even the forgiveness of sins.' Tuam.

This Mission is situated in Connaught, and embraces several parts of the counties of Galway and Roscommon. The Missionary frequently addresses the people in the Irish, as well as the English, language; and the work has progressively prospered. Erris.-We have abundant cause of intense gratitude to the God of Missions for a large measure of prosperity amid famine and disease. Cavan.-Fever and famine have prevailed, yet the Lord has preserved us. We have great peace in our societies."

In reference to the Missions on the continent of EUROPE, it was stated, that at Winnenden, in the kingdom of WIRTEMBERG, the Society's faithful Agent had been greatly encouraged by a gracious religious revival, which, at the date of his last letter, published in the Missionary Notices" for the month of May, had extended to at least forty villages and neighbourhoods. In the peculiar circumstances of FRANCE, at the present period, it was observed,-The Committee would not so much dwell upon the actual condition of the Society's Mission in that country, as report what were its state and prospects on the eve of the mighty changes effected by the recent Revolution. It is already obvious, that the English stations will be very extensively injured, if not entirely suspended, by this great political event: to what extent facilities may be secured for the promotion of the French work time only can explain. One thing, however, is certain, that, whatever ground of hope may exist as to the future, the Missionaries, placed in the midst of the scenes of excitement and trouble which France now presents, have a strong claim upon the sympathy of the friends and supporters of the Society; while it especially behoves all who wish well to the cause of evangelical truth upon the continent of Europe, to be earnest and persevering in prayer, that the course of affairs in France may be so directed as to prove subservient to the spread of pure and vital Christianity. SWITZERLAND came next in order. In their Report of last year it was the painful duty of the Committee to furnish some distressing details of a disgraceful State-persecution of religion in the Canton de Vaud, in the sad consequences of which the Wesleyan Ministers and their congregations were called, in common with other Christians, to experience their share of violent opposition and injury, and to "suffer for righteousness' sake;" and, in the monthly "Missionary Notices," infor.

mation has since been given of further proceedings, by which the labours of the Society's Missionaries had been seriously interrupted, and themselves exposed to the penalty of banishment from the Canton. The following is an extract of a letter from the Rev. Matthew Gallienne:

"We have not allowed ourselves to be overawed, and have met as formerly; only the difficulty of finding a sufficient number of preaching-rooms has led us to imitate the persecuted Christians of former times, that is, to resort for prayer to retired places in the neighbouring forests! On the 2d instant, we assembled in a wood on the borders of the lake. Here we met in peace, and had a very solemn service. The place and circumstances of our meeting gave it a character peculiarly solemn and interesting. Before us lay the quiet blue waters of the lake, transparent as a sea of glass, while, in the distance, the lofty summits of the mountains of Savoy, with their snowy heights, seemed, as it were, rising out of the waters. The fields around were adorned with their brightest verdure; the sun shone bright, and the birds sweetly warbled in the groves. My mind naturally reverted to the meeting of our blessed Saviour and his disciples on the borders of the lakes of the Holy Land, and, in particular, to their interview after his resurrection, near the sea of Tiberias. The question of our Lord to Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?' seemed to come home to our hearts with peculiar force; and I trust, that, while meditating upon this important subject, our love and devotedness to the Master was strengthened and increased. The Sabbath following our meeting took place in a forest situated in another direction; and here also we met without the least molestation. Of course I am now only alluding to our Sabbath-morning meetings. In the evening we have been enabled to meet in town, at a friend's house, without being detected. This we esteem as a peculiar token of God's mercy; for, while some congregations are prevented meeting, through fear of the persecutors, and others are annoyed and dispersed, we have, even in the worst times, been enabled to meet together, to praise our common Lord! We are, of course, much exposed; but we rest beneath the Almighty's shade,'”

SPAIN, SOUTH and NORTH CEYLON, CONTINENTAL INDIA, and AusTRALIA, came next in order; and the statements were uniformly gratifying.

During the past year, the Mission in

South Ceylon has had, upon some of its stations, to pass through an ordeal that, at one time, threatened to produce an effect the most pernicious upon the native mind. It was given out by men whose craft was in danger, that, as our Missionaries are not of the Establishment, all who countenance them are thereby acting in opposition to the Government; and, by so doing, will bring upon themselves and their children many consequences of a kind which is regarded by the natives with no little dread. But when the matter was officially brought to the notice of the Governor, Lord Torrington, he issued a Minute that at once allayed the fears of our people, by making known to them, in an explicit manner, that all the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty are at perfect liberty to choose their own religious profession; and the most notorious of the offenders was dismissed from his situation, after a patient trial before the Government Agent of the District, on account of the active part he had taken in propagating, in the name of the Colonial authorities, false reports relative to the character of our Mission. The result has been, that a great amount of the prejudice that formerly existed has been removed, our churches are at rest, and a wider field is opened for the labours of our Missionaries, which they are embracing with all cagerness, in order that they may win more souls for Christ. Nor must we forget to notice, that within the last few months, there has been an active separation of the Government from all official patronage of Heathenism, by which a great hinderance to the spread of the truth has been removed, and the atheistical teachers of Budhism have been deprived of one of their greatest holds upon the minds of the people.

In reference to New-Zealand, the Report observed:-An important question, very seriously involving the interests of this Mission, has recently occupied the attention of the Committee. The subject was brought under their consideration by a Memorial signed by all the Society's Missionaries in NewZealand, stating that the publication of a despatch from the Right Hon. Earl Grey, of the 23d of December, 1846, together with the "Instructions" explanatory of the "Charter" at the same time transmitted, had produced a great feeling of alarm among the natives; as being, in their view, contradictory to the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi, of the 6th of February, 1840, by which Treaty,

while they ceded the sovereignty of NewZealand to the British Crown, their right to the entire soil of the country was solemnly recognised. The Missionaries, moreover, alleged that were not that philanthropic arrangement-designed by the imperial Government to protect the natives from the evils of irregular colonization-faithfully observed, their own character, in common with that of the Missionaries of the Church Society, would be irrecoverably compromised, in consequence of the part which they took, at the request of Her Majesty's Representative, in the execution of the Treaty; that their influence with the natives, who would be led to regard them as their betrayers, would be inevitably destroyed; and that the great injury, if not ultimate ruin, of the Missions, must certainly be the result. After serious deliberation upon this painful subject, the Committee, in a lengthened document, made a suitable representation of the case to the noble Earl at the head of the Colonial Department, earnestly requesting him to furnish to the Governor of New-Zealand such further instructions as should satisfy the natives that the Treaty of Waitangi will be maintained in all its integrity. The Committee are happy to report, that to this communication they have received a very satisfactory reply. A single extract must for the present suffice. Under date of Downing-Street, 13th of April, 1848, Mr. Under-Secretary Merivale writes as follows:

"I am directed by Earl Grey to ac knowledge your letter of the 24th of February, 1848, together with the Memorial of the Wesleyan Missionary Committee, bearing date of the preceding day, which accompanied it. His Lordship has given to the contents of that Memorial his earnest attention. He has felt this to be due, not only to the importance of the document, but to the character of the body from which he has received it. He fully recognises the claims which that body possesses upon Her Majesty's Government in relation to New-Zealand, from the important duties which were cast upon its Missionaries, on the occasion of those negotiations with the natives on which the present settlement of the islands is based; from the fact on which the Committee justly lay stress, that their Missionaries stand in the position of disinterested and impartial witnesses, owing to their abstinence from dealings in land with the natives; and, more than all, from their meritorious and successful exertions in reclaim

ing New Zealand from Heathenism, and disseminating among its people the principles of civil as well as religious instruction. And it is in deference to such claims as these, that his Lordship proposes, on the present occasion, to enter a little more fully into the past and present policy of the Government in the New-Zealand Land-question, than is, perhaps, absolutely required by the memorialists themselves.

"I am directed, in the first place, to assure you that the Committee do Her Majesty's Government no more than justice, in believing that they intend, and have always intended, to recognise the Treaty of Waitangi. They recognise it, as Lord Grey believes, in the same sense which the memorialists themselves attach

to it. They recognise it in both its essential stipulations: the one securing to those native tribes, of which the Chiefs have signed the Treaty, a title to those lands which they possessed according to native usage (whether cultivated or not) at the time of the Treaty the other, securing to the Crown the exclusive right of extinguishing such title by purchase. And I am directed once more to refer you to Lord Grey's despatches of the 23d of December, 1846, and the 30th of November, 1847, as showing that Governor Grey has been throughout directed to proceed with the utmost caution in acting upon the principles of his Land-Instructions of the 28th of December, 1846, and to respect all rights which have been secured under the stipulations of the Treaty.

"Nor can his Lordship agree with the memorialists that there is anything in these Instructions which is either inconsistent with the Treaty, or calculated to excite anything like a reasonable alarm in those who may be interested in maintaining it. The Protector of the Aborigines is required to transmit to the Registrar a statement of the extent of all claims to native lands, whether by tribes or individuals in his district, for provisional registration. But no native claim can be finally registered, unless it be established that the right has been acknowledged by some act of the Executive, or some judgment of a Court, or that the land has been occupied in the manner which the Instructions go on to specify. Now, the Treaty of Waitangi is unquestionably an act of the Executive Government; and it appears to Lord Grey, that the reasonable construction of these words would be, that wherever a claim had been made to land on behalf of a tribe which had been a party to the

Treaty, and it was established that the land so claimed had belonged to the tribe at the date of the Treaty, the claim would be secured by final registration. But, clear as this may be thought, his Lordship is so anxious that there should be no possibility of any misapprehension on this subject, that he will specially direct the attention of the Governor, and, through him, of the local authorities, to this, as the true meaning of the Instructions."

The Committee cannot now particularly remark upon that fuller exposition of his view on the New-Zealand Landquestion, with which his Lordship obligingly favours them in the course of his answer. Regarding the assurance, that Her Majesty's Government concur in that interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi which the Committee respectfully advocated, and that the Governor of NewZealand shall receive further instructions for the purpose of removing any remaining misunderstanding upon the subject,

as a satisfactory answer to the prayer of their Memorial; it only remains for the Committee to express their deep sense of the kind and considerate attention manifested by the noble Colonial Secretary to this important subject, while they purpose to enjoin anew upon the Society's Missionaries in New-Zealand such a constant and persevering endeavour to promote the best interests of both races of Her Majesty's subjects in that colony, as will prove them to be deserving of the high encomium which his Lordship has been pleased to pronounce upon their character and services.

The POLYNESIAN MISSIONS were reported to be in an encouraging state. In the Friendly Islands an increase of seven hundred members had taken place; and "giant strides" are being made in all the departments of the work at Feejee.

The statements as to AFRICA were full of interest. In the South, the Mission-work among the colonists, (English and Dutch,) and among the natives, within the colony, and beyond its borders, was encouraging; and in Western Africa the cause is steadily advancing.

The BRITISH WEST INDIES, amidst much that is unpromising, present some bright spots. The Missionaries had done much in preparing the coloured population for the inestimable blessing of freedom,-a point on which the testimony of a highly respectable Magistrate of Jamaica (Mr. Hill) was quoted, showing that it was a rare case indeed for a Wesleyan to be charged

even with a misdemeanour. At Hayti an inviting field for Missionary enterprise was now opening.

The Society's Missions in BRITISH NORTH AMERICA continued to promote the great end for which they were originally established. The re-union which has been happily effected between the British and Canadian Conferences, and the arrangements entered into for the support and extension of Missions in that country, promise results highly beneficial to the colony and to the regions beyond.

The Report concluded as follows:In the review of the past year, and in the present state and prospects of the Society, there is much to awaken thoughtfulness and solicitude. A reduced income, although resulting, not from the decline of Missionary zeal, but from circumstances beyond human control, would be, at any time, a subject for serious consideration, for the reason that it is impossible suddenly to adjust the expenditure of distant Missions to the diminished resources of the Society at home; but, at the present juncture, it is rendered especially embarrassing by the fact, that some of our oldest and most important Missions are involved in great difficulty, and need increased pecuniary aid from the general funds of the Society. In the former part of this Report, especial reference is made to the causes which led to an increased expenditure, last year, in Kaffraria and the West Indies: but a retrospective glance does not afford a view of the entire case. The financial effects of those unfavour. able causes still continue to be felt. With regard to the former country,Kaffraria, it remains to be stated, that, unless pecuniary means can be provided for the restoration of the chapels, dwelling-houses, and other property destroyed during the war, amounting in value to several thousands of pounds, the Missions which were suspended in consequence of the war cannot be advantageously resumed; and, if not resumed, the Society must inevitably lose the fruits of many past years of labour and expense. In the principal sugar-growing colonies of the West Indies, as, for instance, Jamaica,-in like manner, one of two alternatives presents itself for adoption; and the choice must be made between an enlarged grant from the general fund, or reduction of expenditure by the abandonment of stations. Other important Mission-Districts might be adverted to, as having, from various circumstances of peculiarity, strong

claims for a greater amount of pecuniary assistance; but a reference to the prominent features of embarrassment in these two Districts will be sufficient for the purpose of illustration. While rejoicing in the evidences which are afforded of the unabated zeal of their friends and supporters, the Committee deem it right thus to give prominence to the fact, that, with an income considerably less than that of the preceding year, they are called upon to meet increased claims of much more than ordinary urgency,claims which cannot be rejected, without placing in jeopardy the interests of some of the Society's most important Missions. This fact, indicative of the present state of the Society, is momentous enough in itself to challenge attention and grave consideration; but it ought to be pondered with an especial reference to the prospects of Missionary Societies generally, in the midst of the astounding scenes which are now developing themselves on the theatre of Europe. In the presence of those mighty events which have eluded all human foresight, and baffled alike the calculations of the politician and the man of commerce, it is impossible to say that the financial resources of religious and benevolent Societies shall not continue, for some time longer, to experience the injurious effects of that commercial stagnation already so severely and extensively felt. Nor can the shrewdest observer be certain that other interruptions to Missionary enterprise shall not take place. Already the sparks of war have been emitted from the combustible materials scattered throughout the Continent; and the contemplative mind, looking at the principles now at work in the light which the history of the past reflects upon the subject, perceives that it is not merely possible, but even within the range of at least a remote probability, that those sparks may burst forth into a conflagration so extensive, as to interpose new and formidable obstacles to the visits of Christian philanthropy to the distant nations of the Heathen. In the state and prospects of the Society there is obviously enough for sober reflection. But the consideration is cheering, that there is nothing calculated to produce discouragement. It is characteristic of Christian wisdom to look difficulties, and even danger where it exists, calmly in the face, and prepare to meet the emergency. The friends of Christian Missions are privileged, in times of trial, to fall back upon great first principles, which, like their divine Author, remain