all at his disposal, and renders all things subservient to his own glory; therefore we cheerfully go forth, assured that if the Lord has any thing for us to do among the heathen, we are safe until our work is done. We rejoice that our minds are kept stayed on God; and we can say with our dear missionary sister, Onward, in the strength of the Lord, is our motto.' Indeed, the hope of being useful among the convicts animates us, and reconciles us to the prospect of danger: but why do I talk of being exposed to danger; if our Saviour be at the helm, we need fear no evil, rather let us say "Christ is our pilot wise, Our compass is his Word; While we have such a Lord: We trust his faithfulness and power, To help in every trying hour." But we are aware that we need great grace, to enable us to walk wisely, and as becometh the Gospel of Christ; that we are only safe while kept by the mighty power of God; and that if left but for one moment, we fall into sin. I hope we shall be constantly looking to Jesus: may we be found in him, when we shall meet you again, not in this sinful world,—not in these mortal bodies, which clog our devotions, and chain our spirits down to earth when they would fain soar to heaven, but at the right hand of our heavenly Father, in a world where sin and sorrow can never enter, clothed upon with immortality, in a body like our dear Saviour's, and shall join with all the ransomed to sing his praises for ever. Surely we can say, if we had a thousand souls and bodies, we would devote them all to the service of Him who hath done so much for us." The cold was severe when the vessel sailed, but after crossing the Bay of Biscay, the weather became comparatively mild, and in three weeks from the date of their leaving England, they came in sight of the island of Madeira, at which the ship merely touched. In the course of a few weeks longer they reached Rio Janeiro, where the passengers were landed for a short time. While on shore, Mrs. Ellis was seized with a very severe illness, which threatened to prove fatal, but, by the blessing of God, she was so far restored, in a few days, as to embark with the other passengers, in the same ship in which she had sailed from England, and which proceeded, without farther delay, to New South Wales. After remaining a short time in that colony, the mission family secured a passage in a ship bound for Tahiti, and on the 10th of February 1817, little more than a year from the time when she had left her native land, Mrs. Ellis saw the place which had been the subject of many prayers, and was about to become the scene of her future exertions. On their arrival in Eimeo they were cordially welcomed by the Missionaries resident there, as well as by a number of Christian natives. The circumstances in which Mr. and Mrs. Ellis entered on their missionary work were in the highest degree encouraging. Idolatry had been extirpated scarcely more than twelve months before, and the Christian religion was now universally prevalent in the islands. The people were eagerly desirous of being instructed, and the arrival of a fresh reinforce ment of Christian teachers, therefore, was hailed as an event of the deepest interest. In such circumstances Mrs. Ellis felt it to be the highest honour to be called to impart that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation. In the course of a few weeks after their arrival, it was arranged that, along with two other Missionaries and their families, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis should occupy a new station at Afareaitu. Thither, accordingly, they removed, and though subjected to difficulties of no ordinary kind, Mrs. Ellis endured them with the utmost readiness; such was her singleness of heart in her Master's cause. Overlooking the mere temporary inconveniences to which she was exposed from the rude habits of the natives, she engaged in the work of a Missionary with the utmost ardour and enthusiasm. She began to study the language with the view of instructing the natives, and, in the meantime, she spent a considerable part of her time in teaching some of the native females to sew. During the spring and early part of the summer of 1818, both she and her affectionate partner suffered much from the severe and dangerous illness of their infant son. As medical assistance could not be procured nearer than at Papetoai, on the opposite side of the island, often did they travel to that station with great fatigue and danger. As a description of one of these journeys we may make the following beautiful and touching quotation from the Polynesian Researches, by Mr. Ellis : "Returning from one of them, night overtook us many miles before we reached our home: we travelled part of the way in a single canoe, but for several miles, where there was no passage between the reef and the shore, and the fragile bark was exposed without shelter to the long heavy billows of the Pacific, we proceeded along the beach, while the natives rowed the canoe upon the open sea. Two native female attendants alternately carried the child, while Mrs. Ellis and I walked on the shore, occasionally climbing over the rocks, or sinking up to our ankles in fragments of coral or sand; wearied with our walk, we were obliged to rest before we reached the place where we expected to embark again. Mrs. Ellis, unable to walk any further, sat down upon a rock of coral, and gave our infant the breast, while I hailed the natives, and directed them to bring the canoe over the reef, and take us on board. Happily for us, the evening was fair, the moon shone brightly, and her mild beams silvered the foliage of the shrubs that grew near the shore, and playing on the rippled and undulating wave of the ocean, added a charm to the singularity of the prospect, and enlivened the loneliness of our situation. The scene unusually impressive. I remember distinctly my feelings, as I stood wearied with my walk, leaning on a light staff by the side of a rock, on which Mrs. Ellis with our infant, was sitting, and behind which our female attendants stood. On one side, the mountains of the interior, having their outlines edged, as it were, with silver, from the rays of the moon, rose in lofty magnificence, while the indistinct form and diversified verdure of the shrubs and trees, increased the effect of the whole. On the other hand, was the illimitable sea, rolling in solemn majesty its waves over the rocks which defended the spot on which we stood. was The most profound silence pervaded the whole scene, and we might have fancied we were the only beings in existence, for no sound was heard, excepting the gentle rustling of the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, as the light breeze from the mountain swept through them; or the loud hollow roar of the surf, and the rolling of the foaming wave, as it broke over the distant reef, and the splashing of the paddles of our canoe as it approached the shore. It was impossible, at such a season, to behold the scene, exhibiting impressively the grandeur of creation and the insignificance of man, without experiencing emotions of adoring wonder and elevated devotion, and exclaiming with the Psalmist, 'When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him.'" The chief object for which the station at Afareaitu was temporarily occupied having been accomplished, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis set out with several other mission families, in June 1818, for the Society or Leeward Islands, where it was expected their settlement would be more permanent. On arriving at Huahine, the most easterly island of the cluster, they were received by the natives with the warmest demonstrations of joy. The residence which was set apart for them was sufficiently large, but unfortunately damp, and their child, who had been so ill at Eimeo, had scarcely recovered from his sickness, when, through the carelessness of the native nurse, he fractured his arm. The other child also was an object of great solicitude; and on one occasion, Mrs. Ellis herself, with her infant at the breast, very nar |