fund; but, to render it efficient and worthy of its object, a much larger sum must be raised. It is presumed that nothing is necessary in order to secure pecuniary aid, but to convince our generous friends that the plan proposed is necessary, practicable, and excellent. The necessity for additional effort to liquidate our chapel debts is, alas! painfully evident. They probably amount to about £200,000; the interest is rarely less than five per cent., nearly £10,000 is thus yearly lost. The demand is primary and inexorable. The pastor, the poor, and our religious societies, may be neglected, but the interest must be paid. In twenty years the amount of the debt is expended, yet it remains undiminished; thus the generosity of the church has neither promoted their spiritual advantage nor lessened their pecuniary liabilities. These debts must constantly recur, for some time past they have been apparently increasing. Our very prosperity involves this. Enlargements and new erections must follow the increase of our numbers; if these numbers are, as they ought to be, gathered from the world, they have not been accustomed to liberal giving, nor can they be taught it in a moment; if, as for the most part they will be, they are poor, they cannot give as required. It is a pity when success is regarded as involving a calamity, yet an esteemed brother says, "We are afraid we shall have to enlarge our place." It is, of course, easy for those who can help themselves to say, These debts should never be incurred; they would feel very differently if the inevitable alternative were to arrest the progress of a promising spiritual work. The old branch of the Building Fund cannot meet the demand. Its annual receipts are not much more than half what they were at the beginning. About eighty cases are waiting their turn for relief, and years must elapse before they can obtain it. Complaints and entreaties grow louder and more numerous from all parts of the kingdom. We cannot dam up the flood of importunity much longer, and if our feeble barriers are once swept away, we shall be thrown back to all the waste, annoyance, and unfairness of the old "case" system, aggravated, inconceivably, by the keener solicitude of those who have been long restrained from asking, and the inaptitude to give of those who have been screened from applications. The plan proposed has many and great advantages. That it is appreciated by the churches, is proved by the fact, that applications for aid have already been received to the amount of about £10,000. It is purely eleemosynary, it creates no El Dorado by enchantment; it promises no miraculous gains by joint stock associations; it asks the strong to help the weak, or rather to aid them in helping themselves; it lends them a certain suin, on good security, but without interest; it sets before them an object, definite, atVOL. IX.-FOURTH SERIES, tainable, to return a twentieth part of the sum half yearly; it promises to regulate and encourage exertion, while the clear sum given, in the amount of interest saved, is between £50 and £60. The sums so returned will be immediately reissued, repeating the work of beneficence, with undecaying energy. Were a smaller amount given it would do good, but by lending a larger amount, you furnish a greater immediate relief, stimulate effort, and transmit these benefits, almost unimpaired, from generation to generation. It was by this plan, essentially, that the late T. Wilson, Esq. erected so many and such splendid chapels. If large donations can be obtained at once, the collector's poundage may be saved, and the services of the officers are gratuitous. The plan is, therefore, inexpensive. The only serious objection that is anticipated, arises from the supposed impossibility of securing the repayment of the loans. In the absence of experience no one can reasonably speak with absolute confidence. No fears, however, are expressed concerning the securities of joint stock building societies, whose rules can scarcely be more stringent than ours. The utmost care will be taken by the committee to obtain good securities. No case will be relieved which is unsatisfactory in this respect. To the legal bond, there will be superadded that of gratitude and Christian reputation. The debt begins to be repaid immediately, while the first impulse of energy is strong, and if afterwards it should grow feeble, it will have proportionately less to accomplish. It is impossible to argue from private loans to those here contemplated; a person rarely lends to a chapel case, except when he has some connexion with it, which at once tempts others to impose on his generosity, and hinders him from legally enforcing payment. A committee would feel compelled to protect their constituents. The agreement is explicit and mutual, that full payment shall be enforced if the half-yearly twentieth is not punctually returned. But come the worst the money will only have been given to chapels properly in trust for the denomination. A similar fund has already been formed in Liverpool, suggested by the formation of this, and to it three times as much has been subscribed as we have received. Our treasurer has contributed £100, and some others have made conditional promises. The issue must be left with the more opulent and thoughtful of our Christian friends. Here is no room for excitement or fancy, it requires a mind that can calmly investigate plain yet weighty facts, and a steady will to resolve on doing what those facts may require. Any suggestions, contributions, or promises, conditional or otherwise, will be thankfully received by the treasurer, Joseph Fletcher, Esq., Limehouse, by my brother Mr. Stovel, or myself. I am very truly yours, J. ALDIS. Maze Pond, March 11, 1846. 21 THE ANNOYANCE OF BEGGING CASES. To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. MR. EDITOR.-I had almost hoped that the system of Chapel-begging itineracy had ceased from the land by universal condemnation. But of late it seems to have been revived in its worst form-that of ministers travelling far from home into distant counties where their names had never been heard before, coming upon a pastor and his people, without any previous inquiry as to the convenience or practicability of receiving their cases, and all but demanding to be taken by the hand as cordially as though they had come by particular request. I have been happily settled in a county town for about a quarter of a century, over a people who have never been reluctant or ungenerous in promoting the cause of Christ at home or abroad. During the last year, with combined effort, they have paid off a remain ing chapel debt of £300; and now we have home missionary chapels and stations which, with our brethren in the county, we are pledged to support, and which we are resolved to do, in preference to any distant and unknown cases, Let every county do the same, and the wasteful system of begging hundreds of miles from home, will be as unnecessary as it is annoying. But there is one particular kind of annoy. ance which has destroyed my peace for many a sabbath, and it has occurred to me twice within the last month. On a Saturday evening, an entire stranger comes to your door with cloak, carpet-bag, &c., just off the coach, announcing himself a baptist minister from somewhere, at a great distance, with a begging case; and of course expecting that you will leave your study, go about the town to procure him a lodging for as many days as he please, put him into your pulpit the next day, though you know nothing of his character or principles, and recommend his case, or be subject to the charge of unkindness and want of brotherly love. Now Sir, I ask, is this kind? is it honourable thus to pounce, unexpected and uninvited, on a Christian brother? The postage of a letter is not so expensive a matter as to furnish a reason for not previously writing to ascertain whether it be convenient or practicable to receive a case. And as I know the conduct which has given occasion to these animadversions is now generally disapproved, it is hoped, if ministers must go into unknown regions with their begging cases, they will at least first ascertain whether they are welcome; for surely no minister of right feeling would quarter himself, sabbath after sabbath, upon pastors and churches, without previous arrangement. In addition to these evils, it consists with my knowledge that it is not uncommon for ministers, who pay these unceremonious and annoying visits, to collect less than the expenditure necessary to their travelling. In these cases, if some benevolent persons, in A CONSTANT READER. ARRIVAL OF THE LATE REV. J. MACK AT To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. MY DEAR SIR,-I observed in an interesting account of the late Rev. J. Mack, an inaccuracy relative to the time of his arrival in Bengal, and it has occurred to me that I might, with propriety, correct it. I am the only surviving brother of the party that sailed in the Abbertan. I shall never forget the day when I first saw together the beloved and venerable brethren, Carey, Marshman, and Ward, and their wives and families. The party on board the Abbertan, which I am, your helper in Christ, EXPENDITURE OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. DEAR SIR,-I was much gratified by the varied information afforded by the supple ment annexed to the December number, and have no doubt that your numerous readers participate with me in that feeling. I was particularly pleased that you did not confine your summary to our denominational statistics but presented us with those of various other societies. The value of accurate statistical tables can hardly be over-rated. They furnish the best materials for forming a correct judgment of communities, systems, and institutions; and furnish the only sound basis of legislation and government. On examining the summaries of the proceedings of the different societies, presented in your supplement, I have no doubt various ideas have been suggested to many of your readers, the communication of which might be useful to those friends to whom the deliberative and the executive of these societies have been committed. Knowing somewhat of the responsibility which attaches to the management of religious and benevolent Focieties, I would, in the most friendly spirit, submit the following observations. I was struck with one circumstance which is common to almost the whole of these institutions-THE EXPENDITURE EXCEEDS THE INCOME. This seems a very awkward state of things, but it is and has been so common that it does not usually strike us as noticeable. I am persuaded, however, it is deserving of very particular notice, and demands immediate rectification wherever it exists. I am aware that some good men have actually pleaded that a religious society OUGHT to get into debt, in order to furnish the managers with a persuasive argument to induce the liberality of the public. Such views, however, I believe, are becoming more rare than they were thirty years ago. They ought to be unequivocally condemned and universally renounced. Nor ought the sentiment only to be renounced,-SO SHOULD THE PRAC TICE. Permit me to submit some reasons for this opinion; in other words, some reasons for urging a change in the general mode of conducting the affairs of such societies. There is, first, the great moral obligation, so expressly enjoined in scripture, "Owe 10 man any thing," Rom. xiii. 8. I am quite aware that according to the established usage of society it is impracticable to conform, literally, to this precept; but that individual, that family, and that society, which makes the nearest approach to a literal conformity to this precept in pecuniary transactions, is the most respectable, the most commendable. Again, there is an important general principle stated in scripture, which has a direct bearing on this subject, which is frequently overlooked," If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that a man hath not," 2 Cor. viii. 12. It may be painful to resist entreaties for extended operations. New and promising fields of usefulness may open, and numerous and urgent may be the calls, "Come over and help us." Such calls may legitimately lead to exertions, in order to increase the funds of such societies; and if, by such exertions, these calls can be responded to, and the requisite "ways and means" provided, far be it from me to discourage extended operations, which have for their object the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or even the amelioration of the moral and physical condition of our fellow-men. But before additional LIABILITIES be undertaken, let the means of defraying them honestly, regularly, and permanently, be ascertained. Further, the practice of allowing the expenditure of religious societies to exceed the income (if not restricted to very particu lar emergencies), is productive of many injurious consequences. It gives to the world an unfair and unfavourable exhibition of religion. Every man knows that the expenditure, in all cases, ought to be within the income; and yet, were any man to take up your December number, and look over the supplement, what conclusion must he come to but that all dissenting denominations, baptists, congregationalists, and Wesleyan methodists-that all societies, missionary societies, school unions, and others, had lost sight of this obvious, imperative rule. The practice in question involves the soci eties in embarrassments, distracts the attention of their managers from the legitimate business which should engage it, exacts unfair advances from the treasurer, or throws peculiar liabilities on some of the members of the committee, and renders necessary special appeals to the subscribers and the public, the frequent recurrence of which has an unfavour able influence even on the real friends of such societies. I am aware that sometimes such appeals are unavoidable, and have elicited some noble examples of Christian generosity and philanthropy; but what I wish to guard against, is the SYSTEM of conducting such societies in such a way as clearly to involve the necessity of a permanent debt to the treasurer, or the frequent recurrence of such special appeals to the public. Both are wrong, and ought to be avoided. It may be painful to the managers to resist urgent entreaties for additional missionaries or teachers, and much more painful to reduce the number of those who have been previously employed: yet it may be necessary. If the funds are not adequate to the expense, and cannot be permanently increased, then the necessity must be submitted to. We must be just before we are generous. It is accepted according to that a society has, and not according to that it has not. I make no apology for the freedom of these remarks; they are presented in a friendly spirit. I hope they will be received accordingly; and so far as they are in harmony with scripture and moral rectitude, let them be ACTED ON; in so far as they deviate from these, let them be neglected! In the evening, a sermon on behalf of the Baptist Irish Society is to be preached at the chapel in John Street, near Gray's Inn Lane, by Mr. Nicholson of Plymouth. ate from these, let them on MONDAY! the 27th, Itel subscribers to The same general principles which have the Baptist Irish Society, and all baptist been adverted to may be applied, with certain ministers friendly to its principles, are invited modifications, to chapel debts (a very dange- to meet the committee in the Library at rous, troublesome incumbrance), to family Moorgate Street, to hear details of the proand personal expenditure. But I forbear-ceedings of the year, and offer any suggesremarking only, in conclusion, that a great tions that may occur to them in reference to part of practical religion consists in self-de- the society's interests. nial. For the exercise of this virtue our Lord leads us to expect daily calls, and has taught that the man who is not prepared to deny himself cannot be his disciple. Were this test uniformly and honestly applied, would not many professors be UN-DISCIPLED? And do any imagine that that test will not be so applied ? A FRIEND, EDITORIAL POSTSCRIPT. The arrangements for meetings in London at the close of this month, as far as we can at present ascertain, are as follows. They will open, in the same manner as last year, with a meeting for prayer, in the Library at the Mission House, on THURSDAY morning, 23rd instant, at eleven o'clock. At the conclusion of this exercise, at one o'clock, a meeting of the gentlemen composing the Conference on Ministerial Education, which was adjourned from the 24th of October last, will be held in the same place. The same evening, a sermon will be preached on behalf of the Baptist Missionary Society, by Mr. Griffiths of Accrington, at Surrey Chapel. Service to commence at half-past six. ON FRIDAY morning, the 24th instant, a meeting of the subscribers to the Baptist Home Missionary Society and ministers friendly to its objects, is to be held at the Mission House, when, in conformity with a resolution passed at a similar meeting last year, a revised constitution, prepared by the committee, will be presented for approval. Two meetings will be held in the afternoon, at two o'clock, one at New Park Street Chapel, and one at John Street Chapel, for the special advantage of young friends connected with Juvenile Auxiliaries to the Baptist Missionary Society. The same evening, the annual public meeting of the Baptist Home Missionary Society will be held in Finsbury Chapel, the chair to be taken at six. Tea will be provided at five," at the White Hart Tavern, near Bishopsgate church. On TUESDAY morning, at ten o'clock, the annual private meeting of the members of the Baptist Missionary Society will be held in the Library, for the choice of officers and committee for the ensuing year, and the transaction of other business. In the evening, at half-past six, the annual meeting of the Baptist Irish Society will be held at Finsbury Chapel. The chair to be taken by J. L. Phillips, Esq., of Melksham. On WEDNESDAY, the 29th, a sermon will be preached at the Poultry Chapel, on behalf of the Baptist Missionary Society, by the Rev. James Hamilton of Regent Square, London. Service to begin at eleven. The same evening, the annual meeting of the Bible Translation Society will be held at the chapel in New Park Street. On THURSDAY morning, the 30th, at ten, the annual public meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society is to be held in Exeter Hall; admission to which is by ticket, obtainable at the Mission House, or in the vestries of chapels. S. M. Peto, Esq., has engaged to preside. In the evening, at an adjourned meeting to commence at half-past six, at Surrey Chapel, the chair is to be taken by Sir Edward North Buxton, Bart. ON FRIDAY morning, May the 1st, ministers who were educated at Bristol, Bradford, or Stepney College, intend to meet at the Guildhall Coffee House, King Street, Cheapside. A separate breakfast for each college will be provided, at half-past eight, and afterwards an opportunity will be afforded for united conference. The expense, including breakfast is not to exceed two shillings each. |