matter of great satisfaction to the Directors that the societies which have shared the work in the Pacific with themselves are extending in the same direction; the Melanesian Mission will visit the Banks and Solomon Islands; the Wesleyan missionaries will occupy New Britain and New Ireland; while the Presbyterians enlarge their work in the New Hebrides; and the Hawaiian Churches evangelise the Marquesas and Micronesia. Under God's blessing, the successful accomplishment of His noble scheme will not only save these manly races from extinction, but will bring to them enlightenment, safety, and comfort, and will secure for them an honourable place in the Christian history of the world. THE SOCIETY'S MISSION IN AFRICA. The Continent of Africa, with its many kingdoms, provinces, and people, has remained prominent in the public eye throughout the past year; and events have occurred which have not only exhibited its people more clearly, but have greatly increased the public interest in their welfare. The Society has long had an efficient mission in South Africa; and the victories which it has won, both within and beyond the Cape Colony and Kafirland, in defending the liberties of the native races are amongst its proudest trophies. For several months the Directors have devoted careful attention to a proposal which has been made to them by R. Arthington, Esq., of Leeds, to commence a mission in Central Africa. It was known that the Free Church of Scotland had already prepared to found the Livingstonia Mission on Lake Nyassa, and that the Church Missionary Society had been invited to occupy the districts of Karague and Uganda, on the Victoria Lake. The proposal was laid before them by Mr. Arthington in the following way "It is much in my heart to take with you a courageous and faithful step in the moral conquest of Africa; whilst we shall, if God be with us, be instrumental in His hand in gathering out to Christ's glory and our joy many of His elect people in that continent. "You know that the Presbyterians of Scotland have taken in hand the Nyassa, and that the Church Missionary Society is likely to take in hand the Victoria Nyanza, that is, the inhabitants of their shores, for evangelisa I propose we should take in hand Lake Tanganika. "I have the joy, therefore, of offering five thousand pounds towards the purchase of a suitable steamer, and the establishment of a missionary station at some eligible place on one of the shores of that lake. I learn on good authority that the way is quite open in a direct line (which is very direct) from Zanzibar to Ujiji on Tanganika; that the Sultan's pass is available and valid all the way, and is recognised and held in respect at Ujiji. Ujiji belongs to the Arabs, and the Sultan's influence there is considerable and great. He would doubtless, give his countenance, and we should have the sheltering wing of Great Britain. Ere long, in all probability, a British consul would be appointed to Ujiji. I have no doubt that the Christian Church, in sufficient strength of its members every way, would at once support the mission, and that it would grow and prosper." With the special purpose which all these missions have in view, the Directors are in fullest sympathy. They have, therefore, devoted caroful attention to the project; they have worked in perfect harmony with their brethren in the Church Missionary Society and the Free Church; they have received from both valuable information; and after full consideration at a general meeting, specially summoned for the purpose, on Wednesday, March 15th, the Directors unanimously resolved to accept the offer. Aware of many special difficulties involved in the project, they, with a view to obtain very exact information on all points, have despatched the Rev. Roger Price, himself an experienced African missionary, to Zanzibar to make preliminary inquiries. They now warmly commend the proposed mission to the friends. of the Society, and ask them to aid the enterprise by their contributions and their prayers. They think it desirable to raise at least an additional five thousand pounds before it is commenced. Both for their native worth and because of the countless wrongs from which they have suffered, these simple and unprotected races in Polynesia and in Central Africa have special claims upon the care and kindness of Christian Englishmen. A multitude of missionaries have gone forth to seize them. The missionaries of cotton and sugar, of coffee and tea, want them for their plantations. The wandering idlers, the waifs and strays of the civilised world, fasten themselves on them, live at their expense, and sink to their level. The missionaries of the slave-market seek for them to cultivate land, to do menial work, and to be servants of servants in distant countries, where people are few. The gun of the Arab, the bait of the Peruvian and the kidnapper seize them by violence or delude them by fraud; and the hold of the slave ship, or the stockaded barracoon, is the destination to which multitudes of bleeding hearts have been consigned. Who shall stand forth to save them? 'Twas English Christianity which crushed the older forms of slavery. It was English Christianity and humanity that summarily stayed the infamous kidnapping in Polynesia. And it is English Christians who must follow up this accursed slave traffic in Africa, not merely through Government influence and the active patrol of armed cruisers, but by entering into the heart of the land, and settling down the races so friendless and ill-used. among No feeble hand, no hesitating faith, no aimless purpose, will suffice for their deliverance. Only the strongest, the noblest, the highest will avail them in their peril. As the highest angels take under their care earth's "little ones," so in the kingdom of Christ the noblest service is to descend into the deepest sin and misery to save the souls for which He died. Out of Egyptian darkness will we call His sons. We must lead them through the desert; we must patiently "suffer their manners in the wilderness." But He will feed them with the bread of Heaven and give them water from the rock; we shall aid Him to make them men; and when they gather in the promised land, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, as "the ransomed of the Lord" they "shall come to Zion with songs" of jubilee; "they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." The Rev. R. Robinson gave out the second hymn : which was then sung "Let all men praise the Lord," THE FIRST RESOLUTION. "That the Report, portions of which have now been read, be adopted; and that it be published and circulated among the members of the Society. That the members of the Society would offer their devout thanks to God for the strength and vigour with which He has blessed the Society's missions; for the earnestness, growth, and strength of the native churches, especially in China, Madagascar, and the South Seas. And they trust that the increased interest taken by Englishmen in India and its people, will secure for that empire a larger number of English missionaries." The Rev. G. S. BARRETT, B.A., said: "Some three or four years ago, sir, Dr. Halley, I believe on this platform, on the occasion of the anniversary of this Missionary Society, made this statement―That, in his judgment, the work that God had been pleased to do by means of the London Missionary Society during the seventy or eighty years of its existence, was not even surpassed by the work done in the apostolic age of the Church.' I think, sir, the report that we have listened to this morning, able and interesting as all Dr. Mullens' reports are, will have added an additional confirmation, if any were needed, to that statement of Dr. Halley. I do not think that even in the Acts of the Apostles wo find recorded greater triumphs of the power and love of Christ than we have heard recorded from time to time in the reports of this London Missionary Society, and in the speeches of missionaries on this plat form. But, sir, though I do not undervalue the work that has been done by this Society, I am not at all certain that we are not now entering upon a new and very much more perilous period of its history. There are a great many signs in our modern English life which seem to me to threaten the earnestness and vitality of our Christian work. The absorbing pursuit of wealth, the undermining of the spiritual tone of our churches by the habits and luxuries of an advanced civilisation, the introduction into England of a great many things which had far better have been kept across the channel, and, above all, the prevalence of what threatens to be England's national vice, the love of drink, are all signs of evil omen in our modern English life. But, sir, I refer this morning to another danger, when I say that Christian missions may be entering upon a new and more perilous period of their history. I refer to the perils to which Christian missions and the faith which underlies them are exposed from the progress of modern unbelief, and that, sir, with your permission, is the subject on which I wish to say a few words this morning. I need not take up your time by proving the existence of a vast amount of unbelief in Europe at the present day. The signs of it you see everywhere. Only this month a very distinguished writer has assured us with a confidence which, at least, proves that dogmatism is not confined to theologians, that Christianity has been touched by the spirit of the age, and is melting away. There can be no doubt that our position in regard to Christian missions is very different from what the position of our fathers fifty years ago was. They had to defend the preaching of Christ to the heathen; we are challenged as to the Christ we preach. It is no longer a question of whether it be right to send the Gospel to all nations; it is, Have we any Gospel at all to send? I myself think, however, that the present phase of unbelief will not last very long; but the religious atmosphere of Europe at present reminds me of what some of us have seen in the morning when we have been in Scotland, when the mist has crept up from the valley and very soon all the landscape, even the very mountains themselves, have been hidden from view. Something like that mist has been creeping over the landmarks of religious faith to day; and I do not wonder that a great many Christian people are very seriously concerned about it. Will you permit me just to say this one word by way of consolation? Do not forget that, though the mist may conceal the mountains it cannot remove them, and though men do not see for a time the great realities of our faith, though we are told that Christianity is melting away-wait a little, wait till the sun shines again, wait till the light of God's truth bursts out upon this modern unbelief, and then see if our Christianity is melting away. Like the mountains, it stands fast for ever and ever. DANGERS TO BE AVOIDED. But though the great fact of our Christian faith thus stands fast, our allegiance to it may be shaken; and that is what I am afraid of. And it seems to me that there are two ways in which this spirit of the age may affect the loyalty of our allegiance to the great realities of the Christian faith. "First of all, there is a danger that we may hold with a slackened grasp, in consequence of the discussions of recent times, the great truth which, I venture to say, is the foundation of every missionary society-that there is only one Saviour and Prince of mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ. The way in which this doubt, this loosening of our faith, begins is very gradual. It is not denied that Christ is a Saviour; it is not denied that Christ is one of the great religious teachers of the race; but what is questioned is this: Is Saviour? Is He the teacher of the race? He the only only religious That is the way in which the doubt begins, and then presently some one comes forward, and suddenly parades before us the truth, as if it were a recent discovery of the spirit of the age-that God reveals Himself in many ways to man. Why, sir, we had learned that long ago. It lies on the first page of St. John's Gospel-The light is shining in the darkness; but the darkness comprehendeth it not.' And then books are written-and I am not here this morning to say a single word against these books-on the religions of mankind. They are very learned books; they are very charming books to read; but they are books confessedly dealing, not with the factsthe sad, terrible facts-of heathenism, as our missionaries see them with their own eyes every day; but they deal with the philosophy, the ethical teaching of the founders of these faiths; and let me say, they do not give us all their ethical teaching. They take great care to pick out a few grains of gold from amidst a multitude of sand. These books are written, and doubt begins to feel a little more courage, and stands up, and commences to quote Mr. Tennyson; and it says, fulfils Himself in many ways.' • God Here in Europe is one way, there in China is another way, in India is another way; and the result is this at the end, that even though some reverence be retained for Christ as a religious teacher, it is only the reverence given to Him as one amongst many. He has no more exclusive claim on the homage and faith of mankind than Confucius or Buddha, we are told: He is only one out of the many great religious reformers of the race. Now, sir, what is very remarkable is this-this kind of unbelief is very much offended if you call it unbelief. I call it unbelief, and unbelief of the deadliest kind; but it prefers to call itself broad theology. One thing at least is certain; it may be broad theology, but it is not the theology of the apostles of Christ. The men that lived with the Lord Jesus, who knew most of His mind, did not believe for one moment that religion was like food, simply a question of taste, for a race. They did not believe that truth varied with different degrees of longitude. All through their writings, from first to last, you can trace this conviction running, burning like a fire in their bones. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men, whereby we may be saved.' They may have been in doubt about a great many things; there was no doubt here. They may have been left in uncertainty about a great many things in connection with the revelation of Christ; there was no uncertainty here. The rock on which they built everything was this-not a philosophy, not an opinion, but a solid, impregnable, historical fact, We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.' Other revelations from God to man? Why, sir, they never denied it. Their own Judaism was one of the principal |