soul. Unlike many other inquirers in his village, he was spoken of as an honest and truth-speaking man. When his sins were pointed out to him, he was very anxious to show that he had abandoned them altogether. He was the first fruits in his village, having been first baptized and admitted to the Communion. When he was taken ill, he spoke about the Saviour to those who came to see him. His friends urged him to use the sacred ashes of the heathen, and to consult a fortune-teller; but he refused to do so, asked them not to come near him, and, before his death, begged his Christian friends to take care of his only son, to bring him up in the knowledge of Christ, and to see that he did not marry among his heathen relatives. Are not these the fruits of Christianity? Do not these prove the power of the Gospel? Can infidelity work such changes? With such examples before me, certainly I need not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ in South India. Here, as elsewhere, it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. HERE AND THERE; OR THOUGHTS FOR EACH DAY OF THE MONTH. THE above is the title of a book which has been sent us, we know not by whom. It is a book of pleasing contrasts. It contrasts what the Lord's people must meet here, with what they shall have there, whither they are going. There are, on each alternate page, one of these contrasts, the dark and the light. There is also a group of texts given which the reader is invited to look at, and the whole subject is then illustrated by some choice extracts in poetry and prose. We give one of these. We have selected this one because we are writing on the sea-shore, and the great sea is stretched out before us, and we know well that "How sweet to think of the quiet haven when tossed on the pitiless waves of sorrow; but they obey His will, and we need fear no evil.” -J. T. "That vast expanse,—that heaving mass which is never still,—is it not the very emblem of separation? the very type of unrest? In that new creation there shall be no more sea, no more separation, no more unrest.— W. D. M. "From the children whom He chasteneth He hideth not His face, The tide of grief can never rise above the throne of grace."-L. N. R. MISSIONARY MEETING AT WEST STAFFORD. 91 "I feel Thy hand the tempest rules, that Thou canst hear and save, That Thou hast set a bound unto the wildest, stormiest wave."-A. S. "The 'sorrow on' life's stormy main Is there no longer known; There shall be no more sea' or pain, I'll look in faith straight up to Thee, Yes, let us do so. Then, at last, all shall be well. The restless sea may change, as it often has done; the waves become rough and high, and our little bark may be tossed helplessly about. Nevertheless, let us, like David, encourage ourselves in the Lord our God, and although all His waves and billows go over us, let our motto be, "Hope thou in God." It may be that we shall find ourselves battered, water-logged, but we shall not founder. be brought safe into port, and cast anchor there. We add the group of texts, Psalms xviii. 16; lxviii. 22; lxxvii. 19: lxxxix. 9. Rev. iv. 6; xv. 2; xx. 13. We shall "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. Is. xliii. 2-5. MISSIONARY MEETING AT WEST STAFFORD, NEAR DORCHESTER. THIS little village, though limited in its extent and population, occupies no insignificant position among the branches of this venerable Society, for, by the help of earnest, zealous friends, the cause of Missionary work is kept ever before the inhabitants residing in this locality, of which the rectory of West Stafford forms the centre. The crowning event in each year is that of holding a district gathering in the village; and so popular has this delightful little réunion become that there never fails to be a good attendance, whilst as a consequence the results are very satisfactory. This year's anniversary took place on Tuesday, May 26, when the meeting was held, as usual, in the parish church. The weather, upon the state of which so much depends on these occasions, turned out delightfully fine, though earlier in the day the elements had assumed a threatening aspect, and a large number of persons from Dorchester embraced the opportunity offered them of a pleasant couple of miles' ramble to the place of meeting. The air was clear and fresh, while the breeze was redolent of odours from the wild flowers and newly-mown hay, which all combined to render the walk a pleasant one. The distant chiming of the bells in 92 MISSIONARY MEETING AT WEST STAFFORD. the church tower, upon which floated a large ensign, served as a guide to approaching visitors, and the route lay across fields and meandering streams, along which the traveller escaped much of the inconvenience to which he would have been subject on the dusty highway. The sweet, picturesque little village of West Stafford appears just now at its best-clean and bright, as if taken out of a bandbox for the season-with its cleanly streets and well-kept cottages. The glimpses one gets in at open doors convey a favourable impression generally of the domestic comfort of the poorer population, and cannot be seen without reminding us that tender hands are there to care for the necessities of the humble, and to alleviate care whenever it presents itself. May such loving ones be long spared to West Stafford. In the absence of the esteemed rector of the parish, the Rev. Reginald Smith, who did not feel equal to the exertion after his late illness, the duties of chairman devolved upon the Rev. C. W. Bingham; and amongst the clergy who took their seats with him in the chancel were— -the Rev. Philip Eliot (incumbent of St. John's, Bournemouth), Rev. G. E. Moule, (returned Missionary from China), &c. The proceedings were commenced by singing Bishop Heber's wellknown Missionary hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains," after which prayer was offered by the Rev. T. W. Knipe. The Chairman then said he was truly glad to welcome such a large company as he now saw before him. He was rather afraid, however, that some of them might be a little disappointed in not seeing the dear, excellent minister of this parish presiding as usual over their Church Missionary meeting; but he thought Mr. Smith had been very wisely persuaded-considering that he was not yet thoroughly restored to health-to absent himself on that occasion. It was satisfactory to know that there had been a most gratifying advance in the general funds of the Society during the past year. Whereas last year they were only able to report that the income from the associations had been larger than in the preceding year, they were now able to announce that they had advanced upon that increase more than 5000l.; so that the income of the Church Missionary Society, derived from its associations during the past year, has been more than 121,000l. And now it devolved upon him to tell them what portion of that sum had been gathered in this parish. First of all he found that the annual subscriptions, including donations, amounted to about 167.; collection at the last annual meeting, 447.; collected for the Philadelphia school in Tinnevelly, 21.; Mrs. Duke, 77.; Juvenile Church Missionary Society, 17. 10s.; making a total of 70l. 108. Now he had been making a little calculation since the meeting commenced, (if his figures were not correct he would contradict the statement he was about to make, if he had the opportunity, at the end of the meeting,) and he found that if every parish in the county of Dorset did as much for the Society as West Stafford, instead of the county sending some 1700l. a year to the Parent Society, it would send more than 20,000l., or about one-sixth part of the total sum that was collected from all the associations throughout the country. He thought, therefore, he had made out his claim upon those who came from other parishes to see if they could not do a little more elsewhere, seeing that if they could get as much from all the parishes as they did from West Stafford, the coutribu MISSIONARY MEETING AT WEST STAFFORD. 93 tions for this county would be so largely increased. Stafford is not a large parish-it is not an average parish even-and it was true that these subscriptions were not all derived from Stafford people; but he did not see why there should not be the means of obtaining gatherings elsewhere somewhat similar to that which was annually made here. The Rev. Philip Eliot thought there could be no need whatever to explain to a Missionary meeting in Stafford what the Church Missionary Society was, and what was the work it had undertaken to do. If, therefore, they knew the object of the Society, then they must see that every person who, however humbly, shared in this work, was really doing what was the work of God, and he consequently became a fellow-labourer with God. Oh! if they could but feel more than they did the real dignity of being fellow-labourers with God, he was quite certain they would need no urging whatever to stir them up to a warmer and more earnest interest in the cause of Christian Missions. He said that they wanted to feel more and more that they were fellow-labourers with God, and if they kept this in view, and strove to do so when they made their offerings and lifted their hearts in prayer for this work, they would, he was sure, make larger offerings, and more earnest prayers for God's blessing upon it. One object in meeting at gatherings such as these was to join, as they had done, in asking God's blessing upon the work, so that the hearts of those who met together might be stirred up by what they heard-by way of information, argument, or appeal to a warmer interest in the cause of the Society. Keeping this object in view, he should make the few observations he intended to offer this evening. The rev. gentleman then proceeded to speak of the Youcon River settlement, one of the most remote, if not indeed the most remote of all our Missionary stations in North America. He then produced statistics to show that the entire sum spent in Missions was equal only to half the cost of building and fitting out a vessel for our navy, half the amount paid annually in this country in the shape of taxes on dogs, and about the same as is paid as taxes on carriages. All the money which had been spent by the Church of England since the Reformation in the work of preaching the Gospel to the heathen, equalled just about one year's duty upon spirits, wine, malt, and tobacco! These figures must make them feel deeply humbled to think that more is not done in the glorious work. In conclusion, he urged them to increased efforts in the cause, looking forward to the time when "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Doth his successive journeys run; His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till suns shall rise and set no more. The hymn commencing with "To bless Thy chosen race," was next sung, after which The Rev. G. E. Moule addressed the meeting and gave some information respecting the religions which exist among the Chinese, viz., the worship of Confucius and Buddha, and the religion of the Taouists. These religions did not divide the Chinese nation into three great sects, as might be supposed; the people were more or less influenced by each. These systems did not inculcate cruelty, as in India and Africa, nor did they encourage impurity, neither did they teach falsehood in any way, for one of the Buddhist precepts was "Thou shalt not lie;" but they taught idolatry. 94 POETRY-THE PILGRIM. In Confucianism there is no idolatry, and probably in the time of Confucius himself there was not an idol there. The system of idolatry seemed to have been brought from India by the Buddhists, who came in the year A. D. 60, by the invitation of an emperor, who felt the need of some better teaching than they already possessed, and the people evidently felt the same. Confucius held out duty, but without hope of reward, and feeling themselves in ignorance with regard to a future state, they desired some more excellent way. He spoke of the ritual of Buddhism as similar to that of the Church of Rome, and it was held by the priests, that the grandeur of the ritual was one chief means of regenerating the world. He traced the progress of Buddhism up to the present day, and spoke of the images erected for its worship in different parts of China, and the pillage of the temples by the Taeping rebels. He related at length some of the superstitions which so blind the Chinese people. Amongst the most absurd is that of the "God of the Kitchen," or the most universally worshipped of their household deities. This image was kept in every kitchen where the Gospel was not known, though sometimes it was not a very stately image, and very often consisted only of a rude printed paper stuck on the wall, with a little censer for incense, and places in which to fix candles. The superstition attaching to this ged is very remarkable. He is believed to be a divine spy over the goings on in every house in China, and he is messenger to the heavenly gods in the Pantheon of China. On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month in the Chinese year-though not exactly corresponding with our Christmas-day-this god of the kitchen is believed to go up from every house to the Olympus of China, to report the condition and conduct of the family. It was positively the case that the people endeavoured, if possible, to deceive this god, and induce him to carry up a false report about them, especially in the polished city of Hangchow, where he (the speaker) laboured. They tried to induce the god to carry up the report that the people were poor, and in a miserable condition, so as to excite the pity and allay the jealousy and envy of the superior gods. When these had heard the report of this messenger, it was supposed that on the following day they came down to see if the report were true, and to mete out reward or punishment as deserved. In conclusion, he related several instances of conversion among the Chinese, and exhorted the meeting to increased zeal and assistance in the cause in which the Missionaries were engaged. After a few closing remarks from the Chairman, the hymn "Thou, whose Almighty word," was sung, and the proceedings were brought to a close by the Chairman pronouncing the benediction. The amount collected was 331. |