laments that their funds are exhausted, that they cannot go a single step further, nor print a single copy more, unless further aid be afforded from this country. "This," he adds, "is the fact; and I hope it will plead more strongly than ten thousand entreaties with the Christian public." Our grateful acknowledgments are due to the Religious Tract Society, who have voted a handsome sum to Mr. Milne, to assist in printing of Chinese Tracts; and also to the British and Foreign Bible Society, who have generously voted to Mr. Morrison the sum of Two Thousand Pounds, to assist him in the translation and distribution of the Holy Scriptures*; The following account of the confession and baptism of a Chinese convert, the first fruits of Mr. Morrison's labours, your Committee hope will be peculiarly interesting." Jesus," says the young convert, 66 making atonement for us, is the blessed sound. Language and thought are both inadequate to exhaust the gracious and amiable goodness of the intention of Jesus. I now believe in Jesus, and rely on his merits to obtain the remission of sins. I have sins and defects, and without faith in Jesus for the remission of sins, should be eternally miserable. Now that we have heard of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus, we ought, with all our hearts, to rely on his merits. I entirely call upon God the Father, and rely upon God for the remission of sin, I also pray to God to confer upon me the Holy Spirit." "At a spring of water," says Mr. Morrison, “issuing at the foot of a lofty hill by the sea-side, away from human observation, I baptized, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the person whose character and confession has been given above. O that the Lord may cleanse him from all sin in the blood of Jesus, and purify his heart by the influences of the Holy Spirit. May he be the first fruits of a great harvest;-one of the millions who shall believe and be saved from the wrath to come."——

Mr. Milne has lately made a tour of fourteen hundred miles to the island of Java, for the purpose of distributing the New-Testament and Religious Tracts. He was every where welcomed by persons of all ranks with the warmest hospitality. Three copies of the Gospel he left in the Heathen temple, for the use of the priests; and sent others to Banjerman, Pontiano, and Lambras, on the Island of Borneo. The Chinese received his presents with gratitude-listened to his discourses with attention-called him "Padri Tjina," the minister of the Chinese; strongly importuned him to continue, and establish a Mission at Java: and after his departure, expressed a strong desire that he would return and explain the book which he had given to them; declaring that they could find no rest day nor night in their minds since they had read it. Mr. Milne, in a letter to our worthy Secretary, dated Canton, February 6, 1815, says, "As there will be a third fleet this season, I expect to send you as an appendix to my journal, a few ideas on a plan for the establishment of six or seven new Missions; or, as Mr. Morrison calls them, branches of the Chinese Mission: some of them, however, relate to other people; viz. the Malays and Javanese, You will see from the journal of my highly and justly esteemed elder brother, that we have resolved on commencing a Mission at Malacca, which work falls to me.-The Lord give me wisdom. It is wished by Mr. Morrison, that as Malacca commands a ready intercourse with all the Malay countries, lies in the way to Siam, Cochin China, and China itself, it might become the chief seat and centre of all your extra Ganges Missions, especially the Chinese." He further adds, "I hope the Bible Society will ever keep their eye on, and turn the stream of their benevolence towards China. We want, Sir, Fifty Millions of New-Testaments for China, and after all, only about one-sixth of the population would be supplied. I should ask no higher honour upon earth than to distribute the said number,"

In the vast regions of India, comprehending incalculable millions of mankind, all sunk in the abominations of idolatry, or groaning under the despotism

The same noble Institution has since voted another Thousand, in addition to their for mer donations

and stupified with the delusions of Mahometanism, among whom are sixty millions of our fellow-subjects, your Missionaries are labouring in their different stations with steady perseverance and various success. Mr. Loveless, at Madras; Messrs. Gordon and Pritchard, with the assistance of a converted Brahmin, at Vizagapatam; Mr. Lee, at Gangam, a populous town on the Orissa Coast; Mr. May, Chinsurah; Messrs. Hands, Taylor, and Xavier, at Bellhary; and Mr. Ringletaube, at Travancore, are all diligently employed in founding and superintending schools, translating the Holy Scriptures into the language of the different nations around them, distributing copies of those already translated, visiting the tem les of the gods, expostulating with their deluded worshippers, and preaching the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. In many places a deep concern seems to have been excited among the natives; the horrors of Paganism are retiring before the light of the Gospel, and your Committee have the pleasure of reporting that only one victim perished under the wheels of Juggernaut at the last festival.

Your Committee, in order to avoid as much as possible the tediousness of detail, refer you to the last report of the Parent Society, for information concerning the progress of the Lascars, and the advantages likely to be derived from an intercourse with that oppressed and neglected race of men, the prosperity of the Seminary under the superintendance of the Rev. David Bogue, and the state of the Missions at Ceylon, Malta, the different stations in NorthAmerica, and the. West-Indies. But they cannot deny you the pleasure which they know you will derive from a short excursion into the delightful plantations of South-Africa; where you will see, on every hand, the briers transformed into'myrtles, the wilderness blooming as the rose, and the desert adorned with the plants of righteousness, flourishing in all their beautiful variety, rejoicing as the garden which God has planted.

With mingled emotions of awe and reverence-joy and gratitude, your Committee approach the station of the late apostolic Vanderkemp. The great revival which has taken place there, began with the conversion of the son of a Caffre Chief, who had been a ringleader in folly and dissipation. The extraordinary change produced in the character of this youth made a deep impression on the minds of many.

The religious assemblies of the brethren were now crowded; multitudes were seen bathed in tears, and heard crying for mercy; the believing Hottentots wept for joy over their countrymen ;-fifty persons were shortly received into the Church, and so mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed, that others were daily added to their number. In a letter from Mr. Messer, dated Bethelsdorp, April 10th, 1815, he says, "Brother Read and I have baptized one hundred and thirty adults since the first of January last. Daily my house is crowded with old and young, inquiring after the Lord." Mr. Read also, in a letter dated April 9th, 1815, confirms the same statement. "The work of conversion," says he, "still goes on rapidly. We can say that almost every day, souls are added to us. Yesterday about two hundred and fifty were sitting round the table of the Lord, many, very many, with tears streaming down their cheeks, whilst receiving the emblems of Christ's body and blood. At such time, I am led to take a retrospective view at the period when I resided at Hackney, and the circumstances in which we found this people; and I am constrained to adore Him, who has wrought such wonders and caused us to behold them."

It has often been objected against the Missionary Society, that, in the execution of its plans, civilization is neglected. The following statement, your Committee conceive, will be admitted as a sufficient answer to this objection.

"The government at the Cape had laid a considerable tax on Bethelsdorp. The operation of this tax was greatly feared; especially as (through peculiar circumstances) the amount of two years' taxes was to be paid at once. Remonstrances, says Mr. Read, proved useless; and the only alternative way

Accord

for the people to exert themselves to the utmost, to raise the money. ingly they were scattered abroad, some hewing wood, and sawing timber; others beating bark or burning charcoal, the smith, the wheelwright, the carpenter, &c.; all exerted themselves to comply with the demand upon themselves and their poorer relations; so that at the appointed time the tax was paid-a sum amounting to three thousand six hundred rix dollars. The people having been able, in so short a time, to raise such a sum by their labour, will, I trust, convince the world that civilization has not been so much neglected at Bethelsdorp, as some have supposed. The day after the tax was paid, many people being together at Bethelsdorp, a regular Auxiliary Society was proposed and established. Twelve of the number were chosen to form a Committee, and subscriptions were immediately made. The number of subscribers is four hundred and fifty-two; and the sum subscribed nine hundred and thirty-eight rix dollars, about two hundred pounds, and more is expected. When this sum is collected, it is supposed that Bethelsdorp will be free of expense to the Missionary Society. Our school flourishes exceedingly; and I suppose that we have at least a thousand persons in want of Bibles, besides constant demands from farmers, &c. It would afford great satisfaction to the members of the Missionary and Bible Societies, to hear the number of Hottentot children reading the Bible as well as I can; who, ten months ago, did not know the alphabet. At present they cannot be supplied with Bibles to read to their aged parents at home."-Nor is this remarkable revival confined to Bethelsdorp. The flame soon spread through the other Missionary stations in South-Africa, from which the most interesting accounts are daily received to augment the fulness of our joy. New Missionary stations have been opened; others are in contemplation; and at the first general meeting of the Missionaries at Graaf-Rennet, the residence of Mr. Kicherer, six converted natives, Guiquas and Hottentots, have been solemnly set apart to the Christian ministry. On the next day, one of them, Waterbore, preached on Acts xix. 30, 31. The whole services were highly pleasing and impressive. Two hundred dollars were collected for the Missionary Society, and an Auxiliary Society was formed; twelve of the inhabitants of Graaf-Rennet were chosen Directors, and upwards of three hundred dollars were subscribed. Amongst the converted natives thus solemnly designated to the work of the ministry, Cupido, the waggon-driver of Mr. Campbell, when in Africa, seems to be the most distinguished. Mr. Read, speaking of that excellent man, who was then going to strengthen the hands of Mr. Anderson, in the Namaqua Country, observes, "The Lord, I believe, is preparing him for a great work. For the last four months, he has been in rotation with us, giving public instruction, and is generally so much affected that the tears are running down his cheeks. He enjoys peculiar nearness to Christ; says he has long seen him as his Prophet and Priest, but now he views him in his kingly office, with a crown upon his head, and possessing all power in heaven and upon earth. He preached yesterday from Matt. xxviii. 19. Go ye therefore, &c.; showing how the Gospel had spread in the world, and especially in Africa; and towards the conclusion he exhorted the brethren, particularly the younger, to activity and exertion." There is one fact that your Committee would particularly notice. It is well known that there is no description of human beings upon the globe, amongst whom fewer converts to the Christian faith have been made than the followers of Mahomet. The ministry of Cupido, however, has been blessed to the conversion of one at least, if not two, Mahometan priests. Here we have another striking instance how God is pleased to employ the feeblest means to bring to pass events of the greatest magnitude. What learning and philosophy, reason and eloquence, great talents combined with exalted piety could not effect, is at length accomplished by a converted Hottentot. That God, who tore up the foundations of idolatry throughout the Roman world, by the hands of the fishermen of Galilee; by the instrumentality of a converted Hottentot, has now laid the axe at the root of the empoisoned tree of Mahomet.

Your Committee close their review of the operations of the Parent Society, and take their leave of Africa, with observing that the Mission in that country produced, in one year, three hundred converts; and that if the present Missionaries were now called to rest from their labours, the good cause no doubt would still go on and prosper; and they entertain the most pleasing hope that in a few years the Gospel will spread through every part of that immense continent. Upon the whole, since the formation of the Bristol Auxiliary Society, the success of the present Institution has far exceeded their most sanguine expectations. But how extensive is the field that yet remains to be cultivated! After the lapse of eighteen hundred years, with an impassioned tone we must still repeat the words of our blessed Lord; "The harvest is truly great, but the labourers are few."

With pleasure your Committee recall to your remembrance the honour that was conferred on your Society during the last year by the ordination of three Missionaries in your city. The recollection of the joy, the extasy, and the strong Missionary feeling that was excited by that solemnity, is indelibly impressed on their hearts. They inform you that, during the last year, one thousand one hundred and one pounds, nineteen shillings, and seven pence, was received by your Treasurer, which has been transmitted to the Parent Society. They exceedingly rejoice in the progress of the Juvenile Missionary Society. And present their most grateful acknowledgments to the gentlemen, but especially the ladies, who have taken an active part in promoting its interests. They have now the melancholy task of recording the death of Mr. John Day, your gratuitous Assistant Secretary. A warmer friend to the Missionary cause does not exist. His consummate modesty threw a veil over the powers of his mind, and the other virtues of his heart. To know him was to love him, and they who knew him most loved him best. His removal hence forcibly reminds us of our own mortality, and the mortality of the poor Heathen. How many myriads of idolaters have passed into eternity since the formation of this Society! How many millions since the present Society was established in London, in 1795! Let us labour while it is called to-day." The cross of Christ is the centre of our union; the superintendence of Divine Providence is our guide; and the salvation of the Heathen world, the reward of our labours. O God! direct our councils, and crown our feeble efforts with thy blessing, that the whole earth may soon be filled with thy glory! Amen.

1040

CHINESE SCRIPTURES.

THE unspeakable importance of widely circulating the word of God in the Chinese language, may, in some measure, be conceived of, by observing the vast extent of country through which the character in which it is written is known.

The late Dr. Buchanan, quoting Barrow's Travels in India, p. 615, says, "The Chinese character is understood from the Gulf of Siam to the Tartari-. an Sea, and over a very considerable part of the great Eastern Archipelago; and the Cochin Chinese use no other writing than the pure Chinese character, which is also the case with the Japanese." Evang. Mag.

OTAHEITE.

SEVERAL hymns have been composed in the Taheitan language, and some copies printed at Port Jackson, are in the hands of the natives; others are so desirous of obtaining the remaining copies, that they are ready to quarrel for them. "What an alteration (says one of the Missionaries) is this! Instead of drumming and dreadful howling, the praises of God are resounding from different quarters every evening." "The

The following is the first verse of a hymn founded on Jer. x. 11.

gods have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and under these heavens."

Teie nei ta tatou,

Ehoama e hamaitai;

T'ioa mana, ioa matau

Te Atua no te rai.

CALEDON.

ib.

MR. Seidenfaden, in a letter dated at Caledon, May 21, 1815, informs the Directors that the affairs of that Missionary settlement go on prosperously. "In the course of this year," says Mr. S. "I have baptized twenty adults, and twenty more are candidates for baptism, in whose hearts I hope the Lord has begun a good work. The preaching of the word is well attended. Every evening I have more than 200 hearers, and on the Lord's days between 300 and 400. There are about forty or fifty in the school, many of whom begin to read well in the Bible, and have learnt a great many hymns by heart, which they sing at the beginning and end of the evening service. To see that they make so much progress gladdens my soul, for I perceive that the Lord is pleased to bless my labours."

We rejoice in the apparent prosperity of this new settlement, in which we see religion and civilization rapidly advancing, hand in hand.

HOLLAND.

ib.

WE rejoice to hear of the activity of our Dutch friends. A branch of the Rotterdam Missionary Society is engaged in visiting the military hospitals, and distributing Dutch, German, English, and French Tracts. About 100,000 have already been distributed.

MISSIONARY SEMINARY IN SWITZERLAND.

ib.

By a letter from the Rev. Mr. Steinkopff, dated Stuttgart, Oct. 30, 1815, we are glad to find that the Missionary spirit révives in that country. Mr. S. says, "The Missionary spirit has much increased. Not only have many con tributed their mites for the support of the Berlin seminary, but last summer our Basle friends, who are active and indefatigable in every work of faith and labour of love, have applied to their government to establish a Missionary seminary in their own town. Government have gladly granted them leave; several young men have applied to the Missionary Committee, which is now established at Basle, and consists of most worthy men, to be received into the seminary. A suitable inspector was then looked for, and the choice is fallen on the Rev. Mr. Blumhardt, a most worthy and truly pious clergyman, who translated Mr. Begue's "Essay," and Dr. Buchanan's" Christian Researches." Our Basle friends have already collected about £400.; many Christian friends in Switzerland have promised their aid, and several merchants will give their annual subscriptions. ib.

DOMESTIC,

VERY interesting intelligence has lately been received in this City, concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in various parts of this and the neighbouring States, in awakening the attention of sinners to the concerns of their immortal souls. Great numbers have abandoned the ranks of irreligion and open rebellion against God, and united themselves to the