THE REV. DR. BUNTING then said, that he had a painful communication to make. He regretted to state, that the Meeting would be deprived of what they had so long and so highly anticipated, the pleasure and honour of the attendance of Mr. Plumptre. The note which he held in his hand would best explain the cause of this new disappointment. (Here Dr. Bunting read the following note.) "Great George-street, "MY DEAR SIR, "IT has become my painful duty to inform you, that, by the will of Him who I am persuaded doeth all things well, I shall the second time be prevented from performing the promise I had made of presiding at the Anniversary of your Missionary Society. A beloved child, my eldest daughter, who had just completed her eighteenth year, has sunk under a low fever, and yesterday morning entered into her heavenly rest. That her blessed spirit is now with the Saviour whom she loved, I have the most scriptural and satisfactory assurance. But while I am precluded, as well by the wounds of a parent's bleeding heart, as by a sense of propriety, from appearing in public at so early a day as that on which your Meeting is to take place, I am taught, by the very fresh and striking proof given to me in the instance of my own dear child, that 'Jesus can make the dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are,' increasingly to desire that his glorious Gospel should be proclaimed to every creature. That his good Spirit may guide and prosper your Society, is my heart's desire and prayer. "Pray accept the accompanying draft for £10 towards the object in view; and believe me, my dear Sir, to be "Very faithfully yours, "JOHN P. PLUMPTRE." "The Rev. Dr. Bunting." Dr. Bunting was sure, that the writer of this affecting and Christian note would have the tender sympathies and earnest prayers of those who had listened to its contents. They were, however, in some degree, relieved from the pain which Mr. Plumptre's absence, and more especially the cause of that absence, would excite, by the circumstance that John Hardy, Esq., who had on former occasions so ably and so acceptably presided, and of whose good-will they had received so many proofs, would officiate to-day in the place of Mr. Plumptre. He therefore proposed that Mr. Hardy should take the chair. The proposition was most cordially responded to. MR. HARDY then came forward and took the chair, amidst great applause. He said,--Ladies and gentlemen, my Christian friends.-in rising to acknowledge the honour which you have just conferred upon me, I feel my heart oppressed by conflicting impressions, partly painful and partly pleasing;-painful as connected with the intelligence which has been announced to you by my reverend friend, and which makes it necessary that you should be satisfied with me as an unworthy substitute for the presence of my excellent friend Mr. Plumptre. You are aware of the calamity which has prevented his attendance here, and I am sure you will join with my reverend friend in sympathizing in his loss. I am quite satisfied that had he been here, his benevolent eye would have beamed with no ordinary gratification over the scene which now presents itself before me,-a scene which exhibits a dense mass of most respectable individuals, congregated here for the purpose of giving glory to God, and doing good to their fellow-creatures. It is a lamentable coincidence, that my excellent friend was prevented last year from occupying this chair by a similar event. The death of a near relative prevented his attendance on that occasion; and on this he is kept away from us by the decease of a still nearer relative, a beloved daughter, one whose opening and promising Christian virtues and excellent qualities were, I know, a great consolation to him amidst the cares and anxieties which devolve upon him by the discharge of those public duties to which he has devoted himself. I, for one, can sympathize with him, when I remember that, instead of enjoying the satisfaction of this scene, as I do, he is at this moment, perhaps, assembled round the grave of that beloved object with his mourning family. You, I know, will feel for him; but you cannot feel as I do, because she is fresh in my recollection. But a few days ago, as it were, she was a guest with her revered parents at my own table in youthful health and spirits; and now she is for ever gone! O, these are events which come to remind us strongly of that which often reaches the ear, but too seldom affects the heart, that "in the midst of life we are in death." But let us not, my Christian friends, however great is our disappointment, take it as an inauspicious and untoward omen with respect to this Society. No; my excellent friend has said, in his note to your reverend Pastor, that it is done by Him who doeth all things well; and could He have done it better, if it was to be done, than at a time when it would more powerfully than probably at any other, call to the minds of this immense assemblage the important message, "Be ye also ready?" Be ready, not only in reference to the salvation of your own precious souls; be ready and alert to carry on your exertions for the salvation of the souls of those myriads who are daily, as unexpectedly as she whose loss we deplore, passing from this mortal world into a spiritual and eternal state of being. But I have also said I have some pleasing sensations on this occasion. I have been reminded of them by the observations of my reverend friend, who has stated that I had the honour of presiding at this Meeting in the year 1835; and I can assure you I never shall forget the gratification I then experienced so long as I am blessed by God with memory. Not that I had then to learn what were the exertions of the Wesleyan body in the cause of Missions, for I was well acquainted with them; but because I saw in the spirit and the enthusiasm which pervaded every bosom on that occasion, an earnest that those exertions would be extended far and wide, till all the good that is intended to be done by the messengers you send forth into the regions that sit in darkness and the shadow of death is fully and completely effected. It is true I may not see before me at this moment a greater mass of individuals than were assembled on that occasion, all pressing forward in this glorious cause; but that is because the stubborn walls of this building will not expand with your increasing numbers, nor permit those to enter who are eager to press in for the purpose of testifying their attachment to this noble cause. I remember soon after that time,—in the course of 1835, I believe,-hearing some distant rumours of a "stoppage of supplies." Whence that rumour originated, or under what circumstances, I will not inquire; but if ever there was such an intention it has fortunately totally failed; and I believe that the stream of your benevolence is as incapable of being stopped, as is the force of that mighty river which passes through this metropolis within a few paces of the place where we are now assembled. We have heard, too, lately, of an intention, on the part of some persons, to colonize certain islands (New-Zealand) in which your Missionaries have occupied a distinguished station. I hope that never will take place. The evils of such a step have been demonstrated by one of your Secretaries, (Mr. Beecham,) by arguments which, I think, no reasonable man can resist. We all know, from experience, that colonization is too often followed by tyranny and oppression; and we, unlike the Jews with respect to the Canaanites, have no commission to extirpate any nation. To evangelize is one thing; to colonize another. The colonist goes "With arms of mortal temper in his hand;" with the musket, the bayonet, and the gunpowder; but your Missionaries go with the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." I trust they will be permitted to go unmolested. Nothing can be greater than their disinterestedness in that cause. They cannot be suspected of any objects of ambition: they go poor and defenceless, to make many rich; whereas colonists too generally go to make many poor, in order to enrich a few. To Christianize countries like these is indeed a great object of ambition, and it deserves from Christians all the credit which I trust it receives. But to colonize these countries is another thing; the inhabitants are turned into mere tillers of the land, which land becomes possessed by those who are not their friends, and the effect of whose operations will be to oppress and subdue them. This country, I hope, will never permit it. While we are contending for our own freedom, and the freedom of those who are intimately connected with us, let us contend also for the freedom even of the savage; and if he is to be civilized, let civilization be conducted upon Christian principles, and not by the force of arms. I will not intrude further on your patience, but will proceed to call your attention to that-I have no doubt interesting-Report, which will be read by the Secretary. the The REV. DR. BUNTING then read selections from the Report. It furnished interesting details of the Society's operations in Ireland, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Malta, Ceylon, Continental India, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, New-Zealand, Friendly and Fejee Isles, South Africa, West Africa, the West Indies, and North America, The following may be taken as a general summary :-The principal or central stations occupied by the Society, in the various parts of the world now enumerated, are one hundred and eighty-six. The Missionaries are three hundred and seventeen, eighty-eight of whom are employed in the West India colonies. The total number of communicants on the Mission stations, according to the last regular returns, is sixtysix thousand and seven, being an increase of four thousand two hundred and four on the number reported last year. This total does not include the number under the care of the Missionaries in Ireland. The returns of the children and adults in the Mission-schools are as follows:Ireland and other European Missions, 5,343; India and Ceylon, 6,512; South Sea Missions, 9,881; South Africa, 2,145; Western Africa, 1,365; West Indies, 16,946; British North America, including the Chippewa and Mohawk Indians, 7,088;-total 49,280; being an increase of 2,174 on the number reported last year. The following persons have been sent out by the Society since the last Anniversary:-Mr. Stanton, Mr. and Mrs. Towler, Mr. Sergeant, and Mr. Lewis, to the West Indies; Mr. and Mrs. Lusher, Mr. and Mrs. Churchill, Mr. Smallwood, and Mr. Hutchinson, to North America; Mr. England, to Newfoundland; Mr. and Mrs. Crowther, Mr. and Mrs. Best, Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, Mr. and Mrs. Male, Mr. Griffith, and Mr. Fox, to India; Mr. and Mrs. Dove, and Mr. Badger, to Sierra-Leone; Mr. and Mrs. Swallow, and Mr. Wall, to St. Mary's and Maccarthy's Island, on the Gambia; Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, to Cape-Coast; Mr. and Mrs. Hall, to Malta; Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, to Sydney; Mr. and Mrs. Sutch, to Launceston, Van Diemen's Land; Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, and Mr. and Mrs. Tuckfield, to Port-Philip, South Australia; Mr. Goodrich, to Cape-Town, South Africa; Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, Mr. and Mrs. Calvert, and Mr. and Mrs. Jaggar, to the Fejees total, forty-six, including Missionaries and their wives. The Society has also sent out Mr. and Mrs. Gee, and Mr. Hunkin, to take charge of Negro schools in the West Indies. Intelligence has been received during the year of the death of the following much-lamented Missionaries :-The Rev. Edward Maer, and the Rev. Benjamin Crosby, SierraLeone; the Rev. George O. Wrigley, and the Rev. Peter Harrop, Cape-Coast; the Rev. Henry Wilkinson, St. Mary's; the Rev. James D. Jackson, Jamaica; the Rev. William Ellis, Newfoundland. The ordinary income of the Society for the past year, besides sums amounting to more than £8,000, received for special purposes, or from sources merely occasional and casual, has been £73,875,-an increase of £5,891. The expenditure of the year has, however, greatly exceeded the income; and the Society is actually in debt to the Treasurers on the balance-sheet for 1837. EDWARD BAINES, ESQ., M. P. for Leeds, was received with great cordiality. He said,-Sir, and gentlemen, I will occupy as small a portion of your time as possible, in moving, That the Report, of which an abstract has just been read, be received and printed. I will only make two observations, because it partly seems to devolve upon the movers and seconders of these Resolutions, that they should, in some degree, economize the time of the Meeting, seeing that their observations refer to a Report, which, though not at all too long, according to my conception, must, from the necessary details requiring to be exhibited, occupy a considerable portion of time. The observations I have to offer are these. I feel so strongly the advantages to be derived from Missionary labours upon the religious, the moral, and the political character of the world, that I take it to be the bounden duty of every man, be he in a public or be he in a private station, to promote that object to the full extent of his power. The other observation, I am afraid, may be thought of a less grateful kind it is this:-We have heard that the idolatry of the east is, in some degree, upheld by what I should call the misconduct of Great Britain. I think it behoves the Government, and I think it behoves the people also, of Great Britain to speak out on this subject. As far as I have any power in the situation to which I have been elevated, I shall endeavour to make the voice of those who have already spoken heard in the senate. But I feel how impotent will be that power, unless it be backed by the voice of the people of England. I therefore ask this Meeting whether, if the Government has not done its duty, to the full extent of its power, in order to discountenance the encouragement given to Indian idolatry, they think they have wholly done their duty. they have not, I beg that they will themselves-and recommend to their friends the same course-discharge that duty with as much energy as possible, and at as early a period as may be in their power. If The REV. JAMES PARSONS, of York, said, It was with sincere pleasure that he complied with the call of their Secretary, and with the request previously urged by their Committee, to take a part in the proceedings of this Meeting. II had not the vanity to suppose that any statement of his own sentiments would add novelty of illustration to the Missionary theme; but it was important to him, as a member of another Christian denomination, to testify his sincere fraternal good-will to the cause in which they were engaged, and it was a duty to take advantage of every opportunity of assisting to excite in Christian bosoms the feelings which Christian objects demand. Those of them who had for some time, and on right principles, been connected with Missionary institutions, were prepared, he believed, without one exception, to avow that they found in them characteristics which not only justified a continued, but an augmented, attachment. They must sometimes have been associated with objects which, although apparently possessing much importance, had been gradually deprived of their charm, and finally, and not unjustly, lost a hold upon their regard. But here, the more they had laboured, the more they had been delighted; and with every fresh contemplation and exertion they had been permitted to make, they found themselves more attached than ever to an institution which merited, in all respects, the choicest and most intense regard of their hearts. Whether they pondered on this institution, in reference to the principles from which it originated, the purposes for which it was designed, the spirit in which it was conducted, or the results it was intended to secure, they must look at it as that which properly claimed the most anxious homage which the renovated and Christian mind could render. Let them cherish those emotions with every advancing year, until they were removed from these scenes of labour to those of rest, and were permitted to celebrate the triumphs of truth among the ecstasies of higher worlds. It must be always impressed, upon occasions of this kind, that, in conducting Missionary operations, they were only carrying out the express constitution and design of the Christian religion. Christianity was formed with the clear and express purpose of becoming the religion of the world. It admits no national preference or distinction. It does not address itself to the wants of men, as those wants are found in any peculiar combination; for its efficacy is confined to no limit and to no bound. They must remember they had positive announcements of the will of the Eternal, that Christianity should become the religion of mankind, that it should sway a universal empire, and that it should subdue all things to the redeeming power of Him from whose atonement it derived its value, and who was anointed to reign over all things, for ever and ever. He would not attempt to detain the Meeting by enumerating any of those sublime declarations which might justly pass in review, but they could not, justifying and regulating their conduct by the institutes of revelation, do otherwise than consider Christianity as solemnly and finally consecrated to become the religion of the world. The ample and perfect justification of Missionary institutions inevitably followed from the nature of that religion which they believed. Some there were who had been accustomed to speak of those institutions as novelties, as unauthorized and arbitrary institutions of modern times. So far from this, they were only a return to first principles, a restoration of primitive laws and primitive habits; and now the church of Christ was only arraying herself in her ancient costume, treading in her ancient paths, following her ancient banners, and aspiring to her ancient triumphs. They had reason for devout and fervent gratitude that, by the Spirit from on high, the servants of Christ had been enabled to estimate the genius of religion, and practically to engage in that career which was to give to it the empire of accomplished love. They had only reason to regret that there had been such a partial employment of those energies with which they were endued ; but he trusted the Pentecostal fire would descend from above, and that they would be animated to renewed and increased exertions. The past progress of Missionary institutions, and of their own Society, he conceived, deliberately and advisedly, showed that they were under the approbation of the Most High. If their success had not been precisely what some admirers of the cause had expected, the result, nevertheless, had been of such a nature as to make them come to the conclusion, that the finger of God directed them. Let them ponder the Missionary progress of the Wesleyans in the West Indies, South Sea Islands, NewZealand, South Africa, or India, and all presented a succession of facts which could not have been produced but for the special interference of divine grace. It was their duty to connect what had been done with what they believed would come, and to regard the one as the sign of the other, just as the root was the promise of the tree, the bud the promise of the flower, and the firstfruits the promise of the harvest, and as the first streak of dawn was the promise of the meridian day. In this way, there was a grandeur thrown about every movement of Christianity, its spirit ascended from less to greater, and Christians gradually found themselves expanding into the vivid hope of that consummation, when all the nations of the earth should burst forth into one rapturous sound, "Now is come salvation and strength, the kingdom of God and his Christ,-salvation unto God and unto the Lamb." Amidst the various openings which had recently been presented for the occupation of Missionary enterprise he would refer to one to which his attention had recently been called by reading the history of that Society,-that which was opened in the West Indies, among those who had long worn the chains and endured the horrors of slavery. It could not be denied, by any one acquainted with the history of Methodism, that their Society had been led into that opening by a most remarkable conjunction of peculiar providences. God had followed them into the field which he had laid open before them, and he trusted that their exertions would be attended with the happiest results. He trusted that they would cultivate it with earnestness, faithfulness, and vigour. It was not his province to advert, at that moment, to what might be the duty of that denomination with regard to the final emancipation of their yet oppressed brethren there, but he trusted that the denomination which professed to have caught the mantle and to breathe the spirit of RICHARD WATSON, from whose eloquence, in early life, he himself had caught some of his own first inspirations on this theme, would never do otherwise than view, with utter and inextinguishable detestation, all sorts of slavery; resolved not to mitigate, but to overturn; not to soften, but to destroy; not to pluck the bitter fruit from the branches, but to tear up the root; not to neutralize the operation of the poison, but to annihilate the element that contained it. And now that, by an act of national justice, tardy as it was, and notoriously imperfect as it was, many obstacles were cleared away, they were more imperatively called upon to send the tidings of spiritual freedom, and "proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison doors to them that are bound." And when they had read the animating account this day presented of their triumphs there, and connected with them the triumphs achieved by other denominations, whose heart did not beat high in ardour with the hope that, amidst these spots,-perhaps the most beautiful in physical nature, there would be found equal moral fragrance and moral beauty? that angel-spirits, who were scared and frightened from their ministrations by scenes of disgusting despotism, might be led to return and walk amid them as the very Eden bowers of the universe? and that, throughout the whole extent of these regions, where formerly had scarcely been heard aught save the cry of the afflicted and the groan of the oppressed who had no comforter, there would be made to arise the song of the peaceful, and to resound the anthems of the free? He must detain the Meeting a little longer by adverting, amidst their various operations, triumphs, and success, to one triumphant result, which, he trusted, by various instrumentalities, would be accomplished in the Christian church itself; he alluded particularly to the operations of those institutions in healing the differences that might exist among the disciples of Christ, and causing them to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." These institutions compelled Christians to unite more frequently with one another, drew their attention away from minor points of party, and fixed that attention upon the common and universal principles of our religion that brought them gradually to the one centre where their spirits must meet and mingle,-the cross of the Son of God; and in proportion as they draw closer to the cross, they must draw more closely to one another. In that way they should become more thoroughly and universally imbued with the spirit of truth,-that holy truth which distinguished every Christian; they would like less to have converse with matters of polemics and controversy; they had been like the tribes of Israel, abiding in several provinces, and in distant habitations; though they had worshipped one God and prayed towards one temple, they had yet been separated and divided; but they would then be like the same tribes of Israel assembling together upon the high festivals of their religion, congregated as "the general assembly and church of the firstborn," united in one multitude, adoring before one altar, worshipping one name, and celebrating one triumph, for there shall be "one fold and one Shepherd." In proportion as this union of the church of Christ really existed, in such proportion would the prediction of the ancient Prophets be realized, when the Heathen should be given to the Son of man for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; when the Lord should rule over the whole earth, and his name be one among all nations. It was recorded, in ancient history, that the temple of Serapis, in the city of Alexandria, was |