ful ministry; our frontier settlements would be furnished with the means of spiritual improvement; Missionaries would be provided for distant and destitute lands; and the effects of the general dissemination of divine truth would be seen in the improvement of morals---in the suppression of vice, and in the establishment of those benevolent and charitable institutions, which are calculated to instruct the ignorant, to relieve the indigent, to reclaim the wicked, and to carry peace, joy, and hope, to the bosom of every sincere believer." 1040 MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE. Moravian Missions.---(Continued from page 21.) DEAREST BRETHREN, NAIN, August 24, 1814. WE had been for some time expecting accounts of the ship, when, on the 5th of August, we heard the report of several muskets among the islands, and guessed right, that they announced the arrival of the post-kayaks. At noon they entered our harbour, with the joyful news, that the Jemima had arrived safe at Okkak, on the 1st of this month, and brought an account that peace was re-established in Europe. We stood amazed, and filled with gratitude, when we considered the marvellous power of God, who, in a short time, can bring about so great a change: for, where the eye of man cannot penetrate through the thick darkness, there all with him is clear and bright. Nor do we ascribe the preservation of the ship, by which our communication with you has been maintained now for upwards of forty years, to any other cause but his mercy and favour, we therefore offer unto him our humble and fervent thanks and praises from year to year. Your very acceptable letter, which was read in a meeting of the family, we again found full of expressions of the kindest brotherly love towards us, and participation in the welfare both of ourselves, and of the work committed unto us. We have the pleasure to inform you, that the Mission still prospers, through the mercy of our Saviour. The enemy is, indeed, not idle, but endeavours to sift those who believe on Jesus; and we grieve to be obliged to mention even two of our communicants, who have fallen into temptation and sin, and are excluded at present. On the other hand, those six, who this year have become partakers of the Lord's Supper, afford us much joy by their faithful walk and conversation. By this addition, the number of our communicants is increased to 35, and 7 have been added to the candidates; 6 adults, and 9 children, were baptized; 2, baptized as children, were received into the congregation; 4 became candidates for baptism; and I adult departed this life. If we take a view of the general state of our Esquimaux congregation, we may declare with truth, that divine life is manifest among them, and by far the greater part are earnestly intent upon showing their faithfulness and love towards our Saviour, by a deportment made conformable to his mind and word. But, of the children, we must repeat what we wrote last year, that only a few of them give hopes of conversion. The schools have been conducted with the blessing of God, and diligently attended. In our own family, love and harmony prevailed throughout the whole year,, and, both in our intercourse with each other as fellow-labourers in the vineyard, and when we met our dear people, the peace of God our Saviour reigned amongst us. Our feeble testimony of the love of Jesus in giving himself as a ransom for sin, was heard and received with gladness, and approved itself as the power of God in the hearts of the Esquimaux. May he grant to us, his servants, that our own hearts may always be deeply penetrated with a sense of his redeeming love, and our, practical knowledge of the mystery of his cross increase more and more; then we may be sure that his blessing will not fail to accompany our words; for, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak. He has himself begun the good work in this place, and he will complete it in his own good time. One of our chief employments this year has been the building of our new church, which, by God's mercy, is completely walled and roofed in. It is 54 feet long, 24 wide, and 10 high, to the beams. We have great cause for thankfulness to God, for his help and preservation during this work, which was sometimes almost too much for our few hands, and therefore now and then attended with danger. We hope to finish the whole, so as to be opened in autumn, and are glad to have now a roomy church to meet in, as, since the return of the ship last year, our number is increased by 34 persons, and 166 Esquimaux have dwelt on our land. The accounts you have sent us of the dreadful devastations in Germany, and the great distress experienced by some of our congregations, have filled our hearts with sorrow and deep sympathy. Praised be God, who has inclined the hearts of so many benevolent persons in England to come to the relief of the poor sufferers. The blessing of him that was ready to perish will come upon them. We notice the happy departure of the Brethren Green and Dixon, who were long members of your Society, and feel for your loss. They now rest in peace in the presence of our Saviour. We beg you again to present our unfeigned thanks to the British and Foreign Bible Society, for their readiness to print for us any integral part of the Scriptures in the Esquimaux language. But we cannot send out any manuscript translations this year, as they need more revision. By the next opportunity we hope to be able to transmit some of the Epistles, and the Acts of the Apostles, and to profit by so generous an offer. We return to you, dearest brethren, our most unfeigned thanks for the liberal supply you have again sent us of all the necessary provisions and stores, and praise the Lord for raising up so many benefactors among the English nation, who take so kind a share in the great expense attending this Mission. May he establish peace in Europe, and soon put a stop to the war with America. We also We also pray that he would again mercifully conduct the ship to you in safety. This depends not upon war or peace, but solely upon the gracious protection of Him who ruleth all things in heaven and on earth. To conclude, we commend ourselves to your love and kind remembrance in prayer, and shall always think of you with love and gratitude, entreating the Lord to bless you all. We remain, &c. (Signed) C. SCHREIBER, G. SCHMIDTMAN, J. LUNDBURG, PETER STOCK. (To be continued.) Grand Triple Alliance, or, "Holy League!" In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity. Their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, in consequence of the great events which have distinguished, in Europe, the course of the three last years, and especially of the blessings which it has pleased Divine Providence to shed upon those states, whose governments have placed their confidence and their hope in it alone, having acquired the thorough conviction, that it is necessary for ensuring their continuance, that the several powers, in their mutual relations, adopt the sublime truths which are pointed out to us by the eternal religion of the Saviour God: Declare solemnly, that the present act has no other object than to show in the face of the universe their unwavering determination to adopt for the only rule of their conduct, both in the administration of their respective states, and in their political relations with every other government, the precepts of this holy religion, the precepts of justice, of charity, and of peace, which far from being solely applicable to private life, ought, on the contrary, directly to influence the resolutions of Princes, and to guide all their undertakings, as being the only means of giving stability to human institutions, and of remedying their imperfections. Their Majesties have therefore agreed to the following articles : Art. 1. In conformity with the words of the Holy Scriptures, which command all men to regard one another as brethren, the three contracting Monarchs will remain united by the bonds of a true and indissoluble fraternity; and considering each other as co-patriots, they will lend one another, on every occasion, and in every place, assistance, aid, and support; and regarding their subjects and armies, as the fathers of their families, they will govern them in the spirit of fraternity with which they are animated, for the protection of religion, peace and justice. Art. II. Therefore the only governing principle between the above mentioned governments and their subjects, shall be that of rendering reciprocal services; of testifying, by an unalterable beneficence, the mutual affection with which they ought to be animated; of considering all as only the members of one Christian nation, the three allied Princes looking upon themselves as delegated by Providence to govern three branches of the same family, to wit, Austria, Prussia, and Russia; confessing likewise, that the Christian nation of which they and their people form a part, have really no other sovereign than HIM, to whom alone power belongs of right, because in HIм alone are found all the treasures of love, of science, and of wisdom; that is to say, God, our Divine Saviour Jesus Christ, the Word of the Most High, the Word of Life. Their Majesties, therefore, recommend, with the most tender solicitude, to their people, as the only means of enjoying that peace which springs from a good conscience, and which alone is durable, to fortify themselves every day more and more in the principles and exercise of the duties which the Divine Saviour has pointed out to us. Art. III. All powers which wish solemnly to profess the sacred principles which have dictated this act, and who shall acknowledge how important it is to the happiness of nations, too long disturbed, that these truths shall henceforth exercise upon human destinies, all the influence which belongs to them, shall be received with as much readiness as affection, into this holy alliance. Made triparte, and signed at Paris, in the year of our Lord 1815, on the 14th (26) September. A true copy of the original. FRANCIS, ST. PETERSBURGH, Jan. 13. The following is the manifesto which his Imperial Majesty published on Christ mas Day. "By the Grace of God, we, Alexander the First, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, &c. hereby make known, "As we have seen from experience, and from the unhappy consequences that have resulted for the whole world, that the course of the political relations in Europe between the powers, has not been founded on those true principles upon which the wisdom of God in his revelations has founded the peace and prosperity of all nations: "We have, consequently, in conjunction with their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, Francis the First, and the King of Prussia, Frederick William, proceeded to form an alliance between us, (to which the other Christian powers are invited to accede,) in which we reciprocally engage, both between ourselves and in respect to our subjects, to adopt, as the sole means to attain this end, the principle drawn from the words and doctrine of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who preaches not to live in enmity and hatred, but in peace and love. We hope and implore the blessing of the Most High; may this sacred union be confirmed between all the powers, for their general good, and (de terred by the union of all the rest) may no one dare to fall off from it. We accordingly subjoin a copy of this union, ordering it to be made generally known, and read in all the churches. "St. Petersburgh, on the day of the birth of our Saviour, 25th Dec. 1815. ALEXANDER." The original is signed by his Imperial Majesty's own hand. 10401 Translation of a LETTER from FRANCE relative to SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Paris, September 5, 1815. MY DEAR SIR AND FRIEND, You will doubtless be surprised at my long silence. I have equally as good a reason to be so, because, till this day, I have not found the means to execute the projects which I had conceived relative to the Sunday Schools, so that I feel myself obliged to inform you that every attempt on this subject, hitherto, has been fruitless. The pastors of the reformed church at Paris, to whom I have spoken of the importance of a like institution, have applauded the zeal which animates the Society of London, and of which you are so distinguished a member, have added that they ought equally to have established Sunday Schools in their churches, but they find, in the critical situation in which the cause of the protestants of France is at this moment, a sufficient reason not yet to commence a similar institution. One of the clergymen of the Lutheran church, whom I have also engaged in founding a Sunday School for the children of his flock, informed me that he believed that the greatest obstacle which I should find to the execution of my design would be, the want of teachers, and especially among the young people of the female sex. young people, added he, are in the habit of taking a walk during the greater part of Sunday, and our young females seek for husbands from the age of fifteen to sixteen. How shall we find masters and mistresses (for whom we have occasion) to direct a school somewhat numerous, unless we procure them with money? Our counsellor of I have also spoken of Sunday Schools to Monsieur state what I told him interested him much in favour of such an establishment; he requested me to give him a detailed account, that he might know what means to employ, for the support of good manners, and the desirable advancement of religion. I shall hasten to satisfy the request of this philanthropist, and inform you of the result of my exertions. I have sent to Bourdeaux thirty pounds sterling for the society of which you are a member. The English merchant, whom I have engaged to pay this sum to my father, having learned the excellent purpose for which it was intended, has also wished to contribute towards it, and to second your liberal intentions, instead of paying the pounds sterling at the present rate of exchange, which is extremely low, he has ordered the thirty pounds should be made payable to me at Bourdeaux, at the rate of twenty-four francs per pound sterling, which has much increased the sum intended to establish the first Sunday School at Bourdeaux. Present my sincere respects to the different persons attached to the Islington Sunday School, to whom I owe the twenty pounds you have sent me, and also make my respects to the Sunday School Union for the assistance they have also afforded me to contribute more efficaciously to the honourable end which they propose. When I shall have interesting news to communicate to them, I shall hasten to do it. Hitherto, I have been engaged in founding, in this capital, Sunday Schools for the children of the poor, after the Lancasterian system. The preparatory school which I have founded, is composed of fifty children. I have obtained, after much discussion, that the reading lessons should consist of extracts from the Bible, which is a great point obtained. If the Lord continue to prosper my labours, I hope soon to see all the indigent youth of France formed anew in the knowledge of reading, writing, and accompts, and their minds and hearts directed towards the religion of Christ, almost extinguished or obscured among us. May the Lord assist, with his powerful aid, and give me grace to finish with success a work so great and so useful. |