"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you who have begun before not only to do but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it. As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack." * * * * * The National Council has appointed Committees to take into consideration the consolidation of the missionary magazines and the re-adjustment of the work of the several Congregational missionary societies. We are happy to furnish these committees with all the facts in our possession on these subjects, and this Association will, in accordance with its fundamental theory, cheerfully acquiesce in what shall be found to be the deliberate and ultimate decision of the churches. In the meantime, it may not be out of place for us to say that missionary periodicals and missionary societies are growths and not manufactured articles, and that plans for modification should be very carefully considered. We venture, therefore, to suggest that counsel be taken of the Town Clerk of Ephesus, "to do nothing rashly." * * * * * AFRICA.--ITS SHADOW AND SUNSHINE. The shadow is still broad and dense, well nigh covering the continent. The heroic Stanley has found that shadow as dark as when he first traveled beneath it. The malarial climate and the bitter hostility of the natives are there yet. The accursed slave trade is as extensive as ever, embittering the lives of its victims, instigating wars among the tribes and obstructing agriculture, commerce and civilization. The failures to suppress it are discouraging. Sir Samuel Baker's well-equipped military force, Col. Gordon's intrepid courage, and Emin Pacha's brave endurance have all succumbed before it. Its flow, pushed back for a time, now returns with its old-time flood. Then, too, the Mahdi uprising, seemingly suppressed, still lives and is likely to hold the Soudan if not to harass Egypt. When Emin Pacha, under the protection of the heroic Stanley, abandoned his little sovereignty, it was a farewell, humanly speaking, to a speedy establishment of missions in that territory.