The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-17 00:00:00

DR .11VINGSTOYS API?ICAN DISCO VERIES.

The London Missionary Society gave a public recep-
tion yesterday at the Freernaoes'-hall to the Rev. Dr.
Livingston on his return from South Africa. The hall
was crowded by an influential assemblage of the clerical
and lay inembe a .1 the society. The chair was t Been
by the. Earl of Soafiesbury, and upon the platform wore
Sir R. Murchieon, President of the Geographical So-
ciety ; Sir H. Rewlinson the lion, A. Kinnaird, M.P.,
Mr. T. Chambers, Sir C. Eardley, Barr., Rev.
Dr. Vaughan, President of the Lancashire Independent
College ; Rev. Dr. Binney, Rev. Dr. Burnet, &c.
The meetieg having been opened by prayer by the
Rev. C. Goodheart,
Tne noble CHAIRMAN said that after 17 years of la-
bour, anxiety; and research, a great and good man had
returned to his native country in health and safety,
bringing with him a harvest of knowledge as the result
of his indefatigable perseverance, and an accumulation
,'f facts which, under the blessing of Almighty God,
might be turned to the benefit of present and future gene.
rations. (Cheers.). They were now assembled to greet
that roan, and to join with him in thanksgiving to Al-
mighty od that he had returned, and that he had the
c,4irage to persevere in the noble course to which the
providence of God had calle him. Dr. Livingston was
not only a missionary, but a man of science ; and he
eished that those whom he was addressing could have
been present at the Geographical Society last night,
when Dr. Livingston bad narrated the discoveries he
ead made with such minutene-s of detail, accuracy f
knowledge, and quic'iness of penetration ti at they w,nld
have thought he had never been engaged in any other
pursuit than the study of geographicalscience. He would
upon this subject quote testimony of great value :
"You may like to know (writes Mr. T. Maclean, As-
tronomer Royal) that I have received from my friend Dr.
Livingston, a complete copy_ of hie Astronomical oh
nervations for geogrephical positions, on the track of
his late- perilous, but triumphant journey across
this continent, from Loauda on the west to Quilimatte
on the east coast. . . . To this highly-gifted man
geographical science is deeply indebted The number of
observations is astonishing, when we consider the diffi-
culties he had to encounter. He observed for latitude
and longitude at every interesting point, particularly at
the confluence of other rivers with the Zembese, the
heading., the falls, the more important villages, &c. Iu
short, he has opened up, geographically speaking, that
hitherto unknown section of the continent. But he has
done more ; he has graphically described the character
of the country and inhabitants ; and, altogether,, his col-
lection of facts would fill a volume of deep interest to
science, to commerce, and last, not least, to humanity.
Let us pray that he may be spared."
((leer.) Wit, would not join in a hearty "Amen" to
this prayer ? (Cheers.) Now let him quote from a let-
ter of Dr. Livingston's :
"I am not so elated (writes this good man) in having
performed what has not, to my knowledge, been done
before, in traversing the continent, because the end of
the geographical feat is but the beginning of the mis-
sionary enterprise. May God grant me life to do some
more good to this poor Africa !"
(Cheers.) Here the missionary element was predomi-
nant. Dr. Livingston went out in the character of a
minister of the Gospel, but he possessed what it were o
tie wished every missionary could superadd to his other
qualifications—a knowledge ,1 the science and practice
of medicine. He had been sent out by the London Mis-
sionary Society ; and when they considered how God
had bles,tel that society in the remarkable men He had
raised up from its ranks—Mi ne, Medhurst, Morrison,
‘Villiatne, and now Livingston, with many others living
and dead, whose names were inscribed in the. Book of
Life—it was impossible not to respect and love that
society, and not to feel thankfulness to Almighty
God that He had put it into the hearts of men to
found and cherish such an institution. (Cheers.)
Dr. Livingston's discoveries could not fail to carry
enlarged commerce and civilisation into the regions be
had visited, and it might be hoped that .commerce
would teed to make man so valuable in those central
regions that the slave trade might be in time altogether
extinguished. He was very much struck by an anecdote
related by Dr. Livingston last night. He was once in
danger from a hostile tribe of natives, and when he
showed them his white skin, not the akin of his face,
which he understood was at the time as black as a coal,
but the skin of his arms and chest—the natives said,
"Oh, we know who you are ; you belong to the tribe
who love the black man." (Cheers.) That, to his mind,
was a.more glorious title for this empire than to be styled
" Mistress of Kingdoms," or " Queen of the Ocean," or
aey ether title. that the Herald's College could invent ;
and much he wished that wile,. Dr. Livingston returned
he might be considered the representative of the British
empire, or rather that the British empire might be con-
sidered his representative its expressing these feelings.
Dr. Livingston bad not -achieved 'so may remarkable
discoveries, and conferred so much benefit upon the na-
tives tribes of the interior, without exposing himself to
many sufferings and dangers.
"He has had (says the statement published at the
Cape in October, 1856) 31 attacks of fever, and has been
seven times in danger of his life from the natives of the
country he has passed through. Similar privations, dif-
ficultiee, and dangers probably await him on his return ;
but with self-sacrificing Christian heroism, and a depen-
dence on Divine aid, he is willing to encounter them all,
and to work still in this poor trodden-down country."
Well, then (Raid the noble chairman in conclusion), what
better thing than to welcome such a man to the shores of
our country! What better than to receive him with
thanksgiving and rejoicings that he is spared to refresh
us with his presence, and give us strength to future
exertions ? What season more appropriate than this,
when at every hearth, and in every congregation of
worshippers, the name of Christ will be honoured with
more than ordinary devotion ? What season, I say, more
appropriate than this to receive a man whose life and
labours have been in humble, hearty, and willing obedi
ence to the prayer of the angels themselves from Heaven,
" Glory to Ged in the highest ; on earth peace, good
will towards met. ? (Loud cheers.)
The Rev. Dr. VAUGHAN, President of the Lancashire
College, moved the following resolution :
" That this meeting presents its most cordial congratu-
lations to the Rev. David Livingston, LL.D., on his safe
arrival in his native country after an absence of 16 years,
occupied in missionary labours and travels in South Africa.
It entertains the highest admiration of that Christian be-
nevolence, courage, and 'perseverance, by which he was
animated and sustained throughout his extended and peril-
ous journeys in those hitherto unexplored regions; and
the meeting hereby devoutly acknowledges the merciful
providence of God by which Dr. Livingston was befriended
and preserved amid the manifold dangers and gigantic dif-
ficulties of his noble enterprise, and by which his self-
denying and indefatigable efforts to open a channel for the
introduction of Christianity, with its unnumbered bless-
ings, to the uuenlightened millions of South Africa, have
been crowned with the happiest success."
The resolution was seconded by the Hon. A. KIN.
yihe resolution he had to
p.pe,c;is ers d
ouNn
saaniidmtohuastl
propose united the sentiments of every man of science
WASIRit D.
R. and
m
with those entertained by the whole Christian world. It
was as follows :

"That this meeting presents to Dr. Livingston the sin
cere expression of it, admiration and gratitude for the dis
tiuguished advantages secured to geographicalt and kindred
sciences by his important discoveries in South Africa, and
it cherishes the earnest hope that his disinterested labours
may hereafter secure to the native tribes of that vast con-
tinent the blessings of knowledge, civilisation, and com-
merce."
The Geographical Society had been no idle spectators
of Dr. Livingston's discoveries, and had endeavoured to
honour bite, not only for the marvellous travels he had
accomplished and his seientific qualifications, but also
for his moral worth. (Cheers.)
Col. Sir H. RAWLINSON, in seconding the resolution,
reminded the meeting bow greatly indebted geographical
science had ever been to the Christian world. Indeed
all the great discoveries in Asia and Africa had been
made by Christian missionari s. (Cheers.)
The revolution was put and carried.
On the CHAIRMAN calling upon Dr. Livingston to
address them,
The Rev. Dr. LIVINGSTON then rose to address the
meeting, and was received with loud and long-continued
cheers. He said the very kind expressions with which he
had been greeted by the chairman and the different
speakers quite oppressed him, because, while he wished
to receive their expressions with proper gratitude, be
felt pretty strongly that he did not deserve them. He
felt himself to be in what he believed they called a
dilemma (Laughter.) His reception there pat him in
mind of an anecdote of something that occurred when
George the Fourth went to Scotland. Scotland had not
been visited before by a king for a great length of time,
and when George the Fourth went there the people
almost went mad about him. A father held up his
child above the heads of the crowd, thinking, per-
haps
that he would never Fee a king again, and
said to him, " Do you see him ? do you see him ?"
" Why," replied the child, he is only a man—he is
only a man, " (Laughter.) He suspected that those
who had listened to the kind expressiong which had
been used towards himself, on seeing his person. and
hearing his speech, would be inclined to say, " Why,
after all, be is only a man." He laboured under the dis-
advantage of having spoken a native African language
for the last 16 years, During that time he did not study
the English tongue, and he forgot much of its phrase
ology, ,
.and he now felt more inclined to speak the Afri-
canidiom than the English. They must kindly bear
with him. It was very difficult to convey an accurate
idea, by any language whatever, of a foreign country. In
Africa he found it exceedingly difficult toconvey an idea
of what England was to the native inhabitants. Although
ffe spoke their language pretty well, and could describe
to them anything belonging to Africa, it was impossible
for him to describe to them intelligibly what England
was or what a machine was. He would defy any one
to convey to a native African an idea of a machine.
And now those who honoured his with their presence
occupied a somewhat similar position to that of the
natives of Africa. They could form but a mint idea of
what Africa really was, and of what missionary labour
really was. There was very little of this excitement there.
They (the missionaries) were called enthusiasts, lie con-
fessed that he was an enthusiast. But his enthusiasm
required hard work to sustain it—(hear)—one bad to go
through a great deal to keep up the enthusiasm. The

missionary cause suffered a little from this—that much
more was expected than could be given. It was ex-
pected that when the gospel was preached to the heathen
they would listen to it, and either believe er reject it.
But the fact was that those to whom the gospel was
preached immediately began to judge the missionaries by
their own motives. They imagined that with all this
fair speaking there was something behind, some -Other
end in view which would be discovered by and
bye. The missionaries mist labour to do good to
their bodies ; they must endeavour to promote their
temporal advantage, in order thereby to acquire
a good name, and convey the idea that they were
really naxiono to promote their welfare; and then, and
hen only, would tee Africans become attentive to the
concern, of their souls. The native Africans were
very slow in the emotions of their minds—they were
not at all eke the South Sea Islanders. One never heard
er a whole tribe of people in Africa at once embracing
the gospel, as had been the case in the South Sea
Islands. The habits of the two kinds of people were
t 'tally different. The idea entertained by some
Christians at home, that the Afrie tea would become
converted all at once, had sometimes reminded him
of an expression of the African chieftain Sicheli.
When Sicheli first perceived that he was anxious
that his people should believe the gospel, he said
to him, "Do you realty imagine that these people will
over believe toe gospel if I don't beat then f" (Laugh-
ter.) He (Dr. Livingston) replied that conversion c mid
not come by means of the rod. " Well, you don't know
these people," said Sieheli ; " I see you want them to be
lieve, but they never will believe unless I take the satn-
buk and beat them." (La -ghter.) In like manner, it
would ahnoit appear that many Christians in this coun-
try fancied that it was possible to beat belief, as it were,
into the African races. As most of them, perhaps,
were a ware, he remained with Sicheli for a number
of years, and, when the -missionary -station wee de
stroyed by an attack of the Boers' ,while he was going
north to explore the new country, he saw plainly what
would follow. For years !he minds of the people bad
been distracted by fears of an attack. He saw that this
attack would actually come, and therefore prepared to
leave and-go north • but bet! re going he sent his family
to England. He found' that the Boers had attacked the
tribe and carried off a great number of the children ant
p undered his house of everything it contained. (Hear.)
" Oh;" said the rev. doctor, "I do not wish to make a
pitiful wail before you ; for this relieved me entirely of all
concern for w hat was behind." (Laughter.) Lord Shaftes-
bury mentioned the high estimation in wuich the name of
the English nation wa, heldabrord. lie would here give
an illustration of the estimation in which the name of her
Majesty was held in Africa at tne time of which he was
speaking. He met Sieben near Krooinen, and asked him
where he was ging. Hs said, "I am going to Queen Vic-
toria." He enoeavoured to dissuade nim from setting out
—telling him that he would have no one to interpret for
" Well," said he, "if I do go to the Queen will
she not listen t!me ?" He replied that he believed she
would do so. "Teen," said be, "I'll go ;" and he went
a thousand miles down to the Cape with the view of
going to En; and, and was obliged to return because he
could not obtain a passage. This showed the high eeti-
matioti in which the English Queen and the justice of
the English nation were held by the natives of Africa.
(Cheers.), On proc3eding to the north he went first
among the people who were settled the Makololo. These
Were Bechuanas. They lived in hauler times in what
was called the Basuta country, and were driven to the
north by the Makabeli. These people (the Makololo)
opened the path, and he (Dr. Livingston) followed in
their footsteps many years after. A large portion of the
land in the interior was then, and was still, in their
hands, including all the territory in the neighbourhood of
the Zambesi. The Boers had determined that no English-
man should penetrate, if they could help it, northwards.
because they wished all the trade to remain in their own
hands ; but he, on the contrary, determined that the
country in the interior should be opened. When they
s out one he determined to open another, and, as it
turned out, he had opened up two paths into the interior
of the African continent. The airectors of the London
Missionary Society said that as he knew more of the
state of the country, and of what was necessary for it,
than they did, they would give him a free commission to
endeavour to open up a path for the spread of the gos-
pel. (Cheers.) He would here remark that tee directors
had always treated him with the greatest kindness.
Sometimes in Africa he had beard dis ant grumelings.
Such things were peculiar to the English people. The
English were very fond of grumbling; they were knoNx
all over the world as delighting iu having a grumble.
(Laughter.) Now, hoe suer others tnight!grumble agaiust
the directors of the London Missionary Society, be mutt
say they had always supported him according to their
ability ; they were always kind to him, and he had never
had a single word of difference with them during the last
sixteen years. Well, as he was rental king, he proceeded
to the north, and he would shortly describe what he met
with. They had all heard of " Alm's burning eands."
That expression was quite correct, so far as the country
south of 20 degrees was concerned.
_Tee south was dry,
and the populetion comearatively small. But when they
got beyond 20 degrees they came to a totally different
country and a totally different people. 'Dee people were-
the true negro famity, and their country was the country
from which we once derived our slaves, and iruin which
the Brazilians and the Cubans stilt obtained theirs. Iu
the whole of the centre of this country he found the
people exceedingly civil and kind, but there was a fringe
of population round about which always prevented com-
merce from entering into the interior. The Africans in
tne interior were load of commerce. Tnis he learut
from the eager manner in which they out red into his
project of forming a path. His object in that project
was to promote commerce and Coristianisation ; and,
the natives were immediately delighted with the
idea of having a path to the sea, by means of which they
might trade with the white men. He did not wish it to
be understood that they had any desire for the gospel.
Sometimes people imagined, when they heard the natives
spoken of as being willing to receive white men, that they
were willing to receive Christianity. Every one of these
tribes in the central portion of the country would be de-
lighted at the presence of a white man, regardieg it as a
sort of protection to them. A missionary was in their
opinion a thing that was not to be killed—(laughter).--
they were delighted to have him amongst them, but not
because they wished to know the gospel—that desire
came after, when they bad become acquainted with
his character. A wonderful effect was produced upon
those who went down with him to Loanda to see
the ships of war. As they were passing through the
villages en their way to the coast they were told
that the white man was going to wheedle them
on board the ships, and that when they came there they
would be fattened and eaten. They partly believed this.
He said to them, " Well, if you like to believe that, you
can go back ; Lat when did you ever hear of an English-
man having a slave, or buying or selling one ?" "No,
truly,” they said ; but still their suspicions were net
entirely removed. When he took them on board the
ships of war, and all the sailors gave them bread and
meat and talked to them, though they could not under-
stated a word of what they said to cacti other—(laughter)
—they were extremely delighted. Every suspicion then
vanished. They afterwards treated him in the kindest
manner—they almost worshipped him. If he handed
them anything they would go down on their knees to
receive it until he told them not to do so, and simply
from seeing tee power of the English, they believed that
the religion of those who were able to make such things
as they had beheld must be true. On returning to
the country of Sicheli he found it so well watered
that it was impossible to five a waggon path. Some
of the difficulties w!,ich he had to encounter were
meationed by one of the gentlemen had ad-
dressed the meeting. These he should not enter
into. He was inclined to keep all these stories
until he had got into his dotage—(laughter—and when
he became garrulous, he would relate them to his chi-
dren. (Laughter). At present he had not a single note
of triumph, and he felt a sort of oppression when he
thought of what was to be done. ilo knew that there
was to be hard work in the future, as there had been in •
the past. (Hear.) It was not by grand meetings, flue
speechifying, and much excitement, that anything great
was to be. done ; it was by hard working, wording in
quiet, working under a sense of God's presence every-
where, and working without an expectation of seeing
the fruits. The part of the interior of which he had last
spoken was so full of rivers that he never had occasion to
carry water fora single day ; whereas in the south, and
when he went in search of the Lake Ngami with Mr.
Oswald, they wanted water for four days, and only found
it in wells. The country was well peopled, being the
slave producing country. The people were remarkably
free from disease, and were very prolific. About
20 years ago the small pox and the measles visited
them, and a great many of them died ; but they had
never come since. There was no consumption, no scro-
fula, no hydrophobia, and here was not much madness,
though cases did sometimes occur. Many diseases which
prevailed in England were quite unknown among the
negro family. Notwithstanding all the wars and all the
kidnapping they were still a numerous race ; and he
had no doubt, from his observations, that they were as
much preserved for purposes of mercy as were God's
ancient people, the Jews. (Hear, hear.) He was more
astonished by the estimation in which the ladies were
held amongst them than by anything else in the country.
They were often made chieftains. It a divorce happened
is was generally the woman who divorced the man, and
she took the children away with her. If a young
man married a young woman residing in another village,.
he was obliged to leave his own village aqd go and live with
his wife and his mother-in-law—(a laugh)—whom he had
to supply with wood, which was often only obtainable at
a great distance. In coming down the Zambe,i river
paracuiarly, he observed that this arraugement was at-
tended with considerable toil and trouble. If a man were
asked to do a piece of a work, his reply would be, after
learning how much he was to get for it--" I will go and
consult my wife." (A laugh.) It she consented, the
work would be done ; but it she did not, nothing would
induce the husband to perform it. (Another laugh.)
Feeling greatly surprised at this, he asked the Portu-
guese traders if they had observed the same thing, and
was told that it had always been the case. When ho
came down from the north with his men all his goods
having been expended belore he reached the Makololo
country, the people supplied all his wants without fee or
reward. His Men were delighted with the journey to
the Feast, saying that they had been to the end of the