HOME PROCEEDINGS.

ANNUAL MEETINGS.

The services connected with the Baptist Missionary Society, held annually in London, were commenced this year on the 17th, by a meeting for prayer in the new Mission House in Moorgate Street. It was well attended, and a devotional spirit appeared to prevail. Dr. Murch presided, and prayer was offered by the brethren Kent of Shrewsbury, Pilkington of Rayleigh, Stock of Chatham, C. B. Robinson of Leicester, Rothery of Hoxton, Upton of St. Albans, Gould of Dublin, Millard of Lymington, Eustace Carey, Joseph Angus.

SERMONS.

At Surrey Chapel, on the evening of Thursday, the 18th, Mr. Brock of Norwich preached on behalf of the Society from John iii. 7, 8; after Mr. Larom of Sheffield had read a portion of scripture and prayed.

At the Poultry Chapel, on the morning of Wednesday, the 24th, after Mr. Edwards of Nottingham had read and prayed, Dr. Campbell of the Tabernacle preached on behalf of the Society from Psalm lxxii. 11.

GENERAL MEETING.

The General Meeting of the Subscribers to the Baptist Missionary Society, held at the Mission House, Moorgate Street, commenced on Friday, April 19th, 1844, at 10 o'clock.

The Rev. W. H. Murch, D.D. having been called to preside, he requested the Rev. Jonathan Watson of Edinburgh, to open the business of the Meeting with prayer.

The Secretary laid on the table the Reports of the Committee, and of the Treasurer, for the year. The Minutes of the Committee for the year were then read, and various questions asked in reference to matters of business, and answers given. After which it was resolved that the Meeting adjourn to Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock.

Tuesday, April 23.

The chair having been resumed by Rev. Dr. Murch, the Rev. W. Upton engaged in prayer.

On the motion of Charles B. Robinson, Esq., of Leicester, seconded by George Lowe, Esq., F.R.S., of London, it was resolved that W. B. Gurney, Esq., be requested to fill the office of Treasurer for the year ensuing.

On the motion of the Rev. James Sprigg, M.A., of Ipswich, seconded by the Rev. J. P. Briscoe, it was resolved that the Rev. Joseph Angus, M.A., be requested to fill the office of Secretary.

On the motion of the Rev. Joseph Angus, M.A., seconded by the Rev. William Upton, resolved that Wills Kitson, Esq., G. T. Kemp, Esq., and George Gould, Esq., be Auditors for the year ensuing.

The nomination for the Committee having been completed, the ballot taken, and scrutineers appointed, the following names were brought up as the Members of the Committee for the ensuing year.

* Mr. Smith, having declined the appointment, John Danford, Esq., has been chosen to fill up the

vacancy.

PUBLIC MEETING.

Exeter Hall was well filled on Thursday morning the 25th, at ten o'clock, when the Treasurer, W. B. Gurney, Esq., took the chair. A hymn, given out by Mr. Tilley of Forton, was sung, and prayer was offered by Mr. Watson of Edinburgh.

The CHAIRMAN then rose and said, What communicating that gospel to those who are an honour is put upon us in being permitted perishing for lack of knowledge! When we to engage in any exertions for the promotion look to the dark places of the earth full of the of the Divine glory! But have we suffi- habitations of cruelty,-when we hear of all ciently realized the privilege and the duty the cruelty, the vice, and the degradation expressed in those words of the apostle," We oppressing those lands, can we satisfy ourare allowed of God to be put in trust with the selves with withholding from them that gospel?" That is not confined, I apprehend, gospel? On the contrary, shall we not feel to the apostles, but extends to every Chris-it our privilege, faithfully and diligently to tian, to every one to whom the word of God has come. It is a trust-a sacred trust-but there is a privilege connected with it, and I hope that we all feel it to be a privilege to be engaged in this cause. It is a trust that might have been committed to angels, but it has been graciously committed to men. May we all feel the responsibility that rests upon us faithfully to discharge it! It is not thrust upon us, but we are allowed of God to be put in trust. The importance of a trust depends upon the value of that which is entrusted, and the benefit it may confer upon others; and great is the condemnation resting on those who do not faithfully discharge that trust. What a blot it is upon the character of a trustee, that he has deprived the widow and the fatherless of their rights-that he has not fulfilled his trust. But if that is the feeling with regard to trusts in civil life, how much more should the impression press upon our minds in relation to the gospel, and to the

fulfil our trust? This trust attaches to each of us. The responsibility devolves upon the committee of faithfully employing the funds confided to them, so as to accomplish the object in view to the greatest possible extent. Their trust is limited by the amount of your contributions. You will hear that, in the course of the last year, the operations of the Society have been extended to new countries. Stations had before been entered upon, somewhat in violation of the then existing rule, but that rule having been altered last year, every place out of the British isles is now open to the exertions of the Society. You will learn, with pleasure, that we have a mission in France and several stations in Canada. The latter are designed not merely to benefit the natives of the soil, but those who have emigrated from our country. I trust that as new scenes are opened up, you will enable the committee to occupy them; that we shall receive a fresh impulse from this day's meet

ing; that the committee will be enabled greatly to extend the operations of the Society, and that, if we are permitted to meet in a future year, that extension will afford matter for thanksgiving. We feel interested in the prosperity of all missions. We feel that we have one common cause; let us be concerned to do our part, and let us rejoice that others are doing theirs.

The Secretary then read an abstract of the Report, of which a summary was given in our last number. We proceed now to give extracts from the addresses delivered; requesting the reader to remember that they are but extracts, it being impossible to compress into our limited space even an epitome of the whole.

The Rev. WILLIAM BROCK moved"That the report, of which an abstract has been read, be received; and that this meeting offers its grateful acknowledgments to Almighty God, for the encouraging measure of success which he continues to bestow upon the Baptist Missionary Society, and other kindred institutions: and adverts with special interest to the progress of the African Mission, and to the commencement of missionary operations in connexion with the Society in Europe and the

North American colonies."

"For the last half hour," said Mr. Brock, "I have been thinking, and thinking with great earnestness, of a statement that appeared in a far-famed Edinburgh Review of some thirtyfive years ago. I remember a sentence occurring in that review. It was an article on missions, specially having reference to what had been done by Brother Carey,' as he was sarcastically called by the reviewer. The sentence I refer to was this- Let any re spectable man read the report of this mission.' So say I. We are glad to be able to refer to that statement of his, and to trace the dealings of God's providence up to the present time to us and I think the prognostics of that review must be reversed. I think it is becoming a matter of popular belief that missions will be remembered when the governorgeneral will be forgotten; and, if I do not mistake, the gates of Somnauth, with all the apparent immortality they have recently obtained, will have to lick the dust before the piece of elm-board, now in the Museum, upon which Carey inscribed, with his own hand, both his efforts and his name. Our Society exists, notwithstanding all that was said about its rapidly approaching nonexistence; and it exists under circumstances that should lead every one of us to thank God and take courage. It should lead all such persons as I have referred to, to think of what God has done. It is enough to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Why, there were royal princes denouncing us, and there were lordly legislators scorning us, and sagacious senators invoking the power of the British arm to put us down, and there were learned moralists who said, very much like the enemy of the ancient Jews, What do

e;

these feeble Jews do? if a fox go up, it shall
break down their wails;' and there were
cloistered moralists and reverend reviewers,
who talked of Carey and other people as
apostates from the anvil and the loom; but
yet, notwithstanding all the opprobrium and
the scorn, thank God here we are, with an
increasing exchequer; with increasing spheres
of usefulness; and having to say, to the
honour of His providence and grace, that our
difficulties have one after another been taken
out of the way. Our opportunities of labour
have been extended-on every hand trials
have been sanctified; men, valiant for the
truth, have been raised up; caste has been
broken; souls have been saved. God has
done great things for us, whereof we are glad.
And we should be glad. I deem it we should
be just as glad when mercy comes as we were
earnest in our entreaties before it did come:
and the joy of the Lord should be our strength.
I have been thinking of the contrast between
this room and the room at Kettering that
some of us had the pleasure of seeing some
two years ago. I have been thinking of what
passes now in certain places, and what passed
then. Why there rose an honourable man,
who had been in India, in his place in the
British House of Commons, and he said, 'I
actually heard this Carey tell the Hindoos
from his hogshead, that they would go to hell
if they did not believe in Christ.'
He was
called a Christian senator, and yet he could
find fault in the House of Commons with Dr.
Carey, for saying that the heathen would go
to hell if they did not believe in Christ; and
he closed his address by saying, 'Sir, ought
this to be allowed?' Then he was followed
by another man who had never been to India,
who said, that nothing but some new moral
power, hitherto undiscovered in the moral
world, would be adequate to pull down these
consolidated fabrics of superstition and vice.
Where was the man's New Testament? Not
where it ought to have been-that is, in his
heart and upon his lips; for, if it had, he
would have recollected, that the gospel is
the power of God to salvation to every one
that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to
the Gentile.' Our Mission was wanted, to set
people right at home. Mr. Brock then adverted
to the agency employed by the Society, and to
British connexion with idolatry, especially in
Ceylon. He concluded by saying, in refer-
ence to the latter subject, "I hope we shall
be able to do something, but it will not come
to much till we can prevail on the British
government to let all religions alone. If they
will let all religions alone, then they would
by no means take up a false religion: but if
they undertake one, I see no way out of the
difficulty of their undertaking all. Therefore
I say, that I do earnestly implore the interpo-
sition of Him who is head over all things to
the church, that the interposition of men may
come to an end. There are two things to be

done one is, that false religion may be deprived of its chief support; and the second, that true religion may be detached from one of its most unsightly accompaniments; and thus we may get rid of the greatest drawback, and the greatest drag upon its chariot-wheels." The Rev. JOHN M'LEAN, of the Wesleyan connexion, on rising to second the resolution, said, "I have great pleasure in appearing here to connect myself publicly with the operations of this great Christian institution, and I confess that my pleasure is rather heightened than diminished by the consideration that I belong to a different Christian denomination from yourselves. I am quite sure that our common Christianity calls upon us to come more closely together; and, without requiring from either any compromise of our peculiar sentiments, it demands from both that manifestation of Christian affection, and that cooperation in effort, which, I must say, I have ever felt it to be at once easy and delightful to render." Referring to objections formerly urged against missionary efforts, but now seldom heard, Mr. M'Lean showed that they were all refuted by the facts recorded in the reports of this and similar institutions, adding, "there is, indeed, so little done, that we have great need to attend to the admonitions at the conclusion of your report; we must pray, as we are called on to pray by that document, for the increase of success. But, at the same time, there is so much done, that, in addition to the gracious promise of our covenant-keeping God, we have, in matters of fact, a pledge that all which God hath ordained will certainly come to pass, and that it is easy for it to be accomplished by the means which he has provided."

become, in that respect, a Hindoo.' I only mention this to show what sort of opinions prevailed on this matter a few years ago. This gentleman was a respectably educated and high-minded man, but never, perhaps, having witnessed any of the cruelties with which the Hindoo religion is accompanied, he considered it a beautiful system."

The Rev. GEORGE HENRY DAVIS (of Bristol) moved the next resolution, which was as follows:

"That this meeting has heard with pleasure of the continued co-operation of the churches in Jamaica in supporting the West African Mission; a cooperation the more generous and praiseworthy, that pecuniary difficulties to contend with; while they it has been given by churches which have had many have nobly fulfilled their pledge to maintain the cause of religion among them without pecuniary aid from the Society."

"To me," said Mr. Davis, "and perhaps to many of the rising generation in this audience, the part of the report which was most interesting, was that which referred to the rising mission in Western Africa. Circumstances made the island of Fernando Po deeply interesting to my mind, even before it became associated with the honoured names of Clarke and Prince,-those noble brothers, the excellent qualities of one of whom are so admirably counterbalanced by the meekness and gentleness of the other." Mr. Davis then described the efforts made by the African Civilization Society with which he had been connected, and added, "Let us now look at the result. The Niger expedition sailed. It had on board agriculturists and botanists; but, though there was a foreign chaplain, there were no missionaries in any of the three vessels that constituted it. It took out medicines, seeds, implements, and machines; but it did not take out the Word which alone is

The CHAIRMAN said: "Reference has been made to the great change which has taken place in public opinion with respect to mis-able to make wise unto salvation.' Neversions; and I would add one circumstance theless, it went with the good-will of the which came within my own knowledge at the English community, and many a heart was time of the renewal of the East India Com- disposed to believe, Now is the time of pany's charter, in 1813, when a struggle was Africa's regeneration come.' But, from the made for obtaining for missionaries the right moment when those vessels left this country, of going to India. Previous to that time they until the time of their return, disappointment had gone rather by sufferance than by the seemed to sit upon their shrouds, and death authority of the law; and petitions were, to dodge them through their entire course; and therefore, presented to the House of Commons now that expedition is never heard of without on the subject. Mr. Fuller, in company with the term ill-fated' being connected with it. one of our friends in London, went to a Let us look at the operations of our own county member belonging to a noble family, Society, just on the point of Western Africa. and asked him to present petitions from the We have had our hearts thrilled by the statecounty which he represented. His reply was, ment, that a church of Jesus Christ has 'I will present your petitions, gentlemen, if already been formed in Fernando Po. Clayou wish it, but I cannot support them. You rence has already acknowledged Jesus; King are acting from good motives, I am sure, and Aqua has heard of Him; and King Bel has you are very good men, but you are much permitted the gospel to be preached even in mistaken on this subject. I have been in his town. May we not, then, well believe, India, and I have seen these things myself. that operations so auspiciously begun shall The religion of India which you are attack- continue to prosper under the glorious Head ing, is a most beautiful religion. Of course, of the church, and that, by the operations of I am a member of the church of England; our missionaries, as a collateral good, shall but if I were to change my religion, I should the slave-trade be driven at last from the