(Acts iv. 12.) He says, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' (John xiv. 6.)”

The evening was closing in fast, the hour was approaching for the minister to pray with his family. He rose, and proposed offering up a prayer with them before he took his leave. Robert Pearce always hailed such a proposal with pleasure. John Smith and his wife, who

had lately entered the room, looked serious, and felt more serious perhaps than they ever had done before. They all knelt down. It was probably the first time that two of that little number had ever really prayed. Mr. Russell bade them farewell; and as he walked towards his home many a fervent petition arose from his heart, that he might not have spoken that day in vain.

VALUE OF TRACTS IN INDIA.

"Two Hindoos appeared at the gates of the city with tracts in their hands, inquiring for the missionary's house. They were residents of villages a hundred miles north of Surat, and on the further banks of the river Mahi. The porters bade them go back, lest they should become Christians and lose their possessions. The native magistrate, a Parsi, opposed to the Gospel, warned them in like manner. The several people of that city, sitting outside their shops, and catechising the strangers, bade them to desist from their pursuit. Everything was done to poison their ears, and divert them from their purpose; but they were brought, by God's providence, through the winding streets of that 'Vanity Fair,' till they arrived at the mission-house. As the warrant for their coming, they shewed the tracts, in which we had printed circulars, inviting all who wished to learn further about Christ to find out the missionaries at Surat, Bombay, or any other station. One of them had also, in the preceding year, met with one of our missionaries, the Rev. W. Flower, who was itinerating, and had been invited by him to visit

us.

"Their conceptions of the truth were most misty. The doctrines of Christianity and of Hindooism were blended together in their minds. They saw nothing aright, and knew nothing truly; but they were of quick apprehension, and were willing to be taught.

"The two men, Girdhur and Kúér, had left their families with a promise soon to return, and therefore after a few days they departed.

They assured the missionaries that in their district many were reading Christian books; that there was a sphere of labour open among the villagers; and that they themselves would be baptized when he came to their villages."

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The missionary followed these interesting inquirers to the place of their abode. In his way thither, he passed through Broach, which was a flourishing city before the Christian era. "He went through its streets with tracts, and stopped at two or three places to preach.' In the heart of the city, treasured up in the box of a native hawker, he found an English publication of the Religious Tract Society, and the Gujurati copies of the Old and New Testament. In another.town, Baroda, he met with a zealous distributor of tracts. Mr. Clarkson thus refers to him:

"In the camp was resident a Mr. Antone, an Armenian by descent, and a sincere Christian, who had been converted many years ago at Serampore (1000 miles distant), and had been brought in providence to this place, as a writer in the Goverment Residency.' To this good man we had frequently sent tracts from Surat, which he had distributed among the villagers. He had also, according to his ability, preached the Gospel in several places in the neighbourhood. The tracts given away by him, as well as others, which the missionaries had themselves circulated on their tours, had passed from hand to hand, and found their way in extensive districts. Some minds had been impressed by them. Not a little religious inquiry had been excited. The result was, that at

the time when I arrived at the Camp, there were six or eight villagers who were receiving instructions from Mr. Antone every Sabbath-day. The good humble man transferred them with real pleasure and satisfaction to my instruction, seeking not his own glory, but their good. They came to me, and attended with an interest, a deference, and a gratitude, I had never before witnessed."

At length, the missionary reached the neighbourhood in which Girdhur and Kúér lived. He found their faith unabated, and their minds made up to be baptized; and they gave themselves to the Lord in that holy ordinance.

DEVAN.

At this place lived Gungárám, who is now a devoted Christian and a native teacher, and always ready to every good word and work. In this town he was a tradesman of high caste. Here he had received tracts, which he read; and as he journeyed on business, he heard a native Christian read the Scriptures from a shop in Baroda. He then procured the New Testament himself. These were the means blessed to his conversion. Mr. Clarkson adds:

"Without receiving any human instruction, this convert to Christ had gone proclaiming the truths of the Gospel, as far as he knew them, among the villages of the district."

TRACTS ARE SOMETIMES THE ONLY

MEANS OF INSTRUCTION.

Several persons visited Mr. Clarkson for instruction, "They listened for a day or two with real interest, but were at length frightened away by the people. One of them, however, gave me the fol

lowing interesting statement: "My father, before his death, told me that the way marked out in these Scriptures which you distribute is the true one, and that Christ is the only Saviour. He died,' said the son, 'believing in Him.' Upon inquiring how he had heard of the Saviour, he replied, "He received books, about eight years ago, from some one or other. Three years ago a missionary* pitched his tent at our village (Thána.) My father intended to visit him, but delayed, expecting him to come into the village to preach. Next morning, however, to his disappointment, the tent was struck, and the missionary was gone.

RAMDAS.

Mr. Clarkson furnishes an interesting account of Rámdás, once a poor idolater, but now an inhabitant of the heavenly kingdom, through the riches of the Saviour's grace. "His name signifies servant of Rám: but Rámdás became a real servant of Christ; and I had great delight in calling him, occasionally, Christodás (servant of Christ.) Dear are the recollections, and hallowed the associations, in connexion with this Hindoo. He was the patel, or chief, of one of the Guicowar's villages. He had in early life received tracts which had been sent to his village; and his father-in-law, before his death, used to tell him that the Christian books were true. When Mr. Flower visited his village in 1846, he disclaimed idolatry, but admitted his conformity to the customs of his people. He was thrown into prison, on some false accusation regrading revenue; and, when alone, was visited by friends, who * Rev. W. Flower.

"The poor man could not talk without shedding tears. His mind was greatly agitated, both from a sense of his sins and of the difficulties to belief arising from his people. He said, "Before-committed sins stand in the way." I shewed him that they did not stand in the way, if he cast them all on Christ. He expressed himself entirely confident in God, and willing to be baptized, and to go with me, if I wished it. He is remarkably tender-hearted, and apparently affectionate, with great simplicity of character.'

"Rámdás was a man of property, and struggled for a long time to hold his position. He at length submitted to be excluded from all society, and even from his own house. He persevered in reading and prayer, amidst the insults of his own household.

"Rámdás was constantly employed in the Lord's work; and on a journey in the rainy season, he caught a severe cold, which attacked the lungs. It became soon evident that consumption would remove Rámdás from a scene of labour and of suffering.

"The eye of Rámdás glistened with delight whenever we talked with him of heaven. To my dear wife, who said, 'Rámdás, heaven is a holy place,' he replied, with an emphasis which shewed his strong apprehension of the idea, It is a holy, very holy place!'

"The words that fell from Rámdás's lips were pure, and strongly contrasted with the language of the heathen. He loved to think of the spread of the Gospel, and anticipate the day when Gújurát should turn to the Lord. I remember with what delight he saw a large box of tracts opened, and glancing at the fact of their being all distributed, expressed his anticipation of the country becoming evangelized.

"Rámdás, when nearly dying, was removed to Cambay, that he might have all the aids of medical care."

THE DISCIPLE DELHO.

"In Dándia, close to the village of Béchad, lived a Hindoo named Delho. He had rejected idolatry long before he heard of Christianity

had isolated himself in every way from the religious customs of his people, and had no sympathy with them. In this restless, dissatisfied state of mind, hungering after something more solid, and seeking something more truthful than what he found in Hindooism, a tract fell into his hand; it was one we had printed at Surat a year before. I remember writing the very lines which first arrested him. It was in the hot season, when it was impossible to go out among the people; and we betook ourselves to preparing tracts. The lines ran as follows: 'O sinner! thou art fallen into a deep pit of sin. Unless some one extricate thee, thou wilt perish. Thy gods cannot save thee; their incarnations cannot save thee! Thy idols, thy priests, thy teachers cannot save thee! There is one who can the Lord Jesus Christ!'

"Delho read these words, and believed them. He went to his priest, and told him that he had

found the truth-that he should therefore give up the caste, and heathen practices. The priest did nothing to discourage him; for he was like many devotees in India, who are assured that there is something true to be found beyond them. Delho found out a Christian man, and soon after came under my instruction. He followed Béchad after he had left the world; and one Sabbath morning, when I was commencing the service, he came into the garden, with his wife and children, cows, and sundry articles, and said, Here we are; we have come out of the world, and have cast ourselves among the people of God.""

Delho is a converted Christian, and a zealous labourer in the Saviour's cause.

These interesting facts shew that the Christian tract has been the means of leading the inquirer to the missionary. So far, it has been the means of much good. Like the guide-post on the road side, it has led the tempted traveller in the right way to the abode of the missionary, where he has received further instruction in the ways of truth, and has been savingly pointed to the better country. Let Christians help more liberally in this work. The Religious Tract Society has annually devoted more than one-third of its benevolent income, received from the public, to the spread of truth in India; and yet during the present year appeals for help, to the extent of nearly £1000, have been declined for want of sufficient funds. The door is open: Shall we enter it?

[Surely, surely, British Christians will do the needful for this work.ED.]

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE

SOCIETY.

TAHITI.

A YOUNG sailor, on a visit to his parents, (and himself supplied with a Bible from the British and Foreign Bible Society,) who was shipwrecked during the past year while working into the harbour of Tahiti, in the South Seas, related that, while upon the island, he visited many of the native huts, and in all of them he saw on the shelf a copy of the Scriptures, supplied by the above Society; and in many of the huts he found some member of the family reading the Bible.

GERMANY.

With the end of July, Wick completed his first year's services, in which, with the assistance of the Lord, he had been enabled to dispose of 1976 Bibles, and 1336 New Testaments, or, together, 3312 copies. In his Journal for August he relates the following: "In a village I offered the Scriptures to an aged female, who, however, replied, with tears in her eyes, that she was not in want of a copy. On my inquiring the reason for her not wanting one, and why she cried, she said that her son had recently returned from abroad, and scarcely had he reached home than he died. She was thus left alone, having no other comfort in the world but the Lord. This son had brought with him, from St. Petersburgh, a copy of the New Testament, which he had received at the dépôt of the British and Foreign Bible Society in that city, from which she now derived much comfort and consolation. Thus the seed which was sown in Russia is producing fruit on the mountains of Thuringia."