true men, conscientious and efficient in fulfilling the demands of their sacred commission, and that the blessing of the Lord is upon their labor, and that there is an outlook of hope and high expectation in all the lands of the East."

A MOST impressive incident occurred at the Missionary Rooms on Tuesday, November 27, when a deputation of gentlemen who had come from Japan on a business errand made a call upon the executive officers of the Board. Two of the gentlemen, Messrs. Nakamura and Takagi, are members of the Kyoto Prefectural Assembly, one of them also representing the "Western Capital Trading Company," and the third, Mr. Tanabe, is the engineer in charge of the Lake Biwa Canal, a work which has required much skill in construction. These gentlemen, before attending to the special business which had brought them to this country, came to the Missionary Rooms and asked the privilege of addressing the officers of the Board. Rev. Dr. D. C. Greene acted as interpreter, and both Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Takagi expressed in the warmest terms their gratitude and that of their people to the American Board for the noble work it had begun and accomplished in Japan. They dwelt especially upon the educational work at Kyōto, and urged the Board not to withdraw its aid and fostering care. The manner in which these words were spoken not less than the words themselves bore witness to the heartiness and sincerity of their utterances, to which it was the pleasure of the Secretaries as heartily to respond. It was an event that will long be remembered by those who participated in it.

THE paper issued by Canon Isaac Taylor on what he calls the "Failure of Modern Missions" has awakened a good deal of attention, not so much because of the statements it contains, as of the source from which they come. Ever since missions began there have been skeptics who have ridiculed the work, but it is seldom that one who claims Christ as Master shuts his eyes so closely against all signs of progress and seems to delight in decrying the work that Christians are doing, as does Canon Taylor. His paper presented at the Church Congress a year or two since, in which he lauded Mohammedanism both in itself and as a stepping-stone toward Christianity, was so packed with errors, and its pretended statements of fact were so thoroughly exploded, not by missionaries alone, but by such men as Sir William Hunter and Bosworth Smith, that it would seem that the Canon from very shame would hardly venture before the public again. Possibly his mortification over his ill-success in his former venture may have rendered him reckless in his present utterances. His paper seems to be chiefly a pecking at missions, finding fault with the way in which they are conducted, exposing some infelicitous methods and some incapable men, such as doubtless there are in all missionary fields and connected with all Missionary Boards. The Canon's special object of assault is the work and methods of the Church Missionary Society of England, an organization which has done noble work for the kingdom of Christ in many parts of the world. This new Tobiah exclaims, "Even that which they build, if a fox go up he shall even break down their stone wall." But, as of old, the walls of Jerusalem are going up, nevertheless. There is a mass of testimony to prove this, though as yet the walls are far from being completed. A brief paper from Dr. G. F. Herrick, of

Marsovan, will be found on another page referring to some of Canon Taylor's criticisms. There is something almost ludicrous in a Canon of York, enjoying its rich endowments and its sumptuous adornments, arguing that the only method of prosecuting missions is through ascetic and celibate missionaries. There are men in modern times who have honestly believed and tried this method, who have frankly confessed that the results did not sustain their theories, and that the establishment of the Christian home in the midst of Pagans and Mohammedans is one of the most effective methods for introducing and commending the gospel. As to the argument from the increase of the numbers of the heathen during the last century, it may be said that the fault lies not against missionary societies for what they have done, but against the Church of Christ for what she has not done. The Canon's argument is like that of the farmer who suffered the weeds to grow over most of his fields, and then because the weeds were so numerous condemned farming as unprofitable. England, for instance, has twenty-three thousand ministers of the gospel, while the whole world has sent less than five hundred ministers to China, and then an English Canon reasons that because the heathen multiply in China, missions are a failure. Let the Church of Christ enter with proper energy and devotion upon the task set her by her Lord, giving of her men and means as she can, and missions will be put on their proper footing and will speedily and gloriously triumph.

SOME pastors and Sunday-school superintendents will be wise enough to provide for a good supply of the new American Board Almanac for 1889, for distribution among families of the flock and scholars in the Sunday-school. It comes in admirably about Christmas and New Year's. The same may be said of the Mission Dayspring for the children, always remembering, of course, the Missionary Herald with its illustrated department in each number for young people. Keep the missionary literature in constant circulation. Nothing is more helpful for its educational influence among the young.

THE death at Buckingham, Connecticut, November 27, of Rev. H. D. J. Gardner, under appointment as a missionary of the Board and preparing to sail for the Zulu Mission in January next, is a serious loss to a mission already sadly depleted in force, and makes doubly imperative the call for four or five young men at once in that important field. Mr. Gardner was a graduate of Amherst College in the class of 1884, and of Hartford Theological Seminary in the class of 1887, and was held in affectionate esteem by his classmates and teachers in both college and seminary. He was ordained to the work of the Christian ministry in foreign lands in September last, in the home church at Buckingham, of which his father is pastor, and was looking forward with high purposes and growing desire to the chosen work of his life. His personal qualities, his intellectual attainments, and his deepening Christian experience gave promise of a devoted and useful service. Who is ready to step into the place thus left vacant, and bring to this mission the help so sorely needed? It is a singular providence that only the day after the tidings of Mr. Gardner's death were received, an offer of service for the Zulu Mission reached the Missionary Rooms from a student in the Pacific Theological Seminary. But others are needed. Africa is calling loudly for them.

A BRIEF letter has been received from Mr. Treiber, on Ruk, dated July 16, reaching this country by way of China. He reports good health and fair progress. School was opened the next week after the Star left and had just closed, having sixty enrolled pupils, most of whom were regular in attendance. From fifty to eighty people were present, on an average, at the preaching services. Mr. Treiber says: "Please think of us as happy and contented in our island home. The tenfold has already been added."

THE Catalogue of Robert College, Constantinople, for the year 1887-88, reports 171 students: 29 seniors, 15 each in the junior, sophomore, and freshman class, 16 in the second freshman class, and 81 in the preparatory department. Of the twenty-nine seniors, sixteen are Bulgarians, eleven Armenians, one Greek, one English. The institution was never more flourishing. During the twenty years of its history it has graduated 208 students, whose average time in college was six and one-half years. The total number of students is 1,389. "The object of the college is to give to its students, without distinction of race or religion, a thorough education, equal in all respects to that obtainable at a first-class American college, and based on the same general principles."

A BRIEF report was given in our last number, in a letter from Mr. Bates, of East Africa, of the progress of the expedition to Gungunyana's country. The journal of Mr. Wilder has since then been received, narrating the various steps which have been taken. Messrs. Wilder and Bates were encamped for a while at Jobo's on the Buzi River. The account given of the region is promising; the soil is rich and native food in great variety is produced, such as is nutritious and palatable. The lemon-tree and the banana grow luxuriantly. The kraals along the Buzi River are numerous and the people are kindly disposed. The Zulu young men who accompanied Messrs. Wilder and Bates have been sick with the fever, but were recovering; Messrs. Wilder and Bates have enjoyed perfect health. The messengers who came from Gungunyana's spoke pure Zulu. It had been hoped that the expedition could go toward the king's kraal in boats on the Buzi, but disturbances on the line made it necessary for them to go across the country. They were expecting to start from Jobo's about August 1, as the last pages of the journal were written. We shall hope to hear from the expedition by the next mail.

THE golden wedding anniversary of Rev. and Mrs. Aldin Grout, long connected with the Zulu Mission, was made the occasion of a delightful service at Springfield, Mass., on the twenty-third of November. A large number of ministers from the Hampden East and West Associations, with many other friends, assembled to greet the venerable couple. A series of resolutions, elegantly engrossed, was presented by Rev. G. H. Griffin in behalf of the Associations, and letters were read from absent friends, and many gifts were presented. Mr. Grout went to South Africa in 1834, returning to the United States when the mission was compelled to withdraw in 1838, but again taking up the work two years later, he remained in the service until 1870. Hearty congratulations are extended from friends of missions on both sides of the Atlantic to Mr. and Mrs. Grout, in view of their many years of faithful service and the good providence which has prolonged their lives.

THE Religious Tract Society of London has just issued its Eighty-ninth Report. Its receipts from all sources amounted to $1,055,540, of which $837,660 were from sales, and $146,705 from donations and legacies for missionary work. Grants to foreign missions in all parts of the globe were made of $84,060. The missions of the American Board have had a generous share in these benefactions. The Society has aided in the creating of a Christian literature in our missions to Bohemia, Bulgaria, Asia Minor, Ceylon, and by grants to tract societies in Bombay, Japan, and North China. These donations and grants will probably amount to not far from $3,000 annually, perhaps more. The assistance thus rendered is warmly appreciated by the missions of the American Board.

DR. DODD, of Cesarea, reports the ordination and installation of a pastor at Yozgat, September 29. The prosperity of this church in past days has been hindered by a lack of harmony among its members; but Dr. Dodd writes that the new pastor, Rev. Garabed Krikorian, a graduate of the Chicago Theological Seminary, has "from the first proved acceptable to the people, winning their hearts and establishing an undisputed leadership over them." The examination of the pastor lasted three hours, and the services of the ordination were witnessed by a select and deeply interested audience.

SINCE the letters from the missions were prepared a mail has arrived from West Central Africa, bringing cheering reports from all the stations. Miss Bell remained at Benguella with Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, but Mr. and Mrs. Woodside had reached Bailundu, after a journey of twelve days from the coast. All were well and the outlook at all the stations seems hopeful. Mr. Currie has already opened what may be regarded as the fourth station in the mission, at Cisamba. His letter describing the place must wait until our next number.

THE state of affairs on the East African coast is such as bodes no good for the progress of missions. In our "Notes from the Wide Field" will be found cheering letters from the stations of the Church Missionary Society at Uganda, and elsewhere in the interior, but the disasters that have attended the German East African Company at various stations, and the blockade of the coast, which has been agreed upon by Germany and England and approved by France and other Powers, will doubtless create great disturbances. The blockade is designed to prevent the importation of munitions of war and the exportation of slaves; but the natives in the interior will regard all this as part of the purpose of foreigners to "eat up" their land. The Germans are now planning to send an expedition for the relief of Emin Pasha, under the leadership of Lieutenant Wissmann. It is proposed that this expedition shall go by way of Uganda, and shall be composed of two hundred Germans and one thousand natives. There is every reason to apprehend that the approach of such a company toward Uganda would so alarm the timid but passionate king Mwanga, that he would kill the missionaries, whom he has always suspected of being emissaries of the Germans. Already we have learned by telegraph that various missionaries have been summoned to the coast, in anticipation of approaching trouble. May God protect his servants who are seeking to establish his kingdom in the Dark Continent !

TABULAR VIEW OF THE MISSIONS OF THE A. B. C. F. M. FOR THE YEAR

1888-89.

Total

90 960 1671

19

160 126

472 166 448 1,253

268 2,135 2,607 1,126 61,188

100,914 336 30,546 4,388 17 251 59 3.947 50 3,068 892 34,855 42.733 $124,274

To which might be added 753 baptized believers not yet organized into churches.