Sept. 15th.-At Kineton, Francis Hewitt, aged thirty-seven years. Being favoured with pious parents, and with an early religious training, he was kept from many gross sins into which other young people fell; but it was not until he reached his twenty-fourth year, that he underwent a change of heart. For some time previously, he began to be more regular in his attendance at the means of grace, and, at length, after being deeply wrought upon under a funeral sermon, he yielded to the entreaties of a pious friend, and commenced meeting in class. He did not, however, obtain peace with God upon his first joining the society, but continued to mourn on account of sin for some weeks, during the last three days of which period his distress of mind was so great that he could scarcely eat, drink, or sleep. At length, through faith in Christ, the burden of guilt was removed, and he obtained a clear sense of pardon. From this time he had great delight in the service of God, and his attendance upon all the means of grace was punctual and regular. He was remarkable for his attachment to Methodism, his love to the Ministers, and for his amiability of disposition. As a Class-Leader and Superintendent of the Sunday-school, he laboured to be useful to others, and his diligence in both these offices was great. The affliction which terminated in his death,

though short, was very severe; but he murmured not, feeling that his heavenly Father had appointed the cup of suffering, and that all would be for the best. When labouring under great pain, he said, "It is hard work." A friend asked, "Is it a good work?" He replied, "Yes: I end well!" Another friend said, "It is a dark valley," alluding to death: he immediately replied, "Yes: but I fear no evil;" and when words failed through weakness, he waved his hand in token of victory over the last enemy.

E. B.

Nov. 10th.-At St. Mawes, in her seventeenth year, Deborah Banks, youngest daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Carvosso. She was converted to God about two years and nine months before her death, while resident at Sherborne. The Spirit's testimony to her adoption was clear. From that period she held fast an intelligent and firm confidence in Christ, walking in the ordinances of God with Christian consistency. Her illness was severe and protracted. She murmured not at the dispensations of Heaven; but partook of her sorrows as "the cup of her Father;" praying earnestly and continually that "patience might have her perfect work." Her prayers were heard, God more fully baptized her with his Holy Spirit. Thus sanctified, and made meet for her inheritance above, she waited with resignation and ardent desire for the end. At length her welcome Saviour appeared, and she hastened to join the "beckoning" throng on the blissful shores of Canaan, the "rest that remains for the people of God." B. C.

THE Love that breathes that flood of bliss Through myriad realms of holiness, Whose glories bathe the' eternal shore, Till angel powers can bear no more; Blest source of all in heaven reveal'd, Of all eternity can yield;

That Love hath wept the sinner's doom, Hath dew'd the mountain, gemm'd the tomb,

Hath heal'd the sick, the poor relieved, The weary soothed, the hungry fed; Hath wiped the tears of all that grieved,

And burst the slumbers of the dead! That Love hath borne his children's sin,All that in ages past hath been, All that the page of life unfolds, All that Omniscience beholds ;Beneath a world's transgression bent, Himself hath borne the punishment!

Almighty Love! supreme, divine,
And are thine offers still benign?
And is thy Spirit waiting still,
To heal, to welcome, all that will?
Why sleep so long the' avenging fires,
But that thy mercy never tires?
Why hath thy vengeance never hurl'd
Its death-bolt o'er a rebel world,
But that that world is given to thee,
The dear-bought prize of Calvary?
And ages more shall see thee keep
Thy vigil o'er thy wandering sheep!
No eye can view, no power can bind,
Great Love, thine essence undefined!
Vast as the Infinite's abode,
Unchanging as the Name of God;
A fathomless and shoreless sea,
With every wave eternity!

NATIVE TEACHERS.

SEPT. 30th, 1847.-I am preparing to send forth some Native Teachers. This is a very important part of our work in these islands: the selection requires great care, and a sound judgment. Nor is this all; for two extremes should be avoided, that of making no use of Native Teachers in any department of the great work now in progress, and the opposite one, of intrusting too much power and authority to men not sufficiently informed to bear it. They are hereby injured themselves, and the flock intrusted to them is mangled, and not fed. A native agency should be trained: without this it will never come into full efficiency. should first be taught, who would teach the things of the kingdom of God.

They

The lotu is an entire disruption of the whole order of things: wives must be put away, in all cases of plurality; the reign of terror ends, and the rule of love comes in its place. In this moral and social revolution, some strange things occur, such as are far too difficult for the decision of a poor native, who, though he has "passed from death unto life," has had no experience, and will form very crude notions, of this order of things. I could set down twenty cases illustrative of this matter; but to conceal is better than to uncover the frailties and errors of those who mean well. There are three ways in which the agency of pious natives may now be employed with advantage:

1. To conduct schools, when they themselves have been instructed and trained sufficiently; and it is all the better, if they are under the superintendence of a Missionary.

2. They are useful in opening new

places, where the Heathen desire to be instructed, but are still ignorant of the lotu. In this case, a pious Native Teacher will be of great use, and will prepare the way of the Lord. The occasional visit of a Missionary will be required even here, and that at an early period of the new Station, or else blunders will be made, and the work will be marred. But under the occasional inspection of a Missionary, the work may go on well for some years, as in the cases of Mua and Ono.

3. A native agency works admirably under the eye of a Missionary. Here is its great field of usefulness. Our Local-Preacher system comes in at this point with great efficiency. A superior native, having the charge of an island, or a town, conversing once a fortnight with his Pastor, and having frequent visits from him, will never fail to be more or less efficient. The Native Teachers are seldom any trouble when they have access to the Missionary; for they submit every case to him, and are entirely under the control of their Pas

tors.

The Friendly Islands have produced one Assistant Missionary in the case of Benjamin Latuselu; and the Feejees also will, I am fully persuaded, supply their Preachers of the Gospel in due time, who will be duly qualified, and regularly sent forth as the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.

I cannot but admire the order of God in these islands; where He opens to us doors of usefulness just as He gives us agents to enter into them, and the Native Teachers are multiplied just as they can be of use, by having due supervision from the Missionaries. The openings generally increase rather faster than they can

be occupied. All the labourers are on full stretch, and open new ground so fast as to be in danger of leaving such lovely flocks as that at Ono to be scattered in the evil day, when the wolf shall find them shepherdless.

FEEJEEAN PROPHETS AND PRO-
PHECIES.

Among many other things, which suggest to me the notion that the Feejeeans have derived some of their religious ideas from the same source as the Jews, one is remarkable; namely, the existence of Prophets, as well as of Priests. The Priests are generally Prophets, one part of their work being to predict the success that will attend warlike expeditions, &c. But there are others who are more particularly Prophets, who profess to foretell distinctly events which appear very improbable to any one but themselves, but which seem to come to pass in a very remarkable manner.

The name of this class of persons is Rairai, ("seer,") from rai, "to see." This word has a very similar sound to the ancient name of the Prophets, who, we are told, were called Seers at the first: (1 Sam. ix. :) the resemblance is to be found in the sense as well as in the sound, and is certainly remarkable. The Hebrew word for seer is roeh, which is the participle of raah; and this is certainly much like rai, and means precisely the same. Rairai is the same word reduplicated, and means precisely the same as roch: both designate a person who sees preternatural things, yet not always by the bodily sense, but in a preternatural way; that is, by means of alleged inspiration. Sometimes the Feejeean seers describe what they predict in a way exactly similar to the ancient heathen sibyl, expressed in the following lines:

Bella, horrida bella,

Et Tybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno. "I foresee wars, horrid wars, and Tyber foaming with much blood."

The Feejeean seers profess to see a town in flames, when foretelling its destruction; and sometimes declare that they feel the clubs of the successful warriors do the work of destruction on their own heads.

One of the most remarkable of these seers I have heard of, was a blind man, well known to Ratu Melchisedec, the Chief of Vewa, and to others of the Vewa people. The following striking prediction is said to have been delivered by him, and has been remarkably accomplished. It must be observed that the Prophet knew but little of the affairs of Rewa, as he

resided in another part of the group, which has no political connexion with either Rewa or Bau. We must bear in mind also that the Bau and Rewa people were at that time on the very best terms, with every prospect of remaining so. Yet the Prophet declared that there would be war between Rewa and Bau, that one of the Chiefs of Rewa would die a natural death, that another would float away, another would be killed, and the most diminutive of the whole would be made King of Rewa. Such was the reported prediction: how stands the fact? The war broke out when Rewa had four Chiefs, one of whom was of small stature. One Chief was killed in the war, one was floated off to America, one died a natural death, the little man is virtually King of Rewa, and Thakombau has already had one narrow escape with his life; but, as the war is not yet ended, that part of the prediction may be yet fulfilled. We hope it will not. It is now seven or eight years since this prophecy was delivered.

FEEJEEANS IN SICKNESS, AND

ABOUT TO DIE.

The Feejeeans have a custom which resembles, in some respects, that of the ancient Patriarchs, who blessed their children on their death-beds, and foretold their future destiny. When a Feejeean is about to die, he calls his children around him, and takes leave of them in some such manner as the following:-" I am going to die, you will remain behind : you will look well to our affairs, and you will continue to prosper," &c. "But such an one will die," (referring to some one he dislikes,) "some disease will overtake him, or some calamity will befall him, and he will be destroyed." The dying person mentions the name of the party, and produces considerable concern in his mind, by these predictions of evil; as it is understood that when the spirit of the dying man arrives at the other world, he will have both liberty and power to return and bring to pass what has been predicted. Sick people are feared on this account, and are often strangled, that these malevolent prognostications may not be uttered by them.

When a Christian approaches the other world, his spirit becomes more and more subdued and elevated, and his hope of future blies brings a large portion of heavenly purity and love into his spirit: and it would appear that, as a Heathen approaches his end, the malignant, cruel spirit impresses more fully his image on

his soul; his friends become afraid of him; and this is one reason why they strangle the sick, according to their own account of the matter.

I have mentioned one way in which the sick show their malignity by devoting to destruction those whom they dislike. Another thing, which is quite in point, is their custom of getting up in the night, when all the members of the family are asleep, in order to pollute the drinkingvessels with their saliva, that they may thereby communicate their diseases to the other members of the family. When they are left to themselves, as they frequently are in the day-time, the people of the house being employed in their gardens, they will go and lie down on the mats of those whom they wish to injure, thinking that by this means they can communicate their own disease to them. In some instances they get so out of temper with all about them, that they will use means to destroy themselves, if they cannot persuade their friends to strangle them. A case of this kind occurred a short time since. An old woman, who had been ill some time, persuaded herself that the members of the family were always speaking against her, and, being deaf, she could not believe that they ever conversed on any other subject, not being able to hear what they said. She made herself so miserable, that existence became intolerable. She then took a stone, and almost succeeded in beating herself to death; but her friends prevented her from accomplishing her design.

I do not think that these are the only reasons why Feejecans strangle the sick; but it is one view of the question. It is generally supposed that the only cause of this horrid practice, is the cruelty of their friends: the preceding details will show that the malignant spirit of the sick has something to do with it. The vile practice of the sick lying in the beds of others will account for the general custom of putting the sick into a house by themselves. How true is the saying, "Hateful, and hating one another!"

FEEJEEAN AVERSION TO CHANGE.

I contrast the civilization of the Friendly Islands now, with the state of things which I observed a quarter of a century ago; and certainly the Christian kolo, or village, is far advanced above its former heathen state. But the difference is far more mental than physical: the mind is changed, while the outward circumstances are only slightly improved. The same is the case in Feejee, after a

ten years' residence of the Missionaries. In both cases the natives' houses remain just as they were, notwithstanding the erection of a Mission-house with stone walls, and an upper story; and another of wood, with a large verandah. These, the natives say, are very excellent houses; but "why cannot they live in houses such as their fathers lived in ?" Their canoes are the same: our vessels and boats are here; and are better than their own; but still they will be contented with what they have. Their mode of dress, or shameless undress, will also do for them: "they are as the former generation was, and why should they depart from the custom of their fathers? They taste a piece of beef, and say, "It is very good." "Then why not keep some cows?" the Missionary asks; and they reply, "Because we can do with what we have; and the cows would eat of our vines, and our sugar-canes, and we are not fond of fencing in our cultivations. We prefer to lie down and talk, or sleep, or smoke." It is in vain that you urge upon them the very great advantages of our calico over their mere paper-garments: they say at once, "We will have your calico if you will give it, but otherwise we will do as we have ever done." If you say to them, "Your land is rich; you can cultivate arrow-root, coffee, tobacco, cotton, and indigo, which grow here; and you can make cocoa-nut oil, and preserve fruits almost without end; your cordage, tortoise-shell, and sandal-wood, would sell in the colonies at a good price; your bêche-le-mer, and other fisheries, might be very productive to you, and you might have ships of your own, and dwell in houses, and wear clothes, as white men do, and live on better food and more peacefully than you have ever done aforetime: "to all this they will gene rally yield their assent, but make no effort to improve. They praise our superior habits, but continue to practise their own.

Oct. 1st.-Yesterday was an awful day of weather; and last night it blew such a storm, that I got up to watch its progress, and to pray that protection might be afforded to the brig, on her voyage from Somosomo with the Mission-families on board, now withdrawn, at least for a season, because the King will not permit any of his people to lotu, while many are calling out for Gospel-light in other parts of Feejee.

Early in the morning, I saw the "John Wesley" threading her way in between the reefs, under reefed topsails, having been out in all the fury of the

storm. Captain Wallis, of the American bark "Zotoff," was standing with me watching the movements of the brig, when he observed, "I should not be at all surprised, if she gets upon some of those reefs. The water is foul from the late rains, the clouds hang heavy overhead, and the air is in that state that makes objects look large; and Captain Buck thinks he is nearer shore than he really is. I see him at the mast-head; but he cannot see the reefs to-day." The next minute he cried out, "The brig is ashore on the reef!" We lost no time in getting off, with all our native Teachers, and others, that could be mustered quickly. Captain Wallis, with a boat's crew, afforded most seasonable and valuable help. The vessel lay full two miles from Vewa; but we were soon on board, and found the furniture of the two Mission-families, and part of their houses, covering the decks. The vessel was bumping, and the stony bottom visible. She struck at high tide, and the tides were "taking off." The wind blew very strong, and it was right aft, with much sea on. Captain Buck had just before taken in his full quantity of ballast; and the long-boat was crowded with all sorts of things from Somosomo. There was great difficulty in getting the mainhatchway clear, in order to throw the ballast overboard; yet an effort was made as quickly as possible, and her anchor carried out astern; but it was of no use, the tide having begun to ebb. There we were, hard and fast. One said, "She must be shored up to keep her from listing over as the tide ebbs out: it falls six feet here." Another said, "She is hung in the middle, and will probably break her back." A third could "see coral rocks, that in all probability would find their way through, and the vessel would thus become a wreck." A fourth could "see the brewing storm, that rendered our case additionally perilous." One came up to me, and said, "There are large war-canoes coming off, and the natives have painted their faces red: with them it is law to seize every vessel wrecked on their shores."

These were our circumstances! That was an hour of trial! We knew that prayer to God, and united effort, would be our course; and many a brief but hearty prayer of, "Lord, help us!" went up to the Advocate above.

The

decks were crowded, and must be cleared as soon as possible. The wives and children were sent ashore. Every canoe that came alongside was employed to

convey ashore the articles which crowded the decks. The Chiefs remained aboard, and were set to work, throwing ballast overboard. This kept all parties out of mischief. The yards were sent down, and a large anchor carried out astern, to heave upon when the next tide should serve, which would be at midnight. All hands worked well, and every step was taken to lighten the vessel. At eight o'clock all the Missionaries, and as many as could be spared from their respective stations, were at prayer in the cabin, which resounded with deep-toned and solemn Amens. At half-past nine, we began to heave upon the anchors astern; the wind lulled, and the lightning played at all points of the heavens. At last, when the tension of the hawsers had been brought to a high pitch, and the tide was within an hour of high water, the "John Wesley" sprung astern, and floated off in fine style: then went forth the cry, "The vessel is off!" "The ship is afloat again!" We have not ascertained that any material injury was done. At midnight the Missionaries all came ashore in a native canoe, and left the crew to secure the brig. They did well, and are exhausted enough. Captain Wallis was of great service; and the white men in Vewa lent a hand. We left Captain Buck happy once more; but he said he should have to be at work nearly all night.

Time was, when not one man on board that vessel would have escaped the oven, and the open-throated sepulchres of these barbarous people; but now they came and rendered us the most efficient help, and not one thing was said or done by any of them to give us pain. This effect would not have been produced, we think, by legislation, at home or abroad, nor by any bulls from Rome, nor by all the dancing-masters of France, nor by counting of beads, and mounting of crucifixes; no, nor even by preaching the necessary efficacy of the sacraments, and the sacredness of those who are said to be successors of the Apostles. the word of God, the simple preaching of Christ, has accomplished this moral miracle, this mighty revolution in Feejeean manners.

But

On our return to Vewa, a little after midnight, in a double canoe under the command of Varani, we were lighted over the waves by the old and modern friends, Orion and Pleiades, who were going down in the west; and Venus, the evening star, was following them toward the horizon; while the Southern Cross and the clouds of Magellan were looking