An installation. tion; and one, even one, south-west of me! May the Lord of the harvest send speedily more faithful laborers into this field, already white. Co., Mo. Our Presbytery met at Salem church, in Henry co., on the Wednesday before the 1st Saturday of September. All the brethren were present; we had a precious meeting. It was the communion of saints-such as David speaks of From Rev. D. Weir, Arator, Morgan when he says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant is it for brethren to dwell together in unity." Father Bradshaw, The three months past has been, recently from N. C., was installed pas- with me, a time of struggle, anxiety, tor over that church. The installation and trial, from sickness intermingled services were interesting and impres- with ministerial labors. From early in sive. The congregation was camped July I have had repeated attacks of on the ground. It was large, solemn, chill and fever; my companion lingerattentive, prayerful. God was present ing under a complaint, which has, since by his Spirit. Many during the occa- the first of July, assumed a threatening sion, were influenced to forsake their aspect; while four of our children have sins and embrace Jesus Christ as their suffered severely with the congestive Savior. The congregation was very fever; two of them again restored to large. Our meeting-house could not health, the other two yet confined to hold on the Sabbath half the people. the bed. But, notwithstanding these Christians were quickened, edified, and trying circumstances, I have attended built up in the faith of the Gospel, and my regular appointments, with but three solemn and deep impressions were exceptions; several times riding to and made, as I hope, on the hearts of sin-from my appointments with the chill ners. One person was added to the and fever on me. church by letter. Send Laborers! It was stated in the Home Missionary for September, (p. 109,) that Bolivar was among the destitute county seats in Missouri, which should be occupied by missionaries. In that enumeration, it was probably forgotten by our correspondent that Mr. Ryland is stationed in the immediate vicinity of Bolivar. Mr. R. alludes to this, and adds I should be very glad to have a good brother at Bolivar; but it would not appear to be the best economy for two missionaries in this land of destitution to be located within three miles of each other, while west, south and south-east of me, are 8 or 9 counties, in which there is not one minister of our denomination. Warsaw is a very important Speaking of the meeting of Presbytery mentioned in the foregoing letter, Mr. Weir writes Our Presbytery met on Wednesday the 28th of August, in the church of Rev. Christopher Bradshaw, in Henry county; accompanied with a campmeeting, which closed on the Tuesday following. The brethren truly came together with one accord. It was a time of deep interest and awful solemnity. The meeting was highly encouraging to the people of God; we had nineteen cases which we are encouraged to account as cases of hopeful conversion. A general anxiety perva ded the whole assembly. It was truly a refreshing and glorious time. rion Co., Missouri. point, and should be occupied immedi- From Rev. F. R. Gray, Houston, Maately. And the very first brother who may come into the bounds of our Presbytery, ought to be located there. O, how it would gladden my heart and strengthen my hands to have a brother at Warsaw, 53 miles north of me, and the nearest one in that direc The sheep without a shepherd. I have spent two Sabbaths during the quarter out of my own immediate field, One in the assistance of Brother Town send, in Monroe county, and one at LaGrange, Lewis county, on the Mississippi River. At this last place there are now some eight or nine Presbyterians, and they are anxious to have preaching regularly, but we have no minister at present to supply them; the place is near twenty miles from me, and I can spare no time to them without injustice to the people of my charge. I did promise them, when there, that we would organize a church there if we had any hope they could be supplied with a minister; but it seems almost useless to organize them, and then leave them to starve. We could also commence a church at Monticello, the county seat of Lewis county. There are four of the members of one of my churches there, and there are four or five others there ready to unite with them, should we deem it advisable to organize them into a church. The Macedonian cry often comes to me in the most heartrending tones, and it is but little indeed I can do in answer to these calls. Will any come to feed these scattered and famishing sheep in the wilderness? Since my last report, I have been laid up at home three weeks with a bilious attack, accompanied by deep abscess in the right hip, the result of over fatigue, hard riding, and exposure during the hot weather in July. But I have been able to labor actively again for six weeks past. There has also been a considerable amount of sickness in the bounds of my charge, more particularly in the Mount Pleasant and Newark congregations. Our assemblies for the last six weeks have been thin in consequence of it; we have also had to delay our communion seasons at those places. mourn over many an unavailing effort, yet I trust I am willing to spend and be spent for the Lord. My beloved people express their gratitude to your Society for what it has so kindly done for us in the far off West. Pray for us, that the Lord may send the showers of his grace upon us, and upon all this population, who must starve unless the bread of life is given to them. We had a most solemn communion in one of our churches during the quarter. It was a precious time, and though I was much exhausted in physical strength, yet in heart, I trust, I was made strong. Several seemed to be deeply awakened. A Missionary's lament. I sometimes feel distressed when I reflect how rapidly time flies, and how little has been accomplished. I am not, however, conscious of being a loiterer in the vineyard of my God. But there is so much to be done, and so few to do it so many souls yet out of Christ, and so few to bear to them the glad tidings of salvation ! work of a hundred, it would still seem Could I perform the small and altogether inadequate to the great and pressing necessity! It does seem so overwhelming to know that souls are going down to hell within my sight, and under the sound of my voice, that I am often led to cry out in agony Lay not this sin to my charge." The longer I live and the more I preach, the more sensibly I am impressed with the deeply interesting truth that the power and excellency of the Gospel is of God, and not of us. How can the members of Christ's church slumber over a ruined world? This is one of the mysteries of From Rev. E. A. Carson, Savannah, my own experience. It is true I have Andrew Co. The prevalant sickness has, to a considerable extent, retarded our operations. Six have been added to one of my churches. Two more were hopefully converted, one of whom has since died, I trust, in the faith of the Gospel; the other has not yet recovered so far as to be able to attend church. I have to been trying to preach and to set forth the revelation of the Gospel-but alas! how far short have I come of doing all that I might have done? May God for Christ's sake forgive and grant me grace for the time to come. I have been writing to induce some ministers to emigrate to this part of the country, but as yet have received no answer from any source. My spirits sink within me when I reflect upon the greatness of the harvest, and the small number of the laborers. How can we hope that our beloved Zion will arise under such embarrassed circumstances? Signs of better things. his feelings on the subject. A papal girl said recently to a Protestant lady by whom she is employed: "I wonder why our priest does not allow us to read the Bible; he told my father the other day, he had better sell his Bible, as it was not a good book and would injure him?" The lady replied: "Because it is probable if you read the Bible you cannot remain Papists." The girl then asked with surprise: "Is that the reason?" I rejoice that there is some here that will read and hear the word of God, although so opposed, and are feeling after the truth. One of the most sensible men of that communion, has been a regular attendant of my meetings in a neighboring settlement for years. Oc To one observant of the signs of the times there are some things to be discovered which are indications for good, and others which often constrain us to cry out, Lord, help! Lord, help! In the immediate vicinity where I have been devoting my time the past year, there has evidently a change taken place in the feelings of Christians of different communions. To me there appears to be much less of party feeling and much more of a true christian spirit manifest-casionally he has expressed his views ed. This may in some measure have been promoted by the uncommon exertions of errorists to sow tares among the wheat. If the wiles of the enemy have the effect to stir up the people of God to a more united and vigorous effort in the cause of truth, it may be well that he has been permitted to assault them. I am persuaded this has been the result to some degree in this vicinity. A considerable portion of my time has been devoted to places where there are no Presbyterian churches formed, and never may be. Nevertheless there is a loud call for preaching in them. I have recently learned that there are a goodly number of members of the Presbyterian church in the county of Van Buren. That county has hitherto been wholly passed by in our efforts to build up churches. I sent word to the scattered Presbyterians there, that if the Lord will, I will visit them in the course of the auA missionary is much needed for that county. tumn. WISCONSIN. Papacy and the Scriptures, The principles of the late bull of Gregory XVI., concerning the reading of the Scriptures, are carried out by the officiating papal priest here. Though he does not, to our knowledge, actually burn Bibles that he finds among his deluded hearers, the following will show in meeting, and recently led in prayer. He seems like the noble Cornelius, ready to hear what God the Lord shall speak. He has not entirely left the church, but I hope he has been renewed in the spirit and temper of his mind. Aged disciples, Though not often, yet sometimes, the frontier missionary is called upon to comfort the aged. Is it not a good cause that furnishes the means of spiritual consolation to such friends of Christ, in the evening twilight of their day? In this church are three aged couples, of seventy years and upwards, whose history and condition are full of inte rest. The first couple have long been professors of the religion of Christ. Nearly fifty years ago, both of them on the same day, on profession of faith, united with the church in K-, N. Y. They were among the original members that organized this church, and have adorned their profession by a godly walk. Both are now confined to beds of sickness, from which, probably, they will not arise, until their bodies are taken to the grave, and their souls to heaven. The second couple were subjects of renewing grace during the first year of my labors here, and cheerfully consecrated themselves to Christ on profession of faith. As the aged man with with his tottering steps and silver locks, came forward and knelt to receive the seal of baptism, a flood of emotions rushed over me. The long-suffering of God, and his great mercy to that aged sinner, were manifest; and I felt that honor had been conferred on your unworthy missionary in introducing into the church of God those aged and converted souls. The third couple of about the same age, were received from a sister church at the East. It is a pleasure and a profit to visit them. Their minds dwell on God and on his truth. Christ and his cause are the theme of their conversation. I have presented the cause of Home Missions to this church. It met their hearty response. Their gift, though small, was all I could expect in present circumstances. Review of labor. In review of the past three years that I have labored in Wisconsin, I find some occasions of encouragement. I have endeavored to preach the Gospel; some have been offended, and some made glad. Two churches have been organized in the field of my labors; Sabbath-schools and the cause of temperance have been sustained; the Bible has been distributed, and general morals promoted; I have travelled considerable, and have distributed more than twenty thousand pages of tracts, besides some bound volumes furnished me by the Am. Tract Society. Three years ago this church contained ten members; it now has fifty, Our prospects are more encouraging than at any former period in our history. I hope the time will come, and believe it will in a few years, that this church will be able to sustain the preaching of the Gospel without missionary aid. the house of his friends? O may the Lord open the eyes of those who profess to be his, and lead them to take out of the way every stumbling-block, that the chariot wheels of salvation may no longer be retarded! And is it indeed so? It seems incredible; and yet from every part of the West we have proofs of the melancholy fact, that the greatest hindrance to the prosperity of religion, is the ungodly living of men who have named the name of Christ. This furnishes matter for deep reflection. It ought to alarm the churches, to know that so many, who once appeared fair and promising, fall away when they move beyond the reach of a strong christian influence. It should alarm the pastors, and lead them to ask themselves whether they do their duty in searching and sifting the precious from the vile; whether their preaching is discriminating, and full of truth; whether there is enough of personal application in their handling of the word of God, The overflowing scourge. You have doubtless heard much of There the flood which has swept over the valley during the last summer. remains no record of such a deluge in the West since the universal catastrophe of waters. Multitudes have been made destitute of home and habitation. The rains descended in torrents. The whole country for a time seemed to be flooded. Every rill became a river. Every river by its overflowing tide, became an ocean of rushing waters. Many thriving farmers who had come from the sterile East to the fertile West, to make their fortunes, have stood on some eminence they had gained, or, perhaps, on the roofs of their dwellings, not yet razed from off their foundations by the rising element; and beheld their fences swept off, their promising crops laid low beneath the wasting waters, and their fruitful fields turned back in a day to a state of nature. They watched the movements of the resistless invader, as, like some fabled monster of olden time, he stalked over the plain, to waste and devour. His morning, noon, and evening meals required hundreds The West as it was. I recently met an aged disciple, who well recollects the time when there were but three Presbyterian and not one Congregational minister west of the Allegany Mountains. The great West was then the habitation of wird of horses and cattle, and sheep and down to the gulf of deepest perdition. swine innumerable. And still his maw" He that hath ears to hear, let him was craving and insatiate. None could hear." withstand his might, or rescue out of his hand. Ah! he was the dread messenger of wrath, exhibiting in wonderful majesty the might of Omnipotence. How striking an emblem this of that flood which God has declared will ere long overtake the wicked! "The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agree-beasts, and "men more fierce and wild ment with hell shall not stand; when than they." In imagination I beheid the overflowing scourge shall pass the large and populous states-the through, then shall ye be trodden down by it. For morning by morning shall it growing towns-the teeming cities, and the ceaseless tide of immigration rushpass over, by day and by night-when ing on to the western ocean; and I the Mighty One shall rise up to execould but exclaim-"What hath God cute his work, his strange work, and to wrought?" in the age of one man! Did bring to pass his act, his strange the eye of man ever behold the like act.' "That awful day will surely come." What power shall be the sinner's stay?" before? Hath the ear ever heard it? Can the annals of history show its parallel? Is not the past, the precursor of a coming population, that for multitude shall astonish the eyes of every beholder; and of events of such thrilling interest-"At which the ears of every one that hears them shall tingle." I often think, dear brethren, that you and your associates have taken upon yourselves a work, from which, for its magnitude and responsibility, angels might well shrink. But "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Not only angels, but the God of angels is with you. The cause can never, never fail. Now is the time ! Should that storm now break upon this great valley, what multitudes of sinners of every grade would it sweep down to remediless ruin! O how should every minister and every Christian in this land, hear the voice of God as the voice of many waters-Do with thy might what thy hand findeth to do." O! the tide of infidelity and every species of error which is now rising up, and rolling its dark waves over these fair plains! Thanks be to Him who stilleth the tumult of mighty waters, these waves may now be stayed, by the power of truth and the energy of the Spirit. God stands pointing his American In looking over this field of labor, and church by the significant finger of his seeing the importance of now bringing providence to this great valley, in the public mind under the control of which are being centered the hopes of religious truth, I often feel as though this nation, and in great measure the I wanted the strength to do the labor of hope of the world. And he is saying ten ministers. I am sure I should not to her, "According to thy faith be it want for work. How much easier is it unto thee." By a living faith, shown now, when society is in a forming by works-" go up and possess the state, to mould its features, than it will land." But it thy heart shall become be to change them when once formed. faint and thy hands weary, then shall The metal in a state of fusion is easily your eyes ere long behold with weeping|| fashioned. Let it congeal, and it will the swelling tide of sin, with resistless current, sweeping millions, and tens of millions, and hundreds of millions of dwellers in this vale, on its broad bosom require much labor to reduce it to the same state of fusion again. This il lustrates the present and prospective condition of the West. |