ed on in conversation by the Doctor, and
tried to interest them in our work, but no subscriptions were asked or
received. Ere I sailed for Sydney however, the whole deficiency was sent
to me. I received in all, on this tour, the sum of L1726: 9: 10. Our
_Dayspring_ once more sailed free, and our hearts overflowed with
gratitude to the Lord and to His stewards!

CHAPTER LV.
THE FRENCH IN THE PACIFIC.

We went down to the Islands with the _Dayspring_ in 1865. The full story
of the years that had passed was laid before my Missionary brethren at
their Annual Synod. They resolved that permanent arrangements must now
be made for the vessel's support, and that I must return to the Colonies
and see these matured, to prevent any such crisis as that through which
we had recently passed. This, meantime, appeared to all of them, the
most clamant of all Missionary duties,--their very lives, and the
existence of the Mission itself, depending thereon. The Lord seemed to
leave me no alternative: and, with great reluctance, my back was again
turned away from the Islands.

The _Dayspring_, doing duty among the Loyalty Islands, left me, along
with my dear wife, on Mare, there to await an opportunity of getting to
New Caledonia, and thence to Sydney. Detained there for some time, we
saw the noble work done by Messrs. Jones and Creagh, of the London
Missionary Society, all being cruelly undone by the tyranny and Popery
of the French. One day, in an inland walk, Mrs. Paton and I came on a
large Conventicle in the bush. They were teaching each other, and
reading the Scriptures which the Missionaries had translated into their
own language, and which the French had forbidden them to use. They cried
to God for deliverance from their oppressors! Missionaries were
prohibited from teaching the Gospel to the Natives without the
permission of France; their books were suppressed, and they themselves
placed under military guard on the Island of Lifu. Even when, by
Britain's protest, the Missionaries were allowed to resume their work,
the French language was alone to be used by them; and some, like Rev. J.
Jones (as far down as 1888), were marched on board a Man-of-war, at half
an hour's notice, and, without crime laid to their charge, forbidden
ever to return to the Islands. While, on the other hand, the French
Popish Missionaries were everywhere fostered and protected, presenting
to the Natives as many objects of idolatry as their own, and foll