Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

cal towns in the Lebanon, and in old Damascus itself, your publications and gifts are scattered." For the increasing number of schools, and consequently increased number of readers, a large proportion of whom learn English, increased supplies of books, &c., are needed; and Mrs. B. Thompson again applies, with the recommendation, as before, of her brother-in-law, Mr. H. Smith, of Morden college (one of the oldest members of the society), for a grant of English bibles and prayerbooks, two dozen copies of " Nichols' Help," scripture prints and maps, twelve French prayer-books, Arabic prayer-books and psalms, and Arabic portions of scripture in tracts, and a few Turkish and Armenian prayer books. Mrs. Smith, Mrs. B. Thompson's sister, has since heard that demands have reached them from the "Giant Cities of Bashan" for teachers and books, which cannot yet be supplied. It was agreed, on the recommendation of the standing committee, to grant the books, &c., asked for, to the amount of £10.

The rev. F. S. May, hon. secretary of the Moslem Missionary Society, asked for a grant of tracts in Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, and French, also portions of the holy scriptures in those languages. The connexion of the society is with the church of England; and they at no interference with native Christians. The books would be distributed under the supervision of Mr. James H. Skene, H.B.M. consul at Aleppo. It was agreed, on the recommendation of the standing commmittee, to grant these tracts to the amount of £5.

66

"And when the standing committee are satisfied with the arrangements made for constituting the persons in whom the appointment of bishop of the proposed bishopric shall be vested." The amendment was negatived; and the original motion having been then put from the chair, was carried.

Pursuant to notice given at the last meeting, the standing committee proposed, That there be placed at the disposal of the bishop of Mauritius the sum of £1,000, viz., £700 towards the rebuilding and restoration of the churches throughout the island which have been destroyed and damaged by the late hurricane, and £300 for the restoration and rebuilding of the schools." The proposal of the standing committee was adopted by the board.

The secretaries reminded the board of the announcement made by the standing committee at the general meeting of the society on Tuesday, February 2, that a special committee had been appointed "to consider the expediency of initiating a system of organizing, improving, and inspecting Sunday-schools; and that a sum of £2,000 had been set apart to be applied (if thought desirable by the special committee and the standing comaimmittee, and if approved by the board) to this purpose." The special committee had invited the attendance and co-operation of several clergymen and laymen, who had knowledge of and took an interest in Sunday-schools; and letters had been addressed to many persons unable to attend the meetings, asking for information and suggestions, with special refer ence to the assistance which could be given by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge for the improvement of Sunday-schools. A report from the special committee had been laid before the standing committee, who now submitted to the board the following resolu tions: 1. That, with a view to the improvement of Sunday-schools, it is desirable that a system of visiting them should be instituted by the society. 2. That a committee of the society be appointed by the standing committee to initiate and superintend the system, to be called the 'Sunday-school committee.' 3. That one or more visitors be appointed by the Sunday-school committee, with the approval of the standing committee. 4. That the duties of the visitor or visitors, subject to future revision, be: (a) To be ready, on the invitation of the clergyman of any parish, to give him, in correspon dence or conversation, such advice or information as he may desire, with a view to the better organization, arrangement, and regulation of his Sunday-school; (b) To be ready to go down to the parish, meet the Sundayschool teachers, give them a lecture or paper on the subject of managing their classes, visit the school, and give training lessons; (c) To be ready also to visit Sundayschools, with the permission of the clergy, in order to observe and tabulate the different systems pursued, and to make observations on paper, to be communicated to the clergyman of the parish and to the Sunday-school committee, as to the merits and demerits of each system. 5. That it be one of the functions of the Sunday-school committee to prepare a list of publications recommended for Sunday-schools. The rev. W. G. Humphry, trea surer, then gave notice that at the next general meeting of the society, on Tuesday, June 1, he should move the adoption of the above resolutions; and also that, at the same time, he should further move that the sum of £2,000, as above mentioned, be placed at the disposal of the standing committee for the carrying out of these resolutions.

The following letter (1st of May, 1869) addressed to the secretaries by their former colleague, the rev. J. D. Glennie, was read to the meeting: You know with what regret I felt myself constrained, in consequence of the accident I met with in December, to resign my official connexion with the society as one of its secretaries. I felt, and I still feel, that under the serious effects of that accident I could not, in justice to the society or with comfort to myself, continue any longer to hold that office. My object in writing to you now is to request that you will do me the favour to convey on my behalf to the standing committee on Monday, as well as to the board on the following day, an expression of the deep and grateful sense I entertain of their kindness towards me, and of their favourable appreciation of my past services, as manifested in the very liberal pension which they have been pleased to award to me on my retirement. At the same time I should wish the standing committee and the board to be assured that, in connexion with the foreign translation committee, of which his grace the president has done me the honour to nominate me a member, I shall esteem it as both a privilege and a pleasure to continue to be associated in some measure with the society's operations, and shall hope, as long as it may please God to grant me health and strength sufficient for the work, to be still of some service to the venerable society in that special department of its labours for promoting Christian knowledge."

Pursuant to notice given at the last meeting, when it was stated to the board that it was felt that the time had now arrived for making a vigorous effort to provide episcopal superintendence for Madagascar, and that the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge should show its sympathy with the great Christian work now going on in that important island, the standing committee proposed, "That the sum of £1,000 be placed at the head of the subscription-list, as a donation from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in aid of the endowment of a bishopric at Madagascar, such sum to be paid to the trustees of the mission to Madagascar' committee, of which the archbishop of Canterbury is chairman, when £9,000 shall have been actually raised from other sources." To this proposal of the standing committee, Mr. G. J. P. Smith moved as an amendment, seconded by the rev. D. Spencer, that the following words be added:

The secretaries informed the board that his grace the president had appointed the following members of the society to be members of the foreign translation committee: rev. Dr. Barry, rev. Dr. Jacob, rev. A. Mar. tineau, rev. J. D. Glennie, and rev. Walton Kitching. Other business was transacted.

PRINTED BY ROOERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND, LONDON.

« ZurückWeiter »