LETTER FROM WILLIAMU.

(The Aneityumese in the letter is in Williamu's autograph, the Translation by Mr Inglis.)

SITNE, Me 11. 1863.

MR KAY,-Ek aiheuc vai yec ainyak ek aged ehelum ainyak mika ektaij umumoh upene aijamtaij anaopan ineig naurineig va naiheuc u Natimarid vai camtaij ektaij mun amen aijamtaij Sitne an naopan ineig ecris amen aijama anjap is upene nemteigjap vai camar um ero acha inmohoc ecris um apahai aijama Melburn um amen eahki an uik is eseij achei japar lep atga irai Stimar um apam Sitne um amen par aijgaig nelcau apan Aneityum et ahcid pum camtaij Sitne a Mr Peton ahes Melburn. Ecra cehceha aijama asega et etyi leh nemehe tap naurineig va naihec u Natimarid nuhun umuh uja ek lep ika ainyak alaigaheni vai camtaij mika ektiji emda aijamtaj par asalgei nipjinecsemtaij ehele ilpu Eityum par asuptecnaig Beritani isijnves acen u Atna, im dosona a naiheuc u Jesu Kristo Natimarid uja Emen. Ek aiheuc vai Mrs Kay im Larens ainyak um aiheuc vai Misis Snoteras um etyi ahinag iran va naiheuc vai nyak oun' um lep aiheuc vai Mr im Mrs Paterson im lep sa asega im lep ilpu halav asega. Intas unyak Williamu imi Mr Kay. Ek aiheua vai yec ainyak.

TRANSLATION.

We

SYDNEY, May 11. 1863. MY DEAR MR KAY,-I wish you well. I write to you at this time to say that we three are well, thanks be to the Lord for his kindness to us three. We three are staying in Sydney at present. We had a pleasant voyage; the wind was fair, and we were only about two months on the sea. landed at Melbourne, and stayed there over two Sabbaths, after which we took the steamer and came to Sydney, where we are waiting for a vessel to sail to Aneityum. Mr Paton left Melbourne along with us three, and accompanied us to Sydney. We are all well, not one of us has caught any sickness; thanks be to the Lord for his mercy, which is the cause of our life and health.

I say also, pray for us three, that we may be strong to open our mouths to the people of Aneityum, to explain to them the very high place to which God has raised Britain; it is the throne of the mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. My love to Mrs Kay and Lawrence. My love also to Mrs Snodgrass; I do not forget her, she was so kind to me. My love also to Mr and Mrs Paterson and all the rest; also to all the children.

The letter of me Williamu to you Mr Kay. My love to you.

LETTER FROM DR LIVINGSTONE, AFRICA.

THE following is an extract from an interesting letter just received from Dr Livingstone, the distinguished African traveller, by Mr William Logan, Maxwell Street, Glasgow

River Shire, 20th February 1863,

MY DEAR SIR,-Of late, affairs have taken on an entirely new phase, or rather, we have had our eyes opened to see that the old system which has kept this region shut up from all good influences is still in operation, and quite capable of rendering all our labour of no avail. The slave-hunting system has come across our path, and has nearly quite depopulated the

This worthy "mother in Israel" died on the 19th of June, the morning after the news arrived of Williamu's arrival at Sydney.-[ED. R. P. Mag.]

valley of the lower Shire. You may have heard that certain slave dealers came along Dr Kirk's path, from Tette to this river, instigated one tribe against another, and were paid in captives, some of whom we liberated. The captives who escaped us are separated at Tette, the men retained, and the women and children sent up the Zambesi to buy ivory. A panic seized the population of a large district above the cataracts. They fled to the Shire, leaving their fine gardens and grain behind them-a drought and famine followed-thousands perished, and still die off daily. We counted thirty-two dead bodies floating down as we steamed up, and these are nothing to those who perish in the villages and lie unburied, or those that pass by at night or are devoured by alligators. Well, further down the river, in the country around Mount Clarendon, a half-caste marauder, called Marianno, has devasted and depopulated with, it is said, about a thousand armed slaves; and where last year we could purchase any amount of fresh provisions and cotton at the cheapest rate,-Captain Wilson, of H.M.S. Gorgon, thought that a hundred tons of cotton could be collected from that valley and the hills adjacent,-we saw not a single village, only here and there a few miserable wretches striving to keep soul and body together by fishing and collecting the seeds of grasses. Our labour is very much increased by this depopulation, inasmuch as we must go at least 300 miles for all the food our native labourers require.

You are probably not fully aware of what Lord Palmerston has done by his policy on the West Coast. Were he not in power, I could say a great deal more than, for fear of being set down as a "toady," I dare do now. Mr Wilson, an American missionary, who has written the best book I have seen on the West Coast, says, that had it not been for his policy Africa, as yet, had scarcely been accessible to missionary labour. By means of the security which our squadron imparted, over twenty missions have been established, twenty dialects reduced to writings, and twelve thousand communicants have been received by the different churches. Education is imparted to thousands of the young, and good influences are spreading inland. Lawful commerce has been increased from £20,000 annually to between £2,000,000 and £3,000,000, and more tonnage is employed in carrying it than ever was engaged in the slave trade, even in its palmiest days. On this coast, the same expensive and generous policy has been in operation as long as on the West Coast, and the only mission introduced is jammed up in an unhealthy corner by slave-hunting compli cations, and will probably die out. All the revenue derived from the whole Zambesi amounts to only six hundred pounds per annum. In fact, the country has been made a slave "preserve;" and so would the West Coast have been had only a few converts been admitted to the interior, as here. We turn our eyes away to Lake Nyassa, and hope to do something to stop slaving there. We trust, also, something may be done to prevent these ruffians following on the footsteps of our discoveries. If we meet them, it may not be wholesome for either party.-Yours, &c. DAVID LIVINGSTONE.

[Several notices of interesting Books and Pamphlets have been crowded out, but will appear next month]

Printed by JOHN GREIG & SON, at their Printing Office, Old Physic Gardens, and Published by JOHNSTONE, HUNTER, & Co., at their Warehouse, 2 Melbourne Place, Edinburgh.

THE OLD-LIGHT SYNOD IN AMERICA, THE GOVERNMENT, THE ARMY-OATH, AND THE WAR.

Ir is scarcely necessary to remind our readers, that the sister Church in America has, for many years, been broken up into two nearly equal sections, denominated respectively "the Synod," and "the General Synod," of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. These are better known on both sides of the Atlantic by the pithier names of the Old Light and New Light; and although the justice of the nomenclature is strongly contested by the New Light Synod, which claims to occupy the old ground, the designations are too convenient to be laid aside, and are likely to last as long as the two bodies remain apart.

The ploughshare of war has been employed by the Most High to break up the fallow-ground of the higher politics in America, and both Synods, knowing that the Lord has intrusted them with truths for the times, have laboured to sow the good seed. The United States' Constitution, it seems certain, will undergo some radical alterations ere the war is finished; and the two Churches, true to the grand distinctive principle of the Reformed Presbyterian community, the Headship of Christ over the nations, have been taking steps to impress upon their rulers and statesmen the duty of inserting into the Constitution an explicit recognition of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of his law, as delivered in the holy Scriptures. Not content with this, they have been endeavouring, with most encouraging success, to stir up the other evangelical denominations to unite with them in the same effort. It is our fervent prayer that their labours may be prospered. It seems evident that the large Presbyterian denominations on both sides of the Atlantic are nearer a cordial recognition of the Redeemer's universal dominion than some of us ever hoped to see them. Who can tell but the conjoint endeavour to obtain a national recognition of Christ on the part of the United States, may be overruled as the means of not only healing the breach in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, but of bringing about a still more extensive union among the Presbyterian bodies of America?

So far as respects the high and honourable enterprise referred to, there is and can be no diversity of opinion in either Synod. It is otherwise with some other matters, arising out of the war, which have been coming up of late among the Old Light brethren. The position occupied by them

2 D

since the division, has been somewhat similar to the one which the brethren who lately seceded from ourselves wished the Scottish Synod to take up. In some things they go farther, as, for example, in absolutely prohibiting their members from sitting in juries, and from "occasional hearing;" on other points, perhaps, they do not go quite so far. The protesters here would, of course, protest against a man's entering the army with or without an oath. Their position being such as we have described, could not fail to be seriously affected by the breaking out of the Civil War. The youth of our own Church, it will be recollected, were stirred very considerably some years ago by the invasion panic and the volunteer movement, but the commotion which the present war has excited throughout the Union was of seven-fold intensity.

What, in these circumstances, were the ministers and sessions of the Reformed Presbyterian Church to do? They had taken up the ground that the Constitution of the United States was so antagonistic to the law of Christ, that they could neither vow allegiance to it, nor accept any office, political, municipal, or military under it. On the other hand, they shared in the passionate admiration of republican institutions in general, and the American Union in particular, which is the universal sentiment of the Northern States; and, besides, they felt towards the enslaved negroes of the south an intensity of sympathy which few of their countrymen shared. It was impossible they could look passively on, when traitorous hands attempted the destruction of a Union which, with all its faults, they deemed the most benign government under heaven. Above all, it was impossible for them to endure the thought that the Union should be broken up in the interest of a Confederacy that boasted of having for its chief corner-stone the divine right of African slavery! Under the infiuence of these feelings, members of the Church flocked to the national standards, and, in at least one instance, an esteemed minister left his congregation for a season, and became an officer in the United States' army. The loyalty of the denomination was so unsuspected, that in many cases the members were admitted without an oath; but in other cases, especially in the neighbourhood of the boundary between north and south, the ordinary oath of "allegiance to the United States,"* as tendered to soldiers, was rigidly exacted.

Discussion was inevitable, and discussion accordingly took place. The Presbyteries took up the question, some brethren approving, others disapproving the movement. The matter came up to the Supreme Court two years ago, but the brethren were not prepared to give forth any decisive deliverance. The question, whether it was in accordance with the principles of the Church for ministers to leave their congregations for a time, and become military officers, was "indefinitely postponed ;" and although the question of a modified oath to be taken by members entering the army was referred to a committee, there was a disposition to avoid, if possible, a direct deliverance respecting the lawfulness of engaging in the war. But this would not do. The matter was one which demanded a decision on the one side or the other. Accordingly, it came up at the next meeting of Court (1862). "A petition from a part of the session and members of Slippery Rock was read, asking a decision of Synod in regard to Covenanters entering into the war now waged by the rebels against the United States, and giving reasons why, in their judgment, Covenanters ought not to fight." The Synod, thus appealed to, resolved to face the question, and appointed a committee, embracing several of the ablest ministers in the denomination, to consider it maturely, and report.

The Report of what we take to be this Committee, was given in to the Synod which met this summer, on the 27th of May, at Sharon, in the

* We understand that these terms occur in the oath.

State of Iowa, in the far west. We are happy to be able to present the substance, not only of the Report, but of the debate which ensued. For this we are indebted to a Report of the "Business and Debates" drawn up and published by a friend of the Church-apparently a member of Court-at all events, one who will not be suspected of giving to the world a garbled narrative for party purposes. We transcribe the Report, so far as it bears on the question in hand, without alteration or abridgment.

Any observations we have to make on the debate and its result will be added afterwards. We are anxious that our readers should have the opportunity of judging for themselves.

"J. C. BOYD, from the Committee on the State of the Country, reported. The Committee notice the continuance of the war during the past year, and that, however calamitous it is, yet God continues to shew his mercy and beneficence in the abundant crops, and in the peace and safety we enjoy in the Northern and Western States. But though God thus shews his indignation against sin, and at the same time displays his mercy, the nation has made no radical reformation. Still, however, great and hopeful progress is made in the right direction in the various steps taken toward the eradication of slavery. Besides, the action of the Senate in requesting the President to proclaim a Fast, and the Proclamation which he issued, and the observance of the Sabbath in the army, and the prohibition of the restoration of fugitives by the military, are noticed, and the Committee say, 'All which indicate a far more hopeful and encouraging state of things, and call upon us, in every possible way consistent with our scriptural and distinctive testimony, to aid the nation in its struggle against this cruel and murderous conspiracy, until it is entirely broken up, and every vestige of it removed. And to stand fast by our testimony as the great hope of the nation, and to labour earnestly and faithfully in its application, that our beloved land may be brought (we would trust among the first) to be a kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. The Committee state as an encouragement to hope for this, the awakening of the religious community to a sense of the evils of the Constitution and the necessity of its radical reformation.'

"The Committee close by giving answers to some queries in the papers referred to them.

"1. In relation to ministers entering the army, they reply, That while we regard it as the right and duty of ministers, as well as others, on necessary and proper occasions, to bear arms, yet we are not aware of any present occasion requiring any of our ministers to do so.'

"2. In relation to the Soldier's Oath, we answer, that as the soldier's oath is objectionable, and cannot receive the approbation of Synod, we recommend that a Committee be appointed to prepare a suitable form of oath, and endeavour to procure its sanction by the proper authority.'

3. Regarding aliens, we reply, 'That it is not inconsistent with our principles for aliens to obtain exemption from draft, provided they are not required to profess subjection or allegiance to a foreign government.'

"After some questions in relation to a minority report, presented by J. S. T. Milligan, were settled, Synod entered upon the consideration of the report. On motion of C. B. FRENCH, a clause was inserted in the first paragraph, expressing the fact that God is pleading the quarrel of his covenant with the nation for its rejection of his Son and law. J. C. K. MILLIGAN wished to have a clause expressing the fact that slavery still exists, and it was amended so as to state that the system of slavery, and the wicked compromises of the Constitution in its interest, still continue.' A. STEVENSON wished that the clause referring to the gladness which the emancipation policy has brought to the hearts of more than three millions of slaves, were stricken out, for the slaves were yet held in bondage. J. R. W. SLOANE said, if this were done, it would carry with it the whole paragraph relating to hopeful progress. Progress had been made, and he challenged the history of the world to shew another instance where such progress had been made by a nation in the course of two years. As