At noon the public service began. It was well attended by an attentive congregation. After preaching, the Lord's Supper was administered by the pastor, the church having weekly communion. In the evening, I preached again, and the house was well filled. Several persons of other Protestant communities were among the hearers both morning and evening, and a collection, amounting to more than £12, was made for the incidental expenses. Mr. Tarbotton, the agent of the Society here, is deservedly much esteemed in the city, is intensely loved by his flock, and has been very useful in augmenting the numbers of the church and congregation.

On Monday morning I left early for Tralee. This rising town, of 12,000 inhabitants, has three banks, three newspapers, and several public buildings, which indicate commercial prosperity. The great majority of the people are Roman Catholics. There are, however, places of worship belonging to the Episcopalians, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and Independents here. Our chapel is small but neat, and admirably situated. The newlyappointed minister, Mr. Johnston, is a graduate of Queen's College, Galway. The cause is low, but a few respectable persons rally round it. I preached in the evening to a select, but very serious company; and Dr. Massie, who joined me to-day, having come from Youghall, where he preached yesterday, gave the people a short address after my sermon. We returned through heavy rain to Killarney, and the next day went back to Limerick to attend a soirée of the congregation. Mr. Tarbotton presided. Dr. Massie and I addressed the meeting, and several sensible speeches were delivered by members of the church, gratefully acknowledging the aid of the Irish Evangelical Society, and expressing the hope that ere long they would be self-supporting.

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July 25. We left early by coach, and in the afternoon reached the quaint old town of Galway. Its population of 25,000 is intensely Popish. preached in the evening to a small congregation in the house of Mr. Lewis, the zealous, prudent missionary of the Society. He has had great difficulties in establishing the mission, which now appears likely to succeed. If a suitable chapel can be erected,

I have no doubt he will gather around him a considerable congregation. This is a most inviting field for missionary labour.

The following morning we went to Oughterard, one of the stations of the Irish Church Mission, near Connemara. I found the mission in a feeble state. We examined the children of the school, who were few in number, but well taught, and conversed with the superintendent, an evangelical clergyman, who preaches controversial sermons in the Protestant church once a fortnight for the benefit of Roman Catholics, though few, if any, of them ever come to hear him. The failure of the mission here is attributable to local causes; but in Westport, Clifden, and other places around, large secessions have occurred from Popery, and the people for the most part remain steadfast. I found the national school closed, and oats growing along the path from the iron gate of entrance. İ met the priest, and inquired the reason of this, who told me that the master was sick, and therefore the school was shut up; and that the children never went through the gate, but made a breach in the wall, and passed through it.

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Lord's-day, July 29th, I spent in Armagh and Richhill. In the former place I preached at noon to a considerable congregation, the ordinary attendance being increased by Churchmen, Presbyterians, and Methodists. joined the church in fellowship at the table. Mr. Martin, the pastor, is much esteemed in the city, and is obviously doing much good among the people. In the evening I preached at Richhill to a full house. The people were very attentive. Mr. Toomath, the minister, is a blind man. He has, however, wonderful power in finding his way alone, through lanes, over styles, into farmyards, and other places. preaches in fourteen hamlets, has a good Sunday-school, is much esteemed by all around, and is very useful.

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At Moy, the following morning, Dr. Massie and I met by appointment, and conferred with several ministers and others on the state of religion in the town and neighbourhood. Here is a good chapel and parsonage, but the interest of Congregationalism has suffered from many causes. The newlyappointed minister, Mr. Stone, will, I trust, be the means of reviving it. In

the afternoon we had a public service for his recognition, and for the ordination of Mr. Toomath as an evangelist. Mr. Hanson, Dr. Massie, Mr. Martin, and I took part in the service, which lasted three hours, and was deeply interesting. In the evening, we drove to Donaghmore, and held a service in Mr. Hanson's beautiful chapel. There was a large congregation, which did not separate till a late hour. Our esteemed brother has long laboured here with great acceptance.

An intermediate day was spent in reaching Coleraine, a considerable and attractive town in the north of Ireland. We have for many years had a congregation here. Recently, the church being vacant, they invited Mr. J. Kydd to be their pastor. We met to ordain him on Wednesday, the 1st of August. Dr. Massie, Mr. Sewell, and I took the principal parts of the service. The congregation was numerous, and there is reason to believe that the interest will flourish under the care of the newly-settled minister.

In the evening I went to Londonderry. Our chapel in this city is inconveniently situated in an obscure street. Still it is crowded. Many persons have recently joined the church. The ministry of Mr. Sewell has been greatly owned of God in the conversion of sinners and the edification of believers. His friends have secured an eligible site for the erection of a new and commodious edifice. They have liberally contributed toward the object, and they will, I hope, be kindly aided in their great work by the subscriptions of Christian people on this side of the Channel.

I regretted that want of time prevented my visiting Newry, Carrickfergus, and some other stations of the Society, where a considerable amount

of good is doing. also lamented my inability to comply with the request of Mr. Shepperd, to spend a Sunday at Sligo, where God has blessed and honoured his ministry very much. I returned home in health, having taken eighteen public services and travelled more than 1,800 miles in less than three weeks.

It would be difficult in a few sentences to convey my impressions of the state of things in Ireland, which, on the whole, are pleasant and hopeful. Always interested in her welfare, I came back with a warmer love to her people than I previously possessed. Imagining at all times that there were peculiar difficulties in the way of our assisting to evangelize the people, my conviction of the number and painfulness of these is greatly increased. Henceforth I hope to cherish a warmer love and a keener sympathy for our beloved brethren who are bearing the burden and heat of the day in the Emerald Isle. On all hands I found persons admitting the great value of the services of the Irish Evangelical Society. The infusion of life into the Episcopal and Presbyterian communities was by many of them candidly admitted to have been the result of our labours in their midst. We have yet, in my opinion, a great work to do in Ireland, the nature of which, and the means of its accomplishment, I may endeavour at a future time to indicate in the pages of the CHRISTIAN WITNESS.

I hope our churches may be increasingly led to understand what our Divine Saviour requires of us in relation to Ireland, and may he graciously assist us to discharge our obligation by doing our appropriate work wisely and well!

PERIODICAL

WE are right glad to observe the admission, or, at least, the recognition, of a principle we have been long enforcing, viz., the necessity of organising methods for the circulation of Religious Literature in congregations. It is becoming daily more and more a settled

LITERATURE.

point, that these matters ought not to be left to themselves; for if so, much of the ground it is desirable to cover can never be reached. Such things will only find their way where they are least wanted, while all around and beyond will remain blackness and

darkness. We observe that the Home and Foreign Record of the Free Church of Scotland contains a copious and very excellent address, urging the adoption of a specific method. The writer proposes to arrange all the congregations of the Free Church into "circles or clubs of four families each," say the four contiguous families, and that a copy of the Record shall be taken by each circle or club; this would give, seeing the publication is monthly, a week's reading of the Record to each family, and would reduce its yearly cost to the trifle of sixpence. Families already in receipt of the Record would of course be passed over. They would be left simply as they are. The writer further suggests, that there are other families who might be disposed to unite in pairs, receiving a Record between them; but beyond these, he observes, that there is a large portion of the adherents of the Free Church whom the Record does not reach, and whom it will never reach but by some such plan as that which he suggests, the arrangement of them into circles or clubs of four families each, which would bring the Record to every man's door, and obviate the difficulty of expense, and would, in fact, reduce the matter to this simple question-" Are you willing to receive the Record?"

The Editor is upon the right track. Let him by all means pursue it. He makes reference to personal visits to certain districts, but states that this can be done to a very limited extent; and that, therefore, if the work be done at all, it must be by the Ministers and Officers, and the active individuals in the churches. He earnestly suggests that the Ministers should take up the matter really and heartily, seeing that a little pains will suffice to accomplish the object. Now comes our Officer of Literature. The writer says:

"I would say, then," that is, when a Minister has paved the way by a public announcement, "let the Minister look out an active, intelligent person, who may be willing to give himself specially to this matter. In many cases, the bookseller of the place may be the most suitable person. Let him next fix the week when the matter is to be taken up and finished. Having got his man and his week, let him next take the roll of his congregation, and marking off those who already receive the Record, let him arrange the rest with his pen in circles of four families each, grouping them according to contiguity. When the week has come that the matter is to be gone about, let him, on the Sabbath of that week,

intimate the plan from the pulpit, and recommend it. On the following days let him send his agent round the congregation, to intimate to each family the club of which they form a part, and to ask them whether they are willing to be of that club, and receive the Record. I venture to say, that in nine cases out of every ten he will receive a favourable answer. And let me also suggest, as almost a sine quâ non to the prosperous working of the plan, that the small yearly or half-yearly payment be made when the person gives his consent as a reader. This will save the individual who may take charge of the scheme much trouble and some loss. Following this arrangement, the evenings of a single week, in all ordinary cases, will suffice to bring the Record into all the families of a congregation."

Having thus specified his plan, the Editor of the Record proceeds, in the true Scotch style, to assign reasons, showing the great desirableness of having the Record more widely circulated. His reasons we deem excellent, and such as are common to the whole of our Religious Literature. It would tend to nourish the spirit of philanthropy, and thus to further the interests of the various Schemes and Institutions connected with the church;-it would operate as a bond of union among the members of the community; -it would tend to engender public spirit on behalf of the Body, and all the objects of which the Record treats; it will be the best ally of the Minister and also of the Deacons, and it will go before them in the houses and hearts of the people, paving the way for their counsels and their claims. "Every Record introduced into a congregation is an additional coadjutor to the Elder and Deacon, labouring, it may be, when he is resting. Every additional Record is another tie between the pastor and his flock, since there can be no steadfastness or attachment to either Pastor or church worthy of the name, save what is based on intelligence.'

It is contended, that "were the Free Church congregations saturated with the Record, the Pastors would find their ministrations more appreciated, their prayer and missionary meetings better attended, and their calls on the liberality of their hearers better responded to, and a larger share of the influences of the blessed Spirit enjoyed by their flocks.'

In these views we entirely concur; and ask that the Magazines of the Congregational Union may have the full benefit of pleadings so just, so earnest, and so appropriate.

CHINA.

CHINA is truly a wondrous country, and its inhabitants a wondrous people. Possessed of a traditional history as old as any in the world, they occupy a high place amongst the ancient nations of the earth; preserving their civilization from the earliest periods down to the present time unbroken, they are as remarkable for their superior enlightenment in the general darkness of the middle ages as for the tenacious spirit of isolation which has left them behind in the progress of modern times. They date their political existence from Fo-hi, whom Shuckford, in his "Connection of Sacred and Profane History," supposes to be identical with Noah, and trace their kings successively through the several dynasties to which they have been subject to the present period. Marco Polo bears ample testimony to the greater enlightenment and advanced condition of the Chinese in the useful arts of life in the time of Kublai Khan; and the productions of the little known but far-famed "Kathay," as they reached our fathers, though they increased the fabulous mystery with which it was surrounded, afforded positive proof of its civilization. The polity of China has been in principle the same from the time that the great Indian family received its instructions from the immediate descendants of Noah until now, and has only been modified or perverted to suit the despotic temper of her governors. The ancient form of government was patriarchal-one in every way admirably fitted for man in the earlier stages of his social condition-one at all times involving a beautiful principle of Divine truth. Divested of the interpretation which despotism has put upon it, this principle is still to be seen in the Confucian system: and if the Chinese rulers were as ready to fulfil the duty of the parent as to exact the obedience of the child, it is not improbable that the world might see a wondrous illustration of a heavenly principle in its application to the wants and welfare of four hundred millions of living beings. It is the accidents and not the principle that render the social idea of a family impracticable in a State polity. It seems almost impossible, in the present evil condition of our nature, to place the destinies of many men in the hands of one, to make their welfare dependent on his will, and, at the same time, give a guarantee that he shall neither control the one nor mar the other for his own interest or at his own pleasure. Of this truth China is a striking proof.

She has now, however, felt the power of the spirit who will lay his hand upon every ancient institution, and cause his voice to be heard in the remotest regions of the earth. Innovation has passed over the hitherto impenetrable threshhold of Chinese isolation, to break up and perhaps destroy. The days will now full surely come when this vast empire must take her place with other nations, and either exist for a while by marching with the progress of the hour, or fall to pieces in the struggle of a senile system with the fresher life of modern theories. This is of God's permission, and for the furtherance of his own wondrous purposes; and we think it

becomes a consideration of paramount importance-What are we to do? who have been plainly made the instrument in his hand in opening the little door of entrance through which, in due course, so many mighty moral agents must ultimately pass. Good and Christian men will be ready enough with suggestions and schemes of benevolence and missionary labours; but these will hardly provide for the case. The exigency is one that cannot be met by desultory and individual efforts; it is a matter worthy a nation's consideration, and requires a labour worthy a nation's effort: it is the proper part of the Church to find missionaries, and the proper office of the State to respect and honour them in their work. Nothing can meet the cold ethics of Confucian deism-nothing can destroy the unclean superstitions of Buddhism-but the vital truth of Christianity in all its heavenly warmth and purity; and this is a blessing worthy a nation's hand to carry. From the far east came the magi with their presents to the infant Jesus in his lowly dwelling; fitting it were that now the kings of the west should take back the gifts of him who is Lord and Christ to the benighted regions which have forgotten his name. It would be well, therefore, if, as God may give the opportunity, our own Government would vindicate its Christian standing; and, by every means in its power, both countenance the ministers of Christ's church in preaching his truth wherever it has rule, and sternly resist and condemn every practice over which it has control which puts that truth to shame.

The moral destinies of so large a portion of mankind is a subject of deep importance. It seems clear that our future intercourse with them will exercise a considerable influence over these destinies; and it must be equally clear to every religious man, that England is not permitted to hold the position which she occupies for her own exclusive advantage. She has learned God's way to little purpose if she does not understand that power and responsibility go together-that no talent is rightly employed which does not minister the blessing it was intended to convey, and no position is acquired which does not bring with it fresh duties to fulfil. It may be an object of intense interest with the merchant to know, when new possessions come into our power, what cotton may be required and what market is open; but the higher object is to learn to what greater interests commerce may be subservient, and of what greater good she may be the precursor. We trust and hope this higher object is slowly finding a place for consideration in the national mind. Our foreign policy has lately been characterised by forbearance under much provocation; and though there are many things in our intercourse with heathen nations of which we may be justly ashamed, there are others for which we may give God thanks. A spirit of consideration for their weakness, and a desire for their moral and social improvement, have accompanied, and, in some measure, atoned, for the love of gain and speculative enterprise which has carried us amongst them. European civilization is generally fatal to the health

and even the social welfare of the savage who comes into contact with it, because of the vices that follow in its train. In the case of China, however, it is otherwise; it is not civilization that she needs so much as knowledge and wisdom for its right regulation; she will probably listen to the truth, but she will also ask for example as well as precept; she is happily, from her previous knowledge, in some measure fortified against the vice of the unfaithful Christian; we can only pray that she may not be equally hardened through his wickedness against the blessing and the truth which the faithful ones of God would carry to her.

JOHN HOWARD, THE PHILANTHROPIST-TARTARY AND THE

CRIMEA.

SIR, The following letter from John Howard, our great philanthropist, has been kindly placed in my hands since I published his life, &c. It is probably the last that was ever written by that distinguished man, and was addressed to his friend, Mr. Whitbread. It was written from Cherson, where, as I have described, Howard was visiting the Russian hospitals for the wounded, soon after the Empress Catherine had obtained possession of the Crimea. I think it will be read with deep interest, not merely as further exhibiting some remarkable characteristics of Howard, but as referring to scenes and circumstances to which passing events give an especial interest.

I am, Sir, your faithful servant, Reading.

J. FIELD.

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Cherson, in Tartary, Nov. 14, 1789. Dear Sir, I wrote to you on my arrival at Moscow, on the first, and, permit me to say, constant impression of your kindness. I also wrote to you about a fortnight after, informing you of my intention to visit the army and navy hospitals towards the Black Sea. was somewhat sensible of the dangers I had to encounter, and the hardships I had to endure, in a journey of thirteen or fourteen hundred miles with only my servant. went on pretty well till on the borders of Tartary; when, as I depended on my patent chain, my great trunk and hat-box were cut off from behind my chaise. It was midnight, and both of us, having travelled four nights, were fast asleep. However, we soon discovered it, and having soon recovered the shock, I went back directly to the suspected house and ran in among ten or twelve of the banditti. At break of day I had some secured and search made. My hat-box was found, but my great trunk I almost despaired of, though I stayed before the door in my chaise two days. Providentially the fourth day it was found by a peasant. The brass nails glistened in a part where the oil-skin was worn. His oxen would not go on; he

beat them, but they would not go on; he then saw something, but durst not approach till another peasant came up, when, after signing themselves with the cross, they went up to it and carried it directly to the magistrate of the village. He sent after me to a town about eighty miles off, where I was to stay two or three days, and I returned. I found by my inventory that not a single handkerchief was lost, and they missed about a hundred guineas in a paper in the middle of the trunk. My return stunned them; all would have been moved off before light. I have broken the band; four will go into I am well; my clothes and bedding I think warmer since I got them out of the fire. I saw some other travellers who were robbed and had lost their money and goods on the road.

Thomas (his servant) showed me his marketing. A quarter of lamb that he said would cost 5s. he had paid 7d. for. My marketing is a good melon for 1d., which supplies my English luxury of currants with my bread and tea. I have visited the hospital here, in which there are about 800 sick recruits. I have this week been only about forty miles, for between a deserted

town, and Otschakow, lies the army hospital. There I stayed two or three days, as I found about 2,000 sick and wounded. They are dreadfully neglected. A heart of stone would almost bleed. I am a spy, a sad spy on them, and they all fear me. The abuses of office are glaring, and I want not courage to tell them so.

I have just received your kind letter from Warsaw. I read it over and over again with fresh pleasure. I exult in the happiness and prosperity of your house, and that my young friend likes Cardington.

I shall be moving for the navy hospital at Sebastopol, in the south of the Crimea, about the end of the year, and I hope by some means to be at Constantinople the beginning of March.

The wild Cossacks, who live under ground in the Crimea, must look sharp if they rob me, as I will not go to sleep any night on the road, and I am well armed. I am persuaded no hurry or fear will be on my mind. My journey I still think will engage me for three years, and as I have a year's work in England, I think little of Cardington.

The land for several hundred miles is the finest garden mould, not a stone mixed with it, nor a single tree, nor any inhabitants. A person may have any quantity for ten years, and after that by paying the Empress fifteen roubles (about one guinea and three quarters) a year. Fine haystacks a person showed me -two thirds he took, and one third he gave the Empress, but no rent. He said he had bought fine meat for less than one halfpenny a pound before the army came into this country.

I shall (I understand) take possession of some poor Turk's deserted house in the Crimea for two months. As I am well informed, there was double the number of inhabitants in the capital than there are now in all that fine country. The cruelty of the Russians forced 100,000 to quit this country. Great things are expected on the great St. Nicholas's