Powerful Influence on the Natives of the

System of Mutual Instruction.

In my attempts to improve the Natives of South Africa, I never met with success, until the British System had been established in their Schools. On my first visit to a Missionary Station, the Schoolmaster complained that the Natives did not know the value of education-that he could not get the children to attend their schools-that he could not compel them, and was afraid to correct them. It was then that I began to introduce the British System. I said to the Teachers, "Let us see what influence this System of Education will have on the habits of the children." Two years and-a-half afterward, I paid another visit to that Station, and found a School of 200 Boys, giving evidence of intelligence and satisfaction: there was also a School of 150 Girls, attended with the same good effects. I proposed that they should be employed for a few hours in the day in some manual labour, to accustom them to industrious habits; when the parents came forward in a body, saying, that their children had derived so many advantages while under the care of the Schoolmaster, that they would not interfere, but that I might do with them as I pleased. On leaving the Schools, the vehicle in which I travelled had been stopped by 300 children in a body, who returned their thanks for having been taught to read the Bible. In a short time the change was so great, that, from this System, the children began to acquire a habit of attention, which was the first prin. ciple toward civilization. They began to think they became delighted with their lessons; and the influence of education was felt by the parents, who were ashamed of being unable to answer the questions put by their children. The consequence was, that they paid attention, themselves, to books; and, in two years, the change effected in the population was such as has been described by the Civil Servants and Officers in the Colony, as utterly inconceivable. I have, myself, on entering the cottages of the Natives, seen them hung round with Alphabets, the Lord's Prayer, and Multiplication Tables; the children conning over their tasks, and the parents glancing at them, so as to be enabled to give answers themselves when they went to the school. I have a Letter from the highest and most respectable authority, in which the Writer says, "that portion of the population which is not educated appears to be a different species, when compared with those who come from the Missionary Establishments." These instances are sufficient, I think, to satisfy the Meeting as to the effect of education on the Hotten

:

tots; than whom there never has been, as is well known, a more degraded race in any portion of the Colonies of this Empire. They have been represented as scarcely human; and Gibbon has described them as "the connecting link between the brute creation and rational beings." The French Philosophers and the Dutch Writers have taken up the same idea. But how has that notion been refuted? In the best possible way-by shewing that these semi-brutal minds are susceptible of the influences of education. [The Same-at the same. Instances of Susceptibility of Improvement in Two Native Youths. Sir Jahleel Brenton brought home with him a little brisk Boy. I have received a Letter from that distinguished individual, in which he states, in reference to the boy, "He is possessed of all the wit and humour which he manifested when you knew him." Sir James goes on to say, that a change has taken place in the character of the boy; in proof of which he adds, " Clergyman asked him which character in the Old Testament he would rather sustain, if it were left to his own choice. The boy replied,' David's.'

What, David's,' rejoined the Clergyman, ' rather than Solomon's, whose reign was so glorious? On what grounds do you make that choice?' We have evidence of David's repentance,' said the lad; but I don't find any thing in the Bible, that enables me to draw the same satisfactory conclusion concerning the repentance of Solomon.'" "That boy," Sir James adds, "brings home a great portion of the Sermon: he is invaluable as a servant."

Among other instances which I have met with, is that of a Caffre Boy, who constantly had the Bible in his hand, and appeared to refer to it with every symptom of intelligence and delight. On one occasion, the boy told me that he remembered to have seen a piece of raw flesh in the hands of his Mother: first, she tore it with her teeth; and then endeavoured to cut it with a piece of iron which had been rudely fashioned into the shape of a knife at length his Brother, who wanted the flesh himself, knocked her down, for the purpose of taking it away; "But," added the poor boy, "he had no knowledge of God's Commandments, and did not know that he was bound by them to honour his father and mother." This Caffre Lad sickened and died on the day of his death he put his hand under the pillow, and took out some money which had been given to him, and gave it to the servant, saying, "I need that no longer, and you have been kind to me. I am going to Christ."

[The Same at the Sund. Sch. Union Ann.

MEDITERRANEAN.

Preparation of the Scriptures in Mallese.

A measure which was adopted, when I was here eight years since, on my first visit home, will, I trust, be productive of the greatest good. I refer to the work on which we then entered, of printing the Scriptures in the Dialect of Malta. When I took with me the Printed Gospel of St. John, its circulation in Malta was met, on the part of the Hierarchy, by a resistance so powerful, that there was much reason to doubt whether our direct success would be very great. We have, however, persevered, in aiming to procure a translation of further portions: nor is the time which I am now spending in England unoccupied, as we are printing a Translation of the whole of the Gospels in the Maltese Language. Translation into this tongue is no longer an experiment: this is, doubtless, a great opening; and there is good prospect of success. Nor can we but hope that our prayers will be heard; and that many Members of the Roman Church will have their hearts turned to the propagating, and not to the hindrance, of the Gospel. When I call to mind, that, since I last appeared before the Society, two of the Heads of that Church have gone to their solemn account, and that another Pontiff has been raised to that fearful eminence, I ask, Ought we not to pray for him, and for all the Clergy of that Church, that their hearts may be turned, and that they may no longer withhold from their flocks the blessing of God's Holy Word?

[Rev. W. Jowett at the Church Miss. Ann. Access for the Scriptures into Italy from Malta.

You hear, in reference to other regions, of hundreds and thousands of Bibles being distributed; but though I cannot speak of such large numbers, I am thankful to state, that, in the course of last year, eighty-six Italian Bibles have found their way into Italy: and though this number may appear small, yet we should estimate our successes by the difficulties which oppose their introduction.

We have, from Malta, access to Italy by means of an Agent, who visits all the shipping that enter the harbour of Valetta. He takes with him a small box, exhibiting Specimens of different Versions and Editions of the Scriptures; and the moment he enters his boat, all know and mark his proceedings: as he approaches the ships, which are mostly poor country vessels coming from Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Trieste, Venice, and other ports of Italy-just such vessels as Horace describes; and of which, he says, he should be very sorry to commit his person to them -he is, at first, frequently like a man between two fires: on one side, the people in

the ships call to him not to come on board; and on the other, the people on shore call to those in the ships not to buy: but he goes on with the simple offer, and occasionally succeeds in selling some of the Bibles. We have reason, moreover, to believe that these sea-faring persons never purchase these Bibles but by special commission from Italy; because we know, from the penurious habits of these people, that they would scarcely venture to purchase them on speculation: but they probably have commissions for them, from Genoa, Leghorn, and other places; and thus they get them into that country.

There is one circumstance connected with this subject, which involves a case of conscience. It was intimated to us, after a little time, that the persons who receive the Custom-House Duties in the different ports of Italy might, probably, be induced to blink their duty; and, for a trifling consideration, let some boxes of Bibles enter those parts. If we had acted upon a principle of worldly policy, we might have availed ourselves of this suggestion; but that must not be: we know that we must not do evil, that good may come; and, therefore, when it was said, "If you will lay your dollar down, they will look another way," we knew that this was any thing but what an Agent to a Bible Society ought to do; though it is certainly lawful to contravene or evade an Ecclesiastical or any other Order, which interferes with the declared Will of God.

While, however, we could not comply with the erroneous view of those who suggested this plan, yet we may safely request a friend on board to put a Bible or a Testament in his pocket, and take the chance of its being examined or not. Thus, as St. Paul escaped from Damascus by a basket from a wall, so we may use secrecy in getting our Bibles into Italy. And let me entreat that your prayers may be offered up, as ours often have been, that each copy of these Bibles, thus introduced, may bring forth, not merely a hundred, but even a thousand fold!

be so.

I observe some Gentlemen here, who are busily engaged in taking down what is said: and I am very well contented that it should I hope it will be widely spread, that we are resorting to every lawful measure for the suppression of Superstition, and the advancement of True Religion. I should be glad even for the Sovereign Pontiff himself to hear, that, in opposing the Circulation of the Scriptures, he is attempting an impossibility. He might as well put his hand against the sun, and command it not to shine, as attempt to exclude the Bible from his dominions. Twice have anathemas been thundered against this work; but I feel a secret persuasion that such documents will never

again issue from Rome, in that form in which they have done. [The Same-at the Bible Soc. Ann. Ground of the Interest excited in Christians in behalf of Greece.

Greece has a peculiar hold on our minds; and for what reason? It is not because she has been to us the origin of our early instruction and discipline: it is not that her Orators and her Poets have delighted and inspired us : nor is it the recollection, that formerly she possessed the most eminent virtues, for the primitive Christian spirit of Athens and Corinth is now, I fear, no more. That feeling evaporates in the distance of time: and even the thought that she gave us the Scriptures of the New Testament in their Original Tongue, does not come near enough to us at present. Neither are we so much excited by having witnessed a bravery in her struggles against oppression, worthy of her best days, and greater than could have been expected from her unhappy circumstances. No! none of these reasons are sufficient alone to weigh with us-none but this, that the Providence of God has made the distress and the oppression of that country the great means of opening a wide door to the diffusion of the Gospel. This it is that excites our interest; and I do believe that nothing can do any effectual good for Greece, except the communication to it of Christian Knowledge.

[The Same- at the Church Miss. Ann.

Want of Books in Greece.

No man can tell the wants of the Eastern Countries, who has not visited them. It has been very much my practice, to go into the houses of my friends, whenever opportunity offered; and, with the usual habits of a Clergyman and a Student, to examine such books as I found in their dwellings. Among you, the manna is scattered at the tent-door: even in the humblest cottages we find the Bible, besides many other volumes: but how opposite is the case in Greece! When travelling in Greece, I have seldom found any books in the houses of the Priests; except, perhaps, a volume or two relating to the Church Service, to Monastic Rules, or to some abstruse branch of Theology; and, in these latter, it usually appeared to me that the writer was not only unintelligible, but wished to be so: indeed, such is generally the character of scholastic divinity. In addition to works of that class, I frequently found Saintly Legends of the most improbable description; some of them full of invocations to "Our Lady Queen of Heaven, and only gracious Mediatrix between God and Man." In some places, I have found as many as fifty folio volumes, filled with accounts of miracles performed by the Saints, and thirty with those of the Virgin Mary. I found,

The

[The Same-at the Church Miss. Ann. The Gospel to be preached to Mahomedans. The preaching of the Gospel to Mahomedans in Mahomedan Countries has ever been considered a delicate subject; not so much from the danger which it would draw upon us, as from that which the Mahomedans themselves would incur. Any change of religion by a Mahomedan-such is their lawis punished with death by the edge of the sword. We have one instance, that of Athanasius, a Christian; who unhappily, like some other professed Christians, had become a Mahomedan: struck with the enormity of his crime, he went into a Public Court, threw down his turban, and renounced Islamism. The consequence was, that he' was taken out to a plain, near Smyrna-was tortured for a long time, in a manner the most barbarous-and, at length, his head was cut off by the sword of the executioner. Then the question may be asked, "How is the Gospel to be preached to Mahomedans ?" But, I ask again, "Has it never been preached under circumstances even more dangerous?" Nay, was it not in the very first instance preached by the man who had once for a short period proved himself a coward, but was afterwards restored to strengthen his brethren; and who preached even in Jerusalem, when the spiritual and temporal power both conspired against him? Let the Gospel then be fully preached at Constanti

nople, and it will produce its blessed results. Witness the case of two Mahomedans, awakened by means of the Jews who were in prison at Constantinople, who, during their bondage, were made instruments of convincing the minds, if not of converting the hearts of their keepers; for it requires the special influence of the Holy Spirit to enable men, under circumstances of imminent danger, to profess with their lips what they believe with their hearts. Let us, however, persevere. Let the Gospel be preached in all its freeness: and we shall find that Turks will profess Christ as boldly and as manfully as Peter himself confessed Him.

[Rev. W. Jowelt-at the Church Miss. Ann. Affecting State of Jerusalem.

Before I leave the subject of the Mediterranean, I must solicit your attention to the miserable doings that are going on at Jerusalem. I regret to say that no days of my Missionary Course passed with so little comfort, as those which I spent in that city; which, however fallen, is still worthy our highest consideration, and still to be revered for the prospects that lie before her. But what is doing there? The words of the weeping Prophet may best describe her state -This is the city to be visited: she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

The lordly Turk is in possession of it: and, cold and unfeeling while he draws from it the means of pampering his own luxuries, he sits unmoved, while the suffering city goes to ruin.

There, also, is the pining Jew, in a very different state indeed from the Jews of other countries; and, as may be supposed, when looking upon his own country, peculiarly forlorn, and exhibiting in himself the most vivid comment on the curses at the close of the Book of Deuteronomy. There is a dizzy tremulousness in his look: he seems afraid of himself, and afraid of every thing; and, if he is spoken to, cowers and shrinks, as if he were convinced that he was still to be the victim of increased oppression.

Then there are Christians there, having a name to live, but they are dead. What are they doing? Not, certainly, the work of their Master. They pride themselves on the possession of what they call the Holy Places and the Holy Sepulchre. When asked by a friend, after having been some days at Jerusalem, why I did not visit the Holy Sepulchre, I confessed to him the reason of my reluctance and if I had not recollected that it might be my duty to repeat here what I had seen there, I would not have appeared in a place of such unmingled superstition. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is open to all on certain festivals: on other occasions it is to be seen for a small sum-about eight

shillings: we paid this sum, and expected to make our visit in silence; but it was immediately known in Jerusalem, where people seem to have no employment but to watch every passing occurrence, that the English Christians were about to visit the Church : when we went thither, we found the place crowded with persons, who were, in the language of those countries, "DOING" certain devotions: they were going round, touching certain' places-the Stone of Unction-the place where Joseph of Arimathea stood—that where Nicodemus stood, and the Empress Helena-the spot where Adam's scull was found by the Emperor Constantine! These and a multitude of other legendary spots they reverence; and they wondered that we did not do so likewise. I should be always most unwilling to wound the feelings of any one, more especially of one who may be sincere in his error; but, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there is not even the semblance of Christian Union-nothing but division. Theirs is a faith working by hatred. There are the Chapel of the Greeks, the Chapel of the Latins, and those of the Nestorians, the Copts, the Armenians, and the Abyssinians; and the Turk, who sits at the door smoking, smiles, in tranquil scorn, while he knows that he must be paid his price. These Christians come to purchase these sacred places, bidding one against another: and the consequence is, that there is nothing but perpetual strife among them, instead of the character enjoined by the Redeemer, when he said, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. There' is no place on the earth, which, like Jerusalem, so completely answers to the Apostle's expression, hateful, and hating. The Greek fights with the Catholic, and the Armenian with his money outbuys them both; while they are despised by the Jew, who knows that Idolatry is not Christianity.

[The Same-at the same.

Great Increase of Christian Labourers. When I first went out in 1815, I was the only Missionary in that vast sphere: eight years ago there were but six Missionaries: twelve months since there were thirty: but were they multiplied tenfold, or a hundredfold, there would be still room. When the last Report was presented, there were in the Mediterranean, Missionary Representatives of Seven Protestant Societies: there are now Representatives of Eight. There is the Church Missionary Society, the London, the Wesleyan, the Bâsle, the American, and, within the last four months, the Episcopal Missionary Society of America: these make Six; but, besides these, there are the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the Society