fore, with which the Gospel has to contend are formidable and complicated. Still there is enough of visible result to thank God for, and to take courage.

It is, we think, an evidence of sound progress that the materials for a Native Church Council exist, and can be brought together as they have been on the recent occasion. There is a proof of strength when the flock can in some measure go alone, and need not perpetually be carried. Interest is always felt when an infant is making its first attempt at walking by itself: surely not less will be felt in the first efforts of a Native Church to think, and act for itself, and to make exertions in something like a corporate capacity upon its own behalf, and for its own extension. Even confessions of weakness, and what may be termed its cries of distress, claim our sympathy. It is highly creditable to the manliness of this Church Council that there has been no slurring over or concealment of difficulties and troubles; but that they have been fairly brought forward and discussed. Those who are acquainted with the past history of the Native Church in Lower Bengal know that its career has been chequered; there has been sorrow as well as joy, there has been disappointment as well as encouragement. From outside there has been no violent or bloody persecution, such as has sometimes been the portion of other infant Churches; but there have been serious difficulties from surrounding corruption, and many trials within the pale. The "perils from false brethren," which St. Paul had to encounter, were most assuredly not the least trying, nor among the lesser hindrances of the Gospel. These, to a more than ordinary extent, have been the experience of the Bengal Native Church.

With these preliminary observations we now proceed to give an account of the Report. The Patron of the Council is the Bishop of Calcutta, who manifested warm interest in it, and took an active part in it. Not contenting himself merely with being present, he delivered two valuable addresses in the course of the proceedings, to which we shall hereafter refer. They were interpreted to the assembly by the Rev. Pyari Mohun Rudra, the Honorary Clerical Secretary. The Native Church ought to-and no doubt does-feel grateful to the Metropolitan for this kindly and gracious intervention, which, while leaving them, as was so important on such an occasion, to manage for themselves, yet strengthened them with wise counsel and fatherly wisdom. He was able to speak with more effect from what he had witnessed on a larger scale in the proceedings of the Church in South India. On the occasion of this first Council all the clergy, with one exception, and all the delegates but one were present. After all had come together there was a preliminary meeting for prayer and praise. The Chairman, the Rev. J. Vaughan, after reading the Forty-sixth Psalm, made some observations, applying it to the condition of the Church in Bengal, feeble, harassed, assailed, yet confident that the Lord of Hosts was with her, the God of Jacob was her refuge. Prayer was offered by several of the brethren, among whom was one venerable man, Baboo Jadu Bindu Ghose, who, after a dreary search for peace of forty years' duration, had nine years

before found peace in the very church in which they were assembled. The following day the meeting was formally opened by divine service, at which the Bishop was present. The Report states, "It was a special satisfaction to see our Diocesan in our midst." By permission of the Bishop, Isaiah lv. and Philipp. ii. to v. 18, were read as special lessons. It should be borne in mind that all the transactions, services, reading of papers, and speeches, were in the Bengali language. A Native organist presided at the harmonium. The sermon was preached by the Rev. M. S. Seal, the senior Native missionary, from Titus ii. 14. The discourse is properly represented as edifying. About one hundred persons received the Holy Communion, the Bishop reading the Prayer for the Church Militant, consecrating the elements, and administering them to the clergy. After some delay, caused by a violent storm, in the midst of which the Bishop arrived, the assembly met in the schoolroom of the mission compound. "In order to keep his Lordship posted up with the proceedings, the Rev. W. R. Blackett sat by the Bishop's side, and made running notes of the papers read and speeches made." The Chairman then, after a hymn and prayer, delivered his address. He explained that during the past year he had been unable to do more than go about among the Christians of the Krishnagar district. He described the condition of things in those churches as still very, very far from what one could wish them to be; but he saw tokens of real progress and real improvement. In a striking figure he described the present aspect of the Mission as "just that of a man who has been well-nigh sick unto death, but has taken a turn, and is, though very slowly and with strange fluctuations, on his way to convalescence." For forty long years the Mission had been sick. What was the sickness? CASTE. It has been so far vanquished that Christians now "meet together in social harmony, and partake as one family in their different churches of the Holy Supper of Love." Instead of "utter want of reverence" at divine service, the bearing of the congregations is now quiet and becoming. In most churches the people now come in good time. Numbers who formerly hardly ever entered a church now make a point of attending. There is increased observance of the Sabbath-day. Some, too, out of multitudes who neglected daily prayer, now try to pray. Some again, who had never been communicants, have for the first time approached the Lord's Table. Conversions from heathenism, which for a long series of years had been practically unknown, have now recommenced, while a spirit of inquiry is springing up through the district.

When all these troubles were at their height, what has been the attitude of other Christians (?). There are some who would fain persuade themselves, and make others believe, that Romish missionaries. deserve commendation for their efforts in the Mission Field. Let Mr. Vaughan bear his testimony :

It must not be supposed that we have no opposition to encounter in our work. An expression of St. Paul's seems accurately to depict our case,-“ A great door of utterance is opened to me, and there are many adversaries." Most of you will remember the unprincipled attack made upon us by Romish priests in the day of our weakness. During the great caste struggle, which shook the Mission to its

foundations, and threatened it with destruction, the emissaries of the Pope appeared on the scene, and by promises of caste recognition and other immunities, sought to gain capital out of our distresses. The majority of our people joined them, and there sprung up Romish chapels and schools all around us. But the tide turned, the people returned to their allegiance, and the priests found themselves and their chapels deserted. So signal was their defeat on that occasion that I hardly expected they would return to the attack. They have done so, however, and are now resolutely striving to regain their lost hold. Nuns and priests are working amongst our people in several villages. Only three months ago at Chupra, one of our central stations, they took land on a ten years' lease, and are there erecting a chapel. A struggle is evidently before us. But in the name of God we will go forward and fear not the result.

The other day several of our brethren at Chupra appealed to the priest thus"Why," said they, "do you never go to the perishing heathen around? Why must you come to disturb the peace of our Christian community?" The answer of the priest was curious and noteworthy. "I admit," said he, "we don't go to the heathen, for we think they may possibly be saved by the light of reason; but we are sure that you, as Protestants, must perish, and so we come to you."

Of course the chief mischief arising from these proceedings is the prejudice to discipline. We wish we could say that they were confined to Romanists, in whom it would be difficult to say the Spirit of Christ dwells. Baptists, however, have entered the lists and have striven to make gain for themselves out of this time of trouble. It is only due to the Rev. G. Kerry, secretary in Calcutta of the Baptist Missionary Society, that he positively refused to countenance the disaffected; but a Native minister of a Baptist congregation, not under the control of the Baptist Missionary Society, rebaptized a whole body of renegades, who returned to their homes setting their clergy at defiance. This conduct Mr. Kerry expressed his disapproval of. Certainly the Church of Krishnagar in its time of distress has not met with good Samaritans, or even priests and Levites to leave it alone, but has been compassed about with thieves only on every side.

Mr. Vaughan's address was followed by a paper read by the Rev. P. M. Rudra on "The Practical Lessons arising from a Comparison of the Church of Bengal with the Churches of Apostolic Times." After giving a historical account of the rise and progress of the Bengal Church, and dwelling on the evils which had resulted to the Church from the reception of those who from interested motives had joined it, Mr. Rudra proceeded to show that there was, as contrasted with primitive times," a want of loving faith manifested in self-denial and zeal, and also a want of Christian love." Among the causes of the decline of religion in the Church of Bengal, Mr. Rudra did not hesitate to put in the front "the low spiritual condition of European Christians residing in India." We fear the truth of this cannot be gainsaid. Another reason which he suggested was the policy of " nationality which separates between even the missionary and the convert in certain cases, as also the fact that they have so long stood to the Native Church in the character of paymasters, whereby misunderstandings have arisen." To these extraneous causes he added" the ignorance, the covetousness, the spiritual blindness and selfishness of a very large portion of the Christian community. As a remedy for these evils he suggested looking to Christ and not to man, and aiming at financial independence. The obstacles to the latter

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were the expensive habits of the people, combined with much poverty and indebtedness; also the "costliness of keeping up services," with the expense of churches and church furniture beyond the means of the people. "Western methods of maintaining religion" ought to be abandoned, and Native methods in erecting places of worship substituted. We rejoice in this plain speech of Mr. Rudra's. It is our most distinct conviction that the foolish expenditure on churches, although not the work of the C.M.S., is a most fatal clog on the independence of the Native Church. Those who have erected them to make a show and please themselves have thought far too little of the true interests of those for whom they have been professedly erected. A long and interesting discussion, in which many joined, followed the reading of this valuable paper in which, with so much plainness of speech, Mr. Rudra had pointed out the difficulties and failings of the Native Church. When it had come to a close the Bishop supplemented it by some weighty remarks, which were translated to the meeting. His Lordship cautioned the Native Christians against aiming at complete independence until strong enough to stand together; otherwise heresies, schisms, and confusion would ensue. From the appeals made to him in Tinnevelly, he assured them that even they were praying " that they might not be left altogether alone." He then urged them to the necessity of due preparation for independence, inculcating "the need of study and a thorough acquaintance with all that concerned the Church's life, as a preparation for the exercise of more independence." Finally he recommended patience. We trust these salutary counsels will be appreciated and acted upon.

Subsequently two papers were read "On the Development and Direction of Voluntary Effort." These contained many useful suggestions, but as they much resemble what might have been and frequently are propounded in English conferences upon a topic of this kind, we do not think it necessary to reproduce them. The same may be said also of the discussion which followed. For one remark only we find place. Baboo Romanath Mondel had heard precisely the same things in the Church Council at Chupra last year as he had heard in the meeting to-day; he would like "to see something done." In this the Baboo only expresses in a homely way the feelings of multitudes who get wearied over the interminable reports of congresses and conferences much nearer home than Chupra or Calcutta. The discussion was terminated again by the Bishop, who bore most precious testimony to the development of voluntary agency which had met him at every turn during his visitation among the Missions in Southern India. Nothing had struck him more. A vote of thanks was tendered to the Bishop, who then gave the benediction, and so the first session closed.

On the evening of Wednesday the "Intercession Service" was held, and Thursday was occupied in the services of the festival of Ascension Day.

The second, which was the business session of the Council, was held in the Hall of the C.M. Divinity College in Calcutta. Mr. Omesh Chunder Dutt, the Treasurer, presented his Report. No comparison is

given of the amount received as contrasted with the present year, so that we cannot tell whether there has been an advance in the contributions or not. No one church, however, has reached the prescribed minimum of Rs. 500, authorizing it to send a third delegate. The list of delegates was read over. Discussion then arose about the transfer of various funds to the Church Council, and also about the rate of salaries of the Native clergy in rural districts, to which some increase was voted. A change of station was recommended and determined upon of two agents in the Krishnagar district, and Baboo Koilash Chunder Bishwas was recommended for ordination. Some formal proceedings succeeded, among which was the fixing of the next annual gathering at Krishnagar.

Thus closed the first annual gathering of the Bengal Church Council, "From beginning to end peace and harmony prevailed, while intelligent interest was displayed by delegates and visitors in all that took place." The Report concludes appropriately, "To God be all the glory!"

K.

PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN AFRICA.*

(From the American “ Missionary Herald," May, 1881.)

[Ir is a very unusual thing for the Intelligencer to publish articles extracted from other periodicals. The work of the Church Missionary Society itself is all too large for complete review from month to month in our pages. But to every rule there is an exception; and such exception appears to be demanded by the following very interesting and comprehensive summary of missionary work in Africa, which we find in the organ of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions published at Boston, and which is no doubt from the pen of Dr. Means, one of their ablest officers, who has made Africa his specialty.]

HE population of this continent, exclusive of its islands, is esti mated by Dr. Behm, in the last issue of Petermann's Mittheilungen, at 201,787,000. Of these the number of Protestant communicants in the various Colonial and Mission churches was reported in 1880 as 122,470; the number composing the communities connected with these churches, 506,966; the number of Jews, 350,000; of Coptic, Abyssinian, and similar "Christians," 4,535,000; of Mohammedans of various kinds, 51,170,000; of heathen, 145,225,000; making the number of those not yet reached by the Gospel 201,280,000.

To carry the Gospel to these millions, 34 religious societies are at work.

In South Africa and the colonies and free states of Sierra Leone and Liberia, there are connected with Colonial churches 468 ministers, evange lists, and teachers, of whom 54 are Natives. The other white missionaries and teachers on the continent are reported as 662, with 1095 Natives,

* The authorities for the statements which follow are Dr. A. Petermann's Mittheilungen aus Justus Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt, Herausgegeben von Dr. E. Behm, Ergänzungsheft, Nr. 62; Behm und Wagner, Die Bevölkerung der Erde, vi. 1880; The Statesman's Year Book for 1881; S. W. Silver and Co.'s Handbook to South Africa, 1880; Africa, by Keith Johnston; and the reports of the various Missionary Societies referred to. The reports are for 1880, unless it is otherwise stated; and this reference is made once for all.