their native land, and handed down from one generation to another, are also a great obstacle in the way of their conversion. The influence of the "Obi," or "Obiah" witchcraft, upon their untutored minds is almost incredible. "A menacing word, or even a look from one reputed an Obiah man, is sufficient to fill their minds with the most dreadful apprehensions of future evil; and so powerful is the influence of imagination, that, in many instances, that which they most fear actually comes upon them: they sicken, pine away and die, under a disease which has no cause but their own superstitious fears."

In addition to the relentless hostility of many planters-the legal owners of these human chattels for whom Christ died-the missionaries have had to contend with the perverseness of the local governments, and bow to many ridiculous regulations imposed upon them in their labors of love. Now, every chapel must be closed by a certain hour; and now, no slaves are permitted to assemble after dark-a restriction almost equivalent to forbidding their meeting at all. Occasionally an insurrection breaks out-we marvel that they were not a hundred fold more frequent-and lo! the missionaries are charged with its instigation, their lives are threatened, their property destroyed, their chapels demolished. On one occasion obsolete laws are raked up and enforced; and on others, the mob rules and tramples upon all laws, -as at Barbadoes in 1823, when the chapel and mission premises were demolished, the little flock scattered, and the missionary and his wife obliged to fly for their lives from one hiding place to another; and, as at Montego Bay, nine years later, where, under pretence that the chapel was unlicensed, the mandate went forth that it must be closed, and the little society was forbidden, anywhere, to assemble for God's worship. The bigotry and intolerant zeal of Romish priests have also been aroused, more especially at Hayti, from which place the missionaries, in the Reports for 1821 and 1823, give some outrageous specimens.

By the tempests incident to the climate, the tornado and the hurricane, much loss in the destruction of chapels has occurred. Dominica was thus visited in 1835; ruin and desolation were spread throughout the colony, and many places of worship leveled to the earth. St. Vincents suffered still more severely from the same cause in 1832, and nearly every chapel was demolished. By those still more terrible visitations, earthquakes, greater losses have been sustained. In 1842 one of the mission stations was blotted out of existence; and instead of the usual account of its religious state and prospects as given in former years, we have

the affecting entry: "Cape Haytien destroyed by an earthquake, May 7, 1842." The lives of the missionary and his family were mercifully preserved. In the same year, and from the same cause, many chapels, school-houses, and other mission buildings, were destroyed in Antigua, Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Eustatius; to repair and build which, says the Report, "many thousands of pounds will be required." By means raised among themselves, and with comparatively very little assistance from the Society, save as loans to be repaid at a future time, the damages were, for the most part, repaired, and many new and enlarged edifices were erected during the ensuing year. Indeed, one of the most gratifying results of the missions in the West Indies is the self-sustaining spirit which has been called into existence, and which, in the more prominent stations, is not satisfied without doing something, in addition, for the more feeble. This has been remarkably exhibited since the ever-memorable 1st of August, 1834, when was carried into effect the act of the imperial parliament for "the abolition of colonial slavery, so long," says the Report for 1835, "the sin, and shame, and curse of our country." The committee congratulate the Society on the accomplishment of this great event; dwell on the peaceful circumstances which marked the transition of nearly eight hundred thousand fellow-beings from a state of slavery to the enjoyment of freedom; and gratefully acknowledge the cheering religious prosperity immediately consequent thereon. As evidence, they allude not only to the increase in the membership in the several stations, and the eager attendance on the public means of grace, insomuch that the places of worship are now found (1835) wholly inadequate, in many places, for the crowds who throng thither, but to the abolition of Sunday markets, the voluntary sanctification of the Lord's day by many, who, as slaves, were compelled to violate it, and to the doors, hitherto closed, now opening in every direction for the messengers of salvation. Eight years after the date of this event, namely, in 1842, the Report says: "ALL the stations in the colonies of St. Christophers, St. Vincents, and Barbadoes, have become entirely independent of British pecuniary aid." The same was said of eight of the central stations in the Island of Jamaica, all of which supported themselves, and some contributed largely to the poorer societies. One case in particular, that of Bath, in Jamaica, has honorable mention. Here there are no white persons but the missionaries. The religious society and congregation consist entirely of blacks, and about a dozen creoles. In addition to meeting all the expenses of their own missionaries, and building a chapel,

which cost upward of £2,500, they gave nearly £200 for the relief of the feebler stations in the district. In the Report for 1844, say the committee,

"Ten years have scarcely passed away since civil freedom began to dawn upon the negro population in the British colonies; and already our missions in those colonies, which once pressed so heavily upon the general funds of the Society, exhibit such signs of advancement as to warrant the expectation that they will shortly become self-supporting."

We notice next, and finally, the labors of the Society on our own continent.

The missions to the British dominions in NORTH AMERICA are included in five districts: Canada West, Canada East, Nova Scotia, New-Brunswick, and Newfoundland. The chief objects of their attention have been the emigrants from Great Britain, and their descendants, who speak the English language, and bear the Christian name. The labors of the missionaries appear to have been thus exclusively confined until 1834, when the Society took under its supervision several interesting missions among the native Indians, which had been prosecuted with such success that, at the time of their connection with the British Society, twelve hundred of the Chippeways were professors of the Christian faith. A mission to the Esquimaux, on the coast of Labrador, had indeed been undertaken in 1826; but although the Report for that year speaks of their "docility and susceptibility of feeling on subjects of religion as highly encouraging," yet the next year it was "impeded by difficulties ;" and, in 1828, "for the present suspended." In the Report for 1836, it is stated that, at the river St. Clair, a whole tribe of pagan Indians had been converted during the preceding year. The number is not stated; but four years after, the membership at St. Clair is set down at one hundred and thirty-one. In 1840, in consequence of liberal offers of assistance from the Hudson's Bay Company, three missionaries were sent to their territory for the benefit of their "agents and servants," as well as for that of the Indian tribes within their bounds. The committee express their "deep sense of obligation" to the governor and honorable company in general, and "especially to George Simpson, Esq., the governor in chief of their territories." Some success appears to have attended these efforts, and the station at "Rossville" reports a membership of one hundred and twentyone; that at "Moose Factory," eighty-three; none of whom, we suppose, are Indians, or the fact would have been stated. The

third station in this district is "Lac-la-Pluie and Fort Alexander," and the fourth is called "Edinonton and Rocky Mountain," neither of which report any membership.

The principal Indian missions proper are in the Canada West district, and they are represented generally as being in a flourishing condition. At Alderville, in the neighborhood of Rice Lake, is a manual labor school, toward the support of which the sum of £100 annually is given by the Indians themselves from their annuity from the British government. The school contains about thirty pupils, several of whom are reported to have made much proficiency in English grammar and geography. At Mud Lake the aborigines have erected, entirely at their own expense, a very neat and convenient house of worship; and at Grand River, where the prospect was for awhile quite discouraging, a gracious revival of religion is mentioned in the Report for 1846. At St. Clair, says the Report for the preceding year,

"Our excellent missionary has had to contend against the triumvirate, so determined and active in the present day in their opposition to the gospel of Christ, infidelity, Popery, and Puseyism! But, having obtained help from God, he has nobly maintained his ground. The emissaries of Rome have made very little impression; albeit to seduce the Indians from the simplicity of the gospel, they have, among many other artifices, exhibited to them pictures of the Virgin, and the infant Saviour in her arms, in which the former is represented as an Indian female, and the latter as a papoose!"

We are unable, from the manner in which the reports are drawn up, to give the precise number of Indians in church fellowship with the Society. It does not, we judge, exceed eight hundred. In the entire Canada West district the number of full and accredited church members, including Indians, is two thousand nine hundred and eighty-one; and in the East district, where the laborers, with the exception of salaried school teachers, have been about as many, and where the expenditures are not half so great, there is a membership of four thousand one hundred and fifteen. The Nova Scotia district reports four thousand eight hundred and ten; the New-Brunswick, three thousand nine hundred and eighty-three; and the Newfoundland, two thousand four hundred and ninetynine. The number of missionaries and assistants in the British

* In this district many of the stations lie contiguous to the western part of the state of New-York; "in consequence of which," says the Report for 1844, "the population is of a very mixed description; and Christian piety and loyalty are injuriously affected by the opinions which are propagated by wandering and erroneous teachers from the neighboring country."

dominions in North America is one hundred and one; of local preachers, two hundred and thirty-nine.

But we have already exceeded our prescribed limits; and, omitting a multitude of reflections and observations which have crowded. upon us in taking this rapid survey of the operations of this great institution, we close with the general summary of all the Wesleyan missions as presented in the Report for 1846:

Central or principal stations, called circuits, occupied by the Society in various parts of the world, .

Chapels, and other preaching places, at the above-mentioned central or principal stations, as far as ascertained. Missionaries and assistant missionaries, including ten supernumeraries

Other paid agents, as catechists, interpreters, dayschool teachers, &c., (this number has been very considerably reduced, as many hundreds of teachers in the Friendly Islands do not now receive any pecuniary remuneration for their services).

Unpaid agents, as sabbath-school teachers, &c. .
Full and accredited church members.

On trial for church membership, as far as ascertained. Scholars, deducting for those who attend both the day and sabbath schools

Printing establishments

284

2,522

397

847

6,832

.

103,150

4,315

71,625

8

F.

ART. II.-1. Observations on Popular Antiquities, chiefly Illustrating the Origin of our Vulgar Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions. By JOHN BRAND, M. A., Fellow and Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Arranged, revised, and greatly enlarged for this edition, by Sir HENRY ELLIS, K. H., F. R. S., Sec. S. A., &c., Principal Librarian of the British Museum. Three volumes. London. 1841.

2. Demonology and Witchcraft. By Sir WALTEr Scott. 3. Article in Blackwood's Magazine-The Divining Rod.

THE work which heads our list is a most curious production. The matters of which it treats would seem, at the first glance, trivial and uninteresting, and, consequently, beneath the notice of such men as the learned Mr. Brand and his laborious commentator. Nevertheless, the subject, unpromising as it appears to the