being at the same time in the service of Sikandar Sahib. Shortly after this he left his employer, and became a faqir, wandering from one place to another, seeking rest for his soul; he spent some time in the jungles, after which he came to Matura, the famous holy place of the Hindoos, but not being satisfied, he left, and passing through Agra, heard me preach in the Tirpoliya, where he entered into discussion, and opposed me, but being defeated, he quietly left us. He was, however, deeply impressed by what he had heard, and came the next day to our native preachers to inquire more concerning the truth. On another occasion, when I was engaged in addressing a crowd in the market-place, he passed by, and hearing a man opposing me, he came forward, took my part, and confuted the opponent. The following day he came to me, saying, "that he had been deeply impressed, and was convinced of the truth of Christianity; that our books were true, and that his were false, and the invention of man; that he had been practising austerities for many years, and had also visited several famous places of pilgrimage, but his mind was not at ease; he now believed Christ Jesus to be such a Saviour as he needed, and had sought for. I explained to him the way of salvation by Christ more fully, and he was so much struck by what he heard, that he at once, without hesitation, gave up his shasters, or sacred books, to me, and accepted in return a New Testament. He soon after renounced caste, and has ever since continued with our native brethren, and appears to be a genuine convert. He is of a very willing disposition, reads his Testament very diligently, and I trust that "the love of Christ constraineth" him, and that he is daily "growing in grace and in knowledge of the Redeemer." For two months past he has accompanied the native preachers and myself on our preaching excursions, and will be baptized (D.v.) on the first sabbath of next month. Pray for him, dear brother, that he may be kept through faith unto salvation, and become a "shining light" to his benighted countrymen. The Lord has also blessed our humble labours in the villages. A Hindu in the village of Sainya has also been added to the church, and I have good reason to think him sincere. He has been tried much on account of the religion of Christ, but he has come out of the fire as gold well purified. Since the 5th of October last my labours have been chiefly directed to the district which we have particularly under our cultivation. This district, which has been allotted to brother Makepeace and myself, has not been cultivated so much as that which is under brother Williams's care. In some of the villages we have been very kindly received, and have much encouragement; but I am sorry to say that we have also many opponents. But we have the pronise that the gospel shall conquer, and be

victorious over all its enemies, and therefore are encouraged to go forward in the name of the Lord, "who wills that all men should be saved." There is a very interesting Hindu in Sainya, who has for some months been thinking seriously about his soul, and inquiring after the way to eternal life. We trust that he will soon confess Christ openly. He is very regular in his attendance at the prayer-meetings.

In the month of November I made a tour in connexion with brother Makepeace, to Bhuteshwar, distant about fifty-five miles from Agra. It is a famous bathing-place of the Hindus, and we visited it at the period of its great annual mela. It is kept in commemoration of the marriage of Mehadewo, or "the great god," one of the most obscene of the heathen deities. When we arrived but few people were collected, but as the great day drew nigh crowds were pouring in for the purpose of bathing and making offerings to the idol. What a painful thing it is to see man, created at first in the likeness of his Maker, bowing before a lifeless stone! Alas, how much is his understanding darkened ! Yes, it is a beart-rending sight to see them rush for a drop of Ganges water for the purification of their hearts. In that place is a temple in which there are figures of Mahadewo, his wife Parwatti, and their son Mahes, cut out of stone. I have seen the poor Hindus gazing on them with the deepest adoration and astonishment, bowing down and making their offerings before them; and more sad to think, that they bring their little children with them, who are taught to do the same, and when leaving the temple they, with their children, cry out, "Bam Mahadewo! bam Mahadewo!" Seeing all this, a missionary in India may lose all his courage, and well might he say, "Who is sufficient" for such a work as to put down the kingdom of Satan, who is leading these poor people captive at his will? But "the Lord is with us," who has said, "I will do it." Had the missionary not the word of God on his side, had he not his promises, which give him vigour to prosecute his work, and had he no grace, which does support him, he would soon throw down his arms and abandon the field. At the end of the fair a very interesting man, of high caste, came to me expressing his belief in what he had heard, and seemed much affected. He visited our tent for three nights, and the day he was leaving the fair he came, assuring us of his sincerity, promising that he would! not forget what had been declared to him, of the truth of which he was quite convinced. We had more hearers than we were able to address. We preached as long as our voices could be heard; we also distributed many books, which were gladly received, and returned home quite fatigued and exhausted. May the Spirit of God, accompany the word which has been preached in much

weakness, with demonstration and power, and many, many thousands come forward to leclare themselves on the Lord's side!

We have just returned from another excursion to Gwalior. I had cherished a desire for some months past to visit that place, as we had been meeting with many of the inhabitants of that city, who seemed very favorably disposed, and desirous of reading our books. We left home on the 28th of December, 1846, and returned on the 14th of January, 1847. It took us five days to reach Gwalior. We preached in all the villages through which we passed, and many heard the gospel with great attention. On the 3rd we began to preach in the city of Gwalior. Many hundreds heard from our lips the gospel of Jesus Christ, and sometimes my congregation consisted of more than four hundred persons, who listened with the utmost attention. We had but very few objectors. Many seemed struck with the truth, and were obliged to say that their gods were not the true God, and their religion not divine. We preached for three days in the city, and also distributed many hundreds of gospels and

tracts!

On the 6th we went to the Lashkar,

where the raja lives, and his troops are situated. This place is larger than that portion of Gwalior denominated the city. On the morning of the day on which we commenced our preaching I went a little before my native preacher, who was bringing scriptures; I took as many as I could put in my pockets, and soon reached a large open place, where I began to read a part of the fifth chapter of Matthew, for the purpose of collecting a crowd, and in less than five minutes I was surrounded with not less than from three hundred to four hundred people, who heard very attentively. All were serious, and many seemed to feel the power of the truth. After having preached as long as I was able, I distributed the books I had with me, and returned to look for my native preacher. I soon found him, and took our stand in the principal street. We had splendid congregations, and preached till we were quite exhausted, and then distributed a large number of books. We continued for three days our preaching in the Lashkar, and were kindly received, and had as many hearers as could conveniently stand in the street. May God bless our poor and humble labours, and may they not be in vain.

Bazar Schools.

Sudder bazar, Secrole, English, and Urdu departments.

Urdu and Persian ditto................................................. 2. Hindi ditto, about....

21

26

35

different bazar schools were first examined one by one, giving place to each other in succession; and then the several classes of the principal school (in Bengalitolah) stepped forward and gave pleasing proofs of their attainments in general, but especially religious knowledge, through the medium of the English, Urdu, Hindi, and Bengali tongues, all of which are taught at that institution.

We have been favoured with a statement of the number of boys attending the several schools, along with a list of the studies completed during the year by the highest class of the English department in the last-named school, which may serve as a specimen of the system there pursued :

Bengalitolah Central School. English department

Bengali ditto

Hindi ditto

30

Total

Grand total of scholars in attendance

Studies completed by the first class of Bengalitolah School.

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29

123