Conclusion of the Report.

If, in the History of Missions, there are ordinarily some things of a discouraging nature, this is nothing more than what is to be expected in all schemes conducted by human agency. The works of God only are perfect: the works of men must always partake of human imperfection. But though we may have some ground of discouragement, we have much more ground of encouragement.

There are, at present, at work the elements of a mighty Moral Revolution in our world. The Cause is the Cause of God: His power, His grace, His faithfulness, are pledged to carry it on. Much is doing, in the present age, in the way of preparation: something visible has already been accomplished; but more has probably been effected that is unseen, which yet will have a powerful influence on the ultimate triumphant progress of Christianity in the world.

The Reformation was not the work of the Sixteenth Century simply: it was not, even so far as human instrumentality is concerned, the fruit of the exertions of the men of that age: for upward of a century many instruments had been at work, and many powerful causes-some intellectual, some moral, some political had been in operation, which had been undermining invisibly the authority of the Church of Rome, and had been preparing the mind of mankind for emancipation from her thraldom. So is it now.

We apprehend, however, that this is too little looked to by the friends of Missions. We will not say they are too anxious to see the direct fruits of Missionary Labours in the conversion of souls we wish, that, in this respect, they manifested a thousand times more anxiety. But we do say, they live too much by sight, and too little by faith: they are too apt to grow lukewarm and weary in the cause, if something great, something splendid, something to dazzle their eyes, is not exhibited to them in the success of Missionary Operations in their own day: they look chiefly to the immediate effects of Missions-little to their future results. Now, while we ought never to lose sight of present success-while this ought to be the object of our hopes, our desires, and our prayers -we should not confine our views within so limited a range: we should look forward, as with a prophetic eye, to the ultimate result of Missions in ages to

come.

There are few things, indeed, in which we are less disposed to indulge than prophetic visions. We know that a thousand things may occur to disappoint our hopes, and entirely to change the course of events in this and the other country; but, though our calculations may be completely overturned in regard to particular quarters of the world, we apprehend there is reason to believe, that the future results of Missions, in combination with many other causes which are at present at work in the world, will far exceed any thing which we at present witness. That the Gospel is destined to be universal in the earth-that the period when this shall happen can be at no very great distance that, in the Government of God, a variety of causes are ordinarily in slow and silent operation, previous to the accomplishment of any great event—that these causes, multiplying and combining together, often at length acquire an overwhelming energy, and, within a short period, produce changes in the whole frame of society, which, in the ordinary course of events, it would have required ages to accomplish-and that this is, in all likelihood, to be the case in regard to the Propagation of Christianity in the World-are principles which will scarcely be denied by any who carefully study the Providence and the Word of God. Let us then not be weary in well doing; for, in due season, we shall reap if we faint not.

and see.

Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travelled, she brought forth her children. Lift up thine eyes round about Thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side: the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee; the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in His time.

The Committee renew their appeal for an increase of both Funds and Missionaries.

LADIES SOCIETIES

IN BEHALF OF NEGRO SLAVES.

Suggestion to these Societies. We have received various communications, in consequence of the intimation given at p. 542 of our

last Volume, from Associations of Ladies in different parts of the kingdom. In addition to Reports from Associations noticed by us before, we have received Reports from Associations for North Staffordshire, Leicester, Manchester, and Reading. We have been requested to point out in what way these Associations may act with most effect. The simplest course would have been to associate themselves with the Anti

Slavery Society, as affiliated bodies; but, as the object of all these Institutions is to obtain, in behalf of the Negroes, a change in the law of the land, legal objections lie against this mode of combined operation. No objection, however, can apply to the transmitting of funds to that Institution; and we would, therefore, recommend to all the Associations formed for the present relief and ultimate emancipation of British Slaves to transmit the greater portion of their funds to the AntiSlavery Society, and to give the widest circulation to those forcible statements of facts and strong appeals to the conscience and the heart which appear in its Publications. We cannot but think that the funds raised will thus be in a fairer way of efficient application to the object than when divided, as at present they frequently are, among a variety of local and subsidiary objects. And we must be excused in further adding, that we think the circulation of the Society's Publications might be very advantageously substituted for some of the methods of awakening and maintaining interest in this cause which are occasionally adopted.

We select some passages from Reports which have lately reached us.

Vindication of Ladies' Societies. Female Associations have been deemed useless, and have been censured as unbecoming if they were useless, they would provoke no opposition: they might excite a transient smile, and then would be forgotten. With regard to its being

UNBECOMING to join in these Associations, it can only be so when they are conducted in an unbecoming manner; but, while pity for suffering and a desire to relieve misery are the natural and allowed feelings of Women, surely to commiserate the Slave in his bonds and to endeavour to loosen them cannot be deemed unbecoming: nor is it unfeminine to feel yet more acutely for the deep degradation of OUR OWN SEX under this dreadful system-for the exposure of their, persons under the lacerating whip, and the exposure of their untaught minds to the more awful contamination of licentiousness in its most debasing form, which even leads its captives to glory in their shame. Surely these things may well stir up our spirits within us. behold so large a number of our own sex helpless victims, alternately, to cruelty and lust, as Women we must feel; and, feeling, we must endeavour to succour but we desire ever to do so in the manner which appears to us most suitable to our respective conditions. [Bristol Rep.

When we

Growing Influence of these Societies. the Country generally, the Committee Considering the aspect of the Cause in find abundant reason to believe, that a greater spirit of inquiry is excited and a stronger interest awakened. Some new features are discernible in the manner in which the subject is considered. Slavery is beginning to be viewed through light of the Gospel, and declared to be opposed to its principles and its spirit. Another mark, not less obvious, is, that the odium of the continuance of Slavery is no longer confined to those immediately connected with it; but that, in a greater or less degree, the reproach belongs to

a different medium-it is seen more in

all. The subject is brought home to in

dividuals: it is not enough, in this day, to give a sigh to the "Wrongs of Africa and to the bitter draught of Slavery:" plans are suggested and opportunities afforded, by which sympathy may be practically evinced, and fruitless commiseration be exchanged for active exer tion. Ladies' Societies are forming for the purpose of learning and conveying correct information as to the real nature and actual state of West-India Slavery, and of pleading for the wives and mothers who dwell in its miserable bondage: however small the influence of such So

cieties SINGLY, their combined result begins to be acknowledged; and their efforts are felt in the sum of authentic information which they have assisted to diffuse.

Is it too much to anticipate, from these and other indications of a more general attention to the subject, that there will not long remain that neutral ground which ignorance has hitherto preserved and indifference been content to occupy? [Liverpool Rep.

We have no proper ground for discouragement while pleading for those who are ready to perish. We know that their cause is the Cause of God, and must prevail. We know that many in England are wholly ignorant of the nature of West-India Slavery; and that we CAN contribute toward enlightening the public mind and rousing the public conscience. We would, therefore, conclude this Third Year of our labours with a determination to put new vigour into every effort; and earnestly endeavour to increase our sphere of exertion, till we, in conjunction with the many other Societies formed on Behalf of British Slaves, have made known their wrongs to all around us, and till a lively sense of the injustice and inhumanity of this odious system is awakened in the heart of every individual of the British Nation -causing the whole body to unite in such a determined and forcible appeal to Government, as will be content with nothing less than the freedom of every Slave in our Colonies, all of whom are, in common with ourselves, under the protecting care of a Merciful Creator, who will assuredly deliver them-with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm-if we continue to refuse to listen to their cry. [Manchester Rep. Injurious Effect of Slavery on Slave-Owners. The Committee would remind those who still doubt that the sum of evil and oppression, and the dereliction of virtuous and correct feeling, are greater in those Countries where Slavery exists than among ourselves, that, while, in our own highly-favoured though too guilty metropolis, the woman who had, by harsh treatment and unjust privation, occasioned the death of her apprentice was followed to the scaffold by the execrations and groans of the populace; almost at the same time, in one of our own Colonies, the Owners of a Slave (Anti-Slav. Rep. vol. iii. p. 9,) who had, by most shameless and atrocious cruelties, been guilty August, 1830.

of her death, and who had, by more than ordinary West-Indian Justice, been sentenced to fine and imprisonment, were, during their confinement, visited by the most respectable people on the island; and a Memorial was even sent up to the British Parliament for a repeal of the harsh sentence, which subjected welleducated and “ most humane" people to the rigour of a fine, for a cruel and barbarous murder. Though far from applauding that spirit, which, in the uninformed populace, can exult in the sanguinary inflictions of the law, on even the most guilty offenders; yet the Committee cannot but think that these circumstances speak forcibly as to the difference of feeling with which crimes, of in some degree equal magnitude, are viewed by the community of one Country where freedom and justice preside, and by the inhabitants of the other where the rights of the many are sacrificed to the supposed interests of the few, and where the long continuance of injustice and oppression have extinguished all feelings of highminded and virtuous indignation toward the perpetrators of violence and crime.

[Liverpool Rep.

Appeal to the Clergy.

May we not be allowed to prefer one respectful and affectionate entreaty to those who are EMPHATICALLY Heralds of Mercy-that they would identify themselves with a cause so congenial with the message of love and compassion, which it is their high commission, and happy privilege, to deliver? We would venture to ask of them-hard sacrifice, perhaps ; but not above the power of those who so well know how and where to fetch in strength-we would venture to ask of them, to dismiss from their minds all congregational and other connections; and, thus coming to the view of this great moral and religious question with a single and impartial eye, to tell us, whether a system like that existing in our Slave Colonies, so absolutely opposed and repugnant to every doctrine, and principle, and exhortation of that Gospel which they so faithfully preach, should receive the sort of implied sanction which their silence confers. [Bristol Rep.

Western Africa.

Statistics and Security of the Colony. Monrovia consists of about 90 Dwelling houses and Stores, two Houses of Public Worship, and a Court House. Many of the dwellings are handsome and convenient, and all of them comfortable. The plot of the town is cleared more than a mile square it is elevated about 70 feet above the level of the sea, and contains 700 inhabitants. The streets are generally 100 feet wide, and intersect one another at right angles.

For the first two years, the emigrants lived in small thatched houses: about five years ago, the first dwelling, constructed of timber and boards, was built on the site of the present town, in a forest of trees of towering height and thick underwood. Tigers entering this (then) little village have been shot from the doors.

The Colonization Society have an Agent and Physician there. The Agent is the Chief Magistrate of the Colony, and the Physician his Assistant. NoWhite Persons are allowed to reside in the Colony for the purpose of trade, or of pursuing any mechanical business, such being intended for the exclusive benefit of Coloured People. The Colonial Secretary, Collector of Customs, Surveyor and Constables, are appointed by the Agent: the Vice-Agent, Sheriff, Treasurer, and all other Civil Officers, are elective; and all the offices, except those of the Agent and Physician, are filled by Coloured People.

The Court holds its Sessions on the first Monday in every month: juries are empannelled as with us, and its jurisdiction extends over the whole Colony. The trials are principally for larceny; and the criminals generally Natives, who commit thefts in the Settlements. A few instances of kidnapping have occurred: these depredations were committed on the Re-captured Africans. To the honour of the Emigrants be it mentioned, that but five of their number have been committed for stealing or misdemeanour since 1827.

Two Native Kings have put themselves and their subjects (supposed to amount to 10,000) under the protection of the Colony; and are ready, should it be thought necessary by the Settlers, to make common cause with them in case of hostilities by any of the Natives; which,

friendly disposition is manifested by all the Natives of the Country from whom any danger might have been at all apprehended.

The Township of Caldwell is about 7 miles from Monrovia, on St. Paul's River; and contains a population of 560 agriculturists: the soil is exceedingly fertile, the situation pleasant, and the people satisfied and happy. Millsburg is situated 25 miles from Monrovia, on the St. Paul's, at the head of tide-water, where there are never-failing streams, sufficient for 100 mills; and there is timber enough in their immediate neighbourhood for their employment, if used for the purpose of sawing, for half a century: the town contains 200 inhabitants. Bushrod's Island, which separates the Monserado from St. Paul's River, is seven miles in length, three at its extreme breath-about five miles from Monrovia, and is very fertile: on this island are settled thirty families from the Carolinas. All the above Settlers, amounting to at least 1500, are Emigrants from the United States.

On the left bank of Stockton Creek, and near the Settlement on Bushrod's Island, the Re-captured Africans are located; 250 of whom were sent out by the Government of the United States, and 150 taken by the Colonists from the Spanish Factories-the Agents of which having bought some of our kidnapped Africans, and refusing to give them up, the Colonists not only took their own people, but all the Slaves whom they had collected. These 400, who are useful agriculturists, are happily situated, and very contented.

The Settlements of which I have spoken contain, in the aggregate, nearly 2000 souls, and are all in a flourishing condition.

I have been frequently asked, since my return from Liberia, whether there is no danger of the Natives breaking in upon the Colonists and destroying them. The best answer which I can give to this question, in addition to what I have already said, is a statemeut of the following facts.

When the Colonists could muster but 30 effective men for defence, and when the forest was within pistol-shot of their houses, 5000 of the Natives, armed with muskets and other weapons of war, made an attack on them, in three divisions. A part of this little band were surprised by the left division, who took possession of

one of their two cannon, a nine-pounder; but, instead of making use of it, (if indeed they knew how, for the piece was loaded with grape and round shot, and a lighted match placed near it,) the possessors were seen embracing it, powwowing" over it, and vociferating "Big gun! Big gun!" till the other, a fourpounder, was brought to bear on them under the direction of Lott Carey, and plied with so much precision and activity that they retreated: the gun was retaken and turned upon the invaders, when they made their escape to the forest. There was some skirmishing from the bush, until one of their gree-gree-men was slain, carried off by our men, and thrown into the river: this event entirely disheartened them: they went off, and from that time never appeared in hostile array against the Colonists. Many of them have traded with the Colony ever since; but they would not acknowledge that they were engaged in the war, till, from an intercourse of some time, they found that it would not be remembered to their prejudice: they then related many singular and amusing anecdotes respecting it, and acknowledged the loss of 70 or 80 men killed.

The means which the Colony has for defence, at present, consists of 20 pieces of ordnance, and arms for a thousand men, which may be increased from private stores if wanted. In Monrovia, there are Captain Steward's Company of Infantry, Weaver's Company of Artillery, and Draper's Company of Rifle Rangers; in Caldwell, Davis's Company of Infantry, and Brown's of Artillery; in Millsbury, White's Company of Rifle Rangers: all these are Volunteers, and in uniform; besides which, a respectable number of Militia, not in uniform, and as many of the Natives under the protection of the Colonial Government as it may think proper to arm. These facts will, I think, satisfy any man as to the safety of the Colonists from attacks by the Natives.

There is a respectable Fort on Cape Monserado, which commands the roadstead; and has protected an English Vessel chased in by a pirate. The Military are commanded by Major Barbour. The Commander-in-chief is the Society's Agent. There is much hospitality to be found in Monrovia; and among the inhabitants a greater proportion of moral and religious character than in Philadelphia. I never saw a man intoxicated, nor heard

any profane swearing, during the three weeks that I was among them.

The two Houses for Religious Worship already noticed are Baptist and Methodist. The Baptists have three, and the Methodists five Preachers, all intelligent Coloured Men, merchants and traders, residing among them. Five German Missionaries, some Ministers and Teachers, reside there, a portion of whom preach at the Methodist Church occasionally.

A Trading Company has been formed at Monrovia, with a capital of 4000 Dollars; and an agreement has been entered into, that no dividend shall be made until the profits increase the capital to 20,000 Dollars. The stock has risen from 50 to 75 Dollars per share, in one year.

South Africa.

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. New Mission among the Bosjesmans. MR. James Clark, who was stationed at Philippolis, writes, at the close of 1828

Although, after that melancholy catastrophe which happened on one of the outposts of Philippolis in the year 1826, by the attack of a party of Caffres, and consequent arrival of the Griquas there, all hope was nearly gone of the Bosjesmans any longer enjoying the Means of Grace at a Station of their own; yet it pleased the Lord not entirely to forsake them: early in the year 1827, Landdrost Stockenstrom, of Graaf Reinet, feeling a deep interest in behalf of these people, got a number of Farmers in his district to subscribe cattle for them, that they might still enjoy the means of instruction; and, at an interview which I had with that Gentleman and the Lieut. Governor of the Cape, they requested that I would commence a New Station for these poor people east of Philippolis, near the Caledon River, and promised their assistance and protection in support of the Mission.

Accordingly, with the consent of your Agent at the Cape, Br. Kolbe and myself removed to this Station, and arrived here in the beginning of May last: and although, on our arrival, not a Bosjesman was to be seen, yet it was not long before many of them gathered around us. Many of the Boors, having come over the boundary with their cattle, had caused the Bosjesmans to leave their native