THE

MISSIONARY HERALD.

VOL. LXXV.-NOVEMBER, 1879. — No. XI.

It is a sore disappointment not to be able to present a map of Africa in this number of the Missionary Herald. Such a map has been prepared, but by reason of an accident just as we go to press, it cannot be issued. We hope to give it in the December number.

THIS number of the Herald has been delayed in order to present the Report of the Annual Meeting, and it has, of course, a peculiar make-up. Aside from the stirring utterances concerning "Our great Opportunity," the three surveys that of the past year, of "Ten Years in Japan," and of "Central Africa" - will furnish food for thought, and, if we mistake not, for truest inspiration. It has never been the privilege of the Herald to present in one issue so much that is fitted to awaken the Christian courage and enthusiasm of the Lord's people.

THE Annual Meeting of the Board at Syracuse was not one of the largest, but was certainly one of the best, that has ever been held. Nothing was wanting on the part of the Committee of Arrangements, or the citizens of Syracuse, to make the meeting a success. Aside from the regular sessions of the Board, which are reported on another page, and which crowded Plymouth Church each day, supplementary meetings were held on Tuesday evening in the First Presbyterian Church, where an excellent sermon was preached by Dr. Behrends, of Providence, and on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, in the Park Presbyterian Church, where effective addresses were made by Hon. W. E. Dodge, Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, Rev. Reuen Thomas, Rev. D. C. Sheffield, of North China, Rev. George Harris, Dr. S. R. Dennen, Hon. Alpheus Hardy, and Drs. S. E. Herrick, G. L. Walker, and William M. Taylor. The Woman's Board also held an overflowing meeting on Thursday morning in the Fourth Presbyterian Church, at which several missionary ladies just from the field, or about to depart, made addresses of deepest interest. If the spirit which animated these meetings could be diffused among all the churches, the coming year would witness a grand advance in missionary consecration and effort. Such an advance is not only hoped for, but expected. Among those who, during four days at Syracuse, reviewed this great missionary question, we venture to say that not one failed to see that by every consideration, both at home and abroad, God is calling us to go forward.

It is gratifying to record the reception given by the Evangelical Alliance at Basle to the Memorial of the American Board, prepared by Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson, concerning religious persecution in Austria. After considering the matter in several private conferences, the Alliance unanimously appointed a deputation, at the head of which is Count Bismarck-Bohlen, a cousin of Prince Bismarck, to present the case of our missionaries to the Emperor of Austria, at Vienna, and seek for all parties the right of private and public worship. Will not the friends of religious liberty plead with Him who rules over rulers to give success to these efforts to secure freedom for the gospel in Austria?

It is something of a relief to the sorrow occasioned by the death of Rev. Dr. Mullens, of the London Missionary Society, to learn from the particulars now received that his decease is not to be attributed to the climate of Africa. The ailment to which he succumbed, though doubtless aggravated by exposure and fatigue, was one to which for years he had been subject. It is pleasant to read the record of the journey prior to his death, to within a few miles of Mpwapwa, and to find that the hardships were not so severe as anticipated. The heat at no time exceeded 70° F., and at night a double blanket was found desirable.

AT the latest dates from England the London Missionary Society was still without direct intelligence from Ujiji, as to the safety of the mission. party there. Messrs. Souther and Griffith, who were on their way to the interior with Dr. Mullens, continued their journey from Mpwapwa after the death of the latter, and letters have been received from them of so late a date as August 6. They have taken a more northerly route than is common, and they write in glowing terms of their progress and the character of the people they have met, describing them as peaceable, intelligent, and honest. "Our future prospects," they say, are cheering in the extreme." The mission party of the English Baptist Society, on their way to San Salvador and the Congo, also report a wonderfully rapid and prosperous journey.

WE shall look with interest for the confirmation of the reports from Central Africa concerning the reforms said to be begun by King Mtesa. If he has indeed forbidden the slave trade, and released his slaves, at the same time calling for the observance of the Christian Sabbath, he is shown to be a man who may do as much for the advancement of the gospel in Central Africa, as Constantine did in the Roman Empire.

Now is the time to form purposes of enlarged benevolence for the coming year. Under the impulse received from the recent Annual Meeting determine that your personal contribution shall be increased at least ten per cent. One person at the Annual Meeting promised fifty per cent. in advance of last year's subscription. Another declared that his contribution should be multiplied five-fold. Be sure that your newly awakened missionary interest in some form goes into a sacred pledge to God.

Few readers of the Herald even, to say nothing of the members of the churches who are not familiar with its contents, have any just conception of the vastness of the work committed to the American Board, or of the funds that might be used wisely and economically in carrying it on. Let such look carefully at the extent and variety of the work in hand, — evangelistic, educational, literary, to the twelve theological seminaries, the Andovers of their respective fields, for whose proper endowment a million of dollars would be none too much; to the eleven other normal schools needing half as much more; to the thirty-four boarding schools for girls, the Mount Holyokes and the Wellesleys, wherein are gathered twelve hundred pupils, institutions needing for their endowment at least a million of dollars more; and without going farther one may have some slight conception of the opportunities afforded for Christian effort and Christian. benevolence.

A NOVELTY in missionary experience is the gift of $500 to the Rev. Dr. S. R. Brown, as he was leaving Japan for America. The gift came from a Chinaman, who was a scholar of Dr. Brown's at Hong Kong, when he was at the head of the Morrison School nearly forty years ago, as a token of gratitude to his old teacher. The converts from heathenism seldom fail in expressions of gratitude, though few of them are able to express it in this way.

A RECENT message comes from Eastern Turkey expressive of the high appreciation in which the commentaries on the Old Testament by Professor Cowles, of Oberlin, are held, by both missionaries and native pastors. The pastors especially are finding in these volumes just the help they need in the study of the Bible. Professor Cowles has not only done a good work in the preparation of these commentaries, but he has undertaken to supply many calls for the books from foreign mission fields at greatly reduced rates. It would not be amiss if some who have the means should aid him in a wider distribution of these valuable assistants to the native helpers on mission ground.

THE Congregational Publishing Society has just issued a neat volume, in paper covers, entitled Mission Songs. It contains a selection of old standard hymns and tunes, together with many new favorites, adapted to all missionary occasions, home and foreign. The book has been compiled by Rev. W. S. Hawkes, aided by suggestions from the officials of several missionary societies, and we shall be surprised if it is not received with favor by the churches. Furnished at the low price of fifteen dollars per hundred, it ought to find its way into a great many vestries and chapels, to supplement whatever collection may be in use, especially at missionary concerts, meetings of Womens' Auxiliaries, and in Juvenile Mission Bands. This is the singing age of the church, and it is with the voice of holy song that the hosts of the Lord must move forward to the conquest of the world.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD.

THE Seventieth Annual Meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was held in the Plymouth Congregational Church of Syracuse, N. Y., commencing on Tuesday, October 7, at three o'clock, P. M.