The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-27
THE RoER,s RELIGION.
Its Intimate Connection with tha co

l chanced, when In the nelghborhood Of the Orange river a week or two ago, to drop in at the local Dutch Reformed church for evening service. Judge of my surprise when found that only one-half of the book of devotional exer- cises handed to me by the obliging yer ger was available for use. The leaves of the remaining portion were firmly stitched up by means of reimptje--a thin lace made of raw oX-hide.
 had stumbled quite accidentally upon a Copper church, the sect to which President Kruger belongs, the most austere branch of the Dutch Re- formed community. The sect flourishes In the TTansYaal, and President Kru- ger may now and again be seen of a Sunday holding forth in the pulpit in Pretoria; in the Cape Colony the Dop- pers are represented by a very few con- gregations. l discovered that the half or the book sewn down in this rude way was the portion containing the hymns Now the Doppers, lugubrious folk that they are, never sing hymns, so they re- move temptation from the path of the young by flashing up the forbidden part
 The Copper never allows himself any, thing more riotous in the way of melo- I dCLuneu to a melancholy key. In doctrine and dogma the Copper very closely approx mates to the Calvinist He takes his religion sadly and refrains from the pursuit of an evangelistic propaganda, He regards the native as beyond the pale of his Christianity.
 But in general way the two sects of the Dutch Reformed community have much in common. They observe the church festivals in much the same fashion, and their methods of church government are to all intents and pur- poses Identical. Religion, so far as 1t includes churchg going, strict adherence to the orthodox faith, implicit trust in and reverential respect for his minis- ter, forms 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 vil- lage, once a month, means much. It means meeting friends, discussing the prospects of the harvest or the price of wool, and lastly an extra wash and a donning of the Sunday best. A Dutch mans church attire is not, as a rule, brought from the farm. It Is kept neat ly packed and well strewn with cam- phor in box in the village thuis-huis, or Sunday-house which many of the better-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 until Monday morning. These thuis-huis stand empty the rest of the week, and are in some instances inhab- ited but four times year-viz., at Nachtmaal
 Nachtmaal is the Afrikander-Dutch for Lords Supper. Celebrated quarter ly, 1t forms an event looked forward to with the deepest longing by the truly pious, a longing as intense as that which characterized the Israelites of old going up to Jerusalem for their sa- cred feasts. To all it is red-letter day; the minister prepares three or four sermons and half dozen stirring ad- dresses; the farmer lasses don their prettlest frocks and look their bonniest; the farmers wives have a long list of articles to procure from the boren- winkle-farmers' store; the farmer him. self has to receive his money from the village merchant who bought his wool clip, or more likely, to pay his account and renew his bill; the village law agent, who, by the way, usually com piHCS lHe OCCupdllOHS OI duCClO0e6T, conveyancer and money-lender, has his clients to fleece, and, lastly, the store Keeper has his wares to sell
 Let us enter such store on such an occasion. The goods are displayed as for bazar. The storekeeper is all smiles. He inquires sympathetically after the health of Tanta, asks whether the last bottle of patent medicine re- lieved Oom's indigestion, and generally comports himself as an intimate friend of the family. When making up the parcel the storekeeper will ostentatious- ly add parcel of lekkers, present to the children from Ou' baas (old mas ter). But his great forte is religion.
 So far Tanta; now for Dom, who, for some pretext, has kept out of the way during the conversation. No sooner | has Tanta departed than Dom finds | himself in an ante-room along with his | friend the storekeeper. loom does not | drink zoopie (drop of brandy every day, so what says Dom to a real bo- landsche," insinuates the man of com merce.
 'Ja, ons kan zoo maak' C"Yes we mighty is the half-halting reply, and then the Boer gulps down half a coffee- cup full of dop brandy, neat and strong enough to knock over a trooper.
 Woe to the minister who has not his sermons and addresses ready before the Friday evening, when his congregation flock to the village. Early on Saturday the elders and deacons troop in to pay the predikant their respects, their wives to see his wife and bring her biltong (sun-d dried meaD lump of butter, trussed fowl, some honey, some biscuit, or more substantial pres ent. If meneer fhat is, the minister) happens to favor the fragrant weed, his study is filled with a cloud of the most reeking tobacco smoke throughout the day. To smoke in the minister's study is a privilege accorded only to elders and deacons. Should an ordinary lay man enter, the minister lays down his pipe, and brazenfaced, disrespectful must he be who then dares to take a puff. The service which these good people have come to attend invariably com l mences with voor-bereiding, or prepar- { atory service on the Saturday after ( noon, and prayer meeting at night. It is contrary to custom for the farmer ' to change his clothes during Nachtmaal ( in the religiOus mood nron {