a real christian,-if he has been of any service to his fellow-creatures, and has attained to any usefulness in the church of Christ, he owes it, in the way of means and instrumentality, to the sight of a companion, who slept in the same room with him, bending his knees in prayer on retiring to rest. That scene, so unostentatious and yet so unconcealed, roused my slumbering conscience, sent an arrow to my heart; for though I had been religiously educated, I

had restrained prayer, and cast off the fear of God; my conversion to God followed, and soon afterwards my entrance upon college studies for the work of the ministry. Nearly half a century has rolled away since then, with all its multitudinous events; but that little chamber, that humble couch, that praying youth, are still present to my imagination, and will never be forgotten, even amid the splendour of heaven, and through the ages of eternity.-J. A. James.

BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSIONS.

INDIA.

We have been favoured by the Committee of the Young Men's Missionary Association in Loudon (some information respecting whose proceedings will be found in another page), with a letter they have just received from Mr. Phillips of Saugor. We should have been gratified had we been able to insert the letter entire: as, however, our space renders this impossible, we extract some of the more interesting passages. Before doing so, we would express our sympathy with the Society from which we have received the letter, and our high gratification at the large measure of success which has attended its proceedings hitherto:

"You say," says Mr. Phillips, "you want more information-you want facts. In furnishing you with these, I intend to address you as perfectly ignorant of the subject; as I really do not know the extent of your present knowledge, this is the only plan I can adopt. It may also be possible to put old facts in a new dress, and thus to create a new interest, or to deepen former impressions, by a reiteration of what is already well known.

"FACT I.-India is a wide field for Missionary operations. Without pretending to great exactness, I may state, that India, from the extreme north of the Punjaub to the extreme south of Ceylon, is 2,250 miles in length. Its greatest breadth, from the mouth of the Indus to the most eastern point of Assam, is about 2,000 miles. Towards its southern termination, opposite Madras, its breadth is about 400 miles. By one calculation India contains 1,300,000 square miles. This excludes Ceylon.

"When, however, I speak of a wide field, I do not chiefly refer to geographical extent. Russia is the widest field in this sense, but narrow, as to its population, which is very thinly scattered. India, however, is thickly peopled. A glance at the map, especially at Bengal, will shew how crowded it appears with towns; and I suppose we shall not be far wrong, in calculating it to contain not less than 150 millions.

"This, you must own, is a wide field for Missionary effort. Young people especially, who have not seen enormous masses of

His

men, or travelled much through populous towns, can form little idea of this vast multitude. One half a million, or 500,000 men, would form an army that would densely fill the largest plain you could take in with your eyes, except you were standing on a mountain. Napoleon tried to raise an army of one million men to defend France from invasion, but could not succeed. largest army, which he led to the Vistula, was less than half a million, an overwhelming mass. The largest body of men ever brought together was that by Xerxes, computed by Herodotus at 54 millions, but by Pliny and others, at 3 millions. locust-swarms eat up the countries over which they pass. Viewed from a mountainheight, they cover and darken the wide plain, like the swarming myriads of an ant's hill. Now, you will say, I am becoming poetical; but I wish to impress you with the vastness of the number of 150 millions. If five millions can hardly be taken in by the eyes or imagination, how can the greater sum?

Such

"The extent of the work, however, should be chiefly estimated by its difficulty. If it be difficult to conquer the bodies of 150 millions and take their territories, as the Company have proved in conquering a portion of India, how much more difficult to overcome their souls, and bring them to obedience of the faith. If you, who are Sunday school teachers, find that a class of twelve English children, nominally Christians, are so difficult to convert, how much more arduous the attempt to overcome the hostility of such hosts of ignorant, prejudiced, adult heathens.

"FACT II.- This wide country is completely open to missionary operations. A large portion of India belongs, by right of conquest and treaty, to the Honourable East India Company. There are, in various parts of India, as Rajputana, the Daklin, Oude, and Nepal, independent states, more or less under the influence and authority of the Company. When the Company received its last charter from the government of Great Britain, it was stipulated that missionaries should have free access to any part of their dominions. This privilege has been fully conceded by the Company, and enjoyed by missionaries for many years.

The rulers of the various states of Central and Southern India, never offer the least obstacle to the passage of Europeans or other foreigners through their territories. If any one wishes to be treated with great respect by the king of the country, it is only necessary to inform him, through the President (the Company's Ambassador, residing at a native court), of the intended visit, and he will receive every attention. Guards, fruit, sweetmeats, anything the visitor may need during his stay, are politely and immediately sent in abundance. Even without this formal notice, many Rajahs (kings), as soon as they hear of the arrival of an European in their kingdom, send to know if he is in need of anything. I, and other missionaries, have often travelled and remained short periods in independent states, and have always been received well by princes and people. The fact is, that the fear and dread of offending so powerful a neighbour as the Company, makes all these rulers unwilling to injure any of our subjects, much less an Englishman.

"There are, however, other obstacles to admission into some countries, besides those presented by human beings, viz., those offered by nature. These prevent missionaries penetrating to the interior of Africa, going over the Himalay into Tartary, &c.: poisonous air from bogs and damp; dense jungle, as at the foot of the hills in the north of India; and deserts, in which water and other necessaries of life are with difficulty procured; rocky precipices, and rough mountainous tracts and countries without roads, somewhat hinder, though not absolutely prevent, the progress and residence of a missionary. Now, though there are parts of India in which some or all of these obstacles are to be found, yet it is generally easy of access throughout. The Ganges and Indus are the grand thoroughfares into the interior of India, open to flat-bottomed boats to the foot of the hills, and to large steamers for one-half of the length. There are, also, two long trunk-roads in the country, from Bombay to Agra, and from Calcutta to Delhi. These are kept in good order, and have, at regular intervals, substitutes for inns. Besides these good and long roads, there are shorter oues in the Agra, Bengal, Madras, and Bombay provinces. These are kept in order by the government; and so easy, generally, is travelling in India, that though I have made many missionary tours, I have found little difficulty in taking a cart with me for my tei, &c. Often have I taken my family also with me in a four-wheeled conveyance drawn by a single horse.

"FACT III-The people of India are semicivilized. It is very difficult for missionaries in Africa, in the backwoods of America, and Australia, to collect together a sufficient number of savages to make a regular congregation. Their time is also so taken up in war, hunting, fishing, dancing, feasting, quarreling, and sleeping, that the missionary has great difficulty in inducing them to submit to instruction. See how the United

Brethren toiled in Greenland, and Elliott with his Red Indians, to civilize their hearers. With great difficulty they induced them to settle down in villages, and cultivate the ground. The same difficulty had to be met and overcome among the Hottentots of South Africa. Here, on the contrary, with the exception of a few tribes of aborigines and mountaineers, the people live in compact towns and large villages. Towns with a population of from 20 to 150 thousand, are frequent. In such places, a missionary has only to stand up in the open market-place, and soon, by talking or reading, he will collect an audience varying from 50 to 500. Is not this an important fact?

"There are other advantages gained from their partial civilization besides this primary one. The people are not savage and bloodthirsty in their dispositions. As they are chiefly a trading and agricultural race of men, they are quiet, sober, orderly members of society. A missionary and his family, therefore, though living a shorter or longer time in the midst of the worst of them, and though undefended, is perfectly safe from personal violence. It is also a lesser advantage, that civilization supplies the missionary with all the necessaries, and many of the comforts of life.

"Besides, civilization includes cultivation of the mind, the ability to read, write, and understand arguments. Now, the people of India have a written language or rather languages; they have an extensive literature; they have many learned men; and a large number of the inhabitants of every town can read and write. This enables us to give away the scriptures and tracts in great abundance. Besides this, the common people are all very shrewd, and capable of understanding a simple gospel sermon at once. Many of them are also capable of acutely defending their own faith. Here, then, instead of having to give them an idea of such a being as God, and such a place as heaven and hell, and such qualities or mental actions, as faith, repentance, &c., they understand our reference to these things immediately. How different to those places where they have no name for, or idea of, a Supreme Being. True, there is much of error mixed up with their little knowledge, which it is our place to remove; but then we have something to work on,-a foundation, the first few links of the chain of argument for the necessity of a Saviour." We will endeavour to give further extracts in our next number.

THE ANTI-STATE-CHURCH MOVEMENT. The Anti-State-Church Association have just commenced the work of agitation for the season, and his, apparently, will be carried on as vigorously as ever. On Friday, Oct. 11th, two deputations sallied forth in different directions. The Secretary proceeded to North Wales, where public meetings were held; and at most of the meetings speeches were delivered both in English and Welsh, Mr. Williams being accompanied at each by gentlemen connected with

the Principality. Mr. Kingsley commenced on the 11th a series of meetings and lectures in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. At Brain

tree and Ipswich (on the 16th and 17th) he was accompanied by Mr. Miall. About the 12th of this month, Mr. Burnet and Mr. Kingsley are to hold meetings at Bury St. Edmunds, Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lowestoft. On the 11th, Mr. Edward' Miall and the Rev. J. Gordon (of Coventry) will commence a tour in Yorkshire, visiting Sheffield, Hull, York, Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Blackburn, and Darwen,-the two latter places to be visited by Mr. Miall only. Northumberland, Durham, and Cumberland, are to be visited at the beginning of December. The metropolitan operations of the committee will be commenced, we understand, by a soiree of the friends of the Association, to be held at the London Tavern on the 7th November. It is also, we believe, intended to make greater efforts than have yet been put forth by means of the press. A batch of popular tracts on different aspects of the Anti-StateChurch question has just been issued, and others are announced to be in preparation.

YOUNG MEN'S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

The Second Annual Meeting of this interesting Society was held in the Baptist Mission-House, October 8th. James Low, Esq. was in the chair, and addresses were delivered by the Revs. Dr. Cox, J. Aldis, J. Angus, H. J. Betts, S. Green, J. Branch, W. Collings, and by Messrs. J. J. Heriot, J. France, and B. W. Carr. It appeared from the Report that the operations of the Society had been pleasingly successful hitherto. The monthly lectures, which had been delivered by Messrs. Brock, Aldis, J. B. Brown, East, and Martin, had been well attended, and deeply interesting; and the devotional meetings, though not so largely attended as the committee wished, had been of a very impressive character. Sermons to the young, in connexion with the Society, had been given in thirteen chapels; and upwards of forty Juvenile Missionary Meetings had been held in va, rious parts of London. The receipts of the Society had amounted to £73. Mr. T. J. Cole had been appointed Secretary, and a cordial vote of thanks given to the retiring Secretary, Mr. J. E. Tresidder, for his valuable and efficient services. We see that the lectures in course of delivery for the present season are by the Revs. B. W. Noel, C. Stovel, J. Makepeace, F. Trestrail, W. Brock, and Dr. Archer.

SHOULDHAM-STREET CHAPEL, LONDON.

A very interesting ceremony took place on Sunday evening, September 15th, at Shouldham-Street Chapel, Loudon, in the baptism of the Rev. C. Geary, Principal of the Surrey Educational Institute, Waterlooroad (formerly of the Church of England). The Rev. B. Swallow opened the service by giving out an appropriate hymn, and, the Rev. W. Blake having read and prayed, the Rev. C. Geary preached to a large congregation, from Matt. xxviii. 19; after

which, a hymn having been sung and prayer offered up by Mr. Swallow, the pastor (Mr. Blake) approached the Baptistry, and,' after a few remarks, proceeded to baptize four females and Mr. Geary. After the service, three or four announced their convictions, and requested to be added to the list of candidates.

BARNSLEY.

On Monday, September 30th, Mr. William Cathcart, late of Horton College, who has supplied the Baptist Church here since the 16th of May, was recognized formally as its pastor. The Revs. J. E. Giles, of Sheffield, Dr. Acworth, of Bradford, W. Colcroft, and C. Larom, took part in the services. It will be interesting, doubtless, to the friends of evangelical truth to know, that the Baptist church here has scarcely been five years in existence, that it has already 70 members, 36 of whom have been bap tized by Mr. Cathcart, that its Sabbath school, which has existed only thirteen months, has 178 children, and that through the liberality and devoted exertions of Mr. John Wood, a handsome chapel has been erected, capable of accommodating 350, without galleries, and two exceedingly neat Sabbath school rooms fitted to hold 150 children each. It is true a debt still hinders the cause, but it is confidently expected, that when an appeal is made, it will be generously, and at once, responded to.

WESTON-SUPER-MARE.

On Thursday, the 29th of August last, the new Baptist Meeting-House was opened at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. In the morning, Mr. T. F. Newman, of Shortwood preached an excellent discourse from Romans v. 4, 5; and in the evening, Mr. Morris, of Clifton, and Mr. G. H. Davies, of Bristol, gave interesting addresses. It was stated that the building had cost £1100, £600 of which had been contributed.

BANBURY.

Mr. W. T. Henderson, of Stepney Col lege, has accepted the invitation of the Baptist Church, Bridge-street, Banbury, to become its pastor, and purposes to enter on his engagement at the beginning of January, BRAMLEY, NEAR LEEDS.

The Rev. John Walcot, late of Horton College, has accepted the invitation of the Baptist Church at Bramley, near Leeds, and commenced his pastorate there on Lord's-day, September 15th.

CUPAR, FIFE.

The Rev. J. Davies, of Riddings, Derby shire, has accepted the unanimous invita tion to the pastorate of the English Baptist Church, Cupar, Fife, and intends to commence his stated labours there on the first Lord's-day in November.

HALIFAX.

The Rev. S. Whitewood has just resigned the pastorate of the church in this place. Mr. Whitewood has held the pastoral office with comfort and success for upwards of twenty years.