ing. We are not exempt from some On Sunday, the 29th of August, I had the pleasure to baptize an aged Cherokee female on a profession of her faith in Christ Jesus. I suppose she is not far short of eighty years of age. She is grandmother to Eliza Greene. She walked twenty miles, to obey her Lord's command. We were favored with an interesting season at the Lord's table, and afterwards in the course of the afternoon, the people seemed much engaged in devotional exercises. Several anxious inquirers came forward to express their desire to unite with the people of God in seeking mercy through the Redeemer's blood. Proceedings of the Committee of Correspondence and its Missionaries. It has been made known from time to time, what your Committee have done in the appointment of missionaries and the appropriation of funds, furnished by your body. The Rev. Lewis Williams has labored with undiminished success, industry, and zeal, the past year, within the bounds of the Missouri Association. The result of his labors has been the sustentation and growth of six churches previously formed, and which depended for the word and ordinances, solely on him and the young gifts brought forward; the organization of one new church on Wildhorse Creek, in the western part of St. Louis county, made up, I think, entirely of newly baptized converts; the baptism of more than fifty disciples, and the licencing of four five young brethren to preach the gospel, who evince promising gifts for usefulness. For these self-denying labors, our missionary has received 50 dollars from the one hundred dollar fund voted to the Committee by your Board, and twenty-three dollars and fifty cents from the Missouri Association. Late communications from our missionary inform us that he has been compelled to relax his labors very considerably during the latter part of winIf some friends should feel disposed ter, from ill health, caused by fatigue to send us a few useful books, it would and colds, taken from unwearied efbe a great help to us. There being forts by night and by day. The renow several persons who need particu-vival had showed symptoms of decline, At night, at prayer-meeting, the whole congregation seemed as if electrified, by an exhortation from brother John Timson. It was the most powerful and affecting address I ever heard in Cherokee. Every sentence seemed to be clothed with power, and to reach the hearts of the people. Surely the presence of the Lord filled the house. Sobs and tears and earnest breathings after God, were seen, and heard, on every side. The old and young, the educated and the ignorant, seemed to be equally overpowered.May Jesus go on in his gospel chariot, conquering and to conquer. but had not entirely subsided within the bounds of his labors. You have been informed also, that the Committee appropriated fifteen dollars to brother George Stacy, for his expenses for eight weeks' service during the summer and fall. At their meeting in February, the Committee passed another resolution to employ Mr. Stacy as much of his time as could be spared conveniently from his studies, and as could be directed to the most useful purpose, as their missionary, in the counties of Madison, St. Clair, and the city of St. Louis; and they appropriated the remaining thirty-five dollars from your fund for this purpose. This was considered the most economical and judicious use that could be made of it. There was a loud call in this field for some special missionary labor. His labors chiefly, are directed to Alton, Lebanon, Belleville, and St. Louis and the surrounding settlements. In Alton his labors have been blessed in a revival of religion, which has resulted in the baptism of five persons, and the organization of a church of eight members. This service I performed on the fourth Sabbath in April. Several more are prepared to go down into the water, the first opportunity.Mr. Stacy is to be ordained at the Seminary on the next Lord's day. His labors have been made the means of the conversion of some souls at other places. It begins to be a season of harvest with us. Five have been baptized in Alton, six at Rock Spring, one at Edwardville, and two at Belleville, since the opening of spring. And there are not less than twelve or fourteen more candidates at different places now waiting to follow the Lord. At the meeting of the Committee in April, a licensed preacher, by the name of Ozias Hale, from the military tract, was present. In addition to frequent letters communicated to me the past year, brother H. gave a verbal statement to the Committee of the state of things, prospects of doing good, and importance of occupying that field. Here are the counties of Calhoun, Pike, Adams, and Warren, on the Mississippi, and Schuyler, Fulton, and Peoria on the Illinois, with Mc Donough in the interior, containing a population of ten thousand souls, and rapidly settling, that demand our special notice. In this tract are five or six feeble Baptist churches, and not more than three or four Baptist preach ers. Opposite Pike and Adams, on the Missouri side are the counties of Pike, (Missouri) Ralls, and Marion, quite populous, with several small Baptist churches, and two or three preachers, where brother Hale occasionally labors. It is not the wish of the Committee to attempt the cultivation of any field, which they cannot reasonably follow up with efficient laborers; nor to lessen efforts where a beginning has been made: but they considered this field so pressingly important, and being satisfied as to the qualifications of brother Hale for a useful missionary, that they voted him an appointment for the coming year. It will be of immense importance to keep up the missionary labors, already so beneficial in the Missouri Association; and, if possible, to increase them by an additional missionary. The brethren there are circulating subscriptions with some success, under the plan of the Association; and there is some prospect they will raise enough to keep one missionary in the field. The missionary operations in Madison, St. Clair, and the adjacent counties of Illinois, must be sustained. The little churches we are constituting must be promptly and vigorously attended to. New ground must be broken. On the last Sabbath in this month I have an appointment to constitute a church, fourteen miles east of Edwardsville, on the road to Vandalia. Here a new field of effort will be opened. Calls are made upon us from various quarters of Missouri and Illinois, which we even cannot stop to listen to, as it is wholly out of our power to answer them. I remain, as ever, your unworthy missionary, J. M. PECK. is not as corrupt as it was some centuries ago; and that in the United States especially, little is to be apprehended from its advancement. Indeed, I know it to be a fact, that many Christians of Protestant denominations have actually given their money to aid in building Roman Catholic churches in our own country. I must think that such individuals are wholly unconscious of what they are doing. What! shall it be said, that while missionaries abroad find in the Catholic church by far the most appalling of all obstacles to the pro I believe I have already informed you of my passage from New York to England. I left England in November 1829. We brought out with us three other missionaries, and their wives; had a delightful passage, and arrived here on the 12th of December. Found our missionaries all alive, and most of them in pretty good health. We have since lost one, Mr. Mann, a most indefatigable laborer, who had been on the island about four years; he died of the common Jamaica fever-the terror of Europeans, which removed him in two or three days.—gress of their work; while that church Our number at present is twelve. Several have been ill lately—two or three dangerously so; but we hope they are fast recovering now. Opposition in some shape or other, continues almost as great as ever.The House of Assembly have re-enacted a law which has been disallow ed once or twice, prohibiting all sectaries holding any meetings for religious worship after sunset, or before sunrise; and also subjecting any missionary to a penalty of twenty pounds for receiving any money or money's worth from slaves! We have great cause for thankfulness, however, that our mission continues to prosper. A few days ago we held our annual association, when we found that the clear increase of members in all our churches during the past year, i. e. from easter 1829 to easter 1830, was one thousand three hundred and ninety-eight. I should be glad to give you a more particular account of our mission; but I am exceedingly fatigued, having had a hard day's work, and been much in the sun. It is past nine o'clock, and I have yet to pack for a journey, on which I start at four in the morning, to visit a distant part of my diocess, about twenty miles from this, whither I go once a fortnight. I remain, dear brother, your's very is watching them with an eagle eye, and inventing every possible method to paralyse their influence, and threatening their very existence; shall it be said that Christians at home are lending their aid to strengthen and support this very church? I hope, Sir, you will lift up your voice on this subject; and if any are deceived, do exert all your influence to convince them of their error. It is a mistaken notion that the Roman Catholic religion is not so corrupt as it used to be. Perhaps it has undergone some modifications in its first introduction into the United States; but let the people know that these modifications are only temporary. The pope is still at the head, and the whole system of the church is essentially the same that it was when Luther lifted up his voice and protested against its abominations. In Malta, you know, the Catholic is the dominant religion. I wish that the Christians in America, who are so liberal in their feelings towards this sect, could see what I have seen in Malta. SABBATH SCHOOLS IN THE VAL LEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. The late resolution of the American Sabbath School Union, to establish schools in every town, in the Valley of the Mississippi, is of a character which cannot fail to exhilarate the spirits of every reflecting Christian. We most cordially and earnestly wish them an ultimate triumph in the effort; and hope that every degree of aid which the enterprise demands, will be cheerfully granted. This measure, if successful, will have the happiest ten dency to counteract the effects of the Roman Catholic missionaries, who have been sent from Europe to this delightful section of our country, and who are endeavoring to rivet on the new settlements, the errors of the dark ages. The Baptists in Philadelphia have held a public meeting to express their approbation of the measures of the Union, and subscribed more than five hundred dollars to the funds, which they hope to increase to one thousand dollars. ORDINATIONS, &c. Rev. Cyrus P. Grosvenor was installed pastor of the Second Baptist church and society in Salem, on the 5th of Oct. Sermon, by Rev. Mr. Knowles, of Boston, from Ps. cxxii. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, &c. Barnaby, of Danvers, Sharp, of Boston, Rev. Messrs. Adlam, of Marblehead, Babcock, of Salem, Keely, of Haverhill, Aldrich, of Beverly, and Warne, of South Reading, also, officiated on this interesting occasion. The performances breathed a catholic spirit; and we are pleased to hear that our respected friend has entered on this inviting part of his Master's vineyard, under very his people long enjoy uninterrupted seaauspicious circumstances. May he and sons of temporal and spiritual blessings. Rev. Wilson C. Rider, late graduate of Waterville college, was ordained as pastor of the First Baptist church in Mariaville, Maine, Sept. 8. Sermon by Rev. James Gillpatrick. At Hebron, N. H. Oct. 6, Mr. Edmund Worth was set apart to the work of an Evangelist. Sermon by Prof. Farnsworth. Account of Moneys received by the Treasurer of the General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States, for Foreign Missions, from Sept. 21, to Oct. 15, 1830. From Sharon Fem. Bap. Bur. Miss. Soc. per Miss Parmelia Sumner, Sec. for A female friend in Milton, Bur. Miss. By Bap. Church, Weston, at monthly Do. concerts, 10,75 Littleton, do. 11,33 Mr. Josh. Tucker, Harvard, B. M. 10,00 Worcester Co. Bap. Char. Soc. per 100,00 30,50 Rev. Otis Converse, Treas. Bap. Church and Society, Dedham, monthly concerts, Fem. Mite Soc. of do. Bur. miss. 22,08 Young Ladies Indus. Soc. of do. for 10,00 ,50 Katharine Morse, by Mr. E. Lincoln, 13,00 Mr. Daniel Faulkner, Treas. of the eastern Maine Association, 7,64 Mr. James Gillpatrick, Treas. of Hancock Aux. Miss. Soc. 3,25 Per Lincoln & Edmands, -10,89 Rev. Whitman Metcalf, of Sardinia, Erie Co. N. Y. having heen contributed as follows, viz. 6,08 6,37 1,06 By Individuals of the church, Fem. Soc. Eden, Friends to Burman mission, Contributions at the close of the Holland Purchase Association, held in Sardinia, Contribution at the monthly coucert of the church in Sardinia, Cash to constitute Rev. Whitman Metcalf and Rev. Geo. D. Boardman Life Members of the Bap. Gen. Tract Soc. 17,46 7,25 Indian missions, Male and Fem. Juv. Soc. of Woburn, for Burman schools, 6,00 Bap. Church and Soc. of Woburn, collected at monthly concerts, for 20,00 Bur. bible, 32,00 58,22 Female friend, Malden, ,50 Do. do. Cambridge, 2,00 25,00 Bap, Ch. and Soc. of West Cam bridge, monthly concerts, 20,00 A friend to the Burman mission, of Newton, per L. Farwell, Esq. 5,00 -253,91 From Lincoln Bap. Miss. Soc. (Me.) Aux. &c. per Mr. Hezekiah Prince, Treas. Lincoln Bap. Fem. Cent Soc. per same, 33,66 Friend in Cumberland Assoc. Me. 1,00 Wayne, Me. per Rev. E. Thresher, ,75 Mr. H. B. Rounds, Treas. of the Utica 50,00 1,00 85,41 Do. for Burman bible, 15,50 Per Mr. E. Lincoln, 117,50 H. LINCOLN, Treas. 1,75 TO CORRESPONDENTS. The Review of Bunyan's Works will be inserted in our next Number. THE early and sudden death of this young servant of the Redeemer, has created in the hearts of thousands a pang of sorrow and of disappointed hope. He was so actively toiling for his Master, in that sphere of labor for which he was best fitted, that all who knew him were rejoicing in his light, and anticipating for him a long and brightening course of usefulness. But God has summoned him from the earth, and it becomes us to say, with humble acquiescence, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." A notice of his character and of the principal events of his life, was inserted in the Magazine for September last. It is not in my power, were it needful, to add any thing of material importance to that notice; yet I have thought that a few remarks might be useful. I had a long, intimate, and endeared acquaintance with him. His death was to me a most painful bereavement. It struck on my heart as a monition, more solemn and emphatic than any other which I have ever received—Be thou also ready. After he was baptized, and had received a license to preach the Gospel, he was not content to enter on the duties of the ministry without obtaining additional mental discipline, and replenishing hiş mind with knowledge. It was desirable, considering his talents, that he should commence a regular course of academical and collegiate study, preparatory to his theological education. But various circumstances prevented this measure at that time. He accordingly entered in November, 1820, the Literary and Theological Institution in Philadelphia, under the care of the late Dr. Staughton and Professor Chase. Here the acquaintance of the writer with him began. In the happy society of the little band there assembled, and since so widely dispersed, friendships were formed, which will not be forgotten in this world, and which eternity, it is hoped, will hallow and perpetuate. |