grace and faithfulness towards them; and as to ourselves, we may confidently assert, that his goodness towards us has been daily new.  He has granted us the grace to preach him to the Esquimaux, both living in our land and elsewhere, as the Saviour of men, who will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, with courage and with joyful hearts, though under a sense of our own poverty and weakness;” and many heathen, who came hither from a great distance from the north for the sake of trade, heard it with attention.  There was also a particular awakening among the baptized, who expressed an ardent desire to be admitted to partake of the Lord’s supper, and they in general acknowledged to the praise of the Lord, that he had owned their small Esquimaux flock, and blessed them with his presence.  The state of the settlement at Nain was equally pleasing.  “We have had much joy,” the missionaries write, “in observing the course of our small Esquimaux congregation; having perceived that they are more and more desirous to live in a manner acceptable to God, and to be cleansed from all those things which might grieve the Holy Spirit, and be a disgrace to the cause of our Saviour.  In our meetings we frequently experience his gracious presence, and, more than ever before, felt the true spirit of a congregation of Jesus, especially during two baptismal transactions we have had.  It proves a great encouragement to us, when we see that people, who, only a short time ago, hardly knew that there exists a divine Being, and lived in all manner of sin and abomination, now that they have learned to know the Saviour, shed tears from a sense of God in their hearts, and of their fellowship with him as their Redeemer.”  Nor was Hopedale less favoured.  “We can declare to you with joy,” was the language of missionaries in their letters to England, “that there has been a manifest work of God and his Spirit upon the souls of the Esquimaux in the year past.  Most of them are in a hopeful state, and intent upon cleaving to the Lord, that they may partake of the blessings he has purchased for us by his bitter sufferings and death.”

Of four families at Arvertok, not far from Hopedale, consisting of thirty persons, the greater part were awakened to a concern for their soul’s conversion, by a remarkable appearance in the sky, which was repeated three times, particularly on the night of January 14th.  It consisted of a vast quantity of inflammable matter in the air, which seemed to ascend from all parts of the horizon, and then to pour itself towards the earth, in immense fiery rays and balls.  Karpik and his people, who first saw the phenomenon, ran to Hopedale in the greatest agitation and amazement, and awakened the Esquimaux there, with the awful intelligence that the world was at an end.  They, upon suddenly rising from bed, struck with the spectacle, imagined that the stars were falling from heaven, and that they were the signs which announced the near approach of the Lord, as he had foretold.  Karpik cried out in agony, “Let us turn with our whole hearts to our Saviour—­this is the hour;” and began to pray aloud to Jesus, to sing hymns, and to entreat, with the greatest concern, all his household to unite with him.