these, they laughed aloud, and clapped their hands, and beat them against their naked thighs, for joy. As they were curious to know what was contained in the books, I had the opportunity of telling them a few of the most important truths of our Holy Religion. I gave, to those who could read, some of the Tracts I had with me; and left several others for distribution among such as could read in the surrounding villages. They said, they would read them, (calling them Bana books, as they treated of religion,) and would believe the things contained in them. They all appeared to be very superstitious, or, as they would call it, religious. The man, whom we had pressed into our service as a guide, was on his way to Derwale, to make offerings, as he said, to prevail on the devil not to injure him in his property or person.

A superstitious practice, which was attended with inconvenient consequences, is thus related by Mr. Selkirk, under date of Feb. 2, 1834 :

I insert here an account of a Cingalese ceremony, which is used to preserve cocoa-nuts, while on the trees, from being stolen; together with an instance of its effects. When a man wants his cocoa-nuttrees to be preserved from thieves, he sends for the Capuwa, or Devil Priest; and before the Priest commences any of the ceremonies, which he is accustomed to perform on such occasions, he must wash himself quite clean, and put on a clean white cloth. He then, in a very solemn manner, offers up certain prayers to Katteragamme Deviyos, that he would preserve the trees for three months, till the fruit is ripe, and ready to be gathered. The Capuwa then gets the young tender leaves of the cocoa-nut-tree, which are delicately white, and some flowers of

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various sorts; and, having made a small shed with eight or ten small sticks, and, in the inside of this, a piece of framework (called, in Cingalese, “ Messa”) he decorates the shed, both inside and outside, with flowers. He then takes a number of the leaves, equal to the number of the trees in the garden, and offers them on the Messa, which is his altar, to Katteragamme Deviyos; and, in the name of the owner of the garden, promises, that, when they are full of fruit, the owner shall take these fruits and make an offering to Katteragamme Deviyos, before he appropriates any to his own use, or permits any of them to be taken by others, for any purpose whatever. He then takes the white cocoa-nut leaves, which had been offered one by one, and binds one around the trunk of each tree in the garden. The people, seeing these trees tied round, know that there is a Tahanane, or prohibition, to touch them; and are conse

quently afraid to steal them, thinking that some evil will be sure to befal them, ragamme Deviyos: the owner of the garthrough the displeasure of the Katteden will not even break one of these forbidden fruits to give a stranger drink. On my road to Kandy, last month, I arrived at a village, where all the cocoa-nut-trees in a certain garden were thus forbidden; and I could neither by entreaties, nor promises of money, nor threatenings, prevail upon the ignorant and superstitious owner to let a man go up and break a cocoa-nut, to give me the water to drink. The Cingalese, in general, are very ready to put themselves to a great deal of inconvenience, for the sake of showing a little kindness to a stranger; but this was one of the most determinedly obstinate old men that I have ever met with in the whole country.

Ordination of Missionaries. THE Rev. Thomas H. Applegate,__the Rev. Robert Maunsell, and the Rev. William Oakley, were, on the 21st inst., admitted to Priest's Orders, by the Lord Bishop of London; and Mr. Charles Henry Blümhardt, Mr. Henry Harley, Mr. John Henry Knoth, Mr. Charles Cæsar Menge, and Mr. Christian Frederick Warth, were admitted, by his Lordship, to Deacon's Orders.

Delivery of Instructions to Missionaries.

On the 22d inst. the Instructions of the Committee were delivered to the Rev.

William Oakley, on occasion of his proceeding to the Ceylon Mission; to the Rev. Messrs. Applegate and Maunsell, on their proceeding to the New-Zealand Mission; and to the Rev. Messrs. Bernau and May, and Mr. David Seddon, on their proceeding to the Jamaica Mission.

Proceedings in the West Indies.

In our Number for January last (p. 14), the Members of the Society were informed of the course pursued by the Committee, with a view to the extension of its operations in the West Indies, on the Abolition of Slavery. The negocia

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We add one more description from Mr. Selkirk's Journal; which brings to our view the utter ignorance and simplicity of those who are resident in the more remote parts of the Island.

Cingalese are, either naturally or rendered so by superstition, much harder than those of other people. The room, where these two sick girls were lying, was about two yards wide, and perhaps six long it had two doors, one at the end, and another at the side; before which an old mat was hung, to keep off the wind, which made the room as dark as a dungeon; indeed, it was so dark, that, in order to see who was in it, a lamp was necessary. The gloominess and misery of the place were beyond description: the walls were of mud, and here and there they were breaking down the floor, which was also of mud, was damp and filthy. Upon the floor, one of the girls was placed; and the father and mother, one at the head and the other at the feet, were holding her down. When I inquired about medicine for the girl, the father told me, that the Doctor had left word in the morning that the medicine which he had prescribed was to be got from Colombo; but, that he could not go, and he had no one to send. They had prayed to God, and made offerings and vows to Kateragamme Deviyos, but had found no relief; and they knew not what to do. I spoke with the father, the doctor, and the devil-dancer, at the door of the house, respecting such absurdities, while they neglected to administer the medicine that had been ordered. The usual answer was returned, that it was the custom to have these ceremonies. The younger girl had been at School for a long time, and, I believe, was a very attentive good girl; has a good knowledge of the Scriptures; and has several times requested those of the Station, who have visited her, to pray for her when at home. I was told that she was unwilling that the devil ceremony should be performed.

Oct. 13, 1833-This evening, after the Services of the day, I went with the Catechist, to visit the girl mentioned on the 8th.

She was sensible, which gave me an opportunity of speaking to her. She repeated the Lord's Prayer; which I recommended her to use every night and morning, and to put her trust in Jesus Christ, and love Him with her all heart. It was with difficulty that she spoke: she was very glad that we had called to visit her. There are now, I think, some hopes of her recovery. The elder sister was in a corner of the room: she has become worse within the last few days.

Jan. 3, 1834-I set off yesterday at 10 A. M. (for the climate is so cold here, that it is neither inconvenient nor dangerous to walk in the middle of the day) on my return from Nuwera Ellia to Kandy, having obtained permission from the Government Agent for Mrs. Selkirk and the child to occupy some rooms in the Resthouse. My way was through thick jungles, and over very high, and in most places barren, mountains. The persons I had with me for baggage-bearers and guides, fancying that they could find out a nearer road than the common one, led me up to the top of a very high and rugged mountain; and having descended on the other side, and wandered a few miles, we were brought at last to some Kandian Villages, where the face of a European had never been seen before. Before arriving at any village, we met with a person who told us that we were quite out of the right track; he was on his way to Deivala (a Temple of the Devil), to fulfil a vow; but we persuaded him, by the promise of money, to go and put us in the right road. His belief in the existence and power of devils was far stronger than I had ever heard expressed by any other Cingalese. told wonderful stories of what they were accustomed to do; the power they have over men's bodies and property; and the necessity all people are under to make offerings to them, in order to save themselves from injury. He led us through several villages, in each of which was a large building, in appearance like a Buddhist Temple, but was, as we were told, the common storehouse for the paddy belonging to the people of the villages: it had various images painted on its sides. The people were all Buddhists, and extremely ignorant; for out of two or three villages, we did not find more than four or five persons who were able to read: they had never heard of Christianity, or of any other religion besides their own. When I took out some Tracts and showed them, they were all struck with astonishment, as they had never seen any paperbooks before: what delighted them most, was the little wood-cuts with which they were embellished: as soon as they saw

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arrangements as should be entered into, from time to time, in pursuance of this design.

tions, which, it was then stated, had been entered into, on the subject, with His Majesty's Government, and with the Ecclesiastical Authorities of our Church, have been continued down to the present period.

With reference to the Jamaica Diocese, the Committee have availed themselves of the 36th Clause of the Clergy Law of that island, which authorises Proprietors of Estates to appoint to them Private or Domestic Chaplains, for the instruction of the Black and Coloured Population thereupon. Several Proprietors having applied to the Committee, partly direct, and partly through the Corresponding Committee in the island, for the services of Missionaries of this Society, under the local Clergy Law above mentioned, the Committee deemed it right, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to embrace the opportunity, thus placed within their reach, of extending Religious Instruction to a portion of the Enfranchised Population, through the medium of the Society, though the arrangement does not afford all the advantages, for the attainment of that object, which the Committee could desire. Messrs. Bernau and May, and their Wives, will therefore be placed on different Properties in Jamaica; and several others are likely to be open to the Committee, had they Missionaries at their disposal, to occupy them.

The Bishop of Barbadoes having arrived in this country in May last, the Committee have had the advantage of more fully communicating with him. His Lordship had the goodness to attend a Meeting of the Committee on the 15th of August; when he explained to them the circumstances of his Diocese, and the manner in which he conceived the agency of the Society could be best employed within it. Consequent upon this interview, the Committee adopted a Resolution, to the effect, that they would prosecute the operations of the Society in certain parts of the Diocese, to the extent of the means which might be at their disposal for that purpose, under such specific

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The Committee regret that it is not in their power, at present, to act on the above-mentioned Resolution, in consequence of having no Missionaries disposable for that purpose: those now about to proceed to Jamaica having previously been specifically set apart for that island, and the circumstance reported to the Corresponding Committee there early in the year.

It is requisite to state further, that the enlargement of the Jamaica Mission, which has taken place during the present year, including the party now about to proceed thither, will, it is estimated, occasion an increase of the Annual Expenditure of this Society, to the amount of 1500l.; while additional Missionaries, and consequently an increased expenditure, are required, duly to sustain several other existing Missions, under circumstances peculiarly favourable and encouraging, especially those in Southern India and New Zealand, as appears from accounts recently received from those Missions. Pressed, therefore, as the Committee, are by urgent and well-supported demands on their resources, it is obvious that the powerful claims of the Enfranchised Population of the West upon them for assistance cannot be adequately met, unless additional Agents, as well as an additional Annual Income, are placed at their disposal. The sum of 40007., stated in the last Report to be set apart for West-Indies' purposes (p. 28), would, on any considerable extension of operations in that quarter, be altogether insufficient to meet the permanent annual expense which must in consequence be incurred.

PROCEEDINGS OF ASSOCIATIONS.

Sussex Sept. 21: Sermons; at Midhurst, by Rev.T. Mortimer, Coll .211. 3s. 2d.; at Easebourne, by Rev. D. Morgan, Coll. 7. 148. 6d. - Sept. 22: Meeting at Easebourne; Formation of the Midhurst and Easebourne Ladies' Association; Patroness, the Dowager Lady Clinton: Treas. Rev. W. G. Bayley; Sec. Rev. J. Serres, Coll. 217. 168 9d.

West-Africa Mission-The Rev. C. L. F. Haensel and Mr. B. Y. Ashwell left Sierra Leone, on account of ill health, on the 23d of September, on board the "Cambria," Captain Clering; landed at Dartmouth on the 29th of November; and arrived in London on the 2d instant.

Mediterranean Mission-By a Letter from the Rev. C. W. Isenberg, dated Caïro, Oct. 20, 1834, we learn that the Rev. S. Gobat and himself, with their Wives, expected to take their departure for Abyssinia on the following day,