Excerpt from The History of the Church Missionary Society, Vol. 1 of 3: Its Environment, Its Men and Its Work If, as we earnestly hope, the completion of one hundred years of effort and of blessing is but the introduction to and the starting-point of the greater efforts and fuller blessings which our Heavenly Father has in store for us, it is surely right that we should be reminded of the faith and perseverance of the early founders of our Society, which enabled them to surmount obstacles from which our path is free, and overcome difficulties of which we have little conception. The expansion of England, the stages of its development from the little kingdom of Alfred to the Empire within whose bounds nearly a third of the human race own allegiance to Queen Victoria, has for us all an absorbing interest. Little less marvellous, even more absorbing, is the record of the steps by which God has led us on our way. What joy it is to tell how there has been given to us day by day and year by year that of which we have had need: how door after door has been opened, and one after another has been raised up to enter in or to go out and take up the work that lay to our hand to do. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This book provides a historical account of the Church Missionary Society, including its environment, its men, and its work. This is the first volume in the series. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of this organization and its work. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.