LIVINGSTONE CENTENARY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1699, 15 March 1913, Page 6

LIVINGSTONE CENTENARY.

It is only natural that a healthyminded nation should desire to bear in everlasting remembrance the names and deeds of its illustrious dead. It is, therefore, quite in accordance with the fitness of things that the centenary of David Livingstone, the great missionary and explorer, should be suitablycommemorated throughout the, British Empire, and it is to be hoped that the Wellington celebration next week will be in every way worthy of the occasion. A nation is much more than an aggregation of separate individuals. Men come and men go, but the nation lives on. It has a continuous existence, the present containing the past and being itself contained in the future. The great ones who have passed away stiU belong to us, and on fitting occasions it is well to commemorate their good works. At such times we can, in a special manner, enter into the spirit of the time-honoured words: Let us now praise famous^men, And our. fathers that begat us. Such as have brought tidings in prophecies: Leaders of the people by their counsels. All these wero honoured in their generations, And were a glory in their days.

These were men of mercy, Whose righteous deeds havo not been forgotten.

.Peoples will declare their wisdom, And the congregation telleth out their praise. One of these famous men was David Livingstone—a "man of mercy,'" who devoted his life to the "alleviation of human misery." He chose Africa for the sphere of his labours.. Ho penetrated into the very heart of that great dark continent, learning the languages of the tribes, preaching the Gospel to them, winning their confidence, and raising them to a higher plane of life. His travels also produced much fruit from a scientific and commercial point of view, for his journeyings probably covered a third of the Continent, and no other explorer has done so much to extend our knowledge of the geography of Africa. ■He was able to appreciate the scientific value of what he saw: and he knew what was worth recording, and how to record it. "His/was not a -mind to dwell constantly on the dark side of human nature," writes . Mrs. Creighton, "and instead of allowing himself to be depressed by all the evil and misery tnat he saw, he turned his mind- to the study of the wonders of- nature. His discoveries, his careful observations, earned for him the admiration of the men of acienco of the day, and every mark of distinction was shown him on the occasion of his visits to London." But science and commerce had only a, secondary -place in his life's work; his great object was to spread religion and enlightenment among the people, and to put a stop to the horrors of tho slave trade. "I am tired of discovery," he said, "if no fruit follows it."

The work of Christian _ missionaries may be open to criticism from many points of view; but no candid tnan, speaking with knowledge, can charge them with lack of courage, devotion, and self-sacrifice. Tho history of missions ancient and modern is full of thrilling interest. One has ( only to recall such names as St. Paul, Ulfilas, Patrick, Boniface, Augustine, Raymond, Lull, John de Monte Corvino, and others, to realise in some measure this wonderful story of mingled- tragedy and romance. Another great development of missionary activity followed tho discoveries of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and other brave adventurers. It is, of course, easy to to the awful treatment meted out to the' natives of the American continent; but on'the other hand, it must be admitted that almost the only voices raised against this brutality were those of the missionaries. Las Casas, the great Dominican, spent his lifo in teaching the South American Indians, and'opposing the cruelty of, the colonists, and the deeds of the Jesuit missionaries both in tho East and the West can be surpassed by nothing in t-ho records of heroic adventure. One of them said: "I fear God and nothing else in the world," and their lives showed that this was no empty boa-st. They penetrated as far as China and Japan, and the story of their hardships and sufferings in North America is almost incredible. Coming to more modern days, a magnificent band, too numerous even to mention by name, Protestant and Catholic, 1 has carried on tho great work. People of narrow vision were at first amazed that men of such great ability and force of character should abandon splendid careers in the centres of civilisation in order to icarry the Gospel to African savages and Pacific Island cannibals. It seemed a sheer waste of valuable lives. But, in spite of' the discouragements of Governments and the lukewarmness of Christian people, the work has gone on; and now there are good reasons for believing that the twentieth century is to be one of the greatest missionary eras in the history of the Christian Church.

The missionaries have _ clone great things, not only for religion, but also for civilisation and science. Our knowledge of anthropology, geographical sciencc, philology, and comparative religion has been enlarged and enriched by their observations. It is true they have had to encounter the hostility of unscrupulous traders whose ways they have denounced, and they have been bitterly assailed by ignorant and foolish men; but impartial scientific critics like Charles Darwin and somo of our most distinguished Empire builders have borne high testimony to their noble work for humanity. The life of David Livingstone did much to put to shame the contemptuous indifference of some, and the open opposition of others to foreign missions, and when the ne\Vß camo of the death of this (treat Christian

explorer, whoso motto waa "Fear God and work hard," the whole civilised world waa moved, and the splendid tributo of Punch to the dead hero voiced the general feeling of the British race. Open the Abbey doors and bear him in To sleep with king and statesman, chief and sage. The missionary come of weaver-kin. But great by work that brooks no lower wage. He needs no epitaph to guard a name Which men shall prize while worthy work is known; Ho lived and died for good—be that his fame. Let marble crumble: this is Livingstone.