Alford says on the passage, "long-suffering to you, that is, towards the readers of the epistle, not as a separate class, but as representing all.” Had the Christians whom Peter addressed not repented already? Had they not been rescued already? Plainly the argument could not be about them exclusively, or even primarily. And yet they might "return to foolishness." They were to be "diligent," and "make their calling and election sure" (ch. i, 10); but Dr. Carson does not like that verse, so we must say nothing about it. He holds that God makes everything sure and man nothing; but, unfortunately for his theory, and fortunately for God's character, neither do the Spirit of God nor the apostle Peter agree with him. In the next edition of his book, we would like Dr. Carson to give an explanation of the following passage in consistency with his narrow, narrow creed: "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance! But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Was the goodness of God really calculated to lead that objecting transgressor to repentance? If so, did God really wish him to repent? And if so, how was there any danger of his being visited with the righteous judgment of God?

Yet it must be admitted that this repulsive theology is exactly that which is taught in the Confession of Faith, honestly interpreted. No wonder, then, that men cry out for the revision and reconstruction of that creed, and that we of the Evangelical Union respond, Amen!

NOTICES OF BOOKS!

Tiyo Soga: A Page of South African Mission Work. By the REV. JOHN A. CHALMERS, Missionary of the United Presbyterian Church in Kaffraria. Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot. Glasgow: David Bryce & Son. 1877. Pp. 488.

MR. CHALMERS commences his truly interesting biography by the following quotation from Carlyle's Life of Sterling: "I have remarked that a true delineation of the smallest man and his scene of pilgrimage through life is capable of interesting the greatest man : that all men are to an unspeakable degree brothers." No apology, however, was needed for giving to the world the narrative of the struggles, the triumphs, the sufferings, and the death of Tiyo Soga, the immortal Kafir missionary. There are already on the shelves of our libraries the memoirs of such eminent missionaries to the heathen as Carey and Judson, Williams and Medhurst, Knill and Knibb, with many other distinguished men, who might be named in the same class; but we are not aware that the Christian church has ever before been favoured with the biography of so prominent and fully educated a native missionary as that which has now been laid upon our table. We trust that the remarkable production before us will lead to the education in this country of other promising native converts; for, as Dr. Duff has truly said, although foreign missionaries may begin the work of evangelization in pagan lands, it is only by fully equipped native missionaries, that we can expect the grand

No. 14.

work of the conversion of the heathen by God's blessing to be completed.

We in Glasgow should be interested specially in Mr. Soga's life, not only because he studied at our University, but because it was a Glasgow Missionary Society which supported the mission at the Chumie river, in South Africa, at which he was brought under religious influence. Although Tiyo, while a student in Scotland, never boasted of his Kaffrarian parentage, yet, when in after life he found himself insulted on account of his colour by those who certainly could plume themselves on the possession of no British pedigree, he was accustomed to draw himself up with a justifiable pride, and remind his despisers that he was "a Kafir of the Kafirs." His father, Soga, was an honourable councillor in the Cabinet or Staff of Sandilli, the chief of the Gaika tribe,- -a man, moreover, who had the sagacity to adopt British implements of agriculture sooner than any of his neighbours. Mr. Chalmers, the father of the biographer, took notice of young Tiyo at the mission school, which, indeed, was named "Struthers' School," after the late Dr. Struthers of this city, whose people contributed £10 a year for its support. The missionary had proposed the question, "Which is the greatest work of God?" All the other boys had answered "The work of creation;" but when it came to young Tiyo's turn, he replied, "The salvation of mankind, because it shows God's love." Observing that the youth had begun to think, Mr. Chalmers took him eight miles across the country to see if he could pass the preliminary examination of Lovedale Institution, the prize or bursary awarded for which was a free education. But although Tiyo had respectable abilities, he was nervous to a fault, and failed to pass through the trying ordeal successfully. Noticing that he made no progress with a sum in subtraction which had been written down on his slate, one of the examiners said to him, “Just take away the lower line of figures from the upper." Poor Tiyo, flurried and excited, most effectually took the lower line away by rubbing it out,—a mistake which sealed his fate, for that day at any rate. But Mr. Chalmers, being thoroughly convinced that there was merit and real Christian principle in the lad, persuaded a gentleman to pay for his education at Lovedale, so that he really did enjoy for some little time the benefits of the institution. The war of 1846, however (called the war of the Axe), broke out just about this time, by which the Lovedale seminary was dispersed, and the Chumie Mission Station burned to the ground. But the Rev. Mr. Govan, Principal of Lovedale, had formed so high an opinion of Tiyo, that he took him with him to Scotland in that year, and placed him at the Normal Institution of Glasgow, where he studied for two years, gaining a good elementary education. Dr. William Anderson of this city took kindly to the lad, and regarded him with a truly paternal feeling to the end of his days. Indeed, Tiyo Soga may be called a protegé of John Street United Presbyterian Church, which behaved towards him generously to the last, in so far as pecuniary aid was concerned,--Mr. Bogue and Mrs. Macfarlane being specially worthy

of mention among its members for their liberal contributions and kind care. Tiyo was publicly baptized by Dr. Anderson in John Street Church, on the 7th May, 1848.

"It was a soul-inspiring scene. Dr. Anderson's large heart was stirred to its very depths. The subject of his discourse on that occasion was the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, and one picture given that day is indelible. The famous preacher prefaced his sermon by reading the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, descriptive of Philip's interview with the Ethiopian. When he came to verse 38, and read the words, and they went down both into the water,' he suddenly paused and looked up, his bright eye flashing, and as if answering some opponent with whom he was engaged in hot but friendly argument, he shouted, 'I grant that they went ankle deep, but I grant no more,' and then proceeded with a sort of satisfaction, as if he had relieved himself of a burden."

The young Kafir, however, yearned for his native land, and took the opportunity of returning to it in company with the Rev. George Brown, reaching Port Elizabeth on the 31st of January, 1849. He began his work as a Catechist in the neighbourhood of the Chumie, at the salary of £25 per annum, which the Juvenile Missionary Society of Dr. Anderson's Church most heartily contributed. The reminiscences of the place, however, were painful, and the field for missionary exertion much reduced by the desolating war, so that Tiyo was glad, at the request of the Rev. Robert Niven,-who lately died at Maryhill, near Glasgow,-to transfer his services to the new mission station at Uniondale, in the very centre of the far famed Amatobe mountains, an ancient stronghold of the Kafirs. But here, alas! the war of 1850 broke out, and Mr. Niven, with his family and the young Catechist, were glad to escape from fire and sword with their lives. Tiyo always drew towards himself the hearts of those with whom he was associated, and impressed them with a sense of his value as a servant of Christ. Consequently, when Mr. Niven returned to this country in 1851, he brought with him the young Kafir, now twenty-two years of age, with a view of getting him fully trained both at the University and the Divinity Hall, and sent out ultimately to Kaffraria with the full standing of an ordained missionary. Here again we must mention creditably John Street U.P. Church, of Glasgow, from whose Session Records the following extracts are given :

"21st October, 1851.-Appeared Tiyo Soga, along with the Rev. Mr. Niven. Mr. Niven gave an account of Mr. Soga's character and diligence in his work as a teacher during his late mission to Kaffraria in that character. He spoke of him in very high terms of commendation. He then stated the reasons which had moved him to bring Tiyo to Scotland. The Session unanimously agreed that, as the Sabbath School undertook the expense of Mr. Soga's board, &c., they would defray the charges of his education at College and the Divinity Hall, that in due time he might return to Kaffraria as an ordained missionary.

"18th December, 1851.-The Moderator (Rev. Dr. Anderson), Mr. Bogue, and Mr. Paterson, were appointed to superintend Mr. Soga's conduct and progress in his studies, and to counsel him in all things they may regard necessary for his present peculiar circumstances."

It cannot be said that during either his University career, or his curriculum at the Edinburgh Divinity Hall, Mr. Soga was a brilliant student. He did not take prizes-chiefly, as he says himself, from a shrinking diffidence and reserve. But he gained the respect and affection of all his teachers and fellow-students, both for his Christian character and the promise of ultimate eminence which his slowly but surely developing abilities gave. He was a young man who had a wonderful influence upon others, as appears from the fact that no less than seven students were ordained for mission fields along with him, mainly induced by his burning zeal-one of them, viz., the Rev. Robert Johnstone, having been persuaded to accompany him to that dear Kaffraria after which he constantly longed. The following exordium of an address which was presented to him by nearly two hundred U.P. Students, along with thirty-eight valuable theological volumes, at the close of his course of study, will show to our readers the place which he had gained in their affections:

To MR. TIYO SOGA.-Beloved Brother in Christ,-The present is to us an occasion of singular interest. It is an unprecedented circumstance in the history of our Hall, that one of the sable sons of Africa should be completing his course of theology in connection with it. And now that, having passed through the ordinary curriculum, you are about to return to your native country as a commissioned ambassador of Christ, we cannot allow you to depart without giving you this written testimony (together with one of a more substantial kind) to the esteem and affection with which we regard you, the deep interest we feel in your temporal and spiritual prosperity, and the earnest desires we cherish for your success in the great work to which you have consecrated your life. Independently of all considerations as to your origin and early training, we have reason to respect you for what you are-standing on the same level as ourselves. You have taken your place among us, and have maintained an honourable position in the various departments of study in which you have been called to engage. When we consider the comparative disadvantages of your early years, and the difficulties to be encountered in mastering a language so utterly dissimilar in its genius and forms to your native tongue, we cannot but highly appreciate the extent of your acquirements and the accuracy of thought and expression manifest in your compositions. Those of us who have known you most intimately have marked in you calmness of judg ment, simplicity and frankness of disposition, humility of deportment, warmth of affection, and that strength of Christian principle which, we are persuaded, will enable you to act a consistent and exemplary part in the important position you are about to fill.”

Tiyo Soga landed with his companion, Rev. Robert Johnstone, in the summer of 1857, but only to find that the splendid race to which he belonged, the renowned Kafirs, often compared to the gallant Scotch, as a nation had been "scattered and peeled;" and what added to the trial, was the fact that this calamity had come upon them through their own superstitions and characteristic susceptibility of being imposed upon. It appears that while the hero of Mr. Chalmers' book was just drawing towards the close of his preparatory course of training, with a view of exalting his people in the scale of nations by the leavening influence of the Gospel, a movement had been set on foot

among themselves, which almost annihilated them. We will allow our author to describe this delusion in his own graphic style.

"In March, 1856, Mhlakaza, the most renowned of Kafir seers, rose among the Galekas, and by a prophesying medium (his daughter Nongquase), preached to the Katirs a new gospel, which was none other than a resurrection from the dead. She professed to have held converse with the floating spirits of the old Kafir heroes and chiefs-Ndlambe, Hintsa, Mdushane, Gaika, and Eno-who had witnessed with sorrow the ruin of their race from the oppression of their conquerors; and as they could no longer be silent spectators of the wrongs and insults of the Kafirs, it was their intention to come to the rescue, and save their progeny from extinction. They would appear once more in the flesh among their people, and be preceded by a frightful whirlwind, which would not only sweep off all the English, but also all Kafirs who did not believe in this revelation, or refused to obey their orders. They demanded, as a pledge of the Kafirs' belief, and as a means of hastening the arrival of the golden era of liberty, that there must be the utter extermination of all cattle, great and small, horses and dogs being the only animals exempted; that every grain of maize and Kafir corn should be sold or thrown away; that the land everywhere should be untouched, and not a sod thereof be turned; for if the ground was disturbed by cultivation, the advent of the resurrection would be retarded or altogether hindered. They further declared that on the day of resurrection there would live again and follow in their train all Kafirs who had died, as well as the choicest of English cattle; that the richest and daintiest food would be provided; waggons and clothes, and above all, guns and ammunition in abundance would be at the disposal of every believer. The living Kafirs would also die, and soon rise again, and the old people would resume the bloom and elasticity of youth. They stated further, that the Kafirs must now have done, and for ever, with witchcraft, and destroy all their charms, and thereby the cause of death would be abolished, and the race would become gifted with immortality and enjoy perpetual youth."

Now, almost the entire Kafir nation had been led away by this delusion, had killed their cattle, burned their grain, and left their land untilled. The day fixed by the prophetess for the resurrection had passed without the occurrence of any extraordinary event; gaunt famine stalked through the land; and the skeletons of men, women, and children that reached the confines of the British colony, begging for bread, were yet more pitiable than the uncounted skeletons that lay bleaching upon the highways throughout the whole desolated region. And to crown all, inasmuch as the survivors who were capable of the exertion, in their despair made a kind of forlorn attack upon the British government, the latter were compelled, in selfprotection, to take possession of the country, and drive the principal chief, Kreli, as an exile beyond the Embashee River, the very chief whose name, of late, has been so prominent in connection with the recent Transvaal complications. The patriotic heart of Tiyo Soga was wrung with anguish when he learned these particulars about the self-inflicted humiliation of his people; but although "perplexed, he was not in despair; although cast down, he was not destroyed.” Fortunately his own Gaika chief, Sandilli, had not yielded to the cattle-killing delusion, and therefore had been allowed to live in