Until the silent, but all-soothing voice

Of those bright stars that looked so kindly down,
Hushed the commotion of his breast, and turned
The current of his musings.

"Child of earth!

Wearied and worn with thy vain search for peace,
Oh look on us, and let thy troubled thoughts
Range in a loftier sphere. Undimmed, unchanged,
We shine to night as brilliant and as calm

As when we welcomed, with our beaming smile,
The birth of the Creation!

"Where are now

The cares and sorrows of the hearts that throbbed
Ten, twenty years ago? Forgotten-past-
Like leaves that fall in autumn to the ground.
And so will thine be in a few bright days!
For life is but a transient dream. Then learn
To estimate it rightly; nor lament,

With childish vehemence, o'er ills that soon
Will be as though they had not been:

"And think

Of that true life which thou shalt share, and share
For ever in that glorious land which lies

Far, far beyond our precincts!-that glad life
Whose pure and tranquil flow bears not one grief
Upon its bosom. And wilt thou repine,

With that sweet home and rest full in thy view,
At the discomforts of thy transit? Nay,
For that were weak and wrong.

"Friends may forsake, Or perish like the frosted buds; decay

And change may crumble each fair edifice

Which hope had fondly reared: but we remain,
A rich illumined page, where men may read
Of One who changeth not. His perfect love
No limit has but his eternity;

Then trust in Him,

And on his promise, as upon a rock,
Each shipwrecked heart may rest.
O heir of sorrow; for his sympathy,

So deep and tender, no mutation knows.

Nor canst thou doubt His power earth's storms to quell Who grasps us in the hollow of his hand,

And telleth all our names!

"One lesson more

We fain would teach thee. When night veils the sky, Our cheerful lustre gladdens all thy race;

Directs the peasant to his cot, and guides

The seaman in his course-Hast thou no light
To shed on others? no rejoicing truths

To spread, which might disperse the mournful gloom
Of ignorance and sin? no enterprise

Of mercy to accomplish?

"Let not 'self'

Be made the centre and circumference

Of all thy thoughts and aims. If thou art sad,
Remember those who hourly have to bear

A heavier cross than thine, and weep with them,
And strive their cares to lighten. If no joys
Twine round thy lonely hearth, canst thou not plant
Some seeds of gladness in another's home?
Arouse thyself from all enfeebling grief,
And seek with earnest purpose to fulfil
Thy high commission. Trials sanctified,
Like the calm showers that fertilize the earth,
Soften the heart, and strengthen and extend
The capabilities for usefulness,

For blessing those around. The simple flower
That bends beneath the storm, lifts up its head
Ere long, and to the passer-by imparts
A sweeter fragrance than it gave before!"

Hushed now was the instructive voice that came
From those far-distant stars: but not in vain
Had their calm message fallen on the ear
Of that heart-wearied listener.

H. M. W.

THE LEPER HOSPITAL AT THE CAPE.

In the year 1822, Lord Charles Somerset, the Governor of Cape Colony, having ascertained that the hospital for Lepers, which he had established some years before, at a place called Hemel-en-Aarde, near Caledon, was grossly mismanaged-the spiritual, moral, and temporal well-being of the poor afflicted patients being alike neglected-applied to the superintendent of the Moravian Mission for a missionary

N

couple to take the entire charge of the institution. The application being favourably received, his Excellency further requested that the proposal might be made to Brother Leitner, of Groenekloof and his excellent wife (a native of Lancashire) who were personally known to him. It was made to them accordingly, and readily accepted; and the result was such as fully to justify the governor's choice; for fitter persons could not have been selected.

They removed to Hemel-en-Aarde in the early part of 1823, and were received with joy by the poor patients, who were at that time brought thither from every part of the colony, and varied from 100 to 120 in number.

At first, they had many privations to undergo, owing to the dilapidated condition of the premises, and the almost entire absence of the ordinary comforts and conveniences of life. To these privations, however, they cheerfully submitted, till, mainly by their own industry and good management, they had succeeded, through the blessing of God, in providing furniture for their humble dwelling, in erecting and fitting up a small chapel for the use of the patients, and in laying out, fencing, and cultivating a garden, which, in process of time, became so productive, as to contribute largely to their own maintenance. Meanwhile, their labours for the spiritual and temporal benefit of the poor lepers, whose affection and confidence they soon acquired, were unremitting.

Nor was the blessing of the Lord withholden. Between the years 1823 and 1828, Brother Leitner had the privilege to baptize ninety-one adults and eighteen children, of whom the greater number departed this life, either before or shortly after their beloved minister, giving evidence of saving faith in Christ their Saviour. One-fourth of the whole number of patients, suffering from this fearful and loathsome disease, were at this period annually carried off by it; so that the

missionary felt himself to be continually standing, like Aaron, between the living and the dead.

On the 20th of April, 1829, Brother Leitner's unwearied and self-denying labours were suddenly brought to a close. While in the act of baptizing a leper, in the public service, on Easter Monday, he was struck with apoplexy, and, in the course of a few hours, breathed his last, amid the tears and lamentations of the poor patients, to whom he had approved himself a wise and tender father, as well as a faithful pastor.

After the departure of Brother Leitner, the institution enjoyed, in succession, the willing and valuable services of the Brethren and Sisters Tietze, Fritsch and Lehman, till its removal, in the latter part of the year 1845, to Robben Island. To that desolate and secluded spot the last mentioned couple hesitated not to accompany it, and continue their labours for the spiritual instruction and edification of the poor leprous patients, and of the inmates of the lunatic asylum, about 80 in number, and of the infirmary, amounting to 120, at the date of the recent visits of Brother Suhl, of Genadendal.

Robben Island occupies a position near the northwestern entrance of Table Bay, about eight miles distant from Cape Town. It is about nine miles in circuit, and, excepting on the sides on which the two landing places are situated, is surrounded by rugged and dangerous cliffs, on which many a vessel has at one time or other been wrecked. The surface of the island is for the most part flat, sandy, and barren; and presents nothing worthy of notice; but the view across the bay, embracing the capital of the Cape Colony, backed by the magnificent range of the Table mountains, is as interesting in its details, as it is imposing in its general character.

Contiguous to the eastern landing place are the only buildings, which constitute the hospital. To the extreme right is the house of the surgeon, who is at

present the official superintendent of the institution. The approach to it is fenced by fragments of whaleribs. Adjoining it is a wing of the Leper Hospital, which is thatched with reeds. Then follow, to the left, the Church, the dwelling of the missionary, (Brother Wiedeman) and the upper hospital for men, built in the form of a square, and containing the general kitchen. In the centre of the group is the Lunatic Asylum, with two sentry boxes standing before it; the portion on the right for the males that on the left for the female patients;-still further to the left the hospital for women; and, behind it, a new one for men. On the high ground, in front of the flag-staff, is the house of the watchman, and adjoining it three kilns, in which shells were formerly burnt into lime by the convicts, for whom employment is now found on the roads of the colony.

The following affecting details of the condition of poor sufferers, and the blessed effects produced by the operation of the Spirit and grace of God, are taken from a letter written by brother Suhl, after a stay of five weeks at the hospital.

Of

"The inmates of the Leper Hospital, a Lunatic Asylum, and an Infirmary, all under the superintendence of a surgeon, together with the few necessary attendants and government servants, with their families, numbering, at the close of last year, about 300 persons, are the only inhabitants of the island. these upwards of seventy were lepers (including one Englishman, one German, and one Dutchman), only forty-nine being in actual fellowship with the Brethren's Church. Yet the number of the latter has lately increased, and, I trust, will continue to do so.

"The children of the government servants are instructed, four days in a week, by the missionary. The school for the children of the lepers, and for those adult lepers who like to attend, is kept, four hours a day, by the above-mentioned young Englishman, a convert