
jealous of innovation and entirely unprogressive in ideas.
This I think will give my readers a fair idea of the Dutch Reformed
Church as it exists in South Africa at the present time.
[Illustration:
A “DOPPER” BOER.
]
Among dissenting bodies, the Wesleyans are numerically the most
important.
The first regular minister sent to hold service on the Diamond Fields
was the Rev. I. Priestly, appointed by the English Conference in 1871.
Previous to his arrival, however, the Rev. W. Wynne, who after a long
interval has again resumed charge at Kimberley, conducted services in
the various camps. During this interval, which extended over some twelve
years, these services were carried on, among others, by the Rev. I. I.
Calvert, well known through his labors in the Fiji Islands, and other
talented and able men. As a proof of their energetic ministrations, up
to the present time this body has steadily increased, and now, as the
result of persistent work, in Kimberley alone, three English, one Dutch
and one native Wesleyan church, under four European and one native
minister, can be counted.
In Du Toit’s Pan there is an English as well as a native congregation,
both under the charge of the Rev. B. Hayes. To show the hold which
Wesleyanism has gained here I have carefully calculated the average
Sunday attendance at the various Wesleyan chapels on the Fields, and
find it to be nearly 2000, while I am also informed that 600 children
regularly receive religious instruction.
In 1879 certain Presbyterians. Congregationalists, and a few Baptists,
who had hitherto been worshipping with the Wesleyans, finding their
numbers increasing, thought the time had arrived to constitute
themselves into a separate Church. This was in due course accomplished,
and although the Church that they formed had no connection with any
Presbytery, being entirely self-governing, the title of Presbyterian was
assumed. They possess a fine place of worship, and an average
congregation of four hundred souls. The present minister is Mr. Lloyd,
who displays great energy in the discharge of his duties, and has the
satisfaction of knowing that his efforts are appreciated by large
congregations.
The population of Kimberley, it is scarcely necessary for me to say, is
made up of different nationalities, among which the German is one of the
most segregative.
In one of the quiet thoroughfares leading to the mine, a neat little
church may be seen, which on inquiry proves to be that belonging to the
German Lutherans.
The Germans for the last ten years have been fortunate enough to be able
to worship God in their own language, and from the inauguration of the
Lutheran services they have been conducted by their present pastor, the
Rev. C. Meyer, of the Berlin Missionary Society. The first services were
held in the High Court, lent for the purpose, in January, 1875, and were
continued there until the completion of the present church in October of
the same year. The congregation naturally being confined within the
limits of those speaking the German tongue, it is not large, numbering
about 150. The German children in Kimberley as a rule go to English
schools, but twice a week their pastor holds a class to which he gives
instruction, through the medium of the German language.
The Germans are virtually “Strangers in a strange land,” but
notwithstanding this, they have devoted a good deal of attention to the
natives, and the resident church minister has at the present time a
large native mission under his charge.
Another congregation, and one which comprises men born in the most
distant and diverse parts of the world, is that of the Jewish people,
who have for ages been known as judges and dealers in precious stones,
and who, therefore, as may readily be conceived, muster in large numbers
at the Diamond Mines of Brazil, and in still greater numbers at those of
South Africa.
As soon as the wonderful finds on the Vaal River became known in Europe,
many representatives of eminent English and continental Jewish firms,
with, of course, others drawn from the Colony, appeared on the scene,
and a Jewish circle was soon formed which at the present time numbers
some 1400 souls, of which about 600 are adult males. On the Vaal River
and in the first days of the Dry Diggings at Du Toit’s Pan and New Rush,
the Jews had no rabbi or reader to conduct their services, nor had they
a synagogue in which to read prayers with due solemnity. Consequently on
holidays and festivals, of which there are six during the year, some
large store or public hall was converted into a temporary synagogue
where were duly explained the scrolls of the Sacred Law, and where three
members of their community officiated by turns.
At that time no Sabbath holidays were kept, and if deaths occurred, or
the anniversary of deaths was observed, prayers were read in some
private house. When, too, the initiatory rite of circumcision had to be
performed, a minister or rabbi, at a great expense, was sent for to
Capetown or Port Elizabeth. The wealthy Jewish community of the Diamond
Fields did not long allow this state of affairs to continue, but in 1876
built a synagogue at a cost of £3000 on ground given them by the London
and South African Exploration Company. In course of time a rabbi was
obtained from England, and a Hebrew school, attached to the synagogue,
was duly instituted. This rabbi, the Rev. M. Mendelssohn, retired at the
conclusion of the period of his engagement, and was succeeded by the
Rev. A. Ornstein, a young but most energetic minister, in the month of
August, 1881. The ministrations of this gifted and noble man lasted but
too brief a time. He came here and found the Sabbath but rarely observed
with any strictness, and in other respects too may be applied to him the
words “his righteous soul was vexed with the iniquity of the wicked.”
Undisturbed by the blazing heat of the African sun or the remonstrances
of his friends, he pressed on his chosen path of self-denial and
devotion, with the result that before a few short months had flown by he
had fallen a victim to fever. His influence is not yet passed away, as
the increased number of stores closed on the Hebrew Sabbath serve to
testify.[91]
In connection with their synagogue the Jews have also two philanthropic
Societies conferring monetary gifts and medical attendance on the
deserving poor. Their charities, however, are not confined solely to
their co-religionists, Jewish citizens having ever been found to the
front in all works of charity.
Coming next to the Malays residing on the Diamond Fields: they form by
no means an inconsiderable portion of the population, either in number,
respectability or voting power. As long ago as the year 1871, three or
four, more than ordinarily adventurous, could be seen digging at the
Vaal River, and on the opening up of the Dry Diggings several might have
been found at Du Toit’s Pan, but it is in late years only that the
“Malay Camp” has grown to its present proportions, numbering now some
600 souls. The Malays on the Fields came of course originally from
Capetown and Port Elizabeth. They mostly own and drive conveyances, and
being also very expert masons are largely engaged in building
operations. As a rule they are very healthy, not more than fifty deaths
having occurred since the opening up of the Fields. They are honest,
well-to-do, benevolent, respectful, affable, strictly sober, and,
believing in predestination, they possess a remarkable serenity of mind
in all the vicissitudes of fortune.
In Kimberley they have two mosques, one lately built, in which being
Moslems, five times a day, as near as their avocations will permit them,
they proclaim the two grand principles of their faith, the two grand
dogmas of their religion, “Allah illah Allah Mahomet resoul
Allah”—“There is one God and Mahomet is his prophet.”
As a body they follow out their religious observances with commendable
regularity. Imaum Doud, whom I know well, is a most exemplary citizen.
He has held the position of priest for the last eight years, yet no
special respect is shown him on account of his “cloth,” for like all
Moslem priests he is not paid, and has no authority, but is judged and
held in general estimation simply for his piety and learning. Following
out one of the most important duties of their religion, namely, that of
performing a pilgrimage to Mecca, which is a duty incumbent on every
Moslem once in his life to perform, unless poverty or sickness prevent,
the Moslems of Griqualand West have in considerable numbers visited
Arabia, no less than twenty having left Kimberley in one party in 1881.
This a few years ago was a very expensive undertaking, the title of
Hadji, which both men and women acquire by this pilgrimage, at that time
costing each adult about £400. Now, however, rail and steam have reduced
the expenses of this trip to about £100. Their funeral ceremonies, too,
are carried out with exactness. After life has gone, the dead body is
washed by one duly appointed, wrapped in grave clothing, no coffin being
used, and then after the Koran has been read all night, the body is
carried on a bier and buried on its left side in the grave. After
certain ceremonies have been performed, the friends, wearing no signs of
mourning, return and pray for seven nights in succession in the house of
the deceased, while for forty consecutive days they religiously repair
to the grave and pray over the remains of the departed.
The Moslems like the Jews circumcise their male children; swines’ flesh,
as well as the flesh of most animals forbidden by the Mosaic law, is
also prohibited. These disciples of Mahomet also believe in good and
evil angels, in the immortality of the soul, in the general resurrection
and judgment of the dead, in future rewards and punishments, and lastly
in Heaven and Hell.
In perusing this short description, the question may naturally present
itself to my readers, Whence did these Malays first come into the Cape
Colony? I will answer this question very shortly. In the first place
Europeans, going home from the East Indies, Malacca, Java, Sumatra,
Celebes, the Philippines, etc., used to bring Malays as slaves as far as
the Cape and there leave or sell them; secondly, the Dutch East India
Co. supplied slaves to the burghers in order to cultivate on a more
extended scale; thirdly, the Cape at that time was a convict station, to
which many criminals were transported from the East; and lastly, free
Malays returning from Holland, where they had gone as servants, on
return often remained at the Cape, the Amsterdam authorities, in fact,
recommending this line of action in 1656. It will be seen from this,
that our Malay population, which numbers one-fifth of the inhabitants of
Capetown, and about one-fifteenth or more of the Diamond Fields (white
population), does not necessarily spring from either exiled, slave or
criminal ancestry.
Before I conclude this brief description of our Malay fellow citizens, I
may mention that they are exceedingly tenacious of their civil rights.
An instance of this came personally within my knowledge. I have told my
readers in a former chapter, something about the disease supposed by so
many to be “small-pox,” which ran riot on the Fields in 1884. Now the
Cape laws give power to the authorities to build lazarettos and forcibly
remove all persons suffering from infections diseases, if they have not
proper medical attendance and unless they obey strict quarantine laws. I
was at the time of the last outbreak of so-called small-pox attending a
well-to-do Malay suffering from the disease, and I took especial care
that his friends obeyed the law to the very letter, as my patient had a
great horror of being dragged from his home, and moreover was determined
that the officer of the Board of Health should have no excuse for
removing him. The health officer of the day, however, who was highly
energetic (for which, so far he deserved due praise, if he was not too
judicious), wishing to show his activity, attempted to drag this man
against his will to the lazaretto. I happened very fortunately to arrive
on the scene, just as this illegal attempt was being made by that
officer, who assisted by about thirty police was dragging the sick man
amidst the hoots and execrations of an infuriated mob through the
streets into an ambulance. Knowing the law I at once advised the Malays
to resist his removal pending an appeal to the magistrate, Mr. L. J.
Truter, to whom a statement of the case was immediately sent. The
magistrate saw at once the unlawfulness of the whole proceeding, gave
instructions accordingly, and to my intense delight these myrmidons of
the law who would not, who dare not, have attempted such officious
illegality in the case of an European, had to slink away completely
crestfallen. The man afterwards recovered, and to show his gratitude for
my exertions both from a medical and civil point of view, organized the
presentation of a silver cup to
J. W. MATTHEWS, M.D.
“for his successful efforts in protecting
the Mussulman interest.”
This was presented to me at a large meeting of Malays in October, 1884.
A passing word would not be out of place concerning the Indians who are
now on the fields in considerable numbers, say 700 to 1000 souls.
They possess no place of worship, that is the pure Hindu, the believer
in Brahma, Siva and Vishnu, but the Mahomedan division have just built a
mosque and sent specially to India to procure an Imaum who will conduct
their services in the future with proper rites. In October, however, of
each year the Mahometan party form large processions and make the air
discordant by the beating of “tom-toms.”
They celebrate this feast a whole week with allegorical imagery, men
painted and chained like tigers dancing about to harsh music. This forms
not so much a religious as a historical festival, by which they
commemorate the murder of two of Mahomet’s sons and at the same time
rejoice at the beginning of another year and keep green the memory of
their early days in India.
It is not to be supposed that all professors or expounders of “Holy
Writ,” are immaculate. Some crave after position and power, some after
ease and pleasure, some after luxury and wealth.
To the second class I have specified belonged the most eccentric
individual, who has made a trade of religion, that I have ever met. This
“Apostle of the Faith,” as he called himself, turned up at Du Toit’s Pan
in the year 1876. He was an odd creature, wore black broadcloth, a white
choker and a bell-topper hat. In those days, a tall beaver was as rare
as was the existence of the conservative working man according to the
imagination of Professor Rogers, therefore “Bishop” Mellett, in his
singular get up, was quite the sensation for a time among the diggers.
“Was he a real live bishop?” some asked; “Where was his diocese?” others
inquired; “Was he a greater knave than fool?” “Was he an impostor
trading upon the artless boer, under the cloak of religion?” These were
queries with which “his Reverence” was soon confronted. “His Lordship”
was a short man, of some fifty years, with a good deal of doggedness in
his weather-beaten features, while every now and then a nervous
twitching of the lips was evident to the close observer. The wags of the
place were determined before he left to have some fun at his expense,
and invited him to lecture to them.
To this he cordially acquiesced, especially when a dinner to be given in
his honor was hinted at, to enable him to fortify himself for the
oratorical effort he was expected to make. At this dinner, given in the
dining-room of the Royal Hotel, Du Toit’s Pan, there were many visitors
from Kimberley, and the high jinks played upon the “bishop,” of which,
by the way, he seemed to be perfectly unconscious, created considerable
hilarity among the jovial crowd. Dinner over a procession was formed,
and a march made to the new billiard-room just being built for a rival
hostelry, the “Fox and Hounds,” where a temporary platform and reading
desk had been erected for the occasion upon two empty beer barrels.
Candles were stuck here and there around and business immediately began.
The Chairman appointed was a Dr. Graham, the very broth of an educated
but rollicking Irishman. Duly introducing the “Bishop,” that reverend
gentleman rose, and at once commenced his lecture, but the “Bishop’s”
knowledge of the English language being very imperfect, he was asked to
speak in Dutch, which was very humorously interpreted by a Hollander who
was present. About an hour’s rambling twaddle brought the lecturer to
his seat, his discourse concluding with the information that he was
prepared to answer any questions concerning Holy Writ which might be put
to him. Many were the questions and curious; the audience relishing the
fun and seemingly vying with each other in their endeavors to confuse
him, but the question that took the first prize in public opinion was,
“Will His Lordship kindly explain why _corrugated iron_ is sometimes
called Gospel Oak?” Well this fairly nonplussed the “Bishop,” as
probably it will some of my readers. This is one of those jokes that
requires an explanation. Corrugated iron was the material generally in
use for building, and the favorite brand was “Gospel Oak,” so-called
because the manufacturer’s works, situate somewhere in the vicinity of
London, were so named. The efforts of the “Bishop” to explain made the
thing more ludicrous, and just as he was in the throes of a learned
disquisition upon something or other, out went the candles, upside-down
was turned the platform, “his Lordship’s” bell-topper became
irretrievably ruined, a few rotten eggs beplastered his sunburnt visage,
and in less time than it takes to tell, the impudent hypocrite was seen
slipping away, hurriedly scrambling through an open window to the rear
of the premises. A “hue and cry” was raised, and the whilom bishop on
being run to earth received the rough handling (which did not, however,
go the length of physical violence) which my readers may imagine he
would receive from a rough mining crowd. After getting as much fun as
they wanted out of their victim, the affair wound up by escorting him
into a neighboring canteen, where everybody, “bishop,” digger, diamond
buyer, or loafer became just as “fou” as was compatible with walking to
his respective bed. When the “bishop” got to his room in the hotel,
however, a cruel practical joke awaited him. Worn out with excitement
and fatigue he threw himself on his bed to sleep, but pins and needles
had been stuck all over and at once out he bounded with miraculous
agility. Then came through the open window such a roar of laughter that
the “bishop” could see further trouble was looming in the distance, and
“discretion” with him “being the better part of valor,” he donned his
nether garments and with coat, handbag, umbrella and bible, he cleared
out as fast through the friendly door as his legs could carry him, and
has, _mirabile dictu_, never since been seen on the Fields. He was
recognized, however, some few months ago in the Transvaal still carrying
on his pious frauds. In pursuit of his ecclesiastical functions he goes
from farm-house to farm-house, staying here a month and there a month,
or as long as the farmer will keep him, and so he plays his hypocritical
“part” among the ignorant and confiding boers.
Griqualand West has been, until the advent of the railway, at too great
a distance from the large towns of the colony to entice many celebrities
to come and see the mines, and visitors, especially those belonging to
the religious world, have been few and far between.
Since the opening of the Colesberg Kopje, I can recollect only the
spasmodic visits of one or two Bishops of the English Church, the short
stay of a lecturing infidel and buffoon, whose name I will not advertise
by mentioning, but who was publicly presented with a diamond ring by
certain gentlemen possessed of more money than brains, the mission of
Dr. Somerville in connection with the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, and the meteoric appearance of Father Henerberry, a second
Father Matthew, who for fourteen days filled the Roman Catholic church
to overflowing by his powerful crusade against drink. For some twelve
months past the Salvation Army has been established, but contrary to
expectations has attracted comparatively little attention of either a
favorable or opposite character.
I should be shirking an evident duty if I were to omit calling attention
to a matter which must ever hear witness against Kimberley and the
surrounding camps, and that is the opportunity which for years the
religious section of the inhabitants have thrown away of spreading the
truths of the Gospel to the natives,[92] who have been attracted to
their very doors from the far interior. I am within the mark when I
compute that during the last sixteen years an average of at least 10,000
natives (new arrivals) has each year been drawn to work in our mines by
the reports, carried from one to another by those returning, of the
riches awaiting them. What a field for missionary enterprise has not
this presented? Now, has not the chance been lost? What “glad tidings of
great joy” might not even one or two in whom the seed thus sown had
borne fruit, have spread on their return?
I am glad to notice, however, that at last proper advantage of this vast
field for the propagation of the truths of the Gospel is about to be
taken.
One important point must not be overlooked: every man in Kimberley even
now is but a bird of passage, merely drawn by the chance of making money
quickly as the first arrivals were, and then escaping from a place which
possesses very few social attractions, and, in respect of natural beauty
and comfort of dwellings, none—the impossibility of getting away felt by
some, the desire for further accumulations evinced by others, keeping
together a mixed and heterogeneous population such as could scarcely be
found in any other country.
The rising generation is mostly to be pitied, doomed to spend their
young lives in a place which in South Africa at least can only be
exceeded in wretchedness by the Namaqualand copper mines. No trees, no
grass, no carolling birds, no rippling brooks. Nature seems paralyzed or
dead. No wonder the seeds of early piety are all blown to the winds,
when God’s day is desecrated by the sight of the open offices in the
diamond market (although fortunately on that day no business can be
legally transacted), by the noise of continuous blasting in the mines,
and the sight of railway drays laden with fruit and flowers running
through the streets. At times the man of strong religious instincts
feels sick at heart, and for the moment thinks that money alone is
thought of—_Regina Pecunia_, the “Almighty Dollar,” the sole deity
adored.
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