around her, her fervent desire to depart and to be with Christ.

On the 12th of May, August Jantje, a communicant, whose age, according to his own statement, could be little short of 100 years, exchanged time for eternity. He often expressed himself in terms like these-" While I remain in this world, I must expect to suffer from a sickly body: I, therefore. long for the time when my Saviour will take 'me to Himself, and mercifully end my sufferings. I shall never forget what I have heard at Church, and in conversation with my Teachers, both here and at Gnadenthal: I will attend to their advice, to cleave to Jesus, and put my whole confidence in Him." For some days before his end, he was too feeble to speak audibly; but his countenance and gestures betokened the happiness of his soul.

On the 13th, he was followed into eternity by Amelia Slinger, likewise a communicant. She was baptized in the year 1825; and, in the following year, partook for the first time of the Holy Sacrament: not long after, she was however excluded, in consequence of open transgression. Being attacked by the Lazarus sickness in a very malignant form, she was under the necessity of keeping almost entirely to her bed. She was now led to consider her ways, to repent of her sins, and to seek pardon where alone it can be found. Shortly before her departure, she sent for us both, and asked our pardon for the uneasiness which she had caused us : our reminding her, that the forgiveness of our Saviour was of much more consequence to her, she assured us, with a cheerful countenance, that she had already sought and found it, and that she felt assured that He would receive her in mercy. We felt no hesitation in readmitting this penitent sinner to the privileges of the Church, of which she earnestly desired to be again a partaker. The night following she departed.

BUTTERWORTH.

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

on

FROM Mr. Shrewsbury's communications we make the following extracts.

Account of Four Native Converts. Thy kingdom come, is a prayer often poured forth in your Committee Meet

ings, and daily repeated in the Church Universal throughout the whole earth; while every Missionary, labouring among the nations of the Gentiles, adds his frequent "Amen!" And while prayer is thus made to the Redeemer continually, shall He not be daily praised, for the enlargement of His kingdom, and the conversion of sinners in the Heathen World? God is answering your supplications, among us; and, while nearly every adult on this Station is, in a greater or less degree, convinced of sin, and is a candidate for baptism, four persons have already been, by that ordinance, admitted into the Christian Church. Of each individual I shall give a short ac

count.

SIMON XILA-an Old Man, nearly 70 years of age. He was born in Batavia, and, when a young man, brought to the Cape of Good Hope; where he continued some time, as a slave, in the service of his master. Having been hardly dealt with, he fled from him into Caffreland; which has afforded a refuge for many such slaves from the old Dutch Colonists- the several Caffre Chiefs, and especially the more distant, having afforded them a willing protection. Upward of thirty years, has this Old Man resided with the tribe over which Hintza now bears rule. He seems to have preserved some imperfect ideas of the Christian Religion, which he had learned from the Boors; and to have endeavoured, occasionally, to communicate what he knew to others. He was the first who came to settle on this Station; and, shortly after, he began to be deeply concerned for salvation. He sought the Lord with great sincerity; and, even before he was baptized, he obtained peace and joy through believing. While thatching the Chapel, he fell from the roof, and fractured two of his ribs; but, when raised from the ground, in the midst of his pain he only uttered these words, which were several times repeated-" God has chastened me for my sins." His whole conduct and spirit, during his affliction, were becoming the character of a Christian.

JOHN PATROSS-a man about 40 years of age. His life has been very eventful, and marked by several distinguishing instances of the Divine goodness and care. In the memorable battle, fought between the Chiefs Gaika and Hintza, he was present; and, having been found among the wounded, was in the most

imminent danger of death: John, who is a slender man, was lying along on the ground, with his face toward the earth, when a stout, hale Caffre, belonging to Gaika, passed by, and discovered that he was not dead: he immediately resolved to despatch him; and, for that purpose, fell flat upon him, holding his assagai in his right hand: while pressing him to the earth in this manner, he several times attempted to thrust the assagai into him: John felt it pass along his ribs; but, providentially, it every time moved between him and the ground: in this extremity, a sudden thought of God came into his mind, and he cried out, "God help me !" and, at the same moment, making an effort, he seemed to be endued with more than natural strength; for he was enabled to spring up, and throw his adversary on the ground, when he fled to the bush, and escaped. When the Chiefs Islambie and Hintza made a united attack on the Colonists and Grahamstown, about eight years since, at which period the Colonists were but just saved from being overpowered by numbers, he was one of the foremost in the battle. The infantry being commanded to retire within the trenches, that the cannon might play upon the enemy, so furious were the Caffres, that many of them rushed into the trenches with the British Soldiers, and the whole mass of them ran up to the very mouth of the cannon: the cannon, opening with grape-shot just at that crisis, produced a dreadful carnage, and the Caffres began to retire in great consternation. He retreated some distance, with several others; and the shot falling in every direction, they attempted to conceal themselves behind every bush, or little mound of earth, that was near. John stooped down be hind an ant-heap; and, while in this precarious situation, several times the shot fell so near him, that the dust raised was blown in his face. God, however, mercifully preserved him; and now He has graciously converted his soul. On the day of baptism, his tears flowed plentifully while he was consecrated to the service of the Lord. John is quite a new creature: he is industrious, steady, and upright; and no arguments could induce him either to steal from the Colonists, or to fight against them any more.

JOSEPH QUAKALA-about 36 years of age. Few men have been more deeply

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convinced of sin, or become more decided to live and die for God. The Caffres threatened to take away his cattle, and reduce him to poverty, if he came to settle on this Mission. He replied, You may take all that I have, and kill my body; for I have heard the Word, and will save my soul." On another occasion, pointing to his clothing, he said, "I am no more a naked man: I wear these things: can you not see that I belong to a School?" I had purposed to delay his baptism a little longer; but he wished at once to become a Christian; saying, "Why should I wait? I have made up my mind to serve God, and to renounce my sins for ever."

ESTHER TONIS-an elderly Namacqua Female, born on the banks of the Great Orange River. She lost her parents when very young; but, at the time of their death, though she knew nothing of Missionaries, in a manner very similar to that experienced by the Prophet Samuel her heart was drawn to seek the Lord. She seems to have lived nearly all her days in the fear of a God, of whom she knew but little; and, had she been favoured with the opportunity, might have been received into the Chris. tian Church forty years before the present period.

These persons were brought before God, as the first-fruits of this Mission, and dedicated to Him in baptism, on Sunday, the 22d of June 1828, when our Chapel was opened with a service in the Caffre Language,

Introduction of Marriage among the Natives.

On Monday, June 23d, Br. Young, from Mount Coke, preached; and, at the close of the Service, John Patross was married publicly to Sarah, his wife, who is a candidate for baptism. Some difficulty occurred with regard to the introduction of Christian Marriage. It did not appear to us to be expedient, or reasonable, or Scriptural, to pronounce all other marriages which take place, accord. ing to the customs of the nations, null and void; and yet something additional seemed necessary, to give correct ideas of the importance and sacredness of that union. The Caffre Mode is, for a man to give to the friends of the woman whom he chooses, a certain number of presents, according to previous agreement, as a marriage-dowry; and, on the payment of that dowry, the marriage is considered lawful, as a thing of course, without any

of this Nation, who had hitherto protected the Converts, were induced, by fear, to disclaim all connection of themselves, or of their Nation in general, with their conversion and baptism. The Eight New Converts were seized, and thrown into prison: two of them who had not put off their Jewish dress, and two others who had not yet been baptized, each received, at the instigation of the Jews, 500 blows of the bastinado on the feet; and all of them, together with John Baptist and the younger John, to whom, no doubt, their conversion is mainly owing, were ordered into exile, to Casarea in Asia Minor. Another Jew, not baptized, who had escaped the researches of the Jews after him, and who, if he had been found, would have partaken in the cruel punishment of the bastinado, took the measure of presenting a petition, on the day of the Courban Bieram, to the Sultan, professing his faith in Christianity, and requesting protection; and then went and voluntarily surrendered himself at the prison of the Reis Effendi: he was, however, sent into exile with the rest; and, in the way to the place of their destination, he, together with the two others not baptized, received baptism at the hands of the Armenians: so that there are now at Cæsarea Thirteen Jewish Christians; sent forth, I trust, by the providence of God, to announce the Gospel, and kindle

a zeal for the Conversion of the Jews in distant parts, and in the scene of some of the early Apostolical labours.

Not content with this vengeance, the Jews of Constantinople obtained of the Turks the punishment of the Armenians who had most actively befriended the Converts; and five Armenian Priests, and five Laymen, several of whom I knew, have been banished to different parts of Asia Minor. Before his departure, John Baptist was called before the Chiaoas Bashi and Reis Effendi- was examined by them and, it appears, witnessed a good confession: the particulars of these conferences I am promised by my Armenian Friend, on another occasion, when he has collected all the details.

These are the circumstances to which the Archbishop of Mount Sinaï, in his last Letter, shortly alludes; and which, no doubt, have produced a great sensation at Constantinople: and although the rumours which had then reached the Archbishop had magnified considerably the number of the Jews who had received

baptism, yet the event itself, when reduced to naked fact, is sufficiently striking; and presents, as I believe, evident marks that the hand of God is here at work.

These are the first-fruits of the confession and suffering of the first two Converts; and I feel confident, that, under God, the matter will not rest here, but that the way is preparing for the further triumph of the Gospel among the Jews of the Levant. might here suggest themselves; but I Many observations will confine myself to one, which will be sufficiently obvious, namely, the striking resemblance which these events bear, in many of their circumstances, to some of those in the early Apostolical History. Let us hope and pray that the Spirit of God may rest on these men-may endow them largely with constancy and a simple faith in the Divine Saviour, whom they have confessed before men—and, by the means of apparently weak and feeble instruments, bring about great and glorious results for the Kingdom of God.

An extract from the Letter of the Archbishop of Mount Sinaï, here mentioned by Mr. Leeves, was given at pp. 358, 359.

for the Schools in Samos, Anaphi, Grabousa, Astros (in the Morea), Kalumnos, and some other places, by providing them with Scripture Lessons, Lessons on Arithmetic, slates, pencils, Scriptures, and Tracts. Thus the labours for in struction are closely connected with my labours as a Missionary; for, in affording the children the means of learning the first elements, I give them at the same time the Word of God for their salvation. This is, perhaps, a slow way to do good; but it is a safe and most extensive one. We have, besides, sufficient opportunity to work for Christ, in other ways: I continue to explain the Scriptures twice a-week in School, when some of the parents always attend: my practice is, after my explanation, to call

on some of the Girls and Boys to repeat it, and afterward on all to write it down on their slates. You would rejoice to witness how well several of the children understand.

Greece will require a silent and constant operation, in order to bring it safely to that state of spiritual freedom to which we desire it to come. And allow me to recall to your memory the importance of its geographical position: already, here in Syra, I have had occasion to work on Turks and Moors. The Turks try to enter into mercantile connection with the Greeks: they arrive from Scio and Asia Minor. Lately, I had occasion to distribute the few Arabic Tracts and Psalters which I had, among 150 Tunisian Pilgrims, who were brought hither: and that they were distributed effectu. ally, you may conclude from the circumstance, that they tried to buy them from those who had got them from us. Frequently, there arrive here Greeks from the interior of Asia, and offer us opportunities to send spiritual food to those remote places. And remember it is still war! Latin Children are also under my

instruction.

Conversations with a Mahomedan. At pp. 231-233 we extracted from Mr. Mueller's Journal in Egypt an account of a Discussion with some Mahomedans. From the communications of the Rev. S. Gobat, we subjoin his report of different conversations with a Mahomedan, who is far better acquainted with his own religion than any other with whom Mr. Gobat had become acquainted. The report of

conversations of this nature will serve the double purpose, of bringing the readers better acquainted with the state of the Unchristianized World, and of furnishing hints to other Missionaries on the manner of dealing with Mahomedans and Heathens.

Of the general temper of the Mahomedans with whom Mr. Gobat has had intercourse, he says

I have but little conversation with

Moslems, they are so extremely ignorant, indifferent, and malignant. The attachment, indeed, which they have to their religion is not so great, I believe, but that, with few exceptions, they would, for a piece of money, curse Mahomet, if no one should hear them. If I tell them that they are sinners, they instantly answer, “I know this very well”—“ How then will you be saved ?" "I do not care for that"-But you ought to know it." "God knows it". "But you will be lost." "If God so will, I cannot help it."

In the following Conversations, S. denotes the Mahomedan Scheik: Mr. Gobat, Dr. Kluge, and Mr. Mueller are denoted by the initials of their respective names.

-The Scheik came this morning. He was a little more moderate than he was the last time; and he would have been him our equal. We had told him that satisfied, if we would only have considered we also say 66 Our God is one God;". but that the Devil could say so likewise, and that neither that nor any other profession, however excellent it may be, avails any thing while the heart remains unrenewed by the grace of God. He appeared to feel it: "but when we added agreed with us. that this grace is in Christ, he no longer. He affirmed that all Mussulmans are in a state of salvation, when the following conversation took place

G. Shew us the fruits of their faith in their

works. S. These fruits are seen by God, which you do not see, nor I either. G. That answer is a sophism, as dangerous as absurd. We know a tree by its fruits; and we can neither say nor believe that a tree which only lieve that the man, who only does evil, has a bears figs is an olive-tree: so we cannot begood heart; nor that he is in a state of salvation. Can a falsehood proceed from Divine Truth? S. By no means. G. Very well.