warrior river. The village contains]] successful in securing for the Gospel a about 2,000 inhabitants, a Presbyterian, permanent and steady influence here than an Episcopal, a Methodist and Baptist north of that line. The reasons of this church, each having a commodious house fact we have never fully appreciated. It of worship. A little removed to the west, is no doubt to be attributed principally to on a gentle elevation, stands the State the different modes of cultivating the soil House, a splendid edifice, and on the east, which prevail. North of the line above about a mile from the village, the State named, farmers usually conduct their busiUniversity, richly endowed and expen- ness on a smaller scale, depending more sively and elegantly furnished with build- or less upon their personal labour in raising ings, and possessing the means, if rightly their crops, and the produce of their labour directed, of exerting a mighty religious is generally not sufficiently large to justi. influence upon the rising population of fy them in the expense of conveying it to this State. But my business was with a distant market. The consequence is the Presbyterian church, who though nei- that they usually make their sales and ther very numerous nor wealthy, received purchase their supplies at the nearest vilmy address with expressions of cordial in- lage. This encourages the country merterest, and through the kind co-operation chant and mechanic, and the consequence of their Pastor, Rev. W. R. Willams, late is that a little village is built up and susof Albany, N. Y., a subscription was rais-tained in every township, and each of ed of nearly $100, which will be increas- these villages becomes a permanent cened and the amount forwarded soon. Here, tre, where houses of worship may be erectas well as at all other places where I have ed, ministers located, and all the fixtures addressed the churches of the west and of religious society established, to act on south, I have been both gratified and en- the surrounding community, as far at couraged by the warm and cordial feeling least as the intercourse of business exwith which the brethren who dwell amid tends its influence. Thus, as fast as those desolations, which it is our object townships become in a considerable deto repair, have afforded and pledged their gree settled, the materials exist of forming co-operation. in each a compact religious society. But it is not thus generally in the southern States. Here the richest portions of the As my face is now set homeward, I country are owned in plantations of 640 deem it proper to remark, that unforeseen to 5,000, and even 10,000 acres. These circumstances have determined me are cultivated by negroes, in companies of change my purpose, expressed in a form- tens, and fifties, and hundreds, under overer letter, of returning through the south-seers, some planters owning and employ. ern Atlantic States, and I am now waiting several hundreds. Thus, each planter ing the departure of a boat to take me down the Tennessee river to the Ohio, by which I hope to reach home through Pittsburgh, &c. as early as the first of April. Permit me then to close this correspondence with a few general remarks. It has long been familiarly understood in our Committee, as a general fact, that our missionary operations, in proportion to the number we have induced to plant themselves south of the slave-holding line, have been more expensive and less GENERAL REMARKS. to possesses a little empire of his own, and the productions of his land are so abundant as to make it for his interest to do business directly with the large cities. There he sells his produce and purchases his supplies. He of course affords but little encouragement to the country mer. chant and mechanic; and the consequence is, that country villages are few in such communities, and generally of slow growth, being sustained almost wholly by the trade of the poorer classes, who are of the rich. Thus there are presented, in these States, comparatively few points where compact religious societics can be formed. This, to say nothing of mistaken fears of unhealthiness, and nothing of the adverse influence of slavery as a system upon the religious conscience of the people, has doubtless contributed much to produce that unequal supply of ministerial service which now exists in the northern and southern sections of the - great western valley. Thus, in the State of Alabama, for instance, which possesses perhaps double the commercial wealth and nearly double the population of Illinois, there are fewer ministers than in the latter State; the number of Presbyterian ministers in Alabama being only thirty, which is less than one to ten thousand of the population. thinly interspersed among the plantations || taining the institutions of religion in our southern cities. In proportion as they act directly upon the planting population of the country, and absorb the business, which, in northern cities, is divided with the country villages, they ought them. selves to be made the centres of that reli. gious influence, which, in the north, emanates still more propitiously from the numerous and flourishing smaller towns. But I have neither time nor room to extend these remarks. My heart is overwhelmed with the magnitude of this subject, and I can only add, O, that the churches, and the rising ministry of the land, "were wise, that they understood this," that they would remember and act in accordance with the true interests of our common country. Then these southern cities and scattered points of religious influence, rendered doubly important by their comparative fewness, (and yet they are many,) would no longer be neglected, but would be sought and occupied as fields of the most enlarged usefulness, and as points of the most intense interest. May the great Head of the church richly en. dow us and our associates with wisdom to guide us in the enterprise before us. I make these remarks, my dear brother, not to discourage the efforts of our Committee on behalf of the south, but to make them the ground of urgency for increased exertions in these States. If the points of efficient religious influence are fewer here, than in the northern States, they are comparatively more important; and if they are more difficult and expensive, they demand our more vigilant and prayerful attention. The same considerations evince the immense importance of main Hoping to meet you soon, I remain, Appointments by the Executive Committee of the American Home Mission ary Society, from February 15th, to March 15th, 1833. Missionaries not in Commission last year. Rev. Marcus Harrison, West Groton and Peruville, Rev. Tertius Clarke, Agent in the Western part of Rev. E. Holt, Reading, Pa. Re-appointments. Rev. Wm. G. Gallaher, Mount Pleasant and Cumminsville, O. Rev. Asa Brooks, Clarksburgh, Va. Rev. Charles A. Campbell, Cherry Spring, Ky. Rev. Jesse Stratton, Butler Co., Ala. Rev. H. O. Higley, Hartford, Licking Co., O. Rev. E. O. Hovey, Coal Creek and Covington, Rev. James A. Carnahan, Lafayette, Ind. Rev. Isaac Flagler, Chapinville, N. Y. Rev. S. Woodruff, destitute places in Cuyakoga Co., &c., O. Rev. Ira M. Wead, Ypsilanti, Mich. Ter. Appointments by the Massachusetts Missionary Rev. Edward J. Fuller, Chelsea, Mass. Rev. James R. Cushing, Boxborough, Mass. The Treasurer of the American Home Missionary Society acknowledges the receipt of the following sums, from February 15th, to March 15th, 1833. Do., Westville Village, Mon. Con. col., per R. H. Harrison, Claiborne, Al., Hon. C. Tait, per Mrs. Tait, 10.00; Hon. John Murphy, 10.00; J. B. Cooke, 5.00; Elizabeth T. Cooper, 1.00; T. W. Fleming, 1.00; S. Steele, 100; Mrs. T. Galyard, 5.00; E. L. Smith, 100; G. W. Fiey, Esq., 1.00, per Rev. A. Peters, Cleaveland, O., Fem. Aux., per Rev. D. W. Lathrop, Connecticut Miss. Soc., viz.: New-London, thankoffering, from M. A. W. 10.00; Stonington, Fem. Aux. H. M. S., per Miss L. A. Sheffield, 15.00; Juv. Soc., per do., 1.50, Elyria, O., Five Ladies, 15 00; Mon. Con. coll., 28.73, per Rev. D. W. Lathrop, Euclid, O., H. M. S., por Rev. D. W. Lathrop, Fountain Co, Ind., Contribution, per Rev. E. O. Hovey, Guilford, O., Mon. Con. coll., per Rev. D. W. Lathrop, Hampshire Miss. Soc., E. Williams, Trea., Enfield, Young Men's Miss. Soc., 150.00; South Hadley, Young Men's Miss. Soc., (of which 30.00 to const. Wm. Lyman, L. M.,) 40.50, Hanover, N. J., coll. in Ch., 31.08; Mite Soc., per Miss K. Young, Trea., 14.74, Homer, N. Y., Rev. M. M. Post, Lafayette, Ind., per Rev. J. A. Carnahan, 15.25; Mr. Carnahan's donation, 5.00, Licking, O., Cong. per Rev. C. M. Putnam, London, O., Contribution, per Rev. D. C. Allen, Mendham, N. J, in part to const. Rev. D. H. Johnson, L. D, 14 56 52 50 2.00 15 00 76 85 20.00 58 80 6 00 35 00 26 50 43 73 600 4 00 2.00 New-York, Eighth Ch., A Lady, per Rev. H. Hunter, De., Laight-st. Ch. coll., per G. Zabriskie, 54.37; W. A. Tomlinson, 20.00; N. T. Jennings, 10.00; J. R. Gibson, 10.00; J. Boorman, 100.00; Fem. Miss. Assoc., per Mrs. H. C. Puton, 122.50, Do., Murray-st. Ch., Mrs. Lefferts, 5.00; Mrs. Varick, 5.00, Do., Pearl-st. Ch., J. Ledyard, Do., Spring-st. Ch., B. L. Swan, Do., West Presb. Ch., per J. Sayre, Parsippany, N.J., Ladies' Evan. Soc., 2000; Gent. Miss. Soc., 22.00; coll. in Ch., 47.12; Miss'y Box, per Rev. J. Ford, 4.82, Tennessee, Synod, per Rev. D. Hoyt, Tuscaloosa, AL., R. B. M' Mullen, 1.00; Prof. J. F. Wallis, L. M., 30.00; Dr. C. L. Acse, 1.00; T. Emmond, 1.00; J. H. Dearing, Esq. L. M., in part, 10.00; Mrs. Isabella Wallis, 5.00, Wantage, N. J., 1st Presb. Ch., Rev. P. Kanouse, 10.00; Mrs. Mary Coursen, 2.00; Children of the Clove Š. S., under the instruction of Miss Gardner, proceeds of needle work, in part, 5.00, West Chateaugay, N. Y., Mon. Con. coll., per Rev. M. Parmelee, 3.00 316 87 10 00 10 00 10 00 35.00 93 94 89 34 48 00 17.00 6:00 25 00 5.00 70.00 $2465 71 A member of Ch., formerly assisted by the A. H. M. S., per Rev. J. Leavitt, Anonymous donor, per Rev. Dr. Cox, Home Missionary, K. TAYLOR, Treasurer. Sums acknowledged as received by Rev. M. P. Squier, Agent of the A. H. M. S., in the western part of the State of New-York, from February 1st, to March 6th, 1833. 190 50 45 82 Brighton, Fem. Aux., 22 25 20 25 10 00 1655 32 09 12 56 Dansville Village, 20 00 East Bloomfield, balance, 1 53 93 50 Hector, Ladies' Aux., 11.31; coll., 15.13; Mobile, Al, Mrs. Hon. H. Hitchcock, 10 00; Miss Jeffries, 1 00, per Rev. A. Peters, Rev. J. H. Hotchkin, 3.75, 30 19 Morristown, N. J., coll. in Ch., 257.17; Mr. Pruden, 2.00; Mr. Russell, 1.00; Cash, 1.00, Newark, N. J., 1st Ch., sub., 1.00 North Penfield, Aux., 3.06; coll., 9.00, 12 06 Ovid, Cong and Aux., 66 00 Perrinton, Young Ladies' Aux., 12 00 Do., 3d Ch., Sub, in part, 124 04 Do., Mr. and Mrs. Van Cortland, New York, Bieecker-st. Ch., Rev. J. D. Wickham, 30.00; Mon. Con. coll., per M. Wilbur, 8.86, Prattsburgh, Fem. Miss. Soc., 20.00; Be 10 00 nevolent Soc., 30.00, 50 00 Richmond, Presb. cong., 30 00 Romulus, Cong. and Aux., 53 00 38 86 Rose, 8.00 Do., Brick Ch., Friend to Missions, 50.00; S. Cowdrey, 25.00; J. Adams, 20.00, Starkey, 2d Cong. coll., 7.00 Vienna, Benev. Assoc., 10 00 95.00 Do., Cedar-st. Ch., J. M. Halsted, 20.00; 50 00 West Bloomfield, coil., Cong. Soc., West Dresden, Aux., 25 00 10 75 136 92 Wolcott, 2d, 10 00 9484 75 AMERICAN PASTOR'S JOURNAL, OR, ORIGINAL SKETCHES OF REAL CHARACTERS, CONVERSATIONS, AND STRIKING FACTS, FURNISHED CHIEFLY BY CLERGYMEN. CONVERSION OF TWO PHYSICIANS FROM SCEPTICISM. [The following narratives of the conversion of two physicians from infidelity, havo been furnished by two Pastors, residing many hundreds of miles apart, and strangers to each other. This fact is stated, to remove all suspicion, lest a mutual acquaintance might, in some way, have been the occasion of the striking similarity, which will be observed in many of the circumstances of the narratives.] "I have lived sixty-six years, and am scarcely two days old."-So said a venerable inan, leaning on his staff, and looking tearfully in the face of the writer. Is it possible! thought I. "Can a man be born when he is old?" And so we often feel in relation to those who grow gray in sin. Their conversion to God is rarely expected; and when it does take place, we seem to be carried back to the days of miracles. It is contrary to analogy. The sapling easily yields to the bending hand; but the oak, which has borne the blasts of a hundred winters, is made of "sterner stuff." The gardener with ease, turns the irrigating stream to refresh his drooping plants, but it is not so easy to divert the mighty river from its time-worn channel. So the young heart may easily be made to bleed or break, while the old one is unyielding as a ball of iron. Dr. W. was born in a New-England village, in 1766. His parents were respectable, and of reputed piety. He early gave indications of a vigorous mind, and of a susceptible heart. His religious education ended where it ought to have commenced-with a knowledge of the shorter catechism. Such, however, was the prevailing custom of those days. At an academy he distinguished himself as a scholar, and made considerable progrese in the Latin language. At the age of 22 he commenced the practice of medicine. His profession, of necessity, brought him in contact with the world. And VOL. V. 26 here commenced a series of associations, which threw a cloud over more than forty years of his life. He was first pressed with the doctrine of universal salvation. Its popularity gave it currency. And as it required no sacrifices, no self-denial, and no selfabasement, it readily recommended itself to the unrenewed heart. He tried to believe it. But his discerning mind detected the sophistry of the system, and left him restless as the rolling billow. He shuddered at embracing sentiments professedly derived from a Book, which, he was aware, condemned them as unsound, and inconsistent. The next step was to destroy the veracity of the Bible. A universalist he could not be an infidel he might. To aid him in this fearful work, he called in Paine, Voltaire, and Rousseau. He went not to the Bible, to contemplate the sublimity of its doctrines-the purity of its precepts, the harmony of the system of revealed truth, and its tendency, as illustrated by facts, to promote the happiness of man. Like other infidels, he cast off fear, and restrained prayer before the Almighty. Thus twelve years passed away, all the while professedly seeking for light, and yet not once directing his eye to Heaven. Those who did pray, he thought infatuated; and though, sometimes, he was compelled to think them sincere, yet in his view, they were sincere hypocrites. The next twelve years he spent in the mercantile business. He read, and reasoned much, but only on such subjects as were calculated to make his infidel fortress strong. At length the embargo embarrassed his business, and he, with his family, removed to the state of Ohio. Here he resumed his former profession, and after twelve years, declined practice, to spend the remainder of his days in the quiet of retirement on a farm. Three score winters had now whitened his head, and yet the old man bowed not his knee in prayer. He had been, what the world would call, a strict moralist. This was the practical part of his religion, though not the legitimate effect of his principles. He gloried in his consistency, and in the pride of his heart, looked with contempt on those whom he called inconsistent Christians. Their irregularities, whether fancied or real, he readily seized, to confirm himself in infidelity. Although he was not forward to disseminate his principles, he occasionally sought an encounter, to try the temper of his weapons. Having been so long accustomed to them, he could use them with no ordinary skill. With the keenness of his satire, and the cunning of his sophistry, he, almost, invariably triumphed. Success inspired him with courage, and increased his intellectual pride. In the winter of 1831, the debate between Campbell and Owen fell into his hands. His long-cherished sentiments and feelings, inclined him to espouse Owen's side in the argument. As he read, he was struck with the palpable weakness, and inconsistency of his reasoning. "What," said he, "if the Deist has no better arguments than these, to support his system, I am ashamed of it." For the first time, in his life, he was now seriously alarmed at the thought that, possibly, he had built his own house upon the sand. Thought begat feeling, and deep anxiety. In this state of mind, providentially, Wilson's" Evidences of the truth of Christianity," came within his reach. As he read, day began to dawn on a night of more than forty years. The light of truth rendered the darkness visible, and his danger apparent. About this time, on meeting with a neighbour, he remarked,-"I feel as though I was set down in the midst of a wilderness, without a single vestige of a path to lead me out. I feel disposed to trace the first that shall present itself." He rose, from the perusal of Wilson, convinced, that the Bible is what it professes to be-a Revelation from Heaven. This truth admitted, conviction of sin rushed upon his mind, and the old man bowed down his head in agony. He attended a meet || ing in the neighbourhood, and heard two sermons, by a passing preacher, from the following texts: Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." And, "Now is the accepted time, behold! now is the day of salvation." The Holy Spirit made the word quick and powerful. He went home to read and revere that volume, which, for about half a century, he had neglected and despised. The man, who had never prayed before, went home to cry"God be merciful to me, a sinner." His conscience was shaken, and he trembled under the mighty hand of God. After a short season of severe conflict, between the powers of light and darkness, the star of Bethlehem arose, and led him to Jesus. It was on a Sabbath morning. The night preceding had been dark to his soul. He arose from his pillow just as the day dawned, when the following train of thought passed through his mind. "This is the resurrection morning on this morning Christ rose from the dead! But why did he die? To save sinners. Well, I am a sinner—a great sinner-and will he not save me? Lord Jesus, save, or 1 perish!" The storm was over, and the calmness of Heaven came over his spirit. He walked out. The winter was so far gone, that the birds were singing their morning anthems. The eastern sky appeared glowing in new and indescribable beauty. The fields and the forest seemed dressed in unwonted loveliness. Heaven and earth looked glad. He gazed, and admired, and could no longer keep silent. Although unaccustomed to sing "His tongue broke out in unknown strains, The next day, on meeting him, he readily gave vent to his new. born feelings and hopes. Said he, "I have lived sixty-six years, and am scarcely two days old. I am a miracle of the grace of God! O, how could I support old age without the consolations of religion, and without the promises written in that blessed volume, which I have so long slighted and abused!" Soon after he had the happiness to embrace a prodigal son, who had wandered in |