much a pictorial language, is read equally well by all; when we put all these circumstances together, it strikes my own mind, that in all these we see lights that call our minds to the study of God's providential dealing with regard to China. Now, these points led my own mind several years back to believe that it might be the will of God specially to spread the knowledge of his truth in that mighty empire, by means of reading; and, believing this, I drew the attention of the communicants of my church to this point, and by their help established a fund, by which we have been sending, for the last eight years, many hundreds of pounds into China, for the purpose of dispersing, by means of colporteurs, the Word of God to the reading Chinese. I only name this just to show that my own mind was led to believe, many years ago, that it might be God's will to spread, in a great measure, the knowledge of His truth, by means of the reading of the Word of God; and, when we know the eagerness with which the chests, which were stored with the Book of God, or portions of the Book of God, were emptied, —as rapidly as those who had charge of them could get them out, when they visited the villages and coasts, and, as far as they could, penetrated into the interior,-we see the Chinese population, not only a people capable of reading-for that is one thingbut greedily and anxiously desirous of ohtaining that knowledge of which reading is the instrument. But where should we have been able to furnish them with the written Word of God, if it had not been for the labours of this very Society, whose cause we are met to plead? How would it have been possible for me to say, as I said to one of my poor communicants, "Save only 4d. a year, and you shall be able to put into the hand of a perishing man the Word of Life?" How could any man have said it, had it not been for the long and patient labours of those noble men whose names have been mentioned, and who constitute part of the line of that noble army of witnesses whose record is on high, but whose work is here on earth? When we also remember that pure Christianity was shut out from China by the very cause which made impure Christianity able readily to get in,-this is another

point in the providential study of China. The Jesuit with his plastic religion, which could be turned like clay to any seal, was quite ready to tell the Chinese that there was no difference between those images of the Chinese Triad and the images of that Trinity which he came to teach; that such an image might be regarded as the Mother of God, it was simply changing the name. It was changing the name by which he adapted himself to the theology of China, but he was never able to get his own false religion into the land through the medium of its language. The language made it accessible to impure Christianity, but he adopted that form which readily mixed up with that idolatrous system, and which took advantage of idolatry to turn it to its own purposes of idolatry. For so many centuries that land was shut up. How was it opened? It was opened first, as we believe, by a war of injustice, a war of iniquity, a war of covetousness, a war in which those who had a part in moving it may well have blushed for themselves and the country which could allow such things; and yet we know that God makes use of even evil passions, of covetousness, and the sins of men, to forward his own purpose. It is a most joyful thing to me to think that all things serve God; that the whole world may be divided into two classes,-God's conscious and God's willing servants, and God's unconscious and unwilling ones. There are some men like the milch kine that drew the cart, which, while they lowed for their calves, were forced to draw the ark to the place where God would have it. So there are politicians of the land who, not meaning it, are made to drag on unconsciously the wheels of that mighty car which carries with it the ark of the living God. It is a goodly thing to think that all things serve Him, and that the very war to which I have referred was made the instrument of partially breaking open that mighty country; and your En glish guns-may the day soon come when they shall be altogether buried in the earth! -when they blew open some of the ports in China, gave access to the Missionaries to a greater extent than they enjoyed it before. Still it was China even then. It was like some mighty massive ice-floe in the Polar

Seas, spreading far beyond the reach of sight, to the right and to the left, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, one great flat plain of coldness and death, not a sound heard upon it, not a sound heard under it; it was keeping down the waters, and yet these were below it, as dead as the ice that floated upon it. God could have melted the ice-floe; He could have blown with his wind, and the waters would have flowed, but it was His mind to set the waves in motion from beneath-to set that stagnant sea, so long silent in death, in motion from beneath, and in a short time to break, with the noise of thunder, that mighty surface of death and coldness, and turn into living waters that which had been a place of death before. So he has done, by moving men's minds, and by making men catch fire, as if by contagion. There may be a man moved at one time in one way, and at another in a different way; we may have the young student, into whose hands LeangAfah has put his own tract, we may have light thrown on that student's mind; and who shall say that any but the power of God has prepared that student to be the leader and director of a change which is to change, if not the whole, the greater part of the face of China, and render that people not only accessible to Christian influence, but predisposed to it. Let us remember, for it is a subject for congratulation, that though the religious aspect of the revolution is always a painful one, yet it is so far right. When these men go and find the statue of the Triad and the statue of the Mother of God, but whom the Scripture has simply designated the Mother of Our Lord-when we see these men unsparingly smashing both, and reducing both to dust, and putting down together the real Pagan and the partial Pagan temple with equal hand, then we shall rejoice, and see so far they are right. Though we mourn, as Christians, over the desolations; though we mourn when we read the Missionary's letter, where he says, one week ago, he visited four smiling villages; the children rejoicing, the parents about their work, every symptom of activity, and all the energies of life; and when he returned at the end of another week he could see nothing left but smoking rafters and blackened bones, and

here and there the widow weeping over what she believed, though, as he mentioned, she could hardly know, to be the corpse of her husband. I say, though we mourn, as Christians, over these desolations, yet we should rejoice that God has, by those ways which He permits, evil in themselves, worked out good. This state of death has been broken up, and that mighty people laid cheerfully and willingly open to the influence of the Gospel. Now we are called on, as Christians and Englishmen, to send the Word of God, that they may read the wonderful works of God in their own tongue, and to send with it the living teacher, who shall explain and open that Word, and who shall delight to take up the only true subject which is worthy of the minister of Christ, and preach Jesus the Son of God.

The Resolution was then put and carried. The Rev. E. PROUT then announced a list of contributions generously made towards the formation of a fund to extend the field of labour of the London Missionary Society in China, the first being spontaneously and cordially sent by the noble Chairman.

The Rev. J. A. JAMES said: I rise to move the following Resolution :

"That this meeting renders its grateful praise to the God of all grace for the honour He has conferred on the London Missionary Society, in making it instrumental during the last forty-six years in sending forth upwards of thirty faithful and laborious Missionaries with a view to the salvation of China, for the invaluable services which He has enabled them to render, especially in the translation of the Holy Scriptures, and for the success with which He has crowned their efforts in the formation of Christian churches, and the preparation of Christian agents for the extension of the Gospel among their countrymen."

The Resolution first asserts, that for nearly half a century the eye, the heart, and the hand of the London Missionary Society have been directed to China, and, as a proof of it, the Society tells you that they have sent out more than thirty faithful and devoted Missionaries to that part of the world. Many of the honoured individuals, to whom the Resolution refers, have long since finished their testimony and completed their work,

and have received the Missionary's crown. Morrison, Milne, and Dyer must not be forgotten on the present occasion. Illustrious men, your mantle fell, when you ascended, and Medhurst, Legge, Stronach, Lockhart, and Hobson, animated by your example, and imbibing your spirit, have taken up that mantle, and are not unworthy to be followers of you in this blessed work. The work of evangelizing China still goes forward, and, by God's blessing, will henceforth go forward with new alacrity. The Resolution next refers to a series of invaluable services performed by these Missionaries for China: and it recognises where the labour of the Missionary himself must begin-in the translation of the Scriptures into the language of the Pagan world. Send the Missionary without the Bible, it is Popery, but if you send the Bible without the Missionary, that is not the whole of Protestantism. Protestantism takes in the two instruments-the preacher and the Bible, and employs them both. There is one momentous item, and that is, preparing Christian teachers for the instruction of the Chinese converts from idolatry; and it is a principle which certainly should be borne in mind by every Society-ours and other Societies-to make Missions as soon as possible self-sustaining and selfsupporting. It is not by foreigners that the world is to be converted; the difficulties of learning a strange language the insalubrity of the climate, and the very imperfect manner in which a foreigner after all speaks the language of the heathen, must throw impediments in the way of evangelizing the world, which can never be surmounted till God shall pour out his Spirit and raise up a native agency for this purpose. And if ever there was a period in which the whole Church should bow down before the throne of Infinite Mercy and Boundless Grace, to beseech with all the importunity, the boldness, and the perseverance of faith, a greatly increased and devoted native agency, especially for China, it is the present. One of the most delightful and remarkable features of this age, and that on which the attention of God's people should be chiefly fixed is, that there has, for the last half-century, been going on a constant throwing open the world for the influence of Missionary operations.

When this Society commenced its work, it was shut up to a few little spots in the Pacific Ocean. Hindostan was bound against us by the narrow prejudices and low jealousies of the East India Company. The West Indies were closed as much against us by similar jealousies and prejudices on the part of the planters; the Cape of Good Hope was but just (as to the Colony) accessible. China was hermetically sealed. Now look at the change! War and conquest have given us territory; enlightened legislation has given us liberty; discoveries in science and inventions in art have given us facilities; commerce has given us wealth; peace has given us leisure; and if, with these advantages, we do not, with heart, and soul, and purse, and all the power we can command, carry on the work of Christian Missions, we shall be brought into the situation which your Lordship set before us, when the fruitless fig-tree was ordered to be cut down. All this extraordinarily applies to China. God is evidently preparing means and instruments for effecting a great change in the moral, political, and social condition of China; He is organizing his hosts in a manner that will enlist all their energies, and marshalling every phalanx for a grand onset on the powers of darkness. The field is so wide, the call is so loud, the work is so vast, the reward will be so glorious, that he who stands by an idle spectator will bring upon himself the curse of Meroz, which came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty. A child that can breathe a prayer,—a peasant that can circulate a tract,-a poor widow in the almshouse that can expend 4d. in purchasing a copy of the Chinese Testament and sending it to China, can now touch a spring that moves the interests of that mighty empire, advances the kingdom of Christ, and accelerates the glories of the Millennium. And shall any one, under these circumstances, stand idly by? My Lord, we have heard a great deal to-day, as it was necessary and proper we should hear, of this stupendous revolution that is going on in China. I expect confidently that the whole of China will be one vast chaos of political, social, moral desolation for a while; but is not that the very reason why we should send out the volume, which, with omnific

voice, will say, "Let there be light," and light will come-which shall bring order out of confusion, and harmony out of discord, and beauty out of deformity? God is rising to His work. It is a work that He could do, but which He will not do without us; and He is calling us forward to engage in the mighty enterprise. What can be done? The cry has gone out, and a proposal has been made, the echoes of which are reverberating from the Orkneys to the Land's End,"Send a million of Testaments to China." Never was there such a response returned to any call before as to that of Mr. Thompson. From town to town, from city to city, from village to village, the enthusiasm is running, I will not say with wild-fire, but with holy fire, wrapping the whole country in the flames of a conflagration, the light of which will be reflected in China, and millions will flock to the brightness of its rising. That operation is in the hand of the British and Foreign Bible Society, of which your Lordship is the beloved and honoured President, and I am quite sure, that, with its accustomed zeal, wisdom, and perseverance, the British and Foreign Bible Society will accomplish the work. The Bible Society, my Lord, cannot do without the Missionary Society. The Missionary must go before and translate the Scriptures; the Bible Society follows, prints, and circulates them, -so that we cannot do without each other; and honour from one end of the world to the other, from the equator to the poles, be done the Society, which has spent 30,0007. in printing and circulating the Scriptures in China, a large part of which has passed through the hands of your Society. But this is not all that is to be done; to get these volumes into circulation we must send the Missionary; and to do the first effectually, we must do the second. We cannot do the work which has been proposed to be done, without the Missionary Society multiplying its staff in China. Who are to circulate these Scriptures? Who are to get them among the heathen? Who are to explain them to the heathen coming and inquiring the meaning of them? Who are to do this but the Missionaries? We must not trust to the mere circulation of the Scriptures, but we must multiply the agents by which this great work is to be carried out.

There are some instances in which Providence throws the door wide open, so that it cannot be put further back upon its hinges than it is already; but there are some other cases in which the door is put upon a-jar, and God seems to say, "Now I will try whether they, with their energy and zeal, will push the door open and go through, or whether they will allow adverse forces on the other side to close the door again." It appears to me that we are pretty much in that position; the door is open and a-jar, and it depends very much on ourselves whether we shall push the door open and go forward and take possession of China, or allowwhom? the Papists to close it against us. You raised 90007. for Madagascar, which contains a population of only about three or four millions: what ought to be the sum you should raise for China, with its more than 300,000,000? Now, quit yourselves like men; show that you understand the proportion of things, and that, while you do not undervalue what is doing for Madagascar, you attach a stiil higher importance to what is to be done in China. China converted to Christ will be the largest, brightest jewel in the crown of Immanuel. And it is this that we are seeking by the meeting which we are now attending. Then consider the opportunity which God has put into our hands. "Be mindful of opportunities," said a Grecian sage to his disciples; and so said the Apostle, "As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men;" and never was there put before the Christian public an opportunity so precious and so important as that which now opens before us. And then with regard to the enemies of Christian Missions, the Papists: why, for four centuries the Vatican has had its attention directed to China. It boasts at the present moment of thirteen bishops there, and half a million of converts. Jesuits are swarming out by multitudes to take possession of the land. Oh, had we but the zeal of these Roman Catholics! I trust we have it in some measure, and that what we have is far more pure. But one of the most affecting scenes in the whole history of Missionary operations, is that of the extraordinary Jesuit Xavier, craving for the conversion of China-landing in the evening on the island of Sancian-dead before the morning

-directing his closing vision towards China, and pouring out the last efforts of his strength in a prayer for her conversion. Oh! shall we suffer the advocates of Popery to excel us in zeal for the conversion of China? Why, at one time such was the zeal for the conversion of China among the Roman Catholics, that eighty young priests sent to the Propaganda Society at Rome a request, signed with the blood that each had drawn from his own veins, imploring that they might be sent as Missionaries to China; and here we are talking about sending out ten men, and people are wondering where they are to be had. I do not know, but God does, and faith and prayer will obtain them from him. Now, my Lord, I will conclude by observing, that it is with great pleasure I have heard, that in the month of January sermons are to be preached throughout the metropolis-at least in very many chapelsand collections made for this object. I am not afraid of the metropolis. I am ten times more afraid of the provinces. London will do its duty. London was never backward in its duty when a special effort was called for.

But may I take the liberty of suggesting one thing more? I do it gravely, seriously, and with a hope that it will be taken up. It is, that the next evening after the sermons are preached, and the collections made, a general concert of prayer be held, not only throughout the metropolis, but throughout the whole country, for the blessing of God to descend upon China, that the Monday evening may be sacred to prayer, as the Sunday is sacred to benevolence. conclusion, my Lord, I deliberately and emphatically say, that the proposition made this morning to send ten Missionaries to China is to the honour of the London Missionary Society; and, should that proposition fail, it will be the disgrace of the whole Christian Church.

In

Sir EDWARD NORTH BUXTON, in seconding the resolution said: My Lord, I feel great pleasure in saying that I heartily join in every expression that Mr. James has used, and I hope these ten Missionaries that you are about to send forth will be but a beginning. I have received a remarkable letter from a Christian gentleman who is in command of one of Her Majesty's ships on

the coast of China; and he tells me that, as far as he can understand, those expressions which are used by the insurgents respecting their leader have been a good deal misunderstood by the people of this country; he believes that when they say of their leader that he is the second brother of Our Lord, they do so only in the same way as we ourselves are permitted to call ourselves the brethren of the Lord, in the same way as the word is used in that text in the Hebrews, "He is not ashamed to call them brethren." He tells me, also, that when he was at Nankin, the person who was seventh in command came on board his steamer. He put a Chinese Testament into his hand, and the leader immediately perceived what book it was, and received it with the greatest reverence and joy. This shows that he was acquainted with the Scriptures. Again, this gentleman informs me that the American Missionaries in China-valuable Missionaries, that I hope will be increased in numberhaving gone up to the insurgents' camp, joined with them in their morning and evening worship, which was concluded by singing the Doxology; and he also tells me that the Roman Catholic priests in China will not permit their followers to join in worship with the insurgents, thereby showing how great a difference there is between the doctrine which the Roman Catholics teach and that which the insurgents hold. I think these facts will show the great importance of the movement which this Society is making, and which I trust and believe every Christian Association for Foreign Missions will also make. And let me say one word more upon that subject which Mr. James has touched upon the immense importance of having Missionaries to distribute those million Bibles which we are about to send forth. It seems to me that such an interest has been created on that subject, that there will be no difficulty in raising the money for printing the Bibles; the difficulty will be in distributing them in such a manner as that they may be spread throughout that immense country. And how it is to be done, except by a large number of Missionaries, I see not. Mr. James has asked, that in January, after the sermons have been preached, there should be a general union of prayer. Let me ask,