/S%o AND THEIR MISSIONS. I 1 LONDON ASSOCIATION JN AJD OF The “London Association” was formed in 1817 by friends of tlie Brethren, who are not in Church-fellowship with them, and has been in¬ strumental, through the blessing of God, not only in helping to preserve the Missions then in opera¬ tion, but in enabling the Brethren greatly to extend their sphere of labour. The Committee feel sure that a much larger amount of Christian sympathy and help would be extended to the devoted Missions of the “ United Brethren ” than has been hitherto given, if a correct impression on the subject of this Church’s history and character were more gene- lallv entertained, and a more widespread know¬ ledge existed of the wonders that God hath wrought through its instrumentality amongst the most bar¬ barous of Heathen nations. The Church of the “ United Brethren” (commonly called Moravians) was formed, under its present name , in 1457, out of the wreck of the Bohemian 1 Church, after the martyrdom of John Huss, and about sixty years before the Reformation. The Bohemian Church had received the doctrine of the primitive Church about the middle of the ninth century, having obtained it from one of the Slavonic Churches, where it existed from a very early period of the Christian era. T hose members of the Bohemian Church who entertained the same THE MOT. I VIAX Af/SSZOXS. views of Divine truth as John Huss were, soon after his martyrdom, driven by persecution to the mountains of Moravia and Silesia, where, name of “ United Brethren,” they resolve* to perpetuate the Protestant doctrine and Constitution of the Church ot their for and such was their Missionary zeal, in of the greatest oppression and persecu at the beginning of the 16th century, Churches in almost everv town and Moravia and Bohemia. ' The last remnant of the Church in Moravia that survived the horrible persecutions of the 17th » j centurv, fled for refuge to Saxony in 1722; — and I in ten years, though but a small company (scarcely 600) and destitute of pecuniary means, they set the first example to the Churches of Christ, of preaching the (fospel to the nations, bv establish¬ ing their Missions, to the Heathen. . : The first Missionaries, with but a few shillings in their pockets, travelled on foot to Copenhagen in 1732 and 1733, and embarked thence for the West Indies and Greenland. In the first nine vears thev had commenced eight missions to heathen tribes, and fifteen years after their missions were sixteen in number — bringing the glad tidings of I | Salvation to the Negroes, Hottentots, Esquimaux, | Greenlanders, and American Indians, — and not onlvj JON DON ASSOCIATION IN AID OF does their work expand in these Missions, but new fields are from time to time entered upon by the Brethren as God gives them opportunity. Though many fall a sacrifice to the climates, there never yet has been a lack of labourers well adapted for the work; indeed, so great is the Missionary spirit poured out on this Church, that about one in sixty of its adult members becomes a Missionarv to the Heathen, Missions to the Moskito Indians have been estab¬ lished since T848, and are being much blessed. A M ission to the Aborigines of Australia has yielded good fruit ; there are now two congrega¬ tions composed of 111 Native Christians, of whom 30 are Communicants. The Brethren have also commenced one on the borders of Tibet , and hope thereby not only to reach that province but also the Mongols , who wander over Chinese Tartary. They maintain a station at Kvelang, in Lahoul, as a base ofoperations, and are preaching to the Buddhist inhabitants around them. A second Station is situated close to the border of Tibet Proper, and a third has been opened at Leh, the capital of the Tibetan Province of Ladak. The New Tes¬ tament is translated into Tibetan, and, together with tracts in this language, is being extensivelv circulated. THE MORA VIA A' MISSIONS. With Labrador (where the cold is not unfre- quently 30 degrees, and sometimes 40 degrees, below zero of Fahrenheit, or from 62 degrees to 72 degrees below the point where water freezes), the Missionary ship, at present the fourth Harmony , has for more than a hundred years been almost the sole means of communication, conveying once in each year provisions, letters, &c., from this country. The newest endeavour of the Brethren is to plant the standard of he Cross in Western Alaska. In most departments of the Mission the call to extend the work is urgent — especiallv the work of education in Jamaica and other West Indian Islands. In the former Island, owing to the parents settling in distant places, and to their poverty, thousands of the children of Moravian and other Negroes are deprived of instruction. The Brethren have been enabled, by special aid from this country, to open Country-Schools in Jamaica , Barbados , and St. Kill's, containing about 3,000 children at the cost, per school, of/. 10 to £20 per annum. The entire annual cost of the Mission is about ; £5o,ooo, of which ,418,000 only represent the sum raised from home sources, the balance comprising the contributions of Native Churches, Government Grants for Schools, Interest of Endowment-funds, and the proceeds of industrial enterprises carried 6 LOXDOX ASSOClA 770 X 7 X AID OF on for the benefit of the Mission and the elevation of the native populations. Numerical Statistics of Missions, 1886: — ' In Congre- Stations. gat ions. (ireenland . 6 ... 1,550 Labrador . 6 ... 1,263 North American Indians . 3 ... 276 British and Danish West Indies . .47 ... 37.948 South America—Surinam and Deme¬ ntia . :o ... 26,172 Central America — Moskito ('oast ... 8- ... 2,834 South Africa . 21 ... 12,273 Australia . 2 ... 119 N.W. India — Tibet . 3 ... 27 Alaska . • 1 ... * Above 40,000 are British Subjects. 1 17 *82,462 There are 319 European and Native Missionaries employed in the various fields, 17,671 Scholars- are under instruction in 217 Dav Schools, and about 14,000 Scholars in 91 Sunday Schools. The parent Church numbers only about one - third of the con verts gat hered by her instru ¬ ment ality fr om among the Heathen, and is con’- sequehtly dependent on other communities of Christians fora great part of the funds requisite to THE MORA lVAX M/SS/OXS. support this extensive work, and for the election of Churches and Schools. The Directing Board of the Moravian Missions is appointed by the General Synod of the Moravian Church, and has its headquarters at Berthelsdorf, near Herrnhut, in Saxony. The sums collected by the London Association tire forwarded to this Board, of whom the Rev. B. La Tkobe is the representative in England. Lhe Committee earnestly request from Ministers the privilege of bringing this great work before their congregations, by sermons and meetings, and from the Church of Christ generally aid in helping this small Church to carry on her labours of love, bv Donations and Subscriptions, which mav be paid to the Treasurer, at Messrs. Herktes, Fakqithar and Co., St. Janies’ Street, W. ; to Messrs. Smiths and Co., Lombard Street ; to Messrs. Williams, Deacon and Co., Birchiti Lane ; to The City Bank, Holborn Branch ; or to Mr. (',. K. ROBERTS, at the Office, 29, ELY PLACE, HOLBORN, E.C, Patrons, Thk Lord Bishop of Rochester. The Lord Bishop of Exeter. The Lord Bishop of Liverpool. The Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man. The Lord Bishop of Manchester. The Right Honourable Lord Ebuky. Lord Justice Fry. President, Thomas Fowell Buxton, Esq. A- T REASURER. Sir Walter R. Farquhak, Bart. Committee, ARCHIBALD, \V. F. A., ESQ. CAYFORD, e., esq. CHUBB, HAMMOND, ESQ. COX, W. F., ESQ. DASHWOOD, THOS., ESQ. DRURY, W. V., ESQ., M.D. FORTESCUE, J. F., ESQ. FREESE, F. W., ESQ. CONNER, P. K., ESO. GRESHAM, J. H., ESQ. HEWITT, A. S., ESQ. HOWARD, D., ESQ. IRON, O. S., ESQ. J ANSON, 1)., ESQ. OR ION, J. S., ESQ. PAYNE, G. W., ESO. RHINI), JAMES, ESQ). WHYTE, R., JUN., ESQ. Honorary Secretaries. Rev. Daniel Moore, m.a., k Rev. J. Stoughton, d.d. Clerical Secretary. Rev. James Henry, f.r.g.s. Secretary, Mr. George E. Roberts. Cookk At Halsted, Moorliclds Press, London, E,C.