for the repair of roads; and, judging from the character of most of the roads, this tax cannot be a heavy one. The large roads are constructed by the government, and paid for by funds brought from Europe. Schools and Academies are supported liberally by the same foreign mu no small share of the easy politeness, and invincible religious prejudices of their ancestors. Among these are interspersed the varieties of English, Scotch, and Irish families-all distinctly marked by the peculiarities of their respective nations and standing much in the same relation to each other, as did the Jews and Samari-nificence, more than $100,000 per annum tans of former days-more courteous perhaps, but equally fixed in their customs and habits. The hill country" of Lower Canada forms the least and most recently settled part of the Province. It is but a few years since it was thrown into townships, of ten miles square generally, about ninety in number, and came into open market. These townships have been thoroughly surveyed, divided into lots of 200 acres each, and, excepting those portions of them that are reserved for the crown or the clergy, are sold to purchasers, at a low rate, and with a sure title. What are called the "eastern town. ships," (and far the larger part of the whole fall under the designation,) includes a territory of nearly one hundred miles square. Some of the towns are not yet settled at alt; in others, a few families are planted; and in others still, the population ranges from two or three hundred to four or five thousand. Much the largest portion of the inhabitants originated in" the states," and the course of present emigration, is from the same quarter. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 souls in the Province are of Anglo-American or New England origin-and that not more than 5,000 of the 50,000 in the eastern towns, are either of Canadian or foreign descents. PROBABILITY OF INCREASE. There are not wanting strong motives to turn our locomotive brethren of the states into this direction. Besides the fertility and cheapness of the soil, producing larger crops of grass, eats, wheat, &c. &c, than are produced on an equal extent of surface in New-England, there is an entire exemption from taxation, except having been expended for two or three years past, in the instruction of the youth; and an established ministry is maintained by the same strong arm, giving an opportunity for the weekly worship of the sanc tuary to all who value it, as conducted by an Episcopal ministry, with too little efficiency perhaps, and with no expense. Whatever may be the actual value of such liberality on the part of government, toʻ the inhabitants of the Province, it cannot be denied, that they have great facilities for the acquisition of wealth and intelligence; and for any failure in these acquisitions, they alone will be found in fault. But, if I mistake not, these facts have operated, and will continue to operate, on the minds of many, as inducements to exchange the blessings of our republican institutions, for the blessings of a royal provincial government. In the Home Missionary" for January last, you furnished your readers with some nada and Montreal Education, and Home extracts from the last report of the “ CaMissionary Society," in which I was deeply interested at the time, as probably were all who regularly read your pages. Those facts, I have reason to believe, from personal observation, and from extended inquiry, are correct; and I venture to sug. gest, that they ought to be engraven on the heart, and deeply pondered in the re tirement of every friend of God, in NewEngland, and throughout the states. In the statements which I am bound to submit to you as the result of my own inquiries, there will appear only slight variations from the statement of the Report" now allud ed to, though on some points, you will permit me to amplify, regarding them as important to the full understanding of the duty of American Christians, towards their less favoured brethren of the north. RELIGIOUS SECTS. In 1831, the population of Lower Canada, according to the census then taken, was a fraction short of 512,000. Of these, 403,000 were registered as Catholics, and the remainder as Protestants of various denominations. The increase of the population during the preceding six years, was 89,000; and the ratio is not diminishing but rather enlarging, through the force of circumstances, already adverted to. It is said, that there are 35,000 Episcopalians; but it ought not to be forgotten that all are included in this calculation who do not actually belong to some other denomination, but who reside within the limits of the parishes or pastoral charges of the several Episcopal clergymen. Of Scotch Presbyterians and seceders, there are about 23,000; of Methodists, 8,000; of Baptists, 2,500; and of Congregationalists, &c., 6,000. So say public documents. But this will leave between 30,000 and 40,000 belonging nowhereunbelieving enough, and ignorant enough, no doubt, to require, and amply repay the labours of the missionary. swallow a camel Yet more than one hundred thousand souls, widely scattered, and many of them long released from the restraints of religious education, are to be sought after, and taught all they shall ever know of the oracles of God by these fifty men. And then, it is to be remembered, that foreigners; that they are not chosen by the clergy are, almost without exception, perior authority; that they are chiefly their congregations, but appointed by susupported by government, and not at all by the contributions of the people; that such responsibilities are not felt by them, nor by their congregations, as to create that mutual confidence, and reciprocal action, on which the usefulness of the pastoral relation essentially depends. Consequently, the Sabbath assemblies of the legal clergymen are commonly small, not consisting, in the country towns, of more than 20, 30, 40, or 50 persons-and the efficiency of their ministry is smaller still, for it is usually limited to one service a week for each congregation. MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. The salaries of the Episcopal clergy are fixed at £200 per annum, and, together with the surplice fees, amount to not MEANS OF GRACE AMONG THE PROTESTANTS. less, probably, than 1000 dollars. Half The whole number of Protestant houses of this is paid from the public chest, for public worship is thirty-nine. Ten of and half by the "Society for the propaga. these are Methodist Chapels—and nearly ||tion of the Gospel in foreign parts." The all the remainder belong to the established salary of the Methodist ministers is fixed Churches of England and Scotland. The at 100 guineas per annum, with a furnishnumber of Episcopal clergymen is twenty-ed dwelling-house; and 30 guineas are seven-and the Methodist missionaries, or ministers, are nine. Beside these, there are eight or ten evangelical ministers of other denominations-and a few who style || themselves "Christian Union Men." I believe it would be difficult to find fifty Protestant ministers in Lower Canada, who dispense enough of the light of Divine truth, to guide inquiring souls in the way to Heaven; and it cannot be account. ed "a strange thing," if some of these shall be discovered at last among the blind guides, who strain at a gnat and added when there are three childrenand ten guineas more, on the addition of each other child to the family. These salaries are paid by the "London Wesleyan Missionary Society," except such part of them as may be made up by the voluntary donations of the people. If a liberal pe. cuniary support were the all-powerful stimulous to ministerial fidelity, there would be no deficiency of such fidelity here-for the expense of living is compa. ratively small, and it must be bad economy indeed, which shall leave cause of complaint on the part of any minister, [] try being 80 miles from him, and the calls against the dispensers of such salaries. on him for ministerial service, being conAs to the actual faithfulness and success stant and pressing. Beside one other of these ministers, lying under no responsi- Congregational minister, who is your bility to their churches, and having like missionary, and one American Presbytepassions as other men, you are well able rian minister, there is no pastor of either to form an opinion;-certain it is, that a of these denominations in all the Pro· New-Englander in Canada, setting under vince ! such a ministry, finds not, or fancies that he finds not, all his wants supplied. And what are these, among fifty or sixty thousand souls from the United States, who, remembering earlier days, in the land of their own, or their fathers' Four hundred dollars will support a family as well in Canada, as in any part of New-England, so far as my acquaint-nativity, do say, and will continue to say, ance extends. And were this amount, or the larger proportion of it, paid by the people, to the man of their choice, a man of similar habits to their own, and were its payment dependant on the principle of attachment founded on benefits reciprocal-well may the lungs heave without air, and the former days were better than these." And how can these churches live, how can they prosper, and make their light penetrate the surrounding darkness, while destitute of Gospel ministrations? As the limbs gather strength from the confinement of the dungeon. But they must ly conferred and received, results might safely be anticipated, of a character very different from those realized on the pre-live, or thousands of souls must perish. sent plan. But the New-England population of the Province will never be essentially benefited by the labours of men born and educated in the old world, with prejudices and habits peculiar to themselves, and quite dissimilar to those found under the auspices of a free and equal government. For them, a ministry must be provided, that will eat from the same dish and drink from the same cup with themselves-a ministry that will claim no superiority, and exert no other influence than what flows from superior talent and piety. Under such a ministry, the rose of Sharon could not fail to diffuse its fragrance over all the hills and valleys of that northern region. They must prosper, or the name of God must be blasphemed by increasing multitudes of scoffers. Their light must shine, or the darkness of Egypt must thicken into the darkness of the pit, and settle forever over the whole population. Nor may these six churches be suffered to stand alone. So they cannot long stand. Unless multiplied and strengthened by some common bond of union, they must leave their stones to be poured out in the top of every street. They can be multiplied. Strength can be given them. They have risen into existence without the aid of sister churches. They are "without father and without mother." God has caused them to spring, man knoweth not how. But now that they are born, they require nurture; and they will repay that nurture— There are six Congregational Churches an hundred fold, they will repay it. The organized among all the eastern town spirit of fanaticism has spent its force. ships, viz., at Stanstead, Granby, Shipton, Sectarianism has become quiet as the Shefford, Missisqui Bay, and Potton. The lanıb. Universalism, infidelity, and kinnumber of members in each of these I do dred forms of unbelief, find few advocates, not know, but they vary from ten to fif- because they have been proved on the spot ty. One of them only has a pastor, and to be liars, promising to increase human he is worn down by excessive and solitary happiness, but actually scattering abroad labour, his nearest brother in the minis-firebrands, arrows, and death. FEEBLE CHURCHES IN THE TOWNSHIPS. In all this fertile valley of the Missis. sippi, fron Baton Rouge to New-Orleans, a distance of 120 miles, now densely inhabited, with thousands of Protestants and Catholics, I have not been able to learn that there ever was a revival of religion. This I verily believe may be said of many other parts of the state. The question may be asked, what has been the cause? Is it because it is the Eden of our country, the very latitude of Jerusalem, and the inhabitants cursed like the Jews for their sins? 'But these churches cannot be sustained, [ and their numbers increased, and their members taught to hold the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, and be brought up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, without MINISTERS. Tracts have been sent to them, but they are not scattered. Sabbath Schools have been formed, but they have fallen through. Libraries have been established, but they have soon found their way to some upper chamGreat sins are indeed manifest. Every ber, where the worm devours them at its commandment is broken. The Sabbath, leisure. Mind is not brought into contact particularly, is profaned-but the atonewith mind, and thought stagnates. The ment of Christ is greater than our sins. truths of the Bible are not proclaimed-have not been used? Do not Christians May we not conclude, that the means and they are forgotten. The principles of stand in the way? Are they not commisGod's moral government are not explain-sioned to send the Gospel to every creaed, and the fact of his government is over. looked. Yet nothing is wanting to remove ignorance, to quicken the intellectual powers, to excite and expand the moral affections, to arouse the conscience, to awaken the spirit of enterprise, to call thousands at once to the feet of Jesus, and prepare the way for whole generations to own him as their Lord and their God, and bring the united resources of the Pro-how the Bible is received in Louisiana, as As I trust you will be interested to learn vince to the great work of the world's conversion, but the firm and extended establishment of an evangelical MINISTRY. Yours affectionately, R. S. STORRS. ture? and would it not be a miracle should sinners be converted without these means? Is not God ready to give the increase? In some places a sermon has been occasionally preached; Bibles and Tracts have been distributed; but many of these Bibles will remain closed and laid aside them, and the people are told what they as useless, except the Word is preached to contain; and that they contain the words of eternal truth and life. A.. well as the reception of the preached Gos- THE SOUTH AND SOUTH-WEST. gladly received them. In about sixty Catholic families I found but five or six furnished. One I recollect said she had brought hers from the state of New-York, about thirty or forty years since; another from Canada, when they emigrated to this country. These seemed to understand well what they contained, and duly appreciated their worth. One man, a very superstitious Catholic, on my making known to him my errand, reprimanded me very abruptly, for offering to distribute Bibles. He stated he had one I was not very ready to believe him. But it seems that two or three had been furnished some years previously by an agent-one of which had been laid up in the loft of the house for years, and covered with dust, till the people had forgotten what book it was; only that they recollected it was given to them. I caused them to search diligently till they found it. And I doubt not that many of those recently distributed will remain in the same useless condition, unless the A. H. M. Society send zealous missionaries to preach the Gospel from place to place. Some received Bibles with gladness and eagerly commenced reading them, never having read in one before. Some were afraid to receive them, because of their priests. Others, more ignorant still, and persons too in adult age, and of good intellect, knew not what a Bible was, and though I explained and spoke in their own French language, they could not comprehend it, and appeared much alarmed, and went with me to the neighbours, to learn what it was, and when told it was a book used by their priests, appeared satisfied. I believe there are hundreds still, in Louisiana, who know not what a Bible is; and thousands know not what it contains, and never will, till the Gospel is preached to them. Will not Christians pity such? community say," they are joined to their idols, let them alone?" These very people would be ready at a moment's warning, to leave their amusements, to hear the Word of God preached. There are large districts here, where I can. not learn that a Protestant sermon was ever preached, amidst a dense population, and that too on the banks of the Mississippi. [We commend such articles as the following to ministers, candidates for the ministry, elders of churches, and to all who have any thing to do in bringing forward the soldiers of the cross into the field. Surely our Education Societies need tenfold more zeal and resources, at a time when calls liko the following thicken upon our ears, and are many of them unanswered, because there is Robedy to go.] LABOURERS NEEDED IN A SOUTHERN STATE. You will no doubt recollect the destitute situation of a Presbyterian Church at In June, Brother H. and myself held a sacramental meeting in that church, which was greatly blessed. Ten were In order to secure the Bibles distribu- added to the communion, some of whom ted from the fire, by order of the priest, I were gentlemen of the first respectability. called on the Catholic curate, who inti- Many appeared deeply concerned for the mated, that they might be destroyed, and salvation of their souls. Never have I denied that they were the Word of God. had my feelings more interested for a peoFeeling that he was in error, I assured ple destitute of the regular means of grace. him I had compared a French translation, When we were taking our leave of them, which I had some years since received they crowded around us, weeping, and say. from a Catholic priest, with the Englishing, we know not how to let you go; our translation, and found no essential difference. Having nothing further to advance, and the Bishop being near by, at the convent, he wished me to have an interview with him. We called on him, and he spoke with much candour, acknowledged the translation was literal, and was willing his parishoners should read the Bible, provided it was accompanied with Catholic comments; and candidly acknowledged if they read the Bible without comments, they would not remain Catholics. Thus are the people kept in darkness and superstition, as a mass, yet many, very many, are sensible, that there is a great want of vital piety in the church. But what can they do? they are told and taught there is no salvation out of their church. And, indeed, when they look around on Protestants, what do they see? a people, as sheep without a shepherd; as openly wicked, and as regardless of the Sabbath, as themselves; and ready to join them on the Sabbath, at a horse race, in the chase, at the billiard and card table, and at the dance! Will the Christian Sabbaths must again be spent in silence, without any to go in and out before us, and break unto us the bread of life. Can you do nothing for us? You see our des titute situation; can you do nothing to supply us with a preacher? We asked them what they could do for the support of a minister, and immediately one of the young converts (an excellent man) came forward, and offered to board a minister and keep his horse, for his part. The elder said, he thought $300 could be raised in addition. We advised the females (as the great majority of the members are females) to raise a subscription imme. diately and see what could be done: and we would present their case to your Society. A letter has just been received, a part of which we shall copy. "Upon your suggestion we prepared subscription for the purpose of supporting a Presbyterian preacher, in our town, and we have obtained about $400 from persons who will pay punctually when due. Mr. , a gentleman of fine family, and high respectability, says, if the clergyman |