The Reverend John Furniss Ogle (1823–65) was an academic, a Church of England clergyman and a committed missionary. Born into a wealthy religious family and educated at Cambridge, he worked as a tutor and minister before undertaking missions in the Falkland Islands, Europe and Africa. First published in 1873, this collection of Ogle's letters was compiled shortly after his death at sea during a mission to Algeria. Interspersed with detailed commentary by the book's editor, the Reverend James Aitken Wylie (1808–90), the letters trace Ogle's early childhood, his studies at Cambridge, his embarking on a religious life, and his determined missionary enterprises. They offer a revealing insight into life in nineteenth-century Europe and Africa, and portray Ogle as humble man, dedicated to his pursuits and to the welfare of others.
