nesses for Christ in the world, and keepers of their careless, wandering brethren. They are prone to concentrate all their cares and anxieties upon themselves and those most nearly related to them, and to be heedless about the welfare of other souls and the honour of their Lord. Now it is in the matter of Christian doing, as in that of Christian giving, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." A contracted heart is never a joyous heart; a selfish Christian is never a happy Christian. And the reason why multitudes of professors dwell in a perpetual cloud, and rarely see the beams of the glorious sun, is, that they are unfaithful to the trust reposed in them, cherish no deep compassion for the ignorant and perishing on every side, and no true zeal for the spread of His cause who came from heaven to earth to save them. Let us arouse ourselves from our torpor, brethren. While not unmindful of our own souls, let us care more than we do for the souls of others. Let us seek to catch more the spirit of our Exemplar, who went about continually doing good, who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. Be assured it is eternally true, that "the liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself."

Out of many others, I mention only one other cause of spiritual darkness-direct or implied sin. It is not every sin that brings about this sad result; for, if it were, we would never enjoy light on earth, seeing we are ever sinning. It is chiefly sins of knowledge, sins we commit with open eyes, against warning and conviction. "Your iniquities," says the prophet to ancient Israel, "have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Or, it may be suspected sinsactions which we have grounds, more or less clear, to regard as sinful actions. We know, it may be, more or less surely, the true character of certain deeds; we have the persuasion that God will not approve but condemn them; we strongly suspect, too, we shall suffer in our spiritual interests by doing them; yet so strong is the temptation to indulgence, so manifest the present pleasure and advantage thereof, that we yield; and then, when passion cools and reflection ensues, we feel self-condemned, bereft of spiritual peace, and estranged from our God and Father. Or the evidence of the sinfulness of the action may be less clear and strong; we may be able, with great plausibility of reasoning, to show it is no sin, that no passage in Scripture forbids it, that good men have often practised it; and, therefore, we conclude it cannot be wrong for us to practise it too. Very good; but what is our own experience? Have

we not found in time past that this action, the reading of this class of books, the consorting with this society, the frequenting of this scene of amusement, the indulging in this gratification, has proved disquieting to our minds, and injurious to our spirituality? And have we not been thereby taught that, whatever it may be for others, it is wrong for us? Now, if in such a case, in disregard of the lessons of experience, and the secret whisperings of the good Spirit within us, we yield to solicitation and indulge our tastes, what can we expect but uneasiness, self-reproach, a disturbance of our relations with God, embarrassment in prayer, loss of spiritual strength, misery?

It is these actings, and such as these, that obscure the face of God, and wrap our souls in darkness. And can we wonder that they should? His will is thereby set at nought, His honour disregarded, and His favour and love but lightly esteemed; and how can He fail to be displeased? And does it not become Him to show His displeasure, by veiling Himself from our view? Is it not necessary to the interests of holiness? Does it not ultimately conduce to our spiritual profit? Like other painful dispensations, does it not lead to reflection, to repentance, to renewed application to the blood of atonement? Assuredly our Heavenly Father does wisely in thus showing Himself angry with us. It is an act of seasonable and righteous discipline. As the office-bearers of the Church, who have committed to them the keys of government, suspend flagrant offenders from the outward privileges of the Church, so does God, by these withdrawments and hidings of His face, suspend from the inward privileges-temporarily excommunicate the ignorant, the careless, the worldly, the slothful, the pleasure-seeking, the secret, as well as open, violators of His law. Let us watch, then, unto prayer; let us strive to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man; let us keep our garments unspotted, and our hearts faithful and true; let us, first and last, and throughout our whole strivings, cling by a living faith to Him who is our righteousness and our strength, that we may enjoy without interruption the privileges of God's children; stand, like the angel in the sun, ever in the light of our Father's countenance, and maintain unbroken fellowship with Him from hour to hour. "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day."

GEORGE CLAZY, Paisley.

LETTERS FROM REV. JOHN INGLIS.

ARRIVAL AT ANEITYUM FROM NEW ZEALAND.

Rev. JOHN KAY, Sec. Reformed Presbyterian Synod's For. Mission.

ANEITYUM, NEW HEBRIDES, April 16th, 1869. MY DEAR SIR,-I am happy to inform you that we have arrived here in the "Dayspring," on the 8th inst., all safe and well. We had a fine voyage from Auckland of only seven days and a-half. We found Dr Geddie and his family well. There was no hurricane here during our absence; food was abundant; the public health was good; and the rate of mortality unusually low. Our premises and our property we found all safe: the natives had looked after everything with great care, and were all living in peace and quietness among themselves. For all these mercies we cannot feel sufficiently thankful.

To-day we heard from Tanna and Aniwa: the mission families on both these islands are well. Since we left the islands Mrs Paton has had a daughter, and Mrs Neilson a son-all doing well. Our fresh arrivals are rejoicing in all the novelties of island life. Mr Morrison is somewhat improved in strength since he left Sydney. -I remain, yours, etc. JOHN INGLIS.

GOOD NEWS FROM MISSION STATIONS-SETTLEMENT OF REV. W. WATT

ON TANNA.

ANEITYUM, NEW HEBRIDES, July 16th, 1869.

MY DEAR SIR,-The "Dayspring" is to sail to-morrow (D.v.) for Auckland, to bring on Mr and Mrs Milne. We had our Annual Meeting on the 17th of May, and following days. The reports from all the mission stations were good; there was nothing striking, nothing sensational, nothing remarkable reported; but a steady, healthy progress. There had been no hurricane, and no epidemics during our absence; food had been plentiful, and the public health good-circumstances always favourable to the interests of the mission, and they had been felt accordingly.

You will be glad to learn that Mrs Paton is recovered from the effects of the poisonous fish; her little boy's arm is also improving. We found her nursing a fine little daughter, whom I baptised, along with Thomas Neilson, tertius, in Dr Geddie's church, at the time of our Annual Meeting. Mr and Mrs Cosh were not at the meeting a fine little boy, a fortnight old, had interposed a veto, which, although accompanied by no reasons, was yet sustained. Mr Cosh, I am sorry to say, has had the island fever for the last two months; he is considerably better; but he is taking a voyage to New Zealand in the "Dayspring," with the view of re-establishing his health. Mr and Mrs Morrison also return to New Zealand. Mr Morrison came down with us in April, but he finds his strength unequal to a permanent residence on Fatè, and he returns to see the effects of the New Zealand climate on his constitution. regret much the loss, in the meantime, of a brother so beloved.

We

May the Lord soon re-establish his health, if consistent with His holy will, and restore him to us and to his work again!

I have been away for five weeks on Tanna, assisting in the settlement of Mr and Mrs Watt, and in the erection of their house. Mr Neilson was also with us. I had likewise with me about sixty Aneityumese, including two of our principal chiefs. These rendered valuable assistance in house-building; and their presence exercised a favourable influence on the Tannese. I never saw the Tannese so favourable to Christianity as at present. Chiefs and people in all directions, some as far off as ten miles-a long distance on Tanna, came to see us and our party; not only men, but women and children, bringing food and property as presents to the Aneityumese. It is true they got presents in return; but this intercourse not only evinced their good feelings towards us, but tended to cement important friendships for the future. We had a fine passage home to Aneityum, loaded with the riches of Tanna,the expedition, in the good providence of God, being, in our estimation, a great success.

We left our young friends in good health and in excellent spirits, applying themselves with commendable diligence and earnestness to the study of the language and the other duties of the mission. I am happy thus to say, that the mission of the New Zealand Church to the New Hebrides has been inaugurated under most favourable auspices; and our hope is that their missionary and his wife, sustained by the cordial sympathy, the earnest prayers, and the generous liberality, of the New Zealand Church, and of many beyond it, may, by the blessing of God, become the honoured instruments of materially advancing the interests of our Redeemer's kingdom among the degraded natives of the New Hebrides. . . -I remain, yours very truly, JOHN INGLIS.

LETTER FROM REV. JOSEPH COPELAND.

WORK IN FUTUNA-OPPOSITION FROM HEATHEN.

FUTUNA, NEW HEBRIDES, June 8th, 1869. MY DEAR SIR,-Yours of June 1868 I received in October. The two last mails contained nothing from you. I wrote you in November, and we have had no chance of sending away letters since.

I am thankful to say that we have been well during the solitary summer months. We had neither hurricane nor epidemic. The bread-fruit was an abundant crop, and the natives have not molested us, though they have been fighting among themselves.

In my last I informed you that the work took a start about November last. This movement continued for two months, up till the commencement of the heathen worship. Till Christianity have a firmer hold, we do not expect to make much progress from January till August, as that is the time for the various heathen ceremonies. We have now a footing, more or less, in all the seven districts into which the island is divided. In one about a-half of

the population is favourable to Christianity; in other two, about onethird. In the remaining four, heathenism greatly preponderates. School is kept in three places, but the attendance is only about twenty-five in all. As a general rule they manifest very little desire to learn to read. The attendance on Sabbaths is from eighty to a hundred. One district took no part this year in the heathen worship, the priest there having declared himself to be in favour of Christianity. The priest of a second district gave up the ceremonies of his office, but the heathen at once appointed a successor. Service is conducted every Sabbath in all the districts, so that all who wish to hear can do so without going to any great distance. I am assisted by five Aneityum teachers, two of whom speak this dialect fluently, and a third knows it partially. In the morning I conduct service at my own station, I then go to some of the other districts for a mid-day service, with some of the teachers. Toward evening I hold a third service near my own residence. We have no week-day service yet.

We

We have clearly reached the second stage of the mission. have left behind the first or quiescent, and are now in what may be called the opposition stage. For the first two years we were like one travelling on level ground; now we have begun the steep ascent. Like a boat in a calm at first, we have now a breeze right ahead, against which we must pull if we would advance.

Our opponents are the heathen, more particularly those in our neighbourhood. They have received from their forefathers certain practices in connection with the worship of their gods, which gives them a sort of status on the island. They begin to see that if the work is to succeed they must lose that status, and they are resolved to maintain it. Their first decided step was to attack us when at worship on the afternoon of the first Sabbath in January. On that day a number of people were present with us from a distance, and we had met in the public square as usual-only we had gone to the centre of it, the scene of some of their ceremonies. When the service was nearly over, seven men, all painted, ran into the square, with spears, bows and arrows, and other lethal weapons. The women in the congregation all fled, and I thought at first that the men were following them; but they only ran to get their clubs and other missiles, which they had deposited in the adjoining bush. Soon they marshalled themselves in front of our invaders, shouting, stamping with their feet, and brandishing their weapons. The Aneityum teachers and I got in between the two parties to prevent blows, and to confine the affair, if possible, to words. In this we were successful, for after our enemies had stood for about five minutes, and seen our force, and that they might expect blow for blow, they left us to finish our service. The reason they assigned for this outrage was, that we were desecrating their place of worship, and that so many of their brethren were declaring themselves favourable to Christianity. Against the missionary and the teachers they said they had no bad intentions. This last statement we know to be false. Foiled in driving us from the square, they next threatened