the throne of God in heaven." Captain Boys, R.N., of H.M.S. Philomel, who saw it three months afterwards, wrote home-"It was a sight worth seeing, to hear those eighty children, ages varying from seventeen down to two and three, all as black as coals, standing up and singing. I only wish the friends of the C.M.S. could see what I have seen. They would have been more than pleased." When Mr. Streeter, who had himself been scholar, teacher, and superintendent in the same Sunday-school in London, went out to Frere Town, he took charge of this school, and has worked it, as Bishop Royston says, "with loving zeal.” He gave illustrated lessons, taking one Sunday a magnet and two needles, another Sunday an orange, and again "raising a ladder from earth to heaven (on the blackboard)." In December, 1878, he wrote

"The progress seems great. They now read as well as an ordinary class at home, and begin to turn to different parts of the Bible; answer questions in English fairly; and when I ask them if they will learn their verse in school, as is the custom of necessity here, my boys always say, "No, we will read and listen to you, and learn verse in dinner-time." During six months only three boys have failed in saying them well, and they remember them during the week."

Turning to India, we do not find Sunday-schools mentioned in the reports from the majority of the Society's seventy-five stations; but we know they are well worked at some, and we believe the value of the system has been more generally recognised of late years. At Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Lucknow, and other large centres, they form part of the regular machinery. At Lucknow especially they have been diligently fostered by Mr. Ellwood and Mr. Durrant. In that city and neighbourhood, the American missionaries have also been particularly active in this respect; and Mr. Ellwood mentioned a few years ago that the very Mohammedans, provoked to jealousy, had opened Sunday-schools too, in order to keep their children. In the same report he justly observed that "in addition to the religious tendency of the Sunday-school system, it has also its social aspect, binding teachers and scholars together in Christian love."

At Umritsur, in the Punjab, we find, from a report of the Rev. Mian Sadiq, that the ladies of the Zenana Mission carry on a Sunday-school for the Christian children. In Tinnevelly, Bishop Sargent mentions Sundayschools at some of the Christian villages. At Mengnanapuram, for instance, he found 357 scholars gathered in the great church, under the superintendence of the Rev. D. Viravagu. An interesting account of Sundayschools in Travancore appeared in the GLEANER of October last, and need not be again referred to.

Ceylon is the only Mission which returns distinct Sunday-school statistics. It has 140 schools, with 2,666 scholars. The Rev. Henry Gunasekara, of Trinity Church, Kandy, speaks warmly of his school, and of the lay members of his congregation who are its voluntary teachers. At Galle Free Church, Colombo, Mr. Newton has Sunday-schools for the English-speaking Native children, who are numerous.

In Persia, Mr. Bruce has about a hundred Armenian boys and girls in his Sunday-school at Julfa. In Palestine, Mr. Hall of Jaffa mentions a school, small in numbers, "but those who do come are very attentive, and seem to remember what they are taught."

In China, the Sunday-school system seems not to have taken root yet. But in Japan, though a younger Mission, it is already begun. At Nagasaki, Mr. Maundrell's theological students, Stephen Koba, Paul Yoshidomo, Paul Morooka, John Ko, and others, act as teachers. A similar effort has been made by Mr. Warren and Mr. Evington at Osaka; also at Hakodate, by Mr. Dening, who says that "each teacher finds his own pupils "--a somewhat new feature in Sunday-schools. From Tokio, Mrs. Piper has sent the following interesting account:—

"One day I passed a poor-looking house, and heard the unmistakable sounds of a Japanese teacher and scholars. Venturing to look in, I found that it was one of the poorest class of schools. The teacher, a young man of about twenty, looked as poverty-stricken as the scholars. I told him we were trying to find a place to teach in on Sundays, and if he did not keep school on that day, perhaps he would allow me to hire his room for two hours every Sunday. The man replied that, as he gave holiday on that day ever since the Government had ordered public schools, offices, &c., to keep Sunday as a holiday, he would gladly lend me the room, but did not require any rent.

"We commenced school there the very next Sunday. We soon had a goodly number of children. The man himself usually attended as a scholar, and has several times been to church.

"We are in the midst of hot weather now. But we have something besides heat to try our patience in summer time in Japan. From May to October we are tormented with mosquitoes. Looking round our Sundayschool on a summer day, you would see the boys and girls give a start or kick every now and then.

"It is quite impossible to sit still when there are mosquitoes about, having no boots or stockings, are very much bitten on the legs and feet. unless we have fans, and use them vigorously. The Japanese children,

"Having mentioned the bare feet, you will at once understand that we have none of the stamping of boots, or muddy foot-prints in church or school; no kicking of benches or chairs, such as we so often have to reprove in our home schools. The wooden clogs, which the Japanese wear for walking, are left outside the church, or they are placed in the porch with umbrella, &c. We have no hat-pegs, and our boys wear no caps. Bare-footed, bare-headed, they come and go, so there is not much getting ready. The girls have no bonnets, but even if very poor, they usually have an ornament of some kind in their hair. I often see the girls looking at the ornaments in each other's hair, and commenting on them just as Mary would notice Jane's hat or new jacket in a school in England.

66

Japanese children are very small, so that a school made up of girls and boys, from five to fifteen, looks as if the children were from three to twelve years old only. Probably if you came in and saw a class reading, you would say, 'Dear me! what little girls to read so fluently.'

"About our singing. Ah! this is the weak point in all Japanese congregations and schools. If you could hear a number of people or children in Japan learning to sing a new tune, you would never forget it. However, we do sing, and the Japanese children are exceedingly fond of trying to sing; they have no ear for music, consequently the discord! which is so painful to us, is unknown to them; they sing with all their | might, whether in or out of tune."

In New Zealand, Sunday classes, for the Maori Christians generally, have been a most useful agency for many years. Bishop Stuart, of Waiapu, mentions one at Waimate, "held in the church after morning service, according to the old custom of the Mission," and conducted by "the Rev. Hare Peka Taua and his excellent wife, and an English lady helping them"; and another, at Tolago Bay, held after evening service, concerning which he writes: "Several of the young men repeated the Epistle and Gospel very accurately. These classes were part of the old godly discipline in the early days of the Mission, and by their means it was that the people became so familiar with the Prayer-book as to know most of the service by heart, and also their favourite hymns-a knowledge which survives to this day amongst the old people."

In North-West America, at the more settled stations, Sunday-schools are carried on. One at St. Andrew's, Red River, supports a boy in the East Africa Mission. At Metlakahtla, the Rev. A. J. Hall wrote as follows soon after his arrival there three or four years ago :

"A very marked and interesting feature of the Mission is the Sundayschool. In the morning, at the ringing of a bell, the children and young people assemble-the girls in the school and the boys in the market-hall. Mr. Duncan and myself attend to open the schools, after which the teaching is carried on entirely by Natives, who have been prepared for the work the evening before. Immediately after morning service the men assemble in the market-hall, the married women in the school, and the old women in the church, when Sunday-school again is held for an hour, and, as before, under Native teachers. The zeal and earnestness which the people show in their attendance at Sunday-school is most praiseworthy, and such as is rarely seen at home."

These are just a few gleanings from the Reports of our missionaries during the last two or three years. They will encourage that large section of our readers who are themselves teachers in Sunday-schools with the thought of the wide extent of the work in which they are engaged. Who could have conceived whereunto that little humble agency would grow which Robert Raikes inaugurated a hundred years ago on that memorable Sunday in Gloucester? What would he have felt if he could have seen Negro, Hindu, Singhalese, Japanese, Maori, and Red Indian teachers sitting down to classes of Negro, Hindu, Singhalese, Japanese, Maori, and Red Indian children? We would ask that in the many prayers that will ascend during the Centenary Week to Him who said, "Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto Me," these Sunday scholars and teachers, of divers colours and races and tongues, may not be forgotten.

FRERE TOWN.

Letter from Mr. J. R. STREETER.

FRERE TOWN, January 30th, 1880. NCE again the opening of my annual letter must be in the spirit of that beautiful 103rd Psalm, for another year has the tree of life planted here by our venerable Society withstood the storms that have assailed it, and in doing so it has struck its roots deeper into the sterile soil, and, watered by the Spirit of Light and Love, has brought forth precious fruit, the ingathering of which into the Church of Christ you had a full account last May. [See GLEANER, September, 1879.]

You will be glad to know that those twenty-eight freed slaves, then enrolled under the banner of the cross, have, with only two slight exceptions, proved, as far as I know, faithful to their profession, and their good example has not been without influencing many others, for they have been a little band on whom one could partly rely at various meetings, especially at their own room, where we have assembled daily throughout the year for half an hour's instruction; and it is nice to see some of the men stand their big jembys and calabash of water outside the door, and after a hymn and prayers and a few words of encouragement, shoulder their things and off to their own day's labour. George David also goes on Friday evenings, and, besides, they come to my house one night in the week for a turn at A B C. I do not attempt to make it like hard work, and so part of the time we look at the illustrated papers. In one we saw Cetewayo's attempt at writing, and one of my men thought he would like a trial, so I gave him paper and pencil, which he took home, and next day brought me the first specimen of adult freed-slave writing, done quite by himself.

I also enclose you two copies of prayers done by my Sunday-school boys, whom I have often asked to try and make up their own, and one Sunday I asked them to try and write one. The next Sunday I had nine brought. One was a collect, another a psalm, another from the Church service, &c. One characteristic prayer of a dear boy I copy exact:

"O Lord, Almighty God, our Heavenly Father! help me to fight with devil, for the devil is too strong to me; forgive all my sins, take away my sinful heart, give me Thy Holy Spirit, lead me in Thy way, and when I die let my soul go to be with Thee for ever in Thy heavenly kingdom. O Lord! teach me to worship Thee, praise Thee, and serve Thee, and when I sleep I give my soul to Christ to keep. Take care of me this night. I done wrong many times; help me to do what is right. Hear me for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

Remembering that these are written in English, and done entirely by themselves, it gives room to believe there is a work of grace going on in the hearts of many of the dear children. It is a treat to see them text-finding, and marking all principal ones. By-and-by we shall have, I trust, some really "precious Bibles." They are getting on well with their other studies under Mr. Handford. Their singing is really beautiful, and many are the pleasant Sunday evenings we have together. I wish a dozen of them could come home; our good Committee and supporters would then be able to see, what they know now, that their efforts and labour of love for the Lord are not in vain.

I only wish I could see the lads better employed industrially-that is our difficulty-in fact, self-support for the whole place. We might do it if we lived like our neighbours, but to get an honest living and dress in a civilised manner will be no light matter. With regard to dressing, it is a surprise to me to see how nicely our people look on Sundays-the Bombays and freed slaves-for many of the latter now come to both services. They manage to make their own dresses now. I told you about starting a sewing-class for them, and since Mrs. Menzies has been here she has taken it up, and, I know, spent many pleasant hours with them. As to the living, it has been rather hard times; for, while you have been suffering at home from too much rain, we have been burnt up for the want of it; and having a little "Andrew Manitoba" here (a boy supported by friends in Manitoba), my mind, like that of the English farmers, has often turned to that desirable land, for the longer one stays here the more hopeless does it seem trying to grow things on any scale; yet I don't despair, and I think our people have got imbued with some of my spirit, and nearly all have got fair pieces of ground ready this year for planting, when the rain comes. I have a piece myself out at Mawani, and after four on Saturday afternoon, often went and worked for an hour or two, for I could see it was a case of being like the old general, "Come on, my brave boys!"-and an active life in this country is the best cure for liver complaint and a good many other complaints.

Oh for one good year's rain! It would help be the making of Frere Town. I have done nearly all I can to help settle the people. "Every man his own landlord" is my motto, and an interest in the soil. Last year we had twelve owners only; now there are forty houses, built or building, by the freed slaves, each in its own plot. Some of the huts are famous ones-one especially. I do not think any carpenter at home could put up such a one out of such material. It is perfection. The

owner is one of Nature's own carpenters. The other day he broke his gun-stock; with his jemby, sharpened up like an adze, and his knife, he made another capital one.

I am very pleased indeed to see the progress the children are making at Rabai, where Mr. and Mrs. Binns are evidently doing a great work in a very trying part of the world, admirably seconded by Isaac and Polly, who are real treasures to them, as George and Ishmael are to us.

We have much to be thankful for in their lives being spared us, and the lives of our sick ladies, especially Mrs. Handford, who has a great work to do in looking after the girls and the little black lambs that form the infant class. May we all be stirred up to work more earnestly for Him who pitieth our infirmities, and gives grace to help in every time of

need!

THE OLD PATRIARCH, JADU BINDU GHOSE.

0 one who read the GLEANER last year can forget the remarkable history of Jadu Bindu Ghose, given in the May number under the title of "A Fifty Years' Search for Peace." We then believed the "old patriarch" was dying; but the following letter from the Rev. J. Vaughan gives a touching further account of him :

دو

-

Dec. 15th, 1879.

You will doubtless be surprised to learn that "the dear old patriarch" is still in the land of the living. When I last wrote you there seemed to be but a step between him and death; yet he lingered on, and at last began to improve. A native friend of his said to me the other day, "His restoration was little short of a resurrection.' Last week I went down to Calcutta to meet my daughter, who has, thank God! safely arrived. On Sunday I went to my old church [Trinity, now worked by the Rev. Piari Mohun Rudra]. The memories of nineteen years' connection with that congregation were very vivid; it was pleasant to see the church well filled with those who had once been my spiritual children. Of those whom I had baptized nearly a quarter of a century ago not a few had flourishing families of their own. The organist, who had learned his art from my dear wife, had transferred his skill and his post to his own son, a boy of fourteen.

There too sat my first born, who, as a little girl of eight, had last sat in that church. She was now for the first time to join her father and his old flock at the table of the Lord. All this was sufficiently impressive, but one scene almost upset me. The old patriarch had begged to be carried from the hospital to the church; and during the reading of the second lesson two of the native brethren lovingly carried him into the church. I could not but think of the first time, eight years ago, that I had first beheld that venerable head and those sparkling eyes; then he was a sorrowful seeker after peace, but ever since that day his peace has flowed as a river. As, with the native pastor, I left the rails to give him the Holy Supper where he sat, strangely mingled feelings came over me, which perhaps a trembling voice betrayed.

I am sorry to say that, only a few days before that, the wound in his foot had again broken out; so that it is doubtful whether he will ever return to help us in this district. But I learned with joy that God has made use of him in the hospital; he has fulfilled his vocation as a messenger of God to his fellow-sufferers, and he believes that more than one has been brought to love the Saving Name.

At Kapasdanga some of our poor, ignorant people are continually asking "When will he come back? we know very little, but we certainly felt it was good to sit at his feet and listen to the good things he taught us ; he had but one topic, and that was Christ and salvation."

O that God would send us a few more helpers of a similar type!

THE QUALIFICATIONS OF AN AFGHAN LADY,

As described by KHUSHHAL KHAN, the Afghan Poet of Khuttuh, near Peshawar.

(Translated by an old Peshawar Missionary.)

A lady should be always sprightly, always smiling, always kind;
Pure in thought and life, and jealous of her good name;
Quick in understanding, free from all deceit and guile;
Nice in eating, neat in dressing, and always staying at home;
Rejoicing in her husband's love, pleasing him by word and deed;
Sad and mournful, whenever for a time he has to leave his home;
Always friendly to the good, always grieving for the bad;
Who cannot endure lies, even when her mother speaks them;
Ready and attentive to her guests, a heroine in cookery;
Always knowing how to act, always sympathising with the sick;
Beautiful in form, lovely in disposition, pleasing in manners, gentle in

her ways;

Sincerely following true religion, and constant in devotion;

Who will not see dirt lying in her house, or hear loud noises in her yard; But who makes her servants happy, and gains their respect and love.

A VISIT TO JAPAN.

BY THE REV. A. B. HUTCHINSON, C.M.S. Missionary at Hong Kong.

VII. Ishiyama-Pilgrims-Uji-Tea making-Night at Nagaike-A kotatsu-The Daibutz of Narra-Shinto Temple of Kasuga.

HE monasteries and temples of the Far East, like those of the Monks of the West, are for the most part so situated as not only to present an imposing aspect, but also to command lovely views. So it is at Ishiyama. At the end of the village, perched up amid great masses of black rocks, were the temple buildings. One platform after another was reached by long flights of granite steps, and from each new beauties of scenery were disclosed. Many groups of country people were met going from shrine to shrine; Daughter and mother, father and grandfather, travel together on these vain pilgrimages. It was touching to see in some cases the evidence of simple faith in the process, as they affixed a strip of paper bearing their names to stones or trees as a token that they had duly visited each hallowed spot. The grounds were literally speckled with these memorials. What a terrible waste of misdirected energy in religion! Oh, to teach such wanderers of the better pilgrimage-the following of the Lamb!

Notwithstanding the rain we determine to push on to Narra, so whilst making a breakfast off rice and eggs a boat prepares to

take us as far as the Rapids. As we pass we notice that all the houses have their fronts off, and domestic avocations are being carried on quite openly-washing, dressing, working, cooking, without regard to privacy. Our boatmen are clad in rain-coats of rushes; the boat is a long flat structure for conveyance of tea -we can just sit upright in it. After a few miles we have to leave it, and come out into the daylight to find ourselves by the river-side, between lofty, rocky banks most beautifully wooded, whilst the stream eddies and breaks over numerous black

was a charcoal stove. They ceaselessly worked the mass of leaves about with their hands, regardless of the perspiration which stood in beads or trickled down their arms. It was a degree less repulsive than the sight of the Chinese in the Fuh-Kien district treading out the black tea in preparing it for the European market. Spite of such memories, one still enjoys a cup of fragrant tea such as that for which Uji is famous.

It was encouraging to see in every village the words Post Office in English, to note the Chinese characters which told of a school having been opened by the Government, and to trace from some hill top the telegraph poles leading out in various directions-the communicative wires which Western science has

rocks; then away over a lofty range of hills and through lovely valleys, amid mountain villages and tea plantations, for twelve miles until we reach Uji. Rain fell so heavily as we reached the summit of one ridge of hills that we sought shelter and were most kindly received by an old couple in a barn-like dwelling. They piled up pine branches on the fire, made some hot tea for the wet and weary foreigners, and entered into animated conversation with Mr. Evington on the cause of our being in the country.

We passed several tea establishments, where the leaves were being prepared for the market. Scantily clad men were stirring these in copper basons set in brickwork, under each of which

made known to these progressive people. We felt, too, that newly aroused energy was being expended in a right direction as we came upon bodies of workmen widening and improving the roads, although it was at times trying to travellers in the rain to descend a mountain pass over newly made ground.

We tried in vain to reach Narra by evening. The rain increased to a deluge, so we were fain to stop at a village inn of unpromising exterior at Nagaike. The kitchen, as usual, was on the left of the entrance, and there was no upper story, but the people were most respectful and attentive. The matted floor of the best room

was covered over with oiled
paper to prevent unwelcome
guests finding a lodging beneath.
A good dinner was soon forth-
coming of koi fish, eggs, and
rice, and best of all, our clothes
were soon being effectually dried
in a kotatsu. This is a frame-
work of wood stood over a brazier
of charcoal, which is placed in a
little pit in the centre of the
floor, whilst over the whole is
thrown a large quilt. Had it
been winter we should have
indulged ourselves in one of
these ingenious contrivances. It
was very pleasant to hear the
kindly Japanese "good night"
as the last screen was being
closed upon us: "Yasomi,'
Yasomi, nasarey
"Rest"-"May you rest peace-
fully."

Next morning we were soon in sight of the pagoda and shrine of the great Buddha of Narra. Leaving our jinrikishas at the gate, we entered the grounds, and were soon standing in the presence of this remarkable image. Seated on an enormous lotus flower about 30 feet in diameter was a golden representation of Sakya Muni between 50 and 60 feet high, yet so exquisitely proportioned that no idea of incongruity suggested itself. An attempt to represent majesty by size, it certainly made the visitor feel his littleness as he gazed upon the passionless features fixed in awful repose. Gradually the eye roamed from the central figure to the details of its surroundings; all was in

wonderful proportion. Around the image, in rear, was a halo of golden rays, amid which were eighteen smaller figures, those at the bottom being 5 feet high, and that at the top, some 80 feet from the floor, 13 feet high. The building, if occupied by ordinary idols, would have seemed vast, but this gigantic presence dwarfed it, producing an unpleasant impression of want of room; yet it is nearly 300 feet long, 170 feet wide, and 156 feet high. Though the idol is so vast, it presents no appearance of want of finish or of neglect. Eleven centuries since, when Daibuts was first erected, Narra was the royal city; now its glory has departed. So, we doubt not, it shall be with the faith which is so strangely symbolised by the Buddha before us. It does not profess to be the image of God, but of a man invested with divine attributes-Satan's substitute in Asia for the true God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Worshippers kept coming and going without any appearance of special veneration; many

passed on at once to inspect a most interesting collection of antiquities which a thousand years ago belonged to the Mikado. Amongst them were suits of golden armour, quaintly carved masks, delicately chased bronzes, rare enamels, and strange instruments of music, which showed that art had reached a high pitch of culture in Japan when our Saxon forefathers were acquiring its rudiments.

After gazing on the great bell, which is only second to that of Kioto, we started for a delightful walk through lovely forest glades and across grassy upland slopes, overshadowed by mighty pines and other trees. These park-like grounds belong to the Shinto temple of Kasuga. Tea houses were frequent at spots commanding lovely views over the valley below us, and often were we invited to take some refreshment by the gaily-dressed, bright-eyed damsels ever on the look-out for customers. Special stalls were open here and there for the sale of earthen

foxes and cutlery mounted in staghorn from the sacred deer, which supply those mementoes of a visit which the Japanese like to possess. The only thing noteworthy about the temple was the immense number of stone lanterns, from 6 to 20 feet high, which crowded the courtyards, stood five or six deep along the pathways, and lined the approaches for some distance into the forest on either side. As we gazed, full-grown deer approached us, and numberless fawns, licking our hands and begging for cakes. As we reached the entrance torii these left us, and we resumed our journey through a beautiful country, over hill and dale, by swift

flowing streams, past many tea plantations on the higher ground, and acres of rice fields in the plains, dragging through the muddy roads between busy villages; until athwart the darkness the welcome lights of Osaka welcomed us back to the comforts of a Christian home.

MISSIONARY ALMANACK.

1 T He shall gather together His elect. Matt. 24. 31. [tongues. Is.66.18. 2 F Nyanza Miss. received by Mtesa, 1877. I will gather all nations and 3S 1st Sikh convert bapt., 1853. With great mercies will I gather [thee. Is. 54. 7. 4 S 6th aft. Trin. Gather My saints together unto Me. Ps. 50. 5. M. 2 Sam. 1. Acts 11. E. 2 Sam. 12. 1-24, or 18. 3 John.

5 M That He should gather together in one the children of God that 6 T Cry, gather together. Jer. 4. 5. [were scattered abroad. John 11.52. 7 W He shall gather the lambs with His arm. Is. 40. 11.

8 T He that gathereth not with me scattereth. Matt. 12. 30.

9 F 10 S

That He might gather together in one all things in Christ. Eph. 1.10. Before Him shall be gathered all nations. Matt. 25. 32. [Gen. 49. 10. 7th aft. Trin. Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. 12 M He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. Ps. 147. 2.

11 S

M. 1 Chron. 21. Acts 16. 16. E. 1 Chron. 22, or 28. 1-21. Matt. 5.13-33.

16 F 17 S

13 T Mrs. Krapfd., 1844. I will gather them that are sorrowful. Zeph.3.18. 14 W Nyanza party started from coast, 1876. Assuredly gathering that 15 T Yet will I gather others. Is.56.8. [the Lord had called us. Acts 16.10. How often would I have gathered thy children together! Matt.23.37. He that scattered Israel will gather him. Jer. 31. 10.

[Ps. 102. 22. 18 S 8th aft. Trin. The people are gathered together to serve the Lord. M. 1 Chron. 29. 9-29. Acts 20. 17. E. 2 Chron. 1, or 1 Kings 3. Matt. 9 1-18. 19 M They shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend. Mat. 20 T Do men gather grapes of thorns ? Matt. 7. 16. [13. 41. 21 W Mungo Park discov. R. Niger, 1796. That Thou givest them they 22 T Gather us from among the heathen. Ps. 106. 47. [gather. Ps. 104. 28. 23 F Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. John 24 S He will gather His wheat into the garner. Matt. 3. 12. [6. 12. [were gathered together praying. Acts 12. 12. 25 S 9th aft. Trin. St. James. Bps. Speechly & Ridley consec., 1879. Many M. 1 Kings 10, 1-25. Luke 9. 51-57. E. 1 Kings 11.1-15, or 11. 26. Matt. 13. 1-24. 26 M 1st Tsimshean bapt., 1861. I will gather thee from the west. Is. 43. 5. 27 T Niger Mission begun, 1857. Gather out the stones. Is. 62. 10. 28 W Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I. Matt. 18. 20. [life eternal. John 4. 36. Wilberforce died, 1833. He that reapeth... gathereth fruit unto All these gather themselves together and come. Is. 49. 18. 1st bapt.at Noble Sch.,1852. Yeshall be gathered one by one. Is. 27.12.

29 T 30 F 31 S

THE PESHAWAR MEMORIAL CHURCH OF THE

AFGHAN MISSION.

HAVE been asked by friends in England to make some statement in the GLEANER as to the progress of our Memorial Church. I am sorry to say it is not yet commenced. Some of the friends of the Peshawar Mission say they do not like giving to "bricks and mortar"! To which I can only reply that I wish to erect a loving memorial to the blessed memory of departed colleagues, and I know of no better way of perpetuating that memory than by erecting a pretty little church, of an Oriental style, in the streets of Peshawar, in which our Native brother, the Rev. Imam Shah, will officiate daily. It will be a standing witness for Christ. It will be a house of prayer. It will be a preaching station.

I should feel inclined to begin work, but, unfortunately, in consequence of the war, the rates of material and labour have more than doubled. The sum of money already collected has therefore been invested in Government securities, and in the meantime I hope that those who revere and honour the names of Pfander, Fitzpatrick, Tuting, Roger Clark, Loewenthal, Stevenson, Knott, and Agnes Wade, will help to relieve the Peshawar missionaries of all anxiety as to funds for a memorial to their beloved memories. It is always an unpleasant thing to beg-the great apostle seemed to think it so ("not that I desire a gift, but fruit that may abound to your account "); but it is a still more unpleasant thing for a Peshawar missionary to beg for a memorial to the memory of Peshawar missionaries. Amongst the readers of the GLEANER there must be some who have had fathers or brothers killed in the present Afghan war; or, perhaps, have some mercies of Providence to be thankful for in connection with this campaign, which is now making Peshawar a vast military storehouse. In such cases I can but commend the Memorial Church to their kind consideration.

Peshawar, Afghanistan, April 28th, 1880.

T. P. HUGHES.

Nine of the Islington students just ordained were competitors in the last Oxford and Cambridge Preliminary Examination for Holy Orders. Messrs. Ball and Fleming passed in the first class, and Messrs. Thompson, Knowles, Merk, Nash, Glanvill, French, and Walton in the second.

Of the seven missionary students ordained last year, but kept at home for lack of funds, one, the Rev. J. Ilsley, has since been sent to Tinuevelly; and four others are now directed to sail this autumu, viz., the Rev. C. Mountfort for Western India, the Rev. J. Redman for Sindh, the Rev. W. G. Peel (previously designated to Japan) to the Telugu Mission, and the Rev. W. Banister to China.

The Rev. E. H. Bickersteth has given the C.M.S. £1,000 to begin a Mission among the Bhils, a hill tribe in Central India.

The Waganda chiefs are returning to Central Africa via Zanzibar. Mr. Felkin accompanies them to the coast, and then (not being strong enough to go on to the interior at present) returns to England. Mr. Stokes, who is at Zanzibar, will take them back to Uganda. Photographs of them can be obtained at the Church Missionary House, prices 2s. and 1s.

Lord Granville, in a speech in the House of Lords on May 28th, estimated the number of Native Protestant Christians in India at 100,000. The real number is four or five times that. In 1872, according to Government returns, it was 286,987 (excluding Ceylon). In the previous ten years the increase had been 50 per cent.; and if in the past eight years there has been a like increase (which is a low estimate), there should now be about 430,000. The number mentioned by Lord Granville may be found in the small province of Tinnevelly alone.

On Feb. 9th a large and interesting gathering of Maori Christians was held at Otaki, New Zealand, to commemorate the first establishment of a Mission in that district just forty years ago. The Bishop of Wellington, Dr. O. Hadfield, himself the C.M.S. missionary who first preached there, in 1840, was present, together with several missionaries and the four Native clergy of that diocese, the Revs. Rawiri Te Wanui, Henari Te Herekau, Pineaha Te Mahauariki, and Arona Te Haua. An immense tree has been shaped into an obelisk forty feet high (a foot for a year), with a cross on the top, as a permanent "memorial pole." Collections which had been made by the Christian Natives in aid of their Church Endowment Fund were brought in, and, though not complete, amounted to £630, only £10 of which had been contributed by Europeans.

The Rev. W. Clark, formerly of the Ceylon Mission, has been appointed to Travancore, to work among the Arrians and coolies of the hill districts. In consequence of the paragraph about Bishop Ridley's need of a steamer, in the GLEANER of March, a lady in York started a Penny Fund in aid of the sum required to purchase one, and has already obtained more than £20. Several Sunday-schools have made special offerings. A Tinnevelly Christian, David of Rasamanniapuram, has undertaken to build a little church in his own village, at a cost of nearly £100. A new "Church of England Zenana Missionary Society" has been formed, in close association with the C.M.S. The President is the Countess of Darnley; the Vice-Presidents are Lady Robinson, Mrs. A. H. Heywood, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Arthur Mills, and Mrs. Henry Wright; the Committee consists mostly of the wives of members of the C.M.S. Committee and of C.M.S. missionaries; the Treasurer is Mr. G. Arbuthnot; the Sub-Treasurer, Mrs. Stuart; and the Secretaries, Sir W. Hill, Mrs. J. Stuart, Colonel Black, Miss Cockle, and Miss H. Lloyd. There is also a Council of Reference, consisting of the Rev. Prebendary Wright, General Hutchinson, and Mr. P. V. Smith. The object of the new Society is "to make known the Gospel of Christ to the Women of India, in accordance with the Protestant and Evangelical teaching of the articles and formularies of the Church of Englan i.”

**A correspondent asks where the list of subscribers to the Church Missionary Society can be obtained. It will be found in the Annual Report, to which every guinea subscriber is entitled.

We are much disappointed at being unable to give in this number the picture of the Reception by the Queen of the Waganda Envoys, as announced last month. It is being very carefully drawn by a competent artist, and unexpected delays have arisen in its preparation.