to collect it. But they continue their importunity, and have already commenced collecting money among themselves. I know not what I am to do in the matter, whether to resist, or yield to their solicitations. I suppose the expense, including land, would amount to £150; one-half of which might be raised in the place and neighbourhood.

"If the religious public at a distance would give the other half, the thing could be easily effected. The people are taught deadly error at the church, the minister being a rank Puseyite, or Tractarian. If our wealthy friends, by their kind promises of assistance, will say, 'Go on,' we shall feel it our duty to move; if otherwise, we must wait till Providence opens the way. I wish I could have the pleasure of introducing the representatives of two or three of the London churches only to the congregation I have described, pent up in the two small rooms, with many others returning for want of room; and I am sure we should soon be seen worshipping in a sweet, well-filled chapel, making it ring with praises to God! Shall I ask the favour of a visit of a friend or two from London, or from any other town or city? If they will be at Puriton, three miles from Bridgewater, any sabbath evening, at six o'clock, they will lay us under infinite obligation. But why do I let my pen run on in this strain ? Is it not too much to hope, that those who have not witnessed the scene should enter into it as those who are iden

tified with it? Be this as it may, there can, I think, be no objection to my indulging a little in this hopeful strain. I know the goodness and faithfulness of my God; also, I know there are many faithful Christians who would rejoice to assist in building him a house at Puriton. I need then only make it a matter of prayer, and leave it in the hand of a faithful God, and in the hands of his people."

Suffering among the Poor in consequence of the Potato Disease.

We close this paper by referring to a subject which claimed the first attention in last month's Home Missionary statement-the temporal distress among the poor. A few brief extracts will show that there are now numbers of Christians who need the aid of their brethren; and that many more, as the winter advances, are likely to be in deep and perilous suffering in consequence of the potato disease. The first sabbath of January, 1846, is on the 4th instant, so that multitudes of warm-hearted members of Christian churches will have an opportunity of contributing on that day in the way that may be considered best, to enable the Directors to respond to the urgent appeal made for help. Two generous and liberal friends to the spiritual wants of the people on our stations have, in imitation of their Divine Master, who went about doing good to the bodies as well as to the souls of men, given each £5 to the poor fund. There can be no doubt but this appeal will succeed.

An agent writes thus from Somerset :

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'Although I perceive no encouragement is held out to the village churches connected with the Home Missionary Society that relief will be afforded during the coming winter, yet I could not let this opportunity pass away without stating that D participates in the general calamity of diseased potatoes. What some of the poor

will do who have lost nearly their all I cannot tell! We shall have to contend not only with a great deficiency, but a considerable rise in the price of potatoes that are eatable. This calamity will be very severely felt by the poor here." Another missionary in Dorsetshire says:"The poor in this neighbourhood already feel the failure in their potato crops. Though their sufferings are known and commented on, many of our farmers refuse to raise their wages. Many families are barely subsisting on seven shillings per week! Would that the League or something else could shame our farmers of this wholesale system of starvation!"

A third writes from Dorset :

"The sad condition of our poor from the loss of the potato crop, the low price of labour, and the high price of bread, my pen cannot describe. May God, who thinks upon the poor, open the hearts of his people to minister to the poor brethren!"

The following is from Devon :

"What will become of the poor this winter the Lord only knows. The universal failure of the potato crop is the greatest temporal calamity ever remembered in this county. As in Ireland, so it is here, the poor subsist chiefly on potatoes. In many instances the crop is not worth digging. In the autumn the labourers have been accustomed to have at least forty bags; this season not more than six or eight, and the quality is such they are hardly fit for human food. There has not been even a single peck for sale at this market for the last six weeks. And what will render the distress more appalling, bread-corn has advanced full 25 per cent. It is exceedingly painful to my feelings to have occasion to press on the attention of our kind Christian friends; but my very heart sickens at the cry which rings in my ears at every village, I had almost said at every turning. And certain it is there never was a more urgent call for the exercise of Christian benevolence than at present. May our gracious Lord dispose many to lend unto Him, and thus preserve from want and misery many of the poor on this and other stations!"

"I never knew so great and, indeed, such an awful amount of poverty in this locality as is now experienced. Many poor families will be quite shut within doors for the want of any covering to clothe their persons. Potatoes are the chief food of the poor here; for with their labour on a little rented ground they raise sufficient generally both for their own eating and to feed a pig with. Three sheets would not suffice to tell your committee of the facts illustrative of the present distress. I will mention a few, and not one for the whole truth of which I cannot avouch.

"1. I have one poor member whose expected crop was sixty bags. He toiled late and early in the field for their proper growth, and while he fully and at a low calculation expected sixty bags, (of 160 lbs. weight each,) he has now not five bags. I saw this all myself.

"2. I know another member who rented ground to grow potatoes to sell again, as well as to use. He had one bag (160 lbs.) laid on the ground, and could not pick out of it all twenty good ones!

"3. One of my poor members, who expected fully enough to feed his four children with up to the new crop of 1846, (in August,) has not one left now! All destroyed!

"4. One other member had two men digging all the day, (38. worth of labour,) and while the usual quantity dug would be perhaps thirty bags, they sold all of those dug for three-quarters of a single bag!"

IRISH EVANGELICAL SOCIETY. VIOLENT ASSAULT ON TWO OF THE AGENTS.

THE Committee feel great satisfaction in being able to state that their agents, whether pastors, missionaries, or Scripture readers, are labouring with unwearied assiduity, and, in many instances, with gratifying success. In some cases, however, they have to contend with the most formidable obstacles. In one district the opposition of the Romanists has increased to such an extent that personal violence was often perpetrated against two of the Scripture readers, who were furiously attacked by a miscreant for no other reason than their speaking to his wife, who was once a Protestant, on religious subjects. They endured the assault with meekness, offering no violence in return, remembering the language of the Saviour, who has said, "Pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you." They might have cited their assailant before the magistrates, who promised to afford them the redress which the law directs; but they have been advised rather to suffer wrongfully than by punishing the man, which might have been legally done, excite greater opposition against themselves and the mission to which they are devoted. It is hoped that the spirit of forgiveness thus displayed will disarm the enemies of the truth, and lead them to receive that gospel which teaches men not to "return railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing." Should it, notwithstanding, be necessary, the Committee will not fail to adopt such means as the case may admit, and which the law allows, to secure to our brethren that protection which is essential to the peaceful discharge of their important duties.

THE POTATO DISEASE.

From some of the districts in which the agents are labouring the accounts which have been received of the state of the potato crop are most distressing. In some instances, the entire produce is already destroyed; whilst in others, the part which is supposed to be free from the blight will be found insufficient for the support of the family; so that the dread of famine begins to be felt; whilst no hope cheers them for the coming year, as it will be impossible to preserve seed for planting when the season arrives. One missionary writes, "The poor people have tried every plan that has been recommended to arrest the evil, but in vain, and they begin to say the finger of God is in it, punishing them for the sins of the country." If they can be led to take this view of the visitation, the blight may, by the blessing of God, be turned into a blessing.

DEFICIENCY OF AGENTS.

The Society has now more than thirty agents under their superintendence. But it may be asked, What are these, when the necessities of the case are considered? Many thousands of our fellow subjects are living in total igno

rance of the first principles of gospel truth; enslaved by a superstition which it is feared is leading them to destruction. It may be doubted whether in any part of the world a people can be found in a more wretched and deplorable condition, as it respects all moral and spiritual truth. And, yet, how feeble are the efforts put forth to enlighten and save them! It is not that they are unwilling to listen to the instruction of the Scripture reader, or the preaching of the faithful missionary. With but few exceptions, they are thankful for the means employed by this and kindred institutions. The Committee have received applications for Missionaries from several districts of great promise. To these they have been compelled to return answers in the negative. The state of their funds forbids them to enter on new spheres of labour, however hopeful they may appear. They are unfeignedly thankful for the increased liberality which has been evinced by some of the churches in the amount collected for "British Missions." Could all the churches in Britain be induced to follow the example so nobly set by a few, the Committees of our Societies would be relieved of much anxiety, and be justified in entering those "fields white to the harvest," which now present themselves to their notice.

ITINERATING LABOURS OF STUDENTS.

To meet in some measure the loud call for additional labourers, the Committee engaged the services of some of the students in our Theological Seminaries during their collegiate vacation. Five of these young brethren spent about two months in the summer in different parts of the country. The Committee felt great pleasure in receiving communications testifying to the acceptable services of their young friends. Mr. T. Arnold, from Rotherham; Mr. William Shaw, from Highbury; Mr. Chignell, from Homerton; and Messrs. Shelley and Dongan, from Cheshunt, were so employed. These young ministers laboured with great assiduity in the several stations to which they were appointed. Many hundreds heard with great attention the gospel faithfully proclaimed by them in chapels, farm-houses, and in the open-air on mountain tops. The following extract from the journal of one of them will be read with interest, as affording a specimen of the service rendered to the Society under whose auspices they were sent forth.

Sabbath."I held this afternoon an open air service on the top of the Cairn Hill, whither I was accompanied by Mr. B. When we got to the top of the mountain, which is elevated about 1100 feet above the level of the sea, the first object that attracted my attention was the remains of an ancient Druid's altar, which had been erected for the purpose of offering sacrifices to the sun. The prospect was fine and commanding. The country around, and in the distance, presented a fertile and beautiful appearance; the Lough below was almost filled with vessels of various sizes, which gave a striking variety to the beauty of the scene. It was highly gratifying to view little groups of men and women on all sides of the mountain, wending their way through the heath and between the rocks to the top of the hill. In a short time we were surrounded with between three and four hundred. I had the privilege of ad

dressing them on the most important of all subjects, the salvation of their souls: they were very attentive, manifested great patience, and exhibited the deepest interest in the glad tidings proclaimed."

The Committee cannot but hope, that labours such as these will be foliowed with a Divine blessing. It pains them to think, that nothing but the want of adequate funds prevents them from extending efforts like these to almost every part of the country. Is it possible that our British churches, that wealthy Christians in this land, can be assured of such a famine of the bread of life, and such a hungering after it, and not be willing of their abundance to furnish the means by which such a pressing necessity may be supplied? From almost every part of the sister land, the cry is heard, "Come over and help us!" The Committee would respectfully but earnestly appeal to all who love the souls of man, and ask, Shall the cry be ever unheeded?

COLONIAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
Instituted 1836.

THE following earnest appeal for a suitable minister to occupy the station of Yarmouth, in Nova Scotia, from the Rev. J. C. Gallaway, of St. John, New Brunswick, will be better understood, and more fully appreciated, after reading an account given by Mr. Gallaway, of a tour through Nova Scotia, made by him last summer, and printed at page 16 in the present Number of the CHRISTIAN WITNESS.

This instance will illustrate the serious impediment and check placed in the way of accomplishing the great work of the Colonial Missionary Society, by the inadequacy of its funds. Most inviting opportunities for establishing ministers in important stations present themselves-other bodies of Christians are full of laudable activity-by long delay and neglect in past times, great losses have been sustained by our denomination; yet is it found still impracticable to act on large views, and with promptitude and vigour. It might also be added, that active and devoted brethren, already in the field, look in vain for the vigorous support in their enterprises for extension and progress to which they are so well entitled: but in this view Mr. Gallaway is well able to plead his own

cause.

However, it is hoped that prospects brighten, that funds will increase-that debt will be discharged-and at length progress made.

"St. John, New Brunswick, Oct. 28th, 1845. "MY DEAR FRIEND,-I beseech your special and earnest attention to the subject of this letter. In my long report to you of my visit to Nova Scotia last July, I supplied you with certain interesting particulars respecting Yarmouth. I informed you of the origin of the Congregational church in that town, of its recent condition, and of my visit. I expressed my conviction that the prevailing feeling of the people was in favour of a congregational polity. This conviction has been fully confirmed by my recently receiving an application from the church, signed by the deacons, earnestly entreating me to endeavour to obtain for them, as early as possible, a Congregational minister.

Now, what is to be done? Can I write to them, and say, We have no minister to send you? It is true that our churches at home have formed a Colonial Missionary Society--it is true that the Congregationalists in England are a powerful body-it is true that they are eager for the diffusion of their distinctive principles-it is true that they have sent me here to awaken an interest in Congregational principles, and to furnish an earnest of help, at some time, to various stations in these provinces; but as the Society happens to be a few hundred pounds in debt, it will do nothing at all for you. However staunchly you have stood for the principles which your pilgrim ancestors bequeathed you, however eager other denominations in your neighbourhood are to break up your church polity, and whatever ground of encouragement Mr. Gallaway, our agent, may have given you; still, while we pity, we cannot help you!'

"Now, my dear brother, will you, will the Committee, will the churches at home allow me to write back to Yarmouth in this strain? Do not imagine that I have unduly committed either you or myself by any assurances that I gave them. I told them that the Society was in debt, and that there was little or no prospect of any pecuniary help for the first year, and even for a longer period; but that ultimately, if the church should really need it, you might help them. I was extremely guarded in my assurances on this subject. I do not urge this case then to save my own credit, or to repair any false step that I have taken; but I urge it (and I do so with great earnestness) because of the claims of the case itself. Your help to this cause now will give considerable impulse to our movements generally-your holding back will be a death-blow to any progress for a long time to come. Much attention is now called to Yarmouth. My visit and the efforts of the Free Church party are known pretty extensively throughout both the provinces. The church now look to me to you-to their sister churches in old England. Oh, let them not look in vain! There is a nice chapel, (with a steeple,) besides at least three others in outstations, which the minister could have immediate access to. There are, I believe, nearly two hundred communicants. It is an improving part of the country. It was at one period altogether in the hands of the Congregationalists. The people raised for Mr. Ross, their former pastor, £150 per annum. matters are not now in such a settled state as they were, perhaps £100 would be the outside of their effort for the first year. It may be more, if a suitable man come; say £120. Then I have just received an offer of assistance from the American Home Missionary Society, in our operations in these provinces. I reckon upon £20 or £30 in addition to the above sum, for the first year, for Yarmouth, from that source. Now, what I ask you to do is, to look out for a suitable man, and send him immediately to St. John. If you can bear the expense of his voyage, I will guarantee, in the name of the church, the amount of help already stated. Now, brother, let me have joy of thee in God: refresh my bowels in the Lord. Please answer by return.

"Yours affectionately,
"J. C. GALLAWAY.

"To Rev. A. Wells."