Dakotas. LETTERS FROM MR. RIGGS. Across a ravine from the mission houses, stands a hewed log house, covered with bark. Formerly it was farther off, and had a shingle roof. It was built by Mr. Renville, many years ago. It is still the MR. RIGGS wrote a letter, on the 16th of Feb-residence of his sons, when here. At the ruary, in which he described the prospects of the missionary work at Lac-qui-parle; but owing to the unusual severity of the winter, it did not reach the Missionary House till a short time since. It is due to the mission, however, that some parts of this communication should be published, even at this late date. Converted young Indians. After stating that there are many things which tend to discourage missionaries among the Dakotas at the present time, Mr. Riggs says that there are other facts of a more hopeful character. He mentions, in particular, the case of several young men, members of his church, who are evidently "a comfort" unto him. His account of them is as follows: Lorenzo Lawrence is improving in character and influence. Naturally he is very impulsive and unstable; but he has obtained the mastery of himself to a good degree, and is becoming more and more decidedly and consistently Christian in all his deportment. He is one of the three young men whom we took to Ohio in 1842. He speaks some English, and reads and understands more. Lorenzo was never indolent; and since he was in Ohio, he has taken hold of labor with a good deal of energy; though, as might be expected, he does not always apply himself to the best advantage. Last summer he and his brother Joseph raised about one hundred and fifty barrels of potatoes, besides other vegetables. This not only places them above want, but enables them to assist the needy around them. Their mother is one of our best women. In years past they have been persecuted by other Indians, and often arrested in their plans; but as the "big men" have no more right in the land in these parts, it is not probable that they will meet with such hinderances in future. Lorenzo has three head of cattle; and although he would still be counted a poor man in New England, yet here he is accounted rich; and he proposes to give forty or fifty dollars towards the erection of a new place of worship, which we shall need in a year or two, as our house of sunburnt bricks threatens to fall down. Joseph is also a church member; but he has less energy than his brother, and still dresses in the Indian costume. present time it is occupied by Michelle Renville, the third son, and the youngest but one of eight children. He was once the scapegrace of the family, a most reckless fellow. When Mrs. G. H. Pond taught school here, he threw a slate at her across the room with such force, that if she had not dodged it, it might have seriously injured her. But years have passed by, and M. Renville has come to man's estate. He has a wife and two children; and "behold he prayeth." In former years he seldom came to meeting, preferring to spend his Sabbaths in visiting the Dakota lodges. Now he is in his place; and he takes part likewise in our weekly prayer meeting. The second day of this month he was examined by the session, and received as a member of this church. His wife has been a member for several years. He refers the impressions which have resulted in producing the present change, to the sickness of his eldest (then his only) child in September and October last. As a class the Dakota half-breeds are not overstocked with energy; and they spend a good deal of their time in smoking. Many of them are not trustworthy; for they are easily led away by designing persons. But M. Renville has more enterprise, and is more independent, than most others. In these respects he is superior to his older brothers; and I trust his influence will be felt in favor of the cause of Christ, as it has been on the other side. After alluding to another of the young men whom Mr. Riggs had with him in Ohio ten years ago, now a trader at the village above Dr. Williamson's, he says: "In fact, the results of this mission are more and greater, than we ourselves are oftentimes in a state of mind to appreciate.” Schools. On the 4th of March, Mr. Riggs wrote again, as follows: "This forenoon we have had an ex amination and exhibition of our schools. Quite a number of spectators were present, including the old chief. The classes of the Miss Spooners in English appeared very well. They were examined in spelling, reading, arithmetic and geography; and they sung and performed various tunes and airs, both in English and Dakota, to the great gratification of the audience. My Da- | the affair went off well for the first effort of the kota scholars read and sung A. B. C. D., &c., kind; and I trust that its influence will be and "Niyate ka," &c. We all thought that good." Proceedings of other Societies. Domestic. AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION. THIS Society held its annual meeting at Albany, May 19. From the abstract of the Annual Report presented on that occasion, it appeared that the receipts of the previous year, including $15,395 62 from other societies and $4,000 from the United States Government, amounted to $134,112 17; and that the expenditures were $135,344 28. The state of the missions will be inferred from the following survey: Maulmain Burman Mission. 2 stations, 7 outstations; 9 missionaries, one a printer; 9 female assistants; 8 native assistants. There has been Burmese preaching at the Maulmain mission chapel, at the school stations, and in other localities on the Sabbath; and the native assistants occupy seven stations for daily preaching. Two supply the Amherst station. The Burmese chapel congregation has averaged 150, and that at the English chapel, 80. The Burman church has received twelve members and excluded three; seven have died; and the present number is 133. The English church numbers 19, and the church at Amherst 29. The schools, embracing 42 boarding and 470 day scholars, have been prosecuted with the usual success. Maulmain Karen Mission. been baptized since July; and a school of 185 pupils has been gathered. Tavoy Mission. 2 stations, 17 outstations; 7 missionaries, 7 female assistants; about 20 native assistants. The churches continue to advance in character and efficiency. Some have been severely tried; but they maintain their steadfastness. Seventyfour baptisms are reported. The school for boys and native assistants at Tavoy numbered nearly 50, and made satisfactory progress. Twelve or fifteen of the pupils, it was hoped, would spend the dry season in preaching. The Burmese and English school has 80 scholars; but it has felt the want of efficient superintendence. Mrs. Thomas has taught a girls' school of 42 pupils, several of whom give evidence of piety, and all have made gratifying improvement. Among the Burmese of Tavoy and Mergui, there is an evident interest in the subject of Christianity; and Mr. Benjamin has found much to encourage him in his labors for the Salongs. Arracan Mission. 2 stations, 2 outstations; 3 missionaries, 4 female assistants; 8 native assistants. Besides stated services on Sundays, preaching and conversation have been kept up daily at one zayat through the year; and two others in Akyab have been occupied more or less. There have been numerous visitors, and the Sabbath congre 2 stations, 17 outstations; 4 missionaries, 6 female gations have increased. A female prayer meetassistants; 45 native assistants. Some of the churches have suffered greatly from the war, and others by epidemic diseases; but such as were free from these evils, have been generally prosperous. Exclusive of Rangoon district, the baptisms were 59; and the present number of members is 861. The theological school, taught only one regular term, had 28 pupils. The normal school has had an attendance of 50; 34 of the pupils being members of the church, and seven having been baptized during the year. The two Karen boardingschools at Maulmain had 80 pupils. Mr. Vinton began to labor at Rangoon as soon as the city was taken by the English; and, with his native assistants, he has found abundant opportunity for evangelical efforts. The people are eager to hear; and not a few believe. Seventy-five have ing has been sustained, and there have been some inquirers. Native assistants are stationed at Kyouk Phyoo and Ramree; the latter reports some serious persons. Twelve Burmans and two among the Kemees have been baptized. The church is improving. A day school taught at Kyouk Phyoo six months had 25 scholars. Mr. Knapp has found more encouragement than heretofore to labor for the Kemees, and has gathered a number of young men into a school at Akyab. Sandoway Mission. 2 stations, 44 outstations; 5 missionaries, 4 female assistants; 44 native assistants. The reports from the churches, before the outbreak of war, exhibited them in a prosperous and progressive state. There were 288 baptisms Ningpo Mission. 1 station; 3 missionaries, 3 female assistants; 2 native assistants. reported. On the commencement of hostilities the missionaries left Sandoway. Bassein having been taken by the English, Messrs. Abbott and Van Meter repaired thither in July, as did Mr. Religious services have been held through the Beecher subsequently. The Karens had endured year in one chapel, mainly by native assistants. dreadful sufferings from the Burmans, who treat- Dr. Macgowan held a Sabbath service during a ed them as enemies. Many had been swept away part of the year. A new and commodious chapel by cholera, among them five native preachers. has been erected; and another is occupied in While hostilities continued, they fought in self-connection with the dispensary. The congregadefence, and their bravery was commended by tions are large and increasingly attentive. Three the English. Multitudes flocked to the mission-native converts, with a son of Mr. Goddard, have aries for instruction. Ava Mission. 1 station, I outstation; 2 missionaries, 2 female assistants; 4 native assistants. Messrs. Kincaid and Dawson resumed their residence at Rangoon as soon as it was entered by the English forces. For several months, anarchy and violence agitated the country; but the work of the mission went on with little interruption. Stated religious services were commenced in June; and the congregations are large. Thirteen have been baptized, and a church has been organized at the outstation. There are two day schools, with forty pupils. Dr. Dawson is in charge of a hospital, which has admitted 112 patients. A zayat, on the hospital premises, is occupied for daily preaching. The country is open; quiet is restored; and the people in all directions are ready to hear the gospel. Mission to Siam. 1 station, 2 outstations; 3 missionaries, 4 female assistants; 3 Chinese assistants. The mission has prosecuted its work without interruption. The Chinese church numbers 35 members; one has died; two have been baptized; and one candidate for baptism is reported. Five Siamese are also professed converts, some of them giving very good evidence of sincerity. Mrs. Jones, with ladies of other missions, teaches a class at the royal palace. The truths of Christianity are freely taught, and with apparent good effect. The people are everywhere accessible; but until the mission is reinforced, little itinerant preaching can be done. Hongkong Mission. 1 station, 4 outstations; 2 missionaries, 4 native assistants. At Hongkong and the outstations, the missionaries have labored as usual. Three have been baptized; and there are several candidates. Cases of apparent conversion and hopeful death are sometimes heard of, where opportunity was wanting for a public profession. There are four schools for boys, having an average attendance of 50. A school for girls has been commenced by the wife of the native assistant, at her own suggestion, but with the warm approval of the mission. been baptized; and there are two candidates for baptism. A school for boys has 25 pupils; and one for girls, lately commenced, has fifteen pupils, who have made remarkable proficiency. Mission to Assam. 3 stations; 7 missionaries, 7 female assistants; 5 native assistants. At Sibagor the girls' school possesses undiminished interest. One pupil has been baptized; and a brahmin widow at the same time renounced her proud caste in baptism. At Nowgong, the Orphan Institution has been in an interesting spiritual state. Five pupils have been baptized, and six others desired to be. A durable and convenient chapel has been ereeted at Gowahati by the liberality of the English residents. A member of the boarding school has been baptized; and there are two candidates. Preaching in the villages has been pursued to a considerable extent, with much encouragement. Mission to the Teloogoos. 1 station; 2 missionaries, 2 female assistants; 2 native assistants. The principal work of the missionaries is preaching in Nellore and the villages around. The hearers are numerous and attentive. The native assistants aid the missionaries in preaching, and distribute Scriptures and tracts. One convert has been baptized; a promising candidate for baptism is reported ; and several members of the boarding school manifest much tenderness of feeling. The school numbers 25 pupils; and there is a day school having the same number. Though the immediate results are small, the field is one of great promise, and claims diligent care. Mission to the Bassas. 2 stations; 2 missionaries, 4 female assistants; 4 native assistants. The church numbers sixteen, one having been baptized the past year; and there are some other hopeful converts. The boarding-school at Bexley has 20 pupils, the Sabbath school, 40; the day school at Little Bassa, 16, and the Sabbath school, 20 pupils. The reinforcement finds the assistants well spoken of, and looks forward to its work in Africa with pleasure and hope. Mission to Germany. kees, sixty baptisins are reported. Some of the Cherokee churches approximate the condition of self-supporting bodies; they lament the loss by death, however, of two valued native preachers. There are in these missions four boarding schools, with 95 pupils, and three day schools, with abou! 124 pupils, reported as prosperous. The boarding-school in the Cherokee mission is more numerously attended than any other in the nation. That among the Delawares has made good progress; and eight of its pupils were baptized during the year. Recapitulation. The number of missions is 19, embracing 88 stations and 112 outstations, besides more than 400 places of stated preaching in Germany and 40 stations; 3 missionaries and 24 other native France. Connected with the missions are 64 preachers and assistants. The intolerance of several governments has continued to affect the mission injuriously; but assurances have been given of a more liberal policy in Prussia. The churches, numbering 42, have 4,215 members; and 647 were baptized during the year. Individuals in Russia and Lithuania are believed to have been converted through influences from some of these churches The church at Hamburg has received 50 members; those in Bremen and the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg are prosperous and efficient. In Elberfield and its vicinity, as also in Cologne, an interest is awakened which promises much. Mission to Greece. 3 stations; 2 missionaries, 3 female assistants; 1 native assistant. Preaching and the instruction of a Bible class on the Sabbath have scarcely been interrupted at Athens throughout the year. The usual services at the Piræus were suspended for a month by the illness of Mrs. Buel. The audiences have been small, but attentive. Mr. Dickson has a day school of about 50 scholars at Corfu, and a Sabbath school that exerts an excellent influence. The Greek converts have generally honored their profession; and one associated with Mr. Arnold is an efficient helper. The tendencies of the popular mind are regarded as favorable to the progress of the truth. Indian Missions. missionaries, of whom 60 are preachers; and there are 66 female assistants. Eight missionaries and eleven female assistants have joined the missions during the year. The number of native preachers and assistants is 205; making the total of missionaries and assistants connected with the missions 336. There are 182 churches, having an estimated membership of 14,253, of which about 1,361 were added by baptism the past year. The number of schools is 81, including 24 boarding-schools, with 2,063 pupils. The number of pages printed in three of the missions, Maulmain, Tavoy and Ningpo, was 9,758,000. Foreign. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. THIS Society held its fifty-ninth anniversary at Exeter Hall, London, May 12, the Lord Mayor of London being in the chair. It appeared from the "cash statement" that the income of the society for the previous year had been £71,821. 1.6. This sum was made up of subscriptions, &c. in Great Britain, &c. (£55,368. 0. 11.,) legacies, (£3,519. 12 10..) and contributions at the missionary stations, (£12,933. 7. 9.) In the first of these items are included contributions for recommencing the Madagascar mission, (£7,857. 7. 10.,) and sacramental offerings for aged and infirm missionaries, widows and orphans, (£1,564. 8. 10.) The aggregate expend 4 missions; 11 stations, 9 outstations; 8 mission-iture was £65,992 0.9. This amount included aries, 8 female assistants; 8 native assistants. The Ottawas in Michigan propose to emigrate beyond the Mississippi, and to unite with their brethren in the Indian Territory. The merging of that mission, accordingly, is recommended. The church among the Ojibwas is feeble, and diminished in numbers; but the others are generally prosperous, increasing both their members and their influence. Among the Delawares, the Ottawas in the Indian Territory, and the Chero £1,000 for sufferers in South Africa, £279. 15. 6. for the Madagascar mission, and £1,899. 2. 1. for aged and infirm missionaries, widows and orphans. Dr. Tidman, one of the Secretaries of the society, read an abstract of the annual report, in which he presented the pastoral and itinerant duties of the missionaries, their efforts for the advancement of religious education, their measures for the preparation of a native ministry, the num The ber of students in the different seminaries being dressed the meeting in many appropriate At our services held on new year's day, 1851, I had prepared the minds of the people to expect the completion of the work, and proposed that, if practicable, those who intended to purchase a Bible, should without delay begin to procure the means of so doing, by preparing their arrow-root or fishing-net. In a few months subsequently I was much gratified in receiving payment for sixty Bibles. This occurred in the month of June last; for, at that time, we were daily expecting the John Williams; although, as you are aware, she had not then left England. Her detention excited many fears and doubts in the minds of our people; and, as week after week passed on, they would come to me full of anxiety and fear on account of her delay. It was painful, and yet pleasing, to hear their various surmises and conjectures. One would say, "Perhaps Barakoti is dead." Another would say, "The society cannot finish it. The translation is not completed. Our hopes will be disappointed.' But when the vessel actually hove in sight, on the 1st of March last, their joy was unbounded; and we were more than gratified in witnessing their diligence and zeal in bringing the heavy packages over the reef through the surf. Every able-bodied church-member continued to labor during the whole of two days, with great spirit and alacrity. As usual, when natives are engaged in drawing or carrying heavy burdens, they encouraged one another with the voice of song. As they brought the cases from the sea-side to our premises, their hearts were light and joyous, as they sang in their own language, The Word is come, The volume complete; It was with great difficulty that I restrained them from breaking open the boxes. I had obtained a specimen copy from Mr. Buzacott; and, going into their midst, I held it open before them; and upon seeing it, they gave utterance to their feelings in a loud and long continued shout of excited joy and pleasure. Thinking it an occasion in which some more regular and special service should be held, I announced that on the Monday following a public meeting should be held in the chapel. At an early hour our people assembled; and one case of Bibles having been carried into the tablepew, several of our church-members ad At our missionary prayer meeting an aged disciple rose and addressed us from Job v. 17-19. He said: "I have often spoken to you from a text out of other parts of the Bible which we had; but this is the first time we have seen the book of Job in our own language. It is a new book to us. When I received my Bible, I never slept until I had finished this new book of Job. I read it all. Oh what joy I felt in the wonderful life of this good man! Let us read the whole book. Let us go to the missionary, by day and by night, and inquire into the meaning of the new parts which we have not read. Let us be at his door when he rises; let us stop him when we meet him, that he may tell us of these new books." And lifting his new Bible before the congregation, with the excited energy of a feeble old man, he said: "My brethren and sisters, this is my resolve. The dust shall never cover my new Bible; the moths shall never eat it; the mildew shall never rot it! My light! My joy!' Dr. Tidman next reviewed the "trials and obstructions" of the past year. Tabiti, with its sad history, was again brought to the notice of the society. In describing the recent measures of the French Protectorate, he spoke as follows: By successive acts of authority the chapels, schools, and mission houses, previously in the undisturbed occupation of the missionaries, have been made national property; the people have been prohibited from keeping these buildings in repair, unless so directed by the government; and virtually they have also been forbidden to contribute their free-will offerings to the support of the mission. At length our missionaries, who had always preached whenever and wherever duty dictated, were restricted to the superintendence of a single congregation; then their labors were confined to a limited 1 1 1 |