place, can preach to them in their own tongue. About twelve months since, Mr. Martin obtained a piece of ground for the erection of Mission-premises; and though, for want of funds, and from local diffi culties, our building operations have been retarded, and for a while suspended, yet, thank God, we have a footing, and our Agent has not been labouring in vain in building the walls of our little Zion at Abbeokuta. The Chapel and MissionHouse are both covered in, but very little more is done, so that our services are still held in a long piazza. We are scarcely able to proceed further with the work until we get an increase of funds. Will our Committee kindly assist us in this respect, and will the friends take up the case, and put means into their hands to enable them to do so? Help us, we beseech you for we conceive the place of which we speak is worthy of your aid. My journey thither and back was not very agreeable, especially as for two nights we could fix no tent, and I had to sleep with no covering but the broad canopy of heaven. One night as I lay on my mattress, which was spread on the ground, the headman of the road came and said I must not sleep very soundly, as the enemy might come and fire a shot through my head. This was not very pleasing news, I thought, especially as I had no rest the preceding night. Another time I had to get up at two A. M., pack up my mattress, and sit on a box in heavy rain, with an umbrella spread over me; and in this state I watched the light as it gilded the eastern sky. I thank God, that, after all this, I am better than I have been for a long time; although, from an effect already produced, a friend said, "If you go to Abbeokuta, it will be at the risk of your life." I visited the Chiefs in Abbeokuta, and was generally kindly received. The Chiefs here are much more respectable than some I have formerly met with. The Church Missionaries (who are prospering in this place) treated me with great kindness; and from the Rev. S. Crowther, I received a few articles (books, &c.) for our school, which had been kindly sent by Lady Buxton, who, for this remembrance of us, deserves our sincere thanks. We hope we shall still be favoured by our friends in England in this respect, as by it an impetus is given to our cause; and the people here are anxious to read; many of them read the English Testament well. Our members appeared very glad to see me, and many of them came, on my arrival, to bid me welcome; some of those on trial brought me a fine sheep, others brought me fowls and yams. It was very pleasing to hear them express their gratitude for my safe arrival among them, and I soon felt at home. On Sunday, September 10th, I preached in the morning, from John iii. 17, and after service examined the candidates for baptism. I was pleased with their sincerity. The evening before, I had met them in class; and now I put pointed questions to them. Some of them, I thought, felt grieved at my being so particular, and said, "Sir, we no come to serve God to-day, and go to serve Satan to-morrow; we see the Gospel is right; and we are determined to serve God." I refused to baptize some of them, because they had two wives (a thing very common among the Heathen). They said, "Well! this shall not be a hinderance long; we would rather that both should be put away, than give up serving God." I exhorted them to keep one, and, if possible, the one that would join her husband in serving God. In the evening of the day, I preached on the evil of backsliding, and exhorted the Sierra-Leone people (the majority of whom are in this state, and whom I had invited to attend) to put away the evil of their doings, and seek again the favour of God. It is an awful thing when the "candlestick" is removed from any people, or when they are so situated as to be destitute of the ordinances of religion. Religious ordinances are necessary to maintain Christian principles whilst we are in this state of trial. It is painful to see the number of persons in Abbeokuta that were once members of Christian society elsewhere, who have fallen into the prevailing sin, polygamy. It is pleasing, however, to witness, amidst the general desolation, a few who have remained faithful, and to find that others who have come from Sierra-Leone, and were Heathens all the time of their being there, on returning to their own land have found the Saviour. I met with some gratifying instances of this nature. It is also pleasing to find that those who have joined our society appear generally to have, or have had, true penitential feelings, and are now likely to prove steadfast. They show a courage which would do credit to Christians in any place; and some of them have been tested by persecution; yet they have continued to be faithful, and have told their persecutors that they would suffer death rather than give up Christ. Some have had to pay various sums of money; others have been put in chains, but nearly every one has been steadfast. And it would appear that God had interposed for the sake of his own cause. The enemies, who are in general Fetish Priests, (who feel their craft to be in danger,) finding they could not get all the Chiefs on their side, and so make persecution a public matter and kill persons openly, determined to try other means. Poison was to be laid in the path by which our members went to attend their religious meetings; and they being affected in this way, it was sup posed, would "turn to Fetish." (They have something here sufficiently strong to produce such effects.) A person was employed to carry the poison, and lay it down at a certain spot; but on the day appointed he was found a corpse ! This circumstance caused confusion in the enemy's camp, and the worshippers of the Lord Jesus were allowed to pursue their course without further molestation. I baptized nearly thirty persons while I was in Abbeokuta, and we have more than that number there on trial; besides more than twenty steady members, to whom I administered the sacrament of the Lord's supper. FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR 1848. THE total amount of Income, received from Excess of Expenditure over Income, in 1848 Total Deficiency, for 1847 and 1848...... £104,126 19 7 £7,365 9 ४ 5,993 6 5 £13,358 16 1 This Statement, like that which we published for 1848, “must excite very serious and anxious feeling, and proves the indispensable necessity of the most strenuous exertion." An accumulating Deficiency of, on the average, nearly £7,000 per annum, implies a state of things which must not be allowed to remain. It must be terminated,-either by a further sad and distressing retrenchment of our efforts and expenses, involving a most injurious interruption of a great and urgent work of piety and mercy on some of our Missionary Stations, or by a large and prompt augmentation of the Society's Income. We earnestly trust that our friends will forthwith enable us to decide, on safe and righteous principles, in favour of the latter side of this inevitable alternative. It is cheering to our minds to be able to say, that the Income of 1848 does evince, notwithstanding the great commercial and other difficulties of that year, a considerable and growing improvement. The regular Receipts from Great Britain, (and also from the Foreign Stations collectively,) exhibit, we are thankful to state, a gratifying increase upon those of the preceding year;-an increase very inadequate, indeed, to the actual demands upon our Funds, but still sufficient to show that the hearts of our friends are with us; that the Missionary spirit is not declining; and that, in the blessing of God, and the good-will and zealous co-operation of Christian people, the Society has ground to hope for eventual extrication from its existing embarrassments, and for the means of perseverance and progress in the glorious enterprise of the world's evangelization. LONDON: PRINTED BY JAMES NICHOLS, HOXTON SQUARE. No. 125. New Series. WESLEYAN MISSIONARY NOTICES, &c. MAY, 1849. MISSIONS IN SWITZERLAND:-CANTON DE VAUD. THE following Letter from MR. GALLIENNE brings down to the end of February our reports of the state and circumstances of our persecuted brethren in the Canton de Vaud. It will be read with interest; and calls for Christian sympathy and earnest prayer. The illustrations which it affords of the deep and malignant hostility of THE INFIDEL ANTICHRIST, especially when it is invested with civil power and secular authority, against vital Christianity, are striking and instructive. It is cheering, amidst these distressing details of intolerance and oppression, to learn, from the concluding portion of this communication, that our friends are graciously favoured with reviving visitations of heavenly influence, and tokens of the divine presence and approbation. "O Lord, arise, help and deliver them, for thy Name's sake!" Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Matthew Gallienne, dated Lausanne, A NEW year has dawned upon us since I last wrote, and I doubt not that it will be agreeable to you to know how we are getting on, and what is the present situation of parties with regard to the conflict in which we are still engaged. Some of the facts I have to communicate are of a painful nature; others are highly pleasant. Since my last, on the 1st of December, there have been two new decisions against us at head-quarters: One in the Supreme Court of Judicature, on the 12th of January; another in the Grand Council, on the 18th. The Grand Council refused to take into consideration a case, in which it was proved that the petitioner, a Minister of the Swiss Free Church, had not even been present at the meeting for which he had been put to fine, and exiled to his parish. As to the Superior Court, you remember that it had hitherto been favourable to religious liberty; its late decision in an opposite sense was founded on the assumed fact, that it could not go contrary to the votes of the Grand Council. It was necessary (so the Magistrates affirmed) that all the authorities should be agreed on so important a subject. Sad agreement truly, and worthy of a much better cause ! The month of January is also to be painfully remembered, on account of some manifestations of public opinion VOL. VII. NEW SERIES. May, against Christianity and Christian professors. An awful one took place on the 1st of January. During the latter part of the day, a number of individuals in masks, and otherwise disguised so as to represent Priests and Nuns, paraded the streets of the town, and celebrated, in the open air, a service to represent the mass. It was a profanation not only of Popery, but, what is infinitely worse, of Christianity itself. Papers printed for the occasion were afterwards distributed among the people. One of them was a parody of the Commandments of God, and entitled, "Commandments of the God of the Red Republic." Theft, adultery, and other crimes, were therein taught with an unblushing hardihood. Shortly afterward another painful occurrence happened in the town of Orbe. A number of individuals broke into a house inhabited by two maiden ladies, under pretence that there was a religious meeting on the premises; they became so outrageous, that the police were obliged to come to the rescue of the hapless females. Two of the ring-leaders were arrested, and a report of the case forwarded to the Council of State. reply was soon returned; and what do you imagine it was? Just this, "That the ladies were to be prosecuted, and the rioters set at liberty!" In vain was it urged that there was no meeting on the premises at the time; and that the men 1849. F A arrested had been guilty of a burglary. Our Governors were not to be deterred from their usual modes of proceeding; the "Momiers" (a term of reproach applied to evangelical and earnest professors of religion) were to be punished, and the "patriots" to be commended. All this was not a bad beginning or the year, in the opinion of our oppressors: two legal (?) decisions, and two significant popular demonstrations, sufficed to keep us awake, should we have felt disposed to slumber. The present month, February, has already witnessed a continued disposition to persevere in the like course. On the 16th, an hitherto unheard-of occurrence in the annals of the Canton de Vaud, took place at Lutry, near Lausanne. It was the sale, in the public square of that town, of beds, chairs, and other household furniture, belonging to our esteemed brother, the Rev. Mr. Descombaz, of the Free Church. It will be perhaps remembered, that on the 9th of last September, when Mr. Descombaz was arrested by the gendarmes, and led under escort from Morges to Lutry, a demand was made upon him for the expenses connected with the arrestation. He felt it his duty to refuse payment, which has finally been enforced in the manner above stated. You On Sunday, 18th, the peaceable inhabitants of our city were disturbed by the beating of drums, and the firing of cannon. One would have said that the town was in a state of siege; and so it really was, in a moral sense. A popular meeting had been called, preparatory to the general elections for the new Grand Council, which are to take place next Sunday. Thus is the Lord's day desecrated to profane and worldly purposes. may be assured, that on the 18th we had true specimens of what is to be expected from Socialism and her twin-sister Democracy. One must suffice. The Prefet of Lausanne, among other things, said, "We must not seek happiness in quiet repose; no, our happiness, as Socialist Democrats, is in combating all those who plead the cause of Aristocrats and Methodists." Each speaker terminated his harangue by shouting, Vive la République, Démocratique, et Sociale! Vive la Révolution permanente! You may easily imagine that the country is in a state of great excitement. It is understood, on all hands, that things are now coming to a crisis either for the better or the worse; and we feel the need of being prepared for whatever our Master may determine to be most for His glory. But, amid all these trying visitations, I rejoice to say that we feel greatly helped from above. I have to inform you, in the first place, that we have decided, after much reflection and prayer, to re-open our chapel, at least for our Sunday morning services. Our congregations had increased lately, so as to render it difficult for us to find room conveniently in our friends' houses; besides, our people now feel, in a great measure, delivered from those fears which, for some time past, had been so injurious to their own spiritual progress, as well as to the extension of the work of God around. They have, therefore, been anxious to return to their former place of worship, after more than one year's absence. Still we feel the necessity of taking certain precautions, so as not to excite attention unnecessarily, and to act with prudence as well as with courage. Our late Sunday-school Anniversary was highly interesting. It was likewise held in the chapel. On this occasion our little sanctuary was crowded with our children and some of their parents, amongst whom were some of the wealthy of the land. From what I have since heard, it appears that the service produced a favourable impression on the minds of our visitors; one of the proofs of which is, that since then the number of children has considerably increased. The same may be said of our school at Aigle. Had our Mission obtained no other success than that resulting from these institutions, it would be matter for devout thankfulness and renewed exertion. But the most comforting intelligence I have to communicate is that of the abundant spiritual blessings which God, in his mercy, has been vouchsafing us. Just at a time when, humanly speaking, our prospects are the least cheering, when angry threats are heard on every side, we feel that the Lord Jesus himself calms our fears, and bids us be of good courage. Perhaps we may date the revival which we are now witnessing, from the services of our watch-night, and those at the renewal of the covenant. They were, indeed, "times of refreshing." Some of our friends of the Free Church joined us on these occasions; and great was our rejoicing together in the Lord. Many souls since that period have either found peace with God, or been greatly renewed in love, and in Christian courage. We have some additions to our little flock, which has necessitated the formation of a new class, These are to us, as I am sure they will be to you, "tokens for good." We know not exactly what is in futurity, except it be, that, in common with the faithful elsewhere on the Continent, "bonds and afflictions abide us." Hitherto the prayers of God's people for us have availed; to them we owe many very many, and very striking deliverances, and, best of all, the gracious visitations we are now witnessing; and with confidence we continue to say to you, and to our other Christian friends in Britain "Brethren, pray for us." MISSIONS IN CONTINENTAL INDIA. THE CANARESE MISSION. WE have just received a copy of "The Tenth Report of the Wesleyan Canarese Mission, for the year 1848," beautifully "printed at the Wesleyan-Mission Press" in Bangalore. It is a very able and interesting Document. It faithfully acknowledges manifold difficulties and discouragements; but exhibits, on the whole, evidences of hopeful progress in the great work of "preparing the way of the Lord;" and satisfactory proof of the diligence, ability, and blessing from above, with which the Missionaries and their native helpers are prosecuting the several branches of their evangelistic labours, in the Stations and vicinities of Bangalore, (Canarese,) Mysore, Goobbee, and Coonghul. We have much pleasure in giving a place in our "Notices" to a few extracts from this Report. The following is the account of a short Missionary Tour undertaken by the Rev. E. J. Hardey, accompanied by "Joshua, the Catechist." MR. HARDEY'S COUNTRY TOUR. ON Wednesday the 25th of October, Joshua and I set out from the Fort in a country bandy at six A. M., and reached Pinyah, seven miles distant, at nine. We at once entered the village, and, sitting down upon the wheels of a bandy which was being repaired, we entered into conversation with the workmen. We were quickly surrounded by fifty or sixty men, women, and children, who listened most attentively, whilst Joshua preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. After I had taken my breakfast in the bandy, I entered into conversation with the standers by, and for an hour dwelt upon the shortness of time, the nearness of death, the necessity of a change of heart, and an active devotedness to the service of Christ, if they would be happy through eternity. Though simple villagers, they manifested far more interest in our message than we generally perceive in larger towns. On asking them if they had ever before seen a Missionary in their village, they replied, "No;" but one man, stepping forward, said, "I have heard all these words from you in Goohbee, where you used to keep us listening till noon." We quitted the village at eleven A. M., and reached Nellamungala about three. I had no sooner entered the bungalow, than I heard a great noise as of quarrelling, and, on looking over the wall, saw about thirty men and women engaged in fierce dispute. As the noise continued, I went toward the disputants, and, seating myself in their midst. asked the cause of their disagreement. I was immediately asked to hear and judge between the contending parties. The cause of the quarrel was this a very aged woman who had resided in the village from childhood, had desired to go to the place of her birth that she might die there. The Headman of this village had defrayed the expenses of her removal, and the villagers supposed they had seen her for the last time. But, after the expiration of nine or ten months, they found her one morning lying in the porch of the village temple. The poor old woman, not able to forget ner old associations in this village, had yet forgotten the place of her birth, and at her own request had been brought back to Nellamungala. The dispute was now betwixt the inhabitants of the two villages, the one party contending that the poor creature should not again find shelter in their village; the other demanding that, as she had been brought back at her own particular desire, she ought to be restored to the village. The quarrel had already continued for two |