Having now given a fair specimen of the proceedings of the Missionaries in religious and legal affairs, we must, as a pendant, let them say a word or two about less solemn, though important subjects.

Leaving out the history of Mr. Williams's bellows, which were sufficiently ingenious, we come to the use to which the bellows were to be put.

With this contrivance we did all our iron work, using a perforated stone for a fire-iron, an anvil of the same material, and a pair of carpenter's pincers for our tongs. As a substitute for coals, we made charcoal from the cocoa-nut, tamani, and other trees. The first iron the natives saw worked excited their astonishment exceedingly, especially the welding of two pieces together. Old and young, men and women, chieftain and peasant, hastened to behold the wonder; and when they saw the ease with which heated iron could be wrought, they exclaimed, "Why did not we think of heating the hard stuff also, instead of beating it with stones? What a reign of dark hearts Satan's is!" Nothing, however, excited more interest than the pumps; even the king was so much delighted, that he frequently had his favourite stool carried on board the ship, and entertained himself for hours by pumping out the bilge water. Being without a saw, we split the trees in half with wedges; and then the natives adzed them down with small hatchets, which they tied to a crooked piece of wood as a handle, and used as a substitute for the adze. When we wanted a bent or twisted plank, having no apparatus for steaming it, we bent a piece of bamboo to the shape required, sent into the woods for a crooked tree, and by splitting this in half we obtained two planks suited to our purpose. Having but little iron, we bored large auger holes through the timbers, and also the outer and inner plank of the vessel, and drove in wooden pins, termed trenails, by which the whole fabric was held firmly together. As a substitute for oakum, we used what little cocoa-nut husk we could obtain, and supplied the deficiency with dried banana stumps, native cloth, or other substances which would answer the purpose. For ropes we obtained the bark of the hibiscus, constructed a rope machine, and prepared excellent cordage from that article. For sails we used the mats on which the natives sleep, and quilted them that they might be strong enough to resist the wind. After making a turning-lathe, we found that the aito, or iron-wood, answered remarkably well for the sheaves of blocks. By these means the whole was completed in fifteen weeks; when we launched a vessel, about sixty feet in length, and eighteen feet in breadth, and called her, "The Messenger of Peace," which she has proved to be on many occasions. The hanging of the rudder occasioned me some difficulty; for having no iron sufficiently large for pintles, we made them from a piece of pickaxe, a cooper's adze, and a large hoe. They answered exceedingly well; but being doubtful of this, I prepared a substitute for a rudder, in case any part of it should give way.—Pp. 148, 149.

All this ingenuity was set on foot to build a vessel to traverse the seas; and, as might be expected, when built, the means of good were surprisingly increased. Of these means we have, however, but little room to speak. Our object having been to show how the Gospel was introduced into some of the islands, we have pursued a simple plan, that of taking events in their order through nearly a fourth part of the volume; but in our limited space, this plan cannot be continued to the end of the book. We have, however, stated sufficient to recommend the volume to our readers, as one in many respects interesting, and worthy of their attention. It contains much to amuse, as well as edify; and we think that the two letters which follow, the one from the eccentric

Matthew Wilks, and the other from the deacon Tuahine, ought to stand side by side, with no disparagement to the latter :

I do love

My dear dear Williams,-Dear to me as the apple of my eye, you. My heart leaps when I think of you; I do pray for you—I pray that you may never be weary in well-doing-I pray that you may abound in every good word and work-I pray that you may be the living epistle of Christ, known and read of all men-I pray that you may live long, and be useful all your life long; and when you and I are called to render an account, that we may hear our Master say, "Enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Then we will answer, Yes, Lord, through thy infinite mercy."

Then we with all in glory
Shall thankfully repeat
The amazing pleasing story
Of Jesus' love so great.
In this blest contemplation,
We shall for ever dwell;
And prove such consolation
As none below can tell.

News.-Old Tab: yet stands where she did-and, for the most part, fills as she did-many die off and enter their rest. We have had two very great losses -Mr. Wilson, and my dear brother Hyatt. I cannot be long, being now turned eighty--and have this week been cupped. Of all the mortals that inherit the kingdom of God I shall be the most unworthy, and yet I hope I shall arrive safely. Pray give my very kind love to your brethren; live together, co-operate, make a common cause in your exalted labours. The Lord fill your new Chapeĺ with truly Christian worshippers, and make it one of his resting-places. Grace, mercy, and peace be with you all; and believe me, in undissembled love, to be your once affectionate pastor and patron, M. WILKS.—Pp. 157, 158. Raiatea, November 11th, 1827.

Oh dear Friend,-May blessing attend you and your family, through Jesus Christ our Lord. I have written this letter on the day that my body is completely destroyed with sickness. I am convinced of the near approach of death, for I perceive that my illness is very great. The 11th of November is the day on which I write: I write with great difficulty, for my eyes are now dim in death. My compassion for my family is very great; I therefore write in death to you, my dear friend, about my family. We do not belong to Raiatea, neither myself nor my wife; we both belong to Tahiti; but from love to the word of God, and attachment to you, our teacher, we have forsaken our lands, and now I am about to die. It is death that terminates our close connexion. This is what I have to say to you, my dear friend, about my family; do not let them remain at Raiatea, take them to Tahiti in your own large boat; convey them there yourself; let no one else. They belong to Papeete: there are their parents and their land. My perplexity is very great, occasioned by my dear family crying and grieving around me. They say, "Who will convey us back to our lands?" I refer them to you; replying, Mr. Williams is our friend. We miss you very much in my illness, and grieve greatly at your absence. Now, my dear friend, let me entreat you not to forget my dying request. Do not follow the custom of my countrymen, and say, when I am gone, "Oh, it is only the command of a corpse." This is what they say, and then seize his little property. I have been endeavouring to lengthen out my breath to see you again, but I cannot; my hour is come, when God will take me to himself, and I cannot resist his will. Perhaps this is the time the Lord has appointed for me. And now, my dear friend, the great kindness you have shown me is at an end; your face will not see my face again in the flesh-you and I are separated. Dear friend, I am going now to the place we all so ardently desire.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you and your family. TUAHINE. P.S.-Take care of my family.-P. 161.

Mr. Williams seems to be the very perfection of a missionary. Thus, we read :

At Mr. Pitman's station, I constructed a turning lathe, and the first thing I turned was the leg of a sofa, with which the chief to whom it belonged was so much delighted that he strung it round his neck, and walked up and down the settlement, exhibiting it to the admiration of the astonished inhabitants, many of whom exclaimed, that if they had possessed it prior to the renunciation of idolatry, it would certainly have been an object of worship, and have taken the precedence of all their other idols. We made a sugar mill for them, and taught them to boil sugar.

As the people, before our arrival, had destroyed all the cocoa-nut trees, from which they might have procured oil, and having no other article of commerce, we entertained a pleasing hope that the manufacture also of cordage and rope, from the hibiscus bark, might become a valuable substitute. With this view I constructed a rope machine, taught them the art of rope-making, and encouraged them to prepare a great quantity, some of which was sent to New South Wales, in the expectation of finding a market for it; but we did not succeed according to our anticipations, and the Rarotongans are still destitute of the means of exchange for European commodities. At my own station, also, being desirous of adding to the few articles which the natives were able to offer in exchange for European manufactures, I hired a person, at very considerable expense, to teach me the art of growing and preparing Brazil tobacco. Having obtained this information, we induced the natives to plant about a hundred and fifty acres, and made the necessary apparatus for pressing, &c. As a vessel was sailing at this time for New South Wales, I wrote to inform our undeviating friend, the Rev. S. Marsden, of our proceedings. Delighted with the inforination, he inserted my letter in the Sydney Gazette. Some narrow-minded mer

chants immediately took the alarm, and tormented the governor, until a prohibitory duty of 4s. per lb. was imposed upon tobacco from the South Sea Islands. Thus our expense and labour were lost. It appeared to me to derogate from the dignity of a great nation, thus to crush the energies of an infant people.-Pp. 165–167.

We have heard many persons express astonishment at the progress in the arts of civilized life, and especially in religious knowledge, made by natives of different countries under the teaching of Missionaries; yet, allowing for that pleasure which a really zealous man feels in placing his subject in the most striking and inviting light, we cannot think that astonishment ought to partake of incredulity. Mr. Williams, as if anticipating something of the sort, details what took place on the arrival of her Majesty's ship Seringapatam, under the command of the Hon. Captain Waldegrave. Honourable mention is also made of Captain Laws, of the Satellite, and other officers in the British and American service; and it is creditable to those services to find that the Missionaries have their protection.

It appears that some of the officers of the Seringapatam were rather sceptical as to the capability of the native speakers to compose the addresses which they delivered; and even asserted that they were mere parrots, repeating only what I had taught them, and, moreover, that they believed in Christianity solely because the Missionaries had assured them of its truth. Others, however, maintained that they were not deficient either in good sense or scriptural knowledge. In order to decide the question, early the next morning Captain Waldegrave, the Rev. Mr. Watson, the chaplain, and other gentlemen called at my house.

After a little consideration, I suggested that the more satisfactory method of forming a correct opinion, would be for them to favour us with their company to tea, when I would introduce twelve or fifteen of our people, who, I was assured, would feel happy in replying to any questions that might be proposed to them. The proposition met with their approval, and after tea, fifteen natives came into the room and took their seats.

I then informed them that the gentlemen present were desirous of ascertaining the extent of their knowledge upon some important topics, and for this purpose would propose to them a few questions. Captain Waldegrave then asked, "Do you believe that the Bible is the word of God, and that Christianity is of Divine origin?" The natives were rather startled at the question, having never entertained a doubt upon that point. At length, one replied, "Most certainly we do. We look at the power with which it has been attended in effecting the entire overthrow of idolatry amongst us, and which, we believe, no human means could have induced us to abandon." The same question being proposed to a second, he replied, "I believe the Scriptures to be of Divine origin, on account of the system of salvation they reveal. We had a religion before, transmitted to us by our ancestors, whom we considered the wisest of men; but how dark and black a system that was, compared with the bright scheme of salvation Here we learn that we are sinners; that God gave his presented in the Bible! own Son Jesus Christ to die for us; and that, through believing, the salvation Now, what but the wisdom of God could have dehe procured becomes ours. vised such a system as this?" The question being repeated to an old priest, he held up his hands, and then a devoted Christian, instead of replying at once, rapidly moved the joints of his wrists and fingers; he then opened and shut his mouth, and closed these singular actions by raising his leg, and moving it in various directions. Having done this, he said, "See, I have hinges all over me: if the thought grows in my heart that I wish to handle any thing, the hinges in my hands enable me to do so; if I want to utter any thing, the hinges to my jaws enable me to say it; and if I desire to go any where, here are hinges to my legs to enable me to walk. Now," continued he, "I perceive great wisdom in the adaptation of my body to the various wants of my mind; and when I look into the Bible, and see there proofs of wisdom which correspond exactly with those which appear in my frame, I conclude that the Maker of my body is the Author of that book." Another replied to the question by saying, "I believe the Bible to have come from God, because it contains prophecies which have been exactly fulfilled."

Captain W. then inquired "who the prophets were?"

Native. "Persons inspired of God to foretel events ages before they occurred."
Captain. "Can you name any of them?"

Native. "Yes-Samuel, David, Isaiah, Daniel, Jonah, and many others." Captain. "You have mentioned Isaiah: can you tell me any of his prophecies?"

Native. "O, yes; he was the prophet who wrote so much about our Lord and Saviour, and who said that he should be numbered with the transgressors; and we know that Christ was crucified between two thieves. There was the prophecy and its fulfilment."

A variety of questions were then put respecting Jonah, and other prophets; after which one of the natives observed, that many of the types were prophecies of Christ. These then became the topic of conversation; in the course of which allusion was made to the brazen serpent; and Captain W., after examining them upon the historical circumstances connected with that type, inquired to whom it applied?

Native. "To Christ; for he himself said, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.'"

Reference was then made to the paschal lamb; and questions upon the history of that type having been replied to, the Captain asked wherein that applied to Jesus Christ? to which a native answered, "A bone of the paschal lamb might not be broken; and in the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of John we read,

that the soldiers came and brake the legs of those who were crucified with Jesus; but when they came to him, and saw that he was already dead, they brake not his legs; for the Scripture saith, 'A bone of him shall not be broken.'

After this, questions were proposed upon the leading doctrines of Christianity, and when we arrived at the doctrine of the resurrection, they were asked, “With what body shall we be raised?" In reply to this, those beautiful verses of the 15th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians were immediately quoted: "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption," &c. The Captain rejoined, that what they had said was very good; but still he wished them to be a little more explicit, and to give him some idea of the body with which we should arise. This occasioned considerable consultation among them; but at length one exclaimed, “I have it. St. John, in his 1st Epistle, the 3rd chapter, says, that 'when he shall appear, we shall be like him.' Our bodies will then be like Christ's." The Captain still pressed the question; when, after another consultation, a native replied, "Being like Christ cannot mean being like his body when it hung upon the cross, but it must mean being like to his glorious body when he was transfigured upon the mount." At the conclusion of these interrogations, a copy of the New Testament was passed round, and opened indiscriminately; when each was desired to read a verse, and reply to questions on its import and connexion.

This interview lasted upwards of three hours; and at the conclusion the gentlemen expressed themselves highly gratified; and Captain W. assured the natives, that, if he returned in safety to England, he should not fail to inform his countrymen of what he had seen and heard; and I am happy to add that he has done so, on various occasions, in the most favourable manner. I think I may also affirm, that the questions were proposed, not with the design to perplex, but to obtain accurate information as to the extent of knowledge which our converts possessed; and I deem it right also to state, that I am not conscious of having assisted them, on that occasion, by a single hint, but that I acted solely as interpreter.

And here I may observe, that had Captain Beechy of the Blossom condescended to adopt the same means of obtaining correct information, he would not have penned the following paragraph:-"Ignorance of the language prevented my obtaining any correct information as to the progress that had been made generally towards a knowledge of the Scriptures by those who were converted; but iny impression was, and I find by the journals of my officers it was theirs also, that it was very limited, and that few understood the simplest parts of it. Many circumstances induced me to believe that they considered their religious books in the same light as they did their household gods," &c. The Hon. Captain Waldegrave, Captain Laws, and other gentlemen were equally ignorant of the language, but they employed the method which common sense dictated to supply that deficiency: and the result was, as might have been expected, that they obtained more correct information.

The visit of Captain Lord Byron to the Sandwich Islands, appears to have been equally beneficial with that of Captain Waldegrave to the Society group. In reference to the former, the American Missionaries, when writing to the Secretary of the London Missionary Society, observe :

"The visit of Lord Byron has, we believe, been exceedingly pleasing to the people; and we are very happy to say that he has performed a truly honourable part in his interview with the chiefs, and also with the mission.

"The affability, the kindness, and amiable deportment he has uniformly manifested has been much admired, and has not only gained him many personal friends, but done great credit to his country. You will be gratified to know that, at the national council held here but recently, he very distinctly approved of the attention of the natives to the instructions of the Missionaries, and assured the chiefs that they ought to feel grateful for the important benefits they had received through the instrumentality of their Christian teachers."-Pp.

231-237.