It was said, "Supposing the Scriptures, were translated, they will do no good: the people of India will be shocked by their accounts of sacrificing animals which they have been accustomed to regard as sacred; and, rejecting the Bible, they will hold their Shasters with greater tenacity." It can now be demonstrated, that from the perusal of the New Testament alone, many interesting conversions from heathenism have actually taken place. "A number of years ago," says Mr. Ward, of Serampore in 1821, "I left a New Testament at Ramkrishnu-poor, after preaching in the market-place. To the perusal of this book is to be traced the conversion of Sébŭkram, now an excellent and successful preacher of Krishnŭ-das, who died happily in his work as a bold and zealous preacherof Jugunnat'h, and one or two other individuals. Mr. Chamberlain, some years ago, left a New Testament in a village; and, by reading this book, a very respectable young man of the writer caste, Tarachŭnd, and his brother Muthoor, embraced the Gospel. Tarachŭnd is one of our best Christian Hindoo poets; he has composed more than a hundred of the hymns found in our Bengalee hymn-book, and a pamphlet placing in striking contrast Heathenism and Christianity; and Muthoor is employed as Persian interpreter in the Dutch Court of Justice at Chinsurah. I have seen the New Testament lying by the sick-bed of the Christian Hindoo, as his best companion; and the truths it contains have been the comfort of the afflicted, and the source of strong consolations, and firm hope in death, to many a dying Hindoo."

It was said, " Differences prevail among you: some are Churchmen and others Methodists-some are Baptists and others Independents; the heathen will not know, therefore, which of you to regard: besides, contentions will arise; and the polemical battles you have waged here, you will fight over again in other lands." It can now be shewn, that though our Missionary Societies, when regarded as existing, principally, in the metropolis, may seem like the vessels in the port of London; yet beheld, in their respective spheres, they resemble those vessels scattered over the surface of the mighty deep — often widely separated, and never in danger from each other's course. And to this may be added many instances of Christian kindness and unanimity from those spots on which the

representatives of different Institutions have laboured together, or where they have been occasionally associated; while controversy among them is utterly unknown.

It was said, "The time is not come,—before it arrives some of the Apocalyptic visions will be realized, the martyrs will live again on the earth, and the splendid array of instruments will guarantee the glory of the result." And should the objec-. tion now be reiterated, it may be rejoined, How then can the statements already made be met? How can the facts mentioned be accounted for? Let these be reviewed, and let others, yet to be advanced, be connected with them; and he who thus cavils, will be like the man who would assert that the time of winter had not come, when the eye gazed on frozen rivers, snow-clad fields, and trees without a leaf; or like him who would declare that the time of harvest had not come, when the rich and golden ears waved with every breeze, and the reapers were eagerly thrusting in the sickle, while others were binding the heavy sheaves, and bearing them off to the appointed storehouse:

If a man be ignorant of what has been achieved, let him suspend a decision for which he is totally unprepared;—if he be only partially informed, let him seek more copious information, lest truth or ingenuousness compel a retraction by no means honourable ;-but if he have listened to all that can be said, and is still disposed to employ the objections just ad-. verted to, he may be fairly told that he has no clear perception of the force of evidence, or that he is enthralled by some passion or prejudice, which misleads his judgment, and is unworthy his character.

Another important series of results appears in advantages which may be denominated collateral. Among these, no inconsiderable place should be allotted to the beneficial re-action invariably consequent on benevolent exertion. To the genial influence of a missionary spirit must be ascribed many valuable means which are now employed for our country's benefit. In blessing others, we have ourselves been blest. This has been exemplified in a most remarkable manner, also, by the spiritual advantages accruing from missionary exertions to many of our countrymen in heathen lands, whose conduct has too often furnished a formidable barrier to success. They left the shores of England contemners of God; the winds which wafted

them over the bosom of the ocean drank in their imprecations; nor did all the wonders of the deep awaken a desire to seek Him who gave the sea the bounds it cannot pass. But on a far distant shore, the "still small voice" of a Christian missionary met their ear; and those whom the storm could not awe, nor the lightning illumine, were conscious of a power that melted their hearts into penitence and inspired them with faith: they joined the humble and despised band of Christ's disciples; became his "living epistles, known and read of all men;" and, in some cases, the preachers of his Gospel,-the heralds of his

cross.

But not to dwell on these, or on civilization, already alluded to, missionaries have formed languages which were never before reduced to a written system, or even to letters;they have substituted, for the caprice and will of chiefs, generally the most muscular, daring, and cruel, and the will of priests, the most superstitious and artful,-a constitution which acknowledges the supremacy of the law, and the equality of every man in its view;-they have established courts of judicature, appointed judges, and instituted trial by jury;—thus pursuing measures which raise the political and civil character of the people, tend to the confirmation of the acknowledged but limited prerogatives of the hereditary family, and operate to the protection of religion. Thus, as Dr. Philip, of Cape Town, has observed" To such of our friends at home, if there be any such, who are seeking for signs, and think little is done. except they continually hear of marvellous and striking conversions, I must be allowed to hazard a remark, for the accuracy of which I can vouch, so far as my observation extends,that the number of conversions which come under the notice of missionaries does not bear a greater proportion to the general good done by the Missions, than the conversions and deaths recorded in the monthly Magazines, &c. published in England, do to the entire sum of good done in that country by the preaching of the Gospel, and the institutions of Christianity. While the missionaries are complaining that they have so few striking instances of the power of Divine grace to record in the communications to their respective Societies, it is highly probable that their influenee is much more extensive, and the change carrying on by them much greater than they themselves are able to imagine. In those countries where our missionaries have gained a marked

ascendancy, there is scarcely one spot, however much secluded, impervious to their all-pervading light and heat. Even while they are grossly misrepresented and spoken against, they are checking the undue exercise of power; raising the standard of morals; literally proclaiming liberty to the captives,' and opening the prison-doors to those that are bound; diffusing abroad the light of science and literature; undermining the false systems of religion with which they have to contend; multiplying those charitable institutions which have for their object the relief of suffering humanity; vanquishing infidelity by the most direct and painful of all arguments,-by living exhibitions of the truths of Christianity; changing the face of our colonies; and accelerating the approach of that moral revolution, which will sooner or later usher in the kingdom of the world, as the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ." In these respects, Missionary Societies have done much, which must rejoice every lover of his race, and every faithful servant of the Most High.

But such results are infinitely transcended by the actual conversion of many of the heathen to God. To the mind familiar with missionary records, there will occur, at the mention of this, the case of Pomarre,* the South Sea Islander; of Africaner,† the terror of the wild hordes of the desert; of the Priests of Budhu; of the Sultan Katagerry||; of Afa, the Chinese assistant of Dr. Morrison; of Johannes,** the Indian of the Mahikander nation; of the Esquimaux,++ whom his countrymen described as the man whom the Saviour took to himself; of old Simeon, the Hottentot; and of converted Hindoos, of whom an account has recently been given ;but, perhaps, there is not a spot on which missionary labours have been long pursued, in which some such instances have not appeared. Let the number in the Societies of Wesleyans, whose moral and religious limitations are numerous, be added to that of communicants on the principles of the Church of England, and let this estimate be increased by that of those in the churches of Congregationalists and Baptists of this country and America; and, after very fair and faithful deduction, a multitude will appear of sincere and

See Tabiti and Eimeo. † See Africaner's Kraal. See Ceylon. See Karass. § See Canton. • See Greenland. ++ See Labrador. # See Pacaltsdorp.

devoted converts to the Christian faith. And if there be joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, what raptures must have been experienced in the heavenly world, from a spectacle which ought to thrill with ecstatic delight the heart of every Christian contemplating it in ours!"

Only one way appears of evading the force of these accumulated instances of good, arising from missionary efforts; it is by that old but most disingenuous method sometimes adopted, of charging on the authors of such statements an interestedness and partiality sufficient to impeach their strict veracity. Such a charge, however, was never advanced with so ill a grace as in reference to Christian missionaries. Let the conduct they have pursued, which this volume describes, demand its proper tribute to their self-denial, their meekness, their patience, their perseverance in a word, to their high and heavenly heroism; and though they are and must be fallible, the insinuation of falsehood must at once be rejected as unfounded as it is base. Without pretending that they have attained perfection, that all are alike, or even that some have not fallen, justice declares that higher excellencies of character are unknown than those which Missionaries have displayed. To their testimony, however, another may be added, from which, it is apprehended, there can be no appeal: it is that afforded by many persons of distinction, holding various and important official stations, who have given their countenance and support to missionary labour. Of its necessity and success, as well as of the exalted virtues of its agents, they have frequently avowed their personal recognition; and to set aside their open attestation, is to plunge into the grossest scepticism.

A word, in conclusion, must be addressed to the friends of Missions. On them it is peculiarly incumbent to learn much from past experience. Already a mass of valuable information has been obtained, which was antecedently beyond reach; and every fragment, now accessible, should be highly appreciated and safely treasured up. To the philosophy of Missions, little attention has yet, unhappily, been given; but its vast importance loudly calls for more. A larger induction of general principles will, in some cases, prevent unnecessary expenditure, and, in others it will secure a greater product than