TOUR BY MR. BROOKS. in, it is said their wish will be granted. I filled a bottle with the water, intending to ask our doctor to analyze it. From the festival we worked our way on to Tangi; and from thence turned off the road into a district we had not been in since 1853; and that was in many respects a memorable journey. From Tangi we had but one market; but the number of rather large villages remarkable. We generally attended two villages morning and afternoon, and were everywhere received and listened to with the greatest kindness and attention. We did not give away many books, but sold as many at a merely nominal price as to encourage us to continue to sell rather than give away to any extent, as in years past. One man, at a village near Konàs, asked particularly for the "Jewel-mine," saying he did not want, and would not have any other tract, but that he had no money to pay for it, and of course it was given. On reaching Bhusandpore, I ascended the hill at once, and found it much easier than twenty-five years ago. A boishnob has collected money in the course of years, and with it has built a temple on the top, and laid down a flight of steps nearly up to it, and dug a deep well at the foot. The temple and its appendages have not been completed, and perhaps may not be for years, if at all. The people in the surrounding villages, thinking, I suppose, that they had a share in the concern, wish to have an idol placed in the temple, and have it consecrated. This the boishnob did not intend to do, but to keep it as a sort of hermitage for himself and friends; and as his right to do this is disputed, he has left the place in disgust, and gone to a considerable distance away in the jungles. It is to be hoped that the temple will long remain without an idol, and without consecration. THE CHILKA LAKE. It was near, or on this hill that, on the 24th June, 1806, Dr. Buchanan wrote these remarkable words: "I felt my mind relieved and happy when I had passed the confines of Juggernath. I certainly was not prepared for the scene; but no one can know what it is who has not seen it. From an eminence on the pleasant banks of the Chilka Lake, where no human bones are seen, I had a view of the lofty tower of Juggernath far remote; and while I viewed it, its abominations came to mind. It was on the morning of the Sabbath. Ruminating long on the wide and extended empire of Moloch in the heathen world, I cherished in my thoughts the 367 design of some Christian institution, which, being fostered by Britain my native country-might gradually undermine this baleful idolatry, and put out the memory of it for ever." Sixteen years later the first missionaries of our Society arrived in the province. The Lake is now miles away from Bhusandpore; but from the top of the hill the little creek, that twenty-five years ago Mr. and Mrs. Miller, the late Carey Lacey, and myself came down in a narrow canoe under such difficulties, is seen winding its way like a snake from the Chilka. We tried hard to get some fish here, but not one would the people let us have. I suppose they were all sent away as quickly as possible; as at the festival, and Khoordah Market, more than twenty miles away, we could buy any quantity, but in a condition that compelled one to keep at a respectable distance. At one of the villages Ghanu and I went to, we tried to shame the people in reference to a number of obscene figures on the temple, and I think succeeded, though they laid the blame on the man who built the temple Years back an immense quantity of salt was made in this neighbourhood for Government. For miles the the earth is so saturated with salt that there is not a vestige of vegetation, and for miles more there are only bunches of samphire. We remained two days at Kalápadara, encamped on the banks of the Dayá river, and were pleased with the reception we met with at several of the villages. As we were going to one, I was stopped by a stream in our way. I was just about to take off my boots and socks and go through it, when a man came up and took me on his shoulder and carried me through. This man afterwards eat with the brethren. He had been in very respectable circumstances; but it is supposed that some one had drugged him, and he is now leading a wandering life. He sat near our tents, and repeated portions of the shastres by the hour, until we were tired of it. Here we crossed the Daya, and went on to Konàs, where formerly there was a large store for salt, as well as a market; but both have been abolished. We went to several villages, and were surprised to find a building for reading the Bhagabot in every one of them. At one of them we tried to ascertain how far any good influences had outlived the old guru, Bálak Das, who was baptized here. There is his tomb left, and that is perhaps all. I do not know if matters ever went much further than the placing of the New Testament side by side with the Bhagabot. From thence went to Goordea, and attended the large market near the bungalow. Early next morning we started on our return home, taking Bilepadda, one of the Piplee out-stations, on the way, and remained a day and night with the people. Most of them are from the Piplee Orphanages, as also at the new location named Asroyapore, which we went to. I was almost amazed to see how the young men especially had altered since we had charge of them at Piplee in 1870: most of them had become muscular strong men; and the stacks of corn collected round the threshing floor showed that a blessing had rested on their labour. Two years ago there were scarcely any children now there are one or two in almost every house, and they look well. It has been very pleasant to labour again with brethren Sebo Patra and Ghanu. Brother Sebo is somewhat infirm in body; but he has lost but little of his fire and energy in the work of the Lord; and I have no doubt the change has done him good every way. Ghanu is invaluable. Our young friend Bala Krishnoo did exceedingly well. He is modest and unassuming; and was instant in season and out of season. There can be no doubt, I think, that he is called to the work of the Lord in some capacity or other. The Hot Season. UNDER date of Cuttack, July 6th, 1878, Dr. Buckley writes: The most trying hot season perhaps ever known has come to an end since I wrote on the 15th ult., and it is now comparatively cool and pleasant, the thermometer in the study while I am writing, at 8.30 a.m., being 86°. This is about 10° lower than it was three weeks ago. Trying, however, as it has been with us, it seems to have been worse at Berhampore. The 15th June was the hottest day there, and in a recent letter it is said, "The thermometer registered 105° in a wellclosed room, with the punkah constantly going. I simply could not bear to go in the verandah-the air was like an oven. I am told it must have been 120° in the shade, that is not exposed to sun, but to the heated atmosphere." We have had a good fall of rain, but much more is needed, which, may it please the Lord graciously to give. Grain is still very dear, almost famine prices; and while this continues the poor must suffer greatly. Much will depend on the next harvest, for the exportation of rice has been very great. The principal day of the Car Festival at Pooree was last Tuesday. Four of the native preachers were there, but it was not practicable for any of the missionary brethren to unite with them. The number of pilgrims, it is said, was extremely small; and the cholera in some parts of the town very bad. The financial aspect of the Orissa Irrigation Works continues brighter. The people are learning, though slowly, the value of the water. Foreign Letters Received. CUTTACK-J. Buckley, D.D., July 6, 13. CUTTACK.-W. Miller, July 6. Contributions Received on account of the General Baptist Missionary Society from July 16th, to August 15th, 1878. Subscriptions and Donations in aid of the General Baptist Missionary Society will be thankfully received by W. B. BEMBRIDGE, Esq., Ripley, Derby, Treasurer; and by the Rev. W. HILL, Secretary, Crompton Street, Derby, from whom also Missionary Boxes, Collecting Books and Cards may be obtained. Hitting the Gold of the Target. ALTHOUGH any mile of rails between London and York will be less costly than the locomotive engine that runs over them, yet you can no more dispense with the rails than with the engine, or with the man who drives the engine. Magazines of ammunition are useless without "men with an eye" to employ them. "Taking aim" is quite as necessary for enduring work as fine abilities, fluent speech, full knowledge, and the best intention. Right direction is as essential as adequate force, both for the maintenance and growth of Christian character, and for effective service. The Christian must, first of all, be a good man; and, next, he must take care to be good for something, and for somebody. Emerson says, "I think it an essential caution to young writers that they shall not, in their discourses, leave out the thing the discourse was written to say;" and Archbishop Whately caps this sage advice by telling us of a preacher who energetically "aimed at nothing, and hit it." A "good shot" is confessedly rare; and so is the preacher who can hit the gold of the target, the deacon who goes by the straightest line to his service without missing the essence of it, the elder who sees his vocation and fills it, the Sunday school teacher who does not forget the very thing most needing to be said, the Christian who knows the exact stroke of work requiring to be done, and does that work and nothing else that mars it. Such workers are more precious than rubies! One of them is a prize of inestimable value: and happy beyond all speech is the church that has its stores full of them! But unfortunately "shooting at a venture," and all over the field, is the canonized practise in most churches. Strong and well-made bows abound. Vigorous and health-filled muscle is not wanting. Quivers are full of well-feathered arrows. Energy beats high. But it would be irreverent to think of taking aim. Unseen forces speed the arrow to its mark. It is ours to draw the bow. Who knows? A proud and wicked Ahab may be pierced between the joints of the harness. The thing to be done is to shoot: it does not matter at what or where! Others shoot because shooting is in vogue. They must shoot. They do not see the target; have not, indeed, asked themselves whether there is one or not. But that does not matter. "They must shoot ;" and the string is pulled in a lack-a-daisical, hit-or-miss fashion, and with a sublime indifference not only to the insensible target, but to the proximity of any meditative and unsuspecting wayfarer. Martin Luther once said of the Lord's Prayer, "that it was the greatest martyr on earth, because it was used so frequently without thought or feeling, without reverence or faith." But surely the protomartyr, in this respect, is that fortunate or unfortunate wight who, in his simplicity, drew his bow "at a venture," without trying to hit any particular person, and managed to kill a king: for he is "trotted out" a thousand times a year, and worshipped as a patron saint by myriads of men who lead desultory, aimless, useless, and despicable lives. Again and again I have been tempted to wish that the man had shot himself as well as Ahab; so prodigiously mischievous has his solitary success been. It is intolerable that this capital proof that there is a "Divinity that shapes GENERAL BAPTIST MAGAZINE, OCTOBER, 1878.-VOL. LXXX.-N. S. No. 106. our ends, rough hew them as we will," should be taken as the warrant for heedless living, useless working, oceans of vague talk in the pulpit and out of it, acres of wandering and meaningless prayers, and a most hurtful and childish desultoriness in the whole of life. A man's eyes are set in his forehead, not in his "hind-head." They are placed the way he goes and works; not the way he has gone; towards his present and future, not towards his past: and it is not too much to expect him to use them to direct his goings in the right paths. No Christian should ever shoot " at a venture" when it is any way possible for him to take steady aim. Why should he waste his strength, and his arrow, and risk the welfare of his friends! The target must be seen to be hit; the whole of it, and specially the gold of it; must be seen clearly and well, without any blinding haze within, or any thickening mist without. A man must dare to say to himself often, as St. Bernard did, "Why am I here? What is it I want to do?" And his courage must not cease till he has put into the most frank, unillusive, and explicit English, a full statement of his real and governing object. He must not drift into his place of service. Wood and weeds drift; men direct their course, elect the way they take, and the target at which they will shoot. Paul chose his goal and never lost sight of it. He sought to apprehend that for which he was apprehended of God in Christ Jesus. He knew why God wanted him, and he made God's aim his own; and pressed towards the goal, with eyes open and gaze steady, fixed, and firm. Both goal and prize were before him. He saw perfection of character in Christ Jesus: a nature fashioned after His; a mind like His; thinking as He thought; feeling as He felt; suffering as He suffered; working as He worked; and conquering as he conquered— that was the goal, and the blessedness which such perfection brings was the prize, the everlasting reward. Allured and inspired by the prize, he kept the goal steadily in view, and bent the salient energy of his soul towards it, with unresting perseverance, ever pressing nearer and nearer, until he could say, as he passed the winning post, "I have finished my course." In another passage this pattern Christian describes the goal of his work. "To win Christ is the goal of his living. To win men to Christ is the goal of his practical, energetic, work-a-day career. This is the object of the absorbing passion, flaming ardour, ceaseless toil, worldwide travels, numerous letters, incessant speech, and acute sufferingsthat he may by all and any means save men. There is the gold of the target? Conformity to the spirit and character of the Lord Jesus; and the continuance and furtherance of His man-saving work. To hit that gold requires nerve, self-possession, and indeed a certain height of Christian manhood. Strong vision and much self-control are necessary to a "good shot." Presence of mind is indispensable, i.e., the mind must be present in the work that is being done in order to make it successful. Look at a body of riflemen practising: there is no hurry, no inattention; but a careful preparation, a fixed and energetic gaze, an eager outleaping of the eye, a grand will and a concentrated energy, till the shot has left its place. So we must think and HITTING THE GOLD OF THE TARGET. 371 pray and live ourselves into real Christian men in order to take aim steadily and to make sure of our mark. "How long were you in practice before you won your first prize?" was the question addressed to a prize-taker. "Eight years." "And did you practise much?" "As often as I could get at it." And if it takes years to qualify for "a corruptible crown," shall we be surprised that we must "toil terribly" in order to gain the mastery over souls, to saturate our being with the power and clothe our nature with the grace and beauty of Christ. Labour, iron labour is necessary. Good work cannot be done without much cost. Angelo said, " Painting is my wife, and my works are my children." A similar devotion to his particular vocation must characterize the Christian unless he means to be content with the poorest work and the most perishable results. "Tis a most difficult task to keep Heights which the soul is competent to gain." In the act of shooting the skilled archer is forgetful of himself. He could not hit the gold of the target if he had any weakening selfregards, and diverted a portion of his energy to solicitudes about himself. He wins when he is most self-oblivious. "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not." That is the only way to get them. Antoninus said, "If the picture is good, who cares who painted it. What matters it by whom the good is done, by yourself or by another?" If a soul is won to Christ, be grateful, but do not get into a fever to write your poor name on the lists of success. If you are better than your fellows you need not take pains to announce it. Superior goodness is scarce. It will be sure to be felt if it is not acknowledged. And you will do your work all the better as you approach the point of complete self-obliviousness. Aim at the gold of the target. Do not try to hit where the last archer made his mark, unless his mark is at the very centre. Thank God for your fellow Christians and fellow-workers; but do not imitate them or you may be doomed to hopeless mediocrity. Mediocrity abounds. Emulate one another. Seek to excel in patience, in gentleness, in imperturbable good temper, in a resolute spirit of forgiveness, in speaking good of your neighbours, and in stopping evil speech; in bearing the burdens of others; in sweetness of disposition, and in loveableness of character; in real sincerity; in speaking from your soul rather than from your memory; in faith and hope, and in good works. You do not hit the gold unless you abound in these things. "Alas! I have taken aim, and missed and missed again. I am always at the edge of the target and never at its heart." Still, be of good cheer. Try again. Take a fresh aim. Faith is always sanguine, always hopeful, and always expects a better shot. Remember the words of Chesterfield: "Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable; however, they who aim at it and persevere will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable." AIM AT THE GOLD JOHN CLIFFORD. OF THE TARGET TILL YOU HIT IT. |