the promises of God, and his pursuit of things spiritual and heavenly. As he approached his dying hour, he seemed entirely occupied in prayer and praise. His confidence was unshaken; but it was the confidence of very deep humility. "I am a great sinner," he would say; but I have a great Saviour." The day before he died, he told his wife she might write, in a diary he had sometimes kept, Job xix. 23-28 : the sentiments were what he himself then experienced. Among the last sentences he was heard to utter, as the world was receding from him, were these: "Praise the Lord! God is love. Jesus is my all in all." Shortly afterwards he almost imperceptibly breathed his last.

T. C.

Jan. 10th.-At Hexham, Mrs. Ann Whaley, aged eighty-four years, during thirty of which she had been united to the Methodist society. She was religiously brought up, and enjoyed an experimental knowledge of salvation while very young. Her conduct was consistent, as a professor of religion; and she regularly attended the means of grace, till infirmities confined her at home. In her last affliction she had a settled peace, and firm reliance on the word of God. After uniting in prayer, her spirit passed away to join the church above, whither many of her pious relations had already gone; and several younger branches of the family are following them who now inherit the promises.

J. C.

Jan. 17th.-At Hammersmith, aged forty-nine, Ann, the wife of the Rev. William Naylor. In very early life she devoted herself to the Lord, and through many years maintained a close and uniform walk with God. Her piety was solid, but not gloomy. Though opposed to all appear

ance of levity, in temper and conversation she was cheerful. It was impossible to be with her, without perceiving that she was a new creature in Christ Jesus. In no company did she hesitate to confess her Lord, and give glory to his grace. In the church she was ready to every good work. In visiting the sick, and relieving the destitute, she had great delight; and her labours of love were blessed to the edification of many. As a Class-Leader she was diligent, faithful, and successful. The word of God was her daily companion; and she was accustomed to sing,

"O may the gracious words divine,
Subject of all my converse be!
So will the Lord his follower join,

And walk and talk himself with me."

Her last affliction was very protracted; and though from the first it was pronounced fatal, she received the intimation without dismay, and marked the progress of the last enemy with undisturbed composure. In her, patience had its perfect work; nothing like a murmur was ever heard; but an entire resignation to the will of her heavenly Father was fully manifested. "It is all well, and will be well," was invariably the sentiment expressed by her. It was impossible to be in her company without being edified by her godly conversation. Of her departure from this world she spoke with a calmness of unshaken confidence, having a lively faith in her Redeemer. "I am happy, very happy, and have no fear of death," was her language to those around her. By her life she taught her family and friends how to live, and in her death showed how peaceful the Christian can die. Nearly the last words she was heard to speak were, "My treasure and my heart is there."

D. N

POETRY.

GATHER THE FRAGMENTS.

BY MRS. W. W. DUNCAN, of cleisH.

THIN clouds are floating o'er the sky,
And in the glorious west

Lingers the rose's brilliancy,

Where sank the sun to rest.
A streak of light is hovering there,
Unwilling to depart;
And, soft and still, the wintry air

Breathes o'er the grateful heart.
Though summer's step of joy is fled,
Her voice of music hush'd,
Her shades of living verdure dead,
Her flowery chaplets crush'd;
Sweet nature still hath power to bless,
By mercy's hand array'd,

Her morn in fairy loveliness,

Her eve in dove-like shade.

So, when the days of joy are past,
And life's enchantment o'er;
When we have bow'd to sorrow's blast,
And hope is bright no more;
There still are mercies full and free,
Mix'd in the cup of woes;
And, where the mourner cannot see;
In faith he onward goes.

Then weep not o'er the hour of pain,
As those who lose their all:
Gather the fragments that remain,
They 'll prove nor few nor small
The thankful spirit finds relief
In calm, submissive love;
Toils hopeful on, amidst his grief,
And looks for joy above.

Relating principally to the FOREIGN MISSIONS carried on under the direction of the METHODIST CONFERENCE.

MISSIONS IN CEYLON.

THE following letters from Ceylon are descriptive of the circumstances of three separate stations in that island.

The first relates to Batticaloa, from whence we recently published the gratifying intelligence of a considerable improvement in the state of the Mission; and of a remarkable opening among the Veddahs, or Wild Men of the Jungle, in the interior.

The Rev. Jonathan Crowther, as General Superintendent of the Missions on the continent of India and in North Ceylon, has visited Batticaloa; and, in the following brief report, confirms the intelligence formerly received. We earnestly hope, that Mr. Crowther may find it practicable to make his proposed visit to the Veddahs in the course of the current year. Mr. Stott has been instructed, for the present, to make such arrangements for the instruction of this hitherto savage, but now docile, race of men, as may appear to him most desirable; the Committee entertaining the confidence, that any additional expenditure required in this case will meet with the full approbation of all their friends.

BATTICALOA-Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Jonathan Crowther, dated Madras, October 21st, 1841.

Ar Batticaloa, matters wear at present a much more promising appearance. The humble, yet energetic, labours of Mr. Stott appear to have been crowned with remarkable success. It is too soon to calculate with any great degree of confidence upon the permanence of the results which he has (probably) reported to you; but, unquestionably, as it appears to me, there has been more than an ordinary movement upon the minds of the people (burghers as well as natives) in that neighbourhood; and it may reasonably be expected that, for a time at least, our cause there will be favourably circumstanced, from the cordial co-operation of Mr. Atherton, the District Judge; and that, all things considered, if the work remain under a judicious management, (like that which it enjoys at present under the care of Mr. Stott,) there will be results of an abiding and most

delightful character. Seldom, since my arrival in these parts, have I witnessed anything more refreshing to my spirit than the spectacle presented at the forenoon service in the chapel at Batticaloa, there being present from two hundred and fifty to three hundred persons, chiefly natives, some of whom had recently been turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God; and I could only regret that I was precluded by circumstances from undertaking a personal visit to the wilds from which some of the converts had been obtained. Should it be found practicable at the time, I purpose next year to take a regular excursion amongst the Veddahs, in company with Mr. Stott, and I may then be able to report upon their case somewhat more particularly than my present acquaintance with it enables me to do.

MR. KESSEN's letter from Negombo exhibits a dark portrait of the character of the native Singhalese. His description will apply too justly to many of the inhabitants of all parts of the East, where there has been intercourse with Europeans for two or three centuries, but without any accompanying adequate exertion for their instruction and conversion to the faith of Christ. Among such a people, a Missionary VOL. XXI. Third Series. FEBRUARY, 1842.

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has to contend with difficulties in the prosecution of his work, some of which are scarcely known to those who labour in countries more remote from European intercourse. But is it less his duty to labour because the task is arduous? Or is it less our obligation to sustain him in his "work of faith and labour of love," because the influence of our own country, and that of other (so-called) Christian and civilized countries, have tended to sink into a lower depravity those who were already "perishing for lack of knowledge" of "the only true God, and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent?" A much deeper sympathy for the condition of our fellow-subjects in the East must be awakened, before we shall have discharged our duty as a Christian people, either to God, or to those myriads of unsaved souls whom his providence has placed under our care.

NEGOMBO.-Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Andrew Kessen, A. B., dated September 18th and 19th, 1841.

MY Circuit is larger than that of Colombo, but not so large as either the Caltura or Galle Circuit. Under my immediate inspection are the following villages, exclusive of Rillegalle, twentythree miles distant:-Dalupotta, Negombo, Bolowalana, Kurunu, Kattanayake, Andiamblam, Kimbalapitya, Miriswatte, Walpole, Seedua, Bandarawatte, Raddolua, Mucklangama, Amandolua, Pussala, Tempala, Dandugam. The inhabitants in general are most deeply degraded. In indolence, improvidence, selfishness, and deadness of heart to every claim of God or man, they cannot be exceeded.

The great

majority are Roman Catholics, many are Protestants, a few are Mahometans, and a few Budhists; yet such is the utter degradation of all, that out of every eighty persons I meet, sixty of them, for a pice, or a glass of arrack, each, would follow me into yonder court, and deliver false evidence on oath. This is neither a secret, nor a cause of shame; for they glory in their shame. One village is notorious for its brutality. Yesterday I visited fifty of its families, to ascertain who attend, and who neglect, the public worship of God; but I might write "from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve," and my tale of the ignorance and abominations of the people would be untold. Not six in ten of them know their own names. ther village I was brought to converse with a woman who destroyed eleven of her children by abominable methods; and this is nothing uncommon. In other villages, drunkenness, and gambling, and theft, are the prevailing sins. Parties of forty and fifty meet, and continue together for several days, wallow. ing in all kinds of riot and dissipation, gambling away everything they possess ;

In ano

and, during the night, they prowl about, and commit the most lawless depredations. In all the villages may be seen numbers of young and old, almost in a state of nudity, hurrying to their graves, not knowing, according to their own statements, whether they have souls or not, and without one idea of God or eternity. I testify what I have seen, and see almost every day; for I am at present engaged in visiting every family in each of these villages. I cannot describe my feelings whilst thus engaged. Since I came to Negombo, I have not had four nights' sound rest: for although I cannot exactly say, that "all the night long I water my couch with my tears," yet so do I feel the degradation of the people, and my own responsibilities, that 66 my spirit is troubled, and my sleep broken from me." Here, it is true, the eye is not shocked with the cannibalism of the Feejee Islands; but there is worse, for the people have given themselves up to every kind of wickedness, and that too in spite of every effort to save them. They are, in an awfully literal sense of the term, the property of the devil. They pay every kind of worship to him; and multitudes of them not only tie charms on their own persons, but on the very tails of their dogs, and on their cocoa-nut trees; thus publicly intimating to all, that so long as these charms remain, they profess to be under the immediate protection of the devil. In walking through the villages, I always take along with me my writing materials and a knife with the latter I cut these charms, and throw them away. I can form no conception of a people more deeply degraded. After the age of fourteen or fifteen they seem to lose all strength of mind and right principle. In a crowd

you can at once distinguish a Singhalese man from a Tamulian, a Mahometan, or a Malay; for, whilst he has all, and more than all, the wickedness of any of these, he has not one of their redeeming qualities. I finish this dark picture with two observations: 1. That here there are appalling proofs of the deceitfulness of the heart of man when without God; and, 2. That, although the system of faith generally professed is highly metaphysical, and contains some good moral precepts; yet the axiom of Scrip

ture is strictly true, that "the world by wisdom," even by its best system of philosophy, "knows not God."

Sept. 19th. I have learned this morning that the term yaksaya, or "devil," formerly constituted part of the names of many families in these villages. Thus, our first Schoolmaster at Seedua, of whom Mr. Newstead makes such honourable mention in one of his late pamphlets, used to be called Yakdeluge, or Capuge. Of course he renounced the name on embracing Christianity.

THE progress of the new chapel at Morotto, the increase of the congregation, and the commendable zeal of the Assistant Missionary, as described by Mr. Gogerly, of Caltura, are very encouraging circumstances. The latter part of Mr. Gogerly's letter relates to an application to the Local Government for some aid to the Mission, which had been rendered necessary by the economical arrangements of the General Committee of the Parent Society. In common with other Missions, that in South Ceylon has suffered a material reduction in its annual grant from the funds of the Parent Society; and the consequence must be a restriction of operations in some parts of the work, unless local aid can be obtained. We are happy to observe, that the application of Mr. Gogerly, as Chairman of the Mission in South Ceylon, was favourably entertained, and that the Local Government bears an honourable testimony to the useful character of the Mission.

CALTURA.—Extract of a Letter from the Rev. D. J. Gogerly, dated September 20th, 1841.

I HAVE directed the Assistant to use the greatest prudence, to see the people as much as possible in their houses, and try to gain their confidence; and I hope he will succeed. At Morotto, I am happy to say, that the work is more encouraging. The congregation at Egodde Uyana has improved, and private houses have been opened for week-night preaching, when from forty to fifty adults assemble. At Gorekana the congregation is, as usual, small; but in Morotto it is much increased. Their chapel, which will accommodate from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five people, is nearly finished; but the congregation at present worshipping in the shed outside, including the children, will barely find accommodation in it; so that I anticipate that, soon after its opening, it will be necessary to enlarge it. good class is met constantly, and a decided work of grace is in progress. Openings present themselves in villages beyond, which I shall watch with great attention. The Assistant Missionary, P. de Zylva, labours with all his might. On the whole, with diligence and prudence, and with the promised presence

A

and blessing of our blessed Master, I trust we shall make progress.

In the course of last month I laid our financial circumstances before the Government, stating our claims upon them, not only from our educational labours and our direct Mission to the Singhalese, but also as having performed for many years the duties of sole Chaplain to the Protestant Christians, English, Portuguese, and Singhalese, in the towns of Matura, Caltura, and Negombo, and to the members using the Portuguese language in Galle. My letter was addressed to the Colonial Secretary, the Honourable P. Anstruther, asking his advice what steps I ought to take to bring the subject more immediately before the Governor; and I received the following answer :

"My dear Sir,-The late Governor recommended a grant of £100 each being made to several Missionary institutions; in reply to which the Secretary of State directed that such a grant should be made only with reference to the amount of subscriptions from private persons here. The Governor considers the Wesleyan Mission well deserving of public support; and if you can show that the

Mission has received subscriptions within
the colony to the amount of £100, he
will propose a grant to that amount be-
ing made in the Supply Ordinance of
next year.
"Yours truly,

"P. ANSTRUTHER."

As our subscriptions in South Ceylon amounted to £138, we shall at least have a grant of £100 next year; which I expect will be continued, if not increased, annually.

MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

ALBANY DISTRICT.-If any evidence were necessary to establish the dark and cruel character of Paganism, and, on the other hand, to illustrate the power and excellence of the Gospel, it might be found in the following letter from the interior of Kaffraria. Our readers will be

thankful for the happy conversions which it narrates. WESLEYVILLE.-Extract of a Letter from the Rev. James Stewart Thomas.

SINCE our sojourn in this savage land, said, on the morning of her baptism, our heavenly Father has indeed spread "I have been a great many years in the a table in this wilderness, and has cheered world; but it is now only that I begin to our fainting hearts, and revived our droop- live." Another said, "To my bodily ing spirits, by pouring into our souls the taste nothing is sweeter than honey; but consolations of religion, and exhibiting this is nothing compared to the sweetto our view his positive assurances of the ness of the love of Christ in my soul." final success of our enterprise. He has also Another said, "I bless God that ever I afforded us a present earnest of the abun- was driven to this place; for it has been dant harvest which will finally be ga- the means of my salvation." She had, thered into the garner of our Lord. We while living at a distance from this stahave seen the efficacy of the merits of tion, been accused of witchcraft, and was our Redeemer's blood in softening and tortured in a most brutal manner, by changing the heart of the degraded sa- having hot stones applied to various parts vage. It has been effected through the of her body, and was also rubbed over simple preaching of the Gospel, and the with a coating of grease, and laid, bound agency of the Holy Spirit. But these hand and foot, in a nest of black ants, we regard but as the first-fruits of a more for the purpose of extorting a confession. abundant harvest. It is a cause of great After enduring these torments for a congratitude to God, that even a few have siderable time, she succeeded in making obeyed the Gospel call, and come out her escape from her persecutors, and arfrom amongst the mass of wickedness by rived at this station in a state of comwhich they were surrounded. One of plete nudity. Here she was brought the cheering circumstances with which under the sound of God's word, the we have met, was the baptism of four truth affected her heart, and she has now of the converted natives; one of these become a follower of Jesus Christ. was the widow of a former principal There are two others of whom we enterChief of this tribe, and she is now tain good hopes, as being likely to bid considerably advanced in years. She fair for the kingdom of heaven.

MISSIONS IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

HONDURAS-BAY.-The Mission at Belize was commenced with a view to the advantage of the British settlers and Negro inhabitants of Honduras-Bay. The former accounts published from this station furnish sufficient evidence of the usefulness of the Mission to both classes. We have also occasionally referred to the opportunities, presented to the Missionaries, of instructing the Charibbs, the remnant of the aboriginal inhabitants of the West Indies, located on the Belize river; and also, to the possibility of extending their operations into the contiguous countries of Guatemala, Yucatan, and Mexico, should means