at Richmond, from which it appears that they had had two missionaries for a short time in their employment in the vicinity of that city. In concluding his journal, Mr. Chester remarks, 'It is with pleasure I state to the Board, that on the ground where I commenced my missionary labours, there are now settled two Presbyterian ministers; calls have been made out for two more, and therefore the country under the Blue Ridge cannot any longer be considered as missionary ground. The lower country, however, calls for missionary exertion, and is as destitute as any part of our land.' Mr. Chester mentions an interesting incident which ought to be recorded for the encouragement of future missionaries. Notice was given that I should preach at a private house; the notice being short, a small number only collected: though the number was small, I remembered that the promise was even to two or three. There was present a very aged man, whe appeared to be particularly interested in the subject-the absolute necessity of a change of heart. At the close of the service, though some members appeared affected and interested, yet the language of others seemed to be, 'go thy way for this time,' and I was ready to ask, who hath believed our report, and to whom, this day, hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Six months after, on my return to the north, I was urged to visit an aged man on his death bed. I recognised the same man I had noticed on the evening above mentioned. I have learned that it was on that occasion he was first made sensible what he was by nature, and what he must be by grace: he had depended on a life of morality, which had been rigid, as a ground of acceptance with God, and expected salvation not of grace, but of right. Now his views were entirely changed. Rarely, if ever, have I met with deeper self-abasement, and more entire dependance on the merits of a Saviour, than this man exhibited. He had not been able to hear a sermon since that time, and I felt that if I had not been the instrument of any other good during my mission, this would have repaid me for all my exertions ;' and we would add, brethren, is not a trophy of grace like this, a sufficient recompense for all your expense and all your labour in this good

cause?

"In relation to the usefulness of Mr. Chester's mission to Virginia, the corresponding secretary of the Missionary Society of Norfolk, thus remarks, It is but due to our mutual friend, Mr. Chester, to say, that it was greatly owing to his zeal and activity whilst with us, that this society was formed; and I am not permitted to entertain a doubt, that we shall long have cause of thankfulness and rejoicing, that a kind Providence directed his steps among us. Lasting blessings to this section of country will, I trust, result from his labours of love among us.""

On the 12th of October, Mr. J. W. Platt, proceeded to Alabama Territory, and arrived at Huntsville on the 26th of the fol

lowing month. In relation to this place it is said "Its inhabitants will suffer nothing by a comparison with those of most other towns in our country, as it respects intelligence, refinement, and wealth.' There was not, however, at his arrival, any house dedicated to the living God, nor any organized Christian society who obtained for themselves the stated ministrations of the word. A Bible Society had recently been formed, called the Madison County Bible Society, and a society had also been organized for the purpose of forming a library on a liberal scale; but what was peculiarly gratifying to your missionary, was the fact, that many persons of that town were earnestly desirous of building a church and providing for the regular dispensation of the word and ordinances. Within a few days, however, previous to his writing, a subscription was very liberally opened at a meeting convened for the purpose, and the friends of the enterprise indulged the hope that a handsome brick church, of moderate size, would be speedily commenced. Mr. Platt was strongly urged to remain some time at Huntsville, especially by those who were engaged in the plan of building the church. He preached at that place as often as opportunity would permit, generally once or twice on the Sabbath, and regularly on Friday evenings. He preached also frequently in the neighbourhood, from four to twenty-four miles distant. He remarks that the Sunday and Friday evening meetings, which were held in a school house, were sometimes crowded, very solemn, and to him, interesting and encouraging."

From Huntsville Mr. Platt proceeded to Tuscaloosa, St. Stevens, Blakely and Mobile. Of the people with whom he met in this journey he remarks, "It was pleasant to be among this people, to feed these sheep in the wilderness. These dear people of Christ could not express the gratitude and joy they felt, that their Christian brethren so far from them as New-York should pity their destitute condition, and send one to break to their hungry souls a portion of the bread of life."

In Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the Rev. T. C. Searle continues his labours with success. "Madison, in Indiana, is a village of eight years' growth, containing one thousand inhabitants: a Presbyterian house of worship was erecting at the time of his arrival, (21st July,) with flattering prospects. A Bible society had also been established, auxiliary to the American Bible Society, and on the 8th of August Mr Searle assisted at the formation of a Sunday school. He considders this place as bidding fair to be one of the most important in the state. In his last letter, dated 18th October, he mentions that he had effected the formation of four Bible classes; one in the town, and three in the adjacent country, consisting of from fifteen to thirty members each: he had also introduced the catechising of children and adults."

At Ticonderoga and Crown Point in this state, the "efforts" 5 D

VOL. VI.

of the Rev. Asahel Stone, "appear to have been crowned with some success. On one communion occasion he received eight persons, all heads of families, on confession of their faith; and on the first Sabbath in July, eleven more members were added to the fellowship of the Church in Ticonderoga: on which occasion twenty-five adults and children received the ordinance of Christian baptism."

Under date of March 22, 1819, the Rev. John Davenport writes, "I spent the first Sabbath after entering on my mission at Oswego Falls, in one of the churches formed by Mr. Dunlap, and had an attentive audience. Here a precious season had been witnessed the Spirit was still striving with a few. The different denominations have been in the habit of uniting in observing the concert of prayer on the first Monday of each month. The meeting this month was a pleasing and solemn time. It gave me peculiar satisfaction to see three different denominations, (Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists,) uniting with apparent cordiality in imploring the effusion of the Holy Spirit, and the spread of the glorious gospel."

Mr. John G. Mabon has also been employed by the society, in Herkimer and its vicinity, in the close of his Journal he states; "From this brief account of the religious state of the people along the frontier settlements, the society will readily perceive, that there is much reason to bless the Lord for the few names that steadfastly adhere to him amidst all obstacles, as well as to lament their destitute situation generally, and to pray the Lord to send forth faithful labourers to gather his harvest. During the short period (two months) your missionary has been out, he preached forty-one sermons and visited one hundred and eighty families."

The account of missionary labours performed by the Rev. Mr. Dunlap in several destitute parts of the state is very interesting and shows that he has been faithful in his Master's cause, but the limits assigned to this article oblige us to close with an extract from his last communication to the Board. He writes-"I have now closed my third year in the service of the society. God calls some of his servants at an early period, their work is soon ended, and they enter into the joy of the Lord; while others are required to labour long, and endure many hardships. They are privileged, not only to cast the seed into the ground, but to see it grow up and bring forth abundant fruit. whether earlier or later called from the vineyard, if we are faithAll will be well, ful unto death. I am unconscious of being more inattentive to duty than in former years, yet my success has not been equal in receiving members or forming churches. I have only received forty-one persons into communion, and have not organized one new church. With respect to those I have planted heretofore, that in Volney prospers most, and has engaged a minister the whole of his

time for one year. I feel deeply interested for the state of the frontiers, and especially for the infant churches I have planted."

To this, however, we must add an appeal to the friends of missions, in the words of the Report :-"Already have your Board extended their utmost aid, and more than all your funds have been given to the service of the LORD, and the souls of his people. We are in debt to the amount of several hundred dollars, advanced on the credit of your Christian liberality. May we not say-advanced in faith, that HE, whose is the silver and the gold, will stir up your hearts, and open your hands, to bring into his treasury, of his own, committed to your trust, as his faithful stewards? To you, the Board appeal; to you, look with cheerful confidence, that their hands shall be strengthened, and their spirits reanimated, in their arduous, yet pleasing duties, as your representatives in the cause of GOD."

CONCLUDING ADDRESS.

The present number closes the sixth volume of the Christian Herald. We have had great satisfaction in the perusal of those documents which we have brought before the public, and we close the year under the full and joyful conviction that the kingdom of the Redeemer is visibly advancing. We can repeat, with a still stronger faith, and livelier hope, those words of ancient prophecy, which were impressed as a motto upon the title of the volume:-"His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in Him all nations shall call him blessed."-Psalms lxxii. 17. "For the carth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."-Isaiah xi. 9. What divine delight must have filled the holy soul of David, when, as he attempted to chaunt the future glories of the kingdom of Solomon, his mind was carried along by an inspiration from God, to the boundless, endless glories of another descendant, greater than himself, the beloved Sovereign of all nations, blessed in Him, and calling Him blessed. And of Isaiah, when with a nearer and clearer, though still distant view, he beheld his reign full of righteousness and peace, giving a glorious rest to all the habitations of men.

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But it is our higher privilege to live when these prophecies are verging to fulfilment; to see the kingdom of the Redeemer already widely spread abroad, and to observe those continual accessions which verify the truth of prophecy, and which every day strengthen the faith and hope of the believer.

We have not room to follow up this suggestion, and can only briefly specify three particulars in the present state of things, which justify our strongest faith and highest hopes, and which encourage us to the most steady and laborious exertion.

1st. All classes of Christians are engaged in the work of spreading the knowledge of the gospel. See the different deno

minations-the Episcopalians, the Independents, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Moravians, the Methodists, though differing in minor points, are engaged in attempts to spread the doctrine of salvation for fallen man, by the sufferings and death of the Son of God. See the different nations-Britain foremost in every contribution and in every toil; Germany and Holland furnishing their messengers of peace; Russia, spreading abroad through all her wide extended provinces the word of life: America, inviting the savages of her wilderness to civilization and religion, and sending to the shores of Asia the doctrine of the cross. See the different conditions of men-the rich and the poor, the old and the young, bringing their contributions; and men of every occupation, ready to give their personal services in behalf of the Heathen. But we pause:lest in pursuing this train of thought, we should seem to intimate, that Christendom is putting forth all her efforts for the conversion of the world. It is not the greatness, or the adequacy of her efforts, which we notice, but their universality; and, though her efforts are faint and few, both in comparison with the wants of perishing men, and her own capacities: in their universality, we see abundant evidence, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

2d. In all parts of the world Christians are making attempts to spread the gospel. Thirty years ago there was but here and there a Protestant mission upon the face of the whole earth. In all its coasts, and continents, and islands, except in the little spot called Christendom, what traces were there of the visit of a Saviour to the ruined habitations of sinful men? Now, though each individual, and each society, occupy but a little sphere, and are accomplishing but little, that great Master whom they all serve, has dispersed them far and wide among the tribes of men in all the parts of the world, and seems preparing by a combination of efforts, in which there is no visible concert, to bring about, at no distant period, not the conversion of an island, a city, or a nation, but the conversion of the whole world.

3d. This impression is strengthened by the wonderful fact, that, in general, all the missions founded of late, are either in a promising state of progress, or have become, to all human appearance, permanently established. Instead of failing, we have seen them triumphing over all opposition, and continuing unimpaired by sickness or death, until, after a due season of patient labour, they have been crowned with success.

If there be still remaining the power to discern the signs of the times; if the Lord has not made the most extensive arrangements in vain; if the word proclaimed in hundreds of stations cannot return void, then is the Saviour advanceing, to bless the nations of the world.

Happy they, who in their charities to His disciples, in their labours and prayers, accept the privilege of helping on his progress to the dominion of the world!