byes" we proceeded up the river. It was now about three o'clock, and the distance to Calcutta was forty-five miles, with the current and ebbing tide against us. The captain was very kind and agreeable, and placed any part of his vessel at our disposal. Brother

Miller had met him in the time of the Orissa famine; and the chief officer he also knew well, he having resided in Cuttack. Not having dined, a small quantity of provisions was sent from the "Viceroy;" but to our great delight, the "Conqueror" had an ample supply of good cool water, a thing we had not had for six weeks. For our journey up the river we were favoured with a fine moonlight evening, and after a very pleasant trip we reached Calcutta about midnight. The steamer's whistle soon brought a lot of dhingys, or small boats alongside, and in the course of a few minutes we were again permitted to set our feet on the shores of India, gratefully feeling as we have often felt and said before, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Yes! HITHERTO, as regards place, and time, and circumstances-a point which enables us to look backward with thankfulness and forward with confidence. After some little delay in obtaining a gharry, we proceeded to the house of dear friends with whom we stayed on our arrival sixteen years ago, by whom we were cordially received though aroused at midnight, and under whose hospitable roof we are kindly entertained. Several of our native christians who reside in Calcutta have already been to see us, and very pleasant it is again to hear and speak the Oriya. Letters of welcome have also been received from our brethren in Orissa, all of whom, we rejoice to learn, are well, and whom, in the good providence of God, we hope shortly to see. At Diamond Harbour a very affecting scene was witnessed on board the "Viceroy," just before we left, in connection with the two Misses Supper, who had completed their education at the Mission school, and were going out to join their parents at Dacca. Right away from England they had been anticipating that their father would meet them in Calcutta, and truly delighted they were to receive letters at Diamond Harbour. On opening them, however, their fond hopes were dashed to the

ground, as they contained the painful tidings that their beloved father died Oct. 2nd (the day after we left Plymouth), and that their widowed mother (formerly Miss Collins, of our Mission) was in Calcutta en route to England.

In conclusion I may just add that the journey to India, though more than ten days beyond the specified time, occupied forty-seven days, instead of one hundred and twelve, as round the Cape sixteen years ago. The distance round the Cape is nearly 15,000 miles, but via the Suez Canal the distance is as follows:

Cuttack, Dec. 14, 1871.

You will probably have heard that, through the blessing of our heavenly Father, we reached Cuttack in safety about sunset on Saturday, Dec. 2nd. We were delayed in Calcutta for ten or twelve days, but our time seemed fully occupied in making purchases and getting our baggage passed through the Custom-house, both of which operations were far from easy. One great difficulty as regards making purchases in an Indian bazaar is that the natives never will ask a proper price for their goods, they often asking five and even ten times the price they will be glad to take. Before a bargain, therefore, can' be completed, it is necessary to do an immense amount of talking in the shape of beating down, and even then there is often the feeling that after all you have been "taken in," and might have obtained the articles for a less sum. "Shall I tell master the proper price?" is a question the natives often ask at the beginning of the bargain-making; and then, with the utmost gravity and assurance, will state a price which you

know is altogether improper. As regards the Custom-house arrangements, it seemed as though the authorities had determined to make the passing of luggage as difficult and disagreeable as possible. According to orders, all packages had to be sent from the ship into the shed, where they were placed, or rather thrown, upon one another in` the utmost confusion. To the native coolies who have no knowledge of English, and no wish to regard if they had, "directions" have no meaning; and it often happens that a box having painted on it "This side up," is found with that side down, and that a box marked "Glass, with care,' 19 seems to come in for the roughest usage. To pass through the ordeal of ships and Custom-houses, boxes had need be of the strongest kind, and even then they are often smashed by the careless treatment they receive. "Searching for a needle in a bottle of hay" is a proverb often in one's mind when searching for packages amid the confused mass of a Calcutta Custom's shed. If the authorities were made to perform these duties for a few hours a day, there can be no doubt but that measures would soon be devised for removing an abominable nuisance and effecting a much-needed reform. To save themselves a little trouble, some men are utterly careless as to the amount of trouble they impose upon others.

During our stay in Calcutta, Mrs. Hill, our little boy, and myself were most hospitably entertained by our kind friends Mr. and Mrs. Beeby. Mr. B. is a deacon of the Baptist church, Circular Road, and Mrs. B. is the granddaughter of Dr. Carey. On one Lord'sday evening I had the pleasure of preaching in the above chapel, long the scene of the labours of Dr. Yates; and on the other, brother Miller and I attended the service of the Brahma Somaj, where we heard Baboo Kesheb Chunder Sen. An account of this visit I must leave to the pen of brother M.

We went on board the "Satara," a British India steamer, for False Point, at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 28th. As we did not leave Calcutta till about three p.m., we only proceeded that day a few miles down the river, and came to an anchor for the night, and a most uncomfortable night it was. The swarms

of mosquitoes were perfectly ravenous; buzzing and biting were kept up all night long, and the next morning we were so disfigured that it would not have required a great stretch of the imagination to have supposed that we had had an attack of measles or smallpox. On Wednesday morning between five and six we re-commenced our journey down the river, but had not proceeded very far before the pilot, in order to avoid running down a native boat, ran our ship aground. This was considered an act of great carelessness on the part of the pilot, but happily it was attended with no greater inconvenience than the loss of a day, as when the tide had turned and the water had risen several feet, she was able to get off.

On Friday morning, at daylight, we anchored in False Point Bay; and we had not been at anchor long before we had the pleasure of seeing brother Brooks coming in a boat from the

Teesta," a small river steamer, to the "Satara," and who was quickly on board, and welcomed us all back to Orissa. With as little delay as possible we proceeded to the "Teesta," and were soon steaming away up the noble Mahanuddy. For a considerable distance the land on either side was low, and there was nothing to be seen except jungle; but after being so long at sea the beautiful green shrubs and trees had a most exhilarating effect upon our spirits. As we proceeded up the river we came to small, and then to larger plots of land which had been cleared and cultivated, and on which there were good crops of rice, oil seeds, &c. By shortly after noon, the steamer having proceeded as far up the river as she was able, came to an anchor; but here we found boats, which brother Brooks had provided, to convey us to Cuttack-boats which the kind hospitality of our friends had not only supplied with food for the day, but with beds for the night. addition to the Mission party we had Mr. David Lacey, who was returning to his appointment in Cuttack, and who left England nearly a month after we did; and also a young civilian who came with us in the " Viceroy," and who was going to Cuttack. About dusk we commenced our journey up the newly made canal, and which we

In

continued throughout the night, our boats being towed by coolies. Our journey on Saturday was most delightful, the scene on every hand being quite enchanting. If kept in an efficient state, the canal will be of inestimable advantage to the district through which it passes, as well as to the interests of commerce. As before stated, we arrived at Cuttack about sunset on Saturday, or in sixty-two days after leaving England; and truly thankful were we to find our brethren and sisters not only living, but on the whole looking as well as we expected. Upon those of us who met after the lapse of seven years, it was evident that the hand of time had made an impression; nor could we but think of those who, during this period-John Orissa Goadby, Elizabeth Stubbins, Mary Derry Bailey, and Mary Guignard, had been taken up higher beyond this world and time. During this period, too, the hand of time and death has been busy among our native friends, and Gunga Dhor, Dunnai, Jagoo Roul, and many others, have been removed to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. As you have been told before, great changes have taken place since the famine; and as regards schools and orphanages, our missionary operations have assumed proportions which, seven years ago, none of us could have expected. Amid all these events and changes, it is a comfort to remember that the Lord reigneth, and that years of plenty and years of famine shall be rendered subservient to His glory. Since our arrival I have spent two days at Piplee and two days at Chaga; but about these visits I have not time to enlarge in this letter. In conclusion I may add, that if the Orissa Mission was ever worthy of the sympathy and support of the General Baptists of England it is now; and if, as a denomination, the friends would only employ the ability which God has given, not only would they be able to support, but largely to augment, their present staff of missionaries. An infusion of young blood is very much required. Of the brethren and sisters now in the field the majority are nearer fifty years of age than forty, and the Mission possesses only one agent under forty years of age. Whence, then, are we to look for the men and women who,

fitted for the work, are to take the places of those who, according to precedent and probability, will soon be removed from the field? Surely this aspect of the Mission should receive the serious and prayerful consideration of all its true friends. "If we are not careful," said a brother at a meeting held shortly before we left England, 66 we shall let the Mission slip through our fingers." What our hands, therefore, find to do, let us do it with our might.

ILLNESS OF REV. G. TAYLOR.

Cuttack, Dec. 23, 1871.

You will be grieved to hear that Mr. Taylor is seriously ill, and will soon be on his way to England. This heavy trial has come on us unexpectedly; for though we knew that he was far from well in the rains, and went to Calcutta in consequence, we did not know that anything seriously was amiss, and hoped that he would be all right in the cold weather. He left home on a missionary journey about the middle of last month, but after reaching Russell Condah became so weak as to be unable to preach, and at the suggestion of the doctor returned to Berhampore in the hope that the rest and quiet of home might have a salutary effect. After reaching home he saw both the civil and military doctors of the station, and they agreed in recommending an early return to England as necessary for his recovery. One of them suggested that the voyage round the Cape would be better in his case than going by the Suez Canal, but I cannot yet say what may be decided about this. He himself feels that he is altogether unable to carry on, and is convinced that if he were to remain it would be at the sacrifice of his life. I trust that all our friends will remember our afflicted brother and his beloved partner in this day of trial.

I know that these unexpected tidings will be very painful and disappointing to all the friends of the Mission, but we cannot resist dispensations of Providence; and I hope our friends will remember that, however painful it may be to them, we who are in the field feel it far more deeply. On the 2nd of this month we welcomed with thankfulness and joy our dear friends who left their native shores two months before, and now before the month is closed we are expecting that very shortly our number will again be reduced. Changes of this kind are among the conditions of christian labour in this country; and if we really

mean to carry on the work of God in Orissa we must be prepared for them, and not grumble at the expense or complain of the disappointment when they occur. In the wars of the Lord in olden time, the officers were directed to say to the people, "What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart;" and in the holy war now waging against the powers of darkness in Orissa I am confident that the "fearful and fainthearted" will only be an incumbrance. Let them keep at home, as directed by the lawgiver of Israel, and not discourage and dishearten their brethren. I was struck two days ago with a text in a proof that I was revising: "The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits " (Daniel xi. 32). If our trials drive us more and more to the throne of grace, we shall be strong" in the strength of our God, and "do exploits" in His holy warfare. It will be to us according to our faith.

Your readers will be glad to know that in another month or two the printing of the Old Testament in Oriya will be finished. It is more than eight years since I began the revision, and it has occupied many of my best hours during this lengthened period. The revision was happily completed before dear Jagoo was taken away, and only four or five proofs now remain to be printed. I shall be devoutly thankful to see it finished. JOHN BUCKLEY.

PROPOSAL FOR A GENERAL BAP

TIST MISSION TO ROME.

WE were rather startled to find, the other day, the following statement in the Freeman:-"The General Baptists, too, are contemplating a Mission in Rome, supported by the generous help and counsel of Mr. Cook, of excursionist reputation."

We can only suppose that the writer caught the title of the article in last month's Observer, without reading it, or he must have seen that it was simply a letter from a much esteemed correspondent calling attention to the subject, and that, so far from the "General Baptists" being committed to the project, as The Freeman would lead its readers to infer, the matter had never been under their consideration, and the letter of Mr. Cook was the first suggestion that had reached them about it. We yield to none in our hearty sympathy with the object of Mr. Cook's letter, but we are extremely anxious that the minds of our own friends should not be prejudiced against it by the impression that a step of the kind has been decided upon before

there has even been an opportunity of considering it either by the Missionary Committee or the Connexion at large.

So far we confess to a feeling of disappointment that Mr. Cook's letter has not excited a greater amount of interest in the body. We have been favoured with the sight of a letter from Frederick Stevenson, Esq., of Nottingham, to the Editor of the Magazine, but want of space prevented its insertion this month, in which he says it seemed as though a locomotive engine entered his study, and screamed by a railway whistle into his ear, "Send the Gospel to Rome also!" He hoped it would be seen that the heroic age of the denomination is not for ever passed away.

We are authorized to state that if Rome be adopted in the Mission programme, Onesimus will subscribe five pounds the first year; also the Rev. J. Clifford, LL.B., and Mr. J. M. Stubbs, of London, a guinea each extra per annum.

Just as we we were going to press we received the following letter from Mr. T. Cook:

To the Editor of the Missionary Observer.

DEAR SIR,-I had thought that I would leave to other pens the pleadings on behalf of the proposed Mission to Rome, as I have no desire to occupy an unseemly prominent position in the Missionary Observer. But I am just about starting on a four months' tour to Italy, Egypt, and Palestine, &c., and I may not have another opportunity before May or June to revert to the subject in your pages.

The work of our Baptist brethren in Rome assumes most important dimensions, and all the help possible to obtain is needed. Good Mr. Wall writes me that a few days since he had sent out by post 8,000 copies of Gospels and other parts of Scriptures, and that he was then engaged in sending a copy of the New Testament, as far as possible, to every family in Rome. My appeal to the Sunday School Union for aid has been responded to by a grant of five pounds worth of cards, tickets, and illustrated papers, with five pounds more for schools in the East; and the committee have engaged to print a special series of tickets and reward cards in the Italian language. The selection sent to me is most beautiful. The Secretary of the Religious Tract Society has promised to give me an open letter to all their agents abroad, authorizing them to supply me with whatever tracts, &c., I can usefully circulate. Mr. Smithies, of the British Workman, aided by his influential co-adjutors, has printed a splendid sheet almanack

in the Italian language, with a fine engraving of an Italian woman and child in the centre, and of this 5,000 copies have been entrusted to me, with 8,000 other illustrated Italian publications, the nett value of the whole being over £20. All these good things I have to present to the friends at Rome a week hence. Would that I could add the assurance that a living teacher was following as the result of my feeble but earnest appeals!

Two

Various suggestions have been made to me for the attainment of the object. At the Archdeacon Lane anniversary a warm feeling was elicited, which must lead to the realization of funds when the appeal is tangibly presented. One suggestion is that a collection should be made in each congregation on a given day, and thus accomplish the object at a stroke. Others are offering money individually. guineas have been placed in my hands for any object to which I may appropriate it. Dr. Burns offers two guineas a year for three years, "Onesimus" will give £5 the first year, and I pledge my tourist friends to the amount of £10, which I engage to collect. I hope the February magazine will give other indications of response. This is the moment for action: the longprohibited Bible and christian teacher are now eagerly appreciated-the more intensely because of their former prohibition. Let us have a share in this glorious work of Roman evangelization.

I call at Rome this week on my way to Egypt; and in returning from Palestine, in April or May, I shall again call there to see what is doing, and "report progress" on my arrival in England. In the meantime let our friends be "up and doing." I am, dear Sir, yours truly,

Leicester, Jan. 22, 1872.

THOMAS COOK.

P.S.-Mrs. Gould writes me that her school now. contains 100 scholars, and another school is being opened under her arrangements.

THE CUTTACK ORPHANAGES. To the Editor of the Missionary Observer— Dear Sir, the following extract from a communication from my excellent son-inlaw (G. S. Sykes, Esq.) will not be uninteresting to the friends of the Orissa Mission.

The latter half of October being a general holiday in Calcutta, he determined to take a little rest and change by visiting Cuttack, and after a tedious voyage from Calcutta, owing to sundry mishaps to the steamer, was heartily welcomed by our brethren. He writes:

"I have had the pleasure of going over the native christian villages, schools, and orphan asylums, with the exception of those at Piplee, and was very much pleased with them indeed. There are about 600 girls and 400 boys, all famine orphans, who are cared for in the most kind and loving manner by the missionaries, and receive a plain sound education, besides being taught to make themselves useful. . .

"The orphanages are kept in the most admirable order, and all the childrenrelics of Orissa's great calamity-have a well-fed, clean, and happy look that does one's heart good.

"I was struck with the cleanliness and neatness of the houses of the native christians-such a pleasing contrast to some that I have seen in other parts. They are delighted if you pay them a friendly visit, and press you to go into their houses, bringing out carefully dusted chairs or morahs (stools) for you to sit upon, and entering into conversation with you in the most intelligent and sociable way"

Such a testimony from a casual and observant visitor is eminently gratifying to the friends of the Mission at home, and can hardly fail to stimulate them to increased interest and consecration to the good cause.

Yours very truly,

I. STUBBINS.

The Holly Hayes, Fosse Road, Leicester, Jan. 8, 1872.

THE INDIAN MISSION REPORT. WE extract the following reference to the Indian Report of the Mission from the Friend of India of 24th August last, and believe that it will interest our readers :

"We have received the Indian Report of the Orissa Baptist Mission for 1870-71. It says that fifty years will have passed in February next since the first missionaries of this society began their work at Cuttack, and the review of the past shows that much work has been done, and done well. The report is well executed and full of interesting details. The account of Jagoo Roul, who died during the year, and who 'for twenty years was an able and faithful native preacher,' is worth reading and thinking about. The Orphanages, male and female, are most interesting institutions, and seem to be accomplishing great good. A considerable majority of the baptisms -forty-nine in number-at the Mission church at Cuttack were female orphans. The particulars and incidents of several