these are some of the chief Signs of the Times. And they comprise a series of connected causes so powerful and so well adapted, that, even according to human calculation, they can scarcely fail of very great and extensive effects; while they, who walk by faith and not by sight, must surely regard them as means employed by Him, in whose hand are all the hearts and ways of men-as proofs that He has a mighty work to do-and, therefore, as especial calls of His providence, to engage in His work, and labour for the promotion of His cause.

CEYLON MISSION.

In the preceding Survey of the Missions of the Society, the attention of the Members has been chiefly directed to the Continents of Africa and Asia. In passing to the Society's Insular Missions, the Committee would adopt the animated appeal of one of its Associations:

After surveying the multitudes of India, we might be almost disposed to overlook the Insular Stations occupied by the Society. But WHAT is it, that has placed us, the inhabitants of Islands, but a few ages since scarcely included in the known world, and described only by the whiteness of our rocks, the tin on our coast, and our strange superstitions-WHAT has placed us in a position, from which we parcel out the globe; weigh Continent against Island, and East against West; and inquire concerning the value of hundreds of thousands of our fellow-men, compared with unnumbered millions, both standing, as it were at our feet, and waiting for THEIR portion of the Bread that came down from heaven? And who shall say that the Cingalese, or the New Zealanders, or the West-Indian Brethren of those Africans in whom so wonderful a change has already taken place, may not, when your still enlarging Missions shall have made them fully acquainted with Him through whom all have access by one Spirit unto the SAME Father, rise to your elevation; or even reach a standard of spiritual dignity and power, which Ancient Christendom has never known since the Apostolic Age?-that they may not, at some future period, if your love should grow cold, infidelity be suffered to prevail, and darkness, vice, and misery overspread these Nations, inquire in their Missionary Meetings, how the British Church may be revived, and share in that blessed light which shall then have arisen on China and Japan? Or (which may the Father of Mercies grant!) may not rather be your especial auxiliaries, when, according to the sure word of prophecy, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the

same, His Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto His Name and a pure offering ?".

Some changes have taken place in the Stations of the Missionaries, since the last Report. At Kandy, in the interior, Mr. Lambrick still continues his labours; and so does Mr. Knight, at and near Jaffna, in the north. Mr. Ward has left Calpentyn, on the western coast, chiefly on account of his health; and has, for the present, joined Mr. Knight: and Mr. Mayor, in the south, has removed from Galle, and has settled, for more ready access to the Natives, at Badoogam or Baddagamme, a little distance from Galle.

In March of last year, the Missionaries all assembled in Colombo. Mr. Lambrick writes, on this occasion-

Your Missionaries have just had a Meeting: it had been proposed to hold it in Kandy; but the Governor feared that the Kandians might take alarm, at the sight of so many of us among them. We met, therefore, at Colombo. The Meeting was delightful, surely, to us all; but to me, who am so entirely destitute of Christian Society here, it was peculiarly refreshing. We shall be all, I trust, the better for it; having been led to reflect on the way by which we have been led, and on all the blessings which we have received in passing along. The Lord has been very gracious to us all! We have been preserved in the midst of dangers; and dreadful disease has carried off numbers around us, while we have been unhurt; and, what is of infinitely higher importance, we have been kept in the good ways of the Lord. Union and brotherly love have been maintained among us all, without jealousies or heart-burnings; and we have been at peace, not only among ourselves, but toward others also: for all which we have cause to bless and praise our Heavenly Master; for we know that it is not in us to direct our steps aright, in this or any other respect.

Of their different scenes of labour, Mr. Lambrick wrote, before the changes took place in the Stations of the Missionaries

All our Brethren are more deeply engaged in the Missionary Work than myself. Br. Knight, in the neighbourhood of Jaffna, is laying a good foundation for future usefulness, in a close application to the study of Tamul, and in the establishment of Schools. Br. Ward, at Calpentyn, preaches regularly, by an Interpreter, to the nominal Christians there, and is preparing to

extend his labours in the neighbourhood: and Br. Mayor has penetrated the Jungle, and preached the Gospel to some who had never heard it before; and he has been so encouraged in the work, that he has determined to go and settle among them, in a place where no European ever lived before.

Let us praise the Lord for this beginning of hopeful labour among this unhappy people, praying Him to give it abundant

success.

Mr. Mayor has sent home some remarks on the state of the Natives, which will enable the Members of the Society to enter into the difficulties attendant on Christian Labours among them :

They are a well-formed and intelligent race of men. Many of them have been baptized, and are by profession Christians; but they are ignorant of both the History and the Doctrines of the Gospel. They are unacquainted with the state of their own hearts, the danger in which sin has involved them, and the only way of being re-admitted into the divine favour or restored to the divine image. They have no knowledge of a Saviour's love, no feeling of their need of His salvation, and consequently no regard to His Laws or to His Name. They have not renounced their idolatry, nor forsaken the Worship of Devils.

The Budhist Priests wear a long yellow robe, which covers the whole body, from the neck to the feet. They are supported by the people. In their mode of living, they are_remarkably abstemious, and never take any food after noon. For the most part, they are very unlearned; though some of them appear to be as subtle objectors against the Truths of Revelation as Infidels in England. It is contrary to their religion to marry. In their temples, they have several large figures of Budhu, before which they and their people prostrate themselves and offer gifts. They deny that the heavens and the earth were created by a superior Being, and assert that all things exist by chance. They regard Budhu as a sort of God, who has obtained the preeminence by chance. He has appeared about 300 times in the world, in the form of birds and of beasts. They believe in the transmigration of souls; and suppose that all bodily diseases are the consequences of sin committed in our former state of existence. They expect that happiness or misery will be awarded to all hereafter, according as they have done good or evil in this life. The worship of the Devil is quite as common as that of Budhu.

Mr. Mayor confirms the numerous reports of the degradation of Females among the Heathen. Of those of Ceylon, he says-

They are never taught to read; and are never treated by their husbands with more respect than servants. There is considerable difficulty to persuade them to allow of their daughters being instructed. How little do females in England know the value of their superior privileges! Could they see their degraded sex in Heathen Countries-engrossed in ignorance, enslaved by vice and sin, excluded from social intercourse, standing as menial servants behind their own husbands while they are eating their food-and could they hear their cries, when suffering from the cruel rage of their despotic lords-they would be constrained, by every feeling of humanity, and above all by gratitude to Him who though he was rich yet for their sakes became poor, that they through his poverty might be rich, to exert themselves in every way to promote the temporal comfort and eternal welfare of millions, whose condition has long, far too long, been unpitied and disregarded.

Kandy.

Mr. Lambrick having been appointed, as was stated in the last Report, Assistant Chaplain to the Forces, has had continual calls of duty among his countrymen.

as he

His opportunities of acquiring Cingalese in its purity, are the best that could be had in the Island: and he has assiduously availed himself of them, ardently longs to proclaim to the Natives around him, in their own tongue, the Salvation of God. He finds, however, more difficulty therein than he expected, as there is no Dictionary, nor any Grammar at present that is of much use; while the language is remarkably artificial in its etymology and idioms*.

Of his Ministerial Labours, Mr. Lambrick writes

We have Service, in English, twice on Sundays. The whole garrison are expected to attend, in the Forenoon: but I have very few to hear me in the Afternoon; and I should be glad indeed to exchange that Service for an opportunity to preach in the Native Tongue. In the mean time, I am preparing myself by studying the language; and if the great Head of the Church should open a door for the preaching of his Gospel here, it will

Some remarks on the peculiarities of the Cingalese Language, and some particulars of Mr. Lambrick's intercourse with the Natives, have been printed, since the Anniversary, at pp. 302 & 303 of the Missionary Register for July.

be a blessed opening indeed. May the praying people in England remember the benighted Kandians!

Great discretion has been found requisite in the establishing of a Christian Minister in Kandy, and every step has been taken under this feeling. Mr. Lambrick has conciliated, in a very high degree, the esteem and confidence of the Heathen around him. He has been permitted to open a School for the instruction of Native Children, in reading and writing their own language, as an introduction to their reading the Holy Scriptures.

With the superintendence of this School, studying the language, conversations with the Natives, and the spiritual charge of his countrymen, Mr. Lambrick's hands are quite full. He deeply feels the want of habitual intercourse with Christians like-minded with himself; and earnestly desires that a fellow labourer may be sent to himself, and to each of his friends.

The Rev. Thomas Browning is on the point of embarking, with the view of assisting Mr. Lambrick, if that shall appear on his arrival to be the most eligible destination; and the Committee will rejoice to have it in their power to strengthen the hands of his Brethren. Mr. Browning will have the advantage of accompanying two Cingalese Christians, on their return to their own country they are here with us to-day, and are part of the fruits of the labours of a kindred Society.

Mr. Lambrick encourages the Natives, by paying them every attention, to hold familiar intercourse with him; and has thus succeeded in making a large acquaintance among both the Priests and the Laity. His intercourse with them is conducted with wisdom and faithfulness.

A Priest, of cultivated understanding, awakened his hopes, by explaining, with general propriety, some passages of the New Testament to a few Chiefs who were present. Of him, Mr. Lambrick writes

I lifted up my heart to the Lord, that He would raise him up to be a witness for Him indeed; but my hopes concerning him have been much disappointed since. I found that he was for an