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VARIETIES.

ARAB ENDURANCE.-The Arabian singing reminds me of the Spanish : like it, it falls inharmoniously upon the

ear.

Our mule-drivers, when in a good humour, sang all day long; or, I should rather say, they uttered, with all the power of their lungs, wild, discordant tones, which sounded more like wrangling than singing; and when they passed from the one to the other, the difference was really not very perceptible. The abstinence of these people put me quite to the blush. I thought myself extremely moderate on this journey, yet I had everything that I wanted in abundance and of the best quality, though not in much variety. The mukeri, who had daily to travel eight or nine hours on foot along the most fatiguing roads, subsisted on a piece of bread not larger than my hand; and if we passed a vineyard or a field of maize, they would take a bunch of grapes or an ear of the corn. This was all the solid food of which they partook : and if there are nutritious qualities in water, it is conceivable that they need but little substantial nourishment; for they passed neither stream, well, or puddle without taking a draught. If water is not nourishing, they must have the capacity of a camel, which drinks by anticipation. With an empty stomach, they wrapt themselves up at night in their miserably thin cloaks, which are so scanty that they did not cover their naked, shivering legs, and slept so soundly on the stony ground, under their beautiful, but ice-cold, firmament of heaven, that Giorgio had to awake them every morning. Their teeth actually chattered with the cold while they packed the horses; but as soon as the sun appeared, they sang till the mountains re-echoed. Sometimes one or the other would run on some distance before, in order to rest till we came up to him, which he effected by crouching down upon his heels in the Arab fashion. This mode of sitting appears to be far more inconvenient than that adopted by the Turks, who sit crosslegged. The evening we were at the khan Murad, I stared full of astonishment at our Seis for his two-fold dexterity : he squatted upon his heels, and, in this position, wrote upon his left hand, with pen and ink, the reckoning which he was to give to his master at Beyrout. This facility in writing of an Arabian Seïs really astonished me: in Germany,

when a young man has attained this proficiency, he forthwith turns author ; but here he is contented to remain a muledriver. This evidence of good sense gives a favourable opinion of the Arabs. -Letters from the East by a German Countess.

BOHEMIAN TEAMS.-In the neighbourhood of Iglau, and, in fact, through the whole of Bohemia, we saw some of the strangest teams that could well be imagined. I thought the Frankfort milk-women, with their donkeys and hearse-like carts, were comical objects enough; but they bear no comparison with these Bohemian turn-outs. Dogsfor economy's sake, perhaps generally supply the place of oxen or horses; and it is no uncommon thing to see three large mastiffs abreast, harnessed to a country cart. A donkey and a cow together are sometimes met with; and one man, going to the festival at Iglau, had his wife and children in a little waggon, drawn by a dog and a donkey. These two, however, did not work well together: the dog would bite his lazy companion, and the man's time was constantly employed in whipping him off the donkey, and in whipping the donkey away from the side of the road. Once I saw a waggon drawn by a dog, with a woman pushing behind, while a man, doubtless her lord and master, sat comfortably within, smoking his pipe with the greatest complacency! The very climax of all woman and a dog harnessed together, taking a load of country produce to market ! I hope, for the honour of the country, it was not emblematic of woman's condition there. But as we saw hundreds of them breaking stones along the road, and occupied at other laborious and not less menial labour, there is too much reason to fear that it is so.Taylor's Views a-Foot in Europe.

was a

COMMERCIAL VALUE OF INSECTS. -The importance of insects, commercially speaking, is scarcely ever thought of. Great Britain does not pay less than 1,000,000 of dollars annually for the dried carcases of the tiny insect, the cochineal; and another Indian insect, gum shellac, is scarcely less valuable. More than 1,500,000 of human beings derive their sole support from the culture and manufacture of silk; and the silkworm alone creates an annual circulating medium of nearly 200,000,000 of dollars.

500,000 dollars are annually spent in England alone for foreign honey,-at least 10,000 cwt. of wax is imported into that country every year. Then there are the gall-nuts of commerce, used for dy

ing and making ink, &c.; while the cantharides, or Spanish fly, is an absolute indispensable in materia medica.-Boston Transcript.

WESLEYAN MISSIONS:

STATE AND

OR, INTELLIGENCE ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE WES-
LEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, AND ALSO OF THE
PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL IN VARIOUS PARTS OF
UNDER THEIR DIRECTION: EXTRACTED CHIEFLY

"

66 MISSIONARY NOTICES," AND FROM OTHER SOURCES
BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARIES.

*

THE WORLD

FROM THE

PUBLISHED

ANNIVERSARY OF THE WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

WITH feelings of devout gratitude to Almighty God, we record the interesting proceedings connected with the celebration of another Anniversary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society.

The religious services were commenced on Tuesday evening, April 27th, by the Rev. G. Osborn, of Liverpool, who preached from John xvii. 20-23. On Wednesday evening, the Rev. Dr. Newton, of Manchester, preached in City-road chapel. His text was, 1 Tim. i. 11: "The glorious Gospel of the blessed God." On Thursday morning, the Rev. William Atherton, President of the Conference, preached in the Great Room of the Centenary-Hall, on Gal. vi. 14: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." On Friday morning, in Great Queen-street chapel, the Rev. Dr. King, of Glasgow, preached on Jer. ix. 23, 24: "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." The Sermons delivered by those honoured servants of God were richly imbued with evangelical truth, and were eminently practical and appropriate to the occasion. The services were all well attended. A very gracious influence accompanied them, and solemnity and earnestness appeared to pervade the assembled congregations on each occasion. On the Wednesday evening, City-road chapel was densely crowded; and at the Sunday services as well.

:

On Sunday, May 2d, sermons on behalf of the Society were

* Our readers are earnestly requested to avail themselves of the opportunity to procure the entire copy of the "Wesleyan Missionary Notices," published by the Secretaries of the Society, and sold at the Centenary-Hall, Bishopsgate-street, and at 66, Paternoster-row, London. Our selections from this invaluable record of the progress of the Gospel in heathen lands must, of necessity, be brief: we are therefore very desirous that the "Notices" should receive an extensive circulation among all classes of the religious public.

preached in the principal chapels of the several Circuits in the metropolis: the officiating Ministers were the Revs. Dr. Newton, Dr. King, Dr. Hannah, Dr. Dixon, Robert Young, George Osborn, William Chalmers, Daniel M'Afee, William M. Bunting, and Thomas Hodson. We refer our readers to the "Missionary Notices," published by the Society, for a full account of the Annual Meeting which took place in Exeter-Hall, on Monday, May 3d, inasmuch as our space will allow us only to allude to one or two topics.

THE Financial Report, which was read by the REV. ELIJAH HOOLE, was as follows:

The Committee. begin with devout thanksgiving and humble ascriptions of praise to Almighty God. He had crowned the year with his goodness. Through his kind and overruling Providence, intercourse has been had during the year with every Mission of the Society throughout the world, however remote ; serious calamities which have threatened the prosperity, and even the existence, of some of the Missions, have been mercifully averted or greatly mitigated; the Missionaries, for the most part, have been preserved in the enjoyment of life and health; a few have returned for a season to recruit their strength in their native country; while six lamented labourers have been called to their eter nal reward in heaven. Twenty-five new Missionaries have been sent abroad to reinforce the Missions and to extend the sphere of Christian enterprise: an average degree of success has been granted in honour of the labours of the Society, and in answer to many prayers; and the liberality of the Society's friends has provided funds for the support of the Missions which have not merely been adequate to the expenditure authorized by the Committee, but have also left a small balance in the hands of the General Treasurers for the beginning of another year.

If the Income of the year be examined, it will be found that there is an increase on the whole of £2,838. 13s. 8d., and that this advance has arisen from an increase in every general source of Income. The increase on the Home Receipts is £2,067. 15s 9d. The following are the particulars. The receipts from the Home Auxiliaries, including the contributions received at the Mission-House, amount to £82,950. 7s. 5d., and show an increase of £1,515. ls. 11d. The Juvenile Christmas and New Year's Offerings amount to £4,770. 19s. 8d., being an increase in this delightful source of income of £284. 10s. 3d. The receipts from Ireland have been £6,462.

5s. 10d., showing an increase of £262. 3s. 10d. The receipts from Foreign Auxiliaries on the Mission Stations are £11,788. 6s. 5d., being an increase of £114. 18. 10d.; and the Miscellaneous Receipts, in the form of Colonial Grants, Legacies, Dividends, new Donations on Annuity for Life, &c., have amounted to £9,790. 3s. 10d., being an increase of £656. 16s. 1d. on this item for the year.

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The details of the Contributions to the Funds of the Society, received during the year 1846 from the several Auxiliary and Branch Societies at home and abroad, and of the Income arising from other and miscellaneous sources, were then read. The Home Receipts amounted to £82,950. 7s. 5d.; the Juvenile Christmas and New Year's Offerings for 1846, (received in time,) and Balance of those of 1845, to £4,770. 19s. 8d.; the receipts in Ireland, (including penses, &c., £489. 14s. 6d.,) to £6,552. Os. 4.-making a total of £94,183. 12s. 1ld. The total Receipts from Foreign Auxiliaries, &c., were £11,788. 6s. 5d. The Miscellaneous Receipts (including Grants) were £9,790. 3s. 10d.-Making, as before stated, a total amount of regular and miscellaneous Receipts from all sources, of £115,762. 3s. 2d. In the amount of Income, Ordinary and Extraordinary, for the year 1846, were inIcluded many distinguished instances of Christian liberality to the amount of £50 each, and upwards.

Twenty-five Missionaries, and six wives of Missionaries, have been sent out by the Society since the last Anniversary. Seven Missionaries, with two wives of Missionaries, have, during the year, returned to their several Foreign Stations, after visiting this country; and Mr. Whitehouse, who had long been usefully employed in the West Indies, but had returned to England for a season, has again been appointed to the foreign work, and, with his family, has proceeded to the Bahamas. The Society has also sent out, during the year, six Catechists or Teachers. Six muchlamented Missionaries have been removed by death :-Mr. Findlay, at Cape

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The REV. DR. KING, Minister of the United Secession Church, Glasgow, said, Mr. Chairman,-ladies and gentlemen, I rise with very great pleasure, to second the resolution which has been so ably proposed; and I feel it no common happiness to be thus allied with the mover, a Christian Minister whom the Christian world delighteth to honour. I have the more pleasure in discharging this duty, because it is new, not only to myself, but, I believe, to my religious denomina tion. The mover of this resolution has referred to the Church with which he is connected; and, under the sanction of his high example, I trust I shall be excused for thus alluding for a moment to my own religious connexion.

I am

aware that your Ministers and ours have, here and there, exchanged pulpits ;-I think they might do so more frequently with propriety and benefit. At the same time I am not aware that any Minister, expressly from our denomination in Scotland, has been honoured to take the same part, that I am now permitted to take, in your Missionary anniversary services. [Dr. Bunting here made a remark to the Rev. speaker.] I am referred to one of our Ministers who has been so honoured: but I have reminded my friend, Dr. Bunting, that that Minister was resident in England. This fact, therefore, may be looked upon as somewhat indicative: it shows in what dif ferent channels our streams have been flowing. You have taken your origin

and growth in England, and we in Scotland; and we seem to have identified local with religious extremes. At the same time, it would be improper to say that the difference is exclusively local. Our doctrines, our government, our discipline, all present more or less contrariety and divergence. These facts, then, may explain why I have not come sooner; but it remains to be accounted for that I have come now. Is it that I am becoming a Methodist? I am not sure that I should take fright at the idea. I think I have met with more startling conceptions. I am sure of this, that I should be a follower of you, wherever you were followers of Christ; and I will concede further, that I might be chargeable with many more reprehensible robberies than taking a leaf, here and there, out of your book. I am sure, if I should do so, and they should be read through the whole extent of Scotland, your zeal would provoke very many." But I really am not aware that I am turning Wesleyan. What, then, is the explanation of my presence here? Is it that you are becoming Scotch Seceders, or Calvinistic Presbyterians? I really cannot flatter myself, that the manner in which you receive the question bespeaks an affirmative response. If it be not, then, that I am turning Methodist,-if it be not that you are turning Secessionalists,-what is the exposition? I trust it is that we are both becoming a little more Christian,— that we are forming a clearer and juster apprehension of the nature, the spirit, and the aims of our holy religion. are finding, that our differences are not quite so vast as we had imagined, that we have hitherto beheld them through a mist that magnified them; and that, as we come nearer, instead of enlarging, they are found considerably to diminish. At all events, if it be not granted that we have over-estimated our differences, I think it will be confessed that we have under-estimated our agreements; that we have done great injustice to what we hold and hope in common. We are united as to the excellence of judgment, mercy, and faith; and we have begun to discover,-O, how late!that these are the weightier matters of the law. If I should be asked to enunciate, a little more distinctly still, some of our great common sentiments, I should refer to the doctrinal basis, or summary,or call it what you will,-of the Evangelical Alliance; and I am free to say, that he does not understand the Gospel who does not rank the contents of that

We

document with its cardinal and soulsaving principles. Not only, however, is there much in common in our convictions, but there is not a little that is common, or at least analogous, in our ecclesiastical history. Our Churches might be sister churches, in respect of their age. The one cannot stand to the other in the relation of a mother church. We had both, likewise, small beginnings, beginning with individuals, and not, like the Nonconformists or the Free Church, with hundreds or thousands of esteemed and devoted Ministers. In both cases, likewise, from small beginnings we have greatly increased. I am far, indeed, from alleging that our increase rivals or approaches yours; but you will not declare it to be contemptible, nor will you think us unworthy the name of a Missionary Church, when I state, that, in the course of a century, the number of our Ministers has increased from four to four hundred. Besides, the Relief Church may be regarded as another department of our Church, and these churches during the present month are to be united into one Church,-to be known henceforth by the name of "The United Church." We shall then, in our Ministers and churches, be about 600 strong. We have likewise Missionaries in the Highlands of Scotland, in the Orkney Isles, in Jamaica, Trinidad, America, and Africa. Why, if we had not met here, and if we had determined that one should go West and the other East, we should meet in the persons of our Missionaries on the other side of the globe. Such meetings have taken place. The Missionary more immediately connected with your congregation in Trinidad has been actually in "evangelical alliance" with our Missionaries there; thus, as it were, tendering a practical rebuke to our late and tardy cooperation. Even our differences, perhaps, are not in every instance to be regretted, if they respect not the question of truth and error, but merely details of management. Perhaps those differences were providentially intended for good. We have not flourished greatly in England. I do not find, in your Reports, very much about signal success attending your labours in Scotland. It seems, then, as if each tree fitted its own soil. If they had both been the same, one or other country had wanted a bread-fruit tree. It is enough if they are both in their own way fertile; both trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. If any would still doubt about the substantiality or importance of VOL. III.-FOURTH SERIES.

our agreements, and would question my own consistency in courting your fellowship, which, however, am sure, nobody in my religious connexion would do,he will find my response and my defence in your most interesting Report. God is countenancing you: who then shall discountenance you? He is pouring out his Spirit on you, and I trust on us likewise what, then, am I, or any one, to fight against God? It is a noble Report. It does great honour to your Secretaries; and, what is of infinitely greater moment, it does honour to our common religion. It is delightful to read there of the successes with which you have been favoured, and scarcely less delightful to mark the truthfulness and humility with which disappointments and reverses are acknowledged. I might pass from paragraph to paragraph, showing its great and diversified interest; but I will notice only two great leading facts to which the Report throughout bears the strongest attestation. The first of those facts is, that the Gospel is every where necessary. As regards secular commodities there is an interchange: one country gives what another country wants. But all countries want the Gospel. It is now here indigenous; it is not superseded by natural advantages, by soil, by climate, or by geographical position. In consequence of these advantages, indeed, vegetation may be luxuriant; perhaps arts and sciences may even be advanced; and Babylons and Ninevehs may raise their pinnacles to heaven. But all these external advantages, without the Gospel of Christ, only aggravate by contrast the meanness, the vileness, and the wretchedness of spiritual ruin. Nor is the Gospel superseded by time for improvement. We have heard a great deal about the self-improvement of man, and various theories have been contrived to show in what way he elevates himself in respect of intelligence, morality, and happiness; but when we look at the world as it is in fact, we see that its tendency is to degenerate. We speak, my friends, about our dispensations, and we have indeed had them, antediluvian, Mosaic, Christian,-each rising above the other in excellence and value; but let us keep in mind that for the great majority of the world's population there has been but one economy, not a divine, but a Satanic, economy,-guilty, frightful, wretched; an economy of deep and still deepening delusion. If you could find any nation, in the absence of the Gospel, trusting, loving, and serving God, such a nation would afford a very strong argu2 U

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