as we, before we were born, were mere nothings in nature, call down into his soul from heaven, that living and active principle of grace, that should make him a new man, a new creature. Bishop Hopkins. AN ANSWER TO THE INQUIRY, WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE HEATHEN? Addressed to the friends of the Church Missionary Society. We suppose you, Christian Reader, to be aware that at the beginning of the present century, a Society was formed among pious members of the Established Church, for sending Christian Missionaries into heathen lands. You may perhaps have thought, what a glorious work it is to seek the salvation of a soul. You may have been induced occasionally to cast your mite into the Lord's treasury. Yet still it is very possible you have never turned over in your mind the VARIOUS WAYS in which You may assist the Church Missionary Society, in its efforts to enlarge and establish the kingdom of the Redeemer. The object of this address is to lay before you the DIFFERENT MEANS which are, or may be, made use of to help forward this great work. Whether you are rich or poor, learned or unlearned, well known or little known, it is probable, that in glancing over the different heads, you may find an answer for yourself to the inquiry, "What can I do for the good of the heathen?” And if there be one talent, which, up to the present time, has been buried, and useless, will you not hail those as your friends, who point out to you how that talant may be offered as a return of love to Him who loved you and gave himself for you? The Society may be assisted by ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.-At the first Anniversary of the Society, May, 1801, the number of persons who gave their names as Annual Subscribers, was 118; it now amounts to many thousands. To its Annual Subscribers the Society must look, as its most steady supporters. There are friends who have in this way given it their help from its very commencement. plain that two or three hundred persons to whom the Society may look every year for their Subscription will, in the course of ten or twenty years, have added some thousands to the Society's funds! It is DONATIONS.-Various sums, from 17. to 1000l. have been at different times given to the Society. In 1815, a respectable but plain countryman gave, from himself and sister, a Donation of 300%; and on the Secretary's expressing surprise, it was replied, "God, sir, has put it into our power, and He has also given us the will!" In 1816-17, no less a sum than 8001. was contributed by one family as an expression of gratitude to God for an unexpected accession of fortune; and the same spirit influenced a clerical friend who more recently gave 10l. as the return of first fruits to God, for a small living just given him. Other large gifts, many of 100l. some of 5001. 600%. 7001. &c. might be specified, and among them, 10007. lately made over to the Society by a venerated Clergyman. But we would not omit to notice the Blind Basket Girl, who gave Thirty Shillings, and declined the epithet of "poor," because her blindness had occasioned her, during the winter, to save that sum, which her fellow-labourers had expended in candles. Some of the most liberal sums have been nobly given as ANONYMOUS DONATIONS. The Twenty-first Report notices a benefactor who at different times, and under various designations for the purpose of concealment, had given to the Society no less a sum than 2000 guineas. One anonymous friend accompanied a Donation of 500l. with the remark, "I have more applications for charity, than are suitable to my circumstances; but as long as I have any thing left, I cannot deny myself the only gratification which I desire, that of doing good." A "Warwickshire Curate" sent 31. 3s. 7d. a "free-will offering, as part of a fund raised chiefly from the mite of THE POOR on a late fast day." Thus the rich may cast in of their abundance, and the poor give the acceptable offering of gratitude and love. LEGACIES.-Among the Legacies of from 51. or 10%. to 1000/. is one of 1001. three per cents, from Mr. Thomas Mann, a Waterman on the Thames, who by hard labour and economical habits acquired in the course of a long life, a considerable sum of money. He was well known by the name of "the Honest Waterman." WEEKLY, MONTHLY, QUARTERLY, AND OCCASIONAL COLLECTIONS.-The Society is much indebted to those who take the trouble to gather, and to those who make a sacrifice to give, the accustomed penny or shilling. A cold heart may look at a penny, and look at the Society's income of between forty and fifty thousand pounds a year, and think of a drop put into the ocean: yet many drops make an ocean. The weekly penny gives 4s. 4d. a year. A hundred contributors of a penny a week, will in ten years pay the Society 2167. 13s. 4d. And were a third only of our population to give a weekly penny, it would yield much more than a million a year! Out of many pleasing instances of persons making sacrifices, either to collect or contribute, some especially among the poor, we mention one or two. "I took my horse," says a Welch Clergyman, with the characteristic ardour of his countrymen, "I took my horse, at your summons, and rode forty miles, and called at the doors of the rich, and of the poor, and I send you 231. 1s. 6d. my hard earnings in this noble cause." "I am only a maid-servant," said one in sending her contribution, "who collect from all who are disposed to give, in this my allotted place, the small sum of 6d. quarterly, toward so glorious a cause. I trust you meet with many servants who are exerting themselves in this way, in their own native places: as for myself, I am only a stranger in this small borough: but, blessed be God, He careth for strangers; so why should I forget the poor deluded Heathen?" A Clergyman in the country, who has long been a warm friend of the Society, on forwarding a contribution, writes:-"The collection arises from my own family. All my children have subscribed from the day of their birth; and though my eldest son has entered into, I trust, eternal rest, yet I cannot but continue to put down the long accustomed penny a week." Cards and books for Collectors are kept at the Church Missionary House, 14, Salisbury Square; and any person wishing to become a Collector, may, by applying there, be furnished with every information, and with small Tracts for distribution, which are calculated to excite a Missionary spirit. MISSIONARY BOXES.-These are silent beggars. There is a modesty in the unknown mite, privately put into the box, that seems well to agree with the precept of the Saviour, When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. The Society has provided boxes for receiving the gifts of their friends, which may be had, either plain, to be ornamented according to taste, or neatly covered and varnished. The Missionary Box has found its way not only into the parlour, but the Sunday School, and it gives persons at the heads of families, of Schools, and of large factories an opportunity of setting before those under their care the means of doing their part for the cause of God. A Clergyman in the country recently communicated the following: "In my own Parish I have about twenty Church Missionary Boxes, made at an expense of about 4d. each; and I have every reason to believe, from what has already been obtained, principally by the Sunday-school children, that at the end of the year, each box will contain, upon an average, 28. if not more. At the INN, where a most interesting little deaf and dumb child occasionally is upon a visit to her Grandmamma who keeps it, 8s. have even now been obtained, principally from the mail and coach passengers; to whom, when there, she never fails to present the box, entreating their contributions in a manner peculiar to her dear little self, and which cannot fail of being successful with many." Perhaps the Missionary Box may one day be no uncommon inmate of the Inn, or the respectable Coffee Room. PRAYERS.-One of the first marks of true conversion is prayer; and the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Prayer then, every Christian can give; and what a mighty influence may the prayers of one humble servant of the Lord have on the destinies of heathen nations! One, who has seen the yawning gulf of everlasting ruin, who has fled to Calvary for refuge, and himself knows the sweetness of Immanuel's love; such an one, pleading with his God, often, like wrestling Jacob, has power with Him and prevails. Christian Brethren, do you remember the Missionaries in your closets? do you interest your families in their behalf, by remembering them at the domestic altar? do you join with the assemblies of God's people at Missionary Prayer Meetings? Never did the Lord deeply lay any subject on the hearts of his people, and pour out largely on them the spirit of grace and of supplication on that particular subject, without having an especial design to give the desired blessing in return. We have now, Christian friend, laid before you many ways in which the Church Missionary Society may be assisted, in the hope that you may thus discover what talents, one or more, may have been entrusted to your care, by Him who says Occupy till I come." It was very early said, "CHILDREN and SERVANTS press forward to take their share in this work of charity. The YOUNG members of many families, and the CHILDREN of many Schools, throw into common stocks their little savings, and thus augment in no inconsiderable degree, the funds of the Society. Take one or two instances of humble contributors: A poor woman, with modesty and diffidence, put a twenty shilling note into the hands of the Secretary; but declined, though urged, to give her residence or her name. "I have very little, sir, but that I CAN give." At Bristol, a servant was observed to put into the plate what must have been the tithe of her yearly wages, and a labouring boy at Ipswich, begged the person who provided his food, not to purchase any meat for a week, as he was determined to give the value of his meat to help the poor African children. After this detail, who that has a willing mind, can say, "I can do nothing?" It is recorded of Christ, that he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Remember how that saying was confirmed by the example of His life and death. In conclusion, remember HIм who loved you, and gave himself for you: remember His grace, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. CLOTHING FUND FOR HARD TIMES. One glass of gin costs a poor man three pounds sixteen shillings and one halfpenny in the coure of a year; which sum if laid by, would provide the following comforts and necessa ries of life for himself and family: 0 16 6 0 19 Full-sized man's fustian coat do. fustian trousers, lined 0 7 0 ... ... Balance to lodge in the savings' bank It is well known that women and children's clothes cost much less than men's; the sum of £3. 16s. Oдd. would therefore be enough to buy clothes for one woman and two children. Or, it would be found more than sufficient to pay for coals, soap, and candles, for a family, for the whole year. This being the case, what right has any one to complain of hard times who regularly takes a glass of gin every day, or to expect that others should help him out of difficulties into which his own improvidence has brought him and his family. The consequences of intemperance are truly deplorable, & they effect the present comfort and happiness of families, but this is not the worst-the soul is at stake, and he who indulges in this sin, may die in a drunken fit, and be lost for ever! for respecting drunkards, the Scriptures declare, that they "shall not inherit the kingdom of God!" Awful thought! MORNING HYMN. Awake, my soul, awake, arise, Think of thy home beyond the skies; Shall thy poor tenement of clay, |