language; but figures have a stubborn stiffness that no one can bend. They never lie, either for friend or foe: and, as every whole is not only composed of parts, but of a certain and definite number, so surely does it follow, in the case now under review, that if out of any certain sum on either side of the account five pounds or as many pence be abstracted, it will be impossible to reconcile the whole until the error be set right.

As a general rule, the best and only secure method of managing large pecuniary transactions is to consult simplicity, and to avoid the useless multiplication of figures. There must be a place for every entry, and every entry must be in its place. By these means accounts are kept clear; and, by a sort of self-acting process, are sufficiently guarded and checked.

A transient and cursory view of the Balance-Sheet of the Wesleyan Missionary Society will furnish an idea of its financial affairs, and of the mode of treating them. It was well observed by an able speaker* on a recent occasion, that "in respect of the Income of the Society no time need be spent in making observations on the particulars of which it is composed; for, although the gross sum is made up of an almost infinite number of smaller ones, the whole of them, in connexion with the entire Balance, are contained in the Report. The smallest contributor to the Society has a document before him, by which he is addressed in these words:- We hold ourselves answerable, as your trustees, for such a sum of money as you have given and we have published; and we give you an opportunity of saying whether you gave more.' The world is silent on the subject; and if any man sees or feels that he is wronged, and does not say so, it is his own fault." This is well expressed; and (what is better still) the whole is perfectly true, and may be viewed as a collateral and conclusive proof of the substantial truthfulness and accuracy of the entire sum acknowledged as the assets of the Society.

The other side of the account, that is, the Expenditure, has been brought under rigid supervision. On this point the Auditors, who are the best able to express their own views, may be allowed to speak for themselves. In the Report presented to the public, and with reference to the outlay for foreign purposes, they say,-"The whole of these expenses have been looked at, and carefully considered through every stage; and they are found correct. The importance of the subject will be seen when it is recollected that, taken as a head of Expenditure, it embraces the purchase of articles for long Missionary voyages, followed by a residence on foreign soil; and that the total amount is nearly equal to four-fifths of the entire expenditure of the Society."

These attestations cannot be misunderstood; and, as the audit of the accounts in question was conducted with great forethought and deliberation, as nothing was taken for granted, or on trust or hearsay,—and as the series of accounts were submitted to personal inspection, and supported through every stage by vouchers, the inference must be, in the mind of every impartial observer, that they are just and right.

Such are the facts and disclosures presented on a calm and dispassionate review of the affairs of the Wesleyan Missionary Society; one of the oldest, most esteemed, and most important institutions of evangelical benevo→ lence conducted by this section of the universal church. The question here recurs, with singular propriety,-Can any reasonable person desire

Speech of James Heald, Esq., M.P., at the Meeting of the Committee of Review, Centenary-Hall, July 30th, 1850.

VOL. VI.-FOURTH SERIES.

3 x

better evidence of the perfect and entire soundness of the entire range of the accounts? The term reasonable is used advisedly; because, though the number is small, there are persons who labour under such an obliquity of moral vision, that, while everybody else is pleased and gratified, the small stock of their ingenuity is exhausted in striving to find some fault, either of omission or commission; or, if that cannot be done, to throw discredit either upon the system or upon the agents employed. Now, all this is unreasonable and absurd. To propitiate or convince such persons is a forlorn hope, and it is lost time to attempt it; for, of all the blindness that can be imagined, none is so incurable as that which is wilful.

But the sober truth is, there is other and better evidence than any yet produced,―evidence which serves, independently of all other reckonings or reasonings, to uphold the sterling integrity of Wesleyan Missionary affairs. This is to be found in the character and reputation of the Ministers and laymen who, so far as responsibility is concerned, conduct the entire establishment. The thorough integrity of every part of the accounts is indeed shown by the audit; and, in what may be termed the commercial view, such proof of correctness is deemed sufficient. Yet, in respect to a Wesleyan fund, which should be not only without fault, but even above the suspicion of it, this may be taken as mere surplusage, and be deemed only collateral and corroborative.

The unsullied conduct of the men at the helin of affairs is the best and surest guarantee that all is right; and, while that security is retained, no better protection can be desired.

These are the grounds on which, in a defensive sense, the liberality of pious and judicious friends is requested. It is no small comfort to remember that contributions, whencesoever or from whomsoever they proceed, are treated with equal care and circumspection. There is here, as in all other departments of Wesleyan control, no respect of persons.

It may be added, that the financial proceedings of the Wesleyan Missionary Society have been submitted to the inspection of several gentlemen from various parts of the kingdom; whose opinion is peculiarly valuable, on account of the position they sustain in society, and their extensive mercantile engagements. The result is, that the body of its friends, whether resident in town or in the country, have expressed their strong conviction of the truthfulness of all the Society's pecuniary transactions as recorded in the Books, and their feelings of unabated attachment to the cause, and unfaltering confidence in those by whom it is conducted. Chelsea, August 16th, 1850.

AMICUS.

A VISIT TO ST. KILDA.*

THE island of St. Kilda, that interesting ocean-rock which

"To western worlds

Resigns the setting sun,"

has this year been visited by a deputation appointed by the Committee of the General Assembly on the Highlands. We are indebted to one of the gentlemen of the deputation for the following account of their visit :—

We got on board the "Breadalbane" at Oban on the morning of the 26th of June. This handsome and most useful little vessel had just

*From "The Witness."

returned from a cruise along the Long Island, and had landed Ministers at several points, to supply in some measure the fearful spiritual destitution that pervades that extensive region. It had been our intention to spend two Sabbaths at St. Kilda, and consequently we hoped earnestly that the morning after making the Sound of Harris we should be able to pass through, and steer for the west. But the sea beyond the Long Island is a very different thing from what it is on this side. The swell of the Atlantic rolls with unbroken force. We could see, as we looked westward, that the wind, which had carried us rapidly on, had raised a heavy sea: large white-crested breakers appeared, raising their heads portentously; and for four days our Captain judged it unwise, with our tiny vessel, trim and well-built though she be, to move from our anchorage. This gave us an opportunity of meeting on the Lord's day with the people of Harris. There was a large concourse of people,so much so, indeed, that their usual place of meeting was too confined, and consequently we had to adjourn to the open air. We had here a most interesting congregation; among the rest John Morrison, the smith of Harris, whose poetical talents, consecrated as they are by his deep and earnest piety, have made him the well-known Christian bard of the Hebrides. The two or three days we had to spend here brought out very distinctly the feelings of the people towards our cause and work. The very sight of the "Breadalbane" seemed to open their hearts; and supplies of milk, eggs, fish, &c., poured in upon us in a way to show that, if the poor people had it, there would be no lack of the will to give. Indeed, as we afterwards found, we were seldom half an hour anchored in any island in the Hebrides, without having similar tokens of the good-will of the people.

On the morning of July 2d we found we could put to sea; so we weighed anchor, and, under the charge of a pilot, threaded the narrow and dangerous passage between Harris and the opposite islands, and were soon in the open ocean. The swell was still heavy; the wind blew fresh and almost right a-head; our little vessel rolled and laboured considerably; still we got on, and in a few hours a small speck appeared in the horizon to the west, which, we were told, was Boreray, one of the numerous islets that form the St. Kilda group. Still we had a wide sea to traverse, and it was two o'clock in the morning of the 3d ere we reached our destination. By eight o'clock A.M. we were at anchor in the bay. A remarkable scene here presented itself to us. We occupied the centre of a bay half a mile deep by about a mile across. All around arose a semicircle of fine green hills, broken to the left by a tremendous gash which separates the "Dun" from the rest of the island. Jagged rocks of the most irregular shapes appeared, crowning the summits in several places, and indicating the fearful precipices in which the island terminates at the other side. To the right, between the sea and the hills, is a level tract, about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile broad, occupied with long narrow slips of cultivated land, bearing fine fresh-looking crops, and divided in the middle by a long row of huts, numbering about thirty, thatched with straw, and looking, at a distance, like bee-hives of large dimensions. Here the inhabitants of the island dwell. Close to the right, and at the north-east end of the village, stand the manse and church; and a little further eastward there is a respectablelooking slated house, used as a store-house by the proprietor. A high, naked rock raises itself to a great height immediately beyond the mouth of the bay; while to the north, out of sight of our vessel, and about six miles off, lies Boreray, with its accompanying stacks or detached rocks rising

sheer up from the water to a great height, and whitened with myriads of solan-geese that nestle there. The picture is one not readily forgotten.

We were soon visited by a boatful of the inhabitants, who recognised our vessel, and seemed delighted to see her. Our first duty was to supply their temporal necessities. This season had been to them a calamitous one. Their crops last year had almost entirely failed: for the first time they had been visited by the potato blight, and few supplies of any sort had hitherto reached the island.................

We soon landed, (no easy matter, however, from the slipperiness of the rocks and the constant swell,) and immediately made arrangements for carrying out the great object of our visit. It was agreed that the communion should be dispensed on Sabbath, and that there should be preaching twice each day, at seven in the morning and seven in the evening, in the interval. This arrangement was carried out, each Minister taking the duty in turn, while the whole population collected regularly in their little church. And a most interesting congregation it was. Every individual came with his or her Bible in their hand. Their demeanour was peculiarly grave and solemn, while, as the service went on, there was much apparently suppressed sobbing, with an occasional loud cry, indicative of deep emotion. On Sabbath this was peculiarly the case. The preaching of the word interested and impressed them deeply; but, so soon as the elements were laid on the table, the sight of these symbols of a Saviour's broken body and shed blood produced an uncontrollable burst of feeling, and the whole church was filled with sobbing. There is a freshness about the worship of these poor people, very different from the callousness of thousands who enjoy regularly the privileges of the Christian church. To us who led their worship, this was peculiarly refreshing. Nothing struck us more than the strict-I might almost say stern-exercise of discipline in this small community on the part of their office-bearers. We had seven applicants for admission to the Lord's table, and of these only three would be received. There is evidently much of the Divine life among them: indeed, it is questionable whether anywhere within the bounds of our Church, in the same amount of population, an equal number could be found who are truly the Lord's people. Some may be surprised how it could be so in the absence of a Gospel ministry; but while they mourn deeply over this, their crying want, they are not unmindful of gathering themselves together. They have two Elders, men of piety, and men of high intelligence. Under the guidance of these they meet regularly for public worship every Sabbathday, singing, praying, and reading the Scriptures. On Tuesday evening there is a meeting in each end of their village, under the superintendence of an Elder, for repeating and explaining the Shorter Catechism. On Wednesday evening they meet for prayer; and on Thursday evening they have a meeting for discussing questions of Christian experience, helping the faith and resolving the doubts of one another. In this way is the piety of these simple islanders kept alive. Still they long for a Christian ministry; the Elders feel their need of help; and the impression among the Christian people is, that, from their present circumstances, religion seems to be on the decline among them. As is generally known, the obstacle to supplying their spiritual destitution is the want of a site on the island. One would think that persecution would have spent itself ere it had reached the island of St. Kilda; but there it is, in all its force and all its hateful features.

This small community presents, politically, the aspect of a pure republic. With the exception of the factor, who visits them annually, there is no

authority in the island but their own. All questions that arise are decided in solemn conclave. In this way they annually divide the rocks, and arrange the mode of procedure in their fowling; and in this way they settle all differences that arise in the community. Of the effectiveness of their system we had ample proof. A benevolent member of the Free Church had sent along with the deputation two crates of stoneware, as a contribution to the domestic comfort of the people. It was with us a question how we could divide these without giving offence. But on mentioning the matter to some of them, they at once said, "O, leave that matter to ourselves." And so we did, and were glad to learn that in half an hour the whole was divided without a murmur. The people are thoroughly accustomed to self-government, and carry it on with little difficulty.

Their time is divided between their fields and their rocks. The former are in pretty good condition, and promise a good crop; but they now look forward with dread to the prospect of a failure amongst their potatoes. Their work among the rocks is of a most exciting kind. In one of our walks through the island we had a specimen of it. On every side, save the bay, the island terminates in precipices of amazing height, presenting their abrupt faces to the never-resting ocean. At this time of year the fulmar nestles among these, wherever she finds sufficient breadth to sit. On looking from some projecting point, it is amazing how many of these meet the eye. Looking down a height of twelve or fifteen hundred feet, the whole face of the rock appears speckled with them; and, on giving a loud call, they rise in myriads, darkening the whole sky. At St. Kilda a man stands on the brink of one of these awful precipices, having a rope in his hands, and another round his foot. His companion ties the former of these round his middle, and grasps the other in one of his hands, while the other hand holds a long rod with a noose on the end. Thus provided, he slips over the edge, and goes down, down, until he reaches the nestling-places of the fulmar. Here he plants his feet on the most convenient ledge he can find, and, by means of his noose, has soon a whole string of these birds at his belt. When loaded, he sends up his cargo by means of his loose rope, which is immediately returned for another. In this way the most appalling precipices in the island are ransacked for these birds. To a stranger the sight is sickening; but they seem to have no fear in the matter.

After a week's stay we were obliged to leave this interesting spot. Indeed, we were glad that we had it in our power to remain so long. Our home during the whole time was our vessel, and the anchorage is most precarious. We felt thankful, therefore, to have had so much time in the island. We had been instrumental, we trusted, in encouraging the hearts of these poor people in their present destitute condition. To judge by the whole community's collecting on the beach to take farewell of us, and their expression of warm affection towards ourselves and the Church we represented, they had felt not a little refreshed by our sojourn among them. It is now several years since this distant isle of the ocean became an object of interest to the minds of Christian people. The late eminent Dr. M'Donald, of Ferintosh, gave it a leading place among the scenes of his Missionary efforts. Year after year did he visit it, carrying to its lonely shores the glad message of salvation. A work was begun by him, whose results will extend, we feel assured, into eternity.