I.
ON the Downs, in the district of Stellenbosh, in the midst of the deep sands and thick brushwood, stands a neat though humble dwelling, with a well-cultivated garden of considerable extent, and though all around is wild and waste, it is very pleasant to look upon, because the toil that made it fruitful has not been wrung from the sinews of the slave; for here the independent peasant holds the sway, and smiling plenty crowns the efforts of the industrious poor.
A widow is the owner of the Erf, and, with the assistance of her orphan children, its cultivator too; but this is not her best inheritance; the blessing of God, which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow thereto, has made this widow’s heart to sing for joy, and no one can sit long beneath her lowly roof without acknowledging that the cottage, when illuminated by the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, can bestow more true happiness, than all the splendour of a palace, where God is not. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only remedy for the degeneracy of man; and the transcendent goodness of Jehovah is conspicuous in adapting to men of every language, of every hue, and of every degree of guilt, wretchedness and woe; and yet there are those who reject its all-sufficiency, and turn aside from the demonstrations of its power when exhibited by the barbarous Kaffir, the ignorant Hottentot, and degraded slave. But not so the Christian. He rejoices in the potency of that divine principle that can make the meanest of his fellow-creatures happy, and loves his religion the more for bringing home to the bosom of these degraded ones those principles that not only can make them virtuous and happy here, but also opens to them the portals of a glorious immortality. To the Christian, therefore, the story of Jejana will not be without interest, and if it should please God to make it the means of bringing back one wanderer to the fold, or of strengthening one weak believer in the faith and love of Jesus, the purpose for which it is published will be fully answered.
Jejana was born at Bruintjes Hoogte, in the district of Somerset. Her mother was a Hottentot, and dying when her child was very young, gave her to the care of a young farmer in the neighbourhood, with the cattle and sheep she called her own. The young orphan was brought up in the family as a slave, and made herself so useful that the parents of the young man, when they removed from Bruintjes Hoogte, purchased her from their son (who had been left her guardian) for a team of oxen and a female slave. The farmer’s route being through Tulbah, he spent the Sabbath there to have a child baptised, and poor Jejana, who till now had never heard the sound of the “church-going bell, nor smiled when a Sabbath appeared,” was permitted on this occasion to tread the courts of the house of her God. All around was new and attracted her attention, but when the minister (Rev. Michael Vos) rose, her eager gaze was fixed upon him. The text was taken from the Revelation, iii. 15—”I know thy works.” Jejana listened with profound attention to the minister, as he portrayed the sinner’s evil doings, and conscious that her own wicked ways were brought to light, she, in her ignorance, thought the preacher was God; and the affrighted girl tried to hide herself behind one of the pillars of the church, for she imagined he looked at her in particular, and pointed her out. She left the church, but the deep and sorrowful emotions which had then taken possession of her soul still remained. The minister invited the farmer and his wife to his house; and as the dejected girl stood behind her mistress’ chair, he fixed his eyes upon her, and asked her if she had been in church that day. “Yes, sir,” said the afflicted girl. “Did you understand?” “No, sir.” “Do you know that there is a God?” “I have often used His name in oaths and curses, but I know nothing about Him, sir; tell me where He is, and what He is.” “God is a Spirit; He is everywhere,” said the minister, “and hears all you say, and sees all you do.” “Do you know you have a soul?” “No, sir.” “Yes, that within you which feels glad and sorry is your soul, and when you die it must be happy for ever with God, or be sent to everlasting fire in hell.” “O, sir, what shall I do, for I have never done anything but evil in my life.” Here the conversation was interrupted, and Jejana was obliged to go with her master and mistress, and saw the kind pastor no more, though doubtless his prayers followed the unhappy girl. She pursued her journey, but the arrows of the Almighty were within her soul, the poison whereof drank up her spirit; the terrors of God set themselves in array against her. By day and night the hand of the Lord was heavy upon her; she tried to keep from sleep, for she expected to awake in hell. Alas! she knew not that there was a balm in Gilead and a kind Physician there; but at length she obtained some little help from an old Hottentot called David, who came to her mistress’s house on business. Having said that he had been in church, she earnestly enquired what he had heard there, and opened the state of her heart to him; he seemed, however, to have had but little knowledge of the way of salvation, for he only told her to pray to God to teach her and help her. To her inquiry how she should pray and what she should pray for, he told her to go and kneel down and look unto God in heaven, and say—”O God, help me! O God, teach me!” and so eager was the poor girl to practice the old man’s lesson that she put down the meat her mistress had given her to dress, and ran away to the bush to pour out her soul in David’s words—”O God, teach me! O God, help me!” adding, “for David says Thou wilt.”