opportunity for reaching the people, and as to health and vigor of the helpers and ourselves. We expect to go to the sixth camp to-night, and to break up on the 20th, thus making fifteen days, including the days of starting and closing. It has been interesting to me to go over ground again which was visited nine years since with Mr. Rendall, and five years since with Mr. Penfield. At Linganádi there was then a Hindu ascetic, living in a broken and uncomfortable rest-house, his body covered with ashes, and he utterly refusing to speak. Now, nine years later, we found him in the same place, but instead of being speechless he was very talkative, though for the most part in a language we did not understand. He seems never to leave his miserable shelter, but relies on the villagers to supply his wants. His example of patient continuance in the service of idols and superstition, is one suited to admonish those unstable in the service of the Son of God.

"In our itinerating work, we are encouraged not unfrequently by attention and interest; and in one case by the assurance of a man that he had not worshiped idols since he heard us years ago. It can hardly be but that good results follow the itinerating work, now going on for the tenth year; but thus far fruit has not been generally apparent. During the last six months, Mrs. Burnell has been out frequently with me to visit the women in the places near Mélûr. In this way fifteen villages have been looked after in a new method."

Mr. Herrick wrote from Tirumangalam (12 miles south of Madura), September 5: "While on a tour among the congregations of Tirumangalam, in July, I received two men to the church and baptized two children. In one village I heard that an intelligent heathen man, whom I have known for many years, and in whom I have felt an unusual interest, had been dangerously ill, and was still unable to sit up. I sent word that I would call to see him before leaving the village, and when ready to start I went to his house, accompanied by a catechist,

He was lying upon a mat, and as I approached him, raised his right hand to his forehead, as is usual in salutation, at the same time requesting me to pray for him. Doubting whether he intended this as the expression of a general wish that I should pray for him, or as a request to engage in prayer at that time, I told the catechist to ask him. He said he wished me to pray then. After speaking a few words to him, I knelt by his side and offered a short prayer; several of his relatives and neighbors standing around. This was doubtless the first prayer ever offered in that house by a missionary, or any other Christian. I sincerely hope it may not be the last.

"In a village where there is but one Christian with his family, several heathen have recently joined him in a request for a school, well knowing that none but a Christian teacher would be employed, and promising a rupee a month toward the teacher's pay.

The heathen father of two boys in our day-school, lately bought a New Testament for each of them, paying, without objection, the price demanded."

NEW RAILROAD.

In the same letter Mr. Herrick writes: "You have doubtless been informed that a railroad is now in course of construction, to extend from Trichinopoly, already connected with Madras by railroad, through the Madura and Tinnivelly districts to Zuticorin, on the sea coast. This road is to pass within a few rods of the mission-house here, and the station is located within a quarter of a mile of our door. The very sight of the work in progress on either side of us is exhilarating, from associations connected with our native land, a sense of the convenience to result from such a road, and its prospective influence upon caste and idolatry. The railroad must have considerable moral influence upon the people. Caste receives a shock among travelers by railroad every day; and it does not seem to me that people can long continue to worship blocks of stone, when daily accustomed to see the iron horse moving rapidly along with his heavy load."

CASTE.

Dr. Palmer wrote from Madura, September 4, 1872: "The dispensary has been very largely attended, and as a preaching stand, is unsurpassed in the city. In addition to the 300 rupees given by the city, Mr. Thomas Scott quietly sent me a thousand rupees, which, with the 300 given yearly now, by the city, I hope will enable me to carry on the dispensary for two years from last April without any aid from home, except in wages for helpers.

"The average daily attendance at the English school is about 70. All these come to the Hindu Sabbath-school, and they bring in many others from the government school. Here, assisted by Miss Sisson, we sow much seed; 'in tears' it is true, but we remember the promise.

"The school pays its own expenses and a little more. All castes attend, and in the same class we have Mussulmans, brahmins, chittys, and pariahs, taught, as it happens, by a brahmin. Notwithstanding this, some government officials are trying to revive caste distinctions in schools, and also to establish separate schools for Mussulman children, who have no caste, but who wish to learn Arabic, Hindustanee, and Persian, because the Koran is written in those languages. Imagine, if you can, government giving instruction in English, to enable the people to read the history of the Savior of the world! Such 'sectarianism' would move the foundations of the enlightened (?) English nation."

ORDINATION.

Mr. Chandler wrote from Madura, September 7: "The ordination of Mr. John Cornelius over the church here in Madura, is the principal event I have to record. He has been in the service of the mission as a teacher and preacher some twentyfour years, and has always borne a good character. His parents were Christians, and he had an unusually good Christian training. A younger brother is the Rev. Joseph Cornelius, a very highly esteemed native clergyman of the Church Missionary Society, in North Tinnivelly.

"The leading members of the church

the matter of securing a native pastor for some two or three years, and commenced to raise funds to pay a part of his salary. In April last they circulated a paper among the members of the church, to secure an amount which would meet at least one quarter of Mr. Cornelius's salary, with the understanding that this should be increased. On our return from the Sanitarium, in June, I urged them to go forward and decide what they would do. At length all preliminaries were settled, and on Saturday, July 13th, the members of the Madura Church Union met to examine Mr. Cornelius, preparatory to his ordination. He had received and accepted the call of the church. Dr. Tracy was present and took a leading part in the examination. It was well sustained, and some very interesting facts in regard to his early religious history were elicited. He said that when he was small, his mother was in the habit of going alone, at five o'clock every Friday afternoon, to pray for her children, and in answer to her prayers all of them were converted in early life. His father, too, was very strict in the observance of the Sabbath, and his children had all inherited a special regard for that day.

"We had no doubt of his moral and intellectual fitness for the pastoral office, nor had we any doubt that he was better, fitted for this East Madura church than any other available man. On Sunday, July 14th, we proceeded with his ordination. Pastor Mathuranaiker conducted the introductory exercises; Pastor Rowland, of the West Madura church, the moderator of the council, asked the customary questions, of both pastor and people; Dr. Tracy offered the ordaining prayer; Pastor A. Barnes, of Pasumalie, gave the right hand of fellowship; Mr. Washburn gave the charge to the pastor; and Mr. Chandler gave the charge to the people. Pastor Rowland also addressed the people, urging them very strongly, to assume, as soon as possible, the whole support of their pastor.

received to the church three young men, two of whom were from Roman Catholic families. This first Sabbath of his pastorate was a pleasant one, and we trust these accessions will prove an earnest of very large additions in the future."

NATIVE EVANGELICAL SOCIETY-CONTRIBU

TIONS.

Mr. Rendall wrote from Battalagundu (32 miles northwest of Madura), September 27: "It is now a week since I returned from our September meeting, during which we spent four days with our helpers. The different societies are in a very prosperous state. The Native Evangelical Society had added three to its list of pastors, and others will unite soon. There was no feeling of discouragement in regard to the expansion of the work before the society, but on the contrary, a readiness to go forward in the support of pastors, with no expectation of aid from the Board, even should there be a still greater increase of agents. Several pastors reported increased contributions from their churches, some having advanced from a quarter to half of the salary. This will go on until we shall have a number of self-supporting churches; and I confidently hope that this day is not far off.

"I am greatly interested in a simple plan of making weekly collections in grain, contributed by the women of our congregations. It is in fact an organized effort on the part of the women to aid in this work, and the beginning is auspicious. It will probably add twenty-five per cent. to our contributions, and I hope it will stimulate the men to give more than they have given."

Mr. Herrick also, in the letter from which extracts have been given, notices an increase of contributions by the people of his station districts, for the erection and repair of buildings, and the support of catechists and teachers. Mr. Colton, a native teacher in the theological school at Pasumalie, sends an encouraging account of the Native Evangelical Society, formed in 1853, to support catechists among the heathen in remote portions of the District. It now aids in the support

of ten native pastors, received last year 1369 rupees ($684.50), and will probably need 2,000 rupees for the current year. They look forward with hopeful courage, Mr. Colton saying, "The work is of the Lord; and it is fast gaining ground in this District, where two millions of people are living."

Ceylon Mission.

SCHOOLS-NEED OF HELP.

MR. HOWLAND wrote from Tillipally, August 28, 1872: "It is a long time since I have written, but I have been much pressed with care and work since my return from Madras, where I went with my sons, to send them to America.

"You are aware that we have the training-school here at Tillipally now, The building which I occupied as a study is used for the school-room, and a bungalow has been built by the side of it, for the boys to eat and sleep in. The accommodations are rather small, but the school is not large. A new class has been taken since my return. Over fifty candidates for admission came to be examined, but we could take only fifteen. There are ten in the other class, making twenty-five in all. Those taken seem to be promising boys, and I am interested to find how large a proportion of them come already disposed to become Christians some of them being in the habit of prayer to the true God. It gives me hope as to the influence of our village schools, from which they are taken. Two of the new class are church-members.

"I have also a theological class, just commenced, with four members now and two more expected next week. Of the six, three are married men, and all educated in our training-school. Mr. Snell assists me in their instruction. Teachers John and Jeremiah teach the classes in the training-school, and do well. It is hard for me to take this additional care and work, but there seemed to be no other way. We are very much in need of good native assistants.

"Mrs. H. and I have spent some time in laboring at out-stations, though not as much as we expected to, on account of

"We need reinforcement as a mission very much. Mr. Hastings is necessarily much occupied in connection with the college, and at the same time has more mission work and care thrown upon him than one man ought to have, so that I feel troubled about it; Mr. De Riemer is to go to the continent next month, on account of the feebleness of Mrs. De R., for a six months' stay; Mr. Smith seems to have repeated attacks of sickness; Dr. Green is absorbed in his own department and expects soon to leave for America; Mr. Spaulding is already eighty-one years old. I want to remain here till help comes, but I have fears that I cannot hold out much longer. Send help if you can, and as soon as you can."

Japan Mission.

CONVENTION OF MISSIONARIES.

A CONVENTION of Protestant missionaries in Japan was held at Yokohama, in September last from the 20th to the 25th of the month in accordance with invitations issued by the missionaries at that place. Matters of great interest in connection with the missionary work in that empire were carefully considered. The missionaries present were Messrs. Thompson, Carrothers, Loomis, Miller, and Hepburn, of the (American) Presbyterian Board; Messrs. Brown, Ballagh, Wolff, and Stout, of the (American) Reformed (Dutch) Board; Messrs. Greene, Gulick, Davis, and Berry, of the A. B. C. F. M.; Rev. E. W. Syle, acting consular chaplain at Yokohama.

Upon invitation, Rev. Robert Nelson, of the American Protestant Episcopal Mission of Shanghai, sat with the convention; also Capt. J. C. Watson, U. S. N., Dr. W. St. G. Elliott, and Mr. W. E. Griffis, elders of the Union Churches of Yokohama and Yedo, and the elder of the native church, were constituted mem

Dr. Brown was elected Chairman, and Messrs. Gulick and Miller were elected Secretaries.

A letter was received from the Rev. H. Burnside, of the English Church Mission, stating his reasons for not attending.

The action taken upon some of the more important matters appears in the following extracts from the minutes:—

"The

Translation of the Scriptures. special committee to whom was referred the subject of the translation of the Sacred Scriptures reported resolutions, which, after amendment, were adopted as follows:

"Resolved, That this Convention recommend the appointment of a Committee for the translation of the Sacred Scriptures into the Japanese language in accordance with the following plan:

"1. That the Committee consist of one member from each mission desirous of cooperating in this work.

"2. That the members of this Committee be appointed by the missions to which they severally belong, and that each mission shall be competent to supply the place of its representative by another whenever it may so desire.

"3. That it shall be the duty of this Committee, aside from its own work of translating, to carefully examine and pass upon any translations of portions of the Word of God which may be presented to them for this purpose.

"4. That all translations accepted by the Committee be furnished to the several missions, in manuscript or other convenient form, at as early a day as possible, for general examination and criticism; and that all suggestions as to inaccuracies, infelicities, or mistakes in translation, be carefully considered and acted upon by the Committee before final publication.

"Resolved, That the American Protestant Episcopal Mission, the English Church Mission, and Père Nicolai, of the Greek Church, not being represented in this Convention, be invited to coöperate in consti

stituting this Committee upon the above plan."

"The following gentlemen were appointed by the several missions represented in the Convention, namely, Rev. S. R. Brown, D. D. (who was also elected Chairman of the Committee), J. C. Hepburn, M. D., LL. D., and Rev. D. C. Greene.

"The Secretaries of the Convention were instructed to communicate with the American Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society, informing them of the action of this Convention, and transmitting to them a copy of the above resolutions."

Organization of Native Churches. Upon the subject of the organization of native churches, the following resolution was unanimously adopted :

"Whereas the Church of Christ is one in him, and the diversities of denominations among Protestants are but accidents which, though not affecting the vital unity of believers, do obscure the oneness of the Church in Christendom, and much more in Pagan lands, where the history of the divisions cannot be understood; and whereas we, as Protestant missionaries, desire to secure uniformity in our modes and methods of evangelization, so as to avoid as far as possible the evil arising from marked differences, we therefore take this earliest opportunity offered by this Convention to agree that we will use our influence to secure, as far as possible, identity of name and organization in the native churches, in the formation of which we may be called to assist, that name being as catholic as the Church of Christ; and the organization being that wherein the government of each church shall be by the ministry and eldership of the same, with the concurrence of the brethren.'

"According to the regular order of business, discussions were held upon the following departments of missionary work: Preaching, Teaching, Raising up a Native Ministry, the Press, and Medical labors, and the following resolutions were passed

"Whereas in the work of foreign mis

sions the native element must constitute the chief means for its prosecution,—

"Resolved, That we deem it of the utmost importance to educate a native ministry as soon as possible.

"Resolved, That in order to further the publication of such a Christian literature as is needed in this country, a committee be appointed of one from each of the missions represented in this Convention, and chosen by their respective missions, to whom all books or tracts that may be put into the Japanese language shall be referred for criticism and approval, previous to publication, in order that the Tract Societies that may be asked to pay the expense of printing such works may be assured of the propriety of making appropriations for that purpose.""

as 66

Medical Missionary Work. Resolutions were adopted commending medical labors a highly useful mode of conducting missionary work," recognizing the valuable assistance often given in this department by foreign residents in heathen lands, and favoring the organization, for this purpose, of medical missionary societies in Japan.

"The committee on miscellaneous business moved the following resolution: :

"Resolved, That in view of the increasing use of the Roman letters in writing Japanese, and with the hope of their even being substituted by the Japanese people for the Chinese characters and kana, we deem it a matter of great importance that all missionaries and foreign students of the language should fix upon a uniform system of writing, and for this object recommend the system adopted by Dr. Hepburn, in the second edition of his Japanese and English Dictionary.""

Before adjournment it was Resolved, "That the Chairman and Secretaries of this Convention be constituted a committee to call a subsequent convention of the missionaries of Japan, at such time and place as in their judgment shall seem advisable."

LETTER FROM MR. GREENE.

Mr. Greene wrote from Yokohama, September 26th:

"The convention of which I wrote you