five were sent to school and taught, whilst the girls stayed at home. Their noses and ears were pierced for rings, and they were made to attend in the kitchen and do all the drudgery. They were betrothed at the age of eight, and this was the father's great business in respect to his daughter. Early marriages were the curse of India. If the girls were not betrothed at the age of ten, the parents were put out of caste. If the husband died during the betrothal, the girl remained a widow for the rest of her life. There were now 1,300 female schools recognised by the Government, and there was double the number of which the Government knew nothing. He believed that the Government reckoned that they had 30,000 female pupils in schools. That was just about one in a hundred of those who ought to attend school. Polygamy was not popular in Bengal. It was expensive to begin with; it was destructive to all domestic peace, and contrary to the feelings of every right-minded woman. They could not carry out mission work without the help of native women, and it was to secure this help that the mission devoted a considerable part of its attention. Until they had native women teaching their children to pray and to sing hymns, the work must necessarily be limited. Even as it existed at present, the aspect was becoming very encouraging. The Rev. J. Trafford, M.A., said that they were all agreed as to the importance of the education of women abroad, but not as to the policy of carrying it on. One principle on which they had acted was not to interfere with the social customs of the people to whom they preached the truth. One of the results of mission-work generally amongst men had been that they desired to impart to their women the blessings of education, in order to put them more on a level with the English Christians with whom they mixed. There was no greater obstacle to the progress of Christianity in India than the inaccessibility of the women in India. He would ask them to bear in mind two important things; first, that there should be a degree of reticence in publishing the accounts of their success. He had an instance painfully in his mind of the effect of a speech delivered at Exeter Hall on a youth at Serampore. It was a mistake to suppose that matters published in England did not reach India. The English papers were studiously read there. The second thing he wished them to do was to leave converted women in the sphere in which they were converted. They would have to endure persecution, but where God had kindled the light, there it was wise to allow it to shine. The Rev. J. Sale said that for a quarter of a century he had been engaged in work of this kind, but this was the first meeting of this description that he had addressed. His prevailing feeling on rising to speak was that God's mercy was above all their thoughts. Mrs. Sale commenced Zenana work at the time of the Indian mutiny, and conducted it principally in and around Calcutta. The door was first opened by the sickness of a child. She was called in to help, and brought in not only the medicine for the body, but the medicine for the soul. Having once gained admission, she had it always until her health broke down under her labours, and she was obliged to discontinue them. It was with great joy that they heard that Mrs. Lewis had resolved to throw her mental and other resources into this work. Mainly as the result of her entreaties, Miss Leslie learned to soorn the delights of literary leisure, and gave herself to hard and self-denying labour. It was no light work to enter the heated atmosphere of a Zenana, and endure the bites of the mosquitoes which infested such places. He hoped the members of this Society would check every tendency to discourage the outflow of Christian women to India and other mission-fields. They wanted heroic women to be the wives of missionaries, and help them in their devoted labours. The Sermons. WE very much regret that we are not at present in a position to quote from Dr. Cairns's sermon. We trust we may be able to do so in our next number. The sermon was upon the text, "His ene mies shall be clothed with shame, but upon Himself shall His crown flourish." The discourse was simple, yet scholarly, and closed with an eloquent and impassioned peroration, which produced an unusual effect upon the congregation. It will not soon be forgotten. Mr. Chown’s text was 1 Sam. ii. 3: "For them that honour me I will honour." We quote a few passages on the question: How we may honour God in connection with missions : "And now let us turn for a minute or two to the second consideration, viz., the ways in which honour may thus be tendered to God in our great work; and I would say in the first place we must seek to honour God in the number and character of the men who are engaged therein. I mean by that, as you will readily understand, not our missionary brethren simply, but all the fellowship of the churches that professedly give attention to this great and glorious enterprise. It is not the number of the men, my dear brethren, but it is the spirit of the men. It is not the accumulation of mere masses of units, but it is the intensifying and unfolding of the living springs among those who are there. You remember that Gideon of old had 32,000 men with him in the first instance-sadly too many for the work of the Lord as it would appear-and their numbers were reduced till at last there were only 300, who were the men that lapped, and they were the men by whom God graciously wrought out the victory. So it has ever been from then till now, and so it shall and will be, till the universal triumph is completed. I have spoken of the disciples, brethren; you will call to mind in how many respects they were wonderful men-by no means more wonderful than every one of us, as it seems to me, ought to be to-day. They were wonderful because they were full of the might and power of the Holy Ghost. They were wonderful, because the living Christ beamed out so brightly and broadly from their character, and when they went down to Antioch the people called them by the Master's name. They were wonderful because of the earnestness of spirit and fervour of their prayer. Oh, for some of this excellency of character and spirit today! We thank God that we have reason to believe that His Spirit has been poured out upon His Church at large and upon the world around us. And why should not we have the outpouring of that Spirit even more largely, and richly and manifestly, than as yet we have ever had, and why should we not have greater days than the Pentecostal days? They did not even indicate the infinite fulness of the Spirit's power, that is available for them who do God's work and trust in IN Him. And why should not we, instead of standing looking backwards, be looking onward to larger and brighter or fuller and broader beams of Divine grace from that Master whom we serve, and in whose blessing we then should rejoice? The declaration of old was-Thou hast given a hand to them that fear Thee-to the men who have professed to love Thee, to the men that hear it said to them, "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price, and therefore glorify God with your bodies and souls, which are His." The men who sing monthly or oftener Were the whole realm of nature mine, Demands my soul, my life, my all; Men who can never do anything worth calling a sacrifice with the utmost they could do, could never accomplish anything worthy to be called by the same name that designates the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ for them; men who have sealed their vow in deepest solemnity and Divine consecration to His service, who have borne His banner amidst the scoffing of unbelievers and the contempt of those who had no sympathy with their work, and shall bear it whenever humanity needs salvation, and shall continue to bear it until every dark place of the earth shall be delivered up from the cruelty by which it is now oppressed and desolated." The Exeter Hall Meeting. his opening speech, Mr. J. S. Wright, the chairman, referring to the report, said :— "With reference to the report which they had heard, he thought it was one upon which they might well congratulate themselves. All praise be to Him who had put in the hearts of His people to do more for the mission work, and to give, as it were, a new spirit in that direction during the past year. It was all round an excellent report. There were larger contributions and more converts than in any preceding year, and God had not left them without eminent tokens of His blessing upon the labours of their missionaries. There was also hope for Alluding to the work in India, Mr. "He hoped the time would never come when India would occupy a secondary place in the report. Their connection with that country had been most honourable from first to last, and the more it was looked upon by his. torians the more would it reflect to the credit of the Baptist missionary body. It was astonishing how little the people of England knew about India, and he felt such ignorance was discreditable to Englishmen. As a nation, they had a power given to them with reference to India which had not been given to any other nation in the world. Between two and three hundred millions of human beings given to the islanders here to manage, control, direct, and govern for their weal or for their woe. He quoted one or two remarkable instances illustrating the power which an Englishman might gain in that land. He expressed his belief that the society took a greater interest in the moral elevation and social well the future, for nine new missionaries had been sent out, and he thought it was thirty years at least since they had sent out so many new men. They were thus making a wise provision for the future." Wright said: being of the people, than did the members of St. Stephen's, Westminster, for who among them asked, whether they, as one of the most Christian and advanced nations in the world, discharged their obligations to that great country? He thought they could hardly form an idea of the population represented in 280,000 towns and villages, or a total, equal to eighty or ninety times the population of London. The magnitude of the work was almost appalling, but God could help the feeblest of His instruments to do a great work for Him, when they were found in the right spirit. He prayed that the Baptists of England might be faithful to their trust, and that God would give them ever increasing interest and deeper responsibility in the welfare of India, so that the nine missionaries sent out last year might soon be multiplied by fifty; and what were they among so many?" Speaking of the missionaries required, Mr. Wright said : "Quality was as much needed as quantity, and they wanted first-class men of the highest intellectual powers, and of the greatest grace. He thanked God for the men they had had in times past; their names would stand out in history as entitled to be kings and giants among their fellows. They had first-class men at the present moment. Mentioning several prominent names, he paid a warm tribute of respect for their labours, especially referring to the noble characters of Mr. Skrefsrud and Mr. Page, and to the grand results of their work. He quoted a highly eulogistic article in the Times relating to a Baptist missionary, as instanced in the person of Mr. Skrefsrud, and said he believed all the qualifications there mentioned, such as untiring activity, strong common sense, powerful will, and extraordinary faith a and enthusiasm, were necessary for a good and successful missionary. Such men must come out of the churches and from the provinces, and they would only be found in proportion as church-members developed the missionary spirit within themselves. The report should stimulate them to greater exertions in the future, and they might yet live to see the time when the temples of India-that wondrous country-should become places of worship for the one true and only God; when the knowledge of the Lord should not only cover India, but all places of the earth." The first resolution, which was moved by the Rev. E. G. Gange, of Bristol, was as follows: : That this meeting acknowledges, with devout thankfulness to God, the blessing which He has bestowed upon the labours of the Society's missionaries in almost every field they occupy. It is grateful, too, for the assurance that the same blessing has been very largely shared by kindred societies. It further expresses its sense of the hopefulness which is cherished, both at home and abroad, as to the results of future labours, and it accepts this hope, both as a stimulus to more earnest effort and as a pledge of still greater results. This was Mr. Gange's first appearance on our missionary platform at Exeter Hall, and we congratulate him and ourselves on the impression his speech produced. We quote the close, on RELIANCE ON GOD. Do "Do not look too much to the committee, or the subscription-list, or the ministers, but look up to God, and He will give you the increase. We are fishers for Jesus-fishers of men. not look too much at the boats, nor to the nets, nor to the stalwart arms of our brethren, or to our own strength and skill, but look to His presence who stands with us in the bows of the boat, who counsels us to cast the net on the right side of the ship; and as we realise His presence and obey His voice, we shall lower the net where fishes abound, and the net will break; the machinery of our organisation will burst because there is not room enough to contain it. Now, brethren, we are in for a fight, and in this campaign we mean to win; we are committed to it, and we are bound to win because we are not going on a war in our own cause. God puts His sword in the scale, and says, 'How many do you reckon Me for?' If the presence of the Duke of Wellington in a field of battle was worth a whole brigade, and if in the darkest and deepest hour men dispirited and discouraged by the very clattering of his horse's hoofs were inspired with courage, I am quite certain that the presence of the Lord God with us will encourage us and secure success, and victory must crown our efforts. Let Cromwell's cry be ours; that cry which rose upon many a hardfought field, that cry which was thundered forth by the Ironsides again and again as they struck their spurs into their horses' flanks, and drew their swords from their scabbards. The Lord of Hosts is with us; and the God of Jacob is our refuge.' Homer, in his Iliad, begins with magnificence, |