Missionary Notices. returned a mile and a half to the boat, There were at one time some circumstances rather suspicious; such as private signals, winking of the eye, &c. I think it not improbable, that consequences of a serious nature might have attended the visit of any other persons. They talked freely about the Chief being taken, &c.; but regarded us as being actuated by pure friendship in our visit. We reached the ship in safety, where dry clothes, and a little food, were acceptable. Monday, August 3d.-We passed the New-Hebrides, where Mr. Williams was murdered. 4th.-New-Caledonia in sight. We felt a great wish to visit it; but as none of us know the language of the natives, and understanding that they are to be ranked among the worst of savages, I thought it prudent to postpone the visit for the present, especially as we had no immediate help to offer them. I Sunday, 9th. We are not far from Norfolk Island, a penal settlement. preached in the morning, and gave an exposition at night. The wind and sea rose considerably during the day. The two following days, we had almost a hurricane, were under close-reefed sails, and the passengers generally indisposed. We were incapable of thinking on scarcely any other subject, than old friends and old times in England. 15th. During the week I have had One poor man at Rewa, while bathing, There are, as in the Tonga islands, very few men without having a little fin ger cut off, as an offering to their gods. For certain crimes the arm of a man About eight months ago, twenty bodies One of the King's brothers at Rewa At Somosomo a few months ago, thir- Hitherto I have been mercifully preserved from all anxiety about my family: the care of the infant churches has occupied all my leisure moments. Sunday, August 23d.-We saw Mount Dromedary and Cape Howe. I preached evening. in the morning, and Mr. Cargill in the Wednesday, September 2d.-After encountering storms, &c, we entered the Derwent, (Van-Diemen's Land,) the wind favouring us so that we came to anchor, and I reached my house before it was known that the Triton had arrived. I found my family all well; but a report was current that my valued friend Mr. Bumby was drowned! My mind is singularly prepared for hearing of any calamity. deaths of Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Cargill have with more than vocal energy proclaimed the uncertainty of human life, and taught me how difficult a thing it is to allow nature her moderate sorrow; but FEELING must not govern in a case like mine, exposed in the way of undoubted duty to "hardships, grief, and loss." The When I look at the dangers to which I have been exposed, the heart-rending scenes which I have witnessed, the painful sympathies which have been excited, the wasting heats which I have endured, the anxieties which I have experienced; and, on the other hand, when I contemplate the all but overwhelming delight I have felt on beholding so many selfdenying, laborious Missionaries, with their invaluable wives, who greeted me with a welcome never to be forgotten, the natural beauty displayed before my eyes, and the moral glory beginning to burst forth upon the Heathen through the instrumentality of such Missionaries in the islands of the sea, it makes it matter of grateful wonder that, after such continuous excitement, I am so well as I find myself to be. I am now preparing for another twelve months' absence from my family; and then (if spared) I shall need a little relaxation, or the system will wear out. Sunday, September 20th.-Communications of such a nature have been received as to leave no doubt on the subject of dear Mr. Bumby's death; the occasion of which I have had to improve to a large congregation this evening from Psalm xcvii. 2: "Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." This occurrence not only touches the tenderest sympathies of nature, but involves me in still greater care and anxiety. O God, be thou my helper ! I ADD a hurried line to say, I have met the brethren of this District in their Annual Meeting. It has been characterized by great harmony. You will perceive that the numbers in society are more than last year, and the finances, notwithstanding the extreme dearness of provisions, considerably improved, while the amount raised for the general work is beyond that of any former year. The devotedness of your Missionaries to their great work, their faithful and affectionate regard for each other's welfare, their union of affection, design, and endeavour to promote the work of God, have delighted me exceedingly. Our beloved brethren Egglestone and Tuckfield could not be with us: the former is made a great blessing at Adelaide, where he labours with untiring zeal; and the latter, with his estimable colleague, Mr. Hirst, is employed at Bunting-Dale in an endeavour to benefit the aborigines of Australia Felix. I am pleased especially with the important native school there. The friends at Hobart-Town availed themselves of the favourable opportunity afforded by the Meeting of the District, for the opening of their new chapel. The congregations were large, greatly surpassing our expectation: they got £150, and a number of new seat-holders. The general aspect of this important District is encouraging. Their numerical strength would have been much greater, but for the tide of emigration; by which, however, new colonies are benefited. I am now on the eve of sailing, by way of Sydney, to see the brethren, and the mourning sister of our late friend Bumby, at New-Zealand. It is a great trial to be so long from home in such dangers and deaths as seemed to surround me in my last voyage. But I am cheerful and happy in my work; and who would not, to see the grace of God as I have seen it ? Pray for me. The brethren in these seas pray for me everywhere; but pray also for my wife and family: my absence is no small trial to them. Your servant in Christ, JOHN WATERHOUSE. The usual Monthly Statement of Moneys Received, including some welcome additions to the Special Fund for the Ashantee and GoldCoast Missions, is, from want of room, unavoidably postponed. LONDON :-Printed by James Nichols, 46, Hoxton-Square, FOR JUNE, 1841. BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN FAIRBOURN: BY HIS SON, THE REV. JAMES P. FAIRBOURN. Ir is a matter of regret, that my father has left behind him no memorandums either of his early history, religious experience, or of any facts connected with his labours as a Minister of the Gospel. This brief memoir is therefore compiled from family recollections. My father, was born at Leppington, a village in the Pocklington Circuit, in the year 1781. His parents were agriculturists. They were respectable in their character, and highly moral in their habits, but unacquainted with the nature of experimental religion. Their family was brought up in an attendance upon the worship connected with the established Church. When very young, my father was placed at a boarding-school in the neighbourhood, where he remained until he attained his seventeenth year. In youth his disposition was volatile to a more than common degree; his spirit was exceedingly light and buoyant. He was fond of vain amusements, and indulged in them with apparent delight. But even in the midst of youthful follies, the restraining grace of God prevented him from plunging into criminal excesses, and kept him from gross immorality. He was likewise favoured with the powerful strivings of the Holy Spirit. On one occasion, while engaged with some of his companions in diversion, his fears were more than ordinarily excited; his conscience was aroused, and he was led to a clear discovery of his dangerous condition as a sinner in the sight of God. Various are the means which the infinitely wise God employs in order to bring sinful men to serious reflection, and admonish them to prepare for their eternal state. The instrument employed by infinite Wisdom to impress my father's mind with the importance of religion, was a thunder-storm more than usually terrific: through this awful medium God spoke to his heart; and from that moment he resolved to change his mode of life. That the impressions thus made on his mind were neither superficial nor transient, his subsequent life sufficiently demonstrated. He became altered in his outward deportment; his volatility was exchanged for seriousness; and so great was the change which took VOL. XX. Third Series. JUNE, 1841. 21 |