1

REV. JOSEPH WOLFF.

[From the London Missionary Register, for January, 1837.] A letter from Mr. Wolff to a friend,

ROBERT M. LAIRD, Pres. Princess Ann, Maryland, March 19, 1837.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH LEE, t. 33, Epis. Alexandria,
District of Columbia, May 19, 1837.

dated at Suez, on the 4th of May, thus WILLIAM C. M'ELROY, Pres. Danville, Virginia, May

describes his intended journeyings:

24, 1837.

ROBERT TUCKER, æt. 98, Lincoln Co. North Carolina.

SAMUEL W. CALVERT, Pres. Bowling-green, Kentucky,

June 19, 1837.

JOHNSON WELCH, Cadiz, Ohio, April 17, 1837.
STEPHEN I. BRADSTREET, &t. 42, Pres. Cleaveland, O.

June 9.

EDWIN STEVENS, t. 34, Cong. Singapore, Asia, Mis-
sionary to China, Dec. 15, 1836.

DAVID WHITE, Cong. Miss. at Cape Palmas, West Africa,
Jan. 22, 1837.

Constitution, at Port Mahon, Island of Minorca, April 11.'

WILLIAM WOODBRIDGE, of Stockbridge, Mass.-WIL
LIAM P. TUTTLE, of Newark, N. J.-HAMILTON
SMITH, of Palermo, N. Y.-and SIMEON S. JOHN-
SON, of Sweden, N. Y. students at Auburn Theological
Seminary, N. Y.-drowned, June 24, 1837.

Whole number in the above list, 30.

I am going now to Jidda; thence, God willing, cross over to Massowah; and from thence I intend to proceed to the capital of Abyssinia, Gondar, where the Jews called Falasha are residing. After having stopped with them four or five months, and given also Bibles to the Christians, I intend to go to Shoa-thence to Narea or Enerea, where JAMES EVERETT, æt. 54, Epis. Chaplain of the U. S. Ship Christians are-and thence to Timbuctoo, and the Cape of Good Hope. Should I not be able to proceed to those places from Narea, I intend to go from Narea to Melinde, Mozambique, and the Cape of Good Hope. And after having proclaimed the tidings of salvation in the Cape, I intend (D. V.) to come again to Bombay, thence to Candahar, Kohan, Yarkand, Ovenburg, Kamtschatka, Petersburg, America, Marseilles, and Malta. The journey will take me again three years and four months. Oh! dear friend! it is a glorious office to be made an instrument of preaching the tidings of salvation through all parts of the world and I know that the gospel is a light which kindles the fire of the love of God, in the sinner's heart, in a manner inconceivable. Let us therefore disregard the censure of the world, and go on exclaiming, CHRIST! THE LIGHT OF VERY

LIGHT!

AGES.

From 20 to 30.......

Total.

30 40...

40 50..

3 Massachusetts....

3 Connecticut.....

1

New York.......

Sum of all the ages speci
fied......

1

4 Pennsylvania.

Maryland.....

1 District of Columbia..

Virginia.....

Kentucky.

30 Ohio....

1,011

Average age.......... 531-5

DENOMINATIONS.

7

Not specified...........
Total...

11.

81

DAVID SMITH, et. 76, Portland, Maine, May 19, 1837.
DANIEL WESTON, æt. 73, Cong, Gray, Me. June 28.
E. KELLOGG, et. 39, Meth. Alfred, Me. June 20.

JOSEPH GIBBS, æt. 27, Cong. Haverhill, New Hampshire,
April 11, 1837.

CHARLES W. MILTON, Cong. Newburyport, Massachu

sets, May 1, 1837.

QUARTERLY LIST

OF

ABIEL HOLMES, D. D. LL. D. et. 73, Cong. Cambridge, ORDINATIONS AND INSTALLATIONS.

LEWIS SMITH, JR. t. 24, Ger. Ref. New York, N. Y.
April 6,

JOHN DEMAREST, et. 73, New York, N. Y. April 8.
THOMAS G. SMITH, æt. 80, Dutch Ref. Tarrytown, N. Y.
April 10.

PETER LUDLOW, t. 40, New York, N. Y. May 6.
E. H. ADAMS, æt. 40, Cong. Syracuse, N. Y. May 26.
MOSES BURT, et. 58, Cairo, N. Y. May 30.

JOHN S. BRENNEMAN, æt. 24, Ger. Ref. Lancaster, Penn-
sylvania, March 27, 1837.

HENRY L. RICE, Ger. Ref. Chambersburg, Pa. May 3.

L. B. CALL, Bap. ord. pastor, Hopkinton, New Hampshire, | DONALD MCQUEEN, Pres. ord. pastor, Sumterville and April 19, 1837.

SAMUEL HOWE, Pres. inst. pastor, Ridgeville, New York, Total...........
March 16, 1837,

MONTGOMERY 8. GOODALE, Pres. ord. pastor, Amster

Maine......
94 New Hampshire...

Massachusetts.....
Rhode Island...
Connecticut.....
New York.......
New Jersey....
Pennsylvania
Virginia.....
South Carolina..
62 Georgia......
5 Mississippi..
16 Tennessee.
11 Kentucky.
Ohio.......
94 Michigan...

JOURNAL

OF

THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SOCIETY.

AUGUST, 1837.

APPEAL IN BEHALF OF EDUCATION SOCIETIES.

Addressed to men of wealth belonging to the Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Congregational, Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, and other evangelical churches, in the United States of America, on the subject of affording further assistance to those Societies which educate young men for the gospel ministry.

By Dr. Scudder, Missionary at Ceylon.

[This communication has been sent by Dr. Scudder to the Secretary of the American Education Society for publication. Considering the pecuniary state of the country, and also the condition of Education Societies, it is deemed a timely appeal, and it is confidently hoped it will be duly heeded by those to whom it is addressed, and also by the churches generally, whose privilege it is to realize that "it is more blessed to give than to receive."]

Beloved in the Lord,

Ir may emphatically be said that we live in a glorious day. Such an one in many respects the church has never before witnessed. Our Bible, Tract, Education and various other societies are of recent origin, and are accomplishing great things. The facilities, too, which we possess to communicate religious information, are among the most pleasing signs of the times. "I used," says President Edwards, "to be eager to read public news-letters, mainly to see if I could not find some news favorable to the interests of religion in the world." Had he lived but a few years longer, he would not have had to seek much for such information. Now we have large numbers of newspapers devoted principally to religious purposes. From one part of our country to the other, and throughout the world, Christians are constantly becoming acquainted with each other's plans of benevolence, and are stirring up one another to renewed diligence in their Master's service. All they have to do is, to go forward in earnest with the plans now in operation, and the promise, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, will soon be accomplished.

As you may naturally suppose, every step you take in your march against the powers of darkness, is watched with intense interest by those whom you have sent to heathen lands to preach the gospel. For one, I have examined, whether the army you have marshalled is properly equipped, and am not aware, that as a general thing, any alteration could be made for the better. It appears to me, however, that it is characterized by one important defect, and I hope you will excuse me for mentioning it. I allude to the circumstance that our societies to educate pious young men for the gospel ministry are not sufficiently patronized. My object in writing to you, beloved friends, is to plead with you to give your increased aid to these societies. The state of our country demands it. The state of the heathen demands it. With regard to our own country, you have many able advocates to plead her cause. But even if I felt disposed, on this account, to be silent, still it might be my duty to say something, from the fact, that every thing you do has such an important bearing upon the heathen world. It is very certain, that if by one grand effort you can send forth as 11

VOL. X.

many preachers of the gospel to our destitute settlements as are needed, they will, with the divine blessing, soon bud and blossom as the rose, and in a short time prove giants in sending the gospel to heathen nations. If a few years only are suffered to pass without such attempts, the population of our country will so far outrun all efforts to overtake it, as necessarily to oblige you to do but little beyond your own borders. If all its wants had ere this been supplied, how mighty would be the influence of the American churches at this moment upon the heathen world.

it.

Even if we look at the temporal prosperity of our country, it is evident that a large number of ministers of the gospel must be raised up. Their aid is absolutely necessary to stem that torrent of iniquity, which is sweeping all before "Who," says a very able writer, "that has observed the progress of crime, and the unblushing manner in which the most corrupt principles are publicly avowed, can fail to see that the floodgate of corruption is opened, and that unless the torrent be arrested, it must sweep away the fabric of liberty and happiness, the result of the labors and sufferings of two centuries. There is a controversy to be maintained with ignorance, and prejudice, and irreligion, and corruption, which demands the united efforts of all who venerate the laws of God and the institutions of our fathers, or desire the happiness of posterity; a controversy of such paramount importance, that we could wish to see all others laid aside, however momentous in themselves, by those who are engaged immediately in this. Let but a spirit go forth like that which animated our fathers against political oppression, and lead us to struggle with equal vigor and unanimity against the common enemies which threaten the very foundation of our liberties, and we may hope like them to conquer, and like them to enjoy the fruits of our toils, and transmit them to our descendants. But if we slumber over our danger, and shrink back from the contest, our country is lost, our institutions must be trampled under foot, and the name of America be inscribed on the broken column which records the weakness and the ruin of republics." To remedy these evils it is very evident that education, embracing the various branches of science as well as of morals, must be made to bear with a much greater force than heretofore upon a great mass of our population, among whom they have but little more than a name. It is in these places especially, that our spiritual enemies have arisen in their might to oppose all that is good, and they are preparing for a great contest. "They are summoning to their aid great learning, and the ablest talents. They spare no efforts, they leave untried no device which promises them success. The Bible is assailed, nor will they rest, until they are vanquished, or the whole superstructure of the Christian religion is razed to its foundation." These must be met by men of similar learning and talents, and who, in addition to these qualifications, have ardent piety. Education, embracing the various branches of science, as well as of morals, must, as I before said, be combined. The latter, as well as the former, may, to a considerable extent, be promoted by suitable laymen. But, after all, unless they are assisted in their labors by ministers of the sanctuary, the tide will not be stemmed, religion never will permanently flourish where the gospel is not preached.

The alarming progress of error and vice in our country, probably, was one grand reason, why the American Bible Society adopted its noble resolution to supply every destitute family within its borders with a Bible, in two years. Had I seen the people of God, in reliance upon divine aid, resolving that they would exert themselves as far as possible to raise up as many ministers of the gospel as are needed in our destitute settlements, in ten years, I should have trusted to Providence for at least a few for the heathen, and not now have addressed you. I however have seen nothing which has given me any encouragement to hope that such a resolution will be formed, though I conceive there would be no more difficulty in carrying it into effect, than the resolution of the Bible Society to which I just alluded. Do you consider me chimerical in my views respecting the practicability of such a resolution? Where are the fifty thousand young men who have been born into the kingdom of grace, in our revivals of religion alone, since the commencement of the year 1826? Will you tell me that two thousand of them have either entered upon the duties of the ministry, or are preparing

for it? For this we have much reason for gratitude. But are two thousand a proper proportion to the forty thousand, who we may suppose are still living? Is it not an awakening consideration, that the number is so small? While Christians have been praying the Lord of the harvest to raise up more spiritual laborers, and he has answered their prayers so far as to pour out his Spirit upon thousands of those who are fit to become such laborers, are they not verily guilty for neglecting to perform their part in this momentous business? Does their gratitude bear a sufficient proportion to the mercies vouchsafed? Have those fathers and mothers whose children have of late been plucked as brands from the burning, and had their feet placed on the rock Christ Jesus, shown sufficient gratitude to this adorable Being, by casting in so little of their substance into the treasuries of our Education Societies? Is there nothing alarm ing in the fact that when Christians open their purses and throw so largely into the treasuries of our Bible Societies, there is so much supineness here? Is there not something still more alarming in the fact that after they have furnished our Bible committees with sufficient money to supply our country with Bibles, they are helping them with so much zeal to turn their attention to foreign lands, while our Education Societies are suffered to be so cramped in their exertions to bring forward preachers of the gospel? Are they paying proper attention to the command of Christ, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," when this is the case? Beloved in the Lord, when I read that the Baptist Board of Education is so straitened for funds, that its directors are obliged to open their mouths with many arguments, and plead for aid, not for hundreds of their young men, as they should and would, if they had sufficient encouragement, but for the additional number of eleven only, without venturing to predict what will be the result: and when I see the American Education Society reduced to the utmost extremity, and only saved from a retrograde march by the timely aid of one of its tried friends, who at the last hour came forward with his thousand dollars, (I love to dwell upon such noble actions,) I will venture to say, they do not pay proper attention to it.

The calls for ministers of the gospel in our land are as loud as the extent of a third and more of our population. A heart-rending fact indeed! Let us hear what is said by those who are most competent judges on this subject. In the American Baptist Magazine for April, 1832, it is stated, "According to a late estimate the number of ministers in the American Baptist churches is as three to five, leaving two out of every five destitute of a pastor. But this estimate of the proportion of pastors to the number of churches is quite too high. In it are included all licentiates, many of whom are in a course of study, all superannuated ministers also, and those employed as professors, teachers, agents, and missionaries, so that in fact about one half of our churches are destitute of pastors"! From this statement it appears that about 2,000 of their churches are destitute of settled ministers. An agent of the Education Society in the valley of the Mississippi says, "While we have often had occasion to thank God and take courage, in view of what our eastern brethren have done for us in the distribution of tracts and Bibles, in the establishment of Sabbath schools, and in the successful labors of their missionaries among our destitute population, yet we have been deeply impressed with the fact that all the means of moral improvement, however important, can never bring the great mass of our community under the influence of the gospel, without an able and faithful ministry; and that the great work to be done is to raise up hundreds of our pious, gifted and indigent young men. While our brethren at the east have often read and heard of the great want of ministers at the west, it has been the painful experience of ministers and churches here, to witness as well as deplore the moral desolations of Zion in every division around them; to see hundreds of churches anxious to enjoy the labors of stated pastors, favored only at distant intervals with irregular and occasional preaching, and hundreds of other important and promising posts of usefulness, where new churches might be immediately formed and built up, if laborers could be procured to occupy them. If we now had a thousand additional ministers, of able and devoted character, they might all within the current year be located in the heart of this great valley, in important and promising stations for usefulness." One of our Education