MISCELLANEOUS.

BRADFORD.-The last week in April, we commenced selling in the Exchange buildings, the various articles we had collected, and which the kindness of various friends had contributed. The proceeds, with donations, &c., amounted to £400 We are truly thankful, and have had a special meeting to give thanks to God, for disposing the hearts of so many to assist us. R. I.

WHITTLESEA. - The interesting services connected with the public recognition of Mr. Thos. Lee, as the pastor of the G. B. church in this place, were attended to on Wednesday, June 2nd. Brother Lyon, of Chatteris com-` menced with a short prayer; brother Kenney, of Holbeach, read the scriptures and offered the general prayer; and Mr. J. C. Pike, of Wisbech, delivered a very appropriate introductory discourse. The questions were proposed by Mr. J. Stevenson, M. A., of London, after which brother J. Jones, of March, offered the designating prayer, and Mr. Stevenson delivered the charge. In the evening Mr. Crofts, of Ramsay, (P. B.) read and prayed, and Mr. Goadby, of Leicester, delivered an address to the church. Brethren R. J. Pike, F. Chamberlain, and others, assisted in the exercises of the day, the interest of which was well sustained. May the Great Head of the church smile on the union now formed, and 'send prosperity.' INCOMES OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES FOR THE YEAR 1846-7.

£. S. d. 28,223 11 7 116,827 18 11

76,319 7 1 115,762 3 2 117,440 9 3 59,416 3 9 2,125 16 1 5,119 1

Evangelical Missions to Heathen... French and Foreign Bible Society...

Francs. 30,770

28,555

226,077

102,509

88,898

THE CONVERSION OF A LITTLE HEATHEN TRIBE, which remained until very lately in the practice of their ancestoral idolatry in the Russian empire.-The statement given is shortly as follows. In the district of Birsk, on the Russian frontier, in an isolated corner and surrounded by impenetrable forests, lived a nation of idolatrous Tscheremissen, who were subjected to the rule of the Minister

for the Imperial domains, and who formed a special society among themselves under the name of Wedris-Kalmasch. The religion of this tribe consisted of a tissue of the wildest and most senseless imaginations. Their chief divinities were named Tari and Keremet; the one was the Author of all good, the other of all evil. To the first they offered worship, but no sacrifices, as being too benevolent to require such; but to the god Keremet they frequently sacrificed animals in solitary parts of their forests, in order to appease his wrath. Transmigrations of souls formed also a part of their creed, and, like their Tartaric neighbours, they practised polygamy. Their sole occupation was cultivating the barest necessaries for their support in addition to the spoils obtained by hunting, and no art or trade, not even in the way of barter, was resorted to. The government employed various means to introduce civilization among this savage race, but for a long time every effort was vain. At length the unweared perseverance of M. de Bludareff, governor of the district, aided by a priest, named Pribyloff, has succeeded in gaining the confidence of the Tscheremissen, and shaking the foundations of their pitiable superstition. At first but a very few were won over to the Greek religion; then whole villages followed, and the year 1846 boasts the conversion of 900 individuals. The society has changed its name with its belief, and, doubtless most appropriately (as marking the new source of beneficence they seek to please), have adopted the appellation of Nikolskishen (Nicolites). A Greek church has been built in the largest of their villages, which was consecrated on the 12th of last October by the bishop of Orenburg, and on the following day mass Iwas read in it for the first time. It is also intended by government to erect an elementary school there. The present gain may be and probably is small on the score of religion, but great in respect of civilization, and that may prove the handmaid to more important benefits.-Evangelical Christendom.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN ITALY.The archbishop of Florence has caused to be translated into Italian a catechism published by the archbishop of Paris, in which the ten commandments, as found in the Bible, are printed, followed by the commands of the church. You know, that for a long period of time, the second commandment has been wiped out of the Decalogue as authorized by the church, and will, am sure, rejoice that the command not to bow down to stocks and stones has at length, after so long an interval, resumed its place, and that it is used in the public instruction of children; so that even the Italians are allowed to read the command of their Creator, not to worship aught but Him, the Lord of all.-Evangelical Christendom.

CHINA.

LETTER FROM THE G. B. FOREIGN

MISSIONARY COMMITTEE

To Brethren Jarrom and Hudson, Missionaries at Ningpo, China.

DEAR BRETHREN,-Your letter of Feb. 13, 1847, was read with considerable pleasure and satisfaction, at our Meeting in Nottingham, May 6, 1847. It was unanimously resolved to forward a reply, expressive of our sympathy, confidence, and affection.

We are deeply sensible, dear brethren, of the privations you must feel in being so far away from your friends and relatives, and native land. Intercourse with beloved friends, the endearments and enjoyments which it affords, are now regarded by you as joys that are past, and which possibly will not return; joys which, while immense distance separates you from them, become more intensely and exquisitely valuable as contemplated from your present position, surrounded as you are by people of 'a strange speech and of hard language,' the followers of 'strange gods,' the subjects of strange customs, and without sympathy for your persons or purpose. Faint not, brethren under these privations. You are submitting to them from the best motives, and for the noblest of all objects. Make the best use you can of your present sources of consolation. In yourselves and the few christians in Ningpo you have some society; in correspondence with friends at home you have some solace; and in communion with God we trust you have great consolation and support. As thy days, so shall thy strength be,' is a blessed promise; and we doubt not that this, as well as the words of our divine Lord will be accomplished in the experience of his faithful servants. 'Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive a hundred fold in this present time; and in the world to come, eternal life.'

We rejoice, dear brethren, that you become increasingly sensible of the excellence and importance of the great work in which you are engaged, and of your need of the prayers of the church and the blessing of God. Let nothing disturb these divine sentiments. They will stimulate and sustain. We have pleasure in contemplating your arrangements for mutual prayer and worship and the celebration of divine ordinances; for frequent conference on your labours, &c; and for corVOL 9.-N. S. 2 D

respondence with your brethren in India. We hope these exercises will be the means of cementing your regard for each other, and of securing mutual encouragement and edification.

Be not discouraged by the peculiar difficulties of your work. The language, the most difficult in existence, will yield to patient application; and the seeming indifference of the people to eternal realities, will yet in many instances give way before the power of the truth and the influences of the Spirit of God. It is very pleasing that the people are even now willing to receive christian tracts, and that they peruse them with avidity: that they readily acknowledge the excellency of christian truththat they are courteous and affable, and that a considerable number from time to time, attend worship. These things are all encouraging. Look to God: plead with him for his presence and grace, and you shall not labour in vain. God has opened China to the labours of his Church for the accomplishment of the purposes of his grace. Neither the Chinese themselves, nor the British government, had any such idea or intention in their godless and sanguinary conflicts; but he who overrules the most untoward events for good, has thus made a highway for his gospel, and he will yet 'ride forth from conquering to conquer.' No movement among the nations in modern times has opened a like field for the benevolence, and zeal, and hopes of the Church. And it is a truly sublime spectacle to contemplate a few soldiers of the cross, taking their stations, and setting up their banners in the name of God, prior to the mighty conflict with the errors of the most numerous people upon earth, with the full assurance that their warfare will yet be accomplished, and the whole land brought with glad submission to acknowledge Immanuel to be their Lord.

Your account of your labours amongst the people is grateful to us. Your free distribution of tracts, your domiciliary calls, your frequent conversations, preaching, and addresses, will not be without their results. But it will not disappoint or discourage us, if your labours are continued for some considerable time without much apparent fruit. 'Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?' It is a great thing for a people to be induced to forsake their superstitions, and especially to do so that they may embrace the humble, holy, and selfdenying religion of Jesus. This however will be done. The land of Sinim shall bow at the feet of Christ, and call him blessed;

and though long before this glorious consummation takes place, you and we may be laid in the dust, yet the thought that any efforts of ours shall have contributed to its accomplishment, as it is now grateful in anticipation, will fill the soul with triumph and praise in the retrospect, when mingling with the spirits of the just before the throne. Go on, beloved brethren, and persevere in your various labours, in the joyful assurance of a future reward. Labour assiduously, and with a devout confidence in the faithful promises of God, and the expectation of his blessing. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.'

We are anxious to assure you, brethren, of our confidence in your piety, your zeal and discretion, and of the interest you have in our affection, and our prayers; and while we do this as a committee, we doubt not we are expressing the cordial sentiments of the great body of the supporters of our mission. May the Lord Jesus ever be with your spirits! May he pour down upon you a rich supply of his grace!

The preservation of your bodily health is of great importance; and while we are thankful to hear that this blessing, without which you will be unable to labour, has been Vouchsafed unto you, allow us to express our hope that every means within your power for its continuance will be freely employed.

In conclusion, dear brethren, permit us to remind you that the perpetual presence of irreligion and hardness of heart, in the multitudes around you, will have a tendency to lower the tone of pious emotion, as well as to deaden the more heavenly sensibilities of your hearts; and affectionately to suggest to you the importance of the careful cultiva. tion of personal religion, and the frequent communion with the God of glory, Father of the spirits of all flesh;' that, deriving light from his light, holiness from his presence, strength from his grace, you may be 'sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.'

the

In behalf of the Committee, I am, dear brethren, yours very affectionately,

Leicester, May 17, 1847. Jos. GOADBY.

INDIA.

LETTER FROM REV. C. LACEY.

Khundittur, Feb. 20th, 1847.

MY DEAR BROTHER GOADBY.-I have been longing to write to you for a long time, and have felt some approach to a state of

misery in consequence of not having done 80; yet when I tell you that I have been incessantly engaged from home among the people-starting early in the morning, and not returning to my tent till late in the afternoon, all weary and worn out-for the past three months; you will be disposed to make some excuse for me. A missionary's wandering and unsettled life is not friendly to epistolary engagements; for when he is shorn of his strength and energy, amidst the bustle and confusion of striking and pitching his tent, arranging and disarranging his little, but needful accompaniments, to use a homely expression very prevalent among the Oreahs, 'It will not come.' I am enjoying some leisure at Khundittur, (if indeed I do enjoy it in preference to being among the people;) but it is partly from necessity, for the people in some parts near this place will not hear. I was almost as much amused as grieved yesterday, when we went forth to try to collect a congregation, but without success. The people resembled the snail, the hedge hog, and the tortoise: they fairly, and almost to a man, drew in their horns and their heads, and betook themselves on our approach to their houses. As we passed down, their doors, ere we reached them, went bang, bang, bang ! and the bolts were fastened inside. A few we found sitting before their doors, enjoying the afternoon's breeze, and we addressed ourselves to them. This however was equally unavailing, for not a word could we get from them on any subject; and not a look; they had become clean deaf. We at last fell in with one of Juggernaut's pundas, and he had no backwardness in talking; but then he felt himself secure from the position he had taken, and which he immediately made known to us, namely, that whether He who dwelt in the heavens were Lord of the world, or he who dwelt in the log of wood at Pooree, he neither knew nor cared; the people regarded the latter, and he filled his belly by propagating his worship, and therefore he should think of no other. The old fellow was very merry-chewed his pawn, and laughed, and declared that his was a better trade than ours, and then walked off to prosecute his vocation. The first village we entered was a village of brahmins; but we could not get them to argue, or even to listen; and one of them, pointing to the road, very politely said, 'Sir, that is the way; you had better be going.' The fact is, that as listening to us and arguing with us lets in light and awakens conviction, the whole of the people here have been warned to flee to their houses on our approach; and should they be spoken to, in no wise to answer. This alternative has been adopted in consequence of a conversion to christi. anity having occurred in this village of Khundittur, the conversion of one of the

But the people understand the reason, and are affected none otherwise than by a disposition to laugh heartily at their chagrin.

There is one special difficulty under which we labour, and which is a source of great discouragement. 1 refer to the destitute condition of the natives when they embrace christianity; and their utter inability, as christians, to embark in any way of business for their own support. Hindoo society is, in a peculiar sense, a system of mutual support. A man has no means independent of society by which he can support himself and family; that is, he has no money, no ready cash. In the great majority of cases, he draws his daily rice, and every other article of living, according to some custom or appointment or other, from his neighbours, his mahajun,* or his caste: his property consists in the privilege of these arrangements; and when he loses caste he becomes utterly destitute. He not only forfeits his employment, and the usages and privileges of society, but he is execrated. Every convert, therefore, becomes a source of keen anxiety. How is he to live?' 'How is he and his family to be supported?' are questions which immediately occur to the mind. We have had some employment or other for many of our converts hitherto; but now all our situations are filled up. I have induced some twenty families to start in the cultivation of land; and they have set themselves up in that line of life. Many of them, however, have started by renting the means thereof from some mahajun at an interest of fifty per cent. To this mahajun they are indebted, and are ever likely to be. No sooner is their little harvest reaped, than he sweeps a large part of it away for the interest of his rice or his rupees. The christians are superior to the heathen in management and industry;+ but then they have many other disabilites which more than counterbalance those advantages. My difficulty, however, is not with those who have started, but with those who have broken the bonds of caste, and require to make a commencement as christians. want a house to live in; they want at least

*Or usurer.

They

+ The following extract from a paper written by the late Government Commissioner, A. M. Mills, Esq, and left for the information and guidance of his successor, will illustrate and confirm my general statements about the superior industry of our people, and about their grievous disabilities; and at the same time will show how hopeless their circumstances are as to any reformation in the Jungly Estates, of which Athgur is one:

EXTRACT.

'The Baptist Missionary Society have planted a colony of christians in this killah. It is located at the village of Choga, where land is abundant and cheap; and already have this industrious class brought large tracts under crop. They are

one bullock to work their bit of land; they want a little seed corn; and a little rice to eat till their harvest is ripe. When they come forth, their bodies and their souls-with a coarse cloth for the former, in most instances, are all they could bring with them. Under these circumstances it is difficult to see them starve, but beyond our ability to help them. In this respect our cause lies under great difficulty, and will continue to do so till native christian society is sufficiently large to afford support, employment, and protection to new converts. At present it cannot do this; as, with the exception of six or eight individuals, our people are all poor as it respects this world's good. We have at this moment fourteen persons in this uncertain and destitute condition, waiting till by some opening of Providence they obtain some little means to enable them to take a little land and provide, by cultivating it, for their own and families' support. Till then they employ themselves in casual labour among ourselves or the native christians, for a little daily rice. I am well aware that the present is the time of our greatest difficulty as to the temporal support of native converts. As each start and gain strength the difficulty will decrease. The perplexity arising from the increase of ordinary converts is greatly increased by the dismissal from our school and asylum of a considerable number of young men who are turned upon the christian community without a knowledge of any trade or employment whatever, by which to gain their own support. Of these lads we bave eight or nine at the present time. They have been brought up in the school till they are fifteen, sixteen, or eighteen years of age, in habits comparativly idle and easy, and are both indisposed and unable in any way to stir themselves for their own support. They can read the scriptures it is true, but this will not fill their stomachs; and several of them, thrown loose upon society without the knowledge of any means whereby to support themselves, have become idlethieves and vagabonds. Systems of boarding schools and asylums for indigent chil

of course an object of hatred to their neighbours, and the more so because they not only endeavour to induce them to become proselytes, but claim for their converts a right to the property they possessed at the time they change their religion. This claim is resisted by the rajah as opposed to the Hindoo law and the custom of his country; and as the regulation of 1832 does not extend to the tributary estates, I have deemed it neither expedient nor politic to sanction its admission. It could not fail to be most irritating to the feelings of a rude and uncivilized people like those in the tributary estates.'

P. S. This is not of course a public document, but deserves nevertheless to be made public. So then our people are to be stript of their all when they worship God, because for them to retain their rights would be irritating to a rude and uncivilized people!!-C. L.