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tions of his countrymen, I may, in the name of my Swedish, and German, and Prussian Brethren and Sisters, present you their congratulations, and say you have a place in their hearts and an interest in their prayers."

We are under the necessity of deferring the remaining Speeches, together with the List of Contributions, until next month.

Arrival of the Rev. John Campbell from

his second visit to Africa. MR. CAMPBELL embarked at the Cape on the 15th of February, in the ship Castle-Forbes, on her return from Bombay; he touched at St. Helena the 1st of March; crossed the equator on the 16th; passed the Western Islands on the 17th; reached the Chops of the Channel May the 7th; left the ship, in a pilot boat, on the 8th; arrived at Portsmouth, and reached London on the 9th, three hours before the only mencement of the mecting at Surrey Chapel.

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We are desired to state, that the Directors of the London Missionary Society fully concur with Mr. Campbell in his wish to be excused from undertaking any journeys into the country, to attend the meetings of Auxiliary Societies, for the ensuing three months (June, July, and August.) This is necessary in order to his securing time to prepare for the press an account of his late journeys beyond the colony, as well as for the purpose of attending to his pastoral duties to the church from which he has so long been absent.

Departure of the Deputation and Mis

sionaries for the South Sea Islands. ON Saturday, May the 5th, the Rev. Mr. Tyerman and Mr. Bennet, the gentlemen who compose the deputa-, tion to Otaheite, &c.; Rev. Mr. Jones, Missionary, with Mrs. Jones; Mr. Armitage, Cotton Manufacturer, with Mrs. Armitage and two children; and Mr. Blossom, Carpenter, &c. with Mrs. Blossom; embarked at Gravesend, on board the Tuscan (a Whaler); but being detained in the Downs and at Spithead, by contrary winds, did not leave the latter place until Friday afternoon, May the 18th, when they proceeded on their voyage with a fair wind. They earnestly desire the prayers of all the members of the Society, and of pious persons in general, for their safe and prosperous voyage,-a favour which we hope will not be denied to persons

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American Mission to the Sandwich Islands in the North Pacific Ocean.

WE mentioned in our last a very remarkable event-the destruction of idolatry in three of the Sandwich islands, on the mere rumour of what had been done in a similar way at Otaheite, &c. and that this was effected just at the time when the Missionaries prepared for the Sandwich islands were taking their departure from Boston, under the sanction of the Missionary Society of the United States. We rejoice to state that advice had been received of

the safe arrival of the Missionaries at the place of their destination, and we now insert

The joint Letter of the Missionaries to the Corresponding Secretary.

Hanaroorah, Woahoo, July 23, 1820. REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR,

FAR removed from the loved dwellings of Zion in our native land, surrounded with pagans and strangers, we would lift the voice of grateful praise to our covenant Father, and call on our patrons and friends to rejoice, for the Lord hath comforted his people, and ministered unto us an open and abundant entrance among the heathen. But here we see no altars of abomination, nor bloody rites of superstition. Jehovah has begun to overturn the institutions of idolatry, and to prepare the way for the nobler institutions of his own worship.

While we were tossing on the waters of the Atlantic, and while the church was on her knees before the Hearer of prayer, He was casting down the vanities of the heathen, demolishing the temples of paganism, and holding in derision the former pride and disgrace of this people.

Wafted by the propitious gales of heaven, we passed the dangerous goal of Cape Horn on the 30th of January; set up our Ebenezer there; and, on the 30th of March, arrived off the shores of these long lost and long neglected "Isles of the Gentiles." But how were our ears astonished to hear a voice pro"In the wilderness, prepare ye claim; the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God!" How were our hearts agitated with new and various and unexpected emotions, to hear the interesting intelligence,

"TAMAHAMAHA IS DEAD;—THE TABOOS ARE BROKEN ;—THE IDOLS ARE BURNT;— THE MOREEAHS ARE DESTROYED; AND THE PRIESTHOOD ABOLISHED." This victory was achieved by that arm alone which sustains the universe. He, who in wisdom has ordained, that no flesh should glory in his presence, has saved us from the danger of glorying in the triumph, and taught us with adoring views of his majesty to "stand still and see the salvation of God." Long indeed did we expect to toil, with slow

and painful progress, to undermine the deep laid foundations of the grossest idolatry. But He, whose name alone is Jehovah, looked upon the bloodstained superstition, erected in insult to divine purity, and, without even the winding ram's horn of a consecrated priest, it sinks from his presence, and tumbles into ruins; and he commands us, as the feeble followers of the Captain of salvation, to go up every man straight before him," and, " in the name of our God, to set up our banner."

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POETRY.

PRAISE FOR THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL,

AND THE

DIFFUSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

"The Isles shall wait for thy Law."

Author and Guardian of the page divine!
Beneath whose eye thy faithful servants live;
In sweet approving smiles upon them shine,
And to their labours thy rich blessing give.

Bless'd be thy name, that in those distant lands,
Where ignorance and vice so long have reign'd,
A list'ning throng revere the Lord's commands,
And Jesu's cause has mighty conquests gain'd.

But O! the Bible!-that unerring word!
May all the nations the rich treasure prize!
Far may it spread! and by its truths, afford
Knowledge to make the simple good and wise.

God speed the Press, in this most holy cause,
Till each Taheitan's son shall be supplied:
Obedience learn to Jesu's sacred laws,
And from his word of grace be satisfied!

God speed the holy men, whose ev'ry power

Is exercis'd in this divine employ;

And grant, their prospects, bright'ning every hour,

May fill their hearts with enviable joy!

God speed the Cause of Missions through the world!
Still may it cheer its friends, convince its foes:

Be every idol from its altar hurl'd;

May every desert blossom as the rose!

T. H.

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THE

EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE

AND

MISSIONARY CHRONICLE.

JULY 1821.

IT

MEMOIR OF THE LATE WALTER VENNING, ESQ.

"I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came
unto me." Matt. xxv. 36.

T was the unspeakable privilege of Mr. Walter Venning to have been blessed with a religious education, under the care of eminently pious parents in Devonshire, who had used every effort to lead him to the knowledge and service of God. Commercial engagements obliged him in early life to visit St. Petersburg. He carried out with him that general sense of religion, and particularly that regard to the sanctity of the Sabbath, which he had inbibed from the habits of his youth; and greatly was he shocked at the profanation of the holy day which prevailed even among the British inhabitants of that city. The feeling, however, which was then excited was of no long continuance. His inexperienced mind even manifested its depraved tendencies by gradual compliance with the customs of the place, to which he was urged by the ridicule to which he found himself exposed, when he attempted to plead for observances which were associated with his earliest recollections. With the neglect of the Sabbath were connected the slight performance and the frequent omission of secret prayer. Hence arose a growing carelessness about spiritual and eternal concerns, which, by his

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own confession, prevailed to a lamentable degree, but never so thoroughly as to leave him in quiet possession of the worldly habits which he had assumed.

About the year 1807, an event took place which called back his wandering heart, and appears to have been the principal means of fixing his convictions and determinations on the side of religion. That event was the death of his aged and pious father. Under the deep feelings of regret which the loss of a parent occasioned, he retraced his past life, and found that he had been pursuing "vanity and vexation of spirit." Many tender scenes of parental instruction and admonition, which had been nearly obliterated from his recollection, were now renewed. The calm composure with which this reverend and beloved parent "waited for the salvation of God," until he "finished his course with joy," became the means of fixing the convictions of the affectionate and dutiful son; and, to adopt his own words, "Led him again to bless and praise that Almighty Power which enabled his parent on his dying pillow to comfort those who came to comfort him."

These impressions, it appears,
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