Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/124

88 any ideas of a Deity, or a future state, the Aborigines behaved with great reverence and attention.—It was affecting and humiliating to be cut off from communication with them on these subjects, by the want of a knowledge of their language; but there was a comfort in knowing, that "where there is no law, there is no transgression;" and that "sin is not imputed where there is no law;" and that they will be judged only according to the measure of light, they have received.

I am persuaded that this doctrine, which is held up in the Holy Scriptures, in no way invalidates that of salvation through Jesus Christ, nor diminishes the force of his injunction to his disciples, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." The sins of those who attain to peace with God, through attention to the law written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, are blotted out through the blood of Christ, whether they know it or not; for they are baptized by the Spirit unto him, and accepted in him, the Beloved. Nevertheless, it is an unspeakable blessing and comfort to have the understanding enlightened upon this all-important subject, and to know Him in whom we have believed, and to have this knowledge as a powerful motive to induce us to comply with those indispensable proofs of discipleship, self-denial and the bearing of the cross daily. I cannot but fear that many who are great sticklers for this knowledge, and are ready to limit salvation to the possession of it, are so far from living in accordance with it, as to fall under the condemnation spoken of by the Apostle, when he says: "Shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?"

In the evening, a number of the Aborigines joined us, when we were seated around some charcoal embers, contained in an old iron pot, by which the Commandant's hut is warmed, and which might endanger the lives of the inhabitants, were it not for the free admission of air through the crevices of the weatherboard walls. An elderly woman, named Boatswain, by the sealers, to whom she had long been in bondage, informed us, by means of signs, and a few