of October, when sermons were preached by the Rev. Dr. Harris, and by the Rev. George Smith, the minister of the chapel. The place complely filled both morning and evening; and the previous liberality of the congregation rendered it unnecessary to make any collection on the occasion.

V. AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS.-The thirty-seventh annual meeting of this society was held at New Haven, in the second week of September. The attendance was large, and the report of the progress of the missions encouraging. It appears that while six missionaries have died during the year, twenty-six have gone out to different missions, and twenty-seven are now under appointment. An unusual number of young men preparing for the ministry have had their attention turned to the missionary work. The receipts of the board are two hundred and sixty-two thousand dollars, an amount considerably in advance of its expenditure. Many of the mission churches have experienced gracious revivals of religion during the year. The entire state of the mission may be understood by the following extracts from the report:

'The number of the missions is twenty-six, the same as last year, embracing ninety-three stations, at which are 134 missionaries, ten of whom are physicians, five physicians not ordained, seven schoolmasters, seven printers and bookbinders, and fourteen other male and 175 female assistant missionaries—in all, 342 labourers sent forth from this country; associated with whom, or at out-stations under their care, are twenty native preachers, and 132 other native helpers, (exclusively of the native teachers of the freeschools sustained by the several missions,) raising the whole number of labourers at the missions, and dependent principally on the board for support, to 494. The number of preachers is three more, and the whole number of labourers five less, than last year.

Gathered by these missionaries, and under their pastoral care, are seventy-three churches, to which have been added during the year now reported, more than 1,500 members, and in which are now embraced, not including some hundreds of hopeful converts in Western Asia, 24,824 members.

In the department of education there are under the care of these missions seven seminaries for educating native preachers and teachers, furnished with libraries and various kinds of apparatus adapted to their object, and embracing 487 pupils; also thirty-four boarding-schools, in which are 834 male and 533 female pupils; making 1,874 boarding pupils, brought under constant Christian instruction and influence in the mission families, with reference to their being qualified to exert a greater and more decidedly Christian influence among their own people; also 602 free day-schools, in which are 29,171 pupils, including those at the Sandwich Islands, which owe their existence and efficiency to the mission, and are still sustained and guided in part of it; making the whole number of pupils more or less under the care of the missions 31,045.

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'Connected with the missions are fifteen printing establishments, having thirty-two presses and forty founts of type, and furnished for printing in twenty-seven languages. Five of the missions are also provided with type and stereotype founderies. For eleven of the other missions printing is executed from year to year, as their wants require, at presses not owned by the Board; making the whole number of languages, exclusive of the English, in which printing is done for the missions, thirty-seven. The number of copies of works printed during the year, including tracts, exceeds 460,000, and the whole number of pages printed during the year is not less than 40,000,000. The whole number of pages printed since the commencement of the missions exceeds 535,000,000.

VI. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Proceedings of the French in Tahiti. It appears from the French journals of the day that a new Governor has been appointed to Tahiti, and that a large reinforcement of troops has embarked, or is in readiness to embark, for the island. Should the same course be pursued by the authorities of the Protectorate, after the arrival of the additional forces, the destruction of the natives, already in a great measure deprived of food and shelter, will be all but inevitable, unless the mercy of Divine Providence seasonably interpose its protecting shield. Among the most conspicuous features in the following communication, dated June 7th, is the reckless destruction of mission property by the French, which affords a proper ground for the decided interference of our own Government, and is now receiving the necessary attention of the Directors. A missionary thus writes:—

Of our attempts at mediation you are aware, as copies of the correspondence have been forwarded. They were rejected, and the governor and his troops, probably to the number of 1200 or 1400, marched against Papenoo. The natives retired before this strong force to an impregnable position in the interior. The troops followed, and were repulsed with loss, -report says that twenty-seven were killed, and sixty wounded. They then retreated to the beach, and destroyed the village; and the steamer came on to Papeete, with the materials of a fine new chapel which the people had commenced previous to the coming of the French. It was never used for worship. The chapel where I have so often met the scattered church was burnt down, with the small chapel at Faarepo, half way between Haapape and Papenoo, and also the house of Queen Pomare, in the district of Papaoa, which we had used for two years before as a chapel. The old one had fallen in a gale of wind, and the people, not willing to erect another before affairs were more settled, obtained and used the house of Queen Pomare. The dwelling-houses of the Revs. T. S. M'Kean and C. Wilson, at Point Venus, were also destroyed, together with every native house between Papeete and Tiarei; and in the other direction every native house between Papeete and Papara. During active hostilities in 1844, all native houses from Papara to Taravao were burnt; and those from Taravao onwards to Tiarei Buen, on the peninsula, are also said to have been burned: thus you see nearly the whole of the island has been visited by fire and sword.

'In Papenoo the troops destroyed all the plantations of the natives, many acres of potatoes, and extensive fields of bananas and taro. More land was

under cultivation by the people of the camp than in all Tahiti besides. All their bread-fruit, cocoa-nut, and orange trees, have been destroyed and burned with fire, lest they should grow again, although they could not bear fruit before six or seven years; and even then, as young trees, only a little. Even the guavas have been destroyed, also the taro trees, (with which they make mats and roof their houses,) and burned with fire, so that the natives may never again have house to shelter them, or a mat to lie on. "The French placed a Block-house on the high hill half way between Papenoo and Haapape, which they garrisoned, and then returned towards Papeete. On their way to town, they marched up Hautaua; but the people retired to the interior; the French followed, and were beaten off with loss. The natives lost none; and at Papenoo they had only ten wounded, all of whom are now convalescent. As at Papenoo, the French destroyed the houses, chapel, trees, &c., made a complete desert, and returned to town.

After a few days' rest, the troops again marched against the natives. On this occasion they went towards Bunaania. Mr. Darling offered again to mediate; the people were willing to enter upon a treaty of peace,—a simple cessation of hostilities; but would not submit to the Protectorate, 3 E

VOL. II.

nor treat with the Governor, without consulting Queen Pomare. This the Governor would not allow, and on Sunday last attacked them in their camp in the interior. Again the French were repulsed with severe loss, both in officers and men. The Commandant of the troops fell, mortally wounded. M. Malmanche, chief of the Governor's Staff, lost his leg; a captain and a lieutenant are seriously wounded; and two midshipmen are killed. Two or three natives on the French side have been killed. Oné, the native judge at Papara, is dead: he expired the following day from his wounds. Pee, chief of Mr. Howe's district, is wounded on the French side; and we hear that five were killed on the native side. The troops are not yet returned. More details in my next.

Mr. Darling and his wife remained at home: his daughter came to our house two or three days before the fight. All the trees, cattle, &c., are destroyed. Even Mr. Darling's domestic cattle, fowls, &c., were taken by the French. Some of the trees in his garden are also chopped down, and the troops are building a fort between his house and his chapel. Less than a hundred natives from all parts of Tahiti and Moorea are aiding the French, and about two hundred from the Leeward, including Mai and his faction from Borabora. The Christian character of the natives has stood the trial well it affords us much satisfaction.'

It is some relief to the darkness of the scene portrayed in the foregoing communication, that the French Government, if we may credit its own leading journals, has recognised the independence of the Leeward Islands, including Huahine, Borabora, Raiatea, Tahoa, and Manpiti, thereby abandoning its former claim to extend its vain show of protection to that group.

VII. GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.-The Baptist Missionary Society has appointed the Rev. J. Angus and the Rev. C. M. Birrell to visit the churches planted by its instrumentality in the West India colonies. These gentlemen will sail on their mission during the present month. The Wesleyan Missionary Society has built and launched a ship, called the 'John Wesley, which is to visit the stations of the Society in the South Seas.--The French are repeating their infamous conduct in Tahiti at the Gaboon River, on the west coast of Africa. The American Board commenced a mission there, which has much prospered. Two years since the French gained a footing, by erecting a factory, at the mouth of the river. Soon after they administered brandy to some old chiefs, and induced them to sign a paper to Louis Philippe, which they said was a friendly letter, but which in reality was a document ceding the town to the French. Acting on this, they have blockaded the town, seized and imprisoned the natives, fired on the church and mission premises, and pursued such a course of tyranny that the mission will probably be abandoned. One of the missionaries writes:- A large reinforcement of Jesuits is daily expected in the river and as they come out under the special patronage of the Queen of the French, it is probable that the local authorities here will not be wanting in zeal to oblige them, even at the expense of our expulsion. It will be enough for us, however, to keep our consciences void of offence, and put our confidence in God. These dark clouds may disperse, and we may see better times; but our present prospects are exceedingly gloomy. Such conduct is a disgrace to France, and ought to be protested against by the civilised world.

IX.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

I. Theological Essays; reprinted from the Princeton Review. New York and London: Wiley and Putnam. 1846.

American writers have distinguished themselves in the review department of theological works beyond even those of our own country; and the Princeton Review has been long known as an able periodical, devoted at first to the field of biblical criticism and hermeneutics, and for the last seventeen years assuming the attributes of a theological and literary review. It was commenced by Professor Hodge, to whose care and learning it has continued to owe much of its value and popularity, and it has received many admirable contributions from some of the ablest pens in the Presbyterian church of the United States. Pledged to the older Calvinism, it has waged a constant opposition to infidelity and Socinianism, to Popery and Arminianism, and has done good service to the cause of evangelical Christianity. As it has been impossible for some time past to make up complete sets of this periodical, the idea was entertained of republishing some of the more elaborate theological articles; the result is the bulky volume before us. Should this meet with the patronage anticipated, a similar volume will be offered to the public, and we sincerely hope that the publishers will be encouraged to carry their design into effect.

The volume before us consists of twenty-three articles, amongst the more important of which, we note those on the decrees of God-the doctrine of imputation-the atonement-regeneration — sanctification—and one on transcendentalism, which last extends to eighty-six closely printed octavo pages. The essay on the inability of sinners is a very judicious one, and passes like a ploughshare through many of the notions entertained on this subject; and the one on sanctification is of sterling value. We do not subscribe to all the opinions of the book, but we can have no hesitation in strongly commending it to the attention of ministers, theological students, and educated laymen, as one that will well repay a careful perusal. All the articles are anonymous, with the exception of a deeply interesting one on the history of theology in the eighteenth century, by Professor Tholuck. It is the substance of a course of lectures, and was submitted to the author before it was published, and we presume given to the public with his permission.

II. Christ the True and Faithful Witness of the Everlasting Covenant. By HENRY BOUME, Esq. 2 vols. Seeley and Co. London, 1846.

This is a new and enlarged edition of a work which we are glad to find has met an extensive sale. It somewhat resembles in structure and design the well-known Hora Solitaria of Serle, and its author is, like Serle, a layman, and a member of the Episcopal church. Assuming the fact that there is a covenant of grace frequently referred to in the Scriptures, and that Jesus Christ is the mediator of this covenant, the writer proceeds to examine the Scripture testimony to his mission and work. Persons and institutions, things and words, which were designed under the patriarchal and Jewish economy to represent the character of the Messiah, are all briefly reviewed,

and the testimony given to Christ under the Christian dispensation is more fully elucidated. While there is nothing very profound or original in the method of treating this great subject, it is no small recommendation in such a work that it is eminently Scriptural, and free from those fanciful and far-. fetched analogies which not infrequently disfigure disquisitions on the typical representations of the Saviour. It is less a book for the learned than for the many. Its displays of scholarship are few, but judicious critical notes from approved commentators, subjoined to the essays, give a sufficient air of learning to them. We have the conviction that the author has done good service to evangelical religion by this publication, and trust that it will meet with an increasing measure of favour and success.

III. Family Expositions: on the Epistles of St John and St. Jude. By the REV. E. BICKERSTETH, Rector of Watton, Herts. London: Seeley and Co 1846. Fep. 8vo.

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This little work appears under interesting circumstances, which are thus stated in the preface; I feel anxious that the reader should not mistake the character of these expositions. They do not at all pretend to be critical and exact. They are abridged notes, by my children, of those explanations, ? and simple practical remarks on the sacred text, which I gave in morning worship, and which appeared at the time likely to be useful to my own family. They were written by my children, without any view to publication, for their own benefit. The manuscripts were lent among their friends, and it was only after many requests that the author, giving them such slight revision as his many occupations allowed, has agreed to their publication. If the Lord shall bless them to the good of those who read them, or of families where they may be used, it will manifestly be another example that He can employ weak instruments in His service; and let the praise be to Him alone. Should this be the case, the author may be encour aged to publish more of these expositions, similar notes having been taken on all the books of the New Testament, from the Epistle to the Philippians to the close of Revelation.'

Not simply on the faith of the esteemed author's name, but on the ground of our own examination of these Expositions, we cordially recommend them as a companion to family worship Their simplicity is above all praise. As an example of candid and, at the same time, devout criticism we may refer to the few remarks on the disputed passage in 1 John v,,7, 8.

IV. Memoir of the Rev. J. Reid, M.A., of Bellary. By RALPH WARDLAW, D.D. Glasgow: Maclehose. 1845.

A valuable addition to our missionary biography. Mr. Reid possessed in no ordinary degree the mental and moral qualifications requisite for the important work of propagating the Gospel in heathen lands. Dr. Wardlaw has peculiar skill in composing biographical sketches, and has written in the present instance with more than his usual ability. The consequence is, that we have here a work which is fit to be a companion to the lives of David Brainerd and Henry Martyn; and which, in some respects, presents a more valuable model for the formation of missionary character than even theirs. If any of our readers should deem our praise extravagant, we beg them to peruse the volume, and to arrive, if they fairly can, at a different conclusion.

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