The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-08-22 00:00:00

THE STAFFORD CHURCH MISSIONARY

MEETING.

The Rev. Canon Reginald Smith, who has, during
a long and honoured life done good and earnest work
In the canoe of the Church Missionary Society, invited

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a large number of f riends from Dorchester end Stafford
to a missionary meeting in the parish church on Toes-

day evening, and the large number who responded
most have been highly gratifying to the reverend
Canon. This is the forty-sixth anniversary of
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this missionary gathering, which is annually looked
forward to with much interest and pleasing by many
Dorchester friends. rho Stafford Branch has rendered
valuable pecuniary aid to the great Church Society,

and we were pleased to bear • most gratifying report
for the present year.

_ The chursh was very tastefully deowate,i, the walls
being adorned with suitable mottoes and texts. Across
the choir screen, which was almost hidden by its
adornment of flowers and evergreen, was the missionary

prayer, "Thy Kingdom Come." The pulpit and font
had also been decorated with exceeding taste.
Very crowded wee the interesting ,•11 church, and
forms were planed in the aisle to accommodate those
who could not find seats. The well-known hymn of
good Bishop Heber,
"From Green,and's icy mountains,
From India's coral strands,"
was first sung, and then the Rev. ('Coon Smith offered
ran appropriate prayer for a blessing on the missionary
work.
The Rev. Castoff, addressing the con. res. ation, said,
before he called upon their kind friends to address the
meeting he would just give a short statement of the
financial affairs of this small branch of the great Church
Missionary S. ciety. They missed the cheery faces of
some who had been accustomed to assemble with them
on these occasions, and especially Mr. Robert Williams.
He bad been for many • long year, not only in this,
but in other place., one of the best supporters of the
Church Idlesionary Society. He, however, had not been
able to be with them that evening, in fact, he was not
able to come into Dorset this year, by reason of
family affliction. but he had cot forgotten to send his
contribution. He hai sent £5, and Lady Emily
Williams El, to be put into the plate that evening.
Besides that they hat received from other Christian
friends, who had u t teen able personally to be amongst
them, various contributions. An unknown friend bad
sent him, as for several years, the sum Of £5, to be
applied to the advancement of the cause of Christ.
This year, as on former occasions. he purposed
dividing it by giving Ed for Foreign missions,
for the stewardship of the Church Missionary
Society, and £2 for home mission. for the stewardship
of the Church Pastoral Aid Society. He had also
received donations from the following :—Mrs. Evans,
El Is. • Mrs. Sorrell, El ; Dr. Hawkins, El Is. ; Mr.
N. Middleton, LI ; Misses Churchill, El ; Major
Wingfield Digt,)+, be.; Rev. J. S. Thomas,loo. •, Mrs.
Symonds, 10e. ; General Wynvard. 5.,' Rev. E. and
Ludlow, 3.. 0.1.; Mrs. Vine, 5.. ;Mrs. Duman,
2s. 6d. ; Miss Fuller. 24. 6d.; Mr. and Mrs, Hayne,
£1 11.. 6d.; Mrs. Powys, El Is.; Rev. C. Powys,
10.,; Mr. Pearce, 5.. ; and Mr. Jacobs Is. With
promises received from Lady Smith and the Rev.
Horace Noel the amount contributed towards the
collection by abse at friends exceeded £2O. He prayed
God to bless the donors of these sums, and may
they always feel in their hearts not only the duty but
the high privilege that it is "more blamed to give
than to receive., He was not one of those who could
entirely agree with the estimate which the present
century formed concerning itself. The most advanced
thinkers of the present time seemed to be agreed in
extolling the present century as being far superior,
Infinitely superior, to all that had gone before, and
many of them looked down upon our forefathers with
all their various g;fts of stied on as being mere babes
compared to the bright lights of this century. Now,
without agreeing altogether with this estimate, he
thought it could not be denied that the present century
was a very remarkable one indeed. We are apt to
over-estimate the times in which we live,especially if we
are in such a pos tion to be able to take part in
influencing these times for g mri. Without agreeing
with this rather extravagant estimate which the 19th
oratory formed of it.elf there ceuld be no doubt there
were two points in which the present century had been
widely distinguished from all that had gone before it.
One was in the extraordinary meats devised for
IncomoVon, for frivalling and moving about from
place ti ;Asc.. By i• tic intercourse of the nations
had been 'neatly facia' sted, and iu many instanoss foe
good—they were sure it was for good so far as
missionary enterpi ire was concerned, for nothing but
good could ever cone from disseminating the saving
truths of Christ's Goep•l. The other characteristic of
the present are to • very extraordinary degree was the
spread of missionary zeal by which the Church of
Christ had been imbued; this great revival of true
religion this intense desire which took possession of
Christian hearts to practice se f-deniel, and to exert
themselves in order that the heathen might
be brought into the Church of Christ, and
saved with the everlasting salvation of which
MI Christiana are airway partakers. Them,
then, were two eminent characteristics of the present
age and the present century, and both of them had
been the subject of distinct prophecy. First by the
great prophet Daniel, who spoke of the time of the
end when many should run to and fro and knowledge
should be increased. Within a comparatively short
period, not very many years ago, within the lifetime
of Urns who are most advanced in years amongst
them, these extraordinary changes had taken place. ,
Up to that period all improvements in travelling
_and
locomotion were very slow and eery gradual. Until
about 100 years ago the roads throughout England
were what we should now call infamous—something
like the road once was between Stafford and Moreton—
with rota about sight or ten inches deep. Now that was
the came with many of the high roads of England until
about 100 years ago. According to Daniel's prophecy
knowledge bad been increased, and it had been sub-
servient to the advancement of that kingdom with
which all the vast interests of mankind were wrapped
up—that kingdom which was righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. With regard to the
other feature which is so characteristic of this age,
for which we may be thankful to God (for it was not
brought about by the power or wisdom of MAO, but
by the power of the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts), the
rev. Canon went on to say the age of missions com-
menced at the beginning of this century. He did
not mean to say nothing was done before th.t time
in England and some other Christian countries, but
what was done before the period to which he referred
was very small and very insignificant indeed. The
total amount which was subscribed by all the
Christians of England for the promotion of Christ's
kingdom amongst the heathen was only £lO.OOO a
year, whereas at the present time the Church
Missionary .Society had an income considerably exceed-
ing 000,000. And that was only one of the great
evangelical societies. He did not use that
word, evangelical, in a party sense, but in the
true sense of spreading abroad the glad tidings of
Christ's free salvation, and every society that did that,
to whatever denomination it belonged, was an (petro-
l:sent in God's hands of diffusing the greatest blessings
upon the earth. May God add to that number and
prosper every one of Wove institutions, for there was
not one of them that was not doing, he might almost
may, infinite good. The total income of the societies
must amount to something like £700,000 a year. Only
the other day there was • gift from a single individual
member of the Church Missionary Society which was
more titan seven times as much as all the Christian.
In lEngland contributed 82 years ago. Good Mr.
JOIIMB the other day made a free gift to the society of
£72.000 to be spent in China and J=The7
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he was sure took a deep interest in and hare
In Stafford, and in this neighbourhood they bed a
special connection with it, bemuse a eery deer and
valued friend, and one who had ministered the Gospel
in this place, had been raked to the high office of •
Bishop of the Church in China. Let them remember
him especially in their prayers. and let them also be
thenkful that the age of apathy, coldness, and indiffer-
ence bad passed away, and that the Church of Rog.
land bad heard the call, reaching her from Mr
Heavenly Lord "Aries, shins, for thy light is soon,
and the glory of the Lord bi rista upon doe Mr.