transmitted from the ship in which they have recently embarked, and, as it will be seen, more particularly referring to the immediate wants of the several Hottentot families who have removed to their new cantonments on the Great Fish River and appealing for aid to the generous sympathies of all who may feel disposed to assist in a project so replete with interest and importance as that to which attention is now invited. In July last, Mr. Monro thus writes to the Foreign Secre tary : In order to give you as clear a statement as possible, respecting the Hottentot settlements along the banks of the Great Fish River, I intimated my intention to his honour the Lieut. Governor of visiting them in person; and having received his cordial approbation, I proceeded on the 11th inst. to Caffre Drift, and arrived there on the 13th. Caffre Drift Settlement. The party were delighted to see me, and were loud in their praises of the privileges which they possessed in arable land, garden ground, &c., &c. Tb nen here, as at all the settlements, receive rations from Government, and the women and children collect roots. The men likewise go hunting, some of them to the river, in which there are numerous hippopotami, and some to the bush, where the buffaloes graze in herds; but there is sufficient land for several hundred families. This is a good place for a Missionary station, and from its proximity to the Caffres, a congregation might, in time, be collected on the other side of the river; thus forming a field of Missionary exertion of a very encouraging nature, and as far as we are able to judge, with every prospect of usefulness and success. From Caffre Drift we advanced up the river to Trompettor's Drift, and proceeded thence to the Settlement under Lowe. Lowe's party is located a few miles lower down the river, in a similar situation. Settlement under Klaas, at the confluence of the Kat and Fish Rivers. From Trompettor's Drift I continued my route up the river, passing Committy's Drift, now occupied as the chief military fort on the frontier instead of Fort Welshire and Double Drift. Above the last mentioned, Klaas's party is located, at the junction of the Kat River with the Fish River. There are more than 50 families here. Their greatest want, as they say themselves, is to have a Missionary who will teach their children, as well as preach to them, and advise with them in their several plans and operations. The site which they have chosen for a village is pleasantly situated. Fronting their houses there is an island of considerable extent, which they intend to enclose immediately, subdividing the same into patches, varying in size, according to the wants and means of the several families. This is certainly the most interesting settlement yet formed, and a Missionary* would find sufficient work here, independent of the other settlements lower down the river; but if schoolmasters are sent to this place, and to Trompettor's and Caffre Drifts, the Missionary may then itinerate among all of them, and a fine field it certainly is. Settlement under Appel. Here the whole party were busy erecting their habitations. This place far exceeds in natural beauty any spot that I have seen along the whole course of the river, from the Caffre Drift up to the junction of the Kat River with the Fish River; but it affords little opportunity to the settlers for the display of industry in the cultivation of land. Between their dwellings and the river, 50 paces is the extreme extent of what they call their garden ground, and there is no other spot, either above or below the site of their village, which presents a more encouraging appearance. Here there are 18 families, consisting of about 70 individuals, and several families are on their way to join them. The other letter referred to is as follows: TO THE FOREIGN SECRETARY. The Downs, 24th Nov. 1837. DEAR SIR,-It is known that the first During my journey I conducted Divine service twenty-three times in ten days, and all our meetings were accompanied by prayer. I enjoyed it very much, and found that in watering others I was much refreshed myself. May the Lord bless the settlers, and send them a Missionary and teachers who will prove a blessing to them! Much depends on an immediate supply being afforded, and I trust the Directors will kindly, and without delay, consider their case and send them the bread of life. I remain, Rev. Sir, yours and the Directors' devoted servant, J. MONRO. idea of locating the Hottentots on the Kat River originated with the Lieut. Governor Stockenstrom, and what he is now doing for • The Directors have resolved on sending a Missionary to the Fish River settlement as soon as practicable the Hottentots on the Great Fish River is the extension only of his original plan. He considers that the Hottentots deprived of their country have strong claims on the Government, for any unoccupied lands it might have to dispose of; and in giving them the lands that have been assigned them, he has (in connexion with the good of the Hottentots,) consulted the interests of the colony, the security of the frontiers, and the future well-being of the Caffres. The plan now pursued by the Lieut. Governor was recommended by the Crown Commissioner of Inquiry in the reports to the Home Government, and perhaps it would have been well for the Colony had it been carried into effect at that period. The Kat River settlement, and the protection the Griquas have rendered to the Colony and to the tribes beyond them, show the great advantage to be derived from having tribes of civilised men of colour between the white Colonists and the barbarous tribes beyond the Colony. The heart of the Lieut. Governor is now set upon the completion of this plan, in which he will, we doubt not, be ably seconded by his Excellency, Major General Napier; but he feels great difficulties in carrying it to the full extent he contemplated, owing to the great poverty of the people. The Hottentots located on the Kat River had no assistance from Government, nor from any other quarter; but the banks of the Kat River were and are more favourable to the furtherance of such a scheme than the banks of the Fish River. Besides, a number of the first settlers on the Kat River had something of their own to begin with, and those who had any thing of their own assisted their poorer neighbours. On the contrary, those that are permitted to locate themselves on the Fish River belong to that class of Hottentots who have had the least protection, and who stand in need of every thing. They are without herds and flocks, without clothing, or the commonest agricultural tools. In a letter to a friend, the Lieut. Governor remarks:-"My plan cannot succeed without Missionaries and schoolmasters, and means to put the people in possession of a few sheep and goats, seed corn, and agricultural instruments," and for these he looks to the friends of religion and humanity in England, and we hope he will not look in vain for the assistance required. This appeal to the sympathies of the friends of the colonial races in England, will be the more readily responded to, when it is known that the Lieut. Governor has generously advanced 3000 dollars out of his own pocket, to purchase for the settlers a small quantity of stock; but, as the people are flocking to the new locations, all that the most generous individual can furnish out of his private means will go but a little way to supply their necessities. We regret at this moment that we could not have remained a little time longer in England, to have made our appeals in person on behalf of this people; but we feel confident that the appeal we have left behind, as embraced in the preceding statements, will not be unheeded by the generous friends of Africa in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and other parts of England. Clothing is an article the new settlers stand much in need of; agricultural tools are particularly wanted, or money wherewith to purchase them. Sheep, and goats, and the few cattle which are needed, can be purchased in the colony. Regular accounts will be given of the application of all the money intrusted to our care. ing this appeal to the generous consideration of the numerous friends of the Hottentot race in the United Kingdom, Leav We are, dear Sir, yours very truly, P. S. As to the kind of agricultural implements that would be useful to the Hottentots in the circumstances above referred to, although good strong English ploughs would be exceedingly useful, yet, in the first instance, the following are essentially necessary, viz., spades, pickaxes, axes, (felling and hewing,) hatchets; and then for building, such as saws, pit, crosscut, and hand saws, gimlets, chisels, adzes, drawing knives, woodrasps, hinges for doors and window-shutters, nails (a great quanity) of different sorts and sizes, hammers, hand and carpenters'. J. READ. [Donations of the articles above specified, or of money for the purchase of the same, forwarded to the Secretaries at the Mission House, will be gratefully received and transmitted to South Africa by the earliest opportunity.] GOVERNMENT SUPPORT OF IDOLATRY IN INDIA. THE Directors of the London Missionary Society, anxious to avail themselves of every means within their power for removing the evils connected with this subject, have addressed a Memorial, of which the following is a copy, to the Hon. the Court of Directors of the East India Company. The same has also been sent to the Right Hon. Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bart., the President of the Board of Control, and to the Right Hon. Viscount Melbourne, First Lord of the Treasury. Of the Directors of the London Missionary Society, to the Honourable the Court of Directors of the East India Company. HUMBLY SHEWETH, That your Memorialists are Directors of a religious Society composed of Clergymen, Dissenting Ministers, and members of different denominations of Protestant Christians. That the Society was formed in the year 1795, for "the sole object of spreading the knowledge of Christ among Heathen, and other unenlightened nations." That the Society has been engaged in pursuing the above object in British India since the year 1798; and has at present in India, including those within the Honourable Company's territory, and in the protected States, 310 Stations and Out-stations, occupied by 36 Missionaries, and 375 European and native Assistants, and that, connected with these, there are 293 schools. That this Society feels grateful to Divine Providence for the freedom of access to the nations of India, now enjoyed by the ministers and teachers of the Christian religion, and for the facilities secured for the prosecution of their labours; and would especially and thankfully acknowledge the benefit of the protection afforded to them in the countries under the government of the Honourable the East India Company. That while this Society would deprecate, as contrary to the principles of Divine revelation, as equally unjust and injurious to the rights of conscience, any interference on the part of the Government of India, for the purpose of suppressing by force idolatrous worship; the bestowment of any secular advantages to the natives of that country, as an inducement to them to adopt the profession of the Christian faith; or the employment of any means, excepting those of instruction and argument, for leading them to renounce idolatry; it has long had occasion deeply to lament the injurious effects on the minds of the people, and the increasing impediments to the successful prosecution of the labours of its Missionaries, which have arisen from the continued encouragement, support, and promotion of the absurd, impure, and cruel idolatries of India, afforded by the Christian Government of that country. That in the year 1832, when the patronage of idolatry by the Government of India attracted a large measure of public notice, this Society was led to rely on the declaration given to the nation in the House of Commons, that the subject was under the consideration of your Honourable Court; and were further induced to hope that the evils complained of would cease, and the dishonour that had thereby been done to our holy religion, in the eyes of the subjects of British India, and of the whole of Christendom, would be removed, from having learned that your Honourable Court had sent out orders to the supreme Government in India, to the effect that the taxes on idolatrous worship should no longer be levied and received by the Government; and "that in all matters relating to their temples, their worship, their festivals, their religious practices, and their ceremonial observances, the native subjects of the Government in India should be entirely left to themselves." That the hopes of this Society, built upon the grounds thus adverted to, have been painfully disappointed, as, with the exception of the labour of the peasantry, coerced by the officers of Government, to draw the idol-cars at the heathen festivals, your Memorialists cannot learn that any part of the encouragement given by Government to idolatry has been withdrawn; homage is still publicly paid to idols and idolatrous rites; offerings are still given, in the presence of immense multitudes of the Hindus, to the idols and other objects of idolatrous worship, by the officers of Government; buildings for idol and other superstitious worship, in a state of dilapidation, have been repaired; new ones have been recently built; and the influence of idolatry has been revived, where, until it received the fostering attentions of the Government, it was declining. That this Society has learned, that under date, February 20, 1833, your Honourable Court did send out a dispatch to the effect above referred to. That notwithstanding the transmission of instructions embodying principles so wise and just, and sentiments so honourable to the Government and so salutary to the natives, indicating a return on the part of the Government to that state of real neutrality which your Honourable Court has declared ought never to have been departed from; this Society has learnt with deep regret, from a document published by order of the House of Commons, under date, June 1, 1837, and entitled "Religious Ceremonies, Madras," that although upwards of four years have elapsed, no satisfactory measures have been taken by the Government in India for carrying into effect the instructions forwarded under the date above noticed; and that the multiplied evils resulting from the assistance given to idolatry by the Government in India are continued, greatly to the religious and moral injury of the natives, and the hinderance of their reception of the Gospel of salvation. That considering the fearful responsibility inseparable from the exercise of power, undoubtedly permitted by the Most High, for the moral and social advantage of those placed under its influence; and considering further, the obstructions thus raised to the free and peaceful propagation of Christianity in that country, your Memorialists respectfully, but earnestly, entreat that measures may be taken without further delay for securing the effectual execution of the orders already sent out by your Honourable Court to the supreme Government of India; viz. "That the interference of British functionaries in the interior management of native temples, in the customs, habits, and religious proceedings of their priests and attendants, in the arrangement of their ceremonies, rites, and festivals, and generally in the conduct of their interior economy, shall cease. "That the pilgrim tax shall every where be abolished. "That in all matters relating to their temples, their worship, their festivals, their religious practices, their ceremonial observances, our native subjects be left entirely to themselves." And your Memorialists will ever pray. REASONS FOR BECOMING A MISSIONARY. THE following excellent letter was addressed by one of the Missionaries of the Society to his father, when the former had decided on leaving the ministry at home, and seeking an entrance to the Missionary field. It will be read with interest and satisfaction by the friends of the Society; and, it is hoped, may be the means of exciting corresponding inquiries in the minds of many in relation to their own path of duty. The just views, the correct feeling, and the evident piety of the writer, who has since left his native land for a distant heathen country, will not fail to produce a favourable impression in behalf of the writer, and to call forth many prayers on his behalf. November 8, 1836. MY DEAR FATHER,-I think I cannot do better than introduce the subject of this letter by a quotation from what the excellent Lord Chief Justice Hale, of pious memory, has said, in his meditations on Heb. says riii. 14, "For we have no continuing city, bat seek one to come." "I have," he, "in my course of life, had as many stations and places of habitation as most men. I have been in almost continued motion; and although, of all earthy things, I have most desired rest, retiredness, and a fixed private station, yet the various changes that I have seen and found, the public employments that, without my seeking, and against my inclination, have been put upon me, and many other interventions, as well private as public, have made the former part of this text true to me in the letter, that I have had no continuing city, or place of habitation." "When I had designed," he goes on to say, "when I had designed unto myself a settled mansion in one place, and had fitted it to my convenience and repose, I have been presently constrained, by my necessary employments, to leave it and repair to another. And when again I had thought to find repose there, and had again fitted it to my convenience, yet some other necessary occurrences have diverted me from it; and thus, by several vicissitudes, my dwellings have been like so many inns to a traveller, though of some longer continuance, yet almost of equal instability and vicissitudes. This unsettledness of station, though troublesome, yet hath given me a good and practical moral; namely, that I must not expect my rest in this world, but must make it as the place of my journey and pilgrimage, not of my repose and rest, but must look further for that happiness." This long extract, which will have kept you in considerable suspense, I could not curtail without injustice to the author, and injury to the effect for which I have cited it. I come now to the peculiar business of this letter, the situation of the heathen world. Hundreds of thousands of them are dying daily, in total ignorance of the true God; ignorant of their own sinfulnessignorant of their guilt-ignorant of the misery and ruin which await them in the world to come-ignorant of that way of sal vation which the Lord Jesus Christ has opened up for the chief of sinners by the sacrifice of himself. In many parts of the heathen world the fields are already "white unto harvest," but the labourers are few. One writes, "We must have four times as many labourers ;" another says, "At least fifty additional labourers must be sent out :" and another says, "We cannot possibly do with fewer than one hundred;" while, in the meantime, the last Annual Report of the London Missionary Society announces the melancholy and appalling fact, that there are only twenty-seven under instruction, to meet these extensive and extending demands. I have heard from afar that some of the heathen have come a great distance, imploring that a Missionary might be sent to them, and declaring their willingness to part with all they possessed for him; and my heart has bled to think that their request cannot be complied with, and I have asked myself again and again, What is to be done? Are immortal beings, in millions, to be allowed to perish eternally before our eyes, while the means of salvation have been intrusted to us, so plentifully and freely, for a dying world? I have asked myself, Will the Christians of this country, (I use the term in its scriptural, and not in its conventional meaning,) will the Christians of this country, who know the value of their own souls, who know the value, in some degree, of salvation by Jesus Christ, will they allow their fellow-men to perish without an effort, an energetic effort to save them? But still the question recurs, What is to be done? How are the heathen to be helped? Though a sufficient number of truly consistent, pious, and devoted youths were to offer themselves, much time, precious time to dying sinners, must elapse before they could be qualified for the work. Such being the case, I cannot see how the wants of the heathen are to be supplied, unless the Spirit of the Living God put it into the hearts of many of our ministerially educated youth, or of the junior pastors of the churches of Christ, without delay, to dedicate themselves to this arduous, difficult, dangerous, but honourable and glorious work. Such have been my views on this important subject for some time past, and nothing but the fear of encountering the difficulties of acquiring a totally new language, has hitherto prevented me from offer. ing myself as a candidate for the Missionary office. But latterly, the cries of the heathen, the pleadings of the Missionaries themselves, and the appeals of the friends of Missions at home, have made so deep an impression on my mind, and have recurred so often to my thoughts with increased force, that I can no longer, without doing violence to the sacred dictates of conscience, allow the matter to remain unexamined and undecided. In this spirit, I resolved to set apart a day for fasting and prayer to God for guidance in this important matter, and for a due consideration of all the sacrifices which I should have to make, and of all the difficulties with which I might expect to have to contest. I have been enabled to do so yesterday, and I think you will allow that I have not evaded the question, when you read the several subjects which came before me on that occasion. The sacrifices which I shall have to make. 1. I shall have to abandon a situation of some usefulness, considerable comfort, and |