ing indeed. Our Leaders have got more zeal, which appears in their greater activity in getting prayer-meetings opened in new places, and thus preparing the way for regular preaching. The best of all is, we have reason to hope that nearly forty souls have been converted to God; the work has gone on gradually but steadily, and the hand of the Lord is on us still for good; some are already brought from darkness to light, and many remain deeply penitent. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. To God alone be ascribed the glory! I do pity the rising generation of this country in my heart. Some of the schoolmasters are avowed infidels, others belong to the Unitarian school, and more of them are grossly immoral: they curse, and swear, and blaspheme, while among their pupils, and thus teach the practice of iniquity while they teach the theory of science; and, in many instances, the former is learned more speedily than the latter. It is true, there are some teachers who must not be included with the above; but they are few. If we could have two or more Mission-masters, we would get houses, and also some help to pay their salaries. We have got two Sundayschools, which contain about two hundred children; and we hope to have two or three more in neglected parts of the country very soon. GIBRALTAR.-Extract of a Letter from Mr. Rule, dated June 16th, 1835. IN my last letter I intimated the necessity of making permanent provision for our Mission-school, and of providing a distinct place of worship for the Spaniards. Every day brings forth fresh reasons to urge and justify such a mea. sure; and it now appears, not as mere expediency, but as an imperative duty. Our school-room, which was made as large as the judgment of the builder (considering the strength required in the partition walls to support the chapel ever it) would allow, is now crowded with fifty-five children; and we have begun to dismiss applicants for the admission of others. Again we are at a stand. After all the opposition of the Priests, which has been open and strong, these children are brought under direct Christian instruction, and the current of public feeling seems to be setting in rapidly in our favour. There is a public school patronized by the hierarchy of the place, where poor children are taught gratuitously; but they send them here in preference. They heed no anathema, they dread no reproach. Here these children assemble in the solemnities of prayer; sound their sweet and melodious amen; sing hymns, as of old, to Christ as God; hear and ask questions; learn to despise the superstitions, and abhor the idolatries, which have sunk their forefathers into perdition; and imbibe, we trust, a sound knowledge of the truth. Nor is this all: the lad of whom I spoke in my last letter, who is at this moment retired on the premises, reading the biography of one of our departed brethren, is seeking the salvation of his soul. He brought his mother to chapel with him some time ago, and she professes to be at peace with God; and they sit side by side at sermon, and in the class. Behold the first-fruits of our school! It is the field which the Lord I have suggested that a chapel should also be provided, leaving the schoolrooms to occupy the basement story. The suggestion is not hastily made. During half the year we are obliged to hold our services in the English chapel at an hour when an English congregation could not be assembled; and by the time our Spaniards reach their homes, some to rise early to their labours, and some with Obituary. their little children, it is rapidly advancing towards ten o'clock at night. Perhaps this difficulty is one which may be most clearly understood at a distance; but there are many others which will not be removed until we have a chapel, in which to assemble our foreign congregation, at proper times, and with full advantages. Strangers also, from Spain, constantly fall in to hear for themselves, drawn by the report of us, which has gone forth; and, as forming an important class of hearers, it is but right that we should INCREASE IN THE SOCIETIES ON THE MISSION STATIONS. SINCE the preceding sheets were committed to the press, it has been discovered that the increase in the Methodist societies on the Mission stations during the last year was 5922, instead of 4618, as specified in the account of the late Conference, page 687. The net increase in the entire Connexion is therefore 5394. CONTRIBUTIONS. Tus amount of Contributions received by the General Treasurers of the Wesleyan-Methodist Missionary Society, since the 13th of June, is £5,125. 78. 4d. OBITUARY. IN Great Britain, the following seventeen Preachers have died in the course of the past year : 1. ROBERT PICKERING; who was early converted to God, and called to the His duties of the Christian ministry. pulpit talents were very respectable; his application to reading and study was diligent, persevering, and successful; and his ministerial labours were characterized by faithful and instructive expositions of holy Scripture, and accompanied by a divine unction which rendered them highly acceptable. He was firm and affectionate in enforcing the discipline of the Connexion; and as a colleague he was a diligent helper, and industrious to promote the work of God in every Circuit For several where he was stationed. years he was severely afflicted, so as to render the performance of his regular duties very difficult; yet his unquenchable zeal urged him, with unabated ardour, to fulfil his ministry, till his strength was exhausted, and he was called to his final reward. He died in great peace, August 18th, 1834, in London, at the close of the Conference. and thenceforward pursued a steady course As a 3. JOSEPH ROBINSON, a native of Durham. At an early period of life he was converted to God; and having la Local boured for several years as a Preacher, in the year 1806 he entered upon the regular work of the ministry Possessing a deep sense of among us. the responsibility attached to the office of an ambassador for Christ, he was diligent in the discharge of his ministerial He was a man of much duties; and his labours were acceptable prayer; and his communion with God 3 B 4 2. THOMAS PRESTON; who was was deep, and abounded more and more unto the end. At the Conference of 1834 he was appointed to Devizes; but upon this sphere of labour he was not permitted to enter. On Sunday, August 17th, he preached three times, and administered the Lord's supper, apparently in his usual health; but was soon after seized with a violent disorder, which terminated in death on the following Tuesday. A few hours before his death, he expressed his full confidence that he was "going to Jesus." He died in peace, deeply lamented by his afflicted family, and a numerous circle of pious and affectionate friends. 4. SAMUEL P. WOOLLEY. He was converted to God in early life; and after having been employed for some time as a Local Preacher, he was sent as a Missionary to the West Indies, in the year 1806. He spent upwards of twenty-two years in that part of our Missionary field; and was much esteemed by his colleagues, and acceptable and useful to the people of his charge. In the year 1832 he returned to this country, much debilitated; and at the Conference of that year was appointed as a Supernumerary to the Birmingham Circuit. As his strength permitted, he laboured in the word and doctrine, until September 8th, 1834, when he was seized with apoplexy, and, after a few hours' illness, entered into rest. 5. ROBERT NICHOLSON; who died at North-Shields, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and the twenty-fourth of his itinerancy. His last sickness commenced on Saturday, the 13th of September, 1834, and in a few hours exhibited the symptoms of malignant cholera. For nearly three days his sufferings were severe; but the state of his mind was quite satisfactory. At the first visit of Mr. Bramwell, his medical attendant, he observed to him, "I thank God, I have not to inquire, What must I do to be saved?' I have not religion to seek." In answer to questions proposed to him the night before his departure, he said, "I have no doubt of obtaining the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." He was a mild and upright man ; an intelligent and useful Minister of the Gospel; and laboured twenty-three years in our portion of his heavenly Master's vineyard, with an unblemished character, and with considerable acceptance and success. 6. ANTHONY B. SECKERSON. He entered upon the itinerant work in the year 1793, and continued to travel for thirty-five years, when he became a Supernumerary, and resided chiefly in Bristol. Through the entire course of his blic labours, he maintained an irre proachable character; and the esteem in which his friends held him, as a truly good man, increased to the last. He was a diligent student of the holy Scriptures; and the fruits of his diligence appeared in his instructive and edifying ministry. His preaching was intelligent, judicious, pointed; and many of his sermons were beautiful elucidations of Scripture, applied to the best practical uses. Under the infirmities of age, in the meeting of classes, and in pastoral visitations of the sick and poor, he laboured faithfully to the end of his life. While in London attending the last Conference, in crossing one of the streets he was thrown down by a carriage, and taken up in a state of insensibility. Though he seemed to recover, yet he received an injury which hastened his end. "You are upon the rock, Mr. Seckerson," said one of his friends a little while before his death. "Yes, Sir," said he, "and I feel I have firm footing." He died October 1st, 1834. 7. JOHN LEE; who was born at Mickle Kenday, a small village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in the year 1779. He was converted to God, and joined the Methodist society, in 1794; and was called into the itinerant work in 1803, in which he laboured acceptably, till increasing infirmities rendered it necessary for him to become a Supernumerary in 1833. His piety was sound, and characterized by great simplicity and affection. His talents, as a Minister, were of a useful kind. His views of our doctrine were clear, and his attachment to our discipline was strong and decided. Under a long and painful affliction he was very graciously supported; and on October 16th, 1834, he exchanged mortality for eternal life. He 8. CLELAND KIRKPATRICK. was born in 1765, at Bangor, in the north of Ireland. His youth was spent at sea; and in His Majesty's service he lost an arm, and suffered several years' imprisonment in France. Soon after his conversion to God, he was called to preach the Gospel. For many years he was a very respectable and useful Minister of Christ, and highly esteemed by his brethren. Warm and zealous as a Preacher, faithful as a Superintendent, and agreeable and affectionate as a companion, he was well received and useful in the several Circuits in which he was stationed, where fruits of his ministry remain to this day. He was a man of a good natural understanding, fond of reading, and firmly attached to the doctrine and economy of Methodism. In the opinion of those who knew him most 1 intimately, he evinced, during the latter 1834. A 9. SOLOMON WHITWORTH; who was brought to a saving knowledge of the truth at an early age. Through all his subsequent life he gave full proof of a genuine conversion to God, in his Soon principles, tempers, and actions. after the commencement of his itinerancy, he caught a violent cold, by sleeping in a damp bed. This produced inflammation of the lungs, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. In 1821 he was obliged to retire for awhile as a Supernumerary; but in 1823 he again entered on his labours as an Itinerant Preacher, and continued in his work till 1830, when he was compelled As a Minister of wholly to retire. Christ, he was useful in the different Circuits where he laboured. His long affliction was sustained with resignation to the divine will. A few moments before his death, he said, "I am thankful that I am so far revived as to be able to tell you how happy I am." He died, December 24th, 1834, in the fortyseventh year of his age. 10. CHARLES GREENI.Y; who was born in the year 1766. In his youth he feared God above many. At the age of twelve years, he became a member of the Methodist society; and having given practical proof of the soundness of his conversion, for the space of six years, he became an accredited Local Preacher. In that sphere he continued to labour with acceptance and usefulness, till the year 1794, when he was appointed to a Circuit. From that period, till he finished his course, he was a man of peace, a lover of our economy, a lover of good men, and was instrumental in the conversion of many people from the error of their way. His last sickness, although of short continuance, was exceedingly painful; but his mind was kept in peace, and his confidence unshaken; an pression of which confidence he gave to his only surviving son, as he watched the closing scene of his beloved parent, in the words of the venerable Charles Wesley, ex "In age and feebleness extreme, Mr. Greenly died at the age of sixtynine years. 11. WILLIAM AVER. This venerable man, after the labours of more than forty-three years as an Itinerant Preacher, retired, a short time before the last Conference, to the neighbourhood of Penzance, where, after having for several months suffered much from an oppressive disease, he "slept in Jesus," January 25th, 1835, aged sixty-seven years. He was converted to God, and called into the itinerant work, in early life; and during the protracted period of his unblemished ministry he preserved an reputation, and laboured with exemplary assiduity, and extensive usefulness. Naendowed with considerable turally shrewdness, and power of discrimination, he was remarkable also for the gentleness of his manners; and exhibited the rare combination of accurate acquaintance with human nature, and the unsuspicious "hopeth, spirit of that charity which believeth, endureth all things." A deep reverence for the word of God preserved him from all that was wild or speculative in religion; and his public discourses were recommended by accuracy of statement, conclusiveness of reasoning, and a style singularly simple and terse. Towards the latter part of his life particularly, his mind dwelt with peculiar consolation on the atonement of Christ; and his intercourse with the church was, in consequence, highly and increasingly delightful and edifying. His last illness was depressing; and for some time he suffered much from harassing temptations. But it pleased God, as he drew near his end, to afford him a satisfactory measure of the consolations of the Holy Ghost. Profound humility, and a spirit of self-loathing and self-renunciation, were the special characteristics of this period of his experience. Yet in his last hours he was upheld by the power of divine grace; and he died with a deep consciousness of God's infinite and unspeakable love. 12. WILLIAM MOULTON, of the Tadcaster Circuit; who was born in the In early life he obcity of Chester. tained a clear evidence of the favour of God, and shortly afterwards was admitted as a Local Preacher in our Connexion. In 1794 he entered on the itinerant work; and for forty years diligently discharged the duties of a Travel ling Preacher. He united a firm mind with a peaceable disposition, and a sound judgment with an affectionate temper. His piety was deep and uniform; and his preaching, which was eminently evangelical, was acceptable and useful. In private life he manifested a strong sense of propriety; his conversation being always interesting and instructive. He maintained, to the end of his course, a character, not only unblemished, but distinguished by ardent piety. During his last affliction his mind was graciously supported; and he died, expressing his contidence in the great Atonement, February 16th, 1835, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. 13. GEORGE BACON; who was born at Masborough, near Sheffield, in the year 1793. At an early period of life he evidenced a disposition favourable to piety; and when about fifteen years of age became deeply concerned for the salvation of his soul. He sought the Lord with all his heart, and was soon enabled to testify, that, being justified by faith, he had peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1816 he entered upon the duties of an Itinerant Preacher. Such was his thirst for useful knowledge, and his unwearied diligence in the cultivation of his mind, that he soon became a workman that needed not to be ashamed; and during a period of about seventeen years, he laboured, both in public and private, with growing acceptance and usefulness. In November, 1832, he sustained an injury which laid the foundation of the painful disease that terminated his valuable life. His sufferings were protracted and extreme; but his consolations abounded in a more than ordinary degree. He declared his views of divine truth, his confidence in the wisdom and love of God, his feelings of peace, and joy, and hope, in the prospect of dissolution, in a manner the most cheering and edifying. Having endured an extraordinary affliction for about eighteen months, he died in the Lord, at Haworth, February 24th, 1835, in the forty-second year of his age. 14. JOHN AIKENHEAD; who was born at Arbroath, in Scotland, in the year 1768. When young he was deeply impressed by the fervent prayers of his pious mother; and he believed that his conversion to God was in answer to her intercessions. Filled with peace and joy through believing, he began to call sinners to repentance; and in the year 1796 was fully devoted to the work of the ministry. He was an able and suc cessful Minister of the New Testament, and lived in the esteem and affection of the people, and especially of his colleagues. He was a man of a sound and well-cultivated mind, and had collected a vast store of useful information. His knowledge of the holy Scriptures enabled him to bring forth things new and old, and to prove himself a workman who needed not to be ashamed. His disposition was amiable; his integrity was unbending and inflexible; he was frank and ingenuous, though to a stranger his studious habits made him appear reserved. He was also a man of deep humility. Of himself he often said, "Let my name be written in the dust ;" and with tears of conscious unworthiness, "I the chief of sinners am," and, "I am a sinner saved by grace." During his severe and protracted affliction, he uniformly enjoyed deep and solid peace. When asked, "Is Christ precious?" "O yes," said he, "a thousand times more precious than ever!" The last words he was heard to utter were, "Lord, still smile upon me, and take me to heaven." He fell asleep in the Lord at Devonport, March 12th, 1835, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, and the thirty-ninth of his ministry. In 15. WILLIAM RADCLIFFE. early life, being a child of parents anxious for his spiritual welfare, he was a subject of serious impressions. At the age of eighteen he became decidedly pious, and was soon regularly called to the Methodist ministry. His labours proved honourable to himself, satisfactory to his brethren, and useful to the church. In him were united a cheerful and affectionate temper, and a blameless conversation. His habits were studious, and his intellectual attainments considerable, especially in mathematics, and above all in divinity. His conversation was always pleasing, animated by a quickness of fancy, founded on good sense, and at all times instructive. With ministerial qualifications of a highly respectable order, he occupied several important stations in our Connexion, much to the pleasure and profit of the people. He settled in 1832 at Birkenhead, near Liverpool, where he became endeared to the society, by the piety and urbanity of his whole deportment. During his last illness, his mind was eminently tranquil and heavenly, while his expressions of confidence in God, and hope of future glory, were cheering in the highest degree. He died March 31st, 1835. 16. DANIEL CAMPBELL. Early in life he became a subject of regenerating |