meant is far from easy, for it implies that the intellect sees God's purpose; the heart loves it; the will falls into it as a stream into a river; the soul identifies its need with that of the world, and it both sorrows and aspires with humanity as it casts itself at the feet of God. Such praying cannot be merely an occasional exercise; it must belong to a consecrated life. Its expressions are flames from a fire which never dies, and which sends its heat into every part of a man's experience. It is like a love which can declare itself only at intervals, but which lives on and on through all the day's work, and sends its vital air down invisible tubes to the diver toiling below the waters. Should prayerfulness decline, the missionary spirit will decay, and our elaborate organisations will be as fruit trees in winter-leafless, barren, black.

THE LIFE THAT PRAYS LABOURS WHEN IT CAN.

The men who prayed for the heathen were called to work for them. The Gospel story had its parallel. It is said that one day the Lord Jesus Christ being moved with compassion for the neglected multitude, bade His followers pray that God would send forth labourers into His harvest; and that on the next day He chose labourers from among those who had been exhorted to pray. So it was His will that Fuller, Sutcliff, Ryland, Carey, should be employed in fulfilling the desires which they had professed in God's presence. Carey made far-reaching plans while he mended shoes at Moulton, and while living there he penned between 1787 and 1789 a work which was pubished soon after the foundation of the Society. A facsimile of the first edition of this treatise has recently been issued, and it may be expected to increase the missionary ardour of many hearts even as it "added fresh fuel" to the zeal of Pearce, who saw the MS. when he visited Leicester, in 1789, to take part in the services held in connection with Carey's settlement in that town. The work bears the title:"An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathens. In which the religious state of the different nations of the world, the success of former undertakings, are considered by William Carey." As Dr. G. Smith observes: "The Inquiry has a literary history of its own, as a contribution to the statistics and geography of the world, written in a cultured and almost polished style, such as few, if any, university men of that day could have produced, for none were impelled by such a motive as Carey had. In an obscure village, toiling save when he slept, and finding rest on

THE HOUSE AT KETTERING IN WHICH THE SOCIETY WAS FORMED.

Sundays only by a change of toil, far from libraries and the society of men with more advantages than his own-this shoemaker, still under thirty, surveys the whole world, continent by continent, island by island, race by race, faith by faith, kingdom by kingdom, tabulating his results with an accuracy, and following them up with a logical power of generalisation, which would extort the admiration of the learned men even of this present day." Before the issue of this earnest appeal, Fuller and Sutcliff had made up their minds, and both of them had brought mission work prominently forward in Association sermons delivered at Clipstone in 1791. At Nottingham, in May, 1792, Carey, who was one of the preachers, chose for his text Isaiah liv. 2, 3, and urged-first, that we should EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD; and, second, that we should ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD. Very deep impressions were made on the minds of the hearers, and, on the proposition of Andrew Fuller, it was resolved: "That against the next meeting of ministers at Kettering, a plan should be prepared for the purpose of forming a society for propagating the Gospel among the heathen." On October 2nd, 1792, twelve or thirteen men met to determine what the first steps should be. These modern successors of the apostles talked together and prayed in the back parlour of Widow Beeby Wallis' house. They wrote out and signed seven resolutions. The appended names are these (why is Carey's name absent from the signatures?) :-John Ryland, Reynold Hogg, John Sutcliff, Andrew Fuller, Abraham Greenwood, Edward Sharman, Joshua Burton, Samuel Pearce, Thomas Blundell, W. Heighton, John Eayers, Joseph Timms. A committee was appointed; Andrew Fuller was chosen secretary; and Reynold Hogg, who was made treasurer, received from the founders as his first charge the sum of £13 2s. 6d.-a seed corn which God has multiplied millions of times. A month later, Pearce of Birmingham reported that an auxiliary society, which he had established amongst his people, had contributed £70. Though there were these encouragements, most of our churches and leaders were apathetic or hostile or timid. There were those who argued that the "gift of tongues" must be granted before attempting anything; others held that only the "elect " could be saved in any land, and that these were secure with or without a knowledge of Christ; others thought that the movement was good, but no action must be taken whereby the whole denomination would be committed! Heavy seas of prejudice and false doctrine had to be encountered, and men,

otherwise good, did their best to wreck the lifeboat as soon as it was launched. The Church needed to be converted to the duty and privilege of imparting Christ's truth to God's children scattered abroad; and even to this day it is only slightly touched with the enthusiasm of humanity, for many of its members fail to hear the cry, Come over and help us," either from across the sea or from across the way. Our Mission work began in

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INDIA.

In that country and Ceylon the Society employs 59 missionaries, who are assisted by 126 native evangelists. The number of stations and sub-stations is about 250. Last year the cost, including that for translations, schoolmasters, and tutors, was £27,774 1s. 7d. The connection of the Society with India originated in the labours of Mr. Thomas, a ship-surgeon, who entered the service of the East India Company in 1783. Carey had cherished the idea of ministering for Christ in one of the islands of the South Seas, and had even fixed upon Otaheite as the place where he should settle, if funds were forthcoming to pay the expenses of the journey and to provide for one year's maintenance after landing. Our Lord had a more important post for His servant to occupy. While the committee were looking over the dark places of the globe, and were perplexed as to which country should have the light earliest, Carey wrote that Thomas had been doing Christian work in Bengal. Inquiries were instituted, and it was decided to employ Thomas and to find a companion for him. Carey volunteered to be the companion. The reading of Thomas's account of the Hindoos led Fuller to remark, "There is a gold mine in India, but it seems almost as deep as the centre of the earth. Who will venture to explore it?" Carey turning to Sutcliff, Fuller, and Ryland, replied, "I will venture to go down, but

REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST HOLD THE ROPES."

The talk, which was prolonged till late that evening, was interrupted by the arrival of Thomas himself. Carey rising from his seat, they fell on each other's neck and wept. Those two were to make a path for the hosts of faithful men and women who have loved India more than life itself. The church meeting in Harvey Lane Chapel, Leicester, though keenly sensible of the loss incurred, consented to relinquish their pastor. They "loved him as their own souls," yet they could not bid