Upper Norwood, London, is ever fresh in my memory, in connection with my first and subsequent visits, chiefly because of the faithful guidance and help amidst all the perplexities of that Great Babylon, so ungrudgingly bestowed upon me by my old Australian friends, then resident there, William Storrie, Esq., and his most excellent wife, both devoted workers in the cause of Missions abroad and at home. Great kindness was shown to me also by their Minister there; and by T. W. Stoughton, Esq., at whose Mission Hall there was a memorable and joyful meeting; and, amongst many others whom I cannot here name, by Messrs. Morgan & Scott, of the _Christian_,—all of whom I rejoiced to find actively engaged in personal service to the Lord Jesus.
But in this connection I must not omit to mention that the noble and world-famous servant of God, the Minister of the Tabernacle, invited me to a garden-party at his home, and asked me to address his students and other Christian workers. When I arrived I found a goodly company assembled under the shade of lovely trees, and felt the touch of that genial humour, so mighty a gift when sanctified, which has so often given wings to Mr. Spurgeon’s words, when he introduced me to the audience as “the King of the Cannibals!” On my leaving, Mrs. Spurgeon presented me with her husband’s “Treasury of David,” and also “£5 from the Lord’s cows,” which I learned was part of the profits from certain cows kept by the good lady, and that everything produced thereby was dedicated to the work of the Lord. I praised God that He had privileged me to meet this extraordinarily endowed man, to whom the whole Christian World is so specially indebted, and who has consecrated all his gifts and opportunities to the proclamation of the pure and precious Gospel.
But of all my London associations, the deepest and the most imperishable is that which weaves itself around the Honourable Ion Keith-Falconer, who has already passed to what may truly be called a Martyr’s crown. At that time I met him at his father-in-law’s house at Trent; and on another occasion spent a whole day with him at the house of his noble mother, the Countess-Dowager of Kintore. His soul was then full of his projected Mission to the Arabs, being himself one of the most distinguished Orientalists of the day; and as we talked together, and exchanged experiences, I felt that never before had I visibly marked the fire of God, the holy passion to seek and to save the lost, burning more steadily or brightly on the altar of any human heart. The heroic founding of the Mission at Aden is already one of the precious annals of the Church of Christ. His young and devoted wife survives, to mourn indeed, but also to cherish his noble memory; and, with the aid of others, and under the banner of the Free Church of Scotland, to see the “Keith-Falconer Mission” rising up amidst the darkness of blood-stained Africa, as at once a harbour of refuge for the slave, and a beacon-light to those who are without God and without hope. The servant does his day’s work, and passes on through the gates of sleep to the Happy Dawn; but the Divine Master lives and works and reigns, and by our death, as surely as by our life, His holy purposes shall be fulfilled.
On returning to Scotland, every day was crowded with engagements for the weeks that remained, and almost every mail brought me contributions from all conceivable corners of the land. My heart was set upon taking out two or three Missionaries with me to claim more and still more of the Islands for Christ; and with that view I had addressed Divinity Students at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Again and again, by conversation and correspondence, consecrated young men were just on the point of volunteering; but again and again the larger and better known fields of labour turned the scale, and they finally decided for China or Africa or India. Deeply disappointed at this, and thinking that God directed us to look to our own Australia alone for Missionaries for the New Hebrides, I resolved to return, and took steps towards securing a passage by the Orient Line to Melbourne. But just then two able and devoted students, Messrs. Morton and Leggatt, offered themselves as Missionaries for our Islands; and shortly thereafter a third, Mr. Landells, also an excellent man; and all, being on the eve of their Licence, were approved of, accepted, and set to special preparations for the Mission field, particularly in acquiring practical medical knowledge.