Present State of Religion, Missions, &c.

Of the state of vital religion in the United States, the late Mr. Ward, of Serampore, who visited them in 1821, thus writes: "Divine service seemed well attended in the States I visited; and I should think that, amongst the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, and the Baptists, there are but few instances of a dry formal ministry, though there remains much of it still among the Episcopalians. I fear that there is among the Baptists, a considerable portion of that Calvinism which knows not how to unite duty with sovereignty, obligation with privilege, watchfulness with perseverance, and the necessity of prayer with divine influence. A Baptist church practising open*, or Christian communion, I found not; and one or two ministers did not hesitate to avow, that they did not consider Pedo-Baptists as in the pale of the visible church!!! Is it not beyond all expression strange, that the people who still complain so loudly, that the Baptists were imprisoned and flogged at Boston, should themselves act upon a sentiment so utterly contrary to Christian forbearance and charity? I found more places of worship in the large towns in America, than in similar towns in Britain, and much genuine piety among the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, the Evangelical Episcopalians, the Methodists, and the Baptists; and, as far as my journeying extended, I observed a cheering exhibition of Christian progress. As in England, all denominations of real Christians are increasing; and all are growing better. The revivals in different sections of the Union are greater than ever. I have made special enquiry into the nature of these revivals, and find, that the far greater portion of those who commence a religious profession under these impressions, continue till death to adorn the doctrine of Divine Influence. Christian Missions, too, begin to be more and more popular; and the duty of the church to identify them as an integral part of its institutions, begins to be more generally felt and acknowledged in this highly favoured country."-[Ward's Farewell Letters, let. xxiv.]

Notwithstanding all this, however, it appears there is a great want of Gospel ministers, and means of grace, in several of the newly settled States, and in the back country.-[See Bristed's Thoughts on the Anglo and Anglo-American Churches, 1813, pp. 330-333.]

The United Brethren have, from the year 1734, had Missionaries among the Indians in the back settlements of Philadelphia, North Carolina, Georgia, and among the Cherokees on the borders of Tenesse; but severe indeed were the trials they had to encounter here, chiefly through the wars of the Indians, as they severally took part with either the French or British. In one instance, ninety-six men, women, and children, were treacherously made prisoners by white banditti, and tomahawked in cold blood. In another instance, eleven Missionaries,

Mr. Ward evidently means mixed or free communion. See the Dictionary, under the term Communion.

Countries, and Religious Denominations established or tolerated.

War of United States, p. 375. Newhaven, printed 1822.] This makes the whole population, two years since, 10,108,695, exclusive of the white and negro population of Florida, and also the Indian population beyond the territories of the United States. Allowing for the natural increase of population in times of peace, and the accessions by emigration, the present population of the United States may, therefore, be safely taken at eleven millions.

NATIVE INDIANS.-Though we have included these, so far as they are known, among the general population of the United States, it seems necessary to enumerate here the principal Indian tribes, for the purpose of stating, on the other side, the exertions now making for their civilization and instruction in Christianity.-Dr. Morse remarks: "The Indians generally believe that they were created on this continent. The Shawaneese only have a tradition to the contrary; but it is somewhat doubtful whether the deliverance which they celebrate has any other reference than to the crossing some great river, or an arm of the sea. That the Indians are descended from the people of the East, is, I think, incontestably proved by their religious rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices."-[Appen. pp. 97-8.]

Dr. Morse forms the Indian tribes into three grand divisions.— 1. East of the Missisippi, 120,625.-2. Between the Missisippi and the Rocky Mountains, 179,592.-3. West of the Rocky Mountains, 171,200.- Total, 471,417, as above stated. The whole number of tribes and branches dispersed over this vast tract of country, is about 260, some of which are reduced to fifteen souls, and several are quite extinct; but others number thousands, and one tribe (the Choctaws) 25,000. The Indian families average at five or six individuals, and their warriors are as one in three, to one in five.

The most considerable of these tribes in numbers, or in fame, are the following: Cherokees, Chicasaws, Chippaways, Choctaws, Creeks, Delawares, Mohawks, Manadans, Moskitoes, Oneidas, Osages, Ottawas, Senecas, Seminoles, Tuscaroras, &c. They have been used to live chiefly by the chase ;-game, however, is getting scarce, and many apply to agriculture, and others to the breeding of cattle and horses. Some of both sexes adopt the dress of the whites, and even keep negro slaves. Some of them, by intermarrying with the whites, have almost lost their copper colour, and will, no doubt, eventually be incorporated with them.

BRITISH

Present State of Religion, Missions, &c.

Missionaries, male and female, were burnt in their habitation by a troop of Indians in the French service. This was in 1755. In the revolutionary war, the American army, under General Harrison, plundered and burnt their settlement at Fairfield. Such is the opposition between the Fiend of War and the Prince of Peace. Many thousands, however, are stated to have been converted by their ministry in times past, and they still retain two or three stations in the United States: one at Goshen, near the Lake Erie, and the other at Spring Place, among the Cherokees, in Georgia; and they are about to establish a new station at Oustology, about thirty miles farther, in the centre of the Cherokee government, where an awakening has taken place, and a new church has been erected.

The Choctaws, the most numerous, probably, of the Indian tribes, having lately received a large annuity from the government of the United States, for the purchase of certain lands, devoted the third part of it for the purpose of Schools for their children. "The American Board of Missions" is preparing such establishments; and 1000 children are waiting for education, so soon as the funds shall be sufficient. The same Society have already Missionary settlements at Dwight, Mayhew, and Elliott, where they have several Missionary families; and, at the latter place, have 60 boys and 20 girls under instruction. They have also a new station, which they call Newell.

"The American Foreign Missionary Society" has two settlements, Union and Harmony, among the Osages of the Arkansaw and the Missouri. A third is forming among the Western Indians.

The Cherokees are making great advances in civilization, and are adopting the laws and customs of their white brethren. We have mentioned above, the Missions of the United Brethren at Spring Place, and at Oustology;-in 1817, "The American Board," formed a settlement on the Chickamaugah Creek, with Missionaries, a physician, teachers, farmers, and mechanics. In the Schools they have 200 children. Several other stations have been formed among this tribe, and the two Societies engaged in them, act with the greatest cordiality.

The New York Missionary Society having laboured for more than twenty years among the Tuscaroras and Senecas, at the close of 1820, with the consent of all the parties, transferred these Missions to the United Foreign Society. The seat of the former Mission is a Tuscarora village, a few miles from Lewistown. The Pagan part of the population having failed in expelling the Christian Indians, themselves removed to Canada, and the whole village has become Christian. The Mission to the Senecas is no less prosperous. The light kindled in the village near Buffalo, above referred to, has spread through many other villages; and of the seven Senecas who visited England in 1818, two joined the Christians on their return. "The Society

Countries, and Religious Denominations established or tolerated.

BRITISH COLONIES.

These are Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and some adjacent parts. CANADA is divided into the Upper and Lower Provinces. The capital of the latter is Quebec, which being conquered by General Wolfe in 1759, the whole country was ceded to the English, and has been ever since retained by us, notwithstanding the American war. It is separated from the United States by the great lakes, sometimes called the Canadian Sea. The established religion is the Roman Catholic, with a full toleration to Protestants of all denominations. In 1784, the population amounted to about 123,000, of whom it is supposed nine-tenths were Catholics; besides about 30,000 Indians. It is a great fur country, and consequently very cold.

On the east of Canada and the river St. Lawrence, are the Provinces of NEW BRUNSWICK and NOVA SCOTIA, with the Islands of Cape Breton, St. John's, and Newfoundland, in all which the Protestant religion is established. The population of the latter island has been lately estimated at 70,000, which is more than all these countries were formerly stated at; but, through the emigrations from other countries, and the natural increase of population, it is probable that they would not be stated too high at 160,000. In Nova Scotia, Mrs. Adams says, there are still a few Allenites. [See the Dictionary.]

The Hudson's Bay Company claim a considerable extent of country on both sides of the Bay, and especially westward; but the cold is so inclement, and the population so thin, that it seems scarcely worth contending for.

The coasts of Labrador and Greenland are still more inhospitable, but justly celebrated in Missionary annals. The inhabitants of all these countries, taken together, do not probably exceed a million.

SPANISH

Present State of Religion, Missions, &c.

for the Propagation of the Gospel" have long had a Mission among the Mohawks, on the river Grand.

BRITISH COLONIES.

There are several Missionary stations also in the back settlements of Canada, &c. supported by various American Societies, by some in England, and by the United Brethren. "The Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts," employs chaplains, under the name of Missionaries, in many towns and villages of Canada, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland, but few of them preach distinctly to the heathen. The British government allows to this Society £2000, or upwards, annually, to assist them in building churches, supporting schools, &c. In Upper Canada, however, they have a few stations, where they come into contact with the Mohawks, Delawares, and other Indians, who fled from the United States at the close of the revolutionary war; among whom Schools are established, and religious worship celebrated by the Missionaries of this Society. The English Methodists have also a number of Missionaries employed in the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, where they have more than 4000 persons in Society.

In Nova Scotia, Mr. Bromley has been long and successfully employed in the work of education, in the Royal Arcadian School at Halifax, under the patronage of a Society, founded in 1813, by the late excellent Duke of Kent, and Governor General Sir J. C. Sherbrooke, and his successor the Earl of Dalhousie. Under a subscription, aided by the provincial legislature, a School-house was erected before the winter of 1821, seventy-five feet in length, and three stories high. By the accounts up to last April, Mr. Bromley had then under his care, 153 boys and 135 girls, besides a Sunday School of 140. In Canada a Society has been formed, denominated the "British and Canadian School Society," under whose auspices a Model School has been opened, at Montreal, by Mr. Hutchings, who received instructions at the Borough-road School, in London, and who has already under his care, 115 boys and 54 girls. Bible Societies have been formed at Montreal, in Nova Scotia; at Miramichi, New Brunswick, and in Hudson's Bay; by whose means the Scriptures have been widely circulated.

The Church Missionary Society has undertaken a Mission to the American Indians in the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company; and two Clergymen and a Schoolmaster, in connexion with the Society, are stationed at the Red River.

Among the Esquimaux, on the coast of Labrador, the United Brethren have three Missionary stations, formed in 1764, where they have twenty-five Missionaries, females included. The Scriptures have been also sent to these converts.