The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-09-25 00:00:00

DORCHESTER.

LONDON 1111SsIONARY SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of the Dorchester auxiliary
in connection with this society was held in the
Coneregational Chapel on Friday evening.

The -Rey. J. Kir, pastor of the chapel, occu-
pied the chair, and after the usual devotional
exercises, opened the homilies' of the meeting
by an appropriate address on the importance
of miesion work, and sought to improve
upon the audience the importanoe of practically
carrying out the injunction, "B. not weary in well
doing.' lie also read an abstract of the amount
collected in aid of the society in that district, from
which it appeared that there had been realised by
collections on behalf of the society, £2 9.. 7d.;
collection in aid of the widows and orphans fund,
Cl 2.. 114.; missionary boxes (including 13.. 21.
from the Sunday reboot children's boll, £3 74 91.;
unhicriptions, £4 19.. DM.; total, £l2 ot Id. In
addition to this the friends had succeeded in form.
log a working case, which met regularly for the
purpose of making up materials to be transmitted for
distrilintinn by tbe missionaries. These meetings
had proved of great profit to the young people and
o lows engaged therein, and by this men. he hid
been enabled to forward to the miwion none/ made.
up niateriale of the value of from £5 to £6 for
transmission to India. He apologised for the
absence ol ministers from other denominations, be
dating that thew whose sympathies were with
them were unavoidably absent from home. He
then introduoed the Rev. E. J. Evans, who for many
years represented the society as one of its most de-
voted missionaries at Madras, In India, and who
attended as a deputation from the parent society.
The Rev. E. J. Evans, in an eloquent, practical,
and highly interesting address, an hour-and-m-1ml( in
length, proceeded more particularly to expatiate
upon that branch of mission work with which lo
himself had been more specially connected, with
reference to what he bad seen and what were his im-
pressions, fr,m hia own experience, as to the progress
aid spread of the gospel in India. He rerearked
twat it MU quite right that as Christian. they soon'il
"not be weary in well 'Nog," and this injunction
beld good whether they saw any revolts of their
labours or Lot • but in speaking to them on that
occasion, he had the additional encouragement of
seeking their tio-o_ iteration and support became the
read,. of their labours were evident, and becoming
daily more and more wen and felt. Those so-
yeainted with the early struggles of missionary
Oen in India could now look upon the results
achieved very differently from what they could years
sit", and the missionaries of the present day had
that to encourage them which was unknown to the
fathers ead founders of missions. They laboured on
in obedience to the commend in faith and hope, with-
out the app.".ca of
any great actual success for
rate, bllt it Was Ito, their
happiness to count up
the results SS being manifold and great; and when
they took • retrospect of the
Past and saw the present
they could with adoring gratitude e3M " Behold
what bath God wrootibt." They I•Cetle doubtless
conversant with the great week that bad b
of the operation of their society been effectedy in mean
South sees, m that in the memory of many now living
idol worship in those Wands had beep entirely
abolished, so Chat throughout Ewen, poly...re
Idolatry was now comparatively unknown. With
reference to India it IMO true that they could net
point to each decided results, and notwithetan4.
lag all that bad been done, theY mat still
regard that trait continent as Will among "the
dark places of the earth," and am such " full
of the habitations of cruelty." He should
never forget his first impression on reaching Calcutta,
at which time the idolatrous inhabitant/ were eels.
beating one of their noted festivels. They were
returning from their idol temple, besmesred with
dust and pilot, many of them evidencing, by the
fearful torture of their bodies, their superstitious
attachment to the religion of their fathers. He
noticed several of thew devotees with iron spikes
thro.igh the fleshy parte of their belf.ntked
rard es, these spikes attached to iron rods meetnig to-