138 
THOMAS J. COMBER, 
who said, ‘What I do thou knowest not now, but 
thou shalt know hereafter/ We have already ven- 
tured so far with Him, and trusted so much with 
Him, ‘not knowing’ or understanding, and nothing 
shall shake our confidence in Him. He cannot have 
made a mistake. He has not ‘ blundered.’ . . . Some 
of us, had we ten lives, would cheerfully lay them all 
down at our Master’s feet for work in Africa.” 
As the time for the annual meeting of the Society 
approached, it was widely expected that Mr. Comber 
would be present and speak. This expectation was 
not disappointed. On the occasion, Exeter Hall was 
unusually crowded. With a heart weighted by grief 
on account of the intelligence just arrived, of a 
further Congo loss, he rose to address the vast and 
highly sympathetic assembly. He urged the friends 
of the Mission not to be daunted, inasmuch as they 
were engaged in a high and holy quest, on which 
they had been sent by their great King. He trusted 
there would be no talk of reconsideration, lest they 
should be accounted unworthy, and be deprived of 
their great commission. With much effect he quoted 
the well-known scripture: “Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and 
die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth 
much fruit.” And then he proceeded to encourage 
the patience and faith of his hearers by referring to 
the early trials and frequent losses, but ultimate 
success, of the Mission at Accra, as well as by 
recounting the signs of promise appearing in their 
own Congo work, especially at San Salvador. 
The Royal Geographical Society, of which he was 
a fellow, was naturally desirous to receive such 
information as he might be able to impart. He was 
therefore, a second time honoured with an invitation 
to address that body, and accordingly read an able 
and instructive paper relative to the explorations 
which Mr. Grenfell and he himself had made on the 
Congo, from Stanley Pool to Mangala, and up the 
