dence, even circumstances, which the Gospel has made in these wide most painfully affect your feelings, will not check your exertions, or suggest one thought of despondency or distrust. While expressing the sense which we entertain of your services, and the confidence which we repose in you, I should satisfy neither my own feelings nor those of the Committee, if I did not advert, however briefly, to the valuable assistance afforded by you, Mrs. Jowett, in promoting our important cause. The pains which you have so cheerfully taken in the quiet and unostentatious work of instructing, at Malta, those females who could profit by your attention, call for our warmest acknowledgments. If only one of these Young Persons should, by your means, be brought to a saving knowledge of the Truth, how ample would be the recompense! But the benefit will, in that event, be probably still more extensive: a religious Mother will be careful to train up her Children in the knowledge of their Redeemer; and as the unfeigned faith, which dwelt in Lois and Eunice shone forth in Timothy, who had (doubtless through their instruction) known the Holy Scriptures from a child, why may we not indulge the hope, that you too have thus been contributing to the happiness of future ages? Who shall say, that some of these Children may not deserve the same commendation with Lois and Eunice, and that some future Timothy shall not have cause to bless God for your charitable labours? and populous regions, it is unneces sary to expatiate. We know, at least, that the attention of Christians has now, for a series of years, been powerfully directed to that portion of the Globe: we have the happiness, as a Society, of being immediately connected with many valuable Mi'nisters, who are zealously engaged there in the propagation of the Gospel: the Holy Scriptures, which, within the memory of every one of us, were unknown in the chief Languages of India, have since been translated, or are in the course of translation, into all the leading dialects of that exsensive country; and a spirit has been awakened, in various parts of our Eastern Empire, which affords a reasonable ground of hope, that the Word of God shall, ere long, even in that Continent, run and be glorified. The advantages which you thus enjoy, Reverend Brethren, above many of your predecessors, consist not simply in the partial awakening of the Native Mind, or in the means and facilities which have been afforded by the Translation of the Holy Scriptures for the future progress of Christianity, but also in the benefit derived from THEIR knowledge and experience as to the best mode of prosecuting your important work. It will not, I trust, be considered as foreign to the object of our Meeting, if I advert, on this occasion, to two or three particulars, which the experience and observation of others seem to render worthy of your attention. If I have ventured, in any degree, to use to one Reverend Brother who is You have already heard a passage again proceeding to the MEDITER- quoted from the Instructions given RANEAN, the language of congra- by the Madras Committee to the Rev. tulation on the improved prospects Isaac Wilson. In recalling your atand facilities, which, notwithstanding tention to that document, I would many discouraging circumstances, he particularly press the importance of now seems to possess, I may be al- your mixing, as much as possible, lowed to turn with a somewhat simi- with the different classes of the Nalar feeling to our other friends, who tives in habits of the kindest interare destined to the INDIAN CON- course. Human Nature is, in all TINENT. countries, substantially the same: Concerning the real progress which and the voice of kindness is intelli gible in every language; and appeals, with some effect, to almost every heart. It is here, perhaps, that Mrs. Sawyer may find her most useful occupation: a Female will have ready access to persons of her own sex; and will have many opportunities of gaining their attention, which can scarcely fall to the lot of a regular Missionary. In following the plan here suggested, you will doubtless meet with many things to grieve and distress you: but you will, in this way, be best enabled to adapt your discourse to the various exigencies of the people, and to the character and habits of their minds; and, as Ministers of Jesus Christ, you will probably find, in their moral and religious improvement, an ample recompense for all your trouble and all your anxieties. Endeavour to make yourselves acquainted with the peculiar doctrines of the principal Hindoo Lawgivers and Expounders of their Religious System: you will thus know what you have to combat; and, whether in Tracts or by Conversation with the Natives, can, with certainty, expose the errors of their Creed. In attempting to weaken the attachment of Hindoos to their System of Religion, employ not such weapons as Ridicule and Sarcasm. Let it be seen rather, that you are astonished at their blindness, and view them with Pity and Compassion. any In your endeavours to convert the Heathen, hold out no temporal advantages or temporal inducements, of kind. Preach the Truth, in its simplicity and disguise none of the hardships and tribulations, by which they must enter into the kingdom of God. : able assurance, that the Applicant has relinquished hisHeathen Practices, and believes with his heart unto righteousness. Mr. Martyn's caution in this respect, well deserves imitation. While availing myself of several of the ideas, and partly of the very words of persons, who, from long residence in India, are entitled to be heard, it may be allowed me further to recom. mend a considerate and respectful attention, at all times, to the opinion of men thus qualified by actual experience to offer their advice. Circumstances will probably arise, where the judgment of such persons may be peculiarly important. In some cases, your own views will be CONFIRMED; in others, they will be CORRECTED: but in ALL cases, you will be preserved from the painful reflection of injuring, by precipitate measures, that sacred cause which you desire to promote. Without the love of God in your hearts and the obedience of the Go. spel exemplified in your lives, how little, either to yourselves or to others, will be the benefit of your ministrations! In a country like England, where all around us make a profession of the Truth, where we have the weekly recurrence of a Holy Day and the society of Christian Friends and the Ordinances and Sacraments of the Christian Church, a man of real piety has many securities for the stability of his principles and the babitual correctness of his life. It is in countries, where there is no Sabbath Bell to call men to the House of Prayer, where there are few kindred spirits to provoke us to love and to good works, where the Christian Sa-, craments and Christian Ordinances are generally unknown, and the demons of idolatry or superstition brood with benumbing influence over the minds of the people-it is there, that the disciple of Christ is bound ESPECIALLY to be upon his guard. If in ALL conditions, it behoves us to look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, with what vigilance should the Missionary be armed !-with what care should he give himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures!-with what earnestness should he watch unto prayer! entreating continually the assistance of that Spirit, which can alone preserve him from danger, and establish him in the grace of the Gospel. If you do INDEED adorn the doctrine of your Redeemer, you shall be as the salt of the earth, as the lights of the world-the insipid mass around you will be seasoned -your splendour shall be seen from afar: but if the light should be hid under a bushel, what will be its value?-if the salt of the earth should lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? If we would kindle in other hearts the flame of Christian Piety, it must burn upon the altar of our own: we may then hope that the Divine Blessing shall be with us, and that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Although, under the name of Personal Religion, I may be supposed to include, in some measure, all the ornaments and graces of the Christian Character, it might be useful, if the time would permit, to dwell, more at large, upon the nature of that Spirit and Conduct, which your appointment seems especially to require. Remember, AT ALL TIMES TO MAINTAIN A SERIOUS DEPORTMENT. A light and frivolous conversation will infallibly expose a Missionary to the contempt and derision of the very persons, who appear most to applaud it if ANY Minister of Religion would secure personal regard, or would produce a salutary effect upon others, he must respect his own characterhe must learn to be consistent he must shew that the seriousness, which accompanies him into the pulpit, and which in words he recommends, is the constant habit of his mind; and that he feels, on all occasions, as an Ambassador of Christ to an alienated and guilty world. Be ZEALOUS. Behold the earnestness of your predecessors in the Missionary Office, the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ! how deeply they felt the magnitude of their cause, and how ardent they were in the prosecution of it. But mistake not the quaLITY of your zeal: Christian Zeal is not a mere animal feeling-a sudden warmth and perturbation of spirit, which impels Men to TEMPORARY EXertion-not an overpowering attachment to notions and opinions, however correct; and a determination to bring others to the same mind-not an unhallowed ebullition of violent passions, as intolerant in their nature as they are worldly in their origin: but it is a holy and heavenly principle, a principle which would seek to SAVE men, not to DESTROY them; called into exercise by love to the souls of our fellow-creatures, and anxious for the glory of God; a principle pure in its origin, blameless in its operation, and blessed in its consequences. It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing; and what cause can be more excellent, than that of extending throughout the world the knowledge of salvation? Be HUMBLE. I know not whether the high veneration in which Missionaries are usually held by their Heathen Converts, and the publicity now given to all Missionary Proceedings, do not render this injunction peculiarly seasonable. Alas! how little would it avail, that even Paul should plant or Apollos water, unless God should give the increase! The most laborious and useful Minister is only an humble instrument in the hand of God: and what is the language that becomes him, after the most successful ministrations, but an acknowledgment of the Divine Goodness and an ascription of all the honour and praise to the great Source of every blessing! Not I, but the grace of God which was with me! To shew the value of this Christian Grace to men under all circumstances of life, Bishop Jewell gives us an instructive Fable of a Saint, who, "on a time, lay in a trance; and, as he so Jay, he looked down from Heaven (as he thought), and saw the whole earth so thick covered with snares, that possible it was not, for any man to tread upon the earth and not be entangled therewithal ; and this when he beheld, suddenly he cried out, and said, 'O Lord, and who then can walk on the earth and not be entrapped With that he heard a Voice, that answered him, and said, • Only Humility it is,' said that Voice, that may go and not be entangledonly humility, and nothing else. Whoso is humble, he may walk without danger he may go, and not be taken!'" Be FOLLOWERS OF PEACE. It is one thing to declare war against the Empire of Satan, and a thing totally different to indulge a temper of animosity. The Spirit of Peace is much better suited to the Religion of Christ, than the Spirit of Controversy; and although, in the vindication of your faith and in order to exhibit the folly and falsehood of superstition and idolatry, you will perhaps necessarily be engaged in disputation, carry on the arguments like a lover of TRUTH and not of VICTORY! Beware of the habit of mind, which the strife of words so often and so fatally creates. Be assured, that no man can be improved in his religious character, by the indulgence of a controversial spirit: it has a tendency to destroy, not only every Christian Feeling, but every candid and generous principle; and it is well if the love of controversy in early life do not sometimes lead to that hopeless and incorrigible state of mind, which impels the disputer of this world to find little in Divine Truth but aliment for contention. Instances, however, are not wanting, both in antient and modern times which demonstrate how possible it is to assert and defend the doctrines and precepts of Christianity in the spirit of Christianity; and, so long as the name of Martyn shall be remembered among us, we have one illustrious example, immediately at hand, of the happy union of gentleness and zeal—a combination of those affectionate dispositions, which become the disciples of a meek and lowly Master; with a readiness to attack superstition in its strong holds, and, in circumstances the most unfavourable, to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints. Finally, my Reverend Brethren, let me exhort you ever to bear in mind, how great are your consolations and how sure the promises. In the service to which you are devoted, you will probably meet with a more than ordinary share of difficulties and trials; and will have occasion to lament the perverseness and even declension of some of your hearers, who perhaps had embraced the Truth with the fairest promise of abiding in it. But have not the same afflictions been the portion of those that have gone before you? and is there not to you, as well as to others, the unfailing assurance of your Lord Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world! True it is, that you may be deprived of the benefit of religious society: there may be no friends with whom you can take sweet counsel together, or to whom you can pour out the sorrows of your hearts: but what a comfort is it to reflect, that Christ is ever with you!-that your gracious Redeemer, for whose sake you have sacrificed so many temporal enjoyments, is Himself the con stant witness of all that you do and all that you suffer that he watches over your toils, and sympathizes in your afflictions! His presence is the pledge of every blessing; and, while looking to Jesus, you will find your selves comforted and sustained by the sure conviction of His unchanging love. And why should you ever despond about the effect of your ministrations? Do the work of an Evangelist, and God will not be wanting to His own Cause: Before the march of your Redeemer, the valleys shall be exalted, and the hills made low: prejudice, passions, ignorance, hostility, formidable as they may appear to creatures like ourselves, what are they when opposed to Him, who has the hearts of all men in His hands? Faithful Missionaries may be taken away, in the very midst of their useful ness: but there never will be wanting a succession of men, duly qualified to carry on the great purposes of mercy, and to proclaim the message of grace and salvation. There may be a long intervening period which is dark and cloudy; but it will certainly end: the Sun of Righteousness will assuredly rise upon the whole earth, and all nations shall walk in his light. That you, my Reverend Brethren, may be abundantly blessed, both in yourselves and in the work of the Ministry, is the earnest prayer of those, who are now assembled to bid you farewell; and it will be repeated by numbers, who never have seen your faces in the flesh. However distant may be the countries to which duty shall call you, in England you will not be forgotten: many a prayer will be made for your success-many a blessing will be invoked upon your heads. The cords of Christian Sympathy and Christian Love can bind, in the most sacred and intimate connection, those who are the most widely dissevered. Nor will the feeling of which I speak be confined to this land: there are multitudes, in other countries, both to the east and the west, who will follow your steps with affectionate regard; who will rejoice with you when you rejoice, and weep with you when you weep: the Throne of Grace will be addressed in many languages, for your happiness and welfare; and every instance of your suceessful exertion will be welcomed with the voice of gratitude and praise to the Author of all our Mercies. May His Spirit dwell richly in your hearts! May you continue to love and to adorn your profession! And if we never meet again, till we stand at the Great Tribunal, may we all be found at the right-hand of the Judge!-and may it be your lot to be numbered with those, who have turned many to righteousness and who shine as the stars for ever and ever! APPENDIX IV. EXTRACT FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS RELATIVE TO A SCHOOL FUND FOR CEYLONESE CHILDREN. THE American Missionaries in Ceylon proposed, soon after they became settled in the District of Jaffna, to maintain Heathen Children in the Mission Families; giving them the advantages of a Christian Education, and training them up to habits of industry and virtue. The sum, at which the Missionaries supposed that they could maintain a Child, was fixed at TWELVE DOLLARS a year. This small stipend, it was thought, would support a Child after the manner of the country; that is, |