"I have been comparing the number of persons in church fellowship at the present time with the numbers respectively before the establishment of the French protectorate, and at the period when it had become fully established. In 1842, there were about one thousand six hundred and eighty church members in Tahiti and Eimeo. In 1851, when the island of Tahiti was supplied by three foreign missionaries, and the students in the seminary, the report of the Society stated the number of church members to be upwards of one thousand six hundred, which is probably equal to that of 1842. Almost ever since that period the districts have been entirely supplied by native pastors only, with the exception of Bunaauia; and there are at the present time upwards of one thousand six hundred members on the two islands, and many are now seeking admission. It must also be borne in mind that during the interval between 1851 and the present time, the population of the two islands has been reduced by epidemic disease and removals at least one thousand, a large proportion of whom were church members from middle to old age, so that the present number in fellowship is comprised of the strength and pride of the nation, and the proportion of communicants to the population is greater than it has ever been." Of the kind of annoyance to which the missionaries are exposed, and of the influences which are brought to bear against them, the reader will be able to judge after perusing the account of a prosecution lately instituted by the Romish bishop against the Rev. Mr. Howe. In the autumn of 1855, the Roman Catholic bishop having issued a catechism in which the doctrines and superstitions of Popery were dogmatically stated, and Protestantism as grossly misrepresented, Mr. Howe felt constrained, by a sense of Christian fidelity, to publish in reply a firm but temperate refutation. For this publication a criminal action was commenced against him by the bishop; but so vexatious and unfounded were the charges that the legal officer of the government, on whom it devolved to prosecute, though urged by the governor, declined to bring the case into court, for which he was suspended from his office; and when at length the case was carried before the proper tribunal, the charges against our missionary were dismissed. But the bishop, notwithstanding his signal discomfiture, was not to be diverted from his object; he determined to renew the contest, in the hope that by a change of tactics his ultimate object might be secured. The _criminal_ prosecution already described was brought to a termination in December. On the following 15th of March, Mr. Howe received notice that his inveterate opponent had entered a _civil_ action against him; and although the charges brought forward were essentially the same, they were put into such a shape, and