The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-05-18 00:00:00

REPORT.

After the lapse of another year, the Committee of the
Liverpool Church Missionary Association are again called
upon to present.their annual. report. This they do with,
mingled feelings of joy and grief. They cannot but re-
joice and be thankful to God, for what He is doing for and
by this society ; but they are grieved also for the gradual
declension, year after year, in the amount of the funds
collected by our association.
At no period was the annual amount contributed in Li-
verpool proportionate to the measure of prosperity be-
stowed on this town by the bountiful providence of God.
For, after all, what are two or three thousand pounds for
evangelising the heathen world from one of the greatest
marts of commerce upon earth—from a seapart whose
ships traverse every sea, and convey the produce of our
country to the shores of every nation under Heaven ?
But when the comparatively small contribution has been
gradually declining, it ought, surely, to awaken and pro-
duce serious concern in the Christian mind. There is no
change in the Church Missionary Society, nor ere the ne-
cessities of the heathen less. The same evangelical truths
which the society communicated to the heathen from the
first, it communicates to the heathen still. The command
of Christ to send the Gospel to the Gentiles is equally
binding, and the necessities of the Gentiles are equally ur-
gent. But, from whatever cause, the claims of the hea.
then on our Christian compassion do not find in Liverpool
that degree of support to which they are indeed entitled,
according to the rule of duty prescribed in the written
Word of God.

Not that we would indulge in a censorious spirit. God
forbid ! Not that we would judge others and excuse our-
selves. Rather would we deplore a want of zeal and self-
denial in which we feel that we ourselves have our full
share. Rather would we ask ourselves, in the sight of
God, and invite others to do the same, "Am I aiding the
cause of Christ among the heathen as I ought to aid it ?
Are my contributions to this work in proportion to my
means ? Da I employ my influence to advance the Gos-
pel of salvation as I should ? Do I remember the be-
nighted heathen, and our faithful missionaries, at the
Throne of Grace as I ought ?" _

These are fitting questions for all who profess to be
friends of the Church Missionary Society. And if each of us
will examine himself, we may, perhaps, discover some
latent causes for this decline in our funds ; and we may
be stirred up to fresh energies and fresh activity in this
blessed cause, the fruits of which will be felt throughout
our Liverpool Association, and still more felt in spiritual
blessings in our own souls.
We cannot, we ought not, to be content with our pre-
sent condition. Last year ,•e were £l6O less than the
preceding, and £BOO less than a few years before, when
our churches in Liverpool were fewer, and our friends less
numerous than they are at present.
But while we lament this, when we look at the state of
the Society at large, as to its funds, its opportunities, and
its operation among the Heathen, we cannot but rejoice
in the abundant blessing bestowed upon it by our gracious
God. During the year which has just closed, the income
of the Society has reached an amount unprecedented in
its history. £118,674 10s. 2d. have been contributed to
spread the Gospel of Christ among the Heathen.
The addition to the Society's funds occurring at a time ,
when openings in Western Africa and elsewhere seemed
like providential calls to the Swiety to go forward, has
decided the Committee to enter boldly and in faith on
some new fields of labour ; and in consequence of this
resolution, they are now prepared to receive and send
forth 40 additional missionaries to " preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
But where are these to be found ? The Lord of the
Harvest alone can provide them. He only can qualify
men for this work, and the eye of faith will be directed to
Him to do so. Let us remember this want of the Society
in our daily prayers. Let us ask the Great plead of the
Church to raise up men after His own heart—men of God
—men alive to the soul's value—men moved with pity for
the Heathen, and longing to make known among them
the riches of Redeeming Love. Let us remember our
Lord's promise, and look in faith for its fulfilment "If
two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my
Father which is in Heaven." Matt. xviii. 19.
The TREASURER then read over the accounts for the
past year, from which it appeared that the receipts of the
auxiliary in Liverpool had been £lOO less than the previous
year. The total receipts were £242814s Id, and after
deducting expenses £2320 7s 5d had been remitted to the
parent society. He also read over the following account
of receipts since 1843 to the present time:—

1843. £2Bll
1844..
1845.
1846.
1847 2228
(this was the year of famine arising from the failure of the
crops)

- - 1848
(and £770 for the Jubilee fund)

1849 2349
1850 .....
1851
Liverpool, the treasurer also observed, had done some-
thing towards the bishopric of Sierra Leone, but only to
the extent of £228, but the kingdom had made up a suf-
ficient sum for the endowment. Let us, said he, be
thankful that somebody has made up for our deficiency,
and let us feel ashamed of ourselves for the past, and
strive to do more for the future. (Hear, hear.)
The Rev. T. E. COWAN, of St. Andrew's, proposed the
adoption of the report and the appointment of a com-
mittee for the ensuing year. He observed that it was the
peculiar character of David that he served his God in his
day—that he was one who possessed not only the great
feeling of all christians with regard to the will of God,
but that he did it with reference to his own day and
generation. This principle the speaker applied to the
Church Missionary Society, and particularly when it was
evidently the will of Providence that the proper time had
not arrived for the establishment of missions in particular
portions of the world. He urged them to exercise
wisdom in the selection of missionary stations, and
whilst they ought not to anticipate the proper time, they
ought not to lag behind. He congratulated them on the
increase in the funds of the society, by which it was pro-
posed to send out forty more missionaries during the
present year, and concluded with an appeal for more
earnest exertion in its behalf.
The Rev. J. B. MARSDEN, of Birmingham, seconded
the motion. What was really the best method of under-
taking the missionary work ?—ought missionaries to go
out in company, or one by one? The example of our
blessed Lord showed that at least two should go together,
for He sent His disciples two and two. It could not but
be unsatisfactory to find that the friends of the Liverpool
auxiliary had been declining of late years. Still it was
not discouraging, but how was it to be accounted for ?
There was one circumstance which might in some measure
account for it, and which would apply as well to Liverpool,
Manchester, and Birmingham, and that was the gentry
going to reside in the country, so that the healthy state
of society which used to be seen in our churches—of the
gentry, the wealthy merchant, the labourer, and the
tradesmen assembling together in our churches was no
longer observable in large towns. He did not blame them
for it, for who, with affluence sufficient, would not prefer
the green fields and open air of the country to the smoke
and dirt of the town. Still, it was a serious question for
the gentry to determine—how was the deficiency to be
supplied ? The rev. gentleman then referred to the cases
of Henry Martyns and Mr. Fox, two missionaries who
had died young, but the publication of whose memoirs
had materially helped forward the missionary cause, more
especially in India. (Cheers.)
The resolution wa: then put and carried unanimously.
The Rev. W. KNIGHT, one of the secretaries of the
Parent Society, moved the following resolution :—" That
the fact of the society having received a large increase of
income, concurrently with encouraging openings in
Western Africa, Palestine, and the Punjaub, ought to be
regarded as an invitation from God to the Church Mis.
sionary Society to endeavour to spread more widely in
these regions those gospel truths which He has already so
signally blessed to the conversion of souls." The rev.
tgheen t ehmuarnchs
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have an opportunity of addressing them in the evening,
be wished to say a few words on the general state of the
society under these heads :--First, he wished to point out
the openings for missions throughout the world; next, the
necessity which existed for increased exertion, and con-
clude with some observations respecting the want of men
to occupy those openings. The openings which presented
themselves ware in every quarter of the globe. In India the
whole valley of the Ganges was opened up, and although
they only heard of conversions here and there, still the
whole Hindoo superstition seemed to be shook to its very
foundation. The population was of a very peculiar kind,
and generally moved in masses. There was every indica-
tion of such a movement at the present time. Still it
would be necessary on the renewal of the East India Com-
pany's charter next year to take care that the restrictions
on the spread of the Gospel in Northern India should be
removed, but it must be done with caution, lest too great
haste should make persons hypocrites instead of christians.
The speaker next referred to the Punjaub and the encou-
ragement the society had received from that quarter, and
then proceeded to notice the opening in western Africa,