The following Sabbath I felt fortified in preaching from Numb. xxiii. 21, 'The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.'

"I made attempts formerly, not only to visit every house, but to address a few plain, faithful, and affectionate remarks to each member of the family. But I always found my strength fail before I had half finished. The plan I had adopted this year was to visit every house, and invite all the inmates to assemble in the street to hear the word of God. This they did, and I was thus enabled to address them all at once. We have sixteen streets in the settlement, in all of which I have thus preached the gospel in the open air, to large and attentive congregations. I held the last of these services on Christmas

eve.

One object I had in view was to draw out those who are too careless to come, even a few hundred yards, to the house of God. I was much pleased to see many such attend the open air services. These services were in addition to all my other engagements, and pretty severely tested my strength. Through the Divine mercy, however, I have not had a single silent Sabbath this year; nor more than one since my arrival three years since.

"I may mention two or three cases:Runy George had been a professor years ago; but she had wandered far from God. I preached one Sabbath from the words, 'Jesus passed over the brook Cedron, where was a garden,' John xviii. 1. The word came with power to her heart. She was brought as a penitent sinner to the foot of the cross, and has since become a very consistent member of the church.

"Boatswain James was long a teacher at Ebenezer Chapel. While there he took a farm, neglected prayer, and fell into gross immorality. The farm proved a failure, and then he came to reside at Ithaca. Here he greatly annoyed me by getting up tea parties,

me,

which were prolonged until day-break. Just after one of these I saw him coming towards and after a few moments' consideration, I addressed him with the solemn inquiry, What kind of an account will you give at the day of judgment?' The question seemed to have entered his soul. He informed me months afterwards that he went home, but had little rest that night. The question returned, 'What account shall I be able to give at the day of judgment?' This led him to Christ, from whom he had wandered, and he has since become a consistent member of the church, and an active Sabbath-school teacher, &c.

"Another case is that of a young man, who, for seven years past, had been my bitterest enemy. I once discharged him for bad work, and since that time he had done every thing in his power to get me hence. Unknown to me he used to come to our place of worship by night.' He became sick, and felt that if he died he should be lost. He was

led to cry for mercy. Then he came and conversed with me, joined the candidate class the first Sabbath this year, and has since become a Sabbath-school teacher. Thus God is working among us for his own glory and the conversion of sinners.

"On the 9th November last, we had a very interesting service, on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone of our new chapel. The children, about 150 in number, formed a procession, headed by Mr. Dalgliesh and myself, and walked to the site of the new chapel. I commenced by giving out the hymn

God in his earthly temple lays

Foundations for his heavenly praise.' I then read a psalm; and after another hymn had been sung, Mr. Dalgliesh delivered an address to a large concourse of people. I had the pleasure of laying the foundation-stone, and Mr. Jansen concluded with prayer."

"According to previous invitation,” writes Mr. Howe, "I dined with the Governor on the 24th of August, and we afterwards retired to the verandah, and spent half an hour in conversing freely on the position of the Missionaries. He expressed his deep regret that his severe indisposition had prevented him from paying that attention to the matter which was necessary to enable him to form a correct opinion of it; but that, being better the last few days, he had read over all our papers, especially the memorial, which he praised as a document of great clearness of diction and of exposition, and that it left no doubt on any necessary point of our grievances or desires, so that he thought that he comprehended the whole case. I said I was happy to find that we had so expressed ourselves as to be understood; but that if in any one point he wished for further information, I should be most happy to give it. He replied that there was only one point which he could not understand, and that was our refusal to recognise the authority of the Government over us. I answered, that I could not conceive from what source he had derived that impression, for it certainly was not conveyed in any of the documents with which I had had anything to do; on the contrary, we admitted that we were as responsible to the Government as any other foreigners in the place. That which we objected to was not the required sanction of the Government, but the mode of election to office. Since churches were formed in Tahiti, we had taught the people that those only had the right to choose the minister who were communicants in the district; and as the new law gave that right

to the chiefs of the district without any respect to character, we could not recognise it without contravening the instruction previously given to the people. He replied, 'Yon are right; as a philosopher, my conviction tells me that you are right. The moral are much more likely to choose correctly than the immoral; but the law is passed, and however inconsistent it may be, I must maintain it. France has been in great disorder, and is only now returning to a state of order, and the universal feeling in France now is in favour of order, and this must extend to her remotest dependencies.' I thanked him for the admission of the correctness of the principles we wished to maintain, and added, that as the law did not rescind the one of last year, which allowed the people to apply for any minister they chose, we should be most happy to continue our labours on that principle, until the next meeting of the Legislative Assembly; or, indeed, there being no law against it, if he would allow us to teach and preach independently of the national church, until the law could be altered, we would gladly take that course. He replied, While I admit, as a philosopher, the justness and the reasonableness of the principles you lay down, as a politician there may be reasons why I ought not to allow them in certain cases.' I answered, True, when parties employ them against the state, and for political ends; but your Excellency is aware that we appeal to all our past proceedings as illustrative of the fact, that we have in no way acted politically; and that even on those points in which the law has pressed upon us, we have never attempted to complain to the

people, or to create any disturbance, but have invariably complained to the Government itself. We fear no investigation on that subject, and should our request be complied with, I have perfect confidence in the whole body of the Missionaries, that they will attend only to their own ministerial duties.' He then said, 'Well, I will review the case again, and when I have made up my mind, I will let you know my decision through your consul.' When I was about to leave, he assured me that we should have an answer in a few days.

"That answer was a negative. Mr. Miller, our consul, was so surprised at it, that he called upon the Governor to ask him if he rightly understood the request that we had made, as the answer was so directly at variance with his view of the understanding entered into by the two Governments, concerning us. He replied,' Yes, I fully understand the question, and have given my answer accordingly.' He then repeated the remarks he had previously made to me, on the political necessity of the case; but at the same time he did not hint that we had forfeited our right by any act of our own. Mr. Miller reminded him that all we asked was the liberty the Catholic priest is enjoying at Mairipehe, who has service in his own house, and all who are inclined may go there, and do so. He answered, 'Yes, I know that, and any one else can have the same liberty, except those who belong to the London Missionary Society; there are political reasons why they at present should be denied it, yet it may, perhaps, ere long, be granted to them. He then named, as a partial reason, a difficulty which was then pending at Hitiaa, but he did not hint that we were in any way mixed up with it. Mr. Miller then said that he would send the case home with the expression of his opinion upon it, which was, that the refusal was in contravention of the guarantee given to the British Government concerning us. He replied, 'Do so; and I shall write to mine, to say that the course I have taken is absolutely necessary for the good government of this country.' Mr. Miller then wrote a letter to him, acknowledging the receipt of his answer, and at the same time stating that it was in his opinion a violation of the religious liberty guaranteed to the British Government on our behalf.

"After Mr. Miller had made known to us the Governor's answer, the very great expense of living at Papeete, in addition to the large rents the brethren were compelled to pay, and above all there being nothing to do, led all to feel it to be their duty to go to less expensive places, and there to wait until a final decision should be taken on the ques. tion in England. Mr. J. Barff and family have therefore gone to Huahine, Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm and family to Raiatea, and Mr. and Mrs. Lind to Rurutu.

"My remaining here was unavoidable, seeing that I am in possession of the Society's property, as well as of that belonging to the British and Foreign Bible Society. We continue to occupy the mission house without being interfered with.

"On reviewing the whole case, I feel fully satisfied with the course we have taken in refusing to hold office in the newly-formed national church. Had a desire to keep our stations induced us to take the other alternative, we should all have been involved in difficulty now, or have been compelled to compromise our principles.

"What effect this new state of things with regard to preaching, may have upon the circulation of the sacred Scriptures and of tracts, remains to be seen. We have worked off four sheets of the strictures upon the Popish Catechism recently placed in the Lands of all the native preachers. Mr. J. Barff's removal has checked our progress a little for want of copy, but we are filling up the interval by printing a third part of an elementary arithmetic, which we have had by us for some time. That the Governor intends to carry out most vigorously his determination about preaching is clear, from the fact that he has appointed foreign directors to reside in different parts of the island, that they may instantly check any attempt at deviation from the laws of worship, &c. One of them, who isappointed to the coast from Point Venus to the Isthmus, requested Mr. Collie to inform me, that he begged I would not make my appearance in that part for some little time to come, without going straight to him first, as he would be compelled to enter into an investigation of my motives for going, which might occasion me some trouble, and which he was most anxious to avoid.

"Thus, for the present at least, those who cannot bow to the yoke of the state church are not only forbidden to preach, but they are forbidden also to have any intercourse with the people. This is a most painful position to be placed in, and will be felt by the Society to be a most humiliating one. Many of our friends will probably be ready to say, 'Is this the end of all our prayers, money, and labours bestowed on Tahiti?' I and my brethren have for a moment entertained the same feelings which are supposed to have prompted the question; but we have been checked by the conviction that the word of the Lord has not returned to him void' from Tahiti. On the contrary, it has been the instrument of enabling many, very many, to leave a dying testimony behind them of the efficacy of the Gospel preached among them to enlighten the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and to open to them a glorious vision of future and eternal happiness. Yes, should not another soul be gathered in from Tahiti, I fully believe that at the last day it will be found that no scanty harvest has been reaped in this recently heathen land. It appears to me that it would be quite as proper to say that the preaching of the Apostles, in consequence of the present depressed state of truth

in the countries in which they laboured, was a failure, as it would be to apply that term to the labours of the Society in Tahiti.

'Besides, it is not yet certain that Popery will soon triumph in Tahiti. Its prospects are indeed now much brighter than they ever were before. The arm in which it trusts is now more vigorously thrust forth in its favour; but there is yet a stronger arm above it, that with one stroke can shiver it to atoms. If it do so, all the hopes of Popery, and our fears, will be scattered to the winds. But if otherwise, we know that the triumph of the wicked is short,' that the Head of the church 'will do all his pleasure,' and that 'He must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet.' It is matter of great thankfulness that the entire Scriptures have been so extensively circulated throughout the group, so much so, that I doubt if a family can be anywhere found that has not one or more copies within it. Should the edition of the hymn-books and of the New Testament arrive soon, they will have a very powerful tendency to secure still the feeling of the people, and especially of the young, towards Gospel truth; and in the mean time we shall be able to see more clearly the designs of Providence with regard to the future."

WESTERN

66

"THE distance between Fate and Lifu is only about 200 miles, yet owing to unfavourable winds and the roughness of the weather, we did not reach it till Thursday, the 3rd of June, and then we had to beat nearly the whole length of the island before we got to the part where the teachers are located. We reached that on the morning of Friday, the 4th, and found anchorage about five miles to leeward. We had some intimations at Aneiteun and Fate that a change was in progress on this island, and before we got to anchor we saw enough to convince us of that.

A CHRISTIAN TEMPLE REARED IN THE

DESERT.

"A very large white chapel and dwellinghouse afforded cheering evidence of the change that had taken place. From a foreigner also, and one of the teachers, who came on board before we reached the anchorage, we obtained joyful tidings; but it was not till we went on shore that we had any adequate idea of the reality. It will be recollected what Lifu, and the whole group to which it belongs, were in former years. It, and the neighbouring island of Maré, were as unpromising as any field towards which our