92 CONVERTS PATIENT IN TRIBULATION. such a state we should think hard to bear: our Converts remained so for five days, the scorching sun glaring on them during the day, and floods of rain pouring on them in the night. It was a mercy that not one of them died. Had this been the case, it is said that all would have been put to death, on the principle that, for the same crime, all ought to have equal suffering; and it was a still greater mercy that not one was moved from his fidelity to Christ. Had they consented to worship the idols again, they would have been immediately set free; but they chose rather to suffer affliction. with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. At length their persecutors, finding that these proceedings were displeasing to a large body of the Chiefs and people, and that the Converts remained stedfast, were compelled to let them go. All this took place exactly a year ago. The following extract from a Journal of our Missionary, the Rev. D. Hinderer, will show that this persecution has not made the Missionaries less resolute to preach, or the people less anxious to hear the Gospel. Feb. 1, 1850-I went this morning to the Bagura forts on the river side, and began to speak the Word in a town called Oba. From thence I went through all the smaller towns, proclaiming the glad tidings to great numbers of people at different places. Among the people in these parts of Abbeokuta the White Man is still considered a stranger. The people, therefore, as soon as they see him, run together in great numbers to see and hear him. It is on account of the same circumstance, also, that many of them, when they hear the Word, are making very inquisitive questions; so that, if it was not for the scorching heat, the Preacher might stand among them from morning until evening, not only preaching to, but rather teaching them, just in the way a Christian father in England would do with his little ones, who are standing around him, fixing their eyes upon his lips whilst he is telling them about Jesus Christ. We shall give another short extract from the same Journal Feb. 19-I went this morning to Keri market. At the first place, where I addressed the people from 1 Tim. i. 15, I got an uncommon large audience. After my address to them, one man stood forth and made a fine speech to me about the kindness and power of the English people, and the wickedness of his countrymen. He then praised the Word of God as a good and strong word and a word of truth; "But,” added he, we people put our hands upon the pot, and nothing can come out." After he had done speaking, I made use of the same figure, encouraging my hearers to put their hand deep into the pot, so as to take out of the fulness thereof, assuring them that the pot shall never get empty. 66 We have now to commend our Missionaries, their Converts, and the whole Mission work at Abbeokuta, to the special prayers of our Christian friends. Captain Forbes, who has just reached this country from the African coast, and who, immediately before his departure from Africa, had been on a mission from the British Government to the King of Dahomey, informs us that this monarch CONTRIBUTIONS IN KIND. 93 was then preparing for a war expedition against Abbeokuta, for the purpose of destroying it, and carrying away the inhabitants into slavery. He is the scourge of that part of Africa, and, in the spring of last year, destroyed a large town called Okeodan, lying between Abbeokuta and the sea. Vast multitudes of the people had been put to death, their bodies burned without the walls in large heaps, and their heads carried home by the King, together with 20,000 captives. At this moment his forces may be drawing near Abbeokuta, and our Missionaries be on their knees, like Hezekiah of old when he spread the blasphemous letter of Rabshakeh before the Lord, and cried, "Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand!" CONTRIBUTIONS IN KIND. THE REV. R. Maunsell, of Waikato, New Zealand, to whom we are indebted for the interesting account of the old New Zealander and his touching prayer, which appeared in our last Number, has at his Station a prosperous Boarding-school, containing, by the last accounts, 76 Natives, children and adults, beside 3 European pupils. The grown persons who are in the Institution are expected to teach in the School and work on the Station, receiving nothing in the shape of payment, with the exception of very plain food and a duck shirt and jacket; and yet so anxious are the Natives to have the benefit of Mr. Maunsell's instructions, that he has now six young Chiefs contentedly discharging these duties, and many more are anxious to be received, if he had the means of supporting them. This important Institution is carried on by him without any expense to the Society. At the same time, as the cost is considerable, aid, from those who are able and willing to afford it, will be thankfully received by him; and in our "Record" for September last we inserted the following passage from one of his Letters "You might urge our friends at home to be more liberal in donations of strong rough clothing, blankets, &c.; to send supplies of kitchen utensils, iron plates, dishes, knives and forks; and to procure for us pictures, maps, and other illustrations." Shortly after, the following Letter reached the Church Missionary House Wolverhampton, Sept. 16, 1850. SIR,-Allow me to refer you to page 204 of the "Church Missionary Record" of this month, where you will find the Rev. R. Maunsell writes of the wants of his School. Among other articles, he enumerates kitchen utensils, tin plates (dish), knives and forks, pots, spoons. I shall be very happy to make up a small cask of these articles for him. I am engaged in shipping merchandize of this kind, which is the peculiar manufacture of this neighbourhood, and I take a lively interest in the success of our invaluable Church Missionary Society. If the Committee will be pleased to accept the same as a free-will offering to a cause very dear to me, then you have only to forward me the necessary 94 THE GATESHEAD TEA PARTY AND LECTURE. instructions as to the time when you shall be shipping for this district of New Zealand, and I will prepare the same. I will have an inventory of the articles made out for Mr. Maunsell, to whom I would also address a Letter under cover to your Committee. In all these matters I prefer the suppression of my name. It is, I think, too blessed a privilege to contribute to such a cause to need commendation from our fellow-men. Since then a cask of kitchen utensils, cutlery, and tin dinner plates has been received at the Church Missionary House from the writer of the above Letter, and forwarded to Mr. Maunsell. Perhaps some other friends may be disposed to follow this good example; one to give blankets, another rough clothing, another pictures, maps, &c. We are of opinion that Working Associations of Ladies throughout the country, for the purpose of supplying with rough clothing the pressing wants of our New-Zealand and Rupert's-Land Schools, would be most serviceable. Ladies might not only work themselves, but employ in this way many of the poor cottagers' wives and daughters, and thus in many instances supersede the necessity of their going into the fields to work. We trust that some of our active female friends throughout the country will act upon these suggestions. Much good in this way might be done at home and abroad. ww THE GATESHEAD TEA PARTY AND LECTURE. WE have heard of tea parties, and we have heard of lectures; but we believe that the happy union of the two is a bright idea, for the novelty of which, as well as its success, we are indebted to that well-known Missionary beehive, the Rectory of Gateshead. Gateshead is well known as the densely-populated manufacturing outskirt of Newcastle, from which northern emporium it is separated by the "Coaly Tyne. Coaly Tyne." It is a peculiarly difficult sphere of ministerial labour, having to contend, perhaps almost beyond any other town, against the innumerable evils of chartism, popery, ignorance, and infidelity. The great object to be effected in such a parish is to obtain access to the people, many of whom are sunk in lukewarmness and ignorance: when such access can be effected, the first great difficulty is removed, and the way is open to impart useful instruction, as well as to enlist their feelings and affections. To effect these desirable objects, tea parties afford very considerable facilities, and the results of the two which have been held in Gateshead prove their efficacy. Whoever has been in Gateshead can hardly fail to have observed the large Elizabethian pile which rises amidst the smutty brick buildings which enclose it: a large Girls'-school, capable of holding 500 persons, forms the upper story; whilst the lower, of equal dimensions, is devoted to the boys: such was the scene of the tea party in question. Great efforts, by all interested in the cause, had been made during the previous week, to dispose of the tickets, which were one shilling each for children and adults; also to prepare the THE GATESHEAD TEA PARTY AND LECTURE. 95 needful supply of cakes and other viands. Over a great fire in the schoolroom might be seen, on the evening of the feast, a large cauldron or boiler, capable of containing thirty gallons of water; and around, the cheerful faces of busy girls, employed in bringing ten or twenty large tea-urns, not to contain water as usual, but in which to make the tea, both as being more capacious and less fatiguing to the tea-makers. The Gateshead "tea party and lecture" this year took place on the evening of Thursday the 26th of September. When the hour of six arrived, the Girls'-school presented one of the most beautiful and interesting sights we ever beheld. Across its high peaked roof were hung, in graceful festoons, beautiful garlands of evergreens, whilst the west end of the room was richly ornamented with dahlias, chrysanthemums, and other autumnal flowers, through the midst of which appeared, in large letters, the motto— "CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, INSTITUTED 1799." Down the room were ranged, side by side, as many long tables as could be placed, covered with neat white tablecloths, and cakes and other substantial eatables were placed in abundance. Beautiful as the room appeared, lighted up most brilliantly with gas, the decorations above described were far less interesting than the happy faces with which it was crowded. Every table was filled, and many had to give place, when satisfied, to admit fresh applicants for tea and cake. The principal table was presided over by the Lady Mayoress, whilst the room was honoured by the presence of the Mayor and many of the principal gentlemen of Gateshead. After all had been satisfied, the more important and interesting business of the evening was entered upon; when, after a few words from the Rector, the party was addressed by the Rev. R. G. L. Blenkinsopp, Northern Secretary, the Rev. G. T. Fox of Durham, and the Rev. H. Linton of Diddington, Hunts, in what were termed speechlets," a word happily coined to limit their eloquence within the space of ten minutes each. By this time the atmosphere of the crowded room had become more than sufficiently close, and it was therefore a great relief to adjourn to the room below, where a most interesting lecture was delivered by the Rev. John Tucker, Secretary of the Parent Society. This was the great point of attraction for the evening, and it was with very great pleasure, as well as benefit, that his deeply-interesting written lecture was attended to. When it was concluded, the Meeting was dismissed, after a few appropriate remarks from the Rev. Dr. Davies, Rector of Gateshead. Three hundred and eighty tickets were sold, amounting to Nineteen Pounds, and about Six Pounds were received in the plates at the door after the lecture was over, which latter would nearly defray the expenses of the tea, leaving about 197. clear gain to the Church Missionary Society. The general feeling was, that a more agreeable or instructive 96 WHERE SHALL I LOOK FOR HAPPINESS? evening had seldom been spent by those present; and it is much to be desired that the example of Gateshead, in its having instituted an annual Church Missionary Tea Party and Lecture, should be generally followed. WHERE SHALL I LOOK FOR HAPPINESS? A LESSON OF EXPERIENCE. I JOURNEY'D far from my native land, I went where the lovely azure sky And where the glittering lantern-fly I wander'd long in the myrtle grove, And I sought for happiness-it was not there! I climb'd with hurried step the seat To regal pow'r assign'd, Where riches, honours, and glory meet, To satisfy the mind: The diadem has adorn'd my brow, The sceptre fill'd my hand, And thousands came in their haste to bow To Him who rul'd the land; And my splendour was great, but soon I found I fled to the hermit's lonely cell, And there in the still, sequester'd dell, I mus'd on the works of Nature's God, I bewail'd my sin, and I fear'd His rod, And I found it not till He reveal'd His wondrous love to me, And open'd the heart that once was seal'd, And set the captive free. Then, joyful I learn'd, that, through the blood Of One who pleads above, The God once fear'd as an angry God Is now a God of love. The peace I had vainly sought elsewhere I sought in God, through Christ, and found it there! |