FOR NOVEMBER, 1843.

God were to cast him into hell on account of them, he must pronounce him righteous and just. But he knew, also, what is said in the Scriptures of the willingness of God to pardon every penitent sinner, who seeks forgiveness through the merits of his Son. We read and repeated various passages, in which the lost and undone through sin are invited to come to Jesus, and assured of eternal life on the ground of his having suffered unto death.

please God to restore him to health, to take
up the cross, and bear it after Christ, to
whatever shame it might expose him; but,
as it was very uncertain whether God would
ever grant him the opportunity he desired,
he promised, at my request, to call those
around him who had been the partners in
his crimes, and warn them of their danger.
He thanked me very warmly for my atten-
tions to him, and I left him never to see
I know that a death-bed
repentance is little to be relied on; but
66 re-
even on a death bed God may give
pentance unto life." Have we not reason
to hope, that in this case there was a heart-
felt view of the evil of sin, and a believing
application to that blood which cleanseth
from all iniquity? The day will declare it.

him again in life. On visiting him next

day, he declared his faith in Jesus Christ;
said he had no hope in himself, for he had
been a vile sinner; and came as a hum-
ble suppliant whose only hope was in the
His past
word and promise of Jehovah.
life appeared to him very abominable-he
abhorred himself on account of it, and ex-
pressed his fixed determination, should it

TAHITI AND MADAGASCAR.

THE Directors have great satisfaction in presenting the following cordial expression of christian sympathy in the trials of the Society, as connected with Tahiti and Madagascar, lately received from the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ireland:

Knockbracken, Belfast, Sept. 28, 1843.

GENTLEMEN,-The Reformed Presbyterian Synod in Ireland, at its late meeting, appointed me to convey to you its unanimous and cordial sympathy, in relation to the trials which, in the inscrutable providence of the Redeemer, you have been called to sustain, through the severe and protracted persecution of the christian converts in Madagascar, and the recent popish aggressions upon Tahiti.

In conveying to you this expression of christian regard and condolence, permit me to say on behalf of the Synod, that, in common with many other friends of pure and undefiled religion, we rejoiced sincerely in your philanthropic and christian efforts to evangelize the "dark places of the earth," as exhibiting obedience to the Saviour's parting command; stimulating the various sections of the Church to engage in a similar enterprise of mercy; and affording the cheering prospect of the approach of that delightful era, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, and when "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth."

With deep interest we marked the success that the Lord vouchsafed to the labours of your Missionaries in Madagascar. By their persevering exertions in setting up the machinery of Scriptural instruction, and the favour shown, for a season, by persons in authority, to your plans for the christian education of the heathen youth of that large island, we rejoiced that a wide and effectual door seemed to be opened before you; and our earnest hope was, that, through your instrumentality, this would be one of the isles that should wait for the Redeemer's law, and be speedily added as a willing appendage to his Mediatorial kingdom. With the history of your labours, trials, and successes in Tahiti, and other islands of the South Sea, we have long been familiarly acquainted. We regarded with unfeigned pleasure the astonishing change which the Spirit of power, accompanying In the prosperity of the infantyour labours, had produced among the Polynesian races. churches of the Society and Navigators Islands, we had learned to cherish a warm and, we trust we may add, a prayerful interest. By the blessing from on high resting on the

lovely and devoted spirit which they have manifested, we had hoped that the light of the Gospel might be made to beam upon other lands yet in pagan darkness, until the abundance of the sea should be converted to the Lord, and the east and west together should be irradiated by the beams of the Sun of Righteousness.

We are much concerned that these pleasing anticipations appear, for the present, to be frustrated; and that the enemy has so far prevailed as to arrest the progress of the work which had been so auspiciously commenced. While we desire to render thanks to God for the grace given to the converts in Madagascar, by which some of them have been enabled, even to death, to witness for Christ a good confession, and others continue in seclusion and voluntary exile for the truth's sake; we lament the relentless cruelties which heathen rulers have been permitted to inflict upon these simple-minded and devoted confessors. We would unite with you in earnest prayer to the King of Saints, that his gracious presence may be with his servants in the fiery furnace, and that He would mercifully interpose to break the power of their persecutors, and to work deliverance for his afflicted people. Our assured confidence is, that the martyr-blood which has been shed in Madagascar, will be remembered when the Lord arises to execute vengeance upon the gods of the heathen, and that it will yet prove the seed of a future glorious church.

Regarding the French aggression upon Tahiti, as instigated by a rapacious and intolerant priesthood, and as a development of the designs of the Man of Sin to extinguish the light of evangelical truth wherever he has the power, we sympathise most cordially with the Queen of Tahiti, in being despoiled of her authority and hereditary rights, by treachery and threatened violence-with the faithful Missionaries, and members of the Missionchurches in that and other islands of the Pacific, in the manifold dangers to which they are exposed-and with you, in the severe trial which you have been called to endure, by witnessing those deprived of their legitimate rights, and subjected to jeopardy from the inroads of Popish idolatry, superstition, and oppression, in whom you cannot but feel a paternal interest. While there is too much reason to apprehend, from the movements of Popery throughout the nations, that the attempt may ere long be made in other quarters to check the spread of truth, to oppress its friends, to turn aside unestablished converts from the simplicity of the Gospel, we trust and pray, that thereby the friends of Christ may be excited to a more vigorous opposition to anti-christian error and delusion, and to increased devotedness in the great work of evangelising the nations.

We would unite with you in fervent prayer to Almighty God, that He would preserve the churches in the South Sea Islands in the evil day, frustrate the schemes of the adversary, and, in his own gracious time and way, work for them full deliverance from man's oppression.

In thus offering you the condolence of christian sympathy and affection for yourselves, we would not cease earnestly to desire that you may enjoy a double portion of the wisdom and courage that are communicated from on high-that so you may be enabled to prosecute, with renewed ardour and determination, your important measures for the illumination of a perishing world, and that you may be privileged to reap abundant holy fruits in gathering in the travail of the Redeemer's soul from pagan lands.

By order of the Synod,

THOMAS HOUSTON, Secretary of the Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

APPEAL FOR A NEW MISSIONARY SHIP FOR THE SOUTH

PACIFIC.

IN the commencement of 1838, the Directors of the London Missionary Society, constrained by the forcible statements and urgent entreaties of their beloved and honoured friend, the late Rev. J. Williams, appealed to the friends of humanity and religion for the special exercise of their liberality, to enable them to purchase a vessel suitable for the navigation of those distant seas in which the earliest labours of the Society were effected, and in which its first and brightest triumphs were, through the power of Divine mercy, achieved.

The self-denying and devoted Missionaries labouring in Polynesia had previously often been subject to painful anxiety and extreme privation, in consequence of the difficulty and unavoidable irregularity of obtaining intelligence and supplies from England; and the opportunities of communication between the Brethren employed in the different groups of Islands, was also infrequent and uncertain; and thus they were denied the advantages of fraternal intercourse and co-operation. The only means of communication, though so inadequate and unsatisfactory, were nevertheless very expensive, and it was hoped that, by the employment of a small vessel wholly under the control of the Society, the frequent suffering of our devoted Missionaries might be alleviated, if not altogether prevented, and their labour greatly facilitated, without any serious addition to the annual expense. But beyond these considerations, the ardent spirit of Williams projected new and enlarged operations for the diffusion of knowledge, happiness, and religion, among the benighted multitudes of many populous islands yet unvisited by the messengers of mercy.

An appeal sustained by such facts, and directed to such objects, found a cordial response in the hearts of Christians and Philanthropists; and enlightened members of the nobility, and merchants, concurred with the long-tried friends of the Society to contribute the requisite amount for effecting the enterprise.

The Camden was purchased and supplied with the stores for a protracted voyage, without any demand on the ordinary income of the Society; and on the 11th of April, 1838, she sailed from the Thames, having on board the intrepid and persevering Williams, with a goodly band of new labourers, designed to strengthen the older Missions, and to extend the blessings of the Gospel in other islands of the vast Pacific.

Nor has the enterprise in any of its objects failed. The lamented Williams early fell a martyr to his christian ardour and compassion, but the object that he projected has been steadily prosecuted; and, under the auspices of a gracious Providence, the Camden has realised the utmost hopes and expectations of our departed brother, and of those who sympathised in his enlarged and benevolent designs.

The venerable men, who have laboured for nearly half a century in the Islands of the Pacific, have been cheered and animated in the evening of life, by this new proof that their friends in Britain still remember, and still love them. Many

new labourers have been sent forth to share in their labours; the several stations have been annually visited; regular intercourse with friends at home has been maintained; and, above all, the Gospel has been introduced to many populous Islands where the horrors of paganism, united with those of savage life, prevailed in their most fearful forms.

European or native teachers have, within the last four years, been stationed on various islands of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, and, with very few exceptions, have been welcomed and protected by the Chiefs and people; while other Islands still more extensive and populous appear to be waiting with eager hope and expectation for the heralds of salvation.

The moral influence of a vessel, entirely free from the ordinary association of trade or war, has produced on the minds of the Islanders the happiest effects, and ensures to the Christian evangelist a favourable reception, which feelings of fear, suspicion, or revenge, arising from the injuries frequently inflicted by Foreigners, would otherwise often prevent; and a Missionary ship thus sup plies one of the greatest facilities for the extension of the Gospel among barbarous and unenlightened tribes.

After an absence of more than five years, the Camden has returned to England, and it cannot excite surprise that in consequence of long and perilous voyages during the whole of that period, she should require very considerable and expensive repairs. At the time the vessel was purchased she was deemed adequate to the wants of the Mission; but the number of European Missionaries having since been increased from twenty-two to forty-three, and the spheres of their labour greatly extended, she is now found too small to accomplish all the important and indispensable objects involved. The Directors have, therefore, been induced, as the result of the most careful inquiry and prolonged deliberation, to resolve on disposing of the present vessel, and of appealing to the Friends of Missions for the funds requisite to the purchase of another Ship.

The reasons, which originally led to the purchase and employment of the Camden, remain with undiminished force-powerful considerations, already stated, have also since arisen to demand the continuance of the same measure on a larger scale; but the recent unjust aggression of the French on the Island of Tahiti, and the forcible introduction of Popery into that and other Islands in which the agents of this and other kindred institutions are already stationed, demand, from the friends of Protestant Christian Missions, unrelaxing vigilance and redoubled zeal.

At such a moment of trial to our brethren, and of peril to their churches -while the patrons of error and superstition, flushed with their unrighteous triumphs, are meditating new attacks on the civil and religious freedom of the of defenceless people, to diminish our facilities of operation, and our means enlargement, would betray a decrease of zeal and a dereliction of principle most depressing to the faithful labourers, and of which their adversaries would not fail to take the advantage.

But anxious as the Directors feel to send forth to the Pacific another

Missionary ship, the inadequate state of their funds, to meet the present operations of the Society, will not allow them to expend any portion of their ordinary income in the accomplishment of this object. The Society's expenditure for the last year exceeded its receipts by more than 14,000l.; and, during the present year, they painfully anticipate a further excess of outlay.

The cost of the vessel, with her outfit, will not be less than 4,000l., and they are, therefore, compelled to solicit the special exercise of liberality, not only from the Members of the London Missionary Society, but also generally from the friends of humanity, civilization, and protestant truth, to enable them to accomplish an object most intimately connected with the progress of social improvement, civil liberty, and true religion, among the various tribes and nations of Polynesia.

It is with profound regret the Directors feel called upon to state that, from intelligence indirectly communicated, there is too much ground for the most painful forebodings relative to their beloved Missionary brother, the Rev. John Smith, of Madras. Since the establishment of the Overland Dispatch, the Directors have uniformly received their letters from India through that medium; but, owing to the loss of one mail, and the detention of another, it is now nearly three months since any communications have reached them. On this account, no official information respecting Mr. Smith, confirmatory of their fears or otherwise, has arrived; but from a private letter, addressed to a friend in England, and forwarded from Madras in August, by a more circuitous route, it is mournfully evident that only a feeble hope can be indulged of the safety of their valued and devoted brother. It appears that Mr. Smith proceeded on a visit to Vizagapatam in March last, for the purpose of taking part in an ordination-service appointed to be held at that station; and, after a stay of about two months, embarked on his return to Madras, in a vessel named the Favourite. Of this vessel nothing had been heard at Madras up to the 15th of August, and it is fearfully probable that she was lost, with several other vessels, in a violent storm that occurred shortly after her departure from Vizagapatam. The only supposition which can afford hope is, that Mr. Smith and his fellow-voyagers were taken up by a vessel proceeding to the Cape, or some place in the Indian Ocean; but the length of time that has elapsed, for the communication of intelligence from any port to which they might have been carried, is very unfavourable to the conjecture. By the next arrivals from Madras, uncertainty as to the actual state of the case will probably be removed, and we fear the melancholy duty may devolve upon us, of confirming the apprehensions now expressed. Meanwhile, we commend to the affectionate sympathies and fervent prayers of Christian friends, the wife and family of our beloved brother, Smith, whom he left in England on his late return to India, and whose sufferings, during their protracted season of suspense, must of necessity be inexpressibly great.