66 hungry, because we know God || the work of evangelizing the world. takes a peculiar delight in seeing This object stood decidedly and us do it." Again, says Athenag-prominently first. We should like oras, They (that is, Christians) "do not weigh their words and pronounce elegant orations, but they manifest honest and virtuous actions, while being buffeted they strike not again, nor sue those at the law who spoil and plunder them. They give liberally to those that ask, and love their neighbour as themselves." And when Decius demanded of the church of Rome that they should surrender to him their treasures, collecting the blind, the maimed, the decrepit, and the orphans supported by their charities, See, said they, these are our riches, our treasures, our inheritance. 4. And once more; the primitive church was remarkable for the universality of its exertion for the cause of Christ. It was not considered enough, that one class of men should devote themselves to this object. Every man, who became a disciple of Christ, felt that he had enlisted his whole of property and influence and talents in to know how the martyrs and confessors, of the first and second centuries, would have looked upon such men as are many of the professing Christians of the present day; men who now and then give a thoughtless, it is well if it be not a grudged dollar, to the cause of Christ; who have never yet conceived of a sort of benevolence which could in the least diminish the amount of their yearly income; men who cannot bring themselves to think seriously of undertaking the troublesome charge of a Christian Sabbath School. How has the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed! But let us look forward to happier days. A few years have added much to the amount of benevolent exertion. Let us pray that the days of the apostles may return again, and that the church may soon arise and shake herself from the dust. We shall resume the subject in our next number. MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE. BURMAH. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM REV. J. LAW- My dear Sir, apprehension for our dear friends at Ava. We have not heard a word from them since February. Yours, very sincerely, JOHN LAWSON. Dear Brother Lawson, Rangoon, May 15th, 1824. The enclosed I received a short time since from brother Wade. Since its date, however, several more engagements have taken place, and the English have in all of them been the victors. The Island of You would not think it strange if by Cheduba in the Bay, has been taken, and this time we should express some regret the king and queen are now prisoners in for our imprudence in having left Bengal, Calcutta, but treated with the utmost contrary to the advice of our friends. If kindness. O that the Burmans would we had remained in Calcutta, or Seramlearn to treat their prisoners well. It is pore, we should doubtless have been exfrom their great cruelty to the few Eng-empt from the inexpressible sufferings of lish they have taken, that we are in such body and mind, which we experienced during a part of the present week. But ised to use his influence to prevent any since God has graciously preserved our further firing upon the town. The linlives, and restored to us rest and quiet-guists seconded the proposal, and pleaded ness, for reasons which may easily be that we might be reprieved a few moments. conceived by a Christian, we rejoice that we have been afflicted. In the The Yahwoon answered, If the English fire again, there shall be no reprieve, and asked Mr. H. if he would positively promise to put an immediate stop to the firing, which you will recollect had been discontinued from the time that our keepers in prison fled. At this moment several shots were sent very near us; the government people fled from the seat of judgment, and took refuge under the banks of a neighbouring tank. All the others fled from the town, but kept us before them; we were obliged to make our way as fast as possible, for the madness and terror of our attendants allowed us no compliments. We were soon overtaken by the government people, fleeing upon horseback. About a mile and a half from the town they halted, and we were again placed before them. Mr. H. and the linguists renewed their petition. After a few mo We did not apprehend, until last Monday, that war was declared against the Burmans. The most credible information || which we could obtain assured us, that all grievances were amicably settled. But on Monday last information came, that a number of ships were at the mouth of the river. Government immediately ordered every person in Rangoon who wears a hat to be taken prisoner, which was accordingly done. In the course of the succeeding night Mr. H. and myself were chained, and put into close confinement, under armed keepers. morning the fleet was in sight of the town, and our keepers were ordered to massacre us the moment the first shot was fired upon the town; bnt when the firing commenced, our murderers were so effectually panic struck, that they all slunk away into one corner of the prison speech-ment's conversation, his irons were taken less, and almost breathless. The next off, and he was sent on board the frigate," shot made our prison tremble and shake with the most awful threatenings to himas if it would be immediately down upon self and us if he did not succeed. our heads. Our keepers now made for the prison door; we used every exertion to persuade them to remain, but all to no purpose; they broke open the door and || fled. In a few moments after, the firing ceased; and we expected the troops were landing, and that we should be soon released; when, horrible to relate, about fifty Burmans rushed into the prison, drew us out, stripped us of every thing but pantaloons, our naked arms drawn behind us, and corded as tight as the strength of one man would permit, and we were almost literally carried through the streets upon the points of their spears, to the seat of judgment, and were made to sit upon our knees, with our bodies bending forward, for the convenience of the executioner, who was ordered that moment to behead us. None of us understood the order but Mr. Hough. He requested the executioner to desist a moment, and petitioned the Yahweon to send him on board the frigate, and prom were The remainder of us were obliged again to resume our march. Finally, a part of us were confined in a strong building at the foot of the golden pagoda. I with two others were taken upon the pagoda, and confined in a strong building, and left under the care of a door keeper. After dark, this fellow by the promise of a present was induced to remove us into a kind of vault, which had but a small aperture, and was without windows; it afforded only sufficient air for the purpose of respiration. The fellow himself, I believe, ran away. We were several times alarmed during the night. The next morning early we were searched for by our bloodthirsty enemies, who upon finding we were not in the room where they left us, concluded that we had escaped and fled. We expected every moment we should be discovered, when to our great relief we heard them ery out, The English are coming, and they fled. We waited, however, in vain to hear some sound which would assure us that it would be safe to cry out for assistance, for we soon found we were again surrounded with Burmans. About noon, the English troops came up, and to our inexpressible joy relieved us from our unpleasant situation. As soon as I could be disengaged from my galling chains, I hastened to the Mission house to learn the fate of Mrs. W. and H. I found them safe and well; but though not imprisoned, they had experienced great sufferings and escaped great dangers. Mr. H. I also found safe at the Mission house. When we met and heard the relation of each other's dangers and escapes, we felt constrained to join in the most hearty acknowledgments of gratitude to God, by whose divine interposition our lives had been preserved. I have too little room to think of entering upon our feelings, when we viewed ourselves as in one moment more, to launch into the ocean of eternity! Suffice it to say, I felt an assurance in the grace of God, which disarmed death of its terror. The hope of the gospel seemed to me a treasure, whose value was beyond all computation. Finally, I trust the dangers and sufferings of the past week have yielded me a rich spiritual harvest. All who had been taken prisoners, and ordered to be executed by the Burmans, were on Wednesday regained, and set at liberty by the English troops. All the Burmans have fled to the jungles, and have built several stockades in different directions from the town, some of which have already been taken and burned by the English troops. The Yahwoon orders every person to be put to death who betrays the least desire to return to Rangoon. Numbers of Siamese, Persees, Portuguese, Musselmans, and even Burmans have been found in the jungles, who have been murdered by the Burmans themselves. Monday, 17th. The army has penetrated the country for several miles around us. The result of every engagement, as yet, has been in favour of the English. May God prosper their arms. You will be able to obtain a full account of the state of affairs in this place, FEB. 1825. from the public papers, else I should be more minute in my communications. I hope you will therefore excuse me. Mrs. W. joins in love to you and Mrs. Lawson. We wish also to be remembered to all our friends in Calcutta. Will you also remember us to all our friends in Serampore, and communicate to them the contents of this letter? It is between two and three months since we have received any letter from Mr. Judson, or the Doctor. It is impossible to predict their fate. We tremble whenever we think of them. We can only pray that God, who has delivered us I remain, very sincerely, yours, Rev. J. Lawson. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM MR. WADE TO GUIDED and directed by the kind providence of God, we have reached in safety the place of our destination. His goodness and mercy have constantly attended us since we left America. May it provoke our gratitude and incite us to new obedience. During the voyage from Boston to Calcutta, after having recovered from sea sickness, I applied myself to the study of the Burman language under the instructions of Mrs. Judson. The Captain allowed us to have worship on deck every Sabbath, and expressed not only a willingness, but some anxiety, that I should take frequent opportunities to converse with the sailors on the important concerns of their souls. They gave good attention to instruction, though without any very apparent religious feeling. Most of them were Roman Catholics. The Captain was well convinced of the utility and consequent importance of having worship among the sailors on the Lord's day. We arrived in Calcutta on the 19th of October, and, in about two weeks after, found a ship that was to sail for Rangoon in a few days. We were informed that there was a great prospect of a war be tween the English and Burmans. On Heaven itself, without my God, Would be no joy to me. I The prospect of war has been daily increasing ever since we arrived. We cannot predict the final issue, but we pray that it may be for the advancement of the object of this Mission. Soliciting an interest in your prayers and those of the Board, I am yours with much affection, Rev. W. Staughton, D.D. Cor. Sec'ry, &c. The following extract of a letter from an officer engaged in active operations against the Burmese contains the latest information we have received from that country. It appeared in the London Times, and is of the date of May 21st. against Syriani and the ancient city of Considerations on the present state of the Burman Mission. THE above is all the information which, up to the present date, has reached us respecting the Mission to Burmah, or state of the war between the Burman and Bengal Governments. Enough has however, we trust, been received to awaken every one among us to renewed prayer, and to more strenuous exertion. A few of these considerations we will now suggest. "In the affair of Ramoo, the Burmese || fought well, and lost about 70 or 80 killed; for no quarter was given, nor do I think it will be given during the war on either side; for if you save a Burman's life, it is ten to one that he returns the favour by taking yours. From all appearances, this will be a bloody and protracted warfare. We are about to send an expedition ||ried on with unusual ferocity. Should 1. The state of our Missionaries at Ava was by our latest accounts eminently perilous. The war seems to have been car the exasperation against the English be extended to the Missionaries, we cannot but tremble for the result. All our confidence is in the God of Missions, who, we hope, has said, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." The present aspect of the case, however, calls us to humble waiting upon God, that he || will so overrule the existing war, as to preserve the lives so valuable to the cause of Christ, and advance the work of Missions in this benighted empire. of the empire will be under the protection of a Christian Government. Now we well know, that the great obstacle in the way of the progress of Christianity in this empire has been the intolerance of the government. The natives are intelligent, thoughtful, and candid, willing to examine any other religion, and only withheld from doing so by the fear of persecution. In all probability, this obstacle, by the termination of the present war, will be removed. If only Rangoon is retained by the English, it will enable our Missionaries to preach, and the people to hear without molestation, and will also present an opportunity, as favourable as could be desired, for enlightening the people through the medium of the press. Impressed with these considerations, the Missionary Committee are convinced, that this missionary field is at present more interesting than ever, and are looking forward to more strenuous exertions for the evangelizing of Burmah than they have heretofore attempted. They esteem these intimations of Providence the call of God to them to go forward. But the missionary treasury is exhausted. It does not at present contain funds sufficient to meet the expenses of the Mission for the coming spring.-Brethren, what is to be done? Is this cause, which has so long been dear to our hearts, at this interesting period to be relinquished? We cannot believe it. We trust that our brethren need only to be informed of the nature of our situation, and they will esteem it a privilege to aid in sending the gospel to 17,000,000 of immortal souls perishing for lack of vision. 2. We cannot but hope that this will be the case. We indeed feel confident, that the present war will have the effect of greatly enlarging the sphere of our Missionary operations in Burmah. The facts on which we ground this expectation are these. 1st, The British have taken Rangoon, the principal, indeed almost the only sea-port of the empire. It is situated at the mouth of the river Irawaddy, and is accessible by vessels of almost the largest class. Hence it must command the trade of the whole country, and can be always protected. Rangoon is the great market for teak wood, the only timber in the East Indies suited for ship building; and of course to a government, whose chief dependence is on a navy, must be of inestimable value. It is not likely that a place of so much consequence will ever be given up. Such we know is the general opinion in Calcutta. Again, the policy of the Bengal government has always been directed by the desire of conquest. They are not in the habit of relinquishing any thing which they have ever acquired. This policy has now become necessary. Their territories are so vast, and the people so dissimilar to their rulers, that all would be lost were the charm of their invincibility broken. Hence, whenever any collision arises between themselves and a native government, in self defence that government must be crushed. Such do we conceive to be the policy of the Eng-committed, have recommended, that in lish, that the war on the one hand must every church and society, two Missionary be carried on, having been once com- Societies be formed, one among the males menced, till the enemy is humbled, and and the other among the females. They such is the character of the Burmans, have prepared forms of constitutions, which that they will never agree to terms until may facilitate the formation of such Soentirely subdued. In this event, the whole || cieties, and also a Constitutiou for an What is wanted, is regular, systematic, and universal exertion. If this can only be effected, the requisite supplies can easily be raised. To promote this, the Missionary Committee of Boston, to whom the care of Foreign Missions has been |