76 rR]:SIDENTIAL ADDEESS SECTIOX E. 



THE MAGIC COXCEPTIOX OF XATURE AMONGST 



BAXTFS. 



Bv Rev. Hexri A. Jrx 



OD. 



Presidential Address to Section E, delirered Jnhj 15, 1920. 



When I was asked to be President of Section E of this 

 Association, an ideal of a Presidential Address rose before 

 me. It should, in my opinion, have as an object at least 

 the opening- of new ways to anthropological research. Bnt in 

 my position, living on the veld, far aAvay from any library, 

 without books and reviews as aids, the ideal could not be 

 attained; so I simply consulted my experiences of thirty years 

 with South African natives to see if I could not draw from 

 these experiences some remarks which mig'ht be useful to 

 others. I think that I found what I wanted, and this will 

 be my modest contribution to the solution of the, as yet, 

 unsolved problem of South Africa — the native question. 



The coexistence of the Eui'oi^ean Aryan race with the 

 Bantu race in South Africa has created a situation which 

 certainly has its advantag'es, but which is fraught with many 

 dangers. Whatever the future may be, there is no doubt 

 that for the present the white race has to rule and guide the 

 black race. I think that we have courageously undertaken 

 that task — perhaps more heartily than natives themselves 

 should wish. But I A^enture to put the question : Are we 

 really and deeply influencing our black fellow-citizens? Are 

 there not insuperable difficulties in the way ? 



Considering first the religious domain, I dare to state 

 that the influence is real, and it is spreading rapidly. The 

 Bantu has a strong religious disposition, and the ancestor 

 worship which he practises affords little relief to his soul, 

 which longs for life and happiness. The Christian God very 

 easily supplants the ancestor god in his prayers. Even if 

 he does not accept him, he rarely makes objections to his 

 existence. The " Father Who is in Heaven " possesses all 

 the g'ood features of the ancestor god, and a good many 

 others, and he asserts himself at once as superior to the 

 spirits of the deceased forefathers. The Christian religion is 

 boimd to conquer the Bantu in a comparatively short time. 



That is not to say that people emerging from the 

 mists of Animism can at once grasp the full meaning of 

 Christianity. We must always remember that the Bantu 

 creed does not establish any connection between religion and 

 morality, whilst Christianitv, at least imder its pure form, 

 is essentially a moral religion. It often happens that con- 

 verted natives pretend to enjov religioxis privileges and 

 cultivate religious emotions without leading the p\ire life 

 which Christianity asks from its ade]its. On accoimt of this 

 disposition, those who conduct native churches have to be 



