BAPTISM OF A FINGO FAMILY,

TWO OTHER FERSONS OF THAT NATION, AND TWO

KAFFIRS.

Lovedale, near Alice, 29th March 1849. REV. AND DEAR SIR,-On Sabbath last, the 25th instant, six adults and three young children were baptized at this station. An entire family, consisting of father, mother, and two children, were among the number. The name of the head of this family is Jacob. Both he and his wife are young, and have, at the same time, made a public profession of their faith in Christ, and of their determination to serve God with their household. When a parent is converted to Christianity, he cannot but be anxious about the salvation of his children; and he naturally asks, while he thinks of the rich provision made for his spiritual wants, What is to be done with his children? When he examines the Abrahamic covenant, he finds that his children are not excluded, and this consolation is afforded to his anxious mind. In that covenant he finds that there is a promise of spiritual blessings to his children as well as to himself, according to these words: "The promise is unto you, and to your children."-Acts ii. 39. In the case here referred to, there were only two children, a boy and a girl, so that the family was not divided. Jacob is a promising character. He has been very diligent in learning to read, and can now read the New Testament with understanding. He is of a mild obliging deportment, but is prepared, from what I once witnessed, to speak for Christ when called to do so. Few people at the native village where he dwells, are decidedly religious, and are much to be blamed for their inattention to the Word of God. On one occasion, when excuses were being made by those who neglected instruction, I was happy to find that Jacob, in the most ready and unqualified manner, condemned their vain pretences. His wife has not been a candidate so long as he, but she is a woman of a good understanding, and has made rapid progress in the acquisition of knowledge. Both, I doubt not, will unite in bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

'The two other persons of the Fingo nation are elderly females. One of them has long been a widow, her husband having been killed when the Fingoes were driven from their own country in the neighbourhood of Natal. She has two children, both grown up. The other is married, and has two interesting children of about eight and ten years of age, and who, if a schoolmaster can be sent to their hamlet, will attend school. Sometimes they have come to our station, though the distance is very considerable. Neither of these persons can read, and it is not likely that they will ever be able to do so. knowledge and their conduct, we think, warrant their admission into the Church.

Their

The two Kaffirs are both females, and reside at the station. One of them is a young married woman, with one child, an infant, who was baptized with herself. She was a pupil of Miss Harding before the war of 1846, before which period she was also a candidate for baptism. For more than a year she did not enjoy the benefit of the special instruction which is given to the catechumens, but availed herself of it when opportunity was afforded. She possesses the New Testament in Kaffir, which she reads. She can also read and speak English. At present her husband is dangerously ill, so that she is in affliction; but she knows of consolation with which a blind heathen cannot intermeddle. The last person is an old woman who is chiefly employed in weeding our garden. When she expressed a wish to be joined to the people of Christ, we thought that it would not be easy to communicate knowledge to a mind so dark, and to appearance so incapable of receiving it. Often she was in mental distress about her sins, and was found shedding silent tears. The wish to come-as well it might alarmed her greatly. Notwithstanding her incapacity, I am happy to say that we have been agreeably disappointed to find that she has got hold of the vital doctrines of the gospel, and derives comfort from them. No one is so exact in attending worship as she. I hope she has been taught by the Spirit of God.

1. The Saviour's instructions regarding missions, bear that, after baptism, there is to be "teaching." "The mere English reader is not always aware-though the marginal reading may guide him that there is a difference in the meaning of the two words translated teach

in Mat. xxviii. 19 and 20. Considering that the work of teaching is to be continued, I conceive that missionaries in this country have not, in general, been too hasty in using the initiatory rite of our holy religion. To this it may be owing that the converts are so steadfast, very few of them going back to heathenism, or coming under the discipline of the Church.

2. From the New Testament it is evident that, on some occasions, whole households were baptized. Acts xvi. 15-33; 1 Cor. i. 16. It is highly probable that there were infants among these households; but how far may we consider infancy as extending? I believe that the missionaries in this country have only baptized such as were not more than two or three years old.

Let the circumstances of these recent converts be made the subject of prayer by the praying people of God. Through them and the other converts Christianity must be extended. The missionary spirit will not, I trust, depart from the Free Church. Let her see to it that she does not lose the things which she has wrought. We greatly need the prayers of the righteous. Let them remember us continually before a throne of grace. I remain, &c.

JAMES LAING.

Cave of Kanaree, Salsette.

IN Hindostan there are many celebrated temples, caverns, and places similarly venerated. One of the principal of these is the cave of Kanaree, on the island of Salsette. This cavern-temple, hallowed by human labour into the very heart of a high rocky hill, is entered through a lofty portico, in which there still remain some favourable specimens of ancient sculpture. Upon the top of a large octagonal pillar are three lions-passant, with their heads turned towards the spectator in opposite directions. Their forms are remarkably good; and the minuter details of the sculptor's art are treated with considerable skill. This pillar, with its majestic capital, stands in front of the portico. On entering, in a deep niche on

the east side, is a gigantic statue, with his hand raised in the act of benediction; and the screen which separates the vestibule from the temple, is covered, immediately above the dodo, with a row of male and female figures, carved with considerable spirit, and which apparently represent dancers. In the centre is a large door, and above it, three windows, contained in a semicircular arch. Within, the apartment is, I should conceive, fifty feet long by twenty, an oblong square, terminated by a semicircle, and surrounded on every side but that of the entrance with a colonnade of octagonal pillars. Of these, the twelve on each side nearest the entrance are ornamented with carved bases and capitals, in the style usual in Indian temples. The rest are unfinished. In the centre of the semicircle, and with a free walk all round it, is a mass of rock left solid, but carved externally like a dome; on the top of the dome is a sort of spreading ornament, like the capital of a column. It is, apparently, intended to support something, and inquiry proved that a large gilt umbrella used to spring from it. This solid dome appears to be the usual symbol of Bhuddist adoration, and, with its umbrella ornament, may be traced in the Shoo-Madoo of Pegu, and other more remote structures of the same faith. The ceiling of this cave is arched semicircularly, and ornamented in a very singular manner with slender ribs of teak-wood of the same curve with the roof, and disposed as if they were supporting it; which, however, it does not require, nor are they strong enough for the purpose. Their use may have originally been to hang lamps or flowers from on solemn rejoicings. On one of the pillars of this portico is a copious inscription, in a character different both from the Nagree and the popular running hand, which, more than the Nagree, prevails with the Mahrattas. These temples are occasionally visited by devotees, though they have long ceased to be places of regular convocation.