The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-11-04 00:00:00

THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK ON
MISSIONS.

The Archbishop of York, addressing a meeting of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in his
cathedral city on Monday, said :—To weigh and
measure the results of missions seemed to be an inade-
quate test altogether. At the same time, it was very
natural they should look for encouragement in their
reports, and if they did this they would see that the
remits, as compared with the amount of the efforts,
were very considerable. He said as compared with
the amount of the efforts; for in the first place they
must remember that in large tracts of English terri-
tory, and in countries where England's name was
honoured, they did not get the benefit of England's
name to endorse and assist their missions. They got
hardly any help from the powers that be, and in many
cases they were thankful if there was nothing in matters
of conduct or example to nullify and hinder their
work. Tiaey must not shrink from saying that in
India—a country where there were fanatical religions
arrayed against one another—it was difficult for the
natives to understand that attitude of indifference which
their Government was compelled from circumstances to
assume.rc edid n
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liant. He supposed they mfght take it that the amount
spent directly upon missions was covered by £350,000
a year. That society had £125,000, but that included
some which was not raised annually—dividends upon
stock already existing, and so forth. It did not, how.
ever, matter whether £350,000 was exactly the right
figure or not, hut, the populatien of England being
about 23,000,000, it took about sixty-five people to
make up £1 of that amount; and it would thus be
found that 3id. was about the annual contributton
to. missions by .everybody in the British Islands.
That in a cnnatry which, ha a French writer lately
said, contained a race chiefly remarkable for its
übiquity—that, in a country connected with almost
Every other country by the ties of commerce—
could not be said to be a very brilliant contribution.
When they found it compared with other things, they
would find it quite the reverse of brilliant contribution.
Threepence halfpenny was the annual contribution to
missions. whilst £3 Bs. was the annual o9ntribution to
drink. It had been remarked that if they could get
the custom of drink and other luxurious customs down,'
they might get the subscription, list of missions a little
up. At all eventi s there was a great deal for them to
do in the future; there was a great deal for them to do
In the Church at large, by what they said in public;
there was a great deal for them to do in their own
parish, by seeing they helped the local missionary
society ' • and a great deal to do in their own family, by
seeing they influenced and interested the members of
it in missionary undertakings. It was said a few
days ago that that diocese did not do its fair
share with regard to missions, and, in instance
of that, its contributions to the Society for the
Propagation of . the Gospel were quoted. But
its contributions to the Church Missionary
Society were entirely left out. Compared with other
parts of the world, the diocese stood extremely well in
regard to missionary effort. The sum raised by the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was not so
large as it could be. He believed the sum raised for
the Church Missionary Society was somewhere
between £12,000 and £1.3,000 a year. He should be
glad if the society on whose behalf they were met was
able to send up the same amount, and as he saw a
greater improvement in its organization within the
last few years, and a much more steady system of
working than there used to be, he had no doubt it
would increase. Missions were the duty of everybody,
and they were a duty not imposed by the decencies of
their position as Churchmen, they were a duty imposed
by the first principle of religion itself.

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