CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. REPORT OF THE MISSION FOR 1826.

A REPORT of the State of the Mission for the Year 1826 has been drawn up by the Missionaries, similar to that for 1825 which was printed at pp. 255-262 of our last Volume. This Report is given at large in the Second Appendix of the Society's Annual Publication. We shall here extract the general views and statements of the Report, reserving the details relative to the respective Stations for the next Survey. It is only from such faithful statements and just reasonings of upright and intelligent men, thoroughly conversant with the subject, that a due estimate can be formed of the real condition and prospects of a Colony under the circumstances of Sierra Leone.

Number of Labourers in 1826.

In taking a review of the events which have occurred in the West-Africa Mission during the past year, emotions of various kinds will be excited. It will be seen, that some have continued to labour at the post assigned them; either waiting for the success which they hope will eventually be granted, or rejoicing in the earnests of it already afforded; and that, while several have been added to the number of Labourers, others have found it necessary to retire from the scene of action, in order to recruit their strength; and some have been removed to their final rest.

The number of Labourers at the commencement of the year was thirty-two; as will be seen by the following Table:

to these, four others (two English Cler. gymen, with their Wives) were added, soon after. Six Native Assistants were likewise appointed, at different periods of the years; and one restored to his situation, who had been suspended*. It was deemed necessary, however, that five of the European Labourers, who had been employed for several years in the Colony, should return to their native country, for a season: their departure took place before the close of the former half of the year; and, not long afterward, they were followed by one of the Clergymen mentioned above, whose health had been much deteriorated, during a residence of about five months: he did not reap the benefit which had been anticipated from his voyage, having died within a few days after his arrival in Ireland.

In the mean time, other breaches had been made in the number of Labourers,

by the removal of three Females who

had devoted themselves to the instruction of the rising generation. Two of these were called away from their endeared companions, and from the exertions to which they had eagerly looked forward, almost before they could enter on the field of labour allotted them : the third (a Native Schoolmistress) had been occupied for many years in the service of . unexpected at the moment and sincerely the Society; and her departure, though regretted, can scarcely be considered premature. A further reduction took place, attended with circumstances not a little painful: two of the Natives having fallen into open sin, it became a duty to remove them (at least for a time) from the service of the Society: another was suspended, for want of attention to his duties.

It affords some mitigation of the sorsow naturally excited by the losses just specified, to reflect, that the number removed by death is considerably less than in the preceding year; and that those who have been thus taken from the sphere of action (judging from all that is known of their previous state of mind) never regretted, but rather rejoiced, that they had embarked in so honourable a

service.

Perhaps it may not be altogether

A further reinforcement of four Labourers, two of whom had been before stationed in the Colony, arrived at the latter end of November: but as, from unavoidable circumstances, they had scarcely entered upon their appointed sphere of labour at the time of closing this Report, they are not included in the Statement referred to..

superfluous to offera remark or two with reference to the mortality which has taken place in the Colony. There may be persons who are ready to charge the Committee of the Church Missionary Society with causing a needless waste of human life, by continuing to send European Missionaries thither, when so considerable a number have been cut off: but, if the Mission is carried on, it seems undeniable that it must be conducted, at least for a number of years, under the superintendence and probably by the occasional co-operation of Europeans. It ought also to be stated, in justice to the Committee, that they are careful to leave their Missionaries perfectly at liberty, as to their entrance on this Mission: it is urged on no one as a duty; and no one is expected to undertake it who does not decidedly choose this par

ticular branch of service. Another plan has, indeed, been suggested to the Committee: it has been supposed that suitable persons for this purpose might be selected from the natives of some tropical climate; whose health would be less exposed to danger, than that of Europeans: inquiries are now making on this subject; and if it should be satisfactorily ascertained that competent Labourers may be thus procured, and employed in the Colony with greater safety than natives of a temperate clime, it is not improbable that the plan may be adopted.

The particulars of the alterations mentioned already are embodied in the following statement; from which it will appear, that the whole number actually employed during the latter half of the year was somewhat less than at its commencement.

a temperate climate, must be very great; and, consequently, that the sum total of labour, which may reasonably be expected from them, is not such as a person of sanguine feelings might be led to anticipate.

It may also be noticed, as one of the peculiarities attending this Mission, that the small number of persons employed, the urgent wants of particular Stations, and the difficulty of finding proper Superintendants for the temporal concerns of the people, render it, in some cases, apparently necessary for an individual to undertake more than he can execute with safety to his health. This, added to the effect of the climate, has proved fatal to several of those who have been removed at different times; and, where the consequences have been less serious, the exertions of the survivors have not

appeared so successful as (humanly speaking) they might have been, if concentrated in one spot and directed more exclusively to one object. It is clear that this difficulty must, in some degree, remain, and its operation be more or less hurtful to the Mission, until an enlarged number of Labourers shall offer themselves for this work.

Chief Object of the Missionaries' Labour.

As to the Civilization of the Africans and the improvement of their Temporal Concerns, it may not be amiss to observe, that this seems more naturally to fall within the province of Government, and, though pursued in a subordinate degree, is not the grand and leading object of the Society: that remains, what it always has been-the introduction of Christian Knowledge, by means of SCHOOLS for Children and Adults, and by SCRIPTURAL TEACHING adapted to the capacities of the people. It is true, that some of the Missionaries have been, at different times, employed in the Civil Superintendence of the Villages; but the adoption of this measure was principally owing to the difficulty already alluded to, of finding suitable persons to hold the office of Superintendant. Some alterations recently made by His Excellency Sir Neil Campbell, (and others believed to be in contemplation,) will probably render it unnecessary for any of them to be thus occupied in future. So far as Civilization can be promoted by Christianity, or as both may be advanced by simultaneous efforts, the Society rejoices to see them proceeding together; but does not consider itself as

responsible, strictly speaking, for more than that which it has expressly undertaken to perform.

As to the benefits of a more important nature, which may result from the endeavours of the Missionaries in this or any other part of the world, it must never be forgotten, that, without a blessing descending from on High, the bestconcerted plans will fail of their accomplishment, and the most vigorous exertions will be ineffectual. While, therefore, all practicable diligence should be employed in the use of approved means, and every real improvement which may be suggested in the method of proceeding ought readily to be adopted, it highly becomes both the Friends of Missions and the Labourers themselves to preserve a deep sense of their dependence on the Great Author of all good; and to add to this their fervent supplications for the effusion of that Spirit, whose fructifying influences, the Word of Truth assures us, shall cause even the desert to rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

These observations are not made with a view to apologise for the want of greater success, or to magnify the ob stacles which present themselves to the accomplishment of the Society's designs: but in order that the real state of the case may be better known, and an impartial judgment more easily formed; both of the value of what has already been done, and of the results which may reasonably be anticipated in future.

General View of the Mission.

With respect to the general course of events throughout the year, it is pleas ing to be able to state, that the Word of God has been regularly dispensed, according to the ability of the Teacher employed; and prayer offered up, in the words of our excellent Liturgy, from Sabbath to Sabbath, in most of the Stations; and that, in several of them, Public Services have been held daily (in some, both morning and evening), besides Weekly Meetings of the Communicants for Prayer, with especial reference to the prosperity of the Kingdom of Christ the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper have also been administered, at such times and places as to afford to all, who were deemed suitable, an opportunity of partaking of them the Children have been trained up to read the Holy Scriptures; and the more forward assisted, in some measure, to understand them, as well as to profit

:

by other instructive books which have been put into their hands.

It has not, indeed, been the privilege of those occupied in these Services to witness any very remarkable instances of conversion; nor to discover all those tokens of good resulting from their endeavours, which they could not but desire: yet the fact, that about Three Thousand Persons (including children) have attended Public Worship on Sundays, and nearly half that number on Week-days, is surely gratifying in itself; and indicative of a willingness, on the part of many, to embrace the opportunities which they now possess of obtaining religious knowledge. Those who know the power of the Inspired Word to enlighten the conscience, to restrain from gross evils, and to lead to external decency and propriety of conduct, even where it does not produce a thorough change of character, will scarcely doubt that much has been effected in this way, during the past year, which does not strike the eye of the casual observer, and which even the Labourers themselves may not particularly notice.

Some diminution appears to have taken place in the number of those who openly profess themselves the disciples of Christ, at least in their attendance at the Holy Communion; but this has been the case principally in those Stations from which the Teachers have been removed, either by death or other circumstances. A departure from the ways of holiness has rendered it necessary to exclude some from the Sacred Table, and much pain has been occasioned by a few aggravated cases of this kind: these events, however, though very deeply to be lamented, cannot excite much surprise, in those who know the tendency of our nature to evil, the danger of corrupt example, and the force of temptation, especially to a mind but imperfectly acquainted with the pure precepts of the Gospel and its powerful motives to holiness of life: such persons will scarcely fail to regard it as a cause for thankfulness, that the great body of the Communicants are not only preserved from gross misconduct, but seem to be, in a considerable degree, un

It may be proper here to observe, though the

fact is not stated without regret, that there is still, in several Stations, a want of suitable Places of Worship; the Churches being either left unfinished, or constructed on a scale too narrow for the population-increased, as it frequently is, by arrivals from Slave Vessels. It is hoped that this subject may soon come under the consideration of Government.

Nov. 1827.

der the influence of a Christian Spirit; and that several give the sincerest pleasure to those who have the charge of them, by their upright deportment, their conscientious discharge of relative duties, and their devout attention to religious ordinances. During the year, some few have died, it is hoped, in the faith of Christ: one of them, a Female residing at Wellington, appeared to be in a very happy state of mind in her last illness.

It is not unworthy of notice, that the number of Baptisms has considerably increased, the amount of those registered being nearly double that of the preceding year: this circumstance seems to indicate that the Parents are becoming more sensible of the value of the ordinance, the majority of those baptized being childrent. Others, however, advancing to years of discretion, have thus taken upon themselves the vows of the Christian Profession, and afterward sealed those vows at the Holy Table; of whom it is earnestly hoped that they will prove true disciples of the Saviour.

Marriages, also, have been solemnized in much greater numbers than in the preceding year; owing, partly, to some Regulations respecting single women, which have been recently issued by the Colonial Government; and partly, it is conceived, to the endeavours made to instruct the people in the nature and design of the institution, and to enforce upon them the duty of attending to it as a Divine Ordinance.

The particulars of the alterations referred to will appear in the following Table; in which a comparative view is given of the years 1825 and 1826. It may, however, be necessary to state (what has been before hinted), that children are included in the numbers mentioned as attending church, and that the Returns are made up toward the close of each year; the average of the Congregations and Communicants for the year 1826 being given, as far as it could be ascertained. A diminution will be perceived to have taken place in the Congregation at Leopold: which is accounted for, by the absence of the people from Charlotte; who were in the habit of attending at Leopold during a part of the year 1825, but have now a Teacher residing among them.