bly, not less than 200 individuals who visi us weekly and oftener for this purpose Some of those who were formerly among the inquirers have fallen off; while many others have come forward and filled their places. But the greater proportion of those who appeared truly awakened during the late revival still continue serious and attentive to our instructions. Many of these have made pleasing progress in religious knowledge, and appear to be walking in newness of life. Of these we are about to make a selection to bring forward into the church, and their number we expect will exceed that of those who have been previously admitted at any one time. The remaining number of those who continue to visit us for instruction are in different stages of progress, from the first rudiments of religious knowledge upwards. So many erroneous impressions are to be effaced, so many inadequate views and false conceptions to be corrected, that oftentimes it is long after their attention is aroused before they can form any adequate ideas concerning the fundamental truths of the gospel. But to this description there are many pleasing exceptions. We are here daily reminded how important to the formation of correct views in mature life is religious instruction in the tender years of childhood, before the mind is pre-occupied with error. So true is it that the early irreligious associations of youth grow with his growth, and strengthen with his strength, and shape and form the future character of the man, that even the power of divine grace does seldom fully eradicate them. This truth is fully illustrated in the character of this people, and admonishes us to devote particular attention to the rising generation, as the germ upon which we are to engraft the word of God, that it may hereafter bear fruit to greater perfection. The anxiety expressed by most of those who profess to be converts to Christianity to make a public profession of their faith, and their numerous applications to us to be received into the church, before they have become fully established in religion, have, among other reasons, led us to use great caution in receiving candidates. We may possibly have carried our system of exclusion too far, and thus have kept back many who ought to come forward to the ordinances. It is a subject which deserves particular and prayerful investigation by the friends of missions, as well as by the missionaries themselves, whether the practice of the churches in England and America, to admit all who profess repentance and faith in Christ without requiring a long season of probation beforehand, should be followed on heathen ground. It is always wise to profit by the experience, and take instruction from the mistakes of others whose labors in the missionary field have preceded us. If we have learned correctly, their experience goes to prove that the method purued by Protestant churches in Christian countries ought not to be followed, without modification, in receiving converts from heathenism. We are happy to believe that the members of this mission are unanimous in this sentiment, and as yet have seen no reason to alter their practice. Accessions to the Church-High Standard of Morals. Since our last communication we have admitted nine persons to the church in this village, and twelve at Kaawaloa. The individuals mentioned by us as suspended have been restored upon repentance, after a suitable period of probation. The example of their fall and recovery has, we think, taught a salutary lesson to all the members of the church, and to others who are candidates for membership. It has taught them practically that it is no light thing to trifle with sin, after giving themselves up to God. The time was when men could sin with impunity, and pass on, not only without disgrace, but with honor, and were thought happy in proportion to their means of committing iniquity; but those days are rapidly passing away; the landmarks between virtue and vice are becoming plain; and the lines are drawn, over which it is not safe to pass. All the most distinguished and influential individuals of the nation are professedly on the side of truth and virtue, and are lending their aid to suppress the vices which were once the destroyers of this people. God has indeed prospered us and our enterprise beyond what we had been taught to expect. The mountains have been brought low and the vallies exalted for a high way of holiness. The word of the Lord has spread its healing influence in spite of an opposition as systematic as it has been unprincipled. But God has overruled it for good, and has rendered it eventually a nugatory thing, helpless and displaying forth its own naked deformity. Cherokees. LETTER OF MR. CHAMBERLIN, DATED FEB. 21st, 1832. Church and Congregation at Haweis. THE church at Haweis is under the pastoral care of Mr. Chamberlin, and he frequently preaches there on the Sabbath, though his residence is at Willstown. After spending a Sabbath there, on the following day he writes I wait here to-day for the purpose of giving you an account of this church. The number of members in regular standing is thirty-nine Cherokees and six whites, making in all forty-five. Since January 1, 1831, four members have died, all leaving very clear evidence of their having been the heirs of the grace of salvation. The three first, I presume Dr. Butler has noticed in communications before he was taken from the station. The last died suddenly on the 13th inst. She was formerly a woman of bad character and a great opposer to religion; but for more than a year past her walk has been such, that all her acquaintances have been constrained to say she has been with Jesus. She was received to the communion on the 4th of last December. Her Christian life here on earth has been short, but we trust she has entered into the joy of her Lord. Since the period above specified two members have been suspended for bad conduct, and six have been received. I believe the church was never in a more prosperous state than at the present time. Meetings are kept up here by the Cherokee members when I am not present, and they are said to be interesting. Mr. Mills and John Wayne, are the principal leaders. There are several persons in the vicinity who are serious, and of some the hope is entertained that they have passed from death unto life. Among these are some persons of much influence. They have made application to be received to the church, and some of them will probably be baptised at our communion next week. The members of this church are scattered over a very large region of country. Some of them, who live too far off to attend meetings here, excepting at communion seasons, hold meetings in their own neighborhoods,|| where they sing, pray, and exhort. By these means much good is done. One lives about eighteen miles in a southeast direction; another lives about fifteen miles east; and two others live about twenty-four miles in a north direction. All of these live in tolerably thick settled neighborhoods, where they keep up meetings on the Sabbath, and generally bring serious persons along with them to our sacramental meetings. By another letter it is learned that at a subsequent communion season four persons were baptised, among whom was major Ridge. Introduction of the Habits and Conveniences of Civilized Life. It is often said that the advance in civilization among the Cherokees is confined wholly to those of mixed blood, and those residing on public roads or who are from some other cause brought into contact with white men. The following statement is given with considerable detail, for the purpose of showing what is the fact in the case of some of the full-blood Cherokees, who live retired from public roads, and in the heart of an Indian population. I held a meeting last Sabbath in one of these neighborhoods. It was at the house of Jesse about twenty-four miles from this place. I had never been there before, and was myself very much surprised to see the appearance of the people. Jesse and his wife are full Cherokees. His wife was sick and unable to do any thing, and yet they had upwards of forty persons to feed from Saturday night till Monday morning. Sab bath morning, just at daylight, we were called to breakfast; the table was covered with a clean white table cloth and earthen plates, and knives and forks, arranged in a genteel manner, sufficient for twelve persons. The cups and saucers and coffee-pot were placed at one end of the table, and the food in clean platters at the other. Jesse himself took his seat at the end of the table and dealt out the food to each individual without any embarrassment, and as his wife was sick, Mrs. Butler, who accompanied me to the meeting, took her seat at the head of the table and assisted him. The table, the furniture, and the food were as good as could have been furnished at any of the mission stations; and although he had but one young female to help him, and but twelve persons could sit at the table at once, yet upwards of forty persons had breakfasted, the tables were cleared, and all put in order by eight o'clock. Some of the persons present did assist in waiting and bringing on the food after it was cooked. These, as I have remarked, are full Cherokees, live several miles from any road, and but a very few years ago were almost entirely destitute of household furniture, or the knowledge of civilized manners. We see, therefore, that the gospel has an influence in producing the comforts and habits of civilized life among the full Cherokees, off from the large roads and at a distance from any mission station. On Saturday evening Mr. Huss preached. On the Sabbath I preached to quite a numerous assembly. After sermon five children were baptised, and four persons came forward to manifest their desire to be remembered by Christians at the throne of grace, and to be conversed with on the concerns of their souls. One of these was a very old man who was formerly a leader in ball plays, all-night dances, and whiskey feeling manifested in the congregation, buť frolics. There was a good deal of tender not the least disturbance. In the evening John Wayne addressed the people. Ten or twelve years ago I used occasionally to preach in that neighborhood, and but a few miles from where Jesse now lives. Ther the people were sunk in the deepest poverty and ignorance. Now those very people exhibit the marks of genuine piety, and its sure attendants, cleanliness, industry, and civilization. I now feel greatly strengthened and encouraged to go forward. I am sure the Lord is carrying on his own work, and the powers of hell will not be able to prevail against him. But still there are some discouraging circumstances even there. A few will indulge their depraved appetites by going to whiskey shops, set up by white intruders, and getting intoxicated; but their number is considerably lessened. There have also been lately one or two instances of Sabbath breaking by members of the church. We trust, however, that as soon as we can see them and converse with them on the subject, they will see their sin and repent. School and other Notices. in warning, exhorting, and reproving the members of the church and others, has, we hope, been productive of good. It is truly a privilege to hear the prayers of such a servant of the Lord, and in the highest degree interesting to witness his faithfulness to his children and the members of this school. To be the instrument of turning one to the Lord who so much honors his cause is worth a life of toil and trial. The situation of this people is such as to awaken the sympathies of every Christian's heart, and awaken new and stronger desires to do them good. White people are The school at Haweis is in a very prosperous situation, and the family are remarkably supported under their trials. They all appear cheerful and happy. We trust the time is not far distant, when they will be allowed to enjoy the company, and assis-pressing into the nation from all the surtance of Dr. Butler. But this, however. they are willing to leave in the hands of him who doeth all things well. In a letter from Miss Post, a female assistant who has recently been obliged to leave the station on account of impaired health, dated March 16th, it is stated that the school consists of twenty Cherokee children. She adds I cannot forbear to mention the kindness and sympathy which the Cherokees have manifested towards us by their prayers and their attention to our wants in this time of our trial. The faithfulness of Mr. Mills* rounding states, and taking up every place vacated by emigrants, or by those who remove to avoid coming into contact with their white neighbors. During Dr. Butler's imprisonment the farm and other out-door affairs are managed by a black man and a Cherokee, who succeed as well as could be expected. Burning of the Meeting-houses.-Under date of the 21st, Miss Post states that the old and new meeting-houses at the station were both destroyed by fire on that day. The latter was erected about a year ago, almost wholly at the expense of the Cherokees, and was a good and convenient building. The fire was communicated from the adjacent forests where it was * A Cherokee member of the church, so named at his haptism, in memory of the late Rev Samuel J. Mills, He was one of the earliest converts at Brainerd, and has been an exemplary and active member of the church at Haweis from its organiza- raging. tion.-Ed. Proceedings of other Societies. CAPTAIN Sandiland, of the British ship of war Comet, arrived at Tahiti, during the early part of last year, while a difference was prevailing between the queen of that island and the chiefs, which threatened the most calamitous results. By the prompt interposition of captain S. through the mediation of the missionaries, a reconciliation was effected. Subsequently he addressed the following letter to the missionaries, which, as it was written after he had had ample Į opportunity to become acquainted with their character and proceedings,must be considered sufficient to outweigh the many injurious reports that have been circulated against them and other missionaries in the various islands of the Pacific. The letter is dated at Papeete Bay, April 4th, 1831. Gentlemen, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed letter, of the 2d instant. I very sincerely congratulate you upon the amicable arrangements which have been so openly declared between queen Pomare and the chiefs of this island; and that thereby the evils and horrors of a civil war have been prevented. Gentlemen, I return you my most cordial expression of thanks for the promptitude with which you were pleased to make known my sentiments to the queen and her chiefs, upon the existing differences, in which I had the happiness to concur with you all; and if they were received with respect. I must sincerely ascribe it much more to the intelligence and ability displayed by you at so momentous and interesting a time, than to any intrinsic merit that my proposals possessed; and it is a circumstance affording me the highest satisfaction, to observe the great estimation you are all held in by the queen and her chiefs, which could not have been obtained but by a faithful discharge of your duties, as ministers of Christ and teachers of our holy religion; and it will be peculiarly gratifying to me to make known these circumstances most fully to those authorities whom it is my duty to inform of this transaction. Gentlemen, I am joined by my officers and cantain Walpole, of H. M. 39th regiment, in offering to you every expression of our respect and esteem. ALEXANDER A. SANDILAND, Captain. MADAGASCAR. More encouraging Prospects of the Mission. SINCE the death of Radama, in 1828, the mission in Madagascar, which had before advanced with very favorable prospects, has been subjected to many trials, and found its operations much embarrassed, owing to the fickleness of the queen, and the insubordination that prevailed among the chiefs. During the year 1830, Mr. Freeman, one of the missionaries, left the island on account of these embarrassments, and repaired to Cape Town, with the expectation of not soon returning. He has, however, in a very friendly manner been invited to return. Under date of August 2d, 1831, referring to the time of his leaving the island, he writes The prospects of the general state of Madagascar at that time, and of the mission in parucular, were sufficiently gloomy and discourag ing; and though, as I have previously assured the directors. I never for a moment considered that I had abandoned that vast and important field, I confess, I had not any rational expectation that events would have proved so auspicious, as they now are, within this very limited space of time. The hand of Providence is clearly to be seen, and ought to be most gratefully acknowledged, in the present posture of affairs. Instead of intestine wars desolating the country, the whole island appears, from the latest accounts which I have received, to be in a state of tranquillity-or, at any rate, not to be suffering more serious disturbances, than existed in consequence of petty opposition in some few provinces to the government of the Hovas, in the time of Radama. The queen's power seems to be thoroughly established, and her disposition to encourage the mission has been proved beyond suspicion. I have received voluminous correspondence from the members of the mission within the past few months, besides several letters from native teachers, and from some of the officers (that from the queen I have already mentioned,) and all impress me with the conviction that our mission is favored with considerable prosperity in its actual state, and may reasonably hope for still greater, unless some new events arise to impede its present operations. I have not received any definite accounts of the state of the schools; but from various orders issued by the Malagasy government, and from the attendance on public worship on the Sundays, I am under no painful apprehensions on that head. The voluntary attendance of several adults, and of those just arriving at maturity, on the public institutions of religion, is one of the most pleasing signs in the case; and, it is also a tacit proof, that the true disposition of the government is favorable to our exertions there. We have been taught a lesson, indeed, in the history of Radama, "not to put our trust in princes," or the arm of governments, but we have also numerous instances of the vast importance of the countenance and good-will of the native authorities in a country where the will of one is the supreme law. Mr. Freeman, on his return to his labors, arrived at Tamatave, a port in Madagascar, on the 22d of August, accompanied by Mr. and MISSION IN JAVA. NOTICES of this mission were inserted at p. o3. states that his small church had been increased by one member, and that others were serious. He was proceeding with the distribution of tracts, and making visits to various villages in the interior, as usual. Labors among the Natives and Chinese. My visits to the Malays and Chinese, in their own villages and dwellings, have been continued almost daily during the past halt year. The Chinese willingly receive the tracts and portions of Scripture which I always carry about with me, and listen without objection to my discourses on religion. At a Chinese feast, which I visited, they displayed the greatest eagerness to obtain the tracts which 1 brought, so that they went as fast as I could deal them out; but, generally speaking, when I come to treat on any of the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, or emorce on them the necessity of a change of heart, 1 find them slow to hear, and unwilling to afford the attention which the all-important subject demands. Indeed, they are not only ignorant of God, but averse to be informed ou divine subjects; the peculiar work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the creation, redemption, and sanctification of mankind, is a topic to which that work they are most backward to consider or they are most inimical, and their own interest in acknowledge. The distribution of tracts among the Malays has gone on as formerly-about 1,000 Malay tracts and gospels having been put in circulation during the last six months. The people in the markets receive them eagerly, and we seldom return from our excursions into the country without having given away all our stock, In conversing with the Malays, I find their preju dice greatly removed, and that shyness and distrust, which at one time appeared on every countenance, are now seldom met with. Still their hearts are dreadfully hard, and the all-awakening truths of the gospel, with the melting tidings of a Savior's love, seem to make no impression on them. Objections are sometimes made, and questions proposed, but, generally speaking, all direct exhortations to repentance, and offers of mercy, are received with silence, and sometimes with contempt. There seems a general want of conviction of sin; no mun fancies his stute so bad as is represented, or sees the need of that immediate and urgent application for mercy which is recommended. They are saying to themselves, Peace, peace, when there is no peace; and noth ing but the effectual teaching of God's Holy Spirit can possibly cure them of that vain notion of self-righteousness, which clings to them in spite of every remonstrance. There are some, however, with whom we come into closer con tact, and two Malay priests attend me weekly for the purpose of receiving instruction in geography and astronomy, to whom I hope, oy degrees, to be able to make known something for the good of their souls. Translations and Preparation of Books and Since the completing of the Hok-kien dictionary I have been employed in drawing up a preface, system of orthography, and necessary indexes, which have been sent to Canton, to be printed with the work itself; though, I fear the disturbances in China will retard for a time such peaceful occupations, as the bringing of literary works through the press. In addition to the above, I have been much taken up in correcting, revising, and improving the translation of the Scriptures into low Malay, the printing of which is now carrying on at the government press, and is advanced to the end of the gospel of John. The further I proceed in this work, the more I find that it needs a close and undivided attention, particularly as the epistles are more difficult than the gospels; however, if life and health are continued, I hope to see the work pretty well advanced by the end of the year. Some of my former Chinese tracts have been corrected, and forwarded to Mr. Dyer, at Pinang, who has kindly offered to get them re-cut and printed in a neater form; it is my intention, in a short time, to revise the whole of my former productions, and then to attempt the improvement of some of Dr. Milne's old tracts, which, having been penned on his first commencing the study of Chinese, would admit of great alterations in style and expression, without affecting the arrangement or general sense. Wesleyan Missionary Society. SOUTH AFRICA. UNDER date of April 4th, 1830, Mr. Shepstone, missionary in Caffreland draws the following disressing picture of the Sufferings and Exposures of the Caffres, With regard to this people generally, it would seem that God has for the last three years been preparing them for the gospel by the scourge of famine and war. Their sufferings have been many and very severe: death has assailed them in various forms; the mother has rambled from home in search of roots, weakness has seized her joints, she has sunk beneath the weight of her little charge, and risen no more; the little innocent has been seen still hanging to his mother's breast, weeping and sobbing; but alas! the arms could no more protect, the eye which had so long looked with anxious pity on her tender offspring had ceased to roll, the breast no more heaved with anguish, the immortal soul had fled, and left the little babe an inhabitant of a world of misery, but to misery peculiar to the country where the precepts of the gospel have not taught to pity. Nor is this a solitary instance, the cases of distress have been innumerable; for those who had some little dependence and could remain at home, have nevertheless been subject to the nightly visits of the wolves, whose attacks have been so destructive amongst the children and youth, as to form an anomaly in the history of that animal; for, within a few months, not fewer tlan forty instances came to my own knowledge, wherein this beast had made most dreadful havock. To show clearly the preference of the wolf for human flesh, it will be necessary to notice, that, when the Mambookies build their houses, which are in form like bee-hives, and tolerably large, (often 18 or 20 feet in diameter,) the floor is raised at the higher or back part of the house, until within three or four feet of the front, where it suddenly terminates, leaving an area from thence to the wall, in which every night the calves are tied to protect them from the storm or wild beasts. Now it would be natural to suppose, that should the wolf enter he would seize the first object for his prey, especially as the natives always lie with the fire at their feet. But notwithstanding this, the constant practice of this animal has been, in every instance, to pass by the calves in the area, and even by the fire, and to take the children from under the mother's kaross, and that in such a gentle and cautious manner, that the poor parent has been unconscious of her loss, until the cries of her little innocent have reached her from without, when a close prisoner in the jaws of the monster. To give all the instances I could adduce, would tire your patience, I will therefore only give two, with which we have been more immediately concerned, and which, while they show how much they want who want the gospel, will also show that the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. The first I shall mention is that of Dapa's great grandson, about ten years of age. The wolf had previously seized a younger brother, and torn away a part of his face. Another night he came into the house and took a second, and carried him completely off, of whom nothing more than a small fragment was found. On his third visit he seized the lad first mentioned by the left shoulder. The little fellow awakened by this grasp, struck him with his hand; the wolf let side, broke his collar bone. The poor boy still go his hold, and, grasping him on the opposite fought with his left hand; and his antagonist letting go his hold a second time, seized him by the fleshy part of the thigh, and ran off with his prey; nor was it till he had carried him a quarter of a mile that he could be made to drop him, when, biting away the precious mouthful, he left the little sufferer with his thigh half severed; but fortunately the bone was not broken. In this state he was brought to us for help, and by daily attention he is perfectly restored. The second instance is of a little girl, about eight years of age, who was reclining on the ground in the cool of the day, when four of these monsters rushed upon the place. One of them seized the little creature by the head, a second by the shoulder, and the other two by the thighs. The people of the kraal, with all possible speed, flew to her help, and succeeded in releasing her, but apparently too late. They tried for a few days to help her with their medicines; but finding all hope fail, and as from the heat and flies she had now become loathsome, they gave her her choice, either to be put to death by the youths of the place, or go to the woods to die or be farther devoured as may happen! The little girl chose the woods. In this forlorn condition, she determined to cast herself on the mercy of this institution; and although she had never been on the station, she believed from what she had heard, that could she reach the place, she should receive that protection and help, which he who claimed the endearing appellation of father had longer refused to give, and which she had no right anywhere else to expect amongst her own nation, With this resolution she set out, and, although she had to travel several miles, through deep |