He . Mr. Richardson opened the Meeting, by stating his gratification at seeing a company, so numerous and respectable, assembled together for so important a purpose. was an old man, and could recollect when such subjects were almost unheeded; but he thanked God that he had lived to see a growing zeal for advancing the Kingdom of Christ in the world, and was rejoiced to find that people's minds were now engaged so warmly in considerations of this nature. After some farther remarks from Mr. Richardson, the Assistant Secretary entered into a general detail of the proceedings of the Society; and was followed by Mr. Davies, who reported what he had himself witnessed in India. On Wednesday Evening, Mr. Bickersteth preached at the Church of St. Michael le Belfrey; and, on Thursday Morning, he and Mr. Davies met, first the Gentlemen's Committee, and afterwards that of the Ladies. An increasing spirit of zeal and love prevails in this city. The Collections amounted to 1281. FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HULL, be- FROM York, Mr. Bickersteth and The Annual Meeting was held in the School Room, in Salt-house Lane; Alderman C. Bolton, one of the Vice Presidents, in the Chair. From the Cash Account, it appeared that the Receipts amounted to 8174; being an increase of above 100l. compared with the preceding year. The several Motions were made or seconded, by the Rev. Messrs. Mr. Scott moved the following Resolution respecting the King's Letter, requiring Collections for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts: fresh proof of a growing disposition, on the That this Meeting, rejoicing in every part of the Christian World, to obey the Saviour's command, by preaching the Gospel to every creature-hails, with peculiar satisfaction, the call now made, by Royal Authority, upon the Universal Church of England, to contribute to the work of evangelizing our fellow-subjects ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in in India, through the medium of the SoForeign Parts; and trusts, that whenever the Collections shall be made, in obedí. ence to that call, the friends of the Church Missionary Society will be found among the most ready and most liberal of the con tributors. Mr. Scott made the following striking remarks on the change which had taken place in the public sentiment and feeling, in the course of a few years. On the Renewal of the East-India Company's Charter in 1793, Mr. Wilberforce with some difficulty drew from the House recognising it as a duty of the Legislature of Commons a cold assent to a Resolution, to promote, by proper measures, the moral and religious improvement of the British Subjects in India. But this Resolution, though carried in the Commons, was neglected in the Act of Incorporation; and when Bishop Porteus endeavoured to prowith little support, even from his Episcopal cure its adoption by the Lords, he met Brethren. And, all this time, the British Nation looked on, in silent apathy, upon what so nearly affected the temporal and eternal interests of fifty millions of their fellow-subjects; and out of the doors of Parliament scarcely a tongue was heard to whisper in the cause of God and man! But, after a lapse of twenty years, the time came round (in 1813) for that Charblessed be God for the change which apter to be renewed again. And then-Oh peared to have been working its way in the sentiments and hearts of British Christians! Nine hundred petitions then loaded the tables of Parliament, in which more than 500,000 individuals asserted the duty and claimed the liberty of endeavouring to communicate, by all peaceable and proper means, the Gospel of Christ to the countless myriads of our Indian Population. Opposition was vain; nor was opposition then meditated, except by a few interested or misinformed men. The minds of our Legislators were altered, as well as the minds of the people. And now, behold the result! Behold it in India! Our Reverend Brother from that quarter has told us, on his own knowledge, of the Governor-General in his College Speech at Calcutta, of the Bishop of Calcutta from his Chair, of the Clergy from their pulpits in India, of Civil Servants of the Company, of Military and Naval Officers of the Company, of Indian Rajahs themselves—-all recommending and adopting means by which Christian Knowledge may be diffused among the Natives. He has told us of the Natives anxiously purchasing education for their Children in Christian Schools; yea of Brahmins declaring the reading of the Scriptures can do no harm, but must rather promote piety! Behold again the result at home!A little while ago, the attempt to promote Christianity in the East was pronounced dangerous-now it is acknowledged to be safe and necessary. It was pronounced visionary-it is now declared to be practicable and wise. "The time," it was so lemnly proclaimed," is not yet;"—but now," induced by a variety of favourable circumstances," the Venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel utters the memorable words, "The time, they trust, is arrived." But a little time back, Missionary Undertakings, altogether, were treated by many as the schemes of visionary or designing men; and the Clergy who supported them with any zeal, were esteemed ill-affected, fanatical, and vain-glorious persons-but now, the "using of our utmost endeavours to diffuse the light of the Gospel, and permanently to establish the Christian Faith in Heathen Lands," is an object which comes forth commended to us by the authority of the Most Rev. the Archbishops and the Right Rev. the Bishops, and countenanced by the approbation of His Majesty's Ministers: and, by the command of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, acting in the name and in the behalf of His Majesty, " exhortations from the pulpit"-in other words, Mis sionary Sermons for the promotion of this object-are to be forthwith preached in all Churches and Chapels throughout the United Kingdom. Here, pausing and looking back, I can-. not but exclaim, with admiration and gratitude, It is the Lord's doing; and it is marvellous in our eyes! Royal Letters, I am well aware, have been heretofore issued, for the assistance of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel; but none, for forty years past: none ever, under such circumstances, after such discussions as have of late years taken place and none ever for such objects; to enable the Society to enter upon new fields of labour, never before proposed for its cultivation. Under all the circumstances of the case, it is no less than the sanction of the British Church and the British Government, deliberately and solemnly given, to the despised cause of Christian Missions. Herein, then, both for the Mission's sake, and for my Country's sake, and for my Church's sake-herein I do rejoice, yea and I will rejoice. And I trust that every friend of the Church Missionary Society will feel himself called upon-by his zeal for the diffusion of the light of the Gospel, by his love to the Missionary Cause, and by his attachment to the Church of Eng land-to promote the object of the Royal Letter, to the utmost of his power. First Anniversary of the Beverley Branch. On Saturday, the 4th of June, the Anniversary Meeting of this Association was held in the School Room at Beverley; the Rev. Joseph Coltman in the Chair. The Rev. Thos. Dikes, the Rev. Henry Davies, and the Assistant Secretary, attended on this occasion. A Collection was made at the doors. Formation of a Ladies' Association at Hull. On Tuesday, the 8th of June, the Assistant Secretary met the Ladies subscribing to and collecting for the Hull Association; and, after addressing them on the advantages of forming a separate Association, as at York and other places, and of holding Monthly or Quarterly Meetings, Resolutions were proposed and approved for that purpose. Mrs. and Miss Lee and Miss Mayelston, Secretaries. Bodley was appointed Treasurer; NOTICE RESPECTING AFRICAN CHILDREN. SINCE the closing of the School Fund, as stated at pp. 132 and 133 of the Number for March, many persons have expressed their regret that circumstances have put it out of the power of the Society to continue to receive annual sums for The Collections at this Anniversary of the Hull and East-Riding Association amounted to about 150. FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE LINCOLN ASSOCIATION. On Wednesday Morning, the 9th of June, the Assistant Secretary, accompanied by the Rev. John Scott, proceeded from Hull to Lincoln. Domestic circumstances required Mr. Davies's return to his family. The Meeting was held in the Guildhall, and was much more numerously attended than in the former year. The Rev. G. Quilter, the Vicar of Canwick, was in the Chair. The Reverend Messrs. Bic kersteth, J. Mayor, Cholmeley, Scott, Myddleton, Sibthorp, Joseph Jowett, and Henry Clark, and Messrs. Cropper and Savage, severally addressed the Meeting. The Addresses were peculiarly animating and affecting. The Contributions at the door amounted to upwards of 161. SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE GAINSBO- ON Thursday, the 10th of June, the support and education of par ticular African Children, named by their benefactors; as they wished, in this manner, to associate, with the assistance which they should render to African Education, an expression of an affectionate regard to the friends, after whom the Children would be named. The Society has felt that the change of circumstances in Western Africa required the closing of the separate School Fund. The Committee are desirous, however, of cherishing, so far as the nature of the case will allow, those benevolent feelings which have been awakened toward African Children. Though, therefore, all the Children of the Colony will, by the recent arrangements, be maintained and educated, independently of any particular contributions toward that object; yet the Committee will receive any sum not less than 301. and will appropriate it to the benefit of a Child, to be selected from among the Scholars and named according to the wish of its benefactor, in the conferring of instruction and advantages which the Child would not otherwise receive. In the "Survey" in the Number for January, p. 4, it was intimated that the "Christian Institution," on Leicester Mountain, would probably be rendered a superior Seminary, for the purpose of giving a better education to the most pro"mising Youths throughout the Colony that plan is now in progress, we shall soon have it in our power to shew to our readers. By further instruction, therefore, in that Seminary, and in various other ways, according to circumstances, as : Benevolent Persons who may wish to appropriate a sum of money to the benefit of African Children bearing particular names, will have an opportunity of doing so, with a prospect, under the blessing of God, of permanent advantage to such Children. In cases where the sum of 301. can be raised only by successive contributions, the Committee wish those contributions to be reserved by the parties till the whole sum can be paid at once, as many mistakes and inconveniences have arisen from the payment of annual sums to the School Fund. THANKS TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN MUNRO. OUR Readers are well acquainted with the name of Lieut.-Col. John Munro. During his connection with Travancore, as British Resident at the Court of that Province, he has manifested the wisdom and magnanimity of a Christian Statesman. The Rannee of Travancore has rejoiced to profit by his counsels: and the result of those counsels has been, that the civil and social condition of her subjects has been rapidly improved; and it will continue to improve, so long as Colonel Munro's advice and plans shall be acted on: and, what is still more to the honour both of the Rannee and of her distinguished Counsellor, she herself, though a a Heathen Princess, has cherished, with maternal care, the Syrians and other Native Christians of her dominions. 1 On the return of Colonel Munro to this country, the Committee could not but express to him their unfeigned acknowledgments for his kindness. At a Special Meeting, held at the House of the Society, on the 14th of June, CHARLES GRANT, Esq. one of the VicePresidents in the Chair, the following Resolutions passed unanimously: Resolved, That the cordial Thanks of the Society be presented to LieutenantColonel John Munro, late British Resident in Travancore, for the very kind attention paid by him to the concerns of the Society in that Province; and for the zeal and perseverance with which he so ably and successfully laboured, during his Residency, to revive the Ancient Syrian Church, and to promote both the temporal and spiritual welfare of the Native Christians and other Inhabitants of Travancore. Resolved, That Lieutenant-Colonel John Munro be requested to accept the office of Honorary Life-Governor of this Society. The Children, 1030 in number, having sung an appropriate Hymn, and joined in the Prayers, which were repeated very impressively by two of the Monitors, left the room; and, being arranged in classes, entered again, in succession, and underwent the customary examination, much to the satisfaction of a very numerous assembly. EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOCIETY. The Report of the Seventh Year has been lately put into circulation. An abstract of it appears in the preceding pages of this Number. The Eighth Report was delivered at the Anniversary held on the 27th of May, at the Central School in Baldwin's Gardens; his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, President, in the Chair. After the reading of the Report, the President, in moving that it should be printed, urged on the Meeting to make it their great object to carry an Institution, already productive of such extensive benefit, to the highest attainable degree of perfection. This would be effected with most certainty, by a steady prosecution of the original plan; and by admitting no alteration, but with the utmost caution and after mature deliberation. His Grace expressed his sorrow that it had been found necessary to reduce the number of Training Masters, from ten to six: these were persons from whom the greatest advantage was derived; but the state of the funds, it appeared, would not admit of their continuance to the extent of the former establishment: when this circumstance became known, he hoped that it would awaken public attention; and that benevolent persons would not hesitate to prevent an inconvenience, serious in itself, though apparently slight. The number of Schools united were not so great in this, as in the preceding year: the diminution arose from various circumstances: the [JUNE Institution had made considerable advance in the establishment of Schools; and the falling-off naturally arose from the approach which was making toward a general formation of them. There was one point of considerable moment alluded to in the Report-That the Expenditure exceeded the Receipts: this was a subject for regret, however small the difference might be: to keep the Institution in perfect security and perfect strength, it was highly desirable that the income should keep pace with the expenditure. His Grace concluded by expressing his hope that the Gentlemen present would do all that might be in their power, to forward that important branch of the establishment, the Central School. The Bishop of London seconded the Motion, and the Report was ordered to be printed. Mr. Justice Park congratulated the Meeting on the very satisfactory Report presented from the Com mittee. Having known, from personal observation, the great attention paid by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury to the interests of the Institution, the assiduity of his attendance at their various meetings, and the zeal with which he forwarded every thing connected with this humane and truly benevolent work, he could not refuse himself the pleasure of proposing the thanks of the Meeting to his Grace. The Motion being seconded and unanimously agreed to, the Archbishop returned thanks for the manner in which the Motion was received; and expressed his determination to persevere in the performance of his duty to the Institution, and to do every thing in his power to forward its views. The thanks of the Meeting were then voted to the General Committee, the Ladies' Committee, the Treasurer, Mr. Watson, the Secretary, and Dr. Bell. |