the quantity of faith, ensures salvation, yet those who are strong in faith bring most glory to the Lord, are better prepared for the Christian warfare, have more power over sin, more courage in duty, more patience in suffering, and more hope and stronger confidence in God in the hour of suffering, of danger, and of death itself.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

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SIR, I have often wished that it could be generally known at how small an expense a little school may be set up. It might encourage many to begin to do good, in a way which, with God's blessing, might prove most successful. There is one near me which might, I think, serve as a model to many persons who see and lament the ignorance of the children around them, and are yet deterred by the want of such funds as they conceive would be required, from making any effort for their education. Perhaps a short account of the school to which I refer might be useful to some of your many readers, as an illustration of the great good that may be done with but little money, and under great disadvantages.

The hamlet of H. has for years been in a sad state, being far from any church, entirely neglected, and, standing on crown land, at the edge of a wide heath, and by the side of what is still a beautiful forest, the worst characters have settled there; building huts themselves for their families to live in; the men spending most of their time in poaching, and stealing wood by night, which the women go about to sell by day; and the children might generally be seen playing on the road, covered with dust, half naked, and looking almost like little savages. A lady who lived at the town of W., about two miles from this hamlet, had often looked with sorrow at these poor children, as she passed along the road, and longed to begin a school for them; but a great difficulty presented itself: who was to be the mistress? The lady had no means of paying one fit for the office, and no one in the place was at all promising. At last she fixed upon an elderly married woman, who had no children, and who, for the sum of five pounds a year, was glad to have a school in her own house. She went for a week to attend an infant school, in a small town a few miles off, to learn a little of the system of teaching, and was quite astonished and discouraged by what she saw. "She had no idea," she said, “that children could have been taught so much; she was sure she could never get them to do so," &c.

The joy with which the prospect of a school was heard of by parents (the mothers especially) was very pleasing; they were quite impatient for it to begin; and, as the mistress expressed it, "came terrifying her every day to know when it would open." On the Saturday when all was ready, without any request of the

kind having been made, a boy brought a little cart down to H. to bring up the forms and other requisites for the school to begin on the Monday: he said a party was waiting for him at home; and "what joy there would be at H. when he got back!"

The lady who set up the school had at first the help of a friend in visiting it, and expected to have seen to it constantly herself; but this she was only able to do for a short time. Illness, and absence from home for many months, made her visits to her school few and far between; but the blessing of God has rested upon her endeavours, and its progress has been very satisfactory. I visited it with her this spring, when it had been in operation scarcely a year, and the change in the manners and countenances of the children, and not less so in that of the mistress, was delightful to witness; and their affection towards the lady to whom they owed so much, pleased me particularly. There are between thirty and forty children in the school, of all ages, from two or three to sixteen. The elder boys were reading in the Testament (few of them knew their letters a year ago), and answered questions upon what they read remarkably well. They learn to write upon slates, and to plait straw. All the girls, except quite the little ones, were making lace, and they never ceased a minute from their employment, while they sung, and repeated and answered questions, along with the others. They read every day, and learn to sew.

The adoption of a certain degree of the infant school systemthe collective teaching, singing, and questioning, &c.—has been of the greatest advantage to the elder children, as well as to the little ones, in calling out their thoughts, and exciting their interest and attention. Indeed, at the age of nine or ten, when the faculties have never been called into exercise by instruction, exactly the same means are required as in the case of a child of three years old, only it is more difficult, from the long disuse of the mental powers.

Their teacher seems to have improved as remarkably as her scholars; and, instead of her former dull, heavy countenance, is full of spirit and interest in her work, which, she told me, was "all her delight." She could scarcely read when she first began her school, and could not sing at all; now she can not only read, but understand what she reads, and has got to sing too. Neither she nor her pupils, in former days, knew what it was to keep the Sabbath holy; but now she takes as many as are able to go so far twice every Sunday to church at W., and they join the Sundayschool there.

I should have said that a small sum was subscribed at first by a few kind friends to purchase the books and other school requisites, and that each child pays the mistress two-pence per week. Though the parents are so poor, this sum has never been objected to; and, indeed, all experience goes to prove that education is far more highly valued when it is not entirely gratuitous.

In proof of the value and importance of such a school, I will give a few anecdotes. I believe it is found in all schools where

the infant system is at all adopted, that attendance is considered by the children a pleasure, rather than a hardship; and so it has been at H.

One day about Easter, when it was very cold, the mistress heard a little noise outside the house; but not knowing what it was, did not take any notice of it. She heard it again, and it went on for a long time (she thought for nearly an hour), till at last one of the girls said, "I think, mistress, there is somebody at the door." She opened the door, and there stood a little girl of five years old, who had been waiting all that time to be admitted, and trying to make herself heard. She lived at a distance, down a long dirty lane; had been at the school the previous summer, but kept at home during the winter months; and now she said, "she thought, as it was a fine day, summer had come again, and she might come back to school;" so seeing a cart going that way, she followed it till she got to the house. At the moment the mistress opened the door, she saw the little girl's father only a few yards off, coming with a stick to beat the poor child for running away from home. begged he would not beat her, as she had only been tempted by her wish to come to school: at last he yielded, and the matter ended by his promising to allow the child to come to school directly after the Easter holidays, (that day being the day before Good Friday.)

She

One day, when the lady went into the school, she found the elder boys reading the twelfth chapter of Hebrews; she thought it was one that they would understand very little of, but did not interrupt them; and when they had finished, began to question them as to the meaning of some of the words, and, amongst others, asked what "chastening" meant. None of them knew, and she explained it, and referred to the example of a little boy, the brother of one of those present, who had been naughty, and was punished by his father a day or two before; and she shewed the good effect it had had upon him, and that in the same way God chastened his children, "for their profit, that they might be partakers of his holiness." When she had done speaking, one of the boys, (eight years old,) said, "When we get to heaven, our Father, which is in heaven, wo'nt chasten us there; we shall not need it there!"

On Good Friday, this year, the children went to W. with their mistress to church, and a gentleman in the town was so kind as to send for them to his house, and give them each a bun, and one also to take home for each of those who were too young to walk to church. As they walked home, Mrs. W. pointed out to them how good God was to the school in many ways, and how he put it into the hearts of others to be so kind to them; and before they began to eat their buns, she made them sing, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." In the evening, the mother of one of the children came to Mrs. W.'s cottage, and said that her little boy had been telling her what they had sung, and what she had said to them on the road, adding, she "had come to ask her more about it." The

idea that every good thing comes from God, and that all kindness from others should be received as a blessing from him, was quite new to her, and she had been much struck with it. In this way, there have been many instances of benefit reaching the parents through the children.

[I hope this nice account may stir up some of my readers to go and do likewise. Where there is a will to do good, it is surprising in how many new instances a way may be found; and where a day-school cannot thus be formed, it may often be found that a few poor children might be brought together for Sunday-school instruction.-ED.]

SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF VARA, A CHIEF OF TAHITI.-This chief was a delightful instance of the power of the Gospel. In the time of his ignorance, he had been a procurer of human sacrifices, and another of his offices was to rally dispirited warriors, and rouse their savage spirit. But this implacable, unmerciful heathen, became a humble and devoted Christian, and to the day of his death, he adorned his profession. Vara's eyes being bad, he could not learn to read; but having been in the habit of treasuring in his memory passages of Scripture, he had obtained a correct and extensive knowledge of the great and essential doctrines of the Gospel. He was visited many times in his dying moments, by Mr. Osmond, of whose church he was a member, whose account of his death is here subjoined.

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"On seeing that his end was fast approaching, I said to him, Are you sorry that you cast away your lying gods, by which you used to gain so much property?' He was aroused from his lethargy, and, with tears, of pleasure sparkling in his eyes, he exclaimed, Oh, no, no, no. What! can I be sorry for casting away death for life? Jesus is my rock, the fortification in which my soul takes shelter!' I said, 'Tell me on what you found your hope of future blessedness?' He replied, I have been very wicked, but a great king from the other side of the skies, sent his ambassadors with terms of peace. He could not tell for many years, what these ambassadors wanted. At length Pomare obtained a victory, and invited all his subjects to come and take refuge under the wing of Jesus, and I was one of the first to do so. The blood of Jesus is my foundation. I grieve that all my children do not love him. Had they known the misery we endured in the reign of the devil, they would gladly take the Gospel in exchange for their follies. Jesus is the best king; he gives a pillow without thorns.'

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"A little time after, I asked him if he was afraid to die, when, with almost youthful energy he replied, No, no. The canoe is in the sea, the sails are spread, she is ready for the gale. I have a good pilot to guide me, and a good haven to receive me. My outside

man and my inside man differ. Let the one rot till the trump shall sound, but let my soul wing her way to the throne of Jesus.' Will he not through eternity sing hallelujahs to God and the Lamb, because of the South Sea Mission?"

The last human victim that was slain in Taihiti previous to Christianity being embraced, had been selected because he was a Christian. His murderers after inflicting a heavy blow on his head, placed his body in a long basket made of cocoa nut leaves. While they were carrying their victim to the Marae, to be offered up to their bloody gods, he recovered from the stunning effect of the blow, and bound as he was in the cocoa nut leaf basket, he said to his murderers, "Friends, I know what you intend to do with me, you are about to kill me, and offer me as a tapu to your savage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy, for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body; but you cannot hurt my soul, for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of whom the missionaries have brought to our island. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt my soul." Instead of being moved to compassion by his affecting address, they laid him down on the ground, placed a stone under his head, and with another beat it to pieces. In this state they carried him to their savage gods. One of the assassians, whose business it was to procure human sacrifices, sailed with me in my last voyage, and not only confirmed the foregoing statement, but detailed many other transactions equally tragical. It is a relief to know that this was the very last sacrifice ever offered to the gods of Taihiti. Williams' Missionary Enterprises.

INTEMPERANCE IN LONDON.

By returns to two addresses of the House of Commons, dated the 21st and 25th of February, 1839, and ordered to be printed April 9th, it appears that, in 1838, there were in the metropolis 4,307 licensed victuallers, and 1,702 licensed beer-sellers, being 90 of the former and 23 of the latter less than in the preceding year. The largest number of licensed victuallers was in 1834, and of licensed beer-sellers in 1837, the number of the former being 4,514, and of the latter 1,725, making together 6,239; but the total last year was reduced to 6,009.

The quantities on which the duties for home consumption were paid for the year ending 1837, including colonial rum and foreign spirits, were as follow:-For England, 11,423,063 gallons; Scotland, 6,245,026 gallons; for Ireland, 11,275,014 gallons; making a total for 1837 of 28,943,103 imperial gallons.

The amount of income and expenditure, as recently laid before the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, shows