Observer, Sept. 1, '77.

cases, has been rewarded by a substantial and satisfactory increase to the membership, while in others it has been more than counterbalanced by that discipline, which so painful to enforce, is yet absolutely necessary to preserve the churches in purity and usefulness. For the purpose of more efficiently working this very large Division, it has been subdivided into four districts, and to these districts the Committee have allotted the labours of the evangelists at their disposal, leaving the local brethren and evangelists to arrange the length of time and nature of work in each neighbourhood. The Wigan district comprises the churches at Wigan (two churches), Southport, Blackburn, Bolton (two churches), St. Helen's (two churches), Hindley, and Skelmersdale. In addition to the help afforded by the Committee, the Wigan brethren have sustained Alex. Brown during the whole of the year, and Southport engaged S. H. Coles for several months. The cause commenced last year at Newtown, Wigan, has been sustained, and a new meeting house there is now rapidly approaching completion. The Liverpool district consists of the Liverpool (two churches), Birkenhead, Wrexham, Mollington, Chester, Cam-yr-Alyn, Buckley, and Saughall churches. In the Furness district there are four churches, Kirkby Ireleth, Lindal, Barrow, and Ulverston, to this district W. McDougall devoted the whole of the year, and it has had occasional assistance also from Bren. Hindle, Barnett, and Bray. The meeting house at Kirkby has been opened during the year, and proves a commodious and convenient place of worship. The Manchester district has again seen isolation to be its duty, and we are, therefore, not in a position to offer any report of its work. It would be a difficult, and, perhaps, an unnecessary task to detail minutely the labours of the evangelists, suffice it to say that W. McDougall, as before stated, spent the year in North Lancashire; Edward Evans has devoted nine months, Geo. Greenwell eight months, and J. Adam ten months' labour, about equally divided between the Liverpool and Wigan districts. W. Hindle has been employed in this division eight and a half months, Bro. Bray five months, dividing the time principally between the two larger districts, but giving some small portion to the Furness district. The funds received during the year amount to £552 6s. 2d., being balance from last year £57 6s. Od, received from individuals, £300, and from churches, £195 0s. 2d., while the total expenditure amounts to £530 48. 4d. The membership of the Division is at present 27 churches, 1,432 members, showing an increase of 46 members; there are also 21 Sunday schools, with 192 teachers and 1,647 scholars, showing an increase of 4 schools, 36 teachers, and 233 scholars. In conclusion, permit us to state that in our opinion the cause of primitive Christianity would be greatly promoted were the larger and stronger churches faithfully to utilise the vast amount of evangelizing power at present lying dormant in their midst; the various committees would then have it in their power to open up fresh ground with something like energy and success. We speak from experience. In our own division larger and, what we believe would prove, profitable ground, at present lies barren and untouched, and other divisions, we are sure, can say the same thing. Until each and every brother feels a personal responsibility for the successful proclamation of the gospel, and in every possible way assists in the work, the principles so dear to us can never nake that progress which, under God's blessing, we believe they are destined to make in the world.

MIDLAND DIVISION.-On the arrival of J. Strang from Australia, the Committee of the Midland Division succeeded in securing his services for one year; during which time he has laboured in connection with some thirteen churches-in various instances with gratifying results; and at many places leaving the good seed to

germinate and bring forth fruit, his stay being necessarily too short to admit of his witnessing the results of his labour. At the earnest desire of the Manchester Church the committee relinquished his services for one month; he therefore spent that period with them. The committee have further arranged with him to spend a portion of the ensuing year in the Midland Division. These services do not represent the amount of evangelistic labour spent in the Division, nor does the amount supplied for his sustenance represent the sum contributed for evangelization. In addition thereto various churches have, on their own account, engaged evangelists, and district arrangements have also been continued through the year, and there is reason to conclude that such arrangements will continue to be made.

LIVERPOOL.-In forwarding our returns for the closing of the year, we feel extreme regret that both congrega tions should have to record an unusual number of

separations from their communion. Although it is

some consolation to know that but few of the number have been separated for positive immorality, we feel it a depressing consideration that so many are of those who but a short time ago put on Christ by immersion into His name. The large number of separations has naturally given us serious thought, and created enquiry into the cause; the result of which is a deepened conviction of the necessity for great care and wisdom in dealing with applicants for baptism, seeing that in the present day profession can be made so cheaply, and that the authority of the Lord in His word is held and taught so loosely by the denominations around. While we have to lament over many separations, we rejoice over many dear brethren and sisters, lately added, who, having received the truth after much careful teaching on the part of a laborious brother in our midst, are walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In addition to these, ten have been added during the past month through the labours of Bren. Abercrombie and Hindle. We think the time has now come when the pastors and teachers in all our large churches should direct their attention to the development and encouragement of all the activities and capabilities of the membership in order to mutual edification, and the diffusion from their midst of gospel truth, so as to leave the evangelists free to operate on new ground and to help weak churches. For ourselves we have resolved that for the coming year, at least, we will give our pastors and preaching brethren our best support in the endeavour to hold up the truth, and so to set the evangelists free for such work outside of our churches as the Annual Meeting may think it desirable to undertake. With respect to our contributions we purpose to give to the Fund, be it General or Divisional, which shall undertake with the greatest energy, and with strictest adherence to New Testament methods, the planting of new churches upon apostolic ground, and after the apostolic model. We believe that no other churches can meet all the needs of humanity and the requirements of the age.

WIGAN.-Sixty and six members separated by discipline in one year, from a single church, is sure to arouse more questioning surprise than we can hope either to answer or allay by any explanations we can give. A few words on the circumstances connected with the fact may, however, be acceptable, as they seem indeed called for. During the year ending in August (or rather July), 1876, as may be remembered, we put forth a vigorous preaching effort, aided by earnest evangelists whose names then appeared; and, mainly resulting therefrom, we reported to the Annual Meeting one hundred baptisms. Joyful as this result was, we contemplated the responsibility it brought with great solicitude, not without reason, as is now apparent from the fact that, to human appearance, more than thirty per cent. of that work has been

lost, besides a very heavy loss on that portion of our membership not reckoned in the results named. "How

is this accounted for?" say readers and hearers, and many friends will probably suggest many causes, such as, want of care in adding members-want of power in subsequent teaching-want of care or lack of power in oversight. We have a painful conviction that none of these suggestions are altogether without foundation in truth, but the measure of truth in all of them put together would not fairly represent the ground of our experience, apart from special and admitted conditions to begin with, e.g., while the preaching was of the best, and gained an intelligent hearing, the strong impulse aroused and the yield to the hammer came chiefly from the lower strata, both as regards morality and intelligence-this applying to restorations as well as conversions. This, of course, means strong temptation from outside surroundings, while it speaks also of strong tendencies and passions of the old nature to be subdued. Deeply regretting our insufficiency for the work committed to us, we yet can refer to great labour and pains taken with most of those from whom we have finally been obliged to separate, no light portion of which has fallen on our beloved brother, Alexander Brown, who, together with one whose name is left out by request, has laboured indefatigably to raise the standard of general intelligence as well as Christian morality, the fruits of which we yet hope to reap. Notwithstanding our great loss, we now report fifty-five members more than we did two years ago, and seventy-four of our number constitute a branch assembly at Newtown, where a new chapel is fast approaching completion, to become, we earnestly hope, the centre of permanent and useful work. Referring again to the separations, it is due to say that, under a more energetic administration than we had hitherto felt free to assume, many names have been dealt with this year whose membership for a long time past has been almost nominal-borne with month after month and year after year, it has finally been realised as better for them as well as for the church that the tie should be severed. What we now feel to have been almost an excess of care and pains over hopeless people prevented us from striking off a score or more last year.

PILTDOWN.-We are deeply grateful for the labours of our esteemed Bren. Thompson and Pittman, which have tended much to the building up of the church, and hope to receive all the help in that direction which can be given in the forthcoming year.

CARLISLE.The district co-operation, hitherto existing, has been for the present terminated; and the church in Carlisle has made arrangements with Bro. Beckett for the year ensuing after August; but notwithstanding that, we would, generally speaking, recommend co-operation where practicable.

LEICESTER."The church in Leicester recommends that an effort be made to establish a church in the town of Northampton."

PARTON. You will perhaps by this have received the schedule filled up from Whitehaven, which will explain our request to be enrolled in the list of churches. Twenty-two brethren residing in this village considered it advisable to form a church here. This was done, and on Lord's day, the 8th October, 1876, we held our first meeting, to attend to the fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and prayers. On this occasion Geo. Sinclair assisted us, and W. A. Beckett laboured amongst us two months, during which time we had many additions. Our present membership is thirty-four. In all that we have done we have had the hearty approval and assistance of the church at Whitehaven.

EASTWOOD. We hereby seek to be placed on the list of churches co-operating in the work of the Lord. The churches in Langley, Underwood, and Nottingham will

Observer, Sept. 1, '77.

speak on our behalf at your assembly, and explain our position beyond this note if necessary. We commenced to meet as a church in February last, with twenty-five members, and now number sixty-three. We have a Sunday school, numbering forty scholars and eight teachers.

THE PUBLIC MEETINGS were well attended throughout. Lord's day, August 5th, preaching in Charles Henry Street Chapel, by Alex. Brown, of Wigan; in Geach Street Chapel, by C. Abercrombie, of Edinburgh; in Great Francis Street Chapel, by H. Meadows, from America, and John Strang, of Leices ter. Monday evening, M. W. Green, from Melbourne, addressed an audience, highly interested, in Charles Henry Street Chapel. On the Wednesday, the Editor of the E. 0. read the paper on Evangelization, in Geach Street Chapel, to a large and deeply interested assembly. On the Thursday evening, in the same place, a large and most excellent meeting was presided over by G. Y. Tickle, of Liverpool, and addressed by Messrs. Greenwell, Linn, Barnett, Abercrombie, Hindle, Green, Evans, Collin, Adam, King, and others. These meetings were of the kind long remembered. On the Friday several addresses were delivered in Sutton Park, and on Saturday Messrs. Evans and Brown preached in the chapel, Great Francis Street. On Lord's day, August 12th, the preachers were-Charles Henry Street, W. Hindle; Geach Street, A. Brown; Great Francis Street, E. Evans and D. King. Expressions of joy and spiritual good derived from these services were numerous and hearty.

The business meetings of the conference are only open to members of the co-operating churches excepting, by courtesy, expressed by a special vote to visitors. In this way a welcome was accorded to M. W. Green, from Australia; H. Meadows, from America; and H. S. Earl, late of America, now of Southampton.

THE PROPHET OF NAZARETH-No. XVI.

BABOO KESHUB CHUNDER SEN, the Hindoo gentleman whose lectures and addresses in England attracted so much attention a few years ago, and with whose name that remark. able Theistic movement in India is associated, has, since his return, published a volume of "Lectures and Tracts." The first lecture "Jesus Christ; Europe and Asia," was delivered in the theatre of the Calcutta Medical College, May 5th, 1866, to an audience of both sexes. Through eighteen pages Chunder Sen traces the rise and progress of the Christian Church-in other words, the growing influence of Jesus of Nazareth. "He (Jesus Christ) originated that mighty religious movement which has achieved such splendid results in the world, and scattered the blessings of saving truth on untold nations and generations." I propose this evening to trace, says the Baboo, "the gradual and steady progress of this grand movement, and its influence on the character and destinies of the European

Observer, Sept. 1, 77.

and Asiatic nations. It will be seen how the Church of Christ grew and expanded from small beginnings; how, but a small rivulet at first, it increased in depth and breadth as it flowed along, swept away in its resistless tide the impregnable strongholds of ancient error and superstition, and the accumulated corruptions of centuries, and, by spreading its genial currents on humanity, fertilised it, and produced cheering and magnificent harvests. I shall endeavour to show how, under an overruling Providence, it has brought the Asiatic and the European races together, and made the East and the West kiss each other in fraternal sympathy; how it has linked the best representatives of the two continents in India, and come to affect our interests at this distance of time and place." He continues:-"Have the natives of this country altogether escaped the influence of Christianity, and do they owe nothing to Christ? Shall I be told by my educated countrymen that they can feel nothing but a mere remote historic interest in the grand movement I have described? The many noble deeds of philanthropy and selfdenying benevolence which Christian missionaries have performed in India, and the various intellectual, social, and moral improvements which they have effected, need no flattering comment; they are treasured in the gratitude of the nation, and can never be forgotten or denied."

The following unique passage, on Jesus Christ an Asiatic, will be found to be deeply interesting. It is one more proof of the universal tribute of worship, love, reverence, and admiration which arises from a multitude in every age "which no man can number." "Europeans and natives are both the children of God, and the ties of brotherhood should bind them together. Extend, then, to us, O ye Europeans in India, the right hand of fellowship, to which we are fairly entitled. If, however, our Christian friends persist in traducing our nationality and national character, and in distrusting and hating Orientalism, let me assure them that I do not in the least feel dishonoured by such imputations. On the contrary, I rejoice, yea, I am proud, that I am an Asiatic. And was not Jesus Christ an Asiatic? (Deafening applause; the audience being composed of almost all natives of the upper classes.) Yes, and His disciples were Asiatics, and all the agencies primarily employed for the propagation of the gospel were Asiatic. In fact, Christianity was founded and developed by Asiatics, and in Asia. When I reflect on this, my love for Jesus becomes a hundredfold intensified; I feel Him nearer my heart, and deeper in my national sympathies. Why should I, then, feel ashamed to acknowledge that nationality which He acknowledged? Shall I

not rather say He is more congenial and akin to my Oriental nature, more agreeable to my Oriental habits of thought and feeling? And is it not true that an Asiatic can read the imageries and allegories of the gospel and its descriptions of natural sceneries, of customs and manners, with greater interest and a fuller perception of their force and beauty than Europeans? In Christ we see not only the exaltedness of humanity, but also the grandeur of which Asiatic nature is susceptible. To us, Asiatics, therefore, Christ is doubly interesting, and His religion is entitled to our peculiar regard as an altogether Oriental affair. The more this great fact is pondered, the less I hope will be the antipathy and hatred of European Christians against Oriental nationalities, and the greater the interest of the Asiatics in the teachings of Christ. And thus in Christ, Europe and Asia, the East and the West, may learn to find harmony and unity."

Mr. Smith, Baptist missionary in Delhi, who had been visited by Chunder Sen in that city, and had heard him preach in the sanctuary of the Brahmo Somaj, in Calcutta, speaking at a missionary meeting in Leeds, 1870, as reported by the Leeds Mercury, says of the Baboo, "he is exercising a healthy influence in India, greater judged as one brought up amid Christian instithan that of any other man. He is not to be tutions. He is growing in faith; he is going forward, not backward; and God should be thanked for such a man. He has destroyed caste. He has put away polygamy, and is opposing immature marriage. Under his influence widows are being married, and the wives and daughters of the people are being taken publicly to worship. In short, the Brahmo Somaj is covering the whole ground of Christian morality, and there is a great deal of the spirit of Christ in all its leader's actions. To a large extent this form of theism has cleared the heavy atmosphere of Hindooism. God grant that Chunder Sen may be long spared to do in many parts of India what he has done in Calcutta."

CHRIST IN ART AND RELIGION.-Gustave Dore, the French painter, had on exhibition in London, during the years 1873-4, a wonderful picture, called "Christ leaving the Protorium." The size of the canvas is 30ft. by 20ft., and the scene is filled out with brilliant and audacious originality. Many of the figures are larger than life. The Saviour is walking down the steep stairs leading from the hall called Pretorium to Golgotha. The scene is the open air; Christ, though in the midst of a mob, guarded by Roman soldiers in helmets and leathern armour, nevertheless seems alone in 1 See Literary World, Nov. 25th, 1875.

His incomparable majesty. The foreground is dark with the angry populace, through which the Roman guard is slowly cleaving a path to let the Saviour pass to Calvary.

Dorè has given Him an infinite sweetness and dignity. He moves as if in sacred self-communion. The thorny crown, and the spot of blood on the seamless robe, and the halo, mark Him out as the central figure, and the press of men and women around, before, and behind Him, are held by the Roman soldiery till they are crushed back, as we often see crowds retiring reluctantly before an armed guard. Among the visitors to Dorè's masterpiece was Thomas W. Philips, of Newcastle, Lawrence Co. Pennsylvania, who, from pure admiration of the work, made a just analysis of the character of Christ, which seems so clear, and fresh, that we (The Philadelphia Free Press, December, 1874) print it as a striking estimate of the Being whose influence has swayed, and intensified civilization for nearly two thousand years.

This testimony does not legitimately belong to these papers, for the writer of it is a Christian; but it is so good and true that the present compiler has thought it would form a suitable conclusion to his task. It is as follows:

Is there one God and one religion? or one God and many religions? Look over the history of Egypt, of the Hindoos, the Chinese, of Persia, Greece, Rome, and Arabia; what are the fruits of their religions? Is there any religion to-day lifting up the race? If so, who is its author? The answer must come back from every informed and candid man, It is Jesus.

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are stronger proofs of His life, labours, death, and resurrection, than there are of the life and conquests of Alexander, Cæsar, or Hannibal. The fact is more fully demonstrated that Jesus was crucified under Pilate, than that Cæsar was assassinated by Brutus. His twelve apostles gave their lives, proclaiming these facts, and died in attestation of this truth. His life and teaching are wonderful. He spake as never man spake." He was the first on earth who taught humility; no one announced its importance before. He first and alone taught mercy to the world. The Jews, Grecians, and Romans had ideas of justice, but mercy was unknown and untaught before Jesus. He taught love to our enemies, and gave the golden rule to the world. Eighteen hundred years after His death there is, perhaps, not an institution on all the face of the world of love and mercy, which He cannot claim. Before Christ, where are the institutions of benevolence for the lame, the halt, the blind, orphans, the aged and suffering? Nothing before Christ, nothing in nations not

Observer, Sept. 1, '77.

Christian, nothing by Infidels; it was Jesus who said, "I will give you rest."

He stands alone in contrast to the great of the earth; it is easier to make Him divine than human. It would take a God to forge a Jesus. Born in poverty, surrounded by the selfishness and bigotry of the age, yet He taught the widest philanthropy of earth. Uneducated, He uttered the wisest sayings recorded on the rolls of time. He changed times and laws. The world stopped counting from Creation, and began again at His birth. His name is first lisped in tenderness by the child, revered through life, and last spoken in death. The greatest minds are engaged discussing His life. He lives in the finest written prose of the best writers for eighteen hundred years. The purest ideas of those who deny His pretensions are borrowed or taken from Him. Standing mid-way in earth's history, His character is the only perfect one known to man. He lives in poetry. No name is so frequently sung as His. Strike it and sweetest songs cannot be from the poetry of civilization, and the dearest sung. The poetry

of the past would be marred, and the songs of the saints hushed for ever. Would not the earth be gloomier, if the living lived, and the dying died, without these hallowed songs, more sweet and tender, than those sung by the angels of God? He lives in art, painted by the finest artists living or dead. How much of art relates to Jesus! What blanks would be left if Jesus were taken from the art galleries of the world! Take Jesus from civilization and you change its history, its poetry, its art, its literature, its government, its morals, its religion, and its hopes of the great hereafter. Since His death

art is purer, prose holier, and poetry sweeter; man enjoys more, lives better, dies happier; truth has new significance, life better objects, hopes brighter prospects, and death new revelations. The mission of His life was love. He brought immortality to light. All was still dark, silent as the tomb, and had been so for ages; no voice of comfort had ever issued from the grave; His was the first heard from its deepest gloom. And now, in every region under heaven, where His name is heard, the wail of the mourner is less sad, and hope is breathed for the dying and the dead. empire is deepening and widening; yearly His cause is winning new fame and glory. Thou sands of houses erected for His worship girdle the earth, and His praise is sung by millions, on all the continents of the earth, and in the islands of the sea. "He has upon His breastplate and thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords." He will go forth "con quering and to conquer;" and at no distant

His