were the best. The multitude pressed on me very much, to get my Publications: there were many on horseback, and also many farmers' men and women-servants, who wanted to know what was the matter, and what these Papers were about: I told such of them as could not read, that they were Religious Publications, designed to benefit their souls; and desired them to carry them home, and get some one to read them to them. At an Execution-The spectators were very numerous, and much levity was exhibited: I told them that I felt grieved at it; and it would have given me much pleasure to have seen them lifting up their hearts to God, in supplication and prayer for grace for themselves and the unhappy culprit. This conversation had the tendency of checking thoughtlessness and folly; and many acknowledged I was right. The Tracts, in general, were received very eagerly, and the Peace-officers generally shewed respect. The Tracts would have a wide circulation where they were much needed. Continent. France. Principles of the New French Catholic Church. NOTICES of this Church occur at pp. 304, 399. The following declaration of its Articles of Faith has appeared: 1. The Word of God is our only guide of faith. 2. We admit the Three Symbols-of the Apostles, of Nice, and of St. Atha nasius. 3. We recognise as Canonical all the Books of the Old and New Testaments which the Reformed Church admits as such; and we consider the reading of them as of indispensable necessity. 4. We believe that there are Two Sa craments of Divine Institution-Baptism, and the Holy Supper. We admit the others only as Pious Ceremonies, which have existed from the earliest period of the Church. 5. The Service of the Sacrament will no longer be performed in Latin; but in a familiar tongue, after the Ritual of the Church... 6. Auricular Confession is not of divine precept: we do not require it of any one; but the Faithful, before approaching the Holy Table, should pre pare themselves to receive general Absolution. 7. We do not recognise any Days of Abstinence. As to Fasting, we submit it to the piety of the Faithful. 8. We admit a Hierarchy in the Church; and this Hierarchy is to be composed of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 9. Our veneration for the Saints consists in thanking God for the grace which He bestowed upon them. 10. Religious instruction being of the first necessity for the people, we consider it the most important of our duties to disseminate freely the bread of the Word of God. Probable Abortiveness of this Attempt. The Rev. G. de Felice, a Protestant Minister near Havre, thus writes, in June, to the Editor of the NewYork Observer: Some of the Catholics have attempted to abandon their ancient traditions. In Paris, they have united under the direction of M. the Abbé Chatel, in order hereafter to perform Mass in the French Language. This unexpected innovation at first excited much curiosity: the Ultramontane Clergy were somewhat alarmed: they feared that they should witness the sudden crumbling of the columns of their ancient edifice. But the result of this attempt was trifling. Three or four Villages among the thirty-eight thousand Communes of France have called into their bosoms Neo-gallican Priests; and even in these villages, the New Mode of Worship is little observed: for, on the one hand, the DEVOTED PAPISTS do not wish to go to the Mass of those Priests who are regarded as Heretics; and, on the other, the INDIFFERENT CATHOLICS do not attend Mass of any kind, whether performed in Latin or in French. It is probable that this secession will die of its own accord. Already it has ceased to be spoken of in the Journals, or to excite in the public any interest. Our country is too little religious, it is too much absorbed in politics, to give to any attempt of this sort the importance which it merits. In the sixteenth century the idea of a Mass in the French Language would have kindled an extensive flame in France--now, with our sceptical and infidel population, it has been but a mere flash, which has thrown a feeble light upon the horizon. State of Religion in France. On this subject M. de Felice adds In England and America, Christians have thought that our late Political Revolution would be a powerful means of advancing the Kingdom of God in France. I remember myself to have read, in a number of the New-York Observer of the last year, that you propose to profit by the change of Government, and to spread thousands of copies of the Bible among the French People. But these hopes of the friends of the Gospel are premature. Christianity had not more enemies in France under the Old Government than it has under the New. With us Christianity is always blended with Catholicism, and Catholicism with the Priests by whom it is taught: but, as the Priests are generally opposed to the new order of things, and as they boldly avow their opposition, it follows that the Liberals, who form the more enlightened part of the Nation, conceive a hatred for every kind of religion, and become infidels, as a consequence of their political system: they consider the Gospel of God our Saviour as responsible for all the faults committed by some intriguing and ambitious Priests. It ought also to be said, that the French Catholic Clergy neglect no means of exciting the people. They declaim aloud from the pulpit against the new institutions; and sometimes have ventured to raise the colours of the ancient dynasty. These details will suffice to shew that the Gospel is still far from meeting with a favourable reception among the mass of the French Nation. But if, from this general view, we pass to the particular condition of the Protestants of France, the prospect is much more animating. Of late years, a new spirit has pervaded the Reformed Churches of our country. We have the happiness to reckon a large number of Evangelical Pastors; and the labours of many of them have been abundantly blessed. On the efforts of the Protestants, more particularly in the circulation of Tracts, Mr.H.Lutteroth, Secretary of the Paris Tract Society, thus addresses the American Tract Society: At present, the aspect of Protestant France is very much changed; and although the mass of Catholic France are far from being made attentive to the Truth, yet many manifest a desire to know some other doctrine more in harmony with the wants of the soul. The impious efforts of the Saint-Simonians are not without use fulness in this sense: for they draw men from that state of religious insensibility into which they had fallen; and they excite that spirit of inquiry so necessary to the progress of the Gospel, which we hope will be engrafted, in many, upon the wild and fruitless tree which these new adversaries of Christianity are planting. We have deemed ourselves called on, in these circumstances, to print Tracts peculiarly adapted to the most learned classes; particularly those which shew the proofs, external and internal, of the authenticity of the Gospel. Such is the character of our last Publications. Our Tracts not entering on subjects of controversy among the true disciples of Christ, we distribute them among the population generally. We are even aided in our distribution by some Catholics. In general, however, our zealous and active auxiliaries are to be found among Protestants; and we ought to say, with gratitude, that the facilities for the diffusion of Tracts increase daily. We continually find new helpers; and believe that we shall soon have some in every department of France, inhabited by thirty-two millions of souls; to whom, were not our means so limited, we should easily have an access, by the creation of depôts, and sending them our Publications. Pensions: To 18 Married and 6 Unmar ried Brethren..... To 33 Widows.. To 83 Children at School or Trades...... 908 5 0 200 0 0 654 9 5 Total....11183 3 0 The "West-India Fund" is now 2261. 13s. 7 d. in arrear; and the Balance of the "West-India-School Fund" in hand is reduced to 3281. Os. 8d. are newly appointed. Five Brethren and Sisters retired from service within the year, and two departed into the joy of their Lord. Twelve of those em1638 17 10 ployed are Children of Missionaries. South Africa-We have here six settlements. The Missionaries are diligently employed, and God's grace prevails among them and their Congregations. At Gnadenthal, the Schools flourish more and more. At Hemel-en-Aarde, Br. and Sr. Tietze were eagerly received by the poor lepers, as successors to Br. and Sr. Leitner; and their labour is not in vain. At Elim, the number of Converts, as well as of residents, is on the increase. great and destructive drought throughout the Cape Colony did great injury to Enon. The Mission among the Tambookies, at Shiloh, affords the means of instruction to many savages of different tribes; and numbered 113 inhabitants at the close of the year, whose spiritual and temporal welfare the Brethren seek to promote, by every possible means. Br. Hallbeck's visit was productive of many useful arrangements. The Committee remark The disbursements on account of our Missionary Work, during the year, amounted to the largest sum which has ever been expended within a similar period. This will not be a subject of surprise to those who consider, that, during this period, Three New Stations were formed, and many journeys by land and sea undertaken; and that a provision was required to be made for not less than 78 retired Missionaries and a proportionately large number of Children. That the contributions from Members of our own Church, added to the far more considerable donations received from Benevolent Friends in Great Britain and North America and on the Continent of Europe, should have raised the means of meeting this expenditure as high as 11,06 17. Os. 7 d., we esteem as a renewed proof of the blessing of the Lord on the work committed to us. Summary View of the Missions for 1830. The portentous signs of the times, when tumult and rebellion, war and pestilence prevail in so many countries, and cause, everywhere, great confusion and distress, may well fill religious minds with anxiety, and with expectations of evil yet to come. At such a period, how encouraging and reviving is it to the heart of the Believer, to trace the peaceful progress of the Kingdom of Christ in the Heathen World, where the fields appear more and more white unto the harvest, and where the Gospel flies from land to land and from nation to nation! With humble joy and gratitude we contemplate that part of the great work which is committed to the Brethren's Church, of the commencement of which the Centenary Anniversary is fast approaching. At the close of 1830, the number of Brethren and Sisters employed in 42 settlements amounted to 209, of whom 15 Dec. 1831. The Danish West-Indies-The Seven Congregations of Believing Negroes in the Danish West-India Islands have continued to enjoy outward peace and many spiritual blessings from the Lord's hand; and, at Friedensthal, a new Mission House is in course of erection. British West-Indies-The Missionaries bestow much attention on the work of Negro Education; and the Schools increase in number and usefulness. In Jamaica, a New Settlement has been begun in St. Elizabeth's Parish, called New Fulnec; and the Mission at Mesopotamia, in Westmoreland, has been renewed. In Antigua, many changes have taken place among the Missionaries, owing to the lamented decease of Br. Johansen: there are Five Settlements in that island: at St. John's, the spiritual charge of nearly 7000 Negroes is attended with much labour and not a few difficulties, arising from various causes. In St. Kitt's and Barbadoes, the meetings in the Church and Schools are well attended. In the Island of Tobago, where a Mission was renewed three years ago, from 500 to 600 Negroes attend the Brethren's Ministry. Surinam-Br. Passavant has been appointed Superintendant of the Mission, which proceeds under the Divine Blessing. The Society for promoting Christianity among the Heathen Population 3 Y affords willing assistance; and many plantations near Voozorg and Fort Amsterdam are visited by the Brethren. North America-The Congregation of Believing Delawares, in Upper Canada, consisting of not quite 300 persons, is diligently attended by the Missionaries, whose labours have been productive of renewed fruit. The same may be said of the Mission among the Cherokees, notwithstanding the many difficulties with which it is encompassed, owing to the political state of the country. Labrador-The establishment of a New Station, called Hebron, has been greatly assisted by the Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel in London, who have kindly sent materials for erecting the necessary buildings. A desirable opportunity of hearing the Gospel is hereby afforded to the Northern Esquimaux, of which we pray that they may be disposed to avail themselves, as their Southern Brethren have done. Greenland-The Mission had to suffer from two trying circumstances; from the dispersion of the Members of the Congregations by order of the Chamber of Commerce in Copenhagen, and the delay in sending the necessary timber for building the Church at Friedericksthal : but the state of the Mission was encouraging, and the Two Southern Settlements had received an accession of numbers from among the Heathen. In Friedericksthal, however, upward of 30 Natives died of the pleurisy. In making this Report to our Brethren and Sisters, we feel pleasure and gratitude, in considering the active participation in the welfare of our Missions, exhibited both in our own Congregations and by so many Children and Servants of God in other Churches. We thank them most cordially for their assistance, and pray God to bless and reward them richly. But we also entreat them not to be weary in well-doing; but to continue to afford us the means of carrying on this work, which extends itself from year to year; and, above all, to remember the work itself, and all who are engaged in it, in their supplications at the Throne of Grace. In conclusion, we commend ourselves, and the important concerns committed to us, to your fervent prayers and intercession; and remain, together with the whole Elders' Conference of the Unity, in the fellowship of our Saviour Jesus Christ, your most affectionate Brethren. Sufferings of the Caffres, especially from the Voracity of the Wolves. With regard to this people generally, it would seem that God has for the last three years been preparing them for the Gospel by the scourge of famine and war. Their sufferings have been many, and very severe: death has assailed them in various forms. The mother has rambled from home in search of roots: weakness has seized her joints she has sunk beneath the weight of her little charge, and risen no more: the little innocent has been seen still hanging to his mother's breast, weeping and sobbing; but, alas! the arms could no more protect-the eye, which had so long looked with anxious pity on her tender offspring, had ceased to roll-the breast no more heaved with anguish-the immortal soul had fled; and had left the little babe an inhabitant of a world of misery, but of misery peculiar to the country where the precepts of the Gospel have not taught to pity. Nor is this a solitary instance: the cases of distress have been innumerable; for those who had some little dependence, and could remain at home, have nevertheless been subject to the nightly visits of the wolves, whose attacks have been so destructive among the children and youth, as to form an anomaly in the history of that animal: within a few months, not fewer than forty instances came to my own knowledge, wherein this beast had made most dreadful havock. To shew clearly the preference of the wolf for human flesh, it will be necessary to notice, that, when the Mambookies build their houses, which are in form like bee-hives and tolerably large, often 18 or 20 feet in diameter, the floor is raised at the higher or back part of the house, until within three or four feet of the front, where it suddenly terminates; leaving an area from thence to the wall, in which every night the calves are tied, to protect them from the storm or wild beasts. It would be natural to suppose, that should the wolf enter he would seize the first object for his prey, especially as the Natives always lie with the fire at their feet: but, notwithstanding this, the practice of this animal has been, in every instance, to pass by the calves in the area, and even by the fire, and to take the children from under the mother's kaross; and that in such a gentle and cautious manner, that the poor parent has been unconscious of her loss, until the cries of her little innocent have reached her from without, when a close prisoner in the jaws of the monster. To give all the instances which I could adduce, would tire your patience: I will, therefore, only give two, with which we have been more immediately concerned; and which, while they shew how much they want who want the Gospel, will also shew that the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. The first which I shall mention is that of Dapa's great grandson, about ten years of age. The wolf had previously seized a younger brother, and torne away a part of his face. Another night he came into the house and took a second, and carried him completely off; of whom nothing more than a small fragment was found. On his third visit he seized the lad first mentioned, by the left shoulder: the little fellow, awakened by this grasp, struck him with his hand: the wolf let go his hold; and, grasping him on the opposite side, broke his collar-bone: the poor boy still fought with his left hand; and his antagonist, letting go his hold a second time, seized him by the fleshy part of the thigh, and ran off with his prey; nor was it till he had carried him a quarter of a mile that he could be made to drop him, when, biting away the precious mouthful, he left the little sufferer with his thigh half severed; but, happily, the bone was not broken. In this state he was brought to us for help; and, by daily attention, he is perfectly restored. The second instance is of a little girl, about eight years of age, who was reclining on the ground in the cool of the day, when four of these monsters rushed upon the place. One of them seized the little creature by the head, a second by the shoulder, and the other two by the thighs. The people of the kraal, with all possible speed, flew to her help, and succeeded in releasing her, but apparently too late. They tried for a few days to help her with their medicines; but, finding all hope fail, and as from the heat and flies she had now become loathsome, they gave her her choice, either to be put to death by the youths of the place, or go to the woods to die or be further devoured as might happen! The little girl chose the woods. In this forlorn condition, she determined to cast herself on our mercy; and, although she had never been at the Station, she believed, from what she had heard, that, could she reach the place, she should receive that protection and help, which he who claimed the endearing appellation of father had longer refused to give, and which she had no right anywhere else to expect among her own Nation. With this resolution she set out; and, although she had to travel several miles, through deep glens, succeeded in reaching the Station-an awful picture of deformity and suffering, all but in a state of nudity, covered with large wounds to the number of fourteen, among the most ghastly of which was that of the head and face, where the wolf, having endeavoured to grasp the whole head, had torne the mouth open to the ear, and stripped the head of the upper part of its covering, and made a ghastly wound of eight inches. Through the mercy of God she is quite recovered, and scarcely at all deformed; but refuses ever to return to those who forced her to the woods to die. I am happy to add, that a few days since, as I was walking a little distance from the house, I heard some one as in fervent prayer; and, as I could discover it was the voice of a child, I made toward it, and found, in a little secluded spot among the weeds, my little patient, who was earnestly pouring out her soul to the God of her mercies, where she thought no eye saw or ear heard her but God. This boldness in the wolf, as also his passing by every other sort of prey for a human body, must, I think, be attributed, in the first place, to the horrible custom of leaving their dead unburied; and, in the second, to the frequent wars in this part of Caffraria, by which these monsters have been fed to the full: the late Chaka scarcely deserves a better appellation than that of caterer to the wolfish tribe. Since his death, these animals, instead of feeding, as in his day, on bodies plentifully provided for them, are, with a few exceptions, obliged to take them while alive. I am, however, happy to add, that, within the last two or three months, there has scarcely an instance of the wolf's ravages been heard of: there is no more war, and the people sleep quietly in their houses. As to food, God has given them, this year, such an abundance as they have scarcely ever had: and what is most remarkable is, that I have not found a man who does not acknowledge these blessings to be from God. |