THE MISSIONARY OBSERVER. FEBRUARY, 1881. Contributions to our Foreign Missions. IN looking over the subscription lists, as published in the Annual Reports, one cannot but be struck with the different and disproportionate amounts contributed by the churches to the funds of the Mission. For instance, in one town we have two churches, containing about the same number of members. During the past five years one church has contributed £364 13s. 11d., or an annual average of about £73; and the other, £16 11s. 5d., or an average of £3 6s. 3d. per annum. In another town we have two churches, with an aggregate of five hundred and fifty members, whose united contributions to the Mission for the past five years amount to £108, or a little over fourpence per annum, or one penny per quarter, per member. Then again there is a church, which reports a membership of about one hundred and fifty, which, during the past five years, has raised £4 5s. 6d. ; and another, with a membership of one hundred and seventy, which, during the same period, has raised £2 10s., or 10s. per year. "Indeed there are churches"-to quote the words of Dr. Landels-" which, as our Report shows, are giving only about a farthing in the week for every four of their members the fourth part of a farthing per head weekly for spreading the gospel throughout the heathen world! Is it possible that we can be content with such a state of things as that? Just think of it: the fourth part of a farthing in the week! A farthing weekly divided among four! A farthing from each member every four weeks! That from men whom Christ has redeemed! That for the great work on which He has set His heart-the work of saving the world for which He died! Why, if we could conceive of them all being paupers, living on a parish dole of a pennyworth of bread per day, it would not make much difference to them if they were to spare from their scanty store four times as much as that. It would only amount to a fourth of every seventh loaf, a twenty-eighth part of their weekly allowance of bread. And we could hardly imagine the poorest pauper, with the love of Christ in his heart, refusing to make that sacrifice. Oh! is it not a crying shame that there should be such things among us? Needs there not a prophet's voice to rebuke this remissness, this miserable stinginess, this mocker of God-the voice of one who shall fearlessly obey the divine behest, 'Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins?'” There More There are, according to the last Report, forty churches which did not contribute anything whatever to the funds of the Mission. are also thirty-four more which contributed less than £5 each. over there are ten churches, with an aggregate membership of fourteen hundred, whose united contributions only amounted to £30 4s. 2d. ! On the other hand, there is a village church, with a membership of eighty-five, which, during the past five years, has raised £274, or nearly £55 per year. There is also another village church, with four members, which, during the past years, has raised £69, or more than £3 per member per annum. No doubt there are local demands and difficulties which may, to some extent, account for the discrepancies we have pointed out. But after every allowance is made, we cannot conceive of any reasons by which they can be altogether justified. Nor do we think they would exist to anything like the extent they do if the claims of Christ and the heathen were clearly and constantly brought before the minds of the people, and the churches were properly organized for mission work. It is really astonishing what systematic effort will accomplish. instance, the other day we received from Old Basford, Nottingham, a list of collectors, which had on it the names of twenty adult and thirtyone junior scholars, and who, during the past year, have collected the noble sum of £60 19s. 4d.! Other schools and churches might be named which do equally well in proportion. For One of our ministers, in speaking at a missionary meeting we attended some time ago, said that, calling at the house of a friend he picked up a book which lay on the table. It proved to be a Ready Reckoner; and on opening it he found written on the blank leaf— At first sight it struck him as rather strange that anybody should ask for divine grace to enable him to look into a Ready Reckoner, but on further consideration he thought it not a bad idea: and that it would indeed be a good thing if Christians generally would carefully and prayerfully consult their Ready Reckoners, and endeavour to find out how much they had received from and how much they owed to their Lord. May we, therefore, affectionately but earnestly urge our ministers and churches to consider their obligations and privileges, and to examine their subscription lists, as in the sight of God and in the light of eternity. Were this carefully and prayerfully done, we feel persuaded that many of the discrepancies which now exist in personal subscriptions and church contributions would disappear; that many of the arguments which are frequently urged against increased liberality would be taken away; and that many of our friends would discover a new meaning in the words of the Lord Jesus-"It is more blessed to give than to receive." The Monthly Missionary Concert. IN missionary operations, as in mechanical appliances, our American friends are very ingenious. Like ourselves they felt the difficulty of awakening and sustaining the missionary spirit; and, with the view of accomplishing these objects, they have established what they designate "The Monthly Missionary Concert." In the Missionary Herald, published by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Dr. Humphrey, of Chicago, offers some valuable suggestions as to the methods in which these Concerts may be conducted, suggestions which we most heartily commend to the consideration of our ministers and churches. Were they adopted, in a modified form, we feel persuaded that the interest in our mission work would be revived and strengthened. In his introductory remarks Dr. Humphrey observes : Napoleon once said, "The army that stays in its entrenchments is already beaten." Not the spade but the musket is the symbol of a successful campaign. Christians who devote themselves chiefly to fortification and little to movements in the field, work against an essential principle of spiritual warfare. They need to learn, in its inner sense, that which a greater than Napoleon uttered, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it." The Monthly Concert is the place where the church makes its chief campaign in foreign parts. A few are at the front in the visible conflict. But the many at home, by their sacrifices and prayers, may, as really as these, have a manding part among the forces by which com Christ is conquering the world. God has appointed that the intercessions of His people shall be the means by which the invisible powers of heaven shall be belted on to the appliances which Christian wisdom and zeal devise to prosecute the missionary work. Consequently prayer is the prime idea in the Monthly Concert. But prayer must be fed by intelligence. It is letting down buckets into an empty well to ask for petitions and gifts where there is no clear knowledge of the objects for which they are sought. And the more real the knowledge is, the more genuine will the interest be out of which alone grow effectual prayer and persistent self-sacrifice. In offering suggestions as to the material and methods by which freshness of interest may be given to the Monthly Concert, Dr. Humphrey remarks :— 1. A few moments at the opening of a meeting can be most profitably spent in a Bible reading. A series of twelve of these readings can be easily blocked out for the year. Foreign Missions in the Pentateuch; the Messiah, not for the Jews alone; the Great Commission; Development of the Foreign Missionary Idea in the Apostolic Church; the Significance of Paul's Conversion and call to the Gentile Work, are specimens of the subjects which will easily suggest themselves to the thoughtful student of the Bible. 2. There should be a particular study of the countries in which missions are carried on. The first essential for this is a series of maps. Where these cannot be procured on account of the cost, those of home manufacture will serve an excellent purpose. The study of the field may be divided into several topics. The geography, history, and character of the people can be assigned to younger per sons; while the religions, the early missions, and the present missionary work, may be treated by those who have a wider range of reading. 3. In most congregations there are men and women of culture, who would take pains to prepare papers on subjects somewhat outside the range of current missionary intelligence. This would not only bring in a new element of interest, but might give a desirable increase of breadth and character to the meeting. A list of such topics as occur at the moment will illustrate this idea. It may also serve to show how abundant is the material by which an earnest and enterprising pastor can bring into this service the best talent of his congregation: Nestorian Missions of the Fourth Century; St. Patrick; Columba, Columbanus and the Monastery of Iona; Irish Missions of the Sixth and Sevent Centuries; Missions in Luther's time; Heathen Condition of our Ancestors; is Civilization without |