82 
THOMAS J. COMBER. 
was there not weighty importance belonging to his 
journeyings arising out of recent African discoveries 
— -particularly those of Stanley ; and now that the 
expedition with which he had been intrusted had 
proved so successful, was not a new mission field 
opening up for the operations of the Society with 
which he was identified ? It is not surprising there- 
fore that, when his arrival in England in November, 
1878, was announced, urgent applications, far more 
numerous than could possibly be complied with, were 
sent to the Mission House requesting his presence 
at missionary meetings. 
Perhaps there were no individuals, outside his home 
circle, who were more ready to greet him than his 
much-loved friend John Hartland and the members 
of the children’s class at Camden Road. We do not 
wonder that, at the very first weekly meeting which 
took place after his return, he should have been 
present, and presided as in the former days. The 
sacred happiness of that re-gathering, with so many 
young people in whose spiritual welfare he had taken 
an anxious interest, must be imagined rather than 
described^ 
Much of Mr, Comber’s time was, of course, occupied 
in consultations with the Officers and Committee of 
the Society, in relation to the further development of 
the Congo Mission. It was not his desire to remain 
for more than a few months at home ; consequently 
what had to be done in the way of preparation for 
future operations had to be done with vigour. One 
matter especially pressing was the necessity of secur- 
ing suitable helpers. Mr. Grenfell having returned to 
Cameroons, it was of the utmost urgency that rein- 
forcements should be obtained. It was resolved that 
Mr. Comber should be accompanied by at least two, 
and if possible by more than two colleagues. This 
resolution was made known to the churches, and as 
the result, three young men volunteered their services 
— Mr. W. Holman Bentley, Mr. H. Crudgington, and 
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