SELECTIONS FROM PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE.

General Committee, March 14th, 1881.-The Rev. Alfred J. P. Shepherd, M.A., Queen's College, Oxford, was appointed Director of the Church Missionaries' Children's Home.

A Report of the Henry Venn Sub-Committee was presented, recommending the following Grants, which were voted accordingly :-To the Sierra Leone Native Church, 901., to be expended under the direction of the Bishop and Pastorate Council; to the Niger Church Fund, to be administered under the direction of Bishop Crowther, 601.; to the Madras Native Church Council, 207.; to the Tinnevelly Provincial Church Council, 351.; to the Travancore Provincial Church Council, 201.; to the Provincial Church Council of the Telugu District, 157. ; to the Mauritius Native Church Council, 301.; to the Sierra Leone Native Missionary Association, to assist in working the Sherbro Mission, 1007.; to the Punjab Native Missionary Association, 207.; to the Gorakpur Native Missionary Association, 201.; to the Meerut Native Missionary Association, 87.; to the Agra Native Missionary Association, 87.; to the Allahabad Native Missionary Association, 87.; to the Tamil Cooly Native Missionary Association, Ceylon, 107.; to the Cotta Native Missionary Association, Ceylon, 157.; and to the FuhChow Missionary Association, China, 257.

The Rev. J. B. Whiting and E. Hutchinson, Esq., having returned from Madeira, gave an account of the Conference in which they had been engaged. The thanks of the Committee were unanimously tendered to the Deputation for the good service which they had rendered to the Society.

The Committee took leave of the Revs. J. H. Knowles, H. Rountree, C. B. Nash, and F. E. Walton; Messrs. Knowles and Rountree proceeding to the Punjab, Mr. Nash to Mid-China, and Mr. Walton to Benares. The Instructions of the Committee were delivered to the departing brethren by the Rev. W. Gray, after which they were addressed by the Rev. D. D. Stewart, and commended in prayer to the favour and protection of Almighty God by the Rev. Canon Hoare.

A deputation from the subscribers attended to present to the Society a bust of the late Lieut. G. Shergold Smith, executed in marble by Mr. Henry Harvey. In the absence of Sir John Kennaway, Bart., the presentation was made in behalf of the deputation by the Rev. W. H. Dalton, Vicar of St. Jude's, Chelsea, and was suitably acknowledged by Alexander Beattie, Esq., V.P., after which the bust was unveiled.

Committee of Correspondence, March 22nd.-A Sub-Committee was appointed to deal with ecclesiastical questions likely to arise in connexion with the Society's work in Ceylon, in view of the approaching withdrawal of State aid, &c., from the ecclesiastical establishment there.

The Rev. Dr. Koelle, of Constantinople, being in attendance, introduced to the Committee Ahmet Tewfik Effendi, the Ulema who was imprisoned in Constantinople and sentenced to death for assisting him in the translating of the Scriptures. Dr. Koelle addressed the Committee, and stated that for the last fifteen years he had been brought into close contact with the Ulema, who was a man of the highest possible standing and scholarly attainments, and highly connected by marriage, and that being a man of liberal views he had assisted Dr. Koelle in his translational work, and that his mind had been strongly influenced in the direction of Christianity during that time. That although the Committee had determined to withdraw from the Constanti

nople Mission, he had nevertheless continued to carry on his work during the time in which the Committee permitted him to remain at Constantinople, his object being a preparation of Turkish works presenting to the Turkish Mohammedans the truths of Christianity in a simple and positive form, believing that the diffusion of such works and a quiet intercourse with the more liberal Mohammedans would gradually open the door for more distinct missionary effort among them. That it was in the course of these labours that he was arrested, and immediately afterwards the Ulema for having assisted him. That although the sentence of death was not carried into execution, the Ulema was sent into exile, from whence he succeeded in making his escape and reached this country. Dr. Koelle expressed his desire to avail himself of his friend's presence in England to continue his translational work; and stated that he was engaged in the preparation of works that would occupy him for two or three years, and asked the Committee that in view of all the assistance that had been rendered by the Ulema, of his intimate connexion with the Mission, and of his having been imprisoned and exiled in consequence thereof, the Committee would now extend their protection and assistance to him, and would make him such an allowance in respect of the translational work in which he would assist, as would enable him to support his wife and children, which would help to avert the danger of their being entirely taken from him. The Ulema having addressed the Committee in Turkish, assuring them of his confidence in the guidance and direction of God, the Committee, through the Chairman, Alexander Beattie, Esq., assured Dr. Koelle of the deep interest with which they had received his statement, of their sympathy with him and the Ulema in the trials to which they had been exposed, and their desire to give effect as far as possible to his wishes. Copies of a new work, The Faith of Islam, having been presented to the Society by the Rev. E. Sell, of Madras, the thanks of the Committee were voted to Mr. Sell for the same.

Minutes of the Punjab Missionary Conference and the Punjab and Sindh Corresponding Committee were read, urging the Parent Committee to send out a young and zealous Missionary to take charge of the work at Kangra. In view of the retrenchments ordered last year, which contemplated the handing over of the pastoral work at Kangra to a Native, the Committee regretted that they were unable to supply a European Missionary for that station.

Committee of Correspondence, March 29th.-A Report was presented from the Ceylon Ecclesiastical Sub-Committee submitting Resolutions regulating the action of the Society's Missionaries in Ceylon, in reference to the changes that may be expected to follow on the withdrawal by Government of the subsidies to the ecclesiastical establishment in Ceylon. The Resolutions were agreed to in part, and the further consideration of them adjourned.

The Committee had an interview with Major-General F. Haig, who had most generously offered at his own charges to visit the Society's itinerating Mission to the aboriginal tribe of Kois on the banks of the River Godavery, with a view amongst other objects to ascertain by personal inspection the extent of territory over which the aboriginal tribe is to be found, and how the work amongst them may be still further advanced. Some twenty years ago General Haig (then carrying on great engineering works on the banks of the river) had been enabled by God's blessing to lay the spiritual foundations of this Mission, God having granted to his efforts and prayers an important convert, the well-known Native clergyman, Mr. Razu, who had ever since his conversion been so great a strength to this Mission.

Committee of Funds, March 29th.-Honorary District Secretaries were appointed for the counties of Sussex, Kent, Norfolk, and Hunts.

The Rev. T. Campbell, formerly a missionary of the Society in Madagascar, having resigned the post of Association Secretary for East Yorkshire, on his appointment to the Vicarage of Laister Dyke, Bradford, the Secretaries were directed to convey to him the thanks of the Committee for his able and faithful services.

Committee of Correspondence, April 5th.-Mr. Thomas Dunn, of the Society's Trinity College, Kandy, having returned home in consequence of his wife's illness, had an interview with the Committee. He stated that after the departure of the Rev. R. Collins, Trinity College was left in his charge; that the numbers had been kept up and the efficiency of the College maintained. He bore testimony to the moral results produced on the scholars by the religious instruction given them.

The Sub-Committee, to which had been referred the Report of the Deputation to Madeira, presented a Report thereon, making a large number of recommendations for the future administration and development of the Niger Mission, including the following:-(1) Nembe and Okrika to be occupied as new stations. (2) New arrangements as to the occupation of Akassa, Osamare, Alenso, and Onitsha. (3) The Niger Mission to be placed on the same footing as other Missions of the Society, and to be administered by a Missionary Conference and Finance Committee, with the Bishop as Chairman. (4) The Mission to be divided into two districts; viz., the Delta, under the superintendence of Archdeacon Crowther, and the middle and upper stations under the superintendence of Archdeacon Henry Johnson; each district having its Sub-Conference. (5) In view of the wide openings for extended missionary effort on the Upper Niger and Binue, and also of the increasing numbers of white men on the river engaged in trade or exploration, an English clergyman of high qualifications to be sought for to act both as Secretary of the Niger Finance Committee and as the representative of the Parent Committee in the Mission; which suggestion had met with the hearty approval of Bishop Crowther. (6) Arrangements for the theological training of the Mission agents, for the acquisition of the languages of the River, for the translation of Christian books, and for the establishment of Preparandi classes and boarding schools. (7) Arrangements by which the services of the agents' wives might be usefully employed in influencing the female population, upon which the Deputation had consulted with Mrs. Dandeson Crowther. The Committee, in adopting the recommendations, acknowledged with much thankfulness the judicious and zealous manner in which the Deputation had carried out their instructions, and expressed their hopeful expectation that the adoption of the above measures would not only place the Niger Mission on a solid footing as regards internal administration and development, but open the way for advance into the interior by the recently

explored Binue River. They further trusted that from among friends of the Society a suitable man might be raised up to take up the important position of Secretary of the Mission, and who might in the providence of God be prepared to carry further into the centre of Africa the advance posts of the Niger Mission.

The Report of the Ceylon Ecclesiastical Sub-Committee, the consideration of which had been adjourned, was again considered, and resolutions adopted. A grant of 150l. was made, out of the sum of 10007. given anonymously some time ago for the benefit of the New Zealand Mission, to Archdeacon

Williams, for the maintenance and preparation of Maori students at Gisborne.

At the request of the Bishop of Waiapu, the Committee authorized the continuance for another year of the employment of Mr. Duffus as a Missionary to the Maoris in his diocese.

TOPICS FOR THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER.

THANKSGIVING for a favourable financial report for the past year (to be presented at the Annual Meeting).

Thanksgiving for the twenty new men added to the Society's missionary staff in the past twelve months. Prayer for those who have just sailed. (P. 280.)

Thanksgiving for good tidings from Peshawar and Fuh-Kien (p. 310). Prayer that the obstacles at Fuh-chow may be quickly overcome.

Prayer for the Native Christians of Western India (p. 289); for the new Beluch and Gônd Missions (pp. 299, 305); for the Mohammedans of South India (p. 302); for the new Native clergy in Ceylon and Fuh-Kien (p. 308); for Ahmed Tewfik (pp. 308, 311).

Prayer for a blessing on the Anniversary, May 2nd and 3rd.

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

ORDINATIONS.

China-At an Ordination held by the Bishop of Victoria at Hong Kong on Feb. 27, Ngoi Kai Ki was admitted to Deacon's Orders, and the Rev. Sia Scu Ong to Priest's Orders. Ceylon. At an Ordination held by the Bishop of Colombo on Feb. 2, Messrs. Abraham Suriarachchi Amarasekara, Johannes Perera Kalpage, Garagoda Arachchige Bastian Perera, and Aralanathen Guanamuttu, all Natives, were admitted to Deacon's Orders.

RETURN HOME OF MISSIONARIES.

South India.-The Rev. W. G. Baker left Madras on Feb. 24, and arrived in London on April 2.

Ceylon. Mr. T. and Mrs. Dunn left Ceylon on Feb. 5, and arrived in England on March 17.

REPORTS, &c., RECEIVED FROM THE MISSIONS,

From March 15th to April 20th, 1881.

West Africa.-Mr. J. A. Alley (Annual Letter, and Journal, July to Dec., 1880). Yoruba.-Rev. A. Mann, Rev. V. Faulkner, Rev. D. Williams, Rev. W. Moore, Rev. D. Coker (Annual Letters).

East Africa.-Mr. J. R. Streeter (Report).

Nyanza. Mr. A. J. Copplestone, Uyui, Jan. 1st and 24th; Mr. C. Stokes, Uyui, Jan. 11th. Palestine.-Rev. Chalil Jamal (Annual Letter).

Persia.-Rev. Dr. E. Hoernle (Annual Letter).

North India.-Rev. J. Erhardt, Rev. H. Stern, Rev. I. T. H. Hoernle, Mr. G. Poblenz, Rev. G. B. Durrant, Rev. J. A. Lloyd, Mr. H. Wright (Annual Letters); Report, Gorakpur. Panjab.-Report of Sindh Mission, 1880 (printed); Report of Jabalpur C.M. Assoc., 1880. South India.-Rev. J. E. Padfield (Annual Letter); Madras C.M. Record, Jan. and Feb., 1881, containing Reports of Native Church Council, Northern and Southern Pastorates; Rev. F. W. N. Alexander (Report of Ellore District); Mr. M. Browne (Report of Ellore High School); Mr. A. Subbarayudu (Account of Amalapur Mission); Account of Visit of Bp. of Madras to Ellore; Rev. V. Vedhanayagam (Account of Mission Work in North Tinnevelly). Travancore.-Report of Native Church Missionary Association.

Ceylon.-Report of Ceylon Mission, 1880; Rev. Ř. T. Dowbiggin (Report of Cotta, 1880); Rev. G. Champion (Annual Letter).

Mauritius.-Report of First Native Church Council, 1880.

China.-Rev. Wong Yiu-Kwông, Rev. Sing Eng-teh, Rev. 'O Kwông-yiao, Rev. R. W. Stewart (Annual Letters).

Japan.-Rev. H. Evington, Rev. P. K. Fyson (Annual Letters).

North-West America.-Mr. W. Spendlove (Journal, June to Dec., 1880), Rev. J. Hines (Journal, July to Dec., 1880), Rev. T. Vincent (Annual Letter).

North Pacific.-Rev. W. H. Collison, Mr. H. Schutt, Rev. A. J. Hall (Annual Letters).

Contribution List.

In the following list of receipts from March 9th to April 9th are acknowledged all remittances from Associations, Benefactions, and Legacies of 5l. and upwards, and Collections of 108. and upwards. All other sums are acknowledged in the Annual Reports. Parties not finding such payments duly acknowledged are requested to inform the Secretary without delay.