On March 19th, 1913, a hundred years will have passed since David Livingstone was born. It is only forty years since his body was carried by faithful hands from the centre of Africa to the coast that he might be buried among his peers in Westminster Abbey. Nothing that has happened since has diminished by a single laurel the wreath he won, and will wear for ever. With every decade his fame greatens; and whatever our views on African problems might be, we may all agree that her white population may well pray for a double portion of his spirit. The present biography aspires to present his life to those in our busy century who ask for short measure and a clear, simple narrative of facts. The author has not aimed so much at telling the story as at allowing the story to tell itself. It may be added that, in the belief of the writer, Livingstone is greatest, not as a scientist, nor an explorer, but as a man and a missionary. - Preface.