Chapter I: Part 1

[Frontispiece: TAHITI.]

Fruits of Toil IN THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS AND SKETCHES

LONDON: JOHN SNOW & CO., IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1869.

"Sow in the morn thy seed,
At eve hold not thine hand;
To doubt and fear give thou no heed,
Broad-cast it o'er the land.

"Beside all waters sow;
The highway furrows stock;
Drop it where thorns and thistles grow;
Scatter it on the rock.

"Thou canst not toil in vain;
Cold, heat, and moist and dry,
Shall foster and mature the grain
For garners in the sky."

Fruits of Toil IN THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

When our fathers established this Society they were met by a formidable array of difficulties of which we know nothing. Gathered in fellowship when the infidel principles of the French Revolution were doing deadly work, and soon involved in the national struggle of the great war, they found little to encourage them in the outward aspects of their position. Christian men were few; Christian churches were small and scattered; money was scarce; Christian benevolence was little understood. The wide world of Christian effort opened to us was almost wholly closed against them. They could enter the South Seas; though their islands were almost unknown. But the West Indies were close shut. "If you preach to the slaves," said the Governor of Demerara to a missionary, "I cannot let you stay here." They were excluded from South Africa and from India. China was sealed, and remained so for forty years. Passages were expensive; voyages were full of discomfort; letters were few. They knew little of the manners and systems of heathen nations; they knew less of their literature; they knew nothing of their languages. Dictionaries, literature, buildings, converts, everything had to be produced. Their fields of labour were unprepared. Their message and their aims were little understood.

In all these elements of usefulness we occupy at this hour a position of usefulness, in marked contrast to that of our predecessors. With a mighty advance in practical freedom, in intelligence and education, in social comfort, in material resources, the entire religious life of England has secured a solidity, an elevation, and a general influence of the most marvellous kind. In the number and wealth of our churches, in the character and position of the ministry, the Society ought to find supporters immeasurably in advance of the few but earnest friends of seventy years ago. Our missions have made indescribable progress. Our agencies continue to grow more complete. Churches have been gathered; the members of which are no longer novices in Christian truth and Christian life. The time has come for a native ministry; and a larger number appear on our lists than ever before. And last, but not least, the full and faithful preaching of the gospel, for which our missionary brethren have ever been distinguished, and the employment of Christian education, have made a marked impression upon heathenism; have broken its prestige, have silenced its objections, and have prepared the way for future victories, more triumphant in their grandeur than anything the Society has yet seen.

But this advanced and noble position, which is the proof of success in the past, and the guarantee and instrument of larger results in days to come, is precisely that attainment and possession of our Society, which the friends of the Society appear least to appreciate. It seems to be thought that now, as ever, missionaries just preach to the heathen and give away books; they teach a few boys and girls; win a few souls; and send a few teachers into the districts around. All that is true. But the high and solid work beyond it--all that superior influence which the Society and its missionaries are exercising, in Christianizing communities, in sanctifying all the great elements of their public and social life, in destroying the very roots of their heathenism, and in preparing the way for enlightened, disciplined, independent churches, sound in faith and full of life--all this has been little understood. Had it been duly realised, it is incredible that the ministers and churches which sustain the Society should quietly continue to give for its maintenance the same narrow income which they gave to it thirty years ago.

I.--RECENT DIFFICULTIES.

The result of this irrepressible growth, fostered by the kind providence and loving care of the Master for whom the service has been done, was for the Directors, in their management of the Society's affairs, embarrassment, difficulty, and debt. That embarrassment commenced with the year 1866, when the accounts were closed with a balance of 7450 pounds against the Society, which was paid from the legacy fund reserved for such a contingency. During the entire year the Directors had the difficulty in view, and adopted a series of measures to meet it. Special Meetings were held with the London ministers and officers of churches, to lay before them the growing needs of our Foreign Missions. Papers were published by the Home Secretary, showing the growth of those missions, with the increased claims they present for agency and help; and urging that an addition of at least 10,000 pounds a year is needed to the Society's permanent income. In the autumn Auxiliary meetings the missionary Deputations were urged specially to make the facts known. In February a solemn and impressive meeting for prayer was held by a hundred and twenty of the London ministers and Directors.

But these measures did not at once remove the difficulty. In numerous instances old friends of the Society, and churches which have ever been its chief supporters, not only expressed hearty sympathy with these efforts, but increased their contributions and rendered substantial help. Various consultations ensued, and a Special Committee was requested, to indicate the course which, in their calm judgment, the Directors ought to take, to meet the difficulties of their position.

Their Report pointed out various defects in the Society's system of account, and in the audit of details in the expenditure which is incurred abroad. It noted especially that since--on the system till then in force--the initiative in that expenditure had been placed to a large extent in the hands of the missionaries themselves, the Board did not possess sufficient and effective control over its growth and its specific application. And it recommended that, as in some other Societies, a system of annual appropriations should be adopted, by which the available income of each year might be made to sustain existing schemes of usefulness, without bringing the Society into debt. Further, the Committee recommended that, as the expenditure had greatly increased in recent years, on the one hand, in consultation with the missionaries, that expenditure should be carefully revised; and, on the other, all available efforts should be made to increase the Society's income. After full and earnest consideration of this truly valuable Report, the Board adopted the following RESOLUTIONS, which gave special satisfaction to the Delegates and country Directors, and met with the marked approval of all the Society's friends:--

"1. THAT, this Board approve the proceedings of the Special Finance Committee, in securing the services of a competent Accountant to examine the system on which the SOCIETY'S ACCOUNTS are kept, with a view to the introduction of all practicable improvements; and in instructing their own Accountant to give the details of the principal Stations, and show the items on which the outlay has taken place.

"2. THAT, with a view to secure a more complete control over the Society's funds, an ANNUAL ESTIMATE be desired in advance from every Station and Treasurer abroad, as well as from the Home Secretary, of all the expenses anticipated for the coming year; that the Board may sanction, for that year only, such amount as its probable income may enable it to meet; and THAT all payments be strictly forbidden unless that definite sanction has been first accorded.

"3. THAT the ACCOUNTS be kept, at home and abroad, on a COMMON SYSTEM; and that each of the Foreign Committees in the Mission House be requested to appoint a small AUDIT BOARD, whose duty it shall be to audit the accounts of the Stations under its charge, and to see that the expenditure is strictly confined to the sums which the Board have sanctioned.

"4. THAT all the efforts already carried on for some time to increase the knowledge, the interest, the contributions, and the prayers of the Society's friends throughout the country, be continued, and, where practicable, increased.

"5. THAT the Board regard with the most serious concern the rapid increase in the expenditure of the various Missions; and, desiring to see that expenditure not only placed under firm control, but applied in all respects in the wisest way, they instruct all their Committees most carefully to REVISE THE ENTIRE EXPENDITURE under their superintendence, and, in accordance with the Resolution passed on May 6th, specially to keep in view a judicious reduction of that expenditure in the case of prosperous churches in districts largely Christianized."

II.--REVISION OF THE MISSIONS ABROAD.

In considering the state of the Society's finances, the Special Committee recommended, in strong terms, not only that some reduction should be made in the expenditure, but that the character of that expenditure should be carefully examined. They recommended that the Board should take full advantage of the opportunity furnished by the present crisis, for placing the entire system of payments in their Foreign Missions upon the soundest footing, and for determining the principles by which those payments shall be regulated. The Directors accepted these suggestions, and since then the three Foreign Committees, into which the London Board is divided, have devoted much attention to the system of their Foreign Missions.

In the case of each of the Missions examined, they carefully laid down the principles applicable to the condition of the Native churches; the forms of missionary labour among the heathen; the number and work of the Society's missionaries; the number and labours of Native agents engaged in purely mission work; and the state of education. The present scale and details of expenditure were examined; and then, to every element of the system an APPROPRIATION for the year was made of that amount of money which, in the judgment of the Directors, the Society could justly spare from the funds which they have at their command. A Schedule of these allowances in every group of Missions was next drawn out, exhibiting the sums available for the expenditure of the year, and was forwarded to the Mission concerned. And finally, a special DESPATCH which accompanied the Warrants, was written to the members of every Mission, in order to explain in the fullest manner the views of the Directors respecting that Mission, and the form which, in their judgment, the aid of the Society should for the future assume. Again, while the Society enjoys the services of a large number of able, conscientious, and spiritual men, as devoted as ever their predecessors were to missionary work, it was seen to be essential to their fullest efficiency, that they should be brought into closer union with each other abroad, and with the system of the Society at home; that the personal comfort of the mission families should be more fully secured under the changed circumstances of modern days; and that the experience of each field of labour should be so wrought into the general system as to prove a helper to all the rest.

The result of the system to the Society's finances has been economy, compactness, and strength. While in several cases the personal income of the missionaries has been increased, yet, by limiting the amount of the Native agency to be employed in evangelistic work; by reducing the help hitherto granted to the Native Christians for their incidental expenditure; and by enforcing economy in all minor matters at home as well as abroad; the Board have been able to bring down the total expenditure of the Society to a point much nearer the range of the Society's ordinary income than it has for several years past. They have provided, however, only for the necessities of their present operations. They need a larger income still, if the friends of the Society would wish them to undertake that extension of their Missions into new fields which the world needs, for which the missionaries earnestly plead, and which they themselves are most anxious to secure. The effect of the system on certain of the Native churches has been a most healthy one. As hoped for, it is beginning to stimulate them to manliness, and to a more earnest consecration, not only of their means, but of their personal service to the Saviour's work.

III.--THE SOCIETY'S PRESENT OPERATIONS.

The revision now described has furnished materials for exhibiting, in a more complete form than usual, the present agencies of the Society, and some of the results with which its labours have been blessed. In a few of the older Missions of the Society, the duty of instructing the heathen has been almost complete; the population are nominally Christian, and in most of these communities there is a strong nucleus of spiritual life in a valuable body of Church members. This is the case in Polynesia, in the West Indies, and in many stations in South Africa. Around many strong churches in Madagascar, in India, and in China, the sphere of heathenism is still very large. Several stations in those Missions--well planted for the influence required of them--may now be occupied by the Native minister instead of the English missionary. The number of chief stations in all the Missions is 130.

The NATIVE CHURCHES of the Society are 150 in number. They contain 35,400 members: in a community of nominal Christians, young and old, amounting to 191,700 persons. Of these, nearly 13,000 are in Polynesia; nearly 5,000 in the West Indies; over 5,000 in South Africa; and 3,400 in India. The converts under the Society's care speak altogether twenty-six languages.

The general scope of the Society's efforts, so far as figures can show it, is set forth in the following Table:--

GENERAL SUMMARY. +----------------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+ | |English | Native | Native | Church | Native | | MISSIONS. |Mission-| Ordained| Preach- | Mem- | Adher- | | |aries. | Pastors.| ers. | bers. | ents. | +----------------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+ |1. CHINA | 21 | 4 | 40 | 1265 | 2367 | | | | | | | | |2. NORTH INDIA | 18 | 6 | 20 | 284 | 1374 | | | | | | | | |3. SOUTH INDIA | 22 | 11 | 65 | 882 | 3408 | | | | | | | | |4. TRAVANCORE | 8 | 11 | 190 | 2228 | 32,362 | | | | | | | | | (MADAGASCAR | 12 | 20 | 532 | 7066 | 37,112 | |5.( AND | | | | | | | (MAURITIUS | 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | | | | |6. SOUTH AFRICA | 33 | 1 | 30 | 5866 | 31,197 | | | | | | | | |7. WEST INDIES | 13 | 2 | 14 | 4972 | 14,240 | | | | | | | | |8. POLYNESIA | 28 | 26 | 249 | 12,924 | 69,738 | +----------------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+ | TOTALS | 156 | 81 | 1140 | 35,487 | 191,798 | +----------------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+

+----------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | | SCHOOLS. | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+ | | BOYS. | GIRLS. | | +-----+------+----------+-----+------+----------+ | MISSIONS. |Sch- |Schol-| Fees. |Sch- |Schol-| Fees. | | |00ls.| ars. |pnd. s. d.|ools.| ars. |pnd. s. d.| +----------------+-----+------+----------+-----+------+----------+ |1. CHINA | 16 | 354| 0 13 6| 7 | 103| 26 0 0| | | | | | | | | |2. NORTH INDIA | 15 | 2076|1036 3 1| 16 | 375| 12 10 0| | | | | | | | | |3. SOUTH INDIA | 47 | 2858| 706 2 10| 31 | 1494| 9 2 8| | | | | | | | | |4. TRAVANCORE | 180 | 6646| ... ... | 30 | 1595| ... ... | | | | Boys and Girls. | | | | | (MADAGASCAR | 28 | 1735| 9 7 6| ... | ...| ... ... | |5.( AND | | | | | | | | (MAURITIUS | ... | ... | ... ... | ... | ...| ... ... | | | | | | | | | |6. SOUTH AFRICA | 39 | 1332| 32 10 11| 25 | 1473| 19 2 0| | | | | | | | | |7. WEST INDIES | 35 | 2040| 317 0 10| 35 | 1691| 269 11 1| | | | | | | | | |8. POLYNESIA | 229 | 6715| ... ... | 212 | 6695| ... ... | +----------------+-----+------+----------+-----+------+----------+ | TOTALS | 589 |23,756|2101 18 8| 356 |13,426| 336 5 9| +----------------+-----+------+----------+-----+------+----------+

+----------------+----------------+ | | LOCAL | | | CONTRIBUTIONS, | | MISSIONS. | &c. | | | pound. s. d. | +----------------+----------------+ |1. CHINA | 374 1 4 | | | | |2. NORTH INDIA | 1435 14 9 | | | | pound. s. d. |3. SOUTH INDIA | 1793 13 6 | *From English Friends | | | 4,200 0 0 |4. TRAVANCORE | 1220 0 0 | From Native Converts | | | 11,647 2 3 | (MADAGASCAR | 479 17 7 | ------------ |5.( AND | | 15,847 2 3 | (MAURITIUS | ... ... | | | | Fees--Boys |6. SOUTH AFRICA | 2125 3 10 | 2,101 18 8 | | | Fees--Girls |7. WEST INDIES | 4730 16 8 | 336 5 9 | | | ------------ |8. POLYNESIA | 3687 14 7 | 2,438 4 5 +----------------+----------------+ ------------ | TOTALS | 15,847 2 3* | 18,285 6 8 +----------------+----------------+

IV.--THE SOCIETY'S MISSIONARIES.

But Statistical Tables cannot show the real character of the Society's work, or the breadth of influence which that work has attained. The hundred and fifty-six English missionaries of the Society in foreign lands constitute the central force and stimulus of a wider agency, numbering twelve hundred persons, gathered among people once heathen, now Christian; an agency adopting the same aims, ruled by the same Christian spirit, and fulfilling the same Divine command. This body of true and devoted men were never rendering to the Society a nobler service than at the present time; and were never more worthy of our highest esteem. It is, therefore, with indignation and regret that Christian men have seen the recent attacks made on the whole missionary body, and the contemptuous terms in which their labours have been described. Looking away from all that is temporary and special, and contemplating that which springs from their ordinary duties, the Directors would never forget what a noble position missionaries occupy, and how truly great, from its very nature, their work is. They have gone forth from home and country as ambassadors of God, to preach His message of forgiveness; to bring the Saviour in His human life to those who have never understood Him; to save the perishing, and bind them as with golden chains to the feet of God. They are battling with error, and breaking up the iron systems of priestcraft, inhumanity, and wrong, which have enslaved men for ages, and have shut off from them the light and love of their Heavenly Father. They are staying the progress of crime; they lay the hand of law on the slaveholder; they appeal to the drunkard; they clear out the dens of vice; and to the hopeless and despairing they open up long vistas of light and gladness, which terminate only in Heaven. Everywhere they are preaching with power. Their Divine message is quickening the dead conscience of nations: it is converting the wicked, and saving souls from death; it is lifting women from the dust; it is purifying family life; it is putting trade under rules of honesty, and teaching humanity where cruelty was the universal rule. Its principles are going down to the very roots of national life; it is substituting law for force; and is moulding young communities for a higher life in all their people, a closer union to their fellow-men, because they are gaining a holier and truer union with God.

They are doing this among great varieties of place and people; amid many forms of outer life; amid many grades of human comfort and human resources. Some labour among the most glorious manifestations of creative might; others upon scorched and barren plains; others in the busy life of cities; others in lonely isles. In labours abundant, in perils oft, by example, by preaching, by prayers, everywhere they seek to approve themselves unto God, and serve their generation according to His will. Politicians may lecture them: men of science may undervalue them. Time-serving editors may pour on them their scorn; they may be called enthusiasts, or be socially despised; but steadfast in duty, unmoved by reproach or praise, they will reply: "Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." Our "meat is to do the will of Him that sent us, and to finish His work."

It is impossible for any Report to describe in detail, and with full justice, the varied labours in which these brethren are engaged. Like ministers at home, our Missionaries preach the Gospel; instruct, govern, and build up churches; watch over the young, and stir up their people's zeal. But they do a great deal more. Placed in many cases in simple states of society, on a low level of education and social connection, as well as of religion; in states of society saturated with heathen vices and heathen beliefs, our missionaries have not only to Christianize individual souls, but to Christianize literature, to Christianize public law, to form a healthy public opinion, to sanctify public taste. Forms of agency, therefore, unneeded at home, are required on every hand; varied in character, at times expensive, all carefully adapted to the case with which they deal. And it is in the employment, the adaptation of these means to their appointed ends, that missionaries specially prove themselves "wise to win souls."

Thus it is that not only on the Sabbath but through the week, not only in the pulpit but in the school, the market, the private house, in a boat, under a spreading tree, our brethren expound and enforce that Gospel which shall sanctify and govern the hearts of many nations. Thus it is in the cities of China and India, in the villages of Africa, among the swamps of Guiana, beneath the palm groves of Samoa, they seek to be instant in season and out of season. Some are pastors of churches, others preach almost entirely to the heathen. Some are training students in seminaries. Some superintend a range of simple schools; others, in Indian cities, give large time and effort to the important Institutions taught in the English and Native languages. A few are revising translations of the Bible; others are preparing commentaries, school-books, and other Christian literature. All have to share in building; and, besides the Medical missionaries, a great number constantly give medicine to the sick. Here we see Dr. TURNER, in the admirable seminary at Malua, training the Native Teachers; Mr. EDKINS and Mr. MUIRHEAD penetrate the Mongolian desert, to inquire into the place and prospects of a Mission among the Tartar tribes; while Mr. JOHN, after completing the new Hospital, is isolated within a vast sea, the overflowings of the mighty Yangtze, which has drowned half the streets of Hankow. We see Mr. ASHTON and Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. COLES and Mr. BLAKE, Mr. HALL and Mr. RICE, surrounded by the hundreds of their students and scholars, diligent in daily English studies. We see the TRAVANCORE brethren in the midst of their many agents; advising pastors, instructing catechists, reading evangelists' journals, examining candidates, and auditing accounts; while, in their midst, Dr. LOWE and his seven students administer to their crowd of patients in the hospital that medicine which shall relieve their pain. Dr. MATHER re-edits the Hindustani Scriptures. The brothers STRONACH, fellow-labourers indeed in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ; still watch over the prosperous churches of Amoy, which they were honoured to found. In the midst of barbarism, Mr. MOFFAT carefully revises that Sichuana Bible of which he was the first translator. In the midst of civilization, after reading the proofs of the Chinese New Testament, Dr. LEGGE, consulting his learned pundits, dives deep into the ancient Chinese classics, and strives, by an erudite commentary, to make plain the early history of China. While Mr. LAWES, who describes himself as the "poet laureate" of Savage Island, after completing the New Testament, prepares the first Christian hymn book, for the use of the converts he has brought to Christ. Mr. THOMPSON, visiting the Missions in Cape Colony, drives with hard toil across the fiery dust of the Karroo desert; Mr. JANSEN and Mr. MUNRO, in their long canoe, traverse the gorgeous and silent forests of Guiana, to visit the little Mission among the Indians below the rapids of the Berbice. Mr. MURRAY, opportunely arriving in a screw steamer, prevents war among the Christians of Manua; Mr. CHALMERS, voluntary leader of the band of converts who keep the _John Williams_ afloat, sticks by the vessel to the last, and, with his brave wife, refuses to quit the ship till she is anchored safe in Sydney harbor. While Mr. PHILIP, pastor and schoolmaster, doctor and lawyer, engineer and magistrate, of the flourishing Hottentot Christians of Hankey, when overturned in a ravine on a visit to his out-station, preaches to his people with a broken arm, rather than deprive them of that bread of heaven which they had come many miles to hear. Who would not rejoice and thank God for such men? Of the ninety Protestant Missionaries labouring in China, the five who stand first in public estimation for character, scholarship, and zeal are missionaries of this Society. Among the five hundred missionaries of India, not a few of our brethren occupy a high and honoured place; while in all other of the older Missions the men who with fidelity and zeal have steadily maintained their posts for twenty-five and thirty years are numerous, and are all held in honour. A just consideration of toil like this will show that never in the Society's history had the Directors greater reason to thank God for the grace bestowed upon their missionaries, or stronger ground for holding them in esteem as workmen not needing to be ashamed.

V.--MISSIONARY STUDENTS.

While discussing, amongst other matters, the expense of the Society's Seminary at Highgate, the Special Committee suggested an inquiry into the question of the training of the missionary students generally. It was felt by them that the advanced position attained by our Missions in all parts of the world, gives to the missionary brethren, as a body, very great opportunities of usefulness. A large number of them are called to be superintendents of several churches and many native agents, to be counsellors of native pastors and missionaries, and tutors in theological seminaries. All the brethren in India and China may hold intercourse with Native scholars and priests, and have to defend truth and assail error by argument, spreading over a wide range of thought and knowledge. Several of them have charge of educational institutions of a high order, and are associated with Native ministers who are themselves men of superior education and position.

It is an injustice to our missionary brethren themselves to place them in such positions of weight and influence without giving them the opportunity of acquiring a complete fitness for the important duties which those positions involve. It is an injustice to the Society that the training of its missionaries should be incomplete. And it is an injustice to the Missions generally, should they be placed in the hands of men who are unable, from defective education, rightly to comprehend their claims, and to fulfil the important duties which the charge of them now involves. In addition to considerations such as these, the Directors observed that for some years past their missionary students had been trained in a variety of ways; a few being educated in the ordinary colleges, and the remainder in private Institutions, adopted by the Board, at Bedford and Weston-super-Mare. Aided by a valuable memorandum from the Rev. J.S. Wardlaw, which went fully into the entire question, the Directors, after careful consideration, arranged it on the basis of the following RESOLUTIONS; which have given the students, the missionaries abroad, and the friends of the Society great satisfaction:--

"1. THAT, considering the high position of usefulness now attained by the Society's Missions, and the great importance of the work carried on in the present day, it has become increasingly desirable that the Society's missionary students should all enjoy, as far as practicable, the advantages of a sound and complete College education.

"2. THAT, as any plan for the formation of a separate Missionary Institution, and of affiliating it with any existing College, is found to be impracticable; and as existing colleges have shown themselves so ready and anxious on favourable terms to welcome the Society's students among theirs, it is desirable that our students should be placed in those Institutions in various parts of the country.

"3. THAT, in the judgment of the Directors, a preparatory class may be maintained for the few students who need it.

"4. THAT; for several important reasons, the Directors deem it most desirable to maintain the system by which the Society's students receive a final year of missionary training under the Rev. J.S. WARDLAW, M.A."

The Directors regard it as a matter for great thankfulness, and as a token of continued approval of their work, that they have recently received, as they did in 1867, a large number of offers from young men to enter upon the Society's service. The applicants have presented a great diversity of natural gifts, attainments, and position: some of them are already studying for the ministry in our Theological Colleges. The Directors have during the year accepted no less than eighteen. Amongst them are two of the missionaries' sons. The total number of missionary students in the Society is now forty-two. On the first of May, 1869, they stood thus:--

+-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+------+ |On Probation.|1st Year.|2nd Year.|3rd Year.|4th Year.|5th Year.|Total.| +-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+------+ | 6 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 42 | +-------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+------+

VI.--NATIVE PASTORS AND MISSIONARIES.

The increase of our Church Members, and the enlargement of their spiritual life, have from time to time placed at the disposal of the Society an increasing number of Christian helpers for the local service of our various Missions. No exact account of them was taken for several years. But from the complete returns recently gathered, it appears that at the present time they are more than twelve hundred in number.

The Christian Assistants not engaged in schools are divided into several classes. Some are READERS, who go from house to house, and explain the Word to families or individuals. Others are preachers of greater or less education, and are more or less trusted, either to work alone, or in company with more experienced brethren. In India and China, these brethren are usually termed CATECHISTS, though in the South Seas the missionaries have retained the title of NATIVE TEACHERS. One class among them, of higher character and education, in whom great trust is reposed, are termed in India EVANGELISTS. These brethren frequently occupy stations by themselves, or are immediate and trusted assistants of the missionaries. Several of the excellent preachers in China belong to this rank; as also others in the South Sea Islands and in Madagascar.

It has from the first been a settled rule with the Society's missionaries that catechists and preachers should be men of known and proved piety; and that all candidates for theological classes shall be members of the church. The Directors believe that it is largely owing to the observance of this sound rule that the Missions have received a great blessing from above, and have been built up on a solid basis. It is the effect of this blessing, and a result of the development of the churches, that a steady improvement has taken place in the general character and fitness of Native Agents. And not the least benefit is that at length it is giving rise to the long-desired class of NATIVE ORDAINED PASTORS.

In 1865 our lists showed twenty such Pastors and Missionaries, not reckoning the Tahitian or Madagascar brethren; and of the twenty, fourteen were in India. During the last three years fifteen have been added in India, and one has died. In the Leeward Islands several of the Tahaa students have been ordained as pastors in Tahiti and the out-stations; the Directors have recommended the ordination of others, as TAUGA, the Evangelist in charge of the churches in Manua; ELIKANA, the Evangelist of the Lagoon Islands; and ISAIA, the well-known Evangelist of Rarotonga; and five have been ordained in Samoa. In Madagascar a practical Native pastorate grew up in the days of persecution, which was judiciously fostered by Mr. Ellis and his associates, and was placed by them in a most healthy position. Of the five hundred preachers placed over the churches, some twenty may be reckoned of that high standing and independence of management accorded to the other brethren in the ordained lists. The Directors rejoice that, through the wise foresight of Mr. Ellis, the Madagascar pastors receive no support from the Society; they are almost wholly sustained either by their own labour or by the Native Churches. In Travancore, three of the pastors ordained last year have become entirely free of all help from the Society. The Board desire that in all cases the same independence of support from English funds shall be steadily aimed at, though for a time it may be necessary to guarantee a certain salary, and to supplement such portion as the native members give, by an annual grant from the Society's funds. In all the Society's missions the number of these pastors is about eighty. It is desirable that all our native agency shall be of the best kind, and shall be trained in the most efficient way.

VII.--THE NATIVE CHURCHES.

The high and useful position attained by the Society is further illustrated by the character and importance of the Native Churches. These are our actual converts, the most striking, the most patent, if not the most real among the fruits of our past labours. These churches are unevenly distributed, but the explanation is easy. As a rule, they are largest in fields of labour which have been longest cultivated, and where converts are easily won. They appear, therefore, in inverse ratio to time and difficulty. To the native races of Polynesia, desolated by wars, torn in pieces by faction and strife, Christianity came as the healer and peace-maker, and was welcomed as soon as understood. To the native races of South Africa, and to the people of the West Indies, to the weak who had been crushed and enslaved by the strong, it came with loving smiles as deliverer and friend. By the devil-worshipper of Travancore, ignorant, degraded, friendless, afraid of malignant spirits, it was welcomed for its kindness. To the caste-ridden people of the great cities and towns, to the sudra of South India, to the Brahmins everywhere, it came as an enemy, destroying their social life, breaking up the bonds of Hindooism, smiting the gods, putting down the priesthood, destroying the vested interest, and drying up the wealth produced by centuries. Who can wonder that to the learned, the powerful, the bigoted, it was "foolishness;" while to the despised and poor, accepted in a child-like spirit, it became the power of God unto salvation? As a rule, the converts, who were easy to win, have been hard to raise; and in ordinary Christian life some of the most zealous, the most consistent, the most liberal, the most missionary, have been found among the few converts, drawn by hard struggles and heavy penalties, from the caste population of our Indian towns. It is from such came nearly all our first ordained Native Ministers.

But, whether easily or hardly won, we rejoice in the fact that at this hour the three hundred Churches gathered through the ministry of this Society contain thirty-five thousand members; and that round them, looking to them for instruction, and influenced by their example, lives a population of not less than one hundred and ninety thousand souls, who have given up all idolatry, and call Christianity their religion.

* * * * *

The GENERAL CHARACTER of these church members, their attainments in knowledge, the amount of their moral strength, the enlightenment of conscience, their peculiar deficiencies, are topics frequently dwelt upon in missionaries' letters, and find a conspicuous place in the annual reports. Who can doubt that, should occasion arise, the converts of MADAGASCAR would still emulate the fidelity of the brethren who gave themselves to clanging fetters and the fiery flame rather than deny Christ? When bitterly persecuted by bigoted priests, the Christians of UEA still possess their souls in patience, and with their chapels burnt, their plantations desolated, and their companions beaten, they hold on to the truth as it is in Jesus, and refuse to bow the knee to the Baal of Rome. In the Calcutta Mission last year, as heretofore, converts have been found to bear reproach and shame for Christ rather than be numbered among idolaters. Still do the tried Christians of POKLO show how grace reigns in China.

The great Christian virtues, the fruits of the Spirit, are developed in these churches as in the older realms of Christendom. In them enlightened conscience makes war with sin; Christian love casts out fear; the eye of faith sees heaven in a dying hour. Scarcely a report is written that does not illustrate these excellencies. We must not undervalue what here we have gained. It is not only that so many individual souls have been saved. We have rescued them from heathenism, from false religion, from the advocacy of error, from the practice of error, from open, unchecked vice and crime. We have drawn them from the world's disorders and cruelty, from wrong and misery. In the great warfare with vice, they have changed sides, and are now valiant for the truth. We have drawn not only them but their children; we have drawn them, not as isolated individuals, but as families, as neighbours, as fellow citizens, as nations. We have drawn into the church, for man's happiness, and the Lord's glory, all the influences of their private, social, and public life. We have won their intelligence, their moral life, their literature, their material resources, their public law. Henceforth heathenism has lost them, and Christ has placed His sanctifying hand on all they have and all they are. These Christians are all His; their children His, and generations as they succeed each other shall be more completely His, to give Him all the glory of their growing love, and add their contribution of immortal souls to His Millennial reign.

"For to His triumph soon,
He shall descend, who rules above,
And the pure language of His love
All tongues of men shall tune."

Our earliest mission in Polynesia is constantly offering evidence of the power of the Gospel. The Rev. J. King of Savaii, gives the following striking illustration:--

"PENIAMINA (Benjamin), was one of the first converts in Samoa, and for thirty years he has maintained an unblemished character. A short time ago I took down from his own lips the story of his life, or I might rather say of his two lives; so great a contrast does the latter half of his life present to the former. The one is the life of the ignorant and corrupt Pagan, the other that of the humble follower and devoted disciple of the Lord Jesus. All who know Peniamina would concur in this testimony that he is one of the brightest gems that has been won for Christ in Samoa. His praise is in all the churches. As a pastor he has done good service. For a number of years he has had the oversight of one of our churches in the out-stations, and so beloved was he by his people, that when, through age, his eyesight failed, and he could no longer read the Scriptures in public, they begged that he would still preach to them, and asked that a young man might be appointed to read the Scriptures for him. This he did for some time, until he became so infirm, that he was compelled to resign. But when he proposed to return to his native village, that he might die amongst his kindred, according to the invariable custom in Samoa, his people begged that he would not leave them; and that, as he had devoted so much of his strength to their good, they might be allowed to 'nurse' him in his old age, and to have the honour of burying him in their own village. But the national custom prevailed over their entreaties. A few days after he had taken farewell of his Church, he called on me, and gave me a few steel pens, the remainder of some I had given him for writing his sermons. As he gave them to me, he said, 'I have finished my work: I shall write no more sermons; and that nothing may be wasted that is useful in the work of God, let these pens be given to a younger man, who is still able to write sermons.' This incident is characteristic of the man, and will illustrate his simple uprightness, and his concern for the work of God. He is now very infirm, but strong in faith; he is calmly waiting to be summoned to his reward."

Much more might be written on this topic, and these illustrations of Christian experience might easily be multiplied. Our native churches give proof in every direction of the soundness of the teaching from which they have sprung, and of the Divine blessing by which it has been followed. They differ greatly in the outer form of their life from English churches: they differ scarcely less from one another. They differ in their knowledge, in the character of their excellencies, in the form of their defects. They differ in their experience of the truth, as they have had a varied history. But one heart and one mind are found within them all. It is the Bible which touches their feelings most deeply, which quickens their conscience, which inspires their richest joys. Everywhere the tribes, once heathen and hard-hearted, now Christianized, care for the orphan, show kindness and courtesy to women, and watch over the aged and the sick. Everywhere they lead a pure life, they cultivate and practise mutual kindness, they are brought under public law. These things are not novelties in Christianity; but their daily recurrence in all our Missions is the best testimony we can offer to the reality of our work. They are seen in all our Churches; they are written on every page of our reports. The heathen natives of Travancore and of the Lagoon Islands, far distant from one another, get drunk with toddy: their Christian fellow-countrymen of the same class in both places abstain from it. Touched by the gospel, the negroes of Jamaica came in hundreds to be married: the Bechuanas on the Vaal river have done the same. Our new converts in the plains of Shantung try to evangelize their stalwart neighbours. The same efforts of love are put forth by the new Christians among the hills of Fokien. Our South Sea Converts observe the Sabbath better than Englishmen. When accompanying the Queen down to the sea-coast, our Church members held Sabbath camp-meetings in the forests and jungles of Madagascar.

Would that the English churches realized more completely what they are! Follow them in their daily life. Look at them on the Sabbath-day. There, where once all seasons were alike, they gather on the first day of the week in the house of prayer. From China eastward, round to Lifu westward, in twenty-six languages, these Christian converts gather for holy worship. In the broad streets of Peking; among the green hills of Amoy; amid the tall roofs of Antananarivo, and the well-watered gardens of Hankey; among the deep ferns of Raiatea and in the cotton-fields of Samoa; in Calcutta and Benares, within the shadows of the wealthy temples of Kali and Mahadeo; or where the creamy surf in curling waves throws up the garnet sands of Travancore,--each Sabbath-day rises the hymn of praise, the earnest prayer; each month they break the bread and drink the cup in memory of Him whom, not having seen, they love; in whom, though now they see Him not, yet believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; receiving the end of their faith, even the salvation of their SOULS.

"Knowest thou the value of a soul immortal?
Behold the midnight glory, worlds on worlds!
Amazing pomp! Redouble the amaze.
Ten thousand add, and twice ten thousand more;
Then weigh the whole. ONE SOUL outweighs them all."

VIII.--THE SOUTH SEA MISSION.

The SOUTH SEA MISSION lies deep in the affection of the Society's friends. Seventy years have passed since the first missionaries were landed by the _Duff_ on the Island of TAHITI. After long trial of patience, amid a most depraved and corrupt people, heathenism gave way, the gospel triumphed, and the Society Islands became Christian. In 1823 RAROTONGA was discovered, and the Hervey Islands, now containing one of the brightest groups of our Christian churches, were evangelized. In 1830, SAMOA received that gospel which has sanctified the gentle habits of its people, and produced in them a zeal in the extension of the church which none of their neighbours have excelled. In 1840 and onward, the efforts to evangelize the dark races of the NEW HEBRIDES were commenced and partly frustrated. In 1848, the LOYALTY GROUP received teachers, and in spite of priestly intolerance, have since been largely christianized.

When TAHITI first fell under the French Protectorate, fears were entertained respecting the stability of its people. By God's blessing on the means of grace, they seem at the present time to be more spiritual and more firm in their attachment to the truth than ever. Several young pastors, trained in our Tahaa Institution, have been warmly welcomed among them, and their numbers are larger than for some years past:--

"The statistics of the year, as far as we can obtain them for Tahiti and Moorea, are as follow:--

Population ... ... ... ... ... ... ... over 9000
Members of Protestant Churches ... ... ... ... 2800
Children in Protestant Schools ... ... ... ... 1260
Roman Catholic Congregation, Members and Scholars,
Natives ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 700

"Hence we see the Roman Catholics cannot yet number in their schools, congregations, and churches altogether, in Tahiti and Moorea, more than one twelfth of the Native population as theirs. The other eleven-twelfths are nominally Protestant. Without reckoning the schools and congregations of the Protestants, the Church members alone of the Native Protestant Church are about four times as many as all the Roman Catholics in their schools, congregations, and churches together."

In the Hervey Islands, in the midst of their desolation, the churches of RAROTONGA insisted on holding their usual Anniversary, and gave a larger contribution to the Society than in the year before. The SAMOAN MISSION continues to enjoy prosperity and peace; the Seminary at Malua flourishes; an extraordinary demand exists for the Scriptures, which every Christian seems resolved to make his own; the influence of the missionary diminishes the risk of social war; and the liberality of the churches still abounds. SAVAGE ISLAND, becoming more closely allied to the civilised world, through the influence of its beautiful cotton, begins to encounter the greater temptations to which a community of simple manners is by that contact exposed; and the first drunkard has been seen upon her shores. As truly as a pious lad on entering London life needs the daily support of a mother's counsel and a mother's prayers; so do these young communities, exposed to the vices and temptations of stronger nations, demand the help, the sympathy, and the prayers of the English churches from which their piety springs. In the LAGOON ISLANDS and in the LOYALTY GROUP the Word of Christ is winning many dark hearts; but in the latter the fanatic hatred of Romish priests continues to the stricken Christians of UEA that system of oppressive persecution against which they appealed long ago.

Of the SAMOAN MISSION a most pleasing account has recently been given by a writer in _Blackwood's Magazine_, which fully sustains the reports of its prosperity given by the missionaries:--

"We have said that the London Missionary Society has the spiritual care of the Samoan Islands. The first missionaries were established there about thirty years ago, but the group had been frequently visited by them previously to that date. With what zeal and devotedness these excellent men have laboured needs not here to be enlarged upon; and with respect to the success that has attended their labours, it is sufficient to say that all heathen and barbarous practices have been abolished, Christianity is firmly established, life and property are as secure as in England--nay, more so, as theft is almost unknown--the morals of the people have been greatly improved, a general system of education prevails, and the Bible is admirably translated and in the hands of every member of the community. The difficulties which the missionaries in Samoa had to contend with were certainly far less than in many other islands in these seas. Here were no bloodthirsty, ferocious cannibals, but a mild and gentle race, well disposed towards strangers, with no elaborate system of idolatry to overthrow; so that the Mission was established without difficulty, and the progress was rapid and continued. So apt and intelligent are this people, that Samoa very soon became a centre of missionary enterprise, sending forth trained Native Teachers to other islands, of whom we shall presently have occasion to speak.

"A short account of the mode in which the Mission work in Polynesia is carried on will be interesting, not only by reason of the success that has almost invariably attended it in the islands in which missionaries are located, but also on account of the widely-spread influence exercised throughout the South Seas by the agency of the Native Teachers."

Special mention has frequently been made of the great liberality of the SAMOAN churches. The Rev. GEORGE PRATT thus describes the energetic effort made last year to increase it:--

"In May I paid a visit to Mr. Drummond's district. Very much pleased I was to see the very great improvement amongst his people. At the May Meeting they made a great effort, and challenged Samoa to beat them. I accepted the challenge, reminding them how formerly our people beat theirs in a game of chance just when they made sure of victory. The report of this speech preceded me, and created a _furore_ among my people. They determined to beat; the merchants raised the price of money fifty per cent.; the merchants refused money, or ran short; all in vain; every difficulty was surmounted; and when a most iniquitous discount for bills is deducted, there will still be hard on to 700 pounds for the London Missionary Society."

The Rev. A.W. MURRAY informs the Directors that the contributions so gathered have been the largest of all. They have amounted to the extraordinary sum of 2,236 pounds 18 shillings:--

"Our contributions for the present year are not quite complete yet. What remains will be inconsiderable. The full amount will appear in my annual statement of accounts. What has come to hand from the different stations, including our own, amounts to the unprecedented sum of _Two thousand, two hundred, and thirty-six pounds, eighteen shillings_. May I add a word of caution with reference to the amount raised by our people this year. It will be wise, I think, for all of us to say very little about it, inasmuch as the present year will certainly be an exceptional one."

Nor are others of our Polynesian Converts behindhand. The Native Churches in Mangaia have also given generous gifts, of which the Rev. W.W. GILL speaks thus:--

"This sum (217 pounds 7 shillings O pence) is considerably the largest contribution ever made by Mangaia to the funds of our Society; the reason is, that I have this year obtained a better price for the arrowroot. I feel deeply thankful that our people have steadily persevered in their offerings to God, notwithstanding the accumulated misfortunes produced by three hurricanes in two years, and their consequent poverty."