While the waters are more free for the casting of the net, the strain upon it becomes infinitely greater, and we learn more and more clearly the need of clinging closer to the Master: the need of a higher directing Power to bless the fisher's art. And where of these nineteenth century calls is the strain upon the net greater than in our great Missions of India, China, and Japan? In India the general diffusion of English literature is sweeping away the old mediæval fortresses of Brahminism, and rendering them powerless against the artillery of Christianity. In China the contact with foreigners is begetting a curiosity to compare the systems of Confucius and Buddha with that of Christ. In Japan the eager and impetuous adoption of every development of Western material civilization has practically effaced the national antipathy to the promulgation of any (to them) novel form of thought or religious teaching. But who in our fathers' days, casting his horoscope over the future, could have thought that Brahminism, Buddhism, and Confucianism would all three in their most subtle forms have reappeared in the philosophies and universities of Europe; still less that the Natives of the East, the votaries of those systems, should learn the familiar use, in controversy against Christianity, of weapons forged for them in the Universities of Oxford and Leyden, by the Professors of England and Germany? Such is the case. Analyze the Agnostic philosophy of the day-that philosophy which is opening its halls and collecting the most intelligent and thoughtful of our artisans in all the great manufacturing towns of the north-that philosophy which says that it cannot know anything about these things: what is that philosophy which says we know nothing of God, that we cannot know Him, but a simple, bald reproduction of Chinese Confucianism, but stripped of all that is ennobling, unselfish, and moral in the system of Confucius? Nay, his system is but the speculation of a man who, without the light of revelation, was earnestly seeking after God, if haply he might find Him, and striving to find his way to the light. These speculations are taken up by men who have voluntarily left the light and sought a self-imposed darkness for themselves, refusing to come to the light. "Ye will not come to the light that ye might have life." Confucius announced that he sought after God, but could not find Him. The modern Agnostic declares Him unknowable, and refuses to seek to know Him.

And what is the great tenet of Buddha-that delusion which holds more than one-third of the whole human race-what is it but the absorption and annihilation of the individual in the Nirvâna of Eternal Sleep? And what is the doctrine of the reviewers who inquire sadly, Is life worth living? but that dreary teaching which robs life of all its hopes and all its joys? Or again, it is scarcely straining the parallel to maintain that the third form of the rapidly developing infidelity of our age, Materialism, is but a European version of Brahminism, which has its practical outcome in the annihilation of the moral sense, which, according to it, is but an accumulation of experiences of what is profitable, and the conclusion is, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." It claims that there is only one

thing certain, and that is the discoveries of physical science. It claims that it is the only thing in which there is certainty. In one sense it is destined to know everything, but in another sense it knows nothing. Ask the Materialist whence come matter and energy; who or what formed molecules; who or what made them run into organized forms,— and he has no answer to give you. He stops short. He is lost in a nebulous vapour. "Man's mind," says Professor Tyndall, "may be compared to a musical instrument of a certain range of notes, beyond which in both directions we have an infinitude of silence." And that is the great discovery, that is the haven which is reached by this knownothing philosophy.

Yes; it is these three forms of unbelief which are straining our net. Look at home and in the Mission-field. The student who is training himself in our missionary colleges to meet the Chinese or Hindu philosopher is providing himself with a net which is most required for the bringing in of our population at home. Why, the silence and hopelessness of the Chinese character have often been remarked upon as an illustration of the utter failure of either Buddhism or Confucianism to meet the yearnings and spiritual cravings of the human soul; but there are those who would pose as our greatest teachers who ask, Is life worth living? who tell us that neither a future life nor a Christian heaven is to be desired, but only the Buddhist's Nirvâna of Eternal Rest. It is death, not life, for which they pant. And oh! if you were to watch the intelligent and miserable faces of those thoughtful workmen who crowd the halls of science, you would see that the infidelity of the day has given them no hope, no joy, no rest. And not less cheerless or grave is the Agnostic teaching as actively disseminated among our artisans, which substitutes the keenest note of despair for the Gospel of good tidings. Aye, to quote their popular periodical, "the posthumous activities of the soul are to be our heaven. The posthumous activities of the soul" which they would make the basis of a philosophy, the centre of a religion, these vague activities that are to work when we have ceased to be, offer but a poor exchange indeed for the hope of everlasting, conscious service to be rendered in a purer, holier world than this. Yet these are the substitutes offered for the Gospel of an All-loving Saviour, alike by the philosopher at home, the pundit of India, the literati of China. But they may strain the net to-day. They cannot break it. Shall we despair, shall we abandon our effort to cast forth the net in the dark waters of heathenism, because of the storm that is raging close to the shore? Rather is there cause for greater effort.

There is one sign which cannot be passed over, which bids us more zealously than ever let down our nets for a draught, and that is that in many a heathen nation the command has been heard and obeyed not only to "follow Me," but to be made "fishers of men. Many a net in India, in China, in Africa, and elsewhere, is now let down by native hands. And to those who would suggest that missionary work has been slow, take for instance India, where missionary work only commenced a few years ago. There are 360,000 Native Protestants doing

much to maintain their own faith and service, and there are 100,000 in Christian schools, that is half a million of Christian converts under instruction, drawn in. But it is not so much the multitude inclosed, it is rather the fishermen. More than half the Christian preachers and ministers of India are themselves the dusky sons of India. Of the ordained clergy of the Church Missionary Society, more than one-half, 227 out of 438, are natives of the countries where they are labouring. Thus Christianity is in the truest sense of the word becoming in every one of our Missions an indigenous plant.

One more incentive. If in view of the condition of matters at home, the preaching of the Gospel in the heathen world is accompanied with a decline of faith in Christendom, we are told in the word of the Lord that the "Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." "Then shall the end come" follows directly on the mention of the false prophets who shall deceive many, the abounding iniquity, and the love of many that shall wax cold. These two things, the spread of unbelief without, and the declension of faith and love in many places within, are becoming increasingly characteristic of our age. More than ever, then, are Missions needed as a justification of Christianity in the times preceding the end. The weapon of attack is at the same time the shield of defence. Missions, what are they? Missions-the embodied courage of the Church; Missions-the touchstone of her faith and unchanging hope; Missions-the world-subduing Christianity, witness-bearers of self-sacrificing love,-Missions are their own best apology. And therefore we need them more and more, to confirm the truth of the promises of Scripture, and thus to repel attacks on the Divine Word by all mere earthly wisdom, be it that which makes a god of this world and of present life, or that which despairs of both. All speculations of the mere present, of pride, of selfishness, of all these Missions must help to discover the foolishness, just as they must aid in proving the superiority of the Gospel and of true Christian culture over all human means of education. What has solved the Red Indian problem in British North America, whilst in the United States the Red Indian is perishing? It is the Gospel and Missions. Aye, and what is it that will most completely clear up the perplexities of India and China but the Gospel and Missions? When we look at the position of the Church Missionary Society, when we look at its work, endorsed by the certificates of the Governments of India, from one administration after another, endorsed by the certificates of Governors of our colonies on the coast of Africa,-endorsed by the certificates of Governors-General of Canada, with reference to the management of North-West America,— when all those who have visited Missions in official capacities, or as independent observers, bear one united testimony to the reality of the work,—when we see that even in times of commercial depression and agricultural distress at home, the Church Missionary Society's income is not decreasing, though it has not increased as it is necessary it should do in order to feed the many growing plants,-it is not for us to speak of signs, but it does appear as if the long and laborious process of

undermining the strongholds of heathenism was beginning to tell, and will one day be followed by a tremendous crash. It does appear from the evidence of Native Churches rising and taking root in almost every one of our Missions that we are approaching a time when a great multitude of fishes shall be inclosed, far greater than any we have hitherto secured. We have been toiling, the founders of this society cast in the net in midnight darkness, and there was no sign of a shoal,our fathers have cast in again and again, and but few fishes have been taken. We are seeing signs of many a shoal as we cast on the right side of the ship, and there is one streak after another gilding the east. Yet a little while and the day will break, and the fishermen who have toiled all night, and have prayed, and watched, and strained the eye of faith as they gazed towards the shore, shall catch a glimpse of the outline of a Figure, and they shall see more clearly that it is He. They shall see Him stand on the shore in the morning dawn, and they shall hear the cheering command, "Ye shall find." "Ye shall find." Even so come, Lord Jesus.

Amen.

THE CEYLON CHURCH ASSEMBLY.

BRIEF paragraph in our last number communicated to our readers the result of the first meeting of the Representative Church Assembly convened by the Bishop of Colombo to consider the future position and constitution of the Church of England in Ceylon, in consequence of its approaching "disestablishment" and the withdrawal of the State grants. Some further particulars may now be given.

The Assembly consisted of all the clergy, European and Native, in priests' orders (deacons might be present, but not vote), and lay delegates from the various congregations. Each congregation or group of congregations, "ministered to by any presbyter," elected two delegates; the presbyter being the unit of calculation, and not the congregation, or the number of persons forming it. The delegates were to be communicant members of the Church of England; but the electors might be any who declared themselves bona fide members of the Church of England. This constitution was adopted by the Bishop, with the assent of a Council of Advice which met on Easter Tuesday, for the preliminary Representative Assembly only, and not for the permanent Synod of the disestablished Church. For the latter it was proposed to revive the constitution framed by Bishop Piers Claughton for the Synod called by him in 1865.

The Bishop gave notice of the following resolutions:

1. That the Assembly proceed to elect three Laymen to serve with the Bishop as Treasurers.

2. That the Bishop be requested to summon a Synod of the Diocese, on the principles and after the form of that held by the Bishop of Colombo in 1865.

3. That her Majesty's Government be humbly requested to constitute the Bishop and Treasurers, just elected, a Body Corporate, to hold property for the Church of England in Ceylon, under the control of the Synod constituted as above resolved.

The Bishop further pointed out, in his circular letter, that as Government had intimated that they would make no appointments to future vacancies in the Ecclesiastical Department, it would be necessary for the Assembly, while leaving the method of appointing future Bishops to be finally settled by the Synod, to fix meanwhile a provisional method of appointment, in case of a vacancy occurring before the permanent scheme should have been matured.

The Assembly met on July 5th, the Bishop presiding. There were present, when the names were called, forty-nine of the clergy (including twelve C.M.S. missionaries and five C.M.S. Native pastors), and ninetyone of the laity, only four clergymen (one of them a C.M.S. pastor), and three laymen being absent; but apparently four or five came in afterwards, as the voting indicates a rather larger total. After some preliminaries the first resolution mentioned above was moved by Archdeacon Matthew; but subsequently he adopted in lieu of it an amendment moved by the Hon. J. P. Obeyesekara, which was as follows:That in view of the impending Disestablishment of the Church of England in Ceylon, four Trustees be elected by this Assembly, to whom Government shall be asked to convey all the rights they now have in the churches to be disestablished, and to pay to them such moneys as shall fall due during the years of grace; and that a Control Board be appointed, consisting of the Bishop, the Registrar, and the Clergyman and two Lay-Delegates from each church in which Government has an interest. That this Board, under whose control the Trustees shall act, shall take the place of Government, and discharge those functions which have hitherto been discharged by Government and no other. That it be competent for the Control Board to appoint a new Trustee whenever a vacancy in the Trust Board occurs, and that any church whose Trustees or congregations shall hereafter place their church under such Control Board shall be represented by their Clergyman and two Lay-Delegates, who shall be thenceforward members of the Control Board.

This was opposed by the C.M.S. missionaries, for reasons which will appear presently. A long debate ensued, and various amendments were suggested; but ultimately Mr. Obeyesekara's resolution was carried by 80 to 63.

The Archdeacon then moved the second of the original three resolutions, reviving the Synod of 1865. An amendment was moved by Mr. E. Elliott, referring the future constitution of the Church to the consideration of a committee consisting of the Bishop, eight presbyters, and eight laymen. Before, however, the general discussion proceeded, the Rev. J. Ireland Jones moved the following amendment :

That this meeting, not being fully representative of the Church of England, is not competent to deal with a question such as the formation of a Synod for the whole Diocese.

In moving this Mr. Jones urged that on the system adopted for electing the Lay Delegates to the Assembly, the Č.M.S. Native congregations could not be fully represented, and gave figures to show this, which will appear presently. On the other side it was argued by several speakers that the amendment was out of order, as the Assembly had already transacted important business without protest. Mr. Jones, however, said that while he had been content to accept defeat on a question concerning only the temporalities of the Church, he could not