and which presents to the zeal of the society a field of exertion, extensive and interesting beyond description.

The funds of the Society are increased nearly £50,000, by collections and contributions in consequence of the King's letter, and it has determined to extend its assistance to the black population of the Cape of Good Hope. His Majesty's Ministers have given their support to the measure, in the same proportion with which they have been accustomed to meet the efforts of the Society in the American colonies.

We pass on to the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. The extent of its operations may be conjectured from the fact, that in the last year its receipts were little short of £56,000, and its disbursements upwards of £55,000. The zeal of its patrons appears in an anonymous donation of £1028, by one individual, and the princely bequest of £10,200, 5 per cents. by the late Earl of Kerry.

At the recommendation of the Bishop of Zealand, the Society last year ordained as Missionaries to India, Messrs. Haubroe and Rosen. The charge by Dr. Wordsworth is one of the most able and pious productions of the age. The exertions of the Society at Madras and Bombay have been seconded by the zealous co-operation of the Bishop of Calcutta. At Bombay, school-books and tracts, for the use of sailors and soldiers, have been largely distributed; and at the suggestion of the Archdeacon, translations are making into the Persian, Arabic, and Indian languages, of some of the Society's religious tracts and books, and of tracts on the Evidences of Christianity, adapted for the more learned natives, in hope of exciting them to thought and inquiry upon this great subject. Since Ceylon has been placed under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta, portions of the prayers of the Church of England have been published in Cingalese.

In the diocese of Nova Scotia the Society's influence has been advantageously exerted. The progress of education at Halifax and Quebec is rapid. At the latter place parochial libraries have been established, and will be extended through the plantations, and especially on the continent of North America. As emigration from the mother country increases, new settlers are every day advancing into the wilder and more uncultivated parts of the two provinces. These are often scattered in detached parties, and not unfrequently in single families; and the liberality of the Society will enable them to carry with them into their new habitations the means of religious instruction and consolation. Thus "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." Nearer home the poor inhabitants of the Scilly Islands have attracted the attention of the Society. The Rev. Mr. Lane, a clergyman, has been sent as a Missionary to them. The privations which these forlorn and helpless people have been called to suffer, afford ample scope for the exercise of benevolence. Their bodily and mental wants are alike extreme; and it is hoped that the soothing attentions of this valuable Missionary may dispose his hearers to listen with seriousness to his pastoral instructions.

The Church Missionary Society, during the last year, has extended its associations to every part of our European empire. Its receipts have been about £28,000. The principal scene of its operations and of its success has been Western Africa, and the grateful spectacle of a Missionary Society at Sierra Leone is amongst the pleasing fruits of its exertions. Two native preachers are employed, and great advances are made in the acquirement of the Susoo and other tongues of that long oppressed and degraded region. In Regent's Town, natives of 20 different nations are communicating by means of the English language, and the most important effects are anticipated. The cultivation of the Arabic is an important branch of its labours, and will facilitate the respectful reception of its agents, and become a

medium of communication with Mahometans in all parts. The last Reports of the Society contain most affecting narratives of negro piety, and of improvement in civilization, which form a fine commentary on the New Testament history of the primitive church. Mr. Klein is translating the Bible into the Susoo language; and Mrs. Klein has made considerable collections for a Susoo and English Dictionary. We cannot forbear to remark, that slave traders in Africa appear to inherit the stigma anciently fixed on the Jews by the Apostle-they are the grand impediment to the progress of the Gospel in Africa. In the Mediterranean the Society has formed a printing establishment for Romaic, French, and Italian, and Dr. Naudi is actively employed in compiling tracts in the latter.

The operations of the Society in India are too extensive to admit of our noticing them in detail at present, but we hope to give some account of them in our next Number.

"At

The proceedings of The London Missionary Society have been so varied and extensive, that we cannot even glance at them as a whole, and must confine our attention to the principal scene of their success. The triumphs of the Gospel in the South Sea Islands forcibly remind us of the primitive days of the church. The most sanguine anticipations of the warm-hearted Eyre and Haweis (the early friends of this mission) are fully realized. Otaheite reading has become general, and the natives are diligently engaged in teaching one another; 3000 copies of St. Luke's Gospel have been printed, and sold for three gallons of cocoa-nut oil per copy, and thousands have been disappointed that there were no more for sale. Private prayer is supposed to be almost universal, and instances of real piety numerous."

"Difficulties have arisen out of this new state of things. Not only the social habits and customs of the islanders, but their civil regulations, had been intimately blended with their superstitious rites: by the renunciation of idolatry, and the establishment of Christianity in its room, their political and social systems suffered a total derangement. The change affected every custom and usage, and extended to almost every affair of life. The Missionaries thus found themselves placed in circumstances of peculiar difficulty. They had considered it to be their duty to abstain from all interference in political and civil concerns; but now they were applied to from all quarters, for counsel and direction, not only in moral and religious, but in political and civil affairs. They informed the king and the chiefs, that as their object in residing among them was only to convey to them the knowledge of the true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, they must decline all direct interposition in political affairs; but would, at all times, be glad to give them the best advice in their power. A correspondence had accordingly been entered into between the brethren and Pomare, in which they had recommended him to call a general meeting of the principal chiefs; and, with their assistance and concurrence, to adopt such laws as might be adapted to the new state of things, impart stability to his government, and promote the general welfare: and they engaged to furnish such counsel on the several points which should call for their attention, as their acquaintance with the Scriptures, and the laws of Britain and other civilized nations, might enable them."

We insert a letter, which will shew better than any narrative of our own, the state of things to the latest period of intelligence

"The following letter from Pomare, King of Otaheite, addressed to the Rev. Dr. Haweis, of Bath, was received the 1st of January, 1820. Translated by Mr. Crook, one of the Missionaries.

DEAR FRIEND,

Tahiti, 3d of Oct. 1818.

May you be blessed, and your family, with the salvation of Jehovah the true God. Your letter, written on the 1st of August, 1817, has reached

me, and come to hand, and the books also. It was on the 18th of August, 1818, that they came into my hands.

"I was startled at the reception of your letter, for I thought that you had been taken away by our Lord. The small watch which you sent me is in my hands, and remains with me as a keepsake for you, dear friend.

"A society has been formed here in Tahiti. It was formed in May, 1818. We are collecting cocoa-nut oil, pork, arrow-root, and cotton, as property to promote the Word of God. Our business is to send the property collected to you, at your place. That is our work at this time. The chiefs of Tahiti have been made governors. We have also a secretary and a treasurer. When it gets into the same order as yours, then it will do.

"Next May we intend to establish a code of laws. Then all the people of Tahiti will assemble at Pare. The laws will be established; and a consultation will take place. The faulty parts will be corrected: and when it is very correct, the people will return to their houses.

"Your name has been given by me to the vessel which has been built here; I was urgent about it, for some said that it should have another name; but I said, No, the name must be the Haweis. The reason I was so urgent about it was because you were so very attentive to us of Tahiti; yea, and indeed all of you, for the Lord put the thought into your minds to send missionaries here to Tahiti, that they might sound the trumpet, and make known the way of life; and when the true and desired time of the Lord was come that it should spring up here, the Lord caused the comet to fly *; Tahiti was stricken by that comet, and (the enchantment of) Tahiti was broken by that comet, yea, and all these lands also. This star is still flying, and at the time appointed by the Lord that it should light (trip) on a country, (the spell of) that country will be dissolved, until the enchantment be broken in all lands by the Word of the Lord. This word continues to grow in all these islands.

"I have sent you the evil spirits (idols) which you sent to me for. All the large idols are consumed, having been burnt in the fire. This is only a little one that remains. The name of the little idol is Taroa.

"I also send you two little fans which the royal family of these countries were accustomed to fan themselves with. When the day of the festival arrived, and the king was prayed for, those were the fans they used to fan away the flies. This was an established custom among the princes in former times. The name of those fans is Nunaaehau. They fastened them to the handle, and thus used them to drive away the flies. What am I to do with the little pearl box, which was enclosed in the parcel which you sent me ? Had it been directed to me, it would have been right; but there is another name on it, that of the Queen of Lattakoo; that is the reason I inform you of it. I have sent back the little pearl box to Mr. Marsden, at Port Jackson, that he may return it to you. If you write to me again I shall be glad. If it be agreeable, send me three books: one very large Bible: one good portable one, very small; and one book of geography. If it be not agreeable, very well, do not think evil of me, dear friend, for the small request that I make in the conclusion of my letter. We are well; and I shall be glad to hear that you are well also.

"May you be blessed by Jesus Christ, the true King of Salvation, by whom we must all be saved.

" (Signed)

"Rev. THOS. HAWEIS, LL.B. M.D."

"POMARE."

In our next Number, we hope to give ample details of the Baptist Mission, the Hibernian Society, British and Foreign Bible Society, &c. &c.

This is an allusion to a letter we have not seen.

THE INVESTIGATOR.

SEPTEMBER, 1820.

Memoirs of the Life of his late Royal Highness Prince EDWARD, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, K. G., G. C. B., K. P. &c. &c. &c. &c.

THE lives of princes, faithfully recorded, cannot fail to read a grand moral lecture to the world. Always conspicuous from station, their virtues or their vices obtain a correspondent publicity. Often the objects of envy, a little closer inspection may administer a salutary remedy to this malady of the heart, by shewing that, while they never can be more than men, they are men who have to contend with circumstances unfavourable to mental and moral improvement, in situations at once seductive and dangerous. That some-that many, should become a prey to their own passions, or dupes to the designing and the interested, can excite no astonishment; although it must be a subject of deep regret, in every such instance, to every good and benevolent mind, no less on account of society, which must suffer, in the event, by their caprices, than for themselves, at last, the principal victims in the turbulence of unbridled propensities and unbounded power. The vices of princes are not without their use; but the benefit which may arise from them is deduced by an overruling Providence from the chaos of human passions—and the result of a wisdom, which conforming all things to itself, causes them in the issue to work together for good. Their virtues have a pre-eminent advantage, arising out of their commanding station; and to record these is the most delightful task of the historian and the biographer.

It is with unmingled satisfaction, that we proceed to relate the leading events in the life of an individual, not more illustrious for rank than distinguished for virtues of a higher order, and who was always most beloved by those who knew him best. It is only necessary to be faithful to truth, in order to do him justice; his character asks nothing from the flatterer. His conduct, although not faultless, (or it

had not been human,) demands no palliatives-his principles commanded universal esteem and admiration-his life would be ill recorded by the pen of a sycophant, whom living he would have spurned from his presence- and we shall best secure at once his fair fame, and the most important interests of society, by following the impartial rule which ought always to guide the pens of those who profess to delineate character--"nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice."

The illustrious subject of this memoir was the fourth son, and the fifth child, of our late lamented sovereign, King George III., and of his royal consort, Sophia Charlotte, youngest daughter of Charles Lewis Ferdinand, Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz. He was born at noon on the 2d of November, 1767, at Buckingham House; and christened at St. James's Palace, by Dr. Terrick, Bishop of London, (Dr. Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury, being indisposed,) on the 30th of the same month, by the name of Edward, distinguished in the annals of our country for the valour and the virtues of those who have borne it, and not associated for the first time in his instance with the regret of the nation, at the sudden extinction of the hopes they had excited. This name was given him from its having been borne by Edward Duke of York, the eldest brother of our late sovereign, whose remains were interred in Westminster Abbey, on the very day after his royal highness's birth. His sponsors at the baptismal font were his Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, represented by the Earl of Hertford, Lord Chamberlain of the Household; Prince Charles of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, represented by the Earl of Huntingdon, Groom of the Stole; and her Serene Highness the Landgravine of Hesse Cassel, represented by the Dutchess of Hamilton, one of the Ladies of the Queen's Bedchamber.

Of the childhood of princes but little authentic is to be collected, especially after the revolution of more than forty years has swept away, one by one, most of the few individuals who were even partially acquainted with its history. We shall not attempt, therefore, to give any further account of the earlier years of the Duke of Kent's life, than the simple statement, that after having received his preparatory education in England, under the tuition of Dr. Fisher, the present venerable Bishop of Salisbury, he was sent to Lunenburgh, in the electorate, now kingdom, of Hanover, in February, 1785, being then in the 18th year of his age-to prosecute