At length the time arrived. On the first evening the chapel was crowded to overflowing; and the congregations continued, with little variation, through the week. We had not only crowded, but deeply attentive congregations. Both in the preachers and the people there was a perfect absence of all unnatural excitement. If I am not much mistaken, deep solemnity characterised all our meetings. Night after night I was surprised to see how the interest was kept up. I should think several thousands heard the Gospel that week, many of whom had heard it seldom, and some, perhaps, never before. The sermons were all of a practical and deeply serious nature, and I cannot but anticipate varied good from them, though the whole of it may never be known in time. The ministers present seemed much gratified and encouraged. This account would be very imperfect if I were not to name our morning prayer. meetings, which were held at the early hour of six o'clock. At our first meeting on the Sabbath morning, there were about eighty present. This number gradually increased during the week, and on the Friday morning there were nearly two hundred present. These were deeply interesting meetings. The spirit of prayer seemed to pervade them. Some of the ministers presided, and gave a short address. The meetings were limited to one hour. There were also prayer-meetings of ministers, held every forenoon at eleven o'clock, which were delightful and refreshing seasons; and I trust the prayers offered on these occasions were heard in heaven, and for a long time to come will be answered on earth. as great on the last day as on the first, but still, I think, on the whole, it would have been better to close a day earlier. It is, perhaps, desirable to state how the expenses of this meeting were defrayed. I proposed to the church that the expenses should be paid by themselves, independently of the congregation, and that for this purpose a collection should be made after the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. To this proposal they readily acceded, and voluntarily subscribed enough and to spare. Two, however, of the ministers preferred another plan, which, under many circumstances, is perhaps preferable; which is, that when such a meeting is held the several churches should be at the expense of sending their own pastor. By this means poor and small churches, which most need such meetings, would be enabled to have them with very little expense. It may be asked, what have been the religious results of this meeting? This question is not easily answered; and, perhaps, it is not wise to make the attempt, as so short a period has elapsed since the meeting was held. I can however perceive it has had a healthful influence on the church. I think it has promoted union, and, perhaps, activity and prayer. The congregations have since been decidedly better. Our Missionary anniversary, which was held the week following, was more numerously attended, and the collections much larger than for several years. There are also several persons, apparently under deep religious convictions, which commenced during these meetings. So that, on the whole, the results already seen fully justify other experiments of the same kind. In reflecting on this meeting, as a past event, I have been anxious to discover any defects in the management of it, that they may be avoided on any future occasion, and especially as we are intending to hold similar meetings in the county. Perhaps all our evening meetings were continued a little too long. Long sermons and long services generally defeat, to some extent, the ends of public worship. Ordinarily the mind is not capable of healthful attention, especially in a crowded chapel, for more than a very limited time; but long services are most to be deprecated in congregations where there are many persons of the lower orders, unaccustomed to protracted attention on any subject, and who have been brought together for the purpose of creating in them an appetite for religion and worship. Such persons are soon wearied; and we all know men will not voluntarily respect what wearies them, unless they anticipate great advantage. Another defect in our meetings was, they were continued one day too long. It is true, the attendance and attention were apparently Whitehaven, Oct. 18, 1838. The object of my brethren in requesting me to write this account was, not to publish abroad our little effort to do good in this retired corner of the great field of labour, but simply to direct the attention of our brethren in other parts of the country to what they conceived an important means of usefulness. Oh! is there not a loud call from our lanes and streets for more effort? Our churches are not yet awake to their duty! There are thousands of professing Christians at ease in Zion, while destruction is coming upon thousands around them. May God pour out his Holy Spirit upon all our churches, that they may awake and put on their strength, and go forth to the help of the Lord against the mighty. I fear, Mr. Editor, I have taken up too much of your space; but if my communication should be the means of inducing a single minister to adopt this plan of usefulness, I know it will give you real pleasure. Yours truly, JOSEPH HELLIWELL. ADDRESSED TO ROMAN CATHOLICS. To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine. SIR, The account of the progress of popery in the Patriot of the 15th of the present month, together with an article in the Limerick Standard, published last night, of which I subjoin an extract, is, in my opinion, a loud call to all serious Protestants of every name, to unite in a vigorous and well-concerted measure for the accomplishment of a two-fold object: first, to deliver, if possible, numbers of our fellow-men and fellow subjects, from the unhallowed grasp of the man of sin; and, secondly, to provide a timely antidote, or means of defence, against the insidious and widely-diffused methods of the Pope's agents, for entrapping ignorant and unwary Protestants. We have had prize essays on various important subjects, which have been the means of bringing into the field of Christian enterprise some valuable productions, well calculated to promote the interests of the church and of society. Allow me to suggest a subject, and I do not doubt some will be willing to take up the matter with spirit, if good is likely to be effected, by offering a prize for the best essay on CATHOLICISM. To render the work extensively useful, I would submit, that it ought to be concise, as well as comprehensive; scriptural and historical, faithful and affectionate; explanatory, convincing, and plain. The first part may consist of a discussion of the doctrines of Popery; to handle which effectively, much use may and should be made of the Douay Scriptures. And, in the latter part, an awakening address should be given to the reader, pointing out the peculiar excellences of the Scriptures, the glory of the Redeemer, and the way of salvation through him. The entire to be divisible into small numbers, so as to be reprinted and circulated in a cheap form. The insertion of the above in your valuable magazine will much oblige, Yours, TENEZ LE VRAYE. Limerick, Oct. 24, 1838. Catholic Institute in England. The following are resolutions passed at meetings, held recently, for the purpose of organising a Catholic Institute in England: 1. That a Catholic Institute be formed, 4. That every individual of the Catholic laity, who shall contribute not less than six shillings by the year, or sixpence by the month, shall be a member, and shall continue to be a member, so long as such contribution shall be paid. 5. That the objects of the Institute shall be confined to the exposure of the falsehood of the calumnious charges made against the Catholic religion; to the defence of the real tenets of Catholicity; to the circulation of all useful knowledge upon the above-mentioned subjects; and to the protection of the poorer classes of Catholics in the enjoyment of their religious principles and practices. 6. That the affairs of the Institute shall be under the management of a president, vice-president, a treasurer, and secretary, to be elected as hereinafter mentioned, and of a committee, to be constituted as hereinafter mentioned. 7. That the Right Honourable the Earl of Shrewsbury be president of the Insti tute. 8. That all Catholic peers, and members of parliament, contributors to the Institute, be ex officio vice-presidents, if upon application to them they will accept such office; and that there be twelve vice-presidents, to be elected by the committee. N. B. There are four other paragraphs; but the above seem the most important. P. S. It might be advisable to allow the adjudicators the option of awarding some portion of the prize to other candidates, besides the successful one, in such proportions as they should judge proper. The probable advancement of the interests of Christianity, by means of the most approved essays, forming the groundwork of their decision. [We do hope that serious attention will be given to the suggestion of our esteemed correspondent, who has long lived and laboured in the sister island, and who is thoroughly well acquainted with the state of things in that unhappy and degraded country.-EDITOR.] VOL. XVI. 3 B 606 CHINA. General Chronicle. CHINESE FEMALE SCHOOLS, MALACCA AND PENANG. THE following extracts of letters recently received from the Rev. Samuel Dyer and Mrs. Dyer, will be gratifying to the numerous friends who have for several years past kindly contributed to the support of the female schools among the Chinese in Penang and Malacca. They will perceive that their labours in this good cause "have not been in vain in the Lord." Mrs. Dyer writes, under date, 22nd of March, 1838, "You will be pleased to hear that we have this year opened six Chinese female schools here, and have now three more applications for others. They are supported by the sale of useful articles. I humbly hope that the children are gaining a knowledge of the simple truths of the Gospel. We have written to Mrs. Davies, at Penang, requesting her to draw on us to any amount for a home school, which she is very desirous of forming: if she succeeds in doing so, it will prove that the day schools have not been in vain; they have been stepping stones to something better. Prejudice has thereby been removed, and the Chinese can now trust us with their children." In her last letter, dated 30th of May, Mr. Dyer says, "I am glad to hear that an association has been formed at Paddington, in behalf of our Chinese schools. I hope our dear friends will continue to exert their utmost endeavours in behalf of these schools; and especially that they will pray much for them, and for us, that a large effusion of the Holy Spirit's influences may be poured out upon us, and that we may be enabled to declare the truth as it is in Jesus, faithfully and fully, to them; that the children may receive the truth in the light and the love of it, and it may be made the power of God to their salvation." Mr. Dyer writes, under date 17th March, 1838-"From the very nature of Indian schools, there is much sameness in them from month to month, and even from year to year; and it is only after a long interval that their effect becomes visible. When we arrived at Penang we had serious difficulties to contend with before we could establish outside schools. After a few years we attempted what is called a home school; but we were premature: the people were not willing to give us their children to educate upon this plan. We continued, therefore, he outside school plan; and now Mr. Davis writes me word, that they could get the children with ease to come to a home school; they only want a suitable person t be constantly with the children. We have just been endeavouring to put this matter in train, and I have written to Penang on the subject. We think we have found a person that will do. However this may be, you see it requires years before a change of great importance can be effected. And now we think we see the advantage of our schools at Penang, and I hope better things are at hand. I trust the support of our schools does not depend solely upon the interesting facts we are enabled to commu. nicate, although it is delightful to be cheered from time to time by encouraging circumstances. Suppose we do but sow, and reap not, shall the reaper's final joy exceed that of the sower? I think not. His present comfort may, but not his final joy; for the time cometh when both sower and reaper shall rejoice together;—and is the privilege of the sower or the reaper the greater? I think that of the sower, because his work is more arduous-because his work is a work of faith; for when he sees not, he glorifies God by trusting his promise, against human appearances." SOUTH AMERICA. SAN DOMINGO.-HAITI. From the city of ruined palaces, the ne plus ultra of haughty Spain, I have the pleasure of writing to you. How the former grandeur of Spain mocks itself! Every building would seem social and say, "Art thou, too, fallen, Iberia ?" Spanish rule, and intolerance, and pride, have departed. And if the future destinies of this land seem to rest in abeyance, yet I would indulge more of hope than despair. And if you were to ask me if it were in my power to reinstate all as it was here sixty years ago-whether I would wish to do so-I would say, most emphatically, No. Or, if you were to inquire again, whether any thing has been gained for Haiti by all the blood and horrors of revolutions and war, civil and foreign, at all equal to the price paid, I would say, Yes. But God grant that other countries and colonies may obtain more through his grace, and less by his judgments, than this land. I cannot sympathise at all with feelings I often hear expressed in regard to Haiti. There are very many who continually speak of this land as if all the happiness of hu man beings were centered in hundredweights of sugar, or pounds of coffee. "Look," say such, "to its former exports and imports, and what a wretched country is it now!" "God preserve Martinique," said one to me, "from the fate of Haiti! What was the former prosperity of this land? A few thousand proprietors were rich-some very rich. They lived in every splendour they could find means to indulge in; they feasted off gold; they drank wine in bowls; the harp, and the tabret, and the viol, were in their feasts; they dwelt in palaces of cedar, and slept on beds of ivory; they made them gardens and orchards, with pools of water to water them withal; they gat them servants and maidens, and had great possessions of great and small cattle; they had also men-singers and women-singers.' The French and Spaniards were always more resident and at home in their colonies than the English, and expended the produce of their large estates in the places in which they were situated: and so superb were some of the old palaces, that I have heard that in many houses, even the commonest utensils were of solid silver. And let us allow that the houses of the labourers were good, their allowance ample, and that in thoughtless, boisterous mirth they enjoyed their dance to the tom-tom drum. The merchants also lived in splendour; the ports were full of shipping, and great encouragement was given to the manufacturing interests at home: besides a large body of persons, of every colour, in middling and inferior circumstances, yet finding ample means of subsistence. If riches be the gauge, if mammon be the god capable of giving happiness to those who adore him and desire communion with him, the scale is all in favour of the olden time. But if the moral side of the picture is to be viewed, and the law of the Most High is to regulate our decisions, we shall arrive at a far different conclusion, unless I am altogether blinded to the matter. The people were sold to error; both priests and people were devoted to soul. destroying superstition. Popery in its worst form was the only religion that had entrance; and every avenue by which truth might enter was closed. The Christian religion, so called, was made the means of keeping the people from any knowledge of the way of salvation. All appeared without hope and without God in the world. Every vice grew as in a hot-bed-revelling and gluttony, drunkenness and debauchery. Gambling to the most fearful extent prevailed. Some master passion, with every other in its train, ruled in every mind. Excitement, to the highest pitch, reigned over the house and the family. The rich pro prietor to-day was a beggar to-morrow; and feuds, and duels, and hatred, followed, or led the way; and there was oppression and violence in the city, and in the towns. To keep up this state of things, too, slavery was indispensable; and half a million of human beings were reduced, by men called Christians, to the level of brutes. They were bought and sold, and gambled away; all the rights they had from God were taken from them. They were not privileged to feel, or think, or act as voluntary agents; nor to marry, or call children their own. The soil that God had blessed for the good of man was a curse to him who tilled it. The race dwindled, and fell away by degrees, instead of increasing; and to keep up the supply of labourers, Africa must be barbarised and demoralised to gain thirty thousand human beings from its ill-fated shores; and possibly a number equal to three times that amount was sacrificed. Exclusive Popery, slavery and the slavetrade were essential to the former colonial state of Sant Domingo. Haiti is no criterion of what the slave colonies would be if the people were brought into a state of freedom under peaceable circumstances. Yet I do not hesitate to express my conviction, that in the scale of human beings, and in all that makes life valuable, the people of Haiti are in a far higher state than the people of the slave colonies, to whatever nation they belong, however modified or regulated the system may be; and I do not say this hastily. I have read, heard, and seen things which I deeply deplore in this island; yet, when the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, a people whose minds are their own, are far more likely, speaking after the manner of men, to awake to the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, when he shall arise with healing in his wings, than any people who are degraded below the level of human beings, as slaves assuredly are. Since my present visit here, I have been to three villages in the neighbourhood of this city. San Carlos is just without the walls, and, as a village, for cleanliness, neatness, and all requisite comforts, would be no discredit to any English county. The same may be said of another on the opposite bank of the river. Every cottage has a useful garden, well enclosed; and some have a very nice portico in front. The roads are kept well; I do not mean for carriages, for there are none: the barouche and the horse do all the work. I met, on one of my rides, a characteristic specimen of military rank here. I overtook a fine tall negro carrying his shoes in his hand, and also a bundle, containing, I suppose, his coat. I gave him a tract, and we contrived to have a little broken talk together. It began to rain, and he recommended me to hasten forward to a house, where he told me a lady lived who could speak French, Spanish, and English. I did so, and he soon came in after me, and showed me every civility, asking me to ride on about four miles further to take breakfast with him. This I declined, but asked him to give me his name; which he wrote very well indeed, Captain Dussapre, of the 30th Regiment." I hope to pay him a visit very soon. 66 My good hostess I found to be an American. She invited me to stay, and gave my horse provender. Her husband is a farmer, and a jobber in making mills to grind fungee, or Indian corn. They pay eight dollars, Haitian rent, annually, for as much land as they choose to undertake to till; and, with occasional assistance, they raise Indian corn, Guinea corn, and some coffee and vegetables. The cottage was made with wood of the country, and thatched with a peculiar description of weed, which is very plentiful, called Guayai. She showed me some starch made of its root. Another captain came up to me, as I was wandering over some splendid ruins of a church and monastery, and became my conductor, explaining to me all the history of its ruinous state; and particularly that during the siege of this town, I believe by Christophe, General Farrard placed cannons on the roof; and it is remarkable, that though the whole of the roof was beaten in, two fine arches are yet entire, and bid fair to remain so for many a long day. I gave this captain a quarter dollar, about sixpence three farthings; and for this he made me a very polite bow, and insisted upon showing me the house which is being repaired for the colonel. He pointed out particularly the picture of Napoleon, of which there are several, as well as small French busts of the same favourite hero. It is not a little remarkable, the infatuation which hangs over the recollection of this man, whose name, at least in Haiti, I should have expected to find. How has sin debased the mind of man! It is slaves that make tyrants, rather than tyrants that make slaves. The bands are very good. It seems a part of the policy of the government to keep up good bands in every town; and I believe that those who take the lowest estimate of the capacity of the negro, would never deny that they often make excellent musicians. The troops parade in a large square, and then march with full band and flying colours round the town. They play the Marsellois with great effectiveness; and if music is to be the test of amiableness, one would reckon them very amiable beings. The barracks are very large, built in 1786. The mausoleum of Spanish greatness is this part of their old dominions. I am surprised at the number of persons that can read, considering the few means of instruction, and no help from without. They must value the acquisition, as I sup. pose the greater part learn from domestic tuition. I think them, in this respect, superior to the average of the apprentices, as they are called, in the English islands. Opposite my lodgings is a very fine mass of buildings, which might be adapted to every sort of schools, with dwelling-house, a large court yard in the interior, after the Moorish fashion, and ground for garden; finely situated, too, on the bank of the river, with a very fine prospect, and all this may be bought for 337. sterling, in fee simple, for ever, by any citizen of Hayti. Were I a missionary, and had a choice, I would greatly prefer this as a scene of duty to any I have seen. There was a time when God's good Spirit and his providence equally worked for the good of the church. have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old ""Arise, O Lord, and deliver us, for thy name's sake," and for thine honour appear in the cause of thy holy truth. We The fete (Dieu Corpus Christi) day seems to combine all the remaining splendour of the older times. The military here were predominant. The weather would not admit of out-door exhibition, but in the cathedral they had their procession; the band leading a procession, passing between two files of soldiery. The canopy over the priest, bearing the host, was very splendid, and supported by silver poles. The most imposing part was when the priest returned to the altar to re-deposit the host; and when he turned round and elevated it, the soldiery and all the people kneeled down. I must do the Roman Catholics the justice to say, that in no foreign place I have visited have they attempted to force me to compliance I could not conscientiously yield |