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sired, that, in the event of his death, a
clerical friend might be requested to do
so. Shortly before he expired, being told
that the New Testament was at hand, at
his desire, the fourth chapter of St. John
was read to him; at the conclusion of
which he said, "Thanks be to God!" A
hymn, which he had composed a short
time before, was then sung, and of which
the following is a paraphrase:-

Blest Saviour of the world! who art
Belov'd supremely still by me,
Now, in thy ever-loving heart,
Oh let me not forgotten be!
Of all that blooms in earthly bower,
Or in ethereal field that blows,
Of ev'ry sweet and fragrant flower,

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Thou art the fairest, Sharon's rose!
Long pass'd away youth's cheerful morn,
And age's closing hours come on-
These grieve me not-my soul is torn
By memory of my sins alone.

Blest Saviour of the world! who art
Belov'd supremely still by me,
Now, in thy ever-loving heart,
Oh let me not forgotten be!

He joined in singing this hymn; and desired that it might be sung a second time: but, he could no longer articulate distinctly, and soon became insensible to every thing around him. He lay, seemingly in perfect ease, till the evening; when he raised his head from the pillow, and with his left hand took hold of the hand of his friend-then gently withdrew it-and breathed his last.

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According to his desire, his remains were interred in the compound of his own house. The Resident, with other friends, attended the funeral. The Resident has also ordered a monument to be erected over his grave, and directed an inscription to be prepared for it, both in English and Persian. But he has a far better monument in those faithful "labours" from which he now "rests," and those "works" which follow him." For," they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

We will not dwell upon the reflections which occur to our minds upon the death of this exemplary minister of Christ in reference to Christianity in India. In him we have seen a complete refutation

of all the idle surmises and bold assertions of the opponents of Christian missions in that country. Abdool Messeeh was a native and a Mussulman; but he lived for many years, and he died, a faithful and consistent follower of Christ, and an able minister of his holy religion. What then, humanly speaking, but the coldness and insufficiency of exertion on the part of professed Christians, prevents the faith of the Redeemer being more widely known and embraced among the natives of India, till, from the bosom of its own communion shall arise teachers sufficient in number, and as equal to the arduous office as the humble and excellent Abdool Messeeh.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

VICANUS; C. D. A.; ANON; LAICUS ALTER; A CONSTANT READER; A. H. H.; and F.; are under consideration.

A CURATE; LITURGICUS; and A LAYMAN; will see that the substance of their marks had been anticipated.

We are greatly obliged to the Rev. Basil Woodd for a series of original Autograph Letters of the venerable Missionary Swartz, written to a family of children and young persons, for whom he cherished a truly pastoral regard, in a spirit of affection, piety, and Christian simplicity, which our respected correspondent justly charaeterises as "most interesting and affecting.”

EPSILON will see by our present Number that we have not been unwilling to admit a calm discussion of the bearings of unfulfilled prophecy; but we cannot see the propriety of making the sacred Scriptures a mere gazetteer to passing events. Epsilon commences his prophetical remarks with saying, "The battle of Navarino has readered the approaching dismemberment of the Turkish empire almost an historical fact, the Turks must either submit without war or be forced, &c. &c." Is it sober thus first to prophecy respecting future events, and then to make these human prophecies a key to the fulfilment of the prophecies of Scripture?

TO THE

CHRISTIAN OBSERVER,

VOLUME THE TWENTY-SEVENTH,

FOR 1827.

RELIGIOUS AND PHILANTHROPIC INTELLIGENCE.

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

WE
E shall introduce our abstract
of the last Report of this emi-
nently useful religious institution,
with the following passage from the
annual sermon preached before its
members, by the Rev. H. Budd-
a passage which powerfully exhibits
in its true light the basis on which
all missionary exertion should be
grounded:-

"It is to no particular condition of men, it is not to men of nicer or broader distinctions of character, that the ambassador of Christ is sent. Under what character, then, is he to address mankind?--Simply as sinners. This is the universal character of fallen humanity. The Scripture hath concluded, or shut up together, 'all under sin' (Gal. iii. 22); for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' (Rom. iii. 23): all have come short of God's glory, or purpose in forming them: all are rebels: all are guilty of foul revolt; all are found in open warfare against their God: There is none that doeth good, no, not one.' (Rom. iii. 12.) It is neither natural, nor moral, nor artificial distinction of civilized life that makes the difference here: man, all over the world, at all times, in all places, under all circumstances, is found a sinner against God. You may collect specimens of earth from either quarter of the world; you may decompose CHRIST. OBSERV. APP.

them, and reduce them to their elements; and however they may differ in certain properties, in one they all agree-they are material, and perish in the using. In an army of rebels there is every variety of character; but there is one prominent and distinctive-they are rebels all. Thus it is with man: find him where you may; modify him as you please; shape him as you will, by the square and plummet of civilization and refinement; yet no perfection of art can make him less than a sinner, no attainment of science can make him less than a rebel to his God.

"It is to man, the sinner, then, that this ambassador is sent-to man,dead in trespasses and sins' (Eph. ii. 1); corrupt by sin, impotent by sin; without strength' or disposition to return to God; 'ungodly' (Rom. v. 6); without God in the world.' (Eph. ii. 12.)

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"Here then, I apprehend, is the firm foundation of all usefulness in the ministry of the Gospel-a deep conviction that man is a sinner against his God; evidenced by all history, all experience past and present, the dictates and assumption of the whole word of God, the character of Christ revealed therein as the remedy for sin, and, above all, the experimental conviction of this awful truth in the plague of the minister's own heart. No man is fit 5 H

for a minister of Christ, who does not feel that he is a perishing sinner, sent to perishing sinners with this embassy, Be ye reconciled to God!""

We might quote, with much pleasure, many passages from Mr. Budd's glowing statements, relative to the manner in which the ambassador of Christ is to fulfil his ministry of reconciliation; and peculiarly by the faithful exhibition of that fundamental and specific disclosure of the sacred Scriptures, that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses*." But our limits oblige us to pass on to our abstract of the Report.

The committee commence their Report with expressing their gratitude to God for the mercies which There is a spirit of piety, of affection, of Christian simplicity, and of pastoral unction, in every page of Mr. Budd's discourse, which makes us unwilling to assume the office of the critic in perusing it; otherwise we should be inclined to take

some exception to certain passages in it; as, for example:

"What is the reason that society in Christian England has not made a greater practical advance in the grace of the Gospel? Shall I attempt to answer the question? I would rather answer it by asking another-Is the pulpit of the Church of England a pulpit of precept or of promise, of exaction or of reconciliation, of the Law or of the Gospel? Which is its

distinctive character ?"

If the respected preacher means simply that the Christian ministry ought to be pre-eminently an office of promise and reconciliation, we quite accord with him; and we lament that the religion of Christ is ever made to wear an unlovely aspect; that the wrath or the harshness of the frail messenger is ever allowed to interpose between the embassy of mercy and the sinful being to whom it is addressed; but, at the same time, is not the Christian pulpit, to employ our author's language, though we will not use the unkindly word " exaction," "a pulpit of precept," of scriptural injunction, of exhortation to duty, of remonstrance, and of correction in righteousness, not less than of what is termed privilege? In truth, in the happy blending of faith and love with a principle of cheerful obedience in the Gospel of Christ, is not duty itself privilege; and ought not the minister of Christ to guard as strongly against the perversions of an Antinomian hearer, as against those of the self-righteous

Pharisee?

they have continued to experience. Notwithstanding the difficulties of the country, affecting all classes of society, there had been a small advance in the funds of the society in the past year. The society had also received more than 800/ towards promoting native-female education in India. To the list of vice-patrons the committee had the pleasure to add the name of the Right Rev. the Bishop of Llandaff, now of Winchester. Ten new associations had been formed in the course of the year. The gross receipts of the year amounted, including the contributions to the institution at Islington, to 45,9501. The amount of expendi ture had been 40,4701.

Two of the missions of the society, the West-African and the Indian, had suffered, somewhat considerably, by the return of those who were engaged in them, on account of ill health, and from other causes. Several missionaries had departed for their stations during the year; and the Bishop of London had admitted several of the society's students to ordination. The total number of persons who had been accepted during the year for missionary employment is twenty-nine. There were in the society's institution at Islington thirty-one pupils ; and the committee are increasingly convinced by experience of the utility of such an institution.

WEST-AFRICAN MISSION.

We lament to find that in this important sphere of missionary exertion, the society has not of late possessed sufficient strength for the benevolent work in which it is engaged. While new accessions to the colony are continually making, the number of those who are labouring for its spiritual benefit is gradually dimi nishing; and the supply of Christian teachers is inadequate to the wants of a population of 16,000 souls.

The details of the proceedings at this station are too miscellaneous for abridgment, but we select a few specimens.

At Freetown, the usual services

1827.]

Church Missionary Society.

had, till Mr. Raban's sickness, been regularly performed, and an increased attention had been manifested by the European part of the congregation. There was an increase in the number of the attendants, children and adults, in the schools. The number on the books had been, boys 1310, girls 637, adults 27. Public meetings were held in support of the Auxiliary Bible, Church Missionary, and Prayer-book Societies, which were attended by the acting governor.

-

At Kissey, the people had been negligent about spiritual things, few besides the communicants attending the ministry of the word of God; but their attendance had somewhat improved. The number of communicants was forty; and within nine months, ten adults and seventeen children had been baptized. The native teacher, David Noah, writes to the secretary: "Our loss has been very great; and is, indeed, still so for as fast as the Lord is sending His faithful servants among us, so fast He removes them from us by death. But what shall we say unto Him? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Yes! He is too wise to err, and too good to be unkind: therefore we must stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord: for the Lord will not cast off for ever. I read your letter both at Kissey and Wellington; and the people were very attentive, and also glad to hear that the good people in England are still mindful of us and pray for us. It has been read in most of the villages of the liberated Africans in the colony."-At Wellington the attendance on Divine service on the 'Sunday morning continues to bear an encouraging appearance. On Sunday afternoons, and on weekdays, there are, on an average, 200 adults and they are, at all times, apparently attentive. There are thirty-three under probation for baptism. The communicants are 108 in number; and they manifest a pleasing cordiality towards each

:

--

777

"There has

) 1. tenim a 101 other, and a consistent conduct There is a reduction in the boys' school, from a new plan of appren ticing the boys of ten or twelve years of age among the people. At Waterloo, Mr. Wilhelm gives a melancholy account of the body of the people, who have been very considerably increased by accessions from captured slave-vessels. "The men," he says, "are in a wretched condition-not fit to be put to la bour; but prepared only to suffer and die! They came from the ves sel like so many skeletons. May the Lord behold in mercy the low estate of these poor people." Mr. Wilhelm notices some facilities afforded for the introduction of the Scriptures and tracts into the interior. The Mediterranean press will thus find a new vent for its valuable labours. - From Kenta missionary writes: arisen among the inhabitants of this settlement a continued inquiry after the way of salvation; and instead of being annoyed, as formerly, with settling daily palavers, and silencing noisy school children at night, I am now rejoiced with different prayer meetings in the town, and by the school children singing at night and before day-break in the morning. attendants on Divine service have much increased: their average number, inclusive of children, is on Sundays from 369 to 419, and on weekdays from 229 to 239. Our present place of worship has become too small to contain so large a number, so that many have to sit outside in the piazza."-We lament to learn, that at Regent there is an almost total unconcern about the things of another world; and that not the fifth part of the population attend public worship. This lamentable neglect is attributed, partly, to the withdrawing of the government rations, partly to the want of a stated European ministry, and partly to the present occupations of the people. Only one school, and that for boys, has recently been kept at

The

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press.

this station. It has been increased Italian, which have issued from the by an accession of fifty-five boys A large quantity of these from a slave ship. Of these the mis- publications was in a course of cirsionary writes: -"I rejoiced when I culation, in the Ionian Islands and beheld them, though toiling, with Greece, at Constantinople and Smyrweary steps and in a sickly con- na, and in Syria and Egypt. dition, up the steep hill leading to the school-house: because I knew that there they would be beyond the reach of their cruel masters; and I trusted that a few days' rest and the use of wholesome food would soon restore them to health and strength; but, more especially, that now they would be trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The behaviour of the liberated children is as good as can reasonably be expected, from poor children on whose tender minds the first impressions were inade by the errors and vices of Heathenism. But I have been much struck by the contrast between these children, and those who were born of liberated parents and have been reared in the town: these last appear more intelligent, frank, and happy, and have the air of liberty in their whole deportment; while the others exhibit, in their downcast, timid, and suspicious mien, the appearance of a servile and oppressed race."

a

MEDITERRANEAN MISSION.

The labours of those who are employed in missionary objects, in the countries adjoining the Mediterranean, are daily assuming a more interesting character; and heighten the anticipation of that period, when, by the blessing of God on the prayers and endeavours of his servants, pure religion shall be communicated to the Eastern churches; and, through them, to their Mohammedan and Heathen neighbours. The Rev. William Jowett has been so much burdened with the preparation of publications for the press, which is becoming an engine of extensive good, that the committee have sent him an associate in his labours, the Rev. C. F. Schlienz. The labours of the printing department must be very great, from the extensive list of publications in Greek, Arabic, and

It was stated in the last Report, that Mr. Hartley on leaving the Ionian Islands, proceeded to Asia Minor. During the first three months after his arrival in Smyrna, he was much occupied in the acquisition of languages, and the perusal of books connected with his various duties. Of the effect of his labours he thus speaks"Not a few persons have been led to disclaim those errors in which they have been educated, and to join me in religious worship. Of some I even venture to hope, that it has pleased God to accompany the acquisition of knowledge with a considerable change in their moral character." He afterwards made an excursion to the country of the Seven Churches. He states the following contrast between the condition of some of these ancient churches and that of others. "While Ephesus, Laodicea, and Sardis, the three churches which called forth the denunciation of displeasure on the part of our Lord, are now nothing more than abandoned ruins, Philadelphia, together with Smyrna and Thyatira (and this is also the case with Pergamos, which I have not yet visited), still contain flourishing communities of Christians. The pen of a celebrated infidel bears witness to a circumstance which is worthy of notice in regard to Philadelphia. Philadelphia alone has been saved by prophecy or courage, At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended her religion and freedom above fourscore years; and, at length, capitalated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect; a column in a scene of ruins.'" (Gibbon's Decline and

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