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slave-dealing usurper of Lagos, made a highly favourable treaty with the rightful king, and thus opened the way for the extensive legitimate trade which has since made that port the most flourishing in West Africa. Crowther was at the time on a visit to England, during which he had an interview with Lord Palmerston, to explain the political circumstances of Abeokuta, especially with regard to the hostile attacks of the King of Dahomey; and on December 18th, 1851, one of the last letters penned by Lord Palmerston as Foreign Secretary was addressed by him to Samuel Crowther :

"I am glad," wrote the great minister, " to have an opportunity of thanking you again for the important and interesting information with regard to Abeokuta which you communicated to me when I had the pleasure of seeing you at my house in August last. I request that you will assure your countrymen that H.M, Government take a lively interest in the welfare of the Egba nation and of the community settled at Abeokuta, which town seems destined to be a centre from which the lights of Christianity and of civilisation may be spread over the neighbouring countries."

This visit to England was interesting in another way. There was a clergyman in a Sussex parish with a rare taste and talent for linguistic researches the Rev. O. Vidal. This talent he had consecrated to the service of Christ. He had learned Tamil in order to correspond with the Native Christians in Tinnevelly, and Malay to help a new Mission in Borneo. Afterwards he studied the East African dialects in correspondence with Dr. Krapf, and finally attacked the languages of West Africa. Crowther, while in England, passed through the press a revised edition of his Yoruba Dictionary, and in this work he was much assisted by Mr. Vidal, who wrote for it a valuable preface on the relation of Yoruba to other tongues on the West Coast. That gifted clergyman afterwards became the first Bishop of Sierra Leone.

KING LEOPOLD AND THE NYANZA MISSION. NOWING the great interest taken in Central Africa by the King of the Belgians, a copy of Lieut. Smith's letter from Mtesa's capital was sent to His Majesty by Sir John Kennaway, M.P., who was a member of the Brussels Geographical Conference in 1876. We are permitted by Sir J. Kennaway to print the following letter, received by him from King Leopold :

PALAIS DE BRUXELLES, February 16th, 1878. DEAR SIR JOHN,-I am directed by His Majesty to thank you for the sending of the most interesting letter written by Lieutenant Smith, and which I have the honour to return to you. It is highly gratifying to compare the moral condition of the Court of Uganda as described by Captain Speke with the actual state of things. The unpretending manner of Mr. Smith's account seems to prove that he is the very man to be employed in the great and useful work for which he has been selected.

His Majesty, whose interest for the future of Africa is known to you, is happy to learn by the communication which you have sent to me that you continue also to take the same concern in the progress of civilisation in that country, and that you have kept a kind remembrance of the Brussels Conference.

I remain, DEAR SIR JOHN, Yours faithfully,

COUNT J. D'OULTREMONT.

EPITOME OF MISSIONARY NEWS.

It is with great thankfulness that we can report at length that the East African export slave-trade is almost, if not quite, at an end. The active measures so honourably planned and carried out by the Sultan of Zanzibar, under the advice of H.M. Consul-General, Dr. Kirk, and the watchfulness of the British squadron on the coast, have combined to effect this happy result. The trade, however, would soon revive if the vigilance hitherto exercised were at all relaxed. Domestic slavery still continues, but the condition of the slaves has been much ameliorated.

In view of the sad news from the Nyanza Mission respecting the death of Lieut. Smith and Mr. O'Neill (see p. 49), instructions have been sent to Mr. Mackay, who is encamped about 100 miles from the coast, to push forward at once towards the Lake with three or four of the men lately sent out, and endeavour to secure the Daisy and the Mission stores, and to communicate with Mr. Wilson in Uganda. A party will also be sent as soon as possible up the Nile, to reach Uganda from the northern side.

The Rev. A Menzies, late of the West Africa Mission, has been appointed to Frere Town, to succeed the Rev. J. A. Lamb, who is on the point of coming home, in the spiritual charge of the colony.

The Rev. J. S. Hill, whose health, as also that of Mrs. Hill, broke down at Leke, in West Africa, has been appointed to New Zealand, to be associated with the Rev. T. S. Grace.

At the closing meeting of the past term at the Church Missionary College, held on April 10th, a portrait of the Rev. J. G. Heisch, who has been Vice-Principal of the College for thirty-seven years, was presented to the College by a large number of old and present students. Among the speakers on the occasion was the Rev. Daniel Wilson, Vicar of Islington, whose curate Mr. Heisch had been forty years ago.

On December 23rd, at St. George's Cathedral, Freetown, the Bishop of Sierra Leone admitted to deacon's orders Mr. Obadiah Moore, a Native African educated in the Sierra Leone Grammar Schools, and afterwards in England. Mr. Moore is now Tutor at the Grammar School, and curate of Christ Church, Pademba Road.

On Feb. 3rd, at Moose Factory, Hudson's Bay, Bishop Horden admitted to deacon's orders Mr. E. J. Peck, the lay evangelist who went out to the Eskimos of Little Whale River in 1876 (see GLEANER, June, 1877).

The reports for the past year of the Society's Mission in Japan show steady and hopeful work, without any startling progress. The Native Christian adherents now number 88, against 50 last year. On St. Andrew's Day Mr. Maundrell opened a small theological institution at Nagasaki, in which four converts are being trained as mission agents. A new church was opened at Osaka on August 23rd. All the missionaries write in encouraging terms of the perfect freedom now accorded to Christian teaching.

On October 23rd the Rev. T. S. Grace held a most interesting service in the church at Opotiki, New Zealand, built by the late Rev. C. S. Volkner, who was murdered there by the Hauhau Maoris on March 2nd, 1865. The occasion was the erection of a tombstone over his grave; and large numbers of the Natives attended, many of whom had taken a part in the murder, and in the frightful desecration of the church that accompanied it. Quiet and subdued, in many cases truly penitent, they now sat listening to Mr. Grace, whom, in that very church, they had mocked and threatened also with death. "I stood," writes Mr. Grace, on the spot where I once stood many weary hours being tried for my life, while many of those I now gazed upon were there thirsting for my blood, declaring was a traitor and a spy, and ought to be killed." The willow-tree on which Volkner was hung is now shown to all who visit the place, and many cuttings from it have been taken to other parts of New Zealand to be planted.

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The Rev. A. E. Moule reports that the number of Native Christians and catechumens at and near Hang-chow has more than doubled in the past year, the number now exceeding 120. This is partly owing to the work at "Great Valley Stream," described in our March number, and partly to the good influence of Dr. Galt's Opium Hospital, which was attended during the year by more than 4,000 patients.

On Christmas Day a whole family of seven persous were baptized at Meerut, North India, by the Rev. Hermann Hornle.

In December the Bishop of Madras confirmed 130 Native Christians at Masulipatam, among them the Brahmin student of the Noble School, Ramasastralu (see February GLEANER); also 49 at Raghapuram. Confirmations have been held at other stations in the Telugu country, of which we have not received particulars.

The death is announced of the Rev. Su Chong-Ing, of the Fuh-kien Mission. He was once an inveterate opium-smoker, but was baptized by Mr. Cribb in November, 1867, and has ever since done good service. He was one of the four ordained by Bishop Burdon, at Easter, 1876. "He was a man," writes Mr. Wolfe, "of commanding voice and figure, of great eloquence, and quiet earnestness. He had a good knowledge of the Bible, and his sermons were full of scriptural instruction. He bitterly repented of his former habits, and was most earnest in his exhortations to opium-smokers, many of whom he was the means of rescuing from this vice and bringing to the Saviour."

We are sorry to say that Mr. Wolfe was taken seriously ill in November last, while at Ning-taik. He was tenderly nursed there by Chitnio, the wife of the Rev. Ling Sieng-Sing and the writer of the letter in the February GLEANER. He recovered, through God's mercy; but the doctors have warned him that he must shortly come home for a time.

Another year of progress in the Fuh-kien Mission is reported by Mr. Wolfe. There were no less than 340 baptisms (adults 274, children 66), and the number would have been larger but for Mr. Wolfe's illness. The roll of professing Christians and catechumens now shows 2,323 names, or 600 more than last year, the communicants being 850. (Two years ago, 2,000 was the total figure of C.M.S. converts for all China.) There are now 93 regular Native agents in Fuh-kien, and double hat number of Christians are enrolled as voluntary " exhorters," and wik under regular rules. At the annual conference of agents and delegas held at Fuh-Chow in October, no less than 300 were present. The Rev L. Lloyd now assists Mr. Wolfe in the care of the out-stations; and th Rev. R. W. Stewart has charge of the work at the capital, the students class (in which 29 are being trained), and the boys' boarding-school.

The late Mr. O'Neill, of the Nyanza Mission, sent home a packet of water-colour and pencil sketches taken en route to the Lake. The most interesting of these are being reproduced as coloured lithographs, and will be published in a few days, with explanatory letterpress, price 1s.

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY GLEANER.

VINEYARD WORK.

JUNE, 1878.

Thoughts for those Engaged in Christ's Service.

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

VI. STEADFASTNESS IN WORK.

order familiarised by long usage, we find a real epoch in the history of Sierra Leone marked by the transfer to the independent Native Church of the last of the Society's churches; so that we now have only the educational institutions and one or two smaller agencies. The Yoruba churches have again grown

"I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the in numbers, despite war and sickness. On the Niger, the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"-Neh, vi. 3.

T was a noble answer of a brave man. Nehemiah and his helpers were building the wall. But Sanballat and Geshem and Tobiah had ill-will against Zion, and sought to hinder them. They try force, but in vain; then they try craft and guile. They write letters to put Nehemiah in fear; but he stands firm as a rock. Four or five times they strive to move him; but it is of no avail, he will not leave the wall, nor go down to them. "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down."

In the work I have to do for Christ, I would be as constant and determined as this good man, whom God so greatly honoured. "I am doing a great work."

It is great, for it is God's work. It is to carry out His purposes of mercy to a lost world. It is to build up a Church of redeemed souls. It is to bear witness to Him Who is "mighty to save." It is a work which has great and blessed issues. Satan is cast down; idols are renounced; false systems of religion are brought low. Multitudes once without a ray of hope are saved eternally, and join the white-robed throng before the throne.

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But there are hindrances in the work. Some doubt its reality; some speak hard things against it; some put a stumbling-block in the way. Enemies are round about, and will stop it if they But I must not heed. The work is great and blessed, and I must not leave it. I must not let it cease through my neglect. I must set my face like a flint against everything that would turn me aside. I must be "steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord."

And I must do the work with the earnest effort that it demands. I must not trifle with it. Whatever I find to do in this service, I must do it with my might," "with both hands earnestly."

OUR SEVENTY-NINTH ANNIVERSARY. PACE will not allow us this year to enlarge as usual upon the proceedings at the Society's recent anniversary. It will be long remembered for two special features, viz., the solemn feeling that prevailed in connection with the sad tidings from Central Africa, which, with the latest particulars received only three days before, were listened to in the Report with almost breathless interest, and afterwards powerfully enlarged upon by Canon Miller; and the two speeches of our good brother from India, the Rev. W. T. Satthianadhan, whose narrative of the heathen boy who so long resisted the Gospel, but who was at last conquered by Divine grace, and who, by a marvellous providence, was now privileged to address that meeting, brought tears to many an eye, and will assuredly not be forgotten by any who heard it. (We give this speech at p. 65.) One might perhaps add, as a third feature, the vigorous address of the Bishop of Saskatchewan, who rivetted the meeting by his illustrations of the simple faith of the Red Indian converts, adding, amid loud cheering, "That's the teaching you are paying for!"

But we must present a few leading facts from the Annual Report, respecting the work, the men that do it, and the means by which it is carried on.

(1) As regards the work itself. Taking the Missions in the

"Henry Venn" steamer and two African archdeacons are the outward and visible signs of an advance which we trust will be real and lasting. In East Africa, largely through the Society's influence (indirect as well as direct), the slave trade is conquered, after a ten years' campaign, whereas it took half-acentury to put down the traffic on the West Coast. In Palestine, missionary work has been quietly carried on, notwithstanding the troubles of Turkey; and the Report expresses a hope that one result of the late war may be to "afford greater facilities for preaching the everlasting Gospel among the followers of the False Prophet, and of securing liberty of conscience for those who for centuries have been the victims of a relentless religious tyranny." In Persia Mr. Bruce is vigorously knocking at the half-open door. The vast field of Northern and Western India presents a Mission almost crippled for lack of a suflicient supply of workers, who, to be successful, must (humanly speaking) be men of special gifts. In the Punjab, however, able Native Christians, landowners, lawyers, Government officials, as well as clergymen, are coming forward as evangelists, counsellors, editors, commentators. In South India, the terrible famine has scattered many of the poorer Christians, but it has also softened the hearts of many of the heathen towards the religion of those who have saved them from starvation. The anxieties with regard to the Ceylon Mission which pressed on the Committee last year have been in some measure removed by the Bishop of Colombo having offered to recognise the Tamil Cooly Mission on a guarantee being given that it was conducted on Church of England principles, which guarantee the Committee, though they regarded it as quite needless, readily gave at his request. In China, the Fuh-Kien Mission "stands prominently forward in the evident and abundant tokens of the presence and energy of the Holy Spirit"; and a similar work is beginning, as we trust, at Hang-Chow, though in the midst of fierce persecution. Not one of the stations in Japan has been without fruit, though on a small scale. Thankful hope and sorrowful anxiety struggle together in New Zealand, as in former years. From North America, our Missionary Bishops continue to report triumphs of the Gospel, but still plead for fresh efforts to save the remnant of the yet heathen Red Indians on both sides of the Rocky Mountains.

(2) The C.M.S. has always put forward rather the work done than the men who do it, remembering that "neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." But at this year's anniversary individual men were uppermost in all our thoughts: some names, like those of T. V. French and E. C. Stuart, added, amid universal approval, to the roll of the Episcopate, suggesting only thankfulness; and some, thankfulness mingled with sorrow. It is no light thing to lose in one year old and well-tried friends like Generals Lake and Clarke, F. N. Maltby, Joseph Fenn; a veteran missionary like Bishop Williams; younger men like our three deeplylamented brethren of the Nyanza Mission, John Smith, G. Shergold Smith, and T. O'Neill; Native ministers like Ainala Bhushanam and Matiu Taupaki. Some five and twenty of those who are gone might be enumerated, including seven missionaries' wives. Notwithstanding the large reinforcements of 1877, the total number of ordained agents is two less than last year.

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(3) Then as to the Funds. Last year, it will be remembered, left a deficiency of £13,917. To meet this, £13,947 has been specially contributed, exactly wiping off the amount. The general income has been £190,078, or £14,000 more than last year; and the increase would seem much larger but for a falling off of £8,000 in legacies (a quite uncertain item, of course). Then £12,363 further has been given to special funds (Nyanza, Niger, &c.); and if we add to all this £7,867 sent in for the relief of the famine sufferers in India and China, we find that more than £224,000 has been entrusted by the Christian public to the Society during the year. But the important question remains, Has the income covered the expenditure? Although the actual amount spent, £194,429 (that is, ordinary, not including £15,369 on special funds), is lower than was estimated by £4,500, it is still £4,321 above the receipts.

What, then, of the future? Can we say to the friends who have worked so earnestly to relieve the Society during the past year, It is enough, hold now your hands? They can see for themselves that we cannot. They can see that £200,000 at least of ordinary income will be required this year, without allowing for any large expansion in the Missions; and £10,000 is appealed for specially for the Nyanza enterprise. Further, the numerous candidates accepted in the last two years are moving on in their college course. Thirteen have just been appointed to different Missions. Eighteen more will (D.v.) be ready in 1879. How is this additional staff to be maintained?

We thank God, and we thank our zealous friends, for the efforts of the past year. But how many of the readers of the GLEANER took no share whatever in these efforts? Is it not their turn now? And will they be the poorer for any amount of selfdenial and service? "He that giveth unto the poor "—and the

heathen are poor indeed!" lendeth unto the Lord; and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again."

PICTURES FROM EAST AFRICA.

No. 10.-The Dispensary at Frere Town.

T is a significant fact that one of the first of the buildings erected at Frere Town was a dispensary; and with good reason, for in every batch of freed slaves a considerable portion are sick and in need of the doctor as soon as they come under our care. A small but convenient room, with walls of corrugated iron and roof of makuti (plaited leaves of the fan-palm), was soon put together, and its shelves furnished with medicines thoughtfully provided by the Committee. It is a plain and unpretentious building, but what it lacks in art, nature has abundantly supplied. A splendid shade is afforded by a background of giant mango trees, their long-stretching arms clothed with perpetual foliage, the sombre effect of which is relieved by several stately cocoa-nut palms, whose lofty stems are crowned with clusters of fruit and waving fronds. It is a pretty picture, and one very refreshing for the eye to rest upon in that sunny land.

There are many sufferers from divers maladies. A considerable number

Unhappily the dispensary is a popular institution at Frere Town.

are troubled with foul running ulcers in the legs, the result of galling chains and poor living, which sometimes defy all treatment and prove fatal; some with their haggard looks, staring deep-set eyes, and skeleton forms are evidently dying of starvation; whilst not a few are prostrated by one or other of the types of fever peculiar to the country. It is truly a saddening and oft-times a sickening sight, but it is one the true missionary will not shirk. His aim and desire, no doubt, is to save the souls of the miserable beings to whom he is sent, but the providence of God has so ordered it that missionary work in East Africa in these days much resembles what it was in Galilee some 1,800 years ago, when the blessed Lord went about doing good, and when "they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and He healed them." W. S. PRICE.

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EJOICE with Jesus Christ to-day,
All ye who love His holy sway!
The travail of His soul is past,
He shall be satisfied at last.

Rejoice with Him, rejoice indeed,
For He shall see His chosen seed!
But ours the trust, the grand employ,
To work out this divinest joy.

Of all His own He loseth none,
They shall be gathered one by one;
He garnereth the smallest grain,
His travail shall not be in vain!
Arise, and work! arise, and pray
That He would haste the dawning day!
And let the silver trumpet sound,
Wherever Satan's slaves are found.

The vanquished foe shall soon be stilled,
The conquering Saviour's joy fulfilled-
Fulfilled in us, fulfilled in them-
His crown, His royal diadem.
Soon, soon our waiting eyes shall see
The Saviour's mighty Jubilee !
His harvest joy is filling fast;
He shall be satisfied at last.

Lu. xv. 6.
Ps. cx. 3.
Isa. liii. 11.
Isa. xlix. 7, 8.

John iii. 29.
Isa. liii. 10.
1 Cor. iii. 9.
Zeph. iii. 17-20.

John xvii. 12.
Isa. xxvii. 12.
Amos ix. 9.
Heb. ii. 13.

2 Pet. iii. 12.
Cant. ii. 18.
Lev. xxv. 9, 10..
Isa. lxi. 1.

Ps. viii. 2.
Jude 24.
John xvii. 13.
Isa. lxii. 3.

Matt. xxvi. 64.
1 Thess. i. 10.

Isa. ix. 3, marg.
Ps. cxxvi. 6.

FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.

INCIDENTS OF THE SOUTH INDIAN FAMINE. BY THE REV. HUGH HORSLEY, Tinnevelly.

[The following interesting letter, sent by Mr. Horsley for the GLEANER, illustrates on a small scale those effects of the Famine which have been seen in the remarkable movement lately reported by Bishop Caldwell in the parts of Tinnevelly worked by the S.P.G., where some 16,000 people have placed themselves under Christian instruction. May the hearts of many more be touched in both the C.M.S. and S.P.G. districts!]

HE past year will always be remembered as a year of peculiar distress and scarcity, and in many parts of severe famine, throughout the vast peninsula of India. We in North Tinnevelly have had a full share of the horrors attending so sore a judgment as famine. Many thousands have perished from hunger, while the stream of those who have left their home and emigrated to other countries in search of food has been continuous. Whole villages have thus been sadly depopulated and many a home deserted.

But we thank God that He has put it into the hearts of many to give liberally towards the relief of the sufferers. From time to time it has been my happiness to receive sums of money to be distributed among those who most needed help. Here, then, I would return my most sincere thanks for all help received, and state that the money has been principally spent in, (1) money doles of one rupee, or two shillings, a month to poor widows; (2) food twice a day to about fifteen persons; (3) clothing to the utterly destitute; (4) relief works, principally watering trees and

shrubs.

During the past year two facts have been brought to my notice which I would especially mention, as they illustrate a concern on the part of some of the Christians for the bodily as well as spiritual welfare of their suffering fellow-countrymen. A few months ago a poor boy made his way to Sachiapuram, the refuge of the destitute. He was little more than a walking skeleton, and had a piteous tale to tell. His parents had gone to Ceylon, and left him to live as best he might. It was very clear that if we did not have compassion on the boy he must, like so many other forlorn children, grow weaker and weaker, and at last die from want of

food. My head servant, a faithful Christian man, seeing the boy's destitute condition, took pity on him, and at once made himself responsible to look after him, giving him a new cloth in place of the rag he had tied round his waist, and getting the schoolboys to give a little from their daily supply of food, which they were very glad to do for the sake of one whom they all call " Anuchi," or elder brother. In this way the boy was decently clothed, and had a good prospect of getting a regular meal at least twice a day.

Nor is this all. Visnoâsam (Faith, for that is my servant's name) was as eager in seeking his young protegé's spiritual as his temporal good, and soon began to teach him a short prayer and some easy texts of Scripture. One of the first texts the boy learnt was, "When my father and my mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up"-or (Tamil) "will take me in." These texts he repeats before he goes to bed. On one occasion he was asked to repeat a text, but steadfastly refused to do so, and on being asked why he remained silent, he said, "I was told to say my texts when I went to bed. Why should I say them now ?" The boy has grown quite fat under V.'s care, and often makes himself useful and expends his superfluity of strength in pulling the punkah for us while we are at dinner.

The other fact shows the concern of a Christian woman for the spiritual good of her suffering countrymen. Among those who are daily fed here are a few Christians. The yard in which the food is served out adjoins the house of the Mission writer here, who is in charge of our 66 Relief Camp" (to give a small thing a big name). I have already mentioned that a part of the money contributed by friends is spent in giving food daily to destitute persons. If any one were to visit the camp in the morning or evening he would find from fifteen to twenty men, women, and children, each with an earthen vessel, in which to receive their frugal meal. It often happens that some patience has to be exercised while the food is being prepared. In the interval a woman is busy teaching some easy texts of Scripture, which she repeats aloud, the people repeating after her. In this way she teaches her pupils a number of easy and appropriate verses of Scripture. This woman is the wife of the Mission writer. In due time the food is served out and very soon disposed of. It is very pleasing to notice among the Christians those who are not forgetful to thank the Author of every blessing for the food He has so graciously provided for them.

One more fact which has come under my own notice must not be omitted. A very sad feature in the present famine is the large number of houses that have been destroyed by fire. A few months ago the sky was nightly lit up with the flames of some burning village. I have counted two and sometimes three fires in one night. Whole streets would often be destroyed, and no one could feel secure. Thousands have been burnt out of house and home, and have nothing to satisfy the cravings of hunger. These fires have often originated from a spirit of revenge. Some poor man has asked alms of one well able to give, and has been refused the much needed help. The following night the rich man's house is burnt to the ground, and with it sometimes fifty others. Bad men have sometimes wilfully set fire to a house and then made use of the general confusion to enter houses and carry off whatever they might find. Sometimes, however, the fires would be purely accidental. Whatever the causes might be, certain it is that fires were of nightly occurrence, and that in North Tinnevelly alone thousands of houses have perished.

As might have been expected, the Christians have had to bear their share of suffering in this respect. In one village six houses and the prayer house, or church, have been destroyed. I especially mention this case as it is with a Christian woman in that village that my fact has to do. Hearing of the calamity which had befallen the Christians of MéthiMalei (for that is the name of the village) I rode over to visit them, and to express my sympathy. On arriving at this village I found almost the whole of it destroyed, and sure enough among others the houses of the Christians and their once neat little church. Truly pitiable was the sight as I approached the village. No sooner had I arrived than the few Christians of the place came to see me, and I was prepared to hear a long tale of woe poured into my ears. But what was my surprise to hear very little said on the subject of the sad misfortune which had befallen these unhappy people. I suppose they thought that the melancholy spectacle of bare, charred, roofless walls spoke for itself, and needed no explanation. I must, however, confess to considerable surprise at their silence. The conduct of one poor widow woman, the heroine of my story, especially surprised and delighted me. Although her house had been destroyed, she not only did not utter one complaining word, but, on the contrary, spent the whole time with me in inquiring after Mr. Meadows, for whom she evidently had a very great affection, and ended up by saying, "Please, sir, when you next write to the 'father' send him seventy salaams from Santhai," and added, "He will remember me." On a subsequent visit she repeated that I should send seventy-seven salaams. Surely nothing but the grace of Ged could have enabled this poor woman to bear her heavy affliction with the patience and resignation which she manifested. My last fact is borrowed from one of the districts of North Tinnevelly

under the supervision of a Native clergyman, to whom I had the pleasure of forwarding fifty rupees for famine relief. Mr. Vedhanayagam writes:"Your valuable help has been, through God's mercy, the means of melting the hearts of two heathen families, who have given themselves entirely to serve the God of their Christian benefactors. The circumstances of their becoming Christians are as follows. The head of each of these two families had been to the coffee estate in quest of livelihood, but unfortunately both of them fell sick and were obliged to return home, where they continued to remain in that state for a considerable time. Nor had they any means to sustain them with nourishing food. Knowing their helpless condition I gave them a rupee each out of your money, which they found to be a seasonable help. But they noticed the striking contrast between the indifference of their heathen relatives and the Christian sympathy, and finally determined to live and die as Christians. One of them, however, has died since he became a Christian, and when dying made his wife and family make a solemn promise not to go back again to heathenism. And so his widow and her two boys are very regular in attending the means of grace. The other, who is a young man, is thoroughly recovered, and comes to church with his widowed mother and a younger brother. This is an instance to show how Christian sympathy has a greater force on these poor and ignorant people than plain teaching. May they prove faithful to the end!"

The above interesting fact speaks for itself. Would that we had more such to relate. Let us, however, be thankful for the above tokens of God's blessing upon us here.

LEAVES FROM THE HISTORY OF A MISSIONARY AUXILIARY.

BY MISS E. J. WHATELY.

CHAPTER XIV.

HE Captain then returned to the charge upon another point. "I should never think of condemning you or your friends," said he; "but as we are speaking frankly, I will tell you that what I condemn is the way in which many missionary collectors try to get money. You were truly saying that only God can make men willing-hearted'; but many of the collectors I know actually put a screw upon those they apply to, and urge and torment them, till at last those who don't really care for the cause will yield for a quiet life, and lay down their guinea or halfguinea grudgingly and of necessity.' Now I do think this is not the New Testament way of asking for help. Look at the Apostles' appeals, in that very Epistle we were considering."

Quite true, my dear friend, and with all my heart I deprecate that way of begging. I do not myself think it justifiable to do more than put the case before them, and let them see it needs help.”

"And another thing I greatly dislike, and have seen a great deal of in deputation work," said Captain Austin, "is the highly-coloured accounts that are circulated-the stories of wonderful converts, heightened and touched up, or the reports of the missions read really in an untruthful spirit, the dark side kept back and only the bright put forward, till at last some simple-minded hearers seem to think that a foreign missionary station must simply be a little bit of heaven on earth."

"Stop, stop, my good fellow," interrupted Mr. Heathfield; "it is not fair to blame our reports as untruthful."

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"Not the reports themselves, but the way the bright parts are picked out; and often, I must say, I have seen accounts which I had reason to fear were really exaggerated. You know Mr. N- - of ; and you remember the account he sent about the new converts at his station. It created quite a sensation, as people say; every one was so interested in them but the whole thing turned out a failure; at least, I heard from Mr. S, who had visited the station since, that two of the converts had turned out very unsatisfactory, and a third, it appeared, had been Christian for some time, converted at another station, and only recently under Mr. S's ministry, and therefore could not fairly be reckoned." "Yes; I know the whole story," said Mr. Weston; "and, moreover, as a deputation of many years standing, I can truly say I have seen a good deal of the tendency, in some unwise friends of the mission cause, to over-colour and exaggerate the accounts from the spot. In this case there is some excuse. Poor N-, I am sure, never meant to embroider histories, but his disposition is to see everything through rose-coloured spectacles. He wrote home in a great state of excitement about the two new converts, without taking sufficient time to look into the case, and believed too readily the story one of them told him about his being a high-caste man who had lost everything by his conversion, instead of which he was a needy adventurer. As to the third case, I think it turned out that he had misunderstood the man, because he was not used to the dialect he spoke. I know N has been very severely pulled up, and he is truly sorry, I believe, for having misled us, though involuntarily. But whose is the real blame, after all this? I don't think it is N-'s,

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