He travelled successively in the Redditch, Oxford, and Reading Circuits, enjoying the full confidence of his colleagues, and the affection and respect of the societies and congregations to whom he ministered the word of life; and if it were needful, we might here adduce very numerous testimonies to the faithfulness and success with which he fulfilled his various duties.

But his prospects of comfort and usefulness as a Minister in his native land were not allowed to divert him from the conviction, that he was called to devote himself to the work of Missions. On the contrary, that conviction became more powerful, and his serious attention was directed to the importance of the Missions which had been, about ten years previously, commenced in Ceylon and on the continent of India, by the faithful band of Missionaries who had proceeded to that part of the world under the guidance of the apostolical Dr. Coke. He became acquainted with the Rev. Thomas Squance, who had accompanied Dr. Coke on his projected Mission to the East, and had taken an active and useful part in the formation of several of the stations in Ceylon, and on the coast of Coromandel; the flame of his zeal was fed and encouraged by his intercourse with that active and useful Minister and Missionary; and he derived further advantage from conversation and correspondence with the Rev. Robert Newstead, who was then also recently returned from an eastern Mission. His views were subsequently communicated to the General Secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society; and in August, 1826, he was called to London to prepare to take an appointment to the continent of India.

While in London, he was entertained at the house of the Rev. Richard Watson, at that time President of the Conference; and, under his wise and affectionate direction, for about three months pursued those branches of study which would suitably prepare him for the great undertaking to which he was now devoted. He also received instruction in the Indo-Portuguese from Mr. Newstead, to such good effect, as to be able to prepare and deliver sermons in that language soon after his arrival in India.

On the 1st of November he was solemnly ordained by the imposition of hands, and by prayer, to the office and work of a Missionary to the Heathen, in the new chapel, Liverpool-road, Islington. The late Rev. John James and Dr. Townley, and the Rev. Messrs. Morley, Mason, France, and Newstead, took part in the services of the evening. The vows which he then took on him retained their influence on his mind through the whole course of his Missionary career, and to the close of his life.

Mr. Bourne commenced his voyage to Madras by embarking at Portsmouth on Tuesday, 21st November, 1826. With deep and mingled feelings he quitted his native country; but he entered on his new circumstances with repeated acts of devotion, and with a renewed dedication of himself to God.

In the course of a voyage of fourteen thousand five hundred miles, through great variety of latitude and climate, any man of devout and inquiring habits of mind must meet with many objects to excite his admiration, and enlarge his conceptions of the power and goodness of the Creator in the formation of the world, and in its providential government. The journal in which Mr. Bourne has recorded the circumstances of his voyage affords ample testimony that he was alive to this method of improving his opportunities. Among other curious and interesting particulars he notices that, four hundred miles from the coast of Africa, the sails of the vessel were covered with a fine sand, which had been borne that distance by the wind; he observed also with interest the habits of the flying-fish, and shark, and of other inhabitants of the air and of the deep, peculiar to the regions through which he passed. Soon after doubling the Cape of Good Hope, the ship experienced a dreadful storm, from which, however, little injury was sustained; on the 18th of March, 1827, the shores and mountains of Ceylon were visible; and on the 23d of the same month, gratefully acknowledging the kindness of divine providence, he landed safely at Madras.

On reviewing the period of more than four months which he had passed at sea, it afforded him no small gratification to reflect that his fellow-voyagers had beneficially felt the influence of his ministry and his personal character. His private advice and reproofs, as well as his sermons, had been received in a very respectful manner. In one case, it would appear, he had been successful in preventing a duel; and he had reason to conclude that some, at least, of those who sailed with him had received spiritual benefit from his exertions.

A stranger, arriving at Madras, is much impressed with its splendid appearance from the sea. Its importance as a seat of Government, and a centre for commerce, is further suggested by the vast multitudes which throng its beach and pour along its streets; at the same time the uncouth sounds of different languages, and the indications of superstition and idolatry on the persons of the natives, and in almost every street of the city, present to the view of the newly-arrived Missionary some of the difficulties and discouragements by which he is most liable to be affected.

Mr. Bourne was alive to these impressions; but, on the other hand, an introduction to the congregations, societies, and schools, English and native, connected with the Wesleyan Mission in Madras, afforded him much encouragement and sacred delight. Two days after he landed was the Sabbath: he preached in English at seven o'clock in the morning, attended a Tamul service with a native congregation at ten o'clock, and preached again to an English congregation in the evening. He noticed the day in his journal as one of the happiest of his life. In a heathen land, he saw the grace of God, and was giad;" the sight of the native congregation had especially caused his

heart to glow with gratitude to God for the degree of success which had been achieved by means of his predecessors in the Missionary field.

After a short stay at Madras, during which he became acquainted with the magnitude and usefulness of Christian exertion in that extensive town and neighbourhood, he commenced his journey to Negapatam, a station on the Coromandel coast, about one hundred and eighty miles south of Madras, to which he was for the present appointed.

The limits of this memoir do not permit even a brief abstract of the copious notices furnished in Mr. Bourne's journal of the many strange and interesting objects in nature and art which met his view in this and subsequent journeys. In about ten days he arrived in Negapatam, and was cordially welcomed by the Rev. James Mowat, with whom he was to reside as a colleague.

Negapatam contains a large Hindoo population, but has few European inhabitants; the Missionaries residing there are consequently little interrupted from the pursuit of their great avocation by intercourse with their own countrymen. This comparative retirement, together with the able and friendly aid of Mr. Mowat, himself a most efficient Missionary, proved peculiarly favourable to Mr. Bourne's speedy proficiency in the languages of the people. Within four weeks after his arrival he preached his first Portuguese sermon; and within nine months commenced his labours in the Tamul language.

In all respects, and in every department of the work, Mr. Bourne proved to be an invaluable colleague. In the pulpit, in the schools, in pastoral visitation, and in addressing the Heathen in the open air, he was equally laborious, efficient, and faithful. The advantage of such a fellow-labourer can only be estimated by those who have been in circumstances to know his value. But Mr. Mowat was not allowed long to enjoy this advantage; Mr. Bourne was called for a time from Negapatam. From May, 1828, till February, 1829, he took charge of the northern division of Madras. He then again returned to Negapatam, where he remained till the beginning of 1832.

The interesting details of his useful labours in Negapatam during the latter period cannot be introduced at length into this brief memoir. A few particulars must suffice :

In April, 1829, he, for the first time, in Negapatam, administered baptism to a Hindoo convert. A few weeks afterwards he received an application from several native Romanists, to afford them instruction, and admit them into the Protestant church. The labours and responsibilities of the station having devolved on him, in consequence of the departure of Mr. Mowat to Europe for the recovery of his health, he undertook them with great zeal and judgment. In addition to the chapel previously built by Mr. Mowat, he erected one in a part of Negapatam chiefly occupied by Romanists, for whose welfare he was deeply interested, commiserating their ignorance, immorality, and wretchedness.

In March, 1830, he visited a festival held at Trivallore, or Tiruvalloor, a large town about fifteen miles from Negapatam. It is esteemed a place very sacred among the Hindoos. It has a temple of great antiquity, and of almost incredible dimensions, covering, it is said, about seventeen acres of land, belonging to which are five ponderous cars, used in procession at the annual festivals; and, in its immediate neighbourhood, an extensive granite-built tank, which supplies the temple and the inhabitants of the town with water, and contributes much to the beauty and salubrity of the place. For several days and nights Mr. Bourne mingled with the multitudes assembled in honour of the idol Siven, and was almost unceasing in his exertions to scatter the seeds of divine truth. His instructions were eagerly listened to by many, and the large supply of tracts and Gospels which he had brought for the occasion was completely exhausted; but he returned to Negapatam most powerfully affected by the idolatrous exhibition he had witnessed. Among other things, he mentions that fifteen thousand persons, not excepting Christians, were forced from their own villages under British authority, and made to drag the cars in the idol-procession; and that at the same time, a Government professing Christianity expended £850 sterling annually in the maintenance of this single festival. It is most sincerely hoped that the despatch of the Court of Directors, sent out to India in 1833, has induced the local Governments to put a stop to this and similar abominations, which have too long existed under British rule, to the national guilt and disgrace.

But the most remarkable feature in the character and success of Mr. Bourne's Missionary labour on the Negapatam station, was the introduction of the Gospel into Melnattam, a village forty miles from Negapatam, where a Christian society was formed among the natives, a substantial chapel erected, and where Christian institutions are, we trust, permanently established, and their advantages thankfully acknowledged.

In the month of October, 1830, application was made to Mr. Bourne by two chief men of Melnattam, informing him that several families of that village, connected with the Romish Church, were desirous of renouncing the errors of Popery, and anxious to have the pastoral care of the Wesleyan Mission. Their statement having been

confirmed by the report of his native Assistant, he lost no time in paying them the desired visit. It was the depth of the rainy season; the country was almost impassable by the overflow of rivers, and the deep and swampy nature of the soil; a shed only had been prepared for his reception at the place, little fitted to shelter him from the weather, which was to serve the purpose of a temporary residence, and for the assembling of those who might wish to avail themselves of his ministry. Notwithstanding these and other inconveniences, he remained with them many days. Nor was he disappointed: he found a people prepared of the Lord for the affectionate reception of the simple and

saving truth of the Gospel; he expounded to them the way of salvation more perfectly, and by his addresses, conversations, and prayers, ministered to their edification, confirming their previous wish to become part of his pastoral charge.

Having established a school, and otherwise arranged for their permanent attendance on the means of grace, Mr. Bourne had the happiness, on subsequent visits, to observe the progressive improvement of his interesting charge. The Sabbath was sacredly regarded, and the ordinances of religion valued and observed. The Missionary rejoiced in the good resulting from his labours, and the people admired the zeal and piety of the Pastor who was over them in the Lord. In May, 1831, the foundation of a substantial chapel was laid; the site having been purchased and presented by natives; some also contributed towards the building of their little substance, and many gave their labour in its erection; and with the aid of the English and native Christians on other parts of the Mission, the chapel was completed without any demand on the funds of the Parent Society. chapel was opened for divine worship on Sunday, the 27th of October, 1831, a day memorable in the history of Melnattam. The converts from the Romish Church on that day publicly professed their renunciation of Popery; twelve of their children were baptized; and twenty Heathens also, who had been prepared by previous instruction, were admitted into the Christian church by the administration of the same sacred ordinance. What a truly interesting spectacle did Melnattam present on that day! How cheering and satisfactory to the Missionary thus to witness the rich recompence of his exertions!

The

The influence of Christianity, thus established at Melnattam, has been beneficially felt by other villages and towns in the neighbourhood. At Manaargoody, a large town, ten miles distant from it, a residence has been provided for the Missionary; and a substantial chapel has been erected there also. May the leaven of the truth of the Gospel soon pervade the whole of that populous region of the Tanjore country!

It was, however, at this delightful period of his life and labours, that Mr. Bourne laid the foundation of the disease which proved fatal to him. On his repeated journeys, and in superintending the progress of the building of the chapel, he was frequently exposed to the fierce heat of a vertical sun, and to the heavy rains which periodically fall in those regions. Occasionally he suffered from want of suitable food, and seasonable rest; and one night, when he was much fatigued and indisposed, his slight habitation was nearly destroyed by a violent storm of wind and rain, occasioning an exposure which seriously aggravated his complaint,-a distressing cough and affection of the chest, arising from violent and repeated colds.

Mr. Bourne's appointment to the Madras station occasioned his removal from his interesting and successful labours in the south, in