William Garden Blaikie

“ I need to be purified--fitted for the eternal, to which my soul stretches away, in ever returning longings. I need to be made more like my blessed Saviour, to serve my God with all my powers. Look upon me, Spirit of the living God, and supply all Thou seest lacking. ”

“ The most critical moments of peril, demanding the utmost coolness and most dauntless courage, would sometimes occur during the stage of depression after fever; it was then he had to extricate himself from savage warriors, who vowed that he must go back, unless he gave them an ox, a gun, or a man. The ox he could ill spare, the gun not at all, and as for giving the last--a man--to make a slave of, he would sooner die. ”

“ We are only morning-stars shining in the dark, but the glorious morn will break, the good time coming yet. The present mission-stations will all be broken up. No matter how great the outcry against the instrumentality which God employs for his purposes, whether by French soldiery as in Tahiti, or tawny Boers as in South Africa, our duty is onward, onward, proclaiming God's Word whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. A few conversions show whether God's Spirit is in a mission or not. No mission which has his approbation is entirely unsuccessful. ”

“ Amidst all the beauty and loveliness with which I am surrounded, there is still a feeling of want in the soul,--as if something more were needed to bathe the soul in bliss than the sight of the perfection in working and goodness in planning of the great Father of our spirits. ”

“ May they not forget the pioneers who worked in the thick gloom with few rays to cheer, except such as flow from faith in God's promises! We work for a glorious future which we are not destined to see--the golden age which has not been, but will yet be. ”

“ I feel the want of books in this journey more than anything else. A Sichuana Pentateuch, a lined journal, Thomson's Tables, a Nautical Almanac, and a Bible, constitute my stock. The last constitutes my chief resource; but the want of other mental pabulum is felt severely. There is little to interest in the conversation of the people. Loud disputes often about the women, and angry altercations in which the same string of abuse is used, are more frequent than anything else. ”

“ Then, referring to his wonderful journey to Loanda, and remarkable escapes, he says: "Nor is your escape with life from so many attacks of fever other than miraculous. Perhaps there is nothing on record of the kind, and it can only be explained by Divine interference for a good purpose. O may life be continued to you, my dear friend! You have accomplished more for the happiness of mankind than has been done by all the African travelers hitherto put together." ”

“ Mr. Maclear's reference to Livingstone's work, in writing to Sir John Herschel, was in these terms: "Such a man deserves every encouragement in the power of his country to give. He has done that which few other travelers in Africa can boast of--he has fixed his geographical points with very great accuracy, and yet he is only a poor missionary."
Nor did Dr. Livingstone pass unrewarded in other quarters. In the Geographical Society, his journey to Loanda, of which he sent them an account, excited the liveliest interest. ”

“ Gabriel came about 30 miles with me, and ever since, though I spoke freely about the slave-trade, the very gentlemen who have been engaged in it, and have been prevented by our ships from following it, and often lost much, treated me most kindly in their houses, and often accompanied me to the next place beyond them, bringing food for all in the way. The common people are extremely civil, and a very large proportion of the inhabitants in one district called Ambaca can read and write well. ”

“ Yet the cause of God is still carried on to more enlightened developments of his will and character, and the dominion is being given by the power of commerce and population unto the people of the saints of the Most High. ”

“ He assures me that since he knew the value of Christianity, he has ever wished to spend his life in propagating its blessings among men, and adds that the same desire remains still as strong as ever."
While Livingstone was at Loanda, he made several acquaintances among the officers of Her Majesty's navy, engaged in the suppression of the slave-trade. For many of these gentlemen he was led to entertain a high regard. Their humanity charmed him, and so did their attention to their duties. ”

“ This is all to encourage the natives to trade freely with the coast, and will have a good effect in increasing our influence for that which excels everything earthly. Everything has, by God's gracious blessing, proved more auspicious than I anticipated. We have a most warm-hearted friend in Mr. Gabriel. He acted a brother's part, and now writes me in the moat affectionate manner. I thank God for his goodness in influencing the hearts of so many to show kindness, to whom I was a total stranger. The Portuguese have all been extremely kind. ”

“ Some days after, in passing through a forest in the dominions of another chief, he and his people were in momentary expectation of an attack. They went to the chiefs village and spoke to the man himself; and here, on a Sunday, while ill of fever, Livingstone was able to effect a temporary settlement. ”

“ The fact which ought to stimulate us above all others is, not that we have contributed to the conversion of a few souls, however valuable these may be, but that we are diffusing a knowledge of Christianity throughout the world. The number of conversions in India is but a poor criterion of the success which has followed the missionaries there. The general knowledge is the criterion ”

“ In coming through the coffee plantations I was offered more coffee than I could take or needed, and the best in the world. One spoonful makes it stronger than three did of that we used. It is found wild on the mountains. ”

“ They fully recognized the existence of the soul after death. Some of them believed in the metamorphosis of certain persons into alligators or hippopotamuses, or into lions. This belief could not be shaken by any arguments--at least on the part of man. ”

“ Love to all the children. How tall is Zouga? Accept the assurance of unabated love. "DAVID LIVINGSTON." It must not be forgotten that all this time Dr. Livingstone was making very careful astronomical observations, in order to determine his exact positions, and transmitting elaborate letters to the Geographical Society. His astronomical observations were regularly forwarded to his friend the Astronomer-Royal at the Cape, Mr. ”