no selfish principle; and we shall appeal to no sectarian feeling. We contemplate its past achievements and its present prosperity with unmingled pleasure. Our only strife will be to copy its every good example, and try not to be outdone by it in kind affection and christian magnanimity. We hope to be able as a Presbyterian Board, (perhaps in a feeble and humble measure,) to increase the amount of missionary feeling and effort in our church, but certainly on such principles of mutual harmony and brotherly co-operation, as every sincere disciple of Christ will delight to witness. When, better than a year ago, we cast our eye over the Presbyterian church, numbering more than 2000 congregations, and extending over a vast territory, and disturbed with conflicting opinions as to the best and most scriptural forms of evangelical effort, we felt that something more should be done to secure for millions, shrouded in utter darkness, the animated exertions of the entire body. To this an additional society seemed necessary; nor did it appear to us that the excited state of the church and the fear of collision constituted a sufficient reason for omission, or delay, in reference to the most likely means of accelerating the spread of the everlasting gospel through the earth. We thought we saw the Presbyterian church, in common with others in this favoured land, in the possession of resources, which might be used to great effect for the eternal benefit of many to whom no Saviour had ever been made known; and we asked, "Must she, as a. church, yet stand with folded hands, and see generation after generation pass away without an effort to save them?" Much, it is true, has been done; but in view of the judgment-day, and the increasing calls for help from every pagan land, can we hope to be approved of God, and richly blessed in spiritual things, if in this large and extended body there exists no solitary institution, for the important work of foreign missions? And now, if the glory of our Redeemer is dearer to our hearts than the honour of this or that society, and if, instead of foreboding disunion, we pray fervently for the prosperity of both societies, may we not all alike rejoice in the existence and usefulness of both.

CONCLUSION.

With these views, Christian brethren, we claim from you as Presbyterians, a kind feeling towards this Society, as it has no party ends to serve, and nothing in its ecclesiastical organization which you do not profess to approve. If you prefer the American Board, and are zealously engaged in doing all you can to aid it, we have only to wish you the abundant blessing of the Master whom you serve. If

you would act with us, in this great and good work, we tender to you the hand of fellowship, and greet you as sharers with us in the trials and the joys of this glorious enterprise. With such aid as Jehovah Jesus may deign to give us, let us now make an effort for our benighted fellow-men, correspondent to the immense importance of the object. As we look back upon many departed years, in which our church, with few exceptions, has seemed to forget the cause dearest to the heart of the compassionate Saviour; does not the review of opportunities of good never to be recalled, strike the mind with emotions of deep regret? And had our church caught and preserved alive after his decease, the flame of missionary zeal that burnt so purely in the soul of Brainerd, and from that moment advanced forward as the Lord might have prospered her, in the dissemination of the gospel; how many blessings would she have poured upon distant lands, and how much domestic prosperity would this day attest to the wisdom of her course. The past is beyond recall; but may not a redeeming spirit yet assign her a high and enviable agency in the first and noblest of earthly achievements? If intense desire, and vigorous action, and humble trust in God, are united with fervent prayer, what obstacles may not be overcome,-what joyful results may not the Father give?

To our Fathers and Brethren in the gospel ministry, shall this Society look for counsel and co-operation, and look in vain? On a plan which secures Presbyterial superintendence, and yet excludes the occasions of discord, will this Society, struggling with all the difficulties of a new undertaking, in vain ask the ministry to make known its wants to their people, and bring it before their congregations, as desiring an interest in their prayers? Surely it cannot be.

In our extended connexion are there not thousands of pious females, to whom the moral and social degradation of the heathen, (so painfully attested by the condition of wives and mothers and orphan children in those lands,) must make a strong appeal; and may not a society which would extend the manifold blessings which we enjoy, promise itself the immediate and continued exertions, of that portion of the Redeemer's family to which the cause of benevolence is so much indebted. What might not benighted Africa hope to experience, if each Christian female in our communion would resolve to do what she could to promote and foster the spirit of foreign missions? Are there not also in our churches many men of wealth, whom God has made the stewards of his bounty; and many others whom he is signally prospering in the pursuit of lu

crative business, by whom the foreign missionary interest should be remembered? Before the minds of such men, what claim can surpass that which speaks in behalf of such as have yet to learn that there is a Saviour: and yet to receive the gift of civilization? If the self-denied missionary on the arid sands of Africa, is but doing and suffering what Christ requires, will he own as his disciples men who hoard up or spend in opulence, the aid which these servants need?

Finally. We earnestly entreat all, of every class and station, in the church, now enjoying throughout the extended limits of this happy republic the temporal and spiritual-the personal, social, and political blessings which the gospel sheds upon mankind, to lay to heart, on this subject, the calls of duty and the generous promptings of humanity. If we turn back to the condition of our ancestry before Christianity visited them, do we not find them to have been much in the same state in which the unevangelized portions of the earth now are; and as there remains not a question that the gospel has wrought this change, do we not owe it as an honourable debt of gratitude to those who freely brought it to them, to exert ourselves to convey it to those who have it not? Even if we were to affirm, that perhaps the heathen may be saved without it; that the religion of the Hindoos and the Africans is good enough as a religion, still, it would be true, that as it has not removed their barbarous cruel habits,their moral and political degradation, and their wretched ignorance and mental imbecility, Christianity would be a blessing sufficiently great and precious, to compenpensate for all the cost, and privation, and labour of its propagation. But when multitudes of these people feel deeply sensible of the utter inadequacy of their reli gion when its cruel and obscene rites often involve acts of wickedness, and a prodigality of comfort and of life, too distressing for a Christian eye to witness; when amidst the most degraded of them, fields of labour are opening; and when self-denied, devoted men are willing to be sent to them, can there remain a doubt as to the course of duty? If they were the possessors of what you enjoy, and you were in their situation, would you think any effort too great to remove the barbarity, the ignorance, and superstition in which you were involved? And who has made you to differ? Is it not that very Saviour whose last command you are now considering; and in his omniscient sight can you say, I truly have done all that I reasonably could,—I am unwilling to do more? Can you go to a throne of grace, and daily thank him for the gift of the blessed gospel, and ask him to send it to

others, and yet do little or nothing to express the one, or effect the other? In all matters of common life, would you not say yourself, there is no sincerity in such expressions? "I express gratitude for the gospel, but here by my side is the Book which tells me how I am to show it. I pray for the conversion of the heathen, but here is the word which expressly mentions the instrumentality by which, and the persons by whom it is to be done. If I do not feel thus, why do I assure my Maker that I do? If I am sincere, why do I not, according to my ability, use the means? Either my prayers or my prac tice must be wrong, and ought to be immediately corrected!"

But why should any of you leave room for such unpleasant misgivings? Soon will all your present professions, as well as existing opportunities to improve them, forever cease to be yours. That generation of benighted men, to whom you might have been instrumental in dispensing the gospel of peace, will have passed away. It is now in your power to exert by your example, your liberality, and your prayers, an influence however comparatively small, which will be felt; and He who gives you all, cannot be an indifferent spectator of your actions. He, in distress, and in the hour of death, must be your only refuge; and when through the merits of Christ, you then turn to Him, for the richest of his mercies, will it impart no consolation, to remember that in the days of your prosperity, the destitute were not forgotten; that you cheered the hearts of the inhabitants of Zion, by noble efforts to convey the blessed gospel to

creature?"

every

this country for Calcutta, about the 1st of May.

3. To the Indians west of the Mississippi, Two. One of these brethren is expected to proceed, in company with some other person, during the ensuing summer, to the site of the proposed establishment, and make preparations for the reception of the other members in the following

autumn.

To Western and eventually Central Africa, this society has from the beginning looked, as one of the principal fields of its intended operations. To that benighted land it consecrated its first efforts: and all the information which has been since received, has but tended to increase its desire to draw, in a special manner, the attention of American Christians, and of young men devoted to the cause of missions, to that long-neglected and interesting part of the globe. The climate of Africa, however, is terrific to the white man; and few, it is to be feared, will have the courage to face its dangers. The fall of the lamented Barr, leaving his heroic associate to advance alone, seemed with a solemn emphasis to reiterate the question, whom shall we send? and the long silence which has since occurred, not only proclaims the magnitude of the loss of even a single man, whose heart was turned to Africa, but the extent to which there prevails, in the public mind, a sense of the perilous nature of the enterprise. This dread, however, must be overcome: and when the experiment shall have been fairly made, in reference to the interior, we shall be disappointed if it does not show that places may be found, where security as to health and life, may be as great, to say the least, as in some other portions of the great field. Whatever hopes of ultimate aid from the labours of the descendants of Africans, educated in this country, may be entertained, in respect to the illumination of its interior population, it is manifest that, for the present, the church must look to other means for the commencement of the work.

If the peculiar claims of that vast field are considered, and "prayer without ceasing" is offered in its behalf, by every sincere disciple of Christ, there is reason to hope that the Lord of the harvest will provide labourers for that self-denying and perilous expedition.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

At a late meeting of the Committee, the following resolutions were adopted,

viz.

Resolved, 1st. That the plan which the Executive Committee have proposed in their Circular Address, of having each presbytery undertake the support of at Ch. Adv.-VOL. XI.

least one member of their body, for the foreign service, with whom a stated communication may be preserved, is intended as well to advance the interests of piety and holiness at home, by diffusing the spirit of the missionary enterprise over the whole church, as to extend the light of the glorious gospel to the heathen.

And whereas it is the belief of this committee, that there are, within the bounds of the Presbyterian Church, a sufficient number of Presbyteries who could, and would, if such an appeal were solemnly made to them, engage, in addition to what is now done for Foreign Missions, to support on this plan, as many missionaries of approved character, as it might be offered for the service.

Therefore, Resolved, 2d. That this committee will send forth, during the present year, at least twelve missionaries, in addition to those now engaged, provided suitable persons can be obtained.

Resolved, 3d. That in view of the fact, that many important fields for missionary labour are open and opening in foreign lands, they cannot but regard the Providence of God as addressing, at this important crisis, a solemn and earnest appeal to ministers of the gospel, as well as candidates for the sacred office, in our land, and calling upon them in a special manner, to decide whether this great and good work shall be retarded, in consequence of a deficiency in the number of labourers who are willing to encounter the perils and privations of the missionary enterprise.

Resolved, 4th. That as in some parts of the great field, both on the Eastern and Western continents, the cause of missions may be subserved by the employment of men to visit remote regions, and institute such researches as to the manners and customs of the people, and the best stations, and methods of communicating instruction, as may be useful to the missionary cause, this committee would espe cially inquire, whether there may not be some labourers in the domestic service, who might, for a limited number of years, thus embark with much prospect of usefulness to a cause, whose claims upon the entire Church of God on earth, are every year becoming more and more distinct and impressive.

Finally, Resolved, That in view of the solemn responsibility resting upon every distinct portion of the visible Church of Christ, as respects the conversion of the world, this committee would respectfully and affectionately suggest to their brethren, whether it might not be expedient for all the presbyteries of our body, irrespective entirely of their co-operation with the American Board or this society, to meet simultaneously within their re

2 G

spective bounds, on the first Monday of September next, to take into consideration the present state of the unevangelized portions of the earth; the duty of the church in relation to this subject; the best means of promoting the interests of Foreign Missions; connecting the same with such general exhibitions of the state of the world, and of the progress and present state of missions; and such devotional exercises and free conversations on the subject,- -as each Presbytery might think proper to direct.

JUVENILE BENEVOLENCE.

Four clergymen have already been made life members and one a director for life, of this society, by the contributions of Juvenile Missionary Societies, and donations from one or two Sabbath schools have been received. As an important part of the efforts of missionaries in foreign lands, consists in the establishment of schools, and an attention to the condition and the improvement of heathen children, there seems to be great propriety in interesting our youth and children in these benevolent labours. To see the youthful eye kindle with delight at the thought of being permitted to appropriate from its little resources, or the fruit of its own earnings, something that may contribute to the welfare of the unblessed children of Africa, must afford peculiar satisfaction to every parent, who would wish to have its child distinguished for those humane and generous feelings, and benevolent habits, which are the best security to virtue, and the best safeguard against vice, in after life-we shall insert, in our next, an Address to that class of contributors, which has been furnished by a friend; and, in the mean time, invite the attention of the young in our churches to this subject.

SYSTEMATIC CO-OPERATION.

To each of our Ministerial Brethren to whom this little work is sent; and whose Presbytery or Congregation may not be already engaged in the support of Foreign Missions, in a connexion which they may prefer to ours, we would affectionately propose the following inquiries.

1. In reliance upon the aid of the Media tor of the New Covenant, and the kind co

operation of your Brethren of the Presby. tery, would it not be consistent, to propose at your next stated meeting, that a resolution be passed and an effort be commenced, to raise within your bounds a sum sufficient for the support of one Missionary; or what would be sufficient when

united with a similar effort on the part of another Presbytery?

2. Might not a Congregational Associa tion be formed among your people by

which something might be raised to assist the Society? The simplest form would be to appoint a Treasurer, divide the congregation into districts, and appoint collectors to visit each, and receive whatever sums the people might be willing to give.

3. Might not all the collections which are made at the Monthly Concert, be regularly and properly appropriated to this important object? Or, if the concert is not statedly observed, might not this be done on the preceding or following Sabbath?

4. With a view to the diffusion of missionary intelligence, could there not be obtained a list of subscribers, who might be willing to pay 50 cents a year for this publication, which we hope to be able to enlarge and improve, as the prospects and patronage of the society advance? If all our brethren were to carry these sugges tions into effect, there might not only be a great saving of expense and time, but a rich participation in the pleasure of doing good; and in the spiritual blessings which are connected with sincere exertions to send the gospel to the heathen. May we not, then, hope that this little service will not be denied?

This work will be sent gratuitously to the pastors of all such congregations, as statedly contribute to its funds; to the officers of all Auxiliary Societies; to the active friends of the society, wherever desired; other persons who may order it, will be expected to pay the sum of 50 cts. per annum, to go to the general use of the Institution.

All communications relating to remittances and the transmission of funds, should be directed to Rev. Elisha Macurdy, Briceland's Cross Roads, Washington county, Pennsylvania; or Mr. Samuel Thompson, No. 10, Market street, Pittsburgh.

All others should be directed to Rev. Elisha P. Swift, Corresponding Secretary of the Society, Pittsburgh.

It appears that the amount of donations and contributions, when the Chronicle was published, was $3534 654. We hope the amount is at present much larger than this; as we know that the Corresponding Secretary and General Agent has been, and still is, diligently employed in obtaining additions to the funds.

TIDINGS FROM MR. PINNEY.

The following letter from Mr. Pinney, very recently received, and announcing his safe arrival on the African coast, is highly gratifying.

We extract it from the Presbyterian-that paper not being seen by a number of our readers, although taken by others.

February 17th, 1833.

Dear Sir,-We have arrived safely and happily at the home of the oppressed, where freedom, spreading her broad mantle, invites the injured sons of Africa to liberty and happiness. The verdure is beyond expression delightful. Cape Mount seemed a paradise, when first seen last Sabbath morning, as one peak after another was discovered to us by the ascending mist; and Cape Mesurado, distant only half a mile from our anchorage, though very rocky, presents nothing but the deepest luxuriance of vegetation; no rock appears except at the extreme point, where the retiring surf exposes enough to assure us that it is there. The white beach between the two Capes, a distance of fifty miles, is a beautiful line separating the dark green waters from the still deeper vegetation; which resembles very much the appearance of the coast presented in entering Charleston Harbour. Numerous palms lift their lofty heads all along the shore, high above the surrounding forests, resembling our pines, trimmed almost to the top. Natives dressed in nature's garb, in light shelly canoes, as strange as themselves, are all around us. It is impossible to describe my sensations at beholding these human beings, representing I suppose, fairly, more than as many millions come on board our vessel just before we anchored in view of Monrovia, on Sunday evening, without even a " fig leaf" covering-seeming scarcely to have made a single step towards civilization, and probably still less towards godliness. They were Kroomen, said to be the noblest and most honest of all the seaboard tribes; their business is to row the boats in loading and unloading vessels. Capt. Hatch has engaged fifteen, and I am now more accustomed to their appearance. When on board the ship, they wear a small piece of cloth around the loins. They are of a dark red colour, something like a ripe English cherry. The Governor received me with much politeness to-day, and invited me to dinner, which, from my circumstances, I declined acceding to. The town consists of houses, thinly scattered here and there, on lots as they have been drawn by colonists From being but partly built, and there being no horses or carts to wear a road, the streets have little the

appearance of a regular town, and from the luxuriance of vegetation, every spot not under cultivation or continual use, is covered with weeds and bushes. Yet it is

quite surprised to observe cloth coats worn by all the most respectable inhabitants. he wears his coat and overcoat, and lies Gov. M. informs me that when he travels, down any where in them. The buildings are well calculated for coolness, having no fire-places, and being quite open. Those of the colonists whom I saw, received me with great politeness, and were dressed very genteelly. I think I shall like Africa, and from all accounts, the fever is not commonly more severe than many intermit tents in America. It is a complete fever and ague, and in most cases I am informed is light.

I hear of very little sickness among cules, which arrived two weeks ago. The those who came in the Lafayette and HerJupiter has not come yet! So that my here sooner than if I had embarked two long delay has proved no delay, and I am months earlier. She left the Cape de Verds some time ago, and has not been heard of since: but is supposed to be on the coast to the windward or north. "Man deviseth his ways but God directeth the steps." In my haste I was inclined to regret having missed the opportunity, but the Lord I trust intended it for forty-two days, and was upon the whole good. Our voyage was performed in about very pleasant. The Captain did all, and more than I could have anticipated, to make every thing pleasant. His conduct towards the emigrants, was marked by forbearance and kindness. Religion was countenanced and encouraged. In the cabin, every meal, when my sea-sickness had subsided, was commenced by giving thanks. I have revived my astronomical learning, and became something of a prac tical navigator on the voyage, and have acted as general physician. At times, the idea of being entirely alone, has depressed me for a few moments; but generally I have felt, and at present do feel, happy and cheerful.

As yet, no arrangement has been made about my inland journey, but I propose going ashore this morning to consult on the business. I have written this in haste, as I wish to send some other letters by the Monrovia, which leaves to-morrow. Yours, most affectionately,

JOHN B. PINNEY.

FOREIGN.