Two Great Apostles.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 46, 27 May 1875, Page 6

Two Great Apostles.

j St. AndrewTßay v wW appointed by the English Churchy. day of intercession fojr f missions, ,and 1 our, ,^aders may re-, member the noble missionary- sermon, preached by .Principal: C&rd iirWestm|nster Abbey oh; the occasion. ■'=.■ the Principal of St, Andrews 'is riot a clergyman,and he preached at home. But his missionary address will certainly .' rank : amon't- his finest efforts. It was natural fbr-him to remember one or two of the famous missionaries he, has known, and:his two sketches of William Burns and Norman Macleod will interest many readers. We quote them : ■ WILLIAM BURNS. " Many years ago at Glasgow College I knew the ' Rev.; -William Burns, who.- .afterwards ' became, the great missionary to China. .Even -at that early time lie was a man.of peculiar and most 'marked individuality. yHis piety and devotion, which- none could even then mistake, were of the ascetic type of Brainerd, whom, he intensely admired. He. was a great linguist, and soon afterwards, became a fervent; preacher, '-.with a wonderful power of impressing' great multitudes of •■ men. At last he gave himself entirely to mission work in Chinas-buried himself in that vast empire, devoted- every thought and every talent to the one object of teaching, that heathen peoplethe. foith of ' Christ. At - last, after twenty years,' incessant toil, his robust frame was undermined, and he sank into the grave, literally exhausted in his Master's service. Those who knew him best bear witness to" two thing's in him —his single-minded, heart whole faithfulness, and an v d;.also his prayerfulness'. His whole iifey they say, was literally a life of prayer.-. • And- 1 entirely believe it. .For that was the impression he^ Jeff on me when he was. a divinity student, and which' T vividly retain now, after an interval of more than thirty years." NORMAN MACLEOD. " For years, as all his friends knew well, he literally groaned over the indifference of the Church of Scotland to missions, and the little it did get on their behalf. He used to say that a church or any body, of Christians which did not. care for the spread of the gospel abroad was dead— that it abnegated the essential functions of a Chri&tian Church. At last, when he was. appointed chairman of the Indian. mission, though he had already on his shoulders a burden of work enough to weigh down most other men, he gladly gave to the mission his whole force of .energy. In time, when it seemed his duty, he. undertook a journey to India, that he might see the work on the spot and better understand the country. Though well aware that at his age, and with his peculiar constitution, he did this at much risk' to his own health; and even life, yet he accepted the call- gravely and seriously, fully alive to the venture he .was making. The six months spent on 1 that journey, and the great exertions he underwent,' broke his strong frame and ' hastened his end. Yet after his return he did not slack his efforts. . He visited all the Scottish Universities,, that he might speak face, to face, with the students on the .subject. he, had so much at heart. Within- four months of his death, standing on the very spot where I now stand, he addressed \the students of St. Andrews on India and its present condition. Some here will perhaps remember that touching 1 appeal."—Home paper.?