Monthly Chronicle. REPORT OF THE REV. J. C. HYATT, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE THAMES AGENCY. We are approaching the season of the year when the anniversaries of our religious and benevolent societies will create excitement and interest, not only throughout the metropolis, but in almost every part of our land. How many thousands will assemble to receive the information imparted, and listen to the eloquence displayed, on these occasions. But amongst all the institutions which will demand a share of public countenance and support is there one that has stronger and more urgent claims than the British and Foreign Sailor's Society? Are not the interests of all, in some measure, identified with its success ? If they send forth the missionary, with the bible and the tract, who carries him to the distant scene of his labour? And shall we seek the conversion of the heathen, and be indifferent to the interests of the very men, to whose skill and courage we entrust the precious freight designed to bless the inhabitants of distant shores? When the ambassador of peace has opened his commission, and entered on his work, who may become one of the greatest hindrances to his success? Is it not the ungodly sailor? And, on the other hand, who may prove the source of the greatest encouragement and strength to him, amidst the disappointments and trials of his work? The pious and devoted seamen. How delightful when it can be said of every vessel (as it can be said of one well known among our agents) that every sailor on board, from the captain to the cabin boy, is a praying, and it may be hoped, a pious character. How cheering to the missionary when be can feel a confidence, as he sees the tall masts and the white sails rising to his view in the distant horizon, that they are approaching who will cheer his drooping spirits by their christian converse, and deepen the impressions of his ministry on the minds of the heathen, by their holy example: and when the visits of our seamen to the scenes of missionary enterprize shall be hailed as a blessing-not dreaded as a curse. We are happy to know that the friends of missions sympathize with us in these views of the connection existing between our several societies, and that they are disposed to rejoice in our success as auxiliary to their own. May the time come when not British seamen only, but the sailors of every land, shall be "holiness to the Lord!" AGENTS' MEETING:-HELD ON FRIDAY EVENING, 20th APRIL. The meeting of the agents on the 20th of April, furnished ample grounds of encouragement in our work. The more the operations of this society, and its affiliated institutions, are enquired into, the more apparent will be the effects that have been produced, in raising the character, and improving the condition, of our seamen. These results may not be visible to the casual observer. Their vices are flagrant and above board; but when religion takes possession of the heart, and they become new creatures in Christ Jesus, they withdraw from scenes of dissipation in which they have hitherto appeared, and in private, removed from general observation, become examples of piety, as they have formerly been notorious for sin. The following report will furnish some few details of the labours of the society during the past month. AGENTS' REPORT. Mr. PALMER'S Report.-Since my abode at Shadwell, I have seen and known more of the wretched depravity of seamen, and the low characters that fill up a maritime neighbourhood, than in all my past experience of 20 years and more, generally engaged in the sailor's cause. Because then, comparatively speaking, it was at a distance, but now intimately near, even to touch and feel, and therefore do I especially rejoice, that there are any exceptions from this extensive dissipation, drunkenness, and blasphemy, which as the Indian caste, binds men, families, and the neighbourhood together by strong and powerful bands, which nothing but the omnipotent power of God can break. And oh, what an unusual winter of suffering and misery have we past through. Hundreds of sailors passing about the streets for days, for weeks, for months; without ships, without food-without clothes-without home. My house has been literally besieged, and I have been compelled to leave it occasionally, as the only relief from continued woe. Then storm after storm wreck after wreck-loss after losslife after life-increasing up to thousands. Oh, how soul-sickened have I been, again and again-letters sent to me from wives, enquiring for their husband's safetyfrom brothers enquiring for their brothers from seamen enquiring for their messmates-from parents enquiring after their children. Some are drowned—some just escaped, or only one or two saved of a whole ship's company-some ill-others in hospitals, being greatly bruised or injured, during the dreadful circumstances in which they were placed. How great the uncertainty-how fearful the perplexity-how deep the sorrow-how general the mourning which so universally prevailed! I have known some good men (sailors) who have been passed home by the parish, and who lost all they had have stood up in my house in clothes entirely borrowed, or given to them by others. Many skilful mariners and good captains have lost their ships, and their all, and have been driven to the greatest extremity. Who then can face God when he appeareth in the tempest and in the storm? But I have reason to believe by events that have come to my knowledge, that this, even this, has been sanctified and blessed of God to some who have survived these most fearful calamities, seeing it has led them to think-to sorrow for sin-to pray to God, and to believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May this most blessed effect more extensively extend and prevail. Amidst all this, and much more that might be mentioned, it is encouraging to know, that God's cause is going on. The accounts are most satisfactory respecting the seamen at Hartlepool, where a great revival of religion, has lately taken place. Many of the captains and crews of the vessels from Scarborough also, are taking an increasing, decided, and devoted I have held lately several Bethel meetings on board those ships, and can see an evident change for the better-an improvement among them. This I have not seen lately among the seamen from Shields and Sunderland. At my services, I aim to have two sailors to pray before the address, and two to follow, and I think I can see the good effect upon the seamen's hearts, for in this way some have been led to pray to God who never prayed at least in public before. It being spring many of our friends have left us, and some on foreign voyages; but it was not until we met them, either a few nights before their departure, or on the last night previous to their sailing, to give them our course. parting counsel, and to commend them to God in solemn prayer. These services were well attended and peculiarly interesting. Several instances of good effected on the minds of seamen have come to my notice, particularly one, the captain of a ship, from Rochester, who, I believe, is savingly converted to God-but this, time will prove. During my visitation among shipping on the Thames, I was glad to see the Bethel flag flying, not raised by the agents of this Society, but by the captains of the ships, for the purpose of holding services among themselves. May the Lord prosper them in this good work. There was a circumstance which, I think, I ought to mention, namely, a service about a month since, on board one of the Scarborough vessels. The captain is a good man, and several of his crew praying characters. I was informed, that in the course of the afternoon of the same day, a man belonging to a ship, fell overboard, and was nearly drowned. This led me to address them from Deuteronomy xxxii. 29. "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end." to In the course of the address, I referred cases of deliverance from drowning, which came under my own notice, and which God had over-ruled for good, and then said in conclusion-my dear brethren, if you cannot remember the whole of the address, take the text-pray over it—and go to the ship, and go to that sailor who fell in the Thames, and was nearly drowned this afternoon, and repeat it to him, and who can tell whether God may not have mercy on his soul. At these words, a sailor on my left hand, said in a whisper, He is here-there he is, pointing to him. We sung a verse of a hymn, and were about to close in prayer, when the sailor, whose life had just been preserved, burst forth, confessing his sins, and imploring the mercy of God, and this in a manner so At the expiration of the first year of this Auxiliary's existence it devolves upon your committee to present an account of its present position. It affords us pleasure to reflect that through the instrumentality of this Auxiliary, hundreds of British seamen "have heard words whereby they might be saved," and that upon their own admission repeatedly made, seamen visiting this port have not to say during the past year, "'no man careth for our souls." Christians cannot too earnestly pray that the Gospel which they have heard publicly and from ship to ship may prove a savour of life unto life, and not of death unto death. From the list which your missionary has kept of meetings held, tracts distributed, &c. it appears that up to the present time 339 services have been conducted, considerably upwards of 200 have been held on board ships; 5500 tracts have been distributed and put in circulation; about 2200 vessels visited; and about 50 copies of the scriptures sold or gratuitously bestowed. Your committee have also to state, that owing to the wideness of the field of operation, they saw it necessary to engage an additional agent in the work, MR. MILNE, the individual engaged was himself a sailor, and has for some time past been labouring at Dundee for the immortal welfare of his brother seamen. We now proceed to lay before you a detail of the Auxiliary's operations, taking up the various departments of labour in the order in which they stand in the scheme of effort originally prepared. I. The visitation of the shipping. This important branch of the work has been uniformly attended to by your agent;-besides partial visitations on various days of the week, Fridays have been usually devoted to visiting the stations on the lower part of the river, and Saturdays to visiting the vessels lying at the Quay, in order to accomplish among other objects that of pressing them to an attendance on the sabbath days' means of grace :-conversation with the men on the necessity of "repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ," being the primary object of visitation is always sought by the missionary, and a tract left, which may speak in his absence. When an opportunity seems to call for it, prayer is proposed in the forecastle or in the cabin. Opportunities for lengthened conversation on week days are of course chiefly to be found when the business of the day is over. Those visits have been generally acceptable, the tracts thankfully received, and often earnestly sought. Although on some occasions religion has been opposed and its professors spoken against, yet with very few exceptions, seamen have listened with the utmost attention while their missionary has reminded them of the voyage to eternity which they are daily and hourly prosecuting, the necessity of all diligent effort to make for the port of peace, the importance of the compass and chart which God has provided them with in his word, and the duty of daily consulting it, and carefully steering according to its directions. At such times seamen often state the difficulties they find in their attempts to serve God on board ships, and the temptations to which they are exposed when on shore. The missionary thus relates an interesting case of this kind which occurred in one of his visitations-"I met with a young sailor about seventeen years of age, who spoke with tears of the treatment he received from the ship's company in consequence of giving up his dissipated and swearing habits to which he said he had been greatly addicated-he freely opened his mind to me, and asked my advice as to how he ought to act-he felt exceedingly glad and thankful that I had met with him and conversed with him-as his bible had been stolen from him, I recommended him to go home with me as I should give him one for a shilling-he went, and before parting I engaged in prayer with him, he said he would count that as the day of his reformation, and desired me to write to his father and tell him how I had found him, "but mind sir," said he, with great simplicity "I have much badness about me for all this." The circumstances in which another copy of the scriptures was disposed of are also interesting, the missionary relates," in going my usual round of the shipping, and looking down into one of the forecastles, I espied cards in the hands of the sailors; I addressed them in a friendly manner, urging them to a better employment of their time, and recommending, especially on a Saturday night, the reading of the scriptures or some religious book. But bible they had none, and their present employment was excused on the ground that they had no books, and that it was better to be doing that, than spending their money on shore in drunkenness. I proposed to bring them a New Testament-they pleaded inability to buy one, on my telling them they could have one so low as sixpence, one of them immediately expressed his willingness to have one. I went home and brought it, and found on my return that the cards had been dismissed. They received the Testament and some tracts with thankfulness, and after giving them a word of exhortation, we parted. In visiting the vessels some months after, I was accosted by a sailor in a pleasant tone of voice, which intimated he had met with me before. On my hinting this, he asked me if I did not remember bringing a Testament to a ship's company? I asked if it was the company that I found playing at cards? He said it was. I asked if they had ever used the cards since? He answered they had not. Have you the Testament on board with you now? No, said he, I left it at home, but I have on board with me this voyage both a bible and prayer book. Foreign vessels have not been neglected in these visitations, your missionary has boarded a considerable number of German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and French ships, when according to the best of his ability, he has attempted to call their attention to the concerns of eternity, by conversation and reading to them portions of scripture, tracts, and evangelical hymns, composed in their own languages. Often have they stood on the deck on such occasions. listening with devout attention, and replying to the enquiry if they understood, with their emphatic affirmative. II. Visitations of Families on shore.-The families of sailors and watermen resident near the port have when discovered been repeatedly visited; this has chiefly been done in the North Shore, the east part of the town, and in the Keelman's |