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

REPORT.

The Committee of the Liverpool Church Missionary Asso-
ciation have decided on holding their anniversary this year a.
few weeks earlier than the time at which it was usually veld
before. Our chief inducement for making this change was to•
secure the assistance of friends at a distance, willing to come
to us, as a deputation, to plead the cause of the Church Mis-
sionary Society; many ofwhom are generally so engaged by the'
London meetings in May, that their help could not be ob-
tained for Liverpool in that month.
The result of the change, in this respect, has been roost sa-
tisfactory. For we have had comparatively little difficulty is
finding a deputation for April. Among those whose well-
known devotedness to the Gospel of Christ will give weight to
their advocacy of this cause, and prove, we trust, useful to all
of us, in stirring up our hearts to more zeal and activity, in
aiding to spread abroad the glad tidings of salvation, throng
our crucified Saviour.

And when we think upon the condition of the heathen,
"without Christ," " having no hope and without God in the
world," well may we be moved, by the advocates of missions,-
to feel compassion for men, as they are, "sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death."

And does not this society deserve our energetic support,
which maintains more than 160 missionary clergymen and
more than MO lay teachers, in making known "among the
heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ?"
Nor have their labours been "in vain in the Lord." Not tO.
speak of those who have "fallen asleep in Jesus," who wer
snatched as " brands from the fire" by the missionaries of
this society, in years gene by, there are upwards of 100,000
at this day more or less enlightened, gathered out of heathen
and Mahemedan darkness, and learninrthe truth as it is in
Jesus from the teachers of the Church Missionary Society. Of
these, nearly-16,000 are communicants of our church, of blame-
less lives, many of them advanced in scriptural knowledge an
spirituality of mind, and adorning the doctrine of God their
Saviour in ail things.
And we are thankful to say that our missionaries are still
receiving, from day to day, fresh proofs that "God is with
them, of a truth." _ _

A hindoo widow lady of high rank, niece to Dwarkanath
Tagore, who died in Europe, has recently avowed her resolu-
tion to renounce heathenism and embrace the Gospel of
Christ. For sonic years she has been studying the Bible, first
led to it by a converted heathen, a connexion of her own, who
died about two years ago, trusting in Christ. She persevered
in searching the Scriptures amid many trying difficulties,
arising from the opposition of her heathen relatives, till th
light of truth so shone into her mind that she no longer could
resist it. She has placed herself under the protection of native
Christian friends in Calcutta ; and nether the threats nor the
premises of her heathen relatives have prevailed to shake her
constant resolution to become a follower of the Lord Jesus.
10,00 rupees were offered to her, with many promises of kind
treatment from her heathen relatives, and permission to read
the Scriptures without molestation, provided she abstained
from a public profession of Christianity and continued unbap-
tised. And these offers and promises were accompanied with
threats of uersonal violence, and even death also if she refused.
But what was her reply ? _

" If you gave me 'ten million rupees, what good would they
do me, when what I want is the forgivenesss of my sins and:
the salvati;,n of my soul ?
"And as to your threatnings to kill me, you may kill the
body, but you cannot kill my soul."
May we not be reminded by this of the spirit of the martyrs,
and confessors in the primitiye Church, and of the revival of
the same spirit, in those who witnessed for Christ at the time of
the ReforrnatiGn in our own Church? This Hindoo lady is
not ashamed of Christ, or of his gospel. She counts all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus. She es-
teems the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures
of this world, because she "has respect unto the recompense of
reward." Other examples of a like spirit in other lands
might be recorded.
The poor needle-maker in the populous city of Ningpo, in
China, a candidate for baptism from our missionaries there,
who, after a long struggle, at last closed his shop on the Lord's
Day, to the utter amazement of his heathen neighbours, is an—
other proof of the power of gospel truth over the mind of man.
His faith triumphed over all his anticipated losses. His faith.
triumphed over the expected reproaches of his heathen friends.
He has resolved to forego his worldly gains for one day weekly,
that he may hallow the day of his Lord and Master; and that
he may spend it in seeking after his salvation, which is better
than all this world can afford.
But we shall not say more of China, particu:arly as we have
one here this morning who has laboured in our missionary
field in that vast empire. We shall hear detai,s of the difficul-
ties of the work there, and the encouragements attending it,
from the Rev. Frederick F. Gough, who has recently returned
from China.

The income of this association, we are happy to say, has
in-
creased during the past year. The total amount from all
sources was .4'2,668, being .t. 2.10 above what was received in the
preceding year.
But we are persuaded that a much larger sum would be
collected, if our friends would use their influence, and bring
the subject of missions more frequently before the minds 0'
those around them. Let the wants of the heathen be made
more generally known among the people—let them hear 0f
their miserable degraded position, and, above all, of the efficaCY
of the Gospel to save their souls. as proved in ten thousand
instances among them. Let them be reminded, too, of yool*
own privileges and responsibilities, and they will learn to value
those privileges more than ever, and to feel greater concern for
the spiritual destitution of the heathen.
This would soon tell on the annual income of this associ-
ation. Why, for example, might not all the schools for the
poor of this town do what one of them did last year, from be
boys of which upwards of in pence were received by this
association ?

And if other sailors could be influenced to follow the exarnPle-
of one whose missionary box was his companion on the sear:
and which returned home with him full from the contribution!
of his brother seamen—if others in different classes and eccid,
pations could be induced to follow these examples it Won .
tend to subdue selfishness and enlarge their heart s, well or'
extend the gospel of Christ more widely in the world. r-
The committee would strongly urge the importance of Cilia
terly missionary meetings as one help towards accomplishing.
this good result.
But, above all, let us never forget that all our success if
the Lord. " Paul may plant, Apollos may water,
enf:
God only can give the increase."-1 Cor. iii. Let us rer !nur
her this, and follow our missionary in every land with "
prayers continually a the throne of grace. This is a help
rent,bieel
will specially prize. This is a help all of us ought to _ r.;
but which few of ua can truly say we baye rendereet

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