The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-05-22 00:00:00

atri. in all its various forms and riimiiications. They
would behold that the Gospel was able to meet all diffi-
--to suit itself to any circumstance of life—whether
savage or civilised—in every clime, from Afric's burning
ura to - The

America's perpetual snow. (Appiauß
reverend gentleman then reviewed the difficulties_ which
had been encountered and overcome at each (

passing a high eulogium on the Rev. Dr. Au
designate), of Prince Rupert's Land, Had

IAWSON in a

the resolution, which we

unanimously

s put from the .c 1

)n (bishop

d carried

......
The Bev. W. PEYTON, missionary from Western Af-
rica, was introduced to the meeting, and was received with
loun applause. He proposed the next resolution, which
was to the effect, that the increase of the missionary sta-
tions in‘Western Africa demanded greater exertions from
the Christian public in their favour. He said that in
moving the resolution he would rather bring forward the
excuse which Moses made when he was commanded to go
and deliver the people of Israel. He (Mr. P.) would
rather that some other person would come forward to re-
late to them what he had to say. But as he had been re-

c'omplish through the medium of the Church Missionary
Society, he would tell them what had been done in his
(Mr. P's) short period in God's vineyard in that part of
the world. In considering what had been done there
they should. t ake into consideration the state in which the
people were before they had been blessed with the light of
revelation. 'Fhe part of Africa in which he had laboured
for 11 years was situated in Bi° north latitude, and 13.ci
west longitude. It was a small .peninsala, 60 miles in
length and 40. in breadth, and theproducts of the country
were imported here, the Christian and heathen natives
being employed-in raising crops from the ground, which
crops were made ready for the European market. In
1786 this portion of the world was purchased by a few good
men in London -called the African Company, amongst
whom was Wilberforce and other friends of humanity.
In a few years afterwards the colony wes handed over to
the British government; and since the English nation
abolished the slave -trade, it had beam° an asylum for
those Africans who -were taken by the British ships en-
gaged in the prevention of that most barbarous practice.
(Hear, hear.) When these liberated slaves enter the
colony, they bring with them all their licathen idolatry,
and all their heathen superstition. Their state could not
be better described than will be found in St. Paul's Epistle
_to the Romans. They .worship sticks and stones.; they
'offer not only their personal obeisance to their idols, but
they bring to them the fruits of the earth. 'The reverend
gentleman here exhibited one of the wooden gods belong-
ing to the poor and benighted individuals, and continued
thus:—ln this state were the people first brought to the
colony ; and it was on these materials that the missionary
had to work. He was happy to inform them, however,
that it had pleased God to bless their labour of love by

the -e.onversion of upwards of 1,000 of these poor crea-
tures to the kingdom of Jesus. When they are brought
into the town, the missionary ger.erallywaits upon them,
and asks them to come to the sehoal, in order that they
may learn the word of God ; and if they come, it not un-

frequently happens that in a short time after some of them
come to the minister and say, " Master, my heart trou-
bles mel I want to know the true God." (Applause.)
They are then put into a class; and, being classified, a

portion of the Gospel history is expounded to them every
day for years, until they give evidence by their conduct that
they are worthy of the blessing they had received into the
church of Christ by baptism. During the past two years,
2,173 persons bad been received into the church ; some of
the individuals had been under Christian instruction for 3,

5, and 7 years so that it could not be said that they were
hasty in making converts to the faith. In 1847 they had
353 communicants, and last year they had 256, making in
all, during the two years, 609 individuals who had been
received at the table of the Lord. The number of bap-
tisms last year was 481, the greater part of whom were
adults. He knew of no persons more ready or more will-
ing to receive the truths of the gospel than the people of
Sierra Leone at present were : but there was a time when
it was a missio❑ of great trial and hardship. (Hear,
hear.) During the last eleven years they had erected
there eleven new churches. In one year (1837) they bad

only one small chapel in rue town,
about 200 persons; but as that was
.Jl."

would contain

n down, ncht

was erected in it
Lord's day

capable of accommo
stead, and it has since been so crowded on V

ave anc

that it has been necessary to
when completed, will afford accommodation to 30(
(Applause.) After alluding to the missions in otheil
of Africa, the rev. gentleman concluded by praisin,
the highest degree the moral habits of such of the nati
as bad embraced Christianity, at
said, might, with credit to th9nsel
the oeople of more
The Rev. H. C

climes

TErt, bay

ieresolu

tion, it. vi
The It

put from the chair and c

the object of win
terprise for 1
heathen. I
them that d
the scene of 1
first been anpoa

d unanimously
e next resolutic

the furtho
:on end enl

xhen he rer

ibcred

'crpool

to three a

Dn. S

rznt.ons ; and I