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No. 43. Vol. 11. EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN FOR THE MINISTRY. Extract from Rev. Professor Porter's Ser mon, delivered before the American Edu cation Society at their last annual meeting. Fekmit me then to add a few well authen ticated statements, to those already pub lished in the documents of this Society. In the report of the Hampshire Missiona ry Society for 1819, the Rev. Aretas Loo mis, their missionary, after a year’s labour in Randolph county, Virginia, gives a de tailed view of facts, from which l extract * this one sentence. “Should Beverly be made the centre of a circle whose radius is one hundred miles, it would not include probably more than three or at the most four vvp.lt educated ministers of the gospel.” That is, about one such minister to 8000 square miles. Do you say this region is a mere wilderness: and its few inhabitants are instructed by zealous, faithful, though illiterate teachers; I answer, it is the ‘same region concerning which the Rev. I)r. Hill, of that state, had before told us, having given ample credit f<> the ministers who are on the ground,—“ Here are 180, 000 people, who are absolutely without re ligions teachers, ofday sort.” The Trustees of the Connecticut Mission- ary Society published last year, a letter , from Rev. Onn Fowler, their Missionary, • which says ; “ In the state of Indiana, there are now about 800,000 inhabitants; and in the state of Illinois, about 70,000, exclusive of Indians. There is not a Presbyterian minister, that has a pastoral charge, in ei ther of these states.” According to his expectations, however, I believe two are since settled in the former. I will add one more statement, made a few months since, in the city of Charleston, equally surprising and distressing to the respectable assembly to whom it was made. In twelve civil districts of South Caro lina, some of which are populous, and over flowing with wealth, there are, as nearly as can be ascertained, about 230,000 souls, including - whites and coloured people. In this extensive territory, there is not one Congregational preacher; but one Episco pal ; two Scotch; and five Presbyterian. 25,000 people, in these districts, may he supposed to have religious instruction,’ more or less constantly, from Baptist and Methodist preachers. About 4,000 more, perhaps, are Connected with all other de nomination? ; amounting to 29,00 u thus supplied, and leaving 201,000 souls, not regularly connected with any Christian de nomination. • These facts superadded to those already made publif.k, strengthen the painful con eviction of mv mind, that if the moral state of our vast ir.teriour were dint thoroughly investigated, it would be found far more gloomy than we apprehend. But if all the people of these destitute regions were ar dently attached to a preached Gospel, they would still, to a great extent, be destitute, from necessity. Os the 11,000 well quali fied preachers needed as an adequate sup ply, for the United States, we have actually’ less than one fourth part. The increasing deficiency of such preachers, i? owing to two causes. • One is, a relative decrease in the number of ministers; that is, their num ber doe? not increase in proportion to the increase of population, or of literary men. At the commencement of the last century, more than half our college graduates be came at the commencement of the present century, only one in six. The other cause of this deficiency, is found in a fact hitherto unprecedented in the civilized world; —1 mean the rapid settlement of new regions, by a sparse and still spreading population. The wilderness, which last year had scarcely been visited by a human being, .is this year occupied by hardy ad venturers ; and forests which have stood, while a hundred generations of men have passed away, yield to the cultivation of the axe and the plough. Hence one minister to 5000 souls will be needed, over at least one half of our immense territory, for a century tp come. With these facts in mind, look forward twenty years. Bv the year 1840, our pop ulation being nearly doubled, and anew generation of ministers being necessary to succeed those now on the stage, we shall need 22,000 ministers ; and. including our dividend of 2000 missionaries, the total will’ .be 24.000. . . ‘ During the next twenty years, the num ber of pious students, who in one way and another, will have the means of defraying the expense of their own classical educa tion, may be sixty-five annually. The funds provided by charity, for permanent use, in our academies, colleges, and educa tion societies, may support fifty-five more ; milking 120 annually. Allowing, as has been common, in these estimates, that one half as many more will somehow become qualified for usefulness, without the aid of colleges, we shall have 180 annually, or 3GOO in twenty years ; leaving the church to provide within this period, for 29,400 more, at an expense, which we will say is half a million of dollars annually. Can this expense he borne ? 1 answer promptly, it .tvm, and that without proving oppressive, or even -inconvenient, to any one. THE MISSIONARY. GO YE WTO ALL THE IVORLD,.AJVD PREACH THE GOSPEL TG EVERY CREATURE Jesus Christ. The practicability of this may be demon strated from the tax we pay to a single vice; though we do not expect from any vice, a voluntary contribution to the Lord’s treasury. No sober man probably will doubt that nine tenths of the expenses for ardent spirits, in this country is worse than wasted. But give us only one half of this expense for two years, and sve have a per manent fund forever, with an annual in come of two millions of dollars ! yes, give us this small proportion of what it costs, to fill our streets with drones and vagrants, our prisons with culprits, our hospitals with lunaticks and beggars, and we have four limes more than we need. Lpl conscience enrol the Christian fami lies of the land and lay its assessment ou those luxuries of the table, of dress, furni ture. and equipage, the retrenchment of which would be cheerfully made for any groat temporal object, and the sum is rais ed in another way'. One tenth part of the sacrifices to which the fathers of this town, and of other town=, to a great extent, sub mitted with prompt alacrity, in days when the stamp tax, and the tea tax, and the Bos ton Port Bill called for the spontaneous re sistance of freemen ; would fill the treasu ry of Christ to overflowing. Surely, Breth ren, Christian benevolence ought to be as operative a principle as patriotism. And y'et I fear that very few, even among those who bear the Saviour’s name, have denied themselves, or have regarded it as a sefi ous duty to deny themselves a single per sonal comfort, for the promotion of a cause to which their undivided affections, and energies, and resources ought to be su premely devoted. In some instances, mec/ianicks have each set apart the avails of a half-day’s labour of one person', in every month, as an offer ing to Christ. But let all this highly im portant class of our citizens devote one hour a mouth to the same purpose, and this alone would be ample provision for the ob ject before us. Among Christian farmers the practice is recently begun of consecrating some por tion of a field, to be> cultivated for the pur poses of religious charity. Others have made a similar consecration from their flpeks. Now if all the farmers of the land would annually dedicate a lamb, or the pro duct derived from one quarter of an acre of his ground, to him who blesses or blasts the labours of men; and who could sweep away the hopes ofa year by one hail storm or inundation ; it would furnish without aid from any other source, an income double in amount to the sumjjontemplated. Two hundred thousand persons perhaps, in this country, may be supposed to unite in prayer for Zion's prosperity , on the first Mon day of each month. What can be more rea sonable than that every one should carry to this hallowed season of devotion, some thing for the treasury of the church ? Let it be an offering, which, on the death bed, conscience will certainly say is not exces sive. Let it be one dollar, or one cent, as “ the Lord hath prospered him ;” and the revenue would, unqestionably, surpass that which all our great charitable socie ties have hitherto received. This is a fifth way, in which the claims that we advance this evening might be answered, without the least imaginable inconvenience to any one. In many towns, young men have associa ted with an honourable zeal to promote this object. In the United States, ‘ others, of this age, to the number of one million, might do the same thing. Rut let only half of these young men come forward, annual ly and give, I do not say the amount of what they are accustomed to speed during the year, on objects of no value ; but what they are accustomed to spend on one hour's amusement , and we need no other charity ; the thing is accomplished in a sixth way. Among the four and a half millions of females, of different ages, which our popu lation may be supposed to contain, two millions might aid this object, to a small amount. Let each of these, by a little in crease of economy or industry, or by re trenching some trivial article of food or dfress, give tweuty live cents, annually, and the thing is done in a seventh way. An eighth resource is large benefactions of the wealthy. Fifty individuals doubt less might he found, who could, with per fect ease establish thirty scholarships each. One hundred others, probably might with equal ease, establish ten each ; five hun dred others, two each; and one thousand others, one each. Two thousand scholarships more might be established by associations of different persons. These scholarships would fur nish 19,500 preachers, in the twenty years; and.the residue might be readily furnished by minor collections. As the millennium approaches, other Thortons will arise, and secure ati immor tality in two worlds, when they are dead, by rescuing from obscurity other Buchan ans, to shine in the holy ministry. A ninth resource is one that cannot fail. We have about four thousand Christian churches, which on an average, might car ry forward each, one student. This would go far towards furnishing the proposed sup ply, estimating each church to consist of one hundred members, paying one dollar MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK CO, GA.) FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1821. each. But how many Christians are there who could give, without the smallest in convenience, fifty, or one hundred, or five hundred dollars, annually, to excuse the aged and sick, and to cover the remaining exigency. Here, we must be allowed to hope is a permanent unfailing ground of reliance. Many others may refuse, but they who are united in the sacred bonds of the church, cannot , must not stand back, in this cause. Nay, when they underhand the subject, they will not. I know one church, which I am assured, supported the last year, six charity students, while its pastor supported a seventh. 1 know other churches follow ing hard after this noble example. MISSION IN CEYLON. Extract from a letter of the Missionaries to the Corresponding Secretary. Jaffna, March3l,lß2o. Rev. and Dear Sir, The last publick letter from this station, forwarded by way of Calcults, brought down the affairs of the mission b Nov. 43, 1819 ; and a duplicate, sent by way of Bom bay, Jan. 14, 1820, contained; in a post script r the grateful iaformationof the arri val of brother and sister Scudder at Jaffna, and of the brethren and sisters Winslow and Spaulding at Coiumbo. Fiom brother and sister Woodward nothing had then been heard, since they were left behind at Calcutta. We are now happy to say, that they Lave arrived at Trincomalee Jan. 10th, and, after waiting 16 days for a con veyance overland, reached Jaffna on the 3d of February. By a letter from, brother Woodward dated at Batticoita, you will learn the various dealings of Providence with him and Mrs. Woodward, after they were separated from the other brethren. Sister W. who was at that time ill, soon began to recover; but before her health was so far re-established as to bear the fatigues, of a voyage, anew and severe trial was sent (hem by Him, who afflicts not willingly. Alone, and in a strange land, our brother and sister were (Villed to bury, by the side of brother Scud der’s dear little Maria, the remains of their lovely Babe. It was indeed a pleasant child; hut the afflicted parents were ena bled to say, “ the Lord gave, and tbe Lord hath tajten away.” Soon after this afflicting event, they took passage for Ceylon in a small frig, which proved to be old, rotten, and under the command of ar> injudicious captaii.- In dan ger ol shipwreck, they were obliged by stress of weather, to put into Vizagapatam, where they were kindly received by the missionaries, Gordon, Pritchett, and Daw son. After some repairs of. the vessel, and the detention ot about a week, they re embarked, and, though they encountered a storm, in which the vessel spring a leak, and exposed them to imminent danger, at length reached Trincomalee in safety. Sister Woodward had suffered much on the voyage, not only from anxiety of mind, hut from great bodily weakness; and brother W. from too great exertion in time of the storm, was attacked with a haemorrhage, which had some appearance of being an af fection of the lungs. The change, how ever, from sea to land, was very favourable to them both ; and the very hospi'able at tentions of Wesleyan brethren at Trincom alee contributed much to the restoration of their health, In their journey through the wilderness they had good weather, and amidst much fatigue their way was render ed prosperous. Winslow and Spaulding al so forwarded a joint letter from Columbo, giving an account of their passage, and that of brother Scudder to Trincnthalee, and of their voyage round the southern part of! the island to Columbo. The passage from Calcutta was long hut pleasant; and was rendered somewhat interestingly the good attention which the seamen oft board the Dick gave to religious instruction, and the apparent seriousness of two or three of their number. On arriving at Trincomnlee, the breth ren all wished, though their passage was paid to Colombo, to leave the shrp and go by land to Jaffna, (though a wretched path way, through an almost continued jungle of 150 miles, was not inviting, especially as it was infested by elephants and other wild beasts, and crossed by several considera ble rivers to be forded ;) but they could not obtain conveyances for all their number ; and as no house was vacant, could not re main long at Trincomalee. Besides, as the rainy season was just commencing, there was a prospect that the rivers on the way would soon he so much swollen as to be rendered impassable, Brother and sis ter Scudder only took this route. Their journey was rendered extremely unpleas ant. and somewhat dangerous by heavy rains, and their accommodations on the road were extremely bad ; yet they were preserved by Him who hath said, “ When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee.” The other brethren and sisters regretted the necessity of any longer detention from the field of labour; but they have nn\yj the satisfaction of thinking, that by this! means they very much lessened the ex pense of getting to their station, and were enabled, in making almost the circuit of the island, (a considerable part of the way by inland navigation.) and by visiting all the principal places,, as well as different missionary stations, to acquire some know ledge, and form some acquaintances, which they hope will hereafter be of use to them. They were every where treated with much kindness, particularly at Galle and Colum bo. At the latter place they had the hap piness of meeting almost all the Wesleyan missionaries on the island, and ail those from the Church Missionary Society, ex cept Mr. Knight ol Jaffna. With these dear brethren, as well as our beloved bro ther Ohater, into whose family they were most generously received, ihey enjoyed some interesting seasons of Christian com munion. His Excellency, Gov. B r ownrigg gave them a very kind reception, and leave to remain on the island with his best wishes; and his successor, Sir Edward Barnes, granted them a favourable audi ence. After witnessing the departure of governotir and lady Brownrigg from the isl and, they had a favourable passage by in land navigation to Jaffna, where they ar rived, Feb. 18th, accompanied, most of the way, by that very valuable friend to our mission, J. N. Mooyart, Esq. and were at last enabled, by his assistance, to make their arrival earlier than they could have done alone by the outer passage, on account of the opposing monsoon. Thus has the Lord, though he saw fit to separate, for a season, those who hoped ai waj'3 to share each other’s joys ‘and sor rows, again brought them together on tnat spot, so long the object of their earnest de sire, and permitted them to enter into the labours of their dear brethren. Yes, Rev. Sir, they are called upon, not only to bless God for his goodness in guiding them all the way hither, but in permitting (hem to unite with a prosperous mission, and to rejoice “ in thing-- ready made to their hands.”— They must be allowed to say, that their hearts have been greatly cheered, by what their eyes have seen, and their ears heard, at these stations. Let any one imagine how animating must be to them the sight of religious congregations among these poor heathen, to the number, sometime?, includ ing children, of two or three hundred, lis tening attentively to the glad news of sal vation ; how encouraging to look at 700 boys in the different schools, receiving the rudiments of a Christian education—how full of hope the contemplation of 70 chil dren in the mission families, enjoying great er advantages for a knowledge of the truth than are generally possessed by the chil dren, even of Christian parents: and then bow grateful the sight of at least six or sev en, in whom the image of Christ seems to shine through the darkness of their visage, and amidst the former marks of their hea thenism. Oh I could our beloved brethren and fathers behold these first fruits of a iong harvest, and look at these heathen converts as, what they probably at e, the future mes sengers of salvation to their countrymen— could they visit the mission families, and see the hoys assembled morning and eve ning to join in praise and supplication—of ten meeting in little circles by themselves for prayer, and always, when assembled to take their food, falling down on their knees around it, and in an artless manner begging the blessing of that God, who feeds them ; surely they would say, “ this is worth our prayers; (his is a precious return for our labours and onr substance.” And when, as the boys pass in review before them, they hear the names of Dwight, Worcester, Sic. they must he constrained to ask, with a faith which almost answers its own inqui ries,—what those loved and honoured names are in America, will not -these he in Ceylon ? Those of us, who have been recently added to the mission, have, however, been called to trust the Lord in.darkness as well as in light, on finding the strength of our dear brethren withering under their labour. One is not !* Another, though brought back almost by a miracle from the grave, and preserved a little longer to l aid us by bis eaunsels and prayers, is still almost beyond the hope of final recovery; (though we re joice to say, that for some weeks brother Richards has been gaining beyond all ex pectation ;) and on both the others the hand of disease has been laid 100 insidiously, and we fear too firmly, soon to be removed. Brother Poor is still feeble; and brother Meigs, though better than when we last wrote, is now gone to Colurabo for his health. There is another view of the mission, which we must all say allects us ver}’ deep ly; and that is, the embarrassed state of our funds. Tbs subject was fully stated In the last publick letter; and wt*confidently ex pect, if that is duly received, that the means of relieving our embarrassments are already on the way. Still, as it is a subject, which presses upon ns, we beg leave to bring it up again ; and not oftly to stale our wants,” but suggest some methods, which appear * Some of our readers may need to be informed tliHt reference i litre made to the Uev. I'd ward Warren, who dit-d in the exercise of triumphant faith, at the Cape of Good Rope, Aug. 11, 1818. Price, \ |^r r ’ n ’ or ’l 7 ( $3,00 m advance.) to us practicable, for having them more regularly and permanently supplied. Not that we are particularly anxious about our personal support, though for that our eyes must be directed to the churches, which have sent us forth,) for we do not doubt the promise, that our bread and water shall tie sure; but we are anxious, and deeply so, for the prosperity of our mission—anxious lest, after having left our own country and our fathers’ houses, the object of this sacri fice should be lost, either wholly or iri part, for want of efficient patronage. If money is the nerve of war, it is equally indispensa ble to all extensive missionary operations. Nothing can be done without money ; and it is essential, almost to the existence of a mission, that supplies be seasonable and reg ular. We do not say this from any doubt, whether tbe Committe think with us on tl is subject; but because they cannot weii feel as those do, who, in a strange land, are de pendent on a distant counjry for support a support, the supplies for which a thou.-r :id circumstances may retard or prevent. \\ ere a man confined to a barren rock in the ocean, and visited every month by a single boat with water and provisions, he would not iniiik-it enough to have the arrival of this boat set for the very day when, with every care, all his former stock must be ex pended, lest some storm should then delay or destroy, lor once, this only source of his subsistence. We must say it is not enough for us to expect a remittance, just in sea- n to save the w heels of the mission from fif ing entirely stopped, aiier every exertion ha? been made, and many perplexing expe dients adopted, to. keep up a sinking credit* If the means are net in the hands of the Committee, we ask, will noisome White held arise to plead with (he churches—to show them—we do not say our necessities— hut the necessities of the heathen ; to place before them at least one picture, the chil dren rescued for a time, by their charity, from ignorance, idolatry and wretchedness, and taught just enough to show them the evils of their former condition, now cast back into u the habitations of cruelty” from which they were taken, as though they were fostered for a moment only, that they might be more susceptible of misery. It is true that no one has yet been dismissed for want of support; but we have been obliged to shut our doors against many a poor child, who has come again and again to ask that charity which we dared not grant. The station, which we have concluded to fit up, is Oodooville. It has a large popu lation ; and is about five miles from JafT napatam, six from Batticotfa, and four from Tillipaily. The house and church, both built ofbrick and somewhat spacious, bear very strongly the marks of time; nothing remaining of the former, except the walls, and these,are gone at one end. The church is less injured, hut both have been long deserted. For half a century, proba bly, the intruding banyan has taken root in many a crevice unnoticed, and gradually destroyed this monument of nominal Chris tianity. The house was once the resi dence of a Franciscan friar. The expense of putting it into a proper state of repair would be very considerable ; but we shall, for the present, only make it habitable. In connexion with the boarding school*, we have only to add a request, that if the names of boys to be supported r.t Bombay are tranferred to these stations, very par ticular directions -may be given us on (he subject, and money snt out accordingly ; and a caution, that it be not thofigiit by tii£ Christian publirk at home, from what we. have said on this subject,’ that we need funds for this object of charity, more than for the general purposes of the mission. On the contrary, it is a method of doing good, which*, though exceedingly interest ing, is necessarily in some degree limited It must, at least, be proportioned to the ex tent of other operations. If hoys ere to he supported in mission families, missionaries * Tlie missionaries were called to a trial of their faith, for several months subsequently to the date ot this letter, by the delay of expected remittan ces: a delay occasioned in part by the want of convenient opportunities to send money, and in part by the straitened resources of the treasury. I'he Committee have recently learned, that the ship in which Mr. Garrett sailed, and in which money was remitted for half a year’s salary, arri ved at Madras on the 4th of Anguft. . This arri val was a great relief doubtless, both to the mis sionaries at Ceylon, and to those at Bombay; but the money must have been i B great part ex pended before it arrived ; that is, tlie missionaries Ul,b . been compelled to borrow money to a considerable amount. Another remittance of a quarter s salary has since been made ; but this ‘.i not save the mission’ from a recurrence of tl embarrassment. By the first opportunity, and one wiil probably be offered in a few weeks’ an other remittance must be sent, adequate to the wants of the missions, if the resources of the Treas ury will permit. But the friends of these missions amto the Board* ought to he distinctly informed, that tlie funds now on hand are quite insufficient to meet tne expected calls of‘he different missions ; <nu. Kit in:less the donations art* speedily increas ed, alt the missionaries must experience viiy dis - Iressing embarrassments—and the committee must be left in astute of great perplexity and anx it-iy so know it* what manner they, as agents and instruments, are to fulfil (he engagements into v. nieh tue Christian pnhiick hag entered with the missionaries— engagements to which great multi tudes of professed Christians have been parties, and which have been made and repeated jjj the most solemn manner.