and some other things, would be luxuries at home; but here they are only NECESSARIES, which we would gladly do without, if we could. Chunar is considered a very hot place, and the season, hitherto, has been very severe; but, through the kindness of our Heavenly Father, I have been very well. From the construction of the houses at Madras, I suppose that they have not the hot winds: here, our houses are like English houses, with respect to thick walls and glass windows, or rather doors. During the hot winds, which are now blowing, we shut them up close early in the day, except two or three doors facing the wind, where tatties that is, grass on bamboo frames are placed, and kept constantly wetted: the wind, passing through these, has its heat absorbed, and enters the houses comparatively cool. This is all well; but, sometimes, the sun is very hot, the ground ready to burn the feet of the poor creatures who are obliged to go out, and no wind blowing it is then rather trying. The beginning of the rains, till the earth becomes somewhat cooled, is represented to me as very bad: our cold season here is very agreeable.

His Habitual Preparation for Death. How soon disease, aided by the climate, was to carry off this faithful servant of Christ, has been already seen. That he was habitually prepared, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, for this change, appears from the general tenor of his communications, and from the following remarks addressed to his relatives some time before his departure from England:

You seem to have continued warnings, that this is not your rest. How apt we are to forget this! I may think of journey. ing into the country; I may think of voyaging to the East; but seldom can I realize, to any considerable extent, that trip I must shortly take, where all are spiritual beings; where all will appear new, and wonderful, and strange; and where I shall be brought into the immediate presence of Him, in whom we now live and move and have our

being. And this is the more remarkable, since, generally, our curiosity is most alive where we have the least information. And

what do I know about that eternal world? No traveller, out of all the millions that have gone thither, has ever returned to give us an account of that mysterious world. And then, when I feel, that my happiness for ever and ever is connected with that

over,

world-that there I shall enjoy ineffable bliss or insupportable woe-and, morethat the sun, which now is shining in glory, may rise the following morning and gaze on my empty tabernacle; nay, that, at the next breath, the breath of life, the spiritual principle, may come forth free from her prison-house, and take this solemn and most interesting excursion-how is it that the things which are seen 80 completely drive away the consideration of those things which are unseen? Let us guard against this: let us live in the constant remembrance, there is but a step between us and death. Surely if we do this, we shall also constantly remember Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. He has taken away the sting of death: that which caused death to be so terrifie was the sense of deserved punishment: let that be removed by faith in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, then welcome Angel of Rest, sent to remove us to a calm and happy and glorious home. But we must also seek the gracious influence of the Spirit of our God, to change and purify our souls; that, being made like unto the angels, we may be able to enter into angelic employments -being made in some degree partakers of the moral likeness of Jehovah, we may be able, in some degree, to participate of His happiness. The Christian must ever bear in mind, that holiness is happiness: it contains the very elements of happiness.

Mark, then, the gracious dealings of God in His Fatherly corrections, and seek to have the object of His chastisement realized in your souls. He chastens for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness: Heb. xii. 10.

I have parted with my old friend Yate, and with Mr. Davey. May the Angel of the Covenant go with them! We are separated in body, but still one in spirit

Partakers of the Saviour's grace,
The same in mind and heart;
Nor joy, nor grief, nor time, nor place,
Nor life, nor death, can part.

His Anxiety for the Spiritual Good of Others.

His anxiety for the spiritual interests of others, which is one evidence of a gracious spirit, is developed in the following expressions of his sentiments to his relatives. On one occasion, he writes

I long to hear of your temporal welfare, but still more of your spiritual. Is Christ becoming more precious to your souls? Is the world losing its magic influence? Is

prayer more your delight, the Bible more your treasure, and God more your all in all? We must have no half measures in religion: a small degree will only make you unhappy: but give yourselves up to God-give up your heart and best affections to Him-tread the world under youlook forward to eternity and glory-anticipate the joy of heaven-and then the prayer of your souls will be, Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us. That the blessed God and our Saviour may visit you with every spiritual blessing, is my constant prayer.

How small and trifling, comparatively speaking, are the things relating to this world in which you are concerned, now I am so far removed from you! Not that I am not interested even in your smallest concerns: I can tread in imagination each well-known walk, gaze on each well-known scene, talk on each well-known event: but, still, the things which relate to another and a better world-a world of joy and bliss-a world in which we meet, but never part-possess an overwhelming importance. Blessed be God, that He has brought most of you, I trust, to know and love Him! Seek to know Him more and more: seek to be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; yea, seek to be fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God, in His Son, will make you wise, holy, and happy; will raise your thoughts and desires above this lower world; and lead you to have your conversation in heaven, while you are still on earth. The Lord give you this know ledge more and more.

On another occasion, he makes the following appeal to the heart and conscience: gele

Before entering on my more immediate labours as a Missionary, when my time will be, I hope, completely taken up, I wish once more to address you, in writing, concerning that Salvation which it is my desire to live and die in publishing to the world. A world lying in wickedness, exposed to the just indignation of God, is calculated to raise the sigh of pity, and the energies of the man who has tasted the sweets of pardoning mercy. But while the Missionary surveys the wide world, and looks on all mankind as forming but one family, he still feels a more earnest desire after those who are, in a nearer way, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, that they may escape from impending wrath, and obtain an inheritance among

them that are sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus. Suffer me then-it may be the last time that I may ever be able efficiently to do it suffer me to urge upon you the consideration of your eternal welfare.

You will probably say that you do not neglect Religion-that you attend to public and private devotions, to the Sunday School, and to other places where you hear and see that which is good. BUT WHAT

IS THE STATE OF YOUR SOUL BEFORE

GOD? Is your heart yet changed? Is your temper subdued-I do not mean eradicated, but is its violence abated? Do you strive against it? Do you mourn, when it gains the mastery over you-mourn, not only for the unhappiness it causes yourself and others, but BECAUSE IT IS SO SINFUL IN THE SIGHT OF GOD? Is your heart sanctified? Do you think, in the sight of God, that you are washed, and sanctified, and justified, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God? Can you call God to witness that you have indeed repented of your sins committed against Him who has spared you so long, bestowed blessings so numerous, and loved you so much as to give His Son to die for you, that you might not perish, but have everlasting life? Are you so sensible that you deserve never-ending misery-even the worm that never dieth, and the fire that is never quenched; that it is the earnest cry of your soul, God, be merciful to me a sinner! save me, Jesus, or I perish!? You sometimes hear faithful and very plain Preachers, and you say that you like to hear them: but tell me, in the sight of God, do you delight to do what they advise you to do? Am I wrong when I say, You know, but you do not? Oh, my Sister! awful indeed is your state, to sit and hear. the Gospel, to be privileged to be told of your danger, and the way of salvation— of your disease, and of a cure-of your helplessness, and of a Guide, a Helper, and a Teacher in the Blessed Spirit-of a hell that yawns for you, a heaven that is open to receive you of the blood of Jesus, which cleanseth from all sin-of God, who is now a reconciled Father, beseeching you, by His Ministers, to repent, and to trust in the glad tidings of mercy! With all these momentous things placed before you continually, you neglect the welfare of your dying soul, and suffer yourself to be occupied with any thing other than with the great work of your own salvation. Think of these words from that blessed book-which, if you were to read more, and to pray over more, you would be different from what you are— How shall we escape, if we neglect só great

Nearly one-third of the inhabitants having been found totally destitute, exclusive of many who possessed imperfect or mutilated copies of the Scriptures! Want of the Scriptures in Herefordshire.

A Sub-Committee having been appointed, by the Herefordshire Auxiliary, for ascertaining the supply of the Scriptures within that County, the following result of their labours is given by Mr. Dudley:

Through the indefatigable exertions of these Gentlemen and the persons employed by them, during a period of nearly six months, a more complete and systematic investigation was effected through about one-third of the County than I have ever heard of in Great Britain; and it being the opinion of the Committee, that the inquiry had been carried on sufficiently far to discover the average wants of the inhabitants, it was relinquished. The following Table will exhibit the results of this investigation:

Parishes visited Families ditto..

Individuals

-who can read.

129 9,651

41,017 24,222

Scriptures Bibles 10,372.. 12,338 possessed Tests. 1,966 Families destitute of Scriptures.. 1,558 -from home when Visitors called, 494 As this investigation included the City of Hereford, and those sections of the County where the most has been done toward supplying the inhabitants, it may be safely estimated, that at least 4500 families, of 25,000 individuals, in the County of Hereford, are at this moment destitute of the Scriptures! Adaptation of the Association-System to

Total...£.1361

And the aggregate number of subscribers to the Auxiliaries and their nine connected Associations exceeds seven thousand.

Of the labours of the Herefordshire Committee he writes, on the 13th of November

Having ascertained the existence of an evil, the next step, in the path of Christian Duty, is, to provide a remedy. On this principle the Committee of the Auxiliary Society have acted: the County has been divided into Sections, for

Branch Societies; and these Sections subdivided into suitable Districts, for Associations; and, after attending twenty-nine General Meetings, and more than an equal number of Committees, since the 15th ult., I have now the pleaFive Branch Societies and Twenty-one sure of announcing the establishment of Associations in this County; and their regular organization, according to the system recommended by our Committee, and now in general adoption throughout the kingdom... The Bible System of the County now includes One Auxiliary, Seven Branch Societies, and Twentyseven Associations. Of the 239 Parishes within the County, about 128 have been thus brought under Bible Cultivation. May the blessing which alone giveth the increase descend on the labour and the

labourers!

and peculiarly so, to behold them directing their energies to the extension of that knowledge, which has, under the Divine Blessing, been the means of producing such a decisive and salutary change in their own circumstances.

The Christians in the South-Sea Islands have among themselves voluntary Associations for aiding the Missionary Cause; and their contributions, which, from the want of a circulating medium, have consisted of the produce of the soil, have been, if their means be considered, truly liberal. Besides furnishing pecuniary aid to the Parent Society, every Congregation has sent out Teachers; while some, for several years past, have maintained five or six. At present there are not fewer than forty of these Native Teachers engaged, besides others ready to enter upon the work.

Those already employed are labouring in islands at some distance from one another, and still more remote from the European Missionaries. This deprives them of mutual intercourse and communication with the nations from which they have been sent. It is essential to their prosperity, as well as to their comfort, that they should be visited once, or, if possible, twice every year; but the distance is too great for Native Canoes, and European Vessels can but rarely be obtained. In addition to the Islands to which Teachers have been sent, there are others whose inhabitants are desirous of instruction.

In order to visit the islands in which Native Missionaries reside, and to convey Teachers to others, they have construct ed two vessels.

The first of these was built in Rarotogna, one of the Harvey Islands, by Mr. Williams and the Christian Inhabitants. The forge, anvil, bellows, &c., were prepared with such materials as could be procured on the island; and the iron-work for the vessel made from old axes, and pieces of iron hoop. So diligent were the people in the work, that, in four months after the keel was laid, the vessel was launched. They called it "The Messenger of Peace;" and, having rigged it with cordage made with the twisted bark of a tree, and furnished it with sails made from rushes or leaves

woven into matting, the King of the island, a number of the Natives, the Missionary, his wife and family, and one European besides, embarked, and loosed from the shore, taking with them, as part

of their cargo, some large rejected idols. When they had been 14 days at sea, and had traversed a distance of 800 miles, they reached Tahiti in safety. Subse quently, the vessel sailed to Raiatea; and when the last intelligence was transmitted, it was on the point of conveying Missionaries to the Marquesas, a group of islands about 1000 miles distant.

Another vessel, rather larger, has been built in Huahiné for the same purposes, and is fitted out in the same manner.

Mr. Williams, from Raiatea, and Mr. Barff, from Huahiné, and one of the Christian Chiefs in Huahiné, have written, stating that the prospects of extensive usefulness are very encouraging, from the facilities which these vessels will afford. They express, at the same time, their desire to preserve the hulls of the vessels by means of copper; and to ren der them more efficient at sea, by furnishing them with canvas sails. A single gale would rend their matting sails to pieces; and the insects which abound in those seas will soon perforate the bottoms of the vessels, which copper would preserve, perhaps, for twenty years.

A number of individuals, friendly to their advancement in civilization, and desirous to encourage them in the art of ship-building, and interested, besides, in their commendable exertions to spread the Gospel (a work which must ultimately devolve on Native Missionaries), have contributed liberally to furnish the articles which they require, but which they can neither manufacture nor procure in the islands. It is presumed that there are also many others, who, if acquainted with their necessities, would willingly assist them in this respect.

Donations in money, for the purchase of copper and canvas for the Missionary Ships, or a supply of these and any other articles needful in fitting up vessels of 70 or 80 tons burthen, may be sent to the Rev. William Ellis, Mission House, Austin Friars, London. They will be gratefully received, and transmitted to the South Seas by the first conveyance, which will be early this spring.

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Enlarged Exertions in aid of the Funds.

Ar the Quarterly Meeting of the Shef field Auxiliary, held on the 16th of Dec., it was resolved unanimously—

That, considering the extraordinary information recently received from the