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tures and tracts in the Teloogoo and Canara languages, with which they were plentifully supplied, were sought for with the utmost eagerness, the poor people sitting in groups to read them, or coming with their books in their hands, to ask for an explanation of passages which they could not understand, and not unfrequently requesting their benevolent teachers to stay longer to instruct them in the new and important things which they had first brought to their notice. Proceeding by Bangalore and Seringapatam to Mysore, he was most kindly received there by the British resident, and preached to the Europeans and others, attached to the court of the Rajah. At Tellicharry, where he was cordially received by the chaplain, who is very honourably engaged in translating the scriptures into Malaybese, and in every other village in his subsequent progress, he distributed his tracts, and addressed an attentive people, who, for the first time, heard with astonishment the Canara language from the lips of an European. In some places, his poor but grateful auditors loaded him with fruit in return for his books. At Cannamore he was gratified to learn, from the officers of the 69th regiment, that the soldiers who had formerly attended on his ministry at Bellary were the best men in the regiment. Amongst the troops still remaining at that station, much good is effecting, and several of them are candidates for admission into the Christian church. The schools are prospering, and an attempt is about to be made to establish one for girls, though, as usual, the prejudices of the natives are much opposed to it. Some slight indications of a spirit of inquiry having been excited amongst the natives, have also appeared in their applications for tracts and Bibles, some of which they readily have purchased, but no other encouragement has lately been exhibited here. Amongst the crowd of devotees at the great fair at Humpee, was the Rajah of Harponelly, whom the Missionaries had seen five years before, at the seat of his government, and he now sent to invite them to visit him, as they accordingly did, and were most graciously received, being sent home on one of his highnesses own elephants: but what is of far more importance, he renewed his expressions of regard for the mission, to which he has always been friendly, and requested a visit from its agents to his territories again. At Belgaum, a Brahmin, who gives good evidence of a serious concern for his soul, is actively assisting the Missionaries in the preparation of Mahratta tracts, and some other natives are anxiously inquiring the way of salvation. The schools are well attended, and the prospects of the station are, on the whole, so encouraging, that another Missionary is required. Chinsurah is a place, from which the Missionaries of the Society have not as yet gathered any Hindoo converts into the fold of Christ. Prejudice is there very strong in its operation, though it seems to be giving way; for numbers of the natives, both Mussulmen and Hindoos, come to ask for the Bible, which is read in all the schools, where the catechism is also learnt by heart. These things do not escape the observation of the Brahmins; one of whom lately said to Mr. Townley, and earnestly do we hope and pray that his fears may be prophetic,-" Oh, sir, in our children's children's time, it will be all over with us."-At Calcutta, however, the work of the Lord is evidently advancing, for prejudices are daily vanishing; large congregations assemble to hear the word of life, and a spirit of inquiry generally prevails. Female education is also exciting an interest, though the disposition to avail themselves

of its advantages only partially prevail among the natives. On her way to this capital, the wife of one of the Missionaries, besides a Suttee, was witness to the horrid sight of ten sick persons being brought to the Ganges, by their relations, who, having first filled their mouths, ears, and nostrils with mud, left them on its banks to be floated down the tide, to a place, as they believed, of perfect happiness. An Auxiliary Missionary Society has, we are gratified to learn, been formed at Amboyna, to afford support and encouragement to the Missionaries already there, or who may hereafter arrive, in their great work; to engage suitable schoolmasters, and send them to distant parts of the settlement, for the instruction both of the native Christians and of the heathen; and to employ the mission press in the printing of religious tracts. The death of Dr. Milne will, we fear, occasion, at least a suspension of some of the useful undertakings which he had set on foot for the furtherance of the missionary cause. We are pleased to find, that the governor of Prince of Wales's island, expressing at the same time how happy he was to do any thing for so great and good a man, readily furnished his friends with a company's cruiser, to take him to Malacca, where, in the midst of his family, he finished, at the early age of six-and-thirty, as honourable a race as in modern times was ever run. The native schools there are going on prosperously, and the Chinese youths attached to the school, are also on the increase. At Madagascar every thing wears a most promising aspect. Mr. Jeffrys, the third Missionary, accompanied by the four artisans sent out with him, has arrived at the capital, and was received with all the military honours that could have there been paid to an ambassador of the most potent prince. They were treated most graciously by the king, who gave the Missionary a house, and the artisans a piece of land, on which, with the willing assistance of two thousand people of the town, three houses were erected for them, in as many days. The King is so anxious for his people to receive instruction, that he himself sends for parents, to desire them to send their children to the Missionaries; and he lately attended in state, with two of his generals, at a public examination of their schools, where the children shewed that they had made considerable progress in reading, spelling, writing, and the first rules of arithmetic, as have the girls also in needle-work. They were catechized by Mr. Jones, in the Malagash language, in which he has composed a catechism for their use, after the method of Dr. Watts. The report of the deputation sent out to the South Sea Islands continues to be most encouraging, informing us, as they do, that all we have heard, in respect to the state of the missions, is far exceeded by the fact. In all the islands which they have yet seen,-and Huaheine, whence they last wrote, is the third,-a profession of the gospel is universal; the prayer meetings, and the schools are surprisingly attended, and the churches are flourishing, whilst the morality of the people is unparalleled, and civilization is making rapid progress among them. The idol temples recently destroyed in Huaheine are very numerous, but we rejoice to add, that almost every where, a temple has been erected to Jehovah on their ruins. Tupuai, Raivavai, Rurutu, and Rimatura, the seven native teachers, sent from Tahiti, have been most joyfully welcomed both by chiefs and people. At Eimeo, the foundation stone has been laid of a new chapel, to be built of hewn coral rock, lined with stone, taken chiefly from the neighbouring Morais, or

places of idolatrous worship. The chief and people take great interest in the edifice, which is the first attempt at this style of building of the island.-In South Africa, the civilization of the Hottentots, has very considerably advanced of late. At Bethelsdorp, houses of a better description than those formerly used, have been built, and are building, and the Hottentots of the settlement have become contractors with the colonial commissariat, to furnish thirty waggons for the conveyance of goods. At Lattakoo, Mr. Moffatt has made sufficient progress to translate some little pieces into the Bootchuana tongue, and hopes soon to be able to preach in it to the natives. At Berbice, several pleasing evidences have lately been given of the genuine Christian feelings of the negro converts.

The CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY has of late received but little information of great interest from its numerous stations, and what it has received is of a mixed, though, on the whole, an encouraging character. At Ceylon their agents seem to entertain more sanguine hopes than those of other societies, founded, in a great measure, upon the atheistical cast of the national creed. Budhu is not with them a god, but a very holy priest, who, after passing through various trials upon earth, is now in a state of glory, where they believe that any man, by becoming a Budhu, may follow him; and that he may do, if he lives as holy as he did. Their chief object of worship is the Devil, whom in sickness they are accustomed to propitiate by horrid ceremonies, of which the dance, called the Devil's dance, is the chief; although in the neighbourhood of Baddagammee, the station of the Missionaries, from the services rendered to the natives by their knowledge of physic and surgery, combined with their religious exhortations, this superstitious custom is fallen into all but universal disuse. The Missionaries are active, zealous, and apostolically devoted men; their schools are flourishing, the scholars going through their lessons in English and Cinghalese, much to the satisfaction of two of the gentlemen on the civil service of the East India Company, who, on their way home, touched at Galle.-New Zealand presents, however, we are sorry to say, a very different and discouraging prospect. It appears but too clearly now, that the object of Shunghee, in visiting England, was but to provide himself the more effectually with the means of carrying on that destructive warfare, which he has begun in the most savage manner, having fitted out an expedition against his enemies on a larger scale than any which ever left that country before; and as he is plentifully supplied with fire-arms, to be used against a people destitute of them, there is every reason to fear, that unless prevented by the special interference of Providence, he will but too successfully execute his threat of destroying every man, woman, and child, with whom he meets;—whilst, from his return to all the barbarous customs of his country, it is to be apprehended that he and his people will not only kill, but eat them too. Amidst such horrid scenes, the Missionaries are not only discouraged, but insulted in the grossest manner; and since the return of their chief, they have manifested a great disinclination to sending their children to the Mission schools, Shunghee having declared that he wanted his children to learn to fight, and not to read.-In Western Africa, the work is prospering. At Gloucester, the number of communicants is considerably increasing, and they give good evidence of having made progress in divine things.

The METHODIST MISSION to Ceylon, is, on the whole, making pro

gress, although we could wish for a more rapid one. In some districts, demands for the establishment of village schools are making far beyond the ability of the Society to supply; whilst in others, the dreadful ravages of the cholera morbus, that most destructive scourge of India, have kept the children from a regular attendance, though they are now resuming it.-In South Africa, the mission to the Boschuanas is about to begin active operations, under very encouraging circumstances, for the missionary who has travelled very far into this country, gives a very decided opinion in their favour, as the very first (instead of being, as other tribes rank them, the lowest and the last) of the Hottentot and South African race. The Missionaries to Namacqualand, have lately visited a neighbouring horde of bastard Hottentots, who expressed a wish to be taught the way to heaven; and their report affords, we think, an encouraging hope that a Missionary might be advantageously settled amongst them. Other Missionaries have been on a journey of inquiry and observation into the country of the warlike Caffres, some of whose tribes, and even of their chiefs, appear to be anxious for the establishment of a Missionary amongst them, and we earnestly hope that ere long a door will be opened for his entrance, though the sceptical turn and predatory habits of the people will, humanly speaking, present very formidable barriers to his success.-The West Indies are still, however, the most fruitful fields for the labour of this Society. At Dominica, the foundation stone of a new mission chapel has been laid by the Earl of Huntingdon, the governor, in presence of the Chief Justice and many of the principal inhabitants of the island, from whom a subscription of £600 has been raised, his Excellency's name being placed at its head. In every other respect, his lordship has shewn himself the constant and zealous patron of every attempt to promote the moral and religious instruction of the negroes, regardless by what denomination of Christians those efforts may be made. In St. Vincent's, the Missionaries are too much occupied in preaching, to attend, as they could wish to do, to the Sunday schools. Several openings present themselves for Missionary exertion, both in this island and the neighbouring one of Beckway, and assistance from home of fresh labourers is ardently looked for, and will not, we hope, long be looked for in vain. At Tortola, in the last quarter, one hundred members were added to the society. The congregations both in town and country continue large, and the schools, on the whole, are doing well, though additional teachers and larger supplies of books are much needed. Considerable accessions have also been lately made at Antigua, where the labours of Missionaries amongst the slaves are prospering, except that one planter has forbidden their continuance upon his estates. A pleasing contrast to this worldly-minded and inchristian conduct is detailed, however, in a letter from Mr. Whitehouse, of which the following is an extrat: “ Yesterday evening, unday the 23d, I opened Sion Chapel, upon Sion Hill, the estate of e Hon. J. D. Taylor. It was a highly interesting season to all prent. Mr. T., his excellent lady, and his daughter, were present. their leaving the chapel, the negroes were in waiting, lining each Se of the way leading to their house; and when they had passed the theshold of the chapel, they began to pour a thousand blessings on thr heads. The chapel was erected at Mr. T.'s expense, for the befit of his own negroes, and the negroes on the neighbouring estes. I spent a very agreeable evening with this excellent family.

Among their slaves they appear more as parents than as proprietors: the sick are fed from their table; and they are building a hospital for the lying-in women almost close to their own house, so that Mrs. Taylor may see them several times in the day." O si sic omnes! The foundation of another chapel has been laid at Willoughby-Bay, towards the erection of which, scarcely a negro came to the meeting, that did not bring a stone, many of them ready squared. In Jamaica, the work is upon the whole prospering in the hands of the Missionaries, who, as in most other of the colonies, are wanting further aid. On the north side of the island alone, it is computed that at least 250,000 souls are living without God, and without religious instruction. In the House of Assembly, some very interesting debates are now going on, upon the subject of christianizing the slaves, and one of its ablest members has given his matured opinion, that, "the slaves never can be properly instructed in Christian doctrines, but through the zeal and activity of Missionaries." From Tobago, the call for further help is also loud and urgent. To most places on the island, access could readily be obtained, and in every spot to which the gospel has been introduced, the negroes flock with the greatest avidity to receive instruction. From Montserrat and St. Eustatia, the intelligence is on the whole very encouraging. On both islands new chapels are erecting, of which the governor, had he not been prevented by illness, was to have laid the first stone of that erecting on the latter island.

A desire to give the Index to the volume, with the number that completes it, compels us reluctantly to defer, until our next, our usual summary of the proceedings of the minor societies at home, and of those abroad.

POLITICAL RETROSPECT.

SELDOM, if ever, did the character of ENGLAND stand so high as it does at the present moment. At the congress of Verona, she acted the part which became her, by remonstrating, in a firm and dignified manner, against the interference of the Allies with the internal concerns of Spain, or any country with whose constitution its monarchs were not altogether satisfied. Failing in dissuading other powers from pursuing her own proper example, in leaving every state to chuse a form of government for itself, her ambassador unequivocally declared that England would take no part in these unjustifiable proceedings; and the ministry have, in parliament, repeated an assurance, which every party in the country has hailed with delight. Never, indeed, was any thing more unpopular in England, from one extremity of it to the other, and without a solitary dissentient voice than the shameless aggression of the Holy Alliance on the indepen dence of Spain; and if a war cannot be avoided, never could one b entered upon with greater popularity, than in support of the const tutional government, of which, when it was before assailed, by t insane ambition of the French, England was the first, and most sr cessful ally. We hope, however, in the present state of our financ, that a strict neutrality will be a sufficient protection to the Sparh people, as, without English gold, the German and Russian allies ofe

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