12 JULY 1879, Page 24

Heroes of the Mission Field. By the Right Rev, W.

Palcenham Walsh, Dl)., Bishop of Ossory. (Hodder and Stoughton.)—The Bisheip's first chapter deals with "Apostolic and Early Missions the First Three Centuries," a period in which, after we part with St. Paul, there is no commanding figure. In his second, he describes St. Martin of Tours, and Ulphilas, Apostle of the Goths. Nothing in the volu;no is more interesting than tho account of Raymond Lull, one of the most remarkable characters of mediawal history. Francis Xavier is a more familiar name, though the true figure of the enan looms very indistinctly through tho semi- darkness with which injudicious admirers have enveloped it. Bishop Walsh says very well that we "cannot imagine a greater contrast than 'Xavier,' as described by his own pan, and 'Xavier,' as por- trayed in the legendary histories, which, in after-years, pretended to set forth his claims." The fact is that the man was much more admirable than him work, which no mission cause would now accept as satisfactory. He was certainly not the "Apostle of the Indies," as he has boon called, in anything like the sense in which Ulphilas was the "Apostle of the Goths." These pages give an account of him which will hardly satisfy some readers, but which is, we be- lieve, a fair and even generous estimate of him. After Francis Xavier comes Eliot, the "Apostle of the Red Indians." It is a noteworthy fact, that, as the Bishop tolls us, there is not a single human being that cau understand the translation of the Bible which was one of Eliot's labours. What a de- plorable satire on missionary enterprise, though it is tolerably certain that if the trader and colonist had come without the mission- ary, the extinction of the Red Indian would have been still more rapid, and unrelieved by any brighter histories. We can heartily recommend this book to our readers.—We can only mention, as con- taining much matter of great interest and importance, The Proceed- ings of the General Conference on Foreign Missions, 1878. Edited by the Secretaries. (John F. Shaw.)— The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel is, almost alone amongst Protestant missions, conspi- cuous by its absence. Of course, its rapidly developing sacerdotalisna could net permit it to send representatives to sit with Baptist or IndopeOent ministers,