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THE

MISSIONARY OBSERVER.

NOVEMBER, 1883.

The Committee Meeting at Leicester.

AT a Meeting of the Committee, held at Friar Lane Chapel, Leicester, on Tuesday, October 2nd, the question of increasing the funds of the Society was again considered. In the end it was

Resolved that this question be referred to the Organization Committee, with the earnest request that they will adopt measures to secure an addition of at least £500 per annum to the ordinary income of the Society.

In their report to the annual meeting at the Association, the Finance Committee stated that at least an additional income of £500 per annum was needed to maintain the present operations of the Mission, and that as no material reduction of expenditure could be made without serious injury to the Mission, the only alternative was to increase the Society's income.

Under these circumstances we trust that the churches, without waiting for any further suggestions or appeals, will at once proceed to make arrangements for increasing the amount of their contributions to the funds of the Society. A minister informs us that, after looking over the subscription lists in the Report, he determined upon a personal canvass among the members of his own church and congregation. He says that with very little difficulty he has succeeded in obtaining several new subscribers, and had also induced several old subscribers to double, and more than double, their subscriptions. In this and other ways he hopes to increase the contributions of his church from twenty to thirty per cent. We trust that others will go and do likewise, as we are satisfied that in foreign as well as in home work very much depends upon the minister. Where he leads the people will generally follow.

In some churches the plan has been adopted of putting into each pew printed circulars or slips of paper, and asking the occupant to state how much he or she will subscribe weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually to the Society. In any plan the great thing is to see that it is systematically carried out. Without this the best arranged plans are sure to fail.

Since the above meeting was held we have received £2 10s. from a widow (being the balance of £5) towards the Mission debt; and since

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commencing this article we have received the following letter from an old friend of the Mission, now a member of the Salvation Army. She writes:

"October 17th, 1883.

"I have just been reading the financial report of your Treasurer, and it grieves me. I am only a poor Salvationist, doing what I can for the heathen at home, but I will be as good as a penny per week to bring about " Thy kingdom come" in Orissa. By the by, I wonder if the members of the General Baptist Churches offer that prayer. If so, may God forgive those 6,166 members who only contribute £528 2s. 3d. per annum to bring about this glorious event in India and Rome.

"Allow me, sir, to suggest to these dear friends, and to those who, much worse still, are doing nothing at all-the conscientious giving up of some article of finery or luxury, and send the price thereof straight away to you. Let it be done as unto the Lord, and then I dare prophecy that within the next month you shall receive the balance due of £1,266 10s. 8d. Let every member of your churches read 2 Cor. viii on their knees before God their judge, and listen to what the Lord shall say unto them. Then you will have no longer to complain of an exhausted exchequer.

"Don't forget your motto, "Attempt great things for God" and "expect great things from God." May the Lord help each one to be faithful.

"A WELL WISHER.

"P.S.-I enclose 4s. 4d., about the price of a feather, and less than the cost of a box of cigars. I am quite sure every member (with the exception of a very rare case) might give you a penny per week, or more, without hurting themselves or their church, or depriving their pastor of his rightful share in their bounty. God bless you all."

The Missionary Meetings at Leicester.

No one who had the privilege of being present will soon forget the soul stirring statements and appeals which were made at the Baptist Missionary Meetings at Leicester. From the reports which have appeared in the papers it will be seen that the Committee, so far from being discouraged by debt and deficit, have actually determined to send out fourteen missionaries to China; and that friends in Bristol have promised two thousand guineas towards their outfit and passage. Towards their support, and in order to strengthen the staff in other fields, the Committee have decided to ask for an increase in the annual income of £15,000. Most sincerely do we trust that to this appeal there will be a generous response, in which case the sum required will easily be raised. In concluded his most excellent speech at the missionary breakfast, the Rev. R. GLOVER, of Bristol, said :

:

"All may not be convinced, for some people need a tremendous amount of demonstration to prove to them that anybody is their neighbour. But there are gracious hearts that find it easily proved, and that find the nearness of need and the power to help it a sufficient proof that the man who wants it is his neighbour. Am I right? Somebody says, 'God always gives funds where He wants work to be done.' I may not have the experience some people may have in this direction, but I should be inclined to say the very opposite of that -God never gives the money before we want it to do the work. Have you ever the power before you have the duty, or in the supreme moment of its acceptance and its discharge? 'Stretch forth thine hand,' says Christ to us, as it is withered to-day, and does not look as though it were competent to stretch out and save those needing our help. Shall we say our hand is withered? It is; and it will not be sound before you stretch it forth; but in the moment of

ON BOARD THE MISSION BOAT “ HERALD.”

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supreme effort the power will come. Had Moses the power to invade Egypt when he had nothing but a wife and an ass, and two sons, and the rod of God in his hand? Had he? Ah, no! God's calls are always to something quite above us and quite beyond us. We have not strength, nor patience, nor meekness for any work before we do it, but in the attempting of it. So to-day I say, God never does give funds before you want them. What have we to do, then, when these funds are insufficient? Not lessen the work, but enlarge the giving. I know the state of trade; I do not think my congregation is at all as wealthy as it was twenty years ago. What of that? We must make up for poorer purses with larger hearts. Anyhow, there is God's call. It is the greatest dignity that can be conferred upon us to have such a high calling in Christ Jesus. If through fear we fall back further we shall lose our present power, and therefore hope; but if humbly, tremblingly, we endeavour to follow where God leads, then this high calling will itself work wonders for us. Our wings will become like the wings of the dove; our efforts will work power to love and power to labour. In one man's lifetime, that of my own father, the West Indies have been lifted from heathenism to spiritual life like that of England; a large part of Madagascar has been won for Christ; and to-day more than 100,000 members in India are on the list of Christian churches. We here take fortyfive years to double our members, but the church of Christ is doubling itself every ten years in India; and if my little child lives to be my father's age she will see India as Christian as England is to-day. China in 1845 had six converts, it now has 20,000. God is at work. If we had ears to ear we should hear Him say, Behold I make all things new,' and our eyes would see the springtide afresh on this wintry world. We must change our missionary text, and instead of making it 'A thousand years are as one day,' we must make it 'One day is as a thousand years.' God grant we may have the manhood, the tenderness of heart, the allegiance, the love to take our share in this work. We must give sacrifices to this work; nothing, or else that cost us something. Either cold or hot; do not give what you can spare. If you do not give more than that, give nothing. The sacred hand of Christ demands a larger gift. So much gold out of somebody is so much grace into him-so much grace unto our churches. Let us do it. I am glad there has been no asking of contributions at this meeting, partly because I think that fifty men who could get up and say, 'I will give £10,' will, if they take till to-morrow, get up and say, 'I will give £20.' We want you to put your thought and conscience to it. If it is worthy of your help, help it: if it is not, refrain. I trust that if, as I believe we have, we are enjoying the loving hand of God, I hope that we will have grace to follow Him."

On Board the Mission Boat "Herald.”

MR. MILLER has furnished the following account of a trip on the Mission Boat " Herald," which he took in July last. By means of the boat journeys can be taken in the rainy season, and which, without it, would be impracticable. Were the means forthcoming it is most desirable to have the boat bottom coppered, as every time it is taken into salt water it gets covered with barnacles, and these have to be knocked off, or the boat would be destroyed. Should any friends feel moved to render valuable service to the "Herald" by providing sheets of copper, we shall be glad to communicate with them on the subject. Mr. Miller writes :

"Herald," Martsaghur Canal,
July 12th, 1883.

We are now on our way home after attending the Car Festival at Kendarapara, and visiting the New Location, as well as the Jumboo Station. Ghanu Paul and one of the students, with Doolee

Patra, are with me. The latter is in poor health, and I thought the trip might do him good. We left Cuttack on the 4th inst., and had to go a considerable distance up the river before attempting to cross-the river being so high, and current so strong. The anicut is a source of

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MISSIONARY OBSERVER.

danger to get carried over in a boat like ours would be certain destruction-we were, therefore, thankful to get into the canal, and to reach Kendarapara early next afternoon. This place has much improved and enlarged since I was last here. The canal has rendered it very accessible, and much benefited the town in many respects. The streets are in good condition, the people seem well to do. There being a Magistrate's as well as Munsif's Court here, people from all the large districts skirting the sea come here in large numbers. It presents a most inviting and important place for a mission station, and ought to be occupied at once-but, alas! where are the men!

The most influential zemindar here is very kindly-disposed, and is well spoken of as considerate to his ryots, and very kind to the poor He placed a palkee and bearers at my service to attend the festival, and in other ways was very kind. On the occasion of my son Fred being at Kendarapara with me, he shewed him great kindness, and took him round in his buggy to see the sights of the place. He listened thoughtfully to what was said about the Lord Jesus, and received the books that were offered. He has a cousin also a zemindar who resides at Kendarapara, a rich man, but a most bigoted Hindu, spending immense sums on the entertainment of boisnobs, etc., who called in large numbers, and are fed etc., as long as they like to stay. There is no stint to the quantity of gunga supplied to these reputed holy men, who spend most of their time under the influence of powerful narcotics.

We preached and conversed with the people in several parts of the town, and had, on the whole, a good hearing. There is only one Christian family here, a policeman, his wife and three children. At two p.m. our labours at the festival commenced, and continued to 6.30 p.m. Happily we got possession of a large shed within a few yards of the car, and here the people surrounded us, and the interest was kept up to the last. At the commencement a brahmin of the temple seemed determined to oppose, and said some very provoking things as Ghanu spoke. I reminded him that his conduct was such as to lay himself open to a breach of the Penal Code. This had the desired effect; the brahmin retired, and did not again annoy us. Many heard

well, and doubtless retired wiser and more thoughtful than when they came. Oh that they may be turned from darkness to light, and the power of Satan unto God. In consequence of the rain the attend

ance was comparatively small, as was the case at Pooree.

We did not reach Hough Patna before two p.m. on Lord's-day. At four o'clock we had service in one of the houses, which was crammed full. We found two of the people down with fever. The others were well. Unhappily the head man and another had gone to Choga, not supposing I should come so soon. All were contented and hopeful in regard to the place. The trees I had planted on my former visit had grown and seemed healthy. These, with a row of cocoa nut trees, planted this time, in the centre of the village road, will give the place a pretty appearance when they grow up. An embankment to keep out salt water, which did so much harm last year, had been put up, and has done good servicethe work will be completed next dry season. A considerable quantity of land not required by our people has been let to some ryots, whose homes are fourteen miles away. They have put up houses on our land, where they will remain with their cattle, etc., until the crops are realized. For miles all along the right bank of the canal the country was under water, the houses and trees of the villages being alone visible. Our land and village are on the left bank, and escaped the floods. These floods have driven tigers on to our side of the canal; and not long ago a fine bullock was seized at midday, while grazing on the canal bank, and killed by a tiger. A few days before our arrival another bullock was grazing a few feet from the canal, when a monster alligator suddenly appeared, seized the animal, and drew it under water immediately. This is, of course, a great loss to the owners, and makes our people careful when bathing in the canal. I, on my former visits, always had a bath, but on this occasion felt afraid. Early one mornas the "Herald" was nearing Martsaghur, a jackal, in the act of swimming from one bank of the canal to another, was seized midway by an alligator, and disappeared instantly. So much for the dangers of these parts.

From Hough Patna we went on to Jumboo. Two of the lock-keepers are our people, and are married-one of them has four children. We had a service with them. As their houses are very damp and unhealthy they have decided to build at Hough Patna, and have their families there, four miles away.

We then crossed the river, which has a depth of some thirty or forty feet, to the Jumboo Island. After ascending to the top of the telegraph office-a lofty and substantial building, now unoccu

NOTES FROM THE POOREE DISTRICT.

pied-we had a splendid view of the anchorage, shipping, Hookeytollah, the top of Falsepoint Lighthouse, the Bay, with all the surrounding dense jungle. All this was quite new to my companions, who had never been here before. We then visited the postmaster, native doctor, and other persons in Government employ here. The former brought out a Testament in English, which he much prizes, and reads regularly, with the names of brother Pike and Heberlet on the front page-they gave it to him at Kontilloo, where he was then stationed. He seems a thoughtful young man, and was much pleased to see us. The Jumboo head lock-keeper has a strange history. He is a Bengali brahmin; was taken to the banks of the Ganges to die, and was

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left as dead by his friends; he somehow recovered, but dare not return to his home, as he was really dead as far as his friends were concerned. He became an outcast, and came to Orissa. I am sorry to say his narrow escape from death does not seem to have benefited him much, morally.

Cuttack, 18th July. We got home last Thursday at noon, thankful to find all well. Our Choga carpenter I referred to has obtained his freedom, though every possible means was tried to get him to give up Christ. I am sorry to say cholera is bad in some parts of Cuttack. The fall of rain has been unusually large so far. Thanks for the news of the Association.

Notes from the Pooree District.

BY REV. J. VAUGHAN.

IN concluding notes of a tour which were published in the last Observer, Mr Vaughan gives the following "sundries." He writes:

We are endeavouring to build

A ZAYAT OR BOOK-ROOM

in the Piplee Bazaar, where Scriptures, Tracts, and other Christian books in Oriya, Hindustanee, Bengalee, and English, may be sold. We also hope to have much conversation there, and to preach from the door, as our friends do in Cuttack. I went to measure the land a day or two ago, and hope to build at the close of the cold season's itineracy, so as to open the room before the pilgrims come in May.

OUR TWO BIBLE WOMEN

are working well, and have experienced scarcely any difficulty in obtaining access to Hindoo females. They are staid, respectable women, and the five months' work accomplished has been encouraging.

A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE POEM

has lately been written by a hindoo in Cuttack, advocating widow marriage among the higher castes. It very pathetically describes the bracelets being taken off the wrists of the child when news is brought from a distance of the death of her boy-husband, with whom she has probably not exchanged ten words in her life. The cruelty of refusing her to marry again is insisted upon, and proof from the Hindu shastes that widow

It

marriage is not proscribed, educed. is well written, admirably adapted for its purpose, sold at one anna, and hence widely circulated. It is a sign of the times, and I am rejoiced to find that the Cuttack native newspaper has heartily endorsed its sentiments. One brave man of good position, to marry such a childwidow, and thus give practical emphasis to the teaching of this little poem, may be advertised for as 66 wanting.".

Before closing I wish to refer to a few matters which have recently appeared in THE CUTTACK AND POOREE NATIVE NEWSPAPERS.

Some two months ago a Byragee in Pooree, reputed to be dumb, was said to cure spleen diseases by placing his foot on the part. On one occasion, however, his foot came down so heavily, that the patient instantly expired. The dumb Byragee was at once taken to the police station where, to every one's surprise, he found words wherewith to defend himself. He was sentenced to eighteen months (or two years) imprisonment.

The Pooree paper states that the brahmins, taking advantage of the recent number of pilgrims to Juggernath, watch them as a hunter does his prey, and having found an opportunity, seize them in the temple, force the sacred food into their unwilling mouths, and then run

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