lic argument. I cannot, in this stage of the Meeting, forbear reading a passage from a native newspaper, which I received by mail from India a few days ago. It is printed in the Bengalee language, and the translation which I shall submit to the Meeting will show in what light the efforts of Missionaries are viewed by the natives. Many Europeans who have been in India, having taken little trouble, while staying there, to inquire about these matters, return to this land entertaining a feeling almost of contempt for the labours of Missionaries. They say, "We never saw the Missionaries, we never heard of their labours, we never perceived that any thing had been done by them." No wonder, if they did not inquire. Hear what the natives, the very best witnesses, have to say on the subject. This extract is an address, by a writer in a paper which is devoted to the advocacy of Hindooism, to the members of a certain Society, calling itself a holy Society, and instituted for the protection of their religion. The extract refers especially to the efforts made by my beloved friend Dr. Duff, for the education of the young; but it has reference also to Missionary efforts in general. Now, hear how this man expresses himself.

Ad

dressing his countrymen, he says, "O most holy men, do not boast of being any longer Hindoos. You think your

children will remain faithful to the religion of their fathers, and join your religious bodies, to defend Hindooism. Give up such hopes. The Missionary gentlemen, who have left their own country to come to India, are now, in whole bands, perambulating every lane and corner, in order to destroy the Hindoo religion; and foolish boys, like greedy fishes, being deceived by the hope of gain, are caught by the hook of their sorceries. What will happen hereafter, nobody can tell. Like the sacrificial block at Kalighat, the blocks of the Missionaries are day and night ready; and, whenever they find an opportunity, they bring their oblation and kill their victims. We are more afraid of the Padres" (Missionaries)" than either of cholera, fevers, or snake-bites; for these may be healed by charms and by medicines; but for the disease which the Padres inflict, neither charm nor medicine avail anything. We cannot find great fault with the Padres; for it is the glory of their own religion, that they have crossed seven oceans and thirteen rivers," (a common saying among the Hindoos,)" to come into this country, and

are now spending immense sums to convert the Hindoos. Our religion, having no means of defending itself, is dying; it is going to its home; that is to say, to the house of Jom; (Jom is the god of hell;)" and the holy men of Dhurmostola" (a society for upholding Hindooism) "will not even once apply the medicine of their endeavours, for the restoration of their dying religion! Why quarrel with each other? If the children join the white-faced sages, you will soon have nothing to quarrel about." Here is Hindoo testimony, for those who would know what the Missionaries are doing amongst them. Now, all these facts, coupled with the still more pleasing fact of the establishment of little Christian communities, in almost all the Missionary stations, which are operating as the salt of the earth, and, more or less, spreading their beneficial influence among the surrounding population, will convince you, that the soil from which all these effects have been produced cannot be called barren, and that the efforts which have caused those effects have not been in vain. While these statements of what has been done afford an incentive to perseverance in the good work, there is, in my opinion, a far greater incentive in the fact, that, of all the countries of the habitable globe, India is the most prepared of the Lord for the reception of the Gospel. And, if this be true, as I hope to be able to prove, is it not clearly the duty of the Christian church, to direct its efforts, primarily, to the promotion of the Missionary cause in that country? If God thought a certain state of preparedness the most suited for the introduction of the Gospel of his Son into the world, surely when the same features are now to be found in any pagan country, we must acknowledge that God has prepared that country for the Gospel, and that he wishes it to be introduced there. All the requisite features are to be found in India now. Let me illustrate my meaning. At the time of our Lord's coming, nearly the whole of the habitable globe had been conquered by the Romans, and had thus been brought under one monarchy; a circumstance which greatly facilitated the intercourse of the various nations who formed it. Well, the same has been done in India by the conquests of the British, who have united under one sovereignty, rule, and polity, innumerable tribes of nations which were formerly at war with each other; a rule so far professedly a Christian one, that it affords full and entire

liberty-I acknowledge it with gratitude -to the Missionaries to go wherever they wish in the land, and enables them to prosecute their labours with perfect security. Take, then, the general expectation which had been raised about the time when the Messiah appeared, that a great King would appear in Judea, whose sway would be universal, and would alter the whole state of things; which expectation was accompanied by the idea of great moral revolutions, and the overthrow of the existing religious systems. Well, the same is to be found in India at the present time. There the Indians, one and all, owing especially to an ancient prophecy in their holy books, are fully expecting in the age in which we are living the entire overthrow of their religion, and that a totally new order of things will prevail. All the efforts of the Christian Missionaries in India have tended to convey to the natives the impression, that a new order of things is at hand. It is owing to this, that they display so wonderful an apathy in the defence of their own system; for what can tend more to weaken effort in any cause than despair of its success? If you mark, again, the settling down, in many parts of the Roman empire, of the Jews, who communicated knowledge to the people, who exhibited to them their purer worship; if you take the translation of the Old Testament into Greek by the order of Ptolemy, which circumstance alone tended to correct many erroneous notions of the people respecting God, his attributes, his revealed will, and other things; the same state of preponderance is now to be met with in India through the same causes. Europeans, instead of Jews, have settled everywhere; everything is prepared for the spread of some kind of knowledge; there are churches and chapels where the natives see a purer worship; there are copies of the sacred oracles, books, and tracts, widely disseminated. You have lifted up the cross in that land, and nothing shall ever induce you again to lower it in the smallest hamlet where it has already waved, and you will not relax in your endeavours, till that standard of peace and good-will to man has been erected in every city, and town, and village, from the Indus to the Brahmapootra, and from the Himalaya mountains to Cape-Cormorin.

The REV. DR. FLETCHER said,Our honoured friend told us of the moral and intellectual influence of the ten thousand young men who are training under the moral influence of the native system

which has so long prevailed in India. O that it did not prevail! He has told us that this training will exercise a mighty and, it is feared, a perilous influence on the future generations of India, unless counteracted by Christian influence; that, with all their knowledge of science, they are ignorant of Christianity; that, though various errors and misconceptions are rectified, yet they have no knowledge of the Bible; no experience of the counteracting influence of its high and holy principles. We have taught them to read and study the literature of Britain; but, will it be believed, that, when religious tracts, and various books, directly conducive to their spiritual welfare, books of the most unsectarian and the most catholic prin. ciples, were sent to the schools to exert their moral and civilizing influence on India, they were rejected, not allowed to have an entrance there; while, at the very same time, under those most impartial men of science and letters, Hume's Essays, with all their infidelity, Byron's Works, with all their pollution, were allowed to have free course. This is matter for deep regret. But. I advert

to it to show that there is an analogous influence in this country, that must exert itself through the medium of all our schools, and universities, and colleges; and, while I would not, for one moment, contend that Christianity should be a matter of coercive, or compulsive, or restrictive arrangement, never let us forget it, never be it overlooked, that the friends of religion must be, more than ever, active, devoted, and determined in causing the word of God to be elevated to its just position. In science, in religion, and in learning, there must still be a regard to Christian principle, which will cause us not to forget either the position of the age, or the claims of divine truth. Whatever be the character of politics, whatever the progress of the public mind, we must never forget that the Bible must maintain its ascendancy and prominence, that it must appear before us in all its dignity and authority; and this will be found the best counteraction to infidelity on the one hand, and to vice on the other. I would, with regard to the progress of Missions among the young, advise that Missionaries should meet our Sabbath-schools; and thus try to work on the public mind, through the influence of children gathered together in the schools. I look upon it as essential to the conservation of truth, and as deeply connected with the purity and progress of religion. And allow me,

Sir, with all the respect I bear to your honoured friend on the right, to say, that his presence, and that of his beloved son, has reminded me of the old story of Hannibal, who took his son to the altar of his god, to make him swear eternal enmity to the Roman name and influence. Is it presumption to say, that our honoured friend has brought his beloved boy to witness this scene of hallowed excitement and enthusiasm, that he may, in early life, catch the flame of holy fervour and religious devotedness, not for the excitement of personal or national enmity, but to cherish the noble philanthropy of saving the world? I witnessed the lad's kindling eyes as his father spoke. I knew his feelings at that moment, when he saw how much his father was honoured and loved, for the testimony he delivered to the truth of Christianity, and to the holiness of that truth. I saw the tear starting in his eye, and I hoped and prayed, that the God of his father would be his God and his guide, even unto death. Why should not such a feeling be connected with all our relative and domestic associations? Every family should be a Missionary Society; every domestic altar should be consecrated to the service of the God of Missions; every prayer offered on that altar, should recognise the claims of Missions. We must identify the Missionary cause with all that belongs to our personal, our social, and our public religion. Sir, I regard the cause of Missions as the most important branch of operation in the cause of God; because it is the best practical refutation of infidelity, and the most complete antagonism of the modern heresy of Puseyism. We see the God of Missions directly proving the origin of Missions to be from himself. If the Puseyites were scriptural, in the notion that there is no divine authority-I mean no proper validity-in Ministers of a certain order, not sanctioned by Episcopal power; if this were true, here is God himself proving, that wherever the Gospel of the kingdom is preached, wherever the spirit of the Gospel is maintained, wherever the character of the Gospel is exemplified, there is true "Apostolic Succession;" there is the sanction of Omnipotence itself; and I care not where they have received ordination, or from whom they have received it, if the truth is exhibited, if holiness is displayed, if sinners are saved. Every Missionary on this platform is an apostolic man; every Missionary brings before you the best signs of apostleship; and, blessed be

God, every Minister can look around upon the seals and signs of such an apostleship, in the ignorant instructed, in the sinner converted, in the wretched made happy, and the victims of delusion and sin raised to the high dignity of sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.

We

The REV. W. G. BARRETT, from the West Indies, said,-The 1st of August last a day to be remembered by that people in all generations; that day is one of their joyous festivals, and the Negroes now call it their Christmas -happened on a Sabbath-day. have always been accustomed to have a dinner in the open air; but, this being the Sabbath, we determined to have a prayer-meeting on behalf of the slaves throughout the world. The men whose fetters were but yesterday knocked off, were united in asking God that he would say in every part of the world, "Let my people go, that they may serve me." It was a thrilling sight to see these sons of Ethiopia on their knees, pouring out their souls to God that he would break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free. I had been reading from an American work, called "The Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses," some striking and horrifying details regarding American slavery. I called upon one man, now a Deacon of my Church, to engage in prayer. There were about five hundred present, and he rose for the purpose. I was expecting to hear him begin in prayer: he turned round, and, with a voice choked with sobs, said, "Minister, I cannot pray; excuse me sitting down; what you have been reading, about what they are doing in heathen America,-how they sell the wife from the husband, and the husband from the wife, and how they tear children from families, is a heart-burning to me. I recollect, Minister, as if it was only yesterday, when my master owed taxes, and my wife and children were taken to be sold to pay them. I saw the Constable come and take my wife and children, to be put up by auction, to pay the debts my master owed. I went to the auction, and bade for them. I paid £77 for my wife, and £45 for my eldest boy, and £37 for my eldest daughter; and, unless my friends had lent me money, they would have been taken from me, and been wandering up and down the country.

When I think of

this, my heart is so full, I cannot pray : I beg you to excuse me." I never heard nor read, in my life, such an eloquent denunciation of slavery; such a

proof that slavery is only a curse to be driven out from among men.

The REV. R. MOFFATT, from Africa, said, I will refer to a single fact illustrating the importance of having the Scriptures in the native language. Travelling with a companion across the interior, we came to a heathen village, and at that time it was heathen indeed. We had travelled the whole of the day and the preceding night without having eaten any food: before sunset, we came within sight of the village; but we approached it with caution, because we knew that the Corannas, by whom it was inhabited, were accustomed to bloodshed and rapine, and they might fall upon us before they knew who we were. At last, an individual came to inquire our object: he pointed us to a considerable distance beyond the height where the village stood, and said that we could sleep there for the night, but that it was at our peril to enter the village. There we were we dared not proceed, because we knew that if we did, we should in all probability spend the night with the lions, and form a meal for some of them before the morning. We had tied about us the fasting-girdle, an excellent thing to prevent the gnawings of hunger. We had no other prospect but remaining where we were during the night. We looked at each other; for we were hungry, and thirsty, and fatigued above measure. At last, an individual came, and we inquired if he would give us a little water. It was refused. I then offered two or three buttons remaining on my jacket for a little milk; but that was refused, and refused with scorn. It did not require to be a phrenologist or a physiognomist to discover that there was something brewing in the minds of the people, and that we had good reason to be alarmed. We lifted up our hearts to

God; but we knew it was not our duty to proceed. There we sat, and, as we gazed, we saw a woman descend from the heights behind which the village lay. She approached, with a vessel in her hand, and a bundle of wood. The vessel contained milk; and, having set that down and the wood, she immediately returned. She shortly came back, bringing a vessel of water in one hand, and a leg of mutton in the other. She sat herself down, and cut up the meat. We asked her name, and if there was any relative of hers to whom we had shown kindness; but she answered not a word. I again asked her to tell me to whom we were indebted; and, after repeating the question three or four times, she at last replied, "I know whose servant you are ; and I love Him who hath told me that he that giveth a cup of cold water to one of his children, shall in no wise lose his reward." On inquiring into her history, I found she was a solitary little lamp burning in that village, and that she had burnt there for many years. Her words seemed to glow, while she wept profusely to see one of the servants of Christ. I regarded her as a sister indeed; and I asked her to tell me how she had kept the light of God alive in her soul; how she could keep up this state of feeling and affection, without the communion of saints. She drew from her bosom a Testament, and, holding it up, she said, "That is the fountain from which I drink; that is the oil that keeps my lamp burning in this dark, out-ofthe-world place." I looked at the book, and it was a Dutch Testament, printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. It was given her by one of the Missionaries, when she left the school; and it was that book that kept her hopes alive, and brightened her prospects for the heavenly world.

the glad tidings with which we are our selves blessed. There can be no occasion more interesting than the present, because none are brought less in contact with the Gospel of Christ than the Navy of Great Britain. From the very nature of things, those employed on board a ship must be deprived, to a great extent, of that religious instruction which is enjoyed by those who reside on shore. It is not possible for them to enter weekly into the house of prayer, and sing the praises of God. They are also deprived of that literature which is con

veyed to every part of England, and which must continually remind men of the necessity of caring for their souls. On board a ship, they scarcely know what it is to enjoy the privileges of a Sabbath. The ship must be provided for on that day, as well as on any other; and, though there may be some service conducted on board, yet there is not that striking testimony to the force and efficacy of religion which there is in every town of this country. But to this we must add, those deplorable habits of vice, and that indifference to religion, which I fear is too prevalent among that class of the community. To such an extent does this exist, that many sailors think that religion does not concern them, but is only adapted to people who live on the land.

At

The REV. MR. FERGUSSON then read the Report, which, after adverting to the commercial advantages derived by Britain from her naval power and the moral character of seamen, generally stated that the reports from the various stations of the Society, both foreign and domestic, were truly encouraging. Thousands of vessels had been boarded in the river Thames, and the Missionaries had met with much to cheer them. The Bethel services were highly estimated by the sailors themselves. Among the Welsh seamen, there was a marked attention to the claims of religion. least one hundred and fifty vessels had been added to the Bethel list; and about forty flags had been furnished to Captains bound to various parts of the world, and to Associations both at home and abroad. Tens of thousands of tracts had been put into circulation, and gratefully received. Loan-libraries had been supplied to ships bound to almost every part of the world. Applications for the holy Scriptures had been more numerous than before. The cause of temperance was advancing. The day and Sunday schools were undergoing a thorough review. In the success of the provincial agencies, the Committee were called to rejoice. The continental and foreign operations of the Society were proceeding with satisfaction.

The REV. G. PRITCHARD said, The influence of this Society is of the greatest importance to heathen nations generally. I have witnessed the conduct of sailors in foreign lands; and nine instances out of ten, of a painful nature, that have come under my notice, have arisen from sailors uninfluenced by the Gospel of Christ. On the other hand, where ships have gone influenced by the

I

principles which this Society cultivates, the effects have been the very reverse. will just refer to a few ships which have called at the island where I have been permitted to labour. I will first allude to the ship Fly, which was there a few years ago, commanded by Captain Elliott. The effect produced on the natives and foreigners in Tahiti was very delightful. I spent some time with Captain Elliott and his officers. The Captain, pointing to his library for the sailors, told me that he had had but one instance of flogging on board the ship for three years; and he attributed the absence of corporal punishment to the effects produced by that library. He had also a library for the officers; and he stated that the books produced better discipline in the ship than any law whatever. I recollect the Captain pointing me to one man, who was then a gunner on board. When he first entered this vessel, and found that religious instruction was communicated to certain persons on board, and that, for all who could not read or write, a school was formed, he declared that he would have nothing to do with that religious cant. But, before I had the honour of knowing that Captain, the gunner, he assured me, had become first and foremost in every good word and work. The natives of Tahiti think of that ship to the present day. There are two or three whaling-vessels that sail from the port of London whose officers are pious; and so are some part of the crew; so that family-prayer is held on board; Bible-classes are formed; and the natives look forward with pleasure to the arrival of these vessels. The crews come and unite with us at our prayer-meetings; and in several instances I have received some pious sailors to the table of the Lord, and have seen them sitting down with their sable brethren. These have been very interesting seasons, when we have been on the other side of the world.

The REV. DR. VAUGHAN said,—If there be a spot on the earth where efforts of this kind should obtain pre-eminence, that spot is Great Britain, and the spot within that enclosure is the great metropolis with which we are connected. We are the great commercial power of the globe; we have attained, under God, to this eminence. We have to bear in mind, however, that it is an eminence, like every other in our world's affairs, that has combined with it an element of responsibility. Commercial power has passed from hand to hand, like all other power. It is easy to point with the fin