THE ANNUAL MEETINGS.

The difficulties through which the Society has been brought, during the last year, by the gracious hand of God, gave to the annual services an unusual interest. All the meetings, without exception, were more largely attended than for many years past, and were pervaded by a devout and grateful spirit. They began with the devotional service in the Library of the Mission House, at which the Rev. Dr. Steane presided. His address added to the impressiveness of the occasion.

In the evening of the following day, Friday, the 22nd April, the Annual Sermon in the Welch language was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Price, of Aberdare, in Jewin Crescent Chapel. The attendance was much larger than the previous year.

On the Lord's Day, April 24th, missionary sermons were preached in eighty-three chapels in London and its suburbs, and thirty-five juvenile missionary services were held; a larger number than the Society has ever before enjoyed. It is a pleasing indication that the missionary spirit is also spreading in the congregations of the metropolis.

At the general meeting of members and subscribers, on Tuesday the 26th, the usual business was transacted, and some important notices were given by Dr. Underhill, on behalf of the Committee, and by the Rev. C. Stovel, of some proposed changes in the constitution of the Society. They will come up for decision at the next annual meeting. The Treasurer and Secretaries were re-elected, and the following gentlemen chosen to serve on the Committee for the present year :

Aldis, Rev. J., Reading.
Birrell, Rev. C. M., Liverpool.
Bloomfield, Rev. J., London.
Brown, Rev. H. S., Liverpool.
Brown, Rev. J. J., Birmingham.
Brown, Rev. J. T., Northampton.
Burchell, Rev. W. F., Blackpool.
Chown, Rev. J. P., Bradford.
Colman, Jeremiah, Esq., Norwich.
Dowson, Rev. H, Bradford.
Edmonstone, G., Esq., Torquay.
Edwards, Rev. E., Chard.
Evans, Rev. B., D.D., Scarborough.
Foster, Michael, Esq., Huntingdon.
Goodall, A. B., Esq., Hackney.
Gotch, Rev. F. W., LL.D., Bristol.
Green, Rev. S. G., B. A., Bradford.
Haycroft, Rev. N., M.A., Bristol.
Heaton, W., Esq., London.
Hobson, Rev. J., London.
Jones, Rev. D., B.A., Brixton.
Katterns, Rev. D., Hackney.
Landels, Rev. W., London.
Leonard, G. H., Esq., Bristol,

Lewis, Rev. W. G., jun., London.
Maclaren, Rev. A., B.A., Manchester.
Manning, Rev. S., London.

Martin, Rev. J., B.A., Nottingham.
Middleditch, Rev. C. J., London.
Millard, Rev. J. H., B.A., Huntingdon.
Mursell, Rev. J. P., Leicester.
Newman, Rev. T. F., Shortwood.
Page, Rev. T. C., Plymouth.
Paterson, Rev. J., D.D., Glasgow.
Pattison, S. R., Esq., London.
Prichard, Rev. J., D.D., Llangollen.
Robinson, Rev. W., Cambridge.
Smith, W. L., Esq., St. Albans.
Spurgeon, Rev. J. A., London.
Stanford, Rev. C., Camberwell.
Templeton, J. Esq., F.R.G.S., London.
Thomas, Rev. T., D.D., Pontypool.
Tresidder, J. E., Esq., London.
Tucker, Rev. F., B.A., London.
Vince, Rev. C., Birmingham.
Walters, Rev. W., Newcastle.
Webb, Rev. J., Ipswich.
Wheeler, Rev. T. A., Norwich,

To the list of honorary members of the Committee was added the name of our esteemed friend the Rev. J. Leechman, D.D.

The Annual Morning Sermon was preached at Bloomsbury Chapel by the Rev. D. Katterns, of Hackney. The text was taken from the 67th Psalm, the first two verses. The subject illustrated was the inseparable connection that exists between the spiritual state of the church and its usefulness in the world. The evening sermon was preached by the Rev. A. Maclaren, B.A., of Manchester, at Surrey Chapel. His text was the 16th verse of the 10th chapter of the Gospel according to John. These discourses were listened to with breathless attention, and the memory of them will remain as amongst the most precious legacies that the recent services have left. Their publication in the pages of the "Baptist Magazine" has given pleasure to thousands who could not enjoy the privilege of hearing them.

The Public Meeting on the 28th was held under the presidency of Lord Radstock; but we had to deplore the absence of our beloved Treasurer, who, for the first time for sixteen years, was compelled by sickness to be absent. The Rev. Dr. Thomas, of Pontypool College, conducted the opening devotional service. After the reading of extracts from the Report the meeting was addressed by the noble chairman, and by the Revs. T. Evans, J. D. Coley, Dr. Angus, and Chas. H. Spurgeon. From the full report in the Freeman we take the following extracts :

UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

It was with great joy I accepted the invitation from your Society to be present here to-day. More especially, as I am not connected with the branch of the Church of Christ by which this Society is maintained, I felt all the more rejoiced in accepting the invitation, because I saw in it a recognition of the true principle of "the unity of the body of Christ," the members of which, however they may have different works and different functions on earth, are yet knit together in the one body, kept alive by one Spirit, having one Head, one hope, and one calling. It was, therefore, with more than common pleasure that I came here to fill the position which I have the honour to hold to-day; and I must say it is one of the most cheering signs of the times, to see that the little lines of demarcation, which seem to separate the different members of the church of Christ, are being obliterated; not because the distinctions are thought unimportant, but because it is seen that there is something which is more im portant still, namely, the love of the different members of the church of Christ one towards another. (Hear, hear.) I believe that it is giving a testimony to the world that testimony which the Lord Himself said it would give, when we are seen to be one in the love of that God who "so loved the world that he gave his

Son to die for us." When we see evidence that God has knit together the different members of His body into one harmonious whole, it makes us hope that the day is not far distant when that unity will be completed, though as yet it is but imperfect; and when we shall all, with one heart and one voice, give praise to Him who "sitteth upon the throne.' Lord Radstock.

THE TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.

The work of the Society seems to be more and more important. The work of translation that was mentioned in the report is one the value of which cannot be overrated. When we see the progress which education in the empire of India is making, the gradual leavening of the native mind which seems to be going on, it is of the utmost importance that the Scriptures, and books bearing on the Scriptures, should be sent forth wholesale amongst the people. The native mind appears, from all accounts, to be gradually opening for the reception of truth, and it does seem to be of unspeakable importance that that truth should be God's truth; that it should not merely be certain improvements in physical science, certain advancements in civilisation, but that truth which our Lord told His disciples "should make them free,"

We pity the degraded natives of heathen lands, but we forget sometimes that it is God's Word to which we owe our free dom; and by forgetting that, I think occasionally our efforts are somewhat lukewarm in making known to others the blessed Gospel which has been the charter of our own liberty.

Lord Radstock.

IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER.

which he cannot dispel, and of misery which he cannot mitigate. He would speak, but he cannot-he would assist, but he is helpless. As far as my own experience went, I can only say that the preparatory part of my religious course was to me, of all others, the most trying. Fancy yourselves standing on the verge of a mighty current, in which millions of your fellow creatures are being swept away to destruction before your eyes. You come there to save them, but you cannot. You would throw them a lifebuoy, or direct them to a lifeboat, but you cannot. Your tongue is tied; your hands are shackled; and all you can do is to look on, and to look up to the God of mercy on behalf of those who perish before you. Would not such a position as that be a trying one? This is the case in a still more awful sense with the missionary in India, until after anxious months of toil and study he is qualified to go forth to the bazaars with the speakable riches of Christ."

66

Rev. T. Evans.

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I trust that there may be an earnest spirit of prayer in each one of us, knowing that the time for effort is rapidly passing away. Each one has an influence to some extent. There is not a single person in this large multitude who has not a very large influence, an influence for which he or she is responsible in the sight of God. You can strengthen to an immeasurable extent the hands of the missionaries by prayer. By half an hour a-day you may strengthen the hands of the missionaries in a way that eternity alone can disclose; and I verily believe that what we need now is not so much fresh organisation, as more earnest, unyielding prayer that God A MISSIONARY MUST THINK LIKE THE would bring down His blessing, not merely in drops, but in showers. We see that seed has been sown in all countries -not only in Europe, but in Asia, Africa, and America; and there appears to be the promise of a large crop. But for this there must be abundant rain. If much seed has been sown, there must be much rain; and for the blessed shower I think we ought to plead earnestly and unweariedly that God will in His own good time send down the shower which shall bring forth fruit to His glory.

Lord Radstock.

The acquisition of foreign languages is the first difficulty that a missionary in India meets with. He lands in the country full of zeal for the salvation of the heathen, and is anxious at once to commence with his message of love and mercy to the perishing millions around him. The scenes he has daily to witness are sad and sickening. He is now brought into personal contact with obscene and degraded forms of idolatry. He now looks on what before he only heard of, and his heart fails within him. All he can do is to stand a silent spectator of darkness

PEOPLE.

He has to learn not only how to speak to the people; but also how to think as the people think. He is now addressing a people who have a peculiar manner of expressing themselves, quite foreign to Europeans, and the missionary must lay hold of the native mind as well as the native tongue, and cast all his thoughts in an Eastern mould if he would have them suit the figurative and fanciful minds of heathen people. Their books are filled with figures, and even their common conversation abounds with metaphors. Nothing pleases them so much as apt illustrations, and no manner of preaching will interest them like the pictorial and parabolic. They call the ig norant man blind, and the learned man they say has a hundred eyes. If they wish to describe a man of good outward appearance with a bad heart they will say that is a golden cup full of poison, whilst the man with a poor outward appearance and good heart they will say is an earthen pitcher full of nectar. The liberal man is a well within reach of every thirsty traveller. The truly benevolent man is a tree which drops its fruit even to those who cast stones at it. The wicked man is a serpent that will bite even those who feed it and fatten it. The indolent man is a pair of bellows that breathes without