an appeal to christian ladies, in behalf of female education in china, india, and the east.

From the last census taken by the Chinese government in 1813, it appears that the population of that empire was then 362,447,183; a population more than twenty times as great as that of Greenland, Labrador, the Canadas, the West Indies, the South Sea Islands, the Cape, Madagascar, Greece, Egypt, Abyssinia, and Ceylon,—i.e., more than twenty times as large as nearly the whole field of Christian missions, India and the East being excepted.

In 1821, the missionary, Dr. Milne, calculated the population of Cochin China, Corea, Loo-choo, Japan, and other districts tributary to China, to be about 60,000,000. If there should be in those countries, with Burmah and Siam, only 20,000,000 instead of 60,000,000, they form an important field of missionary labour. The British subjects of continental and ultra-Gangetic India, are 77,743,178; the population more or less under British influence in India, is 33,994,000; making a total under British influence in India, of 111,736,178. Of the 362 millions of the Chinese empire, probably 150 millions are females; and among the 111 millions of India there are about 50 millions more; so that, in these two countries, there are 200 millions of heathen females demanding our commiseration and Christian care.

The condition of the Chinese women is thus described by the missionary Gutzlaff:—“Such a general degradation in religion makes it almost impossible that females should have their proper rank in society. They are the slaves and concubines of their masters, live and die in ignorance, and every effort to raise themselves above the rank assigned them, is regarded as impious arrogance. As long as mothers are not the instructors of their children, and wives are not the companions of their husbands, the regeneration of this great empire will proceed very slowly.” As might be expected, suicide is a refuge to which thousands of these ignorant idolaters fly. “The unnatural crime of infanticide is so common among them, that it is perpetrated without any feeling, and even in a laughing mood. There is also carried on a regular traffic in females.”

The condition of the Hindoo women is, if possible, worse. They are treated as slaves, may not eat with their husbands, and are expressly permitted by law to be beaten. Degraded and despised, they naturally sink towards the level assigned them by public opinion. They have no mental employment whatever; and being very much excluded by the extreme jealousy of which they are the objects, from missionary instruction, it appears that their miserable condition must be perpetuated, till Hindoo society undergoes a radical change, unless they be improved by Christian schools.

To meet these necessities, a society has been formed of ladies of various denominations, united together by Christian piety, for the wretched female population whom they wish to elevate and bless. Some of the objects to which the Committee will direct their attention, are the following:

1. To collect and to diffuse information on the subject.

2. To prepare and send out pious and intelligent women, as trainers and superintendents of the native female teachers.

3. To assist those who may be anxious to form female schools in accordance with the rules of this society, by grants of money, books, and superintendence.

What Christian lady, to whom this appeal may come, will refuse her co-operation in so good a work! To aid the beneficent legislation of a paternal government in the improvement of so large a population committed to our care; to rescue the weak from oppression, and to comfort the miserable in their sorrow; to give to the infant population of India, and of China, the blessings of maternal wisdom and piety; to teach the men of those nations, that those who are now their degraded slaves, may be their companions, counsellors, and friends; to disgrace, by a knowledge of the rudiments of European science, those fabulous and polluted legends of their sacred books, which are at variance with geographical and astronomical facts; to make them acquainted with the Bible, which now they cannot read; to place them under the instruction of the missionary, from whom they are at present excluded; to bring them to the knowledge of Christ, and to prove that his grace can do more in a few years to bless them, than centuries of heathenism could do to degrade them;—these are the great objects which carried Mrs. Wilson to the children of Hindostan, and Miss Wallace to those of China: but, while “the harvest truly is plenteous, the labourers are few.” Other women of equal capacity, and who can show the same perseverance springing from compassion and faith, must follow the good example. And if they offer themselves to this work of the Lord, will not the Christian women of this country, by sending them forth, and supporting them in their work, show to the continent and the world, that gratitude to God and to Christ for the blessings of providence and grace, can kindle in their hearts an earnest and self-denying pity for those who, though they speak in other tongues, and are separated from us by half the earth’s circumference, are yet as capable of joy and sorrow as ourselves, and are among those to whom our Redeemer has commanded that the gospel should be preached?

Wives, who are happy in the affection and esteem of your husbands; mothers, who enjoy your children’s reverence and gratitude; children, who have been blessed by a mother’s example, and a mother’s care; sisters, who have found in brothers your warmest friends; Christian women, who feel that you can lend to society its charm, and receive from it a loyal courtesy in return; protected, honoured, and loved—impart your blessings to those who are miserable because they are without them. If your minds are intelligent and cultivated—if your lives are useful and happy—and if you can look for a blessed immortality beyond the grave, do not, for the love of Christ, whose sufferings have been the source of all your blessings, and of all your hopes, do not refuse to make Him known, that the degraded millions of the East may, like you, be “blessed in Him,” and, like you, may “call him blessed.”

Those readers who desire further information may obtain it from Mr. Suter, 19, Cheapside; by whom contributions will be thankfully received.

extract from the forty-fifth quarterly register of the baptist home mission.

The Committee of this Society desire, humbly and thankfully, to acknowledge the goodness of God for the many favourable openings which appear for the “spread of the gospel at home.”

Whilst they deeply regret that, for want of means, they cannot employ more labourers, they gratefully record some unexpected supplies to their exhausted funds; they indulge the hope that many of their fellow Christians will follow the example of their friend, Mr. Nice, and others, who have nobly come to the help of the Lord in time of need.

The following extract from the Report of the Auxiliary Society for Exeter and North Devon will, it is hoped, be acceptable as a specimen of that work which all true Christians pray may prosper.

“At Torrington, our brother Pulsford still continues to carry on the work of the Lord with the true spirit of a laborious minister of the word, ever zealous in the work, and watching for the salvation of souls; and the great Head of the church has again honoured him with the reward of his labours. Possessed with heartfelt love for souls, he appears to have continually before him, as his motto, ‘Work while it is day; for the night cometh in which no man can work;’ he is instant in season and out of season. From his letter of the 15th inst., we make the following extract:—‘I have great pleasure in stating that the Lord in his great mercy continues to bless our feeble instrumentality, thirty-two have been brought to the knowledge of the truth, and added to the church by baptism since October last; and we continue to carry the word of life into thirteen villages, in many of which the power and glory of God are seen and felt. Glory be to his name. At Langtree, we have long mourned the lack of room, but I am happy to state that a chapel which will contain about 150 is nearly finished. At Langtree Wick we want to do the same, and trust that the great Head of the church will prepare the way for our doing so before long. At St. Giles, we have added another room to the one we occupied; and at Hatherleigh we have baptized ten, and as many more appear to be converted to God, and will follow the Lord in that delightful ordinance soon. Our new place of worship at Hatherleigh is covered in, and things wear a very pleasing aspect. O for the downpouring of the Holy Spirit, that the sacred fire may spread from village to village, and from town to town, till the whole world shall be full of the glory of God! Nothing is wanting to obtain this, but the hearty co-operation of all our churches in the great work—the entering into religion with all the heart, and all the soul, each one laying himself or herself out for God, and the eternal welfare of their fellow-creatures. We have four Sunday-schools, in which 280 children are taught the word and way of God, and we trust will yield a future harvest to the church.’”

the bishop of london and the dissenters.

(From the Times.)

A second edition of a “Remonstrance addressed to the Lord Bishop of London, on the Sanction given, in his late Charge to the Clergy of that Diocese, to the Calumnies against the Dissenters contained in certain Letters signed L. S. E.,” has recently appeared, with the respectable name of Mr. Charles Lushington. The letters referred to, which are addressed to a Dissenting minister of the Congregational denomination, and written, it appears, by a clergyman of the church of England, might well be mistaken for a subtle and refined ruse of a bitter enemy of that church. At a moment when the feelings of the Dissenters are wrought up to intense excitement by a sense of wrong from grievances unredressed, an individual of that class who teach from the pulpit that a man who lacketh charity lacketh every thing, has had the daring effrontery to vomit forth a mass of rancorous scurrility against the whole Dissenting body, especially its teachers, applying to them epithets proscribed in almost every species of polemical warfare, except that carried on by Carlile and his party, detailing disgusting anecdotes thinly veiled in the decency of a Latin translation, excluding them from the pale of Christianity, and proclaiming that “the curse of God rests heavily upon them!” It is to be regretted that there are a few individuals of the letter-writer’s class, men who have exchanged the sword for the gown, or who desire to transform the pen into the sword; but these intolerant zealots, so long as their acts are not countenanced by their superiors, do but little mischief. The letters in question, however, have been specifically recommended in a note appended to the late charge of the Bishop of London, as “containing a great deal of useful information and sound reasoning, set forth with a little too much warmth of invective against the Dissenters.” Mr. Lushington, who avows himself a member of the church of England, has had the candour and manliness to step forward and publicly vindicate the Dissenters from the effects of such a recommendation of such a work, suggesting, at the same time, “some political and Christian considerations, which should operate to secure for those calumniated persons a little more conciliatoriness from their opponents, and a far greater measure of justice from their judges.” He shows what the Dissenters have done, and are doing, to supply the deficiencies of the established church; he disproves the accusation that the Dissenters, as a body, seek to destroy that church, which would be repugnant to the system to which they owe their distinction as a religious body; and he suggests that, if the religious wants of the community are to be adequately supplied, it must be by one of three plans—either by the establishment and other sects, as at present; or by the establishment alone, all other sects being merged, comprehended, or put down; or by the episcopal church and other denominations, without an establishment. He assumes that the second is impracticable, inasmuch as the establishment could not be extended, on the basis of taxation, so as to meet the wants of the population, and the sects could not be merged or put down. The choice is, therefore, between the first, which renders the Dissenters necessary as auxiliaries, and therefore to be conciliated; and the third, which would reduce the church of England to the dimensions of an episcopal, but non-established, church. Such frenzied partisans as “L. S. E.” would be more likely to bring about the third alternative than the second.

extract from a correspondent’s letter, addressed to the right rev. the lord bishop of london.

My Lord,

In the notes appended to your Lordship’s Charge, delivered at the last visitation, reference is made to a work, entitled, “Letters to a Dissenting Minister, &c., by L. S. E.” It is most prudently admitted, that the work contains “too much sharpness of invective against the dissenters;” your Lordship has, however, added, “I recommend the publication as containing a great deal of useful information and sound reasoning.”

It was prudent in L. S. E. not to attach his name to a work that would give him a notoriety for impudence and slander which no future penitence could by any possibility remove. How far it was wise to sanction with the authority of your Lordship’s name, the work of an author who had not the rashness to reveal his own, remains for the effects it will produce upon society to determine.

L. S. E. has stated in page 360, that “the late Mr. Abraham Booth,[B] an eminent dissenting teacher in London, would never pray for the King (George the Third) at all.” Allow me, therefore, to inform your Lordship and the nameless individual who enjoys your patronage, that the assertion is entirely false. During the thirty-seven years in which he administered the ordinances and truth of Jesus Christ in Prescot-street, he not only never refused, but made it his uniform practice, to pray for “our rightful Sovereign the King, his Royal Consort the Queen, and every branch of the Royal Family;” of this many living witnesses may be brought, who still remain the fruits of his exertions. Much sympathy is due to your Lordship on account of the present intensity of professional excitement; but the injunction laid by inspiration upon a Bishop must not be forgotten, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be thou partaker in other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”

With sincere respect, I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s humble servant,
Isaac Booth.
Hackney, Dec. 4, 1834.

duties arising out of the present aspect of political affairs.

At a Meeting of the “Deputies from the several Congregations of Protestant Dissenters of the Three Denominations in and within twelve miles of London, appointed to protect their Civil Rights,” held at the King’s Head Tavern in the Poultry, on Friday, the 19th day of December, 1834.

Henry Waymouth, Esq., in the Chair.

Resolved,

That this Deputation cordially approves of the following Resolutions of the United Committee of Protestant Dissenters in London, passed on the 18th ult.; viz.—

“That, while this Committee bows to the exercise of the Royal Prerogative, they have learned, with feelings of unfeigned and profound regret, the sudden dismissal from His Majesty’s Councils of his late confidential advisers; entertaining, as they do, a cordial approbation of the general measures of their Administration, and confiding in their principles as the sincere friends of civil and religious freedom.

“That, while the Committee cannot but express their disappointment and sorrow that the just claims of Protestant Dissenters have hitherto been postponed, they are convinced that such delay on the part of His Majesty’s late Government arose chiefly from the obstructions to which they were subject, both from ecclesiastical and political opponents. The regret which this Committee feels at the dismissal of the late Administration is also greatly aggravated by the assurance that it has occurred at a moment when its members were preparing means of redress for the chief practical grievances of which Dissenters complain.

“That, in the probable event of a General Election, this Committee confidently anticipates, from the Protestant Dissenters throughout the empire, the most decided and uncompromising opposition to that political party who have avowed themselves the unflinching opponents of their interests, and whose speeches and votes on the Bill for the admission of Dissenters to the Universities, ought never to be forgotten; and, in the event of such election, this Committee relies also on all classes of Dissenters for the immediate adoption of measures best calculated to ensure the return, as Representatives to Parliament, of men liberal and enlightened in their views, the tried friends of Religious Liberty, National Improvement, and Universal Freedom.

“That this Committee pledges itself to persevere in seeking the full and immediate relief of the practical Grievances of Protestant Dissenters upon the principles it has repeatedly avowed.”

That this Deputation strongly urges upon its Constituents the importance of promptly and vigorously acting upon the recommendations contained in the foregoing resolutions as to the choice of Representatives in the ensuing Parliament.

That the declaration of the line of policy intended to be pursued by the Administration of Sir Robert Peel, as contained in his address to the Electors of Tamworth, is most unsatisfactory to Dissenters, and affords no prospect of the adoption of liberal measures on the part of the Cabinet of which he is the head.

That this deputation cannot but record its total want of reliance on the granting of any effectual relief to Dissenters by a political party which have ever been opposed to the affording to that numerous and important body their just and equal rights as subjects of the Realm.

That the foregoing Resolutions be inserted in the “Morning Chronicle,” “Morning Post,” “Morning Advertiser,” “Globe,” “Standard,” and “Patriot” newspapers.

resolutions occasioned by the letter from the american board of foreign missions[C] to the board of baptist ministers in and near london.

At a meeting of the Board of Baptist Ministers, specially convened at Fen Court, Nov. 25th, 1834, the Rev. F. A. Cox, LL.D. in the Chair, the above communication having been read, the following resolution was adopted:—

Resolved unanimously,

“That we receive with much pleasure the expressions of esteem and attachment, and fully participate in the affectionate sentiments, contained in the letter of the American Board of Foreign Missions, dated Boston, Sept. 1, 1834; and while we deeply regret that, in the judgment of the said Board, it would violate the Constitution of the Triennial Convention to entertain our communication of the 31st Dec. 1833, we hope that such of our American brethren as concur in the opinions of that communication, will adopt every means consistent with Christian principles, to diffuse their sentiments, and thus secure the immediate and entire extinction of their slave system.

“That the Secretary be requested to transmit the above Resolution to the Vice President of the Baptist Board for Foreign Missions in the United States.

“It having been reported to the Board, that our brethren who have been requested by the Baptist Union to go as a deputation to our Baptist brethren in America, having consulted their respective churches, have acceded to the wishes of the Union;”

Resolved unanimously,

“That this Board, feeling the importance of the deputation to America appointed by the Baptist Union, earnestly recommends, that the churches in London and its vicinity collect, in what way they may severally think proper, towards the expenses of such an object.”

J. B. Shenston, Secretary.

british voluntary church society.

Resolution passed by the Board of Baptist Ministers at a meeting specially convened at Fen Court, Dec. 16, 1834, the Rev. W. Newman, D.D. in the Chair.

“That, approving the principles and objects of the British Voluntary Church Society, this Board strongly recommends the churches of our denomination to promote its operations by every means in their power; either by obtaining subscriptions, by lending their places of worship for the delivering of lectures, or by any other means which their judgment may suggest.

“That the Secretary be requested to transmit the above Resolution to the Secretaries of the British Voluntary Church Society, and to send a copy for insertion in the Baptist Magazine.”

J. B. Shenston, Secretary.

N.B. Persons subscribing not less than 2s. 6d. per annum, are members of this Society.—Ed.

unicorn-yard chapel, tooley-street, southwark, erected, 1720.

From the decayed state of this place of worship, and for the safety of those persons who assemble therein, at the recommendation of several architects, a new wall has been erected, and the building generally having undergone a thorough repair, with 200 additional sittings, and baptistry, &c. was re-opened for the worship of God, on Thursday, November 27, 1834, when three sermons were preached; that in the morning by the Rev. Dr. Andrews, of Walworth, from Heb. ix. 12; that in the afternoon, by the Rev. Thomas Shirley, of Seven Oaks; and that in the evening, by the Rev. J. H. Evans, A.M., of John-street chapel, Bedford-row, when upwards of thirty pounds were collected.

The church now encouraged by considerable additions, and the regular attendance of an increasing congregation, take this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the services of those good men who helped them in their low estate, and also to record the loving-kindness of the Lord who has so graciously appeared in reviving us under the ministry of our present pastor, the Rev. D. Denham (late of Margate), who was publicly recognized as our pastor, with three of our brethren as deacons, on Monday, Dec. 15, 1834. The Rev. G. Comb, of Oxford-st., delivered the introductory discourse, and asked the church and minister the usual questions. The Rev. M. Dovey, of Rotherhithe, offered up the ordination prayer; and the Rev. Thomas Shirley, of Seven Oaks, gave an affectionate charge to the pastor from 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2. The Rev. J. Smith, of Shoreditch, explained the deacon’s office, showing the qualification and grace required to fill it, and then in a most scriptural manner addressed the church from Heb. xiii. 22. Messrs. Benson, Bridgeman, Moial, Boddington, and Hewlett, engaged in the other parts of the services.

N.B. The expenses of general repairs and enlargement of the chapel (which will now seat about 700 persons, including a number of free sittings) will rather exceed 400 pounds; and as nearly half that sum has been realized by the exertions of a few individuals, we trust our appeal will not be in vain to those Christian friends to whom God has given the means of assisting us, and whose delight is to promote the cause of Christ upon earth. Donations, however small, will be thankfully received if forwarded to our Treasurer, Mr. Richard Edwards, 6, Chester-place, Old Kent-road.

NOTICE.

The next Quarterly Meeting of the London Baptist Association, will be held at Devonshire-sq. chapel, on Wednesday evening, January 21, 1835, when a sermon will be preached by the Rev. J. E. Giles, on the Duties of Church Members towards the Unconverted. Service to commence at seven o’clock.

RECENT DEATHS.

rev. dr. carey.

In the Philanthropist the event is thus noticed: “The Rev. Dr. Carey died at Serampore, after a protracted illness of nine months, on Monday morning last, the 9th instant (June) in the 73rd year of his age.” The same paper contains the following account, copied from another paper, [The Sumachar Derpun] published at Serampore. “We have to communicate intelligence to-day, which will be received with general lamentation, not only throughout India, but throughout the world. Dr. Carey has finished his pilgrimage on earth, having gently expired early last Monday morning, the 9th of June. For several years past his health has been very infirm, and his strength has gradually sunk, until the weary wheels of nature stood still, from mere debility, and not from disease. The peculiarly hot weather and rainy season of 1833 reduced him to such extreme weakness, that in September last he experienced a stroke of apoplexy, and for some time after his death was expected daily. It pleased God, however, to revive him a little. During the cold season he could again take a morning and evening ride in his palanquin carriage, and spend much of the day reclining in an easy chair with a book in his hand, or conversing cheerfully with any friend that called. As, however, the hot weather advanced, he sunk daily into still greater debility than before, and could take no nourishment. He lay helpless and speechless on his bed until his skin was worn off his body, and death was a merciful relief. His dearest friends could not but rejoice, that his sufferings were ended, although they mourn his loss to themselves and to mankind.”

For further particulars of this distinguished man, we refer our readers to the Missionary Herald.

j. f. beard.

At Scarborough, Yorkshire, November the 9th, after a short illness, James Freeman Beard, in the 74th year of his age. He was formerly, for many years, the respected pastor of the church of Christ at Worstead, Norfolk, where his ardent labours in the surrounding villages will long be remembered.

DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS.

The following sums, from the profits of this work, were voted to the widows whose initials follow, at the meeting of proprietors, on Friday, the 19th ult.