been made from time to time to the liberality of the British Protestants had met with an unprecedented response. During the year, meetings had been held and lectures delivered, or sermons preached at a large number of places, which were enumerated; and, in the same period, free grants of books and tracts had been made to clergymen and others engaged in disseminating the Protestant faith in Great Britain and Ireland. The total number of books sold by the society within the year amounted to 799 volumes of controversial works, and 20,666 tracts; whilst the number gratuitously distributed was seventyeight volumes, and 46,430 tracts. The accounts for the year ending March 31, 1853, showed receipts £4,380 19s. 11d., and expenditure £3,615 9s. 4d., leaving a balance in hand of £765 10s. 7d.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND SUNDAY-
SCHOOL INSTITUTE.

The ninth annual meeting of this society was held on Friday, April 26, at Exeter Hall; R. C. L. Bevan, Esq., in the chair. The income of the society during the past year was £1,969 9s. 1d., and the expenditure £1,741 19s. 9d., leaving a balance of £227 9s. 4d.

BAPTIST IRISH SOCIETY.

The thirty-ninth annual meeting of this society was held on Tuesday evening, the 26th April, at Albion Chapel, Moorfields, under the presidency of Henry Kensall, Esq. The Rev. Wm. Groser read the report, from which we extract the following:-"The Committee of the Baptist Irish Society has at length the pleasure of congratulating its constituents on the state of its finances. The debt which, for the last thirteen years, has burdened and enfeebled it, is now extinct; and there remains a balance in hand for general purposes amounting to £419 6s. 9d." Considering the reduced amount of agency employed, and the diminution of the appliances that could be afforded to our brethren in Ireland, the degree of success with which they have been honoured has been

as great as could be reasonably expected."

CHINESE EVANGELIZATION SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of this society was held on Tuesday, April 26, in the Music Hall, Store-street; Sir John Dean Paul, Bart., in the chair; who remarked, that other societies confined their labours to the free ports of China-this society sent its agents into the interior, where the foot of a missionary had seldom or never trod. What a field was before them! No less than 400,000,000 immortal souls were there sunk in the grossest ignorance and superstition. A door of access had, in the providence of God, been opened by the instrumentality of medical missionaries-men skilled in the knowledge of surgery and medicine, and having the love of Christ and of souls in their heart; and it behoved all who loved the Lord to take advantage of these means which had been opened up, to plant the standard of the Redeemer in the synagogue of Satan.

T. Martin, Esq., read the annual report.

It was stated that Mr. Lobscheid, the society's missionary, had just arrived at Hong Kong, on his way to Saihong, whence he hoped to be able to proceed into the interior of China. Funds had been voted to educate four Chinese youths as native evangelists, who were now under training in Mr. Basum's school at Penang. The income of the society (including a balance of £325 Os. 3d. from last year) amounted to £1,083 15s. Od., and the expenditure to £819 10s. 7d., leaving a balance of £264 5s. 3 d.

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MISSIONS.

On Monday evening, May 2, a very crowded assembly of the members of the Established Church of Scotland took place at Exeter Hall. His grace the Duke of Argyll, Lord Privy Seal, presided; and the Rev. N. M'Leod (of Glasgow), the Rev. J. Stuart (of Moffat), the Rev. Dr. Malan (of Geneva), the Rev. Dr. Cumming, and others, addressed the meeting. The noble president and the various speakers showed by facts that the Established Church of Scot

land has not only recovered from the free secession in 1843, but is in many respects and places powerful and prosperous.

THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THE annual meeting of this society was held on Thursday, April 28, in Exeter Hall; W. Gurney, Esq., in the chair. The report was read by the Rev. T. Trestrail, the secretary, from which it appears that the members connected with the mission are 2,500. The past year had been an encouraging one with respect to the eastern missions of the society. In Bengal the aspect of affairs was full of interest; the mission schools having paved the way, in many localities, for the increasing indifference of the people to the religion of their forefathers. The missionaries, with their native assistants, had traversed large tracts of country, and daily proclaimed the gospel in the streets of Calcutta, its suburban villages, its bazaars, and roadsides. 34,000 copies of various parts of Scripture, or entire volumes, had been issued from the depository; while 39,000 copies, in Bengali and Sanscrit, had been finished at the press for further distribution. The total receipts of the society for the past year, for general purposes, was £15,114 3s. 9d., and the expenditure £500 less. The debt now due to the treasurers was £1,813 Os. 5d. The committee considered that there was nothing in the financial condition of the society to hinder the prosecution of their proposed effort to enlarge and consolidate the mission in India.

The Rev. T. Trestrail announced various donations to the society, including £250 from W. B. Gurney, Esq., and £100 a year from Mr. and Mrs. Peto, for each additional missionary sent out to India, making, if the scheme of extension should be entirely carried out, an annual contribution of no less than £2,000.

Mr. Underhill said he had the pleasure to announce that an old friend of the cause had permitted him to say that he would wipe off the debt of the society, £1,800. (Loud cheers and cries of "Name.") Mr. Underhill stated that he was

not permitted to mention the name of the donor. (Cheers.)

WESLEYAN

METHODIST MISSIONARY ANNIVERSARY.

The annual general meeting of the Missionary Society was held in Exeter Hall, on Monday, the 2nd May. The hall was better filled than on the last two or three anniversaries. Mr. James Heald, exMember for Stockport, presided.

The Rev. Dr. Beecham gave out a hymn, after which the Rev. Dr. Hannah engaged in prayer.

The Rev. Elijah Hoole read the financial statement and statistical details of the Society, from which it appeared that the receipts of the Society for the year ending December 31, 1852, were £105,381 19s. 6d., being an increase of £2,650 19s. 9d. over those of the preceding year. There is a decrease in the large donations received at the Mission House amounting to £2,441 10s. 11d.; but an increase on the receipts of the home districts of £1,584 9s. 6d. The additional increase is found in the miscellaneous receipts; the Christmas offerings showing an advance of nearly £400, and the contributions for China being nearly £1,000 in advance.

2,257 13 9

6,382 13 0

100,736 7 1

6,787 12 9

107,473 19 10 10,783 16 3

.£118,257 16 1

£13,938 6 5

Increase over expenditure of last year In conclusion, the report stated that the number of clergymen employed by the society-English, foreign, and native-was 172, and that the number of native agents of every grade was 1,150. The number of native converts was 112,000, while no fewer than 80,000 were under Christian instruction. The committee had to lament the paucity of missionaries; and now would they make an ardent appeal to the clergy and to the universities of their land to furnish them with men qualified for this work. They were willing to accept any number of men who might offer themselves as missionaries, trusting to Him "whose is the silver and the gold" to supply the necessary support for more extended operations.

THE ANTI-STATE CHURCH ASSO

CIATION.

The annual public meeting of this body was held on Wednesday, May 4, at Finsbury Chapel, which was crowded on the occasion, there being a numerous body of members of Parliament, ministers, and country friends of the society, on the platform. The secretary read a brief report, which referred to the change of sentiment gradually being effected in the public mind, to the gratifying results of the general election, and to the votes in the House of Commons. The Miscellaneous Estimates and Church Rates were also adverted to. The circulation of the "Library for the Times," issued by the association, was reported to be steadily increasing. In conclusion, the friends of the association were urged to put forth special efforts to insure a nu̟merous and influential conference in the autumn.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE

SOCIETY.

The forty-ninth annual meeting of this society was held on Wednesday, May 4, at Exeter Hall; the Right Hon the Earl of Shaftesbury in the chair. The receipts for the year had increased, irrespective of the contributions to the Jubilee Fund-the total amount being £109,106 10s. 8d., being £711 9s. 10d. more than the last year, and £5,118 18s. 2d. more than the receipts of the year preceding. The chief increase of the funds had been from the free contributions of the auxiliary societies, which were £2,422 16s. 11d. more than the year preceding—a most gratifying and encouraging fact. The sum applicable to the general purposes of the society was £54,587 11s. 6d., and the receipts for the Bible department were £64,572 193. 2d., being an increase of £2,807 6s. 5d. The expenses of the society had amounted to £95,507 9s.6d., showing a decrease in their net payments of £8,423 7s. 4d.; issue for the year was 1,168,794 copies, showing a gross total issue since the foundation of the society of 26,571,103. The present engagements of the society amounted to £55,239 3s. 10d. The

number of new societies formed during the year was 184, showing a total number of societies now existing in England and Wales of 3,270. The committee had set apart £500 from the fund formed a few years ago towards the support of recentlyformed day and Sunday schools, and they had made grants of 8,997 copies of the Scriptures, giving a total, since they had commenced the practice, of 127,384 copies, amongst 2,534 new schools.

The Jubilee Fund was opened at a public meeting held in Exeter Hall, on Tuesday, March 8, and before the close of the meeting upwards of £7,000 was subscribed. The fund was now augmented to £17,000, and was gradually increasing. The committee had determined to apply the Jubilee Fund to the extension of the society's operations in India, Australia, and New Zealand, the vast colonies of British America, and the West India Islands.

The report then stated that the following letter, accompanied by a donation of £1,000, had been received from an anonymous friend on the day preceding the meeting:

Sir,-Enclosed I send £1,000, the receipt of which you will please acknowledge by bearer in one of your usual forms, sealed, asking no questions, being a donation to the jubilee fund from a lay member of the Church of England, who wishes to remain strictly incognito. The 5s. is to enable you to insert the following [an advertisement] in to-morrow's Times, trusting it may induce others to help so good a cause.

SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.

The anniversary meeting of this society was held May 5, at Exeter Hall; the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, M.P., in the chair. The meeting was, as usual, most numerously attended, the body of the room and the gallery being densely crowded in every part. The report stated that the amount which had been subscribed to the building fund was £6,989, and that grants had been made to 224 libraries, making the whole number of libraries which had had grants 2,731. The retail value of the books given to the 224 libraries was £1,321, of which the schools had only paid £437. The steps which

the committee had taken to oppose the increasing desecration of the Sabbath-day by the proposed opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham on Sundays, were narrated; and it was added, that they were disposed to believe that the directors of the Crystal Palace Company had been led to think that their own pecuniary interests would be promoted by the closing of the Crystal Palace on the Lords'-day. A fund is also being raised for the commemoration of the fiftieth year of the Union, by the erection of a lecture-hall, reading and news rooms, library, and classrooms for Sunday-school teachers, together with accommodation for conducting the business of the Union; the overplus to be applied in aid of the building of schoolrooms throughout the country. The balance-sheet stated that the receipts had been, during the past year, £2,004 9s. 5d.; exceeding the expenditure by a surplus of £77 4s. 4d.

IRISH SOCIETY OF LONDON.

The annual meeting of this society was held at the Hanover Square Rooms, on Thursday, the 5th May. The Marquis of Blandford (who presided) opened the proceedings by announcing that two subscriptions amounting to £450, had just been received.

The report, which was read by the secretary, the Rev. Mr. White, announced the termination in March last, of the arrangements entered into with the Dublin Irish Society in 1850, and the amalgamation of the society with the Society for Irish Church Missions from the 1st of June next. The receipts for the year were stated to be £9,136 12s. 10d. There had been a large increase in the missionary operations of the society in Mayo, Cork, Sligo, Waterford, the city of Dublin, and other parts of Ireland, and there had been 13 new missionaries, and 121 lay agents added to its active staff during the year. A very large number of conversions had resulted from the increased activity of the society's operations since the last report, many of the most remarkable of them being stated in the document. In conclu

sion, the committee reported that nearly fifty congregations had been gathered from the ranks of Popery by the society's missionaries, while thousands of the Irish Roman Catholics had embraced the Protestant faith, and many thousands were inquiring into the truths of the Word of God.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL
SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of this society was held on Monday, May 9, in the Borough Road School Room. It was preceded, as usual, by an examination of the scholars in various branches of religious and secular education. Among the visitors at the examination were-Lord J. Russell, who occupied the chair, and delivered a brief address at its close, and Mrs. H. B. Stowe.

Mr. Dunn, the secretary, read the forty-eighth annual report, which, after adverting to the promising condition of elementary education in England, furnished a rapid sketch of the society's proceedings during the year. The boys' model school had admitted 842 children, and the girls' school 430. Twenty-seven pupil teachers had been apprenticed by the Committee of Council. Important alterations had been made during the year, at a cost of £1,063 3s. 8d., towards which the Committee of Council gave £500. 160 students had been admitted into the normal school for young men, and 143 young women into the female training establishment; 60 had been examined for certificates of merit, and 140 teachers had been appointed to schools. During the year 54 new schools had been established, affording accommodation for 7,000 children; 295 towns had been visited by agents for school inspection; 97 public meetings had been held, and 24 lectures delivered in different parts of the country; 124 grants in money or school materials had been made. Important efforts had been made to promote education in the colonies and other foreign parts. The sale of school materials at reduced prices had increased. The receipts during the past year (including a subscription

of £100 from her Majesty) amounted to £19,338 16s. 10d., and the expenditure to £18,771 11s. 3d., leaving a balance in hand of £567 5s. 7d. The society urgently appealed for increased subscriptions.

RAGGED-SCHOOL UNION.

The annual meeting of this society was held on Monday evening, May 9, in Exeter Hall; the Earl of Shaftesbury in the chair. The hall was crowded in every part.

Mr. Locke, the secretary, then read the annual report, which corroborated the statistics mentioned by the chairman, and stated that during the year twenty-four lads had emigrated at the expense of the union, and many more at the expense of private friends from local schools. The Shoeblack Society in connection with the Union continued to prosper. The number of boys employed averaged thirty-seven; they had cleaned 182,537 pairs of boots and shoes, and earned £760 11s. 5d. Their average earnings amounted to 7s. 11d. per week. Eighteen had gone abroad, most of them having paid for their outfit from their own earnings. About £17,000 had been received for the support of raggedschools during the year.

COLONIAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of this society was held on Monday evening, May 9, at the Poultry Chapel, under the presidency of the Right. Hon. the Lord Mayor, M.P. There was a very large attendance.

The Rev.

T. James read the report, which stated, that "there are, at this time, in the Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, ninety Congregational Churches, numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 members. Eightyfive places of worship, containing twenty-five thousand sittings, with more than 100 preaching stations in addition. More than 3,000 children are instructed in Sabbath-schools, by between 300 and 400 teachers. The cost of the chapels has amounted to at least £45,000; besides which £3,000 has been expended on college buildings. This has been effected exclusively on the voluntary princi