21 JULY 1917, Page 12

CHRISTIAN KAFFIRS IN FRANCE.

(To one Saloon or me "Seecuma."3 Sera,—May I add something to the letter of " Herbert George" in your last issue ? He refers to "eighty, per cent. of these blacks (Basutos and Zulus) being the product of our Mission Schools, Christian men with their own native padre," and expresses amaze- ment. What I ask to be allowed to add concerns the way in which service books have been provided for the labour battalions from South Africa now employed in France. The S.P.C.K.has provided a service book in Time, Zulu, null Sesuto, in order that the chaplains may take copies with them on their journeys to the different centres and lend them to their congregations. Each man turns to the page of the book devoted to his own language, and the praises of God are sung in the three tongues simultaneously. Other help of this nature, apart from English devotional literature for Force', in value _LLCM provided by the S.P.C.K., includes grants ci Prayer-books for Crec Indians in the Canadian Force, for Mala- gasy Anglican Christians from Madagascar, and kir Maori soldiers from New Zealand. The grammars and other aids to the study of languages prepared for use in Mission Schools in East Africa have hem in considerable demand for officers and others, whose duties have made it necessary for them to obtain a knowledge of Swahili. In May. 1911 (in an editorial postscript to a come- rpandent's letter) you described the work of the S.P.C.K. for the spiritual end moral welfare of emigrants as "most beneficial and Imperial work." I think that perhaps you will admit a similar tribute to the subject of this letter, which means a considerable tax on the Society's funds, in the interests of Church and Empire.

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