That Sunday afternoon I went into the city with Mr. Evington to the Bible Class, which is held in a book shop, open during the week for the sale of Christian literature. Some six or seven earnest-looking men had assembled. We enter by a side door, and put off our boots on the outer ledge or gallery from which the rooms open. The day being hot, the transverse screens which divide the long building into rooms are taken down, and we can see the whole length from the shutters in front to the charming little garden in the rear, with its miniature lake, and lantern, and hill, and trees, and gold-fishes, and bridge-a little gem, very pleasing to the eyes, and witnessing to that inherent love of beauty which is characteristic of the Japanese in all ranks of life. We all kneel down on the matted floor, sitting back on the soles of our shoeless feet, and are thus quite at home in a Japanese way. This is one of the radical differences in the customs of China and Japan. The best Chinese house has no floor clean enough for such a posture. In praying all lean forward, putting the hands together on the ground, and bowing the head. The reading seems to be full of interest to those present. They question in an animated way, and discuss with vivacity. Our host's wife, meanwhile, in the adjoining kitchen, keeps her eyes on the fire and the cooking, whilst her ears are open to the Gospel, and then when an hour and a half have expired she modestly asks us to refresh ourselves with a tiny cup of fragrant tea ere we leave.

Another meeting and a second Native service have been held in the church, and we return in time for the English service, at which we meet a few residents and some of our brethren of the American Episcopal Mission. Greatly indeed are we privileged to be permitted to see this day of comparative peace and security for the entrance of the Gospel into the imperial city, where fifty years since seven natives were crucified on the bare suspicion of their being Christians. Now there are three Protestant societies at work here, quietly, faithfully sowing the seed of the Word, and already permitted to behold the first fruits of the coming harvest.

country. Very long seemed the level streets of Osaka. Its population is over half a million, and these, having no four or five-storied houses to dwell in, are spread out over a large area. The roads and streets are as wide as those of the newer portions of London, and are thronged by as busy a crowd. Such goodnatured, kindly-looking people too. They win upon one at first sight. Shops of all kinds expose their tempting wares in perplexing abundance. We lift the curtains which keep out the glare, and see a large drapery establishment crowded with customers, who sit on the edge of the counter or upon it, for the well-matted floor is the counter, and is only about a foot above the level of the street. Mothers are buying rich silk stuffs for

dresses, and young ladies coloured crapes for their hair or their necks, and careful country visitors are looking at cheap remnants, or listening to the persuasive eloquence of grave salesmen, whose heads are shaved in the centre, and their back hair twisted up and bent forward in a style which to us seems most ludicrous. Photographers abound, and will supply charming cartede-visite views of noted places at a penny each; shops for the sale of educational appliances are numerous; toy shops in abundance show that the children are well remembered in Japan; shops for earthen and chinaware; lacquer ware for every-day use; fans of gorgeous colouring and fantastic devices; foreign articles of clothing, especially hats; for these and a hundred other requirements allure the passerby by the brilliancy of their colouring and picturesque arrangement of their contents. Every street is intersected by canals, over which in Osaka alone are nearly a thousand bridges; at each corner of which will generally be a bath-house, with separate doors for men and women, distinguished by Chinese characters a foot high in white on the blue cloth curtain. This is a recent improvement on old customs. Numerous shops for the sale of shrines, idols, or religious emblems and requirements for worship remind us constantly and painfully that we are sojourning amongst the heathen. Temples abound. It is said that there are nearly two thousand scattered over the city. We ascend a flight of steps on approaching the chief of these, and enter a fine old gateway of wood, beautifully carved. Crossing a spacious courtyard, we mingle with the crowd of worshippers constantly coming and going in the lofty hall. An intense earnestness in their manner makes one yearn to tell them of the God Man, Christ Jesus, that they may be turned from idols to serve the living and true God.

Osaka is a large and busy city, offering a good opportunity for studying every-day Japanese life. In one respect the cities of Japan much resemble those of England. No walls surround them. Generally there is a castle, which is in itself a large fortress, with central keep and wide moats, but the city shades away gradually, and almost imperceptibly, from its central quarter into suburbs of poorer and smaller houses, terminating in open

We pass on to the N.E. corner of the city, and admire the width and depth of the moat, the vast stones of the gateways, and the extent of the castle enclosure. The soldiers on guard have a continental appearance both in bearing and uniform. One accompanies us to the lofty citadel, from which we look down upon town and country and crowded dwellings and open fields, note the extensive buildings of the Mint and Arsenal, and track the silvery windings of the two rivers, the Yodo and Yamato, which circle round the city, until where the Town Hall raises its imposing spire they spread out towards the sea. We gaze upon the marks of fierce conflagrations yet visible on the massive stones that flank the gateways-for here, three hundred years since, the temporal might of Buddhism received its deathblow. From that day Buddhism has been a great but spiritual power only, the ally, and not the rival, of that military government of the Shoguns which lasted till 1868. A mightier power is now confronting Japanese Buddhism, and assailing it with weapons of a different kind. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Would that there were more found ready to go forth and wield them for the great Captain of our Salvation!

A "GLEANER" COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION.

T the request of the Rev. Canon Blenkin, Vicar of Boston, the Editor lately prepared a paper of questions upon the contents of the eleven numbers of the GLEANER from January to November last, a few young people in that town having well studied its pages during the year, and desiring to be examined in the knowledge of missionary work which they had gained. The examination was held on November 29th, when seven candidates presented themselves, two above the age of fourteen, and five under; and a young lady who signs the name of "Susan" stands first with 74 marks out of a possible 100.

The questions set were as follows:-

1. Write down three of Christ's "Marching Orders" in His own words.

2. Two Bishops for new Missionary Dioceses were consecrated in July last. Give their names, and state briefly what you know of them, and of the countries to which they were appointed.

3. Draw a rough outline map of Eastern Africa, from Egypt to Zanzibar, showing the two routes to the Victoria Nyanza.

4. State what you know of any two of the following C.M.S. Missions :Bonny, Frere Town, Peshawar, Santal Mission, Great Valley.

5. Where are the following places ?-Abeokuta, Mombasa, Kagei, Taljhari, Goruckpore, Palamcottah, shaouhing, Queen Charlotte's Island.

6. Give any illustrations of the following Christian graces that you have noticed in this year's GLEANER :-Patience under disappointments; Steadfastness under persecutions; Earnestness in seeking after the truth; Liberality in giving to the service of God.

7. Give an account of any one person converted to God, of whom you have read in this year's GLEANER.

Besides these the Editor also proposed the following, but they were thought too difficult, or more than enough, and were not submitted to the candidates. Of course all the questions refer to persons, places, and events prominently mentioned in last year's volume :—

Give illustrations of the progress of the C.M.S.'s work within the twenty years from 1858 to 1878. [This refers to the article in the March number.] Name some missionary workers who have died lately, and state briefly who they were. Particularly, a great statesman, a Travancore missionary, and a Hindu clergyman's wife.

Write a brief explanation of any one of the following pictures :

C.M.S. Clergy in Palestine.

Teaching in a Zenana at Umritsur.

The Mission Press at Cottayam.

Mission Church at Tokio.

Admiral Prevost and the Christians of Metlakahtla.

The answers show unmistakably that the young competitors had thoroughly well read the GLEANER month by month. On the second question four of them write nicely about Bishops Speechly and Ridley, and "Susan" gives from memory quite an elaborate account of Travancore. One writer, however, says Bishop Ridley is for Travancore, and cannot remember the name of "the other one for British Columbia." Four attempt the map required in Question 3, and all show that they

"Peshawar is the border town between Afghanistan and the Punjab, at the entrance of the great Khyber Pass. It has been until this year the furthest limit to which the missionaries might go. Mr. Hughes is stationed here, and, by the sale of Bibles, and tract distribution, endeavours to send light into the dark region beyond. Another means of spreading the Gospel is the hujrah, or guest-chamber, which is an institution in every Afghan house. The missionaries show hospitality, and try to influence their guests. Peshawar has an English church."

Most of the answers to Question 5 are remarkably accurate; but it is a curious illustration of the way in which the Yoruba Mission has fallen into the background of late years, that Abeokuta, which was perhaps the best known station in the world twenty years ago, is placed by one competitor in Travancore, and by another in Japan.

The 6th question has elicited some interesting answers. Of "patience under disappointments," one suggests "the blind schoolmaster of Palamcotta and Mr. Streeter" as examples. "Steadfastness under persecution” is exemplified by Fuh-Kien, Bonny, and Great Valley, and in the story of Churun Masih. "Earnestness in seeking after the truth" is naturally illustrated by the "fifty years' search for peace" of Jadu Bhindu Ghose, As examples of "liberality in giving to the service of God," the following are mentioned:-the Santal Christians bringing their offerings as described by Mr. Storrs; the case of "a tenth for God" in Tinnevelly; Miss F R. Havergal giving her jewels to the C.M.S.; the £100 per station offered to the Santal Mission by Sir W. Muir and Mr. Shackell; King Tiwo's gifts at Lagos. In response to the 7th question, the cases of Churun Masih, Chandu in "A.L.O.E.'s" narrative, and Retti the Tamil farmer mentioned by Mr. Meadows, are given.

Is not this excellent example of missionary study worth imitating?

SKETCHES OF THE TELUGU MISSION. BY THE REV. J. E. PADFIELD, Masulipatam."

I.-FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

T was not in the highest spirits imaginable that at the end of the year 1868 I found myself approaching the large old fort near Masulipatam. I was nearing the end of a long journey, first round the Cape, from London to Madras, in the good ship Gosforth, and then up the Bay of Bengal in a coasting steamer. We had descended from the steamer into a boat, for no ship can there come within miles of the shore. We had been for several hours in the said boat steering towards the flat desolatelooking shore. We had crossed the "bar" that impedes the entrance into the river, and were slowly rowing up the creek towards the landing-place. I was then just reaching the end of my long journey, and nearing the place I had often pictured to myself in my own mind as being like—well, as being as unlike the reality as it was possible to be. As I have said, my spirits able, desolate-looking spot in the world there can scarcely be were rather depressed, and naturally so, for a more dull, miserthan the country that meets one's view in going up the river from the sea to Bunder Fort. Fancy a wide expanse of the blackest, slimiest, spongiest mud possible, and a black sluggish stream of liquid mud dragging its meandering length through the same; and in the boat creeping up the stream picture two young missionaries just arriving at the scene of their future labours, and then you will not wonder at one's feelings being none of the liveliest. We at length got alongside the landing-place, and still nothing but desolation. The large fort that had once been a military stronghold, and had been the scene of many a battle between Natives and French and English, was then, and still is, a desolate ruin. The cyclone, of which more anon, had done more for its ruin than the batterings of many a siege.

A drive of two miles was yet before us before reaching Masuli

patam proper, or Bunder as the natives call it; and still mud and desolation, for the road runs across a dreary swamp, dry enough in the hot season, but a lake of black spongy mud after the first downpour of the monsoon. At last we drew near to the cantonment, and things certainly began to wear a more cheerful aspect. Green trees, for it was the cold season, and the signs of civilisation met one's anxious gaze. We passed several large bungalows on the right and left; here one that is now rebuilt, and, as an inscription notifies, is the Noble Memorial School; there a house now occupied by a missionary, but which was in 1868 still used for the school. Next we passed the house in which Robert Noble of sainted memory lived and died, and which is now occupied by the writer of this paper-in fact we had come to the end of our journey. We had reached the first and still the chief station of the Telugu Mission, and a warm welcome and the cheerful sights and scenes around soon dispelled the mud-begotten gloom that had certainly depressed our spirits. It did our hearts good to see the active, thorough missionary work that was going on, both in the large and important schools that form so prominent a feature in the Memoir of Robert Noble, and also in the little Christian congregation and evangelistic agencies that were presided over by a veteran missionary who has very recently been called to his heavenly rest.

The pettah, or native town, is half a mile or so distant from the cantonment, and a walk through its sandy streets and lanes had a very depressing effect, for everywhere one could see how "mad after their idols' were the poor benighted heathen. Sometimes one saw things that common decency forbids one to allude to, but which were, nevertheless, sacred emblems of, or holy allusions to, one phase or another of the religion of those around. Depressing were such things, but still, showing how much work there was before us, incentives to active exertion.

The task I have had set me is to give a brief account of this promising and interesting Mission of the Church Missionary Society, and my purpose is, without attempting a formal history of its operations, to take a few prominent features here and there, which may perhaps serve to illustrate the work that has been and still is being done for the evangelising of the heathen and the building up for Christ of a living Native Church.

HOW THE TWINS WERE SAVED.

A TRUE STORY FROM ONITSHA.

ESTROY them not, for a blessing is in them." Never perhaps were these words more happily applied than they were by the Rev. Solomon Perry, the Native African missionary at Onitsha on the Niger, at one o'clock in the morning of Thursday, July 31st, 1879. Onitsha is a town on the east bank of the Niger, 140 miles from the sea. Ever since British steamers went up the river, it has been a principal centre of trade; and it was the first place occupied by Samuel (now Bishop) Crowther when he began the Niger Mission in 1857. (See GLEANER, Sept., 1878.) The work from the first has been encompassed with difficulties; yet a Christian congregation of some 250 natives has been gathered, without counting the resident English and African traders.

The grossest and most cruel superstitions flourish in full force at Onitsha. Among them is a persistent prejudice against the birth of twins. "Such an occurrence," writes Archdeacon Dandeson Crowther (the Bishop's son), " is a horrible thing in the land, an abomination not to be tolerated. The children must be immediately put to death, and thrown away, and no mention ever be made of the births."

On the night of July 30 h last, twin girls were born to a convert named Daniel Odiegu. The poor mother in her fright got up and went off into the bush to hide herself; "but," says Archdeacon Crowther, "the sweet influences of the Go-pel had taken hold of the hearts of our converts and softened them to pity and love," and one of the friends of the family, coming in, exclaimed, "They shall not be thrown away: send for

"Destroy

our minister." Mr. Perry was fetched at one in the morning. them not," he said, "for a blessing is in them"; and immediately set about taking measures for their preservation. First he, with great difficulty, persuaded an old woman to take charge of the poor little babes. Then he went after the mother; but it was only after two hours of talking that he and other converts who had now assembled could induce her to

come in, and even then she would not come near the infants.

It was then determined not to attempt any concealment of what had happened; but feeling that the anger of the people might put all Christians in some peril, he sent a note to the merchants, in which he said,—

"If we are quiet and it is known afterwards, it might be made a ground for persecution; but if we put a bold face on it, they will be silent. We are therefore determined to make it an occasion of public rejoicing at having an opportunity to put our teaching into practice. I inform you of it, not that I apprehend any danger to the English residents, but it is a thing you should all know."

According to the custom of the place, guns were accordingly fired to announce the birth. "Every passer-by," says Archdeacon Crowther, "asked what the rejoicing meant; and when told, some snapped their fingers over their heads, others spat sharply two or three times to show abhorrence; some ran away speechless, and many put their hands to their ears to shut out the bad news." One man, however, who was greatly horrified, being asked by a Christian named Stephen Obori, “whether he had ever thrown away any present given him," answered, No; whereupon Stephen rejoined, "Who, except at Onitsha, would be foolish enough to throw away his children given by God, because they were two?" The heathen man stared for a moment, and then exclaimed, "After all, I think you Oyibos [i.e., white men, or civilised negroes] are wise people, and we are fools. I for one will never refuse a present, and if doubled, all the better. Give me some powder," he added, "and I too will fire my gun, for I must help the Christians to rejoice and thank God." That heathen, says the Archdeacon, actually kept firing volleys for two hours, with exclamations against the folly of Onitsha superstition; after which he "bade adieu, wished all success, shouldered his gun, and went away."

Not so reasonable, however, were the rest of the people. The king and chiefs sent angry messages, requiring the instant death of the twins, and also that two human sacrifices were to be offered, "one to be dragged alive through the town to take away the sin, and the other to be killed on the spot, and the blood sprinkled on the desecrated ground." To which a respectful reply was sent by the Native missionaries, stating that they had come 66 to teach the preciousness of the life that God had given," and that the Divine command, "Thou shall not kill," applied to "human sacrifices, lying in wait for revenge, and the destruction of twins." On the other hand, no less than eight heathens came secretly to beg them to stand firm, for they also had had twins, and had thrown them away with bitter tears.

Next day a furious mob of five hundred men, "armed to the teeth with guns, cutlasses, spears, clubs, bows and arrows, and daggers," surrounded the mission compound, demanding that the babes be given up to them. The whole body of Christians were assembled to defend them, but providentially no collision took place. Archdeacon Crowther and a lay teacher held the leaders of the mob in parley, while Mr. Perry and two others managed to slip away into the bush with the infants, and thence to one of the factories, whence they were afterwards conveyed on board the English steamer Wanderer, which happily had just arrived. On hearing what had been done, the crowd, only anxious to get such abominations out of Onitsha, were content, and quietly dispersed.

A negro woman called "Mammy Davis" was on board the Wanderer, en route up the river to Lokoja, whither Archdeacon Crowther also was going, and to her charge the twins were committed. But, writes Mr. Crowther, "another difficulty arose: the children were crying, and though we had condensed milk, we had no feeding-bottle. Every one on beard began to contrive, and Captain Stort, with his chief engineer, Mr. Osborne, succeeded in making one, which answered admirably all the journey."

On arriving at Lokoja, Mr. Crowther arranged to hold a thanksgiving service for the preservation of the twins, and to baptize them. The service was held in Holy Trinity mission church, and eightysix persons were present, including the English officers of the steamer and

many Mohammedans and heathen. The Archdeacon preached from Ps. xxvii. 10-"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up"-and afterwards baptized the twins by the names of Sarah Wanderer and Elizabeth Wanderer. Sarah, however, died on the eleventh day of her short and troubled life; but Elizabeth, Mr. Crowther writes, is "thriving well."

This is how the twins were saved. And though the Psalmist's words, "The Lord will take me up," have been too literally fulfilled in the case of one, we shall all earnestly hope that it may please God to spare the other, and that she may live to know from what a premature and barbarous end she was saved. But the great triumph has been the heavy blow dealt at the superstitions of Onitsha; and it is with thankfulness, but not with surprise, that we hear of many heathens having come to church on the succeeding Sundays expressly "to see and hear what gives these converts such courage to withstand the whole country."

[Since this occurrence, Onitsha has been destroyed, and the Mission suspended. See next article.]

SCENES ON THE NIGER.

N the last GLEANER, we mentioned the successful voyage of the C.M.S. Mission steamer Henry Venn up the Binue, the great eastern branch of the River Niger. Our readers may have noticed in the newspapers lately an account of two Frenchmen having discovered the source of the Niger. That is, of the western branch, the Kworra, which rises in the mountains some 300 or 400 miles inland from Sierra Leone, but then, instead of falling into the Atlantic Ocean, which is only that distance off, it flows away to the north-east towards Timbuctoo, and thence to the south-east towards the Gulf of Guinea, where at last it reaches the sea after a course of between two and three thousand miles. This Kworra is the Niger of Mungo Park. When just 230 miles from its mouths it is joined by the Binue, which comes from a country as yet unexplored far to the east, in the very heart of Central Africa. Up this Binue branch the Henry Venn ascended for 500 or 600 miles.

SCENES ON THE RIVER NIGER: 1. Confluence of the Kwerra and Binue branches of the Niger; 2. The s.s. "Edgar"

Our pictures are from sketches originally sent to the Graphic by

Capt. F. Haynes. The long picture stretching across the top of this page is a view of the Confluence of the Binue and Kworra, at Lokoja. The Kworra is seen coming from the left of the picture, and the Binue from the centre distance, while the united river, the true Niger, flows away to the right. Lokoja is seen just at the Confluence, with one of the trading steamers lying alongside. The view is taken from Mount Lokoja, a hill 1,200 feet high.

The picture No. 2 shows the trading-steamer Edgar on the occasion of a riot among the Natives in September, 1878, when they attacked the vessel with bows and arrows, but were soon quiete 1. No. 3 represents some of the people of the place, and No. 4 the indigo pits in the village, where the Natives dye their cloth.

No. 5 takes us down the river to Onitsha, which is nearly half-way to the sea, and shows us the late Mr. Consul Hopkins, who was much respected on the river, and his recent death universally regretted, holding a court to decide some dispute between the Natives and the traders. We are scrry to say that since his death, a British gun-boat, H.M.S. Pioneer, has been compelled to destroy the town. In consequence of continued outrages on the English traders by a wild gang of men, the Onitsha chiefs were requested to deliver them up. Instead of doing this, they opened fire on the steamer. A fight ensued, and the mission premises, being right in the line of fire, have rerished. The Native Christians took refuge at Asaba, on the other side of the river.

Onitsha has always been turbulent, and well deserved its fate. But we do wish, nevertheless, that when, owing to outrages on traders, British ships have to punish Native tribes, it might be at some place where there would be no risk of missionary operations seeming to be mixed up with it. The event is the more unfortunate in this case, coming so soon after the great moral and bloodless victory gained over the superstition of Onitsha in the matter of the twins. (See preceding article.) Yet we doubt not that God will graciously overrule these untoward circumstances to the spread of that blessed Gospel which brings "peace on earth, goodwill towards men."