The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-04-26 00:00:00

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The anniversary meetings of the Liverpool branch of
the Church Missionary Society were held in the Hall of
the Collegiate Institution, yesterday.
The morning meeting commenced at eleven o'clock.
the Rev. Dr. M'Neile in the chair. The deputation
from the Parent Society consisted of the Rev. R.
Close, of Cheltenham ; the Rev. G. T. Fox, of Durham►
and the Rev. F. F. Gough, missionary from China, Who
has just returned from that country, and the Rev. J. C.
Ryle, rector of Helmingham, Suffolk. Amongst the
clergymen and gentlemen on the platform we noticed, the
Revs. F. Barker, J. Jones, W. 31. Falloon, J. H. Jones,
H. Marien, Gardiner, F. Parry, W. H. Wright, W.
Hesketh, J. Wainwright, S. B. Sutton, D. James, J. R.
Conor, A. Knox, (Birkenhead ;) Charles Inman, Esq., J•
S. Ball, Esq., T. D. Andersdb, &c.

. .
The meeting having been opened with prayer,
The Rer. Dr. M-NEILE rose, and said—My Christian
friends, once more our Church Missionary Society
presents itself before us, seeking its annual sue'
plies for the support of its missionaries, and catechists
and schoolmasters, and all the et ceteras inseparable from
successful missions to the heathen. Once more we are
called to the devout and grateful consideration of the
spiritual riches enjoyed in this land, as contrasted with
the destitution which is still the characteristic of so many
lands. Everything in this world is comparative; and the
aspect presented by every object depends greatly upon the
medium through which it is seen, and the contrasts by
which it is surrounded. View England in comparison
with what it ought to he, considering its opportunities,.
and with what every Christian heart desires that it should
be, and manifold are our wants. Masses of our popula-
tion, sunk in squalid poverty and brutal ignorance, engage-
our sympathies in their suffering, and demand our best'
efforts for their relief and instruction. These supply
warm elements of appeal in sermons and speeches,
on behalf of our Home Missions, our Pastoral
Aid and our Scripture Readers' Societies. These
invite our attention in detail to the back streets, courts,
and alleys of our great towns, to the lanes and cottage&
of many of our rural districts, and we sigh over the pain-
ful picture, desiring and combining to make England bet-
ter. But change the point of view : look at England as
a whole, and in comparison with other nations of the
earth, Pagan or Papal ; and then, manifold are our mer-
cies. Peace and comfort, social and domestic; civiliza-
tion, physical, political, literary ; cutkvation of every ele-
gance, as well as every convenience a life; wealth, com-
merce, and, above all, religion, pure undefiled religion,
the word of God in our native language, in various shapes
and sizes and types, suited to all, and brought within the
reach of all, accompanied, too, with illustrations, both of
geography and natural history, calculated to convey in-
struction, while they administer enjoyment to every"
mind ; the Church of God, with government and or-
ders, and ordinances, which, if not perfect in their ad-
ministration (nothing entrusted to human management
can long continue perfect), are beyond comparison su-
perior to anything else of the kind to be found on the facer
of the earth. These are the elements of appeal on behalf
of our foreign missions. Upon England so highly
favoured ' • upon Englishmen end Englishwomen, and
English children, partakers of these privileges; upon you,
my Christian friends, among the rest, we call, on behalf
of the dark places of the earth, that you will help forward
the good cause, which has for its object to dispense
among them also what you have had so long and so freely
dispensed among you, namely, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. The anniversary of our Church Missionary
Society is a season well calculated to remind us of two
things; first, that our Christian privileges are very great.
0 ! how great, when contrasted with the condition of hea-
then lands ; and secondly, that our Christian privileges
are not sinecures. They are inseparable from respon-
sibilities. Their enjoyment calls aloud for their propa-
gation. There is a charge on our inheritance, and mis-
sionary exertion is a debt. There is a charge upon all
our temporal blessings and possessions. Taxes are •
lawful debt. Their payment is enforced by the law of
the land. Missionary activity in some shape, either by
personal effort or liberal self-denying contribution, is a
gospel debt. Its payment is enforced by the law of love.
If you pay your taxes, which every man must do cr have
his goods distrained, what thanks have ye ? What do ye
more than others ? Do:not even the publicans so? But
if you join cordially in missionary enterprise, which no
man need do unless he likes it, this is acceptable with-
God. The object of the Church Misssionary Society
is to pay this debt of love, and to give to every
man who hears of it opportunity to join in so doing.
It is armed on both sides. It has a collecting hand and
a distributing hand : a collecting hand which enters every"
house and every church and every meeting, receiving con-
tributions from all classes and of all magnitudes, cheques,-
bank notes, gold, silver, copper; and a distributing hand
dispensing riches for eternity in the north and in the
south, in the east and in the west. The power and stretch
of the distributing hand depend upon the supplies heaped
into the collecting hand ; while the real success of both
depends upon the blessing of God. The Church Mis-
sionary Society has twelve principal missions, some includ-
ing a larger and some a smaller number of subordinate
stations, and of course of labourers. The missions are--
1. Western Africa ; 2. The Mediterranean, the chief
operations of which are in Syria and Palestine ; 3. Eastern-
Africa. where the indomitable Dr. Krapf is making fresh
incursions into the Usambara country ; 4. Bombay
and Western India ; 5. Calcutta and Northern India..
6. Madras and Southern India ; 7. Ceylon ; 8'
China ; '9. British Guiana ; lO. New Zealand ; 11-
North-West America ; and last, the more recently-
formed mission in the Punjaub—that very important
region containing a population of five millions, and
forming the geographical link of connexion between'
central Asia and what has hitherto been the northern
frontier of the British possessions in India. Our friend.,
who have favoured us with their presence as a deputation'
will enter into some particulars respecting some of these
missions, and I will no longer interpose between 31°12.
and tl:e combined instruction and enjoyment which7suell.
advocates of such a cause cannot fail to communicate.
(Loud cheers.)
The Secretary, the Rev. H. CARPENTER, M.A., then
came forward and read the report, which was as
follows :

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