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MR. GEORGE S. BOARDMAN, Lately a student in the theological seminary, was commissioned for six months, to preach in Madison and its adjoining settlements, in the state of Indiana. Since this mission was projected, the field of it has been occupied by the Rev. Thomas C. Searle, who also received his theological education in your seminary. Mr. S. was sent out to Indiana by the Young Men's Missionary Society at New-York, and is now settled in Madison with very favourable prospects of usefulness. Having ascertained this fact, Mr. B. very properly directed his labours to places more destitute of the means of grace. He itinerated chiefly in the settlements on White River, and in the settlements on Indian and Kentucky river.

To reach the field of his mission, Mr. Boardman had to travel a great distance; but that his time might not be wholly spent in the toils of his daily journies, he performed missionary labour in the places through which he passed; so that by the time he reached Indiana, he had visited 19 families, established 1 Sunday school, and preached twenty times, besides travelling 854 miles. In the course of his mission Mr. B. established 3 Sabbath schools, visited 99 families, preached 110 times, travelled 2207 miles, and collected 83 dollars 56 cents. He endeavoured also to form auxiliary missionary societies; but owing to the scarcity of money, and the extreme pressure of the times, his efforts were unsuccessful.

He was well received; and there is every reason to believe that considerable good will result from his mission. A few passages from his journal will be heard with interest; and the assembly will be particularly pleased with his description of the state of Indiana.

"Jan. 8th. Returned to Lawrenceburg, where I remained 4 days; visited 1 family and the prison, and preached twice. Here I witnessed a deed of the most

shocking nature, and which caused a short delay. It was a most deliberate and daring murder. At the special request of the Masonic Society, which took the direction of the funeral, I preached the funeral sermon, deeming it a time well cal. culated for truth to have its proper influence on the heart. The deep solemnity which pervaded the assembly, and the tears which watered almost every eye, led me to hope, that the heart which had not been affected by ordinary means, had felt, and would continue to feel, this extraordinary dispensation of Providence. The brother of the deceased, in particular, considered it as a special and solemn call to him "to be also ready," and spoke with tears of his situation, without an interest in the blood of the Saviour. The impressions made by this event appear in some good degree to be permanent.

"White River is a navigable stream, which beautifully flows through a country distinguished for its fertility and its health. The towns on. its banks are new, but flourishing; some of which must soon become important places. At Bloomington a church has been organized: this is a county seat, and near it the site has been selected for the university of Indiana. At the conjunction of the forks of the river is Washington, where is a Presbyterian settlement. This country, generally, possesses many and great advantages, both from its location, and its uncommon fertility. But rich and important as it is, it has enjoyed few of the labours of missionaries, and none of stated pastors, and is overspreading with wickedness, and the gross errors of the New Lights and Donkards. It appears to possess claims to the special attention of missionaries; and it is the earnest entreaty and prayer of its inhabitants, that some effort might be made to stop the progress of error, and to give them a few of the privileges of the gos pel. Their gratitude and their desire is expressed with a warmth that is truly af fecting.

"March 3d. Rode to Providence. This is a small village, bearing a good charaeter. Remained here four days: visited one family, and preached four times. The minds of the people seemed to be impressed with the truth.

"March 8th. Returned to Madison, in which neighbourhood I remained till the 1st of April; during which time I visited 15 families, rode 200 miles, preached 19 times, and received $19.87. Deep attention was given to the word. In the settlement on Indian Kentucky, Christians appeared to be somewhat animated, and the minds of others were tender. Here, in particular, a solemn attention was given by all, and some with tears, were led to inquire the way of salvation. I had

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the pleasure of seeing the unusual sight of an infirm old man of 70 being much affected by a sense of his situation. At the close of a meeting, which was held at his cabin, pressing my hand with warmth, with a voice faltering through age, and bursting into tears, he requested to be remembered at the throne of grace. In some conversation which I afterwards had with him, with tears he spoke of himself as being "a vile sinner, who had greatly sinned against a most blessed Saviour, and 2 who had spent his life in ingratitude and rebellion against a gracious God." The people manifested much gratitude for the missionary labours which they have received, and request that a missionary might be sent to devote his time to the settlements on Indian Kentucky River. They have subscribed $120 for his labours among them for six months, and intended transmitting a petition to the Assembly.

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"This state claims particular attention, from its present situation and its future prospects. It is a country where the practice of vice prevails. Intemperance has extended in a must alarming manner. devouring monster, not yet glutted with the numerous sacrifices of usefulness and property, health, and life, which has been made to him, stalks abroad at noonday, and in the public estimation is almost divested of disgrace and infamy. Profane swearing, frauds and gaming, also exist in a shocking degree. The Sabbath, also, being unattended by the preaching of the word, and being not properly regarded by professors, has become a day of idleness or of pleasure. Infidelity has many followers, who are not confined to any

sex.

"This is a country alike fertile in the productions of the earth and of error. Sectarians are numerous. Methodists, with a variety of contradictory errors in opinion and practice, is the prevailing sect. Baptists, perhaps, are next numerous; denying that the observance of the Sabbath is obligatory; that the gospel is to be supported by pecuniary aid; that learning is beneficial in the ministry; and many, it is feared, make immersion the sum and substance of their religion. New Lightism is common-it is the moral monster of the West; headless, shapeless; its component parts are the errors of the Universalists, the Baptists, of Arminius or Pelagius, of Socinus or Arius, of enthusiasts and fanatics. The Donkards are Universalists and fanatics. These errors are making their conquests in different directions; and whilst their propagators are numerous, in many parts truth has not a single advocate. In this state there are but eight Presbyterian ministers, only one of whom has a pastoral charge. Most of

the people are persons of shrewdness, and disgusted with ignorance, long for an intelligent and faithful ministry. Professors of religion are numerous; but frequently their conduct is such as to confound its real friends, and cause its ene mies to triumph. Members of the Presbyterian church are not numerous, and are scattered. Some, deeming it their duty to be visibly connected with the church of Christ, liave united themselves to the Methodist church; but others, disgusted with the ignorance and bigotry displayed by sectarians, entirely neglect the public worship of God. Being destitute of the stated means of grace, they have become cold and remiss in duty. Yet they mourn over their silent Sabbaths, and their deprivation of the privileges of the gospel. They lament the influence of bad example over themselves and their children. And it has often been expressed as the source of deep sorrow, that their children should be raised up surrounded by fatal errors— corrupted by example-without the restraints of religion, and the privileges of the gospel. Under God, to you they look for aid to recover themselves from coldness, and to preserve their children from delusion and death. Indiana is now forming its character, and it requires some gentle, skilful, and gracious hand to mould it. For past favours the inhabi tants are grateful. I have witnessed the expressions of sincere gratitude. I have seen the tear of joy at the arrival of the missionary, and the tear of sorrow at his departure. I have heard the voice of gratitude labouring to express its thankfulness to God, and I have heard the voice of prayer calling for blessings on your heads. As your missionary, I have generally been received with marked respect.

"The prospects of this state are uncommonly favourable. Its soil is sufficiently rich. Unlike Illinois, it is generally healthy, and unlike Missouri and Kentucky, it banishes slavery. Possessing these advantages, it is daily attracting. large bodies of the better class of emigrants from the slave states and from the east. It must soon become rich and powerful."

MR. REMEMBRANCE CHAMBERLAIN, Lately a student in the theological seminary, has fulfilled a mission of five months. One month he spent in the District of Columbia, and neighbourhood, preaching 17 times, visiting a great number of families, and distributing a quantity of Bibles, and between two and three hundred religious tracts. He hopes

good was done there. For this month's labour Mr. C. has received compensation from one of the missionary societies in the District.

Mr. C. laboured also in and about all the towns of the upper country of Georgia; and preached in Wayneborough, Louisville, Mont Žion, Bethany, Greenborough, Madison, Athens, Lexington, Washington, Sparta, Milledgeville, Clinton, &c. He preached 57 times in the course of his mission, besides attending a variety of religious meetings, and visiting from house to house.

The Board of Trust of the Western Missionary Society have sent the following report:

"The Board of Trust for the Western Missionary Society, report to the Board of Missions, under the direction of the general assembly, that they have, during the course of the last year, employed the following missionaries, whose labours in the gospel were spent under the direction of the board, as follows: viz.

"Mr. Condit, for five months, on the waters of the Monongahela, and adjacent settlements; Rev. John Rhea, for two weeks, on the waters of Wills creek and Stillwater; Rev. Obadiah Jennings, two months, in the state of Indiana; Rev. Samuel Ralston, three weeks, on the waters of the Monongahela; Rev. Samuel Tait, one month, in the settlements contiguous to Coneal lake; the Rev. Thomas B. Cluch, two weeks, on the Tuscaraway circuit; the Rev. Layman Potter, appointed for three months, under the direction of the presbytery of Steubenville; the Rev. Mr. Chase, one month, on Bukenstraw, Conawago, and Beechwoods; Mr. Jeffries, two months, in the destitute country between Ohio river and Harmony, and in the Tuscaraway circuit; Rev. Robert Lee, six weeks, between the Allegheny river and the Chesnut ridge; Mr. Harper, for three months, in the circuit between White Woman and Tuscaraway; Mr. Patterson, licentiate of the presbytery of Ohio, for six weeks-three weeks to be spent in the Morgantown district, and three on the waters of Wheeling and Grave creek; the Rev. Mr. Beer, for one month, in the destitute settlements in his vicinity; the Rev. Jos. Stevenson for one month, and Mr. Jeffries also, for one month, under the direction of the Washington presbytery; Mr. Sullivan, for two months, in the county of Huron; and Mr. Core, for six weeks, in the destitute settlements north of Youngstown.

"In addition to the above, the board

has agreed to contribute 20 dollars per month of their funds, to aid the Rev. Alvin Coe, in teaching an Indian school, commenced at Greenfield.

"Such are the appointments of missionaries, by this board, for the last year; and from the journals of such as have reported, we have reason to hope that the Lord has, in a measure, blessed their labours. There have been three missionaries lately settled within the bounds of the Redstone presbytery, on missionary ground; and there appears to be an increasing demand for the preaching of the gospel in all our destitute settlements.

"May the Lord hasten the time, when the wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for the missionaries of the cross, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, through their instrumentality."

The Board of Missions of the Synod of Ohio have sent the following report:

"The Board of Missions, acting under the direction of the Synod of Ohio, report the continuance of their missionary exertions during the past year; and they have to acknowledge the abounding goodness of God-their unworthiness, and the insufficiency of their efforts.

"Twelve missionaries have been in the employment of the board during the last year, and their labours have amounted to twenty-five months. The expense has been $833. By these missionaries more than one hundred destitute settlements have been visited, and several churches have been organized.

"The experiment made, shows the advantages resulting from a division of our vacant country into districts; and though the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of missionaries, and of raising money adequate to the expenses incurred, still exists and tends to discourage; yet the success which has, through the blessing of God, attended our efforts, encourages us to persevere, and ought to excite to redoubled exertions.

"Our missionaries report to us a large extent of country, within our limits, in a very destitute condition. A vast moral waste spreads itself before our eyes, and calls for our most diligent and extended labour. Many places have been visited for the first time by our missionaries, and in other places, where the word had been preached, an additional supply has been afforded. Wherever they went, they were received with cordiality and thankfulness, and were urged to return.That some good has been done, we cannot doubt; and we hope that it will finally appear, that the salvation of many souls has been promoted by the instru

mentality of those who, under our direction, have been employed in preaching the gospel to the poor and destitute.

"All that we can do, however, is but little, compared with the extent of our country, and the multitude of the people who need missionary services. It is, therefore, the wish and the hope of this board, that the general assembly will afford us all the aid that may be in their power. And that the Head of the church may crown with abundant success all the efforts, both yours and ours, which may be made for the extension and prosperity of his kingdom, is our daily and ardent prayer,"

Information has been received that a missionary society auxiliary to the board, was recently formed with the bounds of the Presbytery of Onondaga. A missionary, the Rev. Caleb Alexander, has spent 20 weeks in the service of this society, whose labours have been attended with considerable success. In Deruters, one of the places visited by him, there was some special seriousness, and encouraging prospects of an extensive revival. He was still at the date of the secretary's letter, in the service of the society.

From the Missionary Society of Philadelphia, auxiliary to this board, a report has been received, stating that in the course of last year, four missionaries had been employed by them for different terms. These missionaries laboured in the suburbs of this city and adjacent places. Good, it is hoped, has been done by them. Some interesting extracts are given in the report from the Journal of Mr. Samuel Cornish, a person of colour, and a licentiate of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, who was in the service of the society one month, and is now acting as a missionary under a commission from this board.

The report of the Domestic Missionary Society of West Jersey states, that they were not able to procure a permanent missionary, though they did succeed in obtaining two licentiates for a few weeks, whose labours were acceptable, and

might have been highly useful, had they remained longer in cultivating that moral waste in which they were employed. A lamentable fact is mentioned in this report, "that, at the last meeting of the Cumberland Bible Society, it was stated that some persons or families had been discovered in this region, who had never seen a Bible, and knew not what kind of book it was, nor who were the first parents of the human race."

The Auxiliary Missionary Society of the presbytery of Hanover, report, that missionary service to the amount of seven months has been performed by three missionaries, one of whom is to be settled in an important station, Charlottesville and the vicinity of Milton. They state that their funds have been diminished by the severity of the times, and partly by the establishment of the Young Men's Missionary Society at Richmond; which, however, they rejoice to hail as a coworker in the same glorious cause. Contributions to their funds have been derived chiefly from a few auxiliary associations of pious and active females.

From the committee of the Missionary society of Shoal Creek, Illinois, Bond County, auxiliary to this society, a letter has been received, in which they state the amount of their funds, express their gratitude for the services of your missionaries, Messrs. Lowe and Graham, in 1818, and earnestly intreat a renewed attention to their wants.

It was to be expected that the missionary fund would be affected by the pressure of the times. The collections both of congregations, and by the missionaries the last year, are less than in preceding years. The aggregate amount on which the board will be able this year to calculate in making their missionary appointments, will be diminished as much as $1000.

But there are other causes that are likely to affect your missionary fund. When the Board proposed their plan for the establishment of auxiliary societies, it was not their design, nor was it the intention of the assembly, in recommending it to the churches, that the adoption of it should lessen the amount of collections for your fund, but to awaken more zeal in the cause of missions, and increase the exertions of our church. It is however apprehended that the establishment of such societies will, unless the assembly guard against it, materially affect their funds.

The Board deem it their duty also to remark, that the amount of collections would be much greater, if due attention were paid to the assembly's instructions, not to combine in the collection for the missionary and commissioners' funds other objects that would demand a considerable portion of it. It is understood that some congregations

divide the same collection between three important objects, the missionary, the commissioners' and the education fund. The objects are too important to be proposed for one and the same collection; and it is hoped the congregations that are in the habit of doing so, will in future see the propriety of complying with the assembly's re⚫commendation, by separating the latter from the two former objects.

The assembly will pardon the board for taking the liberty of making these remarks. It appears to them that it constitutes one of their duties to watch over the interests of the missionary fund. As no contributions, or to a very small amount, is derived from auxiliary societies, the operations of this board must depend on the annual collections that are made in the churches.

The propriety of proposing a reduction of the salary of the missionaries to its former amount, came under discussion in the board. On

the whole, however, it was deemed expedient to let the salary remain for the present at $40 per month. But it is an affecting consideration, that, owing to the diminished state of receipts for missionary purposes, the appointments this year must be one fifth less than in preceding years. This fact, it is presumed, will have due weight in the minds of the members of this assembly, and serve to show how important it is to promote collections in those congregations which do not contribute to your missionary fund, that the operations of this board, instead of being lessened, may be extended.

Our readers will be gratified with the perusal of the following passages selected from "The Epistle from Yearly Meeting of Friends" held in London, 1820. They indicate an increasing evangelical spirit in that respectable body of professing Chris

tians.

We rejoice to see that they are disposed to give so prominent an exhibition of some of the great doctrines of the gospel.

"We have been again occupied in investigating the state of our society; and our present concern is to turn the attention of all our dear friends to a strict examination of their religious profession and experience. We profess to believe in the inward teachings of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and Mediator, our Advocate with the Father; of Him whose precious blood was shed, that he night procure unto us eternal life, and present us holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable unto God. Let us individually inquire, how far we are acting in conformity with the solemn truths of the gospel. Are we seeking in humble supplication unto the Lord, that our faith may be established therein? Are we, in patient waiting before him, desiring that we may clearly discover the inshinings of his light upon our understandings, and that, by walking in faith, according to its manifestations, our lives may

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