PROVIDENCE UNFOLDED. 639 



know that all civilized nations had shared the anxiety to know 

 whether he was living or dead : if living, where; if dead, where 

 he died and how? We know that he had with him the records 

 of a number of years, covering many of the most important 

 discoveries ever made in Africa, containing many things of in- 

 finite consequence in connection with the great work of African 

 evangelization, and of immense importance in the interests of 

 science. We know that anxious, loving hearts in England, be- 

 hind the great eager public, were almost breaking with desire to 

 know whether he was living or dead. There were reasons why 

 he should not die in the forests of Manyuema. A noble, 

 generous man, consecrated to the interests of humanity, may 

 propose greater sacrifice of himself than God is pleased to have 

 him make. Many a man would die in a cause whose life may 

 be of more consequence than the cause itself. God may judge 

 in such matters ; he may save a man at the sacrifice of that 

 man's dearest enterprises, and do graciously in it. We venture 

 to believe that this was done in bringing Dr. Livingstone back 

 to Ujiji just when he was brought back. His desire was to 

 explore the Lualaba, hoping to find it connected with the Nile. 

 But he would have been exposing all the information which 

 he had gained to eternal oblivion, had he gone on. If he had 

 died, all was lost — all his toil and sacrifice, all the interest of the 

 world in his expedition. We ought to thank God for bringing 

 him out of the danger. And we can see the providence in it 

 more clearly than he saw it, when he turned his back on the 

 great river. We remember that just about the time that Dr. 

 Livingstone arrived at Bambarre, there was a young man, a 

 total stranger to him, one who would never have been thought 

 of as conceiving such an enterprise, purposing in his heart the 

 relief of the great traveller. Almost the very day that he entered 

 this wild country there flashed across the continent from 

 Paris to Madrid the few simple words which inaugurated the 

 expedition which God meant should relieve the suspense of the 

 nations, save the information which was of such vast import- 

 ance to the cause of Christ and humanity, and cheer the weary 

 toiler with assurances of his care and the appreciation of man- 

 kind. That young man was James Gordon Bennett, Jr. ; those 

 simple words were, "Come to Paris on important business." 



