Extract of a Leller from the Missionary Lambert Janz, at Clear-Water, near the Orange River, dated Feb. 22, 1811, addressed to the Directors of the Missionary Society. In my account of June 1810, I mentioned that the Caffrarians had threatened to visit us; but hitherto we have been preserved. What may be permitted hereafter we cannot say; we live in a changeable world; but this we know, that God is immutable, and faithful to all his promises, which shall be accomplished in due time. The multitude of the Heathen shall be brought into his kingdom; they are all his creatures; and the same work of grace shall be extended to them as the most civilized nations. During the space of half a year a very dangerous fever has raged among us, which has proved fatal to many; it has, however, been the occasion of leading one man to seek the Lord; and, since his recovery, he appears to be still looking to Jesus, as the only Mediator. i am favoured continually with a good state of health; so that I have been enabled to perform the various duties of my station; for which I have great reason to be thankful. The preaching of the word is very well attended, and, I trust, not in vain. Some have been with me, acknowledging what God has done for their souls; and I have exhorted them to manifest the truth of their profession in their whole conversation and conduct. I have also inforined them, that as soon as any fellow-missionaries arrive, we shall examine them, and if found worthy, admit them members of the congregation of Christ. The school goes on well. Brother Anderson has sent us some little spelling-books; but what we shall do when the children have learned them I cannot say, for we are in great want of suitable school books. We have been highly favoured as to rain, at three different periods. This place has been quite inundated. We seldon obtain sufficient water, except by thunder storms, which renders it generally very difficult to make the fields and gardens productive; yet we all do the best we can to procure something from our ground. From this short account the Directors will perceive that affairs continue to go on tolerably well, although the Caffrarians still refuse to depart. They continue, however, as yet, to be quiet; and should they threaten us again, the Almighty, I trust, will protect us; for we are not able to take any measures for our own defence; - our only weapon is prayer. God has already granted us the desire of our hearts; we see the light of his glorious gospel shining in this dark desert; we therefore feel ourselves encouraged, with united hearts, to proceed in the further extension of the kingdom of Jesus. That the Lord may direct your hearts, and give you wisdom to select the best means of promoting his cause, is the sincere wish of Extract of a Letter from the Cape of Good Hope, dated June 15. AFTER greatly lamenting the recall of Lord Caledon, the late Governor, who had by his wise and excellent conduct, rendered himself dear to the whole colony, the writer says, 'One of the important benefits resulting from a journey which the late Governor, has taken into the interior of the colony, and which occupied three months, is the establishment of a Commission from the Court of Justice (whose sittings are held in Cape Town) to go throughout the different districts once a year, or oftener if circumstances will permit, for the trial of offences. By this salutary regulation the farmers are saved the expence and trouble of a journey of, probably, from 300 to 500 miles, for the purpose of obtaining justice. The benefits resulting from this institution are incalculable; and can only be duly appreciated by the result of a few years experience.' We heartily concur in opinion with the unknown writer of this letter; which we copy from the public prints. The Missionaries have long com plained of grievous abuses and numerous murders committed in the remole parts of the colony; to which complaints, we believe, little credit was formerly given. But we rejoice in the method now adopted, and have no doubt that it will tend to the welfare of the South African Missions, and that the poor oppressed Hottentots will be freed from those oppressions which impeded their reception of the gospel of Christ. From a respectable Roman Catholic at Malla, May 30, 1811. We have received the modern Greek and the Italian Testaments; and have applied ourselves again to the office of distribution. The Chief of the Greek Church, who resides at Malta, who is an Archimandrita, has warmly approved of these Testaments; and after having been informed by me of the Institution in England of a Society for the Propagation of the Testament of Jesus Christ in every ac cessible part of the world, he took occasion on Sunday last, when recommending to his Proselytes in the Church, the reading of the Modern Greek Testament, to commend the zeal and ardor which the English have shown to circulate the word of our Lord in different parts of the world: an object the most useful in which men could engage. I have sent 12 Greek, and as many Italian Testaments, to Prevesa, to a Deacon, my particular friend a man who will have great pleasure in receiving them for disibution. A merchant, resident here, has taken 20 Testaments, to send them to his brother, who is a Bishop at Patina. There are many persons who are now pressing to obtain from us Testaments for St. Maura, for Jania, Cefalonia, Zante, &c. I have found common sailors so desirous of having the Bible, that they would come many days journey to obtain a Greek Testa ment. I have made the experi ment to try them. A friend of mine, captain of a Greck-vessel, assures me, that this will confer a remarkable advantage on the Christians in the East; and that, if this institution shall carry its attention onwards to those nations, which are now for the most part so ignorant, they will begin to perceive more clearly the light of the holy Gospel, and to walk more surely in the true way of sal vation. I have dispatched, this morn ing, 18 Testaments to Mr., phy sician, one of our good friends. I have advised him to distribute them to those priests, in partiew lar, who are charged with the public duties of the church. I can assure you, from what we have hitherto observed, that there is likely to result from these 1000 Testaments which the Society has sent us, no ordinary good. They will further procure for us a religious communication, and a recipro cal correspondence, with numerous persons, who may prove serviceable to the souls of men in dif ferent parts of the east, and in the isles. May God favour his own work, and bless our undertaking! This pleasing information is corroborated by an English gentleman who was at Maita when the Bibles arrived. In a private letter he says, It was indeed gratifying to see the desire which the Greeks evinced to get possession of this blessed book! the people used to come daily to the house of Mr. ten or twelve at a time, to buy Tes taments; and, like the lepers at Samaria. wishing that their hre thren might partake also, they would return the next day for a supply to carry with them to any island or part of the continent they were returning to,— There can be no doubt that the Greeks are ripe for the harvest; and truly our blessed Saviour inay now be considered as pointing to the fields there; for I brought home with me an application from the Bishop of Aleppo for a missionary to preach to the numerous opulent Greeks of that neighbourhood. They may be considered as saying 'Sir, we would see Jesus' and I hope that the Missionary Societies will entertain this most important request.' Extract of a Letter from a German Correspondent at Paris, Aug.2, 1811. 'I am confident that the German Bibles and Testaments, which I received in Halle, have proved a great blessing, both in Austria and Hungary. I never was in all my life received with such real delight as when I made my appearance at Presburg, with the Bible in my hand. The Bibles and Testaments which I could spare for them at that time, were all sold the next day, with the exception of a few given to the very poorest, gratuitously. All who could, would pay. The Hungarians wish to establish a Bible Society, and an office of their own, for printing Bibles. They will begina Subscription among them selves, provided the Parent Society in London assist and support them. Remember, and proclaim it as loud as you, can, that there are upwards of a million and a half of Protestants in Hungary, who have, among them, only a few thousand Bibles! Extract of a Letter from a Professor of Divinity in Hungary. Feb. 15, 1811. THE dearness of Sclavonic and Hungarian Bibles has occasioned a great scarcity of them; and this has been much increased by the unhappiness of the times in my country; through which, many thousand Sclavonic and Hungarian Bibles have been taken from them by main force, and often destroyed by flames, in a most miserable manmer!--and yet, it must be confessed, that the Protestant interest in Hungary has been preserved by the instrumentality of the Bible alone. Pa this account, all good men car ΧΙΧ, nestly desire that Sclavonic and Hungarian Bibles should be printed in great numbers, and sold at the lowest price. Nor can we hope by any other means, not only that our religious interests can increase, but that even attention to piety be propagated in my country. For which end, I wish, with my whole heart, and most earnestly pray God, that he would direct the attention of the London Bible Society to Hungary, as likely to produce the greatest benefits. INDIA. Extract of a Leller from India. I WAS particularly gratified from the circumstance attending my visit to Agra. In the fort of Agra is the palace, once the resi dence of the Mogul Emperors. The commanding officer caused the European troops to assemble in what was once the hall of public audience. In a gallery high raised, and communicating by a private way with the other apartments, used to sit the king. Below this, on a large marble slab, elevated about two feet from the floor, stood the officer who was appointed to hand up petitions to the king. On this identical spot I stood, and after reading morning prayer, preached to about 500 of my countrymen on the general judgment. At Agra there is a Roman Catholic Church, and many noninal Christians. The present priest is very avaricious, and never assembles the people for public worship; but as Agra is my present station, I am hoping to be of use to the native Christians; and, by schools and other methods, to further the blessed cause in which we are embarked. : During my late journey I observed, with comparatively few exceptions, the idol temples falling into decay. Property has of late undergone an entire change in this country, or rather there are very few rich native individuals left; so that there are fewer shows, or processions, or mock representations of their ouce famed gods. Idolatry languishes; and had they but an offer of any, thing better, it certainly would be 3 R has embraced a suitable occasion for such a discourse, in consequence of the death of a Mr. Charrier, late French Master of the Royal Academy in his Majesty's Dock Yard, Portsmouth. Mr. Charrier, it appears, was bred to the sea, and was taken prisoner by the English. Having tasted the sweets of religious freedom in this country, he was unwilling to return to his own. He appears to have been brought to a knowledge of the gospel, in its power, under the ministry of Mr. Romaine, and continued to the time of his death, at the age of 73, a professor of the truth as it is in Jesus. Mr. Griffin takes for his text Matt. x. 23: When they perseente you in this city, flee ye into another;' from which he directs the attention of his readers, 1, To the baleful subject of persecution; 2, To the interesting subject of religious liberty; and, 3, To the useful considerations which these subjects suggest. Some readers will be surprised to find that persecution continued in France till the time of the Revolution. So lately as the year 1762, Mr. Roche, a Protestant minister, and three gentlemen who were brothers, were executed at Toulouse; and a most tragical scene was exhibited in the saine town in the a mily of Calas, who were most wickedly persecuted, and Mr. Calas, then 70 years of age, was cruelly tortured and broken on the wheel; while he cited the parliament that persecuted him to the tribunal of God. The Bishops of the Romish Church, not satisfied with the blood that had been shed, applied to the king in 1755 and in 1771, for stricter ineasures, that so there might be no more Calvinists in France!- A pious wish truly, imitated elsewhere by certain persons! Mr. Griffin fully exposes the impiety, cruelty, and mischievous effects of persecution; and displays, on the other hand, the blessings of religious liberty as the source of individual happiness, -as favourable to the advancement of genuine religion,- affording an asylum to the persecuted,-an example for the imitation of other nations, and as the ground of encouraging expectation of the security and prosperity of the country in which it is allowed. We wish that the just and liberal sentiments enforced in this sermon, may be imbibed by every Briton, and especially by the rising generation; and therefore cordially recommend the perusal of it to all our readers. LITERARY NOTICES. The Life and Remains of the late Rev. R. Cecil (extracted from the 1st and 4th volume of his Works) is just printed, and will be shortly published, in one vol. 8vo, by the Rev. Mr. Pratt, the Editor. A Second Volume of Bogatsky's Golden Treasury, revised by the Rev. Mr.Steinkopff, is nearly ready for publication, A 12mo volume of Sermons, by the late Mr. Boston, from his MS. will be shortly put to press. PUBLICATIONS. The Trial of W. Kent, for praying in an Uninhabited House, 2s. SELECT LIST OF RELIGIOUS The Select Works of Bishop Hall; containing the Contemplations, Devotional and Practical Works, with a Life and Portrait of the Author, and a Complete Index and Glossary, by the Rev. Mr. Pratt. Five vols. Svo, £ 2. 10s. Serious Enquiries on important Questions; with Reflections on Mortality. By the Rev. C. Buck. 12mo, 3s. Russell's Letters, Essays, and wes. 24 cdit. 120, 5s. The Doctrines of Calvinism defended. By W. Ellerby. Is. 6d. Duty of bringing Children to Christ: a Sermon at Hornchurch, by the Rev. Melville Horne, 15. Sermons, on Select Subjects. By J. Hyatt. 2d edit. 8vo, revised, Ss. Lectures on the Pastoral Character. By the late G. Campbell, D.D. F. R. S. &c. Edited by J. Frazer, D. D. 8vo, 75. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. The Directors have received several Lellers from the Cape of Good Hope containing much interesting intelligence. MR. THOMPSON, a Missionary to the East, who sailed from Portsmouth, April 26, 1811, arrived safely, after a good voyage, at the Cape; he designs to proceed to the place of his destination by the Isle of France. We have also the satisfaction to state that the Missionaries who were last sent out to strengthen the African missions, are safely arrived at the Cape. The German brethren, Helm, Schmelen, Messer, Ebner, and Sass, with the wives of two of them, and J. Corner, the Negro-Missionary, sailed from Portsmouth, in the Lady Barlow, June 21, 1811, and arrived at the Cape. Sept. 14, 1811. A short note, written on the day of their arrival, informs the Directors that the former part of their voyage was pleasant; but the latter rough and dangerous. On Wednesday, Oct. 30th, Mr. Bezaleel Bloomfield, of the Seminary at Gosport, was ordained to the Missionary work, at the Gravel-Pit MeetingHouse, Hackney. Mr. Tracy prayed, &c.; Mr. Waugh briefly introduced the service, &c.; Mr. Burder offered up the ordination prayer; Dr. Smith gave the charge to Mr. Bloomfield; and Mr. Collison concluded. The destination of Mr. Bloomfield is to the Greek islands. He first proceeds to Malta, and will endeavour to promote the knowledge of the gospel by distributing the Scriptures in the Greek and Arabic languages, by Religious Tracts, and by every other means with which the providence of God may furnish him. He sailed for Malta in the Ship Quiz, Nov. 11. Mr. Wray, of Demarara, who has been on a visit to England for some months, with a view of procuring further liberty for the Negroes to be instructed in the gospel, sailed on Tuesday, Nov. 12, for his former residence. His visit, we trust, has not been in vain. SOUTH AFRICA. A LETTER has been received from Dr. Vanderkemp, dated Sept. 1, 1811, at Cape Town, where he and Mr. Read had been for a considerable time, on important business. Dr. Vanderkemp still persists in his intention, if possible, to commence a mission in the great island of Madagascar; and was expecting Mr. Pacalt at the Cape from Bethelsdorp, to accompany him. Mr. Ulbricht, who intended also to go, has been obliged to decline the undertaking, on account of the ill state of his health. The Doctor intends to go to Madagascar by way of the Isle of France; to the Governor of which, he hopes for a letter of recommendation from the (new) Governor of the Colony of the Cape, Sir John Craddock, who had not arrived when this letter was written. An Auxiliary Society has recently been formed at Cape Town in aid of the Missionary Society in London. This has been promoted by tho zealous effects of Dr. Vanderkemp, Mrs. Smith (who has been such an eminent friend to the cause) and several other persons, among whom is a British soldier from each of the three regiments of the garrison. His Excellency Governor Craddock, arrived September 5. A very interesting Leller from the Missionary Read, has been received by |