The Personal Life of David Livingstone Part 16

It has sometimes been a complaint that so much of the book is occupied with matters of science, geographical inquiries, descriptions of plants and animals, accounts of rivers and mountains, and so little with what directly concerns the work of the missionary. In reply to this, it may be stated, in the first place, that if the information given and the views expressed on missionary topics were all put together, they would const.i.tute no insignificant contribution to missionary literature. But there was another consideration. Livingstone regarded himself as but a pioneer in missionary enterprise. During sixteen years he had done much to bring the knowledge of Christ to tribes that had never heard of Him--probably no missionary in Africa had ever preached to so many blacks. In some instances he had been successful in the highest sense--he had been the instrument of turning men from darkness to light; but he did not think it right to dwell on these cases, because the converts were often inconsistent, and did not exemplify a high moral tone. In most cases, however, he had been a sower of seed, and not a reaper of harvests. He had no triumphs to record, like those which had gladdened the hearts of some of his missionary brethren in the South Sea Islands. He wished his book to be a record of facts, not a mere register of hopes. The missionary work was yet to be done. It belonged to the future, not to the past. By showing what vast fields there were in Africa ripe for the harvest, he sought to stimulate the Christian enterprise of the Churches, and lead them to take possession of Africa for Christ. He would diligently record facts which he had ascertained about Africa, facts that he saw had some bearing on its future welfare, but whose full significance in that connection no one might yet be able to perceive. In a sense, the book was a work of faith. He wished to interest men of science, men of commerce, men of philanthropy, ministers of the Crown, men of all sorts, in the welfare of Africa. Where he had so varied a const.i.tuency to deal with, and where the precise method by which Africa would be civilized was yet so indefinite, he would faithfully record what he had come to know, and let others build as they might with his materials. Certainly, in all that Livingstone has written, he has left us in no doubt as to the consummation to which he ever looked. His whole writings and his whole life are a commentary on his own words--"The end of the geographical feat is only the beginning of the enterprise."

Through the great success of the volume and the handsome conduct of the publishers, the book yielded him a little fortune. We shall see what generous use he made of it--how large a portion of the profits went to forward directly the great object to which his heart and his life were so cordially given. More than half went to a single object connected with the Zambesi Expedition, and of the remainder he was ready to devote a half to another favorite project. All that he thought it his duty to reserve for his children was enough to educate them, and prepare them for their part in life. Nothing would have seemed less desirable or less for their good than to found a rich family to live in idleness. It was and is a common impression that Livingstone received large sums from friends to aid him in his work. For the most part these impressions were unfounded; but his own hard-earned money was bestowed freely and cheerfully wherever it seemed likely to do good.

The complaint that he was not sufficiently a missionary was sometimes made of his speeches as well as his book. At Carlisle, a lady wrote to him in this strain. A copy of his reply is before us. After explaining that reporters were more ready to report his geography than his missionary views, he says:

"Nowhere have I ever appeared as anything else but a servant of G.o.d, who has simply followed the leadings of his hand. My views of what is _missionary_ duty are not so contracted as those whose ideal is a dumpy sort of man with a Bible under his arm. I have labored in bricks and mortar, at the forge and carpenter's bench, as well as in preaching and medical practice. I feel that I am 'not my own.' I am serving Christ when shooting a buffalo for my men, or taking an astronomical observation, or writing to one of his children who forget, during the little moment of penning a note, that charity which is eulogized as 'thinking no evil'; and after having by his help got information, which I hope will lead to more abundant blessing being bestowed on Africa than heretofore, am I to hide the light under a bushel, merely because some will consider it not sufficiently, or even at all, _missionary_? Knowing that some persons do believe that opening up a new country to the sympathies of Christendom was not a proper work for an agent of a missionary society to engage in, I now refrain from taking any salary from the Society with which I was connected; so no pecuniary loss is sustained by any one."

Subsequently, when detained in Manyuema, and when his immediate object was to determine the water-shed, Dr. Livingstone wrote: "I never felt a single pang at having left the Missionary Society. I acted for my Master, and believe that all ought to devote their special faculties to Him. I regretted that unconscientious men took occasion to prevent many from sympathizing with me."

CHAPTER XI.

FIRST VISIT HOME--_continued_.

A.D. 1857-1858.

Livingstone at Dublin, at British a.s.sociation--Letter to his wife--He meets the Chamber of Commerce at Manchester--At Glasgow, receives honors from Corporation, University, Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, United Presbyterians, Cotton-spinners--His speeches in reply--His brother Charles joins him--Interesting meeting and speech at Hamilton--Reception from "Literary and Scientific Inst.i.tute of Blantyre"--Sympathy with operatives--Quick apprehension of all public questions--His social views in advance of the age--He plans a People's Cafe--Visit to Edinburgh--More honors--Letter to Mr. Maclear--Interesting visit to Cambridge--Lectures there--Professor Sedgwick's remarks on his visit--Livingstone's great satisfaction--Relations to London Missionary Society--He severs his connection--Proposal of Government expedition--He accepts consuls.h.i.+p and command of expedition--Kindness of Lords Palmerston and Clarendon--The Portuguese Amba.s.sador--Livingstone proposes to go to Portugal--Is dissuaded--Lord Clarendon's letter to Sekeletu--Results of Livingstone's visit to England--Farewell banquet, Feb., 1858--Interview with the Queen--Valedictory letters--Professor Sedgwick and Sir Roderick Murchison--Arrangements for expedition--Dr., Mrs., and Oswell Livingstone set sail from Liverpool--Letters to children.

Finding himself, in the autumn, free of the toil of book-making, Dr.

Livingstone moved more freely through the country, attended meetings, and gave addresses. In August he went to Dublin, to the meeting of the British a.s.sociation for the Advancement of Science, and gave an interesting lecture. Mrs. Livingstone did not accompany him. In a letter to her we have some pleasant notes of his Dublin visit:

"_Dublin, 29th August_, 1857.--I am very sorry now that I did not bring you with me, for all inquired after you, and father's book is better known here than anywhere else I have been. But it could scarcely have been otherwise. I think the visit to Dublin will be beneficial to our cause, which, I think, is the cause of Christ in Africa. Lord Radstock is much interested in it, and seems willing and anxious to promote it. He was converted out at the Crimea, whither he had gone as an amateur. His lady is a beautiful woman, and I think, what is far better, a good, pious one. The Archbishop's daughters asked me if they could be of any use in sending out needles, thread, etc., to your school. I, of course, said Yes. His daughters are devotedly missionary, and work hard in ragged schools, etc. One of them nearly remained in Jerusalem as a missionary, and is the same in spirit here.

It is well to be servants of Christ everywhere, at home or abroad, wherever He may send us or take us.... I hope I may be enabled to say a word for Him on Monday. There is to be a grand dinner and soiree at the Lord-Lieutenant's on Monday, and I have got an invitation in my pocket, but will have to meet Admiral Trotter on Tuesday. I go off as soon as my lecture is over.... Sir Duncan Macgregor is the author of _The Burning of the Kent East Indiaman_. His son, the only infant saved, is now a devoted Christian, a barrister[52]."

[Footnote 52: Dr. Livingstone always liked that style of earnest Christianity which he notices in this letter. In November of the same year, after he had resigned his connection with the London Missionary Society, and was preparing to return to Africa as H.M. Consul and head of the Zambesi Expedition, he writes thus to his friend Mr. James Young: "I read the life of Hedley Vicars for the first time through, when down at Rugby. It is really excellent, and makes me ashamed of the coldness of my services in comparison. That was his sister you saw me walking with in Dublin at the Gardens (Lady Rayleigh). If you have not read it, the sooner you dip into it the better. You will thank me for it."]

In September we find him in Manchester, where the Chamber of Commerce gave him a hearty welcome, and entered cordially into his schemes for the commercial development of Africa. He was subjected to a close cross-examination regarding the products of the country, and the materials it contained for commerce; but here, too, the missionary was equal to the occasion. He had brought home five or six and twenty different kinds of fruit; he told them of oils they had never heard of--dyes that were kept secret by the natives--fibres that might be used for the manufacture of paper--sheep that had hair instead of wool--honey, sugar-cane, wheat, millet, cotton, and iron, all abounding in the country. That all these should abound in what used to be deemed a sandy desert appeared very strange. A very cordial resolution was unanimously agreed to, and a strong desire expressed that Her Majesty's Government would unite with that of Portugal in giving Dr. Livingstone facilities for further exploration in the interior of Africa, and especially in the district around the river Zambesi and its tributaries, which promised to be the most suitable as a basis both for commercial and missionary settlements.

In the course of the same month his foot was again on his native soil, and there his reception was remarkably cordial. In Glasgow, the University, the Corporation, the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, the United Presbyterians, and the a.s.sociated Operative Cotton-spinners of Scotland came forward to pay him honor. A testimonial of 2000 had been raised by public subscription. The Corporation presented him with the freedom of the city in a gold box, in acknowledging which he naturally dwelt on some of the topics that were interesting to a commercial community. He gave a somewhat new view of "Protection" when he called it a remnant of heathenism. The heathen would be dependent on no one; they would depress all other communities. Christianity taught us to be friends and brothers, and he was glad that all restrictions on the freedom of trade were now done away with. He dwelt largely on the capacity of Africa to furnish us with useful articles of trade, and especially cotton.

His reception by the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons had a special interest in relation to his medical labors. For nearly twenty years he had been a licentiate of this Faculty, one of the oldest medical inst.i.tutions of the country, which for two centuries and a half had exerted a great influence in the west of Scotland. He was now admitted an honorary Fellow--an honor rarely conferred, and only on pre-eminently distinguished men. The President referred to the benefit which he had found from his scientific as well as his more strictly medical studies, pursued under their auspices, and Livingstone cordially echoed the remark, saying he often hoped that his sons might follow the same course of study and devote themselves to the same n.o.ble profession:

"In the country to which I went," he continued, "I endeavored to follow the footsteps of my Lord and Master." Our Saviour was a physician; but it is not to be expected that his followers should perform miracles. The nearest approach which they could expect to make was to become acquainted with medical science, and endeavor to heal the diseases of man....

One patient expressed his opinion of my religion to the following effect: "We like you very much; you are the only white man we have got acquainted with. We like you because you aid us whilst we are sick, but we don't like your everlasting preaching and praying. We can't get accustomed to that!"

To the United Presbyterians of Glasgow he spoke of mission work in Africa. At one time he had been somewhat disappointed with the Bechuana Christians, and thought the results of the mission had been exaggerated, but when he went into the interior and saw heathenism in all its unmitigated ferocity, he changed his opinion, and had a higher opinion than ever of what the mission had done. Such gatherings as the present were very encouraging; but in Africa mission work was hard work without excitement; and they had just to resolve to do their duty without expecting to receive grat.i.tude from those whom they labored to serve.

When grat.i.tude came, they were thankful to have it; but when it did not come they must go on doing their duty, as unto the Lord.

His reply to the cotton-spinners is interesting as showing how fresh his sympathy still was with the sons of toil, and what respect he had for their position. He congratulated himself on the Spartan training he had got at the Blantyre mill, which had really been the foundation of all the work he had done. Poverty and hard work were often looked down on,--he did not know why,--for wickedness was the only thing that ought to be a reproach to any man. Those that looked down on cotton-spinners with contempt were men who, had they been cotton-spinners at the beginning, would have been cotton-spinners to the end. The life of toil was what belonged to the great majority of the race, and to be poor was no reproach. The Saviour occupied the humble position that they had been born in, and he looked back on his own past life as having been spent in the same position in which the Saviour lived.

"My great object," he said, "was to be like Him--to imitate Him as far as He could be imitated. We have not the power of working miracles, but we can do a little in the way of healing the sick, and I sought a medical education in order that I might be like Him. In Africa I have had hard work. I don't know that any one in Africa despises a man who works hard. I find that all eminent men work hard. Eminent geologists, mineralogists, men of science in every department, if they attain eminence, work hard, and that both early and late. That is just what we did. Some of us have left the cotton-spinning, but I think that all of us who have been engaged in that occupation look back on it with feelings of complacency, and feel an interest in the course of our companions. There is one thing in cotton-spinning that I always felt to be a privilege. We were confined through the whole day, but when we got out to the green fields, and could wander through the shady woods, and rove about the whole country, we enjoyed it immensely. We were delighted to see the flowers and the beautiful scenery. We were prepared to admire. We were taught by our confinement to rejoice in the beauties of nature, and when we got out we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest extent."

At Hamilton an interesting meeting took place in the Congregational Chapel where he had been a wors.h.i.+per in his youth. Here he was emphatically at home; and he took the opportunity (as he often did) to say how little he liked the lionizing he was undergoing, and how unexpected all the honors were that had been showered upon him. He had hoped to spend a short and quiet visit, and then return to his African work. It was his sense of the kindness shown him, and the desire not to be disobliging, that made him accept the public invitations he was receiving. But he did not wish to take the honor to himself, as if he had achieved anything by his own might or wisdom. He thanked G.o.d sincerely for employing him as an instrument in his work. One of the greatest honors was to be employed in winning souls to Christ, and proclaiming to the captives of Satan the liberty with which he had come to make them free. He was thankful that to him, "the least of all saints," this honor had been given. He then proceeded to notice the presence of members of various Churches, and to advert to the broadening process that had been going on in his own mind while in Africa, which made him feel himself more than ever the brother of all:

"In going about we learn something, and it would be a shame to us if we did not; and we look back to our own country and view it as a whole, and many of the little feelings we had when immersed in our own denominations we lose, and we look to the whole body of Christians with affection. We rejoice to see them advancing. I believe that every Scotch Christian abroad rejoiced in his heart when he saw the Free Church come boldly out on principle, and I may say we shall rejoice very much when we see the Free Church and the United Presbyterian Church one, as they ought to be.... I am sure I look on all the different denominations in Hamilton and in Britain with feelings of affection. I cannot say which I love most. I am quite certain I ought not to dislike any of them. Really, perhaps I may be considered a little heterodox, if I were living in this part of the country, I could not pa.s.s one Evangelical Church in order to go to my own denomination beyond it[53]. I still think that the different denominational peculiarities have, to a certain degree, a good effect in this country, but I think we ought to be much more careful lest we should appear to our fellow-Christians unchristian, than to appear inconsistent with the denominational principles we profess.... Let this meeting be the ratification of the bond of union between my brother[54]

and me, and all the denominations of Hamilton. Remember us in your prayers. Bear us on your spirits when we are far away, for when abroad we often feel as if we were forgot by every one. My entreaty to all the Christians of Hamilton is to pray that grace may be given to us to be faithful to our Saviour even unto death."

[Footnote 53: Dr. Livingstone gave practical evidence of his sincerity in these remarks in the case of his elder daughter, saying, in reply to one of her guardians with whom she was residing, that he had no objections to her joining the Church of Scotland. This, however, she did not do; but afterward, when at Newstead Abbey, she was confirmed by the Bishop of Lincoln, and received the Communion along with her father, who helped to prepare her.]

[Footnote 54: Dr. Livingstone had been joined by his brother Charles, who was present on this occasion.]

At Blantyre, his native village, the Literary and Scientific Inst.i.tute gave him a reception, Mr. Hannan, one of the proprietors of the works, a magistrate of Glasgow, and an old acquaintance of Livingstone's, being in the chair. The Doctor was laboring under a cold, the first he had had for sixteen years. He talked to them of his travels, and by particular request gave an account of his encounter with the Mabotsa lion. He ridiculed Mrs. Beecher Stowe's notion that factory-workers were slaves.

He counseled them strongly to put more confidence than workmen generally did in the honest good intentions of their employers, reminding them that some time ago, when the Blantyre proprietors had wished to let every workman have a garden, it was said by some that they only wished to bring the ground into good order, and then they would take the garden away. That was nasty and suspicious. If masters were more trusted, they would do more good. Finally, he exhorted them cordially to accept G.o.d's offers of mercy to them in Christ, and give themselves wholly to Him. To bow down before G.o.d was not mean; it was manly. His one wish for them all was that they might have peace with G.o.d, and rejoice in the hope of the eternal inheritance.

His remarks to the operatives show how sound and sagacious his views were on social problems; in this sphere, indeed, he was in advance of the age. The quickness and correctness with which he took up matters of public interest in Britain, mastered facts, and came to clear, intelligent conclusions on them, was often the astonishment of his friends. It was as if, instead of being buried in Africa, he had been attending the club and reading the daily newspapers for years,--this, too, while he was at work writing his book, and delivering speeches almost without end. We find him at this time antic.i.p.ating the temperance coffee-house movement, now so popular and successful. On 11th July, 1857, he wrote on this subject to a friend, in reference to a proposal to deliver a lecture in Glasgow. It should be noticed that he never lectured for money, though he might have done so with great pecuniary benefit:

"I am thinking of giving, or trying to give, a lecture by invitation at the Athenaeum. I am offered thirty guineas, and as my old friends the cotton-spinners have invited me to meet them, I think of handing the sum, whatever it may be, to them, or rather letting them take it and fit up a room as a coffee-room on the plan of the French cafes, where men, women, and children may go, instead of to whisky-shops. There are coffee-houses already, but I don't think there are any where they can laugh and talk and read papers just as they please. The sort I contemplate would suit poor young fellows who cannot have a comfortable fire at home. I have seen men dragged into drinking ways from having no comfort at home, and women also drawn to the dram-shop from the same cause.

Don't you think something could be done by setting the persons I mention to do something for themselves?"

Edinburgh conferred on Livingstone the freedom of the city, besides entertaining him at a public breakfast and hearing him at another meeting. We are not surprised to find him writing to Sir Roderick Murchison from Rossie Priory, on the 27th September, that he was about to proceed to Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham, "and then farewell to public spouting for ever. I am dead tired of it. The third meeting at Edinburgh quite knocked me up." It was generally believed that his appearances at Edinburgh were not equal to some others; and probably there was truth in the impression, for he must have come to it exhausted; and besides, at a public breakfast, he was put out by a proposal of the chairman, that they should try to get him a pension. Yet some who heard him in Edinburgh received impressions that were never effaced, and it is probable that seed was silently sown which led afterward to the Scotch Livingstonia Mission--one of the most hopeful schemes for carrying out Livingstone's plans that have yet been organized.

Among the other honors conferred on him during this visit to Britain was the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. Some time before, Glasgow had given him the honorary degree of LL.D. In the beginning of 1858, when he was proposed as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the certificate on his behalf was signed, among others, by the Earl of Carlisle, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who after his signature added P.R. (_pro Regina_), a thing that had never been done before[55].

[Footnote 55: For list of Dr. Livingstone's honors, see Appendix No. V.]

The life he was now leading was rather trying. He writes to his friend Mr. Maclear on the 10th November:

"I finish my public spouting next week at Oxford. It is really very time-killing, this lionizing, and I am sure you pity me in it. I hope to leave in January. Wonder if the Portuguese have fulfilled the intention of their Government in supporting my men.... I shall rejoice when I see you again in the quiet of the Observatory. It is more satisfactory to serve G.o.d in peace. May He give his grace and blessing to us all! I am rather anxious to say something that will benefit the young men at Oxford. They made me a D.C.L. There!! Wonder if they would do so to the Editor of the _Grahamstown Journal?_"

Livingstone was not yet done with "public spouting," even after his trip to Oxford. Among the visits paid by him toward the end of 1857, none was more interesting or led to more important results than that to Cambridge. It was on 3d December he arrived there, becoming the guest of the Rev. Wm. Monk, of St. John's. Next morning, in the senate-house, he addressed a very large audience, consisting of graduates and undergraduates and many visitors from the town and neighborhood. The Vice-Chancellor presided and introduced the stranger. Dr. Livingstone's lecture consisted of facts relating to the country and its people, their habits and religious belief, with some notices of his travels, and an emphatic statement of his great object--to promote commerce and Christianity in the country which he had opened. The last part of his lecture was an earnest appeal for missionaries.

"It is deplorable to think that one of the n.o.blest of our missionary societies, the Church Missionary Society, is compelled to send to Germany for missionaries, whilst other Societies are amply supplied. Let this stain be wiped off.

The sort of men who are wanted for missionaries are such as I see before me; men of education, standing, enterprise, zeal, and piety.... I hope that many whom I now address will embrace that honorable career. Education has been given us from above for the purpose of bringing to the benighted the knowledge of a Saviour. If you knew the satisfaction of performing such a duty, as well as the grat.i.tude to G.o.d which the missionary must always feel, in being chosen for so n.o.ble, so sacred a calling, you would have no hesitation in embracing it.

"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that G.o.d has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our G.o.d, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left his father's throne on high to give himself for us; 'who being the brightness of that Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.'...

"I beg to direct your attention to Africa: I know that in a few years I shall be cut off in that country, which is now open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity; do you carry out the work which I have begun, I LEAVE IT WITH YOU!"

In a prefatory letter prefixed to the volume ent.i.tled _Dr. Livingstone's Cambridge Lectures_, the late Professor Sedgwick remarked, in connection with this event, that in the course of a long academic life he had often been present in the senate-house on exciting occasions; in the days of Napoleon he had heard the greetings given to our great military heroes; he had been present at four installation services, the last of which was graced by the presence of the Queen, when her youthful husband was installed as Chancellor, amid the most fervent gratulations that subjects are permitted to exhibit in the presence of their Sovereign.

But on none of these occasions "were the gratulations of the University more honest and true-hearted than those which were offered to Dr.

Livingstone. He came among us without any long notes of preparation, without any pageant or eloquence to charm and captivate our senses. He stood before us, a plain, single-minded man, somewhat attenuated by years of toil, and with a face tinged by the sun of Africa.... While we listened to the tale he had to tell, there arose in the hearts of all the listeners a fervent hope that the hand of G.o.d which had so long upheld him would uphold him still, and help him to carry out the great work of Christian love that was still before him."

Next day, December 5th, Dr. Livingstone addressed a very crowded audience in the Town Hall, the Mayor presiding. Referring to his own plans, he said:

"I contend that we ought not to be ashamed of our religion, and had we not kept this so much out of sight in India, we should not now be in such straits in that country" [referring to the Indian Mutiny]. "Let us appear just what we are. For my own part, I intend to go out as a missionary, and hope boldly, but with civility, to state the truth of Christianity, and my belief that those who do not possess it are in error. My object in Africa is not only the elevation of man, but that the country might be so opened that man might see the need of his soul's salvation. I propose in my next expedition to visit the Zambesi, and propitiate the different chiefs along its banks, endeavoring to induce them to cultivate cotton, and to abolish the slave-trade: already they trade in ivory and gold-dust, and are anxious to extend their commercial operations. There is thus a probability of their interests being linked with ours, and thus the elevation of the African would be the result,

"I believe England is alive to her duty of civilizing and Christianizing the heathen. We cannot all go out as missionaries, it is true; but we may all do something toward providing a subst.i.tute. Moreover, all may especially do that which every missionary highly prizes, viz.--COMMEND THE WORK IN THEIR PRAYERS. I HOPE THAT THOSE WHOM I NOW ADDRESS WILL BOTH PRAY FOR AND HELP THOSE WHO ARE THEIR SUBSt.i.tUTES."

Dr. Livingstone was thoroughly delighted with his reception at Cambridge. Writing to a friend, on 6th December 1857, he says: "Cambridge, as Playfair would say, was grand. It beat Oxford hollow. To make up my library again they subscribed at least forty volumes at once.

I shall have reason soon to bless the Boers."

Referring to his Cambridge visit a few weeks afterward, in a letter to Rev. W. Monk, Dr. Livingstone said: "I look back to my visit to Cambridge as one of the most pleasant episodes of my life. I shall always revert with feelings of delight to the short intercourse I enjoyed with such n.o.ble Christian men as Sedgwick, Whewell, Selwyn, etc.

etc., as not the least important privilege conferred on me by my visit to England. It is something inspiriting to remember that the eyes of such men are upon one's course. May blessings rest upon them all, and on the seat of learning which they adorn!"

Among the subjects that had occupied Dr. Livingstone's attention most intensely during the early part of the year 1857 was that of his relation to the London Missionary Society. The impression caused by Dr.