SOUTH-SEA MISSIONS.

We are happy to be able to insert the substance of a Letter from MR. LEIGH, whose continued preservation, and that of his excellent wife, in New Zealand, will call forth the grateful acknowledgments of the friends of the Heathen. He enters into no particulars as to the unsettled and warlike state of the country mentioned in his last but this silence gives us the hope that tranquility has, for the time, been restored. MR. and MRS. LEIGH remained at the Church Settlement, until the arrival of the other Missionaries sent out.

Extract of a Letter from MR. LEIGH, dated New Zealand, Nov. 16th, 1822.

I know you will be glad to hear of our safe continuance in New Zealand. We are, and shall remain, at the Bay of Islands till Brother WHITE, or some one else, arrives to assist in the Mission, inasmuch as it would be useless for me to fix in any place in this land by myself.

MRS. LEIGH has a good state of health, but I am sometimes unwell; however, in all my exercises, I can say the LORD is my portion, and in him will I trust. You must not conceive that I am without my measure of trials, from the world, the flesh, and the Devil: but so far the Lord hath helped me, and I hope and pray that he will continue to guide me by his counsel, and afterwards bring me to glory.

MRS. LEIGH and I are going on in learning the language, and are likewise doing a little among the natives. The prayers or hymns in the native language, we can read and sing with ease; and I am sure you will be pleased to hear, that the New Zealanders in the wilderness join with us in repeating and singing these compositions. Even among these heathen, when engaged in these exercises, we have been constrained to say, "LORD, it is good for us to be here." We have one great mercy, which is, free access to the Heathen.

The following are Extracts from Mr. LEIGH's Journal; they exhibit the miserable superstitions and cruelty of this people.

Aug. 20, 1822.-A few evenings ago, I went to a native hut to spend the night. During the evening, there was much conversation on the subject of Religion, and the true GOD, and among others, with a heathen Priest, who was so far interested as to listen with attention.

In the morning he visited the hut early, and observed, that the white man's GOD had appeared to him in the night, and had spoken good to him.

A young man who was sick, and far gone in a consumption, asked me, if the white man's GOD was a good GOD; and when I answered in the affirmative, he observed, that the New Zealand man's god was a very bad god, for he eat their inside, and made them very ill, Besides, said he, "our god gives us no such bread, and clothes, and good houses, as your God gives you." So earthly are all their views.

One tribe of natives in New Zealand object to Europeans settling among them, and give this reason :-" That if the white people came to live amongst them, they would bring the European GoD with them, who would kill the whole tribe. Since the white people have been at the Bay of Islands, many New Zealand mer have died, and their GoD is very angry with us."

25th.-Last Sabbath, MRS. LEIGH and I visited a number of natives who were planting potatoes. I conversed with them for the first time in their own language on the evil of working on the Sabbath day, and recommended that they and their slaves should rest on Sundays. After a short sermon on this subject, the people said they would work no more that day, but rest until the day after, which I believe they did.

I lately met with a Priest, who directed my attention to a place where the bones of a young woman lay. He said he had killed her for going with a sailor to a ship, which was contrary to his order; and that after he had put her to death, he gave her body to his men, who ate it, near the place where her bones were now strewed.

At a little distance from the above-mentioned place, he showed me another spot, where were the bones of a man whom he had killed for stealing potatoes. Among themselves, theft is punished with death; but not so if they steal from persons of another nation, or from their enemies.

The first pig I bought in New Zealand was with the hat which I took off my

head nothing I had besides would procure it, and we had been in the land four months without animal food.

I always disapproved of Missionaries procuring food, or any thing else, with muskets and powder; although we have suffered for a time in consequence, I hope the trial is nearly over. We have lately been able to purchase pigs for dollars.

30th. In one of the native villages a young man was lately taken sick. Tea and bread were sent him from time to time; but when he himself seriously thought that he should die, he observed, to the person who conveyed the food to him, that he should not eat the bread at that time, but would save it for his spirit to eat after it had left the body, and was on its way to the North Cape.

September 3.-A sick chief was asked by a European, Do you pray to God to restore you to health;-Answer, "No. We have no good God; our god is a bad spirit. He gives us no food,-he makes us sick, he kills us. Yours is a good GOD; when you pray, your Gop hears you, and gives you good things. Do you pray for me? Pray for me, and I shall get well. Yours is a good GoD. Teach us to know him. New Zealand people know nothing that is good: we have too much fight, and too much eat men. European people no eat men; that is very good."

On a journey lately in a boat, I met with some natives who had been fishing. I wished to procure some fish from them, but when I inquired if they would sell me some, they said they could not let me have any, because they were the first had at that place that season, and that they must eat them on the first beach or shore they came to; but if I wished to have some on my return, they would go out and procure more.

October 14.-I visited the church settlement at Kidde Kidde, in which I found good wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, and vegetables of all kinds in abundance. Five natives can repeat the LORD's Prayer and the Belief by heart, and are able to answer many questions on religious subjects.

Poetry.

Say, angel of celestial light!

For the Methodist Magazine.
RELIGION.

What brought thee to this vale of tears,
To shine upon a world of night,
And dissipate our gloomy fears?

'Twas love co-heir with light divine,
Caus'd thy effulgent rays to shine.

Spirit of bright expanded wing,

Brood o'er the chaos of my mind ;
Hither immortal pleasures bring,
And fill my soul with joys refin'd:
Let uncreated light inspire,
And wake to ecstacy my lyre.
Come, and o'er my minstrel breathe,

And bring from yon perennial bow'r,
The aramanth to form my wreathe,

That sweet and never fading flow'r:
Then sweep the chords with golden wing,
While I immortal numbers sing.

Faith saw thee, by that fountain clear,

.

Which issues from the throne above,
Where mercy stoops our plaints to hear
Where flow those streams of sacred love;
The jasper skies irradiant shine,
By thy celestial rays divine.

The harp of Patmos sung for thee,
When lo! the prophet's raptur'd soul
Bebeld, with joyful ecstacy,

The bursting visions o'er him roll:

He sang and panted for the skies
Lost, to behold its grandeur rise.
To thee, their Pæans angels sung

Before primeval light arose,

Or dropp'd a note from mortal tongue,
Or blush'd in beauteous tints the rose;
Thy presence makes the bliss of heav'n
The greatest joy to mortals giv'n.
In paradise thy charms were known,

Where first the morning stars appear'd,
When light upon the orient shone,
And the sweet vale of Eden cheer'd;
The happy pair by thee were bless
In innocence divinely dress'd.
Whate'er in social life endears,

Is soften' and refin'd by thee;
Beneath the weight of growing years,
Thy pow'r preserves the spirits free;
All care before thy presence flies,
And joys within the bosom rise.

From the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.
THE WIDOW OF NAINA SKETCH.

Escap'd not, while expressive of despair
She shook her hoary hair.-Straight to the bier
In solemn silence, great in conscious power,
The Saviour now advanc'd.-Back to the heart
The wond'ring blood impetuous recoil'd,
And ev'ry eye was rivetted. They stood
Gazing; while, 'neath the weight of morbid clay
Inanimate, their terror-stricken limbs
Shook, like the pendant dew-drops in the breeze,
The Son of God, in all the majesty

Throbb'd with delight, when from his smiling lip Of power illimitable-all the zeal

We have hitherto considered sin in relation to the immortality of man, without taking into view the degree of criminality attached to it. And here we are lost. We have not the means of determining the degree of criminality attached to a single sinful action. On the one hand, God has given us no rule to determine precisely its dimensions; and on the other, our hearts are too hard, and our understandings too dark, for us to comprehend what is continually present with us. And yet we see that one sinner destroyeth much good. If the slightest motion of the corruption of the heart gives exquisite pain to a. tender conscience, what shall we say of those crimes which are committed in defiance of all laws human and divine! By a single action a man forfeits his life, and makes himself and his friends unhappy. By a single action of a despot, oppression and war spread wide devastation and misery. In these instances we see that sin is a great evil, and its magnitude can be determined only by the magnitude of the misery inflicted; to determine which, we must know the nature of the relation which one bears to universal being. But this relation is perhaps never seen by us in all its extent in this life, Man is related, not only to his fellow creatures, to the animate and inanimate parts of creation, but to angels, and to God! When, therefore he sins, he outrages the relations he sustains to every part of the universe. He violates universal order; and the magnitude of his sin is in some sense co-extensive with the order violated.

This may be illustrated by referring to the case of our first parents. They sustained this manifold relation; and when they transgressed the whole universe was affected by their transgres VOL. VI, 41

sion. God was dishonoured; angels were grieved; the earth was cursed; pain and death took hold on all animals; they themselves lost the image and favour of God, and entailed pollution, pain, and death on all their posterity. How great must be the imalignity of sin, for one act of transgression to produce so much evil! Yet, perhaps, their transgression was not in itself so malignant as many committed by us. And because we are not now in circumstances to determine precisely the magnitude of sin, shall we represent it as a small evil? O proud, presumptuous man! Go, learn from the first transgression, from thy relation to God and his creatures, and above all from the threatenings of the divine law, that sin is a great evil, and that it shall be punished, not only with an everlasting punishment, but with a punishment as great in degree as the collected guilt of all thy crimes! To return,

6. We learn with the utmost certainty the everlasting duration of future punishment from the constitution of the present and future state. The present is a probationary state for the kingdom of heaven. The future is a state of retribution. If this difference in these two states can be proved by the scriptures, it will follow that none can be saved in the future state who are not prepared for the kingdom of heaven in this. That the present is man's probationary state is abundantly evident. In this world he is on trial for the kingdom of heaven. Here he is to qualify himself for that higher, better state; and if he is found faithful, he shall, in due time, enter into the joys of his Lord; but if unfaithful, he will be rejected, and devoted to everlasting punishment. This is plain from the scriptures.

Besides. It is evident that mankind in general are not now in a confirmed, but changeable state. They may, and often do change from bad to good, and from good to bad. If it were not so there would be no propriety in the mighty efforts used for the conversion of the wicked, nor in the motives and admonitions addressed to Christians to preserve them from apostasy.

Every thing which we can conceive necessary to constitute a state of probation, belongs to man's state in this world. Here life and death are set before him. He is the subject of all the means of grace. The gospel is preached to him, and the Holy Spirit helpeth his infirmities. He is told that this state will soon end, and that his future state will be determined by the deeds done in this. These things indicate a state of probation as clearly as any thing can.

That the future state is different from this is not less clear. Innumerable intimations are given in the scriptures that this state of things will not always last. The night will come when no man can work. God's Spirit will not always strive with man. time is coming, when, if he goes on in his evil way, God will not hear his prayer. He is admonished not to harden his heart beyond the accepted time and day of salvation.