never he had gone to distant and
sequestered parts of the colony in the exercise of his ecclesiastical
functions, and was called upon to console people so situated as to be cut
off from the blessings of regular ministration, he was in the habit of
saying to them, "Although you are at present cut off, yet you may believe
that God in His providence has designed that His world shall be
inhabited, and ordained that pioneers shall go forth into desert places
in order to accomplish that end." Explorers, therefore, like Mr. Forrest,
might well feel that in devoting themselves to the work of exploration
they were doing their duty to God and to their country in seeking to
discover new fields, likely to be of practical use as new settlements for
the ever-increasing human family. Their efforts in that direction, often
purchased with much suffering and privation, entitled explorers to be
classed in the front rank of benefactors to mankind. (Applause.) The
population of the world was continuously increasing, and new settlements
became a necessity. In London alone it was said there was a birth every
five minutes. What, then, must be the population of the British empire if
the increase in one city was at that rate? It was but due to Mr. Forrest
and to all such explorers that they should receive the thanks of their
fellow-men for devoting their lives to so desirable a work as the
discovery of new country, fitted for the habitation of civilized men.
(Applause.) He would not trespass any further on the patience of the
assembly: he was present in order to join in that general feeling of
admiration which Mr. Forrest's exploit had evoked. Cooler courage and
greater heroism could not be displayed under any circumstances than were
displayed by his young friend on his right, circumstanced as he had been
on divers occasions during his journey, with his life and the lives of
his brave companions frequently in imminent peril. (Cheers.) Mr. Forrest
had just told them that he did not think it necessary to enter into the
details of that journey, inasmuch as the most important particulars
connected therewith had already appeared in his telegraphic despatch to
the Government, published in the local newspapers. That telegram was
certainly one of the most explicit and distinct records of the kind that
his lordship had ever perused. He had paid but a moderate degree of
attention to it, but had experienced no difficulty whatever in pricking
out Mr. Forrest'