Foreign Mission J ournal
E*uI)1InI..(1 Monthly by thtj Foreign
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Ins loll Hoard of ehc Southern HnpIlNt Convention.
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I‘I‘ POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE , THEREFORE , AND TEACH ALL NATIONS
Vol. 9. — New Series.
RICHMOND, VA., AUGUST, 1877.
No. 5.— Whole No. 89
foreign mission journal
RATES PER ANNUM:
.M eta.
. JO " n copy.
One copy . ••••• .
Klvoor more copies, to one person .
Twenty or morn copies, lo onn person
i'|(ty or morn copies, to one person . !U
WPleaso remit by Draft, I’osml Oriler, or In Ileijlstered
LClUrAdclres«, FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL,
ItICIISIONO, V.t.
Of THE 80UTHEKN BAPTIST CONVENTION,
Located at UICHMONI), VIRGINIA.
PiiE.4inr.NT-J. L. M. CURRY.
ViCE-Pnr-siDENTit.— Illrnm Wootls, Mil., J. A. Duckett,
Mia.. P. Courtney, I.a , J. it. Jeter,
Та..
H. I). McOallum,
Fla., W M Wlnpate, N. O.. J. I., Burrows, Ky„ S. Hen¬
derson, Alab.-nn. W. I’opo Yeumuli, Mo, J. It. I.mk, Texas,
II, II.' Tucker, (In., J. U, Furman, S. (J., Matt. lUllstnnu,
Tenn., J. It. Jloono, Ark.
Oobkkainmiiimi Secretary— II. A. TUPPEH.
Til EAKL'H EH — J , U. WILLIAMS.
lUCOiitilNil Sec a eta it v — W, II. GWATIIMEY.
At'oiTOit— JOSEPH K. COTTRELL.
Полно
OK Mavaokiis.— K. \V. Warren, J. II. AVntkln*. H.
K. Ellyson, W. K. Hatcher, E. Wortham, Henry McDonald,
W Ooddln, II. II. Harris.
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E. Dickinson, J. W. Jones, A. It.
Clnrke, J. ,11. Winston, T. J. Evans, U, II. Winston, J. II.
Qarllck. _ _
t3TAU communications in reference to the business
of tbs Board should be addressed to II. A. Tuiter,
Cbrt • .ponding Secretary, Richmond, Va.
FORM OP BEQUEST.
“[ hereby give and bequeath unto (be Southern
Baptist Convention, formed in Augusta, Georgia,
in the month of .May, 1845, and chartered by the
Legislature of the State of Georgia, by tin act
passnd mill approved December liiltlt, 1S45, ( here
insert the amount , if in money, or 'subject,' if
other proj>erty, either real or personal,) for Foreign
Missions.”
OUR CLUB BATE8.'
As lias been heretofore stated the Journal is
published by the Foreign Mission Hoard— any gain
"ill go into tlie treasury, any loss must be paid out
ot funds contributed for missions. We are, tiiere-
iorc, very anxious to make the paper at least self-
sustaining, and if possible a source of some rev¬
enue. Our rates were lixed with tills end in view,
and If subscribers continue to come in as rapidly as
they have done in the last month, our aim will be
reached, To clubs of live or more the Journal
Is offered at reduced rates, partly to increase its cir¬
culation, but chielly because it costs less to send a
number of copies to one person than to send the
ssme to as many dlll'ercnt persons. For example:
To send fifty copies to one address for a year, re¬
quires 43 to write the name and post-olilce but four-
tcea times, on caslt book, mailing book and wrap¬
pers, and takes but six hundred foldings, twelve
pastings, and three sheets of wrapping paper ; to
send the same to fifty separate addresses, requires
seven hundred writings of name and post-offlcc,
twenty-four hundred foldings, six hundred pastings,
end thirty-seven and a half sheets of manilla pa¬
per. We hope this explanation will bo- accepted
bp those who have sent us long lists of names with
oriy> thirty, or (in one case) twenty-five cents
eplece, instead of sending the money and just one
n««e and! Post-office.
•pet us not be weary in well doing, for In due
. we shall reap If we faint not.
HOW TO GET UP A CLUB.
Wo spent a day very pleasantly last month In
the Mecca of Southern Baptists. Having received
from there a number of single subscribers and a
large club besides, wo made some Inquiries as
to how it was managed. We learned that soon
after the publication was resumed, attention was
called to it by a prominent member in the Wed¬
nesday night prayer-meeting. The pastor then
called the Ladles’ Missionary Society together and
divided the list of church-members among them,
with a request that they would call oil one at least
In every family. He hoped to get a club of twenty,
and therefore suggested to them to collect thirty
cents of each subscriber. The ladies went to work
at once, not even waiting for the pastor to call at¬
tention to it, as lie did on the Sunday following.
Behold tiie result. They take seventy-seven copies,
every one of which being paid for by the subscriber,
is read; they have sent us $10.25, and put the re¬
mainder $3.S5, into the Treasury. The papers are
sent to one of the ladles, who opens the bundle,
writes the names of subscribers on their papers and
distributes them through the Sunday-school. We
doubt whether any other society In the whole south
is doing more to cultivate the missionary spirit than
the Ladles’ Missionary Society, of Greenville, S. C.
spring? How can the Board venture to send back
to China the laborers who arc so anxious to return,
if we must wait till April or May for funds to sup¬
port those already there?
THE DROUTH OF SUMMER.
To support the various operations in which the
Board is engaged costs about $2,500 a month. The
expenses are nearly uniform, but unfortunately a
great many of the contributors on whom we rely,
have fallen Into the habit of deferring their gifts
till winter or spring— near the close of our fiscal
year. Thus it happens almost every year, that
though free of debt-at the meeting of the Conven¬
tion, in a few months thereafter the Board gets be¬
hindhand anil is compelled to borrow money to
prevent suffering among its employees in foreign
lands. Look back at the receipts acknowledged In
the .JOURNAL. In April the aggregate was $4,742.-
10, in May $3,290;00, In June $2,305.03, In July
fl, 873.59, and in tills number only $1,005.09. We
see very plainly why and how tills habit lias grown
up, and we do not complain at all, nor should we
desire any church that has a good system of con¬
tributions, if it is working well, to depart from it,
hut we call attention to the subject in order to urge
those who intend to contribute, and can do so now
as easily as hereafter, to send on their gifts at once,
and in order further to excite the Christian inge¬
nuity of our readers, to devise some means by which
the difficulty may be obviated, or at least allayed.
Some of our readers get an Income by raising or
handlin'" wheat and other grain now ready .for
market— and we rejoice to hear that unusually fine
crops have been harvested-perhaps they could
make au offering to the Lord of the first fruits.
Otliers there may be who can give now as well as
‘^BuUoTingenulty we turn to woraan-can’t the
ladles, whether at home or assembled at popular
places of summer resort, devise some plan to help
us through the present emergency? In a dry sca-
son even a slight shower is very refreshing. How
can our missionaries In Africa live and carry on thejr
к, К
they get no more remittances till next
J work,
A FLEASING INCIDENT.
Passing the other day through Atlanta, Ga., wo
spent six or seven hours most pleasantly, thanks to
tlie courtesy of Brother Butler, of the Index, our
old friend Gwlnn, and others. Brother B. intro¬
duced us in the spacious hall of the Markham
House to a group consisting of three members of
the Constitutional Convention, which had met only
tlie day before, and a prominent state official.
They were engaged, as we approached, In earnest
conversation — on politics, of course? No, but on
the interests of religion and the progress of Bap¬
tist principles In the several sections which they
represented. Alt, how delightful it is to one, hun¬
dreds of miles away from his place of abode, to be
thus made to feel that lie is at home and among
brethren. Christianity can bind the whole world
together.
THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY MAGAZINE
for July, 1877, contains minutes of the G3d anniver¬
sary of the American Baptist Missionary Union,
held in Providence May 22d-23tl, together with the
annual reports there presented. The Treasurer
reported the entire receipts of the year, (including
the three great woman’s societies, and other auxil¬
iaries) at $238,777.10, leaving a balance against the
Union of $47,301.51. Tlie report of work in for¬
eign lands is deeply interesting— we have room
only for a summary. The Union lias missions in
Burmah, Assam, India, China, Japan, Sweden,
Germany, France, Spain and Greece, employing
13S missionaries and 950 native preachers. They
have 790 churches, into which were baptized during
the year 5,004 persons, making a total membership '
of 03,445.
The chief interest of the meeting was aroused
by a paper read by Dr. Murdock, Corresponding
Secretary, propounding the momentous question:
“Shall we reduce the scale of our missions?” The
assembled brethren, and others co-operating by
telegraph, nobly responded by raising with great
enthusiasm, and in a few hours, the large amount
reported as a “balance against, the Union.” So it
enters on its 04th year with hopes of being able to
enlarge instead of having to contract its operations.
We notice that the periodicals published by the
Union, the Magazine, the Macedonian and the
Helping Hand, all cost considerably more than the
amount received from subscribers.
THE CONFERENCE OF MISSIONARIES.
The conference of missionaries at Shanghai
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done much to perfect the plans and stimulate the
zeal of our laborers In China. We look for good re- •
suits to show themselves in the present and in com¬
ing years. Full and interesting reports of the pa¬
pers and discussions have been furnished by Dr. R.
H. Graves to tlie Religions Herald. We have also
full reports in the Celestial Empire , a weekly pub¬
lished at Shanghai, from. which we proposo to give'1
some extracts as soon as we can find room. "