THE CHILDREN'S MISSIONARY NEWSPAPER. DESIGNED TO COMMUNICATE INTERESTING INTELLIGENCE RESPECTING THE MISSIONARY EFFORTS OF ALL EVANGELICAL DENOMINATIONS, IN LANGUAGE ADAPTED TO THE CAPACITIES OF CHILDREN. EDITED BY CHRISTIAN HENRY BATEMAN. VOLUME 10.-1853. EDINBURGH: GALL AND INGLIS. GLASGOW: G. GALLIE. LONDON: HOULSTON AND STONEMAN. PREFACE. Ir is now ten years, young reader, since I first undertook the writing and preparing of this little paper for you, and have now, with one year's exception (1848), sent it regularly forth to you as month by month came round. At the time it was commenced there were only three or four children's Missionary Periodicals, and of those that did exist, none were sold at less than one penny each. With one exception too-"The Youth's Missionary Repository," they were periodicals belonging to particular Missionary Societies, and did not give the general accounts of the missionary work that seemed desirable. I thought, too, that there wanted one written in more simple language, and bearing a little different character. So I tried my hand at this little paper, and succeeded beyond all I had expected in interesting young people in the work. I think the circulation of some of the months for the first year equalled 70,000 copies, and the average of all about 50,000. The cheapness of the little paper no doubt went far to give to it this success ; and whether it was that success, or other circumstances, that attracted the attention of various parties to the desirableness of some such simple periodical for the children, I do not know, but in a very short time a host of others were brought into the market, and almost all our leading Missionary Societies had their Children's Missionary Magazine. It was computed at one time that the united issues of these different little works did not come far short of, if they did not exceed, at least 250,000 every month. The result of these various publications was a large diminution of the monthly circulation of ours, and we gradually sunk to from 21,000 to 26,000 a-month, at which we kept for a considerable time. Since then other works have been increased, various other means, too, have been devised for giving children missionary information, and I fancy that not |