BIBLE THOUGHTS ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK.

BY THE BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN.

I.

"Then remembered I the Wor of the Lord."-Acts xi. 16.

NE of the greatest hindrances to missionary work is to be found in the prejudices of Christian people themselves. Thus at the very outset, when Peter returned to Jerusalem from the house of Cornelius, he had to contend with the prejudice of the disciples. They objected to the door being opened to the Gentiles. But Peter, though himself a man full of prejudice, had been taught to value the Saviour's Word, and to place it above his own experience: "Nevertheless, at Thy word I will let down the net." So all he did was simply to tell them how prejudiced he had been himself, until he had seen the actual working of the Spirit of God, and was then reminded of what Christ had promised: "Then remembered I the Word of the Lord." Thus the disciples were convinced. They held their peace, and the missions to the Gentiles went forward.

What we need, then, for the removal of prejudice and the advancement of missionary work is to bear in mind, first of all, the Word of the Lord Jesus, and then to look for the working of the Spirit of God. The two, in fact, go together. The Holy Ghost is sent to carry out the Word and Work of Christ. Every promise which He has given us we may expect the Holy Spirit to fulfil. Only let us remember what Jesus has said, and all our preconceived difficulties will vanish away. We may have been saying to ourselves, Who will roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? Let us simply go forward, and we shall find that it is gone, and our faithlessness will be rebuked by the angel's word, "Remember how He spake unto you."

There are three matters, I think, particularly, in which people doubt His power and fail to realise the Word of the Lord Jesus. The Preaching of the Gospel.-Many seem to think that it is rather out of date-they have an idea that it has lost its power -they prefer for work amongst the heathen subtle arguments, civilising influences, and great educational schemes. All these may be very good in their way, but should we not remember the Word of the Lord, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature"? It was in the spirit of this command that the greatest of all our Christian missionaries acted, and he has left it on record, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."

Conversion to God.-Many, again, have a notion that it is quite impossible to convert the heathen-that we may improve them socially, but that we can never turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God. We grant that it is difficult, but should we not remember the Word of the Lord, "Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father"? The truth of this the great missionary proved, for in writing to the converts in Ephesus, the centre of the world's idolatry, he says, "You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins."

Intercessory Prayer.-Once more, there are latent doubts and prejudices with many in reference to prayer. They listen to the philosophy, falsely so called, of the present day, or they neglect it if they do not see the answer given so speedily as they wish. But should we not remember the Word of the Lord, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My

name I will do it"? greatest missionary :

Here, again, we have the testimony of the Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy"; "I beseech you that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me"; "I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

Dear Christian reader, if you would only thus remember the Word of the Lord Jesus, you would never have a doubt as to the result of the work of God at home or abroad. It is true that we are living in days of great unbelief, but we are living in days of great opportunity. Thank God, there is much in every way to encourage us! Doors are being opened, men are being raised up in answer to prayer, converts are being gathered in, the Gospel is being faithfully preached. It is for us to be increasingly diligent in prayer and earnest effort. Souls are perishLet ing, eternity is nearing, the Master's voice is calling! this be our thought at the opening of another year, "Then remembered I the Word of the Lord."

ESTIMATES RESTORED!"

UCH was the joyful telegram flashed round the world a few months ago from a great Missionary Society to its missionaries in many lands. "Estimates restored!" What did it mean? It meant, first, that when the missionaries sent home to the Society a careful statement of the money required for a particular mission for the year, the Society was obliged to cut down the amount, to tell them that they must dismiss Native teachers, close schools, stop preaching tours that cost money, and expect no reinforcements; and, secondly, that the estimate thus ruthlessly clipped was restored, that is, they might re-engage teachers, re-open schools, resume preaching tours, and look for fresh men from home.

Why were the estimates cut down at first? Because the funds were short. And why was that? Because Christian people were content to give their little paltry subscriptions as before, instead of rising to their responsibilities, and denying themselves for the sake of the perishing heathen. And then, why were the "estimates restored ? Because one man had felt the burden of souls upon him, and out of his abundance had more than made up for all the deficiencies of others.

That society was not the Church Missionary Society. The Committee of the C.M.S. have indeed had to do the first thing, to cut down the estimates from its Missions all round the world. But they have not yet been enabled to send the glad message across the deserts and beneath the seas, “Estimates Restored." The society that was privileged thus to girdle the globe with a song of thanksgiving was the American Board of Foreign Missions, and the stirring story is told in the last number of its Herald. After several years of "cutting down," the Board had, twelve months ago, to make what it calls "another sharp incision," which called forth "an almost audible wail all around the missionary world." One missionary wrote, "We groan, and groan, because of grand opportunities which we cannot improve." During six following months, the monthly messenger reported to the brethren who were anxiously looking for some token of relief, "There is nothing." And then, one morning, the Board found itself the heir to an estate worth a million of dollars; and the joyful telegram was sent off at once to Asiatic Turkey, to India, to China, to Japan.

While heartily rejoicing at the noble bequest which has thus given such timely aid to a most noble work, we cannot but think of our own beloved Society, and ask, Will it please God to send

us a like blessing? Nothing is too hard for the Lord; and if those wondrous words that were spoken to Solomon were spoken to us-"Ask what thou wilt "-our petition would be for another and a still greater blessing. A greater!-what can that be? This that estimates might be restored, waiting men sent forth, open doors entered, with means provided by the contributions of many. If every contributor to the Church Missionary Society just gave this year twice as much as he gave last year, the total would almost equal the grand legacy left to our American brethren; and that would mean deeper interest, wider sympathy, more fervent prayer. The large gifts of the few are good-let us thank God for them; but the small gifts of the many are better.

On the 1st of April last the Society began its eighty-first year with a deficiency, on the previous two years, of £24,758. Many faithful friends have come forward with special gifts to meet that deficiency, and have contributed thus far about £15,000. So £10,000 is still wanted for arrears, and all the while our Missions are costing in this current year almost as much as last year, in spite of the "cutting down" which has been going on.

Perhaps most of our readers can do very little towards wiping off that £10,000. But every one of them can help, for all that by making known everywhere the Society's need-by telling of its work and God's blessing on it-by earnestly asking God to pour out a spirit of liberality upon those who can give as well as by a little extra offering of their own.

Last Trinity Sunday fifteen young missionaries were presented by the Society to the Bishop of London, and were solemnly ordained to the ministry of the Gospel in St. Paul's Cathedral. Eight of these fifteen (besides some other men) have gone forth, four to India, one to China, one to East Africa, one to Palestine, one to Hudson's Bay. Where are the other seven ? Kept back for lack of funds, two from Africa, three from India, one from China, one from Japan. Piteous letters have come from the missionaries to whose help they were going. How are those letters to be answered?

UP THE NILE TO UGANDA.

JOURNAL OF MR. R. W. FELKIN.

(Continued from the GLEANER of September last.) [Our September number brought the missionary party, consisting of Mr. C. W. Pearson, the Rev. G. Litchfield, and Mr. Felkin, to Lado, a principal station of Colonel Gordon's on the Upper Nile, opposite Gondokoro. We shall now follow them on from thence to M tesa's capital. The sketch map in the GLEANER of last June shows the stages of the route clearly. A larger map, with full details, is given in this month's Intelligencer. The present instalment of Mr. Felkin's narrative describes the journey from Lado to Bedden in boats towed by gangs of men against the tremendous current of the river, and from thence to Kerrie by steamer. There they prepared for a march by land to Dufli, the Nile not being here available. Our pictures are from Sir S. Baker's Albert Nyanza, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.]

OV. 18, 1878.-Tents were struck before sunrise, and all our goods taken on board the two boats which had been waiting to take us to Bedden. They were strong boats, and had Peara tent fixed in the stern to protect us from the sun. son, Ismael Effendi, Abou Hattab, the Governor of Regiaf, and myself went in the first boat; Litchfield, Nicola (the interpreter), and Ibrahim Effendi, a man sent from Lado to look after all our needs on the way, went in the second. At 7.30 we started. Each boat was pulled at first by twelve natives, and we went along at a far greater

speed than I had expected, as the men were often up to their waists in

water, sometimes even having to swim a short distance. The current was very strong indeed. The banks of the river are both under water, which makes the work of towing boats hard and dangerous.

Any number of hippos could be seen in the river, and on the banks I counted twenty-seven at one time visible, and two elephants I saw with boat, took a long look at us, perhaps opened their mouths and then my glass. The hippos popped up their huge heads quite close to the vanished again, but so queitly as hardly to leave a ripple on the surface of the water. I was very surprised to see how quietly, and with what a majestic grace, these animals took the water. Often the men would come upon them asleep on the bank. They would get up and go into the water slowly, gracefully, and without a single splash.

We found the boat fairly comfortable, and soon got settled down in her; the only thing except heat which in any way troubled us was the

smoke from the fire, which was placed in the only available place, the bow of the boat. Ismael Effendi had brought some bread, hard-oiled eggs, four cooked fowls ad some live ones, half a sheep and a live one, as well as lemons, &c., so that we had plenty to eat, and here, as in England when one goes to a picnic, the appetite is very good when travelling. The men pulled well and sang as they went, laughing heartily when one or other of them fell into a hole, or some other small contretemps occurred; these people are not unhappy, that is certain.

We changed men at ten o'clock, and as the rapids commence about here we had twenty-five men. The village from which they came is Chief Tambi's headquarters, and he came on board and went with us for a stage. He is a fine old man, full of fun and wit. He told us about his fighting against Sir Samuel Baker. He used to be able to put 5,000 or 6,000 men in the field. He told us English people had only one wife, and he was better than many chiefs as he had only eight, whereas many have between twenty and thirty, the latter number being, it would seem, the highest limit. Many of the natives now pulling us

were decorated with flowers, having them placed in the links of the small chains round their necks and arms. This would seem to prove that they have an eye for the beautiful, a fact doubted or altogether denied by some African travellers.

The river was very rapid now, and progress much slower; sometimes half the men would have to stand holding the boat fast while half went round to shallow water; then an Arab, a most splendid swimmer, would take the rope in his teeth and swim across the deep water with it. The reason of this was that the bank is very uneven and in places very low; the water therefore in some places was too deep for the men to walk through pulling at the same time. In one of these places the Arab nearly lost his life. He had just taken the rope across and was getting on board the boat, when his

foot slipped and he fell back into the river. It was only by a tremendous effort that he managed to gain the bank. Two of the men pulling Litchfield's boat were drowned, poor fellows!

We changed men twice more before three o'clock, when we met the agent of Bedden with thirty men for our boat; the other one was far behind. The river bends here, and the agent had ridden across country on an ox, the first riding ox that I have seen. The current was getting stronger and stronger, and we passed Baker's Island with great difficulty.

About five o'clock it was intensely exciting, the boat having to be steered through rocks jutting out of the river, and only just room enough to get through sometimes; at other times the current was so strong that we were n danger of getting swamped, and what would have happened had the rope snapped,

or our man steered badly, I do not know. The climax was reached soon after six. It was getting dark, and the bank had changed into rocks, over which the men had to climb, trees overhanging the river making the work doubly difficult.

When nearly opposite the Pasha's Rock we had a narrow escape. We had just rounded a rock when the current caught us and dashed us with great force against an overhanging tree, smashing our tent frame to pieces and nearly breaking the rope. For two or three minutes we were in great peril, but God helped us; the rope held well, and we got free.

We arrived at Bedden, which is a nice town built on an island, at 6.30, and found to our surprise that Litchfield was already there. He had walked for two hours across the bend in the river and so arrived before us. His boat did not turn up till very late, having had great difficulties to contend with.

Nov. 20.-Went round Bedden early in the morning, and then was asked to see a few sick folk, which I did.

Nov. 21.-Left Bedden at 6.30 A.M. in steamer No. 9, a brokendown old boat, but we got on very well, making the journey to Ker

rie in nine and a half hours. To give you an idea how strong the river is, a boat can go from Kerrie to Lado in three and a half hours. The view of Kerrie is very fine; the town is built upon a rock some 150 feet above the river, which forms its fortification on two sides. The mountains form a grand background. We stopped about a mile below the town, as the steamer could get no higher on account of the rocks. Our houses, or rather huts, were built about half a mile from the town, on the river's bank. The huts were very good, and I may mention here that new huts are built for us at each place we go to, and we have an enclosure to ourselves, with a sentry night and day. The huts are roofed with grass, but have wicker-work sides.

Nov. 22.-We all rode to Kerrie to see the Mudir. We have one horse,

a splendid chestnut, which carried me well, though I did not get a good character with him, and three mules, one donkey, and one ox. I had been requested to see the sick of the place. Thirty-one men and three women came, but they were mostly chronic cases, and I fear I did not do much good; some few cases I treated while remaining in the place.

Nov. 24.-Litchfield very ill with fever all day; he got wet in walking to Bedden, and could not change his wet things for some time.

Nov. 26.-Litchfield very ill in the morning. We had decided to start to-morrow, but I doubted if I should be able to take him on. He was most anxious for us to have no more delay on his account. In the afternoon I thought he might be carried, and as he was still anxious to go on, an angereb was made into a covered bed for him, and we got all ready for a start.

(To be continued.)

IN MEMORIAM-W. A. RUSSELL, D.D. Missionary of the C.M.S. at Ningpo 1848-1872. Missionary Bishop in North China 1872-1879.

T

Died October 5th, 1879.

AREWELL, beloved and honoured chief!
Well nigh too deep for words my grief
That thou art gone before!

Thou art not lost; 'tis well for thee;
The loss, the pain, are ours, for we

Shall see thy face no more.

Brave, courteous, gentle, thou wast praised
By earlier comrades, and when raised
To rule the Church of God;

On China's tongues, in English speech,
Thy name is fragrant, and shall reach
Beyond the prisoning sod.

A wise enthusiast, long ago

Thou liftedst up in dark Ningpo

Thy Master's conquering Sign;

And, when thy strength was well-nigh spent,
Still was thy eager spirit bent

On large and wide design.*

O noble life! O life-long love!
Which pain nor failure could remove,
For China burnt the flame !

Hopes were deferred-unanswered tears;
Scarce half a score in thirty years +
To bear the standard came.

Where have they laid thee now to rest?
Close to the "Peaceful River's" breast ‡;
Fit place for slumbers deep;

The clamorous junk her anchor heaves,
Or steamer's rush the tideway cleaves,
But may not break thy sleep.§

Here one-and-thirty years before,
The verdure of the fruitful shore
First met thy eager eye.||

The seasons still in order roll;
But sadder, since thy gentle soul

Has passed beyond our sky.

'Neath Eastern heavens thy body lies;
Thou wilt be near to see them rise
Who owe their hopes to thee;
And lead them, as in days of yore,
Within the City to adore

The Eternal One in Three!

TALKS WITH YOUNG WORKERS.

BY THE REV. J. E. SAMPSON.
CHAPTER I.

DON'T think missionaries do much good, at least I've
heard my father say so."

"Ah, that's because neither you nor your father know anything about the good they are doing."

The first speaker was John Treddel, a respectable young working man, the son of a working man. About three years before, the Holy Spirit of God had touched his heart and convinced him of sin. He sought and found mercy in Christ, and, as is always the case where there is real conversion of the heart to God, his soul was stirred with a strong desire to tell out that mercy to others. Of course he became a Sunday-school teacher. The best of all our missionary workers are found among these Sunday workers. But it was not so with John. He took no interest in missionary work. He heard the Rector now and then allude to the subject in the pulpit, and he felt a

passing desire to know more about it. But the desire was only passing. At the time of the annual meetings he had happened to be busy or tired, and so, not caring much about it, he had made no effort to be there.

The friend to whom he spoke was the superintendent of the Sundayschool, a man twenty years his senior; and he, on the other hand, was a zealous worker in the missionary cause. And yet he had just been reproaching himself for his lack of zeal. "I bave never tried to interest Treddel in this blessed work," he thought to himself. "He does not seem to care much about it. Perhaps he does not know much about it. At any rate, I will ask him to subscribe."

I have already recorded the reception Mr. Harper's application met with, and his friend's answer.

"Well," said Mr. Treddel, "to speak the truth, I do not know much about missionaries and their work."

"I know that, because a Christian cannot know what Christ is doing in a fallen world, and what He is asking his followers to do, without being deeply interested both in the work done and the work which waits to be done. Have you never felt any desire to help?"

"Yes, sometimes. I have heard Mr. Verity speak of it sometimes in his sermons as a great duty, but somehow or other I have never done anything. The fact is, Mr. Harper, I have never been asked. You are now the first person who has spoken to me on the subject."

It is often so. For three years our young and earnest friend had been serving the Lord with a loving heart, and yet no one had ever directed his thoughts or invited his energies towards a lost and ruined world. The routine of Christian worship and work had been gone through, not, in his case, as a matter of routine, but seriously as before God. In parochial works his labours were great, and were highly valued by his pastor. In the Sunday-school, in the Temperance Society, in the night school, he was a zealous worker. At the teachers' meetings, the Communicants' meetings, the Bible classes, he was generally present. But the missionary work had no place among these.

There is many a zealous pastor, tearfully anxious for the salvation of his parishioners, whose very zeal contracts his vision within the acres or streets of his own parish. All there is well-ordered and well-worked. The districts are visited, the schools teachered, the parochial machinery carefully arranged and tended and kept going. But of this machinery the great missionary work is no part. It comes in as a brief parenthesis rather than as a chapter in the book of orders. So there is a faint impression, with no permanent or very palpable results. The collectors, if there are any, go their round among their old subscribers, but it is nobody's business to look out for new ones.

""

"I am sorry I never spoke to you about it before, Treddel. I thought some one else would be asking you. You live in Mrs. Welby's district? "Yes, I believe my mother gives her a small subscription. But, though I often see her, she never asked me."

"I dare say she thought I should look after you. I suppose it is a duty which a superintendent owes to his teachers. I hope you will show that you forgive my past neglect by promising me a subscription now." I will gladly do so."

But," said Mr. Harper, "I want something more than your money.

I want your interest; I want your heart; I want you to take it up as a work for God. An annual offering is a very easy-going thing."

I really don't know how to go about it."

"I tell you what, Treddel, if you only knew more of what our missionaries are, by the grace of God, doing, you would soon know how to help."

رو

"But how am I to get to know? "There are the magazines published by the Society. They are deeply interesting. There is the Intelligencer (sixpence), full of instructive and heart-stirring matter. And there is the GLEANER (only a penny), with its monthly handful of information gathered from many fields. There is the Juvenile Instructor (a halfpenny) for the little ones. And there is the little Quarterly Token, and the Quarterly Paper, given freely to subscribers and collectors, old and young."

"I do occasionally see one or other of these; but I never seem to get interested in them."

Ah, my dear friend, you have told me why. Occasionally-that's the reason. Why, vou only take a now-and-then glance at them! No wonder you dont care for them. Now I know you are very fond of astronomy. You have studied the science, and an astronomical book is a great delight to you. Is it not ? " "Yes, it is indeed." "But it isn't at all to me. Not that I despise astronomy. It is a grand science, revealing the marvellous power and wisdom of God; but if I take up a scientific book on this subject, it is of no interest at all to me. Simply because I know nothing about it. I don't know Mars from Uranus, and you don't know Metlahkahtla from Tinnevelly. I should not know where in the heavens to look for any star you might name, however familiar its position might be to you. And you would not know where on the earth to look for almost any missionary or any missionstation I might name."