whether in England or in India and Ceylon or elsewhere. Let us, then, labour on, sowing the good seed of the kingdom, thankful for any amount of blessing bestowed upon our poor efforts; but still hoping and praying for increased success to be vouchsafed, to increased earnestness and zeal in the cause of our most holy and gracious Lord, whose last words on earth stand at the head of this paper, remembering that the injunction is as binding on His Church as ever, and that He is as able as ever to fulfil His promise by the power of His Spirit.

The following are extracts from the rereport of our missionary at St. Thomas' Mount, for the month of March :

:

"Out-door work. More than forty visits have been made to adjacent villages, parcherries, &c., during the month; the scriptures have been read and expounded and tracts distributed to large numbers of various classes of people, who, on the whole, listened attentively to the word read and spoken to them. Eight_boys have been selected from the Bullock Lines to accompany us on special occasions to the bazaars, &c. These children, by singing Christian lyrics, attract the people to the spot, and we have thus the opportunity of addressing larger numbers than would otherwise collect around us. At the Troop parcherry we hold an open air service by lamp-light once a week.

On one occasion the light blew out, the wind being unusually strong, just after prayer had been offered, and Jacob, the teacher, was about to read a portion of scripture. Upon this, one in the crowd, whom we could not distinctly see, said that it was all false; for if the God to whom we had been praying were the true God, he would not have permitted the light to be blown out. This circumstance gave rise to many arguments on all sides, and in meeting these we were detained long past our usual time. This service is generally an interesting one, and I trust profitable too.

Our public services have been regularly held in Tamil, at our chapel, Bullock Lines, and in Telugu, at Nazareth-pooram school-room, all of which have on the whole been more encouraging.

The little Tamil church is, I trust, making some progress in spiritual knowledge, and peace and concord exist amongst its members. The periodical prayer-meeting is regularly held in the houses of our church members, and happy seasons I have realised them to be; and I trust

much good may result from them. John Lazarus, who left us some four years ago, having expressed his sorrow for previous misconduct, and finding him, as far as we could judge, sincere in his repentance, we have re-admitted to the privileges of a church member. It has, however, been thought necessary to defer the intended baptism (mentioned in my last report) a little longer. The Sabbath-schools, Tamil and Telugu, in connection with this church, are doing well. The children are catechised and taught scripture lessons on Sunday mornings.

The Schools.-The Bullock Lines school is, as regards progress, doing pretty well; but from sickness, which is usual at this season of the year, the heat being intense, the average attendance is somewhat less than at other times. The Nazarethpooram school has been much reduced by sickness and other causes, the attendance being only about fifteen; these, however, have made a somewhat creditable progress.

A caste school for girls, as an experimental measure has been commenced, and during the past month thirteen names were registered. These children are taught four hours a day, viz., needlework two hours, and Tamil and Telugu one hour each. There are also about the same number of non-caste girls attending the Bullock Lines school, who are taught needle-work.

Palaveram.-The scriptures have been read and expounded in a few of the adjacent villages, and also in the bazaar, streets, and Sepoy lines, and the people generally listened attentively and cheerfully accepted the tracts presented to them. The 24th Regiment Native Infantry having been located at this station, I hope (D.v.) to revive the work in the Sepoy Lines.

The continued prayers of the dear friends of the mission are earnestly solicited for work and workers.-H. NOBLE."

With regard to the caste school, mentioned in these extracts, and which we referred to last month, Br. Doll, our superintendent, says he is very much pleased with it, and is very hopeful of it. Rachel, the teacher, is a working woman, and bestows much labour on it. He intends, next mail, to send specimens of their first sewing. The girls, he says, are anxious to get sewing materials, and pieces of colored cambric, muslin, &c. Will any of our friends send them any?

A parcel is about to be sent to Br. Doll for the chapel at Chintadrepettah, in which they might be enclosed. In reference to the native regiment at Palaveram, lately arrived, he states that two of the men are, he understands, Baptists, and he hopes they may be of use at the mission services.

AT POONAMALLEE Br. Doll reports that all are doing well spiritually. The following are extracts from our missionary's report for March :

Tuesday, 2nd.--Very early this morning I started for Hyapukum, four miles north of our station. This is a well irrigated village, in which are fifty houses of high caste Hindoos. I was engaged preaching and talking in this village till nearly one o'clock. Although at first the people showed indifference to listen, but as I proceeded they became attentive and deeply interested in my discourse that they seemed eager and rivetted in their attention. My discourse was on different subjects, viz., one God, one Mediator, one caste, one religion, one salvation, one judgment, one heaven, one hell, man's salvation by grace and not by works. I delivered several handbills, and returned home at four p.m.

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Thursday, 4th.-This morning I went to Aynampaukum, five miles north-east of our station, and one mile east of Hyapaukum, which I visited on Tuesday last. I preached in three different places in this village, and delivered handbills. Over fifty people heard without any objection or hindrance, and with encouraging attention. One man only asked me what temporal benefit he would get if he embraced Christianity. I replied by interrogating, "Will you not eat rice at twelve o'clock, and again at night; and whyto what benefit?" The rest of the people laughed heartily. I added, telling him that I was speaking of the bread from heaven-the bread of life. He that eateth this bread, even the Lord Jesus Christ, hath everlasting life, will enjoy heaven, and shall never hunger nor thirst.

"Friday, 12th.- This day I went to the parcherry or hamlet of Coolladey, four and a half miles north of our station. The pariahs, or non-caste Hindoos, accepted me very kindly. They heartily welcomed me, offered me a seat, spoke kindly and respectfully. I spoke to them for a long while on the danger of their idol worship, and the blessedness of having Christ as their friend and Saviour. They heard me with considerable pleasure, and earn

estly requested me to give them a call again, saying ten or eleven o'clock, a.m., would be the best time, as it is their leisure time.

"Monday, 15th. - Preached at OldPoonamallee Bazaar. About twenty persons heard me; among them were a few Brahmins, who said nothing, but listened quietly. One young Hindoo, a schoolboy, asked me where is the use of me preaching while there is no sign of conversion among them. I replied, "The word of God is a two-edged sword, which will pierce the heart of his people. It is an iron hammer to break them to pieces. And has it not pierced or broken the hearts of many throughout the world, and changed wild beasts into lambs? Has it

of

This

not broken and changed many hearts of the sons of India? And can you say there is no sign in the face of stubborn facts.' The lad, laughing at his defeat, promptly pointing to the Brahmins, said, contemptuously, These are the powers.' "Wednesday, 27th. This morning early, I went to Cauveychairey, a village five and-a-half miles on the N. W. Poonamallee. I began by singing a Christian lyric, named 'The Folly of Idolatry,' and then sung another called, "The Destruction of Superstition.' attracted and congregated over 50 people. I then read portions of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, making remarks now and again till I read the whole chapter, and preached the Lord Jesus Christ to the people. I was listened to with attention, and one man, who was standing in the crowd, invited me and offered me a seat in his pyhal. I had a very interesting conversation with him on the subject of Christianity, in the presence of the people, and after I was done discovered that the man who spoke to me was the munseff or sub-magistrate of the village, a great official."

The boys' school at Poonamallee has about 30 in daily attendance, all of whom now pay a small fee for their schooling, which Br. Doll gives to the teacher, who is a very good one, as an encouragement. He purposes making this a "Resultgrant School," subject to the annual examination of a government inspector, when, for each child who is " passed by him, a grant will be received for the benefit of the school. Br. Doll had not succeeded in obtaining a good female teacher for a girls' school at Poonamallee, but was hoping to do so shortly.

The CEYLON branch of the Mission affords pleasing evidence of the industry of Mr. Andriesz, whose journals are fraught with interest. The Romanists are his bitterest opponents; but even these he has again and again silenced, while many enquirers after truth show that his labours have "not been in vain in the Lord."

Some of the questions put by the heathenss are somewhat subtle. Thus, in one of his reports, he says that, whilst addressing the people under a tree, the following observation was made by a bystander-" Christ was born in a manger, while Budha was born in a palace; Christ was despised and rejected by men, whereas Budha was honoured and courted." Mr. Andriesz replied, "Your plea for not receiving Christ is that in which we glory. If, as you say, Christ came in all honour and splendour, and we believe Him, it would be no wonder. But He having come in poverty and been rejected and crucified, and that thousands have given their lives for His sake, and thousands more are ready to do so, is a proof, beyond measure, of the truth of Christianity."

The objections of Romanists have been met again and again. Take the following as illustrations:

A

"In my way I met a number of people, I spoke to them about their souls. passer-byasked me, 'Why don't you speak about the Virgin Mary ?' I asked him, Why speak about her? she is a creature, like others. He then asked me if she was not the mother of Christ? I said, she was. Was not Christ God? I said, yes. "Then, you see, she was the mother of God." I said, allow me to ask a question, Had not the Virgin Mary a mother? He said, 'Yes.' Why don't you Romanists give her greater honour, being in that sense the grandmother of God? He was at once brought to see his folly. I further told him that the Budhist and Mahomedans must and do laugh at such beliefs, that God has mother and grandmother; such doctrines are a stumbling block in their way. I then explained to him that Christ had a mother to His manhood; but as regards his Godhead, He was His mother's God. He said that now he sees how it is."

In January last, Mr. Andriesz refers to an absurd Romanist superstition at the dedication of children. "The child," he says, "is laid on the altar, and is then taken charge of by the sacristan or

sexton, and some of the relatives buy or redeem the child by paying an amount of money, besides which they offer pigeons, &c. He exposed the absurdity of this priestcraft, and advised its poor deluded votaries to search the Scriptures.

There are many hopeful enquirers, and four candidates for baptism are reported. These might easily be multiplied; but Mr. Andriesz is specially careful to test as far as practicable the sincerity of pro

fessed converts.

"Not far from this place I had a call; on my going to the house I recognised the young woman who called me, she was the sister of that young man whose sickness and death I reported some time before, she said the words I then spoke to her brother, and his premature death, led her to see that the things of this world are merely a fleeting shadow; she had made up her mind to renounce everything, and to make a profession by being baptized. I gave her to understand that this conviction'will not do; she had sinned against God, she must come to feel her danger, and then she must go to Christ, who is the only Saviour, and get her sins blotted out, this being first and foremost, the rest will naturally follow, for which I have promised to come once a week, when I visit this station, and point out to her her duty."

The persecution to which new converts are subject is, however, a searching test of their sincerity, as the following instances will shew:

"At Wolfendahl I met a woman who was very sorrowful, owing to a daughter who had been lying sick, as she said, for over two months. I read to her the word of God, and tried to speak words of consolation, by reminding her of One who sympathises in her sorrows. Here I met

the young lad, her son. He gave me to understand that he belongs to the Band of Hope, and that he is desirous of being baptized. I asked him what led him to this conviction? He informed me that sometime before he heard me preach, and by a tract that came into his hands, he began to search the Scriptures to see if these things were so, and, being convinced, he could not but declare it to his master, for he was then in an Episcopalian school, where he was taught gratis. For declaring this he was dismissed. Even his Wesleyan friends ridiculed him, and told him that infant sprinkling is what the Scripture commands. After.

speaking and confirming him in his belief, I gave him a few tracts that I then had with me, 'Guide to Enquirers on the subject of Baptism.' I requested him to give to his friends, and get the blank column filled with one scripture text in their favour. In this lad's case I come to see that the work of grace is begun in his heart.

Subscriptions and donations to the Strict Baptist Mission will be thankfully received by the Cash Secretary, Mr. Briscoe, 17, Arlington-square, Islington, London, N.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CENTENARY.

THE present year of our Lord, 1880, being the hundredth year since the commencement of Sabbath Schools in this country, the interesting epoch is to be celebrated, at the instance of the Sunday School Union, in a very marked and elaborate manner. Details of the meetings to be held, lists of the works to be published on the occasion and information as to other matters connected with the celebration, have, no doubt, ere this reached all the Sabbath Schools in the country, through the medium of the various periodicals specially devoted to their service. ticulars therefore need not be given here, but it may be stated that commencing with special meetings for prayer on Lord's day, June 27th, the celebration is to be continued in various forms throughout the week.

Par

Amongst the arrangements is one for a "Communion Service; this we, as Strict Baptists, who consider the Lord's Supper a church ordinance and a service in which we cannot conscientiously unite with a promiscuous gathering, will have to decline participating in. Other parts of the intended proceedings do not present anything in which a serious conscientious member of any religious denomination need hesitating at uniting, unless it should be thought that possibly some of the musical portion of the celebration might prove not quite so strictly in accordance with the religions character of the Institution as could be desired.

One hundred years ago-what changes have passed over the world during that period! Empires have risen and fallen, kingdoms disappeared, and many revolutions of various kinds taken place, so that it hardly looks likes the same world in many respects that it must have appeared

when Robert Raikes, on Sunday the 3rd of July, 1780, opened the first Sabbath School in this country. The plant then planted has indeed grown most wonderfully. The institution then commenced with four female paid teachers now counts its willing voluntary workers by hundred of thousands and its scholars by millions. It has been the means of effecting immense good both of a moral and a spiritual kind, and its beneficial influence is continually increasing. Very many will have to bless God to all eternity for the institution of Sabbath Schools.

The writer of these lines is old enough to remember the Jubilee of Sabbath Schools, when being a scholar in Silver-street Sab. bath School in the City of London, he received on that occasion a little book en. titled "The Sunday School Jubilee," as a memorial of the event, which he has kept until the present time. It contains a portrait and autograph of Mr. Raikes and many interesting particulars respecting him and the work of which he was the beginner. Four hymns presumably written for the occasion are added, three of them being written by James Montgomery and one by Mrs. Gilbert, who were then living poets. Two of these were for teachers and two for scholars, the following verses are part of one for the latter by Mr. Montgomery :

Hosanna be the children's song,

To Christ, the children's King;
His praise to whom our souls belong,
Let all the children sing.
From little ones to Jesus brought,

Hosanna now be heard;

Let infants at the breast be taught
To lisp that lovely word.
Hosanna here, in joyful bands,

Maidens and youths proclaim,
And hail with voices, hearts and hands,
The Son of David's name.

The city to the country call,

Let realm with realm accord;
And this their watchword, one and all,
Hosanna-Praise the Lord.
Hosanna, then, our song shall be;
Hosanna to our King;

This is the children's Jubilee ;

Let all the children sing.

Some happy Sabbath hours were spent in that school, and some useful instruction received; the benefit of which remains until this day, inducing additional earnestness in the prayer of the writer for the blessing of God to rest upon Sabbath Schools, and that the celebration of their Centenary may be productive of many R. H. happy results,