FOR THE WORD OF GOD.

55

Bible." On giving the paper to Thomas Bamford, he read it through; and then inquired why I had omitted the miracle which Christ wrought in order to pay tribute;-a pleasing proof of the diligence with which the Natives search the Scriptures.

The Book of Psalms has recently been translated into the New-Zealand Language: and Mr. J. Matthews, writing from Kaitaia, remarks, June 4, 1841

The Book of Psalms in the native language is very highly esteemed they seem to prize it more than gold and silver. And in the same Letter, Mr. Matthews adds—

:

Mr. Puckey thought it would be profitable for the Sunday-School Natives to be exercised in learning by memory the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, to be said. on Easter Sunday. Numbers stood up, and succeeded as far as twenty or thirty verses, without any assistance. This was encouraging. It was then given out, that on WhitSunday the second chapter of the Acts should be repeated by all who could say it, and a Psalter should be the reward. Twenty stood up; and fourteen repeated the whole of the chapter, which contains forty-seven verses, without being told one word. They are now trying at the 119th Psalm.

m

THE FORTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHURCH

MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THE Annual Sermon was preached in St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, on Monday Evening, May the 2d, by the Rev. Hugh Stowell, M.A., Incumbent Minister of Christ Church, Salford, Manchester; from Matthew xxviii. 20.

The Annual Meeting was held in the Great Room, Exeter Hall, on the following morning, at ten o'clock. The Right Hon. the Earl of Chichester, President of the Society, was in the Chair. After prayer, the Meeting was addressed by the President, the Bishops of Chester and Ripon, the Lord Ashley, M. P., the Rev. J. W. Cunningham, the Rev. Dr. Tyng from Philadelphia, the Rev. Thomas Vores, the Rev. Baron Gerlach from Berlin, and the Hon. and Rev. Baptist W. Noel. The proceedings were concluded by singing the 117th Psalm, and the Doxology.

At six o'clock in the Evening, another Meeting of the Society was held; when the Chair was occupied by the

56

FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE SOCIETY.

Most Hon. the Marquess of Cholmondeley. After prayer, the several Resolutions were moved and seconded by the Rev. R. Davies; the Rev. John Venn, Vicar of St. Peter's, Hereford; the Hon. A. Kinnaird; the Rev. Samuel Rowe, Vicar of Crediton; the Rev. T. Vores; and the Rev. John Harding, Rector of Blackfriars.

The Meeting was closed by singing the Hymn, "All hail the great Immanuel's name!"

The Collections after the Sermon and Meetings amounted to 4247. 14s.

FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE SOCIETY.

THE Report of the Committee which was read at the Annual Meeting contained a most encouraging account of the marked blessing which has rested on the different Missions; but it presented a very distressing view of the Society's financial position, and of the course which it has been found absolutely necessary to pursue in consequence of that position; as the following extracts will show.

At the last Anniversary of the Society, the state of its finances was such as to occasion the Committee much solicitude. That solicitude was increased as the year advanced. The necessity of reducing the expenditure of the Society became apparent.

After referring to the measures adopted by the Committee with that view, the Report proceeds to

state:

As the year passed on, the financial situation of the Society became more and more serious and critical, and the necessity of still further reducing expenditure and contracting operations was unequivocal. At their Monthly Meeting on the 14th of March, the following Resolution [among others] was in consequence adopted :

66

That, for the present, no new Mission be undertaken, nor any existing Mission enlarged; nor any Missionary, Catechist, or Schoolmaster sent out, except to supply the place of a deceased or disabled Missionary, Catechist, or Schoolmaster; nor any Student received into the Institution, except to supply the place of one who may have left."

FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE SOCIETY.

57

At a Special Meeting of the General Committee on the 20th of April, the following Resolution was unanimously adopted :

"That, in the opinion of this Committee, the scale of expenditure for the current year should be limited to 85,000l.; and that, with this view, the Committee should take immediate steps to carry into effect the Resolutions already adopted for discontinuing the Society's operations in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Malta; and should also take such steps, with regard to its other Missions, as may be necessary to accomplish the reduction proposed."

It was with extreme pain and regret that the Committee came to a decision, narrowing the Society's operations to so serious an extent. In the actual situation of the Society, however, the duty of doing so was plain and imperative. On closing the accounts of the year on the 31st of March, its financial position stood thus:— Receipts on account of General Fund Expenditure

£

S. d.

90,821 2 6

110,808 16 1

In the midst of the depression and difficulties occasioned by the Society's present financial position, the Committee have been cheered by receiving communications manifesting a desire on the part of several Members and Friends of the Society to make some sacrifice in order to meet the emergency. Two or three of these communications are here given, in the hope that others, according to the means placed by God at their disposal, may be stirred up by the example.

A few days before the Anniversary, the following Letter was received from the Incumbent of a small Parish in Suffolk :

:

I am extremely grieved and humbled at the melancholy deficiency in the Church Missionary Funds, which I hear is

58

DESIRES AND EXERTIONS TO RELIEVE THE SOCIETY.

to be announced. Though I can but ill afford it at present, I send you 51.; which I trust the Lord will accept, and stir up the hearts of His people to greater efforts. I TRUST NONE

OF THE PRESENT MISSIONS MAY HAVE TO BE RELINQUISHED.

I cannot but hope, that, after a season of depression, God will yet pour out upon the Church a large spirit of liberality and devotedness to this great work.

The Rev. J. W. Cunningham, in his Address at the Annual Meeting, alluded to the fact, that a voluntary tax of a halfpenny in the pound on English income would more than double the funds of the Society: and he put the same question to the friends then assembled that the Bishop of Calcutta put to the converts at Krishnaghur-" Are you tired of Christ ?" "Are you tired of the service of your Lord and Master? "Are you tired of labouring for the Saviour of the world?" In reference to this, the following Letter was received, inclosing a small sum, forming a halfpenny in the pound on the writer's limited income :

What thou doest, do quickly.-A Voluntary Income-Tax.

Let the words of the Bishop of Calcutta, "Are you tired' of Christ ?" be repeated, as a TEST, not TEXT, from every pulpit: and may the response be found in the replenished coffers of the Church Missionary Society!

From one who has never ceased to pray for his Lordship's health and preservation; and who has not forgotten the pledge given at their Anniversary, to aid him, if in their power, in all he might call upon them for.

At the Evening Meeting, on the 3d of May, the following Note was handed to the platform:

"X. Y. Z. begs to inform the Chairman of the Church Missionary Society Meeting, that he has paid 500l. to Messrs. Hoare and Co., to the Society's account; and hopes that many will be induced to make exertions for paying off the debt which now cripples its labours."

And a few days afterward, the sum of Twelve Guineas was paid from Blackheath, as the "Value of a projected piece of furniture.”

URGENT APPEALS FOR AID, WHICH THE COMMITTEE HAVE BEEN COMPELLED TO REFUSE.

THE following Extract from the Report is commended to the earnest and prayerful consideration of our Readers.

During the last year, many earnest and touching calls for assistance have been made to the Committee, and made in vain;-prospects have opened before them, in which the good hand of the Lord seemed manifestly to be beckoning them forward; but they have been compelled to draw back. In North India, for instance, Simla, on the Himalaya Mountains, presents one of the most promising fields of Missionary labour. The people are represented as being free from the shackles of caste, and of an independent and vigorous intellect. The English residents at that station formed an Auxiliary Society, and agreed to contribute largely toward the support of a Missionary. They applied for a Missionary, and their application was supported by special offers of assistance at home; but the Committee reluctantly declined.

In Sierra Leone, again, the need of a suitable Building as a Seminary for the training of Native Youths for the Ministry has been long felt; while the events of the last year made the Committee more sensible than ever of the incalculable importance of such an establishment;—but they dared not attempt it.

From Krishnaghur, again, the Committee have received the most earnest and repeated applications to establish Schools for the children of the Native Converts. "I appeal," says the Bishop of Calcutta, "to the Society for further supplies, on the new emergency created by our success itself, for the education of those who are to be the Christians, and parents, and examples, of the next age. I appeal to the Christianity of Great Britain. It is in the true spirit of the liberality of British Christians to follow the hand of Providence. That Hand is now beckoning us forward. A nation is, as it were, born at once. The crowding children of the Faithful, incapable of education by their parents, cry out for help. Females, for the first time, are offering their baptized little-ones to be trained up in the faith to which they are dedicated. The Church Missionary Society are their sponsors to the Church. I entreat England to rise to her new and noble duty. Glorious will be the moment when,