sels, indicating a sound judgment and a heart devoted to the sacred cause, which we are aiming to advance.

After concluding his long and animating address at the opening of the meeting, the president was informed that the hall, where they were assembled, was entirely full, and great numbers were unable to enter. The Society on. hearing this, removed to the Reformed Church.

From the Annual Report, it appears, that the Committee are signally devoted to the interests of the Society, and assiduous in their efforts to increase its strength and usefulness: nor are their efforts without success. Eleven new Auxiliaries were added during the year, to the thirteen previously existing. The receipts into the treasury, amounted to 34,369 francs. The protestant clergy are greatly interested in this Society, and support it with their influence.

"Let us rejoice," say the Committee, "at seeing the pastors of our churches, every where, almost without exception, taking the lead in these religious operations, which give so much cause to bless God."

This Society has under its patronage, a Seminary for the education of missionaries, which contains six pupils, represented to be ardently devoted to the cause of missions, and assiduous in qualifying themselves to engage in it. Other young men are preparing to enter this school.

Extracts from the correspondence with auxiliary societies, are inserted. A letter from Nismes, says:-

The first Monday of January 1826, saw the Monthly Concert commenced with a great concourse of people. The church was full. The contributions surpass our expectations. The people take a lively interest in our enterprise; they converse about it; bear a part in it; and all say, that, by the blessing of God, it will prosper.

This auxiliary sent to the parent Society 846 francs.

The auxiliary at Bourdeaux, sent 1,200 francs, which, they say, is only in anticipation of what they expect to send after their general meeting. In their communications, they add:

You perceive that our second year promises a continued increase in our receipts. As to zeal in behalf of missions, it is great among all our members: each of us endeavors to make the cause in which we are engaged, generally known and favorably regarded. The wonders every where wrought by the truth of God, and the clear proofs that He crowns it with his blessing, are the best arguments that we can use. In all things, we know that

we can do nothing without Him; we therefore earnestly implore His mercy and His blessing, both upon ourselves and upon our fellow-men.

President Edwards' tract on Union in Prayer for the spread of the Gospel, has been republished and circulated. The Monthly Concert for prayer is extensively regarded by the protestant churches, and collections in aid of missions, are taken, as in this country; the poor, and children in the Sunday schools, bring in their mites; female auxiliaries and associations of various classes of people, are formed; and in all the movements of the protestant churches, relative to missions, we may trace the operation of real piety; and encouraged by the rapid progress made during the last three or four years, we may hope, that the time is drawing nigh, when France will not only be evangelized itself, but when it will become a powerful ally to those nations which are engaged in sending the Gospel to the heathen.

All this feeling and these active increasing efforts are among the protestants of Francea body of Christians, which has been struggling for existence these three centuries, and which is now depressed and overborne by the Catholics.

It is pleasing to know, that, while the French protestants are becoming interested in the progress of Christianity among the heathen, and in the general prosperity of the church, the spirit of vital, active piety, is reviving among its own members. Such has been the influence of a zeal for foreign missions on the American churches; and the fact, that a church,which desires, and labors to promote the salvation of the heathen, will feel the value and power of the Gospel, and labor successfully to diffuse it at home, is well introduced and explained in the following paragraph, which we translate from an address contained in the Report before us.

The great benefits growing out of our evangelical missions, the spiritual benefits,-are not limited to the pagans, the Mahometans, and the Jews, to whom they are the means of sending the divine and saving light of the Gospel. They exert an influence on ourselves also: the good which they do to foreign and pagan nations, is returned back upon ourselves, and upon nations where Christianity has long been known, but where it greatly needs to be re-animated and rendered active. Some one has very justly remarked,-and it is well never to lose sight of it,-that our societies for evangelical missions are not established for ourselves, they are not designed to spread Christianity in the interior of France, but to send it to nations not yet evangelized; but how can we interest our

selves in the progress of the Gospel among distant nations, and in the salvation of men whom we never knew, without ardently desiring, at the same time, that this Gospel should shed its light upon ourselves, and upon our own churches, without having near at heart, our own salvation, the salvation of our friends and fellow citizens, and the salvation of that multitude which are all around us, and the great mass of whom are walking in that broad way which leadeth to destruction.

Burmah.

SUFFERINGS OF THE MISSIONARIES
AT AVA.

At p. 363 of our last volume, we inserted a letter from Dr. Judson, to the late Dr. Baldwin, of Boston, giving a very brief history of his treatment at Ava during the war between the English East India Company and the Burman empire. We shall now lay before our readers an abridgment of a more particular statement, from the pen of Mrs. Judson, addressed to the late Joseph Butterworth, Esq. and published in the London Missionary Register. It was written in March of the last year, and describes a series of sufferings, the like to which are not often to be narrated in the history of missions.

It would seem, that the Burman government had no idea the English were in earnest in their threats of war, until Rangoon was taken. Consequently the report of that event was heard with surprise and amazement. As soon as an army had been sent down the river, charged with a commission to captivate the hostile strangers, or drive them from the country, and the government had leisure for reflection, it was concluded that there must be spies in the country, who had invited the foreigners over; and three English merchants, named Rogers, Gauger, and Laird, were suspected to be the spies, and were arrested and confined. In examining the accounts of Mr. Gauger, it was found, that the two missionaries, Judson and Price, had taken money of him, which brought upon them, also, the suspicion of being spies. Until this discovery, the king had refused to molest them, believing they were, as he said, "true men:" but now, in an angry tone, he ordered both to be arrested. In what manner this mandate was obeyed, Mrs. Judson thus describes:

On the 8th of June, a City Writer, at the head of a dozen savages, with one whose markcd face denoted him an executioner, rushed into the house and demanded Mr. Judson. "You are called by the king," said the

Writer, (a mode of expression when about to execute the king's order,) and instantly the small cord was produced by the spotted face, who roughly seized Mr. Judson, threw him on the floor, and tied his hands behind him. The scene was now dreadful. The little children were screaming with fear-the Burmans in our employ running here and there, endeavoring to escape the hands of those unfeeling wretches-and the Bengal servants mute with amazement and horror, at the situation in which they saw their master. I offered money to the executioner, and entreated him to untie Mr. Judson; but in vain were my tears and entreaties: they led him away, I knew not whither: and I was left guarded by ten men, who had received strict orders to confine me close, and let no one go in or out. I retired to my room; and attempted to pour out my soul to Him, who, for our sakes, was bound and led away to execution; and even in that dreadful moment I experienced a degree of consolation hardly to be expected.

In this employment she was not allowed to be long engaged, but was ordered to come out, for the purpose of examination before one of the magistrates. Having destroyed her papers, she came forth, and her name, age and country, were noted down, and the names of four little Burman girls, and of the two Bengalees in her service, and all were pronounced to be slaves to the king, and as such were placed under a guard of ten Burmans.

It was now-continues Mrs. Judson-near evening: with what anxiety I waited the return of our faithful Moung Ing, who had followed Mr. Judson at a short distance, to see what became of him! I had then no doubt but I could procure the release of Mr. Judson if he had not been executed, by getting a petition presented to the queen: but I was also a prisoner, and could not move out of the house. After dark, Moung Ing returned, with the intelligence that he saw Mr. Judson conducted to the court-house, and thence to the deathprison, the gates of which were closed, and he saw no more. What a night was now before me! The uncertainty of Mr. Judson's fate, my own unprotected situation, and the savage conduct of the ten Burmans, all conspired to make it the most dreadful night that I ever passed. I barred the doors, and retired with the four Burman children into the inner room. The guards were constantly ordering me to unbar the gates, and come out, as they could not be assured of my safety, if I remained within. They next threatened to go in, and inform the magistrate that I had secreted myself; and that they must not be blamed if I made my escape: finding themselves unsuccessful in their demands, they took the two servants and made their fect fast in the stocks: as I apparently took no notice of this, they ordered the stocks to be raised, which makes the situation of the person confined extremely painful: this I could not bear to see, and promised them all a present in the morning, if they would release the servants. The next morning I sent Moung Ing with a piece of silver. in order to gain admission to the prison

cation were such as necessity alone could have suggested At first, I wrote to him on a flat cake, baked for the purpose, and buried it in a bowl of rice; and in return, he communicated his situation on a piece of tile, on which, when wet with water, the writing became invisible, but when dried, perfectly legible. But after some months' experience, we found that the most convenient as well as safest mode of writing, was to roll up a chit, and put it in the long nose of a coffee-pot in which I sent his tea. These circumstances may appear trivial; but they serve to show to what straits and shifts we were driven; it was a crime of the highest nature, to be found making communications to a prisoner, however nearly related.

Bundoolah departed from Ava, in all the pomp and splendor imaginable; commanding an army of between 40,000 and 50,000 men: he was to join the Prince Thar-yar-wa-dee, who had marched some months before, at the head of an equal number. The first two or three reports of the invincible general were of the most flattering nature, and were joyfully received by the firing of cannon. Now-Rangoon was surrounded by the Burman troops: then the fort of the Pagoda was taken; and guns and ammunition sufficient for the Burman army, should the war continue ever so long: and next-his majesty might expect to hear, that not a white face remained in Rangoon! But no such report ever came-the cannons ceased to fire on the arrival of a boat

and soon it was whispered about that the Burmans were defeated, and thousands of them killed, among whom were many officers; and that Bundoolah and the few that remained, had fled to Donaboo. With what anxiety did we listen for the report "The English are advancing!" for, in the arrival of foreign troops, consisted our only hope of deliverance.

The war now dragged on heavily on the part of the Burmans; and though the king and government continued to supply Bundoolah with what he required, yet their confidence in him was shaken, and their hopes far from sanguine.

News at length came, that the English army was advancing, and had come within 20 miles of Donaboo. Ava was consequently in confusion, and the queen began to send away her immense treasure. This was in March, and the hot season had commenced, which, in that place, is peculiarly severe.

The white prisoners were all put inside of the common prison, in five pair of irons each; and where they were so crowded with Burman thieves and robbers, that they had not sufficient room to lie down. There were at the time near a hundred prisoners, all in one room, without a window or hole for the admittance of air, and the door half closed.

Again did Mrs. J. apply to the governor for a mitigation of their case, but in vain. The old man shed tears at her distress, but said his orders were from a high quarter, and he could not comply with her request. He had even been commanded, privately to execute all the

white prisoners; and to keep them closely confined, was the least he could do. He ordered, however, that they should be allowed to go outside of the door to eat their rice, and that, when within, they should be placed as near the door as possible.

The heat was now dreadful, and the confined air depriving the white prisoners of inclination for food, their appearance became more like that of the dead than of the living. Dai

ly did Mrs. J. visit the governor, to entreat his pity. Sometimes he seemed half inclined to listen; but was doubtless restrained by fear of higher authority.

It was now reported, that the English troops had reached Donaboo, and that Bundoolah was dead. The report having been conveyed officially to his majesty, he was mute with disappointment, and the queen smote on her breast in despair.

A Woongyee, or minister of state, who had once possessed great influence, but had fallen into disgrace, thought this a good opportunity to retrieve his character, and regain his influence. He is called by Mrs. J the Pagan Woongyee. He petitioned for the command of the army, and engaged to drive the English from Burmah. Immediately all power was vested in him. His inveterate hatred to foreigners, was soon manifested, and all who had escaped oppression hitherto, now fell into his

merciless hands.

Mr. Judson had now been in close confinement, and in five pair of fetters, for a month; and with anguish indescribable, I saw him sinking under the weight of his sufferings. He was taken with a high fever. My distress and entreaties now prevailed with the governor of the city to give a written order to remove Mr. Judson from the common prison into a little bamboo room, six feet long and four wide. I also obtained an order to give him medicine, and visit him whenever I wished. I had removed into the governor's compound, and was living in a bamboo house, where the thermometer daily rose to 106; but thought myself happily situated to be near the prison, and allowed to visit Mr. Judson, who began now to hope that he should recover from the fever, as his situation was so much better than before.

us.

But new and dreadful trials were yet before I had gone in one morning to give Mr. Judson his breakfast, and intended spending a few hours as usual, when the governor, in great haste, sent for me. I was agreeably disappointed on appearing before him, to find that he had nothing in particular to communicate, and that he was uncommonly kind and obliging. He had detained me a long time, when a servant came in hastily, and whispered that the foreign prisoners had all been taken out, and he knew not where they were carried. Without speaking to the governor, I ran down stairs into the street, hoping to catch