is evidently advancing in this quarter of the globe: prejudice appears daily to decrease: large congregations assemble to hear the word of life: and a spirit of inquiry appears generally to prevail. Female education appears to excite increasing interest, and some natives have sent a petition to one of the church Missionaries, requesting him to establish a school for the education of their daughters; but I am sorry to say that this disposition only partially prevails." "The congregation at the English chapel is upon the increase. God appears to be honouring his word with success, as there are now seven candidates for church fellowship." Heathen Cruelties. "Bishop MIDDLETON received his early education at Christ's Hospital, (the Blue Coat School,) from whence he removed to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where he proceeded B. A. in 1792, M. A. in 1795. In 1812 he was collated Archdeacon of Huntingdon, and presented to the vicarage of St. Pancras, Middlesex. In 1814, when it was determined to appoint a resident bishop in our eastern dominions, Dr. M. was selected by government to fill that very exalted station. As a scholar, Dr. M. acquired great reputation by his celebrated Treatise on the Doctrine of the Greek Article, applied to the illustration of the New Testament." CHINSURAH. In a letter of the 15th of April, 1822, the Rev. In the letter just quoted, Mr. Bankhead states H. TOWNLEY writes as follows: the following painful facts : "Mrs. Euston Carey called upon us last Sabbath-day, on her return from Chinsurah. While coming down the river, she was witness to a Suttee, or immolation of a widow upon the funeral pile. The poor victim walked with the greatest composure to the fatal spot, and after a short ceremony was tied to the dead body of her husband-a torch was applied to the pile, and in a short time both bodies were consumed, amidst the shouts and yells of the surrounding multitude.” "At a short distance from the above place, the same lady saw ten sick persons brought to the side of the Ganges, and after their relations had filled their mouths, ears, and nostrils with mud, left them to be carried away with the tide, expecting to be conveyed thence into a place of perfect happiness. Thus, Sir, while we are called to notice such painful circumstances, let us adore the grace which maketh us to differ, and pray with renewed vigour, that the Holy Spirit may be poured out from on high; that idolatry may be banished far hence, and the religion of Jesus universally prevail." Death of the Bishop of Calcutta. The Rev. Dr. MIDDLETON, bishop of Calcutta, died in that city on the 8th of July last. In announcing the death of this distinguished Prelate, the London Times says: VOL. IV. During my late visit to Calcutta, a mea sure was unanimously resolved upon, which has given me the greatest satisfaction of any event since the commencement of the Mission. It is, that the Friday of every month antecedent to the administration of the Lord's Supper (which is the second Sunday in the month) be separated to the duties of secret prayer, self-examination, imploring the outporing of the Holy Spirit, &c. The building of Union Chapel ; the formation of the Bengal Auxiliary Missionary Society; the circulation of the Scriptures and Tracts; the preaching of the Gospel-all these are calculated to raise hope that some good will be done; but altogether do not administer so much hope to my mind as that which arises from any indication of a spirit of grace and supplication being poured out upon 12 us. This will fit us for the reception of the blessing which the numerous churches in the West are drawing down for us by their increased and fervent supplications. Let us wrestle with God, and we shall be virtually wrestling with all the heathen. Our dear fellow-labourers at Chinsurah are ripening in their work, and pursuing it with unabated ardour. A gentleman resident at Chinsurah, who has lately become pious, and who understands the Bengalee and Hindoostance, occasionally exercises his gifts in speaking to the natives in the Bungalow Mission Chapels, at that station. BELGAUM. Progress of the Mission. On this subject, we select the following paragraphs from a letter, by Mr. TAYLOR, dated at Belgaum on the 31st of December, 1821: "I feel happy in communicating to you that the few persons here who desire to serve the Lord and to live in obedience to His commandments, have formed themselves into a Christian Church the beginning of this month. Our number is 17, and the ordinance instituted by our Lord, in commemoration of his dying love to sinners, is to be administered every month. Our association, as it respects subscriptions, has been very successful. Since our general meeting we have collected up wards of 500 rupees within the last half year; of that amount 175 rupees have been voted to our Society, and sent to the agents at Madras; 105 rupees have been sent to the Bible, and 60 to the Tract Societies at Bellary, and 60 to the Bombay Bible Society. A sergeant of his Majesty's 46th Regiment, lately deceased, and who I have reason to hope died in the Lord, left his property to me, amounting to 60 rupees, for the Association. The amount altogether transmitted from the Belgaum Association to the agents of our Society is 385 rupees or 441. The Brahmin, mentioned in the Report as being under great concern for his soul, still, I am happy to say, continues seriously disposed. He has been lately speaking about Baptism; he hopes, he says, God will enable him to overcome his sins; his evil heart he finds his greatest burden, and expresses his fears lest, after acknowledging Christian Baptism, he should fall into sin. He says he is not so much afraid of the world as he is of his own sinful heart. If he continues steadfast, I expect he will prove a valuable assistant in the Mission, as a preacher of the Gospel among his own countrymen. He, with two of the school children, came last week to witness the celebration of the Lord's Supper at my own house, of which Rayadass and his wife, for the first time, partook. After the service, I spent some time with them in prayer, and in endeavouring to explain the nature of the ordinance which we had been attending to, and what were the obligations of those who partook of it. The time thus spent proved a season of refreshment to my soul, and encouragement to persevere in my humble endeavours to serve the Lord. A few other natives, of the weaver cast, also seem to be under concern about their souls, and attend at the Shawpoore school every evening for instruction from Rayadass, who reads to them the Scriptures, and gets them also to engage with him in prayer. Our native Schools continue to be well attended, and afford me encouragement from them. Almost all the children are to hope that in time some good will result committing to memory Catechisms and portions of Scripture; the diligence with which some of them learn, and the attention they pay when spoken to, incline me to think that their young minds are in some measure impressed with what they read and hear. By the Divine blessing upon these means, we may trust that they Divine truth, but also feel its power and will not only become acquainted with live under its influence. I am anxiously expecting the arrival of another Missionary to assist me; the field couraging, but one Missionary is not suffihere is large and the prospects very encient for all the labour here. I sincerely be able soon to send another labourer to hope the Directors will feel inclined and occupy this field. SOUTH AFRICA. Recent communications from Dr. Philip state, that the missionary settlement at Bethelsdorp is now in a very improving state. The uncertainty of continuing the station, occasioned, for a long time, a total neglect of the buildings and other improvements; but new houses are now built, and others are about to be erected. In addition to these circumstances, the Secretary of the London Missionary Society mentions the following: ་ A shop is opened by a respectable person for the sale of such goods as the Hottentots need, and for which they were formerly obliged to travel many miles. A large farm, a few miles distance from Bethelsdorp, with a substantial house, has been purchased by the directors of the London Missionary Society, where the cattle belonging to Bethelsdorp may occasionally be fed, and corn raised; and the Hottentots have lately contracted with the commissariat department of the colonial government, to furnish 30 wagons and teams for the conveyance of goods; and being their own drivers, and employing their children for wagon leaders, they are enabled to fulfil the contract much cheaper than any other persons. These engagements will, it is hoped, tend greatly to the advancement of the temporal interests of this despised place. Dr. Philip says, "I can now meet the calumniators of missions, and the enemies of the Hottentots on their own ground, and challenge them to show me, in any part of the world, a people more capable of being improved than the abused Hottentots of South Africa; or attempts at civilization more complete in their success than what may now be seen at Bethelsdorp." Distress of the colony at the Cape. In a letter of the 3d of August last, Dr. Philip makes the following statement:— Owing to the failure of the crops, and the distressing situation of the colony, the expenses of the missionaries are necessarily, this year, higher than usual. Every thing in Cape Town and in other parts of the colony, is at an extravagant price. We have no rice but what we receive from India,no wheat but what comes from New Holland or from England, and every necessary of life is in proportion to the price paid for foreign grain. Such a state of things-a state of things approaching to famine, cannot be sustained without bringing additional burdens on the funds of the Society; but it is to be hoped that this affliction will not be of long continuance. Your hearts would bleed to see the present condition of this colony. We have had no crops for two years, and fears are generally entertained for the one approach ing. While the western coast of Africa has been deluged with rain for four months past, in such a degree that the seed is rotting in the ground, and houses and even villages are falling down, the eastern coast has scarcely had any rain for a twelvemonth past, and the grass is parched, as if it had been burnt in an oven. This severe drought was succeeded by a storm equally severe. In the same letter Dr. Philip adds: While I am writing this letter, tidings are continually brought in of the desolations occasioned by the late storm, amounting, in many instances, to the almost total ruin of a great part of the inhabitants in the wealthiest districts of the colony. The damage done in Table Bay by the late gales, you will read in the newspapers; and the destruction of the buildings in Cape Town is so great and general, that we esteem it a distinguished mercy that the mission house and chapel are not damaged. This state of things will account sions during the last six months. to you for the extra expenses of the mis SIBERIA. Zeal and liberality of the Heathen in support of superstition. Mr. SWAN, one of the Missionaries at Selinginsk, in Siberia, thus describes the zeal of some of the Dalai Lamas in propagating their religion among their neighbours: "Their zeal has carried some of them beyond the Baikal, to the unlettered tribes around Irkutsk, among whom they are acting as missionaries, building temples &c. and thus preparing to set up their unintelligible mummery in regions where it has hitherto been unknown. I am sure, my dear sir, you cannot read this statement with indifference. Is it not enough to provoke the society-the churches, to jealousy? Shall no soldiers of the cross be sent to take that field against these emissaries of Dalai Lama ?-Some may think that we ought to wage the war there; but I could easily show why we should not desert our present post. On this side the lake we have enough, abundantly more than enough, to employ our hearts and hands were our numbers increased letters of introduction have been duly hoseven-fold. I have another provoking circumstance to mention the liberality of the heathen in the support of their superstition. During my late journey, some Buriats, in my presence, were conversing about the flocks and herds of the Taisha Djigjit. They said he was not so very rich in sheep. I asked how that happened, since I had been told that his father Damba, to whose property he succeeded, had upwards of ten thousand? "Yes, his father, at one time, had ten thousand, but seven thousand sheep (besides other property) were disposed of for the building of the temple!" Shall christians be outdone by heathens? Shall greater sacrifices be made by individuals to uphold or propagate the mass of lies and nonsense of which Dalai Lamaism consists, than christians who have it in their power, are willing to make for the furtherance of the gospel of Christ? Will not such munificent heathen offerings as these rise up in judgment against some who are withholding more than is meet? These facts speak for themselves; but I am moved when I see such calls for missionaries, and the society unable to meet them-such fields of exertion, and so few to occupy them, because the christian world does not furnish the means. FRANCE. FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN PARIS. Rev. Jonas King to the Rev. Mark Wilks, Marseilles, Oct. 26, 1822. In our number for December last, (page 231 of vol. 3d.,) we gave a letter from the Rev. Mark Wilks, announcing the formation of a Foreign Missionary Society in Paris, and the appointment, by that society, of the Rev. Jonas King, an American, as Missionary to Palestine. Mr. King left Paris for his destined station about the 20th of October. The following letter, written to his friend in Paris, (the Rev. M. Wilks,) on the eve of his embarkation at Marseilles, will be perused with interest : It is just midnight, and I expect to embark at one o'clock. I can only give a general idea of my journey, and reserve details for a future opportunity. All my noured; had they been written by Louis XVIII., I could not have been treated with more kindness and respect. I wished for as many thousands of tracts as I had hundreds: at every post I distributed those I had, and preached a short sermon to attentive groups-on the fall of man, and the necessity and sufficiency of the salvation of the cross. The people pressed round me, and demanded tracts with an eagerness and interest I have never seen exceeded, so much so that some persons were afraid I should be arrested for my pains. been received with more affection than I Had I been an apostle, I could not have experienced at Nismes. A meeting was held at the Pastor Tachard's for the purpose of forming a society auxiliary to that of Paris. Three hundred and four francs afterwards given by a poor widow 75 were subscribed, exclusive of 70 francs years of age. The society of Nismes will the department of the Gard. As soon as probably extend its operations throughout the rules are printed, send a supply to the pastors Tachard and Gandes. At Montpelier, the pastor and dear friend Lissignol, constrained me to abide at his house; he is labouring at the formation of an auxiliary society, which he has much at heart, and desires warmly the establishment of monthly prayer meetings through France. The pastor Michel was also very friendly, and entered into all my views. M. Lissignol accompanied me to Marseilles. Here, and in the neighbourhood, we have received some contributions. A pious lady, who desires to be anonymous, not only treated me with the most affectionate kindness, but gave 100 francs for the society. They have given me here various letters of recommendation to Lady Esther Stanhope, to five Danish consuls in the east, and to several Sheiks in Syria. I have obtained considerable information from the American consul at Algiers. I long to hear that the society has established a monthly prayer meeting. As has great blessings in store for France, and only waits till his children ask, to shed them on the churches abundantly. Miscellanies. We are requested to state that the donation of sixteen dollars from the Female Auxiliary Missionary Society of Morristown, New-Jersey, was forwarded by Miss, and not Mrs. 3. N. Johnes, Secretary, as stated in the Register for February." The Editor avails himself of this opportunity, to request that all persons who may have occasion to write to him, in relation to this work, or to any of the concerns of the United Foreign Missionary Society, would give him their proper address. He has often found himself embarrassed for want of information on this point. If his Correspondents, in subscribing their names, would prefix the appellation to which they are respectively entitled, it would preserve him at least from some perplexity, and perhaps from many blunders. SOURCES OF MISSIONARY FUNDS. In glancing over the list of contributions to the United Foreign Missionary Society during the last month, we were gratified to observe a number of new sources of Missionary funds. Among the number are the following: Fines collected of Grand Jurors, by their foreman. Contribution of a Society of Lads in an Academy. Avails of a small Missionary field, cultivated by a lad of ten years of age. A string of gold beads from a female friend of Missions. Contributions from the children of a Sabbath School. The contents of a family Mission box. new, is thus announced to the Secretary in a letter from Bath, Steuben County, in this State: We have in this place a Female Benevolent Society, who have a small flock of sheep, and who annually manufacture the wool, and appropriate the whole to Mission ary purposes. They forwarded, in November last, to Mr. Dwight, your agent at Geneva, a piece of flannel, of forty-one yards, valued at twenty dollars and a half, to be sent to the Missionary station at Tuscarora, or that at Seneca, as most needed." To these may be added the following extract of a letter from a gentleman in the county of Monroe, one of the former subscribers to the American Missionary Register: "I have just received the Missionary Register for January, and am much gratified with the perusal of the powerful appeal of your Committee to the Christian public. At the same time, I regret most sincerely, that the operations of your Board are embarrassed for want of funds. I now enclose fifteen dollars, out of which please deduct the amount due you for the Register to the present number, and place the balance [$12 50] in the funds of the United Foreign Missionary Society." We are also gratified to find that the number of Churches which contribute to our funds at the Monthly Concert, is increasing, and that a, number of individuals have recently made themselves Life Members of the Society, by contributing the requisite sum of thirty dollars each. Should the examples here mentioned be extensively followed, and our Auxiliary Societies continue and increase their contributions, the Board would soon be relieved from their present embarrassment, and be enabled to pursue their operations with renewed assiduity and vigour. AMERICAN MISSIONARY REGISTER. It is now two months since this work became the exclusive property of the United Foreign Missionary Society. During this period about three hundred and fifty have been added to its list of patrons. The present number of Subscribers is less than twelve hundred: while a similar work, belonging to a kindred institution in Boston, is supported by more than twelve thousand. The Register is now issued at the very moderate annual price of one dollar and a half, (twelve and a half cents a month,) with the view of bringing it within the reach of almost every family in the community. At this price, it will require a very large subscription list to pay the expenses of publication, and to yield any considerable profit for missionary pur poses. The present subscribers, as well as |