70 ZEAL AND MARTYRDOM OF A SYRIAN CONVERT. labours of His servants; and would call upon our Readers to use increased exertions, that the supply of Missionaries may be more adequate to the necessity of the case. ZEAL AND MARTYRDOM OF A SYRIAN CONVERT. THE following account, illustrating at once the zeal of a Native Convert for the salvation of his brethren, and the perils to which such a zeal is sometimes exposed, is given by the Rev. H. Harley :— Some years ago, a Syrian, of the name of Curiatha, was reclaimed from a most sinful course of life, by the study of the Gospels, a copy of which he had received from the late Rev. S. Ridsdale. In studying this holy book, he became quite another man; he abandoned his covetous, worldly, and self-seeking views, and began to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with a self-denial, zeal, and boldness, seldom to be witnessed in a native character. He was naturally eccentric in his ways; and had his zeal been more directed by prudence, he might have done further service to the cause to which he had devoted himself. For a short time he was employed as a Catechist of the Society; but latterly he travelled throughout a great part of Southern India, preaching the Gospel among the Heathen. He was quite careless of any worldly emolument; and many times refused to receive pecuniary assistance; travelling pennyless, and contented to live on casual alms. How much he suffered for the cause of Christ cannot be known, for Curiatha never revealed such matters. As in life, so also by his death he upheld the honour of the Gospel. He was preaching in the Kunnamkoollam Bazaar, when an opposer of the Truth, a Syrian, became so incensed, that he went home, and, procuring a knife, returned and stabbed Curiatha to the heart. Curiatha put up a prayer to God not to lay this sin to the charge of the murderer, and immediately fell down lifeless.-Such was the end of Curiatha! He was faithful unto death; and we trust, that, through the merits of the Saviour, he has received the crown of life. ORDINATION OF MR. J. MÜHLEISEN, AT JERUSALEM. ON Lord's Day, April 17th, the Anglican Bishop held his first Ordination in Jerusalem, in the temporary Chapel of the Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, on Mount Zion; when Mr. Mühleisen, of the Church Missionary Society, appointed to the Mission in Abyssinia, was ordained Deacon. The occasion was truly an interesting one. The Chapel was crowded: several Native Christians were present; and no fewer than six Clergymen, besides a number of English travellers. Mr. Mühleisen will remain at Jerusalem some months, to receive Priest's Orders; and in the mean time assists in the Services. HINTS FOR SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CHURCH MISSIONARY WE have received the following Communication from a Correspondent. In the present state of the Finances of the Church Missionary Society, the Members of the Church of England, As SUCH, are called to a self-denial, a zeal, an exertion, which they have never made before. May we not go further still, and say, that in order to extricate the Committee from the painful restrictions to which they are now subjected, it depends mainly on the PRESENT SUBSCRIBERS to do what they can, and ALL that they can, for the Society. It is hoped that none will forbear honestly to inquire of themselvesAm I doing all that is in my power for the Church Missionary Society? Am I praying for the blessing of God on its labours, and withholding the means of making that blessing more widely known? Am I exact in supplying the Subscribers and Contributors with the Society's Publications? Do I READ them MYSELF, and get others to do the same? Do I, as a Collector, re-canvass my district frequently, and never lose contributions which belong to the Society by a want of punctuality in collecting them? It has been stated, that an additional tax of one penny in the pound would bring in an income of two millions yearly for Missionary purposes. I will not stay to inquire whether such a SACRIFICE would intrench on the NECESSA 72 HINTS FOR SUBSCRIBERS. RIES, or even very many of the LUXURIES, of life. Let Conscience give the answer. The class of persons to whom this is particularly addressed are those who are EXEMPT from the income-tax. Cannot these spare some proportion for this work of the Lord? Would a self-imposed tax of three-pence halfpenny in the pound be too much? Oh, let none say that it is, till they have sought divine guidance in this matter! Let the portion set apart for this blessed work be done systematically, regularly, and conscientiously. Let there be no keeping back a part of the price, either in deed or in desire; and if economy be wanted, let self be subjected to the rein of moderation in all things. May that grace which enabled the Churches of Macedonia out of their deep poverty to contribute beyond their power to the wants of the Apostles, also enable all who read this Magazine to give this proof of their love to the cause of the Saviour, and, having all sufficiency in all things, make them to abound in every good work. 2 Cor. viii. 9. INTEREST OF AN AGED CHRISTIAN IN BEHALF OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 66 AN old labouring man, in a village in Kent, when first told of the Church Missionary Society, exclaimed, "Well, I have always wondered, when people have talked about India, why it was that God had given us that large country; but now I know." He immediately became a collector, and would every year bring 61. or 7., which he had received in small sums from his neighbours. The writer of this once asked him how he was able to collect so much, and was much struck by his answer: Why, Ma'am, I take some Missionary Papers with me, and go of an evening, after my work, to a cottage, and ask the people if I shall read to them: they generally are very glad I should; so I sit down and read, till sometimes they cry, and I cry too, and then they are sure to give something." He often used to say, "Ah, if I were young, and God would let me go, I would not stay in England. But I am too old: he must go instead"—alluding to a beloved grandson, whom he had brought up, and whom he ardently desired should be employed in Missionary work. The desire of his heart was granted one of the last pieces of earthly intelligence that reached his dying ear was, that his grandson had entered on his labours in a distant land.-South-Indian Sketches. CHURCH MISSIONARY GLEANER. No. 7. JULY, 1842. VOL. II. THE NEED OF PRAYER FOR AN INCREASE OF GRACE. Ar a time like the present, when God is, in so many parts of the Missionary Field, giving testimony to the word of His grace, and owning the labours of His Servants; when every encouragement is afforded by the triumphs already achieved to go forward in the glorious contest; when renewed calls upon Christian exertion and liberality are continually made from so many parts of the heathen world; it is natural to ask, Why is it that these calls are unheeded? In a country like our own, possessing resources so ample, and blessed with privileges so exalted, why is it that, notwithstanding the efforts that are being made, our exertions should be so utterly disproportionate to the means and opportunities placed at our disposal? While some allowance must be made for the fact, that the duty of supporting Missions has not been brought forward with sufficient prominence before all the members of the Christian Church, it will at the same time be acknowledged that the true answer to the foregoing questions is-We need an increased outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a larger measure of the grace of God. For this, then, let us constantly, fervently, perseveringly pray. This subject is forcibly treated in the sermon VOL. II. H 74 THE NEED OF PRAYER preached before the Society, at its Thirty-fifth Anniversary, by the Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel; from which the following extract is made: At this moment, what is wanting to enable us to take moral possession of a large portion of the world? Not men;-for if thousands were to be devoted to this cause tomorrow, each class of the population would be still redundant. Not money;—for, as we have seen, ample funds might be provided at once, without impoverishing the contributors. Not intelligence and education;-since there is enough wasted in Great Britain to enlighten the world. Not encouragement; for never were facilities so numerous, and never was time so opportune. Our great and only want is, a larger measure of the grace of God. Without this, to judge by our past experience, ages must roll away before the Heathen can be blessed with the knowledge of Christ ;— without this, our Missionaries, few, and scattered, must still wrestle with insurmountable obstacles to extended success;without this, the world in general will remain indifferent to Missions, despising their object, or denying their practicability;—without this, it will be well for us, if, after the melancholy example of so many Churches, in various ages, visited by Divine influences for a little while, we do not relapse into that religious insensibility, from which we have scarcely yet emerged. Should the Almighty, as the just punishment of our neglect, permit this, our Missions would speedily languish for, although a few Missionaries may rise above their contemporaries in the knowledge and love of God, they will, for the most part, be marked by the prevailing characteristics of the body from which they are taken. If, therefore, the Church should decline in grace, its Missionaries would become as few as they would become lukewarm or should they be still numerous, they would only go forth to disappointment and defeat; their faith could not meet the difficulties of their position; they would have no cheerfulness in their duties; no blessing would rest upon their mechanical labours; and they would either, in a worldly spirit and for worldly ends, toil on, through a tedious round of heartless and ineffectual formalities, or throw up their office in disgust. In either case, the world's derision would accumulate around the frustrated enterprise; |