314 Obituaries. FELKIN.-The Rev. J. Felkin, for fiftysix years a minister of the gospel, died at Sevenoaks, Kent, Sep. 5, 1870, aged 73. She GUTTERIDGE.-Ann Gutteridge died at Coalville, July 8, 1870. She had been brought up in the fear of the Lord, but the instrumentality by which she was awakened to a new life was a sermon by the Rev. J. Harcourt, of London. He had been invited to preach the anniversary sermons in Sep. 1860, a time when his church was enjoying a gracious revival. He came full of the spirit and the word was with power. It pierced the heart of our late sister, and a deep sense of sin was followed by a sweet taste of God's love. In the transition state, much light and comfort was received under a sermon by the Rev. C. Clark, now of Australia. was baptized in 1861, and from that time was an active member of the church. Being of a very cheerful disposition she was much beloved. She gave herself earnestly to various good works, and was specially mindful of ministers of the word. She was taken from us somewhat suddenly as she was at the chapel the Lord's-day before her death, apparently better than usual, and enjoyed the services as a feast to her soul. Her husband and children deeply feel the loss, but are consoled by the thought of her Christian life. A very large congregation attended the chapel at the funeral sermon, as she was widely known and respected. HUGHES.-Sep. 7, aged eighty-one, Lydia Hughes. Our aged sister was baptized at Coningsby on her attaining her majority by the late Mr. Cameron. She has been witnessing for Christ, through the grace of God, for sixty years. She met at the Lord's table for the last time on the first Sabbath in July. On that day she appeared to have some premonition that her end was drawing near. She said to me, "This is the last day I shall spend at Whittlesea, and I intended to spend it at your house if you had not invited me to do so." On hearing of her continued illness I went to see her at her son's house, a few miles from Whittlesea. On the first visit she said, "I have only about a fort night longer to live." She exceeded this by two days. She had no fear of death, for she was preparing for her change for years before it came. Her end corresponded with her life, there was a sober, solid waiting for it. Her heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord her Saviour. Her conversation was ripe and fruitful, like a cluster of grapes full of sweetness. She repeated occasionally several of the songs of Zion, such as "Vital spark of heavenly flame," "Rock of ages cleft for me," "Jesus lover of my soul." She gave utterances of her trust and assurance in Christ and eternal happiness through Him, ascribing all the salvation of her soul to Him who loved her and gave Himself for her. As nature was fast sinking, she said, "Wonderful, wonderful!" just as if she had been favoured with a view of the heavenly land -a glimpse of the King in His beauty, ere her spirit left the earthly house of her tabernacle. T. W. THOMPSON.-Mrs. Thompson, of Hugglescote, formerly Miss Anne Yates, departed this life July 29, 1870. Her last affliction was only of three days duration, and no danger was apprehended until about nine hours before her decease. But the unexpected summons did not find her unprepared. Long had she been a humble follower of Jesus and a useful member of His church. She was often considering her latter end, and was habitually living with a reference to her final account. Pleasing proofs of this could readily be adduced; but those who knew her best are already in possession of them. A more attentive hearer of the gospel, or a more sincere friend of those who preached it to her, would not easily be found. She is affectionately remembered at Leicester, Melbourne, Stratford-on-Avon, and Huglescote. Her afflicted husband mourns her departure; her adopted children speak of her with filial esteem; her brothers and sisters will not forget her kindness to them; and her Saviour, we are well assured, has received her to Himself. "What golden joys ambrosial clust'ring glow In His full beam, and ripen for the just, Where momentary ages are no more! Where time and pain and chance and death expire!' Missionary Observer. UNITED MISSIONARY MEETING AT CAMBRIDGE. A PUBLIC meeting in connection with the two missionary societies of the Baptist denomination was held at the Guildhall, Cambridge, on Tuesday evening, the 20th ult., preparatory to the session of the Baptist Union on the following days. The large and elegant building was crowded with an audience of some two thousand persons. Joseph Tritton, Esq., of London, occupied the chair, and in the course of his excellent opening address said: I rejoice in the united character of our meeting-that our General Baptist friends share with us in the sacred engagements of this evening. If in our body there must be two distinct missionary organizations, it is well that we should occasionally meet in public assembly. Why should we not? Our object is one. Our gospel is one. The Master whom weserve is one. The spirit which moves us is one. And the recompense to which we hope to attain is one. Our friends will take with them only the moiety of our offerings, but I am sure they will take with them the fulness of our sympathy. The meeting throughout was a most enthusiastic one. The clear and intelligent address of the chairman, followed by the warm-hearted speeches of the Revs. Dr. Price, of Aberdare, J. C. Pike, of Leicester, and T. R. Stevenson, of Luton, found an appropriate culmination in the eloquent and rapturouslyapplauded speech of the Rev. T. W. Handford, of Bolton, who called upon the young men of the denomination to come forward and take up the missionary work that must soon fall from the hands of the honoured men whose locks he noticed were becoming more and more grey with each return of these annual gatherings. If our space would allow, we should gladly publish a full report of the meeting; but as it will not, we give that part which more immediately concerns ourselves. The Rev. J. C. Pike, of Leicester, Secretary of the General Baptist Society, spoke as follows: I appear before you as the representative of the "little Benjamin" of the Baptist denomination. Our position in the field of labour somewhat resembles his. The lot of Benjamin was at the centre of the promised land; our lot is at the great centre of idolatry in India. The temple of Jehovah was erected within the allotment of this tribe. at Jerusalem; the temple of Juggernath, the so-called lord of the world, rears its hideous front at Pooree, in the province of Orissa. Of Benjamin it was said, "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders, or among his mountains." The former part of this blessing of Benjamin has been remarkably fulfilled in the history of our Society. We confidently anticipate the full realization of the latter part of it also-when the temple of Juggernath shall become the temple of Jehovah, and the land for ages polluted with unmentionable abominations and superstitions shall throughout its length and breadth become "holiness unto the Lord." The Oriyas are described by observers as a singularly apathetic people. They have no ambition after an improved temporal or spiritual condition. They are satisfied with a mere competence, to do just as their fathers did, to engage in the same work, adhere to the same rules of caste, accomplish the same pilgrimages, repair to the same temples, offer the same sacrifices, perform the same vows, reverence the same gooroos, worship the same idols, and wish for nothing new under the sun. An Oriya, says one, rather reminds me, in some respects, of the Irishman in his own country, who has been sketched in the following manner-"He seems to be either always going to his work, or looking at his work, or resting from his work; in brief, to be doing nothing, cordially assisted by his friends and neighbours." I understand they have a proverb in the country, which strikingly illustrates their mental inertia-"I wish to do it; I shall do it; I am just about to do it; I have all but done it; I have not done it." The moral state of the Oriyas has been frequently described as most degraded. Its depths have not yet been fathomed by our missionaries; below the lowest depth there is a deeper still. In February of the present year, Mr. Thos. Bailey met on a missionary journey with a new sect of ascetics. They regard neither caste nor idols, read no shastres, and wear no clothes save a small strip of bark. More helplessly ignorant or miserable looking creatures it would be difficult to imagine. Amongst this most apathetic and sunken people our "little Benjamin" has laboured for the Lord during the past fifty years, and we rejoice to know not in vain. The hoary system of idolatry that has struck its roots deep down into the very heart of the national life is beginning to give way. We seem to hear the cracking and breaking of its fibres as the huge tree is being forced up from the soil by the mighty lever of the gospel. One day the work shall be complete, the idolatry of Orissa shall fall, and root and branch shall be destroyed from the land. A recent fact illustrates how great a work has already been done in this direction. Our brethren have a station in the Madras presidency. Mr. Taylor, the missionary there, mentions the case of an inquirer with whom he met when out on a cold season tour. In the course of conversation Boishnob Maharana said to him, with the utmost contempt for Hindooism "I have made lots of idols in my time, and have long since ceased to regard them other than as something established by custom. You know," he added, "that in the event of a new idol, it is customary for some person, elected for the purpose, to insert into the stomach of the image the Salgram, i.e., the emblem of Vishnu, and that it is believed that such person invariably dies during the same year. Well, on one occasion no one could be found that would consent to perform this ceremony for fear he should pay the penalty with his life; so for a matter of ten rupees I consented to do it in the case of the three idols, fully believing that I should neither live the longer nor die the sooner; and behold I am alive to this day." afterwards told Mr. Taylor that he had long ceased going on pilgrimages, had abandoned all idol worship, in fact every thing that was essentially Hindoo, and that he was on the eve of embracing christianity; for he thought he had tried everything else to gain peace of mind, and everything he had tried had failed. He The above is by no means a solitary case. Heathenism is cruel as death. Our brethren and sisters have been the "good Samaritans" of the country. They have established orphanages, relieved the sick and the dying, and have sought in every way to promote the temporal as well as the spiritual elevation of the people. When some thirtythree years ago the atrocities perpetrated by the Khonds in Goomsur were first disclosed to the civilized world, and seventeen children (fourteen boys and three girls) were rescued by the government from a horrid death as Meriah sacrifices, the children were at once received into our Mission schools. On one occasion as many as eighty children were thus placed under the care of our friends. Famine has from time to time added to the numbers in the orphanages. The great famine wave that swept over Orissa in 1866, and carried off one in four of the whole population, left some thirteen or fourteen hundred orphan children in the care of the missionaries. Solomon says, "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." I will act upon Solomon's precept. I was favoured the other day with the sight of a government blue book, containing a report on the pilgrimage to Juggernath, by Dr. David B. Smith, the Sanitary Commissioner for Bengal. The testimony of this gentleman, though "a stranger," is most enthusiastic. Speaking of a visit at Piplee on his way from Pooree to Bhobanessur, he says:— "I there visited the Orphanage, and was much pleased with what I saw of the internal arrangements of the place. The poor children are the objects of sincere and constant solicitude. The philanthropic exertions of Mrs. Goadby and of Miss Packer, the ladies of the Mission, have left on my mind impressions like to those that are linked with the names of Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Fry. It is not too much to say that they are earnest and valuable allies in the cause of medicine and sanitation in Orissa." Arrived at Cuttack, our principal station, Dr. Smith writes : "At a period when famine desolated Orissa, the missionaries passed much of their time in the relief of suffering humanity. They fed the povertystricken and befriended them. All that generous sentiment or disinterested virtue could prompt, these good men and earnest women delighted to do. Acting in concert with Famine Relief Committees, they were enabled to save from death many who must otherwise have perished. Friendless beings came to them, and at once enjoyed sympathy and relief. Motherless or fatherless children and orphans, driven by fate to their doors, were received with parental kindness. The orphans under their care are allowed a subsistence allowance by the government (three rupees per mensem, and twenty or thirty rupees each to start in life with). I have seen the children in the houses of these missionaries. treated with the utmost kindness, and in a manner evincing the heartfelt interest taken in their happiness and welfare. I have seen them systematically taught useful trades and the rational occupations of every day life. In sickness I have seen them cherished as though they were of the same blood as their benefactors. It affords me deep and sincere pleasure to bear witness to these facts. The sedulous philanthropy of the Baptist missionaries in Orissa reflects great credit on the English name and rule. One of their number once asserted (the late Dr. Sutton) that the government of this country had no attached friends than they. This is a truth. The missionaries, however, of Orissa are not only apostles of evangelization and education-though such is certainly the chief end of their ambition -but they are the friends of sanitation, the dispensers of medicine to the sick, the clothers of the naked, the feeders of the hungry, the shelterers of the exposed, the guardians of friendless widows and orphans. They have an intimate knowledge of the people, their language, their modes of thought, and their every day wants. They have rescued many children from poverty, prostitution, and immolation. As is stated in their reports, it is scarcely necessary to observe that they derive no personal benefit from any contributions they may receive; every fraction is faithfully spent, and as faithfully accounted for." more Dr. Smith adds-"Since I left Orissa, one of the missionaries whom I met there has passed from this world. The Rev. Mr. Goadby, of Piplee, died shortly after I left the Province. His mission lay for years among the Pulindas, or barbarous mountaineers of the hilly regions of Orissa, chiefly among the Khonds. With Russel Condah as his base of operations, he delighted to penetrate into the solitary places of Khondistan, and there, amidst the dirt, drunkenness, and destitution of the people, to do what lay in his power for their welfare, and for the softening and enlightening of their savage natures. He was a perfect enthusiast in bis fondness for this aboriginal people, and all bis energy was for years consecrated to the cause of their amelioration. A good man, he was but one of many connected with the Orissa Baptist Mission who (to me as a mere journeyer through the province) seem to be doing incalculable good for the people of the country. As I said before, their works are, at every turn, associated with the physical welfare of the Oriyas. It is on this account that I have devoted considerable space to a notice of their good deeds." Blue books are generally dry reading. I hope these extracts, intensely encouraging as they are to me, have not been very wearisome to you. Experience amply proves that Christianity is the best agency for the civilization of a people. While blessing man for the next world, it scatters in all directions the choicest blessings for the life that now is. Our brethren and sisters regard all their varied philanthropic exertions as only subsidiary to their higher aims in the conversion and salvation of the people. The Lord has not allowed these earnest labourers to toil in vain. Last year one hundred and four candidates were added to the church by baptism. At one church meeting forty candidates were proposed for baptism and fellowship. While cheered by such facts, I for one believe that no figures can tabulate the results of the toil and prayer of our friends among the benighted millions of Orissa. I spoke just now of idolatry losing its hold upon the masses of India. We must not, therefore, suppose that the people will at once become Christians. True, the ground is prepared, the soil is inviting, but other sowers are at work as well as the missionaries. There is danger lest atheism should take the place of pantheism, and the loss of faith in idols should be followed by the loss of faith altogether. I met in an Indian newspaper a few days ago with some rather sarcastic verses on the religious tendencies of the age in India. The editor speaks of the hitting as hard but not undeserved. "You ask me what my Shaster is; No other rule I own. Moses and David and St. Paul For what though their prophetic gaze The Christian's God reveals Himself, That Brahmos like to make him. If nature be so bad (I speak How comes it that she can produce "Tis true that millions go astray But that's because they don't, like me, Or if their intuition's bad, That is their own look out; Of falsehood and of truth, Of Cæsar or of Hannibal, Therefore that name I will not hear, My dying day! Death brings, they say, Enough! Enough! Here, Gopal, bring It is not at all smooth and easy sailing with missionaries in India. There are plenty among their own countrymen to criticize them and their work. A writer in the Calcutta Review for July last would have us believe that because christians are divided into so many sects and denominations, they none of them as yet know what christianity really is. He says, "It is obvious that until some definition of christianity is universally accepted, all missionary enterprise must be greatly crippled. The missionaries may destroy such faith as their hearers possess, but it is not possible to do much more." "Supposing," he says, astronomers differed as missionaries do, who would believe in astronomy ?" The "that writer seems not to have sufficient penetration to perceive that astronomers do differ, and yet people believe in astronomy; nor yet that though everybody Idid disbelieve it, astronomy would be true just the same. The remarks of The Friend of India in reply to this and other objections are admirable."We write as secular journalists, with no deep knowledge-with no jot of experience of a missionary's work; but we venture to say to missionaries that the one lesson to be drawn from a paper like this is, more work, not less work; a firmer hold of the plough, not a turning back from it; a loftier faith in promises that never failed or will fail. We do not defend speculative argument as missionary teaching. We abhor as much as the Review writer any teaching that would make of the Almighty anything less than the Father of all mankind. But we say that the missionary who cannot work with the tools he has, and the materials he has, needs not new paths, but a return to old ones; not some fine theory of union, but simply faith in God. even think of ceasing work till some common ground of union can be formed would be to a true missionary sin against the highest law. The faith that carried Leigh Richmond and John Wesley into the cottages of England, can carry other true men to the poor people of India; and the Head of the faith will be with these workers also, and with all true workers, be their name what it may, even to to the world's end." To We thank God that a simple faith in the doctrine of Christ and Him crucified has carried our missionary brethren and sisters of various denominations into almost every country of the globe; and wherever they have gone they have witnessed its divine power unto the salvation of men. In the face of all critics and opponents, of timid friends, cynical carpers, and avowed enemies, let us, brethren, by a new act of consecration, pledge ourselves to the Lord to-night; and let our answer to all objectors be,-more work for Christ, and not less; more money laid on the missionary altar for Christ, and not less; more missionaries for the Lord of the harvest, and not fewer; more believing prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ may quickly see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, and not less. have not time for argument; the nations are perishing. We are doing a great We |