( 100 ) A MISSIONARY THOUGHT. [SEPT. GOD forbid that I should ever look upon the contempt of men for the gospel as a personal offence. Let me not be angry on account of it. Their sin is against the Saviour-Him only. It is enough that they are exposed to the "wrath of the Lamb." Let me pity them, and love them. Nothing else does any good. Christ saw His disciples go to sleep while He prayed, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in Gethsemane. And His love did not fail. I had a feeling yesterday, as though I wanted to be away from this crew. But shall I find other men more favourable to my gospel? No; and if God sees fit that I should spend my life among these men, let me joyfully submit. God is to be with them all through life. Think of that, my soul. He does not give Himself any relief. He follows them day and night with His mercies, year out, and year in, till they are hid away in the grave. ["Extracts from a journal kept at sea,” printed in the “Bombay Guardian.” wwww RUPERT'S LAND-HOPE IN DEATH. THE Lord is gathering together His own elect, and bringing in from the midst of various tribes the great multitude, which shall stand triumphant in its completedness before His throne. They of whom it shall consist are often from amongst the poor and despised amongst men-individuals whom the world has never heard of, who have lain concealed in their insignificance, but, through the preaching of the gospel, they have been brought in humble faith to Jesus as the alone Saviour, and have become in Him heirs of glory. One of these we may read of in the following extract-a poor Indian from the wilds of North America, but one to whom Christ was precious. And such are the Lord's precious ones, of whom He says, "They shall be mine, in that day when I make up my jewels." We are indebted to the Rev. Henry Budd for this simple record of Christian experience. "July 26, 1854-In the evening one of the schoolboys came over to my house, saying that one of the old men of the Christian Indians was brought here by his family in a very low state of health, and the old man had sent him over to ask me to go and see him. I went over to him immediately, and found him in the lowest state of weakness, his appearance like that of a mere skeleton, but still retaining the full powers of his reason. He knew me at once, and immediately reached out his hand to take hold of mine. I asked him, 'How long is it ago that you have been so weak and so low?' 'I have been,' he said, 'in a weak state of health this long time, but I was able all along to move about; but since four days ago I have been quite helpless and unable to move, or even to taste any thing. I was going after my son, who is gone hunting the moose deer; but when I got so bad, I thought of returning at once. I wish to see all our friends, the Christian Indians: I want to tell them the state of my mind; and, while I am able to speak, I want to tell them that I am not afraid to die; and this sickness, and even death itself, does not frighten me in the least.' He had to rest several times before he made all this out; and on my asking him why he was not afraid to die, 'My Saviour is strong,' he said, 'and has all power. I have fled to Him; I have 1855.] RUPERT'S LAND-HOPE IN DEATH. 101 taken shelter in His mercy; and now I have nothing to fear.' I still exhorted him to look to his Saviour, and trust in nothing short of His merits, and endeavour to prepare himself for eternity. He asked me to pray for him, and joined us all in prayer. July 27-Anxious to know the state of the old sick man's mind, alluded to yesterday, I went over to see him again this morning. I found him very quiet and composed. Reaching his hand and taking mine, he said, 'I am very glad you are come to see me again, and I feel quite happy when any of the Christian Indians come in.' On my asking him how he felt this morning, and what was the state of his mind, he said, 'I feel much the same as I felt yesterday, and my mind is collected and peaceful. I trust in my Saviour, and look to Him alone for pardon and peace, and how can my mind be otherwise than peaceful!' I exhorted him to continue trusting in his Saviour, and look up to Him alone for pardon, and a peaceful resignation to the mind and will of God. When I arose up to go away, he asked me, 'Are you going already?' I told him that I was going over to the other side of the river, to see a young lad, one of the schoolchildren, who I hear is also very low. He gave me his hand, and said, 'You will come again soon to see me.' "July 28-When we had finished the evening prayers in the school, I went over to hold prayers in the house where the old man lay. The people soon filled the house, and joined us in prayer. I asked the old man what he was thinking about. He said, "Heaven only: this world is nothing.' A very nice subject for me to speak from-Heaven only: this world is nothing. To contrast the vanity of the world with the hope of the dying Christian that he is going to the presence of God, where there is fulness of joy,' and to His right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore.' "July 30: Lord's-day-At 7 A.M. the school was full for the morning prayer, and the school list was also high. Nearly all the Indians are now at the station. Before we went in for the morning service I went over to see how the old man was getting on. He was very quiet, and his mind appeared to be at rest. 'I am very thankful,' he said, 'that I am permitted to see another Sabbath-day upon earth, though I cannot expect to see many now. While I am able to speak, I will tell you beforehand that I wish to be laid toward the east side of the churchyard, at the end of the other graves; and should any of my family die, you will lay them there, alongside of me.' I asked the old man again if he had any fears of death now. He said No; not in the least." His family was sitting there at his side. The old woman told me that she was not afraid to see him in this state, because she was much supported by the hope that he would only be out of the reach of misery, should he leave the world. "July 31-Raining the whole of this day. In the evening I went over to see the old man again, and found him still more weak. His tongue is so swollen that it was with much difficulty that we made out what he said. He asked me to pray for him before I went out. We immediately sang one of the hymns, and went to prayer, the old man trying to join us. After prayer, I exhorted him to look to the Saviour for help." ( 102 ) MISSIONARY EFFORTS AT PESHAWUR. [SEPT. TIME was when the commencement of Missionary effort amongst the natives of India was discountenanced by those in authority. It was considered that any interference with the religious prejudices of the natives would be prejudicial to British interests. No idea could be more mistaken it was a grievous misapprehension. But yet men so persuaded themselves, and in the decision to which they came, that it was expedient to discourage all attempts to convert the natives, they showed how little of reverence they had for the command of Christ, and how little compassion for the souls of their fellow-men. Christ's commandment, that His gospel should be preached universally, was to be set aside, and the heathen suffered to continue in ignorance and superstition, rather than the hazard be incurred of prejudicing English interests. As we have already said, no greater misapprehension ever existed. On the contrary, we feel persuaded that a providential enlargement of influence and power has been permitted to England in order to afford opportunity for the wide preaching of the gospel; and that no surer method of diminishing England's power could be adopted, than the nation taking up a position that should in any way interfere with this great purpose of God. Whatever hinders the onward progress of the great work of evangelization must be taken out of the way. It is therefore a cause for unfeigned thankfulness that a great change in this respect has come over men's minds, and that influential men, in high positions, instead of looking coldly on Missionary operations, and discouraging, if not obstructing them, admit their importance, and frankly sanction them. Men, whose character and position alike command respect, hesitate not to avow their conviction that England's duty is to encourage and protect all judicious efforts which may be made for the evangelization of the heathen within her jurisdiction, or bordering on her territories; and British residents in India have become so aware of this, that many of our Indian Missions have been commenced on their representations and entreaties. Amongst others may be mentioned the Punjab Mission, one of the most important and interesting of the present day. This country was entered by our Missionaries about three years ago, and a little congregation has already been gathered together at Amritsar, with an ordained Sikh placed over it as native pastor. But our friends there were anxious we should push on still further, and that Peshawur, beyond the Indus, on the frontiers of Affghanistan, and the door into Central Asia, should be occupied. They therefore convened a meeting at that place on Dec. 19, 1853, at which resolutions were drawn up expressive of the convictions of the residents on this subject, and an earnest appeal forwarded to the Church Missionary Society, entreating the commencement of Missionary effort in that quarter, and promising pecuniary support to the amount of 30,000 rupees. Regarding this as an indication of the path of duty to be pursued by them, the Committee hesitated not to respond to this appeal, by sending out, as soon as they could be procured, additional Missionaries to the Punjab, so as to render the occupation of Peshawur possible; and three Missionaries-the Rev. Messrs. Pfander and Clark, and Major Martin reached this advanced post in February of the present year. Immediately on their arrival a second meeting was convened, the object of which was to afford the residents an opportunity of pledging themselves, as a Christian community residing on the spot, to assist and encourage, 1855.] MISSIONARY EFFORTS AT PESHAWUR. 103 by every means in their power, both those who had come to labour in that distant sphere, and also the Society which had sent them forth. The meeting was well attended, the numbers present being considerably greater than at the meeting which had been held the year previously. The chair, as on the previous occasion, was taken by Major Herbert Edwardes, C.B., Commissioner; and the meeting was commenced by reading the 55th chapter of Isaiah, and by earnest prayer, offered up by the chaplain, the Rev. E. Sharkey. The chairman, in his address, recapitulated the leading events relating to the Mission-the meeting in December 1853; the appeal to the Church Missionary Society; the answer, in the Missionaries then actually present with them. He then referred to the Pushtu, the language spoken by the Affghans, and the necessity not only of having Missionaries who should be able to preach in that language, but also Pushtu versions of the Holy Scriptures, which might be put into circulation. In the year 1818 the Pentateuch and the New Testament had been translated into Pushtu, under the superintendence of the Missionaries at Serampur; but of the edition which was then printed it could not be ascertained, even after application to Serampur itself, that any copy still remained. After much unsuccessful correspondence on the subject, the thought occurred to Major Edwardes, that many years before, in the Derajat country, he had himself seen a copy of the New Testament in Pushtu, in the hand of a Puthan chief. It had been given him by a Missionary at Hurdwar, and had been most carefully preserved by him, as he said, from fire and water, with the secret conviction that the English power would one day advance onwards to his own country, when it was his intention to produce it. This copy Major Edwardes wrote to procure. It was at once sent to Peshawur, and its place was supplied by a Persian Bible; but the old chief died the day before the latter arrived. Thus was a native chief, Muhamed Ali Khan, of the Sundapur tribe of Puthans, in the Kolachí country, made instrumental in preserving one copy of the Pushtu Scriptures, until the time arrived for making known the gospel among the Affghan tribes. He was then led to send it where it might be reprinted, and copies multiplied for their use, and immediately afterwards he died, as if the work for which he had been prepared and preserved alive were then finished. It was also remarkable that Major Edwardes himself had been led especially to notice this book in Kolachí as far back as 1848, in order that by his means it might become available, in 1854, for the benefit of Peshawur, where the providence of God had called him to occupy the position he now held. It had been from this book-although another copy was afterwards found and sent from Serampur-which had been thus remarkably preserved, that reprints have been made. Application was made to the Agra Bible Society, who engaged to print, for the use of this Mission, the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Ephesians. The letters peculiar to the Pushtu were cast at the Church Missionary Station at Secundra, and it is hoped that St. Luke's Gospel will be very shortly completed. These facts are full of hope, for the heathen, for India, for England. They show that among her distinguished men there are those who are not ashamed to honour God, and who, in the hour of difficulty and danger, will not be left without that wisdom which is "profitable to direct," and which cometh from Him alone. ( 104 ) ON THE DEATH OF A MISSIONARY. HE is gone, he is gone to the land of the blest, find rest; He hath crossed "the dark river" to cross it no more. [SEPT. Shall we mourn that he's gone? Shall we mourn for him now, Shall we mourn that the angels rejoiced when he came, And all heaven anew praised Immanuel's name? Shall we mourn that he dwells with the angels of God, Ah, no! not for this, not for this do we grieve, The husband, the father, the brother lies low, He hath gone to the grave, who came hither to tell That voice is now silent, which often was heard LIFE ENDANGERED, YET SECURE. WE think our readers will be touched by the perusal of the following very affecting narrative, from the "Western Episcopalian," of remarkable preservation in the midst of most imminent danger. Cincinnati, Feb. 5, 1855-On Thursday morning, Jan. 30, Bishop M'Ilvaine started for Cincinnati, on his return from a visit to Louisville. He took the steam ferry-boat at Louisville for the purpose of crossing the river, and taking his seat in the Jeffersonville train. The day was bitterly cold, and the Ohio was full of running ice, going down in large fields to the Falls, which lie just below Louisville. The boat became fixed, in the middle of the river, in a large mass of solid ice, and could neither advance nor recede. Instantly she was at the mercy of the current, and began to move towards the Falls. The imminence of the danger became at once apparent. There were about 200 passengers on board-men, women, and children-besides omnibuses, waggons, horses, and their attendants. It now seemed almost certain |