CHAPTER III. THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. LET us now turn to the history of that Society whose exertions have, humanly speaking, been mainly instrumental in bringing about the happy change in the state of our colonies which has been already described. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, many faithful Christians, members of the British Church, being themselves in possession of abundant spiritual privileges, were moved through God's mercy, to cast an eye of compassion upon the lamentable state of religion among their countrymen abroad, to which allusion was made in the preceding chapter. They "spake often to one another" of this state of things; and, as private individuals, made some unavailing attempts to improve it. The zealous Dr. Bray (who was sent to America as commissary of Bishop Compton), on his return to England published information of a striking character as to the spiritual destitution of the colonies, and made various proposals for relieving it. Stimulated by his perseverance and energy, and encouraged by the Convocation of Clergy, several members of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, together with the most active Bishops and lay Churchmen of the day, petitioned King William III. and obtained from him on the 16th June, 1701, a Royal WORK IN THE COLONIES. 15 Charter, constituting them a Corporation, with the title of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and appealed for subscriptions. Among these, its founders and earliest supporters, we find the venerated names of Bishops Beveridge and Wilson, of John Evelyn, and of Robert Nelson, author of the well-known "Fasts and Festivals." Since that time its President's chair has been occupied by the successive Archbishops of Canterbury, Tenison, Wake, Potter, Herring, Hutton, Secker, Cornwallis, Moore, Sutton, Howley, Sumner, and Dr. Longley the present Archbishop; and all the Bishops of the United Church of England and Ireland are VicePresidents. The first missionaries of the Society, the Rev. George Keith and the Rev. Patrick Gordon, sailed from England on the 24th April, 1702, and landed at Boston, in North America, on the 11th June. Other clergymen, schoolmasters, or presents of books, were sent immediately afterwards to the British sub jects abroad, Christians and heathens. Those American colonies which separated from England in 1783, and now form the United States, were the chief, though not the only scene of the Society's labours up to that period. The Society then ceased to contribute, save by its prayers and good wishes, towards the support of the Church in those parts. But the seed, which through eighty years it had been GOD's instrument for sowing, sprang up and bore fruit; and the Church in the United States now numbers about 1,000,000 souls under the pastoral care of thirty-six Bishops, and 1,800 other clergy. In 1710 the Society came into possession of an estate in the island of Barbados, bequeathed by General Codrington. On this estate a college was erected, which has been of essential service in the advancement of the Christian faith in the West Indies. From 1729 the Society has continued to send missionaries to Newfoundland. There were then only three clergymen, where there are now a Bishop, forty-nine clergymen, and a college for training clergymen. In 1732 the Society began to send missionaries to the West Indies, where there are now five Bishops, 256 clergymen, and three colleges. In 1749 it commenced its labours in Nova Scotia by sending thither the first two clergymen. Here there are now a Bishop, seventy-nine clergymen, and a college. In 1752 an itinerant missionary was sent to the negroes in Guinea. A native African (after being educated and ordained in England) was stationed on the Gold Coast in 1765; and a catechist at Sierra Leone in 1787, at which settlement there are now a Bishop and thirty-eight clergymen. Shortly after the American Declaration of Independence, in 1783, the Society began to send the first missionaries to the Canadas and New Brunswick. There are now six Bishops, 361 clergymen, and two colleges in these provinces. In 1795 the Society's operations were extended to New South Wales, and two years afterwards to Norfolk Island. The first clergyman went to Australia in 1788, and that continent now has seven Bishops and 217 clergymen. The Society's connexion with India first began in 1818, soon after the appointment of a Bishop of Calcutta ; and with Ceylon in 1843. The native converts and catechumens under the care of the Society's missionaries have now reached the number of 28,227; and there are four Bishops and 406 clergymen here. In 1820 the Society sent a clergyman to the Cape of Good Hope, where there are now five Bishops and ninety-seven clergy men. In 1839 the Society sent its first missionary to New Zealand, which is now under the care of five Bishops and fifty-four clergy men. In 1849 the Society began to assist the Borneo Mission, now wholly dependent on its funds. A Bishop has been appointed, and there are eight other clergy here. In the same year the attention of the Society was drawn to the fact, that thousands of emigrants every year pass four or five months on board ship without any one to minister the means of grace amongst them, or even to turn this opportunity to good account by enlarging their minds with general instruction. The "Emigrants' Spiritual Aid and Employment Fund" was therefore opened at the Society's office. The Society undertook to apply the subscriptions in the payment of chaplains, or lay teachers, on board emigrant ships proceeding to colonies south of the line; also in providing books, and in purchasing materials for the employment of the men, and for their instruction in useful arts during the voyage. How much good has been effected in this department of the Society's labours, may be estimated from the statement that in the first five years alone fortyfour emigrant ships were supplied by means of this fund with clergymen or schoolmasters to accompany and instruct the emigrants during the voyage; allowances were paid to chaplains at port-towns, who watched the arrival or departure of emigrants; emigrants were instructed and provided with materials for work during the voyage; and liberal assistance was granted towards a hospital for emigrants at New York. The average annual number of emigrants from the United Kingdom, during the last fifty years, has been 109,563, of whom a large proportion have gone to British colonies. At the close of 1854 the attention of the whole country was absorbed with the great events and first signal success of the Crimean war, and the Society resolved to make additional pro vision for the spiritual instruction and consolation of the soldiers. Six-and-twenty chaplains were selected and in part maintained by the Society for this most urgent and arduous service. In 1856 a considerable portion of the special fund, contributed for this purpose, remained unexpended, and it was therefore determined to devote it to the establishment of a mission at Constantinople for the benefit more especially of the British sailors, shipping-agents, and store-keepers at that port. Three chaplains and a catechist are now maintained by the Society here, and a mission school has been established with great success. In 1857 the aid on which the Society had so long been encouraged to depend from the periodical issue of the Queen's Letter, was finally withdrawn ; and with ever-increasing claims upon its bounty, it was thus deprived of a large portion of its estimated income. Little short of 10,000l. a year was thus probably lost a loss which can only be made up, but which can be abundantly made up, by the aid of the clergy, if each one will consent to do his part by preaching (according to the almost unanimous request of the Bishops) one annual sermon in behalf of the Society. In 1861, out of 14,023 churches, 6,363 or above 45 per cent. sent their contributions, a considerable increase on the number which contributed before the withdrawal of the Queen's Letter. But, gratifying as is the increase, there can be no satisfactory reason why still more than one-half of the parishes of England should withhold their support, and the Society confidently looks to its zealous staff of organizing secretaries to redress this unfavourable balance. In 1862 the Society determined, in accordance with its ancient practice, to extend its operations to English congregations on the Continent, and appointed a Continental Chaplaincies Committee to carry out that design. A special fund was raised and will be applied towards the increase of the number of continental chap |