Indian Islands, is far more
favourable to European health than that of the parts of India in which
most of our missions are. The longevity of many of the South African
missionaries bears remarkable testimony to the salubrity of their
climate.

This failure of health and consequent abandonment of the work is one of
the greatest trials missions in India have had to encounter, and is a
formidable obstacle to success. Instances have not been rare when, after
great expense has been incurred, the missionary or his wife has suddenly
broken down--the wife perhaps more frequently than the husband--and a
speedy return to England has been the result. The name appears in the
Report as an agent, but no work has been, or could have been,
accomplished. In other cases the stay has been too brief to have
admitted of efficient service. A considerable time must elapse before
the missionary, however zealous and able, can acquire such an
acquaintance with the language and people as will enable him to do his
work in a satisfactory manner. When one has fully entered on the work,
there is frequent interruption from illness and weakness induced by the
severity of the climate. When I transfer myself in thought to my first
two years in Benares, and from my vivid remembrance of the vicissitudes
of our mission during these years look down through all the succeeding
years not only of our mission, but of other missions in Northern India
with which I am well acquainted, I am painfully struck with the bitter
disappointments of missionary Societies in the prosecution of their
work. They have responded to the urgent appeal for reinforcement, and in
not a few cases no sooner has the reinforcement been gained than it has
been lost. The Societies formed of late years for Zenana work have
suffered from this cause more than even the older Societies. They have
suffered in a degree which must have been very discouraging to their
managers and supporters. Happily a considerable number of all Societies
have been able to remain at their post, and some have remained so long
as to give an average length of missionary service, which hides the fact
of the extreme brevity of the period spent by many in the foreign field.

The question here suggests itself, Has this speedy abandonment of the
work been always necessary? Has there been the endurance demanded of
those who have professed themselves consecrated to a missionary life?
Has the return to England been accepted on