him respecting his mission have yet been received. Mr. Sewall's tour was extensive, and the duties of his mission arduous. By a communication received from him, it appears, that in the whole of his mission, he travelled one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one miles, preached one hundred and fifty-eight times, visited one hundred and ten families, nineteen sick persons, and three schools, and attended three funerals; that, in general, he was very favorably and gratefully received; and, in several instances, had the satisfaction to witness a very pleasing success of his Missionary labors. Mr. Coe's mission appears, also, to have beer. performed with great engagedness and fidelity, and with pleasing success "In my late mission," he writes, "I have preached one hundred and seventeen sermons; eight times administered the Lord's supper; and assisted in an ordination over a church lately formed in a village of Dartmouth, where no one of our order ever preached before March, 1807 I have also baptized fourteen adults and twenty-four children; admitted nineteen members into churches before formed, and giv. en assistance in forming one church of forty members; attended thirty conferences, three church meetings, one special fast, and three meetings for prayer; and made five hundred and eighty-nine family visits. Great attention and hospitality have been received, and great displays of divine grace have been seen Since the winter of 1807, about four hundred have joined the different churches of our order not far distant, three of which have been lately formed. In several villages, the external refor. mation from profanity, intemperance, and contempt of divine institutions, to decent order, has been great. The largest additions to the churches have been made, where the people have been trained to regular habits, under stated ministrations of the word; but a respectable number in the missionary field." From the Rev. Mr. Cram, no communications have yet been received. At the time of the last annual meeting, as it was thought to fall within VOL. IV. New Series. F the general design of this benevolent institution, a grant of fifty dollars was made by the Board to an Indian youth by the name of Williams, whose object it is, so soon as he shall be qualified for the service, to devote himself to the instructions of his brethren according to the flesh, and whose recommendations for piety and abilities are highly satisfactory. At the semi-annual meeting of the Board in October last, the Rev. Jotham Sewall, and Mr Abraham Burnham were appointed for missions in the District of Maine; Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Merrill were re-appointed for the western regions; and Mr. Nahum Fay was conditionally appointed for the destitute settlements in the State of Vermont ; all to continue in the service until the present month. The Rev. Mr. Sewall, pursuant to his appointment, entered upon his mission, but continued ir. the service only seven weeks; "in which time," he states in his journal, "I rode four hundred miles; preached sixty times, visited twenty-five families, two schools, and five sick persons; attended four conferences, admitted seven persons to church-fellowship,baptized four adults and eleven children, and administered the Lord's supper once." From his journal it also appears that Mr Sewall, as usually he has been, was very gratefully received: and that, in four or five different places, be had the satisfaction to witness very pleasing revivals of religion. Mr. Burnham did not find it consistent to accept his appointment; but in his place Mr. Jacob Burbush, pursuant to an arrangement for the purpose, performed a mission of five months in the eastern District. From him however, no communications, from which any particulars can be given, have yet been received. Agreeably to his re-appointment, Mr. Merrill continued in his western mission. In a letter addressed to the Board, and giving a summary view of his whole service, under both appointments, Mr Merrill states: "I have spent forty-five weeks in the. service of the Society; in which time I have travelled one thousand four hundred and ten miles; preached two hundred and eighteen times; vis ited four hundred families and a number of schools; attended several funerals and frequent conferences; and as opportunity presented, visited the sick and sorrowing.-In the different places, in which I was called to la. bor, I uniformly found a kind reception. People were attentive and solemn; Christians were mourning and hun. gry for the word; and often with tears of gratitude, they would acknowledge the benevolence of those, who were mindful of their spiritual wants." In the course of the year the Rev. John Sawyer, under a former appointment, performed a mission of thirteen weeks in the District of Maine. So far as the Trustees have been able to ascertain, THE MASSACHUSETTS MISSIONARY MAGAZINE has been continued, with about the same extent of circulation, and about the same productiveness to the funds of this Society, as in former years. The Committee, appointed at the last annual meeting to obtain an incorpora. tion of the Society, have executed their commission with success. members in the course of the year past have been added; our funds have been liberally augmented; and the general patronage of the society has been very considerably encreased. New A letter has been received by the Board, from THE EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY,recently formed in the counties of Worcester and Middlesex, in which they invite from this Society, such communications, as may have a tendency to produce united and efficacious endeavours, in prosecuting the common and important designs of our respective institutions. Such, brethren, is the summary view, which your Board of Trustees are in a situation to give of their own official doings, of the labors and success of our Missionaries, and of the general state of the Society. They regret the failure of documents for a more full and particular report. But from the general view now exhibited, and from information received from various quarters, they it feel to be their duty, on this pleasing anniversasary most gratefully to acknowledge the continued smiles of the Great Head of the Church on the Missionary interest; and devoutly to congratu late the Society on its progressive prosperity, and its brightening and animating prospects. Zion's God still reigns, and he will yet make her walls salvation, and her gates praise. Let her friends, then, not be discouraged; but with united hearts, and with augmented zeal, let them pray and labor for her prosperity and her peace. After hearing and accepting the report of the Trustees, the Society proceeded to their annual business The Act of incorporation, granted to the Society by the Legislature of the Commonwealth was accepted. The officers of the Society, elected for the present year, are as follows. Rev. NATHANIEL EMMONS, D. D. President. Rev. JACOB NORTON, Secretary. SAMUEL NILES, SAMUEL SPRING, D. D. SAMUEL WORCESTER, Dea. ISAAC WARREN, Trustees. The public exercises of the occasion were attended on the evening of the first day of the meeting, at the Old South meeting-house. The Sermon, by the Rev. Mr. Strong of Randolph was highly evangelical and animating; the assembly was respectable and solemnly attentive; and the collection for the purpose of the Society was liberal. The first preacher for the next annual meeting is the Rev. SAMUEL WORCESTER of Salem, the second Rev. JACOB NORTON of Weymouth. The missionaries appointed by the Board of Trustees for the present half year are Rev. JOHN SAWYER and Rev. JOTHAM SEWALL, District of Maine; Mr. DAVID SMITH, northwestern parts of New Hampshire; Mr. NAHUM FAY, western counties of New York; Rev. DANIEL EMERSON, destitute parts of Rhode Island; and, for the whole year, Rev. JOSEPH BADGER, Wyandot tribe of Indians. An account of the funds of the So. ciety and list of donations in our next LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. GREAT BRITAIN. IMPROVEMENTS IN EDUCATION. JOSEPH LANCASTER, of the free school, Borough Road, London, hav. ing invented, under the blessing of Di vine Providence, a new and mechanical system of education for the use of schools, feels anxious to disseminate the knowledge of its advantages through the United Kingdom. ences, being in itself a compendium of mechanical improvements, in themselves highly beneficial and capable of being applied to educate the poor by hundreds and thousands, at a very small expense. Those who may think fit to adopt this plan will find it ca. pable of great good, in itself; and may engraft on it any system of religious instruction, which they please, without diminishing its utility. It is intended to publish an abridg the benefit of the poor in Ireland. It will be executed under the inspection of the author of the original system, and recent improvements will be added One object of the intended publication is to enable benevolent persons to spread the knowledge of this cheap, easy, and expeditious mode of education among school masters, governors of charities, committees, and friends of the poor, in a general manner, and at the expense of a small subscription, which is to be paid at the time of subscribing. By this system, paradoxical as it may appear, above one thousand chil-ment of the System of Education for dren may be taught and governed by one master only, at an expense now reduced to five shillings per annum, each child; and supposed still capable of further reduction. The average time for instruction, in reading, writing, and the elements of arithmetic, is twelve months. Among many other advantages, which distinguish this system, is a new method of teaching to read and spell; whereby one book, worth about seven shillings, will serve to teach five hundred boys, who, in the usual method, would require five hundred books, worth about twenty-five pounds. The improvement is three times greater by the new method than the old. Any boy, who can read, can teach arithmetic with the certainty of a mathematician, although he knows nothing about it himself. The public are indebted to the Duke of Bedford and Lord Somer. ville, in the first instance, and to many of the Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy, for the support given to this system in London, when in its infant state. The King, the Queen, and the Royal Family, feeling with paternal goodness for the welfare and happiness of their people, have patronized by liberal annual subscriptions a design for extending the benefits of this plan to the education of ten thousand poor children. One of the peculiar advantages of this system is, that it does not enter into any grounds of religious differ. A volume, which gives an account of Lancaster's system of education has been received from England, and read by a number of Gentlemen in the United States with an high degree of approbation. A school on this plan has been established in the city of New York with pleasing success, and it promises very extensive benefits. THE PROTESTANT DISSENTER'S The plan of such a school has been formed and published in England, and measures are taken to carry the plan into execution. The object of the institution is to combine, on an extensive scale, the advantages of a classical and religious education. It is designed to qualify persons to be teachers of youth and to afford very material benefit to those, who may devote themselves to the Christian ministry. LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. A PLATFORM OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE gathered out of the word of God, and agreed upon by the elders and messengers of the churches assembled in the synod at Cambridge, in New-England: to be presented to the churches and General Court, for their consideration and acceptance in the Lord. The eighth month, anno 1649. Boston: Belcher & Armstrong, 12 mo. pp. 70, price 25 cents. A Sermon, delivered, May 18th, 1808, at the ordination of the Rev Joshua Huntington, colleague pastor with the Rev. Joseph Eckley, D. D. of the church of Christ in Marlborough-Street, Boston. By Jedidiah Morse, D. D. pastor of the Congregational church in Charlestown. Boston Belcher & Armstrong. Quarterly catalogue of the names of the young ladies, who belong to the academy kept by Rev. Timothy Alden, jun. with explanatory notes. Number I. Boston, Central Court, xiv. May, mdcccviii. Boston: Belcher & Armstrong. A Sermon delivered May 26, 1808, in Brattle-Street church, Boston, before the Convention of Congregation, al ministers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by Daniel Chaplin, A.M Boston: Belcher & Armstrong. A Sermon, delivered before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, in Boston, June 6, 1808, being the hundred and seventieth anniversary of their Election of Officers. By Rev. Leonard Woods, A M. Boston: Belcher and Armstrong. The Village Curate, a Poem, by J. Hurdis, B. D. professor of Poetry lished by request of the committee of in the university of Oxford. Second American edition. Newburyport : Thomas & Whipple. An Historical Sketch of the county of Berkshire, and town of Pittsfield. written in May, 1808. By Thomas Allen, A. M. pastor of the Congregational church in Pittsfield. Boston: printed for the Author, by Belcher & Armstrong. A Sermon preached before the Members of the Female Charitable Society of Newburyport, it being their Fifth Anniversary May 17, 1808, by Elijah Parish, D. D. pastor of the church in Byfield. Published at the request of the Managers. Newburyport: Thomas & Whipple. A Sermon preached before His Excellency, James Sullivan, Esq. governor; His Honor, Levi Lincoln, Esq. lieutenant-governor; the Honorable Council, of the Common wealth of Massachusetts, on the day of General Election, May 25th, 1808. By Thomas Allen, A. M. minister of the Congregational Church in Pittsfield. Boston: Adams and Rhoades. IN THE PRESS. The Speech of Henry Brougham, Esq. before the House of Commons, Friday, April 1, 1808, in support of the petitions from London, Liverpool and Manchester, against the Orders in Council. Taken in short-hand by A Fraser. Boston: Published by Farrand, Mallory and Co Law Booksellers, Suffolk Buildings. Select Miscellaneous Classics,comprising the entire works of Pope, Swift, Smollet, Addison, Goldsmith, Johnson, Sterne, and Fielding, in sixty volumes, duodecimo, to be ornamented with plates, engraved by the first American artists. This superb and valuable work is now publishing by subscription in Boston, by Messrs. Hastings, Etheridge & Bliss, on a fine vellum paper, at one dollar per volume in extra boards; and hot pressed, at one dollar and twenty-five cents. The two first volumes have already made their appearance. Too much credit cannot be given to the publishers for their undertaking and prosecuting a work of such magnitude and merit, attended with such unremitted labor and expense. The former, unquestionably, will command the interest, while the latter, we trust, will persuade the liberality of any one whose ability will permit him, to patronize merit and industry combined. OBITUARY. She DIED at CAMBRIDGE, on Saturday the 11th instant, MRS. RUTH GASNETT, the wife of CALEB GANNETT, Esquire, Ætat. XLIII. was a daughter of the late President STILES, whom she resembled in various intellectual and moral traits of character. Her understanding was vigorous, and her intuitive perceptions were quick and discriminating. Her imagination was lively, but it was tempered and regulated by sound judgment. Her sensibilities were strong, but they were directed and controuled by Christian principles. Under the guidance of a parent, who took delight as well in imparting, as in acquiring knowledge, she was from early life habituated to the culture of her mind; but agreeably to the precept and example of her parental instructor, she esteemed all other knowledge as of secondary importance,in comparison with divine. Early a professor of christianity, she was well established in its distinguishing principles, not merely as a system of doctrines, but as a rule of life; and while she was able to give a reason of her faith and hope, she proved the soundness of the one, and the justness of the other, by a practical conformity to the requirements of the gospel. High was her standard of piety, but not visionary; strict her observance of christian duties, but not austere. Cheerful without levity, she gave new proof, that the ways of wisdom are pleasantness, and her paths peace. In social life she was engaging in her conversation and manners; adapting herself happily to the characters of those with whom she was conversant, and always uniting the useful with the agreeable. The poor were the objects of her charity; the afflicted of her sympathy. Her alms accompanied her prayers. In the relations of a Wife and a Mother, she exhibited those virtues, which rendered her a signal blessing and ornament to her family, to which she was most highly and justly endeared. She had one child only, a son, now seven years of age, who bears the name of his pious and illustrious grandfather; but, as a stepmother, she had the care and guidance of other children, whom she treated as her own, combining resolution with affection, and fidelity with tenderness Independent in judging, and adhering to what was fit and obligatory, she took no counsel from the fashionable world, in what related to religion and morals; but pursued such a course, as was adapted to mould her children and domestics into the Christian temper and character, and to form them to virtue and glory. This was the object of her su preme desire, and of her most fervent prayers. Her system of education was happily adapted to attain it. Highly propitious was its influence; and the result may justly furnish perpetual encouragement to all parents, to go and do likewise. In this present time she lost not her reward. Seldom have children manifested an equal degree of filial respect and affection, with hers; or domestics, equal regard and attachment. During a long confinement, she gave astonishing proofs of the power of religion. Under its divine influence, she sustained all the pains and distresses of a lingering disease, not with serenity merely, but with cheerfulness. Retaining the faculties of reason and speech until nearly her last moments, she was enabled and disposed daily to impart salutary and pious advice to all around her; and the attentive and interesting manner, in which it was received, furnishes just hope, that the impressions and benefit of it will never be obliterated. In the spiritual world, as in the natural, clouds often obscure the face of heaven. Few of the children of God uninterruptedly enjoy the light of his countenance There are seasons when they are liable to be in heaviness, through manifold temptations. Here was a favored instance of exception. From the time of Mrs. Gannett's entrance into her chamber, under a fixed persuasion that this would be her last sickness, she ap. |