The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-01
THE BoER,s RELIGION.
It's Intimate Connection with the
Concerns of His Daily Life.

Concerns of His Daily Life.
Cape Town correspondence of the London
Daily Mail
CHANGED, when in the neighborhood of
the Orange river week or two ago, to
drop in at the local Dutch Reformed
church Gor evening service. Judge of
my surprise when found that only one
half of the book of devotional exercises
handed to me by the obliglng verger was
available for use. The leaves of the re-
naming portion were firmly stitched up
by means OF a reimptje--a thin lace made
of raw ox-hide.
l had stumbled quite accidentally upon
a Dopper church, the sect TO which Pres!-
dent Kruger belongs, the most austere
branch of the Dutch Reformed communi-
ty. The sect flourishes in the Transvaal
and President Kruger may now and again
be seen OF a Sunday holding forth in the
pulpit in Pretoria; in the Cape Colony the
Doppers are represented by a very few
congregations 1 discovered that the half
OF the book sewn down in this rude way
the portion containing the hymns. Now,
the Doppers, lugubrious folk that they
are, never sing hymns, so they remove
temptation from the path of the young by
The Dopper never allows himself any
thing more riotous in the way of melody
than a setting of the Psalms, attuned to
a melancholy key In doctrine and dogma
the Dopper very closely approxmates to
the Calvinist He takes his religion sadly
and refrains from the pursuit Of an evan
gelistic propaganda. He regards the ma
tive as beyond the pale of his Christianity.
But In a general way the two sects of
the Dutch reformed community have much
in common. They observe the church fes-
tivals in much the same fashion, and
their methods OF church government are
to all intents and purposes Identical Re-
ligion so far as Il includes church-going,
strict adherence TO the orthodox latin,
implicit trust in and a reverentlal respect
for his ministers forms a real factor In
the life OF the rural Dutch Afrikander.
To him going TO church every alternate
Sunday, or, If his farm be some distance
from the village, once month means
much. II means meeting friends, discuss
ing the prospects OF the harvest or the
price Of wool, and lastly an extra wash
and n DOMINIC Of the Sunday best a
Dutchmans church attire Is not, as
rule brought from the farm. IL Is kept
neatly packed and well strewn with cam
phor in box in the village thuis-huis,
or Sunday-house, which many OF the bet
ter-tO-do maintain In the village. More
often than not this house consists OF
single room, In which the farmer gathers
his large family from Saturday night UNI
IN Monday morning. These thuis-huise
stand empty thu rest OF the week, ana
are In some instances Inhabited but four
times n year-viz. az Naehtmaal
Nachtmaal IL the Afrlkander-D Dutch for
Lords supper. Celebrated quarterly, IL
forms an event looked forward to with
the deepest longing by the truly pious, "A
longing as intense as that which charac-
terzod the Israelltes Of old going up 20
Jerusalem for their sacred feasts. To all
Il is n red-letter day; the minister prepares
three or four sermons and half dozen
stirring addresses; the farmer lasees don
their prettiest frocks and look their bon
NEST; the farmers wives have a long list
OF articles TO procure from the boren-win-
klo-farmers' store; the farmer himself
has 20 receive his money from the village
merchant who bought his wool clip. or
more likely. 60 pay his account and renew
his bin: the village law agent, who, by
the-way, usually combines the occupations
OF auctloneor, conveyancer ana money
lender. has hts clients 70 fleece, and, last
~, the storekceper has his wares 70 SELL
Let us enter such a store on such an
occasion. The goods are displayed NJ for
n bazaar. The storckeoper is al smiles.
TIE inquiries sympnthetically after the
health OF Tanta, asks whether tho last bot
Ne Of patent medicine relieved Oom'a indi-
gestion. and generally COMFORTS himself
az an Intimate friend " The family. When
making up the parcel the storekccpcr win