PREFACE. THE last hours of another year have overtaken us, demanding, with a voice of authority, the production of a Preface, to complete this the last Number of the Tenth Volume of the CHRISTIAN WITNESS. The fact we feel to be, in a high degree, monitory. The tide of life, without a moment's cessation, is rolling on; and those who now are, and all that are yet to be, it will, in due season, bear into eternity. We reflect with solemnity upon the fact, that the CHRISTIAN WITNESS has already run a course which extends to one-third part of the period allotted to the earthly sojourn of a generation; that no small portion of its original Subscribers and Readers have ceased from their labours; and that, at a day not distant, the vast remainder, with Ourselves, and all our Contributors, will have slept with their fathers. May all receive the wisdom to profit from the fact, and be enabled to "labour while it is day, since the night cometh, when no man can work"! The year just closed has been, in all respects, one of an unusual character. In secular things, England has been distinguished by unexampled prosperity, with very little in the way of general drawback. The Cholera, to be sure, has again visited her shores, and made great havoc in one of her populous localities. In Newcastle and its vicinity many a hearth, surrounded with happiness this time twelvemonths, is now sad and desolate. The calamity there, however, is happily abated; and in no other district, with one or two partial exceptions, has it yet set in with severity, although, in a number of places, the note of warning has been sounded, in one or more cases of attack, with fatal issue. The state of Religion generally, there is reason to hope, is, at any rate, not worse than when the year began. If, in most cases, it be still low, it is nevertheless encouraging to find that here and there ministers and churches are awaking to their true state, while they long, look, pray, and labour for that baptism which will issue in the removal of thorns and briars, and in the re-appearance of the fruitful field. Several meetings of ministers have, in the course of the year, been held, of a deeply solemn character, from which it is believed that the ministers themselves, and in consequence their flocks, have been largely profited. The work of Chapel-Building has been going forward in a manner not a little cheering. While much has been done already to advance the cause, purposes are cherished, and plans are in operation, of great promise. As to the churches of the land generally, of the Independent order, very little has occurred to disturb the quiet of the community. A few pastors, eminent for character and for service, and who have been happily spared till the frailties of age have overtaken them, have retired from their labours; and in consequence, a number of important pulpits have been rendered vacant. The whole of the Colleges are in a settled, comfortable condition; all that is needful to fill up the cup of their felicity being an increase of suitable men as candidates for the ministry. The year has been signalized by several great events, amongst which are the Jubilees of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of the Sunday-school Union. The mode in which it has been wisely determined to celebrate these important occurrences has been productive of a large amount of activity among both the Evangelical Churches and the Sunday-schools of the Empire. These means, apart from the noble ends pursued, cannot fail of good and great results. A 2 To these things must be added the wonderful, the unparalleled movement of China, which has given a vast impulse to the cause of Missions, more especially as it relates to those of the London Missionary Society. There is now reason to believe that the complete opening of that vast region-the residence of a third of the human family -is at hand. The responsibility that will then attach to the Christian Church will be very great, and we doubt not that she will have both the grace and the wisdom properly to meet it. The first place in the affairs of China is, of course, occupied by the London Missionary Society, whose Representatives enjoy the unexampled honour, instrumentally, of giving birth to this mighty revolution, for the whole may be traced up to their labours. Never was there a period when it was so incumbent on the Church of Christ, throughout the whole of Christendom, to repair to the throne of God, in connection with the work of Evangelization. Never was there such need for a mighty effusion of heavenly power, both for England and for China. The Head of the Heathen is now making bare his arm in the sight of the nations, in the operation of his Providence; and there can be no doubt that it is with a view, ultimately, to the equal manifestation of his grace. China has been hitherto one great temple of idolatry; it was said to be easier there to find a god than a man! Now the gods are in a fair way of being utterly abolished, and cast to the moles and to the bats, into the fiery furnace or the flowing stream. Among the other wants of the hour will be the want of men. It will remain, therefore, for the Churches to pray, with a measure of faith and fervour to which they have long been strangers, that "the Lord of the harvest would send forth labourers into his harvest." If China shall be opened, she alone will require, in order to meet her necessities, even in a small degree, an amount of Missionary Agency greater far than the whole of the limited host of Evangelists now in the field. This, then, is a point in which the Church in general, and all her Academic Institutions, are most deeply concerned. The work of Emigration has been going steadily on throughout the year, and even now, there is reason to believe, it has suffered but little abatement. The turn which things have taken in Australia, however, is serious. The accession to the population there has exceeded the provision that could be made for them, almost beyond conception; and hence the sufferings to which multitudes have been exposed are absolutely frightful. People seem to have set ordinary prudence at defiance, and with open eyes, and in the teeth of the most impressive warnings, to have plunged into the vortex of difficulty, distress, and tribulation! Had the emigration of two years been spread over seven, the whole of the good might have been realized without any of the evil. As it is, the good will be purchased at an expense of affliction which it is terrible to contemplate. Considerable numbers of the emigrants are from Independent churches; these will most materially contribute to strengthen churches of the same faith and order in Australia. This fact speaks loudly to the Churches at home. The Colonial Missionary Society has listened to the pressing appeal, and already sent forth a number of excellent ministers to aid in meeting the necessities of the case, and in strengthening the hands of the Colonial pastors. In conclusion, we have to place in the hands of our readers our Volume for the year 1853, with fervent desires that the truths here taught may prove increasingly dear to them, and the causes here pleaded may take a still stronger hold upon their affections. Thanking them all and sundry for their kindness and confidence, and all who have in any way aided our enterprise, for their co-operation, we wish them for the year now beginning every blessing both for time and eternity. J. C. |