active missionaries. The land is full of inhabitants settled in little villages a mile or two distant from each other. Mr. Leigh, of the Wesleyan Missionary Society is here, with his good wife. Oh! they are good people. I hope and pray that the Lord will enable him to acquire the language, then he will be a blessing to them. We have been at New Zealand now three times, two or three weeks each time, and the language being somewhat similar to the Tahitian, I can converse with them very well. I had three of them cutting grass for my heifers which I have on board. They asked me if they must work on the Sabbath-day? I told them, No; certainly not. They came on board the Vansittart, a whaling vessel, where I went to preach in the after pon by the captain's request, in consequence of having lost five unfortunate men by the upsetting of one of his whale boats a day or two before. Many natives were present, and were attentive during the service; they asked me why we made one Sun-a-day (tabbitabee) and not another. I explained to them as well as my language would admit. I have conversed with them upon their ideas of the soul; they appear to know of no other soul but a dream. I have talked with some of them upon the death of Jesus; one of them said he had seen the same in a picture. I have conversed with some upon the propriety of regarding the Sabbath-day; they told me they regarded it all over the land as a day in which they did no work-whether it is so or not I cannot tell. All that is wanted at New Zealand I think is active exertion. More good itinerant missionaries, with the blessing of God, will turn the lion-like New Zealander into the humble and peaceful Christian. They are very kind to us; are very fond of me, and wish me to stay with them. But I must not forget to tell you of the merciful interposition of providence on our behalf. When we made the North Cape of New Zealand, Capt. Henry, fearing he should not be able to procure sufficient supplies at the Bay of Islands, as so many whalers had lately been there to refit, &c. for England, stood in towards the shore. The natives crowded on board, but we did not. apprehend any danger, although they were troublesome. Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Williams wanted to go below, a chief had set himself in the hatchway and would not move. I was going over to them when one of our Tahitians pushed him out of the way. He rose up, turned white with rage, drew a knife and threatened to stab the man. Our Tahitian ran behind the companion of the vessel and took up a sword; there they stood-the New Zealander with the knife, and the Tahitian with the sword, the New Zealander saying, "Kill me, kill me;" they were however separated without any evil resulting. At length it fell completely calm, and we were but a few miles from the shore: a great number of natives were on board; they sent their canoes on shore under pretence of bringing hogs and potatoes. Presently we saw eight or nine large canoes, all well manned, some of them with between twenty or thirty natives on board. Capt. Henry and all of us thought it looked very suspicious, there being no women or children among them. Capt. Henry had all the muskets brought up and loaded; also the two guns. We turned with great difficulty all the natives out of the vessel; hailed the canoes which were coming towards us with great rapidity, and threatened them if they came any nearer we would fire upon them. They then desisted, and held a consultation, the result of which, if we may judge, was to accomplish their object and take the vessel if they could, for they all kept within about a hundred yards of the vessel for a considerable time; and although in all probability they would not have succeeded, we being well armed, yet it was a very distressing situation to be in. dreaded the idea of being becalmed there all night. While in this state of anxiety, and expecting them every moment to make the attack, I retired to our birth, to look up to Him who present help in time of trouble." I pleaded with God that many is a 66 We thousands in England were praying for our safety; how many of our dear people in the islands ceased not day nor night to invoke his special protection and blessing upon us, and should all their prayers be unheard. We had been exposed to many dangers-travelled thousands of miles under his peculiar protection, and would he now yield us up a prey to the avaricious cruel dispositions of a set of lawless savages. When I came into the cabin, to my great joy. Capt. Henry came down, saying a breeze was springing up, and in less than half an hour our anxious fears, were turned into songs of gratitude. Think how awful a thing it would be to fall into the hands of such desperately wicked and filthy people;" we should have been killed and caten, and our poor wives, we can imagine what would have been their sufferings; but the Lord was better to us than our fears. Oh! for a holy confidence in God, who has said that "a thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." We look forward to the joyful day when we shall enter our peaceful habitations on the shores of Raiatea-how glad the poor people will be to see us; and we as glad to see them. In consequence of our detentions we shall not be able to call at the places we intended, but go as direct as we can to the islands. We shall touch at Ruruts and other places, if possible. We are sailing to day the 28th of April 1822. (Signed) JOHN WILLIAMS. AFRICA. Extract of a Letter from Mr. P. Wright, Missionary Artisan; dated Cape Town, December 9, 1822, to the Home Secretary. Rev. and dear Sir,-THROUGH the watchful care of the kind providence of our God, we have arrived in safety at this place. According to my promise, and consistent with my obligations, I seize the first convenience of conveying to you the intelligence of our arrival. We had a long passage of nearly 15 weeks, in consequence of being much detained by calms between 100 N. Lat, and 100 W. Lon. during which time it was extremely hot. The day after we embarked Mrs. Wright began to be troubled with sea-sickness, which continued about a fortnight; but for my own part I almost escaped, only feeling a little sickly before breakfast for two or three mornings.. On the whole we have had fine weather during the voyage, except a week in the Bay of Biscay, when we had gales of unfavourable wind; and we had also a few days of unpleasant weather near the Cape Verd Islands, Merciful interposition of Providence. I will just mention a remarkable deliverance which we experienced at the island called Bravo. We were under the necessity of touching at one of these islands for the purpose. of renewing our stock of water and fresh provision. We sought the islands for two days, the captain not knowing what longitude we were in, having been driven to the westward by a current, and also not having had an opportunity of making lunar observations since we had been out. On the second night the captain resolved to proceed on his voyage if he did not see land the next morning. If we had left the islands without renewing our stock, we should have been in danger of perishing for want of water, as our water was found to be nearer out than we expected, and we had little rain: but providentially about five o'clock the next morning the captain saw land from the fore-top. The morning was very rough, the sea very high, and the wind blowing a gale. At 7 o'clock I came on deck, and about this time it began to rain very fast, and the atmosphere became so thick that we could not see far before us. At eight o'clock the wind increased so much, that the men were ordered aloft 10 double reef the top-sails. When they were up, they cried out that we were close to land; that it was on the lee bow. They were immediately ordered down to veer the ship. By this time I saw the land. It appeared like a lofty and dark mountain as seen through the thick fog, and we appeared to be just under it. On deck appeared nothing but a scene of confusion; the men running from one place to another-the wind tearing the sails as they were endeavouring to veer the ship-the vessel drifting nearer the rocks and expected to strike every minute. Myself being the only passenger on deck and aware of the danger, I did not expect I should be allowed time to go below to inform either my dear wife or the other passengers: but with some degree of composure of mind, in hopes of being interested in the merits of my dear Redeemer, I resigned myself into the arms of death, expecting every moment to be lanched into the eternal world. Just at the very time that the men were using every proper means to veer the ship, He that holds the winds in his fist changed it, and immediately there was a great calm. Dear Sir, I am sure you will unite with us in lifting up our hands to praise Him who commands the wind and the waves, and they obey Him, for so signal and seasonable an interposition of his power and goodness. And as the deliverance was such a remarkable answer to prayer, I hope it will encourage you, when you approach the throne of grace, still to bear us upon your mind; and pray for us, that we may not only be preserved in the hour of danger, but especially that our souls may be kept alive to God; that we may be preserved from sin; that we may be kept from falling; that we may be kept sensible of our weakness, and enabled to exercise a spirit of dependance on the grace and Spirit of Christ; that we may be clothed with humility. Also, that we may be more zealous for his honour; that we may be enabled to discharge the duties of our station with faithfulness, constancy and delight; with a single eye to the glory of God in benefiting the souls and bodies of the heathen, and with abundant success. We put into St. Jago, and renewed our stock of water and fresh provisions. Description of the Inhabitants of St Jago. I went on shore and was introduced by our captain to the American Consul who resides there. I conversed with him about two hours, and found him to be a very agreeable and intelligent man. contained about 18,000 inhabitants, He informed me that the island and that those who were not entirely immersed in papal superstition. The ignorant of the being of a God were inhabitants consist of Africans, with a few Portuguese; they appeared to be a miserable set of people. I felt very much for them, and sincerely wished that some benevolent Institution that is formed for the purpose of spreading the knowledge of Christ, might be able to send the gosper among them. We left St. Jago on the 23d of September, and proceeded on our about five o'clock P. M. came to ant voyage; and on the 28th of November anchor in Table Bay; and as some shore that evening, we sent a mesof our passengers were going on sage by them to inform Dr. Philip we had arrived. The doctor was just going out to preach, but he was so kind as to call upon Mr. Beck, and request him to take a boat and fetch us on shore. When we came on shore, we were glad when it was said unto us, "Come, let us go up to the house of the Lord;" and rejoiced in the opportunity of spending the first hour on shore in the worship of God with his people, and in hearing a very appropriate and profitable sermon from Luke xii. 6, 7. Influence of Religion on Seamen. I will just mention that the captain behaved very well to us during the voyage. And though he was not a religious man, but on the contrary very ignorant and profane, yet he conformed so far as to avoid swearing in my presence, and also forbade others. Some of the men who sailed with him the last voyage were not a little surprised at his conduct. He scarcely ever omitted to request me to ask a blessing and return thanks at taking our victuals; he would also have conformed to family wor ship, had it not been for some dis sipated young men we had on board as passengers, who were open and avowed enemies to religion, to whom he appeared to pay a little respect; and I suspected he was afraid they would be teased too much with our religion, and he conformed so far to them as to join them in playing at cards every night. He, however, assembled all his men together on the quarter deck once every Sabbath, for the purpose of affording me an opportunity of performing the duties of public worship. I hope that the weak means that were used in this way, as also in private conversation, and in distributing tracts for benefiting their souls, will, through the divine blessing, not prove ineffectual. Opening of the New Chapel at Cape Town. On Sunday last the New Chapel in this place was opened, and a sermon preached in the morning by Dr. Philip; in the afternoon by the Rev. Barnabas Shaw, superintendant of the Wesleyan Missionaries in South Africa; and in the evening by the Rev. Mr. Beck. It was well at tended, and the collection amounted to about 1000 dollars. FRANCE. Paris, March 12, 1825. My dear Sir,-I SEND you a few extracts by which you may judge of the spirit that is kindling in this vast kingdom. Meetings for prayer and Missionary Associations are already established, and are establishing from the Alps to the Pyrennces, and from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, in the largest cities and in the humblest villages. In this awful moment it is the especial duty of British Christians to offer their fervent prayers to the Great Head of the church, that nothing may extinguish the reviving flame, nor again devastate the heritage of the Lord. Your's affectionately, MARK WILKS. Extract of a Letter from a pious Layman, resident in a small Town in the Mountains of the Cevennes. February 1823. "I was invited on Sunday to a meeting which was to be held the next evening, it being the first Monday of the month, for the purpose of imploring the divine blessing on the Missionary Society of Paris, &c. The Meeting was held in a privato house. I was punctual to the hour appointed; but instead of being among the first, I was the last. I found about 120 persons already assembled, and it was easy to perceive by their seriousness that they were deeply interested in the object of the Meeting. Though I did not observe among them either the rich or the wise of this world, I could not but enjoy the consoling conviction that the Lord, who is no respecter of persons, was in the midst of these sincere worshippers, and that he would not send them away without having opened to them the precious and inexhaustible "treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ." "I was much edified by a prayer full of unction offered by a young woman, in which, after returning thanks to the Saviour, for having con descended to introduce us into that church which he purchased with his own blood, and on which he had shed his blessings in every age, slie deplored with humility the misery and helplessness of the hundreds of millions of his creatures who were still groaning in the horrors of the dark night of Belial, destitute of spiritual succour, and prayed the Lord to deliver them from their unhappy state, by blessing to this effect the benevolent labours of "our dear Parent Society for Foreign Missions established at Paris." These were her expressions-a Society whose tender and charitable solicitude extends to these desolate lands, and designs to send to them missionaries, in order to diffuse among them the reviving beams of gospel light, by making known to them Him who is "the light of the world."-I have every ground to believe that these prayers were not in vain in the Lord who answers the humble and fervent desires of his people. "Verses of Psalms and Cantiques suited to the object of the Meeting were sung. The Address from the Society of Paris was read, and a eollection was made at the close of the service in favour of the Society. The amount of the collection was small, because it was strictly the mite of the widow, and the farthing of the poor; but as Meetings will be held on the first Monday of every month, when the sum is larger it will be forwarded to Paris.. "I mentioned the next day to one of our pastors the delightful service which I had attended the night before, and he assured me that if they had received the official circular from Paris, a public prayer meeting would have been held in the Temple." Extract of the Speech of one of the Pastors of Besancon, at the formation of a Missionary Association. tages which they cannot fail to enjoy in the present life." Extract of a Letter from A'snienè neur Bourges. January 12, 1823. "I have read with the deepest interest the Address of the Missionary Society of Paris, and bless God who has put it into your hearts to form an institution so sacred, so noble, and so useful. I assembled my parishioners in the temple, on Monday evening at seven o'clock; the church was nearly full; love to God, zeal for his cause, and the novelty of the subject that occupied us, brought together nearly all my flock. After prayers and singing suitable to the occasion, I addressed the assembly from Matthew ix. 35, &c." Calvin completed his preparatory studies at Bourges, and preached the gospel there at the commencement of the Reformation. February 1823. "After having proved that it is the duty of every christian to exert himself to propagate the gospel, and that Extract of a Letter from the foot of the disciples of Jesus are especially guilty if they refuse to make sacrifices for the cause of Him who has done so much for them; M. Sandoz described the dreadful state of the unhappy people who are the objects of missionary solicitude, and thus continued: " Well, such were our ancestors before the sun of righteousness rose upon our country, with healing beneath his beams. If we enjoy the comforts of civilizationif schools are opened for our children-if public benevolence relieves the wants of indigence, it is to the gospel we owe these blessings-if slavery has fled with barbarism, and all the abominable cohorts of superstitious and murderous practices-if the feeblest half of the human race has entered into all its rights, it is to the gospel that we owe all. Yes, Christian women, think of the immense tracts of country where females like yourselves curse, perhaps, the day that they were born of a sex doomed to be the exclusive property and too often the victim of the other. You especially ought to take the most lively interest in the conversion of the heathen, were it merely for the sake of the advan Pyrennees. January 10, 1823. "Our first business on the receipt of the Address from the Committee of Paris, was to assemble on the first Monday of the month, to recommend your Society to the blessing of the Lord; and I hope that every Christian of our flock will also pray in his closet, and in his family, that you may be blessed with wisdom from on high. Yes, may the Lord shed have so visibly accompanied the on you the same blessings which labours of those societies which are your elder sisters, and may thousands of souls be turned from darkcollected at our first Meeting, and ness to light. I send you 60 francs to which some Catholics contributed." DOMESTIC MISSIONARY INTEL- Land dedicated to the support of We have frequently noticed the novel and ingenious expedients to which the friends of missions have |