The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-20 00:00:00

the societies, a list of which they handed in at Christ-
mas. Such men hardly knew what they did pay—
they paid without the consciousness, in giving, of
Aty sacrifice for the great cause of missions—what
they gave went forth without a prayer, without a
direct devotion of their means to the work of Him
for which it was subscribed. (Cheers.) In such a

state of things it was a special benefit to the Church
at home to be roused out of that conventional

grooved system, and Jed to make a new and unusual
effort by which to assert its own missionary spirit,
and by its reflex influence to warm and invigorate
its own heart. (Cheers.) This was specially such an
effort. Raised by Dr. Livingstone, the mission
was taken up by the Church, and it must have been
taken up by the Church, for, although the central
heart was lodged at the Universities, it was quite

impossible that all the funds required could be sub-

scribed thence; therefore, unless the Church had
taken it up by giving it the necessary funds, it must

have fallen to the ground. The expense must neces-

sarily, on the founding of the mission, be large for
this reason—they had, in fact, to originate a means

of communication which must be maintained un-
broken between the interior settlement in Africa

and the seaboard, and to a great extent between the
seaboard and the Cape settlement. The missionaries
must thus be fed to a great degree ; medicine must
thus be supplied to them ; there must be kept up a
living line of communication to prevent their being
absorbed into the great mass of uncivilisation and
barbarism into which for the love of Christ they
had thrown themselves. (Cheers.) The expense,
therefore, must be great at the first starting of the
mission. Nothing was wasted on machinery. The
plan of the mission was the simplest possible.

It was on the advice of Dr. Livingstone and Sir
George Grey (Governor at the Cape) to plant a
nncteus of English Christianity on some point where
English people could live in the very heart of Cen-
tral Africa, with a view not to make an English

settlement—and it was very important that should
be borne in mind—but with the view of making
an African settlement. The uncertainty of life
and property in that country among the natives
was so extreme, that it was necessary there should
be some nucleus of civilised and English life,
around which the Africans could cluster, and
under its shelter, from union with one another, pos-
sessing a measure of physical and social strength,
they would then render it impossible for the slave
dealer to attack them. Had anything happened to
show that Dr. Livingstone's expectations were
fallacious ? Were the difficulties which had arisen
such as had not been foreseen or should make them
stand still or withdraw from the mission ? What
had the difficulties been ? In the first place, there
had been the collision between the mission and the
slave trading people. That was foreseen and ex-
pected. They planted the mission nevertheless; it
was a sort of protest against the slave trade—it was
perhaps the only way in which the slave trade could
be defeated, for it was only by engendering lawful
commerce that the slave trade could be put down ;
it 'was therefore to he expected that the instincts of
the slave trader would be roused against the mis-
sion. The mere existence of that difficulty was then
no reason for withdrawing from the mission. Then
it was said that a mistake had been committed.
Most probably Dr. Livingstone had mistaken for
the mere roving of the slave trade agents what in
fact was a great tribal movement, and he had thus
involved himself in a difficulty from which he had
always endeavoured to steer clear. But when had
any mission ever been conducted without some mis-
take ? Even Paul himself might have made mis-
takes, but did these show that God was not with
him ? No ! they only showed that the treasure was
in earthen vessels while all the glory was due to
God only. And with regard to the death of Bishop
Mackenzie and Mr. Burrup, had they died because
it was impossible for English people to live in that
climate there might have been some ground for
argument against the mission ; but, so far from that,
he said their death was as much an accident in the
ordinary meaning of the term, as if they met it in
an express train at home. lt. arose from the up-
setting of the canoe and the loss of the medicine,
which was essential to the life of Europeans in
that country. Had there ever been from the
first any great work done for God which had not
been begun in tears and nurtured under what
seemed the heaviest misfortune and the greatest
discouragement ? That was so much the rule that
he confessed if all went on too smoothly with any
enterprise he was apt to look for some very over-
whelming reverse or some suspicion of unsoundness
in the mode in which the work was carried on. It
was by the blood of the original martyrs that the
seed of the truth was spread in the earth. "In
every city bonds and afflictions abide me," was the
escutcheon of Christ's noblest witness. Sowing in
tears they would reap in joy. Bishop Mackenzie's
mysterious and melancholy removal from the field
of action was a pledge to every heart with a grain
of Christian heroism in it that the inheritance of
that land should yet be obtained. Could the pagan
Roman say that whetever the body of a legionary
lay there the Roman eagle should advance ever and
retire never, and would the Christian warrior not
say, " We take possession in the name of Christ of
that whole district of Central Africa in that tomb of
Christ's faithful martyr ; on that as our standing
place we shall set our foot and advance the triumphs
of the cross ?" (Cheers.) One of the greatest fathers
of the Church said he believed that if but for the
space of 24 hours the whole church were wholly
faithful the world would be converted within the
next 24 hours. It was the want of the Christian
character stamped upon those that bore the Chris-
tian name—it was the want of claiming with the
full wholeness of a perfect faith the promise of the
Lord, which had weakened the arm of conversion
It was this which thinned the ranks of missionary
success. Nothing but the most unchristian faint-
heartedness could lead them to give up the good
work. The Church of England had taken up this
work; she had committed herself to it, and he trusted
they would all yet have abundant cause to rejoice
together over the greatness of the success which
God would vouchsafe to their efforts.
The CHAIRMAN stated that the Bishop of London
and the Bishop of Capetown had been unavoidably
prevented from being present. Mr. Gladstone also
had been expected, but could not attend. He then
called on Mr. John Talbot, who seconded the reso-
lution, which was unanimously adopted.
The Rev. Mr. GEO. TOZER, the Bishop des:gnate
of Central Africa, next addressed the meeting. As
a church and a nation they had put their hands to
the plough—the only plough that could effectually
turn up the barren yet virgin soil of Africa—and
the glorious seed to be sown there would, in God's
own time, bring forth an abundant harvest into His
eternal glory. They should regard the tomb of
Bishop Mackenzie somewhat as the Israelitish peo-
ple looked to the cave of Machpela, as a foretaste
of the great blessings God had in store for their
church and nation. Coming to the policy to be
pursued in Africa, which must be ventilated sooner
or later, there were two subjects on which he would
say
v aas
i fewand
words:stiifiristties among the,thedifficult mhatatteive rof
tribal
tribes,in
and, secondly, the particular line they were called
upon and bound to take with regard to that great
curse and plague spot of Africa, the fruitful source
hoWuristhionutasapyeakotihnegrotfhßainshtohpeMmacokstenfrziisenadnlyd
of all her complicated wrongs, namely, the slave
it became his duty, looking to the results of
thrias d
spirit,ela.
the policy that had been pursued, to consider se-
riously what course should be adopted in future.
Rather than commit himself to a policy of aggres-
sion, he shou!d come back to the sad and miserable
alternative of deserting Central Africa altogether
for a time as a field of missionary enterprise. If
the Gospel was to be admitted into that far-off land,
it must be by other means and arts than those of
war; and as to the way in which he must speak
and act in regard to slavery, he would yield to none
in the expression of his horror and detestation of
that, most cruel and hateful traffic. He yielded to
none in his deep feelings of indignation at the ac-
counts of slavery on the banks of the Zambesi. Yet
they must deal at first very tenderly with that in-
stitution, however detrimental they might consider
it to the highest interests of humanity. Yet he felt
they had a great work and mission in this respect
to overthrow and extirpate that system which was
the fruitful source of African miseries and wrongs.