The Missionary Review of the World — October 1896

WILLIAM E. DODGE, ONE OF THE PROMOTERS OF MISSIONS

MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

VOL. XIX. No. lO.-Old &ritls.-OOTOBER.-VOL. IX. No. 1O.-New Series.

WILLIAM E. DODGE, ONE OF THE PROMOTERS OF MISSIONS. * BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.

When David fought with the Amalekites and recovered all that they had carned away after the burning of Ziklag,he made emphatic a memorable rule which manifestly has a typical bearing, as it is more than once referred to, both before and afterward:t ".As his part that goeth down to the battle, so his part that tarrieth by tlte stuff: they shall part alike."

This is known as " Hannington's.l~l;xt," from the prominence which the martyr bishop of Uganda gave to it in his missionary addresses and correspondence; and the principle it enunciates is really fundamental. Nothing is more necessary to an army, engaged in a campaign in an enemy's country, than to keep open the line of communication with the base of supplies. Somebody must stay by the stuff, while others go to the front, and see that ammunition and provision of all sorts are furnished in abundance, for the connection between the troops on the field and their supporters in the rear must be kept open, as manifestly one of the conditions of successful warfare-a condition as indispensable as to have soldiers to face the foe.

The merchant prince to whose career we now advert was a very conspicuous example of the friends and promoters of missions, showing how a man, without directly engaging in missionary work himself, is vitally related to the whole cause of missions, and inseparable alike from its successes and its rewards.

Mr. Dodge had a heredity which was consistent with his own career. The first of the American family of Dodge, traceable back to 1629, was a promoter of schools and churches, and bore also the name of William; and the family history, all the way through, shows mingled piety and patriotism, intelligent service of both Church and State, in war and peace.

• American !reformers. Edited by Carlos Martyn. Funk & WagnaJlB. Memorials of Willlam E. Dodge, by D. Stuart Dodge.

t Compare Numbers 81 : Zi; Joshua 22 : 8 ; Psalm 68 : 12. Punctuality, hospitality, love of books, love of man, fidelity to promise, conscientiousness, benevolence, large-minded and large-hearted service to humanity, have for centuries been family traits. Who shall dare to say that there is nothing in " blood" ?

William Earl Dodge was a native of Hartford, Conn., and born in 1805, so that at the time of his death, in 1883, he was nearly seventyeight years of age. It is always important to know what are the early influences which shape a man's future; for we are all of us molded largely by our environment, even tho it be principally by the heroic resistance which it compels to unfavorable and hindering influences. In Mr. Dodge's case the surroundings were helpful. He was brought up in an atmosphere which was at once full of the oxygen of business training and the perfume of Christian faith. He was marked by a mind that was alert and a body that was active; he craved knowledge, he yearned for occupation, and he loved animals, and so he was disposed to intelligence, industry, and affection.

At his queenly mother's knee he learned his first lessons of faith and prayer, and both alphabets, the literal and the spiritual. Her mental equipoise, her emotional tenderness, her Christian devotion, her sanctified common sense, left lasting impress on the plastic clay of his child-character. His father helped to form studious habits, to direct his courses of reading, and to inculcate ideas of unselfishness and service to humanity in the lad, whose future neither parent had forecast enough to predict; and his uncle by marriage, the remarkable man whose brain was thought by Professor Bush to be the only adequate explanation of the brilliant meteoric display of 1837-Dr. Samuel H. Cox-had somewhat to do in inspiring the boy's better nature, for he resided at Dr. Cox's home for a time while at school in Mendham, N. J.

Before William was fully thirteen he was summoned by his father to the great metropolis, henceforth to be so closely linked with his name and fame, and school life was exchanged abruptly for a clerkship in a drygoods house. He so commended himself to his employers that at the end of his first year's work he received a watch as a token of their regarda significant token, for William E. Dodge was always a man who was up to time. For a while financial straits, which drove the family to Connecticut, changed William's home and occupation; and at Bozrahville he was permitted for the first time to " start in business" for himself, stocking a showcase in his father's country store, and, tho not yet fifteen, buying and selling on his own account, and learning how to adapt himself to his customers. A year or two pass, and this same boy William has shown enough capacity and sagacity to be truRted to go to New York regularly as the purchasing agent of the business. Meanwhile the boy's Christian character and activity were finding in the humble New England village a congenial clime, for a revival turned the cotton-mill, of which his father also bad charge, int.o a place of prayer, and the business of the factory was conducted on Christian principles. The latent lessons of his earliest boyhood now changed into patent conduct and character, and one night, in 1821, he asked for prayers in his own behalf at the village prayer service, in which his sister Mary and a dozen others joined him in the new step of confession. From the time when, in 1822, he publicly united with God's people, not yet seventeen years old, he never for a day flagged in his devotion to Christ or his activities for the welfare and salvation of the race. What a privilege to have had an uninterrupted career of sixty years, in which to lay up treasures in heaven by faithful and prayerful service to God and man!

In the year 1825 William E. Dodge again came 1;0 New York, where, in 1827, he hung out his sign at 213 Pearl Street, beginning business in a small way, in partnership with a son of a former customer. One of his earliest acts in business was characteristically courteous and sagacious ; he invited two young Connecticut peddlers to avail themselves of the empty room in his store, as a depot of supplies and purchases, and he made of them, as he made of so many more by like treatment, attached friends and permanent patrons.

Enough has been written perhaps to hint the preparations Mr. Dodge had for his life of successful service, and we may now turn to the forms of service themselves whereby he became such an eminent promoter of missions in the supreme sense.

For example, he saw from the dawn of his manhood that the Sundayschool is the nursery of the Church, and one of the most efficient methods of evangelizing society. and he was for twoscore years personally and actively identified with it. In his day Sunday-schools had two sessions a Sabbath, and he was found at both; and while yet a mere lad he had brought in his own class from the street. After being for years a teacher, he was for thirty-five years a superintendent; and in this, as all other work, he was willing to lay fonndations, actually clothing boys who could not otherwise come to the school, and in one case having the boy change his clothes every Sunday at his own house to prevent a drunken father selling them at a drinkshop. More than this, he visited scholars at their homes, even when a superintendent, holding himself responsible for them all, and not leaving the work even to individual teachers. Of course the man that thus emphasized Sunday-schools was found in the front rank of every movement that looked toward their multiplication and greater efficiency. The American Sunday-School Union and New York Sunday-School Teachers' Association, etc., found in him a man, whose ti.me and strength, whose voice and purse, they might at all times count on and command.

He felt also that association is one of the most important factors in both forming and feeding virtuous and pious manhood. His heart especially yearned over young men, whose social and religious character he desired to mold in the matrix of Christian morality. Hence we find him one of the founders of the Mercantile Library of New York, and for years its truslee or treasurer-an institution inlended to prevent young men from being drawn into vicious associations and pleasures, by supplying to them a reading-room and helpful companionships; also among the founders of the New York Young Men's Bible Society, the members of which acted as lay missionaries, in colportage, and other benevolent visitation. The social links he thus formed for others proved a life-long blessing to himself, for life friendships were here initiated. In his life-war against drink we find him giving aid in forming juvenile societies, Bands of Hope, cold-water armies, and surrounding young and old alike with the safeguards of association. In fact, there is scarce a philanthropic or benevolent organization with which in some form he was not linked. The New York City Mission, the American Tract Society, the American Bible Society-of these he was director or manager, and never refused either money or time when needful, for he held that no man has a right to do by proxy what he can do in persen, and hence he never satisfied his conscience by purchasing a substitute.

Mr. Dodge owed to his marriage, more than to anyone other event of his eventful life, his power for God and good, for his wife proved both his counterpart and his cooperator in every noblest form of activity. Marriage makes or mars a man more than any other one fact of his history ; next, perl:!aps, to personal self-dedication to God, personal commitment of the man and woman to each other is the critical act and fact of a lifetime. Hence, the shame of careless, not to say unworthy, marriage bonds, and the imperalive need of not only care, but prayer, that one may trust to no guidance this side of Him, who alone reads character and knows the eternal fitness of parties to become " one flesh" and one spirit. To have a worldly, frivolous, vain, fashionable, extravagant, and unsympathetic wife is as near a wreckage as any human ship can ever encounter ; whereas many a man will never know in this world how much of capacity to do good and sagacity in doing good he owes to her whose kingdom comes not with observation, but who, like her Master, irradiates all his home life and heart life with her serene and holy light.

Mr. Dodge married for love, but with sound sense and Christian prudence. He sought and found the sterling virtues which grow more lustrous as the romantic attraction wears away. Melissa Phelps had from the age of twelve been a professing disciple of Christ, and had chosen to lose her life that she might find in service the harvest of a buried and sacrificed selfishness. What a blessing from God, when a young man with such character and aims enters into indissoluble partnership with a maiden who has already learned that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and who has found already that every Christian is to live by dying, keep by losing, gather by scattering! Henceforth the life of William E. Dodge is a twin life; nay, rather shall we not say that in the mathematics of such a marriagQ, one and one make-oNE ~ In 1828 this young man of twenty-three now starts on what is virtually a new career: he has another half to make him complete as a promoter of missions. Mr. Martyn well quotes Congreve : " Thy wife's a constellation of virtues . She's the moon; And thou art the man i' the moon I"

It would not comport with our present purpose to follow the roads whereby Mr. Dodge reached the goal of his large wealth, by the sagacious purchase of lumber districts, and. the development of the coal and iron mines of Pennsylvania, and the copper mines of Lake Superior, by his courageous and energetic pressing of railroad-building, which made all this vegetable and mineral wealth accessible j but it is quite essential to note in passing lhat he carefully read and studied all matters pertaining to his business schemes, and knew what he was doing j and it is as important to observe that, when the panic of 1837, for instance, like an earthquake, involved multitudes of adventurous traders in ruin, the house of which Mr. Dodge was a partner safely bore the shock. Their business integrity and economy and sagacity both held their customers and prevented careless burdens of debt which they could not carry in the crisis.

This biography is so fascinating that we are in danger of unduly elongating this sketch, giving too much prominence, perhaps, to the incidental features of a career which our object is mainly to present in its great outlines as furthering all missionary enterprise at home and abroad. Still, as we are contemplating a merchant prince, we must note the steps by which he mounted to his throne of influence in the commercial world.

A so-called accident, which was really a divine incident, and which both exhibited and developed William's calmness of judgment and readiness of resource, made Mr. Phelps and his son-in-law partners in the great metal importing house with which their joint names are even yet connected j and in 1833 Phelps, Dodge & Co. hung out their sign on Cliff Street. Mr. Phelps fitly succeeded those who had previously molded Mr. Dodge's early manhood, for in body and mind he was a large man, a Christian from his youth, with a model wife and family, a man of great business foresight and daring, yet of gracious temper and benevolent habits. In him young Dodge found a sage, with far-reaching vision and mature experience. with courage to inspire and calmness to restrain j and from the first this partnership was a prophecy of success, which events never disappointed. Here was a firm in which there were three persons, Phelps, Dodge, and Daniel James, another son·in-law j but there were three other partners not so often mentioned by name-" capital, capacity, and experience. ') But all this had availed nothing for true and Christian service to humanity, had there not been three other silent partners in that firm-conscience, benevolence; and consecration. This man, William E. Dodge, abode in his calling with God. His counting-house was sacred and not secular, a place for coworking with God, where he practised the presence of God. Legitimate business and not gambling, stewardship unto God and not practical atheism in money-making, habitual and systematic beneficence and not the monstrous selfishness of hoarding or indulgent spendingthese were the principles of that business house. And the results are apparent: First, in the Christian character impressed on trade j and, secondly, in the naturalness and perpetual courtesy with which appeals for help were considered, weiglled, and either dismissed as unworthy or cheerfully responded to, as a matter both of duty and privilege.

If we were asked to analyze Mr. Dodge'S character as a man of affairs, we should say that five things strike us most, namely: information, adaptation, organization, concentration, and administration. He kept himself in the current of affairs, thus not only familiar with them, but borne along by them. He sought to adjust himself to his place, work, and sphere, so as to be able readily and rapidly without friction to move about in his calling j he did everything by system, so that every duty had its time and pivot in life's machinery j and he trained himself for administering his trusts by cultivating and directing his native faculty for executive action, and concentrating his attention on his life work.

Few of us study to assimilate ourselves to others who are not on our level or in our line. Chalmers could sit on the box of a stage-coach and make the driver think for the time that he was supremely interested in horses, and so drew the driver to hear him preach the Gospel. Mr. Dodge's geniality and congeniality drew to him the driver on a coach, the stoker on a steamship, the bootblack on the corner, as naturally as the merchant on change, 01' the neighbor on the avenue. 'When he fell asleep, what man had a wider circle of loving friends?

He did not find in business, on the one hand, and benevolence, on the other, a division of his attention, for these two were not different life aims pulling in opposite directions, but, like a splendidly matched team of horses, pulling together, they drew to one and the same great goal. Business was the yoke-fellow of benevolence, and benevolence was the spur and stjmulus to business. While we are confident that llis main purpose was not set on wealth, he, no doubt, aimed to be rich j but money meant with him power to accomplish vast good, multiplication of himself by proxy, the presence of his gifts where he himself never went, and the survival of his influence indefinitely after his own death. Absolutely honest in all his dealings, and, believing with Chesterfield that" despatch is the soul of business," he united to integrity and punctuality the supreme grace of an intelligent personal generosity and philanthropy.

He was a punctilious Sabbath-keeper, and to some in these lax days would be thought extreme, but he was consistent and conscientious. He held to 1he need of a rest-day for man as man, and did not forget that even in a sinless Eden the day of rest was instituted. His religious life was all-pervasive, however, and not limited to Sabbath hours. Even in his speeches at the Union League Club there was a seriousness of tone and a reverent recognition of Divine sovereignty which was in strange con- trast with his surroundings, but eminently consistent with his uniform hab- its of life.

His personal activities were marvelous, in number, scope, variety, and versatility.

His pockets were " a tract repository"-a way of exercising influence that has no written history; and the whole man was at God's service. When President Grant undertook to conciliate the Red Indian by just dealing, Mr. Dodge became one of the commiRsioners, and he gave time, which was more valuable than money and could far less easily be given. But in settling this question it was time and thought that outweighed any amount of money: gold could not heal the open sore of our republic. In 1869 he personally went on a tour of inspection thirty days beyond the post-office frontiers, and laid the basis of friendly rela- tions with our Indian wards. For five years this merchant prince gave his help to this board, saving no one knows how many dollars and lives. Likewise, when Russian Christians felt the red right hand of persecution in the Baltic provinces, Mr. Dodge was one of the Evangelical Alliance· delegates who petitioned the Czar for their relief. Again, he acted with the Committee of Seventy to purge New York of the Tweed" ring," was chairman of the New York Branch of the Christian Commission, and a cooperator with the Sanitary Commission, etc.

To a very early period likewise we trace his identity with the cause of abolishing the traffic and use of strong drink. In the temperance reform he was a pioneer, daring to champion it when it cost something to antagonize universal customs and popular prejudices. He cousented to be sneered at as a fanatic, to be threatened by those who traded in human sobriety and grew rich on men's ruin, and ·to risk mercantile loss for the sake of the truth. When, in 1844, he visited Britain, on his arrival at Cork he called with his wife on Father Mathew, drove out with him to the Ursuline Convent, and, confident in his piety as well as philanthropy, urged him to visit America, which he did in 1849. Even amid the temptations of Washington, when as a Representative he exercised abounding hospitality, he banished all intoxicants from his banquet board, tho even total abstainers often yield to the universal custom of furnishing wines to the capital's distinguished guests.

We are prepared to find such a man promoting revivals, and himself, head and heart, engaged in them. Wheu Charles G. Finney came to New York, now nearly seventy years ago, Mr. Dodge was ready to further the work whereby all the city was moved; and to the day of his death any effort that was put forth to reach the unsaved, from the rising to the setting sun, could reckon on this man to be closely identified with it. From boyhood he had been deeply interested in a world's evangelization. His charity began at home, but did not stay there. No estimate of William E. Dodge can be complete which leaves out ?f view his double service by tongue and pen. As to the tongue, what was there of all the various forms of effort which looks to man's best good for which he had not a willing contribution of voice ~ Were municipal affairs corrupt? Hear him thunder out his remonstrance, and exhort fellow-merchants to guard the ballot-box and attend the primary meetings that determine for whom ballots are to be cast. Was a poor church in Baltimore in need of help ~ He delivers a lecture for its benefit. His voice was clear and his enunciation good, and his manner simple, sensible, and effective. His speeches in Congress are a model of patriotism and prudence, charity and courtesy, and the number and variety and utility of his various occasional speeches is surprising for a man who had never a college education and never made oratory a study. He had something to say and said it, with a single aim, to promote trnth and virtue and piety.

His pen was that of a ready writer j and as anyone can see by his signature, his writing had the supreme excellence of being readable. He formed an easy, legible, flowing hand, and he always used letter-writing as one of the foremost agencies in service to men. What volumes those letters, if they conld now be gathered, would present, and what varieties of topics they treated! What was there that was needed in the way of caution and counsel, of consolation and comfort that his pen did not convey! He valued an opportunity of putting a prop under a tempted young man more than a chance of securing a bargain in goods j and he never gave up the imperial scepter of the pen to the cold mechanism of stenographic clerks and typewriters. The sacredness of the confessional was not more inviolable than some of his correspondence. He reminded us of Charles H. Spurgeon, whose letters and postcards were seeds of the kingdom sown over the wide world. His pen exhibited its usefulness in many unobtrusive ways, as when, to the fly-leaf of " Wayland's Letters to the Ministry," which he distributed among expectant ministers of the Word, he attached a personal letter of counsel, at once paternal and fraternal, full of wisdom and graciousness.

When the awful trumpet of war sounded in 1861 Mr. Dodge was, with his partners, among the earliest and largest subscribers to the expenses of the struggle to preserve the republic, and whenever a new need arose a new subscription followed. He who gave a son to the army, and would have gone himself to the front had he been conscious of a call to that duty, kept up the open line of communication at heavy cost. When the great distress in the Lancashire cotton mills resulted from the blockade of the Southern ports, Mr. Dodge started the movement to forward Rupplies of money and food and clothing to the suffering operatives, himself acting as chairman of the Committee of Relief.

GOSPEL WORK IN PERSIA

GOSPEL WORK IN PERSIA.

BY REV. SAMUEL G. WILSON, TABRIZ, PERSIA.

In considering the condition of Gospel work in Persia, the state of religious Jiberty and the prospects concerning it come foremost to the mind. Would that there was a more favorable outlook for toleration! Islam is inherently intolerant, and the leaders of Islam in Persia-the mollahs-are gaining a higher position and increased power. The people are willingly submissive to them as interpreters of the law and religious guides. They are an educated and. wealthy class. Many of them have large landed property, are the recipients of government grauts and large legacies from the people. The settlement of estates and of civil suits is in their hands, aud fees and fines, together with the khums, or fifth of each inheritance, go to the mollahs. The real allegiance of the people is to their Mujtihids, and not to the Shah. Many events have shown this of late years. It was strikingly illustrated lately in the mourning for the death of the Chief Mujtihid of Tabriz and for Shah Nasr-i-Din. For the former the bazaars were closed three days, and services of mourning, continuing through several weeks, were held in many mosques and houses. Feasts were given in the mosques in his honor. Government officials, through fear of the people and the mollahs, joined in the mourning, and even the Armenians thought it discreet to close their schools and to send a sum of money to one of the mosques for a tozia or mourning service. A public crier went through the bazaars and proclaimed that the Armenians were holding service for the rest of the Mujtihid's soul. Whether in sincerity or dissimilation, the whole city joined in revering the dead Mujtihid. When the Shah was assassinated, no signs of mourning were visible, and no memorial services were held in Tabriz. Many Persians expressed their satisfaction. Rejoicings for the accession of the new Shah occupied the attention of all. The city was illuminated in an unprecedented manner. One official, who had invited some guests to celebrate the jubilee of Nasr-i-Din Shah, held the feast on the appointed day, telling his guests to rejoice instead on account of the accession of Muzaffir-i-Din. The Mujtihid was mourned for more than the Shah. It is likely that the power of the mollahs will increase during the present reign, as Muzaffir-i- Din is inclined to consult them and lean upon them for guidance.

Mollahs maintain their influence over the people by instructing them in the schools and mosques, and impressing them with the truth of the Shi~h faith. At Friday prayers, in the Fast of Ramazan and the mourning of Muharram the inculcation of religious doctrine is pursued, until the people are well informed regarding the precepts and traditions of Islam and are inspired with its intolerant spirit.

Gospel work among Mohammedans shows little change. The law of death to the apostate is at all times liable to be enforced. The martyrdom of Mirza Ibrahim, contrary to expectations, has had a depressing effect on the work among Mohammedans in Azerbijan. Inquirers have drawn back, shrinking from drinking the same cup. Some of them say that to forego wealth, position, and even life is a greater cross than they can take up. The workers, too, have felt the need of exercising greater caution than before. The baptism of a Persian woman in Ispahan, in 1894, was the occasion of riotous demonstrations. A/atva or decree was given by a Mujtihid to kill the missionary who was the means of her conversion. The woman was seized, but her life was spared, and she is coofined in the harem of the prince-governor, where she was lately seen by the ladies of the mission. It is a cause for thanksgiving that she has been permitted to live.

In view of the situation missionaries are in a quandary as to their duty. Some believe in aggressive work for Mohammedans in spite of government prohibitions, while others advocate continuing to give special attention to non-Mohammedan races until Providence opens up the door more effectually. The Church Mission at Ispahan seems lately to be working aggressively. Of its work Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall writes in the Ohurch Missionary Intelligencer (June, 1896) : "Six persons have recently been baptized in J ulfa alone, after very careful and long-continued instruction, and these are working quietly among their friends and relatives. These converts estimate the number of secret believers in that neighborhood alone at many thousands. The same is more or less the case throughout the couutry. Belief in Christ as the one Savior of the world is spreading rapidly. Considerable numbers attend the Sunday services and Bible classes, held in connection with the various missions, and all over the country there are candidates for baptism. The writer of the present article has had some experience of religious work in India and other countries, but nowhere has he witnessed anything approaching the interest in the Gospel now shown in many parts of Persia." I do not think anyone would write of the population of Northwest Persia with the same degree of sanguineness, but everywhere there is freedom for discussion. The Persians are remarkably free in the use of their tongues on every subject (except their harems). They speak evil of dignitaries without let or hindrance. Tirades against the mollahs and sentiments disloyal to the Shah are uttered even in public without fear. In like manner religious discussion is indulged in with little restraint. There is opportunity for the presentation of the Gospel to indIvidual Mohammedans, and slight objection is raised until Rome one accepts the truth.

What the influence of the Babis will be toward solving the problem of religious liberty is not yet evident. Their position is complicated by their political aspirations, and by their former attempt (1852) to assassinate the Shah Nasr-i-Din. Rumor persistently connects them with his final taking off on May 1st, 1896. Altho their severe persecutions have been largely caused by political reasons, their steadfastness and martyr- doms have sprung from their religious beliefs. Notwithstanding the death, or, as they phrase it, ascension, of their Divine incarnation, Mirza Husain Ali, Baha'uUah (the light of God), on May 16th, 1892, in exile at Accho. they continue to hold together and in some places to increase. Information is most contradictory as to their character and numbcrs. I am assured that their inner circle practice a community of wives, and approve of assassination as a means of freeing themselves from enemies. Their numbers are often stated at from 500,000 to 1,000,000. If so, the New Dispensation is already firmly established, and can claim a tenth or twelfth of the Mohammedans of Persia. 'fhey are struggling for religious liberty, and the inflnence of so large a body must weaken the resisting power of Shiahism. Tho bent on achieving their own trinmph, they profess great friendship for Christians, and are earnest students of the Bible to find proofs for their own revelation. Their belief in the divinity of Jesus and of Baha is a strong doctrinal link with Christianity. Some of the best converts to Christianity have been from this new religion. One of these lately said to me: "There are many who are convinced that the best and only true religion is Protestantism. They admire the con- duct of the Protestants, and refer to it as an example in contrast with their own actions. "

The work of the Bible societies continues to be one of the best agencies for the diffusion of the truth in Persia. The sales of Scriptures are not as large as in many countries. The total number circulated during the past ten years is estimated at 60,000. The report of the British and Foreign Bible Society says: "What have these 60,000 copies done for Persia ~ Have they in any way helped to bring one sinner to Christ ~ Yes, not only one, but a very large number. 1. There are many of whom we have heard, and some whom we have met and know personally, who are real and true Christians. 2. There are hundreds of men who, while accepting the truth as it is in Jesus, and believmg in the doctrines of the Christian religion, are afraid openly to confess their faith. 3. There are thousands who have got a glimpse of the truth and become anxious in- quirers, and who are' not far from the kingdom of God.' 4. Thousands there are who at one time were bitter enemies of the Gospel, trying to hinder the work in every possible way, but whose hearts have been softo ened. People who knew nothing of the Bible or Christianity will be seen now discussing these topics in order to find out the truth." Another report of the same society says: "Some, and I think the majority, of the most interesting cases are the result of the study of the Word of God alone, without comment or word from any man. For instance, a sheikh of an Arab village paid us a visit at the beginning of 1889. He told me that about ten years before he had received an Arabic Bible. He studied it, and after a while, being the mollah of the village, he began to read it to his people. I asked him if he had read the whole of it, and he said, 'Praise God, I have !' By this means he had been brought to some knowledge of the Word of God and of the way of salvation. He asked me to visit him in his village, but not being able to do so, I S'ent two of the native brethren. They found that the sheikh had read the Bible to the people assembled in his house. 'rhey preached the Gospel to large gatherings of Moslem villagers. The sheikh seemed, like many others, to believe in Christ with the heart, but not to be ready to confess Him before men. "

The story of the conversion of the colporteur in charge of the Bible depot at Tabfiz illustrates the illuminating power of the printed page. Aga Mateos was a rich merchant and a devout Gregorian Armenian, much given to reading the Prayer-book and the Fathers, faithful in his attendance on the church services and the donor of a picture which still hangs in the church at Tabriz. He met with financial losses, and went to the Bible for consolation. He was surprised at its contents. One day he had the Bible open before him when a friend entered and said, "Put up that book and corne to walk with me. If you read the Bible you will become a Protestant." Aga Mateos replied, " There is no danger of that," and went on reading. He began with Genesis. Day by day he read. By the time he had reached Isaiah his eyes were opened. He saw how Christ was magnified above all, how the prophets and saints were sinners and unworthy to be mediators. When he reached the Gospels, so great was his eager interest, that he read each Gospel through in a single night. When he had finished the epistles he was a firmly convinced Protestant, and he has never since wavered. God thus magnifies His Word.

The agent of the American Bible Society for North Persia, the Rev. W. L. Whipple, after sixteen years in the superintendence of this work, has just withdrawn from it for the education of his children. He leaves a memorial behind him by the gift of his residence in Tabriz to the mission for a woman's hospital and dispensary.

Gospel work among the Oriental churches in Persia shows little change. Among the Armenians the past year has been one of increasing friendship and enlarged opportunity. The sympathy of America for the suffering Armenians in Turkey, and the devotion of the missionaries there to their relief have taken from the hearts of many the old roots of bitterness. There does not appear any quickening of spiritual aspirations and longings, such as we so much desire to see. Religious feelings are callous, and but a cold response is given to appeals to the conscience. The thoughts of the people are engrossed in the pursuit of gain, and in the discussion of the wrongs and prospects of their race in Turkey and Russia. Personal religion is rarely a matter of personal concern. The conviction prevails in the minds of the Armenians that they are safe through the rites of the Church, and the doctrines of regeneration and conversion are neither taught nor understood among them. Missionaries sometimes have a feeling of disappointment that so few are converted as the result of so much labor, and that Protestant churches are not built up more rapidly. There are, indeed, other results which are encouraging. The gradual progress of enlightenment, the popular approval of evangelical truth, the apologetic attitude of the mass of the Armenians with reference to their doctrines and ceremonies, the expressions of desire for the educa- tion and improvement of the clergy for the translation of the Church books into the modern tongue and for a reformed church show that the leaven of evangelical truth has wrought among them. Many cling to the Gregorian Church as the representative of their national life, and hope for reforms from within. Yet the patriotic laymen and priests tell us that not a rite or a doctrine must now be touched or changed in the old organi- zation Jest the national unity be disturbed, not until the aspirations of the race are attained. With hope of religious reformation so indefinitely deferred, we cannot do else than continue to invite and urge the members of the Gregorian Church to come out and enter into the light of evangeli- cal faith and worship.

The work most effective in the past, among the Armenians, has been education, especially in boarding-schools. During the year advance has been made in the occupation of some villages lying between Ramadan and Ispahan. A change of method has been inaugurated in the Salmas field, which for eleven years has had an organized station. The rising of water in the subsoil of Raftdewan occasioned the fall of some houses, and endangered others. This led to the consideration of the future of the station, as to whether houses should be rented or built in some other village of the plain or the station remove to some other center or disbanded. It was finally decided to withdraw the missionaries to Tabriz and Urumia, and to work the field with well. qualified native agents.

Among the Nestorians in Urumia evangelical truth has taken deep root, but it is also encountering many difficulties. Among this people is presented a curiolls spectacle of missions contending with each other. To the older missions-Catholic and American Presbyterian-have been added the mission of the Archbishop of Canterbury, a Lutheran, and several efforts intermittently supported from Sweden, Norway, and England. The latest scheme is one in cooperation with our Presbyterian mission. It is inaugurated by the Industrial Missions Aid Society, composed of a number of Christian capitalists of England, who will find capital for industries connected with evangelical missions. It proposes to " take the business management off the hands of the missionaries, leaving them free for spiritual work, and to provide work and the means of livelihood for converts whose coming out for Christ entails the loss of their means of living." First, they send back to Persia two young men (Nestorians) who ha'e learned trades. They are sending an outfit for a carpenter's shop, an engineer's shop, with portable engines and all tools and machinery requisite to train apprentices.

This society proposes also to place on Lake U rumia one or more steamers and develop the trade all around the lake. The plan also includes the erection of an electric railway around the lake and to different cities in its neighborhood. A Christian capitalist has intimated a desire to give the steamer. The industrial part of this scheme is feasible, but unfortunately the plan for steamers and railways will meet with insuperable difficulties. Industrial work is very profitable for the Nestorians. Many of their youth are now going to Russia and America for lack of profitable means of livelihood. Those who have been educated and have a spirit of progress have no outlet for their activity. It is better that they should become good artisans than educated and unemployed scholars. This new scheme will be in cooperation with the industrial school connected with the Urumia College. Mr. E. T. Allen, who has had cbarge of it, is now in Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, perfecting himself for this work.

The work among the evangelical churches in Urumia shows advance during the year, especially in self-support. The debt of the Presbyterian Board rendered a reduction of the appropriations necessary. Many of the congregations have responded to the call for larger gifts, and raised their contributions 50, and in some cases 100 per cent.

The Swedish Mission which was for a few years established at Tabriz with evangelists at Urumia, Ramadan, and other points has heen transferred to Chinese Turkestan. Their mission in Persia was begun primarily with the idea of preparing young men from Russia and the Caucasus to return to their own country as evangelists. This was found impracticable, and as it was not necessary for two evangelical missions to occupy the same territory, a friendly arrangement was made in accordance with the principles of missionary comity, wher.eby they withdraw their missionaries and our mission took over such of their native agents as they desired. Others accompanied them to their new field. Among the latter were a Nestorian and three or more Mohammedan converts. One of them has been stationed at Bokhara, and another at Samarcand, in Russian territory, while others have gone with the Swedish Mission into Chinese territory. One of these converted Mohammedans was from Turkey, and was at one timtJ a pupil in the Tabriz Memorial Training School. Re is pictured by Mr. Morrison (agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who has made a tour to that province) as sitting in the Hindi Serai of Kashgar, on the edge of the great Kobi desert, a case of Scriptures behind him, in front of him a desk, and on it a manuscript of the Gospels, which he is translating into the language of the people. The Gospel of Matthew has already been finished. It is very interesting to note the beginning of the introdnction of Christianity again into China from its western border, and especially the going there of Nestorians and other Christians from Persia, as in olden times.

The region occupied by the Swedish Mission includes the fertile oases of Kashgar, Yarkand, and Kohtar. It lies across the Thian Shan Mountains from Russia, and tho subject to China is occupied chiefly by Tartar

THE STAR·WORSHIPERS OF MESOPOTAMIA

Mohammedans. The principles of religious liberty, which prevail in the Chinese Empire, will be a shield for their work. The language of the people is very similar to the Tartar or Turki used by us in Persia. Mr. Hogberg, formerly of Tabriz, is the pioneer of the mission. The plan of the mission is evangelistic, and in close contact with the natives. Indeed, two of the ladies of the mission have, I believe, married Asiatic converts. It will be interest.ing to see 1he development of this experiment. The British and Foreign Bible Society is also trying to open up a work for Bible distribution in those provinces. Thus the Trans-Siberian Railway is already being made a highway for the advance of Christ's kingdom.

By the autumn of 1897 it is expected that a branch of the Transcaucasian Hailway will be extended to Erivan, thus bringing Persia two days nearer to America.

THE STAR-WORSHIPERS OF MESOPOTAMIA.* BY REV. S. M. ZWEMER, F.R.G.S., BUSRAH, ARABIA.

In the towns along the lower Euphrates and Tigris, especially itt Amara, Sook es Shiookh, Busrah, and Mohammerah, there dwell an interesting people variously known as Sabeans, Nasoreans, or St. John Christians. They call themselves Mandaee (Mandalans), and altho only numbering four or five thousand, they yet have always been and remain entirely distinct from the Jews, Moslems, and Christians among whom they have dwelt for centuries. Their origin is lost in obscurity, altho it is traced 'ill! a measure 1hrough the maze of their religion to ancient Chaldea.

Certain it iF! 1hat at the time when Islam arose the Sabeans were a strong sect. The Koran recognizes them as distinct from idola1ers, and places them with Jews and Christians as "people of the book" (Surahs 22 : 17 j 2 : 59; 5 : 73) : "Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews, and the Sabeans and the Christians, whosoever believes in God and the last day, and does what is right, there is no fear for them nor shall they grieve." In the English Bible the name Sabeans is perplexing, and, altho applied to three different tribes or peoples, none of these are any way related to the present sect in Mesopotamia. Sabeans, according to Gesenius, should be T8a~ian8, from tsa.both, the host of heaven-i.e., the supposed objects of their worship. Noldeke and others say it comes from a root, 8ubba, to wash, baptize, and refers to the manner of their worship. Gibbon is perhaps correct when he states the origin of their other name thus: "A slight infusion of the Gospel had transformed the .. Bibljography: NOldeke's "Mandaische Grammatik," HaIle, 1875; Captain Prideaux's .. Sketch of a SaOOan Grammar," TraUB. Bib. Arch. Soc., vol. v. ; Ain.worth's "Enphrates Expedition," 2 vols., 1888; Encyciopredia Britannica, vol. xv., pp. 470; Dr. W. Brandt's" Mandaische Schriften," 1895; "A Prayer.Meeting of the Star-Worshipers" (London Standard, Oc- Wber 11lth, 1894) ; V. Cuinet'… La Turqnie d'Asle," 1894. last remnant of the Chaldean polytheists into the Christians of St. John at Bussora." And yet the present Sabeans, although giving peculiar honor to John the Baptist, can in no sense be called Christians. Nor are they related, except indirectly, to any of the Judreo-Christian h&resies of the early Church, such as, e.g., the Remero-baptists.

Isolated by creed, cult, and a language of their own, they love their isolation, and do not intermarry with strangers. Nearly all of them follow one of three trades: they raise the finest dairy produce of Mesopotamia; they build a peculiar kind of light canoes called Mashhoof; and for the rest are silversmiths. No traveler visits their villages without carrying away specimens of their beautiful inlaid work, black metal on silver and 46.NO ~< ~~~O gold; rings, thimbles, bracelets, ~~~..s.~ armlets, and ornaments of all kinds. A peaceful people are they; indus- ~~ ~t.!L D<J0 o,Jo trious, tho mostly poor, and living in harmony with their neighbors, they seldom afford trouble to their ~~~ -'10 d4.S-~ Turkish rulers. Both men and women have a remarkably fine phy- ""~~ J~~ <)(1J sique; tall, of dark complexion, good features, and with long black: . <.A-1e <.~~ ~O beards, some of them are typical patriarchs-even as we imagine <.~ ~cf.v4f. <vo Abraham appeared when he left their present country for Haran. On ordinary days their dress does not distinguish them from Moslems or Jews, but on feast days they wear only white. Their women go about unveiled, and have a more masculine A PASSAGlI FBOM THlI SACRlID BOOK OF THlI cast of features than Moslem women; MANDlEANB. they are also rather taller.

The two great things, however, that distinguish the Sabeans are their language and their religion. Naturally the bazaar-talk of all the river country is Arabic; aU Sabeans speak it, and a goodly proportion read and wrile it; but beside this they have a household language of their own, the langnage of their sacred books, which is called Mandaitic. So closely related to Syriac that it might be called a dialect, it yet has its own peculiar alphabet characters, resembling the older Palmyrene, and is not fully intelligible to the Syriac·speaking Christians from Mosul. Wright says it resembles most Nabathean and the langnage of the Babylonian Talmud. The oldest manuscripts in this dialect date from the sixteenth century, and are in European libraries. At present only the priests can read and write Mandaitic, but they refuse to teach those outside of their faith even the first lesson. The illustration given was copied for me by one of the priests at Busrah. A recently publilihed translation of th6ir sacred writings into German contains only one fourth of the" great book"

of the Mandreans. What is this great book 1 What does it teach? And what do these St. John Christians, falsely so called, really believe?

Altho meeting Sabeans for the past four years, and being their guest on frequent journeys up and down the rivers, I found no satisfactory answer to these questions from their own lips. They turn to the North Star whcn they pray, and "baptize" every Sunday-these were the sole articles of faith that one could learn. Books gave fragmentary and conflicting statements, all hinging around these two plain facts. According to one account they were gross idolaters j another classed them with Christians.

Light dawned from an unexpected quarter. An anonymous article ap- peared in the London Standard, entitled" A Prayer-Meeting of the Star- Worshipers." Whoever wrote it must be perfectly acquainted with their religious mysteries, or be one of themselves! -When I translated it to a company of Sabeans at Amara,. they were dumbfounded. Who had dared to expose all their secret ceremonies and beliefs to public "iew? Let me quote one paragraph only of this account, every minute particular of which the Sabeans assure me is true : " Toward midnight the Star-worshipers, men and women, come slowly down to the Miahkna by the river-side. Each enters the tiny wattled hnt by the southern wall, disrobes and bathes in the circular reservoir.

On emerging from the water each one robes him or herself in the rasta- that is, the ceremonial white garment, crosses to the open space in front of the door of the tabernacle, and seats himself upon the ground, saluting those present with the customary' Sood Havilakh' (' blessing be upon thee '), and receiving the usual reply, ' .Asaootah de hai havilakh'

(' blessing of the Living One be upon thee '). The sacred book, Sidra Rabba, is laid upon the altar folded back where the liturgy of the living is divided from the ritual of the dead. The high-priest takes one of the two live pigeons handed to him, extends his hands toward the Polar Star, upon which he fixes his eyes, and lets the bird fiy, calling aloud: 'Bahmo d'hai rabba mshabba zivo kadmayah Elaha. Edmen Nafshi Eprah' (' In the name of the Living One, blessed be the primitive light, the ancient light, the Divinity self-created '). [Then] the reading being in progress, they prepare the Peto Elayat or high mystery, as they term their communion. One kindles a charcoal-fire in the earthen- ware stove by the side of the altar, and the other grinds small some of the barley brought by the deacon. He then expresses some oil from the sesame seed, and mixing the barley meal and oil, prepares a mass of dough which he kneads and separates into small cakes the size of a two- shilling piece. These are quickly thrust into the oven and baked. The fourtn deacon now takes the pigeon left in the cage, cuts its throat quickly with a very sharp knife, taking care that no blood is lost. The little cakes are then brought to him by his colleagues, and still holding the dying pigeon, he strains its neck over them in such a way that four small drops fall on each to form a cross. Amid the continued reading of the liturgy the cakes are carried around to the worshipers by the priests, who themselves pop them directly into the mouths of the members with the words, , Marked be thou with the mark of the Living One.' The four deacons inside the Mishkna walk ronnd to the rear of the altar and dig a little hole in which the body of the dead pigeon is then buried."

What a mosaic of ceremonies ! No wonder that Professor Kessler calls Mandreism a most striking example of religious syncretism. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity engrafted on one old Chaldean trunk. Gnosticism, star-worship, baptisms, love-feast, sacrifice, and Ornithomancy in one confusion. And yet there is a method in it, and a system of dogma lies behind the mysteries of their cult. Sabeanism is a book-religion.

Among the large collection of their sacred writings the Sidra Rabba, or Great Book, holds the first place. It contains over five hundred large quarto pages of text, divided into two parts, a " right" and a " left.hand" testament. From this mass of diffuse and obRcure material one can dig out the elements of a system of cosmogony, and on this is based all their ritual and ceremony.

First of all things was Pera RaMa, the great abyss. With him " Shining Ether" and the" Spirit of Glory" (Mana RaMa) form a primal triad. From the last named, who is the king of light, emanates Yardena RaMa, the great Jordan. Mana RaMa called into being the first of the reons, Primal Life, Hayye kadema. He is really the chief god of the Sabeans, and everyone of their prayers begins by invoking him. From him proceed secondary emanations, Yushamim, "Jehovah of heaven," and Manda Hayye, " messenger of life" (the mediator of their system and whence their name). Yushamim was punished for attempting to raise himself above Primal Light, and now rules the world of inferior light. Manda still rests in the bosom of Primal Light, and had a series of incarnations, beginning with Abel (Hibil) and Seth, and ending with John the Baptist! Beside all these there is yet a third life, called 'Atika, the demiurge, who created the bodies of Adam and Eve, but could not make them stand upright.

The underworld has its score of rlliers-Zarfay, Za1·tanay, Hag, Mag, Gaf, Gafan, Anatan, and Kin, with hells and vestibules in plenteous confusion. Hibil descends here and obtains victories for Manda, and compels them to divulge the hidden name of darkness. From the fourth vestibule he carries away the female devil Ruha, daughter of Kin. This Ruha, Kessler affirms, is really an anti.Christian parody of the Holy Spirit. By her own son, Ur, Ruka becomes mother of the planets and signs of the zodiac. These are the source of all evil in the world, and control the sins of mankind. But the sky itself is an ocean of water, pure and clear, -the abode of Light. The central sun is the Polar Star, with jeweled crown standing before the door of Abathur. The Mandroans consider all the Old Testament saints. except Abel and Seth, false prophets. True religion was professed by the ancient Egyp- tians, who were their ancestors. Another false prophet was Yishu Mashiha (Jesus Christ), who was, in fact, an incarnation of the planet Mercury. John the Baptist, an incarnation of Hibil, appeared forty-two years before Christ, and by mistake baptized Him also. More than two hun- dred years after this time there came into the world sixty thousand saints from Pharaoh's host, and took the place of the Mandroans who had been extirpated. Their high-priest then had his residence at Damascus. The last false prophet was Mohammed, but he was kept from harming them, and during the reign of the Abbasides they had four hundred places of worship in Babylonia.

The Mandroan priesthood has three grades-Shkanda, or deacons, Farmida, or disciples, and a Ganzivra, or high-priest. The late Ganzivra of the Sabeans was Sheikh Yahya, at Soak es Shiookh j their present head is called Sheikh Sahn, and is now imprisoned at Busrah on charge of fomenting the late rebellion of the Arab tribes near Kurna.

The Sabeans observe six great feasts besides the weekly Sabbath (Sunday). One of the feasts celebrates the victory of Abel in the world of darkness, another the drowning of Pharaoh's army, but the chief feast is that of baptism. On it, called Pantsha, all Sabeans are baptized by sprinlcling three times a day for five days; and this is compulsory. The Sunday baptisms of immersion in running water are, however, largely voluntary, and therefore meritorious; these latter closely correspond to the Moslem ritual of purifications, and take place after touching a dead body, etc. The moral code of the Sabeans is that of the Old Testament in nearly every particular. Polygamy is allowed, but not often indulged in. They do not circumcise, and have no holy places or churches, except those built for a feast night at the river-side. They are friendly to Christians of all sectR, and love to give the impression that because they honor the Baptist they are more closely related to us than to the Jews or Moslems. Some time ago their small community at Nasariyeh asked for a school, but the project fell through. They occasionally purchase Arabic Scriptures from our colporteurs, and are most interested in Genesis and John's Gospel. But we have not yet met with anyone among them who seriously inquired the way of life through Jesus Christ. Some years ago their community at Busrah and Mohammerah was aided financially (by the queen, they say) through the kind offices of the British Consul, and ever since they have not ceased to think themselves worthy of a repetition of this high favor.

Their numbers have even during the past decade steadily decreased, and yet so closely do they cling to their ancient faith, that i1; seems the Mandalan system will only die when the last star-worshiper is carried to his grave in the palm orchards of the river country.

THE RUSSIAN STUNDIST!I

THE RUSSIAN STUNDISTS.-I.* THEIR ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND PERSECUTION.

BY PROFESSOR G. GODET-TRANSLATED BY MRS. D. L. PIERSON.

The era of religious persecution is not passed. Not only iu Armenia and China do Christians suffer for their beliefs, but under a government that calls itself Christian-in holy Russia, and in the holy atmosphere of the "Holy Synod" of the Russian Church. The world at large has but an imperfect knowledge of these persecutions. If they were known more widely and more in detail, we are persuaded that the public would be so stirred that the Russian Government could no longer ignore or permit what now goes on in that empire. It is evident that the Stundists are misrepresented to the Emperor to be a political and social organization dangerous to the State, and not, as they really are, an inoffensive religious sect. It is also evident that the most horrible deeds of persecution are carefully hidden from him, and that he has but a remote idea of the sufferings which some of his most faithful subjects have undergone. The petitions that the persecuted ones have tried to send to him, thanks to the Russian police, have never been allowed to reach their destination. It is useless to think of making any external attempt in their favor. What was gained by the interventions of the Evangelical Alliance in behalf of the Baltic provinces during the reigns of the two preceding emperors ~ Nothing-even worse than nothing-an aggravation of the evil!t Anything that looks like an interference from an outsider in the national affairs of Russia only irritates the government, and threatens to injure rather than aid the cause of the oppressed.

The Origin and Oharacter of Stundism.-The Stundists, about 250,000 in number, ara scattered throughout the south of Russia.! About 1868 the newspapers spoke for the first time of the Stundists, and of the activity of Pastor Charles Bonekemper, who was settled for a year at Rohrbach, near Odessa. It was he who gave the first decided impulse to the movement; but its beginning was still earlier. In 1823 John Bonekemper, of Wupperthal (the father of Charles Bonekemper), having been sent by the * This article is a translation of a little pamphlet by ProfeBBor G. Godet, of Neuchiltel, Switzer'

land. The French pamphlet is itself in part a compilation of facts from English and other public&'- tions. Among other books on the Stundists are "The Stundlsts ;" •• A Short History of the Stnndist.;"" A Highway of Souow," by Hesba Stretton; and "Nadya, a Tale of the Steppes," by Norris.

t Recently, however (by order of the Emperor no doubt), the Minister of the Interior was informed that he might discontinue the "exceptional methods taken for protecting the Orthodox Church" in the Baltic provinces. This means, probably, the end of persecutions for the Lutherans in these + provinces-but what of the Stundists ? They are found largely in the provinces of Bessarabla, Kherson, Kursk, Poltava, Kharkov, Taurida, Don Cossacks, Astrakhan, and in Caucasla. A line drawn from Warsaw through Orel to Astrakhan would nearly mark the northern limit of Stundism. church at Basle to the south of Russia, settled in 1824 at Rohrbach, as pastor of one of the German settlements there in the reign of Catherine II. In these colonies the residents preserved the custom of the" Stunden," or " hour" meetings for prayer and Bible study long practised in Wllrtem- berg. Bonekemper took part freely in these exercises, in which the Rus- sians, not understanding German, were unable to join. In 1858 a peasant named Onishenko, from the village of Osnowa, near the port of Nikolayev, began to attend these meetings, and was led to Christ. He immediately set about telling others, and formed similar little prayer-meetings in the neighboring villages. Thus was Stundism born, and it made rapid prog- ress, especially after the liberation of the serfs (1861). This emancipation caused the peasants to travel about in search of work, and thus those who had heard the Gospel spread it abroad from town to town. Freedom also inspired these peasants with a desire for an education. This was a powerful stimulus to a movement which was really but a return to the study of the Bible-the book which had been closed to the masses of the people. Itinerant preachers traveied through the villages gathering together groups of listeners eager for the truth. ·In 1864 appeared for the first time a pocket edition of the New Testament in Russian, and the new converts bought it with joy.

From its start the characteristic traits of the adherents of Stundism were absolute abstinence from intoxicants, assiduous study of the Scriptures, and the cultivation of a fraternal ChristIan spirit. They had no idea at first of withdrawing from the Orthodox Church. They even went to the priests asking counsel and light. The priests, too ignorant to give this, but not too blind to see that the movement as it gained strength and knowledge would be sure to attack the abuses and superstitions of the Church, quickly assumed a hostile attitude toward the new tendencies, and appealed to secular force to suppress the heresy. It was about 1870, when the Stundists numbered about 70,000, that the first oppressive measures were taken. As they increased the time came when this systematic implacable persecution no longer aimed at repressing them, but at exterminating them altogether.

Before recounting the leading phases of this persecution, it will not be out of the way to trace rapidly the principles of this movement, which many have thought held more to the letter than to the spirit of the Gospel. Few people have a really clear idea of the fundamental beliefs and organization of the Stundists. They are often represented to be a fanatical sect of ignorant iconoclasts, advocating a social reform which is but the embodiment of the principles of communism, and consequently a sect dangerous not only to the Church, whose errors and superstitions they attack, but also to the State which they seek to undermine. Therefore some say that Russia has a right to suppress them. It is in this light, no doubt, that the Emperor and many people both in Russia and elsewhere regard the matter. No idea is more foreign to the truth. We do not say that error has not crept ~nto their precepts, or that they have always had that wisdom and moderation becoming to Christians. But remember that a few years ago they were ignorant peasants, for the most part unable to read or write. Hunted by the police, they have not been able to enjoy the benefits of regular organized instruction. It is rather then a source of wonder that these simple people, living by themselves, should have kept so closely to the truth of the Gospels, and that great errors should not have gained footing among them. One is compelled to admire their faith and their heroism, and no less the healthy character of their moral and religious life, which forcibly recalls that of the early Christians.

" They live," writes Dalton, " very peaceably with each other. The religious sentiment, so strong in the Russian peasant, finds in the Word of God the guidance it seeks. They strengthen themselves' and direct their lives according to the teachings of the Scripture, often interpreting them in the strictest manner; for these noble men lack instructors, but they themselves are generally a striking proof that the Bible enlightens even the most ignorant, provided only that they search in earnest for Jesus in the GospeL"

One cannot find a Stundist who does not faithfully read the New Testament and consider it a revelation from God; this is the first article of his creed. Often he carries it with him to his work, and in his recreation hour, instead of passing the time in drinking as before, he devotes himself to reading. He holds that all who sincerely believe may understand without the aid of the Church or of priests.

The faith of the Stundists is, in a general way, that of all evangeIica1 Protestants, but they have no recognized confession of faith. Altho one in essentials, they differ somewhat in doctrine and practice-e.g., regarding the sacraments. The majority hold to adult baptism, and consider the Lord's Supper simply a memorial feast. A small number reject these ordinances altogether-a reaction from the materialistic religion of the Orthodox Church, which they condemn with one accord. The worship of " icons" or images of Christ, the Virgin, and the saints, which has so large a place in the religious life of the Russian people, is their especial horror, and herein lies one of the greatest reasons for the persecutions to which they are subjected. Perhaps their zeal sometimes has lacked discretion; if so, they have paid dearly for it. The Russian penal code inflicts from eight months'to three years'imprisonment for any word spoken against the " icons," and banishment to Siberia for the crime of destroying them. But the Stundists have acted according to their consciences, and who of us is ready to cast the first stone ~ Moreover, they detest the sacerdotal power which ignorant, avaricious, and often intemperate priests have abused so much. Universal priesthood is one of their dearest doctrines. Reconciled to God by the sacrifice on the cross, they have no longer need of any earthly mediator, and each father is priest in his own household. Nevertheless, however much despised, the orthodox priest never suffers the loss of his immense power, and when anyone refuses him the fees which it is his custom to charge, the retaliations are'terrible.

The Russian calendar has no less than a hundred and three holy uays, which frequently are times of debauch and disoruer; but the Stundists, steady workingmen, only observe a few of them. They have absolutely parted company with laziness and drunkenness, of which the Russian peasant is an habitual slave. Their villages and their homes have an appearance of neatness, order, and prosperity, which is in striking contrast with the orthodox villages and communities. Their farms and those of the German colonists are the best cultivated in Southern Ru~sia, and by their labor and industry many have reached comfortable circumstances and almost become rich. Their family life is pure, a strict moral discipline holding sway among them. Mothers and children no longer tremble at the brutal authority of the father of the family. The young are instructed as well as their circumstances permit, and in each home by the side of the New Testament may be found books and pamphlets which bear testimony to a higher degree of culture than is possessed by their neighbors. It is the Scriptures alone that the Stundists search for truth; there, too, they find rules for every-day life, and they faithfully put them into practice. Thus they strive to realize among themselves the fraternity which marked the primitive Church. They have been called communists and anarchists, but this is base calumny. * They are peaceable citizens, very loyal to their sovereign, whom they pray for with great fervor. t It is true that they seem to believe that the present social system is not in accordance with God's idQas; that the soil belongs to all, not to a few, and ought to be equally divided; that each should cultivate his land with intelligence, and be ready to embrace the ideas of modern progress, but that they should not regard the revenue as belonging solely to themselves, but as given in trust, for them to provide for the needs of their poorer neighbors. Interpreting certain precepts of the Bible literally, they especially condemn usury, which is a very common evil in Russia, and war. These principles are very different from those of anarchy or even of communism.

Lastly, the Stundists are quiet, honest, industrious people, who do not refuse to fulfil any of their duties as citizens. It is the opposition of the priests which has forced them to break away altogether from the Church, in which, until they had the "'.ord of God, they always found sufficient • People carelessly use the term StundistB for all those who have gone out from the established church, and thus they confouud the Stundists with other sects which exiBt in Russia, and attribute to them their extravagant and immoral practices.

t It is pretended that the Stnndist movement had a political origin. The Stnndists are represent- ed as rebels, lacking patriotism, and in sympathy with Germany. "There is positively no anti. Rnssian tendency," writes a well-informed Russian, "among the Stundists. They neither refuse to go Into the army nor to pay their taxes. It is just a slander of the clergy without foundation,"

All those who have the most intimate knowledge are of one accord on the subject of the loyalty ot the Stundists. satisfaction for their religious needs. They have thus been led into forming for themselves as much of an organization as the many legal shackles have permitted them to form.

Organization and Form of WOTship.-The highest office of this very elementary organization is that of elders or presbyters, who are chosen by the communities, and are, as far as possible, men of age and experience. Their principal duty is to lead the public services, and to preside at marriages and funerals. They need not have oratorical talent or decp theological learning, but they must be well versed in the Scriptures and be able to explain them. Each elder has supervision over one or two communities, often over a whole district. They visit the villages of their district where their brethren are scattered, and take charge of the funds which are given them for the sick and needy. One important duty is to confer frequently with the presbyters of other districts, and also to act as intermediaries between the brethren who are imprisoned or exiled and their families. We can see how much tact and prudence it requires on their part not to excite the suspicions of the police.

Next in importance to the elders are the deacons, who are generaIIy younger men full of zeal, but at the same time men of discretion. The deacons have charge of the Sabbath..schools, and preside at the regular services in the abs~nce of the presbyter. They keep the records of births, marriages, and deaths, and attend to the meting out of assistance to the aged and sick.

The elders and deacons do not form a clergy distinct from the people. * They work for their living just as their brethren do, usually tilling the soil. They receive 110 salaries, simply their traveling expenses when they make trips in behalf of their congregations. In the beginning the Stundists thought to have more of an organization, with lists of the members regularly recorded and periodical meetings of the elders and deacons, a common treasury, etc.; but all these features, which give unity and cohesion to a movement, were broken up by persecution. Eve~y movement of their leaders was watched, and as soon as their plans were known by the priests or the police, measures were taken to thwart them. If they attemptJd to appoint an elder or deacon, he was immediately ordered by the civil authorities to another district, and not even permitted to remain there any length of time. Often the lists containing the names of the members were seized by the police, aud being thus in their power, we know the treatment which, at a moment's notice, they could be forced to undergo.

But despite these difficulties, the movement has preserved a remarkable unity. Some inevitable divisions have occurred, which nothing but the existence of one recognized head would have been able to prevent. The different congregations keep in communication as well as possible with each other. The head men exchange visits as often as they can, and keep .. The elders uSUlIlly receive the laying on of hands, but not alway. ; for the persecutions of late bave been so bitter, that I10Ile of these fIlnctions could be regularly administered. up frequent and regular correspondence. Just as at the time of the first persecutions of the Church, so now these letters are passed from hand to band, from village to village, and from province to province- until they become worn and almost illegible. One of these letters, addressed to the Church at T–, a little village of the province of Kiev, begins thus: "To the well-beloved in Christ, brothers and sisters of the church at T–, salutation.•, Then follows the exhortation : " Take care, brethren, that your church, which for ten years has made its voice heard like a trumpet, be not silenced now." In another letter, addressed to the church at P–, the brethren are exhorted: "Gird up your loins in view of the great conflict, for the enemy rejoices over your feebleness. Take care that your elders are men of good repute, and do not forget the poor and the oppressed when you assemble about the Lord's table."

Let us penetrate into the interior of one of these communities. They have no special building for their services. " Poverty, simplicity, and austerity distinguish the meeting-places of the Stundists." They meet in the house of some peasant, in a room scrupulously neat, which on Sabbath morning is cleared in haste of its beds, furniture, and provisions. On the whitewashed walls hang two or three Scripture texts, on the earthen floor rude benches and chairs are placed. At the end of the room stands a little table, covered with a white cloth, and a chair for the preacher. On the table rest a Bible and a collection of hymns, many of which are from the English.

Reading and explanation of some New Testament passage occupies the principal place in the service, but singing also plays a large part. The " little Russians" have a highly developed musical sense. All strangers who attend the meetings of the Stundists are struck with the beauty of their songs. Many of their original hymns are very remarkable. The Stundists kneel in prayer and pray much. They pray often for the Emperor ; their prayers are long, and frequently accompanied by tears, and are characterized, above all, by great humility, while they use their hymns to express their joy in Christ.

Here is a description given by an eye-witness of one of their assemblies: "They salute each other with hand-shakes and embraces, the men kissing the men and the women the women. Then they sit down, the men on one side, the women on the other. The elder takes his place at the table and gives out a chant. He then reads and explains a chapter in the Bible, and gives an opportunity for anyone else to add a word of explanation. Women are not permitted to teacb, but following 1 Cor. 11 : 5, they 1U'e permitted to pray in meeting. After several hymns and prayers, the elder closes the service with a sermon. "

Tbey celebrate the Lord's Supper as do the -Protestant churches of the West. It is customary for the Stundists to linger after service and exchange news itnd read letters from their friends in prison or exile.

A Stuudist marriage is celebrated in the following manner: On the

BIBLE MOTIVES IN MISSIONS

date selected the friends gather at the house of the groom, w,here the parents of the young couple present them to the elder, telling him of their desire to be joined in marriage. The elder calls the young people before him, and thus addresses the bride-elect : , , Young woman, is it your own free will and desire that you be united by marriage to this young man, or are your parents or anyone else forcing the union upon you f' The young woman responds: "It is my own free choice."

" And do you love this young man ~" " I do." " And do you wish to love and take care of him when he is old and ill ~" "I do." The elder asks the same questions of the fiance, then the assembly sing a canticle, which is only a simple and appropriate prayer for the wedded pair. The elder tells them to embrace and to join hands; this ends the ceremony. It is hardly necessary to say that marriages thus solemnized are legally null. The only legal marriages are those performed by the orthodox priests in the Orthodox Church. About the end of 1865 the German Baptists in the south of Russia were joined by some men of prominence, like Kapustinski, of Kiev, and by Trophime Khlistoun,* a man whose saintly life preached as loudly as his words. This strengthening of their ranks and increase of their zeal and their attitude toward the Orthodox Church have had a great influence on the Russian Stundists. To-day almost all the Stundists hold the beliefs of the Baptists, and in the sonth of Russia Baptist and Stundist are practically synonymous terms.

(To be concluded.) BIBLE MOTIVES IN MISSIONS.

BY REV. T. T. EATON, D.D., LL.D., LOUISVILLE, KY.

Many of us believe that a good sbare of the loss of interest in foreign missions is due to the World's Parliament of Religions. No one who read the reports of this parliament and the editorial comments thereon can doubt that the impression made by the press was unfriendly to missions. For example, a leading editorial in one of our largest dailies laid emphasis on the" erroneous impression" that mission boards and preachers had made on the minds of the people. These Hindus were really fine gentlemen, well dressed and educated, and thus the claim of the preachers that non-Christian people were all savages was unfounded. The idea of sending the Gospel to such fine gentlemen was ridiculed. In 80 far as men had the idea that all heathen are savages, to whom the Gospel should .. Khlistonn was ba.nished in 1893 to" desolate region in Caneasis, where he has suffered mneh misery. Kapustinski, banished likewise, seven or eight yesrs ago, perished in exile. be sent to civilize them, in so far did such reports and editorials chill their missionary zeal, and make them think that, after all, the well.dressed Orientals already possessed all the Gospel offered them, and led them to cease their mission contributions. I have myself had personal arguments with several business men, who, because of the reports of the Parliament of Religions, declared that they" would never give another cent to foreign missions." In so far, howel-er, as men had the idea that the Gospel is to save people from sin, rather than to civilize them from savagery, in so far they were not affected by such newspaper utterances. '

That it was possible for the Parliament of Religions thus to injure the cause of missions shows that it had not been made to rest on the right basis in the minds of large numbers of people. Too much emphasis has been laid on the temporal advantages of missions, too little on the spir- itual. A civilized heathen needs the Gospel DO less than a savage heathen.

Bunyan's immortal allegory owes its greatness to its truth, which does not pass away, since it is faithful to human nature, which is not changed by the passing years. The path to the celestial city was narrow and difficult, and the pilgrims could make but slow progress therein. There was a path, just over the stile, running through a green and pleasant meadow, a smoother path along which progress could be made more rapidly j and it ran so nearly parallel to the king's highway, they had no doubt it would lead them to the celestial city. If they found it deviated too much from the right direction, it would be easy to cut across to the way in which they were commanded to go. The result of their trying the smoother path is well known.

In every good work men get impatient of God's methods, and the greater their zeal the greater the temptation to try the meadow path.

Sometimes they get impatient with their brethren, who, refusing to cross the stile, go on along the appointed path. Therefore we have need to look carefully into the roll the king has given the pilgrims for their guid- ance. This is true in all good works, especially in the work of saving souls. The reason for the decline in interest in foreign missions is that we have been trying the meadow path, and some have been locked up in the Castle of Despair. The narrow way leads over the Hill Difficulty, but it does not lead to the Castle of Despair. Only when we walk in God's way can we look for God's blessing.

There can be no improvement on the methods of infinite wisdom, and progress can be made more rapidly along the narrow way than in the beautiful and easy meadow path. Let us remember also that the motives for giving money and the effect the methods of giving have upon Chris- tians are far more important than the aIDount of money to be raised. It is hard for those who have to raise money for missions to realize this fundamental truth.

What then are the proper motives for giving to missions ~ I men- tioned, first, love to God, which desires His glory. "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," is thod command of the Holy Spirit. Love to God is the highest of all motives, the first and greatest commandment. The Westminster Catechism is right on this point, man's chief end is " to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The glory of God is the purpose of our lives. Jesus says: "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The second motive is like unto the first, gratitude to Christ for dying to save us. Were there no command on the subject, this motive should lead every renewed soul to do his utmost to win souls to the Savior. This motive animated Paul and the apostles as they rejoiced in being counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake. In view of what He has done for us, it were base ingratitude not to strive to bring the world to Him to crown Him" Lord of aU," who wore a crown of thorns for us ; to live for Him who died for us.

The third motive is love to man. This rests on love to God. "We love Him becanse He first loved us," and we love our fellows because He first loved them. 'Ve are to love men not because they are lovely, but because God loves them. I had an only brother who died when a boy and far from home. One of the last things he said was, " Tell the folks at home to be good to my dog." It was a miserable cur and always in the way; but the love of the dead sanctified the dog in onr eyes. No more was he regarded as in the way; no place was too good for him to lie, nothing was too good for him to have that he could enjoy, and no service human beings could render to a dog was not rendered to that miserable cur, for the sake of the dead. However base and unworthy men may be, we are to love them because God loves them, and we are to see in every man material for a star in the Redeemer's crown, and a means whereby God may be glorified. And we will care no less for a man without God, because his body is well clad and his mind well trained. Our love to Christ should hallow in our eyes all for whom He died.

The fourth motive is obedience to Christ. The command is clear and plain: "Go disciple all nations, baptizing them, ,. etc. And" Go" includes sending; for "How can they preach except they be sent ?" We must obey our marching orders, as the Iron Duke well said. When the Pharisees stopped the healed man carrying home his bed on the Sabbath from the pool of Bethesda, and demanded why he thus violated the Sabbath, his one reply was, " He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed and walk." Whatever He that made us whole commands, let us do.

These four motives, then, and those that are corollaries to them, but no more. Whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil, and doeth evil. But it may be said that people will not give from these motives, and we must use others-is that true g No Christian will admit that such motives do not influence him more than any others. The Master said, " If ye love Me, ye will keep My words." In dealing with those who are not influenced by these motives, what is needed is, not to take a collection for missions, but to preach "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." But Christians are not influenced by these motives as they should be. So often have they been appealed to by other motives that their consciences have been dulled.

The physical hardships of the heathen should never be made prominent as a reason for sending them the Gospel. There are hardships amonll Christians. What would be a great hardship to one of us would be none at all to a Chinaman, for exampie. Dr. Hayes exhibited a picture of a native "belle" who, he said, had thirty years' dirt caked on her never washed face. That would have been torture to a cleanly person, while she was not in the least disturbed by it. We should consider the sin of the heathen, and remember that only by the blood of Christ can they be cleansed. They are helpless of themselves, a hopeless eternity lies just before them, only one Savior has been provided in whom they must believe or perish, and "how can they believe on Him of whom they have not heard ~"

Neither should people be urged to give to missions because of the value of missionary labor to commerce. At a recent professedly missionary meeting the great stress was laid on the material resources of Mexicowhat crops could be raised by a proper system of irrigation and cultivation, what mineral wealth could be developed, etc. The Bible never appeals to any such motive. Paul did not go into Macedonia in order to dev~lop the resources of that country or to increase its commerce with Palestine, but in answer to the cry of need-" Come over and help us." To hear some mission talk, one would be led to think we worshiped mam. mono How often and with what complacency has it been told that before the missionaries went to the Fiji Islands their trade with other lands was nothing, while now it has run up into millions yearly ~ Oh, mammon ! mammon!! Such motives injure us, lower our characters, dim our vision of God, so that money takes the place in our thoughts which God's glory ought to occupy. Here is one of the worst evils in this materialistic age.

Deep conviction for sin is necessary before one can feel that love to God and to man which will make him delight in working to save his fellows. Whatever minimizes sin miaimizes God's mercy to guilty men. If sin be a little thing, an imperfection, a wrong development, then it is a matter of small consequence that the heathen are sinners. With shallow views of sin always go low views of God. He is no longer the aU-holy One who will by no means clear the guilty, but He is a weak and indulgent parent. There is no longer a throne in the universe, but only a rocking-chair, from which a doting Father sings lullabies to all. Hence we are led to think that God will be pleased if we please ourselves, and spend un ourselves aU that has been entrusted to our stewardship. If we decide to have a good time according to our pleasure, without troubling

THE MALABAR SYRIANS

ourselves with disagreeable things, no douht God will make up to us and to the heathen for our failure. To be sure, this contradicts the Bible, but we must not be " Bibliolaters," we must modify our views of the inspiration and authority of the Bible so as to fit our flabby theology, and to suit the " new conditions" about us. This rocking-chair Father will not deal strictIy with us, aud His holiness, justice, and truth must not be allowed to stand in the way of the pleasure of His creatures. Such are the views that follow minimizing sin, and those who hold such views can be persuaded to give to missions only by harrowing stories of suffering, or by appeals to their vanity, their covetousness, or their palates.

Back to the Bible, therefore, back to the Bible! Along this one line lie all the promises of God. Along this line all the triumphs of the faith have been won. When we obey God we are guided by in%nite wisdom, when we go our own way, foHowing our "Christian consciousness," we are guided by our own folly. Infinite wisdom has made no mistake anq no omission. The Bible is the one infallible and all-sufficient rule of faith practice. Its one purpose is to turn men to righteousness, and it will not do to say its teachings are inadequate for this purpose, and other motives and methods must be used.

THE MALABAR SYRIANS-A FORGOTTEN CHAPTER IN INDIAN MISSIONS.

:BY REV. JOHN RUTHBRFURD, LEWES, ENGLAND.

We find traces of the working of God's hand where we little expect it. In Central China the Nestorians had their missions, which for a time were largely successful; and the Malabar coast has to this day its settlements of natives belonging to the Syrian Church, or, as they often call themselves, the Christians of St. Thomas. God's providence has watched over them, or they would certainly have succumbed to their difficulties; for they have been hemmed in by heathenism and under subjection in civil affairs to none but pagan rulers. Had there been no guiding Divine hand, the Syrian Church in India could never have beeu preserved throughout so many centuries.

The earliest Christian settlements in South India are probably the seven churches which are traditionally said to have been founded by the apostle Thomas.

When they first came in contact with European voyagers they were Nestorian in doctrine, and had been so for a thousand years or more. It was only in 1665, when the Romanists prevented their communicating with the Nestorian patriarch, that they became subject to the patriarch of Antioch, who is monophYRite in doctrine.

In 1502 Vasco de Gama, the discoverer of the sea route to India, was a second time sent out by the King of Portugal. On his arrival a deputation of native Christians from Cranganore went to meet him with gifts. They informed him that they numbered thirty thousand, and that they kept themselves apart from their heathen neighbors as a special community. The following year, 1503, the Rajah of Cochin gave the Portuguese a piece of ground on which to build a fort, and this place soon afterward became a stronghold of the Romish religious orders in India.

Certain relics of St. Thomas are said to be in existence, imd the miracles attributed to these relics are worthy of the most flourishing age of medieval superstition. One of these was to the effect that when the Indian bishops annually approached the apostle's shrine to present their offerings, he opened his hand and graciously received these, provided they were presented by orthodox believers, while he sternly withdrew his closed palm from all heretics! When many other absurd and degrading stories abounded, no wonder that the Christian community which delighted in such things gradually wasted away, till its influence on surrounding heathenism became a vanishing quantity.

There are historical notices carrying back the antiquity of the Malabar Christians to a very ancient date ; but they possess two documents of the highest antiquity, which prove how very far back we must go to the time of their arrival in India. These documents are engraved plates of copper, supposed to be a thousand years old. One of these, written in Tamil, conveys a grant of land to a merchant who is supposed to have belonged to the Manichean sect. The other is written in Tamil-Malayalim, and also conveys a piece of land to a community connected with a church called Tarisa-paIIi, or Tarisa Church. These ancient documents show that in those remote times the Syrian Christians were a recognized community, to whom certain rights were accorded.

Unfortunately the intercourse of the Roman Catholic Church with the Syrian Christians is a long story of cruel persecution, in which the secular arm was invoked for the purpose of forcibly compelling submission to Rome, with the alternative of much suffering and sometimes even of death. Mar ~·talla, one of the Syrian bishops, was first imprisoned at Goa, and then burned as a heretic in, 1654. In 1700 another of their metrans or bishops, Mar Simon, fell into their hands, and was detained at Pondicherry in irons till his death. When the Portuguese had been ousted from Cochin by the Dutch there came relief from persecution in that locality ; but the Syrians continued greatly destitute of books, of pastors, and of instruction, and their moral and spiritual tone was lowered through their intercourse with the Jesuits. The native rulers, too, were despotic and merciless, and things were altogether at a low ebb when, in 1795, Cochin surrendered to the British.

Without going further into the question of antiquity, suffice it to say that at the Council of Nice, 325 A.D., a bishop named John signed the decrees then passed as " Metropolitan of Persia and of Great India ;" and about the year 200 A.D. Pantrenus, who then presided over a college in Alexandria, is said to have himself gone to India and labored there; this he did in response to a message from certain Christians in India who de- sired further i1lstruction. The detail of what he may have done is un- known, as his writings are lost.

What a strange conflict is that of the Christian Church-internal strife, outward persecution! We have it all in miniature in the Syrian Church in India. Though it was from the beginning a Nestorian Church, yet for the last two centuries it has been under Jacobite rule. About the year 1663 the Jacobite patriarch sent Mar Gregory to India, and he being accepted by these Malabar Christians, they were quietly incorporated with the Jacobites, a party dogmatically antagonistic to the Nestorians. Mar Greg- ory openly proclaimed that both the Pope and Nestorius were heretics.

The members of the Syrian Church in Malabar are now all connected with the Jacobite party.

Very strangely, there still survive Christian Manichees among th8 Syrian Christians of India. Their traditions allege that in the third cen- tury a certain sorcerer called Manikavachakar arrived on the east coast of India and deceived and perverted many Christians by his wiles, after which he came round to Travancore, where he continued his labors and succeed- ed in perverting eight families to !fanicheism. The descendants of those families were formed into a settlement and were called Manigramakar- that is, the people of the village of Manes-and the remnant of those peo- ple are still known by the same name.

The Mohammedans, too, since the time of their appearing in India, have sadly vexed and oppressed the Syrian Christians. .

Very little is known of the Syrian Church in India during the Middle Ages. It is said that the English King Alfred the Great sent messengers to visit the shrine of the Apostle Thomas in India. A Dominican friar named J ordanus, who went on a mission from Persia, visited QuiIon, in South India, about the year 1324, and .lohn de MarignoIli, or John of Florence, returning from a mission to China, visited South India on his way-this was in 1346 or 1347 ; he resided in Quilon upward of a year.

He says: "After some harvest of souls-for there are a few Christians there-I proceeded to Ceylon." Cadamustus, the Venetian, set out for a voyage to the East in 1493, and visited Calicut. He says that city was in- habited by Indian Christians, and that he there saw churches with bells.

He further says: "The Christians ride on elephants, believe Christ w~s born of the Virgin Mary, and never sinned; that He was crucified by the Jews, died, and was buried at Jerusalem. They know, indeed, that the Pope lives in Rome, but have no other knowledge of the Holy Roman Church; are somewhat educated, and can wrpte their own tongue. "

When the Portuguese arrived in India for the purposes of trade alid conquest, two of the native Christians of Cranganore waited upon Peter Cabral, asking him to convey them to Europe. They said that they used no images, but only the simple cross in their churches; and that they possessed many copies of the Sacred Scriptures, and commentaries on them, from which their priests taught the people. 'This was in 1500.

One of these two Hindus was " Joseph the Indian," aud in a small book of his travels these details. are given regarding the Syrian Church. Inside their churches, he said, there were no images ; they had priests, deacons, and sub-deacons; they used unleavened bread in the communion; the people received the Lord's Supper three times a year; they knew nothing of extreme unction, and buried their dead with religious rites.

In 1504 four Nestorian ecclesiastics wrote to their patriarch: ",There are here nearly thirty thousand families of Christians of the same faith as ourselves, and they pray to the Lord that He may preserve you in safety. And now they have begun to erect other churches. They live in the midst of plenty, and are gentle and peaceable in their dispositions. Blessed be God !"

Gouvea, an Augustinian friar, has recorded in detail the visitation of a Portuguese ecclesiastic, Archbishop Menezes, in 1599. Gouvea, speaking of the Syrians, condemns their adherence to Nestorianism and their refusal to call Mary the mother of God. He says that they did not allow image worship, and only acknowledged three sacraments-baptism, the eucharist, and holy orders; that they knew nothing of confirmation and extreme unction, and detested the sacrament of penance.

Archbishop Menezes was a most energetic agent in bringing many of . the Syrian congregations to submit to Rome. He brought about this result, both by visitation of the congregations and by holding a synod which afterward became famous, the Synod of U diamparur. It was held in June, 1599, and was a " packed" synod, most subservient to his wishes. This he brought about by holding more than one ordination of priests, who were present as members of the synod, and of course did exactly as he ordered. Without doubt certain good decrees were enacted, but the evil outweighed the good. Among other changes effected by the synod's decrees, there were these : The Syrian Christians were commanded to adore the images of Christ ; they were now taught that it was " pious to believe that Mary was conceived without original sin ;" all Syriac books were to be delivered up to the Jesuits within two months; and the whole diocese was made" to submit itself to the Holy, Upright, Just, and Necessary Court of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in these parts established." The synod condemned a book of homilies used in the Syrian Church, because therein it was stated" that the holy eucharist is only the image of Christ, and is distinguished from Him as an image is from a true man ; and that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ is not there nor anywhere else but in heaven." The doctrine of transubstantiation was introduced, and the cup was to be taken entirely from the laity. The Malabar Christians had known nothing of masses for the dead, but the synod introduced this a,lso. Compulsory auricular confession and extreme unction were also unknown in the native. churches, but both of these Romish practices were forcibly enjoined " on pain of mortal sin." Celibacy was enjoined, and to make this doubly sure the synod suspended all married priests.

The Jesuit missionaries continued to hold sway in this part of India for more than fifty years, until there occurred the great rupture with Rome, which took place in 1653 under Bishop Garcia.

The Syrians did not feel comfortable under the new regime. The enforced celibacy of the clergy, the introduction of images, and the attempt to supersede the Syriac language by the Latin in the services of the Church were very offensive to them, as also were the pride and intolerance which the Jesuits showed to all who would not conform to their orders.

In 1653 Mar Ignatius, a Syrian bishop, arrived from Antioch. The Portuguese seized him at Mylapur, where he had landed j then, after a term of imprisonment, they delivered him to the Inquisition at Goa, where he was condemned as a heretic and committed to the flames in 1654. In order to avoid the odium of this deed, the Jesuits asserted that the bishop had been drowned at sea! The Syrian communities were now so alienated in sympathy from their Jesuit rulers that they formally threw off allegiance to the Roman bishop Garcia, and declared Archdeacon Thomas, a native Syrian Christian, to be now their bishop. Afterward, when the Dutch had destroyed the power of Portugal in Malabar, the Syrian Church obtained from Syria the usual episcopal ordination.

Seeing how the sympathies of the native Syrian Chnrch were alienated from the Jesuits, it was thought at Rome that it would be advisable to send a new mission, consisting of certain Carmelite priests j and this accordingly was done. After the arrival of the Carmelite bishop and monks there were many quarrels between these missionaries and the Jesuits, whom they partly superseded. The Dutch, who had now ousted the Portuguese, looked with much disfavor upon the Syrians; and while forbidding European ecclesiastics to reside in the Dutch territories in India, they confirmed the Carmelites in their position, as these monks now had a bishop who was a native Indian. Bishop Joseph, of the Carmelites, before leaving Cochin, consecrated this native bishop. 'rhe Dutch chaplain was assured by Bishop Joseph in a personal interview that the Syrians were" persuaded that the very essence of Christianity consists in three particulars diametrically opposed to the articles of Lnther and Calvin-namely, the adoration of images and the crucifix, fasting and prayers, and masses for the souls in purgatory." We see how successful the Romish missionaries had been; their steady work, continued now through several generations, had leavened the Syrian Church with the essentials of Romanism.

There was much confusion occasioned by the struggles of the Jesuits and Carmelites on the one hand, and part of the Syrian Church on the other. The testimony of the native Christians themselves is as follows: " The above-mentioned two orders trouble our Church and bring dishonor upon her; they seize our priests, and, by confining them closely, cause their death ; their servants also maim them in their bodies. If our Metran deposes a priest from his office, then their Metran immediately reinstates him; if our Metran pronounces the Maharon" (curse of excommunication), "then theirs absoTves. Certain of their priests, when visiting some of our churches, openly and privately transgressed the seventh commandment, and committed sundry other crimes. On this account the heathen look upon us with scorn and contempt. "

About 1727 some of the early Danish missionaries to Southeastern India were brought into contact with the Syrian Church in Malabar. Messrs. Kolhoff and Horst, missionaries at Tanjore, made inquiries, and, as the result of their inquiry, came to the finding that the Syrian clergy were divided into two sects directly opposite to each other-Nestorians and Eutychians ; that they had been Romanized in many particulars; that they were very ignorant, and at the same time dogmatic in their own opinions about ritual; that they knew only enough of the Syriac language to go through their liturgical service; and that through caste pride they had hardly any intercourse with those of an inferior caste, whereby they incapacitated themselves for the propagation of the Gospel. For these reasons the Tanjore missionaries concluded that they could not then hope for any union between themselves and the Syrian Christians.

Paoli, one of the Roman ecclesiastics, gives us much information. Of the natives, he says that they dragged the Christians by force to take part in the lewd dances held in honor of the idol Sheva ; and also that the law against the killing of cows was no dead letter. He had often known men condemned to death on this charge; and that on one occasion five men were executed for the killing of a single cow near Callurcada.

Regarding the state of the Romish congregations, he admits that many of the so-called converts from heathenism had no higher motives than to gain a lawsuit or to gain some other temporal advantage. In 1780 and 1781 he claims to have" confirmed" no fewer than twenty thousand persons. The Bible, either in whole or part, he says, he did not distribute -and this of set purpose. Of church discipline, he says that if the offender is too poor to be fined, "a large wooden cross is placed on his shoulders while he is kneeling at the church door; a human skull is put into his hand, and in that manner he is made to creep round the church; or he is sent to Malleatur, where he must do penance at the foot of the holy cross which is said to have been erected there by St. Thomas himself. Women must bear a death's head or a wax candle. When the penance is over, the bishop, missionary, or priest gives the offender absolution in the presence of the whole congregation by means of a whip or rod, that the scandal which he brought on his Christian brethren may thereby be removed."

Of his own clergy, Paoli says: "Had these native priests sufficient learning, were they in any degree acquainted with their duty, and did they know how to procure from the pagans the least respect, they might certainly be fit to be entrusted with the care of Christian congregations j bllt, unfortunately, they are strangers to these qualities, live like the irrational animals, and by these means are the cause that their parishes are converted into dens of thieves."

In 1790 a terrible event occurred to these Syrian and Romo-Syrian churches. Tippoo Saib invaded parts of Travancore and Cochin, devastating the territory and inflicting vast cruelties on the people; both heathen and Christian. Some ten thousand Malabar Christians are estimated to have lost their lives in these invasions. Twenty-six of the Roman churches and three or four of the ancient Syrian were destroyed by Tippoo. It is thought to be the recollection of the atrocities of that time that kept Southern India true to the British Government in the Mutiny of 1857.

Cochin having been captured by the British in 1795, the way was opened up for obtaining more accurate information regarding the Malabar Christians and for awakening sympathy on their behalf, and various methods were soon employed for their temporal and spiritual good. Attention was directed to the subject in the beginning of the century through the publication of Dr. C. Buchanan's "Christian Researches," and much sympathy was enlisted in behalf of those ancient Syrian churches. Since that time the Church of England has carried on mission work among them.

"After the almost unbroken heathenism and Mohammedanism of Bengal, one cannot be surprised that a man of Buchanan's enthusiastic temperament was at times carried away, when he came among these native Christians, who claimed nothing short of an apostolic origin for their church, which had survived the revolutions of well-nigh two thousand years and the violent persecutions of heathenism and Romanism. To have been in any way useful in helping to raise and revivify such an interesting Christian community was an honor that could fall to the lot of few men; and to be the first in so noble an undertaking might well tempt a flowing pen to run occasionally in a somewhat romantic strain."

In 1816 missionaries arrived in Travancore, sent by the Church Missionary Society, and were cordially received by the Syrians. Their work did much to purify and to consolidate this ancient Christian church.

The fair promises of reformation held out by the Syrian Church were unfortunately not realized. Superstition and venerated abuses carried the day. Very great gentleness and forbearance were shown on the part of the Church Missionary Society; and in 1835 Bishop Wilson, of Calcutta, paid a visit to Uottayam, and was most conciliatory in his endeavors to adjust any differences or difficulties; but notwithstanding all these efforts, the reactionary party among the Syrians succeeded in bringing about a complete rupture between the missionaries and the ecclesiastical authorities of the Syrian Church. The missionaries handed over their college buildings to the Syrians; and in 1838 a new college was erected in Cottayam under the direction of the Church Missionary Society. In this institution many young men of the native Syrian Church have been trained, and some of them have proved to be of much value in mission work in connection with the English Church. In 1842 a large new church was also opened at Cottayam by the missionaries.

The Church Missionary Society, repulsed in their patient efforts to work alongside the Syrian Church, could do nothing else-unless they were to withdraw altogether-than accept the alternative of continuing to do the best work it could for the Syrians by preaching the Gospel to all who would receive it. And this work, happily, has been successful.

A view of the internal working of one of these Malabar churches shows us how vexing is their refusal to accept the kindly help toward reformation offered them by the English missionaries. Take, for instance, the church at Puthupally, near Cottayam. The building presents an imposing appearance. The eight or ten priests used to be supporters of a lucrative but demoralizing feast held every year in honor of St. George. The heathen flocked to it with offerings of fowls, and the pilgrims were entertained with plays and other exhibitions. This feast maintained its evil character so lately as 1863. Miracles were said to be performed here in the shape of the curing of diseases; and those who supposed themselves benefited, or who hoped to be so, presented small silver models of the arm or leg or other part of the body which had been diseased. At the church at Palaiya there is a large community of priests, and in this neighborhood every respectable family who can afford it is accustomed to devote one of its members to the priesthood j and so the land is overstocked with ecclesiastics who have nothing to do, and who just vegetate like tlie plants of the earth on which they lounge about.

The work of the Church Missionary Society has gone quietly on, notwithstanding all difficulties and discouragements j and through the churches and schools which they planted converts have been gained whose growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ gives ns cause to hope that they will be a race better than their fathers, and that through their efforts very much will be done to win South India for Christ.

Already has the work of the missionaries been of a most beneficial character; it has been altogether friendly toward the Syrian Church j and since it began the Syrians have both increased numerically and have progressed in education, wealth, energy, and enterprise j and many of them have improved socially and morally, and have been provoked unto love and good works.

We cannot end this paper without commending the Syrian Church of Malabar to the interest and love and prayers of all who desire the growth of the spiritual kingdom of the Divine Redeemer, and who pray that the churches of the East may be revived by the Holy Ghost and aroused to trim their lamps and watch and wait for the coming of the Bridegroom.

MOHAMMEDAN WORSHIP

MOHAMMEDAN WORSHIP.* BY RICHARD DAVEY.

Mahomet, rightly dreading idolatry, so prevalent in Mecca in his day, wisely ordained that the interiors of lhe mosques or places of prayer should be destitute of all representations of human or animal life. The early mosques were plainly whitewashed, and were not even ornamented by verses from the Koran. In the course of time, certain pious califs expended vast sums on the construction of mosques, and many of them became monuments of architectural magnificence into which the richest materials were introduced. But their interiors, however splendidly adorned wilh marble columns, stained-glass windows and glorious carpets, are as nude as an English town hall when cleared of its proper complement of chairs and tables. The only furniture of a mosque is the mihrib, a sort of niche indicating the direction in which Mecca lies, the mimber or pulpit, and in some of the Imperial mosques a maafil-i-humayum or private pew for the Sultan, and a little gallery called a maafil for the chanters. Two gigantic wax candles in gold, in silver, or brass candlesticks, stand on either side of the mihrib, and are only lighted during Ramazan. Most of the mosques are embellished with elaborate inscriptions in Arabian or Turkish characters quoting verses from th~ Koran. In some of the mosques, notably those at Brussa, there is a large fountain under the central dome. This does not serve, however, for ablutions, but simply as an ornamenl;. It is a popular error to say that people are obliged, as a sign of respect, to take off their shoes before entering a mosque. This is done simply because the floors of the mosques are covered either with mats or carpets which must be kept scrupulously clean, because the faithfnl touch them with their foreheads constantly during their devotions. If you wear overshoes,you need only remove them, and boldly enter the mosque in your boots. Another popular error connected with the mosques is the idea that Christians must not be admitted into them. This is absolutely opposed to the teaching of the Koran, which declares that any man or woman may enter a mosque, be their religion what it may. Indeed, in the earlier period of the history of Islam it was considered an excellent method of converting unbelievers to invite them to attend the services. Since Turkey and the East generally have become the happy huntingground of tourists, the Imams have conceived the idea that, by charging the Giaour for permission to enter the mosques, they may turn an honest penny to their own advantage. There are, however, mosques held to be so sacred, on account of the relics they contain, that the mere presence of a Giaour would pollute them. Otherwise the exclusion of infidels from the mosque is contrary to the teaching of the Prophet.

The ceremonies of the " howling dervishes" are thus described: " The first person to begin the office is the sheik, who wears a vivid crimson robe and squats down in front of the mihrib, on either side of which burn two small braziers, occasionally fed with incense. Then the musicians assemble and sit in a circle; at the other end of the room, against the wall, a number of members of the congregation and dervishes .. An extract from an article in the Fortnightly Review, reprinted from the Literary Di(ll8t.i

MOHAMMEDAN DEGRADATION OF WOMAN

arrange themselves in a row. Then the ceremonies commence. The musicians bang away on the cymbals and tambourines, and begin to cry out as loud as they can' Allah Ekber, Allah Ekber !' The devotees who loll up against the wall also begin to roar in cadence and rhythm, keeping the measure with their feet, and swaying their bodies to and fro. Louder and louder they cry until their excitement rises to literal frenzy. Their eyes seem to start out of their heads, their mouths foam, and in about an hour after the exercises are begun, several of them tumble on to the floor rolling in epileptic fits. When the excitement is at its height, several mad men and women are brought in and laid gently before the sheik, who tramples on them very lightly with both his feet. On one occasion I saw a poor woman, who was evidently dangerously mad, catch hold of the sheik's legs and almost pull him down. She was removed immediately with great difficulty by no less than four men. :Meanwhile the howling continued more deafeJting than ever. Little children were brought in and laid down to receive the pressure of the holy foot. A spruce young officer prostrated himself and was similarly treated. By this time the dervishes at the upper end of the room had lost all control of themselves. '1'he cymbals twanged and crashed, the tambourines and drums were banged with tremendous force, and the whole frantic congregation was screaming as if possessed, 'Allah Ekber, Allah Ekber!' As a grand finale to this scene of wild ~xcitement, a little and very officious dervish made his appearance carrying a brass dish containing a sharp knife, a live snake, and a small red-hot poker, which he presented to the sheik, who, holding the dish in his hands, advanced to the upper part of the chamber, and actually stabbed one young epileptic with the knife from cheek to cheek; another frantically Reized upon the snake and began to bite it, but nobody seemed inclined to touch the red-hot poker, for that remained unused on the dish to the end."

MOHAMMEDAN DEGRADATION OF W OMAN.-When we think of the part played by women in the Christian religious world j when we remember how women have come to the front in every progressive movement; when we think of their place in art, in literature, and in society; when we note how in Christian nations women are honored and protected-then we begin to realize that some immense power must have entered the society where women were once secluded, degraded, and oppressed. Exactly the opposite of all this is witnessed in the whole Mohammedan world. This alone accounts for the decadent history of the faith which Mohammed planted. A religion which perpetuates the degradation of woman is doomed, and it is dying. This is one reason for the condition of Turkey and of Persia. Society in these lands is paralyzed by the absence of any sentiment in favor of the elevation of the female part of the community. The Koran, which contains so many noble inculcations, yet fatally brands woman with the stamp of complete inferiority. In doing this it sinks morality, purity, and society itself under a deadly weight. Some curious Englishmen and a few eccentric Americans some time ago tried to make themselves famous by importing Mohammedanism into England and the United States. The attempt at a new sensation was a complete failure. The world has no place for a new faith of that sort.-The Ohristian Oommonwealth, London.

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

n.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

EDITED AND OONDUOTED BY BEV. J. T. GRAOEY, D.D.

The Power of the Gospel from Personal in Christ with an element of decay so Observation in India. un-Christlike as the caste system. Therefore, these largely passed away. BY REV. H. F. LAFLAMME, CANADA BAP- But the impression left by those early TIST MISSION, L"iDIA. tho nominal successes in the eighteenth A young Braman, 8. Bachelor of Arts century determined the whole bent ot of Madras University, once spoke of our missionary effort and ambition in India mission work as follows: "Sir, I per· for some time in the succeeding cen- ceive that in your successful mission tury, and decided the policy as that of work you devote your energy to the the educational method which strives outcastes rather than in striving to win to affect the mind of the subtle and the higher castes through establishing metaphysical Braman and other higher missions schools, and colleges. In this castes, rather than the evangelistic you imitate your Divine Master. When method which strives after all alike.

He founded His religion He did not be- But the great revival that swept over gin with the proud and haughty Phari· . the Ongole field in 1878 and the mag· see, filled with prejudices so deep seat· nificent successes in that mission chang- ed as to be impossible of eradication; ed the entire missionary policy of India.

but He chose the simple, unlettered fish· This prominently emphasized the Di- ermen of Galilee, and on their unsophis- vine order, which seems to be to reach ticated minds He stamped His message the rich and noble through the despised for aU mankind. He wrote on blanks, and rejected. Dr. Gordon very aptly ex· that the word might be clear and legi· pressed the reason for this order of work· ble to all. So in this land you have ing as follows: "The most virile and practically passed over Us Pharisaic uncorrupted manhood is often found Bramans, filled with our preconceived among the wild and outcaste tribes of notions of religion, our own systems of heathen. Once subdued by the Gospel, philosophy and conceits in learning, and they in turn become subduers, aggressive have delivered your message to the un· and irrepressible evangelists. Therefore learned and unprejudiced outcastes. the directest way for the Gospel to reach They will hand it on to others, without upward is for it to strike downward."

bias, and will be found much safer me· This truth is illustrated forcibly by diums for its preservation and transmis- Lakshmaya, the converted grass-cut- sion than any higher caste. You also ter, a poor, despised outcaste, sometimes illustrate the great natural law that, if asleep, sometimes awake, always drunk.

one wishes to lift all the books in a pile, His daily home·coming was generally one must lift the lowest. So, sir, if you followed by beating his wife, drivinl{ convert the outcastes, if you are sue· her and the terrified children from the cessful in elevating them, all other high- house, smashing the pots and simple er castes up to the Bramans must come furniture, and then falling on the mud up with them." floor of his little hut or into the tilth of The earliest Protestant missionaries the yard, and there sleeping like a hog.

to South India were successful among The Gospel message reached his dull caste people, gathering in large num- ear, and the energizing power of the bers, and with them the deep.set preju. love of Christ touched his drink·sodden dices and customs that a more or less heart. Lakshrnaya was converted. He superficial knowledge of the saving rose early, cut grass all morning- power of Christ scarcely altered, much as much as he could formerly cut in a less eradicated. lio church could exist whole day-sold it at 110011 to the viIlage landhohlers and high-caste men, "God from heaven put it in my then preached Christ in the afternoons heart." said the convert. "He has and evenings. He was most fearless in changed me, the poor drunkard, and his testimony. and showed Christ to has given me a new heart. He can high and low alike. His first experi· change you and can fill you with humilence in witnessing to the Bramans was ity instead of pride; with truth instead remarkable. lIe had put down his bun- of lies, and with love instead of hate." dle of grass in the spot indicated by the high-caste purchaser. He had possessed With that manful testimony he goes himself of the copper coins thrown his way. And from that time forward down from a distance in the dust for his changed life commands an undis· him, in the fear that any closer ap- turbed hearing among them. He fearproach much more, contact, might lessly exposed his life in testimony bring ceremonial defilement, and was for Christ. In a short time he had about to retire in obedience to the arro- won thirteen of his fellows to a savgant order to begone, when the happy ing knowledge of Christ. It might thought came to him in the fulness of be said of him and of many other his new joy in Christ to tell these Bra- similar humble followers of the Lord mans. At first they were amazed at his as was said of Peter and John by impertinent presumption; but when the rulers and elders and scribes at Jeruthey realized that this filthy outcaste, salem: "When they saw the boldness this blatant, drunken fool, was attempt- of Peter and John and perceived that ing to teach the twice-born sons of the they were unlearned and ignorant men, great Brahm the way of holiness, their they marveled; and they took knowlanger passes even the bounds of caste edge of them, that they' had been with prejudice and ceremonial prudence. Jesus" (Acts 4 : 18). They rush at him with uplifted sticks to beat respect and sense into a fellow However marked the change in the seemingly devoid of both. But, to their life of the individual convert, nothing astonishment, instead of fieeing terror- so strikingly impresses one with the struck at the mere possibility of invok- transforming power of the Gospel as ing the Bramans' curse, as well as their renewed communities engaged in the blows, the man stands his ground, turns exercise of some public function conhis naked shoulders to them, and in- nected with their new-found religious vites their violence with neither an ap- hope. An additional emphasis is laid proach to fear or defiance. Overcome upon this by contrasting these newly with wonder at his courage, they pause made Christians with what they formerfor a solution of this strange metamor- ly were, or with their fellows still phosis. The converted drunkard con- wrapped in their old superstitions and tinues his broken message, and closes engaged in some rite or festival of a rewith those fearless words of Stephen: ligious nature. Many such contrasts " Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not are constantly repeated before the eyes in houses made with hands; as saith the of the missionary in heathen lands. To prophet, The heaven is My throne, convey some faint conception of the reand the earth the footstool of My feet : ligious antithesis thus presented considwhat manner of house will ye build er the following pictures: first, of a me? saith the Lord; or what is the Hindu low-caste festival, and then of place of My rest? Did not My hand one of the simple annual gatherings of make all these things P Ye stilI-necked the Christians, most of them converts in heart and ears, ye do always resist from the outcaste classes in India. the Holy Ghost." In addition to the principal and gen- "Where did you learn such wis- erally popular deities of the Hindu Pandom 2" asked one of the Bmmans. theon there are innumerable local gods worshiped throughout all India. Scarce- ly a village, and, indeed, scarcely a household in India is without its own of the transition from light to darkness tutelary divinity which is peculiar to -an unusual commotion rises above thQ that community. Such a goddess-for ordinary noises of the village. When the most popular are females, and re- all preparations are completed, the pro- ceive the general appellation of " moth- cession breaks through the main en- er"-is adopted as the village deity be- trance to the village and is ushered into cause more active, watchful, and force· . the open plain in a flood of light from ful than the plt,asure-Ioving male. She many torches. Its approach is herald- is believed to be the protectress of chil- ed and headed by a troop of almost dren, the preventer of small-pox and naked drummers, their dark and .oily cholera, and the patron of all enterprises bodies glistening in the torchlight as consigned to her care by a special vow they spring about in mad eftorts at invoking her aid. The village to which a contortionist's accompaniment with reference is to be made is an abandoned every limb and member of the body to seaport, now composed mainly of fish- the wild and rapid music of the drums ermen's hnts, with some few houses of and the discordant blare of half a dozen Ii better stamp belonging to men who trumpets and long horns. One more are the faded remnants of better and supple than the others accompanies his bygone days of commercial prosperity drumming with somersaults forward and prominence. Our missionary party and back, never for a moment, not even occupied a disused warehouse near the when in mid:air, interrupting his noisy surf line of the seacoast, presented to contribution by drum and voice to the our mission by a well-disposed merchant general uproar. Men leading goats and in a distant town. A sand plain lies be- sheep, boys and women carrying hens tween the old warehouse and the vil- and cocks, little girls and .old women lage. In the center of this plain is the with brass platters loaded with flour, temple of the village goddess. This is grain, fruits, and paints, poised upon no larger than a small bake-oven in this their heads, make up the motley follow- land might be, and, like it, is built of ing. Every living thing with vocal masonry even to the roof. The image capabilities contributes a not insignifi- of the goddess consists of a simple cant offering to the volume of noise- stick, not two feet in length, and rough- by no means to be despised as a recog- hewn to some remote resemblance nized essential in the worship of their of the female form. She lies upon the gods. The long procession three times summit of an ant-hill, and has recently encircles the temple, then masses in received fresh daubs of yellow ochre, front to celebrate the sacrifices and pay red lead, and oil. The hot season is the accumulated vows of the past well advanced, for it is late in April. twelvemonth. The goats and sheep are The sun shines down through cloudless led to the altar. Before it they are skies upon the burning sands of the sea- placed with necks outstretched by the shore. The season is not propitious for leading cord. Then a brawny fellow fishing. wielding a sickle-shaped ax with one Taking advantage of the forced idle- stroke severs the bleating head from ness, the fishermen, at the instigation the trembling trunk. In rapid succes- of the village priest, have detel·mined sion scores are thus slaughtered. All the date of the annual festival of the about, the cocks and hens are being be- goddess. On this day all vows made headed. Incense is burned at the foot to win her favor, propitiate her anger, of the goddess in the shrine, where all or invoke her blessing must be paid on the offerings are displayed, a little of pain of fearsome and calamitous visita- each being left in the temple, the rest tions. Soon after nightfall-for no twi- being retained to provide the night's light intervenes to break the abruptness feast. The mingled smells from smoking torches; from human breaths fetid appear, wending their way from all with tobacco, garlic and toddy-the points of the compa.,s in little bands, intoxicating drink of the country; from which. as they draw nearer the common hundreds of unwashed bodies steaming center, unite and swell the larger with perspiration in the suffocating choruses. On they come across the heat and from the blood of the victims, naked rice .fields, through the empty now clotting ankle deep at the altar's watercourses, over the tank bund, and foot, make breathing difficult and spread into full view from the church. All a sickening faintness over us. The ap- are well dressed, neat, and tidy. Men pearance of many of the people, now and women, with the children, are all excited by strong drink and religious on their way to the house of God, sing- fervor, is wild in the extreme. The ing as they come the sweet songs of drummers and leaders seem like demons Zion, the psalms of ascent of the Telu- let loose in fantastic frolic. The noise, gu Christians. They sing as with one the blood, the nauseous smells, the un- voice, much as Israel must have sung canny sights, suggest the gaping mouth in their journeyings to and from the of the great abyss. Overcome with an great annual festivals-for these Telugu intense and weakening disgust we re- Christians, like them, are coming in to treat to our homes, and in the privacy one of their annual meetings of the of our bedrooms pray-for sleep is im- Colais Association, from the neighbor- possible after such a vision-that the ing Christian Villages. There are fifteen Sun of Righteousness may arise with churches with a membership scattered healing in His wings and shine upon over one hundred villages. The Gunam- these sin-sick Bouls. All through that apudi church, in which they meet, is night of prayer thete comes from the their banner church. The church build- village near by the sounds of drunken ing rises in bold prominence above all revelry, of fearful blasphemies, and of surrounding buildings, the high ma- gross and debasing idol worship. For son-work walls and substantial tile roof in as many houses as there were sacri- presenting a bold contrast to the thatch fices made that night is being held an roofs and mud walls of the villagers'

orgy of lustful and filthy indulgence, homes. This place of worship is a con- known only in lands where confidence crete expression of the people's love for and faith are" in the shedding of the Christ. The building represents their blood of bulls and of goats" to take sacrifice in liberal gifts. Three broth- away sin, and where He is unknown ers led the list with a SUbscription of who, "when He had offered one sacri- $400. That would be a generous offer- fice for sins, forever sat down on the ing even in this land of plenty, but right hand of God." magnificent in a land where day labor Now consider this other picture. commands only six cents in the man A bell rings gladly. It is a church and three cents in the woman. The bell in a land of heathen darkness. The general liberality in poverty of the rank bell is tolling for morning worship. It and file of Christians is indicated by the is a Sabbath morning in a land where fact that the several hundreds remain- the groan of labor never ceases, where ing members have been enabled to give the toil of living finds no respite in a $100 additional. The balance of the day of quiet. As the bell rings forth total $1500 is made up by missionary across the fields a far-off echo seems to donations and a small debt, the prospec- come back. And yet there is no echo, tive contribution of posterity.

for tho the music of the bell has long Within the church walls are repre- since died away, this note grows strong- sented all the activities of a complete er and louder, till the full melody of church organization-the public preach- song breaks upon the ear. The singers ing of the Word, the celebration of the ordinances, the meetings for prayer, preach Christ where Christ was not the Sunday.school, the regular meetings known. for the transaction of church business, and the conference or experience meet- Mark God's blessing on a church with ing-by some termed the love feast. that spirit. Enter with the worshipers The pastor renders unremunerated ser- as they gather in this peculiar meeting vice, being one of the three brothers of the churches. See the five hundred mentioned above as liberal givers. In worshipers bowed in reverent silence order that the oversight of the church as the man of God leads in prayer. may not Buffer during his frequent Hear them as they rise to sing with the absences on extended missionary tours heart and with the understanding. Mark among the surrounding heathen vil· their intelligent interest and the kindly lages, an assistant pastor has been en- joy of response to the thought unfolded gaged by the church. In addition to by the preacher. Note their offerings these, a day-school is in operation with- in coin and kind during the collection. in the building-the teachers' salaries When the service concludes see the litand other incidental expenses being met tle knots of earnest converts gathered in part by the church-members and in here and there in the spacious building. part by the State. The church satisfies They are examining the candidates for all three of the cardinal tenets of a per- baptism. Then the pastor leads down fect New Testament organization in a score or more into the waters of the being self-supporting, and, therefore, little lake and baptizes them in the likeself-governing. They administer their ness of the death and resurrection of own discipline, elect their own mem- the Lord Jesus Christ. That churchbers, and govern their own movements. membership now numbers close on 580. Some time since they refused seventy Twenty-five years ago they were idolaapplicants for membership who were ters engaged in the gross and degrad. recalcitrants from another mission, on ing orgies indicated above. Now they the ground that they did not pay their are changed men; they worship God, debts and were therefore unfit for ad- the Spirit, in spirit and in truth. They mission. The third essential of the hallow the Sabbath Day. They revere New Testament church found in the the name of Christ. They are decided Gunamapudi organization, a most un- temperance advocates. They are incommon distinguishing feature, is the tensely foreign missionary in their fact that they are self-propagating. spirit. even to the point of great self- They have not only a membership dis- sacrifice. However, in the place of that tributed in many different villages, in man sent forth God sends another as each of which an independent church capable for their school. They are thus will one day develop, but they support amply blessed at home. In response to a missionary of their own. the earnest appeals for Christ in that great heathen town, in a few months' The call came to send a representa- time some twenty-five are gathered into tive up to a neighboring town of fifteen their church-membership. God blesses or twenty thousand souls, of whom them abroad. none know Christ. The Gunamapudi people selected their best man, the prin- Marvel of marvels I Omnipotence of cipal of their day-school, an intelligent, might I God's blessed transforming and highly educated, capable, and fervent renewing Gospel is manifested in these young man, and setting him apart, sent believers in apostolic power. We are him forth, and now contribute to his constrained to cry out as we regard this support. He was the one man besides band of believers and remember the pit their pastor they could least afford to from which they have been digged, lose; he was the one man chosen by ~'The Gospel is the power of God unto them all to go out from among tbem to salvation to everyone that believeth." Amen. Adva.nce in Korea. in Korell had doublcd its membership in one year. The annual meeting, when BY REV. GEORGE HEBER JONES, SEOUL, returns for the last year (1895–96) will be KOREA. in, is still to be held; but from news to A general impression seems to pre- hand there is every indication of a gain vail in the Church that the great war of 50 or 60 per cent., and a possibility between Japan and China over Korea, that again we may double our mem- the very disturbed condition of the bers.

country itself, and the recent interven- Little has been heard in the home tion by Russia have seriously interfered church of Wansan,.the northeast port, with our work in Korea, and that little where Dr. McGill has been laboring can be done there along missionary lines most successfully for four years. In a until the present undetermined political letter dated June 20th, 1896, to the writ- status is finally settled. er, Dr. McGill says of the infant church Such is far from being the case. at Wansan: Since July 23d, 1894, when a new order " Dr. Scranton was here and baptized of things was inaugurated for Korea by 19 persons and admitted 4 to full mem- the capture of the royal palace by the bership. We have had over 60 in our Japanese at the point of :the bayonet, Sunday meeting, but about 40 or 50 is the attitude of each successive ministry the rule. We have a number of whole has been one of official non-interference, families attending, and a dozen of wom- while the "officious" or personal atti- en or more. One of the members got.

tude of thebigh ministers in notable indi- into prison for debt, an1 the members vidual cases, and on some occasions even raised over 8 yen to get him out-a re- as a body, has been that of extending markable sign of brotherly love for a recognition to the missionaries and their Korean. We have over one hundred work as an important bctor in the ref- probationers. I am very busy building, ormation of the country. When chol- and also visiting the sick, having treat- era was raging in Seoul the Government ed 2500 patients this year, and my re- placed a large appropriation from the ceipts for the three months now ending public funds at the disposal of a com- will amount to 225 yen. "

mission of missionary physicians and Dr. Scranton, as superintendent, finds committed to them the Government himself at the head of an exceedingly measures for the suppression of the busy and overworked body of men, and scourge. When the Government school cries loudly for a reinforcement of six was crowded with pupils the Ministry new men. Brothers Appenzeller and of Education made a contract with our Bunker have more than 130 young men mission school at Seoul for the educa- and boys under their charge in the col- tion of such students as the king might lege. Brother Hulbert, in charge of appoint, to the number of 200, these our press at Seoul, is working day and students to be subject to the Christian night, turning out thousands of Chris- regimen in force in the school. When tian books and tracts, which are already the ministers of State, on behalf of the being felt as a regenerating force intel- king, gave a great banquet last October lectuallyand morally. Dr. Busteed is to celebrate the Declaration of Inde- redeeming the bright promise of the be- pendence from China, all the missiona- ginning of his missionary career as a ries at Seoul and Chemulpo were in- successful physician of the bodies and vited. souls of men. Dr. Folwell has in- At the present time the returns :in trenched himself in Pyang Yang, the immortal souls saved are cheering the strategic center of North Korea, taking hearts of the workers. Only three or over the work which the sainted Hall four years ago the church at home was bequeathed to the mission as a sacred ~laqd~ned by the report that the Church and desirable heritage. And Mr. Noble is probably, at this writing, near- Writing only a few days previous to ing Korea to take up the work so dear this from Dr. Scranton, Mr. Appenzeller to his heart. says: Like his brethren, Dr. Scranton is " Russia at present is not doing any- doing the work of two men. He writes thing except to further the independence from Seoul under dateof June 29th, 1896: of the country. Her hand does not ap- " At Chang-chin Nai I baptized (re- pear. Our opportunities are now much cently) 9 adults and received 17 into full greater than they were before the war.

membership. At Yong-in (a new place, This morning we had 88 Koreans who and never before reported) I baptized 6 are students of English present at pray- adults and 4 children. Wehaveagood ers, besides OVer 50 boys who are tak- work begun there. Next winter it will ing Chinese in the school. Every Sun- show up well. I suspect that from 100 day morning our chapel is so full at to 200 will come out for the Lord. Sev- divine service that we have to utilize eral years ago I baptized a man whom the hall. This afternoon we received we know as Pak No-in (Old Man Pak). 50 volumes of history and other books I did so, as Bishop Thoburn does, on as a grant to the library from the Min- one full presentation of the Gospel. It istry of Education. Bunker and I have is the only case in which I have attempt- had a year of unparalleled success. The ed this. He has been a most sincere Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and devoted Christian ever since. while Acting Minister of Education vis- Through his preaching-and he never ited us one morning, occupied a seat on rests-a doctor in Yong-in was reached the platform during prayers, and after- who has used all his immense influence ward addressed the school. He is not with the people for Christ. With books a Christian, but, having spent several and preaching this doctor has reached a years at Washington, he knows what thousand or more people, and a great Christianity teaches and has his boy in harvest lies before us. To-day I was our school.

to have gone south ten miles to a place "We never had the opportunities for where your man Chung, from Kang- work we are having at this moment. I wha, has started a small work, but was have put up a new book-store at Chong- prevented by the rain. " no, and on June 8th invited foreigners Then follows an account of how, at and native~ to be present at the open- three different points, our Korean breth- ing. Both classes came. After I told ren are inaugurating plans to build the object of the store, Mr. Choi chapels. Returning to the work in the (one of the local preachers and an offi- capital, Dr. Scranton thus speaks of cial of the Government) felt moved to the work under his personal care aR a speak to the crowd gathered in the pastor: street. He made a good address. Street .. At Sang-dong, since I came back preaching! Of his own accord I More from Wonsan, I baptized 29 adults and than this: last Sunday evening, after 9 chlldren, received 38 into full connec- the communion, the brethren volun- tion, and have taken 22 new names on teered their help to hold these street- probation. In fact, all this has oc- preaching services at the book-store for curred within the last two :and a half one week. Five P.M. is the hour. This, months. Work and opportunities for to my mind, is the right kind of an work were never better. It is exactly opening of the book-store. The fact in Korea as Bishop Thoburn represents that these schoolmen, who, as you know, the matter for India. Our trouble is were somewhat averse to this kind of not to gather the people, but to train work, volunteered, is in itself a signifi- them after reaching them. I have more cant thing. God is at work in our work than I can well attend to. It is midst. The people have begun to glorious work. " think, and it is impossible fQr them to go back to ante-bellum somnolence and 7279. The number of houses swept death. away and damaged by the wave, 1367.

" At the end of the war our college The population of the region was 48,- was the only missionary institution 990 ; the number of killed, 3366, and ready to enter the magnificent field thus the number of wounded, 726. The opened. Weare now recognized as a officials at the capital furnished each center for coining ideas. During the one of the committee with a map of the audience to which the king graciously devastated region and an official letter invited me, His lIajesty of his own ac- addressed to the Government, directing cord took special pains to thank me them to aid us in every way in our work for the work done, and bade me go on. of investigation and distribution of reo 'We are here to stay, and in this forma- lief. They also sent a telegram to the tive period of the nation's history it railroad station nearest the first town would be wrong for us to hesitate to that we were to visit, ordering jinrik- move right ahead. We believe in Ko- shas to be at the station.

rea. We believe she must have the When we reached there we did not Gospel. The truth we preach alone find the jinrikshas that had been: or- can save her. We are doing our full dered for us, so .we engaged four men duty, and we look to the Church to sus- to take us from the railroad station to tain llS in doing it. Shizukawa, a town on the seacoast that "In conclusion, let me say that at had been partially destroyed by the Chong.no, the site of our book-store wave. We had not rode more than a and the scene of this crucifixion of the mile before we met the jinrikshas OI- pride of schoolmen, there stood within dered for us by the officials in Sendai.

the memory of the living tablets in- We changed jinrikshas and rode on to scribed with insults to foreigners and a a small village, where we stopped for bloodthirsty threat against Christian- lunch. After we had lunched, the jin- ity. " riksha men came for their pay, and we were surprised to learn that they would not go on any farther. They said that The Tidal Wave in Japan. they had been instructed to bring us from the railroad station to that village, B~ REV. WHITING S. WORDEN, M.D., and they would not go on to Shizuka- YOKOHAMA, JAPAN. wa. Here was a difficulty. It was afternoon and it began to rain, and we The foreigners of Yokohama wished must reach Shizukawa by evening.

to aid the sufferers from the tidal wave After consultation together we decided of June 15th, which devastated the to start off on foot and leave our bag· northeast coast of the island of Hondo. gage at the house where we had lunch- Funds were raised, and a committee of ed. It was a bold expedient. but it three was appointed to visit the devas- • worked well. We had not gone more tated region and distribute:relief among than a mile before we were overtaken the sufferers. Rev. A. A. Bennett, by a policeman, and after he fully un- Rev. J. G. Cleveland, and myself were derstood the case he promised to send chosen as the committee. We left the baggage and jinrikshas on after us.

Yokohama on June 25th and fflached These overtook us after we had gone Sendai on the 26th. Sendai is the capi- five or six miles. We then came to a tal of Miyagi Province. We went to deep river, which we crossed by ferry- the capital, and received the foJ1owing boat. and then we began to climb the statistics of the calamity for the prov- mountain that lay between us and the ince of Miyagi only: seacoast.

Before the tidal wave the number of We reached the top of the mountain hOllses in the devastated re~~Q~ was ~QS~ !.?~fore dark, passed through the tunnel, and stopped at a tea·house for great earthquake of 1891, especially the refreshments on the other side. The roofs of the houses lying on the earth, descent from the top of the mountain their supports having been washed from to Shizukawa was quickly made; the under them. The next village we came road was excellent. It reflects great to was Hosoura. This village extend- credit on the Japanese Government to ed from the seashore up two valleys be- have constructed such a good road over tween high mountains in the form of a this mountain, with a tunnel to save the Y. All the houses were destroyed and steepest climb at the summit. When washed away by the wave. On one we arrived at Shizukawa the rain was branch of the Y the water had been falling fast, the hotel was full, and we forced up fully a quarter of a mile from found entertainment in a private house. the seaslxore, destroying acres of rice The sensations I felt were peculiar in- fields. Rere we heard a sad and touch- deed as I listened to the acconnt of the ing story. A man who had' gone up great wave coming into the land and the side of the mountain overlooking washing away so many homes. The the village on the nigbt of the calamity dogs barked and yelped all night, so saw the people come out of their houses that it was difficult to sleep, and we and go on top of the roofs with their were glad when the morning sun shone lanterns at the first intimation of dan- upon us. After breakfast we walked ger. From hiE position on the moun- out to see what damage had been done tain he could see the people and hear to the town. All the houses near the their voices, and in another moment the seashore had been washed away. Some wave burst in, all the lights were ex- houses had been floated inland. The tinguished, and the sound of the destruction at the place had been com· voices was hushed forever.

paratively slight, owing, perhaps, to The next place we came to was lsa- the fact that an island which lies just tomai. Here 60 houses had been de- olf the coast protected this place from stroyed, 52 were killed, 20 wounded, the fury of the wave. We visited the and 9 horses lost. There were a large hospital here which is under the direc· number of soldiers and coolies at work tion of the Red Cross. There have clearing away the debris, and fires were been 92 patients, 8 of whom died. The burning here and there to get rid of the cases include bruises, simple and com· rubbish, and the air was full of smoke.

pound fractures and dislocation, pneu- The smell emanating from these de- monia, pleurisy and catarrhs from ex- stroyed villages was not sanitary. and posure. The hospital is well equipped, now and then we could detect the odor having 7 physicians and 4 nurses in at- of burning flesh. The houses here tendance. were of much more substantial appear- We lunched, and having secured a ance than any we had before seen in pack·horse for our baggage, pushed on that region. Temporary houses and our journey on foot. We soon came to huts had been built to shelter the sur- the place where the village of Shimizu- vivors. The scenes all along reminded hama had been. This was a village of me so much of the sights all over the 60 houses lying near the water on the earthquake region, except that here coast, with mountains around on all water was the destructive agent, while sides except toward the sea. All the in the other case fire and shaking of the houses except one were destroyed. One earth did the damage.

hundred and eighty persons were killed. We learned that many bodies are Here and there were the thatched roofs being dug out of the sand on the shore, of the houses straddling the earth like and that many are washed up from the huge saddles, and under some of them sea daily. We reached a pretty village were numbers of the survivors. The called Tsuya, far away from the sea, scenes here resemble those after the at nightfall, where we secured a good room at the hotel and enjoyed a. quiet measured value to the International rest. Missionary Union, the program of We left our comfortable quarters at whose last three annual meetings he Tsuya the morning of June 29th. The prepared, taxing the remnant of his first place we came to was Osawa. vigor to the uttermost. We will hope Here had been a little hamlet in a rocky to present a much fuller sketch of his gorge on either side of a stream that life and missionary work In the near flowed into the sea a few rods from the future. l'rlrs. Belden needs not to be road. The bridge had been washed assured of our personal sympathy at away and all the houses destroyed. A this hour.

temple standing a hundred yards from the sea was carried away. The waves here reached fully thirty feet in height. Rev. J. E. Scott, of Mutra, India, Here and there we observed the smoke says: of burning thatch and rubbish. Many bodies were consumed in these fires. "Eight years ago there were only The conformation of the seashore had about 11,ODO Christians connected with much to do with the destructiveness of the whole of the Methodist Mission in the wave. The next town visited was India. Now there are more than 100,- Oya, the whole of which, except a few 000. ..lnd many more could be baptizhouses on high ground, was destroyed. ed were it not for the fact that there are At Kisenmuma we met Miss Mead, mis- not pastors and teachers enough to take sionary of the Baptist Board, helping care of them. These people, it is true, in the hospital, from the lower castes, and many of them are very poor, so poor that the average pay of workmen is only about six cents per day. Yet the people show Death of Rev, William H. Belden, their earnestness by giving out of their poverty toward the support of pastors The death of Rev. William H. Bel- and teachers who have been appointed den, at Clifton Springs, N. Y., on July over them. I have seen some of their 31st, will be the occasion of sorrow to giving, when the people brought vari- a very wide circle of friends in the for- ous kinds of grain, and even eggs and eign missionary field. His association sucking pigs to be sold for the support with the International Missionary of the work. And the converts have Union, of which for some years he suffered persecution. A few have been was secretary, made him well known killed, some have been beaten, many in almost all the missionary fields of all have been turned outol home and hare American churches. His zeal for mis- suffered worldly loss, yet not one has sionaryadvance was unexcelled and is gone back. Many good workers have rarely equaled. His labors for the Si- been raised up from among these peo- multaneous missionary meetings of his ple. I sent out a converted cook, who own church in New Jersey were emi- has been the means of leading many to nently successful. He represented the Christ. And even a poor ignorant man, Presbyterian Board in the great MIs- who could only playa broken fiddle, has sionary Conference in London, the In- brought many to Christ. So the work ternational Missionary Union also charg- is going on. God is blessing it. The ing him and ]Irs. Belden with being greatest need is more preachers and their delegates to the same body. His teachers. But $30 will support a preach- pure literary taste, his critical scholar- er for a year ; $12 will keep a boy in ship, his profound spirituality, his ur- school and feed and clothe him for a uanity and frankness, and his executive year. I have 4() such boys at school temper and judgment made him of un- and need scholarships.

FmLD OF MONTHLY SURVEY

lII.-FIELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY.

BY DELAVAN L. PIERSON.

Turkish Empiro,* Persia..t .Ara.bia,+ North Afrioa.§ RUBSia,i Oriental Ohristian- ity,'IT Mohammedanism.** MISSIONS IN TURKEY. Presbyterians, Church of England mis- sionaries, and various independent so- Modern missions in Turkey were be- cieties and individuals. The most fruitgun about 1805 by the colporteurs of ful field for labor was found to be that the British and Foreign Bible Society. among the Oriental churches-Chris- These were followed in 1819 by repre- tian sects that had long since lost their sentatives of the American Board. The vitality and often their morality, by inhabitants of Asiatic Turkey adhere constant contact with the Moslems chiefly to Islam, Judaism, or one of the around them, and by their failure to Oriental sects of Christianity. Work make a practical use of the Word of among the Moslems, openly at least, God. These sects include the Armewas soon found to be impracticable, nians, Greek, Bulgarian, Nestorian, Jacand still proves to be so. Jewish mis- obite, Maronite, and Caldean sectssions are chiefly carried on by Scotch all of them having become more or less removed from apostolic life and doc- * See also pp. 50 (January); 119, 129 (Febru- trine. The first id3a of the missionaries was to reform the churches among ary) ; 161, 198, 204 (March) ; 282,285 (April) ; 38-3 which they labored, but while many (May); 431, 451 (June); 501 (July); 601, 613 welcomed the new light and life, the (Augnst) ; 685 (September) ; 776 (present i"sue). opposition of the ecclesiastical leaders New Boola: .. Constantinople," E. A. Grosve- and their persecution of converts soon nor; "The Rule of the Turk," F. D. Greene; necessitated the formation of an inde- .. Turkey and the Armeniau Atrocities," E. A. pendent evangelical church. The work :Bliss. Recent Articles: "The Sultan of Tnr- in Asiatic Turkey has been carried on key," Review of Review8 (January and Feb- chiefly among the Armenians and ruary); Armenian Massacre," Christian Lt!- Greeks, and has now grown to be large emture Magazine (February); Missionary and flourishing. The recent persecu- Herald (monthly). 'tions have almost put a stop to all prog- ress, and have rendered the outlook t See also p. 729 (present issue). NtWl Boola : dark, if not discouraging. The effect .. Persia and the Persians," S. G. Wilson. Recent of the massacres has been, on the one Articlel: "On Things Persian," Fortnightly Re- hand, to put a stop to the active educavitWJ (June); •• The Li'nd of the Shah," Gode1j'S tional and evangelistic work, and to (July); Church at Home and A/J'I'oad (October). bring to most extreme poverty and dis- tress all Christian sects; on the other :I: See also p.735(present Issue). RecentArticles: hand, these times of trouble have shown to the people among whom they labor, "Egypt and its Frontier," Fortnightly Review and to the whole world, the heroic (April); Mission Field (monthly). character of the missionaries, and has thus opened the hearts of natives on § See also pp. 436,542 (July). Recent Articles : the field for furthe; instruction, and "Female Life in Morocco," Church at Home has loosed the purse-strings of Chrisand Abroad (January); "Morocco," Ohambers' tians at home to help carry on the work. JouNWl (June); "AfricaNorthofthe Equator," Contemporary Review (July); North Africa The American Board is the most im- (monthly). portant agency in the field. Their work covers the whole of Asia Minor I See alsopp.l42 (February); 740 (present issue). New Boob.' "The Empire of tbe Tsars and the Russians," Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu. Recent Articles.' "Russia, Persia and England," Nineteentl~ Century (July); "The Apotheosio of Russia," Blaclcwood'8 (July).

,. Seepp.193(March); 436 (June); 750 (present issue.) ** See also p. 71i8 (present issue). Recent arti- cles: .. Mohammedanism In Paris," Connopolitan (March); "Some Fallacies about Islam," Fortnightly Review (April).

ed Eastern Turkey, toi_ther with of ChristilUl heroism and martyrdom Macedonia and part of Bulgaria. They for the faith which is in Christ Jesus employ 176 American missionaries (116 which the ,world, Christian and non- ordained) and 869 native laborers (100 Christian, will never forget. The time ordained). They occupy 19 stations has not yet come for Christians at home and 306 out-stations. Places where to close their pocket-books and let the stated preaching is carried on number survivors of the Armenian outrages suf- 327; organized churches, 125 ; church- fer alone and unaided; another winter is members, 12,787; and adherents, 33,- fast approaching, and it will be many 787. The educational schools are one a long day before the destitute Chris- of the most important features of the tians will be out of want. As long as work-including all departments, theo- there is a need to be met, whether ma- logical, collegiate, and preparatory, terialor spiritual, let Christians at home there are nearly 20,000 students under cease not to give their prayers and their instruction. Bibles and other books, substance for the furtherance of the papers and leaflets are published and Lord's work.

distributed in large numbers in the PERSIA AND THE PERSIANS. Greek and Turkish languages, and have had almost as wide a usefulness as the In Persia, as in Turkey, work among missionaries themselves. the Moslems is practically prohibited Other American societies at work in by the government, and in consequence the empire are the Bible Society, which attention is chiefly given to the Nesto- publishes Bibles in the Turkish lan- rians and Armenians. The name Nes- guage in Arabic, Armenian, and Greek torian was given to them by their ene- characters; also in the Armenian, Bul- mies as a term of reproach. They garian, Kurdish, and Arabic languages. speak of themselves as Beni-Israel.

The Society of Friends labor in Pales- The Jews residing among them ac- tine, the Presbyterian Church (North) knowledge them as the descendants of occupies Syria and Mesopotamia, the the Ten Tribes, converted (the Jews United Presbyterian Church laboring say apostatized) to Christ, as a nation, in Egypt, the Reformed Presbyterians in the time of Christ and His apostles.

in Syria, Reformed Dutch in Arabia, Their history and descent is unbroken and the Disciples of Christ in Constan- from that time to this. The way they tinople and vicinity. Britiih societies have been preserved in their mountain are the Church Missionary Society in fastnesses, in the prbSence of and sur- Syria and Palestine, Church of Scot- rounded by their enemies, and kept a land in Syria, and the Free Church in separate people, is one of the most mar- Arabia. The British and Foreign Bi- velous and romantic chapters of his- ble Society confines its work chiefly to tory. The first permanent. work was the coast lands. started in Persia in 1871 by the Church Such are the interests of Christianity Missionary Society_ The only other involved in the Turkish problem so far society here is that of the American as statistics will show them. Shall we Presbyterians in the North. The Re- withdraw? With one voice missiona- formed (Dutch) Church has a station at ries on the field, secretaries at home, Busrah, on the border of Persia, for .

and faithful Christians the world over work among the Arabs.

reply, "No I not until the Lord beats The Babi faith is an important ele- a retreat." Unhappily the times of ment in the work of evangelization.

trial and distress do not yet seem to be The Babis are a Mohammedan sect, but passed; the horrors of the past two friendly to Christianity, haTing bor- years can never be described, but they rowed many doctrines from it. Islam have served to exhibit many instances seemS to be losing its hold on Persia. The increase in the saJe of the Scrip. into the Greek Church, and no perse.

tures indicates a growing interest in cution is too severe for those who be· the Gospel. Medical work plays a very come apostate. Active proselyting is important part in the work of evangeli. carried on in the Baltic provinces and zation. People flock to the mission elsewhere, and between bribes and hospitals in large numbers, but often threats many of the people have joined their eagerness for spiritual instruction the Russian Church. Proselyting for is greater than for medical aid. Belief Protestants is not forbidden among in Christ as the only Savior is spreading Jews and others who are not adherents cven among the Moslems, tho oftcn of the Greek faith, but converts are secretly. often sorely persecuted, as has been so The condition of women, as in other abundantly seen in the case of the Moslem lands, is pitiable in the extreme. Stundists. The Baptists in Russia also There is no home lite. Polygamy has continue to suffer deep persecution, to destroyed the Persian morality, if there which has now been added the confisca.

ever was any, and the children grow tion of all religious literature. In spite up accustomed to the language and of the great difficulties under which scenes of a brothel. they labor the work goes on, and they It is still too early to predict the now report a membership of more than effect upon the mission work of the 17,000, with 90 ministers, and the bap- coming of the new Shah to the throne. tisms last year were more than 1200.

He is said to be less enlightened, but The religion of the great majority of more indifferent than his predecessor. the European inhabitants of Russia is, ARABIAN MISSIONS. of course, the Orthodox or Greek Church. The absence of a celibate The work in" the neglected penin- clergy gives it an advantage over the sula" consists chiefly in medical treat- Romish Church, and, until now,little, ment at the mission stations, and in the if any, obstacle has been placed in the sale of the Arabic Scriptures to Jews way of the free circulation of the Holy and Moslems by native helpers. An Scriptures. The monks and the higher interesting example of the way in which clergy are, however, forbidden to mar· the Lord turns apparent misfortune ry, and any advantage which the Greek into blessing is seen in a recent riot in Church possesses over its great rival in Muscat. In a fight between two Arab the matter of doctrine is almost out- chiefs the mission premises were looted weighed by the superstition and idola- and a large supply of Bibles were try which press alike on priest and peo· stolen. These were put up at auction pIe. Strong pressure is now being and sold as foreign books to one of the brought to bear to drive outsiders into Arabs. He, in order not to lose money the bosom of the Orthodox Church, but on his purchase, sent his slaves all over secession is making far greater progress the district, and they sold the copies of than forced conversions. God is, in· the Scriptures to hundreds of lHoslems deed, working mightily in Russia among who could otherwise never have been Jews and Gentiles, in the midst of so reached directly by the missionaries. much sin and wrong. In the case of The work is progressing in the face of the Jewish popUlation the old prejudice many difficulties, climatic, financial, is found to be slowly but surely giving and Satanic. way before the spirit of inquiry, and THE GOSPEL IN RUSSIA. the seed sown in the past is beginning to bear fruit. The outlook for Christian The land of the Tsars is almost as missions is more than hopeful. and. altho much a closed land to the Gospel as are theoretically absolutely forbidden by the Tibet and Afghanistan. N() stone is government, up to the present time left unturned to bring every inhabitant there has been little di1J:l.culty in carry· ing on the work of the British Bible Soci· tach the adherence and cohesion of ety, though tbeworkers have been com· their orthodox neighbors. Their bitpelled to exercise milch tact, patience, terest opponents in the State Church and forbearance. The spiritual harvest cannot deny these many virtues of the is indeed plentiful. Denied the liber- "heretics," nor can they, if they bear ties enjoyed by all civilized people, the truthful evidence, decline to acknowl- Russians thirst for the better liberty of edge the reclaimed lives and material the sons of God. prosperity of the many thousands of ignorant, intemperate, and degraded A clergyman of the Russian Ortho- peasants who have voluntarily adopted dox Church recently wrote to a Mos- the Stundist teaching and copied the cow paper, saying that the rigorously manners and morals of the sectarians. suppressive laws lately promulgated There are no more conscientiously lawagainst the Stundist sectarians are not abiding subjects in the Tsar's dominonly unsuccessful, but would actually ions. appear to have given a renewed impetus both to the open and to the clan- With the exception of part of Turkesdestine spread of the schism; while the best efforts 01. the special missiona- tan, Siberia, * or Asiatic Russia, comries appointed to counteract the teaching of Stundism, and to reattach the prises the whole of Asia lying north of Orthodox apostates to that creed, have the Chinese Empire, Afghanistan, and been absolutely fruitless. The most Persia (area 4,833,496 square milest lamentable feature of this propaganda, larger than Europe). says the clerical writer, is its evident progress among the intelligent class of The greater part of this" land of ex- Russians who have practically aban- ile" consists of monotonous lowlands doned the State Church, or who attend stretching away to the horizon" like a the Church service once or twice a year limitless ocean plain." But toward as a mere habit. It is also to this the east rises a vast tableland, the growing public inclination toward "Great Divide" (i.e., between the Arc- Stundism that the writer attributes the tic and Pacific oceans), connected with difficulty of getting the majority of the which are the Yablonovoi, or" Apple ordinary magistracy to ,convict the Mountains," and other ranges. In the Stundist propagandists, and for the southwest is the famous mining district same reason large employers ignore the of the Little Altai Mountains. legal injunctions laid upon them with regard to the exclusion of Stundist To the north are the extensive Tun· workpeople of both sexes. dra swamps, covered with snow eight months of the year under dull, leaden This writer makes a significant ad- skies, the long nights now and then remission when he candidly avows that a lieved by magnificent Northern Lights. large number of intelligent and edu- The nomadic tribes dwelling here decated people who are gradually adopt- pend on the reindeer for their existence. ing the Stundillt creed would otherwise become freethinkers. Unlike South of the Tundra is a forest zone, many other Russian sectarians, the or Taiga, reaching almost uninterrupt- Stundists, whose religious tenets very edly across the continent. The noted closely resemble those of the Baptists, Siberian pine is conspicuons, and berrydo not proselytize, and hence the police producing bushes are abundant, supauthorities find it difficult to convict plying food for man and beast, quantithem. It is by the force of example ties of berries being preserved for winonly, by their exemplary lives, their ter use. high-toned morality, sobriety, industry, thrift. and honest dealings that they at The water system of Siberia is the most extensive, but least serviceable of * These notes on Siberia are taken from the Reilions B'1/Md. t All Asiatic Russia comprises 6,500,000 square miles. any in the Old World. The Obi, addicted to drink and tobacco; even Yenesei, and Lena, running north with young children may often be seen the Amoor and lesser rivers, cover the smoking Chinese pipes.

country with a network of about 30,000 In Western Siberia the aborigines are miles of navigable waterway. But un- of Finnish race-80yots, Ostiaks, Samo- fortunately all are ice-bound most of yec1cs, and Voguls. The Cassocks hold the year, and only serve as sledge-roads. villages on military tenure, supplying The people are chiefly of Mongol (or man, horse, and uniform, in lieu of rent.

Tartar) descent; but many of the na- The principal races in Russian Tur- tive tribes seem to be dying out or be- kestan are the Uzbeks and the Tadjiks; coming absorbed in the advancing Rus- the former an agricultural, and the lat- sian element. (Population, 8,000,000.) ter a commercial people. High walls Eastern Siberia is largely occupied of sunburnt brick surround the towns, by the Tunguses, of whom it is said: and gardens and vineyards are inter- " Tra,velers are never wearied of extol- spersed among the houses, which are ling their many admirable qualities; of m'ld thatched with reeds.

and there can be no doubt that they Over the steppes northeast of the are one of the very noblest types of Caspian and Aral seas roam the Klrghiz mankind. They are cheerful under hordes. Their square graves, made of the most depressing circumstances, per- the trunks of trees, look at a distance severing, open-hearted, trustworthy, like log-huts. On the borders of Persia modest yet self-reliant, a fearless race and Afghanistan dwell the Turcomans, of hunters, born amid the gloom of shepherds and farmers.

their dense pine-forests, exposed from Siberian towns, which are not popu- the cradle to e~ery danger from wild lous tho covering large spaces of beasts, cold, and hunger. Want and ground, form both trading and military hardships of every kind they endure posts, the mass of their inhabitants with surprising fortitude, and nothing being Russian. Irkutsk is the capital can induce them to take service under of Eastern Siberia, Omsk of Western; the Russians, or quit their solitary Tobolsk, the chief commercial depot, woodlands, where they cheerfully face exchanges the produce of Siberian the long and harsh winters, when the mines, fisheries, and hunting-grounds snow-storm often rages for days to- for manufactured goods. Tomsk is gether." the sole Siberian university; Yakutsk, The Yakuts. of Turkish origin, on the Lena, probably the coldest town dwelling on the banks of the Lena, are on the face of the earth.

the mos~ enerp:etic and versatile of all The religion is nominally that of the Siberian people. This tribe, unlike the Greek Church, but throughout South others, is increasing in numbers. They Siberia, or Russian Central Asia, Mo- are described as "men of iron," and hammedanism prevails, and toward the more inured to cold than perhaps any Chinese frontier Buddhism. The old other people in the world. religion of Siberia was Shamanism, a The Koriaks, belonging to the" Hy- kind of nature-worship, based entirely perborean" group, treat their women on oral tradition. Many of the people, and children very tenderly, but put an tho outwardly Buddhists or Greek end to their weak or aged kindred, Christians, are still at heart Shamanists thinldng it an act of mercy to save -e.g., the Tunguses and Yakuts, who them from linge!·ing death. The Kam- -tho under Russian compUlsion most schadales (aborigines of Kamschatka) of them have been baptized-despise keep their houses scrupulously clean, the rites of the Greek Church as mere but the doors are so low that they have formalities, and are true nature-wor- to be entered on all fours. shipers.

The Buriats on Lake Baikal are much They believe that two principles of good and evil took part in the creation, from which he has lmt recently rethe former making the earth level, and the latter tearing it up in a rage, whence turned, he speaks of" the joyful serthe hills and valleys. It is held that a Supreme Being reigns above all, but vice in having new congregations of too far off to hear prayer, too good to reaZ sinners in every place, and even need supplication; and the circumstances of life are controlled by good in every ward; sometimes also hunand evil spirits, the latter requiring to be propitiated, but not the former. dreds together in the corridor or in the The Samoyedes are idol.worshipers. yard eagerly catching the sound of the Political prisoners are chiefly found in the Transbaikal District, but" whole Gospel, which they have never heard regions of Siberia Ilre simply huge prison regions." Many of the exiles before." All prisoners Who could read are Jews and Stundists. "The Stun- were supplied, grati8, with copies of dists, for sobriety, industry, and godli- the Scriptures_ ness, are the cream of the Tsar's subjects. They send them off to Siberia; To resolute hearts the door into Sibebut they cannot abstract from the Stundist his religious belief, his love of ria stands open. Whole-heartednees God's Word or his love of proclaiming that Word. So pure and undefiled re- invariably wins the day. But" the ligion penetrates into the prisons." There i8 not a 8ingle resident Protes- half-hearted measure in which we evantant missionary in the whole country. But in this, as in other lands where lit- gelize the age deserves and brings failtle personal effort has been made, that ure_ Steam and electricity in religion silent yet most eloquent missionary, the Bible, has found its way and will win; old-fashioned, easy-going brought light iuto many a dark home. The colporteurs of the British and For- methods mean defeat. We have not eign Bible Society during the last year distributed nearly 50,000 copies, and heretofore won the age; let us not put met with universal kindness from the authorities and others. One colporteur all the blame upon the age." had an interview with the State Inspector of Prisons, who greeted him warm- A correspondent from Constantinople ly, thanked the Society, and" fervently writes under date of August 19th: wished that the blessing of God might " Affairs here continue to be most inrest on it and its work in Siberia." He teresting. The Armenian patriarch, said it gave him much pleasure to grant Mgr. MatHios Izmirlian, has at length the colporteur a permit to visit the been forced to resign, and a rascal prisons. named Bartholomew of Broussa has Dr. Baedeker, well known in Sibe- been chosen as locum tenen8 until a new rian prisons as the " good old man, the patriarch can be legally elected. The Anglichanin with the fine gray beard," whole thing was cooked up long ago at has within the last few years preached the palace. and was no snrprise to us. the Gospel to multitudes in these dreary Izmirlian is a true hero and a devoted abodes, journeying across the whole patriot as well as a true Christian, and continent. Describinji his last visit, the nation monrns his loss. A few days after his resignation the local pa- pers stated that he had applied for per- mission to visit Jerusalem, and that the Sultan had graciously granted the re- quest, which means that Izmirlian has been banished to Jerusalem, and the official world is again hoodwinked by the wily Turk. _ • _ "lleports from Asia Minor are en- couraging in almost every case. The government is actually distributing food and clothing to the poor, and is protecting life and property. The de- plorable affair in Van was due to the folly of the Huntchagists. who succeed in getting Armenians killed while they run away themselves. . . .

"The work: of the Red Cross has been excellent, but would have been impossible without the aid of the mis- sionaries,"

EDITORIAl, DEPART!dENT

IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.

Rev. A. Benollel a.nd the Jerusalem than of any of the other resiuents here, Mission. they have been so very kind to me.

In May last the editor of this REVIEW Mr. Benolle! impresses me as being a felt himself constrained to set guards very religions man, a thorough student about any direct or indirect endorse· of the Bible. and thoroughly in earnest ment of this brother and his work, in in his work. .He has asked me to drop view of certain published nSf/auIts made in when he expects his Jews to be there upon him by Rev. Selah Merrill and a for religious conversation, and I intend certain Mr. Alley, together with private to do so.' letters from parties whose names we are not quite free now to disclose, but who "As the writer is an Episcopalian. appeared to be responsible parties. and one who would not have written thus had he not satisfied himself that All that was intended was to simply he could do so with perfect truth, his suspend judgment until proper inquiry testimony is the more valuable. could be made. It is now time to say that, after a year spent in diligent in- " Mr. BenoUel writes to me of four vestigation, nothing has been found young J ews-Sephardim-who are now worthy of credence or sustained by any openly attending his Bible class, as dilireliable proof, of all that we have heard gent students of the New Testament, or read against Mr. BenoUe!. He may after having been students of it in not always have been prudent, and his scores for some weeks. He gives the self-vindication under attack was not names of the fathers of two of them. perhaps the wisest course. but nothing and I find that I knew them both well assailing his piety, integrity, or loyalty as men of the highest social standing to Christ has ever been supported by among the Jews; one of them, indeed, any evidence entitled to consideration. is perhaps the most learned rabbi in Jerusalem.

It seems indeed to be a case of personal persecution, prompted by misunder· Turkey, in Oonneotion with the End of "The Times of the Gentiles." standing 01' private dislike. Among other testimonies favorable to Mr. The attention that Turkey awakens BenoUel is a letter too long to be pub- at the present time will give interest to lished, from R. Scott Moncrieff, Esq., the following statement of prophetical the concluding portion of which we dates, gathered chiefly from Mr. J. B.

gladly append: Dimbleby's "New Era at Hand." We " Only last week I received a letter ma.y not agree with: everything con- from a friend who has gone out to Jeru- tained in it, but the subject is deeply salem on behalf of Mrs. Finn's society, interesting.

a man of high Christian character, who " 'l'he times of the Gentiles" are gen- has seen much. of the world on both erally admitted by prophetic students sides of the Atlantic. I had given him to consist of 2520 years, according to letters of introduction to several of my the year.day theory, " a day for a year,"

friends in Jerusalem, and after having as in Ezek. 4 : 6 and Num. 14 : 34. A been there for some weeks, he has writ- prophetic year of 360 days (taking" a ten to me at some length of his impres- day for a year") is 360 years, which, sions of the city. and refers to the Beno- multiplied by seven, makes seven Iiela (to whom I had given him a letter) times-i.e., 2520 years. "Seven times"

as follows: aTe mentioned four times over in Lev.

" , I have seen more of the BenoUels 26 : 18, 21, 24, 28, as the period for which God would punish His rebellious peo- and continued 304 years till 3970, A.M. ple Israel, and the Jews have been suf- Then the Romans conquered the Grefering from the time of the 70 years' cians in 3970, A.M., and continued for captivity, which commenced in 3406, 666 years till 4636, A.M. Thus the four A.M., and will continue for 2520 years kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream from that date, until 5926, A.M., our (Dan. 2) fulfilled exactly 1260 years, the 1928t A.D., the probable commencement half of the 2520 years of " the times of of the millennium. the Gentiles." The Saracens (Turks) then, in 4636 A.M. (our 638 A.D.), took The Gentile times commenced 30 Jerusalem, and have been dominant years before 8406! A.M.-i.e., in 3376! there for more than 1257 years, leaving A.M., when the ruling power was giveu nearly two and three quarter years from to the Gentiles. Nebo-polassar, Nebu- this date (August, 1895) to fill up the chadnezzar's father, became the first second 1260 years. Thus the whole of Babylonian king comprised in the" head the 2520 years, counting from 3376, of gold" (Dan. 2 : 38), and began his A.M., will be completed, so that we may empire, which lasted 90 years, from expect the reign of the Turks in Jeru- 3376i- A.M. to 8466! A.M. The Medo- salem to be overthrown in, or before, Persian kingdom succeeded it in 3466 5896, A.M.-our 1898t A.D. A.M., and lasted 200 years till 3666; A.M., when the Grecian kingdom suc- "The times of the Gentiles" may ceeded the Medo-Persian in 3666, A.M., therefore be tabulated thus: The Babylonian Kingdom (gold) …•……….•.•..• Iasted for 90 years, from 3.'l76J.jl to 3466J.jl A.M. The Medo-Perslan Kingdom (silver)…. …………." " 200 years, from 3466J.jl to 3666'$ A.M. The Grecian, or 3d Kingdom (brass)…….. . . . . • . . . " "304 years, from 3666J1i to 3970J.il A.M. The Roman, or 4th Kingdom (iron) ……………." .. 666 years, from 3970J.jl to 4636J.jl A.M.

5896" .. A Time, Times, and a half" thus fnlfilled…. …." .. 1260 years, from 3376J.jl to 4636}6 A.M. The Saracens (Tnrks) forasimilarperic,d (Rev. 11: 2)." "1260 years, from 4636J.jl to A.M.

The two 1260 years make" the Gentile Times" …••…•…•••. 2520 years, from 3376J1i to 5896Ys A.M. which, added to their commencing date in …………….•..•3376, make the year 5896 A.M.-unr 1898 A.D ….. _…………………….5896 Anno Mundi.

If Mr. Dimbleby is correct, this date peror of Austria, the King of Italy, will usher in tremendously important the Queen Regent of Spaiu, the King changes in this world, both religious of Portugal, the King of Belgium, and and political. The words of the Lord the President of the French Republic Jesus are sure to be fulfilled: "Jerusa- are Roman Catholics; the Emperor of lem shall be trodden down of the Gen- Germany belongs to the Evangelical tiles, until' the times of the Gentiles' Protestant Church; the Queen of Engbe fulfilled" (Luke 21: 24). Turkey land is an Episcopalian; the King of must fall sooner or later, but not later, Denmark and the King of Sweden are it would seem, than about 1898 A.D. Lutherans; the royal family of the As these things are at hand, let Chris- Netherlands belong to the Reformed tians be looking for the fulfilment of Church; the Mikado of Japan is very 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. We know not now liberal in his respect for both Shintoism "what a day may bring forth !"-Se- and Buddhism; the Emperor of China lected. is a follower of Confucius; the Shah of Persia is a Mohammedan; the Queen The Czar of Russia belongs to the of l'Iadagascar professes the Christian Greek Catholic Church; the Sultan of fait.h of the London Missionary Society; Turkey is a Mohammedan; the Em· the President of the Mexican Republic is a liberal Roman Catholic, as are each found. Not only were these .killed, but of the Presidents of the Spanish·Ameri- terribly mutilated as well. Noses, lips, ears were cut off, not to speak of other can Republics and the President of indignities. Even the Kurdish mule· Brazil; most of the lesser rulers in teer who was with the party was killed, Africa and Asia are Mohammedans; so that no survivor should tell the tale. The horses were found grazing near the King of Siam is a Buddhist; the Presidents of the United States have aU· the spot, and the bodies were brought down on them to the different homes been Protestants. that have been made desolate.

" The remains of the bishop and his The following letter from Re'i'. F. G. nephew were brought to Oroomiah, Coan, of Oroomiah, Persia, already where they will be buried with great ceremony on the Sabbath. 'l'housands printed in the Presbyterian Banner, have been coming all day to look on should be widely read. It refers to the the ghastly remains, and the whole Nesturian nation is greatly and rightly outrageous murder of Bishop Gorial and his suite on Turkish soil, Persian stirred at this most terrible insult and indignity ever offered them on this side. subjects who had gone to Turkey to " When it is considered that the out- visit the bishop'S superior. He writes rage was committed, not against armed men or warriors, not against anyone from Oroomiah, June 28th, as follows: with whom the Kurds might have a " One of the most shocking tragedies, feud, but against an ecclesiastical par- that for parallel in the history of the tv, that even in Turkey and among the Nestorians of Oroomiah has no equal, Kurds would command, ordinarily, re- was enacted last week just across the spect, the crime seems the more atroborder from us, fifteen miles above the cious and uncalled-for. None of those college. A party of fourteen Nesto- killed were even poor, despised Arme- rians, consisting of the Nestorian Bish- nians. All were Nestorians but the op, Mar Gorial, of Oroomiah, and his one Kurd. nephew, three kashas or priests from " The crime had evidently been com- Tergawer, two deacons, Aserfant of mitted on Turkish soil, as the bodies the Partriarch. and attendants, left had been dragged and thrown on to about two weeks ago to make a visit to Persian soil, which at the scene was not the Metropolitan, who lives in Nochee, over a mile away. about two days' journey from here. " The question is, who did it? Could Near the Metropolitan also lives Sheikh the sheikh have ordered it done? Sadick, the 80n of Sheikh ObeiduIla, There are well·founded rumors that a famed for his invasion and attack on terrible massacre, one that will throw Oroomiah fourteen years ago. all preceding ones into the shade, has " Ten days had elapsed from the time taken place in Van and vicinity. As the party left Tergawer, four hours proof of this, early in the week the above us,without any word as to the fate Kurds, who are Persian subjects, were of the party, when an ugly mmor got summoned to the aid of those at Van, abroad of foul play, and searching par- and sent to the Governor of KllOl ask- ties went up to find them. Just over ing permission to join the Kurds of Van t.he border, near the Persian village ot in wiping out the Armenians, as' Jahat '

Rashikan, an awful scene was encoun- or religious war had been proclaimed.

tered. On the grouud lay the bodies The governor referred the matter to of twelve of the fourteen, with thllir the governor here, who referred it to throats cut from ear to ear, stripped of Tabriz. Refugees are already coming all clothing and horribly mutilated. into Van, and much booty is being sold There were signs of a terrible struggle, at that place very cheap. as shown by the trampled snow, mud, .. There is no doubt something ba8 at and number of dagger wounds, also the last happened in Van. It is even re- fact that some had been bound with ported that the English consul has been ropes before they could be overcome. killed and the Russian consul badly Two poor wretches had evidently es· wounded. All th!s the sheikh would capEd and run a short distance, only to ,hear; could he have committed this be shot down, as seen by the bullet fell deed in revenge? It is certainIy in marks in their backs. The rest, de· some way connected with the Van re- fenseless and without arms, had been ports. To-morrow the government cut to pieces with daggers. here is to be seen and urged to take all "Two bodies are missing, as the necessary precautions for the safety of searching party did not dare go far the Christians here.

from the place where the twelve were .. So far all is quiet, but it may be the lull before the storm. Certainly if the year. Now is the season of the awthe Kurds over the border are on the ful 'traffic in girls.' God help us. war-path, disturbances may be looked 'We have failed to secure some we have for near us soon. We rejoice in the earnestly prayed over. One poor creafact that God reigns, and that while ture we hoped to save took her own life earthly powers may be indifferent. not in an hour of awful deapai'. We knelt a hair falls to the ground withot.t His by that dead body and prayed for' help knowledge. " to save others before it is forever too late.

At the Northfield Conference in Au- H Twin babies, a boy and a girl, were gust, it is not too much to say that no born in our Home on Washington's address made a deeper or more spiritual birthday. Fourteen little waifs have impression than those of Rev_ Edger- been born in the Home since two years ton R. Young, whose books, "By ago. Who will send HELP FOR THESE Canoe and Dog Train," "·Wigwams INNOCENT BABIES, or help to SAVE the and Northern Camp-fires," etc., have HARDENED men and women. found so many absorbed readers. After hearing Mr. Young frequently, the im- "Gnd will hold liS responsible for pression grows upon us that he is one what we can do. If you cannot draw of the few really fascinating speakers a hundred-dollar check. can you not on mis.gions, and especially missions make a five-cent sacrifice to buy a little among the Indian tribes. He has re- Testament for the camp work or collect pennies enough for a quart of milk for cently returned from a prolonged tour our baby-waifs? We plead in Christ's in Britain, where he spoke to thou- name for all this great work, whether sands_ His lectures on his" Journey- it be a camp missionary or a cup of ings by Canoe and Dog Train," " The milk. "

Indian Woman as She Was and Is," .. The Indians, their Haunts, their II Ohristmas for Ohrist," Sports, their Homes," etc., would instruct and charm any audience. He is A correspondent from Evanston, Ill., graphic, vivacious, earnest, humorous, suggests that "a movement to secure pathetic, loves the Gospel and loves the adoption by Christian people of the soul of the Indian, and has a rare such an observance of Christmas Day, story to tell, which he tells with great the day when God gave His Son to the simplicity and power_ He may be ad- world, as will not only be more apdressed at Ingleside, Deer Pa:.k, P.O., propriate to that event, but, while be- ing this, will also result in giving im- Toronto, Canada. mediately to the world yet lying in Emma C_ Nason, of Sault Ste. Marie, darkness the glad news o! the salva- tion which Christ came on that day to Mich., who has in charge the work bring.

among the lumbermen there, writes; .. It is proposed that the following form of observance of Christ's natal " In need and in haste we send this day be adopted by the convention, to letter, urging prompt help. We have be advocated by the Volunteers in their thus far held on to the work at every own churches and communities-viz_: point of our mission. The overworked .. That the Christian people of the missionaries have reached almost the world be solicited, as far as possible, to limit of strength, yet we must not gi ve transfer their giving from their relaup. God has shielded us in times of tives and friends to their Lord-i.e., danger, and the winter has been laden that they set aside the money they with blessed results. The crowded would expend for pleasure gifts to their camps will soon break up, dens of sin friends and earthly loved ones under of every kind-brothels, drinking and the ordinary regime of Christmas Day gambling hells-are now preparing at- observance, and make of the monev tractions, and laying every trap to grasp thus set aside a gift unto the Lord in the hard-earned wages of lumbermen_ token of love and devotion and of ap- What shall we do for the souls of these preciation of the matchless gift of God men? Must missionaries sorrowfully to men on that memorable day, the withdraw from the work now while same to be devoted to the carrying out the ambassadors of hell go forth with of Christ's last great commission as yet smilp.s to meet their prey? Help is so grievously neglected. needed now to do the best in our lodg- .. One Christmss season's givings de- ing-rooms, cofl'ee-rooms, and for the voted to this end would mean the im- Gospel ser·vices. The rescue work is mediate provision in hand of all the needed more than at any other time of funds necessary to accomplish the world's evangelization, and that, too, providence of God shall guide our misif none but the Church of Christ alone sionaries on the frontier. Political cau· adopted this form of Christmas o.b- tion on the part of the British authoriservance. ties, and religious bigotry on the part of independent native rulers are the .. What would be a more appropriate chief obstacles with which we have to commemoration of God's great gilt to deal at present. But we earnestly trust the world than for those who have that the medical mission work and the availed themselves of this wonderful circulation of the Bible by efficient colgift and tasted of its blessedness, to portage may en!1ble us ere very long to make this natal day a day of return make some beginning in reaching these giving to Him? unevangelized peoples.

.. Cdn this not be taken up by the " We shall be very thankful for the Student Volunteer Movement under remembrance in prayer of friends in the watch cry, 'Christmas for Christ,' America in this great and difficult underbe by them carried into their own com- taking. munities, and so advocated and proclaimed by them throughout Christen- " P. IRELAND JONES, Secretary." dom as a Christian festival, as that by Christmas of 18116 there will be forth- 1flrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe ought to coming into the Lord's treasury the be reckoned among the foremost prorequisite funds for such a missionary moters of missions, for the grand work crusade as will sweep the world with she did in helping to bring about the the Gospel before the close of the cen- abolition of slavery by the publication tury?" of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." The daugh- ter of Dr. Lyman Beecher and wife of In regard to the appeal for more Professor Stowe, she settled apparently workers to supply the unoccupied fields into a quiet life; but she heard the cry of Central Asia, voiced by Dr. Neve in of the slave, and a message came which she must tell out, as she did in her inour last issue, the Church Missionary imitable story. In four years 313,000 were printed in the States alone, while Society writes: translations were made in many lan- " Our committee recommended that guages. In" The Life-work of the Author of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,''' by Dr. A. Neve be granted three months' Florine Thayer McCray, the following leave i~ order to make inquiries as to account is given of the circumstances possible openings for itinerating mis- in which the story of ., Uncle Tom" sionary work from the base of Kashmir was written: "In perusing The Naor Peshawur. Dr. Neve has made an tional ./l}ra, Mrs. Stowe noticed the inci- dent of a slave woman escaping with expedition into Baltistan, and iii propos- her child across the lioating ice of the Ing in September or October to go up river, from Kentucky into Ohio, and it to Hunza Nagyr and other districts. became the first salient point of her We have also been in communication great work, and is seen in the history of Eliza. She began to meditate and with the authorities here and in India dream over a possible story that should as to the possibility of missionary work graphically set forth the bare ugliness and repulsive features of the system of in the neighborhood of Chitral, or in negro slavery. The black husband Kaffiristan or Afghanistan. In both who remained in Kentucky, going back the latter cases we are informed there is and forth on parole, and remaining in no prospect whatever of missionary bondage rather than forfeit his word of honor to his master, suggested the charwork being allowed by the Amir. But acter of Uncle Tom. Once suggested, we have hope that ere very long mis- the scenes of the story began rapidly to sionary work may be possible in the form in her mind, and, as they are neighborhood of Chitral. We are also prone to do in the practical forces of energetiC character, emotions and impurposing to establish a strong medical presSions instantly crystallized into mission a.t Peshawur with a view to reaching the frontier and trans-frontier tribes, and plans are now being arranged with this purpose before us. But for the most part our duty for some time to come seems likely to be pioneering work, looking for opportunities as the ideas and opinions. The whole wonder- and fame as long as Uncle Tom him- ful scheme was defined before the au- self. It was told me, as such things thor of • Uncle Tom's Cabin' put her go, from lip to lip of personal friends pen to paper. She has related that the who take pride in cherishing the sweet- closing scene, the death oC Uncle Tom, est thoughts and facts about those came to her as a material vision while whom they love and revere. During sitting at the Communion one Sunday the latter part of her life l'Irs. Stowe in the little church at Brunswick.· She has been one of those devout Christian was perfectly overcome by it, and believers whose consecration takes high could scarcely restrain the violent emo- forms. She has placed faith in prayer, tion that sprang into tears and shook and given herself to the kind of dedi- her frame. She was carried out of her- cation which exercises and cultivates . self. It was the fire of outraged feel- it. There came a time in her history ing which inspired this memorable When one who was very dear to her work. She hastened home and wrote, seemed about to sink away from the and, her husband being away, she read faith in which she trusted, and to which it aloud to her older children. Her life and sorrow hall taught her to cling burning sentences so tonched their as only those who have Buffered and young hearts that they wept with her, dOUbted and accepted can. This pros- and cried out that slavery was the most pect was a crushing grief to her, and accursed thing in the world. Some she set herself resolutely to avert the days afterward, Professor Stowe, hav- calamity if and while she could. Let- ing returned, was passing through her ter after letter-some of them thirty room, and notiCing many sheets of pages long-found its way from her closely-written paper upon his wife's pen to the foreign town in which Ger- table, he took them up and began to man rationalism was doing its worst read. His casual curiosity soon merged for the soul she loved. She set the full nto interest and deepened into astonish- force of her intellect intelligently to ment. He sought his wife with words work upon this conflict. She read, she of enthusiastic praise, and said, • You reasoned, she wrote, she argued, she can make something out of this.' 'I pleaded. Months passed in a struggle mean to,' was the quiet reply of his whose usefulness seemed a pitiable wife. From this time on, Harriet hope, to be frustrated in the effort. Beecher Stowe was possessed by the Then she laid aside her strong pen, and theme; it dominated all other concerns, turned to her great faith. As the sea- and held her a willing captive until it son of the sacred holiday approached, was done. She said to the writer a she shut herself into her room, seclud· year or two before her death, • I did ing herself from all but God, and not think of doing a great thing, I did prayed as only such a believer-as only not want to be famous. It came upon such a woman-may. As she had set me, and I did as I must, pel'force, wrote the full force of her intellect, so now it out; but I was only as a pen in the she set the full power of her faith, to hands of God. What there is good and work upon her soul's desire. One may powerful in it came from Him. I was not dwell in words upon that sacred merely the instrument. It is strange battle. But the beautiful part of the that He should have chosen me, ham- story, as I have been told it, is, that a pered and bound down as I was with few weeks after this a letter reached feeble health and family cares. But I her, saying: 'At Christmas-time a had to do it.' .. light came to me. I see things differ- ently now. I see my way to accept A beautiful example of the power of the faith of my fathers; and the belief in Christianity, which is everything to prayer is furnished in a recent incident you, has become reasonable and possi- ble to me at last.' .. which Elizabeth Stuart Phelps tells of The Chicago Evangelistic Institute, Mrs. Stowe, whose recent death thus re- closely associated with Mr. Moody, moves one of the striking and heroic lOBeS a grand man and a teacher dearly women of our day from among us : beloved in the departure of Professor " The most beautiful story which I ever heard about Mrs. Stowe I have W. W. White, formerly of Xenia Theo- asked no permission to share with the readers of these papers, and yet I feel logical Seminary, who soon leaves for sure that no one who loves and honors her could refuse it; for I believe that India to give lectures and addresses on if the whole of it were told, it might live to enhance the nobility of her name the Bible to the ten thousand candi- dates for matriculation at the Universltyof Calcutta. Calcutta is one of the turn to the city one man came in from great educational centres. It conta.ins one of the outlying villages, and said about twenty colleges, and about double that he had prayed to God to carl:! for tha.t number of high schools. In these him, and that altho the cholera was in colleges there are about three thousand the houses next to him, there was none students, and in the senior class of the in his dwelling. Another man testified high schools about two thousand more later to the similar preservation in an. who have an acquaintance with Eng. swer to prayer. Another told of how lish. The actual student constituency a few Christians in his village had in Calcutta at anyone time numbers prayed to God, and altho the cholera about five thousand. Of this number visited villages all about them none three thousand are strangers in the came there. 'l'his testimony was retown, not living with parents or duplicated a. dozen times from a dozen friends, but in lodgings. In addition different parts of the province. Who, to the men actually in college, there then, can doubt that what the Koreans are at least fifty thousand English- believed was true-that it was through speaking and non-Christian natives in their faith and prayers that they had Calcutta. Tbe International Commit· been protected from the scourge? tee of the Y. M. C. A. had its attention " Such testimonies made, we ask our· called to this magnificent opening for selves. have we such a simple, child· foreign missionary work by J. Camp- like faith lind sllch perfect assurance bell White, Secretary of the Association as these Koreans ? .

in that city, and by Mr. Mott, who is " About two weeks ago it was my now making a tour of the world in be· privilege to baptize a man who had half of the movement among students taken the cholera in Pyeng Yang, and in colleges and universities. A build- had been carried outside the city wall ing in the heart or the college quarter and there left to die or get well, as the has been secured for $50,000 through case might be. One of our Christians the generosity of Lord Overtoun and -no other would have thOllght of such others in England and America. An a thing-carried the man into a vacant auditorium is being prepared to hold a house next to his own. There he thousand persons. The students of nureed him back to life. He has since Calcutta have already shown a deep become an earnest believer. iuterest in the proj ect. " Our work is most encouraging-in fact it has grown far beyond our ability to look after it properly. Our province Over }Ir. Gladstone's bedstead is hung is some 300 miles long and averages sbout 100 miles wide. Scattered over the motto, " Christian, remcmber what this territory there are sixteen places thou hast to do." where Koreans meet every Sabbath to Contrast with this the public declara· worship God. Everyone of these six- tion of Senator Ingalls, that the Golden teen places is imploring us to come snd teach them more. Besides these Rule and the Ten Commandments had sixteen places where regular worship no place in politics, and that no man is held, there are about thirty villages could succeed in public life along such 'where the people have given us most lines. urgent invitations to visit them.

" We are sadly in Deed of more help. We have asked our Board (Presbyte- Korean Ohristians. rian) for another worker, but we sadly We are in receipt of an interesting Deed two. Do not these forty·six villetter from Rev. Graham Lee, of Pyeng lages plead eloquently to the Church at home?" Yang, Korea, in which he gives some encouraging illustrations of the child· like faith of the native Christians. lIrs. Arthur H. Smith writes: "The Mr. Lee says in part : Holy Spirit seems to be moving on our "During the cholera, wnich raged Shantung Church (North China) as here la.qt summer, these Pyeng Yang never before in a quiet, powerful way, quickening into new life cold and dead Christians grasped the idea that God members and putting a great longing was able and willing to care for them hunger into the hearts of our Chinese if they would pray to Him and trust preachers for more spiritual power. Him implicitly. The testimony which At a little conference three of them had they gave us of God's care over them Was remarkable. Shortly after our rewith Mr. Smith about the baptism of ment that the Emperor of China is now the Holy Spirit, they were full of joy to systematically studying the New Testa- hear there waa a way to gt!t power, and ment, and is at present reading the wished they could build tabernacles Gospel of St. Luke.

and stay there, as one of them said, Among the agents of the China In- where they had learned this good land Mission 32 are laboring at their news." own expense, 87 are supported entirely by friends, and 16 are supported by Dr. D'Erf Wheeler, medical mission- friends in part. One friend supports ary at Jerusalem, says that fifty years 5 missionaries, 3 support 2 each, and ago Jerusalem was simply a large vil· 39 support 1 each. In two cases 2 lage. Tbere were no roads, and there friends support 1 missionary between were no houses decently built. There them.

were then only about 6000 Jews there, who were very poor and downtrodden, The great Indian Rajah M.ontja, it is while now Jerusalem outside the walls said, had but one son, to whose educawaa almost larger than Jerusalem inside tion he gave much time and thought, in the walls, and there were now over order that the boy might be fitted for 88,000 Jews there, and they were still his high place. Among his devices for coming. . the wise training of his son was the Orders came from Constantinople to placing near him an old man whose the Beirut Customs House in Septem- duty was to say to the prince, whenever ber last to allow no books to be shipped, he was enjoying any pleasure keenly, even tho they have the imperial permit, "The day hath but twelve hOUl·S." unless each separate volume is stamped When the lad, on the other hand, was by the Director of Education. As we sick or in trouble, he changed the warnhave 12,000 volumes ready for ship- ing to," The night is but twelve hours ment, our work is virtually and practi- long. "

cally stopped. The Director of Educa- tion has written to the Collector of the "In British India the annual death- Port that these books all have the im- rate among Europeans in the early part perial permit, but he says his new or- of this century was eighty-four to the ders are peremptory. and not a book thousand; but in 1890 it was reduced can go without the disfiguring stamp to sixteen to the thousand. So in the on it. Dutch East Indies, the European death- Mr. Freyer, manager of the Press, rate has been reduced from one hundred prepared at once a telegram on the sub- and seventy to the thousand in 1828 to ject to the United States Minister in sixteen-much less than the native Constantinople, but the Director of death· rate, which in 1892 was twenty- Telegraph refused to send it. three to the thousand. In the basin of The United States Consulate then the Congo the death-rate among white prepared a telegram on the subject, men in 1893 was seventy to the thou- which they thought it unwise to re- sand, but this embIaced many mere ad- fuse. But it is evident that there is a venturers and campaigners. deprived of persistent policy at the Porte to thwart the comforts and conveniences of life.

and cripple all Bible work in the em- In Leopoldville and Boma, white settle- pire as far as possible. ments, where good homes are available H. H. JESSUP, D.D. and fair sanitary conditions, the death- BEIRUT. rate is but thirty-two to the thousand."

If science and Christianity go hand in Professor Headland, of the Peking hand, men may yet be as healthful in University, is authority for the state- Africa as in America.

71:14 G1l:NEBAL MISSIONARY DI'l'ELLIGENCE

V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

EDl'rED BY REV. D. L. LEONA.RD.

Extracts and Translations from Foreign alleled by our efforts for the evangeli- zation of African and Polynesian races, Periodicals. And, corresponding with the conversion of the Roman Empire, the bishop places BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, our task in evangelizing India and the MASS.

INDIA. other Asiatic countries in which exists – " Bishop Barry," formerly Primate an ancient civilization needing to have of Australia, .. considers that the Church new life infused into it. Here the bish- of England has a threefold mission to op wisely urges that extension in these the world; and he finds an analogy to countries has a different ideal from that this in three phases of the spread of Chris· which suits the growth of the colonial tianity as seen in the history of Chris· Church. 'It cannot and must not aim tendom. The Church, he says, had first at reproduction of the English Church to undertake the task of the conversion itself, with local variation but substan- of the Roman Empire, and this task tial identity. If ever these Eastern was 'not to create, but to regenerate races are to be won to Christ, it will human society,' and' to create a new surely be by the service of men and and diviner unity in the Church Catho- churches of their own blood, and lie.' When this was accomplished, a thought, and character. • .. Our real second task presented itself-the con- work is, not to transplant the full-grown version of the barbarian nations-which English tree, but simply to sow the liv- involved civilization as well as evan- ing seed of Christianity and leave it to gelizatio~. And then a third task was grow.' This is an admirable statement the fostering of Christian national life of a principle enunciated again and in contradistinction to the universal again by the Church Missionary Soci- dominion claimed by the papacy, and ety. The difficulty is, that whenever the accomplishment of this task is best there is a suggestion to put the princi- seen, observes the bishop, in England ple into action, there is sure to be a loud itself. With these three phases of the outcry. The present Archbishop of development of Christendom the bishop Canterbury once said that it was a pity compares the threefold sphere of church that white should be the color of a expansion now. clergyman's dress in officiating in a " Alongside the last of these three he country where it is the color of mourn· puts the growth of our rising and fed- ing; but supposing a C. M. S. mission- erated colonial churches. 'This ex- ary in China took the Archbishop at pansion has not been on the principle his word and discarded the surplice, of absolution on the one side and de- convocation itself would probably put pendence on the other. The ideal of on record its extreme displeasure.

the Roman Church may be spiritual " Altho, however, the bishop distin- empire; ours is free spiritual federa- guishes these three phases of ' ecclesias- tion. It is the desire of th'l Church of tical expansion,' he nevertheless urges England, true to her ancient spirit and that they cannot be separated. 'They traditions, to sit, not as a queen over not only coexist, but ultimately they spiritual dependencies, but as a mother are really one.' The same solidarity is among her daughter churches.' The shown in the healthy influence of Chris- second of the Church's three tasks in tian extension abroad upon Christian past ages, namely. the conversion of the life at home; and again, in the signifi- barbarian races, is, of course, now par- cant fact, upon which the bishop pro-

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS

ceeds to enlarge, that the present cen- the way which is marked out in the tury has been simultaneously an era of Savior's words ~ • I thank Thee, 0 Fa- missionary expansion and of develop· ther, Lord of heaven and earth, that ment in the home church. Here he de- Thou hast hid these things from the scribes in eloquent paragraphs the Evan- wise and prudent, and hast revealed gelical Revival, the Oxford Movement, them to babes.' When once the masscs and that third religious influence whose are won for Christianity the leaders motto, says the bishop, is, • The har- soon follow after, as missionary history mony of the natural and the supernatu- confirms by numerous examples."

ral,' and which is commonly called, -" It is probable that there will be with more or less accuracy, • Broad developed in Japan, as in all Christian Church.' The first of these movements countries, two churches, the one evanproduced widespread evangelization; gelical or orthodox, the other liberal; the second, the expansion of church or- the first, moreover, will be very probganization; and the third, the bishop ably divided into several denominathinks, has corrected the crudeness of tions, altho assuredly it would be highly earlier missionary ideas, altho he admits desirable that this evil, inherent, it that it has sometimes tended, • if not to should seem, in Protestantism, might kill, at least to throw over, "the native be spared to the future Evangelic&l hue of resolution," something of " the Church of Japan. The destinies of pale cast of thought.'" "-Ohurch these two churches will be, without Mi8sionary Intelligencer. doubt, identical with what they are in JAPAN. the United States, the only country where the religious sentiment can de- -Pastor SCHILLER, quoted in the velop itself in full liberty. The one Zeitscltrift for Missionskunde, remarks: will be living, prosperous, conquering, " It is beyond all doubt that, sooner or which is the character of all the denomlater, the stream of Japanese national inations which maintain the doctrines development will issue into Christianity. professed from the beginning by the The Japanese feel this themselves, altho universal Church; the other will' painthis does not imply that the individual fully drag on a precarious existence, as who makes this conce~sion acknowl- is done by the Unitarian Church and edges himself bound in conscience to others of the same rationalistic characbecome a Christian. Yet we must not ter. In a word, in Japan also will manbe oversanguine as to speedy results. ifest itself the truth of the word of the The religious interest in the Japan of apostle: "He that hath the Son hath to-day is frightfnlly low-lower among life; he that hath not the Son hath not the cultivated classes than among the' life."-Revue des J'Jil>8ions Oontempomass of the people, who at least show raines.

sign of a religious instinct by adhering -AU8 dem Lanc:e der aufgehenden to the old religious customs. The edu- Sonne (From the Land of the Rising cated, indeed. are, as a rule, more de- Sun). B~l'lin; Druck und Verlag, von A.

pendent on the prevailing current O'f Haack. This is a pamphlet or 31 pages, opinion and its changes than the people. by Pfarrer CARL MUNZINGER, mission- The time when Christianity was the ary of the Protestantischer Verein in vogue, and regarded as an indispensable Japan. It describes in a clear, well- finishing-olI of European culture, is disposed manner, minute witllOut being gone by in Japan; the educated throngs tedious, Japan as to land, people. lan- that used once to fill the Christian guage, customs, religion, State, family, houses of worship have dwindled away, schools, churches. Anyone who reads the theological journals now scarcely it will have Japan, materially and spir- find readers. The missionaries will do itually, clearly set before him. It is well to enter with full consciousness on well worth translating.

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE

MISCELLANEOUS. .. We plead for an increase of confi- dence right through our missionary -" Altho the heathen, who become work. No Illen ever realize their high. Catholic Christians, commonly rise only est possibilities until they are trusted." from a religion of form to another re- -Ibid. ligion of form, whose contents, however, are infinitely better, yet they for -" Are means lacking for t'1e work the most part experience so much of it of missions? Sound the bell of prayer that cannibalism, infanticide, concu- rather than the bell of the mendicant. " binage, etc., can no longer remain the -Pastor GOSSNER. prevailing rule; morally, therefore, they are extricated from the coarsest of -We notice not unfrequently the their former excesses, and every phil· statement that the Persian Shah, as sucanthropist and Christian must desire cessor of the prophet, is the spiritual that where the Evangelical Church can- and temporal chief of his subjects. not win them they should rather be- This, however, appears to be an error. come Catholic Christians than remain heathen. "-Herr PETRI, in Allegemeine n arises from transferring to the Per- Missiona-Zeitschrift· sian monarch the attributes of the Turk- – " Are the missionaries the agents or ish monarch. The latter, however, is servants (1) of the societies, or are they Caliph Mohammedan Pope, not as king the messengers of the churches? Is of the Turks. but as having, in his anthere a sufficiently close connection be- cestors, obtained from the heirs of the tween the churches at home and their Bagdad caliphs a cession of their claims brethren abroad, for whom they are in his favor. His Turkish and his Mosasked to pray and gi ve? Do not socie- lem, his temporal and his religious, digties sometimes act as a barrier to sepa- nity are distinct and separable. Thus, rate rather than as a link to unite? A when it was determined, in 1876, to great step in advance would be taken depose Abdul·Aziz, it was held necesif the societies not only allowed but en- sary that he should first abdicate the couraged churches to support missiona- caliphate, under the form (tho certainly ries of their own, with whom they might not the reality) of a voluntary act. This be in direct communicatiou."-The left him still sovereign of Turkey; but as he had now lost the sacredness of his akristian, quoted in The Bomhay Guard- person, he was then dethroned outright. The Persians, it is known, are regarded ian. by the Mohammedan world at large as schismatics and heretics. They deny -" Is it true, as some have affirmed, the succession acknowledged by the that missionaries meet for conference Sunnites, and have one of their own, and prayer in India or China, decide whose incumbent, however, is not the upon certain modes of procedure in con- Shah, but resides within the Turkish nection wit.h their work, but are power- territory, and whose religious authority less to act until their proposals have is said to be sometimes as embarrassing been sent to the home committee and to the Persian Government as the papal considered by them? Is it also a fact authority has often been, sometimes for that not unfrequently the home commit- good and sometimes for evil, to the civil tee rejects the proposals of the missiona- governments of Europe. ries, and dictates an entirely different course? .•. The Persians, however heretical, are intense Moslems. Mr. Benjamin de- "If so, we venture to suggest the clares, what l~ certainly not true of the need of a change. . .• The churches Bunnites, at least in most countries, generally would trust the decisions of that no Christian, however exalted his the men doing the work rather than rank, would dare to enter a mosque in those of brethren at home, however Persia if he valued his life. wise and experienced.

ENGLISH NOTES

-" Fear of death," says Dr. KROPF, arms, reaching down to cover the feet: .. encompasses the Caifres their whole they hold them up as they walk. The life long. They cannot endure to hear bishop preached, the archdeacon inter- a word about dying, and run away if preting for him.

anyone speaks of it, or else hide their " Another day we paid a visit to the faces and tremble; even the sight of Namasole, or queen·mother. She is a gray hair inspires them with the fear regular heathen princess, with a grim, of death. This explains Cetewayo's hard face, that made one quite believe embassy to Queen Victoria, to solicit a her capable of all the many acts of remedy against the hair's turning cruelty which they say she has com- gray. "-ZeitBchrijt f'lllr Mi88io1Ulkunde. mitted. She sat in state on an em- broidered Indian rug spread on the -Miss Fineley, writing in the Ohurch ground. holding a large knife in her Missionary Gleaner from Ugands, says: hand, made of copper and brass mixecl, " On Sunday. October 6th, we went to and was most autocratic in the way in our first service in the big church at which she ordered us to stand up and Mengo. What a wonderful church it sit down, that she might get every pos- is I Its size is immense, and all built sible view of us. One could not help of reeds in the same way as our house. contrasting her with the Christian wom- There are over 200 trees in it as pillars en here; the v.ifference is most marked."

to support the roof. When you think that each of those trees took 100 men to drag it up the hill, you get some English Notes. idea of the labor expended on it. It reminds one of the old pictures of the BY JAMES DOUGLAS.

building of Nineveh. Then look at Presbyterian Mi86io1Ul.-So far as can the rows and rows of beams in the roof, be judged at present, the election by which are not beams at all, but bundles the Free Church of Scotland of Dr. Mil- of reeds and grass bound round and ler, of Madras, to be its moderator for round closely together, making a firm the present year has tended to the clear- support, not so heavy as a beam, which ing away of misunderstanding and the the walls could not bear the weight of. increase of the missionary sentiment.

This church is always full. but this It has been felt that uniformity of meth- Sunday it was packed. I shall never od need not be striven for, and that as forget the impression when we went in. there is .. a diversity of administration, It brought tears into one's eyes, the but the same Lord," so there may be a immense sea of black faces and the concurrency of method without same- quiet, reverent behavior. The men sat ness. Such, in effect, seems to be the on one side, the women on the other. summing up of the able editor of the They say there were quite 7000 present Ohurch Missionary Intelligencer. He in the church and in the veranda of the observes: "With Dr. Miller's chief church, where they hear as well as in guiding principle, that educational the church itself. We sat on the work in India is part of God's prepara- women's side. How nice they all tion, long and slow preparation, we looked in their bark cloths; no odd, have no quarrel at all. It embodies a gay colors, as you see at the coast, but grand and indisputable truth. Only wherever the eye turned this universal there is another truth alongside it which terra-cotta color. There is a great va- ought never to be forgotten, but upon riety in the shades of them, the darker which Dr. Miller" (tho we are sure ones being the best and most expensive, he holds it) " has not always laid equal and the cloth itself is always darker on stress; and this is that a Christian edu- one side than the other. They were cationist is also to seek the immediate worn very elegantly, round under the conversion of individual souls."

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE

Exeter Nall.-The annual missionary band and his relations determined to meeting of the two London presbyteries break her of her Christianity, even if was one of the best ever held. Lord they should kill her. For four years Overtoun presided. Mr. Maclagan, of she never saw a Christian's face, and Swatow, in the course of a speech of for twelve years that poor woman held great interest, observed that" of all the on. During all that time she never for- work carried on under foreign super- got to pray that some day God would vision there was none more fruitful in send a preacher of the Gospel to that the number of converts than the work place. These heathen relations did of the medical missionaries." Mr. Mac- everything in their power to break her lagan spoke hopefully of the native spirit, but she held fast. or, rather, Christians and of the way .he native Jesus Christ stood by her and held her Church was maturing. The congrega- up. One day she felt unusually sore at tion of Yam-tsau was instanced as a heart, and began to wonder how long good example of the methods of work she could hold up. She knelt down in of the native church. There the Gos- her room with her Testament before pel was first preached by a good mis- her, and in her own words she said: sionary of the London Missionary So- , Lord Jesus, my heart is so sore, and I ciety-Mr. Stronach-who, after sowing am all alone, and there is nobody to say the seed and gaining a few natives, was one word of comfort to me. Won't obliged to leave the district. Years you speak one word out of this book to after Mr. Stronach revisited Yam-tsau, comfort my sad heart?' She opened and on seeing what had been done, the book, and the words she read were said, "I had to run away and leave -what? • Peace I leave with you.

you, but God didn't leave you." There My peace I give unto you. Let not was now at that place a congregation your heart be troubled, neither let it be of 100 members, with elders and dea- afraid. ' Her face shone as she told me cons, all of whom were sons of men that it seemed as if the Lord Jesus baptized by the first missionary. Christ was standing beside her, and she Miss Graham, of Chin-chew, next could see His face and hear His voice, spoke. Her address, which was full of saying these words straight into her incident, closed with the following heart. After that she didn't mind what touclling recital: "There was one they did to her. The Son of God came woman who came to the hospital very and stood beside her, as He did in weak and in great suffering, and yet the Nebuchadnezzar's furnace long ago.

peace of God was so stamped on her And the eame miracle was being re- face that she (Miss Graham) knew that peated in many a Chinese village to- she was a Christian before even she day."

spoke to her. Her story was a most touching one. Her blOther, years be- Ohurch _¥:issionary Society.-An ad- fore, had heard the Gospel and came mirable review of the C. M. S. in Hok- home to tell her of the love of Jesus, kaido, Japan, during the past twenty and he and she agreed together that years is supplied by the Rev. W. An- they would be His disciples. They had drews. There are now in that province, a copy of the New Testament and read church buildings, 11 ; schools, 4; hos.

it whenever they could. She was mar- pital, 1 ; native workers, 30; and con- ried not long after, at the age of sixteen, verts, Japanese and Ainu, 1100. Mr.

to a man whom she had never seen, and Andrews sets forth the lessons to be was taken away to a village where the learned from the past thus: 1. Do not people were utter strangers to her, and despise the day of small things. A she was the only Christian in the whole Christian here and another there, tho countrydde. She refused to take any their faith and light seem dull, is a cause part in heathen worship, and her hus- for thanksgiving. 2. Remember that everything must have a beginning; we marked by much fervor of spirit. Sevcannot leap to perfection at once; 3. eral new brethren and sisters have been Then, too, when we think of the pres- designated for the foreign field. The ent outlook here we must bear in mind work in Orissa. India, is especially that we are laboring for the future. being strengthened, the Rev. George Howells, of Regent's Park College, and Kuc7umg.-Dr. J. Rigg, writing con- the Rev. F. W. Jarry, of the Pastor's cerning this district in connection with College, being both appointed to that the recent massacre, says: "It is more sphere. The following are the terms and more impressed upon my mind that of the resolution passed, and which it was expedient that our sisters and claims sympathetic adoption: "That Mr. Stewart should die for the people this meeting calls upon the churches of and the whole nation be saved from the the denomination for more fervent horrors of a rebellion. . . . I can con- prayer, so that reinforcements may be ceive that our people, by their deaths, speedily sent forth in response to the may have saved China, and if so, THEY numerous and pathetic appeals recently KNOW IT. The heathen sentiment in received from the mission field; and that the Kucheng district is, ' You say Jesus such a personal spirit of consecration died for us, but we never saw Him, but to the great missionary enterprise may we have seen Mr. Stewart, and he died thereby be evoked as shall result in the for us; for certainly if he and the requisite resources." others had not been killed we need not have sown any seed this year, for Ohina Inland Misnon.-During 1895 the Vegetarians would not have allowed the number of converts baptized :was us to reap it." 844, which was an increase of 98 on the previous year. There has been also a Wesleyan Missionary Society.-The still larger number of candidates on notes published from the Lagos District probation for baptism as compared with oj Africa are of special interest. In Porto that year, as well as an increase in the Novo tbe work is hard enough to make number of new missionaries. the boldest quail. Still, tho the battle is an uphill one, Goel is giving the vic- THE KINGDOM. tory, for the flock has increased by 56 full members. In Klein Popo the fight -God be merciful unto us and bless seems to be still more accentuated ; and us, And cause His face to shine upon among the foes enumerated are dense us. That Thy way may be known heathenism, cunning Roman Catholi- upon earth, Thy saving health among cism, and sore trials from within. Not- all nations. Let the peoples praise withstanding all, there are new openings Thee, 0 God; Let all the peoples anel an extension of the work. In the praise Thee. Yoruba Interior there is only as yet a preparation tor the sowing. But the -Christ gives life to men, and then ljehn Remo mission is growing apace. says: " As the Father hath sent lIe, In the capital city the young men have even so serid I you." Every Christian erected a temporary house of worship is a missionary. He may have been themselves. Further at Ipern the nursed in the lap of Christendom and church's influence is making itself felt trained in a luxurious religious home, in the town; while in Ago, despite op- or he may have been born a pagan, and position, 60 names have been enrolled "suckled on a creed outworn." It as those who are desirous to know the matters not. If he has been born again, words of Eternal Life. and feels the throb of the Christ-life, he is a missionary sent by the living Christ Baptist Missionary Society. – The to touch dead souls to the newness of meetings held at Portsmouth were Ufe.-G. L. Mackay. -Consider the absolute and unques- 35,000,000: Turkey, 40,000,000; Japan, tioned religious liberty of the time in 40,000,000; and Spain, 27,000,000.

which we live, and in those countries -It has been calculated that missiongoverned by the English-speaking races, aries on the foreign field bring in three and then go back three hundred years, times as many converts as ministers at and endeavor to realize here in England home aided by Christian influence, the condition of John Robinson and his workers, and literature, while the offerlittle flock of religionists asking only to ings of native Christians in mission be allowed to worship God as their churches now amount to upward of needs of conscience and the hunger of $550,000. heart instructed them to pray; for con- science and reason were the underlying -The late Governor Russell was on moral factors then, as now, and from one occasion called to give an address them is slowly evolving all social and on " Practical Success" to a high-school political progress. at the root of which class, and what he had to say was lies the recognition of individual free- summed up in this weighty suggestion: dom and the" equal right of everyman •• Remember that there is one thing bet- to be unhindered by men in the fulfil- ter than making a living-making a ment of his duty to God."-Ex-&cre- life."

tarll Ballard. -Of the Rev. William C. Burns, the -At the annual meeting of the Con- first English Presbyterian missionary to ference of Missionary Associations, held China, it has been said that his life was in London, the Rev. C. E. Brooke ex- far more powerful as an influence than pressed a wish that the word" foreign" as an agency. He was distinctly a should be abolished in connection with sower of the seed which others have missIonary work, and that the whole reaped.

work of the Church, whether at home -A wealthy banker in Hangchow or abroad, should be regarded as mis- offered to give all the money needed for sionary. a good work. The people would not let -Christian England laughed when him. "If lIou give all the 'I1Wneg, lIou Sydney Smith sneered at the" consecrated cobbler" going out on a fool's will have all the blessing." they said. errand to convert the heathen. But Carey was visited on his death-bed by -A missionary at home on furlough the Bishop of India, the head of the Church of England in that land, who writes in the Methodist Review of Mubowed his head and invoked the blessing of the dying missionary. The Brit· llions: .. I have been sorry to find some ish authorities had denied to Carey a preachers who have no missionary books landing-place on his first arrival in Ben- later than the Acts of the Apostles in gal; but when he died, the Government their libraries. But we need to read as dropped all its flags to half-mast, in well the new Acts of the Apostles. We honor of a man who had done more for need to know how God has been, through India than any of her generals. His Holy Spirit and through His ser- vants, working miracles in later days as wonderful as any that are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. We need to know of the open doors that lead to Christless nations; of the highways -Two thirds of the population of the which He has made for His messengers ; globe is under the sway of five rUlers, of the strength which He has given to and this fact greatly simplifies the prob- them in times of need; of the souls that lem of missions. The Emperor of Chi- have been called out of darkness into na governs 400,000,000; Queen Vic- the light and liberty of children of God ; toria, 380,000,000; the Czar, 115,000,- and we need to know and hear of the 000; France, 70,000,000; Germany, ten hundred millions of people who are yet in darkness-that is, the shadow of -Miss Willard said in a recent addeath-and waiting for Christ to come dress: "Twenty-th,ree years ago the in the person of His own with a mes- strains sounded by the temperance sage of light and of love." movement were liS the soft tones of the violin, while the soprano notes of the -Information gathered from the lead- women voiced their heartfelt sympaing officials of 45 railroads, employing thies; but the grand orchestra has been 200,000 men, shows that without excep- augmented by the cornet of science, the tion the companies regard habitual trombones of legislation, and the drum drinking as hurtful to the efficiency of of politics, while the great chorus of the service, and that they forbid the use mighty voices is one of the inspirations of intoxicants to employees while on and aspirations, and to-day the wave of duty. Fourteen of the roads require public sentiment is created with reforms total abstinence from intoxicants for all along the lines of temperance and mumen connected with train service. nicipal betterment."

-" I have a great sorrow," said an -The Ladies' Association of the Engintelligent preacher. "I know the lish Baptist Missionary Society for Ze- Lord Jesus Christ was a white man; nana Work reports" that SUbscriptions yet I could not pray to Him and love and donations reached a higher figure Him as I do if I did not picture him as than in any previous year." The total black and with wool like myself."- amount at the disposal of the society Olive Schreiner. during 1895 was $60,000.

WOMAN'S WORK. -The fifty. eighth annual report of the Church of Scotland Women's Asso- -The World's Women's Christian ciation for Foreign Missions has been Temperance Union is sending forth its issued, and the record is one of steady seventh round-the-world missionary in progress. An opening has been made the person of Miss Clara Parrish. The in Chamba, India, new work has been six who have already gone from this started at Kurseong, a town about thirty country into foreign lands carrying the miles from Darjeeling, and the boardwhite ribbon are well known. The ing-school for Christian Nepali girls at first was Mary C. Leavitt, who spent Darjeeling is proving an interesting eight years in introducing the work into addition to the mission work there. At Europe, Asia, Afr,ica, and Australia. Calcutta and Poona the work among )'[iss Jessie Ackerman followed her, and the girls has been blessed, and interestremained about two years in Australia ing details of baptisms at both these as president of the Union. Her last stations are given. The number of chilvisit as world's missionary was to Ice- dren in the schools in India is about land. Dr. Kate Bushnell and Mrs. 3000, and to these are to be added the Elizabeth W. Andrew went together, children at Blantyre and Domasi in Britand their work in suppressing impu- ish Central Africa, and at Ichang, Chirity in the cantonments of India has al- na. The total income at home and ready been sounded around the globe. abroad was £10,114, and the accounts Next, Alice Freeman Palmer went to balanced on the right side. Africa and spent the greater part of three years in building up the work. -The North Indian Medical School Then Mary Allen West went to Japan, for Christian Women, opened in Octoand was greeted by the homage of well- ber, 1894, for the purpose of training nigh the whole nation. Tho she laid Christian women as medical missionadown her life, the white ribbon work in ries and assistants, shows signs of rapid Japan remains as her last and, in one development. Beginning with only 6 sense, highest memoriaL students in 1894 the number now is 21. This is the only Christian medical school hut $12,500 annually for this work, for womell in North India, and perhaps which equips some 70 students, and it in the whole of India, and some of the is really foreign missionary work on students come from far distances, as far home missionary ground. The college as Calcutta, Central India, and the has a property worth about $35,000 and northwest frontier. All have medical a weekly organ, Le Oitoyen Franco- zenana work in view. Plans and esti- Allwricain, printed in French and Eng- mates have been prepared for a suitable lish, the type for which is set by the stu· building as a wing to the medical dents.

school. The buildings are designed so -The Norwegians are to build a that they may at present be used as a portable church, 40 X 60 feet, in Minhospital to supply the 80 beds reqllired, neapolis and ship it to Madagascar, and eventually. as the school grows, where they are conducting a mission. may give additional dormitories and '1'he old Vikings sent their ships into all lecture-rooms for the students. seas for plunder, but these go for phi- lanthropy.

UNITED STATES. -No one of our missionary societies has suffered more from the hard times -Mr. John D. Rockefeller has given than the Baptist Missionary Union, 276 acres of land, valued at $600,000, which never until lately has had a debt to the city of Cleveland for park pur- of $70,000. Yet a debt of $208,000 was poses. It will be named for him.

-According to the Independent. the incurred two years ago; then the ex- gifts to the starving Armenians are penditures were cut down by the amount some $400,000 from America and $800,- of $109,000, and still further the next 000 from Great Britain. year; and yet the debt has been reo -A report of the Tuskegee Institute, duced only to $16!J,000, and a further Ala., for colored boys and girls, says: reduction of $30,000 is proposed. Mis- .. There are 875 boys and 375 girls in sionaries cannot be sent out, and those the school at an average of eighteen on furlough in this country cannot be and one-half years, none under four. returned.

teen. A boy in the cotton field earns -A new missionary has been sent out 40 cents a day. He graduates from under the auspices of the Americau the school and earns at his trade, or as a Board. '1 his would not be a startling school teacher, $1.50 a day, a gain of announcement in ordinary years, when $1.10 a day, or for a year, say 300 work- from 30 to 50 recruits are sent annually ing days, $330. A girl in the cotton to the front. But, in view of the fact field earns 25 cents a day. When she that it is ten months since one has gone, graduates from the school she can earn the news becomes extraordinary inat sewing $1 a day, a gain of 75 cents a deed. It gives a more vivid idea, too, day over the cotton field, or for one year of how the hard times are affecting our of 300 working days. $225. A gain for beloved foreign missionary society.

the 750 boys and girls in one year of Nor would this modest reenforcement $208,125, or in twenty years more than have been possible unless special provi· $4,000,000. sian had been made.':" Oongregationali8t.

-There are 1,500,000 of French- -In the midst of such general finanspeaking people in the United Stat,es, a cial distress the Alllerican Board is able third of them French Canadians in New to sound one note of joy and thanksgiv- England, and the French·American ing over the receipt of a legacy of $55,- college at Springfield, Mass., aims to 000 from the estate of Mrs. C. L. A. evangelize, enlighten, and Americanize Tank, of Fort Howard, Wis. Of this this New England contingent. It costs sum, $35,000 are for the present needs and endowment of North China Col- can Board missionaries employ about lege, one of t,he most important and 25, and Methodist missions (North) most needy institutions; $5000 are for about the same. the Tank Chapel and Bridgman School at Peking ; $5000 for the Williams Hos- -The Cumberland Presbyterian pital at Pang-chuang; $2500 for the Church is planning to open a mission International Institute for Girls, and in China, having received the pledge of $500 for Euphrates College. The re- $1000 to take a medical student through maining $4500 are to be devoted to gen- a post·graduate course, and enough eral work in papal lands, Mexico and more to pay his first year's salary. the city of Prague being particularly mentioned. -The Salvation Army is about to in· troduce a novel plan in New York. It -At the annual convention of the will send out ambulances at night in Christian Alliance, held at Old Orchard certain districts of the city to pick up Beach, Me., the total offering is report- men who have imbibed too freely. ed as $101,500, of which about one third They will be taken to an army shelter to was in cash, the remainder being jewels sober up. The work is to be conductand every conceivable gift. ed by a branch of the Army called the League of Love.

-The Southern Baptist' Convention EUROPE. sustains missions in Africa, China, Japan, Italy, Mexico, and Brazil, and Great Britain.-A "heathen" vilreports, missionaries, 86; native help· lage has been found in England, with· ers, 110 ; churches, 98 ; members, 3801 ; in a hundred miles of London. It baptisms, 735; contributions from the has about 200 inhabitants. There is field, $5553. a fine old Episcopal church, but the vicar is away for his health; there is -The Missionary Society of the Meth- also a Congregat,ional chapel, but it is odist Episcopal Church is heavily in ar- closed. There is not a Sunday-school rears. While the American Board in the place, and, according to an old started its financial year with a debt of woman, " We're like a lot 0' heathens $115,000, and the Presbyterian Board of here; an' if a boy like that" (pointing Foreign Missions with one of $154,000, to one about ten years of age) .. goo to the debt of the Methodist Board was church, he git a cuff 0' th' hid and sent $220,000. The American Board, by a awaay. He hev' a been. "–Independent. special effort, has cleared off its debt, and the Presbyterian Board has reduced -The youngest son of the Bishop of its debt to about $46,000. The Meth- Durham is giving himself, it is saili, to odist Society feIt that something special the mission field. Three others are almust be d()lle to relieve their financial ready Indian missionaries, and the stress, and appointed Sunday, July fourth will go to Delhi. 26th, as a special debt·paying day, when each church in the denomina- -The annual report of the English tion was to take up a collection. There Baptist Foreign Missionary Society is are more than 12,000 churches in the unusually encouraging. The debt of Methodist Episcopal body. Of these $113,000 with which the year comup to August 9th, 2488, about one fifth, menced is extinguished. The total reported an aggregate sum of $2R,OOO. gross receipts have been $375,000- The others apparently took no notice of "the largest income the society had the day.-Independent. ever received, excluding the Centenary Fund." In addition, a debt of $1800 -Thirty-three different languages and on the Widows' and Orphans' Fund dialects are learned by missionaries of has been turned into a balance in hand the Presbyterian Church; the Ameriof $1200. Sixteen new missionaries of £2500. The Society's Board of Exhave been sent ont during the year. aminers have accepted 15 clergymen Mr. Baynes, the general secretary, re- and 19 laymen for work abroad. The cently presented to Ki~g Leopold, of number of ordained missionaries on the Belgium, a copy of Mr. Holman Bent- society's list includes 11 bishops and ley's" Appendix to the Kongo Gram- 550 clergymen lauoring in Asia, Africa, mar and Vocabulary," which that mis- Australasia, and Amedca ; including 40 sionary had just completed. His Majes- holding chaplaincies in Europe, and 179 ty subsequently expressed his apprecia- natives of Asia and Africa. Thel'e are tion of the valuable services rendered also some 2900 lay teachers and 3200 by Mr. Bentley to the Kongo Free State. students in the colleges. The work of The secretary also received from the the S. P. G. covers 55 dioceses, and is king for the Rev. George Grenfell, an- carried on in 54 languages and dialects. other missionary, the patent of his appointment as a chevalier knight of the -The total number of Irish Pres- Order of the Golden Lion, and the in- byterian missionaries serving in Insignia of the Order set in brilliants, in dia and China were 21 in 1885; in recognition of the valuable services ren- 1896 they are 42, and it is expected dered by Mr. Grenfell in connection that before the year closes they will with the delimitation of the sputhern have increased to 50. The Female Assofrontier of the Kongo kingdom. ciation has been making great efforts to keep as many laborers in the field in -The InteZUgencer (Church Mission- India as the foreign mission of the ary Society) states that" the plan of a Church. They have almost succeeded. particular parish, or missionary union, Their agents have doubled in the ten or family, or individual, supporting an years, and now stand at 14. 'own missionary' in addition to the general contributions to the evangeliza· -The death, in the beginning of tion of the world, is extending beyond June, of the Rev. Daniel Edward reanticipation. Out of a total of 730 mis- moved from his earthly labors one of sionaries on the books (not including the first missionary band sent to the wives) no less than 249 now do not draw Jews by the Church of Scotland-the their personal allowance from the gen- undivided Church in 1841. From 1841eral fund. Of these, 67 are honorary, 95 he labored. first at Jassy, then at 23 are supported by the colonial asso- Lemberg, and finally for forty.four ciations, 40 by parishes or local associa- years at Breslau, having cast in his lot tions, 28 by the Gleaners' Union and its with the Free Church in 1843. He was branches, 31 by other bodies, and 60 by the means of bringing many Jews to private individuals. Out of 80 new the knowledge of Christ. Among his missionaries who are, God willing, sail- first converts was Israel Pick, whose ing for the mission field this year, no meteor-like career attracted so much at· less than 55 up to July 14th had been tention till he disappeared in 1859. His specially provided for, including 5 from latest notable convert was Hermann Australia. Adding 6 who are honorary, Warszawiak, now carrying on work this leaves only 25 not yet taken up on among the Jews of New York. that date." -The Established Church of Scot- -The report of the S. P. G. for 1895 land reports that the European mission announces that its receipts amounted to staff consisted at the close of 1895 of 20 £118,258, of which £81,333 came from ordained missionaries (1 of whom was subscriptions. £11,609 from legacies, also medical), 4 medical missionaries, 7 and £15,648 was contributed to special lay teachers and evangelists (including funds. Compared with last year, the 2 Jady missionaries), 2 engineers, and 1 voluntary offerings show an increase industrial missionary-in all 34, and 21 wives of missionaries, making together – Eva.ngelical Gliiristendom supplies 55 Europeans_ There are upward of some notes of the annual meetings of 300 Christian nati ves in the service of the Protestant societies of France.

the mission, of whom 6 are ministers, 2 The Societe Gentrale d'Evangelisation licentiates, and the rest evangelists, supports 140 agents, has 300 places of teachers, doctors, and assistants in worship, and visits 195 localities. It humbler capacities. The baptisms num- records the conversion of 387 Catholics, bered 968 last year, of which 538 were and the opening of four new stations in the Panjab, 262 in the Eastern Hima· during the year. The Mission Interieure layas, 54 in Calcutta, Madras, and Ar- bas been at work for a quarter of a cen- conam, 84 in Africa, and 30 in China. tury. It conducts evangelistic meet- The Income from all sources was £28,- ings in different districts, leaving to the 328. Deducting £6700 received for care of the nearest churches those gath- school fees and government grants in ered in.

India, and spent there, and £6037 con- -The organization of a German tflbuted to special purposes and so ap- league against the rum traffic in theplied, there remained a net revenue to German colonies is now practically an meet the ordinary needs of the mission accomplished fact. At the annual meetof £15,590. The gross expenditure was ing of the Evangelical African League, £25,732. in Berlin, which the Governor of Kam- -The Scottish Free Church entered erun and the chief of the Colonial De- on the year 1896-97 with 157 missiona- partment bonored with their presence, ries (besides 21 industrial masters, mak- an organizing committee was elected.

ing 178 in all), sent out to 49 central It includes Dr. Christ, of Basel: In- stations in India. South Arabia, Africa, spector Dr. Merensky, of Berlin; Pas- New Hebrides, Syria, Constantinople, tor G. Muller, amI Dr. Zahn. botb of and Budapest. The statistical sum- Bremen. Four experienced deacons mary of results in 1895 showed: Adults and deaconnesses and the material des- baptized. 892, and admitted on profes- tined for the settlement of liberated sion, 267-1159; children baptized, slaves just founded by the league are 1114; candidates for baptism or full on the way to their destination in Usam- communion. 3964 ; students, 2045 ; and bara. A medical missionary will fol- scholars in 6 colleges and 418 schools at low them as soon as his preparations are close of year, 27,922; native Christian completed.

contributions, £2476 : native fees, £20,- ASIA. 927; native communicants, 9017. Rev- enue in Scotland, £66,533 ; and abroad, Islam.-The annual catalog of Rob- £41,638; Women's Society'S income, ert College, Constantinople, bears all £14,102. An anonymous donor has re- the more interesting. because unintencently given £1000 each to the home and tional witness to the benefit reaped the foreign work, and £500 each to the by the Turkish Government from a Jewish mission and the deaconess hos- missionary institution of this character, pital. and hence the value of missions in gen- The Continent.-The Paris Mission- eral. A list is given of all graduates, ary Society, regarding a missionary with their various avocations since ship as absolutely necessary for its graduating, so far as could be ascer- missions in, Tahiti, has opened a sub- tained. Omitting those of the last eight scription to obtain one. The collection years, as too recently graduated for for the ship, however, is to be kept en- their careers to be significant, we find tirely separate from the general funds that of 232 graduates between 1868 !lond of the society, which are not to suffer 1888. 84. or more than one third, have any decrease for that purpose. served the State in cabinet, diplomatic, civil. military, or judicial departments; -The report of the Persia and Bag- 59 (including several of the former dad Mission of the Ohurch Missionary class) are or have been teachers; 16 are Society shows cause for thankfulness physicians, some of them having studied that, amid the disheartening influences medicine in this country.-Evangelist. of the past year, they have been able to -Baron Rothschild is establishing an- carryon their work with encourageother Jewish colony in Palestine-in ment, and but little interruption, The Galilee, not far from Damascus. The headquarters of the mission, which bedistrict selected covers 3000 acres, and gan in the labors of Dr. Bruce in the is watered by numerous springs, which great famine of 1871-72, are at Julfa, practically form one of the sources of the old Armenian suburb of Ispahan. the Jordan. It appears that the Jewish The relief which Dr. Bruce was able to colonists already in Palestine are prose- give to the destitute, and the su,pport cuting agriculture with gratifying sue· and education of the orphan children cess. The red and white wines they thrown on his care, resulted in the forare now bringing into the market are mation of an Armenian Christian consaid to be quite equal to the wines of gregation in Julfa, with a band of well· Europe. instructed workers helping greatly in the evangelization of the Mohammedan -Dr. Sarkis M. Hagopian, an exiled population.

Armenian, has received good news from India.-In 1881 there were about his home in Aintab. All the Protestant 180,000 lIohammednn pupils in the and Gregorian Christians there who schools and colleges of India; in 1895 have been in prison since last Novem- there were 490,000. Yet this rate does ber have been released, as the Turkish not begin to compare with the progress Government could find no charges of the Hindus in education. against them after severe and rigorous examinations. Among the prisoners -A missionary writes : "Every Bud- was the native pastor of the Second dhist school is itself a pleasure to me.

Congregational Church in Aintab, phy- • Let them go on,' said Bishop Cople- sicians of wealthy families, who were ston to me one day; • either they must educated in America, and other promi- teach that the world is round, and then nent citizens. they are bad Buddhists, or that the world is fiat, and then they lose their -A recent writer in an English re- Government grant I' And every Gov· view says that Persia will remain under ernment school is in a sense a centre of Mozaffer-ed-din, as it was under the gov- _light. In one, a Christian teacher has ernment of the late Shah, a nation of allowed my catechist to speak to the highly civilized barbarians, ruled by a schoolboys after school hours, and disbenignant despot. The late Shah was tribute tracts." no idle or vicious despot; he did not smoke, and his diet was of the simplest, -A work of considerable interest to and he was a merciful king. It was he Indian Christians will shortly be brought who did away with the hateful custom out by the Christian Literature Society.

of the Shah presiding in person at exe- It will consist of sketches of the lives cutions. The long struggle that took of more than 40 Indian Ohristians be- place between the late king and an arro- longing to the different provinces. The gant priesthood lasted for many years, following are some of the persons and the Shah succeeded in shaking him- sketehed: Bombay-Rev. Hari Ram- self free of the mollahs, and in reducing chandra Khisti, Rev. Vishnu Bhasker their claims upon the public purse. Karmarkar, Rev. Dr. Seshadri, Mr.

Persia is no longer a priest· ridden Baba Padmanji, Pundita Ramabai.

country.-Church at Home and Abroad. Northern India-Dr. Imam·ud-din, Rev. Jani Ali, Rev. Nehemiah Goreh, suIts of his mission work in China.

Professor Ramchandra. Mad1·as-Rev. During his missionary life he baptized N. Devadasen, Rev. P. Rajahgopllul, 940 adult persons, 46 of whom were be- Mrs. Tabitha Bauboo, Rev. W. T. Sat- tween the ages of fifty and sixty ; 38 thianadhan, Mrs. Anna Satthianadhan, between the ages of sixty and seventy; Krupabari Satthianadhan, Rev. lIf. Rat- 25 between the ages of seventy and namgaru, Rev. Jacob Rama Varma, eighty, and 2 were over eighty years of Rev. Hermann Anandarao Kanudinya. age. Intelligent advocacy of mission Ben.qal-Rev. Dr. Krishna Mohan Ban- schools does not depreciate the impor- erjee, Mr. Ramchandra Bose, M.A., tance of direct preaching of the Gospel, Rev. Mathura Nath Bose, B.A., ,B.L. but cooperates with it just as Sabbath· Portraits of some are also given. This schools do at home.-Ohurch at Home is the first attempt to bring together in and Abroad.

a permanent form the lives of some of -Notwithstanding the troubles in the prominent Indian Christians.- Fuh-kien, over 500 converts were bap- Christian Patriot. tized by the C. M. S. in that province last year. -All girls in India are very fond of pretty and bright-colored dresses. The -" I am persuaded," writes Archdress is simply live yards of muslin. deacon Wolle, "that missionaries and When only three of four years old a lit- foreigners generally can live with greattle girl begins to learn how to wind it er safety than eVer before in the integracefully around the body and over rior of this country. • .• Foo-chow is the shoulder. When she goes into the being moved as it has never been bestreet she slips one end over the head as fore. Our churches und preaching-halls It veil. 11 little short-sleeved jacket is are filled with eager listeners and inthe only other garment she wears. This quirers… , It is the same in many is a very cool and comfortable costume parts of the country. . .. In places for the hot climate. Every family has where for years everything seemed dead a jewel-box full of little" cubby.hoies" and hopeless, hundreds are coming to for each ornament. This is often buried the churches. People are throwing in the mud floor of the woman's inner away their idols, and hundreds of copies apartment. If you want to Bee their of the whole Bible have been purchased jewelry you must make an appointment by the gentry and literary classes… beforehand, so that they can dig it up.

Once in eight days the girls and women _H Never was our work soencouragwash and comb and oil their hair, and lng and so pressing as now," writes have it nicely braided. They also take Mr. Hartwell, of the American Board, off and brighten the jewelry at this in the same district. "The openings time. They would rather starve than in many parts of our .field are such as give up their jewclry, they are so fond we have never seen before." From of it. The poorest people make theirs Shao-wu reports come of a great moveof tin, brass, lead and glass, sealing- ment, and that a number of villages wax and shells.-Over Sea and Land. have professed Christianity.

China.-The argument in behalf of -A conference was recently held in schools, which depreciates the import- Shansi,in which native Christians shared ance of direct preaching of the Gospel, who represented churches gathered by and contends that the only hope of mis- several missionary societies. It was a sions lies in the edncation of children time of peculiar privilege, but one of and not in the vain attempt to secure the missionaries made note as follows: the conversion of adults, finds a strong "One of our greatest difficulties was refutation in the memoranda which the well illustrated. Unless they came from quite the same district, hardly late J. A. Leyenbergel' made of the reany two of the Chinese spoke the same in Japan, and no one knows what dialect. Consonants were interchanged changes the next year or decade may promiscuously, vowels differently pro· bring. Perhaps there will be a revolu- nounced, different sets of phrases used, tion of a non-political character. Per- while nearly every speaker had a broad haps we shall live to see that, in the and thick utterance that made you sus· midst of wars and rumors of wars, the pect that his mouth had been made on Prince of Peace will establish His king- a wrong plan, and that tongue and dom in Japan.-Evangelisches Missions teeth were loose and had got hopelessly Magazin.

jumbled together. I do not think any -There are said to be 11 Japanese one missionary understood all the evangelists laboring among 10,000 of speakers. " their countrymen who are engaged on the sugar plantations of the Hawaiian -The Rev. E. B. Inslee was the Islands. pioneer of the Southern Presbyterian Ohurch in China, and began to preach -A Japanese gentleman, who was in Hangchow, the southern terminus of converted to Christianity in Japan the Grand Canal. There are now 9 mis- through the efforts of an enthusiastic sion stations. Hangchow and Tsing. missionary, has had his religious con- King-pu, at the north end of the line on victions sadly shattered since coming to the canal, are 360 miles apart. this country. Because the missionary -The German Mission of the Roman who accomplished his conversion wore Catholic Church was started some six a silk hat, the Oriental supposed that II years ago in southwestern Shantung, silk hat was always an adjunct to Chris· in the midst of the Presbyterian sta- tianity. When the steamer which tions. The German Bishop Anser man- brought him to America reached San aged to carry his point of putting him- Francisco, it was boarded by a man in self and his work under the protection a silk hat who swore continuously in a of the German Government rather than shocking style. Such language from a continue, as the other missions are, man who was certainly a Christian (for under the French protectorate. When he wore a silk hat) upset the convert's this was decided, the German Govern- belief, and he shortly lapsed into agnos- ment, for the sake of prestige, zealous- ticism.

ly pushed forward all the schemes of -Rev. H. Loomis writes in The Obller Catholic representative. Bishop server that " one of the most unfortu- Anser was nrst received as a consul, nate things for Buddhism that could and later on, through the recommenda- have happened in Japan has been the tion of the German Minister, he was conduct of Viscount Miura, who is a given mandarin rank of the fourth special ,representative of that form of grade, and has succeeded in raising religious belief. His appointment as funds and securing assistants, until now minister to Korea was evidently made there are some 30 German priests. only as a temporary affair, and to satis- ]apan.-Christian influence in Japan fy the great multitude of the Japanese is increasing, and one proof of it is that who are still firm adherents to that sys- a comparatively large number of Chris- tem of faith. Owing to their numerical tians belong to the upper classes. One strength, the government felt obliged to minister, two deputy-ministers, the make some concession to their clamor chief judge of the Supreme Court of for official position and patronage.

Justice, the president, and many mem- That Viscount Miura should plot to bers of the House of Deputies are Chris- murder the Korean queen, and then be tians, and many other men of conse· so unconscious of the heinousness of quence are favorable to Christianity. his crime as to think that it was possi.

There is a great deal of unrest just now ble to condone it, was something that the men who had given him the office came the news of the outbreak of the had not dreamed of." plague in the lake region and on the plateau of the great Masai tribe, and AFRICA. among the herds of Somaliland further.

-A writer from Africa, alluding to north; and for the past few months the the African's fondness for music, says: scourge has been advancing toward the " Nothing is done here without a song. borders of South Africa, The ravages Your boatman sings all day long, keep- have now extended from the upper ing time with his paddles, the woman Niger to the Indian Ocean, and from beating rice beats in time to her voice; the desert of Sahara on the north to your carriers sing to their tread, and the 11atabeleland on the south. The late farmer to his hoe. Joy, grief, pain·-all revolt of the Matabeles is attributed in are shown in spontaneous song. Their part to the loss of their cattle, on which songs are always extempore, and adapt- they depended for subsistence.

ed to present circumstances. The ordi- -Bangala is the finest station of the nary method is for one person to sing a Kongo State on the Upper River. All bar and the whole company to join in a the buildings, even those reserved for responsive chorus, consisting generally the blacks, are made of brick. They of a single syllable, suited in sound and have a wide veranda and are separated meaning to the sentiment. Current by flower gardens, where even the neWevents are described often with great ly imported lilac greets the eye of the accuracy, and they frequently ridicule European traveler. The plantations inthe manners of some king or praise the clude 30 hectares of rice fields, and over virtue of another, acting out the char- 30,000 coffee and cocoa trees. The acter to perfection. " military and missionary colony has al- -North Ajriea says, with reference ready 8 brick houses and 3 brick kilns, to the serious epidemic of cholera pre- each of which contained over 15,000 vailing in Egypt: "Thanks to the en- bricks of snperior quality. The pupils ergy of the sanitary officials, Alexandria number 600, all from the Ubanghi and and Cairo are now comparatively free; Welle River. Some can read and write.

but in the country towns aqd villages -The late Father De Deken gives the more than 6000 persons died in three following account of the arrival at Leoweeks." poldville of 100 pupils from the Bangala colony: "Lieutenant Freitag brings -The Basel Mission on the Gold me about 100 young men formed as our Coast has lost no less than 13 of its mis- colony of Nouvelle-Anvers (New Antsionaries-l0 men and 3 women-dur- werp), and who are going to Boma, ing the past year.

-In consequence of the rapidly in- there to complete their military and re- creasing traffic in spirits in the Yoruba ligious education. As they are passed country, a petition on the subject hus in review by the State Inspector they been drawn up and signed by over 8000 sing' Brabansconne ' with enthusiasm; natives of Abeokuta, while another sim- their obedience is punctual, their piety ilar petition bears 3800 more signatures touching. More than one European from Lagos and the neighborhood. felt the tears come to his eyes when -A fearful epidemic among cattle is they sang their hymns and recited their sweeping over tropical Africa. It was prayers with uplifted arms."-Ibid.

first discovered several years ago by -The German imports into the Trans- the French explorer, Mantei!, who wrote vaal have steadily increased since 1891.

from Kano, in the Sudan, that not one In 1891 aud 1892 they amounted to head of cattle in a thousand had escaped 1,300,000 marks; in 1893, to 3,200,000 jor 500 miles ~lon<g l.J.j~ Ioute. Soon mar~!l i i~ t&94, to nearly 6,000,000 marks; in 1895, to about 7,000,000 twenty years old, and in its earlier years marks. passed through hottest fires of persecu- tion. Last year the number of converts -Mr. Goodenough writes most hope- received was 2921. fully of the present condition of the new church at Johannesburg. It will -The African Tidings publishes a be remembered that a chapel was built letter from a missionary describing a over two years since, and that during mission school at Likoma, which says: the first year a debt of $500 was paid, " The African does not take kindly to besides meeting the current expenses. figures, but our little girls can do fairly On April 1st, 1895, there was a balance long addition and simple multiplication in the treamry of $85. For the year sums. as well as the exercise we digending April 1st, 1896, the receipts of nify by the name of 'mental arithmethe church were a little less than $1200, tic. ' In this latter fingers are brought and came within about $70 of meeting into play, anu, what will amuse you all expenditures. The latter included more-toes I Quite unencumbered by the salary of the nati ve preacher and a shoes, they prove most convenient, and house for him, together with the cost of when a pupil's own set gives out, she a class-room and some furniture for the may be spied eagerly borrowing the chapel. This is a remarkable showing toes of her immediate neighbors to finfor a church composed of Zulus, gath- ish the calculation with! We treat ered so recently in a new place. Mr_ Class 1. to nice copy-books, sent out Goodenough writes of a plan for estab- from England, and they all learn to lishing another station eight miles from write remarkably fast, and in many Johannesburg, at an important railway cases exceedingly well-faster far than and mining center, where already a lit- many English children. So far 'J tle chapel has been secured.-Mi8sion- pens' are not fashionable, but each (],1'y Herald. child has a pen-wiper of her own, which is in constant use; at first, it -The British House of Commons must be owned, somewhat to her teach- er's horror. Tbe pen-wiper is her own voted £3,000,000, by 255 votes against woolly little head, into which the pen is plunged every few minutes, and f75r~tmowthaerdpothrte construction of a railway rubbed vigorously. I now look upon of Mombasa, in the Ind- it as a kind provision of nature, and offer no expostulations. If ink gets ian Ocean near Zanzibar, to the Victoria spilt on the table it is wiped off with their own hands, no one being a penny Nyanza, passing through the protec- the wiser; another advantage of a shiny black skin, which, by the way, torate of Zanzibar, British East Africa, I am getting to admire more than a white one. The little ones and newand Uganda. It is expected that 100 comers write on slates, which they use cuddled UD in their arms, quite disdainmiles will be laid before next April, tho ing the use of a table. . .. Their edu- cation does not go far beyond the' three the railway is to follow the substantial R's,' for they seldom stay at school be- yond the age of thirteen or fourteen, pattern of existing lines in India and when we suddenly look round and find that our little girls of last year have Egypt. It is estimated that the car- shot up into marriageable young wom- en, and off they go to keep house for riage of 3500 tons of freight in three themsel ves."

trains each way per week will pay the working expenses. At present the gov- ernment pays £37,000 per annum for porterage of stores alone from the coast to the Uganda, an item which the rail- way will reduce to £6500. The politi- cal advantage in tending to promote still further the consolidation of British power In Africa is too obvious to need comment.-Montreal Star.

The Uganda mission is less than

The Missionary Review of the World — March 1895

CHA.RLES HADDOX SPL'ROEON. JAMES ARCHER SPL'RGEOX

THJll REV. A. J. GORDON, D.D., of Boston, one of our editorial statI, died February 2d, at 12.5 A.M. Fuller notice of this great loss must be reserved for the next issue.

THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

VOL. XVill. No. S.-Old Serie8.-MAROH.-VoL. VIII. No. S.-NetO &riel•.

THE WORLD-WIDE MINISTRY AND MISSION OF CHARLES H. SPURGEON.

BY THE EDITOR-IN-OHIEF.

Some great events, like vast mountains which seem to defy the ordinary law of perspective, scarcely diminish in importance as they recede into. the distance; they still loom up, in grand proportions, when years have passed.

The death of Charles Haddon Spurgeon is one of those momentous losses to the Church and the world which appear rather the. more deplorable after the lapse of years. In fact, it took time to get the true measure of the meaning of this disaster. Like the giant redwoods of Cali10rnia, which are seen to best advantage after they have fallen and lie in colossal grandeur upon the ground, Spurgeon was best measured after he fell ; and thus far the loss is, humanly speaking, absolutely uncompensated by any adequate results of good wrought through it, and the disaster seems, to our limited vision; wholly irreparable.

That God, being both wise and good, wisely meant this unto good, is to a true believer beyond dispute ; but the goodness of this particular dealing and discipline is not yet apparent. In common with many others, we have asked ourselves, again and again, whether there be a single beneficial outcome which can be traced to this strange providence; but we can only fall back blindly upon the assurance that" all things work together for good," and remember our Lord's mysterious words, " What I do thou knowest ~ot now, but thou shalt know hereafter."

Meanwhile, it may be well to look backward and scan this man's service to his generation, and learn under what a debt one consecrated life may lay the whole world.

I. As a preacher of the Gospel, Charles H. Spurgeon had a world-wide mission and ministry.

It would seem as though the pulpit of our day could ill spare him. Among all the modern preachers he stood, facile princeps, without superior, if not without rival, in the apostolic simplicity and unadulterated purity of the Gospel he preached. He felt that somehow and manyhow the message

Tlm WORLD-WIDE KINISTRY 01' CHARLES H. SPURGEOlf. , [¥arch

of salvation had come to be corrupted with so much of man's invention that the chaff was hopelessly mixed with the wheat. Practically, his whole ministry was a sieve, by which he sought to separate man's traditions and fashions from God's teachings and practices. In this respect he seems to us to have had no competitor for tlie peculiar crown that must ever rest on his brow. For forty years he preached, on an average, probably more sermons, without repetition, than any other man of his generation; his published sermons already reach more than two thousand, and yet it would be difficult to find one that does not contain, somewhere or in some form, the essential, vital seed of the saving message. In fact, he early formed the deliberate purpose that such should be the law of his ministry.

He was, in the pulpit, a preacher rather more conspicuously than a teacher-that is, he magnified his double office as herald and witness rather than the quite different province of expositor and instructor. The Divine Master preached" with authority, and not as the scribes," who systematically expounded the Scriptures, but made no direct, authoritative appeals. Spurgeon had a lofty conception of his office as an ambassador, who, while he acts within the limits of his instructions, carries all the authority of the Royal Master whom he re'presents.

He was a born preacher. He had the genius homiletical, if ever a man had it. Such crystallization of thought into striking and radiant analytic forms; 'such piercing insight into spiritual truth; such facility and felicity, both of diction and of illustration ; snch homely thrusts at practical errors and needs; such natural action and effective gesticulation; such memory, imagination, logic and love, an on fire with passion for souls I-has there been any like combination since the days of Wesley and Whitefield? and did he not largely unite in himself much of the power of both these two men?

Spurgeon had the genius of soul-saving, which outranks all mere homiletical faculty. He was withal so sound in the faith, such an apostolic believer, holding. by a grasp so firm and sure all the facts and truths of redemption, that, like a great steamer, he swept smaller craft in his wake. Serenely calm in his conviction, he soared into the lofty realms of unclouded assurance, like an eagle, resting on sublime wing in high altitudes, while the storm of " higher criticism" and scientific irreverence was waging far below. You heard him and you said, "That man believes something." Like Goethe, men feel the need of convictions; as for doubts, they have enough already. Spurgeon gave utterance not to negations, or even mere opinions, but to unalterable positions and convictions; and there was something marvellously refreshing in the experimental vigor and vitality of his preaching. It was a testimony: the whole man was behind it, aitd in the man, as in Burke, there was something finer than he ever said; his very manner bore conviction to the hearer, who felt himself to be in the presence of one who knew God face to face as a. friend, I The preacher at the Metropolitan Tabernacle had no doubt of the fact or of the guilt of sin. Human depravity was to him no inversion of brain cells, or abnormality of nerve ganglia, no mere misfortune or "fall for- ward." To him man represented a revolted pr-ovince with all its functionaries involved in the ruin j as Robert Vaughan suggests in his " Hours with the Mystics," reason, conscience, imagination, will, understanding, desire, all at the service of a usurper, sin: the ermine of the judge, the verdict of the court, the song of the poet, the books of the student, the vessels of the merchant, the sceptre of the will, all perverted to the purposes of Satan. Spurgeon saw the awful arm of treason lifted against God, with the very weapons He had forged turned against His rule j and to him the preacher'S office was to lead back to allegiance, so that the decisions of the court of conscience should be in accord with the Divine common and statute law, so that the understanding should burn its magic books and renounce its magic arts, and the imagination become the aid to faith, the aspiration fix its gaze on the future, and the will use its golden sceptre as God's viceregent! This generation has not known, in any other pulpit, forty years of such plain dealing with sin and salvation, such undeviating, unfaltering testimony to the truth. What shall we do without him!

II. Spurgeon had a world-wide witness as to simplicity of worship. The service which he rendered was in this respect also an invaluable one. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians represent permanent sects in the Church of God j the ritualists, the rationalists, and the secularists we have always with us j and, of them all, the ritualists are not least to be feared. Formalism substitutes rites for righteousness and ceremony for sanctity. It is a suggestive historic fact that, whenever the glory of the Shekinah gets dim, the wax tapers of formalism begin to make the darkness visible, and a multitude of outward symbols and ceremonies becomes the substitute for spirituality and devoutness. It was but a few years since that an aged and venerable clergyman of the old school, whose deep attachment to evangelical truth revolted against the encroachments of a Romanist ritual in the Jnglican body, was importuned by his son, who had joined the extreme wing of the ritualists, to preach in his " chapel of ease." He did so after much urging, but caused no little consternation when he announced his text, " Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic /" and then proceeded to show the utter, hopeless lunacy of modern ritualism and ceremonialism. The Metropolitan Tabernacle, with its simple, apostolic worship, is, after forty years, the standing monument to apostolic practice. There is nothing to interfere with the pure worship of God and the impression of gospel truth. No attempt at art, even in the architecture j everything severely but not repulsively plain j no choir nor organ, not even responsive reading j no pictures nor statues, nor even startling colors in furniture or garniture, to draw off the mind through the eye. God alone is exalted there. This is another form of missionary service which the departed pastor of the Tabernacle rendered to the whole Church. It is a witness that the largest church auditorium in the world may be kept full during forty years, without any meretricious secular or questionable aids, aecessories or attractions, by simply holding up Christ as the· Saviour of sinners, and worshipping God in the spirit.

Who does not bless God, in these degenerate days of decaying faith in the perfect trustworthiness of the,Word of God, and in the supernatural working of God by His providence and Spirit in human affairs, for one man whose faith in a fully inspired Bible and a miracle-working Spirit never once flagged, and who thus dared to trust himself to a simple inspired message and a plain spiritual worship! When he fell, it wAs not only as when a standard-bearer falls, and another'strong, brave arm is needful to carry the flag onward, but as when a vessel loses her anchorage, and all anxiously look as the anchor drags to see whether there be some other secure holding for the fluke lest the ship dash against the rocks! How few had, like him, so firm and immovable a basis of conviction and confidence, that from it others might swing, assured of something certain, in days of general doubt and denial ! With what a trumpet-tongue he. echoed what " God hath spoken," as one who, like Elijah, stood before his Master and received His message from His mouth! He was a modern seer, and' in him the spirit of prophecy revived and the days of the open vision returned. He was also, like Elijah, a reformer of abuses, by vehement protest and unsparing ridicule shaming Baal-worship, and repairing the altar of the Lord which had fallen down.

III. Spurgeon fulfilled a world-wide mini,~try by the product8 of hi8 pen.

Thus he indefinitely widened his pulpit and enlarged his audience. That pen was a sword of the Lord and of Gideon, so mighty, keen-edged, sharp-pointed. Thus, while, from the pulpit and platform in Britain during forty years he is believed to have reached by his voice an aggregate of twenty million hearers, by his pen he addressed ten times that number. It became a sort of omnipresent and immortal preacher, for it went into all lands and told to every creature the story of the cross, and its voice is still heard in thirty languages and dialects from the sunrise to sunset. Being dead he yet speaketh. His printed sermons, commentaries, books, and tracts command the most cosmopolitan congregation in the world, numbering millions. The master work of his authorial career is "The Treasury of David," which is to-day instructing hundreds of thousands in their study of the Psalms. How it was possible for a man who was so constantly preaching as he was, and preaching new sermons, to be making books without end, and books of such quality as well as quantity, is still a mystery even to those who know the achievements possible to the genius of Industry. His book notices and reviews in the" Sword and Trowel" were, in the writer's judgment, the most briefly comprehensive, acute and accurate~ witty and wise, judicious and telling, that this generation has afforded. They revealed a capacity and a sagacity that in thiS line haVE)

PASTORS'

(Founded by C. II. Spurgeon, 1856.) PULPIT OF METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, ON OCCASION OF THE FUNERAL OF C. H. SPURGEON. CASKET OF OLIVE-WOOD.

(From Phooograph. Copyright in Great Britain by G. M. Miller. 13 Cambridge Terrace. Belgravia. London. England.)

THE WORLD-WIDE MINISTRY OP CHABLEB H. SPURGEON

no rival It was no wonder that they became to thousands an authoritative oracle.

IV. This world-wide mission of Spurgeon is seen also in the benevolent institutions which he founded and fostered.

Probably the most conspicuous contribution to missions at home and abroad, of any man of this generation, unless it be George Miiller, is to be seen in the general work of this" Kelvedon lad." He was the originator and inspiration of the Pastor's Oollege, which has sent forth nearly one thousand students, one hundred of whom have gone to their reward, while seven hundred and thirty are still actively busy in God's work, six hundred and fifty of them being Baptist pastors, evangelists, or missionariefJ., who for the past quarter century have instrumentally added to the Church over one hundred and eighty thousand souls! The Stockwell Orphanage has five hundred boys and girls in training for Christian lives of service, and has been sending out thousands whom it has prepared for society j and the Almshous68 provide homes for the old and needy, while missionary enterprises at home and abroad, whose name is legion, attest the broad sympathies of the aggressive man of God, who, as Macaulay said of Goldsmith, left nothing untouched and adorned whatever he touched.

Nowhere did Charles H. Spurgeon prove a failure. AB is promised to the man who is planted by the river of God, and takes into the very roots of his being the Word of God, whatsoever he did, prospered. His success in every sphere was so marked that he seemed specially fitted for everything he undertook. He was evidently in league with God.

How long and how vigorously his work will survive him is yet a problem. As to the Orphanage, it seems established on permanent foundations j it is always full, and has thus far always been supplied with needed funds from its strong hold upon popular confidence and sympathy.. It is painful to see it stated that the Pastor's College has had to reduce its number of students by three eighths, and that the Sunday offerings applied to its support are not nearly iIp to the former standard. It is to be hoped that this, if true, is but a temporary decline. After enjoying weekly contact with the students in that Institution, for two college years, and lecturing to them every Friday,' the writer can bear witness that, for average ability, soundness of doctrine, and aggressive spirit, he has never known any equal number of young men in any other theological seminary. They do not wait to grad. uate before they engage in work j they are a power for God even during their period of training, and Britain, not to say the church everywhere, owes to them a debt that is incalculable, for their persistent advocacy of sound doctrine and apostolic church life.

Mr. Spurgeon found necessary, in the multitude of his arduous labors, to commit in part, to other hands, much of the administrative duties con. nected with these institutions. A quarter of a century ago he called to his aid his only brother, James Archer Sp:rrgeon, who, until the very death of Charles, largely relieved him of these cares; and with characteristic generosity Charles, both in conversation and correspondence, always did ample justice to his brother's administration. In fact, one of his best friends thinks that he so unduly magnified the services and influence of others that he minimized his own. Certainly he remarked to the writer more than once, that his brother JaLles had sacrificed himself to his usefulness, and that the public did not know how largely he had thns been laid under obligation, both by his brother's capacity and sagacity. Without attempting to recall his exact words, he left upon me the impression' that many of the plans and measures of which he was the public exponent and expression were really due to the careful thought of that younger brother, hinting, half playfully perhaps, that there was more than one case in history where" Aaron" had acted as the spokesman and mouthpiece of " Moses," and got credit which was due to him. But, when all allowance is made for James Spurgeon's efficient help, it is transparently plain to all who were intimately linked with Charles Spurgeon and his work, that his own "mind" was behind his own" mouth" in all that implies actual origination of benevolent work. He was not a man who could ever be servilely dependent upon any other person for guidance or control. He bore the popular title of the " governor," and he earned it. He was by nature an autocrat, bnt in no offensive sense, and shaped the policy of the institutions which he founded. If, like Pharaoh with Joseph, he made any other, ruler, he still remained on the throne, and greater than all his helpers, always chief, never subordinate.

Such was the man whose death at Mentone, three years ago, January 31st, 1892, set millions mourning. Great as he was, he was at the same time so genuine, simple, humble, childlike, unpretending, gracious, urbane, sympathetic, that we know not which most to admire, his public ministry or his personal manhood. How few have been in the home so winningly good who have been in th~ world so influentially great! combining such an imperial sceptre of influence with such private and domestic virtue! He showed what one man can do to make the whole world better; and no arithmetic can do justice to the colossal dimensions of his actual achievement. The children trained in the Orphanage, and the preachers trained in the College, have been widely scattered seed which has greatly multiplied the harvest of his sowing; and the evangelistic and colportage work, whose inspiring source he was, added indefinitely to the sphere which belongs to his life and work. Nor must we forget, in estimating his immense service, that book fund, jointly administered by himself and his wife, which dis· tributed so many thousands of volumes among needy clergymen and other readers.

In heaven, says Swedenborg, "instruction is committed not to memo ory, but to life. " Here we have an example of such a principle without waiting for the heavenly sphere. We look from this man to the timid apologists for Christianity, the half.hearted servitors of a secular religious. ness, the sensational pulpit declaimers of the day, and we wonder whether,

AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIA'l'ION

like Lucius in the "Golden Ass," they have not got hold of the wrong witch-salve. When Fotis gave him the mistaken unguent he extended his arms, swayed to_and fro, expecting to be metamorphosed into a bird and soar aloft j but, instead, he found his hands and feet growing horny. hairs shooting from his thickening skin, and the suspiciously long ears appearing, which betray the ass. Have modern preachers got hold of the devil's magic ointment instead of the Spirit's" eye salve" and Divine chrism 1 Are they looking for a metamorphosis which will never come, because they have mistaken human learning, oratorical graces, worldly popularity, for the true anointing which is from above? and are they really moving on a terrestriallevel, like four-footed beasts and creeping things, while professing to discourse of celestial things like soaring and singing larks?

Who shall enable us to learn the lesson that every man may be a missionary, if he knows the missionary Spirit as his indwelling guide 1 Whether in the heart of China or Africa or India, or in the pulpit of a great city of Christendom, or in the humblest workshop of a tradesman, every God-sent man does the God-appointed work. :FrolU the outset every such man is, like his Master, about his Father's business, and 'can say at the end, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do." The Church and the world need missionaries, and the need is imperative and immediate j but no need so great exists as that of men and women who in the calling wherein they are found therein abide with God, and whose life is, like John the Baptist, a perpetual voice of witness, a living epistle of the power and grace of God, read and known of all men.

THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

The American Missionary Association has for nearly a half century been engaged in evangelistic and educational work among the negroes and poor whites of the South and the Indians and Chinese of the West. This Association has 42 common schools and 36 graded aiJ.d normal schools in the South. In New England the illiterate population over ten years of age is less than 6 per cent j in the South it is 27 per cent. The illiterate element of the colored population is 60 per cent, and over one third of the population of the South is of colored blood. The industrial, intellectual, and spiritual training of the negro is the hope of the race which is waiting to prove either a terrible curse or a great blessing to the land in which we live.

The number of Indians in the United States (exclusive of Alaska) is now only about 225,000. The red man is coming to appreciate and desire the benefits that flow from Christianity. In spite of the bright outlook, the Association has been compelled, by lack of funds, to cut down by one half their work among these, the "nation's wards." Two new churches have been established among the Indians during the past year, and Christian Endeavor work is especially successful. Chinese converts returning to China are preaching the Gospel largely under the auspices of the " Chinese Missionary Society" of the Pacific coast. There are 21 schools on the Pacific coast, carried on by the American Missionary Association, in' which schools 34 teachers have taught 1201 Chinese pupils, leading 197 of these pupils to tUi'll from the worship of idols, and 173 of them to profess faith in Christ. THE GROWTH OF THE LEADING AMERICAN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES.

BY ROBERT E. SPEER.

The last few years have witnessed a large advance in the comprehensive, comparative, and exact study of missionary administration, both at home and abroad. Questions which were deemed suborrlinate at first are assigned now a more prominent place. In the desire to establish as soon as possible a native church in each land, there is no longer among wise missionaries the inclination to sacrifice the independence and virility of the people by the use of methods which will secure the desired result at the expense of this sacrifice; while at home by closer correspondence and annual conference those charged with the administration of the missionary organizations are comparing experience, studying and classifying facts, and endeavoring to settle at least some general lines of definite policy, which shall secure the more spei)dily in each mission field the establishment of a self-supporting, self-propagating native church. The hope is entertained by some that the settlement of such general lines of policy or of principle would set free time, men, and means for a wider and more purposeful attempt to evangelize the great populations as yet untouched.

The difficulty in such a study as that suggested, the necessity for which is obvious, is that the material for it has been inaccessible. Each missionary society has published reports, but they have been designed to give general information and to arouse interest rather than to throw light on more or less technical questions. Moreover, the modern missionary enterprise is still young, and it lIas required some years to develop its problems. Besides, the missionary work is to so large an extent simply the influence of individuals upou individuals, that the existence of the wider questions of method amI policy has been often naturally overlooked. The conferences of the missionaries of China, at Shanghai, in 1877 and 1890, and of India, at Bombay, in 1892-93, and elsewhere at less striking meetings, have helped and are helping to settle some general principles upon the field, while the meetings in New York, the last two winters, of representatives of the missionary societies at home have both encouraged the study of the relation of the control of the appropriations to the determination of policy and method, and furnished some material for the stud; of this and other questions.

At one of these conferences it was desired to present a summary of the growth of the leading missionary organizations of America, showing by decades the development of the work of each organization. It was not possible to gather the material in time, and it has not been possible to secure complete accuracy at all. What it has been possible to secure is of sufficient value to present to the readers of the REVIEW, as giving the most complete available statement of the growth of our missionary work. The tables, at the end of this article, are made out for eight of the ten missionary organizations of our country which have annual incomes of over $100,000. They have been furnished by the societies themselves, with additions in some cases from tlie printed reports. These statistics are probably less trustworthy, as they are less complete, than those obtainable regarding the home churches. Especially in the early years the figures are not to be too confidently relied upon. For the sake of comparison, however, they can probably be trusted. Aside from the picture of prog- ress presented in these tables, they are valuable as throwing light on scores of subordinate questions.

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was for- mally constituted September 5th, 1810, at Farmington, Conn., and was incorporated by the Legislature of Massachusetts on June 20th, 1812. Its original plan probably contemplated association only with the New Eng. land Congregational Churches, but in 1812 eight commissioners were added from the Presbyterian Church, in 1814 one from the Associate Reformed Church, in 1816 one from the Reformed (Dutch) Church, and subse- quently one from the Reformed German Church. In 1838 the "Old School" Presbyterians withdrew; in ] 857 the Reformed Church withdrew, taking the Amoy and Arcot missions, and in 1870 the" New School" Presbyterians withdrew, with whom the Persia, Syria, Gaboon and several Indian missions were handed over to the Presbyterian Church. These facts must be borne in mind in studying the accompanying tables. (See Table I. at end of article.)- The decrease in the number of missions and stations not already ac_ counted for, between 1852-72, was due to the transfer or cessation of missions to the Indians, and the removal of the Sandwich Islands from the category of foreign missions in 1871. From 1872 to 1882 the number of ministers in the Congregational Church increased nearly 20 per cent, while the number of ordained foreign missionaries ~ncreased about 14 per cent. From 1882 to 1892 the number of ministers increased nearly 33t per cent, while the number of ordained foreign missionaries increased only about 14 per cent. During the last two decades the numbers of women missionaries have increased, respectively, 33i per cent and 25 per cent; ordained native helpers, over 50 per cent and 33t per cent; other native helpers, 125 per cent and more than 33t per cent j schools, 116 per cent and 24 per cent; scholars, 120 per cent and less than 50 per cent; contributions from home Church, 8 per cent and 77 per cent; while the communicants increased at home 23 per cent and 65 per cent, and the communicants abroad 120 per cent and 105 per cent. The large number of women native helpers is most striking. The present missions of the American Board are in Africa, Turkey, India, Ceylon, China, Japan, Micronesia, Mexico, Spain, and Austria. The report for 1892 includes a medical man and his wife and ten theological students in the Sandwich Islands. The missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church grew out of the efforts in 1816 of John Stewart, a negro, among the Wyandotte Indians. The Missionary Society was organized April 5th, 1819, "to diffuse more generally the blessings of education and Christianity, and to support and promote missionary schools and Christian missions throughout the United States and territories, and also in foreign countries." In 1844 the Methodist Episcopal Church (South) separated from the Church North, and established its own missionary society. Dr. Baldwin says of the tabular statement that it does not include the work of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, though the missionaries of that society are included in the column headed " Women." "Stations" are not reported in the same way as by other societies. The number given is Dr. Baldwin's estimate. The home and foreign missionary operations of the Methodist Episcopal Church (North) are not separated, but the table gives only the foreign work. No small part of this work, however, is in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, and Italy. Accordingly a line has been added giving the statistics for the foreign work with European countries excluded. (See Table II.) One is impressed at once with the large number of native helpers reported here, 4325 in all, or 2919, excluding Europe, an increase of over 300 per cent since 1882, while the figures of 1882 are an increase of nearly 250 per cent over those for 1872. Of these helpers 1391, or nearly one half of those from non-European fields, are reported from North India. Schools show an increase of 130 per cent from 1882 to 1892, and of 166 per cent from 1872 to 1882. Scholars increased about 190 per cent from 1882 to 1892, and about 150 per cent during the preceding decade. Of the 35,616 scholars in non-European fields in 1892, 19,571, more than one half, in 697 schools-6 of them high schools-were reported from North India. The Sabbath-school reports are the most complete presented by any society, and show a steady and remarkable increase. It is interesting, again, to note that of the 59,748 scholars, 32,133 are in North India. Under communicants are reported both members and probationers. In the fields outside of Europe 23,753 members were reported in 1892, 8820 in North India, where there were also 16,203 probationers. In this column the increase has been over 300 per cent from 1862 to 1872, about 150 per cent from 1872 to 1882, and less than 133 per cent from 1882 to 1892. Another striking feature of this table is the large amount reported in 1892 as contributed by the native church, $339,318 or *157,159 excluding Europe. This is reported as collected for benevolent and missionary societies, self-support, building, repairing, and local purposes; *62,680 of this amount having been given by the non-European fields for self-support, $23,642 by South America, $6429 by Mexico, and *31,363 by North and South India.

The missionary work of the Presbyterian Church began in 1741, with the appointment of Azariah Horton, a member of the Presbytery of New York, to work among the Indians on Long Island. David Brainerd was the second missionary. In 1763 the Synod of New York assumed the responsibility for the Indian work, and in 1800 the General Assembly took up the work systematically and carried it on till 1818, when the United Foreign Missionary Society was formed, consisting of the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Associate Reformed churches, "to spread the Gospel among the Indians of North America, the inhabitants of Mexico and South America, and other portions of the heathen and anti-Christian world. " In 1826 all this work was transferred to the American Board. In 1831 the Western Foreign Missionary Society was formed by the Synod of Pittsburgh, which surrendered its work to the Board of Foreign Missions established by the General Assembly in 1837. From 1838 to 1870 the Old School churches worked through this Board, and the New School churches through the A. B. C. F. M. The Southern Presbyterian Church withdrew from the Old School in 1861 and began at once its own missions. (See Table III.) It is interesting to note that in 1852 one Presbyterian minister out of 28 was a missionary; in 1862, one out of 36 jin 1872, one out of 37 ; in 1882, one out of 35 ; in 1892, one out of 28. One Presbyterian out of 1512 went to the field in 1852 ; one out of 1779 in 1872 j one out of 1314 in 1892. The number of medical missionaries is much larger and of more steady and rapid growth than that of any other society. The last two decades native helpers have increased 80 per cent and 87 per cent. The small number of schools in comparison with the reports of the other larger societies is significant. The earlier statistics of Sabbath-school scholars are unreliable, as are also the reports of native contributions. Communicants have increased during the five decades since 1842, 900 per cent, 55 per cent, 500 per cent, 300 per cent, 75 per cent. Between 1882 and 1892 a number of missions among the Indians was transferred to the Board of Home Missions. It. will be noticed how far short the annual expenditure upon mission work has come of keeping pace in its increase with the amount expended by the Church upon herself and at home. These figures, telling the growth of the work of the Presbyterian Board, can be better appreciated by noticing that its missions are located in the main in the most difficult and unresponsive fields, and that its report is not helped by anyone field of phenomenal fruitfulness.

On May 18th, 1814, in consequence largely of the missionary cam~ paign of Luther Rice, Judson's companion on the voyage to India, a convention of 26 clergymen and seven laymen, representing the Baptists of 11 different States and the District of Columbia, met in Philadelphia. This meeting resulted in the formation of a Triennial Convention. Mrs. Judson's visit to the home land in 1823 gave this movement its greatest impulse. In 1845 the Baptists of. the Southern States withdrew in consequence of the reply made to the demand of the Alabama Baptists, by the Acting Board, "that if anyone should offer himself as a missionary, having slaves, and should insist upon retaining them as his property, the Bo~rd could not appoint him." As a result of this separation the Baptists of the Northern States formed, in 1846, the American Baptist Missionary Union. (See Table IV.) Mr. Merriam, Editorial Secretary, in sending this table, states that " the statistics of the society in former years were not gathered in such a manner as to allow of all the columns being filled out. " The figures giving the number of communicants and the amount of native offerings, and the Sabbath-school scholars, include the European fields of the Union, as the published report for 1892 gives the members of the churches in the non-European fields as 83,597, the contributions of the native churches as $59,921. 82, and the Sabbath-school scholars as 15,347 in 615 schools. The missions of the Union are in Burma, Assam, among the Telegus in India, in China, Japan, and Africa. The success among the Burmans and Telegus has been wonderful, and the report can be understood only in the light of the facts regarding those two missions. All but $4602.45 of the amount given by native churches was given by the Burman churches, which numbered 30,253 members. In these churches were more than one half of all the scholars reported as in schools. 47,458 members were reported from the Telegu Mission, with 7190 pupils in schools, but only $2468.28 in contributions; 21,329 communicants were reported from Ongole alone, while of the 10,971 baptisms in 1891, nearly half, 5379, were reported from Ongole and Cumbum, two Telegu stations. The Assam, Chinese, Japanese, and African missions reported in 1892, 182 foreign missionaries, 5886 communicants, 1130 additions during the year, and native contributions amounting to $2134.27. $197,371.15 was expended on these missions, and $276,159.05 on the Burman and Telegu fields.

The Methodist Episcopal Church (South) organized a home and foreign missionary society in 1846 at its first General Conference. In 1866 the home work was separated from the foreign and given to a separate board. In 1870 the two were again united, but separated in 1874. At present, however, they are united. There are five missions-one in China, two in Mexico, one in Japan, and one in Brazil. In 1870 the colored members of the Church were organized into an independent Church. In the following table the returns for 1862 are the samA as those for 1860, as the work was interrupted during the Civil War. (See Table V.) The small number of ordained missionaries in proportion to the large home ministry will be noticed at once, one out of every 242. In the past ten years ordained natives have increased 600 per cent, and women helpers even more; communicants over 200 per cent; Sabbath-school scholars over 400 per cent; pupils in day-schools about 200 per cent, while the gifts of the home Church have more than doubled. From the report for 1892 it would seem that about one fourth of the amount stated as given by the Church for the cause was expended in home missions.

The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church was formed in 1820, and in 1835 was reorganized so as to " comprehend all persons who are members of this Church." There are now five missions-China, Japan, Haiti, Africa, and Greece. In the table the figures for 1882 alone contain the statistics of the work in Mexico. (See Table VI.) The first most striking fact is the slow increase of ordained missionaries. The number was in 1872 the same as in 1842, and increased only 25 per cent the last decade. Native helpers and schools show a steady increase; schools a larger proportionate increase than scholars. The increase of missionary offerings has not equalled the increase of expenditures upon the Church at home.

The Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presbyterian Church was the product of the combination of the Boards of Foreign Missions of the Associate and Associate Reformed churches, which were united in 1858. The Board was formally incorporated in 1866. For a number of years it had missions in Trinidad, Syria, and China, as well as in Egypt and India. These last two are its only missions now. (See Table VII.) It will be noticed at once how greatly the growth of the last decade has exceeded the growth of the two preceding decades. Missionaries have increased 100 per cent, native helpers 300 per cent, Sabbath-school scholars nearly 300 per cent, communicants 600 per cent, native contributions only 34 per cent. Two facts stand out with special clearness : one the concentration of work of this Board; the other the emphasis upon schools, which increased 233t per cent the last decade, scholars increasing 130 per cent. More schools are reported than those of the two preceding societies combined j but there are also as many communicants and 50 per cent more native contributions, while the annual expenditure is less than half that of either of the others.

From 1818 to 1826, as has been already intimated, the Reformed (Dutch) Church in America was associated with the Presbyterian Church in the United Foreign Missionary Society. In 1832 the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church was chosen by the General Synod, but it operated through the A. B. C. F. M. until 1857, when the Arcot and Amoy missions were transferred to it and it began its independent work. The Japan Mission was established in 1859. These three are the only missions of the Board. (See Table VIII.) One minister out of 22 is a foreign missionary in the Dutch Reformed Church. Communicants have doubled during each of the reported decades. Native contributions show a proportionate increase.

It is to be regretted that because of sickness or lack of needed help the officers of the Southern Baptist Convention and of the Executive Committee of the Southern Presbyterian Church were unable to have table'.! prepared of their work. In 1891 their receipts were respectively $113,522 and $112,951 ; missionaries, 97 and 100; native laborers, 66 and 50; communic3Ilts, 2377 and 2072 ; native contributions, $2157 and $2850. The origin of the separate work of these two bodies has been already indi- cated.

The comments offered upon these tables are merely suggestive. The statistics are not accurate enough for purposes of close argument or inference. They are important as paving the way for more reliahle reports by showing their value, and they are of utility for comparative study, their inaccuracy being of such a general character as not to disqualify them for this use. It is needless to say that they are not a statement of missionary success or failure. Obedience and obligation cannot be stated in terms of mathematics. The tables do, however, suggest some interesting consider- ations.

1. Schools are not inconsistent with evangelistic results. Whether as partial cause or as effect, the missions from which the largest numbers of communicants and baptisms are reported report also most schools. Of the 1188 schools reported by the A. B. M. U., 491 are among the Burmans and 533 among the Telegus. In Northern India where the Methodists report one third of' their members, excluding Europe, there are more than one half of their schools. The United Presbyterian missions show from 1882 to 1892 the largest increase of schools, and much the largest pro- portionate increase of communicants. There is a large number of mis- sions, however, where a large increase of communicants has not accom- panied a strong educational emphasis.

2. There has evidently been great absence of uniformity and agreement in pushing self-support. The altogether inadequate statistics given by some, and the small amounts often where the reports are accurate, indi- cate the need of a thorough study of this subject and a more vigorous policy at home and abroad. Great harm has been done by wrong begin- nings. Is it certain that in the many new missions right beginnings are making now ¥ It is striking that the United Presbyterian missions report nearly as large native contributions as all the missions of the Presbyterian Church (North). The American Board and the Methodi!>t Church have apparently adhered most closely to wise policy and attained the best gen- eral results. The Karen Bassein Mission of the Baptists, with 116 self- supporting churches and only 2 non-self-supporting, needs to be held up before all other missions.

3. Taking the figures as given in these tables for 1892, in the Congre- gational Church one member.in 1183 was a foreign missionary; in the Presbyterian, one in 1314; in the Reformed Church, one in 1426; in the United Presbyterian, one in 1843 ; in the Baptist, one in 2190 ; in the Methodist (North), one in 4614 ; in the Protestant Episcopal, one in 8970 j in the Methodist (South), one in 13,477. One minister out of 22 was a foreign missionary in the Dutch Reformed Church; one out of 26t in the United Presbyterian; one out of 27 in the Congregational j one out of 28 in the Presbyterian; one out of 55 in the Baptist (North) ; one out of '11 in the Methodist (North) ; one out of 176 in the Protestant . Episcopal; one out of 242 in the Methodist (South). Upon all these figures the action of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1866 is a startling commentary. The General Assembly " beli~ves that no good reason can be shown for so unequal a division of the ministerial force as exists at present, 2484 ministers remaining here among a population of only five or six millions, nearly all whom already know what they should do to be saved, while we give 83 ministers, 17 of whom are natives, to the many hundreds of millions who have never yet heard of Jesus and His salvation. The Assembly therefore recommends to all its young ministers, as well as candidates for the ministry, to give a new hearing to the calls which are coming in for laborers for this wide- spread harvest-field." The amount expended at home in 1892 by the Baptists and the South- ern Methodists is not given, but of the other churches the United Presbyterians gave one dollar to the work abroad for each ten dollars spent at home ; the Dutch Reformed, one for each eleven dollars; the Presbyterians, one for each fourteen dollars ; the Congregationalists, one for each sixteen dollars; the Methodists (North), one for each twenty-one dollars; the Episcopalians, one for each forty-eight dollars.

The average gift per member of each Church was as follows: Congregationalist, $l.27 ; Dutch Reformed, $l.19 ; Presbyterian, $l.13; Baptist, $0.67; Protestant Episcopal, $0.50; Methodist (North), $0.28; Methodist (South), $0.22.

In 1891 the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (North) gave $263,660.69. This should be added to the $622,912 given by the Misbionary Society of the Church. On this basis, the average gift of each member was $0.39, and the Chnrch gave one dollar to the work abroad for each fifteen dollars expended at home. The figures for the Baptist Church (North) are on the basis of a membership of 850,- 000, given as the constituency of the A. B. M. U.

4. It will be observed that no women medical missionaries are reported prior to 1882. In 1892 the A. B. M. U. reports men and women together. The other boards report 30 women. 123 medical missionaries in all were reported, nearly two fifths of them by the Presbyterian Board. 2172 missionaries are reported, excluding medical and ~uropean Methodist missionaries, 841 of whom are men and 1331 women. In the last decade medical missionaries increased in number 200 per cent; in the preceding decade 100 per cent. Missionaries of all classes have increased in the last four decades 75 per cent, 54 per cent, 34 per cent, and 29 per cent. In 1852 they had decreased 14 per cent as compared with 1842. In 1862 there were 352 women to 376 men. In 1892 there were 1331 women to 841 men. Which of the twain loves most ~ It is desired that the purpose of setting forth these statistics should not he misunderstood. They arc not intended to show missionary results for the purpose of vindicating the work of the missionary agencies. No such statement can be properly or adequately made in this form. They are not meant to stimulate the passion for results statable arithmetically-a passion already responsible for no little detriment to the real interests of the work. "If we were to attack missionary bodies," says the London Spectator, "it would be for their attention to results, for their sordid counting of converts, and for their consequent disposition to attack perishing races like the Polynesians, and their reluctance to concentrate effort on a race like the Arab, which might furnish us with teachers acceptable throughout the whole continent of Africa." The tables are offered for the consideration of the intelligent friends and students of missions.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. ~ ~ :j

~l ~i~r~ c~~~- ~~~~':s. SCHOOLS. SCHOLARS. J i~ ~~ —- — ~,,' g tl t)j ._~s~.=::~ i i ~'&! __ I J_! I ~ ! ~, nJq ]} ~ J l~ JJ .a '0 .; -rn !~ :8::1'a3 . '3l .. BOARDING. D.I.~. .~&::I :§;j~] ~.a …. 00.<:1 li ~~ i 1842.. …. ~ .. …. 26 85 166 179 151,i …….· 4[ 30 61S1 738 386 ~ !………. ………….. 21,26111 …….. $318.396 $27,548 1852.. …. . ….. 26 111 184 2111 43 202 27 783 485 484 22,595 …… …….. 22,061…………….. 301,727 35,386 :~;;; ~~;.;;:'~ ~~:: :1:::: :: : :1 ::::: ~ ::::::: ~::I:::::: :::::1 :::~ ::: 1882.. 3,713 881,697 20 82 155 261 8 2 148 488 1,OM 104 8069821 2,210 1,688 ~ …… ……. 19'7551 …….. $4,024,720 454,Oil 34,961 1892.. 4.886 625,97520 95 *183 329 18 4 200. 624 1,380 141 4,259 2,832 35,715 12,020 …… 5O,805, 40,338 $104,566 8,445,000 794,R75, 55.981 • Of whom 11 are medical men.

THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (NORTH.) 1842. . 4,186 1,C68,525 1 1 23 4'1" …. …. …….. 1 ………………….:..:.:,…… 1 20 731 1,257 …….. ………. $27,755' ….. ..

1852.. 4..';13 728.700 4 18 29 20 1……. 26 … 1 18….. …… 517 …. 3;753'" ………….. 1~:~ :::::::: :dI62. e,655 ~42,906 7… 63 60 2 …….. 152 20 2 31…… 987266 31 544 16,127 …. , … ……… 373,825 …… .

1872.. 10,242 1,458,441 12 … ' 2(J'{ –"- 39.979 $182,997 ………. 327.327 ….. ..

~ 1882.. 11,028 1,710,204 15 .. 103 5,329 9,125 339,318 13,146.975 622,912 about5% 49,395 157,159.. ……. .. ………. .. . m =: .: ~:: :~.9~~ ~,~:~~ ~Il~ 1201 II. .. 810 …. ~12.'9i3 . 4 180 …… …… 426 18,971 1,151 54,097 112 2 5 504 291 .. 498 ;,:,,:,:,,:,_.._• ~~ ~Ig 3,~~ ~~~ !~ t~.~ ~:~~~ I ~:~ l~k~ BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

1842.. …. .. …. 10 12 31 80 1 . . . . 9 …. 5 13 174 27 475 2 …… 44 ……….. …, $58,185 $11.291 >-3 1852.. 2,0l~ 210,199 19 80 71 64 4 .. 2 25: 1 17 33 348 211 2,067 69 …… 80 487 S350 1,108,277 144,923 14,178 ~ 595 1.600.733 176,911 16.801/ ~ 1862.. 2.807 302,706 21 58 77 65 7 .. 2 821…. 18 82 327 192 4,025 248 …… 486 681 1872.. 4.341 466,14728 64 116 136 10 33 409 7 12 81 258 447 8,750 1,221 …… 965 4.208 2,575 9,738,5611457.21,2 81,542 • 1882.. 5,022 585.29128 91 142 238 16 2 84 683 52 47 224 636 1,247 12.743 5,438 …… 4,834 16.484 6,199 8,782,535 576.798 24.836 .~ -=189=2.;..;……:6"',04:.:l)~.,–'81)!,258 27 11~2'~"-_350='–'34'-"-..::1=2:…::165::::..-=1!;c.234=..::1=29::.:……:..70"'-~686=-=-..::1:c::.826=..;1:..c,8:::2::.6……:1::,:7:;:.82'7::.:..:_=S,!.:.109;:::.::.:,•:.:..;.:,•:.:.J'–=26=,393=~80~,=479~-.:::;38~,73=1c..:l~3.'.:,4::.;73,zO~I::..7~98~1!::.~::::92::……:::56::!.:::305~ …

BAPTIST MISSIONARY

., MBDI- ~ ., CAL MIS- Z .c IONA· RIllS. '0 1>,- —- — ] i i~trl ~…. 1jE ~ ~ FORBIGN NATIVE SCHOOLS. SCHOLARS. .]ooS:=o~~.c' ,00:= .~~ MISSION- HELPERS. ._0 ~.ll~ ARIES. ai '0 b §~ oai Oil +>0:= .0c . § ~~ llo il'~ .8.d 'C 0 -<~ .$~".~,..,ocg=, ''i"0Ei:=i g "<ll ~:8 Sli! 8j ,.~£,.~=c ai ai a 'tl oj: BOARDING. DAY. '§ ,., >l 0:= ~ :§0);1 .c a — — – – – – – – -~- ~ – – – -~ -1- – – – ._—- a — — — — – – – – ~o§."~ .S ';j gQ3 +>0:= '0' ~ .S a ~ .c ~~ 8 ~ ~ '0"" !Xl ~ ~ .!l ~ "'OIl r;; ~ ~ 0 1;;.-q li! !! ~ ~ A 0 .~ ;":' ~~ -I<I ~ <ll <ll 0 0 <ll ~ _. !Xl C!l 0 – _ _1_- 1842.. . ……•..••… …. ………

1852 . . . . . • . . . • • . . • . . . . . • —-'- ~~I:::: .::., ::::I···~95 ::::::1··· ..~:1~~·····1:::::::: :::::. :::::::. 1862.. .•…. ….•••..• 6 18 38566 30,129 $5,000 ..•••..••. 885,192 $14,052 216,000 38,785 1872.. ..•… .•…..•.. 9 21 46 57,512 ….••• 1…….. .. 30,235 1882……………… 6 33 73 94,879 .•.•…..••••••… 30'~,584 108 •.•• 91 421 …. 190 473……. •.•.••••••.•••..•…. •.• …….. …… ….. ..

I …..A-. .-….J.- …….. .••••• 78,187 163,881 244,360 $6,518,388 569,173 49,125 1892.. 8,000 850,000 7 73 144 229 15'" 243 1,023 180 1,188 …•.. 22,284 BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (SOUTH.) t~~:: 6:800 .. oili:ssi "i .. OJ "'2 :::::: :::: :::: :::: …..j :::: :: .. ·····2 :::::" :::::" ······37 ······ii '0 "1 ……4;; …. •..2 :::::::: :.:::::::: :::::::: "$2,652 1il62.. 8,137 U9,068 1 1 5……. … …. …. 1…. …. …… … .. ….. .. . .. . .. . .. … . a. 1872.. 8,366 645,793 1 2 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 323 1 21 8 1 20 11 …….. ………. … …. 2,266 9 2 40 79 ….. .. .. .. . … $8,010. 11,538 1882.. 9,914 867.385 3 18 18 6 2 1 9 42 3 8 84 128 105 528 388 43 1,288 1,856 $911 .. ……. 129,754 7,132 1892 .. 11.849 1,293,866 6 111 49 43 2 2 59 81 34 20 1'9 846 355 1,721 974 225 6,561 6,709 12,123 $2,286,791 289,869 20,811 DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

-1842 .. 1,107 ………. 6 10 11 14 …. …. a 5 …… …………. ……………. …… …….. 26 …….. ………. $29,279 $8,476 "3 1852.. 1,605 67,200 3 5 10 ~ 11 …. …. 9 21 52 -'- …….. ……. …….. $330,533 41,048 3,462 1862•• 2,079 ……… 5 10 13 102 r;; 15 13 5,364 1872.• 2,952 224,995 5 52 11 11 1 …….. 4 34 17 -'-"- -"- 421 ……. 22,015 ~ 1882.. 3,496 842,590 6 149 19 12 …. 14 184 65 4 8 150 405 13.060 ~ 1892 •. 4,229 556,140 5 223 24 260 75 ……, 285 50,576 19.613 1,240 940 724 ……. 5,544,574 110,7a~ 26 3 …. 44 11 29 80 2,129 :::::: 572 2,551 1.756 33 4 1 57 26 44 4,082 2,297 $5,212 11,749,043 173.848 33 80 836 3,567 8,496 13,218.919 275,600

OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN

FMOlR~~E~IGNN- ~M:R~DiI~C~A-L NAT1VR SCHOLARS. '" … .; 1>1.l; '~ . Il HELPJ:RS., SCHOOLS. ~ +gai.al Q;I Q) 0 5 -~"O. . o"'-C,,S~ .~.0r_5. ~§ -.,… rdca _ -.5~~ t~l ~ • -~ ,.fl,," -8~ ) " :.530~ 1 –1– aa ~.<:IQ,);:::fQ,)::r ~lO<lj ",.<:I .~~~ oi!l. —- —- B~~:~. S ~z'O:::::l o&o!::,.1a1·l s~….~;~ "<:l d ro.,,a~1.~. ~ DAY. .sttl 1l0P d i ~ :s"o '~§ " ":g 'E il l ~:_E I ~oS .a<5:I ~o ~o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (3~)i1~ £ l ~ __ ]!"'" l~'" 0:1 : _ iEL187:.l.. :~~~ ::~~:5i~:~ :::6 ::i~ ::.::~ :::: :::::: :::~ :::: :::: :::: :::::~ .:.::.:T1:':":::0:0 :::::: :::::: :::: :::::: :::::: :::::::: ::~~~:~~~ :ii~:~i~~i~i~~:: 72,896 4 12 7 2 8~…… 18 789:.:: 494 $2,123 789,436 51,694 i% 584 19 2 …… ooT' 75 • 1,464 2,214 1882. 719 84,573 1 2 77 15 13 . . 00 00 00 00 8 189 00 00 3,42611,351…. 2,555 1,565 23,272 852,253 77,872 2% 1892.. 796 109,0181 2 207 30 26 2 24, 494 253 •••. ",., •. 7,8221 3,061i 241 9,751 10,445 30,511 1,171,652 114,636 2% BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH.

MISSIONS IN THE WEST INDI.!

MISSIONS IN THE WEST H:DIES.

BY REV. W. J. MORNAN, JAMAICA.

THE FIELD.

The term West Indies is used to designate the several groups of islands scattered over the Caribbean Sea between North and South America. The largest islands are Cuba, with an area of 43,000 square miles, and about 2,000,000 inhabitants; Haiti, or San Domingo, with a population of 1,500,000, and somewhat smalIer in size than Cuba; Jamaica, having an area of 4300 square miles, and a population of 600,000. Then come Puerto Rico and a multitude of small islands and cays, making up about 100,000 square miles of area and about 5,900,000 inhabitants. At the time of their discovery, in 1492, most of these islands, and particularly the larger ones, were densely peopled by the Carib Indians. They were soon, however, exterminated by the fearful cruelties inflicted on them by the bloodthirsty Spaniards. The horrible details of this wholesale butchery are recorded in the works of the famous Las Casas and other contemporary writers. By the end of the eighteenth century, chiefly as the result of the different wars between England, France, and Spain, the latter had lost all her West Indian possessions except Cuba and Puerto Rico. The island of San Domingo had become independent, one part forming the Spanish-speaking republic of San Domingo, and the other the Frenchspeaking republic of Haiti. The rest of the islands now belong to various European governments, England having the lion's share. She possesses Jarp.aica, Barbadoes, Trinidad, St. Lucia, the Bahamas, etc. The extermination of the aborigines in the way already mentioned led to the necessity for bringing other laborers into these islands. Hence, the origin of the horrible slave trade between the West Coast of Africa and these fair isles of the sea. As one traces the history of that bloody and accursed system, he feels devoutly thankful that so far at .least as this part of the world is concerned, it is a thing of the past. The population of these islands now consists chiefly of black and colored people, the descendants of the African slaves, with a fair proportion of whites, both creole and European. In the year 1838 slavery was abolished in all the dominions of the English Crown, but still existed in the Spanish colonies until about twenty years ago. The glorious act of 1838 was, however, the direct result of ~issionary operations, and thus leads us to consider very briefly THE HISTORY OF MISSION WORK.

The first direct mission work attempted in the West Indies was by the Moravians, who in 1732 began work in the Danish islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Their work extended in a short time to Barbadoes and other islands. In 1754 Jamaica was reached. '.!.'he first efforts of this liociity were rendered almost fruitless, from the bct that they settled their stations on the slave-owning estates and fens, and thus they were really under the power of the cruel planter. This society has, however, made great progress and done really useful work in later years, and nowhere is it prospering more than in Jamaica. The next work attempted was by the Wesleyans. Dr. Coke began work in Kingston in the year 1792, where a chapel was opened, but after a short time was closed until the year 1815. Since that time if progress has been slow, it has been sure. Some of their mission workers stood boldly by the side of brethren of other denominations as the champions of negro liberty. This society is to-day doing a blessed work. Its churches and chapels are found all over the island. The same is true of its schools. They are also doing good work in the Bahamas, Turk's Island, Haiti, Trinidad, St. Vincent, etc. The Baptist Missionary Society commenced work in Jamaica in 1814, and has stations in San Domingo, the Bahamas, Turk's Island, and Trinidad. The missionaries found the people in slavery, and from the first took the side of the oppressed. The battle of freedom was stern and cruel, but it was fearlessly fought out and won. We can do no more than mention in this connection such names as Knibb, Burchell, and Phillips, who when they failed in the fight in Jamaica returned to England, and by voice and pen helped to rouse the English people until the House of Commons passed the Act of Emancipation. From that day to this the Baptist churches have passed through many struggles, but they are to-day among the foremost leaders in all that tends to the true, moral, and social advancement of the people. The principles for which the missionaries contended are now being recognized by the government, the press, and the people generally as wise and right. In the year 1842 the Baptist churches in Jamaica became independent of the English society, and have since then supported their own pastors and founded a missionary society of their own, the object of which is to preach the Gospel in needy parts of Jamaica, in Haiti, Cuba, Central America, besides helping the parent society to some small extent in its work in Africa. The Baptists took the lead in the work of raising up a native ministry, and for the last fifty years their Calabar College has been educating their ministers and teachers. Nearly every other society is now following their example. The London Missionary Society also has a few stations in Jamaica, but they have never developed nor extended their work. The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland is also laboring in the West Indies, its missions being confined to Jamaica, Trinidad and Grand Cayman. All these different denominations have an interesting history of their own in the West Indies, but this brief notice must suffice. We now pass to consider PRESENT MISSIONARY EFFORT.

The unevangelized fields in the West Indies are Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. The first and last are Spanish colonies, and the second consists of two republics, one French and the other Spanish. The prevailing religion is Roman Catholic, but there are, especially in Haiti, many forms of Mrican superstition, while many among the more educated classes have embraced atheistIc views. As the direct result of Romish influence the people are corrupt and demoralized. Sin can be paid for, and the hope of heaven purchased for a gold piece. The writer knows whereof he affirms when he declares it as his solemn conviction-a conviction forced upon his mind by an intimate knowledge of the people, both in Cuba and Haiti, that the people in these lands have " no hope" and are " without God in the world." The population of Cuba and Haiti is about 3,500,000, who are for the most part slaves to a cruel, avaricious, and immoral priesthood. Several missionary societies are at work in these islands. In Haiti the Jamaica Baptist Missionary Society has stations at Jacmel, Cape Haiti, Port de Pais, St. Mar-c, Port Liberti, besides some out-stations. The church at St. Marc is now self-supporting, and therefore independent of the missionary society. There is also an independent Baptist church at Port au Prince, under the care of Rev. Lucius Hippolyte, M.A., who is a graduate of Colgate University. The work has been carried on for many years under great difficulties and with very little apparent success. Still the brethren have labored on, and there are many hopeful signs which give promise of the future reaping of a good harvest. The Baptist brethren in the island have lately met and formed a Haitian Baptist Union, and it is hoped that the union will prove useful in strengthening the Lord's work. The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society has several flourishing stations on the island. At J acmel, Port au Prince, and Cape Haiti they have labored with zeal and success for many years. It seems a pity that the work should now be at a standstill by the home society gradually withdrawing help from the West India Conference. The English Baptists have a station at Puerto Plata, in the Republic of San Domingo, the Mrican Methodist Episcopal Church has some stations, and work is also being done by the Episcopal Church of the United States j but with regard to these last-named missions the writer has no information as to their present position and prospects.

The people of Haiti are warm-hearted, kind, and hospitable, passionately fond of liberty, and very jealous of their free, republican institutions. They are, however, deep down in the mire of superstition and sin. Political and religious liberty do not exist in anything but in name. The mass of the people are grossly ignorant, and are thus easily imposed upon by the few who are to some extent educated. The present ruler of Haiti has many qualities which might have made him a wise and liberal ruler, but the strong opposition of the Romish Church, and the many plots against his government, have so acted on him as to make him suspicious, stern, and cruel to a terrible degree. With all his faults, however, he favors Protestant missions, and though himself a Roman Catholic, sees in the spread of our principles the only hope of his country's political and social regeneration. In the neglected country places the people are devotees of Vaudoism, fetichism, and other heathenish beliefs and practices. Cuba, the largest of the West India Islands, was up to a few years ago entirely without the Gospel, and a large part of it is stilI unevangelized. The people are crushed and oppressed by the Church and government, and are thus dissatisfied and anxious to throw off the Spanish yoke, yet have neither the unity, courage, nor resolution to do so. The Church is supported by the State, and until about the year 1875-a remarkable year in the history of missions-was the only creed allowed to be preached in the country. In that year religious toleration was proclaimed, and since that time various societies have done work in Cuba. At first there seemed very little hope of success. The interesting story of the conversion and subsequent call of Rev. A. J. Diaz to labor in his native land has already been told in the pages of this REVIEW. He and his staff of workers are doing a noble work in Hava.na and other cities and towns in the north of Cuba, and the work is making rapid progress under the fostering care of the Southern Baptist Convention. Several churches have been formed, with which are connected large and flourishing day and Sunday-scho:>ls. The Episcopal Church also has stations at Matanzas and in Havana, and their work has been attended by much of the Divine blessing.

About four years a.go the Southern Presbyterians began work in Havana, but after a time removed to Santa Clara, an inland town of 15,000 inhabitants. Here a congregation has been gathered under the Rev. E. P. Collazo, and good work is being done in the day and Sundayschools. The Methodist Episcopal Church, also about four years ago, began work in Havana, but the writer does not know what amount of success has attended their efforts. In the year 1886 work was commenced by the Jamaica Baptist Missionary Society at Cienfuegos, on the south side of the island, but after several years' work the mission has been temporarily abandoned. The society, however, has the satisfaction of knowing that its agents have preached the Gospel to large numbers in Cienfuegos, and numbers of Bibles and Testaments as well as Gospel tracts have been distributed. At the last meeting of the General Committee of the Society, in February, 1894, the following resolution was unanimously passed: "That it be an instruction to the Managing Committee to seek to secure a. suitable agent for work in Cuba, and if such an agent can be secured and the funds of the society permit, to resume missionary work in that island during this year." For lack of funds nothing has been done. There are stilI many large cities and towns in Cuba without a single Protestant missionary, and if Cuba is to be evangelized to any great extent, the number of workers must be multiplied fully fifty times.

A WORD ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES.

The difficulties of the work are many and great. Haiti is a much more ready and inviting field than Cuba. The chief difficulty in Haiti is the frequent OCCUI'l'el!Y6 of bloody wars, which, while they continue, throw everything out of order, and if Cuba were to become independent in her present moral and intellectual state, the same bitter strife and bloodshed would be snre to prevail. In Haiti the people are more liberal in their ideas and institutions. They are kind and hospitable, and the stranger is readily welcomed. This is not the case in Cuba. The men are easily reached in the restaurants, cates, and clubs, where they idle away much of their time, b~t foreigners especially find it hard to get into the homes of the people. Their own priests are not allowed to visit them, except when dying to administer the last ordinance of the Church, and the foreign missionary is not expected to visit either. If he is a single man, it will be impossible for him to do much of this work. He stands a better chance if he is married.

The expense of mission work is very great, both in Cuba and in Haiti. Living is expensive, and rent is very high. To do effective work a chapel of some kind must be provided. The people with the ideas about worship which they have been taught do not believe in going to the parlor of a private house to hear the Gospel. It must be in some consecrated building. Then burial of the dead is another difficulty. All the cemeteries are in the hands of the Church, which will allow no heretic to be buried in consecrated ground. The law provides for the erection of public cemeteries in connection with every town, but as most of the town councils are controlled by the Church, they find various means of evading the law. In Haiti this difficulty does not exist, as all the cemeteries are public.

The missionary has also to contend with the enormous power of the Church of Rome. She is rich and crafty, and does not fail to employ all the powers at her command to prevent the spread of the Gospel. The priest, although despised, is feared, and has very much more power than would at first sight appear.

The greatest difficulty, however, is indifference. We have often heard it said that people in these islands are crying out for the Gospel. This is not the case. The people have no appetite for a spiritual religion which demands a" repentance toward God" and" faith which worketh by love." The great majority are perfectly satisfied with Romanism, which panders to their depraved nature and carnal appetites. They flock to mass on the Sabbath morning, to the cockpit or bull-ring in the afternoon, and to the theatre at night. These difficulties are no plea or excuse for neglecting these mission fields. The Divine command is not, " Go where it is easy," or " Go where the people want you and where converts can be easily won," but" Go ye"-oh ! that the Church would hear it-" into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." This is our business with regard to Cuba and Haiti, as well as anywhere else, and we earnestly pray that it may be speedily done.

THE CENTENARY OF A GREAT MISSIONARY SOCIETY

THE CENTENARY OF A GREAT MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

BY REV. EDWARD STORROW, BRIGHTON, ENGLAND.

One hundred years ago there were but two missionary societies in England: the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, founded in 1701, and the Baptist Missionary Society, in 1792; but the missionary spirit had been slowly awaking, and this led to the desire for the formation of a society on a basis sufficiently broad to include earnest men of all denominations holding the principles usually called evangelical.

A small group of such persons had, in 1793, established the Evangelical Magazine, and in the number for September, 1794, there apPelJ,red a long and able letter, written by Dr. Bogne, a Presbyterian minister at Gosport, calling attention to the subject. It produced a profound impression and led to various private conferences, and on November 4th the first concerted meeting, with a view to the formation of a society, took place in the city of London. Eight ministers were present, and at that gathering the Society really had its birth, though at a later period it was formally inaugurated. It Was resolved to issue in the following month an appeal inviting practical co-operation and aid.

Among other statements it said: "That something may be done with effect, it is hoped that not only evangelical Dissenters and Methodists will be disposed to unite in instituting a society, but that members of the Established Church will also favor us with their kind c-:l-operation."

This circular discovered the affectionate willingness of a considerable number to stand forth in this work, "and after various meetings of a deliberative character a letter was issued, signcd by ten leading ministers, calling a series of meetings to found the Society. The preparatory meeting was held on September 21st, 1795, at the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate Street, when there appeared a very numerous and respectable assembly of ministers and others whose aspect indicated seriousness, ardor, and harmony worthy of so great an occasion." 'it " On the three following days six sermons were preached in some of the largest chapels in London, followed by several business meetings, and a general meeting on Friday the 25th, at which the Society was definitely inaugurated by the election of a treasurer, two secretaries, and 32 directors, and the 'plan' of it adopted. Of this it is only necessary to say that it was called simply the Missionary Society, and its sole object defined to be ' to spread the knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened nations.'" CongregatlOnalists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and members of the Countess of Huntingdon's connection united in this movement. The leaders were influential and eminent in the churches to • .. An Introductory Memorial Respecting the Formation of the Missionary Society ;" .leo, .. A Blatory of the London Missionary Society." By the Rev. W. Ellis. Vol. I. This hlatory. unfortu. utely. Wile never completed. which they belonged; great harmony prevailed in all their deliberations, the meetings were crowded, and the impression produced extended far and wide.

The sphere for the first mission had previously been considered, and " it was unanimously resolved that the first attempt of this Society shall be to send missionaries to Otaheite or some other islands of the South Sea; and also that missions may be as early as possible attempted to the Coast of Africa, or to Tartary, or to Surat, on the Malabar Coast of India, or to Bengal, or the Coromandel Coast of India, or to the Island of Sumatra, or to the Pelew Islands."

The first mission was soon commenced. On July 27th, 1796, thirty missionaries-four ordained ministers, the others artisans-were designated for this work, in the presence of a large congregation, ten ministers of different denominations engaging in the service. The missionaries sailed for Tahiti in the ship .Duff on August 10th, and reached their destination on March 6th, 1797, the first evangelists ever sent to any of the numerous islands of Polynesia.

The Society had many influential, united, zealous friends, and as these passed away, others like-minded were found to carry on the work so well begun. This will be seen from the foIIowing statement of the missions it successively established. In 1797 missionaries were sent to the Foulahs near Sierra Leone; in 1798 to Bengal and to the Cape of Good Hope; in the following year to Newfoundland; in 1804 to Surat, on the West Coast of India, to the South and East coasts, and to Ceylon; in 1808 to British Guiana and the West Indies, and the first Protestant missionary 1.0 China in 1811 ; in 1813 to Java and the Mauritius; in 1815 to Malacca, and in 1816 to one of the Greek islands; to Madagascar in 1818 and Siberia in 1819. New Guinea was occupied in 1871, and Lake Tanganyika, in Central Africa, in 1877.

Some of these misbions were small and isolated, and for one reason or another were in time abandoned, but the foIIowing great spheres are now occupied by the Society, and have in every instance expanded from single stations to groups, usually of extended influence.

After more than fourteen years of toil and alternate hope, disappointment and danger, the Gospel triumphed in TAHITI AND THE ADJOINING ISLANDS, and after a few years of quiet, successful toil, a great extension of the missions was caused by the splendid zeal of John Williams, who between 1822 and 1839, when he met a martyr's death on Erromanga, placed missionaries and native evangelists on a number of islands, some of them far separated from each other. The Society now occupies the Harvey, Samoan, and Loyalty groups of islands, and a number of isolated ones, like Nine or Savage Island. Most of these are so entirely Christian that no remains of idolatry are to be seen, save. as memorials of a dark and barbarous past; but the influence of the Society has extended far beyond its own spheres. Its romantic and remarkable successes drew attention to the Pacific, and led to the occupation of many islands by other societies, and with such marked results as are seen in Fiji, the Sandwich, and other islands.

One most satisfactory issue of the Polynesian mission was the com. mencement of the NEW GUINEA MISSION in 1871.

Christianity had so triumphed in many islands, and converts had approved themselves such reliable pastors and evangelists, that two experienced missionaries and a number of native volunteers were appointed to begin a new mission, or rather a series of missions on the southeast coast of New Guinea, the largest island in the world with the exception of Australia. The climate is unhealthy and the people are degraded and treacherous, and a large number of the Polynesian evangelists have been invalided, died of disease, or been slain, but volunteers have been found to occupy even positions of peril, and now one hundred and eleven native agents, with seven European missionaries, are spreading light and truth from many stations and with marked success.

The four or five small stations in INDIA at the beginning of the century have grown into twenty-five, with a yet larger number of out-stations.

Nearly two thousand miles intervene between Almora, in the Himalaya, and Travancore, near Cape Comorin. In the latter little kingdom is the most flourishing of the Society's Indian missions, with its fifty-three thousand converts, a number found only in four other parts of India within the same area.

In CHINA, as in India, it has been hitherto a time of sowing rather than of reaping.

The evangelization of by far the two greatest empires in the world, each dominated by intricate and specious systems of superstition, the outgrowth of remarkable race idiosyncrasies, and therefore congenial to the genius and character of the people, is inevitably a slow and stupendous task. Nor have Christian people yet grasped the conception of what the conversion of a vast empire means, either in its arduousness. duration. or splendor. The London Missionary Society, in both these supremely important fields, alike through education, literature, and preaching, has all through the century borne a most conspicuous part. It has missions in some of the most important cities of China, as Canton, Shanghai, Amoy, Hankow, Tientsin, and Peking; and it has had an exceptionally large number of eminent and learned missionaries, but with all other societies it has to regret the small number of converts and of reliable native helpers.

In MADAGASCAR the Society has had its greatest trials and triumphs, if fidelity in suffering even unto death and the number of its converts alone be considered. The mission began with disaster. * Then followed some eleven years of steady work; then years of repression and persecution, * Mr. Be'f8n and Mr. Jones were the pioneer missionaries. Within a few weeks the former, With hill wife and child, and lIlrs. Jones and her child, died. even unto death, and then a glorious outburst of Christian fruitfulness and of freedom to worship God. The Society has now more than 346,000 converts there who form 1200 Christian congregations, and are ministered to by 1061 native ordained ministers and a yet more numerous company of preachers; but great as these results seem, the wonder is justified that after such zeal and propagandism, as the long years of persecution revealed, the results have not been greater.

In AFRICA the early promise has not been realized. The missions have had such men as Vanderkemp, Phillips, Moffat, and Livingstone, and at one time were more numerous in South Africa than now. The Society set ~ fine example by sending some of its missionaries far into the interior, but the churches, the communities, and the native ministry have not grown in strength and number as much as might have been expected. CENTRAL AFRICA has cost some precious lives, and many difficulties have occurred in the prosecution of the mission, as indeed has been the case with all the missions in that vast region; but the worst apparently has been surmounted and the signs of coming blessing seem clear.

In the WEST INDIES during the middle half of the century the Society had several important stations throughout Demerara, Berbice, and Jamaica. Some years since these were supposed to be qualified for self-support and were left with but partial aid, so that now only one missionary represents the Society in the West Indies.

The only missionary in MONGOLIA belongs to this Society. It has been prosecuted with singular devotion for twenty-five years by one missionary chiefly, with but partial results, and now has but two.

Gertainfeaturelof the Society's history and of its present position, as indicated in the table with which this paper closes, are noteworthy.

The first event of importance in its history was the conversion of King Pomara and a considerable number of his subjects in Tahiti and one or two neighboring islands. For some years the missionaries saw no fruit to their labors ; opposition threatened; some of the missionaries withdrew from the islands ; the directors at home became discouraged ; the abandonment of the mission was suggested. This led to a time of special prayer. There came tidings of great joy, of victory for the Christian party and of many conversions. It was a great crisis in the Society's history, and the issues were very remarkable in the increase of enthusiasm at home and the extension of missions in Polynesia and elsewhere.

The visits of John Williams to England from 1834 to 1838, after eighteen years' splendid service in Polynesia, and of Robert Moffat, from 1839 to the close of 1842, after twenty-three years of African romance, did more to kindle missionary enthusiasm than the visits of any two men have ever done. Both were remarkable men in pCl'Sonality, power of speech, and resourcefulness. Their lives abroad had been romantic, perilous, enterprising, and successful. They had thrilling stories to tell, and told them well. Heroes they were without knowing it, for they were simple and humble, but inspired by missionary enthusiasm, and they inspired others. Wherever they went there were crowded audiences, and the impressions they produced were profound and enduring. From that time the position and reputation of the Society were distinctly raised.

Another marked event was the resumption of the Madagascar Mission. After ten years of successful seed-sowing the protecting King Radama died. His queen succeeded him. Then for nearly thirty years, more systematic and severe methods were used to extinguish Christianity than has been seen anywhere else during this century. For more than twenty years the missionaries were exiled; but when the queen died it was seen that the five or six score Christians there were at the beginning of her reign had grown to many thousands! The Society which had begun the work and watched over it all through the dark days sent at once a large band of missionaries, and has ever since made Madagascar one of its principal fields. The story of that long persecution through fine, imprisonment, slavery, and death in its most terrible forms, endured with wonderful fortitude and ending so gloriously, ranks as the greatest triumph of this Society.

It was a marked advance in its policy when in 1871 it commenced the New Guinea Mission, and in 1877 the one in Central Africa. It is sufficient here to point out that both were pioneer missions on a large scale, among races far removed from all Christian influences, in most unhealthy regions, and entailing a permanent heavy annual expenditure. Since both these movements were undertaken in obedience to public desire, it was expected that they would elicit a corresponding enthusiasm and liberality; these, though considerable, have not equalled expectations, and this has caused some of the most important missions in India and China to be inadequately sustained for some time.

It was in some degree a consciousness of this neglect which led three years ago to the initiation of what has been well called theforward movement. It was resolved to increase the European staff of agents by one hundred before the centenary was complete.

This meant an increase of one third in agency and about one fourth in annual outlay. Almost one half the missionaries have been sent out, and some advance in the income has been made, but not to the extent hoped for and needed. To the deep disappointment, therefore, of many this movement is suspended, not without hope that it will be resumed and completed before the close of next year.

The Society has been fortunate in its foreign secretaries. Only one can here be referred to, though Dr. Mullens, as missionary, author, and secretary, is worthy of high honor, but Dr. Tidman was in the latter position for twenty-seven years. He was called" the prince of secretaries," nor was he unworthy of the name. In bearing he was a courtly gentleman. His power to influence others was great. He had large administrative ability and insight. His reports and speeches were ~models of explicitness, force, and persuasive eloquence, and his devotion to the Society undoubted.

The general features and policy of the Society are worthy of notice. It has remained faithful to its original principle of undenominationalism.

In the course of time Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and others have drawn off from it, not through strife or controversy-for of these there has been singularly little throughout its history-but from a belief that organizations on a denominational basis would gain a largcr amount of sympathy and support. The Congregationalists have not had such a desire, and remaining loyal to the Society, it has largely come into their hands. It is to their honor that they have never desired to make it exclusively their own, or to call it by some new name. Hence it is that, being wishful to maintain the undenominational, and, as they jndge, nobler feature of the Society, they have been at pains to associate Presbyterians and others with themselves in the management of its affairs, and never decline to send a non-Congregationalist into the mission field if he is judged to be suitably qualified. Such there now are and always have been.

It has been honored by the services of an unusually large number of eminent missionaries. It has sent out more than one thousand agents, and an unmmal number of them have been men of more than average ability as scholars, evangelists, and organizers, and not a few have attained to the first rank in the missionary band of worthies.

It will be admitted by almost all acquainted with th~ history of missions during this century that Vanderkemp, Morrison, Phillips, Williams, Moffat, Ellis, Mullens were eminent missionaries, and that few societies can present an equal number of men so distinguished.

And it may be claimed for the Society that it has faithfully and efficiently carried out the purposes for which it was formed.

It has had its difficulties. The missionary cause is nowhere so popular as it should be. Christian people for the most part give it but a lukewarm support. Affairs are keenly watched and unkindly criticised continually, questions of extreme delicacy and difficulty have to be dealt with.

The directors at home and the missionaries abroad are not invariably wise or good-natured or companionable. Disaster comes, success does not. To sustain missionaries in unhealthy countries and among savage and unfriendly men, decade after decade, is no light task. Popularity is desirable, but its demands are not always reasonable, and societies, like individuals, are tempted to enter on courses that promise much, but end in embarrassment, perhaps disaster.

This Society has passed through these various experiences, and it speaks well for its leaders, and suggests that it has been guided by God, that its course has been so free from disaster, and so generally distinguished by able management, nobility of policy, and aim and great success. To prosecute the missionary enterprise in countries so wide apart as the West and East Indies, China and Africa, Polynesia, New Guinea, and Madagascar, and among races differing widely from one another and from ourselves, for periods extending over twenty years almost to one hundred, without any great breach or mistake or failure at home or abroad-not without struggles and discouragement, indeed, but with a history marked at each decade by progress upward and onward-is ample evidence of the administrative powers of the secretaries generally, the sagacity and high character of the directorate, the ability, consideration, and zeal of the missionaries, and, above all, the presence and blessing of God. The following summary will show the high position of success and efficiency it has attained, though it leaves unrecorded much that has been accomplished. There are, for instance, several churches and congregations in the West Indies and South Africa which were planted and mustered by the Society, and then-too hastily-left to themselves. So, too, there are many more in Polynesia, Madagascar, India, and China, related to it, but receiving no aid, or if they do, giving in return as much or more than they receive.

The total income for the year 1893-94 was £141,369, but of this amount £26,903 was raised at the mission stations. It will be seen that while the foreign missionary number 258, the ordained native ministers are 1476, and the other native preachers 6758. Is there any other society that derives so large a proportion of its income from its own mission stations, or has so large a number of native agents, in comparison with the number of its European missionaries 1 GENERAL SUMMARY FOR THE YEARS 1893-94.

DAY SCHOOLS.

s§ STATIONS~.~a).a "'- ~ iii~'5alz!'" ",,,,m '" ~"~,f"- SUNDAY I Boys. GIRLS. LOCAL ~.~ '~fl SCHOOLS. CONTRI- AND OUT-:=~ 'Es ~~'~" :rs."""", Z":'"§ STATIONS. ~ .; .;, BUTIONB. ~.2 o.~ ~~ -< '0 ~ ~.~ '0'" ~~ j~ .0g 0 – – – – – – – – – – No. Schol- '0 ." .'0g – – – ars. w. – ." w" . w. — — w" . – — — I £ s. d.

1. China …… 45 21 8 9; 5,017 3,370 11 605 57 1,691 28 1,225 3.116 19 8 2. North India 20 17 9 39 701 2,381 36 1,661 58 4,279 50 2,442 1,620 3 0 3. South India 34 15 15 121 2,036 15,822 1,858 161 6,501 37 3,061 577 12 2 4. Travancore. 11 3 22 28:1 6,730 53,147 …6.2 374 13,000 38 4,552 1,942 19 4 1,061 5,879 63,020 283,738 119 16;368 441 36,931 7,3;l6 12 8 23 1,211 227 7 1…. …. …. …. … … ………………. n 5. MadagaScar 326…. …. '37,497 o 2 …. 6. Africa ….. 25 . … •. W~""'… , …..•.. 2,421 4.291 3 230 ~j34'045 8. Polynesia… 22 4 361 266 14,267 42,046 280 13,323 302 8,156 221 5,438 4,246 1 0 Totals… 190 -;- 1,476 6,758 94,192 404,795 1,416 71,769 37554,215119,067-;-; Local Contributions * …………………………………………. £19,067 8 5 School Fees. …… ……………. …….. …….. …….. ……….. 7,635 12 9 Totalraised at Mission Stations ………………….. ,…………. … £26,903 1 2 – – – – N.H.-These statistics are necessarily incomplete owing to insnfficient returns, … ).IIultipl;r b;r jive to jUlcertain approximately the n1ll11ber of dollara,

A. MODEL WORKING CHURCH IN THE WORLD'S C.A.PITAL

A MODEL WORKING CHURCH IN THE WORLD'S CAPITAL.

BY REV. JAMES DOUGLAS, M.A.., BRIXTON, LONDON, ENGLAND.

The recent celebration of Pastor A. G. Brown's fiftieth birthday is a seasonable occasion to put in brief form a record of his East End labors j and, if possible, supply a graphic sketch not only of the man, but of the church over which he presides, and which we have ventured to designate a model working church in the world's capital. It is given to few men to do such a work as the East End Tabernacle monuments, and to do it in face of conditions which tax to the utmost not only the frailness of the flesh, but the willingness of the spirit. No man can be insensible to his environment j and when the environment lacks lustre, when year in and year out it is one unvarying round of monotony and of care, when the scene does not change and there is no poetic gleam to relieve the dull prose of prevailing existence, when the tide of poverty and distress seems rather to rise than to sink despite the inflow of liberality and the increase of social schemes, it is no wonder if at times the hrave worker grows weary, and the temptation to faint be well-nigh insupportable. With such an environment as this, which we have only sketched with a light hand, Pastor A. G. Brown has for twenty-eight years labored for God. During that period he has known many a juniper-tree, and though a man of strong physique has more than once all but touched breaking point. His fiftieth year, however, finds him strong, sanguine, and jubilant. "Never," said he to us, "have I had so much to encourage me in my work as now. My wife's health causes me constant anxiety, but the work flourishes, and our meetings were never so fruitful as of late. The jubilee year is the best that has yet been. "

With the exception of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Mr. Brown's church has a larger membership than any in London. But it is not the size of this work, great though it be, which most impresses us, as the manifestly live description of it. Drawn mainly from the dreary work.a-day world -the pleasure grounds of the" sweater"-and from strata more deeply sunken still, the church which meets in the East End Tabernacle exhibits all the features of a corporate body. This church is cohesive. It is a unit. There is the charm, the felt presence of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. These people have come in their multitude for worship, fellowship, and testimony as partakers together of the same grace and heirs of the same glory. They are not there because magnetized by some sensation or befooled by some flaming poster. Mr. Brown abhors the arts of sensationalism, and has held on his way, employing no means to reach the masses save those which the simplicity there is in Christ and sworn fidelity to the Gospel justify. And not only has he reached them in a way which sensationalists might envy, but he has held them when reached, and raised vast numbers of them, throuih the operation of the Spirit, into newness of life, so that the church itself is become a hive of Christian activity-a model working church in the world's capital.

One of the assumptions of the times is that the power to draw is the be-all and end·aIl of ministry. This power certainly may, on the best of grounds, be made the subject of definite petition and endeavor; but if it stands alone-and the case is by no means hypothetical-it only serves the more to mirror forth the poverty that is there. In such a case the pulpit is only another form and expression of the performer's art. The show of numbers is but a show, and only in a complimentary sense may the aggregate be reckoned a church. Strictly construed, no church exists which is worthy of the name where there are no uniting bonds of the Spirit, no mystic tie of love, no oneness of soul, no responsibility mutually shared, and making all hearts pulsate with a common aim. But Mr. Brown's success is not of a nominal description. It is not a mere instance of drawing ability, but of edifying force, and of the cumulative effect that is ever the mark of the Spirit's infused grace and life. How much greater than mere attraction is assimilation; and how much superior to the art of massing diverse units is the sacred science which, by the magnetism of Christ's cross, supersedes the nominal in Christianity and makes the living oneness of professed believers to be declared !

In many respects Mr. Brown reminds us of the late C. H. Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, by whom he was baptized on June 21st, 1861, and in whose college he was subsequently trained for the Gospel ministry. The affection uniting these two eminent servants of Christ was one of the closest description-a point to which we have made feeling reference elsewhere. Like Mr. Spurgeon, Mr. Brown has the faculty of incisive utterance. He can be and is aphoristic. There is not with him, indeed, the same varied flow and many-sidedness of touch, for he is not, to the same extent, an all-round man; but there is quite as quick sympathy; there is the like readiness to see a good point and state it with as keen a relish; there is as strong passion and noble-minded scorn, the same play of genial humor when the fit is on, and that wondrous power so effectual in crushing souls into the depths of concern-we refer to the power which some preachers have in solemnizing the conscience, as if the last trump were being sounded in the ear. The likeness between the two men is all the more patent to those who have known both intimately, in that it is founded on individuality. It would be ,absurd to speak of Mr. Brown-and, indeed, we have never heard the allegation made-as an imitator of Spurgeon. A lover of him he was. As he observed to the writer of this sketch on the great funeral week: "The world can never be the same to us again, now that he is gone-never quite." But imitation of any man has never been Mr. Brown's role, any more than it ever was Spurgeon's. 'The individuality, in this case, is far too strong, and clearly cut, and impetuous to admit of any form of imitation's falsification. Like the illustrious departed, Mr. Brown is large.souled; and having the blend of the lion and the eagle, combined with a warm human heart, touched with Christ's compassions, he needed scope. In the populous East End of London, which we can hardly think of without a shudder, he has found it; and there in the fulness of his powers he labors still, the hand of the Lord being with him, and only the marks on head and feature to tell of the deep fellowship with Christ's sufferings he has had.

Within the limits of the British Isles we know of no man who has had such success, we will not say in winning souls, although that, perchat;tce, is true, but in that more arduous and difficult work still, their unification in church life and action. He certainly has obtained the gift of wisdom, so as to compact the converts won into a fellowship and make them coherent in spirit and service. 'What are his methods ~ With what lever is this result attained ~ The inquiry may be answered in one word, PRAYER. His Saturday evening prayer-meeting is not the least of London sights, and is one of the most instructive of them all. Into this weekly gathering of over a thousand on an average, the pastor throws himself heart and soul; and like pastor, like people. Together they meet to pray as if it were (which, indeed, it is to them) the most serious and influential business of life. Hence, were the leader questioned as to the secret of the blessing given, he would doubtless reply: "Prayer is the secret of it–prayer as embodied in a praying church. There is no getting on without prayer. I cannot myself get on without it; and how can I preside over a living church unless I can get them to feel the vital need of prayer. It is useless preaching, unless such Christians as I have around me hold up my hands in prayer. And so with all our machinery. What is machinery but dead incumbrance unless impelled by Holy Ghost power ~ Far better throw up our many works of service and attempt nothing at all, if we are not minded, from a sense of utter incapacity, to pray every agency in the field in'to instruments of power."

" Restraining prayer we cease to fight, Prayer makes the Christian's armor bright; And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees."

Such an answer, however, always implies more than lies on the snrface. The prayer of power never stands alone, and is seldom found in company with the invertebrate in doctrine, or the dim in spiritnal insight. In considering the work achieved in this case, we have to remember that the flock are fed with the strong meat of doctrine-Calvinistic dogma some would call it-and that thc utmost care is exercised to increase their stamina for walk and service. Doctrinally Mr. Brown stands where C. H. Spurgeon stood, combining with a solicitude to save that never wavers a recognition of the elective purpose of the Father that never falters. He cedes nothing to modern thought, and is a vigilant censor and unsparing opponent of downgradism in every form. A few sentences may here be cited from this year's letter to his many helpers within and without his immediate fold: "Darkness and sin abound, and a grievous apostasy from the truth is spreading over the land. The Word of God is being assailed from every quarter, and the Holy Writings that Jesus loved and believed are being degraded to a mere human literature. We want no one to help us under any false impression, and therefore we think it only honest to avow that to us the Bible is the Word of God from beginning to end. Jesus Christ is to us the highest of all critics. He has stamped the Old Testament Scriptures as true, and declared them to be all they claim to be. If He was mistaken, a13 some tell us, we elect to be mistaken with Him. The very supposition is blasphemous. Within sight of where we sit is the window of the room in which dear Spurgeon breathed his last. He has gone, but his witness against the ' down grade' still lives. In all parts there are faithful souls that sigh and cry, as he did, because of the apostasy of the age. Pray God that they may be multiplied, and that England may once again honor the Bible, that has been the secret of her prosperity in the past."

The principal, as it is certainly the most difficult part of the work attempted by this church, concerns the systematic effort made to reach and win over the masses of lapsed population lying at their doors. It is quite certain that the spirit of hearing, in London generally, is not what it was a· generation or two ago. Supineness, indifference, and positive aversion have more than kept step with the aggressive tactics of late years. But there is an importunity in practice, as in prayer, that is not to be denied ; and it is by unweariedness in well-doing this church has sought, and still seeks, to compass her ends. In addition to nine missionaries, who do curates' work under their leader, and systematically visit all the houses of the adjoining streets within a given area, there are many volunteers, who contribute in similar ways, so that no one, even though he be, to use Whitefield's expression, "a devil's castaway," need remain in the dark or perish from lack of knowledge. We subjoin the figures as regards one street, which may be taken as a specimen of many more: Number of houses …..••••………… … 27 " " families…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 " "adults ……………………. 412728} 600 " " children .•••.•……………….

Six hunared persons in twenty-seven small houses, and out of this number twelve make profession of Christ. The only comment made in connection with this enumeration is that the street in question" is decidedly better than many in the neighborhood."

All the year round this visitation work goes on, and is regarded by pastor and people as the very framework of their life. During 1893, 18,587 visits were paid, each visit being made a business of, a distinct form of Christian enileayor, colloquially known as "button-holeing." Relief, which is largely called for, is strictly based on the knowledge that accrues from a visitation that is in daily process and that searches into the darkest corners. The verdict of experience is that promiscuous relief " results only in good things being squandered, and lying and vice being rewarded." In other words, it is " a curse rather than a blessing." The Benevolent Account, under the head of "Mission Fund Expenditure for 1893," amounted in all to £2301 Os. lId. The varied items constitute a miscellaneous and lengthy assortment. Let it suffice to state that in addition to what is required for homes (Sea-side and Girls'), mission chapels, and mission halls, salaries of missionaries, boarding out children in country, medical attendance, and midwifery, etc., there were given in relief during the past year 3908 garments of various kinds, comprising all sorts of male and female apparel and baby clothes j 7432 loaves of bread j 3390 Ibs. of meat j 34 cwt. of rice j 157! Ibs. of tea j 2096 tickets for groceries j and 25,755 free tickets for soup and puddings.

As a specimen of the rich return that is sometimes given in recompense for a little help to one of the least of these-His brethrim-we may cite Mr. Brown's story of a half-crown bedstead: "One chair, one low box for table, two little stools, two large pieces of sacking laid on the floor for beds. No mattress, no pillow, no blanket. Nothing.

" The place, however, was beautifully clean. There were husband, wife, four children, and another daily expected. The husband was formerly in business for himself, and once a member of a Congregational Church. For twelve years, however, he had not been inside any place of worship. He said, • I got out of communion, and I've never been in since.' A little help has done wonders. We began with the half-crown bedstead, purchased at this nominal price from a friend. Some one gave a mattress, another gave some chairs. The last gift was a table, a great treasure. They have also been helped with clothes and in other ways. The husband now has work, and in company with his wife attends regu. larly at the Tabernacle. The half-crown bedstead was a blessed invest· ment. "

Of a more pathetic character is the incident inscribed ., Two Little Coffins: " It was November 9th that, hearing ofthe trouble of Mr. Ilond Mrs. D., I ran in. What a contrast to the festivities going on in the city! (Lord Mayor'S Day.) The youngest, aged one year, was just laid out, and another child of four was dying. Father was out of work, mother bewildered, and four other children in the room. The child of four died almost directly, and two little coffins were placed side by side. On the day of the funeral I went in. There stood the father, and the two little eoffins were before him on the table. He remarked, 'I feel stupefied, six children already in llford Oemetery, and these two will make eight. Five still left, one a soldier in foreign parts j I'm crumpled up.' I took up my Bible and read from 2 Sam. 12 : 16-23, reminding him that God had made it gloriously possible for him to see his children again. We knelt by the side of the two little coffins, and poured out our souls in prayer. The mother has since been ill, but finds comfort in the Lord. They now attend the sanctuary and are happy in God."

What "Darkest England" is like is not unknown to this church, whose aim is to bear the torch of Gospel light into the interior of the heathenism at her own doors. The following extract from the diary of one of the female missionaries speaks for itself : " Are you a Christian ~" Mrs. E.: "Oh, yes, Miss j I hope so." " Then you mean that when you die you know you will be safe ~" " Oh, no, Miss j I wouldn't like to say that j I ain't fit for heaven." " How do you hope to get fit ~" " I am sure I don't know." " Are you a sinner ~" " Oh, yes, we are all sinners j at least not all, I should say that three out offour was a sinner. " Richard Baxter confessed that as he grew older his views of what constituted the Christian's chief duty underwent a change, and that the call to rejoice in the Lord, to live in the Divine sunshine, and to reflect. it, became the foremost requirement of all. We trace much to the influence of Divine sunshine in this East End work. Without an abounding flow of spirits, through the realized grace of God, it would be impossible for pastor or people to hold on, hemmed in, as they are, by life's struggle in its bitterest form, and saddened by sights to which there is no getting used. But the grace of joy, like Atlas, can bear earth's pillars up. What is done by this church is done cheerily. Little is attempted in the minor key. The major key of assurance is struck. Public houses are stormed, loafers importuned to come to the house of God, the sinfnl and despondent reanimated by those who have ceased to tremble for personal safety or to ask with quavering voice: "Am I His? or, am I not ?" This feature of gladsomeness is not without its effect on the sad and wretched world around. The spiritually starved get the impression that a feast awaits them. It is the language of the heart that can best persuade j and when joy prompts the utterance, chords long dead vibrate once more. Prayer must be lived as well as spoken j and to the degree that faith inspires it, will it prove aggressive in action. The work in the East End Tabernacle is a present-day witness to this fact. It is by no means a question altogether of the preacher's drawing power. There are many co-operant units whose object it is to help into the sanctuary those who, apart from tho persuasive zeal of the loving-hearted, would never find the way. Thus every Sunday evening a large contingent is withdrawn from the gin palaces and the street corners to hear the Gospel's joyful sound, and from this class numbers are taken to sample forth afresh the greatness of redeeming love. We close this sketch with a brief reference to the pastor's jubilee, which was held on his fiftieth birthday, July 18th, 1894, and took the form of an open-air festival in the spacious grounds of Harley House, Bow Road. Some sixteen hundred had tea in the open air, the day being everything that could be desired. Among the crowd were many men of note whose service in the Gospel has obtained for them a place in the line of apostolical succession. America was represented by Dr. Chase, of Philadelphia, and Dr. Lorimer, of Boston, and England, by Christian workers in various fields of enterprise. Mr. Thomas Spurgeon was the first speaker, who, having to leave early, anticipated, in a few words of hearty greeting, the meeting that was timed to begin at 6.30 P.M. Mr. John Marnham, of Boxmoor, having been voted to the chair, alluded to the special tie which bound himself and family to the brother whose jubilee they had met to celebrate. Many years ago Mr. Brown had come unknown and unexpectedly as a guest into his family, and as a result of his visit four of his children had been brought to make an open confession of Christ. It was no wonder, then, that no name was more honored and welcomed in his household than that of Archibald G. Brown. Haying called for three hearty cheers for the pastor, the chairman then asked him to speak. Mr. Brown's words were full of references touching and quaint. All day long letters and telegrams of congratulation had been pouring in upon him. His two daughters, missionaries in China, Mrs. Woodward and Miss Gracie Brown, of Shanghai, had not forgotten their father. Of these, one sent word that she would have liked to have sent a telegram, " only it would look so unlike a poor missionary." (We may mention here that Mr. Brown's third daughter, Miss Lucie, is destined for China also, being engaged to Dr. James Bennett, missionary-elect of the L. M. S.) Mrs. Spurgeon did not fail to send her best greetings by telegram from 'Westwood, while a deacon had shown his leanings in the wish, " May your translation to the golden city be delayed as long as possible." The letter, however, which had touched him most was from the first he had ever baptized, when, but nineteen years of age, he began his work at Bromley, in Kent. Since then it had been his joy to baptize between five and six thousand. Mr. Brown's address concluded in these words: " I cannot tell you how much I joy and rejoice over all the goodness of God. All day long it has been my one thought, what a glorious God I have, what a marvellous Master, what a splendid Saviour! Oh, the mysteryof love that He has let me stay so long in His service!" Many took part in the subsequent proceedings, including the Rev. J. T. Wigner, the Rev. E. H. Brown (the pastor's brother), Mr. Pinney, who represented the church, and told of the harmony that prevailed and the friendship binding the deacons and the pastor-a tangible expression of affection being shown in the gift of £250, the acceptance of which by the pastor was now asked-the Rev. Henry Bone, of Hackney, a Wesleyan minister, and Dr. John C. Lorimer, of Tremont Temple, Boston. The evening

MEXICO AS A MISSION FIELD

shadows were lengthening ere the meeting closed, but the gathering was slow to break up, for it was a day of days, an Ebenezer which bore this inscription : " Grace all the work shall crown Through everlasting days, It lays in heaven the topmost stone, And well deserves the praise."

MEXICO AS A MISSION FIELD.

BY REV. SAMUEL P. CRA.VER, D.D., PUEBLA, MEXICO.

It happens not unfrequentIy that we become so interested in distant affairs that we quite overlook those that are near at hand. This seems to be especially true in the work of missions. Undoubtedly the Church at large, in the United States, knows vastly more about the great mission fields of Asia and of the South Sea Islands than about Mexico, the nearest foreign field. Indeed, with a large element in the Protestant churches of to-day, who see nothing but bigotry and fanaticism in those who labor for the overthrow of Romanism, there is a question as to the need, or the right, of establishing Christian missions in a country that for centuries has professed the Roman Catholic religion. Scarcely ever does one hear Mexico, South America, or Italy named in the pnblic prayers for foreign missions, except it be at missionary concerts, when these countries furnish the theme. The reason for this manifestly consists in the fact that the Church does not fully realize the appalling need of Roman Catholic lands.

For the purpose of throwing a few rays of light on the claims of Mexico as a mission field, let us observe some of the salient features of the case.

1. The religious condition of the people. As is well known, the Roman Catholic religion had an absolute and undisturbed hold upon the Mexicans from the time of the conquest in the sixteenth century till the middle of the present one. It was imposed upon the people largely by force, partly by fraud, and in part through the earnest efforts of zealous missionaries; but by whatever means introduced it gained a powerful hold upon the hearts of the people, and for three centuries they were moulded by the priesthood with all the pliability of the clay upon the potter's wheel. No other country better represents the fruits of Romanism. But the Romanism of Mexico differs quite widely in its external manifestations from that seen in the United States. This is not because the Mexican article is a counterfeit or a corruption, but because the American type has been changed and largely Protestantized outwardly. With all the Pope's increasing interest in the United States as' his" favorite country," he addresses the members of the Mexican Church as his" predilect children. " They are true Roman Catholics.

However, the influence of Protestant thought, and especially of scepti- cism, began to make inroads into this country some fifty years ago. The Bible, without note or comment, was introduced in the wake of the American Army in 1846-48. As a consequence of various influences a strong reaction against sacerdotal tyranny set in, affecting favorably the political life of the nation and resulting in religious toleration, but not directly favorable to an improved moral state. On the contrary, it is quite possible that the general moral condition of Mexico is even worse than it was under the complete domination of the clergy, though there has been great advancement in the intellectual life.

But the masses of the people are still in a lamentable state of ignorance. In the cities and larger towns probably from 30 to 50 per cent can read and write, but in the rural districts and small villages the proportion of readers is exceedingly small. In some parts of the country there are large villages where only one or two persons in the whole population can read 'and write.

Of course such a condition of intellectual stagnation affords a splendid field for the growth of superstition. Rome has maintained this condition, and has pandered to the appetite for the marvellous and silpernatural, until a wonderful mass of childish superstitions exist among the people. One of the most recent manifestations of this is seen in the frequent appari- tions U) of the Virgin Mary. Within the last eighteen months there have been several such in different parts of the country, some of them on the broad, thick leaves of the maguey plant, from which the national beverage, pulque, is extracted. Presumably the Virgin has made these apparitions in the interest of the liquor traffic, thus consecrating this drink.

Naturally enough a people so steeped in superstition would also be idolatrous, not merely in the sense of a refined and elevated form of saintworship, but also in a gross and sensuous devotion to material idols. Certainly it would be difficult to find a country not semi-barbarous where idol-worship is more common than in Mexico. Intelligent Catholics confess that the masses worship the material image.

The writer once had a conversation with a well-educated young priest on this subject, and in answer to the question if it were not true that the people worshipped images, he said: "Oh, of course they do. I have the proof of that right here in my church. We had an ugly, dirty, black, old Christ [referring to the image]; and I had it replaced by a new one, white, handsome, and well-painted; but the old women are not satisfied. They want the dirty, black, old Christ they have always had. Oh, certainly they worship the material image." When asked if he did not know that that was idolatry, he said: "Most certainly it is." "Then," said I, "why do you not labor to destroy it, for you know that idolatry is wrong ~" "Oh," he replied, " I am doing all I can to break it up. I say mass in the morning with the new, white Christ, and in the afte~­ noon we have the rosary with the old, black Christ. I do this so that the people may not think either of the white or the black, but only of Christ / /" This is a practical illustration of the kind of efforts generally made by the priests to destroy error-a multiplication of the evil in question, both by precept and example.

In this city, one of the most pious in the country, I recently witnessed an exhibition of the trust in images that was new to me, -and was certainly quite novel. A fire broke out in the corner grocery just across the street from our mission property, near midnight. The professors and students from our school joined actively with the neighbors and the fire department to extinguish the blaze. Before much had been accomplished, however, and while the flames in all their fury were bursting out of the doors, I saw a man run up several times and throw some little objects in the fire. My first thought was that they were little bombs or firecrackers that he was playing with, though they made no report. What was my surprise to learn that they were fragments of a family saint, which the wife of the shopkeeper was breaking in pieces and having thrown into the flames in order to extinguish the fire / / This blind devotion to images has filled the churches and the houses of the people with objects of worship of every variety, from the six-cent, horribly printed wood-cut, to the chaste and beautiful, life-size sculpture, clad in silk and velvet, with diamonds and precious stones to the value of a million dollars.

While the Laws of Reform vigorously forbid all forms of public worship outside of places dedicated to that purpose, where the authorities are not vigilant, images are carried about the streets in procession, and are taken from house to house to receive special homage, or to lend their aid in soliciting funds for the Church.

Among many of the ignorant people there is found the strange belief that they can oblige the saints to grant their prayers by inflicting punishment upon them. This is practised in numerous ways, such as locking the image up in a box, turning its face to the wall, or hanging it, head downward, in a jar of water.

But, perhaps, the idolatrous character of the religion of Mexico is not its-worst feature. The exaltation of the priesthood seems to me to be even worse. While image-worship simply places an inoffensive block of wood in the place of the Creator, this elevates a wicked, corrupt man, often a black-hearted criminal, to the position that only God should occupy. Indeed, it goes to the extreme of making the priest superior to God, inasmuch as he commands, in the celebration of the Eucharist, and God is obliged to obey. This doctrine is clearly and unequivocally set forth by Liguori in his instructions to the priesthood. Furthermore, the priest is supposed to have power, not only to pardon and save in this life, but his authority extends to the world of spirits, so that he can obtain release for souls in the flames of purgatory. To be sure he cannot accom- plish this last feat without being paid for it. There are many ways of obtaining the necessary funds for this purpose, one of the most novel that I have seen being that of a "raffle for souls." In this city one can fre- quently see on the church doors large posters announcing the result of the last raffle for souls, giving the names of the lucky ones who drew prizes in the spiritual lottery. The plan is simple. Tickets are sold for twentyfive cents each by number. People buy the tickets, specifying at the time the name of the deceased for whom it is purchased. The drawing takes place, and the souls holding the winning numbers receive the benefit of the masses for the dead during a specified period.

The religion of Rome so sets the priest between the soul and God, that, in the general belief of the people, the salvation of the sinner is completely in the priest's hands. No matter how wicked and corrupt he may be as a man, his sacerdotal acts are holy and efficacious. His bless- .ing and absolution open the door of heaven; his curse and excommunication turn even earth into a hell. The blind confidence in the power of the priest is shown in a thousand ways. One instance will serve to illustrate. A young man, given to the usual vices of such in this country, was shot down in the street. Before the priest could reach him to hear his confession, the dying youth had lost the power of speech, but his friends found great comfort in the fact that at the last moment he had pressed the priest's hand. To such people, of course, the Bible is an unknown book, and even when told that God's Word prohibits certain acts, they will answer by saying, " But the curate says they are right," and to the devout Romanist the curate's word has greater weight than God's. The expression " priest-ridden" has a terrible significance as applied to Mexico, and one that no American Protestant can fully comprehend unless he has lived in a papal country.

2. The moral state of Mexico. The moral condition of a people holding and practising such a religion may be imagined; to be known in its fulness one must live for years among the people. There is a varnish of politeness that is very attractive, there are traits of character and some customs that are very beautiful; indeed, there is much to admire in the Mexican people, even under the full influence of Rome. But beneath all the attractiveness, affability, politeness, and other excellent qualities that many have, there is found a lack of moral principle, a rottenness in the moral conceptions, and generally a looseness in practice, that must be personally known to be appreciated. Between the strict Roman Catholicism that makes marriage a sacrament and yet declares concubinage a preferable state for the priest, condoning it in all ranks of the clergy, and the loose ideas of the family tie, engendered by the modern French scepticism which abounds among the educated classes, the pz:actice of the sterner virtues is exceedingly rare. A corrupt and vicious priesthood sets the example of uncleanness, and the people, unrestrained by their religious convictions and living under a southern sky, follow madly the unholy example of their spiritual leaders.

Indecency in the ordinary habits of life and vileness in speech and manner are general characteristics of the masses. The sanctity of the Christian Sabbath is utterly unknown. The Lord's Day is observed as a "feast day," in which the ordinary labors of the farm and shop are largely suspended, though very many work on without regard to it. But the markets, groceries, saloons, and in many places dry good stores, do their most thriving business on that day; while every form of amusement, such as theatres, circuses, bull-fights, cock-fights, balls, etc., find it frequently better than all the rest of the week combined. Indeed, buH-fights seldom occur except on Sunday.

Liquor-drinking is almost universal, and there is an alarming amount of drunkenness. The Church is utterly powerless to restrain this vice, since very many of the priests are sadly addicted to it. Sundays and religious feast-days are specially notorious as times for drunken carousals. There exists no public sentiment in favor of temperance, except such as is the outgrowth of Protestantism.

This brief outline of the religious and moral state of the Mexican people will suffice to show their great need of the Gospel in its purity and with its purifying effects. Surely no unprejudiced observer could doubt the necessity of giving such a people a different religion from the one they have had for centuries, inasmuch as it has completely failed of accomplishing the great object for which true religion exists. Truth mixed with error is often more damaging than error pure and simple; and Romanism, though holding in her possession all essential truth, has so buried it beneath error and superstition, that she doubtless constitutes a greater barrier to the evangelization of Mexico than would pure paganism. She has demonstrated her utter inability to lift the people to a higher moral plane than that they occupied in the days of their old pagan religion. Indeed, it is doubtful if they are as moral now as they were at the time of the conquest, if we may trust the Catholic historians of that period.

Mexico, then, has claims as a mission field on the purely humanitarian principle that would lead to the evangelization of any other country, because of the social and moral benefits that result from the introduction of the Gospel. This claim is reinforced by the fact that, though very religious, her people do not possess the true religion of Christ, and are confiding in rites and ceremonies that cannot save. Furthermore, in the midst of her millions of superstitious souls, there are multitudes who yearn for a purer faith and a more consoling religion than that which leads through purgatorial fires. These waiting, thirsting souls stretch out their hands to receive the water of life by our help.

More than any other field Mcxico has claims upon the Christians of the United States; because of proximity of territory, similarity of governmental forms, the practical import of the Monroe Doctrine, and the absence of organized effort on the part of English and European Chpistians in behalf of Mexico's evangelization. The missionary societies of the Old W orId give all their attention to the mission fields on that side of the globe, while Mexico and the other Spanish-speaking countries on this continent are left to be evangelized by Americans alone. Surely this noteworthy fact shoulu appeal urgently to the Church in the United States, since, in the Providence of God, this seems to be a field peculiarly and exclusively our own.

lNTERNATtoNAL DEPARTMENT

n.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY BEV. J. T. GBACE~ D.D.

The Barrows :Leotureship in Oaloutta. influence" of the Chicago University, and to secure "the promotion of the [J. T. G.] highest interests of humanity, " and "the enlargement of the kingdom of Mrs. Caroline E. Haskell has present- truth and love on earth." ed to the University of Chicago the sum of $20,0:)0 for the founding of a "Lec- We have endeavored to make the ex- tureship on the Relations of Christianity actest summary of the benevolent intent and the Other Religions." The pro- of the generous donor, setting down posal is that six or more of these lectures naught that might color or mar the be delivered in Calcutta, India, and, if purpose or the benevolence. The exe- deemed best, in Bombay, Madras, or cution of the plan is guarded with a some other of the chief cities of Hin. suggestion that correspondence be first . dustan where large numbers of educat. had with the leaders of thought in India, ed Hindus are familiar with the English to secure "helpful suggestions" in its language. These lectures are to be de- scope and conduct. livered annually or biennially by leading Christian scholars of Europe, Asia, The Ad'/Jance says this lectureship will and America, "in a friendly, temperate, demand consummate fitness and ability conciliatory way." The management in the lecturer among a generation of of the lectureship is to be in the hands non-Christian educated men as familiar of Drs. Harper, John Henry Barrows. with the English language and literature and George S. Goodspeed and their suc. as with their own, but thinks the previous cessors in official relation in the Chicago experiences of President Seelye, Joseph University. She names Archdeacon Cook, and Dr. Pentecost show what Farrar, Dr. Fairbairn, Professors Henry kind of hearing will be accorded to such Drummond, A. B. Bruce, George P. lecturers. It says the editor of the Fisher, Francis G. Peabody, Bishop Potter, and Dr. Lyman Abbott as the ]J}vangelwal Review, for thirty years a. type of lecturers it would be desirable to secure. She intimates, without typi- missionary, has thanked Mrs. Haskell cal names, that representatives of other for her noble gift, and that a leading religions might be selected in Asia, be- Christian lawyer of Calcutta writes that cause "Europe and America wish to he believes such a course of lectures hear and ponder the best that Asia can will be highly appreciated in India. give them." As she acknowledges the earnest wish" expressed by Mr. P. C. On the other hand, Rev. James H. Mozoomdar" that a lectureship similar Messmore, D.D., editor of the Indian to the one Mrs. Haskell founded in the Witness, doubts if any good will come Chicago University should be founded of it. Dr. Messmore is noted for his in Calcutta had more or less influence disregard of conventionalisms which in inducing her to found this lecture- cannot stand the test of the seve~est ship in Calcutta, named in honor of Dr. common sense. He has a wide ac- John Henry Barrows, presumably it quaintance with all shades of Oriental would be that class of Asiatic lecturers thought, language, and literature ; his that might be selected. Her hope is sympathies and mental grasp are alike that thus " a new golden bond between broad. He has had more than a third the East and the West" may be estab- of a century's experience in every phase lished, and ., the extension of the benign of missionary labor in widely separat- ed parts of India, among the most learn- ed and the most illiterate, the richest and the poorest, and with people of all castes and of no caste. Dr. Messmore recognizes the noble cial and appreciative, and we quote the generosity which impelled the founder of this lectureship to this proposal, but whole article: hopes she may be induced to withdraw the gift and turn the money into « SIR: Mrs. Haskell's gift is certainanother channel. He expresses fear lest IV a very generous one, and as such is unwise lecturers be sent, who will do worthy of all praise. But I am inclined mischief. He dreads any attempt to to think that her generosity might have repeat on a small scale the Parliament been better directed. The object of the of Religions, and affirms that the mis· lectures is to present the great questions sionaries of Bengal" are almost unani- of the truths of Christianity, its harmomous in declaring that the Parliament nies with the truths of other religions, did great harm," and says he has seen its rightful claims and the best methods on the pages of almost every religious of setting them forth. The presentation paper in India within a year some refer· of the truths of Christianity and its ence to the injury it has done and is rightful claims is just whatIndia needs. likely to do in India to thc cause of The people of India are perishing for Christ. His suspicions of the possible lack of knowledge of these things. And tenor of the lectureship are based on its the discussion, at fitting opportunities, being an outgrowth of that Parliament. of the best methods of setting these He gives several reasons why such a truths and claims forth is very instruc· lectureship must fail of success as a tive ; but it seems to me the fitting opcourse of apologetics. An attempt to portunity will hardly be found when magnify the good in the heathen relig- the lecturer stands before a large body ions would be made in the presence of of educated Hindus. The discussion of their debasing and demoralizing rites, the best methods is rather a subject for and of the vices which these engender; lecturers and preachers than for such an while an attempt to set a heathen relig- audience. ion in its true light before a heathen audience would inevitably antagonize " But Mrs. Haskell seems to lay spe· the hearers. Missionaries, he says, have cial stress on the harmonies between not found it wise to do either. Besides, Christianity and other systems of religafter being asked to meet Hindus and ion, as the third paragraph of her let- Mohammedans in a friendly way to as· ter indicates ; and I presume that the certain what they and we have in com- lecturer also would' in a friendly, temmon, he wants to know what we are to perate, and conciliatory way' lay much do with that portion of Christian doc- stress upon these harmomes. As the trine which is essentially antagonistic Hindu religion prevails in this country, to all other faiths. Shall we say the the lecturer for India would attempt differences are small and unimportant? chiefly to set forth the harmony between All honest attempt at comparison be· Christianity and Hinduism. It may be tween Christianity and other religions, that I am slow in perceiving analogies, he declares, only serves to bring out the or that I need more study, thought, snd essential antagonism between Christian- experience, but during thirteen years ofity and all other faiths. close contact with Hindu thought I have failed to find many striking resem· As editor of the Indian Witness, Dr. blances between these two religions. I Messmore invites an expression of the have found a few superficial resemviews of any of the older and more ex- blances; but when a system has several perienced missionaries in India in his philosophies to start with, and has such columns, that they may be forwarded to flexibility, plasticity, and power of ab- Dr. Barrows. sorption that it is able to borrow some- thing from every religion with which it Rev. J. Parson, of Lucknow, makes comes in contact, and able to incorthe first contribution. The tone is judi. porate with itself the worship of every kind of god, idol, hero and demon, and every form of superstition, it would be strange indeed if in such an ' encyclo- predia of religions' some superficial re- semblances to Christianity were not found. But, while its teachin&, with regard to God, man, responslbility, duty, sin, righteousness and the way of salvation differs in almost every part from Christian teaching, the real har- monies must be very few. And the more philosophic the form of Hinduism, the fewer the harmonies seem to be.

Yet this would be, I suppose, the form ~ in which lecturers to the educated by means of which this end is to be classes would seek for harmonies. I secured. The agency is twofold, a scarcely think that much good will be committee consisting of the president done by lectures which chiefly set forth or principal of the Chicago (Baptist) the harmonies between Christianity and University, and its two Professors of Hinduism. The effect would be to Comparative Religion. The duty of magnify the superficial resemblances this committee will be to administer the and to confirm the Hindus in their con- funds and to appoint the lecturers, Who viction of the truth of their own relig. constitute the second part of the agency. ion. If they dealt with the many "These lecturers are described as sharp contrasts between the two sys- 'leading Christian scholars of Europe, tems as well as the few slight harmo- Asia, and America.' 'Such Christian nies, and demonstrated the superiority scholars as Archdeacon Farrar, Dr.

of Christianity, more might be accom- Fairbairn, Professor Henry Drummond, plished ; but this would lead to contro- Professor A. B. Bruce, Professor Fisher versy, which is generally to be depre- of Yale, Professor Peabody of Harvard, cated. The Christian lecturer or preach- Bishop Potter, and Dr. Lyman Abbott er, as a part of his equipment for his of New York.' Of these eight, the first work, needs to study and understand four are men in good ecclesiastical the doctrines and practices of Hindu- standing in British churches, and all ism, not in order that he may in his pub- four are able evangelical Christians, poslic work compare the two systems and sessed of popular gifts. 0 f the remain- point out the few slight similarities and ing four I cannot write with the author- the many great differences, but that he ity of personal knowledge or indeed to better understand the Hindu mind and any great extent of their work or of mode of thought and know what truths their reputation.

to emphasize. I believe that the less he " I have no doubt the professors of compares the two systems publicly the Congregational Yale and undenominamore successful his work is likely to tional Harvard are good and able men. be. 'rhe prospect of these lectures does Professor Fisher has done yeoman sernot awaken in me much enthusiasm." vice in the defence of Christianity ; and I have read only what is good of the Rev. K. S. Macdonald, the editor of labors of Bishop Potter and Dr. Lyman the lffDangelica~ Review, to whom the Abbott. What we want are men of Advance refers, held a very much more ability, who know their Bibles and who will make an honest, diligent effort to favorable opinion of " The Parliament study the other religions, and who will of Religions" than did Dr. lIIIessmore. faithfully represent in their lectures He contributed, in response to the call their mutual relations' in a friendly, for expert opinions, an article which temperate, conciliatory way,' and in a , fraternal spirit,' so as to win the hearwe quote in part, the omissions having ers to a favorable interest in spiritual no necessary rele vancy to the imme- truth. diate issue. Dr. Macdonald said: " I believe these men and men of their " SIR: I am asked to supply 'sug- stamp will do all this. I therefore gestions with regard to the importance of this effort to bring about a better heartily welcome the scheme, and say God-speed to it. I also express my urtderstanding between our Western hearty thanks to Mrs. Haskell for her Christian civilization on the one side, splendid gift to the young men of India. I like the scheme specially for the promiand the representatives of the various nence it gives to religion, and more esfaiths of India on the other.' pecially to tke Christian religion; the " 'The effort' here referred to has beginning, middle, and end of it is taken the form, in the words of the Christianity-the interests of Christian- donor, of ' $20,000 for the founding of ity advanced in connection with the a lectureship on the rdations of Ohris· study of the science of c.>mparative retiamty and the otfter re~igions.' This is ligion.

to be the subject-matter of the lec*ures. " Science, true science, must always , The object is equally clear-' So pre· be the handmaid of true religion. senting Ohristianity to others as to win Neither the Bible nor Christians are their faTJorabw interest in its truths.' afraid of the study of any science, still Here we have the means and the end so less of the study of comparative relig- described that there ought to be no mis· ion.

understanding as to either. "However vile the superstition or " There is a third point of undoubted idolatry may be, we need not hesitate importance in the scheme which must to take any truth of God, wherever not be forgotten. That is the agency found, and use it in God's service and for the extension of His kingdom, as ed to most thorough, scholarly pres- Paul did the words of a heathen poet (used in a hymn to Jupiter) or the in- entation of this entire field. Missionascription of a heathen used on an idola- ries have forged the very weapons trous shrine. which these lecturers must wield, and " I hope and fondly believe that Mrs. they have not neglected to test the util- IIaskell's very liberal gift to India may ity of this entire line of approach. Sir be greatly blessed in bringing about the William Muir's" Testimony Borne by ends and objects she has in view. His the Quran to the Christian Scriptures" own Brahmo co-religionists have not very great faith in Mr. P. C. Mozoom- is but a single illustration of attempts dar, but he is infinitely superior, I be- to reach the people from the standpoint lieve, to Prophet Balaam; and as God of similarities, and in that case, even greatly blessed the vaticinations of the from that of obligation imposed by their latter, I have no doubt He may greatly bless that uttered wish of the former to own Scriptures. Dr. Ballantyne was which Mrs. Haskell refers. I am told principal of the Government College at with some emphasis that Dr. John Benares when he published his" Chris- Henry Barrows was greatly taken in tianity Contrasted with Hindu Philosoby both Mr. Mozoomdar and Viveka- nanda, who told his audience that he phy," bilingual (Sanskrit and English), honored the Hindu Rishls as • perfected with plactical suggestions to missionabeings,' and that some of,the very best ries, in which he advises them to do of them were women I I Does he dare just what is now hinted at-" cast about tell us what the Vedas say of these!

"I cannot say that I am very sorry for points of agreement, with a view to conciliation." Yet he himself did not that Dr. Barrows believed the delegates confine himself to the correspondencies. from Bengal. It proved Dr. Barrows but in a masterly way deals with the has something of the love of which the apostle writes-the love that' believeth all things and hopeth all things.' " contrasts" in his" Exposition," ., Evi- " I shall cordially welcome Dr. John dences," "Natural theology," "Myste- rious points in Christianity," and in the Henry Barrows as the first of the Bar- " Analogy of religion to the constitution rows lecturers, and I hope the missionaries of Bengal will join in that welcome."

It is not certain that either of these and course of nature." He held, withal, writers have apprehended the scope of that no man was fit to make the con- these lectures, nor Is it clear that the ciliatory approach who was not thor- founder or Dr. Barrows have themselves oughly furnished for the ai1tagonisms any definite concept of what they would of controversy.

realize. It may be time enough to dis- When Mr. Banerjea was professor in cuss it when the proposal can give an Bishop's College, Calcutta, he published account of itself. If it were intended his" Hindu Philosophy," with a view simply to found a department or chair to suggest such modes of dealing with of Comparative Religion In the Calcutta it "as may prove most effective to the University, similar to that in the colleges Hindu mind." Has that book been at home, the proposition would not con- equalled, not to say surpassed, by any cern us. But it is apparently designed modern treatise or Jecture from that to be an auxiliary missionary agency, standpoint? .Tohn Brande Morris pub.

and that brings it within our purview. lished as long ago as 1843 a volume to There is underlying the proposal the which the University of Oxford award- idea that something new is to be tried. ed the prize offered by the Lord Bishop But Banerjea in Calcutta, Dr. Ballantyne of Calcutta, treating of the best mode in Benares, Dr. Wilson in Bombay, and and best arguments with which to deal Dr. Mitchell all over India, have not with" learned and philosophical Hin- left the people inexpert in these com- dus." This author omitted the evi- parisons, to say nothing of the Bengal dences of Christianity, or H how far it Asiatic Society's Journal, the Calcutta might accommodate itself in the re- Review, the Friend of India, and other moulding existing heathen rites," be- abJe periodical literature largely devot- cause there would be" want of delicacy in treating them before heathen." Is However delicate the task, we venthat not conciliatory enough? ture to say that there is incongruity be- tween the task set the lecturers and the Where can one learn so much of what typical names mentioned. Dr. Ballanthere Is to compare or to contrast be- tyne was right when he said that no tween Christianity and Hinduism as in man was furnished for making advances Nilakantha Sastri Gore's" Exposition in the way of conciliation but he who of the Hindu Philosophical Systems," understands both the errors of oppowritten in the same broad, frank spirit? nents and the means of confuting them; It can scarcely be said that the results " for," as Bacon says, "there is no use of magnifying harmonies have been en- of confutations when we differ about tirely satisfactory. principles and notions themselves, and even about the forms of proof." Hindu- India affords the greatest museum of ism may not always call for confutation, religions on the globe. Its people are while conciliation is essentially based experts at discriminating variations, on knowledge of contrasts and the ave· similarities or contrasts of religious nues to harmony. It seems that therethought. Brahmoism, which Mr. Mo· fore a class of lecturers might be selected zoomdar represents, is itself the result who had given large attention and proof an attempt to formulate the Absolute found study to the subject. Dr. Hoopin religion by compounding the good er, of Allahabad; Dr. Miller, of Madfound in the several faiths of mankind. ras; Dr. Kellogg, of the Punjab; But India has gone about as far in that Monier Williams, George Smith, or John line as it cares to go. and a modification Muir would symbolize the class of able has set in, as is seen in the differentia- scholars who would know how to contions of the various Samajas. Where ciliate Brahmans; and Dr. Washburn, Rammohun Roy and Mr. Chunder Sen of Constantinople; Dr. Jessup, of Sycould not lead Hindus in a revolt against ria; or Dr. Wherry, of Chicago, might Hinduism, Dr. Barrows is sure to fail. at least" know what they were talking about," to Moslems. He who dreams of making converts to Christianity by pointing out similari- But what about the Asiatic lecturers ties and harmonies reckons without his hinted at, who are to give us what '. Euhost, whether among literate or illiterate rope and America wish to hear and ponpeoples. Buddhists of Japan have der," and from whom we are to readopted almost all forms of Christian ceive "the best that Asia can give" 1 usages, such as Young Men's Christian .Mr. Mozoomdar would not be admitted Associations and Christian marriage to represent Brahmanism, but Absolutservice-ring and all. A native gentle- ism like that of Theodore Parker; and man has just contributed some hundreds we have little to add to our facilities of dollars to erect a "Young Men's Buddhist Association Hall" in Madras. for evolving that. The best that Mr. A sort of neo·theosophic :Buddhism in Ceylon has established a Buddhist Vivekananda would have to give would .. Christmas," with early morning be barred out by Brahmans, who decarols, in the evening carrying trans- clare him an impostor, and whose moral parencies lettered " Glory to Buddha in character is openly assailed in the press the highest, on earth peace and good of India. The genuine Jain Buddhist, will toward men." They have a Bud- Virchand A. Gandhi, has already given dhiat catechism, Buddhist Sunday- the" best" he has. The writer listened schools, and, in one centre, Buddhist to him in a church on a Sunday evenclasB meetings! The fact is, that these ing "preach" (save the mark I) to an communities will take any amount of audience which fortunately knew little correspondencies and make a metemp- or nothing of the esoteric meaning of sychosis of heathenism, but not Chris- the words he used any more than they tianity, nor any respectable substitute did of the prayer ill which he said he for Christianity. did not want anything, and had no petition whatever to make, having nothing such a course would synchronize with to do but meditate on the Divine. That the Winter-mission movement in Great was consistent Buddhist philosophy, Britain, which provides for sending lec- based on the belief that the only way to turers and evangelists to work during reach Nirvana was by training one's the cold weather of India among the self to believe that personality was English-speaking natives, Christian and Maya, never to be got quit of but by non-Christian. Mr. McNeal is now in quenching every desire. India, reaching audiences similar to those It is not merely esoteric philosophy, which greeted Dr. Pentecost. There is however, that should be comprised in a large field for learned lecturers in uni- these comparative studies; we would versity and other cities, and for skilled need to know their sacred Scriptures. evangelists of renown, among the ever- But when Dr. Ballantyne commenced increasing English-speaking communi- this line of comparative study there ties of India. A strong Christian lec- were no Vedas in the hands of Brah- tureship pronouncedly expository and mans, nor are there to·day, except in the apologetic of Christianity, conducted by translations of Western Orientalists. It able men like Dr. Barrows and other is difficult to suggest what department eminent divines of the class whom Mrs.

of the" best" they have that is not ac- Haskell names" in a friendly, temper- cessible to us far and away beyond what ate, conciliatory way," would command we could acquire from any Orientallec- the utmost attention and respect of all turer in any series of lectures. Will classes in India, and exert a powerful anybody name a solitary contribution to influence for the "promotion of the the thought or literature of Brahmanism higbest interests of humanity and the not well known and understood before enlargement of the kingdom of truth by scholars, or by any who choose to and love."

seek the knowledge in anyone of the hundreds of libraries in the land, that The Need of a Medical Missionary is to be found in the ponderous volumes Oollege. of the Parliament of Religions? As the source of contribution to our stock BY REV. A. P. HAPPER, M.D., D.D.* of knowledge of Oriental faiths, com- All persons praying and laboring for mend us to the vast stores of literatures the conversion of the world to Christ already extant, rather than to the ex· have rejoiced in the great increase in the pedient of a necessarily limited com- number of missionaries who have gone pass of a few lectures, even by the apos- to non-Christian countries during the tles of those faiths of whatever renown, last twenty-nve years. The most mark- delivered on the other side of the globe. ed increase has been in the number of If the generous founder of this lec. medical missionaries who have gone out tureship and those who administer it in connection with the leading mission- could, on the other hand, see their way ary societies of the various churches.

clear to provide for the strongest possi- This increase is made manifest in vari- ble, straight-out course of apologetic ous ways. In 1849 there were 39 medi- lectures, avowedly intended to present cal missionaries in all lands, of whom Christianity as the ultimate truth, then not one was a lady physician. In 1894 they have named ideal lecturers, and the number of medical missionaries is there is no room for doubt about the stated to be 400, of whom 80 ale lady generous reception they will receive, pbysicians. At the Volunteer Conven- and the influence they may exert. Then tion at Cleveland, 0., in 1891 the num- they will be on the platform occupied, * A melancholy interest attaches to this paper, when in India, by Dr. Joseph Cook, Professor Seelye, and. others of the class as it was the subject of correspondence with Dr. alluded to by thfl Advance. Be~ides, Happer and ourselves only a few days before his death.-J. T. G. ber present who were studying medi- Some $400,000 were subscribed toward cine preparatory to going as medical the funds of the association, largely by missionaries was 25. At the Volunteer the princes and men of wealth in India.

Convention at Detroit in 1894 the num- As the lady physicians connected with ber of volunteers who are studying this association cannot teach the Gospel medicine for missionary service was 72, of Christ to their patients, they can- which is nearly a threefold increase in not meet the spiritual needs of the suf- three years. Beside these, 100 dele- fering multitudes. In Africa and the gates at the Conference, still in their isles of the sea the need of the people collegiate course, expressed their pur- for relief .from bodily ailments is the pose to study medicine in order to be same, or even greater, than in China medical missionaries. During 1893, 160 and India.

persons, young men and women, applied 2. The second reason is that now all to Dr. Dowkontt, medical director of the missionary societies are willing to the International Medical Missionary employ medical missionaries, whereas Institute of New York, for information but a few years ago only a few societies and aid to obtain medical knowledge wished to employ them. Those who for mission service. Only 16 of the have gone from the International Med- number could be received into the insti- ical Missionary Institute have gone out tute for lack of pecuniary means. in connection with some fourteen differ- In the continued enlargement of mis- ent societies. During the last ten years sion work in non·Christian countries, 78 of those who have been with the the number of those who will study Institute for a longer or shorter period medicine with the view of mission ser- have gone to the foreign field. Of vice will rapidly increase with each suc- these 20 have gone out in connection cessive year. The reasons for this in- with the Presbyterian Board of Foreign crease are these : Missions, 14 in connection with Baptist 1. The need for medical missionaries societies, 13 in connection with Congre- is much better understood now than gational societies, 10 in connection with ever before. The character of the medi- Methodist societies, 5 in connection with cal practice in non·Christian lands and Presbyterian societies in Canada, and the consequent sufferings of women the other 16 in connection with the and children are now widely known Episcopal, the Reformed, the Southern among Christian people. In China Presbyterian, the China Inland, and there is only one missionary physician other missionary societies. A few years to each 2,500,000 of the population. In ago the medical missionaries were near- the United States there is one physician lyall from Great Britain and the United to every 600 people. In China there are States. Now they are of many nationali- 100 missionary physicians to 300,000,000 ties. Those who have gone out from of the population; and in the United the Medical Missionary Institute were States 118,453 physicians to 65,000,000 born in twenty different countries.

of people. But the strong reason for the belief In India the readiness with which the that there will be a still greater increase women came to the lady missionary of medical missionaries In the near fu- physicians for medical treatment led to ture is this: There is a growing convic- the organization in 1886 of the National tion among the special promoter.10f for- Association by Countess Dufferin, wife eign missions that, in order to secure of the then Viceroy of India, for supply- the best results of efforts to spread the ing medical aid to the women of India. Gospel, it is necessary to follow more The association is composed of the high- carefully the example and commands of est dignitaries of Church and State in our Lord and Saviour. Our Lord went Great Britain and India, with Her Maj- everywhere healing the sick. And His esty the Queen Empress as patron. command, when He sent forth the twelve apostles and the sennty diseiplee, was: senice can pursue medical studies at a " As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom moderate pecuniary expense. Most of of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, those purposing to study medicine for cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast this service are possessed of small out devils: freely ye have received, means. In the performance of missionfreely give" (Matt. 10 : 7, 8). It is ob- ary duties they will receive simply a vious that in order to heal the sick the support. This fact precludes any of missionaries must study medicine. It them from borrowing money to meet is, in connection with this subject, a the expenses of their medical education, most important fact that it is only in expecting to refund it from subsequent Christian lands that a rational and bene- income. There is not a single medical ficial treatment for the diseases of the missionary college in the United States human system is known. In all non- where missionary students can pursue Christian countries the treatment of the medical studies and obtain a diploma. sick and suffering, and especially of There are many medical colleges in this women and Infants, is useless and bar- country, but the fees for lectures and barous. tuition are very high. They vary from $100 to $200 in different institutions for In order to carry out the command of each year of the four years' course for our Lord more efficiently, ~nd to com- each student. In the best colleges they municate the blessings of salvation and are $200 a year, which makes $800 for a of healing to the 1,000,000,000 of the course of four ye,ars. This sum is pronon·Christian nations, missionary socie- ldbitory to many young men and womties need to increase their medical mis- en who are desirous to obtain a medical slonariesfou1fold. This increase is not education for missionary service in forimpracticable. The number of medical eign lands. missionaries has been increased during the last forty.five years te1lfold without The facilities provided for those wishany special effort. With the increased ing to engage in medical missionary interest in the cause, and when men and work to obtain the requisite preparation tDOIM1l. physicians are both so greatly are in strange contrast with the facilineeded, the present number can by spe- ties which are provided for those precial effort be increased jivefold. The paring for other kinds of Christian need of this increase of medical mis- work. Every Christian denomination sionaries was expressed in 1890 by the has theological seminaries in which Shanghai General Missionary Confer- ministers are trained for their life work ence, composed of 432 missionaries in without any expense for tuition, and China. as follows: where facilities are provided forlodging and boarding at moderate expense. .. On behalf of these destitute masses, Similar facilities Bre provided for young therefore, we earnestly plead with the men and women who are preparing for men of wealth in the home churches, Christian work in connection with that they will c:msider the claims of Young Men's and Young Women's these suffering ones, and will largely Christian Associations. There are quite aid the reinforcement of the noble staff a number of mission institutes for trainof medical missionaries already in the ing young men and women for evanfield" (Records of the Shanghai Confer- gelistic work in home and foreign lands; ence, page 54). in Bome of them tuition is without charge, and in some a nominal sum is It is a most obvious and important in- charged, and in all of them facilities for quiry, How can the churches best facili- lodging and boarding are provided at tate this increase of medical missiona- reduced charges. Thus for all classes riel! ? This increase can be most easily of Christian workers ample provision effected by the endowment of a medical has been made for their instruction and missionary college. at which those who desire to study medicine for missionary training without tuition fees. and with cal college. As the money is to be colfacilities :for lodging and boarding, eJJ- lected from all churches, it will not come cepe for those preparing for medical mis- heavily upon anyone denomination. sionary service. These same facilities And this is not a great sum for the are provided for a large number of stu- whole Christian community of America dents in many colleges and academies to raise for so necessary and important without regard to the question whether a purpose. It can be made clear to all they are preparing for Christian work who will give the subject a few minor not. utes' consideration, that the money saved in the education of the young The query naturally arises, Why and men and women who will attend the how is it that no provision has been college will, in the course of a few years, made for assisting medical missionary amount to more than the whole sum of students to get the necessary education? $500,000. It is so simply because the need for such provision has been but recently From the facts stated above and other felt. and because the attention of the indications it is a most probable surmise Christian community has not been es- that, if there was a medical missionary pecially called to this need. This urgent college endowed and fully equipped to need, arising out of the increasing num- give first· class instruction to missionary ber of medical missionary students, has students, the number of students who only be~n felt within the last few years. would attend its classes would be from The need is jivefold greater now than it .two hundred and fifty to three hunwas fi ve years ago; and it will be dred. greater every successive year. We conclude with the words of the There is a purpose now to provide Shanghai General Missionary Conferfor this urgent need by raising money ence, already quoted. They say: "We to endow a medical missionary college, earnestly plead with the men of wealth and thus secure a charter of incorpora- in the home churches that they will tion from the State of New York which consider the claims of these suffering will enable the trustees of the college masses, and la1'Uely aid the reinforceto hold property for the college, pro- ment of the noble staff of medical misvide the necessary lecture-rooms, labora- sionaries already on the field." tories. and dissecting-rooms; to engage professors, build dormitories, and secure The World's Woman's Ohristian Temall the facilities and appliances neces- perance Union, sary to afford a first-class four years' course of instruction to the students for Mrs. E. W. Greenwood, the superinmedical mission service at the smallest tendent of this organization, has issued expense compatible with a proper re- a circular to which Miss Frances E. gard to health and efficiency. It is the Willard asks us to call special attention, purpose of those that are laboring to announcing the third biennial conveneffect it that the college shall be inter- tion of the World's Christian Temperdenominational and decidedly evangeli- ance Union, to be held in connection cal and evangelistic. The trustees are with the annual meeting of the British to be composeil of men chosen from Woman's Temperance Union in Londifferent denominations. As the doors don, June 14th-21st. May 18th and of the institution will be open to the 19th are specially set apart as days of students of all evangelical denomina- praise and prayer for this work. As tions, application will be made to the this movement has a distinctly missionmembcrs of all these denominations for ary feature in heathen lands, we cheercontributions to provide the $500,000 fully make this mention. Perhaps we endowment. This is the sum necessary can make no comment so good in any to secure the incorporation of a mediother way as by quoting the following search.light of this noble army of wom: from the address of welcome to Lady en! We, who are more directly en- Henry Somerset by Mrs. Joseph Cook gaged in the education and evangelizaat the meeting of the Woman's Board tion of the non-Christian races, know of Missions in January in Boston. what it is to have our work hindered by just the vices which our sisters of .. It is often said that the English- the Woman's Christian Temperance speaking race has become the missIon- Union are fighting to overthrow." ary army of the world: but while, in some small measure, we have carried We are grateful to Rev. Henry D. the Gospel to non-Christian lands, we Porter, M.D., Pang Chuang, North have also carried other gifts, for which China, for the "Records of the First the native races owe us anything but Shantung Missionary Conference at gratitude. Ching-Chow Fu, 1893" (Presbyterian Mission Press, Shanghai, 1894). The .. Commerce has gone with Christian- photographs of the pe1"BOnnel of the ity, sometimes in advance, and has Conference quite surprises us with the taught nations of practical total abstain- number of missionaries in Chinese dress. ers the Anglo·Saxon vice of strong This Conference grew out of the recomdrink, and, for purposes of gain, has mendation of the Committee on Union pushed the opium traffic, with an in- appointed by the General Conference at difference to the bodily and spiritual Shanghai, 1890, urging missionaries to ruin of their victims which seems posi- unite in local conference or as!lociatively fiendish. tions. The object was to secure a better comprehension of the several methods .. In view of these facts, it is not sur- of work and mutual encouragement. prising that rum-cursed Africa and Forty-one delegates, representing nine opium·cursed India and China, not dis- missionary enterprises in Shantung and criminating between Christianity and one in Honan, were present. They commerce, for both are represented by were Presbyterians, Baptists, Methowhite men wearing European dress, dists, and China Inland folk from Great should in the bitterness of their souls Britain, Canada, and the United States, cry out to us, , Is this your Jesus way? representing a Chinese membership of Then we want none of it ! ' 8354, with 184 clerical and medical mis- sionaries, men and women. Thirty "You know what two of our brave pages are given to the" Causes of Pov- American women did in India in un- erty in China;" eighteen pages are veiling the secret haunts of vice in con· given to an essay by Dr. Porter on nection with the British army. Lord "Physical Healing as a Means of General Roberts, Commander-in-chief Grace." of Her Majesty's forces, claimed to be ignorant of this defiance of British law; CHINA. but these American women, under the auspices of the World's Union of Chris- The Rev. John Ross publishes in tian Women, and proceeding with the the Chinese Recorder a very interesting skill of practised detectives brought communication of the chief Taoist priest forward abundant proof of the exist- of Mantchuria. The priest is intimateence of legalized vice in the army, and ly acquainted with the Christian Scrip- Lord General Roberts, who had doubt- tures, and is, therefore, qualified to ed their word, was obliged to make bring out points of doctrinal coinci· them a public apology! dence. As Victor von Strauss has shown, Taoism, sadly degenerate as it .. Thank God that we have lived to is in practice, is in doctrine, unlike Consee the day when the world is so open fucianism, strongly theistic. and Christian women are so alert that it can now be said that there is no closet so remote that the skeleton of any wom· an's wrongs can be hidden from the

J!'lELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY

I1I.-FIELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY.

Mexioo,* Oentral Amerioa,t West Indies,t Oity Missions.§ BY D. L. PIEliSON.

MISSIONS IN MEXICO. distribution at Brownsville, Tex. In 1866 she opened a school at Monterey, The republic of Mexico has an area of and finally, in 1869, Rev. Henry Riley 767,000 square miles and a population of opened a mission in the City of Mexico about twelve millions, of whom about itself. It was in 1872 and 1873 that the 19 per cent are pure white, 38 per cent missionary societies of the Presbyterian, are Indians, and 43 per cent are of mixed Methodist, and Congregational churches blood. Of the two latter classes only a finally entered the field.

small percentage can be called civilized. The States of Tabasco, with a popu- The country is divided into twenty· lation of 104,747, and Camp@che, with seven States, two territories, and one 94,000, and the territories of Lower federal district. The republic was California and Tepic, with populations founded in 1857, but was not in full of 31,167 anrl131,019 respectively, have power, and religious freedom was not as yet no Protestant missionaries sta- enjoyed until 1867. The Bible was first tioned among them. Presbyterians introduced into Mexico in the wake of alone are stationed in Yucatan, Guerre- the army of General Scott in the war of ro, and Chiapas ; in Queretaro,Tlaxcala, 1845, but it was not until fifteen years and Oaxaca only the Northern Meth- later that any persistent attempt was odists; in Sonora and Sinalao only the made to carry the pure Gospel to our American Board; and in Coleina only next-door neighbors, enshrouded in the the Southern Methodists. The other darkness of a corrupt Romanism which States are occupied by two or more so- was practically paganism. Miss Melinda cieties.

Rankin began a work for the Mexicans The statistics of the work in Mexico in 1854, establishing a centre for Bible are as follows: i'" J]gI~_! -. -~- ~ . I"'l~ .; 1 .. j'~ !~ ~ ,,- m ~ .5l11 ","'<1 .~ 0> 'E:: ';3 <:l ..0… .~ ~ 1! "0 " -C~5 "8 §.~ Z 8- .0…. !:i SOCIETIES. ;j.; al~ ::;;: . ai .~ 0 <1. ..>t:0I ='0.a<1:~I' o S ~It.! ~'ij .~~…"~. rd ~ <:l 0 .t:I. ~~ '~; -tE =~= ~.: ..2:!J:r"n ~~ e§ll ~ ~:a ~ § , "<'1".>''"' .Eo> ~!l -e".t:I o § ..;s::>!-0! ~ s<1.> ~o 0 .~= !eln.!le<n1.> OE-<O 0 ~ "".t:I 0 <",<:1l."> ~o en 8 ——- A. B. C. F. 111.. …….. 1872 5 21 7 .. 7 7 1 9 i413 578 108 415 …2.5 168 $843 Baptists (South) …….. 1880 11 39 10 .• 9 6 5 .. 1487 1,163 277 375 182 2,600 Church of Jesus (lnde· l?endent EpiBcopal)… 1873 4 29 1 3 …….. 4 6 …. BOO …….. ………… -'- . ….. 3 •. …. 4 61413 ., 465 Frlends ………•. ,., … 1871 2 26 ….189 350 M . E. (North) ………. 1873 9 32 10 2 10 1015 26 72 28 2,430 349 1,648 120 2,725 9,012 M. E. (South)……….. 187314 115 18 1 12 7181 .• 2087 8,808 277 3,25415 1,327 4,7(y{ 3,495 Presbyterian (North)…. 187211 44 10 .• -'- ~ –'"- 1,168 12 30 150 85 4,512 271 ……

P resbyterian (South) … …. 1 51 2 .. 1 … 3 8 .• S ., 450 …. . 250 2 •• 2 79 146 1 1 •• 1 2 •••• ….. PrQsbyterian (Cumber.). 24 …4..1.8 .. .6.8.5 Reformed Synod…….. …. 2 11 2 .. 1 1 2 .• 2 6 226 32 159 . … 27 106 * Literature: "Mexico," by H. H. Bandelier; "Moravian MI8Iions," Andrew Thompson, D.D . "Mexico iu Transition," William Butler, D.O.; .. The 'Native Religions of Mexico and Peru," :j: .. Story of.Diaz, the Apostle of Cuba," George W. Lasher, D.D. See also p. 179 (present issue). Albert Reville; "Twenty Years Among the Mexicans," Miss Melinda Rankin. See also p. § '" Encyclopredia of 'Missions," L, 294; ~ Municipal Reform Movements," W. 11. Tol- 198 (present issue). man. See alBo p. 191 (present laBue). t .. Central America," H. H. Bancroft; We do not give the totals under this ized Indians. There"are at present fears table because of the incompleteness of of a war between this republic and the record. There are, however, at Mexico, owing to a disputed boundary.

present 10 Protestant societies laboring It is hoped, however, that the question in 87 8epamte stations in Mexico, besides will be settled by arbitration, and thus which there are colporteurs of the Ameri- prevent bloodshed and the interruption can Bible Society. The number of for- to the work of God which would eign missionaries is 184 and of native necessarily accompany the war.

workers, 542 : churches number 388 and Honduras is controlled by Roman ~ongregations, 489: there are 16,860 Catholics, and only a few of the Mos- communicants and over 50,000 adherents kito Indians on the eastern coast are 10,668 Sunday-school scholars, and 7455 reached by the Moravian missionaries.

pupils in day schools; 12 Christian In British Honduras the Wesleyan papers are published in the Spauish Methodists have 6 stations, 24 chapels, language. 6 missionaries, 240 native agents, and Missionary work in Mexico is carried 2040 communicants. The American on in the face of many and great diffi- Bible Society also has agents here.

culties, among which are the ignorance, Salvador tolerates all religions; but indifference and immorality of the there are at present no Protestant mi8- people, the opposition of the Romish sionaries laboring there. The popUla- priests, and the spread of infidelity. tion is composed of aboriginal Indians Much has been accomplished, however, and those of mixed Spanish and Indian besides the actual conversion of souls blood.

to God. (1) Congregations have been Nicaragua is also untouched by mis- established where the Gospel is preached sionary effort except by the Moravians, weekly to over twenty-five thousand who labor among the Moskito Indians people; (2) nearly two hundred schools on the eastern coast, where they have have been established where pupils are 15 foreign ordained missionaries, 4 or- enlightened in things temporal and spir- dained and 66 other native helpers, and itual, and men and women are given a 5573 members (of whom 900 are com- theological and normal training ; (3) a municants), at 12 stations. There is large amount of evangelical literature also a church at Greytown, south of the in the form of papers, tracts. Bibles, Moskito Reserve. The work of the Mo- and books are scattered throughout the ravians has also lately extended into land. Nicaragua proper, where religious free- CENTRAL AMERICA. dom has been declared. The work has, however, been greatly hindered by the The statistics of the countries of Cen- political complications between Nicatral America are" as follows: ragua and the Moskito Reserve. The Area. Population. Nicaraguans, contrary to treaty, still Guatemala…. " •••46,800 sq. m. 1,460,017 occupy the Reserve, and the Moskito HonduraS ••••.•.••.46,400 .. 431,917 Indians look to England for protection. British Honduras•• 7,562 81,471 The presence of the soldiers at Blue- Salvador. . . . ••• . •. 7,225 777,895 fields causes unrest and disorder. Many Nicaragua •••••.•. .49,500 282,845 of the Christians have left, and some Costa Rica ……..37,000 245,780 In Guatemala the Presbyterian Board churches are on the verge of ruin.

(North) is the only society at work, and Lamplight services have been aban- has in Guatemala City two ordained mis- doned, as no decent woman cares to sionaries and their wives, one native walk the streets after dark. All this in teacher, one church with 49 communi- what was lately the most orderly and cants, and one school with 45 pupils Christian community in Central Amer- (boys). Nearly half of the population ica.

of this republic is composed of uncivil- In Costa Rica Rev. J. H. Lobez, of the Jamaica Baptist lIIissionary Union, cemetery has been pnrchased, a girls'

is doing a good work at Port Limon, high-school established, and a free hos- where he has gathered 80 communi- pital started. There are now 24 mis- cants. The Central American Mission- sionaries, Gchurches and stations, 2582 ary Society of Dallas, Tex:., has 2 mis· members, 7 Sunday-schools, 1000 schol- sionaries with their wives and 1 unmar- ars. Persecutions innumerable have ried lady missionary in this republic, followed Diaz all the way, but last year and the American Bible Society has 2 there were 150 baptisms. This work is agents at work. in connection with the Baptist Church In all there are in Central America 6 (South). The Jamaica Baptists,and the societies at work in 22 stations manned American Bible Society also carryon by 28 ordained missionaries, with over work in this island.

7f5 native helpers and over 3000 com- In the republic of Hayti* there is an municants. estimated population of 800,000, mostly negroes. The moral and intellectual THE WEST INDIES. condition is low in the extreme. Work is being carried on in Hayti and San These islands were first visited by Domingo by the Jamaica Baptists, the missionaries in 1734, when two Mora- English Baptists, the Consolidated vians landed in St. Thomas to preach American Baptists, the Protestant Epis- Jesus to the wretched slaves. Accord- copal, the African !!ethodlst Episcopal, ing to the latest reports, these heroic and and the Wesleyan Methodists 01 Eng- indefatigable evangelizers are repre- land. These societies have gathered sented by 50 European toilers of both about 2400 converts.

sexes, and have now in their churches Puerto Rico, a Spanish colony with 17,336 communicants and over 40,000 an area of 3550 square miles and 806,- adherents, with about 16,000 children in 708 negroes and mulattoes, is largely the schools. In British West Indies, dominated by Roman Catholics, but the with over 1,000,000 inhabitants, 248,000 Colonial and Continental Church S0- are regular attendants at Protestant ciety has one clergyman laboring there.

worship, about 85,000 are communi- One is wont to think of Jamaica as a cants, and 78,600 children are receiving thoroughly Christian country, at least In instruction in 1123 day schools. the ordinary sense of the word. But it Cuba, the largest of the West India is not so.t The island has about 650,000 Islands, is 790 miles long, 28 to 127 miles wide. Of its 2009 miles of sea-coast, only * War against Hayti II now threatened by one third is accessible. Snow is never Spain, owing to the removal of funda by tbe seen, but it rains every month,so that the President from a bank In which Spanlah capitalheat is never extreme. Rivers run ists are interested. across the island. north and south. In the six provinces is a population of t Pastor Warneck Bays, on the other hand, in 1,631,687. The Spaniards hold all the theAllgemdns1&aloM Zdtachrift, that "Jaoffices, the Creoles are planters, and the maica, with its 610,579 negroes and mnlattoes, negroes are the laborers. Over 10,000 maybe termed a trnly Protestant Island, although foreigners live there. The work in Cuba there are st!1l200,OOO uot converted. The Church of England has 116,224 adherents, the Baptists 115,000, the l[ethodlats about 70,000, the Presby- teri8IlS about 30,000, the Moravians 17,300, and under Rev. A. J. Diaz has grown to other denominations, together, about IlO,OOO to wondrous proportions. In two years 60,000. All the evangelical miBSions are seeking after the organization of the first church to traiu an educated native ministry, and to make 1100 were baptized. In a single year the congregations, as far as possible, financially independent. The people are making steady they contributed $4610. In 1889 a advance In Christian knowledge and life. handsome theatre was bought and U In the Bahama Islands, the 47,500 inhabitants turned into a church, and the lower parts rented for stores and offices. A may be regarded as all connected with the Evan- gelist Protestant Church. Some are Anglica.nll, lIome Baptillts, and IOlae WeileY&nil. Thouah "" all I t j ~i ~ ~§il•l…~9.l8'l ui g I !.; '0 0 03 11 1 1l~ ..8 o:ll«.!: r~'L"l .;.lugi~ .g i ~ ai3 rLl~ SOOIlilTIlilS. .; 'E·g ~ 0; Fields Occupied. ~o:l$:;:l'g'; ~ ,;;'i.0e; ~ 0 Ill, $rLl o:l" 2a1 ~ en 0 ~ 3g~ d 0 w A 0 – – – – – – – – —– …….. …. .. –"- …….. Jamaica, Barbadoes, S.P.G…………. 28 85 oo. …. 4,715 Triuidad, etc.

Consolidated Ameri· …. …. . …….. C8U Baptist…….. …. Af r i c a n M . E . . . . . . . . 1 '6 '5 1 …. ….. …….. Haiti. 7 4 5 149 131 190 Haiti sud SlID Domin· go. Protestant Episcopal 23 1 .0 •••• 13 34 11 405 150 218 Haiti. Presbyterian (Can' …. … ada) ………….. 5 6 •• 4 2 48 …. 573 23 4,324, Trinidad. BaptistM. S …….. 99 3 3 …. 116 5,168 3,920 loo'Trinidad, San Domin· go, Bahamas, Ja· maica. west!:ian Methodist. …. 1015 .. …….. ;.2 512 3,130 80 Bahamas. 10 :: "iii 29 3,432 2,176 Jamaica. Uni Methodist.. ' 9 10 ioo 26 3,470 9,083 … 9;i99 Jamaica, Trinidad. Scotch LT. Poo ……. 69 11,647 )(oravians ………. 55 59 .. "" 34 789 53 17,540 14,924 16,731 J amalea, TrInidad, . J St. Thomas, etc. ……. . ft:D1alca Baptist Un· …. …. – '.0. 441 …. 177 39,005 …….. …….. Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, lon …… Costa Rica.

inhabitants, of whom 650,000 are col- of England, the English Baptists, Wes· ored people. There are also some 12,000 ,leyan Methodists, United Presbyterians, or 18,000 coolies and Chinese. But and Moravians. Roman Catholics num- the total baptized membership of all the ber 12,500.

Christian churches, including the Catho- Of the total popUlation of 5,500,000 lics, falls under 150,000. Where are in the West Indies, there are about 600,- the remaining 400,000 souls, and what 000 Protestant adherents.

are they? They belong to no church Other societies laboring in the West and own no minister. They are sunk Indies are the Religious Tract Society, in vice and dirt, in ignorance and super. the S. P. C. K., Ladies' Negro Educa- stition. They stand little higher in the tional Society, Jamaica Church Ladies'

mental and moral scale than their ances- Association, besides 13 "home mil:sion- tors in darkest Africa. Truly here is a ary" societies in the islands themselves.

mission field in the fullest sense of the word. There is a Jamaica Baptist CITY :MISSIONS, Union, with 177 churches, 39,065 mem- One third of our ;population dwells bers, and 21,709 children in the schools. in our cities. They are the peril and The other denominations are the Church hope of our country, for in them an- poor, they In great part maintain their own archy, riot, and corruption breed, and in c1lUrches ; the Baptists do so entirely. them also our religious, intellectual, and .. The little Antilles are also in great part Chris· political life and work find their centres of operation. tianlzed. In the Danish Islands of St. Thomas, at. Jan, and St. Croix, with a population, to· In New York are nearly 400 philangether, of 32,700, there are 18,000 Protestants and 12,000 Roman Catholics, the former belong- thropic societies (besides churches), ing chiedy to the Church of England and the including five distinctive missionary Moravian brethren. The northern part of the societies, employing 100 missionaries. little Antilles-Antigua, Guadaloupe, Martinique, etc.-has about 100,000, aud the eastern part-St. In London there are over 100,000 Lucia, Barbadoes, Tobago, etc,-about 215,000 paupers, 38,000 homeless adults, 80,000 Protestant Christians. and in Trinidad there are wandering children, and 80,000 faIlen 10,000. In Tobago there has been instituted,ln women. Over 1000 benevolent institurecent years, by the Roman Catholics, a bitter tions are at work, including 39 missionopposItion mission to that of the Moravian ary societies. brethren."

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.

The Maroh of Events. hundred cars remained for two weeks tied up in a city of a million people. THE TROLLEY STRIKE IN BROOKLYN. Brooklyn is not alone in the risks run. which began on January 14th. and was scarcely" broken" for two weeks, was It is reported that the President of Peru, interesting and alarming, not in itself General Caceres, planned to use dyna- mite cartridges instead of powder, and, only, but most ot all as the indication had not the scheme been disclosed in and type of that deep-seated, widespread time, a fearful panic would have resultpopular unrest and readiness for riotous ed among the revolutionary forces. outbreak, which is one of the most start- The revolutionary committee test all ling signs of the times. Without any their munitions before use, as a necesdisposition now to discuss, or, above all, to decide the merits of the case, there sary safeguard. But what has science is a TENDENCY TOWARD ANARCHY done in making possible such uses of which demands prompt repression, and giant explosives I which must receive from all statesmen Ilnd philanthropists, all Christian lead- We think well to add a description of ers and patriotic citizens, the most conditions in Paris, as furnished by the earnest and patient and humane con- correspondents of the New York Times: sideration. When multitudes of men not only paralyze the commerce of a " People who saw the vast crowd gathnation by refusing to work its locomo- ered in the early morning to be near tive system, but forcibly resist any the walled·off scene of the Dreyfus attempt to get others to work it, and degradation, say with a shiver that they deliberately proceed to destroy the very never comprehended before what a means of locomotion, to break up cars Paris mob in the Reign of Terror must and cut motor wires; when both police have been like. Last year's new press and soldiers are called out, and clubs laws seem onl, to have aggravated the and rifles are brought into requisition abuses at whlCh they were aimed. It almost in vain, it is time to consider is impossible for the courts to take cogwhither we are tending. nizance of a hundredth part of the in- suIts and libels, daily hurled at the Presi- Last autumn the republic narrowly dent, the Premier, and everybody else escaped a civil outbreak which threat- in authority. The old era of denuncia· ened to become a revolution, in the com- tion is in full swing again. When the plications of the Pullman car employes Chamber decides that a certain ignorant with the public interests. And we have blackguard, who is in prison for abuse just been, again, in the tbroes of another of the President, and who has been electdisturbance – thus far local- which ed a deputy meanwhile by the Gobelins might have involved a much wider terri- district of Paris merely as a contemptutory. General Master Workman Sov- ous affront to the Chamber, shall not ereign, of the Knights of Labor, sent be released, this fellow is allowed to out word to the strikers: " Stay out till write and send out from prison a violent victory comes," and had only to say attack on the Government, and the the word to merge the local strike into papers are permitted to say that the maa sympathetic movement of all allied jority in the Chamber voted as they did, labor organizations. under ministerial threats to prosecute them for blackmail and embezzlement. No little complaint was made, and Unhappily, every fresh step of the justly, because the Brooklyn Board of prosecutors breaks into some new sewer Aldermen virtually joined the strikers of political or journalistic corruption, so by attempting to hinder the companies that these wholesale denunciations seem in engaging new employes, and so fifteen to the masses to be true enough, and the turbulent wing of socialism goes on doubling and trebling its hold on the Parisian proletariat."

At the same time, in Italy, where political parties were' preparing for a general election, the socialists boldly selected as candidates a number of those who as rioters in Sicily had been scn- arm ammunition, 16,957 koku of rice, tenced to imprisonment. specie and coin to the amount of 1,000,- 000 yen, 3326 tents, 18 sailing ships and THE JAPANESE-CHINESE WAR still steamers, and a quautity of other things, continues, and attracts universal atten- the value of the whole, including the tion and interest. fortresses and dockyard, being about 80,000,000 yen." In January, Japanese newspapers reported the King of Corea assassinated, As TO MADAGASCAR, a despatch from while others asserted that he had been Port Louis, Mauritius, January 11th, prostrated with epilepsy. A despatch reported the French bombardment of from Yokohama said that the new Co- Fort Farafatra, four miles inland from rean administration failed to raise an internal loan, the native capitalists re- Tamatave, on December 28th. The fusing to take part in the movement. Hovas defended the fort, replying to the French fire with well-directed shots The N()'/)oe Vremya, of St. Petersburg, says, in a leader on the Eastern from the seven guns comprising the war: "If the friendly and peaceful armament of the fort. But they were representations of Russia's 'diplomacy eventually defeated, and retired with be not considered she will be compelled heavy loss. to support her claims on Corea with force of arms. " SLAVE TRADE IN TRlPOLI.-TheBrit- ish and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society The Japanese movement on Wei-haiwei is said to have caused a panic in has received intelligence that under Tientsin and Pekin, and the Chinese Turkish rule the buying and selling of peace envoys were ordered to expedite young boys and girls-chiefly the latter the negotiations with the Japanese Gov- -is still regularly but secretly carried on, ernment. the Turkish officers of the Army of Oc- cupation being involved in it with the Simultaneously with the departure of the Oharl68ton, January 21st, from Na- wealthier Arabs. gasaki for Chemulpo, the flagship Baltimore lett for Chifu to support the ABYSSINIAN WAR. -General Baratieri YorktO'l/Jn, which has become the asy- has telegraphed that on Sunday, Jannlum for all the American missionaries ary 13th, he made an attack upon the on account of the Japanese bombardment of Teng Chow Eu and theoccupa- Abyssinians under Ras !langascia, and tion of the Shantung promontory. after severe fighting, the Italian troops were victorious. A large number of The capture of Wei-hai-wei would destroy the last refuge of the Chinese Abyssinians were killed and many taken fleet, and in all probability the fleet it- prisoners. The prisoners attribute the self, and the last chance of China again acting on the offensive. The United victory of the Italians to their use of Press correspondent at Tokyo wrote, the explosive, ballistite. January 8th: There were 10,000 Abyssinians en- "In addition to two first-class for- gaged in the fight, while the Italians, tresses and a dockyard with all appli- with their native allies, numbered only ances, as well as a great tract of terri- 4000. Ras MQngascia, who had expecttory, China has lost in the present war ed his dervish allies to make a simulflghting ships aggregating 13,346 tons, taneous attack, crossed the river Belesa and valued at 11,000,000 yen ($5,500,- in the face of the Italians at eight o'clock 000 in gold). in the morning. Under the fire of the Italian machine guns, the Abyssinians "Of these vessels three were cap- suffered heavily, and soon retired. T~ey tured by the Japanese; the rest sunk or renewed the attack later, concentratmg burned. Among other spoils taken by their efforts on the Italian .tiank. At the Japanese are 607 cannon, 7400 stand this juncture the Italians were joined of rifles, 2,601,741 rounds of cannon by 3800 men under General Arimonde, ammunition, 77,458,785 rounds of small- who had made a forced march of fifteen mileR. The Abyssinians then tIed in disorder. Two days later General Bara- tieri telegraphed to the War Office from Massowah that the necessity for the fm-

'1895·1 2Hl

mediate reinforcement of the Italian tions of the sins of !ydney society, and troops in Africa is most urgent. It was that the voice of this nineteenth-century decided to despatch several battalions of prophet has been heard thundering troops to Africa without delay. against selfishness, snobbery, swindling, swilling, slandering, sensuality, Sad- REPORTS FROM SUM.-News came duceeism, sweepstakes and other sports from Bangkok, Siam, January 10th, that ruin the soul; and that, along with that a meeting of nobles took place at these thrilling diatribes, there haS been the palace the night previous, when:a the fullest presentation of Jesus as the petition was signed requesting the king Saviour and helper of men." to appoint a crown prince. It was rumored that the son of the second queen Next he appears in Calcutta, where would be appointed, he bein~ the eldest special services were arranged in Febof the blood royal. He is now in Eng- ruary, beginning with the 6th of that land, receiving his education. month, and to continue for three weeks. The plan was to have a large tent on As TO THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES, the maidan, in which the services will on January 11th, the Speaker of the be held. The pastors of the English House of Commons published in Lon- churches in the city invited him. It don a letter from a correspondent in will be a rich treat to missionaries and others to hear the original and q uicken- ing expositions and illustrations of this Scottish Spurgeon.

Constantinople, who claims to have seen CHINA. -The presentation of the copy the reports from the consuls in Vau, _of the New Testament to the Empress Erzeroum, Sivas, and Diarkebir, and Dowager by the Christian women of they confirm the most horrible accounts the empire has been followed by an already received. He adds: order from the Emperor for a copy of "Concurrent reports came from both the Old and New Testaments. The Catholic and Protestant missionaries Bible has at least gained an entrance into in the Sassoun district. The troops the palace; may this not be the means called out against the Armenians have of the Word of God gaining an entrance returned from the scenes of conflict to into the heart of the heathen emperor? permanent quarters. They boast of their deeds publicly. Their statements A personal note from a friend in have been forwarded to Constantinople. Shanghai says the Society for the Diffu- One soldier declared that with his own sion of Christian and General Knowlhand lie ripped up twenty married edge among the Chinese is beginning to women. Another boasted that he took make an impression on the upper classes part in a massacre in a church, and that of China. A few weeks ago the Vicethe blood flowed in a large stream from roy of Oentral China, Chang Chih Tung, the door. The soldiers believe that the sent a donation of 1000 taels to help in Sultan ordered the massacre, and ap- this work, which equals about 1500 proves of it." Mexican dollars.

Meanwhile it is rumored that the Porte THE TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL is considering administrative reforms to MEETING of the Woman's Board of be introduced in all the provinces con- Missions was held in Boston, January cerned in the recent massacre; among 16th, and the programme was brilliant them, the recruiting of the gendarmerie with talent. Miss A.bbie B. Child prefrom the Christian as well as the Mus- sented the report of the Home Departsulman population, the appointment of a Mussulman governor for the first three-year term and Christian governors for all subsequent terms, which would be five years each.

JOHN McNEIL, THE EVANGELIST, ment; Miss Ellen Caruth, the report of the treasury; Mrs. E. E. Strong, the has been in Sydney, New South Wales. survey of missions in European, Cen- tral, and Eastern Turkey, and the Of his visit, a correspondent in the Syd- Marathi Mission, India; Mrs. John O. Means, the missions in Western Turney P1'tUloyte1'ian says: key, Mexico, Austria, and the Madura Mission in India; Miss Lucy M. Fay, " It is a matter of profound thankfulness that Mr. McNeill has been able to attract audiences of such dimensions to listen to the most scathing denuncia-

EDIT.oRIAL DEPARTMENT

the missions in Africa, Micronesia, and ' required. The grandest of these·is the Ceylon; and Mrs. Joseph Cook, the Emperor Wilhelm Memorial Church, missions in China, Japan, and Spain. costing 2,340,000 marks, .of whiCh sum In addition to this fourfold survey, Miss the royal family had contributed 23,000, Blakely, .of Marash, in Central Turkey, and the Emperor has recently again and Miss Noyes, of Madura, and Mrs. added 30,000.

Logan, of Micronesia, and Mrs. De For- THE BIBLE IN UGANDA.-In Uganda, est, of Japan, made missionary addresses, a cOUl).try where nothing was known of and Lady Henry Somerset also added Ohristianity twenty years ago, the work the attraction of her presence and a spe- of the missionaries has produced the cial addr.ess. The morning and after- most pleasing results. The demand for noon were thus profitably occupied Bibles and New Testaments is most exwith a variety of exercises which made traordinary. According to the Presbyweariness impossible. This women's or- terianer, Chicago, 10,000 copies .of the ganization has probably accomplished Gospels have been sold there within five as much to promote missions, by prayer, months, besides 25,000 .other books percirculation of cheap literature, system- taining to Christian literature. Curiousatic giving in small amounts, and gen- ly enough, the Catholics evince the same eral cultivation .of a holy enthusiasm, desire to read the Bible as the Protesas any missionary .organization in the tants. Bishop Hirsh, the chief of the world. May God give it a new year of Catholic mission at Uganda, writes: increased prosperity and efficiency I " I am compelled to acknowledge that DR. CYRUS HAMLIN corrects, in the we will be forced to print a translation of the New Testament, which is being interest.of history, the statements attri- spread by the Protestants all .over the country. We cannot prevent .our peo· buted to Dr. Jessup in .our December pIe from reading it, for everyone, with the exception of the women and issue, page 942 : aged people, wishes to learn how to read before being baptized. We are " The first evangelical church in Syria therefore busy with an edition of the was not the first in the Turkish Empire. New Testament, with commentaries by The setting up of the first printing- the Fathers of the Church." presses in the Turkish Empire is incorrect by more than a century. If the first WHAT A CONTRAST, it has been said, missionary presses are meant, it is again between 1792 and 1892 I-a contrast incorrect. The first were at Smyrna. which proves the splendid progress of The founding of the first day and board- the missionary enterprise, and which ing-schools, and the first college in the should inspire all its friends with elation Turkish Empire, should read simply in and confidence. In 1792 not 190 mis- Syria. The mission in Syria is limited si.onaries-4 .only in all Africa, 12 only in by the Arabic language, and has no con- India, but not one in China, or Japan, or nection with other parts of the empire. Burma, or all Central and Western Asia; In all the above particulars, as well as in m.ost others, they labored for themselves alone, and Syria should take the place of the Turkish Empire, in which, entirely unknown to them, various institutions had come into existence. "

THE BERLIN CHURCH BUILDING S.o- with not 50,000 reliable converts around CIETY, .organized five years ago to pro- them, or 50 of these converts to give vide places of worship for the churchless them efficient aid. Now there are 3000 thousands of the German capital, start· ordained missionaries, with 2500 lay and ing out with 20,000 marks, has expend- lady coadjutors, with no fewer than ed 10,000,000 marks in the erection of 30,000 native evangelists, one sixth .of churches. Thirty new churches have them .ordained, and for the most part been erected by the German Protestants well tried and trained. Around them in the city of Berlin during the past five have been gathered a native Christian years. It is estimated that fully 50 are population of 3,000,000, far in advance of their heathen neighbors in intelli· ly in West Africa. His death is a severe gence, morals, and enterprise. blow to African missions. He was less REv. WILLIAM CAREY, grandson of than forty years old, and married about the historic leader of the same name, twelve years ago the daughter of the wrote to the editor a very gratifying Rev. Peter Walker, formerly of the letter. He says: "I have watched Gaboon, West Africa. The workmen with great interest and the deepest ap- fall. .We believe that the Lord carries preciation your splendid advocacy of on His work.

the claims of foreign missions, and I We learn also that Mrs. George Mul- have long coveted that best of maga- ler is dead. The particulars we have zines, the MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE not learned, but it must be a very heavy WORLD." blow to her venerable husband.

Mr. Carey expresses a desire to pos- THE tenth anniversary of the Young sess the back volumes, and hints that, Men's Institute of the Y. M. C. A. of like his illustrious grandsire, he is" mis- New York City was held January erably poor," and so keeps up the apos- 15th. William M. Kingsley, Esq., pretolic succession. The editor is glad to sided. Cleveland H. Dodge, Esq., Presiadd that the publishers felt, that if any dent New York City Y. M. C. A., and. man should have a free grant, it is Wil- William Dulles, Jr., Esq., Treasurer of liam Carey's grandson and namesake, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Misand accordingly the request was grant~ sions, made short remarks, and the aded, and the bound volumes furnished. dress of the evening was delivered by JAPAN.-A recent letter in the OlvriB- Edward M. Shepard, Esq.

tian InteUigencer, describing the three The annual report made by the Sec- religions-Buddhism, Shintoism, and retary, Dr. D. E. Yarnell, showed that Confucianism-says it is reported that the Institute work had made consider- there are about 72,000 Buddhist temples able progress during the past year, the and 56,000 priests and monks who, in membership, enrolment in classes, etc., spite of dissensions among them and being larger than ever before.

exposures of their immorality by news- The following are part of the statistics papers, they still hold the confidence of contained in the report, which may in- the people. Shintoism is of native terest many readers: origin, and its chief doctrine is that the 1893. 1894'

gods made Japan, and that the emperors Membership, December 31st… 656 662 are their lineal descendants, all of whom Average Attendance at Rooms. 180 183 are therefore objects of Divine rever- No. Volumes in Library…… 1,701 1,790 Membership In Gymnasium …. 327 345 ence ; it urges, with great emphasis. Average Attendance, Bible loyalty and patriotism as the foremost Class…………………… 17 28 duties of the Japanese. There arei9i,- Average Attendance, Prayer ao 000 Shinto shrines, with 14,500 officiat- Meeting .. _.. .. .. .. .. .. …. . 26 Average Attendance, Men's ing Shinkano. Meeting.. .. •.. .. … .. .. .. … 80 78 PRESIDENT WARREN, of Boston Uni- Depositors' Savings Fund….. 189 181 versity, has proposed the foundation in his city of a museum of all religions. Amount Deposited.•••……..$8,185.95 $7,418.90 Di1Ierent Men in Evening Clas.e8. ……………….. 425 463 In it would be collected religious books, Total Enrolment………….. 617 665 examples of the furnishings of altars Current Expenses ………..,11,827.45 811.779.79 .'lind shrines, religious relics, em blems, IT is a new proof of the expediency idols, and other objects illustrating the and desirability of every man becoming character or history of the different re- the administrator of his own gifts by ligions of the world. bestowing money in his own lifetime, THE REv. A. C. GOOD has died recent- that so many legacies are ultimately perverted from their original purpose. the waste places of the earth; and it is What are known as the Gifford Lec- suggested that in connection with such tures, as provided for by the will of a a season of prayer there be previous Scotch judge, were to be upon the sub- instruction, especially as to the nature ject of Natural Religion; but the lec- of prayer, its privilege, its necessity, ture course has been so perverted as and the place which it holus in God's to antagonize Revealed Religion. For plans for world-wide blessing. We example, the last incumbent of the lec- believe that the one great dependence tureship, Dr. Pfliederer, of Berlin, a of the Church of God for all success in well-known theologian of the rational- our missionary work is an increased istic school, assailed the orthodox beliefs spirit of united prayer. of the Scottish people, and repudiated as .. pale negations" the modified state- AMONG BOOKS to which we desire to ments of modern Scotch professors. call attention are the following: Men of all shades of opinions have, like Dr. Rainey, raised the question, whether "James Gilmour and His Boys," by the university at Edinburgh, in accept- Richard Lovett, published by the F. ing the administration of the lecture- H. Revell Company. The book is ship, anticipated that the deed would partly biographical, partly a series of prove susceptible of such interpreta- adventures, and partly a story of toils tion. Dr. Charteris, of the Established and trials endured for Christ. It con Church, objects to the university giv- tains Mr. Gilmour's charming letters to ing the lecturer a chance to attack the his boys, James a!'d Willie, respectively Bible, and even the liberal Dr. Dods nine years old and seven years old. It comes forward to attack the rational- is sufficient to say that it is as fascinatism of the lecturer. It is to be regret- ing a book as might be expected from ted that a like perversion has even its lamented author. characterized the Bampton Lectures, which for 110 many years have been an Another book, "Kin-Da-Shon's Wife," invaluable series of apologetics. an Alaskan story, by Mrs. Eugene S. Willard, also published by F. H. Revell, HAYTI.-It is probably unknown to is a presentation of the condition of most people that in that island horrible society and missionary effort in Alaska, cannibalism still prevails. Spenser St. surrounding practical facts with the ro- John in his book, "Hayti; or, the Black mantic drapery of fiction. Republic," published in 1884, says that families actually celebrate family feasts, Dr. Henry C. Mabie's record of Eastat which they devour some of their own ern travel, under the name of "In Brightoffspring or the members of the family est Asia," has already reached l!o sixth circle. edition, and it is not surprising. The home secretary of the American Baptist WE have long been suspicious that Missionary Union is a man of winning the week of united prayer observed in manners and great intellectual force, January hall not only been perverted as well as an observing eye. It was a from its original purpose-namely, for- blessing to missions to have such a man eign missions-but has declined in spir- visit Oriental stations; and this book, itual power and effectiveness even as to of less than two hundred pages, fully the church life at home; and we have and beautifully illustrated, is the familmany intimations, through correspond- iar but fascinating story of Dr. Mabie's ence with brethren, that there is a desire, tour. No one will read it, without feelsuch as was expressed at the late De- ing a deeper interest in the mission work cennial Conference in Bombay, for a of God throughout the world; and it season of united prayer specifically for will be found as interesting as a work the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon of fiction.

Miss Annie W. Marston has written a plea for Thibet, under the name of •• The Great Closed Land." It is published superstitions, and religious condition.

by S. W. Partridge, of London, and is Probably no other European was so strikingly like Dr. Mabie's book, though well fitted to write this book as the au- not so large. It is indispensable t;) those thor, and it is the result of first·hand who wish to obtain an accurate account knowledge and observation.

of that hermit nation which seems just " Among the l'[aoris," by Jesse Page, is also from the press of:F. H. Revell, emerging from long seclusion.

" Woman in Missions" is a book pub- and tells of the daybreak in New Zea- lished by the American Tract Society, land, with the labors of Marsden, Sel- containing the papers and addresses wynn, and others. Revell is publish- presented at the Woman's Congress of ing a Missionary Library of small books Missions in Chicago, 1893. Dr. E. M. which present in a brief and very at- Wherry has lovingly compiled and edit- tractive form thc great subject of mis- ed it. It contains seventeen papers or sions.

addresses on various forms and phases "A Dispensational History of Re- of woman's condition and work. It is demption," by Dr. E. P. Marvin, of one of the few valuable contributions Lockport, who appears to be both au- to the subject of woman's mission and thor and publisher, is a new and tren- ministry for Christ, a subject that yet . chant exhibition of biblical teachings as dcmands a much larger and nobler treat- to the true relations of the Church and ment than it has ever yet received. the world. Though not professedly a Akin to this is "The New Woman- missionary treatise, it indirectly teaches hood," by James C. Fernald, published much truth with regard to the way and by l!'unk & Wagnall.3, which, though not spirit in which missions must be car- specifically upon the subject of mis- ried forward, especially in that portion sions, is another helpful discussion of which treats of the Christian dispensa- woman's condition, and adaptation to tion, which has already extended over service in the kingdom of God. nineteen hundred years.

"Our Work," by C. B. Ward, for PALESTINE.-It is difficult to get at eighteen years a Methodist missionary in India, published by E. J. Decker the exact truth, as to the state of the Company,Chicago, outlines fifteen years of devoted service among the Hindus, Holy Land. One who ought to know in dependence upon God both for grace and for material support. It will quick- assured us lately that the incoming of en the faith of any reader. Jews to the country is now strictly pro· We are glad to see that the Revell Company have issued an illustrated edi- hibited, and yet here is what the Lontion of Dr. Davis's" Biography of the Rev. Joseph Hardy Neesima." Hav- don Spectator recently published: ing already called attention to the life of this remarkable pioneer in Japanese " The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, education, it only remains to say that in a letter to Friday's Times, gives some this American edition is a great im- facts which show that the Jews are provement in every respect upon the pouring into Palestine. About one hunprevious edition, and another of the dred thousand Jews have entered the indispensable books in a complete mis- Holy Land during the last few rears, sionary library. and' the arrival of a vaster host is Immi- nent. ' 'Noone,' he goes on, ' can pos- "Among the Matabele," by David sibly forecast the next seven years of Carnegie, published by the London Re- Jewish immigration.' If the bishop's ligious Tract Society, gives a brief but view of what is going on is correct, we very satisfactory account of the Mata- are face to face with a fact that may bel, tribe, their arts, crafts, weapons, revolutionize the politics of Mediter- ranean Asia. Already the railways are opening up the countr.v between the coast and Jerusalem and Damascus, and if a Jewish immigration onalargesca1e is added to this, Syria may become once more one of the most important places in the East. The idea of the Jews again possessing a country is a very curious one."

GENERAL MISSIONARY lNTEI,LIGENCE

V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

EDITED BY BEV. D. L. LEONARD.

Extracts and Translations from Foreign ing of the systems for which they are Periodicals. content to abjure Christianity. For in- stance, in the neighborhood of the mis- BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, sion station at Cotta. Colonel Olcott suc- ceeded in stirring up the Buddhist priests MASS. to such hostility that for awhile the at· tendance at the Christian schools was INDIA. sensibly diminished. In the village of Udumulla, under this influence the -The Ohurch Mi8sionary InteUigencer priests opened a rival school, and proremarks: "Miss Gordon Cumming ex- nounced a very singular form of expresses surprise at the curious craze"in communication against all who should favor of Buddhism which has broken persist in sending their children to the out of late years in Europe, and criti- mission schools. Such offenders were cises the attractive pictures drawn by to be fined a rupee and a half, and were !esthetic dreamers in their English or ,further admonished that "the dhobie German studies of the realities of Bud- shall not wash their clothes; the native dhist life and worship. She remarks doctors shall not attend any of them in in one chapter : sickness; the devil dancer8 8hall not per- form demon ceremonies for them (l), and " 'There is, unfortunately, no doubt the astrologer8 shall not con8ult the planet8 that Buddhism has received a real im- for them on the birth of their c7tildren, or petus from the example of certain fool- concerning marriages andother important ish Europeans, who (most assuredly events I"~ lacking any personal knowledge of THE MASTER whom they so dishonor) have " 'We need scarcely wonder that thrown in their lot with the teachers of those who have escaped from this deso-called theosophy and esoteric Bud- based system are proof against a.ll argudhism; systems which those who un- ments of the theosophists. Colonel Olderstand them best classify as " Bedlam- cott did his utmost to persuade a Budite balderdash," "blatant humbug," dhist priest who had become a Chrisand" impudent imposture." tian to resume the yellow robe. When he had exhausted his arguments, the " , I would shrink from quoting such ex-priest replied, with more force than expressions regarding any phase of true polish, "I am not a dog, that I should theosophy or " Divine knowledge," but return to my vomit. Pray spare your the leaders of this society in Ceylon pity. If you can believe that there is (well aware that there could be no fel- no right, no wrong, no soul, no conlowship between seekers after knowl- science, no responsibility, no God, no edge of God and the atheistic system of judgment, you need for yourself all the Buddhism, which does not acknowledge pity you possess, and more." any God) were wise in their generation, and adopted as their title the Parama- " 'Yet it is to this system that so wignanartha, or Supreme Knowledge great an impetus has been given even in Society. Consequently it embraces Europe and America by the agency of whatever may be the individual ideal so beautiful a writer as Sir Edwin Arof highest good, whether it be how nold, who, in his passionate admiration best to enjoy this world and how to get for the good and noble, depicts things on in it and get wealth, or how best to not as they really are, but as he would attain to Nirvana and the extinction of have them to be; for truly what he calls all desire. the "Light of Asia" has most practi- " , I think the European disciples of these schools would be rather startled were they to realize the practical work-

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS

cally proved to be only bewildering (long missionary of the Basel Society in darkness. South India) has gone home has deeply " , Surely such an ovation as was ac- moved the hearts of those to whom he corded to him by the Buddhists when had become dear in India, and ours he visited Ceylon in 1886 was doubtful among them. What a rich and fruitful honor for a Christian. At one Buddhist tree! How far abroad this tree extend- college near Colombo well-nigh three ed the refreshing shadows of its boughs, thousand assembled to testify their laden with fruit! A tree planted by gratitude to the poet who has painted the water brooks of everlasting life I their leader in colors all borrowed from Deeply as he is missed, keen as is the the life and teaching of Him who is the pain felt at his loss, yet both are miti- true LIGHT OF THE WORLD. The hon- gated by the remembrance of a life so ored guest was placed on a raised plat- full and rich; indeed, in view of the form beneath an honorific canopy, while eternity into which he has passed over Buddhist ecclesiastics robed in yellow in blessed slumber, the joyful conscious- satin chanted chorals, litanies, and an- ness that this full, rich life is not con- thems in Pali and Singhalese, Sir Edwin cluded, but has entered upon the stage replying in Sanskrit. of glorious perfection, disposes us rather " , One of those best acquainted with to a sense of thankfulness. God be practical Buddhism in Ceylon describes praised for all that he, in Christ, was it as " the most cunningly devised sys- permitted to offer and to be to so tem of atheism and negation, of idol many !"-Oalwe·r jUissionsbZatt.

worship, tree and serpent worship, and -" Hinduism no longer has a really pessimism which has ever held the sure hold on many, as it is easy to dishuman mind in bondage;" a system cover from repeated expressions of the exactly answering to the awful scrip- people to us, and I believe that, in stilltural summary" having no hope, and ness, God is preparing a transition of without God in the world." the masses into Christianity. "-Mission- ary CHRISTIAN SCHLESCH, in Dansk Mis- " , Can anything more pitiful be con- aiona-Btad. ceived than that human beings born within the pale of the Christian Church can deliberately sacrifice the privilege – " If God taught the Old Testa- of individual personal communication ment mi5sionary compassion, by calling with the ever-present Almighty Friend, to his attention that in ' Nineveh, that who cares for each one of us, in ex- great city.' there were' more than six· change for an utterly irrespongive nega- score thOl:sand persons that cannot dis- tion-a theory of perfection only to cern between their right hand and their be attained through self·conquest, at left hand,' what thoughts mnst the which poor weak human beings are ad- census of India inspire, which shows vised to aim through ages of lonely us living within its range almost as lifelong struggles extending over many many children under five years of age transmigrations, without one prayerful (45,000,000) as there are men, women, look to the Divine Helper who alone and children in the whole German Em- can keep our wayward wills from wan- pire!

dering after all manner of evil? And " This vast population of 287,000,000, all this in order to gain the cessation of among which the British power is so their individual life.' " firmly established as to be able to take -" The Moravian Mission in Leh, a census that offends so many deeply Tibet, has borne its first fruits in the rooted prejudices, is not held in obedibaptism of a young man last Good Fri- ence by numbers. In all India there day. "-Ohurch Missionary Intelligenccr. are only 247,790 Europeans and Eura- sians. The whole army amounts only – " The news that dear Papa Gundert to 218,230 men; the police to 143,524.

GlllNEKAL MISSIONAl'tT INTELLIGENCE

" India is not a land of cities, but of independently of thtit there is a Chris· villages. Only 27,200,000 dwell in tian profession which, in spite of much cities. shortcoming and of our miserable di- visions, does lay hold of the heart and " The late census of India gives the mind of England, and the red cross in number of Animists as 9,000,000. This our banner which we still hold is not is simply the worship of spirits, con- merely a symbol, but a great and ceived as localized or ubiquitous, a re- blessed reality. But if this is true of ligion mainly of superstitious terror. the society we call the nation, how The religious condition of the lower much more is it true of the society we castes of Brahmanism or Hinduism dif- call the Church, which is humanity fers but slightly from this. Grouping centred in God in the Lord Jesus the two classes together, we have an Christ lOur Church can never be sat- aggregate of about 50,000,000. This isfied with enjoying God's blessings at mass, relatively inert, will become the home, and diffusing them over human- prey of the Brahmanist revival or of ity here, unless we take hold of the Islam, unless the Christian mission lays blessed opportunities which God has hold of these elements. It ought to do given us, and diffuse them all over the this, without neglecting any of the world, which is a coudition of the other elements of Hindu society; but strength and vitality of the Church at alas 1 how little the Christian Church home.-Bishop BARRY, in Olmrcl. Misyet comprehends the grandeur of the sionary Intelli,qerwer. task which Jesus has confided to her as her true reason of being l"-Professor MISCELLANEOUS. F. HERlIIAN KRUGER, in Journal des Mi88ions. -" A.lmost all French writers have exalted the Renaissance at the expense -A. Christian preacher having lately of the Reformation, maintaining that discovered a cobra nearly paralyzed by the former was broader in its views a flood in which it had been caught, than the latter, and that it brought to asked leave to kill it, but the people mankind a completer liberty. The facts would not consent. The Bombay Guar- do not sustain this view, The nations dian suggests that the cobra will do which embraced the Reformation are well to guard itself against possible evidently in advance of those which redangers in the future from intrusive mained satisfied with the Renaissance. Christians by taking out a government This is because the Reformation inlicense to poison people. In that case volved a moral force which was lacking the interests of the revenue will secure to the Renaissance. And moral force it not only against being attacked, but united with education is the enduring even against being spoken of dispar- foundation of national prosperity. Thc agingly. Reformation was a return to the Gos- pel, and the Gospel, being superior to THL UNITED KINGDOM. the traditions of classic antiquity, can- not fail to bring forth better fruit."- -" I say that England is truly a EMILE LAVELEYE, quoted in El AbQgado Christian nation, independently alto- Cristiano Ilustrado (Mexico). gether of the national profession of Christianity, which is embodied in the -" The Allgemeine Missions·Zeitconnection of the national Church with schrijt for September contains an inthe State-of which I hope it is not ir- teresting and very learned article on relevant to ask you-it has been bound the attitude of the Lutheran Church in up with some of the most glorious Germany toward missions to the hea- . things in the life of England in the past then in the seventeenth century. It ap· -to ask you to pray that the bond pears that in the first half of that cenwhich God has so blest may not be broken in our time. I say that quite

EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS

tury it was seriously maintained by viewed as SOUls destined for immortal- German divines that the command to ity and needing the illumination of go into all the world was only given to faith, but as so many strong arms to be the apostles, and that the diffusion of trained to work, not for themselves, but the Gospel among all nations was no es- for their German masters, and princi- sential aim of the Christian Church. pally through the mediation of the mis- This naturally exposed the Lutheran sionaries. The negroes or other natives Church to sharp attacks from the side are to be virtually, though not for- of the Church of Rome, which was then mally, slaves, and the missionaries are beginning her career of missionary required to serve as the chief slaveactivity. It is interesting to learn that drivers. Of course there is no objecan Englishman, John Drury, was the tion to their throwing in a little religion first to endeavor to awaken the mission- by way of amusement at odd times. ary zeal of Germany in the year 1650. Indeed, this is allowed to be necessary, He was followed in 1663 by the great in order to give them a hold upon the German advocate of missions, the Baron people. Justinian von Welz. Welz was treated So far as we have observed, the Geras a dreamer and a fanatic by the ortho- man missionary societies have set themdox divines of his day, and during the selves firmly against all these claims of rest of the century a sharp struggle exaggerated Germanism; but Superinwent on between the advocates and the tendent Merensky appears to be rather enemies of missions, ending at last in carried away with them. Of course he the victory of the missionary idea. The abhors all slave-holding proposals, and whole story is an additional proof how would have the spiritual good of the indifference to foreign missions belongs people uuhesitatingly put first; but he to an order of things which must pass seems to insist that German missionaries away when a church or an individual shall bend themselves to promote among awakes to full consciousness of the their converts German ways, in society supremacy of Christ. "-The Ohronicle. and in religion, and apparently in every- thing else. The appeal which he makes -The Moravian Church, with its to our Lord's action in Israel ought, as usual mild wisdom, raises a firm pro- the Moravian brethren remark, to show test against Superintendent Merensky's him the contrary. Christ confined Himstrange position, that missions ought self personally, for obvious reasons, more and more to put off their inter- within Israel; but under the Jewish national and put on a strictly national envelope this Gospel is addressed to aspect, and that only when this change universal man. The Missionsblatt well is thoroughly accomplished will mis- remarks that Herr Merensky has nothsiims be perfect I A more absolute re- ing to say of His death for the world, versal of the hands upon the dial of nor of His last command. Christ mentime, a completer contradiction of the tions the nations, thereby implying that advancing history of mankind, and His messengers are to respect their above all of the kingdom of God, it peculiarities, but not that they are stubseems as if it would be difficult to find. bornly to adhere to their own. If the The truth is, that the Germans seem as missionaries cannot, for this end, lay yet to be fairly intoxicated with their aside much of What is very dear to, new colonial ambitions. Every German them, they seem to have forgotten what abroad, traveller, scientist, or mission- their Master laid aside when IIe came ary, is clamorously required to make on earth. himself an instrument for the propaga- As the Blatt remarks, to impose on a tion of Germanism; that first, Chris· newly converted people, of a race widetianity and everything else apparently ly removed from that of the missionaafter that. The natives are not to be ries, the peculiarities of a long national

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELJ.IGENCE

and religious development, largely un· youths cheer the missionaries by their intelligible to them and often incongru- constancy.

ous, seems a strange way of settiqg home the Gospel of all nations. Let -A visit has been paid to the Sesse this be carried out, and soon the mis- Islands by Mr. G. L. Pilkington and sionaries of each nation would become the Rev. E. Millar, who left Mengo in incapable of working outside of the July last for that purpose. On 14 of dominions of their own country. How the 27 islands there arc churches;' one then about China and Japan and other each on 10, two on three, and three on one-19 churches altogether, The popugreat independent governments'! The Brethren remark that their own lation on these islands is estimated as Church has never denied her German 75,000, of Whom 5450 afe returned as origin and her prevailingly German readers, 76 as baptized, and 161 as cate· character. The remembrances of the· chumens. There are 21 native teachers lands of Luther and Huss are dear to working on these islands, sel'.t by the her, and she conveys them into the vari- Church Council.

ous lands into which she has spread. -About the same time that Messrs. But this is spontaneously, and only so Pilkington and Millar went southward far as is consistent with the national to the Sesse Islands, Mr. R. H. Leakey character and remembrances of converts went northward to the province of and members. Whatever German flavor Bulemezi, and after spending six weeks may adhere to the Gospel which she there, he writes of having visited nine preaches she is not ashamed of, but it places in that province where there is the Gospel and not the particular local were churches, and he knew of several flavor of it which she has at heart, and others. which she thinks that all Christian mis- sionaries ought to have at heart. She -At Namukozi, in Tingo, 22 adult does not go forth to convert men to Mo- converts have been baptized. The Rev.

ravianism or Germanism, but to con- H. R. Sugden says: "The Church was vert them to God. full" and there were great rejoicings.

In matters concerning missionary -The success in Kikabya, a district principle we might do worse than to in Kyagwe, is most marked. This distake Herrnhut for our Oathedra Petri. trict is under a Christian chicf named Tomasi. The Rev. G. K. Baskerville British Notes. found at the chief's country place 32 candidates for baptism whom the chief J'lY JAMES DOUGLAS. himself had instructed. The district under this chief is about 50 miles long. Olturch Mi8sionary Society. – The Mr. Baskerville spent 34 days in the news concerning Eastern Equatorial disl,rict visiting the towns, which were Africa is particularly full. The re- " all gardens," walking 80 miles, and motest station at Nassa, on Speke Gulf, each day delivering two addresses. At is a very isolated one, being 600 miles Namiliti 10 persons professed to yield from Mpwapwa, with no mission sta- their hearts to the Saviour. There is tion between, and about 280 miles from every prospect of a glorious reaping Uganda, on the opposite coast of the time in this region. Victoria lake. Two missionaries, the Rev. E. H. Hubbard and Mr. J. P. Nickis- Society for the Propagation of the Gos- son, labor in this dark region, and see on pd.-We have not hitherto noticed the all sides trust in charms, thc practice of work of the Society for the Propaga- witchcraft, cases of robbery and even tion of the Gospel, which, in addition murder. A congregation of over 200 to the Church Missionary Society, is sus· has been gathered, and several native tained by the Churc. of England. A

BRITISH NOTES

brief notice of the work of the Society puzzling out. In particular the pres- for the Propagation of the Gospel in ence or absence of the article was very Ramnad, South India, may serve to hard to understand, but some forty- sample the doings of this society. For three rules clear it all up.

the purposes of administration the mis- -The work on the Upper Congo is sion is divided into six pastorates or dis· making .strides, but chiefly thus far tricts, all of which are under the charge among the women and children. There of native pastors. These districts are: are now six dialects reduced to writing Ramnad, Keelakarai. Pamban, Raja· by the missionaries on the field belongsingamangalam, KiJanjani, and Parama· ing to our various societies. gudy. In the Ramnad district the Chris- tians are mostly members of the Valyar -The Baptist Union of Backergunge caste, a tribe of hunters who live to a and Furidpore, Eastern Bengal, have great extent in the jungle, earning their just celebrated their fifteenth annual Iivelihuod by hunting, fishing in streams, gathering. The proceedings were of an and cutting down firewood. The Keela· enthusiastic description, and large and kal"ai district is the largest in the mis- representative audiences heard the Gos- sion, containing 1500 Christians aDd pel forcibly preached for three evenings catechumens. In Rajasingamangalam with unabated interest.

there are 448 Christians and 81 catechu- -At Turki, the Rev. Robert Spurmens. Of these the majority came geon, of Barisal, reports the baptism of from the Roman Church, which has two men, the first·fruits of the Gospel in been at work in this district from the that place. One was eighty years of sixteenth century with only nominal re- age, a Boigaree, and, therefore, a begsults. It is found that the most unsatis· gar. He came to beg, but found the factory of all Christians are those who pearl of great price, and discontinued have joined the Society for the Propa- his old life. Often he spends the night gation of the Gospel mission from the saying over the texts or hymns he has Roman communion, and that it is.better learned, and is much in prayer. to reap directly from heathenism than from Rome's half·way houile. The Wealeyan Mi88ionaru Society.-At Kilanjani district numbers 940 baptized Yemkapalli, near Kundi, some earnest Christians and 200 catechumens. TheEe Christians were baptized some- months are made up of Idaiyars and Maravas. ago. They have let their light shine, The Idaiyars follow the calling of shep- and have sought the evangelization of herds. but the Maravas, until changed the villagers. As the result the mis- by grace, are robbers and thieves and sionary and a party of workers visited given up to devil-worship. In the mis- the village to enroll those who had re- sion district of Paramagudy there is but solved to become Christians. The peo- little success save among the pariahs in ple quickly gathered, and clamored for the villages. The systematic working permission to attend the meeting. The of this entire mission dates from Mr. Rev. A. S. Dharmiah preached, setting Billings's arrival in 1873, who, under forth the way of salvation through a God, has done grand work. System, crucified and incarnate Saviour, and faith, perseverance, and achievement showing the uselessness of bathing in are conspicuous features of the last sacred rivers for the remission of sins.

twenty years' labor. At the close, 11 persons of the Mala community came forward as candidates Bapti8t Misaionaru Society.-On the for baptism, and boldly gave their testi- Lower Congo the Rev. W. Bentley re- mony before the people. One said he ports that he has just completed the ap- had prayed to Siva, but got no answer pendix to the Congo grammar and syn· to his prayers. He was glad that he tax, a work which has required much had found Jesus had died to save him.

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTEJ.LIGENCE

Another, a man of sixiy years, said he power to get wealth." Let us pay God had worshipped Siva according to the His due. traditions of his fathers, but the visits of the preachers had enlightened him. -There.is no better proof, says the After hearing these and other testimo- Journal of Education, of the essential nies, 1.1 persons were received into the barbarism of even the most civilized Ohurch of Ohrist by the rite of baptism. nations of the world than is afforded by a comparison of the money they expend The Ohristian Literature Society for for the maintenance of physical sulndia.-Tbe report of this society, of premacy as against the expenditme for which the Rev. James Johnston is the mental improvement. In some tables enthusiastic secretary, shows much recently compiled, the amount per capprogress in the diffusion of Ohristian ita expended by various governments books and tracts throughout the great for military and educational purposes is peninsula. "India is now the best set down as follows: educated of the non-Christian countries of the world." Among its 300,000,000 Military. Education. there 14,000,000 or 16,000,000 of readers France…………………. $4 00 taught in most modern methods of Eu- England……………….. 372 S 70 rope, with all the impulses which mod- Holland ……………….. 358 ern science and literature are fitted to Germany ………………. 2 30 62 impart to the mind. In the interests of Russia ………………… 204 64 this class, 1,133,115 volumes were print- Denmark ………………. 1 76 42 c;j ed last year. The Rev. G. H. Rouse, Italy…………………… 152 03 of Caicutta, cites an interesting case of Belgium……………….. 1 38 94 conversion through one of the tracts Austria …………. ~ …… 1 36 36 published in Bengali by this society and Switzerland……… …….. 82 4 written by himself. United States…. ……….. 30 32 46 THE KINGDOM. 185 -" Millions come from the millions." The millionaires are few in number. and II milliQn dollars from a million people is better than a million from one man.

-The total wealth of the richest -The Rev. F. B. Meyer, of London, family in the world, the Rothschilds, tells of one whose income is $10,000 per is said to amount to more than $2,000,- annum, who lives on $1000 and gives 000,000. This great mass of property the remaining $9000 to the cause of fordoubles itself every fifteen years. eign missions. Another, whose income is $10,000, Who lives on $1200, and -Let us call things by their right gives away the remainder. A governnames, especially when they relate to ess who earns $500 gives $250. An. the kingdom of God. Therefore, well other, who has a comfo·table compedoes Rev. J. B. Donaldson suggest: tence, remains in business, all the profits " Weare accustomed to talk of giving of which he gives. to the Lord's work. That is a great mistake. The giving is from the other -Says the Nashville Ohri8tian Adparty. The silver and gold are the '!locate: " A woman in Florida, recent- Lord's. We only dig it up. Thecattle ly deceased, bequeathed the Board of upon a thousand hills are His. We only Missions a ten-acre orange grove, twelve herd thcm. The wheat does not germi- acres of rich hummock land, and two nate by our power. The sun does not town lots. Two women give $800 towshine at our bidding. The rains do not ard building a church in Osaka, Japan. fall at our word. The soil is not fertile A local preacher sends us $200 for misthrough our wisdom. Our opportuni- sions, and a little child ten cents. A ties and faculties to make money are all missionary returns $250 to the treasury, gifts from God. He giveth thee the proposing to meet her own expenses… -The Bishop of Carlisle, speaking at -Our missionaries perform a double the farewell meeting of three mission· service, since they not only introduce ary bishops in Exeter Hall, referring to Christianity, but also compel false faiths the death of Bishop Hill and so many of to decency and the performance of good his party, said: " Are we tempted to works. Therefore Mr. Ford, of the say of lives laid down like this, To what Syria Mission, spoke wisely when he purpose is this waste? Let us not take once said that he was going up the up words from the mouth of Judas.'·- mountain to open two schools at a cer- The Gleane1'. tain point. "How is that f" .. I shall -The superintendent of the Life Sav- open one, and the priest will open aning Service reports that in the last year other."

380 vessels in distress were aided; on. -For some reason the missionary board. these vessels were 4054 persons, periodicals for January are especially of whom 3933 were saved and only 61 full of interesting matter. Among them lost: 658 persons were succored at the is the Ohronicle of the London Missionstations, and 83 persons were saved who ary Society, which gives an account of had fallen from wharves and piers. a tour through some of the Samoan Islands. and of the jubilee of the Malua -" There is no near and no far, but Institution for Training Teachers. The just one r<Jund world of lost and perish- Presbyterian Assembly Herald must also ing souls to be rescued and saved be mentioned, which is a paper rather through the world's Christ." than a magazine, published by Rev.

-In ref"rence to the missionaryen- R. S. Green. at Syracuse, N. Y., at a terprise, there are at least three kinds price merely nominal; is only in the of Christians-those who are merely midst of its first year, and each month parochial in their sympathies, those who serves up a large amount of excellent are narrowly patriotic, and those who reading relating to the work both abroad are really recumenical. The parochially and at home.

minded limit their regards to what they -According to the newspapers, there can actually see around them. For is a proposition on foot in Chicago to them even England has no existence make use of the phonograph in familreligiously. Only a little less limited in iarizing candidates for the missionary view are those patriotically minded souls field with foreign languages. The idea to whom all foreign work is " outland· is to do away with the necessity obligish." God wants us recumenically mind- ing young missionaries to spend three ed, and as English Christians belonging years in learning the language of the to a world-wide empire it is specially people among whom they are to work. our duty so to be.-The Oltlroniele. Foreigners will talk into the phono- -True heroism was displayed by the graph, and then students will use it to soldiers at Hong Kong at the time of become familiar with the sound and ac· the recent plague. They voluntarily cent of the strange tongue. The first assisted the authorities in disinfecting machines will be placed in the Young the houses of the people who had per- Men's Christian Association building, ished, with the result that one officer and others will be distributed among and one man fell victims to the disease. prominent churches.

They died to save men's lives.- U. P. -Says the Independent: "It is an In- Magazine. teresting fact that the wife of Field- -On the corner-stone of the London Marshal Oyama, Japanese Secretary of Temperance Hospital, laid by Sir Wil. War and Commander of the Second frid Lawson, is this inscription: "In Army in China, is that lovely and Chris- humble dependence on Almighty God tian lady known lnber girlhood in New for cure in the treatment of disease." Haven, where she was a member of the family of the late Dr. Leonard Bacon, and but at the beginning of her term of and at Vassar College, where she was service, she was left a widow. Since president of her class, as Miss Stemats 1858 she has been stationed at Thongze Yamakawa. We can testify from our as a quasi pastor of the church and own remembrance of her that she was superintendent of cvangelistic labors in an extremely lovely girl." all the region around, with divers col- porteurs, Bible women, teachers, etc., WOMAN'S WORK. looking to her for counsel.

-Life and Light has been examining -Though woman's work in connecthe records of the American Board, and tion with the London Missionary Sofinds that women began to organize for ciety began a full century since, and missionary giving as early as 1812 ; finds was carried on by such as Mrs. Moffat, also that during the first ten years about Mrs. Ellis, Mrs. Mullens, 11rs. Mault, Mrs. one tenth of the receipts are acknowl- Kennedy, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Wardedged as from women. A.mong the vari- law, it was not organized and pushed ous items are such as these: "The Fe- until since 1875, and even ten years later male of Color, $5 ; the Indigent Fe- only 27 had been sent out. But now male, $3; the Aged Widow, $5; the the number in the field is 72, and no less Pious Lady, $10; the Unknown Fe- than 103 have borne a part. Says the male, $1; Lucy, $1; the Little Girl, Quarterly New8: " Our present actual .06; the Poor Woman, .50; the Elder- band of workers is distributed over the ly Lady, .75; the Pious Females, $2 ; ficld, which is the world, in the followthe Two Children and Hired Girl, $3 ; ingproportions: 35inindia(17inNorth the Servant Girl, .40; the Two Widows, India, 15 in South India, and 3 in Tra- $1.25, and many other ' Female Friends vancore), 22 in China, 6 in Madagascar, of l'Yfissions,' whose names are written 2 in South Africa, and 4 in the South in heaven. We have a glimpse of sac- Sea Islands. There has been a propor- Tifice~ in the gift of a gold watch, in the tionate increase in the number of our avails of gold beads, a bracelet, a neck- nati'OO female agents during the past ten lace, and other jewelry, of a chaise, years. Our girls' schools now number and of 10 cents, a premium obtained in 375, with some 56,753 scholars." Sunday-school. " -In a recent Pacijic Advocate Mrs. -Mrs. Capron's history illustrates Sue H. Cousland gives a graphic dehow a foreign missionary is made by scription of "our mission compound" home missionary prayers. Her father, in Swatow, China, ineluding the schools, Dr. Hooker, a saintly man, said to his the hospitals, and the printing estabdaughter, about to be married to Mr. lishment. We can almost see and hear Capron, to go with him to India: what is going on in that busy hive. " How came you ever to think of going abroad as a foreign missionary~" feel- YOUNG PEOPLE. ing the bitterness of the separation. " Why, father," she replied, "I do not -The Y. M. C. A. has 42 organizacount it strange. I have heard you tions among colored young men, of pray for missions all my life, and now which 26 are in colleges. 1 am going to answer your prayers."- Life and Light. -Says the Young Men'lI Bra: "Dr. Charles A. Eastman, the Indian secre- -A recent Helping Hand contains an tary of the International Committee, inspiring account of "one woman's was born in Minnesota, in 1858, of threework" in Burma, relating to the forty- quarter Indian blood, of a notable famfour years' heroic endurance and most ily of the Sioux tribe. At the time of fruitful endeavor of Mrs. Murilla B. In- the Minnesota massacre (1862) he was galls. While scarcely out of youth, carried off by an uncle and grandmother into Manitoba. Until sixteen he lived zeal rises higher and they have had a wild life, and never saw the inside of more experience they will do far better.

a house. Then he attended Indian mis- -The last year closed with 37,002 sion schools for three years, later sev- societies of Christian Endeavor, of eral preparatory schools, finally entering which 30,662 are in the United States, Dartmouth College in 1883, and gradu- 2347 are in Canada, and 3993 in foreign ating in 1887. In the same year he en- lands. During the last quarter 1293 tered the Boston University School of had been forme4. The members aglIedicine, from which he graduated in gregate 2,223,800. 1890, and was immediately appointed government physician at Pine Ridge -On Christmas Day everyone of the Agency, South Dakota, and remained 1200 convicts in the Kentucky penitenthere until his resignation in 1893 to tiary recei ved a letter from the Christian enter upon the practice of medicine in Endeavor societies of Louisville. 'l'hese St. Paul, Minn." letters were of a religious nature, quite long, very interesting, and no two were -A. Young Men's Hindu Association worded alike. Many of the prisoners has been started in Madras to rival the have signified their intention of answer- Y. M. C. A.., and one of the local rajahs ing the letters. is said to have proIl}ised 5000 rupees for a building. -The Young People's societies in the German Baptist churches of the East- -The students of Knox College, To- ern States organized a Union last Sep- ronto, have a missionary society which tember at Buffalo, which now contains sent out 29 of their number last summer 1405 members. They raised $1818 for to do pioneer work in various sections current expenses last year, and $1013 for of the Dominion, and raised $2115 of benevolence.

the $5935 require.1. -Rev. A.. A. Fulton (Presbyterian) -A. Methodist Christian Eudeavor writes from Canton, Ohina: "Four Society in Oshkosh, Wis., has issued a Christian Endeavor_ societies in three programme for the current year, with years, by use of two cents per week these as the topics of missionary meet- plan, have reached 27,000 patients and ings: preached to more than 100,000 persons January-New Year's Day in Heathen in 1114 villages. If every society in Lands. our Church used this plan, we should February-An India Social. have $250,000 per year."

March- Thank-offering Service. UNITED STATES. April-Our Pioneer Missionaries.

1tlay-A China Social. -According to Dr. Dorchester: June-Young People, or Light-Bear- " The growth of New England during ers in Mission Lands. the last fifty years has been largely by July-A. Journey to Korea. the foreign immigration. The Roman August-A. Japan Social. Catholic population amounts to 1,004,- September-Korea and Missions. 605. The actual membership in all non- October-Missionary Heroes. Catholic bodies is 764,722. To find the November-Social. population of the Protestant bodies, he December-A Conversation: Mission- multiplies the membership by three and ary Heroines. a half, which giTeS 2,676,527 as the -Though the Epworth Leagues fell non-Catholic adherents. The Protestant far IIhort of the large sum called for in and Catholic populations make 4,943,- their Thanksgiving offering for mis- 527 in a total population of 4,700,745.

sions, the total is yet something more -A.s the year was closing the J!Jvan- than $30,000. When their evangelizing geli8t gave a long article to the public charities of New York City, including at Martin's Creek, near the spot where the Out-Door-Poor Department, the stood the cabin built by him, and occu- various hospitals, the idiot asylum, pied two years from 1774. It was here almshouses, workhouse, morgue, etc. that much of his memorable journal Last year the Commissioners of Chari- was written.

ties and Corrections were allowed -In California there are 4 Japanese $2,295,675, and ask $3,397,551 for this churches, with 316 members. Thirtyyear. But besides, $888,519 were grant- four were added during last year. ed to 98 other institutions of a private There are 822 pupils in school and 544 or sectarian character. in the Sunday-school. The contribu- -In connection with Hospital Sun- tions were $3323. The church and the day it was stated that this same city Young Men's Christian Association contained about 10,000 hospital beds for have contributed $500, the church payall kinds of bodily ills, about one half ing the regular assessment to the Synod of them supported by public funds, and and the General Assembly's Fund, supso rapidly have these institutions mul- porting in part an evangelist, and givtiplied within ten years that the annual ing aid in charitable work in this councost has risen from $274,035 to $840,831 try and in Japan. The Christian Assolast year. ciation numbers about 100 members, and it gave $100 to furnish accommo- -The Children's Aid Society main- dations for a branch mission of their tains 21 industrial schools; 7 night countrymen near Chinatown. schools; 1 farm school; 7 lodging- houses; 4 summer charities; a laun- -The American Board has 36 physi- dry; iii dress-making, sewing-machine, cians in the field, of whom 15 are or- and type-writing school; a boys' print- dained and 8 are women. In all, from ing s~op; free reading-rooms at all the the first 89 have been sent out, and 34 lodging-houses, and at 219 Sullivan were graduates in theology as well as Street and 247 East Forty-fourth Street. in medicine.

the total number of children under the -The Disciples (Christians) have decharge of the society during 1894 was cided to extend their foreign missionary 38,811, and the receipts were $402,234. work by establishing a mission in some In all, from the beginning nearly 100,- part of Africa. 000 have been supplied with homes in the country. -The Presbyterian Church has 1622 -This notice and exhortation is taken communicants in Africa; 6476 in China; from the Sailor's Magazine: "New 1795 in India; 4826 in Japan; 141 in York Christian! Do you want to at- Korea ; 4512 in Mexico; 2697 in Pertend earnest religious meetings? Go sia; 1907 in Siam; 1972 in Syria; 4109 to the Sailors' Home, 190 Cherry Street, in South America; 553 in Canada, and on Saturday night; to the Mariners' 49 in Guatemala. Over 31,000 mem- Church, 46 Catharine Street, on Sun- bers abroad makes this quite a cosmoday night; or, not to mention others, to politan body. Library Hall, Cob Dock, Brooklyn Navy Yard, on Thursday night, at half past -In December last the United Brethseven o'clock. The secretary was glad ren sent forth 6 missionaries to help on to see about 200 naval seamen present the work of evangelization and educa- tion upon the West Coast of Africa.

at the Navy Yard meeting on Novem- -The Presbyterians have two homes ber 8th." for the children of missionaries in -December 5th a monument to David Wooster, 0., the Livingstone, with 19 Brainerd was dedicated by the Y. M. rooms, and the Westminster, with 23.

C. A. of Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. The chilrlren of 5 families were found in them last year, and already 8 chil- -The society last named is fortunate dren have made application to entel' above most in having an editorial secre- during 1895. tary possessed of the rare and royal gift EUROPE. of speaking the solemn truth, of a sort which is disagreeable to not a few, with Great Britain.-The Rev. W. all courage and plainness, but always Hughes, Colwyn Bay, North Wales, in love and tenderness' (suaviter in modo, is director of the Congo Training Insti- fortiter in re). As, for example, in the tute, whose object is " to give religious December InteUigenCf!r to the laggard and industrial education to the most givers who would have the society repromising of the African converts in the trench.

, United Kingdom, and to establish sim- -The East London Institute, since ilar institutions as branches in Africa." its founding in 1872, has trained and Of the latter 5 are already founded. sent out 821 men and women, who are For this work £5000 are required. now toiling in 40 different countries.

-The Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society The number of departures last year was in London is something quite unique. 60, divided among a half score of mis- Founded in 1807, it aims to give pen- sionary societies.

sions of 5, 7, and 10 guineas each to the -The members of the Salvation Army needy of both sexes who are not under do not wear their ~niform in foreign sixty years of age. Several homes are fields; they enter into the life of the provided for these veterans. Some 6000 people, wear their clothes, eat their in all have been ministered to, and 1315 food, live in such houses as those innames are now on the books. The an- habit whom they would reach, and in nual cost is about £10,000, and the ag- all possible ways renounce their old gregate of expenditures is upwad of national identity and assume that of £240,000. natives of the land in which they work.

-The China Inland Mission has -In the January Central Africa (Uni- " urgent need for 100 consecrated men. versities' Mission) Rev. W. H. Wood- Existing stations are calling for rein- ard has a paper of admirable tone forcements, and God is opening new npon " Associate Missions and Family doors which there are no workers to Life." As is known to most, the soenter." ciety which he represents appoints only celibates to service, and all " stand so- -Eugene Stock, editorial secretary cially on the same level, receive the of the Church Missionary Society, has same allowances, live in the same house, been giving in two carefully prepared eat at the same table." Having no famarticles in the InteUigenCfJr some of the ily ties to fetter, all may move at once results of his research into the sources " at the bidding of the bishop." "The of missionary income. He finds that, climate alone, perhaps, might make in England at least, it is not poverty married life almost impossible." Therewhich hinders giving, nor is it affluence fore" it was not economy alone which which prompts to the exercise of this determined the system. " However, grace. Instead, it is well·nigh the rule though the ad vantages are so great. he that the most able bestow the least, does not claim that this is the only while the least able make large offer- legitimate or excellent way of carrying ings. He concludes that in almost on evan¥elizing work. every case it is not wealth but work which tells, vigorous, persistent effort on the part of clergymen or laymen, or -The Children's Fresh-air Fortnight both in co-operation, and supplies fig- scheme, directed by Mr. MacKeith, of ures in abundance to SUbstantiate his Glasgow, has received a second gift of conclusion .. £2000 to purchase and furnish a home for scrofulous children. Although not measures, the Turkish Government is distinctly evangelistic, the scheme is in- the greatest Mrs. Partington on record. "

cluded in the operations of the Glasgow -" Converts" from the Oriental United Evangelistic Association, and churches must needs be examined most sprung out of the work for the children carefully as to motive and aim before carried on in the Tent Hall on Sunday being received. For not a few are afternoons. prompted to become Protestants from merely selfish impulses, or to spite some· ASIA.

Islam.-Last year was for Robert body. Thus Rev. W. S. Nelson, of College" one of the most trying through 'l'ripoli, Syria, tells, in the Independent, which it has ever passed, through the of a man who was eager to turn Presby- prevalence of cholera, the great earth- terian, though grossly given to strong quake with its destruction of life and drink, and ready to withstand the property, and the serious political Maronite Church with" guns and pis- troubles in Asia Minor. Nevertheless, tols."

the work was in many respects more -Dr. Jessup is able to make a de· satisfactory than ever before. The total lightful setting forth of the Christian number of students was 200, represent- comity which prevails, whereby the ing 10 nationalities, among them 68 Presbyterians are left to themselves in Armenians, 65 Greeks, and 44 Bulga- Syria, and the Church Missionary Sorians. Improvements have been made ciety has exclusive possession in Pales· in all departments, and the preparatory tine, and neither will receive disaffected department has been entirely reorgan- members belonging to the other. ized. Funds are needed for a separate building for the latter. India.-Miss Phillips, of Balasore, Orissa, says: ., I am sure you will think -Tbemission press in Turkeyis kept I have abundant reason for making a in constant embarrassment by the ab- thank offering when I tell you the Lord surd fears of the government. "All has permitted us as a family to give the manuscripts must be submitted to 166 years of service to India. This in- examination at Constantinople before cludes the time given by father, mother, being printed. Some are rejected or brother, and 5 sisters, and when added returned in a mutilated condition, while to the time of 2 brothers-in·law and 1 those accepted are kept a long time and sister·in-law makes a total of 206 the printing delayed. Books that have years."

received the sanction of the government -A.n interesting sign of changing may be seized and destroyed at any time times in India was furnished in a Mo· upon a foolish pretence, as the coloring hammedan educational and social conof a map in a geography. Two men ference, held at Ahmedabad in OctOber. were imprisoned and their books con- The fact was brought home that if they fiscated, not for selling their geogra- are even to hold their own in the fuphies, but for procuring them for the ture, the education of their children governors at their request." must go beyond the mere learning of -The petition of 300,000 Christian the Koran by heart. A result of their women has brought to light a new ex· present defective education is that, out ample of Turkish justice. A Mr. Mah- of 1000 subordinate clerks in the collecdissian has been banished for life to an torate of Ahmedabad, only 2 are Mooasis in the desert of Sahara for trans. hammedans. A. notable feature of the lating into Turkish a portion of Scrip· conference was that Mullahs and Moulture referring to the coming of the king- vies advocated female education.

dom of Christ. " In attempting to stem -Anna Thompson writes to the the tide of Christianity by such petty Ohri8tian Advocate: "The Maharajah of Baroda has issued a notification to than 500 villages and mohallas, with 6 the effect that within his territories no Conference members and probationers, new liquor shops shall henceforth be 4 local elders and deacons, 14 local opened without the sanction of the min- preachers, and 60 exhorters; with 8 ister. .Ai3 for the existing shops, if five churches and chapels, 4 boarding- sixths of the house-owners and inhab- schools, 3 training-schools, 3 mission itants of any village or town would homes, 1 deaconness home, 1 hospital represent to the minister their wishes and dispensary, book shops, reading- that the liquor shops be closed, the min- rooms, prayer-rooms, and almost every ister, if he sees no objection, will give form of mission work in constant prog- the necessary sanction. " This same ress. There is a Christian community Hindu ruler" has schools for the low of nearly 4000, a membership of 2752; castes as well as high, and for zenana nearly 4000 are in Sunday-schools, and women and widows. Board, clothing, 1400 in the day schools.

books, etc., are furnished the low castes -Mr. Goodwin writes from the Gond free of charge. Industries of all sorts Itinerancy of the confirmation of 6 men and farming are taught to the boys. and 3 women, the latter being the first Sewing, fancy work, and cooking are of their sex to join the Church. One taught to the girls and women. He of them walked 45 miles to be present, also has fine libraries for his people. " another 60, and the third 63 miles, while -Near Calcutta there is a school some of the men travelled even further.

which is taught by a Brahman, and -The Darjeeling Newareports 78 bapthough neither teacher nor scholars are tisms at that station (Church of Scotoutwardly Christians, a Christian visitor land) last year, and a roll of 706 baphad an address presented to him by the ized persons, and in Kampilong 1243 school, in which" Our dear Lord .Tesus native Christians, of whom 113 were Christ" was spoken of. The school has baptized in 1894. a banner for use on festival days, bearing the device "The Brahmanical -At a recent conference in Calcutta Hehool, ' •and bearing beneath thc words, one of the members pointed out the ex- "Looking unto Jesus." The teacher pensiveness of wine; and that in native has invited one of the Calcutta missiona- congregations either cow's milk or the ries to come and address the pupils milk of the cocoanut should be used at every Sunday, on which day this Brah- the Lord's Supper. We know of the man patsltula is turned into a veritable celebration of this sacrament not long Sunday-school. ago where a fresh cocoanut was broken and the liquid used, and it was a season -The Jntelligence,,·(C. M. S.) has this of refreshing, where the presence of God appreciative word: "We are sincerely was manifest. The point is certainly rejoiced to notice the evidence of bless- well made that we should not teach our ing which has lately attended the work native church expensive habits in con- of higher education in India of the Free nection with worship. It must be taught Church of Scotland. We thank God to support itself; and we should not especially that the work of Dr. Miller burden ourselves in our efforts to force and his colleagues at the Madras Chris- it up to that goal.-Indian Witne88.

tian College has been fruitful in two im- -Another Hindu temple has been portant baptisms, Mr. Chethar, an M.D. " captured" by the Salvation Army at and B. L., and a Vakil in the High Court, Cape Comorin. The people of Checkad, and the other in Bombay, Mr. Narayen after removing their idols. handed over G. Velinkar, M.A., LL.B., one of the the building to be converted into a barprofessors in the college." racks. This makes the fourteenth -The Methodist Agra district has 8 which has been given up in like man- large circuits, with Christians in more ner -Can it be that our ever-staid and ful field for mission work?" He said: decorous brethren of the Canada Pres- "The most hopeful of all, I think. byterian and (Dutch) Reformed churches There are no caste prejudices, none of are actually stealing the thunder of the secret hostility which is so formid- General Booth? For we read in their able a barrier to Christian progress in papers of a "Christian mela" at Rut- India. The Chinaman is an open lam, Central India, where "we had a enemy or an open friend. He does not band composed largely of native instru- belong, like the Hindu, to a subject ments, besides a bass drum, cymbals, race, obliged to cringe to the conqueror, concertinas, etc. ; we also had banners While all the time he nurses a hidden inscribed with mottoes in Hindi, mount- enmity. The Chinese hates all foreigned on bullock carts in which also were ers, and is not afraid to say so. When our Christian boys. Thus equipped we he is gained to Christianity, he makes a marched through the streets, stopping stanch and loyal convert. The rate of at each street corner to proclaim the progress in China within the last twenty Gospel message that Jesus died to save." years has been amazing." Also in the Arcot mission, "the musical processions, station by station as -Surely missionaries in Mongolia are they arrived, were very grand with not carried to the skies on flowery beds banners and ribbons, and in vain did of ease. Thus 1I'lrs. Parker writes in they attempt to excel each other in sing- Ohina'8 Millions of a journey: .. We ing ; to an unprejudiced ear they were left Chao-Yang for a visit to Lan-Pei all equally rnstched and well sustained Tze-Fu, where we had reason to hope throughout. Each station was con- that there might be an opening for misspicuous by its own flags, the big greet- sion work. Our party consisted of the ing banner indicating the name of the old preacher, two boys, my husband, station. The prettiest flag was carried and myself. We had two carts, and by the members of the Immanuel's Mr. Parker rode his horse. No little Bajanai of Palmaner. " Well, if the preparation is required for such a jour- Name shall be honored thereby, and ney, and on the backs of the carts were souls shall be saved, who shall "for- strapped our provision box, medicines, bid" them? books for sale, magic lantern and slides and a tin of oil, a box containing kitch- China.-Rev. Henry Blodgett, re- en utensils, a small earthenware cookcently returned from Peking, says of Li ing stove and a quantity of charcoal; Hung Chang: "He believes in the While the insides of the carts were Western world civilization without the packed with onr boxes of clothes, the Christian religion, and, had he had his provender for the mules, a bag of cash, way, the Chinese would have been edu- a basket, teapot, etc., and over all these cated in the arts of modern warfare. our bedding. I was stowed away in The defeat of China, he says, came one cart packed in with pillows and from a supercilious disregard of the bedding, while the old preacher followed advance of the world in warfare. Rev. in the second, and the boys and drivers Charles Fenney, an American mission- occupied the shafts," etc. ary, teaches the English branches to the children of Li Hung Chang, who be- -The case of blind Ch'ang, of Manlieves that in the arts and sciences the churia, is the subject of an interesting rest of the world long ago passed article by C. F. Gordon-Cumming. China." Mr. Webster, of Moukden, says of this man's itinerary labors: " Blind Ch'ang. -The Rev. T. G. Selby, who has with little knowledge, but with a heart spent twelve years as a missionary in thrilled to the core with the truth which China, was asked: "From your ex" he knew, had in three months done perience, do you consider China a hope- more and better work: for the kingdom of heaven than half a dozen foreign from the infant Church who are go~g missionaries would have done in as out as evangelists support themselves many years. And this is only one of in part by their own earnings, and it is the many proofs that China must be expected that by next year one or more evangelized by the Chinese." young men will be supported in this -Miss F. M. Williams, of the China form of service by the Church, which Inland Mission, writes of " three Christ- is not a year old. Some members give mas days," beginning with 1891, and nearly one fourth of their earnings, behow, with but 8 souls redeemed at first, sides doing something for their parents the number rose to 38, and finally to 86. and friends."

-Mr. Currie, of the West Afri- AFRICA. can Mission of the American Board, -There are 3743 members and proba- writes: "About a week ago a man tioners in the Methodist Episcopal was brought here by night in a mis- Church in Africa. In Liberia there are erable state. He told a story of hav- 3260. In Bishop Taylor's missions there ing been poisoned with a glass of rum are 483, of which 86 are in Angola, 14 given him at the ombala of Kepoko, on the Congo, and 383 in Liberia. The and there was abudant reason to believe 383 are distributed as follows: Beaboo, his story true. Another trader has 22; Barraka, 29; Brooks, 29; Garra- begun to build within three hours' jour. way, 28 ; Grand Sess, 75; Sass Town, ney from here. He plans to put up a still, we hear, and that will make the 200. fourth place within a radius of four -The report comes that erelong the hours' journey from this place where Congo Free State is to become in full rum is distilled. What the harvest of form, what from the first it has been in all this civilization (1) will be God only fact, a colony of Belgium. That is, the knows."

little kingdom of 11,400 square miles and -From henceforth, it appears from something over· 6,000,000 inhabitants is late intelligence, British South Africa, to rule and undertake to civilize the with Cecil Rhodes as the ruling spirit, Congo Basin, containing 1,000,noo is to include the entire vast region exsquare miles and a population, say, of tending from the states already estab- 25,000,000. Though the right to do lished in the south northward across this may be hard to define, yet the re- . the Zambesi, and including Nyassala.nd suIt is almost certain to be for the bene- and the west shores of Lake Tanfit of mankind. ganyika, or from about 25" south lati- -Mr. Dorsey Mohun, United States tude almost to the equator. Fort Salis- commercial agent to the Congo Free bury, nearly in the centre, will be the State, who has recently returned to ca.pital of this empire, and British Cen- Washington after two years in Africa, tral Africa will disappear from the map.

declares that 20,000,000 people in that -M. Coillard, the veteran missionary region are eaters of human flesh. He of the Paris Society on the Zambesi, retells a horrible story about surprising a fuses to take the furlough which has village one day when a big cannibal been earnestly pressed upon him by the feast was in progress, and also describes directors. " Your invitation, " he writes, how he saw 14 persons buried alive in " did not cause me a moment's hesitaa grave with the dead body of a great tion, so clearly did I see the path of chief. duty. Thanks to God, I have enjoyed -The Baptist Miaaiona1'1J Magazirw excellent health since my last illness.

says: "Some young Christians in our In a few days I shall complete my six- West African Mission are examples in tieth year. To return to Europe would the matter of benevolence. The two be to close my career finally, and it is natural that I should feel the need of on his shoulder, a miscellaneous assortavoiding this contingency. And then ment fastened to either end of it-viz., let me tell you that when I look on our a lantern, saucepan, frying-pan, and small band and the needs of our work; small kettle, a galvanized pail, to serve when I think of all our losses and all the double pUrpose of water-can and our rebuffs, of the little we have done, wash-hand basin, and a picnic basket, and of all there is yet to do ; of the im- containing two plates, cup and saucer, mensity of our field of work, which we knife, fork, and spoon, and a small ourselves scarcely know as yet, I feel quantity of pepper, salt, tea, sugar, that to leave would have been a deser- butter, bread, and cake. The third tion, and I would willingly have an- luggage ·carrier had a tin box on his swered the committee in the words of head, containing' school prizes; for, the the hero of Ugands: 'You call me annual examinations being recently conback to Europe! Send us first ten cluded, I was going to give the prizes workers, and then I will come to help to the boys and girls of eight schools." you to find ten others.'" -JournaZ des ~Vi88ionB Jl}vangeZiques. -The Australasian Methodist Mis- sionary Society has fallen fortunate -In Uganda, a field entered only a heir to the English Wesleyan work in few years since, so rapid and widespread Fiji and Samoa, and besides has carried is the enlargement of the work that al- the Gospel to New Guinea, New Britready 100 native laborers are in the ain, and to the Chinese in Victoria and field, all supported by natif!/J contribu- New South Wales. The last report tells tions. And the plan is to secure as of 974 churches (buildings) and 568 many more, and then let each company other preaching places; 26 missionaalternate between three months of evan- ries ;76 native ministers; 80'catechists ; gelizing work and three months of 10,095 local preachers, teachers, class stlldy. leaders, etc.; 33,376 native members and 6205 on trial; 2018 schools, with -In keeping with the experiment 40,875 pupils: and 118,817 attendants mentioned above is the fact that Mr. on public worship. JQhnston, the British Commissioner for Central Africa. looks for the salvation -The Malua Institution, Samoa, held of that .region by the introduction of its jubilee last September, and the Lonfarmers and traders from India. His don ahri.~tian sums up thus the etory conviction is due to the success of a of fifty years: "Here is a school which colony established on the Shire River. did not cost the missionary society a Again, Indian soldiers are better fitted penny to build, which has supplied by nature and environment for the labor nearly every village in Samoa with a of keeping order than are either pure teacher who has had a careful training Europeans or pure Africans themselves. for four years, so that he can either Thirdly, in minor official posts they preach or teach. Some 1200 students will work for less wages and will stand have been trained for pastors and schoolthe climate far better than the whites. masters, and some 700 women have been trained by the missionaries' wives. ISLANDS OF THE SEA. Moreover, many of these went as mis- sionaries to the New Hebrides and the -According to Miss Bliss, a mission- Loyalty Islands, and some died a marary, modes of travel in the interior of tyr's death. To the northwest of Madagascar are still in a primitive state. Samoa there are 11,000 people who She says: "Six bearers were carrying have been won from heathenism by me in my palanquin, and three people Samoan teachers. The jubilee is to be followed with my luggage: u woman marked by the building of a hall to aewith my stretcher and box of bedding commooate 1000 persons." on her head, and a man with a bamboo

The Missionary Review of the World — January 1891

J. M

MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

VOL. XIV. No. t.-Old Series.–J ANUARY.–VoL. IV. No. t.-New Series.

L–LITERATURE OF MISSIONS.

FALLEN ASLEEP-REV. JAMES M. SHERWOOD, D.D. Like it winter avalanche in the Engadine-sudden, swift and inevitable-Deathcame to our beloved, associate editor, on October 22d. He had been, as usual, at the weekly prayer service, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, the week previous, and had spoken-all unct'>nsciously-his last public words. At the close of a brief, but earnest and impressive address, he faltered a little, said, "Let us pray," and sank back into his seat, speechless. He was tenderly borne to his home, and, after a few days of flickering flame, life's lamp went out so quietly that the exact moment was scarcely perceptible-let us not say "went out," but was transferred to another sphere to burn and shine forever. This departure withdraws from earthly scenes a man who had a large circle of friends. He had been preacher, pastor, author, editor, and in every sphere of activity he touched nothing which he did not adorn. He was not cut off prematurely, for he was in his seventyeighth year; and his years were packed with various and versatile endeavor. Born in Fishkill, N. Y., in 1813, he had only a common-school education, and entered, as clerk, his father's store in Johnsville; until, feeling in him the resistless impulse, toward the ministry of the Gospel, he, with his father's consent, turned his steps toward the pulpit, was taken under care of presbytery and studied theology with the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Fishkill, Rev. Robert G. Armstrong. At, the age of twenty-two, he was licensed to preach, and subsequently served churches in Mendon, N.Y., New Windsor, N.Y., and Bloomfield, N. J. In each of these churches he left his mark both as a preacher and a pastor.' He also acted as evangelist for a term in Milford, Conn. After his health seemed to demand a change of occupation he found a fitting sphere for his busy brain and ready pen in the gi'eat republic of letters. His work as editor of the National Preacher, Biblical Repository, New York Evangelist, Eclectic Magazine, Princeton Review, Hours at Home, Homiletic Repiew, and MISSION-

FALLEN ASLEEP-REV. JAMES M .. SHERWOOD, D. D

ARY REVIEW, has entered, into the unchangable record of history. He was the founder of Hours at Home, which was, in a sense, the parent of Scribner's Magazine; and the richness, variety, and marvel- lous success of the Homiletic Review, none know so well as the twenty thousand readers who study its pages.

Beside all his occasional papers, published in the leading maga- zines and periodicals, he wrote the "History of the Cross," and edited a new edition of the "Life of David Brainerd." He had also written a voluminous work on "Books and Authors," which has not yet ap- peared in print.

Such are the brief outlines of an intellectual life that extended over half a century. He was thrice married; his first wife was Miss Amanda Carpenter; his second, Mills Jane E. Lamberson; the third, Miss Annie Clarke, who survives him, as do also his five children.

We have never known a man of larger capacity for work. No one who knew him would have suspected that he was far on the way toward four-score years. And there was not the slightest sign of intellectual decadence. Up to the last his mind worked with all its pristine vigor and versatility. To the very day when paralysis struck him, he seemed as fresh and young, mentally, as in the years of early manhood, and he actually worked from fifteen to eighteen hours out of every twenty-four.

He was an embodieo, conscience. Duty was his polar star. Indeed, he had but little patienc~ with anything wrong, ignoble, di3honest. In his vocabulary the word" expediency" was not found. Right was his only might, and principle his only policy. There were those who possibly construed as severity what was only an uncompromising adherence to right and righteousness. I,ow moral standards and equivocal moral practices could find with him no toleration, and but little forbearance.

Religiously he was a thoroughly evangelical disciple. He knew no theology but the old theology of Paul. That was good enough for him. He regarded the new notions creeping into the doctrinal beliefs of our day as signs of degeneration and disintegration. He believed implicitly the Word of God and the whole of it, and bowed in humility before tIle mysteries he could not explain. To no work of his life did he give himself with such absolute heartiness as to the editing of a REVIEW whose grand object was to promote a world's evangeli-' zation. ,He was especially desil'Ous' to live till he might see this, the last and most precious work of his life, established on a basis of permanency and having a world-wide circulation.'

As a man, especially in his own household and within th~ circle of intimate friends, we cannot in these pages undertake to photograph his character. There are some secrets that cannot be unveiled to the common eye-they refuse to emerge from their privacy; they lose their beauty by disclosure. It is enough to say that 'he was most bel6lved by those who best kRew him.

Our readers will no longer read his words or feel the pOWEl'!' of his guiding hand in shaping the content·s of this REVIEW. His work here was invaluable. Although his duties, as simply editor, gave him little leisure as a 'Writer, and it was only in an occasional paragraph or a more infrequent article that his hand was seen, even while hidden, it still moved beneath the whole structure of this REVIEW. He was constantly seeking to engage the most competent pens to contribute to its columns, and was always on the alert to improve its quality and increase its circulation and enlarge its influence.

He rests from his labors; we devoutly believe that his works will follow him.

"MORS JANUA VIT.LE."

It may be well for the editor to add that, being left now in sole <lharge of this REVIEW, he proposes some minor alterations, which will be noticeable in the present issue. The number of departments will be less, and the fine print, so trying to many eyes, will be abandoned. Instead of letters from abroad, we shall venture often to give only their substance, and notices of books will appear on,Iy as editorial notes. The Monthly Bulletin will be simply an appendix to General Intelligence, in the briefest and most compendious form, presenting the latest news from various fields, etc. And, in view of the unselfishness of our work, which is undertaken solely for the promotion of the Kingdom of God, we again ask the prayerful, sympathetic co-operation of all who daily pray " Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done In earth as it is in heaven."

SYSTBMATIC GIVING.-To raise large sums for missions we have no need to depend on a few large givers, but only to "organize the littles." Dr. Guthrie eloquently urged hundreds of the poorer folk to take subscription cards and fill them up with such sums as they were able, from a sixpence to five shillings; and explained to them how the drops unite in showers, the showers produce rills, the rills, rivers, and the rivers make the sea! Not six hours after his speech a poor woman in Currie's Close had collected from scavengers and night police and basket-wives and match-sellers-and beings who live no mortal can tell how, over half a sovereign! And a little woman, who sat in all weathers on the street selling eggs from her ba8ket, brought in five shillings, the earnings of many a day's labor.

LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY

LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY. [EDITORIAL. ] On the map of Africa, which history is making, these two names will be engraven in letters so large that they will be read at the distance of ages. It may, therefore, be well to put on permanent record some characteristic facts which link with Equatoria and with each other-David Livingstone and Henry M. Stanley.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE, born March 19, 1813, died April 30, 1873~ having just passed his sixtieth year. Converted at twenty, he was. for forty years, in heart and aim, a mIsSIOnary. Thus have we roughly outlined a life that, within those two-score years, poured forth as much of the costly ointment of a consecrated service as, perhaps, anyone life since the age of the Apostles.

He was a man of singular force. As Sir Bartle Frere said, "Any five years of his life might have established for him, in any other occupation, such a character, and raised for him such a fortune, as none but the most energetic can realize." His last public utterance in his native Scotland seems to have been in Oswell's school, where his closing sentence was: "Fear God and work hard," and these words disclose the double secret of his life. By simple, God-fearing, hardworking perseverance he traveled 29,000 miles in Africa, .and added to the known regions of our globe a million square miles; he discovered Lakes 'Ngami, Shirwa, Nyassa, Moero, Bangweolo, the Upper Zambesi and other rivers; he unveiled the Victoria Falls that surpass Niagara; revealed the high ridges that flank the basin of the central plateau; first, as a European, compassed Tanganyika and gave it its true orientation; explored the geology, and hydrographyfauna and flora of the continent; nd so grappled with the two great enemies of man and beast, in Africa–j'ever and tsetse-that he himself said those two words would, at his death, be found engraven on his heart.

To energy he joined industry. What Livingstone was, as a scientist and explorer, the world does not yet fully know. His powers of mind were but medium, and his early opportunities were but meagre. But, like William Carey, he could" plod;" and rigid economy of time, yoked with patient resoluteness, gave a momentum to his life which native genius and great advantages often fail to secure. In the factory at Blantyre, where attention to his cotton-spinning was necessarily incessant, it was only fragments of time-often less than a minute-that could be spared from his work; but those fragments he gathered up, and it was upon solid and substantial diet that he fed his growing mind. In the books he read as a lad we can see the germs of his scientific career as a man. He was also careful in details. That famous" lined journal' of his was a quarto volume of over 800 pages, where the plain, neat writing is a model and a marvel -of pains and patience. The mind that, even in African wilds, found Telaxation in "Smith's Dictionary of the Bible," will not be charged with lightness or waste of time!

He was certainly ve1'satile~' and what great questions he studied! the dessication of Africa, the possible utilization of her great rivers, .as water highways; the physical structure, geology, climatology, botany, of the tracts traversed! Then, again, we find him translating hymns into the Sechuana language, and adding to all else the toil of book-making, in which, perhaps least of ali, he was a success. This was the only task he did not approach with that enthusiasm, without which he himself said that nothing either good or great is done. Book-making was to him a mere task, to which even crossing Africa was far to be preferred. But it is no marvel if a man, shut in with pagans and for years without contact or converse with a white man, not to sayan Englishman, should feel that he had none of the facile <Jommand over his own tongue, and none of that leisure to digest and .assimilate his own material, which are needful if a book is to be any- thing more than a printed jou1'llal.

Livingstone's services to science were too great for hasty recognition. The accuracy with which he traced his course and marked his geographical points, leaves almost all other explorers behind him. His astronomical observations, his dilicovery of the fact that the In- terior is a plateau intersected by various streams and lakes, whose waters reach the ocean through great fissures in the flanking hills; and his manifold contributions to every department of natural science, compelled even sages to say that such various and versatile suc- .(lesses were without precedent.

Traveler, explorer, geographer, astronomer, zoologist, botanist, physician, missionary-what a many-sided man! What accurate observation of details! What husbanding of results! He brought home twenty-five different sorts of fruits; told of oils, dyes, fibres, varieties -of sheep and vegetable-products of which even the Chamber of Commerce knew hitherto nothing. In May, 1855, the Geographical Sodety decorated him with their highest honor, the gold medal; London, Glasgow and Edinburgh conferred on him the freedom of their dties, while he who loved to minister but not to be ministered unto, shrank from publicity and courted retiracy.

Humor is a conspicuous element in all great natures. A hearty laugh, genuine and generous, somehow inspires confidence. Livingstone's habit of seeing the funny side of things saved many a tragic ending and tU1'lled many a tragedy into a comedy. He writes to his daughter Agnes, about his almost toothless jaws, that if she" takes .any more kisses from him it must be through a speaking trumpet." He declared the sight of a soko (gOt'ilIa) nauseating, and that he is so bideously ugly that he could conceive no other use for him than" to sit for a portrait of Satan." When showing his lantern-slides-the only service for whose repetition the natives clamored-it greatly amused him that those who stood on the side where the slides were withdrawn shrank back in mortal terror lest the mysterious figures that so magically appeared and disappeared should prove wandering spirits and enter into their bodies!

.Duty was his watchword. He was an incarnated conscience. In the scales of a candid mind he weighed eve)·y question, and, aftercarefully considering a course, judged for himself; and then dared to act independently, even though against the remonstrance of his best friends. To keep his word and to do his work was the double motto of his life.

Such elements of character always crystallize about a strong will. His favorite maxim was" Try again!" His persistence and perseverance were heroic and herculean. "If I live I must succeed in what I have undertaken; death alone will put a stop to my efforts,'" were his words in 1866, and they proved prophetic. Half-starved on tough and tasteless African maize, even his goats lost, and milk denied him; his medicine-chest stolen; in the heart of Africa without resource or defence against a thousand ailments, like a warrior without weapons at the mercy of his foes; afterward, narrowly escaping' death thre!l times in one day, and then almost dead of debility and disease;-not one man in a million would have gone forward. Especially when, in 1872, Stanley himself begged him to return with him to England, he never flinched from his resolve to remain in Africa. Nay, when a strange presentiment burdened him that he was on his last journey and would never reach its goal, he pressed on, praying' that before he fell he might work out his purpose!

Self-denial was, from the first, a habit. Privations and sorrows he accepted and expected, as Moses did when he calmly exchanged the treasures and pleaBures of Egypt for a share in the afflictions of the people of God. Rather than sacrifice Africa's good he would spend his last penny, surrender his dearest gains, and give up his last drop of blood.

Such was THE ~IAN who, beyond all others, henceforth stands in history as the heroic friend of Africa. Mr. E. D. Young, who knew him so long and so well, pronounced him" the best man he ever knew.'" Such filial trust in God, such a childlike, Christlike spirit, such loyalty to duty, purity of motive, simplicity of aim, energy of purpose and unselfish love, united to make his life one grand sermon. The iron pen of action, held in the hand of resolve, wrote out its sentences in living deeds on history's imperishable scroll, for all future ages to read in letters of light!

Iile was a man of great faith. His strong but simple confid~nce· in God's providence was the north star of his life. He saw how every' crisis of his life turned upon some seemingly trifling event, as a door swings on a hinge-but the hinge argues a workman who knows how much to hang upon it. He remembered how the chance reading of Dick's" Philosophy of the Future State" led him both toward faith in the unseen and toward a reverent philosophy of science; how Gutz- laff's appeal led him to be a missionary and a medical missionary, too; how while the opium war closed China against him, Moffat's visit wedded him to Africa and to his beloved" Mary" ; how the friendly word of a director procured for him another" trial," while his dangerous illness in London strangely shaped his unconscious future.

He learned also that the leadings of Providence, like the subtle sense of the Inspired Word, are to be read not by the natural but by the spiritual eye; and he sought, by specific prayer for guidance, to cultivate the" single eye," that there might be no dim or confused vision; and carefully watched every motion of God's beckoning hand, pointing finger, or guiding eye. One text gave telescopic range and microscopic delicacy to his vision: "In all thy ways acknowledge Htm, and He shall direct thy paths." This trust in God's providence discerned good and cause for gratitude even in trials and troubles.

Apparent calamity became a storm signal of the will of God; and when, in the death of his wife, that nameless sorrow which finds no earthly balm smote him, his only answer was that great petition of his life: "Fiat, .Domine, voluntas tual"

He believed in special providence. Even among men it is the great minds that give heed to minutire: the astronomer grasps an infinity of small things; the general-in-chief commands the least details in his wide survey of camp and campaign; and so God is not so high above us as not to "number the hairs of our head."

Such a man, of course, loved his Bible, wrote on his heart its pre- cious promises, and became so absorbed in them that he was indiffer- ent, if not insensible, to praise or blame; and, that he might neither be misled nor inflated by human approbation, he made it a rlile never to read or preserve any words ofpraise-which resolve, of itself, marks him as a most uncommon man. While in Manyuema, he four times read his Bible through; and when in Ulva Cottage, in Hamilton, I took that very book in my hands, I saw dimly through my tears the evidences upon its worn pages of the singular devotion of its la- mented owner.

Whatever Livingstons may be in history, in his own eyes he was, first and last, simply a missionary. Charles Gutzlaff's "Appeal for China" first set his heart aflame; but, when his early longing toward China was transferred to Africa, the fire of his enthusiasm lost noth- ing by the transfer of those live coals to a new altar of service and sacrifice. ' When he began his work his conception of himself was that of a mere missionary laborer, but better acquaintance with Africa's wants and woes gave breadth to his aim. He said there was need of one whose plans would embrace a whole continent and its whole. future. The entire land must be surveyed and mapped out; the accursed traf- fic in the bodies and souls of men abolished; the resources of the country developed, and new facilities devised for travel and traffic. Before the missionary could go, his path must be explored. Some John the Baptist must go before Jesus to make a level highway for our God. And this humble missionary-worker unconsciously devel- oped into the MISSIO~ARY GENERAL AND STATESMAN. Restraining the natural impatience of visible progress, he was willing to wait a century for the fruits of his works to be seen; as he grandly declared, the "END OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL FEAT IS THE BEGINNING OF THE EN- TERPRISE."

And so this humble man had a passion to act as a PIONEER, and open a path for others to follow; if he could not himself sow the seed, he could break up fallow ground, where as yet neither sower nor reaper had ever trodden.

Livingstone's ideas of mission work were evangelical and catholic. He offered himself to the London Missionary Society, because its sole aim was to send the Gospel to the heathen; setting up no par- ticular form of church order, but accepting laborers from different denominations, it concerned itself mainly with rearing churches of Christ on Pagan soil. Paul's motto was also Livingstone's: "THE REGIONS BEYOND." He took no "other man's line of things made ready to hand," but yearned to preach Christ where He had not hith- erto been named. As he told the directors of the London Missionary Society, he was at their disposal to "flO anywhere provided only it be FORWARD." The views of Blantyre's great hero, as to missions, are such as we wish might prevail everywhere. "Vith him the foremost law of mis- sions was NOT CONCENTRATION BUT DIFFUSION! However important to secure conversion of individual!'! or of communities, the field is the Vorld, and seed, scattered broadcast over the whole area, is far bet- ter than seed sown however thickly over a limited area. Ve are to seek to sow the whole field, rather than seek harvests however abun- dant in any part of it. He favored colonization, transplanting a body of Christian workmen into the midst of the dark places of the earth and the habitations of cmelty, to show how men and women in every calling, may "abide therein with God;" and he yearned to see twenty . 01' thirty families going together, at one time, to build up a Christian community in the heart of paganism. He gauged missionary success not by the shallow showing of so many converts for so many pounds, shillings and pence; but by the diffusion of better principles which no statistical columns can exhibit, any more than Babbage's calcula- ting machine could suffice for a barometer 01' a thermometer.

He was, in every best sense, a missionary martyr, both in witnessing and suffering. "Sacrifices" he would not call them; but they were many and great. Often soaked with drenching rains; his bed, the coarse, damp grass; his food, bird-seed, roots, African maize; forty timE)s scorched in the furnace of fever; what words can tell the agony, when, April 27, 1860, he left his dear "Mary" in the grave at Shupanga, and turned from her dust to find the only balm for his broken heart in seeking Africa's redemption! Three years later he must have touched the bottom depths of trial. His wife dead, his <lhildren orphans, his expedition recalled, his very efforts to serve God and man apparently turned by Satanic ingenuity into instruments of {lviI, isolated from all true human companionship, with the prostra- tion of disease added to all the vexation of delay and disappointment, how many men have ever faced such environments without suicidal ~e~pair? Seven years later, long without tidings from home,or contact with any European, lingering on a sick bed, without wife, child, mother, brothel' 01' friend to cheer him, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!

Among the great charms of this great man his genuine interest in individuals, however humble, was at once one of the highest, both as an ornament of his character and a secret of his influence. His deep piety transfigured this noble trait into a passion for souls which begot unsparing self-scrutiny. His lament over "poor Sehamy," and his misgivings and self-accusations, lest he had not done all he might to save his soul, reveal profound depths of habitual watchfulness over the lost. He bent every energy to the good of men. When he could not preach, his lantern-slides were made to tell to the eye great facts of Bible history; he subordinated everything to service.

His abhorrence of the slave trade was literally detestation-i. e., it compelled a testimony, which marked his whole course and even his dying utterances. To abate 01' abolish this evil was, perhaps, his master passion. What a debt Christian nations owe to Africa! The destruction of life in the" middle passage" forms but a fraction of the total waste. For every slave transported, a score have fallen by war or violence, disease 01' fatigue. Such atrocities have been linked to this nefarious traffic that the victims sacrificed by it, if laid side by side, would reach round the world, paving with skeletons a pathway over land and sea-bed. Everywhere he saw signs of this continued and continuing desolation-bones bleaching in the sun, fresh corpses floating on the rivers; often heaps of bodies where slave caravans had abandoned their sick, helpless 01' dead. Inhuman drivers shot, stabbed or left to die tho1<e who could not keep up with the rest, and often these were found not yet dead. On his way to Lake Bangweolo he heard six men, wearing the slave yoke, singing in the joy of the vengeance they anticipated in coming back after death to haunt their captors. Exaggeration as to the horrors of this trade is impossible; as the sailor said: "If the devil don't catch these fellows, as well have no devil at all! " The massacres he witnessed gave him the impression of being in hell, and to disclose the horrors of this business so as to lead to its suppression, inflamed his holy ambition more than to reveal the fountains of the Nile. And so, wherever he went, he aimed to teach the first truths of the Gospel and to rouse the dormant Christian con- cience to the measureless atrocity of this traffic. Just one year before his death he uttered those memorable words which still speak from -that memorial slab in Westminster's aisle: "ALL I CAN ADD IN MY LONELINESS IS, MAY HEAYEN'S RICH BLESSING COME DOWN ON EYERY ONE, AMERICAN, ENGLISHMAN OR TURK, WHO WILL HELP TO HEAL THE OPEN SORE OF THE WORLD!"

Livingstone's devotion to Africa was n.ot more remarkable than his power over her sable sons" even his first year there showed that in his hand was the sceptre that could rule Africans. His power was an open' secret. His simple frankness, kindly bearing, honest courage, transparent unselfishness, trust even in strangers, disarmed both sus- picion and antagonism. While with prayer and faith he sowed the seed of the Word, he sowed himself as the seed of the kingdom; and by forgiving injuries and trusting even the unworthy, by absolute fidelity even to trivial promises, and by a Christlike life that taught more than any words, he moulded even savages into noblemen. What his character wrought in this direction may be seen in Susi and Chuma, his faithful body servants, who amid such hardships bore his body from Ilala to England.

Dr. Blaikie, in his charming" Personal Life of Livingstone," sug- gests that the old Roman fashion would have written his name Livingstone" Africanus." When first overwhelmed with the vastness , of Africa, he asked: "Who will penetrate through the Dark Conti- nent ?" And that was the question of his life. From the day in December, 1840, when he first set forth for those shores, this double work, the emancipation and evangelization of Africa, was his passion. When, in 1863, he expected the recall of his expedition, he could only say: "If I am to go ' on the shelf' let that shelf be Africa." And history presents no fact more pathetic, poetic, prophetic in its sym- bolism, than this-that when, on April 80, 1878, he was found on his knees, at Ilala, dead, his heart should be buried there beneath a moula tree, while his body was borne to England to be laid in the great sepul- chre of her greater dead! Emphatically Livingstone's heart was from the beginning buried in Africa; but buried as the seed of a future harvest. It shall not abide alone, but dying, and springing up, bear much fruit-fruit too vast in measure for our arithmetic to estimate! 1Ve yearn to see that life and death bearing fruit in many holy lives. How slow are disciples to learn the ministry of money. Moffat nsed to say that the coming day will :find rich and great disciples regarding it an honor to spend their money not on hounds and horses, but in the support of whole stations of missionaries. Many who read these lines are providentially kept from giving their lives in personal labor for the degraded and destitute. But how many of Ull, had we but the spirit of David Livingstone, would be found living in the persons of other consecrated men and women, and, by the agency of these workmen, preaching the Gospel where Christ had never yet been named. Oh, that those who read the story of such a life, and walk over that memorial stone at the Abbey, would take up the work he laid down, and by their money, their prayers, their tears, their influence, if not their personal efforts, help to heal this open sore of the world, and light the flame of the Gospel and of the new life wherever darkness reigns and habitations of cruelty are found!

Yes, David Livingstone-thy candle, found burning in the grass hnt at IIala, still burns and shines, and never will it go out, until, from Zanzibar to Banana, from Nile to Niger, and from the Cape of Good Hope to the Pillars of Hercules, shall shine the Light of the World!

HENRY MORTLAKE STANLEY is by birth a Welshman, and his. original name was John Rowlands. The same year, 1841, that David Livingstone first reached Africa, was the year that ushered into life the boy who was to be his distinguished successor in the exploration of the Dark Continent. This is one of the striking coincidences of history: while the cotton-spinner of Blantyre was on his way to the Cape, an infant boy at Denbigh, in Wales, was :first starting on his voyage upon the unknown sea of life. A certain Mr. H. M. Stanley,. in New Orleans, adopted this Welsh boy, transmitting to him his own name, little knowing what high honor that boy was to reflect upon it. We follow this waif of humanity, as he enlists in the armies of the Confederacy, and subsequently drifts into the Federal ranks; until 1865, when, acting as secrctary for an admiral, he was promoted fOl' heroism, having manifested his courage by swimming, under :fire, to fasten a hawser to a Confederate vessel.

The next great step toward his after career was his becoming a· representative of the press'-;"a newspaper correspondent. He served in a Guerilla warfare against the North American Indians, then wrote letters to the New York Herald, accompanied the British expedition into Abyssinia, etc. Thus a mixed experience on land and sea, in army and navy, :fitted him for camp or campaign, tent or vessel; picking up scraps of information and gathering treasures of varied experience, he grew to be peculiarly adapted for the unique life he was to lead, but which only God's Providence had foreseen.

In 1869 he was commissioned by James Gordon Bennet, of the New York Herald, to find the lost Livingstone. His expedition was to be kept secret. He went by a round-about course, arrived at Zan- .zibar January 6, 1871, and started for the interior, feeling his way toward Livingstone by such indications as only the most sagacious instinct could recognize. He had used the time at sea, en route to the African Coast, to learn how to take astronomical observations and lJrepare himself as a surveyor. November 10, 1871, found him at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, and there he grasped the hand of the .scotch herb, of whom for three years no certain word had reached the ears of an anxious outside world. Twenty-three times Stanley }lad been prostrated with fever, but he felt repaid when, on December 27th, the travelers set out together for Unyanyembe; and more espe- {)ially when, on March 14, 1872, they parted, having been four months .and four days together.

In 1873, Mr. Stanley again accompanied the British expedition to Coomassie. That same year, May 4, 1873, Livingstone was found by Susi, at four o'clock in the morning, in the little grass hut, not in bed but at the bed-side, his head buried in his hands, and both buried in the pillow; the candle still burned, but the candle of life that bad shed its rays so far over benighted Africa, had gone out. In 1874, April 18th, the sacred dust of the great traveler reached their final resting-place in the Abbey; and MI': Stanley led the body of pallbearers, as they deposited, in the tomb in the nave, the body of the man to whom he owed more than to any other human being.

And now begins a new chapter, the .fourth in the weird experi- ence of that Welsh-American. He who, at U nyamyembe, had sorrowfully parted with Livingstone, by that open grave in Westminster, resolved to take up and finish the work he had left undone. And so a new chapter also opened in' Stanley's African experiences. On August 5, he left England, and on November 12-three years almost to a day from the time he first grasped Livingstone's hand-he left Zanzibar again for the unknown interior. At Uganda he met Mtesa, whose warriors he estimated at a quarter of a million. "While at his {)ourt he translated the Gospel according to Luke, and actually wrote a brief analysis of Bible history in Kiswaheli for the monarch's use. Mte,sa professed adherence to the Bible instead of the Koran, and invited to his capital Christian teachers. Stanley then wrote a letter, which was published in the Daily Telegraph, urging that missionaries should be sent. And so Stanley began, in more senses than one, to follow in the steps of the grand Scotchman. The Church Missionary Society sent men to Uganda, who, in 1877 began to labor. That letter of Stanley's had a stl'ange histOl"Y. It was given to I~inant de Belfonds, one of the officers of Gordon Pasha. When he was killed by the Baris the letter was found in his boot and forwarded by Gor- .don Pasha. After a journey of 7,000 miles, consuming 999 days, Stanley reached Banana point, August 9th, 1877. In January, 1879, he was again en route to the Dark Continent, at the head of the expedition, organized by Leopold 11., of Belgium, who, in place of his dead son, adopted Africa as his child and ward. Stanley reached the Congo's Estuary on August 14, 1879; Leopoldville station was built in April, 1882. Compelled by illness to return for a time to Europe, he came back to the Congo toward the end of the same year; and in August, 1884, reported to the King of Belgium that his mission was ac.complished. He had performed the stupendous feat of opening up the Congo basin, with its 5,249 miles of navigable waters, its 43,000,00() of people, its area of nearly 11,000,000 square miles drained by various streams. In February, 1885, the Congo Free State was erected and recognized as such, with Leopold II. as its sovereign.

January 20, 1887, Stanley begins a new chapter, and again Africa is the theatre of his action. He departs from London for the relief of Emin Pasha. February 25th, he once more left Zanzibar, and, going by the Congo's mouth, reached Leopo}dville, April 21st. A year later, April 29th, just fifteen years from the last day of Livingstone's travels, he met Emin Pasha at Kavalli, and December 6, 1889, emerged from darkest Africa once more at Zanzibar.

From that day honors were showered thick as autumn leaves on Stanley's head. The reception given him, May 5, 1890, at Albert Hall, in London, when 7,000 people were present, was one of the most brilliant assemblages of all modern history. Then, on July 12th, in the great Abbey, he led to the marriage altar his accomplished bride, Miss Tennant; and sInce, in her jubilee year, the Queen was there, Westminster has had no such gathering. Had it been a ,royal ceremony, the interest could not have been more intense or the throng more dense. 'l'he long, crimson carpet broke its lines only over the slab which in the isle bore the name of LIVINGSTONE. Two magnificent floral wreaths, one from the officers of the relief expedition, and another from Mr. Stanley himself, were laid on the sides of the prostrate tablet, and when the bride moved up the aisle she gracefully laid still another tribute upon the marble memorial, bearing, in flowers, the words, "In memoriam, DAVID LIVINGSTONE-H. M. STANLEY."

Thus, at no little length, we have chosen to place before our readers in outline, for permanent record, the twin stories of these two strangely-linked lives. We do no injustice to Mr. Stanley when we say, what he himself is reported to have said, that, to the four months and four days that he spent with Livingstone in Africa, he owes the greatest impulses of his later life, and especially his attitude toward Christianity. Livingstone found himself suddenly thrown into the society of a stranger who was far from being a Christian disciple. There is no. evidence that during all those months he ever directly <lonversed with Stanley as to his spiritual interests. But sure we are that by his manifest character he commended the religion of his }Iaster. His uncompromising loyalty to Christ, his unobtrusive conscientiousness, his unselfishness, considerateness, readiness to obligeall this impressed Stanley as no words had ever moved him; and, when he parted from his new friend, he was constrained to' say, what Pilate said of a far greater, " I find·no fault in this man!"

From that day Mr. Stanley has led a life that runs strangely in sympathy with that which had its spring in Blantyre. When Sir William Mackinnon asked the pleasure of presenting· him with some token of friendship to carry with him to Africa, Stanley replied, "Give me a Bible," and he took it and read it thrice through. Afterward, in darkest Africa, constrained at the darkest hour humbly to confess that, without God's help, he was hopeless, he says: "I vowed a vow in the forest solitudes that I would confess His aid before men. Silence, as of death, was round about me. It was midnight; I was weakened by illness, had been prostrated by fatigue, and wan with anxiety for m'y white and black companions, whose fate was a mystery. In this physical and mental distress, I besought God to give me back my people. Nine hours later we were exulting with a rapturous joy. In full view of all was the crimson flag with the crescent, and beneath its folds was the long-lost rear column."

And now he whose previous reserve upon such matters had seemed to bear a special seal of silence, has made this, his latest confession: "Many forms of belief and curious ideas respecting the great mystery of our being and creation have been suggested to me during my life and its wanderings; but after weighing each and attempting to understand what must be unsearchable, my greatest comfort has been in peacefully resting firm in the faith of my sires. For all the human glory that surrounds the memory of Darwin and his wise compeers throughout advanced Europe, I would not abate a jot or tittle of my belief in the Supreme God and that divine :Man called His Son."

Space alone compels our pen to halt as we pursue this fasciitating story of these twin lives. We have had space not even for a paragraph about that last book, with its thousand pages, of forty lines each, all the work of fifty days, and itself a greater feat than his march in Equatoria; and the production of which as a printed volume is said to have employed an army of nearly 15,000 men and women. We have had no space to repeat Mr. Stanley's noble tributes to the heroism and success of Christian missions which present such a marked contrast to some modern critics who ought to have been in better business. We have sought merely to put side by side two lives whose unique parallelism demands a permanent memorial and suggests lessons of lasting value. We must not fail to note one marked contrast. As Livingstone's great successor followed the mIssionary explorer, he iltrewed his path with the blood of the slain. Livingstone had trodden those same paths without even a pocket pistol for personal protection from wild beasts; his great weapon of defence was a magnanimous Love that forgave even the injuries it could not prevent. And, when we read of the demijohns of strong drink which Stanley, in his former passage across the Dark Continent, distributed to those sable sons of her soil whom he employed in building his stations, we cannot but deplore any such ministry to the destructive appetite for intoxicants. We recall that letter, the first written in English by a Congo native, and addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury: " Great and Good Chief of the Tribe of Christ, Greeting: " The humblest of your servants kisses the hem of your garment, and begs you to send to his fellow servants more Gospel and less rum. " In the bonds of Christ, " U GALLA."

And now, 3S we turn from these two lives, may we not invoke the prayers of all Christians that the latter, the unfinished one, may complete its noble and heroic course by a service to God and a ministry to man that shall surpass anything yet accomplished by Stanley, or even by Livingstone? Our living hero is decked with many medals and crowned with many laurels. We crave for him one ,still higher and brighter-a crown wrought by no human handswhose lustrous gems burn with immortal fires and outshine in splendor ~Ven the glory of the stars!

A PERTINENT REPLY.-We understand that our friend, Chaplain :McCabe, has sent the following message to Colonel Ingersoll: "DEAR COLoNEL:-Ten years ago you made the following prediction: 'Ten years from this time two theatres will be built for one church.' The time is up. The Methodists are now building four churches every day-one every six hours. Please venture upon another prediction for the year."

Evidently the Colonel is as far out of the way as Voltaire was when he set up a printing press at Fernay to demolish Christianity. That press is now used at Geneva to print Bibles !!

MONEy.-Early in our own generation there were but five men in this country who were millionaires: John J. Astor and Stephen Whitney, New York; Nicholas Longworth, Cincinnati; William Gray, Boston, and Stephen Girard, Philadelphia. To-day in New York alone there are 500 millionaires, some of them worth from 100 to 300 millions, and in the coffers of American Protestant Christians there are not less than ten thousand millions oj dollars. One man in 1869 spent as much for a corner lot on which to build a private residence as the Presbyterian denomination spent for its entire foreign mission work!

NEW EFFORTS IN BELGIUM

NEW EFFORTS IN BELGIUM.

BY REV. HENRY E. DOSKER, A.M., HOLLAND, MICH.

Of all the countries of the continent Belgium is one of the most peculiar. With an area of 11,373 square miles and a population of nearly 6,000,000, it is the most densely populated strip of land on earth. This may seem strange, and yet it is true. While the Nether- lands come next in order, with a population of 312.86 to the square mile, Belgium crowds together, in the same space, not less than 481. 71 of its inhabitants. British India has only 311.57 and China but 83.86. These figures are respectively taken from the census-reports of 1885~ 1881, and 1887.

The physical aspect of Belgium, generally speaking, is flat, like that of Holland; a great part of the country actually lying below the level of the sea. In t.he south-eastern districts, alone, a considerable highland is formed, of some 2,000 feet high, by a spur of the Ardennes. This mountainous region, rich in different minerals and coal, together with a proverbially rich alluvial soil in the lower parts of the coun- try, enables Belgium to maintain its enormously dense population.

Its inhabitants are of a mixed Teutonic and Celtic stQck. The two main branches are the Flemings of German and the Walloons of Celtic, origin; the fonner out-number the latter, in the proportion of 4 to 3, throughout the country.

The French language is spoken at court and among the higher classes. In the rural districts and provincial towns a curious patois prevails, in various dialects of either Flemish or Walloon. This lack of a national language and literature has greatly retarded the intel- lectual progress of the nation, which is in no wise proportionate to its physical advantages. The educational system of Belgium was, till recently, quite deficient, and the sharp antagonism between the cleri- cal and liberal parties has made adequate provision in its behalf well- nigh impossible.

As might be expected from its history, the religion of the country is prevalently Roman Catholic. Of the nearly 6,000,000 of inhabit- ants, from 13,000 to 18,000 are Protestant, with some 35,000 Jews; the remainder nominally belong to Rome. Nominally, I say, for the close contact with France, the permeating influence of its periodic re- , volutionary attacks, and the prevalence of socialistic and rationalistic tendencies among the masses of the people, have so materially changed the religious 'complexion of the country, that a large pro- portion, possibly a majority, of its inhabitants may be put down as irreligious, if not atheistic.

The Gospel of Christ in Belgium meets with much the same dif- ficulties as it does in France. Efforts to bring the Word of God to the masses of the people have been made for years, and the so-called "Belgian Mission Church," and similar organizations, have not been unblessed in their endeavor to reach the Belgians by the channels of the two great languages of the country. But the trouble was that heretofore the labor performed has been too staid and conservative; the methods adopted were antiquated and ill-adapted to the peculiar character of the people and of the work in hand, and the little focus points of life, which resulted from such efforts, have had a tendency to develop too quickly into establishments for the edification of the few rather than for the salvation of the many.

A new attempt has been made of late at Brussels, which, if it should prove to be tenacious of life may become for Belgium and its capital what the McAll Missions are for France and Paris.

Allow me to outline the new movement. The name of its leader is Rev. N. De Jonge, who, some sixteen years ago, came to Brussels as a young preacher in the Dutch Evangelical Church. Through his personal influence, his church soon developed a rare missionary'activity. He made his people understand their divine call to labor among the bigoted 01' irreligious masses who surrounded them in the capital.

The year 1880 was one of special activity in this line. A revival visited the church, and especially those who were engaged in this department of her labors.

A city evangelization society was organized, of which pastor De Jonge became the director. The double task soon grew too heavy and he was placed before the inevitable choice between his charge and his mission. He was not long in deciding, and yet the decision. was one, in which he staked all on his faith in God; for he lost his salary and had no visible means of support. His resignation took effect on the first of Jannary, 1887, and another pastor soon took his place, whilst~ he began to devote himself, with all the energy of his young and vigorous manhood, to the work of evangelizing the masses of the Belgian capital, trusting, for the support of himself and large family, in the promise of God. And not in vain!

The work now rapidly extended and assumed encouraging proportions. It affords, to-day, the following aspect: a hall, named "Silo," with a seating capacity of 300, in the suburb I..acken; another, "Bethel," with l'oom for 80, about a mile distant, in the same neighborhood. In the suburb Anderlecht, a hall, named "Pniel," with seats for 200; neal' by, at the hamlet of Veeweyde, the hall "Bethlehem," with a seating capacity of 100. And still another and larger hall in the village of Ruysbrock, neal' by, as yet unnamed, but offering room for more than 300 hearers. As with the McAll rooms, the stations are simply but neatly furnished. Every night of the week, meetings are held in at least foul' of these mission halls, and the attend:l.llce is steadily increasing.

Besides all this the Mission has a printing-office in connection with the Silo station, where hundreds of pamphlets. and. tracts are pub- Hshed, to be spread broadcast over the entire kingdom. Two week- lies are issued fram this press: "Het Ohristelijke Volksblad" (The Christian National Paper), and "])e Blijde Boodschap voor Vlaamsch Belgie" (The Glad Tidings for Flemish Belgium.) The circulation of the latter, the smallest paper, has reached the number of 1,500. Moreover, a mission hospital has been opened, and h~ndreds of Catholic patients have been treated and evangelized at this "Beth- esda," as it has been appropriately named.

By catechetical instruction and Sabbath-school work the Mission endeavors to reach Roman Catholic children; hundreds of whom at- tend, notwithstanding the open opposition and secret scheming of the priests. All this missionary work is clinched by systematic house- visitation, which is richly blessed. Besides Rev. De J onge, the director of the Mission, two evangelists, two colporteurs, two regular trained hospital nurses, and some forty assistants are employed. It seems to me that this movement is worthy of close observation and encouragement.

The Catholic masses of Belgium are harder to be reached than those of France. The antagonism against Protestantism here is a.

growth of centuries; its earliest roots lie hidden in the memorable struggle of the eighty years' war. The southern part of the country never fully shared in the struggle for liberty. At Brussels the Spanish court was established; there the two most noted political victims of Alva's wrath were beheaded; there the "bloody assizes" held their councils. At Antwerp the two earliest religious m;utyrs of the Nether- lands fell. When the cause of freedom finally triumphed, and the North became independent, the South was still held in the Spanish vise, and the reformation within her borders had literally been drowned in a sea. of blood. From this time on, the unfortunate country was tossed to-and-fro between the great powers. To-day Austria, to-morrow Spain, then again France ruled it, as a whole or in part. In 1748 it finally came back to Austria, in whose g-rasp it remained, with varying fortune~, till the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, united it with Holland. But the two countries were only united never unijied.

In the revolution of 1830, the Belgians revolted and established their own independence and the severance became a fait accompli, by the treaty of London, May 21, 1833. Hence the antagonism against Protestantism has a political background. To the Belgian mind it is a thoroughly "Dutch" affair. And the overcoming of this prejudice is no small factor in the difficulties of Protestant missions in the country.

May the movement of De Jonge prove for the Belgians what the McAll Mistlion is to France, for the spiritual rescue of hundreds of thousands. Foreign Protestant missions, generally considered, in heathen lands, are far easier and far more hopeful than those COllducted by the handful of trusty laborers, who have given their lives to the evangelization of countries, thoroughly and for centuries nnder the influence of the papacy.

HELPERS AND HINDERERS OF MISSIONS IN JAPAN

[The following charming letter is from the beloved son of Rev. A. J. ·Gordon, of Boston, one of our editorial contributors.] HELPERS AND HINDERERS OF MISSIONS IN JAPAN.

BY ERNEST B. GORDON.

While enjoying the cordial hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Brand, the excellent missionaries of the Baptist Union, I have had considerable opportunity to observe the progress of the work as well as some {)f its drawbacks.

I went over to the Shogum's tombs, in Shita, the other day, and while straying in and about the temple of Zojigi, stumbled across a little fellow, a Buddhist novice, who spoke a little English. He had Dr. Hepburn's Dictionary, and was reading Peter Parley's Universal History. I struck up an acquaintance with him, and learned that he was a protege of Oolonel Olcott, who was to take him to India to study Sanscrit and the sacred books, but was prevented by the boy's poor health. Olcott, as is known, is the American Buddhist who goes about wearing a jewel said to be a crystalized tear of Mme. Blavatsky. He has published a Buddhist catechism in Singhalese, which has received the imprimatur of the Southern Ohurch in Oeylon, and is considered by Oeylonese Buddhists as almost canoni- ~al. It has gone through seventeen Singhalese editions, and was recently published in English by Estes & Lauriat, of Boston. I invited the boy around to Mr. Brand's to dinner and gave him a copy of the New Testament, which he promised to read. Last night he came again and talked a long time with Mrs. Brand about Shaka or Buddha and Jesus. He seemed much interested, especially when she told him of what Jesus left when He came to earth. He was surprised to find that Ohristians were not hateful and bitter.

The story of Roman Oatholic misl"ions in Japan is well known. Shinabara and the Oliff of Pappenberg will ever bear witness to the constancy and heroic endurance of the Roman Oatholic converts. Nevertheless, Oatholicism left a bad impression. I met the other day an old Japanese who remembers distinctly the annual ceremony of trampling upon the cross. A brass cross was brought around to every house in his village by the authorities, and everybody was required to trample upon it as a sign of his repudiation and contempt ()f Ohristianity. Much of this misapprehension and. bitterness still lingers among the Buddhist priests. The little novice, therefore, was pleased at our attention. He promised to come again and hear more about Ohrist.

Oolonel Olcott has done much harm here in Japan. An American is a person of influenee on account of his birthplace. To find an American teaching Buddhism was an experience, therefore, which startled young Japanese and which encouraged the Buddhist priests to attempt the galyanization of their putrescent superstition. Arthur May Knapp, too, the Boston representative of "Reciprocity in Religion," to use his own phrase, is encouraging the Buddhists in every possible way. He has abandoned his title of "missionary," and has assumed that of "ambassador"; the idea being, (,7idently, that he and the Buddhists are to exchange ideas and to treat with each other on an equal footing. This reassures the Buddhists and amazes the advanced men in Japan, who look upon Buddhism with the hatred and contempt which the liberals in Italy feel for the obscurantists of Rome.

Have you seen what Mr. Takahashi Goro, a prominent newspaper man, said at the banquet last May about the Unitarian movement in Japan? Its significance will fully appear when one takes into account the extreme politeness of the Japanese people. He said that he had not yet succeeded in fully mastering the doctrine of Unitarianism. He had perused the books kindly placed at his disposal by Mr. Knapp, but he still remained more or less in the dark. One thing, however, he had ascertained beyond question, viz., that Unitarianism is the child of orthodox Christianity. There was no manner of doubt about its parentage. Why, then, he wanted to know, should the attitude of Unitarianism to orthodox Chistianity be one of antagonism. He had read a book by Mr. Savage, entitled the "Religion of Evolution," and he had learned from it that Unitarianism regards orthodox Christianity with strong feelings of dislike, and would spare no pains to sweep it away from the face of the earth. Was that the proper attitude of a child toward its parent? Certainly not according to Japanese ideas of filial duty. Such an unnatural antipathy could only shock and deter Japanese observers. Besides, the Unitarians should remember that the law of heredity applies to bad qualities as well as to good. ""Vhen a man denounces his parents and declares them unworthy of respect he denounces himself by implication, for as the father is so, to a great extent, must the son be also. U nitarians coming to Japan, and arraying their forces against orthodox Christianity, would immediately find allies in the Buddhists and Confucianists. What would be the sequel of such an alliance? If the three united succeeded in driving out orthodox Christianity, the Unitarians might be quite sure that from that moment these sincere allies, the Buddhists and Confucianists, would turn on them and leave no stone untu'l'ned to drive them out also I In a. recent number of the Japan Mail, Mr. Takahashi Goro invites the attention of the Rev. Mr. Knapp to the short-sightedness of his alleged wish to ally himself with the Buddhists. Mr. 'rakahashi premises that he entertains no ill-feeling toward Unitarianism itself, but being convinced of the folly of the views of its representative in Japan as to Buddhism, he cannot but give utterance once more to the opinions he expressed at the Unitarian banquet some time .ago. Since then, he obse~ves, the Buddhistic press throughout the country had more and more distinctly shown a tendency to utilize Unitarianism as an instrument for attacking Christianity. Mr. Takahashi, however, believed Mr. Knapp to be too sagacious to become a tool of Buddhists. What, then, was his surprise to learn that the Unitarian missionary is still bent on cultivating the friendship of the Buddhists, as is shown by his article on the" Similarities and Dissimilarities of Unitarianism and Buddhism." Mr. Takahashi even goes so far as to say that Mr. Knapp'S attitude toward Buddhism is that of one who flatters, prays and solicits its favor.

"Does Mr. Knapp know," he asks, ,,, what Buddhism is really like? Buddhism is essentially an atheistic religion. This proposition can be proved by quotations from the Buddhist sacred writings." He then proceeds to consider another statement of Mr. Knapp, that, on the fundamental idea of creation, Unitarianism and Buddhism are directly opposed to orthodox Christianity. Mr. Knapp is represented to have stated that creation is not an event, but a perpetual progress which has neither commencement nor end.

"Now, in the first place, it is an abuse of a philosophical term to speak of 'creation' in connection with Buddhism, for how can there be any creation in a religion which does not recognize God? Nor is it correct to say that creation is a perpetual progress without either commencement or end, because man, as maintained by no less an evolutionist than Virchow, does not seem to have made any progress -during the first five or six thousand years. Further, there is no place for the idea of progress in the conception of atheistic creation."

If J-"1r. Knapp means to adopt the theory of atheistic evolution, Mr. Takahashi thinks he would better leave the Unitarian camp and join the atheistic Buddhists. Our author, however, believes that these apparently atheistic opinions have been expressed by Mr. Knapp for the purpose of obtaining the good will of Buddhists, for, from ·other utterances of his, it is evident that he recognizes the existence of God.

Mr. Knapp is said to have observed further, that Buddhism is, next to orthodox Christianity, a representative of the pessimistic religions; but that Unitarianism represents the optimistic religions. Mr. Takahashi does not attach much importance to the fact that Christianity is included among the pessimistic religions of the world, for he thinks this is merely a device of Mr. Knapp's to please his Buddhistic friends. He refers Mr. Knapp to Schopenhauer and Hartmann for an account of the crushing pessimism of Buddhism. He warns Unitarians against being utilized by Buddhists, and quotes from a Buddhist tract, by JUl'. Maesa Unkei, as follows: " Unitarianism will not be productive of any positive bendits / Jmt, as it will be negatively useful in neutralizing the evil effects of Christianity, we approve its spread for the sake of the country / nay" for the sake of our Shin-shu (Buddhistic) views."

It is interesting to note that the so-called " short cut" movement has extended to Japan. Last year the Japanese Presbyterians of Tokyo came to the conclusion that the work in Japan requires not only all the men who could be put through their theological school, but also those whose age or means would not allow them to take the full five years' course. Accordingly, of their own free will, they opened a school for evangelists. This year there are between thirty and forty men studying the Bible and receiving enough instruction to fit them for the work of preaching to the common people. The school is designed of course to supplement, not to antagonize, the Presbyterian Seminary. The Japanese Christians initiated the move.- ment, recognizing as they did the intense need of evang~lizing preachers, skilled in the Word, as well as of pastors versed in hermeneutics and apologetics. Many of the missionaries consider the success of the school as one of the most hopeful signs in late years.

It shows the determination of the Christians here to spread abroad the story of the Cross, and their good, common sense in choosing practical means for the furtherance of the work.

Christian work in Japan is complicated greatly by the present political excitement. The nnwillingness of foreign powers to repeal the unjust and unrighteous treaties forced upon Japan a generation ago has resulted in an increased hostility to foreigners and to foreign things. Christianity, of course, is classed in the latter category. Of our present United States representative, Mr. ,Swift, we will not speaK, except to say that the removal of his predecessor, the Texan Baptist minister Hubbard, appointed by President Cleveland, is greatly regretted. A Christian man, he did all in his power to assist Christian workers. No American since Perry, Minister Bingham possibly excepted, has been so popular in Japan. As to diplomatic. results, the Hubbard treaty negotiated with Count Okuma, although finally breaking down, was the first attempt to settle the vexed question of Treaty Revision in an honorable and statesmanlike way. If Mr;, Hubbard had been retained in Japan, it is likely that the revised treaty would be an accomplished fact, and the Christian missionaries would not be hampered now by the irritated condition of public opinion which prevails throughout the empire.

TOKYO, Oct. 12, 1890.

A JAPANESE CONVERT, who united with Bethany Church, Philadelphia, in 1886, said that "so great were the changes in his native country during the ten years previous, that nothing was left, as it. had been, but the naturalsceneryl"

EXAMPLES FROM MODERN MISSIONARY HISTORY

[Although the number of competitive essays sent in, in response to the editorial note in August number, 1890 (p. 631)-631), is not sufficient to justify the award, the edltor will avail himself of one or more of the best, as was then intimated, as articles in these pages.] EXAMPLES FROM MODERN MISSIONARY HISTORY OF THE UNMISTAKABLE INTERPOSITION OF GOD IN ANSWER TO PRAYER AND IN BEHALF OF HIS SERVANTS AND THEIR WORK.

BY REV. JOHN RUTHERFORD, M.A., B.D., ROTHESAY, SCOTLAND.

Pentecost was preceded by prayer. The coming of the Holy Ghost and the conversion of 3,000 souls in a single day were the result of ten days' continuous prayer.

Events like the siege and relief of Leyden, in 1574, when the Spanish armies were compelled to retreat, not before the brave Hollanders, but before the force of nature itself, visibly used by God in defence or the oppressed, witness to the fact that the hand of Almighty God is still interposed in behalf of those who trust Him. "As well," shouted the Spaniards derisively to the citizens, "as well can the Prince of Orange pluck the stars from the sky as bring the ocean to the walls of Leyden for your relief." But what was the issue? "A' violent equinoctial gale, on the night of the 1st ana 2d of October, came storming from the northwest, and then blowing still more violently f!'Om the southwest. The waters of the North Sea were piled in vast masses on the coast, and then dashed furiously landward, the ocean rising over the earth and sweeping, with unrestrained power, across the ruined dykes." The relieving fleet sailed up almost to the walls of the city. As the historian records, it was the hand of God that sent the ocean and the tempest to the deliverance of Leyden, and that struck her enemies wi th terror likewise. We cannot doubt that the preservation of Holland and Britain from the Spanish fury were in answer to many prayers offered up by those who fled to God as their refuge. (Motley, Dutch Republic, II., p. 558).

And much more does the history of the church assure us that God answers prayer. If we review the qistory of missions in any part of the wo,dd, we see that those who do the Lord's work live near to Him, and that He guards them in danger, and watches over that work which is not so much ours as His.

1. In the "Life of John G. Paton" (I., p. 118), the events are narrated which led to his leaving Tanna. He says, "On reaching Nowar's village we found the people terror-stricken, crying, rushing about in dispair at such a host of armed savages approaching. The whole village collapsed in a condition of indescribable terror. The approaching multitude had gone to the mission house and broken in the door, and, finding that we had escaped, they rushed on to Nowar's village. W e ~rayed as one only can pray when in the fear of death and on the brink of eternity. We felt that God was near and omnipotent to do what seemed best in' His sight. When the savages were about 300 yards off, N owar touched my knee, saying, 'MisRi, Jehovah is hearing! They are all standing still.' On gazing shc-rewards, we saw a dense host of warriors, but all were standing still. To our amazement the host began to turn and entered the remote bush at the head of the harbor. We were on that day His trusting and defenceless children; would you not, had you been one of our circle, have joined with us in praising the Lord God for deliverance from the jaws of death? I know not why they turned back, but I have no doubt it was the doing of God to save our lives."

2. Again Mr. Paton writes (p. 345,) "About ten o'clock the savages surrounded the mission house. My faithful dog, Clutha, pulled at my clothes and awoke me. I silently awoke Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, who had also fallen asleep. We committed ourselves, in hushed prayer, to God, and watched them. Immediately a glare of light fell into the room. They set fire to the church all round, and the'l a reed fence connecting the church and the dwelling-house. In a ""lW minutes the house, too, would be in flames, and armed savages waiting to kill us on attempting an escape." Mr. Paton then ran out and cut the burning fence and tore it up, thus preventing the fire from reaching the house. He stood surrounded by seven or eight savages who had raised their clubs in the air, yelling in rage that none of them ventured the first blow, though they shouted "Kill him! kill him!" "At this dread moment occurred an incident which my readers may explain as they like, but which I trace directly to the interposition of my God. A rushing and roaring sound came from the south, like the noise of a mighty engine or of muttering thunder. Every head was instinctively turned in that direction, and they knew from previous hard experience that it was one of their awful tornadoes. Now mark, the wind bore the flames away from our house, and had it come in the opposite direction no power on earth could have saved us from being all consumed. It made the work of destroying the church only that of a few minutes; but it brought with it a heavy and murky cloud which poured out a perfect torrent of tropical rain. Now mark again: the flames of the burning church were thereby cutoff from extending to and seizing upon the reeds and the bush, and besides, it had become almost impossible now to set fire to our house." A panic siezed the savages, and, throwing down their torches, they fled.

Returning to the house Mr. Paton was met by Mr. Mathieson, who exclaimed, "If ever, in time of need, God sent help and protection to His servants, in answer to prayer, He has done so to-night. Blessed be His Holy name."

3. In "Darkest Africa" Henry Stanley writes, "Constrained at the darkest hour to humbly confess that without God's help I was helpless, I vowed a vow in the forest solitudes that I would confess His aid before men. A silence, as of death, was round about me; it was midnight. I was weakened by illness, prostrated by fatigue, and worn with anxiety for my white and black companions whose fate was a mystery. In this physical and mental distress I besought God to give me back my people." And' what was the result of Stanley's vow and prayer? "Nine hours later we were exulting with a raptur- ous joy. In full view of all was the crimson flag with the crescent, and beneath its waving folds was the long-lost real' column."

4. Shortly before the disruption of 1843 the Church of Scotland sent Dr. Keith, Dr. Black, Rev. R. McCheyne and Dr. A. Bonar, the last of whom still survives, on "a mission of enquiry to the Jews ;" they went to Palestine, and on their return journey visited Buda Pesth. There Dr. Keith took suddenly unwell, and all hope of his l'ecovery was abandoned.

In Buda Pesth there lived the Archduchess Marie Dorothea. Liv- ing, as she did, among a morally, degraded people, she longed that they might be made acquainted with the Gospel; for seven years she had prayed that God would send them a missionary. And God answered her prayers in a way she thought not of. She heard that an English clergyman lay dying in the hotel; she sent word that nothing should be left undone to save his life. The physicians had given up the case, but to please the Duchess they redoubled their efforts, applying friction and using other means, until, as they held a lighted taper neal' his mouth, the flames wavered: he lived.

The Archduchess visited him, and begged that the proposed mission should be located ill Buda Pesth. This was agreed to, and as long as she lived she gave it her protection and support. Thus the Gospel came into Buda Pesth. Fifty years Gospel work among a people held down by popery and ignorance and sin; such is God's answer to a woman's prayer (see Bonar's "Mission of Enquiry to the Jews").

5. Rev. E. Pearse in "China's Millions," September, 1882, vouches the truth of the following incident (see "Progress in China," by Rev. Arnold Foster, p. 52). "A man was converted, who had been for many years a vegetarian to gain merit and be saved. He came to our chapel, heard and believed the Gospel, and for years has lived a consistent Christian life. Some time ago the people collected a large sum of money to be expended in idolatrous work, in order that their houses might be saved from fire, and asked this man to contribute to that fund. He declined, on the ground that he trusted in the living God, and that the idols were not able to save them from fire. No sooner was the idolatrous ceremony over than an extensive nre broke out in the very street in which this man's house was situated; 120 houses were burnt down, and when the flames were coming nearer and nearer to his house, the people said, 'Now you see what you have got.' And they wanted to persuade him to take out all his furniture into the street that he might save something. He knew that if he brought the things out into the street, even though they would be safe from fire, they would probably be stolen. But he believed that God was going to preserve him from suffering loss, and he told the people so. While they were hurrying to-and-fro in all their excite- ment, he, in the presence of them all, prayed God that He would show that He was the living and true God. And then he watched the fire as it came nearer and nearer, until there was only one house standing between his own and the flames. But just then there was a sudden change in the wind: God had said, 'Thus far shalt thou come and no further,' and his house was saved. If I had time, I could tell you of a great many more instances."

6. David Livingstone, returning from Central Africa, tells of a great inland sea-Lake Nyassa. The Scottish churches and the Uni- versities' Mission take possession of the land for Christ-money and life are freely spent to evangelize N yassaland. After a dozen years the envy of Portugal is aroused; she sends Major Serpa Pinto to sieze the country, and Cardinal Lavigerie is ready with his priests to sta- tion them in all the places where the missionaries have labored, where the graves of English men and English women are "the title deeds to Nyassaland." Alas! is all this work for Christ to be overthrown? No, indeed; a spirit of prayer comes over the British churches, and the Portuguese encroachments are defeated not so much by the s~ates­ manship of Lord Salisbury as by the prayers of those who sent out the missionaries, and who, day by day, cease not to pray on their behalf. "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes."

7. On August 19, 1856, Rev. William Burns arrived at the city of Chao-chow-fu, south China; he had gone there in order to preach the Gospel and do colportage work. vVhen suddenly he was arrested and the same night examined before the district magistrate (Life of William Burns, p. 290). The magistrates decided to send him to Canton., It was the time of the Taiping rebellion, and, in addition to this, his arrest took place immediately on the eve of the war which that same year broke out between Britain and China. Had he arrived at Canton just a very little later, while the events begun by Commissioner Yeh were in progress, death would have been the probable result to the missionary. N ow compare an entry made by Mrs. Stewart Sandeman, at Perth, Scotland, in her diary, of date 28th December, of the same year: "Mr. Burns was safely kept through his arrest and imprisonment in China. Comparing the dates I find that we were met in prayer for him during his dangerous jOttrney under guard of the Ohinese ofJicials." (lVlemoir of Mrs. Stewart Sandeman, p. 177).

[ NOTE: The 8th and 9th instances are omitted, having been already published in the REVIEW, 1889, pp. 29, 348-ED.] 10. The repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts in Britain was a.

work as arduous as any in Asia or Africa. Those vile acts roused t(} a white heat the zeal of a noble band like Mrs. Josephine Butler and Miss Elice Hopkins who were aRsisted by men like Mr. Stead, Mr.

Stanfield, ~1.P., and Professor Stuart, M.P. Almost the whole strength of the House of Commons and of the House of Lords were against them. The army and the navy were against them. Two or three women and as many men against a nation! but they determined to struggle and suffer in order to save our poor, lost sisters from the brutality of demon-like men. They could endure to he hooted, to be insulted, to be written against in the daily press, as "the howling sisterhood," and they could enlist the arm of God against the power of British immorality. Christians gave themselves to prayer through- out the whole kingdom, and the power of prayer conquered, the Gov- ernment yielded, and by the unanimous vote of Parliament the Con- tageous Diseases Acts were abolished. '

Verily, there is a God that judgeth in the earth, whose ear is not shut to the cry of those who wrestle in prayer as they do His work.

11. And pr~er which God thus answers for the preservation of His servants and their work, also brings spiritual blessing. We have testimony to this on all hands. For example: Rev. Griffith John, of Hankow, says (Records of the Shanghai Conference of 1877, p. 26)), "Feeling my own lack of spiritual power, I spent the whole of a Satur- . day in earnest prayer for a baptism of the Holy Ghost. On the fol- lowing morning I preached on the subject. At the close of t·he ser- vice I proposed that we should meet for an hour on every day of the ensuing week to pray for a baptism of the Holy Ghost. From fifty to seventy of the converts met day by day, and confessing their sins with tears, pleaded for an outpouring of the Spirit of God. The na- tive church at Hankow received an impulse then, the force of which continues to this day. The Holy Ghost became a mighty reality t(} many. vVhere once other things are preached, Christ and His power to save is now the theme."

12. What a successful mission is that carried on in China by the English Presbyterian Church. Begun in 1847, by that apostolic man> William Burns, it has increased until now it has five separate centres, Amoy, Swatow, Formosa, the Hakka country, and Singapore. With its thousands of converts, its native preachers, its ordained native pastors, its schools and Sabbath-schools, its medical missions, its lady missionaries, it has received from God much spiritual blessing-bless- ing which has enabled the converts to stand true even when persecu- tion brought the loss of worldly goods and when heathen fury against the native Christians resulted in murder: this occurred at Poih-buan, in 1878. And they willingly acknowledge that much of the divine blessing, so abundantly given, is to be traced to a monthly prayermeeting for China, held in a room in Edinburgh.

Whether we are opposed by immoral legislation or the opium trade {)r the cruelties of slavery or of the African trade in alcohol, or by the vast forces of heathenism, let our resources be the power of God made available for all the needs of His church. Yes, in all Christian work God supplies all our need according to His riches in gl'ory in Christ Jesus.

GREED IN THE WAY OF MISSIONARY ZEAL.-We fear that there is no form of selfishness more fatal to missionary consecration than the worship of the dollar. Avarice prevents abundant giving, and it hoards fol' the sake of gain what could be used with the most ~bundant profit in the wide harvest field. Not only so, but the Scripture phrase is sagaciously accurate, gold "blinds the eyes." Men do not see the facts or feel the force of the appeal of God and {)f souls because the love of money intervenes as an obscuring medium. There are many professed disciples who hold a dollar so Dear the eye that they can see scarcely anything else in the world.

Robert Hall, arguing with a clergyman suspected of having -changed his opinions from mercenary motives, proposed to him several reforms of great importance, but was invariably met with the reply: "I don't see it; I can't see it at all."

At length, penciling in small letters the word "God" upon an .envelope which lay on the table, Mr. Hall showed it, and asked: " Can you see that?" "Yes. " Then, covering it with a half sovereign, he asked again: " Can you see it now? " " No." Whereupon, without another word, he went away. The argument was sufficiently conclusive without any drawing of a "moral" after it!

THE " New Theology," according to Dr. O. W. Holmes, in teaching probation beyond this life, has as effectually deadened all sensibility to the fear of eternal punishment, as cocaine, the new local anresthetic, deadens the sensibility of the part to which it is applied. We may be permitted to raise the honest inquiry whether any doctrine which practically destroys the power of the retributions of a future state can have any other effect than to paralyze missionary activity. And, if the tree is known by its fruit, can that be a safe doctrine to hold which either deadens sensibility to the plain warnings of the Scripture or to the degradation and destitution of the heathen world?

DO HEATHEN MULTIPLY FASTER THAN CONVERTS?

DO HEATHEN MULTIPLY FASTER THAN CONVERTS?

BY THOMAS LAURIE, D.D., PROVIDENCE, R. I.

The thought of the conversion of the world prompts the question, " How large is it?" There have been v~rious estimates of its popu- lation. In 1753, Voltaire said 1,600,000,000. Fifty years later Volney put it at 437,000,000. Matte Brun, in 1810, made it 640,000,- 000; Balbi, in 1816, estimated it at 704,000,000, and in 1843, at 739,000,000; Behm and Wagner, in 1880, fixed it at 1,456,000,000, and in 1882, with probably greater accuracy, at 1,434,000,000, though it was less than their previous estimate by 22,000,000. This popUlation they distributed as follows: Europe …….. 327,743,400 Asia…………… 795,591,000 Africa………. 205,823,200 America …………100,415,400 Polynesia…… 4,232,000 Polar Land……… 82,500 Total population of the globe………………… 1,433,887,500 These statistics do not introduce a dissertation on population, but only a brief consideration of a recent objection to the missionary work. It is estimated that modern missions have won about 4,000,- 000 converts from idolatry; but we are told that running parallel with these conversions is an increase of the number to be converted from 600,000,000 to 800,000,000, and if 200,000,000 heathen are added to the number, while only 4,000,000 become Christians, at that rate when will the world be converted to God? At first sight the case seems hopeless, and that on these conditions we can only make progress backward; but is the prospect as dark as it seems? Let us look at it carefully and dispassionately. One thing is plain: while the 200,000,000 are the natural increase of the previously existing 600,000,000, the 4,000,000 are an absolute creation. Four millions from nothing is a vastly greater proportion than the other, though the Bums are larger.

But let us examine the subject yet more carefully. Modern evangelical missions have now been in operation about a century. The first missionary society (the Church Missionary Society) dates from 1792. Now, if conversions began immediately, then the 4,000,000 converts are rightly set over against the 200,000,000 increase of heathen; but if they did not begin for a number of years, then the heathen increase of the years during which there were no converts must be subtracted from the 200,000,000, and so we have already reduced the seemingly hopeless contrast.

But that is not all. '1'he first converts were not only the fruits of many years of labor, but they were very few in number. For many years Leang Afa was almost the only convert among the many millions of China, and this introduces a riew element into the discussion, for while the natural increase goes on from year to year, and from age to age, with slight variation, missionary converts in~ease in the ratio of a geometrical progression. At first there were no conversions at all; only a work of preparation. The military stores are gathered together and the forces massed for the coming conflict, and, when that begins, each prisoner taken is not immured in a dungeon, but becomes at once an active soldier, able to avail himself of his famil- iarity with the condition and position of thc enemy for their over- throw. And it is worthy of notice, that the Lord of Hosts does not isolate the converts, but scatters them purposely among those to be acted on by their example and their labors. Already in some.of the latter decades of the century the increase of the converts has been at the rate of eighty-one per cent., and the natural increase of the heathen during the same period only six and one-half per cent. Now, if that proportion were to continue it would only require a sum in arithmetic to find out how soon the eighty-one per cent. would overtake and go beyond the six and one-half per cent. But we have seen that the ratio is one of geometrical progression-" the constant quantity by which each term is multiplied to produce the succeeding one "-and so we see the way clear to transfer very rapidly the hundreds of millions from the heathen side to the Christian side of future increase.

It may be said this is a very beautiful theory, but-. Then take an actual case. Robert Morrison entered China through much tribulation in 1807. When Dr. Happel' went there in 1844 he found only six Protestant missionaries and two native assistants in all that empire. While at the Shanghai Conference, in May, 1890, 1,285 missionaries and 1,469 native assistants were reported as then in that field, and with slich an increase in the past, what may not be hoped for in the future? Other examples might be given equally encouraging. When a fire is kindled in the forest its progress depends on the denseness of the mass of trees to be set on fire, and when everyone of the millions of China is a tor~h waiting to be lighted, it needs no prophet to foretell the effect of casting in these torches already lighted.

Take another view. A century ago there were in all the earth 174,000,000 nominal Christians, 44,000,000 of them Protestants. Now there are 165,000,000 Protestants, almost as many as the whole number at that time, among 450,000,000 nominal Christians. Add to that that the energy and efficiency of the race is concentrated in those Protestants, and the prospect for the future is radiant. Furmerly the Latin race was the conqueror and colonizer of the world, but since it fell under the paralysis of Popery it has lost its power. Now the race which lives by truth is marching at the head of the race, carrying the source of its own energy to all the nations.

It is significant in this connection that, while one hundred years

THE PRAYER LEAGUE

ago only 22,000,000 of the race spoke E'llglish, 115,000,000 now use that language, an increase of more than 500 per cent., and while at that time the 22,000,000 had neither missions nor missionaries, the 115,000,000 now sustain 120 missionary societies, of which our American Board is only one, and these societies raise annually $11,250,000 for the conversion of the world to God.

Then we need only to call to mind the immense store of Christian literature in that language to thank God that it is having such free course in all the earth.

Indeed, we thank the objectors for calling attention to a line of truth where there is nothing to discourage but everything to fill us with the assurance of a glorious success.

THE PRAYER LEAGUE.

We note with sincere gratitude the movement toward covenant prayer in various parts of the Church, and we regard it as the most promising sign of the times. When God's people begin to pray in faith and with true agreement marvels begin in the earth. And not a crisis of missionary history, from the beginning until to-day, has been turned except by prayer.

The Reformed Church has recently formed a Foreign Missionary Prayer League, whose purpose it is "to unite God's people in abundant and prevailing prayer; to intensify, accumulate and direct the power of prayer so that multitudes of heathen may be turned to the Lord in our missions."

In the very impressive appeal which has been issued prayer is recognized as the mightiest power in missionary work, whether to open the doors, thrust forth the laborers, secure the needful means, or to call down abundant blessing. Those who cannot go to the foreign field can, at least, sustain the work by prayers for it, "striving together" with the workmen by their own supplication. United prayer carries resistless power, as is shown throughout all history, and is especially acceptable to God. The method encouraged is special seasons, daily set apart, and particular prayer for individual persons and places: abundant prayer, prayer with fasting, arid with intercommunication among those who join the league.

Mrs. Joseph Scudder, 57 Cannon street, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., acts as secretary of the league. We exhort all who belong to that communion especially to join this league, and make its objects and aims heartily their own. We believe that if the whole Church would get into a new attitude of fervent, believing prayer there would be such a new Pentecost as the history of man has never yet recorded.

COl>'VENTION OF CHRISTIAN WORKERS AT BANGALORE, INDIA

CONVENTION OF CHRISTIAN WORKERS AT BANGA- LORE, INDIA.

BY REV. JACOB CHAMBERLAIN, M.D., D.D., MADANAPALLE, INDIA.

Bangalore, the chief city of the kingdom of ]fysore, has just witnessed a singular sight for the capital city of a non-Christian kingdom.

Pursuant to an invitation from the missionaries of all societies working in Bangalore and other earnest Christians residing there, a convention gathered at that place on the 23d of September, of missionaries and other ChriAtian workers from all parts of the Madras Presidency with some also from Bombay.

'l'he convention was not for the discussion of abstruse problems of missionary policy, but for the promotion of spiritual life and growth and earnestness in work for the Master.

Trains arriving on the afternoon of September 23d, from four different directions, centering at that place, brought those invited, and others who could attend, from many different provinces, districts, cities and villages. .iUJ. parts of the Tamil country, from near Cape 00morin to Madras and the N eilgherry Mountains,sent representatives. All parts of the kingdom of Mysore, the Kanarese kingdom, were represented. Two delegates from the Marathi country and one from the Gujarathi; myself and another from the Telugu country; missionary workers among the Mohammedans in Hindustani; workers in English among the Eurasians and in the English army, and native preachers in Tamil, Kanarese and Telugu were there. Seven languages were required to do the daily work at their stations of the workers there assembled.

Not missionaries alone: many laymen were there. Coffee planters from the Shevaroy and the Neilgherry mountains. An executive engineer from one of the new state railways on the East Coast; a general and several other officers from the Madras army; soldiers in uniform from the garrison; artisans and tradesmen and their families; natives, male and female, in their striking costumes. All mingled, as children of the King, in this conference. It would be hard to match it in any city of the Western world.

Twelve different branches of the Church of Christ were represented-the Church of England,English Baptists, American Baptists, English Independents, American Congregationalists, English Wesleyans, American Methodists, AustralasianWesleyans, German Lutherans, American Reformed, English Plymouth Brethren and Salvation Army officers-all joined heartily in counsel and prayer for higher spiritual life, for more absolute consecration, for more efficient. service.

Tuesday evening was devoted to an informal reception, a social gathering, the Rev. and Mrs. W. H. I. Picken, Wesleyan missiona- ries of Bangalore, behlg host and hostess.

It gave us all an opportunity of becoming acquainted. English, Germans, Hindus, Americans, Australians, and an exceedingly pleas- ant gathering it was, closing with half an b1u ~Cff more formal words of welcome, praise and prayer.

The next three days, with three sessiOn!, each day, were given to the consideration of "What Christ does for His people," "What Christ does in His people," and "What Christ does through His people," one day being given to each theme.

The vVednesday morning meeting was a Bible reading on the first theme, conducted by Rev. E. Chester, M.D., thirty-one years a missionaryof tbe American Board in the Madura Mission. The afternoon meeting was devotional, led by Rev. I. G. Hawker, twenty-five years a missionary of the London Missionary Society at Belgaum. It was a helpful, uplifting meeting. The evening's session was a more public meeting for addresses on the day's theme, presided over by the representative of the Arcot Mission of the Reformed Church in America, thirty years a missionary among the Telugus, at which every seat in the large audience-room was filled and some stood. Addresses were given by the chairman, on what Christ does (a) by His atonement; by Rev. G. W. Lawday, of Tumkur, Wesleyan, (b) By His example; and by Rev. W. Ioso, London Mission, Madras, (c) By His intercession. The exercises were interspersed with warm prayers and spir:ted singing by a volunteer choir who had previously practiced for the purpose.

Thursday's was the second theme, "What Christ does in His people." The morning's Bible reading on it was led by Handley Bird, Esq., Plymouth Brother, from Coimbatoor, and was exhaustive and stimulating. The afternoon meeting was for ladies only, and was said to have been of exceptional interest. The evening meeting, for public address, was led by Dr. Chester, of Dindigul, and addresses were given by the chairman, by Mr.E.Lynn, Plymouth Brother, Malvalli, and by Rev. John S. Chandler, of the American Madura Mis- SIOn.

Friday was the crowning day. The theme, "What Christ does through His people." The morning Bible reading, led by H. Clift, Esq., railway executive engineer, mapped out the subject well. The afternoon meeting was a conversational session on "Methods of Evangelization," or "How shall God work through us for His higher glory?" 'rhe writer was asked to open and guide the conversation. This was declared to be a "Council of War" for the conquest of India. And it proved one of the most stimulating of the meetings, full of val'lety and suggestiveness.

The methods referred to were: Oral proclamation of the Gospel in the streets, villages, markets, fairs, with such accessories as large colored Scripture pictures or magic-lantern Bible scenes, by night;with cornet and bicycle to tow in the crowd and "baby organ" to hold them for the preaching: Medical missionary work, with preaching to all patients, and terse Gospel tickets for the patients to take home; and Zenana medical work by lady doctors; Reading rooms and preaching halls in crowded thoroughfares; Sunday-school work among Chris- tian and heathen children; Young Men's Christian Association work in large cities, and Young People's Societies of Christian Endeavor in smaller places. The Press and Tract Gospel and Christian book distribution all through the country. Christian school work to reach non-Christian pupils, and to train workers, and Zenana work and Bible women, and lIindu girl's schools to reach non-Christian women.

This meeting being a "family gathering," all mingled freely in the discussion-ladies and gentlemen, lay and clerical, English, Germans, Australians, Americans, Hindus, Episcopalians, Methodists, Salvation Army, Presbyterians, Plymouth Brothers, "Faith Mission" Workers, Baptists, strict and open, Congregationalists and Wesleyans, with prayers of unction, and hymns of victory thrown in all the way. The only difficulty was in bringing the meeting to a close.

Friday evening'S meeting, the closing one of the series, was the most crowded one of all. General MacAusland, of the Madras army, presided and made the opening address, on "What Christ does through His people." (a) by the example and influence of their live!', and was followed by Rev. L. S. Gates, of the American Board's Mission, Sholapore, Bombay, on (b) by their testimony to truth and experience, and by Rev. I. G. Hawker, of Belgaum, on (0) by their works of faith and love.

After the Benediction there was a general handshaking of those who had come, many of them one and two days' journey to attend, and so this memorable "Mildmay Conference," held in India, of Christian Workers, was brought to a close amid a universal desire for a similar meeting to be held next year, at which very many more workers, lay and clel'ica~, will be sure to be present. The Kingdom is coming. We can see its onward progress. God bring it in speedily!

SAID a heathen to a mlsslOnary: "There must be something in your religion which makes you come all the way out here to tell us of it. I am sure I would not go so far to tell you of mine." Nothing is perhaps more likely to impress the minds of pagan people than the evidence that missionaries afford, that the good news is worth telling! And the more sacrifice our evangelism costs us the more eloquent is t.he testimony that missions give to the value of the great salvation and our own passion fOI" souls.

THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK

THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK.-I.

BY J. MURRAY MITCHELL, M.A., LL.D., NICE, FRANCE.

We intend to take a view, if possible, of that field which is the world. It follows, of course, that in so general a survey, many particulars that are by no means unimportant, must pass unnoticed, and that only the most outstanding objects can receive more than a passing glance.

It is often said that we have entered, or are entering, on a new era in missionary history. Various things seem, on the whole, to justify this language. Of these we shall specify only three-the student movement in America, the request of the Missionary Conference at Shanghai that a thousand missionaries be sent to China within the next five years, and a prayer from members of the Church Missionary Society that its missions speedily receive the same accession. Ten or five years ago such things could not have been. The double, indeed ,triple demand (Mr. Hudson Taylor had already asked for a thousand new laborers for the China Inland Mission) for a thousand missionaries, if made, would have been scouted as ridiculous. Reserving to the end of this paper Bome questions as to the practical carrying out of the proposal, we can express nothing but admiration in view of the enlargement of heart which the demand implies.

We divide this paper into three parts. We first advert to the missionary spirit as it exists at home. 'Ve then speak of the position of things in the foreign field. We shall conclude with a few suggestions grounded on the sur~ey we shall thus have taken.

I.

First, then, let us attend to the missionary spirit as it exists in Christendom: Undoubtedly there has been, for a good many years past, a steady growth of missionary zeal. The movements we have already mentioned are the natural result of what preceded. Hardly any portion of the Church of Christ now fails to take a share in foreign evangelistic work; or, if it fails, it is quite aware of having to explain its position and apologize. Otherwise, it knows it will stand condemned at the bar of Christendom. There is not merely a growing interest in non-Christian peoples, arising out of a growing knowledge of their condition; there is a deepening sense of duty towards our fellow-men -an increasingly clear perception of the social character of Christianity. Time was when even good men thought not too much, but too exclusively, of their own salvation. We see better than we did that we must "add to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity"-to love of God and love of Christians-a love that embraces the entire human race and that does not evaporate in talk.

Such is increasingly the feeling of the church, and the general public shares it to a considerable extent. We are old enough to remember the time when any new missionary effort that might be pro- posed was sure to be sneered at-classed under the head of "missions to the moon and elsewhere." But no man will scoff at missions now who does not scoff at the Bible itself, and he who speaks of the useless- ness of missions is prepared to assert in the same breath the useless- ness of Christianity.

This growing appreciation of missions on the part of the general public is due to the strong testimony in regard to their practical ef- ficacy, which has been so often rendered by men fully qualified to form a judgment-many of whom were prepared to look on missions with an eye severely critical. Among .such witnesses Charles Darwin has been one of the most tnfIuential. He certainly had no predispo- sition to think well of missionary work; but, as an entirely honest man, he told what his own eyes had seen. One of his expressions has become proverbial: "The lesson of the missionary is an enchanter's wand." Speaking of some who had ridiculed the work in the South Seas, which he himself had carefully examined, he used the scathing language: "Disappointed in not finding the field for licentiousness quite so open as formerly, they will not give credit to a morality which they do not wish to practise." Testimonies in favor of missions are multiplying. Stanley has spoken, with characteristic warmth, in praise of Mackay and others, and, as we write, an eye lights on the high eulogium which Mr. Johnston, in the New Review, pronounces on the doings of Dr. Laws, of Nyassaland. Mr. Johnston says Dr. Laws "learned to make bricks in order that he might teach others. He has become a practical engineer, carpenter, joiner, printer, photographer, farrier, boat-builder and druggist, so that he might instruct his once savage people in these arts and trades."

Mackay, the "engineer missionary," labored with much zeal in teaching the arts of civilized life at Uganda. He spoke very warmly of the missions at Lovedale and Blythswood, in South Africa, as exemplifying what he regarded as the right kind of missions for Africa. They combine intellectual and religious teaching with industrial training.

Men who are believers in Christianity may be expected to write in terms such as we have been referring to. And when those that are not believers use such language as we have quoted from Darwin, we need not be surprised. For now-a-days many who never think of the service of God, plead earnestly for "the service of man." They have drawn the lesson, directly or indirectly, from the Bible, which makes the service of man an essential part of the service of God; and this they ought, in fairness, to acknowledge. But, although they believe in no Divine command to evangelize the nations; they can hardly deny the elevation of the aim. They may blame the missionaries for proclaiming dogmas which to them seem unintelligible, but the philsnthropic character of missions they do not seek to deny; and, when testimonies multiply as to their practical efficacy in raising degraded races, they cannot but express approval. 1'his is true, at least of the higher class of unbelievers-of men like Cotter Morison, one of the ablest of the Agnostics. He speaks of the "unequaled potency" of Christianity in moulding character, and of the "true Christian saint" as "one of the most wonderful phenomena of the moral wOl·ld-so lofty, so p~re, so attractive." We do not wish to make too much of such testimonies; neither do we despise them; but, at all events, language like this rises infinitely above the polished sarcasm of Gibbon no less than the vulgar ribaldry of Paine.

While we speak thus, we are not ~rgetting that, if missions are better appreciated than they were, yet the missionaries themselves have lately been subjected to severe criticism. It is not long since an Anglican canon was writing foolishly about Mohammedanism, and bitterly about the missionaries of his own church. And, certainly, we cannot overlook the excitement aroused among the 'Vesleyans by charges made by one who had seen very little of India-charges which were repeated in one or two influential quarters at home. Such attacks do temporary harm, both at home and among the heathen; but, as the truth becomes known, there is a great reaction in favor of the men assailed. Canon Isaac Taylor will hardly return to the bat-' tIe, seeing he was not only refuted by missionaries, but charged by literary men like Mr. Bosworth Smith with "invincible ignorance" and" headlong heedlessness." The Canon has done good service in linguistics and archreology, and to these he should confine llimself. And as for theWesleyans, it is, we trust, a joy even in the quarters at home in which the accusations were rashly credited, that, instead of their being" proved to the hilt," the sharp weapon, though powerfully wielded, has not pierced-has barely grazed-the skin. For the mis- .sionaries were, after the fullest inquiry, completely exonerated from all charges made, or implied. And so let us pass from the whole thing as from a painful dream.

Of course, criticism is not over. It is inevitable, if real interest be taken in the work. There will be unjust and ignorant criticism; for some men have a perfect genius for finding fault, and there will be room for legitimate and enlightened criticism, for missionaries are not infallible. Inquiry into evangelistic methods there ought to be. Every true-hearted missionary will be most grateful for any new light that can be thrown upon his work, and all friendly criticism he will meet in a friendly spirit. He will indeed be disposed to smile at not a few of the changes that are suggested as improvements on pres- ·ent methods, for probably either he himself, or others, have already tried the thing proposed and found it wanting; but he will fully appreciate the spirit oy which the criticism is prompted. No doubt, as he watches the slow, steady advance of the truth wherever the Gosper is faithfully made known, he will be pained to note the impatience of some who think that the high places in heathenism ought to be cap- tured by a rush; and he will be disposed to ask why things move so slowly at home-why the Pope and the College of Cardinals are not r converted-why unbelief and worldliness are still so fearfully strong A craving for the salvation of souls is beautiful, but a craving for results, mainly in order that we may get our money's worth, is pitiable; and the Church of Christ needs to examine her own heart and see which feeling chiefly sways her. The Apostle speaks of the need of the sower having" long patience," "till he receh-e the early and the lat- ter rain." N ow, in this ale of unsettlement and restlessness, "long patience" is, to the best of us, difficult of attainment; and many crave- for perpetual excitement and perpetual change. Let the Church be " instant in season and out of season," but let her also seek to enter into fuller sympathy with Him who sees the end from the beginning, and who is seated at the right-hand of God" from henceforth expect- ing till His enemies be made His footstool. "

We hail a growing desire on the part of the Church at home to draw tighter the bonds between the foreign laborers and herself. .One mark of this is the sending of deputies to the missions. When these are wise and sympathetic men, only good should result from this. Would that all home ministers could visit heathendom! It would enable them on their return to plead the cause of missions far more zealously and effectively. "Mine eye affecteth mine heart," and a sight of real heathenism would be a lesson and an impulse for life. Indifference to missions is often traceable to ignorance rather than unfaithfulness. Certainly, in this case, zeal will be in proportion to· knowledge.

All that we have said implies that the interest of the Church, and even of the general public, in regard to mission work has been, and still is, deepening. The world begins to see that the work is good, and the Church that it is glorious. Now, do we sufficiently realize the magnitude and importance of the change? Doubtless everyone has heard of the rebuke administered by Dr. Ryland to young Carey for his excess of zeal, and most of us -can repeat the story of the Scottish Assembly, and good Dr. Erskine's "Rax me that Bible.'" But at a later date such representative men as Bishop Horsley, in England, and Dr. Timothy Dwight, in America, were opposed to the' movement on behalf of missions. Or, going farther back, it is deplor– able that from the Reformation till about the end of the sixteenth century the only great man who is known to have seen the import– ance of missions was Hugo Grotius. When from about the year 1664 the Austrian nobleman Van Welz was striving to arouse the churches: of Germany to a sense of their obligations, he encountered the sternest opposition from men of position and unquestioned orthodoxy, such as Ursinus, the superintendent of Regensburg. "The heathen," said this high ecclesiastic, "have already had sufficient means of learning the truth. The Greenlanders could have learnt it from their neighbors, the Danes and Swedes; and the Turks and Tartars from the Greeks. God is not bound to help these'heathen more than He has done." "As for those who have been persecutors of the faith, why should heaven's pearls be thrown to dogs or swine like them?"* Can such things have been said by the leaders of the Christian Church? Unhappily, yes; and they were, by the people under them, all too readily acquiesced in.

Let us thank God that such words cannot be used again. They would arouse one general feeling of horror throughout the churches.

One proof of the deepening interest in missions is the increasing number of university men that are offering themselves for service. It was long before any such, in the Church of England at least, were willing to work among the heathen; but, during the last four years, seventy-nine English university men have become missionaries. In former days of coldness special colleges for training missionaries were wholly indispensable; but the belief is growing that ordained men in the foreign field require at least as good an education as ordained men at home. In the Presbyterian churches the same training has long been given to both classes; there is no abbreviated curriculum for missionaries. The flower of university youth everywhere is pressing more and more -into the foreign field.

The steady increase of female missionaries is equally remarkable III all missionary churches and societies. If we mention the C. M. S. as an example it is not because it stands specially prominent in this respect, but because the requisite information regarding it happens to be at hand. Three years ago it had twenty-two female missionaries. (excluding the wives of missionaries); now it has sixty. Equal or nearly equal progress has been made by the distinctively female missionary societies connected with all the churches. For example, the Zenana, Bible and Medical Mission has, during the last eight years, sent out 138 additional workers, and is making an effort to send twenty more.

The claims of the heathen world are overwhelming, and the conviction grows that the class of ordained missionaries must be supplemented by the unordained men, with or without academical training. This is as it should be. In certain fields, and for certain kinds of work, the higher education is indispensable; a thorough acquaintance with Hebrew and Greek, for example, is necessary for those who are to translate, or revise, the Holy Scriptures in foreign tongues. Devout laymen do admirable service at home, and why may they not abroad?

* See The Nordisk Missions-tids sleri/t. vol. 1, pages 62, 68. This excellent missionary maga- zine has just been started under the able editorship of Provst (Dean) Vah!. As for women, of course, the question arises: "Is the Church to Rend forth only those who are in the position of ladies?" Certainly; native ladies in India and elsewhere can quickly take the measure of their foreign visitors, and a woman of little education or refinement will hardly be welcome in the homes of the higher and middle classes. But are the lower classes to be' overlooked? No woman whose heart is burning with the love of Christ need despair of doing good to her heathen sisters. And, then, the Spirit of God will seldom work powerfully in the heart without imparting a large measure of sweetness and refinement to the bearing-whereas, polish of manner without the grace of God is nothing worth-for Smooth, good breeding, supplemental grace, 'Vith lean performance apes the work of love.

The importance of medical missions is now pretty fully recognized in Britain and America. lVIedical missionaries having British degrees are about 141 in number; while from America and the Continent there are 150. China has the largest proportion. The number of female practitioners seems to grow rather more rapidly than that of medical men.

So hI' we have spoken of Britain chiefly, though we trust our remarks apply also to America. We proceed to refer briefly to the Continent of Europe.

In Germany there is decided progress in missionary zeal. 'rhe vast territories which Germany now possesses or " influences" in East Africa have naturally led Christians to feel that new obligations rest upon them; and new societies ha~e been formed to meet these claims. For example, one at Neukirchen, another in Bavaria, and another at Berlin (where a third society has thus been set up). In medical missions Germany does comparatively little, though the late Professor Christlieb earnestly pleaded for them. Still, the lVIoravians and the Basle and Bremen societies now recognize their exceeding value.

There is a clear advance in Denmark. The imperative obligation of evangelizing heathen nations has been of late earnestly pressed on believing men and women, and a great many missionary uriions (450, at least, we understand) have been formed. The first university men that have become foreign missionaries did so in 1888 and 1889-one in each of these years; but several students of theology have resolved to give themselves to the foreign work on the completion of their course. ,"Vomen also begin to come forward. A deaconess was sent to India, in 1888; two young ladies are under training for foreign work, and several others are likely to follow their example. No medical missionaries have as yet proceeded from Denmark; but two young men are receiving medical tralning with a view to go out in 189l. The mission to the Red Karens has been given up; but one is to be begun among the Burmese. All this, it may be said, does not amount to much. Still, it distinctly implies progress; and some Danish Christians are very much in earnest with regard to missionary work.

Three missionary societies have for a good many years existed in Norway, and a fourth was formed a short time ago, called the" Free lEssion," which sends out men and women to Natal. Quite recently a small society has been set up which will send missionaries to China.

In regard to medical missions Norway is in advance of Denmark.

Au ordained medical missionary was sent to Madagascar in 1869; a second in 1876, and in the same year a third, who had taken his degree in Edinburgh, was sent to Zululand.

In Sweden there are three larger societies-that of the state (lhurch, the evangelical union, and the missionary union. '1'he Swedes work earnestly in various places abroad, especially in Africa, in the Congo Free States and among the Gallas. They have not been able to enter Abyssinia itself, but among Abyssinians on the borders they have done a good deal. These bodies send out among their agents both m<edical men and ladies. There are several other small SOCletles. There is evidently au increasing zeal for missions in Sweden, and it is interesting to note that the state church, as a (lhurch, is hearty in the cause.

The French Societe des Missions Evangeliques has of late made ~al'llest efforts to increase the zeal of French Protestants. The synods of the National, Free and Lutheran churches some time ago recommended that there should be annually a mission Sunday-a day on which the duty of evangelizing the heathen should be pressed on the attention (If worshippers. Mission festivals (fetes) have been established in "Various places~* though by no means as yet in every parish, as was the hope of the synods; publications giving missionary information are largely circulated, and subscriptions to missions have considerably increased. '1'he missions have struggled with great difficulties (in Senegambia particularly); and now, when France has obtained such vast possessions in northern and western Africa, the question is, (lan the French Protestants rise to the requirements of the high occasion? '1'hey deserve sympathy; they require help in their foreign, as in their home work.

In Holland missionary zeal is increasing, though not rapidly. Switz('rland has the Basil Missionary Society-a most valuable and progressive institution, and the small Canton de Vaud has, sinee 1872, had foreign missions connected with the Free Church. In 1883 the free churches of Geneva an<d Neuchatal joined in the work. The united society is called La Mission des Eglises Libres de la Suisse Romande. The venerable Waldensian Church, while it feels itself especially .. See last annual report, p. 3.

NUNNERY LIFE IN NAPLES

called tp evangelize Italy, has taken some part in foreign missions since 1881. It works in South Africa in connection with the Paris society.

The Finnish Christians are not neglectful of missions to th~ heathen. We wish we could say the same thing of the Hungarians (who are also of the Turanian stock). Still, let us not forget that the "T Hungarian Church works both in Herzegovina and Roumania. e have been speaking of interest in the evangelizing of the heathen nations as it is manifested in Christendom. Happily, the bounds of Christendom are enlarging. Ve may now include Australia and New Zealand under that designation. In point of missionary zeal the churches in these regions are hardly behind those of Europe and America. The Dutch Church in South Africa" is also earnest in missionary work.

[To be continued.] NUNNERY LIFE IN NAPLES.

The recent disclosures in this Italian city have produced a pro- found sensation throughout the whole bounds of the thinking world. A convent in Naples, which for four centuries has been shut to all, and has been appropriately known as the nunnery of the "Buried Alive," has been opened by the police and the secrets unearthed. A young girl had been hurriedly" buried" there to cure her of an un- fortunate passion; but when her family afterwards wiRhed to com- municate with her it was found impossible. An appeal to the Italian Minister of Justice procured an order for entrance, and, against vio- lent opposition, the police forced their way. They found twenty-six nuns, ragged, wretched, and some of them half-insane. Eight of them had been immured in this death trap by order of their parents, against their own will. The horrible spectacle thus brought to 'light has caused the Governor of Naples to order a further and complete investigation, and all the closed nunneries of Southern Italy are to be visited officially. "Free Italy" is proving both her right and her power to be free! These women were walled in, 'Yith only a small opening to " pass in food, and were like bony skeletons, The government pro- poses to turn the large convent into a school for girls. Of course the priests cry, "Sacrilegio I Sacrilegio!"

One of the Erskines said: "I can call God to witness that I have done my best to bring on a definite issue between Christ and the adversaries of the truth." .Let us not be afraid of conflict. Christ came not to send peace, but a sword. Loyalty to the truth will inevitably arouse to violent opposition the minions and myrmidons of' error.

"HOW MUCH BETTER THEN IS A MAN THAN A SHEEP?"

"HOW :MUCH BETTER THEN IS A MAN THAN A SB,EEP?" MATT. xn:12.

BY A. J. GORDON, D.D., BOSTON, MASS• • An absurd question! you may exclaim at first. But it was a very pertinent question when Jesus asked it. And it is just as truly so to- day. For do you not know that our American congress has given vastly more attention to the protection of sheep's wooi than it has given to the protection of the home and family? And this is a typi- cal fact which illustrates the conduct of worldly rulers and secular shepherds in all time. Therefore, it is necessary for us to answer anew the question: "How much better is a man than a sheep ?"

Answer first: "The gooa shephera giveth his life for the sheep,'" (Johnx:ll), which, being interpreted, means: "The Son of God gave himself for the sons of men." Our first computation of the worth of man, then, is not in an earthly currency but in a heavenly; not in the denomination of "corruptible things as silver and gold" but of "the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Think of that, ye monopolists and Christian millionaires~ who have ground humanity between the upper and nether millstones of combination and capital in order to make gain and grist for yourselves, till the Lord has cried out repeatedly: "Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge who eat up My people as they eat bread ?" Here is the difference between man's estimate of man and God's estimate: The one will grind the masses into food for his own stomach, if he can do so; the other-the Son of God-will give his own body to be ground into food for man, saying, as he offers us his own wounded and bleeding members: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The philosopher, Compte, is said to have instituted and kept what he' called "Man's Supper," in which he partook of a crust of bread and a cup of water, saying, as he did so: "This I do in remembrance of the great multitude who have only a crust to feed upon.'" But such a sacrament is not needed: for the Lord's Supper, instituted centuries ago, declares all this and vastly more. By it our Lord says to our hungry, oppressed and suffering humanity, " I give myself to you, My.body to be your loaf, lIy blood to be your life, take, eat ye all of it." When was ever such valuation set on man as this? "Every man has his price," says the proverb. And the politician is in the market bidding for him; and the capitalist is in the Exchange bidding for him; and the man-slayer stands in the door of his saloon bidding for him. All these are bidding him down, vieing with each other in deadly competition to see which will get him for the smallest. and most paltry price. But Jesus Christ steps into the circle and sternly asks of the bidders: "How much better is a man than a sheep? Look on him, made in the image of God, and, though bruised and broken by the fall, capable of being restored to that image, and re- dothed with glory and honor and immortalityl And is this all that he is fit for, to be sheared of his daily income by the saloon; to ~ Tobbed of his fleece by the usurer, and to be sold in the shambles by the monopolist? I will not bid him down, I will bid him up. 'As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my lifefor the sheep,''' (John x:15). Here is the Divine valuation of man; Christ's invoice of humanity. Look at the price-the Lord Himself – and then estimate the purchase. N ever was such fine gold of purity and perfection coined into a single life; never was such weight of priceless suffering crowded into a single death. And all this the purchase money of our redemption. "Or what Hhall a man give in exchange for his soul?" asks Jesus. And He answers His -questions by giving Himself. We want no more powerful argument for missions than this: "Who loved me and gave Himself for me"- Himself, so infinitely much, for me, so insignificantly little. Then woe to the Christian who can hoard his gold, when the dying millions are crying out for more missionaries to be sent to them; and our bur- dened and anxious Boards are crying out for more money with which to send them.

"How much better is a man than a sheep?" Answer second: "I willmake a man more precious than fine gold/ even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir" (Is. xiii. 12). The seer looked on, through the long perspective of prophecy, to .the day when the heavens shall be shaken; when the sun shall be darkened .and the moon shall withdraw her light. In this time, when God shall }mnish the world for its eyil he "will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible"- then" a man shall be more precious than fine gold." Here is something new in the history of the race. For ages the gold brokers of this world have counted humanity as oBly so much crude ore to be reduced and coined into cash for their vaults. But now the golden age has come when a man stamped with the image and superscription .of God will pass for what he is worth-the highest currency on earth. Hear this, ye missionaries of the Cross! You have forsaken all to go down into William Carey's "Gold Mine," while many of your brethren at home are filling their safes with thousands and ten thousands of superfluous wealth, leaving you short-handed and discouraged for want of helpers which they might send you if they would only give as the Lord has prospered them. And in hours of heart-sinking and faintness you sometimes wonder what you will get for all your thankless sacrifices. Be of good cheer. You are mining men, and that for the most part out of the lowest strata of humanity; and though your products have little value in this world's market, wait a little. There is a financial panic approaching in which yellow gold will go down, while there will be an astonishing rise in your securities. Listen to the report of the coming crash, as it appears on the bulletin-board of James, v: "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 'Your riches are co~­ rupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered: and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat yourflesh as it wereflre. Ye have heaped together treasure for the last days." Did you ever hear of such a gold panic as that? Boom the market; form syndicates; pass silver bills; enlist the banks! It is of no use. The day of judgment has come. "Your gold and silver is cankered." :Millionaires become insolvent, banks suspend, and the only people who have anything to depend on are those who laid up somewhat in the savings bank of heaven.

But what news for the missionary on St. James' bulletin-board? Listen: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman 1vaiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient/ stablish your hearts/for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." "The coming of the Lord." And what of that? Ah, that is going to revolutionize society. Read the :Messianic Psalm 72d and learn for yourself the change that will be ushered in by the millennium. :Money will go down, man will come up. Immanuel will now control the market in the interest of his clients. "And to Him shall be given the gold of Sheba," and" He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also and him that hath no helper."

And most wonderful of all: "A man shall be more precious than gold." Hear that, 0 long-suffering and patient missionary; your stock will be at par now-as it never has been before. The poor souls which you dug from' the dark caverns of heathenism, and which you coined in the mint of redemption, will be worth millions of such "corruptible things as silver and gold." Did the mother of the Gracchi present her own children to those who inquired concerning her treasures, saying: "These are my jewels?" How much more will the missionary exult in his spiritual children in that. day when the ]~ord shall" make up his jewels," presenting them before the Redeemer, and before the angels, saying: "These are my riches!" :Moffat, who is that black man who stands by your side, and what do you count him worth? And the aged apostle of Africa replies: That is Africaner, the once bloodthirsty and raging man-slayer, now become as gentle and tender as a Iamb since Jesus laid him on His shoulders rejoicing. Do you ask me wha':. he is worth? He is "more precious than fine gold. Yea, than the golden wedge of Ophir." 'Who is that, 0 William Carey, whom you are introducing with such joy to your Lord? That is Khrishna Pal, my first convert from among the heathen of India. Listen, and you shall hear him sing, " 0 thou my soul forget no more The friend who all thy sorrows bore."

And who is this, 0 Boardman beloved, whom you are leading up to the throne with such thanksgiving? This is San Quala, whom God gave me from the dark-faced Karens, and who himself in turn led thousands to Jesus Christ.

" Where can I invest most safely and profitably?" is the question constantly asked on 'Change. Invest in souls; seriously, deliberately and solemnly we urge you to inv~st in souls. There is no insurance on gold and silver that will protect tllem against the fires of the last day. But saved and glorified souls-these are" the gold tried in the fire," out of which your crown of rejoicing shall be wrought. Get money, you mayor may not, 0 Christian. But as you care aught for the rewards of heaven, fail not of getting souls. Get them at your own door; get them from the ends of the earth; but fail not to get them.

" I FEEL age creeping on me. I know that I must soon die. I hope it is not wrong to say it, but I cannot bear to leave this world with all the suffering in it /"-Earl of Shaj~esburJ/.

SCHLEGEL, and Madame de Stael after him, called" architecture, frozen music." From some of the music we have heard in so-called sanctuaries during the past five years we have concluded that the praise was frozen in the icy surroundings of an !esthetic performance, in which all the warmth of devotional fervor had somehow been utterly lost. Is it not possible for even our missionary spirit so to be chilled by the icy rigidity of a heartless formalism, that even while we are boasting of our efficient organizations, God sees that they are like frozen corpses, from which all life is gone?

ARE OUR PASTORS FAITHFUL?

The large number of our non-contributing churches, after making a liberal allowance for unintentional omission, and churches having only a nominal existence, also the trifling amount given to the Foreign Mission Work by congregation" whose wealth runs up into the millions, shows the necessity of some new movement. I have been attending a prominent evangelical church in a great city for the last three years and more, ministered to by one of the most mature preachers in our church, and during the whole tiJlle he has made no reference to the foreign work from the pulpit. The attention of the officers of the church has been called to the strange omission but no explanation has been given. If men who have the ear of the church are silent, God will raise up others. " The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber and help destroy it." This is beyond endurance.-A Parishioner.

1891.J Tl4-NSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS

TRANSLATIONS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS.

BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK.

-The Missions-Blatt der BrUdergemeine, for June, 1890, gives the follow- -ing account of the peculiar relations of the mission-stations in South Africa to the civil authorities: " The practical English government has long since come to see that mission_ stations are the very best representatives of good morals, good order and civilization, the most trustworthy guarantees of public quiet, above all in the domain <>f the hot-blooded, turbulent Caffres, who have already cost the English colony streams of blood and untold sums of money. No wonder, then, that the higher -officials, in the well-understood interest of the common weal, encourage missions~ It is natural, therefore, when a mission-station is laid out, that they should gratuitously grant the ground required for church, school and missionhouse, if it is in the hands of the government. Indeed, they used also to give, without compensation, even the land for fields and gardens likely to blil required by a future community. This was known as the station-land. The rules and ordinances necessary for such a station then receive government sanction, and the presiding missionary receives civil jurisdiction to expel, from the station and its domain, those that offend against these ordinances by gross offences. Less important violations of station rules are visited with a fine paid into the public purse of the congregation. Thus the presiding missionary of the station is armed, not only with ecclesiastical, but also with civil and judicial prerogatives. On the other hand, the State naturally reserves to its representatives the right to ascertain whethcr the grant in land is actually applied to the designated purpose, whether discipline and good order prev:;til at the station, whether the school is efficiently carried on, and so on. Moreover, those that are condemned to leave the station lands have the right, in case they esteem the penalty unjust, to appeal to a government officer, who takes cognizance of their complaint."

This banishment from the station, however, especially as concerns submission to the heathenish and degrading rites connected with circumcision, is now in disuse, milder, but practically less dangerous and more effective measures of discipline taking its place. This universal Caffre usage, in itself indifferent, is so inextricably interwoven with all manner of vile concomitants, that it seems to be Satan's chief instrument for holding the Caffres under his dominion. Yet a Caffre yputh who does not submit to it becomes virtually a pariah among his tribesmen, and can scarcely obtain, even from Christian parents, the hand of one of their daughters. Its final overthrow will storm the citadel of darkness.

-The Rev. Mr. Stahle, of Australia, a Moravian, though at present connected with another society, communicates the decision of the" Aboriginal Board," appointed to look after the interests of the rapidly-vanishing native race, that they shall all be removed to certain stations, where they shall be kindly cared for, and not allowed intercourse with the whites, or even with the half-whites, until the race disappears, as within a calculable time it appears that it must.

Mr. Stahle says that for several months an awakening, accompanied with rich blessing, had been in progress among the Tapuas of his station. "Much sickness, however, had prevailed, and from January till October there had been eleven deaths. But all who fell asleep bore witness on their deathbed of their faith in Him who justifies the ungodly, and of their fervent desire that they might be permitted to enter into the joy of their Lord."

A visitor to the station, who attended a meeting, says: " But, ah, the hacking cough, which is heard on every side from among them! It sounds like the deathknell over the remnant of the once so numerous native tribes of Australia. Sitting thus in the midst of them, we cannot fail to remark how weakly they are, and how evidently the sentence of death against them is already proclaimed by their debilitated constitution. How emphatic is the appeal to our affectionate Christian sympathy, which resounds in our ears as we listen to this cough!"

-This work of bringing the regenerating influences o(the Gospel to the last survivors of a dying race, casts, of course, a shade of sadness over the minds of the missionaries, such as appears in these words of Missionary Kramer, of the Brethren's Mission, at Ebenezer: "Our beloved Ebenezer will, doubtless, be permitted to enter, as a mission station, upon the new decade. But how will it be at the end? The Lord alone knows. If it is to be dissolved I hope that ourlittle church will remain 'God's house,' and not be turned to the uses of a barn or a· stable. Many blessings, by God's grace, have descended upon us therein, and a certain sadness comes over me when I fear that in the place where we have assembled so often, in the name of the Lord, seeking to be built up out of His Word, or to present before Him our supplications and thanksgivings, or to raise to Him <;lUr songs of praise, the voice of riotous blasphemy may be heard. May the Lord forbid that it should be so !"

The following description of Cashmere, from the Missions-Blatt, reminds one of Moore's "Who has not heard of the vale of Cashmere, With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave, " etc.

"It is a region so richly and bounteously endowed by the goodness of God. that some naturalists have ventured the conjecture that it must have been the cradle of mankind-the origin at Paradise. That wonderful union of the sharpest antitheses in the life of nature, which characterizes the mighty Indian empire, the heat and luxuriant vegetation of the tropics, combined with the refreshing alpine ail' of snowy summits, glaciers and blue-green mountain lakes-so strengthening to the nerves-this fullness of God's glorious creation bursts upon the traveler in Cashmere in its purest, noblest forms. We cannot wonder, therefore, that the children of men to be met with there are also a. wonderful combination of the most startling contrasts. These are the proper inhabitants of the land, genuine Asiatics, arrested in their development for centuries back, and still bound in the chains of a relaxing heathenism. On the. other hand, you meet here with all the facilities of modern intercourse, and the country swarms with Europeans, some seeking recovery from the ill effects of a long sojourn in the heated plains, some finding delight in climbing the glaciers and snowy mountain-tops, like the tourists of Switzerland and the Tyrol."

-It is known that the Moravian Mission among the Himalayas is at oncein Thibet and in India. In other words, the people are Thibetan Buddhists, but are on the Indian slope of the main ridge, and are subject to British authority. They say: "As a missionary, Brother Redslob, so long as he and his wife, though seeking relaxation, are still within the range of Thibetan speech, he feels it incumbent on him, wherever he makes a stay of any length, to bear his witness to the crucified and risen one."

-The Roman Catholic government of Nicaragua, after many refusals, has finally granted permission to the Moravian brethren to establish mission stations in Nicaraguan Territory, for the pastoral care of the converted Indians, who have emigrated thither from the Mosquito State, or have received the Gospel from there.

-The Missions-Blatt' expresses surprise that John Morongo, a leading Indian of their Ramona Mission in California, had previously been a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, but until lately was unbaptized! Of course he was only an adherent, not a member, of the Episcopal Church-a distinction with which our German brethren seem to find it a little difficult to become familiar, as almost everybody in Germany is baptized, and, therefore, accounted a member of some church, though not necessarily a communicant member.

-The Missions-Blatt likewise makes a slight slip, very natural in a German magazine, in speaking of the government of California, instead of that of the United States, as controlling the Indian reservation. The distinction, of course,. is of no consequence to German readers.

-Our German brethren greatly admire the American and English institution of medical missions, to which, for want of suitable candidates, they themselves have not as yet been able to give any wide extension. The Unitas Fratrum, however, has its first, and, at present, its only trained medical missionary, in Carl Marx, who is established in Leh, in connection with its Thibetan Mission. The different German societies are making special effort to come up in time with the Anglo-Saxons in what may be called this left-hand of Christ's work, which now, as with the Lord Himself, has always so mightily supported the work of His right hand.

-The annual report of the Societe EvangeZique of Geneva, for 1890, has-the following remarks: "It is, in fact, beloved hearers, a word of hope, of confidence, indeed of certainty, with which we would fain conclude this reporta word of faith, for that is it of which we have need, in present conjunctures, to sustain us in our work. The times are most serious, and, in face of the growing troubles of the present hour, one might easily be tempted to dl~wur­ agement. Owing, to our limited view-owing, above all, to the deafening cries of our adversaries, who, in the name of science, of progress, of liberty, of equality, of democracy, proclaim that the era of Christianity is past; that the hour of the definitive enfranchisement of human thought is about to strike on the clock of time–one might believe that it is over with the reign of Christ; that the last times are here, and that the world, given over to itself, is about to undergo the final convulsions. In face of the storm, some are ready to lay down their arms. Why strive, when defeat is certain, why suffer when there is no longer a morrow? Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Others, more spiritual in appearance, hold another language: "Let us separate ourselves," say they, "from this perverse world, destined to a final destruction. Little Hock of the Good Shepherd, as we are, let us withdraw into His fold; the hour of deliverance is at hand. Let us go out of Sodom and Gomorrah, and, in prayer, await our Deliverer. Let us, too, eat and drink; let us feed on the heavenly bread, let us refresh ourselves with the spiritual drink, and let us abandon to their fate the masses destined to destruction.' Gentlemen, let us listen to neither of these voices, the voice of discouragement and of pessimism or the voice of spiritual egoism; the voice of insane enjoyment or the yet more culpable voice of abdication in the name of sanctity! No, no! neither: .. 'Labor, labor, for the thankful 1 let the thankless hold their hands, Happy the servants whom the Master, when He comes, shall find watching I'

"Is it true, in fact, that the final hour of defeat is arrived, and that everything is discouraging in the Church? Must the rapidly approaching twentieth century necessarily witness a new inroad of barbarians, the more terrible that it will be the inroad of science turned infidel? I do not believe it. It is true that humanity, that unceasing traveler, marches uninterruptedly through valleys and mountain ranges, now ·on the summit, in full sunshine, to-morrow in the depths, in darkness and peril. Possibly we have reached one of those dolorous hours when it descends towards the precipice; but let us not forget it stops an instant; where it takes breath and rests, in order there to address itself to the climbing of new heights. And, gentlemen, let me be taxed with optimism, but I must still say, in spite of all I hear, in spite of all Isee, in de- spite of the sombre prophecies of the guardians of Israel, and of the cries of distretls from the leaders of the flocks, I believe that the present hour is not an hour for despair; I believe that at this end of a century Christianity is not like a wild creature brought to bay; I believe, and I may even say I affirm, that never has the Church been more active, more audacious, more victorious; that never, at any epoch of its history, has Christianity exercised upon the world a power more energetic and more glorious.

"To open, Christians, the way to you, the princes of industrial civilization are transformed, without willing it or knowing it, into pioneers of Providence. These bridges which they hang in air, these mountains which they transpierce, those roads on which fire is their ,bearer and which they desire to serve their ambition, are only channels through which the Spirit is to flow. Thus did three centuries before Jesus Christ, the conquering Alexander, when he sub- dued Asia and transplanted the Hellenic civilization into the distant Orient; thus did the Romans, his successors, when marching in their turn to the con- quest of the world, they brought peoples together by their arms, and furrowed the three continents with their military roads. They believed that by these their legions would eternally pass and repass to impose their commands on the world. They knew not, what we know to-day, that they were preparing tri- umphal ways for the Saviour and his Apostles. 0, you, then,masters of science and of wealth, engineers, colonizers, conquerors, whatever may be your names and your designs, continue the work of your predecessors, abridge space, les- sen the breadth of the sea by your steamers, and suppress distance by your telegraphs, draw from nature her final secrets, so that one day the Truth may no longer be checked by rivers and by mountains, but may advance rapidly to break the last-remaining bonds of slavery and to stifle the ultimate lurking places of barbarism and superstition !"

-The report for 1889 of the Societe des ll:fissWn8 Evangeliques gives for Tahiti: 23 parishes; 4 European missionaries; 20 native pastors; 2,044 church mem- bers; 44 catechumens; 8,949 francs for home work, 594 francs for foreign missions.

-The Paris society, speaking of Tahiti, remarks: "The religious life of the Tahitians is still in a state sufficiently rudimentary. It has its bright sides: profound attachment to the Word of God, very general observance of the Sunday; regular attendance on worship; practice of Christian liberality. Butit has its deep shadows likewise: for one thing, the considerable number of the unconverted, who form the majority of the population; then, even among believers, are insufficient apprehension of the -exigences of the Law of God; the almost complete absence of true Christian faInily life; in brief, to speak with our brethren, 'a piety which still localizes itself too much within the walls of the churches, and which does not spread abroad sufficiently in good works and in regenerating influences.'"

-In speaking of the great work of the Paris society, that in Basutoland, or, as the French call it, Lessuto, the report remarks: " We bless God that He has given to the churches of France a work proportioned to their strength, adapted to their genius, and the success of which has stimulated a zeal which efforts too long without fruit might have discouraged. And, to-day, that which strikes the eye in the Lessuto mission, by the side of that in still advancing, it from time to time regains some large plateau where weaknesses and defects inseparable from every human work, is its sound and vigorous growth."

This mission last year experienced a remarkable revival, bringing in many pagans. This has not continued, but it has left open many new doors of access. Paganism, on the other hand, having recovered from the early impressions of awe before the missionaries, has become at once more malicious and more aggressive. It is assisted, as in Paul's day, by two rival missions, the Roman Catholic and the Propagation Society. The latter, however, excites the contempt of the Basutos, who regard it as coming to the ground between two -stools. "The danger is in the scandal of these three rival Christian confessions, these three Gods, as the natives still phrase it."

The awakening among the heathen Basutos resulted in the addition of 514 new members, making the present number 6,543. The present number of catechumens is 3,332. Out-stations, 110; for 1888, 94; native helpers, 194; for 1888, 176. Primary scholars for 1889, 5,347; for 1888, 4,566.

-11. Coillard, of the incipient, but noble mission of the Zambesi-anoffshoot (){ the Lessuto mission-speaking of the imperative need of extension, or rather 1)f filling up intermediate space, remarks: "We are no longer in the earlier time when missions of magnificent distances had leisure to develop themselves as they might without the risk of taking any harm. To-day the centre of Africa is the object ofa general assault, which contests every point of attack. God grant that we may be resolved and faithful."

-It is known how discreditably,indeed, ridiculously, jealous, both the French and the German governments are, of having missionaries of any other nation in their colonies. Germany, however, being Protestant, does not dislike them as Protestants, and, by its late agreement with England, expressly allows them in Africa. France, however, whose occupancy of the Gaboon, in West Africa, is much more recent than the American missionary occupancy of it, distrusts .our Presbyterian brethren there as foreigners and dislikes them as Protestants. Even French atheists are" Catholic atheists." They have forbidden our missionaries to use English in their schools, to which acceding, the Americans have obtained from the Paris brethren several teachers of French. The Journal says: "The authorities, having obtained satisfaction on the point as to which energy"-French-" colonial administration is inflexible, the teaching of the language of the mother country in the schools, have come to regard the American missionaries with a more favorable eye. If, as we hope, these friendly dispositions become fixed, every one will at last comprehend that which has always appeared evident to us, namely, that an intelligent administration, eager to extend civilization, ought not to refuse any assistance, even though offered by foreigners; especially when these foreigners are the repre sentatives of a friendly nation, and only ask leave to preach the Gospel without any intermixture of political aims."

Should the French Republic, as Father Hyacinthe forebodes, swing over from atheism to Jesuitism, it would fare ill with Protestant efforts, French or foreign, in her colonies. But, as Sainte Beuve remarks, whenever Jesuitism stretches out its hand to some great work of mischief, the eternal wound dealt by Pascal reopens, and it gives up the ghost afresh.

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

n.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

EDITED AND OONDUOTED BY HEV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D.

The Past Ten Years in Persia. rians, and Catholics; and the Jews, who are quite numerous. BY REV. W. L. WIDPPLE, D.D. The field of the Bible work is divid- In looking backward ten years we ed with the British and Foreign Bible find very little change in the status of Society. Dr. Bruce, its representa- Persia. The same king, ~asr-ed-deen tive, looks after the southern, while I Shah, who has reigned, according to superintend the northern portion or the Persian reckoning, nearly fifty the kingdom for the American Bible years-the longest of any Persian Society. monarch-is still on the throne, a wiser and better sovereign than he There has been decided progress wastenyearsago. The journey which made in the missionary work, reprehe made to Europe, for the third time, sented, on the one hand, by the Amerilast year, seems to have had a bene- can Presbyterian Board, in the North, ficial effect upon him. He visited and on the other hand, by the Church most of the principal capitals and Missionary Society of England, who manufacturing centres, and appeared have their centre at Isfahan. to be in earnest in obtaining information and an insight into the various. In taking a retrospect of the Bible improvements and progress of the 19th work in Persia during the decade just century. Since his return he has be- drawing to a close, I am glad to say gun to introduce changes and reforms that it comes up, in the main, to my of a practical nature. This is no easy reasonable expectation, though not so task, for the same forces are still at extensive as I should wish to see. In work, opposing in every possible way forming plans for the work, when I the introduction of Western ideas, as first entered upon my duties, July 1, on his return from his previous Euro- 1880, I thought that if I succeeded pean tour. He has, however, gained in placing in the hands of the people in solid stamina, and we trust that he of Persia, in ten years, 40,000 copies will not be held in such subjection by of God's Word, I should be thank- "the power behind. the the throne" as ful. I was not over-sanguine that in former years. I should be able to attain that cir- culation. I find that the total cir- The kingdom has been quite free culation, including grants, has fully from internal troubles, with the ex- reached that amount. The sales exception of the Koordish Rebellion, ceed the grants in the proportion of which occurred about nine years ago, fourteen to one. The larger portion and was soon suppressed. are in the Persian, Turkish, and Ara- bic languages, representing the Mos- There has been no foreign war. The lem population. The Syriac comes. territory remains the same, contain- next. Then follows the Hebrew, ining nearly one-fifth of the area of the dicating the interest manifested by United States, or about as much as God's ancient people in His Word. Germany, France, Austria, and Hun- The Armenian does not enter so gary combined. Roughly estimated, largely in our sales as we expect it to it is 1,500 miles long, by 850 miles do in the future. There is too much wide, in its greatest extent. light creeping in on all sides of that ancient and dark Christian Church to Our work is among the following debar God's Word from its communion nationalities: The Moslems-the pre- much longer. dominent class-including the Sheah and Sunee sects (the Koords, as a In 1885 I made an address at the rule, are all Sunees); the nominal jubilee celebration in Oroomiah, com- Christian nations-Armenians, Nestomemorating a half century of mis- mission to the present time, it is be- sionary labot among the Nestorians, <>n the subject, "What part has the lieved that 70,000 copies of God's Word Bible had in the work of the last fifty years in Persia?" There were have been distributed, in different present about 2,000 persons, nearly Qne-half of whom were women and languages and among varions nation- girls. It was stated then, that fifty years before there were only two alities in Persia, apart from what has women in the entire Nestorian nation who could read, and the request was been done by the British and Foreign made that all the women present who (lould read the New Testament would Bible Society, through the agency of rise to their feet. Imagine our grati- fication when 800 arose. It was a Dr. Bruce. This may not seem very sight never to be forgotten by those present, who saw those daughters of wonderful to one unfamiliar with the the East, with intelligent and beaming faces, rise up, en masse, and remain bigotry and self-satisfaction of the standing until they were counted. And these were only representatives Persian Moslem, especially when he from many villages and towns upon the plains of Oroomiah, Sooldooz, and reads the circulation reported each Balmez, with a few from the moun- tains of Koordistan. The incident is year in some larger and older estab- a very impressive and encouraging object-lesson of what missionary ef- lished agencies. But let us not despise forts have accomplished in one di- rection merely-a rather liberal per the day of small things, nor forget >cent. of return in fifty years. Itspeaks even more teIlingly, when it is borne that these millions in Persia are a part in mind that at the commencement of the work among the Nestorians by of the world into which the triumph- Dr. Perkins and Dr. Grant these poor peeple did not have the Scriptures in ant Master commanded to preach the their own language (the Syriac). There were a few manuscript copies on Gospel. ' parchment of the ancient Syriac, so revered and precious that they were The fact that the representatives -only used on special and very holy oc- Clasions, and upon which oaths were from this Oriental land were the first administered to Moslems. as well as Christians, as they were counted very ambassadors to pay homage to the in- sacred by all classes. fant Saviour, and to lay at his feet It was the privilege of the American Bible Society to furnish the means to their royal gifts, is a very significant -carry through to completion the publication of the entire Syriac Bible, in one. And cannot we bring this up both the ancient, or sacred, and the modern languages. It is now revising before the adorable Master as "a methe modern version, and preparing to :,print a new edition with references. morial" in her behalf? We all in Per- From the commencement of the sia believe that there are brighter days in store and greater ,blessings held in reserve. The people are beginning to be aroused to a sense of their duty.

There is no more potent energy at work to bring about this greatly de- sired end than the printed Word. It enters silently where no preacher is allowed to stay, and quietly'and daily preaches to some one or more in that village or city where it finds lodgment and then suddenly the place is thrown into commotion by the rumor that one of their number has left the faith and become an "infidel Armanee"

(Christian). Then persecution begins; loss of relatives and friends and prop- erty follow, and revilings, beatings, and imprisonments hasten on apace; then threatenings, and, at last, it cul- minates in casting out and banish- ment from home and country. It may terminate in death itself.

But, meantime, this faithful one has taught a few of his firm friends, or read to them night after night from this new and interesting Book, .And this was the fact, as I can testify until they, too, have been won over to from what I have seen as I walked believe in the Injeel, and to accept through the bazaars. Christ as their Redeemer. And when a colporteur or evangelist visits the .After various methods were tried, place again, he is surprised to find a without avail, it was decided to pronumber who are not only favorably hibit all sales of Scriptures by colinclined, but who actually accept porteurs, whether in cities or towns Christianity, and petition the mis- or villages. So they could not make sionaries to send them a teacher or tours. This was made a jetwa, or ofpreacher. This has been the case in ficial action by the chief mujhtaheeds, a number of instances. It is inter- or highest ecclesiastical authority; esting, indeed, to see how the leaven 'and when the notice was communiworks, "until the whole lump is leav- cated to the governor-general hedared ened." not disregard it. He therefore in- formed our representative of this or- But in Persia, as elsewhere, "the der, and requested him to notify the kingdom of Heaven cometh not with agent of the American Bible Society observation." Very little attention at to respect it. After careful deliberafirst was paid to the circulation of the tion and counsel, we all deemed it Scriptures. When I began the work, expedient to observe the rule until reten years ago, they were admitted free dress could be obtained. of duty; but as the demand increased, and the cases of books-fifty and This proved to be by far the heaviest eighty at a time-began to arrive, the blow our work ever received. It was custom-house officials deemed it worth over one year before we could get the their attention, and soon we had to order rescinded, and receive permispay customs. A moderate rate wa..'1 sion to resume our work. This profixed, to be paid in kind. But it was hibition was in force only in .Azerbinot long before the officials com- jan, the other provinces being still plained that this was burdensome to opened to the colporteur. The printhem. They did not have room, they cipal part of our work, however, was said, to store away their share of in that province, where such cities Scriptures received for duties; so it and districts as Tabreez, Oroomiah, was decided, after due consideration, Salmas, Maragha, Sooldooz, etc., are that mone,y would be paid instead of situated. It affected, in conse- Scriptures. Soon after these points quence, our sales very materially. were settled, then the mullahs and high ecclesiastics of the Moslems ap_ I have told this story of the conflict, peared on the scene. They seemed to between truth and error, which has have been taken by surprise, and were been in progress for some years, so not aware how many Scriptures were quietly that few have been aware of going into circulation. They began to it, to show what advances the former investigate, and the more they in- is making over the latter, and, how quired the greater were they dis- stubbornly each stronghold has been turbed and alarmed. They held coun- held until captured by force. Progcils in various places, and discussed ress has been slow all along the line;' meaures for putting a stop to this but the fact that nearly 100,000 " torwork. Some were heard to say: pedoes" have been" placed," and are' " These men are filling the bazaars only abiding their time set for them with the Injeel, and wherever we go to accomplish the work intended for' we find one. Even merchants and them to do, is full of encouragement tradesmen are seen neglecting their to those who "wait patiently on the work, and poring over this book." Lord."

The colporteurand evangelist going' out together to the districts and, cities in the distant portions of Persia Testament. There are a number of have had a marked influence for good. converts to Christianity from the Indeed, they have been the advance Jews, and all have been faithful readguards, and have prepared the way for the establishing of every station in ers of the Tourat, or Old Testament. Persia except Oroomiah. All the others, viz.: Teheran, Isfahan, Ta- But as they compared Scripture with breez, Ramadan, Salmaz, and the Scripture, they were at last convinced new one recently established in the that the Messiah had surely come, and mountains of Western Koordistan, they hastened to acknowledge, and do were visited and canvassed first by him honor. There are many intellicolporteurs and evangelists, sent out gent Jews in Persia to-day, intellectuyearly by the missionaries in OroD- ally converted to Christianity, who do miah. They would spend, every not confess Jesus publicly" for fear visit, one week or more in each city in of the Jews," lest they be cast out of preaching and selling Scriptures. In the synagogue. That means to-day this way much precious seed was what it did 2,000 years ago. But the sown, which, after many days, has truth is working in many hearts, and sprung up and brought forth fruit–a will eventually prevail. The missionrich spiritual harvest–already; and aries' schools are composed entirely of the work is only fairly begun., Jewish boys and girls, who daily study the New Testament, and even the OBSTACLES IN THE WAY. catechism.

During these ten years a civil war, Another encouraging fact is the following closely upon the heels of large sale of Scriptures to Moslemsfamine and pestilence, has interfered perhaps the largest part of the gross with and curtailed materially the sales. These are in the Persian and sales of the Scriptures. Likewise, as Arabic, the Azerbijan and the Osalready mentioned, for over one year manli – Turkish languages. Weare no colporteur' was allowed to sell able, by these languages, to reach all Scriptures in the large and influential classes of the Mohammedans of Persia province of Azerbijan, where the larg- and Koordistan. Not only that, but est share of sales was usually made. they are purchased and carried home These circumstances, combined with to dwellers in Mghanistan, Beloochisthe constant animosity and vigilant tan, Turkestan, and even India. opposition to our colporteurs and the scarcity of ready money, have ham- It is a grand accomplishment and a pered the sales. Should the Armenian powerful agency in the evangelization bishops and priests withdraw their ob- of Mohammedans that the entire jections to the people purchasing the Scriptures have been translated, pub- Scriptures, and permit them to be lished, and circulated for years in the used in their schools, our sales would Arabic tongue, the sacred language of be greatly augmented; for they are all Moslems. abundantly able to purchase, and they are well supplied with schools. We The Arabic Bible and New Testahave been working to bring this about, ment are popular with the Moslem and some recent indications lead us to high ecclesiastics and clergy; for, behope that it will not be long before our ing in the sacred language, they al'e en<! will be accomplished. not suspected of reading the holy books of the Christians. If questioned ENCOURAGING FEATURES IN OUR WORK. what they are reading, they can re- ply, "the blessed Arabic tongue," and Among others might be mentioned then they read aloud a few verses in the number of Scriptures that are sNd confirmation of their statement. Our yearly to the Jews. It is true that colporteurs have sold Bibles in this most of these are copies of the Old language to some of the highest rank of Moslems, both clergy and nobility. I could mention some very interesting In concluding this paper, I append cases of this character, which it is not the resume of sales and grants for ten prudent to publish. years. The figures for 1889 are only All the converts 'from Islam to Christianity, whom I have met, at- approximately correct: tribute their conversion directly to the reading of the New Testament in The average number of men employed Persian, and not any human agency. annually ………. ~ •….. . . .. …. …… 25 Number of years spent by them…….. 170 " U miles (on horseback) tray· eled by your agent …….. 10,000 " " months spent on those jour· neys….. …. …. ……… 22 RESUME OF SALES AND GRANTS FOR TEN YEARS. GRANTS. SALES.

Bibles. Tests. Parts. TotaL Value. Bibles. Tests. Parts. TotaL Value.

From July 1880 to 2,114 1,921 4,488 $1,24800 50 285 402 737 151.00 end of 1881. .. .. . 453 2,129 1,755 4,308 1,069 12 47 265 394 706 149.40 2,178 2,363 5,026 1,295 48 58 185 240 483 127.85 F,?r 1882.. …….. 424 1,973 1,977 4,426 1,050 03 …2.9… ..1..7.3.. 236 ….4…3..8….. .1.0.6…2.5.. 1883………. 485 1,105 1,310 2,754 94090 1,549 2,974 4,852 …….. ……. . …… " 1884………. 476 1,023 1,625 2,844 1,311 98 . …… " 1885…… …. 339 2,464 2,129 5,004 384 36 1,500 1,870 3,625 87588 48 " 1886 ……… 329 1,225 15 ……… …9.0… ..1.7.1… ..3.0.9… ..6.4…0.0. , 1887. ……… 196 " 1888………. 411 " 1889………. 225 Total Sales in 10 years. .. ……… 3,368 16,035 17,924 37,327 $9,401 50 232 Total Grants in 10 998 1,448 2,637 $598.50 years… … ….. 232 998 1,443 2,637 59850 Total circulation, 10 years….. '" 3,600 17,033 19.367 40,000 $10,000 00 [NOTE: The above paper was read before International Missionary Union, 1890.-J. T. G.] Missions to the Native Mexican Races. and saving power of the Lord Jesus than their ancestors knew in the old REV.WH. P.F. FERGUSON, BANGAL, N.Y. days when the Aztec altars were piled with human hearts. I showed, in my former paper (see What prospects are there for their MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD, Christianization under present meth- ods? March, '90, p. 218) that there are today in Mexico, out of a total popula- The Roman Church has given them tion of less than 12,000,000, nearly all that it ever can.. They have the 4,000,000 who speak some one of the rosary, the crucifix, holy watermany ancient languages. In other pretty idols, compared with the fiendwords, to-day, after 370 years of the ascendency of Spanish blood, one- ish representations of the old Aztec third of the nation still use the lan- divinities; but only idols, and Rome's guages of their fathers, hands hold no better gifts.

In regard to these peoples I shall The Protestant missions' now at raise a series of questions and suggest work in the country have not, as yet, such answers as are in accord with attempted any very considerable work my conception of the facts: among the indigenes, not can they in the near future. Given the money Have these people been Christian- and the men, and to·day, in parts of ized? the Republic already under the eye of the missionary, 100 workers could be I might give a very extended an- placed in Spanish-speaking towns and swer. I might array facts and pile cities of from 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitup quotations to show you their con- ants where there is now no teacher of the Gospel and where good and sucdition. i refrain, and, with full real- cessful work could be entered upon at izationof the sad import of the words, sum up the condition of the native Mexicans to-day, in the one statement, that they know no more of the love <lnce. It is to be expected, and is To say nothing as to the ability of right, that these missions should ex- native workers to create a Christian pend their slowly increasing force literature of which I shall speak, none upon this work, lying right before of the missions at work in Mexico them and for which they are prepared. have as yet succeeded in training any It will be many years, in the probable considerable number of native minis- -course of events, before any of our mis- ters who would be considered by those sions can offer the Gospel to even the who best know them, as competent to greater part of these ancient peoples. manage the affairs of a mission with- out the constant supervision of the It seems to me, then, not in the least foreign missionary, and, besides, they unreasonable to urge the establish- are, with a few possible exceptions, as ment of special missions among the ignorant of the native languages as native Mexican races. At this day are foreigners. Some boys and girls missions are being founded among in our mission schools, and a few wasted tribes that contain only a few young men employed in the "supply" thousand, or even only a few hun- work would be available as interpre- -<Ired souls, and shall we neglect these ters, but I need not draw upon my peoples who, remnants though they own slender experience to show to .are, still are counted by hundreds of anyone who has ever been obliged to thousands and even by millions? Their work by such agencies that such work romantic history, the remains of their is often worse than unsatisfactory. .ancient greatness, their manifest and And I believe that the best results can' admirable qualities of mind and heart, never be attained by it. The bearer and, above all, the love of our common of the Glad Tidings must come into Saviour impel us to the work of their personal contact with those to whom salvation. he is sent.

This leads me. to question: Can mis- Is there any reason why the Amerisions to the native races employ the can missionary should not go to these Spanish language as the means of peoples, leaming their languages and -communication? entering into their life as he does among other nations? I speak with the fact fully in mind that there are others whose observa- Some have expressed the belief that tion uponthis point has been far more the Mexican government would asextensive than my own, and thus sume an attitude toward any such more valuable; but, in my judg_ movement not unlike that of our govment, the answer to this question is, ernment toward the use of the native No. As well as I am able to judge, languages in the Indian schools. much less than half of the 4,000,000 of whom I speak, have any knowledge of This seems to me in the highest dethe Spanish, and the greater part of gree improbable. I would expect that these but very little. I have seen the government would rather look people living within six miles of one with favor upon anything that would <If the largest cities and gaining their tend to arouse a pride of race among living by selling garden produce in the indigenes, It must be remembered its streets, who could' scarcely under- that Mexicans to-day are fond of 13tand or 'use the Spanish language thinking of the Republic as the lineal enough to transact their business. To successor of the Aztec Empire. Many confine us to the Greek language for scholars would, too, I think, give a <lur religious instruction would be welcome to a missionary who should about a parallel. undertake the study of the ancient languages. It may next be inquired: What are the available resources among our va- Some, again, look upon such labor tive Protestants? as unnecessary, believing that the use of the native tongues is soon to cease. Scriptures and religious books, my I consider this also improbable. For 370 views would be as follows: The be- years the Spanish has had every advan- ginning already made by the publica- tage in Mexico, but has failed to dis- tion of the Aztec Luke, I look upon as place the native languages. To-day it is valuable, more because of the interest· itself growing weak. The day comes, I that it has attracted than for its prac- venture to predict,when, in the greater tical use, which must be slight because- part of Mexico it will be of no greater of its antiquated form. But if mission importance than isthe French language work is ever conducted among these to-day in some of our Southern States. people to any extent, a translation of It cannot be expected to do, in its de- the Scriptures into the languages used cadence, what it has failed to do in will be a necessity. Independent. its strength. So that I do not expect translation by each worker could not to see the native languages spoken by be thought of. If schools should be any very greatly less numbers until a established and the people taught to stronger than the Spanish race rules read their own language, which they in Mexico. cannot now do, the Bible would, of course, be put into their hands and Again, it is asked, if these lan- other Christian literature would be guages are capable of expressing the called into use. The teaching of the truths of the Gospel, and if they are native languages, would, however, de- not of so barbarous a character as to pend upon conditions not as yet fully be almost impossible of acquirement. understood.

Man speaks no language in which The facts which I have briefly he may not be told that "Jesus Christ stated warrant, it seems to me, the came into the world to save sinners." appeal and give promise of success. There is no linguistic impossibility to It may be, that some of the missions the successors of those upon whom now established can be so enlarged fell the baptism of tongues. And, and adapted as to include the most from what little study I have given urgent part of the needed work; but I the subject, I am of the opinion that a should expect better results from new man who has the courage and ability missions established either by the soto begin his study at the very basis cieties now engaged in Mexico, or by anew can master even the most diffi- others. If each would confine itself cult of these in about the average to one nation, or, at least, if the work time required to master other foreign could be so adjusted as toavoid waste, languages. and conflict of forces, much could be accomplished in a short time, while The existence of numerous dialects the less numerous tribes would furnish is also urged as an insurmountable fields of labor for societies of limited obstacle. We are told that even a resources. slight change of location among people of the same race would render Conceeding the possibility that some useless the study of years. I question of my condusions may not be well if this obstacle is not very much over- founded, and doubting at the same rated. I believe that missionary his- time if data are yet at hand for a pertory will show many instances of fect judgment of the case; I would greater difficulties of this character urge that the first step should be an overcome elsewhere. And, it is to be exploration with a view to discoverremembered that the introduction of ing accurately such points as, to what missionary work in the languages will extent these peoples are dependent strongly tend to remove the differences upon the native languages, to just – of dialects. what extent the more important of them are divided by dialects, and If we shall raise here the question of the necessity of translating the what is the present prospect for their interest to remember that the mission- survival. Attention should also be ary living among these peoples, mak- given to the disposition of the people ingan intelligent studyof theirlife and toward the Roman Church, their wil- language, would doubtless encounter lingness, or otherwise, to receive in- many facts, and would give light upon struction and other things that would that most perplexing problem, the aid in the selection of fields of labor history and origin of American races. among-them. If those who were ex- pected to become the missionaries This work is a duty to someone; is should make this exploration (and this it not to us? How can the Protestant would be desirable), a good beginning Christianity of the United States be should be made toward a mastering blameless if it fail to preach the true of the native languages. Gospel to these dying millions, who, right at our doors, have been for cen- The outfit for such an expedition turies cursed with a false faith ? When need not be very expensive and. the we stand before the judgment throne total cost of a year's work could be will not we hear the question, "Where more than met by the literary pro- is thy Mexican brother?" Shall we ceeds. This part of the work might be answer, "Lord,we left him in his filth entered upon at once and would do and ignorance and vice." Or shall we much to arouse an interest in the sub- answer, "Lord, we told him of the ject and make further advance pos- blood that cleanseth, we brought to sible. In fact, I believe that it must be his dark mind the knowledge of Thy done and that, too, by private effort, be dying love, we showed to him 'the fore any organization will move to the Lamb of God that taketh ..way the work of planting a miSflion. sins of the world,' and here, Lord, he is, washed and redeemed, a jewel for Once in possession of the facts that Thy diadem." could thus be brought to light, some society, or it might be, some man of llnent the ~ec~ means whose heart God should touch, would, I trust, furnish the necessary BY REV. LEVI B. SALMANS. financial support for the opening of the work. The field chosen would Anglo-Saxons, as we are, and misprobably be remote from civilization sionaries, too, suddenly set down in and full of dangers. A small, care- the midst of a Latin people, we could fully selected and well-furnished force not fail to admire the Astec populashonld be sent to make a beginning and tion of the fastnesses of the Sierras. advance should be upon the lines de- They have never been conquered by veloped. It might prove that,under the force of arms, though the Latinized touch of Christianity, elements of the government, which has come to preold civlization would spring to life and vail throughout Mexico in a certain thus new peoples be brought into the way, has come into the power of ruler- "federation of the world." Or, it ship. Yet the Ancient Cacique is the might prove that all traces of the old organized ,power behind the throne. were but forms of dust to vanish at Nothing of importance can be done by that same potent touch. Then it the Mexican government in these would be the work of the missionary mountains except it be agreeable to to guide these peoples clear of the the leaders among the Indians, as we dangers of the present Spanish-Ameri- would call them, though they are as can civilization, and introduce them different from our Indians as the Japinto the better and purer form of life anese are from Chinamen, or French into which we are already trying to from English. I do not know whether lead their Spanish-speaking neighbors. these comparisons are just right or not, but the Astcc was a semi-civil- It cannot fail to add a thought of ized race, living in cities built of stoneand morta'!', and had laws and govern- than the inhabitants of the Sierra of ment, with arts and industries, and Pueblo, risen into prominence or fur- were by no means the wild savage nished political leaders in the national nomad, known as the Indian in the affairs of the past generation. United States. Bishop Hurst says: .. while the Spaniard conquered and On Board the "Taichiow," Two Days ruled for three hundred years in Mex- From Bangkok Siam. ico, and grafted upon the people his religion, laws and customs, the Mexi- August 30, 1890. can or Indian has at last conquered DEAR DR.GRACEy:-Am on my way the Spaniard, and taken possession of to my field of missionary labor, in the realm. More than this is true of Laos, and, in reading the July num- the Sierra of Pueblo. They were ber of THE REVIEW, 1 have been much never conquered at home, while they interested in an article headed "Meaided nobly in conquering and ex- chanic Missionaries," by Secretary pelling the Spaniard, and afterward Brown, of the International Commit- the Roman hielarchy. They formed tee of Y. M. C. A. the troops who saved the day on the The Church is waking up to the great fifth of May, 1862, at Pueblo, grand importance of utilizing its lay and on many another fiercely fought element, though slowly. Themechanic battlefield. They hold their land in missionary comes in contact with a severalty, and live largely on their class of people, the very bone and land, rather than in villages. The sinew of a country, unreachable by personal independence of the Anglo- either the ordained or the medical Saxon largely. characterizes them. missionary. The rank and ,file of an They are fierce in war, while at the army could not be made up of colonels Bame time they are very mild-man- and generals. Private soldiers do the nered in peaceful intercourse. Ro- fighting directed by their officers. manism destroys the individual and Why should not the Church carry on builds up the institution. When Pro- her work both at home and abroad on testant evangelism seeks in the midst the same plan? -of a Roman civilization for individuals Secretary Brown speaks of an extento convert, who, after being converted, sive movement to establish one or more will have independence and individu- Christian undenominational schools ality enough to become useful evan- of technology, to fit men to become gelists and leaders among their people teachers of the trades and first-class against the odds of sin, conservatism, mechanics, and at the same time to and feudal inequality, it rejoices the enlist and prepare them for personal heart to find such a people as these in work in winning souls. This is a the Sierra. It is true they are not laudable undertaking, and ought to .nearly so highly civilized as the people have the hearty support of the entire in the cities of Mexico, but they are in Church. But it will, necessarily, be sympathy with the country and the some time before these institutions country is in sympathy with them, can be in readiness for students, and and they belong to the race that is on then some time before these students the top at this time; and when we get will be ready to be sent to work. Let them converted we will have a most us call attention to the fact that you valuable evangelizingagency. Nearly have just such a school in your midst. -one-half of the whole population of Park College, Parkville, Mo., has for Mexico still speak their original fifteen years been sending its trained tongues, and maintain, to a greater or men, and women, too, into all parts less degree, their original customs. of the home field (1 am writing as an Among these none have, more notably American), and into many foreign countries. There is this difference be- hundreds of her sons pleading to be tween this college and those proposed fitted to carry the Gospel to all lands?

by Mr. Brown: its distinctive work is ROBERT IRWIN.

the training of Christian workers for M. Henri Lutteroth, who died personal Christian work. The study February 12, 1889, was the last surof the Bible and the inculcation of viving founder of that lamp shining, personal piety are first; then the col- we will not say amid darkness, but lege work proper leading up to the de- certainly among vapors, the Societe gree of A. B., and lastly, the manual des Missions Evangeliques de Paris. training, embracing nearly all the Speaking of him, the Journal says: trades. " Our work has never had greater This would seem to be the natural need than at the present hour of colorder, and an argument in its favor laborators of this stamp, knowing how is the great success Park College has to place at its service the intensity of had. Everyone of our hundred and piety and of zeal together with all the twenty-five graduates is actively en- distinctions of culture and of knowlgaged in Christian work, besides a edge. Never, in fact, has the amount. great many who were unable to of labor imposed on the committee graduate. There is a practical advan- been more considerable than during tage in their mechanical department. this year." Nothing is done simply to show how it is done, but because it is necessary. The Moravian Church, which first The institution depends largely on the sent a missionary to the south of work ,of its students. They quarry Africa, in 1737, and which has a flourthe stone, mould the brick, burn the ishing work in Cape Colony and the lime, cut the logs, saw the lumber, neighboring lands, now proposes t() and build their houses; they cultivate join the ranks of those who are seekand tend large gardens and a farm of ing the evangelization of the equaseveral hundreds of acres; raise cattle, torial regions. A mission has been sheep and hogs; make wagons, repair projected, under the protection of the implements, shoe horses, and do the German government, for that part of one-thousand-and-one other things the German zone of eastern Africa necessary on a large industrial estab- adjoining the northern and northlishment. There are now over three eastern shores of Lake Nyassa. The hundred students in attendance, and two pioneers of this newest Moravian' hundreds are refused admittance mission, Theodore Meyer and Theaevery year just because there is no phile Richard, will shortly set out for room. If now there are those who the sphere of their future labors. want the mechanic missionary training, proposed by.Secretary Brown, J. TAYLOR HAMILTON, they need not wait until several other Secretary of the Societyfor the Propainstitutions are equipped. Let twenty gation of the Gospel, Bethlehem, Pa.

such be built at once, they will not be A Waldensian church-edifice, hold- too many; but let the Church use, to ing four hundred, has been opened its utmost capacity, that one now in by Cav. Dr. Prochet in Vittoria, a existence. The foreign field is calling Sicilian town with a population of for men. It is the loud cry from the 25,000. The church was so full that north and the south and the west and Dr. Prochet could scarcely reach the the east and from all over the home pulpit. After sermon seven catechu- field. Shall the Church hear the cry mens were admitted, and the crowd, and withhold what is in her power to inside and out, was so much interested give-viz: facilities for training Chris- and excited that the municipal guards tion workers, and oppo~nities to the had to disperse it.

ii2 EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS

1II.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.

Editorial Prospectus for 1891. eluding notes by the editor on various The editor cordially salutes his read- topics and books of a mISSIOnary ers with the best wishes of the New character, and editorial correspon- Year. Notwithstanding the decease dence. of the associate editor, no material change will be needful either in the IV. The Department of Intelligence, character or contents of THE MISSION- including the Monthly Concert, Gen- ARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD. The eral Items of Information, Statistics editor-in-chief will be aided by the and Monthly Bulletin. prolific and graceful pen of the Rev. J. T. Gracey, D.D., president of the The editor will spare no pains, and International Missionary Union, under the publishers no expense, in securing whose sagacious control it is hoped from the ablest sources whatever will that the International Department enrich the columns of this magazine. IDay supply to our readers even richer We hope to make it indispensable to stores of missionary information and every minister and missionary, theoinspiration. The Rev. A. J. Gordon, logical student or friend of human D.D., of Boston, whose praise is in all weal. We have planted our standard the churches, will act as a regular on a level higher than any denomina. editorial contributor, and we can tional platform, and shall seek to think of no man in this country whose unite all true disciples of Christ in a words will be read with more interest new crusade against all the powers of and profit. darkness, and in favor of a speedy Beside this editorial staff we shall and universal proclamation of the be aided by a large and able body of Gospel. Once more we ask the prayer. editorial correspondents and contribu- ful and sympathetic co-operation of tors, and no pains will be spared to every Christian, and invoke, upon this secure the best talent and the most sincere and unselfish endeavor, the consecrated piety in the service of this blessing of the Master of us all! REVIEW. These pages will be devoted to the discussion of all the great ques- The editor would add a special word tions connectedwith the spread of the to contrlbutors of articles intended Gospel both at home and abroad, and for publication. So great is the influx will be open to the advocacy of every of unsolicited manuscripts already cause or IDeasure which is linked becoming that even the reading of with human well-being, and to the them has been almost impossible. Of impartial and critical investigation of course, preference will be given to papers which have been solicited; but those who desire to send manuscripts all forms of philanthropic and Chris- would ordinarily do wisely, before tian endeavor. sending, to inform the editor of such intention, state the topic, and inquire It will be observed that, in the whether they are likely to be used. interests of greater unity and sim- The editor begs to say, also, that the plicity of arrangement, we have but qualities of brevity, directness, and, four main departments: especially, freshness of matter and pertinency to the great qUj*ltions of I. The Literature of Missions, in- missions, will give particular value to cluding papers pertaining to general contributed matter. We cannot undertopics, translations from foreign peri- take to return rejected manuscripts odicals, etc. unless stamps for that purpose are enclosed with them when forwarded II. The International Department, to us. Any recent and well accredited under the efficient conduct of Dr. Gracey.

III. The Editorial Department, inintelligence from any part of the field tional interest, and at Cleveland, Ohio, will be especially valued, and all the evening meeting held in Music accepted articles will be paid for so far Hall numbered, probably, 4,000 peras the limited resources of the REVIEW sons. Some very beautiful examples allow. Manuscripts, written in a clear of the power of consecrated mission_ and legible hand, and not obscured by ary-spirited pastors to mould their corrections, interlineations and other congregations into missionary helper, blemishes, are also more likely both to and to stimulate systematic and cheerbereadandaccepted. Wehaveattimes ful giving, have been found. As in been compelled to cast aside a manu- Great Britain, there have been many :script because it was neither possible gifts of jewelry, etc., showing how for the editor to read it, nor the printer God is leading His people to sacrifice <correctly to put it in type. Special superfluities for Him. A gold pen pains should be taken by writers to with pearl handle, a seal ring, two make proper names correct and plain, solid gold chains, a society badge, a and statistics accurate and unmis- pair of gold-mounted eye-glasses, etc., takable. No second article should be have been sent to me for missions. sent, ordinarily, until it is known that Large collections of money have, in the first is accepted. If the corres- several cases been made for the Board pondents will observe these sugges- of Missions. And the farther the tour tions and exercise due patience, the has reached the more abundant the editor will endeavor to see that there calls for service became. It was a is no just cause of complaint as to his curious coincidence that the very day part of the work. The burden of on which the last week-day appointeditorial duties and responsibilities is ment was fulfilled, was the day on excessively onerous, but the constant which the co-editor, Dr. Sherwood, endeavor will be to deal courteously, departed for the Better Country! In promptly and impartially by all con- any case that death would have made tributors and correspondents. further engagements, to any consider- able extent impracticable, as it im- Since arriving in this country, in posed double duty on the survivor. June last, the Editor has been making But no impression is stronger as left a brief tour of the churches in the by these four months of contact with great centres, mostly east of Chicago, the churches, than this, that the best in the interests of missions, and with agent a mission board can have, is results most gratifying and encourag- simply an unselfish missionary-spiriting. Boston, Northfield, and Green- ed, well-informed pastor, who keeps field, Mass.; Willimantic, Conn.; Ger- the vital interests of the world-field mantown, and Pittsburgh, Penn.; Al- constantly before his people. We bany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, never once struck an apathetic church Buffalo, Lockport, Binghamton, and where there was a man in the pulpit Elmira, N. Y.; Montclair, Newark who was full of passion for souls. and Camden, N. J.; Baltimore, Md.; Youngstown and Cleveland, 0.; Lan- Are Mission Oonverts a Failure? sing and Detroit, Mich.; Indianapolis, In The Ohurch of Scotland Mission Ind.; and Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, Record of May and October, 1890, Dr. and Chicago, Ills., have been among the places comprehended in this hur- Archibald Turnbull, B.D., of the Darried tour. Almost without exception jeeling Mission, writes on the above the audiences have been large and the topic. The author is abundantly able interest manifested unusually intense. to discuss the subject. He is one of the At Albany, Rochester, Syracuse, El- ablest and most accomplished missionmira, the gatherings were of excep- aries in the field and his labors have been remarkably successflK. The A. Beautiful Epitaph.

work begun by Rev. McFarlane, in The most interesting specimen of an 1870, yielded to his prayers and labors, epitaph is one to be seen in a pretty but little apparent fruit, for some church, in Aneityum, one of the Loy- years. When Mr. Turnbull first joined alty Islands, or New Hebrides. It is the Mission, in 1880, there were some a tablet erected by the grateful natives hundreds of converts; and Mr. McFar- to their missionary, John Geddie. On lane, having been called to his rest, this tablet is inscribed, in their lan- Mr. Turnbull is now at the head of guage, the following: the mission, which has branched out When he landed, into three divisions, each headed by in 1848, able and devoted missionaries. Considerably over a thousand baptized there were no Christians here, and when he left, in 1872, Christians are now in communion with there were no heathen. it. Professor Lindsay, convener of On almost any island within 2,00<1' the Free Church Foreign Mission, who miles of the shores of Tahiti, in any recently visited India, has described direction, a similar tablet might be this Darjeering Mission, as the "best erected, as an expression of the results mission he had seen in India." When of the twenty-two years' work, besuch a man as Mr. Turnbull, with tween 1817 and 1839-the epoch of such a large experience, tells what he John Williams-and yet, "missions has seen of converts, his opinion can- are a failure! "

not but be of great value, and by per- A Practical Cure for Scepticism. mission of our beloved friend, Rev.

Thos. Nicol, B.D., the editor of The In the life of Dr. Fleming Stevenson Ohurch of Scotland Record, we pro- we find an interesting commentary on pose to give our readers hereafter, at the words, "He that doeth my will least, some portions of Mr. Turnbull's shall know of the doctrine." At one valuable testimony. He proves, to a time his mind was in a somewhat certainty, that the Gospel is the unsettled state regarding some ele- power of God unto salvation, even in ments of the creed in which he had India. been brought up, to which he clung with loyal reverence. Itwas by plung- Rabinowitch, the Hungarian Jew- ing into practical mission work that ish Rabbi, who, a few years since pub- light was to come to him upon these licly conf03ssed Jesus as the Messiah, thorny points of theology.

and led out a new body of Jewish be- This reminds us of what Shaftesbury lievers, adheres to his faith and used to say to young men: preaches to great crowds. A new, ,,Nothing is more likely to keep you large hall, called after the great evan- from mischief of all kinds-from mis- gelist of the Free Church of Scotland, chief of action, of speculation-from the Somerville Memorial Hall, is to every mischief that you can devise, be opened soon. We look with the than to be everlastingly engaged in intensest interest upon the new some great practical work of good.

movement, known as the "Israelites Christianity is not a state of opinion of the New Covenant," and bless God and speCUlation. Christianity is essen- for the Hebrew New Testament trans- tially practical, and I will maintain lated by Dr. Delitzsch, and for the this, that practical Christianity is the sermons and addresses of such men greatest curer of corrupt speculative as Rabinowitz, David Baron, Wilkin- Christianity. No man, depend upon son of Mildmay and a host of others it, can persist from the beginning of Who are taking the warmest interest his life to the end of it in a course of in the conversion of the Jews. self-denial, in a course of generosity.. in a course of virtue, in a course of ing service, go first to gather in and piety, and in a course of prayer, un- teach the poor neglected children in less he draw~ from his wellspring, un- the afternoon, then hold a yoke-felless he is drawing from the fountain lows' prayer-meeting and take supper of our Lord Himself. Therefore, I together at their humble place of meetsay to you again, and again, let your ing; and who then go out for an hour, walk the streets, and personally invite Ohristianity be practical." * to service those whom they find. And then, at eight o'clock, they go to their To all of which the writer adds his meeting-hall, or tent, and, in their confirmatory witness that never, since simple way, preach, simply as laymen, the taking up in dead earnest the work and hold after-meetings for inquiry. of a world's evangelization, have speculative doubts harrassed the mind.

As to churches and missions, I think The Ritualism, which is more and their true relations to each other are more obtruding itself upon observation very simply defined. The church is in the Anglican Church, and in some both a rallying and a radiating point. of the High-Church services of this We are to come there to be fed and go country, is compelling some who have from there to feed others. GenerallyI been zealous champions of the Episcomake my morning service especially a pal Church, to look with alarm on the encroachments of a latent Romanism feeding time for Christian swubosrtkaenrcs~ .that is rapidly becoming patent. If when I try to bring out the of the Word-the promises, the ways these things go on, they will compel a of serving, the motives of true work withdrawal of those who cannot felfor God, the preparations of prayer, lowship these semi-Papal practices. etc.-whatever helps to qualify any Take these two examples: Canon Scott mHogllhaI.nSds,eirnmSont., Preafuelr'srinCgatthoetdhreald' edautrh- . disciple for holy living and unselfish serving. Then I am glad to have my Christian workers go out after that of the late Canon Liddon, thus solicitmorning service to preach and teach ed prayers on his behalf: "Pray for that sermon and that Gogpel else- him-for his refreshment, for his ilwhere, and am quite willing to have lumination, for his eternal repose." their places empty at the second service Praying for the dead finds no warrant that they may go and hold little evan- in Scripture; it is a Romish practice gelistic meetings, cottage meetings, that ought to receive no countenance prayer services, etc., where they may from Protestants. A service, which was, to say the get at the non-church gael's. I do not least, novel, was held lately in that believe in Christians feeding without same Cathedral. It was styled a "Serworking. "If any man will not work vice of Reconciliation." In Septemneither shall he eat." Activity for ber last, during public worship, one souls prevents spiritual dyspepsia. It Sabbath morning, a stranger suddenly is the exercise needful to carry off the drew a pistol a.nd shot himself, and food into normal channels and assimi- I?hortly died within the sacred struclate it to our constitutional wants. I ture. Having no precedents to folcannot understand how any man can low, after much consultation, the dean be jealous of his workers going out to ' and chaplain formally requested the carry the Gospel and leaving an empty Bishop of London, in the exercise of place half a day for some one else to his Episcopal authority, "to declare fill who needs the Gospel far more. I the said Oathedral church exempt and have had a band of such young men, reconciled from all canonical impediespecially, for years, who, after morn- ment, and from everyprofanation con- * Hodder's Life of Shaftesbury, 1: 328. tracted and incurred by or through the aforesaid acts of suicideand blood-let- all thatoffends refined taste, the Salva- ting, forever." Hence this "Service tion Army compels recognition by of Reconciliation" on the 14th of Oc- downright earnestness and heroic self- tober. The London Times, with a denial. One of the most conservative tone bordering on contempt, asks why, ministers of the Presbyterian body, in if the great temple was "polluted" by a recent visit to London, went re- the crime, services were not entirely peatedly to the army meetings, and, suspended-why the altar was not after careful investigation, declares dismantled, and the edifice closed un- himself wonderfully impressed with til the profanation could be removed· the evidences of God's presence and by a "reconciling service?" Others power.

ask, why the freak of a sensational Shortly before his death Canon suicide, should be considered as "pol- Liddon went to one of the Salvation luting" a sacred edifice. Army meetings in London. As' he was returning with a friend, he said: General Booth gives to the world "It fills one with shame! I feel his new contribution to the great guilty when I think of myself! To problem of how to take care of the think of these poor people, with their unhoused, unfed poor of London, imperfect grasp of the truth! And yet almost at the same time that his wife's what a contrast between what they do body is borne to burial. and what we are doing! When I Her funeral was one of the most compare all the advantages we enjoy, impressive events of modern social we who possess the whole body of history. Whatever we may think of truth, and see how little use we make the Salvation Army, it is one of the of it, how little effect we produce com- most remarkable developments of our pared with that which was palpable time. Its genesis is recent-it began at that meeting, I take shame to my- in the year 1865, and kept its" Silver self. I did not like the women speak- Jubilee" in 1890. A quarter of a cen- ing, however. You know I have the tury ago William Booth resigned his misfortune to agree with the Apostle post as a'Methodist minister, New Con- Paul on that question. "

nection, and began his "Christian And now, Mrs. Booth, after long ~fission," thirteen years later called and acute suffering, has died, and the the" Salvation Army." day of her funeral, though raw, foggy, After this quarter century, this dismal, the procession numbered Salvation Army, at whose members probably 50,000 people, and the streets and methods the world and the were densely thronged with spectators.

Church sneered, now has its banners At the head of the marching columns flying in thirty-four countries or colo- were the 5,000 officers of the army, nies, boasts 10,000 men and women men and women, marshaled in fifteen wholly given up to its work, holds battalions. Each battalion carried a 50,000 religious meetings weekly, flag, some of them a number,of flags, which are attended .by millions of generally of white, with inscriptions hitherto neglected and outcast people. in colored letters, such as "Love one It has, moreover, twenty-seven weekly Another," " Save your Soul," " Believe newspapers, of which about 31,000,000 in God," and one especially striking copies are sold in the streets, saloons, flag bearing the words, "Mother of etc. It has accumulated nearly $4,000,- the Salvation Army." The coffin was 000 worth of property, and its rentals carried on an open hearse, and bore for meeting-places reaches $1,000,000 no emblems beyond Mrs. Booth's a year, while it has a total income of bonnet and cloak, and the flag of the between three and four millions. army, according to her earnest desire Despite all ita sensational methods, for simplicity in funeral reform. Even the London Times lends two or the individual statements and >()olumns to a detailed description of propositions of this book, in common the event, and the Methodist Times with thousands of the best men and describes Mrs. Booth as " the greatest women on both sides of the sea, we Methodist woman of her generation." heartily wish General Booth success. No one who has read the little volume of her addresses, known as " Aggres- Canon Farrar, on November 9, sive Christianity," will doubt her preached a sermon on this philan- })ower. thropic scheme, and even the great Abbey would not hold the crowds that And now, almost simultaneous with thronged to hear it. He had, the her death, General Booth issues his week before, made a tour of the army book, inscribed to her memory: "In centres, and was so impressed that he Darkest England, and the Way Out." made a fervent and impassioned We have read it with profound in- appeal in behalf of the proposed plan, terest, and we find ourselves very far while he disclaimed any authority to from being disposed to ridicule or dis- represent anyone but himself. regard its practical suggestions. From a somewhat extended study of the Those who wish to get the substance practical methods of the Salvation of General Booth's scheme may find a Army, especially in Great Britain, we l·ecapitulation of it in Chapter VII, were compelled to admit that, more Section 5. Some of the most pious than all the churches put together, this and philanthropic of British Chrisunique organization is bringing relief tians are coming forward with liberal to the unfed, unhoused and uncared contributions toward the $5,000,000 for masses of the great cities of for which General Booth appeals, as Britain. the financial' basis of his plan. So awful and so widespread is the degra- General Booth's book is a bold dation and destitution of this "sub- ~ttempt to solve the most perplexing merged tenth" of Britain's population, <>f social problems. His plan is a that we rejoice at any honest attempt mere expansion of that which on no to relieve and remove another of the small scale is in actual operation in open sores of the world. Let the new the Salvation Army ~ntres in London. project have at least a fair trial. He proposes a scheme of three colonies -a town, a country, and an over-the- The following is from the son of the sea colony. Cheap food depots, advice editor, studying this winter in Edinbureau, labor shops, a household sal- burgh, Scotland: vage brigade; the gathering of what would be wasted otherwise, and its " After tea we went to the univerutilization as food for human beings sity to hear Professor Drummond on and for animals, or for various pur- , Christian Evolution.' He dwelt par- })oses of manufacture. He proposes ticularly on the progress of missions to exact a reasonable amount of work and their condition and work, as he from colonists and to pay reasonable had noticed it in his recent trip around wages, so that there may be no en- the world. The lecture was a fine one couragement of paupers; to help out- in every particular, and he seemed to cast and criminal classes to a better be thoroughly in sympathy with the life; to help those who are disposed missionary movement; to have obto help themselves; to maintain whole- served keenly on the subject in his some discipline, and afford religious tour; and he urged all to consider care- {lulture without compulsion. Those fully if their lives could not be best who would know details must read his used for Christ in the foreign field. book. Without giving endorsement He lamented the fact that there seemed to the peculiar methods of the army, to be so much misdirected effort by well-meaning Christian missionaries, because the problem of missions, in Here is another, enclosing a gold. connection with the special countries pen with a pearl handle: in which they worked, was not more thoroughly studied and understood. Sabbath Morning, Oct. 5,1890. He contrasted Australia and the South Sea Islands, Japan and China, espec- DEAR DR. PIERSON: ially, as presenting entirely different kinds of fields, which were to be sown This gold pen was a Christmas gift. with the same seed but in different It has a sad story. It has nev!'r been ways, according to the nature of the used-it has lain idle ten years. May ground, and growth already planted the dear Lord now use it in some way there. One thing he said about Japan so as best to tell of the "Peace on was pretty well put-Japan is ready earth and good will from heaven for anything new and European; she toward men." has taken from France a system of law; from Germany an organization ONE OF YOUR HEARERS. for an army; from England a navy; from America a public school system; The American Missionary Associafrom' the civilized world in general a tion has 500 missionaries. Among fine system of railways and electric the Indian children they have entelegraph, etc. At present she is in couraged unselfish efforts to help in the unique position of prospecting for carrying the Gospel to the destitute a religion. There are, too, on the and unevangelized. But the children islands many missionaries prospecting had no money. Some of them had for converts: they include Episcopal- never seen a copper coin. The governians of every degree of height, Presby- meNt had offered premiums for the terians of every degree of breadth, and killing of gophers, and so the boys Methodists of every degree of warmth. would hunt the gophers and bring Roman Catholics are practically out of their tails in as proof of the work the race. done. Among other contributions was an enclosure, wrapping a gopher's tail " It was a thoroughly good lecture, within, and bearing this memoranand I would like to have it in print. dum: "Richard Fox, one gopher's tail: four cents." "DELAVAN L. PIERSON." One old colored saint in the far South Latterly, the editor has been making used to pray with great fervor for the a short tour of the great cities in the missionaries, and this was one prayer interest of missions. Among numer- heard from his lips: "Oh, Lord, let ous letters received by him, the follow- de missionary down deep into de treasing will suggest their own lesson: ures of de Word, and hide him behind de Cross of Jesus." For whom might DR. PIERSON: not that prayer well be offered?

Dear Sir-Enclosed please find four While Christianity makes us more dollars and ten cents, a small sum that and more tenderly considerate even of I had intended to use toward a society the welfare of the most distant and pin, but if the Master can use it for destitute of the race, sin makes IlUtelling the good story in the lands of man beings more callous eve:n to the darkness I dare not keep it for my own most appalling misery close at hand. pleasure. We have all heard of that notorious gambling resort on the Gulf of Genoa, I would that it were more than Monte Carlo, and of the wretched and it is. summary life-ending of many who have thrown away their means in its May God, our Master, bless you in elegantly-furnished halls. Very lately the work you are doing for Him, is it was reported that during ten weeks the prayer of a college girl. of this year as many as forty-nine E – College, Oct. 6, 1890. suicides had occurred there. "Every before the introduction of Christianity. night," says The Christian, of Boston, All interested in South Sea missions "'the grounds are carefully searched should procure it. It especially com- by the police after the casino is closed. mends itself for brevity. Other vol- Dne man drags a covered spring-cart, umes in this series, lives of Carey, the wheels of which have India-rubber Chalmers, Comber, Crowther, Morri- tires. When a body is found, for son, Patteson, Griffith John, etc., are which a reward is given, it is immedi- as readable as romances. Such vol- ately stripped of clothes and valu- umes can scarcely be multiplied in too ables, tftrust into the cart, and silently great abundance. hurried away and buried. Next morn- jng the sun shines again, the band The Success of Christian Missions, plays, saloons and tables are thronged, by Robert Young, F. R. S., G. S. In and people gamble as usual." this volume, Mr. Young has made a careful compilation of testimonies in New Books. favor of foreign missions in most heathen lands, similar to that of Mr. F. H. Revell has issued two more vol- Liggins. Personal, official and .pub- umes of the short biographies of mis- lic testimony to the value and influ- 'sionaries: Henry Martyn and Robert ence of the missionary operations of Moffat. If there are any better brief many societies is here gathered and biographical sketches for general nse preserved. For permanent reference, .as educators of the young, and as a and as an answer to the slurs and at- means of general stimulation to the tacks of adversaries, the book will be missionary spirit, we have not met always useful and should be at hand them anywhere. 'Within the compass in every well-stocked missionary ,of 160 pages, there is comprised a library as, in its way, an encyclopedia mass of information that is often di- of testimony. London: Hodder & .luted through three times the space. Stoughton. Cheap, thrilling, fascinating, these stories of missionary life combine the While we write, there just comes facts of heroism with the fancies of by mail from a dear personal friend, romance. They are very near to Dr. George Smith of Edinburgh, the ideals realized. We believe that few last book so far produced by his schol- will read one chapter without wanting arly and prolific pen. It is entitled A to read the whole, or read one of the Modern Apostle, and is the life of series, now embracing twelve, without Rev. Alex. N. Somerville, D.D., "the wanting to possess the entire series, world's evangelist." He was an ex- ,and give them away to others. We traordinary man, and we propose here- would like to give the series to every after to present an article upon young man and woman in every him to our readers. Suffice it to say Protestant congregation where Eng- that he thirteen times made a "world lish is spoken. The whole twelve may tour of missions;" viz.: to Canada, be had for $6, exclusive of postage I Syria, Spain, India, Australasia, France and Italy, Germany and Rus- The editor also cordially commends sia, Central Europe, Greece, Asia and to all readers the following books on Africa; and beside this was the able missions: James Calvert; or from and faithful pastor of one of the most Dark to Dawn in Fiji, by R. Vernon. prominent churches of Scotland. Here F. H. Revell, Bible House, New York. is a story of more than seventy-five 'This account of mission work, in what years, full of service and every form was once the cannibal group of Fijian of inspiration to heroic endeavor. – Islands, is rendered specially valuable Those who have read the lives of Carey, by its graphic account of native man- John Wilson of Bombay, Alexander .ners and customs as they were found Duff, Stephen Hislop, and that Short History of Christian missions which terestmg and valuable. One sees as. we have never seen equaled in its in a birdseye-view the steady and sure way, all of them by the same gifted advance of the Master's Kingdom, and author, will not need to be told that we rejoice. this latest volume from his pen, recently issued by John Murray of Lon- In the work of a missionary there don, is a book without which no min- is often much to disappoint. One has isters library is complete. It is one to sow in faith and labor in patience, of the grandest books that modern seeing no sign of a reaping-time. But biographers have offered to the public. when one reads of others who are al- ready rejoicing in the ingathering of Livingstonia Mission. an abundant harvest, he for a mo- ment forgets the plowing and sowing, [The following letter relol,ched Dr. the watering and waiting, and cannot Sherwood's home November 3d, too help sharing in their joy and the Maslate for his eyes to read it. Notwith- ter's. standing the personal references, the Another end gained by your REVIEW Editor feels that it belongs to the is that our hearts are enlarged and we begin to have a fore-taste of that readers of THE REVIEW.] glorious time for which our Saviour LAKE NYASSA. prayed: "That they may be one even as we are one. . . . that they may Mvera Station, May 11, 1890. be perfected in one, that the world DEAR BROTHER:-Were there the may know that Thou didst send Me." least doubt about the excellence and usefulness of your REVIEW, I With reference to the contents of should gladly give my testimony in THE REVIEW I have no suggestions to its favor. Let me merely mention make. What we in the field need is that, along with many thousands of an occasional inspiring article, one to, your readers, I most heartily enjoy rouse and encourage. To my mind and profit by it. Especially on a Sab- there is no pen so gifted, in this rebath afternoon or evening, after sev- spect, as that of Dr. A. T. Pierson. eral services and two Bible-classes, Let us be urged to prayer, patience, feeling somewhat tired, it is with personal devotion to Christ, to faith great pleasure that I take up THE and faithfulness. "Ve know these MISSIONARY REVIEW and read it things but do not realize them. through, I may literally say, from beginning to end. Even though the As many of us are unable to have "news" is from four to five months large libraries, a summary of the biold when it reaches us, we, neverthe- ography of some missionary hero (as less, eagerly look forward to each fol- has appeared of Carey, Egede, etc.), is, lowing number. always most acceptable, or even an I have, of late especially, enjoyed episode from such a man's life, or his an article in the number for Septem- views on any important missionary ber, 1890, on "Prayer-Basis of Mission subject. And why not pubhsh a whole Work," by Dr. Pierson. I have read biography, continued in several numand re-read it, and read it to my com- bers ?" panions, and each time I feel more than ever that "the whole basis of suc- As regards my own work Ishall not cessful missionary work is to befound say much. At this present station we in believing and importunate prayer." have been at work for only about six These words should be written in let- months. The work is much the same ters of gold on the tablets of our- here as on other stations round the memory. lake. Weare 3,400 feet above the sea The items of news you give from in a healthy and fertile country. A various fields of labor are most in- great door has been opened to us. The work is becoming more and more, interesting. Some 500 to 600 people simply as a way of introducing the hear the Word preached every Sabbath letter. Mr. Baldwin will be remem- day. In the school, however, we bered as the writer of the papers in have as yet only some twelve boys- The Christian (London), on "The boarders. People are afraid to send Question of the Hour," advocating the their children lest, having secured a conduct of missions on the lines laid good number, we should run off and down in Matthew x.

sell them as slaves! This fear, will, of Without giving our endorsement to course, pass away in course of time. every sentiment of Mr. Baldwin in Should you care to publish any part those letters, we confess to a large of this letter and any discouraged measure of sympathy with his general worker happens to read it, let me position. And we cannot but feel that stretch out to such an one a brotherly when any missionary in these days hand, and say, "Courage, friend! the attempts a work for God in the spirit Master is looking on and is intensely of faith and prayer, it is not for other interested in our work; let us press on, Christianworkers toridiculeor criticise if not so ably as others, then at least or oppose. There are many ways of as faithfully. Let us often prostrate doing the Lord's work. Why not let ourselves before the 'WondroUB Cross,' them all have a fair, faithful trial?

and in deep self-abasement and lowly Experiment will show whether God reverence, there learn to be' nothing, is with such methods; but the ex- nothing,' that the world might our periment must not be embarrassed Saviour see. When weary let us rest with the secret or open hostility of at His feet; when sad, lean on His even nominal disciples. Mr. Baldwin's breast. Let us drown our cares and personal consecration not even his worries in the ocean of His love, and critics can question. He is about to we shall not sow in vain, but receive start on a prolonged journey, with a the sower's reward." single companion, probably among the Bedouin. May God be with him!

Itis because I so often feel the need of encouragement myself that I am seek- Rev. Dr. Wayland Hoyt, his brother, Colgate Hoyt, and Charles L. Colby, ing to encourage others to-llfght, for Esq., have been preparing a" chapel the Master bas been very near to-day car," for use in Minnesota and on the and wonderfully kind. My subject of Wisconsin Central and Northern to-day, "My son, give me thy heart," Pacific railroads. ' , Uncle Boston" is has touched my own heart. to use this chapel-on-wheels for his I cannot ask your readers to pray Sunday-school mission work, and it is for us and our work specially; there finely adapted to his purposes. Atone are others who have probably a end are arrangements for living, and greater right to their prayers and the rest of the car is a chapel fitted thought; but let me urge all who pray for about 100 persons. During summer for missions to more "believing and months a tent will be carried, which importunate prayer," and we also can be set up for temporary use where shall receive our share of the blessing. crowds are too great for the chapel. Bishop Walker, of the Episcopal ANDREW C. MURRAY. Church, has done a like thing for the territory under his jurisdiction, in The Rev. E. F. Baldwin, now in North Dakota. Each of these moving Beyrout, Syria, desires it stated that chapels is about 60 feet by 10. The latter has gothic projections to give it the letterin the October number, 1890, a church-like appearance, and is finpages 776,777, was not a specific letter ished in oak, in gothic style,. with for THE REVIEW, although Dr. Sher- . chancel, altar, lectern, cabinet organ, wood so understood it at the time, but and even baptismal font and bishop's a circular sent to THE REVIEW. The chair. Weare surely making pro- adch'ess, "Dear Editors" was affixed grE'ss!

THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS

IV.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.

[EDITORIAL. ] Faots and Figures about the World-wide Field.

-.Alaska's coast is the sepulchre 40,000,000 were called Protestant; now, of ships. Dr. Sheldon Jackson says the population is more than double, that almost a hundred vessels have and the nominal Protestants more found a watery gra,e there within than quadrupled!

twenty years! In one storm, and atone -The first convertamongthe natives place, thirty-three ships were ground of India was Krishna Chundra Pal between ice-fields, and 1,200 sailors in 1800. Renry Martyn said it was a cast, wrecked, on a barren shore. miracle as great as the raising of the -According to the census of 1890, dead. Now, every ten years the con- the population of the Unite9. States is verts increase over eighty per cent.

62,480,540. It seems to us that this is The first convert in western Poly- an underestimate; we have supposed nesia was King Pomare II.; now there 66,000,000 nearer the actual truth. are 850,000, and all western Poly- -A Messianic pretender appears in nesia is evangelized.

an Indian tribe. He claims that the -Up to 1853, the Edict Board of Indian power and prestige is to revive Japan made it capital offence for a and the lost ground be recovered. If Christian to set foot on the island this notion gets hold of the mercurial empire. Now, there are 30,000 pro- red men no one can tell what may fessed converts and 17,000 children in come of it: they may attempt to ex- Sunday-schools. One in twenty-eight terminate the whites. .Already, for of the elect members of the new par- three months, the whole northwestern liament is a Christian church member.

part of our country has been in a state As the Christians of Japan number of disturbance and serious alarm. but 1 to 1,200 of the population, it will -Principal Magee,ofDublin,says the be seen that the proportion of Chris- dogma of the infallibility of the Pope tian members of parliament is forty- has repelled the bulk of Irishmen, and three U'Yhes as great. This impresses led to intellectualindependencewhich us as one of the most remarkable is reducing the ranks of Romanism signs of the power of Protestant mis- and filling up those of Protestantism. sions in Japan. The contributions of He thinks vaulting ambition has native converts were about $50,000 again" overleaped itself" and "fallen last year, nearly $2 a head!

on-tother side." -At Oroomiah, Persia, last year, -These are old figures, but their fifty-one out of sixty-seven pupils in lesson is always new: the seminary were Christians and In 1800, not over 50,000 converts in members of the church.

all heathendom; now, over 1,500,000, –The McAll mission schools had and five times as many adherents. last year 235,000 children under in- In 1800, not over 70 mission schools; struction.

now, about 14,000, with 600,000 -The Established Church of Scot- scholars. land reports 2,034 converts and 2,465 In 1800, 50 translations of the Bible; pupils in the schools in the Punjab now, between 300 and 400, of the whole Mission, India, with 723 converts bap- or parts, like the Gospel of Mark. tized in 1890.

In 1800, not over 5,000,000 copies of -Dr. Robert N. Cust reckons 223 the Bible; now, more than that issue missionary societies in the world: 113 from the press every year. in Britain and colonies; 56 in the In 1800; the population of the globe United States; 20 in Germany; 14 in about 700,000,000, of whom some Netherlands, and 20 in other lands. Many of these are doubtless small. sustained by the facts. Mr. Henry Fifty have incomes of $10,000 and up- A. Hinshaw, in the August Science ward, and twenty report over $100,- Monthly, says: "At the end of the 000. At least ten of these have got mission rule the Indian was really three-fourths of their funds from less capable of taking care of himself 1tative converts! than at the beginning. He was found Roman Oatholicism, if we may trust a free man, he was left a dependent.

the "Catholic Dh;.ectory," for last year, Driven to church by the whip, forced has, in the United States, 13 arcb- to kneel by being punched by goads, bishops, 73 bishops, 8,332 priests, 2,132 with no free or rational cultivation of ecclesiastical students, 7,523 churches, mind or conscience, the religious in- 3,302 chapels and stations, 35 theo- struction made up of scarcely any- logical seminaries, 102 colleges, 635 thing else but ritual and superstition, academies, 3,194 parochial schools and the idea of obedience to the priest, with 633,238 pupils in them, 553 chari- the result was what might have been table institutions, and about 8,000,000 expected." Why should the Govern- members. ment continue to appropriate money The approximate distribution of to such schools?

missionaries is said to be as follows: -M. Monod says he adopts very No. of Mis- .much the words of one of his best col- Populatlou. sionaries. Proportion porteurs: "It seems to me supersti- .syria …….. 3.000,000 100 lto 80,000 tion is not so general as it was, and Turkey …… 21,000,000 450 lto 45,000 that what people call the' Protestant Madagascar. 5,000,000 50 1 to 100,000 Burma …… 8,000,000 40 1to 200,000 faith' is honored by many Roman Japan……. 38,000,000 200 1to 200,000 Catholics, who ten years ago felt noth- Jndia …….. 250,000,000 900 1 to 275,000 Persia……. 7,500,000 80 1to 300,000 ing but a bitter hatred against the ·.Africa.•… _..250,000,000 600 1 to 400,000 Gospel and the Scriptures which we s. America'.. 80,000,000 75 1to 400,000 colporteurs circulate. Blessed be the Korea…….. 9.000,000 25 1to 400,000 Lord for that! Those times are gone, .Siam …….. 8,000,000 18 1to 000,000 and the light of the Gospel seems to Chiua …….. 380,000.000 600 J.toQ..A5O,OOO spread. The Lord gives me new Arabia……. 6,000,000 4 1 to 1,500,000 'Tbibet.. ….. 15,000.000 7 1 to 2,000,000 openings, and I must hasten to meet In Sahara district with 3,000,000; . theln." ~ Afghanistan, etc., with 3,500,000; An- -The women's societies in America nam, etc., with 12,000,000; Russia, are doing untold good by preparing 16,000,000; Algeria, etc., 12,000,000; and scattering broadcast missionary Soudan, 75,000,000, there is an ENTIRE literature in condensed and cheap DESTITUTION. forms. Some of us, in·this fast age, [Weare aware that the above must skim the great pan and serve figures are not exact, but they are the up the cream in little pitchers, rich best we have been able to'Obtain from and sweet. Our" little pitchers" are a variety of sources. We shall be multiplying. Brief, compact and in- grateful to anyone who will furnish teresting leaflets, containing the great us correct and reliable statistics.-ED- facts of missions, or short biographical lTOR.] sketches, or quaint stories of a half- -Senator Dawes, opposing an in- humorous sort to illustrate giving and crease to the appropriations to Roman praying, and helping in the work, are Catholic schools among the Indians, freely circulated. Those who can declared the 120 years of Jesuit mis- condense the facts into a small space sionary work among the Indians of and yet preserve all their vitalizing California had left them less capable force are benefactors indeed, and this of self-support than it had found the women of our day are doing with them. The accusation seems to be well grand success. -The Church of Scotland Mission -On the plains and in the selva.s of Record nobly says: Brazil there are a million of wild " But no one can pretend that our Indians, ignored by the Christian missionary collections are such as world.

ought to satisfy us. Let us remember – During the past ten years over how large is our number of communi- 11,000 converts have been gathered in cants-about 588,000. Our missionary the missionary fields of the Moravian contributions show but a very small Church.

sum as given per communicant. For -Sabbath observance is making the foreign mission, or mission to the great progress in Paris. A determined heathen abroad, there was contributed effort is made to close all places of last year by the church at home, business on Sunday.

through the assembly scheme, the -Ninety thousand copies of the ladies' association, legacies and special illustrated Bible, issued in weekly subscriptions, a total of £28,331-not , parts, have been sold among the quite one shilling from every com- Roman Catholics in Italy.

municant. And when we exclude the -The last five years have seen ladies' association, legacies and special greater developments in the opening subscriptions, it appears that the sum and Christianizing of Africa than the raised for tilis object by church col- ninety-five years preceding.

lections in Scotland was £13,172-giv- -The Gospel of Matthew has been ing an average of only 5 1-4d from translated into the Laos language by each communicant. We grant that Mrs. McGilvary of the Presbyterian many of our communicants are poor Board. The Acts of the Apostles is persons, but it will not be denied that also nearly ready.

the great majority are in circum- -The American Baptist Telugu stances to afford some help to any Mission calls for a re-inforcement of good cause which thoroughly interests twenty-five men in the next two sears.

them. If they give nothing, or very Dr. J. E. Clough, of Ongole, has under little, we must conclude either that his care more than 17,000 Christians.

they do not know that there is an -:Et!!',">Dr. Boggs, of Ramapatam, object deserving and needing their aid, says all India is in a state of ferment.

or that they feel no interest, or little The Hindus and Mohammedans interest, in it." actively oppose the advance of Chris- -Arch-deacon Farrar, of London, tianity, and at the same time mis- says: "It comes with shocking ill sionary work is pushed more vigor- grace, and sounds like shameful ously than ever.

hypocrisy, when those who give -The appropriations of the Ameri- nothing and do nothing for mis- can Baptist Missionary Union for the sions, make the 'home heathen' year ending March 31, 1891, are $503,- a false excuse for doing nothing. 159.53. The society calls for an im- They talk as if it were weakening the mediate special contribution of $50,000 resources of England and surely that to meet the deficiency caused by the is stupendous nonsense when we are passage of the silver bill.

not even spending as much on mis- -Four railroads are projected, or sions as on tobacco and Christmas in process of construction, from the cards." east coast of Africa toward the in- -Canon Christopher, one of the terior ; one in the territory of British notable men of Cambridge, England, East Africa Company, one in German proclaims his interest in missions territory, one in the Portuguese pos- by annually entertaining a great sesions, and one passing through Port- company of representative men to uguese territory to the domain of the breakfast. British South African Company.

GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE

V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

Foreign Mission Notes, by Rev. James Johnston, Bolton, England.

African Mlssions.-There are re- cessible. remarkably intelligent, and ported to be over 500 missionary considered by the missionaries to be stations in the Dark Continent, with more Christian, on the whole, than the which 400,000 converts are associated, ordinary run of Christians in England.

whose numberis increasing at a yearly By the Rev. W. E. Taylor, (C. M. S., average of 25,000 souls. Frere Town,) it was observed that the Slavery.-A meeting held at the present is the time to win the popula- Stanley and African Exhibition in tion to Christianity, otherwise they London was addressed by several re- would be made converts to Moham- turned missionaries, of different so- medanism. The Rev. R. P. Ashe cieties. Their reports were very en- (late missionary of the C. M. S. at couraging, especially as to the Congo Uganda) said that the friends of mis- region. Lord Knutsford urged more sions do not realize that the mission- exertion for the suppression of the aries in Central Africa have, with less horrible slave traffic. Although the assistance, d1fficulties to face, corresc British are less directly active in com- ponding to those which Mr. Stanley batting it they seem determined to narrated in "Darkest Africa." A col- banish the great curse of Africa. So lection was taken for the purchase far as Pro1!estant societies are con- of a steamer to be launched on the eerned they are free from the disgrace waters of Victoria Nyanza for the use of buying boys and girls to train them of the Church Missionary Society's as Christians, whereas, French Catho- agents. The total outlay will be £5,000, lie societies openly countenance this of which £2,300 has been secured. In unwisfj .pgliey. A representative of aid of this desirable object Mr. Stanley the -~Anti-Slavery Society entreated made an eloquent appeal in the eol- English people to eschew the use of umns of The London Times, to British ivory, every scrap of which, accord- Christians. ing to Mr. Stanley, issteep~la:lnblood. Bishop Smythies.-The brave lead- The venerable Archdeacon Maple, of er of the Universities' Mission, de- the Universities' Mission, described parting once more to his field, his work on Lake Nyassa. He paid a preached a farewell sermon to a eon- warm tribute to the African Lakes gregation of supporters in St. John's, Company for resistance to the intro- Red Lion Square, Holborn, from the duction of liquor and to similar evils. mlsslOnary passage in Col. il-:3, The work of Dr. Laws, of the Free "Withal, praying also for us, that Church and of the Scotch Established God would open unto us a door of Church, on the Shire Highlands, was utterance, to speak the mystery of equally eulogized. The Archdeacon Christ, for which I am also in bonds."

said, in face of the partitioning of He returns, accompanied by three Africa by European powers, their clergymen and two lady nurses, mak- duty as pioneers was to maintain their ing a complete mission staff of seventy ground unless superior force com- persons. During his sojourn in pelled them to retire. Dr. Guinness Europe the Bishop visited Berlin, and referred to the scope of the Congo was cordially welcomed by the young Mission, founded in 1878, by Mr. Emperor of Germany, who spoke with Henry Craven and others, which had marked sympathy and appreciation of at the present time three missions the Universities' Mission.

and seventy-five missionaries. No- Cardinal Lavigerie. – After dis- where in the world is mission work cussing in Rome further plans bearing more hopeful. The people were ac- on the anti-slavery question, the • Cardinal passed through Marseilles, on 1890, they had received only £13,000; his way to ~'.lgiers. From there, to meanwhile they had to borrow money Biskra, whence he will make various at a high rate of interest to meet their ,excursions in southern Algeria. . liabilities.

Holland and the S,ave Trade.- Japan. – To secure more help for The principal members of the Belgian the English Church mission in Japan government are impressing upon the an important meeting has been held Dutch cabinet the absolute necessity in the library of the Lambeth Palace, 'of giving its signatures to ,the general London. Bishop Barry said, not- act of the Brussels Conference; if not, withstanding the lateness of the Eng- a stigma will rest on the country in lish Church in the field, it would ulti- preventing the execution of effective mately take the leading place in measures for the suppression of the influence and responsibility among slave trade and its horrors. The ex- Christian communities there. A re- port trade'of the Congo State for the markable feature of the Japanese is second quarter of the year 1890 was their capacity to adapt themselves to double that of the corresponding what they had adopted. The church period of 1889, and five times larger mission had certainly no desire to than it was in 1887. These figures hinder the growth of native institushow the necessity of giving the Congo tions, or .to press upon the Japanese State the means to pursue its honor- any western customs which could not ,able and humane mission. be appreciated or assimilated.

Wesleyan Missionary Society- Madagascar. – Excitement reigns Tonga. – The good news is con- in the island consequent upon the fumed respecting the improved condi- terms of the Anglo-French agreement tion of affairs among the native Wes- becoming known. The various misleyans, chiefly due to the wise inter- sionary societies view with lIlisgivings vention of the High Commissioner, the ultimate action of the queen and Sir J. B. Thurston. The majority of her advisers. As to the immediate the exiled Wesleyans have returned prospects, religiously and politically, from Fiji. With the re-affirmation of the sta£ements of authorities are conreligious liberty, the hitherto sup- flicting. According to agents of the pressed feeling of fear and restraint is London Missionary Society recently beginning to disappear, and large arrived in England, no alarm is ennumbers are again attending the Wes- tertained in relation to Madagascar's 1eyan Church. agreeableness to the French Protecto- rate. An experienced missionary, the Secunderabad.-That ardent Wes- Rev. J. Sibree, believes that there isa leyan missionary, the Rev. William tendency to exaggerate the differ- Burgess, reports that he has baptized ences and apprehend risks only in 200 natives this year (1890), and ex- days to come. The English Governpects shortly to announce double that ment have been gradually compelled number. to subscribe to what the Malagasies must have foreseen many years since. Italy. – In, connection with the A younger missionary, the Rev. James vigorous campaign of English Wes- Taylor, declares the influence exerleyans in the Italian peninsula, the cised by the London Missionary Socidoubted secession of a whole Roman etyon the natives is unequaled by any {)atholic village in Italy to Method- kind of organization in the island, and ism is now ascertained to be beyond that from the Society it would be difdispute. ficult to wean the people.

English Wesleyan Missionary So- On the other hand these assurances ciety Finances. – With regret the are vigorously controverted by the secretaries state that out of a procSpective home income of £100,000 for latest mail communications from the car has remained quiet because she island. Great unrest prevails touch- believed that she was outgrowing the ing the Anglo-French agreement; the time for foreign aggression. She now Hovas pronouncing vehemently finds that she has been sleeping in fan- against a French Protectorate sway. cie<i'security, and to-day she is awake For two powers to deprive a country in a rage. The country is aroused. sUbstantially of her rights and privi- There is a dangerous spirit thrilling leges without consulting her is con- throughout the country. The late po- sidered cruelly unfair. In retaining litical calm has disappeared. To an her freedom to conduct her civil and individual the Hovas are patriotic, commercial intercourse, "Madagas- and, if France insists upon putting car," says the principal local journal, a wrong construction upon the Treaty "will fight to the last if France de- of 1885-6, the Malagasy will heroic- mands the control of the foreign of- ally repel her aggression. Watchful fice, or assumes a protectorate over sympathy is desired for the religious the Government of Her Majesty Ran- and national welfare of a people who avalomanjaka III." This language is are beginning to enter on a civilized unmistakably decisive. Until very career. By the missionaries in particu- recently the government in Madagas- lar, abounding grace and wisdom are car had no idea of the island's liberty needed to guide their converts in the being endangered. A claim of France right paths. some time ago to represent Madagas- London Missionary Society. – car in her foreign relations was re- The London Missionary Society will fused, consistent with articles 1-2 of send delegates to the International the 1885-6 Franco-Malagasy Treaty. Council of Congregationalists, to be It was consequently surmised that held in London in 1891. This step is as France did not urge it ,that she regarded as a sign that the society is inte~ the clauses to refer to moving from a broad evangelical basis the pledge of Madagascar not to to one of a more denominational enter into compact defensively or character. offensively elsewhere unless–tt";"'con- Church Missionary Society.- sent of France was previously ob- The benefactions to the Church Mistained. The Malagasy Government sionary Society for the current year is content to allow France to intervene are about twice as much as those of on her behalf in exterior political mat- the average of the last five years, and ters, quite otherwise respecting inter- the ordinary income steadily increases. nal affairs. Madagascar cherishes her Six London societies send out unindependence and sets great store on ordained missionaries, not demanding everything which develops her re- college education. Thus not only sources, and naturally wishes to retain are wider doors opening before the ' a free hand for her administration and, church in foreign lands, but the gate an openseaboard to transacttrade with ,of entrance for workers is becoming other lands. The organ of the Eng- much broader. lish, The Madagascar Times, asserts Two more young ladies went out that the agreement is a monstrous last month to the Zenana work in contravention of past treaties, and Rajahmundry, India, sent out by the warns France of the dangers which Lutheran Mission Committee. The await her should she persist in taking two workers, Miss Sadtler of Baltinominal possession. "Europe," this more and Miss Schade of New Brighpaper states, "is mistaken in her be- ton, Pa., were given a farewell meetlief that Madagascar has been unde- ing in St. John's Lutheran Church, monstrative because the French con- Philadelphia. A chest of medicines trol affairs. This is not so. Madagas- was presented to the missionaries. Monthly Bulletin. -Miss Anna E. Johnson has left Bryn Mawr, Pa., for the McAll work -Mr. David Sinclair, M.A., princi- in Paris. pal of the Missionary College at Mad- ras, and who, after twenty years of -Two Bengalese ladies, after a five service, retired at the beginning of the years' course, received at Calcutta last year, is dead. University the degree of Bachelor of Medicine. They are both disciples of -Professor Riggenbach, of Basel, Christ. for twelve years president of the great Basel Missionary Society, died also -The British and Foreign Bible So- September 5. He had a fascinating ciety issued last year 3,790,000 copies history. of the Bible, either wholly or in part; -Some 200 Hebrew students in the and the London ReligiouB Tract So- University of Odessa petitioned the ciety 77,000,000 publications, every Russian government to be allowed to one of which, in some form, ango forward with their studies as nounces the glad tidings of salvation Hebrews, and met a refusal. It re- in Christ.

sulted in their conversion to Ohris- -The French Protestant Mission tianity! among the Basutos has over 6,000com- -Bishop Hannington was cruelly municants.

murdered by Mwanga, of Uganda, -Rev. R. Glover, D.D., of Bristol, whose Christian subjects have now re- and Rev. T. M. Morris of Ipswich, instated him on his throne. Two years two of the foremost men of the Bapago Bishop Parker, who followed tist deilOmination in England, are in him, perished on the shores of Victoria China as a deputation from the mis- Nyanza. And now, a third bishop, sionary society to visit the stations Mr. Tucker, has started for equatorial Africa. Thus far these bishops have and report on needs and claims of the ~-…. work.

held office less than two years each; -Arthur Brooks, whom the natives but lor the work in which they per- killeq a year ago in Africa, was the ished .more than twenty have been elev~lM:llartyr the London Mission- found ready to take the place of each ary Society has given to the East one who has died. African Mission. Since then Mr.

-It is proposed to build a sort of Slade's death left but three men to "People's Temple" in London, with carry on this work.

sufficient space for 100,000 persons, so -Rev. Dr. Sheldon Jackson has been that when great public interests are at establishing three new missions-Con- stake room may be found for popular gregational, Episcopal and Presby- meetings and discussions. terian respectively, in Alaska. This -A "Hindoo tract society" in is a practical illustration of inter- Madras is trying to neutralize the denominational comity.

missionaries' work by leaflets in de- -In three colleges of North Caro- fence of Hinduism, as they have lina 15 students have volunteered for already imitated Christian "cate- mISSIons. At Oberlin 32, and $400 chisms " for teaching and indoctrina- have been raised for their outfit.

ting the young. -On Lake Nyassa the Scottish Free -A chair for study of the English Church has, at Bandawe, 1,180 pupils Bible was last year established at and 38 native teachers in its schools.

Princeton College. At Yale over 150 -Moravians distance us all in mis- students of the higher classes elect a sionary heroism. One of their Alaska course of Bible studies, with two lec- missions is 3,000 miles from its base tures a week. of supplies, and sometimes the cold is so intense that even the smoke is a pronouncedly good influence upan turned to frost in chimneys. him and his people. He has abolished drinking in his land, and is always -Mr. Penazottj, the agent of the intent on some reform. His word is American Bible Society, in Peru, is always trusted, not only by the mis- in prison solely for the crime of circu- sionaries, but also by traders and lating the Word of God in the Spanish hunters, wl'lO are mistrustful of every- tongue. His instructing of the people thing accomplished by missions. He has been construed as violating a is sincere, courageous and manly, and semi-obsolete decree of the Peruvian if all Caffre chieftains were like him, {lonstitution. We watch the result of Caffreland would have a very different this trial of Protestantiam in South look from its present one. America with interest. -Basel Missionary Society recently -Rev. John Newton, seventy-eight observed its seventy-fifth anniversary. years old, and oldest of missionaries It has missions in India, China, and in India, landed in Calcutta in 1835, on the African Gold Coast and the and is still a hale and happy worker. Camaroons, and not until recently He is a Presbyterian, and believes in have unmarried lady missionaries goue the" Perseverance of the Saints!" to the frontier to engage in educa- tional and other work among their -According to Dr. Pentecost, dark and darkened sisters. Bishop Taylor is the only evangelist who has left behind him in India a Alaska.-Important are the openpermanent work. We may be per- ings for the spread of the Gospel in mitted to say that our friend Pente- this largest possession of the United cost sometimes allows himself to make States. Its area is 531,409 square statements which are too sweeping, if miles: Arctic division, 125,245; Younot careless. Bishop Taylor not only kon, 70,884; Southeastern, 28,980. Its worked as an evangelist, but he extreme length north and south is founded churches, and large churches, 1,100 miles; its extreme breadth is too, which few evangelists do. Hence, 800 miles. Total population about his eminently scriptural and apostolic 30,426; white, 430; Creole, 1,756; Inwork abides, which cannot be said of nuit, 17,617; Aleut, 2,145; Tenneh, some who only do the work of an 3,927; Thlinket, 6,763; Hyda,788. It evangelist. . occupies the extreme northwest of the continent. This important coun- -Think of America sending a few try was purchased from Russia by the missionaries to Africa and finding it United States government in 1867, difficult to raise enough money to and is now under its control. support them, while Boston alone, from 1882 to 1887, sent to the Dark Turkey.-Great Revival in Aintab. Continent 3,500,000 gallons of strong In the annual report of the American drink! Rev. David A. Day, at Monro- Board the siguificant event in Asiatic via, saw landed at one port on one Turkey was the revival, whereby 538 Sunday 50,000 casks of gin! were added to the church in Aintab, and by its influence no less than 1,000 Africa.-Mr. J. Nixon declares of hopeful conversions occurred within Magata, a chief near Pretoria, where the limits of that one field. The three the Hermannsburg missionaries are centers of collegiate and theological working, that not even in England training were specially blessed. Only has he met with a more perfect gen- a small number of college graduates, tleman. Chief Kchama, he declares, however, enter the theological school, is also a chief whose word can be de- and there is an increasing tendency to pended upon, a noble example of suc- come to America to complete their cessful missionary work. His Chris- studies and to better their fortunes. tianity is nothing nominal, but exerts Cost of War.-According to rep- Canon Liddon on Missions.- resentations given recently in the Across the triumphs and the failures German Reichstag, France has'a war of well-nigh nineteen centuries, the footing of 3,300,000 men; Russia, spiritual ear still catches the accents 2,570,000; Germany, 2,900,000; Austro- of the charge on the mountain in Gali- Hungary, 1,150,000; Italy, 1,090,000; 100; and, as we listen, we note that or these five powers can summon into neither length of time nor change of the field, should the necessity require circumstance has impaired their it, 11,019,000. Who can foretell the solemn and enduring force. It is a awful consequences should any power precept which, if it ever had binding be so rash as to let loose the war virtue, must have it at this moment dragon? And to prevent such a catas- over all who believe in the Divine trophy, it is deemed necessary to keep Speaker's power to impose it-it must up a peace footing for Russia of 314,- bind us as distinctly as it was binding 000; France, 511,334; Germany, 486,- on the first disciples. Weare ambas- 983; Austro-Hungary, 325,693; Italy, sadors of a charity which knows no 255,418; or in all, 2,393,423. distinctions between the claimants on Worth Noting.-The secular press. its bounty, and no frontier save those announces that Abbe Mesmer has of the races of man. A good Chrisstarted from Rome to assume his posi- tian can not be other than eager for tion at the head of the Roman Catho- the extension of our Lord's Kingdom lic University in Washington. In among men, not only from his sense of this case at least, we regret that the what is due to the Lord who bought law which prohibits the importation him, but also from his natural sense of of contract labor will not be enforced. justice, his persuasion that he has no We trust, however, that the American right to withhold from others those public will not lose sight of the fact privileges and prospects which are the that this new university is to be placed joy of his own inmost life. When he under the direction of tt foreigner, and finds comfort in the power of prayer, of one who comes witk the blessing of when he looks forward in humble a Pope who, from his hatred of free confidence to death, when he enjoys institutions, continu~s to keep up the the blessed gift of inward' peacefarce of his being a prisoner in the peace between the soul and its God, Vatican, and is arrayed in open an- peace between the soul's various powtagonism to the civil law of Italy. If ers and faculties-he cannot but ask the man is like the· master, we may the question: "Do I not owe it to the reasonably expect that the consistent millions who have no part in these policy which has been so long main- priceless blessings that I should do tained in Italy will not be forgotten what I can myself, or through others in America. to extend to them a share in this smile of the Universal Father which is the Mr. W. F. Wilkinson.-Another joy and consolation of my life? Can worker fallen on the Congo. The I possibly neglect the command to Baptist Missionary Society have re- make disciples of all nations?"-Spirit ceived this.sad intelligence of one who of Missions.

less than ·six months ago was set Rev. Dr. A. P. Happer, President apart at the Society's Birmingham of the Christian College, Canton, meetings for the noblest of callings. China, .is ordered by his physician to Of heroic ardor, the death of so give up work and return home. He young a man cannot be other than a has disease of the heart. As soon as source of grief to all wilo follow with the trustees appoint his successor he interested eye the course of the con- will hand over the College, which he flict. is now arranging to do.