be provided to send suitably-qualified men to explore those regions, which are still for the most part pagan, although nominally Roman Catholic. Mr. Stanton's letter forcibly describes the affecting moral and spiritual condition of the Charibbs, and details his proceedings among them. The facts cannot fail to be deeply interesting to all who expect that "the Heathen shall be given to the Son for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession." BELIZE.-Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Samuel Stanton, dated CharibbTown, June 1st, 1841. My present visit is the longest I have ever been able to make from Belize to this station; sickness and other causes having rendered it impracticable for me to devote to this department of our labours the time and attention it justly deserves. I rejoice, however, that it has been my happiness, on this occasion, to remain so long, and to witness the degree of religious interest which has generally been manifested by the Charibbs during that period. It is true, I have often been discouraged while viewing the contrast between the amount of labour and expense which, for the last eight or nine years, has been devoted to this Mission, and the apparently small degree of real good which has resulted therefrom. I have sometimes been apprehensive that the Committee, also, might labour under unfavourable impressions on the same account. But my apprehensions are now giving place to the hope that a brighter day is dawning on this interesting portion of our Lord's vineyard, and that ere long the Almighty will arise and make bare his holy arm in the sight of all the people. A few months ago both our school and congregations here were exceedingly small, and scarcely the least concern for religious matters could be discovered amongst the people; but, by the blessing of Almighty God on our humble efforts, a considerable interest is now excited, and the work of the Lord on the hearts of many who attend our services is strikingly manifest. When, therefore, we consider the peculiar history of the Charibbs, their long connexion with the Spaniards at Truxillo and other places, and the superstitious and idolatrous rites into which they have consequently been initiated, I think we may say, both with wonder and gratitude, "What hath God wrought!" It is true, that even now polygamy, the practice of praying and making feasts for the dead, and riotous entertainments at funerals, &c., exist to an awful extent; but by the constant and unreserved exposure of the folly and sinfulness of these heathenish habits, which we have full opportunity of making, they are becoming less prevalent; and some have already confessed, that they are ashamed of these deeds of darkness. The necessity of a Schoolmaster for this station has been frequently and strongly urged on the attention of the Committee; but I must, even at the risk of being thought obtrusive, bring the matter again before them. About six months ago our number in the school was six now we have upwards of sixty; and several are writing and ciphering. For the charge of such a school our Native Teacher is utterly incompetent; so that as soon as the personal attention of the Missionary is withdrawn from the school by his duties at the other stations, the interest which has been excited here may die away. Accompanying this you will receive a local paper, "The Honduras Observer," containing a brief account of an interesting meeting of our Charibb school-children, held on the 4th of last month. Our congregations also are now rapidly increasing. Finding that the attendance at the chapel, Sabbath after Sabbath, was so exceedingly small, my mind became deeply affected while reflecting on the brief but beautiful description of the conduct of our Divine Exemplar, "who," it is emphatically recorded, went about doing good." I was forcibly reminded, also, of the peculiar circumstances under which the Founder of our own system commenced his course of usefulness; when he took his stand in the streets and market-places, and in the open fields, to preach unto the perishing multitudes the word of everlasting life. With a heart overflowing with love to the thousands around me, who are regardless of their eternal welfare, I resolved, by the assistance and blessing of God, to adopt a similar course. Accordingly, for the last two months, I have visited, alternately, both on Sabbath and week-day evenings, the several towns which compose this settlement; and unsheltered, except by the broad ethereal arch, have proclaimed, with exquisite joy, the glad tidings of salvation to lost but listening crowds. And often, while witnessing a train of this uncivilized tribe, consisting of men, women, and children, and extending over a space of nearly three quarters of a mile, (myself at their head,) moving eagerly along a narrow path on the sandy beach, towards the elevated spot appointed for the celebration of divine worship, has my heart been filled with gratitude to God; and I have been impressively reminded of the description of the Gospel church, recorded in Isaiah ii. 2, 3: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." It was to me a matter of painful surprise, when I first came to this station, two years ago, to find that, though we have had a chapel and a school here for a series of years, and a Missionary almost constantly resident during that period, no society had as yet been formed, and we had not, from among all the Charibbs, a single member. A slight acquaintance, however, with the moral condition of the people soon convinced me that nothing but an extraordinary display of the power of the Gospel could ever effectually awake them from the slumber of sin, and bring them to the fear and service of God. Out of the two thousand, that may be fairly computed as comprising the population of this entire place, there cannot be num. bered more than about six couples that know anything of the sacredness and the virtue of conjugal life; and so greatly does the number of females preponderate, that some of the men keep as many as from two to four women. But their awful and deeply-rooted depravity exhibits itself, not only in the licentious and profligate habits to which they have so long been subject, but, if possible, still more affectingly, in the absolute indifference which they manifest to the solemn and sacred ordinances of religion! It is true, many of the females attend at the services; but they either sit with their elbows on their knees, and their heads completely covered, and fall asleep, or pass the hour in oft-repeated bursts of loud conversation and laughter; and on some occasions I have seen them as deliberately recline on the forms in the chapel for the purpose of sleep, during the sermon, as if they had been at their own houses. During the week-day services it sometimes occurs that a fishing-boat comes in, when the shell is blown to give notice of the sale of the fish; and no sooner is the sound heard, than the people rush through the chapelwindows to make their purchases, leaving the Preacher to conclude alone, whatever part of the service he may be engaged in at the time. But amidst all these discouraging circumstances, under which, for so long a period, we have had to labour, it will, doubtless, be a matter of pleasing intelligence to the Committee, that a society, though on a small yet hopeful scale, has at length been commenced. Our first Charibb class-meeting I had the happiness and honour of conducting, on the 13th ultimo; and the circumstances of that interesting event will long have a place in my grateful recollections. In the morning I addressed the audience, which was unusually large and attentive, on the vain excuses of sinful men, for postponing the paramount business of their soul's salvation, in a discourse founded on Luke xiv. 18: "And they all, with one consent, began to make excuse." Never do I recollect to have been more satisfactorily persuaded of the gracious assistance of the Holy Spirit, in preaching the word; and seldom have I seen a congregation more deeply affected than on that occasion. It was fully manifest, that the people were labouring under convictions respecting their moral condition, to which they had previously been entire strangers. Many a long-imbibed prejudice now gave way; many a vain excuse was shorn of its strength; many a stout heart trembled; and, to those who yielded to the power of the Gospel, it was the beginning of good days. At the close of the service, inquiries were made as to the terms of membership, when it was stated to the people, that none could be admitted as members of our society but such as abandoned all known sin, and were found regularly in attendance on the means of grace; thus furnishing, at least, an outward evidence of a "sincere desire to flee from the wrath to come." It was a "hard saying: "-nevertheless, with some, it had its desired effect. Several at once determined to marry, or otherwise break off the sinful course which they had so long pursued; and I have now published, for the third time, the banns of marriage between some of the parties, for whom, in the course of two or three days, I shall have to perform the nuptial ceremony. Others are delaying for a few weeks, (though I have not failed to warn them of the dangers of procrastination,) till they shall have made their arrangements more complete. And I have but little doubt that many will shortly "go and do likewise." Our Charibb class consists, at present, but of three individuals; namely, Santiago Benney, our native Schoolmaster and interpreter, his wife, and an aged female, who has regularly attended our services ever since the formation of the Mission, and whose deportment, for several years, has been strictly moral. She, I believe, in her declining years, should it please the Lord to spare her, will be a shining example of evangelical piety, amongst these dark and uncivilized people. To enumerate the superstitious observances, and describe the lamentable ignorance, of these native Charibbs, would be a task too onerous for my present opportunity. One instance of the latter, however, I shall venture to relate. Being fully persuaded, that though there is more difficulty to be calculated upon in the conversion of old sinners, the power of the Gospel is by no means limited to the young or middle-aged; I have therefore - made it my business, as frequently as possible, to visit the abodes of those who are either too aged or too infirm to attend the public means of grace. On one occasion I met with an old Charibb from the island of St. Vincent, (whence these Charibbs originally came,) whose appearance was remarkably indicative of great longevity, while he manifested the cheerfulness and amiability of youth; but on inquiring into his views of another state of existence, and hopes of future happiness, he only entered into a long and melancholy detail of his present sufferings and privations, and said, that he now wished to live no longer. I asked him if he had ever prayed to God to fit him for the awful change; when he replied, "Yes, me pray ebery day and ebery night, bekase me no ab" (have) "maamy, me no ab wife, me no ab piccanniny, me no ab nobody to mind Me eye urt me, me back urt me, me kin" (skin) "urt me all ober. Ah, wat de matter God Almighty no kill me one time?" (or at once.) "Me sick too much, me old, yes, me old too much; but me old no urt me. O God Almighty, me beg you to kill me one time!" After labouring hard to convince him of the error of his ways, and commending him in prayer to God, I left his habitation, with my mind greatly affected under a conviction of the total depravity of human nature, and yet entertaining the hope, that, even at the eleventh hour, this aged sinner may seek mercy and be saved. me. WEST INDIA MISSIONS. ANTIGUA. The following letter from Mr. Railton shows that much remains to be done even for some parts of Antigua, which in many respects has had more religious advantages than any other island in the West Indies. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Lancelot Railton, dated Willoughby-Bay, Antigua, September 16th, 1841. IT affords me pleasure to say that I found the work here in a healthy state, and that the labours of my predecessor, Mr. Hornby, had been blessed to many who greatly honour him as a servant of Christ, and regret the necessity of his removal. On making up the June-quarter returns I found five hundred and eighty-four members in the Bay society, and three hundred and fifty-three at Sion-Hill; making a total of nine hundred and thirty-seven to be watched over, and fed with the bread of life, independently of any effort to rescue others from the slavery of sin. The taking up of so important a station, and the spiritual care of so many souls, might well awaken emotions of no ordinary kind in the bosom of an old and experienced Missionary, and much more in the mind of one who has so recently entered into the work. The responsibility of the charge was, and is still, felt: hitherto, however, the Lord has helped me ; mountain-difficulties are gradually disappearing, and my hope is increasing that God will put honour upon my poor labours among this people. The following is the order of the week-night services: Monday, Leaders', Meeting at the Bay; Tuesday, at the Hill, with preaching; the following three nights, exhortation and renewal of tickets, or regular estate-preaching. By this means I am able to visit most places in the Bay station twice in the quarter. This being the utmost that can be done, when neither failure of health nor weather interrupts, (thank God, the former seldom does; the latter often at this season of the year,) the Committee will see how little personal attention can be paid to so many. The quarterly visitation of the Bay members occupies three nights in the week for seven weeks in the quarter. It is a laborious work, but so productive of good, that it is regretted that Sion-Hill cannot be visited in the same way the classes there meet "according to their respective places of abode; but the quarterly tickets are necessarily given on the Sundays. Hence the Preacher in charge does not see them all individually, in the course of the year; and, in short, he can know nothing of some of them except through the Leaders'Meeting. If the state of the Committee's funds would admit of it, after meeting the claims of more needy cases, I should strongly urge the case of Sion-Hill, with its three hundred and fiftythree members, comparatively without pastoral care, with the prospect of some increase in numbers and supplies, and, above all, of doing immense good in the neighbourhood; but under the circumstances of the Committee I cannot press the case, needy as it is, and much as the health of your Missionary is exposed in attending to it once a week. Our chapel at the Hill, as well as the large one at the Bay, is well attended every Sabbathmorning; nor do the worshippers appear to forget their errand. On the whole, though I have to mourn over the unfaithfulness and instability of some, and the apathy of others, I have to report favourably of these societies at large: many things encourage hope concerning them, though there is little prospect of a great increase of numbers, owing to the fact that nearly all belong already to some church. One of the things still operating against us, is, the unsettled state of our people. Though the stream of emigration may be said to be broken, and many are on the eve of returning, others are moving about the island, under the temptation of better wages, and by the sale of cheaper lands for a house-stead and provision-ground; consequently, some get out of the reach of our pastoral care, being at too great a distance from our chapels for regular attendance. I am happy to say, however, that the majority of our people in this neighbourhood are locating within three miles, and will be able to attend the Bay chapel as usual. The place of their residence has been named FreeTown. About ninety-five acres of land have been sold in small lots, several houses are inhabited, and scores are in the course of erection. We are making provision for the education of their children, and for occasional services among them, by the erection of a plain chapel-school. The purchase of the land was cheerfully met by the Willoughby-Bay Friendly Society; but how the expense of erection and furnishing is to be paid, we cannot tell. Our people are willing, but poor, and many of them are straitened by their laudable efforts to provide a home of their own. At Bethesda, where another free village is rising up, the proprietor has offered us a piece of land and £5 currency; but we can do nothing with it for want of means, although our school-room there is crowded almost to suffocation, and the people are urging us to it. I ought not to omit mentioning the fact, that subscription-lists are open here, and several of our labouring people are contributing their mite; and that many of our members have cheerfully increased their quarterly contributions of late, and others promise to do so soon. We sympathize with you in the embarrassed state of the funds, and would gladly relieve you, were it in our power; but we do not see how much more can be done here in the present state of things. TORTOLA AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.-Great inconvenience has been long experienced on this Mission by the want of suitable and sufficient chapel-room for the congregations. It will be observed with pleasure, that the congregations have now entered on plans for the supply of means for the erection and repair of chapels for themselves. The details of one of the meetings held for that purpose, and the remarks of some of the older Christianized Negroes, will be read with the deepest interest. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Charles Bates, dated Road-Town, Tortola, August 27th, 1841. Ir will afford you pleasure to learn that we are going on very well in this Circuit, I trust, in every respect. Our numbers remain unimpaired, either by death, backslidings, or removals: new members continue to fill up the broken ranks; and we have reason to hope that pure and undefiled religion is better understood than it used to be in by-gone days, and is more extensively felt among the members than formerly. To God be all the glory! The work of this Circuit is certainly hard for two men; but it can be accomplished without either risk of health or life, if the journeys are judiciously taken. We have been doing what we could towards raising money for erecting chapels in the place of those thrown down by the hurricane of 1837; and, I am happy to inform you, that we have exceeded our most sanguine expectations. We have already received by subscriptions from the members of society, by private subscriptions, and by breakfast and tea meetings, the cheering sum of £73. 178. 10d. sterling; and we entertain the hope of making up the sum of £100 by the end of the year. Our people have indeed done nobly; for, while they have been giving for chapels, the regular receipts of the Circuit have increased. We have also prepared a considerable quantity of stones for the intended erection, as part of the island abounds with those suitable for the purpose. I think we have had sufficient experience of the unfitness of wooden buildings to brave the fury of a West-Indian hurri cane. The following may be considered as a report of a "Breakfast-meeting, held at the West-End, for the benefit of the West-End chapel." By ten o'clock, upwards of three hundred persons sat down to a plain and substan. tial breakfast, which had been principally prepared by friends and members of our society at West-End; so that the money raised by the sale of tickets remained for the special object of the Meeting. As it was the day on which the Negroes commemorated the glorious emancipation from slavery, advantage was taken of that circumstance, and it was turned to good account in the business of the day. The Rev. Thomas Pearson took the chair. He adverted to the fact, that at that very time, July 31st, our fathers and brethren at home were assembled in their Annual Con. ference, and to the pleasure they would feel, could they but witness the sight which presented itself on that spot: they would consider themselves, he said, amply com pensated for the anxieties they had felt, for the toils they had endured, and for the money they had spent, in the good cause of Christian Missions. He exhorted the audience to continued and increased exertions in works of piety and charity. The first person called upon to speak, was a black man, (as indeed were all the speakers excepting one mulatto, and the two Preachers on the station,) an old veteran in the cause of the Redeemer. He drew a pleasing contrast between the present moral state of the inhabitants of Tortola, and their state when they heard few ser mons of an evangelical character. "It is now," said this "son of Ham," "fiftyone years since Hammett and Evans visited Tortola; and at that time it might with truth be said, 'No one cared for our souls.' Barbarity and vice, in their various forms, prevailed; and the morals of the people were sunk to the lowest ebb. Nor was the dying bed of the sinner cheered by that hope which flows from a lively faith in the world's Redeemer; a blessing which now many of us feel." The old man also spoke of the ill-treatment which some of the early Missionaries received from the hands of mistaken men; and thanked God that his servants were now permitted to labour in their arduous and holy work without the least molestation. Six other persons were called upon in succession, all of whom spoke in pleasing and affecting terms of the influence of the Gospel; observing that it had knocked off the fetters of slavery, and had exalted them to the dignity of free men; that they were not now watched when wending their way to the house of God on the Sabbath-day; that it was to the Gospel they owed the quiet they enjoyed on a Sabbath-morning, when, instead of being required to go into the estate to pick grass, they could call their families together, and kneel around the family altar, and thus prepare their minds for hearing the ministry of reconciliation. Mr. Bates was the last person called upon to address the Meeting. He observed, that as many of the speakers who had preceded him had made honourable mention of the Wesleyan Mission, he hoped they would still stand by it, by attending its religious services, and by supporting its religious institutions. It had lost none of its effi ciency: its doctrines and discipline |