these men were to be put down on another continent, and told to confine their efforts within an area half as large as an average American State, the attempted restriction placed upon them would prove utterly futile. For a very few years they might be restrained within narrow territorial limits, but if successful in even a moderate degree they would be sure to break over the barriers, and move forward as God's Spirit and providence led them, precisely as the early Christians did when they once fully entered upon their mighty task of evangelizing the ancient Roman world.
In India an outward expansion of our work was inevitable for several reasons. In the first place, the men and women who were sent to our field were inspired by the spirit which has characterized practical missionary efforts since the days of Barnabas and Paul. The first disciples were more slow to take practical notice of our Saviour's specific direction to bear witness for Him to the uttermost part of the earth, and many Christians of the present day are prone to fall into the same error. The modern missionary enterprise has been from the first a practical protest against this mistake. In spirit it is utterly opposed to all barriers, artificial or otherwise, which are erected to limit its progress. Without waiting until all Antioch was evangelized Barnabas and young Saul set forth to bear witness in other cities, and this holy ambition to press on, and still on, into regions beyond, became from that time the inspiration of every Christian evangelist.
The men who were first sent to our Mission in India were animated by a like spirit. They were impelled forward, from one point to another, and no sooner had they gained a foothold in one city or town than they wished to establish themselves in the next city which lay in their pathway. This restless spirit of aggressive enterprise is inseparable from the earnest faith which characterizes every successful evangelist. A similar spirit manifests itself in England and America, but when once domiciled in a vast empire like India, with unlimited numbers presenting
