What Christian lady, to whom this appeal may come, will refuse her co-operation in so good a work! To aid the beneficent legislation of a paternal government in the improvement of so large a population committed to our care; to rescue the weak from oppression, and to comfort the miserable in their sorrow; to give to the infant population of India, and of China, the blessings of maternal wisdom and piety; to teach the men of those nations, that those who are now their degraded slaves, may be their companions, counsellors, and friends; to disgrace, by a knowledge of the rudiments of European science, those fabulous and polluted legends of their sacred books, which are at variance with geographical and astronomical facts; to make them acquainted with the Bible, which now they cannot read; to place them under the instruction of the missionary, from whom they are at present excluded; to bring them to the knowledge of Christ, and to prove that his grace can do more in a few years to bless them, than centuries of heathenism could do to degrade them;—these are the great objects which carried Mrs. Wilson to the children of Hindostan, and Miss Wallace to those of China: but, while “the harvest truly is plenteous, the labourers are few.” Other women of equal capacity, and who can show the same perseverance springing from compassion and faith, must follow the good example. And if they offer themselves to this work of the Lord, will not the Christian women of this country, by sending them forth, and supporting them in their work, show to the continent and the world, that gratitude to God and to Christ for the blessings of providence and grace, can kindle in their hearts an earnest and self-denying pity for those who, though they speak in other tongues, and are separated from us by half the earth’s circumference, are yet as capable of joy and sorrow as ourselves, and are among those to whom our Redeemer has commanded that the gospel should be preached?
Wives, who are happy in the affection and esteem of your husbands; mothers, who enjoy your children’s reverence and gratitude; children, who have been blessed by a mother’s example, and a mother’s care; sisters, who have found in brothers your warmest friends; Christian women, who feel that you can lend to society its charm, and receive from it a loyal courtesy in return; protected, honoured, and loved—impart your blessings to those who are miserable because they are without them. If your minds are intelligent and cultivated—if your lives are useful and happy—and if you can look for a blessed immortality beyond the grave, do not, for the love of Christ, whose sufferings have been the source of all your blessings, and of all your hopes, do not refuse to make Him known, that the degraded millions of the East may, like you, be “blessed in Him,” and, like you, may “call him blessed.”
Those readers who desire further information may obtain it from Mr. Suter, 19, Cheapside; by whom contributions will be thankfully received.
extract from the forty-fifth quarterly register of the baptist home mission.
The Committee of this Society desire, humbly and thankfully, to acknowledge the goodness of God for the many favourable openings which appear for the “spread of the gospel at home.”
Whilst they deeply regret that, for want of means, they cannot employ more labourers, they gratefully record some unexpected supplies to their exhausted funds; they indulge the hope that many of their fellow Christians will follow the example of their friend, Mr. Nice, and others, who have nobly come to the help of the Lord in time of need.
The following extract from the Report of the Auxiliary Society for Exeter and North Devon will, it is hoped, be acceptable as a specimen of that work which all true Christians pray may prosper.
“At Torrington, our brother Pulsford still continues to carry on the work of the Lord with the true spirit of a laborious minister of the word, ever zealous in the work, and watching for the salvation of souls; and the great Head of the church has again honoured him with the reward of his labours. Possessed with heartfelt love for souls, he appears to have continually before him, as his motto, ‘Work while it is day; for the night cometh in which no man can work;’ he is instant in season and out of season. From his letter of the 15th inst., we make the following extract:—‘I have great pleasure in stating that the Lord in his great mercy continues to bless our feeble instrumentality, thirty-two have been brought to the knowledge of the truth, and added to the church by baptism since October last; and we continue to carry the word of life into thirteen villages, in many of which the power and glory of God are seen and felt. Glory be to his name. At Langtree, we have long mourned the lack of room, but I am happy to state that a chapel which will contain about 150 is nearly finished. At Langtree Wick we want to do the same, and trust that the great Head of the church will prepare the way for our doing so before long. At St. Giles, we have added another room to the one we occupied; and at Hatherleigh we have baptized ten, and as many more appear to be converted to God, and will follow the Lord in that delightful ordinance soon. Our new place of worship at Hatherleigh is covered in, and things wear a very pleasing aspect. O for the downpouring of the Holy Spirit, that the sacred fire may spread from village to village, and from town to town, till the whole world shall be full of the glory of God! Nothing is wanting to obtain this, but the hearty co-operation of all our churches in the great work—the entering into religion with all the heart, and all the soul, each one laying himself or herself out for God, and the eternal welfare of their fellow-creatures. We have four Sunday-schools, in which 280 children are taught the word and way of God, and we trust will yield a future harvest to the church.’”