and to afford the best prospect of yielding a rich and speedy harvest of immortal souls to reward their toils. The claims of Dacca, however, are very urgent, and brother Robinson will be greatly distressed at brother Sale not joining him. "I baptized two converted Jews at Bow Bazar last sabbath day." THE "WILLIAM CAREY." We have great pleasure in adding the further information conveyed to us in a letter from our benevolent friend WILLIAM JONES, Esq., the owner of the "William Carey," together with the expression of his hope and trust that we will send out more than two missionaries of the same stamp as Mr. and Mrs. Sale by the "William Carey" on her next voyage. We have one well fitted and prepared to go, but where are the funds for his support? May He whose are the silver and the gold, influence some who acknowledge themselves His stewards, to provide them, so that the generous wish of our excellent friend may be fulfilled, and stations now destitute be supplied. "The William Carey arrived out at Calcutta on the 18th of May, after a fine and prosperous passage of 105 days. The chief mate died on the passage. Captain Emment says he was confined five weeks, and that "Mrs. Sale was very kind to him, and paid him every attention that lay in her power." He further says, "Mr. and Mrs. Sale are very well, and stand the climate better than they expected. They were very agreeable on the passage. Mr. Sale performed divine service on the poop whenever the weather was favourable." This is satisfactory. And now I beg to observe, that if all is right, the "William Carey" will sail again for Calcutta about the same time (if not a little sooner) next year as she did this year; and I hope and trust you will be able to send more than two missionaries next time of the same stamp as Mr. and Mrs. Sale." MONGHIR. A letter has been received from Mr. PARSONS, comprising his journal from December 1, 1848, to February 23rd, 1849, containing a detail of many hopeful appearances, but at the same time announcing the death of a fellow labourer, where it is to be lamented that while the harvest is plenteous the labourers are few. We have pleasure in inserting the following extracts. Hope indulged. Our dear native brethren, Nainsukh and Soodeen, were this year present at the great mela at Hajeepore, where the word has been annually made known to many hundreds for so many years. On the way thither they witnessed a scene of much interest at the village of Bar. A Hindoo there (the son of a Soobadar who died in Monghir, and used, during his life time, frequently to hear the gospel with interest) was accustomed when ever any preachers of the gospel passed through, or preached in the village, to invite them to sit in his shop, and show them polite attentions. He used, in the general, to approve of the Christian doctrine, but being a disciple of a Gooroo, named Durreea-das, he "that used to maintain the excellency of that sect, and object to certain points which seemed to oppose its tenets. At the last interview Nainsukh had with him, previously to what I am going to relate, he even invited our brother to take some refreshment, which he assented to, but before it was ready the poor man, in the course of conversation, stumbled on stumbling-stone," and said something disrespectful of the Saviour, which induced Nainsukh to decline partaking of his refreshment saying it was not right for him to eat and drink where the Redeemer's name was reviled, and, after some further conversation, he took his leave. On their way to the mela our brethren, on their arrival at Bar, proceeded immediately to his shop, but were informed that he was dangerously ill, not expected to recover. However, they requested their names to be announced to him, upon which he readily invited them in, and though extremely weak, scarcely able to articulate, he made signs to Nainsukh to sit by him on his cot, and for a seat to be set for Soodeen. Nainsukh then said a few sentences to him, not very much, for he knew he was well acquainted with the gospel. He heard attentively, fixing his eyes on Nainsukh, but seemed unable to speak. After a while, however, he stretched out his weak arms, and taking the Testament out of Nainsukh's hands, placed it on his head. This was a significant action, which is well understood here, for in the idiom of the Hindee, to acknowledge any one's authority is expressed by words signifying, literally, to lift up his words on one's head. Shortly after this the dying man became much distressed, and wept so much, that Nainsukh began even to fear the consequences to him, in his weak state, of so much excitement. When his mother came to him in his distress, to console him, he declined her consolations, repeatedly pushing her away, and making signs to her to leave the room. Nainsukh, however, continued by his side, doing and saying what he could to calm him, and when he became tranquil, said, "If you heartily believe in Christ, then let me offer prayer with you in his name." He, by signs, expressed his consent, and during the prayer continued in a devout posture of supplication, after which he took Nainsukh's hand with tears, and said, "Do not consider me separate from yourselves the only words he had strength to utter during the interview. Our brethren then soon left him, comforted and encouraged by the hope that the many attempts which have been made, from time to time, to enlighten and convince this poor idolater, may not have been in vain, but he may have been accepted as a sincere though weak believer in the blessed Redeemer. And we cannot but entertain the further hope, that there may be many, here and there, who will be manifested at the last day as the fruits of missionary labour, though, like the seven thousand in Israel who never bowed to Baal, the influence of the predominant wickedness around may have deterred them from openly avowing their convictions, or uniting themselves with the disciples of Jesus. On their return from the mela, our brethren were informed that the poor man had been dead ten days. Death of an assistant missionary. Feb. 20, 1849. I now sit down to the continuation of my letter, under circumstances which are, on the one hand, peculiarly solemn and affecting, and, on the other, a reason for the most fervent gratitude and thanksgiving on my part. On the 5th of last month I started from Monghir to accompany our dear brother Hurtur in a tour on the hills, and left Bhagulpore with him on the 8th, and after an interesting season of labour returned with him again to his newly built house in Bhagulpore on the 9th of the present month, at which time, chiefly, as I supposed, through fatigue, he was feverish and unwell. I returned thence to Monghir on Monday, the 12th inst, on Saturday last received intelligence that he had since become dangerously ill, and yesterday evening received letters from which we learn that on the very day of our receiving the above intelligence, our dear brother exchanged a world of toil and sorrow for the blissful presence of his glorious Redeemer. He has been permitted by a wise and gracious, but to us, for the present, inscrutable Providence, to fall a victim to the deadly malaria of the hills, of which dear brothers Leslie and Nainsukh felt so long the pernicious effects. Thus a zealous, and self-denying labourer has been removed from a sphere in which it appears very unlikely he will have a successor who can devote the amount of time and attention which he did to the poor benighted hill tribes. A native brother, who was with us as cook, was attacked before brother Hurtur with fever and spleen; indeed his sickness induced us to return home earlier than we otherwise should have done, but I rejoice to say that, so far as my latest information goes, he is better than he was. But, oh, dear brother, what should be my gratitude! My beloved brother has been struck by my very side with the arrow of death in the high places of the field, and yet unworthy I, who breathed the same tainted air, have been spared to return to my beloved family, and circle, and work, not only not sick and enfeebled, but even feeling specially well. O may my life, while spared, be more entirely than ever consecrated to the service and glory of my heavenly Father, and when summoned to his presence, may I be found as well prepared as I believe my deceased dear brother to have been! On the day that, supported by the kind providence of our gracious Father, I arrived at home, dear brother Lawrence had started for Serampore in a boat, accompanied by his son John, and also Isaac Beddy, both of whom he is about to take to the college for education; and may our gracious Lord so bless the instructions they may there receive, that not only by the acquisition of secular, but more especially by the reception of spiritual knowledge, they may be fitted for useful stations in after life. No care, perhaps, presses more heavily on the minds of missionaries in the peculiar circumstances of this land, than that of the education of their children, and those Christian friends at home who feel a lively and prayerful interest in missions, amidst the many topics of prayer which suggest themselves at the throne of grace, cannot lay the missionaries who have families under greater obligations than by pleading for a blessing on the first hill village on the 19th January, their offspring. Missionary tour. You will, I apprehend, look for some account of the tour from which I have now returned. When my late dear brother and myself, having with us a native brother as cook, and two hill people, one who serves me as bearer, and one a young man from the government school at Bhagulpore, started, it was our intention to go direct to the hills, but when we arrived on the second evening at a village about twenty-six miles from Bhagulpore, we heard that a mela would be held two days afterwards at the village of Bounsee, about fifteen miles distant. To that, therefore, we decided to go, and thence to proceed on our way to the hills. We reached it on January 11th, and stayed over Lord's day the 14th, during which time we had many gratifying opportunities of declaring the word of life under interesting circumstances, and had for the most part attentive hearers, though our discourses were frequently intermingled with discussions with the brahmans, who compose a large proportion of the attendants at the mela. It was specially interesting to declare the glorious gospel in such a locality, and we carried the glad news into the very courts of Parasnaut's temple, which probably never echoed to the name of Christ before. On the last day of our stay at Bounsee we were favoured to see what occasioned us to rejoice, though, as in all such cases, with trembling. Secret inquirers. A pundit, who had repeatedly argued with us, but had subsequently heard our discourse very quietly, came warily to our tent, careful that no one should notice him, and, sitting down, gave us a long explanation of his disbelief of Hindoo worship and shastras, and, as a proof, showed us that, though professedly a follower of Vishnu, he had not the customary frontal mark, for that he had no heart to attend daily to ceremonies which he knew to be worthless. He said he had an earnest desire to become well acquainted with Christian doctrine, and proposed to accompany us to the hills. As this was, however, impracticable, brother Hurtur gave him a note to the address of Mrs. Hurtur, that he might thus be introduced to good brother Bundhoo. It was a sad disappointment to us, on our return, to find that he had not availed himself of the opportunity, but I still think that, whatever may have deterred him from so doing, his mind is actually and sincerely convinced of the falseness and futility of Hindooism. May he yet be conducted to the true Saviour! Shelter in a heathen temple. From Bounsee we proceeded direct to the hills, by a cross-country road, and reached having been delayed a day to dry our tent, which had been washed down the previous night during a heavy thunder storm, compelling us to take refuge at midnight in a house built for the goddess Kalee. It was indeed providential that such a shelter was near, for the soil was of such a nature that when moistened by the rain, it afforded no hold to our small tent-pins, and it was also agreeable to us to find in the morning that the villagers, who are Bengalee blacksmiths that have formed a little colony here, and are engaged in smelting the iron ore they find in the neighbouring hills, so far from being offended by our intrusion on their goddess's abode, rather regretted we had taken the trouble to put up our tent at all. Our reception was, on the whole, very friendly. We were, at first, in villages where resided relatives of the young man who had accompanied us from the government school, and this circumstance led to our being accommodated with a house to put up in during our stay in the village. We preached the gospel in twenty-five villages, but to small numbers generally; being in some places grieved by their levity and indifference, in others gratified by their attention, but in most treated with respect. In one of our halting places the two head men of the village-Manjies as they are called-proffered their services for some days in succession to conduct us to the neighbouring villages, in all of which they called the people together to listen, and seemed themselves never tired of hearing the word. Oh, that they may retain it in their memories, and receive it by faith to their hearts! Cordiality of reception. Towards the close of our tour we came to several villages which dear brother Hurtur had visited four years before, in company with Soodeen, and to us it was pleasing to see the cordiality with which in two of the villages the head men received the messenger of Christ, though to you it would have been amusing also to have seen one of them, who stepped out of his house with only enough of clothes on to prevent his being entirely naked, run up to us, take brother Hurtur's hand, kiss it, and place it on his forehead, and then embrace us, pressing breast to breast, first on one side, then on the other. February 23rd. Whilst I was absent on my hill-tour, our native brethren visited many of the villages around Monghir, being absent during the week days, and one or both coming in to assist dear brother Lawrence in the Lord's day services. They were highly gratified, and even astonished, at the reception they met, it being quite unusual for them to find the villagers around Monghir so attentive to the word as to come out to the brethren's tent, so that conversation and preaching should be continued nearly the whole day at the tent. We have been the whole morning at a | We had congregations to hear the word from mela on the opposite side of the river, con- about seven o'clock this morning until one vened on account of an eclipse of the sun. IP.M., when, as the eclipse terminated early in was surprised to find so many people, and the morning, the great majority of the assemfrom such great distances, assembled together. bly had set off to return to their villages. A letter has been received from Mr. LAWRENCE, dated the 29th of May, from which we have pleasure in extracting his account of the state of the college at Serampore, and the educational advantages afforded to youth at that place by Mr. Denham. Our friends will find also an interesting account of the baptism of three Europeans of whose piety he had for some months entertained hopes. Serampore College. From Mr. and Mrs. Denham, under whose care I have placed my son for a short time, as well as from Mr. and Mrs. Marshman, I received much kindness. Mr. Denham appears to be particularly well adapted for the care and instruction of youth. It was very gratifying to witness the success which had already attended his laudable efforts. Not only was the college put into admirable order by the liberality of Mr. Marshman, but a large and prosperous school was in daily attendance at the college, under the superintendence of Mr. Denham, who also had gathered about him a class of intelligent and promising young men, some of whom may become efficient missionaries. Mr. Marshman and Mr. Denham have exerted themselves nobly, and I hope they will meet with the encouragement they deserve from the friends of education in general. Mr. Denham's duties are now very numerous and arduous, and under the debilitating climate of India, his health and strength will be severely tried. May he long be preserved, and meet with much encouragement in his important sphere of labour. Baptism of three converts. On my return home I was delighted to find three Europeans waiting to come forward and make known what the Lord had done for their souls. We had entertained hopes respecting them for some months; and at length the work of grace in their hearts appeared so evident and satisfactory, that they were unanimously and joyfully received by the church. One of them the wife of a dear brother, a member of the church. She had long sat under the sound of the gospel without experiencing any saving benefit; but it pleased the Lord somewhat more than a year ago to awaken her mind to a serious concern about the one thing needful, and after much hesitation she was enabled to decide on following the Lord. One of the three is the daughter of another dear brother. She had been much more than a year under serious impressions, and had applied for baptism, but was kept back on account of her youth and inexperience. She is one of the tender lambs of Christ's flock. The third is the sister of the dear Christian brother who came from Benares. She appears to have received benefit from the ministry of the word since she has been in this station, for which we desire to praise the Lord. Her views of baptism having undergone an entire change as well as her heart, she made known her wishes to be bap tized by immersion. The ordinance of baptism was accordingly administered to these three believers on the 30th May, in the presence of a goodly number of the Christian inhabitants of the station, as well as a large crowd of natives, all of whom appeared to be deeply interested in the service. It was a season to be remembered with thankfulness. We felt encouraged to hope that the Lord would cause his word more abundantly to prosper amongst us. There is also something cheering in our native Christian community. As many as seven or eight have appeared under some concern about their eternal interests, among whom there are three or four encouraging cases. We dare not be sanguine, but there does appear to be a little refreshing shower of grace descending upon us, after a long season of drought. Oh, that we may all be revived, and stirred up to greater diligence in serving the Lord! I am thankful to say that our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, as well as my own family, continue to be favoured with the ordinary measure of health. The weather has been unusually warm and oppressive; but cholera and other epidemic diseases, which usually prevail at this season, have hitherto been mercifully restrained. Peace has also been restored to the land, which is a great mercy. May the gospel of peace speedily find its way, and prevail in that unhappy country, where the implements of war have recently made such fearful havoc! BENARES. A letter which has been received from Mr. HEINIG, dated the 25th of May, contains an account of his own labours, and also of the state of the schools at Benares, which appears to be highly satisfactory. My labours are, as usual, confined for the ments, viz., the English, the Persian, and the most part to preaching to the natives, in Hindi. In the English department the first which I find great delight, and in catechising class boys read the New Testament, catethe children in our school at the Sadar Bazar. chism, geography, grammar, and learn arithOn the Lord's days in the morning we preach metic and writing; and the other classes study alternately to our native Christian congrega- the Reader No. III., catechism, and gramtion, when, generally, most of the children mar, and the younger boys learn spelling, and and teachers of our bazar schools attend. To others again their a, b, c. In the Persian our Christian congregation are from time to department the boys likewise read the New time added those that make a profession of Testament, geography, and catechism, besides faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of whom their own books, which are the Gulistán we have hope that they will remain steadfast Bostán, and others which contain the first in the faith. In the evenings of the sabbaths principles of the Persian language; and in Mr. Small preaches in English in our nice the Hindi department are also taught the commodious school room at the Sadar Bazar, gospel, catechism, geography, arithmetic, and the congregation at which is very encouraging. writing. We have had lately an examination, The school house has recently been built, in which the scholars acquitted themselves which cost about 550 rupees. There is still very well. There are other schools besides a debt of £20 remaining. If a few friends that of which I have been speaking, which could collect this sum for us we should feel are also in a flourishing condition. I believe very thankful for it. The average number of Mr. Small has already given you a minute boys that attend the school is 200, and they account of them; the repetition of it I think are making good progress in their various quite unnecessary, because I suppose you studies. They are divided into three depart-have seen our Report of last year. DELHI. The following extract from the journal of Mr. THOMPSON's missionary tour to Hurdwar fair in April last is interesting, as showing a prevailing conviction that idolatry is a daring affront to God, vain and foolish, and also the baneful influence of that portion of the education in the country from which Christianity is excluded. Convictions of the Heathen. Hurdwar, 31st March, 1849. Again permitted to leave home for Hurdwar, I passed the following day, the sabbath, at Murádnagur, usefully engaged through the greater part of the day with three parties of Muhammadans and Hindus (chiefly of the latter), about fifty in number, reading the gospels and tracts to them, calling their attention to particular points, and pressing upon them belief, in the expectation that the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, will, in the brief period of their lives, or at death, call them to account for refusing to believe in and accept of him as their Saviour. Nearly all who heard seemed to be impressed with a conviction that Christ alone is the Saviour, and that idolatry is a daring affront to God, as it is vain and foolish. All who could read, eagerly asked for the precise gospel or tract read, the particular points in which had interested them. In the evening we had singing and prayer. My hearers of this day were the most untiring I have met with in all my visits to, and ministrations at this place, and I confess I left them with regret. Here also, for the first time, the profession of our faith by native Christians was adverted to with respect, if not admiration, and the inconsistency of one individual, known to the parties, who had declined from the faith and purity of the gospel, was mentioned in terms of reprobation, as an unwise act. A pandit, who had come for books, seeing the fixed attention of the people to the hearing of unpalatable truths, and their eagerness for our books, stood for a long time as if struck with what he saw, and would neither advance to take a tract, though twice offered him, nor speak, or sit; but at the end, when people were going away, he accepted of what was offered him. At this place there is a number of brahmans who do not officiate as priests, but have secular modes of subsistence, and are zamindars, sellers of betel-leaf, grain, baniyás by trade, chaukidárs and policeman; thus serving to obliterate the distinguishing exclusiveness of the class, and merging down into the common mass of the people. No civil enactment or government interference with their long established customs, has done this, but the necessity of finding subsistence, when the faith or devotion of the people had declined, has led the once privileged order to devise the above |