Chapter XII

DEATH of President Brand--Election of President Reitz--Mr. Mitchell's work in the Kimberley compounds--Rev. W. E. Jackson--Death of Rev. J. H. Morgan--Rev. J. Thome appointed to Jagersfontein--Death of Dean Croghan in Bloemfontein--Canon Balfour's efforts in England to reduce the Diocesan Debt--Collection of £3,700 at Kimberley--Rev. R. G. Douglas appointed to Ficksburg.

ON July 14th, 1888, a great grief fell upon the Orange Free State. President Brand had lately suffered from severe illness, and prayer had been made in the Cathedral and other places of worship for his recovery. He had recovered therefrom, and a time of rest had been arranged which would, it was hoped, lead to his complete restoration to health. On Saturday night of the above date he had retired to rest, when he was seized with a sudden spasm and quickly passed away. An hour afterwards, the fact of his death was brought to the Archdeacon. On the Sunday morning such arrangements as were possible were made to enable the services to be helpful in expressing the sorrow with which every heart was full. At the conclusion of the service, before the final blessing, the Dead March in Saul was played, the whole congregation remaining standing. Such men as President Brand are very rarely to be found even among the large and highly-civilised countries of Europe. What it was to a young State, compassed with difficulties and with few natural advantages, to have at its head, for twenty-four years, a Christian gentleman of such purity of life, such marked ability, and worth of character, can never be fully estimated. He was one of the "humble and meek." During the Transvaal war it was his noble privilege to stand as peace-maker between the Imperial Government and the Republican leaders, trusted and looked up to by them both. He had always been good and kind to the Church, and we had learnt to look upon him as both a warm-hearted patron and an affectionate friend. The public funeral which took place on Tuesday, July iyth, was attended by all the resident clergy.

As President Brand's successor, the choice of the country fell upon Mr. Francis William Reitz, who for nearly fourteen years had held the position of Chief Justice of the State. In 1893, at the close of his first term of office, Mr. Reitz was re-elected. His Honour has continued to the Church the kind consideration and friendly attention of which we have expressed our grateful acknowledgments in the above memorial notice of his predecessor.

In June, 1889, the Bishop dedicated a new church at Kimberley, to replace the older Mission Church of S. Matthew. The new building was designed by Mr. Stent, and is a very handsome church. Much of the money spent upon it was obtained from the natives themselves. The former S. Matthew's now forms the Mission School.

By this time much of the native life at the Diamond Fields had taken a new form. Illicit diamond buying had from the first been a difficulty. Workers in the mines, and these were mostly natives, could so easily secrete diamonds, and, on leaving off work, meet with unprincipled white people who would buy the stones from them at a price far below their value. The gain was so great that penalties of long terms of imprisonment failed to act as a deterrent. Besides this evil, and indeed closely connected with it, was the unlimited sale of drink to natives. Every Saturday night and all through Sunday frightful orgies went on. Tribal fights and murders were frequent: on one occasion one of Canon Gaul's churchwardens, a mine manager, explained his absence from church by saying that he had spent the Sunday morning in quieting a drunken revel, and had smashed over a hundred bottles of brandy still left unconsumed. The mining companies determined to adopt the Compound system. Considerable portions of land were enclosed with high fences of galvanised iron. Within the enclosure were dwellings for the native workers, and shops at which they could buy almost anything but intoxicating drink. Each man on being engaged agreed to a fixed term of service, during which he was not allowed, when not at work in the mines, to leave the compound. Very intricate provisions for surveillance were arranged, but the main features of the scheme are those we have given. Mr. Mitchell at once saw that though this system prevented the natives coming to him, it gave him special opportunities of going to them. Native mission agents were not permitted to enter the compounds, but a ready entrance was given to him. He organised a plan of regular services in the different compounds; held school for those willing to learn, put books within their reach, and tried in every way to attract them. The work had difficulties which would have disheartened a less resolute man. While within the compounds the native was shielded from many temptations; when his term was over they lay in wait for him as soon as he had passed the compound gate. Men came under Mr. Mitchell's influence and then went far away to their heathen homes in the interior of the continent. But he plodded patiently on. At a Synod meeting in 1893 he gave an account of the work, which some of those who heard it spoke of as one of the most interesting missionary records they had ever listened to. At the Annual Meeting of S.P.G. in 1894, the Bishop of Lebombo stated that far away among the tribes to the north east of the Transvaal, he had met with natives who had come under Mr. Mitchell's influence in the Kimberley compounds.

In Beaconsfield the same system was in vogue as long as the mines at Dutoitspan and Bultfontein continued to be worked. Mr. Crosthwaite visited the compounds with his peculiar diligence. In 1888 he paid a visit to England, and his work for several months was undertaken by the Rev. W. E. Jackson, who, it will be remembered, had accompanied the Bishop from England in 1886. Until the middle of 1888 Mr. Jackson had devoted himself to the Cathedral parish. When at the end of 1888 he returned to England, he accepted the position of assistant Curate to Canon Trench, Vicar of All Saints, Netting Hill, London, whom Bishop Knight-Bruce had before coming out to us secured as his Commissary. Mr. Jackson was able to give Canon Trench just the information which one in his position requires, and he was always ready to give assistance to the English Association by attending their meetings and describing the work to them.

In the early part of 1889 the Rev. J. H. Morgan came to Bloemfontein suffering from consumption. He had been a C.M.S. missionary in Mid-China, and having fallen ill had been sent to South Africa by the Society. He felt able to undertake light duty, and with this in view was sent by the Bishop in May to take charge of Bethlehem. At Easter, 1887, Mr. Allum had left Bethlehem to become Rector of Jagersfontein, and had been succeeded by Mr. Skinner, who was ordained Priest in the Cathedral on the following Trinity Sunday. Mr. Skinner had just returned to England. Mr. Morgan became worse at Bethlehem, and died there on July 27th, leaving behind him the fragrance of a strong character naturally gentle and refined by disappointment and suffering patiently borne. He had hoped so much for recovery, but only that he might return to his work in China which he deeply loved. A little later, in 1889, the Rev. W. H. Ball left Sekubu and was placed at Bethlehem.

Hitherto we have said little about Jagersfontein. After the Basuto war Mr. John Stenson had been stationed there. In 1887 Mr. Allum had become Rector, but on Mr, Scratch-ley's preferment to Harrismith in 1889, he had been appointed to Barkly West. While at Jagersfontein he had built a Parsonage. On his leaving, the Rev. John Thorne of Bredasdorp, in the Diocese of Capetown, was appointed Rector. Mr. Thorne had been Curate of Lydenburg, in the Diocese of Pretoria, and had met with many trials and anxieties there during the Transvaal war. From thence, in 1881, he had passed into the Diocese of Capetown, and had now been urged by his daughter's ill-health to seek work in our drier climate. He had in former years been the valued friend of several among us, who hailed his acceptance of the parish of Jagersfontein with unmixed delight. The little church opened by Archdeacon Croghan in 1881 had long become inadequate to the needs of the parish. Mr. Thorne at once set himself to work to procure funds for building a new one, with what success we shall chronicle later on.

When Archdeacon Croghan left us to become Dean of Grahamstown, the hope that the milder winters of that part of the Colony would prove beneficial to his health was one avowed reason for the change. But the contrary was the case. The damp of Grahamstown proved more deleterious than the frosts of the Free State. At Michaelmas, 1888, he became seriously ill, and was removed to Kimberley. Here he remained till March, 1889, when, finding that he must relinquish all hope of a return to active duty, he resigned the Deanery and took up his abode with us at Bloemfontein. Bishop Webb was in England when the severe illness set in, and at once issued a statement which met with ready response from friends in England. In both our Archdeaconries, provision for the maintenance of so old and valued a friend was made with great readiness. At first he was able to come occasionally about us, but soon this could only be done in a wheeled chair, and this again, after a few months, gave place to confinement to his bed. He lingered, often experiencing much weariness and pain, but always and to the last with the same vigour of mind and felicity of expressing his thoughts, till November 2ist, 1890. His funeral, which took place on the following Sunday afternoon, was attended by all, from His Honour the President downwards. Many imposing functions have taken place in Bloemfontein Cathedral, but none have to our mind exceeded the quiet, hushed solemnity of that service. The Dean had always taken a great interest in S. Patrick's Mission, and was much beloved by its native congregation. In large numbers they followed his remains to the grave. When at the close of the service, the hymn, "Brief life is here our portion," was begun, they recognized it as soon as the first line had been sung, and joining in it in its Secoana version, and, with the striking power of harmony which they possess, filled the air with solemn cadences which still linger in the ears of many of us.

Soon after his decease, a few of us met together to consider how best a memorial of Dean Croghan could be made. It was decided upon to raise a sum of money which should be added to the Clergy Sustentation Fund, but on which, during Mrs. Croghan's life, interest should be paid to her at highest annuity rates. This fund was at once started, and ultimately reached the sum of £725.

One permanent memorial of Archdeacon Croghan (as in connexion with it we prefer to style him) is the "Manual of Offices for Several Occasions," which he compiled, and which was issued from the Mission Press in 1880. It contains Services for the Enthronement of a Bishop; for Installation, Induction, &c.; for the Consecration of Churches and Cemeteries; for a Visitation; for Reconciling Penitents, &c. The book was authorized for use by the Bishop, and has passed from our own Diocese to more general use in the Province. The Archdeacon had the rare gift of translating from ancient sources into English, which is grateful even to ears educated by the use of the Book of Common Prayer.

Archdeacon Crisp paid a visit to England during 1889, leaving on May 3rd, and returning, in company with Canon Balfour, on October 19th. The Canon had been for some time in England. After he had left Harrismith the Rev. G. Perry had taken charge of the parish, until, in 1889, Mr. Scratchley had left Barkly West and been appointed Rector. While in England Canon Balfour had made strenuous efforts to raise a fund for the reduction of the Diocesan Debt, and had obtained £700. Bishop Knight-Bruce had brought with him when he came to the Diocese £1,500, collected by himself and Father Douglas. Bent upon the extinguishment of the debt, his Lordship had cordially supported the determined efforts of the Finance Board in that direction. Three properties no longer needed by the Diocese were sold as advantageously as could be expected considering the altered value. Above all, Archdeacon Gaul and Mr. judge, the Civil Commissioner of Kimberley, in 1888, during a sudden wave of prosperity, by a strenuous effort on two days collected a final sum of £3,700, which freed S. Cyprian's parish from its liabilities. Church properties in Bloemfontein had been bonded to enable S. Cyprian's to obtain money at lower rates than were obtainable locally (at one time for a portion of their debt they had paid as much as eighteen per cent.), and the repayment of the money enabled the Finance Board to avail itself of the relaxed state of the money market, and to exchange loans at from seven to ten per cent, for others at five. A legacy of the amount of £400, bequeathed by Mrs. Elizabeth Beers, for many years an Associate of the Mission in Ireland, transmitted to the Finance Board through the Rev. Henry Hogan, of Dublin, gave still further relief. So bit by bit the debt practically passed away. The circumstances under which it had been contracted had been exceptional; let us hope that the embarrassment which it caused us will be so also.

On November 16th, 1889, the Rev. Robert Gresley Douglas, M.A., arrived from England, and became Vicar of Ficksburg, serving also the village of Ladybrand, and a district chapel which had been built at Clocolan.

At Ficksburg, some work had been done in the past. Canon Beckett, in 1874, had bought a property there with a cottage on it, which had been transformed into a temporary church. In 1881 a parsonage had been provided. From 1882 to 1886 a resident ministry had been established, but this had ended disastrously. Since then it had been served from Modderpoort. Mr. Douglas had the assistance for two years of Mr. F. K. Harbord, who, having come from England in 1890, was ordained Deacon at the close of that year. In 1891 a new church building was opened. At Ladybrand a small church had been built in the early seventies, through Canon Beckett's care. For a while the village had had the benefit of Father Sanderson's earnest ministrations, and during that period a work among the natives had been begun, and a church built for them. Clocolan was another of Canon Beckett's works which had remained. A little place of worship had, since his death, been built on a farm at which he had held periodical services, which was convenient for many neighbouring farmers. Among these three places Mr. Douglas ministered, first here, then there. Possessing considerable athletic powers, he had the rare gift of being able to join in the sports of his parishioners, and of keeping such pastimes in strict subordination to his graver duties. He won people by his manly bearing, and edified them by his zealous care of souls.

Project Canterbury