the oil and wine of his kingdom. Sure this was heaven on earth begun. I still feel the sweet remembrance of what is past. Neither did Europe, nor America, ever before present such a scene to my astonished eyes. Let angels tune their golden harps afresh, and strike then, in higher strains of praise to HIM, who is alore all praise! I believe, if we had more room in our Chapels, we should have much larger congregations. When I left Nevis, I weat on board the Resolution, (one of the fleet,) Captain Hart. He purposed to set rue on shore at Tortola, but Providence brought us to St.Thomas's; here I found a poor afflicted people, hungry and faint for want of the bread and water of life, the gospel of the Son of God. Being detained by cross winds, I preached twice, and expounded once; and the God in whom we confide, suffered no one to set upon me to hurt me, He hath set a bound for the water-floods, which they cannot pass! God is not without witnesses in that barren island. To the Rev. Dr. COKE, and the MISSIONARY COMMITTEE, London. No. 9, Willow-street. Plymouth, 13th Jan. 1813. Mach respected Fathers and Brethren, CONCEIVING that the following letters would afford you pleasure, and serve to give you some precise information respecting the Mission among the French prisoners of war in this depôt, I have translated them from the French, and transmit them to you, to make that use of them which you judge most proper. They were addressed to Mr. Le Sueur, whose labours, I have the pleasure to say, are certainly acceptable to some of the priuners. The Chairman of the District; that of the Guernsey District; as well as all the Preachers in Guernsey and Jersey, have been consulted on the subject of Mr. Le Sueur's return to Jersey, and they are all of opinion that he should stay where he is "till the next Conference." He joins me in respectful love to all the Committee, I remain, dear Fathers and Brethren, your affectionate humble Sou and Servant, SIB, THOMAS WARREN. LETTER I.. I 23d October, 1912. I cannot omit to inform you of the extreme pain I felt yesterday at not be ing present at your lessons of love. was meditating, at that moment, on these beautiful thoughts expressed by the author of the "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," in the first chapter of that work, and I was proposing to myself to inform you of some useful reflections by which my limited mind was refreshed at the time. But how was I surprised when I saw you pass before the ship on your return home! and when I lost sight of you entirely, my distress was at its height. In the midst of disorder and captivity, God sends his loving disciples to announce his holy word, and to recover precious souls from a furnace lighted by wickedness and corruption! What an ingrate shall I be, if I estrange myself from the way which he opens to me, or swerve from his most kind, and most sublime will. Alas! Sir, I feel, at this moment, all the injuries I have received by having estranged myself so long. What would have become of me had he cut short my days at the time when I deserved not that the sun should shine upon me! What will become of me now, now that I feel the weight of my iniquities crushing me! Ab I tremble, roar at the feet of my God who is full of goodness and favour towards a miserable creature, who has long deserved to be precipitated into hell, eternally to expiate his crimes! How miserable I ain, when I reflect on having lost so much time in so critical a situation, and how much gratitude do I owe you for having opened my eyes! O! how happy should I be to possess, like you, that sublime virtue, that patience, that resignation to the will of God, that courage which would enable me to endure my calamities, and my imprisonment! But no! I believe I never shall possess those virtues in the degree that you do. You, Sir, are made to affect the heart, and to lead men to the knowledge of the truth, and of eternal things. All these commotions of my corrupt heart present themselves to my imagi nation, when I have the happiness of seeing you; but my tongue, accustomed to evil words, and incessantly uttering abuse, seems to become mute when I wish to explain, in your presence, the depths of my heart. Ah! Sir, I need your succour. I feel myself far estranged from the right and sure way to get to God. What shall I say? I am still on the precipice of disgrace and woe.Deign, Sir, by your frequent instructions, to hold me up, and conduct me in the way in which you walk, and of which sovereign good and eternal happiness is the consummation. Your labours will not be lost. You will gain heaven, and I have every reason to believe, that Jesus Christ will reward you in the way most suitable to your ministerial labours. Come then, Sir, and save me, for I perish in the waters! You will excuse my taking the liberty of writing to you, to assure you of my respect for, and gratitude to you, not being able to express myself by word, for the reason already stated. I conclude, in hoping, by God's grace, to see you again very soon, and to profit by your good sermons. Be assured, Sir, of the sincerity of these my sentiments, and of the pleasure which I enjoy in your company. Pray to God, that he may mitigate my calamities, and place me in circumstances to relate to all my relations and friends the excellent les sons which you have generously given me, and which shall never be effaced froin my memory. I have the honour, Sir, to be, &c. POMMIER. (To be continued.) JAMAICA. By a letter from a friend in Jamaica, dated August 30, 1812, and received in the latter end of October following, the Committee for directing the affairs of our Missions, received the distressing intelligence, that our Missionary at Kingston in Jamaica, Mr. J. Wiggins, having preached twice in our chapel on Sunday, Aug. 23, (after having been prohibited from preaching upwards of three years, by a law of the Corporation,) was the next day summoned to appear before the sitting magistrates, and sentenced to one month's imprisonment in the jail. He was, at the same time, given to understand, that at the expiration of the term of his imprisonment, he should be required to give security for keeping the peace, &c. Hitherto we have thought it best to let this matter remain with ourselves, but in consequence of what has occurred since, we judge we could not justify our conduct to the Subscribers to our Missious, and our Societies in general, if we did not lay at least some of the particuiars of this painful business before them; that we may hereby engage their prayers for our Missionary and persecuted people in that Island. This we think will be best done, by publishing the following letter lately received. From Mr. JOHN WIGGINS, Missionary, to the Secretary of the Missionary Committee. Kingston, Jamaica, Dec. 15, 1812. MY DEAR BROTHER, You have already been informed that I was imprisoned by the Corpora tion of this eity, on the 25th of August, for preaching the gospel of the Son of God. During my confinement, I wrote twice to the Committee; and in one of my letters, dated the 30th of August, enosed an extract from the Royal Gazette of the 2gth, containing the statement of those who sat in judgment upon me. By the Swallow Packet, I think, which sailed soon after my liberation from prison, I also wrote a more circumstantial and satisfactory account of the business; but, as I have reason to believe, that two, if not three of the vessels by which I wrote, have fallen into the hands of the Americans, I shall avail myself of this opportunity of laying before the Committee, through you, the most important facts relative to the subject. lu The Honourable House of Assembly having suffered the last of their persacuting laws to expire on the 31st of De cember last, I might have commenced the public worship of God immediately after; but the use of our Chapel having been granted to the Corporation, on the 10th of October, 1811, for the accommodation of the Free School, which, not being removed till the 10th of August, I could not get the Chapel in readiness to receive a congregation till the 16th; but, that day being rainy, we had no service either in Church or Chapel. On the 23d, however, I preached twice to peaceable and attentive congregations. the forenoon we had about 700, and in the afternoon about 1000 hearers. About two o'clock, a Lieutenant of the City Guards, called on me in my study, and said, "Sir, the Police Office bas desired me to warn you not to preach in the afternoon, at your peril." I replied, "Sir, tell the Police Office, that the people will come in the afternoon, and that I shall preach, f spared; because there is no law of the Imperia Parliament, or of the Assembly of this island, to the contrary." Accordingly I did preach, and the people's prayers praises, and floods of tears, sufficient! proved that the Lord was with us of truth. 1 ascended the pulpit, deepl sensible that the "wrath of man work eth not the righteousness of God;" desirous of manifesting that kind of ce rage only which is produced by the exe cise of faith and love; and, thank God, felt equally preserved from fear rashness. a: The next day two constables calle and gave me a summons to appear, day after, at the Court-house, and answer for my crime. Accordingly I went, and was surprised to see the crowds of people who had assembled to see "the end. The examination, trial, lasted from 10 till 12 o'clock; but all attempts to eater into the particulars of what passed, would be useless, as I hardly got leave to speak ten words at a time without being interrupted. But, upon the whole, it appeared that the Corporation were determined to have done with Methodism; and, in the end, 1 was sentenced to lie in jail for one month. Before I went to the Courthouse, I placed one of our white families in the Chapel, to take care of it, till my return from the prison, and made such other arrangements as were necessary for the welfare of the Society, and the preservation of the property; so that I had no occasion to return home, but went direct from the Court-house to the jail. The first night of my confinement, two infamous letters were trumped up, for the purpose of procuring my removal from the island, as was very evident. The next day an account of them was published in the papers, in which it was stated, generally, that the magistrates and other public officers, were to be massacred, unless I was liberated before a certain day but gentlemen were not so candid as to publish any thing in the shape of an extract from, or copy of them, for reasons which are sufficiently obvious. These letters were coupled together with the proceedings of the Court-house, and in that form laid before the Governor; but the scheme had not the desired effect. The object was to get me off the island; but that could not be done without the Governor's consent, and in order to obtain that, it was necessary to raise the old cry of “ Insurrection, Rebellion, Massacre, &c. &c." This device was the more likelyto succeed, as the people against whom the cry was made, were poor browns and blacks. While this business was going on, I was a close Prisoner, the door-keeper having rereived orders not to let any but my servaut see me. If my friends had been suffered to see me, I might have written to the Governor, and thus defeated the designs of my enemies, but sufficient precaution was taken to prevent that. God, however, has made the business work for the good of myself and the Society. Almost the whole community saw thro' it, and sympathized with us; so that we have now thousands of friends who be : fore "cared for none of these things." The Lord is working in an extraordinary way for his own glory. Immcdiately after my confinement, the rainy season set in with great violence, and since that time thousands in this place have gone the way appointed for all living. So great has been the mortality, that the Corporation have not allowed the bells to ring for funerals, for many months past, in order to prevent alarm. But, alas: while the gospel is suppressed, lust will increase, and produce all those abominable practices, which infallibly lead to the grave. This dreadful calamity was greatly augmented by a storm of wind, or rather a hurricane, with which the colony was visited on the 12th and 13th of October. The plantain walks and corn fields, &c. were generally laid waste, and great damage done among the shipping. Some days after, I reckoned, in the daily papers, between 25 and 30 sail of vessels which were sunk, wrecked, or otherwise damaged in this and the Port-Royal harbour only, exclusive of canoes and other small craft. In addition to these visitations of Providence, it pleased God about 6 o'clock in the morning of the 11th of November, to shake terribly the whole colony. It is agreed that since the sinking of Port Royal, so great an earthquake has not been experienced in this place. Scarcely a brick building in the Island has escaped damage, but it is matter of thankfulness, that only one life has been lost by it. We have had one severe and many slight shocks since; and the weather is still unsettled, the atmosphere threatening, and the city sickly, so that these remarkable judgments seem only the beginning of: orrows. "Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord," is a complaint just as terrible as doleful. But, thank God, there are many with whom this is not the case. Hundreds are turning to the Lord, and, if we had liberty to preach, I really think thousands would join us in the course of a few months: and even situated as we are, I can neither reckon the private prayer-meetings which we have established in all parts of the town and country round, nor describe the zeal and effect with which they are carried on. As I expect to draw up a more particular account of the state of the Society, which, together with the yearly Account, I shall transmit to you by the March packet, if spared, 1 shall conclude with requesting your influence 240 POETRY. at a throne of grace, in behalf of this P.S. My dear Brother,' I beseech you, POETRY-THE COTTAGE. Fabula narratur. AS late, in contemplation lost, -Dimley, he said, was born to wealth, [ing, The beams were crack'd, the floors were bend- Blind to the mischief Time was doing, -But the description to pursue, too a copy of the new Toleration Act, Books, mirror, busts, together tumbled, Poor Dimley's mangled corpse was found: Thus ends my tale, the rustic cried; Is due; yet not to his alone. Like him, ten thousand play the fool; Look round the world, and you will see What is the man, who plans and toils Seeks not the pard'ning love of Heav'n? To add new riches to his store, And, tho' o'erburthen'd, pants for more: And yet aspires not to be blest What, what are these? The answer's clear Printed at the Conference-Office,14, City-Road; By THOMAS CORDEUX, Agen. |