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Tam o'Shanter. For a considerable time past he was in the service of Major Hervey, of Castle-Semple, nine months of which he was incapable of labour; but, to the honour of Mr. Hervey, he, with a fostering and laudable generosity, soothed, as far as was in his power, the many ills of age and disease.

Ecclesiastical Preferment.-Rev. Duncan Mc Cainy, Uig Kirk, county of Ross.

IRELAND:

Deaths.-April. From being struck by lightning, Dr. O'Sullivan. A letter from a gentleman near Kenmare, gives the following account of this most melancholy and awful occurrence:-“ I have now to give you an account of a most melancholy event that took place here today. I was going up to Sneem fair about two o'clock, and just near the turn up to the Glebe, met Dr. O'Sullivan. He passed me by, and as there was a heavy shower coming on, I ran on, and got into a house at Drimina. I had not been there more than two minutes, when I saw one of the brightest flashes of lightning that I ever noticed, which was immediately followed by a most tremendous clap of thunder; and in a few minutes after, some one passed by, saying, that a man had been killed near the priest's house. I ran down there, and saw the poor Doctor stretched on the road. At first, I did not know him, his face was so disfigured-his skull over his forehead had been beaten in, as if he had got a blow from a flat stick on the head; his face was swelled, and quite red; his lips were turned black, and the blood seemed driven through his eyes, nose, and mouth; his whiskers and eye-brows were scorched, and he had several marks on his body, and particularly on the inside of his left thigh. His hat, breeches, stockings, and shoes, were torn to atoms, and scattered on the road-in short, such a spectacle was never seen. There were three or four persons with him at the time, but they escaped unhurt. Mr. Brennand and John were twenty yards behind him, but they were so dazzled by the flash, that they did not see him when knocked down. The body is in such a state, that it will not probably keep for twenty-four hours. It created such a panic at the fair, that there was not an appearance of it in half an hour."May 3. At the Deanery house, Gort, Very Rev. William Foster, LL.D. Dean of Kilmachduah. June 7. At Enniskillen, after a protracted and painful illness, Mr. John Macken, the sailor poet, who, under the feigned name of Ismael Fitzadam, gave to the world two interesting volumes, entitled, "The Harp of the Desert," and "Lays on Land."-25th. At Louth Hall, after a short indisposition, occasioned by the bursting of a blood-vessel, Thomas Baron Louth, in the 60th year of his age. He was one of those few Irish landlords who constantly resided on his property, affording employment and support to a number of the labouring class.-July. At his house in Yorkstreet, Dublin, at the advanced age of 84 years, the Rev. Dr. Edward Ledwich, Author of the "Antiquities of Ireland," and other literary works, and member of many of the learned societies in EuropeRev. Matthew Sleater, M.A. of St. John's Dublin.

Ecclesiastical Preferment.-Rev. E. Thackeray, Louth, R.

475

SUMMARY OF MISSIONARY PROCEEDINGS.

OUR Missionary Intelligence for this quarter is not very extensive, but on the whole it is encouraging.

By the BAPTIST MISSION, the loss of Mr. Ward will be most severely felt, as it will be extensively deplored by the Christian world at large. He seems to have been removed at a period when, humanly speaking, his services were most required, as the labours of the Serampore mission, to which he was attached, are rapidly extending on every side. A distinct church has recently been formed at Beerbhoom, whilst, in a village in Jessore, all the inhabitants, except those of five houses, have either made an open profession of the gospel, or are in a pleasing train towards it. Several other villages also are full of inquirers; many additions have been made to the churches already formed, and schools are generally much encouraged and well attended. At Delhi, a learned Brahmin has been baptized, as the first-fruits of the mission labours there. The principal Mahomedan ecclesiastics in that learned city, indignant at seeing Christianity claim a pre-eminence over the faith of their prophets, have begun to examine the Christian scriptures attentively, and frequently meet the Missionary of the Society to argue upon disputed points of faith, especially upon the divinity of Christ; a course from which advantages to Christianity must needs result. The children of the school at Chitaagong read the bible at school, and the testament to their parents at home, repeat catechisms and hymns by heart, and often converse on religious subjects with their teachers. At the Midnapore station, and in its neighbourhood, the gospel and several tracts have been diligently read to the natives, and about twelve hundred Orissa and Bengalee tracts have been distributed amongst the villagers, who earnestly entreated to have them, though they were formerly afraid of being apprehended for receiving them. Many expressed also great anxiety after the heavenly information, which they are now convinced that the Missionaries are anxious to diffuse. Around Dinagapore, a native teacher is itinerating with great success, many hearing him gladly, and accepting of religious books; amongst the latter, were several persons of education. The same encouragement has been received by the Missionaries at Benares; in whose neighbourhood, crowds of attentive Hindoos are frequent hearers of the gospel, and joyful recipients of copies of the new testament in their native tongue. At Furtyghur, a viraghee has shaken off the chain of his caste, and declared before all the people, that for seven years he practised its superstitions, without the slightest benefit. Hopes are also entertained of a Brahmin, who has been induced, by reading the gospels, to avow, that Jesus Christ is the spotless incarnation. Another Brahmin is a zealous missionary at Calcutta, where he promises to be very useful. Six native places of worship are supplied by the mission; and within the last year, many thousand tracts have been published or reprinted there. At Padang and its vicinity, some little progress has been made in distributing the new testament, the gospels, and some tracts, through the medium of the Mahomedan padras, and their scholars; though some of the former are so bigoted to their faith, that if they suspected an intention of changing it, they would not hesitate to run a muck upon those who made the attempt; that is, to resort to the

Malayan method of avenging an insult, by running furiously with a drawn creese, and killing and wounding indiscriminately every person they meet with.-Turning from the East to the West Indies, we are happy to state, that the mission in Jamaica meets with increasing success, new spheres of usefulness constantly opening themselves; though further assistance must be sent out from home, ere they can be fully occupied. So great a spirit of hearing has been created, that it has given encouragement to ignorant or designing persons to set up for preachers of the gospel, of which they know as little as a Hottentot or a Hindoo. Thus in the neighbourhood of Anattoo Bay, where a missionary is much wanted, (and will, we hope, soon be stationed, with every prospect of usefulness,) a woman, calling herself Mammy Faith, and pretending to forgive sins to whom she pleases, is all but worshipped by the ignorant negroes; several of whom themselves go about preaching and baptizing, generally taking with them a book to preach from, but often mistaking a spelling-book for a testament, and sometimes using it upside down. One of them actually stole, or, as he would call it, borrowed a volume of Burn's Justice, which he mistook for a bible, and used it as such in his extraordinary ministrations. The people, however, are anxious for better instructors, and are anxiously looking towards the Buckra country, for that assistance which will not, we hope, long be withheld from them.

The Islands of the South Sea seem to be every day presenting a wider and more promising field of usefulness to the LONDON M18SIONARY SOCIETY, who long persevered in scattering the bread of life upon the waters there, in sure but lingering hope, that in due time they should reap, if they fainted not. The particulars of the interesting voyage of its deputation to the Sandwich Islands, have recently been published, and from them we rejoice to find, that on the very spot where our lamented circumnavigator, Cook, was slain, the missionaries were most hospitably received; and were assured by chiefs and people, that they were most anxious to welcome instructors in the Christian faith, and the arts of civilized and social life. The same disposition pervaded every part of Owhyhee, which they visited in their way. An island of one hundred thousand inhabitants, thus favourably disposed to the reception of the gospel, will not, we hope, be left long without a missionary to proclaim it, especially as the governor appears himself to be a most anxious inquirer after truth. The Sandwich Islands, in general, present a promising field for increased missionary exertions; the people every where gladly receiving the deputation, and listening most attentively to their addresses. Amongst every class, the exertions of the American Missionaries have roused a spirit of inquiry, which they have nothing like the adequate means of satisfying, and they are earnestly inviting the sister societies of Europe to come over and help them, as it is probable that Mr. Ellis, a missionary of this Society, who accompanied the deputation, will ere this have done. After being driven and tossed about by the winds and waves in their attempt to to return to Huahine, these active agents of the Society unexpectedly made Rurutu, where they were received, both by the king and people, with every demonstration of joy. So rapid has been the progress of Christianity there, that in fifteen months a large place of worship has been built, in which, both on the sabbath day, and at the week-day services, nearly the whole population of the island

regularly attend. They are attired in the most decent and becoming manner, several of the chiefs wearing European dresses, and the whole congregation conducting themselves with the utmost propriety. All the inhabitants, men, women, and children, regularly attend school, and treat their teachers with great respect and kindness. Not a vestige of idolatry is to be seen upon the island. After a perilous voyage of between six and seven thousand miles, the deputation returned in safety to Huahine. Thence they proceeded to Raiatea, where they held a very interesting conference with the missionaries of the Society, in the Leeward islands of the South Sea, on the establishment of a school for the education of their own children, and a seminary for training up natives in the work of the ministry; objects, in furtherance of which, they hope that something will be done when they have an opportunity of conferring upon them with the missionaries of the Windward Islands also. The deputation took measures, likewise, at this meeting, to forward the translation of the scriptures, a work which necessarily proceeds but slowly, the language being far more copious than was supposed, from fourteen to sixteen thousand words having already been collected towards a dictionary. From South Africa we are pleased to learn, that within the last four years, the prejudice entertained at Cape Town, against missionary exertions, have in a great measure vanished; and that, in their stead, an uncommon interest has been excited on behalf of the neighbouring heathen. In the Sundayschool, the number both of teachers and scholars has more than trebled itself.-In the East Indies, the preaching of the Missionary at the Surat station, is attended by small, though increasing, congregations of Hindoos, several of whom are beginning to talk seriously about what they hear, and to read the parts of the Googurattee testament, which are distributed amongst them. At Bangalore the mission prospers, amidst much and violent opposition from Brahmins, Mahomedans, and Roman Catholics. The bookshop of the mission at the Bazar, is daily attended by native strangers, who read the Scriptures and tracts with attention, and some of them it would seem with profit. The school, however, has a hard struggle for existence, the ridiculous reports, circulated to its prejudice, having made but too strong an impression on the minds of the parents of the children taught there. In the case of females, these are particularly operative, several girls having very lately been taken from the schools upon account of them, though nineteen still remain; but what are they in so great a multitude? Amboyna presents a far more encouraging prospect; for there the new testaments and tracts, sent from Malacca, have been thankfully received by the Chinese inhabitants and a further supply is much wanted for distribution by the Missionaries labouring in the islands of Banda, Ternate, and Murado. In the village of Aboru, in the island of Karako, the inhabitants assembled at the beginning of last year, and, demolishing their idols, renounced altogether the superstitious worship of their forefathers, throwing their gods of wood and stone into the sea, or burning them in the fire: amongst the latter was a wooden pillar, to which divine honours had long been paid.—Turning from East to North, we are happy to be enabled to state, that the church of St. Petersburg, under the care of Mr. Knill, is gradually but steadily augmented by those of whom there is every reason to hope that they will be saved. From the West also, as from the East and the North, agree

able intelligence still continues to be received, the congregations at Demerara being considerably on the increase, both in numbers and attention.

The CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY has, in the Rev. Mr. Johnson, lost one of its most active agents in Western Africa; and we regret to add, that with him, the fatal fever which has lately ravaged the colony of Sierra Leone, carried off two of its warm friends in the chaplains of the colony, and two of its more immediate labourers, who had just entered on their work with every prospect of success. He, however, who raised up them can raise up others in their stead and we doubt not that he will do so, as the converts in this interesting mission are rapidly increasing. From amongst them, native teachers are also continually arising, to fulfil the sanguine expectations which are most reasonably entertained of their carrying on successfully, a work, for which their exemption from the baneful effects of a tropical climate upon Europeans, so peculiarly qualifies them. By the last returns, the number of the communicants at the nine stations of the Society, appears to be 680, of their scholars 3523, whilst the contributions to its funds are more than tripled during the last year, upwards of four hundred pounds of it having been received from liberated Africans.-In Calcutta, the schools are still flourishing, though their supporters have many difficulties to contend with. From some, the children have been taken away on account of the Christian character of the books taught and read there. Other children, however, have made such progress under this system of instruction, as to be able to repeat the whole of Watts's first catechism without a single mistake, and several of them, even those of the Brahmin caste, read with readiness the Harmony of the Gospels, and by means of Ellerton's Dialogues, have obtained a very correct notion of the principal doctrines which they inculcate. The female schools also are making progress, although it is necessarily a slow one. Miss Cooke, the principal agent in this important and difficult undertaking, experiences the greatest respect from the parents of the children, and from all the inhabitants of the native towns. Many of their fathers and mothers accompany their little girls to the schools, to which several natives of wealth and consideration have recently become subscribers; and indications are appearing, of their abandoning the long-standing prejudice of their country against employing female teachers in their own families. The lower classes evince meanwhile an increasing desire for female schools, some of which they have established among themselves. Into six schools plain needlework has been introduced, at which the children begin to work very well. At Burdwan the school is flourishing, and the gospels are read in them all. By the baptism of two promising natives, a Christian church has also been commenced there.

In Ceylon, in the East Indies, and (with the exception of St. Domingo, in) the West Indies also, the METHODIST MISSION still meets with great encouragement, though we regret to add, that want of space and time, alike compel us to omit the report of its proceedings which we had prepared.

By the blessing of God on the labours of the active agents of the EDINBURGH MISSIONARY SOCIETY at Astrachan, Mirza Mahommed Ali Bey, a young Persian of some consideration, has been converted to the Christian faith, in which he has been baptized at his own request, by the missionaries; the Emperor of Russia, whom he peti

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