with which they turn their melancholy eyes toward the light which begins to shine among them, and the anxiety with which they stretch out their arms toward our proffered consolation-all these considerations vehemently urge us to come to their aid.

Nor is the success of past endeavours trifling. We do not hesitate to say that it has been fully commensurate to the effort. Every man of God, who has laboured faithfully in that prolific field, has received testimonies of Divine Favour and Blessing to his labours, which have ranked him high among the Apostles of the Christian Church in these her latter days. The names of Ziegenbalg, Grundler, Swartz, Jonické, Gerické, Brown, and Martyn—men, with others like-minded, now gone to their reward; and the names of John, Kolholf, Carey, Marshman, Morrison, Thomason, Corrie, and many others-now treading in their steps; will be had in everlasting remembrance.

We send you, MR. SCHNARRE and MR. RHENIUS, to that spot which witnessed the earliest efforts of Protestants to plant a Mission in India. Dr. John, the worthy successor of the eminent Ziegenbalg, and the long-tried friend of the Apostolic Swartz, has called for assistance from Europe. By the favour of the Honourable the Court of Directors of the East India Company, you are permitted to sail to India; and to fulfil the wishes of the Society, in entering into the labours of that venerable man.

As you will probably leave these shores in a few weeks, this whole Assembly will join us, we trust, in commending you to the providence and grace of our God. On board the vessel which is to convey you and many others to India, you will doubtless conduct yourselves with that meekness, wisdom, and love, which shall commend your principles to those with whom you sail: you will embrace any proper opportunity which may occur, with the approbation of the officer in command, of conducting the worship of God during your passage.

On your arrival at Madras, you will present the Letters of Introduction with which you will be furnished; and then proceed, by the first opportunity, to Tranquebar. Our Letters to Dr. John, Senior of the Royal Danish Mission established there, will explain to him what we shall here briefly state to you for your own direction.

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You are to render such assistance to Dr. John, both in his Ministry and in the conduct of his numerous Schools, as may be found practicable. Having well learnt the Madras System of Education yourselves, you will readily enter into the management of his Schools; and will render to him immediate and efficient aid. But we wish you distinctly to understand, that you are not to be withheld from entering on any field of labour which may appear more promising to you-always, however, endeavouring to act in concurrence with that excellent man, and taking counsel from our friends at Calcutta.

You have turned your attention already to the languages likely to be useful to you in your labours, and have made some proficiency in the study of Natural History and Philosophy.

With respect to your manner of conducting your labours, we say, generally, Follow the example of those wise and holy men who have preceded you, or with whom you may be now called to act in conjunction.

If any persons have entertained unreasonable fears of the effect of Christian efforts in India, let your conduct convince them that they are unreasonable.

For your support the Committee assign the same stipends as to the Society's Missionaries in Africa: which are to take date from Christmas last. Till further arrangements shall be made, you will draw for your Salaries on the Secretary, at the Society's House. We shall request the Rev. Marmaduke Thompson, of Madras, to endorse your drafts, if requisite.

You, MR. NORTON and MR. GREENWOOD, are destined to labour at no great distance from your friends; though in a different scene, and under other circumstances-in the large and populous Island of Ceylon. In the Appendix to the Third Report of the Society, delivered in 1803, is printed an interesting communication from a Clergyman in Ceylon, on the rapid decay of the very profession of Christianity in that Island. We have not ceased, from that period to the present, to feel great interest in the restoration and increase of true religion there: and in this desire our personal intercourse with Sir Alexander Johnson, Chief Justice of Ceylon, has greatly confirmed the Committee. The war into which the ambitious violence

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of these days had unwillingly forced Great Britain and Holland-now so happily, and we trust for a long series of years, if not for ever, closed!-this protracted war disabled the Dutch from maintaining in Ceylon that succession of Clergymen which was necessary for the support of religion. And very recent accounts received by the Committee confirm all the reports of its deplorable state which had been before received.

We send you, therefore, Brethren, to lend your aid, in the name of the Lord, to the religious concerns of this important portion of the British Colonial Possessions. In the persons in authority there, you will find willing protectors. You have entered into engagements as Clergymen at home, which you must fulfil: when this is done, we shall provide you an immediate passage to Ceylon.

We cannot but hope that Ceylon will become an important station; and that the interests of Christ's kingdom, under the wise and beneficent protection of men in authority, will receive from that Island great support throughout those regions.

Our Instructions deal only in a few general principles. We shall take every care in our power for the regular supply of your necessities. Much must be left to your own fidelity and prudence, under the blessing of your Heavenly Master.

But we have thought it right to take advantage of every means in our power to prepare you all for your future labours and we are most happy to avail ourselves, on this occasion, of the local information and personal experience of our distinguished friend, the Rev. Dr. Claudius Buchanan --whose name we cannot mention, but with sympathy with him under the infirmities which his labours in our common cause have brought prematurely upon him; and with admiration of that unsubdued zeal, with which be has answered every call of this Society and of the Christian Church, under all these infirmities, to advance the interests of his Master's Kingdom.

It would have given great pleasure to himself and to the Society if his health would have allowed him to deliver to you personally to day, an Address, which, at our request, he has drawn up for your benefit. In his regretted absence, our friend, the Rev. William Dealtry, will deliver

to you the counsels of Dr. Buchanan, which we trust will be engraven indelibly on your hearts. You will consider him as speaking to you in the name of the Society; and his words cannot fail of having even additional weight with you, when you feel, as we doubt not but you will feel, that the heart of this whole Assembly goes with them.

We commend you, then, Dear Brethren, to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy!

(Signed)

By Order of the Committee,
JOSIAH PRATT,

Secretary.

Address by the Rev. CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D.D. to the Rev. Messrs. NORTON and GREENWOOD, of the Established Church of England and Ireland, proceeding as Missionaries to the Island of Ceylon; and to the Rev. Messrs. SCHNARRE and RHENIUS, of the German Lutheran Church, proceeding as Missionaries to the Coast of Coromandel.

Reverend and Beloved Brethren

THE Society, by whose appointment you go forth as Missionaries to India, has been pleased to assign to me the office of delivering an Address to you before your departure; induced, probably, by the circumstance of my having resided for some years in that country, and of my having been no indifferent spectator of the scenes upon which you are about to enter. I am not, however, on that account, qualified to fulfil this duty. A knowledge of local scenes may, indeed, enable me to enter more into particulars; but there are many reverend persons in this Society, who have never seen India, who are yet better able than I am to inculcate the duties of your future ministry; for a due discharge of this office depends chiefly, not on a man's having traversed foreign climes, but on his being an able minister of the New Testament.

It is now nearly a hundred years since the first Charge was delivered to the Missionaries who planted a Christian Church in the heathen country to which you are going.

That Mission was patronised in its infancy by illustrious persons in different states of Europe; and in this kingdom it was cherished and protected by Royalty itself. His Majesty King George the First addressed letters to the Missionaries in Coromandel; in one of which he prayed "that the perpetuity of the work might not fail in generations to come." The circumstance of my now addressing you is evidence that its perpetuity hath not failed hitherto. The Archbishop of Canterbury also*, as President of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, transmitted a letter to the Missionaries, in the way of Charge, in which he professes his belief that God would in time" subdue unto himself the whole Continent of Oriental India." The whole letter is a noble specimen of pastoral address, and I would recommend it to your frequent perusal.

But the delivering of a Charge to Ministers going forth to preach the Gospel is sanctioned by instances in a remoter period than that of the last century. It is derived from the first ages of Christianity, and has its origin in the example of our blessed Saviour himself. The first Mission on record is to be found in the pages of the Gospel; and it was accompanied by a solemn Charge delivered by the Great Head of the Church. That Charge, therefore, ought to be our model; for though the dispensation was in certain circumstances peculiar, yet the general admonitions then given were suited to the infirmities of men at all times, and to the condition of the Church in every age. The Mission we allude to, is that of the Seventy Disciples, recorded in the xth chapter of the Evangelist St. Luke.

After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face, into every city and place, whither he himself would come. And he said unto

them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways. Behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves:-and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.—In the parallel Charge which our Lord gave to his Apostles on a similar occasion (Matt. x.), his words are these: Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But, Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be

Archbishop Wake.