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The New Zealand Evangelist

Belgium.—The Evangelical Society

Belgium.—The Evangelical Society.

Extract of a speech of the Rev. Mr. Anet, of Brussels, in the General Assembly of the Free Church in Edinburgh, in May last:—

The Church of which I am pastor in Brussels, does not belong to the Evangelical Society. Thank God, its own resources are sufficient for its support. Thus my mission to you has reference solely to the Belgian Evangelical Society. I regret that necessity compels me to solicit your co-operation in favour of Belgium.— But you will consider this. We ourselves are strangers in Belgium, and we have come to it for the sole purpose of endeavouring to unseat two usurpers, Popery and Infidelity, and to establish in it the sale authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. Were it possible for us to accomplish this alone, we should not seek to share our triumph with any. We should be too glad to have all the honour of it to ourselves. But we are compelled to beg you to share with us the labour and the triumph. If you will help us to sow the seed, with us you shall reap the harvest. And the field which we ask you to aid us in cultivating is no barren or ungrateful soil. Already it yields the first fruits of an abundant harvest. Already many churches have been formed in connection with the Belgian Evangelical Society; and thousands of persons are inquiring after the way of life. At no former period has Belginm been visited with so remarkable an awakening, or offered openings so inviting. Our Society has now twenty-six labourers in the field as ministers of the gospel, teachers in the schools, venders of tracts. All the parts of our work continue to prosper. In all our churches piety is taking root, and by its fruit the growth of faith has been manifested. This growth in spiritual life is developed in the midst of great difficulties, and is frequently accompanied by violent sensations and spiritual struggles. But these struggles prove the presence of the Divine spirit; and we can say with shouts of triumph that God thus marks all our stations with holiness and spiritual life, which attests that we have not laboured in vain. Our colporteurs, conveying tracts and religious books through the country, discover very frequently places fully ripe for the preaching of the gospel. If we had but means to support ministers, we could assemble congregations in all directions to attend the preaching of the Cross. And what is particularly worthy of attention, and makes us feel the necessity of redoubling our activity is, that those souls who, in a hundred different directions, oceupy their minds with serious subjects, are actuated, not by negative wants, but they come to us because they find no solid food in the Church of Rome, They cannot find rest to their souls,—they come to us to direct them to the fountain of living water, that they may drink and thirst no more. The important and industrious town of Verviers is now the theatre of a remarkable revival. One of our Missionaries page 208 has visited this station twice a week for more than twelve months, preaching the Word of Life to numerous and attentive assemblies. There is an urgent want of a stationary missionary. In another important town of the province of Namur, we have a small body of serious persons earnestly desiring that the Lord may send them messengers of good news; and at a small distance from thence resides anobleman, formerly a Roman Catholic, who has already built a chapel, although he has no minister to preach in it. We have many more localities which present stations fully prepared to receive the gospel of peace. In order to distribute tracts and religious books more abundantly and generally, we have just opened a religious bookshop in Brussels, which was much wanted, so that we find ourselves pressed on all sides for ministers of the gospel and school masters. The spirit of God breathes upon dry bones, life is created, and a fervent demand for nourishment is the consequence. Besides, our enemy presents himself in all shapes and on all sides; he must be combated to the last; the kingdom of Christ must be defended foot by foot, inch by inch. Unbelief in all its force,—immorality in all its hideous forms,—superstition with its numerous convents, and houses of education under the direction of the sons of Loyola and their associates, who seek, in great numbers, in our liberal country, a refuge from all parts from whence they are driven; these are the enemies which we must face and fight, and whom, with your assistance, we desire to fight with increased erergy and devotion.