privilege of assembling together, to promote the single object of our union-the glory of Christ in the salvation of the heathen.. May He, whose interest we espouse, and in whose name we meet, be in the midst of us, while we rehearse what God hath wrought by our Missionaries, and how he hath opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

The Directors will now proceed to give a concise account of the labours of our brethren, and the various degrees of success with which it hath pleased God to follow them.

SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

Ar the last Annual Meeting of this Society, the Directors had the pleasure of communicating the interesting intelligence they had received from respectable individuals in New South Wales, concerning the state of the South Sea Mission; they have now the satisfaction of reporting, that the whole of that information has been abundantly confirmed by an official letter from the Society of Missionaries, dated at Eimeo, August the 13th, 1816, and received in January last.

It will be recollected, that when Pomare, the King of Otaheite, returned to that Island from Eimeo to resume his government, and to reinstate his friends in the possessions which they had been obliged by a rebellious party to abandon, he was assailed on the beach by a number of the insurgents, but who appeared for a season to be pacified by his conciliatory behaviour. In a short time afterwards however, they renewed their hostility, and made a desperate assault on the king and his people while they were assembled for worship on the morning of the Lord's-day; but the assailing party, soon losing their chief, were thrown into confusion, and completely routed. Contrary, however, to the usual practice of their wars, the king issued strict orders that the fugitives should not be pursued; that the women and children should not be injured; and that the slain should be decently interred. This humane conduct, which he had learned from the Gospel, produced the most salutary effect on the people. They were won by his kindness; and many of them united in the public thanksgivings offered to Jehovah on the evening of that Sabbath, declaring that their idols had deceived them, and that they would trust them no longer.

Pomare was now, by universal consent, restored to the government of Otaheite and its dependencies. In his progress through the several districts, to replace his friends in their estates, he constituted, as chiefs, many of those who had long attended the ministry of the Missionaries, and who had made a public profession of their faith. The people at large, assisted and encouraged by their chiefs, demolished the Morais, overthrew the altars, and burned their gods in the fire. Idolatry was at once completely abolished, and the worship of Jehovah substituted in its place. Numerous buildings for that purpose were immediately erected in every dis

trict, and meetings for prayer held in them thrice on the Lord'sday, (which is strictly and universally observed,) and once on the Wednesday.

The king after having destroyed the public idols, sent those which had long been held sacred in his family to the Missionaries, leaving it to their option, either to burn them or send them to this Society, "that the people in England might see what foolish gods," as he calls them," they had formerly worshipped." The latter measure was determined upon by our brethren; who were aware what a high degree of satisfaction (may we not say pious exultation) the public exposure of them would produce.t

As soon as circumstances would admit, some of the Missionaries from Eimeo visited Otaheite, at the request of the people, and preached in every district to large and attentive congregations, who readily assembled wherever they went, and whose decorous behaviour was highly encouraging.

The school at Eimeo, notwithstanding former discouragements, now prospers greatly; and many hundreds of those who had received instruction in it, being by various circumstances dispersed, have become the teachers of others; and thus the knowledge of reading and writing has been spread far and wide.

When the Missionaries wrote, (which is now twenty-one months since,) it was calculated that three thousand persons were in possession of books, and able to make use of them; many hundreds could read well. They are also in possession of About 400 copies of the Old Testament history, and 400 of the New, which is an abridgement of the four Evangalists, and part of the Acts. Many chapters also of St. Luke's gospel, in manuscript, are in circulation, together with about 1000 copies of the Catechism, composed and printed for their use, and which several hundreds of the people can perfectly repeat. The call for more spelling-books was urgent, and we hope has long since been answered by a new edition printed at Port Jackson. But their own press will now supply their wants, so that Otaheite, and several other islands will soon be furnished with parts of the Holy Scriptures, and with elementary books, in their own language.

But the blessings of this spiritual revolution are by no means

A private letter says, there are about 50 places of worship in Otaheite alone; and that family worship is general among the inhabitants.

The Rev. Mr. Marsden, of Port Jackson, to whose care they were consigned by the Missionaries, thus writes concerning them: 31st Oct. 1816, “I have now the unspeakable satisfaction of forwarding to you THE IDOL GODS OF OTAHEITE, as the glorious spoils of idolatry; no event could have given me more pleasure. They are now lying prostrate on the table before me; and were we not certain of the fact, we could not believe that any human beings could place their salvation in these wretched images, and offer up human sacrifices to avert their anger."

N. B. The ship Willerby, by which they were sent from Port Jackson, having proceeded on a trading voyage to India, had not arrived in England when this Report was made.

confined to the two islands of Otaheite and Eimeo, they appear to be rapidly extending to several islands adjacent. The small islands of Tapuamanu and Teturoa are, in profession," Christian islands;" and there also the Morais are destroyed, and human sacrifices and infant murder abolished, while the natives are urgent to obtain the instruction of the Missionaries.

In the islands which they call "the Leeward Islands," the same hopeful symptoms appear. TAPA, the principal chief, has openly renounced idolatry, and embraced Christianity; and his example has been followed by most of the other chiefs, and by a large majority of the people in the four "Society Isles," Huaheine, Tahaa, Borabora, and Raiatea. One of the Missionaries, in a letter to a friend, says, that in Huaheine, Raiatea, and Borabora, there are nearly four thousand who embrace the Gospel.

Mr. Hayward, in a letter to a friend, says "In every district round the island (Otaheite) we found a house erected, where the natives on the Sabbath assemble three times, and on every Wednesday evening, for prayer; and here they met with us to hear the word of the true God. Our congregations often exceeded 400, and were never less than 100, all, in general, attentive hearers. We commenced our mission at Oparre, and closed it at Matavai, our old residence. We had not been long in this district before our old neighbours came and requested Brother Nott to preach to them; they likewise informed us, that the ground where our houses and gardens formerly stood, and the whole of the district from Taraa to Tapahi, the boundaries of the district, should be ours if we would return to reside among them again. This happened on the 6th of March, the same day 19 years since the first Missionaries landed in Taheite from the ship Duff." Some of the chiefs of these islands have sent repeated messages, requesting the brethren to come and teach them; and one of them reminded the Missionaries that "Jesus Christ and his apostles did not confine their instructions to one place or country." Such an intimation from a heathen chief (if such he may now be called) carries with it prodigious force.

The Directors are happy in reflecting upon the measures they have adopted, in sending out ten more Missionaries (including Mr. Crook from Port Jackson, and Mr. Gyles) to assist in this great, and, they trust, growing work; they have reason to believe that they all are now at their post, diligently engaged in acquiring that language, in which it will be their privilege to publish, to attentive thousands, the glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ-in preaching to a people who appear to be "prepared for the Lord."

The Directors cannot pass on to a branch of their Report without making a pause, and presenting a few reflections on these great and glorious events. They cannot but consider the work of God among these distant islanders as forming not only a remarkable era in the history of this Society, but as furnishing a memorable event in the general history of the Christian church. The event appears

to them to be almost, if not altogether, without a parallel in ecclesiastical history. These islands, it is true, are not very populous, but they are numerous; and it may be expected that, when the intelligence spreads, as it will, from island to island, and numbers of the converts are dispersed among the inhabitants, general inquiry will be excited, and the knowledge of Christ be widely diffused. Together with the blessings of the Gospel, the useful arts of civilization will doubtless be communicated; idolatry, cruelty, and war will be suppressed, and the multitudes of isles become obedient unto the faith.

May we not also indulge the expectation that future Missionaries, in various parts of the world, will, from the example of our brethren in Otaheite, learn patiently to persevere in well-doing, and not abandon their stations because they do not immediately perceive the fruit of their labours. It will not soon be forgotten that the Missionaries in these Islands laboured for 17 or 8 years, amidst all kinds of discouragement, yet, after all, were crowned with a success which far exceeded all their expectations.

In fine, the Society cannot but feel itself called upon to unite this day in offering up the most ardent praises and thanksgivings to the God of all grace, who, in answer to prayer, has poured down his Holy Spirit in such a copious measure, and has turned the barren desert into a fruitful field: to Him be the glory wholly ascribed, while with grateful hearts we renew the dedication of ourselves to him, encouraged by his goodness to continue and redouble our efforts to spread abroad throughout the whole habitable earth the sweet savour of the knowledge of Christ.*

CHINA.

OUR Missionary, Dr. Morrison,† perseveres in the laborious and important task of translating the sacred volume into the language of China. In addition to the whole of the New Testament, which has been for several years in circulation, he has finished the books of Exodus, Ruth, and the Psalms, and has entered upon the prophecy of Isaiah. His labours suffered a suspension of a few months by his journey to Pekin, as one of the interpreters who accompanied his Excellency Lord Amherst, the British Ambassador to the Emperor of China. This interruption will, however, we trust, be compen

*The state of the few inhabitants of Pitcairn's Island, the descendants of the mutineers on board the Bounty, as reported by some of our countrymen who touched there in Sept. 1814, could not but engage the attention of the Directors, who therefore gladly embraced an opportunity of sending, by a vessel bound to the South Seas, a present of Bibles, prayer-books, spelling-books, &c. with a letter to John Adams, expressing the good will of the Society towards them, and their hope that they shall be enabled to send them a Missionary to instruct them in the knowledge of the gospel.

The title of Doctor in Divinity was unanimously and gratuitously granted by the Senatus Academicus of the University of Glasgow, as a reward of his philological labours.

sated by the additional knowledge which his journey through several provinces, and his intercourse with the natives of all ranks, enabled him to acquire of the language, customs, and especially of the religious views, of the vast population of that extensive empire.

Dr. Morrison and Mr. Milne having finished the translation of several books of the Old Testament, have made such arrangements with regard to the rest, that they hope, if it please God to give them health, to complete the whole in the course of the present year.

We regret exceedingly that the opposition of the Chinese Government to the labours of Dr. Morrison still continues, and that his progress in printing has thereby been impeded; it is, however, pleasing to learn that the work is going forward at Malacca, Dr Morrison having committed to the care of Mr. Milne the superintendance of a large edition of the New Testament, consisting of eight thousand copies in duodecimo, and fifteen hundred in octavo.*

MALACCA.

We are sorry to state that Mr. Milne has suffered much by severe illness. Fears were entertained lest his valuable services should be speedily terminated. But we indulge a hope that his voyage to China, will be beneficial. Mrs. Milne, who had been very dangerously ill, had previously taken a voyage to that country.

Mr. Milne had paid a visit to Penang (or Prince of Wales' Island,) where he was most kindly received by Governor Petrie and many other gentlemen, was favoured with many excellent opportunities of sending copies of the Chinese New Testament, catechisms, and tracts, to Siam, where it is said 20,000 Chinese reside, to Rhio, Cochin-China, and various other places where the Chinese are found in great numbers, as well as of conversing on religious subjects with the sailors belonging to the vessels by which they were conveyed. In Penang only, there are said to be 8,000 Chinese inhabitants, among whom Mr. Milne went from house to house, distributing the scriptures and tracts. Mr. M. calculates that in China and Malacca together, there have been printed and circulated not less than 36,000 Chinese pamphlets and tracts, exclusive of the Holy Scriptures. May we not hope that some of the good seed so liberally disseminated will spring up, and produce much fruit to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Towards the great expense of printing Chinese tracts, the Religious Tract Society in London have liberally contributed the sum of £500.

*Dr. Morrison is proceeding with his great work THE CHINESE DICTIONARY, a Second Part of which has been received in London, price 10s. 6d. and which we beg leave to recommend to the friends of literature, who will serve D. M. and family by their patronage of it. His Chinese Grammar is also come to and, and is sold by Black & Co. Leadenhall Street, at £1, 11s. 6d. Dr. M. has also just published, A Collection of Dialogues and Detached Sentences, in Chinese and English, with a free and verbal rendering, price 10s. ; also, A View of China for Philological Purposes; containing a Sketch of Chinese Chronology, Geography, Population, Government, Religion, and Customs, &c. &c. price

£1. 1s.