to mention an anecdote which bears upon the subject of Missions. Many years ago, I called upon a friend of mine, a man of advanced age, who had passed the greater portion of his life in the college and the cathedral. He held what at that time were called extreme opinions, and a little illiberality was attributed to him. By some means or other, our conversation turned upon the subject of baptismal regeneration. To my surprise, I found his views on this subject moderate and reasonable, and I then ventured to introduce other points. To my astonishment, this man (who had never been out of England, and who had scarcely ever left the cathedral or the college) said to me, "There is in Missionary exertion a very great advantage. It is very well for us, in England, to discuss matters in which a great deal of logomachia takes place,flying perpetually from one ground to another, so that even men who hold the same opinions are not aware that they do so. But let these opinions be tested by Missionary life. Christianity then appears in all its truth and beauty, and members of different Protestant Churches find themselves united." I have only now to express my extreme satisfaction and gratitude, that it has pleased God so extensively to bless your Missionary labours. If he has tried this excellent Society, and another excellent institution which is very dear to me,-the Church Missionary Society, he has also been pleased to extend his hand over us both in favour; and I trust that, this year, both those institutions will obtain means adequate, if not to meet all the demands upon them, at least to a great extension of their operations. Every year shows us the difficulty of restraining and repressing our Missionary operations. New fields of usefulness are constantly opening before us; sometimes by the instrumentality of our commerce or our arms, as in the case of China, where three or four hundred millions of human beings have been rendered accessible to Gospel truth. In a spirit of humble thankfulness to God for the prosperity he has vouchsafed to you, and with ardent prayers for the success of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, I now resume the chair, and we will proceed with the business of the Meeting.

The REV. DR. BUNTING then came forward and said,-Before we proceed with the usual business, I respectfully beg leave, in the name of this Meeting, and on its behalf, to express to our excellent Chairman, Sir George Rose, the high satisfaction and pleasure we feel in seeing

him in his present position on this occasion. He is remembered and venerated as an old and tried friend of our Society; and we honour him as a gentleman especially distinguished by attachment to the cause of evangelization in reference to God's ancient people, the Jews, as well as to the Missionary cause in general. I congratulate him that, while he was addressing you, his voice seemed to gain unusual strength and vigour, and he would be heard, I am sure, far beyond the few benches in front of the platform, and heard too with great delight. The first thing in the usual order of business would be to read the Report. It so happens that in consequence of important parliamentary duties, and other public business, we are disappointed in our expectation of seeing present to-day several Members of Parliament,-Mr. Emerson Tennent, Mr. Fox Maule, Colonel Conolly, Mr. Buckley, Mr. Lambton, and other gentlemen. One of our parliamentary friends, however, has come among us; but as he will be compelled to quit the Meeting in a very few minutes, with your permission, we will have his speech now, and the Report afterwards. The gentleman to whom I allude is Mr. Patrick Maxwell Stewart, M.P. for Renfrewshire.

MR. STEWART then came to the front of the platform, and was loudly cheered. He said, I am compelled to quit this place almost immediately, from having to attend to one of those branches of business to which we Members of Parliament, as beasts of burden, are subjected; I mean a Parliamentary Committee, which I shall have to attend in a very few minutes from this time. It is right that I should explain why I thus force myself upon your attention before you have heard the Report. It was not till very late on Saturday night that I received an intimation of the wish that I should appear here this morning. I came to say that I could not come to stay with you; but I was immediately beset by my friend Dr. Alder, and other gentlemen, who have placed me before you in this dilemma. I was determined to identify myself in some way with your cause, which is the cause of common Christianity; and I am glad to have this opportunity of doing so. I am, in consequence of addressing you at this moment, intervening between you and the Report; but I have read that Report, and when I have stated in a few words my feelings with respect to your Society, and expressed my sincere wishes for your extended success in this great and Christian undertaking, you may dis.

pose of my name as you please, either as the mover or seconder of the Report. My attention was riveted upon the Report as I read it, and in every sentiment it breathes I heartily concur. I took it up this morning, saying to myself, "I may as well glance it over, to see the leading points which will be brought before this Meeting;" but I could not satisfy myself with such a cursory glance. I read it verbatim. It brings before you accounts of success in one dark corner of the heathen world; of success and then partial failure in another quarter, such as recently occurred at one of your stations in New-Zealand. To every word which it contains my attention was riveted, and I tender my warmest support to promote the attainment of those great purposes which it sets before us. I am induced by many considerations to present myself before the Wesleyan body on this occasion, an occasion so interesting to them, as is exemplified by the present Meeting. I will, however, particularize only three of those reasons. The first reason for which I conceive I have a right (if I may so speak) to come before you is, that I am a humble member of that great Christian community in whose work you and your Missionaries labour so zealously and so successfully. My second reason is that, like our Right Hon. Chairman, I may say that I am unfortunately identified with the once dark and varied history of our colonies in the West Indies, where your operations have been so extensive, and so blessed in their results. And in the third place, (and though last, not least,) I conceive I have a right to appear before you as a member of the Free Protesting Church of Scotland, as a member, humble, but zealous, of a Church engaged in the great cause of Christian independence, of spiritual liberty; cause in which we have long struggled, and in which you, upon all occasions, have warmly aided us. I am bound, then, by the strongest ties of gratitude, to place myself and my humble services at the disposal of the Wesleyan body, whenever they think such services can be made available to so great a cause. I will not enter into any detail; but I may observe, as has been well stated by our Right Hon. Chairman, that in our WestIndia colonies your labours have produced indescribable benefit. It is impossible, indeed, for any individual who, like myself, is connected with those colonies, adequately to acknowledge your efforts and exertions. I saw lately, in the study of a Clergyman, a friend of

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mine, an interesting map of the world, upon which were marked all the places where Protestant Missions, emanating from this country, were located. The map was crowded with these Missions, and the Wesleyan name was prominent among them. That is indeed a map worth studying by the Christian traveller; and every individual connected with this important Christian body must feel a grateful sense of legitimate satisfaction in seeing how extensively its labours have been made available abroad. With regard to the object of your Meeting I have nothing further to say, than to repeat that I support, in all its words, and in all its sentiments, the Report which is now about to be read to you. I acknowledge the debt of gratitude which we, members of a labouring Church, owe to you. I hope that that acknowledgment will not end in words; but I trust that, on all occasions when my humble services can be made available for the promotion of Christian enlightenment, and the propagation of Christian truth, you will hold them at your command. I beg to move, with your permission, the adoption of the Report.

The REV. DR. BUNTING then called attention to the Financial Statement, which, from the importance of the subject, in the present state of the Society's affairs, we should have inserted at length had our limits permitted.

The venerable and REV. RICHARD REECE, (now the oldest Minister of the Wesleyan Connexion in full and regular employment on a Circuit, and twice President of the Conference,) who rose to second the Resolution which had been moved, by anticipation, by Mr. P. M. Stewart, said,-I beg to second the motion for the adoption of this Report. I have yet a good heart in the cause, though it would be vanity in me to pretend to any ability to advocate it effectually-at least in a manner corresponding with its vast importance in my estimation. You have heard the Report; and you have also heard the sentiments of the hon. gentleman who moved its adoption, and who, having read it, cordially approved of every sentiment it contains. I, having heard that Report, heartily concur in the approval which the hon. gentleman expressed. I approve of the zealous, persevering, and faithful labours of the Committee in conducting the vast concerns of this institution so wisely and so effectively; and I hope that their expectations with respect to the supplies will be fully realized during

the coming year. I will close with a sentiment of high authority, which I deem applicable to this occasion : "Wherefore, brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

The REV. DR. BUNTING then in troduced to the Meeting the Rev. Dr. Wilson, for fifteen years a Missionary at Bombay in connexion with the Church of Scotland, and now in connexion with the Free Protesting Church of Scot

land.

The REV. DR. WILSON, on coming forward, was greeted with loud applause. He said, I ought, at this time, to have been travelling to the north with railroad speed; but a writ of habeas corpus having been issued against my person in the name of this Society, I present myself before you to-day. But, now that I am here, I may say that I have been drawn hither by the bonds of Christian love. I admire the Wesleyan body because it is an evangelistic body; because, with the aid of divine Providence, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it has been enabled to do great things in this, the land of our nativity; and I admire it also because it is, constitutionally, a Missionary Church. The Rev. Doctor who introduced me to the Meeting observed, that for fifteen years I have laboured as a Missionary in India. Nothing has yet been said to this Meeting respecting that great country; and I hope I may be permitted to direct your attention to some passages of the Report respecting India; and, it may be, to amplify, perhaps to illustrate, them. The passage of the Report which refers to India is very brief, but it is very interesting. It is stated that "advancing activity and usefulness are observable at all points of our extensive Missions in the South of India, and the diffusion of scriptural knowledge, and the conversion of souls to God, are the happy results of the labours of the Missionaries." This is precisely the statement I should have expected would have been made. During my residence in India, I heard much of the labours of our Wesleyan brethren, and of the prosperity vouchsafed to them in the work of faith and labour of love which they are zealously prosecuting. It is here stated that a diffusion of scriptural knowledge is attending their labours; and this result might be expected from the ardency and diligence with which they declare the glad tidings of salvation. This result might be expected from the

schools they have been privileged to institute, and from the numerous copies of the Scriptures, of tracts, and of other religious publications, which they are in the habit of circulating in the native languages. I cannot here avoid noticing that this is a state of affairs entirely different from that which resulted from the early Missions instituted in those districts of India in which our Wesleyan brethren labour,-I allude to the Missions of the Roman Catholic Church. I make this reference for the special reason, that I have just taken into my hands an excellent work by Mr. Hoole who is now on this platform relative to Missions in the South of India. I find that this work has been honoured by the notice of Dr. Wiseman, in his Lectures on the Catholic Church. I have devoted some consideration to the proceedings of the Roman Catholic Missionaries in India, and out of their own mouths I am prepared to condemn them before any proper tribunal. Mr. Hoole has very properly intimated that Dr. Wiseman and he differ entirely as to what constitutes conversion. The natives of India who have attached themselves to the Catholic Church, are in the habit of alleging that there is not much difference between their circumstances and those of their heathen brethren. On one occasion I was crossing a ferry in the west of India, the boatmen being natives, and members of the Roman Catholic Church. I put to them the question, "What is your religion?" The reply was, "We are Christians." I then asked them, "In what respect does your religion differ from that of the Hindoos?" " "0," replied they, "our religion is a great deal better than theirs. The gods of the Hindoos are ugly monsters, with a variety of heads and hands; but our gods are fine men and women, and we have a fine Virgin for our chief god." I have read the correspondence maintained by the Portuguese Government with the early Missionaries sent out to the south and west coasts of India; and I can refer Dr. Wiseman to a letter from John I. of Portugal, which is printed in the "Life of Juan de Castro," one of the earliest Viceroys of India. In one passage of that letter it is ordered that the Portuguese authorities shall violently destroy the idols of the Hindoos, whether of gold, metal, stone, or clay; and it is also ordered, in that communication, that

*"Madras, Mysore, and the South of India; or, a Personal Narrative of a Mission to those Countries, from 1820 to 1828: by ELIJAH HOOLE." 12mo, Longmans; and John Mason,

a larger salary shall be given in the Government offices, and in the case of persons employed in public works, to individuals who shall embrace the Christian religion, than to those who remain in Heathenism. In that letter it is also directed that rigorous penalties shall be enforced against the Brahmins, the enemies of the faith. I refer to the work; I mention its name; it is the "Life of Juan de Castro," a Portuguese classic. Contrast this conduct with the proceedings of the Wesleyan and other Protestant Missionaries in India. We go

forth with the word of the living God in our hands. We do not maintain that it is the sole privilege of the learned and clerical orders to interpret this word. We translate it into the languages of the people, so that they may read, in their own tongues, the wonderful works of God. We put this word into the hands of the natives; we direct their attention to it; and we beseech them, as they regard their interests in time and in eternity, to prize that word. We institute schools to give them facilities for obtaining a knowledge of that blessed book; we use no weapons but the bloodless weapons of truth, and we know that they are powerful to the destruction of strong-holds. Your Report to-day bears witness to the effect of Christian teaching, with reference to the destruction of idols. Mr. Stott, of Ceylon, writes: "Since I last wrote, we have broken thirteen stone pillars, or images, of the elephant-headed god, and have pulled down five thatched huts, in which they were placed and worshipped." And under what circumstances was this done? Mr. Stott proceeds: "These huts were built on private ground, the owners of which have now renounced Heathenism, and have consequently given their gods to destruction." This, I maintain, is a triumph of far greater importance than all the conquests of Jesuitry in India. I think a great deal of this triumph; for I have observed among the natives of India very great jealousy as to their idols. They seek to preserve them from defilement; they honour them as the abodes of the divine spirit; and when any untoward event occurs respecting them, they are in great distress. This last remark I will illustrate by a circumstance which I witnessed in India. On one occasion I saw a person go into a temple, and place upon an idol the head of a buffalo. I knew that he had performed unwittingly an act which might lead to very serious consequences. I therefore remained for

a few minutes at the door of the temple, till the persons who had charge of the idol made their appearance. The wife of the sweeper of the temple was the first person who had her attention directed to the horns of the buffalo upon the idol. She exclaimed: "God has become propitious to-day; he has given us a sign of his power; horns have sprouted out of his head." Forward she went; but when she discovered that the horns had been put upon the head, instead of sprouting from it, she cried out, O, alas!" Her husband came up, and, smiting his breast, exclaimed, "The god is defiled; the god has apostatized!" and he ran down the hill crying, "The god is defiled; the god has fled! " When he appeared in the market-place, the weaver left his loom, the merchant quitted the bazaar, and the learned Brahmin forsook his manuscript, to ask what had happened. This man narrated the event, and a solemn procession took place to the temple. The Brahminical authorities promulgated the opinion that the spirit of the god had left the idol, and had taken his seat on an adjoining tree. I said to them, "What is to be done? It appears strange to me that your god should fly at a mere touch,-that he should fly, instead of remaining to protect his worshippers." They replied, "We must have the god restored by charms to his original abode; and to effect that we must have seven hundred rupees (or £70) from the villagers." The villagers said, "We are inclined to give something for the restoration of our god, but not so much as that. The Padres have been among us; and though we consider this occurrence a great evil, we do not think so much of it as our fathers did. We will give you three hundred and fifty rupees." The frolic of the person who perpetrated this trick led, therefore, to the imposi tion of a fine of £35 upon the villagers. But we see, from the Report presented to this Meeting, what can be done by the power of the Gospel: we see that it can lead to the destruction of idols. But we must also be gratified when we are informed, on the best authority, that there is a gradual divorcement of the minds of the natives from idolatry. The idol-temples are less fre quented than they formerly were; the idolatrous ceremonies and services are engaged in with diminished ardour and disbelief of the power of the idols is becoming very general in many of the provinces of India. Many preju

dices have been allayed; much inquiry has been excited. A knowledge of God of the one living and true God, and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent is extensively prevailing; and, in the day of the Lord's power, great may be the consequences. We have not seen in India the same degree and the same kind of success which we have witnessed in other heathen countries; but we must do our work, and wait the Lord's time. There are many peculiarities in India which render it an extremely difficult matter to us to advance upon that country. In India there is a great diversity of languages; there is a venerable, an aged system of superstition,—a superstition which has taken hold of the intellects, and affections, and hearts of the people; in India there is a learned, cunning, and active priesthood; in India there are difficulties to encounter such as do not exist in any other part of the world. I believe that India is, at this moment, the chief seat of Satan's empire. But, though there be these diffi. culties, we know that God can bring down mountains of difficulties; and we see that, in India, he is bringing down mountains, and raising up the valleys, that a highway may be prepared for our Lord, and that Christ Jesus may go forth in the chariot of the everlasting Gospel, conquering and to conquer. I have been gratified to observe, from this Report, that the Government in Ceylon, as well as the Commissioners in Mysore, have extended their assistance to the Wesleyan Missionaries engaged in the work of the Lord. They have contributed to the support of their schools, and, in other ways, have rendered themselves helpful to the Missionaries. rejoice in this circumstance. I do not wish to see the State control the liberties, the blood-bought liberties, of the Christian church. I do not wish to see the State do any evil to the church; but I do wish to see, with equity to all that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, the State do good to the Christian church. I had a long conversation with the excellent Mr. Stewart Mackenzie, the late Governor of Ceylon, about these happy arrangements which have been carried into effect; and I rejoice that efficient help has been vouchsafed to your Mission by the Ceylon Government. This help has been extended in a particular manner, in connexion with other portions of the population, among the Wild Men of Bintenne. Allow me to observe, respecting these people, that they are extremely debased and ex

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tremely degraded. They form a part of what is called the aboriginal population of India. There are in India, perhaps, amidst its lofty mountains and amongst its exhaustless forests, eight or nine millions of people, who have never come under the sway of Brahminism. The incipient Missionary efforts which have been made on their behalf have been made with great success, and the attention of the Christian church is particularly directed to that class of people. I would beg to observe, with reference to this matter, that although the Brahminical religion has long been predominant in India, it is not a native of India. According to the opinion of the most distinguished Orientalists, the Brahmins came from a country north of India. Sir William Jones, and a celebrated Professor of Petersburgh, suppose they came from Central Asia. Another writer supposes they came from the Caucasian mountains. The celebrated Schlegel believes they came from beyond the Caspian Sea; and others have said they came from the banks of the Euphrates. It is agreed, on all hands, and can be proved on reference to their traditions, and to their sacred places, that they came from a country to the north of the Indus. There are still large bodies of people who are not completely under the influence of Brahminism, and there are large bodies who have no connexion with the Brahmins. It is only within a few years that attention has been directed to these tribes; and I would here express the belief, from all I have seen and learnt respecting them, that the day of their merciful visitation will speedily arrive. As I have already hinted, we must look for the downfal of the Brahminical religion. Dr. Wiseman thinks very little of Protestant efforts; but the Brahmins, I am happy to say, make a great deal of them. I this morning read a tract, written against Christianity, and addressed to myself, by a Brahmin. He tells his countrymen, that, unless they combine and act together, all their power and religion are doomed to instantaneous death. And, for the sake of the inhabitants of India, who have been most marvellously placed under the sway of this Christian country, we wish the doom of Brahminism. Wishing them good, wishing them salvation, we must pray for them, and we must endeavour to snatch them from the jaws of destruction,-to save them from the contaminating and ruining power of sin, and prepare them for the glories of heaven. I rejoice to observe, that, notwithstanding all the