to the field. God has opened the door to India in a way so unusual and astonishing, that all, even the general observers who look no higher than proximate causes, stand amazed at the sight, and exclaim, "What has been wrought?" To cite merely one passage in support of this assertion, which occurs at the commencement of Sir John Malcolm's sketch of the political History of India. "The great empire (says he) which England has established in the east, will be the theme of wonder to succeeding ages. That a small island in the Atlantic, should have conquered and held the vast continent of India as a subject province, is in itself a fact, which can never be stated without exciting astonishment. But the surprize will be increas ed when it is added, that this great conquest was made, not by the collective force of the nation, but by a company of merchants, who originally vested with a charter of exclusive commerce, and with the privilege and right to protect their property, and to retaliate attack, were in a few years hurried by the enterprize and ambition of their agents, the hostile and rival spirit of other nations of Europe, and the weakness and perfidy of the princes of Asia, to whom they became, from their encroachments or their riches an object of jealousy or plunder, into the possession of royal power, and actually found themselves called upon to act in the cha racter of Sovereigns over extended kingdoms, before they had ceased to be the mercantile directors of petty factories." Such are the senti ments of a general observer, but the Christian philosopher, along with sur prize at the scene, will direct his mind to the consideration of the end for which such a rich and extensive province has been committed to the care and subjected to the authority of a Christian nation, and besides the spread of Christianity and the redemption of this portion of the divine family, he will find no other final cause that could have had place in the divine mind. God has given India to Christian Britain, that it might become in reality as it is in right, the possession of his Son. Had there been no other signs of the times than these, they would yet have spoken volumes of evidence to the fact that God's time to favour India has already arrived; but conjoined with these it has pleased the divine Being to excite through out two of the four vast continents of the earth, a lively interest in India's welfare, her claims have been weighed and acknowledged, and pleaded by thousands at a throne of grace, hundreds have been so much impressed as to give themselves up to the work of evangelizing this country, while hundreds of thousands have given up their hard-gained earnings to furnish the treasury for the messengers of Salvation. Again, considering the comparatively high state of civilization which characterizes Indian society, men somewhat peculiar as possessing talents and education equal to what the best candidates for home service ever receive, were required, and the finding such who were willing to consecrate themselves to the work was a very improbable matter; yet the Lord has wrought in his providence, and men have been found in abundance, and the number is yet increasing, and it would be cruel to imagine that they were running before they were sent, or if they had received a general commission from the Lord of the church, they had chosen their sphere without his consent and direction. Again, an obstruction did exist to missionary efforts in the jealousy of the ruling powers and the dread of the conflict between light and darkness, truth and error, but the God of providence removed this obstacle also, and made over the whole country to the free unfettered range of his ser vants and gospel messengers. Can these things be and yet God's time not have arrived for India? If these signs are not plain, assuredly we shall search the moral horizon in vain for any plainer and more satisfactory; and if these do not convince us, we had better shut up the book of God's providence and abandon the service of intrepretation as a fallacy. But

if these be signs of God's good pleasure towards India, it becomes us to conclude, that his set time to favour her has already arrived, since it can not be but that a strict harmony will obtain between the dispensations of providence and of grace. If India be not given to the Saviour, then, it becomes us to seek for another solution to account for the matter, other than charging the Head of the Church with unwillingness to carry on the work, which he has made so many important preparations to begin.

B.'s theory is of another class from that adopted by the writer signing himself Missionary.' The one, while it gives relief to the mind, at the expense of the depreciation of human agency yet tends to exalt God's prerogatives. But B.'s exalts human agency, at the expense of the divine prerogatives. However it is only a tendency, for I have not the least doubt, but that both would alike join in exclaiming against any such infer. ence being drawn, from a consideration of the views they individually hold. "B." maintains, that in order to success, it is necessary that where there has been only one missionary, there should be some ten, and at large stations some 20, or 30, or even if the church could afford it some 50, and that they should not engage in any separate undertaking to gather a flock by the exhibition of Christian worship in conjunction with Christian preaching, but should all unite in one church and congregation,-in what way, whether by one being pastor over all, or all being pastors, is not said,—and that they should all thus continue united till their converts, should amount to some hundreds, and separate churches could safely be formed, and he thinks that his view of the matter is established by the reason of the case, by scrip. ture and by Missionary experiences in other lands, where the gospel has triumphed. Whatever may be the native value of this scheme, one remark must strike all respecting the importance of well considering it, ere it be adopted by Missionary Societies, as the immense expense that will attend its workings, is likely to drain the coffers of the sanctuary, and if after all it should prove unsuccessful, it will have had the effect of throwing back the work some twenty years at least. In the general view of the desirableness of concentrating Missionary effort somewhat more than it hitherto has been, all will be of one mind and will concur in many of the remarks made on this subject by B. in the letter in question. instance all will concur in the statement that it is not in the general desirable, that a Missionary should be entirely alone at a station, without society and without a friend with whom to take counsel; the plan seems to be unfavorable to the health of the individual, it is also injurious as far as his work is concerned, nor does it correspond with our Lord's own plan of sending out his disciples on the first Missionary expedition, although so far from its being attended in this country by the disastrous effects attributed to it, it so happens that the three most flourishing churches in this part of India, and which perhaps are the only ones deserving the name of churches, have been under the care, and mainly gathered by the labours of, single missionaries, and that so far from being men of morbid sensibilities they happen to be of the most active and diligent labourers, that are in the field. However, doubtless these respected labourers would freely confess, that their own comfort and usefulness would be much promoted by their having an associate. But between this, and placing some 30 on a station, there is an immense difference; it is unreasonable that there should be only one, but is it reasonable or expedient, that there should be 30? This is the question to be examined, and as the difference in expense will be that lying between the item of £300 and that of £9,000 it becomes all to con sider it well, and the arguments brought forward to support it. To begin with the argument drawn from the history of missions, which seems to tell most powerfully in this matter. It is said, that in the mission to the

For

Now

South Seas, this was the plan pursued, and success was realized. what are the facts of the case: the directors of the London Missionary Society sent out at first 29 labourers, to the South Seas, amongst whom, four were ordained missionaries and the rest were artizans and tradesmen. The intention was that this body should be located in three different groups of islands, the Society, Friendly, and Marquesas islands. Of course when divided as equally as they could be, there would have been only one Missionary to each section, except for the largest where there would have been two. Again the directors sent out another body of 29 labourers, of whom five were ordained missionaries, and the remainder mechanics and tradesmen. Of course, here there would have been to two sections, two missionaries; still although so few, it is remarkable, that it was thought by the labourers themselves that there was no need of more, for in a joint letter forwarded to the Society, they ask for more missionaries, but recommend that the greater part should be mechanics, rather than missionaries, of the latter they say; that they are not necessary of course there is little doubt, that many of those who were not originally mission aries had by dint of effort become competent to the office, yet the remark shews how little the South Sea case has to do, with the question at issue. However, had it been otherwise there was in the South Seas a necessity for a large body keeping together for a considerable time from the circumstances of the case,- -a barbarous people, with a language not written, and so difficult to be acquired, that out of the seven who remained of those first settled at Tahiti, there was not one, who had learned the language sufficient to enable them to preach, six years after they had landed on the island, and there were some of them which required co-operation to overcome them: while here, there are so many facilities for learning the language, that in the space of one year, from the date of our arrival in the country, we may make something out in the preaching way with not absolutely intoler ble impropriety. However, to call for 30 missionaries to be located in one town in India, and plead the South Sea precedent; involves an incongruity. The only mission that that precedent would warrant, and which would doubtless answer all the purposes of numbers, according to B.'s ideas of their value, would be, to call for a band of pious laymen, many of whom might be met with in Calcutta and elsewhere in this country, who might become most intimately united with the people, and not only in the domes tic relations, but what is of much more importance, in commercial dealings would exhibit the influence of Christianity in those circumstances in which Christians in general find it most difficult to be consistent among such a body, bound by the ties of affection to one or two spiritual guides, whose instructions and plans were similar, one might expect unvaried harmony, so that even though they might not do all that a missionary could do, yet perhaps on the whole, their influence as an affectionate, united and co-operating body, would not be much less valuable than his. A second proof from the history of missions is deduced from the examples of the Roman Catholics, with what reason it is difficult to perceive, for I imagine all will concur in the fact, that it would have been as well for the world, if the Roman Catholics had never attempted to evangelize it. That by one means or another, whether by numbers, or processions or a yielding to the idolatrous rites of their worshippers, they have succeeded in collecting a motley host of disciples is most true, but whether it is desirable we should imitate them, is more than questionable.

But B.' pleads scripture precedent in favour of his view; perhaps however, an attentive consideration of the cases cited will lead us to another and different conclusion. Our Lord's command to his first apostles, was, to remain in Jerusalem for a limited period, till they should become qualified

to leave it and itinerate in other places and this seems to imply, that had they not made that specified use of the qualifications which he was about to give them, and much about the specified time, they would doubtless have been guilty of neglect of duty. How long they remained in Jerusalem, is a matter which cannot be ascertained: one thing we know that for ten days together they continued in a protracted meeting for prayer and mutual exhortation, and at the close of the period God the Spirit burst forth upon them, in all the effulgence of heavenly glory, and scattered abroad heavenly gifts, and in this we may imitate them with great advantage; this also we know, that almost immediately afterwards, Peter and Philip, were engaged in preach. ing elsewhere than in Jerusalem, and that in most important and difficult spheres, and yet one of them was alone in his work, and the other attended only by non-preaching brethren. In like manner the great Apostle of the Gentiles, travelled on his missionary expeditions with generally only one associate, and if ever there appear to be more they are only converts either made on the way, or private Christians who from respect and love to the apostle accompanied him on his journies; church after church was that blessed individual honoured to form, and yet he never had recourse to the machinery which is thought to be essentially necessary in modern missions, and I imagine that had the proposal been made, either in the church at Jerusalem or Antioch, to send out thirty of their best preachers to the city of Philippi in Macedonia, it would have been very coolly received. But there is yet remaining an argument drawn from the nature of the case, that situated as we are, it is necessary that we should depend mainly on the internal evidences of the truth of Christianity, and it is desirable to have with us a large body of holy men all witnessing to the truth by their lives and conduct. Undoubtedly, our reliance must be on the internal evidences, as the great means of producing conviction and conversion, although there is no necessity for subscribing to B.'s remarks depreciating the value of the external evidences. It is not true that the Hindu or Musalman thinks our well written authentic history to be as false as his own fables: the difference between history and fable is clearly seen by both classes of persons, and it would be a marvel if it should not, for general history also has its internal evidences as well as the bible, and though so to speak is indeed comparing small things with great, yet, neither the one nor the other are to be despised or depreciated in the work of evangelizing the world. Doubtless the internal evidences stand far first in value as simple means, that adapt themselves to every case and circumstance, yet even they cannot stand alone, for there are a multitude of books, written by pious individuals, the internal evidences of which would demonstrate them to be something like the book of God, and how are we to distinguish between them, except by being informed of their literary history, which constitutes their external evidences. Now to have the demonstration of a holy life, in conjunction with efficient preaching, is in deed, most desirable, and the more such proof can be brought to bear on the minds of the heathen, the more likelihood there is that we shall command success; but it is not necessary to place 30 missionaries at one station in order to exhibit this species of evidence successfully or to most advantage. Missionaries are foreigners, living in the general at some distance from the people, with foreign customs that separate them from the affections and confidence of native society, so that from the very circumstances of the case their example cannot be expected to effect all that is desired, and every way the example of natives of the country, whether pious East Indians or others will effect much more. In such circumstances, if it be absolutely necessary to success, to have a small body of such witnesses with us, it would be better at each station, first to revive religion in the hearts

of nominal Christians and then with these as our helpers to make an attack on the hosts of the heathen. There are other objections to B''s scheme, which "Missionary" has already noticed, and which doubtless are incapable of answer: that 30 missionaries should agree on all points necessary to the welfare of a church, is indeed, next to an impossibility. Even a Paul and a Barnabas could not see eye to eye on all points, and how much less, the missionaries of the present age devoted as they are? If they could how. ever thus agree yet their proposed union would be profitable for little ; each would be competent to do what each would not find opportunity to perform, while each would be prevented doing what he might otherwise accomplish. Union is lovely, it is the glory of all God's works, but yet it is only that kind of union that is for use; that which impedes, cramps, fetters, is to be hated and avoided, and I cannot see how thirty Whitfields, could ever be content to meet Sabbath after Sabbath, in one small chapel, not to preach, but merely to enjoy the luxury of hearing while at all the windows and doors, the cries of the heathen were coming in, "Come out and help us." It is an impossibility, it is an absurdity, and woe to the church, when such times come. I know it will be said, that all are not Whitfields, and indeed, "B." has remarked that there are some missionaries, that are not competent to direct their way if it be so the case is of course somewhat altered, and the necessity of superintendents to general the army will be established; still I would urge that it becomes us to call upon the church to send only those who are competent to all the labours of a missionary as the work can be done efficiently only by such.

So much in consideration of the theories which have been proposed to account for our want of success. The remainder of the subject, I must reserve for another paper.

UNITAS FRATRUM.

VII. Some notices relative to the present position of the Opium Trade in China.

We must offer a word or two in explanation. We gathered our information of course from the public prints, and did imagine though we had our serious doubts about it, that the Chinese were in this instance decided : we regret both for the honour of Britain and for the Chinese themselves, that we were mistaken. The children of this world are indeed more crafty and quick than the children of light. We suspect if half the daring were displayed to introduce the gospel that is manifested in this traffic, we should soon see China bending to Christ. We intreat our excellent correspondent to continue his communications, for against the Opium and Cooley trades, as well as against the Government connexion with Idolatry we will, God helping, wage an unceasing warfare. May He who sitteth in the heavens give us the spirit of heaven to contend with them, and crown our labours with success, and we ask no more. We intreat our readers to forward us the most accurate and the earliest information on these three important topics and endeavour to increase our circulation that the information may be influential; for we do not conduct this periodical or write either for literary fame, or for the sake of writing, but for the alone purpose of doing good.-ED.

GENTLEMEN,

To the Editors of the Calcutta Christian Observer.

In the May No. of the Calcutta Christian Observer and at page 295, I observe the following remark, viz. "From the last