The Portland daily press., 1900-04-03
THE HUGUENOTs IN AFRICA.
How and why the stock Has Deter
iorated.



In 1884 the Council OF ssventssn OF
Holland offered . free passage 20 anT
Huguenots who were willing TO apply
themselves to husbandry At the Cape OF
Good Hope. Eighty families availsd
themselves Of the proposal. They sailed
under the guidance Of the nephew OF the
great French admiral. Duquesne. They
were established By the governor at
Draksnstsin, some forty miles from the
cape and provided with land, cattle and
money. They began farming at once.
BY and BY. several other ships brought
more Huguenots. From 1885 10 1858
ABOUT three hundred families ssttled In
the colony, mostly looatsd In the valley
Of the Paarl (oncs lie Perle) and In the
Valley Of Elephants, now called Bransoh
Hook French Corner) Well watsrsd BY
tbs streams Of ths Berg river. these val
legs responded quickly TO the active toll
of the settlers, who, as was observed by
many travellers In the last century, were
remarkable for their skill IN husbsndry.
But even In the wilds Of Africa, these
French Pilgrim Fathers did not escape
all trouble. In the first place. like the
other colonists, they had 10 cope with the
hostility Of the nativss. the treacherous
Bushmen and Hottentots. But especial
~, they had to endure both the tyranni-
cal rule Of the Dutch governors, and the
jealousy and Ill will of their brothers.
who were of lower social and intelleo-
sual grade. The governors administered
Justice to the people of the colony In an
were sentenced TO three years. hard labor
for having stolen some cabbage. Another
man was condemned to have his tongue
pierced and three years tanishmsnt for
having spoken badly Of the governors
wife. Then the racial differences. fos-
tered by envy and prejudice in thoss early
years, we're strong, and the two peoples
seemed almost ~ hostile ~ the English
and Dutch OF today. Indesd. the Boer
rulers did not like the spirit OF independ-
| snoe that characterized the Brsnch. The
French, on the other hand, resented the
mea q mesa OF their masters, and were anx-
ious to preserve their language and their
nationality. They asked the privilege Of
establishing q oh uroh Of their own, snd
they seem 90 have displayed then tine
same violsnt nationalism that marked
| their Catholic brothers In Canada two
centuries later. CommandeE Van der
Stad broke into q furious passion; he de-
clared that the proisct was rank stdition,
and that the Brenoh were the most I'm
| pertinent and ungratsful people on the
face OF the earth. IL was not only tneir
own church that they wanted, but their
own magistrate and their own princess;
and they shopld have nothing OF the
kind. In response to this treatment, the
BuRueno.s resolved In open nesting not
to intsrmarry With the Dutch. But they
failed to keep their pledge rigidly. Vhs
40 communities were In such close In
tsrcourse that, In the lapse Of years, the
Huguenots lost their distinguishing
marks, and adopted the Bocr manners
and customs. Their language disap-
peared early In the eighteenth century.
nioations In 1909. In l726 and 1872
worship In French WAS forbidden. Thus
very soon the huguenots forgot their
mother tongue, which was the FIRST step
toward losing their nationality. In 1871
the French traveller La Callle met Q very
few who could still speak French, and at
the end Of the century, Levaillant found
only one old man who remembered the
| speech OF his ancestors.
Today about four thousand Beers be-
long to the French nationality. Many
/ French names have been lost or trans
lated into Dutch, but there are still
number that bear witness to Huguenot
4 origin, Besides General Joub bart, . name
| well known In French literature since 1t
was borne by a great moraliss, there are
many Beers. The French ProtestAnt
missionaries, who pass now, several
times a year, through the Boer Republic
on their way to the Zsmbesi missions.
have oftsn expressed their emotion at dis
covering SO many kinsmsn among those
rude, Dut,h-speaking farmers. as well As
their disappointment In realizing how
little is left Of the culture OF the French
| forefathers in the itsrats, wild peasants
| who try to escape the march OF oiviiisa-
tion, and know nothing Of modern ways
of living and thinking.
1t is indeed n pity that these descend
ants Of a glorious race, who have kept SO
fait afully their fathers attach mebt to
the old Bible, should have lost most OF
the other qualities and virtues that have
made the Huguenota in all countries
among the liberal. wsll-tred and pro-