BX 5199 .V443 K58 1880 Knight, William, 1817-1889. Memoir of the Rev. H. Venn Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/memoirofrevhvennOOknig THE BEV. HEN BY VENN LONDON . PRINTED BY SrOOTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-8TRKET square AND PARLIAMENT STREET REV? HENRY VENN FROM THE ENGRAVING BY SAMUEL COUSINS, AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY GEORGE RICHMOND R.A. LONDON. LONGMANS S. OF PHI MEMOIR OF THE REV. H. VENN \ jy THE MISSIONARY SECRETARIAT HENEY VENN, B.D. PREKENDAJiY OF ST. PAULS AND HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY BY THE/ REV. WILLIAM KNIGHT, M.A. HECTOR OP PITT PORTION, TIVERTON, AND FORMERLY SECRETARY OF THE C. M. 8. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY BIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER AND A NOTICE OF WEST AFRICAN COMMERCE BY HIS SONS THE REV. JOHN VENN, M.A. SENIOR FELLOW OF GO.NVII.LE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE AND THE REV. HENRY VENN, M.A. REOTOH OF CLARE PORTION, TIVERTON LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1880 All rightt reserved PEE FA CE. Many hindrances, of little concern to the public, have delayed the issue of this memoir. Its preparation was naturally undertaken in the first instance by Mr. Venn's own family, and for a most important and well-executed part of it they are still responsible. The fear of trans- gressing on the side of panegyric has perhaps restrained them from expressing to the full the admiration which to a stranger would have cost no scruple ; but, if the biographical chapter errs in any direction, it only errs in that subdued reticence which to its subject would have been most congenial, and it is no common portrait of a Christian father, friend, and pastor, who brought rare qualifications to a work which he was almost the first to realise under its new conditions and full development. When, in the course of the memoir, it became neces- sary to deal with the special work in connection with the administration of the Church Missionary Society, which gradually absorbed all Mr. Venn's time and energies, it was felt that, even at the risk of some lack of unity in the execution, this portion of the narrative might fare best in the hands of some one, if such could be found, vi PREFACE. who had been associated with him in this work of his life. His Sons accordingly proposed this task to me, as I had been for nearly thirteen years officially attached to the Church Missionary Society, both at home and in the East, and had been through most of that time his confi- dential coadjutor. Though I shrank from so responsible a part, involved as I was in other duties, I consented to do my best in a work for which others thought me suitable. I had some guide as to the points which my honoured friend would have desired to be made prominent, in the various papers, some of them carefully corrected by him- self, which were put into my hands ; for I remembered his saying to me — ' My grandfather kept everything ; my father kept nothing; I have taken a middle course.' He had long so completely merged his individuality in the cause to which he had consecrated himself that I felt sure that the memorial most in accordance with his wishes, could he speak to us from his place of rest, would take something of the form into which I have endeavoured to mould it. I recollect, too, his more than once expressing a wish in past years to write ' The Constitutional His- tory of the Society,' leaving me to record the growth of the different missions. This was never achieved, but I felt that in the present review a contribution might perhaps be made towards its accomplishment. His own writings supply the materials, and they can hardly fail of commanding attention, now that they are presented at PREFACE. Vll a single view. Some of the occasional papers thus col- lected into a permanent form are now either very rare or quite out of print. The sketch of Mr. Biekersteth's secre- tariat is a work of no small care and pains. Mr. Venn always rated highly his predecessor's assertion of the great spiritual principles of the Society. He believed them to be based on immutable truth, and his single aim and object was to transmit them undiluted and unimpaired to his successors. The same arts that did gain A power must it maintain. Pitt Rectory, Tiverton : April 1880. W. KNIGHT. CONTENTS. pac; INTRODUCTORY BIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER LETTERS G. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL . . . .108 THE MISSIONARY SECRETARIAT :—' 1. Preliminary 143 I. The Founders of C. M. S 150 II. Character of Josiah Pratt 158 III. Character of Edward Bickersteth 160 IV. The Battle-ground of the Conflict 109 V. Retrospective Address 171 2. ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. . 1 . . . 195 Letter by Sir C. E. Trevelyan 198 Letter of H. Venn to a Friend 203 Letter to the Bishop of Kingston 211 3. Independent Action of C. M. S 223 Terms of Acceptance of Candidates 225 Diocesan Boards, or Church Unions 229 Animadversions on C. M. S 235 4. Sympathy with other Societies 242 Socie'te' des Missions Evangeliques 245 Speech for Bible Society 248 5. Views on the Sacraments 255 Letter to Rev. C. J. Elliott 275 0. Organisation of Native Churches 276 Jubilee Letter 278 On Nationality 282 Regulations for Corresponding Committees, &c. . . . 293 The Native Pastorate, &c. 305 A. Native Bishop in Tinnevelly 322 B. Native Church Endowments 330 C. Native Church Organisation . , 333 X CONTENTS. PAoa Extension of Episcopate in India .... . 335 Madagascar Bishopric 341 Minute on Polygamy 345 7. Personal Traits 358 Letters relating to Missionary Bereavements . . . . 367 8. Accessories to Mission Work 375 Rev. S. Crowther at Windsor ...... 379 Correspondence with Sierra Leone 383 9. Missionary Principles and Requisites 386 ' Life of Xavier ' . . . 387 Prayerfulness 392 10. Lord Chichester's Recollections 395 11. Conclusion 401 Minute of Committee 410 Africa's Witness 412 Tribute of Missionaries 413 Testimony of Friends 420 INSTRUCTIONS TO MISSIONARIES :— A. The Missionary's Wore and Temper 427 B. Counsels and Cautions 434 C. Dangers and Safeguards 441 D. Special Obligations 452 E. Annual Letter . 458 F. Politics and Missions 468 G. Indian Missions (1) 484 H. Indian Missions (2) 492 I. Missions to Mahommedans, etc 502 K. Syrian Church in Travancore 508 L. Missions in their Variety 514 M. Loving Farewell 522 N. Some Eminent Missionaries 526 0. Last Words 531 NOTICE OF WEST AFRICAN COMMERCE . . . .537 BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX 549 INTRODUCTORY BIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER "WITH LETTERS AND PEIVATE JOURNAL. 1796—1872. MEMOIR OF HENKY VENN, B.D INTRODUCTORY BIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER. Henry Venn, the subject of this biographical sketch, was born at Clapham, of which parish his father was Eector, on February 10, 1796. The genealogy of his family on the male side was a matter in which he always felt much interest, as had been the case with his father before him, and about which they both made many and careful en- quiries whenever they could find time and opportunity for the purpose. This interest he retained indeed to the close of his life, though pressure of other work prevented him, after a comparatively early period, from devoting more than an occasional fragment of time to such investi- gations.1 About his early years there is not much to say, beyond the fact that, owing to various circumstances, he was much thrown into the society of those older than himself, and thus acquired a degree of maturity and manliness of character which seems to have struck all who became 1 A brief Appendix is added, at the end of the volume, containing the results of these inquiries. B 2 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. acquainted with him. He lost his mother in his early childhood ; and, being the eldest son, soon became to an unusual extent the guardian and adviser of his brothers and sisters. The following brief autobiographical account was drawn up by himself for his children. It was begun at Torquay, during the first days of bereavement following the death of his wife, and when he had himself been for a time laid aside from all parochial work by a dangerous illness. It was never continued, for on recovering health the parish and his secretaryship soon absorbed all the time which would have been thus employed. In the year 1805 Samuel Thornton, a year younger than myself, came to be my father's pupil and to be educated with me. Then I suppose plans of instruction were adopted, such as my father's wisdom was well calculated to devise ; but he was overwhelmed with the business of his important ministerial charge, and could only hear us our lessons in a morning from eight to nine o'clock. . . . The rest of the time we learnt our lessons alone in a schoolroom which opened out on a playground, and two windows looked into the street. I have a more lively recollection of transactions at the door and window than at the table. ... I cannot but in some measure deplore the idle and desultory habits of reading which I thus acquired. That habit of strenuous application and exact attention which boys get at a good school, and under the excitement of emulation, I never had, and when I went to College T grievously felt the want of it, and was forcibly discouraged by that feeling, far beyond the reality of the case. . . . Samuel Thornton remained with us till he went to sea in 181 2. My other dear and constant com- panion was Charles Shore (the first Lord Teignmouth's eldest son), and George Stainforth during his holidays. My recollections of these years are all of unmixed happiness. My father was always pleased with me and most tender to me j but his constant occupations and ill-health removed BOYHOOD. 3 him in some degree from that familiar companionship which would otherwise, I am persuaded, have been his delight. Hence, perhaps, with the most romantic love for him, I had always a degree of awe in his presence. When Samuel Thornton went for the holidays to his father's beautiful seat, Albury Park, I generally went with hiin, and was treated like a son in every respect. ... I met with universal kind- ness and attention from all my father's friends, and thus I was brought much more forward in life as it is called than boys usually are, and prepared, by premature experience of the kindness and confidence of friends, for that difficult situation to which I was called at my father's death, at the age of seventeen, to settle his affairs and make various family arrangements. ... In 1812 the two sons of Sir Thomas Baring, Thomas and John, came to be my father's pupils ; they were much younger than myself, and I was in some measure to instruct them. . . . My father gave me the wisest instructions about my studies, set me a high standard of accuracy, excited a desire to excel in composition and style of writing, and to enter into the spirit of an author ; he encouraged me also, to seek the acquisition of all kinds of knowledge— mechanical knowledge, astronomy, electricity, gardening, and heraldry. The estimation in which Evangelical opinions were generally held in those days of course prevented any great degree of intimacy, on the part of the Eector's family, with persons outside the so-called ' Clapham Sect.' Indeed, the mere fact of entertaining such opinions must have operated to some extent as a barrier against the world. And this had its advantageous side. One naturally looks for some vigour of character in the mem- bers of a struggling and separate body, and it may have been in part owing to such circumstances that from the comparatively small number of the society at Clapham proceeded so large a proportion of men eminent for their ability, force of character, and perseverance. In the B 2 4 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. following generation this vigour of character naturally showed various developments, and led to different though not entirely hostile careers ; but it could have been no ordinary circumstances which served to train such men as Lord Macaulay, Sir J. Stephen, the Wilberforces, the Grants, and others, besides the subject of this memoir. However else these men differed in gifts and opportuni- ties, they were alike in their indefatigable diligence and conscientiousness : and those who knew the others would probably say of them, what those who were most intimate with Mr. Venn would certainly say of him, that this con- scientiousness took at last the form of what may really be called an acquired incapacity for anything in the shape of loose and slipshod work. Of the inside life of this society, or of certain members of it,1 two accounts have already been given to the world ; both are so graphic in them- selves, and by such distinguished authors, that others may well shrink from the task of attempting another picture of what has been already so well described. It would of course be absurd to imply that anything de- serving the name of persecution was exercised towards such a society as this. The high position in Parliament, com- merce, and elsewhere held by some of the leaders of the party put it out of the question that there should be even any very strong expression of contempt felt toward them. What was produced was rather that sort of isolation which the earnest sympathy of a limited body would necessarily experience when met in almost every direction outside by alien tastes and the chill of indifference to the objects and causes in which they felt the most passionate interest. This isolation was naturally much greater in the case of 1 Sir J. Stephen, Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography (' Wilberforce and his Associates ; ' 'The Clapham Sect'). G. O. Trevelyan, Life of Lm-d Macaulay. ' THE CLAPHAM SECT.' 5 the occupants of the Eectory. Even such religious outsiders as Bentham and Eomilly were brought into connection with Wilberforce, Zachary Macaulay, and other prominent leaders of the anti-slave trade party, by the necessity for some kind of common action in this and other of their philanthropic struggles. But the breach be- tween the Evangelical clergyman and the rest of the world was more complete ; and even between himself and the rest of his clerical brethren it often amounted to a chasm. One instance related by himself will seem almost in- credible to many at the present day. Those of us whose recollections extend sixty years back can well remember how the High Churchmen of that day held these names (Cecil, Martyn, etc.) in the lowest estima- tion, and how jealously they kept themselves aloof from all association with them. In the present day it will hardly be credited; but one of these early recollections may serve as a specimen. One of the most prominent representatives of High Church principles was the Bishop of London. A near relative of the Bishop, after being a guest at Fulham Palace, was to visit Mr. Venn, at Clapham. We were our- selves sent to wait at the Bull's Head, a mere public-house, three hundred yards from the Rectory of Clapham, and to bring the visitor to the Rectory. The truth being, that the Bishop of London could not allow his carriage to be seen to draw up at Mr. Venn's Rectory, though it might be seen to set down a lady at a small public-house.1 It must not be thought that the life inside these walls was of the dull and stiff character which satirists are fond of depicting as appropriate in a Methodist establishment. The few survivors from the inmates, or constant visitors, at the Eectory at Clapham, would say, that for sunny 1 Christian Observer, January 1870. 6 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. cheerfulness, few family circles could compare with it. The affectionate intimacy of close friendship, far more than made up in intensity, what might be lost in the breadth of slight acquaintanceship ; and, the strong scientific and literary tastes of the head of the house, communicated to the younger members of the family an impulse which found a range ample enough for all reasonable purposes, in spite of the total exclusion of fiction and the stage. As a slight indication of the thoroughness and sound sense which directed the educa- tion of some children, even in those days, it may be remarked, that the girls were, up to a certain tolerably advanced point, taught Latin just as carefully as their brothers ; and, that the whole family were instructed in the art of writing shorthand, a useful acquisition of which, most of them continued to make thankful use throughout their lives. It was during these early days at Clapham, that his first associations with missionary efforts in Africa were formed. Several of the leading natives of Sierra Leone had been persuaded by Mr. Zachary Macaulay to entrust their sons to his care for education in England, and an establishment was formed for their reception at Clapham. ' The writer of this paper1 recollects in early boyhood, being invited by Mr. Macaulay one Sunday afternoon, to go with him to the African seminary, to hear the boys examined in the Bible. They stood in a semi-circle round Mr. Macaulay, while he questioned them in Scripture History. Mr. Henry Thornton stood by Mr. Macaulay 's side, evidently much interested in the group before him ; while Mr. Wilberforce, on the outside of the group, went from boy to boy, patting them on the shoulder as they gave good answers to the questions, and giving them each 1 Christian Observer, 1872. CLAPHAM. 7 a few words of encouragement, and an admonition to teach the same truths to their countrymen.' Eight of these boys were subsequently baptized in Clapham Church, by Mr. Venn's father, in 1805. It may be remarked, that although the Church Missionary Society had been founded in 1799, it was not till about this time, that it sent out the first two mission- aries, Messrs. Eenner and Hartwig. Before they sailed for Sierra Leone, they came and spent a few days in his father's house at Clapham. The outward features of Clapham have changed more by addition, than by destruction or direct alteration. The Common is now in itself pretty much what it was then, though the centrifugal spread of London has naturally robbed it of much of its rustic quiet and seclusion. How complete these characteristics were 70 years ago, is well in- dicated by some personal reminiscences of the present Lord Teignmouth (then Charles Shore) : — ' My latest remem- brance of your father at Clapham, was, on my visiting him some time after we had ceased to reside there (1808), when we ranged the neighbouring commons with his gun, the only instance inwhich he occurs to me in the character of a sportsman.' 1 The Church too, the ' New Church ' as it was then called, which stands at the east end of the Common, though it has not been able altogether to escape the touch of 1 Communicated by letter. The letter concludes with the following affectionate reminiscence : — ' . . . He concluded his last letter to me, accom- panied by his photograph within two weeks before his death, by observing that he was awaiting his summons. And few perhaps have been better prepared for the event. Fully had I hoped for another opportunity of wel- coming that cordial greeting which had never failed me during upwards of seventy years of affectionate intercourse, exact reflex of the characteristic staunchness which marked alike his attachment to his friends and devotion to his duty. But severe illness intervened. I shall ever feel that it has been one of the happiest circumstances in my life, and one of its chief privileges to have enjoyed during so many years your father's uninterrupted and valuable friendship.' 8 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the restorer inside, retains its outside features as solid, and as ugly, as when in 1776 the Vestry of the Parish, with an admirably clear conception of what they wanted, and felt sure that they could secure, resolved ' that a strong church be built.' This was the church in which Mr. John Venn ministered, from 1792 to his death in 1 813. The so-called ' Old Church ' was during this period used only as a mortuary chapel. It was disused from public worship after the new church was built, until it was re-fitted for divine service about 1827. It is here that John Venn, and his father Henry Venn, the Vicar of Huddersfield, and author of the ' Complete Duty of Man,' who died at Clapham in 1797, are buried. The old rectory (it is a rectory no longer), has also seen but little change, pre- sumably none since Mr. John Venn's death in 1813. The quaint old-fashioned building, with its gable ends, of which a picture hung in Mr. Venn's bedroom till his death, was somewhat modified and enlarged, in preparation for his father's second marriage, about 1812, but it has undergone little subsequent alteration. But, except in some of these external characteristics, the change is complete about the Common. As Mr. Trevelyan says (Life of Macaulay), ' What was once the home of Zachary Macaulay stands almost within swing of the bells of a stately and elegant Eoman Catholic chapel ; and the pleasant mansion of Lord Teignmouth, the cradle of the Bible Society, is now turned into a convent of monks.' In March 1813 Francis Baring and I were transferred as pupils to Professor Farish who then resided at Chesterton, near Cambridge. [He was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, and one of Mr. John Venn's oldest and most intimate friends. They had been College contemporaries.] The Pro- fessor only undertook to superintend our mathematical studies ; which he did by displaying before us the extra- DEATH OF HIS FATHER. 9 ordinary power of lucid explanation which he possessed on such subjects, but seldom examining the progress we made. His kindness, however, to us was parental, and very great advantage I am sensible we both derived, from his clear and comprehensive grasp of mind on all subjects within the range of his thought. My cousin H. V. Elliott, kindly undertook to superintend my classical studies, for which task never was a person better qualified in every respect, but I had been too near a companion to him, and he had too much confidence in my private application, to make this plan answer. Neverthe- less, I derived much more frorn his instructions than I had ever acquired before. His father soon after this became dangerously ill ; and in June 1813, young Henry Venn was summoned back to Clapham, to his death-bed. It was upon this, or a similar occasion, that Mr. Venn, as he afterwards told some of his family, lifting up his heart to God, solemnly pledged himself, in dependence upon His grace, to give himself wholly up through life to the service of his God and Saviour. What an opinion his father had already formed of his ripeness of judgment and prudence, is indicated by the fact, that he appointed him executor at this early age of 17. 1 Amongst other duties to which this appointment in- troduced him, was the collection and publication of his father's Sermons, a rather unusual employment for one who was not yet a freshman at College. Added to the time which was required for one a novice in accounts to settle many long and intricate ones, I had at 1 'I hereby constitute (his sister, J. C. Venn), together with my beloved son Henry, whose prudence and discretion will amply make up for his want of years and experience, executors . . . ' All the business part of the office of course fell upon Henry Venn, but he was much assisted by the advice of such friends of his father as Zachary Macaulay, James Stephen, and John Cunningham. 10 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the same time to manage many of the affairs of the living, and provide Mr. Dealtry with that information which is required by one perfectly new to anything of the kind, he having never before even had a curacy [Mr. Dealtry, after- wards Archdeacon of Surrey, was Mr. John Venn's successor at Clapham]. A great portion of my time and thoughts has been also occupied in placing in a proper train, the Sermons designed for publication. Though four persons had kindly engaged to do all in their power, I was yet obliged on many accounts to do much myself; I hope I have now settled that matter.1 He soon returned to Professor Farish's house, and re- mained with him until he commenced residence at Queens' College in October, 1814. Queens' was then in a very flourishing condition. In point of numbers it stood about fourth on the list, the total number of undergraduates in the University being barely over one thousand — some- what less than half what it now is. Dr. Isaac Milner, the celebrated President of the College, was then an old man, and growing very infirm ; he was, moreover, much absent from the College during his residence at his deanery at Carlisle. A vivid account of him, as he exhibited him- self when in his prime, has been given in Sir J. Stephen's Essays, already referred to. It was to Dr. Milner's traditional reputation that the College probably owed its success, rather than to any special merit on the part of its tutors and resident Fellows. Whether the resident dons there were very much rougher and more eccentric in their behaviour than their contem- poraries in other Colleges might be left to University annalists to determine ; but there is no doubt that the general tone prevailing amongst them, and indeed the doings of several of them, were of a kind to startle a 1 Letter to H. V. Elliott, August 1813. QUEENS' COLLEGE IN 1814. 11 young man brought up in a strict household, and accus- tomed by the society of his family and friends to look for courtesy and refinement as a matter of course. Contem- porary satires are no exact evidence of facts, but they serve to indicate general tendencies. In some burlesque verses entitled, ' Scenes from Alma Mater,' somewhere about this date, a description is given of the various members of the society of Queens', and an incident is recorded in which, ' fired with frenzy, they all fell to blows.' There appears, after all, to have been no great exaggeration in this description, since Mr. Venn, in a letter of remonstrance and appeal directed, soon after taking his degree, to the Master (whether actually sent or not we do not know) speaks of it as a matter of notoriety that, on one occasion at least, two of the Fellows had come to blows. This row, which, it may be added, took place in the presence of strangers and undergraduates, is alluded to by him as a not unnatural result of the constant scenes of violence and intemperance which prevailed at the time. The impression left upon his mind by these recollections was probably the cause of the decided unfavourable judgment which he afterwards entertained about the disadvantages of a prolonged residence in College.1 The building itself is almost entirely unchanged, and is supposed to be the oldest extant piece of brickwork, of any size, in the University. It was then, as it is now, and as it has been any time during the last three hundred years, with the exceptions of the ugly alterations and additions of the last century, one of the most picturesque pieces of old red brick to be found in the place. It has, 1 The hero of the well-known anecdote (mentioned by Conybeare in his ' Essay on Church Partieu '), the vicar who was said to have remarked, on hearing' that his church in Cambridge was being filled to crowding during his absence by a popular young substitute, ' that it did not matter, for he could soon empty it again,' was a resident Fellow of Queens' at this time. 12 MEMOIR OF THE EEV. HENRY VENN. on a small scale, every feature which a College can want, with its various courts, its cloisters, its still only partially explained Newtonian sun-dial, its quaint old wooden bridge, and the charming retreat of its College gardens along the river bank, with the master's bowling-green on one side, and a sort of secluded wilderness of noble old elms on the other.1 The present King's bridge, it may be remarked, did not exist then ; the invasion of privacy and destruction of view, from the Queens' side, caused by its erection was a very sore point with Dr. Milner, and nearly brought about a rupture between him and Simeon. Henry Venn's principal friends at College were George Stainforth, an old Clapham acquaintance and connection ; his cousin, H. V. Elliott, who had just taken a brilliant degree, and was reading for his fellowship at Trinity ; C. J. Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth ; and Clement Francis, of Caius. A year later, in his own college, he made the acquaintance of Joshua King, afterwards Presi- dent of the College. This acquaintance soon ripened into close intimacy, and for many years they were in constant communication and companionship. Complete prostration of health and strength on Mr. King's side, and the gradual separation necessarily brought about by Mr. Venn's devotion to a cause with which his friend had but little sympathy, prevented them from retaining the same intimacy in later years. He always retained, however, the most affectionate recollections of his old friend, and was one of the many who fully believed that his brilliant talents and abundant energy would unfailingly have 1 Dyer, in his account of Cambridge (published 1814"), says of this walk (known as Erasmus' Walk), ' Let no one leave these grounds without going to the end of that walk by the side of the liver, and let him thence look to the view on the opposite side. Nor let him say, it is the best in Cambridge, or, it is well enough for Cambridge : though it has not hill or dale, perhaps it is one of the best anywhere.' CHARLES SIMEON. 13 insured him a distinguished career but for the total pros- tration of health which before very long removed him from active life. Of his doings in his undergraduate days we know but little. He read very steadily, both from natural taste and conscientious conviction, and from the knowledge that in a family where the numbers were large and the means small much would depend upon the character and attainments of the eldest son. He gained a College prize for a Latin declamation, and two prizes in mathe- matics, and was elected a scholar in his second year. During part of his time he read with Jacob, the famous senior wrangler in Whewell's year, 1816. He extracted, altogether, as steady readers seldom fail to do, a very large share of enjoyment and profit from his College career. His religious convictions, which were already very decided, were in substance those which he retained through life, and which he held in common with his father and grandfather. The circumstances then probably tended to emphasize the religious character of a College student. The distinction between a ' religious man ' and one who was not so was in those days still very sharply marked, the former being commonly known as Simeonites. A man, therefore, had almost at once to make up his mind and take his side, and if he chose the former party he found himself amongst the few. Charles Simeon was then in full enjoyment of his powers and influence, and to attend his church regularly, and his Friday evening classes in his rooms in College, was the natural course for those who had any kind of leaning towards Evangelical views. In the case of Henry Venn there were, of course, special reasons for this, owing to what may be called his hereditary connection with Simeon. It was to his grand- 14 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. father, when rector of Yelling, that Simeon owed much of his change of views. His father was a College con- temporary and friend of Simeon, and remained in close intimacy with him through life. To this, of course, was added his own personal admiration for Simeon's character, and his agreement with all that was essential in his re- ligious opinions. There were already some signs of religious revival in the University. Simeon had, to a great extent, lived down the bitter opposition that had marked the commencement of his career, though a single incident will show that this opposition was still by no means extinct. Mr. Venn and a friend of his had had some discussion about the pro- priety of another fellow-student continuing to attend the services at Trinity Church in spite of the prohibition, or strong remonstrances of his College tutors. The case was referred to the Bishop of Gloucester.1 His judgment was that ' he had better tell the master or tutor that, in obedience to his directions, he will no longer go to Mr. Simeon, though, at the same time, he must declare that it is merely in obedience to their authority, and not from any alteration in his own principles.' Of the customary employments and opportunities of a religious student at the present day hardly any were then available. The Jesus Lane Sunday School was not established till some years later, and of course no other such school existed. The Bible Society had a branch already in Cambridge, but the Cambridge Association of the Church Missionary Society was not founded until November, 1818. 2 With 1 Dr. Ryder, a great friend of Simeon, and in general sympathy and agreement with him. What seems strange is not so much that the Bishop should have offered this advice as that the College authorities should have given ground for its being offered. 2 Simeon says in a letter (November 30, 1818), ' You will be surprised to hear that we have just had a public meeting for the Missionary Society. FAMILY CARES. 15 the exception of Simeon's parties, religious sympathy probably found almost its only expression in the private intercourse of intimate friends. ' Looking back, what my memory mostly rests on regarding him is a long walk and conversation, in which the spirituality of his mind and earnest interest in the religious state and religious progress of those he was with (myself especially at that time) so came out that I never lost the recollection of it.'1 The only approach to any public testimony to his views which we know him to have given during his student days was an address at a small Bible Society meeting at Haslingfield, a village six miles from Cambridge. The cm-ate in charge there was a Mr. Clarke, a connection of his through the Stephens. How completely he had already attempted to fulfil the charge, imposed upon him by his dying father, of watching over the temporal and spiritual interests of the rest of his family, will be shown by the following extracts from a letter to his aunt, written just after his entry to College. We quote at some length, in order to show how remote his thoughts and cares already were from those of the bulk of freshmen in their first term. The subject of discussion was the choice of a profession for his younger brother, and the expediency of accepting a promise to secure him a writership in the East India Company's service. He says : — I am prevented by full employment during the last week from writing to you upon the subject which has engaged so much of my thoughts, and has met, I doubt not, with the same anxious consideration amongst you. It would have been much more satisfactory to me to bave been able person- I trembled when it was proposed, and recommended the most cautious pro- ceeding.' 1 Letter from the late Rev. E. B. Elliott. 16 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. ally to communicate the result of my own thoughts, and have conversed with you upon it ; but, as it would have been impossible for me to leave College at this time, I write to tell you the light in which I view the subject, and the conclusion I have come to . . . I think it must be granted India has much the preference ; what, then, should retain him at home, but religious considerations and the affections of his family? As to the first, it is to be determined whether with the same decree of zeal and devotion to the cause of the Redeemer, there is room for as much usefulness in the station he would be placed in in India as in his own country, if not by direct yet by indirect means to advance the glory of God and do good to others. It is Mr. Simeon's decided opinion that there is, as well as Mr. Farish's ; and I confess I am inclined myself to think, that the good a pious and excellent minister has it in his power to do in his parish, is often overstated ; and that our ideas upon the subject are frequently confined from our being most accustomed to see good arise from their labours, and not looking sufficiently at agents not so apparent to us. The reformation wrought in any collected set of persons we can readily estimate, and the effect of a ministry upon any congregation is apparent to everyone, whilst it is far more difficult to say how much benefit religion has derived from the labours of such a man as Mr. Grant, in the case of India . . . The next consideration in a religious point of view, is the effect upon his own mind, and how far the temptations of India are greater than those in this country. You see what Mr. Macaulay thinks of this. Mr. Simeon has told me expressly that now he did not think that the danger of falling into temptations in India, would be much greater than in this country . . . When I think of parting with him, it throws a gloom over the propects of after life, and at once dashes to the ground the most pleasing vision of happiness among the scenes of this chequered world. I had formerly delighted to look forward to a time when we should be fellow-labourers in the Lord's Vineyard, when we should be engaged in the same work, and solace our common BROTHERLY COUNSEL. 17 cares and trials in each other's company. How truly is it said, ' A brother is born for adversity,' there is nc earthly friend to compare with him. I pray God that we may be directed and overruled to decide on that which shall be most conducive to His glory, and the good of the soul of our brother. To Him I commit the matter, and feel a con- fidence that He who hath hitherto, will still continue to guide us safely. The letter is a very long one, and every bearing of the question is thus anxiously and affectionately dis- cussed. The outdoor life of the students of those days was, we need not say, widely different from that which the bustle and publicity of athletic pursuits has now rather commonly associated wTith University residence. There was no boating whatever, in the modern sense of the term ; no boat-club or eight-oar existed till long after this date. Mr. Venn used to say, that amongst his acquaintances, there was but one who ever went on the river, and that in a solitary sailing boat. The favom'ite outdoor exercise was probably riding, at least for those whose tastes and means permitted this resource. For this amusement, the still uninclosed state of much of the country about Cambridge offered peculiar facilities.1 Mr. Venn's means did not of course permit much of this indulgence, and he had to be content with an occasional holiday expedition, as it were, mostly at the end of term, to Ely, where he had an uncle, a Dr. King, Canon of the Cathedral and Fellow of Trinity. For the majority of the students, there was no resource available but to take walks. Dinner at 3 o'clock, 1 'An excellent causeway was cast up at the expense of W. Worts, Esq., to Goginagog Hills, 4 miles east of Cambridge, where gentlemen ride out clean in the depth of winter, and from these hills there is a fine carpet way for several miles, particularly towards Newmarket' (' Cantabrigia Depicta,' 1781). C 18 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Chapel at 5 or 6, and a hurried constitutional between (always in cap and gown) seem, as regards the quieter race of students, to have pretty well occupied the hours which modern requirements tend so imperatively to demand of an undergraduate for the development of his muscular activity. The strong competition which now compels men to concentrate their efforts upon a single examination showed itself in a much feebler shape then. It is true that there was but one Tripos, the Mathematical, but it would appear that College regulations seemed in many cases a somewhat more general culture than is necessarily attained under the present system. A fair knowledge of Classics was always required for a Fellowship at Queens' in those days ; in fact, the actual examination was nearly confined to these subjects. Mr. Venn, for instance, after his degree, though he had obtained College prizes in Classics, devoted the whole following year pretty steadily to classical study before sitting for his Fellowship examina- tion. The keeping of Acts too, though rapidly declining towards that farcical condition which it had obtained some time before it was finally abolished for the Arts degree, still demanded some non-mathematical study and thought. Locke's Essay, amongst other works, had often to be studied pretty carefully. Mr. Venn's copy of this Essay, used by him when a College lecturer some years later, is marked with many notes and comments, indicating the scrupulous care with which he had studied the work him- self before undertaking to teach and test others in it. Some remarks in a letter towards the commencement of his third year serve also to show that the preparations for these Acts demanded some real study and attention. He says : — Nov. 1816. — With respectto my leaving college at Christmas UNIVERSITY STUDIES. 19 (to go home for the vacation), it will be rather an important time, as I shall have to appear in the Sophs Schools soon after next January, which will require considerable preparation, but I fully intend a fortnight or so to be spent with you. The following extract from a letter from his friend Joshua King may be interesting to some, as indicating the usual studies of the time, and showing incidentally how rare it then was to remain in Cambridge during the long vacation. He says : — . . . Immediately on my attacking the French mathematics (viz. Francceur's Mechanics), I was completely knocked down by the introduction of Taylor's theorem — a theorem known to me only by name : of its properties, its utility, and the method by which it is deduced, I am entirely ignorant. My request is therefore, that, as in many instances heretofore, so in the present you will lend me your friendly assistance, by transmitting to me in a letter, as soon as you can make it convenient, the grand desideratum. If at the same time you can say anything respecting Functions, so as to make me have a more correct idea of them than I have at present, the information will be most gratefully received ... I shall now apply myself principally to Newton's Principia, in which if I meet with difficulties which I cannot surmount, I will immediately repair to Mr. Gough of Kendal,1 if not, I deem it better to remain at home. I have already read the first three, and 7th sections, and in my own opinion understand them pretty well. Pray, am I right in omitting to read the 4th, 5th, and 6th ? If not, I hope you will point out my error, and direct me how to proceed. I intend, before my return, to read a little of Dealtry's Fluxions, and the higher parts of Algebra, viz. the Summation of Series, Chances, &c. . . . You will now be able to inform me how you like a lonely residence ; for lonely it certainly must be, as I conclude that there will be no undergraduate resident at Queens', except 1 A celebrated blind mathematical in the North of England, c 2 20 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. yourself. (Dated from Lowick Bridge, Windermere, July 25, 1816.) Along with what would now be thought the monotony of the life there, Cambridge seems really to have somewhat deserved a reputation for unhealthiness, in spite of Hobson and Ins conduit. In the spring and early summer of 1815 fever prevailed there to such an extent that there was a general break-up on the part of the University, almost resembling those which the plague had caused in the time of Cranmer and of Newton. Undergraduates were, by Grace of the Senate, excused their residence for that May term, and permitted to depart whither they pleased. Hemy Venn went with his sisters to Cromer, on the Norfolk coast. He was afterwards joined by his friend, G. Stainforth. and here his reading was carried on during a portion of the summer. It was at this time, by visits to Earlham, where one of his sisters was then staying, that he laid the foundations of a long and intimate friend- ship with various members of the Buxton and Gurney family. It may be remarked that with that retentive memory, which failed him no more in the case of places or events than in that of persons, he seemed to retain to the close of his life the most exact recollections of the country in which this short stay had been passed. Fifty- six years afterwards, never having been near the place in the interval, he was able to recall the names and localities of the surrounding villages not much less accurately than one who had just been there. His hast long vacation while an undergraduate, that in the summer of 1817, was spent at Tenby with a reading party. The party was a small one, under the tutorship of Ebden of Cains. His friend George Stain- forth was one of the number ; and when the regular party broke up, the two friends migrated to a farmhouse DEGREE. 21 at the little village of Manorbeer in the neighbourhood, in order to get a little more qiuet reading before the approaching Senate House Examination. He took his B.A. degree in January, 1818, when he came out 19th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos, the list being headed by Lefevre (afterwards Sir John Shaw Lefevre). Among his contemporaries were Thirlwall (after- wards Bishop of S. David's) and his friend G. Stainforth, the first and second Medallists respectively of their year. The following long vacation was one to which he ever afterwards looked back with affectionate remem- brance. A considerable portion of it wras spent at Bydal in Westmoreland, with the Wilberforce family. How much he had already secured of Wilberforce's love and esteem will be shown by the following letter, written about this time. The passage at the close refers to assistance which he had been able to afford in some domestic troubles : — My dear Henr}r, — for I hate the formality of any other way of accosting you. Of course I shall be very anxious to know j*our plans. I wish you may find some friend near whom you may fix your quarters. Do let me know from you, though it be but a line or two. I am so much pressed for time (for I am writing from the House of Commons, though habitually I dated my letter near London) tfyat I cannot enlarge. Indeed, my subject is so copious and interesting an one, that if I enter into it at all I know not when I shall stop. Farewell, Yours ever affectionately, and with the deepest sense of your kindness, for which may God reward you ; begging also your prayers for the success of our en- deavours, I remain, ever, my dear sir, yours sincerely and affectionately, Tir ,ir W. Wilberforce. Wilberforce, then, of course, an old man, had been an intimate friend of the Eector of Clapham, and had, 22 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. therefore, additional reasons for feeling a strong interest in young Henry Venn. The close and affectionate inter- course which thus ensued was especially agreeable and profitable to one of his ripeness of mind and character. When he next revisited the Lake district, some thirty-six years afterwards, the memories of those days seemed un- diminished in their freshness and vigour. On that occasion he stopped at the hotel at Bowness ; but, after dinner, in the dusk of a rainy evening, he could not forbear from going out to look at the old cottage, two miles off at Eydal, where he had then stopped, and re- newing the memories with which every spot in the country abounded. Amongst other residents to whom Wilberforce's friendship served to introduce him were Wordsworth and Southey, with the latter of whom he got a long day's walk through S. John's Vale. He also secured a ramble or two amongst the wild and then little frequented passes about Wastdale Head. His principal occupation, how- ever, at this time was the refreshing and extending of his classical knowledge in preparation for his Fellowship examination. In January 1819 he obtained a Fellowship at his college, and was shortly afterwards ordained by the Bishop of Ely. Having no notion of remaining in col- lege, he began immediately to look about for a curacy. A suitable curacy, however, was not so easily to be pro- cured at once by a young clergyman of decided Evan- gelical convictions, especially as a wish not to be far from the rest of his family imposed limits upon the locality to be selected. For a few months, therefore, he took occa- sional duty in the neighbourhood of London, at Becken- ham, and afterwards for a time hi a chapel in Spring Gardens, and also occasionally helped other friends. DEATH OF A FRIEND. 23 When not preaching himself, he mostly attended Mr. Daniel Wilson's Chapel at S. John's, Bedford Eow. During this period he lost two of his college friends, George Stainforth and Blundell, the former especially very dear to him. The latter died first, somewhat suddenly, at Trinity College, where he was residing as a scholar. The following very touching letter from Stainforth de- scribes his feelings at the loss : — Dr. Blundell came into the cloisters and informed us of the event. I never shall forget my sensations when standing by the door at the screens, towards Nevill's Court, about a quarter of an hour after this event. It was a beautiful star- light night ; I was alone, The blue and serene sky above me, with here and there a cloud of fleecy whiteness ; the dark and still solemnity of the cloister scene around me. The thought that a human being had just passed from death to eternity ; that my friend, my schoolfellow, so many years the companion of my sports and studies, was irrevocably gone — above all that, these most important problems, Is the soul immortal? — is religion true? — is there a Christ? — what is life ? — what is eternity ? were to him already resolved, ex- cited feelings in my heart which were far too deep and solemn to be designated as romantic. A few moments ago he was one of us, and now the world to come has opened upon him with all its awful realities. A few months only were passed when the writer was himself gone, taken off by a rapid decline. It was a great blow to Mr. Venn, as Stainforth was one of his oldest friends. He was called to pay his farewell visit to his dying friend on his return one day from Gravesend, whither he had been to see his brother off on his voyage to India. A monument to Stainforth was erected in Clapham Church, by the contributions of his many friends. Henry Venn took a prominent part in the collection of 24 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the funds, and also combined with his cousin, H. V. Elliott, in the composition of the epitaph. About this time, at the suggestion of his friend Charles Shore, he joined a small debating society ; but it is not likely that, with his retiring habits, and his strong pre- ference for practical work rather than for indulgence in talk, he took any but a slight part in it. Lord Teign- mouth (the above-mentioned Charles Shore) thus alludes to the matter : — A debating society was formed at the west end of the town, which he joined at my suggestion. We met weekly at the house of Dr. King, afterwards during many years a much respected resident at Brighton, where he was mainly engaged in the establishment and vindication of the German Spa, whilst he constantly contributed by his amateur lectures and publications to public enlightenment. The members were, as far as I can recollect : Sir R. T. Kindersley (Vice- Chancellor), Sir C. Chambers, George Grote (historian and M.P.) Francis Baring (Lord Northbrook), Norman, Lord Overstone, H. Handley (M.P., President of the Agricultural Society), G. E. Smith (M.P.), Maberley (Secretary to the Post Office), Stephen Lushington, Cowell, Cameron, King, Venn, and myself. Dr. King, our President, used to boast that every member of the club distinguished himself in after life. The comparative leisure of this period — the only such period he eyer had in his life, except when laid aside temporarily by illness — enabled him to renew and in- crease many old Clapham family friendships. He had con- stant opportunities of meeting WUberforce, Z. Macaulay, the Thornton family, Lord Teignmouth, and others, as well as of paying an occasional visit to Sir T. Bjaring at Stratton. He also secured, in the summer of this year, 1819, a tour on the Continent — the first, and for many years the only S. DUNSTAN'S, FLEET STREET. 25 one. He went with his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. James Stephen. They posted leisurely through France to Basle, after the old fashion, in the Stephens' carriage ; thence proceeded by other conveyances and on horseback ; and picked up the carriage again on the return homewards. He took copious notes of this tour, in fact, a brief Diary, as indeed was his practice whenever he made a journey from home ; but the familiarity of every- one with the scenes in question makes quotation un- necessary. It was not until January 1821 that he obtained his V first regular curacy. There seems to have been consider- able difficulty in obtaining a suitable one, for, in a letter to a friend written about this time, he speaks of having but three alternatives before him : a foreign chaplaincy at Geneva or Turin, a country curacy in the neighbour- hood of Croydon, and the curacy of S. Dunstan's, Fleet Street. He selected the latter. For some reminiscences of this period we are indebted to the kindness of Mr. E. B. Seeley, who was then resident in the parish. We quote from his letter : — At a distance of fifty years it will not be expected that I should recollect many of the features of the sermons which I heard from the pulpit of S. Dunstan's in the West, in the years 1822 and 1823. Yet some of them made an impres- sion which will never be effaced. 1 heard from Mr. Venn in those years an exposition of the Lord's Prayer so full and so clear that nothing T have since listened to from the lips of more celebrated pulpit orators has obliterated it from my memory. It happened that in one of those years a famine in Ireland called for public aid, and a simultaneous collection was made throughout all the churches of the London diocese. It fell to Mr. Venn's lot to preach the sermon in S. Dunstan's church. He showed so much earnestness, indeed vehemence, in his appeal that the collection at the church doors was far 2G MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. greater than was usual in that parish, and with the after gathering from house to house reached, I believe, a total of nearly 3001. . . . Few people, certainly at the period of my first acquaintance with him, would have been able to anti- cipate the position which he occupied half a century later. The quietness of his demeanour, the absence of everything pretentious or aspiring, and his freedom from that sort of perhaps allowable ambition, which is so common now-a-days, all tended to prevent the thought from arising that in the curate of S. Dunstan's, Fleet Street, in 1821-2, men beheld one who half a century after would possess a degree and extent of influence in the Church, which no other man, apart from rank and official dignity, could pretend to wield. . . In so busy a neighbourhood as Fleet Street leisure is little known, and the clergyman is scarcely seen or thought of, except he is wanted, and his presence to be sought for. But in the adjacent courts and alleys there is always work enough, and there might Mr. Venn be found during the larger part of his working hours. As will be gathered from the above account, the post was a most laborious one. As the Eector, Mr. Lloyd, besides having another parish elsewhere, in which he resided for half the year, suffered from bad health, the place was really almost equivalent to a sole charge. Mr. Venn often referred in later years to the overwhelming nature of the work to which a single young curate was thus introduced. The character of the district also was of the most unattractive kind. It was a much larger parish than it now is, and was more densely populated in proportion to its size, owing partly to the fact that almost every tradesman in Fleet Street then resided over his own shop. Several of the worst parts of the parish have also been rebuilt or swept away in the various improvements of the City. He used to relate that there were certain houses of suspicious or ill fame, whither, on his occa- MR. VENN'S SERMONS. 27 sional visits there, he was forced, in self-defence, to take the beadle with him and post him at the door till he came out. Presumably the nature of a clergyman's office, and the objects of pastoral visitation, were but ill under- stood there in those days. The population, now about 2,300, was then about 6,000. Mr. Venn, however, found time to attend the Committee meetings of the Church Missionary Society. It was from this time, indeed, that his regular attendance at these meetings commenced. As a preacher he could not, in the common sense of the term, be called popular. He always devoted much care and thought to his sermons, and those who cared for thoughtful, conscientious exposition of Scripture, and for the utterance of what was actually felt rather than of what was expected to be felt, were always well satisfied, as Mr. Seeley has indicated. But he had not a very easy delivery. No one could state his views more clearly and pregnantly in the committee-room, and he had a singu- larly happy conversational tact ; but (as he was well aware himself) he had not any great command of those natural or acquired characteristics which are essential for public speaking. He made efforts, though somewhat too late, to remedy these defects, and was always very urgent in impressing upon young clergymen the extreme im- portance of adding to the weight and influence of their matter by every available improvement in their manner. In the office of preaching, as a means of reaching the hearts of the people, he always took the deepest interest, as in every other form of his parish work. In this parish of S. Dunstan he remained for nearly four years, with tolerably constant residence — the practice of regular holiday-taking not being yet recognised as an annual necessity. He went away once for a month or so to Yorkshire, principally with a view to ascertain what 28 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. reminiscences were still to be picked np there about his grandfather's life and labours at Huddersfield. It, was already fifty- Jiree years since those labours had ended by Mr. Venn's departure to Yelling , but as his grandson ascertained that there were still a few old survivors of that congregation to be found in the neighbourhood of Huddersfield, he determined to lose no time in hearing what they had to say. A very interesting account of the results of this visit is given in the ' Life of the Rev. H. Venn,' which, however, he did not find time to publish till nearly ten years later. As the most interesting por- tions of his Diary on this occasion have been thus already published, we merely add here a short extract or two : I saw Mr. John Edwards, aged seventy-four [who said] : ' I was a very wild lad all the time of Mr. Venn, yet I loved to hear 'm. I didn't leave iny sins, but yet there was a something which prevented me from being so easy in 'm. . . . There was no man like 'm in that day among all the great preachers, and it's not every age that sees such an one. . . . He was a very tender-hearted man, he could not help giving when anybody asked ; his wife often felt in his pockets before he went out, for he gave everything away that they contained. . . . All liked Venn 'mself, he was so kind a man ; even his enemies dwelt at peace with him, and all to a man were sorry when he left us. When he gave up the register of the people to his successor, there was " poor " marked against many names, and against others "very poor," so they asked him wh^it it meant, and he said from the " poor" he took nothing, and to the " very poor " he always gave something when they came to pay their dues. I recollect, when standing outside the church, old M — of the George Inn came to hear him, and after staying a time came out again before the sermon was over; so we asked him whether he had had enough. " Ah," he said, " yon man would tire the divil." A shrewd fellow who stood by, replied, " Yea, that he's done mony a VISIT TO HUDDERSFIELD. 29 time." A great difference was produced in the whole place, he was the first gentleman who had been among them, and the town began to improve from that time. . . . I have often heard tell that when he visited Huddersfield some years after he had left it, he came on horseback with some friends, and when he saw the old steeple three miles off, he drew up and burst into tears.' . . . Old John S — , upon parting with me grasped my hand and his eyes filled with tears, while he said, ' I canna tell you how fain I be to see you ! ... he [Mr. V.] made niony weep. I've cried mony a bit. I could have stooden and heard 'm while morning.' Mr. Mid- ward, aged seventy-eight, said : ' Mr. V. was a very bold man. He was afraid of no one. If he had not been of that sort he ought nevei'-to have come here, for became into a den of lions and tigers. He had great opposition at first, and many slanderers ; but after a time he won over all to like him, and if anyone had wished to hurt him they dare not bave done it on account of the neighbours. He pro- duced a great change in the observation of the Sabbath. Before his time we had butchers killing the meat and carry- ing it to the shambles, and travellers exposing their goods, but he used to go round with the churchwardens and put a stop to all such things. He was able to do the more because he was supported by many people who used to visit him.' . . . Some came regularly to church from a great distance. Mr. W. Hirst, turned eighty-seven, perfectly recollected his first coming and preaching his first sermon, and the noise he soon made throughout the whole country ; people used to come to hear him regularly from Leeds, as well as places within ten or twelve miles. Mrs. P. recollected heariner of an innkeeper, at the Crown, Huntingdon, at whose inn my grandfather and Mr. E. Bates once stopped to dine, being so much struck with the conversation which he casually heard when he brought in the first dish that he stayed and waited throughout dinner, and received impressions which, though not at the time very effectual, yet induced him afterwards to send for Mr. V. during his l&st illness and to leave directions to be buried at Yelling, 30 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Another visit made about the same time was to Devonshire. This was undertaken with the view of pre- paring materials for the life of his grandfather ; or rather for clearing up, as far as this could be done, certain genealogical points connected with the clerical succession in his family. This life of his grandfather had been commenced by his father, but the latter dying before it was finished, it was left as a charge for the next genera- tion to carry on and complete. The following extract refers to his experience on the occasion of this visit : — On Friday I visited a retired village, about six miles dis- tant, called Payhembury, which for the last 250 years has been inhabited by families of the Venns [they still remain owners of the old farms] . There I slept the night, and the next day, after a most delightful walk and feasting upon a most magnificent view, which rewarded a long toiling up a high hill, I arrived at dinner time at the hospitable house of Sir J. Kennaway. The party there consisted of the baronet, his lady, a brother, and a son, my intimate college friend. ... I walked to Otterton, visited alone the church, and thought on the days which were long since passed. I met with the widower of the only representative of the confes- sor,1 and learnt from him with feelings which those who possess antiquarian zeal can alone fully estimate, that upon his wife's death he had burnt a whole packet of letters of the family. The poor man, discovering my vexation, to ease it added, ' Lawk, zur ! some of them were above 200 years old, written by an old man who was once vicar of this place.' Alas ! alas ! With the exception of these visits to Yorkshire and Devonshire, he scarcely left London during this interval for more than a few days at a time. Regular attendance 1 William Venn, Vicar of Otterton during the Civil War. See Bio- graphical Notice at the end of this volume. LIFE IN LONDON. 31 at college meetings often took him to Cambridge, and there was the occasional excitement of a disputed election or vacancy in the Mastership. On the occasion of one of these Hying visits to Cambridge, he took with him the Baron de Stael,1 who had been introduced to him by his college friend, T. P. Piatt,2 who was then resident in Paris. The Baron was then on a visit to England, in order to collect information about religious and philan- thropic societies. He also went out occasionally, at this time, but only we believe into the neighbourhood of London, to assist at Church Missionary Society meetings. His first official connection of this kind with the Society of which we can find any notice is a visit to Maidstone, in the year 1823, to attend a public meeting there as representative of the Parent Society. The close bonds of affectionate intercourse in which all the members of his family had always lived together had been up to this time but little broken into by death or other separation. He, with two unmarried sisters and an aunt, Miss J. C. Venn, lived during this period at 14 Mabledon Place, Burton Crescent, then of course in the very outskirts of London, but within an easy walk of his parish. This Miss Venn had been the constant attendant of her father during his declining years. On the death of her brother's wife in 1805, she had taken the charge of his children. She died in L853, at the advanced age of ninety-three. Many Mill remember her as a charming old lady, stored with anecdotes of persons and events of 1 Son of the celebrated Madame de Stael. Said to have been a man of brilliant attainments. He devoted his attention to religious and benevolent societies, and the improvement of rural economy. He died young, a few years after this period. 2 Fellow of Trinity ; medallist in 1820. 32 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the last century. With a naturally sound and vigorous understanding, cultivated by reading and intercourse with her father and his friends, during many years' residence in his lonely parsonage of Yelling, with the simple tastes and skill in household management expected of a parson's daughter a hundred years ago, she might, in some re- spects have stood as the original of one of Miss Austen's heroines. For the last twenty years of her life she lived with her nephew and niece at Hereford. The other members of Mr. Venn's family were still in the neighbourhood. The eldest sister was married to Mr. (afterwards Right Hon. Sir James) Stephen, and within easy reach at Kensington. The youngest sister had married the Rev. S. Ellis Batten, a master at Harrow. His only brother, John, had gone to India — after a very successful career at Haileybury — in 1820. The climate, however, had disagreed with him, and being completely broken down with fever and ague, he had to return in 1822. He came back, therefore, and joined the family party in Mabledon Place ; and a year later, seeing no prospect of being able to return to India, he abandoned that career, and proceeded to Cambridge, with the view of taking orders. Towards the close of 1824 Mr. Venn resigned the curacy of S. Dunstan's, after nearly four years of about as hard work as a curate could well undergo. His prin- cipal reasons for quitting the post are assigned in the following letter written at the time to his rector, Mr. Lloyd : — I have long determined that before I undertake another ministerial charge, I would devote some time to regular and systematic professional study. Experience has taught me that the weekly expense of thought in two sermons on the PROCTORATE. 33 Sunday requires a stock of sound and well-digested know- ledge, which I have been quite unable to acquire in the midst of the parochial duties, and which I sadly neglected to lay in before I entered upon them. ... It will also be necessary for me in the course of the next two or three years to go through the several exercises for a B.D. degree [re- quired of every Fellow by the Statutes of Queens' College], which would cause much trouble and waste of time were I residing at a distance and engaged in active employments. He therefore returned to College life, but with no intention of residing in Cambridge for more than a year or two. The state of the society in the College seems to have altered by this time very decidedly for the better; but the chief attraction there for Mr. Venn was naturally the companionship of his brother, who had now been in residence for somewhat more than a year. He was also much pleased at the opportunity of renewing his intimacy with Joshua King, who had now found some scope for his great energy and ability in the Tutorship of the College. He was speedily appointed to lecture to the students, a work in which he continued to take much care and interest daring the time of his stay in Cambridge. Not long after his arrival a change was made in the internal administration of the College, as a result of which Mr. Venn became a Tutor jointly with Mr. King. Various letters from members of the College, written at the time and afterwards, testify to the affectionate watchfulness over his pupils which he exhibited. In the autumn of 1825 he entered on the duties of the office of Proctor in the University. This is an office which can never be an easy or agreeable one to a thoroughly conscientious man, and in those days the annoyances to which it exposed anyone who was deter- D 34 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. mined to do his work effectively were sometimes of no trifling nature. Few posts anywhere, and certainly none in the University, demand more tact and firmness and sound judgment. In addition to authority over its own members, the University of course claims and exercises some authority over certain members of the town. This authority the town is somewhat inclined to resent, and the relations between the two are consequently always rather strained. As the practical limits of such power depend at present more upon custom than upon strict law, any supposed invasion of precedent or any awkward- ness in execution may easily bring the holder of the office into trouble and obloquy. One affray in which Mr. Venn became involved was serious, and might have led to dangerous consequences. He was suddenly sum- moned with his friend King, who was then Moderator, to quell a sort of riot which had grown out of one of the customary town-and-gown rows of November. When they arrived upon the scene, in S. Mary's Passage, the mob, having routed the undergraduates whom they found about, turned furiously upon the two University authorities. They attacked them with fists and stones, kicked, and pelted them with mud, and more or less hurt them both. So flagrant an outrage of course called for strong measures of repression, and a prosecution was conducted by the University against the principal offenders at the summer assizes of 1826. Several of them were sentenced, in consequence, to various terms of imprisonment. An office like this, which demands, above all things, determination and moral courage, coupled with thorough tact and sound sense in the conduct of details, in order to avoid drawing himself and the University into trouble- some disputes and ill-will, was one for which he was pre-eminently fitted. So high an opinion, in fact, did he PROCTORATE. 35 leave behind him of the skill and judgment with which he had conducted some of these critical proceedings, that some thirty or forty years afterwards his advice was appealed to by a Proctor of the day in reference to a serious dispute in which the University was then involved with the town. So efficient an officer was he that on the expiration of his year of duty, he was strongly urged to undertake the duties over again. Tuesday was the day for giving up my office, which I did right heartily. I was unexpectedly put in nomination for having the office another year. . . . Nothing but a strong sense of duty would have induced me to undergo the incon- venience and anno}7ance of the office a second time. But I valued the good opinion of the persons who were so well satisfied with my late services as to wish me to repeat them, more especially as they were not my personal friends or favourable to the religious opinions imputed to me. These satisfactory testimonies form some compensation for the con- trary charges of unnecessary and pernicious severity and officiousness which have been cast upon me from other quar- ters. (Extract from letter, 1826.) Eeferring to his efforts, many years afterwards (in the communication to a later Proctor, just referred to), he says : — At the end of my year of office only two such houses (of notorious ill-fame) existed ; one within the town jurisdiction, one at Trumpington, beyond the jurisdiction of the Univer- sity. In both cases I instituted prosecutions, upon the evi- dence which I had obtained as Proctor. The prosecution in the Mayor's Court failed, but the house was suppressed. The prosecution in the Quarter Sessions was successful. . . . We regarded it as a part of our duty to exercise the power we possessed as a means of reclaiming, whenever practicable, the women, by communicating with their friends, offering them admission into asylums, procuring their removal from 36 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Cambridge, etc. During my year of office steps of this kind were taken in nearly twenty cases, but alas, with few satis- factory results. There is also a ludicrous side to these experiences. Mr. Venn used to relate how, on one occasion, when pursuing a delinquent undergraduate by night, in a waste part of the town beyond Parker's Piece, the fugitive suddenly disappeared down some open pit or well. As soon as he was gone from sight, however, he was heard kindly reassuring his pursuer, who was in the act of tumbling after him, by the announcement that he had already reached the bottom. The student natu- rally came to no harm ; but the Proctor was decidedly hurt, and indeed somewhat crippled for a time. Among the early recollections also of his sons is an inquiry on their part about the nature and use of a certain roughly cut home-made truncheon, rummaged one day out of some old cupboard. They were informed that it was a relic of proctorial experience — one who was determined to track the lurking undergraduate into the slums and backyards of Barnwell being liable to the attacks of ferocious dogs whose sympathies could not be expected to lie on the side of academic authority. The proper official weapons of a Proctor are, of course, purely moral. During his residence in College the bulk of the time which he could spare from his tutorial and other College work was devoted to regular study. This was mainly theological ; though he made the most of the advantages which the place then offered to attend public lectures from some of the Professors who delivered them. He says, about this time : — The sudden necessity which King's illness laid upon me of giving additional lectures in subjects which I had not MEDICAL STUDIES. 37 previously prepared, kept my miud and hands full of employ- ment ; added to which the prospect of soon relinquishing the advantages which this place affords made me more an- xious than ever to embrace the present opportunity of attend- ing public lectures ; so that two hours each day are taken up, one by Professor Smyth, who is lecturing on the French Eevolution, another by Dr. Spurzheim, upon Craniology. Surely, upon hearing the latter you will exclaim that I am ' amaist come to it ! ' He also took this opportunity of attending some courses of medical lectures at Addenbrooke's Hospital. He used to assign as bis main reason for this, for a clergyman, some- what unusual line of study, the very disturbing and anxious state of mind into which he had often been thrown during his ministerial visits to the sick and dying. He considered that some knowledge of medicine and anatomy, and consequent familiarity with the different stages of illness, from what may be called the professional side, would be of service to him on other grounds besides those which tend to make of every parish clergyman a sort of sanitary adviser amongst the poor. It might help him to judge, to however small an extent, of the actual degree of danger of those whom he was visiting, and might thus be of considerable direct and indirect advan- tage to him in his purely clerical ministrations. He retained his knowledge of, and interest in, such subjects to the close of his life, and often found what he had thus acquired of great service. It need hardly be said that one who had so thoroughly devoted his energies to parochial and ministerial work would not suffer himself to be long without some direct exercise of his functions. This was partly secured by occasional sermons in the College chapel, where he made a point of saying something which bore a little 38 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. more relation to the actual feelings and wants of the men before him than was usual in the ordinary ' common- places,' as they were technically called,1 delivered from the chapel desk. He also preached occasionally for his friend Mr. Sperling, at the living of Papworth S. Agnes, near S. Neots. During the last year of his stay in Cambridge he held the newly created office of Evening Lecturer at S. Mary's. To this he was appointed by the vicar, Mr. Musgrave, then Fellow and Bursar of Trinity College, afterwards Archbishop of York. Evening ser- vices were not then an absolute novelty in Cambridge, for Simeon had introduced them into Iris own church many years before, against what amount of bitter and persistent opposition readers of his life will remember. But there was doubtless a further shock to cautious Heads of houses and tutors when the practice spread to the University Church itself. Mr. Venn says (November 6, 1827) : — Last Sunday I began the evening lecture at the Univer- sity church, about which I spoke to you. The congregation was very large ; this was owing to the novelty of the thing. It is very popular with the townspeople, as it ought to be, since it is instituted entirely with a view to the benefit of the parishioners, who have often complained of the unpro- fitableness of the scholastic addresses which they hear from the University pulpit. I wish the service had fallen into abler hands than mine. My only satisfaction is that it was offered to me by Musgrave, without the intervention of my friends, or any thought of mine about it, and indeed, almost forced upon me by circumstances. Queens' had at this time (1827-8) risen to the po- sition of being, by a long way, the third College in the University ; having, in fact, nearly one hundred and fifty 1 The term, it may be remarked, was one of old Philosophy, not ot current sarcasm. BIBLE SOCIETY. 39 undergraduates. No other College, except Trinity and S. John's, numbered so many as one hundred. Mr. Venn, however, never felt himself thoroughly at home in College life, especially after his brother had taken his degree and quitted Cambridge in 1827, and the wish to return to settled parish work became gradually stronger than ever. He made several attempts to secure a permanent charge, amongst others at a proprietary chapel at Denmark Hill. But — in the latter case, at any rate — the character of an Evangelical was still somewhat against him, as was sig- nificantly hinted to him by one of the electors to the chapel. His time, during these years, was pretty constantly spent between Cambridge and Mabledon Place, where the rest of his family still continued to reside. As soon as the proctorial troubles were over, he took a short tour in Ireland with Joshua King, visiting, among other districts, the Lakes of Killarney. His only other holiday at this time, if it can be called such, was a short excursion into Yorkshire, whither he went as a deputation from the Church Missionary Society, or, at least, for the purpose of speaking and preaching for that Society. The nearest approach to any work of the kind mainly associated with his name, with which we find him occu- pied during this period, is in connection with some early controversies which arose in the Bible Society. This Society, as is well known, was one of the principal results of the labours of the ' Clapham sect,' and Mr. Venn always felt the keenest interest in, and sympathy with, its simple aim of spreading the Bible. Up to the time in question, copies of the Holy Scriptures had been circulated by the Society in Eomish countries, and for Romish use, with the Apocrypha bound up with the other books. The circu- lation may not have been very great ; but this was the 40 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. only condition on which Romanists in general would accept the Scriptures. The question of the propriety of such a step, however, greatly divided the Committee for some years. Not that there was any difference of opinion amongst them on the main point of the non-inspiration of the Apocryphal books, but their judgment led them to different conclusions as to the lawfulness and expediency under the circumstances in question of suffering the Apocryphal books to have the apparent sanction of being bound up with those which were canonical. Mr. Venn, in company with Simeon and others, was in favour of issuing the Apocrypha ; Zachary Macaulay and others were against it. Mr. Venn paid several visits to the meetings of the Parent Society in London, and took a very active part in the proceedings of the Cambridge branch of the Society. He issued a small pamphlet also, of which several thousand copies were published, with the view of explaining and enforcing his views upon the subject. The voting, however, finally went the other way. In the year 1827 he was at last gratified by the offer of a living, viz, that of Drypool, a sort of suburb of Hull. Beyond the fact that it was a living, and that it was offered by his friend, Mr. Wilberforce, in very affec- tionate terms, there was not much, so far as could then be seen, that was attractive about it. Mr. Wilberforce wrote as follows : — Letter from Mr. Wilberforce to Rev. H. Venn. Higliwood Hill, October 26, 1826. My dear Friend, — My dear Robert was telling me the other day that he had heard you had been expressing a wish to engage in some more fixed exercise of your profession. There is a little living, of which I have the disposal during OFFER OF DRYPOOL. 41 my life, though rather on sufferance than of right. It is that of Drypool, a populous village about a quarter of a mile from Hull, close to the garrison. The value of it is about 200L, or rather more, with I believe a tolerable house ; but I rather hope, from circumstances I have not time to state, it might be improved. The population, I understand, consists almost entirely of poor, many of them very poor people. And on that account I own I doubted whether you would not be in some degree misplaced there, but then the church is so near Hull that a man of education and gentle- manly manners and habits might find in that great town a special field of service. I can truly say there is scarcely any one the rendering of any service to whom would give me more pleasure than to you, for your dear father's and grand- father's sake, as well as your own. But I durst not offer you the living if I did not believe you would be likely to dis- charge the trust with fidelity, ability, and zeal. May God direct you to a right decision. I have a particular reason to wish the matter not to be mentioned, except with injunctions of secresy. I will answer any inquiries, or get you any in- formation you may want. I had more to say, but our post goes out a quarter before three, and I shall be too late if I do not hasten to subscribe myself, with cordial esteem and regard, ever your affectionate friend, W. WlLBERFORCE. I find the house is reckoned for 30Z. of the annual value of the living. By the general testimony of those who knew the place, Drypool, fifty years ago, was about as uninviting a parish as could easily be found in England. It was a dirty suburb of a large seaport town, near the bleak north- east coast, situated on the sluggish Humber, and sur- rounded by the flats of Holderness. Mr. Venn thus describes the place, on leaving it in 1834 : — On the other hand, Drypool is not a place which every 42 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. one could or would undertake. The income is improving, and may be stated at 2301. [i.e. without deducting the salary of a curate] ; but the parsonage-house is in a deplorable local situation ... it is in itself a good and suitable building, but is placed in a most abominable situation ; above a mile from the church, a brick-field in front, the great Holderness drain on one side ; the passage to the house for half a mile, not deserving the name of a road, and utterly impassable for half the year . . . and the population altogether of the lower ranks, with an overwhelming mass of surrounding poverty (about 6,000 poor, and none but poor). These remarks were not made in any spirit of com- plaint, but as a mere statement of facts for the benefit of those who might be thinking of succeeding him. The spirit in which he went there is indicated in the following extract from a letter to one of his sisters, written at the time : — ■ Now my dearest — - — , if is with you, break the matter to her previously to my arrival, that we may be able to discuss the matter on the principles which, according to my grandfather's favourite saying, will 'stand when the books are opened.' For my own part, I have endeavoured, as far as is possible, to divest myself of all those early partialities which bind my heart to London and its neighbourhood, and to con- sider only what will be the most probable sphere of useful- ness, and what will afford the best prospect of substantial happiness. It was not his way to complain or make comparisons ; and having once accepted the place, he never made any further allusions to its various drawbacks, beyond such an occasional remark as the following, to his friend and cousin, H. V. Elliott :— How often am I reminded of the sad distance which separates me from some of my most valued friends ; but far ACCEPTS DRYFOOL. 43 be it from me to murmur. I should be the most ungrateful of men if I gave way to discontent. I trust I am not doing so in retaining a strong partiality for early connections and scenes, and by expressing a wish sometimes to remove to the south, if Providence should clearly open the way. And again, in another letter : — As to temporal circumstances or advantages, the situa- tion is indeed poor and unpromising. But as these had no weight with me in undertaking it, so I trust I shall never be weak and faithless enough to vex myself about them. I feel a conviction that I did right in taking the place, and I will trust in the gracious overruling of God to make it appear so in the end. Having once accepted the post, however, he threw himself heartily and earnestly into the work he found there, and speedily received a very warm and affectionate welcome from many of the inhabitants. The close ties thus formed were never forgotten, nor the friendships here made sundered, except by death. His lively interest in Hull news, and the welfare of Hull people, never flagged, and he often found in later life an opportunity to help and encourage the son or grandson of an old parishioner. The living, when offered to him, was in the gift of Wilberforce, but was afterwards transferred to Simeon's trustees. Mr. Venn was inducted to it, and read him- self in there in the year 1827 ; but he did not go into residence until the following year. He was still Tutor and Evening Lecturer at S. Mary's, and he foimd that these posts could not be abandoned at once without incon- venience to the College and parish. One cause which served to keep him in Cambridge for a time was the illness of his fellow-tutor, King, which threw additional work on the other lecturers. For the present, therefore, 44 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the parish was still served by the curate in charge, Mr. Temple. Uninviting as the place on the whole unquestionably seemed to be, it was soon and for ever afterwards con- nected in his mind with one group of associations which shed a halo of blessed memories about it. It was here that he made the acquaintance — or rather renewed it, for there had been some previous connection through the family of Henry Thornton, Esq. of Battersea Kise — of Martha Sykes. This acquaintance soon ripened into a love which never knew any check or change until its visible bonds were broken eleven years later at Torquay. Martha was the fourth daughter of Nicholas Sykes, Esq., of Swanland, Yorkshire. Another daughter married Matthew Babington, Esq., of Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, the second son of Thomas Babington, the well-known companion of Wilberforce and the other Clapham leaders of the anti-slavery struggle. In the middle of January, 1829, he attended a College meeting for the last time, and there resigned his Fellowship. A few days later he was married. How intimate and happy their mental union was, how mutual the spiritual assistance and support which they were able to yield to one another, none but their nearest relatives could gain the faintest idea. Perhaps it only became fully realized by them through seeing how thirty years of active and laborious widowed life seemed rather to intensify than to dull the feelings which had grown up during eleven years of happy married union. For the next five and a half years he was busily occupied at Drypool with the ordinary routine of parish work. He established a complete system of district- visiting there ; a plan, it is believed, first adopted by his HOLIDAY JOURNEYS. 45 father at Clapham, so far as the Church of England is concerned, and still so little known and practised any- where at the time in question, that he used often to re- ceive letters from clergymen in various parts of England, asking for information about the details of the plan. He also started Church Missionary Society meetings, cloth- ing clubs, and the other now familiar agencies so well known in most town parishes. Eelaxation and change of scene at this time were mainly sought by Mr. and Mrs. Venn in journeys to the south of England, where most of his friends and relatives at that time resided. These journeys were always per- formed by easy stages in their own carriage. It need hardly be remarked that this was in the days before rail- ways, when stage-coaches and posting were almost the only modes of travelling. As Mr. Venn was very fond of driving, and both he and his wife keenly enjoyed and appreciated the country scenes through which they were thus enabled leisurely to make their way, few tours per- formed in the modern fashion could yield such a rich and continual enjoyment ; at least, as regards travelling during the summer months, in which alone these trips were undertaken. In a MS. book, a relic of these journeys, are recorded elaborate notes on the names and character of the various inns, the nature of the roads, and every other circum- stance of importance to a traveller. ' Patterson's Eoads,' thus corrected and supplemented by personal experience, was the counterpart of the modern Handbook and Time Table. Travelling thirty miles or so in a day, the direct journey from Hull to London would occupy some six or seven days. They used to cross the Humber to Barton, thence through Lincoln to Newark, where they struck into the great North Eoad. Thence southward by 46 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HEXRY VENN. the road so familiar to traveller? fifty years ago, through Grantham, and Stamford, and Huntingdon. On the way southwards, or returning home northwards, however, they used generally to diverge into Leicestershire, in order to pay a visit to Mrs. Venn's sister and brother-in- law, the Babingtons, who resided at Eothley. Eeaders of Mr. Trevelyan's ' Life of Lord Macaulay ' will have fresh in their remembrance his attractive picture of the antique and picturesque beauties of Rothley Temple, where Mr. Thomas Babington resided down to the year of his death. His son, Matthew Babington, lived close by the family hall. Another attraction in the same county at that time was found in their connections and old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Dicey, of Claybrooke Hall, near Lutter- worth. Besides thus going to London and back, they some- times prolonged their tour into other parts of England. For instance, in 1833, when a much longer holiday than usual was thus indulged in, we find by reference to his note-book that a tour of some eight hundred and fifty miles was performed in this manner. In pleasant weather, and in country where the jour- ney itself could be regarded as an object, and not merely the destination at the end of it, nothing could be more charming than such a mode of travelling, and Mr. Yemi always retained delightful recollections of these happy expeditions. As railways gradually made their way through the country, and as his own work became more pressingly absorbing, these journeys had to be aban- doned in favour of more customary modes of travelling. Li any case, however, they woidd have come to an end after his bereavement. For children it was not altogether suitable ; and, as regards himself, each wayside inn, and cathedral town, and picturesque winding of the old coach- THE CHOLERA AT HULL. 47 road, would have involved too saddening a renewal of the memories of the past. Among the principal local incidents of this time was the invasion of the cholera in 1832, from which the town of Hidl suffered very severely. We are pretty well used to the disease and to its name now, but no one who has not perused the newspapers and other contemporary records can realize the panic terror into which many besides the timid and selfish were thrown by the steady advance of this terrible and then unknown Eastern pes- tilence. Its ravages commenced in January, but did not attain any very fatal proportions till towards summer. The excitement attending the Eeform movement divided men's thoughts ; but, as it was, the newspapers were full of reports of the westward progress of this ' cholera morbus,' and of the wildest suggestions for checking or evading its ravages. It broke out first, as usual, in some of the Eastern ports before spreading elsewhere, so that Hull was one of the very first towns to suffer from it. The following extract from a letter from Mrs. Venn at this time refers to the cholera — it should be remem- bered that the belief was then almost universal that the disease was terribly contagious : — Joseph, Daniel, and Frederick left us on Monday. It was very delightful to me to hear the manner in which Joseph [her eldest brother, than an officer in the Navy] spoke of Henry, and very amusing to see the points of character he chose for praise — especially dwelling upon his seeing that the poor people had their houses fumigated when any death from cholera occurred. He had a visit from Dr. Chalmers somewhat about this time, (1833) thus referred to in the Doctor's 'Memoirs' (Vol. II., p. 41(5);— 48 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Hull is particularly well off both for its Christian clergy- men and its Christian citizens. Mr. Venn, in whose house I am, is still among his thirties, and a most active, intelli- gent, and zealous minister. Besides him there are . . . They are all strenuously embarked on works of Christian usefulness, having thoroughly localised the place, and obtained an im- mense agency, chiefly of females. Such leisure as he could command during his Drypool career was employed in editing his grandfather's ' Life and Letters,' a work which (as already stated) had been commenced by his father, who left it, at his death, as a trust for the next generation to complete. The work is well known, having gone rapidly through four editions. The following extracts from letters speak for them- selves, and will give the best comment upon the above brief description : — H. Venn to Miss A. Sykes (a sister-in-law). October 6, 1829. Two important concerns were added to my usual em- ployments immediately after you left us, which have not only absorbed all the leisure I could spare, but pressed upon my mind as requiring increased attention. First, the Confirmation. A month before the time, I gave notice to all who intended to offer themselves to give me their names forthwith, and the number has now reached 160. I have given them three lectures in the church a week, but have the hardest part still in reserve ; viz. to speak privately to each individual : for this I purpose being at the church five hours a day during the next six days, and appointing them to come one by one. I am surprised at the ignorance which nine out of ten betray ; it bespeaks a lamentable neglect of domestic instruction, and convinces me of the necessity there is for ministers to redouble their exertions and resume the old practice of catechising the young people (not children), for I believe multitudes are as ignorant of the first and simple principles of Christianity as : LIFE ' OF GRANDFATHER. 49 the children of the heathen. The other important engage- ment I have now on my hands is my grandfather's letters. I have about a thousand, arranged in chronological order, and we read straight through ; and since, as you will recollect, many of them are not short ones, we have the work of months still before us. Yet a more interesting and profitable em- ployment we could not have ; the man is fully placed before us, in his domestic engagements, in his ministerial labours, and in his more private hours, and the impression left on our minds is such as I desire to cherish for ever — that real reli- gion makes a Divine change in the heart : the constant glow of sacred affections, and the ardent aspirations after perfect holiness and unclouded vision of God, which each successive letter exhibits, remind me perpetually of the promise of our Saviour, it ' shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life ; ' that is, I conceive, the holy affections which the Spirit excites in the soul shall be like the waters of a perennial spring, ever rising fresh and pure, and not to be checked or repressed by any superincumbent weight. In one view, such an example is discouraging ; but on the other hand, when a more intimate view shows us that these mea- sures of grace were granted to a proportionable degree of diligence in the ordinary means of grace, and that he himself confessed that they were dependent upon his maintaining constant communion with God in prayer and meditation and study of the written Word, it becomes a spur to our sluggish- ness, and reminds us of the words, ' Ye have not, because ye ask not.' To the same. ' I will bring the blind by a way that they know not : I will lead them in paths that they have not known : I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.' How exquisitely tender and consolatory this promise ! Not- withstanding their blindness and darkness, and the crooked mazes in which they are involved, I will lead them and not forsake them. One observation [speaking of a sermon he 50 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. had preached] I introduced was to this effect — the hint was taken from a sketch of Simeon's, and therefore is entitled to additional weight from his authority — ' Men usually expect to be led in a way of peace and joy. But God often leaves them to feel the depravity of their own hearts. He some- times permits them to be in heaviness through manifold temptations, they seem at times as though they should be overwhelmed, they are not unfrequently brought to the bor- ders of despair : these are the ways which God takes to humble them and to prove them ; this is the way in which they are led — a way little expected or known by them, before He makes darkness light and crooked things straight.' To the same. February 18, 1830. — You will easily conceive how much we miss my aunt and E., not only from our domestic circle, but in our parochial affairs. My Visitors, however, are becoming more and more efficient, so that I have no reason to complain of want of deaconesses. I have, indeed, abun- dant reason for encouragement in the way they go on ; and several cases have lately occurred in which I have felt satis- fied that the sick person was sufficiently provided with reli- gious instruction and sympathy. The visiting system is also well supported in Hull. E. will explain to you our scheme for the circulation of the tracts : by which we lay out for months to come the particular tracts for each section, so that a whole set may pass regularly through a given number of sections in a given time. In Sculcoates, the Visitors, to the number of ninety, meet every alternate Monday after- noon in the vestry, and exchange their tracts ; the ministers then give them an exhortation and prayer, which is an im- portant measure to keep up the spirit and spirituality of the work. When I consider how important your suggestions and assistance were at our first formation of these plans, I delight in placing it among other instances of the benefits which have been connected with your late visit to \is. I have had much trouble in providing tracts. I could not have GARDENING. 51 anticipated anything like the difficulty which has occurred in finding proper ones ; but the remarks which the people make respecting particular tracts fully justify the caution and care we use. The Dublin tracts are very poor. My Sunday evening catechetical lectures succeed far beyond my expectations ; the increased intelligence of the young men and women is very apparent, and I have above a hundred grown-up persons. . . . Our girls' school increases but slowly, sixty scholars at present ; 240 boys. Mrs. Venn to Miss Venn. March 6, 1830. — Yesterday we breakfasted at eight, and all three set off for the Parsonage, which we are going to plant and convert into a habitable place, not with any view to our own residence there, for, delightful a place as it is, in consequence of the garden, its distance from the church and parish would never render it desirable for ourselves ; but Henry, filled with zeal for the benefit of his successors, has resolved to plant and hedge it in thoroughly ; and I have had very great pleasure in digging and raking and beginning to make neat flower-beds. Upon the delights of gardening I will not enter though to you, so I will only say that Henry, Anne and I have had our thoughts much occupied by the laying out of this Church property. Not one farthing of rent is, I believe, forthcoming ; when I spoke to the woman about it, she said, ' Chance was against them, and fortune had always been so.' The same to the same. Dry pool, January 8, 1831. Henry is quite well, but so busy I seldom see him from breakfast to dinner, and that would not be so bad if he only kept to his dinner hour ; but he seldom runs home till after dark. He has lately been beating up new districts — Hare- court Street, Drypool Square, and thereabouts. In an evening he has not been much at home either. His hearers on Sunday arc increased certainly, especially in the after- 52 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. noon. The soldiers always attend in a morning', and the officers both morning and afternoon, with a straggling sol- dier here and there. . . . I have been engaged this afternoon in dividing the school into working classes, and selecting teachers. The Sunday School improves a little. I bave been remodelling the classes and drawing up rules, and am going to have tickets and rewards for it too. Last Sunday was a very busy day with me ; neither teachers nor children fell into the new plan very easily, and I explained it again and again. Tell me what you are doing with yours. I look upon it as a most important part of parochial labour, and one which has brought me more acquainted with the parents than anything else. I would not give up mine for anything. The District Visiting Society has been issuing circulars soliciting relief for the poor, and they have obtained 75L ; they would have got more, but a subscription was almost immediately set on foot for the Greenland fishery men and poor of the town generally, so people were puzzled, and hardly knew where to give their money. Several gentlemen have spoken in very handsome terms of the District Visiting Society and their labours, and of the good the clergy are doing. In some instances money has been given to them exclusively to dispose of for the poor, with compliments as to the excellence of the system. They expect, too, to have the distribution of great part of the general fund for the relief of the poor. . . .The Clothing Society has brought into existence many others. Henry drew up a report and printed it, and obtained sub- scribers ; he has also persuaded the Hull clergy to establish them, so Mr. Scott, Mr. Dikes, Mr. Knight, Mr. Eobinson, have all set them on foot. Many hundreds of people have been admitted, and many more are clamorous, I hear, for ad- mission. H. Venn to A. Sykes. Drypool, January 13, 1831. My dearest Anne, — Had I felt less interest about the subject-matter of your last letter, I should have answered it much sooner ; but I could not sit down at any odd moment COUNSELS OF FEACE. 53 and do justice to my feelings. The letter affords me much ground for thankfulness and praise to God on your behalf. For I trust that the course I endeavoured to point out to you and the advice I offered have been blessed to you. I am not the less satisfied because the relief you obtain comes slowly and gradually — the work which God is carrying on is generally so. Sudden changes, either in the current of our thoughts, the state of our feelings, or the conclusions of our reasoning powers, are generally the effect of enthusiasm, or natural passions; hence the multiplicity of precepts to the effect that we must ' wait,' £ tarry the Lord's leisure,' etc. Be content, then, if you gain some ground, if you are enabled to hold on in the diligent use of the means. If Sumner's book has given you the solid feeling of which you speak, per- severe in your study of such works. I always considered that your understanding required sound argument as well as ex- hortation and encouragement. I shall be anxious to hear what book you have taken up since — some book of an argu- mentative and yet evangelical cast I advise you to have in constant reading for the present. . . . You tell me your heart is still very far fro ui that entire and fixed reliance upon the Saviour which constitutes saving faith ; do not, in your present state of mind, attempt to scrutinize the nature of your faitb, that is, do not be saying ' true faith has such and such properties, but mine has not.' This is a snare by which thousands are kept back ; be content if for the present you can say, with real feeling (and I trust, like the man in the Gospel sometimes with tears), 'Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief! ' The true way of increasing our faith is to act upon it as far as it goes, and thank God for it, even though it be but ' as a grain of mustard-seed.' .... I rejoice to hear of your school, send me all particulars ; the longer your letters the more acceptable. That and your district will give you quite enough of the employment I so much desired you to undertake. With respect to your situa- tion at home, I cannot add anything to the many injunctions I laid upon you before we parted. Look upon the bright side of everything, dwell upon what you enjoy above others, 54 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. and not upon what you suffer more than others. When you rise in the morning reflect, God has placed me in the situa- tion exactly suited for my best interests. He will give me grace to conduct myself aright in it, if I ask Him. Remem- ber that that beautiful exhortation, ' to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things,' was first addressed to persons in the most trying and degraded situation, even to servants before Christianity had ameliorated their condition to its present degree. ' Not answering again ' was to be one way in which they were to adorn their profession (Titus ii. 9), which implies that silent meekness under provocation is part of the beauty of holiness. And now my dearest A., you must excuse the haste and desultory style of this letter. I have taken up my pen at the close of a day of incessant employment since my return. I have had three times as much to do in visiting the poor and sick as before ; to-day I have visited twelve sick persons, spoken to, and prayed with each ; forgive me therefore if my tone in this letter be too much like that which I used towards my poor people. The same to the same. December 21, 1831. — Hitherto we have had no alarm (of cholera) ; the apprehensions of people are dying away, and in- deed I feel it necessary constantly to rouse my own feelings to a sense of the importance of improving the present interval by preparing ourselves for the worst. We had lately a noble meeting of District Visitors, the whole body meeting all the clergy together ; nearly 230 were present, the greater part having been just two years at work. The clergy all addressed them in turn; the tone of the meeting was most encouraging. The Visitors seem universally to be increasing in zeal and efficiency and attachment to their work. ... I have been lately applied to from several quarters, about our District Visiting Societ}r, by clergymen wishing to establish similar ones: viz., Mr. Hill, Chesterfield ; Mr. , Leicester; Mr. Bateman, London ; and one in Manchester ; a Mr. Palgrave also, of Westminster, using Mr. Cunningham's and SUNDAY EVENING LECTURES. 55 Sir R. H. Inglis's names as introduction. . . . Everything has been on the whole pretty well ; we occasionally get our walks before breakfast, which is the only time we can secure, for our days are full of engagements as long as the light lasts, and I may add — praised be the Author of all our bless- ings ! — as full of happiness as it is possible to conceive on this side the grave. Mrs. Venn to Miss Venn. February 27, 1832. — I seem to tell you every time I write that the lectures are better attended, and the Sunday even- ing ones especially; and it really is so. The room is crowded, and they are very attentive. There seems to be a remark- able degree of (I hardly know where to get a right name for it) enquiry amongst the people, more particularly amongst the soldiers and their wives. I cannot tell you how many of this class have come to this house desiring to see Henry ; not a week passes without two or three, sometimes more. They are all of them of the upper class, if I may so call them, that is to say, they are generally officers' servants, sergeants, or so — people removed above want, which does away with all fear of their coming from other motives. They attend his lectures, and in almost every instance they mention them as a means of their being brought to think seriously ; they also now come to the Sacrament. Certainly Henry has much encouragement, and it makes him doubly anxious to secure an assistant who would thoroughly co-operate with him. The same to the same. April 17, 1832. — Henry says that if the cholei'a breaks out (and we have had two or three of what the doctors call dropping cases) he conceives it to be his duty to remain. As he rests it on a point of duty, I think you know me well enough, dear E., to give me credit for silence, at least, upon the subject, whatever I may think. He has so long talked of going away in Easter week, that everybody must know he is not running away ; but if he thinks it right to stop, I feel T cannot say a word, though I by no means relish the 56 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. idea of its being so close to us. On the strength of these supposed cases, all the soldiers are locked up in the garrison, and the bridge drawn up, and not a soul to be seen but the sentinel pacing his rounds by the gate. Mrs. Venn to her Sister, Miss A. SyJces. August 3, 1833. — . . . We have had a visit from no less a person than Dr. Chalmers. The first intimation we had of the event was from Mr. Keary, who had had it from some friend, so he wrote to beg Henry would let him see Dr. Chal- mers if he did come. On Tuesday the report gained ground, for J. H. Smith heard from A. Melville the Doctor was on his road, upon which (it was just after dinner on Tuesday) Henry jumped up and went down to the water-side, telling me he should have a party to meet him in the evening, tea and supper, and breakfasts, teas, dinners, suppers, and what not, for the remainder of the visit, the length of which we knew not. ... I had scarcely completed my arrangements, and wished so much for you to help me, when the mighty man arrived. He has a fine countenance, with a remarkably sweet expression of gentleness and benevolence, if it were not for that, his keen eye and fixed look would be more than most people could bear, for he seems to look through you. He spoke broad Scotch, and in the evening he gave an expo- sition (the servants only were present) on the First Chapter of Proverbs. To me he took an awful and gloomy view of it ; for when it says towards the latter part, ' Because I have called and ye refused,' etc., he said something to this effect (mind I am not giving his words, but the sum total of them), that Ave should be careful how we despised the admonitions of the Lord, for that the calls of the Holy Spirit were given through the medium of conscience, and every time we de- spised or turned a deaf ear to conscience we neglected the Holy Spirit and drove Him from us, and that after every such rebuff His love waxed, as it were, colder, and he shrank to a greater and a still greater distance from us, which was the reason that the Apostle gave us those warnings VISIT FROM DI!. CHALMERS. 57 in his different Epistles, such as, ' Quench not the Spirit,' ' Despise not the Spirit.' This was delivered with a very emphatic action, drawing one hand from the other, further and further — till the careless sinner reached that point where he might call but would not he heard. I wish very much you had heard him. . . . The following morning I was stirring early, as you will believe, and more than I can pretend to enumerate arrived to breakfast. He prayed, but would give no exposition. From that moment we kept open house, and till he went, which was yesterday afternoon (Thursday) my own dressing-room was the only room I felt safe in, for many people who were strangers to the house came to see him. . . . H. Venn to Miss L. SyJces (a sister-in-law). May 22, 1832. — My dear L., I never hear of friends being confined to a sick room without feeling a peculiar in- terest in their situation, as it is my daily employment to visit and converse with the sick. Judge then with how much deeper and tenderer interest I receive the account of the illness of a sister. Every sick room I have visited since I heard of your illness has turned my thoughts to you. If I succeed in any degree in cheering the spirits of an invalid, or directing their enquiries or assisting their devotions, I at once think, would that I could do the same for dear L. But then again I reflect that your welfare is infinitely more precious to your God and Saviour than to your dearest earthly relatives. He is with you ; He foresaw and ordered every circumstance of the illness long before the watchful eye of friends discovered anything amiss — appointed it to happen just at this time and in this particular manner, and we know, though sometimes we cannot feel the conviction as we desire, that all His dealings are ordered in wisdom and love. ' I know that in very faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me,' in faithfulness to the promises of the covenant of grace in which He engages to lead us in the right way ; to wean us gradually from things below and make us meet for a better inheritance. To Him, therefore, I continually com- 58 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. mend you, and especially when I unite in prayer with M., beseeching Him to deal tenderly with you, and to sanctify the chastisement that it may turn to your everlasting profit. Let me, however, give you one caution, suggested by con- tinual experience, take care not to let this season pass away unimproved. Too often I see persons recovering from ill- ness without receiving any of those benefits which God designs by the dispensation, though while the illness was upon them I had hoped better things. The reason is, they do not diligently improve the season. In a time of sickness the mind is naturally softened and inclined to religious thoughts, but this natural effect is transient ; returning health dissipates it, we must not trust to it : it does no more than dispose the mind for the right improvement of the season. That improvement consists in making it a time of much prayer, reading the Bible, self-examination and reli- gious conversation, which latter we are too apt to neglect in health, but which even the world will allow is proper for a sick room. I know what a combination of circumstances generally exists in a sick room to prevent this improvement — the assiduity of kind friends, determining when to get up, when to take medicine, when to have meals, and so on, together with the languor of disease, often cause the whole day to slip away we know not how. Do not blame me for being tedious, dear L. Were I with you, you might tell me of any particular topics on which you would wish me to speak, but without such guidance I can only dwell on general. It is my affection and anxiety for your welfare which makes me tedious. If I could give you counsel which might be of service to you, I would willingly spend hours in writing to you. Ever most affectionately yours, jj yENN From Mrs. Venn. July 23, 1834. — Henry receives from time to time very striking testimony to the usefulness of the hooh.x Mr. Scott, 1 The Life and Letters of the Rev. Henry Venn, then just published. See p. 4!). OFFER OF S. JOHN'S, HOLLOW AY. 59 who is very much out of health, and has left home to recruit, writes to his son that he finds it ' the best book of devotion he has ever used. Of course,' he adds, ' I mean uninspired composition ; my general habit is to read it alone and in a contemplative manner.' He then speaks of the effect pro- duced in his mind by the book. Old Mr. "Babington has written a few tremulous lines to thank Henry for the com- fort and pleasure it has afforded him. It is curious to trace the different effect it has had on different people : one or two, like Edward Elliott, read it through at a sitting ; others reserve a little portion for evei*y day; another divides it into three readings, and so on. After some six years of active work in Hull, Mr. Venn had an opportunity" of returning amongst his friends and relations, and the associations of his youth ; and also, what to him was not of inferior importance, of getting within easy weekly reach of the centre of the Church Missionary Society operations. This opportunity was afforded by the offer of S. John's, Holloway, in the parish of Islington. This district church was in the hands of trustees, of whom Daniel Wilson (son of the Bishop of Calcutta, and still — 1880 — Vicar of Islington) was one. It was from Mr. Wilson that the offer came. He thus refers to the first impressions afforded by the place : — August 1, 1834. — My dearest John, — I thank you for your hearty and fraternal congratulations, and also for your readiness to go to London to meet me at Holloway. Had I been able to command a few days, I should have summoned you. But I received D. Wilson's letter on Sunday evening, and determined to go up to London without a day's delay. Martha's state of health was such that the idea of. my having to leave her the next week would have been distress- ing to her, so there was no time to communicate with you. As it was I had only six hours in London, and travelled two GO MEMOIR OF THE ItEV. HENRY VENN. following nights. Indeed, I had pretty well decided before I went np, only I felt it necessary to guard against the strong bias of my natural taste and to be guided only by the prospect of ministerial usefulness. A few hours were enough to ascertain that point, and to prove to me that in that respect Holloway was as superior to Drypool as in every other. ... I spent two hours with Sandys,1 and was de- lighted with his account of the state of things at Islington. The sober simple views of Gospel truth are preached in each of the churches, and the disposition of the people generally kind. ... As D. Wilson was going from home, he directed me to send my decision to Simeon. I did so, and received a most kind answer in return, expressing the regret he had felt at being obliged to refuse me S. Dunstan's, but that ' he was prevented by a rule laid down in his will for the guidance of his trustees.' Holloway Church is in the patronage of three trustees — D. Wilson, Simeon, and Arch- deacon Hodson. ... I shall rejoice in taking lessons with you from Simeon ; the time will suit admirably. He alludes to the subject of my delivery in his letter to me. It was in August, 1834, that this offer of S. John's came, and he left Drypool in the course of the same year. The following remarks, taken from a note-book, record his feelings on quitting this scene of his labours. It may be added, that notes of this kind were very rare with him, for he seldom kept any journal, except when on a travelling excursion : — Barton Waterside Inn, October 8, 1834. Seven years ago I stopped an evening at this inn, when I was about to commence my ministry at Drypool. I was then engaged in forming resolutions for the discharge of my ministry, and in prayer for grace to fulfil them. I am now here again alone on the evening of my departure from Dry- pool, and my mind is deeply affected by the review of the past. 1 Rev. John Sandys, then Vicar of S. Paul's, Ball's Pond, Islington. PARISH WORK. Gl On the one hand, I have to recount unnumbered and astonishing mercies ; nothing but mercy on God's part ! He has made my cup run over with domestic happiness. He has fulfilled every desire of my heart. Not one real afflic- tion has He suffered to invade my home. He gave me the hearts of my people, and inclined the rest of the clergy to receive me with more than common cordiality. Seven years ago I was here as a solitary stranger. I have now a precious wife, two sweet children, and a large accession of valuable and affectionate friends, from whom I have just parted with the sincerest mutual regret. . . . He threw himself at once into his new parish work, and soon obtained a thorough acquaintance with his parishioners.1 An incident he once mentioned will serve to show how complete this acquaintance was. A man came hurriedly to him one day from a chemist's shop, saying that a dose of poison had just been obtained by some unknown person, whose suspicious manners made him now fear that a suicide was intended, and desiring to know whether anything could be suggested. Mr. Venn ran over in his mind a sort of mental list of his pa- rishioners, and soon felt certain that, if the purchaser in question was one of them, he knew the only likely man. They went at once to the suspected house ; his suspicions were confirmed, and the man was stopped before any mischief was done. Besides the now usual parish Societies, Mr. Venn introduced a system of occasional lectures on scientific and literary topics. Something of this sort seemed sadly wanted, as opportunities for any rational employment of the evening were doubtless difficult to obtain at that time in Islington. Professional lecturers were then almost, if 1 The population under his charge was then between 3,000 and 4,000, scattered over a considerable area. 62 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. not quite, unknown, and even persons willing and com- petent for the purpose were extremely difficult to obtain, so the task mainly fell upon him, with the help, occa- sionally, of his curate. Very careful schemes of lectures were prepared upon a variety of subjects, such as the following : — Popular astronomy ; the different modes adopted for measuring time ; the amphitheatres of Borne and Aries, etc., etc. From this time his attendance at Salisbury Square became more regular and systematic ; and, as nothing of any special importance was happening in the parish, we will, in accordance with the indication in the Preface to this Biography, touch but very slightly on this part of his domestic and ministerial life. Up to this period (August, 1838) his life had been, on the whole, in spite of some anxieties, and one or two bitter bereavements— referred to in some of the following letters — a singularly happy one. But from this time a great change came over his prospects. Dark clouds gathered about his path, which, though they did not change the characteristics of a naturally cheerful and buoyant temper, or for a moment shake his perfect resignation to the Divine Will, left their impress upon his feelings, and contributed, doubtless, to that earnest and lifelong devotion to one great cause, which soon became so marked. The first of these events was his own severe and dangerous illness, which, for nearly two years, laid him totally aside from all regular work. The fol- lowing account is extracted from a short private narrative drawn up by himself : — I had great anxiety about her [his wife's] health. . . . between the pressure of my parish duties and my attentions to her, I was often in a state of extreme mental torture. I frequently went from her to my church with so heavy a ILLNESS OF MR. VENN. 63 heart, that I could have sunk into the earth with every step I took. ... I can scarcely recollect any moments of my life when I suffered such intense distress as during those sad hours. My heart was not only ready to break, but near breaking. . . . And yet I trust I was not cast away from God's presence, nor His free Spirit taken from me. I was enabled to cast my wife, my children, every earthly care, by a single act upon the Lord, and I was mercifully kept from all anxious care about them ever after. I was enabled to be somewhat importunate in prayer for grace, but sadly inter- mitting. ... I went to George Babington [a surgeon of high reputation]. He said that there was something wrong with the heart. He asked me some questions respecting sensations in my past life. I said nothing about my carry- ing my wife upstairs [his doing so during several months had in great measure brought on the illness], and he hoped that the illness might not prove alarming. I concealed all from Martha, until her recovery should be complete. I had, however, little expectation of life, and apprehended a sudden as well as speedy departure. At length, on August 22, I went to Sir Eenj. Brodie, as a friend of G. Babington. He said in a decided, quick manner, ' This is no case for a surgeon : you must go to a physician immediately ; you have no time to lose ; there are all the symptoms of enlargement of the heart. Go to-day.' The next day I went to Dr. Farre. He at once pro- nounced it to be a case of a ' dilated heart and aorta ; ' spoke most paternally ; intimated that it was a serious case, but that, taken in so early a stage, it might be arrested, and after a long rest the heart might accommodate itself to its new condition. ... As Dr. Farre prescribed perfect rest for many months, I was obliged to tell Martha that I had consulted him, but concealed the alarming part of the case, as she was not yet recovered sufficiently. Soon afterwards we went to Brighton, to a house in Bedford Square, and there the particulars were communicated to her by James Stephen and myself. From this time I appeared to lose 64 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. strength, could only saunter about, and was gradually falling into invalid habits and feelings. In October, chiefly at the instance of James Stephen, I went with John to consult Jephson. He said that if I would stay under his care at Leamington, he would undertake the case ; but that he could not give me any advice or prescriptions to guide me at a distance. . . . He removed, therefore, with his family to Leamington ; where he resided for some months under Dr. Jephson's treatment, with very beneficial results. ... In May 1839 I took a tour with Martha and the children in our carriage to Bath, Hereford, and Wales, re- turning by Leamington to see Jephson. He pronounced very favourably both of Martha's health and my own. I had abstained from all clerical duty from August 1838 to August 1839. I now returned, in the hope of being able to resume duty. But alas, symptoms of consumption appeared in my most precious wife. We consulted Chambers ; he advised a winter in Italy or Devonshire. I then consulted him about myself ; he said at once and decidedly that I was not in working condition, and there was equal need of my absence from the scene of my duty. We therefore went to Torquay. During that sojourn so great were the consolations of Divine grace which overflowed from the heart of my precious wife to refresh my own, that I do not think that I suffered from anxiety or distress from first to last. But the watching by night and the sight of her sufferings, and a settled though composed grief, brought back many symptoms of my old complaint, and my apprehensions of an early dismissal from my now desolate lot. I consulted Chambers (May 6, 1840), and soon afterwards, in some measure against his advice, but with the concurrence of Farish and Babingtou, resumed my clerical duties. Chambers again advised me (May 18, 1841) to give up my church and parish, and live only a quiet life, travelling about ; and then in two or three years the constitution would, LETTERS. (1835-1872). G5 lie hoped, recover itself, or rather accommodate itself. I en- tered, however, into full emplo}rment — the Secretaryship of the Church Missionary Society, preaching once a Sunday, and keeping a watch over my health, not to go too far ; and each summer travelling abroad. At the expiration of three years (May 18, 1844), I again presented myself to Chambers. He expressed surprise at the complete accommodation of the heart to its circumstances. The valve evidently let some blood return, but I had leaimed to bear it, and now there was every prospect of going on to the natural term of life. In fact, my case was the fortunate exception to the general rule, and illustrated the truth that we should never despair of the power of Nature to overcome difficulties and recover itself. Dr. Farre said, ' You will never be able to make the same exertion as you once could ; but with moderation and care you may go on to the natural term of your life. Very few of those who have consulted me in the state in which you were at first are now living. God has dealt mercifully with you, and with such a warning, and such mercy, you ought to be more efficient in His ser- vice than ever, though with reduced powers of exertion. Amen.' The following extracts from letters, to which others of later date are added, belong to the period now under consideration. To Mrs. Venn. 1835. — Your letters are as great a cordial to me as mine are to you. The opening and reading them is like a burst of sunshine upon a landscape. Oh what cause we have for gratitude to God for the large share of happiness He permits us to enjoy in each other ! May we, when we meet, stir each other up more than ever to live to His glory. May our mutual affection never interfere with His service, but may we learn the blessed art of enjoying each other, as childre love and enjoy each other in subordination to the F 66 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1835. their parents. So may our Heavenly Father have the first claim upon us, and the first place in our heai-ts ! This will indeed augment our conjugal happiness. To Miss A. Sykes (during her last illness). March 17, 1835. — You expressed in your last letter your apprehensions that the composure you felt might be more the effect of indifference than of the grace of God. Such an apprehension is often a part of that holy jealousy over ourselves which the Spirit of God produces in us. It is a feeling to be cherished. It should encourage us as a gracious affection. It keeps us humble, watchful, self-diffident. It leads to self-examination. But above all, it should lead us to commit ourselves to the scrutiny of our God and Saviour. ' Search and try me, 0 Lord ! ' He invites us to cast all our care upon Him, and the anxious doubts whether we are His children or not, whether we are advancing in grace or not, whether we are acting according to His Will or not. Such cai'e it is our privilege to cast upon Him, and to beg of Him to resolve our doubts and discover our hearts to our- selves. . . . We must exercise faith in the assurance so re- peatedly given us, that God desires to undeceive us, that He will not suffer anyone who calls upon Him to remain under self-deception — that ' the meek He will guide in judgment.' The great work of Satan is to deceive ; the great work of God to undeceive. He is a God of truth. Let us then com- mit the searching the ground of our hearts to Him, and having so done, let us cheerfully proceed. He will take his own method of enlightening us — often very different from what we expect, and we shall find that we acquire self-know- ledge in a variety of ways, besides the formal exercise of self-examination. To the same. April 17. — My dearest A., — Our last conversation has been the constant subject of my thoughts since we parted. 1835. LETTERS. 67 The more I reflect upon your state of mind the better satis- fied I feel that you are under the guidance and safeguard of God's Holy Spirit, and that your hopes rest on a solid foun- dation. The particular point on which you felt dissatisfied with yourself does not, I am persuaded, affect the root of the matter, though it may require much attention, watchfulness, and prayer. I think you greatly bewildered and entangled yourself by your own reasonings ; and that it was from this source that you drew the conclusion that you were not build- ing upon the only foundation which God hath laid in Zion. Has it not been your unfeigned desire to know God, and to worship Him as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word ? The Triune Jehovah has, therefore, been the object of your worship and faith. Our knowledge of God is progressive ; every one under the teaching of God's Spirit is daily ac- quiring more distinct and correct conceptions of the Divine nature and attributes. But in this, as in every other case, there is great variety in the operations of the Spirit, and while we are yet under instruction our particular views may greatly differ upon such mysterious subjects. We shall never all see alike till we know even as we are known. This should teach us caution in examining ourselves by any human standard, or concluding we are not right because we do not as yet see and feel as more advanced Christians do. Nevertheless, I would by no means advise you to disre- gard the apprehensions you feel that you have not sufficiently 4 honoured the Son.' That apprehension is, I doubt not, a gracious suggestion from above ; and the important ques- tion arises, How are you now to act? The general direction has been already well urged upon you. Wrestle with God in prayer for that faith which is His gift. Christ addresses you as He did the disciples of old, ' Ye believe in God, be- lieve also in Me,' and you must reply, as they did on another occasion, ' Lord, increase my faith ! ' or, as another suppliant exclaimed, ' Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief ! ' But I gave you a few more specific directions which I now repeat, as you requested me ; reminding you, however, i' 2 68 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1835. of the uncertainty and insufficiency of such directions, arising from the uncertainty and insufficiency of my own knowledge. My 1st advice was, Receive the Word of God with simplicity of mind ; guard against your constitutional infirmity of in- dulging a reasoning, metaphysical turn of mind, and regai'd- ing the results of your reasonings as sure as the Word of God. When you read your Bible, let your understanding be as it were passive to receive the simple impression of the Word of God — recollect the case of Joseph Milner ; he rightly observed, ' I must go back to my thirteenth year, when I was waiting upon the Lord without any reasonings of my own.' 2. Resist any temptation to turn away from any part of God's revealed Word. ... If you receive it with simplicity, the delusion which now prompts a partial study of the Word will soon be done away. 3. Study especially those parts which describe the glory of Christ, which set Him before us in the gracious exercise of His saving power. Thus cultivate an acquaintance with Him as He appears in the Gospels and Epistles. Detain your mind resolutely upon such passages till the fire kindle. 4. Trust God to perfect that which concerneth you ; re- collect you are under His instruction and guidance. He will teach you, lesson after lesson, as He sees best; not in the order you may choose or imagine to be best. ' Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord : His going forth is prepared as the morning,' Hosea vi. 3. ' His going forth,' that is, the time when He will manifest His power and glory, when He will go forth, as it were, to bless and save His people, and gladden them with His presence. His going forth ' is prepared,' is decreed and appointed, but it will come gradually ' as the morning ' advances from twilight through the early dawn to meridian splendour. Thus it is with the knowledge of Christ in the soul. ' The first views which the enquiring soul obtains are faint and confused, yea perhaps, as in the early dawn things may assume a mon- strous and distorted shape. But gradually the mists shall be 1835. LETTERS. 69 dispelled from our eyes ; our organs of vision shall be purged from their film, and the glorious Object whom we desire to behold shall be revealed to our view. But while we are here below we shall still see Him only as in a mirror, darkly ; we must wait till we arrive above before we can see Him as He is.' Thus, dearest A., I send you the result of many and anxious thoughts about you. May the 'Wonderful, Coun- sellor' direct us both, overrule our designs to our real wel- fare and to His glory, and if it seem good may He employ us as instruments of good to each other's souls in our mutual intercourse. Ever most affectionately yours, jj Venn Mrs. Venn was at this time away with her sister. The following letters were written during her absence : — To Mrs. Venn. June 2. — Yesterday evening I had my lecture on the Sacramental Service, one half of which I explained ; the room was tolerably filled, about fifteen young persons and thirty elder ones. The attention was deep, and I look for- ward with great interest to next Sunday. I shall complete my explanation of the Service on Thursday, and I have pro- mised to be at home all Friday and Saturday to see any who may wish to consult me. June 20. — I felt sad at the thought of your returning alone. Yet we must ever remember that this is not to be the scene of our greatest enjoyment of each other's com- pany. Doubtless in heaven there will be greater, far greater delight in each other's company, as well as joys of a nobler kind from the immediate fruition of our God and Saviour. But that delight will depend upon our advance in meetness for the inheritance, and this again will depend upon our prompt and cheerful compliance with the calls of duty. So that when duty separates us we shall be no losers in the end, even in the comfort of each other's society. 70 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1835. June 27. — Tell Anne I have thought much ahout her during these rainy cold days. She will be shut up per- haps for many hours together, and it will be a great trial of patience and temper, but a salutary one. To be out for hours upon a calm sea, inhaling balmy air, and talking with you and me would be more delightful, no doubt ; but she is honoured by being called to a nobler service, because a more arduous one, namely, to be cheerful and patient, and to make herself agreeable to her fellow prisoners, and to improve the time and to conquer the chill and dulness of the external atmosphere by the warmth and sunshine of her own mind. I pray that this may be the case. June 29. — I was much struck with a thought which was new to me in reading the Second Lesson of the Evening Ser- vice, Eph. v. 25 : ' Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church.' As Christ loved, that is, not in degree only, but in the quality of the affection. How did Christ's love mani- fest itself ? By ' giving Himself for it, that He might sanc- tify and present it to Himself a glorious Church,' etc. So let the husband regard it as the chief object of his life and the truest manifestation of his love to promote the sanctifi- cation of his wife, that by the ordinances and by the preach- ing of the Word she may become a glorious saint, holy and without blemish. July 3. — This morning my attention was first called to the grarden, for I had engaged the old man to come to train and prune our vines and wall-fruit trees, which my aunt pronounced to be in a most ruinous state, and which E. did not understand. There is an abundant show of fruit upon the vines, but they were all running to waste. I have been inspecting the process, and gaining much knowledge upon the subject. I made some pastoral calls, sat an hour with Mrs. S., and again had a proof of the great importance of such visits. I had much close conversation with her; found she had never received the Sacrament through superstitious dread of it, and had long been harassed in her mind by 1835. LETTERS. 71 doubts and difficulties as to the path of duty in this and many other respects, but did not dare to call or begin the subject. July 14. — There has been a subject much upon my mind — the relative duties of the members of the same family towards each other. I mean those which peculiarly belong to them as such, and which strangers cannot so effectually discharge. For instance, how much gratitude do we owe each other for the daily and hourly communication of happi- ness, and how much is it in our power to communicate to each other those small, unstudied, varied kindnesses, upon the aggregate of which the real comfort of life depends. Faithfulness towards our failings is another peculiarly family duty. Those who live together are perhaps not so well able to form a general estimate of the character ; but to one part of the character, and often a vital part, they are the only witnesses —namely, domestic temper and habits. Miss A. Sykes died in September, 1835. The follow- ing letters were written at the time. She had lived much with Mr. and Mrs. Venn from the time of their marriage, and they were both strongly attached to her. To his Brother, Rev. J. Venn. Thomas' Hotel, Berkeley Square, September 28, 1835. My dearest J.,— I am writing under most painful circum- stances— beside the bed of clearest Anne, who, I fear, can- not be expected to struggle much longer with the disease which is dragging her away from us. But all is perfect peace ; far beyond what 1 had dared to hope, adored be the grace of that God and Saviour who is a refuge for His people ! We arrived at Brighton on Monday evening ; every day since then she has been rapidly sinking, and I know not how the hours have passed without my writing to you ; but each hour has brought with it fresh anxieties and fresh em- ployment. I have also been fondly expecting to hear from you, that you were coming up this week. Oh how I should 72 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1835. liail your arrival ! If you and E. were indeed to come up, as you proposed, it would be like the visit of an angel. But I write scarcely coherently. A medical man at Brighton pronounced her, upon first seeing her, to be in the last stage of consumption. This opinion was at variance with Dr. B.'s, we therefore determined to bring her up to London. Mrs. S., M. A., and we started on Wednesday, slept at Crawley that night, and came here next day. Dr. Chambers saw her that night, and on Friday morning. He then ordered her to Has- tings, and thought that with care and favourable circumstances she would last through the winter. I confess I despaired of ever removing her from this roof, and the last two days have decided the matter. We are now almost hourly expecting that the summons will come, and all we can hope and pray for is quiet dismission. . . . Yet I feel at this hour a peace such as brighter hours of our intercourse hardly afforded. I have had much conversation with her this morning, she has no fears : she enjoys ' sweet quietness of mind,' these are her words. She has learned during this illness her own utter helplessness, and to lie passively in the hands of Christ both for present comfort and for future salvation. . . . Pray for us, if you cannot come and pray with us. To the same. Ilolloway, September 30. Scarcely an hour after I had written to you dearest A. breathed her last. Nothing could be more calm, collected and heavenly than her whole behaviour. . . . Surely it has been a special answer to prayer that the circumstances were all so ordered, even to the minutest particular, as to leave the last recollections full of peace. My own mind had been much directed of late to the privilege of the children of God of asking even temporal comforts and alleviations, and the circumstances of this case have indeed given me an unexpected and glorious illustration of that privilege. . . . And now let me repeat with double earnestness my desire to see you. If it be but for a few days, it would give me 1835. DEATH OF ANNE SYKES. 73 unspeakable refreshment. I dread next Sunday. The funeral will probably take place the previous day at Hol- lovvay. Oh that you could be present to take my sermons ! . . . Your presence has never failed to refresh me in former times, and both M. and I need it now. She had been much distressed in the early part of her illness at the thought of dying. All this passed off, as is si 1 own by the above letters ; but within a day or two of her death she remarked to Mr. Venn, ' It is an awful t hing to enter a strange world.' His reply was, 4 It will not be a strange world to us when our blessed Saviour meets us and conducts us to the mansions He has pre- pared for us in our " Father's house." We must not call our " Father's house " a " strange world." ' Brighton, October 21. . . . Dearest M. is recovering her spirits. At times the feeling of her loss quite overcomes her, but generally she is able to realize the blessedness of dear Anne's present state so fully as to thank God for taking her to Himself rather than to wish her back. If it please God to re-establish M.'s own health, I trust on our return to Hollo way we shall devote ourselves with renewed zeal to the service of the Lord ; and the various recollections and associations of dear A., which will be hourly arising, will be incentives to do so. The scene we have gone through has indeed brought eternity so vividly before us that we shall be doubly inexcusable if the profiting do not appear. To Mrs. Venn. November 9. — . . . May every blessing attend you. God only knows what are true blessings. I include in that term renewed health and strength ; but while God is pleased to delay the blessings, may we be endued with patient, cheer- ful confidence in His parental care over us. May we be pre- 74 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1835. served not only from all mui'muring, but even from the wish to have things otherwise than He appoints ! November 20. — I am sure I am not improperly anxious about the restoration of your health. God has joined us together in the closest bonds. He has answered our prayers by making us helpmeets to each other in spiritual as well as temporal things . . . and I can pray for its restoration, not merely on account of your and my own personal happiness, but with a view to God's glory. In the meantime I can resign you to God's gracious dealings with you, and trust that He will give me grace to profit under His afflicting hand, while He is pleased to continue it. I am aware how much danger there is that I should be perpetually saying I Avould do so and so if things were different, instead of falling in with the providence of God, and acting according to pre- sent circumstances. In June 1837 his youngest child, an infant of a few months' old, died after a short illness ; to which event the following letters refer : — To Ms Sister, Mrs. Stephen. Brighton, Sunday, June 25, 1837. The life of our sweet babe is fast ebbing away. . . . Yet these hours have not been hours of unmitigated gloom ; far otherwise, though they have been spent between the sick room of our dying child and the next, to which we have withdrawn, from time to time, to comfort and strengthen each other by prayer and the Word of God — they have been truly Sabbath hours, a day of holy rest and thanksgiving. For, first, our precious infant has scarcely any suffering, though quite sensible . . . the look seems to rebuke our sorrow and tell us that he is on the eve of rising to infinitely higher employ- ments than we can imagine. Next, dearest M. is supported by the right hand of her God and Saviour ; she is able to converse and to pray with perfect composure, and though the time seems long before we can say, 'he is beyond suffering,' 1837. LETTERS. 75 yet she is enabled to tarry the Lord's leisure and to praise His mercy in the midst of judgment. And now by the time you receive this all you will have to do is to pray that this most tender but piercing dispensation may be sanctified to us, and to all the members of our family — that we may learn henceforth to live with eternity in view, and to regard the spiritual and immortal interests of our children as the one thing needful for them. To his Brother-in-law, James Stephen, Esq. June 26. — The event for which my letter yesterday would prepare you took place this afternoon. Mercy still marked the dispensation to the conclusion. ... I cannot but express my wish that you and Wilkinson should attend the funeral, since you so lately joined, upon the same spot, in witnessing and pledging his dedication to the care and service of the Lord. The prayers you then offered up have now been all fulfilled, and the Burial Service will sound like a thankful acknowledgment that every object of your trust has been for ever secured. The following letters refer to Mr. Venn's own illness, and will explain themselves : — To Rev. John King (of Hull). Brighton, September 23, 183S. It has pleased God to visit me with the threatening of a very dangerous complaint, disease of the heart. When I was in full work, and exulting in my apparent health and strength, I suddenly discovered that something was wrong, and the physicians have prescribed perfect rest for several weeks. . . . Whether the disease is more than functional they do not at present pronounce. And through the great mercy and grace of God my mind has hitherto been kept in peaceful suspense, till the symptoms become more decided one way or the other. My line of duty is at present clear, to wait — to receive it as a most gracious warning before the 70 MEMOIU OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1838. midnight ci-y, to gird up the loins of my mind, and trim my lamp and see to the supply of oil. I know you too well to imagine that these circumstances will ahate your kind wish to visit me, and for my own part I can assure you in sincerity that they will make me ten times more desirous of your visit. There is no friend, after my brother, whom I equally desire to see ; for there is no one in whose faithfulness as well as wisdom I have greater confidence. ... I have been urged by several friends to attempt an Historical Sketch of the Revival of Evangelical Religion in the Church during the last century, that is, to follow up the idea thrown out in the Preface to my grandfather's Memoir. . . . and in the prospect of a few weeks' rest I have begun to think and read upon the subject. To his Sister, Miss Venn. Leamington, October, 1838. My dearest E. — Your most tender solicitude, never more effectually manifested than in recent events, and for which I feel far more grateful than I am able to express, will be relieved by hearing that we had a most prosperous journey to this place. ... It is still strange to me to regard myself as an invalid. I am continually forgetting it, and falling back into old trains of ideas, which this place suggests, of anxiety for others, instead of myself. I need indeed what good Mr. Wilberforce would call ' a flapper ' to remind me of the peculiar duties which this dispensation calls me to exercise. I am obliged to keep in mind that text, ' He . chastens us for our profit,' and to consider what is the profit which I am receiving ? And here is the direction which your prayers for me, dearest E., must take. I often think of that saying of S. Paul, ' I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,' and I consider it an inestimable pri- vilege that I have the prayers of others. But I fear lest they should rather pray for my recovery and for what, in the kindness of their too partial estimate, they term a restoration 1838. LETTERS. 77 to my usefulness. Alas ! if God does restore me to labour, I trust it will be to a very different kind of labour than I have yet rendered to my most gracious and indulgent Master, who has abounded towards me in loving-kindness and long- suffering, notwithstanding my scanty forced returns. To Mrs. Venn. Leamington, October 11, 1838. And now let us join in praise to our Heavenly Father for the gentleness with which these well-deserved strokes have fallen upon us — for the exceeding great mercies mingled with them, for the ability we have of consulting simply as to the best means of recovering health, instead of having the anxiety of foregoing them on account of expense, etc. ; praise for past, trust for future, and let us stimulate each other to the full improvement of the opportunities which will probably be afforded us for mutual edification and growth in grace. To Rev. John King. Leamington, November 29, 1838. My first interview with Dr. J. and the symptoms pro- duced by my journey, proved to me that I had not been gaining any ground, as I had imagined, at Brighton, but rather the contrary. I therefore came with my family to this place. Dr. J. very cautiously began a different mode of treatment. He has certainly succeeded in removing all dis- agreeable sensations. I am now able to take any degree of exercise without inconvenience ; he will not, however, allow me as yet to resume my duties. In order to save me from becoming a non-resident on my cure, I am to go home in a few days, but must submit myself to his inspection again six weeks hence before attempting to resume my duties. The kind interest you took in my case must be my apology for entering into these particulars ; at the same time I am glad of the opportunity of paying a grateful tribute to the skill of 78 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1838. Dr. Jephson, and to (what he does not not always get credit for) his extreme caution and prudence. Thus has it pleased the Lord most graciously to remove the apprehensions under which I lately laboured, in answer, I doubt not, to the prayers of many of my kind Christian friends, who imagined that if my life were spared it might yet be of some service to the Church, and in answer to my own prayers, that I might yet have the opportunity of re- deeming lost time, and turning to better account than here- tofore the many great advantages and privileges which have been bestowed upon me. The whole of this dispensation has been marked by such signal lovingkindness and tender mercy as never can be adequately known or expressed below, but will be I trust the theme of praise and joy above. I have pursued with increasing interest and profit the study of my subject, viz. the Revival of Religion. Yet diffi- culties as to the right execution of my proposed task thicken upon me, and I almost despair of preparing anything for the public. Many new names I have discovered, especially in the early part of the century, so that the picture of the Church is not so dark as I had imagined before Wesley's time. The alarm of his enthusiasm threatened to separate the two parties in the Church, and I suspect many sound but timid Evangelical clergymen were driven into the ranks of the High Church. Hence the darkest period apparently was the thirty years subsequent to Wesley's coming out, but this darkness was more apparent than real. Methodism depressed the Church for a time ; and had it not been for the band of Evangelical ministers who maintained their prin- ciples against both Methodists and High Churchmen, the result might have been very different from what we now witness. To Mrs. Venn (after giving a better account). Leamington, January 25, 1839. Thus we have cause for abounding gratitude and praise, and oh, that we might feel it as we ought ! I do humbly trust 1839. LETTEES. 79 that the dispensation has not been without fruit already. But great will be our condemnation if it do not quicken us to far greater diligence and devotion in God's service — if it do not make us more spiritual in our intercourse with each other, and teach us to live with eternity in view. May the truth ' the time is short ' be more deeply impressed upon our minds, and applied to them by the Holy Spirit even in pro- portion as the hopes and expectation of being spared to each other revive ! If these blessed effects follow, they will make our union happier than ever, though that would seem to sense impossible, for greater happiness I cannot conceive than we have enjoyed. The following letters were written from Torquay, by- Mr. and Mrs. Venn, to various members of their family. They will serve to show the spirit in which this trial was met by both : — To Miss Venn. Torquay, October 2. You have not wondered at my silence anymore than I have wondered at yours. We know each other's feelings too well when sorrows or trials affect us to think anything but that we do sympathize so entirely in each other's griefs that it is better to wait till the expression of them is moderated. You, beloved E. — you will be glad to find that we are here at last, and some- times I think in my brightest moments that perhaps we shall see you here with dearest J., for he has promised to pay us a visit in the winter. ... I think you would be satisfied if you could see H.'s looks, and see that he does I think in his heart enjoy this place . . . when he gets beyond the little coves and rises above the hollow of the valley. He then stretches out far away over the cliffs and near the open sea, and comes in, declaring he has had one of the loveliest walks that ever man had, and the 'endless variety of them is remarkable.' . . . But what a retired little spot is this ! J feel as if we might be lost here, and nobody know where to find us. It really 80 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1839. does, after Highgate and its proximity to London, feel like banishment to a foreign land. Yet we have had great enjoy- ment in a quiet way here, and many causes for happiness ; and when dearest H. gets his books and papers fairly piled around him on his study table he will not feel so idle and unoccupied as he now does. ... I tbink, beloved E., with much pleasure that you would really like this place in the winter. I would not be so selfish as to keep you here, nor would I have you at all, you dear one, unless I were better. T only mean if I get better, so as not to be a source of anxiety to you. H. Venn to his Sister, Mrs. Batten. Torquay, October 10. Every circumstance combines to free my mind from all anxiety, except on one point, which I regard as a signal mercy, because I am enabled to bend my whole mind to the improvement of the remarkable dispensation in which I am now placed, so different from any forme]' part of my life, yet so well calculated to bring my stubborn heart into habits of close communion with the Lord and quiet waiting for His mercy. Give our united tenderest love to my dearest aunt. Tell her I know full well, and comfort myself with the reflection, of what her feelings and her prayers are for us. Oh ! what an enviable (humanly speaking) situation is hers, waiting for the glorious change without the bitter alternative, ' Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more ex- pedient for you.' Yet I must retract; one ray of Divine grace is able to make all differences of external circum- stances vanish to a point. May that grace accompany all the dispensations of Providence towards us ! From Mrs. Venn. Torquay, November 25. I am happy to say he (Henry) has a variety of acquaint- ances here. I do feel so very glad when he comes home and tells me he has been walking with such and such a 1830. LETTERS. 8] person. I think then his ideas get a little change from the sick room. Great kindness has been shown to us by every- body. I suppose there is the strong bond of sickness which has brought us all here, and it opens our hearts and makes us very tender to each other. Amongst others a Mr. and Mrs. H. have been very attentive ; they were strangers to us at first, but called. I declined visiting on account of my health ; then they begged I would use their garden, for they have one of the loveliest places here I ever saw — beau- tiful shrubberies, with such charming views. The cause of their kindness was soon explained. Mrs. H. took the first opportunity of our being in their grounds to speak to Henrv of his grandfather's Memoir, expressing the deepest gratitude to him for it, as the means of bringing her to a knowledge of her Saviour, or something tantamount to that, saying how earnestly she had longed to see him to tell him what she felt. ' There was no book like it for kindling a love for the Saviour where it did not exist, or reviving it where it did.' Mrs. Venn to her Aunt, Mrs. D. Sylces. Torquay, January 6, 1840. Thank you, beloved aunt, for the kind wishes this letter contains, a letter which I felt, when it arrived, I hardly deserved, it is so very long since I have written to you ; but without being rendered by pain incapable of exertion, I have had that degree of languor upon me, that everything has been a burden. Your letter came very home to my heai't, and I felt and sympathised with you in your Christmas Day solitude ; but what a comfort to know that every event is ordered by infinite love, who will appoint the very best things for us ! ... My doctor tells me that the disease in the lungs is kept at bay and makes no progress ; but my general health suffers I think in proportion. . . . Whether it will please God to prolong my life, I cannot say : judging from my present state and the very little change which is made in me, I should not wonder if He will permit me to live to see the summer. But I am not anxious. I trust my illness will G 82 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1840. not be distressing to my beloved husband, and that I may be enabled to bear what He sees fit to lay upon me. Hitherto I have been most graciously dealt with ; and have been enabled to be with my dear husband at all his meals, which you know makes so great a difference in the appearance of things. I get out in a chair while he walks by my side, and in the evenings we read or write together. H. Venn to Edward Gibson, Esq. Torquay, January 14. This would be but a melancholy account of ourselves if I could not at the same time tell you of the grace and mercy with which this dispensation has been accompanied. My dear wife has been from the first fully aware of her case, and indeed has taken a more despairing view of it than others have done. But I can truly say that I cannot look back upon any four months of our happy married life in which we have had more real enjoyment than during the last. Her mind has been graciously preserved from all dis- tress or fear in a quiet cheerful resignation, so that it has been a constant cordial to my own spirit. I have regarded it also as a great mercy that the doctors have imposed silence on me, so that with a clear conscience I can now abstain from all ministerial duty and devote myself to her comfort. We have here also more time than we ever had before for reading together the blessed Volume which opens to us inexhaustible stores of consolation. Thus have mercies been mingled with judgment and songs given us in the night. But I find indeed, as you justly observe, the necessity of cleaving to Christ with purpose of heart. Even the affecting circumstances in which I now am, when I consider my wife's and my own precarious health, have no power in themselves to produce right feelings — they would only disquiet my mind in vain. It is only through prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that they can turn to my salvation. Just in proportion as I live near to the Saviour, in that proportion I find support. Nor is my present situation any 1840. LETTERS. 83 safeguard against those temptations to which one is exposed in a more active and prosperous life. ' The law in the flesh ' is still the grand temptation which no circumstances, ap- parently favourable to religion, can counteract ; nothing but the grace of Christ, derived from ' cleaving ' to Him, can keep it down. H. Venn to Mrs. Batten. Torquay, January 22. Yesterday was the anniversary of our wedding day — eleven years of unalloyed happiness, as much, I am fully persuaded, as earth can afford. What a cause of gratitude ! T tnist we felt in some little degree grateful. H. Venn to Rev. John Kiny. Torquay, February 7. Had I followed as some do the immediate impulse of their feelings, I should not have waited many days without returning you my heartiest thanks for your very affectionate and Christian letter. It was a real cordial to my heart. But my powers of letter-writing, never very prompt, are now much crippled. ... I am also obliged to keep my mind as free from emotion as possible — a hard lesson in all cases, but especially when I think of those kind Christian friends who deeply sympathize in my sorrows, and whom I have seen in their affliction. Nevertheless, I must assure you how lively my gratitude has many times been to you for the assurance of your having particularly prayed for me and my wife. . . . She is now very, very ill. The doctors say they have known cases apparently as hopeless in which a partial recovery has taken place, but they say at the same time that the usual course is an abrupt termination. But, adored be the grace of God, her mind, from the first sentence of death, pro- nounced by Dr. Chambers five months ago, when he told us that the lungs were decidedly diseased, has been preserved in a uniform state of firm faith and cheerful resignation. She feels herself encompassed with mercies on every side, 84 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1840. though she has severely felt the various melancholy vicissi- tudes of this most trying disease. In fact, she supports my mind rather than I hers. She said to me a few days ago, ' I have no doubts, I have no fears.' How could I refrain from adding, ' And I have no wish unfulfilled.' I find at this season, my dear friend, that the only ultimate stay of the soul is in the simple consideration — ' It is the will of the Lord.' There are times when the most precious promise? seem to lose their efficacy, or rather to be hid from the mind — thoughts of future happiness and glory fail, and many other supporting considerations. But ' the Will of God ' is a sheet-anchor. Mrs. Venn died March 21. In a letter, written two days after, he says : — Such mercy has glittered in every part of this dark dispensation, such ' abundance of the gift of grace ' was vouchsafed to her, that I can scarce admit any other feeling into my mind than that of thankfulness. . . . There was ' perfect peace,' not a care for husband, children, all was cast upon the Lord ... so that I could only look upon her as a wounded victor in possession of the field, and the enemy out of sight. James Stephen, Esq., to Rev. H. Venn. Downing Street. My dear Henry, — Having long since abandoned all hope, your letter gives me no disappointment. It compels me, not to mourn for her, for she has but a little gone before all that she has loved on earth and all with whom she will be re- united in heaven, and not for you — for how lament for your sorrows when God has thus even in their first bitterness turned them into an occasion for the exercise of such faith and hope and filial confidence ? What remains then, for me to say ? Nothing but this, that your religion is a reality, and not a form — a deep principle of the inmost soul, and not a mere conformity to habit and hereditary example — a blessing from 1840. LETTERS. 85 the Most High, compared with which conjugal love, and all the other blessings of this transitory life are but as the amusements of infancy. I cannot collect my thoughts enough at this moment, for I am in a place most unfavour- able for reflection, to draw from the account of your feelings at such a crisis the lessons I hope to extract from it before the day closes. But no place and no engagements can pre- vent my perceiving how solemn and how affecting is the lesson which you give me. Neither morning nor evening has passed over me for many weeks without a fervent prayer for Martha and for you; but how infinitely more is there reason why you and she, if indeed she is still one of those who worship on earth, should pray for us, whose present exemp- tion from these bitter trials would be well exchanged for such an endurance of them. Yet must I pray that God would sustain and bless you, — that He would reveal Himself to you as He does not to the world, — that He would yet pre- serve you to make others wiser and more holy by the fruits of your bitter experience, — that your sweet children may still have the guidance and counsels of one parent, — and that be- fore you rejoin the holy men from whom you are descended you may be made in God's good providence the instrument of conveying to many the glorious privileges of which you are the inheritor. Well ! All is at His disposal. Happen what may, it shall be well with you. Each future day as it passes will be bringing you nearer to the resumption of an intimacy so happy in its progress, so peaceful in its close. Eternal peace awaits you, and this consolation is the earnest and the foretaste of it. Ever, my dear Henry, most affec- tionately yours, James Stephen The following letter is inserted to show the spirit in which he was able to comfort others by the com- fort wherewith he was comforted himself of God (2 Cor. i. 4):- 86 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1843. H. Venn to a Friend. My dear Mrs. C, — I heard from Mrs. A. after church this morning of the sad but not unexpected event. When I recollect, as I shall never cease to do, the Christian sympathy which you manifested in the hour of my affliction, I cannot let the day close without assuring you how deeply I feel for you and your sister, how earnestly I trust and pray that He who is alone able to sustain the soul under such a bereave- ment may put forth His almighty power on her behalf. May that hand which rescued Peter when he was sinking uphold her ; and it will be so, if only she can look off from the waves and storm to Him. The Lord Jesus graciously allows free- dom towards Himself under such an overwhelming calamity. He has said, ' Call upon me in the day of trouble,' and He knoweth that we are dust, and therefore that when we call upon Him in the hour of anguish it must be in the natural language of the broken heart. He under- stands that language. He invites it. Oh ! let your sister tell Him, that as He has dashed every earthly hope to the ground and removed her stay and support and the desire of her eyes, she must cling with her helpless babe in her arms to Him ; that He must Himself wipe the tears from her eyes, and ' take up ' her babe (it is His own promise) and lead her by the right hand along the same path in which her blessed husband trod, and so bring her and her babe safely to the mansion in which he now is. ' Nothing but Christ ! ' was the exclamation of the martyr at the stake, and ' nothing but Christ ' can give any real peace in such an hour as this. It was a thought which administered some comfort to my own soul — the wider the breach the more room there is for the Saviour to fill with His glorious presence. And oh ! when we thus realise the Saviour's presence, it brings us into a new and sweet intercourse with those who are already en- tered into His presence, and gives us a solid enjoyment of the Communion of Saints. We feel that we are still one family. We can wait till our turn comes. Apart from LETTERS. 87 Christ, all is desolation ; but while we can live near Him, peace and hope spring up. I shall not cease to commend you in the best way I am able to the God of peace and of all consolation. I am not unmindful of the need you will your- self experience, and your other sisters, of the same grace. It has not been without some reluctance that I have abstained from calling to inquire, but I have heard each week. The next letters were written to his sister, Mrs. Batten, who had just lost her younger daughter, after a very short illness, in Italy ; where they had gone for her health : — H. Venn to Mrs. Batten. Highgate, October 24, 1843. My beloved Sister, — You are in the hands of a faithful God. He will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. He will give you grace to submit. I con- tinually lift up my heart to Him, knowing that He is able to do far more to support you than I could if with you. I have determined, however, to set off as soon as ever I am able, and hope to be at Paris on Saturday. Oh may the Lord manifest His presence to you as He doth not to the world ! May He give you such realizing views of the short- ness of time, of the blessedness of reunion in His own pre- sence, as will lift your soul above this transitory scene ! Remember that Abraham was called to the very trial of faith to which you are exposed. His faith was found to stand the trial ; the Lord is able to do more for us than we can think or ask. October 28. — The Lord has taken you into His own hands, and upon Him I cast you. He is a faithful God, there is my confidence. He has delivered, He will deliver you. . . . But what can I say ? I know that the letters of dearest friends can say nothing. Truly our fellowship at such times is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. I have set apart two o'clock each day for specially presenting your 88 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1843. case before the throne of grace. I am most likely then to be at liberty ; and in the midst of business you are continually in my mind and in my heart, as well as specially in private and family prayer. . . . Oh ! cheer up, my beloved sister ; time is short, very short, eternity will repay all. Anticipate the glorious family meeting above, till you can say, ' Shortly accomplish the number of Thine elect ! ' Your account of the evidences of a real work of grace in the soul of the beloved one are most sure and satisfactory, a firm foundation of hope and joy which time and reflection will strengthen. ... I contemplate you as the Three Children in the fiery furnace ; the Son of God is with you. You shall not be consumed, your faith shall be found to honour and glory though it be tried in a furnace heated sevenfold. Re- member that God's dearest children have been honoured with the crown of martyrdom ; the severer the strokes, the higher the honour, if grace be given. Mr. Venn left England very soon after the above letter, and travelled to Nice with his sister, Miss Venn, where they hoped to meet Mrs. Batten and her remain- ing daughter. But there was some delay in Mrs. Batten's arrival ; and Mr. Venn was forced, after waiting to the last moment , to leave Nice and return to England without seeing her. She arrived a few hours after he had left. The first sentence in the next letter refers to this : — Antibes, Monday, November 20. My beloved C— It will never cease to appear wonderful to us that I should have been under such circumstances so near to you without our meeting, till the day when we shall discover that all the events of our lives have been ordered in all their minutest particulars by infinite love and wisdom. I am thankful that I have been permitted so far to minister to your consolation as to have brought dearest E. to you. . . . What should I have been able to say for your comfort, my precious sister, if we had met? Only what God should 1843. LETTERS. 89 commission me to say and should bless to your soul. And He has ten thousand other ways of sending His word to you. I take comfort in this thought, and resign you with the greater confidence to Him as the God of all consolation. Yet there are two things which I must refer to, as they have been much upon my mind in reference to your case. There are, or will be, times when the topics of comfort which once supported and refreshed you will give way and let you sink into unlawful repining, if not despair — now at such times I have found it well to be supplied with one solid prop, which never failed me, namely, the simple consideration of the Will of God, not attempting to adore it as holy, jiist, and good, but simply to contemplate it as the law of the universe, as the spring and support of angelic happiness — perfect conformity with that Will is the perfection of Divine life. Our blessed Saviour so contemplated it on one remark- able occasion : ' Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.' This passage often checked and recalled my sinking spirit when no other word of promise or of com- fort could avail. There is a subduing, calming influence in the simple contemplation of the Will of God, while at the same time it gradually elevates the mind and inspires it with a supernatural strength, and so eventually prepares it for taking hold of the more comforting passages of Holy Writ. The other point which my own experience leads me to press on you is this, that the comfortable sense of union with our departed friends is enjoyed even more in the active performance of the Lord's work than in seasons of retire- ment and contemplation. I speak of an experience for which I was not previously prepared. But so it has proved to me that in the hours of retirement and contemplation I have chiefly felt my loss and separation. In active duties I have experienced the most delightful assurance of an union still existing. The only reason I can suggest is, that heaven 90 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1844. is not a place of contemplation, but of activity in works of love and in the service of God, and hence we have more real communion with the spirits of the just made perfect in one case than in the other. At the same time it is absolutely necessary to secure seasons of retirement and contemplation for our own personal benefit, or else we shall lose on the other hand the comfort of the union. For we must never forget that Jesus is the centre of the union, and the nearer we live to Him the nearer we are brought to those who are with Him. I trust, therefore, that if you remain for the winter at Nice, you may find some way of exerting yourself for the good of others, as you did at Boulogne ; not indeed in the same way, for Sardinia will not allow of it, but if you are prepared in heart, the Lord will open a way in His pro^- vidence. January 5, 1844. — I often think, For what is the Lord preparing my dear sister ? Some great designs of mercy I feel assured He has in store for you, for He never casts His servants into a furnace heated seven times more than was wont, unless it be preparatory to some work to which He will call them. Raise your expectations of what He will yet do for you to glorify His great name in you and by you. ... I strive now to fix my hopes and my heart upon the blessed consummation — a whole family met together in heaven — till I can almost respond to the prayer, ' Shortly accomplish the number of Thine elect, and hasten Thy king- dom.' What is our great duty as parents? Why, to put our children in a secure way. Ten thousand mistakes we do and must commit ; but when God thus crowns our blunder- ing endeavours, we have accomplished a great work, through His free and co-operating grace, and have abundant reason for praise and thanksgiving. Let us help each other to keep this ever in view. The following extracts show his religious teaching for children, and the happy view he took of religion. We may here observe that when he was separated from his 1844. LETTERS. 91 children, he never allowed a day to pass without writing to them. May 12, 1844. — Though we could not meet this day and read and pray together, as we have so often done on the Sunday, I have thought of and prayed for you at the accus- tomed hour. I have been thinking of your late illness, and how gracious God has been to bring you all so far through it. He has answered our prayers by giving a blessing to the medicines and remedies which were used, and it is right that, like David in the Psalm, we should bless the Lord, ' who healeth all our diseases.' But at the same time we must not forget that God sometimes shows His love by tak- ing us out of this world into the blessed mansions in our Father's house ; and I trust that had He been pleased to have taken one of you to Himself, you would have been willing to go, and that I and the rest, who would have re- mained behind, would have been willing to resign you. It is good to think about death, because it is certain that we must all one day die, and thinking about it does not bring it any nearer ; but it may prepare us for it, and take away all our fears about it. If we belong to Jesus, that is, if we put our trust in Him, and strive continually to please Him, we have nothing to fear, because He conquered death — He has the keys of death, He has taken away all the terror of it. And now when the day of our death arrives Jesus does not say, ' To-day you must die,' but ' To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.' Oh think of Paradise, not such as Adam was placed in, though that was a most happy place; but a heavenly Paradise. . . . seeing Christ as He is in all His glory, and feeling infinitely more happy than we ever do in our happiest hours. . . . But why does Jesus keep us here, and only take us one by one? It is because He has work for us to do here, just as He said to the labourers in the parable, ' Go, work in my vineyard, and when the proper time is -come I will give you your reward.' We should, therefore, often ask ourselves the question, Are we doing the work which 92 MEMOIK OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1845. Jesus would have us to do l? He lias told us in the Bible what this work is — it is to know Him, by reading about Him in that blessed Book ; it is to imitate Him, by being holy and harmless, and kind and sweet-tempered as He was, and by doing all the good which we have opportunity for. June 27, 1845. — I rejoice at hearing that you ai'e in such good spirits — the more happy and frisky you are the better. Our heavenly Father desires us all to be as happy as it is possible to be in this world of sin, so that we are but living in His fear and love. In heaven we shall have pleasures for evermore ; and if we are to be trained up for heavenly enjoy- ments hereafter, we may confidently pray God to sanctify our happiness, and teach us to enjoy everything in and through Him. H. Venn to Mrs. Batten. Highgate, July 7. I have seen much of the Bishop of Calcutta. He is in great force of mind, and his whole soul is set upon the advance of the Gospel in all the simplicity and fulness with which he preached it at S. John's. How vividly has his voice and manner recalled to my mind those days, and what another world they seem to me, a world with which I have no longer a connection. Frank Stainforth is now curate of S. Pancras, and lives in Mabledon Place. I took him with me on Friday to dine at Battersea Rise, and afterwards drove him home to Mabledon Place, and then turned away to take my solitary drive at midnight to my new home at Highgate. I had a lively sense of the shifting scenes of this life and of the happiness of that prospect of a city which hath foundations, and of the general assembly of all Christian friends in those mansions to part and go out no more, and of the great mercy and goodness of the Lord in giving me space and opportunity to redeem lost time, and to light my lamp and gird up my loins, and to wait for the return of my Lord, and be ready to open at His knock im- mediately. Oh ! my beloved sister, may you have much of the Lord's presence in your soul, which will make solitude 1845-53. LETTERS. 93 even better than Christian society, and the substance of things hoped for better than any present enjoyment, even the best that earth can afford. Yet a little intercourse with dear friends is acceptable from time to time ; and I trust that you will have it this year from the arrival of more than one party of friends in Switzerland. On his way to Ireland for the G. M. 8. July 4, 1850. — . . . The leaving you this morning was one of the most painful acts of duty I have often had to perform.1 At such seasons we feel the stern reality of self- sacrifice. Had I been going on any scheme of pleasure I would have paid 100Z. rather than have parted with you at that hour. But I felt I had pledged myself to the Lord's work and had no option, and I trust in his great mercy that I shall be comforted by a letter from you to-morrow. . . . To an Invalid Friend. June 26, 1853. — Before I begin work I send you a few thoughts which have occurred to me in thinking over our conversation : — Divine Teaching. — The standing text is, The ' Comforter shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your re- membrance whatsoever I have said to you ' (John xiv. 26) . 1. Two branches of the Spirit's work — ' Shall teach you : ' As a teacher a scholar, shall make you un- derstand aright what you read. ' Then opened He their under- standings that they might understand the Scriptures ' (Luke xxiv. 45). So also Lydia. So also the general prayer : ' Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee right judgment in all things' (2 Tim. ii. 7). ' Shall bring all things to your remembrance,' at the right time, to counteract a pressing temptation, to enable you to speak a word in season, to fill the soul with holy and substantial matter in com- munion with God. 2. How is Divine Teaching obtained ? See Proverbs ii. 9. Praying for and seeking earnestly and perseveringly this special gift as a gift. 1 This was written to one of his children whom he had left seriously ill, and is only given as an instance of his constant self-denial. 94 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1855. 3. What are the fruits of this Divine Teaching ? — Certainty : ' We know that the Son of God hath come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ ' (1 John v. 20). ' Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things,' 'and ye need not that any man teach you' (1 John ii. 20, 27). Growth in grace : ' That we henceforth he no more children, tossed to and fro, &c, but may grow up into Him in all things.' Esta- blishment and comfort of soul and every other precious gift of the Spirit. Study this subject till your mind is fully impressed with the reality of the work, with the fact that thousands are at this day taught of God — then pray for it, nothing doubting, for this is an ab- solute promise : no conditions. ' If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God . . . nothing wavering '—i.e. doubting — (Jas. i. 6). On rail to Dover.1 September 17, 1855. — I am now really off — writing till four this morning— off at seven, and this is my third letter in the second class of the express. But I am quite fresh and well, and full of the sense of God's great mercy in per- mitting me to take this journey with dear J. in so much better health than he was in last year, and in leaving you all so well. May God in His mercy bring us all safely back again. . . . Schaffhausen, Sept. 26. — We remained for two hours — till ten o'clock — first surveying the scene below the falls, then on a level with them. While below, the sparks from the iron-works, and the flames from the furnace chimney, added greatly to the effect of this moonlight scene, which is, without comparison, the most striking waterfall which I have seen. . . . [At] Zurich we arrived in time to walk to a promenade a little above the town, from which there is a view of the fine range of snowy Alps, all clear and prepared for sunset, which was a perfect one, the change of colour from their natural daylight aspect to the darkened fore- ground and bases, and then the flush of pink of the higher tops, ending with a burning gold upon the snowy tops, and 1 Written in pencil in the train. 1856. LETTERS. 95 then the sombre hue of the whole scene, yet with the deep green of the verdure. 1 To a Friend on his appointment to a Deanery. October 26, 1856. — I have waited for a day at home to express to you my most cordial congratulations upon your appointment to the deanery, and my most earnest hopes and prayers that it may equally contribute to your happiness (in the largest sense of the word) and the glory of Christ. I see in it the adaptation of a blessing to the service which the Lord's servants are enabled to render to Him, which marks a Divine dispensation. You have long had the talent of influence committed to you, you have occupied with that talent as long as you have had strength and voice enough, and when these began to fail, your Master adds the talent of high station in the Church, that you may still serve Him in that particular line in which you have proved yourself faithful. I recognise also, as you do, the preparation which the Lord has given you for this post, in your previous exercises of discipline, as I can bear witness, at Geneva. I look back to that visit with praise and special interest, in respect of this event. And now, my dear friend and brother, what is before you ? A multitude of plans will unfold themselves. I will only touch upon one point, which strikes me as very important. Aim at the conversion of the souls of the clergy — regard them as your flock. Be as faithful, as pointed, as personal, as you were to your people at C . A bishop has not the facilities which you have in this department. His authority over them gives an official cha- racter to their intercourse. You can move more freely amongst the clergy of your own and other dioceses. Count your success by the individual souls you bring to Christ among the clergy. In this way you will ' render again to the Lord ' according to His goodness in placing you in such a post of influence. That word reminds me of the history 1 He retained to the last this exquisite enjoyment of natural scenerv. 96 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1856. from which it is taken. Many will enter the Deanery of to congratulate you, as the ambassadors did Hezekiah : ' What ' shall ' these men see ' or hear ' in your house ? ' This is my special prayer for you — the best which an affection I have felt for you, since we first knew each other as under- graduates, can form — this is the point of my congratulations. To his Son on leaving Home. 1857. — It was a great grief to me that I was not with you at the last hour when you left this happy home, which you have so long contributed to make happy, to prepare for a further and more important flight next October. But you are constantly in my mind and in my heart. Hitherto you have been, in one sense, ' my boy ' — now you take the first step towards a state of independence, and very quickly you will have to take your stand with men, and to act upon your own responsibility, without my guidance, and it may be when you cannot ask for my advice. My prayer for you is, that in proportion as my authority, influence, and counsel decline, you may bow more and more submissively to the infinitely better authority, influence, and counsel of our Father above. If, my dearest fellow, I have ever succeeded in my constant aim to make and keep you happy, so that now looking back upon our many years of intercourse, you feel gratitude and love to me, think that those feelings are but a shadow of those which should warm your heart towards that adorable Saviour to whom you and I owe everything. His care and presence and love are as real as mine — exercise faith in this blessed truth. To a Son. 1858. — Amidst my many mercies, after that of my marriage with your blessed mother, my children occupy the first place in my daily thanksgiving, and every text that I read is, in some way, turned into a prayer on your behalf. I am now engaged in preparing a funeral sermon upon Bishop Wilson, and I shall very many times turn it into 1859. LETTERS. 97 prayer on behalf of you both (Acts xx. 24), that you may take no reckoning of self-denial, or reproach, or persecution, or trouble, in the way of duty, nor think too much of health and life, so that you may enter upon the course of life most for the glory of Christ, and run that course with ardour, and perseverance, and joy, to the end. To the same. March 19, 1859. — . . . The Report 1 this year will not be so troublesome, owing to the larger amount of printed matter which I can use. ... I feel it to be a high privilege, as well as responsibility, thus to stand between the Church abroad and the Church at home, and bring forward a report of the Lord's work. My main fear is lest I should not give a sufficiently faithful report of the discouragements, as well as the brighter parts. Many a bright part I suppress, that the effect may be a faithful representation of facts on the whole . . . To the same. March. — [After speaking of two Cambridge men, who had offered themselves as missionaries, he says : — ] These make nine Cambridge men this year. These are the ' honours ' of Cambridge. Let us but get a glimpse of things unseen and eternal, but yet present and real, and see the King of Glory establishing His reign through the whole earth, and calling many officers to join His royal camp and court, and we shall feel in what true honour consists. I am here alone, having been brought back on business ; but I am not sorry to have to spend a solitary Sunday. 1 The annual report of the 0. M. S., containing about 200 pages, the whole of which was compiled annually by Mr. Venn. During each pre- ceding year he constantly made extracts from the missionary journals and letters with a view to it ; and be often said that be considered the prepara- tion of an honest and faithful report as one of the most solemn duties com- mitted to him. The labour of condensing these materials, and giving each Mission due notice, cannot readily be imagined. II 98 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1860. The circumstances of each of my three children, in separate places from myself after the many happy Sundays -we have spent together, is a solemnizing thought; and T shall be glad of time for thought and prayer that God may pardon my deficiencies as a ' spiritual parent,' and may be Himself a Father to you when you are cast entirely on your own resources. January 4, 1860. — .... How I long for the repose of S. Leonard's. But it is, I trust, the Lord's work which separates us, and therefore it is for our real happiness to be apart. Pray for me, that I may rise to the greatness of the occasion which these times of stirring activity and revival create, or else that a fitter agent may be put in my place. . . . January 7. — We closed our Secretaries' meeting1 at ten last night. The party seemed pleased and encouraged by our conference. . . . On the subject of revivals I am so confident that we must rise on the wave, or be overwhelmed by it, that I shall propose on Monday to send over a special deputation to Ireland to the revival region, to visit the great towns, and to obtain the prayers, sympathy, and hearts and hands, if possible, of some of the awakened servants of God. I am anxious thus to connect the revival with missionary zeal for the sake of the revivalists themselves, as well as for our cause. As far as I can learn, in America the two move- ments have not been sufficiently interlaced, and the Mission cause has actually gone back. . . March 14. — 1 have secured a morning at home to get through arrears, and the pleasantest minutes of such morn- ings are those in which I take up my pen to write to you. But just as I had done this in comes Bartlett with an ' immediate ' from Sir T. Acland, saying that Lord Palmer- ston had agreed, at his request, to receive a deputation on 1 The annual meeting of Association Secretaries of the C. M. S. 18G0. LETTERS. 99 the Niger to-morrow at 12. Who could be asked? What were we to say ? Who would lead ? Come to breakfast, and arrange everything ! So I had to write off nearly 20 letters, and to send messengers in all directions. To-night it is the Secretaries' meeting at the C. M. H., so I must go down to them. It is the last of the season, and we have some important matters. To a Son on his Birthday. I look back to the happy birthdays when you were all children, and which we used to spend together at home or in Wales. How, in the natural course of things, we are separated ! It is only a fortunate chance that I have two of my children with me in this vacation. I look upon you and J. as separated from your father's household, and ready to form households of your own ; and though the birthday is still a day of great interest and of gratitude to God, there are other thoughts of a more solemn kind which mingle with my joy. I regard myself, in a measure, as having finished my part in your education, and with much reason for self-reproach for loss of opportunities, and for imperfect precept and example — I can yet thank God that you have been kept in the right way, and are preparing for the Lord's work and service. To a Friend on Sensitiveness. .... I shall see you, I hope, in Salisbury Square ; but our interviews are so hurried there that I wish you would come over here either on Wednesday or Thursday evening. I am sorry I cannot offer you a bed, but my house is full .... I have deeply felt for you in the torturing anxiety which you have gone through of late, yet I have, at the same time, thought that such discipline was intended to prepare you for future prosperity. And I will tell you wherein especially I have desired and expected to see the evidence of sanctified discipline. . . . First, I desire to see in you less h 2 100 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 18G0. sensitiveness. When all is smooth and agreeable around yon, no one is more calm and transparent than yourself ; now that is the frame and temper in which I desire to fix you — that you should be immoveable by external annoyances ; that you should sustain others in their calmness and confidence. This is a great wish for you ; but it is only one fruit of the spirit which was in Christ, which we are privileged to partake of. Study His character in this point of view — amidst storms, or the fury of the people, or the quailing timidity of His disciples, Peace was His atmosphere. The other point in which I desire and expect to see the effect of sanctified trials is in the annihilation of self — externally — for I have never doubted that the blessed process was going on, internally and spiritually; but I have been jealous over you when others, who saw you only superficially, were apt to do you an injustice, and to remark upon your regarding your own things rather than the things of others, and sometimes talking of them in the same disproportion. You will guess that I should not write thus if I had not a good confidence that a high and important position is opening to you. I did not say these things when they might have wounded your feelings unnecessarily, because I trusted God Himself was teaching you, and I might have favourable opportunities ; but now I feel as if this were my opportunity, and my love for you, and my confidence in the great things you may do for the Lord if called to the ser- vice I anticipate, induce me to desire ' even your perfection.' Yet all is in the hands of the great Shepherd and Bishop ; He will dispose of us as He sees fit to His own glory. Ever yours affectionately, H. Venn. To a Friend on his Wife's Death. June 2, 1860. — I cannot refrain from expressing to you my most sincere sympathy, and my earnest prayer that the ' strong ' arm of the Lord may uphold you in this hour of your trial. I think of the bitterness of the separation, and 1SG0. LETTERS. 101 weep with you. I think of her ripeness for glory and the ineffable joy of the sight of the Saviour, and I congratulate you upon her translation, and upon the new relation which you now have with the world where ' perfect ' spirits serve our God as He deserves to be honoured. For your children I should mourn, if I did not know by experience, as well as by faith, that He who sustains the universe can make up even the loss of a mother. A little more grace in the heart will shield young children from harm, even better than a mother's care. The light of His countenance will give comfort more than a mother's smile. It is hard to believe this in such an hour ; but I can set to my seal that it has been so to many whom I could name. To Ms Son. July 18—. . . . Your letters cheer me, while they make me sigh to be with you. But .... I work incessantly. Immediately after breakfast this morning Bartlett came with the ' Minutes,' which took till one o'clock. Then I had three proof-sheets to correct for the 1 Report.' I have now several important letters to write for the New Zealand and African mails, besides those which I can defer and bring down with me. . . . It has been throiTgh life my peculiarity to under-estimate the work before me. When I looked over the letters which I must write yesterday, I put down six or eight hours. I have been that time at work, and now I have six or eight hours more before me. Some of my friends act upon a contrary principle, and over-estimate the work. . . . Aim at a just estimate, for that alone enables us to keep at full work, without self-elation and idleness on one hand, or self- reproach and extreme pressure at last. May God pardon all my innumerable mistakes and faults. . . . To the same. September 15. — .... I look forward to spend Sunday, the 30th, at Hereford, and to unite in dedicating ourselves 102 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1861. at the Lord's Table to the new1 course of life on which we are entering. I can assure you, my beloved children, that many things have been very present to my mind at this season, for which I have humbled myself before God, and you will doubtless have thoughts of the same kind. Had our removal to a new abode been occasioned by the death of one of us, how solemnly would the survivors have felt that opportunities for mutual spiritual benefit were for ever closed ! The prospect before us is a happier one. Oh, let gratitude to our tenderly gracious God and Saviour stir us up to as zealous a self-devotion as affliction would have done. To the same. 1861. — Infinitely rather would 1 give up the hopes and desires and object of prayer since the memorable day of your birth than see you ordained while I had not a good hope that the Lord had called you to the work, and given you a heart for it. ... I am sure the path will be made clear before us. ' Commit thy way unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established,' is a very favourite text with me. I have never known it to fail, and I am sure, therefore, that it will not fail us now. When I gave up S. John's Church I felt a pang at the thought even then that I might be depriving myself of the future opportunity of initiating my sons into the Ministry, and I could sometimes now wish I had a church for this purpose. But I trust that I made the sacrifice for the sake of Christ, and perhaps He may the more bless my endeavours to help you. Great has been my comfort in you, and in the love you bear me, but greater far will be my comfort when I see you a minister of the Church of Christ. East Sheen, Feb. 10, 1864. You will have seen my name in the new commission to consider the subject of clerical subscription in the papers this morning. It is curious that 30 years ago I joined in 1 He was removing from Highbury to East Sheen. 18G5. LETTERS. 103 such a movement, but no actual movement was then made. The case is very different now. 1 am most anxious to have your views on the subject. Draw me up a paper, and tell me of any persons whom I could apply to, who have thought upon the subject, and are capable of throwing- light upon it. I shall write for information respecting the Lutheran Church. ... I wish to be fully prepared in a question touching the truth of the Gospel continuing with us. . . . Thurso, Aug-. 1, 1865. I trust this excursion has been of use to dearest L., as well as a pleasure to the other dear companions. For myself, I long to be back again, and to work while it is yet day. The suspension of my usual routine only enables me to see more clearly how much I might yet do by gathering up the fragments of my desultory labours for so many years, and putting them into shape to be of service to my successors. I hope .... to devote myself to this as my primary, or rather, final employment. . . . East Sheen, Aug-. 21, 18G5. .... Our great work is unusually mingled with trials, as well as with encouragements, to faith. The sickness and mortality among our missionaries have been more than usual, so that we shall have hard work to keep up our staff, instead of enlarging our Mission. But these trials are so evidently from the hand of God, and the supply of men so entirely His work, that I do not fret. He will carry the kingdom of His dear Son forward by few or by many. . . . Dover, Oct. 14, 1807. .... I am, thank God, better able to work than this time last year, and am doing my best to prepare for the Ritual Commission. But the subject enlarges before me, and the responsibility of the occasion. I feel it a duty also to read works on the side of Ritualism, and I am pained beyond measure at the unblushing Popery which abounds in such writings. The messages to the Seven Churches of Asia sound in my ears with tremendous significance. I dare not predict, but I wait. . . . 104 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1808. East Sheen, Sept. 7, 1868. .... I am working heard at my Ritual preparations. But I see that to do justice to the cause and to the present crisis would require a life of study and writing. . . . Never- theless, I will do what I can. . . . Have you read Lord Harrowby's capital letter in the Times this morning? I have finished Bunsen's ' Life,' and shall try at Dover to put my thoughts in a letter to C. It is a deep study of human nature and of German divinity. . . . August 8, 1867. — .... Prayer, temptations, and trial make a profitable preacher. But the Lord's dealings are very various, and His severer discipline is often deferred while other graces of the ministry are in process of improve- ment. The next thing to being ourselves sufferers is to identify ourselves with the sufferings of others, and hence I long for the day when the Lord shall give you pastoral charge and full development of the gifts and graces of the Christian ministry. To a Son on his Birthday. 1868.— This letter cannot convey to you a tenth part of the emotions of my heart on the eve of your birthday. Your birth was just at the beginning of my illness. I waited till your birth before I dared consvdt a doctor about the state of my health. Two days afterwards I received the intelligence that I had but a small prospect of recovery. I dared not tell your sainted mother, and as she showed you to me and I stood over her, I seemed to hear the dismal sound, ' A widow, with a baby at her breast ! ' But, I thank God, I had learned the reality of that saying, ' Cast your burden upon the Lord ' — cast it off your mind, cast it upon One able to bear it ; and I have been spared, and the mother was taken, and that baby of which I then seemed to be taking my leave has been for 30 years my comfort and my delight, and in latter years my companion and fellow-labourer. 1871. LETTERS. 105 To the same. 1871. — One of the first sick men I ever visited parochially was when I was at Beckenkain in 1820. He lived in a small cottage on Penge Common. Before he died I took Brand- ram to see him, and he was satisfied that the sick man had received the grace of God, and told me so wlien he came out of the cottage, for I had waited at the door. My sensations at the hope that this was the first-fruits of my ministry I can recall with lively emotions at the present day ; and when I pass by the Brighton Railway, and gaze upon the splendid Crystal Palace, and then at the streets of villas which now cover what I knew as Penge Common, all these present scenes pass as a dissolving view from my mind, and I dwell upon the little two-roomed cottage and its white door, and the extent of common before it reaching up to Norwood, and I think if my life were to begin again how much rather woidd I spend it in conveying to lost souls the light of the Gospel than in many of the great controversies in which it has been my lot to become involved. To Rev. Canon Jarratt on Church Patronage. East Sheeu, July 3, 1871. My dear Jarratt, — I much regret that my health will not allow of my taking the journey to Hull to attend the meet- ing of the patrons of ' Holy Trinity.' No other impedi- ment would have kept me away, as it appears to me that the meeting will be an important one, as to the division of the parish, and the encouragement to build new churches. One question will probably be that of the patronage of such new churches as may be built. My attention has long been given to this subject ; but of late years especially I have been convinced that the safest mode of patronage is that of five elected trustees, with power to fill up their number as vacancies occur. I am myself in several such trusts, and I am always struck by the happy medium be- tween private partiality and anything like party collision. 106 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1871. In so small a number each feels an individual responsibility, yet a desire to give full weight to the judgment of his co- trustees. No form of patronage is free from objections, but I think fewer lie against this than against any other form. In a large parish like Hull it is desirable that the vicar should have some patronage ex officio, but I think it also desirable that the trustee patronage should prevail. I am aware that something may be said in favour of the patron- age being vested in the Diocesan. But having a strong conviction that the Diocesan should be the check upon the patron, and that, as our Church revives, the check will become more needed, I am not disposed to increase the patronage, already very large, of our Bishops. If you think these remarks worth anything, you may communicate them to our co-trustees. To Mrs. Gill on hsr Husband's Death. East Sheen, May 14, 1872. I must, in justice to my own feelings rather than from any claim upon your confidence, express my earnest sympathy with you in your affliction, and my prayers that you may be enabled to take refuge in your Saviour's arms until the severity of this trial is passed over. Such a blow has fallen upon you as must make you stagger for a time. Every future prospect is shaken and broken, even remaining blessings appear as if blighted. Under such circumstances we are invited to lean our whole weight upon an Almighty arm, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. When every other faculty of the mind seems paralysed, one remains and be- comes more lively than ever — -faith in the invisible Saviour, i.e. confidence and repose upon Him as a fatber and friend standing by us, speaking to us, ' Daughter, be of good cheer ! Thy husband is enjoying ineffable happiness in my presence, and till you rejoin him I will supply all your needs.' Yes! my dear friend, when in your desolate chamber the ex- ternal world is a dead blank, then exercise this faith — listen, plead the promise, ' He calleth His sheep by their 1872. LETTERS. 107 names ; ' say ' Be with your desolate child.' Often the Divine response comes with the power of a voice, and always in proportion to our faith and confidence, with a stilling influence which, for a brief time, charms our grief and, when it leaves us, leaves us strengthened for the active duties of our situation. My prayer for you is that you may know by happy experience the certainty of these things. Would that I could offer you any other assistance, hut the infir- mities of age keep me essentially a prisoner to the house, and have deprived me of the means of assisting others in any active way. But the Lord will raise up friends just as you want them. Strange as the words may seem, He will make good to your children the loss of their father by the exercise of His special providence. 108 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 184ft EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. After his wife's death, Mr. Venn's life became more and more absorbed in the work of the Church Missionary Society. What that work was will be shown in the review of his official life, written by one who was long associated with him in the Secretariat. We insert, how- ever, here some few extracts from a journal occasionally kept by him, which will show how completely his life was devoted to that cause. Thursday, November 29th, 1849. — Breakfast with Sir E. Inglis at 9.30 ; only Lady Inglis and Miss Briscoe. To the C. M. House at 12. Incessant callers (by which I mean that in every case a fresh person came in before another bad left the room), till 4 o'clock. Miss A. consulted me about a youug lady who went out as governess to Monrovia. I arranged with Miss A. that Mr. Beale, of Sierra Leone, should convey to her the instruction of her friends in Eng- land to remove at once to Sierra Leone. Mr. Bultmann, from Sierra Leone, fresh and vigorous after six years' resi- dence. Mr. Hough (Colonial Church Society), to consult about sending out a lay agent to Melbourne. Mr. the lay agent. Mr. Dugmore, Q.C., long conversation with him about missionaries' licenses. Consultation with Greenway upon the Association arrangements for next year. Rev. E. G. Marsh, long and earnest discussion with him upon the case of Archdeacon H. Williams. 4 to 5 writing letters, nine in number. Home to dinner. Saturday, December 1st. — To C. M. House. Made arrange- ments for the deputation to Lord Palmerston. Wrote letters. Back to dinner at 2. Mr. Bultmann came to 1840. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 109 dinner, and Mr. Quaker.1 Letters till 5. To C. M. House prayer-meeting. In returning home called on D. Wilson. Returned home about 9. Found E. Elliott. Spent the rest of the evening with him. Tuesday, 4th. — Nicholson breakfasted here, who is to spend the winter at Torquay. E. Elliott went at 9. With Nicholson to C M. House. Letters and business till 12. Went to Bowdler ; had long conference with him. Home at 3.30. Hasty dinner. In phaeton at 4.30 ; Foreign Office as the clock struck 5. Found Lord Waldegrave, Sir R. H. Inglis, Sir E. Buxton, Sir T. Acland, Messrs. Hutton (African merchant), Townsend, Golliner, Major Straith.5 Waiting three-quarters of an hour. Sir R. H. Inglis obliged to leave. Then introduced to Lord Palmerston. Lord Waldegrave briefly stated the matter, and then referred to me. I pointed out on the map the situation of Abeokuta, and the importance of securing the present opening for legitimate commerce by a British Resident at Abeokuta, an armed boat on the lagoon, or a fort at Badagrj-. Lord Palmerston asked many questions, and different members of the deputation took their part in the conversation, which lasted an hour. Lord P. seemed inclined to send an envoy to Abeokuta ; and wait for his report before further steps are taken. Hastened to the London Bridge Railway with Major Straith; by the Croydon rail 7.15. Reached Addin^- ton3 8.45. Friday, 7th. — At C. M. House before 10. Usual prayer-meeting and Scripture. Had intended to call on the Bishop of London, but a flood of callers detained me, without intermission, till 3 o'clock. Among the rest, Captain Layard (Lay Secretary of London Society for Pro- moting Christianity among the Jews), to gain information 1 An African, who was then being trained for the Ministry, and is now Head Master of the Sierra Leone Grammar School. 2 Major Hector Straith, for some years Professor of Fortification at Addiscombe, at that time Lay Sec. C. M. S. 3 Residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury (J. B. Sumner), with whom Mr. Venn was on terms of affectionate intimacy. 110 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1849, about the payment of returned missionaries ; Rev. A. Tidman [Sec. London Miss. Soc] ; Eev. Mr. L., to inquire about curacy ; Mr. Johnson, ditto ; Messrs. Townsend and Gollmer. At 3, Gorham Cause Committee. At 4.30, darted out to catch an omnibus at Westminster Road, which took me to Kennington Gate, where another omnibus was full ; but I stood on the step to save time. To J. Thorntons'. Visited M. T.1 Stayed dinner. Returned home at 11. Saturday, 8th. — After breakfast, to Sir R. Inglis. Sat an hour ; talked over family afflictions. Called upon Baring. Home to dinner at 2. Quaker here. Took a walk with the boys. Returned home. Found two German missionaries. Called upon Mr. C, who seems to me in an anxious state of health. Home to tea. Monday, 10th. — Mr. Simpson and a German mechanic going to Badagry came to breakfast. Spent an hour in preparing for the Committee. Went with Mr. Huber ; sent him on to Watts's printing-house. General Committee at eleven ; very large meeting. Speeches to and from Bishops of Madras and Bombay, both pi-esent to take leave before returning to India. The Bishop of Madras pronounced the benediction. Afterwards I introduced and welcomed Gutz- laff, and he made a short and energetic speech. We then proceeded with the business of the Committee. A proposal was brought forward for adapting the houses in Canonbury Park Villas for the Missionaries' Children's Home ; but the lawyers raised objections respecting the terms of the lease. Wrote letters for two hours after the Committee broke up. Returned home to dinner at 7 with Mr. Johnson going out to Sierra Leone. Spent the evening, from 10 to 12, writing letters. Wednesday, 12th. — To Sir E. Buxton. Arranged with him for the proposed deputation to Lord Grey at 3. To C. M. House. Received a note from Lord G. putting off deputation till Saturday. Sent off messengers to Sir E. Buxton and Sir R. H. Inglis. Called upon Mr. Hutton. 1 An invalid friend whom be visited ministerially for many year?. 1849. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. Ill Consulted with him on the subject of the deputation. He gave a high opinion of Sir W. Winniett, the Governor of Cape Coast, as a zealous opponent of the slave trade and friend of Africa. Returned to the C. M. House. Hastened to the Colonial Office, to explain matters to the members of tbe deputation, in case they should not have received my notes. Went to the Privy Council ; heard Dr. Addams commence his speech on behalf of the Bishop of Exeter. Dined at a hotel. Went to a meeting of the secretaries at tbe London Missionary House at 5.30. Present : Messrs. Tidman, etc. ; Revs. W. Beecham, (Wes- leyan Missionary Society), P. Latrobe (Moravian Missionary Society), and W. Ayerst (London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews), and Mr. Greenway. Con- versation during tea upon African orthography and the ignorance and indifference of the public on missionary sub- jects. Prayer by Dr. Tidman. Subject for discussion, 'Pro- pagation of tbe Gospel in China ' (chiefly about Gutzlaff — ■ his accounts not to be trusted). Returned home, tired out, at 9.30. Saturday, 15th. — In study till 12. Went to Milner Square, to inspect the houses for the Missionaries' Children's Home ; Straith, Smalley,1 and others. Yery small compared with the former, yet thought it possible that they might serve for a year or so. Afterwards inspected the gardens of the Institution, with the view of building the Home on that ground. Called upon Mr. Childe ; 2 talked over the case of two of the students. Returned to dinner. At the Colonial Office, at 3 o'clock. Deputation to Lord Grey, consisting of Sir R. H. Inglis, Sir E. Buxton, Mr. Hutton, Mr. Gollmer, and myself. Sir Robert opened the business. I was astonished at the clearness and forcibleness with which he stated the case, going at once to the point of establishing armed forts on the lagoon. Lord Grey entered intelligently and warmly into the business ; spoke of the 1 Rev. Cornwall Smalley, for many years a Member of Committee. 2 Rev. C. F. Childe, Priucipal of C. M. College (the 'Institution'). 112 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1849. effectiveness of establishing British forts, and his hope that if the forts we proposed could be established, the slave trade would be suppressed north of the Line. Wednesday, \Qth. — Mr. Van Cooten to breakfast; fully explained to him his position and duties upon reaching Africa, viz. that he should explore the openings on every side of Badagry and Abeokuta, making use of his medical knowledge as a passport, and making known the nature of the Gospel and the presence of missionaries at the stations. To the C. M. House. Captain Trotter called ; talked over with him different naval officers suitable for the purpose of the diplomatic mission to Abeokuta. Wrote long despatches to N. India on the appropriation of the Jubilee Fund, also to the Bishop of Victoria. At our Committee was very minute and pertinacious upon questions connected with the exercise of authority within the Mission ; but as he is the most able and peace- able member of that Committee, I was well aware that his only object was to take away all occasion of collision, and therefore dealt tenderly and patiently with him when others were disposed to cut him short. How liable we are to mis- take each other ! January 1st, 1850. — Took leave of Golhner on his way to Plymouth. Captain Trotter met us, cheered by the en- couragement given to Gollmer by Admiral Beaufort, of the Admiralty, and by many others. Wrote official letters to Abeokuta. Home to dinner, at 2. Went with my boys to buy philosophical apparatus for their electrical experiments ; out two hours ; the first I have been able to devote to their amusement since their holidays began. Journal and tea till 7.30. January loth. — After breakfast, boys' lessons for two hours. Walked with them, and inquired about furniture for Children's Home till dinner. 2.30 to C. M. House. Straith confined at home by illness. Opening and answer- ing letters and reading despatches from Abeokuta till 6. To Brompton. Went first to Dicey's, then to Caroline ; the 1850. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 113 first evening I have been able to reach her house, though it is six weeks since she entered it. Returned home at 10.30. Writing till 1. Friday, 18th.— To C. M. House at 10. Secretaries' prayer meeting. Letter to Madras. Dr. for half an hour ; a tale of domestic sorrows. It is a sad fact that a stripling just ordained, and utterly ignorant of the work of the ministry, is sure to be preferred, both to the curacies and livings of our Church, before those who are worn out in its hardest services. Called on the Bishop of London ; ex- plained to him the case of Archdeacon H. Williams ; gave him S. Crowther's letter upon the suitableness of our Liturgy for the use of his countrymen, with which he was much delighted.1 Called and sat an hour with M. T. ; spoke of the believer's privilege of regarding his sufferings not in their original penal nature, but as forming a part of that weight which was transferred to the Saviour, all the bitterness of which He bore for us, leaving us only a few drops of present pain, and mingling with them many consolations. Had He borne away from us every particle of suffering, how could 1 The following is the passage mentioned above : — I am glad to have been able to send the Epistle to the Romans, and the portion of the Liturgy proposed for the present use of our Mission. I was obliged to tax myself, notwithstanding other urgent duties, that I might accomplish this desirable end. I wish we bad them already for our use, but the delay has its advantage ; some translated portions have been upwards of five years in use, and have had a fair trial among the people. The devout language and comprehensive prayers of our excellent Liturgy are becoming those of the people who hitherto knew no other prayers than like those recorded in the 18th chapter of the first Book of Kings : ' 0 Baal, hear us,' give us a long life, give us children, give us money, and kill all our enemies ! The most bigoted idolaters who attended our Church Service were struck with the charitableness of Christianity, and remarked, on the use of the Litany, ' They pray, not only for themselves, and for all in general, but specifically, and for their enemies also.' My attachment to the use of the Liturgy has not in the least abated ; but, on the contrary, siuce I have been sifting various portions in translating them into my native tongue, I have found its beauty sparkle brighter and brighter. Scriptural in its language, and very well adapted for public service, I can find no substitute for my countrymen. I 114 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1850. we be conformed to His example, how ' take up our cross and follow ' Him ? Returned to C. M. House. Dined at the ' Portugal.' From 3.45 to 7.45 dictating Minutes of the last Committee. Returned home at 8.30. Monday, 28th. — From 9 till 1 engaged without inter- mission in the investigation of the Yoruba language and the translation of the Prayer-book. Wednesday, 30th. — Called at on my way to office. Detained a whole hour in trifling matters ; but if any great work is to be accomplished, the least in my line, the prime mover must be content to throw away many hours. Wrote a long letter to Lady to explain the difference between the S. P. G. and C. M. S. ! Straith came in to tell me there was a Romish priest below desirous of -seeing one of the clerical secretaries. I begged him to walk up, and the Hon. Mr. Spencer made his appearance in a monk's habit and various insignia about his dress. He told me that he came to endeavour to persuade us to unite in prayer for a union of all Christians in the truth. I suggested to him that it would be better to pray for union with Christ, for that if we were all united to Him, we should be infallibly united with each other. Hastened to Sir E. Buxton's, to a meeting of Abolitionists ; present, Lord Monteagle, Gurney, Gurney Hoare, Captain Denman, Captain Trotter, Captain Beecroft. Two hours' discussion upon Parliamentary tactics for the Session. Agreed that the squadron must be main- tained ; and that, if possible, the present protecting duty upon free sugar should be retained for a few years longer. Called afterwards upon M. T. Home at 7. Thursday, SXst. — Went to call upon the Bishop of Bombay, to talk over the case of Mr. Candy and the Bombay Mission generally. The Bishop is a thoroughly devoted, simple-minded Christian. Went to C. M. House. Called on Sir Digby Mackworth at the National Club, to talk with him about the Society's interests in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire. Dined with Patteson at Chelsea. Met Burgess, Newell, and others. Attended the C. M. S. annual meeting in the schoolroom adjoining Trinity Church. 1850. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 115 Friday, February 1st. — Writing till 12. Attended Com- mittee of Visitors at Institution. Returned to early dinner. Went to C. M. House, despatching letters. Home at 7. Two German missionaries to tea with Schlienz — Messrs. Zimmerman and Lochler — who are going to the Basle Mission in Danish Accra ; very intelligent, pleasing young men. Long discussion after tea upon the orthography of West African languages. Sunday, 3rd. — Preached at S. John's, Bedford Row. Called upon M. T., intending to proceed to Clapham for evening service. Found her in great suffering. Stayed with her nearly two hours. Detained on my way another hour with another sad case of affliction. Did not reach Clapham till near 6. My first call was to another afflicted friend ; a third sad tale of woe. Went on to make a fourth call, and to listen to a fourth recital of unhappiness. Wednesday, 6th. — To C. M. House. Met the funeral of J. H. Brasier at the London Bridge Station; his brother, H. Brasier, Whish, and myself, the only mourners. I per- formed the service, and had a perfect recollection of my father's performing the service over his father in the year 1808. As we passed through Camberwell, Brasier's early recollections were vividly recalled of the various persons who had inhabited the different houses. My thoughts ran upon the generation before that, when my grandfather used to visit Camberwell, and of the many holy conversations and fervent prayers which the house in the Terrace had been witness to. Especially, as I stood over the grave, and looked upon the back of those houses, which recalled many an early recollection, I remembered paying a visit to Mrs. Brasier immediately after her husband's death, and then I first saw a well-known countenance shrouded in widow's weeds ; the calmness and solemnity of her appearance are still vividly impressed upon my mind. Friday, \5th. — To C. M. House ; Secretaries' prayer meet- ing at 10. From 10.30 to 4.30, a succession of callers with- out one moment's intermission, some one always in the room i 2 116 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1850. with me ; an hour and a half, letters, and Committee minutes ; dined at a hotel ; home. Peyton for an hour in the evening. The callers were : Tuclcer, on many important general ques- tions. Thomas, of Tinnevelly, on his plans for returning to India, and the means of establishing a Native Ministry. Blackburn, formerly our missionary in Tinnevelly, who re- turned home and took a living, and now wishes to return to India ; I hope he may be able to go. Peyton, on West African matters. Dr. Laing, a German, ordained in America by the Bishop of Louisiana. Brandram, to inquire about the meeting on board the ' Sir G. Pollock,' which appears to have got into the newspapers. Mr. Fremantle 1 gave me an affecting account of the death of Spencer Thornton. Saturday, March 2nd. — Called on Mr. — . I expected to have trouble in bringing him round ; but, on the other hand, he instantly adopted my ideas, promised to look into the subject, and give me every assistance in his power. This is another instance whenever you expect opposition, to go to meet it, if possible, and if you have honest men to deal witb, to go openly to work. Delivery of Judgment by Privy Council in Gorham's Case. Friday, 8th. — After breakfast to C. M. House. At 1.30 Pettitt, John, and I went to Council Chamber, the doors were not opened ; a great crowd in the streets. While waiting, Sir R. Price drove up, and I took advantage of his entree ; a friend of his took us up into the Library. . . . When the doors were opened we made a rush, and reached the left-hand corner. ... At length the space beyond us being filled, the press partially subsided. The Judgment then commenced ; it was long before I could realize the solemnity of the scene after the pressure and confusion that we had endured. Lord Langdale read the Judgment with great clearness and emphasis, and in that part which quoted the Burial Service, the recollection that those words had on the previous day been pronounced over his brother gave a sacred interest to the reading. Round the Council Table 1 Now Deau of Ripon. 1850. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 117 sat Lords Brougham, Campbell, and others ; in the next circle of chairs were Lord Carlisle and many others ; the avenues on each side of the room were crowded; in front of the Council Table were lawyers and a few select persons, and then the dense mass of the public wedged in to every inch of space allotted to strangers. The various emotions de- picted upon the countenances reminded me of Raffaelle's cartoon of 6 Paul Preaching at Athens.' My own mind was in a kind of trance at hearing such sound and Protestant sentiments propounded by the highest judicial authority of the kingdom. The Judgment was a more decided and com- plete vindication of the liberty of our Church than I had dared to hope for. . . At the conclusion the shouts, evi- dent^ involuntary, ejaculations of ' Bravo ! ' from many a beaming countenance, the start which it occasioned to the Lords of the Council, and the eager hush of the officers gave a somewhat ludicrous turn. The Court was then cleared. In the porch at the bottom of the stairs many of us assembled to congratulate each other upon the result. Pettitt returned to Highbury. Home to dinner at 6.30. At 7 Pettitt's lecture in the Chapel -of-ease schoolroom. Home at 9.30. Monday, 11th. — After breakfast, talk with Mr. Schlienz. To C. M. House, General Committee Meeting. ... To the Eclectic,1 subject, ' The Hiding of God's Countenance,' pro- posed and seconded by Noel,2 who affirmed that sin was the only cause, and that as far as we lived without sin all was unvaried sunshine. I could only say, 'Thank God, if it is so with you ! ' Then came Hambleton,3 with his solid expe- rience and weight of good sense, pointing out seven distinct causes for the hiding of God's countenance, of which sin was undoubtedly the first, the last being to make us long the more ardently for the day when 4 we shall know even as 1 An old-establiahed clerical society, held in the vestry of S. John's, Bedford Row. 2 The Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel. 3 The Rev. John Hambleton, for many years Incumbent of the Chapel of Ease, Islington. 118 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1850 we are known,' and hidings of that blessed Countenance shall have passed away for ever. I came away before my turn arrived, or I should have said there were three stages in our spiritual progress : first, reconciliation with God through Christ; secondly, the sense of reconciliation, which is peace; thirdly, the joy of salvation through the light of His Countenance lifted up upon us. The first is the privilege of all God's people at all times ; the second the ordinary privilege of His faithful servants ; the third the occasional privilege of His favoured ones. Journal till 10. Writing till 1.30. Thursday, April Ath. — Began letter- writing at 7.30. Half an hour allowed for breakfast ; half an hour occupied in going to C. M. House, left off writing at 5.30 ; home to dinner. Sat down to Report at 8. Friday, October llth. — Left home at 8.30 to breakfast with Chevalier Bunsen ; 1 large family party and Lady Baffles. After breakfast went with Bunsen into his study for two hours. . . . discussed the question of East African dis- covery, and some attacks which had been made upon Dr. Krapf's discoveries, in Berlin ; also African philology, both Eastern and Western. He was much interested by the information I gave him respecting the syllabic systems of orthography among the Cherokees and Cree Indians. He then gave me an account of the progress he had made in the study of Chinese ; he showed me a thick quarto book with a large quantity of Chinese writing. This led to my in- forming him of a key for finding Chinese words in the dictionary, which Mr. Edwin Norris 2 had invented and ex- plained to me. Bunsen then told me there was one other matter for which he had been anxious to see me — that next Monday was the King's birthday ; that he had long been in the habit of writing him a private letter, to reach him upon each anniversary, and should therefore send one by this 1 The late Prussian Ambassador took a warm interest in the philo- logical labours of the C. M. S., and showed unremitting kindness to its German agents. 2 Of the Foreign Office, and Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society. 1850. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 119 evening's post, and he wished to have the last information from Jerusalem and from East Africa, to cheer the King's heart, and turn his thoughts for a brief interval from the cares of State. I left him the last letter of Bishop Gobat and a paper of Dr. Krapf's, which he said he would enclose to the King. Upon leaving Bunsen, I went to the Bishop of London and obtained an early interview with him. T explained our wish to procure ordination for the students recently arrived from Basle. He entered very kindly into the matter, and said he should always be ready to do any- thing which the Society might wish, if it was in his power. . . . After I had left the Bishop, the servant called me back ; the Bishop said there was a subject on which he felt anxious to say a word to me ; he had heard on the Con- tinent much about the Exhibition of 1851, multitudes of strangers would come over, and something ought to be done to show that we were Christians, and had religion at heart. He had ascertained from authority that no exhibition what- ever was to be allowed on Sunday ; but he thought that the Church of England ought to provide special services, not only by opening our own cathedrals, and perhaps other churches, with a special view to the occasion ; but also by providing rooms, or temporary churches, for the French and German Protestants for their own services. He thought, a Com- mittee should be formed for these arrangements, and that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishops of London and Winchester should take the lead. On my way to the C. M. House called on John Cunningham 1 at King's College, to consult about Crowther's attendance at the lectures. At C. M. House, incessant callers. At 3.30 got a snatch of dinner, and reached Sir T. D. Acland's at 4, Jermyn Street. Meeting consisted of Lord Harrowby, Mr. Barclay, C. Buxton, and others. Much discussion respecting the wording of a manifesto in support of the African squadron. We did not separate till past 7. Saturday, 12th. — Took S. Crowther to King's College and ' J. W. Cunningham, Esq., Secretary to King's College. 120 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1850. made arrangements for his attendance at the lectures of Chemistry and Anatomy. Saturday, February 12, 1851. — Letters at home till 11, viz. to Vidal, encouraging him to consent to be nominated Bishop of Sierra Leone ; to the Eev. Dr. Tyng, of the American Episcopal Church, in answer to his overtures for supplying their missions with Englishmen; to the Basle Missionary Society, etc., etc. To C. M. House ; wrote letters — to the Times on the allusions in Milner Gibson's speech, to the Foochow Missionaries, etc. ; home. Evening, preparing for missionary sermons on Sunday. Sunday, 16th. — Preached morning and evening for the Society at Hampstead. Monday, 17th. — Accounts till 10. Went to Buckingham Palace by appointment, to see Colonel Phipps resj^ecting the negro girl from Dahomey, the Queen anxious to have her sent to Sierra Leone. I could promise no missionary till November as escort, and advised her being sent to a board- ing school in the interval. The matter was to be referred again to the Queen. Wednesday, 19th.— To C. M. House ; then to Mr. Weeks ; 1 met him near the Eoman Catholic Chapel, St. George's Fields, near which is the proposed site of his new Church ; an admirable situation. ... I promised to write to the Bishop of Winchester and to the Archbishop, to induce them personally to inspect the district and sanction this arrange- ment. Saturday, 22nd. — Mr. and Mrs. Blumhardt to breakfast. At 10 I christened Mr. Weitbrecht's baby in the chapel of ease. At 10.45 to Shoreditch, and by rail to Cambridge ; Eev. J. H. Fitzpatrick accompanied me. . . . Upon our arrival called on Nicholson,2 Dealtry, etc. Dined in hall at Queens' . . . met a small party of gownsmen after hall, whom I and Fitzpatrick addressed. Attended chapel at 6 ; met Cooper of Trinity for an hour at Professor Scholefield's, 1 The Rev. J. W. Weeks, for twenty years missionary in Sierra Leone, at that time incumbent designate of S. Thomas', Lambeth, afterwards Bishop of Sierra Leone. 2 Rev. J. Y. Nicholson, Fellow of Emmanuel College. 1830. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 121 upon the affairs of Melbourne ; met a large party of young men at Nicholson's rooms at 8. Fitzpatrick and I again addressed them ; a very interesting meeting, though no sub- sequent inquiries, as in some former instances. Separated at 11. Sunday, 23rd. — A quiet breakfast at the hotel. I preached at Great S. Andrew's, Fitzpatrick at S. Paul's ; a very large number stayed the Sacrament, near 200. I had just time to reach S. Mary's at 2. University sermon preached by Grote of Trinity on the character of S. Barnabas, whom he spoke of as a man of generous, lofty disposition, candid towards others and trustful, binding together the Jewish and Gentile sections of the Church, and so preventing an early schism between Jerusalem and Antioch. In the evening I preached at S. Mary's. Afterwards met the young men in Carus's 1 rooms, where Fitzpatrick and I again addressed them ; about 100 present. Monday, 2*Wi. — Left Cambridge at 9.15. Came to High- bury, wrote letters. Early dinner, went to Prot. Defence Com- mittee at 3. To C. M. House, letters for India mail till 6.30. Saturday, Marchlhth. — Went by express to Manchester, to Eev. K. Frost's. Sunday, 16th. — Preached, morning at Pendleton, evening at Frost's church, S. Matthias ; greatly admired the strong, healthy, vivacious appearance of the people. A row of Sunday School teachers, who looked as if each could manage a class of fifty unruly children, particularly attracted my attention. Monday, 11th. — Thomas Clegg, who has taken so much interest in Sierra Leone, breakfasted with us ; a straightfor- ward, business-like man, who strongly pressed upon me the encouragement of indigo, cochineal, and silkworms. Made several calls ; saw two or three schools. In describing the schools in a letter to my children,2 I stated that they seemed 1 Rev. Canon Cams, at that time Fellow and Senior Dean of Trinity College. 2 In the private letter referred to, he says : — ' I am much interested by the character of the Manchester people; rough, independent, but hearty; thorough men of business, ... I have been to several schools, the very children carry iudopendence and power in their looks; no uniformity in 122 MEMOIE OF THE REV. HEXEY VENN. 1850. to me on the edge of rebellion. I was not a little amused that Mr. Frost's boys' and girls' school had each been in actual rebellion during the past year. Tuesday, 18th. — Large breakfast party ; S to well, Birch, Powell, and others, interesting general conversation. At 2.30 a luncheon, given by the lay members of the Committee, to about a hundred clergymen, whom I had to address for about an hour. Afterwards adjourned to the Free Trade Hall, about 4,000 said to be present ; meeting lasted till 4.30, the interest sustained to the last by Stowell's concluding speech. Wednesday, 19th. — Returned to London. Thursday, 20th. — Mr. Crowther and his family breakfasted here ; went with them to the Exhibition ; stayed till 4, re- turned home. Mrs. Clarke and two daughters and two sons, Mr. Procknow, a converted Brahmin (Rev. — Saundanya), and Mr. Herring from Wiirtemburg to dinner. In evening Rev. T. Miller and Mrs. Miller. Saturday, 22nd. — To C. M. House, before 11 ; a call from his Highness Prince Schonberg of Waldenberg, a munificent patron of the Moravian Missions. He made many inquiries about our Missions, with which he was intelligently ac- quainted. Then to the Foreign Office, where Lord Palmer- ston had appointed a meeting with S. Crowther. "Went to Lord P.'s private residence, had an interview of nearly an hour. Lord P. thoroughly investigated the circumstances of Abeokuta and the late Dahomian War ; showed great interest in the subject, and listened with much kindness to all our remarks. . . . Then went with S. Crowther and his son to Kew Gardens ; Sir W. Hooker not at home, spent our time in the Museum ; met in the Gardens the family of Chevalier Bunsen, returned home to dinner at 6.30. Friday, November 26th. — Called, on way to Salisbury Square, at a foreign clockmaker's, and chose five clocks as presents for the chiefs at Abeokuta. — At the office, spent dress or cut hair, but ringlets, necklaces, lace finery, etc. The teachers, with eagle eyes and full of life, keeping up their authority as if they thought that the whole school was on the point of rising in rebellion. It does one good sometimes to visit places where everything is thus stirring. 1850. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 123 three hours, amidst many interruptions, in correcting the Sierra Leone paper. Admiral Hope and Mr. Tait called upon the subject of West Indian distress. Mr. Fenn called, and discussed for some time Ceylon affairs ; also Messrs. Hinderer, Allen, and Hensman, to whom I expounded the principles upon which they were to encourage native industry and lawful commerce, without involving the Mission in the charge of trading. Mr. and Mrs. Paley and Miss Sealey came ; took leave of them on the departure of Mr. and Mrs. P. for Abeokuta. . . . Went to Clapham, dined at John Thornton's : home at 9. Thursday, December 2nd. — Breakfasted with L. at Sir R. H. Inglis's, present Lord Glenelg, Sir T. D. Acland, Sir C. Lemon, Dean of Norwich, and others. I sat next Mr. Bentham, a botanical writer. I obtained much useful in- formation respecting African botany, as he had edited Hooker's ' Flora of the Niger ; ' talked with Sir T. D. Acland ; to the S. P. C. K., to discuss the case of Pitcairn's Island. Friday, 3rd. — Writing letters for Africa, to prepare the Sierra Leone missionaries for the Bishop's arrival and a new Church constitution, to induce the Chief Justice to act on the Finance Committee, and to stir up Mr. — , the mer- chant, to promote the growth of cotton. Also to Lagos and Abeokuta to heal a dissension, to establish an institu- tion^ for Native teachers upon a right basis, and to stir up the missionaries to branch out in answer to the earnest invi- tations from the neighbouring tribes. Met a committee at the new Children's Home. Afterwards to Salisbury Square, finished African letters. Home at 7. Tuesday, 7th. — Hasty dinner at 5 ; returned to write letters till 7. Then to Mr. Weeks' School in Lambeth ; 500 poor people assembled, 300 at least were men ; the room decorated with evergreens, banners, garlands, etc. Lord Shaftesbury came from the House of Lords to preside at the opening of the Schools ; the rain was pouring and the mud intolerable ; the heat of the room most oppressive. We broke up at near 10. Thursday, 9th.— Writing till 11. CM. House. Writing 124 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1850i for an hour, then to Whitechapel Gate, per omnibus ; thence in cab to Hani House, Mr. S. Gurney's. Rev. and Mrs. F. Cunningham, Miss Gurney, and Captain Trotter at dinner. Mrs. and Miss Birkbeck came in the evening. As soon as we had sat down to dinner Mr. Gurney began to ask me about cotton in West Africa, and after I had given him a few facts to show the success of the experiment, and mentioned that I had sent out a press and machinery to the amount of 200L, he interposed, 'And is it paid for? ' 'No,' I replied, ' only half.' ' Then,' he rejoined ; ' I will give the remainder, Henry Venn, on one condition, that thou wilt apply to me for another 100L whenever thou wantest it.' The evening passed most agreeably in talking over Africa, and reading some late letters. Came home with Captain Trotter as far as the station at Bow, just hit the last train, which brought me to Highbury in ten minutes. Friday, 17th. — Bad cold; went to C. M. House at 11. Found Messrs. Brown and Phillips from the Bible Society, wanting to consult me about the Jubilee ; strongly advised them to procure for their public tracts a review of the ser- vices which the Society had rendered by promoting transla- tions from the Scriptures, which might interest literary cha- racters, also to procure from the Bishops of Cashel and Cal- cutta their testimonies to the work of the Society in Ireland and India. Long interview with Keene,1 of Oxford, who had just passed the Bishop of London's examination. Conference with the secretaires . . . letters, dinner at ' Portugal.' At 6 went to attend a missionary meeting at Hitchcock's, in S. Paul's Churchyard. Had little conception of what it was to be ; was conducted upstairs to a parlour, where Mr. Hitch- cock, Mr. Owen, with a number of other gentlemen, were assembled ; soon ladies also began to arrive, all in evening dress. I was introduced by Mr. Owen to his son from Oxford, by Mr. Hitchcock to his son, who had just returned from an extensive tour through Egypt and Palestine. Robert Bickersteth,2 and the Rev. W. Arthur (Secretary of Weslej^an 1 Rev. W. Keene, B.A., afterwards missionary in the Punjab. 2 Now Bishop of Ripon. 18o0 EXTEACTS FItOM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 125 Missionary Society) also arrived. Soon the gentlemen conducted the ladies down three flights of narrow stairs, belonging to the dwelling-house in Paternoster Row; then we entered the spacious shop, which had changed its usual appearance, and seemed like an anteroom, well lighted, and with a profusion of drapery. Ascending the circular stair- case in the middle the spacious upper showroom presented a magical appearance — garlands and evergreens, festoons and Chinese lanterns, tables laid out for tea and coffee, and 200 shopmen and shopwomen animated the scene. We were then conducted through an alcove, covered with evergreens, and lighted with numerous jets of gas, to the steps of a kind of platform, on which the head table was placed ; the whole company seated themselves, and tea and coffee were served, Grace being admirably sung in parts both before and afterwards. When the cloth was withdrawn, the tables vanished like magic, chairs were placed in rows, and the whole company in a few minutes were cmietly seated, as at an ordinary missionary meeting. A hymn was then sung, prayer offered, and Mr. Hitchcock gave an address, in a style marked by simplicity, intelligence, and good prac- tical sense. He began by praising God that they had been spared to celebrate the eleventh anniversary of the Missionary Society connected with the members of his establishment. He gave all the praise to God's free and undeserved grace, which had first brought him to a sense of his sin and danger, and had then led him to Christ as his refuge, and given him the blessed assurance of the pardon of his sins. He blessed God that he had been enabled from that day to put his whole establishment on a Christian footing, that he had been sup- ported and assisted by a large and increasing body in his establishment, and that many had gone free from his house to set up establishments of their own in different parts of the country, with the determination of acting upon the same principles. The gradual increase of the Missionary spirit to the present day, was a proof that the work was still going forward. He could appeal to the members of his 126 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1850. establishment now assembled before him, that he desired above all things they might be truly ' born again of the Spirit,' that he had been faithful with each of them in pri- vate, and that notwithstanding manifold infirmities and defi- ciencies, he was yet striving himself to act up to the standard which he placed before them. He then reviewed the mercies and the judgments of the past year ; his own family mercies ; the good health enjoyed by the members of his establish- ment ; their protection from robberies, fire, and bad debts ; the prosperity of their business. He spoke also of the judg- ments of the year, the sudden death of one of their number, and the death, by consumption, of another much-loved senior who had lately died at Taunton, and read a touching account from the minister who attended him in his last illness. . . . One of the shopmen then read a well- written essay upon the advantages of Missions to the human race, and announced the sum contributed during the year to have been above 100Z., divided between seven Home and Foreign Missionary Soci- eties. The meeting was then addressed by Bickersteth on behalf of Irish Church Missions, the Secretary of the City Mission, myself, and Mr. Arthur, concluding with the Hun- dredth Psalm. We separated at 10.30. Monday, 20th. — Letters till 11 ; called upon German Mis- sionaries in Myddelton Square, on my way to C. M. House. Sir R. H. Inglis called. At 12, meeting of the Christian Observer Committee. Much talk respecting improving the character of the Reviews. . . . Agreed to issue an appeal for the extension of the circulation. Mr. and Mrs. Pugh called to consult me about going out to Bishop's College, Cal- cutta. . . . Letters and correcting proof-sheets till 6. Dinner at ' Portugal.' To M. T. Home at 11. Monday, 21th.— To C. M. H. at 10.30; 11.30 commenced foreign despatches — Yoruba, East Africa, Jerusalem, China, Ceylon, South India, all arrived by that post. Read inces- santly till 4.30; got half through. Letter- writing for an hour. Home to dinner. Dr. and Mrs. Pearson,1 Knight, 1 Formerly Dean of Salisbury. 1852. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 127 Mrs. Weeks, M. F. and C. Dr. Pearson very lively and amus- ing. A number of curious anecdotes well told, illustrating the change of things in the Church during the last half century. . . . Friday, February 4th, 1852.— To C. M. House by 10. Let- ters to Dr. Carpenter, of Manchester, to counteract the im- pression that the C. M. S. wanted no more money till a revival in the Church should supply them with men. Also to who had invited the C. M. S. to join in a gala day for Mis- sions of the Church, at which Colonial Bishops and Judges were to grace an evening meeting — the object was to ex- hibit unity of action between S. P. G. and C. M. S., and to establish a Missionary Union for Paddington. Endeavoured to show in my answer the fallacy of such unions, without giving offence or occasion of reproach. Tuesday, 8th. — To C. M. House ; Corresponding Com- mittee. Dr. Irving attended, nine years navy surgeon upon the West African Station. He had visited Abeokuta with Captain Poote, and spent four days there. He spoke in the very highest terms of the prospects of the Mission and of the Yoruba tribe ; he had not previously believed that the negro existed in so amiable and civilised a state. He re- garded Abeokuta as the brightest hope for Africa. He attended S. Crowther's Church on Sunday with Captain Foote ; it was crowded in every part, more than 300 present. Every individual eager and attentive. Every one making the responses. . . . Committee broke up at 3. Wrote letters to India till G.30. Dinner at ' Portugal.' Eeached M. T. at 7.30. Home at 10. Thursday, 10th. — Wilson, Mesac Thomas,1 Arthur Stock, Williams to breakfast. Conversation upon the prospects of Colonial Church Legislation. To C. M. House. Home to dinner. Lord Chichester came at 8.30. Long discussion upon Sierra Leone Church Constitution. Sat up till 1, dis- cussing sundry interesting matters. Saturday, Wth.— To C. M. House at 9. Writing letters 1 Secretary of Colonial Church and School Society, now Bishop of Goulburn. 128 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1852. till 5, for the outgoing India mail. Dinner at ' Portugal.' At 5.30 met all the clerks of the office at tea for half an hour, according to a new arrangement before the prayer meeting. Went to M. Home at 11.30. Friday, 25th. — Reached 0. M. House at 9.30. Conference with brother secretaries. Letters and callers. ... At 2.30 went to Committee to support Miss Walsh's school at Con- stantinople. We met at the Malta College Room. Present, Lord Hai'rowby, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe (Sir Stratford Canning), A. Kinnaird, etc. We had only to agree on a short address, but sat for about an hour. I narrowly watched the most celebrated diplomatist in the British service. His appearance and manner are impressive ; high forehead, mild countenance but penetrating look ; cautious, but no appearance of reserve ; very definite and clear in all his remarks. I could easily understand the unbounded influence which he is said to have possessed throughout Turkey. A native of Constantinople, whose father is one of the native merchants and treasurer of Miss Walsh's School, was there, and from him I learned a few particulars which make me apprehensive that they will find it difficult to act out their Protestant principles with the large proportion of Greek young ladies who now compose their establishment. . . . March 5th.— Went with Mr. Koelle to breakfast at Che- valier Bunsen's. Exhibited to him the wonderful results of Mr. K.'s investigation of the languages of Africa. After- wards Mr. K. was engaged with a map-seller and other persons in the dining-room. I had a long conversation with Bunsen alone in his study. . . . We stayed with him till past 12, and then went to Mr. Edwin Norris at the Royal Asiatic Society, who had compiled the comparative voca- bulary of eight African languages for the Niger Expe- dition, and also a Bournu grammar from S. Barth's papers, and was therefore fully prepared to appreciate Mr. Koelle's labours in both departments ; but, as he said, he was perfectly overwhelmed at the magnitude and importance of them. He eagerly conversed for three-quarters of an hour, till he was called down to attend a Board Meeting. ... At 1852. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 129 6 went to William Goode, to read over to him a critique on the Gorham Judgment and the Bishop of London's Charge ; obtained from him many useful corrections. The extent and accuracy of his knowledge on such subjects is astonishing. Wednesday, 9th.— To C. M. House at 10. At 10.30 went to S. Paul's ; 1 found the doors of the choir not opened, a crowd pressing upon them, nobody knowing what to do. No ar- rangements had been made at what door the Archbishop would enter. At length, the Dean asked me to collect some members of the Committee to meet the Archbishop. I went to do so, but turning round I saw the Archbishop wedging his way through the crowd to the vestry. . . . Service began, and I remained at the east end of the stalls to be ready for my dissenting brethren, who dropped in one by one. ... At length the Archbishop ascended the pulpit, read devoutly the Collect, ' Blessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures,' &c. ; and gave out the text, ' Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters,' &c. He spoke of the source of all light and life in this fallen world in the work of the Holy Spirit often vouch- safed in a small measure, at other times poured out in rich abundance, but never wholly withdrawn ; that man's wisdom consisted in watching the precious seasons for ' sending forth the feet of the ox and the ass,' and ' sowing the good seed beside all waters.' He then reviewed the rise of the Bible Society, the impulse given by the constraining love of Christ in the hearts of those who had felt His preciousness, the manifest guidance and blessing of God upon their humble yet mighty undertaking. He traced the way in which God had led them ' these forty years,' sometimes trying them by fears from within, sometimes by scorn and opposition from without, but now giving them abundant testimony that the work was His own. He touched with admirable skill the union of all denominations, and the supremacy of Scripture over every other ordinance of God, that though in His ordi- nary dispensations the missionary was needed to carry the 1 A special service in S. Paul's Cathedral on the occasion of the Jubilee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. K 130 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1852. Bible in his hand, yet in many instances He had proved that the Bible alone was omnipotent for the enlightening and conversion of the sonl. He spoke of the multitude of new- translations, and amidst other noble names, could not on this occasion avoid mentioning those of Carey, Martyn, and Mor- rison. He then looked forward to the future prospects of the Church, and trusted there were brighter days at hand, for which God was preparing the way by the diffusion of His own blessed Word. The tone, the spirit, the substance, the con- struction of the sermon, were altogether worthy of the occa- sion, and gradually seemed to change the scene and to lift us all above the atmosphere of a cathedral service into that higher region where denominational distinctions shall be for ever cast aside with other ' childish things.' . . . Dr. Duff 1 expressed in the warmest terms his thankfulness to God for having been present that day. Dr. Beecham 2 assured me that his whole heart and soul went with every word of the sermon, and he could not have desired any other word to have been added. Tuesday, 1 5th. — Koelle in the evening; three hours' hard discussion upon Chinese orthography. . . . Thursday, 24th. — Mr. Koelle called to show me the map and the classification of the African languages. He has col- lected specimens of 151 languages, and it may be reasonably concluded that there must be as many more of which we do not yet know the names. How shall all these read ' in their own tongues, wherein they were born, the wonderful works of God?' Saturday, 26th. — To C. M. House before 10. Determined to minute my engagements. One hour opening letters ; 20 minutes for 2 days' newspapers ; 40 minutes writing 8 letters. Mrs. V. called and kept me three-quarters of an hour. Stu- dents from the Training School, and Hassan from the Col- lege, one quarter of an hour. Mrs. over the grievances of her widowhood, and memoir of her husband, one hour and a-half. Chevalier Bunsen, three-quarters of an hour, who 1 Free Church of Scotland. 2 Sec. Wesleyan Missionary Society. 1854. EXTKACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 131 came to inquire about the latest accounts of East Africa and Palestine, for his annual letter on the King's bh-thday. Drawing-up minutes of Tuesday's Committee, 2 hours, ended at 5 minutes past 5. To ' Portugal,' for dinner, and back to the office at 5.30. Tea and coffee with the clerks till 6. Prayer meeting till 6.30. Home. Tuesday, March 29th. — C. M. House 10 minutes before 10. Watts, the printer, Koelle, Mr. E. Norris, and several mem- bers of Committee ; entered into long discussion as to the form in which Mr. Koelle's Polyglot should be printed, and his researches displayed on the map. Immediately after- wards in committee to consider what could be done for the foreign heathen who visit London. . . . Two hours writing letters. Home to dinner. Dr. Schoell, Koelle, Knight here ; question of orthography thoroughly discussed. Saturday, July 9th. — I have been fully occupied from morning to morning ; i.e. from 8 o'clock one morning till 1 or 2 the next, in order to clear off a multitude of things, and prepare the house for painters. It is work, work, work all day and night for me. I exhibited a piece of African wood yesterday morning to Sir W. Hooker, at a breakfast party at Sir T. Acland's ; he sent me to a turner, near Charing Cross, who viewed it in a very different way from L., and at once pronounced it to be four or five times as valuable as ebony. It is called African black wood ; it is well known in the trade, but they could never tell where it grows. He said it was worth 6d. or 8d. a pound at a wholesale price, and that it could not be bought retail at any price, because the turners who buy it value it so much. Monday, January 30th, 1854. — Another long day at Che- valier Bunsen's about the Alphabet. . . . Wednesday, February 1st. — Another 4 hours this morning at Chevalier Bunsen's. At the last, one of the persons present, Professor Wheatstone, brought out a talking machine, which very distinctly pronounced ' Mamma, some rum.' Had my eyes been shut I should have taken my oath that it was a young 132 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1854. girl of 10 years old. Various other letters and sounds were then formed, which helped us more than all our talk as to the real nature of various letters. Mr. Babbage and Sir John Herschel were also present, and a very interesting discussion took place, in which it was laid down and admitted that a machine might be made to speak by keys, &c, as in a piano. Saturday, February 4:th. — Another whole day at Chevalier Bunsen's. I left home at 9 and it is now past 5 before I reach the office. ... In the end separated wider apart than when we began, such is the inherent difficulty in the questions at issue. . . . Thursday, Mar eli 16th. — Left home at 8. By change of omnibus thrown out in time. Did not reach Westminster till 9.15. Too late for Lambeth, so breakfasted at a hotel. Arrived at the palace at 10. The Archbishop in his study. Entered with him upon the Colonial Church Bill. He told me that he had expressed to Sir J. Pakington his wish that clauses should be introduced to secure the Royal supremacy and the standards of faith and worship, and that 1 was at liberty to mention his wish. . . . After an hour's most pleasant chat, went to Dalton's in Cockspur-street. Met a deputation of our Committee to determine upon the course of proceeding in the House of Commons upon the Colonial Church Bill. . . . They all wished me to print a paper which I had drawn up (at 2 this morning). . . . Went to Mr. Dugmore to consult upon the clauses. Then to C. M. House, where Bishop Carr was waiting to see me. Examined with him the question whether he could be presented to a living, which was not so clear a point as I had expected. . . . The Bishop then went to Doctors' Commons, to get a legal opinion upon the point at issue. . . . Thursday, January 17th, 1856. — An hour's work at home. Went to the City to inquire about the purchase of ground for the Strangers' Home. To the C. M. House. Wrote letters. Callers. . . . Mr. Thomas, of Madras. Much conversation about the state of things in South India, Bombay, and Ceylon. Gained much information respecting the state of Church 1856. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 138 feeling among the Bishops and many of the Missionaries of the Society, which will be very useful. Took leave of Mr. Tate, going to Canada. At 3 went with Colonel Hughes into the City. Agreed that I (individually) should purchase, at an auction to take place to-morrow, the reversion of the freehold on which the ' Strangers' Home ' is to be built, and let the ' Home ' take it off my hands whenever they wish it. . . . Friday, February 1st. — Writing letters at home. A stranger called upon me, and accosted me as the author of the ' Complete Duty of Man,' wishing to propose to me a case of conscience ; had an hour's conversation with him. He was evidently a man of general intelligence and good sense, but of a very tender and scrupulous conscience. He did not inform me of his name or address. ... At 2.30 went to a meeting of the ' Strangers' Home,' at the London Tavern ; found the purchase of the reversion had been secured. Plans for tbe building were agreed upon, and much progress made. Saturday, 2nd. — Went to see Dr. Barth, the African traveller. Had some talk with his two African lads, and arranged with the Doctor to send them to Mr. Schon to be his interpreters for the Yoruba language. They were both of them evidently as home-sick as any Swiss, and to all my attempts to lure them to stay in England, their answer was ' Africa ! Africa ! ' Monday, 25th. — Sub-committee at 2, of the ' Strangers' Home,' for opening tenders for the building. Discussed the laying of the first stone, and agreed to invite Prince Albert. Thursday, 28th. — Mr. and Mrs. Innes and Cobb here ; much talk about Indian matters and education, native con- verts, pastors, &c. Rejoiced in having in Cobb, C. Fenn, and French the addition of young blood and buoyant spirits at the head of our chief educational establishments in India. Friday, 29th. — ' Strangers' Home ' Meeting. The Com- mittee agreed to take the purchase of the reversion of the ground off my hands. . . . Friday, October 31st (at Addington). — One of his (the 134 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1856. Archbishop's) remarks struck me as most characteristic of his benevolence of disposition. I asked him why he never employed an amanuensis ? He replied that two-thirds of his letters consisted of refusals of requests, or other matters not agreeable to the writers, and that he hoped he might spare them a little unnecessary pain by answering the letters himself. . . . Tuesday, November 11th. — The Bishop (of Rupert's Land) was immediately succeeded by Mr. Mozley. A deputation from the Chamber of Commerce in Manchester to London, in order to prepare a reply to a communication from Lord Clarendon upon African trade. . . . The Chamber of Com- merce had referred to our documents, and thought them most valuable. ... I have already agreed to go to Man- chester on Friday. Mr. Mozley proposed that I should state my views to the leading members of the Chamber of Com- merce on Saturday morning . . . Friday, 14th. — Went to Manchester. Mr. Clegg met me at the station, and took me to his country-house at Broughton. Saturday, 15th. — Mr. Hardcastle, who married one of Lady Parry's daughters, breakfasted with us. With him began my campaign on the African Cotton question. He had been in New Orleans ; and America, in his eyes, defied the competition of the whole world. After breakfast, we went to Mr. Clegg's counting-bouse in Manchester. Mr. T. Baz- ley, President of the Chamber of Commerce, arrived, a very intelligent and courteous man. He gave me an hour's con- versation, greatly approved of Mr. Clegg's plans. He had been prepared to give me his attention by having attended one of Sir T. D. Acland's breakfast parties, when Lord Harrowby, Sir P. H. Inglis, and others met to consult upon African native improvement. He gave his advice with great intelligence and decision ; viz., to establish a line of sailing- vessels between Liverpool and the West Coast, for the special purpose of bringing over the produce of native industry. . . . It is the rule of Manchester to close all works at 2 o'clock 1 Vide infra JYotice on West African Commerce. 1856. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 135 on Saturday afternoon. As our intervals of conversation had interrupted our examination of Mr. Clegg's books of accounts, and the premises were to be shut up, a pile of ledgers and day-books were put into his carriage, and we went out with them to his residence, accompanied by Mr. T. Clare. Mr. Magrath called and stayed to dinner, but left soon after 4. We then set to work upon Mr. Clegg's ledgers, to ascertain the state of his African trade. Sixty-three native correspondents had done business with him. . . . He had entered upon the business from a pure desire of encouraging native industry. We spent six hours upon these books in order to disentangle the accounts, and show that the Church Missionary Society was in no way involved in any commercial responsibilities. We were, however, amply repaid by finding that though for the first two or three years he had sunk 500L or 6001., he was now rapidly recovering it by the extent and profits of the trade. His desire, however, was simply to benefit the natives, and to secure no more profit to himself than a bare commission upon the transaction. His son-in- law was animated by the same zeal for Africa. . . . After prayers, I wrote till midnight, wishing to draw up a formal statement of my views, as my conversations in the morning had shown me that Manchester men were no triflers in words or deeds. Sunday, 16th. — Was pleasantly spent. Mr. Clegg is one of those laymen of the Church of Engla.nd who form its real strength. ... It was a fine frosty day, and the church being a mile and a half from the house, and the walk by the side of Colonel Clowes' park, I greatly enjoyed the day. The sermons were for the C. M. S. Mr. Magrath preached a plain but very forcible sermon, and read in the course of it two passages from the Report, each of which had caused me much thought and trouble while hammering them into their proper shape ; but when I looked upon that large and wealthy congregation, many of them amongst the first merchants in the world, and saw the deep attention with which they listened, I felt the solemn responsibility of preparing the Annual Report. 136 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1856. Monday, 17th.— At 10 o'clock called on Mr. Mozley. . . . His visit to London had fully convinced him of the import- ance of the principles which I advocated. Especially the giving facilities for the migration of traders from Sierra Leone. He was greatly interested by some of Samuel Crow- tlier's Journals, which he begged me to leave with him to lay before the Chamber of Commerce. . . . From Mr. M., I went to see Mr. J. Pender. . . . His warehouses and count- ing-houses form a magnificent pile of buildings, and the room in which he sat was nearly 100 feet long, with tables enough in it even to have satisfied my propensity for spread- ing out books and papers. . . . He felt sure that our plan was the right one, and would willingly advance 5001. or so to give it a fair trial. . . . We afterwards went to the Exchange, a fine building, filled at that hour of the day by 200 Manchester men; and after a few words with various parties, we adjourned at 2 o'clock to the Commercial Asso- ciation. The Vice-President Mr. Malcolm Ross, and the Secretary were present. . . . Mr. Clegg took me to the Union Club, from which I came by the 5 o'clock train home. . . . Tuesday, December 2nd. — Captain Prevost,1 who is going to the Pacific, in one of the finest steam frigates in the navy, to settle a boundary question in the main land opposite Van- couver's Island, called on me. He had been on the station two years ago, and had taken great interest in the Indians on the west of the Rocky Mountains, and now being suddenly called to the same station and intending to take his wife with him, he was anxious to offer a free passage to a mis- sionary and his wife. He would himself introduce them to their new station, and do everything in his power to support them as long as he should be in that neighbourhood. As he is himself liable to sail any hour, he had prevailed on the captain of a small surveying ship, which is to follow in six weeks, to make the same offer of a free passage, in case no missionary is ready. He gave me wonderful accounts of the natural abilities of the Indians. They will copy correctly 1 Now Admiral Prevost. 1850. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 137 many pages of printing without the slightest mistake, but all is mere copying, like the drawing of a picture ; they travel 500 or 1,000 miles, and are able afterwards to di'aw the most exact itinerary — marking every river, tree, hill, or other object. He has himself given the Admiralty a series of charts of the coast, all drawn from memory by natives in his own presence ; but their savage and bloody disposition is worse than I had ever heard of. . . . Fort Simpson would be an admirable mission station, as on many occasions nearly 20,000 are encamped round it. Friday, December 19th. — A dismissal at the C. M. House at 12. It was an occasion of special interest, because each of the three missionaries had gone out on short notices. Mr. Greaves, late of Manchester, only offered himself to the Society and was accepted in November, and to-day he goes to join a steamer for Calcutta. His mother was with him. Mr. Macarthy, going to Peshawur, was appointed a month ago ; he will be ordained next Sunday, and start on Monday. Mr. Duncan, a schoolmaster, was appointed only 10 days ago, upon the noble offer of Captain Prevost, H.M.S. ' Satellite,' to give a free passage to any missionary agent whom the Society would send to labour among the Red Indians on the western coast of N. America. Captain Pre- vost was present on this occasion. Mrs. Clemens and her two Swiss companions, with her negro pupil- teacher, also took leave of the Committee. . . . Mr. K. gave a noble address in which he spoke of the new station we are about to occupy in N.-W. America, as immediately opposite to Shanghae, so that we now complete the girdle of missionary stations round the globe. Captain Prevost was then obliged to leave the room, and he said, in a very few words, that he regretted his public duties obliged him to leave before the conclusion of this most interesting occasion ; that he could not do so without entreating the friends around him when they remembered before the throne of grace the missionaries whom they sent out to distant parts of the world, to pray also for the captain and crew of the ' Satellite,' that wherever 138 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 1856. they might go, however they might be employed, they might bear witness for Christ. . . . Afterwards, Major Lavie said a few words in reference to the educated young natives of Calcutta, amongst whom Mr. Greaves was to labour. He had spent several months among them four years ago ; thousands had relinquished Hinduism, who were well ac- quainted with the evidences and doctrines of Christianity, admired the writings of the Prophets, and the morality of the New Testament, but could not take up their cross and follow Christ. Yet hundreds were not withheld by the fear or love of the world, but only by their domestic affections. Many had confessed to him that nothing but the power of a mother's love withheld them from the profession of Chris- tianity; that their mothers had declared it would make them miserable even to death if the sons avowed themselves Christians. Mr. Bidgeway concluded with a most fervent prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit. . . . Mrs. Greaves told me how heartily she gave up her son to the Lord's work. The Committee then broke up. May God look down in mercy upon the mothers of India who refuse to give up their sons to Christ and convert their hearts, and may He look down in mercy also on the mothers of England who do give up their sons to Christ and comfort their hearts ; and may He hasten the day when the mothers of India and the mothers of England shall become both one in Christ ! Amen. Wednesday, August llth, 1858. — On Monday I was hurried to the last moment of leaving town. Bishop Gobat came in the train to Weston-supei*-Mare with me. We did not arrive till after 9. Then many persons to see and talk with. At 9 in the morning our meeting began and till 9 at night not one 5 minutes' intermission. But I have greatly enjoyed the meetings. McNeile, Stowell, C. Bridges have taken the chief part. The spirit of the 300 clergy present has been most encouraging. Byle preached a noble sermon last night on the text ' Upon this rock I will build my Church,' etc., which was listened to with deep attention for an hour and ^85?. EXTRACTS FROM PRIVATE JOURNAL. 139 a half. ... I find the business of the Society absolutely requires a day in Salisbury Square, which deprives me of going to Hereford. ... I think these meetings abundantly compensate for the sacrifice I have made to attend them. They will prove in many ways serviceable under God's blessing to my great work, as well as profitable to my own soul. . . . Wednesday, April 27th, 1859. — We had a most pleasant evening ; prepared a little of the Report for copying the Abstract. At eleven, aunts E. and C. arrived. I was bothered about Sierra Leone, and sat up till near 3. Even this morning I could not get a fair start till near 11. I make them write two copies, one for uncle J., one for the printer of the Abstract. They have just finished Sierra Leone, Toruba, the Niger, Mediterranean, Bombay, and are half way in North India. I must work hard to keep ahead. . . . April 28th.— We sat up last night till 1.30. All the Report was copied to the end of China. Two copies to the end of North India. . . . C. wrote nobly till past 12. April 29th. — Yesterday evening and this morning have been wholly spent in preparing the full Abstract for the printer, so we hope to have it out on Tuesday next to satisfy our Association Secretaries. It will then be reduced to the usual size. Uncle J. has his copy, which he prefers reading from in the MS. I have still to prepare N.-W. America and New Zealand. . . . The conclusion will be Sunday work. If I preach a Thanksgiving Sermon for Hambleton, as he has asked me, it will be all one. . . . April 30th. — All the Missions are now copied. The con- clusion is only to be a few sentences, ending with : — While the nations are contending, While the tumult louder grows, Through the earth our God is sending News of peace to heal our woes. Sounds of mercy sweeter are Heard amid the din of war. I have been at home and at work all this morning, but easy 140 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. work comparatively. ... I am quite well, and feel no pres- sure. My three scribes on Wednesday broke the neck of the work, and Aunt E. has done all the bye-work caused by revision. . . . Sunday, May 1st.— 3.30. I have given the conclusion to Uncle J. Have selected the passage Isaiah xxvi., first 12 verses. I have sent breakfast tickets for the three aunts and C. ; so I have nothing more upon my mind. Two copies of all this were written out upon that Wednesday after 10 o'clock. Did not they work hard ? and I sent their copies to the printer. THE MISSIONARY SECRETARIAT OF HENEY VENN, B.D. 1841—1872. (KRitfj topious Attracts from Ijis |Trttrrs mxb papers, anb gtotkcs of <£. gg. ». (1799—1841). THE MISSIONARY SECRETARIAT. 1. Preliminary. When an old British chieftain passed away it was cus- tomary for each of his friends and followers to cast upon his grave what they could towards raising the cairn that was to keep his memory and his achievements fresh. One added more, another less, each according to his ability ; and the contribution was valued, not according to its amount or intrinsic worth, but according to the sincerity of him who offered it. It is in this spirit that, whilst his sons have added their share, what follows concerning ' a prince and a great man who has fallen in Israel ' is supplied by one who worked with him, and saw him work for many of his most vigorous years — one whose only claim to a place in these pages is the respect and admiration his former chief never failed to inspire in those with whom he had to do — one who stood by Henry Venn's open grave at Mortlake Cemetery on that bright spring day — the brightest, and perhaps the only one of the season, in January, 1873. The grave was excavated, by his special desire, in the simple earth, just as the remains of his friend and former fellow-secretary, John Tucker — the friend, too, of Keble and Arnold and Justice Coleridge — by his special desire also, had almost simultaneously been, in a quiet Berkshire churchyard, laid to rest. The lowly undistinguished grave, in which he wished 144 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY YEXX. his mortal part to repose, may well represent his own estimate of his life and work. The vast gathering that stood round that grave — men who all felt that they had lost a friend, and who grasped each other's hands more warmly than usual for the sake of him that was gone — showed that to no ordinary man had they bid farewell, farewell till the Eesurrection Day. Eelatives and personal friends were amongst them ; many who had gained com- fort and counsel from him at some critical period of life ; but most were drawn together by the thought of his great value to the cause of Christ, and of all he had done for them and for it. All who were there knew what a power he had been in matters ecclesiastical throughout the religious world of England . All who knew him least loved him for his cordial friendliness. The more others knew him, the more they loved him. Two of the younger clergy, as they stood among the throng of mourners, by no preconcerted arrangement, stepped forth from amongst them to cast the handful of earth upon the coffin ; while the clerks and other officers of the Church Missionary House had before secured permission to take the place usually occupied by undertakers' men, that no hireling work might lower the honour due to one whom they loved and honoured as he did them ; for he always rated their true-hearted service at its real value, and made them feel that they too were — even ' in tying up a parcel — fellow-workers with God in the great cause. His faithful clerk, Mr. Josiah Bartlett (since deceased), who had spent his whole life in Salisbury Square in a career of unobtrusive usefulness, expressed in touching words his sense of the loss he had suffered : — ' I do indeed miss him. I can scarcely realise the fact that *he will be seen no more. I never enter the room without picturing him at the table. I have eu- THE TIME OF MISSIONS. 145 joyed a great privilege in working for so many years with this honoured servant of the Lord. ... I never knew him say an unkind word to anyone.' The Eev. H. Venn will be known in any future records of the Church of England as the man who was the great agent in developing missions, directed specially to the heathen, and above all, evangelical missions in connection with the National Church ; and who made them a force in England and the world. The product of any man's life is the union of two factors — the occasion and the man. If the occasion has not come, the man will drift into some other work. If there is not the man for the occasion, the opportunity will be lost for want of some one to rise and seize it. It is strange to see that though the Christian Church of the Eeformation freely re- cognised the duty of preaching the Gospel to every crea- ture— as the Collects for Good Friday in the Salisbury Mis- sal had recognised it before — it was hardly attempted, except by such measures — for example, the coercion of the Cingalese by the Dutch — as few would now venture to defend. Dr. Watts's Hymns are still the strains that stir us most to missionary effort, and coming from a poet's heart, though he was singularly careless of his literary reputation, probably long will be. But they did not stir his contemporary Nonconformists into action, though his verses for children were most likely moulding the coming generation. The time of missions was not come. Our own Church taught us to pray for all sorts and conditions of men ; but beyond some efforts to reach the slaves or half-slaves that were hangers-on of our 'foreign Plan- tations,' and the provision at the last Eeview of the Common Prayer-book (1662) of an 'Office for Adult Baptism,' in which such catechumens among others are L 146 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. contemplated,1 little was done. No reproach to Eobert Boyle and his friends ; the time of missions was not yet come. But with the close of the last century arose the era of missions. It was prepared by that great religious movement which began from Lincoln College, Oxford, and made itself felt over England and the New World. Mr. Venn, in the Appendix to one of the most remarkable sermons he ever preached, as well as in the preface to his grandfather's Life, has shown, by an accumulation of facts, that this great evangelical revival arose, and spread not least within the bosom of the Church of England herself. He might well be certain of it ; for his grand- father, the Eev. H. Venn, of Huddersfield, by Ins eloquent and indefatigable preaching, by his voluminous corre- spondence, and by his private pastoral intercourse, did no little towards serving his generation after the will of God, and with the blessing of God's Spirit, allied his grandson to those great principles, which he felt to be the teaching of the Church of England no less than of the New Testa- ment. When the younger Henry Venn was a very young man — he had not been long in orders — and his father's death left him master of the family records, he at once undertook that Life of his grandfather which always ought to be an authority in English Church history, and to many individuals has been much more. He showed the MS. to one who had then perhaps the highest repute in Cambridge, but who put it aside unread as a mere juvenile effort. It is characteristic of Henry Venn's ' patient waiting,' which all who knew him well must so 1 The Preface to the Prayer-hook states that this Office 1 may always be useful for the baptizing of natives in our Plantations, and others converted to the faith,' and the first rubric to the Office directs that ' timely notice ' of such candidates ' shall be given to the bishop, or whom he shall appoint for that purpose .... that so due care may be taken for their examination.' THE LEADING IDEA. 147 often have remarked, that six years afterwards, when a regret was expressed that no record was left of so re- markable a man, he produced the MS., and when reproached for having kept so long from the Church of God so precious a treasure, only replied, ' I showed it to you six years ago.' His grandfather's life and character plainly haunted him like a passion, though his gifts and talents were so diverse. It was from his grandfather he gained those broad general principles which moulded his own character and determined his life. But it was to his father that he owed the special form of activity to which his energies were devoted. It has been made a reproach against the evangelical leaders of eighty years ago, who have escaped few reproaches possible, that they did not set themselves to grapple with some local and national evil, of which there were too many then, as, alas ! there are too many now. But it was with a true instinct that they selected, as being the fittest symbol and reflex of the great truth which it was their special ' trust ' to reinstate and revive, a plan for preaching the Gospel to every creature — it was to be nothing less than this — overleap- ing the bounds of kindred and nationality, to tel} to all that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And this was to be done, ' not by might, nor by power.' They did not despise the countenance of the great, if it were to be had ; but, after waiting a while, they resolved to go forward in the confidence that ' obstacles would be removed as obstacles might arise.' It was but a few unknown persons who met together to carry forward the work. The basis was laid by the Eector of Clapham. He was the author of a new and skilful scheme — since largely followed — on which the Church Missionary Society was founded. The great conception was one strangely according with, and antici- L 2 148 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. pating the new political epoch then opening on the world — to give, by proclaiming ' liberty to the captive,' the fullest development, in a Christian view, to the great principle, that we should be all fellow-workers, ' high and low, rich and poor, one with another.' The Church Missionary Society was thus framed into a Christian com- monwealth, directed by a joint body of clergy and laity, bound together only by community of sentiment, resolved to carry out a common object on well-understood prin- ciples. It was founded on co-operation rather than patronage, and how successful this organization has proved is shown, not only by its wide adoption elsewhere, but by the stability and moderation of its counsels, and by the rapid and steady growth of its annual income from a few hundreds to nearly £200,000. In short, John Venn, the Eector of Clapham, was — in the language of his son-in-law1 — ' the projector and one of the original founders of the Society for sending missionaries of the Anglican communion to Africa and the East — a body which, under the name of the " Church Missionary Society," now commands a wider field of action, and a more princely revenue, than any Protestant association of the same character. To him who prompted the deeper meditations, partook the counsels, and stimu- lated the efforts of such disciples, some memorial should have been raised by a Church which, to him more than to any of her sons, is indebted for her most effective instru- ment for propagating her tenets and enlarging her borders.' It must not, however, be thought that, while seeking the co-operation and endeavouring to enlist the sym- pathies of all members of the Church, however lowly, the founders of the Church Missionary Society were 1 Ktxayx in Eccl. Biog., by Sir James Stephen, K.C.B., ii. 343. 2nd ed. 1850. PREVIOUS SECRETARIES. 149 forgetful of Church order. But the attempt to enlist the sympathy and countenance of the chief rulers of the Church failed, not because the scheme was disapproved, but because it could not gain any notice or recognition what- ever. The earliest years of the Society were of necessity passed in obscurity. Its income was but small. The Colonial Episcopate as yet hardly existed. The difficul- ties in the way of obtaining ordination for those who were willing to go out in the service as clergy of the Church of England were almost insuperable. The first agents, after the example of the ' Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,' were foreigners and Lutherans ; and it was long before the first of its missions obtained the help and support of a resident Diocesan. But those early years were not unimportant. The practical and business-like character of the Committee's administration, and the maintenance and confirmation of its spiritual principles, were the fruit of that period of quiet growth. The two Secretaries who had most to do with that early stage of the Society's development were the Eev. Josiah Pratt and the Eev. Edward Bickersteth. It is satisfactory to be able to place on record Mr. Venn's own estimate of the work and character of these two men — not only as illustrating his sense of the duties to which he had succeeded, but also as exhibiting the affectionate discrimination with which he could delineate such characters. Not seldom does he draw his own por- trait unconsciously. He delighted thus to identify him- self with his predecessors, regarding them all with himself as links in one chain of voluntary agents, ' united,' as he himself has said, ' through the providence of God, for carry- ing out His purposes of mercy to a dark world.' The sketch that immediately follows, also in Mr. Venn's own words, should, however, occupy the first place, as 150 MEMOIR OF THE KEY. HENRY VENN. giving a more complete view of the earlier years and gradual development of the Society ; and on a later page is reproduced an Address which, though glancing at these early years, carries the Society's history forward to a much more recent period, and speaks too much of its writer's personal experience and reminiscences to be omitted. I. The Founders op the Church Missionary Society, AND THE FIRST FlVE YEARS (1799-1804). The design of a distinct Society for sending- missionaries to the heathen, to be conducted by members of the Church of England, originated with a few Evangelical clergymen and laymen at the close of the last century. It was chiefly ma- tured at the meetings of a religious association called ' The Eclectic Society,' assembling in the vestr}r of S. John's Chapel, Bedford Row, of which the Rev. Richard Cecil was then the minister. On successive occasions the principles upon which the proposed Society should be established svere discussed, and the rules were prepared. In these previous discussions the following points were especially insisted upon : — That the Society should be conducted upon those principles which they believed to be most in accordance with the Gospel of Christ, and with the spirit of the Reformed Church of England. In the expressive lan- guage of Mr. Pratt, the management of the Society was to be kept ' in Evangelical hands.' That none should be sent out as missionaries but those who should appear to the Committee, after a careful examination, ' to have themselves experienced the benefits of the Gospel, and therefore to be earnestly desirous to make known to their perishing fellow-sin- ners the grace and power of a Redeemer, and the inestimable blessings of His salvation.' That, if clergymen could not be obtained, laymen THE FOUNDERS OF THE C.M.S. 151 should be employed as catecliists to teach the Gospel to the heathen. The remark of Mr. Venn, in reply- to an alleged objection that such a proceeding would violate Church order, was this : ' I would sacrifice a great deal to preserve Church order, but not the salva- tion of souls.' That the scheme should be commenced on a small scale, in a spirit of prayer and humble dependence upon Divine guidance, without attempting great things at first, but proceeding step by step according as Divine Providence should appear to open out a way before them. The members of ' The Eclectic Society ' then invited several clerical and lay friends, who were known to be favour- able to these principles, to meet for the purpose of formally instituting the Society. Accordingly, the first meeting of the Church Missionary Society was held at the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate Street, on Monday, April 12, 1799, of which meeting the following record has been preserved : — A meeting was held at the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate Street, on Monday, April 12, 1799, for the purpose of insti- tuting a Society, amongst the members of the Established Church, for sending missionaries amongst the heathen. At this meeting it was unanimously resolved : — 1. That it is a duty highly incumbent upon every Chris- tian to endeavour to propagate the knowledge of the Gospel amongst the heathen. 2. That, as it appears from the printed reports of the Societies for Propagating the Gospel and for Promoting Christian Knowledge that those respectable societies confine their labours to the British Plantations in America and to the West Indies,1 there seems to be still wanting in the Established Church a Society for sending missions to the con- tinent of Africa or the other parts of the heathen world. 3. That the persons present at this meeting do form them- 1 [The only exception was the Danish Mission at Tranquebar, then under the care of the S. P. C. K.]— Ed. 152 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. selves into a Society lor that purpose, and the following rules be adopted. These rules were substantially the same as those which have ever since governed the Society. 4. That a deputation be sent from this Society to the Archbishop of Canterbury as Metropolitan, the Bishop of London as Diocesan, and the Bishop of Durham as Chair- man of the Mission Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, with a copy of the rules of the Society and a respectful letter. The Society then proceeded to the election of its officers and committee. The first committee meeting was held April 15, 1799. Sir Richard Hill and Samuel Thornton, Esq., attended, and expressed their readiness to accept the office of Vice-presi- dent : communications to the same effect were received from the other Vice-presidents who had been named. Mr. Wilberforce ' desired the Society to accept his thanks for the honour [of the Presidency] they had conferred upon him, and assured them that he should be at all times happy to promote to the utmost of his power the objects the Society had in view ; but that, as he durst not undertake so onerous a trust but upon the result of deliberate and mature con- sideration, he would not yet return a positive answer con- cerning his acceptance of the honourable mark of the Society's confidence with which he was favoured.' The Rev. Thomas Scott was requested to act as tem- porary Secretary, and accepted the office. The Rev. John Venn and the Rev. Thomas Scott were requested to draw up a form of prayer to be used by the Committee at their meetings. Donations to the Society were announced from Ambrose Martin, Esq., and George Wolff, Esq., of 100/. each. At the next Committee meeting, May 20, a letter from Mr. Wilberforce was read, in consequence of which it was determined to waive for the present the appointment of a President. STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES. 153 At this meeting also the names were selected of the first Committee of Correspondence. It is to this Committee that the chief management of the business of the Society is entrusted ; and, by the rules in their original form, it was restricted to six clergymen and three laymen. The names of these persons will show who were regarded as the chief leaders of the undertaking. They were the Rev. Messrs. Foster, Goode, Pratt, Scott, Venn, and Basil Woodd ; Messrs. Henry Thornton, Charles Grant, and John Bacon. The next step was to prepare a statement of the prin- ciples and proposed course of action of the Society, to be laid before the heads of the Church and the Christian public, as the foundation of their future proceedings. The Rev. John Venn was requested to draw up this important docu- ment. It was afterwards adopted by the Committee, and printed, under the title, ' Account of a Society for Missions to Africa and the East, instituted by members of the Esta- blished Church.' This ' Account ' was comprised in a few pages, presenting a short statement of the missionary labours of the Societies for Promoting Christian Knowledge and for the Propagation of the Gospel, showing the need of a new Society for the unoccupied field of the heathen world, and explaining the proposed plan of employing catechists if clergymen could not be obtained as missionaries. The following extract so clearly evinces the friendly spirit towards other Societies of the founders of the new institution, that it cannot be omitted on the present occasion : — ' It remains now only to solicit the assistance of all those who have the glory of God and the good of their fellow- creatures at heart, for the furtherance of this useful design. Wide is the field which lies before this Society ; great is the importance of their object. They require, not indeed the pecuniary aid of those who already, to the extent of their power, contribute to the support of other similar institutions — of all such persons they regard it as the duty to continue undiminished the support they have hitherto given. What 154 MEMOIR OF THE ItEV. IIEXRY VENN. they ask of thern is their counsel, their good wishes, their prayers. Let not this Society be considered as opposing any that are engaged in the same excellent purpose. The world is an extensive field, and in the Church of Christ there is no competition of interests. From the very constitution of the human mind, slighter differences of opinion will prevail, and diversities in external forms ; but in the grand design of promoting Christianity, all these should disappear. Let there be a cordial union amongst all Christians in promoting the common salvation of their Lord and Saviour.' On July 1, the Committee appointed a deputation, con- sisting of Messrs. Wilberforce and Grant, and the Rev. John Venn, to wait upon the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London and Durham, according to the resolution of the first general meeting, with the following letter : — ' London, July 1, 1799. 'May it please-your Grace, — The Committee of a Society now forming for missions to Africa and the East have sent a deputation of their members to present, in the most re- spectful manner, to your Grace as Metropolitan, a copy of the rules which they have formed, together with the account of the nature of this Institution, which is designed for publication. ' They humbly trust that your Grace will be pleased favourably to regard this attempt to extend the benefits of Christianity — an attempt peculiarly necessary at a period in which the most zealous and systematic efforts have been made to eradicate the Christian faith. ' With the utmost submission and reverence, they beg leave to subscribe themselves, ' Your Grace's most obedient, humble servants, 4 (Signed in behalf of the Committee), ' John Venn, Chairman.' The same in substance was also sent to the Bishops of London and Durham. On August 5, Mr. Venn reported that the deputation had BROTHERLY LOVE. 155 not been able to Lave interviews with the Bishops, aud that no answer had been received to their letter. At this meeting a measure was adopted, which, though not an official act, exhibits the spirit by which the founders of the Society were actuated. The account of the capture of the ship ' Duff,' the property of the London Missionary Society, having been just received, eleven members present entered into an immediate subscription, to an amount ex- ceeding 501., as a testimony of regard and condolence towards that Society ; and, relying upon the concurrence of the absent members of the Committee in the same feelings, they sent the sum of one hundred guineas the same evening to the Treasurer of the London Missionary Society. The Directors of the London Missionary Society passed a resolution on this occasion, expressive of their warmest gratitude, and conveying to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society the following generous assurance : — ' That, as we consider them to be engaged in the same glorious cause with ourselves, the success of their exertions will afford us the same pleasure and excite within us equal thankfulness with our own.' The Committee of the new Society thought it right to take no step in their proceedings, nor to make any public appeal for support, until they should receive an answer from the Archbishop and Bishops. The Secretary of the Society, the Rev. T. Scott, in a private letter, printed in the volume of his ' Papers,' thus speaks of the circumstances in which the incipient design was then placed ; the letter is dated September 28, 1 799 : ' You may depend upon it that our new Society is not needlessly losing time. We cast anchor for a while, to avoid running on rocks ; but we mean soon to go on, and we would wish not to make more haste than good speed. We mean to begin on a small scale, and afterwards to enlarge it if we can, and we have no fear of not getting money, if the Lord will but form us missionaries. One thing we have done : as soon as we heard that the ' Duff ' was taken, we, as 156 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. individuals of the Committee, sent the Missionary Society a hundred guineas, as a token of regard and condolence, which has tended greatly to conciliate them, and to convince them that we are coadjutors and not rivals ' (Scott's ' Letters and Papers,' p. 155). For several subsequent months the Committee met and separated without transacting business. Their proceedings on March 3, 1800, record that Mr. Wilberforce was using every proper endeavour to procure an answer from the Bishops ; and in the subsequent month the members of the deputation were urged to take measures for obtaining an answer, yet the months of May, June, and July were passed in the same anxious suspense. The Bishops appear to have been desirous of giving encouragement to the scheme ; but the delay arose from the difficulties which presented them- selves in respect of the particular way in which encourage- ment should be given. The language of the Secretary, Mr. Scott, has already been quoted to describe the early stage of this business, and his homely but significant adaptation of another nautical allusion at a later period (July 12, 1800) may be quoted from a private letter to his son at Hull, as an interesting historical memento of the event : ' The Missionary Society lies off " the Bishop and his Clerks," where, if not wrecked, it may rot, for what I can see. They return no answer, and, as I foresaw, we are all nonplussed.' In this, however, as in many other instances, the ardour of an earnest mind is apt to misinterpret the cautious delay of those who act under weighty responsibility. Within a fortnight of the last date, Mr. Wilberforce had an interview with the Archbishop, respecting which he thus wrote : ' I have had an interview with the Archbishop, who has spoken in very obliging terms, and expressed himself concerning your Society in as favourable a way as could be well ex- pected.' The result of this important interview is thus further described in the minutes of a Committee meeting, August 4, 1800, the Eev. William J. Abdy in the chair: — PREMONITIONS. 157 ' Read a letter from William Wilberforce, Esq., to the Rev. Jolin Venn, respecting his interview with his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the following words : " That his Grace regretted he could not with propriety at once ex- press his full concurrence and approbation of an endeavour in behalf of an object he had deeply at heart. He acquiesced in the hope expressed that the Society might go forward, being assured that he would look on their proceedings with candour, and that it would give him pleasure to find them such as he could approve." ' Resolved, that in consequence of this answer from the Metropolitan, the Committee do now proceed in their great design- with all the activity possible.' Of the three prelates to whom reference has been here made, two, namely, Archbishop Moore and Bishop Porteus, were removed by death before the proceedings of the Society had assumed an important character. But the Bishop of Durham, Dr. Barrington, presented liberal donations to its funds during his life, and on his death, in 1827, bequeathed 500Z. to its use. The encouragement thus given by the Archbishop was deemed by many of the Committee as too slight to proceed upon : but the ardent zeal of the Secretary, and the sound judgment of Mr. Venn, who had a chief part in the negotia- tion with the Bishops — supported especially by the firmness of the lay members of the Committee — determined the rest of that body in their course. Mr. Scott contended ' that it was their duty to go forward, expecting that their difficulties would be removed in proportion as it was necessary that they should.' A family memorandum, written a few days subsequent to this event, has preserved Mr. Scott's relation of these particulars to his family circle, together with the following memorable remark : ' What will be the final issue — what the success of these missions ? We know not now. I shall know hereafter. It is glorious, and shall prevail. God hath said it, and cannot lie.' 158 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. A review of the circumstances which have been just described cannot fail to impress a candid mind with a convic- tion of the fidelity of the fathers of the Society to the principles upon which they had determined to proceed. The difficulty which suspended, and seemed to threaten the failure of the undertaking, arose from their determina- tion to be true both to their ecclesiastical and to their spiritual principles. Had they been willing to make some sacrifice of the spiritual character of their design, it would have been easy to have secured the direct patronage of the heads of the Church, and a large accession of the clergy. Had they been less true to their Church principles, they might have gone forward without waiting for an answer from the Bishops. Had they been less confident in the ultimate triumph of their principles, they would have aban- doned their attempt to establish a new Society, and would have divided their strength between the existing Societies of the Church of England and the London Missionary Society. The discernment of the right course in questions which involve the adjustment of spiritual and ecclesiastical prin- ciples will often be difficult ; it will call, perhaps, for much careful consideration, and the exercise of prayer and faith. In such deliberations, great advantage will be derived, as in the case before us, from the union of lay and clerical mem- bers in the Committee. Decisions so formed will not be soon shaken or abandoned. The Committee, on this occasion, set an example which has been happily followed with equal success by succeeding Committees ; namely, that of taking their stand upon these combined principles, and patiently waiting the issue. H. V. II. Character of the Eev. Josiah Pratt, Sec. C.M.S. 1802-1824. The unweariedness of his labours was truly extraordinarj-. Few men are capable of such continuous exertion as he endured; and still fewer would give themselves up to toil JOSIAH PRATT. 159 herein, not for a temporal reward, but to send a blessing to distant lands. He possessed, moreover, a peculiar qualification for his work in that largeness of heart which could embrace the necessities of all his fellow-creatures, and earnestly seek the extension of Christ's kingdom throughout the world. I have heard from the lips of many a missionary affect- ing testimonies to his tender sympathy and paternal regard towards them from the first hour that they devoted them- selves to the work of the Society. He bore them continually upon his heart, though absent from them in the body, still present with them in spirit, joying and beholding their success and prosperity. This largeness of heart was not the fruit of his connection with the Church Missionary Society ; rather, the establishment and extension of that Society was the result of this noble quality of his mind. Nor was it restricted in its exercise to the operations of this one Society, for, being animated and regulated by the principle laid down in the text (1 Pet. iv. 10, 11), it manifested itself in a genuine catholicity of spirit. He heartily rejoiced in the success of all who were labouring in the cause of Christ, and willingly co-operated with them as far as he had opportunity. Though his whole soul seemed devoted to the interests of one great Society, yet he was far above all petty jealousy or party spirit in respect of other kindi-ed institutions. Mr. Pratt seems to have discerned most accurately that precise line of labour which constituted the ability which God had given to him ; and, convinced that herein he was following the call of God, he pursued it with constancy and perseverance, and never deviated from it to grasp any other distinction. That precise line was to take a practical view of all questions connected with the evangelisation of the world. It was his part to mature measures, devised by him- self or others, for the accomplishment of this end ; to carry them out in detail ; to combine the varied efforts of zealous friends at home, and to preserve a consistency in all the operations of the Society abroad. For this work a man was 160 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. needed possessing a mind comprehensive in its views, sound in its judgment, candid towards objectors, practical in its character, prompt and patient in execution. Such was Josiah Pratt. He had the rare faculty of taking a wide and comprehensive, but at the same time a thoroughly practical, view of questions. There was nothing minute about the character of his mind ; yet it was most admirable in follow- ing out his plans in detail. The vast extent to which the operations of the Mis- sionary Society were, under his direction, extended, yet with sound practical wisdom in all its departments, affords a standing proof of this statement. H. V. The following document, which, as a declaration of what he considered the vital principles of the Church Missionary Society, is one of the most important ever pub- lished by Mr. Venn, is the more carefully reproduced here, as it only appeared in an appendix to the second edition of Bickersteth's Memoir, and is very little known. III. Character of Rev. Edward Bickersteth, Sec. C.M.S., 1815-1830. In estimating the influence of Mr. Bickersteth's official connection with the Society, upon its early progress and establishment, it is necessary to bear in mind the character of his coadjutors, and the special circumstances of the period during whicb he held office, namely, from August 1815 to January 1831. He entered office while the Rev. Josiah Pratt had the chief direction of the affairs of the Society. Soon afterwards, Mr. D. Coates was associated with them as Lay Secretary. In the year 1824 Mr. Pratt retired, and the next year the Rev. T. Woodrooffe became joint Clerical Secretary. We must mark the variety of gifts which the Lord bestowed upon His ser- vants, as well as view them in combination, working together E 1 1 WAKU BICKERSTETH. 101 under His grace, for the same great end. The prominent qualifications of Mr. Pratt were a commanding understand- ing, great experience, and sound judgment. Mr. Coates was a man of uncommon administrative powers ; it was his department to conduct the official business of the Society in committees, as well as in the correspondence with the missions. Mr. Bickersteth undertook the visiting of asso- ciations and the care of Missionary candidates, aud rendered to each of his colleagues such assistance as his time would allow. For this department he was endued with many special gifts, which eminently redounded to the glory of God. A clear perception and a firm hold of the great evangeli- cal principles upon which the Society had been based ; a largeness of heart which embraced in its compassion a perishing world, and in its cordial sympathy all who were labouring for Christ ; a fervent love to his Saviour, and for His sake to all his brethren — fitted Mr. Bickersteth for the special department of exhibiting throughout the country the true character of the Society, and of recommending its prin- ciples in a way best calculated to allay unnecessary preju- dice or opposition ; whilst the influence of the same qualities at head-quarters helped to cherish that spiritual tone in all our proceedings which was ever the source of our chief blessings. The period during which Mr. Bickersteth was officially connected with the Society was one pre-eminently important, both in respect of the extension of our operations and the confirmation of the principles upon which those operations were to be conducted in future years. Within this period, seven out of the ten missions of the Society were commenced, or at least effectively occupied. The number of stations was increased from 8 to 56, the number of clergymen from 13 to 58, and of other European labourers from 19 to 93. The native teachers were increased from 2 to 157 ; and the schools, which at the commencement of the period numbered only 200 children, in Africa, contained at its close 15,791, in all parts of the world. Mr. Bickersteth M MEMOIR OF THE REV. HEXRY VENN. himself prepared the first native converts for the Lord's Supper, and administered it to them in Africa. When he resigned office, the number of communicants amounted to more than 1,000, dispersed through the missions in Africa, India, and America. At home, the number of associations was more than doubled, and the amount contributed through them rose from 10,000Z. to 40,000Z. The same period was pre-eminently the era in which the great principles upon which the operations of the Society were based, were worked out, and firmly established at home and abroad. For the commencement of new missions is the season when fundamental principles are most frequently brought forward, discussed, and established. At home, also, when affiliated branches begin to multiply, with their sepa- rate committees, officers, and patrons, the distinctive prin- ciples of the Society will be necessarily brought into pro- minence, and subjected to more than ordinary examination. During such an era of extension and of principles, the accession of Mr. Bickersteth to the Secretaryship had a most important influence upon the character of the Society, and of its missions. It will be interesting to trace this influence in a few of its more important relations. 1 . Mr. Bickersteth's chief sphere of action, after his return from Africa, was the organisation and visiting of associations throughout the country. The Memoir suffi- ciently exhibits the spirit in which he discharged this office. I can conceive no more useful study than these volumes afford, for one who desires to qualify himself for that de- partment of labour, which has become, in our days, a recog- nised branch of the ministry of the Word. We may mark, throughout his course, the spirit of the man who, before he had an official connection with the Society, while yet a lay- man residing at Norwich, could nobly stand forward among his fellow-townsmen, when one and another began to vacil- late, and declare — ' A Church Missionary Association there shall be in Norwich, if I stand alone on the Castle Hill and proclaim it.' EDWAliD BICKERSTETH. 163 The visits of such a man to various parts of the country, and the argument which his own success at Norwich fur- nished, were a powerful stimulus to the missionary zeal of the country. Decision of character would indeed have accomplished little, without the one great motive which animated his own soul, and which he communicated in a remarkable degree to those who were his fellow-helpers in the Lord's work — the love of the Saviour. It is impossible to estimate all the blessed effects of these visits, in which he mingled with the most important and influential assemblages of Christians, not only in public meetings, but in those pi-ivate social parties — which are the nurseries of the religious feelings exhibited in public meetings — and diffused every- where the savour of that name which is ' as ointment poured forth.' 2. An abundant harvest of earnest prayers, both on be- half of the heathen world, and of the operations of the Society, was thus gathered, and evangelical principles be- came, throughout the country, identified with the Church Missionary Society. A large band of supporters rallied round its standard, who loved it for the sake of its principles, and Avho regarded its cause as the cause of Christ. Here has been the real strength and safeguard of the Society. Vain would be the efforts of secretaries and committees at headquarters to maintain its spiritual principles, if there were not a broad foundation of love and zeal for the same principles among the subscribers at large. In an open con- stitution such as ours, in which every clergyman, on sub- scribing half a guinea, obtains a seat in the managing body, there is always a liability to disturbance. It is not generally known, though it is an important fact, that Mr. J. H. Newman, who has gone over to Popery, was once secretary to the Oxford Church Missionary Association, and that he printed and circulated an address, to show how the constitu- tion of the Society would allow of his party going up in a body and taking possession of the Committee. What has protected the Committee from such calamities, but the segis M '2 164 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. of their principles, furnished to them by the subscribers at large, under the shelter of which Scott, Pratt, and Bicker- steth laid the foundations of the Society, and erected its goodly superstructure? 3. There are other important lights, in which Mr. Bickersteth's labours may be viewed : for the supply of mis- sionary candidates depends upon the kindling of a missionary zeal throughout the country. And the missionary who goes out from the midst of a congregation, a town, or an associa- tion, in which such zeal burns brightly, carries with him the prayers and Christian sympathy of many, which afford a very precious support to his own spirit in the midst of the heathen — just as a tree on the side of an exposed precipice astonishes us by its vigorous foliage, apparently springing from a barren crag, till we discover the small and concealed nook of rich soil, into which its lengthened roots have extended. 4. Another part of Mr. Bickersteth's office was to receive the candidates for missionary employment into his house and family, while their applications were under the consideration of the Committee ; when finally accepted, they were sent to pursue their studies with different clergymen in the country, or to the university. But after their studies were completed, they returned to the Mission House for a few weeks or months, previously to their departure. Mr. Bickersteth was then in the habit of delivering to them a course of lectures upon missionary duties, of which very scanty notes have been preserved ; but sufficient to show to anyone who is well acquainted with the subject, a remarkable degree of practical wisdom, as well as a beautiful spirit of holy zeal, love, and fervent devotion. A large number of missionaries departed to their stations during the nine years that Mr. Bickersteth exercised this influence and authority over the students. 5. Though the chief management of the business of the Society rested on others, yet Mr. Bickersteth exercised an important influence upon foreign as well as home operations. His comparative detachment from the routine of official EDWARD BICKERSTETH. 165 duties enabled him to preserve a single eye to the great prin- ciples on which the Society was acting. The mind, which is charged with practical details, and with the correspondence with official and ecclesiastical authorities, will receive the utmost benefit from a coadjutor, able to take a higher view of questions at issue, and to make it his especial care that the Society shall in no respect compromise its spiritual principles, amidst the perplexities of various external eccle- siastical and civil relations. There were also occasions when Mr. Bickersteth took a more forward part, and manifested, in a remarkable degree, the power of bringing spiritual principles into the discussion, and exhibiting their practical application in the working of a mission. On some memor- able occasions of great perplexity, he encountered, even in the Committee, not a little unexpected and painful opposition by his inflexible adherence to these principles, and he seemed sometimes to be overborne in argument. But to me it clearly appears, upon looking back to times and circumstances of which I had an intimate personal knowledge, that he was always on the right side ; and subsequent events have shown that his spiritual wisdom was a surer guide than the more acute and forcible reasoning of his opponents. I cannot omit a reference to two occasions : the first, at the commencement of his secretaryship, in the case of Africa ; the second at its close, in the case of India, which will serve to illustrate my general statement. His ' Special Eeport ' of his visit to Africa, given in an Appendix to the Sixteenth Report, is a document of great value. And it is not a little remarkable that some of its observations are directed to the very points which at this day are being canvassed in several missionary societies, as topics too often lost sight of, but of supreme importance. As this is the only existing document which can give us an insight into the missionary principles with which Mr. Bickersteth's mind was furnished, and which he inculcated upon the missionaries, it is due to his memory to notice them in some detail. 106 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Mr. Bickersteth, with singular penetration and decision, distinguished between the external framework of a mission and its spiritual character. He desired to ' see the grace of God ' manifested in true conversion of souls to Christ. Like the excellent missionary Gericke, he was penetrated with the conviction that a mission, without the spirit of Christ, is the most worthless thing imaginable. Hence, when he visited Canoffee, and witnessed a material Church in the wilderness, he was not betrayed by natural associations into sanguine prospects, but significantly remarks, ' The church at Canoffee is a decent and convenient structure; but as very few native adults attend, I can hardly recommend the building of churches till they are called for by the more numerous attendance of the people, and this I think will apply to every place out of the colony.' He also took a just estimate of the place which education should hold in a mission, in reference to the main work of preaching the Gospel to the adult heathen. When he visited a flourishing school in Africa, in which a large number of heathen children were boarded, and kept separate from heathen associations, though he reports of their progress, that few English schools could have passed a better examina- tion, he looked forward to the future progress of the scholars when they should enter upon life, noticing that however promising the children might at present seem, 'the early blossom is beautiful, but when it comes to be shaken it may fall.' And that, even though some of the children might be truly converted to God, 'the conversion of an adult is at- tended with many circumstances more favourable to the in- crease of the Gospel, than in the case of a scholar.' When it pleases God to bring an adult to the knowledge of the truth, it is evident to his neighbours that this is not mere habit or the force of education. The man is aware of the customs and evil practices which he must give up, and he has some idea of the obloquy and danger to which he is exposed. It requires, then, strength of mind and resolution, to break through those obstacles, which, on the one side, EDWARD BICKERSTETH. 167 attracts the attention of all his companions, and, on the other, gives a kind of pledge that he will not return again to his native habits. Such a man also receives, with the grace of his own conversion, a zeal for the salvation of others, and becomes a powerful instrument of bringing them at least to the use of the means of grace. The duty of a missionary's devoting his main strength to the preaching the Gospel to the heathen, was strenuously urged upon the labourers. For this end, Mr. Bickersteth pointed out the necessity of their qualifying themselves, by attaining a colloquial knowledge of the native language, and by those habits of self-denial which are inseparable from such labours ; and by taking up abode in a native town, of which he emphatically says, ' I believe it is the very place where a missionary should be.' In the same spirit he urged upon the missionaries, ' Let the Gospel be fully preached, " in de- monstration of the Spirit and of power," let the natives continually hear of the sufferings and death of our crucified Lord for their sins ; and we are persuaded that this Gospel will be found to be the " power of God unto the salvation " of some who will believe. This is your first great work. Everything else must be subordinate to this. The teaching of children must not prevent it. I say, then, in the name of the Society, let every missionary do his part to fulfil the commission of Christ — " Go and preach the Gospel to eveiy creature " — to everyone to whom you have access, to every- one that will hear you. Go in the dry season to the Soosoo and Bullom towns. Take with you, should you find it expe- dient, some of the children. Sing a Soosoo or Bullom hymn. Preach the Gospel and pray with them, and God will bless you.' I will only further quote from this document Mr. Bickersteth's admirable injunctions to the missionaries, to keep up weekly meetings among themselves, for prayer and the reading of the Word of God, at which meetings, 'any ground of offence which may have arisen should be freely brought forward, and, each coming together in the spirit of 1GS MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. love, it should be freely confessed or explained on the one side, and forgiven and entirely forgotten on the other.' The value of these maxims may not strike the general reader ; but it will be appreciated in proportion as we are acquainted with the history of missions, and the peculiar dangers which beset the more advanced stages of the work. Another special occasion to which I have referred, on which Mr. Bickersteth took a prominent part in upholding the spiritual princijdes of the Society, was in connection with our Indian missions. In the early stages of these operations the local management of our affairs was conducted by in- dividual friends. But when they were removed, local com- mittees of management were formed by friends in India, upon the principle of the general Committee at home, that every subscribing clergyman should have a seat. Thus, the management of the affairs of the Society in India was on the point of practically falling into the hands of the archdeacons and chaplains of the Company. The great difference in the circumstances of the Committee at home and a Committee thus constituted in India, was at once seen by the managers of the Society ; and, at the risk of very painful collisions with various parties, Mr. Bickersteth urged the Parent Committee to take decisive measures to dissolve an existing Committee at Madras, and to appoint only such members as would tho- roughly maintain the spiritual and evangelical character of the Society, even though it might consist only of laymen. In a private memorandum of the discussion in the Committee on this occasion, it appears that Mr. Bickersteth regarded it 'as a fine opportunity of establishing general principles,' and of pointing out 'the distinction between official situation in the Church and in the Society. That there is something beyond official situation, but with all due subjection to it, which we want for the management of our affairs — the immense importance of preserving the spirituality of the Avork, which can only be done by nominated committees.' These notices will be sufficient to convey to the minds of those who are acquainted with such subjects a sufficient THE BATTLE-GROUND OF THE CONFLICT. 169 indication of the sound and firm foundation upon which the early managers of the Society established our missions abroad. And while we acknowledge the varied distribution of gifts by which the great Head of the Church qualifies His ser- vants for occupying different departments of labour, we can- not but see and admire His goodness towards the Society in associating Bickersteth with Pratt, Coates, and Woodrooffe in the management of a great institution for the conversion of the heathen, in the most critical period of its early history. Those who have succeeded him in office can bear testi- mony that, after his official connection ceased, there was no diminution of affection or zeal in the cause, but that on all occasions he was prompt to testify his undiminished interest in the management of the Society, and to help its delibe- rations, whenever the call was made or the opportunity occurred. I cannot conclude without expressing my deep sense of the benefit you have conferred upon the Church of Christ by the publication of these volumes, and my prayer that they may tend to foster the spirit of Edward Bickersteth within its pale ; which will, I am persuaded, issue in the furtherance of the great object of his prayers and labours — the conversion of the world to Christ. I am, my dear Mr. Birks, Very sincerely yours, Henry Venn. IV. The Battle-ground of the Conflict. The following extract, which may fitly be introduced here, concluded a Sermon to which allusion has been already made, in which Mr. Venn indicated in no faltering way the claims of the last generation of the evangelical clergy of the Church of England, to be pre-eminently re- garded as the instruments of the great revival of religion in our country ; while Nonconformists had their share. 170 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Allow me to add one concluding remark. I have spoken of the possible conflict between spiritual and ecclesiastical principles. I will venture also to indicate what will be the battle-ground of this conflict. It will be, as it seems to me, the question — In what way can a sinner obtain pardon and peace with God? Other great questions agitate the minds of the few ; this is the great personal question with every man whose conscience is awake. Every Church and every minister of a Church must give a distinct answer to this inquiry ; in seasons of religious conflict this question is sure to be uppermost, and by the answer given every Church or minister will stand or fall. Men cannot unite upon other points while they disagree in this. The true answer to the inquiry constitutes, as we trust we have shown, the treasure. By whatever variety of expression the truth of the Gospel may be indicated : whether as the doctrine of the cross of Christ, whether as justification by faith only, whether as the Atonement, whether as redemption through the blood of Christ, it has ever encountered opposition. It was ' to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness.' In the earliest ages of the Church, and ever since, the struggle has been going on within the Church, to tear from this blessed truth its significancy or its simplicity ; to substitute a way of salvation more in accordance with natural reason and human prejudices. Poper}T worships the shadow but denies the substance of the truth, by setting up the doc- trine of human merit, of works of supererogation, and of the mediation of saints. Superstition substitutes sacramental grace. Yet this truth, though ridiculed by the profane, though cavilled at by others, is cherished as the life of the soul by all who receive it. When received, it frees a man from the slavery of the world ; it gives him power ; it is accompanied by a change in the moral character which can- not be mistaken. This cardinal truth brought the Reforma- tion. It has revived our Church. If its enemies are now mustering their forces, so are its friends. Its influence, blessed be God ! increases daily. Presuming only to speak RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 171 from personal experience, I hesitate not to say, that where one heart was swayed by its influence when I first entered the ministry of this metropolis thirty-seven years ago, hun- dreds might now be counted. At home, it is becoming more and more the rally in g-point for all who are zealous on the Lord's side. It is the line of advance of all our social improvements. Abroad, it is evan- gelising the world. It is easily apprehended and cordially embraced by thousands of the negroes of Africa, of the Hindoos of India, and of the islanders of the Pacific. It has raised them into the brotherhood of Christendom.1 V. Address to the Committee on taking Possession of the Committee Room in the new Mission House, March 7, 1862. Upon leaving an abode in which important transactions have occurred, the mind is naturally disposed to a solemn retrospect of the past ; and the interests of that retrospect will rise in proportion to the importance of those transactions, and the extent of the associations connected with them. If the interests be of the highest kind — because spiritual and eternal — connected with the establishment of the Re- deemer's kingdom ; if the associations comprise a long suc- cession of fathers in the Church of Christ and of brethren in the Lord, with whom we have been accustomed to take counsel, and who are now entered into their rest — our feel- ings must be very deep, and such as it will be impossible adequately to express, or to interchange even with those who sympathise with ourselves. 1 The Treasure in Earthen Vessels. A Sermon preached in the parish church of St. Marylebone, June 11, 1857, at the consecration of the Hon. and Right Rev. Thomas Pelham, D.D., Lord Bishop of Norwich. By the Rev. Henry Venn, B.D., Prebendary of St. Paul's. Published at the com- mand of the Archbishop of Canterbury. To which is appended, An His- torical Sketch of the Revival of Evangelical Preaching in the Church of England, Seeley Co. 1857. 172 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Such feelings will especially fill the minds of those ot us who have longest frequented this Committee-room. My first attendance as a Committee-man dates from the close of 1819, forty-two years back. My association with the first founders of the Society, and my Church Missionary recol- lections, are still more remote. In the length of these recollections I probably stand alone amongst you on this occasion. I shall not, therefore, seem presumptuous if I put down a few of these retrospective thoughts, as a relief to my own mind, and in the humble hope that, by God's blessing, they may be of some use to my brethren of the Committee, of the present and of future generations. I will not refer to the foreign work of the Church Mis- sionary Society; such a review we took in the year of its Jubilee. The removal into a new Mission House suggests a different line of thought. This removal has been rendered necessary by the increase of our office work. We have re- mained in the contracted accommodation of our first Mission House long after the officers of the Society and the Com- mittee have suffered from its inconveniences ; and we have endured the inconveniences, to spare the funds of the Society, until we found that the financial, as well as general interests, needed enlarged office accommodation. Here we have proved ourselves true sons of the fathers of the Society. Their first meetings were held in the parlour of a City parsonage. When the extent of their operations outgrew that accommodation they removed into this house. The present need of a new abode is a proof of the still further extension of our work, consequent upon the success which God has graciously granted to the Society. This is, therefore, a fitting occasion for gathering up our recollections of the home work and business of the Committee, to endeavour to place before you, the working men in this department of the Society's labours, in their every-day toils, their difficulties and encouragements — at their desks and in their Committee-room. RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 173 I. The current of these retrospective thoughts carries me back to contemplate the first work which the projectors of this Society had to accomplish, and which they did ac- complish. The enterprise which they took in hand was to establish a Church Society within the Church, without a charter from the Crown, in subordination to Church autho- rity, but upon the basis of voluntary action — a Society which, if successful, must maintain extensive relations in all parts of the world ; of which the governing body could exist only on the voluntary principle, and could hold together its staff of missionaries by no stronger bond : whose sustaining power within, and protection from assaults without, could consist only in its principles. For such a work, it is evident, that the wisdom of political science, the acuteness of legal know- ledge, together with much mercantile and financial skill, must be all combined. This great enterprise has been worked out by the Com- mittee. The Church Missionary Society has become a national institution. In the main features of the scheme — such as country associations, for procuring funds ; public meetings, to stir up a missionary spirit ; association secre- taries, to advocate the cause ; finance committees, to regu- late its accounts ; a working capital fund, to sustain the inequalities of its income ; in all these, and in many other leading features, the Church Missionary Committee has set a pattern which older and more venerable institutions have wisely followed ; and which have become at this day so familiar to all committee-men, that each new Society adopts them as a matter of course. Few out of this room know how much thought and care, writing and re-writing, and discussion, patience and perseverance, of men of many minds contributed to settle the first draft of the system. As the missions of the Society began to expand, another great work rose before the founders, namely, to secure a supply of missionaries from our Church. The venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge had for a century 171 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. supplied their Indian Missions from the Lutheran Church. This Committee was at first compelled to have recourse to the same supply. Yet soon means were devised to wipe away this reproach from our Church, and to bring out the zeal of our sons and to train them for the work. The first English clergymen who went out to India as missionaries were sent by this Society. The first attempt to establish a training college was made in this house by Edward Bicker- steth. It was afterwards removed to Islington, and it has supplied a body of English missionary clergymen, which may stand a comparison with the clergy of any Church in Christendom. It has supplied the Church of England with able catechists, with devoted missionary clergy, colonial arch- deacons, and colonial bishops. The Islington Institution first set the pattern. Other missionary colleges have since happily sprung xip. The members of our Universities have since joined the missionary ranks ; and so the Church of England now bears the true impress of a Missionary Church. There are few, even amongst ourselves, who now recall the long discussions, the differences of opinion, the early perils, the later anxieties, through which this first Missionary In- stitution of the Church of England had to struggle, ere it reached the quiet waters and the favouring gales, in which it now holds on its noble course. Friendly relations were to be maintained with an elder sister Society, which, at our commencement and for many years afterwards, confined its efforts to our countrymen in the Colonies, and declined missions to the heathen. That venerable institution soon, howevei', changed its position, accepted the Indian Missions of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and has followed in the wake of the Church Missionary Society in India, New Zealand, and Western Africa. Yet some injudicious advocates would put it forward as an exclusive exponent of Church Missions ! Ecclesiastical relations had also to be settled. For forty- two years this Committee had to pursue and to shape its course under disadvantageous conditions, whilst the Metro- IIETIIOSPECTIVE ADDKESS. 175 politan of our Church, and the Ordaining Bishop of our Missionary Candidates stood aloof from us, and confined their personal countenance to the elder Society. How many perplexities hence arose, how difficult it often was to sustain the spirit of those who shrank from the suspicion of defec- tive churchman ship — how long it took to vindicate to friends and foes our ' true churchmanship ' — till at length our Me- tropolitan and Ordaining Bishop joined our ranks, without requiring one iota of change in our practice or principles. These are things well known to some of us, and remembered with gratitude to God for His grace in sustaining the wisdom and faith and patience of the men who thus maintained their principles. Various arrangements had also to be made at home and abroad, for directing the labours of the missionary and for ministering to his efficiency and comfort. In this depart- ment the Committee at home had to choose the fields of labour, to instruct its missionaries, and to provide for their location, according to the varying circumstances of the case. They had to commence a mission among the Soosoos, in the teeth of a rampant European slave-trade ; in New Zealand, among savages shunned by the sailors of every civilised nation; in Sierra Leone, at the seat of a British Colonial Government ; in the West Indies, in the dioceses of colonial bishops. In India the Society had the delicate task of conducting an extensive mission under the first Bishop of India, who con- ceived himself precluded by his patent from taking cogni- zance of missionaries ; though ever since, thank God ! under the encouragement of the ecclesiastical authorities. In each and all of these cases the Committee has had to maintain its distinctive principles, upon which alone its existence as a Society depends — voluntary action in subordination to con- stituted Church authority. And here, again, none but those within these walls have known the amount of labour, of anxiety, of time and of thought, of earnest prayer and of patient faith, which have been expended upon the establish- ment of these relations upon a distinct and satisfactory basis 17G MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. - — a basis which other Church Societies have since found it very easy to adopt. In addition to these more obvious and necessary labours of a Parent Committee, we must notice the numerous prac- tical questions which arise in missions, which are viewed in different lights by missionaries, each from his own standing- ground, which soon become, therefore, subjects of controversy in the missions, which are necessarily referred home for decision, which come before the Parent Committee with the advantage of many opinions, but which yet exact from the councillors at this table no little consideration and judgment. I allude to such questions as the position and relations of the native pastorate, missionary education, native Church organisation. Such is a slight and imperfect sketch of the work which was to be and which has been actually accomplished by the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, sitting first in the vestry-room of a City parsonage, and afterwards in Salis- bury Square. II. And now let us inquire who were the men called of God to attempt this great enter-prise — into whose minds did the practical thought first come to form a Church Society for the evangelisation of Africa and the East? It was in the conference of the evangelical clergy that the design first arose, especially at the meetings of the Eclectic Society, held weekly in the vestry of St. John's Chapel, Bedford Row. Of the evangelical clergy, and of the lay members of their congregations, the first committee was composed. On such an occasion as the present it is not only allow- able to read the list of the first Committee- -it would be unpardonable to omit it. They consisted of thirteen clergy- men and eleven laymen : — Rev. W. J. Alxly, Curate and Lecturer. Rev. R Cecil, Minister of a Proprietary Chapel, Rev. B. Cuthbert, Ditto. RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 177 Rev. J. Davies, A Lecturer. Rev. Henry Foster, A Curate and Lecturer. Rev. W. Goode, A City Hector. Rev. John Newton, Ditto. Rev. G. Patrick, A Curate. Rev. Dr. Peers, A Suburban Hector. Rev. Josiah Pratt, A Curate and Lecturer. Rev. T. Scott, Minister of a Proprietary Chapel. Rev. John Venn, A Subxirban Rector. Rev. Basil Woodd, Minister of a Proprietary Chapel. That is — two city and two suburban incumbents, four minis- ters of proprietary chapels, five curates and lecturers. Within the first month Mr. Cecil resigned through ill- health, and Mr. Patrick soon afterwards, and were replaced by the Rev. Samuel Crowther, and Rev. H. G. Watkins, two city incumbents. The laymen of the Committee were eleven ; — John Bacon, An eminent Sculptor. John Jowett, In business. John Brasier, A Member of a Mercantile Firm. W. Cardale, A Solicitor. Nathan Downer, A Member of a Mercantile Firm. Charles Elliott, In business. F. Ambrose Martin, A City Banker. John Pearson, An eminent Surgeon. Henry Stokes, A Merchant. Edward Venn, In business. William Wilson, In business. That is — two men of liberal professions, one banker, one lawyer, seven engaged in mercantile pursuits. These were the first working men. And I cannot pass over the list of lay names without a notice of the first on that list, John Bacon. He was elected on the first corre- sponding Committee, and was one of the first life members by donation. He attended two or three Committees, and then suddenly entered into his rest ; but leaving to his col- leagues a bright example of the spirit of the men who were associated together in this work. John Bacon had established his fame as the first of his age in the English school of 178 MEMOIR OF TOE REV. HENRY VENN. sculptors. He had erected monuments of great celebrity in the metropolitan cathedrals, to Lord Chatham in Westminster Abbey, to Dr. Johnson in St. Paul's, to Henry VI. in Eton College, to Judge Blackstone in All Souls', Oxford ; but he ordered, by his will, a plain tablet for his own grave, with this inscription : — What I was as an artist Seemed to me of some importance While I lived. But What I really was as a believer in Jesus Christ Is the only thing of importance to me Now. Such were the men who instituted a Church Society for the evangelisation of the heathen. The plans they had con- ceived in devout conference were boldly brought before the public, and resolutely sustained against the apathy of the world, the chilling reserve of their ecclesiastical superiors, and the discouragements of timid brethren. 1. An inquiry arises, when we reflect that the men who originated the Society occupied no space in the eye of the world, had no special qualifications, were all busy men in their ordinary occupations, were no enthusiasts — what could have been the moving cause which led such men to attempt so great a work ? It may be replied, that they were men ot strong faith, that they were constrained by the love of Christ, that they were men of prayer. But this is not a sufficient answer to the inquiry. For many men of faith and love and of prayer have never thought of attempting the conversion of the world. The true answer, we conceive, is this : They were men who felt their individual responsibility to obey the command of Christ, ' Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.' Many excellent men of that day, as ever since, argued that this command is addressed to Christians in their corpo- rate capacity— to the Church in the person of its rulers. They that thought thus would have waited till the Church moved. RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 179 Others would have persuaded them that the responsibility of a great undertaking rested upon those who had great opportunities, or were men of mark or position in the Chris- tian world. If these counsels had prevailed, a few city clergymen, mostly lecturers and ministers of proprietary chapels, and a few laymen, mostly engaged in second-rate commercial pursuits, would never have compassed the evan- gelisation of Africa and the East. But these men received the command of Christ as ad- dressed to themselves ; and without waiting till others moved, they set their shoulders to the work. We take our illustration from the conduct of our first secretary, Thomas Scott. When the scheme was yet in suspense, in its second year, and few friends had come forward to help, some excellent men tried to persuade them to aban- don their scheme of a new Society, and to send their money to the Moravians, and their missionary candidates to the bishops, to be sent out by them. To which counsel Thomas Scott gave this memorable and characteristic answer : £ I am not sanguine as to success, for T believe much must be done at home before any great things will be done abroad ; but I wish to do what I can, or at least to attempt it, and your coun- sel would perfectly exclude me. I have no money to give to the Moravians, and I cannot become a missionary, but I can labour, and I have a little influence.' (Unpublished letter of Rev. T. Scott to Rev. J. Scott, October 29, 1800.) This spirit brought together,, and kept together, the humble individuals who commenced this great work. It has given us our noble army of missionaries, for we have accepted none who did not come to us under this sense of individual responsibility, and whom we have not believed to have been individually called of God to the work. This principle has to this hour detained around our committee-table men who might fairly plead, in virtue of a laborious life in India, or in civil and military services, exemption in a freer atmosphere from the plodding toils of business. This principle has secured to us the invaluable assistance of professional men n 2 180 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. whose time is their wealth, and of parochial clergymen whose parishes might otherwise be pleaded as a receipt in full for their thoughts and time. Our committee-table has happily no attraction for the ambitious, no charms for the lover of novelties. May the same principle still animate the Committee in days to come, for when it wanes the glory will depart with it. This principle of individual responsibility is also the quickening motive with all our most efficient helpers who become our collectors, and who sustain our associations. The echo of the words of the first secretary resounds this day, thank God, from a thousand hearts : ' I wish to do what I can, or at least to attempt it. I cannot become a mis- sionary, but I can labour, and I have a little influence.' 2. But a second inquiry presses itself upon our considera- tion, while we reflect upon this great enterprise, and the men who undertook it. What were the fundamental prin- ciples on which these remarkable men determined to conduct their enterprise ? For they were eminently men of practical wisdom, and therefore they distinctly laid down their principles beforehand, and avowed them to the Church. ' The Society will be conducted,' said they, ' upon those principles which we believe to be most in accordance with the Gospel of Christ, and with the spirit of the reformed Church of England.'' They determined to be true both to their spiritual and to their ecclesiastical principles. Josiah Pratt's significant words at the prelimi- nary meeting, 'It must be kept in evangelical hands,' and John Venn's equally significant saying at the same meeting, ' The Church principle, but not the High Church principle,' have remained ever since our guiding maxims in this room. Firm to these principles, the Committee stood forth in its early days in advance of all other parties as the advocate of Church principles. The Church Missionary Committee was the first to plead, by the pen of Buchanan, for introducing an episcopate into India. This Committee pleaded for bishoprics for its New Zealand and Sierra Leone Missions many years before a colonial bishopric fund was established. It has procured the benefit of episcopal supervision for RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 181 all its missions. The Committee of the Church Missionary Society has stood firmly and patiently on its ecclesiastical principles, though in its earlier course it had to bear the reproach of presumption from one side, and the suspicion of ecclesiastical bigotry from another side. And now, in a later period, it maintains its consistency; though the spirit of the age has changed, and has shot ahead into schemes of episcopacy within the diocese of another bishop — schemes unknown to the reformed Church of England, but having their counterpart in the apostolic vicariates of the Church of Rome, which were the source of endless disputes for cen- turies between bishops themselves. The Committee takes its stand upon the episcopacy of the Church of England. It seeks none other for the superintendence of its missionaries. It leaves the Native Church to adopt a native episcopacy when prepared for it. This is the Church principle, though not the High Church principle. In like manner the Committee of the Church Mis- sionary Society has stood firm to its spiritual principles. It has resisted the temptation to assimilate its proceedings to the necessary latitude of a national and endowed Church. It judges that no doctrine but the pure doctrine of Christ can meet heathenism, or any other form of false religion, face to face, with any prospect of success. On such an occasion as this we may be allowed to quote the published sentiments of our former secretary, Josiah Pratt : ' The Church Missionary Society is the refuge of pure doctrine in the Church. It alters not. Where we find her in her first report, there we find her in her forty-second.'1 I am this day surrounded with witnesses to prove that there has been no alteration since. And why ? Not because men are obstinate, but because we know that the blessing of God has been with us in our adherence to these principles, and that we have suffered for every attempt to deviate. We have had our eyes open to other schemes, to other platforms, to other principles, and our sober judgment is, ' the old is 1 Life of Josiah Pratt, p. SCO. 182 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. better.' The retrospect of this day also shows us how those who once opposed have at length followed with us. The spiritual principle and the ecclesiastical principle of the Church Missionary Society, like two strong pillars which support a goodly edifice, have had alternately to bear the main weight and stress of the building, as the storm has shifted to opposite quarters. 3. A third inquiry respecting the founders of our Society still remains, without an answer to which the problem of their successful enterprise cannot be solved. If the first Committee-men were men of common sense and business habits, and no blind enthusiasts, how could they face the enormous difficulties in their way, how could they reckon upon the means to ensure their success ? The answer shall again be given in the sententious language of Thomas Scott. When some, even of his own colleagues, were appalled at the prospect of difficulties, and he could himself see no way through them, he yet contended ' that it was their duty to go forward, expecting that their difficulties would be removed in proportion as it tvas necessary that they should be removed.'' How pregnant this sentence ! It completes the character of a founder of a Missionary Society. Here is no tinge of self- confidence, ' the difficulties will be removed.' Here is the secret strength of patient faith, ' in proportion as it is neces- sar}r that they should be removed.' This principle has from that day to this underlain the proceedings of the Church Missionary Committee. Having well ascertained in prayer and faith the soundness of the principles on which a question is to be decided, they have not been scared from their prin- ciples by the sight or apprehension of difficulties. They have often waited. Difficulties threatening our very existence as a society have sometimes been urged as reasons for desistance, or for changing our course. But the determination has been taken ' to go forward ; ' and those difficulties have been removed ' in proportion as it was necessary that they should be removed.' The whole history of this Committee is an illustration of the wonderful way in which the means have been provided and the difficulties removed. RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 183 These three leading particulars, which characterised the founders of our Society, have not been recorded merely as interesting recollections of a former age, but as the stand- ing characteristics of the true Church Missionary spirit. They animate and direct our proceedings at the present day. Though the vast extension of the work has given rise to a thousand details which our fathers had not to deal with, yet these principles of action are still the moving cause, the guiding stai", the anchor of hope, in our proceedings at the present day. III. Let us now pass from the first founders of the Society to their successors in the Committee-room. This review will afford, I trust, many illustrations of the wonderful manner in which the Lord has ever supplied us, in proportion as it was needed, with the help and the means for carrying for- ward His work. It was a strange thought to enter the minds of the first Committee-men, consisting of a few London clergymen and their lay friends, that every member should think and pray over the different localities in Africa and the East, in which it might be advisable to commence a mission ! Yet this was the resolution adopted. Before, however, they were in a position to discuss localities, their members were increased by the accession of several men of note, who joined the Society as governors or vice-presidents. They were Vice- Admiral Gambier, Charles Grant, Esq., Sir Richard Hill, Bart., M.P., Henry Hoare, Esq., Edward Parry, Esq., Samuel Thornton, Esq., M.P., Henry Thornton, Esq., M.P., and William Wilberforce, Esq., M.P. Of these, Wilberforce and Henry Thornton had long laboured for the establishment of an asylum for free Africans in Sierra Leone, and the first election of a new Committee-man, on the vacancy by the death of Bacon, had brought into the Committee Zachary Macaulay, who had lately returned from the government of that settlement : and so the first mission was providentially fixed for the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone. 184 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Equally striking was the providential chain by which the Islands of New Zealand became connected with this Society. The Rev. Samuel Marsden, rightly termed the Apostle of Australia, was unrivalled amongst the settlers of New South Wales for his practical knowledge in colonial life. He had also a devoted missionary soul, and an energy and force of character of the highest order. He had determined upon the evangelisation of New Zealand, and had already prepared a few natives for returning to their own land ; when private affairs brought him, in the year 1808, to England. Here he found this Society looking for a second field of labour, in addition to their African Mission. Samuel Marsden had been the pupil of Joseph Milner, and had owed his appoint- ment to Wilberforce and H. Thornton. Thus he found bimself at once amongst old friends ; each party prepared to act together on the same principles, and with the most entire mutual confidence. The Native Church in New Zealand is the fruit of these concurring Divine providences. India had been contemplated as a mission field for this Society from its first establishment. The title Africa and the East implied this. Charles Grant and Edward Parry were amongst its first vice-presidents — men who were the well-known patrons of the Christian cause in India while •occupying official posts in that country, as well as since their return home. But they were both directors of the East India Company, and were not, therefore, in a position to advise measures which might have involved a collision with the ancient policy of the Company. Wilberforce had shown himself fully alive to the Christian claims of India, and had already exerted for it his giant strength in Parliament. But the Committee needed within itself some one who could deal with Indian questions from personal acquaintance with the country. Such an one was brought home from India, as Samuel Marsden from Australia, to find old friends engaged in the very work at home on which he had been meditating while in India. Dr. Claudius Buchanan was elected upon our Committee in 1809, and continued upon it till his death, RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 185 four years afterwards. Now at once preparatory measures were devised for brin£rin£ the claims of India before the Christian public, and for obtaining free scope to missionary enterprise, in the prospect of the renewal of the charter of 1812. The Church Missionary Society became the centre of a powerful influence in support of the advocates for a Chris- tian policy who were in Parliament ; and when the success was achieved in Parliament, the zeal which had been kindled in this Committee for the opening of India, at once took advantage of that event to send out missionaries to India. The year 1810 is also to be marked in connection with the evangelisation of India. This year Daniel Wilson entered the Committee, and took an active part in its deliberations. He entered when the Indian questions were first agitated, and here he gathered that knowledge and interest in respect of Indian missions which ripened into blessed fruit, for India's evangelisation, during the twenty-five years of his Indian episcopate. The name of Daniel Wilson deserves to be recorded on another ground. He succeeded Cecil in the chapel of St. John's, Bedford Row, and that congregation gave a large support to the Society. It is interesting to remark how much of the missionary zeal of the founders of the Society was stimulated by the evangelical teaching in the churches and chapels whose ministers were members of the Committee. Sir Powell Buxton wrote to Josiah Pratt : ' My impressions and anxieties with regard to Africa, and my desire for the spread of the Gospel, were planted in my mind in Wheler Chapel.' 1 So it was with Samuel Hoare, his brother-in-law. In Clapham Church the ministry of Venn helped to strengthen the principles of Thornton, and Wilberforce, and Macaulay; but perhaps the largest influence of this kind was at St. John's, Bedford Row, first under Cecil, then under Wilson. Here the Grants, Parry, Cardale, Bainbridge, Blair, Dr. Mason Good, Garratt, and Stephen attended. The early entrance of Zachary Macaulay into the Com- 1 Pratt's Life, p. 84. 186 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. mittee was the accession of high intellectual powers and extensive influence, especially after he became editor of the ' Christian Observer,' and held a kind of censorship over evangelical literature. He remained a member for twenty- seven years successively; and his very presence amongst us seemed to give an additional gravity to and confidence in our proceedings. Two other men of great weight and mental activity were early additions to the Committee — William Blair, a surgeon, and John Poynder, a solicitor. They were men of literary habits, as well as of extensive practice in their respective professions. The former left a most valuable collection of versions of the Bible, in all languages, to the British and Foreign Bible Society. The latter was for many years the honorary legal adviser of this Society. We here complete our retrospect of the men who may be called the founders and fathers of the Church Missionary Society. Before the next era of 1813 commenced, several had already entered into their rest ; others remained as the connecting links between these men and an enlarged Com- mittee, which carried forward the work. IV. In the year 1813, upon the opening of India to mission- aries, an important constitutional change of this Committee took place by the enlargement of the Committee. Hitherto it had been confined to twelve selected clergymen and twelve laymen. This was well for the fixing of the principles of the Society in its early years. But now that these were established, the Committee, in the confidence of faith in that Divine Presence which had presided over their delibera- tions, threw open its doors to all clergymen who subscribed half-a-guinea annually, and the number of lay members was augmented to twenty-four. This wide opening of the door of the Committee-room, while it created some risk, held out a prospect of great advantage. The result, after fifty years' experience, has justified the change. RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 187 We have been graciously preserved from the temptation to compromise principles ; we have been shielded from at- tempts from without to overbear the working Committee, though such a scheme on a memorable occasion was actually devised, and an appeal was printed and circulated in Oxford in the early days of the Tractarian movement, by Newman himself, who had become our local secretary. But all the benefits anticipated have been reaped from this new rule respecting clerical membership of the Committee. It has furnished us with a full supply of clergymen in our com- mittee-room, who have entered into its everyday work, and have contributed to our councils their ministerial experience and knowledge of human nature and of the history of the Church, and various other acquisitions. They have under- taken the trial and examination of our candidates. Many questions are continually arising on which they are entitled to speak with authority. Some of these have known the work of a missionary, having been themselves on the mission field. The recollections of older members are fast fading: away. But many will remember the calm yet firm counten- ance of James Hough, the chaplain of Palamcotta, and father of the Tinnevelly mission — his unimpassioned but warm- hearted sentiments ; the grave aspect, but affectionate heart, the thinking head, but slow speech, of Preston ; the solid, practical sense of Smalley, and his singleness of eye to the will and glory of the great Head of the Church. The same rule has given us, as occasional fellow-council- lors, many of our most intelligent and zealous country friends, whose presence amongst us has not only refreshed and helped us, but themselves also, and has served to bind us together in closer and firmer relations. Thus have we welcomed, from time to time, H. Budd, Scott of Hull, Archdeacon Dealtry, John Cunningham, Archdeacon Hodson, Chancellor Raikes, Gerard Noel, Professors Farish and Scholefield, Hal- dane Stewart, and many more, whose names are still fragrant in the Church of Christ. Together with the enlargement of the Committee we 188 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. must also commemorate the enlargement of our patronage. The principles of our Committee were well fixed and well known before we sought the countenance of great names. These names, therefore, when given, became a guarantee for the maintenance of the principles. The Society had pursued its course sixteen years before it had won the countenance of a single father of the Church. Its first episcopal patron was the revered Bishop Ryder. It was not till after forty- three years' probation of its principles and practice that the heads of the Church could be said to have given their coun- tenance as a body to the Society. The Committee may review with thankfulness the zealous support and encourage- ment they have received from those who have held the office of vice-patrons and vice-presidents ; their parliamentary in- fluence— for there was a time when a motion was threatened in Parliament against the Society — their presence in our deputations to Government ; their known adherence to the distinctive principles of the Society — these have often proved, mider God, a defence and security to our cause. The occa- sional attendance also of these ex-officio members of our Committee has greatly assisted our councils. Of Wilber- force I have already spoken, and his name needs no addi- tional words. Of Henry Thornton, our first treasurer, much might be said, and yet the extent of our obligations would still be unacknowledged. He was taken from us before the great extension of our missions occurred ; but he watched over our African mission with deep interest; and I well remember the report of his sitting at this table while the letters were read which announced several deaths in Africa, and of the tone of deep feeling, but of firm resolve, with which he said : ' We must not abandon West Africa.' Charles Grant the elder came amongst us with all the weight and prestige of the chief legislator of India, under the regime of the Company ; yet I can well remember the simple and instructive accounts which he gave us of the difficulties which Schwartz had encountered and overcome, and of his own early attempts, during his residence in India, RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 189 to advance the cause of Christ. Admiral Lord Gambier was our first president, and his warm and frank expressions of sympathy with our cause were a great encouragement. Lord Bexley, a late Chancellor of the Exchequer, first directed and assisted us in the formation of a working capital. Other names will call up many recollections in the minds of our older members — Sir Thomas Baring, Sir George Rose, James Stephen the elder ; whilst most of us cherish the remem- brance of Sir Fowell Buxton, Sir Robert Inglis, Sir Peregrine Maitland, Earl Waldegrave, Henry Kemble, Bishop Carr, and many other names enrolled amongst the worthiest public characters of their age. Yet I hesitate not to affirm, that upon the lay members of the Committee, as emphatically the working body, the chief responsibility rests of maintaining our fundamental principles. Their responsibility became the greater when the change to which we referred took place ; and, happily, the additional members selected comprised men of name and power, who gave important support to our cause. In 1813 the able barrister, W. A. Garratt, joined the Committee, and for twenty-three years he remained an assiduous attendant, always alive to the question under discussion, exercising an independent judgment, viewing it in all its bearings, cautious against unwary admissions, firm, prompt, and resolute in everything which touched our spiritual principles. The next year, the late Sir James Stephen joined our Committee, and sat on our Committee for nine years, until his becoming an Under-Secretary of State prevented his further continuance with us. But previously to his occupying that distinguished post, he had been connected officially with the Colonial Office, and his high intelligence and extensive colonial in- formation added an important element to our councils. In 1819, Dr. John Mason Good joined the Committee, a physician of high reputation in medical literature, a scholar acquainted with seventeen languages, the translator of Job and of the Book of Psalms, once a disciple of Belsham, but afterwards a devoted follower of Jesus. 100 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. In 1821 we first numbered amongst our Committee-men retired civil servants from India, of whom J. H. Harington was the first, R. M. Bird a second — both noble leaders of a class of men who, in later days, have given great strength to our missions ; men who are content to sit by our side and discuss questions with us, after administering governments where hundreds of thousands waited to receive the law from their lips. General Latter and General M'Innes were amongst our first representatives of the military branch of the Indian service, from which we have since received a large and valuable support. The legal profession, it has been seen, gave its contribu- tion to our Committee from our earliest days, and we have ever since had the great advantage of those amongst us who, in the midst of extensive practice, have been willing to sacri- fice their valuable time in our Committee-room. I cannot speak of those who are still living, though they have long ceased to attend, two of whom afterwards occupied the ju- dicial bench, and one has become a Secretary of State. But I cannot omit the names of our deceased friends — W. Grane, solicitor, E. V. Sidebottom, barrister, the steady, intelligent, and cordial supporter of our cause for twenty-seven years, and the young and rising barrister, E. H. Fitzherbert, removed by death at an early age from amongst us. I pass over many names on which I delight to reflect in memory, because they would be unknown to the majority of those now before me. They comprise, however, a class of men of great value in a committee ; in financial matters and sub-committees they are most efficient ; yet they may seldom address their colleagues ; they watch our proceedings with silent but intelligent and devout attention. Their apparently casual observations often sink deep into a secretary's mind ; their words of friendly advice or of practical wisdom in the private room are often precious. Their sympathy, and the assurance of their prayers, uphold their brethren. Their very presence often tends to calm and regulate our debates. RETROSPECTIVE ADDRESS. 191 V. A few words must be added, but they shall be very few, respecting those who have occupied the office of secretary, but have rested from their labours. Of Josiah Pratt I need say the less, because his son has given a noble portrait in the published life of the father, of his character as a man of strong sense, masculine energy, great compass of mind, and wonderful practical sagacity. He was just the man to launch the vessel. Of Edward Bickersteth a noble record is also before the public. My own estimate of his official qualifica- tions for a secretary are so high, that I have never ceased to regret the early dissolution of his connection with the office. Dandeson Coates (1824-1845), my early colleague in office, possessed first-rate powers of business, and thoroughly sympathised in the spiritual principles of the Society. The official correspondence was never more ably conducted. Sir James Stephen used to say that he knew no one in the public service who worked more ably or more zealously in an ad- ministrative department. Of my dear brother William Jowett's (1832-1840) Chris- tian wisdom and missionary sympathies it is not possible to speak too highly ; but he had already weakened his health in the foreign service of the Society, and the full vigour of his lay colleague somewhat overshadowed his administration. In Eichard Davies (1841-1848) we had a lovely example of quiet energy, a heavenly spirit, and devoted love to the cause. His early removal from the office prevented the full ripening of excellent official qualifications. In the varied gifts which have been imparted to your Secretaries we see the goodness of God towards us ; for it would not be difficult to trace the beneficial influence of each in his turn upon the general tone of our proceedings. A notion often prevails that a Secretary is apt to assume an autocratical position in this room. As early as the days of Claudius Buchanan the notion arose. He used to speak 192 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. of ' King Pratt,' and to argue that in an infant government a monarchy was hetter than a republic. But whatever ap- parent supremacy a Secretary may maintain, if we look below the surface it will always be found that the Secretary reflects the Committee. If the image is distorted, the defect will soon show itself and be rectified. In that which sometimes appears as an autocratical dictum, he is only the mouthpiece of the present and former Committees, by whom the subject may have been many times discussed and settled. Sufficient checks are always at hand for a presumptuous Secretary. The Committee possesses a plastic power which few minds can resist. Your Secretaries owe many obligations to those who in this room help and guide and correct their plans. May this Committee ever regard their Secretaries as a part of themselves, uphold them by their sympathy, their counsel, and above all by their prayers, that their shortcomings may be pardoned and their mistakes overruled. VI. I hasten to offer a few concluding suggestions on this review of honourable names and memorable deeds. 1. How graciously has the God of Missions provided us in this room with the wisdom of counsel, the knowledge of men and things, the missionary experience, the political intelligence and sagacity, the financial ability, which were necessary for the carrying on the work to which he called the Society. We look back to the rough sketch which we gave at first of the requirements for the successful carrying out of a great design, by a few humble men of faith and prayer. We acknowledge, with devout gratitude, that the Lord hath supplied all their need. 2. Let us, let successive Committees bear in mind that the important precedents which regulate the principles and practice of our proceedings at the present day, have been established under the sanction of men entitled to great weight. The recollection of my own first feelings, when I entered into this Committee, prompt me to caution the RETROSPECTIVE A DDRESS. 193 young or recent members of this Committee to resist the temptation of thinking that we can set things to rights by sweeping changes, or of deciding wide questions on narrow premises. Forty years' experience has taught me that the founders of this work were guided by a far-seeing wisdom in the general scheme of its construction ; that many things which once appeared to me questionable have been the result of frequent trial and of much accumulated wisdom, gathered from various sources : — that there is a science in missions. Let us respect our constitution, already become venerable in its associations. 3. Yet when we look abroad, and see how large a mea- sure of success has attended the measures directed from this room ; that three millions and a half of money have been contributed to our treasury ; that nearly 600 missionaries have offered themselves to us for Africa and the East, for New Zealand and North America ; that many thousand natives have been trained as teachers of their countrymen ; that seventy of them have been ordained as clergymen of our Church; that our first mission field, Sierra Leone, has already passed into a settled self-supporting native Church, under native pastors ; that New Zealand and Tinnevelly are gra- dually approaching the same euthanasia of a mission ; when we contemplate this success, it so far transcends the instru- mentality, that all the human advantages of wisdom and in- telligence which we have gratefully commemorated sink into insignificance. ' It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ! ' We are astonished at His grace in honouring such instrumentality with such a measure of success. We trace in the history of our Committee the gracious leading of a Divine hand, the effusion of an unction which is from above, harmonising our varied talents, our differing judgments, our educational, professional, or natural bias, and maintaining amongst us for sixty years a remarkable harmony and con- sistency of principle. Let us not be ashamed to confess, with our fathers before us, that the Lord hath been with us of a truth in this room. ' Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, 0 194 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God ? But our God is in heaven : He hath done whatsoever He pleased.' ' The Lord hath been mindful of us' (Ps. cxv. 12). 4. Let us meet in our new abode, let us deliberate — let us bear with each other — let us decide under this blessed con- viction, that Christ is in the midst of us, according to His promise. It will give strength to all our measures. It will relieve us in all our anxieties ; it will ensure the removal of all our difficulties. If I contemplate the vast machinery of this Society at home and abroad, the sacred interests bound up with it, the uncertainty which attends the transmission of thoughts by correspondence, the slight control under which many of our missionaries carry on their work, the snares by which they are all beset, the satanic power which prevails in heathen lands — I am ready to fly from my post in despair. When I look at the waves I begin to sink. But when I reflect again that the work is the Lord's — that the great Head of the Church needs not you or me to do His work, but condescends to give us some humble employment, while He himself will overrule and bless it — then I take courage to go forward, expecting that difficulties will be removed just in proportion as they need to be removed. These are the lessons which I have learnt from my pre- decessors in office, and from my brethren of the Committee. I have already reached nearly the longest tenure of office of any of my predecessors. I desire to leave the mantle I wear 1 — which I received from those who have gone up — for those whom He, whose prerogative it is to select men for His work, may call to be my colleagues and my successors. H. V. 1 He wore the mantle ten years longer. — Ed. ECCLESIASTICAL DELATIONS OF C. M. S. 195 2. Ecclesiastical Relations of C. M. S. It was then to the work of Pratt and Bickersteth, and others who laid the foundation, that Mr. Venn succeeded. He was led herein by a way that he knew not, and called without his seeking it, by the Lord of Missions, to that life-work for which natural powers, the graces of the Spirit, the surroundings of early years, and the furnace of domestic sorrow, so plainly designated him. He had clearly no thought of relinquishing the ordinary calling of an Evangelical clergyman. It was but a passing notice in which his official connection with the Society was announced in the Eeport presented to its members on May 3, 1842, and he has not mentioned himself sub- sequently : — ' The Eev. Thomas Vores having subsequently relin- quished his office, .... the Eev. Henry Venn kindly consented, as a temporary arrangement, to connect him- self officially with the Society, under the designation of Honorary Clerical Secretary pro tempore.' Thus God called him- — quietly, as His servant always desired for himself. But he was the man for the time. The Society was entering on a new phase. It had become a power in the Church of England. Its income was steadily growing. Its spiritual principles were more widely proclaimed. It would have been no longer pos- sible to leave such an organisation unrecognised, and it became most desirable that terms should be arranged which would remove any such difficulties or appre- hensions of defect in Church order as might possibly o 2 196 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. have hitherto led the majority of the Episcopal Bench to suspend their patronage. The question, in short, was even before this time beginning to arise as to the ecclesiastical relations of the Society. In its earlier years no such question was possible, for no Colonial Episcopate of the Church of England had yet been founded in the eastern hemisphere. The obstacles in the way of obtaining Anglically ordained missionaries, or ordination for laymen who were desirous to become such, could only be appreciated by a careful perusal of the earlier Committee-minutes of the Society. No Act had then passed for the ordination of men for the service of the colonies ; and it was mainly through the efforts of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society and of its individual members, in and out of Parliament, that the Bill for the renewal of the charter of the East India Company became law on July 21, 1813. ' Under its benign protection, they confidently anticipated the steady growth of primitive order and sound doctrine.' 1 The first Bishop, however, did not feel that the terms of his letters patent authorised him to recognise the mis- sionary clergy, or to ordain natives, but considered that his duties were restricted to the supervision of the E. I. C. chaplains ; and possibly in literal strictness he was cor- rect. His successor, Bishop Heber, had no such hesita- tion. He conferred episcopal orders on Abdul Masih (1825), recognised the missionaries by his license,2 ac- cepted the office of President of the Calcutta Auxiliary, and the Committee expressed their anticipation 4 that the Society's labourers who are episcopally ordained would bear a relation to their diocesan in India similar to that existing between the parochial clergy and their respective 1 C. M. S. XlVth. Report, p. 270. 2 The question as to the permanency of such license was not then raised. ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 197 diocesans at home, and would find in the Bishop a friend and a father who would animate them by his example, guide them by his counsels, and support them by his prayers.' 1 Bishop Heber's early death in 1828 soon extinguished the hope of his personal help and succour, and the brief tenure of the Indian diocese by his two immediate suc- cessors left no opportunity for the further adjustment of the question. It was raised again in an unexpected quarter. Bishop Daniel Wilson, soon after his accession to the see, laid claims to such an absolute control over the location, removal, and change of station of mis- sionaries as would have been quite incompatible with that reasonable independence of the Society which the Bishop afterwards recognised, with others, as being indis- pensable to anything like continuity of action. This ab- solute claim was contested by the Calcutta Corresponding Committee, who were supported by the Parent Committee at home ; but after a period of suspense the complications were adjusted amicably on a basis which was afterwards more fully elaborated, and which secured for more than a generation the happy co-operation of all parties inte- rested, and the paternal countenance and counsel of the Bishop in whose diocese the work was being pursued. 1 C. M. S. XXVth Report, pp. 69, 70. The Home Committee at the same time quoted the following sentiments from the report of the Calcutta Auxiliary : — ' The Committee cannot refrain from congratulating their friends on the accession to their numbers of the Right Rev. the Bishop of Calcutta. Conformed as their proceedings had always been to the usage of the ancient Societies of the Established Church, they could not but desire the official countenance of their Bishop. They have now that privilege, which, from the personal attention paid by his lordship to the interests of the Society, not only promises to add greater efficiency in the Committee's operations, but also affords an additional security to the members of the Establishment that their measures will be pursued in strict conformity with the principles which the Church Missionary Society has always maintained.' 198 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. The following extract from a letter addressed to Mr. Venn by the present Sir C. E. Trevelyan, Bart., K.C.13., who was at the time of the misunderstanding a member of the Calcutta Committee, and who permits its insertion as an accurate statement of the situation, shows how the question at issue had appeared to them : — Milverton, January 14, 1839. Up to the time when I left India, the state of the ques- tion between the Bishop and the Corresponding Committee of the Church Missionary Society was, as well as I can recollect, as follows : — The Bishop claimed an absolute unlimited power of with- holding a license to preach from the Society's missionaries. The Committee replied that the possession of this power by the Bishop would place the Society's operations on an extremely precarious footing — one Bishop might object to High Church missionaries, another to Low Church mis- sionaries, another to zealous evangelical missionaries, and another might denounce the Church Missionary Society itself as a body for which no precedent was to be found in the primitive times of the Church. Any Bishop might object to the plans of the Society for the local distribution of their missionaries. In short, all the operations of the Society, and the very existence of the Society in India, would, by the acknowledgment of an arbitrary absolute veto on the appoint- ment of missionaries, become dependent on the will of the Bishop for the time being. The Society might always be coerced into submission, even in matters which belonged to itself alone, and an institution regulated on fixed principles and intended for future ages, would become liable to all the fluctuation and all the precariousness of a single irrespon- sible opinion. But although the Committee objected to the Bishop exercising an arbitrary discretion of refusing a license, they were quite willing that he should exercise a legal con- stitutional discretion, subject to fixed rules, which, while they protected the Society from any extraordinary exertion of authority on the part of the Bishop, would leave him full ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 199 power of rejecting improper candidates. They were also not only willing but anxious that the Bishop should exercise the full authority of his office over their missionaries after they had been appointed to their stations. What the Committee wished was that it should be treated as an English lay patron, and that its missionaries should be treated as English clergy, both as respects institution and subsequent episcopal control. To this the Bishop replied that his power of withholding a license was not arbitrary, because it was subject to the canons and usages of the Church, the decrees of Councils, &c. He also stated that his decision was liable to an appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury. To which the Committee rejoined that the canons and usages of the Church and the decrees of Councils were too obscure and uncertain a rule for general guidance ; that the appeal to the Archbishop would be attended with serious delay ; that it would place us in a very undesirable position towards our own Bishop, and that it applied no remedy to our own main grievance, which was the substitution of individual discretion for fixed general rules. The Bishop replied that he had no wish to exercise de- spotic authority, or to be vested with greater powers than the Bishops are in England ; that he would himself make no rules which would be binding on his successor, but that, if his Metropolitan should prescribe rules for him, he would gladly abide by them. As well as I recollect, the above is the substance of the conference between the Committee and the Bishop, and the point really at issue, and the proper mode of settling it, seem to me to be sufficiently clear. It cannot be the wish of any party to establish a spiritual tyranny in India, and to vest the Bishops there with such an arbitrary unlimited control over the appointment of clergymen to cures as they do not possess in England, or probably in any other country. What is wanted is evidently the establishment by proper authority of such rules as will leave the Indian Bishops full power to reject unqualified clergymen who are presented to them for '200 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. license to preach at particular places, at the same time that they will protect the Missionary Societies and the Church at large from any capricious and improper exercise of this power. The position of the Church Missionary Committee is not in every respect similar to that of the English patrons, and the position of Indian missionaries does not answer in every particular to that of either English beneficed clergy- men or curates ; but, as far as I can judge, the rules under which the English clergy are approved by their Bishop when they are presented to any cure, would answer equally well if they were applied to the case of the Indian missionaries who are presented to the Bishop for a license to preach at any particular station. Mr. Simeon's trustees present to a living. Their nominee submits his letters testimonial to the Bishop,- who peruses them, and questions the nominee, if he thinks proper to do so, and if nothing appears against his orthodoxy, morals, and ability, the nominee is instituted as a matter of course. In like manner a curate is nominated by an incumbent, and, if nothing appears against him on the above heads, it is impossible, as it has been expressed to me, that he should be rejected. This is all we want in India. Under the operation of the rules in force in England, the patrons and clergy are protected, at the same time that the discipline of the Church is maintained ; and we, not un- reasonably I think, expect that the same rules, the same protection, and the same discipline, should have effect in the branch of our Church which is established in India. C. E. T. The temporary alienation was evidently as sorely felt by Bishop Wilson as by those with whom lie had been so closely allied in England, and the falling out of faithful friends soon led to such mutual explanations, as ended in the following settlement, satisfactory to all parties. In reply to a letter from the Home Committee, its terms were embodied by the Bishop in the four following rules (under date December 17, 1885) : — ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF 0. M. S. 201 (1) The Bishop expresses, by granting1 or withholding" his license, in which the sphere of the missionary's labour is mentioned, his approbation or otherwise of that location. (2) The Bishop superintends the missionaries afterward, as the other clergy, in the discharge of their ecclesiastical duties. (3) The Bishop receives from those — the Committee and Secretary — who still stand in the relation of lay patrons to the missionary, such communications respecting his eccle- siastical duties as may enable the Bishop to discharge that paternal superintendence to the best advantage, the Arch- deacon of Calcutta or Bombay acting, under the Bishop's immediate directions, when he happens to be absent. (4) If the Bishop or Archdeacon fills, at the request of the Society, the offices of Patron, President, Vice-president, Treasurer, Secretary, &c, he receives, further, all such con- fidential information, on all topics, as the Bishop officially neither could wish nor properly ask [to receive]. In a subsequent letter (May 26, 1837) the Bishop enters into a fuller explanation of details : — The Missionary Committees have a far greater latitude in India than any lay patrons at home. Upon presenting his clerk to the Bishop, the patron at home is f unctus officio. The clergyman is removed, on being once instituted and licensed, totally and for ever from the patron, and is trans- ferred to the superintendency of the Bishop. The patron has nothing whatever more to do with him. But in India, the Committee is (1) the continued paymaster of the mis- sionary after he is duly licensed, for institution and induction there are none. (2) They correspond with him. (3) They supply him with catechists. (4) They l-eport his chief pro- ceedings home, (o) They propose removals and changes of station to the Bishop. (6) They exercise, unavoidably, an influence which does not belong to the mere lay patron, and are aiding, in a variety of ways, to the comfortable and honourable discharge of the missionary's most exalted and most spiritual duties. 202 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN And in a letter of nearly the same date his lordship points out what he expected would prove the real security for happy co-operation ; and which did, in fact, as a matter of history, secure it all over the world for almost forty years : — We are not to take for granted that discretionary power will be abused ; but, on the contrary, to provide, by a cheer- ful and friendly spirit and conduct, against the likelihood of such an occurrence. If the event of arbitrary conduct should arise, or be supposed to arise, the remedies are public opinion, an appeal to the Archbishop, and the Society's refusing to make other appointments and locations than those unreason- ably objected to. Nothing is the least likely — and proba- bility is the guide of life — to arise to impede or cramp the Committee, since they unquestionably and avowedly possess the choice of men, the appointment of spheres of labour, the temporal power, including pecuniary support. Towards the close of his life Bishop Wilson gave a striking proof of his confidence in the Society. He had originally intended to attach to his cathedral a body of missionary Canons, for whose maintenance he had pro- vided an endowment chiefly from his own private re- sources, but after ten years' experience, and above all, from the difficulty of securing a due supply of suitable men for the work, his lordship made over (1857) to the Society's management the main portion of this fund, ' having proved,' to use his own words, ' that Indian mis- sions can be more efficiently conducted by such a Society at home than upon an independent footing, even though under episcopal management.' The question, however, of ' ecclesiastical relations ' was not allowed to rest. It is needless to inquire into the motives of the agitation. Much misapprehension had to be removed. It cannot be surprising that Mr. ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 203 Venn's powerful mind was soon engaged on the subject, for he inherited his father's skill in organisation, and the constitution of the Society must have been doubly dear to him as his father's work. Mr. Venn's name first appears as member of one of the most important Committees in the year 1835, and it was in 1838, three years before he became Honorary Secretary, that the following letter was written. It contains the germs and fundamental prin- ciples of the document which for so many years was appended to the Annual Report : — Highgate, near London : December 18, 1838. My dear Friend, — The objections of your correspondent against the Church Missionary Society are in one form or another frequently brought under discussion, both in the Committee-rooms and among the friends of the Society though they are not often stated in the summary and sweep- ing terms, ' It is irregular in its constitution, and therefore in its action.' I will, however, first state what appears to me the simple view of the constitution of the Society, and then notice the objections, and the remedy which your correspondent proposes. It is most important, as a preliminary step in the discus- sion, to advert to the distinction recognised in the constitu- tion of the Church of England between temporal and spiritual functions in matters ecclesiastical, by which lay and clerical agency are enabled to co-operate in all the proceedings of the Church of England. For instance, in supplying a vacant church, a lay patron selects and presents his clerk (as it is technically termed) to the Bishop, who invests the clerk with authority to exercise his ministry in that church ; so also there are certain duties required of churchwardens in respect of the performance of divine worship ; and these lay officers are required from time to time to report to the Bishop how far the minister performs his duties. 204 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Now, for my part, I am satisfied with adopting this dis- tinction between temporal and spiritual, lay and clerical functions, as it is found in the Church of England, con- ceiving that in so doing we copy from a truly primitive and apostolic model. Keeping this distinction in view, I regard the Church Missionary Society as an institution for dis- charging all the temporal and lay offices necessary for the preaching of the Gospel among the heathen. In this sense it is (strictly speaking) a lay institution, and as a Society exercises no spiritual or ecclesiastical functions. Such I conceive to be the constitution of the Society, and if so, there can be nothing irregular or at variance with Church principles in its constitution. If, then, there is no valid objection against the constitu- tion in theory, is there any in practice ? Let us take a general view of its proceedings, to see how far the principle is carried out in action. The proceedings may be ranged under the following heads : — -J 1. The collection of the home revenue, and the disburse- ment of it abroad. This is altogether within the province of laymen. 2. The selecting and educating candidates for the minis- try. In this there is no necessary intrenchment upon spiritual functions, though I allow there is an approach to that pro- vince, because clergymen seem to be the most proper judges of a candidate's fitness, and a Bishop should clearly exercise some discretion respecting the previous education and train- ing of candidates to be admitted by himself to holy orders. In both these1 points the Church Missionary Society has carefully adhered to its Church principles. The examination of missionary candidates is referred to certain clergymen, who report to the Committee ; upon their report the Com- mittee acts, and the utmost deference is paid to this clerical trial and judgment. With respect to the other point, the law of the land has appointed the Bishop of London to the office of ordaining missionaries, and therefore the Society has been careful to regulate the course of studies at the Islington ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 205 institution to his lordship's satisfaction, and he has given his full sanction to it, has often expressed his approbation of the preparation of the candidates, and even allows to our students certain privileges which are not allowed to students from the Universities. So far, therefore, the Society is neither irregular in prin- ciple or in practice. 3. The third step in the Society's proceedings is the v sending out to particular stations the missionaries thus ordained, or other clergymen who have been previously or- dained. Now here a confusion has often arisen from the use of the term ' sending forth,' as if it were an assumption of eccle- siastical power. But, ecclesiastically speaking, the Bishop of London sends out all missionaries ordained by him, for he accepts our title and designation for our missionaries, and gives them by the imposition of hands authority to preach the Gospel, with a view to their foreign operations. The Society acts only as the lay patron, selecting the station, and engaging to pay the salary. In the case of other clergy- men joining the Society, their letters of orders are their mis- sion ; and to call the act of the Society in agreeing to support them in a certain sphere of labour, and in paying their pas- sage, a sending forth of preachers in an ecclesiastical sense, is to confound names with things, and to lose sight of all true Church principles. 4. The last step is the superintendence of the mis- sionaries in their labours among the heathen. Now, here let it be obsei-ved that wherever there is a colonial bishopric our missionaries are never permitted to exercise their spiritual office in that diocese without a license from the Bishop. That license specifies the field of labour and the salary to be paid. It is the instrument by which the missionary is commissioned to exercise his office therein, and the pledge and proof that he is under episcopal superintendence and jurisdiction. Henceforth the spiritual oversight rests with the Bishop, and the Society, strictly speaking, only superintends the temporal affairs of the mis- 206 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. sion. I am aware, indeed, that it is not easy to draw a definite line between the two provinces. The new and anomalous circumstances (alas ! that they should be so) of missionary exertions are constantly suggesting perplexities unprovided for beforehand. But I am sure the Committee of the Society are ever desirous of keeping within their proper province, and will be thankful if any case be pointed out to them in which they transgress this principle. The only way in which we seem, upon a cursory view, to violate this principle, is in requiring from the missionaries full in- formation respecting the discharge of their ministry, and giving them from time to time advice touching it. But this arises from the relation in which the Society stands to them as a perpetual patron, and as churchwardens of all the mis- sionary churches. In the case of a beneficed clergyman in this country, a patron, after having presented his clerk to the Bishop, is functus officio, because the minister is sup- ported by an endowment ; but in our case, as we are to pay the salary, our patronal office is in a sense perpetuated. And, practically speaking, it is quite clear that, as long as missionaries are to be supported by voluntary contributions, the contributors will require to be satisfied that the spiritual duties are performed, and will retain to themselves the liberty of withholding their subscriptions if those duties are not performed to their satisfaction. From the nature of things, nothing but endowed missions could alter this state ; but I still contend that there is nothing irregular in the pro- ceeding as far as it is carried by the Church Missionary Society. In the case of those missions where there is no colonial Bishop, the Church Missionary Society has done all in its power to procure episcopal superintendence from the nearest Bishop of the Church of England. In New Zealand and in Travancore, which are so situated, application has been made to the Bishops of Australia and Madras to take the oversight of our missionaries as far as practicable. The only remain- ing field of any importance is Sierra Leone. This, as a ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 207 British colony, is nominally under the Bishop of London, till the Government shall choose to appoint some other ecclesias- tical superior. Such an appointment rests altogether with Government. Upon this view of the case, and upon these grounds, I trust you will see tnat the Church Missionary Society is neither irregular in its constitution or practice. But I go further, and am convinced that we may fairly assert, and glory in the assertion, that our missionary operations are, in the properest sense of the terms, the operations of the Church of England, as a Church. Our missionaries are sent forth by our Bishops under the authority of the law of the land. Bishops of our Church abroad superintend them when it is possible ; all our ministrations are in strict conformity with the doctrine and discipline of the Church, all our congrega- tions branches of the Church of England. Whether this comes up to the technical description of your correspondent, ' a corporate act,' I cannot say, because I cannot attach any definite meaning to that term. Does he mean that missionary operations should be conducted by the Convocation ? Yet, according to my notions of true Church principles, this would not give any new character to the proceeding, because still the sending forth of missionaries must rest with the Bishops, and the support of them with voluntary contributors. But your correspondent says, let the Queen and the Bishops be ex officio directors of the Society ; still I reply, that the sending forth and the subsequent episcopal super- vision and the voluntary subscriptions, remain as at present, and I in vain strive to comprehend how such a direction of the lay operations of the Society would make it more strictly a Church act than at present, except in sound and ap- pearance. But if such a measure would at once lead to an union with the Society for Propagating the Gospel, which the High Church party are most anxious to bring about now, my con- viction is that such an union is impracticable and unde- 208 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. sirable. The matter has been frequently discussed. Dr. Dealtry, with whom I lately conversed on the subject, assures me that such is his opinion, and that the Bishop of Chester and the Bishop of London have both severally expressed the same opinion to him. On the whole, then, I come to the conclusion, let both Societies work on as at present. The great Head of the Church has signally blessed us, and He is manifestly enlarg- ing His blessing every day. Let all the friends and agents of the Societies, indeed especially in these days, keep true Church principles in view, and watch against all irregu- larities ; at the same time let them cultivate a spirit of love and harmony with all others who preach Christ, and, above all, look with single dependence to the great Shepherd and Bishop of the Church to direct each step so as best to further the advancement of His own great cause. H. V. It has been thought better that this letter should be recorded iu its integrity. Three out of the four points here discussed have not appeared to need any modifica- tion, though subjected to repeated reconsideration ; but some recent claims have rendered necessary the adoption of additional securities to preserve to the missionary clergy abroad nothing more than the same freedom as is enjoyed in the Church at home. The precise legal status of missionaries to foreign parts in the Orders of the Church of England has never been defined by any competent authority. The class are the offspring of the brighter zeal of these later days, and, as Mr. Venn has observed, there is no code of missionary canons. It is patent enough that the missionary staff welcome with sincere gratitude, even as did the Corresponding Committee at Calcutta, the help and countenance of a diocesan, and it is perhaps difficult to overrate the noble opportunities presented to a colonial Bishop of fostering and encouraging the missions ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 209 which he finds in his diocese. But spiritual work, always difficult, is surrounded with special difficulties in a new and untried field, where every step is tentative, and me- diaeval precedents cannot afford much help, even to those who would follow them most closely. The question of the ' license ' of missionaries stands at present as follows. With the concurrence of the two Archbishops and the Bishop of London, the existing practice of the Society is thus laid down in a note to the 29th of its ' Laws and Regulations ' : — The Bishops of the Church of England, under the autho- rity of the law of the land, ordain and send forth [ecclesias- tically speaking] the Society's missionaries; and in the event of their being appointed by the Committee to labour at stations within the jurisdiction of a Bishop of the Church of England abroad, it is the practice of the Society to apply to the Bishop for licenses, in which are specified the districts to which the missionaries have been assigned. This is done on the understanding that licenses will not be refused, nor when granted be revocable, except for some assigned legal cause. A document based on the principles brought out in the foregoing letter was prepared with much care by Mr. Venn, before, indeed, he had become officially the Honorary Secretary of the Society, and formed what may be called the Concordat under which, in 1841, the then Archbishop of Canterbury (Howley), and the Bishop of London (Blomfield), together with many others of the Bench of Bishops, gave their adherence to the Church Missionary Society.1 It was again submitted in 1858 to the present Archbishop and Bishop Cotton, and received 1 Appendix II. to the XXXIXth Report, referred to in the note to Law 29th. Remarks on the Constitution and Practice of the Church Mis-' sionary Society, with reference to its Ecclesiastical Relations. P 210 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. their sanction and approval, together with several sup- plementary arrangements as to the form of license and other points of detail ; and was for many years reprinted with the Annual Report. It underwent the criticism of several able lawyers, as well as of the most experienced members of the Committee before its first adoption ; but the arrangement was obviously temporary, and the time would plainly come when it might possibly need revision. Such revision, as has just now been explained, it has re- cently received as to one particular. The main underlying principle which appears to have guided Mr. Venn in this and all analogous questions is, that foreign missions to the heathen must always be treated as a transition state, in which novel problems must and will arise, presenting anomalies only to be dealt with by recurrence to broad fundamental prin- ciples, and not to be decided by the rules or usages of settled Christian Churches, but requiring much mutual forbearance on the part of all concerned, 1 and always to be approached so as to facilitate and not to hinder the growth of an independent native Church — the true death-birth of a mission. European missionaries have no vested interest, as have clergymen in England, labour- ing amongst their own countrymen, and as ministers of their own National and Established Church. The foreign mission is to be gradually and silently removed as the nascent community advances towards comple- tion. Much care and foresight are needed in order to judge when the time is ripe for each onward step ; haste is as evil as delay, but the Lord of missions will guide His servants aright. The Church of Rome has no such difficulty ; her prelates in the East are always foreigners ; 1 This important consideration is more fully stated in Venn's Life of Xavier, p. 146, quoted at length in a subsequent page. ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS OF C. M. S. 211 but when we aim at making Christianity indigenous and not exotic, with many centres instead of one — as at Jerusalem and Antioch in the earliest days — the problem becomes delicate and difficult. The appended letter of Mr. Venn to the Bishop of Kingston (Jamaica) deserves attentive perusal, as an illus- tration of this important subject. Its prognostics are being strikingly fulfilled in several missions, and attest the wisdom of his measures for the foundation of native Churches : — January, 1867. My dear Lord Bishop, — 1. I readily comply with your request to explain, in some detail, an opinion which I had expressed to a common friend, that the Church Missionary Society had withdrawn its operations from the Island of Jamaica at too early a period ; and that the best hope of elevating the coloured race to the Christian standard would lie in recommencing an aggressive mission amongst them upon the principles on which the Church Missionary Society acts in its various fields of labour. 2. The Church Missionary Society commenced its opera- tions in Jamaica in 1826, with the view of preparing the negro population for its expected emancipation. That event occurred in 1832. 3. In 1840 the mission had reached its greatest extent. The Society occupied 21 stations in 9 different parishes ; its staff of labourers was 7 clergymen and 11 European laymen. The attendants on public worship amounted to 6,610, and the communicants to 271. There were 47 schools, and the scholars amounted to 5,000. A normal school had been established at the Grove for training ' schoolmasters, cate- chists, and ordained missionaries.' 4. Negro emancipation having been successfully accom- plished, and many of the stations of the Society having assumed the form of parochial cures, it was hoped that such stations ' might fall naturally, as it were, into the general p 2 212 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. ecclesiastical establishment of the island.' A.nd it was the expressed wish of the Committee ' to deliver up each station a well-cultivated plot in the missionary field, thickly set with fair and fruitful trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, in which the Gospel may be preached from generation to generation, until time shall be no more.' 1 5. That these prospects were justified by the growing and prosperous state of the mission at that time, may be shown by a few testimonies to this effect. 6. Archdeacon Trew visited Jamaica in the year 1842, as an agent of the Mico School Charity, and he bore this inde- pendent testimony to the results of the mission (April 9, 1842) — ' It is my firm conviction, that the labours of the Society are about being abandoned just when those labours appear to be experiencing the Divine blessing in a larger measure than at any former period. I can perceive it in the instruments which have been raised up to preach the Gospel through her means in this land — in the ardent desire of many of the congregations to do more towards the support of the ministry of the Gospel than heretofore they have done — and in the work which has been carried on in and around the normal school for several miles.' 2 7. A few facts may be given, confirmatory of the general report of Archdeacon Trew, of the people's willingness to contribute to the support of the Church. The system of payment in the schools had been intro- duced with success at the principal stations. In addition to the school payments, there were also large annual collections. At Siloah, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Mr. Dixon re- ported that ' the people had contributed 100£. in the most cheerful way.' At Chichester, in the parish of Hanover, Mr. Winckler reported that all the communicants were contributors, and they raised about 50 1, each quarter. 1 XLIst Annual Rejwi-t, p. 115. 3 XLIIIrd Annual Report, p. 96. NUCLEUS OF A NATIVE CHURCH. 213 At Mount Hermon, near St. Elizabeth's, Mr. Forbes re- ported that his subscriptions for the year amounted to 1501. The smaller stations contributed in proportion, and the people willingly gave their labour towards the erection of schools and churches. Something had also been done towards the training of native teachers by the normal school at the Grove, in St. Andrew's parish ; five trained pupils had been sent out as schoolmasters and catechists, and seven remained in the institution. District visitors had also been employed. Mr. Dixon reported : — ' I know not how to be sufficiently thankful to Almighty God for twelve individuals whom I have selected from the communicants, for the purpose of helping me. These helpers are, I firmly believe, from a long acquaintance with them, men of faith and of the Holy Ghost, well reported of by all, and their praise is in every estate. With their assistance I am able to do with ease five times more missionary labour than I could accomplish when I first came here. Yea, blessed be God, by their means I am able, when confined at home, to look into almost every corner of the properties connected with Siloah, and know what they are doing.' 1 8. The Society, therefore, withdrew its operations from Jamaica, in the full hope that the mission it had commenced would be carried on, and that, by God's blessing upon the labours of the ecclesiastical establishment of the island, and of Protestant missions of other denominations, the whole popidation would be gradually brought under Chi'istian in- struction. 9. The normal school was transferred to the Mico Trust. Ten of the principal stations of the Society were at once transferred to the general ecclesiastical establishment of the island, or were placed in preparation for that transfer under the charge of neighbouring island clergymen. Eight or ten were closed, chiefly consisting of smaller stations or out- stations. • 1 Church Missionary Record, 1841, p. 207. 214 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 10. Soon after this withdrawal, very discouraging ac- counts arrived from Jamaica. In 1843, Bishop Spencer succeeded to the see of Jamaica, and he thus wrote to the Society : — ' It would give me great satisfaction to hear that the improved funds of the Church Missionary Society would induce that excellent institution to resume some of their abandoned stations in this still thirsty land. Chapels closed, dilapidated school-houses, scattered congregations, thousands of Maroon wanderers, all emancipated slaves, deprived of all means of Christian worship or instruction, notwithstanding the liberal provisions of the late Clergy Act, present me with an unhappy picture, on my arrival in this colony, and show the disastrous consequences of your abandonment of a field which your missionaries and catechists were so well qualified to occupy.' Morant Bay, Port Antonio, and Mooretown — names which cannot now be mentioned without blushes and sighs — were among the abandoned stations of the Society. At the end of twenty-five years, it is the opinion of many competent judges that the social and religious condition of the negro population, numbering more than 400,000, is below what it was at the time of emancipation. 11. This declension is the more painful if we contrast the negroes in Jamaica with those in Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa. Before the Society withdrew from Jamaica, we had the means of comparing the relative standing of the congregations in these two missions. Some of the mission- aries were transferred from one to the other, and missionaries from both fields were frequently meeting in their visits to England. The negroes of Jamaica were then regarded as at least as much advanced in intellectual and moral qualifica- tions as those of West Africa. But at the present time things are greatly changed. In Jamaica a few native schoolmasters and catechists are employed, but only one negro minister. In the West Africa missions, besides more than 100 native catechists and schoolmasters, twenty-five native ministers, and a negro bishop, are exercising their respective functions. One branch of the West Africa Mis- NATIVE AGENCY INDISPENSABLE. 215 sion, that on the hanks of the Niger, has been established, and is wholly managed by native agency, without European help. In Sierra Leone nine parishes are well looked after by negro incumbents supported by the people, and a grammar school of 100 pupils is self-supporting under a negro prin- cipal and tutors, in which Latin and Greek, and the elements of mathematics, are taught with great success. 12. It becomes a question of very deep interest in the science of modern missions, How is the sudden collapse of the bright prospects of the Jamaica Mission to be ex- plained ? 13. For the solution of this question it will not be enough to attribute the failure generally to the change of hands, when the mission was transferred from the superintendence of the Society to the constituted ecclesiastical system of the island. For many of the missionaries remained in their mission stations as island curates, and many of the European catechists were ordained, and remained in the island ; so that there was a sufficient body of Church Missionary friends to have carried forward the mission, if that mission had had sufficient vitality to go forward under the new system. 14. It may be said with truth, that hopes of the future progress of negro conversion were unduly raised by a state of religious excitement consequent upon emancipation. The people believed that they owed the boon more immediately to the friends of Christian missions. They soon afterwards began to feel the pecuniary pi*essure and evils of a transition state. 15. But after making all allowances on these accounts, the inquiry is still forced upon us, why the fair commence- ment of a prosperous mission was so soon checked, and why the negroes of West Africa have so far progressed in civili- sation and Christianity beyond the negroes of Jamaica. There can be no doubt on the minds of those who have watched the progress of modern missions that a chief cause of the failure of the Jamaica mission has been the deficiency of negro teachers for the negro race. The congregations 216 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY YEXX. were not organised upon the principles of a native Church, but under the false idea expressed by the Committee, and already quoted, that they would ' fall naturally, as it were, into tbe general ecclesiastical establishment of the island.' Had they been English settlers, as in Australia, this might have been the case ; but race distinctions, not sufficiently understood at that period of missions, introduced an element which de- feated the best hopes of the Society. 16. It may be said to have been only lately discovered in the science of missions^ that when the missionary is of another and superior race than his converts he must not attempt to be their /pastor ; though they will be bound to him by personal attachment and by a sense of the benefits received from him, yet if he continues to act as their pastor they will not form a vigorous native Church, but as a general rule they will remain in a dependent condition, and make but little progress in spiritual attainments. The same congregation, under competent native pastors, would become more self-reliant, and their religion would be of a more manly, home character. 17. The testimony of two missionaries of great experi- ence may be cited in confirmation of this view. The Rev. J. G. Lincke, after thirty years' experience in Kishnagurh, in Bengal, writes : — ' The longer I live amongst this people the more I see and feel the great importance and necessity of their having native pastors. An European can never be to them what a pastor ought to be ; but a native, if he be a man of the right stamp, may answer their requirements. A native may go into their houses at all times, by which he would at once engage all their better feelings, and thus ob- tain a direct access to their hearts ; and, by mingling with his people, would be in the best possible position for acting like the woman in the parable, who took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened. Our people need the influence of living examples raised up from amongst their own countrymen, and living in daily inter- course with them.' PASTORS MUST BE NATIVES. 217 18. To the same effect the Rev. C. B. Leupolt writes from Benares, in the North -West Provinces of India, respect- ing a congregation of more than 300 native Christians, who, for the most part, have heen orphans trained up in the mis- sions from childhood : ' I thank God I am no longer the pastor of our congregation. 3 am perfectly certain that no native congregation will truly pi'osper without a right-minded native pastor. Upwards of thirty years have I striven to be identified by our people as one of them, but I have only partially succeeded. This is not owing to any want of love or confidence on their part. Our Christians love us and stand by us. They know that they are beloved, and they confide in us. When once, in the mutiny, I myself believed that we should be overwhelmed, and asked our people to save themselves and leave Sigra and me, their unanimous reply was, " Ask what you will of us, but not to leave you. Where you are, we will be, and where you die we will die." But they need one of themselves as pastor.' 19. We are now prepared to answer the question which is the subject of this letter — What is the remedy to be applied to the present state of practical heathenism of a large portion of the negro population of Jamaica? I would unhesitatingly answer — A large, well-organised supply of Negro Pastors to minister to the Negro Congrega- tions. 20. Our first thoughts for procuring such a supply will probably turn to the establishment of a Theological Semi- nary. But here it will be objected by those who have a local knowledge of Jamaica, that no sufficient supply of pupils could be prepared for such a seminary if established, the state of education among the black poprdation is so low, their intellectual development so backward. It will be seen by the late reports of the Baptist Theological Institution at Calabar, which has existed for twenty-four years, that about twenty native pastors have been supplied, and that the want of students prepared for a theological course is the great obstacle with which it has to contend. 218 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 21. The experience of various missions has taught the Church Missionary Society that a surer way of obtaining native pastors is to employ a large staff of native teachers of an inferior grade as Scripture-readers, assistant catechists, catechists, and inspecting catechists. Let them be promoted from one grade to another according to the qualifications they exhibit. Let their education be carried on by the mis- sionary while they are employed in their work by frequent meetings in Bible classes and exercises in preaching. Then, after several years of such employment and teaching, and after their Christian character is well matured and estab- lished, the most advanced, if admitted to ordination, will be found efficient native pastors. Thus in one and the same district the preparation of native pastors and the work of evangelisation may be carried on at the same time, and the two departments will have the most beneficial influence on each other. 22. As the work progresses, the standard of attainments of the native pastors will gradually rise, and it may be found advisable to carry them through a more regular course of theology, and to give their wives also some training in Scrip- ture and in Christian habits. For this purpose an establish- ment is required rather partaking of the character of a Christian settlement than of a collegiate institution ; and the candidates may still be employed during a part of their time as catechists ; though eventually a theological college will be required to crown the work. 23. It is of course implied that the schools of the district will be well worked by the missionary and by his staff of lay agents, some of whom may be employed as schoolmasters ; scholarships should also be provided to retain promising children at school, and small stipends be given to some as monitors. The most experienced missionaries would add that, for a superior class of native pastors, the boys of any promise should become boarders in the premises of the mis- sionary, and be thus early brought into daily contact with the missionary. TINNEVELLY EXPERIENCE. 219 24. A reference to the experience in the missions of the Society will further illustrate the positions laid down. In South India, where there is the largest body of or- dained native pastors, the training1 of native agents has been carried out with singular zeal and efficiency. Each mis- sionary has from ten to fifty native teachers under his superintendence. Where the district is wide, they all come into the station once a month, and spend three or four days together. In more compact districts they assemble weekly. ' I attribute,' writes the Eev. J. Thomas, ' the high standing which many of my catechists are capable of taking to this meeting. This year I have made Church history the basis of my instruction. We never omit a lesson in singing. My son teaches them for an hour in geography, or in some other subject that may prove interesting and instructive. Any subject of special interest or importance connected with the congregations, which may not be delayed till our monthly meeting, is brought to my notice and disposed of. In the evening I preach a sermon, and the catechists leave at an early hour the next morning.' Mr. Dibb, when he was in charge of Mr. Thomas's district, says : ' It comprises 11,278 individuals, among whom fifty catechists and four inspecting catechists are employed. My lack of opportunity for visit- ing every congregation has been in some measure supplied by maintaining constant intercourse with the catechists, meeting them regularly once a month for the inspection of each congregation's report, and, more frequently still, for the purpose of study and devotion. On these occasions the Bible, Church History, the Thirty -nine Articles, and Elliott's " Horse Apocalypticse " have been the subjects in hand.' Another missionary, Mr. Petti tt, was accustomed to keep his catechists for four days a month at a time, and writes : ' Sel- dom have I felt more solemnly the power and reality of Divine truth than on the occasions of meeting the native teachers, which have been generally concluded, I trust, with the most serious and earnest supplications to God for His blessing on ourselves and our work.' 220 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 25. So also South India affords an illustration of the necessity for the employment of a sufficient staff of catechists for the daily instruction of the people. In a resolution lately passed at a conference of missionaries it is stated : ' The missionaries wish to express the very great need there is for the daily instructing, more especially at the very first, those who embrace the Gospel, in its doctrines, precepts, and promises. We are persuaded that, without the system hitherto carried on in Tinnevelly of daily instructing our people in the Word of God, we should never have seen the results which now present themselves, much as there still remains to be done.' 26. The scheme here proposed will doubtless impose great labour upon the missionaries who engage in it. It will require the special grace of perseverance under disappoint- ments and difficulties, the assurance that the hand of God will be with them, and that His Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of the people. It was a favourite saying among the German missionaries in South India, that a mission without the Spirit of Christ is a most worthless thing. And all modern experience shows that a prosperous mission can only be sustained in an atmosphere of prayer and faith and love. 27. In the foregoing remarks I have only described the preparation of native pastors. But I assume that the dis- trict thus brought under missionary action would be sub- jected to missionary discipline ; that the converts would be formed into classes and receive daily instruction till suffi- ciently established in Christian habits ; that the payment of weekly or monthly contributions towards a Church fund be made essential to membership ; and that as separate native pastorates are formed, there should be frequent meetings of the pastors and lay delegates, so as to combine the small and scattered pastorates into one body. The funds contri- buted by the people should form one general Sustentation Fund for the pastors of the whole district. The details of such a scheme are given in printed papers of the Society, entitled ' Native Church Organisation.' ECONOMY OF EXPENDITURE. 221 28. It would be impossible for the Church Missionary Society to recommence operations in Jamaica. The claims of existing fields of labour for increased support were never more urgent than at present. But should a mission be attempted upon the principles here described, individual members of the Society would gladly use their influence in collecting funds ; and the Secretaries would be most ready to correspond, and give advice upon the working of the system ; and eventually the Society might give one or more of its native pastors on the West Coast of Africa the oppor- tunity and means of visiting the coloured congregations of Jamaica, with a view to their mutual comfort and encourage- ment. 29. I apprehend that veiy moderate funds would be re- quired for commencing this great experiment, which, if it succeeds under the Divine blessing, will supply native pastors for the population, and secure their support from the people, and thus prove in the end a vast saving to the cost of the ecclesiastical establishment. Many of the eighty- five curacies in the island must comprise a large population of negroes. If a man of a truly missionary spirit were appointed to such a district, he would need only the stipends of native agents, which should not, in the lower grades, be higher than the wages of day labourers, with the understanding that if they did not succeed as teachers they must fall back upon their labour. Thus 200?. or 300Z. would furnish a large staff of teachers, while the contributions of the people to the Susten- tation Fund would be a provision for native pastors when settled in any congregation, or presented for orders. 30. The fact that the members of the Baptist denomina- tion in Jamaica raise from their congregations the whole support 1 of their ministers, European and native (in the year 1859 the amount was 8,000Z., and the number of ministers 35, of whom 23 were Europeans), affords a guarantee that 1 During the distress occasioned by the drought in 1865 the European missionaries in Jamaica were assisted by contributions from England amounting to 1,200/. 222 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. similar efforts in connection with the Church of England would succeed. In one respect the Church has an advan- tage, for the Baptist denomination, being on the independent principle, each Church must support its own minister ; Avhereas the principles of the Church of England allow of one common Sustentation Fund, so that the richer congrega- tions contribute to the poorer, and the general Sustentation Fund may he assisted by endowments or grants in aid, with- out violating the principles of self-support aud self-govern- ment. 31. I am well aware of the difficulty of carrying out tho- roughly such missionary action as I have described in Jamaica. I have thought, however, that I should best assist you by laying down what appears to me the sound missionary prin- ciples applicable to the case, leaving your lordship, and those who act with you, to consider how far they are affected by the peculiarities of Jamaica. Praying that the Lord may direct, sanctify, and help all your labours in His cause, I am, my dear Lord Bishop, Very sincerely yours, Henry Venn, Hon. Sec. C. M. S. Lord Bishop of Kingston. INDEPENDENT ACTION OF C. M. S. 223 3. Independent Action of Church Missionary Society. It was a great work to which Mr. Venn had succeeded . From what has been before stated, it will seem only natural that he should have guarded carefully the com- plete independence of action of the Church Missionary Society. He was intimately acquainted with the history of its growth and early years, and he had defined with no little care and patience the sphere and limits of its action. Within these limits it was clear that the very existence — the raison d'etre — of the Society depended on its freedom from interference. There were two points of especial importance — the control of the funds, and the selection of the agents to be sustained by them. The money was a sacred trust, often contributed by the Christian poor out of their poverty, and for one great object clearly and plainly defined ; and the Committee were responsible to their contributors for its due adminis- tration. This could not be effected faithfully unless the Committee were absolutely unfettered. In the earliest days of the Society no difficulty was raised, but when it began to become a power at home as well as abroad, and showed its vitality and energy by its persistent growth, many schemes were suggested which would have de- stroyed its individuality. The question was raised whether Societies ought to be permitted at all — forgetting that the voluntary brotherhoods of the middle ages were the salt of the corrupt Christianity of the time ; whether there ought not to be one common fund, raised at the offertory, and 224 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. laid for disposal at the Apostles' feet ; 1 whether a board of missions might not better be appointed by authority, and take the whole supervision of the selection and main- tenance of missionaries to the heathen into its own hands. Many of these plans had much that was plausible to the superficial observer, and it was easy to fasten on those who took a different view charges of narrow- mindedness, exclusiveness, impatience of authority. It required no little wisdom and steadfastness of purpose to meet these suggestions as they arose. It was the trial of ' evil report ' as well as ' good report,' but it was met by one who was slow to form his opinions, but slow to change them. The following documents from his pen are the best illustrations of the question. The first refers to one out of many propositions, made in good faith and with perfect sincerity, for recruiting the supply of missionary 1 This theory was sometimes stated less euphemistically. ' If you like to sound the Church Missionary Society as to funds, I have no objection, but nothing could induce me to submit to any dictation or interference on their part. The whole mission shall in every respect be managed by the Church here, or there shall be none. I have seen enough since I have been out here of the working of Societies to make me loathe them — always except- ing the dear S.P.G., which seems to be mercifully preserved from the Society spirit. If the Church Missionary Society will follow the example of the S.P.G. and place 500/. a year entirely at my disposal for the forma- tion of a mission, I will thankfully accept of it. But if they mean to bargain for power, I will have nothing to do with them. I see every day I live more and more clearly that the whole Church work must be done by the Church, and not by any other agency. And, thank God, this diocese is beginning to think so too. If the Church Missionary Society will not help me without annexing conditions which the Church here will not assent to, and if the S.P.G. cannot assist us further, we must look to God for sup- plying us the means in other ways.' ' Whitsunday, May 30. — Assisted at the consecration of the Bishop of Sierra Leone. Bishop of London preached an admirable sermon. Service very bald ; not a note of music. Told Venn my mind about the Church Mis- sionary Society declining to aid my Zulu scheme. He said the Society deeply sympathised in it, but give nothing. " Be ye warmed and clothed, &c," ' INDEPENDENT ACTION OF C. M. S. 225 candidates ; the others either explain the grounds on which it was expedient that the Society should pursue its work alone and independently, or deal with animadver- sions on its procedure. I. Terms of Acceptance of Candidates. Minute, &c. — The Rev. E. D. Ehodes having submitted a question to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society on the part of the ' Bath and Wells Missionary Candidates Association,' in these words : — 'Would the Committee of the Church Missionary Society refuse to examine a candidate for admission to the College at Islington, sent up by that Association ? ' After a full discussion of the question, the Committee passed the following resolution : — ' That having regard to the ecclesiastical character and constitution of the Bath and Wells Diocesan Missionary Candidates Association,1 this Committee would regard them- selves as placed in a false position, if they were to enter upon the examination of missionary candidates who have been already examined and recommended as ' missionary candidates ' by such Diocesan Association.' The Committee have since been requested to reconsider their resolution ; they proceed, therefore, to review the whole subject, and to state more explicitly the grounds of that resolution. During the Indian Mutiny an earnest call arose in many quarters for missionary candidates. The Secretary of the 1 Rule 8. — That if there be one sub-committee in an archdeaconry, the archdeacon, the rural deans, with a treasurer and a secretary, to be elected annually, with one clerical and one lay member of the Association from each deanery to be also elected annually, form such committee, to which the selection of students and candidates and the general management of the association shall be entrusted. Five to form a quorum. That, if there be more than one sub-committee, each sub-committee be constituted upon the principle laid down in this rule. Q 226 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel applied to the Archbishop of Canterbury to send a circular letter to all the Bishops of England and Wales, asking them to take such measures as might seem to them best for procuring mis- sionary candidates for that Society. The Church Missionary Society did not join in this measure, though it was perfectly open to them to make a similar request. The Committee were satisfied with their own established practice of appealing to the friends of the Church Missionary Society to recommend candidates ; they issued a special circular upon the subject. The result of the appeal has been, through God's great goodness, a num- ber of candidates far larger than their most sanguine ex- pectations. The Islington College has been filled to over- flowing. At the beginning of this year, the diocese of Bath and Wells, as a response to the letter of the Archbishop on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, proposed to establish an Association, and to embrace the Church Missionary Society in its operations. The Committee of this Society, after much correspondence, declined to be so included, thinking it far better for the cause of missions, on many grounds, that while the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel pursued the course which it deemed best, the Church Missionary Society should also pursue its own course. Notwithstanding the very decided judgment of the Com- mittee thus expressed five months ago, that each Society should proceed upon its own plans, the ' Bath and Wells Missionary Candidates Association ' have renewed their com- munications with the Church Missionary Society, proposing that the Association should ' send up ' missionary candidates, though leaving the Church Missionaiy Society to institute any subsequent examination they may think fit. Now, though it may appear ungracious to decline such a proposal, and though no practical difficulties may suggest themselves to the minds of some friends of the Church EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES; 227 Missionary Society ; yet the Committee, from their long practical experience, and from the standing-point which they occupy, enabling them to view a question in many relations which may not be within the scope of other parties, take a different view of the case, and feel compelled to decline the offer of the ' Bath and Wells Missionary Candidates Associa- tion ' to send up candidates to the Church Missionary Society. If, as some of our correspondents write, the proposed connection of the Association with Church Missionary can- didates is intended to be only nominal, and that their recom- mendation need have no weight with the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, the Committee would regard such mere nominal connection with a Diocesan Association, comprising all the highest ecclesiastical authorities, as a ' false ' one. The candidates might as well apply directly, without the intervention of the Association, to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society : the recommendation they would bring with them from the Association would be delusive. But the connection of the Association with its missionary candidates ought not to be, and cannot be, merely nominal. The archidiaconal sub-committees, in whom the selection of candidates is reposed, must satisfy themselves by some- kind of examination that they are suitable candidates ; and the candidates receiving their recommendation would be, and would feel themselves to be, in a very different position from those candidates applying directly to the Church Missionary Society, or sent up by an individual friend of the Society. It would be impossible, by any previous stipulations, to pre- vent the Committee of the Church Missionary Society from being liable to be embarrassed by such previous recommen- dation. When it is further borne in mind that the ex officio members of such archidiaconal sub-committees of the Associa- tion may or may not be friendly to the principles on which the Church Missionary Society is conducted, their recommenda- tion of Church Missionary candidates would manifestly place 228 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. themselves, the Society, and the candidates in ' false ' posi- tions : and it would be impossible to persuade the great majority of the supporters of the Church Missionary Society that the Committee was not departing from its established principles and practice by entering into any connection with associations so constituted. The Committee must also look forward to the contin- gency of their declining after examination to accept a can- didate who had been previously recommended by the Diocesan Association. In such a case the Committee would he gene- rally viewed as setting up its judgment against an Association composed of high ecclesiastical officials. The Committee regard such a position as a £ false ' one, and as likely to in- volve them in much painful controversy ; for every rejected candidate naturally endeavours to make out his own case, and to prove to his patrons that the Committee have judged wrongly of his qualifications. It is often most painful to argue such a point with an individual friend. It would be still more painful to have to argue it against the recommen- dation of a Diocesan Association. The Committee do not express any opinion respecting the Association in regard to other societies, or to the supply of candidates for St. Augustine's College : that college is an independent college, training students for any society, and is therefore in a totally different position from that of the Islington College. They will rejoice if the Association is able to quicken the missionary zeal of the Church, and to increase the supply of missionary candidates generally. But they see many practical objections against connecting the Church Missionary Society with the Association, even to the extent now proposed. The Committee, in conclusion, entreat their friends who may take a different view of the case from themselves, to give them credit for having formed a carefully considered judgment, and to allow the Church Missionary Society to pursue their course in a most vital point — namely, the selec- tion of candidates — -according to the practice and principles CHURCH UNIONS. 229 which for the last thirty years have been much blessed, and ■which have won for the Society the large measure of confi- dence which it now enjoys. H. V. May 81, 1859. II. Proposal of Diocesan Boards, or Church Unions, for the Management of the Home Operations of Church Societies. Proposals from different parts of the country have reached the Committee of the Church Missionary Society for placing the collection of its funds upon a new system. Some have proposed that the cathedral clergy, or a diocesan board, consisting of official persons, shall be appointed to manage the Association proceedings of Church Societies, for religious and educational purposes, by supplying deputations and collecting funds throughout the diocese. Others have pro- posed that local committees should be appointed by a synod or conference for these purposes in each rural deanery or smaller district. All such proposals involve the transfer of the collection of funds from the agency of persons ap- pointed by the societies to the agency of official persons, or persons appointed by other parties ; and, generally, the com- bination of the association arrangements of several societies under one board of management. The Committee deem it important, therefore, to inform their friends explicitly, that while they are thankful for any voluntary arrangement which may assist their pi'esent Asso- ciation system, they cannot in deference to such proposals relax the present system or allow it to be superseded. By the existing system the Associations throughout the whole country are brought into immediate connection with the parent Committee, through Association secretaries and various other zealous friends attached to the principles and work of the Society, and therefore best able to kindle the interests of others in its cause. The Committee feel confi- dent that to substitute for this agency that of persons, of 230 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN, whom there can be no security that they will be specially interested in the Church Missionary Society, or acquainted with its principles and work, will be detrimental to the in- terests of the Society, and will endanger the permanence of its income. The Committee appeal to experience as a guide in this matter. An attempt was made thirty years ago to combine the home operations of different Church Societies, working in the same place, under a common board of management, called a Church Union, the funds being collected in common. In a few special instances 2yaroc^^a^ ' unions ' have been sustained, through the influence of a zealous clergyman ; but in the great majority of cases ' unions ' have proved signal failures. The causes of such failures have been pointed out by the Committee of the Church Missionary Society in cir- culars, issued from time to time among their supporters, which fully explain their views, and also testify to the results of their past experience. It is thought advisable, therefore, to reprint extracts from the circulars for the information and guidance of the friends of the Society at the present day. Extract from a Circular issued in 1841. ' Proposals having been received by the Committee of the Church Missionary Society from several quarters, to admit the Society into a Church Union already formed, or to form a Church Union including the Society, those proposals have been taken into serious consideration by the Committee, and the result was the adoption of the following resolutions : — " That it is essential to the welfare of this Societ}r that it should prosecute its objects distinct and separate from all other societies. " That it is important that all the different Associa- tions of the Church Missionary Society should maintain their independent existence, without merging in any Church Union. UNIONS. •2?A " That the preceding resolutions be communicated to the secretaries of the different Associations, and to other influential friends of the Society ; together with a letter developing the grounds on which they are founded." ' These resolutions have no reference to any sermon which a clergyman may think it right to preach in aid of the funds of the Church Missionary Society, and of any other society conjointly with it. For such assistance the Committee will always feel grateful ; and they fully recog- nise the right of the parochial minister to exercise his own discretion in all such matters. -But it must not be expected of the representatives of the Society, that, while travelling on its behalf, they should preach for or attend meetings in aid of any joint fund. ' Neither do the resolutions refer to any Church Union having simply for its object to receive subscriptions for the Church Missionary and the other societies, in a parish where the Church Missionary Society may not be in operation, and so constituted as not to interfere with any independent ex- ertions which its friends may make on its behalf in such a locality.' Extract from a Circular issued in 1849. ' The Committee being about to make a fresh issue of the circular (on Unions), think it right to state that the expe- rience of the last eight years has served to confirm the soundness of the principles, and the importance of the advice which it contains. ' Unions of various kinds have been commenced during this interval, in different parts of the country. The greater part have failed after a few years' trial. Where they have survived, they have, in the great majority of instances, strikingly proved the truth of the positions, that such unions tend neither to bring missionary motives into " energetic action," nor to " promote the harmony of the Church." ' 232 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Extract from a Circular issued in 1856. ' The system of Unions has been tried on a larger or smaller scale, and under various modifications. In some instances there is one general collection, which is divided between the associated societies : in others, there are separate collectors for each society, but one sermon and joint anni- versary meeting. In others there is one general board to superintend all local arrangements. When the Union is attenuated the evil is lessened. But still, as far as the " Union " principle has been adopted, the Committee are able to assert the broad fact, that it has failed to satisfy expecta- tions ; that the zeal and efficiency of the collectors, and the general interest in the cause of missions have declined. ' The Committee will touch upon a few of the reasons which account for these results. '1. Though the name "Union" suggests the idea of harmony, yet an "Union" is in fact a selection of two or more favoured societies. The question soon arises whether this or that society shall be admitted or excluded. Some propose to unite the Church Missionary Society with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel — others prefer the Colonial Church Society — others the British and Foreign Bible Society — others the Society for the Conversion of the Jews — some unite Societies for Home and Foreign Work — others exclude one or the other class. The excluded societies cannot be prevented from urging their sejmrate claims. Thus the principle of unions contains in itself the seeds of future dissension and confusion ; whatever inconveniences are felt from the separate organisations of different societies soon reappear in connection with separate groups of societies, and the danger of a sectional spirit becomes greater than ever. Thus, though " Church Unions " are recommended as promoting unity in the Church (and the Committee feel it due to themselves to say that they neither overlook this consideration nor undervalue its importance), yet they are bound to state their conviction that the practical effect is FALLACY OF UNIONS. 233i the very reverse ; and often a wider separation than ever ensues between the zealous friends of each society. ' 2. Each society has its peculiar claims. The fields of operation, and the principles on which those operations are conducted, are different. The Committees are composed of different men. Societies are known and valued by their distinctive marks. The attempt to amalgamate, to unite, or to group them together in presenting them to the support of the public, tends to merge this distinctiveness in the vague and uninteresting abstraction of an " Union," or of " Church Societies," or of " Church Missions." Men will not give — at least they will not give with open hands, and year after year — unless the money they contribute is applied for some dist net and specified object, and in accordance with such definite j)rinciples and system of administration as they can approve of cordially. ' 3. The more zealous supporters of charitable objects have a more decided preference for some one society, and often as decided objections to another, and therefore stand aloof from such unions. These are amongst the most effec- tive friends. Lukewarmness has no partialities ; zeal has its especial interests. Hence " Unions " damp the ardour or incur the loss of the most valuable helpers to the cause ; and the working of an union falls naturally into the hands of those who are least able to sustain its efficiency. The im- portance of sustaining the interest in our Associations ex- tends beyond mere pecuniary benefits. It is thus that a spirit of prayer on behalf of missions is fostered, and that intelligent sympathy with the work which brings down the blessing of God upon the operations of a Society. ' It will be evident that after such extensive and large experience as the Committee have had, and with such views of the reasonableness of their objections to unions, they can only send deputations to meetings, or provide preachers for sermons, where the object is the independent support of the Church Missionary Society. They must also reserve to themselves full liberty to maintain the independent action of 234 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the Society in those places in which an union may be esta- blished, if any number of contributors desire to make direct remittances to the Church Missionary Society. They cannot regard themselves as excluded from this liberty, even in cases where the Union sends a portion of its funds to the Church Missionary Society. In more than one instance this course has been adopted for many years. ' The Committee have reason to know that in the adop- tion of these views, and of this line of action, they carry with them the concurrence of the great body of their zealous supporters throughout the country, though they are also aware that a few take a different view of the subject. They trust, however, that such of their friends as may determine to maintain and act upon a different principle, will at least allow the Committee the same liberty of judgment, and they will not take offence at the Committee's declining to send deputations to union meetings or sermons, after this full explanation of their views, or withhold on that account such a portion of their united collections to the Church Missionary Society as they would have been prepared to give had the Committee been able to send them deputations. The Com- mittee will supply their publications in return for such assistance, in the same way as they are supplied to any of their independent Associations. 'As one of the arguments frequently urged in support of unions is the burden which falls upon a minister or upon a few persons in a parish to support several societies, the Committee would earnestly press upon their lay friends to give their valuable assistance as treasurers and secretaries of Church Missionary Associations. ' The Committee are convinced of the very great import- ance of each branch Association being organised by the appointment of a treasurer and secretary, and a body of collectors, who should meet quarterly at least, and monthly if possible, to pay their collections to the treasurer or secre- tary. It is equally important that village or congregational branches should be grouped together in one general Associa- ANIMADVERSIONS. 235 tion, which should have a committee and a general meeting. Such Association should charge itself with the duty of seeing that each branch makes its regular remittances, and that the publications of the Society are duly supplied to those who by the rules are entitled to receive them.' Re-affirmed, January 1872. III. Animadversions on the C. M. S. The spirit in which Mr. Venn met animadversions on the Society, and the similar spirit which it elicited, may be illustrated by the following correspondence, in refer- ence to a statement which made a considerable sensation at the time ; — November 14, 1844. My dear Archdeacon Wilberforce,. — The ' Yorkshire Gazette ' of November 2 has been forwarded to us, contain- ing a report of your speech on October 26, at a meeting for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, held at York on that day. There is one paragraph in that report to which attention has been called as having produced a very injurious and false impression respecting the Church Missionary Society. Now, as I well know, you will desire to counteract such an unhappy effect, and as the opening of your speech breathes a spirit of a totally opposite kind, viz. that of cordial attach- ment to the Church Missionary Society, and an earnest desire that the two Societies should mutually assist each other in their kindred labour, I am persuaded that the news- paper report must have given your statement incorrectly, or, that relying on your opening disclaimer of all invidious com- parison between the two Societies, you spoke with less caution than you would otherwise have done. Nevertheless, the report of your speech is calculated to 236 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. inflict a very serious injury upon the Church Missionary Society if an explanation is not publicly and speedily given. My first step, therefore, is to address this explanatory state- ment to you, preparatory to its immediate publication. I do this in the confidence that you will see the expediency of this step, and in the hope that the statement may go forth to the public with the advantage of having received your concurrence. The paragraph to which I allude is the fol- lowing : — ' If this (the S. P. G.) has the first claim upon our sym- pathies and liberality for these two reasons — that it represents the Church, the nation of England in the colonies, it beyond this is my duty to lay before you facts to show that in this its field of work it is a remarkably efficient Society. And, low as economical considerations seem by the side of such pinnacles, yet it is right in matters of charity to see that we put our money to the best advantage, that we do not take the hardly-won earnings of men, and let them run to waste in channels into which they were never meant to flow. This Society then, taking everything into account, is able to spend 60,0001. a year, and it is supporting no less than 322 ordained missionaries, besides its catechists, schools, and colleges throughout the world. That is, it maintains its clergy on an average of less than 2001. a year each. Now, any one who knows the expenses of transport to and maintenance in distant and semi-barbarous lands, will at once perceive that the Society's operations are conducted on a very economical scale. Or, look at the question in another view. If we take another Society, which is well- managed, and whose finances are most scrupulously and rigorously examined by a Committee appointed for that purpose, we shall find in that Society, the name of which I suppress, because in this particular connection it might seem invidious to mention it, with an income of 110,000£. per annum, and 110 ordained missionaries maintained with an income nearly double ours, it maintains only one-third of our number of ordained missionaries. Their ordained mis- COMPARISONS. 237 sionaries on an average cost them near 1,000Z. a year, while the ordained ministers of the S. P. G. cost only about 200Z. a year. This is a fact which we ought to regard, especially when we go to the poor to ask for alms.' The case is here stated so as to give a most erroneous notion, both of what the missionaries of the C. M. S. cost the Society, and of the comparative cost of the missionaries of the two Societies. There is, moreover, no allusion in this statement to two palpable points of difference, which, when taken into account, entirely destroy the force of the comparison. First, the C. M. S. wholly supports all its missionaries ; whereas the committee of the Gospel Propagation Society expressly state that some of the missionaries of that Society are maintained by it only ' in part.' Their words are these : ' The total number of missionaries maintained in whole or in part by the Society is 327.' But in your statement the cpualification 'in part' maintained is suppressed under the general term, ' cost the Society.' It is clear that before aDy comparison can be fairly instituted, it must be known how many out of the entire number, 327, are maintained ' in part ' only, and also of those who are maintained ' in part ' only, how much is provided for out of the funds of the S. P. G. Secondly, the distinction between missionaries who are labouring among Christian Englishmen in colonial settle- ments, and those who are labouring among the heathen, is altogether suppressed in the newspaper report of your state- ment. Yet it is evident that the necessities of life and the expenses of living must be very different in the two cases. Further, the collateral expenses of schools, churches, cate- chists, the press, and many other heads, must wholly fall upon a Society labouring among heathen : whei'eas these expenses are either not required, or are either altogether or in great part borne by a colonial population. The omission of these two considerations renders the comparison unfair, as it would be to reason thus : — The S. P. G., with an income of 60,0001., supports 320 clergy- 238 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. men ; the Pastoral Aid Society, with an income of less than 22,000/., supports 236 clergymen ; therefore the cost of each clergyman connected with the Pastoral Aid Society is only 90/. per annum, while that of each clergyman connected with the S. P. G. is 2001. per annum. But there is another view of the subject which marks still more strongly the injuriousness to the C. M. S. of the course which you have taken. You say that the S. P. G., ' taking everything into account, is able to spend 60,000/. a year.' Tou do not state the year to which you intend this statement to refer. You, however, place it in comparison with an income in the case of the C. M. S. of 110,000/. Such an income it has enjoyed in one year only, and that was the year 1842-3. The year of the S. P. G. which most nearly corresponds in time with this is that comprised in its report for 1843. It appears that the cost of maintaining the different establishments of that Society for 1842 amounted to 96,393/., a sum exceeding by much more than one half that which you have taken as the ground of your com- parison. And even if there be deducted from this sum the 20,939/., for what are called ' appropriate funds,' though at least one half of that sum is expended on objects for which provision is made out of the income of the C. M. S., there will still remain 77,454?. as the amount of the expenditure of the S. P. G. for the year 1842. On the other hand, among the contributions to the C. M. S. in the corresponding year was one donation of 0,000/. Consols (5,800/. sterling) which was expressly given to found a mission in China, and no part of which is expended to this hour. There was also included in that year's income of the C. M. S. a legacy of the very un- usual amount of the like sum of 6,000/. Consols. Out of that year's income 4,500/. were appropriated to the payment of a debt contracted the preceding year, besides nearly 2,000/. for other extraordinaries. In fact the actual expenditure of the C. M. S. in that year for the support of all its establish- ments at home and abroad was 92,446/., while that of the S. P. G,, as stated above, was for all objects 96,393/. COMPARISONS. 239 The only fair and true comparison between the two Societies would be between the expenditure in similar situa- tions— that is, where both Societies are labouring in the midst of heathen. Such a field of comparison India affords. Now, taking the report already referred to of the S. P. G., we find : — £ Calcutta Diocesan missionaries 9 . . Expenditure . 14,579 Madras „ „ 28 „ 12,293 Bombay „ „ 4 „ 2,792 Missionaries . . 41 and an expenditure of £29,664 I do not deduce from these figures, which represent the expenditure of the S. P. G. on its India missions for one year, that its ordained missionaries in Calcutta cost them 1,619Z. per annum, those in Madras 4391. per annum, and those in Bombay, 697 I. per annum, on an average, because I well know that such inferences would be wholly unfounded. I cite them only to show the unfairness of the statement, as in the newspaper report, that each missionary costs the S. P. G. 200L a year, when applied to a true missionary field such as India. Acting on this regulation, the C. M. S. have been in the habit of giving graduated allowances to its missionaries. To an unmarried missionary a certain sum, to a married mis- sionary an additional allowance, and further provisions accord- ing to the number of children. House-rent is also in every case provided by the C. M. S. The salary and allowances and house-rent, in the case of India, make the cost of each missionary, on the average, about 300/. a year. It may be confidently stated that their salaries and allowances are as low as is consistent with due regard to health and efficiency in their work. The collateral expenses of missionaries labouring among the heathen, i.e. the expenses of schools, school-houses, buildings, for public worship, catechists, the press, and other incidents, will of course depend on the growth of the mis- 240 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. sions, the zeal of the missionaries, and the success which it may please God to give to their labours. All these heads of expenditure, as well as the rest of the home operations of the Society, including the Islington Institution, go to make up the general total of a year's expenditure of the C. M. S. Hence the inappropriateness, as well as unfairness, of divid- ing the total of the Society's expenditure by the number of its ordained missionaries, and representing the product as the cost of those missionaries only. The agency of the C. M. S. for the year in question (1842-3) was as follows: — Ordained missionaries, 110; European laymen, 57; native teachers, 1,023. Total of labourers, 1,190. You can show if the full salary and personal allowances granted by the S. P. G. to its ordained missionaries in India be less than 3001. per annum. It is painful to me in any of these statements to appear even to countenance any comparison between the Societies. But I rejoice that it has fallen to my office to communi- cate with you on this subject, as we so thoroughly understand each other's views, and have on former occasions so heartily concurred in the principle that the two great Church Socie- ties are bound to cherish towards each other at home a fraternal sympathy, and to render to each other mutual assistance as far as possible. I rejoice to see how fully this spirit prevails in some of the missionary fields abroad, where both Societies are found labouring together, and I pray the Lord of missions to kindle the same blessed spirit in all hearts at home and abroad. I am, dear Archdeacon S. Wilberforce, Ever very sincerely yours, Henry Venn. Be/ply. Athenaeum, November 20, 1844. My dear Friend, — Your letter of the 14th instant only reached me last night, and I thank you both for writing at once to me upon its subject, and also for its whole tone. Undoubtedly I could not mean to bring any accusation COMPARISONS. 241 against the C. M. S. Had I known of any improvement in its conduct which I could suggest, that was not the time or place for the suggestion ; and my unequivocal support of it for more than twenty years is a better proof than any pro- fessions I might make that I could not intend to injure it. In fact, your own suggestion is the exact truth. 1 did ' rely on the sincere disclaimer of all invidious comparisons ' which I had just before openly made, and therefore did not feel the need of watching cautiously every expression I used. All that I intended to say was that the ' S. P. G. must be economical, because as to the employment of one important class of missionary labourers it surpassed another rigorously economical Society.' I never dreamed of putting out of sight the 1,000 native teachers, or the many other instru- ments of the Cs M. S., or of charging it with comparative profuseness. Indeed, how could I have done so, being my- self the President of one important Association, seeing in the chair before me one of your Yorkshire Vice-presidents ; the seconder of my resolution being your venerable York- shire President; and having all around me your hearty friends ? So much for my intentions. But, I am bound to say further, that from the facts which you have placed before me, I see that even the com- parison I did intend to make will not hold, and that I there- fore withdraw it altogether. It does, I assure you, deeply grieve me to find that any- thing which I have said has led anyone to draw an unfriendly comparison between two Societies which I believe to be, at this moment, the missionary arms of the Church of England, and the interests of both which will, I am convinced, be best promoted by the maintenance of a hearty union and co- operation. I am, my dear Friend, Most sincerely yours, S. WlLBKKFORCE, R 242 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 4. Sympathy with other Societies. Whilst, however, Mr. Venn was thus jealous for the independence and standing of the Church Missionary Society, nothing at the same time could be further from his principles and practice than a petty jealousy of other institutions, though not modelled in all points as he would have them. That fundamental law of the Church Mis- sionary Society was thoroughly congenial with his spirit : — ' A friendly intercourse shall be maintained with other Protestant Societies engaged in the same benevolent design of propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ' (Law 31). In this view he was for many years an incorporated member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and heartily avowed ' the principle that the two great Church Societies are bound to cherish towards each other at home a fraternal sympathy, and to render to each other mutual assistance as far as possible.' He held cordial in- tercourse with the secretaries of Nonconformist Societies, and they did not refuse to avail themselves of his wise counsels. More than once he successfully interposed to prevent a breach of charity in the mission field. He used to enjoy especially a monthly gathering, during the winter, of the secretaries of the many Societies for Foreign Missions, when they meet to discuss the more esoteric questions of missionary enterprise ; and pardon will be granted if it is said that he was for many a year the great bond of union, and the life of the meeting. Whether rural districts or large towns were the more promising fields ; what should be the scale of remunera- SYMPATHY WITH OTHER SOCIETIES. 243 tion of native agents ; how far schools were a legitimate branch of the work ; the place and limits of researches into vernacular philology and folk-lore ; under what restrictions should missionaries to the heathen engage in English ministrations ; and even, without compromise, the platform on which native Churches should be based — such questions as these were freely canvassed, and Mr. Venn never failed to illustrate them. Deeply loving the Church of England, with a profound conviction of the theological accuracy of her formularies, and never for- getting that his ancestors had been in an uninterrupted line ministers of that Church since the Eeformation, he held out the right hand of fellowship to ' all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.' It was very characteristic of his absorb- ing interest in the work of missions, that he used to devote Sunday afternoon to reading the periodicals of other Mis- sionary Societies, which, while it ministered to his ruling- passion, did not break his Sabbath rest, nor, as he said, distract his mind with business. He gave the initiatory impulse to many a Christian work, though he was best satisfied to remain unobserved, and to prompt others to zeal and devotion. He was the actual originator of the Strangers' Home for Asiatics,1 which has enlisted so wide sympathy, and of the Chris- tian Vernacular Education Society for India, which was planned by him immediately after the Mutinies, as a distinct witness to the people of Hindustan that English Christians are One. He had a Continental reputation as a wise master-builder in the mission field. The Basel Institution had his especial sympathy, as having supplied the Church Missionary Society with eighty-eight of its 1 P. I8& K 2 244 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. most faithful soldiers and servants ; amongst them — if it be not invidious to name any — were numbered Weit- brecht, Pfander, Gobat, and Krapf ; 1 and the venerable Dr. Hoffman, for so many years its Principal, and after- wards First Chaplain to the King of Prussia, often ex- pressed his deep value for him. ' Please to preserve,' he writes on one occasion, ' at least a part of your so dear and valuable friendship to one who owes it hitherto to a higher object common to us both, but who will always, as long as the Lord preserves him in life, remain yours in affectionate regards.' Mr. Venn's correspondence with the French Protes- tant Missionary Society shows how readily he welcomed their inquiries. In 1861, the year of the second great International Exhibition, it fell to him to investigate how far ' fraternal intercommunity between the Church of England and the Eeformed Churches abroad ' could be manifested by the admission of ' the ministers of foreign Protestant Churches ' — as standing on a different ground from English Nonconformists — into the pulpits of the Established Church. All could not be accomplished which he desired, but the question may be raised again. I. The Rev. J. H. Grandpierre, D.D., to Rev. H. Venn. Soci6t6 des Missions Evangeliques cliez les Peuples non Chretiens. April 4, 1851. Reverend and dear Sir, — Desirous of extending the in- terest for the missionary cause among the Protestants of France, our Committee of Missions has entrusted me with the commission to put to you the following questions : — What are the best and most efficacious means you have employed from the beginning of your Society till this day, in order to promote the knowledge, to awaken the interest, 1 C. M. S. Rep. LXVL, p. 36. FRENCH PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 245 and to raise regular and abundant collections in favour of the missionary enterprise among the Christians in England? Your experience and advice will he of great value to us. We hope you will send them to our Committee- Believe me, dear Sir, Yours very sincerely, Grandpierre, D.D., Director. 1 The Rev. F. Mo-nod to Rev. H. Venn. Soctete' des Missions Evang^liques chez les Peuples non Chretiens, (§tablie a Paris. Paris, le 31 Janvier, 1855. My dear Sir, — Our Committee are examining a resolu- tion having for its object the organising of a Missionary Institution in Paris. As an important element of the deci- sion we have to come to, we wish to have the benefit of those who have had longer experience in the matter than we have. Will you, therefore, for the sake of the blessed Lord whose cause wehave at heart to serve, have the kindness to communi- cate that experience to us ? Have you still a special Missionary Institution for the instruction and the training of your mis- sionaries ? If so, do you find it answer, and how many pupils have you, on an average ? If not, why have you given it up? Where do you find your missionaries, and how are they prepared ? Any other information on what may throw light on the subject will be most thankfully received by, My dear Sir, Yours most truly, Fred. Monod, Secretary. Rev. H. Venn, London. Our Institution was closed in 1848. The reply has not been preserved. 246 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. H. Venn to Rev. F. Monod. Church Missionary House, Salisbury Square, London, Feb. 5, 1855. My dear Mr. Monod, — We have had a College at Isling- ton for the last thirty years for training up young men to go out as missionaries. We receive none under twenty years of age. The course is two years of general education, and two years in the Theological class. A few come to us sufficiently educated to enter at once upon the Theological course; the majority require the full four years, so that our supply is about six or eight in each year.1 The College has been so prospered of God that lists of it almost present a succession of as valuable and efficient mis- sionary labourers as any other system of supply would have afforded. Till within the last fifteen years very few missionaries offered themselves from our Universities, or from the ranks of the clergy ; but now the number of such is gradually increasing, and equals about the average of our Islington students, viz. six a year. To our operations the Islington Training College is essen- tial for regulating our supply of labourers, and for furnishing us with a sufficient number. I may also add that there are certain fields of labour, and certain posts in those fields, for which our Islington students are better fitted than Univer- sity men would be. Our West African Missions at Sierra Leone and at Abeokuta have been wholly supplied by this class. The training we give at Islington is not specially mis- sionary— no Oriental languages are taught, no auxiliary sciences or arts. It is simply such a training as would be given in England to men preparing for holy orders in the Church at home. The students are wholly supported by us, receiving board, lodging, and instruction free, and 25 1, per annum for personal expenses. This system makes us more 1 These details have been subsequently modified. THE ISLINGTON INSTITUTION. 247 careful in receiving men, and gives us a more complete com- mand of their future location in the missions. We have a Principal and two tutors, and about thirty students. These appear to me to be all the points on which you have wished for information, but I shall be most ready to give further explanations. The question whether your Society should re-open its Seminary depends, I think, entirely upon the pos- sibility of your obtaining a sufficient supply of labourers without it. I find among the clergy at home, and even those who enjoy endowments at our Universities, some whose heart the Lord specially inclines to care for the souls of the heathen, and a still larger number who reason thus : ' Some men must go out to fulfil the command of Christ, to preach the Gospel to every creature ; I have no special ties at home, why should not I go ? ' At present an average of five or six men annually go out of this class. If there is a prospect in your body of finding such, you will not need a training col- lege ; but if you fail in obtaining such men, as our Church did till within the last fifteen years, you will need a training college. I enclose you a circular which we have lately issued upon ' Our need of men, and the men we need,' which may afford you some further insight into our experience. Praying that the Lord Jesus may bless your efforts and ours to the speedy advancement of His kingdom of peace and righteousness in this disordered world, I am, my dear Mr. Monod, Your faithful and affectionate Brother, Henry Venn. Mr. Venn seldom spoke in public, and almost the single exception — putting aside his occasional visits to the principal Associations, and notably to Cambridge — was an address at an anniversary (April 31, 1861) of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in which he took so early an interest,1 and which is too characteristic not to be recorded. 1 Pp m. 40. 248 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. II. Speech at the Anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, April 31, 18(51. When I was invited by yonr Committee to take part in the proceedings of this day, a moment's reflection convinced me that it was simply in consequence of the official post which I hold in connection with a great Missionary Society, which led them to think of my name. The same consider- ation shall guide me to that line of remark in which alone I can presume to address this great meeting. It might be supposed that one, the great object of whose life has been the promotion of the interests of a Missionary Society — whose whole time and thoughts are occupied in the manage- ment of affairs which belong to the sending forth of the living voice to proclaim the Gospel of salvation — would estimate less highly the labours of a Society which is en- gaged in what may be called the mechanical circulation of the written page. But it has been very different with me. The more I have entered into the interior of the missionary work — the oftener and the longer I have conversed with those who have come from every corner of the earth — the more I have acquired an intimate knowledge of the working of missions ; not only the missions of the Society with which I am connected, but of other Societies in which it is our privilege to unite together in brotherly conference ; the more I have known and studied the state of the world at large, and its great want, the higher has this Society risen in my estimation ; and the more clearly have I perceived that the work and constitution of this Society supply a great need in the missionary enterprise. I no longer look on the British and Foreign Bible Society, as I once mistakenly did, as the handmaid of the great missionary associations through- out the world, but I confess that I now look upon her ' as the King's daughter, all glorious within, and with her cloth- ing of wrought gold,' and that we, Missionary Societies, ' are her companions, that bear her company.' I give the Bible Society this precedence on many grounds. THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 249 My Christian friends, I would not presume to offer to this great and impressive assembly thoughts which had not been the subject of long and deep reflection. I am not accustomed to address public meetings such as this. I am an humble workman. But, in the course of my daily labour, certain convictions have forced themselves on my mind ; and I thank God that He has given me the opportunity of stating them before this meeting. One- of the grounds on which this So- ciety may claim precedency is the mode in which she renders aid to all Missionary Societies. She is not the handmaid, but the royal benefactor. I have to thank this Society for all the encouragement she has given to our missionaries through- out the world, by printing, to any extent, on the shortest notice and under circumstances of every conceivable difficulty, whatever translations we have asked it to print. But the So- ciety has done more than this. There is a modest tone in the Report as it states, version after version, ' at the request of the Wesleyan Society,' ' at the request of the Church Mis- sionary Society,' ' at the request of the London Missionary Society.' The Bible Society has done far more than print- ing at the request of this or that Society ; she has exerted a gentle pressure on every Society. We, perhaps, being en- gaged in other matters, might have been backward in placing in the hands of our native Churches the whole Word of God. The pressure has come from this Society : her language has been : — ' Why do you tarry ? Give us more of that blessed Word. We are ready to print it. We ai'e ready even to support your own missionaries, if you cannot do it yourselves, while they are engaged in this work ; only let the whole Word of God be given at the earliest period to the native Churches.' And thus she has acted, not only for the Church Missionary Society, but for every other Society. The secre- 1 aries of other Societies are present to answer for themselves. There is another mark of royal munificence in the actions of the British and Foreign Bible Society. It takes our ver- sion, or the version of any other Society, and puts upon it the stamp of common property. It is no longer the version of 250 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the Church Missionary Society, or any other Society. That little stamp which is on the backs of all the books which the British and Foreign Bible Society issues, is like ' the broad arrow ' which makes it common property for the defence of the whole nation, no longer belonging to this or that Society, but belonging to the Church of Christ in every clime and in every age. There is, I think I may say, even a yet higher claim which this Society possesses upon our regard, than the aid she renders, and the manner in which it is rendered. This Society is a centre of union among the various Mis- sionary Societies, and exercises a moderating and binding influence among them all. In our separate committee-rooms we are necessarily engaged with peculiar questions. We have, for instance, in our Society the Episcopal question, the Liturgical question, and many other questions, and I pre- sume that every other Society has its own peculiar and special questions. If, then, we had no common ground — if we met only in our separate committee-rooms — we might imagine that we were engaged, not in the propagation of a common Christianity, but of some peculiar form ; we should be thinking of Episcopacy, or Independency, or Presbyte- rianism. But when we go to the committee-room in Earl Street we learn that the great object to which all our efforts are directed is one and the same — the establishment of Chris- tianity throughout all the world. The same benefit which manifests itself in the Church at home, manifests itself, I think, much more in the Churches abroad. It has been often cast in the teeth of Protestant missions, and it is to this day the practice of our opponents to say that the Protestant Church presents such a variety of sects, and such divisions and subdivisions, and so much opposition between each other, that the native mind cannot discover which among us is the true religion, the religion of the Word of God. To all this it is a common and obvious answer, that the Bible is the point of union. But observation and long experience have induced me to ask another question, ' Where would the Bible have been without the Bible Society ? ' It might have TIIE BIBLE AND NATIVE CHURCHES. 251 been in each mission. We might have had an Episcopalian Bible ; we might have had a Presbyterian Bible ; we might have had a Baptist Bible. But now in our native Churches, especially in those countries in which native Churches are raised up by several Missionary Societies, the natives see this point of union. Here is something tangible, something visible, something in which they can bear part ; and here is an answer which they naturally make to all such objections as I have alluded to, namely, if we have separate Missionary Societies, we have one Bible Society, the centre and founda- tion of all true religion. Another question has often arisen in my own mind, as I doubt not it has in the minds of others, and has been to me an occasion of anxious thought — Are we to reproduce in India, in China, in Africa, all our differences at home? In the early ages of Christianity, that which gave the greatest impetus to the cause was the sight of one com- munity, of which it was said, ' See how these Christians love one another,' and in which all the members in the same locality formed one Church. Is this blessed sight never to be seen in India or in China? My mind has found relief from this anxious thought in the contemplation of the work of this Society. I am persuaded a corrective will be found in the free and large diffusion of the Word of God. Happily, works of controversy are not translated, the range of Christian literature is very small, and hence the Bible has in the native Churches a supreme, nay, almost an exclusive influence ; and we may look forward to the time when Churches composed of Bible Christians, as they will emphatically be, will outgrow the denominational features in which they were cast, and then we may happily see the Bible Christians of India forming a genuine National Church in India, and so in other countries. I remember to have received from Africa an answer to the question, ' Do you find that the circumstance of several Missionary Societies labouring in the same locality has the effect of perplexing the mind of the natives ? ' ' No ; the missionaries of all 252 MEMOIll OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Societies are spoken of by the natives as bookmen.' The term ' bookmen ' is only a homely version of the term Bible Christians ; and may that designation supersede in the native Churches all other denominations ! Such, I trust, will always be the blessed effect produced by the operations of this Society. I must, before I conclude, touch on one other point, which appears to me well worthy of consideration. I con- ceive that the Bible Society is bringing home to the Church in this country certain reflex truths which are of inesti- mable value. I will not dilate now upon that which both our noble President and the Bishop of London have touched upon, but confine myself to the missionary view of the case. The distribution of the Word throughout the whole world brings back a striking testimony that it is the voice of the one Father of all mankind, the voice of the one God before whom all men must bow with adoration. I have asked mis- sionaries from north, south, east, and west, ' How does this book, when you put it into the hands of the natives in their own language, find acceptance with them?' The answer has invariably been in effect, ' It is the very book they want : the moment we put it in their hands we find that they want nothing more simple and nothing more profound.' And we have not only this general testimony to the Bible being the Word of God, we have also special confirmations of the truths of the Bible assailed amongst ourselves at the present day. Men in their cloisters, men in their studies, breathing a Christian atmosphere, with minds full of Chris- tian ideas, of which they cannot divest themselves, may pre- sume to say that the facts stated in the first chapter of Genesis are myths, are fables, are the accounts of men who were im- perfectly informed. But now, look throughout India. See what the one truth that God made Adam and Eve and put them in Paradise, is doing. Those who are acquainted with India will, I am sure, bear witness to the statement, that that truth is producing in India the most wonderful revolution that India has ever yet seen — that it is dissolving those ITS WORLD-WIDE AGENCY. 253 fetters of misery and degradation which for three thousand years have chained down the national mind. That first page of Genesis is dissolving caste, and in dissolving caste it is dissolving the curse of India. Take another instance. What is it that has degraded the female sex in India more than anything else? Is it not the abominable sin of polygamy? And how shall we eradicate polygamy from the Eastern mind? Even missionaries stationed in India, Africa, and other parts of the world, have sometimes been led to doubt whether polygamy may not, under certain restrictions, be permitted in the Christian Church. We take our stand on the broad fact — Jesus Christ forbade it. But what is the argument which abroad is found most effectual ? It is just this : God made Adam and Eve, and placed them in Para- dise. That fact decides the question in the native mind. There are numbers of polygamists among the natives who do not dare to present themselves for Christian baptism while that fact stands in the Bible. I would put it to any man who is able to form a judgment — I would ask the sceptic whether it be possible to conceive that a myth or a fable could produce such glorious moral effects among mankind — whether such facts do not prove that the book is Divine — Divine not merely in its general texture and composition, but Divine from the very first page of Genesis to the last page of Revelation. I must allude to one other subtle error which we meet with abroad, and among our educated classes at home — I allude to Pantheism. It is a horrid thought, that even a Christian man can be found to sit down and discuss Pan- theism, as though, after all, there might be some truth in it. Let that man go out to India ; let him see Pantheism in all its vile and oppressive cruelty in the creed of the Brahmins. Then let him see the Brahmin open God's blessed Book, and mark the impression produced, that there is a God, and that that God is a God of truth and a God of love ; and all his Pantheism will dissolve. In conclusion, let me remind you that this Society has a sphere of operations far beyond all Missionarjr Societies. 254 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. It was well remarked in the Report that there are parts of the world which this Society can alone penetrate. We have a missionary station at Peshawar, but we cannot go through the Kyber Pass ; we cannot send a missionary in that direction. I trust that this Society will ere long suc- ceed in conveying a translation of the Scriptures in the Afghan language through that celebrated Pass. The in- vasion of the Bible will be the best kind of invasion. It is the Bible alone that can penetrate into such remote places, as it is the Bible alone that can penetrate the zenanas of India, in which half its population is incarcerated. This Society not only waters and refreshes the little cultivations of all the Missionary Societies, but ' it waters the earth and enriches it with the river of God, which is full of water,' pouring its beneficial influence upon 'the dwellings in the wilderness,' causing it to ' rejoice and blossom as the rose.' So also the operations of this Society will far exceed in dura- tion the operations of all Missionary Societies. The Apostle says, ' Now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three ; but the greatest of these is charity ; ' because charity shall abide when faith and hope have passed into reality. So I would say, when the Missionary Societies shall have done their work throughout the world, this Society shall remain with a larger sphere of operations, and, I trust, with brighter glory than ever. 255 5. Views on the Sacraments. Into the Gorham controversy (1847-9) Mr. Venn entered with his usual pains and thoroughness. It is plain that on the issue of the appeal to the Privy Council de- pended the integrity, perhaps the very existence, of the Evangelical body in the Church of England, and any violent agitation must tell grievously on the resources of missionary enterprise, both as to men and means. The consternation and perplexity produced all over the country by Sir H. J. Fust's judgment in the Arches Court are vividly shown by the flood of letters that poured in on Mr. Venn from all parts of England ; and it was plain, too, on whom all relied for counsel and direction. The recent disruption of the Scottish Kirk helped to augment the restlessness and disquietude. He was at once ready with most wise defensive measures. They were happily rendered unnecessary by the decision of the higher Court, which asserted the right for mem- bers of the Church of England to hold in her, ' unblamed and unquestioned,' the doctrines which had been held by 'Jewel, Hooker, Ussher, Jeremy Taylor, Pearson,' and others, as the judgment on this appeal reminds us. But all contingencies had been considered beforehand, and a draft, in Mr. Venn's writing, proposes a committee of trusted clergymen and laymen, who were to counsel no thought of secession until every legal remedy had been exhausted. The crisis was very grave, and all the graver because Evangelical people in the Church of England 250 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. were, as Mr. Venn often told them, in the old phrase, a rope of sand, with no coherence or organisation. While, however, thus alive to all that, directly or indirectly, affected the cause he had at heart, he care- fully abstained — some sanguine people thought too carefully — from taking any prominent part in many admirable movements, lest the work of foreign missions should receive a check from being wrongly identified with them. His counsel was always at their command, but he kept himself in the background. It may be of interest, therefore, to introduce here a letter of his to an old friend and brother clergyman,1 who had published a tract advocating a view of Infant Baptism which has from time to time found expounders, and has to some seemed a fair solution of the difficulties of the office — the view that regeneration is there used in a lower or ecclesiastical sense, and means ' a change of state,' and not ' a change of heart.' His loving spirit, Ins conscientious labour, his deep reverence for whatever had been ordained by Christ Himself, all meet us here : — Highgate, September 17, 1845. My dear Sandys, — I have read your tract with much attention, and as you invite my judgment upon it, I must confess that it still appears to me unsatisfactory in point of argument, and that some parts of it are open to more serious objections. I send you a few hasty remarks, put down while reading it, more with a view of showing that I have devoted atten- tion to it than in the expectation that they will shake your mind. It is a great comfort sometimes to meet with a brother from whom we can differ without the slightest diminution of love, or of regard, or of confidence in the identity of all our main principles. 1 P. GO. THE BAPTISMAL COVENANT. 257 You will hear from many other brethren how they view jrour little treatise. If such as you can repose confidence in see no objection to it, I shall rejoice to believe that I have been needlessly captious. But I confess that I am more than ever jealous of the notion of baptismal regeneration, accord- ing to the usual understanding of the term. This seems to me the cardinal error of semi-Tractarianism, and will soon, I suspect, be directed as an engine of attack against true doctrine. I am therefore very anxious that no handle should be given to the party by incautious admissions or statements on the part of those who love the truth. I am reading Archbishop Cranmer on the Lord's Supper. It is close reading, and I have little time. It has several allusions to the Baptismal Service, and seems to me quite to overturn your theory, as far as his authority goes. He com- pares the language of the two sacraments together. In the Lord's Supper, This is my body, when it only represents it. In baptism, This child is regenerate, when regeneration is only represented. I give what seems to me the substance of general passages : pray look at this. Cranmer seems to me to take the view in which I now rest, namely, that ' sacra- mental,' or ' federal,' language is essentially different in its construction and signification from plain prayer and thanks- giving, and must be construed upon different principles. Throughout your tract you seem to me to have lost sight of this, and indeed I suspect that great part of the confusion arises from the fact that the doctrine of 'a covenant ' has slipped out of sight, whereas the Reformers had it con- stantly in view, and especially the formalities of a covenant, in the construction of the Baptismal Service. May the Lord give us all a right judgment in all things ! Ever, my dear Sandys, Affectionately yours, Henry Venn. To these principles he steadfastly adhered. He pub- lished in the ' Christian Observer ' (Sept. 1870), about s 258 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. two years before his death, an argument which he had prepared twenty years before ; and almost the last letter he ever wrote deals with the same subject, and is ad- dressed to his attached cousin, the Rev. C. J. Elliott, vicar of Winkfield, and Hon. Canon of Christ Church, who at that time had relieved Mr. Venn of the editorship of that periodical. The Old Key to the True Interpretation of the Baptismal Service of the Church of England. The argument contained in this paper was drawn up in the year 1850, when the ' Gorham' judgment of the Court of Arches was under the review of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in compliance with the' request of one of the prelates who was an assessor in that review, and who was pleased to say that the paper contained a reasonable solution of the main difficulty of the case. As soon as the judgment of the Privy Council was de- livered, vindicating the conditional interpretation of the Baptismal Service, the paper was laid aside, in the hope that the judgment would close the controversy. This was for a time the result of that celebrated judgment. But of late years the attempt has been revived to fix the interpretation of absolute baptismal regeneration upon the service of our Church. Foes and friends of the Church of England have strangely put forward this sense of the words as the true one, disallowing the only interpretation which has been pro- nounced legal. In our own day also we have witnessed the rise of an analogous controversy upon the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The point at issue, and the nature of the judgment in the case of Mr. Gorham, are so often misstated, that it may be well to give the following words of the judgment : — ' The doctrine held by Mr. Gorham appears to us to be this — that baptism- is a sacrament generally necessary to THE PRIVY COUNCIL'S JUDGMENT. 259 salvation ; but the grace of regeneration does not so neces- sarily accompany the act of baptism that regeneration in- variably takes place in baptism ; that grace may be granted before, in, or after baptism ; that baptism is an effectual sign of grace, by which God works invisibly in us, but only in such as worthily receive it — in them alone it has a whole- some effect ; and that, without reference to the qualifications of the recipient, it is not in itself an effectual sign of grace. That infants baptised, and dying before actual sin, are cer- tainly saved ; but that in no case is regeneration in baptism unconditional.' The members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council who were present, with one exception, and the two Archbishops, were unanimously agreed in opinion, 4 that the doctrine held by Mr. Gorham is not contrary or repugnant to the declared doctrine of the Church of England as by law established.' It should be borne in mind that the Prayer Book owes its authority and sanction, in our Church, to an Act of Parliament ; and therefore the interpretation allowed by the highest legal tribunal becomes a lawful interpretation. Though in our private judgment we may adopt a different interpretation, we have no right to condemn those who adhere to the judicial interpretation. We may take an illustration of this remark from the history of former days. The use of the cross in baptism is strongly objected to by the Puritans ; but after the Hampton Court controversy a rubric was added, 'to take away all scruple concerning the right use of the cross in baptism,' which at once satisfied one of its chief opponents, Dr. Reynolds, who declared ' he would never gainsay that ceremony any more.' But why, it may be asked, did the Reformers, whose known opinions were adverse to the doctrine of absolute regeneration in baptism, employ expressions which, in their popular sense, seem to assert that doctrine ? The following paper meets this inquiry. It shows that the popular sense of the service at the period of the Reformation, and for some 260 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. time afterwards, was the conditional, and not the absolute sense ; that the Baptismal Service was so constructed as to suggest this conditional sense; and that the Scriptures employ and sanction similar forms of expression, i.e. they speak of things future and contingent in absolute terms. It may be well to make the preliminary statement, that the term ' regeneration ' in this paper is taken in its highest and spiritual sense. It is in that sense only that the diffi- culty occurs of the absolute assertion of regeneration in our service. If any construe the term ' regeneration ' in a lower sense, as an ecclesiastical condition, as a change of state, not of heart, they avoid one difficulty, but they involve themselves in other difficulties in reconciling such an interpretation with the rest of the services of prayer and praise. It may be asserted as an historical fact, that in the midst of the Gor- ham controversy, when the discussion of the doctrine was in everyone's lips, though two or three eminent men of Evan- gelical views advocated in pamphlets the lower sense of regeneration as a solution of the difficulty, the vast majority, on both sides, took it for granted that throughout the service the term must be taken in its highest spiritual meaning. Henry Venn. (1) The Proper Interpretation of the Baptismal Service of the Church of England. It is often alleged as a proof that the Church of England teaches the doctrine of unconditional baptismal regeneration, that we pray for the regeneration of every infant brought to baptism ; that we say, after the act of baptism, ' Seeing now that this child is regenerate ; ' that we give thanks to God for the regeneration of the child as a fact accomplished; that we teach every child to say in the Catechism, ' Wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ; ' therefore, it is the teaching of the Church that regeneration has taken place at baptism. RIGHT USE OF WORDS. 261 There is a manifest fallacy in this reasoning. The ex- pressions are interpreted as if they were a simple prayer for a blessing, and a thanksgiving for its reception ; whereas, between the prayer and the thanksgiving, a significant action has occurred : the expressions and the action form a solemn transaction ; and the words must be construed with reference to the nature of that transaction. If words are spoken under any peculiar circumstances, the first inquiry must be whether those peculiar circumstances qualify or rule that interpretation. A remark of an acute and learned writer may be cited as in point : — ' A proposition expressed universally is by no means to be taken as liable to no limitations. A person, indeed, in the proper circumstances, makes the due limita- tions easily, scarce conscious of what he does ; but a person not in the proper circumstances, or not able to conceive him- self in them, always gets wrong.' 1 So if the assertion of the regeneration of an infant at baptism be interpreted apart from the circumstances under which it is made, a person ' always gets wrong.' But if these circumstances be properly taken into account, he easily makes ' the due limitations.' We may borrow an illustration from the language used in the other sacrament. If our Lord's words at the institu- tion of the Last Supper — ' This is my body ' — be construed apai't from the transaction, a person ' always gets wrong.' But their true interpretation is found in the circumstances under which they were spoken. It may help to make this clear, if we refer to a memorable historical event. When Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer held their last disputation, previous to their martyrdom, at Oxford, they were pressed by their opponents with an argument in favour of transub- stantiation, from the literal and absolute sense of a passage in the writings of Chrysostom. Chrysostom's words were these : ' I show to thee neither angels nor archangels, nor the heaven of heavens, but the very Lord and Master of all 1 Dr. J. Hey's Lectures on Divinity, iv. pt. ii., sec. iii. 262 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. these things. Thou perceivest after what sort thou dost not only behold but touchest, and not only tonchest but eatest that which on the earth is the greatest and chiefest thing of all other,' &c. Cranmer's replies were in the following words to his Romanist opponent Weston : — ' Cranmer. — I answer the body of Christ to be on the earth, but so as in a sacrament, and as the Holy Ghost is in the water of baptism. ' Weston. — Chrysostom saith, " Ostendo," I show forth, which noteth a substance to be present. 'Cranmer. — That is to be understanded sacramentally. ' Weston. — He saith, " Ostendo in terra," I show forth on the earth, declaring the place where. ' Cranmer. — That is to be understanded figuratively.' After other questions — ' Weston. — " Ostendo tibi" i.e. I show it to thee, saith Chrysostom, not to thy faith. 'Cranmer. — He speaketh sacramentally.'1 For these answers they were condemned to death, and burnt at the stake. The answers of Cranmer, if drawn out in the form of an argument, assume that words which seem to bear a literal and absolute sense, require a different interpretation when used in connection with a sacrament. The sacrament rules the interpretation of the language. Cranmer refers to this principle of interpretation as necessary to a right under- standing of baptism as well as of the Lord's Supper, and Cranmer had the chief hand in the construction of our Liturgical Services. The illustration is the more striking, because, in this case, the words under consideration did not occur in a litur- gical service, but only in a discourse describing the effects of the sacraments. If the principle of interpretation applies to such a case, a fortiori it should be applied to the service which forms a part of the sacrament. The illustration, it may also be observed, is precisely analogous to the words of 1 Parker Society's edit., p 407. FEDERAL LANGUAGE. the Catechism, which seems to assert the absolute regenera- tion of every child in baptism : ' Wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.' The argument in favour of baptismal regeneration is often urged in the very terms of the Ro- manists. Is it not said, ' I was made,' which describes an actual change of nature? Is it not said, 'wherein,' fixing the time when, at baptism ? To all such arguments it may be answered, in the very words of the martyred Reformers, 4 It is to be understood sacramentally,' ' It is to be understood figuratively.' This principle of interpretation has been so much lost sight of in late days, that we must enter more particularly into the peculiar circumstances which rule the interpretation of the Sacramental Services ; in other words, we must call attention to the nature of the transaction as a federal act, of which the words of the services form a part. Baptism was instituted by our Lord in the place of cir- cumcision. Under the old law, circumcision was designated, at its first institution, as a federal act : ' God said unto Abraham, This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee : Every man child among you shall be circumcised ' (Gen. xvii. 10). It is styled also 'a token of the covenant ' (ver. 11). In like manner, the other Christian sacrament of the Loi-d's Supper was instituted in the place of the numerous sacrifices of the old law, all which were federal acts, or tokens of the covenant ; and therefore our Lord, when he took the cup, said, ' This cup is the new testament (or cove- nant, for the same Greek word is so translated) in my blood, which is shed for you' (Luke xxii. 20). The expression being precisely similar to that in Genesis — Circumcision is my covenant. In Scripture, a covenant is a promise confirmed by some outward sign ; as in the first covenant recorded in the Bible, when God promised, after the flood, that he would not again destroy the earth by water, and then added, ' I do set my 204 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth ' (Gen. ix. 13). In other Divine covenants God chose as signs or tokens certain actions by which man may express his adherence to the covenant, as in circumcision, the offering of sacrifices, &c. It is clear, from these texts, that the two Christian sacraments are federal acts, tokens and renewals of the new or Christian covenant ; and the very idea of a covenant brings with it considerations which naturally qualify the language employed in the trans- action. It is to be further observed that in the two Christian sacraments God has been pleased to select such tokens and signs as have a figurative signification; they are figurative and visible representations of the benefits of the covenant of grace ; baptism representing the cleansing of the soul from sin, the Lord's Supper representing the strengthening and refreshing of the soul by the grace of Christ. Words spoken under either of these conditions, namely, as connected with federal acts or with visible representations, naturally take a positive and absolute form in reference to future and contingent events. In a federal act we have not only a promise, but a pledge in hand. Had we only the promise, we should return thanks for the future prospect ; but if we have a pledge in hand given us, we naturally regard and speak of the thing promised as already accom- plished. So also, in the case of a figurative representation, when the benefit promised to us is signified by a figurative action, we naturally identify the benefit with the represen- tation, and speak of it as actually received. The Holy Scriptures afford many examples of this use of language. (2) The federal, figurative, or sacramental forms of expression sanctioned by Holy Scripture. The Scripture presents many instances of the use of anti- cipatory language connected with federal and figurative acts which fully sanction the language of the Sacramental Services of the CLurch of England. SCRIPTURAL PRECEDENT. 266 For instance, in the earlier chapters of Genesis several promises are recorded in which God engaged to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed. Such simple promises are all expressed in the future tense : ' Unto thy seed will I give the land,' &c. (Gen. xii. 7 ; xiii. 15, &c.) But in the 15th chapter it is recorded that Abraham asked — ' Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit the land ? ' This was said immediately after Abraham had exhibited one of the most striking instances of a simple faith in the promise, of which it is said, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. The expression, therefore, ' Whereby shall I know? ' in the lips of the father of the faithful, must be the language of true faith seeking for a sign to strengthen and exercise itself. And God gave Abraham a sign to confirm tbe promise. Certain animals were to be divided and laid upon a rock altar. And a burning light appeared to pass between the divided pieces. Then, in the 18th verse, it is said, ' In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land.' Did Abraham upon this occasion pour out his heart in eucharistic words, they could have been none other than those of thanks for an accomplished blessing, the echo of the Divine words, ' I thank thee, 0 God, that thou hast given me this land as my possession.' A second instance may be taken from the book of Exodus. God frequently gave Moses the promise, ' I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite,' &c. But when a covenant is referred to, the language is varied by a change of tense (Exod. xxxiv. 10, 11), ' And he said, Behold, I make a covenant before all thy people ; I will do marvels. . . . Behold, I drive out be- fore thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.' Here is an absolute form of expression. In the Hebrew the pi-esent participle is used — 'Behold, I am driving out'; yet this driving out was far off in the future, and it involved the ful- filment of conditions on the part of the Israelites. It was forty years before this driving out began. The Hivites made 266 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. a surreptitious league with Joshua, which annulled the cove- nant in their case. A large portion of the devoted tribes were never driven out, through the supineness of Israel, and the promise itself, which had been spoken of as already fulfilled in connection with the covenant, was at length with- drawn. ' Wherefore I said also, I will not drive them out before thee ' (Judges ii. 3). A very simple instance, in which things future are spoken of as past or present in connection with a significant action, occurs in the history of Samuel. When Saul laid hold of Samuel's mantle, and it rent (1 Sam. xv. 2), 'Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine that is better than thou.' Yet Saul continued to hold the kingdom twenty years after the absolute declaration, ' The Lord hath rent it from thee this day,' even to the end of his life. And David, so far from taking the declaration in its absolute sense, acknowledged Saul's sovereignty till his death. The inspired writings are, in fact, full of instances in which the apparent meaning of the language is qualified or altered by the action with which it is associated. The Oriental style of speech delighted in the union of words and actions, such as parables, fables, scenical representations. Bible history abounds with instances in which actions are united with language, each dependent upon the other for its significance — actions speaking to the eye, interpretative ex- pressions speaking to the ear, both jointly addressing the heart and conscience rather than the mere intellect. Even when no pledge or sign is connected with the words, the Scriptures frequently use the present or even past tense instead of the future, when the mind of the speaker views the action as already accomplished, being as good as done, e.g. Isa. ix. 1,'the people who walk in darkness see [literally, has seen] a great light'; (v. 13) 'therefore my people goes [literally, has gone] into captivity.' 1 English habits of expression run into an opposite extreme, and adopt the pre- 1 See Gesenius' Grammar, hy Rodiger. Bagster, 184C, p. 184. THE STRUCTURE OF THE OFFICE. 267 cise sense which the grammar and dictionary assign to the words, apart from the circumstances under which they are spoken. (3) The true Interpretation of the Baptismal Service deduced from its Internal Structure. That the interpretation here given of the Baptismal Service is the true and natural interpretation under the circumstances of the case, may he further shown by internal evidence in the very structure of the service. First, the service itself suggests a figurative and sacra- mental signification of the language. The sponsorial system is adopted in a form pre-eminently figurative and anticipatory. Three persons represent the infant, and are addressed in the singular number, ' Dost thou believe?' They all three answer in the name of the infant, ' All this I steadfastly believe.' The present tense is used, though the reference is to a time future, namely, when the infant shall be ' able to learn what a solemn vow, promise? and profession he hath made ' by his sponsors. In the midst of this highly figurative transaction, amounting to a kind of scenical representation, the infant is pronounced regenerate. Such declaration must be construed in harmony with the circumstances, that is, in a figurative and sacramental, and not in an absolute sense. Secondly, a proof of the sacramental sense in which the service is to be understood is the introduction of the term ' mystical washing away of sin.' The sacraments were at the period of the Reformation termed ' mysteries,' ' holy mysteries.' Hence the words ' mystical ' and ' sacramental ' were synonymous. In the second prayer of the service the infant is prayed for ' that he coming to thy holy baptism may receive remission of his sins by spiritual i*egeneration.' But the baptism and subsequent declaration of regeneration do not follow immediately upon this prayer. There inter- vene the answers of the sponsors, and then a prayer imme- diately precedes the sprinkling of water — ' sanctify this 2G8 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. water to the mystical washing away of sin'; then, after the application of water, ' seeing now that this child is regene- rate.' The epithet ' mystically ' is not repeated ; but the natural construction, if not the only logical construction, of the sentence, requires us to supply that epithet — ' seeing now that this child is mystically or sacramentally regenerate.' (4) External Proof that the Baptismal Service was constructed upon the principle of a Sacramental Interpretation. External testimony may be adduced to show that the Baptismal and Communion Services of our Church were constructed upon the principle of a federal or sacramental interpretation. Archbishop Cranmer had the chief hand in the construc- tion of our Liturgical Services. His use and vindication of the ' sacramental ' or ' figurative ' interpretation have been already cited. The Ai-chbishop's writings do not contain any distinct treatise on baptism. The controversies of his day turned upon transubstantiation ; but his writings con- tain frequent references to the analogy between the use of sacramental language in baptism and in the Lord's Supper. One such passage may serve as a specimen :— ' As the water in baptism is called aqua regenerans, the water that regene- rates, and yet it doth not regenerate indeed, but is the sacrament of regeneration, wrought by the Holy Ghost, and called so to make it to be esteemed above other common waters ; so Christ confessed the creatures of bread and wine, joined to His words in His holy Supper, and there truly ministered, to be His body and blood ; meaning thereby . . . the mysteries of Christ's flesh and blood, or the sacraments of Christ's flesh and blood.' 1 No work is of more authority, as. showing the views of the Reformers, than Bullinger's ' Sermons or Decades.' His views of the sacraments were pronounced by Cranmer to be so sound that any work of his upon this subject might be ' Cranmer on the Lord's Supper. Parker Soc. Edit. p. 150. BULLINGEil'S DECADES. 269 printed in England without being first read by the autho- rities. His ' Decades ' were treated as a work of public authority by the Convocation of 1586, under Archbishop Whitgift, which enjoined that all inferior ministers should provide themselves with a Bible and Bullinger's ' Decades,' and read a chapter in the Bible daily, and a sermon of the - Decades ' once a week. These ' Decades ' contain the fol- lowing explicit statement : — -' That we may yet at length make an end of this place, they [the absolute assei-tions in the Communion and Baptismal Services] are sacramental and figurative speeches, where we read and hear that the bread is the body of Christ : also that they are purged from their sins and regenerated into a new life which are baptised in the name of Christ, and that baptism is the washing of [all] our sins. And after this manner speaketh the Scripture. And this form of speech kept the old Doctors of the Church, whom for so doing none that is wise doth dispraise ; neither can one discommend any man which speaketh after this manner, so that he also abide in the same sincerity wherein it is manifest that those holy men of God did walk. For as they did willingly and simply use those speeches, so did they not roughly and rigorously strain the letter and speeches ; they did interpret them in such sort, that none was so unskilful but what he might understand that the signs were not the thing itself which they signified, but that the signs do take the names of the things. Therefore they used words signifi- catively, sacramentally , mystically, and figuratively. Now, whereas some will not have the sacramental speeches to be expounded, as though being not expounded, they were of more authority, majesty, and worthiness. This draweth after it a sore danger, and giveth a most grievous offence, and is repugnant to the rule of the apostles, to sound reason, and to the custom of them of old. For when these kind of speeches are set forth and uttered to the simple sort, being not expounded, " Baptism saveth us," &c, what other thing, I pray you, is set forth than a snare of carnal bondage ? Many words need not in this matter, since experience doth 270 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. abundantly enough set forth in this place what hath been done and what at this day is done.' 1 Bullinger refers to the old Doctors of the Church as having used this form of speech. The words of Augustin, in a well-known passage, may be cited as one of the old Doctors of the Church. In a letter to Boniface, of which large extracts are given in Wall on ' Infant Baptism ' (vol. i. ch. 15), Augustin says, ' When an infant that has not yet the faculty of faith is said to believe, he is said to have faith because of the sacrament of faith, and to tuim unto God because of the sacrament of convei-sion, because that answer belongeth to the celebration of a sacrament.' 'An infant, though he be not yet constituted a "fidelis," by that faith which consists in the will of believers, yet he is by the sacra- ment of that faith. For as he is said to believe, so he is called a, fidelis, not from his having the thing itself in bis mind, but from his receiving the sacrament of it.' The interpretation put by Augustin upon the declaration in the Baptismal Service of his day, may be applied to the declaration in our Baptismal Service of its regeneration ; ' not from having the thing itself, but from his receiving the sacrament of it.' Bullinger, it is seen, predicted that, if the sacraments should not be properly explained, a wrong interpretation would spring up. Such explanation should have been given in the Catechism. But in our Church the latter part of the Catechism, which professes to explain the sacraments, was not added till half a century after the Reformation. At that time the evil predicted by Bullinger had begun to work. The true notions of the sacraments as federal acts had gradually given way to the narrower view of them as means of grace, and especially baptism began to be represented as the sole channel of regeneration. Nevertheless, the second part of the Catechism, though very obscure, sets forth the notion of a covenant, when it 1 ' Decades,' vol. vii. pp. 993 col. 2, 994 col. 1. Edit. London, 1587. ARCHBISHOP SECKER. 271 defines a sacrament as £ an outward and visible sign of in- ward and spiritual grace,' 1 and ' a pledge to assure us thereof,' as well as ' a means whereby we receive the same.' An outward and visible sign and a pledge, divinely appointed, to confirm a promise, constitute a federal transaction, and are the tokens of the covenant. The sacramental and federal interpretation was, however, still preserved in the Church by writers of high authority. One instance may be cited from the ' Exposition of the Church Catechism,' by Archbishop Seeker, which a century ago was in general use, and which furnishes the chief mate- rials of Bishop Mant's ' Commentary on the Baptismal Ser- vice of the Book of Common Prayer,' published forty years ago. The Archbishop's words, quoted below, are not found in Bishop Mant, for he became a chief supporter of the narrow interpretation. The Archbishop, having referred to the universal custom of pagan nations of ratifying engage- ments and treaties by federal acts, such as the killing of a victim (fcrire foedus), adds : ' In condescension to a practice which, being so universal among men, appears to be founded in the nature of man, God hath graciously added to his covenant the solemnity of certain outward instructive per- formances, by which he declares to us that, as surely as our bodies are washed by water, and nourished by bread broken and wine poured forth and received, so surely are our souls purified from sin by the baptism of repentance, and strength- ened in all goodness by partaking of that mercy, which the wounding of the body of Christ and the shedding of His blood hath obtained for us.' 2 The foregoing statement sufficiently answers the question, why the framers of our Baptismal Service and their brother Reformers — men whose known and published views were so far removed from the doctrine of the absolute and uncon- ditional regeneration of infants in baptism — should have 1 In the authorized or sealed books, a comma occurs after the word ' grace.' 4 Archbishop Seeker's Lectures on the Church Catechism, Lecture 34. 272 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. constructed or consented to the adoption of a service liable to be misunderstood ? The answer is, that the liability of their language to be misunderstood was not their fault. It was not misunderstood in their day by well-instructed per- sons, as Bullinger testifies. The liability arose in after ages, when the nature of the sacraments as federal acts was lost sight of, and exaggerated views of their nature, as means of grace, were adopted. (5) Recapitulation of the Argument. The proof may now be regarded as complete, that the true, natural, and proper interpretation of the Baptismal Service respecting the regeneration of an infant is not that regeneration is absolutely and always communicated in bap- tism. It may be communicated before, or at, or after baptism, consistently with the language of the Prayer Book, which asserts no more than that the offers and promises of grace and salvation are ratified and assured to the child according to the terms of the ' New Covenant ' by the outward and visible sign and pledge of baptism. The proof has been adduced from the nature of a sacra- ment as a federal act, from the practice of Scripture, from the internal structure of the Service, as well as from the known sentiments and intentions of the framers of the Ser- vice. These several lines of argument lead to the same conclusion ; and, therefore, the affirmation that the Prayer Book asserts the absolute regeneration of an infant in and by baptism, can only be sustained by wresting the words from the transaction with which they are inseparably connected, which is in effect putting a forced and non-natural sense upon words spoken in the connection in which they stand. Yet upon this uncertain, if not forced, and very narrow interpretation of the Baptismal Service, prelates and digni- taries have attempted to exclude their brethi-en from the Church, and the enemies of the Church have attempted to affix the stigma of dishonesty upon those who adhere to the ITS COMPREHENSIVENESS. 273 original, the more Scriptural, and larger system of interpre- tation. (6) The Sacramental Interpretation consistent with the Chari- table, Hypothetical, or Conditional Mode of interpreting the Baptismal Service. The interpretation here advocated has been shown to be no new interpretation, but that on which the Baptismal Service was constructed. It may be well, however, to show that it comprehends several popular explanations commonly given at the present day by those who repudiate the doctrine of absolute regeneration in baptism. These explanations may be reduced to three classes ; and it may be shown that each has sprung out of this original interpretation, though assuming a different form, after the federal nature of the Sacraments had been lost sight of. 1. Many, looking chiefly to the sponsorial system, adopt what is termed the hypothetical interpretation. A child is pronounced regenerate, they say, upon the supposition that the answers made in the child's name become his own. The sacramental and federal interpretation includes this view, and shows that such anticipatory language has a Divine sanction in Scripture, and is consistent with the nature of the covenant of grace. 2. Others hold what is called the charitable interpretation. They think that the language of thanksgiving for the bene- fits sought in prayer may be used in the charitable hope that the prayer of faith accompanies the baptism of the infant, and an honest purpose to bring up the child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. This charitable suppo- sition, they say, authorises the thanksgiving in the Service for adults, and runs through the other Services of the Church. The covenant of grace is the foundation of this charitable hope ; and therefore the appointed sign, pledge, and ratification of this covenant countenances and cherishes this charitable hope. 3. A third class adopt what may be called the conditional T 274 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. interpretation. They allege the declaration of the Twenty- fifth Article — ' In such only as worthily receive the same, they (the Sacraments) have a wholesome effect or operation ' — as proving the doctrine of the Church to be, that the abso- lute declaration of regeneration is true only of those infants who have received the grace prayed for, but does not neces- sarily include all infants brought to baptism. This was, in the main, the interpretation maintained by Mr. Gorham. The federal explanation confirms the conditional interpreta- tion by showing that it rests upon the nature of Sacraments and upon Scriptural precedent. It is too often conceded that the absolute regeneration of an infant in baptism is the natural sense of our Service, though the hypothetical, the charitable, or the conditional are allowable interpretations. The foregoing argument proves that the absolute sense is not allowable, having regard to the circumstances under which the words are spoken, while the other interpretations are both natural and logical. Conclusion. One important question remains to be answered. What can be done to recover in our Church the true notion of Sacramental Services? Bulliuger has given the answer. They can only be guarded from misunderstanding by being properly explained to the people. A federal act is a com- plex idea, not so easily apprehended as the more simple but very partial view of the Sacraments as mere means of grace. The Catechism is the place in which such explanations should be found. It may therefore be suggested as one means of bringing back right notions on this subject, that a few sentences should be introduced into the popular explana- tions of the Church Catechism, to enable parents and teachers to give the required explanations to their children. This might prove a first step towards the recovery in our Church of a cordial and intelligent use of our Sacramental Services. FEDERAL ASPECT OF SACRAMENTS. 275 H. Venn to Rev. C. J. Elliott. East Sheen, Jan. 6, 1873. My dear Elliott, — I shall be truly glad to see you on Thursday, for as long a time as you can spare me. I have read your review on the Eucharist question with very great satisfaction. But your revelation is so fearful that you show the need of following up measures offensive and defensive with the utmost energy. I shall be glad to talk this over with you. I am in correspondence with Birks, who is to give an address at the Islington Clerical Meeting, January 14, on ' The True Place of Sacraments in the Christian System.' I am anxious that he should fully consider the federal aspect of the subject. ... I wish to talk with you on this matter also, and can you bring with you a specimen of the earliest and latest forms of Baptismal Service in the Romish Church, upon the single point of an absolute declaration of the re- generation of the infant after baptism ? Probably you will have this information in some book. If you have to extract anything for me I do not want more than the words used on this precise point. May every blessing of the new year be upon you and dearest R., and all your large circle of children. Ever affectionately yours, Henry Venn. T 2 276 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 6. Organisation of Native Churches. The preceding pages are enough to show the concep- tion Mr. Venn had formed of the functions and spirit of a C.M.S. Secretary, and the broad principles by which he was to be guided. It would be impossible to follow him into the voluminous details of his correspondence, both Home and Foreign. He has told unconsciously of the work in thirty laborious Eeports of the Society, each of them a volume, and all recording results of which he was the mainspring. A few of his semi-official Letters are subjoined, and a selection from his ' Instructions ' to Mis- sionaries on their annual dismission to their various fields of labour. These latter papers were most valuable, and did no little to mould several successive generations of these soldiers of the Cross. They embrace almost every topic, — the secret of missionary success, cautions for the inexperienced, matters of outward life, the importance of cordial co-operation, the training of native agents, the political position of missionaries, the great end to be kept in view. Mr. Venn would, however, have probably ranked, as the chief work of his official life, his careful and prolonged labours for the organisation of Native Churches. All his measures converged to this point — the formation, wher- ever the Gospel was proclaimed, of a Native Church, which should gradually be enfranchised from all super- vision by a foreign body, and should become, in his own phraseology, self-supporting, self-governing, and self- extending. These measures are formulated in the sub- joined Minutes. He carefully discriminated between missionary work carried on by foreigners, and Chris- tianity acclimatised, and so become indigenous in a NATIVE CHURCH ORGANISATION. 277 National Church. The one was the means, the other the end ; the one the scaffolding, the other the building it leaves behind when the scaffolding is removed ; the one subject to constant changes and modifications, as fresh circumstances develop themselves, the other growing up to the measure of the stature of the perfect man, only changing by gradually putting away childish things and reliance on external help and control. His Minutes on Corresponding Committees, &c, in- volving the whole machinery by which the C.M.S. Missions are regulated, all conceived and constructed so as to tend to this euthanasia, as Bishop Shirley first happily called it, are also given in the subsequent pages for the fuller illustration of the design. Bearing on the same subject, and as a suitable in- troduction, will be found his ' Instructions ' on Nation- ality, ' Letters on the Extension of the Episcopate in India and a Church Organisation in the Madras Diocese,' a Minute on Polygamy, and ' A Memorandum on the Mada gascar Bishopric' Since Mr. Venn's decease the Organisation Scheme has been widely carried out in the more advanced Missions with every indication of the Divine blessing. The Church Missionary Jubilee, in 1848, was the first opportunity of presenting its work to the Christian public in anything like its due proportions ; and the following letter, then drafted by Mr. Venn as an Address to the Converts throughout the world, is probably the earliest of the Society's documents which accepts the number and position of the Native Converts, as sufficient to war- rant their recognition in a corporate capacity. It is inte- resting as marking the stage of progress already attained, though the time for the organisation of Native Churches was not then ripe. 278 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. I. Letter Adopted by the Jubilee Meeting of the Church Missionary Society. November 2, 1848. To our much loved Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ, gathered out from among the Heathen, and Mahome- dans, and others in Africa, the Mediterranean, India, Ceylon, China, New Zealand, the West Indies, and North-West America — the Church Missionary Society sends peace in the name of the Lord. Dear Brethren, — It has pleased God, in His great good- ness, to call you out of darkness into light, and to bring you from the bondage of Satan into the fold of His dear Son, through our instrumentality. For this we humbly praise and adore our heavenly Father, and to Him alone be all the glory ! He alone is worthy ! Our fathers were once as you and your fathers, bowing down to dumb idols, without God, and without Christ, and without hope. But God has long since given to our fathers the knowledge of the Gospel, and they have told us, their children, the same ; and we, thus knowing the love of Christ, have desired that His name and His salvation may be published through the whole world. God has in part fulfilled our desires; and missionaries have gone forth from us with love and pity in their heai'ts, giving themselves to the work and not counting their lives dear to them, so that they might exalt that Saviour who was precious to them, and win souls to Him, who should be His portion and inheritance and joy for ever and ever. Blessed be God's holy name that the labours, and suffer- ings, and prayers of His servants have not been in vain ! Many are the spirits of just men made perfect now with Christ, who were once dead in trespasses and sins, but who received the word of God, which they heard of our mis- sionaries, with joy of the Holy Ghost, who wrought effec- tually in them, and by whom they were sanctified. And you, beloved brethren, are living witnesses of the faithfulness of JUBILEE LETTER. 279 that gracious Saviour who, when He bade His servants go forth to all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature, gave them His sure word of promise — ' Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.' It is God who hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sancti- fication of the Spirit and belief of the truth : ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building ; you and we are those ' other sheep ' whom our Shepherd declared he must bring ; the Father gave us to Him ; He laid down His life for us ; He purchased us with His blood ; He gave us eternal life. How wonderful and how glorious is the work of God ! We have never seen each other face to face. Some of us are living in the furthest north, and some in the furthest south ; some in the east, some in the west — the children of Ham, and Shem, and Japheth. Our countries, langiiages, climate, complexion, habits, all different ; yet members of one body, quickened by one Spirit, called in one hope of our calling, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all ! Could we meet together on the earth, we should all have to tell the same history and make the same confession, how in us — that is, in our flesh — dwelleth no good thing ; how we have found Jesus Christ all-sufficient, and the Holy Ghost the sanctifier of us. We are persuaded that through grace alone we should be able to bear witness to each other, ' that the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.' We thus address you, as elder brethen the younger, at this our Jubilee season, that our hearts may be comforted by the consideration of the mutual faith both of you and us, and that we may testify of the grace of God our Saviour. We trust that yesterday, in the midst of the abounding wickedness of these last days, and the confusion that is spread among the nations, one continued sound of especial supplications, and thanksgivings, and praises assembled to the throne of God and of the Lamb, as the sun arose suc- cessively upon our different missions and ourselves; that the 280 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. earth, in the midst of desolation, was encompassed with the crown of the jubilee adorations of the elder and younger brethren, and that God has mercifully accepted the sacrifice through His dear Son, and will give us His blessing. And now, speaking from this our Assembly to all of you in different parts of the world, we desire to assure you of our brotherly love and care for you, our joy over you in the Lord, and our prayer to God for you that we may ' provoke you to love and to good works.' Partakers with you of the grace of God, we entreat you to remember that God has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, that you may show forth His praises by having your conversation honest among your heathen and Mahommedan fellow-countrymen and neighbours ; that if it be that they speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good works which they behold glorify God, whose will it is that with well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. And if you suffer persecution, remember the words of the Apostle, that ' if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God ; for even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps.' One thing further we desire to impress upon your minds, viz., that on each individual of us is laid the responsibility of endeavouring to win souls to Christ. We hope, therefore, that you think of, speak to, and pray for, those in your families, villages, towns, and neighbourhoods who are still far from God ; that you are not content to leave them alone, but that with a holy jealousy for that God who will not give His glory to another, neither His praise to graven images ; with a love that ' seeketh not her own, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; ' and with a tenderness that ' beholds the transgressors, and is grieved because they keep not God's word,' you endeavour to persuade them to follow Christ, remembering that it is written by St. James that ' he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude JUBILEE LETTER. 281 of sins.' And again, it is recorded by the prophet Daniel that ' they that be wise shall shine as the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.' And now, brethren, let us remember that the time is short, that the Lord is at hand, and that the sure word of promise is, that them which sleep in Jesus God will bring with Him, and that they which are alive, and remain unto His coming, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Let us, therefore, keep our loins girded and our lamps burning, and ourselves as men that are waiting for their Lord, that when He cometh and knocketh we may open to Him immediately. Oh, blessed hour ! when Jesus shall come again ; when, if we continue in the faith grounded and settled, He will present us holy, and unblameable, and unre- provable in His sight ; and you, and all of your missionaries — whose joy and crown of rejoicing ye are — and we, and all the redeemed of the Lord, shall meet around the throne of the Lamb, and be for ever with the Lord ! Finally, beloved brethren in the Lord, we pray to the Lord for you, that He may make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you, to the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness hefore God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. We are your affectionate friends and brethren in the Lord. [Signed) Chichester, Henry Venn, John Tucker, Hector Straith, President. 282 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. II. On Nationality.1 Dearly Beloved in the Lord, — A remark lias been fre- quently made respecting the Word of God, that as we grow in Christian experience we recognise more distinctly the force and fulness of particular passages of Scripture ; so that often new interpretations of familiar texts seem to burst upon the mind, under the varying dispensations of providence and grace. Such a familiar text has been in all our thoughts at these valedictory dismissals for more than half a century, namely, £ Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' (Matt, xxviii. 19.) This text to our earlier thoughts suggested only the universal diffusion of Christian teaching. But to our later thoughts it suggests also the idea of ' nationality ' in the mode and progress of the world's evangelisation. The word ' teach ' is translated in the margin of our English Bibles, ' Make disciples, or Christians, of all nations.' The object set before us is not only to induce a few in- dividuals of every nation to flock into the Christian Church, but that all nations should gradually adopt the Christian religion as their national profession of faith, and thus fill the universal Church by the accession of national churches. The importance of taking into account national distinc- \ tions is forced upon us by the enlargement of our missionary experience. For instance, experience has taught us that some nations are prepared to accept Christianity with far greater readiness than others, though the missionary effort may be equal in both cases. In India, how different is the amount of success among Hindoos and Mahommedans ; and in contrast with both these classes, how superior the success among aboriginal tribes, as the Karens, the Coles, and the Santals. Few things have been more striking than the disappoint- 1 Instructions of the Committer, Jane 30, 18G8. N ATIOXA L PECULIARITIES. 283 merit which has crept over the Christian world at the slow progress in statistics, and the surprise which has been excited by the changes which are taking place in the public mind of India, and the under-currents of thought which are con- tinually rising to the surface in native publications ; so that now intelligent observers of the progress of missions are rather fixing their hopes upon the approach to Christian truth by the educated natives, than simply on the accession of individual converts. Still further, if we survey the different fields of labour, we perceive that in some cases the work far outruns the per- sonal labour of the missionaries. The people spread the glad tidings amongst each other, and the Word of the Lord may literally be said ' to run and be glorified.' Thus it has been in the South Sea Islands and New Zealand, and emi- nently in Madagascar after the expulsion of the missionaries, when the converts had nothing in hand but a few concealed copies of the Word of Life. In many other fields of labour so little appearance is there of spontaneous extension, that it is doubted whether Christianity would survive the removal of the missionary. After these illustrations, we think that you will be pre- pared to receive, and to treasure up for your future guidance, a few practical suggestions which arise out of a review of ' race distinctions ' in connection with missionary labour. 1 . The Committee would enjoin upon you, First, Study the national character of the people among wJwm you labour, and show the utmost respect for national peculiarities. In this way you will win the heart and confidence of the people. They will understand that you come out for their sakes, not according to an all-prevailing conception that you come to earn a living. But beyond this you will then best discover the way to their hearts and understandings ; you will learn their modes of thought ; you will sympathise with their difficulties ; and you will discover any common standing-ground from whence you may start together in the search of truth. 284 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. With Englishmen in general it is the most difficult thing to show respect to national peculiarities which differ from our own. Even throughout the continent of Europe this is with us a national besetting sin, and a national reproach and bye-word against us. But how much more mischievous is this national characteristic when it is exhibited in a Christian missionary towards down-trodden or half-civilised nations. Old missionaries have often lamented its spell upon them. It is best counteracted by a determination, from your first , arrival in the country, to study and to respect the national habits and conventionalities, till it becomes a habit with you j to do so, and a second nature. I This study of national distinctions will also moderate your judgment of the Christian attainments of infant native churches. We are too apt to judge native converts by the standard which prevails in the mother Church, which has enjoyed Christian privileges for a thousand years — a favoured vineyard sheltered and cultivated by the great Vine-dresser above others. We do not make allowances for national dis- advantages, nor for the national peculiarities which will show themselves even in the best Christians. Inasmuch as all native churches grow up unto the fulness of the stature of Christ, distinctions and defects will vanish. But it is far different in infant Christian Churches. The general stan- dard of the apostolic churches was far below that of the present day, though many glorious exceptions shone as stars of the first magnitude. But it may be doubted whether, to the last, the Church of Christ will not exhibit marked national characteristics which, in the overruling grace of God, will tend to its perfection and glory. 2. As a second remark, the Committee warn you, that these race distinctions will probably rise in intensity with the progress of the Mission. The distinctions may be softened down by grace ; they may be hid from view in a season of the first love, and of the sense of unity in Christ Jesus ; but they are part of our nature, and, as the Satirist says, ' you may expel nature for a time by force, but it will surely NATIONAL CHURCHES. 285 return.' So distinctions of race are irrepressible. They are comparatively weak in the early stage of a mission, because all the superiority is on one side ; but as the native race advances in intelligence, as their power of arguing strengthens, as they excel in writing sensational statements, as they become our rivals in the pulpit and on the platform, long cherished but dormant prejudices, and even passions, will occasionally burst forth. At a conference, when least ex- pected, such painful exposures have occurred in more than one of our missions ! Now when such a crisis occurs, the European missionary, who is ever mindful of the existence of this root of bitterness, will be prepared to meet it— not by charging the natives with presumption and ingratitude, not by standing upon his British prestige, but in the spirit off the Apostle, who had learned to bear all things for the elect's sake ; who, in such a trial as we have described, exclaimed, ' Now ye have reigned as kings without us, and I would to] God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.' ' We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ : we are weak, but ye are strong : ye are honourable, but we are despised.' Study the whole of that fourth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and parallel passages, that you may see how these trials beset the primitive Church, and how the Apostles behaved under them, f 3. As a third practical hint, the Committee enjoin upon you, as soon as converts can be gathered into a Christian congregation, let a native church be organised as a national^ institution ; avail yourselves of national habits, of Christian headmen, of a Church council similar to the Indian Pan- chayat ; let every member feel himself doubly bound to his country by this social as well as religious society. Train up N. the native church to self-dependence and to self-government 1 from the very first stage of a Christian movement. These J principles have been so fully stated in late papers issued by ' the Committee on native church organisation, that we need only refer you to those documents. The Committee will, however, single out one particular 286 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. under this liead, which has only been lately discovered, namely, that it is a great mistake for the missionary to assume the position of a native pastor. Many of our old missionaries have fallen into this mistake. They have minis- tered to a large native congregation for thirty or forty years, and acknowledged at last that it was impossible to acquire that full confidence of their people, and knowledge of what is passing in their minds, which a native pastor would soon obtain. This is the experience of other Missionary Societies besides our own. In a paper lately issued by the London Missionary Society, and signed by that accomplished mis- sionary, Dr. Mullens, it is thus stated : — ' The system of giving English pastors to native churches has answered no- where. Coming from a much higher civilisation, the mis- sionary has proved too strong for the people : the strength of the people, their resources, have been kept back, a spirit of childlike dependence has been fostered, and the native ministry has been indefinitely postponed.' 4. A fourth suggestion is, that as the native church assumes a national character it will ultimately supersede the denomina- tional distinctions which are now introduced by Foreign Mis- sionary Societies. We of the Church of England are bound by our funda- mental rules to train up every congregation gathered from the heathen according to the discipline and worship of the Church of England. But our own Prayer-book has laid down the principle that every national church is at liberty to change its ceremonies, and adapt itself to the national taste ; and therefore we look forward to the time when the native church of India shall have attained that magnitude and maturity which will entitle them to modify and perfect themselves according to the standard of God's holy word. Then missionary^ efforts will cease ; but inasmuch as we have infused Gospel truth, and supplied well-trained witnesses for the truth, our work will be found to praise and honour and glory through Jesus Christ. Let this consideration influence your relations with the THE SPHERE OF THE FOREIGNER. 287 missions of other denominations of Christians, and even with the irregular efforts of unattached evangelists, and with all the vast agency for good by individual example and effort, by education, by Christian literature, which, thank God, abounds more and more in every heathen dependency of the British Empire. Regard with sympathy and joy this glorious amount of agency at work for Christianising the nations ! 5. A fifth practical conclusion which the Committee would - draw from the foregoing considerations is, that the proper position of a missionary is one external to the native church, and that the most important duty he has to discharge to-j wards that church is the education and training of native pastors and evangelists, especially in the knowledge and use of the Bible, that wonderful book which alone is suited to every race of mankind, and which comes home to every individual of our race when received in faith, as the well- known voice of a parent speaking to children ; to teach the converts how to search for the hidden treasures of the volume, to bring them forth for the edification of others, to urge upon their countrymen its warnings, promises, and threatenings, as God's word written, to present in their own spirit and behaviour a living epistle of Christ, known and read of all men. This is not meant to preclude any missionary from carry- ing on evangelistic labours among those who have not yet become disciples. If called to that work, he will take the ' lead of a body of native evangelists, who are agents like himself of a Foreign Missionary Society. But in respect of an organised native community, the missionary should no longer take the lead, but exercise his influence ab extra, prompting and guiding the native pastors to lead their flocks, and making provision for the supply for the native church of men suited for the office of the ministry, whether catechists, pastors, or evangelists ; and in this position, which will be readily ceded to him, of a counsellor of the native church, to strive to elevate its Christian life and its aggressive energy upon surrounding heathenism. 288 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. The missionary who stands in this position, and who confers these benefits upon the native church, will be far removed from the region of jealousy or conflict, and will have the happiness of seeing that native church develop itself according to its national and natural tendencies for the establishing, strengthening, and settling itself in the faith once delivered to the saints. The Committee will strengthen this suggestion by quoting the touching words of one of their experienced missionaries : — ' It is doubtless a matter of thankfulness to be able to point to a district through the length and breadth of which the Gospel has been witnessed to by us ; but is it not as much, or even more, if, through God's grace, there be one who has shared our constant close instructions, and into whose thoughts our own have been infused, in that patient communication of loving counsels, and holy hopes, and fer- vent united prayer, for the influences of the blessed Spirit, might it not so happen that this one gathering would exceed in value all our scatterings. Therefore there could be few holier or worthier aspirations of a Christian missionary than that he might be the means of bringing forward and training, step by step, though it were but two native evangelists on whom were printed deeply the marks of the Lord Jesus, partly from the reflection on them of the missionary's own life and character and ministry, but yet more by his having unceasingly urged it upon them to dwell much upon the glory of God, as shown in the face of Jesus Christ.' And now, in conclusion, and for the perfect illustration and most powerful enforcement of the suggestions which have been offered, the Committee appeal to the great ex- emplar of Christian missionaries, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He took upon Himself our nature and dwelt among us. The more we study His Divine Mission, the more we discover the essential principles of siiccess in all our modern missions. We have pointed out the liability of national peculiarities to check the feelings of brotherhood amongst different races, and you have been entreated to cultivate the respect and co- THE ML\D OF CHEIST. 289 operation of your native brethren. But what are all human race distinctions compared with the difference of nature, of employments, of holiness, which separated our fallen race from the divine Saviour. They are but as grains of sand to the mighty mountains, yet what perfect sympathy, what identity of interests did the blessed Jesus cherish towards His disciples ; what perfect brotherhood did He establish among them ! The true position of a missionary has been pointed out as consisting in training native agents. And what was the characteristic of the life of Jesus but His companionship with twelve designated evangelists, with whom He spent His days, and travelled about, in all things setting a pattern of ' doing good.' With what exquisite skill did he reprove the race prejudices between Jew and Samaritan, and between the Jew and a Syro-Phcenician heathen ! Oh study the example of this divine missionary character till you have learnt the lesson of perfect brother- hood with men of other nations to whom you are sent as a minister of salvation ; and then plead, in the words which the Holy Ghost has taught us, ' Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.' The Committee commend to your frequent meditation a striking passage in the sermons lately published by one who was a foremost friend of the Society, the late Rev. H. V. Elliott of Brighton, who, preaching before the University of Cambridge, thus eloquently held up to the imitation of those preparing for the ministry the high example of the relations which existed between Jesus Christ and His disciples : — ' No prophet was ever so intimate with his disciples as Jesus Christ with His. Line upon line, precept upon pre- cept, were His lessons to their dulness. To teach them humility, He even girded Himself with a towel, and washed their feet like a slave ; He won their unbounded confidence y He called them His friends, and not His servants, when they were a little trained to appreciate His intentions and His kingdom ; He defended them and took their part against the Scribes and Pharisees when they accused them. Some U 290 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. of them He took with Him into those deep recesses of thought and feeling which other men keep to themselves and God. But Jesus was singularly communicative, communica- tive even of His griefs. He affected no mysteries and He practised none. Remember how He poured out His soul to God in their presence, in the night before His passion ; how Peter and James and John were within hearing of His awful cries in Gethsemane ; so wonderfully did He carry out the brotherhood ; and having loved His own, loved them to the end. He kept back nothing from them that was profitable, which they could receive, but was from morning till night always imparting something to them, which no silver or gold could represent in value. ' Full of faults as they were at first, ignorant and worldly, and jealous of each other, and disputatious, it seems to me that He clung to them more than they clung to Him, till He made them what they were at last. And considering the high spiritual tone of His discourses, never drooping their wing on any occasion, and therefore, one would have thought, apt to tire such novices, it was a strange and unearthly attach- ment, which bound them to Him for three years without departure or check, till that last memorable night in which their love to Him was never so high, and yet never so near its shame and its discomfiture. And thus, after the Lord had spent His life with men in teaching them truth and doing them good, and this towards His disciples with the most condescending familiarity, at the last He died man's death, as He had lived man's life. In all things in fact, with one great exception, the exception of sin, He was made like unto His brethren ; that is, in His brotherhood He came as near to us as He could. And all through, from first to last, He evinced the true brotherly spirit. It was to raise us, to redeem us, to enlighten the eyes of our understanding, to make known to us our heavenly Father, to mould our character after His own lowly and lovely image, to give us power to become the sons of God, to give us faith in Him- self, and meanwhile, in a world of tribulation, peace and a Till-: TAMIL COOLIE MISSION. 201 hope full of immortality, that He thus entered the human family as one of its number, as its second Adam ; " that as in Adam all die, so in Christ should all be made alive ; " this was the magnificent purpose of His incarnation, and He never lost sight of it for a moment ; but with untiring pains and the most disinterested generosity, He carried it out to the end : " I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! " ' For we may take those twelve poor illiterate men, whom He formed into glorious Apostles, as a sample of the great things that we may all expect from Him, if we will be His disciples, and make full proof of His brotherhood.' 1 You, brother Clark, have had twenty-five years' expe- rience as a missionary in Tinnevelfy. The employment of native agency has always been the characteristic of your mission, and the means are complete of supplying well- trained teachers from the educational establishments in Palamcotta. The full organisation of the native church still remains to be accomplished before the withdrawal of Euro- pean missionaries can be safely effected. The Committee regret that their mission in Tinnevelly has not at least a native suffragan Bishop to complete these arrangements ; but they trust that things are progressing in the right direc- tion. For a time you are to be removed from South India, to occupy the very peculiar and promising missionary field of the coffee plantations in Ceylon. More than 100,000 coolies, chiefly from South India, are congregated in these planta- tions: from ten to twelve native catechists labour amongst them. The whole expense of these catechists is borne by the local funds. Those native catechists are to be under your training and superintendence, and through them chiefly you must strive to quicken the spiritual life of the Christian coolies, and to induce heathen coolies to enter the fold of 1 Sermons before the University of Cambridge, by the Rev. Ilenrv Venn Elliott, pp. 272-275. 292 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Christ. Your position will be very similar to that which our blessed Saviour held with the twelve apostles, and may His Spirit be abundantly shed on you ! After addressing individually the other departing Missionaries, the Instructions dwelt once more in con- clusion on the same topic : — You, brother Wilson, have ottered yourself to the Society with a special view of labouring among the Red Indians of the Diocese of Huron, of the Ojibbeway tribes, amongst whom you have already had some experience. Numbers of them are scattered in the north-west extremity of the diocese. They have not been wholly destitute of Christian influence, and the Bible is already printed in their tongue. It will be for you to engage their confidence and their willing submission to you as their spiritual guide and their counsellor in social affairs : live among them ; respect their national peculiarities; ascertain the industrial pursuits which may be introduced amongst them with the best prospect of meeting their pecu- liar habits ; select the most suitable for intellectual training in Holy Scripture. The Society will bear the expense of their maintenance ; exercise them in schools and teaching. You will have the opportunity of commencing a new mission upon the principles laid down in the foregoing Instructions, with every prospect of bringing the great missionary experi- ment to a successful issue. The Committee feel a deep satisfaction in numbering among their missionaries the son of their zealous friend, the vicar of Islington, and the grandson of Bishop Daniel Wilson of Calcutta. May He who condescended to style Himself the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, be your God, your guide, and your exceeding great reward for evermore. CORRESPONDING COMMITTEES. 293 III. .Regulations for Corresponding Committees, Missionary Conferences, &c. The Indian Missions of the C. M. S., from their commence- ment in 1814, have been directed by Corresponding Committees composed of friends of the Society residing at each of the Presidencies. These Committees are the representatives of the Parent Committee in London. Experience has demon- strated the very great advantage, both to the missionaries and to the Society, of such an independent body of friends on the spot ; when the members of it are, as they always should be, persons of standing in India, well acquainted with the country, the native mind, and the working of missions ; accustomed to matters of business and finance ; and who, at the same time, participate fully in the principles on which the C. M. S. is conducted. There have also been established, in each of the more important missionary districts of the Society in India, perio- dical District Meetings or Conferences of the missionaries, at which questions of general interest to the whole district have been discussed, and the results of their deliberations have been transmitted to the Corresponding Committee, and to the Parent Committee, for their information and guidance. In other countries, where no Corresponding Committee has been formed, the operations of the Society are carried on by means of a Finance Committee and a Missionary Con- ference. Various Regulations, for the management of Correspond- ing and Finance Committees, &c, having been adopted, from time to time, it has become expedient to collect the same into one code of Regulations, and to bring into uni- formity the practice of each of the Presidencies. {Dec. 1859.) 1. Regulations for Corresponding Committees. 1. A Corresponding Committee is to be formed of inde- pendent friends of the C. M. S., being subscribing members, 294 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. and resident within reasonable distance of the place of meeting, together with a secretary or secretaries. 2. The Corresponding Committee is charged with super- intending and directing the general concerns of the Society's Missions placed under their supervision, under the instruc- tions of the Parent Committee, and in accordance with the fundamental principles of the society, as set forth in its Laws and Regulations. 3. Adverting to the great importance of concurrence in views between the Parent Committee and its Corresponding Committees, and of harmony and cordial co-operation among themselves, in the proceedings of each Corresponding Com- mittee,— the members of a Corresponding Committee shall not exceed nine, exclusive of the Bishop of the Diocese, when president, and of the secretary or secretaries ; three, exclu- sive of a secretary, shall form a quorum ; of the independent members, not more than three shall be clergymen, and not more than six shall be laymen. 4. The secretary or secretaries are to be appointed by the Parent Committee ; and when practicable, one of its own members is to be appointed treasurer by the Corresponding Committee. 5. On the expectation or sudden occurrence of vacancies in a Corresponding Committee, the secretaries shall consult with the remaining members as to proper persons to be proposed to the Parent Committee, to fill up the vacancies ; and shall report fully the result of such consultations to the Parent Committee, by whom the appointment of new members is to be made ; it being understood that it is far better to wait till suitable members be available, than to complete, too hastily, the normal number of members of either class in a Corresponding Committee. 6. It is advisable that, in all questions materially affect- ing any missionary district, the Corresponding Committee should, before recording any final decision thereupon, com- municate with the Missionary Conference of that district, requesting their views upon it, and the grounds thereof; CORRESPONDING COMMITTEES. 295 such correspondence, in each case, to be transmitted to the Parent Committee by the Corresponding Committee, with their judgment upon the questions at issue. 7. Any missionary of the Society is at liberty to transmit any statement to the Corresponding Committee which he may think it important should be considered of by them ; and such statement, with any resolution of the Corresponding Committee upon the same, should be transmitted to the Parent Committee in regular course. 8. The Corresponding Committee is not at liberty to alter, or suspend, the decisions of the Parent Committee on any material points, unless under an unforeseen change of circumstances, strongly affecting the application or operation of any such measure. Every such alteration or suspension is to be reported to the Parent Committee with as little delay as possible. 9. The Corresponding Committee is to meet monthly ; and the secretary or secretaries may convene a special meeting at their own discretion, or on receiving a request in writing from any member to that effect : the object of such special meeting to be always stated in the summons for the same. 10. The secretary shall circulate among the members, a sufficient time previously to the monthly meeting of the Com- mittee, the various papers to be brought before them, with a notice of the business to be transacted ; and unless with the unanimous consent of the members present, no business shall be entered upon by the meeting, of which such previous notice has not been given. 11. Business of routine, or of particular urgency, may be transacted in circulation, or by sub-committees ; but no new or important measures shall be adopted, except at a meeting of the Committee. 12. At each meeting of the Committee, the Minutes of the preceding meeting are to be read, and signed by the chairman, as a confirmation of the correctness of the record; and a copy of the Minutes, so confirmed, is to MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. be transmitted to the parent Committee by the earliest opportunity. 13. The official correspondence is to be conducted by a secretary, and recorded in books kept for that purpose, and laid on the table at the meetings of the Committee ; and any portion thereof is to be read at the discretion of any member. 14. Sub-committees may be formed from time to time for the transaction of particular branches of business, as may be found convenient. The secretaries are to be members ex officio of all such sub-committees, as also the treasurer on all questions of Finance. 15. The accounts current of the mission shall be balanced half-yearly; and a sub-committee shall be appointed to audit them, and to report to the Committee upon the state of the finances. 16. The secretaries shall circulate, for general informa- tion of the Committee, all important official papers received by them. 2. Terms of Connection between the Society, and different Classes of Missionary Agents. 1 . Agents in full connection are such as have been engaged and sent out by the parent Committee, and are entitled, unless a special agi*eement be made with them, to the benefits of the ' fund for sick and disabled missionaries, and widows, and for the education of the children of missionaries,' until the age at which they receive their final grants. Agents in fall connection can be separated from the Society only by a vote of the parent Committee. 2. Agents in local connection are such as have been engaged abroad, by a Corresponding Committee, or by a con- ference, upon such terms as may be agreed upon. They can be separated from the Society by a vote of the Committee or conference by which they were engaged, or by the direction of the Parent Committee. An agent in local connection can MISSIONAKY C( >NFERENOES. 297 be received into full connection only by a vote of tlie Parent Committee. 3. Each missionary who has charge of a station is at liberty, under the sanction of the Parent or Corresponding Committee, to engage, employ, or dismiss such subordinate agents as his work may seem to require, and the funds avail- able for his station may provide for. 4. Native Missionaries are those ordained native teachers who are entrusted with the charge of a missionary district, or are employed by the Society as assistant missionaries, and who are wholly supported by the Society. 5. Native Pastors are ordained as ministers of the native Church, for discharging the pastoral duties of native con- gregations, and are to be under the general superintendence of missionaries, as long as they receive support from the Society, or until the district in which they labour passes under a settled ecclesiastical system. 6. No agent of the Society is to be presented for holy oixlers, unless previously received into local connection, nor without a previous reference to the Parent Committee. 3. Regulations for Missionary Conferences.1 General Principles. With a view to the promotion, under the Divine blessing, of the profit and comfort of the missionaries labouring at their separate stations, and in order to bring their informa- tion, experience, and judgment to bear upon the general management of the mission, it is expedient that the mission- aries residing within convenient distances of each other should meet together from time to time — (1.) To unite in prayer and in conference upon the Word of God, whereby they may quicken each other's zeal, cement charity, and bring down an increased blessing upon the mission. 1 To be read at the opening of every such Conference. 208 MEMOIR OF TIIK REV. HENRY VENN. (2.) To review the progress of the mission, and to confer upon questions affecting the same, which may arise among themselves, or which may be referred to their consideration by the Parent or Corresponding Committee. (3.) To encourage local action and organisation within the mission, especially such as may prepare a native Church for ultimate self-support. (4.) To afford to each missionary a favourable oppor- tunity of exercising watchfulness over the whole body of his fellow-helpers in the Lord's work ; and where anyone may have knowledge of circumstances which appear to him to call for brotherly remonstrance or investigation, to enable him to act in conformity with the Lord's injunction, Matt, xviii. 15, &c. General Regulations. 1. A Missionary Conference shall be held, if possible, at least twice a year, at such place and time as may be ap- pointed from time to time by the Conference, under the sanction of the Parent or Corresponding Committees. 2. The Missionary Conference shall consist of all ordained missionaries of the Society, European or native, labouring within a district prescribed by the Parent Committee. But native ordained pastors, European or native catechists, and other persons, can be admitted only under the sanction of the Parent or Corresponding Committee. 3. The Conference shall appoint a chairman and a secre- tary at each meeting. The secretary shall take minutes of the proceedings of the Conference in a book kept for that purpose, copies of which proceedings shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman, as well as his own, and transmitted, together with all reports presented to the con- ference, to the Parent Committee, through the Corresponding Committee, or through the Finance Committee where a Cor- responding Committee does not exist. 4. Two or more members of the Conference are to be ap- pointed to draw up a report, at the close of each year, of the progress of the mission as it has appeared to the Conference CASES UNPROVIDED FOR. 299 upon tlieir review of the same, and to transmit it to the Parent Committee through the Corresponding Committee. 5. The Parent Committee will make a grant towards the reasonable expenses attending the holding of Missionary Conferences. Additional Regulations, where there is no Corresponding Committee. A Missionary Conference is subordinate to a Corresponding Committee, where one exists, a Corresponding Committee being the representative of the Parent Committee. The following matters of business shall be regarded as specially belonging to a Missionary Conference, where there is no Corresponding Committee. 1. To exercise a general superintendence over educational establishments designed for the benefit of the whole mission ; such as colleges for training native teachers, model schools, or an industrial institution ; and to appoint visiting com- mittees to inspect and report upon the same, unless other provision be made by the Parent Committee. 2. To confer upon translations of the Holy Scriptures and Book of Common Prayer, and upon the preparation of other vernacular works ; also to consult upon linguistic questions arising out of the same. 3. To consider of and propose to the parent Committee the location or changes of location of missionaries, whenever circumstances require it; and generally to propose to the Parent Committee such changes as seem to them desirable for the interests of the mission. 4. To examine and receive such catechists, European or native, as it may be proposed to receive into local connection with the mission, who must be recommended by one at least of the Society's missionaries in the district, who has had suffi- cient opportunities of testing the character and missionary qualifications of the candidate, and is willing to certify that he will be a suitable agent of the Society, upon the principle ' that none but spiritual agents can carry on spiritual work.' 800 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 5. To examine the cases of schoolmasters whom it is proposed to receive into local connection. 6. To make arrangements respecting the location, em- ployment, and dismissal of agents in local connection. 7. To consult upon the erection, if the necessities of the mission may require it, of new missionary buildings, of churches, or of school-houses, and to refer plans and esti- mates for the same to the consideration of the finance com- mittee, or of any other committee which may be appointed for this purpose by the Parent Committee. 4. Regulations for a Finance Committee where there is no Corresponding Committee. 1. The Finance Committee shall consist of such clerical or lay members as the Parent Committee may from time to time place upon the same. 2. It shall belong to the Finance Committee to superin- tend and conduct all the financial affairs of the mission, and to transact such other business as may be specially referred to them by the Parent Committee. 3. The Finance Committee shall have the sole power of authorising bills to be drawn upon the Parent Committee, such bills to be signed by the Secretary, and by some other member of the Committee acting as Accountant, and to be drawn at thirty-five days' sight ; the Secretary to advise the same in the usual printed form by the next mail, or direct conveyance, after drawing the same. 4. No expenditure is to take place in the mission on account of the Society without the sanction of the Finance Committee, who will be responsible for keeping the expen- diture within the amount sanctioned by the Parent Com- mittee. 5. The Finance Committee shall make the apportionment of any grants which are not specifically assigned, such as general sums allowed for the erection and repairs of mis- sionary buildings, for supplies, and for contingencies. FINANCE COMMITTEES. 301 6. All estimates for buildings and repairs, on account of the Society, must receive the sanction of the Finance Com- mittee before they are acted upon. 7. The Finance Committee shall examine all the bills and charges against the Society, and authorise the payment of the same. 8. The Finance Committee shall require from each station yearly estimates, which they shall consider of, and prepare for transmission to the Parent Committee, so that they may reach England in the month of May, accompanied by such remarks as the case may appear to them to require. 9. The Finance Committee shall prepare and forward half-yearly the accounts current of the mission, as soon as possible after the 31st of March and the 30th of September in each year. 10. The Finance Committee shall obtain and forward, annually, returns of all the property of the Society at each station, whether land, buildings, books, or other articles, with their estimated value, and also the missionary statistics of each station. 11. The proceedings of the Finance Committee shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and copies of the same shall be regularly forwarded by the Secretary to the Parent Committee, accompanied by a letter containing such explanatory remarks as may appear to him requisite. 12. In case of the deatli or sudden removal of a mis- sionary, or of any other emergency, the Finance Committee shall make such temporary arrangements as may seem to them necessary, after consultation with any members of the Conference who may be affected by the proposed changes ; such arrangement to take effect until the next meeting of the Missionary Conference, which will then be at liberty either to alter or confirm the same, subject to the general sanction of the Parent Committee. In missions where no Corresponding Committee exists, the Missionary Conference and the Finance Committee are 302 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. not subordinate the one to the other, but are each directly responsible to the Parent Committee. It is therefore essen- tial to the welfare of the mission that they should preserve harmonious co-operation. 5. Minute on Local Funds raised and expended in the Missions op the Church Missionary Society, in aid op its Operations. Management of a Local Fund. 1 . Local contributions in the Missions are disbursed either — 1st. By local Committees elected by the contributors themselves for conducting various additional and auxiliary branches of missionary work connected with the Society's general operations. 2ndly. By the Corresponding or Finance Committees abroad, which are appointed by the Parent Committee. 2. The former course of proceeding is the most effectual for raising funds and exciting a local interest in the Society; as friends are naturally more ready to exert themselves to collect funds where they take part in the disbursement, than when the funds are disbursed by a committee appointed from home. 3. In some cases funds are entrusted to a single mis- sionary, to be expended upon his missionary operations. The Committee regard it, however, as a more desirable plan generally speaking, that contributions should pass through a managing committee, to be applied to the particular station and object for which they are designed. 4. Where the local contributions for local objects are disbursed by the Corresponding or Finance Committee, care must be taken to prevent confusion between the general and local fund, that is, to prevent such an interchange of assist- ance as may involve the responsibility of the general fund. Special care will also be required to present to the local friends of missions such local objects as may best draw out LOCAL FUNDS. their sympathy and liberal support, and to publish such reports of the same as may serve to keep up the interest of the contributors. Objects of a Local Fund. 5. It is essential that the local objects supported by local contributions should be identical in principle with the ordi- nary operations of the Society ; yet that they should be so far independent of those operations as not to involve the Parent Committee in pecuniary responsibilities if the local funds fail. 6. For instance, should local funds be applied to the open- ing of new missions, or to the support of additional teachers, such operations might entail a permanent and increasing expense upon the Parent Committee, if local aid should be deficient. 7. But there are many important missionary objects which are free from the danger of drawing the Parent Committee into unexpected responsibilities, as for instance — (1.) The building, enlargement, and repairs of school- houses and places of worship, or preaching stations. (2.) The boarding and clothing scholars (except in the case of those designed for native teachers) in any of the Society's schools, and especially the support of orphan estab- lishments. (3.) The support of schools which may be relinquished without weakening the missionary establishments. Expenditure on these local objects may be retrenched or enlarged without affecting the general rate of the Society's expenditure ; and they are objects in which it is most impor- tant that a local committee should exercise vigilant superin- tendence, lest an expense should be incurred disproportional to the benefit to be secured. 8. Whatever be the local objects selected by a local com- mittee, there must be a clear understanding that the general funds of the Society shall not be called upon to make up any deficiency in the local fund. Such a liability would defeat 304 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. one of the principal objects in the institution of a separate local fund. 9. The institution of a local fund must not preclude any parties abroad who may prefer subscribing to the general fund of the Society from doing so. There are many con- tributors who prefer associating themselves with the general work of the Society throughout the world : their contributions must therefore be paid over to the Corresponding or Finance Committee, to go in diminution of the drafts upon home. The Parent Committee' 's Control over Local Funds. 10. Some degree of control must be exercised over the local fund by the Parent Committee ; for, while the local committee will be responsible for the due expenditure of the funds entrusted to them, the Parent Committee must reserve to itself the power of consenting or objecting to all pro- ceedings which are to be associated with the operations of the Society, and which will involve its credit to a greater or less degree. 11. In order to adjust these responsibilities, it seems only necessary to require that no new scheme should be undertaken without the consent of the Parent Committee, or its representative committee abroad; and that the l-eceipts and disbursements of the local fund, and any report which may be issued in connection therewith, should be regularly transmitted for the information of the Parent Committee ; with a distinct understanding that the Parent Committee is expected to express a judgment, if it sees occasion to do so, upon the mode of disbursing the local fund, or upon the objects supported by it. THE NATIVE PASTORATE. 305 IV. The Native Pastorate and Organisation of Native Churches. First Paper, issued 1851. * Minute upon the Employment and Ordination of Native Teachers. General Principles. The advanced state of missions having rendered it de- sirable to record the views of the Society upon the em- ployment and ordination of native teachers, the following particulars are given for the information of its missionaries : — 1. In all questions relating to the settlement of a native Church in any mission field, it is important to keep in view the distinction between the office of a Missionary, who preaches to the heathen, and instructs inquirers or recent converts — and the office of a Pastor, who ministers in holy things to a congregation of native Christians. 2. Whilst the work of a missionary may involve for a time the pastoral care of newly-baptized converts, it is im- portant that, as soon as settled congregations are formed, such pastoral care should be devolved upon native teachers, under the missionary's superintendence. 3. The native teacher who approves himself ' apt to teach ' is appointed to the office of a Catechist. The office of a catechist has been always recognised in the Church of Christ for evangelistic work, his function being to preach to the heathen, and to minister in congregations of converts until they are provided with a native pastor. 4. As a general rule, a catechist should be presented to the Bishop for ordination only with a view to his becoming X 306 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. pastor of some specified native congregation or district. The cases in which a native may be ordained for direct evange- listic work, or while engaged in missionary education, must be regarded as exceptional. 5. Ordination is the link between the native teachers and the native Church. Native teachers are to be regarded, after their ordination, as pastors of the native Church, rather than as the agents of a foreign Society, or of other independent parties. Their social position should be such as is suitable to the circumstances of the native Church ; and their emoluments must be regulated by the ability of the native Church to furnish the maintenance of their pastors. Care must therefore be taken to guard native teachers from contracting habits of life too far removed from those of their countrymen. 6. The attempts which have been made by this Society to train up native missionaries and pastors by an European education, and in collegiate establishments, have convinced the Committee that, under the present circumstances of missions, native missionaries and pastors may be best ob- tained by selecting from among the native catechists those who have approved themselves faithful and established Christians, as well as ' apt to teach,' and by giving to such persons a special framing in Scriptural studies, in the ver- nacular language. 7. While any district continues a missionary district, the native pastors located in it are, as a general rule, to be under the superintendence of a missionary or of some other mi- nister, appointed by the Society ; until, by the Christian progress of the population, the missionary district may be placed upon a settled ecclesiastical system : it being also understood that the Society is at liberty to transfer a native pastor to the office of a native missionary, and to place him in the independent charge of a missionary district if his qualifications have entitled him to that position. 8. It is desirable that all native congregations should contribute to a fund for the payment of the salaries of native THE NATIVE PASTORATE. 307 pastors ; but that no payment should be made direct from the congregation to the pastor. 9. To encourage native ordination, the Society will con- tinue to pay to a catechist, who may be presented by them for ordination, the same salary which he received as catechist, as long as the infancy of the native Church may seem to require it ; whatever addition may be requisite for his main- tenance as an ordained pastor must be supplied from local resources, and, if possible, from native endowments, or the contributions of the native Church to a general fund for native pastors. 10. Regarding the ultimate object of a mission, viewed [ under its ecclesiastical aspect, to be the settlement of a \ native Church, under native pastors, upon a self-supporting ( system, it should be borne in mind that the progress of a mission mainly depends upon the training up and the loca- tion of native pastors ; and that, as it has been happily expressed, ' the euthanasia of a mission ' takes place when a missionary, surrounded by well-trained native congrega- tions, under native pastors, is able to resign all pastoral work i into their hands, and gradually to relax his superintendence over the pastors themselves, till it insensibly ceases ; and so j the mission passes into a settled Christian community. Then the missionary and all missionary agency should be trans- ferred to ' the regions beyond.' %* Paragraphs 2, 3, and 9 would imply that the infant congregations should be placed under the pastoral care of a native teacher (catechist), who would be one of the Society's agents, receiving pay from the Society's funds. This was sub- sequently modified. (See ' Second Paper, paragraphs 8 and 9.) Moreover, paragraph 9 in this first paper arranges that the native pastor should receive part of his salary direct from the Society, but the present regulation is that the whole of his salary should be drawn from the Native Church Fund; the Society's contribution, where necessary, being given in the form of a grant-in-aid to that fund. 308 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. SECOND PAPER, ISSUED JULY, 1861. 1 The work of modern missionaries is of a twofold cha- racter : the heathen are to be brought to the knowledge of Christ ; and the converts who embrace the truth are to be trained up in Christian habits, and to be formed into a Native Christian Church. These two branches are essentially dis- tinct ; yet it is only of late years that the distinction has been recognised by appointing missionaries to the purely evangelistic branch under the designation of Itinerating Missionaries, in contradistinction from ' Station ' Mis- sionaries. Present System of ' Station ' Missionary Work and its Dangers. 2. The missionary, whose labours are blest to the gather- ing in of converts, naturally desires to keep his converts under his own charge, to minister to them as a pastor, and to rule them as a native congregation. So the two branches have become blended together; hence also the principles necessary for the evangelistic work, one of which is ' taking nothing of the Gentiles,' have insensibly influenced the formation of the native Christian Church ; as if the Word had been, ' taking nothing of the Christians.' Whereas the Scriptural basis of the pastoral relation within the Church of Christ is, ' they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel ' — ' the ox that treadeth out the corn should eat of the same ; ' so that while the missionary properly receives his support from a foreign source, the native pastor should receive his from the native Church. 3. Under the present system, the missionary takes charge of classes of candidates for baptism, classes of candidates for the Lord's Supper, and communicants' classes. The missionary advances the converts from one class to another 1 The object of this Paper was to draw attention to the importance of the principles laid down in the first Paper, and to urge their practical adoption. DANGERS OF PRESENT SYSTEM. 309 at his discretion. When the converts become too numerous or too scattered for the individual ministry of the missionary, he appoints a catechist, or other teacher, and the Society, pays him. The Society establishes schools and pays for the teachers. As the mission advances, the number of readers, catechists, and ordained pastors, of schools and school- masters is increased. But all is dependent upon the mis- sionary, and all the agency is provided for at the cost of the Society. 4. The evil incident to this system is threefold :— (1.) In respect of the missionary : — his hands soon be- come so full that his time and energy are wholly occupied by the converts, and he extends his personal labours to the heathen in a continually decreasing ratio. His work also involves more or less of secularity and account-keeping. The character of a simple missionary is complicated with that of the director and paymaster of the mission. (2.) In respect of the converts : — they naturally imbibe the notion that all is to be done for them — they are depen-' dents upon a foreign Mission, rather than members of a native Church. There may be the individual spiritual life, but there is no corporate life ; though the converts may amount to thousands in number, they are powerless as a body. The principles of self-support, self-government, and self-extension are wanting ; on which depend the breath of life in a native Church. (3.) In respect of the Missionary Society : — the system entails a vast and increasing expense in its oldest missions ; so that, instead of advancing to ' the regions beyond,' it is detained upon old ground ; it is involved in disputes about native salaries, pensions, repairs of buildings, &c. : and as the generation baptized in infancy rise up under this system, the Society has found itself in the false position of ministering to a population of nominal Christians, who in many instances give no assistance to the progress of the Gospel. 5. This system of Church Missions often contrasts unfa- vourably with the missions of other denominations, in respect 310 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. of the liberality of native converts in supporting their own teachers, and of their self-exertion for the extension of the Gospel : — as in the case of the American Baptist Mission among the Karens of Burmah, of the Independents among the Armenians of Asia Minor, and the wonderful preservation and increase of Christianity in Madagascar after the expulsion of European missionaries. The unfavourable contrast may be explained by the fact, that other denominations are accus- tomed to take part in the elementary organisation of their churches at home, and therefore more readily carry out that organisation in the missions. Whereas in our Church the clergy find everything relating to elementary organisation settled by the law of the land ; — as in the provision of tithes, of church-rates, of other customary payments, in the consti- tution of parishes, and in parish officers. Our clergy are not prepared for the question of Church organisation ; and, there- fore, in the missions they exercise the ministry of the Word without reference to the non-existence of the organisation by which it is supported at home. Improved system and its principles. 6. The dangers and imperfections of Church Missions must be remedied by introducing into the native Church that elementary organisation which may give it ' corporate life,' and prepare it for its full development under a native ministry and an indigenous episcopate. 7. For the introduction of such elementary organisation into the native Church, the following principles may be laid down : — I. It is expedient that native converts should be trained, at as early a stage as possible, upon a system of self-govern- ment, and of contributing to the support of their own native teachers. II. It is expedient that contributions should be made by the converts themselves, for their own Christian instruction, and for schools for their children ; and that for this purpose IMPROVED SYSTEM. 311 a Native Church Fund for an assigned missionary district should be established, into which the contributions should be paid. The fund must, at first, be mainly sustained by grants from the Missionary Society, these grants to be diminished as the native contributions spring up. Whilst the fund receives grants from the Society, the Parent Committee must direct the mode of its management. III. It is expedient that the native teachers should be divided into two classes, namely — (1.) Those who are employed as assistants to the Missionary in his evangelistic work, and who are paid by the Society. (2.) Those who are employed in pastoral work amongst the native Christians, who are to be paid out of the Native Church Fund, whether Schoolmasters, Readers, Catechists, or ordained Pastors, as the case may be ; so that they may be regarded as the minis- terial agents of the native Church, and not as the salaried agents of a Missionary Society. IV. It is expedient that the arrangements which may be made in the missions should from the first have reference to the ultimate settlement of the native Church, upon the ecclesiastical basis of an indigenous episcopate, independent of foreign aid or superintendence. Practical suggestions for carrying out the improved system. To carry out the foregoing principles, it is suggested : — 8. That, in conformity with Principle I., the converts should be encouraged to form themselves for mutual support and encouragement into ' Christian Companies ' (Acts iv. 23. The literal translation would have been ' their own friends or relatives.' The translators of the Bible adopted the term * company ' to denote the new and close brotherhood into which Christians are brought. In Africa the term has already been adopted for their native associations). The members of such companies should not be too numerous, or too scattered, 312 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. to prevent their meeting together in familiar religious con- ference. Local circumstances will decide the convenient number of a company : upon its enlargement beyond that number it should be divided into two or more companies. One of each company should be selected, or approved of, by the Missionary, as an elder, or ' Christian Head- man,' to call together and preside over the companies, and to report to the Missionary upon the moral and religious condition of his company, and upon the efforts made by the members for extending the knowledge of Christ's truth. Each Christian company should be en- couraged to hold weekly meetings under its headman, with the occasional presence of the Missionary, for united counsel and action, for reading the Scriptures and prayer, and for making contributions to the Church fund — if it be only a handful of rice, or more, as God shall prosper them. — (Principle II.) f Monthly Meetings of the Christian Headmen should be /held under the Missionary, or some one whom he may I appoint, at which meetings the headmen should report upon their respective companies, hand over the contri- butions, receive from the Missionary spiritual counsel and encouragement, and commend their common work, in united prayer, to the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. As long as converts are thus dependent for their Christian instruction upon their headmen, with only / occasional ministrations of the agents of the Society, I the work must be regarded as the evangelistic work of the Society. 9. The First Step in the organisation of the native Church will be taken when any company, or one or more neighbouring companies unitedly, shall be formed into a congregation liaving a schoolmaster or native teacher located amongst them, whose salary is paid out of the Native Church Fund. — (Principle III.) This step may be taken as soon as the company or companies so formed into a congregation STEPS TOWARDS INDEPENDENT LIFE. 313 contribute a fair amount, in the judgment of the Missionary, to the Church Fund. 10. A Second Step in the organisation of the native Church will be taken when one or more congregations are formed into a Native Pastorate, under an ordained native, paid by the Native Church Fund. — (Principle III.) This step may be taken as soon as the congregations are sufficiently advanced, and the payments to the Native Church Fund shall be sufficient to authorise the same, in the judgment of the Missionary and of the Corresponding Committee. The Christian headmen of the companies comprised within a native pastorate should cease to attend the monthly meetings of headmen under the Missionary, and should meet under their native pastor. As long as the Native Church Fund is under the management of the Missionary Society, the native pastors, paid out of that fund, must remain under the general superintendence of some missionary of the Society, who shall be at liberty to minister occasionally in their churches, and to preside jointly with the native pastors at the meetings of headmen and other congre- gational meetings ;\the relation between the native pastor and the missionary being somewhat analogous to that of curates with a non-resident incumbent. ^> 11. A third step in the organisation of the native Church will be taken when, a sufficient number of native pastorates having been formed, a District Conference shall be established, consisting of pastors and lay delegates from each of their congregations, and the European missionaries of such dis- trict. District conferences should meet periodically for con- sulting upon the native Church affairs, as distinguished from the action of the Society.— (Principle IV.) 12. When any considerable district has been thus pro- vided for by an organised native Church, foreign agency will have no further place in the work, and that district will have been fully prepared for a native episcopate. 314 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Concluding Remarks. 13. There must be a variety of details in carrying into effect these suggestions. A mere outline is given above ; but it will be seen that the proposed scheme of organisation will prepare the native Church for ultimately exhibiting in its congregational and district conferences the counterpart of the parish and the archdeaconry, under the diocesan episcopacy of our own Church system. 14. The pro posed organisation of the mission Church is adapted to the case as it is, where the native Church is in a course of formation out of a heathen population by the agency of a Missionary Society with limited resources. Under such circumstances, a Society must commence its work by accustoming the converts to support their own institutions in the simplest forms, so that the resources of the mission may be gradually released, and be moved for- ward to new ground. In other words, the organisation must work upwards. When a sufficient substratum of self-support is laid in the native Church, its fuller development will unfold itself, as in the healthy growth of things natural. Had the problem been to organise a mission where ample funds exist in the hands of a Bishop and his clergy, for the evangelisa- tion of a whole district, as well as for the future endowment of its native Church, the organisation might work down- wards, beginning with a diocesan council, forming the con- verts into districts and parishes, building churches and colleges, &c. These have been too much the leading ideas in modern missions ; and European ideas easily take root in native minds. But past experience seems to show that such a system, even if the means were provided, would be too apt to create a feeble and dependent native Christian commu- nity. 15. The foregoing suggestions must be modified accord- ing to the previous system which may have prevailed in a mission. In older missions the change of system must be very gradual ; for when a mission has grown up in depen- dence upon European missionaries and upon native agency A HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT. 315 salaried by European funds, the attempt to curtail sum- marily its pecuniary aid, before the introduction of a proper organisation, will be like casting a person overboard before he has been taught to swim : it will be a great injustice to the native converts, and may seriously damage the work already accomplished. 16. On the other hand, in new missions the missionary may from the first encourage the inquirers to form them- selves into companies, for mutual instruction and reading the Scriptures and prayer, and for making their weekly collec- tions. It should be enjoined upon each company to enlarge its numbers by prevailing upon others to join in their meetings. The enlargement of a Christian company, so as to require I subdivision, should be regarded as a triumph of Christianity, I as a festive occasion of congratulation and joy, as men rejoice £ when they divide the spoil.' 17. If the elementary principles of self-support and self- government and self-extension be thus sown with the seed of the Gospel, we may hope to see the healthy growth and expansion of the na/tive Church, when the Spirit is poured down from on high, as the flowers of the fertile field mul- tiply under the showers and warmth of summer.1 1 The successful development of self-support in Sierra Leone, and tlie promising commencement of a similar movement in Tinnevelly, may be regarded as modifying the statement in paragraph 5. Rev. H. Venn to Rev. J. Quaker, referring to this suf/ject. ' Feb. 2:i, 1865. — We thank God that the collections have this year risen to the noble amount of 2G0/. This is a great fact, and speaks volumes in behalf of an independent Native Church. The amount is so important that the Parent Committee have anxiously considered the question, What appro- priation of the amount will be most satisfactory to the subscribers ? We presume that many of the subscribers desire to testify their gratitude to God for the benefits they have received by sending the same benefits to India, China, and other heathen countries, on the principle " Freely ye have received, freely give." If it is wished to make the subscription thus a part of the general funds of the Society, it will go in diminution of the grant from home. But many subscribers will also probably wish to see some results of their contributions in missions springing up in the immediate vicinity of the colony, such as the Sherbro, Bulloui, or Quiah. If each of 310 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. THIRD PAPER, ISSUED JANUARY 8, 1866. 1. The first Minute of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society upon the subject of the native Church was issued in 1851 ; but at the end of ten years so little progress had been made towards the formation of native Churches, that in July 1861 the Committee issued a second minute on the organisation of native Churches in missions, in which various practical directions were given for the establishment of a Native Church Fund and of Native Church District Conferences. The object of the present paper is to record, for the encouragement of their missionaries, the progress which has been since made in native Church orga- nisation, and to point out some practical measures for the more speedy establishment of self-supporting, self-governing, and self-extending native Churches. Review of the Progress made towards Native Church Organisation. 2. The Committee trust that throughout their missions the distinction is now understood and- recognised between a Mission and a Native Church — that is, between the agency employed by a Foreign Missionary Society to evangelise any people, and the agency to be employed in pastoral ministra- tions to Christian congregations. 3. The greatest advance in native Church organisation has been made in Sierra Leone, the earliest mission of the Society ./There nine out of twelve missionary districts have been formed into self-supporting native pastorates. The nine native ministers and the village schools are all supported by the contributions of the native Church, assisted, to some extent, by a grant-in-aid from the Society. These native ministers are no longer under the direction of the Society, but of the European Bishop of Sierra Leone and a church council. In this mission a circumstance occurred which these classes are to be satisfied, will it not be well to divide the amount, say half and half, between the general operations of the Society and the missions in the neighbourhood of the colony ? ' . . . RESULTS ALREADY OBTAINED. 317 holds out an important example to other missions. Two native ministers, who had been educated and ordained in England, and had for twelve years been acting as mis- sionaries of the Society, had to choose between continuing in that position or resigning their connection with the Society, and casting in their lot with the native Church. They wisely chose the latter, as most for the advantage of their country. The result has fully justified their choice. Their superior qualifications have acted beneficially upon the whole body of native pastors. Had they, in consequence of these superior qualifications, retained their position as missionaries of the Society, the native church would have suffered loss, and the rest of the native pastors might easily have become discontented. 4. Throughout India and Ceylon the native Christians have been of late years in a measure aroused to the duty of supporting their native pastors. In some districts sums have been raised as endowments for this purpose. In South India these endowments amount to the sum of 3,300L; but hitherto these endowments have been accumulating, and have therefore afforded no relief to the current expenses of the mission.1 In many congregations contributions are raised for building and repairing of churches and for church ex- penses ; but in very few cases have any contributions been made for relieving the Society from the charge of native ministrations. In the province of Tinnevelly 1,500£. a year is raised by the native Churches for various religious and benevolent objects, while the Society wholly supports the native pastors, catechists, and village schools, at a cost of 4,000Z. a year beyond the expense of European agency. 5. It is obvious from the foregoing statements that, even in the most advanced missions of India, measures are required to make the support of native ministers by native congre- gations more effective. In other missions, in India and elsewhere, measures have yet to be taken for raising native contributions for the native Church. 1 The question of appropriation of endowments is deferred for future consideration. 318 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Need of the Formation of a Separate Native Church Fund. 6. The development of the resources of the native Church will be greatly promoted, in the judgment of the Committee, by a separation between the Native Church Funds and the Funds of the Society. For as long as the contributions for the support of the native Church are paid into the treasury of the Society, the Society is regarded as the paymaster, and not the native Church. Besides which, as long as the native | Church agency and the missionai*y agency are paid out of one treasury, the distinction between the native Church and the mission is liable to be lost sight of, and the two agencies are, by the native Christians, blended into one and the same. 7. The separation of the two funds can only be satisfac- torily effected by placing the Native Church Fund under the management of a local committee, or Church council, com- prising, as in Sierra Leone, Europeans and natives. To such a separate fund the Society may contribute grants-in-aid, gradually diminished as the native Church contributions increase, until the native Church is able to sustain the whole charge of the native pastorate. In a former minute the managing body of such a Native Church Fund was called a ' District Conference ;' but as the term ' conference ' is gene- rally employed for the meetings of missionaries, the designa- tion of ' Council,' as in Sieri'a Leone, more exactly represents the executive body of a native Church, and points also to the relative position of that body in respect of the missionary of the district, and ultimately of the native Bishop. 8. The Church Council, or managers of the fund, will na- turally be entitled to exercise some superintendence over the agents supported by the fund. Regulations must therefore be adopted for securing a proper selection of the members of the Church Council, and for the right exercise of the powers of the council, under the united action of Europeans and natives. 9. The principles on which the Native Church Fund and Church Councils should be regulated have been already partly explained in the former minutes on ' Native Church Organi- NATIVE CHURCH FUND. 319 sation,' but they may be now stated in a more distinct and practical form. I. That native contributions for the support of native teachers should be commenced from the first formation of a Christian congregation, even though there be but a single congregation ; but they should never be paid direct from any congregation to its pastor or resident catechist, but to a native church fund, which must be available for the support of all the native teachers of an assigned district, according to regulated scales of salaries. II. That whilst the native contributions are inadequate to the whole support of the native teachers of such a district, the Society shall supplement the native Church fund by grants-in-aid ; and as long as the Society thus contributes or carries on a mission within the district, the treasurership and ultimate control of the native Church fund must rest with the Society. III. That as soon as a district contains three or more separate congregations under native pastors, a Native Church Council should be formed for the distribution of the fund, for consulting upon the interests of the native Church, and for the general superintendence of its affairs. IV. That in every church council, as long as the district remains a missionary district, a missionary or other person appointed by the Society shall be the chairman, whose concurrence shall be necessary to the validity of the council, and who shall submit the proceedings of the council to the Committee of the Society. V. The members of the council should be appointed periodically, and should consist of two members ap- pointed by the chairman, three native pastors appointed by the pastors, and three native laymen appointed by the congregations. VI. That the foregoing arrangements be subject to re- vision by the Parent Committee from time to time, until 320 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the native Church fund ceases to receive aid from the Society, or the district is placed under a permanent ecclesiastical system. 10. The Committee feel assured that the establishment of a separate native Church fund will not only afford great relief to the resources of the Society, but will have far more important benefits, by training up the native Church to manage its own affairs independently of European superin- tendence, and by affording to the heathen a visible and convincing proof of the reality and stability of native Chris- tianity. Suggestion of a Native Episcopal Commissary, preparatory for a Native Suffragan Bishop. 11. With a view further to promote the independence of the native Church at as early a period as possible, it may be suggested that the Bishop of the diocese should appoint from time to time a Native Minister as his Commissary, to visit and make himself acquainted with the native teachers and their pastoral work, and that the commissary should attend the church councils as an assessor, with the chairman, and that he should report his visitations to the Bishop. This arrange- ment is proposed as a preparation for the appointment of a native suffragan bishop, when the native Church is sufficiently organised, and the Bishop of the Diocese shall be prepared to make such an appointment. Reasons for a Missionary Society not placing Native Ministers in the position of European Missionaries. 12. The Committee may refer, in connection with this subject, to applications they have lately received from more than one quarter to place some of the native pastors in the position of European missionaries, as in the earlier stages of missionary operations. The first Minute seems indeed to hold out the prospect to native pastors of such a missionary position, as an advancement and reward of faithful service. But the case is now altered. Experience has proved that the NATIVE CHURCH FUND AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 321 employment by a foreign Missionary Society of native minis- ters on the footing of English missionaries impedes, in many ways, the organisation of the native Church. The native Church needs the most able native pastors for its fuller de- velopment. The right position of a native minister, and his true independence, must now be sought in the independence of the native Church, and in its more complete organisation under a native Bishop. At the same time the Committee reserve to themselves the power, as exceptional cases, of transferring a native pastor to the list of missionaries or assistant missionaries ; but this must only be done when the general intei'ests of the Society require it, and not as a reward or advancement of an individual. The example of the African missionaries, who transferred themselves to the position of native pastors, points out a more excellent way. The Native Church Fund may for a time he relieved of the charge of Elementary Schools. 13. In the foregoing remarks the Committee have con- fined their view to the support and superintendence of the pastoral agency of the native Church, as exercised by native pastors or resident catechists or readers. They have not touched upon the support of schools, because they regard Anglo- vernacular schools and boarding schools as missionary agency ; and they think that it will greatly facilitate the arrangements for supporting native pastors if the vernacular schools are provided for, as a temporary arrangement, by the Society, or by other local resources, as, in South India, all female education is supported by the South India local fund, until the native Church organisation is sufficiently estab- lished to support the vernacular schools. The native pastors and the church council should, nevertheless, regard it as an essential part of their duty to watch over these schools, and to promote their efficiency. Y 322 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. (A.) Proposal ok a Native Bishop in Tinnevelly, issued July 1865. Extracts of a Letter from Rev. J. Thomas to Rev. H. Venn, dated Mengnanapurum, June 21, 1864. Ever since 1 left England, the question, ' What can be done for the best interests of the native Church in Tin- nevelly ? ' has occupied my thoughts continually. Perhaps you will feel disposed to say, ' Do precisely as we have sug- gested in our printed Minute on the subject.' Admirable as those suggestions are, they cannot be acted upon without some modification, especially in the older missions of the Society ; at the same time, to carry out their spirit, and adopt them literally, as far as possibly may be, is my earnest desire. My thoughts have been much directed to the kind of superintendence which should be exercised over those agents who are paid by a native Church fund. It appeared to me that, so long as the European missionary of the district superintended and paid both kinds of agents, it would be difficult to convey to the minds of our people generally a correct idea of the distinction between a native Church fund and a missionary fund. And, supposing that all the congre- gations supported by native contributions were transferred to one European to superintend, in the character of rural dean, archdeacon, or commissary of the Bishop of Madras, in all probability, many other objections would be raised against such a measure, and it would only be preparing the way for the appointment of a European bishop — a measure which, I think, would not be the most favourable for the development of the native Church. The next question which presented itself was, ' Is the time arrived for the appointment of a native bishop, who should have authority alike over Edeyenkudy in the south, and Pannivellei in the north, of Tinnevelly ? ' This assumes that European clergymen, as well as natives, would be placed under his authority and superintendence ; a measure which NATIVE BISHOP 1 1ST TINNEVELLY. 323 has universally been considered as a very formidable objection, if not an insuperable one, to such a scheme. It then occurred to me that it might be possible to have a native bishop in Tinnevelly at once, who should have exclusive authority over all the native agents who might be transferred to him, supported by the native Church, while the European agents of foreign Societies, in the character of missionaries, and as ministers of the English Church, might still continue, as long as they are required in the province, under the authority and superintendence of the Bishop of Madras. I do not think it wise to anticipate or suggest objections to this scheme ; all I would ask in mooting the question, is a candid consideration of such objections before the scheme is discarded in limine as anomalous and impracticable. My proposal is this, that a native bishop should be appointed at once, to whom should be transferred the self- supporting congregations and spiritual agents. I should be prepared to hand over to him at once fifteen or twenty of my best congregations, and make the utmost endeavour every year to increase the number as contributions increased. Other districts might be willing and able to double this number, and there would be at once, not a mere nucleus of a native Church, but a goodly number of congregations to be superintended, which would form by no means an insigni- ficant episcopate. As far as I have mentioned the subject to our own missionaries — and I did so at our Conference in April last, and to some of the S. P. G. brethren also — no hostile opinion has been expressed by anyone, but all seemed pre- pared to look upon it as likely to solve the great difficulty connected with this question. While the native bishop would be entirely independent of the European clergy, they would be able to assist him, and strengthen his hands in a variety of ways, until the time arrived to withdraw altogether. The native Church would by this means be materially strengthened, and experience t 2 324 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. would be gained by the Bishop, native clergy, and catechists, in self-government and management of their own affairs. A great increase would, I am persuaded, soon appear in the number of ordained agents ; not men who aspire to European views and habits, but men who would be veritable native pastors, in charge of one or two congregations, with moderate salaries, not necessarily very much above what the catechists receive now ; but enough to keep them respectably in a. re- lative position to their flocks. Our catechists now maintain themselves comfortably on eight rupees. They are, to all intents and purposes, the native pastors, and mere ordination would not necessarily involve any heavy additional expense ; so that a moderate increase above eight rupees would be a very suitable provision, nor would this be hopelessly beyond the resources of the native Church, as is the case with regard to those who have been ordained already. One very great advantage of trying this plan while the missionaries are still carrying on their operations in the same field would be that we should avoid the sudden transi- tion of the Church into native hands, and the possible breaking down of the Bishop and his clergy if left to them- selves without any previous preparation and aid. If this plan in the main should be considered feasible, the subordinate points can be dealt with afterwards. We have had recently three very important and interest- ing meetings in these districts. The one at Mengnanapurum, which was held this day fortnight, was attended by 140 headmen of congregations, besides native clergy and catechists. I entered at length into the whole question, and the people responded heartily, and several of them spoke with great propriety, for the character of the meeting was that of a committee, where every member was at liberty to say what he pleased, and not a formal public meeting, When everyone who wished to give an expression to his opinion had done so, I proposed for their adoption a series of Eeso- lutions to the effect : — ' That it is the duty of Christians to support their own teachers, and to take measures for extend- SUGGESTED TRANSITION. :i_>5 ing the kingdom of Christ among the heathen ; the duty of headmen in particular to exert themselves, not only in giving, but in urging the people under their influence to support liberally the scheme now initiated.' It was also agreed that from the 25th of this month fourteen congregations should be supplied with catechists, to be paid out of the Native Church Fund. I told them what my views and wishes were with regard to a native bishop, and the desirableness of having a distinct native Tamil Church. They received the announcement with joyful approbation : one of them, the most intelligent and influential, exclaimed that he hoped he might yet be per- mitted to see that blessed consummation. This meeting was a most important one ; and I felt thankful that I had come out from England this third time, if it were only to be present on the occasion. I have now briefly sketched out what I conscientiously believe to be the best method of dealing with the Church in Tinnevelly ; and I am prepared to exercise whatever influence 1 possess among the people, after nearly twenty years' connection with them, to promote, foster, and strengthen this measure. Similar meetings to that held here were held at Satthan- kullam and Asirvathapuram, which I fully purposed attend- ing ; but in consequence of absolute prostration of strength, I was unable to do so, and my son and the native clergymen attended both places, and he speaks of the result as indeed not quite so enthusiastic as at Mengnanapurum, though I am disposed to think that the people of Asirvathapuram were not a whit behind those of this district. The two main inquiries, remarks Mr. Venn, which arise out of the proposition of Mr. Thomas are — as to the suffi- ciency of funds for the support of a native pastorate, and as to the supply of men competent for the pastoral office. With respect to funds there is little to fear. The 30,000 native Christians of Tinnevelly already raise more than 1 ,600/. a year for religious and charitable purposes. There 326 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. have also been ' native pastorate ' endowments commenced in twenty-one different districts in South India, which amount in the aggregate to 3,300L As Christianity gra- dually spreads among the wealthier classes of society, the supply of funds will become more abundant ; but even at present more than one hundred native pastors might be supported by the contributions of the people. With respect to the supply of suitable men, the following minute of a conference of missionaries, held in Tinneveliy in January 1865, will show that the statement of Mr. Thomas is confirmed by the judgment of the rest of the missionary body : — ' It appeared to the brethren every way desirable that spiritual and devoted men should, as opportunity offers, be ordained as pastors to the congregations in which they are now respectively labouring as catechists ; their pay at the present rate being supplied by the Native Church Self-sus- taining Fund, and subsidised by an equal amount on the part of the Church Missionary Society. Where men of character, piety, maturity of age and judgment can be found, we think that their being thus set apart, as ordained ministers of the congregations in which they are now acting as catechists, would have a wide and beneficial influence for good.' A copy of the letter of Mr. Thomas having been submitted to the Bishop of Calcutta (Dr. Cotton), his Lordship made, in reply, the following important remarks and suggestions upon the scheme : — Extract from a Letter of the Bishop of Calcutta to the Rev. Henry Venn ; dated February 8, 1865. As it is getting near post time, I am hardly able to enter at length upon Mr. Thomas's important letter. But would not one way of meeting his views and removing any objec- tions be to consecrate a Native as coadjutor to the Bishop of Madras, with such work as the Diocesan Bishop assigns to him ? And it might be agreed that he should receive a salary NATIVE COADJUTOR 11ISH0PS. 327 from the C.M.S., or from the C.M.S. and S.P.G. together, on condition that he ordinarily resides in Tinnevelly, and takes the charge of such native congregations as are handed over to him. Then he might also be employed in travelling at intervals about other parts of the diocese, and confirming the Tamil congregations more frequently than can be done now. He should be consecrated by the Metropolitan and two of his suffragans, and not removable without the Me- tropolitan's consent. In this way the geographical diffi- culty would be obviated, my serious objection to separating Europeans and Natives into different Churches would be re- moved, the general influence and supervision of the Bishop of Madras would be retained for Tinnevelly, and the native Bishop's position to the English missionaries residing near him would be less ambiguous than on any other plan. Doubt- less the question of discipline in connection with such a Bishop must be carefully considered, as we learn to our cost from the mass of troublesome technicalities now before the Privy Council, and I have no doubt that an Act of Parlia- ment would be necessary. It seems to me that power might be given to the Metropolitan, on the application of any Dio- cesan Bishop, with the sanction of the Crown, to consecrate such a coadjutor to the diocese of the bishop making the application ; Government not being charged with his salary. In this way I might myself hope some day to have both a Bengali and Hindustani coadjutor. It seems to me that some such plan as this would be at once most ecclesiastically correct and practically useful. There are two recent precedents of the appointment of Coadjutor Bishops by the Crown without Acts of Parliament. In 1836 Dr. Mountain was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury under Letters Patent, by the title of Bishop of Montreal, to be a Coadjutor to the Bishop of Quebec. In 1856 Archdeacon Courtenay was in the same way appointed and consecrated Coadjutor to the Bishop of Jamaica. The Letters Patent thus limited the exercise of the episcopal functions : — ' Provided nevertheless, and it is our royal will 328 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. and pleasure, that the said Reginald Courtenay shall not have, use, or exercise any jurisdiction, power, or authority within the said diocese of Jamaica, save and except such jurisdiction, power, and authority as shall be thought re- quisite, reasonable, and convenient by the said Bishop of Jamaica, and as shall be licensed and limited to him by a commission or commissions, under the hand and seal of the said Bishop of Jamaica.' — See Parliamentary Paper, ' Church A ffairs of Jamaica, ' May 20, 1856. [The previous principles are thus applied to the cir- cumstances of the particular mission just referred to.] To the Corresponding Committee at Madras and the Missionaries in the Tinnevelly Mission. As the South India Mission is in some respects the most advanced of the missions of the Society, the Committee have thought it well to point out the application of the principles and suggestions contained in a Minute ' On the Organisa- tion of Native Churches in Missions ' to the case of the Tin- nevelly Mission. 1. A ' Local Native Church Fund ' should be at once established in each missionary district in Tinnevelly, for the benefit of that district. In each district collections are now made for several separate funds, as — the Poor Fund ; the District Church Building Fund ; the Native Church Endow- ment Fund ; the Native Mission Fund for North Tinnevelly ; the Bible Society ; the Tract Society. The missionary of the district receives the contribu- tions for each of these funds : the contributions to the two first are retained by him a,s treasurer : the contri- butions to the other funds are handed over by him to the appointed treasurers, or to the Madras Correspond- ing Committee. Each missionary must be the treasurer of the native APPLICATION OF PPINOIPLES. 329 Cliurch fund of his missionary district ; and furnish a treasurer's account of the same half-yearly to the Corresponding Committee, as well as publish the same within the district. It will be advisable for each mis- sionary, in opening a native Church fund, to explain to the people the special impoi-tance of that fund, so as to encourage quarterly, monthly, or, if possible, weekly contributions to the same. 2. The agents now in the employment of the Tinnevelly Mission should be separated into two classes. The first class will consist of inspecting schoolmasters, inspecting catechists, itinerating catechists, and native ministers employed as assistants to the missionary. These form the Missionary Agency, and will be appointed and sup- ported as at present under the sanction of the Madras Cor- responding Committee. The second class will consist of all located agents, school- masters, readers, catechists, or native ministers. These form the Native Church Agency, and are to be supported out of the native Church fund. 3. The native Church fund must at present be augmented by annual grants from the Society. The augmentation grant of the first year must probably be the same amount as that now paid for the support of the located agency : but upon the distinct understanding that the augmentation grant will be diminished next year, and each subsequent year, until the native Church agency be wholly supported by the native Church fund. Any special cases, such as those arising from a sudden increase of converts or from other cir- cumstances, must be treated as exceptional cases. 4. The interest of the native Church endowments should be devoted to the payments made to native pastors. Native pastors should only be located in districts where endowments have been raised, and the number of native pastors in each district should be dependent upon the endowments raised. If these endowments be not sufficient, the stipends of the native pastors must be augmented from the local native Church fund. MEMOIll OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 5. The appointment and superintendence of the unor- dained native Church agency, now exercised by the Corre- sponding Committee, should be transferred to the Missionary Conference, until the native Church has its own district con- ference. The Missionary Conference should examine and re- ceive all unordained native teachers, who are to be paid out of the native Church fund, upon the recom- mendation of the missionary of the district. In the case of catechists the principle is to be maintained ' that none but spiritual agents can carry on spiritual work.' The Missionary Conference is to fix the scale of salaries to be given to different classes of agents, and to advance the agents to higher classes upon the recommendation of the missionary of the district. The Missionary Conference is to inquire into charges brought against unordained agents of the native Church, and to censure, suspend, or dismiss them, as the case may require. The location and superintendence of the unordained native Church agents within the missionary district to which they are appointed should rest with the mis- sionary of the district in connection with the headmen. 6. The property of the churches, the parsonage-houses, the schools, and the teachers' residences of the native Church must be vested in the Church Missionary Society until another arrangement be agreed upon, when the time arrives for the further settlement of the native Church upon an in- dependent basis. (186 1 .) (B.) Native Church Endowments in the Missions.1 1. An appeal was made at the Jubilee of the Church Missionary Society in the year 1848, for raising a special jubilee fund, one of the declared objects of which was : — 1 Minute specially referring to South India and Ceylon. NATIVE CHURCH ENDOWMENTS. 331 * The establishment of a moderate fund to be employed in assisting native Christian Churches to support their own native ministers and institutions ; so that the funds of the Society may be released as soon as such Churches shall become matured in Christian habits and attainments, and may be devoted to the evangelisation of the heathen beyond them.' 2. In the year 1849 the Committee resolved to devote 10,000Z. to this object, and in order to encourage native converts to make contributions towards the same object, it was resolved — (t) 'That a fund may be opened at any mission, or at any station of a mission, as a native Church endowment fund, such fund to be vested in the Society, and under the control of the Committee, in trust for the purpose for which it is contributed. (2) ' That donations to this fund may be either general or for particular Churches. (3) ' That the money shall, if possible, be invested under the sanction of the Parent Committee, in some permanent local security, such as land, town-lots, wharfs, &c, or in Government securities, either at home or abroad. (4) ' That as soon as 100Z. shall be raised by local funds for these objects, it shall be increased out of the jubilee fund, by a sum not exceeding an equal amount ; the amount of the addition to be regulated by a consideration of the circumstances under which the local fund has been raised, that is to say, the contributions of native Christians to be met by equal sums, and the contributions of other parties by such reduced sums as may seem suitable to the Parent Committee. (5) ' That preference be given, cueteris paribus, to the applications according to the order of priority ; no applica- tion to be received, except upon sums actually raised, or properly secured to the Society.' 3. The sum of 100Z., to be raised by local funds, was afterwards reduced to 50/. 332 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENKY VENN. 4. The Committee reflect with thankfulness, that a con- siderable impulse was thus given, in South India and Ceylon, to the native Christians to contribute towards the self- support of the native Church. 5. The native ministry has, however, been of late years so largely increased, that the time has arrived when the native Church must be urged to contribute to the present mstentation of their ministers, rather than to endowments. 6. Endowments will be useful in contributing to the stability and permanence of the native Church, and it is hoped that the impulse already given will continue to act ; but the first duty is the present support of the ministry, so as to relieve the Society from the charge, and to cherish a healthy independence and self-reliance. The proper rela- tion between a missionary society and the native Church is not when the Society supports the native ministry, aided by native contributions, but when the native ministry is paid out of a native Church fund, mainly sustained by the con- tributions of the converts, the Society only giving grants-in- aid as long as the same may be expedient. 7. In order, therefore, to promote contributions to a sustentation fund for the native Church, and to encourage the native Church to strive after a more healthy independ- ence of foreign support, this Committee Jiave rescinded the resolution of 1849, and made a new arrangement, providing only for grants upon the old plan to such congregations or districts as have already made payments with a view to obtain the grant of 50?. before they receive intelligence of the new arrangement. 8. The balance which may remain of the jubilee fund for native endowments, after discharging all existing claims upon the same, will probably amount to 7,000Z. This sum, under the new arrangement, will be reserved as an invest- ment, and the interest will be available for special grants to those districts most needing help, which are making zealous efforts for the support of their own native ministers. 9. The special grants contemplated in the foregoing NATIVE CHURCH ■ ENDOWMENTS. 333 paragraph are such as may be required by particular churches or districts, in addition to tbe grants-in-aid from the gene- ral fund of the Society to the native Church funds, on occa- sion, for instance, of a failure of the native contributions through some unforeseen calamity to the contributors, or of an unexpected expenditure required for the Church, or for procuring a parsonage-house, or for the temporary assist- ance to a disabled pastor. On these and other special occa- sions the jubilee native Church endowment fund will be available to encourage and augment the efforts of the native Church. 10. In respect of the endowments already created and augmented by grants from the jubilee fund, no stipulations for their employment have as yet been made, except that the general control of the Parent Committee was reserved in the resolutions of 1849. The Committee think it advisable, however, that there should now be a scheme settled for the employment of existing endowments. Over one portion of those existing endowments for Tinnevelly, amounting to 800L, the Committee has the sole control, and with respect to this they propose to distribute the interest in special grants, throughout the whole district of Tinnevelly, accord- ing to the principle in the preceding paragraph. In all other cases of existing endowments the missionaries will be consulted as to the scheme of employment which may be most satisfactory to all parties. Jan. 8, 1866. (C.) Native Church Organisation. Extract from Letter of Rev. H. Venn to Lord Bishop of Madras, dated Church Missionary House, January 3, 1854. The Committee have already apprised the Corresponding Committee of their sanction to the presentation of the two catechists whom you express your willingness to ordain, and whose fitness you testify to for the office of native pastor. You state also, with respect to these two candidates and 334 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. all future native candidates, that you cannot contemplate their admission to priest's orders without a knowledge of the English language. The Committee earnestly hope that the creation of a native Christian literature will soon remove this objection. For there must be many native converts, endowed with every spiritual requisite, who are too old to learn English for any spiritual instruction which they may derive from it. This is the testimony of all our old mission- aries. In such case the Committee would hesitate to present a candidate for deacon's orders, because it would be tanta- mount to their acquiescence in a perpetual diaconate ; and they apprehend that there are insuperable objections, accord- ing to the constitution of our Church, to retaining anyone in deacon's orders who has used that office ' well.' The proposal of an order of deacons, without the prospect of the priesthood, for our poor population at home, has been urged by some. But it meets with no countenance from the best friends of our Church. The Archbishop of Canter- bury told me a short time since that he had discussed the matter with the Bishop of London, but that they both felt that the proposal was inadmissible without a new Ordina- tion Service. The last prayer in the Ordination of Deacons asks that they may so well behave themselves in the inferior office that they may be found worthy to be called unto the higher ' ministries in Thy Church.' In conformity with this the Third Canon declares the office of a deacon to be c a step or degree to the ministry,' and the rubric, at the close of the office gives notice that deacons must remain a whole year, unless for sufficient cause the time be shortened. In practice also, as well as in the theory of the Ordina- tion Services, the difference between the two orders is so inconsiderable that the exercise of the office of a deacon creates many serious inconveniences if a priest be not at hand. And even in such a case we have found by experience in New Zealand, where the Bishop has kept back the deacons for many years from the priesthood — that both the converts, EPISCOPATE IX INDIA. 385 the Dissenters, and the Papists soon regarded the diaconate as no true ministry — and the latter classes made it a success- ful snare for detaching the people from the ministry of the deacons. On all these grounds the Parent Committee cannot be- come a party to any understanding that the native catechists whom they present are not afterwards to he presented for priests' orders without the English language. You have expressed your hope of the early establishment of a diocesan college. But if the locality of such a college be Madras, I fear that it will only partially assist our Tinne- velly Missions. All our experience tends to prove that a collegiate establishment is too much in advance of our mis- sions, and that the students trained in them are, in the great majority of cases, disqualified for the work of native pastors amongst their countrymen. Hence we have put an end to our Colombo college, after thirty years of experience. H. V. V. To a Friend, on the Views of the Committee on the Extension of the Episcopate in India. I lament with you the various misapprehensions which have occurred respecting a 'memorial' and 'statement ' of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society on the extension of the episcopate in India. They have been chiefly, however, echoes of a most unfair critique in the columns of a newspaper which has long been hostile to the Society, alleging that the Committee had repudiated episcopal super- intendence over its missions, and had needlessly placed the Church Missionary Society in opposition to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and especially to the late revered Bishop of Calcutta, whose statements had been put forth by that Society in the forefront of their appeals for an extension of the Indian Episcopate. The facts of the case, as explained in the recent ' Minute ' of the Committee of the Church Missionary Society, dated 336 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. March 30, 1858, negative many of these aspersions. But there are a few points on which I may offer further remarks for your satisfaction. I. It will be satisfactory to you, and to many other friends, to know what was the judgment of the late Bishop of Calcutta upon the ' memorial ' and ' statement ' at which offence is taken. His son, the Vicar of Islington, has fur- nished me with the following extract from one of the Bishop's late letters, which will set this matter at rest. Extract from a Letter of the Bishop of Calcutta to the Rev. Daniel Wilson, dated Serampore, October 10, 1857. ' There is a valuable paper of the Church Missionary Society in our (Calcutta) " Christian Intelligencer," on the subject of missionary bishops, canons, rubrics, &c, very well done. I concur with it fully.' No one had better opportunities of knowing the relations between an Indian bishop and a mission than the late Metropolitan of India, who had made frequent visitations of the dioceses of Madras, Bombay, and Ceylon, and whose metropolitical superintendence once extended over the Bishops of Australia and New Zealand. His earlier opinions were in favour of a bishop's taking a leading part in mis- sionaiy work. He commenced the Cathedral Mission upon this principle. But his lengthened and practical experience gradually brought him to another conclusion ; and I have the best means of knowing, from other sources as well as from the words of the above quotation, that the ' statement ' of the Church Missionary Society is the true exponent of his mature judgment. Yet the Bishop never changed his opinion of the desirableness of the extension of the episco- pate in what I will venture to call the legitimate sense of the term. Surely this is a proof that the documents of the Society now objected to are not opposed to the principle of an extension of the Indian episcopate, but only to the new scheme which is to be introduced under the name of ' ex- tension.' EPISCOPATE IN INDIA. 337 II. Let me notice, also, another misapprehension of the true question at issue, which has prejudiced the minds of many. The Committee has not opposed the extension of the colonial episcopate. Its remarks are strictly confined to mission fields in the transition state from heathenism to Christianity, and not yet ripe for the establishment of a settled ecclesiastical system. It is said, for instance, that additional bishops have always led to an increase of the clergy. But in a colony of Christian settlers a bishop is able to stimulate a Christian people to build churches and to support additional clergymen : whilst a bishop among the heathen is dependent upon the voluntary agency of Mis- sionary Societies at a distance to supply the means and the men for the work of the ministry. As soon as 4 the mission' has, through God's blessing, raised up a self-supporting native church, with its native pastors, so that the missionary action of a Society in England may be withdrawn, then will be the time for giving the native church a bishop of its own. In the meantime let the missionaries labour, as at pi'esent, under a recognised Church-of-En gland episcopacy. There is an equally manifest distinction between pastoral ministrations in a settled Christian community and mis- sionary work among the heathen. In a Christian colony the Church may be guided generally by the laws and constitution of the Church at home. But in missions the precedent of the Church at home is inapplicable ; and the attempt to establish an analogy between the two cases has only led to confusion. Hence the necessity of ecclesiastical regulations before the extension of the episcopate. III. The scheme against which the strictures of the Committee are directed is not that which would be generally imderstood by the extension of the episcopate : but it is an innovation upon the episcopate, as it has been established in India for the last forty years ; and which, as the Committee believes, has worked well for the mission cause. It is a scheme which would disturb the present relations between a bishop and the missionaries, and would introduce a new Z 338 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. and, as yet, undefined form of episcopacy. The real question at issue is one which those only partially acquainted with the details of missions have, in many instances, failed to appreciate. But the Committee regard it as one of such vital importance to the progress of evangelisation in heathen lands, that no amount of misconception, or of outcry, or of prejudice, will deter them from urging their views upon it before the proper authorities. Differences of judgment, instead of exciting opposition and jealousy, should rather secure a more thorough investigation of the question, and the firmer establishment of the right system. The question of the proper relations between a bishop and missionaries labouring to evangelise a heathen popula- tion, and supported in that work by a voluntary Society, appears to have come upon many of our friends as a new and speculative one. It has, however, been constantly before the Committee of the Church Missionary Society for the last forty years, since it was discussed with Bishop Middleton, at Calcutta, who, at first, refused to notice missionaries, or accept the superintendence over them, but greatly modified his views towards the close of his life, and re-opened com- munications with the Society upon the subject. It was discussed with the late Archbishop of Canterbury and the late Bishop of London, when thejr joined the Society upon the basis of the ' Explanatory Statement of the Ecclesias- tical Relations, &c.,' which was published in the year 1839. It has been the subject of personal conference with many of the Indian and colonial bishops. The very same principles Avhich the ' Statement, April 11, 1857,' contains, have been constantly maintained by the Committee, have been regarded by all the bishops alluded to, and by other experienced persons, as fair subjects of discussion, and have been cordially supported by many other bishops, besides the Bishop of Calcutta. You may judge, therefore, of our surprise and regret at the outcry which some parties are attempting to raise against, these very principles, as if they had been recently adopted by the Committee. EPISCOPATE IN INDIA. 339 I need not remind you that the Committee of the Church Missionary Society comprises men of long experience in India, — men who have been the chief supporters of the Church of England while they occupied the highest posts of Government, and who have been otherwise identified fin- twenty, thirty, or forty years with all the good works carried on in India. It may give you some idea of the amount of Indian experience in our Committee, when I state that the aggregate of the time spent in India by seventeen members of the Committee amounts to 363 years. Such a body of men may surely claim the credit of knowing what they are about. These remarks may enable you to remove some of the objections to which you refer. The Committee are ready to discuss the principles they have put forth with any parties who are sufficiently acquainted with the subject, and who are willing to be guided by prac- tical experience ; but they cannot deal with mere theories, whether Indian or homespun, or answer writers who seize upon detached sentences of an argument in order to make up a hostile article against the Church Missionary Society. To such attacks this Society can only oppose its long- tried and approved principles, which have gained for it all the confidence and support which it enjoys from Christian friends. Its ecclesiastical principles are dear to it, but its spiritual prin- ciples are far more precious. Let me borrow from our sister Society its venerable title, and say that we cannot separate the propagation of the Gospel from the discussion of the extension of the Episcopate. It is not merely a question, How can the Indian Episcopate be most rapidly extended and subdivided? but, What system will be best adapted to prepare the native converts, in their transition from Heathen- ism to Christianity, for the euthanasia of the Mission in the establishment of a native church under native pastors and a native episcopate ? What system will shield a necessarily complicated agency in a foreign land, from those jars and obstructions which beset every human undertaking ? What z 2 340 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. system will give the freest scope to the pious zeal of those, whether laity or clergy, who know and love the truth, and who desire to he fellow-helpers of the truth? All these questions necessarily involve the relations hetween the Epis- copate and the action of Missionary Societies. And the Committee have gone no further than to state the result of their long study and experience upon this delicate but all- important subject. I know not whether you and I would take precisely the same view of many of the details of the subject of this letter, but I am sure that we shall cordially unite in the words of the prayer with which our committee meetings are opened — that God may unite as one man all who are truly labouring for Him ; disappoint the designs of Satan ; make all Chris- tian societies live in harmony and love ; give them wisdom in all their plans ; perfect His strength in their weakness ; and direct their labours to His glory. P.S. The following extract from a Charge lately delivered by the Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol (C. Baring), gives a remarkable confirmation to some of the views ex- pressed in the ' Statement ' of the Committee. ' If the sphere of a Bishop's labours be lessened to such an extent as to enable him with ease to watch in minute detail the ministrations of each individual pastor, there will be, I think, great danger lest the activity and energy of the bishop degenerate into injudicious and mischievous meddling; and lest the zeal and decision of character of the clergy ma- nifest themselves in many instances in a defiance of episcopal authority. For whilst many of less vigorous mind would become mere echoes of their bishop's opinions, those of more independent thought and action would resent with indigna- tion any attempt to control them. So that I cannot but deem it a great blessing, in the present state of theological opinion in the Church of England, that a bishop's diocese is large enough to give full scope to his energy, without any danger lest his activity should interfere with the usefulness of others ; and that he is enabled, without any compromise MADAGASCAR BISHOPRIC. on either side, to prove himself the friend, and counsellor, and zealous encourage r of all those who are engaged with him in a common effort to extend the Redeemer's kingdom.' April 12, 1858. H. V. VI. The C. M. S. and the Madagascar Bishopric. The Committee regret to learn from several friends that very erroneous inferences have been drawn from their minute of December 12th, 1870, on the subject of the proposed bishopric in Madagascar. They think it therefore due to themselves, and to the sacred cause in which they are en- gaged, to offer explanations on the chief points on which misapprehensions seem to exist. I. It has been alleged that the minute indicates a spirit of opposition to the extension of episcopac}'. This statement is without foundation.1 The dissent from the proposed appointment of a Bishop of Madagascar was in no degree grounded upon the unnecessary increase of bishops. The island of Madagascar is large enough to afford dioceses for several bishops, and the Society could not object to any number being sent out with missionaries, provided that their sjihere of labour does not extend to the capital, and to that part of the island already occupied by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society. The Society objects to place its missionaries under the superintendence of a bishop having jurisdiction over that part of the island, because this would make it a party to interference with the field of labour of another Missionar}r Society. But the Committee cannot fairly be charged with objecting to their missionaries in Madagascar being under episcopal superintendence, as they 1 It is somewhat humiliating to be obliged, at this stage of the Society's history, to vindicate its Church principles, notwithstanding its having taken the first steps to advocate the appointment of a Bishop for India, for New Zealand, for West Africa, as well as for other fields of its labours ; notwith- standing also the full explanation of its ecclesiastical relations, published with every Annual Report, which has received the sanction of all the Arch- bishops and Bishops of the Church of England. 342 MEMOIB OF THE EEV. HENRY VENN. have been placed from the first under the Bishop of Mau- ritius. II. The Society has been charged also with having threatened 'to instruct its missionaries to resist the autho- rity of their own chief pastor ' in the person of a bishop sent out to Madagascar. This charge cannot be supported. The Committee have uttered no threat whatever. They have respectfully represented to the authorities their wish that their missionaries should remain under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Mauritius, on account of the dilemma to which they would otherwise be reduced, either of refusing to accept the superintendence of a resident Bishop, or of withdrawing their missionaries from the island and employ- ing them elsewhere. The Society could not give a stronger proof of its respect for episcopal authority than by contem- plating the latter alternative, instead of insisting upon its lawful discretion of declining the jurisdiction of a resident bishop sent out by the authorities of the Church under the ' Jerusalem Bishopric ' Act. The Committee must direct attention to the distinction between a colonial bishop and a bishop appointed to Mada- gascar, who can only be consecrated under a special Act, 5 Vict. c. vi., of which the following is a clause : — ' That such bishop or bishops so consecrated, may exercise within such limits as may from time to time be assigned for that purpose in such foreign countries by her Majesty, spiritual jurisdic- tion over the ministers of British congregations of the United Church of England and Ireland, and over such other Pro- testant congregations as may be desirous of placing them- selves under his or their authority.' The designation, ' other Protestant congregations,' includes, and was intended to include, native congregations; and as these native congrega- tions in their early stages are incapable of expressing their desire, the Act virtually gives to the Missionary Societies a discretion as to their converts being placed under the bishop so consecrated. In the case of a colonial bishop, the case is altogether different. The Society's missionaries are, as a MADAGASCAR BISHOPRIC. 343 matter of course, placed under any colonial bishop whom her Majesty may appoint, and the Church Missionary Society has never hesitated to uphold his authority. But in the case of a bishop consecrated under the Jerusalem Act, the law gives a discretion, and therefore lays upon the parties concerned the duty of exercising such discretion, as to the desirableness of accepting his authority. The Committee must add that they conceive that the proper sphere of a missionary bishop, consecrated under the Jerusalem Act, is the native Church, when it is sufficiently advanced to require a resident bishop. Under this Act the Society took the first step in that important branch of the extension of the episcopacy — the native episcopacy — by pro- moting the consecration of the native minister, Dr. Samuel Crowther, for the mission on the Niger ; and they are at the present time negotiating with the Government for the consecration of one of their missionaries in China, to super- intend the native Chinese Church. The Committee look forward to the time when the native church in Madagascar may be ripe for a resident, and, they trust, a native bishop. In this hope the question as to the introduction of the episcopate into Madagascar resolves itself into a question of time. In the year 1863, when certain parties proposed to send a bishop and staff of missionaries to the capital of Madagascar, the Bishop of London, then Bishop of Lincoln, and Bishop Ryan, then Bishop of Mauritius, opposed the scheme, recognising the principle of non-interference, though they think that the time is now come when a bishop may be sent. With every desire to respect their opinion, the Com- mittee regret that they have not been able to come to the same conclusion ; the reasons against interfering appearing to them, after the fullest consideration, even more cogent than they were seven years ago. The London Missionary Society also, whose voice in the matter is entitled to a hear- ing, objects as strongly as ever to the appointment of a resident Bishop of Madagascar, whose presence in the midst of their mission would, in their opinion, create great diffi- culties. 344 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. III. There is one other charge alleged against the Society, namely, that they are standing in the way of such support and encouragement to the Church Missionaries and their congregations in Madagascar as a resident bishop would afford. The Committee do not undervalue the benefit of •which the Church Missionaries in Madagascar may be thus deprived, though the superintendence of the Bishop of Mauritius may in a degree supply this loss. But this is a local privation, and cannot, in the judgment of the Com- mittee, justify the infraction of the principle of non-inter- ference, which might' prove disastrous to the Christian cause, not only in Madagascar, but throughout the whole range of Christian missions. The Committee are aware that they may seem to those who are not, like themselves, familiar with the actual work- ing of missions, to adhere too rigidly to the principle of non-interference. They will therefore add some illustrations of the importance of the principle in addition to that men- tioned in the minute. In the early years of the Tinnevelly Mission, Rhenius and several German missionaries seceded from the Church Missionary Society, and formed the congregations which adhered to them into a rival mission. After three years the only seceding missionary who remained in Tinnevelly offered to join the London Missionary Society with his congregations. The missionaries of that Society in a neighbouring province received him into connection with themselves, pending a reference home. But the Directors at home overruled the action of their missionaries, and refused to receive the seceder into their connection unless he separated himself from the Tinnevelly mission field. The result was the happy termination of disorder and discord, and the retention of all the Tinnevelly congregations in communion with the Church oi England. Within the last six years the missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Tinnevelly applied to the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, asking POLYGAMY. 345 for the transfer to themselves of fifteen villages which had heen evangelised by that Society, on the ground that they were locally situated within the field occupied by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, being just over the boundary line. The matter was referred to the Directors of the London Missionary Society, who, ' after much anxious deliberation, impressed with the importance of acting upon the principle of non-intrusion into spheres occupied by other Societies,' acceded to the request of the missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. These instances show that the London Missionary Society have special claims upon the Church Societies for reciprocity of amicable forbearance. At the anniversary of the Oxford Church Missionary Association, which has just taken place, the Bishop of Oxford expressed his entire concurrence with the principle of non-interference, and referred to the noble conduct of Bishop Patteson, who, when for some weeks on an island in the Pacific occupied by a Nonconformist missionary, regu- larly attended his ministry, and himself refrained from ministering, that he might not run the risk of injuring the influence of the resident missionary, and the unity of the native Christians. The Committee trust they have thus vindicated their action, in respect of the proposed bishopric of Madagascar, upon the great principles upon which the Society has ever rested its claim to the confidence and support of the Church, to whose great Head they now commit the whole matter, praying that an abundant blessing may be vouchsafed to the missionary work and the native church in that island. March 21, 1871. VII. Minute on Polygamy. An examination of several passages of Scripture which bear upon the subject of polygamy will show that the Divine ordinance of marriage is confined to one wife ; and that 34G MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. under evei'y dispensation, offences against this ordinance have been marked by Divine disapprobation. The original institution of marriage in Paradise, even as recorded in the brief narrative of Moses, is decisive against polygamy, and was declared to be so by the Prophet Malachi, under the old dispensation, as well as by our Lord Jesus Christ himself. Gen. ii. 23; Mai. ii. 14—16. Gen. ii. 23. ' And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ' 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh.' The Prophet Malachi refers to this primaeval institution of marriage in condemnation of those, in his days, who had married more than one wife. Mai. ii. 14. 'Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously : yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. ' 1 5. And did not he make one ? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one ? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.' Lowth, as quoted by Scott, thus explains the passage : — ' The Prophet puts the Jews in mind of the first insti- tution of marriage . . . (as Christ did afterwards on a like occasion) and tells them, that God made but one man at first, (the word rendered " one " is masculine,) and made the woman out of him, when he could have created more women, if he had pleased : to instruct men, that this was the true pattern of marriage, ordained for true love and undivided affection, and best serving the chief end of matrimony, namely, the religious education of children.' Scott adds, ' The Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath (or spirit) of life, and man became a living soul.' POLYGAMY. 347 But had be not ' the residue of the spirit P ' Was his life- giving power exhausted? and could he not have created many women for this one man, had he seen good ? But he meant that a godly posterity should be framed up, which would best be done by the joint care of both parents, living together in love, and uniting their instructions, examples, and prayers, for that end ; to which polygamy and divorces would have been alike unfavourable.' The 16th verse, as it stands in the authorised version, ' For the Lord the God of Israel saith, that He hateth putting away,' implies, that the first wife had been put away before the second marriage : and it condemns that practice; but some versions give a different interpretation. The first record of a case of polygamy is, before the Flood, in the posterity of Cain (Gen. xvi. 3) by Lamech, who is marked as, in another respect, a lawless character. A significant indication of the Divine will was however given at the Flood, when by Divine appointment, Noah and his three sons entered the Ark, each having one wife. After the Flood several instances are recorded, amongst which the following only seem to require special notice. The case of Hagar, whom Abraham took at Sarah's re- quest, is that of a concubine rather than of a second wife, and she was eventually put away by the Divine command. Jacob was led into polygamy by the fraud of his father- in-law. And it is especially noticeable that such polygamy as his, the marriage of two sisters, which was not unlikely to have passed into a precedent by so illustrious an example, was expressly condemned in the Levitical law (Lev. xviii. 18). Though it is to be observed, that some among the Jews and many Christian commentators, regard this passage as an express prohibition of polygamy of every kind ; as the term ' sister ' is often used for any daughter of Israel. Moses gave a prospective command to the future kings of Israel, not to ' multiply wives.' (Deut. xvii. 17.) David's violation of this Divine law was followed by the 348 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. fearful consequences of incest, murder, and rebellion in liis own famity, and by the extravagant polygamy of Solomon his son, who ' took 700 wives and 300 concubines.' (1 Kings xi. 42.) The inspired writings of Solomon, both the Book of Pro- verbs written, as is generally supposed, before, and the Book of Ecclesiastes after his fall, form a powerful corrective to his example, by the earnest entreaties they address to men to adhere strictly to the purity of the original institution, of one woman to one man. (Prov. v. 15-18 ; Ecc. ix. 9.) The New Testament is explicit in condemnation of the practice. It must be borne in mind that there is no evidence that polygamy was regarded otherwise than as an offence by the Jews in our Lord's time, or that it was commonly prac- tised. It was also forbidden by the Roman law. The custom which commonly prevailed both amongst Jews and Romans, of frequent divorces and remarriages, would supersede the form of polygamy consisting in the retention of the first wife. Two of the Evangelists record discourses of our Lord which in condemning the one practice, equally prohibit the other. Matt. xix. 3-8 ; Mark x. 2-9. The Narrative of St. Mark is as follows : — ' 2. And the Pharisees came to Him, and asked Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife ? tempting Him. ' 3. And He answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you ? ' 4. And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of di- vorcement, and to put her away. ' 5. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. ' 6. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. ' 7. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife ; POLYGAMY. 349 ' 8. And they twain shall be one flesh : so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. ' 9. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.' 1. Our Lord here refers to the first institution of marriage in Paradise, as the standard by which all questions respect- ing marriage are to be judged. ' From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.' ' They twain shall be one flesh.' These sentences as directly condemn polygamy as they do the particular case stated by the Pha- risees. Polygamy is at variance with the Divine institution of marriage. 2. Polygamy has been unlawful ' from the beginning of the creation,' before the human race was divided into tribes. Therefore it must be unlawful in all countries and under all dispensations. Even the provision for divorces in the Levi- tical Law, did not justify the putting away a wife and mar- rying another. This very provision testified to the sinfulness of the practice, and was a national stigma. 4 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives : but from the beginning it was not so.' (Matt. xix. 8.) Such was the hardness and wicked- ness of their hearts that Moses introduced civil regulations respecting divorces, that no wife should be put away without a legal process. (Deut. xxiv. 1-4.) But even such regu- lated divorces were violations of God's original ordinance ; and therefore the precept of Moses gives no countenance whatever to polygamy. Matt. xix. 9-12; Mark x. 10-12. Mark x. 10. ' And in the house His disciples asked Him again of the same matter. ' 11. And He saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. ' 12. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.' 350 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Our Lord held this second conversation ' in the house,' apart from the Pharisees and their captious questions, with His disciples, who asked Him again ' of the same matter.' Here he combines together the putting away one wife and the marrying another : declaring that a man so acting violates the seventh commandment, and commits adultery against his first wife. The stress of the prohibition falls upon the second marriage, for the putting away a wife with- out marrying another, would be no adultery. This is, there- fore, a direct prohibibition of a second marriage during the life of the first wife. Paley thus reasons upon the parallel passage in Matthew : — ' The words of Christ may be con- strued by an easy implication to prohibit polygamy : for if whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, com- mifcteth adultery, he who marrieth another without putting away the first, is no less guilty of adultery ; because the adultery does not consist in the repudiation of the first wife (for however unjust or cruel that may be, it is not adultery), but in entering into a second marriage, during the legal ex- existence and obligation of the first.' 1 St. Matthew adds : 10. ' His disciples say unto him, If the case be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.' Upon this Whitby remarks ; ' If under the prohibition of divorce, that of polygamy had not been contained, there would have been no cause for this inference of Christ's dis- ciples, seeing they might have had a remedy by taking one or more other wives, whom they loved better.' Luke xvi. 16, 18. On another occasion our Lord again solemnly annulled the apparent license given by Moses, showing that it was no part of the moral or eternal law of God : and that the putting away a wife and marrying another was adultery. 16. 'The law and the prophets were until John: since 1 Paley 's Moral Philosophy, Book III. Part 3, c. G. POLYGAMY. 351 that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. ' 17. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. ' 18. Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery : and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.' 1 Cor. vii. 2—4. St. Paul condemns the state of polygamy by these emphatic words : ' 2. To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. ' 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevo- lence : and likewise also the wife unto the husband. ' 4. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband : and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.' On the last verse Whitby remarks : ' Here is a plain argument against polygamy ; for if a man hath not power over his own body, he cannot give the power of it to another, and so he cannot marry another.' All the direc- tions contained in this chapter are grounded upon the assumption that one wife only was allowable. And this Epistle was addressed to a newly-formed Church, in a city of the loosest morals ; so that the circumstances of the converts bore a very close resemblance to those which are now found in our missions. After such express prohibitions of polygamy, and the general current of revelation against its practice, under every form, it cannot be argued that the Word of God gives any countenance to it, because a few instances are recorded in Scripture, without a note of condemnation, or because of one or two texts of uncertain interpretation. It will only be necessary to notice two such texts which have been sometimes cited in discussions upon the subject. 352 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. The text 2 Sain. xii. 8 has been sometimes referred to as countenancing polygamy. Nathan said to David, ' The Lord gave thee thy master's wives into thy bosom.' But as Saul had only one wife (1 Sam. xiv. 50), and David had married her daughter several years before, this interpretation is inadmissible. The text refers probably to the fact that all the females who composed Saul's family, or court, came into the power of David. It has been argued also tbat St. Paul in his Epistles to Timothy (1 Tim. iii. 2) and Titus (Tit. i. 6), having given directions that a bishop should be the husband of one wife, seems to allow a layman to be the husband of two or more. But it is uncertain whether the Apostle refers to polygamy, or to the practice condemned by our Saviour, of putting away a wife, on unlawful grounds, and marrying another. The latter interpretation must be given to the parallel expression (2 Tim. v. 9) a widow ' having been the wife of one man.' This is therefore the most natural interpretation of the words in both cases. But even if the former expres- sion be taken as referring to polygamists, no argument can bs raised from it in favour of polygamy. Bather, if a pastor is to be 'an example of the believers in purity ' (1 Tim. iv. 12), and to ' show himself in all things a pattern of good works ' (Titus ii. 7), what is enjoined upon the minister, binds the people. After this review of the Scriptural argument against polygamy, there should be no difficulty on the part of the missionaries in plainly stating to the heathen or Mahommedan, that the practice is contrary to the will of God. The natural conscience of every man must bear some witness, however faint, to this truth. The condemna- tion of the practice by the Roman law, and by other heathen nations, is a testimony to this fact. The original creation of one man and one woman may be appealed to as enforcing the true nature of marriage. The saving alive in the ark of men with one wife each, which is a type of admission into the POLYGAMY. 353 Church of Christ, together with the providential equality of the sexes in every land, and at all times, may be pointed out as corroborative testimony to the continued force of the original institution. Various other moral considerations may be urged, to show that upon the principles of natural religion the practice is unlawful. Much may be thus done to inculcate upon the native mind right notions of marriage, before the question arises of their admission as candidates for Christian baptism, as well as to inspire all who have em- braced Christianity with a just abhorrence of the practice of polygamy. The foregoing review will also help to decide the question of the admission of a polygamist to baptism. The sin may have been commenced in ignorance, but its continuance, after Christian instruction, must bring guilt upon the con- science. The polygamy which is prohibited by the law of God is not only the taking, but the having and retaining more than one wife. Baptism, upon every view of the ordinance, carries with it a public profession of submission to the law of Christ, which the polygamist habitually violates. In the case of those, especially, who are baptized according to the adult service of the Church of England, no man can honestly declare that he will ' obediently keep God's commandments, and walk in the same all the days of his life,' when he purposes to live with two or more women, as wives, at the same time. Or the argument may be thus shortly given : — A state of polygamy is unlawful within the Church of Christ, even though commenced in ignorance. 1. Because it has been declared by God to be contrary to the Divine institution of marriage. 2. Because it has been pronounced adultery by Christ. 3. Because it is written : ' Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.' Therefore a polygamist cannot be lawfully admitted by baptism into the Church of Christ. A A 354 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. It has been argued in favour of admitting polygamists into the Christian Church, that there is no precept in the New Testament, nor any canon of the early Church, forbid- ding their baptism. But the holy Scripture forbids not the baptism of an offender against the Divine laws, but only the offence. With respect to the early Church, this explanation is given in the Oriental canons which bear the name of St. Basil the Great, in the year 340. The 80th canon declares : ' The Fathers say nothing of polygamy as being brutish, and a thing unagreeable to human nature. To us it appears a greater sin than fornication.' It has been objected also, that if polygamists be thus absolutely condemned, and if baptism be refused to those who have more than one wife, it will compel men to put away those who have been regarded as their wives. This however was obviously the dilemma in which our Lord placed many to whom his words respecting divorce were addressed. If their unlawfully divorced wife were still alive, he declared that they were living in adultery. All the practical difficulties apprehended in the one case belong to the other. It has been argued, indeed, that Christ himself forbids a man to put away his wife, but it seems to be forgotten that this prohibition applies only to the true wife to whom he is joined under the universal law, ' They twain shall be one flesh.' The so-called second marriage is no marriage upon the principles of natural and revealed religion, but an unlaw- ful connection. Compare with the Divine law, ' Let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband ; ' the licentious precept of the Koran, ' Take in marriage of such other women as please you, two, or three or four, and no more.' This is a clear case, in which the law of man makes the law of God of none effect : and as the law of God overruled the law of Corban among the Jews, so it must be in this case : or, to take an instance very likely to occur at the present day, if a heathen in his ignorance has entered POLYGAMY. 355 into an obligation to sacrifice to an idol, lie is released from such obligation when the law of God is made known to him. A case is recorded in the Book of Ezra, which should have great weight with those who argue the question upon considerations derived from the hardships to the women and children who may be put away. During the captivity the people of Israel, priests and Levites, had married heathen wives. Much might have been pleaded in respect of such wives and their children ; but under Ezra's remonstrances the people determined, ' Now, therefore, let us make a cove- nant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God ; and let it be done according to the law.' (Ezra x. 3.) The last clauses of this text intimate that a proper reverence for the Word of God will overcome a variety of perplexing questions which may otherwise entangle a scrupulous mind. At the same time, as far as marriage constitutes a civil contract by the law or custom of any country, it must be explained to the converts that they are bound to fulfil such obligations by providing for the wife or children, and in every other lawful way repairing the injury which a separa- tion may occasion to the woman, while they repudiate cohabitation. Serious difficulties will doubtless sometimes occur, as in every transition from a wrong to a right course of action. These difficulties will vary according to the laws of marriage and divorce in different countries ; cases must therefore be dealt with according to circumstances. What- ever unhappiness or injury may arise from an act of religious duty must often be borne as the fruit of an original fault, though that fault may have been committed in ignorance. It must be added, however, that the practical difficulties of the case are far less than might be supposed. It is only a few, of the higher and wealthier classes, who cau afford to keep many wives. The lower classes, the poor to whom, espe- cially, the Gospel is preached, seldom take second wives. In many countries where, in common parlance, polygamy is said 356 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. to prevail, one woman only is regarded as the wife, and the rest as concubines. And it has not yet been pleaded that a man should retain his concubines when he enters the Chris- tian Church. It has been alleged that by refusing baptism to poly- gamists converts may be kept out of the Church of Christ, and deprived of further instruction, and that the heathen may be the more prejudiced against the truth. To this allegation it might be answered generally, that many other things in the Christian system will appear hard sayings to some who will go back. But it is not necessary to repel a polygamist from Christian instruction; baptism may be deferred till increasing light in the minds of the parties, or the Providence of God, remove difficulties out of the way. It is the testimony of many missionaries that comparatively few polygamists seek baptism, for the natural conscience feels the difficulty, and shrinks from a Christian profession, how- ever favourably disposed in other respects : it is scarcely possible to conceive that one who truly believes in God would be willing to continue in a course of polygamy, after he knows the truth. There is little fear of sincere converts therefore being repelled ; while the fact of each Christian convert being the husband of one wife, in a land of sen- suality, is both a test of sincerity and a striking evidence of the power of religion. This produces a general impression amongst the reflecting members of the community favourable to Christianity. It has been the main object of these remarks to place the question simply upon Scriptural grounds. But it must be remembered that many obvious evils must arise from the admission of polygamists to baptism. It would be very hard to convince baptized converts, tempted to sin, that there is any real difference between admitting a polygamist into the Christian Church, and allowing polygamy to those already within it ; or that it is just to put a polygamist out of the Church, who has become such after baptism, when POLYGAMY. 357 another polygamist, who had become such before baptism, might be admitted, and remain one of its members. It must also be added, that much greater danger arises from any apparent toleration of polygamy than many Chris- tians would suppose. Doubts or suggestions respecting the strictness of the original law of marriage, and inferences from the example of the Patriarchs, have ever found too ready entrance into the corrupt heart of baptized men. In many periods of Church history this root of bitterness has sprung up, and many have been defiled. Even at the close of the last century, a question respecting the lawfulness of polygamy was introduced, and spread amongst religious people to a most pernicious extent. The commentator Scott, upon the passage in St. Matthew already quoted, speaks of the serious evils which he had witnessed from unwarrantable inferences from our Lord's words. The present day has witnessed the fearful abominations of the Mormonites. These things are enough to warn Christians against any- thing which tends to unsettle the original and universal law of marriage — ' They twain shall be one flesh.' H. V. 858 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 7. Personal Traits. It may be permitted to advert to some of those personal qualifications, which combined with Mr. Venn's official opportunities to make him what he was. He was en- dowed with a singularly calm judgment united to no ordi- nary warmth of heart and patient resolve, and these gifts of nature were refined and strengthened by Divine Grace. To people to whom the subject is unfamiliar, the position of Chief Secretary of such a Society may appear of little importance ; but it brings its holder into contact, if he only rises to the occasion, with almost every question involving either the doctrine and discipline of the Church at home and abroad, or the civilisation and moral — nay, often material — progress of the world. Through a long life which was one ' self-denying ordinance,' this wise man chose the substance rather than the show of power; and many who with him are gone to their rest and others who still remain, could testify to his wonderful, though always unobtrusive, influence, which swayed and bent most men to his will, as the steady set of the Atlantic gale bends and sways the trees on our westerly shores. It is not too much to say that in many an Episcopal palace and Government office, his word was one of no little weight, though it would be premature and in some cases a violation of confidence to dwell on details. The thirty years during which he was Honorary Secretary, the forty years during which he exercised so prominent an influence in the Society's decisions, were a momentous period of transition in and out of England ; ABSENCE OF PARTISANSHIP. 359 and wise foresight and resolute tenacity of purpose were needed and were found. The resources both of men and money, which were to maintain the cause of these Foreign Missions, were of course to be drawn from the Evangelical body at home, and it was necessary therefore that their status should be duly recognised and no hindrance thrown in the way of their free development. To achieve this, absence of partisanship, for mere party's sake, combined with resolute adherence to essential principles, was indis- pensable— qualities not often found in combination, but they were found in Henry Venn. He was fond of point- ing out the difference between union for the sake of union and union for the sake of truth. He used also to dwell upon the importance of maintaining, not merely Evangelical Principles, but even more, the Evangelical Spirit. In a better sense than it was said of Mirabeau, he had hurne des formules. True help he would always welcome from whatever quarter it came, but no weight of patronage would induce him to accept an offer that might prove treacherous. Mr. Venn has left a remarkable sketch of his view of the position of a Mission-secretary in the letter in which he acknowledged his appointment as one of the Vice- Presidents of the C.M.S., on his resigning his former office : — It is more than half a century since I first took my seat in the Committee. Perhaps I may, then, be allowed a few words at the close of so long a period, which comprises nearly two generations of men. In such a work as this it is abso- lutely necessary that a large and generous confidence should be reposed in the secretaries. There can be no practical danger of this confidence being disappointed so long as the Committee shall uphold the principle of equality of respon- sibility among the secretaries, and the practice of forming 360 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. their decisions by general agreement rather than by casting votes. The relation of secretaries to the Committee is not that of secretaries or clerks to a Parochial Board or ordinary Company, but rather that of secretaries to a Scientific Insti- tution, or of Secretaries of State to a Cabinet Council. The secretaries of our Society are the originators of the measures to be passed, the chief authorities on its principles and prac- tice, and must often act upon their own discretion in cases of emergency, and in confidential interviews with Church or State authorities. At the same time I must bear my tes- timony that this large confidence reposed in the secretaries is not inconsistent with the independence of judgment and ultimate supremacy on the part of the Committee. I could give innumerable instances to show that the Committee never resign their opinions in any important point without a frank discussion of the difference, and that great principles are never sacrificed in deference to the authority, age, or experience of others. The skill with which he conducted the business of the Committee struck even passing visitors. His great desire was to avoid the formation of parties in it, to have each topic thoroughly discussed from every point of view, and so to frame each Eesolution or Despatch, as to cover the views of all present or at least to make the minority — it might be of one ' — feel that its arguments had received due consideration. He had a happy tact in perceiving when a subject was exhausted, and discussion was degenerating into desultory talk. His wonderful knowledge of the details of any question under review, always gave him that power which knowledge proverbially gives. But there was another source of his strength. Nothing could ruffle his temper, and his natural sweetness of disposition had been sustained and elevated, as has been already said, by Divine Grace. ' Be an anvil and not a hammer,' was the saying, after the ancient Father, of his colleague, Mr. PATIENCE. Tucker. ' Endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory' — (2 Tim. ii. 10) — was the maxim, often on Mr. Venn's lips, always in his heart. On one occasion, he brought forward a plan which he had elabo- rated with much care and patience. It was not accept- able. At once he withdrew it without a word. Some time afterwards a Committee man proposed the same scheme and it was unanimously applauded. He merely called for his paper, read it aloud and said, ' I read this to the Committee three months ago, but they would not hear of it.' Mr. Venn has recorded his views as to the importance and work of the Church Missionary Committee in a letter to a clerical friend, who had recently come to London. June 14, 1866. — The foolish thought of waiting till I had a leisure half-hour to answer your very gratifying proposal of a regular attendance at our Committee, has occasioned a delay of which I am thoroughly ashamed. My first impulse was to write at once and say, come and give us every hour you can spare ; but I was checked by the thought that you wanted something more from me ; namely, to set out the nature and importance of the Committee work so as to jus- tify you in withdrawing your valuable time from other press- ing claims. Here, however, is the difficulty : important questions arise in our Committee at uncertain and unexpected times. One or two meetings of the Committee may pass over with only routine business which is transacted according to established practice and precedents, familiar to the Committee, but obscure and uninteresting to those who are comparatively strangers to our mode of conducting business. Again, when great questions do arise, they involve prin- ciples, which have been to a certain extent settled, in the Committee, but which a new comer is very apt to enter upon 362 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. afresh, till checked by some brusque man of business, with the remark, ' that we cannot lose time in discussing settled principles.' From such causes as these and through irre- gular attendance, several friends whom I have persuaded to come, have, after a time, drawn back and frankly told me they were not wanted, and preferred giving their attendance where they felt it to be more valued or more necessary. But there is another side of the case. When a friend has been persuaded to attend and watch the proceedings of the Committee for a few months and so gradually identify him- self with the interior working of the Committee, he has become more and more interested even in the routine busi- ness as well as in the great questions, and has often owned that the hours spent in the Committee were most profitable to his ministry, expanding his heart and soul, bis faith and hope and charity, whilst he is promoting the increase of the Redeemer's kingdom, so that he has returned refreshed and strengthened for his own parish duties. The questions which at this time occupy the chief atten- tion of the Committee are connected with the history of the first preaching of the Gospel, and lie at the foundation of a native Church ; — e.g., What are the proper relations between the foreign missionary and the native pastor? What the normal organisation of a nascent native Christian Chui'ch ? How to dispose of a very limited amount of European agency over a very wide and expanding field of labour to the best advantage ? How to deal with a man of great infirmities of temper or mind whom yet God has honoured to the bringing in of many souls to Christ ? How to maintain our spiritual and ecclesiastical principles in their integrity and harmony ? How far to meddle with political matters when they affect seriously spiritual interests ? How far education is to be a branch of preaching the Gospel ? I could easily enlarge the catalogue, but this will be enough to show you that our Committee requires minds of deep reflection, of competent knowledge of Church history, and of large observation of the Church of Christ at the present day. We have a consider- THE TWO PARTIES IN THE WORLD. 863 able body of our Indian laymen, wbo to a great extent are possessed of these qualifications, but we need a few clergymen of leading minds in our counsels. I would therefore earnestly invite you to attend our Corresponding Committee Meetings, on the Tuesdays. From 12 to 3 is the usual time of greatest interest. Next Tuesday we shall have to review the wants of the whole Mission, and to apportion 13 or 14 men to supply the demands for 100. May the Lord enable you to see your way clear, and if you join us may it be to our mutual advantage in the Lord ! The writer recalls only one occasion in the course of an almost daily intercourse of many years, when his honoured friend was ' moved beyond his wont ; ' and this was when he was stirred to indignation by a slur cast on one of the Missionaries, whose champion he always was, rather than by any personal irritation or ill-humour. A stranger called to see him, and as it happened, on the African mail-day, when every moment was precious. The Secre- tary was busy with his Despatches, when the visitor was announced. He came to complain of the ministrations provided for passing tourists in a favourite health-resort, and to propose that a church should be built. 'How was this to be accomplished ? ' ' Nothing is simpler. Put the church into the hands of some well-known persons as trustees, and the money will be easily raised.' But the visitor was not satisfied ; he did not wish it to be a party matter. ' I have given you my advice,' was the reply. The other stammered and hesitated with all the marks of a weak man who had a weak cause. ' They wanted a man that didn't belong to a party — not a party man.' ' Besides,' added he, ' the clergyman (he was a German Missionary — Lieder — who has long entered into his rest) says, " Let us bray." ' It was too much to be borne. Any slight to himself he could bear, as few 364 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. others could, but a reproach against any of those who are ' the messengers of the Churches and the glory of Christ ' — this provoked even his spirit. He grasped the arms of his chair — his ' throne ' some have called it — drew it close to the table, shifted his letters there to and fro, and looking his ' interviewer ' straight in the face, said, ' I know, Sir, but of two parties in the world, Timists and Eternists. I am an Eternist.' The gentleman picked up his hat and left Mr. Venn to complete his Despatches. Mr. Venn was very anxious to avoid a hard com- mercial spirit in administering the finances of the Society, while he watched them with careful vigilance. He used to speak of a ' spiritual arithmetic,' and it is his own practice in all official communications with the Missionary brethren that he portrays in the following remarkable sentences from ' Instructions ' to a young clergyman about to undertake the post of Corresponding Secretary to one of the Indian Missions. In the relation in which the secretary of the Correspond- ing Committee stands with his brother missionaries experience has suggested two practical rules, which will obviate or over- come most real difficulties. They are, first, in all official communications, let the secretary entirely divest himself of all personal feelings ; let him merge his personal in his official existence. If personal censures are cast at him, let them fall upon his Committee ; and as to all personal feelings which may arise in his own breast, away with them ! This rule enables a secretary to maintain that calm and mild self-possession, which, to urge no higher consideration, is indispensable for good business habits. The second rule is — in all non-official matters to identify himself with the interests and feelings of his brother missionaries — to lay aside his official character in intercourse with them, as far as possible ; and even in his correspondence to employ in his official statements as much as possible of the warm, confiding, THE TWO PARTIES IN THE WORLD. 365 humble, and affectionate tone of a brother missionary. In this relation, let him forget his official position, and make his brethren forget it; or rather let him remember it to prompt him to set before his brethren a pattern of such loving and spiritual intercourse as should be the cement of the whole mission body. It is far better to employ this fraternal tone in official intercourse, than to attempt to compensate official stiffness by free ' private ' letters. As a general rule it is well to avoid ' private ' letters to the Missionaries on matters of business ; ' private ' and ' official ' are sure to be confounded together when any matter of importance occurs. Let the secretary re- gard himself, therefore, as answerable to the Committee for all he writes, even of the most friendly and spiritual kind, to his brother missionaries respecting their work; when pru- dence suggests his writing ' private ' on his letter, let it only mean that the person who receives it may regard it as a con- fidential and personal communication from the Committee. This religious spirit, with no mere conventional ver- biage, which pervaded all his communications, was one great secret of the happy working of the Society under his direction. The Missionaries all over the world felt that they were not mere stipendiaries, bound to the Com- mittee by a ' nexus of money-payment,' but members of a great and famous brotherhood, cared for and prayed for in the home which they had left for Christ's sake. They thought of Mr. Venn's house as the place where they had probably received the last parting words of affectionate counsel and solicitude, and if they returned in broken health, they were welcomed to that house again by one who at once made them feel by his enquiries and conver- sation how closely all their work had been watched and followed by him in faith and love and prayer. It was to conserve and augment this ' Evangelical spirit ' that Mr. Venn was so desirous that part of every 366 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Committee Meeting, if possible an hour, before entering on the chief business of the day, should be devoted to ' Eeporting Despatches ' — reading extracts from the Letters and Journals of the Missionaries themselves, which so powerfully recalled the real character of the work that the Committee were assembled to forward, and strongly drew out the prayerful sympathies of those who were about to deliberate on the best way to sustain and develop it. To recall once more a point already touched upon, any retrospect of this honoured life would be grievously defective which did not set forward prominently his strong affection for all and each of the Missionary band. He had a wonderful fund of sympathy. His letters, so heartfelt, true, and far from commonplace, show that he had learnt the fellowship of their sufferings and could lead them to a fellowship higher still. (Phil. ii. 10.) It may be safely said that he was familiar with every personal and domestic relationship of each Missionary. Each trial, anxiety, and hindrance was constantly before his mind in every letter that he wrote, or in his personal interview with any on their return ; and it was this personal identifi- cation of himself with them — the bearing of their burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ, the willing acceptance of all that the Apostle of the Gentiles meant by ' the care of all the Churches ' — that allied his brethren so closely to him and bound them all to each other. When he wrote of them by turns as ' Brother,' it was no cant phrase. Our space will not permit the introduction of the countless non-official letters of Missionaries to him, but the following is a sample of many more. Such details would only have been addressed to one who was sure to appreciate them. A few of Mr. Venn's own letters of true TrapaKXrjcris are also appended. DEATH-BED CONSOLATION. 367 From Rev. C. Isenberg to Rev. H. Venn. Stuttgart, October 13, 1804. Your letter dated October 5, reached my dear father 1 just in the last hours of his earthly pilgrimage, and was to him the best comfort which could be ministered by friend or brother, before his passage through the dark valley of death. Yesterday between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I read your letter to him, and, at six in the evening he entered into the joy of his Lord. During his last hours he uttered only a very few words : but when I told him that a letter from you had arrived, his countenance lighted up, and at my request to read it to him, he said very emphatically, ' Oh yes, read it ! ' and when I had finished, ' Very nice ! give Mr. Venn a right kind reply.' During the whole afternoon he suffered from shortness of breath, and sometimes feared lest he should be choked, but was apparently relieved very much during the last two hours. His mind was clear up to the last minute. At 4 o'clock he said, ' 0 children, dying is no child's play ! ' And a quarter of an hour before his end, when my mother told him that his sins were forgiven, and a gracious Saviour leading him to the dwellings of peace, he rejoined, ' Yes, indeed, thank God ! ' During the last ten minutes he sighed from time to time, ' 0 Lord ! help me ! Amen ! ' His breath became feebler and feebler, and at 6 o'clock was stopped by a paralysis of the lungs. The disease had indeed made him so thin that his face showed nothing but skin and bone, but still his features bore the expression of the deepest reverence and peace. . . . After some medical details, he proceeds : but the greater his sufferings here, the more we can rejoice that God has delivered him from the body of this death, and led him to a place where there are no more pains and sufferings. Another source of much praise and thankfulness to us who are left behind is, that the Lord had thus once more brought the whole family together to witness the death of a loving father, who though he could not himself train his 1 The Rev. 0. W. Isenberg, Missionary to Egypt 1833-8; Bombay, 1838-64. His son, the Rev. C. W. H. Isenberg, Missionary to Bombay, 1864-9. 368 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HEXRY VENN. children, still bore all of us in his heart so lovingly and in- cessantly, and kept up such a faithful correspondence, that for the last ten years he did not omit for once his monthly letters addressed to us collectively or individually. Indeed, if I look back on God's dealings with our family during the past months, we can see nothing but mercy and kindness visibly manifested in every circumstance. This contributes greatly to dispel the darkness of grief and sorrow which is necessarily connected with the departure of one so beloved. I am glad to say that my dear mother, whom of course this blow has affected more than anyone else, though very weak by nature, still has received sufficient strength from above to bear the trial with fortitude. She thanks you very much for the deep interest you have already taken in the trial in prospect, and recommends herself to your further intercessions. As to myself, my view is now directed more to the future than to the past, only inasmuch as that rich and eventful life now brought to a close, and that peaceful death serves to me as a pattern for my future missionary course. It is indeed an earnest summons for us missionary tyroes to work while it is day, as the night cometh when no man can work. I shall proceed to my post as soon as the Committee will decide. My only wish is to see my mother and sisters com- fortably settled here, which I expect will take some weeks, as she has to begin quite a new household. I can assure you, sir, that your ill health of late has filled us, as well as everyone connected with the Society, and with the cause of Christ's kingdom in general, with thoughts of the greatest anxiety and sorrow, and we earnestly pray that the Lord may restore you to your former strength, and pre- serve you yet a little while as the father of all Church mis- sionaries, and their families, to live and to labour for the good of His kingdom. My mother and our whole family send their kindest re- spects to you. Believe me, Rev. and dear Sir, ever yours respectfully and gratefully, Charles Isenberg.1 1 Died on return from Bombay, 1869. THE CYCLONE AT MASULIPATAM. 369 H. Venn to Mrs. Brierly, Charlotte, Sierra Leone. September 3, 1870. — I have to acknowledge your letter from Madeira as well as the sad intelligence contained in a, letter from your sister of your great bereavement. The Almighty hand which inflicts such a blow can alone support tbe survivor and heal the wound. May the Lord graciously manifest Himself to you as He doth not unto the world ! I follow you in imagination to your desolate home, and sym- pathise in your anguish of soul. Yet I thank God that you have determined to return to Africa, to wind up the affairs of the Charlotte School. We anticipated this being doue when we took leave of you ; we then, indeed, hoped that you and your husband might find employment in Charlotte in a training institution for female teachers. But we had begun to doubt the practicability of carrying on such an institiation at Charlotte from the concurrent testimony of many of the Sierra Leone friends that it should be in Free- town. The loss of your dear husband seems to make this clear. We must therefore give up this long-cherished hope. With respect to the girls now in Charlotte, it is possible that two or three of the most promising may be received into the Female Institution, as we understand some have been so received in former years ; others may be put out as pupil-teachers in existing schools ; and, thus reduced, the school must be made over to native teachers. And after such a shock as your own health must have sustained, we do not hesitate to invite you home, unless the Providence of God shall open to you any unexpected sphere of labour in the colony. H. Venn to Mrs. Lieder, Cairo. November 10, 1870. — When we first saw in the newspapers the account of the death of your venerable husband, we ex- pected that we should hear some particulars of the case, and what your future plans would be. This intelligence we have now received in your letter to Archdeacon Tattam, which he has been kind enough to for- B B 370 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. ward to us, and also in a letter from Dr. Cleghorn, after his interview with you in Cairo. We have now, therefore, to assure you of the Christian sympathy and condolence of the Committee in your sad bereavement and their trust and prayer that the Lord may make good to you His gracious promises to the widow, and especially to those who have laboured for His name's sake among the heathen. . . . Dr. Cleghorn mentions some school furniture which you regard as the property of the Society, and which you wish to transfer to the use of Miss Whateley's school. The Com- mittee willingly confirm this transfer. The retrospect of forty years since your husband first went to Egypt leads to many solemn and interesting con- templations. During his early years he was privileged to disperse large quantities of the Holy Scriptures and Scrip- tural tracts, as well as to educate a large number of youths. We shall be glad to receive from you any testimonials you may have of the fruit of his labours ; for such, doubtless, will have occurred from time to time, though of late we did not receive any letters from his pen. We often receive strong appeals to re-open our mission in Egypt ; but so many other open fields of missionary labour have presented themselves, and have been so abundantly blessed with fruit, that we cannot supply reapers enough to gather in those harvests. I see, therefore, no prospect at present of our sending men to Egypt, unless they are driven out of Constantinople, and find a more tolerant Mo- hammedan Government in Egypt. But the Lord will watch over the land which gave Him an asylum in infancy, and in His good time He will send it the message of grace. H. Venn to Rev. R. T. Noble, Masulipatam, South India. December 24, 1864. — The last mail filled our minds with consternation and sorrow at the tidings from Masulipatam, and the more so because we had no exact information, only short hints of what had occurred, excepting from THE CYCLONE AT RIASULIPATAM. 371 a letter of Mr. Sharp to his father, giving his personal history.1 Our first feelings were those of thanksgiving to God that in the midst of judgment He remembered mercy, so as to save the lives of our European missionaries ; then the cala- mities which have befallen our native brethren sank our hearts, and so we were brought humbly to bow ourselves before the Throne of Grace, in submission to the inscrutable will of Him who did ' blow with His wind and the sea covered them,' and in earnest supplication to Him who can bring good out of such overwhelming calamities, and make up an abundant compensation for evei'y loss. We wait with much and painful anxiety to hear of the Lord's dealings with you, as well as further particulars. It is at such seasons that we experience the preciousness of the truth that your welfare and interests are dearer to our blessed Lord than they are to us or to your nearest relatives. Our inability to help at this distance makes prayer a double privilege to us. The Corresponding Committee will, we are sure, be prompt in rendering every assistance in their power, and in anticipating our sanction of any measures they may adopt. It is sometimes a hard exercise of faith that special love may inflict so heavy a blow. Yet how otherwise shall we account for the terrific catalogue of St. Paul's trials, including ' perils of waters,' of which he says, ' all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanks- giving of many redound to the glory of God.' It is for this ' abundant grace ' that we pray on behalf of our whole Masulipatam Mission. I have not much to report of ' home ' encouragements just at present. We cannot yet speak of this year's income, and our supply of men from the Universities has of late ebbed. But He is faithful who hath promised. To Him is the Son given — the Prince of Peace. ' LXVIth Report, pp. 153-157. I) b 2 372 MEMOIR OF THE REY. HENRY VENN. JJ. Venn to Mrs. Packet), Neiv Zealand. April 20, 1864. — Two days ago the mail brought me yom* letter of December 14, 1863, and I return you my sincere thanks for it. The death of your venerable father had been announced by others. My knowledge of his character, through his correspondence for 40 years, was sufficient to assure me that our gracious Lord and Master would be ever near His faithful servant when he most needed His help. The tenderness of our adorable Saviour to His sorrowing disciples, when about to separate from them, recorded in John xiii., is the same to-day and for ever; and is reproduced in the case, as far as my experience extends, of each faithful disciple. I have known hundreds of sincere believers who trembled at the thought of death all their life long, who, when the hour arrived, were filled with peace and joy. Those last words which you heard from your father's lips, just before his boat disappeared round a bend of the river, ' My dear child, ours is an unchanging God,' are full of instruction and encouragement. May you be enabled to live upon that blessed truth, and so transmit it to the next generation, having set your own seal to its preciousness ! Tour dear father has been taken from the evil to come. How bitterly would he have lamented the infatuation of both races : his feeling heart would have bled for the disasters at Waikato : his quick apprehension would have discovered every heave in the north from the distant earthquake. But how do these events affect him now? If, as we may well suppose, the leading events of the Church militant are re- ported to the Church triumphant, he will see in them only the working out of the designs of the great Head of the Church, who will get to Himself great glory even from the madness of the people, by bringing good out of evil. May we be able also to catch some rays of light from that source, and while we cannot but mourn over the disappointment of some hopes, let us wait until the Lord has fully revealed His dealings towards the New Zealand Church. A BROTHER NOT KNOWN IN THE FLESH. H73 I have read with great interest the joint report and annual letter of the Kaitaia station, the most favoured, apparently, of all our stations under this calamity. H. Venn to Mrs'. Kissling, New Zealand. February 26, 1866.— The intelligence of your dear husband's translation to his eternal rest and reward could not take me by surprise — as the removal of many friends at home and abroad during the last few months has done — for I had long regarded my dear Brother Kissling as having reached before me the land of Beulah, as having received ' tokens ' from his King, and as himself resting upon his Saviour's arm, which was shortly to carry him over the floods of Jordan. You allude to ' The Finished Course,' and the records it contains of the early African labourers. Often has my mind dwelt upon the very different circumstances under which your husband finished his course, from those which charac- terised his former associates, some of whom found an early grave in West Africa. Some are now parochial ministers in home work at home or in America. Not so with him. With all the comforts of a home and a large family around him, the Archdeacon was a missionary to the last. He died on the field, with his harness on, doing that work which is most im- portant for the future of the native Church, and therefore the most fruitful of those works which do follow a man into glory. I feel also that we have reason to bless God for the blessing He has given you of a large and attached family on the spot, so that you have not to seek a new home in a strange land ; and I have a good hope that the name of Kissling will be still identified with the moral and social progress of New Zealand in successive generations. The Bishop of Waiapu has sent us a very interesting history of the mission in New Zealand, which is in the press. The latter part is still to come, and will, I trust, afford evidence that wheat still grows, though the tares are many, and that, looking upon the whole work, the New Zealand Mission has been a great success. :!74 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Your recollections of Hull must be fast fading. Mine are marked with sadness. John Scott, my early curate, gone before me: King, Knight, and others, my contem- poraries, passed away : and, last summer, my eldest nephew, Mr. Sykes of Ray well, cut down in the prime of life. Such is life ! Oh ! how blessed to know that we are hastening on to take up our abode in a city that hath foun- dations, and that those who enter in shall no more go out : that we shall be no more pained by the sight of multitudes who deride or neglect the salvation of the Cross : no more vexed at heart by our own infirmities and deep-seated cor- ruptions, by which we dishonour Him whom we most love : where we shall meet our friends gone before us, and they us, ' made perfect.' The Lord give us to realise these glorious prospects : this will lighten our widowhood, and make the time appear very short ! COLLATERAL AIDS. 8. Accessories to Mission Work. Me. Venn (as mouthpiece of the Committee) has summed up in a single paragraph what he had proved to be true Missionary principles. After referring at the close of one of his most vigorous Keports,1 to new openings and steps for ' perfecting machinery, and the more effectual dis- position of their means and agency, at home and abroad,' he concludes in these memorable words : — ' But in respect of fundamental principles, your Com- mittee see no occasion for any deliberation. The Protes- tant or Evangelical spirit, which the founders of this Society infused, by the help of God, into its very consti- tution and framework, has stood the test of sixty years; that it has received a blessing from the Lord, and has won the confidence of the Church of Christ, the present Report bears abundant evidence. The fundamental principles, to which your Committee refer, are such as these : that the Lord will guide His own work by the leadings of a special providence ; that the only solid foundation of a Mission is the individual conversion of souls to Christ ; that the Gospel of the grace of God is to be preached, in its fulness, and in its distinctness, by the pioneer Missionary, and by the faithful Pastor of 10,000 converts, in the bazaar, under the shade of a tree, in the capacious Mission Church, in the Vernacular School, and in the Training College ; that a preached Gospel " is the power of God " for the formation and for the perfection of a Mission ; that all other arrangements must give way to the fullest development of a preached 1 LXIst year, p. 222. 376 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Gospel ; that the preacher of the Gospel is the true leader of a Mission till a spiritual Church is raised, and the external organisation of constituted authorities becomes expedient ; that then the Mission has accomplished its work, and this Society will be ready to withdraw its agency ; though, as in New Zealand, it may be difficult on both sides to break the relationships which spiritual principles have cemented and consecrated. ' These principles your Committee now transmit to their successors, nncompromised and unimpaired, to be the guiding star, in a shifting age, of every successive Committee of the Church Missionary Society.' One of Mr. Venn's favourite texts used to be ' The holy seed shall be the substance thereof.' Such were his Missionary principles, but at the same time, he never forgot to enlist in the good cause all such collateral aids as were not inconsistent with these prin- ciples, or obstructive of them. ' The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof,' was the motto happily suggested by the late Prince Consort for the Eoyal Exchange ; and this was his maxim also and faithfully did he obey it. Winds and waves fulfil the law of the Most High, and we are not to forget that the same Supreme Euler who is the God of Grace is also the God of Providence, and that all things, temporal as well as spiritual, are to be used by His servants and may be guided by Him. Under this conviction, though he had no special love for philology and phonology, when it became necessary to construct a scientific alphabet to record languages hitherto unwritten, and as the earlier attempts at writing some of the tongues of West Africa had become obsolete and unintelligible owing to the want of some philosophic system — no sooner did there seem to be a fair opening DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN COMMERCE. 377 into the Yoruba Country, than he threw himself, heart and soul for the time, into the question of phonetics, thoroughly examined Pitman's process and repeated his experiments, canvassed other essayists in the same branch, consulted Chevalier Bunsen, who had always taken a lively interest in the Society and especially its German agents, and, in conjunction with Professor Lepsius of Berlin, devised a scheme, taking the ordinary Eoman alphabet for its basis, which has been widely recognised as adapted for its object, and proves amply sufficient, with but some slight modification, for the rendering of the Holy Scriptures and the Book of Common Prayer into the languages of those whom not having seen, he so dearly loved. It was this feeling that led him to throw himself ardently into the development of Native industry in West Africa.1 Every Native merchant who visited him — and there 'were few who did not — was urged to collect and transmit to him specimens of the products of his country. He did not rest until he had proved by careful analysis the superiority of Sierra Leone arrowroot, and had seen it take its independent place in the home market. He procured well-chosen samples of the wild cotton of the Gold Coast, and had them tested at Manchester. He visited that great city and most of the large towns of Lancashire ; and his accurate calculations, business-like expositions, and later on, his investigation and audit of accounts, were the marvel of those most active mer- chants. He arranged for the careful training of two or three Negroes in Kew Gardens, and thereby interested 1 Mr. Venn's younger son and namesake, now Rector of Clare Portion, Tiverton, and at one time his father's private secretary at Salisbury Square, has supplied in a subsequent chapter a very complete narrative of these measures for the establishment and promotion of West African Commerce. 378 MEMOIK OF THE HEY. IIENEY VENN. the Director, the late Sir W. Hooker, so that he was ready to recommend the establishment of a Botanic Garden at Lagos. He also provided for the medical education in England of three Negroes, who have since done well in the employment of Government on the West Coast. He found means of reaching the late Prince Consort, who had before honoured Dr. Krapf with a personal interview, when he first brought to England the tidings of those wondrous discoveries in East and Central Africa, of which that Missionary with his colleague, Eebmann, was the pioneer, and the Prince had then entrusted him with a present of an Arabic Bible and a Clock, to be given' to the Imam of Muscat, the Suzerain of the Sultan of Zanzibar, with a representation of the folly and miseries of the East African Slave Trade. His Eoyal Highness now welcomed the efforts for the civilisa- tion of Western Africa, admitted the Eev. S. Crowther, now the Negro Bishop of the Niger, to an audience at which Her Majesty was also present,1 and took his share in the philanthropic movement by the presentation of simple mills and machines for the use of the Native chiefs. All this time, Mr. Venn was most unremitting in his efforts to maintain the African Squadron. Memorials, memoranda, deputations, to the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the Admiralty, never failed to be pre- sented at the right time. Correspondence that of itself would form a volume attests the thoroughness with which he entered into the scheme for the navigation of the Niger — that scheme which is already bearing such wonderful fruit in the Niger Mission, though as yet but in its germ. The wel- fare of Africa, his childhood's love, often brought him ' Bishop ( 'rowther's Memorandum of this interview appears, by Per- mission, on the next page. ROYAL INTEREST IN AFRICAN MISSIONS. 379 into contact with Lord Palmerston, himself equally in earnest as to the suppression of the Slave Trade, who always evinced for him the greatest respect and regard. Memorandum by the Rev. Samuel Croivther. Windsor, November 18, 1851. At 4.30 p.m. Lord Wriothesley Eussell kindly took me to the Palace to see Prince Albert by appointment. On our arrival at the Palace the Prince was not in ; the servants in waiting1 went about to seek him. In about ten minutes he sent to ask us into his private room. We met him standing by his writing table. Lord Wriothesley made obeisance and introduced me to the Prince. A few words of introductory remarks led to conversation about West Africa, Abeokuta particularly. The Prince asked whether we could find the place on any map, or thereabouts. I then showed the large map from the Blue Book which was opened partly on the table. About this time the Queen came in, and the Prince looking behind him introduced her to Lord W. Russell, but in so quick a way that I could not catch the sound ; the Queen and he turned towards the map to find out Abeokuta, — Sierra Leone, — where the slaves are liberated ; the Queen joining him. I produced the small map which Samuel [Mr. Crowther's son] made from the large one, the places were found better — the name Ife, on the map called the symbolical letter out, which was explained. Before the explanation of it, I told them the tradition which is in Ife, as to its being the first place in the world where all mankind derived their origin, as well as the new moon, the stars, the sea, and all rivers took their rise, which amused them very much ; when I told them that no man coming from the white man's country is permitted to see the places where the beginning of those things are said to be seen in Ife, but the friends only, it amused them very much. As Lord W. Russell doubted whether I was aware that the Lady who took so much interest in the in- terview was the Queen, he made use of the words ' your 380 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Majesty ' once or twice that I might take particular notice, especially as she did not come in state, but simply like any other lady. The Prince was anxious to find other places in the large map, but the lamp was not bright enough, so he requested the Queen to raise it, which she did. When the Prince wanted to open the map wider it blew the lamp out altogether; there was a burst of laughter from the Prince, the Queen, and Lord W. Eussell. She hastened to the chimney-piece, and got two candles lighted immediately, and advised the Prince to remove to a larger table in the centre of the room. Lagos was the particular object of enquiry as to its facility of trade, should the slave trade be abolished, which I pointed out as I did to Lord Palmerston and Sir F. Baring. She asked what did Lord Palmerston and Sir F. Baring saj'. I told her that they expressed satis- faction at the information. The Prince said, ' Lagos ought to be knocked down by all means ; as long as they had the lake, as he called it, to screen themselves, and the men- of-war outside it is of no use.' I related the mischievous disposition of Kosoko, his combination with the King of Dahomey against Abeokuta. When the slave trade was much crippled by the ships of war — then came the attack of the King of Dahomey upon Abeokirta. She was surprised to hear of the courage of the Amazons, but when she heard of their slaughter, she was moved with sympathy. Every mention of the King of Dahomey was heard with expres- sions of dislike at the cruelty of the barbarous king. In looking on the small map again they were surprised to find such populous places still in West Africa, especially Ilorin, estimated at 70,000. The Prince asked whether the people of Abeokuta were content at merely getting some- thing to eat, and merely having a cloth to cover themselves. I told him they were very industrious, and are fond of finery, as well as inquisitive to get something new. He then said, ' That is right, they can easily be improved.' I told them of the reception of Mr. Beecroft, the British Consul, by Sagbua. On our visit to him the chief first CKOWTHEK AT WINDSOR. 381 seated Mr. Townsend, and tlien addressed himself to the missionaries, 'I consider you as my children,' but when he turned to Mr. Beecroft, and embraced him, said, 4 You are my father,' and that the general request of the chiefs, both in public and in private, was, if he was in earnest to intro- duce legitimate trade, he should abolish the slave trade at Lagos as soon as possible. Lord Wriothesley then introduced the subject of the per- secutions at Abeokuta, especially the firmness of the female Christians. The Queen was highly pleased to hear of it. Lord W. Russell then mentioned my translations into the Yoruba language. He told the Queen the proverb about the Agiliti, which he requested me to repeat to Her Majesty, that she might hear the sound of the language, which I did. I repeated the Lord's Prayer in addition, that she might hear it better. She said it was soft and melodious, and asked with what language it was classified. I replied, 'Mr. Vidal has not been able as yet to classify it with any of the languages, on account of its peculiarity.' Lord Wriothesley mentioned Mr. Vidal as an extraordinary linguist. I told them that he was very clever indeed, that even now the proofs of my trans- lations are sent to him to revise before they pass through the press, which quite astonished the Queen and the Prince. Lord Wriothesley then said to the Prince, 4 It is not the Germans alone who have the talent for languages, but Eng- lishmen also.' The Prince did not reply much to that. The Prince's attention was again directed to the map. When we were finding out places, the Queen and Lord Wriothesley were engaged in conversation about a certain pamphlet and the Bishop of about five minutes. They ended with a smile, and the Queen said, ' I hope Mr. Vidal is not going to teach that in Africa.' As Lord Wriothesley looked towards me, as wishing me to say something, I said, ' I believe Mr. Vidal is truly evangelical in his views,' and that I believed he would be truly a nursing father to our West African Mission. Lord Wriothesley informed the Queen of my having seen 382 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. Sir H. Leeke, who rescued me from slavery many years ago, which, interested her very much. She was told that Mrs. Crowther was recaptured in the same way. The Queen then asked whether Mrs. Crowther was in England. She enquired of Lord Wriothesley of my family, and of Sally Bonetta Forbes, of whom I told her. They asked whether she was a princess. I told her she was in no way related to the King of Da- homey, but may be related to some Yoruba chiefs. The Queen then withdrew, with a marked farewell gesture. The Prince and Lord Wriothesley took up the conversation of the squadron — its narrow escape from being withdrawn some two years ago. Lord Wriothesley said : ' My brother stood firm with Lord Palmerston for it.' The Prince said : ' Yes, they helped me.' He then looked into the map again, and, pointing at Lagos, asked : ' What is now to be done?' I said : 'Nothing more than what the chiefs and people of Abeokuta have requested Mr. Beecroft to do, in order to introduce lawful trade — remove the slave-traders from Lagos, introduce lawful trade there, and the resources of the country up to the banks of the Niger will be called forth.' I told him of the increase of our palm oil trade at Badagry since the establishment of cur mission there; whereas, before that time, nothing scarcely was expected from that place. With this our conversation concluded, the Prince withdrew, and we returned home. Lord Wriothesley could not restrain himself from breaking out on the way with expi'essions of thanksgiving to God for the success of the proceedings of the day, and for the kind and attentive reception of both the Queen and the Prince. Lord Wriothesley said the Queen was not much short of an hour with us, and we were an hour and a quarter together with the Prince. Mr. Venn's keen sympathy with and interest in every detail connected with the Native African Church are shown by the following extracts from his Correspondence with Sierra Leone, which may suitably find a place here. The first two give instances of his rare for both the CORRESPONDENCE WITH SIERRA LEONE. 383 spiritual and temporal welfare of the institution in ques- tion. They are addressed to Mr. (afterwards the Eev. James) Quaker, the Native schoolmaster, who then was in charge of the Freetown Grammar School. September 23, 1853. — I am truly glad to hear a good account of your endeavours to carry on the school — imitate Mr. Peyton in being instant in season and out of season. The duties of the school are not half comprised in the school hours — more than half the success depends upon what is done before and after school hours, in the preparation of work, in extra instruction to those who need and desire it, in manifesting an interest in the spiritual state of the boys, in seeing their friends, &c. You will need constant prayer, and earnest prayer for grace to persevere in all these duties, upon which the real efficiency of the school depends. May the grammar school never lose the true missionary character which dear Mr. Peyton stamped upon it ! November 29, 1853. — I have to thank you for more than one letter which you have written to me since I last wrote to you. But never wait for mine. I am always glad to hear from you, especially now that more responsibility rests upon you. . . . Let me have full reports of your labours in the classes, and in your spiritual endeavours to benefit your scholars in private. Be a spiritual friend to your pupils — there is no higher or more honourable work than to be so employed ; it is feeding the lambs of Christ, and a proof of love to Him not unworthy of an Apostle. But to keep this up you must be much in private prayer, and daily study of the Scriptures. Live near to God, and He will endue you with all the gifts and graces which you need for glorifying Him in the station in which He has placed you. Do not grudge giving your schools and pupils extra time after school hours. Nothing can be done without devoting ourselves to our work, and sacrificing our own ease and comforts. ... I hope you interest yourself in the industrial employment which Mr. Peyton introduced. In India, New Zealand, and all our mis- 384 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. sions, an industrial department is being- added to our schools. Give me full accounts of what is doing in these respects, the cotton cleaning or cultivation, or any other employment. Do not forget England's social advancement, and that it has all sprung from God's blessing upon her industry. To the same (on his Ordination). October 16, 1856. — My dear friend, — I must first heai-tily congratulate you, and thank God, upon your admission by the Bishop to holy orders ; and I pray God that you may ever bear in mind the true glory of the clerical character, namely, to be like Christ in His mission to a fallen world, not only proclaiming His message of redemption through His blood, but following His example by becoming the servant of all, and stooping even to wash the feet of His disciples. The rule for all Christians is, ' He that exalteth himself &c.' But it is doubly incumbent upon the minister of Christ, and I have long observed that it is more obviously and certainly manifested in his case than in the case of others. Seek at all times to lie low before the Cross of Christ, and then you will be content to lie low before your fellow men, and wait the Lord's time for such exaltation in the eyes of others as He may appoint. The following extracts contain wise advice when there had been intestine quarrels: — . . . You did quite right in avoiding any irritation with . Set before yourself the example of Nehemiah — look beyond all the petty personalities which, like flies at this season, buzz about eyes and ears. God has called you to elevate, by Christian education, your countrymen. ' You have a great work to do,' why should the work stop while you go down to have a palaver ? I had wished to write to by this mail, but cannot do it. Lift him up out of the jealousies and suspicions of brethren, by which Satan is now permitted to sift him. ... I will not attempt to adjudicate between and CONSOLATION UNDER TRIALS. 385 yourself. I will not censure one while writing to another. But I earnestly write to each of you, separately, to hury in silence all past differences, and to unite in love, candour, and mutual confidence, for the solution of the great problem, how soon the C. M. S. may safely withdraw its operations from the colony, and leave the native Church to its own agency and pecuniary resources. Better hasten such a severance than run the risk of bitttr controversies . . . £ Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.' In the same passage the Apostle exclaims, ' Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you, let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom ' (Jas. iii. 13). Respond, my dear friend, to this appeal, say, Whoever else falls out, I will not be drawn into the angry vortex ; ' meekness ' shall be bound upon my head as a chaplet of honour. . . . My thoughts are continually resting on Sierra Leone, and upon the effect which the letters sent by the last mail may produce. I hope you will make a point of seeing my letter to , and enforce my entreaties as far as they approve themselves to your judgment. We naturally shrink from ' abasing ourselves,' yet this is the very essence of the excellent grace of humility : and to encourage us, the richest promises are attached to that grace. ' By {marg. The re- ward of) humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life' (Prov. xxii. 4). . . . The best consolation under domestic or any other trials is found in more entire devotion to the Lord's work. If, indeed, we look too much at the ivork itself, we shall meet with plenty of disappointment ; but if we keep the eye of faith upon the Master we serve, there is great consolation even in the midst of failures and disappointments. c c 386 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. 9. Missionary Principles and Requisites. Mr. Venn did not accomplish one cherished object. He often contemplated writing what he called ' The Constitutional History of the Society,' and this • inten- tion has been borne in mind in compiling these pages. He would then doubtless have discussed fully the relations of the Colonial Episcopate with a voluntary Missionary Society of the Church of England ; for he felt strongly the impolicy of leaving those relations unde- fined, and watched anxiously for any opportunity of a settlement. But the transitionary compromise based on Bishop Daniel Wilson's suggestions (p. 201) had hitherto worked well for more than the third of a century, and that mutual confidence had been maintained, which is the real bond of all society ; sufficient freedom of action had been secured to the Missionaries, and that friendly coun- tenance on the part of the Episcopate to which the Bishop virtually pledged his successors, had always, what- ever their individual opinions, been generously extended and gratefully recognised. The pressure also of daily duties, to which this Memoir bears ample witness, only left Mr. Venn time to meet fresh emergencies as they arose in a practical shape. So far back as the time of the movement for the extension of the Colonial Episcopate, he urged strongly the importance of defining the limits of jurisdiction, and the establishment of duly constituted ecclesiastical Courts, before founding new sees ; and had this counsel been followed, many scandals, injurious to the Church of Christ, would have been thereby avoided. But his sage advice was put aside, as if actuated by hos- tility to the scheme itself, and an opportunity was thus THE TRUE THEORY OF MISSIONS. 387 lost, which it may be hard to recall. All he could do was to interpose his influence subsequently to prevent the enactment of statutes which would have been disastrous. His own view of the great cardinal principles which should never be absent from the consideration of those on whom such a settlement may devolve, are stated by him, with a wise prescience, in his ' Life of Xavier,' 1 and together with documents previously cited convey plainly enough his opinion as to the objects to be sought and the dangers to be eschewed in any scheme for the extension of the Episcopate abroad.2 He thus explains his motives in resolving to express opinions on a subject which could not fail to be misin- terpreted : — I was led to study the life of Xavier as the only authentic source (in the absence of other authorised lives of R. C. missionaries) from which an internal view of the life and labours of a Romish missionary can be obtained. The life of Xavier has another title to consideration. Many prevailing sentiments of the present day, even in Protestant countries, respecting missions, find their counter- part in some of the most striking features in the history of Francis Xavier, such as a craving for the romance of missions ; the notion that an autocratic power is wanted in a mission, such as a missionary bishop might exercise ; a demand for a degree of self-denial in a missionary border- ing on asceticism. These, and many such sentiments, are 1 The Missionary Life and Labours of Francis Xavier, taken from his own Correspondence ; with a Sketch of the General Results of Roman Catholic Missions among the Heathen. By Henry Venn, B.D., &c, &c. Longmans, 1862. This work occupied at least fourteen years' intervals of thought and study, before it finally appeared ; and it deserves far more attention than it has received, as the deliberate and mature opinion of one who brought a powerful and well-balanced mind to its consideration, with unusual oppor- tunities of testing the subject in all its aspects and details. 2 See particularly pp. 337-347 on India and Madagascar. c c 2 388 .MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. often illustrated by a reference to the life and success of Xavier. The delusive character of such sentiments cannot fail to appear on a careful study of the truth of Xavier's history. Independently of the general interest of the subject, the history of Francis Xavier may claim special attention at this time (1862), in connection with Japan, now brought, after the lapse of more than two centuries, into intercourse with Europe, for his name will ever be associated with the first attempt to evangelise that country. These considerations have induced me to bestow upon Xavier's letters, and upon various contemporaneous docu- ments, a careful investigation, the result of which is pre- sented to the public in the following pages. The work has been undertaken under a deep sense of the dignity of the missionary subject, and of the sacred obliga- tion of exercising the candour enjoined by the Lord of Mis- sions, in His rebuke of one of His own Apostles, who would have repudiated the acts of all ' who followed not with them.' Yet there are more solemn interests than those of Christian candour at stake in the consideration of Xavier's history, which will develop themselves in the progress of this undertaking, and will, it is hoped, justify the amount of time and thought which the investigation has occupied. The work is commended to the Divine blessing in the humble prayer that it may conduce to the advancement of the truth of the Gospel, and to the mission of that truth throughout the whole world.1 The following passage develops at large what Mr. Venn regarded as the cardinal principles of missions to the heathen : — There may be also incidental benefit to Protestant missions from the juxtaposition of Romish missions. They afford a standing warning against trusting to a mere nominal Christianity. They serve to show the worthlessness of a 1 Venn's Life of Xavier, Pref. pp. iii. iv. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES OF MISSIONS. 389 formal profession of Christianity which is not grounded upon an open Bible and spiritual life in the soul. There will be much mere formal profession in Protestant missions, and the value of such formal profession differs little in the one case or the other. But the strength of a Protestant mis- sion is in ' the truth of the Gospel,' and in the spiritual operation of the truth in the souls which receive it. Con- verts who are alive to God through faith in Christ Jesus, and who live the life of faith in the Son of God, showing their faith by its fruits, are the ' holy seed,' and ' the holy seed shall be the substance thereof (Is. vi. 13). For the sake of these the Lord sustains and protects the external frame- work of a mission, and bears, with much long-suffering, the nominal Christianity which will ever enter so largely into its composition. It may be permitted to one who has had large opportuni- ties and long experience in the supervision of missions to state his firm conviction that all attempts to lay the foundations of a Protestant mission, without true conversion and spiritual life in individual souls, will be as unsatisfactory and as tran- sient as those of Xavier and his followers. Christian educa- tion may be extended ; a visible Church, in its completeness, may be established ; civilisation maybe promoted by industrial institutions ; but there may be ' no living ' Church. For a season, especially in the early days of freshness and hope, the mission may appear to flourish ; but if the spiritual ' substance ' be wanting, the end will be disappointment, failure, and, too often, the apostasy of converts. The con- version of the heathen is hard work, even when the Word is accompanied with power and demonstration of the Spirit. It is the testimony of every missionary of spiritual discern- ment, even of the most sober-minded, that Satan has a power in heathen lands of which we in the Church at home have little conception. If the Spirit of Christ be not with the missionary, he will be baffled at all points, and wear out his strength in continuous and incessant, but profitless, labour. 390 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. The compilation of these pages has served to deepen the conviction, in the mind of the compiler, of the truth and importance of these cardinal missionary principles ; and he will esteem his labour well repaid if his work serve to uphold these principles in the missionary efforts of all Protestant Churches. The faithful missionary, whose aims all culminate in the exaltation of ' Christ crucified,' will receive generally a few seals to his ministry ; and if they stand fast in the Lord, he lives. His chief employment should thenceforth be to cherish them, as a nurse cherishes her children, to stir up the grace that is in them, to set them to work in gathering into the fold fresh converts, to make them the pivot upon which bis missionary operations turn. Their example of holiness and liberality will give a tone to the whole mission which nothing else can supply : as their numbers increase, the strength of the mission increases ; its stability, its self-support, and its self-extension are secured. An open Bible keeps open the stream of the waters of life. Thus a native Church is formed, from which the Word of God is ' sounded out.' God giveth the increase to the labour of the planters and waterers. Against such a living branch of the true Church the gates of hell shall never prevail. Like the vine brought out of Egypt, it takes deep root, and fills the land. To those who long for the day wben Jesus ' shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth,' I confidently point, in the history of Protestant missions, to the abundant evidences that the Spirit of Christ is with them ; that His influence as a native agency is in preparation, which will have power and grace to carry on the work without foreign missions. I point also to the providential removal of hindrances to the extension of Christianity, which has become a sign of the times since missions have been prosecuted in the spirit of the Gospel — to the gradual preparation of the nations for the living Word of God, and to its multiplication in all languages. In these things we see the way of the Lord prepared, and may anti- REQUISITES FOR THE WORK OF MISSIONS. 391 cipate His predicted and universal dominion ; when ' all nations shall call them blessed.' 1 Not less important are his cautions as to the supposed need of an autocratic power in a mission : — Xavier's history will afford a useful caution against a notion, too much countenanced in the present day, that an ecclesiastical head of a mission is needed to secure efficiency by uniformity of action, and to counteract the evils which arise within a mission from the contrariety of individual opinions. Such absolute power may consist with the govern- ment of a settled Christian Church, where the relation between ecclesiastical authority and the pastoral function has been defined by canons, and by experience. But no canons or regulations have been yet laid down for missions to the heathen. That work is so varied, and its emergencies so sudden, that the evangelist must be left to act mainly on his own responsibility and judgment. It pre-eminently requires independence of mind, fertility of resource, a quiet observance of the footsteps of Divine Providence, a readiness to push forward in that direction, an abiding sense in the mind of the missionary of personal responsibility to extend the Kingdom of Christ, and a lively conviction that the Lord is at his ' right hand.' These qualifications are, like all the finer sentiments of Christianity, of delicate texture ; they are often united with a natural sensitiveness ; they are to be cherished and counselled rather than ruled ; they are easily checked and discouraged if ' headed ' by authority. Yet these are the qualities which have ever distinguished the missionaries who win the richest trophies, and advance the borders of the Eedeemer's kingdom. Among such a body of workmen no formidable difficulties will arise from the con- trariety of individual opinion ; and such as do arise will be easily composed by affectionate, Christian, and wise counsels, whether offered on the spot, or transmitted from Europe.2 In the conduct of subjects involving considerations 1 Venn's Life of Xavier, pp. 323-32G. a Ibid. pp. 146, 147. 392 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. where misapprehension was easy, Mr. Venn relied usually and mainly on personal interviews, of which he has left few or the briefest notes. Those who have witnessed his conduct of deputations to the various Government offices will not readily forget the wonderful tact and skill which he therein manifested. He never obtruded himself into the position which rank and station made it fit that others should occupy ; but in a few minutes the conversation of the minister of the crown would turn to him, on whom the weight of the memorial really rested, and who never was at a loss for information. He had himself the quali- fications of a great minister of state — calmness, thorough- ness, power of concentration ; and it was recognised by many, most of them now, like himself, passed away. Not least did he earn, as has been already said, the high and cordial admiration of Lord Palmerston, and to their joint efforts it was in no slight degree owing that the African squadron was maintained in its integrity, until the external slave-trade of the Gold Coast had been en- tirely suppressed.1 One final feature in Mr. Venn's character, too pro- minent to be omitted, was his practical reliance on prayer. He jealously maintained the Secretaries' weekly prayer meeting, and urged such meetings on each company of missionaries abroad. Many of those who came to avail themselves of his wisdom and experience will recollect what was his almost unvarying counsel, in the words of a text that was one of his sheet-anchors : ' Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be esta- blished ' (Prov. xvi. 3) ; as he used to explain it, ' thou 1 It ought not to pass without record that Bishop Wilberforce was always ready, in the midst of his multifarious engagements, to render his important aid to a cause with which his father — who was Henry Venn's ail'ectL'nate friend from his early boyhood— was ever identified. THE POWER OF PRAYER. 393 shalt be guided to the right decision, whether affirma- tive or negative.' This was his nearly constant advice to those who sought to be guided as to whether they had a call to the foreign missionary field, especially if they had passed the flower of their youth, or were in positions of usefulness at home. This gave a stability to his course of action which might appear to casual observers over-resolute ; but when the destination of a missionary had been fixed, or a station decided on, Mr. Venn knew that in his case at least the step had not been taken with- out sincere and earnest prayer for Divine guidance ; that guidance he believed was uniformly given, and unless the cloudy pillar plainly indicated a departure, he shrank from journeying without being led. The simile of the secret source of the Alpine fir-tree's life, which he uses in his character of Mr. Bickersteth, was often reproduced by him in his Instructions and Letters, and was an uncon- scious portraiture of one of Ms own most marked cha- racteristics. His first report concluded with the words : — Nor less are our hopes of success dependent upon the constant fervent prayers of Christian friends at home, that the Lord may be pleased to pour out His Spirit upon all our works, which alone can arouse the Christian Church to a sense of the greatness of the occasion — which alone can prosper the labours of our missionaries abroad — wbich alone can embolden the persecuted and timid inquirers after Christian truth to perfect the faith of Christ — which alone can support the feeble graces of these infant Churches, which need to be cherished as a nurse cherisheth her children. May he who hath the residue of the Spirit inspire the hearts of His people with these prayers, and speedily accomplish the number of His elect, and hasten His king- dom! (1842.) 394 MEMOIR OF THE REV. IIEXRY VENN. His last report contained the urgent plea : — But with all, and above all, the Committee plead for the prayers of their friends and supporters, that God would send forth labourers qualified by the gifts and graces of His Holy Spirit for the work. Let us remember, for our encourage- ment, that one of the richest promises of answer to prayer is given in immediate connection with the establishment of His kingdom. ' It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the Hon shall eat straw like the bullock ; and dust shall be the ser- pent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.' LORD CHICHESTER'S RECOLLECTIONS. 395 10. Lord Chichester's Recollections. It is a pleasure to be able to append the recollections of one of Mr. Venn's most valued friends, who has so long been (since 1835) the President of the Church Missionary Society. Notes furnished by Earl of Chichester. Among the friends I used to meet at Highbury were — the present Lord Teignmouth, Sir J. and Lady Stephen, the Trevelyans, E. Bickersteth, Baptist Noel, Charles Hodgson, &c, &c, besides the most interesting of our missionaries and students from Islington, Bishop Crowther and his family, and other African Christians. H. Venn had a wonderful talent for drawing out a mis- sionary, both at his own table and in the more august presence of the C. M. S. Committee. He did this, not by leading questions, but by saying, ' Wow, Mr. what have you to tell us ? ' Then, if the witness hung fire, he was prompted by ' You have seen so and so, now tell us about this.' The process always answered. I was once dining with him at Highbury, when the party consisted of four German students from Islington and one German missionary. The conversation began by a discussion upon a corn mill which Prince Albert was to send as a present to the chiefs of Abeo- kuta. H. Venn and I had been to several shops, and the engineers recommended a handinill with steel grinders, instead of stones, because it was supposed that the natives would never learn to dress mill-stones. H. V. asked one of these young Germans whether he could teach them if he went to that country. ' Oh, yes,' he said, ' I have dressed many myself. My father was a miller at our town.' It appeared afterwards that four out of the five had either dressed mill- stones or seen them dressed. 396 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. On an occasion when there were none present but German missionary students, they were asked to tell Venn and my- self frankly whether they preferred Basle to Islington. On the whole they seemed to consider the latter quite equal to the former in all essentials ; but added that they missed one German practice very much, which was that at Basle it was a daily custom for each brother to retire to his own room or another's, that the two might join in mutual intercessory prayer. They said that the English, though quite as earnest Christians, were too reserved to do this. These young men always seemed to feel quite at home with H. V. after a few minutes' conversation. My dear friend's conversation was always interesting, from the number of incidents and sayings he remembered of great and good men, and few men have had the advantage of so large an acquaintance with men of more variety of character and position. Some of these recollections were told with a great deal of genuine humour, and others with an evidently solemn sense of the great truths and great issues involved. Of the great and good men who seemed to me to appre- ciate him most, I should name Archbishop Sumner and Chevalier Bunsen. He had wonderful industry. He was an old man when he served on those two Royal Commissions — that on Sub- scription to the Articles, and that on Ritualism. Whatever might have been his previous acquaintance with the laws and history of the Church of England, I believe that few of the members of those Commissions came to the consideration of the subjects referred to them with a fuller or more accurate knowledge of the questions involved. I was astonished when he used to tell me of the books which he had read up in ordei to qualify himself for these duties. Though he held his own opinions very strongly, he was essentially a man of what Butler would call ' a fair mind,' having a just estimate of his own powers, candid and honest towards all who differed from him. LORD CHICHESTER'S RECOLLECTIONS. 307 He has sometimes asked me whether I thought the prin- ciples of the C. M. S. too narrow, and on my saying that theoretically perhaps I did think so, hut that the system worked so well any change might be dangerous, he used then to say : ' But, my friend, it is just in these sort of things you should put us right.' And then we had a free discussion upon the whole question, ending in the mutual conviction that we had better adhere pretty much to the existing prac- tice. Within the last two years, speaking of Ritualism, he said very solemnly, and with tears of thankfulness in his eyes : ' With all these errors aud superstition, there is a marked work of the Spirit going on in this country. A. B., with all the nonsensical practices observed in his church, preaches the Gospel, and souls are converted. Fifty years ago bis sermons would have been called methodistical. And so again the irregular evangelists, male and female : there is much in some of their proceedings which I cannot quite approve, but they are doing a great work. Evidently the Holy Spirit is working with them, and I rejoice and thank God.' He had a very strong conviction that in successful preach- ing the power was rather of God than of the man — the Spirit working in the hearts both of preacher and hearers. He applied this to his grandfather's preaching at Huddersfield, and maintained that his sermons in print would not be more striking or effective than those of many modern evangelical preachers. He was a good leader in conversation, and this upon many subjects. I have mentioned his success in drawing out information from missionaries. An instance of a dif- ferent kind occurs to me. My dear friend, Charles Hodgson, and his wife, paid him a visit at East Sheen, after the former was in a very infirm state of health. It was my last meeting with him [C. Hodgson]. We three, H. V., C. H, and myself, were sitting together for nearly an hour before dinner. H. V. began the conversation in a very kind and rather solemn way. ' Now, H.,' said he, ' you and I are old 308 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. men ; neither are likely to be in this world much longer ; now tell us your feelings about the great change.' H. did so, giving a full and very sweet account of his present expe- rience and of his hope in Christ. H. V. followed in at least as interesting a manner to describe his own. Both state- ments were to me very solemn and very instructive, bnt, as I fully expected, very different from each other. They were equally characterised by a strong faith and an implicit trust in the work and love of Jesus ; but I can perhaps best de- scribe the difference by saying that the keynote in one of these dying songs was buoyant hope and an overflowing sense of God's love ; and in the other a deep humility, a most touching expression of his own unworthiness, with a wondering as well as thankful sense of God's mercy through Christ. I always fancied that from his residence in Hull, and bis visits to Huddersfield to collect information about his grand- father's ministry there, he imbibed a good deal of the true Yorkshire character, of which I should say that these were the salient points — an honest bluntness of manner, a very shrewd appreciation of character and conduct, with a large and warm heart. . . . No one had a firmer grasp of Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour, and of all the great truths of revealed religion. In a conversation upon these subjects with Sir James Stephen, the latter exclaimed : ' My dear Henry, it is impossible for a man like you, who dwells in a castle of certainties, to have any sympathy with such a poor doubting fellow as I am.' The two brothers-in-law thoroughly understood and appreciated each other. The following letter from Lord Chichester to Miss Venn thus supplements these Notes : — I am very glad that your brothers are preparing a memoir of your dear father. The characters of such men are the common property of the Church. If they can only be de- scribed with sufficient fulness and accuracy, they become LETTER FROM LORD CHICHESTER. 399 lights to other pilgrims on their journey, and valuable addi- tions to the great ' cloud of witnesses.' My long and increasing attachment to the C. M. S. leads me to regard your father's life and work more in connection with that Society than from any other point of view. The best years of his life and a large portion of his mind and heart were gratuitously devoted to this noble service. His great industry, and his wonderful knowledge of details, aided by a sound judgment and discrimination, made him an invaluable correspondent with our missionaries, as well as a most efficient Secretary. Hence his great influence in the councils of the Society. The same characteristics made him the more important and respected member of the numerous deputations to Go- vernment on various questions connected with our foreign missions. During more than thirty years I was in the con- stant habit of going with such deputations to the heads of different public departments, and have always come away impressed with the fact that whatever weight was due to the deputations, and whatever impression made upon the Queen's Ministers, was mainly owing to the clear, intelligent, and business-like statements of our honoured Secretary. I know that this was the opinion of several of the Ministers with whom I conversed upon the subject afterwards. But perhaps your father's greatest service to the Society and to the cause of missions was his firm unflinching ad- herence to the great evangelical principles upon which the Society was originally founded. I do not think it is too much to say that his influence in the Committee had a large share in the uninterrupted maintenance of these principles. He not only gathered from the text of the New Testament that it was by preaching Christ crucified that sinners would be drawn to Him ; but he knew also from the history of the Church that all other means had proved failures — baptisms without previous instruction imposing ceremonies unintel- ligible to the native mind. These might produce, and no doubt have produced, large numbers of nominal converts, 400 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. but few, if any, proved by their subsequent lives tbeir true conversion to God. I scarcely know a more instructive con- trast than that which everyone may observe in reading the letters of Francis Xavier on the one hand, and on the other the reports of our own missionaries in India and other heathen countries. Your dear father thoroughly understood the difference between making converts and saving souls, and consequently his great influence in the C. M. S. was always in favour of preaching the Gospel in a manner to be understood by the natives, and of instructing adults and children in Scripture truth before admitting them to bap- tism.1 The great Society in whose service he laboured so long is distinguished no less for the blessing which God has vouchsafed to its missionaries than for the practical cha- racter of its missionary work. No man has, under God, contributed more to these results than my honoured friend. And so long as the same principles prevail in the councils of the Society and regulate the course of our missionaries, may we expect the same solid results. He was so thoroughly imbued with the great evangelical principles upon which the C. M. Society was originally founded, that he became at once the most authoritative expounder of these principles, and the most able and con- sistent administrator of the Society's work. 1 His Memoirs and Letters of Xavier is a book that should be read and studied by all the friends of Missions. CONCLUSION. 401 11. Conclusion. But this life-long labour of love was at last to close. For more than thirty years he had been identified with the Church Missionary Society. To give himself wholly to the work, this devoted servant of Christ resigned a living of 700/. a year, and persistently forbore to receive any remuneration for his priceless services, even refusing the ordinary reimbursements of travelling expenses, and other payments actually disbursed — a forbearance which was of itself, during his many years of office, equivalent to more than 10,000/. During much of that period he had been a severe sufferer ; but a few years before his final summons came his malady assumed so serious pro- portions that all believed that his earthly toil was done. It was a time when he could have been ill spared, and those who believe in the power of prayer have no doubt that in answer to many earnest intercessions he was so spared a little longer to guide the council chamber with his ' old experience,' till he had unravelled — no light task — most of the problems of foreign missionary work in this day and generation. Such expressions as the following, from a private letter of that period, show how he waited his appointed time until his change should come. After writing of the defection — temporary, as it proved — of one from whom much had been hoped, he adds : — The Lord alone knows them that are His. Such cases as this do not affect me as once they did. Nearness to the world of light consoles me in the sight of gropers in the D D 402 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. dark. The hope of soon seeing the King in His glory makes me indifferent to the silly dishonour done to His office by those who obscure it by sacerdotalism. We have striven together, my dear friend, for the maintenance of the truth of the Gospel. We are assuredly on the winning side, though a few ups and downs surround us. Let us strengthen each other in the Lord ! His great wish was to die in harness, and he greatly envied the departure of one of his chief friends, a Secre- tary of the Wesleyan Methodists,1 who, with a sharp and sudden transition, had been called from his labour to his rest. Many will remember how under the pressure of chronic disease which, during his latter years left him few waking minutes free from fiery pain, he was still carried into the committee-room, when he could not walk upstairs to share in its discussions and deliberations as of old. He was denied the letter of his wish, for he did not die in harness, having resigned his post a few months before his death, when his infirmities made it impossible for him to undertake the journey from Sheen to London ; but those whom he had made his own he loved and cared for to the end. The Committee at once made him a Vice-President, the highest honour they had to offer. He was often pressed to preach the Annual Sermon for the C. M. S. ; but he would never undertake it, his concep- tion of the occasion was so great. One of his faithful Africans, on Iris return to his native land, after his last visit to England, had just taken leave of his loved and venerated father, when some one said, ' You will never see him again.' The remark dis- tressed him deeply, he ran down the steps for a last farewell, and wrote to Mr. Venn on the voyage afterwards, 1 The Rev. Dr. Beecham, p. 130. LAST LETTER TO AFEICA. 403 saying that he had spent most of the following night in tears at the thought, and expressing warm affection for him. The reply came from a heart as warm as of old. Nov. 17, 1871. — . . . I received your affectionate letter from Madeira, and sincerely thank you for your expressions of regard and Christian friendship. Your times, as well as mine, are in the Lord's hands. If not permitted to meet below, may we stand together at the right hand of our Lord and King when He shall appear in His glory ! The last letter to Africa, written the very day fort- night before ' the midnight cry ' came, shows as clear and strong an interest as ever in Sierra Leone and all points concerning the mission : — Dec. 30, 1872. — It has become very difficult with me to write, on account of my increasing infirmities ; but I must try to send you a few lines to assure you of my unabated in- terest in the letters you so kindly send me, and in the infor- mation they convey. I cannot now walk even a few steps, but must be carried from chair to chair, so I have given up Salisbury Square and the Secretaryship, and have now no- thing to do but to wait for my appointed summons to the rest which remaineth. My life has been full of hurry and business, and I regard it as a signal blessing that my Divine Master allows me an interval of time to trim my lamp and make a provision of oil, before the midnight cry cometh. I am surrounded by mercies and blessings, and suffer com- paratively little pain, but my days are very short, from the slowness of all my actions. My principal subjects of medi- tation are the simple but grand principles of the Gospel of Christ with which I began my ministry, and on which I have endeavoured to build all my past work. Pray for me, that I may enjoy more and more of the presence of my God and Saviour. I enclose you an article on the early history of Sierra Leone, which will interest you. Should I be spared a few D D 2 404 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. months, I may be able to draw out a few more recollections, which may be of interest in the Church of Christ. Pray send me any recollections which you may be able to pick up respecting any of the young Africans who were educated at Clapham. I suspect that very few ever returned to Africa. I feel a very deep interest in the work of our brother , and will write to him by this or the next mail. I thank the Lord continually for raising up such a translator of the blessed Scriptures. Give my affectionate Christian regards to him and to , to whom I hope to write shortly. Go on, my dear brother, in the course of diligent useful- ness and godly walking to which you have been called. Let nothing discourage you : looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, nothing can discourage us, but all things shall work together. Ever yours affectionately, Henry Venn. The relation who had assisted Mr. Venn in his conduct of the ' Christian Observer ' for the few previous years, has recorded his closing days in a Notice, of which the present writer gratefully avails himself : — On the very day which preceded his last illness it was the privilege of the writer of this sketch to have a somewhat lengthened interview with him. The effort involved during the earlier part of the day, in mastering the details of some question on which his judgment had been solicited, had somewhat exhausted him, and at the time at which the writer arrived he had fallen into a short slumber. On awaking, however, he appeared in the full possession of his wonted powers of mind, and entered into conversation with his ordi- nary vigour upon some of the subjects which lay nearest to his heart. He alluded to the anticipated return to this country of Bishop Crowther and Mr. Johnson (a native African clergyman) in the spring of the present year; and he then entered at some length upon the discussion of the true doctrine of the Sacraments, a subject on which he had re- EXTRACT FROM ' CHRISTIAN OBSERVER.' 405 cently had some correspondence both with Professor Birks, in connection with a paper which he was about to read upon the Sacraments at the approaching Conference at Islington, and also with the present writer with reference to a paper on the Eucharist, which appeared in the last number of this journal. In the evening of the same day, Thursday, Janu- ary 9, he received his old and valued friend, the President of the Church Missioiiary Society, to whom the writer of this paper can remember his reference, so long as thirty years ago, as a living monument of the result of the adoption of those views of Divine truth commonly described as Evangelical. His end was now fast approaching ; but the house had been set in order, and the faithful servant was calmly and patiently awaiting his Lord's summons. With characteristic resolution, he insisted on struggling against the increasing exhaustion which he experienced on the following day, and remained for some hours in the room in which he was accustomed to read and work. At length he was compelled to retire to the bed from which he never subsequently rose. From this time his power of speech rapidly failed ; but his mind, so far as it was possible for those who were with him to judge, seemed to be as clear and as calm as heretofore. He observed, to one of his medical attendants, that he could not foresee what might be the issue ; but whichever way it might be, he was content. The end of Henry Venn was in entire consistence with the whole tenour of his life. For the sake of others, it might have been desired that, in the case of so faithful and so distinguished a soldier of the Cross, some further testimony should have been left on re- cord of the power of those principles which he had main- tained in life, to impart to their possessors strong consolation in the hour of death. For his own sake, there was nothing in the circumstances of his departure from this world which those who most loved and who had most anxiously watched over him could have desired to be otherwise ; and they were such as left no room for doubt that in the end of Henry Venn 406 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. those conditions were fulfilled which are represented by the prophet as the assured portion of the believer — ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.' There was, so far as it is possible for man to perceive, no- thing which yet remained to be done when the summons fell upon the ears of this devoted servant of God to cease from his labours and to enter into his rest. He had nobly maintained his part amidst increasing warnings of physical suffering and incapacity, to which it was no longer possible for him to turn a deaf ear. The earthly house of this tabernacle had increasingly become a burden to him. He had lived to see many of the great aims of his life, more especially in comiection with the training of a Native Ministry, accomplished ; and, like the great leader of Israel, he had incited those who were to carry on the work to which his own powers of mind and body had been so unreservedly consecrated, ' to be strong and of a good courage,' under the assurance of God's presence and His blessing. His death-bed was surrounded by those whom he most loved, and whom his eye continued to follow when his power of speech had failed. He was spared, so far as it was possible to judge, all suffering, and on the evening of Monday, January 13, he calmly and peacefully resigned his spirit into the hands of his Saviour and Redeemer ; on Friday, January 17, all that was mortal of Henry Venn was consigned to its last resting-place, in the presence of a vast concourse of deeply-attached friends and relatives, some of whom had tome from distant parts of the country, and amongst whom were comprised a large number of the Committee and Asso- ciation Secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, the missionary students of the College at Islington, and those missionaries who happened to be in England. In the un- avoidable absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the service in the church was performed by the missionary Bishop of China and the Rev. A. S. Shutte, the vicar of PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S. 407 Mortlake ; that at the grave by the Bishop of London. The hymns, ' Jesus shall reign where'er the sun,' and ' Come, let us join our cheerful songs,' were sung in the church ; and, ' Praise God from Whom all blessings flow ' at the grave, as hymns in harmony, not only with the lifelong labours of the departed, but also, even while committing his body to the grave, with the feelings of the mourners. His remains rest in a grave in the cemetery at Mortlake, there to await the Archangel's truuip and ' the manifestation of the sons of God.' ' Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resur- rection: on such the second death hath no power.' (C. J. E., ' Christian Observer,' Feb. 1873.) By the kind permission of the Vicar of Mortlake, his elder son administered the Holy Communion to his father a few days before his decease — a final assurance that he was ' a member incorporate of the mystical Body of God's Son, the blessed company of all faithful people.' To public patronage he was little indebted. Bishop Blomfield (who recognised his worth, and the recognition was reciprocal) made him a Prebendary of St. Paul's. More he had not to give, and there were few positions that would have drawn the great Missionary Secretary aside from the work of his life. He valued the stall in the metropolitan cathedral, as giving him an official right to be present at the chief ordination of missionaries ; but with that sense of humour which is so common to strong minds, he used to say that it conveyed to him the right of preaching in the cathedral once in two years on the shortest day of the year (St. Thomas's, December 21). He belonged to a school which was not fanned into life by patronage. There is a marble bust of him in the crypt. This chapter cannot more fitly close than with the 408 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. following estimate of his work by a thoroughly kindred spirit, for whom he had a special regard, the well-known Major-General Edward Lake, of the Punjab, for almost the last six years of his life Hon. Lay Secretary of the C. M. S. The interest is deeply enhanced by the extract from the letter in which Mr. Venn resigned the secretariat, and in so doing gives his own appreciation of himself.1 After speaking of Mr. Venn's predecessors, the writer proceeds : — ' To the Eev. Henry Venn, however, who was appointed Honorary Secretary on the 5th of October, 1841, was reserved the privilege of witnessing, during thirty-one years' tenure of office, the expansion and consolidation of the work on a scale far exceeding that of the most favoured of his predecessors. The work in Africa, India, North-west America, and other countries previously occu- pied, was not only largely developed, but the important empires of China and Japan were added to the Society's mission fields. At the time of his assuming office, 117 clergymen were employed, of whom only 10 were natives ; while at the close of his laborious career there were 352 clergymen, of whom 148 were natives. In the same interval the annual income of the Society had risen from 86,536/. to 156,440/., and the communicants in the missions had increased from 6,050 to upwards of 25,000, including the communicants of the Sierra Leone native Church. This period was further marked by the organi- sation of native Churches in Sierra Leone, Tinnevelly, Travancore, and in other places, so as gradually to pre- pare them for becoming independent of foreign aid. Much more might be added regarding Mr. Venn's abun- dant labours, but enough has been said to show that, under God, he was enabled, at a critical time in the history 1 Chwrch Missionary Atlas, 6th ed. 1879, p. 8. LAST LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE. 409 of the world and of the Church, to do a great work in the extension of the kingdom of God upon earth. The light in which Mr. Venn regarded the success with which it had pleased God to bless the efforts of himself and of those associated with him, may be gathered from the following extract from the last letter addressed by him to the Com- mittee : — Many wise and excellent men have shared with me the office of Secretary, and it would be impossible, even if it were desirable, to assign the merit of any part of this vast work to any individual agent. The President, Committee, and officers of the Society, together with a large company of voluntary agents, including deputations to meetings, and weekly collectors, and every subscriber, are united through the providence of God for carrying out His purposes of mercy to a lost world. No one can say of another, ' I have no need of thee.' No one can take the credit for the success which God has been pleased to assign to the work. It is my solemn conviction, before God, that all throughout this vast agency have striven to do the work which He has assigned them, and that he who prays much and exercises the most simple faith may be found at the last day to have done as much towards the accomplishment of great objects as those who consult together, or transact correspondence, or form the instructions to missionaries. Let us then, as each agent drops out of notice, give glory to God for the dispensation of His grace, and closing the individual account, leave the estimate of his work till ' the day shall declare it! ' Such a man could not pass away without many tributes to his worth. The ' Henry Venn ' missionary steamer still bears Bishop Crowther and his comrades up and down the Niger on their errand of light and peace. The ' Henry Venn Native Church Fund ' still comme- morates him in the way which his family selected as his 410 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. most fitting memorial.1 The Committee of the Church Missionary Society passed the following minute, which was re-echoed from Africa. Some of the many letters, elicited by his decease, conclude this part of the memoir. I. General Committee, February 10, 1873. At the meeting of the Committee this day, Captain the Hon. F. Maude, V.P., in the chair, the following Minute was adopted : — The Committee have to record with mingled feelings of sorrow and thankfulness, the removal to his heavenly rest of their late venerated Honorary Clerical Secretary, the Rev. Henry Venn. The loss to themselves, humanly speak- ing, is beyond estimation ; but they bless God for the great work their departed friend has accomplished, and the bright example he has left behind him. Mr. Venn's father was one of the founders of the Society, his grandfather having been among the foremost instru- ments in that great evangelical revival to which, under God, the Society ultimately owes its origin. Mr. Venn himself, in 1818, took high academical honours at Cambridge. After serving as a curate in London for three years, during which time he showed a deep interest in the proceedings of the Committee, he returned to the University, where he was Fellow and Tutor of Queen's College. In 1834 Mr. Venn permanently settled in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and thenceforward constantly attended the Committee. He became Honorary Clerical Secretary in 1841, which post he held (always without pecuniary remuneration) until the close of life, though consenting a few weeks before his death to become a Vice-President. During Mr. Venn's secretariat the Society's income ad- vanced from about 90,000/. to 150,000L, the number of its 1 Its present capital (March 31, 1879), is 12,735/. MINUTE OF GENERAL COMMITTEE. 411 native clergy from 10 to 148, and the communicants in its various missions from 0,000 to 20,000. Within the same period new missions were established in the Yoruba country, the valley of the Niger, Palestine, Sindh, the Santal dis- tricts, Oudh, the Punjab, Central India, the Telugu country, the Mauritius, Madagascar, China, and Japan. He was also largely instrumental in the creation of Bishoprics for Native Churches in Sierra Leone, the Niger, Rupert's Land, New Zealand, and (consummated just before his death) North China, and Moosonie in North-West America. It is owing, in a great degree, to his practical wisdom and judicious and persevering energy, that Native Churches have been organised on a footing of incipient self-government and self-support in Sierra Leone, Tinnevelly, Travancore, and Ceylon. His wise counsels and prudent management, under God's blessing, guided the Society safely through some of the most critical periods of its history. The Committee remember, with thankfulness to God, Mr. Venn's untiring industry, his complete self-devotion to the work, his immense powers of application, his strength of memory, his firmness of purpose, his vast practical know- ledge of human nature, his calm and correct judgment, his patience and self-restraint, his deep and loving sympathy, his warm and generous friendship, and his kind and watch- ful consideration for the interest and reputation of all the Society's agents, European or native. Still more would they call to mind his strong faith, his deep spirituality, and his zeal for the honour of God. The Committee enumerate these particulars in the work and character of Henry Venn as so many mercies received from God : and, in the midst of their sorrow, would humbly encourage themselves to expect from the Giver of all good that help and strength which will more than ever be needed for the time to come. 412 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. II. Africa's Witness. This tribute at home found an even fuller expression in Africa, in the following minute passed by the native Church, in Sierra Leone, and drafted by the pen of the ' son of the faith ' who had not long before wept at the anticipated bereavement : — Connected with the Church Missionary Society as a com- mittee member for more than fifty years, and subsequently as the Honorary Clerical Secretary for upwards of thirty years, a position which at once secured to him the foremost rank among the Society's officers, it may truly be said that he was a father to the West African Church. Having no other aim than the glory of God and the wel- fare of mankind, and possessing a competence which freed him from want, he devoted his whole life to the service of the Society with a zeal, earnestness, and unremitting dili- gence in labour that had never been surpassed in its history ; and his labours were owned and blessed of God. He was especially qualified for the work he undertook to do. For in addition to his deep piety, he was naturally blessed with a kind and loving disposition, sound judgment, and great administrative power. If it wei'e lawful and right to love one of the Society's missions more than the other, it might truly be said that the African mission was his favourite (see Rom. v. 20). For of all his colleagues in the secretariat, he took the most pro- minent part in every measure of the Parent Committee that tended to the temporal and spiritual elevation of Africa. It is, therefore, to his instrumentality in particular that is to be attributed this day, under God, the establishment of native pastorate Churches, and the advancement of converted natives to various offices of trust and great responsibility on this coast, within the past two-and-thirty years. In considera- tion of such noble deeds, the native Church in Africa deeply regret his loss. Nor is it only in Africa that he will be AFRICA'S WITNESS. 413 missed, but throughout the whole world, wherever the name of Christ is heard, his removal will be felt as that of a prince and a great man in Israel. May his name ever remain a household word in Africa, like those of Granville, Sharp, Buxton, and Wilberforce, and never be forgotten even when there remain no more souls to be converted, and ' violence, wasting, and destruction ' shall have ceased to exist in the land ! But in thus giving expression to their feelings upon this most mournful event, the Committee are not unmindful of the Lord's great mercies to His Church and people in having so long spared him to them with his mental faculties unim- paired. It is, therefore, their heartfelt prayer that a double portion of the spirit that was in their departed brother-in- the-Lord may rest upon his successor, for a wider extension of the Gospel to lands hitherto unblessed with its glorious light, to the praise and glory of God's holy name. That, as a mark of honour to the memory of so highly distinguished a friend to Africa, all the churches and chapels throughout the settlement and its dependencies be put in mourning during the month of March ensuing, by draping the pulpits and reading-desks in black. III. The Tribute of Missionaries. Appended are extracts of letters from missionaries on hearing of his death. From the Mediterranean Mission (Rev. J. T. Wolters, Smyrna). .... I am unable to express how deeply I have been affected when the news reached me. . . . During many years, when I was standing alone in the mission, Mr. Venn en- couraged me from time to time by his excellent letters, which were exceedingly precious to me. After my son had returned from the Malta College, and I consulted Mr. Venn 414 MEMOIR OF THE RE\ . HENRY YEXX. as to his future course (my son desiring to become a mis- sionary), Mr. Venn wrote to me : ' Let your son come to England for a personal interview : I will receive him into my house and be as a father to him.' And Mr. Venn was indeed a father to him. . . . Never, never shall I forget the kindness of Mr. Venn to me personally and to my son. . . . I need not assure you how deeply we all sympathise with the Committee and the Society at large under this bereavement. From Nazareth (Rev. J. Zeller). .... I know from experience how thoroughly Mr. Venn made himself acquainted with every detail of our work, and how he gave no rest to himself for day or night when any serious difficulty was to be overcome. His sympathy and his desire to encourage every missionary onward was one of the secrets of his success and of the confidence which he enjoyed as a leader. From Calcutta (Rev. J. Welland). .... Yesterday's ' Englishman ' contained in the obi- tuary, by telegram from England, the name ' Mr. Henry Venn,' which it seems all too probable must be our own Mr. Venn. If this be so, we have need to mourn, but with gratitude in our sorrow for the gracious goodness of God who gave us such a man, and for so long. We could not wish to keep him from his long-deferred rest, yet I cannot help feeling bereft and dreading the future. From Bombay (Rev. J. S. Robertson). .... Yours of the 16th ult. brought me the confirma- tion of the mournful intelligence of the decease of the much beloved and venerated Mr. Venn, which was first reported here by telegraph. I thank you for giving me the particulars of his last end on earth. I praise the Lord with you for giving our beloved brother such an easy and favourable dis- missal. I call to mind all the intercourse I have ever had DESIDERIA. 415 with the dear departed since 1838, and all remains in my mind mixed with a hallowed sense of pleasure. We thank God for raising up such a well-prepared agent to do His work as he was. And now that he has been called to ' go up higher,' and to enjoy the rest which his many labours have earned for him, we have to look to our great Divine Captain, who, ' when He ascended up on high, received gifts for men,' that He would vouchsafe to endue with the spirit of love, and patience, and wisdom, those who have now to do the work which for so many years has been done by him. From Rev. W. Keene (of the Punjab Mission). ■ • . . . 1 retain a vivid recollection of my first interview with your dear brother, and in him I have lost my oldest and greatest friend at the Church Missionary House. He was one who in a most remarkable and very uncommon degree combined greatness and largeness of heart with rare mental qualifications for the work to which he had devoted the best energies of his life. Attachment and devotedness to the cause of missions is by no means necessarily connected with adherence to any particular Missionary Society ; but dear Mr. Venn possessed most remarkably the qualifications for bringing about such a desirable union in our hearts as missionaries of the C. M. S. I was invariably treated with the greatest kindness ; yes, I may say with affection by him also. He stood to me in the position more of a father in Christ than that of a brother. From China (Rev. G. E. Moule, Hangehow). I cannot let the mail go without a line or two to express my sympathy with you and your colleagues especially, but also with every member and friend of the C. M. S., on the occasion of the death of revered and beloved Mr. Venn. The telegraphic news has reached us from Ningpo this week. So long expected, and yet so bitterly remorseless at the last. I can hardly remember any death that I feel so much beyond 416 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. the limits of my own family since Professor Scholefield was taken from us. No one that I ever heard of seemed to com- bine in so remarkable a degree as Mr. Venn distinguished ability and piety, with a power to sympathise with and draw to himself persons much younger than himself, and infinitely below him both in ability and piety. From North-West America (Archdeacon Cowley). .... Although I had looked forward to it, the shock is great now it has really come. I feel it acutely. How I loved and revered him. ... I have no doubt but that all over the world where he was known hearts will beat in unison with my own in grateful remembrance of his beautiful example in sympathy with sorrowing relatives and friends. From Sierra Leone (Rev. J. A. Lamb). .... One can scarcely realise the fact that the emi- nently useful and universally revered Henry Venn has ceased his earthly labours, and that we shall see him no more on earth. . . . Fatherly and friendly counsel and encourage- ment given at first entrance on mission prospects and work ; affectionate, wise, and comforting letters subsequently written ; hospitable reception at Mortlake ; counsel and immediate direction, are some among other reasons which must ever impress upon me a grateful regard to Mr. Venn's memory. Letter from New Zealand (Rev. R. Bueeows). Auckland, April 11, 1873. .... I cannot allow the present mail to leave without acknowledging with thanks your letter giving me in detail the incidents of the last hours of our beloved, long-tried, and sainted friend and brother, Rev. H. Venn. The intelligence of his death had reached us by telegram prior to your letter. Shall we mourn '? Let us be thankful that he was spared to us so long, and enabled by God's grace to do so much for our mission. My first interview with him, in 1836, when I went DESIDERIA. -117 up for my preliminary examination as a candidate for the mission work, is still fresh in my memory ; and the kindly fatherly advice he then gave me I have not forgotten. From the late Bishop of Waiapu (W. Williams). .... The intimation reached me by telegram a few days before the arrival of your letter. I had just been read- ing his letter of December 7, written on occasion of his appointment to the honour of Vice-President of the Society. The Committee were doing honour to their aged fellow- helper, but his Master had a better post for him, and He said, ' Friend, come up higher.' We may thank God that His servant has been permitted to give his labour to the work for almost the term of two generations, as he himself expresses it ; and that by his large experience and his ma- tured judgment he has been honoured to help forward this great and glorious undertaking. From Constantinople (Rev. Dr. Koelle). .... The purity, singleness, and largeness of heart with which his conversation impressed me, will always remain a cherished recollection witb me. He caused me one of the sunniest moments in my life, when, on my return from Africa, he once took me to the late Chevalier Bunsen, and then I saw his countenance beaming with delight, his eyes full of joy and pleasure, passing from the manuscripts spread on the table to the Chevalier, and then back again to me. If ever I saw a soul-delight, it was in those looks. From a Native African Clergyman (Eev. J. Quaker). .... You will please pardon my not having written before this in acknowledgment of your very kind letter. . . . Ere I could properly digest mentally the several important points therein contained for vigorous operation, in came that most unwelcome news of the decease of our honoured chief, the Rev. Mr. Venn, who was to me a father and a very dear friend also. I need hardly tell you how much I was E E 418 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. paralysed by the heavy tidings. . . . The Lord raise up a successor of like mind and spirit for the good of His Church in general, and of poor Africa in particular ! My own loss in consequence of this removal is unspeakably great. But the Great Shepherd, who, as the African proverb says, 4 never takes off an old garment until he has provided a new one,' is the same, ' yesterday, to-day, and for ever,' and in this are founded all my hope and consolation. The mail that brought us the heavy news arrived on the night of the 5th ult. (Thursday). On the following morning I read to the pupils all the information we could gather on this subject from the newspapers, and then closed the school till Monday next [the following Monday ?] as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Venn, by whom, under God, I was appointed to this post. By means of my pupils the news overspread the city within a short time, and many were the expressions of sorrow uttered by many natives who had either known him personally or heard of him. . . . On the following Sunday morning I selected for my text Job xxix. 18, 'I shall die in my nest ' . . . The following formed part of the concluding portion : ' His removal by death is felt as the fall of a prince and a great man in the Church of Christ. He dies — nay, sleeps in his nest, to open his eyes upon the King in His beauty, for the advancement of whose kingdom it had been his joy to live.' From Rev. Henry Johnson, Native African Clergyman, to Rev. F. Schon. Jan. 31, 1873. — I am happy to say that a few days ago I received a most gratifying letter from Mr. Venn. That letter I prized very much. Whether it prove the last or not, I shall preserve it with a jealous care. It was touching to hear him remark, after having written a few lines, ' To save my weak hands and your eyes, I must now employ my daughter to finish this letter.' This told me at once what his state of health was. I am afraid that if I come I shall DESIDERIA. 41!) find him considerably weaker than when I left England. But I pray to be privileged to enjoy one more sight of him, and then I shall be satisfied. . . . February 9. — God only knows how I feel in writing this letter, acknowledging yours of the 16th ult. Is Mr. Venn dead ? My father ! My patron ! My benefactor ! Is he really dead ? I have done nothing but weep to-day. Just one hour before service I read that painful, heartrending intelligence in your letter. I went to church heavy and sorrowful. I conducted the service alone, no one to help me. Singularly enough, I had prepared to preach from the words, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.' I had no difficulty in improving upon the death of that dear good man. Ah ! God will not leave Africa. My whole dependence was on you and Mr. Venn — now he is taken away. May I learn a wholesome lesson from this ! I am too full to write ! I don't know how to express myself. Since the death of my father I have not had so much cause to be grieved as I now have. ... I close with tears in my eyes on account of my irreparable loss. From Rev. Geo. Nicol, Native African Clergyman : formerly at Sierra Leone, now Government Chaplain at Bathurst, Gambia. .... It is with deep sorrow that I learn by letters from my friends the sad news of the death of dear Mr. Venn. And I write at once to offer the Committee my sympathy. Indeed, all the members of the Society, and all your missions throughout the world — and particularly we in Africa — are so deeply interested in him that the question may fairly be asked, ' Who is to comfort the other under this sad general bereavement?' If the Committee and the Society at home experience a great and irreparable loss, who can estimate the loss Africa and the Africans have sustained in the removal of Mr. Venn. He may well be regarded as the father of the Native Church in West Africa. May the Lord comfort us all ; you in England, and us in the different missions abroad ! E K '1 420 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. IV. The Testimony of Friends. Extracts from letters from different friends : — From Thomas Clegg, Esq. Manchester, Feb. 6, 1873. .... Excuse my sajdng, after my long connection with your father, that he was the wisest, most judicious, clever, and persevering clergyman I ever had to do with ; and, I think, signally gifted for the high position he so long held, and which will be so difficult for others to fill. He used to come to Manchester, overhaul and inspect my hooks, and verify the African accounts as well as any of our accountants could have done. However, your father is gone to his exceeding great reward, and as his bodily infirmity had long been very painful, and as no one can doubt that he is now happy, the change to him must really be so great that it cannot enter into the heart of man to conceive it. And, if I wished to set a model of usefulness before any clergyman of ability, I should certainly take that of your father. We shall never know in this world the extent and ramification of it, in this and other countries ; and I am sure this ought, and no doubt will be, a great comfort to you all ; for I feel sure that very much of the widespread success of the Society was owing to his wisdom and cautious energy of management. It will be difficult to find a successor even to carry on what he has so well begun, although it is so com- paratively easy to enter into other people's work. I am afraid I have already tired you ; but my long and happy connection with your father must excuse the length at which I have written. From the Wife of an old West African Missionary, {Mrs. Schon). .... The loss is indeed a great one to countless people, especially for Africa, for whom he so laboured. . . . His name was a tower of strength for Africa. Mr. Schon and THE TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS. 421 Mr. Leupolt were conversing on his peculiar love for their respective missions, and each thought he loved their own field the hest. His wise and loving sympathy reached to all ; and dearly will each mission mourn the great loss they have sustained. What a beautiful life his was ! I cannot describe the pleasure it was to me to sit near him, and listen to his ever-ready counsel and advice. I always felt a better woman, and got a lift heavenward. From Rev. Joseph Fenn. Blackheath, Jan. 17, 1873. Forgive my intruding upon you in your time of deep sorrow. I can only claim the privilege of sympathising with you, from my long association with your beloved father in his missionary work. I first saw your father in the year 1816-17 — introduced to him by Mr. Simeon, and I remember now the warmth of affection with which he spoke of him. It was on the eve of my departure for India. Soon after my return, in 1827, I joined the Committee, and from the year 1834 till a few years ago I had the pleasure of sitting with him in the same room, and of witnessing his devotion to the missionary cause. What he was to that cause, and to the Church of Christ, God made him, and was truly bountiful in His gifts to him. I have not seen one so singularly endowed for the important work to which he was called, nor so faith- ful in the consecration of his endowments to his Master's service. I do not remember any critical period in the history of our Society for which he was not prepared, and which God did not enable him to meet. His patience of mind was equal to his grasp of mind. From the Secretaries of the Church Missionary Society (Eev. C. C. Fenn.) .... You will observe that we at Salisbury Square had opportunities of seeing your father's wonderful and varied powers, and the depth and tenderness of his love. His ivisdom was what struck me perhaps almost most of all — 422 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. wisdom of thought, wisdom of expression, and wisdom of action. Then, also, his zeal — I mean his zeal for the honour of God and his firm faith in God. You ask whether I ever saw him ruffled ? Certainly not : he was far too great a man for that. Once, at least, I saw him fire up with indig- nation, and only once to that extent : though on many occa- sions we saw in him the indications of a hatred of falsehood and evil. Still love, loving sympathy, and hopeful, thought- ful trust (of a right kind) even in fellow-men, as well as in Divine guidance, were the more constant and permanent affections, and especially in the last two or three years of his life. From Bishop Harding to Rev. J. Venn, Prebendary of Hereford. January 17,1873. — .... My heart has been much with you this morning, and with that company of faithful friends who have gathered round you at Mortlake. Bear with me for offering to yourself and to your mourning relatives an assurance of deep sympathy. For what the Lord gave to them, and to His Church, in the person of your late loved and revered brother, and now has taken away, who can adequately estimate? That settled faith, and that true love to Christ his Lord, that constancy to principle, and sanctified discretion, which so eminently distinguished him ; together with a tenderness, a brotherly spirit peculiarly blessed in its influences, are not often so combined. And to have main- tained the manifestation of these excellences before the Church for more than half a century was a distinction that witnessed to the greatness of the grace that was upon him. His removal will go to how many hearts, not only in this land, but throughout the world ; all true missionaries and friends of missions everywhere consenting to glorify God in him, as a father and a brother in Christ, precious to them for his work's sake. And how impressive the end ! Scarcely had he laid down the pen with which he wrote that noble and touching letter to the Church Missionary Society than his summons came. All was done then that was to be done THE TESTIMONY OF FRIENHS. 423 here, and now his spirit has entered on the service and joys that know no ending. From Archdeacon Hone to Prebendary J. Venn. Halesowen, Jan. 25, 1873. .... I have felt for years that your dear departed brother was a remarkable example of unwearied activity in absorbing business (for business it was), combined with a close walking with God and enjoyment of a sense of the Divine Presence. He must often have had distracting cares, pressure for action under perplexing circumstances ; and yet I have learned, and in my too few opportunities have ob- served, that he was tranquil, peaceful, trustful, happy. . . . How many in the better country may now be calling him blessed, as having ministered to their coming to a knowledge of Christ, being of many kindreds and languages ! From Rev. W. Cams to Prebendary J. Venn. Jan. 16, 1873. — .... There was no one in the country upon whom I have looked for years with such blended venera- tion and affection. It will be fifty years in October since you and I began our college brotherhood .... and through you I first learned to know and reverence your brother, who was even then pointed out to me as one eminent for wisdom and active piety. And what a career of almost unparalleled in- fluence for good has the Lord vouchsafed to him ! What a true episcopate has he discharged over that vast missionary field, which he has guided by his wisdom, and cheered by his counsels, and strengthened by his prayei's. I have never contemplated his work without wonder and delight, thanking the Lord for such grace bestowed and for such blessing on labours so devoted and self-sacrificing. And now how blessed his entrance into the presence of the gracious Lord whom he so loved to serve ; and what a welcome has he received, and what an infinite reward for all his long self-sacrificing service. 424 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. From Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India. Feb. 17, 1875. — I cannot refrain from writing one line to express my sympathy with your family on the great loss which they have sustained. Personally I feel his death to be for my- self a great loss, for he was one of my father's oldest friends, and never failed upon all occasions to show a cordial and affectionate interest in all that concerned us. Besides this, it has been my good fortune to receive his advice and assistance on several occasions upon matters affecting Indian educa- tion, in which I take a great interest; and but a few days before I left England he came to see me, and we had a long conversation upon these subjects. He also gave me his views in a letter, which I value much ; and the introduc- tions which he gave me to several excellent men in India have been of great service to me. A missionary who had not seen him for years thus describes his feelings on visiting him : — London, June 15, 1867. To-day I had an interview with Mr. Venn, and was much cheered by him. I feel much relieved indeed. I was afraid I had to go away without seeing him, after having come such a distance, and after so long a time, and after toiling day after day in the same monotonous work. . . . Oh ! he is the old Mr. Venn — so brotherly, so warm, so affectionate, so confidential. He can't walk without the assistance of a stick, and then only with great difficulty, so that, if you merely see him, you fancy you see a perfect wreck and then when you come to speak to him he is the same lively man, with all his faculties wide awake, a mind as comprehensive as ever, and able to grasp fully all that comes within its grasp. The whole mission world is still before him, with all its missionaries, as a panorama. Fancy, he has most carefully read through the two volumes of Baumgarten's ' Acts of the Apostles,' in order to see afresh how mission work is to be carried on. INSTRUCTIONS TO MISSIONARIES AT THEIR DISMISSION. I'AGB A. THE MISSIONARY'S WORK AND TEMPER . . .427 B. COUNSELS AND CAUTIONS . . . . . .431 C. DANGERS AND SAFEGUARDS 441 D. SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS 452 E. ANNUAL LETTER 458 P. POLITICS AND MISSIONS 468 G. INDIAN MISSIONS (1) .484 H. INDIAN MISSIONS (2) . . . . ' . . .492 I. MISSIONS TO MAHOMMEDANS &C 502 K. SYRIAN CHURCH IN TRAVANCORE . . . .508 L. MISSIONS IN THEIR VARIETY 514 M. LOVING FAREWELL 522 N. SOME EMINENT MISSIONARIES 526 O. LAST WORDS 531 ON NATIONALITY 282-292 427 INSTRUCTIONS TO MISSIONARIES AT THEIR DISMISSION. A. THE MISSIONARY'S WORK AND TEMPER. The standing duty of preaching the Gospel admits of no modification or novelty. It has been the same for 1,800 years.1 Like the Gospel itself, it is the same yesterday, to- day, and for ever : the same in every clime, and amongst men in every stage of civilisation. But there are parts of the missionary work which undergo considerable modifica- tion, certain problems to be solved in the more advanced stages of a mission. Such, for instance, as the combination of individual labor rs — the best mode of training and direct- ing Native ministers — the means to be adopted for establish- ing a Native Church upon the principles of self-support, self-government, and self-extension. The Committee will, on this occasion, select four pro- minent points in this interesting field of thought to illustrate the new duties and responsibilities under which you, dear Brethren, go out, in respect of — 1 . Combined action in a mission. 2. Missionary subordination. 3. The support of central educational establishments in each mission. 4. The exciting a missionary spirit in each Native Church. 1. Little reflection is needed to show that combined 1 At p. 378 is found a memorable summary of the great general prin- ciples of Christian Missions which underlie all specific Instructions. — Ed. 428 INSTRUCTIONS. action amongst all the missionaries engaged in the same field, though under all circumstances a sacred duty, becomes essential when the work has reached its present stage of a multiplication of labourers, when we are called upon to provide the organisation of a Native Church amongst the converts. In the earlier stages of our work it was often said, ' Such a man will work well if you place him in a post where he has everything to himself.' Many such characters might be employed in the midst of Heathenism, and each might strike out his peculiar course of action, and so sepa- rate knots of converts might be brought into Christ's fold. But we have now reached another state of things. We need men who can work well with others, men who can combine together in friendly counsel, and strengthen each other's hands in their common work, and interchange their labours in oneness of spirit. All this is more especially required in the advanced missions to which all of you are destined. Hence the Committee earnestly and affectionately urge upon you the cultivation of those graces of the spirit which harmonise social intercourse, meekness, candour, gentleness, long-suffering, self-forgetfulness, or, in the still stronger language of inspiration, ' let each esteem other better than himself.' All these are only so many parts of the great Christian duty of charity. Study the art of Christian con- ference ; how to quench the first sparks of contention ; how to make the most of each variety of mind ; how to knit together hearts notwithstanding diversities of the exterior man. An American Presbyterian missionary once observed that English missionaries did not know how to act together, that they seemed to know no medium between absolute sub- mission to a bishop and individual independence of action. Thank God we can refute this, as a general charge, by many examples ; yet it may teach us something ; it may show us what we have to guard against. The Committee have re- joiced in receiving lately, both from North and South India, admirable and well-digested suggestions from their mis- sionary conferences, which show that Christ has fulfilled UNION AND DEFERENCE. 429 His promise, and has been with those who assembled to- gether in His name, and diffused over their meetings the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. When such local knowledge, wisdom, and experience are happily exercised in combination with the more general knowledge and experience of the parent committee, gathered from an universal survey of the work, there seems to be every security for the right management of missions, and a code of general principles and directions will be gradually obtained at head- quarters, which will secure harmony and efficiency through- out the whole field. How cheering and delightful are such thoughts as these ! Yet how soon may these fair prospects be blighted if an enemy be allowed to sow discord between brethren, if their meetings become stained by personal altercations, or corrupted by selfish aims ! Then, alas ! the Parent Committee becomes a court of final appeal for invete- rate disputants. God forbid ! Let brotherly love continue. 2. Another injunction the Committee must give under this head. A new duty and responsibility resting upon younger labourers is that of Missionary Subordination — not in the vulgar sense of submission to rules and authority, but in the higher and more spiritual sense of deference to those who have laboured before you, and to whom the Com- mittee assign a conventional precedency. It has been some- times suggested that the Society should seek to invest their senior missionaries with the authority of archdeacons or rural deans, in order to enforce subordination. The Com- mittee conceive that however useful such official precedency may be in a settled ecclesiastical establishment, missions present a totally different sphere. It is not official subordi- nation which is the main want of missions : that might be secured by purse-strings easily enough ; but the Committee is jealous of its entrance into the mission field : it is too apt to cramp free action, to interfere with individual re- sponsibility, to encumber with misdirections. There must be a greater latitude of self-direction in the case of mission- aries than in the case of pastors of a settled Church. In 430 INSTRUCTIONS. the place therefore of official subordination, there is needed what we term missionary subordination. Our statute law in this case runs thus : ' Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder ; yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility.' The Committee have spoken distinctly and frankly on this point, because they have the happiness, on this occasion, of addressing one of their missionaries who has been made an archdeacon by his diocesan, as a special mark of honour due to one who has proved himself a missionary in the truest sense of the word, by going at once into the wilder- ness of heathendom and mastering the vernacular Indian tongue, and building up a spiritual Church from the midst of untutored Indians. But the Committee well know that their friend sees eye to eye with themselves in distinguishing between the relation of an archdeacon of the Colony of Rupert's Land, in which he stands to his bishop, and the relation of a senior missionary in the mission of Rupert's Land, in which he stands to the Committee and to his brother missionaries. They rejoice to reflect how well able he is to preserve these relations in their integrity, and so to give a living exemplification of the very principle which the Committee has here enunciated. 3. The Committee pass on to the third topic, on which they wish to offer a few words — the new duty and responsi- bility of establishing in each advanced mission Normal Educa- tional Institutions, a Normal Vernacular School, a Training Institution for Native Schoolmasters, a Head Seminary for Catechists and Native Ministers. Till these institutions are in vigorous activity there can be no sound extension of a mission. Extension without these is like extend ins: mili- tary lines without men to man them. The Committee are not about expressly to designate any of those now before them for educational labours ; they are anxious to press upon every missionary the duty of regarding such educa- tional institutions as they have described as of prime and essential importance to their own work. They must be CENTRAL TRAINING INSTITUTIONS. 431 ready, if so required, to take part in them ; thej must take and manifest as deep an interest in their success as in the special work of their own hands. One illustration of such an interest may be given. A zealous missionary has the blessing of bringing to the truth a convert well qualified for teaching others. A very natural desire springs up to keep him, for his own comfort and assistance, near to himself. Very much may be said in justification. Nevertheless, there is too much of the element of selfishness. The central insti- tutions cannot flourish if the best pupils are not sent up to them. They cease to be central if they are not free to send out the best men into the best positions, without the con- straint of private inclinations or previous contracts. This is only one illustration. In a variety of ways a common inte- rest may be cherished or withheld from such institutions, and the practical difference is most manifested in its effect upon the principals at the head of such institutions. In the one case they may droop and resign, because they fancy themselves isolated from true missionary work, and find no hearty sympathy or support from their brethren, and because their work seems to terminate in itself : in the other case, they may go on with spirit, knowing that they are set over the mainspring of the mission, that their success is bound up with the success of their brethren, and that their work pervades every part of the mission field, and lays the only solid foundation of future permanency and extension. 4. The fourth special point on which the Committee will speak is that of cherishing a missionary spirit in each Native Church. The Committee have lately been made more than ever aware of the fact that Native converts do not generally lay themselves out to bring over their countrymen to the truth. In some missions, indeed, this spirit has happily manifested itself from the first, such as in New Zealand and in Yoruba. But in mission fields in which the native popu- lation is accustomed to look up to their European rulers as the doers of everything, the converts are too apt to expect that they shall be supported and kept in leading-strings by their 432 INSTRUCTIONS. missionaries, and that it is only the missionai*y's or the paid teacher's duty to bring others of their countrymen into the same comfortable fold. The case needs but to be stated to exhibit the warning and the duty that every convert should be instructed, from his conversion, in the duty of labouring for his self-support, and for the support of missions to his countrymen, and laying himself out as a missionary among his relations and friends to bring them to the truth. Since the pecuniary pressure upon the Society has crippled its grants to the missions, it has suddenly appeared that the native con- verts were, in many cases, ready and willing to do far more for themselves than was expected. In Tinnevelly, also, where the native converts had already contributed largely of their means, a new and blessed advance has been made by their sending out catechists, from among themselves, to labour in Ceylon among the Tamil Coolies, and into North Tinnevelly to labour with the itinerating missionaries. In this latter case, the proposal was made by Mr. Ragland that each of the larger districts should bear the expense of one native catechist to labour for one month. This, it was thought, would be a pecuniary burden which they could bear. It was tried ; the catechist returned to his district at the end of the month, and reported his labours. At once new light and life entered the minds of the native converts, they had tasted the sweets of doing something for missions ; they re- solved to support two catechists for the whole year, and one man at once agreed to go for two months each year at his own charges. Let this illustration stir you up to excite and cherish the missionary spirit from the first. It will often give a reality, a vigour, an independence, to native Christianity which it now wants. We should hear less of the feebleness of native converts, and of their inability to help themselves — and, above all, the work would spread, as we may say, of itself, and such an extension would soon appear, as we have hitherto almost ceased to expect— waiting, as we too idly say, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. True, we depend wholly upon ' SURSUM CORD A.' 433 that otitpouring. The present season is a glorious missionary season. But are we sure that the gift is not granted to an extent which we are not prepared to recognise — that our want of faith does not stint the manifestation of the grace ? Let us use every means, in the confidence of hope, in the dependence of humility, in the strength of faith, and God will put a new song into our mouths. June 1, 1853. F F 434 INSTRUCTIONS. B. COUNSELS AND CAUTIONS. Dearly Beloved in the Lord, — The number of labourers whom the Committee are this day sending out into the mis- sion field is not so large as on some former occasions. But owing to God's great mercy in preserving the health and strength of the Society's missionaries, and owing also to the development of the Native Christian Churches, the gaps to be filled up are less numerous than they have sometimes been ; so that the Committee entertain the hope that the reinforcement now added to the mission army will eventuate, not only in the consolidation of what has been effected, but, if it please God, in the extension of the Society's operations into districts hitherto untouched. If, then, the time has come for vigorous onward move- ment, it is more than ever desirable that those engaged should clearly understand the nature of the work before them. It is impossible for missionaries too frequently to remind themselves that the task in which they are employed is that of preaching the Gospel where Christ has not yet been named. They have to make known the Gospel in places in which, and to persons to whom, hitherto it has not been known. The object before them while thus labouring is the glory of God in Christ. The Gospel is the instrument which God uses to obtain for Himself from fallen man that filial affection which, in His infinite goodness, He condescends to desire. The Gospel sets forth God in all His love, Christ in all His attractiveness. It presents God before man with justice and holiness unsullied, and yet with love flowing forth in a stream exhaustless and unreserved. It subdues man's selfishness and enmity. It causes to ascend towards God, from human hearts and human homes, the voice of melody THIS ONE THING I DO. 435 and thanksgiving. Thus, through the preaching of the Gospel, God in Christ is glorified. Especially delightful it is to every Christian heart when effects of this kind are visible for the first time, where God's love and God's re- vealed character were previously unknown. Such are the thoughts of every youthful missionary en- tering on the work to which he has so longingly looked forward. Such are the prospects that draw him irresistibly and joyfully onward through all the pain and sorrow and sacrifice that may attend the path he has chosen. But when the work has actually commenced he finds himself beset by many temptations that tend to draw him aside. One of the most common is the seeming necessity of devoting his time to some other employments that appear likely to assist the great work itself indirectly. It is quite true that some of these employments are unavoidable. Mission buildings have to be erected. Accounts of mission expenditure must be kept. It may often be desirable to spend time in giving medical aid, in imparting secular in- struction, in friendly converse with natives and others on secular subjects. And even after a missionary has mastered the colloquial dialect, it will often be his duty to study native literature, and even the native heathen philosophy. The Committee would, however, affectionately urge it upon you, when once you have gained the language and fairly com- menced your missionary life, frequently to review the cha- racter of the employments in which your time is actually employed ; to consider, for instance, how much time is spent every week by yourself, or the agents under your superin- tendence, in genuine missionary work — in the work, that is to say, of making the Gospel known to those previously ignorant of it ; and what amount of such work, as far as it can be measured, has been actually effected in any given period. One of the most effectual seductions from direct mis- sionary activity, is the necessity of exercising pastoral vigil- ance over Native Christian congregations. The Committee are far from denying the existence of this necessity. The f f 2 436 INSTRUCTIONS. cases, indeed, are rare when the missionary should himself become the pastor of a Christian flock. But the native elders or ministers to whom this work is entrusted will fre- quently need much advice, encouragement, and even instruc- tion. Still this should never be allowed to put a stop to evangelistic effort. The missionary must, at all hazards, give to such work some of his own time. What is still more important, he should be resolved, in humble dependence upon God, that the Native Church itself should be an evangelistic agency. Wherever great success has been vouchsafed in modern missionary annals, it will be found to have arisen in a large degree from the zealous efforts of private individual native Christians — of men who have not been the salaried agents of a foreign missionary society. Such, for instance, has been the case in Mada- gascar, among the Karens of Burmah, and among the slaves of Travancore. A minor example of the same kind may be found among the Malas of the Telugu country ; and similar indications have been witnessed also among the Kandian villagers of Ceylon. The first impetus is, indeed, given through the instrumentality of the European evangelist and the agents under his employ ; but where large and rapid extension has followed, it will almost always be found to have been effected by activity of the kind above referred to. If, since the year 1840, the energies and zeal of the native Christians of India had been as great, and, proportionably to their numbers, as much blessed with success, as those of the native Christians in Madagascar, the evangelisation of the whole of India would by this time have been an event apparently close at hand. And yet, at the time when the European missionaries were driven from Madagascar, their opinion of the spiritual character of the Hova converts was not higher than the view now taken — a somewhat low view — by most missionaries in India of the infant Christian congregations under their care. The Committee cannot, therefore, too frequently urge what the last thirty years of missionary experience have so plainly taught — the necessity MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN NATIVE CHURCHES. 437 of stimulating from the first, among native converts, volun- tary effort, effort humbly dependent towards God, indepen- dent and self-reliant towards the foreign missionary society. It is sometimes said that such attempts must be deferred till a higher spiritual tone has been attained. The opinion of the Committee, and of many experienced missionaries, is the reverse of this. They think that the absence of these efforts is often the cause, rather than the consequence, of the low spiritual condition referred to. The activity of the Native Church must not be con- founded with the work of the paid native agents of mis- sionary societies. Such agents, though individually members of the Native Church, belong officially to the foreign society. The European missionary himself is neither a member nor an officer of the Native Church. He is its friend and adviser. This position he should assume and retain from the very first rise of a Christian movement among a body of native inquirers, until the full organisation of their ecclesi- astical polity. The Committee will now offer a few remarks on the duties on which their younger brethren will more immediately enter. The Committee believe you, dear Brethren, to be full of missionary zeal and ardour. Conscious yourselves of such feelings, you may imagine, perhaps, that for some years to come you will scarcely feel any temptation to worldliness, or indolence, or self-indulgence. Experience, however, shows that this is not the case. The very confidence which you, not unnaturally, feel, may engender carelessness, and so lead you unawares into precisely those faults, the least approach to which seems to you now altogether impossible. It is most desirable that a young missionary should, from the very first, make it evident both to others and to himself, that he is resolved, through Christ strengthening him, to be a zealous, laborious, self-denying, unworldly labourer. You are about to be associated with older brethren, who though, as we believe, faithful servants of Christ, are •138 INSTRUCTIONS. yet frail mortals, weak through the flesh, and liable to err. You may observe some failings in them ; you may imagine failings where none really exist ; you will possibly see some things that may cause you some surprise. But, the Com- mittee would urge, beware of any hasty judgment. It is almost certain that in many cases you will afterwards come to the conclusion, that the points of which you disapproved were fully defensible, and that there were reasons for the course adopted which you could not at first understand. There are prejudices in which all men, and all mission- aries at every stage of their career, are especially liable, and those who are most blind to this fact when young mission- aries, are not unfrequently equally blind to it when their experience has been lengthened. It is not to be wondered at if those who, when young missionaries, were violent innovators, become, when middle-aged missionaries, the most bigoted opponents of reform. Against all these dangers and errors, the one great pre- caution is humble dependence on Divine direction. The Committee would entreat you to distrust your own unaided power, to live much in communion with God, to make every action and every purpose the subject-matter of earnest prayer, to walk in the Spirit, to submit yourself to God's providential teaching and guidance. Earnestly implore from Him, they would say, and firmly believe that He will bestow — a con- straining sense of Christ's love, a joy in His free and full salvation, a consciousness of His help and presence, and a brotherly affection towards other missionaries. Accept another caution. You cannot feel too deep a compassion for the heathen ; but, at the same time, you cannot feel too solemnly the awful depravity of their con- dition, and the sinfulness of those who reject the offers of the Gospel. You cannot love the native Christians too much, but the Committee would urge that this love should be rather tender, grave, and respectful, than free and f amiliar. There is an intimacy of mutual trust that rises by slow degrees, which, if forced on prematurely, too often breaks TONE OF INTERCOURSE. 439 down altogethei", and can, perhaps, never be regained. Race distinctions are not at once destroyed by a common faith. Christian affection will overleap them, but nrust not over- look them. Superiority must not be offensively assumed, but perfect mutual understanding must not too hastily be supposed to have been attained. Here again the cure of all evils is to be found at the throne of grace, in the exercise of faith and in the activity of the inward spiritual life. Let there be full, free, unreserved spiritual intercommunion ; while the natural differences that belong to this present imperfect state are still acknowledged to exist. Doubtless even these difficulties will be more or less removed in the course of time. But before they can be removed they must be brought to light ; and, in the process of their discovery, perplexities and collisions will often arise. The Committee, dear Brethren, have laid these mis- sionary difficulties before you, not only with the view of supplying some hints for future guidance, but that you may see more clearly your need of Divine aid ; and may be more disposed to recognise the wisdom of deferring to the advice of older and more experienced fellow-labourers. The Com- mittee will once again, as on former occasions, quote the text, ' Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder ; yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility.' It is the prayer of the Committee that you, dear brethren, should be long preserved to labour on earth ; but the uncertainty of life, of which we have been thus re- minded, will always be an incentive to work while it is day. Most delightful it is to toil for Christ's sake ; most delightful to work even on earth in the presence and under the smile of our Heavenly Father ; most delightful to be ever upheld and animated, and borne onward by the Spirit of power and wisdom and love ; but far more delightful still to hear the Master say, ' Come up higher, the mansion is prepared ; I have come to call you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also.' May Christ be magnified in your bodies, whether it be by life or by death ! 440 INSTRUCTIONS. Finally, brethren, we commend you all to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all those that are sanctified. May you be faithful unto death, and may an entrance be then ministered to you abundantly into the kingdom and glory of God ! July 6, 1869. DANGERS AND SAFEGUARDS. 441 C. DANGERS AND SAFEGUARDS. Dearly Beloved in the Lord, — The Committee are once more, through God's mercy, employed as instruments in sending out a band of additional labourers into that portion of the Lord's harvest with which the Church Missionary Society is more especially concerned. Together with those going forth for the first time, the Committee have the pleasure, on the present occasion, of addressing one who, in full vigour of strength and of missionary experience, is now graciously permitted to return to missionary duties, after a brief interruption. In the field in which missionary societies are engaged, there have been, of late years, some remarkable develop- ments of that general providential government which God exercises over the nations of the world. There have been, at the same time, great movements in those native Christian Churches which owe their origin to the Divine blessing on missionary effort. It has also pleased God that missionary societies should learn by experience ; so that there has been development, if not change, in the views entertained at home respecting the modes of operation that ought to be adopted, and a consequent development in the operations themselves in the various fields of labour. These different processes, going on year by year, cause the phases of mis- sionary effort to assume a varying appearance, while at the same time the great principles of the work must always remain the same. There is one feature to which the Committee will now advert, rather for the purpose of cautioning you against being influenced by it in a wrong direction, than of impress- ing its intrinsic importance upon your attention. 442 INSTRUCTIONS. Missionary effort was, in the first instance, directed very much to the ruder and less intellectual races of heathendom. In these regions our Heavenly Father has been graciously pleased to give not a little success and encouragement. There are several places in which what may be regarded as the more direct and proper work of missionary societies has been actually accomplished. The Sandwich Islands, Tahiti and its dependencies, New Zealand, and the colony of Sierra Leone, have been evangelised. The same process seems to be rapidly going forward in the Fiji Islands, in Madagascar, and perhaps in some of the aboriginal tribes of India. The attention of the Christian Church is now called to a more arduous enterprise. Heathen nations, whose culture and civilisation, if not profound or elevated, is at least com- plicated, of ancient standing, and possessing a very firm hold on all classes of the people — nations in comparison with whose immense population the tribes already evangelised seemed to shrink into insignificance — nations proud of their own religion and literature, and yet at the same time be- coming acquainted with the literature of Europe, and even drawing from thence weapons against Christianity — these nations though possessing no desire for Gospel instruction, though not vocally and in intention asking for Christian missionaries as such, do yet (unconsciously) loudly and pite- ously implore our help by the sad spectacle which they present of religious blindness, spiritual hopelessness, and moral degradation. It would seem evident that for this field of labour different appliances are called for in some respects from those which are needed for African tribes, or for islands of the Pacific. Missionaries are only following the example of the Apostle Paul, when, in attempting to evan- gelise a nation, they address themselves at once to men of influence, and to leaders of national thought. But in countries such as those above described — for instance, in China and India — the leaders in religious belief and practice would be men of intellectual culture and power. Hence the cry not unfrequently comes to us from the mission field— 'GOD HATH CHOSEN.' 443 ' Send us missionaries of well-cultured intellects and of mental power ; men capable of mastering the national literature, of grappling with systems of philosophy, of meet- ing in argument subtle and cavilling reasoners.' Especially it is urged that men of this description are required for India, where the Government system of secular education (lately crowned by the three Indian Universities) is raising up in every province highly instructed men, most of whom still reject the Gospel, and profess to draw reasons for this rejection from the science and philosophy of Europe itself. An additional reason for the same demand seems to be furnished by the growth of the Native Christian Churches. Subordinate posts can in many places be amply supplied by native Christians. Men of commanding ability are asked for, whom the native Christian evangelists and pastors may acknowledge as their superiors, and look up to as leaders and advisers. For these and other causes the attention of missionaries and of missionary committees has been very much called to the need in the missionaries of intellectual gifts and attain- ments. The Committee would by no means overlook these considerations. They would remember that the great mis- sionary Apostle was a man of natural gifts and literary culture. They would urge upon all missionary students the importance of mental discipline and of qualifying them- selves for future usefulness, rather by diligent attention to the studies appointed for them than by discursive reading of their own selection. But they wish on the present occasion to caution you, dear Brethren, against some misleading ten- dencies to which the considerations above mentioned might give rise. The Committee would urge, in the first place, Do not be discouraged by any sense of deficiency in natural ability or of inadequate mental furniture. You have been led to your present position by the clear providence of God. And if you still wait upon Him, and do not wilfully thrust yourselves into any particular post or branch of the work, you will 444 INSTRUCTIONS. always be able to feel, ' I am where God has placed me ; the task before me is that which He has appointed, and for which I will not doubt that He will give strength sufficient.' A very acute or learned missionary doubtless possesses some advantages in arguing with the Brahmin, the Buddhist, the Confucian, or the modernised Indian infidel. But a mis- sionary of ordinary secular attainments, who depends on Divine grace, who calmly and prayerfully speaks of that which he knows by his own experience, who patiently en- deavours to understand his opponents' position, and to distinguish between contentious cavilling and real searching after truth, will almost always meet with respect, and will find, even when addressing such persons, that a Divine power accompanies the proclamation of God's truth. Let him but wield the sword of the Spirit ; let him only live and speak in close communion with God ; and he will find, after all, that the superiority, and the evident superiority, is on his own side. In the missionary's intercourse with the native Christians this evident superiority is not always necessary. The missionary's position in reference to the native pastors should be that of friend and counsellor. He is a medium of communication between them and European supporters of missionary effort, whether at home or in the mission districts themselves. The missionary will always possess certain ad- vantages ; and if there were no intrinsic superiority of any kind, the mere fact of his belonging to that nation to which under God, the native Church owes its birth, will enable a loving and spiritually-minded man to render services and assistance that could be supplied from no other quarter. In one word, therefore, a missionary of ordinary mental powers may reasonably expect to be equal to the requirements of the present day, if only he be a man thoroughly acquainted with Holy Scripture, of conscientious industry, of simple faith, and enjoying, in some degree of fulness, fellowship with the Father and with the Son. The second caution which the Committee would offer is one which naturally flows from what has just been said— • ORARE EST LABORARE.' 445 Beware, they would urge, of the temptation to omit or abridge devotional exercises for the purpose of giving more time to intellectual study. A high spiritual tone, however unosten- tatious, would make a missionary useful, even if it stood unaccompanied by any other qualifications than those which necessarily result from it. On the other hand, languor in the spiritual life cannot be compensated by the most brilliant of earthly gifts. In those tropical climates to which all of you, dear Brethren, are about to proceed, the morning of the day is especially favourable to devotion. Let one or two hours be therefore daily given to private communion with God in prayer and in reading the Scripture. Let it be actual communion — converse with God in solitude, real pouring out of the heart before Him, real reception from His fulness. Be abundant in intercessory supplication, especially in behalf of fellow-missionaries, native associates, members of your own household ; and the Committee would also ask, in behalf of those who carry on the work at this central office. Until the missionary reaches the scene of his labours he does not know the value of those Christian in- fluences by which we are all surrounded in this country. He does not know what it is to be placed where most whoin he meets with are avowed disbelievers ; where true Christians are very few in number, and very weak in the faith. It is well if, thus driven in upon himself, he is driven to the throne of grace and to the unsearchable riches of Christ. He must, again and again, recur to first principles, to the infinite love of God in the gift of His Son, to the atoning blood ever needed, to the fulness that is in Christ Jesus, to the never unfulfilled promise of the gift of that Spirit whose fruits are love and joy and peace. With what new thirst and satis- faction will he study such portions of Scripture as the fourteenth and three following chapters of St. John's Gospel, from the fifth to the eighth chapter of the Ejiistle to the Romans, the Epistles to the Ephesians and of St. John ! Dear Brethren, you are going forward to posts of special difficulties. Your earthly trials will be, in many 446 INSTRUCTIONS. respects, the same as those encountered from secular motives by the young civilian or the military officer ; but some, at least, of the spiritual difficulties will be all your own. You go forward, not because you are, or think yourselves to be, holier and more spiritually-minded than other Christians — such an inference you would disclaim — but simply because you believe God has called you. This is the Committee's belief also. We join therefore with you in the plea : ' In Thee, 0 Lord, do we put our trust ; let us never be ashamed.' The Committee observed at the commencement of these instructions that missionary experience directs from time to time special attention to particular modes of operation. In the meetings in which the secretaries of the different Mis- sionary Societies hold mutual counsel one suggestion has lately been urged by several parties as prompted by recent experience and observation. It is, that the missionaries should cultivate direct personal intercourse with leading men amongst the non-Christian -population. It is acknowledged that difficulties, especially in some cases, will have to be overcome. But it is believed that access can be obtained, if sought for prayerfully, perseveringly, and judiciously. There are in India, for instance, established modes of intercourse between natives of different castes and religions. By some of these the European may find approach. Young men belonging to this class of the population are to be found in missionary colleges. The Committee would urge that these should be sought out in their own abodes, and that by means of them communication should be opened up with companions of their own age. This plan has been adopted with some success by Dr. Bauman in Calcutta. It is believed that introduction might also in this way be obtained to men of more advanced years. Leading men in the villages have been found more easy of access than in towns, and this is believed by some to be one reason why missionary work in rural districts has met with so much more visible success. The Committee must not be for one moment misunder- stood as if they undervalued public preaching and the DEFERENCE TO OLD EXPERIENCE. 447 general proclamation of the Gospel, whether in the school- room, the preaching chapel, or in the open air ; but they believe that efforts of this kind ought in every case, where possible, to be followed up by close personal dealing with individual minds and consciences. Addressing themselves more particularly to those of you, dear Brethren, who are proceeding to the Mission field for the first time, the Committee would strongly urge deference to the advice of the senior missionaries with whom you will be associated. During the first year or two your main work must be that of acquiring the native language, and to this must be subordinated whatever you attempt for the good of others during that period. The Committee would lay down this rule with the utmost stringency for your pro- tection as well as for your guidance. When you have passed your final examination in the vernacular, and not till then, you will be appointed to some definite missionary charge. But it will be your duty, even then, to look upon yourselves as quite inexperienced in missionary work ; as, comparatively speaking, very ignorant of the native character ; as having very little serviceable practical acquaintance with the plans already in operation, and as being, therefore, scarcely capable of judging of their merits, or of forming any re- liable opinion as to the expediency of introducing amend- ments. A missionary's first impressions are extremely valuable if he stores them up in his memory, or commits them to writing, without being too hasty in acting upon them. It is quite possible that they may ultimately suggest most important improvements — improvements which he may be able to carry into effect when experience and prac- tice have given him a clear view and firm grasp of the work and its circumstances. For the first two years after entering on full work, a young missionary should follow as closely as possible the advice and guidance of some able and experienced senior. But let him, at the same time, be as earnest in seeking for Divine help and direction as if no earthly adviser were near him. 448 INSTRUCTIONS. You, Brother Schaffter, as the Committee have already observed, are returning to missionary work, carrying to it ripened experience, and thorough mastery of the vernacular, together, the Committee doubt not, with a sense of your own weakness and an unquestioning trust in the all-suf- ficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was at first contem- plated you should assist Brother Fenn in the circum-Madras Itinerancy. The weakening of the mission staff in Madras may perhaps lead to some modification of this proposal. It is possible that when you reach that place the Corresponding Committee will be in a state of abeyance, but those to whom that Committee will have delegated their functions will be able to give you advice ; and the Parent Committee are fully assured that you will cheerfully follow the path which God in His providence may thus seem to point out. Should you be led to take charge of those small congregations which have lately been attached to the circum-Madras Itinerancy, the Committee rejoice to know that you fully understand the Society's principles respecting church organisation, and are prepared to carry them out. May the Lord of the harvest give yon perception of His will and strength for its performance ! Brother Blumhardt (the son of the faithful veteran missionary at Kishnagurh), who is not with us, but whose instructions will be forwarded to him, has been designated by the Committee to missionary work in Calcutta, in con- nection with the Cathedral Mission College. The question of the appropriateness of this work for a Missionary Society has recently been brought before the Committee with much earnestness and solemnity. The Committee have deliberately and prayerfully ratified their former conclusion on the subject, and believe that the work in this College is one to which God has called them, and from which they may not shrink. But they would urge on Brother Blumhardt the importance of remembering that he is a missionary of Christ, that any time spent by him in teaching secular subjects is (like that occupied by the itinerant missionary in HEATHEN STUDENTS IN COLLEGES. 449 travelling from place to place) simply for the purpose of bringing human minds in contact with the Gospel. It is a means to an end, the immediate end being that of bring- ing the College students under spiritual instruction, and of thus preaching to them the everlasting Gospel. This latter is the real missionary work of the College, and the Committee rejoice to remember that the Gospel is thus pressed on the students, both in the lecture- room and in their own private abodes. For this purpose it is the positive instruction of the Committee that Brother Blumhardt should make himself thoroughly acquainted with one of the ver- nacular languages familiar to the College students. The Committee would affectionately urge on all missionaries similarly employed in Indian missionary colleges, that they cannot be too earnest in prayer, or too vehement in desire for spiritual conversions ; that they cannot be too deeply grieved before God when they observe young men who have the Gospel, and the grounds for believing the Gospel, so plainly set before them, continue week after week and month after month in open rejection of the Saviour. You, Brother Ellwood, have been appointed to the North- West Provinces. The Committee do not attempt to name the particular station in which you may be ultimately called to labour. But they would earnestly insist that in your case also the thorough acquisition of the native lan- guage must be, for the next two years, the main object held in view by yourself, and by the Society's representatives in Calcutta. The Committee would much rejoice if missionary work could more systematically be attempted in North India in the village population. But the stations already occupied must not be neglected . You, Brother Yarnold, have been appointed by the Com- mittee to the Mission at Hydrabad, in Sindh. The aspect of this mission is hopeful. There is a spirit of devoted earnestness and mutual brotherly love amongst the mis- sionaries engaged there. But while prepared to associate yourselves in all affection and respect with these senior G G 450 INSTRUCTIONS. brethren, your trust must be in the Lord and not in man, least of all in your own heart. While studying the language you will probably be able to render some assistance to Brother Shirt. May our heavenly Father support you in that trying climate, and abundantly endue you with all needful gifts and graces ! You, Brothers Cox and Woodrow, have been set apart for the Telugu Mission. This mission the Committee have lately endeavoured to strengthen, in consequence of the promising openings in the rural population and among the Koi tribes. The Committee rejoice that you will have the advice of so experienced a fellow-labourer as Brother Tanner of Masulipatam. The study of the Telugu language will be your first work, and until you have mastered it you will not regard yourselves as responsible either for missionary work, or for giving any advice at the missionary conferences which you will be allowed to attend. May a double portion be granted to you of the spirit formerly vouchsafed to Henry Fox and Robert Noble ! You, Brother Caley, have been selected for the Travan- core Mission. This mission is passing through an interesting period of its history. The native congregations connected with the Society consist in about equal measure of those who have left the Syrian Church and of converts from heathenism. These have lately assumed a distinct organi- sation under a native Church Council, with its pastors and lay delegates. At the same time, in the Syrian Church itself, or in a large portion of it, a strong desire for reform has lately been manifested. The reforming party has asked help from one, at least, of the Society's missionaries. But as far as yourself and the younger Travancore brethren are concerned, the Committee believe that you will best help forward both the Syrian Church, and the newly organised native Protestant community, by vigorous efforts in preaching the pure and simple Gospel to the heathen by whom they are surrounded. You will attach much weight to the advice you will receive from the Society's veteran missionary, POWER, LOVE, AND A SOUND MIND. 451 Brother Henry Baker. The Committee commend you to the all-sufficient grace of God. You, Brother Hechler, have been designated to the Lagos Mission. Your work there will be that of assisting Brother Wood in the training of native agents. The Committee cannot but hope that large openings will arise for the em- ployment of such agents, both in the Native Church and among the surrounding heathen. It is the prayer of the Committee that Brother Wood and yourself may be enabled to labour together in harmony and love ; and that you may be able to render him much help in his important work. If his health and strength are spared, the Committee need give you no other special instructions for the next few months than to be guided by his advice. The Committee do not contemplate that any difficulties will arise, but should such be the case the Finance Committee and Missionary Con- ference are on the spot, to whom such difficulties may be referred. May the Lord give you in rich abundance the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind ! January 20, 1871. G g 2 452 INSTRUCTIONS. D. SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS. Dearly Beloved in the Lord, — The large number of Brothers and Sisters of whom we have now to take leave — fourteen going out for the first time, besides those who are returning to their work — might raise the hope that we are about to enlarge our missions, by opening new ground, or commencing new departments of labour. But this hope must not be indulged. It is a fact which marks our present meeting with peculiar solemnity, that you are all required to fill up the gaps which have lately been caused in the missionary band abroad through the removal of older missionaries by death and other causes. So that, while we praise God for so goodly a number of labourers as are now before us, we have reason to be very urgent in prayer, that He may greatly enlarge our supply of men, that we may not only sustain but enlarge our work abroad. Yet far be it from the Committee to shut out any of you now present from the hope of being ultimately employed in the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom. The loss of labourers which the Society has lately sustained is excep- tional. We trust that, in another year or two, our work may be so strengthened, and that so much of the work now resting upon missionaries may be devolved upon the Native Church, that some of you may be at liberty to branch out, and to preach Christ where He hath not yet been named. In the meantime you must regard it as no small honour to enter into the labours and to complete the work of such men as have gone before you. The vacancies which you are to fill have been caused by the loss of men whose names will ever be illustrious in the missionary roll — Peet, Noble, THE HEATHEN. 453 Pfander, Isenberg, Parsons, and Wathen. It may well quicken and encourage you to do your utmost that the standard which they have set may not he lowered in your hands ; hut that Christ may be magnified in you as He was in them, whether it he by life or by death. There is sometimes a danger lest a missionary forget the special responsibilities under which he places himself when he joins the Society. It is possible that he may merge his missionary responsibilities in those of the general office of a minister of the Church of Christ ; or that he may have before his eyes the duties and position of an incumbent of the Church of England, rather than the position of those who forsake all such things for the less defined and far more humble employment, in the world's estimation, of a missionary. The Committee will therefore, on the present occasion, address to you a few remarks upon the special responsibili- ties of the missionary office, as distinguished from those of the minister in the Church of a Christian country. There is the less need that the Committee should address you upon the general subject of ministerial responsibilities, because at your late ordination the preacher very forcibly enjoined these topics upon you, and it is hoped that his address may shortly be placed in your hands. Special missionary obligations arise from (1) the pecu- liarity of the position of a missionary in a heathen land ; (2) from the peculiarity of his relations with the Managing Committee of the Society ; and (3) with his brother mis- sionaries. Upon each of these points a very few words will suffice. 1. The peculiarity of the position of a minister of Christ in a heathen land enjoins upon him a distinctness of cha- racter and teaching, a clearness in stating the great outlines of Gospel truth, a firm and uncompromising protest against prevailing errors and sins, qualities which, though always desirable, are not so essential to the discharge of the ministry in a Christian land. The standard of faith and practice, 454 INSTRUCTIONS. according to the truth of the Gospel, is not dependent, humanly speaking, upon the individual minister at home. He is regarded as one of a well-known class of men ; his personal deficiencies are in a measure made up for by the Services of the Church which he ministers ; the reading-desk corrects the pulpit : and even if the parochial minister at home, through inefficiency or unfaithfulness, ceases to be a standard-bearer, the people have many other witnesses for the truth to whom they may turn : they have an open Bible, the glory of a, Protestant land ; they have all the auxiliary aid of an abundant Christian literature, especially rich in Christian biographies. Things are very different in the missionary field. Gene- rally speaking, the missionary embodies the standard of faith and practice, and stamps his individual character upon the yielding material of the infant church. There may be no other Christian example within reach ; there may be no Christian literature. In the place of these helps, there exist the positive hindrance of a heathen atmosphere — the glitter of false religions, the chains of hereditary customs, and the charm of national institutions. Under such circumstances the light which is to shine must be very distinct, very bright, very steady : a flicker- ing and murky flame is of no use ; a feeble light, which, with other helps, might guide men into right paths, will be quenched by surrounding darkness and false fires. In plain language, many a minister of the Church, who might fulfil his ministry in the Church at home, finds himself over- matched when he contends with heathenism— becomes dispirited, and soon receives a sick certificate to cover his return home. To you, dear Brethren, now going forth, the Committee affectionately address the exhortation : ' Let your light so shine before men.' See to it that you keep your lamps trimmed. In much prayer and watchfulness — in mutual brotherly fidelity — in close communion with the Source of all light— in the ordering your families according to the THE HOME COMMITTEE. 455 rule of Christ, seek to reflect your Saviour's image, and to adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things. 2. Secondly, every missionary sent out by a voluntary missionary society adds to his ministerial responsibilities a certain allegiance to the managing committee of the Society which supports his labours. This is a responsibility un- known at home, and therefore not realised by some mission- aries abroad. Nay, it is sometimes attempted to set it aside altogether by the vague assertion, ' I am the messenger of the CAwrc/i.' But common sense, as well as common honesty, will acknowledge, that as long as missionary efforts are dependent upon supplies of men and means from volun- tary societies there must be correlative responsibilities between the Managing Committee at home and the mission- ary abroad, which, if properly improved, may be greatly to the advantage of the Lord's work ; otherwise hindrance, dis- couragement, and mutual dissatisfaction will be sure to arise. These remarks are specially addressed to younger mis- sionaries. The Committee has no reason to complain of any want of mutual confidence or deference on the part of their older missionaries, especially of those who have returned home after a period of work abroad, and enjoyed the advan- tage of conferences in the Parent Committee-room. The ablest of missionaries, as a linguist and controversialist, lately taken to his rest, Dr. Pfander, sent, within a few hours of his departure, a message to the Parent Committee to thank them for all their past behaviour towards him, and to assure them that he and all his brethren abroad, both in North India and in Turkey, felt that their connection with the Committee was a source of strength, as well as of com- fort, to them in their missionary labours. Another mis- sionary veteran, still labouring alter more than thirty years, has lately taken an extensive journey, and visited the mis- sions of several other Societies, and, summing up his impres- sions in a few pithy sentences, one of them is, ' Thank God for the Managing Committees of our beloved Society at home and abroad.' 450 INSTRUCTIONS. 3. Once more, the missionary lias special responsibility towards his elder brethren and those who have borne the burden and heat of the day before his arrival. In England a new incumbent enters a parish free to introduce a new mode of working that parish upon his own responsibility, and the changes he introduces often do not materially affect the regular routine of a parochial ministry. But in a missionary station the case is far different. Every new missionary is bound to defer to the experience and local knowledge of the elder brethren of the mission until qualified, by some years of labour, to form an indepen- dent judgment. The several stations of any ' mission ' are bound up to- gether in a way which has no analogy in parochial cures in an established church. The missionaries have mutual rela- tions with each other, arising from the pectdiarities of missionary work, which do not exist between incumbents at home. The leading idea, if we may so speak, at home, is, that each parish minister should work up his own sphere of labour, according to his own judgment, and that there should be no interference in the work of brother incumbents : the leading idea in the mission field is, that all the brethren within a district of reasonable size should regard themselves as partners in the work, carrying the division of labour no further than convenience may require, and without violating the principle of combined action, which should be prominently written over the gateway of every mission. The disregard of this principle of combined action, and the false analogy of incumbencies at home, have been fruit- ful sources of evils in the missions. They have led many a missionary to busy himself in the pastoral charge of a few converts, as if they were ' his people ' and he their ' pastor ' ; while all the organisation of the Native Church, which properly belongs to the sphere of the evangelist, is neglected ; and the Native Church grows up wdthout coherence or com- bined action, and does not advance beyond the elementary LOWLINESS AND MEEKNESS. 457 stage of dependence upon foreign ministrations and Euro- pean Missionary Societies. Again, the Committee remark that the missionary brethren who have been already engaged in the work will scarcely need the prompting of the Committee to appreciate the importance of the subject. But the younger brethren, especially those whose missionary knowledge is limited to the acquirements of a missionary college, do need to have the importance of these responsibilities earnestly pressed upon them in all tbeir breadth as well as depth. A super- ficial view of their responsibilities, drawn from the home analogies, will tend to their self-importance. They bear themselves as English incumbents, sometimes as English dignitaries, and so expose themselves to the ridicule of the ' old Indians,' whom they meet as their fellow-passengers when they go on shipboard. Too often, alas ! this spirit disgusts their senior brethren upon their arrival in the mission. We paint scenes which bitter experience has im- pressed upon our missionary annals. But though we thus speak, we hope better things of you, dear Brethren, and that a deeper and w ider view of your responsibilities will beget a self-diffidence ; a godly fear and jealousy, lest you betray the interest entrusted to your keeping ; a willingness to take the lowest place, to be the servant of all work, to be a learner before you become a teacher of new things, to lay a sure foundation underground before you attempt to raise an edifice for the world to look upon. What the Committee is now enjoining upon you is but a branch of the cardinal grace of humility and an amplifica- tion of the apostolic maxim — ' Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder; yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility.' — 1 Peter v. 5. June 29, 1866. 458 INSTRUCTIONS. E. ANNUAL LETTER.1 You are about to proceed to the Mission Fields of North India, Western India, South India, and New Zealand, to which you have been appointed, there to be associated with others of your brethren who have preceded you, that you may be fellow-labourers with thern in the Gospel of Christ, to the glory of God, and the salvation of sinners. They, on their departure, received their respective instructions, and to those instructions the Committee would refer you as com- prising all that they could desire to say to you, on the general character of your work, the tone and temper in which it ought to be commenced and carried on, and your need of the grace that is in Christ Jesus, that you may be sustained under difficulties and trials. On the present occasion the Committee propose to address themselves to a special subject, directing your attention to that exclusively. Its importance, as they conceive, justifies their doing so. It is of universal application to all mis- sionaries. The diverse fields of labour to which missionaries 1 The Committee have directed the Secretaries to send a copy of these Instructions to all Missionaries of the Society, in the various fields of labour which they occupy : and especially to direct their attention to the concluding remarks respecting: an Annual Letter, which each Mission- ary is requested to regard as now made personally to himself. Such a Letter they should transmit at the close of the present year. The Secretaries much regret that the accumulated business of the Office in- terferes so much with that personal correspondence with the Missionaries which it would otherwise be their duty and privilege to maintain. The proposed Annual Letter will be an important link of inter-communication : and will lead, it may be hoped, to other and reciprocal measures for strengthening the current of mutual sympathy between the Missionary labourers abroad and the Parent Committee, and quickening their mutual intercession for each other before the throne of the God of all grace. SCRIPTURAL PRECEDENT. 459 are appointed must necessitate considerable dissimilarity in the instructions delivered to them. Missionary work in its detail presents a great variety of aspect, and the counsel which would be most pertinent in one case would be quite irrelevant in another. But the subject to which the Com- mittee would confine themselves to-day applies with equal force to every missionary, whatever be the peculiarities of his work ; and, intimately connected as it is with the well- being of the missionary cause, and the hopes we entertain of its being deepened and strengthened into increased efficiency, has a powerful claim on the prayerful considera- tion of all. It has to do with the well-being of the Church at home. It has to do with the well-being of the work abroad. There is therefore an importance connected with it which the Committee have long felt, and they gladly avail themselves of this present opportunity to give it due con- sideration and prominence. The subject to which the Committee refer is the duty which devolves on every missionary to present to the Society, and through the Society to the Church at large, regular and faithful transcripts of the missionary work as it comes under his own personal observation. There is a Scriptural example to direct us in this matter. On a reference to the Acts, the 13th chapter, we are in- formed that when at Antioch there were congregated ' certain prophets and teachers,' two from amongst the number, Bar- nabas and Saul, were specially designated by the Holy Ghost to go forth and preach the Gospel in the districts around. ' Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto 1 have called them.' Such is the hope we entertain respecting you, beloved Brethren — ' that you are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you this office and ministration ; ' and our desire is that you should go forth with our heartfelt prayers and sympathy, just as Barnabas and Saul went forth with the prayers and sympathy of the Christians at Antioch, who, ' when they had fasted and prayed, laid their hands on them, and sent them away.' The particulars of the labours 460 INSTRUCTIONS. in which they are engaged, the places which they visited, and the reception which they met, are then detailed in this and the succeeding chapter, until their return to Antioch, ' from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled ; ' and immediately on their arrival, as a primary duty which ought not to be neglected, they gathered the Church together, and ' rehearsed all that God had done with them.' So again, in the next chapter (the 15th), when deputed to visit Jerusalem in connection with a certain question, as they ' passed through Phenice and Samaria,' they declared the ' conversion of the Gentiles,' causing ' great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the Church, and of the Apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.' On a subsequent visit to Jerusalem, as detailed in the Acts, the 21st chapter, we find Paul pursuing the same course, and declaring ' particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.' The original Greek shows that there must have been much of minute detail in his narrative — s^jsIto tcad' sv ekcuttov oov sirotrjasv 6 ©soy ev toZs eOvsctlv Sea rrjs BiaicovLas avTOv. It is important that the missionary should ever bear in mind his responsibilities to the Church at home in the dis- charge of this duty. The missionary interest at home is the heart of all that is going forward in distant parts. Those foreign efforts are the expression of this home interest. Sympathy between them must be maintained, and the work abroad must re-act beneficially on the interest at home, if that interest is to be kept up, and if the undertakings it has put forth are to be vigorously prosecuted. A forcible analogy illustrative of the subject, may be found in the organisation of the human frame. The heart is the fountain from whence the vital streams diffuse themselves through every artery and vein, and hence the pulsation of life, and the capability of effort which pervade the members. Yet, if the heart give, it receives in return. The members are in various ways RELUCTANCE TO SUPPLY INFORMATION. 461 employed in ministering to the requirements of the central reservoir, so that there may be no enfeebling of its action, and all unite in reciprocating supplies to that from whence they are all supplied. So, wherever a missionary is located, and there is the expenditure of interest connected with the commencement and prosecution of missionary work, there ought to be from thence a greater reaction, and the remit- tance of that information which is the very material that holy love, the love that is of God, love to Christ and to souls, by its peculiar action transubstantiates into increased sympathy and increased effort. The Committee are the more anxious to place this duty before their missionaries in the clear and Scriptural light which they conceive belongs to it, because misapprehensions may arise respecting it, which, wherever they exist, must interfere with its performance. The intelligence transmitted from the diverse points of missionary occupation varies con- siderably. From many quarters it is fresh and abundant. From others there is regular communication, but of an official and formal character ; while from some only occa- sional letters arrive, which are not such as to enable the Committee to identify themselves as intimately as they would desire with the efforts of their brethren, and to feel them- selves in that close sympathy with them which they are anxious to maintain. The withholding of information, when it does occur, may be accounted for in various ways. There is sometimes a morbid sensitiveness on the part of a missionary as to the publication of details ; and, shrinking from the idea of having his work submitted to the public eye, he confines himself in his reports to generalities. But the work is not the mis- sionary's. It is the Lord's work. It is what Christ hath wrought by the missionary that we seek to know ; and that no private individual is justified in withholding from the Society and the Church. It is not with him to decide on that point. He has no option in the matter. So Paul felt. In his Epistle to the Eomans, xv. 18, he says expressly, 'I 462 INSTRUCTIONS. will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed ; ' but of those things which Christ had wrought by him he found himself, at the proper time and occasion, constrained to speak, as he immediately proceeds to do in the next verse — ' Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God ; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ.' Again, some are deterred by the fear of ministering to the selfish and vain- glorious principle, of the stirrings of which every Christian man is in a greater or less degree painfully sensible, and of the necessity of subjugating which he is equally convinced. The pride of the human heart finds materials to feed upon in every change of outward circum- stance, and that pride may be gratified in the very reserve which had been resorted to in the hope of starving it. The expulsive power of a new and divine affection, increasing love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and elevation of soul to Him, under a sense of benefits continually received, constitutes the only true corrective. But the attempts to escape one temptation by the avoidance of duty is the sure way to fall into some other. The hindrances, to which the Committee refer, will be much lessened by the simple consideration, that whatever work the missionary is permitted to do is not so much his as the Lord's. All are but instruments. He selects such as it may be His pleasure to employ, apportioning them their proper spheres and callings, whether ministerial work at home, or missionary work abroad, and carrying forward, through their instrumentality, that which He has purposed should be done. His whole mystical body is rendered available to this end. He works in and by His willing people, and directs them to the performance of such good works as He has before ordained that they should walk in. But the results produced are His, not ours. The works done, the fruits yielded are the Lord's ; and it is His pleasure that such BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 463 should be made known, for the encouragement and comfort of His people — ' 0 give thanks unto the Lord ; call upon His name : make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him : talk ye of all His won- drous works.' (Ps. cv. 1, 2.) ' One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts. .... All Thy works shall praise Thee, 0 Lord ; and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power ; to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.' (Psalm cxlv. 10 — 12.) So the Saviour once enjoined, ' Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had com- passion on thee.' (Mark v. 19.) The Committee would further observe, that it is not any partial view of the work which they desire, but a faithful transcript of it, as it is — its difficulties as well as its en- couragements ; its reverses as well as its successes. They wish to know as much of it when it is under a cloud, as when the sunshine of the Divine favour is unequivocally rest- ing upon it. It is only as the narration is thus faithful that it can be profitable to the Church. The beneficial effects of a conscientious discharge of this duty are manifold. It is advantageous to the Church, beneficial to the missionary cause, healthful to the mis- sionary, and promotive of the best interests of his own par- ticular station. It is advantageous to the Church, for it develops interest, quickens sympathy, and brings into exercise the varied graces of the Christian character. Faithful transcripts of the mis- sionary's work will necessarily be of varying aspect. There will be the dark ground of heathen ignorance, and the welcome relief of the Gospel in its renewing action. There will be the missionary's hopes and the missionary's fears ; the faithful few who are his crown of rejoicing, and the unstable many who go back and walk no more with him. But all will be profitable. The clouds and the sunshine, the 464 INSTRUCTIONS. storm and the tranquil season, temper each other. There will be enough of encouragement to ' thank God, and take courage ' ; and enough of difficulty and disappointment to remind us of our complete dependence on the Lord. The hearts of Christians at home will be moved in sympathy with their missionary friends abroad, and they will be en- abled to ' rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.' The work, as presented in its varied aspect, will elicit, now the thanksgivings, now the earnest supplications, of the Lord's people, just as the hand brings forth from an instrument, sounds, now joyous, now moving ; and in each God is glorified. To the missionary cause in general, the discharge of this duty will prove in many respects beneficial. There will be an increased acquaintance with the nature of the work in which we are engaged. The necessities of the heathen will be better understood, and the desire to help them be in- creased proportionably. The conviction will be strengthened that far more ought to be done, and there will be a clearer perception as to the way in which we ought to do it. As, in analytical science, various experiments bring out principles, so, in the variety of details submitted from various quarters, we are enabled to distinguish between the permanent cha- racteristics of missionary work, and such as are only local and incidental ; between the changes wherewith it is sure to be affected, wherever it be prosecuted, and such as are occasional and exceptive. We are taught, so to speak, the philosophy of missions. We are forewarned alike against over-sanguine hopes and depressing fears. We are prepared for vicissitudes. But we are confirmed in the conviction that the work is the Lord's, and the issue sure. Thus the work becomes more and more a work of faith : there is less of excitement, but more of principle ; and in this, provision is made for steadfast persistence in its prosecution, amidst whatsoever difficulties. To be thus in close connection with home will be of first importance to each missionary, and to the work in which he QUICKENING OF INTERCESSION. 465 is personally engaged. Friends become familiarised with the details of each particular station, and are thus increasingly- interested in its welfare. They know its wants, and they are moved to prayer on its behalf. The information they receive respecting it makes them acquainted with its pecu- liar features, and when they would pray they know what petitions to offer up. And as with his work, so with the missionary. He is had in remembrance by his brethren. He is enriched by their prayers ; while he who isolates him- self by silence, and withdraws himself from this communion, must not be surprised if he find himself proportionably im- poverished. More frankness of intercourse with his brethren would ensure to him more perceptible support and comfort. St. Paul was sensible of this. He would not have his Christian friends at Corinth (2 Cor. i.) ignorant of the trouble which came upon him at Ephesus. And why ? Be- cause he desired to be helped by their prayers. He believed that such prayers were efficacious to help — ' Ye also helping together by prayer for us.' He looked forward to many a similar time of difficulty ; but he took courage in believing that like deliverances, to that which he had so recently experienced, would be vouchsafed him — ' who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver : in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us ; ' and he desired their prayers, not only that he might be helped, but when, in answer to their prayers, the deliverance which had been sought had been conceded, ' that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.' The missionary who is duly sensible of his position will earnestly desire the prayers of his brethren : and they are so desired. There is no one entreaty urged more con- tinuously from every portion of the missionary field. But if the brethren abroad would be helped by the prayers of those who are at home, they must, in the discharge of the duty on which the Committee have expressed themselves, help the Church to pray. In conclusion, the Committee would observe, that, if the H H 466 INSTRUCTIONS. duty in question be thus important, it is well worth the time which may be expended on it. They are quite aware of the many responsibilities which engage the attention of their missionaries. Still, they have the less hesitation in urging the claims of this particular service, persuaded as they are that it is an expenditure of time and thought which will not be lost, but will be sure to bring back a rich return. Neither in these observations do they mean to imply that the duty under consideration has not been strongly felt, and extensively acted upon, throughout the wide circle of the stations in connection with the Church Missionary Society. They desire to record, with much thankfulness, the full and punctual communications which it is their privilege to re- ceive.. Their object, with reference to the general body of their missionaries, is not so much to correct a deficiency, as to strengthen a conviction already existing, and to encourage you, beloved Brethren, who are now going forth to the mis- sion field, to the punctual discharge of a duty, of which so happy an example is being set you by so many of your brethren. There is now one special act in the discharge of this duty which the Committee have to recommend, and which it is the main object of these instructions to enjoin upon each of their missionaries, in various parts of the world. It is, that every missionary, besides the transmission of the ordinary reports and journals — which, passing through the hands of the various corresponding committees, are not un- f requently long delayed before they reach us — should, at the close of each year, transmit to the parent committee a digest of his labours and proceedings, in the form of an Annual Letter : a copy of which should be sent to the corresponding committee as well as direct to the parent committee. This annual letter, if sent early in each year, will reach the Com- mittee while they are engaged in the preparation of the Annual Report, and will materially assist in that work. It shoxild contain a brief statistical return of the station, ac- cording to the form given below. STATISTICS. 467 Such an annual review will be profitable to yourselves. It will afford to you the opportunity of considering whether you have in aught deteriorated from that simplicity and earnestness of purpose, by which you were actuated when you first put your hand to this work of faith and labour of love, and of seeking in earnest prayer those refreshings from the presence of the Lord, whereby He is able to revive His work in the hearts of His people. July 11, 1854. STATISTICAL RETURN. 1. Number of Native Christians.1 2. „ Baptized. 3. „ Baptisms last year. 4. „ Native Communicants. 5. „ Native Teachers. 6. „ Boys' day schools, and scholars. 7. ,, Boys' boarding schools, and scholars. 8. ,, Girls' day schools, and scholars. 9. „ Girls' boarding schools, and scholars. 1 The term Native Christian is to include the whole hody of Natives who have separated themselves from their fellow-idolaters, and are under regular Christian instruction and influence, whether as yet baptized or still inquirers. 468 INSTRUCTIONS. F. POLITICS AND MISSIONS. We are met together to take leave of a large body of missionaries going to distant and widely differing fields of labour — to West Africa, India, Ceylon, China, and the Mediterranean. The Committee have so frequently addressed their mis- sionaries upon the main principles and chief motives of missionary work, that they feel justified in omitting these upon the present occasion ; in order to touch upon a topic of great practical importance, which the present aspect of the missionary field brings into prominent notice — namely, the proper conduct of a missionary in respect of social and political questions which may seem to be connected with the progress of his spiritual work. The one object of the Church Missionary Society is to provide for the preaching of the Gospel of Christ to those who have not yet received it ; and to train up the Christian converts in the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England. But the blessings of the Gospel when received tend to elevate the social position of the converts, and to instruct them in the true principles of justice and humanity : and so to quicken in their minds the sense of the wrongs they may suffer through oppression and misgovernment. A knowledge also of Christian duty, while it secures obedience to the sovereign powers, limits that obedience to things lawful in the sight of God as defined in His Word ; and so far often interferes with the institutions of heathen and Mohammedan Governments. The relation, also, in which the missionary stands to his converts, necessarily connects him with their temporal wel- WISDOM AND IIARMLESSNESS. 409 fare. Going- among the people with a message of love upon his lips, and with the spirit of love in his heart, he soon wins their confidence beyond all other persons of his race. He becomes their best friend — their faithful adviser. His message embraces their temporal as well as their spiritual interests, for ' godliness ' hath the ' promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.' They have, there- fore, a claim upon him for advice, and assistance against injustice and wrong. The missionary has, moreover, a message to declare, on proper occasions, to those in authority, on their responsi- bility to God, by whose ordinance they exercise the right of government. However earnestly, therefore, the faithful missionary may strive to confine himself to his one great work, the ministry of the Gospel of salvation, he is liable to be involved in many questions of a social and political kind. And he cannot always escape the reproach cast upon his Divine Master and upon His Apostle, of being the enemy of Caesar, or of turning the world upside down. The difficiilty which a Christian missionary always finds in shaping his course in such matters, with ' the wisdom of the serpent, and the harmlessness of the dove,' is much in- creased in seasons of national, political, or social excitement. And the fields of labour to which you are designated are so circumstanced. In India, society yet heaves under the recent terrible catastrophe, and questions have been lately raised, in respect of the civil rights of Christian converts, of the system of ryotry in the cultivation of indigo, of the Christian action of Government, and of its officers — in which the missionary may be more or less necessarily involved. In the sphere of our missions in Africa and in China, civil wars rage, and in the former country, our missionaries are severally living under governments at open war with each other. In Asia Minor, and throiighout the Turkish Empire, social and political affairs are in a state of terrible effer- vescence. 470 INSTRUCTIONS. Into such fields of labour, you are going forth as the messengers of the Prince of Peace — to preach ' glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men.' How blessed the commission ! yet how arduous and perilous its right execution ! The Committee would therefore desire to furnish you, by the Divine blessing, with advice for the guidance of your conduct, and, with an affectionate assurance of their sym- pathy, to encourage and cheer you in your future difficulties. I. The general rule in such cases has been laid down in the printed ' Regulations explanatory of the relation between the Church Missionary Society and the missionaries con- nected with it,' in these words: — 'Every missionary is strictly charged to abstain from interfering in the political affairs of the country or place hi which he may be situated.' The terms of this rule are necessarily broad and some- what indefinite — political affairs is a wide term. There are worldly politicians who would desire to include in their ex- clusive province national education, the State support of idolatry, the social institution, as it is called, of slavery, the treatment of the aborigines, the private religious action of Government officers. As soon as a minister of religion touches these questions an outcry is apt to be raised, as if he were meddling with politics. But such subjects as these are not simply ' political affairs.' They are of a mixed character. The great principles of justice, humanity, and Christian duty lie at the root of these questions. Those principles are, as matters of investigation and of public exposition, the special province of the minister of religion. It is for the minister of religion to propound these principles, and to suggest their proper application. Such mixed questions, therefore, cannot by any just interpretation be included in those ' political affairs ' from interfering with which the missionary is to abstain. A missionary is bound to remon- strate if he believes the great principles of justice, humanity, and Christian duty to be violated ; and the politician is MIXED QUESTIONS. 471 bound, on his part, to vindicate his adherence to those principles, in the course which he thinks it right to pursue. In all such questions, therefore, it were the wisdom of the governing powers to listen to the suggestions of the mis- sionary body, and to secure their co-operation ; if the authorities, on the other hand, decline or oppose their sug- gestions, the missionary is driven to an appeal to public opinion as a last resource, and the Government may be, sooner or later, compelled to yield that which Christian principle demands : — and too often, after loss of time and opportunity, and after controversial dissension, equally dis- advantageous to all the parties concerned. A few specific cases which have occurred in the history of this Society will serve to illustrate the foregoing statement. 1. The earliest political question in which the Society was involved was that of slavery : — first, the abolition of the slave trade ; afterwards, the abolition of slavery. This Society nobly and prominently denounced the sin and evil of slavery, while it was yet maintained as a social institu- tion, and protected by numerous acts of the legislature. Other missionary societies having labourers before ourselves in slave colonies, bore the brunt of the contest upon the spot. Their missionaries were denounced as political agita- tors, till at last the missionary, Smith, was cast into a jail, and tried as a rebel. This act called forth the indignation of the British Parliament, and the authority of the Imperial Government was interposed to vindicate the rights of justice and humanity in the person of the injured missionary. Through such conflicts the good cause at length triumphed, and slavery was abolished. 2. Another great political question, in which the mis- sionaries were involved, was the liberty of preaching the Gospel to the natives of India. Here again, the first brunt of actual conflict was borne by the missionaries of another society — the illustrious Carey, Ward, and Marshman. Their memoirs, lately published, exhibit an instructive example of the delicacy and difficulty of such questions as we are hand- 472 INSTRUCTIONS. ling, and how gradually the right and liberty were conceded, for which the missionary and his friends contended. 3. So also, by the missionary and his friends, the ques- tion of Government connection with idolatry, in India, was first raised, and was mainly supported by the evidence of the missionary. Here, also, the advocates of a Christian policy were frequently denounced as disturbers of govern- ment. Even the eminent Christian bishop, Dr. Corrie, received an official rebuke for pressing this question upon the attention of Government. The cause of Christian duty was, however, supported by the voice of the nation, and at length the very principles which had been at first opposed as the theory of fanatics, were embodied in a formal despatch of His Majesty's Government. 4. So, also, in Travancore the missionaries have thought themselves compelled, on several occasions, to stand up for the civil rights of the converts, and their efforts have been blessed with success. Even when the Government of Madras censured the missionaries for appearing in courts of justice as the friends of the oppressed Christian, the Home Government reversed the censure, and vindicated the conduct of the missionary, as being the natural and proper guardian of the just civil rights of the convert. 5. On a late occasion, a missionary of this Society fur- nished this Committee with a statement of the effects which he had witnessed of an order of the supreme Government of India, in respect of the private action of Christian officers towards Christian enquirers of the 24th Punjab Native Infantry. The Committee thought it right publicly to remonstrate against this proceeding. The Government, in consequence of this remonstrance issued a despatch explana- tory of that order, which has happily removed the difficulties which a misunderstanding of the order had created ; and the Committee rejoice now to add that the good work in the regiment, arrested for fifteen months by that misunderstand- ing, has been renewed, and the baptism of several soldiers of the regiment has since taken place. SUPPOSED GRIEVANCES. 473 6. At tliis present time a social question is agitated be- tween the indigo planter of Bengal and the ryot cultivator. When, a few years ago, the cause of the ryot was advocated by the missionary, the missionary was denounced as a med- dler in matters beyond his province. At length, however, the supreme Government has instituted a Court of Inquiry, and has placed a missionary, as a fair representative of the ryot, among the Commissioners, and has subpoenaed other missionaries to give evidence on oath of the cases of alleged oppression which have come under their notice ; thus vin- dicating the right of the missionary to assist in the adjust- ment of this question. The result of the enquiry is not yet known, and therefore the Committee abstain from further remark upon this particular case. These six instances will sufficiently illustrate our position that there are many questions of a mixed character, which, though partly political, fall within the province of the mis- sionary, and in the adjustment of which the authorities may advantageously avail themselves of the co-operation of the missionary body. These questions, it is impossible to deny, are becoming daily more and more prominent and important. For it is a characteristic of the age that the religious element enters into every great question — even in the congress of European nations. II. The Committee now proceed to offer you a few prac- tical directions in respect of such questions as have been described. 1. The Committee affectionately, but earnestly, warn each missionary, especially every young missionary, not to take up supposed grievances too hastily ; but to wait and consult with other Christian men till they have ascertained the reality and importance of any alleged social or civil wrong. Remember that these ' mixed ' questions form the exceptions to the general rule of strict abstinence from in- terfering in political affairs. This rule must be applied to all such matters as do not palpably involve the great prin- 474 INSTRUCTIONS. ciples of justice, humanity, or Christian duty. The Com- mittee say palpably, because the ingenuity of some minds will see a connection which is not generally recognised. All political measures might be thus excepted from the prohibi- tion, and the rule become a nullity. But common sense has established a distinction, and it will be well for the mis- sionary to err on the side of abstinence from doubtful questions, rather than to interfere in matters which will not be allowed by sober judges to belong to his province. 2. When, however, the missionary is unavoidably in- volved, in the line of his duty, in questions having a political aspect, let him guard against a political spirit — that is, against the spirit in which the politicians of this world strive together. He must stand clear of all party strife. The apostolic injunction is — 'The servant of the Lord must not strive ; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing them that oppose themselves ; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknow- ledging of the truth.' In conformity with this rule, the missionary should never assume a position of hostility to the ruling powers, or have recourse to public censure, or the lash of newspaper invectives. Let him rather address the authorities in respectful and confiding terms, as those upon whom God has laid the responsibility of upholding the great principles of Christian duty. If such addresses be unheeded, let a temperate statement of the case be transmitted to the Missionary Directors at home, with such particulars as will bear the closest sifting, and as the missionary is prepared to avow before the public. 3. Avoid, even in the most pressing cases, being drawn into the vortex of mere political discussions ; for it will prove a painful interruption to your happier duties. Much precious time is necessarily lost in those discussions which might have been spent in winning to Christ souls, who should have been your crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord. Even your conferences with your brethren on such topics will be far less profitable to the soul, than if the time DEALINGS WITH UNCIVILIZED NATIONS. 475 had been wholly devoted to spiritual things. And you will be liable to be drawn into still less profitable connection with the men of the world, who will court the aid of a spiritual man for the sake of a secular object, though they sneer at his religion. All these, and many other considerations, make the true missionary shrink from political discussions, make him walk very warily while engaged in them, and make him most thankful to escape from their entangle- ments. 4. When compelled by a sense of duty to take an active part in exceptional cases, be the more careful to observe the standing rule of the Society, in its legitimate scope and intention, in all other political relations. These will em- brace the ordinary course of Government, in respect of which you must exhibit in your own conduct, as well as inculcate upon all others, the spirit of the apostolic injunc- tion, ' Tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour to whom honour.' You must especially strive to stand aloof from all questions of political leadership — of political partisanship; whether officers of Government be favourable or unfavourable to missionary work, whether they patronise or oppose, let the missionary avoid all appearance of political intrigue. The cordial and courteous recognition of the official position of an opponent will be the best means of disarming his oppo- sition. A candid construction of his measures will con- ciliate, while a severe criticism will raise needless animosity. III. The missionaries who labour under Christian rulers, in the dependencies of Great Britain, will be enabled, under ordinary circumstances, to carry on their work without con- cerning themselves with the course of the Government. But the case is more difficult with those who labour amidst un- civilised nations and governments. The injunction to abstain from all interference with political affairs is obviously not applicable when the native government is mixed up with national superstitions and social institutions, which violate 47G INSTRUCTIONS. all justice and humanity ; when the magistrate's sword is in the hands of every petty chief, or self constituted op- pressor ; when human sacrifices form a part of the political constitution. In such a situation the first missionaries found them- selves in the Susu Mission of Africa and in New Zealand. Yet while the rule stood, some conscientious men hesitated to instruct the natives in political maxims, or to protest against their existing atrocities. For the relief of their con- science, the following note was added to the rule by the Committee, and was printed for many years in the ' Explana- tory Regulations.' ' It is not intended, however, by this regulation to preclude missionaries who may be stationed in New Zealand, or in other regions which are uncivilised, and which do not enjoy the protection of a fixed Government, from bringing the natives acquainted with such Christian and civil institu- tions, as in process of time their situations may require ; or from using their influence in such countries to preserve or restore peace, in conformity with the spirit of a minister of the Gospel.' In the spirit of this explanation, the Society at home and the missionaries in New Zealand took a leading part in the discussion of the great national question of the colonisation of those islands. When the first Governor, Captain Hobson, was sent out to negociate with the chiefs for the transfer of the sovereignty to the Queen of Great Britain, he obtained the assistance of the missionaries of this and of the Wesleyan Society to bring about that event. No one took a more promi- nent part than the senior missionary of the Church Missionary Society. The services of the missionaries were publicly ack- nowledged by the Governor and the Home Government ; and, on a special occasion, the Governor thus addressed the Legis- lative Council on its being opened, December 14, 1841 : — ' Whatever difference of opinion may be entertained as to the value and extent of the labours of the missionary body, there can be no doubt that they have rendered imp< r- TIMES OF SPECIAL HOPEFULNESS. 477 tant services to this country ; or that, but for them, a British colony would not at this moment be established in New Zealand.' The voice of the missionary, which was thus mainly in- strumental in bringing the New Zealand chiefs to accept the Treaty of Waitangi, is now rightly lifted up on behalf of the chiefs against, as they believe, an attempted violation of its letter and spirit. On a late review of the printed form of the ' Explanatory Regulations,' the note was omitted, because New Zealand had become a British colony, and the missions of the Society in Western Africa were then under British Government, and it was thought that the good sense of Christian missionaries would sufficiently qualify the rule in exceptional cases. But the state of the Toruba Mission recalls one part of the appended note to our attention. In the present day a civil war has broken out between three of the towns in which missionaries reside. Ijaye and Ibadan have made war against each other, and Abeokuta has unhappily joined in the conflict. The several missionaries in these towns have been thus placed in most difficult positions. The Committee are not prepared to judge of the conduct of each missionary, or of his conduct in all respects. But the Committee have seen quite enough to induce them to urge upon you, who are going to the Yoruba Mission, with affectionate impor- tunity, the old injunction of ' using your influence to preserve or restore peace in conformity with the spirit of a minister of the Gospel.' IV. The Committee will conclude with a few words of general encouragement and advice suggested by the circum- stances which have called forth these instructions. 1. Remember that seasons of special political conflict, or social excitement, have always been seasons of special promise and hope to the Church of Christ. The King of Zion has an iron sceptre to break down all opposition to an ad- vancing gospel. Political convulsions are the execution of His 478 INSTRUCTIONS. judgment. At the very time when He thus wields that iron sceptre, He enjoins upon His Church to proclaim the mes- sage— ' Kiss the Son, lest He be angry.' ' When the judg- ments of the Lord are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.' We have seen this most manifestly in the improved prospects of our Indian Missions since the Mutiny. And every observer of God's dealings with the world will supply abundant illustrations. It is refreshing to think how often the work of mercy and grace is silently advancing amid the crash of human affairs. Let the man of faith repose upon this thought. In the darkest hours the eye and ear of flesh may discern nothing but the flash of lightning, and hear only the roll of thunder ; but let the ear of faith catch the sound of the still small voice, and let the man of faith then ply in patience, prayer and faith his special mission. 2. Let the Committee remind you also that such critical times as they allude to are also to the Christian times of special trial and temptation, and he needs then to place a double guard upon his temper and spirit, lest he be carried away by the stream into an exhibition of worldly tempers, lest his good should be evil spoken of, through his hasty language or exaggerated statements. There will be perils on all sides. The missionary may be often in personal danger ; such a time is an occasion for showing his faith in a special providence — that he does not fear with the fear of men of the world — that he can stay himself upon his God. There may be dangers to his reputation ; especially when the missionary stands up as the friend of the aborigines, in opposition to the oppression of unprincipled European settlers. Those of us who are old enough to remember the agitation of the slavery question, can remember the torrents of calumny and of coarse abuse with which the white man attempted to overwhelm Wilberforce, Macaulay, Stephen, and all other champions of the negro race. We can remember also the calm and loving composure with which it was borne, as a part of the costs which had been counted. AFRICA. 479 3. The Committee do not attempt to give you more than very brief hints on these topics. They have confidence in the reflections which will arise in your own minds ; but above all, they commend you to the grace and guidance of an ever present Saviour, who has promised to send you the almighty aid of the Holy Comforter ; who will manifest Himself to His servants who suffer for His name's sake at the present day, as He did to His Apostle Paul. When, ' the night following ' the tumult in the Council at Jerusalem, ' the chief captain feared lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces,' — ' the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul : for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.' You, Brother Jackson, are appointed to Sierra Leone, with a special view to the educational department of that Mission. You have expressed your entire willingness to accept this commission. The Lord has work there to be done. He calls. He will meet His servants there, and His presence can make all places the paradise of God and the very gate of heaven. You have the advantage of the experience in tropical climates of the excellent Prelate, now with us, who goes forth to that field of labour out of love to the African race, and in him you will have a wise and tender Father in God. You, Brothers Biihler and Wood, are returning to the Yoruba Mission, and the Committee have only to exhort you to act in the same spirit of patient faith and persevering labour in which you have hitherto carried on your work. You, Dr. Harrison, are going out, for the first time, as a medical missionary ; you have gained medical knowledge and skill by a course of study, first at Cambridge, and then at a London School of Science, and for a short time, by prac- tising in South Africa. You have nobly offered to carry these ' talents ' to the work of Chi'ist in Yoruba : hoping — and the 480 INSTRUCTIONS. Committee confidently share in this hope — that yon may materially promote the social elevation of the Yorubans, by the confidence, which your medical skill will conciliate, of all classes of the community. The present state of the Yoruba Mission is an anxious one. The Committee have already touched upon it. They only here add, let peace be the message of the Christian missionary — peace, peace, peace — peace spiritual, peace social, peace political. Some of the missionaries have asked how far the converts are bound to obey the summons of their rulers to go to the war. This question can only be decided by local usages, and by the necessity of the case. But let all the missionaries unite in deprecating as an unmitigated evil — as the work of Satan — all aggressive warfare. Let them point out the distinction between the defence of hearth and home, and aggressive warfare. If there be any possibility of choice, let the Christian converts choose the home defensive branch— here let their patriotic zeal find its expression, as in the volunteer movement at home. And let all the mission- aries, when residing under different and hostile governments, be bound together more closely than ever in oneness of spii it - — let them sink all differences — especially those of local policy. If a missionary be not allowed to maintain this neutral position, it is a question whether he should not retire from that place. Bvit as long as they can maintain their Christian independence and unity, let them remain as oil upon troubled waters, and may He who stilleth the mad- ness of the people be their shield and refuge — their guide and friend — their all in all. You, Brothers Barton, Puxley, and Brown, are going to North India. You, Mr. Barton, are designated by the Committee as a Joint Secretary of the Corresponding Committee. But for the first year or so, it is hoped that you may be relieved from all official duties, and be enabled to visit the various stations in North India, to make yourself as far as possible INDIA. 481 well acquainted with the missionaries and their work. The instructions on your special duties will be appended in a separate form. At present we address you in the character of one of our missionaries, which we trust, and you we know equally trust, you may ever sustain. You and Mr. Puxley have most generously determined to bear your own charges, though acting in all respects as missionaries of the Society — an appropriation of your private fortunes, which you con- sider it a privilege to offer, and which many others would be prepared to make, if the providence of God had put it in their power — may the Lord accept your offering, and fulfil all your vows. You, Brother Brown, are welcomed by the Committee, as the son of one of their own body, and therefore as possessing a double claim upon their affectionate interest and sympathy. Your self-devotion to the ministry at home is a good pledge that the work to which both you and we feel assured the Lord has called you, will prosper in your hands ; and if so, your excellent father will have the best recompense for the sacri- fice he makes in parting with a son and brother in the ministry, cheerfully for Christ's sake. One word the Committee will address to a Native Brother, Wm, Sandys (Shwai-tui), a Burmese by birth, whose parents were the fruit of the labours of the Baptist Mission in that country, and who has been for a time under instruction in Islington College. You are to go in the first instance to North India, as you are acquainted with the Hindustani language. At Benares you will see a Mission in full work, and there you will be trained with advantage for whatever post of duty the providence of God may open before you. The Committee have always much satisfaction in combining on these valedictory occasions, the representatives of Native agency with European missionaries. You, Brother Weatherhead, after some experience in the Church at home, have devoted yourself to the Missionary Church, and the Committee have much pleasure in assigning I I 482 INSTRUCTIONS. you to the Bombay Mission, with a view of your occupying the post of a Secretary of the Bombay Corresponding Com- mittee. Your first work, as in the case of Mr. Barton, will be to make yourself fully acquainted with the missions, to acquire the language, and to identify yourself with the mission. You, Brothers Honiss and Simmons, are going to South India. The Madras Corresponding Committee will assign you your particular locations. You go to a mission which, in many ways, the Lord is largely blessing. May your union with your fellow-labourers be an occasion of increased blessedness to them and to yourselves. You, Brother Tonge, are to proceed to Ceylon, with a special view of carrying on the Collegiate School at Kandy, at present under the direction of its zealous principal, Mr. Jones. Your long experience and success in tuition give the Committee every confidence in your future work ; and they rejoice to know that you desire to become as much a mis- sionary as any of the Brethren around you, and that all your instruction will have the one supreme end of training up your pupils for Christ. The Committee need not give you any specific directions, for you will be guided by able and now experienced friends of education, Mr. Christopher Tenn, at Cotta, and Mr. Jones, at Kandy. You, Brother Moule, are appointed to the China Mission ; your station is not definitely fixed. Each mail brings intel- ligence which throws new light upon that most interesting but now unhappy country. The Committee rejoice in the prospect of your being associated in the same mission with your brother, our excellent missionary at Ningpo, and they will gladly place you at the same station, if the exigencies of the work allow of such an arrangement. But the Lord will direct in all things both you and ourselves. SMYRNA. 483 You, Brother Wolters, have the blessed prospect of asso- ciation with a revered and beloved father in the mission at Smyrna. For many years your excellent and veteran father has sustained single-handed his position in that Turkish city and mart of commerce for all nations. His faith and patience have been severely tried while he looked upon the inert mass of dead superstition in the oriental churches, and of stiff and menacing bigotry in the Mohammedan popula- tion. The dispensations of divine judgments have now broken up the dead level. Your father's hopes are at length raised of a future harvest, especially amongst the Turks. He now asks for a coadjutor ; and he will have the joy of receiving as a fellow-helper in the ministry his own son. You have the great advantage of an acquaintance with the Greek and Turkish languages. You are acquainted with the work, having already laboured zealously and wisely as a catechist at Smyrna. You have diligently improved your opportuni- ties of acquiring knowledge both at Malta College and at Islington College ; and now the Committee trust that you will carry all these advantages, sanctified by the blood of Christ, and by the unction of the Holy One, to the post to which God has called you, to deliver at ancient Smyrna the message of Him ' who walketh amidst the seven golden candlesticks.' September 28, 1860. l i 2 484 INSTRUCTIONS. G. INDIAN MISSIONS (1). The instructions of the Committee have been so often addressed to missionaries upon the general duties of their office, that they are now confined to the special circumstances of the individuals, or of the fields of labour to which they have been designated. In respect of both these particulars the Committee will address a few words to the brethren before them. I. In respect of yourselves, the Committee are thankful to recognise in you the response of the Church at home to the special appeal for labourers put forth by the Committee on behalf of the lately disturbed provinces of India. You, Brother Archer, after discharging for two years the duties of a curacy in the Church at home, have determined to transfer your labours to the Church abroad, assured that there are very many to supply your place at home, but few, comparatively, to obey the call to ' go out into all the world, and pi-each the Gospel to every creature.' You, Brothers Clark, Attlee, and Macdonald, after pass- ing through a college course at Cambridge, whilst the home service presented itself to your choice, have chosen rather to devote yourself at once to the mission field, as the first exercise of your ministry. There are advantages in each course. Some experience of the home ministry will fit a missionary for parts of mis- sionary labour ; while the plunge into missionary work at once, with all the fervour of a ' first love,' and the vivid impressions of an opening ministry, has also its special benefits. THE MAIN GROUND OF CONFIDENCE. 485 The three younger brethren, after completing their Cambridge course, have pursued their divinity studies in the Islington College. That college is indeed open to all candi- dates who may wish to avail themselves of an institution where the whole atmosphere is missionary, and where are offered special instruction and information upon a variety of points beyond the sphere of didactic teaching — and this not only by tutors, but by fellow-pupils who have been upon the mission field, and by the traditions of the place. Many who have tried a residence in Islington College, after an Univer- sity course, have testified upon such occasions as the present the great advantages they have reaped. In the case of students from the Universities, the course to be pursued depends upon the state of preparation they have attained. There are some who are well furnished by a previous study of Scriptural and theological questions to cope with subtle Brahmins and haughty Moslems. There are others whose time has been occupied by classics and mathematics, to whom such a preparatory course of reading is necessary. The Committee therefore deal with each case according to its circumstances, to be ascertained by personal examination. If the candidate has to begin, or even to com- plete his theological apparatus for mission work, they offer the advantages of Islington College. If the candidate be fully equipped for his spiritual warfare, he may be at once presented to the Bishop for ordination. But, brethren, the main confidence of the Committee is never placed upon any system of human teaching, or upon the discrimination of fallible examiners. They send you forth because they believe you have been called to the work by the Lord, that He will qualify you effectually, that He will be with you as a God of all grace, to make your future labours effectual. 'Nothing,' says Gericke, 'is so graceless as a mission without the Spirit of Christ.' The saying is equally true in home as in foreign operations. II. The Committee now address some remarks on points 486 INSTRUCTIONS. which the present circumstances of the Indian Mission have made especially prominent. It was a saying of a secretary of a kindred Missionary Society, of large experience, lately entered into rest, that Missionary Societies were still in the era of the investigation of first principles ; that it would be some time yet before the great societies would have ascertained the most effective modes of missionary operations, the right organisation of the native churches, and various other fundamental mis- sionary principles. Among such principles which are being gradually brought into a stronger light, the Committee would direct your atten- tion on the present occasion to that of training each native convert to the duty and practice of teaching others ; and of training the gifted amongst such private teachers for the special office of a teacher. The duty and practice belongs to all con- verts— the office to the few gifted ones. Simple as this principle appears, it is the besetting temp- tation of every zealous missionary to violate it by becoming the chief teacher, and so overshadowing mutual instruction. The native plants which would put forth vigorous shoots under the canopy of heaven, grow up thin and weak under the shade of European superiority. The Lord of missions has lately read a great lesson to His Church by the example of Madagascar, a lesson which still needs to be fully set forth ; but enough is known of the fact that native Christianity has spread most rapidly when a few native converts have been left without a missionai-y. A thousand qualifications and abatements may be easily sug- gested, but those who are most experienced in missionary history see in this fact an admonition from above — to review the foundations of modern missions, and to bring into greater prominence the principle of mutual instruction, even amongst immature converts. It would lead the Committee too much into detail, on such an occasion as the present, if they were to enter fur- ther into the subject of mutual instruction in its universal CAMBRIDGE MEX. 487 character. They will only, therefore, remind you of the very interesting and most promising work of training native con- verts for the office of native teachers, using that term to comprehend all its grades — schoolmasters, readers, catechists, and native ministers. Whatever your department of labour may be in a mission, keep this work in view — surround yourself with those whom you are thus training — prompt them to aggressive effort, to self-reliance under the grace of God, to independent and inventive habits of thought in the study of God's word. Endeavour to impart to them Euro- pean firmness of mind ; in all things encourage without overshadowing. What nobler employment can be offered to the Church of Christ, than thus to be a teacher of those who are to be teachers of awakening millions ? Cambridge men will carry with them to their most distant locations, and to their last hours, recollections of Trinity Church. Associate with it the notable historic fact that a minister of that church, in the seventeenth century, refused a bishopric, that he might remain a preacher to the gowns- men— as he quaintly expressed himself, a Pater patrum — a father to those who in their turn were to become fathers in the Church of Christ. Another special point to which the Committee direct your attention, is the position of the Indian Government in re- spect of missionary effort. The missionaries in India, at this crisis, stand in a peculiar position, and need much of the wisdom from above. We at home urge Government for its own sake to act out a Christian policy, and to purge itself of a crying sin in excluding the Bible from its system of instruction. The advocates of so-called Government neutrality retort upon us, ' You wish to cast upon Government missionary duties. Your missions have so little success, that you try to bring Govern- ment to your aid.' It is easy at home to reply to argument by argument. But it is very difficult in practice for our missionaries abroad to steer between the opposite extremes 488 INSTRUCTIONS. of leaning upon the arm of friendly authority, and repudiating1 altogether such Government action as the Government, for its own sake, and in discharge of its own duty before God and man, is bound to take. Yet between these two extremes there lies a clear and safe middle path, namely, the spiritual work of a mission, which is not dependent on the smile or frown of human authority, yet gratefully accepts of such official support as the Government may be induced to extend, by the administration of equal laws in the protection of religions, and by grants-in-aid to schools of all denominations. Here you must rest content, if nothing more be granted ; you must bear as best you may the reproach which will be continually thrown in your teeth, that our beloved Queen, by excluding the Bible from her system of national instruction, proclaims it a dangerous or useless book. A most important function of the missionary body — and one which they have nobly vindicated to them- selves in the late rebellion — is that of conciliating the con- fidence of the natives towards the dominant European power. This is a function the importance of which is but dimly per- ceived by men of the world. The Christian desires not to boast of its influence. It is not recognised in Government orders, or by civil distinctions. It is the discharge of a commission from above, and the faithful missionary looks only above for his directions, and for his final reward. The Committee have thus ventured to suggest to you your duty, even in cases in which you may labour lander official discountenance. But, thank God, these are now the excep- tion in India. A few in authority oppose missions ; some entangle themselves in the meshes of a vague neutrality ; the most part are, alas ! indifferent ; but a large and increasing body conceive that the more strictly they are confined by official restrictions, the more imperatively they are bound in their non-official capacity to aid and assist, and to sympathise with and encourage the labours of missionaries. From such you will receive an amount of comfort and support, which you and the Society at large have reason to acknowledge MEERUT. 489 with the warmest gratitude, and with such returns as your ministerial office will often, in God's providence, enable you to render. Such cordial and prayerful support of missions, by persons in high military and civil positions in India, should be received, as a gift from the God of missions, with praises and thanksgiving. The Committee now turn to the particular spheres of labour which have been assigned to each of you. Three of you have been assigned to the North- West Provinces of India ; you, Brother Archer, to Meerut, the spot stained by the first drops of the deluge of blood which followed the progress of the great rebellion ; yet — so wonderful and mysterious are the ways of the Lord — the spot where the richest spiritual blessings have been vouchsafed, as far as man can judge, since the rebellion, to the labours of the single missionary who escaped with his life at the time of the outbreak, and returned as soon as it was safe to renew his labours. It pleased God, even during the raging of the rebellion, to awaken a spirit of inquiry in some neighbouring villages. The work has been carried on mainly by the inhabitants themselves, and by native agency ; the missionary has only gvuded and superintended the movement. The work is still full of hope, and of a bright hope, because there has been no rush of misinformed converts, allured by temporal expec- tations, but in a self-spreading spirit of inquiry. In one of these villages there has already been erected, chiefly by local exertions, a little church which bears all the external charac- teristics of a place of divine worship, and the prestige of belonging to themselves. There is also, in connection with the station of Meerut, a still more advanced and numerous native Christian com- munity at Dheera Doon, where an ordained native minister is located, and a thriving native settlement is being very rapidly- developed, under the wise arrangements of an European Christian landlord, who has divided his estate into allotments 490 INSTRUCTIONS. for native Christians. The neighbourhood of Meerut had long the benefit of the labours of Mr. Lamb ; he sowed the seed, of which you will be privileged to reap the sheaves. He, like yourself, received the missionary call while engaged in a curacy at home. He never regretted, but rather rejoiced in the change, till suddenly cut off by a fall from his horse about a year ago. His zealous coadjutor, Mr. Medland, has been left alone at the station. The Committee thank God that they are able, through your offer, to repair the breach. The post is one which will require much judgment and delicate treatment ; but a spirit of Christian simplicity and love will keep all right. While you are studying the language you will have no responsibility of the mission upon you, and this interval will be invaluable to you as a season of observation and experience, till you shall be qualified by the acquisition of the language to take an active share in the duties of the station and district. You, Brother Attlee, have been appointed to Lucknow, circumstances having specially drawn you to that sphere ; and though three missionaries are already labouring there, yet the promising commencement of the mission, and the influential character of many of the Lucknow inquirers, would of themselves demand an additional missionary. But above all other considerations, the mission in Oude must be regarded as the most conspicuous ' Memorial ' of the rebel- lion, which there finished its death-struggle. The mission dates its birthday from the first anniversary of Havelock's relief of Lucknow ; its foundations were laid while yet the sound of artillery was heard in its neighbourhood. If, through the blessing of God, such a mission shall become a flourishing one, it will be a noble monument of Christian England's * recompense ' to India's offence ; according to the blessed Saviour's divine injunction, 'Eecompense to no man evil for evil, but contrariwise, blessing.' You, Brother Macdonald, have been assigned to the itine- rating mission of North Tinnevelly, to enter into the labours RAG LAND'S MANTLE. 491 of the sainted Ragland. Your father 1 and brothers are serving the Queen in high and honourable employments in India. You have chosen the special work and service of the Lord of lords ; you have, also, willingly accepted a depart- ment of that work which presents few temporal comforts or even ministerial attractions. To dwell in tents ; to witness for Christ, dealing continually with elementary truths ; to identify yourself with native helpers in habits and feelings ; to breathe an atmosphere of prayer, and to live a life of faith and patience — these have been the attractions of the North Tinnevelly Mission ; these were the highest ambition of the talented Eagland ; in these he found his comforts in life and in death ; and for these momentary sacrifices he has now received a full reward. You will find the mantle of Ragland still in the mission. The Committee trust that you may be kept/ in health and in spirits for the full prosecution of the great experiment which that mission was designed to institute. October 14, 1859. 1 Col. Macdonald, Mr. Macdonald's father, is Paymaster of the Madras Army. 492 INSTRUCTIONS. H. INDIAN MISSIONS (2). Dearly beloved in the Lord, — We are met together on this occasion to take leave of six of our brethren proceeding to the Mission field ; three to Western India, two to the Punjab, and one to Sierra Leone. Of these, our two elder brethren are returning to posts in which they have already been labouring zealously and faithfully for several years ; the other four are now leaving us for the first time to enter upon that work to which, as we believe, the Holy Ghost has called them. May the great Head of the Church, in whose name we meet to-day, be present in our midst, to sanctify and bless both our brethren and ourselves, and prosper their labours abundantly to the furtherance and extension of His kingdom ! The Committee are thankful to be able to send out this reinforcement, small though it be, to India ; for there is no part of the mission which has been so denuded of labourers during the past year. Of the fifty-five brethren labouring in North India at this time last year, no less than eleven have since been obliged to return home through failure of health and other causes, while one much-loved and much- valued brother 1 from whose distinguished abilities and whole-hearted consecration to the work we had fondly hoped great things, has been lately summoned, after one short year of labour, to his rest above. We can but meekly bow under this afflictive stroke of God's providence, and entreat of Him who has taken our dear brother to Himself, that a double portion of His Spirit may rest upon those who are now going forth, that they may follow him, even as he followed Christ. 1 Rev. J. W. Knott, who died at Peshawur, June 28. MODIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES. 493 We cannot doubt that our Divine Lord and Master has some wise purpose in view in thus removing from the field so many labourers. It may be that He is teaching us by it a lesson we have always been slow to learn, and which we could not, perhaps, have learned so well in any other way, that the Native Church needs to have more responsibility thrown upon it, in order to retain that self-reliance which it needs to become self-sustaining and self-governing. If such be the result, the temporary diminution of European la- bourers may prove in the end rather a gain than a loss. The greatest need, however, now felt in India, especially in those parts to which our brethren are now going, and in which the Native Church is as yet in its infancy, is for faithful evan- gelists, men of simple but strong faith, willing to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, who will go up and down among its teeming millions now perishing for lack of knowledge, full of love for souls, and with a readiness to adapt themselves to any circumstances, and employ any insti'umentality by which they may be enabled the better to bring the heathen to Christ. India is now open to the Gospel ; wide doors of access present themselves on every side ; all that is needed is that Christ's servants should obey their Lord's command, and go out and compel her people to come in. The means and agencies to be employed will vary accord- ing to the character and condition of the people whom we seek to influence. Preaching by the way-side, or in crowded bazaars, or in street chapels, will be found the best means of reaching one class ; another can be most effectually approached by domiciliary visits; another, and that an increasingly large and important section of the community, the young native aspirants for University degrees and Government appointments, can best be reached through the school or college class-room. No one of these agencies need or ought to be employed to the exclusion or disparagement of the other ; there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same Lord 494 INSTRUCTIONS. who worketk all in all. There are, however, certain general principles common to all branches of missionary labour, certain broad rules which every missionary will do well to bear continually in mind, and in following which much of his happiness, no less than his usefulness, will depend. For example : (1) The missionary who desires to gain in- fluence and win souls for Christ must thoroughly identify himself with the people among whom he labours. This is not so easy as it seems, more especially in India, where race distinctions and race prejudices are exceedingly strong. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to the propagation of the Gospel in that country, greater even than the ungodly and inconsistent lives of so many who call themselves Chris- tians, has been the fact that the Missionary belongs to the dominant race, and this raises an additional barrier in his way, which nothing but the greatest tact and consideration will enable him wholly to remove. That it is not wholly insuperable, not a few living examples might be cited to prove ; but on the other hand, there have unhappily been instances in which a want of tact and temper and delicate consideration of the feelings of the people among whom the missionary was labouring, has neutralised all other merits, and grievously lessened his influence and success. Many indeed are the advantages which the British rule in India affords in the security for life and property, the dispensing of just laws, the extension of sound education, and so forth ; but there is ever this counterbalancing disadvantage to the English missionary, that he becomes necessarily identified to a great extent, in the eyes of the natives, with the governing class, and the religion which he represents and advocates is, in their eyes, not so much the religion of Jesus, the Gospel which is able to give light and life to a fallen world, as the religion of the dominant race, whom they dislike and distrust. In order to avoid this, and to identify himself more thoroughly with the people to whom he is sent, the first step to be taken by a young missionary going out for the YE ARE IN OUR HEARTS. 495 first time should be to make himself thoroughly conversant with their language. Not only will this enable him to gain a readier access to them at all times, but it tends more than anything else to disarm prejudice on the one hand, and excite interest on the other. Even where the missionary is engaged in an English college, where a colloquial knowledge of the vernacular is less required, and less frequently called into exercise, he will still find it of the greatest benefit to himself personally to be thoroughly acquainted with the language of the people among whom he lives : it will awaken his sympathies and excite his interest in them to an extent which no length of residence among them, without such an additional bond of union, would have enabled him to attain. Further : (2) Let this identification be even more thorough and entire in the case of the native Christians, particularly such as are employed in the mission as native pastors, catechists, schoolmasters, and readers. The best and most successful missionary will always be the one who considers most and loves most his native brethren in the Lord. They may often be very troublesome, self-willed, restless, discontented, yet let him remember that they are brethren, fellow-believers in the same Lord ; let him bear with their faults as a wise and tender father, remembering, that though in years and intellectual gifts they may be regarded as men, as regards spiritual things they are still children, and need patience and forbearance. Sensitiveness and a proneness to take offence are always characteristics of a weak race, and the rough and somewhat unyielding energy of the Anglo-Saxon character often finds a difficulty in adapting itself to, and amalgamating with, the yielding pliant nature of the Oriental. All that is needed, however, is a kind, considerate, and courteous de- meanour ; not too familiar, for this the wide distinctions of race make unwise and impracticable, but such a demeanour as befits one who stands to the native brethren in the position rather of a father and overseer of the flock of Christ. 496 INSTRUCTIONS. Our dear and much lamented Brother Knott was a most happy example of this : his quiet dignity and fatherly interest in the native converts won him their respect and love wherever he went, and in him they all feel they have lost a lather and a friend. With these few general and prefatory remarks the Com- mittee proceed to address a few words individually to the brethren now leaving us. You, Brother Sunter, are appointed to the Sierra Leone Mission, with a special view to advance the theological instruction and training of native teachers. Tou will be attached to the Fourah Bay Institution, and, as Mr. Alcock is returning, will be, for the present, acting Principal. For the last year the reception of new students has been sus- pended, so that only one or two will be there at present. It will be matter for consideration with the Bishop and missionaries how many students should be admitted, as vacancies in the Native Church will only occasionally occur. But there is another field of usefulness fully as interest- ing and important as that of preparing native ministers, to which the Committee specially point your labours, namely, that of preparing native evangelists, whether ordained or unordained, to labour in the heathen districts adjoining the colony — the Timneh, Mendi, Sherbro and Bullom Missions. All these missions should be identified with the Native Church in the colony, by receiving a portion of their support from them, and identified more especially with the Fourah Bay Institution; not only as having there prepared for their work, but keeping up their connection by receiving from thence friendly counsel and encouragement. When catechists are sent out as evangelists, their further instruction should be provided for by periodical returns to Fourah Bay, for examination, exercising in Bible interpreta- tion, and sermon-making. When ordained native mission- aries are employed, they should look up to Fourah Bay as a fountain of missionary and linguistic information, and should NORTH INDIA. 497 resort thither from time to time for refreshment, and for an increase of the apparatus necessary for their work. Mr. Henry Johnson, our first native linguist and mission- ary, will at once, we hope, be thus united with you and with Fourah Bay, not as a tutor, but as one of the missionary staff of the scheme thus sketched. You will therefore have the very interesting work of making yourself acquainted with the circumstances, open- ings, difficulties, and linguistic peculiarities of the various tribes surrounding the colony, and the best methods of sending to them the Gospel of Christ. Together with the other missionaries, you will occasionally visit the missions ; and on all questions connected with this department you will be a special correspondent of the Committee. May the Lord strengthen and elevate your soul to the great work to which He has called you ! You, Brother Wade, are returning to the post of honour and responsibility, of danger and of privilege, the advanced guard, so to speak, of our missionary army in North India, Peshawar. That mission has cost the Society some of its most valued lives. During the fourteen years that have elapsed since its first commencement four have died, and twice as many more have been invalided, stricken down by the Peshawar fever. In view of these sad losses the Com- mittee have been urged more than once to consider whether the mission staff at Peshawar should not be considerably reduced, and fresh ground occupied in a more healthy locality. So long, however, as their missionaries are willing to en- counter the risk for Christ's sake, and so long as God vouchsafes such manifest tokens of His presence and bless- ing as have always attended the work at Peshawar, the Com- mittee dare not withdraw their hand. They cannot forget Sierra Leone, and the many precious lives that were given there, and how the seed there sown amidst so much weeping has now ripened into a goodly harvest ; and so long as the present dispensation lasts, so long must they expect that trial, danger and difficulty will ever attend the progress of K K 49S INSTRUCTIONS. Christ's kingdom. The Committee praise and bless God for the courage, zeal, and self-devotion which has always charac- terised their missionaries on the frontier ; but they would affectionately urge them to combine with zeal a wise atten- tion to health, and they would take this opportunity of reminding and pressing upon their brethren now going out the Resolution passed five years ago, by which tbeir mis- sionaries at Peshawar were strictly enjoined to remove from the valley to some hill station during the most trying and unhealthy part of the hot season. You, Brother Grisdale, have been appointed to the Pun- jab, though your precise station and work will not be fixed until you have passed your examination in the native lan- guage ; meanwhile, the Calcutta Corresponding Committee will appoint you to some station where you may most con- veniently reside for the purpose of carrying on your studies. You, Brother Deimler, are returning to Bombay, to de- vote yourself more especially to that class of the native com- munity which has already chief!}' occupied your attention — the Mohammedans. The Committee will continue to follow your work with deep interest, and trust that, on your return, many new openings will be afforded you for gaining access to this interesting class of the population, who, if once brought under the regenerating power of the Gospel, would exert an untold influence on the progress of Christianity in India. At present, however, your work is a work of faith and prayer : may the Lord give you grace to persevere, assured that your labour cannot be in vain if it be ' in the Lord.' The Committee have much pleasure in addressing a few parting words of encouragement and exhortation to the two brothers Squires, both of whom are proceeding to the Bom- bay Presidency. Brothers in the flesh, brothers in the Lord, and now associated together iu the holy brotherhood of mis- sionary labour, the Committee regard with much prayerful hope and deep interest their accession to the ranks of their missionary staff in Western India. BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. 499 You, Brothei* Henry Squires, are going to Bombay, to labour more especially among that large and important class of English-speaking natives who have, to a more or less extent, thrown aside their ancestral and traditional beliefs, and are now casting about in search of a religion that will meet and satisfy the deepest needs of their souls. You will find this class peculiarly accessible to sympathy, most will- ing to converse on religious subjects, glad to welcome you as a friend. A frank, hearty expression of sympathy in their difficulties and doubts, and an identification of yourself with them as one whose sole desire and object is their highest good, will at once disarm opposition, and win for you a cordial reception everywhere. The Committee hope that you will be able, soon after your arrival, with the co-operation and counsel of Mr. Carss, to form Bible classes among the elder students in the Robert- Money School, and so be able at once to relieve him of a part of his onerous charge, as well as assist him to make that institution a more effective agency for bringing Christian truth to bear upon the upper classes of native society. The Townsend and Parish scholarships, which were originally founded for the express purpose of encouraging native youths to study the Bible, will, the Committee trust, prove of con- siderable assistance to you in this department of your work ; and they will be glad to receive suggestions from Mr. Carss and yourself as to how these scholarships may be most use- fully employed so as to secure the end designed by their founders. While, however, the Committee wish you to regard the Robert-Money School as one important branch of your mis- sionary labours, they do not wish you to confine yourself to it, but rather to regard it as a stepping-stone from which you may reach the brothers, parents, and friends of your scholars, and men of maturer age, to whom your connection with the school will afford you a ready access. You, Brother Robert Squires, are going to Nasik, the most important, perhaps, of our mission centres in Western K K 2 500 INSTRUCTIONS. India, a large Brahminical town, with 30,000 inhabitants, and an important place of Hindu pilgrimage. It is now thirty-eight years since Farrar and Dixon com- menced missionary operations there. During the early years of the mission our missionaries were located in an old palace of the last Marathi ruler ; there they had their schools, and there they worshipped with a handful of native Christians ; but now, not to speak of the neighbouring Christian village of Sharanpur, which is mainly the result of a Christian orphanage, the Nasik Mission has become the parent banyan tree, from which four branches have descended and fairly taken root. The missions at Malligaum, Junir, Aurungabad, and Buldana, and the little village communities connected with each of these, testify to the vitality and reproductive power of the Native Church in the Deccan ; while over vast tracts of Western India the native evangelists from these several centres go forth bearing the precious seed of the Word, and gathering into the Church such as will be saved. The fierce opposition which was manifested in the earlier days of the mission to the efforts of our missionaries has now passed away, and the Gospel message is listened to for the most part with attention and respect. Brahmin converts, once pupils of the mission school, are now labouring as ordained ministers of our Church, and one more has entered into rest. With the ordination of these native brethren, and the increase of the Native Church, the desirableness of afford- ing a better education to the children of native Christians has occupied more and more the attention both of our mis- sionaries abroad and the Committee at home. The Parent Committee, on taking leave of their experienced missionary brother Price, in the spring of this year, expressed to him their desire to assist and strengthen him in all his plans for the education of the rising Christian community. They then stated to him their deliberate conviction that the time was come for a centre to be chosen for the educational operations of the Society, whei*e every facility should be afforded to the youth of the rising Christian communities for being trained ELDER AND YOUNGER BRETHREN. 501 to the work of pastors, catechists, evangelists, and school- masters. It was decided that the centre should be at the Christian settlement of Sharanpur, and Mr. Price was urged and encouraged to concentrate his energies on this depart- ment of labour, leaving to the missionary who might be associated with him in the Nasik Mission the more direct evangelistic work in the surrounding district. The Com- mittee are thankful to be able thus early to fulfil the expec- tation held out to Mr. Price in the instructions he received. Our brother now going forth will, of course, make the acqui- sition of the native language his first duty ; but the Committee wish him to render such aid to Mr. Price in the various departments of his labours, and especially in his schools, as he finds compatible with a due regard to health and the prosecution of his studies. In this way he will be able from the first to show his active sympathy with the work of the senior missionary, on whom alone rests the charge of the Christian village and its various institutions ; but as soon as he has passed in the language, and is able to hold unre- stricted intercourse with the people, the Parent Cumin ittee wish him to understand that on him will devolve the super- intendence of the various evangelistic agents when they go forth from the village to active work in the surrounding districts. Our brother will do well, then, to cultivate from the outset the closest sympathy with Mr. Price, that there may be, so to speak, but one mind in the formation and carrying out of all their plans. The Committee anticipate the happiest results from such an association of their elder and younger brethren. To all, indeed, of their brethren now going forth, they would address the apostolic exhortation, ' Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder,' defer to their opinion, seek for their counsel. Nor only so, but let there be a corresponding deference and forbearance on the part of the elder towards the younger also ; ' yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. ' October 21, 1870. 502 INSTRUCTIONS. /. MISSIONS TO MAHOMMEDANS AND THE HARRIS SCHOOL. The Committee meets this day to take leave of you at a remarkable crisis in the history of the world and of mis- sionary effort. The year (1854) which is now hastening to a close has been a most eventful one. Our anniversary meeting1 in the earlier part of it was held at a season of deep anxiety : there was much room for hope, while on the other hand, it was not without reason that the hearts of thoughtful men failed them for fear, and for looking for those things which were coming upon the earth. The first campaign of the war then recently declared is now fast drawing to an end, and its conclusion," after a long suspense, is marked by the terrors of conflict and the shout of victory. The result is most propitious for our favoured country. The un- deserved lovingkindness of our forbearing God has exempted our own fair fields and flourishing towns from the tramp of contending armies, and the pillage of a heartless soldiery ; and that same gracious hand has also throughout the summer effectually locked up the fleets of our enemy, and now in autumn crippled, and possibly by this time entirely annihilated, one of them. Our commerce has thus been permitted to flow on uninterruptedly, and our missionaries pass to and fro with as little obstruction as they experienced during that prolonged period of universal peace, under the breach of which we have humbled ourselves before the Lord. Moreover, the twofold pressure of scarcity and war-taxation threatened the finances of our benevolent institutions ; but an unusually bountiful harvest, housed under circumstances than which nothing could have been more favourable, pro- FRESH FIELDS. 503 inises to relieve the pressure, and though the receipts of this Society, up to the present period, have fallen below the usual average, the Committee will not let go the hope that, under God, they may yet rise at least to the amount of the pre- ceding year, if not beyond it, and thus enable them not simply to maintain their existing operations unimpaired, but to follow on in the leadings of God's providence to new and greater exertions elsewhere. For, to divert our thoughts from the political aspect of affairs, and to fix them on our own peculiar province, the Committee find themselves engaged at this moment in con- solidating and preparing to leave their older missions, where the gospel-net has entangled almost every soul, and in con- certing measures to enter on new fields, ' white already to harvest.' In the former important and delicate operation, they have to bless God for the co-operation of our colonial authorities, as well as of the local friends and supporters of the Society, and of the converts themselves. They rejoice in the assistance thus rendered by the Bishop and Governor of New Zealand ; and more even in the blessed disposition ex- hibited both in that country and in Africa and South India, for the endowment of churches, the support of schools, and the missionary extension of gospel privileges among the heathen around them. In the latter attractive process — that of occupying fresh ground — they are urged on by the appeals, the advice, the assistance of men possessing experience, influence, and power, who point with the finger of love and zeal to the promising openings before them, and pledge themselves to render that aid which a strong sense of duty tempered by discretion stimulates them to afford. Among these calls, the Committee single out as the most prominent the Punjab and the remarkable interest simultaneously excited in many quarters in behalf of the Mahommedans and China. To the two latter calls they are happily able to respond, in the persons of three whom they are now addressing. The former will be answered shortly, the Lord permitting, by two brethren only waiting for their spiritual commission. 504 INSTRUCTIONS. The Committee pass, however, from general remarks to address their special instructions to the brethren before them. To you, Brother Cradock, the Committee would next address a few words of counsel and encouragement, in re- ference to the special work in which you are about to be engaged. Owing to causes for which it is difficult to offer any satisfactory explanation, this Society, in common with others, has hitherto made no systematic efforts to bring the Mahommedans of India into the fold of Christ. Martyn and Corrie, indeed, were honoured instruments of God for the conversion of one or another, and few names shine brighter in the annals of Indian missions than that of the Rev. Abdool Messech. Since then missionaries in Agra, and very lately in Afghanistan, have been brought into inter- course with the Mussulman population, and a few individuals at Delhi, without direct communication with any missionary, have forsaken the delusions of the false prophet and, there is every ground to believe, found peace with God through faith in His dear Son. The work, therefore, on which you are about to enter is, the Committee believe, the first formal and pre-arranged mission to the Mahommedans, as such, that has been under- taken in India. It pleased God, some years since, to put into the heart of a Christian lady the desire to raise such a memorial of her honoured father as might tend to the glory of God and be the means of promoting the knowledge of His name in India. It had been given to her father, Lord Harris, finally to crush the Mahommedan power by the defeat and death of Tippoo Sahib at Seringapatam, and it appeared desirable to the Committee, to whom the Hon. Sybella Harris bequeathed a part of her property in trust for this purpose, to appropriate it to the founding of a Christian English School for Mahommedan youth, giving the preference to natives of Mysore. Nearly nine years have passed, and until now the Committee have failed to find a missionary whom they could appoint to the post. They trust, dear THE HARRIS SCHOOL. 505 brother, that in the arrangement now made they are follow- ing the leadings of God's providence and His Holy Spirit, and that yon are called to commence a mission, which in due time will bring forth fruit abundantly to the glory of God. They speak of it emphatically as a commencement, be- cause they are anxious that from the first you should refrain from cherishing expectations of immediate results, which, if not realised, will disappoint and depress you. Yours must, of necessity, be for some time a preparatory work. You will probably find that you have much to unlearn as well as to learn, to correct your own unavoidable mistakes, as well as to form and mature your plans. Hence the especial need of living by faith, and not by sight, of watching your own spirit, lest under discouragements, which too often, in the climate of India, the oppressed heart magnifies to its own injury, you should be tempted to say, Who will show us any good ? ' Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be thou also patient, and establish thine heart, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, when he that soweth and he that reapeth shall rejoice together.' In such a work as you are about to engage in, it does not appear desirable to furnish you with any detailed in- structions, especially as you will have, in the corresponding committee at Madras, a body of valued Christian friends ever ready, for the sake of our common Master, to assist and support you by their counsel and experience ; and in inter- course with them the Committee are persuaded you will find your spirit comforted and refreshed. It will rest with them, in communication with yourself, to determine the locality in which it will be best to establish the school, and to decide on the erection of buildings, in fulfilment of Miss Harris's wishes. In respect of the prosecution of your future labours, one only caution it may be well to give. Beware of unneces- sary controversy. Make yourself acquainted with the errors of Mahommedanism and its followers, and the grounds on 506 INSTRUCTIONS. which they seem to stand, watch in your own mind the work- ings of their false system, and be prepared to meet their subtle arguments, but use their weapons as sparingly as possible, and with the greatest reluctance. Rather preach the Gospel by manifestation of the truth, commending your- self to each man's ' conscience in the sight of God.' It will be your privilege to win the youth who come to you for in- struction, by bringing them to feel that you are unfeignedly interested in their spiritual welfare, and presenting Christ to them in His person, offices, work, and all-sufficiency of grace, according as they are able to bear it, rather than to sharpen their intellects by answering their unprofitable and frivolous gainsayings. To this end the Committee would advise you to seek for opportunities of private intercourse with individuals, that they may open their minds to you, and that you may appeal to their consciences, and gain their confidence by exhibiting a personal interest in their welfare. Finally, dear Brethren, the Committee would remind you that the eyes of all men— of the Church and of the State, of Governors abroad, and Parliament at home, of friends and of enemies of Christians and of heathen — are at this moment emphatically set upon missionary labours. Some are wondering and praising God ; some are watching for its downfall ; and a yet more numerous body is ready to smile or frown as success or discomfiture may attend its progress. They are men of power rather than of principle, and they will lend their arm to build up or pull down as expediency or the current of public opinion may influence them. The work to which you have given yourselves is God's work, and He will not be wanting to maintain His own ineffable glory. But in so far as He has delivered it over to the instrumen- tality of man, the Committee charge you, in much affec- tionate solicitude, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, watch unto prayer, that His work suffer not under your hands. Give none occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, realise the sanctity of your office, and maintain JEALOUSY FOR CHRIST. 507 a high position in the occupation of your choice, and of the call of God. Remember the sacred obligations by which you are happily bound, and lay to heart the honour of the Society with which your names are blended, and of the missionary cause at large. And, far above all else, be jealous for the honour of Christ, whose message of love you bear forth to distant lands. ' Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.' ' Watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry,' and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and crown you with all success in your work and labour of love. October 13, 1854. 508 INSTRUCTIONS. K. SYRIAN CHURCH IN TRAVANCORE. The position you will occup}r in the Travancore Mission is one surrounded by considerable difficulties, and they call for much forbearance and delicacy of judgment. The Committee trust that you will find the persecution raised against converts from heathenism greatly abated, if not virtually brought to a close. But this is a question which will not bear directly upon your own position and labours. You cannot fail to assist your brother missionaries by your sympathy and prayers ; but you will leave all active measures in the hands of those more experienced in the usages of the country and the habits of the natives, until time and observation shall have qualified you to form an independent judgment. There are, again, parties in the country who would gladly unsettle the disposition made fourteen years ago, respecting the endowment fund of the College. From a letter received by the last mail, from the corresponding committee at Madras, the Committee are led to entertain the hope that the Madras Government will con- sider that disposition a final one. The management of the question, should it be unhappily kept open, will devolve entirely upon the con*esponding committee in communication with this Committee, and will not, therefore, interfere with your duties. It supplies, however, a powerful motive for the utmost caution in your administration of the college funds. In reference to the state of the Syrian Church, the Com- mittee (as intimated in respect to the Oriental Churches generally) have ceased to expect much, and have long been pursuing their measures independently. You are well aware of the jealousy with which their proceedings are watched at home, and }rou will be prepared to hear it assailed by men of COTTAYAM COLLEGE. 509 influence among the Syrian ecclesiastics themselves. You will therefore be cautious not to lay yourself open to reason- able exception, either in word or action. The Committee adheres firmly to their avowed mode of operation among these fallen Churches. They believe, however, that it can never become necessary to take any step which would impede a cordial co-operation with them, should they happily belie our expectations and become efficiently restored ; there is nothing in the Church of England which will not harmonise with any Scripturally reformed Episcopal Church. Regarding the religious instructions delivered at the college you can have no difficulty ; this Society cannot stoop from her high position to conciliate the supporters of any false system, either by withholding one word of essential truth, or giving admission to one word of recognised error, and that whether in reference to unblushing heathenism or idolatry disguised under the assumed garb of Christianity. You may be silent on points of difference which are really unessential ; but the basis of your teaching will be the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible ; and if any are deterred from placing themselves under your charge or oppose your proceedings on this ground, you will be as immoveable and as unassailable as the Rock of Ages on which you stand. But a practical difficulty presents itself as to the class of pupils whom you will admit to the college. The original promoters of the endowment contemplated the spiritual renovation of the Syrian community by the instrumentality of the College, in conjunction with other measures then set on foot. They clearly conld not intend to perpetuate the errors of Syrianism, or to deny to those who emerged from them and to their children all participation in the advantages of the endowment. This would have been flinging a strange impediment in the way of their own success. The Committee, therefore, have no hesitation in saying that they consider they are faithfully discharging the sacred trust confided to them in admitting to the College all children of Syrian 510 INSTRUCTIONS. parentage, whether they or their parents are in actual com- munion with the Syrian Church or the Church of England ; i.e. they will endeavour to reclaim those still in error, and to huild up in the faith those reclaimed — not, indeed, in the exact manner in which it was expected, but in the only way in which it was subsequently found to be possible. The main body of your pupils will be drawn from those two classes — in what proportion the Committee will not attempt to say, nor do the}' think it expedient that any fixed pro- portion should be laid down — and these only will be upon the foundation. There will be ample room for such heathen youths as may wish to avail themselves of the educational advantages offered by the College. These will all be day pupils. The Committee hope that eventually Christian parents, possessing sufficient means, will be willing to pay for the admission of their children as boarders, and mean- while the Society will be open to receive applications for defraying the expenses of deserving children of converts from heathenism or popery. The Committee leave all details as to the course of edu- cation to your own judgment and experience. The guiding principle will be that of a sound general and Scriptural education, through the medium of the English language. It cannot be necessary to observe that by this the Committee do not mean to exclude the cultivation of the vernacular. On the contrary, they would point to this as one grand end to which your most assiduous attention will be directed, and espe- cially with a view to improvement in the versions of the Bible, and to the creation of an indigenous vernacular literature. But there are in every mission a number of inferior schools, in which all the instruction delivered is conveyed in the language of the country. There are also in every mission a number of faithful men, taught of God and qualified, after due training, for extensive usefulness in the ministry of the Word. But they are too far advanced in life for instruction in any other than their mother tongue, and this can be best given in an establishment appropriated to the purpose. In PATIENCE OF HOPE. 511 contradistinction to the system adopted in these cases, the instruction of those under your charge will be based on the principle of a superior English education. The education will be general, and such as to fit young men for any station in life to which it may please God to call them. Circumstances, into which it is not necessary to enter, rendered it necessary to break up the College about four years ago, and owing to want of time and other causes, it has not yet resumed the position it had occupied previously. You will, then, have to begin pretty nearly at the beginning. It is scarcely necessary to prepare you against discourage- ments. In India, as everywhere, you will meet with the idle and the wayward, the listless and indifferent, the am- bitious and the covetous, the deceitful and the vicious. But the Committee believe it to be impossible to educate a number of Christian youths prayerfully and Scripturally without the Sph-it of God touching some of their hearts, and they assume with much confidence that you will meet with some whose growth in grace will cheer you and whose gifts, if not great, will be at least such as to qualify them for much usefulness. These you will find manageable and affectionate, and if they have their foibles, you will bear with their infirmities. Your object will be not merely to conciliate their favour, but to win their confidence ; and you will condescend to trifles in order to lead on to great things, and be willing to encounter the chill of a passing cloud, before you emerge into the clear blue sky beyond. The ele- mentary character of your earlier labours, where it must call for the exercise of patience, will not be without its advan- tages, and you will patiently work your way up in the ex- pectation of being able eventually to form a superior class of advanced theological pupils, looking forward to employ- ment in responsible missionary offices. The Committee are happily able to set before you the encouragement of some young men already at work in the mission, ordained, or candidates for ordination, who owe their position more or less to God's blessing on the College. They are few but 512 INSTRUCTIONS. they prove what may be done. May the good Lord greatly multiply their number, and increase their capacity for usefulness. Experience has taught the friends of the young that education is not confined to the walls of the class-room. The Committee feel, therefore, that they are not stepping out of their province to glance at tbe play-ground ; for they are persuaded that both the intellectual and moral tone of an educational establishment are intimately connected with the nature and degree of recreation enjoyed by the students. Active bodily exercise they regard as of the utmost import- ance. The prejudices of the natives of India interpose restrictions in this respect, which the enlightened freedom of this country has happily removed ; and if the pupils can be won over, their parents and the public may take offence, and it will require much caution to introduce those industrial pursuits, in which the sons of the better classes in England find a healthful relaxation. Even manual labour may, how- ever, be introduced gradually, and meanwhile you will endea- vour to direct attention to those sports which may at the same time interest and divert their minds and invigorate their bodies. In school and out of school you will watch against evil with all vigilance. But while using all due means, you will still throw the main burden of watchfulness on an eye that never sleeps, and without which the watch- man waketh in vain. You will secure, by yourself watching unto prayer, the effectual interposition of that Power which alone can nip iniquity in its earliest bud. The Committee would also affectionately urge upon you the imperative necessity of cultivating the confidence of all your missionary brethren. In every case, ' how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.' But in your position, so much of your success depends upon the hearty co-operation of those associated with you in the work, that both the motives to union and the consequences of its absence are thrown out in their intensest power. Your work is such that you will be able to commence on a portion ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE VERNACULAR. 513 of it at once. The Committee regret that they are quite unable at the present moment to supply you with a Euro- pean assistant. They will bear this in mind, and they trust that meanwhile you will be able to find valuable teachers among the educated natives, who will work well under your superintendence. You will not, however, allow your other duties to interfere with a close application to the language. The immense facilities which a command of this will give you in your own work are too obvious to need recapitulation. It will also give you opportunities of usefulness during the vacations, and enable you to render some assistance in the district immediately around you. You will always look upon the College as your special charge, but the Committee leave it entirely to yourself to determine what share you feel equal to in the Sabbath and other duties of the mission churches in the neighbourhood. Your position, dear brother and sister, will be such as to render a large girls' school undesirable. But you will find it help you in your work, and cement your connection with the college pupils, if you can collect around you a few girls belonging to the families of those receiving education or employed in the College. Female education has now reached the third generation, most of the rough work has been done, and to a great extent you will enter into other men's labours. But, though one sow and another reap, both will rejoice together at the harvest. September 5, 1854. 514 INSTRUCTIONS. L. MISSIONS IN THEIR VARIETY. 1. It is not often that the Committee have to take leave of brethren so variously circumstanced, and destined to fields of labour of such opposite characteristics, as in the present instance. 2. We have now before us those who have laboured and suffered for many years in the missions abroad ; we have those who are going out for the first time ; we have those who leave behind them parents and dear relations, and one who will be united to his family circle, after a long separa- tion, only when he reaches his distant mission. We have the representatives of Islington College, and the representa- tive of an ancient University. One of you is going back to that peculiar centre of civilisation, Calcutta, where the flower of British statesmen and officers mingle with most advanced men of the Oriental races, and mingle in political, adminis- trative, intellectual, and social life, while the world awaits the issue of this great coalition. One is going back to Pekin, still the centre of a vast empire which has till now resisted the intrusion of Western civilisation, and exhibits, in its grandeur and in its decay, the glory and the vanity of human power. Another brother is about to return to the very verge of civilisation and of the habitable globe, in North-West America, with a special view to the benefit of the Esquimaux who rove along the shores of the Arctic seas. A younger brother is going forth to New Zealand, to train a native ministry in sound knowledge and the right interpre- tation of God's Word, which will be their best safeguard against political offences, as well as that wild fanaticism which has now broken out amidst a portion of the Maori race. 3. The present occasion may lead us into a train of thought which was a favourite one with the great Apostle SEPARATION FOR THE WORK. 515 of the Gentiles. As, in the great contests of the ancient amphitheatres, those Avho contended for the prize had each his appointed part to play, hut every eye and every heart was fixed upon the prize, and the brief interval of conflict and the particular pai-t to be sustained were not thought of ; — so with you, dear brethren, let no thoughts arise, why am I sent here, why is my brother sent there, why is this work assigned to me, why not that ? If the Committee regarded the selection of fields of labour to which to send their missionaries as a matter in which they were to consult natural tastes and the comforts and conveniences of this brief life, they might well shrink from so great a responsi- bility and so thankless an office. But trusting that the Lord the Spirit has called you, as He did certain brethren in the Church of Antioch, to the work to which He has chosen you, they send you forth in the Lord's name, and they bid you fix your eye and your heart on the end of the conflict — the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus. 4. You will need such a stay and support for your soul while you are running the race set before you ; you will find it in looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the griefs and despised the shame. Friends at home may strengthen your hands, by supplying the materials of your missionary war- fare ; they may encourage you by godly counsel ; they may uphold you by intercessory prayer. All these may help to cheer you through the conflict ; but the stern reality of mission work requires deeper roots for your faith and perse- verance— a sense of the Lord's presence now, and the final welcome, ' Well done, good and faithful servant.' Then shall they that have sowed and they that have reaped rejoice together before the Lord — they that have laboured at home and they that have laboured abroad — they that have prayed for, and collected for, and subscribed for missions, and they who have preached among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. 5. Under these solemn impressions, the Committee would L L '1 51(5 INSTRUCTIONS. now address a few special words to the Brethren who this day receive their valedictory dismissal. 6. Two of you are proceeding to North India — the elder to his old station at Calcutta, the younger to join his father in his labours at Meerut. It is the third time that the Committee have taken leave of you, Brother Long, and it is quite unnecessary to give you instructions. For many years your attention has been given to the religious and social improvement of India, including its vernacular literature in its bearing upon the progress of Christianity. You have regarded yourself as living for the natives. Native society, from its highest grades to the masses, has had a peculiar attraction in your eyes. In the providence of God, you have suffered honourable bonds and imprisonment in this cause. You return to India ' to occupy,' with the special talents thus committed to you. You have the confidence of the native society, and your first duty is to turn that talent to the furtherance of the Gospel. You will consult with the senior Brethren and with the corresponding committee, as well as with the bishop, as to the plans you pursue; but much will depend upon openings of Providence which cannot now be predicted, and upon delicate questions of social intercourse which are incapable of discussion. 7. The Committee will therefore only say, that while they do not assign to you any routine duties, such as teaching schools, or the pastoral charge of Native Christians, they leave you to your own judgment, assisted by the friendly counsel to which they have referred, to undertake or not any general superintendence of schools, or special classes of native young men, or vernacular preaching, or domiciliary visitation. And they affectionately lay it upon your con- science to cherish in your own soul a constant sense of the Saviour's love and grace ; that your spirit and work may be evermore a witness for Christ ; and that you may so identify yourself with your missionary brethren, in their more settled and defined work, in public ordinances, and in united prayer, AS A SON WITH A FATHER. 517 that you may never appear as an isolated missionary (which is a solecism in terms), but that your special calling and their routine employments ma,j be happily blended in the one work of the ministry of Christ. 8. The Committee have been in the habit of receiving from you very valuable letters, reviewing passing events and the phases of native society ; and they trust that you will continue this correspondence, as it will serve not only for their information, but to keep before your own mind the main interests of your work. 9. You, Brother Hoernle, will have the great privilege of labouring \mder your devoted and experienced father in the largre and increasing work in which he is engaged. The Committee picture to themselves the deference, the humility, the affectionate submission with which you will strive to bear his burden, to assist his labours, to cheer his heart, and to pi-ofit by his experience and knowledge. A delightful picture to gaze upon in imagination ! And they hold up this picture to you, Brothers Sell, Atkinson, and Falkner — and to all the students of the Islington Institution — as the stan- dard at which junior missionaries should aim, when asso- ciated with their seniors in a mission. Such was the relation between Timothy and Paul- -he laboured with him in the Gospel as a son with a father. Brethren, the Committee must speak plainly. There is a strong current in human nature which carries juniors in an opposite direction. Often they will scarcely labour with the deference due to an elder brother, still less with that due to a father. Satan takes advantage of this strong current to damage many a young missionary at the very outset of his career. ' We are not ignorant of his devices ; ' and this causes the Committee to speak thus plainly. They have laid down the rule, that until a young missionary has passed his vernacular examina- tion he shall only be regarded as a probationer, and shall not have any charge or responsibility laid upon him ; and this arrangement is made, not only that he may have time for the study of the language, but that he may watch and 518 INSTRUCTIONS. observe the work in silent and respectful deference to his seniors : inasmuch as he has no call to make, or even to sug- gest new plans or supposed improvements. 10. When a young missionary joins a mission, he may bring with him great advantages, in the freshness of his spirit, his sanguine hopes, his open eyes — if he be ' clothed with humility.' Otherwise the arrival of a new missionary is an era of anxiety and apprehension, of trouble and diffi- culty, till the fellow- soldiers of Jesus Christ have been dis- ciplined into ranks under the fire of the enemy. 11. You, Brother Sell, have been appointed to the Harris School, in Madras, where education is specially provided for the Mahommedan population. The school was established more than ten years ago. It has surmounted all prejudices, and conciliated the confidence of the Mussulmans. The Bible is read, and Christian instruction is freely given. The direct benefits which such an institution affords are con- siderable, and some, it may be hoped, among the pupils will be brought to true conversion. This you must ever keep in view as the only aim and the true reward of your labours. But an indirect effect of the school upon the Mussulman population is confidently looked for, by opening a door of access to them for a preached Gospel. We trust that the present admirable master of the school will remain for a few months after your arrival ; and a devoted missionary is on the spot, who has acquired the Hindustani language, and is about to open a Hindustani Mission, if his health will allow of his continuance in India. You must make it your first object to acquire that language, for which your past study of the Sanscrit will be some advantage. 12. You, Brothers Burdon and Atkinson, are destined to the China Mission and to the station of Pekin. Twelve years of experience in the Chinese Mission have given you, Brother Burdon, great advantage in commencing operations in the capital. You have acquired the Mandarin dialect, and you are now prepared to converse with inquirers, and to preach. CHINA. 519 13. The Committee have had under their consideration two proposals for facilitating your missionary operations — the opening of a dispensary, and the establishment of a boarding-school. With respect to the first, the difficulty of securing the services of a competent medical man, which this Society has experienced in all its attempts to establish medical missions, makes the Committee despair of being able to carry out the plan in Pekin. With respect also to a boarding-school for young heathen children, or for baptized orphans, the Committee hesitate to occupy the time of missionaries in scholastic employments, of which the results must be remote and uncertain. 14. The Committee wish you, therefore, in the first in- stance to try whether there be not an open door for address- ing adults, and whether the Lord will not supply you with a few converts capable of becoming teachers of their country- men. The Committee will cordially sanction your gathering around you a class of Christian youths, as preparandi pupils, and supporting them while under training ; ' a school of the prophets,' who may be trained as schoolmasters, or cate- chists, and employed under the superintendence of the mis- sionaries till sufficiently matured to act a more independent part. When a Christian population is raised up, as at Ningpo, then Christian schools will become a necessity, and a boarding-school for Christian children may be ultimately advisable. But at present the call seems to be to make the truth widely known among a thoughtful and self-reliant people, who never forget their ancient superiority in civilisa- tion and learning. It is a very remarkable feature of the Chinese Mission, that ready-formed native teachers have been found amongst the earliest converts : to find such must be your first object. 15. The Committee would also encourage missionary tours and colportage, book shops, or such other modes of operation as your experience and the circumstances of the country may suggest. 16. You, Brother Atkinson, have been appointed with 520 INSTRUCTIONS. Mr. Burdon in the Pekin Mission, and the Committee's ad- vice to you, after what has been already said to junior mis- sionaries, may be summed up in the injunction — Serve with him as a son with a father, in the Gospel of Christ. When you have passed the vernacular examination, an independent post of duty will be assigned you. In the meantime, follow the advice of your senior in all respects — in your study of the language, in matters of health, and in all other things in which experience teaches wisdom. 17. You, Brother Falkner, are destined to New Zealand. It is the confident expectation of the wisest of our mission- aries in that distracted country, that native resistance will soon die out ; and that the people, subdued in their stubborn- ness, will be in a more favourable disposition than ever for combining, as a native Christian community, in Church fellowship, and in the relations of civilised life. Even in the midst of excitement and temptations to war, the Diocese of Waiapu has preserved the nucleus of such a happy future. Its Church synods have met and discussed important ques- tions tending to the establishment and extension of Chris- tianity among the native race. You are appointed to assist the Bishop of Waiapu in the training of a native ministry. The bishop is well known in your circle of friends, and a wiser and more devoted Father in God the Church of Christ can hardly possess. 18. The Committee are thankful that you have not been deterred by the alarming accounts of the insecurity of the country from proceeding thither. Upon your arrival, and while at Auckland, you will be safe from all such dangers, and will receive the true account of the state of the country around Waiapu. You will find several of our missionaries in Auckland, at the head of whom are Archdeacons Kissling and Maunsell, and they will give you the best advice, and your movements must be guided by their united counsel. 19. You, Brother Gardiner, are returning to Rupert's Land ; and another Brother is present who has been destined to that work, having resigned for it the Home ministry. NORTH-WEST AMERICA. 521 Both of you will probably labour in the far north of that im- mense district. But your first winter will be spent at the Red River. You, Brother Gardiner, have already acquired the Cree language, and you have studied the Esquimaux ; and the Committee wish you to pursue the latter study, though they cannot positively assign you to Churchill. If Mr. Mason remains the next winter at York, you will remain at the Red River, and supply the duties of St. Andrews, if no other arrangement is made by the corresponding com- mittee on the spot. Brother Bompas is assigned to the most promising work at the Youcon, which has been auspiciously commenced by Brothers Kirkby and McDonald. He will have the advantage of the counsel and advice both of the late and the present bishop of that remote and extensive diocese. 20. To all the Brothers and Sisters now going forth the Committee will address one Divine sentence : — ' Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well- pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.' June 16, 1865. 522 INSTRUCTIONS. M. LOVING FAREWELL.1 It is not superfluous, because it is so refreshing to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, to admonish you to stand fast in the truth as it is in Jesus. While some make much of forms, and some overrate knowledge, Christ crucified will be the substance and centre of all your pro- ceedings. Your own comfort and progress hinge on this ; the success of your work depends on it more closely than noonday light upon the sun : for the Lord made light before the sun was in the firmament, and the hour is coming when there will be no need of candle or light of the sun, for the Lord God will give light to His people ; but there never has been and never can be a day when any creature is indepen- dent of Christ. Before time was, and when time has merged into eternity, ' by Him all things consist.' The Saviour of sinners will be the theme of your preaching, teaching, and jmvate meditation, and pervade your entire life — Christ in the pulpit, Christ in the bazaar, Christ in the school, Christ in the household, Christ in the closet; for Christ is in the heart. Tour own peculiar sphere of labour, dear Brother Sargent, is one of great interest. In a settled country, every profes- sion is for the most part filled by men who in the morning of life have manifested peculiar predilections for it, or have by the force of providential circumstances been led to follow it ; and thus, though unfettered by anything like the bonds of caste, the state of life to which it pleases God to call each one is determined in many instances almost from childhood — in most from an early period. Yet even in Great Britain, when any new line of life is opened up, or a large demand 1 To the Rev. E. Sargent (now Bishop), on bis return to Tinnevelly. A SECURE FOUNDATION. 523 made for an increased staff of labourers, men of riper years must of necessity be introduced into it, notwithstanding the disadvantages inseparable from deficient early training. Such has been the engineering department, arising out of the sud- den and enormous increase of railway traffic, as well as with the new and rapidly spreading call for Scripture readers ; and the same thing also, in a more limited degree, has taken place in reference to the ordained ministers of our Church. If this state of things be exemplified among us at home, a fortiori must it be expected to prevail in a newly and par- tially Christianised district such as South Tinnevelly. The Committee therefore fully appreciate and heartily concur in the establishment for the training of readers, catechists, or native pastors, over which you have been called of God to preside, and to which you are now returning. The necessity for such an institution is precisely such as will yearly diminish as the education of the younger members of the Church pro- gresses, and ultimately it may assume a different and more ripened character ; but the present state of affairs is such as to render it essential for the successful working of the mis- sion ; and the Committee look to it, under God, not only as a nursery from which may issue fresh sci'ibes well instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, but as a centime whence may radiate those sound principles indispensable for laying se- curely the foundation of a Native Church. The Committee are alive to the extreme difficulty of dealing with a race of men who are slowly recovering from centuries of spiritual and political depression ; and they are well aware that they must distinguish between infirmities due to circumstances and those arising out of personal dis- qualifications. Nor do they forget that our treasure is in earthen vessels, and that an alloy of human weakness must be anticipated even in the silver which has passed the re- finer's fire. Yet, while disposed cautiously to push forward the weak, notwithstanding their weakness, in the expectation that use and exercise will brace the enervated fibres, they would earnestly caution you against lowering the standard. 524 INSTRUCTIONS. The principle that a spiritual agency can only be carried on by spiritual men must be preserved inviolate. The object in view is to raise the men to the standard, and not lower the standard to the men ; and, with God's blessing on a firm resolve, the Committee are persuaded that this vital object may be attained. One of the great means for its accomplish- ment is to foster among the native Christians a spirit of self-support, and a concern for the souls of their fellow- countrymen still immersed in heathen error. The Committee have hailed with deep thankfulness to Almighty God the forward steps taken during the last few years in this direc- tion. The Bible and Tract Societies, the endowment funds, the sums contributed for church building, the willingness to assist in promoting the work in North Tinnevelly, and above all the readiness to go thither, and to the coolies in Ceylon, are indications full of cheering encouragement, and are the first faint dawnings of that day when India shall thrust forward her sons as her pastors and evangelists, and take it into her own hands, under God, to support them. Your return to India thus falls in with a period of de- velopment in the Tinnevelly Mission which will mark an era in its progress. The heart-warming change is resulting in expansion. The cold hearts of the sensual heathen have been melting, and as they melt, their sympathies and their exer- tions are bursting forth, not, as we trust, to waste their refreshing streams, but to fertilise other hitherto barren wastes, that they too in turn may pour forth floods to fruc- tify other lands. Each department of missionary enterprise has its own charms in the eyes of those interested in the diffusion of Gospel light and life. The Committee watch over every one with affectionate solicitude and prayerful hope. They can- not but congratulate you as to that budding garden which the Lord has planted in the East, and which he has entrusted to you and your fellow-labourers, ' to dress it and keep it.' May He make it, under j'our hands, as a very fruitful field ! The prayer of nature would be, that God in His mercy LIFE OR DEATH ; ALL ARE YOURS. 525 would lengthen out your days and permit you to see the fruit of your labour ; but should He in His wisdom see fit to deny this, faith assures you, with the confidence of present posses- sion, that none who labour for Him can spend their strength in vain. February, 1855. 526 INSTRUCTIONS. N. SOME EMINENT MISSIONARIES. You have been appointed by the Committee to the Western India Mission, and your departure is hastened by the less of labourers in that mission through death and removal. The particular department of labour to which the Com- mittee designate you is that of itinerancy. This designation, however, must depend upon your health and acquisition of the language, and upon the exigencies of the mission. Tour first two years will probably be devoted to the acquisition of the vernacular; and before that period has expired, the providence of God will iudicate your particular sphere of labour. The Society has, within the last few months, been de- prived by death of some of its oldest and most valued mis- sionaries. The three last — Peet, Xoble, and Pfander — have fallen so recently, and their careers have been so eminently lengthened and blessed of God, that, in sending out young missionaries, we seem to be 'baptizing for the dead,' and the mind naturally reverts to the noble examples which the dead have left behind them, and kindles with the earnest prayer that their mantle may fall upon the younger men who enter into their work. These men represent the several classes which supply our missions — the first from Islington, the second from an Eng- lish University, the third from German}-, and they illustrate at the same time the leading departments of mission work — first, the gathering of souls into the visible church of Christ ; second, the Christian education of the heathen, with a view to reach the higher classes of society; third, controversy with the learned and acute supporters of the false prophet. Amidst so much variety, it might be doubted whether PEET. 527 any one characteristic could be selected as pre-eminently belonging to the three individuals, beyond those fundamental qualifications of all true missionaries — a firm grasp of the truth of the Gospel, and a constraining love of Christ. Yet there is one characteristic conspicuous amidst all the varieties of natural character and external circumstances, which we may term Missionary persistence. Having once put their hand to the plough, they never looked back ; hav- ing taken up mission work, they forsook all other employ- ments which did not bear directly upon their great work. They were scrupulously diligent in employing their whole time in their work — instant in season and out of season. It was their desire, nay, their determination, to die in the missions. Peet was sent home under mental prostration. The voyage sufficiently rallied his powers to enable him to entreat, with an earnestness which the Committee could not resist, to be sent back to die among his people. Noble would never accept a sick certificate : he went out to live or to die at his post. Pfander, but a few hours before his departure, sent a message to the Committee, that should God restore his strength, his one desire was to return to Constantinople, and die there. This is not said as if such a life-long missionary service were necessary for every true missionary. The pro- vidence of God may call a man home, as well as send him to the field, or keep him upon it. But the fact is noticeable in these three eminent missionaries, as illustrative of their missionary persistence. It may be for your encouragement, and to the glory of the grace of God, to illustrate this characteristic by a few leading particulars in the history of each man. In Joseph Peet there were great natural determination of character and personal courage ; and these were taxed to the utmost when he entered upon the work at Mavelicare. It was aptly termed the tiger's den, so fierce and blood- thirsty was the opposition he first encountered. The attempt was made to poison his wells, to fire his house, to waylay 528 INSTRUCTIONS. his path. Had there been only natural fortitude and perse- verance he would have sought a more propitious sphere of labour ; but these natural gifts had been sanctified by divine grace, and dedicated, with every other faculty of his soul, to the mission work, and therefore they ripened into that missionary persistence which bore him valiantly through every struggle till the Lord had crowned his work with more than 2,500 conversions, and made his enemies not only dwell in peace with him, but welcome him as a bene- factor to their country. Seven stone churches he built, acting as his own architect and contractor. His preaching was incessant; his house was always open to his people. Surrounded by his catechists and native ministers, trained under his instructions, he appeared as a Christian patriarch at the head of a Christian tribe when he fell asleep in Jesus. In Robert Noble there was a quiet but irrepressible per- severance. The Committee having assigned to him the establishment of an Anglo- vernacular school for the upper classes among the heathen Telugus, he perceived that in order to succeed he must give himself entirely to it : he did so— no other mission work, no English services to English residents, were allowed to draw him off for one hour from the work of his school. No entreaty from his affectionate relatives — not even the invitation of the Parent Committee — could induce him to visit England. When God gave him the desire of his heart in a few pupil converts, he gathered them under his wings as a hen gathereth her chickens ; they did but bind his heart the closer to his school and to his work. When the cyclone had submerged the whole country, and swept away by death 30,000 souls in one night, as soon as the waters had subsided, when others were consulting about a new locality for the Institution, or at least its suspension for six months, he was at work clearing away the debris, and collecting his surviving pupils. And God blessed his per- sistence in the very direction in which he waited with long patience to see a blessing. The influence of his character and of his teaching raised the moral tone of the upper PFANDER. 529 classes throughout a large district. Some of his pupils, though still unconverted, fill the higher posts of native officials, and all the missionaries engaged in the district testify to the assistance they receive in their work from the lahours of the school. In Dr. Pfander persistence was united with a naturally meek, gentle, and retiring spirit ; with a humility which delighted in the lowest place ; with a love for his brethren, which, during forty years, never suffered an infraction. He was thrown in his early mission among Armenians, Greeks, and Mohammedans. He early chose the Mohammedan con- troversy as his special work. He perceived that Moslems required a peculiar style of argument and address. He en- countered their spiritual guides or Mollahs, till he had satis- fied his own mind as to the kind of treatise on the evidences of Christianity which was required for Mohammedans. He prepared three such treatises. He went on from year to year perfecting these works, translating them into different languages, holding oral or written controversies with learned Moslems. This was the work in which he manifested his missionary persistence. Thirty-five years ago he took a journey into Persia to test and perfect his first great work, the ' Mizan-ul-Haqq,' and the last employment of his pen was to commence an English version of the work for the use of African and other missions. And God has blessed these persistent efforts with a success far beyond calculation ; more than 30,000 copies are being put into circulation. Many signal conversions have been traced to the reading of these books, but their full effect can only be known in future days. Thus have the Committee set before you a striking cha- racteristic of these ' three mighty men ' among the warriors of Israel ; and they are persuaded that it was one element of their might. Great strength lies in missionary persistence, when united with faith and love, and sanctified by the Spirit of the living God. The maintenance of missionary persistence does not de- M M 530 INSTRUCTIONS. pend upon the department of work in which a missionary is engaged : it was equally conspicuous in the station mission- ary, in the educationist, in the controversialist. Neither does it depend upon a missionary remaining at one work. Though Noble never changed his employment or station, Peet was for the first five years an educationist. Pfander was first a missionary in Georgia, then at Bagdad, then in Calcutta, then in Agra, then in Peshawar, then at Constan- tinople. To you, then, our young friends, who this day receive your commission to go forth upon that warfare in which mighty men have gone before you and fallen, the Committee say, Strive after, cultivate this excellent grace. Count the costs now before you set your foot on the battle-field. Cast aside all thoughts which may interfere with it ; beware of the first disappointments which may await you ; beware of the effect of the climate on the nervous system ; beware of the tender remonstrances of relatives ; beware of every root of bitterness which may spring up to defile the work. The first few years of your missionary career will probably be the most trying ; the first few months may lay the foundation of a timid, vacillating, intermitting missionary career, or of a holy persistence in the work. Oh, may the God of all grace gird you with strength for the battle, as well as teach your arms to wield the weapons, which, through Him, are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds ! May you be faithful unto death, and He will give you a crown of glory ! December 11, 1865. RETROSPECT. 531 0. LAST WORDS. The Committee address you on the present occasion hy the lips of its aged Secretary, who might plead exemption on account of the infirmities of advancing years, but who throws himself upon your candid indulgence, under the exceptional circumstances caused hy the absence of younger secretaries. This circumstance suggests, as a topic for the present address, a very few remarks upon the different views and feelings with which we take leave of each party of mission- aries setting out upon their holy enterprise at the present day, from those which we entertained thirty or fifty years ago ; the fact that the same lips have spoken on many former occasions, as the organ of the Committee, gives a proof that the change is the result of experience, not the mere differ- ence of human opinions. The difference of views and feelings consists chiefly in this, that we entertain very moderate expectations of the success of all human agency, but greatly enlarged expectations of the working of the Spirit of God, for the conversion of the world. The time is, indeed, long gone by, when the sending forth of a body of missionaries raised a song of triumph, as though the world were turned from darkness to light. It has often struck us as significant of this bygone assumption, that a well-known and beautiful hymn, and its appropriate tune, were composed for the de- parture of the first set of missionaries sent by the London Missionary Society to the South Seas : — All hail the power of Jesu's name, Let angels, prostrate, fall, Bring forth the royal diadem, A nd crown Him Lord of all. We trust the hymn is sung with no less fervour of adoration M m 2 532 INSTRUCTIONS. than in olden times, but now rather in the assurance of faith, and in the surveying fields white unto the harvest, than in the bringing in of sheaves into the Lord's garner. We were accustomed to tell our missionaries that the Christian's weapons are mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. So we tell you still, but we are com- pelled to add, that you are not yet so armed. Some of you have to acquire the vernacular, so as to be able to unsheath the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Others of you have laboured abroad ; but you tell us that the strong- holds of Satan still frown in defiance upon the feeble Chris- tian efforts which are directed against them, and your minds are now agitated with the anxious question how you may best recommence the assault. We were accustomed, also, to say of our missionaries that they would be among the heathen like a candle to give light to all around. Alas ! what numbers have failed to impress the heathen with the beauty of holiness, through their unsubdued carnal infirmities ! We assured our young missionaries that they went forth bearing the good seed, of which some must spring up to the glory of the grace of God. Alas ! how few comparatively have found any good-ground hearers, or even rocky soil, or a lodgment among thorns ; they have found nothing but the hard wayside, and not one seed apparently has vegetated. To siim up, we have often in days past likened these occasions to the scene at Antioch of old, when the Spirit said, ' Separate me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them.' But year after year we have sent forth our evangelists, and other societies have sent forth theirs, and generations have passed away in many a missionary field without our receiving back the glad intelligence which the Church of Antioch received after two years and a half, when two Apostles ' gathered the Church together, and rehearsed all that God had done for them.' Such is the result of past experience when we trace the modern history of individual missionaries, and so our expec- MANIFEST BLESSING. 533 tations of the success of human agency are moderated. We dare not pronounce beforehand, of any missionary, that he will see the fruit of his mission. He may remain without visible success, he may fall into ill health, he may return dis- pirited. But, thanks be to God, there is another aspect of the subject, to which we hasten. If we look at modern missions as a whole, we unhesitatingly declare that they are a great success ; that they do give a pledge of an abundant harvest ; that we may tune our harps "for the chorus of praise and thanksgiving that the day of the Lord is at hand. But this success seems to have been granted in a way designed to humble human agency, and to exalt the work of the Spirit. I allude not only to such cases as Madagascar and Abeokuta, where the work has progressed, notwithstanding the expul- sion of missionaries, but also to the many cases in which success has been granted where least expected, and withheld where we had looked for it with the greatest confidence. Where the organisation of a mission has appeared to us the most complete, there the labourers have been tried by dis- appointments ; whilst in many other instances there have been apparently a spontaneous springing up of trees of the Lord's planting. Now by this statement we do not mean to imply that the Spirit of God acts irrespectively of human effort, but only that the Divine blessing is not tied to man's devices. There is a wide range of agencies at work for the conversion of the heathen, besides the preaching of the missionary ; and the Lord grants His blessing with a view to the whole work rather than in respect of this or that missionary : in answer to earnest prayer put up by the workers in one departjnent, the Lord may grant a blessing to a different department of the work, which in His infinite wisdom He sees to be most fitting and important. Let us all learn to honour the work of the Spirit in the success of Christian missions. Let us pray more earnestly for the outpouring of the Spirit upon the whole world. Let 534 INSTKUCTIONS. us act in the humble confidence of our Creed — ' I believe in the Holy Ghost, the author and giver of life.' Let those who are going forth into the mission field go forth with modest thoughts of the power of their own arm, but with great thoughts of the power of that Holy Spirit who divideth to every man as He will. According to the beautiful meta- phor used by our Lord in his discourse with Nicodemus (by many commentators not construed as a metaphor, but as a direct assertion of the work of the Spirit), the wind (to irvsvfMa) bio weth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof (a gentle rustling of the leaves), but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. Would to God that all who are engaged in missions might learn from hence to cultivate a spirit of mutual love, of union of soul in prayer and counsel, and of cordial harmony among the members of a mission. It is in such an atmo- sphere that the Holy Spirit delights to dwell, for these are in fact the fruits of His indwelling; and it is vain to expect the fruits of that Divine agent in giving effect to the preach- ing of the Gospel, if we shut out from our hearts His other fruits — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. It is said of the disciples of the Lord after His ascension, while they waited for the promise of the Spirit, that they were all with one accord in one place. The word is very expressive — of one heart and mind (6/j,odvfiaS6v). Acts i. 14 ; ii. 1 et passim. We cannot all assemble together bodily, but let us cultivate that oneness of mind and purpose which was honoured by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. We will conclude with two practical inferences arising out of this subject for the use of our missionary brethren. 1. What has been said may serve to place before my younger brethren who are going out for tne first time, in a new light, the rule of the Committee to regard them as pro- bationers till they have passed their examination in the vernacular, and shown that they possess other missionary OMO0YMAAON. qualifications. The Committee send you out on a venture whether you will be found fit for the Master's use, and must reserve to themselves the power of recalling you, if they afterwards see reason to doubt respecting your missionary call. In the case of Saul and Barnabas, the Holy Spirit made his call manifest before they set out. In modern mis- sions, though we trust that you are called to the work, we cannot pronounce absolutely till you have been tried in this work. These considerations may well check the spirit of many young missionaries, who, on their first arrival, think ' to set thing's to rights ' in the work of their seniors. For the first two years or so be slow to speak, quick to hear and observe, try to penetrate below the surface of things, and to understand the symptoms of a prosperous mission on which the Lord's blessing is resting. Sit at the feet of the expe- rienced missionaries. The lesson of humility is necessary for us all ; but, contrary to nature, it is too often least under- stood among those who most want it, the raw recruit in Christ's army. The Apostle who has laboured more abun- dantly than all others can best submit to be less than the least of all. 2. Again, you may all learn, dear Brethren, from this subject to cherish a wide interest in the mission to which you belong, to identify yourself in sympathy and counsel with the work of your brethren, as well as with your own peculiar department, as not knowing whether the Lord may answer your prayers by prospering your brother's work rather than your own. Though for convenience there may be a division of labour in a mission, the utmost care must be taken that such division do not beget an exclusive, a selfish spirit, even in the work of our common Lord, and Captain of the Lord's forces. This selfish spirit is often the besetting sin of most devoted missionaries — My people — My catechists — My schools — are expressions which often grate upon the ears of an experienced Secretary, though too familiar to brother missionaries to excite notice. It is specially with the view and intention of promoting in our missions unity of 536 INSTRUCTIONS. spirit and purpose that we enjoin upon you frequent meet- ings for united prayer and conference upon the Word of God, and upon the things which belong to His kingdom on earth : those of the same station should thus meet weekly, and others as often as their convenience will allow. ' Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one on another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.' (1 Pet. iii. 8.) July 28, 1871. [See also 1 Instructions ' on ' Nationality,'' pp. 282-292.") 537 NOTICE OF AFRICAN COMMERCE. No account of Mr. Venn's life and labours would be com- plete which did not give some account of his exertions in the development of lawful trade amongst the negroes of West Africa. The extracts from his journal which have been already printed have given some intimation of this (see pp. 121, 122, 134-136 supra), but the following pages will set it more clearly before our readers. Some may ask what the secretary of a great religious society had to do with African commerce. The answer would be this : Mr. Venn early perceived that in Africa trade must go along with Christianity. This fact had been recognised long before in the earliest days of the mission to Sierra Leone, but after the failure of those early efforts the promotion of African trade had not been kept prominently in view by the secretaries of the Society. The necessity for this union of trade with religion has never existed in any other mission except in that of Metlahkatlah, on the shores of the North Pacific ; and Mr. Venn would have been the last man to promote it if he had thought it any hindrance to the proper work of missions. In West Africa he encouraged trade for two reasons — first as the chief means for the destruction of the slave trade, and secondly as promoting the independence of the native Christian Church. Whilst the work of the Church Missionary Society was confined to the colony of Sierra Leone the mission- 538 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. aries experienced but little hindrance from the slave trade. The prisoners released from captured slave-ships were brought to Sierra Leone, and there handed over to the missionaries ; but the slavers themselves naturally avoided the colony. But as soon as a mission was begun at Ba- dagry, farther down the coast and in the very midst of the slave-dealing chiefs, the missionaries began to find themselves thwarted at every turn, for they were dis- liked and suspected both by European and negro slave- dealers. The repression of the slave trade by British cruisers was no doubt complete whenever the commodore in command of the squadron had the power and the will to make it so. But the work of the blockade was severe and most unpleasant for officers and men, and the ships were not always suited for the peculiar character of the service. So it happened that the blockade was by no means uniform, and this encouraged the slave-dealers to keep on their trade for the chance of a relaxation of the vigilance of our cruisers. Indeed, it used to be said at that time by Mr. Venn that if the blockade could be effec- tively maintained for ten years, the trade would break out again as soon as ever the blockade was raised. He felt that it was of no use to try to destroy the slave trade by British men-of-war. The true remedy had to be found in the introduction of lawful trade, and the most effective cruisers would be British merchantmen. ' You must show the native chiefs,' he would say, ' that it is more profitable to use their men for cultivating the ground than to sell them as slaves. When once the chiefs have found that lawful commerce pays better than the slave trade, the work of the squadron will soon be at an end.' The writer of this paper remembers how rejoiced Mr. Venn was when he heard that some chiefs in the interior, who had sold slaves to dealers at 141. each, had AFRICAN COMMERCE. 539 afterwards been glad to buy them back again at a con- siderable loss. The dealers had not been able to ship them for fear of the English cruisers, and in the mean- time the chiefs had found the need of labourers to culti- vate their cotton farms and prepare their palm oil. We have already said that we cannot claim for Mr. Venn the honour of having been the first to suggest and promote this method of destroying the slave trade. That honour belongs to others, especially to those who induced the British Government to send the first exploring ex- pedition up the river Niger in 1841. Mr. Venn was not at that time officially connected with the Church Missionary Society ; but he was a regular attendant at the Committee, and his letters show the importance he attached to it. But if we cannot claim this honour for him, we can certainly say that when almost all other friends of Africa were disheartened by the sad failure of that first expedition, Mr. Venn did not lose heart. He felt sure that trade could be established and ought to be established, and he determined to do what he could to- wards promoting it. Mr. Venn was well aware that the slave-dealers on the coast received their slaves in gangs from towns or tribes at considerable distances from the sea-shore. When a chief in the interior wished to obtain muskets, powder, or rum, his simplest course was to attack some neighbour- ing town of another tribe, to seize what slaves he could capture, and then sell them to the nearest slave-dealer. Occasionally these slaves — as in the well-known case of Bishop Crowther — changed hands more than once before being finally sold to the European dealer on the coast. Domestic slavery has always existed among these people, but it is the trade by Europeans which alone has induced their transportation. Without this stimulus the slaves 540 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. would seldom, except in case of war, be sold away from their own tribe. Mr. Venn saw plainly that if he could succeed in establishing lawful trade on the coast, the people of the interior would be very ready to enter into it. He had therefore to discover what were the principal natural products of the country for about a hundred miles from the coast line along the Bight of Benin. When this was discovered the next thing was to find the market value of these products in England. With this view he used to encourage the missionaries to send him samples of dyes, cotton, ginger, arrowroot, pepper, coffee, palm oil, ivory, ebony, &c. These samples he would send to persons in England who were able to judge of their quality and commercial value. Amongst his papers we have found letters from Sir W. Hooker, of Kew Gardens, from brokers in London and Manchester, from timber merchants, from wholesale druggists, and many others, reporting upon various articles from Africa. The next step would be to write to the missionaries or to some of his native friends, telling them the market price of the goods they had sent, and urging them to send more. Of course it would have been impossible for the over- worked Secretary of the Church Missionary Society to carry on this trading, or rather agency business, beyond this preliminary stage. Nor, indeed, was he without the help of some richer friends in these beginnings. He was for many years assisted by a small committee, established in 1845, which included the Earls of Shaftesbury and Harrowby, Sir T. D. Acland, Sir R. H. Inglis, Sir E. N. Buxton, and a few others. By means of their help Mr. Venn was able to provide for the education of several young negroes, who were trained in England for various AFRICAN COMMERCE. 541 trades. But he early saw that for the proper develop- ment of the cotton trade it was absolutely necessary to interest some religious Manchester merchants. He often said that he knew that one word from Manchester would do more than 200 letters from him, and he was fortu- nately introduced to one who was able and willing to help him, and from whom he received great assistance during many years. This was Mr. Thomas Clegg, of Manchester, and it will be, perhaps, interesting to know how this friendship first arose. Mr. Venn had been preaching for the Church Missionary Society in a church close to Manchester, and the vicar afterwards received a letter from Mr. Clegg to the effect that if Mr. Venn wanted to promote Christian civilisation he had better teach the natives not to waste the products of their country. Mr. Venn wrote as follows : — The object to which Mr. Clegg refers has been for some time under the attention of many zealous friends of Africa, and an encouraging progress has been made towards its attainment. The object is to encourage natives to cultivate the soil by giving them a fair market instead of the extortion to which they are exposed in the agency of local merchants. For this purpose several merchants in London have agreed to receive consignments of produce as Mr. Clegg proposes, and to return a fair price or goods. I have myself received nearly 400 lbs. of arrowroot and 300 lbs. of ginger, which I sent to the market. In this way the labour of a large body of little farmers in Sierra Leone has been cherished, and the time is in prospect when native merchants will begin to trade direct with London. The timber trade is already fully established, as also palm oil and ground nuts, and for these articles there is a fine market and an increasing trade. Our great object, however, at present is to encourage the growth of cotton. Many agencies are now at work for this purpose, and I am 542 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. persuaded that in a few years we shall see the cotton trade so thoroughly established as to lead to that final destruction of the slave trade for which I earnestly pray. Mr. Clegg will be glad, therefore, to know that his be- nevolent object has been already, in a measure, accom- plished ; nevertheless, as every help is important, I shall put his letter into the hands of an intelligent missionary just returning to Africa, and if he can avail himself of Mr. Clegg's offer he will do so. According to my judgment the things most needed are — ■ 1 . The seed of the best cotton plants. 2. Practical directions for its culture and preparation. 3. A small amount of capital — say, 100L — which respon- sible persons in Africa might be authorised to lay out in the purchase of cotton to be sent to England. Very possibly, in the first instance, the produce sent home might not reproduce the original sum, but after a few trials I have no doubt that a remunerative trade would be established. I adopted this course in arrowroot five or six years ago, but cotton is beyond my sphere, and I shall rejoice if Mr. Clegg, or any other friends conversant with that article, will undertake its encouragement in some practical manner. We have now nearly 20,000 Christian natives in Sierra Leone ; when they shall be once placed in an independent position, and shall be enabled to accumulate wealth, they will support their own ministers, and European missionaries will remove to the regions beyond them. Already these natives pay for the education of their children — one penny a week. We have in our schools nearly 3,000 such scholars. They contribute also between 300/. and 400L a year to missionary objects. What may we not expect, under God's blessing, when a fair trade shall be es- tablished instead of the present system, in which a few European merchants seek only timber, gold dust, palm oil, &c, and give scarcely any price for such produce as indi- vidual agriculturists can raise— indeed, give no cash prices, but only goods which the poor natives may not wish to have ? AFRICAN COMMERCE. 543 You will judge, by the length of this letter, that the sub- ject is one in which I take a deep interest, and I shall be glad if you can communicate this letter to Mr. Clegg or to an}- other benevolent cotton-dealers. In a letter written to another friend, a few years later (1859), Mr. Venn says : — I came to the conclusion, ten or twelve years ago, that the only way to encourage the natives to send cotton to Europe was to open an establishment in the midst of native cotton-farmers, where they might see their cotton cleaned and pressed and packed for the English markets, and either receive cash for it on the spot or else give orders for its being sold in England and English goods sent out in return. This is a scheme far too humble and simple for the coast merchants or governors, or other officials. I have spent hours in trying to convince the Governors of Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, and others, of its practicability, but in vain. At Lagos, however, or rather at Abbeokuta, I made the trial, and with perfect success. For the first four or five years our cotton gins and press prepared all the cotton sent to England ; now there are 200 or 300 gins at work, and five or six presses, in the hands of natives chiefly, and cotton is flowing to England in a stream widening every day, and Abbeokuta is rising rapidly in every branch of commerce. My next experiment will be made at Ouitsha, on the Niger. I feel very confident that the same results might follow there as have followed in Abbeokuta ; only there will be a double work — (1) to keep open the communication with the coast ; (2) to support the industrial institutions at Ouitsha. Mr. Macgregor Laird will accomplish the first work if properly supported. The establishment of the institution can easily be managed by our native missionaries who are settled there. Though Mr. Venn was considered by some of his oil MEMOTR OF THE EEV. HENRY VENN. friends to be almost too enthusiastic in his praises of the capacities and virtues of the African character, he was most cautious and prudent in all his business dealings with the natives. We find him writing to Mr. Clegg again and again to caution him against making large advances to the natives. ' They have neither the capital nor the commercial experience, nor the full understanding of commercial principles, to be trusted beyond prompt payments.' ' I dread the idea of encouraging the natives to order goods on credit ; it will be the rock of danger in our projected measures.' ' The natives must not be trusted, but must be paid liberally for their produce.' This was written in ] 852, and a few years later we find him again pressing upon Mr. Clegg the need of quiet and very careful action in developing trade. ' If large pur- chasers go into the interior and buy up the cotton, so as to produce a scarcity for home consumption, dissatisfac- tion and failure must ensue.' This was his one charge repeated to his friends in trade again and again. Do not give the natives credit on any terms whatever, and try to deal directly with them. He saw that if Europeans began to deal on a large scale with the ignorant natives, there would soon arise a cus- tom of making advances. These advances might be repudiated by the natives, and there would then be no means of compelling them to pay. We think we have now given sufficient details of Mr. Venn's work in this direction to show this side of his character— a side which was completely known to only a few even of his intimate friends. He was above all things careful to keep those trading concerns apart from the general work of the Church Missionary Society. He felt their great importance as means to an end, but he never allowed any of the funds of the Society to be AFRICAN COMMERCE. 545 devoted to trade. All the money that was expended in this way was given expressly into his hands for this par- ticular object. The trade was not in any way directed by the Committee of the Society, many of whom knew nothing of it, and very few of whom could have known the great importance their secretary attached to it. Nor could any agent of the Society in Africa ever mistake the nature of Mr. Venn's interest in the development of trade. He was very jealous of allowing trade to occupy the time or the thoughts of his missionaries, and carefully im- pressed this upon those friends who helped him. Perhaps the nature and character of his interest in this work was best seen when he had one or two negroes staying with him. He was then completely in his element, and many who read these pages will remember well the happy art with which he used to draw forth from these guests the information he wanted. His note books re- cord carefully the results of these conversations ; for though his memory was unusually retentive, he always preserved some record of these visits. To the Africans in England, whether they were at Manchester, at Kew Gar- dens, students in the London hospitals, or students in the Missionary College, he acted as a guardian. He enquired about their habits, their Sunday occupations, their health, and their general steadiness of conduct. If any one of them were going wrong Mr. Venn was sure to know of it, and give him some kindly advice or warning. We will end this paper by recording one instance of the important results which sometimes arose from his friendly confidential intercourse with Africans visiting England. In the year 1855 a negro merchant from Sierra Leone had brought his wife and family to visit England. After his usual kindly custom, Mr. Venn invited them all to his house and asked them about their travels. The merchant N N 546 MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY VENN. had travelled all about England, and had also visited Paris, and talked in a manner which showed that he must have spent a considerable sum of money. After some conversation Mr. Venn said, ' Well now, if you can spend so much money on your travels, you ought surely to be able to do more towards the support of your own clergymen in Sierra Leone.' The African sprang to his feet and said, ' Of course we could, Mr. Venn ; but so long- as you treat us like children we shall behave like chil- dren. Treat us like men and we shall behave like men. We spend onr money upon ourselves because you don't invite us to support our clergy. Whilst the Church Missionary Society pays for everything in Sierra Leone, and manages everything in Sierra Leone, there is nothing for us to do. Let us have a share in managing our own Church affairs, and you will see that we shall soon be able to meet our own expenses.' To this conversation Mr. Venn often afterwards re- ferred as having proved to him that the colony of Sierra Leone had then become ready to pass from the ele- mentary stage of missions to the settled state of a native African Church, self-supported and self-governed. APPENDIX. THE VENN FAMILY. The family to which Mr. Venn belonged have been clergy- men for so very many generations, that some of our readers may perhaps be interested in hearing more about them. The Venns have never possessed much wealth or held any of the higher offices in the Church. The only one of that name who ever held any conspicuous place in the State, was Colonel John Venn, elected member for the City of London in 1640, and an intimate friend of Oliver Cromwell. His name appears on the warrant for the execution of King Charles. He died in 1 650. This is the only layman of the name of Venn who has ever been known to occupy any post of influence. They have been clergymen from father to son, distinguished chiefly by their steady application to the duties of their office, and content with the influence that God gives, as the reward of honest and unselfish service. The character given of John Venn, Rector of Clapham, would stand equally well for the character of his father, of some of his more remote ancestors, and of his sons. He was noted for 4 his humility, benevolence, tenderness, generosity, and soundness of judgment.' We give a few short notes on the different members of the family, starting from Henry Venn, the sub- ject of this Memoir. His father was John Venn, born at Clapham on March 9, 1759 (his father Henry, was at that time Curate of Clapham). There are some letters from Henry Venn of Huddersfield, to John Venn in his youth, which are interest- ing, as they show the curious state of religious feeling during the latter part of the last century. One example may suffice. John Venn was to have been entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, but the Master and tutors refused to allow him 550 APPENDIX. to become a member of that College on account of his father's religious opinions. The authorities at Sidney Sussex College were more tolerant, and he was therefore entered at that college at which his father and grandfather had been educated. Mr. John Venn received the living of Little Dunham soon after leaving Cambridge, and afterwards held the important Rectory of Clapham for twenty years. His most enduring work was the formation of the Church Missionary Society. He presided at the first meeting which was held for the purpose of establishing it, he prepared many of the earlier documents, and took part in all the de- liberations of the Committee so long as his health permitted. As Rector of Clapham he had a large and wealthy con- gregation. The band of Christian friends now so well known by the name of the ' Clapham Sect ' attended his church, and thus his preaching had a wide and deep influ- ence for good. Two volumes of his sermons was published soon after his death, and his popularity was shown by their very large sale. Mr. Dealtry, his successor at Clapham, said some months after his death, that he could not allude to Mr. Venn in his sermons, as it immediately affected all the congregation. He died July 1, 1813, aged 54. Of the Rev. Henry Venn his father, we need here say little. His life was published in 1834, and is well known. He was born on March 2, 1724, entered at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1742, and was elected to a Fellow- ship at Queen's College. In 1739 he took the living of Huddersfield, and. held it as long as his strength permitted. When his energy was no longer equal to the arduous work of Huddersfield, he found lighter work in the village of Yelling, in Huntingdonshire. He died in his son's house, at Clapham, June 24, 1797. Going back to the next generation, we find in the father of Henry Venn, another clergyman, the Rev. Richard Venn. He was born in January 1691, and passed from BlundelPs School, Tiverton, to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1 709. He became Rector of St. Antholin's, in the City of APPENDIX. 551 London, where he was a preacher of some note. He died in 1739, aged 48. His father was the Rev. Dennis Venn, Vicar of Holbeton, Devon. He entered at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1666, and died in 1695. His father was the Rev. Richard Venn, vicar of Otterton, Devon, born May 17, 1601, died June 1662. Richard Venn and his brother, Robert Venn, vicar of Thel- bridge, were ejected from their livings by the Parliamentary Commissioners, on the ground of their loyalty to the King and disaffection to the Commonwealth. A fuller account of these two men will be found in Walker's ' History of the the Sufferings of the Clergy.' Richard Venn obtained his living again after the Restoration. Their father was the Rev. William Venn, vicar of Otterton, who was born in 1569 ; entered at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1591, and took his degree four years later. He was instituted to the living of Otterton in 1599. We have not succeeded in tracing the family line any furtber than this. Both Mr. Venn and his father Mr. John Venn endeavoured to do so, but failed. It is only clear that the father of William Venn must have lived in the times of Edward VI. and Mary, if not of Henry VIII., and was pro- bably the first of the line who embraced the Reformed re- ligion. Mr. Venn inclined to the belief that William Venn was a son of a certain Richard Venn of Payhembury, in Devonshire, where a number of yeomen of that name then lived. It is interesting to add, that the descendants of those yeomen still (1880), continue to reside on their own property in Payhembury. LONDON : PH1NTKU BY H-OTTISWOOUE AND TO., NEW-8TRKET SQl/Atttt AND PARLIAMENT NTKEET Jfldta fur up Jtvtniipr % J§Htr»rj| ON SALE BY Charles jet. iG-s:^.nvn, 27a FARRINGDON STREET, LONDON, E.C. <~J^Oo Note i. — All these books are new and bound in cloth, in every respect as published, unless the contrary is stated. Note 2.— The figures enclosed thus (5s.) denote the original published price. The figures enclosed thus [6] denote the cost, in pence, of carriage by "Parcel Post." Abbott on the Gospels and Acts. THE GOSPELS OF ST. MATTHEW AND ST. MARK : with an Introduc- tion on the Nature, Origin and Authority, Inspiration and Canon of the New Testament ; also on the Relation of the Gospels to each other, on the Harmony of the Gospels, and on the Life of Christ. By Rev. Lyman Abbott, Author of "A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge," "Jesus of Nazareth," &c, &c. Fifty-two Illustrations and Three Maps, 400 closely-printed pages. Square 8vo. 3s. 6d. (9S.) [61 *#* Also, by the same Author, a similar volume on Luke, 3s. (7s. 6d. )— and on Acts, 3s. (7S. 6d.)' [each 6] "We opened this volume with a strong doubt whether there was a place for another commentary ; all classes of readers have been supplied, so we thought, and little is left but repetition and commonplace. We soon found, how- ever, that the doubt was groundless. Mr. Abbott has made it clear that there is room for another commentary, and his volumes are fitted to occupy the room. He has thoroughly mastered his subject ; has carefully thought out for himself the great problems which need to be considered by the competent commentator, and has given the results in clear and suggestive forms. We are specially struck with the aptness of the summaries of sections and with the valuable supplementary notes on the temptation of Jesus, the sermon on the mount, demoniacal possessions, &c." — The Freeman. Aitken on Church Reform. PAMPHLETS ON CHURCH REFORM. By Rev. Robert Aitken, Vicar of Pendeen. Now first collected into one volume. With Prefatory Note by his Son, Rev. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, M.A. An aggregate of 538 pp. 8vo. 2s. net (pubtished in separate numbers at 5S. 4d.). [6] " This book consists of eleven pamphlets and a letter by the author on Church Reform, wiitten to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. The subjects which are treated are 'The Irish Church,' ' Union of the Church with Methodism," 'The Sealed Hook,' 'The Root and Solution of our Difficulties,' ' Evangelical Truth,' &c. These pamphlets are all written with that earnestness for which the author was noted, and of course set forth the peculiar views which are associated with his name."— The Literary Churchman. Alford's Essays and Addresses. ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES, chiefly on Church Subjects. By Henry Alford, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. 8vo. 2s. (7s. 6d.) [5] Contents: The Special Education of the Clergy— Preaching : its Adaptation to the Present Times— The Christian Conscience— The Union of Christendom considered in its Home Aspect— Charity the End of the Command- ment—The Requisites of an Education for the Ministry in the Present Day— The Church of the Future. Fuller and more recent Catalogues of Theological Books, Secondhand and New, are always obtainable Gratis and Post Free. Libraries, in town or country, and small Parcels of Books, bought for Cash, or taken in Exchange, on the most liberal terms. A 2 Charles Higham, Theological-Book-Seller, Allen s Sermons. THE WORDS OF CHRIST, and Twenty-two other Sermons, Preached at Christ Church, Gypsy Hill, Sydenham, London. By Rev. R. Allen, M.A., Vicar, Crown 8vo. 2s. (5s.) [5] "These are sermons of the right stamp. They combine original thought, a clear, earnest, eloquent style, and genuine Evangelical doctrine." — Our Own Fireside. " They are full of vigour and earnestness, and combine purity of doctrine with freedom and independence of thought." — The Christian Advocate. Arnold's Our Bishops and Deans. OUR BISHOPS AND DEANS. By Rev. F. Arnold, B.A., late of Christ Church, Oxford. 2 vols. 8vo. 7S 6d. (30s.) [9] " This work is good in conception and cleverly executed, and- as thoroughly honest and earnest as it is interesting and able. The style is original, the thought vigorous, the information wide and thorough, the portrait-painting artistic, and the comments keen enongh to gratify and impress any student or thinker, whether or no he be inclined to endorse all the opinions of the author. There is not .1 chapter that any intelligent reader is likely to leave unfinished or to find uninteresting. Moreover, there is with the scholarly ability so sincere an earnestness, and so much devotional feeling of a refined and simple sort, tender and true, that we believe no one will be able to go through the volumes without being conscious of having received a new impression of good, and without having learned a regard for the writer." — John Bull. Atwell on Inspiration. THE PAULINE THEORY OF THE INSPIRATION OF HOLY SCRIP- TURE; an inquiry into the present unsettled state of opinion concerning the Nature ol Personal Inspiration, with the view of placing on a consistent and Scriptural basis tb Inspiration of Holy Scripture. By W. E. Atwell, D.D., Rector of Clonoe. Crown 8vo Is. 6d. (7s. 6d.) [6 Baird on the Huguenots. HISTORY OF THE RISE OF THE HUGUENOTS. By Henry M. Baird, Professor in the University of the City of New York. 2 vols, post 8vo. containing in thi aggregate 1,304 pages, including a ^2-page Index. 7s. 6d. (15s.) [9] n Professor Baird has added a new name to that list of gifted American historians which is already adorned by the names of Motley, Prescott, Bold and Bancroft. The story is told so picturesquely, that the reader will find it difficult to lay down the book." The Ecclesiastical Gazette. We may congratulate Professor Baird on the success with which he has handled the story of the Huguenots His volumes may justly be considered as a standard work." — The Record. Baker on the Apostles Creed. THE APOSTLES' CREED TESTED BY EXPERIENCE : Lectures delivere in the Church of the Messiah, Brooklyn, U.S.A. By Rev. Charles R. Baker. Pos 8vo. 2s. (2s. 6d.) [3 " The most striking feature in the present volume is the adoption of a novel mode of dealing with the Creed an its lessons." — The New York Times. Baker on the Psalms. MEDITATIONS AND DISQUISITIONS ON THE FIRST PSALM ; O THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS (vi., xxxii., xxxviii., 1L, cii., exxx., cxliii.); and on th CONSOLATORY PSALMS (xxiii., xxvii., xxx., xxxiv., lxxxiv., ciii., cxiii., cxvi By Sir Richard Baker, Knight, Author of " The Chronicle of England," &c, &c. verbatim reprint of these three very rare Treatises in Modern Spelling. With Memoria Introduction by Rev. A. B. Grosart, LL.D., F.S.A., Editor of the Works, an Biographer, of Sibbes, Brooks, and Gilpin, in " Nichol's Puritan Divines." Facsimile contemporary Portrait and of Autograph. Thick crown Svo. 5s. (6s. 6d.) [6 " We have long known the comments of Sir Richard Baker, and we have often wondered how they escape reprinting He turns a text over and over, and sets it in new lights, and makes it sparkle and flash in the sun light after a manner little known among the blind critics of the midnight school. Deep experience, remarkab! shrewdness, and great spirituality are combined in Sir Richard. It is hard to quote from him. for he is always goo alike, and yet he has more memorable sentences than almost any other writer." — The Sword and Trowel. "This is a reprint— and what is more, an honest reprint— of a book published in 1639-40 by a layman of th Puritan way of thinking, though not an unmitigated Puritan by any means, as he wrote a Defence and Vindicatio of the Theatre against Prynne's ' Histrio. Mastix.' His ' meditations ' are sober, sensible, and practical enough ; the interest is augmented by the fact that they were wholly or mostly written while their author was a prisoner in th Fleet. They are quaint, and full of those apophthegms and fancies with which we meet so constantly in books writte in the reign of James I. To the antiquarian, as distinct from the theological reader, the most interesting part of th volume will be the biographical sketch of the author's career, to which the writer, Dr. Grosart, has given the name a ' Memorial-Introduction.' .... The account of the family of Sir Richard Baker, and his long and reputable con nection with Kent, will have its attractions for the genealogical reader." — The Antiquarian Magazine. 27A Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 3 Ball on the XXXIX. Articles. THE ORTHODOX DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND explained in a Commentary on the XXXIX. Articles. By Rev. T. J. Ball. With an Introduction by Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, M.A., Vicar of Froome Selwood. Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. (7s. 6d.) [3] "Mr Ball's ' Orthodox Doctrine' is, in many respects, a very serviceable handbook of the positive teaching contained in the Articles." — Church Bells. " It is well intentioned, and has a Catholic tone from beginning to end." — The Church Quarterly Rcvieh Herald. " He also throws a new light upon his subject through a searching philosophical inquiry and logical statement, which render his ten sermons very instructive in the matters of dogma, history, and scientific discussion." The Boston Sunday Globe. [U.S.] Hausser on the Reformation. THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION, 1517-1648. By Prof. L. Hausser, edited by W. Oncken, Professor of History at the University of Giessen. Translated far Mrs. G. Sturge. A Ncvj and Cheater Edition, in One Volume. 726 closely-printed pages. Crown Svo. 4s. (5s.) [6] " It would be difficult to find a book better suited to give a just and comprehensive view of the subject. N'ot its least valuable characteristic is the connection which it enables the reader to perceive in periods which are commonly studied by themselves." — The Spectator. "We recommend it to all who wish to understand the history of Europe since the sixteenth century. Once opened it will be read." — The Watchman. * 2 /A Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 15 Hatch on Aristotle's Philosophy. THE MORAL PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE ; consisting of a Translation of the Nicomachean Ethics, and of the Paraphrase attributed to Andronicus of Rhodes, with an Introductory Analysis of each book. By the late Walter M. Hatch, M.A., Lampion Lecturer, 1880. 614 pp. 8vo. 10s. (18s.) John Murray. [6] Hill's Short Sermons. THE CHURCH AT HOME : a Series of Short Sermons, with Collect and Scripture, for Sundays, Saints' Days, and Special Occasions. By Rowley Hill, D.D., Bishop of Sodor and Man. Crown 8vo. gilt edges, 3s. 6d. (5s.) [3] Contents : Seventy-four Sermons for the Sundays and Holy Days of the Christian Year — Eighteen Sermons for the Saints' Days — A Sermon for each of the following Special Occasions: Baptism of Adults, Baptism of Infants, Benefit Club, Bible Society, Burial of the Dead, Choral Society. Church of England Temperance, Confirmation, Ember Days, Harvest Thanksgiving, Holy Communion, Hospital Sunday, Matrimony, Missionsat Home, Missions to the Heather., Missions to the Jews, Missions to Seamen, New Year's Day, The Queen's Accession, The Weather. The Homiletieal Library. THE HOMILETICAL LIBRARY: edited by the Revs. Canon H. D. M. Spenee, M. A., and Joseph S. Exell, M.A. 4 vols, each containing about Three Hundred Out- lines of Scrmom, varying in completeness. 8vo. £1. 2s. 6d. (£1. 10s.); or, separately, each 6s. (7s. 6d.) [each 6] Contents: Vol. I. Advent: Christmas; The Close and Commencement of the Year -Vol. II. Epiphany; Sexagesima ; Septuageslma ; Quinquagesima. — Vol. III. Lent; Easter; Easter Day; Sundays after Easter; Ascension ; Whit Sunday— Vol. IV. Sundays in Trinity. " We cannot speak too highly of this whole series of volumes. They are the work of thoroughly competent men, who are sparing no pains to present our ministers of religion with an equipment of the most serviceable order for the work of the pulpit and the Bible class."— The Liverpool Mercury. "We doubt not many hard-working clergymen will find help, if not inspiration, from these volumes in preparing for the pulpit."— The Edinburgh Co7ira?tt. '* Preachers will get very valuable hints in this volume, while others will find it valuable for religious and devotional reading." — The Leeds Mercury. "The work has been prepared with great care, and it may be commended to all whom it concerns." The Scotsman. '* Ministers of any church will find in the volumes a large amount of helpful material." — The Glasgow Herald. A Valuable Homiletic Work. THE HOMILETIC QUARTERLY, 1877 to 1881, 5 vols, square royal Svo. £1. IS. (£2. 10s.) or, together with its successor, THE HOMILETIC MAGAZINE, 1882, to June, 1883, 3 vols.; the 8 vols, uniformly bound, £1. 16s. (£3. 12s.) [each vol. 6] The volumes can also be obtained separately at 6s. each, net ; also Vols. AV., A'.t and XI. , containing the numbers from "July, 1883, to December^ 1884, at 6s. each (ys. 6d.). " Other departments make up, with the above, a work of real merit, whether we regard the range of its subjects or the distinguished men who are its contributors. It is intended as an ' International ami Undenominational Preachers' Magazine,' and the preacher who knows how to use such a publication will find it fruitful of suggestion and a compendium of scholarly instruction. It is the best of the whole family of * Helps' we have seen, because it leans with a strong advance towards study, and does not seek to simply supplement clerical indolence. The long list of names on the title-page carries an infection of industry." — Rev. H. W. Bekchkk in The Christian Union. The Homilist. THE HOMILIST : edited by Rev. David Thomas, D.D., assisted in the lata volumes by his son, the Rev. Uriiah Rees Thomas. Vols. XV., XVII. to XXI., each 3s. 6d. (5s. 6d.) ; XXIII to XXV., XXVII. and XXIX., each 2s. 6d. ; XXXI., 3s. ; XXXIII., 2s. ; XXXIV., 3S. ; XXXV., 2s. 6d. : XXXVI. and XXXVII., each 2s. (6s. 6d.) ; XXXIX. to XLIIL, XLV. to L., each 3s. 6d. (7s. 6d.) [3, 5, or 6] *** Complete copies of the Seven Series into which this world-renowned periodical is subdivided art always on sale. The current price of these will be found in C. Highairis Sermon Catalogue, gratis and post free. " This is the best and most widely circulated of the books published in England for the promotion of pnlpit oratory. It is carefully edited and replete with solid matter. Its standpoint is large-hearted, above creeds, and evangelical in the widest sense. Its contents fully justify us in recommending it to preachers and theologians generally, and in Germany also."— J. P. Lance, D.D. 1 6 Charles Higham, Theological-Book-Seller, Analysis of Hooker — Book V. AN ANALYSIS OF THE FIFTH BOOK OF HOOKER'S ECCLESIAS TICAL POLITY. By Rev. G. A. Starkey, B.A., Curate of Meopham. With Intro duction by Rev. O. F. Owen, M.A. down 8vo. Is. (3s. 6d.) [3 Huntington's Sermons. CHRIST IN THE CHRISTIAN YEAR, and in the Life of Man : Sermons By F. D. Huntington, D.D., Bishop of Central New York, Author of "Sermons fo the People," " Christian Believing and Living," &c. 2 vols. (viz. : Advent to Trinity, ant Trinity to Advent), crown 8vo. each 3s, 6d (4s. 6d.) [each 5 CHRISTIAN BELIEVING AND LIVING. By F. D. Huntington, D.D Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. (3S.) [3 " Bishop Huntington's reputation was made many years ago by the publication of that singularly beautifu book, Christian Believing and Living. Each succeeding volume from his pen has but raised that reputation, and th one before us will not lower it. These sermons are mainly practical ; yet they teem with fresh and suggestive thought and are full of fine flashes of the best sort of pulpit eloquence. The author has aimed in each sermon to so open . single aspect of Christian truth, or of the Christian life, as to help the reader to seize and hold that truth as a reality and live that life with courage and joy. The ordinary reader will find this a helpful and refreshing book, while th preacher will find in it many a useful thought, and an excellent model for the formation of his own pulpit style." The Clerical World. Hutton's Anglican Ministry. THE ANGLICAN MINISTRY, its Nature and Value in Relation to the Catholi. Priesthood: an Essay. By Arthur Wollaston Hutton, M.A., of the Oratory of St Philip Neri. With a Preface by Cardinal Newman. 8vo. 4s. (12s.) [6 Jacob on Ecclesiastical Polity. THE ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, a Stud; for the present crisis in the Church of England. By G. A. Jacob, D.D., late Heat Master of Christ's Hospital. Second Edition. Thick post 8vo. 3s. 6d. (16s.) [6 " Dr. Jacob has for his object to direct the attention of English Churchmen to the really primitive forms t Christian ordinances as they may be gathered from the New Testament itself. He reviews the Scriptural and earlies patristic evidence on the points at issue, and it should especially be pointed out how flimsy many of the superstitiou claims he controverts are made to appear when, as a cool but ripe scholar, he examines in the original the Scripturr texts by which it is endeavoured to support them." — The Westminster Review. J. A. Jacob's Sermons. BUILDING IN SILENCE, and Twenty-four other Sermons. By Rev. Johl Alexander Jacob, M.A., Minister of St. Thomas', Paddington. Crown 8vo. 2s. (6s. Macmillan. "A volume of sermons of more than ordinary ability, displaying depth of thought and originality of treatment." John Bui Jacobus on Genesis. NOTES, CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY, ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS By Melanethon W. JaeobUS, Professor of Biblical Literature in the Western Theo logical Seminary at Alleghany City, Pa., U.S.A. 2 vols, in 1, crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. (6s.) [6 " A very valuable work, in which Colenso is boldly met and answered. It contains much Gospel teaching, an aids the preacher greatly."— Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. Japp's German Life and Literature. GERMAN LIFE AND LITERATURE: in a Series of Biographical Studies By A. H. Japp, LL.D. Svo. 548 pp. 7s. (12s.) [6 " This volume, as a whole, is admirable, each chapter being characterised by thoroughness, impartiality, fin critical discernment, an always manly literary ability, and, above all, a moral healthiness of tone. In fact, we are DC acquainted with any English work, or, for that matter, with any Continental or American work, which we could plac with so much confidence in the hands of a young student of modern German literature as the volume under review and as special proof of our assertion we would select the essay on Goethe. . . For this work we must expres sincere gratitude to the author." —The Spectator. 27A Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 17 Three Books by Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones. STUDIES IN ST. JOHN. By Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones of Cardiff. Crown 8vo. 3s. 9d. (5s.) [5] "The chorus of approval which greeted Mr. Jones's previous ' Studies,' has created a standard of criticism for this new venture altogether out of the range of that by which ordinary sermons are to be judged. Mr. Jones stepped at once into the front rank of pulpit expositors, and we have seen no reason for rescinding our former judgmenc in class- ing him with Robertson and Bushnell, and, in some respects, even above them." — The Methodist Recorder. STUDIES IN ST. MATTHEW. By Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 9d. (5s.) [5] "Dr. Parker's recent volume, ' These Sayings of Mine,' has done much to disclose the spiritual richness of the first gospel. In another way, less brilliant, but hardly less suggestive, the Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones, in his 'Studies in the Gospel according to St. Matthew,' also contributes to our understanding of that biography of our Lord which forms the great connecting link between Hebrew and Christian ideas. Strength of thought and simplicity of illustra- tion are alike noticeable in these 1 Studies,' and we would commend them to the careful perusal of all who would present the teaching of Christ in its adaptation to this age— an adaptation too often concealed by the traditions of schools and churches." — The Christian World. STUDIES IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 9d. (5s.) [5] " Mr. Jones is a warm, sparkling Welsh preacher. These sermons upon the Acts are worthy of a great Associa- tion meeting among the mountains, in the days of Christmas Evans. They are fresh and lively ; thoughtful and fiery : just the sort to hold a congregation spell-bound. We do not mean that there is anything rough or off-hand in Mr. Jones's discourses, for they exhibitagood deal of finish and elegance, but theyare not overdone in that direction so as to die of dignity. We are glad to see the more striking points of a book of Scripture set forth in this fashion by a great preacher ; for thus our lights of exposition are increased, and the Word is better understood. Much more might be done in this direction to the gain of the Church. We are not at all surprised that these ' Studies' have reached a second edition : they belong to an order of books which will always command a sale so long as Scriptural exposition is valued, and that will be the case so long as spiritual men are left among us." — T/ie Sword and Trowel. Keble's Sacred Studies. STUDIA SACRA : Commentaries on the Introductory Verses of St. John's Gospel, and on a portion of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans ; with other Theological Tapers. By Rev. John Keble, M.A. 8vo. 5s. 6d. (10s. 6d.) [6] Kempthome s Sermons. BRIEF WORDS ON SCHOOL LIFE : Thirty-two Short Addresses based on a Course of Scripture Reading in School. By Rev. John Kempthome, M. A., Principal of Blackheath Proprietary School. i2mo. Is. 6d. (3S. 6d.) [3] "We have read the addresses contained in this volume with great pleasure and satisfaction. They are skilfully adapted to the wants and habits of boys, and convey solid truth on the -side which touches a boy's temptations. They are replete with sound doctrine, but not in formal and technical statements. The valuable lessons are conveyed in a clear, unaffected style, to which the occasional use of the plain vernacular gives vividness and force. We pray that God may largely extend such teaching throughout our schools." — The Christian Advocate. Kingsley's Sermons. SERMONS FOR THE TIMES. By Rev. Charles King-sley, M.A., Canon of Westminster. Crown 8vo. 4s. 9d. (6s.) [5 J Kips Unnoticed Things of Scripture. THE UNNOTICED THINGS OF SCRIPTURE. By Rt. Rev. W. Ingraham Kip, Bishop of California, Author of " The Lenten Fast," "The Double Witness of the Church," &c. &c. Crown 8vo. 2s. 9d. (3s. 6d.) [3] " A particularly interesting volume, which will be found most suggestive to readers of all classes. The subjects are most varied, forming fifty-four short chapters, necessarily of very different degrees of interest : but none are pointless, and some— such as those on 'The Reserve of the Gospel,' 'Mountains,' ' Men drawn by their business,' and 'The Fulness of the Earth' — are very remarkable and suggestive. One would be inclined to say that one could read nothing fresh on the subject of the Prodigal Son, and yet the Bishop's two little chapters on his words of penitence, and on the ' Elder Son,' will, we believe, open a new train of thought to many readers. We hope the book may obtain a lar«e circulation in England." — The Literary Churchman, It i8 Charles Higham, Theological- Book-Seller, Kitto's Biblical Cyclopcedia. A CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE. By John KittO, D.D., F.S.A. Third Edition, edited by W. Lindsay Alexander, D.D., assisted by numerous contributors, with Biographical Notices and General Index, steel engravings and woodcuts, 3vols. royal 8vo., anaggregateof^o^closcly printed pages, £1. 8s. (£2. 2s.) [27] Lacordaires Conferences. JESUS CHRIST— GOD— GOD AND MAN. Conferences delivered at Notre Dame, in Paris. By Rev. Pere LaCOPdaire, of the Order of Friar-Preachers. Translated from the French. The Three Volumes in One. Thick crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. (6s.) [6] Two Books by Dr. Lawson. LECTURES ON THE WHOLE BOOK OF RUTH— DISCOURSES ON THE WHOLE BOOK OF ESTHER. Three Sermons on Parental Duties. By George LawSOn, D.D., Minister of the Associate Congregation, Selkirk, with a Memoir of his Life and Writings by Henry Belfrage, D.D. The 'whole reprinted in I vol. 8vo. new. 5S. net, Philadelphia, U.S.A. 1869. [6] LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. By Rev. George Lawson, D.D. A New Edition, with Prefatory Note by Rev. W. Peddie, D.D. Crown 8vo. 4s. (6s. 6d.) [6] "We knew well the amiable and venerable author of these volumes ; we had full opportunity to appreciate his worth; we have never seen his equal in various respects and cannot reasonably expect to see it now. All that could be said by those who knew well the reputation which, as a scholar and a man of original thinking, it was in his power to acquire, could not induce him to engage in any work of a learned description ; and with regard to fine writing it was as little his aim. In all the books that he published, the instruction of ordinary readers was manifestly his object. There was a modesty, a guileless simplicity, an abhorrence of ostentation, a sincerity, an explicitness, an unbending integrity, united to the utmost gentleness and forbearance, which characterised all his deportment, and communicated their nfiuence to all the effusions of his pen."— Dr. John Brown. Leathes Hulsean Lectures. THE GOSPEL ITS OWN WITNESS : the Hulsean Lectures for 1873. By Stanley Leathes, D.D., Professor of Hebrew at King's College, London ; Boyle Lec- turer, 1868-70; Warburtonian Lecturer, 1876-80. Post 8vo. 2s. 6d. (5s.) [3] This volume presents the evidential aspect of the Christian faith in a plain, matter-of-fact, common-sense way. The author holds that, if we are sincere disciples of Christianity, we need not shrink from being advocates likewise, so long as we do not suffer our advocacy to warp our judgment. Three Books by F. G. Lee, D.D. THE CHURCH UNDER QUEEN ELIZABETH : an Historical Sketch, with an Introduction on the present position of the Established Church. By Frederick George Lee, D.D., Vicar of All Saints', Lambeth. 2 vols. cr. 8vo. 6s. 6d. (£1. Is.) [6] " They seem to be very carefully done, and contain much matter new to me and very important in the contro- versy."—Cardinal Newman. 11 There is the same picturesqueness of detail, the same vigorous denunciation, the same graphic power which made the earlier book pleasant reading even to many who disagreed heartily with its tone and object Dr Tee's strength lies in very graphic description." — Xotcs and Queries. A GLOSSARY OF LITURGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL TERMS. Compiled by F. G. Lee, D.D. With 129 illustrations on wood. 8vo. 7s. (£1. Is.) [6] THE DIRECTORIUM ANGLIC ANUM : being a Manual of Directions for the right Celebration of the Holy Communion, for the Saying of Matins and Evensong, and for the Performance of other Rights and Ceremonies of the Church, according to Ancient Uses of the Church of England. Plan and Illustrations. FOURTH Edition, carefully revised, with numerous emendations. Edited by F. G. Lee, D.D. Small 4to. 8s. 6d. (£1. Is.) [6] " The existence ot one such work of credit and reputation must do something to diminish the varieties of Ritualism into which the taste or studies of independent explorers might lead them The book must be admitted to stand without a rival in its own line ; and if there aie few *vho are prepared to adopt its system as a whole, there are fewer still who might not gather from its pages some hints for the more decent and orderly performance of their own public ministrations in church."— The Guardian. 2JA Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 19 Legge on Chinese Religions. THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA : Confucianism and Taoism described and compared with Christianity. By James Legge, Professor of the Chinese Language and Literature in the University of Oxford. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. (6s.) [6] " There are few people better entitled to speak on the subject of the religions of China, more especially of Confucianism, than Dr. Legge. His knowledge of the early classical literature of China has been gained, as he tells us, by an intimate study extending over nearly half a century. Not only is he thoroughly acquainted with the texts, but he has drunk deeply of the wisdom which the native commentators have brought to bear in the elucidation of them. On the other hand his long service as a clergyman in China must have given him endless opportunities, by means of observation and discussion, of comparing the faiths which he sought to overturn with that which he offered in their places. From both sides, therefore, he is able to approach the question of a comparison between the religions of China and of Christianity at a manifest advantage." — Prof. Douglas in The Academy. Lewin on St. Paul. THE LIFE AND EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. By Thomas Lewin, M.A., F.S.A. Fourth Edition, revised. Plates, Woodcuts in the Text, and Coloured Maps. 2 vols. 4to. £1. 4s. (£2. 2s.) [18] Long's Roman History. THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. By George Long". 5 vols. 8vo. £L 14s. (£3. 10s.) [21] " If any one can guide us through the almost inextricable mazes of this labyrinth, it is Mr. Long. As a chronicler, he possesses all the requisite knowledge, and what is nearly, if not quite as important, the necessary caution. He never attempts to explain that which is hopelessly corrupt or obscure : he does not confound twilight with daylight ; he warns the reader repeatedly that he is standing on shaking ground ; he has no framework of theory into which he presses his facts." — The Saturday Review. M'Cries Religion of Literature. THE RELIGION OF OUR LITERATURE ; Essays upon Thomas Carlyle, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, &c, including Criticisms upon the Theology of "George Eliot," George Macdonald, and Robertson of Brighton. By George M'Crie. 8vo. 3s. (9s.) [6] George Macdonald on Hymnology. ENGLAND'S ANTIPHON. By George Macdonald, LL.D. Frontispiece and Vignette. Crown 8vo. 2s. (4s. ) [5] Contents: Sacred Lyrics of the Xlllth Century — The Miracle Plays of the XlVth Century Spenser and his friends — Lord Bacon and his coevals — Or. Donne — Bishop Hall and George Sandys— A few of the Elizabethan Dra- matists—Sir John Beaumont and Drummond of Hawthornden -The Brothers Fletcher — Wither, Herrick, and Quarles — George Herbert — John Milton, Henry More, and Richard Baxter— Crashaw and Marvell — Henry Vaughan. Macdonald on John. THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ST. JOHN. By James M. Macdonald, D.D., Princeton, New Jersey. Edited, with an Introduction, by J. S Howson, D.D., Dean of Chester. Maps and Illustrations. Royal 8vo. 7s. 6d. (10s. 6d.) [6] 11 The name of Dean Howson, as editor, is a guarantee for the scholarship and eeneral literary execution of the work Dr. Macdonald has made a really valuable addition to our theological and religious literature — one, too, that puts forth sound views on the great questions connected with the Fourth Gospel." — The Record. M'llvaines Righteousness by Faith. RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH ; or, The Nature and Means of our Justifica- tion before God ; illustrated by a comparison of the doctrine of the Oxford Tracts with that of the Romish and Anglican Churches. By Char-les Pettit M'llvaine, D.D., DC.L., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Ohio. Large 8vo 2s. 6d. (8S. 6d.) [6] Macleod on the Temptation. THE TEMPTATION OF OUR LORD. By Norman Macleod, D.D. ( rown 8vo. 2s. 6d. (5s.) [3] 20 Charles Higham, Theological- Book-Seller, M'Michael on the Pilgrim Psalms. THE PILGRIM PSALMS : An Exposition of the Songs of Degrees, Psalms cxx. tocxxxiv. By Rev. N. M'Michael, D.D., Dunfermline, Professor of the History of Doc- trines to the United Presbyterian Church. i2mo. 3s. (4s. 6d.) [3] ''A capital work, full of sound doctrine pertumed with devotion." — Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. "' The fruits of profound research and various reading are everywhere apparent, but they are never pedantically obtruded. The volume cannot be read without edification and profit in many ways." — The Baptist Magazine. '' Its soul is the Sacred Scriptures. It is a fountain of genuine consolation, a cordial for drooping spirits." The Christian Witness. Macmillaris Marriage at Carta. THE MARRIAGE IN CANA OF GALILEE. By Hugh Macmillan, D.D., Author of "Bible Teachings in Nature," " The True Vine," "Two Worlds are Ours," &c, &c. Crown Svo. 4s. 9d. (6s.) [3] Martin on Messiah's Kingdom. MESSIAH'S KINGDOM, in its Origin, Development, and Triumph. By Rev. B. Martin, A.M., Leslie. Crown Svo. 2s. (5s.) [6] 1 A volume of good value in its own line." — The Sword and Travel. " Altogether the work is one which reflects great credit on Mr. Martin's ability, learning, and diligence." The North British Daily Mail. "With considerable powers of grasp and spiritual discernment, Mr. Martin traces the Church in its divine idea and development." — The British Quarterly Rennew. " The book is healthy and timely." — The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. Samuel Martin s Sermons. COMFORT IN TROUBLE : Twenty-six Sermons and Outlines. By Rev. Samuel Martin, Westminster Chapel. Crown 8vo 2s. 6d. (3s. 6d.) [3] " The most successful and most gifted dissenting minister in London." — The Christian Advocate. " A preacher who commands the love, reverence, and admiration of all who listen to him. . . . Pathos, beauty, devoutness, tenderness, and earnestness are the most conspicuous qualities of Mr. Martin's preaching." The Congre^ationalist. Kings College Lectures. MASTERS IN ENGLISH THEOLOGY; being the King's College Lectures for 1877. Edited with a historical preface, by Alfred Barry, D.D., Principal. Crown 8vo. 3s. (7s. 6d.) [5] Contents : Richard Hooker, by Alfred Barry, D.D. — Lancelot Andrewes, by Dean Church — William Chilling- worth, by E H. Plumptre, D.D. — Benjamin Whichcote, by Canon Westcott — Jeremy Taylor, by Canon Farrar — John Pearson, by S Cheetham, M.A. " Boldly, clearly, and in some cases eloquently, written ; marked by the best fruits of ripe scholarship, sound criticism, and careful study, they present in a compact and handy form an amount of information and wise teaching concerning the past and present history and doctrine of the English Church not to be found elsewhere. The editor has done good service, not only by his own able lecture on Hooker, but by contributing an introductory essay on the specia aim and contents of the whole volume." — The Standard. Maurice's Ecclesiastical History. LECTURES ON THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY of the First and Second Centuries. By Frederick Denison Maurice, M.A. 8vo. 6s. (10s. 6d.) [6] Mellor's Sermons. THE HEM OF CHRIST'S GARMENT and other Sermons. By the late Enoch Mellor, D.D., Halifax, Author of " Ritualism," " Priesthood," &c, &c. With a Biographical Sketch by Henry Robert Reynolds, D.D. Second Edition. Thick crown 8vo. 4S. 6d. (6s.) [6] ' The volume before us contains discourses which are much above the average, and are worthy of publication. They are really vigorous in thought, forcible in style, sometimes eloquent, and always full of practical judgment." The Scotsman. " The sermons contained in this volume are of rare beauty, and are characterised by intellectual ability, strong conviction, and mental powers, by all of which the reverend author was distinguished."— The Christian. 27A Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 2 I Melvill's Lothbury Lectures. LECTURES DELIVERED AT ST. MARGARET'S, LOTHBURY. By Rev. Henry Melvill, B.D. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. (5s.) [3] 11 We heartily welcome this new edition of Henry Melvill's valuable lectures. His witness on important truths will be, in the opinion of many, all the more valuable because, although he held in the main all Evangelical doctrine, he was in no sense of the word a party man. Over and above his singular gifts of eloquence, which are not always combined with sound judgment, he had the latter quality in abundance. His shrewd penetration, enlightened by the teaching of the Word of God, could distinguish things which differ, —a faculty many seem to be wholly devoid of. Large minded, he was free from that spurious liberality which seems to be perpetually enamoured of and hankering after error. He saw clearly and spoke plainly. These qualities are abundantly exemplified in these lectures, delivered to a congregation of intelligent and hard-headed business men." — The Christian Observer. Merrill's East of the Jordan. EAST OF THE JORDAN : A record of Travel and Observation in the Countries of Moab, Gilead, and Bashan. By Selah MeFPill, Archxologist of the American Palestine Exploration Society. With an Introduction by Prof. Roswell D. Hitchcock, D.D., President of the Union Theological Seminar}-, New York. Seventy Illustrations and a Map. 8vo. 5s. (16s.) [6] Mill's Sermons. SERMONS IN LENT, 1845, and on several former occasions, before the University of Cambridge. By W. H. Mill, D. D., Principal of Bishop's College, Calcutta, Author of "Sermons on the Temptation," "Sermons on the Nature of Christianity," " Lectures on the Catechism," &c, &c. 8vo. 2s. 6d. (12s.) [6] Contents: The Claims of Caesar and of God, Matt. xxii. 21 — The Wheat and the Tares, Matt, xiii 281030— The Lord and Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 21 - The Pharisee and the Publican, Luke xvii. 9 — The Two Sepulchres at Bethel, 2 Kings xxiii. 17, 18 — The Faithful Centurion, Matt. viii. 10 to 12 — The Destruction of the Canaanites, Josh. x. 40 — The Rejection of Saul, 1 Sam. xv. 28 to 30- David's Sin and Chastisement, 2 Sam. xii. o, 10— The Samaritans and the Jews, John iv. 21 to 23 — The Sudden Coming of Chrivt, Mai. iii. 1, 2 — The Gainsaying of Core, Jude 11. — The Obedience of the Rechabites, Jer. xxxv. 18, 19 — Job Penitent, Job xlii. 5, 6 — The Relapsed Demoniac, Luke xi. 241026 — The Feeding of the Five Thousand, John vi 3 to 5 — The Accepted Malefactor, Luke xxiii. 39 to 43 — The Christian Pentecost, Acts ii. 33— Confidence towards God, 1 John iii. 21 to 24 — The Honour of the Holy Apostles, Luke xxii. 28 to 30 — Christ presented in the Temple, a sign of contradiction, Luke ii. 34, 35 — Self-Discipline the security against Reprobation, 1 Cor. ix. 25 to 27— The Rejection of Esau, Heb. xii. 15 to 17— Christian Light to the Penitent, Eph. v. 13, 14. Miller on Proverbs. A COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS, with a new translation, and with some of the original expositions re-examined in a classified list. By Rev. John MilleP, Princeton, U.S.A., Author of " Fetich in Theology," &c. 652 pp. 8vo. 6s. (9s.) [6] " In a field which has been so rarely cultivated with diligence, in a mine which has been so little explored with patient skill, there was ample room for a new worker ; and if he has gone about his task with somewhat of boldness, and with no great reverence for those who have preceded him, we are content to make a lenient allowance for this, because he certainly has something to say worth hearing." — The Record. Miller on the Articles. THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES of the Church of England : a Historical and Speculative Exposition. By Rev. Joseph MilleP, B. D., Curate of Maryport, Cumberland. Vols. I. and II. crown 8vo. 3s. (7s.) ; a few copies of Vol. II., separately, Is. 6d. (3S. 6d.) [each 3] Contents: Vol. I. Preface — History of the Thirty-nine Articles — Art. i. Christian Theism: the Holy Trinity — Art. ii., Christology : Soteriology— Art. iii. and iv., Eschatology— Art. v., Pneumatology — Synopsis of the remaining groups— Vol. II. ^rt. vi., Stocheiology ; or, the Science of First Principles of Christian Doctrine. Miller on Gideon. THE GREATEST OF THE JUDGES ; Principles of Church Life illustrated in the Life of Gideon. By Rev. W. MilleP, M.A., Principal of Madras Christian Col- lege. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. (4s. 6d.) [3] " Expository works are always valued when they are the fruit of independent thought, and of honest and conscientious study. Among these this hook may be named. Mr. Miller sees certain principles of Church lift illustrated in the history of Gideon, and he has explained and enforced these with undoubted ability." The Family? Treasury. M These discourses exhibit a good deal of power of thought and expression ; and can be recommended for dealing in a common-sense manner with the failure of the Church to make its due impression on the world. Gideon's history is very well delineated." —The Christian World. 22 Charles Higham, Theological- Book-Seller, Cheap Volume of Sermons. THE MODERN SCOTTISH PULPIT : Sermons by Ministers of various denominations. Selected Volume, containing Fifty-Two Discourses, arranged in the Biblical order of their texts. Thick 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. [6] " Containing sermons by ministers of various denominations, and furnishing much excellent reading." — The Rock. " This volume presents an excellent specimen of the modern evangelical preaching of Scotland at its best." Tilt Liverpool Mercury. A Welsh clergyman, writing to the publisher of this catalogue, in October, 1884, says : — " I should be glad if you had one or two vols, of good sermons by Nonconformist Ministers, which you could forward, similar to the * Modern Scottish Pulpit published by you. It is a truly excellent collection. I wish I could get other volumes of equal merit." Daniel Moore on Canticles. CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH: Lent Lectures on the Song of Solomon. By Rev. Daniel MOOPC M. A., Vicar of Holy Trinity, Taddington. Cr. 8vo. Is. 3d. (3S. 6d.) [3] " These lectures, on the first chapter only of the Canticles, are less exegetical than spiritual. The author deals with the criticism of the subject in a popular way, at the commencement of his book, in a short introduction. After detailing shortly the various schemes of interpretation which have been proposed, he concludes that the old explanation, which refers the mystical meaning of the poem to Christ and His Church, is on the whole to be preferred, and then proceeds in the lectures to pursue it further It is a beautiful and poetic thought, at all events, and the present writer has made excellent use of it." — The Literary Churchman. Moore on Our Lord's Proverbial Sayings. PROVERBIAL SAYINGS OF OUR LORD : Studies of some axioms in Our Saviour's Teaching. By Rev. William Kennedy MoOPe, D.D., Author of "Life's Everlasting Victory," "Martyr Songs," &c. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. (5s.) [5] "The seventeen proverbial sayings he has selected for comment and illustration leave nothing to be desired, and we have read the book with the greatest pleasure, not only for the beauty of the language employed, or the practical way in which the various subjects are treated, but also for the breadth of view and general acceptance of the facts of to-day's science which every page discloses We have only to add that the work is very elegantly got up." The Hampshire Post and Southsea Observer. D. Parker Morgans Sermons. BY LITTLE AND LITTLE, and other Sermons. By Rev. D. Parker Morgan, M.A., Vicar of Aberdovey. Crown 8vo. 2s. (3s. 6d.) [3] " These sermons are distinguished chiefly by considerable strength and originality of thought, sound Scriptural exposition, and earnest and pow erful application to the hearts and consciences of men. They are eminently evangelical and practical, and no onti can read them through without being impressed and improved." The Irish Church Advocate. " The chief interest of these sermons consists in their originality and simplicity, and frank and familiar style of address. They are far remote from the dull and drowsy discourses with which vicars, as well as others, have often been charged." — The Sword and Trowel. Mosheim's The Church in China. AUTHENTIC MEMOIRS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN CHINA. By J. L. VOn Mosheim, D.D. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Richard Gibbings, B.D. 8vo. Is. 6d. (3s. 6d.) [3] Norton's Church Building in the Middle Ages. HISTORICAL STUDIES OF CHURCH BUILDING in the Middle Ages : Venice, Siena, Florence. By Charles Eliot NOPton. Large 8vo. beautifully printed on fine thick paper, lop edges gilt, 4s. 6d. (15s.) New York. [6] "It is an elaborate treatise on the ecclesiastical architecture of Venice, Siena, and Florence, in the most famous periods of church-building. It describes the methods and processes then in use, with an account of the most cele brated architects, and complete details of the most important churches, their history, their characteristic features, and the legends connected with them. The work is written in a quiet, dignified, scholarly, and singularly lucid style." 2JA Farringdon Street, London, E.C. ^3 Norton's Sermons. FIFTY-TWO SHORT SERMONS for the Christian Year. By Rev. John N. Norton, D.D., Associate Rector of Christ Church, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. Four- teenth Edition, 8vo. 4s. 9d. (6s.) [6] " These sermons are commendably plain, homely, and yet, if we may borrow an epithet that is generally applied to a story, and give it to a sermon— entertaining. The style is so terse and simple, so much like truth, and the subjects are so practical, and the illustrations are so frequent, and so apt and pointed, that the man must be very ignorant or very drowsy who should find it difficult to give them his attention." — The Churchman's Monthly Magazine. [U.S.] EVERY SUNDAY : A Course of Sixty-four Sermons for the Christian Year. By Rev. J. N. Norton, D.D. Seventh Edition, 8vo. 4s. 9d. (6s.) [6] " The sermons seem to deserve the popularity they have attained. They are familiar, rich in Scriptural researches and textual quotation ; and the author has collected stores of epigrammatic sayings and apposite anec- dotes, which light up a sermon wonderfully, and are welcome to most congregations. We can speak well of this volume, and we think that most sermon buyers will not be otherwise than pleased with it likewise, should they purchase it." — The Literary Cliurchniarn. GOLDEN TRUTHS : a Course of Sixty-nine Sermons for the Christian Year, with a Special Series for Holy Week. By Rev. J. N. Norton, D.D. Sixth Edition, 8vo. 4S. 9d. (6S.) [6] "This volume of sermons comes to us from America, where its author appears to be in high repute. They are bright and effective in style and are likely to be read with more than ordinary interest, owing to the admirable manner in which the various themes are handled." — The Rock, WARNING AND TEACHING : a Course of Sixty-two Sermons for the Christian Year. By Rev. J. N. Norton, D.D. Second Edition, 8vo. 4s. 9d. (6s.) [6] " Tn plainness and simplicity they certainly have never been excelled." — The Churchman. [U.S.I " The sermons are animated and inspiring in style and thought, and interspersed continually with anecdotes of history and current life." — The Independent. [U.S.] "They ate of sound doctrine and popular in style. We believe they will be found highly valuable, and recom- mend them." — The Episcopal Register. [U.S.] OLD PATHS : a Course of Seventy-one Sermons for the Christian Year, including a Series of Seven upon the History of Joseph, and a Series of Seventeen upon the History of St. Paul. By Rev. J. N. Norton, D.D. 8vo. 4s. 9d. (6s.) [6] MILK AND HONEY : Twenty-four Sermons to Children. By Rev. J. N. Norton, D.D. i2mo. 2s. (2s. 6d.) [3] " This little volume consists of twenty-four short sermons to children. The author, Dr. Norton, a parish priest the American Church, tells us that they have been preached at a Children's Service, which was held on the evenings of the first Sunday in each month, and which attracted large congregations. The secret of the attraction may be found in the character of the sermons, which are short, pithy, and full of interest. Dr. Norton seems to have at command an endless store of anecdote and illustration, which he uses with great force and judgment." The Ecclesiastical Gazette. "It is confessedly a difficult task to speak attractively to children ; but these discourses were, we doubt not, listened to with interest by the young people for whom they were originally prepared." — The Lay Treacher. Four Books by Dr. Joseph Parker. THE PEOPLE'S BIBLE, explained, illustrated, and applied. By Joseph Parker, D.D , Minister of the City Temple, Holborn Viaduct, London, Author of " Ecce Deus," '• The Paraclete," "The Inner Life of Christ," " Apostolic Life," &c. Proposed to be completed in 25 vols. Vol. I, containing the Book of Genesis, now ready. 8vo. 6s. (8s.) [6] THE INNER LIFE OF CHRIST, as revealed in the Gospel of Matthew. By Joseph Parker, D.D. 3 vols. Vol. I., "These Sayings of Mine"; Vol. II., " Servant of All " ; Vol. III., " Things concerning Himself." 8vo. each 6s. (8s.) {each 6] TYNE CHYLDE : My Life and Teaching, partly in the Daylight of Fact, partly in the Limelight of Fancy. By Joseph Parker, D.D. 8vo. 344 pp. 6s. (8s.) [6] APOSTOLIC LIFE, as revealed in the Acts of the Apostles. By Joseph Parker, D.D. 3 vols. 8vo. each 6s. (8S.) [each 6] 24 Charles Higham, Theological-Book-Seller, Perry's St. Hugh. THE LIFE OF ST. HUGH OF AVALON, Bishop of Lincoln, with some account of his predecessors in the See of Lincoln. By Rev. GeOFgO G. PePPy, M.A., Canon of Lincoln, Author of " Life and Times of Bishop Grosseteste," &c. Portrait. Thick crown 8vo. 3s. (10s. 6d.) [6] " In writing this life of St. Hugh of Avalon, he has contributed an interesting chapter to the history of the English Church during this period, and he has done his best, and he has done it well, to preserve the memory of a worthy whom we would not willingly have forgotten. It is a volume which has greatly interested us, and which we are sure will interest all readers who delight in Ecclesiastical story." — John Bull. The Preachers Monthly. THE PREACHER'S MONTHLY : a Storehouse of Homiletic Help. Vols. II., July— December, 1881 ; III. and IV., 1882; V. and VI., 1883. 8vo. each 3s. (5s. 6d.) VII., January to June, 1884, 4s. 6d. (5s. 6d.) | VIII., July to December, 1884, 4s. (5S.) \each 6] *** Each Volume is complete in itself, and contains about 376 closely printed pages. The appended note was received by the Publishers from the late Archbishop of Canterbury. " Lambeth Palace, S.E., July 13, 1882. " Gentlemen, — I am directed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to inform you that he took an opportunity a feu- days ago of examining a number of The Preacher's Monthly. His Grace desires me to say that he was much pleased with the article he read, and trusts that your publication may prove a useful one. — Believe me to be, faithfully yours, " Ponsonby Ogle, Private Sec." " Much excellent material will be found in this volume, which is likely to prove especially useful to the class indicated by the title. The general articles on the theory and practice of preaching are admirably written, and the sermon-notes will be found very suggestive." — The Rock. Present-Day Papers. PRESENT-DAY PAPERS on Prominent Questions in Theology. Edited by the late Right Rev. Alex. Ewing, D.C.L, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. A Selected Volume, containing the following important contributions. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. [6] THE ATONEMENT, by Rev. William Law, M.A., with Introduction by the Editor.— THE EUCHARIST, by the Editor.- THE RULE OF FAITH, by the Editor.— THE PRESENT UNBELIEF, by the Editor.— MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS CONCERNING THE CHURCH AND MANKIND, by the Rev. F. D. Maurice, M. A. — MOTHER CHURCH, by the Rev. J. Wilson, A.M. — USE OF THE WORD REVELATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, by the Rev. F. D. Maukice, M.A.— THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, by the Editor. -GOD AND THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS, by J. Farquhar. Reeve s Lent Lectures. THE DEATH OF SELF THE LIFE OF SERVICE: Lent Lectures, 1872. By Rev. J. W. Reeve. Crown 8vo. Is. 6d. (3s. 6d.) [3] THE TITLES OF JEHOVAH : A series of Lectures preached during Lent, 1858 ; to whxh is added Lectures on the Christian Race, preached during Lent, 1S57. By Rev. J. W. Reeve. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 2s. (5s.) [5 DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE : Lectures preached in Portman Chapel. By Rev. J. W. Reeve. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 2s. (5s.) [5 J LECTURES ON HOSEA XIV. : preached during Lent, 1869. By Rev. J. W. Reeve. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. Is. 6d. (3s. 6d.) [3l " Such a congregation as that thus gathered in Portman Chapel was unique in rank, intellectual status and influence. It was not less remarkable for the eminent piety of its members than for their devoted attachment to their pastor. There was evidently a power at work and widely felt attracting thither alike the rich and the poor. What was that power? Not the oratory of the preacher; for his preaching was in plain words with simple thoughts unadorned with rhetoric or the wisdom of men. Not music; for Portman Chapel never attempted choral services. Not the building in its adornments, for it at that time lacked any feature of architectural beauty or merit. What, then, was the attractive power which drew together and retained undiminished for thirty years that large united congregation? It was the old old story of Jesus and His love, of Jesus and His sufferings, of Jesus and His triumphs. It was the inherent force of the Gospel message welling forth from a heart and mind which knew and owned its power. It was the sweet freshness of the Gospel in all its purity ; the winning attraction of the Gospel in all its amazing love and preciousness." — The Record. 2JA Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 25 The Pulpit Commentary. THE PULPIT COMMENTARY, by various Authors. Edited by the Rev. Canon H. D. M. Spence, M.A., Vicar and Rural Dean of St. Pancras, and Examining Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol ; and by the Rev. Joseph S. Exell, formerly Editor of "The Homiletic Quarterly." Large 8vo. Volumes now Ready. — Genesis, 12s. (i$s.) ; Exodus, 2 vols., 14s. 6d. (i8.c) ; Leviticus, \2S. (15^.); Numbers, 12s. {i^s.)\ Deuteronomy, 12s. (15^. ); Joshua, 10s. (12s. 6d.) ; Judges and Ruth, 8s. 6d. (\os. 6d.) ; 1 Samuel, 12s. (15J.) ; 1 Kings, 12s. ; 1 Chronicles, 12s. (15J.) ; Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah, 10s. (12s. 6d.) ; Jeremiah and Lamentations, 2 vols, each \2s. (15J.); Mark, 2 vols., 17^. (2U.J; Acts, 2 vols. 17.?. (2\s.); I Corinthians, \2s. (15*.) [3, 6 & 9] " We are bound to say that the more we see of this Commentary the better we like it; and the more highly do we estimate the ability, piety, and sound judgment with which it is being carried on." — The Literary Churchman. " We repeat emphatically the high encomium which we have passed upon former volumes of ' The Pulpit Com- mentary.' This is a grand book." — Rev. C. H. SpURGEOK in The Sivord and Troivcl. " We look forward with interest to the continuance of this bold undertaking, and hope to see it brought to a suc- cessful conclusion." — The Church Times. Reuss on the Canon. HISTORY OF THE CANON OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES in the Christian Church. By Edward ReuSS, Professor in the University of Strasburg, Author of " History of Christian Theology in the Apostolic Age, " translated from the Second French Edition, with the Author's own corrections and revision, by David Hunter, B.D. 416 pp. 8vo. 6s. 9d. (9S.) [6] " I am much pleased to see ' Reuss' in English. It is a book I highly value, and make frequent reference to it in my class lectures."— Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D., Free Church College, Glasgow. "The book is a most valuable and useful one." — Prof. Wm. Milligan, D.D., University., Aberdeen. " I have long known the book, and have found it very stimulating. . . . I recommended the work to-day in my class ; recommended it strongly, and I hope it will succeed." — Prof. A. H. Charteris, D.D., University, Edinburgh. Ritchie on Creation. THE CREATION : the Earth's Formation on Dynamical Principles, in accordance with the Mosaic Record, and the latest Scientific Discoveries. By Archibald TliCkeP Ritchie. Fifth Edition, revised. 680 pp. 8vo. 3s. 6d. (18s.) [6] "The object of this treatise is to prove ' that the earth did not always rotate diurnally around its axis,' and after perusing it we scarcely need the author's assurance that it is the result of the patient study of the principles of the cosmographical system during many years of his life. Keeling sure that it would be no easy matter to convince his readers of the soundness of the conclusions to which he invites their attention, Mr. Ritchie has devoted to the task the best energies of a highly cultivated mind, and while acknowledging the full value of the services of those who have gone before him, he yet claims to bring the matter before the world in an entirely new light. He assumes, as a start- ing point, the truth of the Bible as a revelation from God, and describes the first chapter of Genesis as ' Nature's Constitutional Code/ affording us all that is necessary for a ' perfect comprehension of the works of creation.' From this high starting-point he enters on the arduous task of proving the soundness of the conclusion which his laborious investigations have led him to adopt." — The Christian Observer. Arthur Roberts's Sermons. SIXTY-FOUR PLAIN SERMONS for all the Sundays and Chief Holy Days of the Year, preached to a Village Congregation. By Rev. Arthur Roberts, M.A., Rector of Woodrising, Norfolk. Third Series. Two vols, post Svo. 5s. (10s.) [6] THIRTY-ONE PLAIN SERMONS on the Gospel Miracles, preached to a Village Congregation. By Rev. Arthur Roberts. Post 8vo. 2s. 6d. (5s.) [3] "These are suitable for very humble auditories, such as small country parishes, cottage lectures, workhouses, &c. They were composed for the author's own congregation, which is that of a very small village in Norfolk. I do not doubt they have done good service: it is no discredit to them to say they are Evangelical of the best type. Mr. Roberts has that happy knack or gift of putting a sermon together which may be improved by, but which is not born of labour and cultivation."— The Guardian (article " Successful Preachers "). Robertson on Philippians. EIGHTEEN LECTURES, Practical and Expository, upon St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. By Rev. J. S. S. Robertson, Missionary in Bombay in connection with the Church Missionary Society. Crown 8vo. binding somewhat shabby, Is. 6d. (3s. 6d.) ' [3] 26 Charles Higham, Theological-Book-Seller, Rules Exposition of Daniel. AN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL the Prophet. By William Harris Rule, D.D., Author of "History of the Inquisition," &c, &c. Crown 8vo. 3s. (6s.) [5] This valuable book had recently become exceedingly scarce, but now a few copies, the whole remainder of the edition have come to light, and have been purchased by the advertiser. Ruskin on the Lord's Prayer. THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE CHURCH : Letters to the Clergy. By John Ruskin, D.C.L., with replies from Clergy and Laity, and an Epilogue by Mr. Ruskin. Edited, with Essays and Comments, by Rev. F. A. Malleson, M.A. Second Edition. Crown Svo. 3s. (7s. 6d.) [6] Rylance on Social Questions. LECTURES ON SOCIAL QUESTIONS: Competition— Communism— Co- operation— The Relation of Christianity to Socialism. By Rev. J. H. Rylance, D.D. Crown 8vo. 2S. (2s. 6d.) [3] Scott on Bishops. A TALK ABOUT BISHOPS : being a discussion upon the Nature of the Christian Ministry. By Rev. ThOS. Scott, Canon of Derry Cathedral. Crown 8vo. IS. 6d. (3S. 6d.) Belfast. [51 Segneri's Sermons. THE QUARESIMALE of P. Paolo SegTieri [a.d. 1679], Translated from the original Italian, by Rev. James Ford, M.A., Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. With a Preface relating to the Author. FIRST SERIES, Fourth Edition. Svo. Is. 9d. (6s.) Masters. [5] Simms on the Psalms. A SPIRITUAL COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF PSALMS, specially setting forth their Messianic Interpretation. By Rev. Edward Simms, M.A., late Vicar ofEscot, Devon. 596 pp. 8vo. 3s. (12s. 6d.) [6] " The language is simple and lucid : the comments judiciously brief; the tone eminently spiritual, and likely to be very edifying to the class of readers who will come in the way of it. I can see what pains have been taken with it; and how the writer's one aim has been to glorify God." — Bp. Thorold. The Dean of Canterbury pronounces it to be " a valuable work." "This work is evidently the result of deep and patient study of this portion of the Word of God, and is richly illustrated by quotations from the rest of Holy Scripture, so that it can scarcely fail to be of great practical interest and value to Christian students and teachers. To all whose office it is to explain the text, and apply spiritually the meaning of the Psalter, whether in schools or elsewhere, its brief Scriptural expositions furnish a very valuable aid." The Exeter and Plymouth Oazettc. C. J. Smith's Dictionary of Synonyms. SYNONYMS DISCRIMINATED: A Complete Catalogue of Synonymous Words in the Enghsn Language, with Descriptions of their Various Shades of Meaning and Illustra- tions of their Usages and Specialities ; illustrated by quotations from Standard Writers. By Rev. C. J. Smith, M.A., Vicar of Erith and late Archdeacon of Jamaica. 616 pp. 8vo. 7s. (16S.) [6] " This is decidedly a meritorious book. Mr. Smith is a very fair etymologist, has a competent knowledge of English writers, has taken infinite pains to make his list complete, and is possessed of much power of discrimination." The Literary Churchman. " Mr. Smith's task, in the present work, has been a laborious one ; and his execution of it is, in the main, thoroughly satisfactory. Of course, many objections might be taken to some of his distinctions ; but on the whole he has given us a very useful and valuable book." — The Educational Times. 27A Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 27 George Smith on Ancient Chronology. THE ASSYRIAN EPONYM CANON ; containing translations of the Docu- ments, and an account of the Evidence, on the comparative Chronology of the Assyrian and Jewish Kingdoms, from the death of Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar. By George Smith, of the Department of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum, Author of " History of Assur- banipal," " Assyrian Discoveries," &c, &c. 8vo. Is. 6d. (9s.) Bagstcr. [3] Selections from John Smith's Discourses. THE NATURAL TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY: selections from the "Select Discourses" of Rev. John Smith, M.A., with an Introduction by Matthew Arnold. Edited by W. M. Metcalke. Post 8vo. beautifully printed, 2S. 6d. (5s.) [5] " These selections will be hailed by those who have not had the opportunity of reading the ' Select Discourses' in full. The spiritual elevation of the writer, his deep reverence, and the grace of his gentle sympathy, win even the hard and sceptical to at least an attentive consideration of his words. The editor and publisher have conferred a great boon in bringing within the reach of preachers and ordinary readers such a treasury of spiritual wisdom." The Preacher's Monthly. Newman Smyth's Sermons. THE REALITY OF FAITH. By Newman Smyth, D.D., Author of "Old Faiths in New Light," "The Religious Feeling," " Orthodox Theology of To-day,'' &c, &C. Author's Copyright Edition, crown 8vo. 3S. 6d. (4s. 6d.) [5] We have read the sermon on 'The Reality of Faith' with much pleasure, and once more we have come to the conclusion that, for fresh thoughts and words, the preacher should often go to America." — The Ecclesiastical Gazette, " Readers of that remarkable book, 'Old Faiths in New Light,' will anticipate a treat in this volume, and we assure them they will not be disappointed. It consists of sermons taken from those which the author has had occasion to preach during the last two years. The title adequately expresses their character. They are fresh and beautiful expositions of those things, those foundation truths, which underlie Christian faith and spiritual life, in all their varied manifestations. Dr. Smyth makes no attempt to construct any complete system of Divinity, or even to formulate anew a single doctrine of grace. * Our thought,' he says, 1 is never more than a cupful of God's truth.' He believes that we have in the Word made flesh a real revelation from the real God, to the real life of the world ; and he endeavours to present some portions of that revelation in the nearest approach to scientific thought that he is capable of. We thank the publisher for bringing out these singularly suggestive and instructive discourses, in so good a form, and at so reasonable a price." — The Christian Age. Sparrow's Sermons. TWENTY-FIVE SERMONS. By Rev. William Sparrow, D.D., late Pro- fessor of Systematic Divinity and the Evidences of Christianity in the Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Virginia. 350 pp. royal 8vo. 4s. net. [6] Bishop Sumner's Life. THE LIFE OF CHARLES RICHARD SUMNER, U.D., Bishop of Win- chester, and Prelate of the Most Noble Order of the Gaiter, during a Eorty Years' Episcopate. By Rev. G. H. SumneF, M. A., Hon. Canon of Winchester. Fine Portrait. 8vo. 6s. 6d. (14s.) [6] " It is not a book that will be read for edification, but may conveniently serve to refresh the minds of many with some information as to the progress of ecclesiastical events during the present century. It will be seen that with many drawbacks, and notwithstanding extravagancies of a most perilous character, there still has been improvement, and that upon the whole the Church of England is better prepared to meet the storms and trials to which she may be exposed than she was half a century ago. There is now life, there is activity, there is a sense of responsibility and care for souls now which was sorely lacking then, except in some few instances, among whom Charles Richard Sumner was a bright and shining light." — The Christian Obserz'cr. Symington on the Apostles. THE APOSTLES OF OUR LORD : Practical Studies. By Rev. A. M. Symington, B.A. Crown 8vo. 2s. 3d. (3s. 6d.) [3] " A thoughtful, suggestive work, in which the doings of the Apostles are made the subject of some valuable comments applicable to the Christian's everyday life." — The Rock. " Thoroughly practical and readable throughout. A work that should be in the hands of every Christian reader. We have learned from its pages more as to the general history and personal characteristics of the different Apostles than in any book on the subject we have yet seen."— Word and II 'or/.: 28 Charles Higham, Theological- Book-Seller, Two Books by Dr. W. M. Taylor. ELIJAH THE PROPHET. By W. M. Taylor, D.D., Minister of the Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, Author of "Contrary Winds, and other Sermons," &c. &c. 256 pp. i2mo. Is. (2s. 6d.) [3] " For this style of sermonising, as for some others, Dr. Taylor has very rare gifts ; and ministers, Sabbath-school teachers, and all Christians who would know the Bible's hidden wealth, and how to use it, will do well to study these rich and enriching volumes." — The Congrcgationalist, Boston, U.S.A. 61 His delineation of the character and history of the grand old Hebrew prophet is intensely graphic and lifelike : while in his adaptation of the history to practical uses he manifests an originality and fervour of thought which enable him to evolve the most weighty and spiritual lessons." — The Evangelist, N.Y. DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL : his Life and its Lessons. By W. M. Taylor, D.D. Crown 8vo. 3s. (5s.) [6] Thirty Thousand Thoughts. THIRTY THOUSAND THOUGHTS, being Extracts covering a comprehensive circle of Religious and allied topics, gathered from the best available sources, of all ages and all schools of thought ; with suggestive and seminal headings, and homiletical and illumina- tive framework, the whole arranged upon a scientific basis. With classified and thought- multiplying Lists, Comparative Tables, and elaborate Indices, Alphabetical, Topical, Textual and Scriptural. Edited by the Revs. Canon H. D. M. Spence, M.A., Joseph S. Exell, M.A., and Charles Neil, M.A. To be completed in about Six Volumes. Royal 8vo. beautifully printed on fine paper, each, 12s. 6d. (16s.) [each 9] IggT CHARLES HIGHAM, having made early and special arrangements with the proprietors, has still a few copies, which he is able to offer at the rate of Half-a-Gllinea per volume net cash to Subscribers for the complete set, payable as each volume appears. The First Volume (544 pp. ) now ready, contains the following Sections of the Work, viz. : I. Christian Evidences— II. The Holy Spirit — III. The Beatitudes — IV. The Lord's Prayer — V. Man and his Traits of Character. With Introduction by the Very Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D., Dean of Chester. The Second Volume (510 pp.) also ready, contains Sections: VI. Man's Nature and Con- stitution— VII. The Laws by which Man is Conditioned— VIII. The Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia— IX. The Seven Sayings on the Cross— X. Virtues, including Excellences (First Part). The Third Volume (528pp.) just published, contains Sections: X. Virtues, INCLUDING Excellences (Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Parts) — XL The Mosaic Economy, with Sectional Indices. The Fourth Volume, which will appear early in 1885, will, in all probability, contain the following Sections, viz. : Jehovisttc Titles ; Divine Attributes ; Sins ; Duties and Graces. "The present volume is put forward as a specimen of the method and manner after which these volumes will be constructed ; and if at all equal to this introductory one, they cannot but prove an inestimable addition to any clerical library to which they may find admission." — The Ecclesiastical Gazette. " .... its advantages are so manifestly great that it is much to be desired that it should meet with such success as to warrant its completion in the specified time. As a guide to what to read, as suggestive of thought, and as affording valuable data on subjects of the highest importance, it will prove a valuable addition to the theological library, and hence also an equally valuable help in the direction of homiletics." — The Church Times. Two Books by the Archbishop of York. LIFE IN THE LIGHT OF GOD'S WORD: Sermons. By William Thomson, D.D., Lord Archbishop of York. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Crown 8vo. 2S. 6d. (5s.) [5] Contents : The Condition of the Church, Isa. xxxiii. 20, 21— The Thought of Death, Gen. iii. 19— The Word of Prophecy, 2 Peter i. iq-21— Peace and War, 2 Kings ix. 18— I will give you rest, Matt. xi. 28-30 — Reverence for Children, Luke ii. 46-50 — By Faith, Gal. iii. 26 -The Spirit of Worship, Gen. xxviii. 16, 17— The Night Cometh. John ix. 4 —Prayer, John xvi. 23, 24 — Miracles, Matt. iv. 23— The Interceding Spirit, Rom. viii. 22-27 — She is a Sinner, Luke vii. 29- Honour all men, 1 Peter ii. 17— Social Science, Psalm civ. 23, 24— Cain's Question, Gen. iv. 9— Christ an Example to Teachers ; An Address to Clergy and Teachers.— The Gift of Speech, Isa. vi. 5 — Parent and Child, Matt. XX. 20-22 -Christ present in our Dangers, Matt, xxviii. 20— Religion and Science, 1 Peter iii. 15-The Sinless Lord, Matt. xix. 17— Fleshly Lusts, 1 Peter ii. 11— Fulfil the Law of Christ, Gal. vi. 2 — Time, Psalm xc. 3, 4. WORD, WORK, AND WILL : Collected Papers. By William Thomson, D.D. Post 8vo. 4s. 6d. (9s.) t6J 27A Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 29 Four Books by Dr. Thomas. PROBLEMATA MUNDI : THE BOOK OF JOB Exegetically and Practically Considered, containing 91 Homiletic Sketches. By David Thomas, D.D., critically revised, with Introduction, by Samuel Davidson, D.D., LL.D., Author of " Introduction to the Old Testament," "The Canon of the Bible," &c. 514 pp. 8vo. 6s. 6d. (10s. 6d.) [6] "Dr. Thomas has here put his power of generalisation to its full strain. The work is most striking and suggestive." — The Evangelical Magazine. " This will be welcome to very many who desire to see the ideas of the Book of Job vigorously presented and illustrated. It is full of fine thoughts graphically and powerfully expressed." The British and Foreign Evangelical Review. " Dr Thomas has a genius for writing books of suggestive thoughts. This book is earnestly commended to all thoughtful readers for freshness, independent thought, and happy ingenuity." — The Freeman. THE BOOK OF PSALMS Exegetically and Practically Considered. By David Thomas, D.D. 3 vols. 8vo. 15s. (£1. lis. 6d.) [12] 11 It is many years since we first found in the ' Homilist ' of Dr. Thomas inspiring and instructive suggestions for the ministry of the Word. We do not perceive in this new attempt to help his brethren any trace that his natural force is abated. He pursues his way through the valleys and over the heights of spiritual experience found in the marvellous Hebrew Psalms, ever ready to fix his eye on the chief objects and to show how their environment acts as a foil to display their purport. . . The work as a whole is eminently satisfactory. A work giving helpful impulses to thought and to presentation of thoughts in preaching. The material for exegetical notes has been drawn from various and esteemed commentators, and occasionally contains the summary of long critical discussions." The Theological Quarterly. THE PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER : a Daily Monitor for the Business Men of England ; brief and suggestive Moral Readings on the Book of Proverbs for every day in the year. By David Thomas, D.D. Fourth Edition. 834 pp. 8vo. 6s. 6d. (10s. 6d.) [6] "We have read various other works on the Book of Proverbs, but they are not to be compared in power and stimulus to the work before us. The thought is philosophic, and the spirit living." — The Welsh Quarterly. "It is full of fine thoughts graphically and powerfully expressed." — The British and Foreign Evangelical Reviciv. " On every page sparkle gems both as regards thought and expression. In the author the understanding and the imagination are a splendid power of faculties." — The Evangelical Repository. A BIBLICAL LITURGY, for the use of Churches, Schools, Hemes, and Hospitals, containing Twf.nty-four Scripture Services, including Marriage, Baptismal, Visitation of the Sick, and Burial suitable to the New Act. Also the Morning and Evening Services of the Episcopal Church arranged for all Free Churches. It contains also Twenty-nine Original Hymns and Twenty-six Pieces of Music for Chanting. Compiled by Rev. David Thomas, D.D. ; musically arranged by Rev. S. March, M.A., Incumbent of Christ Church, Sydenham. Twelfth Edition, improved and enlarged. The Book is kept in stock in three different bindings : — viz. cloth limp, plain edges, Is. 3d. (Is. 6d.) ; Leatherette, red edges, Is. 6d. (Is. 9d.) ; Roan, red edges, Is. 8d. (2S.) [2] Thompsons Essays. ' COPY ' : Essays from an Editor's Drawer, on Religion, Literature, and Life. Bv Rev. Hugti Miller Thompson, Rector of Christ Church, New York. Post 8vo. (coves slightly shabby) 4s. 6d. net. [6] " It has more straightforward common-sense in it than any book we have met with in a year." — Dr. Holland, in Scribner*s Monthly. "We can assure the reader that if 'Copy' does not keep him awake, it will not be for lack of something to think about It is as invigorating as spring sunshine, and as fresh as a mountain breeze." The Church Journal. [U.S.] " Written with a boldness of tone and terseness of expression which render them very attractive." The Churchman. [U.S.] Todd's Index Rerum. INDEX RERUM : A READY REFERENCE REGISTER. By John Todd, D. D., Author of "The Student's Manual." Revised, improved, and enlarged by the Rev. C. Neil, M.A., Author of "The Expositor's Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans." Large post 4to. 7s. (9s.) [6] This is one of the many useful arrangements, after the pattern of the famous Locke, for registering one's work and on s \t dies. We must give it the credit of being useful without being too complex or ingenious for common use." — // • t. iterary Churchman. "'I j- i a handsome volume, well bound, with alphabets for ready reference, on good paper, pleasant to write upon, which, well used, would preserve a record of studies, books read, and where to obtain them again when needed. It would save many weary hours of search in after-life if the young student could be induced to write his daily line in such a volume. It ought to find a place on every reading man's table." — The Preacher 's Monthly. 30 Charles Higham, Theological-Book-Seller, James Vaugharis Sermons. SERMONS PREACHED IN CHRIST CHURCH, BRIGHTON. By Rev. James Vaughan, M.A. Incumbent, and Prebendary of Chichester. Reported for "The Brighton Pulpit." Present Series now in course of regular publication, half-yearly, Vols. XIV., XV., XVII. to XXL, crown 8vo. gilt edges, each 4s. 6d. (6s.) [1877-82].- Vols. XXII. to XXV., crown 8vo., gilt edges, each 4s. (5s.) [1883-4].— Vol. XII., crown 8vo., not uniform with others, and plain edges, 3s. 6d. (6S.) [1876]. [each 3] "Simple sermons on the duties of practical religion, conveyed in terse and simple language. They are excellent reading, and remarkable for a systematic cohesion of thought." — The Rock. " There is not a town in England in which such discourses, delivered with freedom and vigour, would not attract great congregations. They are very good illustrations of the kind of sermons delivered by effective and earnest evangelical clergymen; and Nonconformist ministers, among whom there is a disposition to be too ' bookish' in their preaching, might learn something from them." — The Congregationalist. Vaughan on the Mystics. HOURS WITH THE MYSTICS : A Contribution to the History of Religious Opinion. By Robert Alfred Vaughan, M.A. Fourth Edition, 2 vols, crown 8vo. 12s. 6d. (£1. 4s.) [9] '* There is not a page nor a paragraph in which there is not something worth recollecting, and often reflections very wise and weighty indeed, which show that whether or not Mr. Vaughan has thoroughly grasped the subject of mysticism, he has grasped and made part of his own mind and heart many things far more practically important than mysticism, or any other form of thought ; and no one ought to rise up frcm the perusal of his book without finding him- self, if not abetter, at least a more thoughtful man ; and perhaps a humbler one also, as he learns how many more struggles and doubts, discoveries, sorrows and joys, the human race has passed through, than are contained in his own private experience. The true value of the book is, that though not exhaustive of the subject, it is suggestive. It affords the best, indeed the only general sketch of the subject which we have in England, and gives therein boundless food for future thought and reading ; and the country parson, or the thoughtful professional man, who has no time to follow out the question for himself, much less to hunt out and examine original documents, may learn from these pages a thousand curious and interesting hints about men of like passions with himself, and about old times, the history of which— as of all times— was not the history of their kings and queens, but of the creeds and doubts of the 'masses' who worked, and tailed, and sorrowed, and rejoiced again, unknown to fame. Whatsoever, meanwhile, their own conclusions may be on the subject-matter of the book, they will hardly fail to admire the extraordinary variety and fulness of Mr. Vaughan's reading, and wonder when they hear — unless we are wrongly inrormed -that he is quite a young man, ' how one small head could compass all he knew.' " — Rev. Charles Kingslev, in Erasers Magazine. Sept., 1856, afterwards reprinted in his ''Miscellanies' Veiteh's Sermons. SERMONS. By John Veitch, D.D., St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. Edited by Paton J. Gloag, D.D. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. (8s. 6d.) [6] Venn's Memoir. THE MISSIONARY SECRETARIAT OF HENRY VENN, B.D., Prebendary of St. Paul's and Hon. Secretary of the Church Missionary Society. By the Rev. W. Wright, formerly Secretary of the Church Missionary Society. With an Introductory Biographical Chapter and a Notice of West African Commerce, by his sons, Revs. John Venn, M.A., and Henry Venn, M.A. Autotype Portrait from the engraving by S. Cousins, after the original painting by G. Richmond, R. A. 564 pp. 8vo. 3s, (18s.) [6] " It can hardly be said that the one handsome octavo volume which is now put forth as a memorial of the late excellent Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, is out of proportion to the requirements of the case, when we consider the contents and the objects of the publication. This volume is not a biography of Mr. Venn merely. Indeed, hardly a third of the whole book is dedicated to that which is personal to him and his history. The biographical chapter, which is the work of his sons, is excellent in all respects, telling just enough to make us know the man, whom to know was undoubtedly to respect and love All that is necessary to know of him, of his character, of his life and works, is well told in this volume."— Church Belts. " So important a work, from the point of view of the Church Missionary Qoctety, as the memoir of its revered Honorary Secretary, Henry Venn, calls for further notice at our hands than can be given in these few lines. We hope shortly to present a review from the pen of one of Mr. Venn's old friends and fellow-worker*. In the meanwhile we lose no time in commending the volume to the attention of all our readers ; and this can best be done by describing its contents, which will be their own recommendation If the biographers have done themselves less than justice, they have at all events let Henry Venn speak for himself. And considering the applicability to questions of present interest of most of these legacies of his powerful mind and loving spirit, we may truly say that he, being dead, yet speaketh."— The Church Missionary Intelligencer. 2 ~a Farringdon Street, London, E.C. 3i Villiers Sermons. SERMONS preached in the Parish Church of St. George, Bloomsbury. By the Hon. and Rev. H. Montagu Viiliers, D.D., Rector. Crown 8vo. Is. 6d. (5s.) [5] THE WORD OF GOD, its Importance and Power : Seventeen Sermons preached in the Parish Church of St. George, Bloomsbury. By Rev. H. Montagu VilliePS. Thick crown 8vo. Is. 6d. (6s.) [5] Contents: The Inspiration of Scripture, 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17 — The Burden of Scripture, Rev. xix. 10 — The Interpretation of Scripture, John x. — The Unchangeable Nature of the Word of God, Luke xxi. 33 -The Study of the Prophetical Word, 2 Pet. i. 19— The Spirit the Teacher of the Word, John xvi. 13, 14— The Profitable Hearing of the Word, James i. 21— The Prevailing Power of the Word, Acts xix. 18-20— The Word not Returning Void, Isa. lv. 11 — A Hidden Gospel, 2 Cor. iv. 3 — Buying the Truth, Prov. xxiii. 23 — Valiant for the Truth, Jer. ix. 3— Continuing in the Word, James i. 23 — They who will not hear shall not be heard, Zech. vii. 13 -God's Word Rightly Received, 1 Thess. ii. 13— Ministers Stewards of God's Mysteries, 1 Cor. iv. 1 — The Church of England witness for the Truth, 2 Chron. xxxi. 21. Vincentius' Commonitory against Heresies. THE COMMONITORIUM against Heresies of Vincentius Lerinensis (a.d. 434), translated from the Latin, with Notes, Explanatory and Historical, by John Stock, LL.D., Huddersfield. Crown 8vo. Is. (2s. 6d.) [2] Washburn on the Commandments. THE SOCIAL LAW OF GOD : Sermons on the Ten Commandments. By Rev. E. A. Washburn, D.D., late Rector of Calvary Church, New York. Fifth Edition, with a Sketch of his Life and Work. Crown 8vo, 2s. 9d. (3s. 6d.) [5] "This volume contains sermons on the Ten Commandments, of which those on the ' Law of the Household,' ' Social Purity,' and ' Social Honesty,' strike us as admirable in their handling their subjects from the practical Nine- teenth Century point of view, and we wish that at home our preachers would oftener drive wholesome truths like those into their people's ears." — The Church Quarterly Review. Weitbrecht's Sermons. SERMONS. By the late Rev. John James Weitbrecht, Missionary of the C. M. S. at Burdwan. Crown 8vo. Is. 6d. (5s.) [5] "There is a freshness and simplicity, as well as a certain kind of originality about the style, and a heavenly unction diffused through the matter of these unpretending discourses, wriich have been thought and felt by many to give them a peculiar charm, and which probably led to the repeated expression of a wish, from time to time from numerous individuals, that a volume of them might appear in print." — Preface. Whedon s Commentary. A POPULAR COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. By D. D. Whedon, D.D., of the American Episcopal Methodist Church. Maps and Woodcuts. 5 vols, crown 8vo. 15s. (£1. 5s.) [12] "The topographical, historical, and explanatory notes, as well as a number of illustrative woodcuts which it contains, will be found useful in helping the reader to a right understanding of the text. These seem to have been prepared with great care and accuracy." — The Scotsman. " It is distinguished by great fulness, accuracy, and breadth. The spirit and teaching of the sacred text are clearly and beautifully presented, and all difficulties are fairly met and explained. Dr. Whedon evidently possesses all the qualifications of an able and enlightened commentator." — The Prcacfwr's Lantern. " Have no hesitation in recommending the work as a worthy competitor for public favour with Barnes's ' Notes ' and alike suitable and useful to the Bible student and Sabbath School teacher."— The Weekly Review. WhewelVs Life. THE LIFE, AND SELECTIONS FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE, OF William Whewell, D. D., late Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. By Mrs. Stair Douglas. With Portrait after a painting by Samuel Laurence. Thick 8vo. 6s. (21s.) [6] 32 Charles Higham, Theological- Book-Seller. Whitehead on the Sunday Lessons. SERMONS— CHIEFLY FROM THE SUNDAY LESSONS. By . Whitehead, M.A., Vicar of Brampton, Cumberland, Author of " Sermons on the Days." Crown 8vo. 2s. (6s.) Critical Notices of the former Volume : "Well adapted to suggest matter for ser nis meditation to an educated congregation."— The Guardian. "There are everywhere in these pages traces of the working of an uncommon mind in the mode of deal common topics." — The Christian Spectator. Winkworth's German Hymnology. CHRISTIAN SINGERS OF GERMANY. By Catherine Winkwopth Portraits. Crown 8vo. 2s. (4s.) Macmillaii's Sunday Library. Contents ; The Early Dawn of German Sacred Poetry and Song — A Long Twilight— The Mom Times and Bright Times— Luther and his Friends— Hymns of the Reformation— An Interval— The Thirty V — Paul Gerhardt and his Contemporaries— The New School— The Pietists— The Mystics and Separatists Times. Winterbotham's Sermons. v SERMONS AND EXPOSITIONS. By Rev. Raynep Winterbotham B.Sc, Rector of St. Peter's, Fraserburgh, one of the writers in "The Pulpit Comr Post 8vo. 2s. 6d. (7s. 6d.) "The tone of these sermons is earnest; often impassioned, and occasionally rising to the heigh, eloquence." — The Evening Standard. " The sermons are replete with evidence of thoughtful preparation, and are far above the average efforts."— John Bull. " These sermons are the work of a man who thinks for himself— and who says out what he thinks, wl rarer : he is evidently interested in all the great questions of the day, especially in their bearing upon the Faith ; he by no means coincides in all instances with the verdicts of commentators, or the conventional mod< coming a difficulty — he forms his own conclusions, and then he fills his sermon with it." — The Literary Chit Youngs New Testament Evidences. INDIRECT EVIDENCES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FOR PERSONAL DIVINITY OF CHRIST, with Appendices. I.— The Person an. of Christ. II. — The Philosophy of the Incarnation. III. — Our Lord's Personal ance, Tones of Voice, &c. IV. — The Spirit in which Christ's Religion claim approached. By Rev. F. Rowland Young, D.D. Crown 8vo. 2s. (2s. 6d.) "Dr. Young not only proves his point and slays his opponent, but he reduces the opposite theory to an ." and so cuts his adversary in pieces. He has done his work well. A quotation from Dr. Bellows, given as an warms our heart to the book." — The Sword and Trowel. " A valuable contribution to the discussion of the doctrine of Christ's Divinity. These ' Indirect Evide all urged with ingenuity, and some of them with special force and pertinence." — The Lay Preacher. " Dr. Young's spirit in this treatise is devout and earnest. It is also pervaded by a breadth of charity, i and higher form, seldom met with. We are pleased to meet with such a modest, and, at the same time, sti earnest testimonial to the supreme divinity of the Lord." — The New Jerusalem Messenger. [U.S.] Two Boohs by Dr. Robert Young. AN ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE, on a new with every word in alphabetical order, arranged under its own Hebrew or Greek Or with the literal meaning of each, and its pronunciation ; exhibiting about Three hu and eleven thousand references, or One hundred and eighteen thousand beyond Cn marking 30,000 various Readings in the Greek New Testament ; with the latest inform; on the Biblical Geography and Antiquities of the Palestine Exploration Society, &x. Robert Young, LL.D. 1,000 pp. 4to. £1. 9s. (£1. 16s.) t THE NEW TESTAMENT, LITERALLY AND IDIOMATICALLY TRAI LATED OUT OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES. By Robert Young, LI Crown 8vo. sewed, 8d. (4s.) I S/>ottis:voode &° Co., Printers, Xe;u-strcct Square, London. iter le P e W A Hi e W Thes Chro I H. HI >cia ith >tb :r :i<-