downright fanaticism, as would be the attempt to unite practical Christianity with drunkenness, or with cursing and swearing. "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

What conceivable motive could the Conference have in forming the Theological Institution, but the improvement of the Methodist ministry, and the consequent benefit of the congregations and societies? The Institution is now pursuing its course, with the most hopeful prospect of success; but if it should ultimately fail, for want of due support, the men who have been accustomed to complain that their Preachers were not acceptable, and to stun the ears of Conference by importunate applications for more efficient appointments, must in future be for ever silent on this subject. It is gratifying to find that many Preachers and friends have manifested a most honourable liberality in this case. On what plausible ground a consistent member of the Wesleyan body can oppose the Theological Institution, it is difficult to conjecture; the principle of such an establishment having been recognised among them from the very beginning of their existence. If it be wrong for the Conference to send thirty young

men

to Hoxton for literary and theological advantages, it was wrong for Mr. Wesley to send Jeremiah Brettell, and Thomas Cooper, and Adam Clarke, and others, to Kingswood School for that purpose; and it was wrong for Mr. Fletcher, the holy Vicar of Madeley, to connect himself, as President, with a similar institution at Trevecka; an office which he held for many years, with the greatest advantage, and which he only resigned when subscription to the tenets of Calvinism was required as the condition of his continuance.

As to the godly discipline of the Methodist body, which it is now attempted to model according to democratic theories, and the principles of secular polity, I have no fear for that. The Conference, which has received this discipline as a sacred trust from their venerated Founder, can never sacrifice it to satisfy the clamour of faction. Some of those indeed who wish to supersede the regulations of Mr. Wesley do not even belong to the body, and certainly have no just claim to the character of Christian piety. They avow their intention, if possible, to alter the constitution of the Conference, by which they would at once subvert the itinerant system, and throw the chapels into the hands of the Trustees, to the irreparable injury of the congregations and societies. Mr. Wesley gave to the Conference the exclusive right to appoint Preachers to the Methodist chapels, limiting the exercise of that right to three successive years in every appointment; and in the Deed of Declaration, which he enrolled in Chancery, he describes the Conference as consisting of Travelling Preachers only. To this Instrument reference is made in the deeds of all the Methodist chapels which are regularly settled. But if the original character of the Conference should be changed, it must, by necessary consequence, lose that power of appointing Ministers to the chapels, which is vested in it for the benefit of the Connexion; because it would no longer exist in its legitimate and legal form. The Trustees might then appoint what persons they pleased to occupy the Methodist pulpits, and deprive the congregations and societies entirely of that itinerant Wesleyan ministry for the express purpose of which the different chapels were erected. The Conference can never betray, or even put to hazard, a trust so sacred as this; nor can the sober and pious part of the societies ever desire it.

Though no fears need be entertained for the essential principles of the Wesleyan discipline, who can forbear to tremble for the spiritual interests of thousands now endangered by party violence? Never

or sepulchral silence of some of the continental Churches. Our societies, from the commencement to the present period, have been eminently aggressive; and though we have been buffeted by "friends" and foes, our spirit is unbroken, and we go on, guided by our almighty Leader, to the certain subjugation of our enemies, and those of Christ. In selecting Candidates for the Missionary work, great care has been taken (after being fully convinced of their personal piety) to choose those individuals who had received some mental culture; and though scarcely any have come up to the desired standard, we have not been without success; and taking the Methodist system as a whole, it has worked as well as could reasonably be expected. But that there are vast numbers of young men among us, of first rate talents, and who yet have not received adequate instruction for such an enterprise, no competent judges will deny. And are those gems of our societies to remain in their native mines, when we have the power to exhibit their brilliance and send them to enrich the Heathen, who wretched, and poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked?" Would this be just to our brethren, to the church, to the Heathen, and to the means placed in our power?

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On his voyage abroad a Missionary has to associate with gentlemen of the first talents, who are going to fill offices in the various departments of Government. He is expected to conduct the religious services of the Sabbath; and to take part in the daily efforts to instruct and please his companions on the deep. And will the sources I have alluded to generally furnish men for such a task? Who would like to go unprepared into such a scene? Who would thus wish to be an object of derision; and to be in himself an impediment to the cause he wishes to recommend? To object that our veteran fathers at home had not the requisite qualifications, finds answer in the well-known fact, that they had not to mingle with the same kind of associates.

an

On arriving in our Eastern possessions, and taking up his residence in any of the various nations of those vast regions, the Missionary will have to take a part with able Chaplains, and Missionaries of other denominations, in the various plans of evangelizing the Heathen; such

as

preparing tracts, conducting schools, translating the Scriptures, corresponding with the Government and its officers. And will the Methodists allow their agents to go into such a work without due preparation? Can they consent that their sincere, and otherwise well-qualified, servants shall be crippled in their efforts, put to shame, and pointed at as ignorant and unqualified men ? In addition to these duties, the Missionary, in the absence of the regular Minister, has often to Attend to the spiritual wants of his own countrymen, who are, excepting the common soldiers, well-educated men ; and is it a matter of small importance, that such services should be conducted in an acceptable manner?

But with whom will the Missionary have to associate, and to whom will he minister, among the Heathen? Men of every grade, and of almost every acquirement: the learned and haughty Brahmin, the proud nobleman, the bold and superstitious peasant, the ascetic, the philosopher, the magician, the religious mendicant, the poet, and the believer in the Koran. And will the Methodist people allow their devoted agents to contend with persons of such character, without the necessary literary qualifications? Are the Heathen, in addition to our own countrymen, to be able to say that we, who attempt to instruct and convert them, are unqualified men? that we are unable to meet them with "sound speech that cannot be condemned?" that we are not able to comply with the apostolic direction, "Let no man despise thee?"

I have often had to preach and read prayers before the officers and men of the Eastern squadron, and also those of the military department; and I take this opportunity of bearing my humble testimony to the great decorum those fine men always manifested during divine service.

Who was "the Apostle of the Gentiles?" The learned, the zealous, the heroic Paul. Who wrote the letters to the heathen converts of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Thessalonica? The holy, the eloquent, the well-educated Paul.

Who ought to be the best judges of the necessary qualifications for labourers in the foreign field? Surely those who have been long in it: and yet there are some who have never left their native shores, who talk as loudly and confidently as if they only, or they principally, had a right to be heard. If they had to co-operate with men in the various ecclesiastical associations,-if they had to converse and correspond with their intelligent countrymen in the civil, naval, and military departments,-if they had to contend with the acute, the bigoted, the polluted Heathen, they would soon find that they had come to very improper conclusions, both in reference to themselves, and to the onerous duties of the Christian Missionary.

From such a state of things, it will be believed I hailed with real delight the prospect which our brethren had of being trained (as well as the Missionaries of other Societies) for their glorious enterprise; and was at a loss to know, in afteryears, why there should be so much delay; as the information reached me from the Conference of 1823, that something would be speedily done. It was therefore with unfeigned gratitude that I witnessed the decision of the last Conference, that it was "expedient that an Institution should be speedily formed for promoting the more effectual improvement of the Junior Preachers; " and great has been my regret to hear several of our pious friends express serious doubts as to the propriety and necessity of the measure. One who calls himself a "friend," says, "I shrink not from a comparison of any average number of our young men taken out within the last ten or

terial usefulness and efficiency." He also eulogises the "choice band of excellent Missionaries, now occupying important stations abroad, some of whom occasionally re-visiting their native land, astonish us and the country at their intellectual improvement, and the high consideration which they have acquired in distant parts of the earth." These observations look well on paper; and, were they just, would be very gratifying to the feelings of those concerned. I confess I think our learned "friend," who talks so much about "creditable" or 66 inferior scholarship," would shrink under the comparison; and that he would feel himself also humbled in conducting the examination. The inference from such and from kindred observations is, that the present means of preparing our Missionaries are sufficient; and that (to use a common phrase) the system works well. But are these laudatory and confident assertions true? I must be allowed to ask, What is the indispensable qualification of a Missionary among the Heathen? Is it not a knowledge of their language? We have not now the inspired gift of tongues; we must begin with the alphabet; and learn to read and write like a school-boy, and lisp and speak like a little child. Can a man study with advantage the grammar of another language, when he has not thoroughly studied that of his own? What reasonable man would advocate such a procedure? "But have not our Missionaries made equal progress in the different languages with the progress made by Missionaries belonging to other Societies?" I answer, They have not. In three Districts in the East we had eight brethren who never acquired the native language. Have the Missionaries of other kindred Societies ever been in such a predicament? By no means. How is the deficiency in

Three of them read two or three sermons in Singalese or Tamul, and four of

eight alluded to, I do not include two, who died before they had time to acquire the language; nor do I notice those who gained an imperfect knowledge of it.

our case to be accounted for? Principally because our Missionaries had not been sufficiently trained in the acquiring of languages; and because some of them never had the requisite talent. Those eight men cost, before they reached Mission ground, at least one thousand six hundred pounds; and what did they cost during the years which they spent there? and how much on their return to this

country? "But has not immense good resulted from our labours?" Yes; but this only enhances the value of competent qualifications, as seen in the labours of those who were adequate to the work. Have we not also several excellent Assistants, natives of the country, who have been trained in our Columbo Institution, and our other schools?

Looking, therefore, at the "Wesleyan Theological Institution," do we not see the promise of a happier day? Is there not also a certain prospect of a great saving to the Mission funds? In the Institution candidates will be instructed in the languages of the countries where they will have to labour; and cases of inaptitude for such an acquirement will be detected; and, by consequence, all the money that would have been spent in sending forth incompetent men will be saved. Is it not a fact, that many who are otherwise able and useful men, have not the gift of easily acquiring a new language, especially after they have arrived at the period of manhood? See, then, how much distress of feeling will also be prevented? How many are the fears, "I shall never be able to learn this strange language!" On his voyage out, the Missionary will be able to prosecute

his legitimate studies; and after his arrival in the country, instead of having for the first time to enter upon the study of a new language, in an unfavourable climate,—instead of having his attention distracted by a thousand novelties from such a pursuit,-instead of having his mental and spiritual energies depressed, and his zeal baffled, he will, in the course of a few short weeks, be able to enter on his ministerial labours.

What, then, is the conclusion? That no place, no plan will be so economical, so efficient, and so suited to the wants of the case, as the Institution. I appeal to the sixty brethren at home, who have laboured in foreign climes; and I refer them to their own fears, annoyances, and impediments, in the attainment of knowledge,-I appeal to the two hundred and seventy brethren now in the Missionary field,-I appeal to British Christians, and to those of our own societies who have not as yet fully approved of the Institution in reference to the home-work,

I appeal, in the name of at least six hundred millions of Heathen, speaking their different languages, for help in this hallowed cause; and declare that, instead of ten candidates in the Institution, we, looking at our rightful part of the field, ought to have a hundred. We have sounded the whoop of war against Satan and all his works, and we go on to certain victory. Away, then, with the railings and wailings of disappointed ambition! The archer has broken his bow, and stands before us the miserable victim of his own temerity. A LOVER OF ALL CHRISTIAN Dec. 6th, 1834. MISSIONARIES.