lished about the end of that year. The facts which it details are of the most cheering kind; its diction is forcible and eloquent; and it bears throughout a character of devout exultation. The writer evidently "felt his inspiration in his theme;" and his facts and appeals are equally stirring. The liberality with which the friends at home furnished the pecuniary supplies called for thanksgivings to God, who thus disposed them to employ their property in his service; and the marked providential openings for missionary efforts in the heathen world, and the success which every where attended the dissemination of Divine truth, and especially in the island of Ceylon, where the mission had been but recently commenced, warranted the indulgence of the most sanguine hopes, and called for exertions still more strenuous and extensive.

During the year ending February 1st, 1814, the regular income of the Methodist mission fund was £6,820. 2s. 6d.; and by means of an extraordinary public collection, for the purpose of paying off arrears due to the treasurers, a farther sum of £2,464. 7s. 4d. was raised. A considerable part of this amount was applied to the spread of the Gospel in the more neglected parts of England and Wales, under the name of home missions. In consequence of the establishment of district societies, the holding of missionary meetings, and the employment of collectors, the report of the following year states that the sum raised for missionary purposes was £9,554. 4s. 44d.; and during the period extending from August 18th, 1815, to June, 1816, the sum of £10,423. 10s. 9d. was raised by the friends of the Methodist missions, and placed at the disposal of the managing committee.

The report drawn up by Mr. Watson, after referring to the feelings with which the committee entered upon their labours for the year, speaks in the following strain :-"The favourable reception of the missionaries sent to Ceylon, the successes of their early labours, and their earnest entreaties for additional help, in order to avail themselves of those opportunities of promoting the cause of Christ which in every direction presented themselves, had given a new impulse to the missionary zeal of the Methodist societies and congregations. They saw that Methodist missions had a providential designation to the eastern as well as to the western world; while the additional light which was thrown on the wretched condition of the millions of Asia, by the communications of the missionaries, had more deeply awakened their sympathies, and kindled more ardent desires to make known to them the grace and salvation of the glorious Gospel.

"The lamented death of the late Rev. Dr. Coke had itself heightened those feelings. The work in which his soul had so greatly delighted, and in the prosecution of which he died, seemed to derive new interest from those retrospections to which the contemplation of his life, character, and labours necessarily led; and his loss, while it dictated the necessity of the exertions of the many to supply the efforts of one, diffused the spirit of holy zeal with those regrets which consecrated his memory.

"The formation of missionary societies, and the meetings held for that purpose, had also a large share in awakening a deeper and more general concern for the conversion of the heathen. Missions to various parts of the world had long been conducted by the Methodist confer

ence, and supported with great liberality; and the West India mission in particular stands a noble monument of the faithful labours of the missionaries, and of the liberal support they met with at home; but by the operation of those societies, the deplorable state of the heathen was more fully displayed, the motives for the exertion of Christians were enforced, and the encouraging prospects of success in this great cause unfolded. Persons of all ranks of society had offered their service of time and money, and plans were adopted which promised a permanent and increasing supply for the support and enlargement of those benevolent undertakings, by which alone the blessings of Christianity can be fully communicated to mankind.

"The hopes which these circumstances excited in the committee have not been disappointed. Success, in different degrees, has crowned the labours of the missionaries; a number of suitable young men have devoted themselves to this department of the work of God; the attention of the committee has been called to new and important stations of great promise; the liberality of the public has enabled the committee considerably to increase the number of missionaries; and the spirit of Christian zeal which animates the bosoms of the numerous friends of the Methodist missions, expanded and corroborated as it is by the spirit of prayer, offered with increased ardour, and more direct reference to the success of missions, promises that permanence of principle, and activity of operation, which must issue, under the continued blessing of God, in the diffusion of the knowledge of Christ, with all its train of blessings, civil, religious, and eternal."

Having described, in order, the state of the several missions under the committee's direction, the report goes on to say, "During the last twelve months the committee have sent out nineteen additional missionaries to different parts of the world: four to Ceylon, one to Bombay, one to the Cape of Good Hope, four to the West Indies, two to Nova-Scotia, three to Newfoundland, one to Quebec, one to Gibraltar, one to Brussels, and one to France; making the whole number of missionaries employed on foreign stations, under the direction of the Methodist conference, eighty.

"These increased exertions have induced a considerable increase of expenditure; a circumstance which will occasion joy and not regret, so long as the means afforded by the increasing liberality of the friends of religion are prudently and economically expended. Thus to apply the funds entrusted to their charge, has been the constant object of the committee; and though many heavy expenses have occurred, especially in the Asiatic mission, yet these have arisen from the peculiar circumstances in which the first missionaries were placed; the great expenses of outfit, and the excessive cost of every thing which is necessary to the comfort of a European in India. Some of these expenses were, however, temporary and accidental; and now that the mission is assuming a settled character and system, though for some time its regular expenditure must be very considerable, its extraordinary demands will not, it is hoped, again rise to the same amount.

"The committee have to congratulate the subscribers in general on the increase of the funds. The receipts of the year have more than equalled the large expenditure, beside the payment of large arrears.— This the committee ascribe, under the blessing of God, to the operation

of missionary societies, adult and juvenile, formed in different parts of the kingdom; and carried, in some places, with great zeal, into full efficiency. Here the rich and the poor have met together; the aged, and the youth, and the child, have united in the service of Christ, and presented their offerings to his cause; and the committee trust that, wherever it is practicable, the recommendation of the conference of 1814 on this subject will be adopted, that the supply may be constant as the moral necessities of an unsaved world; and increasing as, by the providence of God, are the opportunities for communicating to it that only means of salvation, the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

"To the effect of that greater publicity which has lately been given to the state of the heathen world by different means, and the enforcement of the obligations of Christians to extend the kingdom of their Lord, the committee also attribute that increase of missionary zeal which has this year furnished them with a full supply of missionaries

for every station. Not less than twelve preachers, stationed in English circuits, and enjoying all the comforts and advantages of the home ministry, have offered themselves as foreign missionaries, exclusive of those who had previously acted only as local preachers. these several have already taken their departure for different stations; and the rest wait the call of God, and the direction of their brethren. Their piety, their talents, and in some cases considerable learning, give the best promise of future usefulness in all the departments of missionary labour; and the committee cannot refrain from calling upon the grateful acknowledgments of their friends, to the Lord of the harvest,' for thus 'sending forth more labourers into the harvest.' With the increase of the funds there has been also an increase of men suited to the work, and willing to embrace it. This is a coincidence which cannot fail to lead to the recognition of those evident indications of Providence, which now, more than ever, make it imperious upon us to go on in the name of the Lord.

Increasing, however, as are our exertions, and those of almost every other religious denomination, the committee would still keep it impressed upon the minds of all who have so willingly co-operated with them in these attempts to spread the knowledge of Christ, that little has been done by any body of Christians separately, or by all collectively, in comparison of what remains to do. Active, united, and even formidable, as have been the movements of the Christian world, for some years past, against the kingdom of darkness and sin, only a few of its outworks have been won, and little more than mere facilities obtained for extensive conquest. While more than one half of the subjects of the British empire itself are pagans, every obligation of patriotism, policy, and religion, demands persevering exertions to circulate the vital principles of true godliness through every member of the political body, until an empire, fully Christianized, shall be presented to the of the world, exhibiting, as in the first ages of the Church, the glorious triumphs of the Gospel over the vices which deform, and the miseries which desolate, the fairest portions of the globe; and displaying, for the instruction and imitation of pagan Asia in particular, the beneficial effects of Christianity on the civil and moral interests of man.

eye

"Were there even no other field for missionary labours than that

which is presented by the British empire, comprising so great a portion of India, and numerous Asiatic islands, a part of Africa, and the colonies of the western Archipelago, and of North America, the united efforts of all Christians for many years to come would find a large share of occupation; but beyond the bounds of the British empire, extensive as it is, and comprehending so many large and populous pagan countries, lie scenes of affecting moral misery. Immense shades of darkness still remain unpierced by a ray of heavenly light. Empires, composed of hundreds of millions of souls, still remain under the power of Satan; and the worship of idols and devils still robs God over all, blessed for ever," of the worship due to his holy name by his redeemed creatures. While the world presents such an aspect, there is surely enough of wretchedness to keep alive our sympathies, and enough of sin to rouse into vivid operation the feelings of indignant jealousy for the honour of the Lord of hosts. The debt of the Christian world to the heathen remains undischarged. It has run awfully into arrears; and the favourable opportunities of access to every part of the pagan world are infallible indications that the Governor and Judge of the world, and especially of the Churches, now demands its payment. The successes of the missions of modern times are certainly not a discharge from the service, but the strongest incitements to pledge every energy anew to its holy objects. The efficiency of the Gospel has been again demonstrated in our own day in the conversion and salvation of heathens of every class, of every clime, and of every form of pagan superstition. Every missionary enterprise, if prudently, and, above all, if piously, undertaken,-if it be consecrated by singleness of view, and supported by prayer,-has a moral certainty of success. Every sign of the times indicates that the period is fully come when the outcasts of men shall be remembered, and they who are ready to perish shall obtain mercy. Pressing, therefore, as the state of affairs is, the committee are persuaded that the last retrenchment which any person alive to the glory of God, and the salvation of men, will make, whenever obliged to make retrenchment, will be the sums he has devoted, first, to the support of religion at home, and, second, to the natural and necessary consequence of the former, the extension of religion abroad. God calls, and his people follow. He who still goes on from conquering to conquer,' now more evidently puts himself at the head of his sacramental host. The battle is turned to the gate; and none, it is hoped, will be found treacherous to the grand and momentous struggle, none who will not wield his weapon in the war, or stretch out his hand to replenish the treasury. Signs of the Son of man,' signs of glory and conquest, transfuse a new vigour into the heart, and spread new prospects to the hopes of the righteous. 'Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth;' the light of the morning, on the tops of the mountains, catches the waiting eyes of those who sit in the shadow of death. The captive exile hastens that he may be delivered. 'The whole creation' of rational creatures, crushed beneath the accumulated weight of the tyrannizing superstitions of ages, 'groaneth and travaileth in pain to be delivered from the bondage of corruption.' All is preparation and movement. "The rod of his strength is gone out of Zion,' and he must 'reign in the midst of his enemies.' His 'people,' too, are willing in the day of his power;' and nothing remains to give them their full share

in the blessing and glory of that victory, which is to re-assert the rights of God to the love and homage of a world of redeemed men, but that they be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.' Their labour, directed by his word, and animated by his Spirit, cannot be in vain.

The

"The public will perceive that, according to the resolution of the last conference, the missionary fund has been applied solely to foreign objects, with the exception of a sum voted by the committee toward the expenses of the mission in the Irish language for the last year, and another for the support of the same object for the year ensuing. importance of that mission, in affording instruction, in the native Irish language, to numbers of the inhabitants of the dark parts of Ireland, is the reason which has induced the committee to bring the expenses incurred by it upon the mission fund; as no other alternative presented itself, than to do this, or entirely to abandon a work which has already effected so much good. The committee, however, wish it to be understood, that its aid has been extended only to the six Irish missionaries who preach in the native language, and for that reason only. The other preachers in Ireland, who act as missionaries, and are called by that name, have received nothing from the missionary fund."

The excellence of these extracts is a sufficient justification of their insertion in this place, notwithstanding their length. As this was also the first general missionary report written by Mr. Watson, and written immediately after his official connection with the missions, it was requisite to quote somewhat largely from it, to show the spirit in which he entered upon his work, and the tone which he assumed in reference to it, when addressing the people by whom the cause was supported. From this time to the end of his life he sustained the office of missionary secretary; he was the writer of nearly the whole of the reports, from year to year; and it will be seen, by these memoirs of his life, that his zeal for the advancement of missions suffered no abatement; his hopes of success never flagged; and the interest of his annual reports rather increased than diminished till his heart and hand ceased to move.

CHAPTER X.

Attacks upon the West India Mission-Mr. Watson's Defence of that Mission -Speech at the Anniversary of the Bible Society-Conference of 1817—Mr. Watson's re-appointment to London-Letter to Mr. Ellis-Missionary Report for 1817-Mr. Watson preaches at the opening of a new Chapel in Oxford-Singu. lar Adventure on that Occasion.

THE wisdom of the appointment of Mr. Watson to the office of missionary secretary was apparent to every one when his first report was put into circulation; and it was not less manifest when he was called, through the medium of the press, to defend the West India missions against misrepresentation and calumny. These missions had been begun under circumstances strikingly providential; and were prosecuted under the direction of Dr. Coke with admirable zeal and effect, and at a vast expense of money and life. Several of the planters were humane