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Missionary Operations.

PORT OF LONDON.

CAPTAIN PRYNN'S REPORT.

In the midst of our multiplied labours, it would be strange were there no discouragements. But, although this is the case, yet they are more than counterbalanced by our encouragements; and whilst the enemies of the Cross would exult in pouring contempt upon the cause in which we are engaged, saying many things that are wrong, yet the Lord reigneth in righteousness, and he will frustrate the designs of wicked men.-It would hardly be supposed that after this Society has been in constant and extensive operation for the space of thirty years, acknowledged and supported by all denominations of Christians, that persons could be found bold and base enough to attempt to impose upon the unsuspecting public, by stating that it no longer exists, that its labours have long since ceased, and that they themselves are solely engaged in the labours which it once professed. But such is even the case, as I myself have found, and that, too, in the port of London, where, it is not saying too much to state, that at no period since the formation of the Society in 1818, (which the writer well recollects,) has there been so many evidences of its usefulness, or such a display of the power of divine grace in the moral and religious character of the sailors of Britain. I trust that, by referring to this subject here, some of the evil results to be expected from this fraud will be averted.

On the river Thames, this past month, my conversation with captains, mates, and sailors, has been of a most pleasing and profitable nature, with however two exceptions.—The first, when an uncivil mate of a vessel gave me rather a coarse reception, and insolently asked me what business I had on board the vessel. I told him my object was purely for the benefit of himself and other sailors. "Well," replied he, "stay till you are sent for, before you come here again." I wished him to take a tract, but he would not; he wanted no tracts; he could get to heaven without tracts or Bibles either. I left tracts, however, with some of the crew, and disposed of a Bible to one of them. May the Lord cause his blessing to rest upon the perusal of this book, and may the prejudices of the mate of this vessel give way, and his heart be renewed by the power of divine grace. The other occurred when visiting the vessels in the London Docks, and conversing with a captain lately arrived from Odessa. He said, "I suppose you make a good thing of it with your Bibles and tracts, but if I know any of my people to have dealings with you, I'll discharge them." I replied, "Sir, you would surely have no objection to your men or boys having Bibles." "I'll take care there shall be no Bible in my ship, if I know it, and I insist upon your not leaving any of your trash of tracts on board. I will order them to be burnt; and the sooner you leave my ship the better-I don't want such customers as you are." However, I have since repeated my visit, and left tracts, when the mate told me the captain was a complete deist, and never attended any place of religious worship.What an example for sailors! There were three apprentices in this vessel,— what an awful training for those unfortunate youths thus placed!

I have also had two disappointments in my services on the river; one on board a vessel lying at Bell Wharf Tier, where neither Bethel flag nor the

well-known signal, the lantern, at night, had been hoisted, but I gathered three together, and two of them and myself prayed, and truly the Lord was in our midst. The other disappointment was, when a meeting was to be held on board the John of Shields, the vessel of our old friend and Christian Captain, John Robson. The violence of the weather, on this occasion, prevented my getting on board. My other services on the river (ten in number) have been well attended, and I trust rendered blessings to many who attended them. Those held on board the Fairy Queen, the Richmond Packet, and the Laura, Harding, in the Upper Pool, were particular seasons of the manifested presence of God; also at those on board the Robert and Ellen, the Wave, and the George and Ann, in the Lower Pool, the prayers of our pious sailors were most earnest and refreshing. I have had an opportunity of conversing with, and also of distributing tracts to many of the inland bargemen, who come down the Thames, and amongst whom, I am happy to say, there are some who love and fear God.

THE SAILORS' CHURCH.

The services at the Sailors' Church continue much the same as in my last report; they are of an encouraging nature, and we have reason to hope are owned and honoured of God to the salvation of many souls.

The visitation of sailors' lodging-houses has been attended to, and tracts have been numerously distributed, Bibles sold, conversation held with the sailors, their attention called to attend the means of grace, and at times I have heard the confession, "Oh, sir, I am a poor wicked sailor; I can't help it-there is no religion on board ships, and when we get on shore, you know, master, we never think about it; so betwixt one and the other there is no wonder if we are cast away at last." This was the language of a sailor to me about three weeks since. It is to be hoped our regular visits to these houses will be attended with salutary effects, through the blessing of God, to many a prodigal, to many a backslider, to many that are far off, so that they may be brought nigh by the precious blood of Christ.

I have been much engaged in the chambers of the sick and dying, this month; and have been graciously supported in pointing the dying to Christ, and in the attempts to comfort and console those whose minds were filled with fears and doubts. May the Lord bless those visits, and cause all to tend to the glory of his great name!

MR. S. LONSDALE'S REPORT.

Another month has passed away, and I am called again to give an account of my work amongst my brother sailors. I trust, that by the grace of God I may do it faithfully, so that when the great day of the Lord shall come I may be able to render in my account with joy. Two or three of the services I have held on shipboard have not been so well attended as I could have wished. On one occasion the tier parted, and two ships near the one in which I had the meeting were taking in their ballast. We only numbered six. Sometimes we find it difficult to persuade the men to attend. Sailors are like other men, naturally disinclined to attend the means of grace, for the carnal mind is, as it always has been, enmity against God. But, notwithstanding, some of our services have been truly encouraging. At one on board of the William, Captain B- a goodly number were present, and I felt my own soul much blessed while holding forth the Word of Life. At the close of the address the captain engaged in prayer, and after him an old seaman. I was struck with the simplicity and earnestness of his petition. He confessed his

sins before God, and asked for grace to help him from that time never to offend his Maker again. The captain told me that it was the first time he had known him to engage in prayer. He was much gratified, and said from that circumstance he was determined to have the means of grace on board of his ship at all opportunities. I visited the ship next morning, and had some conversation with the old man, who told me that he never felt so much affected under the word of God before, and he felt it to be his duty to call upon God in public. I trust that God will strengthen his faith, and give him grace to persevere to the end. I held another service on board of the Royal Oak. The captain had not had one on board before. He said it was a long time since he had been to the means of grace, and he would gladly hoist the Bethel Flag at any time when he had an opportunity. Some of our Bethel meetings, I trust, have been made a blessing, under God, to the souls of our sailors; we have his promises to cheer us, and we shall reap if we faint not. I have also attended to the visiting of the ships lying in the river. This part of our work is important; much religious conversation is entered into with the sailors, and we are careful to ask if they take the Bible to sea with them; and when one is purchased we exhort the sailor to read it and become acquainted with the way to eternal life. I have also visited a great number of sailing barges, giving the men tracts, and selling them many copies of the Scriptures. There are large tiers of them in the upper part of the pool. I have sold as many as six Bibles and three Testaments in one tier-and thus, the word of God is being circulated. I have attended the docks when I have had an opportunity'; there, also, we have endeavoured to do good. One day, on boarding a Guernsey schooner, I offered my Bibles for sale, which, when the price was stated, the sailors gladly bought. I sold on board that vessel eleven Testaments and three Bibles, and on boarding another I sold four Bibles and three Testaments. We trust that much good will result from the circulation of the Scriptures. It is a great mercy that our sailors are being provided with the word of God; numbers who had it not have been supplied. I have paid as much attention to the Sailors' lodging-houses as I have been able. I have not met with so many sailors there this month as I have done previously. Sometimes I have had the privilege of exhorting the sailor to flee to Christ as his only refuge. On the 25th of this month, in one of my visits, I met with several with whom I had much interesting conversation; they seemed glad that there were those who cared for their souls. One of them told me he had been in no place where sailors were so much looked after as in London. Those of them who needed the Scriptures I supplied, and they promised they would attend the Sailors' Church. One morning, in company with my brother Bailey, we called at a few lodging-houses, and at one we sold six Bibles and four Testaments. Our attendance of sailors at the Church is often very cheering; vast numbers hear the word of eternal life there; as one congregation leaves us, to traverse the great deep, another comes, so that we are never without them, though, at times, our numbers may differ. I pray that the word which is preached there may be made a great blessing, and that the time may soon come, which is often prayed for, when the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto God. During the past month I have held 11 services afloat, attended by 133 sailors, and 4 on shore. I have attended 4 public meetings. I have also paid 528 visits to ships, and 246 to Sailors' lodging-houses. I have sold 63 Bibles and 64 Testaments, and have distributed 2,293 tracts and 30 old magazines.

MR. H. V. BAILEY'S REPORT.

We rejoice to know that many of those that go down to the sea in ships, and do business in great waters, are partakers of Divine grace, but, alas! by far the greater part are living without God, and without hope. In visiting from vessel to vessel we have frequently the opportunity of seeing the enmity of the carnal mind displayed; two or three cases I will give, that have come under my notice during the past month. One morning, in visiting a tier of vessels lying in the Upper Pool, I presented a tract to a mate of a vessel; instantly he flew into a rage, and asked me if I thought that thing (referring to the tract) could do him any good. I waited a moment, until I thought his anger was in some measure abated, and then replied, "Yes, my friend, if you have any desire to save your soul, it will afford you instruction.' Finding he still refused the tract, I held out to him a copy of the sacred Scriptures, asking him if he possessed the word of God, but the very sight of the heavenly book seemed to increase his rage, and in a violent passion he replied, "I'll take good care that I'll have nothing to do with your Bibles." Finding he was determined not to hearken to anything I might say, I persevered in distributing my tracts to the men and lads on board the vessel. On another occasion, in visiting the Regent's Canal, while conversing with a ship's crew, I found one of the men an anxious inquirer after salvation; I at once felt a desire to hold a service on board the vessel to which this man belonged. I went to the cabin and solicited the captain to grant me the use of his cabin that evening for a Bethel service; he replied, in a very angry tone, "Never, while I am master, shall my cabin be used for such a purpose.' morning, in visiting a vessel lying in the Lower Pool, I began distributing my tracts, but found the men and lads very reluctant to receive them; at the same time looking intently at their master, who stood close by, I soon saw by his frowns that I was an unwelcome visitor, and as if fearful I should offer him a tract, or speak a word to him about his soul, he hastened away to his cabin. As soon as the crew saw he was gone, they flocked around me, received my tracts joyfully, and purchased several Bibles and Testaments. In boarding vessels, I am often assailed by a volley of imprecations from the Irish coalwhippers, who I often hear say, "Ah, indeed, it is all up with us now; we shall have no more luck, now the parson is come." And I have also had occasion to reprove some of them for trying to prevent the lads on board reading our tracts.-These are some of the obstructions I meet with in the prosecution of my work.

Another

But often my visits are received with gratitude. In visiting a vessel a few mornings since, I found the master to be a pious man; on entering his cabin, I found him sitting with the Bible open before him. He informed me that for several days his mind had been much cast down, but he had just been consulting his spiritual chart, and had opened on the 121st Psalm; and, whilst reading it, he was so overpowered with a sense of the divine goodness, that he had to enter his state-room and pour out his soul in prayer. After we had conversed a few moments about the things pertaining to the kingdom of Christ, we blended our supplications at the throne of grace, where this tried servant of Christ found grace to help in time of need.

My services during the month have not been crowded, but we have had the presence of the great Head of the Church, who has said, wherescever two or three are met in his name, there will He also be. I wish for a moment to refer more particularly to two of my services. One held on board of the Emsworth of Sunderland. A captain, who was present, was once distinguished as a man