The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-19 00:00:00

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The 21st annual meeting of the Liverpool and West
Lancashire Church Missionary Society was held yesterday
evening in the Music Hall, Bold-street, and was most nume-
rously and respectably attended. Before the hour appointed
for the commencement of the proceedings, the body of
the room and the gallery became almost incommodiously
crowded—many persons in the passages being unable to find
seats,—the platform alone remaining vacant for the accom-
modation of the speakers, the committee, and their friends.
A great number of ladies were present, and gave additional
interest to the meeting, but we regret to say that many of
them could not find adequate accommodation, and that.all
were more or less incommoded by the almost overpowering
heat of the room. In a short time the back seats of the
platform, which are seldom put in requisition, were crowded
even to the ceiling, and the crush of others, still pushing
forward, became somewhat alarming.
Amongst the gentlemen present we observed, the Revs.
H. Raikes, B. Noel, 'E. Bickersteth, D. Tattershall, D.
Byrth, H. M'lsTeile, F. Ould, W. Rawson, H. Carpenter,
H. Raikes, Henry Jones, Davies, Robert Davies, D.
Anderson, D. James, D. Roberts, F. Barker, R. P. Buddi-
corn, T. Driffield, W. Maynard, Hasswell. Wilson,
John Jones, C. W. Lawrence, Myer, Spencer, G.
Stokes, Coles, Bates, Knox, Bromilow,
Coomb, Mansfield, Falloon, Boutflower, J. E.
White, J. Connor, W. Purdon, C. W. Richards, T. Dwyer,
and T. S. Bowsted.

The Rev. HENRY CARPENTER, secretary to the Liverpool
branch of the society, having opened the proceedings with
prayer,
The Rev. CRANCELLOR RAIKES, who took the chair, then
addressed the meeting in a very impressive manner. It was,
he said, sometimes necessary in introducing the proceedings
of a meeting such as this, to state at some length the objects
in view, and the aavantages which would accrue from follow-
ing them up. But on this occasion, the notices given, and
the circulars distributed, put them in full possession of that
information, and it was unnecessary for him to press upon
them the necessity of supporting the cause in which they had
embarked. He might, however, state that they met together
on this occasion under a state of things altogether peculiar.
Never was there a time when the appeal in behalf of missions
was more powerfully made to the people of England. Never
was there a time when they were more emphatically called
upon to come forward and evangelize the whole world. The
demonstration in behalf of missions was, indeed, such as was
never before known ; and he trusted this would inspire the
people with new exertions. For himself, he believed that if
the people were once roused up they would go on with ardour
in the glorious work. Never was the society more blest in
its operations. Whether they turned to the east or the
west, to the north or to the south, they found new sources
of developement presenting themselves' in every direction.
Prom the various;; quarters. of the globe there was but one
cry, and that was, Come over to us and help us." (Ap-
plause.) He felt he should wrong the spirit of England if
he doubted—and he trusted the meeting before him was a
pledge with regard to this great and influential community—
that the call would not be addressed in vain; that whatever
might he the amount of the wants at home, whatever might
be the extent of the calls upon our charity within, there was
a heart of feeling pervading the people of England, that
would greatly rejoice in seeing its energies called forth in the
work of evangelising the world, and recognise at once the
call addressed to them in the openings made known through
the medium of missionary exertions. (Cheers.) After a few
farther appropriate remarks, the Rev. Chairman concluded
by calling upon the Secretary to read the annual report.
The Rev. H. CARPENTER then came forward, and read
the following report :
" The anniversary of the Liverpool and West Lancashire
Church Missionary Association having again arrived, the
Committee desire to lay before the subscribers and friends
some account of the state of the association at the close of
another year. The committee rejoice to say that, in point
of friends and finances, this association was never in a more
prosperous condition than at this time. During the past
year new branches have been formed, and in almost all the
elder ones there has been a considerable increase in the
amount of contributions. In the returns from some of the
elder branches, there appears an increase of more than £lOO
above the sum received from them last year ; and from one
new branch which has been in existence only for six months,
in Christ Church, £lOO have been already contributed.
" These are gratifying facts for the committee to report,
and they cannot but congratulate the members of the Church
Missionary Society, that while elsewhere the love of some
has become cold, in Liverpool their old friends arc growing
in attachment to the society, and their younger ones seem
resolved not to be outdone by them in liberality and zeal.
" By the united efforts of friends old and new, the funds
of the association this year exceed in amount those of any of
the preceding, and, compared with last year, they exhibit an
increase of no less than £7OO ; the gross amount of the for-
mer being £1859 3s. 10d., whereas the committee have this
year received £2384 4s. Id. in Liverpool. In this manifesta-
tion of increasing attachment to the Church Missionary So-
ciety in Liverpool, the committee desire thankfully to acknow-
ledge the hand of ourgracious God. Nor is this growing interest
confined to our town ; it is happily extending throughout the
whole kingdom. How seasonable this spreading attachment
to the society is, is known to all. Never since the first in-
stitution of the Church Missionary Society did the parent
committee begin a year with more trembling than the last,
and never did the Great Head of the Church so mercifully
rebuke their unbelief, and so signally testify that the silver
and the gold are his, and that every heart is in his hand.
From one source or another there have flowed into the ac-
counts of the parent society in the past year upwards of
£lOO,OOO.

" But while we would unite with the society's friends every-
where, in blessing God for this, let us remember that all this
and more will be required to maintain the missions of the
society in their present dimensions, without advancing to
occupy new posts among the heathen. The existing missions
are most of them every year growing in size, and conse-
quently in expenditure. If these alone are to be maintained ;
there must he a considerable increase of funds. But shall
we rest satisfied with this ? Shall we be content that the
society shall continue to refuse aid to the cries reaching
them from so many heathen lands. Let the servants of
Christ ponder this, and while they rejoice that much is done,
let the recollection that millions are still sitting in darkness
and the shadow of death, and calling on us to come over and
help them, prompt to new and more active exertion in behalf
of the Church Missionary Society. . . . .

The following are the sums contributed respectively during
the past year, by the .diiferent, briulchea in connexion with
this association :

N ACCOUNT WITH A. HODOSON, Esq., TREASURER FOR

1839.

By Cash, Donations £36 5 0
„ Annual Subscriptions 54 13 0
„ Everton Branch
„ St. Andrew's Ditto.
„ St. Bride's Ditto 243 15 4
„ Wallasey Ditto
„ St. Michael's Ditto 57 6 7
„ St. Mary's, Edge-hill lO5 5 8
„ St. Mark's..................... 66 3 7
„ St. Augustine's. . 53 0 11
„ Prescot
„ St. David's
.... ~.. •..• • • • 55 15 0
„ St. Jude's..
„ St. Jude's, for special purposes ... 126 "0 0
„ Christ Church, for half a-year.... 100. 10 6
„ All Saints.... f 32 0 0
„ Mariners' Church 39 10 3
, Ormskirk ...................... 163 8 n
„ Seaforth ..
, , St. Anne's, West Derby, a moiety . 19 14 0
„ West Derby, a moiety
„ St. Helen's
„ Wavertree lB 3 6
„ Collection after Sermon, at St
Mary's, Kirkdale
„ Ditto, at t. John Baptist's
„ Ditto, at St. Luke's
„ Ditto, at Knotty Ash
„ Ditto, at Childnoul
„ Ditto, from St. Paul's Scholars
„ Ditto, Friends of the Gospel
„ Ditto, after Annual Meetings
„ From a small Missionary party, less
expenses, per Rev. R. Davies.
By Interest from Bankers ..

39 14 6
25 0 0
7 2 5
10 0 0
15 18 0
3 10 6
1 17 0
83 1 2

. 15 0 0
. 28 7 9

£2,584 4 1

" But while the committee rejoice in the increase of funds,
and the growing interest manifested in many quarters in fa-
vour of the Church Missionary Society, they would not have
their friends to suppose that this society is without its trials.
The committee trust they are not mistaken in believing, that
those who conduct the affairs of the society in London will
meet with sympathy and support, in all their difficulties, from
their Liverpool friends. And that the objections recently
circulated against the society will receive no countenance
from them. The principal objection raised of late is, that
some of the society's agents have become possessed of ex-
tensive tracts of lands in New Zealand. We are sure we
speak the sentiments of every friend in Liverpool when we
express our conviction that the London Committee, from
the character of its members, would be among the last to at-
tempt to justify their agents when in error. And what is, in
fact, the position of the committee in reference to the sub-
ject of New Zealand? After a long, patient, and sifting inves-
tigation, the committee came to the conclusion, that there
was ground, apparently, for dissatisfaction with the conduct
of one of their agents in that country.
Accordingly, being solicitous to free the society from the
blemish, and at the same time to do no injustice to the
individual in question, they wrote to New Zealand, appoint-
ing a Committee of Enquiry on the spot, accompanying their
letter with a resolution that, if the individual alluded to did
not submit to the committee's decision, and resign every foot
of land beyond what they thought him warranted in
holding, his connection with the society was forthwith
to be dissolved. How the committee can be charged
with blame in this it is not easy to conceive. If it be
said they ought to have proceeded more promptly, we
may ask, was it inconsistent with British or with Chris-
tian justice to paUse and examine before they condemned.
But if it be said such things should never appear in any
connected with such a society as this. True. But every one
must be aware, that in any society so widely extended,
spreading through all parts of the earth, employing so many
agents ; in such a society, with whatever vigilance of manage.
meat, things must occas►onally arise to call for condemna-
tion. He has lived to little purpose who is not prepared for
this in the best-constituted and best-conducted institution
here below. We dare not claim for the Church Missionary
Society what we dare not claim for the church herself. Our
church—our scriptural apostolic church, with her evangelical
homilies—.her uncompromising articles, her devout Liturgy,
which has won applause from more than her own children,—
even our venerable church has to mourn over the inconsist-
encies of her members. And if this society has on some
rare occasions to lament the same, for that they are rare is
proved by the eagerness with which they are seized on by
their adversaries,—is it reasonable, is it candid, is it chari-
table, in such a case, to impute blame to the conductors of
the society, when their agent's conduct has been so anxiously
examined, and which, when on further inquiry, it prove to
be, as represented by some, it will subject their agent to a
summary removal from the office he fills in connexion with

the
" Another objection has been alleged against the constitu-
tion of this society, viz., that it wears too much the aspect
of a dissenting body. To enter fully on this point, the com-
mittee feel would be unsuitable to this time and place. It
is sufficient now to observe, that the friends of the Church
Missionary Society will yield to no body of men, whatever
they profess, in attachment to our beloved church. The
committee boldly affirm, and they appeal to every man's ob-
servation for its truth, that a sounder body of churchmen
does not exist than the bishops, clergy, and laity, who
compose the Church Missionary Society. They are con-
vinced that no class stand more on their church integrity,
refusing, on the one hand, to court political dissent, or,
on the other, to tamper with Romish superstition.
" The committee have only to add, that the Lord conti-
nues to bless largely and more largely the labours of the
Church Missionary Society among the heathen. In one field
of missionary labour in Kishmighar, in Northern India, there
has been a religious awakening almost without a parallel
in the records of modern missions. The soundness of this
work has been tested by time, as well as subjected to the ex-
amination of those most competent to judge of its truth;
among others, by
him whose praise is in all the churches—
Daniel Wilson, the venerated Bishop of Calcutta ; and the
work has abided both tests. The sincerity of the converts
in the main, is proved by time ; and Bishop Wilson has ,
un-
hesitatingly pronounced that the work is of God. To the
Lord alone he ascribes this blessed movement in Kisbnaghar,
and to him be all the glory. Long had our devoted mission-
ary toiled there, and still he saw no fruit from his labour ;
but his labour was not in vain in the Lord. The seed, hid
beneath the outface, was rproutlui nitre, though be knew it

not. The Lord of the harvest was cherishing his own seed,
and ere long it sprang and grew, and the fields became white
with corn, inviting the reapers' bands to gather it. Let the
friends of missions thank God fur this, and take courage.
Let them learn from this to tarry the Lord's leisure, assured
that in due time they shall reap, if they faint not. Let them.
• learn to rest in more simple faith on his promise, and to
remember his declaration—` They that sow in tears shall reap
in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his
sheaves with him.' Psalm cxxvi. y. 6."
Mr. HORSFALL came forward to propose the first resolu-
tion. All who were present would, he said, agree that the
report was an excellent and an encouraging one. It was one
which was much needed, because it was never more neces-
sary than at present, to put forth a manly and uncompro-
mising declaration of the strict adherence of the members of
the society to the principles and tenets of our established
Protestant Church. (Cheers.) And nothing should induce
them to swerve from those principles ; for if those principles
were right, why should they associate their church with any
other, in the propagation of the gospel. The report was, in-
deed, exceedingly gratifying. The fact that £lOO,OOO had
been collected within the last year was a sufficient proof of
their prosperity. The Great Head of their church needed
not the aid of their contributions ; but the increase in their
funds manifested an increasing interest amongst the com-
munity in behalf of the church. (Hear.) There was one sub-
ject, having reference to the labours of the society, which
could not but be regarded with anxiety by them both in a
moral and religious point of view, and that was the state of
our relations with China. In that country there were four
hundred millions of souls, who were shut out from the blessed
light of the gospel. All who heard him must condemn that
line of policy which brought about this state of things. No
doubt the illegal traffic in opium was the commencement of
it. But while they felt anxious to bring about a brighter
state of things for that country, they must not suppose that
the Chinese would not still receive opium, until the govern-
ment work were accomplished. They would continue to re-
ceive it from innumerable channels. There was but one ef-
fectual way to put a stop to its introduction and its use, and
that was by missionary efforts. They must go forward ; they
must plant the standard of the cross upon the territory of
China, and by that means and that alone would they put
down the immoderate use of that destructive drug, and pre-
vent the cultivation of the plant from which it was extracted.
By the blessing of Providence they might yet be enabled to
carry the gospel through the length and breadth of that popu-
lous country. It had been said that their society was a dis-
senting one, and that they interfered with the operations of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The latter
society, however, carried the gospel to the British Colonies ;
they (the Missionary SoCiety) carried it to every quarter of
the globe. He concluded by moving, " That the Report
now read be _adopted by the meeting, and be printed and
widely circulated."

The Rev. EDWARD BIOXERSTrTH rose to second the re-
solution. It was highly gratifying to him to have come
again to Liverpool, in order to give some details respecting
the present state and progress of the Society. He could not,
however, but first thank God, and he called upon the meet-
ing to unite with him in that duty, for the wonderful change
which had taken place in the state both of the Parent So-
ciety and of the Liverpool Association, since their origin and
beginning. There were those present who remembered the
formation of the Liverpool Society, in the year 1819, when
Mr. Cunningham. the present Bishop of Calcutta (then Dr.
Wilson), and himself attended ; that they then met in the
Town Hall, which was found quite able to contain all who
were willing to go. The income of the Society was then only
a few hundreds ; and there were but three or four sermons
preached. Now, he found, there were no less than 27 ser-
mons preached at the anniversary ; and the collections after
the sermons alone, independently of the other collections
and contributions amounted to the whole of the then income
of the Liverpool Association. It was gratifying to him to
hear the list of the different places where contributions had
been made, and to see how they had multiplied. He could
not but contrast it with the list that St. Paul gave in the
16th Romans, as read in the afternoon service of yesterday,
and say we seemed to be realising something of the primitive
feeling of zeal and love for the Saviour, and labours to pro-
mote his Gospel. His friend (Mr. Horsfall) had spoken of
some who thought they were interfering with the So-
ciety for Propagating the Gospel. They must have a
strange notion of the work to speak of interference.
If there was a ship wrecked upon our coast, should we call
it an interference if more than one life-boat went out to the
rescue, especially if there were hundreds of thousands perish-
ing in the vessel ? (Applause.) We were called upon, in
the actual state of the heathen world, to multiply our exer-
tions ; for ignorance of the actual condition of those of our
fellow-men was the grand source of all the objections to
missionary enterprise. He rejoiced to be able to give a very
gratifying account of the progress of the society. With re-
gard to its funds, it might be well to give the amount of
them for one or two preceding years. I 1837 the income
of the society was £71,000 ; in 1838, £83,000 ; in 1839, it
fell back to £71,000 ; but this year [lB4o], through the
mercy of God, for the first time in its whole history, its in-
come exceeded £lOO,OOO. (Cheers.) Liverpool had done
well, and he hoped it would go on. It was delightful to
think he was now addressing the largest Church Missionary
Association out of London. For a long time Bristol, though
smaller in point of population and wealth, stood the first ;
but now Liverpool exceeded that place, as it ought to do
from its population and station. (Hear, hear.) He would
now proceed shortly to detail the progress of the missions
through several parts of the world ; and a better idea would
be given if he compared the account of last year with that
of the present. Last year there were 607 teachers among
the heathen; this year there were 827. (Hear.) Last
year there were 468 schools among the heathen ; this
year there were 500. (Hear, hear.) Last year there were
26,000 schools among the heathen : this year there were
29,000. Let the meeting notice the next point particularly.
Last year there were 28,000 attendants upon public worship:
this year there were 41,800. (Loud cheers.) The number
of communicants had not been made up, but it would be in
proportion. Last year there were 24 students in the Church
Missionary Society's Institution at Islington : this year there
were 29. (Cheers.) And he was thankful to say that no
mission had been left without a manifest blessing from God.
(Hear, hear.) At particular times there had been remark-
able blessings vouchsafed. In the West African mission, in
the time of the late Mr. Johnson, there was a remarkable
blessing ; and though the mission fell back upon his death,
yet upon the whole it had since been steadily advancing, and
never was it in a more encouraging position than at this mo-
ment. (Hear, hear.) So with regard to the New Zealand
mission. The meeting had heard of the difficulties and the
opposition which the society had had to encounter with re-
gard to this mission. He did not wonder at them. Satan
would have forgotten his old office if he had not raged. Surely
when there was such a great work going on there, we might
expect many adversities. The whole island was divided into
fourteen districts, in eight of which the society had esta-
blished missions, which were attended by 8760 natives.
(Hear.) The way in which the natives were becoming reli-
gions teachers was truly surprising ; and there was, further,
an extraordinary demand for Prayer Books and New Testa-
ments, so that it had been found necessary to provide 33,000
copies of the book of common prayer, and 10,000 copies of
the New Testament were about• being sent, for the use of the
poor New Zealanders. (Hear.) It was very singular that
their old enemy, the Pope of Rome, was at work there, as
appeared from an account sent home by Mr. Williams, one
of the missionaries, (which Mr. Bickersteth read) to the ef-
fect that there were already one bishop and ten priests, and
that six more priests were about to join them. He mentioned
these facts to show the enlarged efforts which that enemy
was making, and how much Satan hated the New Zealand
mission, when both at home and abroad he was striving to
thwart its labours. (Hear.) He was gratified to find that
notwithstanding every obstacle the mission was never more
prosperous than at the present moment. The Bishop of
Australia, who had visited it, gave a very pleasing report of
it, (which the speaker read,) in the course of which it was
stated that the condition of the converts was satisfactory,
and that they bore a great proportion to the entire popula-
tion. (Hear.) The mission to India was also very remark-
able. Were he to go through the whole of India, he could
give the meeting the testimony of the Bishop of Madras to
the state of the missions in the south of India. and that of
Bishop Wilson as to the north, showing that God was most
remarkably, by his blessing, owning the labours of the so-
ciety. Bishop Wilson stated the condition of the mission at
Kishnagur, in five particulars [which were read, and they
showed vast accessions to Christianity.] This statement was
combined with every kind of guard and caution, so that there
could be no exaggeration. How delightful it was to consi-
sder, that twenty-one years ago the Bishop of Calcutta
was standing before the public of Liverpool pleading the
cause of the Church Missionary Society, and that now
he was in India spreading the fruits of those labours
which they, at his stirring up, supplied to the society to com-
mence its operations in that country ! So with regard to
Ceylon. It was exceedingly interesting to hear the Bishop
of Madras describe the state of this mission as pregnant with
great results. But let him now go forward and look at
Africa. He hoped many present had read Mr. Buxton's
book upon the means of suppressing the slave trade in Africa,
and the remedy suggested for it to the Christian Church. It
presented such an amazing field for the labours of the Chris-
tian Church, that he (Mr. Bickersteth) could not but ear-
nestly direct public attention to it. It was gratifying to know
that Government were willing to promote the measure, and
that they had directed the papers to be laid before Parlia-
ment. The plan was for steam vessels to go up the Niger,
in order to establish a beneficial system of commerce
with the African nations ; and Mr. Buxton had shewn the
unspeakable importance of not sending commerce only, but
the Gospel. (Hear.) What had been the means of prepar-
ing the facilities for this great enterprise? The emancipation
of the slaves in the West Indies. (Cheers.) Oh, what a
mercy it was for Christian natives to be preparing there to
carry the Gospel to that country whence he had been brought
by the system of slavery ! Oh, that the standard of the
Cross, and the knowledge of the saving blood of Jesus
Christ, might be diffused thoughout the whole of Africa!
(Cheers.) So, too, with regard to China. He could not but
deeply feel what Mr. Horsfall had said upon this subject.
We were fearfully guilty concerning our brethren in China ;
before God he did feel that we owed an immense debt to the
Chinese. See how we stood with regard to them ! A hea-
then nation sent us, a Christian nation, the means of a
cheering and a refreshing beverage. We, a Christian nation,
returned that heathen nation a greater amount in value of a
poisonous drug, against all their remonstrances, against their
laws, and against all their efforts to prevent it. He trusted
we should feel that there was a national guilt in this ; and if
now we were sending to demand the price of the poison, did
it lessen our guilt ? Whilst he said this, he could not but
hope with his friend, that this evil might be overruled for the
evangelizing of China, as the slave trade was, by communi-
cating the gospel of our blessed Saviour to the 360 millions
of that vast empire. Before he sat down he must notice
another point, and that was the great progress of the gospel.
A letter had been written by the Bishop of London to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, for the purpose of raising funds
for the endowment of colonial bishoprics.—(Hear, hear.)—
Having read an extract from this letter, Mr. Bickersteth
proceeded to say that he remembered how the contribution
of £5,000 from the Church Missionary Society to the
college at Calcutta was hailed. He trusted the Bishop of
London would feel they were in common labouring to send
abroad the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ ; and he did not
doubt that the Church Missionary Society would cordially
respond to the Bishop's wishes in this important respect.
What a delightful fact it was now, although they had had
grievous difficulties in making an interest for the heathen
world, to find our leading Bishops planning how bishoprics
should be founded in every colony where we had established
our possessions! It reminded him of the first promise to
Abraham. Oh, that Britain might thus become the mighty
nation of the world, and be a great light to the nations of the
earth! (Cheers.) He had great pleasure in seconding the
resolution.
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution, and it was carried
unanimously.

i‘l
or .f
et
liiieAalt'
in
edrl':
cll.T.nsoxlNAt kN moved the next resolution, expres-
siveledgMents of the glory of God as exhibited
the
objectsdess success h
o f t
o fe t Ici ae
I laeest !missions in India; and h the course of
leis
s a
olotnionlaymen to assist in carrying out
public_Th Hon. and Rev. BAPTIST NOEL seconded the resolu-
tion, commencing his address with a few appropriate obser-
vations upon the advantage of laymen appearing before the
pu
more frequently, to advocate a cause like this, in
which he felt the liveliest interest. He had great pleasure
in seconding the resolution. The awakening which it spoke
of was of the most cheering kind ; and it promised as much
for Northern India as the events which had happened of late
years promised for Southern India. Upon this topic, how-
ever, he should be glad to speak more largely at the meeting
to-morrow ; at present he would .confine himself to one
other mission, the state of which his friend Mr. Bicker-
steth had described, because it was involved in the general
terms of the•resolution, and because it was that on which
it was supposed by some the blessing of Almighty Goa

did not rest. It was a solemn thing to say of our great
Creator that he blessed a eause or that he approved a mis-
sion ; but most solemnly did he (Mr. Noel) believe that
Almighty God had been blessing and did bless the mission
to New 'Zealand. The meeting had heard from the report
that various charges had been made against the missionaries
in that island—charges most eagerly received and most se-
dulously circulated : he had met with them in the MorningChroniCie, had seen them stated in the Colonial Register,
and he had two pamphlets before him in which they were
repeated. We were told that the missionaries held large
tracts of land in that country, that consequently they were
secularised in their tempers, and greatly impeded in their
labours, and that as they turned their attention to secular
pursuits, there was very little improvement in civilization,
and that the moral and spiritual improvement of the natives
had been lamentably slow. These charges, he believed, were
altogether erroneous, with the exception of that which was
made the ground of delinquency—he meant the possession
of land, upon which the committee did not possess all the
information which would qualify- them to pronounce ultimately.
Far be it from him to screen any man from the just cen-
sures of his fellow men, far be it from him to screen the
conduct of any institution from the most rigid scrutiny of
their constituency, or to say it was not perfectly right, when
anything wrong had been done, that it should not be nar-
rowly examined (Hear.) He must add, that although
many charges were made against the missionaries, the parent
committee were involved, and in the pamphlet before him
the anonymous author inculpated them for having, on the
27th of July, 1830, not very wisely, passed a resolution, that
uader the peculiar circumstances of New Zealand, land
should be purchased from the natives to a moderate extent,
as a provision for their children above 15 years of age, the
nature and extent of the purchase to be approved by the
committee. The author added, that as each son of the mis-
sionary should attain 15 years of age, the parent would be
entitled to purchase additional land. Two charges were here
made against the parent committee; first, that they bad di-
rected their missionaries, as making secondary to the great
object ofevangelising the natives; and secondly, that they
voted that their missionaries should be allowed to make a
provision in land for their children after they should be 10
years of age. It was prudent, perhaps, in our author to in-
sert the words " not very wisely," as it gave him a favour-
able footing in the minds of his readers ; but if the case were
investigated a little further, we should find, that to pay at-
tention to what was prudent, was not necessarily to be so.
Now he thought that the two regulations which our author
thought unwise, completely justified the confidence placed
in the committee. With regard to the first point, that they
should make the civilisation of the natives subservient and
secondary to their evangelization, we had heard just the op-
posite charge brought against the society, that it did not civi-
lise before they attempted to introduce Christianity. The
two charges seemed to destroy each other. Now he believed
that the untforin experience of miisions, as well as common
sense, was that both should be applied together. - On that
principle the missionaries to New Zealand had gone. They
set themselves to learn the language and to translate it ;
they gave to the people the example of a blameless life ; they
built houses and planted gardens ; they made bricks and
formed their furniture ; and both the processes thus pro-
ceeding together, won the attention and affection of the
people, and opened the way for the greater message. The
other regulation upon which our author pronounced an un-
mitigated censure, was, that the committee should allow
their missionaries to provide for their children of fifteen years
of age, by making purchases of land. Sometimes this was
pronounced a most cruel regulation ; and one man said the
largest seignories were in the possession of the missionaries
or their sons. The reason was, that there were no other
persons to purchase them, as the rest of the inhabitants were
convicts. Another author, in order to attack the committee,
availed himself of a false analogy between the state of
New Zealand and the American tribes, and he drew a
lamentable picture of the way in which one tribe was
thrown back upon another who despoiled them of their hunt-
ing lands and forced them into wars, which was the cause of
the depopulation he affected to lament. Nothing could be
more extravagant than this. The north island contained
100,000 square miles according to Mr. Polack, a Jewish
trader, and by the testimony of Mr. Williams it contained
100,000 inhabitants, or one to every square mile. Now if
they lived by hunting, the loss of a large tract of country by
scaring away the wild animals might cause great depopula-
tion ; but the fact was there were no quadrupeds there, but
such as had been introduced by Europeans : they had
no cattle which they could pasture ; for the whole of their
agricultural produce was of three kinds—rice, potatoes, and
yams—two of which had been introduced by the calumniated
missionaries. Mr. Trap, in his evidence on oath before a
committee of the House of Lords,—the very person who
brought the information home about the quantity of land
held by the missionaries, said that he had frequently passed
over fifty miles of uncultivated land at once ; yet the com-
plaint against the missionaries was, that they had 3,000 acres.
Mr. Noel then referred to the evidence of Dr. Lang and
others, which shewed that a hundred acres of land near the
sea might be had for a barrel of powder and some tobacco.
In the interior it might be had for much less ; and these facts,
he conceived, would be a sufficient answer to the charge that
the charitable contributions of the British public were spent
upon the purchase of large estates for the missionaries in
heathen lands, and especially in New Zealand. There was a
still more curious charge against the missionaries, namely,
that because of these large estates they were exposed to secu-
larity of temper, and so engrossed in the management of
their farms that they could not devote themselves to the mis-
sion. In this there was much to deceive. In this country
an estate of 4000 acres carried with it the idea that it would
require much time; but 4000 acres in New Zealand were
something like the sheepwalks in the Highlands, which
only require the attention of two men, and none from
the farmer himself. The reverend gentleman then referred
to the testimony of Mr. Polack, Captain Fitzroy. Mr.
Marsden, and the Bishop of Australia, to shew that the mis-
sionaries had not become secularised, from their possession
of this land, but, on the contrary, that they were exceed-
ingly devoted to their duties. The hon. and rev. gentleman
then proceeded to contravert the statement that the measures
of attention to secular pursuits which the committee had
sanctioned, had not been successful in advancing civilization,
and he quoted the journal of Mr. Davies, which was given in
evidence before the committee of the House of Lords-- He
next referred to the doctrine that the natives would not imi-
tate our habits, and shewed by the experience of Mr. Shaw,
a Wesleyan missionary , that it wasnot so. The last objection he
noticed was, that there was no parallel between the means
expended and the smallness of the results, which he com-
pletely answered by facts ; and in conclusion, he made a most
eloquent appeal to the sympathies of the meeting ; but our
time and limits prevent us from extending our report.
The CHAIRMAN said there had been a slight omission in
the resolution, which he could confirm. A young relation
of his own was stationed at Kishnaghur, in the company's
civil service; and in a letter received from him, touching
upon the progress of Christianity among the natives, he said,
" In the court where I preside, I think the Bible is as fre-
quently called for, for the purpose of swearing, as the water
of the Ganges or the Koran." (Cheers.)
The resolution was then carried.
Mr. CARPENTER then announced a donation of £25. from
Mr. Tuton (we believe). The sum received from the collec-
tions after the sermons yesterday amounted to £550., but the
return had not been received from one church. He had been
told by one of the deputation that if the collection from the
sermons preached at this anniversary amounted to £600., it
would be treble the annual amount of the income of the so-
ciety the first year of its formation.
The Rev. Dr. BYRTH, of Wallasey, said he rose to make
the only remaining motion of the night. He stated that
he had to move the appointment of the Committee for the year.
He took it for granted, as the meeting no doubt did, that the
proceedings of the meeting would soon come to a close ; and
he should not himself interfere with so reasonable an ar-
rangement. He rejoiced that after what had been so ably
said, he was not called upon to make a long speech. He
could not, however, avoid touching upon some parts of the
topics on which he should otherwise have amplified; and he
should leave it to the meeting to supply the beautiful prop()) -
tions and form of the superstructure. Ic had been noticed
that there were laymen in the committee ; and they had been
noticed in contra-distinction with churchmen, on which the
errors of the society were thrown. There was frequently a
most misehievous application of this denomination of
" Churchmen." When the enemies of the church are asked
what is a churchman ? they say—he is a man dressed in black;
receiving money for doing nothing; a man who sometimes
in public appears to do a little duty. This was the mere
cant of the enemies of the church. But this he would say
the church would not do her duty until laymen as well as
churchmen came forward in support of the cause which they
now had met to support. He implored them to come for-
ward. Wonderful things, it was true, had been done for
the missionary cause, and that by laymen too. But how was
it wonderful ? Wonderful only by contrast with the past ;
wonderful only in the contrast of what they had done, with
that which they ought to have done. It was said that this
was the richest church in the world. He wished she really
were so, so that she might do more good to society. In an-
swer, however, she was the richest church, and her riches
were in the hands of the laymen. He hoped that the appeal
of this night would bring forth some of that riches : and if
the appeal of next year were as successful in proportion as
that of the present, their funds would he increased ten-fold
above their original amount. It had been said that the
society came in contact with the Society for the propagation
of the Gospel. That matter had not, he thought, been set
quite right. He would say that if they were not a Church
Missionary Society, none else was so. If they were not a
Missionary Society, then did the deep disgrace attach itself
to their church that had no Missionary Society, which
he denied. The Society for propagating the Gospel,
on the other hand, was not a Missionary Society no
more than he was a missionary of Wallasey, to which he
.belonged, or the rev. chairman was a missionary of Chester.
The society, the anniversary of which they had then met to
commemorate, went over the world ; they went where neither
tithes nor taxes were collected, and were essentially a mis-
sionary society. He concluded by moving, that the follow-
ing gentlemen be the committee for the ensuing year :
Mr. Chas. Boutflower, Mr. Wm. Brocklebank, Mr. G.
B. Carter, Mr. Wm, Cook, Mr. Henry Copeland, Mr. T. A.
Dale, Dr. Dickenson, Mr. Thomas Eccles, Mr. John. Eden,
Mr. Moses Edwards, Mr. Geo. Groom, Mr. T. Gardner, Mr.
T. B. Horsfall, Mr. John Howard, Mr. Charles Inman Mr.
William Jones, Mr. W. G. Leete, Dr. Mackintosh, Mr. R.
A. Payne, Mr. T. P. Pemberton, Mr. John Rigby, Mr.
Thomas Rummer, Mr. James Robertson, Sir J. S. I'. Salus-
b, ury, Mr. William Smith, Mr. H. Statham, Mr. Edward
futon, Mr. Win. Wainwright, and all the clergymen who
are members of the association.
The Rev. HUGH WNEILE next addressed the meeting
with great power. He had a very small contribution to band
in copparisonwith the immense sums they had heardnanrd,
yet it would purchase a great many acres of land in New
Zealand. He had to hand in three sums of ten shilling.s
each, collected a penny at a time, at intervals of a reotr?t.hs
between each penny. (Loud cheers.) He mentioneadneehf
to shew the constancy of purpose and the perseverance
item
in collectori who undertook such an office. Another nd
in his list was a donation of £2 from a person wh
went then ne
iv how the
giving his name. (Cheers.) The gentlemenreva.n i)
on to urge the claims of the society,
,missionary church.
Tire Doxology had
Church of England should be the real
Pt'irs the
The resolution was adopted ; an!i
been sung, the meeting adjourned till this evening.

POLITICAL CHARACTERS.

(From the Oxford Herald.)
sift ROBERT

Sir Robert Inglis is one of the most honest and uncom-
promising politicians in either House of Parliament; to the
political principles which he has espoused he is devotedly at-
tached, and from them, even to the breadth of a hair, he has
never swerved, and we firmly believe never will swerve, either
to gain any advantage for himself, or to promote the objects
of the great party with which he is connected. There are
few men who feel so strongly in political matters, and fewer
still we should think more decidedly opposed to the present
administration than Sir Robert'lnglis ; but there is no indi-
vidual who is less of a " party man" ; true it is that he is one
of the most able and influential members of the Conservative
phalanx in the House of Commons, but he has never hesi-
tated to vote against and strongly oppose that party when he
has believed it to be acting wrongly. Unlike a certain noto-
rious blockhead, of whona we shall have to speak shortly, he
would never vote black to be white or white to be black, to
get the Conservatives into office or to keep them there. His
conduct with respect to the Roman Catholic Emancipation
Bill proves what we assert. When that measure was intro-
duced into Parliament by Tory Ministers, who had before
denounced it as unconstitutional and baneful, and when it
was supported by meh calling themselves Tories and Church-
men, who had previously both spoken and voted against it,
Sir Robert Inglis was one of the foremost in condemning the
shameful tergiversation, and in taking active measures to
couuteract it. Not only so, but be came forth the champion