to this, that we can scarcely bear, once in a year, to sit for an hour or two to hear a Report read, the only apology we can make to our friends, who have the managment of such Societies, is the assurance that we will read their Reports very carefully at home, and study them there. I am quite certain that our addresses to promiscuous assemblies like the present would be more influential, if a larger amount of knowledge was previously deposited in their minds to which we could appeal. I have deeply regretted the absence of this; and I would urge on our young friends the importance of connecting themselves with some association for the specific purpose of reading all the valuable works that come from the press upon upon the Missionary question. We ought to have Missionary libraries in all our Circuits. Mr. Waugh has referred to the want of more Christian charity. I believe the limited reading of many of us, on Missionary questions, is one great cause of the want of that charity. We profess, on occasions like the present, to be connected with others for the accomplishment of the subjecting the world to its rightful owner, the Lord Jesus Christ; and yet how little do some of us know of the movements of other sections of the church of Christ! To do justice to the question, we ought to read up to the times on each subject. Gentlemen in the army are familiar with the movements of other regiments than those with which they are immediately connected. They are able to say which regiments are on foreign service, how long they have been there, and when they are to return. Give them a few moments for recollection, and they will tell you the most heroic achievements of such and such regiments, and when such and such records were placed on their flags. They identify themselves with the movements of other regiments. What would have been thought of any officer in Her Majesty's service throwing down the despatches from China, in disgust, and saying, "These victories were obtained by the 54th or the 98th regiments; but as none of my regiment were there, the brave 72d, I will have nothing to do with it?" Why such a man would deserve to have his coat turned, and be drummed out of the service. He has everything to do with it, if the British arms have triumphed. If the regiment with which I am connected may not have proved victorious, what has that to do with the matter? The British power has triumphed, and,

as a soldier, I ought to rejoice in it. Now, Sir, the application is this. If we have only a slight acquaintance with the movements of other Christian churches, we shall be exposed to two dangers. One will be an undue complacency with regard to our own movements, and a wrong view as to some ultimate triumph, because we have been moving on uninterruptedly for a series of years; or, on the other hand, we shall feel some surprise, or hang our harps upon the willows, and become faint in our spirits, as though nothing more was to be accomplished. What took place on the plains of Waterloo? One regiment was almost cut to pieces by the French; but just then our noble cavalry were driving the main force in another direction, and we obtained the victory. It is in this way that we ought to look at the subject; and when we understand what each other are doing, we shall be saved from some things which are objectionable, and at all events we shall have more charity towards one another's move

ments.

The Resolution was then agreed to; after which SIR GEORGE ROSE was under the necessity of vacating the chair, which was then taken by THOMAS FARMER, Esq., amidst loud applause.

The REV. ROBERT YOUNG (recently returned from a special mission to Jamaica) next addressed the Meeting. He said,-In appearing before you, and this large assembly, as the humble advocate of the Missionary cause, I shall not be expected to refer to any other portion of the Mission-field than that from which I have recently come. Twentythree years ago, I entered upon the work of a Missionary in Jamaica; and, after labouring there for several years, the state of my family's health required my removal to a more congenial climate in America, where I continued for some time, and then returned to this country. At the commencement of the last winter, I was deputed by our Missionary Committee, to visit the scene of my early labours; and, as their representative, I arrived on the 31st of December, in the city of Kingston, after an absence of more than seventeen years. It was the holy Sabbath, and I went straightway from the vessel to one of our large chapels, where I found the people had just assembled for worship. I had not been many minutes in the place before I was recognised; and one person, with peculiar emotion, exclaimed, "O my spiritual father!" In a moment I was surrounded. Some grasped my hands, others embraced my

feet, some stroked my head, others patted my back, some stood upon their seats, others fell upon their knees, some wept, and others literally shouted for joy. As the excitement increased, and the whole congregation caught the contagion, I found it necessary, in selfdefence, to get into the pulpit. I accordingly entered, and commenced the public service; and a more interesting occasion I do not expect to witness whilst in this probationary state. Το see what I then saw, and to hear what I then heard, was an ample compensation for the risk of health, and the sacrifice of domestic comfort, which my mission to that country necessarily involved. The next day my lodgings were beset, from morning till night. Many of my old friends, with whom I had formerly taken sweet counsel, came to see me. Time had altered their appearance, but not their principles. I had not long been in the country before I was much impressed with the delightful change which had been effected in the circumstances of the Negro population. The holidays of Christmas and the New Year, which were formerly spent in noisy revelry, drumming, dancing, drunkenness, and debauchery of almost every kind, now passed off with the utmost quiet and good order. Scarcely was a drum heard in any part of the city, and not a solitary dancer was seen parading the streets. It is true that, at the termination of the old year, many songs were heard in different parts of the city, but they were the sweet songs of Zion; and crowds were seen moving along the streets, but they were not turbulent Negroes in midnight revels, but servants of the Lord with grateful hearts, returning from their respective places of worship. According to the testimony of the "Morning Journal," a most respectable newspaper in Kingston, not a solitary individual was seen drunk in that city during the Christmas holidays. Other changes equally delighted me. The holy Sabbath, formerly so much desecrated there, is now observed with as much Christian decorum as it is in any city or town of Europe. The tone of moral feeling among the Negro population, too, is greatly elevated; as their conversation, style of dress, and general deportment, abundantly testify. The great experiment of Negro emancipation has, as a whole, worked well, and much better than its most ardent advocates dared to anticipate; and I assert this, not merely as the conviction of my own mind, but as the opinion of the most respectable

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planters who were formerly opposed to the measure. If the Negroes do not perform the same amount of labour as when they were goaded to it by the cruel lash, it is only what might be expected. Besides, many of them now wish to save their wives from the severe and wasting toils of the field; and what Christian husband, who is bound to "love his wife even as Christ also loved the church," can blame them for so doing? The boon of emancipation is unques tionably a great one, and they are not insensible of the blessings which they have received from the bestowment of that boon. Whilst I was passing through the country, I met a Negro, who told me he had now no owner at the " great house," but that God, the Missionary, and the Queen had made him free; that he had thanked God and the Missionary for what they had done for him; and he wished me to be so good as to inform Her gracious Majesty the Queen, that his heart was grateful too much;" that is to say, it was grate ful in the superlative degree. I very much rejoice that Queen Victoria is loudly and deservedly cheered at home wherever she presents herself; but such a loud acclaim as our popular Sovereign never heard before, would burst from a grateful population, were she to visit that beautiful isle of the West. She is so great a favourite with the Negro peasantry, that though they are not generally obtrusive, yet their joy would be so unbounded, had they the oppor tunity of seeing her, that they would break through every form of courtly etiquette, and I verily believe endanger her precious life by their very caresses. Nor are the names of individuals who have distinguished themselves by their advocacy of Negro claims allowed to be forgotten. In a mountain district, where I had engaged to preach, I was also requested to publish the banns of marriage between "Joseph Gurney" and Ellen Gordon, between "Joseph Sturge" and Jane Gordon, between "Fowel Buxton" and Emma Burton. Thus are these illustrious names gratefully transmitted to posterity, in connexion with the noble scheme of Negro emancipation. Another happy change has taken place in the state of society in that country; I was greatly delighted to find the prejudice arising from colour almost entirely removed. A few days after my arrival, I was invited to dine with the Admiral, the Receiver-General, and other distinguished individuals, at the house of a coloured gentleman; and,

respects, our West-India Mission is most important; but, when viewed in reference to the conversion of Africa, its importance must be still more evident. Africa, we conceive, will never be wholly converted by European Missionaries. That great work must, to a considerable extent, devolve upon her own sons; and where can we find them better fitted for this holy enterprise, than in connexion with our old and successful Mission in the Western Archipelago? I would, there fore, Sir, recommend to this Society, that, as soon as possible, a Theological Institution be established on the island of Jamaica, for the training of Native Missionaries. This measure would be a great benefit to that country, as well as to Africa. Perhaps religion in Jamaica has most to fear, at the present period, from ignorant teachers. Many individuals, who cannot even read, and who are notoriously ignorant of the scriptural way of salvation, are beginning to assume the pastoral office, and are ensnaring many people; and as this is a growing evil, it is thought that nothing would so effectually arrest its progress, as the establishment of a Theological Institution for the training of Native Missionaries; as that would be a practical announcement, which the Negroes would soon understand, that we deem some theological training essential to full ministerial efficiency. The prospect of such an establishment there greatly delights our people, who would, I have no doubt, contribute most handsomely to its support. Having mentioned the subject, on my recent visit, to some of the Members of the Honourable House of Assembly, they expressed themselves much delighted, and begged to be informed as soon as our plans were completed, in order that they might bring the subject before the House, as they had no doubt of obtaining for such an undertaking some legislative aid. It is true, as yet, we have not many candidates for the ministry among the natives of Jamaica. We had two last year, and we have not a larger number this year; but I am sure the Meeting will be delighted to learn, that there is a prospect of several excellent young men being speedily raised up in that district for this important service; and as some of the other West-India districts would doubtless supply candidates, a beginning might at once be made on a humble scale. At all events, it is worth serious consideration. There are men in the West Indies burning with zeal for Africa, and exclaiming, "Here

are we, send us." Perhaps the chief, if not the only, difficulty, in the way of accomplishing this object, resolves itself into a question of finance. But have we not some excellent men amongst us, who will kindly consider this case, and, in addition to all their former givings, give something for the establishment of an institution which is so desirable? I believe we have. Besides, it ought not to be overlooked, that, in my visit to the West Indies, our honourable-minded Missionaries in Jamaica, on hearing the financial difficulties of the Parent Society stated, at once gave up £1,000 which had been granted to them by the Missionary Committee, for the present year, and that they readily entered upon the prosecution of those plans of increasing and saving funds, which, it is hoped, in a very short time, will render them financially independent, and thus afford a great relief to this institution. The Resolution that has been put into my hand is to the following effect:

"That this Meeting dwells with great satisfaction on the efforts which are mak ing in the West Indies, and elsewhere, to render the Missions there less burdensome upon the General Funds of the Society; and would indulge the hope that the commendable example thus proposed will be followed in other Colonies, so that a larger portion of the Society's income will be left available, every suc ceeding year, for the support of Missions in Heathen and uncivilized countries, which, owing to the destitute condition of the people, must necessarily, at present, remain chiefly dependent for sup port upon British aid."

I had intended saying much more, but my time is gone. I will, therefore, conclude by merely stating, that, in the course of fourteen weeks, I visited Madeira, Barbadoes, Grenada, Bermuda, St. Thomas's, Porto-Rico, St. Domingo, and Jamaica; that I travelled upwards of ten thousand miles; that I saw much, suffered much, enjoyed much; and, by "strength made perfect in weakness," was enabled not only to accomplish every object for which I was sent out, but many others, also tending to the saving of our funds, and the spread of our glorious Christianity.

The REV. JONATHAN CROWTHER, recently from Madras, was received with loud applause. He said,-Under ordinary circumstances, I should not have been solicited, or, if solicited, should not have been easily induced, to undertake the task of speaking on this occa

sion; but this being the first Meeting of the Society that has occurred since my return from India, the Committee have, in the exercise of their discretion, deemed it to be fitting that I should say something on the subject of Missions to that country. And as, in deference to their call some years ago, I was found willing to do what lay in my power to serve the cause of God abroad, I cannot, without being inconsistent with myself, and without being wanting at the same time in the respect which is due to them, do otherwise than, in submission to the same authority, do what in me lies to advocate the cause at home. I trust, however, that the circumstance of my limiting my observations, on the present occasion, to that particular station with which I have of late years been officially connected, will not be construed as implying, that I disregard at all the claims and interests of other sections of the general enterprise. My residence in India has not, I hope, rendered me indifferent to what is doing, and what is still required to be done, in any of those places that are now included within the range of this Society's extensive operations; but the fact is, that with respect to the observations I am expected to make on this occasion, I am limited to India; and I shall therefore endeavour, within the compass of the time allotted to me, to restrict myself wholly to that particular department of the Society's operations. I have, happily for myself, and happily also for the Meeting, been saved from what I might, under other circumstances, have considered necessary,-the task of entering into certain topics connected with that particular section of Missionary enterprise, in consequence of the very appropriate and striking observations which have already been made by our excellent friend, Dr. Wilson, of Bombay; and I shall therefore select, out of the topics which were in my mind, two or three only, and on these I shall remark with as much brevity as possible. My first point is, that there is a necessity in India for Christian Missions, as urgent, to say the least of it, as in any other quarter of the world. I suppose I am right in taking it for granted, that the circumstances which render Christian Missions necessary to a people are, the spiritual blindness and ignorance of the people, the temporal miseries and wretchedness thence ensuing, in a variety of ways, and, above all, the spiritual guilt and danger of the people as "living without God and

without hope in the world;" and if I am correct in stating these to be the circumstances which render Christian Missions necessary, where, I should be glad to know, do these things exist more palpably, or with more terrible effect, than in those provinces which pass under the general name of India? I may be told of the spiritual stupidity and ignorance of the Negro, the Hottentot, the Caffre, the New-Zealander, the Otaheitan, and the Feejeean,-and I am not at all disposed to suspect the very darkest representation that has been given of their case, as being a whit more gloomy than the facts of it will justify. But in their case, generally speaking, the darkness which exists is for the most part a mere absence of light; and you have only to present the light, and the darkness almost immediately disappears. But, in respect to the Hindoo, besides the absence of spiritual light, there is also an opaque and pitchy cloud, like that which once rested upon the land of Egypt in the day-time;-there is a darkness such, that even when the light is brought to shine around it, the people do not immediately perceive it, nor do they rejoice in it with the same readiness as other people do, around whom has been cast a less intense and a more easily penetrable darkness. If it be true that darkness hath covered the earth in general, it is emphatically true that it is a gross darkness which has covered the hearts of this people; and hence, as Dr. Wilson has very properly observed, there it is that Satan, as the Prince of darkness, pre-eminently has his seat; there his temples are the most numerous and prominent, his sacrifices the most costly, his votaries the most devoted, his dominion the most triumphant, and his defiance of the right and claim of the great Lord of the whole earth the most daring and the most secure. And then, let it be remembered, that in connexion with all this spiritual ignorance and blindness, there is a proportionate amount of wretchedness and suffering in a variety of forms. I may be told of various forms of cruelty which, in other parts of the world, give demonstration to the solemn truth, that "their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after other gods;" but I have never yet read or heard anything of the cruelties and enormities that are practised in any other portion of the heathen world, to which I cannot find a parallel, and more than a parallel, in the pilgrim-penances, the swinging-feasts, the infanticides, and the funeral-pile of the Hindoo. And