RECOLLECTIONS OF A MISSIONARY.-NO. VII.

ON THE CONNEXION OF MISSIONARY LABOURS AND PRAYER, WITH THE COMING OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM.

ALL means are in order to some valuable and important end; and it is the order of Providence, that the end and means shall bear some resemblance to each other. The kingdom of Christ will come, but how far we may accelerate the event by faithful preaching and fervent prayer, is a subject well worthy the consideration of every good man. And why should we squabble whether Christ's reign be personal or spiritual, since we all agree he must reign, and that His reign will be brought about by a conjunction of divine agency and human means; the Spirit's effusion, and the preaching of the word and prayer. That the knowledge of Christ will be the glory and fulness of the millennium, we all agree; but the savour of this knowledge is diffused by evangelical preaching. We may educate, civilize, and polish the heathen, but the charm that changes his heart is gospel truth, unctioned by the Holy Ghost. Nor have we much reason to believe that kings and statesmen will contribute to this work : what they have already done gives no pledge of the future. My kingdom, says Christ, is not of this world; nor will it be much supported by worldly men. It is true, they have planted the British standard on foreign shores, they have sent troops, they have built forts, they have appointed governors, they have placed different colonies under law. Ships have been freighted; they have induced the heathen to industry by the lure of our commerce; we have bought their ivory, their gum, their timber, their oil, and other raw materials; but for the infinitely more honourable work of converting their souls, God has chosen "not many mighty and not many noble."

Falling thrones, and subyerted dynasties may indirectly contribute to the coming of Christ's kingdom, but the gospel is the mighty lever that must heave the mountain from a sinking world. Thrones are often intrenched round with men whose policy seldom or ever leads them to honour Christ. In this work God will use means that shall neither tarnish his purity, or steal his glory. They who give all glory to the Lamb, will doubtless be employed as his first instruments. Kings like Constantine may build the outworks with gold, silver, and precious stones, but the foundation must be laid by workmen such as God himself shall employ. Worldly establishments may look out of the loop-holes of their splendid rituals-popes

may make war upon the Lamb-but they that are with Him are the called, and chosen, and faithful. What has hitherto been done has been accomplished by faithful but insulated bodies of men. Christian preachers have gone forth unprotected by power, unpatronized by wealth; they have, laboured, and they have not fainted. The Moravians, the Wesleyans, the Independents, and the Baptists, with the Church Missionary Society, have sent out many zealous and heavenly-minded men into the foreign vineyard of the Lord; these have not counted their lives dear, so that they might finish their course with joy. What vast extension has the church of Christ gained within the last forty years! The South Sea Islands have been evangelized. The West Indian negroes have heard the joyful sound. Asiatic India has seen a great light, and the Isles of the sea have not waited in vain for salvation. Let these denominations still cast their mites into the treasury, and it shall be enriched; while the rich who glory in riches, and the wise who glory in wisdom, and the mighty who glory in power, shall have their glory turned into shame. Every Missionary is a star to enlighten some portion of the dark hemisphere, every prayer is a drop to wear away the stone. Perhaps the present race are preparing the way, and providing the seed, the next may sow it in the wide field of the world. Christian preachers are multiplying, through all the churches; and their ministry, when brought to bear upon the heathen world, shall not return void, the springing blade shall follow the sown seed, and the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. Popery, that opprobrium of religion, has received its deadly wound; the crescent is on the wane; and paganism begins to totter. The time may not be far of, when God shall have an army of evangelists from among the Jews. Mead rightly conjectures, they will be among the foremost heralds of the cross. How this will be brought about, whether by a sign in the heavens, or by the gospel upon earth, is among the secret things which belong to God. The pulpit, or the preaching of the cross, will realize all that has been said of it either by the poet or the prophet, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that bring good tidings! "For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall pros

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per in the thing whereto I send it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

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But, although the preaching of the gospel is God's leading ordinance for the salvation of a perishing world, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, at the request of earnest prayer, must never be forgotten. The times and the seasons God hath put into His own hands, but all will admit the connexion between prayer, and the fulfilment of Divine promise. From millions of lips is the petition ascending, "Thy kingdom come," and he who formed the petition knew its full import, and has connected its fulfilment with the happy destiny of his redeemed creature-man. God has mixed up the prayers of his people with all his mind's gracious and benevolent decrees in behalf of a fallen world. He allowed his servant Moses to plead with him in the mount, to do that which His counsel and foreknowledge determined to be done. If a time of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord, prayer is at the bottom. nation is to be saved through the prayers of Esther, she is raised up for such a time as this. If a Wesley or a Whitfield go out to reform the land, they are prepared in the closet. Luther was mighty in prayer, and the pillars of popery trembled. Elliott, who converted the North American Indians, and mastered their language, did it by prayer and patience, and faith in Christ Jesus. The tender-hearted and devoted Martyn was a man of prayer. All successful Missionaries are baptized into prayer. The element of all usefulness is prayer; it is the soul's meridian altitude, the wheels of Christ's chariot, the mover of God's hand, and the mind of the Spirit. Daniel kindled his prophetic lamp at the altar of devotion. Isaiah's hallowed lips were touched with the fire of prayer, 66 rapt into future times the bard begun." It flamed in the poetry of David, and formed the descending mantle of Elijah. The day of Pentecost was ushered in by prayer, for the promise of the Spirit was connected with the prayer of faith. The apostles could not evangelize the world, till they had given themselves to prayer. The great transatlantic revivals have been answers to prayer; and the machinery that converts the world must be fed by prayer. Why do we not pray more for Turks, Jews, and 2D. SERIES, NO. 33.-VOL. III.

ere

infidels? If this is the golden key that unlocks the promises,-why not keep it bright? The life-boat to save a sinking world, is a precious Saviour-but who can approach him without faith and prayer? I wish half the time spent in our Missionary meetings were consecrated to prayer, we should not have so many droll anecdotes and tedious narratives. Branching off in intercession for the heathen, will often convert a cold prayer into a flame of love. We may be too selfish even in our prayers, our charity may stay too much at home. Look at the prophets, look at the apostles, what mighty artillery of prayer did they wield! Before the Spirit of grace is poured out co-extensively with the world's wants, the spirit of supplication must be more practised by the Church. If Christ rides in the chariot of his gospel, the Spirit rides in the chariot of prayer. The author of these Recollections, when labouring upon a mission in the province of New Brunswick, under a painful want of success, induced some of the members of the church to unite with him in a day of fasting and prayer: much fervent wrestling with God took place, and strong cries and tears were offered up to Him in whose hands is the residue of the Spirit. This was in the fall of the year, and, before the ice barred the passage, he made another tour up the river St. John, to visit different parts of the mission before the winter set in. He had not been long absent, however, before a messenger was sent, begging that he would return immediately, as a revival had begun in his absence, which required both his presence and prudence to regulate and guide. One hundred persons, chiefly young people, were the subjects of this quickening visitation the consequence was, we began to build a new Mission Chapel; the old one was soon too small and the fruits of that refreshing from the presence of the Lord exist till the present day. Let us, then, break out in the impassioned language of the prophet, "For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep silence, till the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth," &c. The Spirit must sit brooding on the vast abyss, and make it pregnant with prayer. "I will that prayer and supplication, and giving of thanks, be offered up for all men.' The world never yet saw a great work of God, that was not the birth of prayer. Talk we of agency? the Spirit's agency is prayer. Pleading with men may obtain money, but pleading with God will obtain mercy for the world.

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J. MARSDEN. 177.-VOL. XV.

"Climes, fair withal as ever mortal head

Imagined in its little schemes of thought;

Or e'er in new Utopias were bared,

To teach man what he might be, or he ought; If that corrupted thing could ever such be taught. Land of Albania! where Iskander rose,

Theme of the young, and beacon of the wise; And he, his namesake, whose oft-baffled foes

Shrunk from the deeds of chivalrous emprise. Land of Albania! let me bend mine eyes

On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men! The cross descends, thy minarets arise,

And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen, Through many a cypress grovewithin each city's ken." Corfu, Aug. 11, 1832.

REPORTS having been received in Corfu that the cholera morbus had broken out in Yanina, and other towns in Albania, the lord high commissioner appointed a "commission" to proceed to Yanina, &c. in order to obtain more accurate information, and to observe the nature and progress of the disease. The commission consisted of two medical gentlemen, Dr. Pope, of the 51st regiment, and Signor Theriano, protomedico of Corfu, and formerly, for many years, in the service of Ali Pacha. I obtained leave to accompany these gentlemen; and being furnished with letters by the government to Ameen Pacha at Yanina, and others, on the 11th, about two o'clock, we commenced our journey, in the government sanita barge, and landed at the miserable dogana and hovel of Sayades about six o'clock, where, having procured nine ponies for ourselves, servants, guardians, and baggage, we continued our journey by moonlight to Philates, a Turkish village, and arrived there about eleven o'clock. Our dormitory was within the courtyard of a wretched khan, among horses and mules, cows and goats, wild-looking muleteers, and hosts of bugs and fleas, &c.

12th.-Up en route at five, through the beautiful valley of Keramitza. The tracks along the sides of the mountain which we had to pass are in many places not more than a foot and a half in breadth, and below which are tremendous ravines. About ten o'clock, we arrived at another khan, situate at the bottom of a sterile valley, where the contents of our baskets were produced, and we breakfasted. Our muleteers were very

curious in examining the contents of the teapot, which they pronounced to be a decoction of opium. These khans, though useful, are of a most miserable description, being merely an open quadrangle, into which all enter, horses and cattle of every description. Sometimes there may be a room, but generally of so disgustingly filthy and dilapidated a nature that it is unhabitable. Occasionally those of a better class have eggs, but seldom any thing except rakee, a strong distilled spirit. Two P.M. we proceeded. Our route lay along and over splendid mountains, till we came to the river Kalamas (Acheron,) which is rapid, sometimes broad, and along its course the scenery wild and picturesque. About eight o'clock we halted in the valley of Sarachoritza, and bivouacked under a tree on the banks of the river, lighted our fires, made our supper, drank our grog, smoked our cigars, turned the horses loose, and slept soundly till three o'clock in the morning.

13th.-Proceeded on to Yanina, which we reached about noon. Yanina lies at the extremity of a long valley, bounded by lofty ranges of sterile mountains, and, in my eyes, had no very prepossessing appearance. The scenery from Sayades is often grand, and amply repays the traveller for the danger he incurs in threading the perilous tracks which form the roads; but the ponies, though small and of little promise, are beyond all conception sure-footed, and wind along the narrow passes with admirable agility. The country appears thinly peopled and little cultivated. We remained at the house of Signor Clerice-who unites in his rubicund person the respective occupations of consul to the Ionian government, Austrian, French, Greek, &c. (the last of which are more honorary than profitable) and physician and druggist—till our arrival was reported to the government, which appointed us quarters in the house of a Greek family. In all directions, Yanina presents ruins to the view. The windows of the houses are secured with bars of iron, which give them the appearance of prisons; and besides which, they are protected from the

gaze of the curious by extremely close jalousies. In the evening a great number of first-rate Turks and Greeks, and some very pretty ladies, visited Dr. Theriano. The Greek secretary of his highness the Pacha also came; he is a young man, of much intelligence, and seemed well acquainted with European politics, and the present state of affairs in France, England, &c.

14th.-Dr. Pope and myself took the vapour-baths in the fortress, and underwent the usual ceremony of Oriental cleansing. The bath is open to all who come, and who bathe at the same time. There does not appear to be much delicacy. At eleven o'clock, accompanied by Signor Clerice, we proceeded to the palace of the Vizier Ameen Pacha, son of the present grand vizier.* It is situate in the fortress, and, during the time of Ali Pacha, was of vast extent; though already almost in total ruins. We mounted a crumbling flight of steps, and entered the palace; hundreds of Turks were loitering and lounging along the wooden corridors; many dirty ill-looking fellows smoking, fleaing, &c. We first went to the office of the secretaries, where about a dozen scribes were at work, cross-legged, on the sofa: no table or chairs are ever used or seen; but they sit, their legs doubled under them, on the divan, and the paper, supported on the palm of the left hand, is thus written upon with a reed pen. Our arrival having been announced, we proceeded to visit his highness. On entering the room, there were about twenty attendants standing, bare-footed, at the end, all armed with richly embossed pistols and yatagan, stuck in an ornamental belt round the waist; and at the further end, Ameen Pacha. The apartment was about thirty feet long, and twelve wide, the upper end surrounded with the divan. It contained no furniture but a carpet and the cloth-covered divan, which is a dais raised about a foot and a half from the floor, and about five feet wide from the wall, piled with cushions, on mounting which the slippers are taken off:-the only ornaments were two French clocks. The Pacha is about twenty-two years of age, with a fine Turkish countenance; he was smoking an extremely long cherry-stick pipe, with a beautiful amber diamond-ornamented mouth-piece. After we were seated on the divan, Dr. Theriano produced the lord high commissioner's letter, which the secretary, standing at five feet from him, handed to the Pacha, who, not being learned in any Christian tongue, returned it, to be translated

The one who was taken prisoner by the Egyptians shortly after.

into Turkish. This was done in so low a voice, that it was scarcely audible: indeed, all the people addressed his mightiness in almost a whisper,-touching the left breast and forehead frequently during the address. Pipes were immediately brought in, and a small cup, containing about a large tablespoonful of strong sugarless coffee, handed to each. Upon a signal, made by clapping the hands twice, all the attendants, except one, a Moor, retired. The nature of the "commission" being explained, the Pacha promised every facility in promoting its object. He paid some compliments to the military part of the company, observing, that "les messieurs au service d'Angleterre were generally plus distingués than common," but he spoke little. The Turkish language, pronounced by a fine voice, such as his, has a grand and lofty sound. retired in about half an hour. His highness has the character of being a debauchee. From the audience we returned to the secretaries, and pipes and coffee; then to the divan of the bamlech, or colonel of his highness's regiment of tacticos. Again pipes and coffee, and ice. After leaving the fortress, we visited a bey of distinction, whose wife is the grand-daughter of Ali Pacha. Here a tray, with sweet preserved fruit and goblets of water, and one spoon, was handed round, prior to the pipes and coffee. In the afternoon we had a call from the Greek archbishop.

We

15th. We inspected the military and civil hospitals, which are comfortless, filthy dens. No regular medical man attends; and the few sick who enter them are soon put out of pain by the scientific nostrums of a Jew quack. From these abodes of misery we visited the public schools, which are well attended, and free; they are on the Lancasterian system. Thence we strolled through the bazars, in about a dozen narrow streets, darkened by the few projecting roofs; where the various goods are exposed in open wooden booths. The principal manufacture of Yanina is embroidery, of which we saw some beautiful specimens. In the afternoon we mounted the horses which had been sent for our use from the Serai, and went out of the town to view the sham-fight and evolutions of the tacticos, in the plain by which we had arrived. The soldiers, if they can be so called, are all but boys, appeared half starved, and were habited in a miserable and unmilitary sort of uniform. The drill was any thing but Torrens; however, they fired away to their seeming delight, and the apparent satisfaction of Ameen Pacha, who galloped about, followed by thirty mounted heroes firing

pistols at each other's horses. The artillery, of which there were six pieces stationed in different situations, was pretty well served, and fired shot. After the victory was gained, both parties piled arms in line; and now commenced a furious scramble for the apples, pears, melons, &c. that his highness flung among them; after which his own carpet was spread sur le champ de bataille, his robes of ermine were brought him, and his pipe and coffee, and ice. About seven o'clock we dined with the ci-devant Greek secretary of the grand vizier, who, having an ample fortune, prefers enjoying it in safety ex officio. The outside of his mansion presented a forbidding appearance-immense walls of rough masonry, without windows, or other openings to relieve it from its prison aspect; however, on entering the large fortress-like gates, the scene changes. Inside is a garden, and, mounting the steps, a large and handsome open gallery, or corridor; at the further end of which was the divan. Being seated, sweet preserves and water were handed round, followed by a small glass of liqueur; then long napkins were thrown over our knees, and one attendant brought a large metal sort of basin with soap, whilst another poured tepid water over the hands, and a third presented a fine napkin to dry them. After these operations were concluded, we sat down to a table, on chairs, and commenced those of gastronomy. The dinner was conducted as among ourselves, excepting that each dish was placed on the table separately, about forty of which succeeded each other in rapid order: we had excellent fish from the lake, and all the cookery was admirable; one dish especially, the summum bonum among the Turks, and which requires great trouble and much scientific art to prepare, (I do not remember its nomenclature,) consists of about a hundred flat cakes, seasoned in a delicious manner; but so finely are they rolled out, that the whole, being laid one upon the other, does not make the dish thicker than an inch. Not being well versed in the conduct of their dinners, I made a hearty meal of the first six plates; yet, hav. ing observed that it was not manners to refuse any thing, I found myself, on the appearance of the twenty-ninth dish, completely hors de combat. I was at length done up; when, to my exhausted delight, a message was brought from the redolent regions below, demanding what other dishes should be prepared. The bey, I suppose, had noticed our crammed condition, took pity, and ordered dessert; a glass of liqueur was very appropriately administered, and fter the bottle had circulated a few times,

we retired to the divan, and pipes and coffee. This variety and number of dishes is considered essential; but, for the information of future travellers, it may be as well to mention, that it is not expected every thing put on the plate will be consumedand I have further to mention, that some of the best dishes enter last.

17th.-Visited the Pacha, who was just going to the mosque: he was very splendidly robed; about his neck hung a miniature of the sultan, set in diamonds. From the palace we went to the house of the Greek archbishop, where our pipes and coffee were handed to us by priests in canonicals. In the afternoon we took a boat, and rowed to the island on the eastern side of the lake. The lake is about six miles long, and is in some parts two broad, enclosed on the east, west, and south by lofty mountains; behind which range, on the eastern side, towers the majestic chain of Pindus. The island is not of great extent, and mostly barren rock. We landed at a small chapel, contiguous to which is the papa's residence; ascended a rickety ladder, and entered a small unfurnished apartment, in which Ali Pacha was murdered by order of the sultan. The first person who approached attempted to stab him with his yatagan in the act of saluting; but Ali, perceiving his intention, avoided the blow, and, drawing his own arms, wounded his adversary, who fled. Upon this, the soldiers, who had been placed under the room, fired through the floor, which is of thin boards, and killed him: there are four holes made by the balls. Dr. Theriano, our fellow-traveller, who had been in Ali's service upwards of twelve years as his principal and favourite medical attendant, on entering an apartment in the palace some short time afterwards, noticed a mantle thrown over the divan, which one of the officers of the palace raised, and discovered to his amazement and horror the trunkless head of his former patron. Dr. T. could not relate the event even now without extreme emotion. The head was sent to Constantinople, and his body interred in Yanina.

18th. The "commission," not having discovered any symptoms of the cholera, and having assembled the faculty of that city, who unanimously declared, that neither that disease nor any of a similar nature had existed for a great lapse of time-in fact, there were no sick in Yanina but themselves, of a complaint, called by them lack-fees-determined to pursue, in search of it, their journey to Bitolia, the capital of Roumelia, where it was said to be com