10

MEMOIR OF CORNELIA.

death or sorrow of heart, in the happy enjoyment of hearing the Word of God, Cornelia slept in Jesus, on the 26th of April 1841, in the tenth year of her age. I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Rev. xiv. 13.

The parents of Little Cornelia have been so fully convinced of the good which their child received from her hearty reception of the Christian Religion, that they have become regular attendants on Christian Worship, when not prevented by sickness. Family Prayer, with reading of the Scriptures, has also been commenced.

FRUITS OF THE SOCIETY'S EARLIEST LABOURS AT RED RIVER,

NORTH-WEST AMERICA.

THE following circumstance, recorded in the Rev. J. Smithurst's Journal, while it furnishes a proof of the progress made by the Indians belonging to his congregation in the adoption of the habits of civilized life, also shows some of the pleasing fruits which, by God's blessing, have resulted from the earliest labours of the Society in this field.

The

Jan. 26, 1841-I married a couple this morning. bride and bridegroom were both brought up in the Mission School, and were attended to church by six of their old schoolfellows. I was pleased to see them all dressed in the costume of dear Old England, and, in the true English fashion, walking orderly in pairs. The whole party understood English; so that I used the Service wholly in that language; and afterward gave them a short address, endeavouring to set before them the nature and obligations of the marriage-contract.

The bride was given away by James Hope, one of the two boys obtained from the Indians by the Rev. J. West, on his first landing at York, in 1820. Had Mr. West been at the Indian Church this morning, and seen a fine-looking young man of twenty-seven, dressed in an English blue frock-coat, dark cloth trowsers, handsome waistcoat, and a silk handkerchief neatly tied about his neck, he would hardly have recognised the naked, oily little urchin put into his canoe, at York, by Withaweecapo, more than twenty years ago.

THE SOCIETY'S EARLIEST LABOURS AT RED RIVER. 11

Here, indeed, is the first-fruits of Mr. West's labours, found after many days. And who can tell how far Mr. West's interview with the boy's parents, at the time they were led to part with him, may have proved instrumental in leading to their conversion? Fourteen years after giving up their boy to Mr. West, they themselves came to Red River, and embraced Christianity. The old man had two wives; one of whom he put away, and married the other. Withaweecapo now sleeps by the side of our church; his widow is one of my Indian Congregation, and a communicant; and all their children, seven in number, are Christians. Here is one of the many evidences of the Divine Blessing upon this Mission, which should lead us to thank God, and take courage.

To return, however, from this digression to the marriageparty:-Mr. Cook, the schoolmaster, went to breakfast with them, and tells me that every thing was conducted in a very orderly manner. I am highly gratified in observing such rapid advances in civilization as to-day's proceedings have indicated.

On reading the above account, Mr. West, in a Letter, dated December 20, 1841, transmitted to the Secretaries the following additional particulars :

Well do I remember Withaweecapo bringing his son to me in his arms, as I sat in the boat waiting for him, being about to start many hundred miles from York Factory, to the Red River ; and, as he parted with his boy, with tears of affection, saying, “There, I give you my son, to teach as you say; because I think you will take care of him as you say, and will treat him as a father. But I shall come and see my boy." Fourteen years after, it seems, he undertook the journey, many hundred miles, to visit his boy. This brought him under Christian instruction; and, God be praised! there is good hope to believe that he was led to embrace Christ Jesus as his Lord, and to live in obedience to His Gospel, so that he died a true Christian. And how cheering is Mr. Smithurst's statement! "His widow is one of my Indian Congregation, and a communicant; and all their children, seven in number, are Christians!"

What encouragement is there, amidst all discouragements, to prosecute Christian Missions! Let us therefore persevere, and faint not; for in due season a rich harvest shall be reaped, to the great glory of the Lord.

SCRIPTURAL ILLUSTRATION.

ACTS xx. 6-12.

THE house, in which I am at present living, gives what seems to me to be a correct idea of the scene of Eutychus's falling from the upper loft, while Paul was preaching: Acts xx. 6-12. According to our idea of houses, the scene is very far from intelligible. A description of this house, which is not many miles distant from the Troad, and perhaps, from the unchanging character of Oriental Customs, nearly resembles the houses then built, will fully illustrate the narrative.

On entering my host's door, we find the ground floor entirely used as a store. On ascending, we find the first floor, consisting of an humble suite of rooms, not very high; these are occupied by the family, for their daily use. It is on the next story that all their expense is lavished. The room is both higher and larger than those below: it has two projecting windows; and the whole floor is so much extended in front, beyond the lower part of the building, that the projecting windows considerably overhang the street.

In such an upper room-secluded, spacious, and commodious-St. Paul was invited to preach his parting discourse. The divan, or raised seat, with mats or cushions, encircles the interior of each projecting window and I have remarked, that, when company is numerous, they sometimes place large cushions behind the company seated on the divan; so that a second tier of company, with their feet upon the seat of the divan, are sitting behind, higher than the front row. Eutychus, thus sitting, would be on a level with the open window; and, being overcome with sleep, he would easily fall out, from the third loft of the house, into the street, and be almost certain, from such a height, to lose his life. Thither St. Paul went down; and comforted the alarmed company, by bringing up Eutychus alive.

It is noted, that there were many lights in the Upper Chamber. The very great plenty of oil in this neighbourhood would enable them to afford many lamps: the heat of these, and so much company, would cause the drowsiness of Eutychus at that late hour, and be the occasion likewise of the windows being open.

[REV. W. JOWETT's Christian Researches.

CHURCH MISSIONARY

GLEANER.

No. 2.

FEBRUARY, 1842.

VOL. II.

COMPASSION, A MOTIVE TO MISSIONARY EXERTION.

Ir we adopt the usual supposition, that the Heathen and Mahomedan population of the world amounts to six hundred millions, and that a generation ordinarily lasts thirty years, we arrive at the appalling conclusion, that no fewer than fifty-four thousand of our fellow-creatures, possessing souls as precious and immortal as our own, die EVERY DAY, without having ever heard of the only Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is something peculiarly affecting in the NEGATIVE description of their state, which is brought before us in the Word of God. The Gentiles are represented as being WITHOUT God, WITHOUT Christ, WITHOUT understanding, WITHOUT natural affection, having No hope, and, what is still more touching, they are said to be

WITHOUT excuse.

What a solemn subject for reflection! How ought it to call forth our liveliest feelings of pity, our most earnest prayers, and our most strenuous exertions! When our Blessed Saviour saw the multitude, He had compassion upon them. Christian Brethren, Let this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus.

In order that we may be duly impressed with these affecting considerations, it will be profitable to enter somewhat into detail, in contrasting our own high and blessed privileges with the destitute con

VOL. II.

C

14 COMPASSION, A MOTIVE TO MISSIONARY EXERTION.

dition of the poor Heathen: and, with this view, the following passage is extracted from the Sermon preached before the Society at its last Anniversary, by the Rev. F. Close :

They are immortal, without the knowledge of immortality! they are sinners, without a Saviour! They are, like ourselves, born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward-children of sadness and sorrow, and weakness and woe, born to weep and to die ;—but THEY have no Comforter; they have none to point them to the consolations that are in Christ Jesus. They are our brethren in adversity, our brethren in affliction, our brethren in weakness and all human infirmities; but they are NOT brethren in Christ. Oh! think ye of this, and pity the poor Heathen! You find it sometimes difficult to bear the trials of life, amidst all the consolations of Christ with which you are favoured;-but what would you do without them? Your temptations, your trials, afflictions, and sorrows, are ofttimes like a cup filled to the brim: but you have kind Christian friends, and faithful Pastors, and the House of God, and the sacraments of His love;—and what would you be without them? We plead, then, with you, who abound in these mercies, in behalf of them that have none. The Heathen are perishing, without God, without Christ, and without hope in the world: (Eph. ii. 12.) Oh! tell them of your Saviour, that they may live!

The same subject is also thus dwelt upon, in the Sermon preached at the Fifth Anniversary, by the late Rev. John Venn :

I beseech you, Brethren, by that abundance of spiritual mercies which you possess in Christ Jesus, that you will show compassion to the millions of your fellow-creatures, who are destitute of them. You are called regularly each week to the House of God, to hear the glad tidings of His Gospel; but, throughout the vast continent of Africa, no joyful bells are ever heard to summon the assembly of Christians to His Temple. You enjoy the rest, the peace, the delightful tranquillity of a Sabbath; but a Sabbath is a word unknown there; and of the blessings which it communicates, millions there are wholly ignorant. You have the Bible in your hands, the charter of salvation, and there you daily read with delight the promises of a gracious God,