Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1896-07-08

RELIGIOUS RITES.
The Church Observances of the
Beers of South Africa
they Are Very Simple and Unostents'
tIous and Are Conducted with Deep
Devoutness-The Minister Is
Greatly Reyered.

N the observanceS of religious wor-
ship the Beers are exemplary, and in
heir home life they know very little
If social diversion but what is of this
nature. They pray in stentorian tones
md sing with a solemn heartiness that
onyeys the idea of dead carnestness.
Their susceptibilities are easily moved
by little emotional oratory. 1t fills
them with a sense of unctuous salts
faction, but the sense of Journalism
would shock their sense of dccorum.
They would hardly approve of such
manners in church. The critics who
scout their piety and call ii by the name
II hypocrisy are guilty of thought
less derision that bellies reflection. Out
Of church the Beers have certainly n
Ii tie weakness for parading their re-
Il. lion. They indulge considerably in
Scriptural phraseology, and alfude to
he personality of God in a way that
'ounds familiar and canting, but there
$ no idea of profanity in it. Il is with
hem an evidence of reverence and sin
Gritty, and, in justice to them, must
tate that in oil my intercourse with
these people have found theru sternly
rec from the slightest approach TO lev
ty on the subject of things held sacred.
they regard the services Of the Eng
ish Episcopal church at Pretoria ms
,othing but theatrical show To
hem it appears q travesty of religion.
Like most people of simple and pas
toral habits, the Beers retire soon after
he close of day and rise with the first
dawn of the morn, and in the early
twilight they assemble and sing
psalms and hymns. and offer up
prayers with n strength and earnest
ness that constitutes quite laborious
effort. Their tunes are intensely
.lreary and monotonous. They sing in
,pasmodic lengths with long pauses in
teryening, and the impression conveyed
8 that each one follows his or her own
time and tune; therefore, except for its
heartiness, it does not inspire much adj
miration, unless gratitude at being at
| distance from it might bear Tint con-
struction. AS soon as darkness closes
n heavy supper is partalsen of, and
then q repetition of the mornings de-
,otional exercises takes place, and the
family retire to rest. Strict in their
ideas of churchgoing, and in the Oh
servance of the rites it imposes, they
necessarily regard the minister with
The greatest reverence, and they are
willing subjects of his little autocraoy.
Cod and the bulwark of their faith.
lie performs all the spiritual Offices
their lives have need of, and ~ also the
guardian of their morals, and dercllc.
tons in this respect restrict the culprit
n church privileges, than which moth
ing could be more terrible.
The ministers of churches among the
Peers are mainly Hollanders, though
there is growing desire for men of the
country to fill these Offices, and some
IF them are men who have studied at
5he Cape theological schools. These
men having the same origin rs the
Doers, their sympathies are allied to
them, and thus their influence will
have greater weight in advocating ed
ucation. Every town boasts the some
what odd-looking structure built in the
form of cross, which is known to be
the church. 1t has its place in the cen
er CT square, from which point the
town takes its growth. The minister
generally has his habitation within the
shadow of the walls of the church, itin-
Grating periodically among his flock,
who are scattered throughout the dis
trict, living at great distances apart,
on their lonely farms. Every three
months naachtmaal, or celebration of
the sacrament, takes place at the par
sh church, if | may call it so. and it
| is made the Occasion of the ingatherine
of the whole flock, who make this q
point of most exemplary observance,
the majority of them having to perform
several days of travel to be present. At
these times the square round the
| church is the camping ground in which
| hundreds of wagons and tents are
packed, scene of life and hustle which
contrasts strangely with its usual quiet
appearance. Friends meet and re-
| ioice in social Intercourse, thawing to
merriment and joviality in the atmos-
phere of camp fire under the quiet
stars of heaven, and so full of a certain
method and repose is the aspect of this
gypsy life among the Beers that the
casual onlool1er would feel difficulty
in dissociating them from it. SO APPLY
does it seem to he their normal element
Annie Russell, in To-Day.