THE POPE ON MISSIONS.

N the 3rd of December Pope Leo XIII. issued an encyclical letter in favour of the work of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, of which the head-quarters are at Lyons, in France. It is worthy of note, and the text is published in Latin and French in a late number of Les Missions Catholiques, the weekly Chronicle of Roman Catholic Missions. In the opening paragraphs the Pope describes the necessity of preaching the Gospel to the heathen, and of the duty of every Christian to assist by his money and prayers. So far we all agree with his

Holiness.

He then alludes to the great Society for the Propagation of the Faith established at Lyons, and its two affiliated associations, the "Sacred Infancy of Jesus," and "the Schools of the East," and praises their work. He then regrets the sad perverseness of modern affairs, the diminution of the resources of this Society at the very time that the sphere of their usefulness is extending. He specifies the particular grievances, the breaking up of the monastic institutions, the compelling the priests to render military service, and the sale and confiscation of the property of the Church. He then attacks the Protestant Missionaries in the following words :

:

"Sæpe enim viri fallaces, satores errorum, simulant Apostolos Christi, humanisque præsidiis affatim instructi, munus catholicorum sacerdotum prævertunt, vel deficientium loco subrepunt, vel positâ ex adverso cathedrâ docentis obsistunt, satis se assecutos rati, si audientibus verbum Dei aliter ab aliis explicari ancipitem faciunt salutis viam. Utinam non aliquid artibus suis proficerent!"

He then stirs up the Church to supply men and means, for it appears that year by year the difficulty increases of recruiting new missionaries. The Bishops are exhorted to invoke the Virgin, Mother of God, who has the power to destroy all the monsters of error, and "her very pure Husband" (St. Joseph) whom many Missions have already accepted as their guardian and protector, and whom lately the Holy See has established as Patron of the Universal Church.

This marks an epoch in the career of St. Joseph, who is gradually mounting up the same ladder as the Virgin. St. Joachim and St. Anna, the reputed Parents of the Virgin, are annually pushing themselves forward in public esteem.

In the Missions Catholiques of Lyons, dated Jan. 7th, 1881, the Pope is thanked for his encyclical letter, and a general view is given of the progress of Roman Catholic Missions all over the world.

'We find," says this journal," that Europe, in spite of its serious agitations, is the theatre of consoling and glorious conquests. In England the Catholic movement goes on with good results under the firm and valiant hand of the bishops. Perhaps the time is not far off when Great Britain, becoming an apostle, will consecrate its gold and prodigious activity to the truth.

"In India there is an admirable movement of conversions. Without counting the little children, who are sent to heaven by baptism, how many souls have heard the good news and been fortified by Christian hopes?

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But a new danger has arisen in these regions. As long as the duty of an apostle was accompanied by martyrdom, the heretics left our missionaries in their solitude, and left to them the dangerous monopoly of preaching. Nowadays the

English missionaries advance under the protection of the British flag, sustained by the influence of the English and American Consuls, and surrounded by all the prestige of opulence. One single society out of the numerous biblical societies receives yearly a four times greater income than we do. If our contributions increase, we shall be able to open a Catholic school at the side of each Protestant school. This must be our policy in every Christian settlement."

The writer then alludes to the establishment of the Mission on the Nyanza, and its "triumph over the Protestant Society":

"Quel spectacle consolant! L'Afrique, bénie autrefois par les Cyprien, et les Augustin, parait devoir être pour l'Evangile une terre hospitalière, et ses rois accueillent presque partout avec respect les prêtres de Jésus-Christ. Déjà nos lecteurs ont connu les travaux, et les succès, des Pères de la Compagnie de Jésus, des Oblats, des Lazaristes, des missionnaires du Saint Esprit, des prêtres de la Société des Missions Africaines; ils ont suivi le hardi voyage des Missionnaires d'Afrique, leur providential établissement au milieu des tribus du Nyanza, et leur triomphe sur la Société protestante." (Jan. 7, 1881, p. 8.)

Then he refers to Madagascar :—

"In Madagascar, heresy, supported by all the forces of England, and resting upon the English flag, threatens the Roman Catholic Mission to the Betsileos. Religious liberty is indeed proclaimed by the Queen, but the English preachers, after a hypocritical fight against the Catholic schools, have launched into a violent and brutal attack on the pupils and on the teachers. Unfortunately the Catholic missionaries find only a half-hearted protection from the Consuls of Catholic nations."

It is worthy of note that the French priesthood justify their claim to the entire control of secular and religious education, to the exclusion of the Civil Power, by the following quotation: "Be ye not many Masters: one is your Master, even Christ."

Several considerations suggest themselves: 1st, the importance of strict truth and no exaggeration in our own reports: we all know that the English flag and Consul do nothing for any Protestant Mission; 2ndly, that England is not on the verge of becoming " Catholic "; 3rdly, that the Roman Catholic Mission has not triumphed in Uganda. The zeal of the Romish Church and the devotion of its priests deserve all honour, but their whole method and object is wrong, and Protestant Missions must learn to consider them more deadly enemies than Hindu, Mohammedan, or Buddhist: they should hold no intercourse with them, except that of mere human sympathy, which would be extended to any fellow-creature in suffering, sorrow, or want.

R. N. CUST

VISIT OF THE BISHOP OF RUPERT'S LAND TO THE C.M.S. MISSIONS IN THE EAST OF HIS DIOCESE.

ANY years have passed away since any detailed account of the work still carried on by the Society in the present Diocese of Rupert's Land appeared in the pages of this periodical. To a large extent it is no longer evangelistic, but pastoral work. Almost all the Indian tribes have embraced Christianity, and although hitherto the Society has been unable to leave these poor and scattered remnants to their own resources, it will, we trust, soon be relieved

of the care of them by the advancing Colonial Church. In the Saskatchewan Diocese, there are still large numbers of heathen to be evangelized; and in Athabasca and Moosonee, where the climate does not permit of colonization to any extent, there will still be fair employment for the Society's funds even though the great majority of the Indians are now Christian. But Rupert's Land (i.e. the present Diocese, reduced by the formation of the other three) must now gradually take upon itself the support of its own Native Church; and so long as its energetic and munificent Bishop is spared to it, we have no fear for its progress. He still, indeed, asks the sympathy and help of English Christians, and there is not a Bishop in any part of our Colonial Empire who has stronger claims upon them; but the Church Missionary Society is for the heathen, and must be released from the care of a people among whom its work, through the abundant blessing of God, is now almost done.

Almost done; but evidently not quite. There are even now some Indians of this Diocese still waiting for the Gospel. And strangely enough, they inhabit that part of the country which is nearest to the confines of Canada. From Winnipeg and the Red River valley, right away eastward to Lake Superior, there stretches a vast plain 300 or 400 miles in length, with rivers, and lakes, and forests, and remnants of the great Ojibbeway nation, who, though now settling down to agricultural life, have not got beyond. the ancient belief in a Great Spirit and happy hunting grounds. Across this plain is to run the Canadian Pacific Railway, and colonization will quickly follow, if it does not precede, the advance of that great work. About half-way between Red River and Lake Superior is Fort Francis, on Rainy Lake; and here, for the past seven years, the Society has had a missionary stationed, the Rev. Robert Phair. His work has been an uphill one; but we need not ourselves enter into particulars regarding it, as its present condition is fully set forth in the very interesting journal which Bishop Machray has kindly sent of a visit recently paid by him to the district. On Wednesday, June 16th, 1880, the Bishop left Winnipeg by train on that section of the Canadian Railway which is already constructed, and reached Cross Lake, a distance of about a hundred miles eastward, early in the afternoon. There he found the Rev. Baptiste Spence, one of the C.M.S. Indian clergy, to whom he had telegraphed the day before, waiting for him with a canoe, in which, paddled by six Christian Indians, he started next morning down the Winnipeg River for the old mission station of Islington, of which Mr. Spence is pastor. They reached Islington on the Friday, but could have done so without difficulty on the Thursday night. The same journey, only four years ago, before the railway was made, took the Bishop ten days, by waggon and canoe. He gives us a glimpse in his journal of the difficulties of railway engineering in Manitoba :

There has been at Cross Lake a piece of particularly heavy work in the construction of the railway. The railway has, in fact, been carried over a narrow part of the lake by building across the lake a solid embankment. A channel cut out of solid rock near the middle of this embankment gives easy passage to a rather rapid current from the one part of the lake to the other. But though there is this large rocky formation of granite rock in the middle,

it turned out that the bed of the lake on both sides of it was a bog with no bottom for building on. As the earth and sand were thrown in, the very piles, that were driven in at first, were forced up in the lake points uppermost. For a year or two, day and night, with steam engines and steam shovels, long trains of cars of sand have been emptying in their contents every half-hour. I believe the work is now supposed to be complete.

conveniently in the morning. The congregations were most devout, the responses well taken, the singing of the Indian hymns very hearty. One could not have wished to see a congregation entering apparently more devoutly and intelligently into the whole service. There were twenty-eight confirmed, mostly adults, and between thirty and forty came to the Lord's Supper. Several, who were prepared for confirmation, were unfortunately absent from the settlement.

Islington, formerly called White Dog, was occupied by the C.M.S. in 1850, the late Miss Landon of Bath giving 1000l. for that purpose. The Indians of the district are Swampy Crees, to which tribe Mr. Spence himself belongs. He was ordained in 1869, after several years' faithful service as a catechist. The Bishop of Rupert's Land thus describes this station:I found the new church, that has been building for some time, finished and ready for me to open on Sunday. I went on Saturday through a number of the houses. The Islington band is a small band. There are 162 in it receiving Treaty money from the Government. The Rev. B. Spence, their minister, is an Indian of this band, having, at his request, been transferred to it. There are only six or seven heathen now in it, and these are undecided, only kept from open profession by some accidental circumstances of their position. All the members of this band are dressed exactly like the Europeans living in this country. There are fifteen houses built, and several building. Some have built new and better houses. They have a number of cattle, and are perfectly up now to the ordinary building and farming operations in the country on a small scale. I had a very full conversation with the chief. He is a very admirable man, and commands his tribe most wisely. He is a great help to Mr. Spence, doing his best to have everything right about the church, and in every other way.

On Sunday we had service in the church, both morning and afternoon. On both occasions the new church was crowded. The men, women, and children of the settlement were there. We had the Confirmation Service in the morning, and the Holy Communion in the afternoon. The whole service was in Indian, and my addresses were interpreted by Mr. Spence. We could not, therefore, have the Communion

Of course, pleasant as it is to see heartiness in the service, and devoutness of manner, our great rejoicing should be the evidence that God is receiving the service of the heart, that He is being worshipped in spirit and in truth, and from my direct observation and what I have heard, it is my opinion that God has, in that little band, not a few earnest and faithful servants. had two or three interesting conversations, through Mr. Spence, with those seeking to take a more decided standone or two such came for the first time to the Lord's Table.

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I was happy to find that Mr. Spence, who is one of our old scholars at St. John's, is exceedingly respected by all in the whole country round. His work at Islington has been very faithful and sound; but it has not been confined to Islington. He has taken one most important journey yearly along the English River, which falls into the Winnipeg a little below Islington, to Lac Seul, and his services seem to have been blessed with great results.

Lac Seul, mentioned by the Bishop, lies to the north-east; and four days' journey beyond it is Osnaburg, in the Moosonee Diocese, a station visited by the Rev. T. Vincent of Albany. There are, the Bishop says, some 500 Indians at Lac Seul, under a Christian chief. It is intended that Mr. Irvine, a (country-born) scholar at St. John's College, Winnipeg, shall be sent there as pastor after his ordination.

Other bands of Indians are visited by Mr. Spence. The chief of one has expressed a wish to be a Christian, but complains, "Once a year a minister comes and tells us the good news. Then he goes away and my children are left knowing nothing."

From Islington the Bishop proceeded in Mr. Spence's canoe up the Winnipeg River, across the Lake of the Woods, and up Rainy River, to

Rainy Lake and Fort Francis. This journey is not all "plain sailing." On the morning of Wednesday, June 23rd, they were at Rat Portage, a Hudson's Bay Company's post, whence they were to cross the Lake of the Woods:

On the way up Rainy River they came across several Indian bands on the reserves set apart for them by the Government. We extract one passage of this part of the Bishop's journal :

The following Wednesday, after a week's canoeing, Fort Francis was reached. The Bishop gives a very interesting account of his interview with the Indians of the district ::