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GOOD NEWS FROM SINDH.

INCE the GLEANER was commenced in its present form nearly five years ago, we have not once introduced to our readers the SINDH MISSION. Not that this Mission alone has remained unnoticed. Although the continual variety in the fields and departments of labour described in our pages must often be confusing, it is yet literally true that not one-half of the C.M.S. stations have received even a passing notice during these five years. So widely extended is the Society's work.

Sindh is the country south of the Punjab through which the river Indus flows into the Indian Ocean. Like Egypt, it consists of a long strip of very fertile land marking the course of the fertilising river, bounded on either side by bare and sandy deserts. It has a population of 24 millions, three-fourths of whom are Mohammedans, and most of the remainder Hindus. Roughly speaking, it may be said that Sindh, taking area and population into account, is about as large a field of missionary labour as the island of Ceylon; but how differently have they been treated by the Christian Church! In Ceylon the C.M.S. has a dozen missionaries, and other Protestant societies perhaps

HEADS IN A CROWD.

thirty more. In Sindh the C.M.S. is the only society at work, and its missionaries are three in number. Two towns are occupied, viz., Kurrachee (as it is usually spelt; more accurately, Karachi), a great commercial port, second only on the west coast of India to Bombay; and Hyderabad, the ancient capital, where splendid mausoleums mark the last resting-place of the old Amirs.

Sindh was conquered for the British by Sir C. Napier in 1843. In 1850, the C.M.S, opened a mission at Kurrachee; and there the Gospel has been assiduously and earnestly preached ever since. Although there has been no large ingathering of souls, some remarkable conversions have occurred from time to time, and the Christian congregation now numbers 73 souls, of whom 31 are communicants. At Hyderabad there are only a dozen. The missionaries at Kurrachee are the Rev. J. Sheldon, who has been at work there twenty-four years, almost from the beginning, and the Rev. J. Bambridge, sent out two years ago. At Hyderabad, the Rev. G. Shirt has laboured since 1866.

These few lines will serve to introduce the following encouraging letter from Mr. Sheldon.* Our readers will join in the prayer

*The accompanying illustrations of Sindh and its people were sent to the Society some years ago by a former missionary.

A MUSSULMAN FAKIR.

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that the two men he writes about may be the precursors of a goodly number of true converts :

Kurrachee, July 8th, 1878.

I send you a simple narrative of some recent conversions in our Kurrachee Mission.

The first one is that of a Hindu of good caste and education, a native of Surat, but for several years a resident here. He is at present employed in the Telegraph Department of the Sindh, Punjab, and Delhi Railway on a fair salary. His testimonials of service are excellent. The peculiar feature in this case is that the convert was first seriously influenced in favour of Christianity by one of our old scholars, who is still a Hinduone convinced but not converted. He passed through the usual probation of six months, during which he received regular instruction from me, and was publicly baptized on Easter Sunday. His Christian character since has been humble and consistent, and quite in keeping with the following short but beautiful expression of his faith, prepared by himself, and given to me before baptism :

"I heartily thank God, our Heavenly Father, that He has given us His only begotten Son to redeem us, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have life eternal. Consequently, my heart overflows with gratitude to Him who hath redeemed us with His precious blood, and that He hath called me out of darkness into His marvellous light.

"I had been brought up in the midst of idolatry, ignorance, and superstition, until within three years, when, through the study of God's Word, and the kind encouragement and instruction of Christian friends, I felt called upon to

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break loose from the folly and wickedness of such a course, and to lay hold on Christ the Saviour. I felt for some time indifferent to openly embracing Christianity, but by degrees became aware of my lost condition were I to be struck down in my sins. I thank God that He put it into my depraved heart to embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of redemption which He has given us through our Lord Jesus Christ. I am now assured that to be out of Christ is to be out of heaven, and that through Him only have we access to the Father, and it is my earnest desire to be a faithful soldier of the Cross, ever dependent on the Lord to grant me grace to love and

VIEW FROM THE WINDOWS OF MISSION HOUSE AT KURRACHEE

do His will. May the Holy Ghost sanctify and make me holy; may my understanding be enlightened so that I may know more and more of truth until He calls me hence; and, when that time comes, may it please God that I depart fully trusting in His mercy and the efficacy of Christ's

death!

"I know it is by faith I am saved, and not by my own merits; yet I am assured that a lively faith should be productive of good works: for, as a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, so should faith bring forth good works.

"I am now desirous of being publicly received into Christ's Church, that I may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and it is my fervent prayer that I may then go on my way rejoicing, trusting only in God's help, and esteeming myself highly favoured to be called to be a humble follower of the Lamb."

On Whit-Sunday we had a most joyful day. In the presence of a large congregation, and with the hearty good wishes and prayers of the whole Native Church, I baptized a Subadar of the police, his wife and child. Kurrachee contains a mixed population, made up of many communities, drawn from almost every country of Asia, with not a few from Africa. Amongst these is a small body of aboriginal Bheels, in number not more than 340. These men originally came to the province about 1843, and were employed in the police. One of them rose steadily in the force until he became Subadar, and, after a long service of thirtyfour years, has now retired upon an honourable pension. He is greatly respected by his people, and has great influence amongst them. To this man, at a somewhat advanced period of life, it has pleased God, in His mercy, to make known the message of salvation.

His first drawings towards us were remarkable. He traces them to a dream which made a great impression upon him. this dream he saw the missionary like a guru

In

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course

(Hindu teacher) blessing him, and from that moment made up his mind to attend the mission church. No notice at first was taken of his story, but when his regular attendance and devout manner indicated sincerity, he was encouraged to come to my New Testament readings after the daily morning service, and in due was placed upon the list of our inquirers. Diligently and day by day he read with me the Gospel story, drinking in its precious truths, his whole face lighting up as the love of the Saviour grew upon him, Instructing him was a great joy to me, his earnestness and sincerity were so clear. He never seemed ashamed of acknowledging Christ, spoke of Him everywhere, and especially in his own family. His wife caught his spirit and became as earnest as her husband: indeed, in some points her faith was even stronger and clearer than his. Thus they passed through their probation; and at length, with the joyful consent of the whole Church, they were baptized, and are now most happy Christians. The Subadar's brother and nephew, and his wife's sister, are all candidates for baptism, and are under instruction. It is a striking fact that these two men have been pupils in our mission school, and have a fair acquaintance with Englishevidently ready, with one bold enough to lead the way, to embrace the Christian faith. It is quite true they are Bheels, and, as such, of lowcaste standard, according to Hindu notions; but they have, either by service rendered, as in the Subadar's case, or by education, raised themselves in the social scale; and should they become earnest, consistent Christians, character, far more than caste, will have great weight in their influence with others. These converts have not in any way received pecuniary assistance from the Mission.

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HINDU BANIANS (TRADERS).

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY ALMANACK for 1879, now ready, contains engravings of Mrs. Sattianadhan and Hindu pupils, a Mohammedan's prayer in the desert, the catechist Bao preaching at Ningpo, Bishop Bompas ascending Peace River, and the Henry Venn steamer on the Niger, with an allegorical picture of the Bible and the globe. Price One Penny. For Localising arrangements apply to Messrs. J. Truscott & Son, Suffolk Lane, E.C.

OUTLINE MISSIONARY LESSONS.

For the Use of Sunday School Teachers,

IV. THE DEBT AND THE DEBTORS.
"I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the
wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach
the Gospel to you that are at Rome also."-Rom. i. 14, 15.

DEBT-what is it? St. Paul says he was a debtor-there
was a debt which it was the business of his life to pay.
You and I owe the same. See what it is, and whether we
are paying it.

St. Paul always paid for what he bought (1 Thess. ii. 9). Anxious that others should do the same (Rom. xii. 17). But other debts besides money. How ought you to treat parents? "Ought" means " owe"-you owe them love, obedience, &c. But Paul was speaking of very different people, and of a different debt.

I. TO WHOM DO WE OWE THE DEBT ?

Paul said, "I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians." The Greeks were a learned, clever, polished people-called all others barbarians. The Jews called all but themselves Gentiles-looked down upon them-did not care for them-thought, "They don't concern us." Paul a Jew, yet thought very differently-cared for Gentiles-for both Greeks and barbarians-called himself their debtor. Why? Because a Christian -so knew God loved all-Christ died for all.

We are English. Other nations near us-Europeans. Beyond-far off-people called Hindus, Chinese, &c.-very unlike us-don't know all we know can't do some things that we do. Some people think, “What do they concern us?" But we are their debtors.

II. WHAT DO WE OWE THEM?

Suppose in a large house all lights gone out, no matches, nothing to strike light with; some one comes to the door with a torch-"I will give you a light"-lights candle of first person he sees. What must that one do? Sit down comfortably to use it? Meant, not for him only, but for all. Must give the rest light-owes it them. What light given to us? (2 Cor. iv. 4.) The light of the glorious Gospel of Christ." We know about Him, have heard Gospel or good news-must send it on to those who have it not. Paul anxious to pay this debt-began as soon as ever he knew the Gospel (Acts ix. 20).

III. How MUST WE PAY THE DEBT ?

Light must be passed on-good news told. Paul said, "I am ready to preach the Gospel." Would you like to go out and tell it some day? Many more missionaries wanted-heathen asking for some one to teach them. [Illust.-African war chief said, Don't keep that good thing you have got away from us."-GLEANER, Oct., 1877.]

But you can help even if you can't go-help now. Paul speaks of "helping by prayer" (2 Cor. i. 11)-continually asked his friends to pray for him and his work (Eph. vi. 18, 19; Col. iv. 3; 1 Thess. v. 25; 2 Thess. iii. 1). Missionaries ask the same now. Some can give a little. Some can talk about the missionaries and their work, and interest others in it. [Illust.-Inscription on a child's grave-" When I am a man, I will be a missionary, and if I die before I am a man, put it on my tomb, that some one may read it and go out instead of me."] Are you ready to do something to pay the debt?

EPITOME OF MISSIONARY NEWS.

A copy of the Sketches of African Scenery, from Mr. O'Neill's sketches, was sent by the Earl of Chichester, President of the Society, to Her Majesty the Queen, with a letter pointing out that the Victoria Nyanza Mission originated in the explorations of Dr. Krapf, in whom the late Prince Consort manifested much interest thirty years ago. The following reply was received from Sir T. M. Biddulph (whose death the Queen is now mourning):

OSBORNE, August 6th, 1878.

My LORD,-I have the honour to acknowledge your letter, with the volume illustrative of the Nyanza Mission, with drawings by the late Mr. O'Neill, to be submitted to the Queen, and am desired to signify Her Majesty's gracious acceptance of it, with the expression of her thanks to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society.

I am, my Lord, your obedient servant,
T. M. BIDDULPH.

Mr. W. C. Jones, who five years ago gave the Society £20,000 as a capital fund for the support of Native evangelists in certain missions, has now given a further munificent sum of £35,000, to be employed for the extension of evangelistic work by the Native Church in India.

The C.M.S. China Famine Fund has exceeded £2,000. It is being administered by the Revs. W. H. Collins and W. Brereton of Peking. Another missionary has died in harness-The Rev. C. F. Schwarz, of Nasik. He went out in 1854, and laboured for many years in the barren field of Junir. He succeeded Mr. Price and Mr. R. A. Squires in the charge of the Christian settlement at Sharanpur, and died there on August 13th, after twelve hours' illness. His death is a severe loss to the Western India Mission in its present under-manned state.

The Rev. W. P. Schaffter has been appointed to the Tamil Cooly Mission in Ceylon, which sorely needs reinforcement, and sails imm diately. The Rev. W. E. Rowlands, of Colombo, will also be transferr‹-d to the Cooly Mission.

The Rev. J. B. Wood has lately returned to England from Lagos, and Miss Caspari from Sierra Leone.

Satisfactory letters have been received from the Rev. C. T. Wilson, dated May 11th, from Uganda. He was well, and continued to be well treated by Mtesa. He sends another letter written by Lieutenant Smith, which he had found in a despatch box. It is dated Kagei, December 11th, so that his death, with Mr. O'Neill, must have taken place about December 13th, instead of the 7th, as previously supposed. These letters are published in the C.M. Intelligencer of this month.

The Nile party arrived safely at Berber on the Nile on July 10th, after a most trying journey across the desert from Suakim. Thence they proceeded southwards to Khartoum, which they reached on August 9th, and soon afterwards again started for Uganda.

The Alexandra Boarding-school for Girls at Amritsar approaches completion. A gift of £1,000 towards the building fund from Mr. W. C. Jones has greatly encouraged the Rev. R. Clark, but £1,000 is still needed to finish the work. The Rev. F. H. Baring has founded a Boarding-school for Boys at Batala, an out-station thirty miles from Amritsar.

The Rev. Ruttonji Nowroji, of Aurungabad, lately lost his wife, an exemplary Christian woman. Mr. Ruttonji is highly and universally respected, and the funeral service was read by the commanding officer of the military station.

Frere Town was visited in September by Bishop Royston of Mauritius, who sends a most deeply interesting and encouraging account of the

THE MISSIONARY BOX IN THE VISITORS' ROOM. Mission. He confirmed fifty-four Africans.

DEAR SIR,-As an old friend of the Society, allow me to express my deep sense of the value of the excellent suggestion, made in the July GLEANER, under the heading, “A good place for a missionary-box."

In the course of a rather wide experience, I have never yet met with a missionary-box placed in the visitors' bed-room, and the idea never presented itself to my own mind.

On seeing your July number, however, I at once thankfully accepted the suggestion, and have placed a box in our visitors' room, having previously prepared it for its special object in the following manner: — Over the whole top of the box I pasted a piece of white note-paper, on which was written at the top, "Thank-offerings for journeying mercies;" and underneath a part of those verses (Genesis xxviii. 20-22) containing Jacob's vow, viz., "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee."

I have added this portion of Scripture, in the hope that the box may not only serve to remind our visitors of the great duty of helping to send to the heathen the blessed Gospel of the grace of God, but that it may also remind them, on reading the text, that we are all stewards of the Lord's bounty, and ought therefore to set apart a fixed portion of our income each year for His service. If all professing Christians would adopt this plan, what a vast increase we might look for in the annual incomes of our religious societies! E. D. S.

A letter from Bishop Bompas, dated Portage la Loche, June 19th, announces his return from his visit to British Columbia, described in our August number. The Athabasca and Mackenzie districts have been suffering from great scarcity, and some of the Hudson's Bay Co.'s agents, as well as the Indians, had to feed on furs and skins.

While in Japan in June last, Bishop Burdon confirmed fifteen C.M.S. converts at Nagasaki and sixteen at Osaka.

The offertories in the chapel of the C.M.S. Divinity College at Lahore have been lately given to the poor converts in Fuh-kien.

Five years ago, a Native catechist of the C.M.S. at Bombay named Daoud Mokham, a convert from Mohammedanism, was stabbed in the street by a fanatical Mussulman, and severely wounded. From that time he has been a frequent sufferer, and the wound has at length caused his death. The Rev. J. G. Deimler writes of him, "He was associated with me for about twelve years, and proved to be a man of much common sense, a true Christian, a faithful labourer, a valuable preacher to Mussulmans, a patient sufferer, and a sincere brother in Christ."

The maps and drawings illustrating Lieutenant Smith's survey of the south coast of the Victoria Nyanza, including Speke Gulf, Jordan's Nullah, and the rivers Shimeyu and Ruwana, prepared by Mr. O'Neill, and sent home just before their death, were photo-lithographed on three large sheets, which were inserted in the C. M. Intelligencer for September last, accompanied by Lieutenant Smith's journal of his explorations.

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY GLEANER.

VINEYARD WORK.

DECEMBER, 1878.

BY THE REV. G. EVERARD, Vicar of St. Mark's, Wolverhampton.

XI. THE GREAT REWARD.

"Where I am, there shall also My servant be."—John xii. 26. 10 I serve the Lord Jesus? Do I sincerely love and follow Him? Do I deny myself and take up my cross daily as He hath bidden me? Do I live for Him and work diligently in His vineyard? Then I may claim this promise as my own. I may take it in all its breadth and fulness: "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also shall My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour."

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To have Christ with me now, to taste His love, to know that He is by my very side, brings strength and comfort and joy; it lightens every sorrow and sweetens every hour of earthly happi

ness

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless,

Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

But to be with Christ in His glory is an end of all sorrow, and the substance of all bliss. Every tear dried, every temptation past, every trouble gone, every sin conquered-long forgotten prayers abundantly answered. Seed sown in tears found in a glorious harvest, efforts apparently made in vain now manifested as having results blessed beyond all possible anticipation-all this and far more is wrapped in this word of promise.

But the best of all is nearness to the Saviour Himself. "I will receive you unto Myself; that where I am there ye may be also" (John xiv. 3). I can tell but little now what this joy shall be. To see Christ face to face, to know His love and to be able to love Him as I never have loved on earth, to dwell under His shadow with far greater delight than I could when in the flesh, to serve Him with new powers, and without weariness or painful toil, and to spend the ages to come in extolling the exceeding riches of His grace-this will be enough, and more than enough, to fill the soul with eternal gladness.

In prospect of all this let each believer abide in faithful labour, and bear patiently whatever loss or affliction may arise: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. iv. 17, 18).

THE TRIDENT, THE CRESCENT, AND THE CROSS. Gleanings from Vaughan's Religious History of India.

IX.—THE CHRISTIAN ERA.-AGGRESSIVE EFFORTS. AVING taken our readers rapidly through Mr. Vaughan's The Trident, the Crescent, and the Cross, noticing the primitive religion of the Hindu race, the idolatry and superstition into which it degenerated, the influence and effects of caste, the rise and fall of Buddhism in India, the Mohammedan invasion, the vain attempts of Hinduism to reform itself, and lastly the "dissolving agencies" now at work upon it in the shape of western education and science, we must not take leave of the book without briefly referring to its closing chapters, on the aggressive efforts of the Church of Christ to spread the Gospel in India.

Protestant Christendom was a long way behind the Jesuits in beginning its missionary operations in what were then called the East Indies. Francis Xavier was at work there while the Reformation in England was even yet trembling in the balance; and English Christians allowed more than a century to pass away from the first settlement of their adventurous mercantile fellow-countrymen at Surat in 1611, before they moved a finger for the evangelisation of India. The honour of taking the first step belongs to the Danes, two missionaries being sent in 1706, by King Frederick IV. of Denmark, to Tranquebar, a Danish settlement. The S.P.G., which had been founded five years before that for work in the colonies, gave a small grant of money and books to this Mission, and subsequently the S.P.C.K. opened a special fund in aid of it, to which, even in those days of apathy, many of all ranks of society contributed. The latter society, in 1730, began a regular Mission in South India, which it carried on for nearly a hundred years (until its transfer to the S.P.G. in 1828), the missionaries being all Lutherans from Germany or Denmark, of whom C. F. Schwartz was the most eminent. Kiernander and others were also sent to Calcutta.

Few indeed among the British civilians and soldiers in India in those days lived Christian lives; but at least they in no way opposed the missionaries. This tolerant spirit, however, did not last. Towards the end of last century, the dark age" (as Mr. Vaughan justly calls it) ensued; the "reign of official cowardice and anti-Christian bitterness" began. In 1793, an East Indian Director stated publicly "that were 100,000 natives converted, he should hold it the greatest calamity that could befall India." The establishment of the Bishopric of Calcutta was opposed on the ground that, were "so wild a scheme" carried out, "our empire would not be worth a day's purchase." All missionary work was strictly forbidden, and missionaries were not allowed to enter the country. Carey could only get into Bengal by becoming superintendent of an indigo factory, and it was while serving in that capacity that he translated the whole New Testament into Bengali. Other intrepid labourers were compelled to find a footing in the Dutch and Danish settlements. Henry Martyn and other faithful pioneers were chaplains for the British troops, and could only go to the Hindus, so to speak, incidentally. It is not to be wondered at that during this wintry period the young plants which Schwartz and Jænicke and Kiernander had tended found no sustenance and withered away. A small remnant in South India alone survived it.

At length spring returned. On the revival of the East India Company's charter in 1813, Wilberforce and his friends in Parliament, after a strenuous conflict, secured the adoption of a clause which gave full liberty to Christian missionaries; and in 1816 the first English clergyman who ever went to India to preach the Gospel to the heathen, the Rev. W. Greenwood, was sent out by the Church Missionary Society.

Gradually, by one agency or another, mission stations were established in almost every part of India. Although the Government has stood entirely aloof officially, very many of the best and ablest of its servants, civil and military, have taken an active share in the extension of the work. Most of the C.M.S. stations, particularly in the north, have been opened at the earnest request of British officers on the spot, backed by large donations and active personal efforts. The advance has been great in the last five-and-twenty years. In 1852 the C.M.S. had 70 missionaries (clerical and lay) in India; it now has 184. Then there were 13 Native clergy and 768 Native lay agents connected with it; now the figures are 95 and 1,717.

Then

the Society's Native congregations comprised about 35,000 souls; now the number is 80,000. Then, according to the Government Census of 1871, there were 128,000 Protestant Christians altogether. At the date of the Census there were 318,000-an increase of 150 per cent. in twenty years; and the number must be much larger now.

By what agencies have these results been achieved? Mr. Vaughan enumerates five :-(1) direct preaching in town and country; (2) schools and colleges; (3) Bible and tract distribution; (4) house-to-house visitation; (5) ladies' work in the zenanas. And he shows that all are required. We must not exalt one and despise another. Those persons, he remarks, who, fastening on the words, "Preach the Gospel to every creature," think the missionary is only doing his right work when haranguing a listening crowd, forget the "every creature," and that, since important sections of the population cannot possibly be reached by public preaching, Christ must have meant them to be reached in other ways. Some object to men and money being spent upon high-class colleges, where a large part of the time is

of course devoted to secular subjects; but any one can see that if a Hindu came to England to convert us to Brahminism, and wanted to influence the youth of the upper ranks of society, the way would not be to preach in the street (though he would do that to gain others), but to open, if he could, a school like Eton or Rugby.

Some deeply interesting examples of conversions by all these different agencies will be found in Mr. Vaughan's pages, to which we earnestly trust that our hasty and meagre chapters will send many of our readers. The book is published by Longmans, price 9s., and is full of valuable information, told

THE CHURCH OF THE EVANGELISTS AT WAI-O-HIKI. ISHOP STUART, of Waiapu, sends the following cutting from a New Zealand paper, the Hawke's Bay Herald, "to fill up a corner of the GLEANER":

On Sunday morning, June 30, the new church at Wai-o-hiki was opened by the Right Rev. the Bishop of Waiapu. The Rev. Samuel Williams, in whose spiritual charge the Maori Church of the district lies, has had the satisfaction of seeing considerable efforts made during the last few years by the natives towards providing suitable and commodious places of worship at all their larger settlements. The "Church of the Evangelists" at Wai-o-hiki is one of the first to have been completed and formally opened. The cost of the building, about £600, has been mainly contributed by the natives themselves.

A MAORI CHIEF FIFTY YEARS AGO.

in a most attractive style, from the first page to the last. Those who read it will understand the words of Mr. Vaughan's preface-"Nothing within the whole range of history is more profoundly mysterious and more awfully solemn than the religious history of India . . . . It reveals the struggles of the human mind for thirty centuries to settle momentous questions, which the light of Revelation alone can solve."

And no one can lay the book down without looking with confident hope to the day, which shall surely come in God's own good time, when the Trident and the Crescent shall be finally dethroned, and the Cross reign triumphant over India.

On Sunday morning Mr. Williams held an early devotional and catechetical service with the intending communicants, according to the custom of godly discipline which has always been observed in the Maori Church. This was just over when the Bishop arrived at a quarter to eleven. The bell then rang, and the people came trooping in, rapidly filling up the seats, and every part of the floor up to the chancel rail. The whole area of the church was one mass of human beings in the most diversified attire. The fine presence of the chief Tareha was set off to advantage by an extremely handsome mat thrown over his usual English dress. The mat was fringed its whole depth with strips of the Maori dogskin, dyed a brilliant red. Other old chiefs were conspicuous by articles

of native costume or ornament. The women, too, it need hardly be said, displayed their skill and taste in the art of personal decoration; and wonderful were the devices in head-dresses, curiously wrought, of feathers and nodding plumes, and of nature's own more becoming ornament. It would seem that in the matter of dress, as of language, there is a marvellously active faculty of assimilation in the Maori race, enabling them to adopt, without slavishly_copying, their Pakeha [i.e., European] neighbours' style of dress, and to incorporate it happily with their own native costume.

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In the service the heartiness of the responses throughout was quite striking. The reading of the special psalms, the 84th, 115th, and 133rd, was especially effective, the people reciting their alternate verses with that simultaneous cadence which they delight in, and giving it forth with a sonorous volume of sound. The lessons were also specially chosen for the occasion, being the narrative expostion of the Christian Temple in Eph. ii. The Bishop preached on of the Dedication of the Temple, 2 Chron. V., and the great doctrinal the words in the 1st lesson-"The Glory of the Lord filled the house." The most profuse and hearty hospitality was extended to all the large number of visitors on the occasion, in right royal Maori fashion.

[By way of illustrating the contrast between the past and the present in New Zealand, we reproduce an old picture which appeared in the C.M. Quarterly Paper forty years ago, being then taken from a work by Captain Fitzroy, published in 1835.]

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