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were so well entitled. And whilst I rejoice in what has been done for other countries, I cannot forget my own country, Ireland. I blush for her crimes; I know from whence those crimes spring, and the cause of them; still I love my own country, and sooner than forget her, may my right hand forget its cunning. You have an aphorism," None so blind as those who won't see." The question simply at issue, in reference to Ireland, is between truth and error; between God and Satan; between God's book and no Bible. There is much deception practised with regard to the people of Ireland. That people would be glad to embrace the Gospel, but some of our rulers have become leagued with the enslavers of the Irish population, and these are deprived of Gospel light. What was the demand of the instructed Heathen, after he was brought to know the truth? I appeal to what has been witnessed in my friend Mr. Jones. He had felt, as soon as he became informed himself, that education was wanted in his country; and then, in order to its being made a blessing, -the Bible. His first visit to this country was for assistance to establish schools, and he got about one thousand pounds for that purpose. Then, what did he himself do? His own modesty prevented him from stating it, but the fact is, that he himself has been the translator of the Holy Scriptures into his native language, for the benefit of his countrymen. That excellent man had also given the Meeting ample testimony of the industry and admirable habits which have been the result among his native population of the introduction amongst them of the word of God. They had already been raised from that state of debasement in which they were found but a short time ago, to the enjoyment of Gospel-religion, and to that state which I pray to God the natives of every country may speedily arrive at. There are many obstacles in every country to the progress of light As I have passed along the splendid streets of this metropolis, I have admired the brilliant streams of gas that illumined them, and could not but regard this light as having a moral influence. It may not destroy crime, but it banishes it from public places. That cannot be perpetrated here which otherwise would; light prevents, although it falls short of that of noon-day; so it is with the Gospel. Its light has exposed West Indian enormities, led to the Negro's freedom, and would make it impossible to perpetuate oppression that still exists. Thus has it been as to New Zealand's attempted

colonization also; and by this should it be made impossible to rob the Indian of the acres, the remains of his patrimonial inheritance; to secure a title to which, is still another reason why my friend Jones is found in England at the present moment. And as to Ireland, the lamps kept lighting there, make it impossible for superstition and bigotry, although professing regard for civil and religious liberty, to effect what otherwise would most undoubtedly be perpetrated to the destruction of both. I would urge you to keep up even a comparatively scanty illumination, until God shall cause it to issue in the glorious splendour of the fullblown day. Ifit were asked, what had been the fruit of their labour? that question could easily be answered by what had been witnessed that day. Even in reference to Ireland, the fact was beyond controversy, that they had been regularly progressing from year to year. One great misfortune to Ireland is, that, from the circumstances in which they were placed, it had been ascertained, that, within the last fifteen years, no fewer than ten thousand persons, who had been in churchmembership with the Wesleyan Methodists had been obliged to remove to parts beyond the seas; there to seek for that shelter and that support, which had been, in a great degree, forbidden them in their own land. Such a religious mass, such a body of persons of good intelligence in their rank in life, being removed from their own country, was no common misfortune to it. But when I reflect upon what has been the result of that emigration to the inhabitants of Canada, and other countries, I am almost disposed to rejoice in the loss to Ireland. They have carried intelligence with them, and they have done much to enlighten those who had been formerly in darkness. Ireland, therefore, is not a country to be despised. Indeed, she is the strength of this country. If this country watched over her, and preserved her from the enemies of civil and religious liberty,-a profession of which was continually upon their tongues, they would find that she was deserving of their attentions; but if they withheld that watchfulness, the result would ultimately recoil on their own unfaithfulness. I have great pleasure in supporting the Resolution.

The Resolution was then put from the chair, and carried unanimously.

DR. BUNTING next announced, The REV. ROBERT NEWTON " and the Collection."

The REV. ROBERT NEWTON was received with great cheering. It is

some encouragement, [he said,] to a man to find that he does not stand alone, and that I am introduced in company to this assembly. I hope my companion will be quite agreeable to the assembly; that no person present will turn away from him; but that every one here will present, not an empty but a full hand, to my companion on this occasion. [Cheers from all parts of the Meeting, and a paper, containing money, was handed up to the Rev. gentleman by a lady below the platform.] Allow me to say, that here is something already put into my hand for my friend and companion. Lamenting the cause of our expected Chairman's absence this day, and sympathizing with him, as we all sincerely do, in the domestic bereavement which he, in the providence of God, has been called upon to sustain, yet it has struck me very forcibly, that it is a singular circumstance, and I draw the most satisfactory conclusion from it; that, first, our intended Chairman-in the next place, our original Chairman this day and, in the third place, our present Chairman-are all members of the Established Church of this country. Now, Sir, may I be permitted to say, remembering who those are with whom I am immediately associated, and with whom I feel it to be the highest happiness and honour of my life to be so associated, that we Wesleyans wish not, on this occasion, or on any occasion, to forget what the venerable Wesley was; nor do we wish to forfeit that character which, as a body, I hope we have always sustained, nor to violate those professions which we from time to time have made, of entertaining a kindly and friendly feeling to the Established Church of England. I, for one, yield to no man in sincere respect and good wishes for the Established Church of our country. "Peace be within her walls, and prosperity within her palaces." The excellent and honourable individual who preceded you, Sir, in that chair, Mr. Hardy,] I am proud to say, is a fellow-countryman of my own. He is one whom I have long known as the friend of religion. He has loved his Church, and he has built, or is now building, a sanctuary to the name of the Lord, which, I trust, will be the means of spiritual good to generations yet to come. I like very much, Sir, any thing and every thing that can consistently bring different denominations of serious Christians together; and, especially, if we can, and do, on these great occasions, meet, recognizing one another without compromising any principle upon which

we may not exactly accord. I am not sure that, even in the noon-day light of millennial glory, men will think exactly alike on all the minor points of religion; but, at that period, love will be universal; and why may we not now unite all our hearts in love? At that period, doubtless, love will pervade every soul; holy, heavenly love will glow in every bosom, beam from every eye, speak from every tongue, and circulate in every heart; and I trust that we have this day, I am sure we have, a delightful antepast of that millennial day, because only love and Christian charity have pervaded this whole assembly. Sir, these are indeed stirring days in which we live; and we must be among those individuals referred to by my Reverend friend from the other side of the water in his aphorism, and be blind indeed because we "will not see," if we do not observe that a mighty struggle is going on; a struggle, as my Reverend friend has rightly remarked, between light and darkness, truth and error, religion and the confederate powers of infidelity and superstition. It concerns all friends of religion to be broad awake, to be at their posts, and to reflect on their high responsibility to Him, whose they are, and whom they are bound to serve. As to the final issue of things, however, we have no sort of solicitude. He, in whose name we have assembled, and for the extension of whose kingdom we are all concerned, has not only the right to reign, but he must, and will reign, till all his enemies become his footstool. The manner in which the great Creator of all good has been pleased to bless the operations of this Society, during the last year, furnishes a strong appeal to our renewed exertions. labourers have gone forth, and God has blessed them in their labours; and some labourers have come back again, bringing their sheaves with them, standing forth in the lofty and commanding attitude that has been presented before this vast assembly this day. How the Society has extended its operations, east and west, north and south! I have asked myself, while sitting here to-day, what must in future be done? It occurred to me, instantly, that one of three things is inevitable; we must become sta tionary, or we must retrograde, or we must advance. One of those three events must inevitably happen. Shall we then become stationary? (Cries of "No! No!") What is there stationary in the material world? The light is not stationary, the air is not, the water is

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not, the herbage of the field is not, the earth itself is not; and are we to become stationary, then, in the moral system? What is there that is stationary in the intellectual world? Learning is not, science is not, the arts are not, the human intellect itself is not; and must we, then, stand still in the moral system? Do we wish to do so? Are we willing to do so? Dare we attempt to do so? I hold, Sir, that we cannot do so. I hold that we cannot stand still. Then shall we retrograde? Is it come to this? ("No.") A friend behind me says, No." Shall we sound a retreat? Shall we retrace a single step? I trust the Missionary vocabulary will never have a word in it to signify "retreat; I trust the invincible Missionary troops will never have such a beat in their whole service. Beat a retreat, indeed! God forbid! We will have no such word as "retreat." What, shall we withdraw, then, some of those devoted, self-denying individuals, who, at so many sacrifices, and at such a risk of health and life, have gone far into the wilds among the Gentiles, and are willing there to live, and to toil, and, if called upon, to die in the cause of Christ? And shall any of those men be recalled? Shall any of those posts of usefulness where they have been already labouring with so much advantage, and where so much has been effected, be abandoned? And shall any of those flocks that have been gathered together, be left as sheep without a shepherd? If so, we must begin somewhere, and where shall we begin? Where shall we begin, I ask? Shall we begin in Ireland? [A cry of "No, no," particularly from Mr. Waugh.] Shall we, Mr. Fraser, begin in the West Indies ?

MR. FRASER-No, no. MR. NEWTON-Mr. Clough, shall we begin in the East Indies?

MR. CLOUGH-No, not in Ceylon, nor on the continent of India.

MR. NEWTON-Brother Jones, shall it be with you?

MR. JONES-No, Sir, never; we must hold you fast now.

MR. NEWTON-Where then shall it be? Shall it be in Australia, Brother Waterhouse?

MR. WATERHOUSE-No, no.

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MR. NEWTON-That, again, is decided in the negative. I hear nothing but "Noes." Our brethren say, "No,' our feelings say, "No," Christianity says, "No," consistency says, "No," faith says, "No," hope says, "No," while she leans upon her anchor, and it supports

her, love to God and love to man say, "No." Retreat! We cannot retreat. Then, there is nothing left but an onward course. To that onward course we are urged by duty, by interest, by gratitude, by honour, and by consistency. In fact, we have cut off from ourselves the means of retreat; we have drawn the sword, thrown away the scabbard, and rendered it impracticable to retreat. To an onward course, we are called by the woes, and the miseries, and the perils of a world that is lying in wickedness, -six hundred millions of our fellow-men yet unevangelized! To an onward course we are called, by an inextinguishable decree of Providence, committing the Gospel to our trust, and not entrusting it to us for our own benefit, but for the advantage of all our fellow-creatures. To an onward course we are called, by the doors which Providence has thrown wide open for our entrance; the doors of the wretched, where we hear voices addressing us, saying, “Come over and help us," "Give us of your oil, for our lamps have gone out." To an onward course we are urged, by the prayers of religious congregations, ascending in fervency before the throne of God for us. To the same course we are urged, by the unceasing and unabating liberalities of a Christian public. Why, the funds of this Society, if I collect rightly, have been increased to the extent of six thousand pounds in the ordinary way, during the last year. Is there not a voice in that? What say our Treasurers and our Secretaries to that? "Yes," is responded there; and if my friends here adopt the course they do in Cornwall, which is, that when they arrive at a given point, they never will go backward from that point, even then we must be stimu-lated onwards. To an onward course, likewise, we are urged, by the men whom the providence of God is raising up, who have a desire to go and engage in this great cause.. There are on this platform, at present, those whose hearts are far from hence, and who are anxious to be at the scene of operation. What, also, is the language we hear from the men in the open field of labour? The voice that has reached us, even this day, is, "Send us more help, more labourers, into the vineyard of the Lord." Again, permit me to say, that to the same onward course we are urged by the men who have lived, who have laboured, and who have died in foreign service; who, at the bidding of their great Master, put. on the harness and entered into the yoke. By the ashes of the departed; by the

tombs of the venerable dead; by their sainted spirits before the throne of Jehovah, we are urged to maintain, to the utmost of our power, that holy cause, which, living and dying, was so dear to their hearts. Above all, we are urged to this by the command, and by the example and promised presence of oar divine Saviour: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world !"—" by his agony and bloody sweat, by his cross and passion, by his precious death and burial, by his glorious resurrection and ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost." And I trust, Sir, we may say with truth, that we are called to the same onward course by the dawning, at last, of a brighter day than our darkened world has ever witnessed since days began their round; the day, when the light and the benefit of our common Christianity shall be diffused to the uttermost habitable parts of the globe; the day when a universally disentangled and regenerated world shall do homage to the one Saviour, and when myriads of voices shall be heard, from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south, bursting forth in a loud and rapturous song: "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." Sir, these prophetic predictions must be realized. The divine veracity is pledged, and "faithful is he that has promised, and who will also do it." That being so, I anticipate, from this great Meeting, a collection worthy of the cause; a collection worthy of the company who are convened together here, and who, by their own will, are detained to this late hour.

I do expect we shall all be cheered by that collection. I must be permitted further to observe, that some of the persons by whom we are surrounded are the very persons who have been the first to hold up their hand to send out additional Missionaries. The agents of your Society, therefore, send fresh Missionaries, and Occupy new Stations. What is the natural result of all this? Why, that something has been done, and that they have something to tell you; and the consequence is, the length of your Report. Now, I am not one of those who would have that Report compressed; I trust that we shall have yet more to listen to than we have heretofore had; and if it comes to this, that we must have two Meetings instead of one; (cheers ;)-well, if you will, let us have a whole week of it; let us sit, night after night, for a whole week, and even then I know that

the whole will not be told. I have only to add, that I have much satisfaction in supporting the Resolution.

The REV. GEORGE STEWARD moved, and JOSEPH CARNE, ESQ., of Penzance, seconded the following Resolution :

"That the cordial thanks of the Society are due, and are hereby presented, to the General Committee; to Thomus Farmer, Esq., and the Rev. John Scott, the General Treasurers; and to the Rev. Dr. Bunting, the Rev. John Beecham, the Rev. Robert Alder, and the Rev. Elijah Hoole, the General Secretaries; for the valuable services which they have severally rendered to the Society, in the direction and management of its affairs, during the past year."

DR. BUNTING then said, that among the many interesting things in the Report, which were omitted, from want of time, there was a passage referring to a very affecting and gratifying fact. They witnessed, last year, the consecration of Mr. Crowther to the Missionary cause; now, their respected friend, the Rev. John Waterhouse, had offered to go forth as Superintendent of the Missions in Australasia and Polynesia; and, as it was not likely he would be present at the next Anniversary, he would, in support ing this Resolution, bid them farewell.

The REV. JOHN WATERHOUSE -Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, In taking leave of my Christian friends at this Anniversary, I feel my mind very greatly excited. I am thankful to God, who has given me grace, and, by his providence, has permitted me, now for nearly twenty-nine years, to minister the word of life in my native land. I feel attached to my country; I feel attached to my kindred; I feel attached to my fathers and my brethren; I feel it is one of the greatest sacrifices I can possibly make to leave such a country, and such a people; but I rejoice that God Almighty enables me to make that sacrifice. I love my Lord and Master better than all; and, though I cannot, (it would ill become me at this stage of the Meeting,) occupy your time by a speech, or support your cause by presenting a long and a full purse to it, I do most humbly, in the name of my blessed Lord and Master, offer myself before you, a sacrifice on the Missionary altar. I give my life, my all, to my God; and should God spare my life, to go where my heart already is, and take me and my dear wife and family thither, I shall look back with deep interest to the country where you live. I shall often be with you in mind; and I hope that my

self and my colleague, Mr. Bumby, will be enabled faithfully to preach the Gospel of Christ, and to report to you, from time to time, the great things which are doing. I can only express my delight at having had the happiness of meeting you once more here; and, bidding you, my Christian friends, farewell, I beg an interest in your fervent prayers.

THOMAS SANDS, Esq., of Liverpool, moved the following Resolution, which was seconded by THOMAS MARRIOTT, Esq., of London :

"That the cordial thanks of the Society are especially due to the Rev. James Parsons, the Rev. Dr. Beaumont, and the Rev. George Steward, for their excellent Sermons, preached before the Society during its present Anniversary; to the Rev. Robert Newton, and the Rev. Thomas Waugh, for their very acceptable services on the same occasion; to all other Ministers who have publicly advocated the cause of the Society during the past year; and to the Auxiliary and Branch Societies, the Ladies' Associations, the Juvenile Societies, and their respective Committees, Treasurers, Secre

taries, and Collectors, both at home and abroad, for their very successful exertions on behalf of the funds of the Institution, in which exertions they are most earnestly entreated to continue and abound.

The REV. EDMUND GRINDROD, President of the Conference, moved, and THOMAS FARMER, Esq., of Gunnersbury-house, Acton, in a brief speech, seconded the following Resolution :

"That the very respectful and cordial thanks of the Society are due to John Hardy, Esq., who, in consequence of the lamented absence of John Pemberton Plumptre, Esq., M. P., has kindly presided over this Meeting; and to Henry Pownall, Esq., who took the chair on Mr. Hardy's unavoidable departure.

MR. POWNALL, in acknowledging the Resolution, expressed himself delighted, as a member of the Church of England, to co-operate with his Wesleyan brethren in the great and important work which had brought them together.

The Doxology was sung, and the proceedings were closed with prayer by the Rev. Robert Newton.

[To the preceding Report of the General Meeting, we have deemed it right, under present circumstances, to annex the following selection from the able Speeches delivered at the Meeting of the London Auxiliary Society on the 25th of April; believing that they will be read with much interest, and are calculated to serve the Cause of Missions.]

THE REV. G. OSBORN, after various remarks on those parts of the Report, which related to the particular operations of the London Auxiliary Society, proceeded to state that there was another point in the Report to which he wished to direct the attention of the Meeting for a moment. It was also one of deep personal interest; and he was sure it touched many hearts, while it was referred to by the reader, as deeply as it touched his own. They were commanded by their great Master to " pray to the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." It, perhaps, might not always have been sufficiently borne in mind, that He to whom our prayers were addressed, as He alone could qualify the labourers, so had He a sovereign right and property in them; it was for Him to send whom He pleased, where He pleased, and when He pleased. He might, with great deference, suggest, whether the Church had been properly attentive to this great principle. He had frequently heard the remark suggested, by affecting instances of consecration and devotedness, to which the Report had alluded-in the instance

of Mr. Crowther, and his beloved and respected Superintendent, Mr. Waterhouse,

he had heard the question repeatedly asked, "Why send your best and choicest men to the Missionary field? your men of learning, high talent, long standing, and various experience, to preach the Gospel to a few barbarous savages?" The answer he should make was twofold: "Do not ask us, ask the Lord of the harvest." He remembered an observation of Mr. Newton, of St. Mary Woolnoth, that when he said, "Thy will be done," he said it with a secret reservation, "but, if it be possible, let me have mine." It was possible, the prayer might have been offered with a similar reservation. The Church was to be taught, in a manner not be forgotten, this great lesson; God grant they might learn it well. There was another reason: Not only had the Lord a right to do with all his servants precisely as he pleased, but the Lord, in the work he had entrusted to us, "had need of them." The very best men which the Church could spare would find ample employment, and employment worthy of the very best powers with

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