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in Sweden; but in America the representation must have occasioned unfavourable thoughts of the Swedish people, without answering any other use than the pecuniary gain sought after.*

The Methodist Preacher's position had now become false,† when he purposed to continue his exertions among a people whose national feeling he had wounded. He experienced, also, unpleasantness beyond all measure. Among the more respectable steps taken, the Rector Ekdahl renewed his memorial in the Consistory of January 11th, 1842; and also produced a letter to the same by gracious command from the Minister (pro tem.) for Ecclesiastical Affairs, of February 3d, in which the Consistory is required "to report without delay how far, in the exercise of his office by the Preacher appointed to the Wesleyan chapel here, any such departure from the requirements of the laws, or the preservation of due order, has appeared as may have demanded the attention of the Consistory, or may be considered claiming that attention." But there must be reckoned what beyond this took place. The newspapers showed in this case, as often, a want of moderation in their complaints. § Tracts assailed, not only Methodism, but Christianity, pious institutions, and

everything that is a hinderance in the way of infidelity and licentiousness. A book, with the same design, by the German Bergman, (the man belongs to the extreme rabble of the lowest rationalism,) was translated, it is said, by a Clergyman, who thus manifested that zeal is blind. Mr. Scott was shamelessly pointed at, mimicked on the stage, insulted in the very act of his service. It was in this peculiar way, that, on the spot, all that he had said about Swedes in another part of the world was not refuted, but established; in truth, a disgrace much more difficult to obliterate than anything he has affixed. When Mr. Scott, who for a time closed his chapel, resolved to resume his Swedish preaching, and gave notice to the Governor, this was denied him by a sentence dated April 5th, 1842. After having appealed from this decision to the King, he departed at once for England. By the Methodist Conference, which therefore approved of his behaviour here, he was afterwards appointed Superintendent of a Circuit in his own land. His return here is in consequence not to be expected.

As the desired investigation never took place, we know not if Methodism has made proselytes here; for as such we

* Extensive aid for Bible and tract distribution, Sailors' Missions, City Mission, and the like, was obtained; and of course the necessity for such operations had to be shown.-G. S.

That the Missionary's position was "false," in a manner, he was made painfully to feel, from the time when he began his labours in the Swedish language, and long ere any representations as to the religious state of Sweden, such as those made in England in 1837, and America in 1841, were thought of. The truly God-fearing, among whom the excellent Archbishop deserves to be included, understood and appreciated the Missionary's motives from the beginning. But a large number of the Clergy, perhaps the greater part of them, considered those labours an undeserved reproach cast upon them, as if they had been deficient in their duty: and the worldly-minded Pharisees of the Lutheran Church, accustomed to boast of the purity of doctrine, comprehensiveness and uniformity, which in their estimation distinguish that Church as superior to all others, and especially of the fact, that their nation sent forth a Gustavus Adolphus to defend oppressed Protestantism in Germany, could not endure their land being considered as a field for Missionary effort, and regarded every manifestation of this being done as an insult not to be forgiven. A variety of other influence had also for years been operating, in direction of stirring up the wrath of the unspiritual; and the real state of the case was, as a well-informed and much-respected Clergyman, who stands high in the esteem of the Archbishop, wrote: "The persecution of Scott, and the friends of the word who have been edified by him, is a painful sign of the times; but by no means unexpected in my eyes. I called Scott's attention to it while the chapel was building. The American journey has only hastened the outbreaking which sooner or later must have come."-G. S.

This was answered by a decided negative, so far as the Consistory knew or believed.-G. S.

§ An example from each of the two leading papers. The Allehanda says, April 11th, 1842: "Scott denies that he has made any proselytes: how is this now so decided? We guess that he has at length received a dispensation from the all-powerful Conference to venture a falsehood on this subject: such dispensations are not uncommon in those so-called religious societies." The Altonblad, about the same time: The Prelates protect Methodism: why? Because the proper definition of Methodism is, a Popish reality under the name and semblance of Protestantism. The dissemination of this religious madness among the people is the best means of keeping them under an unconstitutional exercise of power. This plan to encourage Methodism has not fully succeeded; and it may be well to take care. During the time of John III., the famed Kloster Lassie had no better success than his re-appearance, Scott, has now. The then reigning branch of the royal house was rendered so hateful by the favour shown this man, that the son of John III. must needs resign his lawful throne. This was not the design, but the result, of the protection afforded Kloster Lassie; and it would appear that the protectors of Scott design a repetition of the fate of Sigismund."-G. S.

cannot enumerate the many who were edified by Scott's preaching, nor yet the few who might turn to him in the concerns of their souls. These latter were doubtless referred to in his expression in the Stockholm Clerical Society, that he had the care of souls among the Swedes.

To the Conference, his chief authority, he has in reports declared that he aimed at the reviving of the Swedish Church, not to draw its adherents from it. By private communications from England, long previous to any disturbance in the land, the author knows that Methodists in England considered Scott by no

means sufficiently active in promoting their objects. This forbearance inspired the friends of the Swedish Church with confidence for the man. But possible it is, certainly, that after he had obtained a firmer standing, and in obedience, perhaps, to further exhortations from home, he might have extended his exertions further, and within the borders of our Church. Righteousness, equity, gratitude require us, however, to declare,* that he by his residence here has benefited our Church, and the pious institutions in the land.

AMICA VERITAS.

VARIETIES.

FIRST NOTICE OF TRAFFIC IN COAL.-About the end of the twelfth century a notice of coal first appears as an article of traffic, and as a staple element in the social comfort of our own country. In the Leges Burgorum, enacted at Newcastle about 1140, the especial privilege of not being distrained but for their own debts, is granted in Scotland to the inbringers of fuel, which is described to be "wood, turves, and peits." With respect to coal there is a complete silence, from which it has been somewhat hastily concluded, that though coal must have been known, it was not used as fuel. The first legal notice we have of this mineral is a grant, made in the reign of William the Lion, by Wil

liam de Ventereponte, to the Monks of Holyrood, of a "tenth of his coal at Cariden;" and in the Chartulary of Newbottle, there is a grant in 1189 to the Monks by De Quincey, Constable of Scotland, of the coal between Whiteside and Pinkie, which is also confirmed by King William. In 1239, Henry III. granted a charter to the inhabitants of Newcastle to dig for coal, which is the first legal mention of the fuel in England. -Bernan's History and Art of Warming and Ventilation.

DIMENSIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN CHURCHES.-The Roman Advertiser, of December 26, in an article compiled to show the impossibility of St. Peter's at Rome being ever crowded,

* One of the Professors of Theology at Lund, Dr. Reuterdahl, a man of extensive learning, and high literary standing, with whom the Missionary never conversed, and who was of a different mind on Gospel subjects, he being supposed at least to lean towards rationalism, speaks thus in a review of the pamphlet, "The Religious Condition of Sweden," above noticed: "To some it might appear a bad sign that Scott has not hitherto found many defenders; but he may, notwithstanding, have friends, who either lack courage to defend him in a question so delicately affecting the national honour; or have no desire to contend with such adversaries as those arrayed against him; or they may be without the needed information. That no friends speak out, is no evidence either that he has no friends, or that his cause is a bad one." After citing from the pamphlet, he proceeds: "These sentiments come from a pious and honest disposition,-a disposition full of love to Sweden. We cannot conceive that a man who so unweariedly, so seriously, and so unostentatiously has laboured, without any prospect or design for personal advantage, as Mr. Scott has done, a man who so constantly has fellowship with holy and divine things, can be a hypocrite,' a 'designing liar,' and 'backbiter.' We need not know more of Mr. S. than his pamphlet to deliver him, in our eye, from all intentional falsehood; from all degrading backbiting; from the insidiousness and malice which, if they cannot destroy life, would murder honour and character. In this book we see a man with an open and noble bearing, a clear and enlightened glance; we hear there a voice which neither bullies, nor shouts, nor trembles. We hear quietness and peace, so far as these can be heard; we see piety and righteousness, so far as they can be seen. But we know more of Scott than his pamphlet. We know his operations during many years in Stockholm; we know something of his sermons; we have the testimony of many persons who have looked deeply into his cards, or, more properly, been convinced that he has no hidden play. And all this knowledge has not given us the slightest occasion to see in Mr. Scott a liar or deceiver. We believe that Swedish honesty calls us to give this testimony in favour of the stranger Scott, at a time when other Swedes are not ashamed to hurl against this stranger the most dishonouring charges."-G. S.

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its narrower limits, not comprising the porticos or the Piazza Rusticucei, 474,000 crowded, and 138,000 in military array, to the quadrate metre.

:

PUNCTUATION.- Caxton had the merit of introducing the Roman pointing, as used in Italy; and his successor, Pinson, triumphed by domiciliating the Roman letter. The dash, or perpendicular line, thus was the only punctuation they used. It was, however, discovered that the "craft of poynting well used makes the sentence very light." The more elegant comma supplanted the long uncouth: the colon was a refinement, "showing that there is more to come;" but the semicolon was a Latin delicacy, which the obtuse English typographer resisted. The Bible of 1592, though printed with appropriate accuracy, is without a semicolon; but in 1633 its full rights are established by Charles Butler's English Grammar. In this chronology of the four points of punctuation, it is evident that Shakspeare could never have used the semicolon; a circumstance which the profound George Chalmers mourns over, opining that semicolons would often have saved the poet from his commentators.D'Israeli's Amenities of Literature.

WESLEYAN MISSIONS:

OR, INTELLIGENCE ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, AND ALSO OF THE STATE AND PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL IN VARIOUS PARTS OF

UNDER THEIR DIRECTION:

EXTRACTED CHIEFLY

THE WORLD
FROM THE

66 MISSIONARY NOTICES," AND FROM OTHER SOURCES PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARIES.

*

CEYLON.

It is a pleasure to us occasionally to publish the letters of Missionaries newly arrived at their sphere of labour. Their impressions on their first view of their work, and of the Heathen to whom they are sent, it may be granted, are of less weight than the testimony of those

* Our readers are earnestly requested to avail themselves of the opportunity to procure the entire copy of the "Wesleyan Missionary Notices," published by the Secretaries of the Society, and sold at the Centenary-Hall, Bishopsgate-street, and at 66, Paternoster-row, London. Our selections from this invaluable record of the progress of the Gospel in heathen lands must, of necessity, be brief: we are therefore very desirous that the "Notices" should receive an extensive circulation among all classes of the religious public. 3 L

VOL. III.-FOURTH SERIES.

who have borne the burden and heat of the day; but still there is a truth and freshness about them, very satisfactory to contemplate; their communications are just such as our readers themselves would make, could they be conveyed to the same localities, and witness the same

scenes.

Mr. Walton in a very interesting style describes his first month's experience in the island of Ceylon. Much of the time was necessarily spent in travelling, that he might reach his appointed station.

CEYLON.-Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John Walton,
dated Trincomalee, March 29th, 1847.

AFTER a pleasant voyage, we landed in Colombo on the 24th of February. As soon as our anchor was down, Mr. Kessen came on board, and gave us a hearty welcome to the shores of India. We were entertained with the greatest kindness and hospitality at the house of the Rev. D. J. Gogerly, the General Superintendent of our Missions in South Ceylon. On the following Sabbath, we opened our commission; Mr. Robinson and Mr. Dickson preaching in the Baptist chapel in the Pettah, and I in our own chapel in the Fort. We spent a few days with the friends here, awaiting the departure of a vessel for Jaffna. Admonished by the painful adventure of Mr. Wallace, we had determined not to go in a dhoney, except in a case of absolute necessity. Having heard of a native schooner, which was to sail on the ensuing Saturday, we took our passage in her. The opportunity was favourable, as she was going round to Trincomalee, which, I had been informed in Colombo, would be my station, and not Batticaloa, as I expected when I left home; the brethren having felt it right to make this alteration, in order that suitable provision might be made for the native work at the latter place. Mr. Stott is about to return to England, and Mr. Gillings is to succeed him in the charge of that Mission.

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We went on board at six o'clock, P. M., weighed anchor about midnight, once more to seek the wide ocean, confiding in the "dear might of Him who walked the waves." A very short time sufficed to make us aware of the difference between a native craft and a first-rate East Indiaman. Here everything was native; the ship, the crew, the cooking apparatus, the sleeping accommodation, &c. went ashore at Ramisseram, and saw the tomb of our late Missionary, the Rev. Mr. Hole. The remains of several military officers repose around him. The tombs are all white, formed, I believe, of coral, and amply shaded by the lofty palmyra-tree which appears to abound

We

There are a

in every part of the island.
few Europeans here, who erected the
monument to Mr. Hole, which is rather
pretty. At one end there is a vacant
niche, ready to receive the letters and
figures, which shall inform the traveller
of the name and age of him who rests
beneath his feet. I walked a little
farther, and found myself in the Fort,
where I heard the clanging of chains.
I soon saw whence it proceeded scores
of human beings in fetters! The sight
entered into my soul.
It appears this
island belongs to the Continent, and
these are convicts from the Presidency of
Madras. Having spent two hours here,
we returned to the beach to look for our
boat; regained our vessel, and, favoured
by the land-breeze, were soon on our

way.

We reached Jaffna on Saturday evening, having been seven days performing the voyage. Mr. and Mrs. Percival were expecting us, and gave us a most affectionate welcome. On Sunday evening, I preached to the English congregation in St. Paul's chapel, and enjoyed the service very much. A more attentive congregation I never witnessed. The chapel was nearly full; and the cause is, evidently, in a flourishing state. Mr. Percival preached in the morning to the native congregation in Tamul; and they appeared to receive with much avidity "the word of life."

On Monday, I visited the schools. Here is a triumph to the position which asserts education to be a most important branch of Missionary labour. The bearing of well-managed schools on our prosperity is here beautifully exemplified. The present state of this Mission is more conclusive than a thousand speculations, and is decidedly in favour of educational effort.

I had now witnessed the safe arrival at their stations of Mr. Dickson and Mr. Robinson, and felt rather anxious to be settled at my own. It seemed to me of some importance that I should see Mr. Gillings before his departure for Batti

I

caloa. For two or three reasons I had determined to go by land. I was tired of the sea, being a bad sailor. The motion of a ship is something to which my stomach will never be inured. wished also to see a little of the country, and of the people. But the great reason was that, in all probability, the journey by land would be the more expeditious of the two. The monsoon was about changing, the winds variable, and, at this season, strong currents make it difficult to get round. A vessel may perform the trip in three or four days, or a fortnight. I hoped to arrive in Trincomalee, by land, in four days, the distance being about a hundred and thirty miles. A pony being offered me, belonging to the station at Batticaloa, I decided at once. Provisions and cooking utensils having been secured, (Mrs. Percival performing the same friendly offices for me here which Mrs. Gogerly had done in Colombo,) I engaged a few coolies to carry my luggage, and prepared to depart. I sent them forward on Thursday, the 18th, directing them to sleep at a place where the mail stops, (if an old phaeton deserves the name,) in order that they might be ready for the journey on the 19th. I took my place in this conveyance at five in the morning, and had the mortification to pass my coolies, who were only a few miles on the road, when I expected they had been at the terminus of the regular road,—at least twenty miles. These, however, were little disappointments of which my friends had advertised me. A planter who happened to be my travelling companion in the mail, gave me an invitation to breakfast, which I gladly accepted. At two o'clock the coolies arrived; and when they had taken their rice, I mounted my pony, intending to sleep at Pass Bashuta.

I was now entering upon scenes that were entirely new. The Government rest-house at this place is a commodious building, and the keeper of it very obliging and civil; exerting himself to procure me milk, &c., though the hour was comparatively late. Having made a hearty meal, I spread my mattress on the table, and lay down to rest, requesting my servant to call me at three o'clock. I was aroused at the proper time, but found the coolies very much indisposed to proceed. They were afraid of the elephants, which they said abounded in the jungle we were about to enter. They also declared they could not find the way in the dark. They were silenced on this head by my offering

to provide torches. After about one hour and a half spent in altercation, partly by persuasion and partly by menace, but principally by assuring them they had nothing to fear from the elephants, and that I would ride before them, between the two men who carried the flambeaux, and lead the way, they consented to go. We saw no elephant, either that day or during the remainder of the journey, on account, perhaps, of the noise which the coolies made, talking and singing as they walked along; for the tracks of several appeared, and we went through several lakes and rivers, where it was evident this lord of the forest was accustomed to slake his thirst. I was anxious to breakfast at Chundikolam, twelve miles distant; my plan being to reach Mullitevoe that evening, to rest there on the Sabbath, and hold some religious service. I was now compelled to walk a good deal, my pony beginning to fail me, a bad saddle having chafed his back.

At ten A.M. I was seated in the resthouse at Chundikolam, looking over the visiters' book, worm-eaten and in tatters; and I recognised with much pleasure the names of the Rev. Jonathan Crowther, Rev. Peter Percival, and others of our Missionaries. The next stage was also twelve miles,-Martlau. On our way we had a tremendous thunder-storm, surpassing everything of the kind I ever witnessed. The rain came down in floods, and rolled on our path as I have seen it in connexion with weirs in England. We reached Martlau at five P. M., wet through; and there is no rest-house here. However, we found a Government official in the place; a poor man who calls himself the Postmaster, and lives on a salary of sixpence per day. He told me he lived as servant with the Rev. James Lynch in Jaffna, who taught him English, and to read the Bible. He offered me a place in his hut, containing nothing but a table, a rude couch, and a chair without a bottom! As the rain continued, I was thankful for any accommodation; and, having changed my clothes, I felt as comfortable as, under the circumstances, I could expect. rode on to Mullitevoe early in the morning, and was kindly received by H. Pole, Esq., the Government Agent there.

I

I left Mullitevoe at one o'clock on Monday morning, notwithstanding the remonstrance of my coolies, who said it was going to rain. We carried torches, as usual; but the path became so indistinct that it scarcely sufficed to assure us that footsteps had been there before.

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