I then arose, and delivered a short address || would never be alienated by them, should to them. Usually the Indians, soon after receiving a payment from the United States, find ardent spirits, and intoxication, disorder, and sometimes several murders, follow. I was delighted on this occasion, that through the prompt measures of the Agent, not an intoxicated Indian was to be seen. I have reason to believe that my visit to that place will promote the interests of,|| at least, the school department of the mission. I carried home on my horse (90|| miles through the wilderness) a poor little outcast boy, and three others from that neighbourhood have since been brought|| into our school. The want of Missionaries obliges us to keep a hired teacher in the school. This is expensive, and not quite so pleasant as if a competent supply of missionaries would allow one to that department.Nevertheless, I may safely say the school flourishes. It is delightful to see many of these late suffering children, now comfortably clad, and daily acquiring a knowledge of labour and of letters, and often bowing with us before the throne of God. How differently situated are hundreds of other little wanderers in the wilderness ! In so large an assemblage of Indian youth as are with us, it is not strange that there is with some, at times, an apparent want of gratitude. Very different, however, were the feelings of one of our pupils, when, the other day, he said to me with tears of thankfulness, "I have many a time thought what a good thing it was that I became acquainted with the mission! My father never gave me any good advice. I did not see or hear any thing that was good. Here you give me good advice. If I had not found you, I should now, be a wild Indian." Notwithstanding the attention given to the subject of education by the promoters of Indian reform, we doubt whether the true importance of this thing has been fully understood by many. Our doubts multiply on the subject of the education of Indian females. We believe that schools located in some Indian country, that speedily be originated, for the education of both females and males, in those branches which would qualify the former to take the management of female schools, and the latter to fill, with acceptance, every department of the schools, of the church, and of the State, in a civil community. This is a subject in which we feel much interested, and we are, at this time, doing what we can towards its promotion. With hopes well founded that the time is drawing near when the Indians will fill their own pulpits, teach their own schools, and govern, by good laws, their own community, it is with satisfaction I say to a zealous promoter of these good things, I am respectfully, THE affliction of one of my little daughters obliged me to make a journey to Fort Wayne, between the 25th of last month and the 7th of the present. This was one case among many, and some of them very serious ones, in which the want of medical skill at the Mission was sensibly felt. It would be a great blessing indeed if missions in the Indian country could each have a regular bred physician connected with it. It would also be a relief to many poor suffering Indians. The superstition of the natives would warn a physician to be cautious in his prescriptions on his first practice among them. But he might soon inspire a confidence that would render him safe. We are often called on by our neighbours to visit the sick, and solicited to administer medicine. Among the natives, the idea of magic is always associated with the science of medicine as practised by themselves, and few instances of sickness occur in our neighbourhood, in which there are not dancing and conjuring performed around the afflicted for his relief. In my acquaintance with the Indians, I have found nothing to induce me to unite in the 1 rather popular opinion, that Indian Doct- || grounds. To these, and to others in our ors are remarkably skilful; but I have neighbourhood, we endeavour to impart seen much to establish the contrary sen-instruction. Our neighbours are at this timent. Generally we find those, who time very much scattered to their huntdenominate themselves Medicine men, orings; nevertheless we find a few, to women, of all others, the most ignorant whom my brethren, as well as myself, and superstitious. endeavour to communicate the tidings of salvation. Cherokees, who have not been chased Could not a studious Indian lad, of promising talents and manners, and of You are aware of our desires that the capacity to read English with facility, scattered, peeled, and perishing tribes, and to write a fair hand, find, in our hap-should be gathered into a colony, in the py United States, a moral, kind friend, || vast, unsettled regions west of Missouri who could help him to a thorough knowl- || and Arkansas. Daily experience urges edge of the science of medicine? We the importance of this measure. The should be exceedingly thankful, if one such from our school could be thus high-from place to place like most others on ly favoured. The favour would have a our borders, but who have from the first, direct bearing on the subject of Indian re- been allowed to occupy a country of form. His residence and services among their own, of sufficient extent to screen his people would have a tendency to cor- them from the ruin which follows a closer rect their superstition, and to improve connexion with the whites, may with protheir minds, as well as to contribute to priety be now called a civilized people, their comfort, and he would, of course, increasing in number, and improving in be qualified for a Missionary, and for arts and science. The subject of colonmany stations of importance in his na-izing the unsettled tribes, and the detached hordes, requires no stronger argu tion. Our crop of wheat, corn, and vegeta-ment in its favour, than a comparison of bles, the past season, was the most pro- the flourishing Cherokees, with the thouductive of any the Mission has ever gath-sands of wanderers, whose wretchedness ered. We have, however, sustained a is daily increasing. For the accomplishsevere loss in the destruction by fire, of ment of this design, we daily pray. about 50 tons of prairie hay, a loss which in this place, cannot be remedied. If the winter should prove severe, we shall scarcely be able to save the lives of our stock. Deeming that the dawn of that day is perceivable, when the great trumpet shall be blown, and when the outcasts which were ready to perish, shall come to the true worship of the Lord, it is with pleasant anticipations that I subscribe Affectionately yours, ISAAC M'COY. LIBERIA. Two young brethren from Cincinnati, Ohio, have lately united with us, with the intention of bearing a part of our Missionary labour; we hope they will be found valuable acquisitions to the Mission. Their arrival imparted much pleasure, as the want of Missionaries was very great. Brother and sister Simerwell have, this fall, with the approbation of the Missionaries, been about two months absent on a visit to Kentucky, and in my absence, the care of the male department of the Mission devolved wholly on brother Lykins, and that of the female depart-the Society, and Rev. CALVIN HOLTON, a ment on my wife. Many Ottawas from the North have passed our place the present autumn, on their way to more southerly hunting January 4, 1826. The Brig Vine sailed from Boston for Liberia, carrying upwards of 40 coloured persons to reinforce the colony in Liberia. They were accompanied by Rev. Mr. SESSIONS, agent for Missionary to Liberia, under the patronage of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions. Mr. Holton goes out at present more particularly as an agent to ascertain a so far as possible, the present condition || emigrants, those among them who were of the natives in the vicinity of the colo- professors of religion were embodied into ny, with the view of establishing hereaf ter, should circumstances permit, a more extensive and permanent station among these so long benighted and oppressed of our fellow men. Previous to the embarkation of these congregational church by an ecclesiastical council convened for the purpose in Park street Church. Sermon by the Rev. S. E. Dwight, from Psalm xviii. 31. Ethiapia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Western Africa, 19 South Africa, 27 TABULAR VIEW OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, IN THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL ORDER. Compiled from the London Missionary Register for January and February 1825, Stations. Missionaries. Assistants. in Schools. of the Church Members 603 367 Native Pupils 26 23 3,460 African Islands, Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, Siberia, 534 The above tabular view is as perfect as can well be expected. Still it is very defective in some of its parts; especially in reference to the number of Native Assistants employed, the number of Pupils in the Schools, and the number of Communicants in the Churches. In several instances, in the principal Survey from which the table was compiled, the Native But the deficiency in the statement resAssistants connected with missionary sta-pecting the number of Communicants in tions are said to be "many," and in other instances it is only stated in general that there are native assistants. The whole number may be 500. In estimating the number of Pupils, we have adhered to the documents embodied in the above named Surveys. But it falls far short of the truth; as may be seen from the following fact. In a general view of the Wesleyan missions in Ceylon, it is said, on the authority, of one of the missionaries in that island, that the whole number of pupils connected with those missions, is between 9,000 and 10,000: but in the survey of the several stations, owing to the want of documents, we find the the mission churches, is believed to be far greater, than in respect either to the Native Assistants, or the Pupils. From but few stations do any returns appear. Had we time to make, ourselves, an extensive examination of documents, we might doubtless approximate much nearer to the real number of those, who, from unevangelized nations, have publicly professed the Christian faith. The Moravians estimate the converts connected with their missions at 30,000. It should also be added, that in the above table all the male labourers at the missionary stations are reckoned: but the ordained missionlaries amount to but little more than 400. Mr. Ellis estimates the number of communicants in the Society Islands at 2,000. Upwards of 25,000 of these are coloured people in connexion with the Methodist denomination. About 4,000 are members of the Baptist Church. MARCH, 1826. 15 RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. ORIGIN OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Mr. ROBERT RAIKES was born at Gloueester (Eng.) in the year 1735. His father was the printer and proprietor of the Gloucester Journal, and to this business the subject of our memoir succeeded, by which he is said to have acquired a competent property. We are not acquainted with the circumstances of his education, or the events of his early life, but active benevolence distinguished his manhood, and that Divine principle (without which all pretensions to religion are as the sounding brass and tinkling cymbal) was first called into action by the forlorn condition of the Prisoners in the Bridewell of Gloucester. His property, his pen, and his influence, were devoted to provide for them, not only the things needful for this life, but the more important advantages of religious and moral instruction, in order to prepare them for the enjoyment of a happier world. so powerfully impressed upon his mind as to decide him at once for action. He immediately went and entered into a treaty with the school-mistress to take charge of a certain number of destitute children on the Sabbath day, and this proved the grain of mustard seed which has already produced a great tree, whose branches overshadow our own land, and whose roots are extending to the most distant regions of the earth. May its growth advance with accelerated progress, till the sons and daughters of ignorance and vice shall find a refuge under its fostering shade! Mr. Raikes agreed to give this poor woman one shilling for her day's employment, and he soon found three others who were willing to undertake a similar task. He now communicated his plan to the clergyman of the parish (the Rev. Thomas Stock,) who promised to co-operate with him by visiting the schools on Sunday afternoons. Mr Raikes printed a little book which he distributed amongst them, and the Society for the promotion of Christian Knowledge, sent him a number of Bibles and Testaments for a similar purpose. The effects produced on the conduct of these hitherto wretched children in a short time, cannot be better told than in the language of a woman living in the neighbourhood, who declared that the place was become quite a heaven upon Sundays in comparison to what it used to be.' At the end of three years the number of scholars increased to 300. Many of these, as well as their parents, had scarcely ever been seen within the precincts of a church, but now numbers of them began to attend with regularity, and as many as fifty were sometimes present so early as seven o'clock in the morning. The circumstances which led to the formation of the Sunday School System, may be reckoned amongst the many proofs which the history of the world furnishes, that Providence has frequently caused the most magnificent effects to spring from means the most simple, and by the steady persevering efforts of an individual, the most important ends have often been accomplished. With a sensation of delight, which none can conceive, but those who have drunk from the same perennial fountain, Mr. Raikes, when on the threshold of Eternity, related the interesting story of the origin of Sunday schools. One day in the year 1782, he went into the suburbs of his native city to hire a gardener. The man was from home, and while Mr. Raikes awaited his return, he was much disturbed by a group of noisy boys who infested the street. He Mr. Raikes not only possessed energy asked the gardener's wife the cause of for bringing his benevolent system into these children being so neglected and de- action, but prudence for conducting it. praved. Her emphatic reply was, " O, In a letter to a friend, written about this Sir! if you were here on a Sunday you period, he says, "I cannot express to you would pity them indeed, we cannot read the pleasure I often receive, in discoverour Bible in peace for them." This an- ing genius and innate good dispositions swer operated with the force of electriamong this little multitude. It is botanizcity, and called forth all the energy of his ing in human nature. I have often too, benevolent soul. "Can nothing," he the satisfaction of receiving thanks from asked, "be done for these poor children? || parents, for the reformation they perceive Is there any body near that will take in their children. Often I have given them to school on a Sunday?" He was them kind admonitions, which I always informed that there was a person in the do in the mildest and gentlest manner. neighbourhood who would probably do The going among them, doing them little it. "At this important moment (to use kindnesses, distributing trifling rewards, his own language) the word "try" was and ingratiating myself with them, I hear, have given me an ascendency, greater than I ever could have imagined; for I am told by their mistresses, that they are very much afraid of my displeasure." Besides attending to the instruction of the children in their religious and social duties, he was particular in inculcating habits of cleanliness; and however mean or ragged their clothing might be, he insisted that each child should come to school with clean hands and face, and combed hair; as he well knew that attention to these little decencies of life, have a wonderful tendency to advance civilization amongst the lower classes of society. It is proposed that the following arrangements shall be made for providing the army with Bibles and Testaments, through the medium of the Chaplain-General only : 1. That commanding officers shall be directed, by the Adjutant-General, to send to the Captain-General an immediate return of the number of Bibles, and books of Common Prayer, in possession of the men, and the number necessary to furnish one to every man who can read. 2. That, exclusive of the requisitions which may follow this Circular instruction, the Chaplain-General will procure, from the Naval and Military Bible Societies, and other sources, such a number of Bibles and Testaments, and Books of Common Prayer, together with such religious Tracts as he may think sufficient, to be lodged, as a depot, in the orderly room of each corps, in order that recruits and others, wanting such books, may be During the first three years, the establishment of Sunday Schools was chiefly limited to the vicinity of the city where they had originated, but when the plan had, in the opinion of Mr. Raikes, been fully tried, he conceived that it should be more widely disseminated. For this pur pose, he inserted a paragraph on the sub-provided from time to time, as they may ject in his own Journal, which was copied into several of the London and provincial papers. The plan was adopted soon after in London, and the first name on the list of the first Sunday School Committee in the metropolis, appears to be that of the celebrated Jonas Hanway. The success of the first effort now called the dormant zeal of many into action, the establishment of Sunday schools proceeded throughout the nation with the rapidity of lightning, and before the close of his valuable life, which occurred in his native city on the 5th of April, 1811, he had the exhilarating satisfaction of seeing Sunday schools for Three Hundred Thousand Children established throughout the British Empire. EXERTIONS FOR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. THE British government has taken measures to supply its army with Bibles and Testaments, and its seamen with floating chapels and with preachers, at the public expense. The order and regu lations with respect to the army, as promulgated by the Duke of York, the Commander-in-Chief, are as follows: require them: that these Bibles, &c. shall be kept in a chest, and that the state of this depot. of books shall be inspected at the half-yearly inspections, and the number of Bibles, &c. in store, inserted on the back of each half-yearly Return, to be submitted to the Adjutant-General. The Adjutant-General will furnish the Chaplain-General, half-yearly, with a return of what is required to keep these depots of books complete. 3. It is proposed that the expense of furnishing these books to the soldiers now in want of them, as well as to all the recruits who may, from time to time, join their respective corps, shall be borne by the public. But that each man who is found, upon the usual periodical examination of his necessaries, to have lost or disposed of his books, shall be again provided from the depot of Bibles at his own expense, and commanding officers of corps will address to the Chaplain-General a return every six months. The Commercial Institutions of the city of London, wise in respect to their own interests, have contributed to the funds of the Society instituted in behalf of Seamen. Horse Guards, March 11, 1825. The enclosed Code of Regulations "for providing the army with Bibles and Testaments," having been recommended by the prelates whose signatures are attach- Upon looking over the list of donations ed thereto, and approved by the king, I to the Seaman's Friend Society, attached have the commander-in-chief's commands to the Seventh Annual Report, says the to transmit them for your information and Editor of the Mariner's Magazine,-our guidance, and to express his Royal High-attention was particularly arrested by the ness's expectation that they be strictly adhered to by the regiment under your command. Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Officer commanding. liberality of some of the public mercantile Institutions. The monied Institutions. of London appear to feel that they have a deep interest in the efforts that are made to diffuse among seamen principles. which inculcate the strictest integrity, and |