SYRIAN CHRISTIANS IN INDIA. THERE are a great many of the natives of Southern India who profess to be Christians. They are called Christians of St. Thomas, or Syrian Christians. The tradition among them is, that the Gospel was planted in Hindostan by the Apostle Thomas. There are between fifty and sixty churches belonging to this ancient branch of the Christian church, and they have preserved the Syriac Scriptures in manuscript, as they had them in the times of the Apostles. They are called Syrian Christians, because St. Thomas came from Syria. They still use the same prayers that were used anciently in the churches in Syria; and employ in their public worship the language spoken by our Saviour in the streets of Jerusalem. But, alas! these Christians have not kept to the simple faith they at first received; they have fallen from their former state, and are very dark and ignorant. There have been Missionaries sent to these Syrian Christians, and they try not only to benefit them, but also the Heathen around them. OUTLINE OF A MISSIONARY SERMON, PREACHED BY THE LATE REV. MATTHEW WILKS. "THE children gather wood, and the fathers kindle a fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes for the Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." (Jeremiah vii. 18.). He proposed from these words: First, to contrast the different objects of attention, the pretended Queen of heaven, (or the moon,) adored by the idolatrous Jews; and the glorious Jehovah, the only living and true God, the gracious Redeemer of sinful men, and the immortal souls of our fellow-creatures. Secondly, he compared the zeal which these idolaters displayed, with that which Christians ought to discover for nobler purposes. Thirdly, he mustered the agents employed, the children who gathered the wood for fuel, the men who lighted the fires, and the women who kneaded the dough, all of which was applied to the occasion; and all classes of Christians were exhorted and encouraged to exert their best energies in the Missionary cause. R. B. THE MISSIONARY'S CHILD. My heart is where the palm-tree waves, My heart is with the chosen few O, waft me to that distant shore, My mother's grave is in the shade, My father at her side is laid, And lonely comes the night to me. The wintry wind is howling round, The clouds are dark, the mountains drear, The trackless snow lies on the ground, And cold is my sad bosom here. I pine before the stranger's hearth, O, Shepherd of the wandering sheep, "USE NOT VAIN REPETITIONS, AS THE A MISSIONARY was travelling, not long ago, in Assam. While he was talking to the people about him, he was interrupted by a Brahmin, who began to say his evening prayers. His prayer consisted of quotations from the Shasters; but he did not say much besides Ram, Ram, (the name of his god,) and sometimes Shri Ram, that is, " Esquire Ram." He shouted this out so loud, that the adjoining forests echoed Ram. "I noticed," says the Missionary, "on my journey, that the boatmen every night composed themselves to sleep, repeating Ram, their voices gradually becoming fainter and fainter, until the whisper ended in sleep." A TRUE STORY OF THE SLAVE-TRADE; BEING THE HISTORY OF MR. JAMES CORNELIUS WILLIAMS, MERCHANT OF SIERRA-LEONE. MR. DECKER, African Missionary in Wellington, SierraLeone, writes a letter to you, my young friends. He wishes you to know something about the people and the Mission where he is living; and in his letter he gives you an account of a Missionary Meeting, and the history of Karuku, or Mr. Williams, who was the Chairman of the Meeting. MR. DECKER'S LETTER. MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,-In my last letter I promised to give you some account of God's work in this Circuit. I now come to fulfil my engagement. During the past year, we have had an out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon us; the Lord has, in a great measure, blessed our labours; several conversions have taken place, some of which are young people, some are old, grey-headed sinners; they are couvinced of sin, and seek, with earnestness, the salvation of their own never-dying soul. Many of them can truly say, The Spirit beareth witness with my spirit, that I am a child of God." Our Missionary Meeting for 1854 was very interesting. Though time is hard, trade dull, and many of our poor people are suffering, yet, with regard to the collection, thank God, it was 118 A TRUE STORY OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. better than we did expect. The Wellington Missionary Meeting was held on Tuesday, March 28th; the sermon was preached by the Rev. L. D. Reay, from Phil. iii. 7, 8. The chair was taken in the evening by Mr. James Cornelius Williams, one of our Local Preachers and Class-Leader of Free-Town, a merchant by profession. The Meeting was very interesting throughout; the collection was £7. 5s. 241. Several friends came from FreeTown to address the Meeting; of these was Mr. Ezzidio, our worthy and highly-respected friend. In his speech he said, "I am happy to see my arruta Occupy the chair on this occasion. I hope we may have a good collection to-night." The word arruta in the Aku language means a "ship-mate." Mr. Ezzidio and Mr. Williams were both slaves in the same vessel, on their way to Brazil, when it was captured by a British cruiser, brought to Free-Town, and taken to the liberated yard. Mr. Ezzidio's remark on this point was very touching, very affecting indeed, especially to those who had undergone the same trouble. To see two men, few years ago, on board a slaver, in a state of nudity, now dressed as any Englishmen, standing on a Missionary platform, advocating the cause of Mission, is more than tongue can describe. May we join with the Prophet in the language of gratitude, and say, "O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation." I must now give you a brief sketch of our Chairman, James Cornelius Williams, alias Ka-ru-ku (the latter is his native name). "I was born," says Mr. Williams, "of parents not rich, but was considered middle class. About the year 1823, war break out, which lasted for years; several cities and towns burnt down, many were taken prisoners and sold, and many were killed. At last the long-expected war reached our city and towns, which lasted for about a year and a half; food was very scarce. Our enemies surrounded the city, no where for us to procure food, we were quite blockaded. As we have no food, our warriors got weak, the enemies got in the city and set it on fire. Many were killed, and many taken prisoners and sold to slavery. Several of us were trying to escape for life, and we were trying to get to the nearest town, which is A TRUE STORY OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.. 119 It is a about twenty miles from ours. Children separated from parents, and parents from children; none to help each other. day not to be forgotten. I was then but a little boy. Most of the people out-run me. I have not gone five miles before I was taken by the enemy. On the third day I was sold to a slavetrader, who brought me to Lagos, and sold me to another trader. I was with him for about three months, after which he took me to a white Portuguese for sale. After strict examination, I was bought and sent to the slave-fold. I was in the fold for about a year almost broken-hearted. But seeing several of my country people, men and women, boys and girls, I was now obliged to comfort myself that I was not the only one in this trouble. During this long state of bondage we were in chains, waiting for a vessel to take in their living freights. One day, the longexpected vessel arrived, 'not, it may be added,"" (remarks one of Africa's best friends, Sir T. Fowell Buxton,) "free, volunlary emigrants from Great Britain to America or Australia, as cabin or steerage passengers, who are crossing the wide blue sea, in the hope of bettering their temporal condition. No; they are Negroes from Africa, who have been kidnapped, torn from their native land, and forced on board.' The living cargo was sent on board. After receiving her freight, she weighed anchor; and was bound, either to Havannah or Brazil, or to some slave-port. We have not been long from harbour before it pleased the Lord to send us help. Our ship was taken and boarded by the British officers; we were then made to understand that we were free. Previous to this, the Portuguese wanted us to believe that the English were robbers, and that they were our enemies; but things soon shew themselves. Our shackles were knocked off, we have enough to eat and drink, we begin to breathe the air of freedom, through the energy and activity of a British cruiser. We see now who are our friends, we are our own judges, and can form our own opinion better than the slave-dealer in this matter. "Some time in the year 1825, we landed at Free-Town. It was great joy to us that day to see land again, and to put our feet on dry ground; the joy is more than tongue can tell. I was apprenticed to a very good man for the time of seven years, who allowed me to attend chapel and Sabbath-school. By attending Sabbath-school, I was learned to read the holy Scripture, which is able to make me wise unto salvation. After the expiration of the term of my apprenticeship, I joined class, and gave up myself |