The Missionary Review of the World — June 1938
1938
The Modern City Number Christ at the Center of City Life Aubrey S. Moore Meeting the Modem City Problems Herbert E. Eberhardt. The Youth Problem in the City What Church Federations Can Do Robert V. Russell God and Company……Unlimited Walter R. Mee Serving Christ in Crowded Streets M. W. Pullen Preaching the Gospel to City Folk Putting the Gospel to the Test Robert A. McKibben Contacts with Industrial Workers Harry A. Ironside When a Policeman Is Transformed J. F. Harrison The Inner and the Outer City A. J. Muste A United Church Project Paul Buffa What a Suburban Church Can Do Best Books on the City Problem Ernest G. Guthrie G. R. Larson 25 Cents a Copy Frank A. Fitt Charles H. Sears $2.50 a Year '
to Remember September 21-28 – General Council, PARENTS~ ••
United Church of Canada, Toronto, June 2-General Synod, Reformed Canada. In the Foreign Mission Field Church in America, Asbury Park, N. J. October 5-12 – United L u the ran Endorse Calvert: School Church in America, Biennial Con- Home Study Courses June 2-Fiftieth Anniversary of the vention, Baltimore, Md. Women's Missionary Society, Gen- Eor Childrel!l eral Synod of the Evangelical and October 14-20 – American Lutheran Reformed Church, Akron, Ohio. Church, Biennial Convention, San- Calvert School, through its Home Instruc- dU!lky, Ohio. tion Department, will give your child a superior elementary education ••• by mail, June 7-27-Indian Workers Confer- regardless of where you may live. Modences. Four Regional Conferences ern, approved courses from this famous of the National Fellowship of In- , Personal Items school are being used by parents allover dian Workers. (1) The Oklahoma the world with outstanding success. Conference, to be held at Dwight Mr. Robert L. Latimer for 45 years Training School, Marble City, Okla., treasurer of the Board of Foreign Give your children the advantages of these June 7-9. (2) The Southwest Re- Missions of the United Presbyterian interesting lessons, carefully chosen books, gional Conference, at the Navajo Church has retired and his place has and attractive materials. Instruction is Methodist School, Farmington,N.M., , been fill~d by Dr. R. W. Caldwell, Fi-, under the personal guidance of teachers in June 14-16. (3) Pacific Northwest nancial Secretary of the Board. Calvert's prominent and successful private Regional Conference, at the Nez day school in Baltimore. Perces Camp Meeting Grounds, *** Craigmont, Idaho, June 20-22. (4) Write today for booklet of complete in- The Midwest Regional Conference, Dr. Mills J. Taylor, Associate Sec- formation. Costs are low. at the College of Agriculture, Uni- retary of the United Presbyterian versity of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., Board of Foreign Missions plans to CALVERT SCHOOL , June 24-27. These Conferences are visit the mission fields, leaving Ameropen to all friends of the Indians. ica about May first, with Mrs. Taylor ISOW. Tuscany Road ' and returning in January, 1939. Baltimor. + Maryland June 8-Synod of Christian Reformed *** United States. At Amarillo, Texas, Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 6,500 persons heard the Gipsy, and Dr. Paul J. Braisted, General Sec- many more were unable to get into the June 9-15-Norwegian Lutheran retary of the Student Volunteer Move- auditorium. Synod Convention, Mankato, Min- ment, has been elected Campus Sec- retary for the University Christian Sir Wilfred *T. *Gr*enfell, who has nesota. Mission to succeed the Rev. J. Max- served 45 years as a voluntary med- June 15-22-General Council of Con- well Adams. Dr. Braisted will give ical missionary in Newfoundland and gregational and Christian Churches, only a portion of his time to his new Labrador, recently celebrated his 73d office. birthday on an island off the coast of Beloit, Wisconsin. Georgia. Because of a chronic heart *** ailment, he may never be able 'to re- June 16-24 – Winona School of Mis- turn to Labrador, where hospitals, sions, Winona Lake, Indiana. Mrs. . Bi~op Henry,W. Hobson, of Cin- schools and nursing stations bear his Wm. Eckert, 1612 South 11th St., CinnatI, has been elected president of Maywood, Illinois. the "Movement for World Christi- name. anity," an interdenominational organ- June 18-25 ~ Geneva Summer School ization created in 1934, as a result of Obituary Notel for Missionary Education, Geneva the Laymen's Commission Report on Lake, Wisconsin. Write for infor- Foreign Missions. Bishop Hobson has The Rev. Dr. Eddy H. Greeley, for mation to Mrs. Paul H. Wezaman, attracted wide interest by literally fifty years a missionary of the Meth- 177 So. Humphrey Ave., Oak Park, carrying the church to the people in a odist Episcopal Church in Liberia and specially constructed trailer, called Rhodesia, died on April 8, at; Old Ill. Umtali, Rhodesia, at the age of 80 years. He was born at Owakonna, June 22-29 – General Synod, Evan- "St. Paul's Wayside Cathedral," re- Minnesota, in 1857, and was a cousin gelical and Reformed Churches, placing the cathedral in downtown of Horace Greeley. After graduation Columbus, Ohio. Cincinnati, as reported in the REVIEW from Hamblein University, St. Paul, he sailed for Liberia in 1888. He June 25-27-National Council of Fed- for April. *** introduced new plant life into Old erated Church Women, Eagles Umtali to add to the variety of native Mrs. J. P. White, editor of the foods. He was known especially as a Mere, Pa. Women's Missionary Magazine of the hymnodist and translator and for United Presbyterian Church. who has some years wrote the Sunday school June 25-July 2-Mt. Hermon Feder- been touring the foreign field of the lessons for missionaries and teachers. ated School of Missions, Mt. Her- Church, arrived in America on April mon, Cal. 14. Miss Anna A. Milligan, former C. Luther Fr*y, P*h.D* ., who did con- Educational Secretary of the United June 26-July 1- Church Conference Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mis- siderable work on the census of re- of Social Workers, Seattle, Wash- ligious bodies in the United States ington. and for five years was professor of Sociology in the University of Roch- June 28-July 3 – International Con- sions. who has spent the winter in ester, died on April 12, after a brief vention of Christian Endeavor, Egypt, will make a wider visit of for- illness. From 1922 to 1933 Dr. Fry Columbus, Ohio. eign ,missions before returning to was Director of the Bureau of Stand- ards of the Institute of Social and Re- July 11-19 – Northfield Missionary America. ** ligious Research of New York. He Conference, Northfield, Mass. Miss H*. was the author of "American Vil- Corona Rayle Cook, 16 Farnham Dr. James Rushbrooke, Execu- lagers," "The United States Looks tive Secretary of the Baptist World at Its Churches," and other volumes. St., Portland, Maine. Alliance, went to Bucharest to study He was born in Philadelphia, the'son the situation faced by Baptists in July 12-August 17 – Winona Lake Roumania, ana was granted an inter- (Concluded on 3d cO'IJer.) School of Theology, Winona Lake, view by King Carol and the Rou- Indiana. manian premier. The difficulties now seem to be under control. August 23-29-World Conference on International Friendship Through the Churches, Larvik, Norway. Evangelist G*ips*y *Smith. now 77 September 6-20 – World's You n g years old, declares that he has never Women's Gh r i s t ian Association, addressed greater crowds or more Canada. , September 11-16-International Con- eager young people, and has never vention of the Disciples of Christ, seen greater results of presenting the Gospel than in his latest tour of the Denver, Colo.
MISSIONARY I want to express a word of appre- Malwa-the Great
REVIEW OF THE WORLD ciation for the REVIEW and what it means in the program of missions. When Ihe good wOl'k VOL. LXI JUNE, 1938 No.6 Leaders in our missionary societies and groups throughout the country p.o calls yo. Basi … sail Publication and Business omc_ subscribe to it regularly. During our Third and Reily Sts., Harrlsburc, Pa. annual convention in June, when our This year marks a full century of P & 0 new program of missions is inaugu- service to the lands beyond Suez! When- Editorial and Executive omc_ rated, special prominence is given to ever you are called to the other side of the 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. the place that the REVIEW has in help- world, choose this traditional route. Cross Entered as second-class matter at ing to create effective missionary pro- to England by Cunard White Star … and grams. It is our sincere wish that the then embark in a great liner of the P & 0 Post Omce, Harrlsburc, P•., under REVIEW will continue to hold this im- and British India fleets, led by the new Act of March 3, 1879. portant place in the program of mis- 23,500-ton Stratheden and Strathallan, sions. featuring air-conditioned dining saloons 25 cents a copy-$2.50 a year. in first class, hot and cold running water Foreign Postage, 50 cents a year. ADAM W. MILLER, throughout, built-in out-of-door swimming Published monthly, except August. Secretary of the Missionary pools, children'.s playrooms! Regular ser- All rights reserved. Copyrighted 1937. vice to Egypt, Sudan, Persian Gulf, India, British agents – Marshall, Morgan Board of the Church of Burma, Ceylon, Straits Settlements, China, and Scott, 12 Paternoster Buildings, God. Japan, Australia, East and South Africa, London, E. C. 1 shilling per copy, Mauritius. Special reductions and gener- 10 shillings • year. *** ous baggage allowance for missionaries.
MISSIONARY REVIEW PUB- I have been reading the February Convenient through bookings can be ar- LISHING CO., INC. REVIEW today. Have greatly enjoyed rangedbyyourtravelagentoranyoffice of it. It is filled with material that helps BOARD OF DIRECTORS the missionary hope and spirit. The CUNARD WHITE STU UNE ROBE'RT E. SPEBR, Pre••dent articles are helpful and discerning. A. L. WABN8HUl8, Vice-Prerident "The World-Wide Outlook" pages are General Agents W ALTBR McDOUGALL, Treasurer especially helpful. The Moslem Num- DELAVAN L. PIERSON, Secr8tarll ber has also been very useful to mis- 25 Broadway and 638 Fifth Avenue, N. Y. sionary groups. PAUL J. BRAl8TBD SAMUEL McCruu. CAVlIBT REV. STEPHEN J. COREY, D.D., Secretary of the United Christip,n D. J. FANT )lR8. ORRIN R. JUDD Missionary Socie·ty, Indianapo- WM. B. LIPPHABD lis, Ind. ERIC M. NORTH SAMUEL M. ZWEMII1I *** Editorial Chat I read THE REVIEW with great in- terest and profit and wish you all suc- "We have the honor to present"- cess in the conduct of this fine magaour City Mission Study Number of the zine. REVIEW. As usual, more papers came in than one issue–even a larger one H. D. DAVIES, –can accommodate. But it is a large Chicago Regional Secretary, Misand important subject, and worthy of careful study. Other articles on the sions Council of the Congrega- City and the Church will appear in tional and Christian Churches. the July and September numbers. They are some of the best-do not THE PRESBYTERIAn miss them. See the list of held-over articles mentioned on our back cover. -:- The only weekly in the Presbyterian Church. Previous spec*ial *mis*sion study num- .:- Its message is based upon bers have been in great demand, and the Revealed Word of God. some have been sold out before late orders could be filled. Order early. .:- Goes into every state in the Uni6n, U. S. possessions *** and many foreign countries.
The following are some unsolicited Subscription rate – $2.50 comments on the REVIEW recently re- Ministerial rate – – $2.00 ceived: SOc. exfra–Canadian postage *** $1.S0 extra– Foreign postage I follow the articles published in THE PRESBYTERIAn the REVIEW with great interest. Last week I wrote up a note for the Evan- 121 7 Market Street gelical and Reformed Messenger Philadelphia, Pa. recommending the REVIEW to our pastors and general readers. Nothing [257 ] would please me more than to learn that it had won new subscribers.
F. A. GOETSCH, Associate Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions,Evangeli- cal Synod of N. A.
*** The REVIEW is so valuable to us in our Mission Study that we are turning to you for help in planning our program for next year.
MRS. W. J. GOODWIN. Louisville, Kentucky.
Aerial Surveys
THE MODERN CITY – LOWER NEW YORK – AND ITS TOWERS (One building may accommodate 15,000 tenants and employees) Wide World Photo HUMANITY IN A MODE,RN CITY – TIMES SQUARE, NEW YORK, ON NEW YEAR'S EVE RPVIB ORLD VOLUME LXI AN INTERDENOMINATIONAL REVIEW OF WORLD-WIDE CHRISTIAN PROGRESS NUMBER 6 JUNE, 1938 Topics of the Times CHRIST AND THE MODERN CITY their parks, or with their night life; with their Two American cities (New York and Chicago) commercial activity and culture or with suffering each has a population larger than the whole of humanity; with their magnificent houses or with the United States in 1780. Fourteen of our cities their slums; with their educational institutions contain more people than the estimated popula- or their jails; with their rapid transit or their tion of the whole Roman Empire in Europe at rapid moral decline; with their churches or their saloons and brothels? We know how He dealt the time of Christ. New York City has a larger with Jerusalem, the Royal City. He came there population than Central America, or Arabia, or the whole of Australia (which has nearly the area to teach and to heal, to rebuke and to warn; He wept over the sin and hardness of heart of the of the United States). people; He suffered indignities at the hands of There are ninety-six cities in the United States the chief rulers in Church and State, but He de- with over 100,000 each and 500 cities each with lighted in the children; He loved even His eneover 15,000. These cities represent not only a mies and gave His life to save them from sin and great mass of humanity but here we find, in al- death. Would Jesus look differently on the cities most any large city, men of all races and lan- of today with their mixed multitudes? guages, in all degrees of poverty and wealth, of ignorance and culture; almost every type of reli- 1. If Jesus Christ came to America today, we gious faith and superstition is represented- know that He would first of all look on our city voodooism and theosophy, spiritism and demon- with clear discernment. He would delight in true worship, Islam and Hinduism, Shinto and Confu- beauty but would distinguish between the tawdry cianism, as well as every kind of Christian sect. material things that pass away, and the beauty of life and character that abide. He would see What elements of good and evil are contend- clearly the difference between the wealth that ing for the mastery in these centers of population men seek after and the riches that abide; between -banditry and honest business, commercialized the power that politicians and magnates crave vice and purity, selfish capitalism and philan- and the power that brings life out of death. He thropy, self-seeking labor and sacrificial service, would distinguish between the churches that can anti-God activity and Christian missions! boast only of wealth and social prestige, with What a field for Christian witness and activity beautiful equipment and elaborate ritual, and is presented in the modern city! How would Jesus those churches that may be worshiping only in a Christ look on our American cities if He should transformed saloon but where Christ is exalted, visit them in the flesh today? We know how God where the Gospel is preached and where men, looked on Sodom and its wickedness, and on Baby- women and children are being born anew through lon, the "mother of harlots," in spite of its pal- the power of the Spirit of God. He would disaces and hanging gardens; on Nineveh with its tinguish between empty eloquence and the quiet godlessness and ignorance; on Jerusalem, the testimony of some obscure saint. backsliding city over which Christ wept. How would He look today on New York, Chicago, De- 2. Jesus Christ, today, if He visited our city, troit, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, St. Louis, would look on the multitudes with compassion as He did in ancient Palestine. He would weep with New Orleans, Los Angeles? Would He be most those who weep and rejoice with those who have ~1JlJ?ress~d. w~th ~heir skfline and the beauty of true cause for jOf. H;e would s~I!athiz~ wit.l1.
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the sufferers and with those who are oppressed lowering standards in morals and in legislation, by money-getters or political bosses. He would the mad rush to increase armaments and growing distinguish between those who are sinned against, threats of international wars-all these and other and those who lead others astray; between the troubles tend to make men so fearful and full of "bandit" who has had little chance to know a bet- self-pity that many of us are tempted to forget ter way of life, and the honored "bandit" in high the more critical condition of others. As a result places who sins against light. He would denounce we neglect to help them in their hour of need. the hypocrites of all names and stations, and Many appeals have been made to bring help to would say to the misled and underprivileged, "Go, the suffering Chinese in this devastating, unjust sin no more." and cruel war that has been thrust upon them. The Red Cross and other philanthropic and mis- 3. Jesus Christ today would come to our city to sionary agencies are appealing for help for the give instruction and encouragement where they millions of Chi1tese sufferers-the vast hordes of are most needed. He would cheer the struggling wounded, the famine stricken because of war, pastor and the troubled parents. Where the truth those suffering from venereal disease (due largely of God is proclaimed and the love of God is mani- to the invading soldiers), and from cholera and fested' His presence would give light in darkness other epidemics. Doctors, nurses and funds are so that people would flock again to His standard. sorely needed to care for these wounded and dis- He would give hope to the faithful who are eased, to supply ambulances, medicines, bandages, tempted to discouragement, and would point out food and general hospitalization. The need is the way of victory through sacrifice. He would greater than ever and yet the response from make clear again the spiritual forces by which America has been smaller than in any previous He will overcome the world, and would call men crisis. Only about one-third of the $1,000,000 for to "leave all and follow" Him. which appeal was made, has been given. There is need for $5,000,000 from America. Chinese We have every reason to believe that if Jesus doctors and nurses and missionary forces are do- Christ came to our city today-unless He came ing their utmost, but they are hindered by lack In power to wipe out all evil and to establish His of supplies. Relief funds are now practically ex- Kingdom-He would look with compassion on the city and its inhabitants, and would preach and hausted.* The accompanying map shows how teach and work to make the Father known, and to bring new life and godliness to fruition as widespread is the area of conflict and how gener- He did nineteen hundred years ago. Would we ally the missionaries have remained at their posts receive Him differently than men received Him to minister to sufferers, in spite of personal disthen? tress and danger.
But if Jesus Christ is God and meant what He The Chinese Christians are also doing their utsaid then He is here today-not only in our city most. The following extracts from a letter from but in every city; not only in our cities, but in a Chinese Christian, Rev. Andrew Gih of the ,our towns and villages; He is in every home and Bethel Mission, Shanghai, shows how the work of church, every shop and factory, every school and Christ goes on, in spite of difficulties. Mr. Gih office, and in every individual where He is re- writes: ceived and is given the right of way. Today, as then, "to as many as receive Him" to them does When the war broke out in Shanghai, our people (of He give the right to become Children of God- Bethel Mission) had to flee to the International Concesfrom every class and tongue and nation. Would sions for safety. The hospital staff (in four hospitals) He offer any other remedy for sin and misery to- went right on with their work for wounded soldiers and day than He offered in the first century? Would our Christian nurses had the joy of serving and witness· He not tell His followers today in our cities to ing to the wounded; our evangelists were also busily enfollow Him and to make known the Way of Life gaged in preaching in many of the 200 refugee camps. to others by teaching men in private and in pub- The largest of these camps had fifteen thousand refugees, lic to know Him and to observe all the things He the smallest several hundred. Many broken hearts were has commanded us? Only when Christ is recog- bound up with the healing Gospel of Christ. We could nized and received by all the multitudes in our not carry on our schools as the section where our Bethel cities, will they truly become cities of God. What Compound is located -was badly bombarded, our Orphanage are we doing to help fulfil the purpose of God and was burned, and other buildings were damaged. All our the command of Christ to make known the Good belongings were looted and the Japanese still occupy our News and the power that He came to proclaim? beautiful Compound. The Hospital workers are still car- rying on in our branch Hospital in Shanghai but our OUR RESPONSE TO CHINA'S NEED Orphanage, Publishing Department, Bible Seminary and Evangelistic Bands have all been moved to Hongkong. • Rising taxes, increased cost of living, unemploy- ment, strikes in industry, depression in business, We thank God that He has preserved all our lives and we are able to carryon the work. Some evangelists are now preaching in the interior; one Band in Yunnan, another in Szechuan and others in Kwangsi, Kweichow • Contributions should be sent to mission boards having work In China. or the National Red Cross. Washington. D. C.
TOPICS OF THE TIMES
There is only one way to overcome evil, and that is with positive good. There is only one truly good and that is God. Love is the only remedy for hate; life is the only effective antidote to death. Jesus Christ is the only salvation for in- dividuals and for the world. Therefore mission- aries go into all the world to spread the truth, the love, the life of God. as these are made known in Jesus Christ.
• .N _' JEWRY IN DISTRESS! WHAT OF IT?
, ;HE~~I ' …, American Jews, 4,500,000 in number, are out . .. . .. .. . ,—",""–. to raise $9,600,000 in 1938. This vast sum is for . –. ,-) relief of os,tracized and persecuted Jews in Europe and to aid in their settlement in Palestine or else- .. . " where, as circum.stances permit. -"~' -.: .: ~…~ The tidal wave of anti-Semitism has spread to Ii.~- Germany, Austria, Poland, Roumania and begins even to inundate Great Britain and America. The 'QR zons (8'-4"") OF CHlM essential cause of this widespread anti-Semitism is the economic distress in the world today. In UIlLOCUIOIOPAJIIIIllW prosperous times anti-Semitism rarely occurs. Hitler's racial ideology is another factor, as is the PROf'IstAJlftllS8101SWIOlS unfortunate behavior of some individual Jews. Business shrewdness, and in some cases dishon- kebdot "'p""e1Ittaoit,. esty, are other factors, but who persecutes all wtth_o…….. p"rlUU>ellt Gentiles because of shrewdness or personal dis- honesty? =:::~~"tl::~:nt In Poland there are 3,500,000 Jews, of whom .~. . .NU) …U.t …rIt. 1,000,000 are starving, who are involved. Rou- mania has 1,000,000 Jews while Germany has WHERE JAPANESE AND MISSIONARIES ARE OPERATING- only 350,000 and Austria about 200,000. All these DIFFERENTLY are menaced and for them American Jews are seeking to raise $9,600,000 this year. Incidentally and Chehkiang Provinces. They have been facing danger!; since 1914 American Jews have provided $87,- from air raids, but all witness to the power of the Holy 000,000 for the relief of European Jews. Spirit in changing many lives. Owing to the abnormal conditions, the traveling is difficult, so that it took sixteen In Germany, in addition to the Jews, there are days to reach the place of the first campaign in Kweichow. about 1,000,000 non-Aryans, and in Austria 600,- Another Band is going to Hunan and the fourth to the 000 or more. Any man, woman or child with at northern part of Kwangtung Province. We do not know least one Jewish grandparent, or one who is marhow long we will be allowed to preach unmolested. We ried to a Jew is classed as a non-Aryan and theremust spread the Good News before it is too late. The fore receives the same treatment as a Jew. Japanese give no liberty to the Chinese preachers in occupied territories. Pray that God will grant peace in the Thus there are approximately 7,000,000 folk in Far East and pray for those who are lifting up Christ Europe who, because of Jewish ancestry near or among the Chinese. There are wonderful opportunities, remote, are unwanted by their fellow citizens. especially in the interior of China. People are receptive And partly because of anti-Jewish sentiment, but to the Gospel and they realize life is uncertain and prop- more largely because of unemployment crises, erty is not dependable. Thank God "we know whom we they are not wanted anywhere else. Even in Palhave believed and we are persuaded that He is able to estine the number actually able to enter there in keep that which we have committed unto Him against one year has been reduced from 61,000 in 1935 that day." to less than 10,000 in 1937. Moreover, the Jew- Arab conflict in Palestine, coupled with the British It is more and more evident that it is impos- Partition proposals, has served to arouse the Mossible to carry out any isolation policy-either lem world and to increase the anti-Semitic sentinational or individual. War in one country will ment there. involve other nations, however much we may strive to prevent it. Famine and economic The net result of all this is a growing fearfultroubles in one land affect others. Disease will ness, uncertainty and insecurity in the hearts and spread in spite of sanitary measures. Immoral- minds of Jewry throughout the world. ity, selfish ambition and false philosophy cannot be confined within any national boundaries. Irreligion and anti-Christian, or anti-Jewish, propaganda spreads from party to party, from class to class, and from country to country, when not checked by positive faith and by the dissemination of God's truth.
Why should Christians be concerned with the ous in providing hospitality to these victims of fate of Jewish and non-Aryan victims of anti- a present day cruel autocracy? We especially need Semitism; why should we take upon ourselves to be on guard lest this unchristian racial dis- the responsibility of caring for these non-Aryans? crimination gains a foothold here. Propaganda is First of all because we are Christians and many a vicious thing and is powerful in formulating of these non-Aryans are Christians by faith. J ew- public opinion. We should strenuously oppose the ry is aiding admirably and sacrificially the Jewish anti-Jewish propaganda in America; we should victims, and has even helped non-Aryan victims, pray for persecuted Jewry and for a change of though the latter are definitely Christendom's re- heart in their persecutors. Here is a great op- sponsibility. But up-to-date, Christendom has not portunity to show the spirit of Christ and to do, been as generous as Jewry. The result is grievous individually and collectively everything we can distress and suffering among the Jewish, non- to combat the causes and consequences of anti- Aryan and Christian refugees. What right have Semitism. Tli'e-se are inescapable responsibilities Christians in America to protest against anti- of all who claim to be Christian.
Semlitism in Europe while we do nothing effective- CONRAD HOFFMANN, JR. ly to aid the victims of such racial discrimination?
We need to be reminded of the good Samaritan as weU as of the Levite and the priest in our Lord's FOURTEEN POINTS FOR FOREIGN parable. There is an American Committee* to aid MISSIONS Christian refugees from Germany and this committee needs financial help to meet the growing 1. Every book in the New Testament was writdistress. A few instances of the flotsam and jet- ten by a foreign missionary. sam of human wreckage in the wake of the present tidal wave of anti-Semitism, are the fol- 2. Every letter in the New Testament that was lowing: written to an individual was written to a convert of a foreign missionary. 1. Mr. F- is a pharmacist, non-Aryan, but a Christian by faith having won the Iron Cross, the Front Trench 3. Every epistle in the New Testament that was Fighter's, and the wounded-in-service medals. As a non- writteB to a church was written to a for- Aryan he was no longer allowed to run his private phar- eign missionary church. macy in Germany, and was forcibly compelled to sublet. Now he is in America looking for work and hopes later 4. Every book in the New Testament that was to be joined by his wife and two sons as soon as he is written to a community of believers was able to support them. Before he could leave Germany he written to a general group of foreign mishad to pay 81% of his funds as a "flight tax." sionary churches.
5. The one book of prophecy in the New Testa- 2. Mrs. U- was a Christian Gentile woman, married ment was written to the seven foreign misto a Jew in Vienna; her husband is no longer allowed to sionary churches in Asia. work. She is a teacher of Germanics, but being married 6. The only authoritative history of the early to a Jew she, too, is not allowed to work. Christian Church is a foreign missionary journal. 3. Mr. T- was a government expert on Social Security 7. The disciples were called Christians first in and Socialized Medicine; a non-Aryan Christian, and a a foreign missionary community. member of the German Confessional Church group of which Dr. Niemoller is the leader. Now he is in America 8. The language of the books of the New Testaas a transient but hopes soon to be admitted on the quota ment is the missionary language. and then to find work. 9. The map of the early Christian world is the 4. Rev. F- was a non-Aryan Protestant clergyman in tracing of the journeys of the first mis- Germany. Not being allowed to preach there, on the advice of his pastoral colleagues, he went to Vienna to work for a Swedish Society and did remarkably well. sionaries.
Since Hitler's annexation of Austria, this pastor has been 10. Of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, every compelled to flee to Prague and then to Sweden. apostle except one became a missionary.
We might go on and cite case after case of 11. The only man among the twelve apostles who people who need help, financially and above all did not become a missionary became a spiritually. In New York City, the Jews have traitor.
established a reception service and a center for 12. The problems which arose in the early Church Jewish refugees, but nothing of the kind has yet were largely questions of missionary pro- been done by the Christians for the Christian cedure.
refugees. 13. Only a foreign missionary could write an Should not Christians of America, the: strong- everlasting gospel.
hold of liberty, equality and democracy be gener- 14. According to the apostles, missionary service is the highest expression of Christian life.
• Mr. Frank Ritchie. Secretary, American Commlttl'le fOr German WILLIAM ADAMS BROWN. Refugees. 287 Fourtli Ave.. New York City,
at the Center of City
By AUBREY S. MOORE, Chicago Superintendent of Chicago Home Missionary Society, Methodist Episcopal Church A YOUNG man, a college and theological ent languages. The first church has a fine build- school graduate just beginning his minis- jng with more than fifty rooms, including a large try in the city, came to discuss his work. gymnasium, a swimming pool, a cafeteria, an as- As he sat in my office, looking out across the roofs sembly hall that will accommodate more than one of the buildings, and yet seeing not the buildings thousand people and a beautiful chapel. This but the streets filled with boys and girls and men building is filled afternoons .and evenings. More and women, he said with something of compas- than one hundred and forty classes, club meetings sion in his voice as well as in his gaze, "The Peo- and group meetings, exclusive of devotional meetpIe! The People!" jngs, are held each week. The total registered at- tendance for March, this year, was 10,623. The I instinctively turned to a picture which hangs program includes classes in sewing, cooking, on my office wall-the picture of another young printing, dramatics, bookkeeping, stenography, man looking across a valley at another city more vocational guidance, knitting, playing the harthan two thousand years ago. As this other monica, first aid, etc. These boys and girls are Young Man looks at the city He weeps and says: kept off the streets, which of itself is worth while, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this and at the same time they are learning something thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" of value under leaders who know the importance I breathed a prayer that this other young man, of character development in the lives of young with his splendid preparation for service might people. be held steady, that his vision might be kept clear, his heart be kept pure, and that his enthusiasm In some Institutional and Community Churches, might be inseparably joined to the purpose of that one finds a program that is broad enough in scope other Young Man who will ever weep over the and sufficiently varied in character to appeal to city until it shall become like unto "the Holy Jeru- all age groups. Last summer one pastor gave a salem, descending out of Heaven from God." series of open-air Gospel addresses with a stereop- ticon. He reported an attendance of over 8,000 "Home Mission Work in a City" seeks to place per week. Early in March one church office re- Jesus Christ at the center of the City's life. Home ported twenty-two baseball teams already regismissionaries are not primarily interested in any tered for the coming season-one of the sure signs particular creed, but rather in making Christ of Spring. dominant in the lives of individuals and groupsthe determining factor in their conduct. The task The city is becoming disturbed over the alarmwill not be completed until politics, industry, so- jng increase in Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile cial life, and religious life shall acknowledge Him Crime. Two weeki; ago, in one issue of a daily as Lord and Master and seek to do His will. paper, there were the names of forty boys, with the average age under sixteen years, who were There are certain types of work in the city to arrested for crimes all the way from petty theft which those who are in any way responsible for to murder. It has been estimated that six thou- Mission Work today must of necessity give sand six hundred Protestant boys and girls will thought. appear before the Juvenile Court of Chicago in 1938, and that of this number more than two The Institutional Church is perhaps the most thousand will be there for the first time. In conwidely known agency of the Church in the con- ference with a Probation Officer a few days ago gested centers of the great city. One such typical I was told of the attempts being made to save church, with a seven-day and seven-evening pro- these boys and girls from the careers towards gram every week, is located in the midst of a which they seem to be moving so rapidly. By the group of many thousands of people among whom time many of these boys come before the Juvenile more than twenty different languages are spoken. Court it may be too late to do much for them. Another typical church is said to be the only Eng- The difficulty is farther back. lish-speaking church in a community of more than 250,000 people speaking more than thirty differ- [263]
The first evidence of a wrong tendency in the to perpetuate the use of any language other than boy or girl that comes to the attention of the au- the English language in churches that must ulti- thorities outside of the home is truancy. This is mately minister to English-speaking American said to begin at seven years and reach its "highest citizens.
incidence" at thirteen or fourteen. Truancy! Among the problems which we face is that of Delinquency! Crime! This is the order. The the slowly dying church in the downtown or nearone leads naturally to the other. In a careful downtown district. In one denomination in a study, covering a period of several years, it was typical city more than twenty churches have been found that more than half of the Juvenile Crim- either closed outright or merged with other inals had been truants. In an effort to get to the churches during the past twenty years. The root of the matter students are finding themselves merger plan is frequently resorted to as a faceface to face with home situations and community environment. A Protestant representative at the saving devic~t It has its appeal. However, in so Juvenile Court and at the Juvenile Detention far as the merged church is concerned the results Home, a highly trained, consecrated young are about the same. A 'group of members are transferred to the strengthened organization but woman, follows the cases assigned to her to the many scatter and find new homes, if at all, elsehomes and to the communities from which they where. The churches at the heart of the city die come in an attempt to cleanse the fountain at its first. And then slowly but surely the circle is source. Case after case could be presented that enlarged until in due season one can scarcely find would bear eloquent testimony to the effectiveness a "going" concern among the few remaining of this program of Mission Work in a great City. churches in or near the downtown section. And No longer do immigrants fill the already con- this is true in spite of the fact that the population gested centers of our cities. With the decrease in in the neighborhood of these churches may have immigration that problem is giving us less con- doubled or tripled or even quadrupled in the meancern, although in some of our largest cities more time. It can all be explained, but to explain it is than seventy percent of the people are either foreign born or the children of foreign-born parents. not to solve the problem. The "mixing bowl" is at work but its task has not been completed. The children of these foreign- Thirty years ago a certain large church in the born parents attend our public schools, they play near downtown section of a great city was packed in our streets, and breathe the atmosphere of our to the doors-gallery and all. The city authori- American cities until their very freedom creates ties were said to have stationed policemen at the an unhappy situation. In some localities our mis- doors to prevent dangerous overcrowding. This sion worker's chief task seems to be that of a church included among its members men and mediator who seeks to enable these alert children women from every walk in life-railroad executo adjust themselves to the demands of their for- tives, financiers and men prominent in the busieign-born parents and to assist the parents, with ness and professional life of the city. Today a an "old country" background, to understand their mere handful of good but discouraged people own children as they react to their new environ- carryon in a building that is rapidly deteriorat- ing; and yet there are more people per square ment. mile in that neighborhood today than ever before. The families of wealth have moved to the suburbs Lost Moorings and the local group can no longer support a resi- Many thousands in these groups, if they ever dent pastor. This church would be pronounced had a vital religious faith, have broken from their near dead. And this is but an extreme example religious moorings and are helplessly afloat, dere- of what one finds all too often in our large cities.
lict fashion, or are openly disregarding all moral What had really happened in this case? Slowly and religious claims upon their lives. Work but surely the people who had supported this in- among these people is fascinating. The young stitution died or moved from the downtown sec- people form a most inviting and responsive group, tion to the less crowded areas or to the suburbs.
while a right approach to the adults will assure a As the older group moved out another crowded in.
heartening measure of success. For many years But this new group was made up of renters and it seemed to be necessary to provide a foreign- roomers who were incapable of carrying the finan- born leader for these people. Today, however, cial burden if they had been willing to do so. So with few if any immigrants to deal with, and with with the steady decrease in support came a cor- an increasing number of young people, American responding retrenchment in the program until to- born and trained in our public schools, it is be- day there is none. Had it been possible for the coming less and less necessary to present a bi- members of this church in the heyday of its pros- lingual program. The day has come when many perity to have created an endowment, and thereby believe it to be not only unnecessary but unwise made possible an income sufficient to provide a
CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF CITY LIFE
continuously effective program, might there not The Social agencies are doing excellent: work. have been a different story to tell today? Or, sup- In our own city there are said to be twenty-two pose there had been funds available from the districts with a population of 50,000 to the square Mission Boards to supplement and stabilize the mile in which the environment is detrimental to decreasing income of this church, what would the best interests of the· growing boy and girl. have been the result? Community projects under the guidance of the de- partment of Research Sociology of the Institute We must face our responsibility for these down- for Juvenile Research have been located in three town areas. Just so long as there is a constituency of these districts and in each of the three truancy, for which we are clearly responsible in any com- delinquency and crime have steadily decreased. munity, just so long must we remain in the community adapting our program to the needs of the The Christian Church has ever pioneered in people whom we seek to serve. And in order to needy fields until an awakened Social conscience do this it becomes equally clear that funds in in- came to recognize the responsibility of the comcreasing amounts must be available from outside munityas a whole. But after the city, through its sources to supplement the decreasing incomes of various agencies, has done its best will there not these churches until, if possible, a local supporting remain for the Church the task of evangelizing constituency can once again be developed. successive generations? This, after all, we may find is its primary function. Indeed the chief In our thinking of Mission Work in a City, at- task of the Church seems to be to work itself out tention is often fixed upon the so-called blighted of a job. In the Seer's vision of the Holy City areas or areas of deterioration which are usually there was no temple. It was no longer needed. the truancy and crime centers.' Frequently too However, that day in the modern city seems to be little attention is focused upon the Boulevards. a great way off. "The Kingdoms of this world Slum minds are not all confined to so-called slum are" not yet "become the Kingdoms of our Lord, areas. The "certain rich man" of the parable and of his Christ." Until that takes place there was farther from the Kingdom of God than Laz- will continue to be a place for "Home Mission arus. We have also a mission to the Boulevard Work in a City." sections of our cities. Many Boulevard dwellers are heart-hungry for a little disinterested friend- PERCENTAGE RURAL AND liness and for a sane interpretation of the Word of God. A surprising number of them would be URBAN POPULATION willing to render a high order of sacrificial service for their Lord and Master if given an opportunity. 8Y 10 YEAR PERIODS We have no more right to neglect them than we have to neglect any other group. Jesus was per- 1c!&O – 1930 fectly willing to have "the Rich Young Ruler" use his money to aid the poor. Is it not reasonable to '''Dr. 5H 4167. suppose that the wealth of Boulevard friends would be acceptable to Him if given in the proper 1900 13LO 1.9Z0 1.9"0 spirit? The consecrated wealth of the Boulevards could be used to transform the slums. RURAL In the field of Social Service and Charity uBB"50? 514 56.2. changes are rapidly taking place. Community Chests and Community Funds are used to support l~OO J6.90 1900 1910 1920 H30 the more elaborate rather than the less highly organized forms of ministry. These funds are URBAN usually not available for religious work or for programs too closely connected with the religious activities of the church. The tendency appears to be to divorce social and charity work from the religious program and to place it under the direction of trained social workers who are responsible to their own organization. If social agencies and civic organizations are to assume responsibility for the physical and economic well-being and for the social adjustment of the underprivileged, what is to be the future of Christian Mission Work in the City? Will it mean that the churches must withdraw or confine their efforts to a technically spiritual ministry?
Modern City
By REV. HERBERT E. EBERHARDT, B.D., Indianapolis, Indiana President of the International Union of Gospel Missions DISTANCE lends enchantment, even in mis- product of tlte groups to be considered later. It sion fields. When we hear of poverty, of is to these youth that the city missionary must squalid homes and dirty children, of dis- appeal, by games, playgrounds, picnics, singing, ease and sin in India, many feel a peculiar thrill! class work, vacation schools and summer camps. Describe the same conditions in India-napolis and we shudder; we draw our skirts about us and A mission visitor in Rochester, N. Y., calling are tempted to "pass by on the other side" as we on underprivileged homes, invited a girl to the cry, "Unclean!" How oft we have heard it said, mission Sunday School. The child asked, "What "Well, they don't need to live that way," or "They kind of a show is it?" In that she typifies thouought to know better," or perhaps, "If they had sands of other children. But she came, and to saved as I have"! the surprise of all, won first place in the vacation Bible school. That may be true, but the conditions are here and we must face them. Every great city fur- Ira Smith, superintendent of the Children's nishes a real missionary field, one that most di- Gospel Mission of Newark, N. J., led a child to rectly affects all of us. We have often said of the Christ in an open-air park service. That child crowd of transients in our city missions, "If we later brought the entire family into the mission don't take care of these men, they'll take care of and in time the mother, of foreign descent, was us." At the mourner's bench of one of our rescue employed by a large church as its city missionary. missions a penitent surrendered a loaded revolver, confessing that he was on his way to commit a A New England Methodist pastor, graduate of robbery when arrested by the music! Most mis- Union Seminary, came to Christ in the Wheeler sions have in their "museums" guns, billy clubs, Mission at Indianapolis when a small boy, the blackjacks, whiskey bottles, dope and what not, first of an entire family.
There probably is no field so promising and so productive as this among the boys and girls whom as evidence of the direct bearing which city mis- the church often cannot reach except through the sion work has on the lives of all of us. city missions.
These home-mission groups are varied, and Some Problem Homes much larger than one might suppose. Let us consider briefly six such groups. They represent Closely related is the American problem home, more than one half of our population, when we the result of poverty or heredity, divorce, irreconsider that the total church membership of the ligion, sin and unbelief. No prayer, no Bible United States includes only about one half. Many reading, no worship – God's Name used only in an election has been "swung" by a minority group profanity! This is becoming an increasing probholding the balance of power. Skilled politicians lem. It is known that many of the boys on the know the importance of winning the colored vote road today are the direct result of broken homes. -many times enough in itself to secure a victory Social workers hear over and over again, "Dad in election. This same principle applies in the and Mother separated." Some one has aptly said field of missionary service. Special populations, that we ought to sing, "Where is my wandering large or small, may vitally influence the welfare mother tonight?" of the entire community. The city missionary has an entree into these The Non-Churched Children homes, sometimes through death, or arrests or a child in the vacation Bible school. A social We consider first the thousands of children and service contact, such as is made possible by the youth in our cities who are not under the influence Council of Federated Church Women of Indian- of the church and do not attend Sunday School. apolis which employs its own representative in a In them lies the future of our cities; they are the city mission, often proves an open sesame to an seed-bed of our future problems, and hence should otherwise impregnable heart or home. A table or be considered first. They are also the direct by- chair, or garments, or a friendly visit may inspire [266 ] confidence and awaken interest, when all else employed, always welcome and specially well fails. "I was hungry and ye fed me." These treated, the mission says, "The church does care, people are not dressed for church; they have no we are interested in you, Christ has a place in money to give; they are not concerned; often His program for you." This attitude is of practhey do not feel wanted. The writer was once tical value in that it proves its faith by its works -meals, beds, clothes, free service of many kinds.
There is no better preventive of radicalism and atheistic Communism in America than this quiet, Christ-like influence of our Gospel missions and other Christian social service. It is unob- trusive, not heralded with banners, but no one can estimate the amount of preventive work ac- complished. A lighthouse is not only to be cred- ited for rescues made, but for the many more wrecks prevented. Every city mission is a veritable and effective lighthouse.
It is a known fact, demonstrated repeatedly, that there are far fewer arrests or calls for police aid (if any at all) in mission shelters than in gov- ernment or purely charitable shelters. The unem- ployed respect and respond to the kindly attitude of a Christian. .The "cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple" has more than one reward!
The Drink Evil in Our Cities Social workers know that repeal of the Eight- eenth Amendment has brought marked increases WHICH WAY ARE THEY HEADED? PhDtography by H. E. Gray. Waifs-not in India but in Indianapolis. THE OLD DOOR AND THE NEW pastor of a city church where considerable ob- The mission stands on the spot where stood the old saloon. jection was felt because these folks were coming into the church as the result of a schoolhouse mission service.
If the home is the foundation of our nation, then surely here is worth-while missionary service. We remember that Jesus accepted an invitation to the Pharisee's house, and that the Scribes said, "This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." He knew the importance of such work.
Among the Unemployed This group, numbering several millions, possibly 12,000,000 today, has been too much neglected, and is potentially the most dangerous, forming a natural hotbed for radicalism. Any failure on the part of our missionary program here may prove disastrous. When the priest and the Levite "go by on the other side" and an anti- Christian Samaritan proves the true neighbor, the results are not so good.
For many years the only agencies caring for these unfortunate classes were those with a religious motive or impulse, particularly our Christian rescue missions, which Bishop Freeman once termed, "The Church in Overalls." To the un-
in the inevitable results of liquor; prohibition Has the church cared? Has she prepared worktimes at their worst were remarkably better than ers for this special field? Has she offered youth under license; the evils of the old saloon are back a vocation here? The Church Federation of Cinwith multiplied dangers, supported by radio, auto- cinnati maintains a prison chaplain, a unique mobile, the modern press, lowered moral stand- work. The Indianapolis Federation supports a ards, and the changed status of women. full-time Christian social worker for court service.
The tavern, the dance hall, the "new deal" Above all, the Gospel provides the needed and gambling mania, the false concept of morals, all only remedy. But preparatory to that, kindly tend to produce a tremendous challenge to the guidance, appreciated letters, sympathetic parole, wisest and most intense missionary program- changed environment, medical and psychiatric missionary, because the power of Christ, and not treatment, fellowship groups, all have a curative reform or legislation, is the ultimate solution. as well as :q!,eventive value. A survey might re- veal two thuigs: that most missions are engaged Beginning 65 years ago with the establishment in some form of prison service, and that most by Jerry McAuley, himself a twice-born man, of prison services, in and out of prison, are conthe now famous McAuley Water Street Mission in ducted by gospel missions. New York City, much of the work of rescue missions has been made necessary by liquor and its Transients in Our Cities naturally attendant evils. When a man has been A great army, thousands of them, men, boys, of "beaten and robbed" where else can he go? When all ages – not tramps – are wandering over this no one else cares, when he has no funds, where country. Many are seasonal laborers traveling to can he go but to a Gospel mission? If he does not go there, what is his future? A MISSIONARY LEADING A SERVICE IN A CITY JAIL But, thank God, when he goes, often a miracle find the next temporary job. Many are the prodtakes place and a new man is born. "If any man uct of the divorce evil-increasingly so! Most of be in Christ, he is a new creature," and indeed them are unemployed. Mission records show he is. Recently we met a man who has been an among them college graduates, business men, proactive member of a Methodist church for forty- fessional men, and all classes and types. The dethree years. He staggered into a small rescue pression has greatly increased their number. mission hall some years ago. Now, seventeen years later, he is a Sunday School superintendent. There have been three stages in their treatment. There are thousands like him-once drunkards, First, the care offered solely by missions, the Salor worse, who are now ministers, evangelists, song vation Army, the Volunteers, and other Christian directors, honored laymen, mission superintend- agencies, for many years. They have been fed, ents, missionaries. "Oh, say but I'm glad," and housed, clothed, but above all, evangelized, with many other Gospel hymns have come from the marty happy results. fervent pen of such a twice-born man! Here surely is a field for missionary specialists-and Second, the strictly social or community shelter how productive! "I was sick and ye visited me," of recent yeirs, often with no religion, but with said Jesus, our Lord. boxing, movies, games, and other diversions. This has proved expensive and nonproductive. The Prison Population Third, and more recent, the Transient Pro- J. Edgar Hoover's recent figures as to the num- gram of the United States Government, the first ber of men and women incarcerated in the United national effort to solve this problem. It only in- States are staggering. Even worse are the records creased the problem, however, and was abanof potential criminals, paroled men,· and affiliates doned. Thousands of men, particularly young now on our streets. But we are thinking here of men and boys, welcomed the opportunity of beanother larger group whom we mission folks know all too well-the families of these men and women form a much, much larger group. They comprise a larges~'tion of our population but they obviously tryt6 conceal their identity. They are out of touch with and probably beyond the reach of the church.
To neglect them is to fail Christ and to endanger ourselves. "I was in; prison and ye came unto me" still carries promise. of reward. At such a time hardened hearts are often tender; homes are lonely and open to a kindly word. Here is a rich and ready field for Christian service.
MEETING MODERN CITY PROBLEMS
coming the guests of Uncle Sam. The complete people from every state in the Union may be lack of any religious program also proved de- touched in a short period in one locality. "A moralizing. stranger and ye took me in" becomes a reality here. They literally come from "the highways Now we are in a fourth stage wherein the tran- and the hedges," often to receive more than the sient problem is again being handled, in most proverbial "pie-in-the-sky," the knight-of-the-road cases, by the Christian agencies with the coopera- slang for religion. THE UNION CITY MISSION BUILDING, MINNEAPOLIS We have enumerated briefly six of the most tion of Central Registration Bureaus to avoid needy and most promising of special populaduplication of effort. There seems to be no ulti- tions in our key cities. There are others, of mate solution of the transient problem, but there course, but seventeen years of direct contact, are certain desirable steps that may be effective- handling more than 100 men each day, toa careful case-work program, the outlawing of gether with hundreds of problem families, hitchhiking, a thorough work program, and the have indicated that these fields are probably correction of social conditions which create tran- the most neglected and yet perhaps the most siency. But most promising of all is a strong productive. The city missions that specialize evangelistic approach, with the belief that chang- with these groups have been rightfully termed ing the man himself is the surest way of changing "The Churches at Work Downtown." Their conditions. This has been proven in sixty-five interdenominational character, practical apyears of mission services, where it is believed that proach,city-wide appeal, and combination of "placing a new man in the suit is better than relief plus, offers the Christian church an placing a new suit on the man." Here is a great immediate and most vital open door for anmissionary field for the church, with most unex- swering the age-long question of the Old Tespected possibilities. Take at random, for example, tament, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and of a few cases in one Middle-West mission. Among the New, "Who is my neighbor?" the thousands of men apply.ing for aid we find a Perhaps this rapid survey will at least be sugminister's son who had "hot-footed" from a col- gestive and will stimulate a new interest in anlege where his father was formerly treasurer; a other phase of "home missions." Study groups college professor who had formerly taught one of the directors of the mission; the brother of a very JM ' THE JERRY MCAULEY ' ,MISSION, NEW YORK CITY prominent social worker; the black sheep of a f~mi1y whose name appears on a county court- maybe led to seek further knowledge of the facts house cornerstone; the son of.a member of a state and some day there may be a mission study course legislature; .the son of a form'er American consul on this specialized field. The possibilities of direct at Bremen; an escaped convict who voluntarily Gospel preaching and witnessing may be carried returned to a state's prison; a former pastor, an back to the church with a fresh emphasis. Epworth League president. The field for service is unlimited and the opportunities are amazing;
Youth Problem of the
By REV. ROBERT V. RUSSELL, New York Director of Religious Education, Baptist City Societies THE youth who lives in a modern city is never because they are overwhelmed they tend to turn entirely free from congestion. He is subject to the more sltperficial, the more obvious things,. to a kind of machine-gun rat-a-tat-tat of ap- Into the midst of all this is set the Christian" peals-to pleasure, to material gain, to various Gospel, mediated to youth of the city in various groups or enterprises in the body politic. In his ways. Set down in the midst of his community world he is always at the edge of – or possibly is a church. It may be a big city church with under-a kind of smoke-pall of futility, emanating more edifice than program or itll~y be a center from the slow-burning fires of disillusionment or of activity under Christian auspic~s 'with a seventhe ashes of cynicism. day-a-week program crying. <;>u.f for adequate He needs room, psychological room, for his self equipment. Or it may lie somewhere between to expand, his soul to grow. He needs criteria for these two. But the church represents the voice his choosing, a norm for living amid changing of the Christian Evangel, however weak or stam- codes and conflicting standards. He needs a cause mering it may be in the midst of the city clamor.
(oh, how he needs a cause!) that is not restricted Those who know the life of the city are likely to to one arc of life, but which gathers up all of life say, "If that were only true, but are there not when he gives himself to it, that integrates all great stretches in the city, where the message of the phases of living for him in one resolve, that Christ is needed most, that are practically un- answers youth's question, "What am I to live churched?" This is so-and even more than this for?" -for according to delinquency maps the areas of Moreover, today's youth lives in a not-normal highest incidence of juvenile delinquency are world. Not that it is abnormal or crazy; nor is often shown to be those areas from which the it necessary to hope for "back-to-normal," but churches have most consistently moved away.
to the young pe'rson from fifteen to twenty-four But this is not all of the answer, for church socie- years of age, things do not seem to be what he is ties and city mission societies have made it pos- told they once were. Half of the people seem to sible to maintain churches in places where the be wishing for the return of something that once community itself could not possibly support a was, and the other half seem to be looking for- minister and staff to carryon the type of pro- ward, with varying degrees of eagerness, to some- gram that is needed.
thing that is to be. Youth wonders. One phase of the youth problem is this matter Asked about his outlook upon life recently one of communities of special need. One cannot look of these young people said, to the writer: "Well, upon the city without recognizing that in most the future is not clear because things seem to be cases the distance between streets that are proudly all changed around. We hear about the days of shown to visitors and areas that are shamefully prosperity-high wages, plenty of jobs-but we below the standard in living conditions is only a do not know about that by experience. Most of matter of a few blocks. Neither can one look the friends that I had in high school are looking upon the youth of the city as all set in a one-tone for some kind of a job, or are working at any pattern. They constitute a variegated design- kind of a job for very low wages. We wonder a kind of kaleidoscope of interrelated back- what the prospects are ahead." grounds, national, racial and cultural. In New "Youth of the city," according to another speak- York City, for example (where probably this is ing as a member of a discussion panel, "is looking more pronounced), a study of the 1930 census for a good time (considering it as a birthright); figures shows that of the youth living in the five looking for a job; and looking for something to boroughs who are between the ages of fifteen and believe in." twenty-four, 73.2% are either themselves foreign A denominational adult leader of youth re- born or one or both of their parents come from marked recently that the youth of today are over- oth_er lands. In the Bronx the percentage is 82.6 whelmed by the complexities and the difficulties and in Brooklyn 78.8, while in Manhattan, alwhen they try to look objectively at their world; though the percentage is somewhat lower (63.3ro) [270 ] another element is introduced in the 12.2% of tional. One of those whom the writer has ques- Negro youth in this borough. What varieties of tioned regarding this problem replied that he felt social heritage, national customs and behaviour that youth's most acute need was for a meaningpatterns are represented by figures like these! ful fellowship in which his own individual life There is also the youth who come from "the may count for something. It was the opinon of this man, a youth leader, that youth are not able farm," which gave up 40 % of its youth (in the to feel always the sense of this larger fellowship in their own church. It may be because the youth group from ten to twenty years) to the city in group in the church is quite small or it may be the decade between 1920 and 1930. In New York because the adult members of the church do not City again the religious pattern is varied. The appear to give sufficient place to youth in the life Welfare Council reports in its publication, Better of the church and the management of its affairs. Times, of April 5, 1937, a study in which it was Every field worker in the area of youth activities found (by visiting each hundredth residential ad- is familiar with the complaint of the young people, dress in the city and questioning the youth from after they have had an experience in a city-wide sixteen to twenty-four years of age), that 49% re- fellowship or camp or summer conference, that when they return to their own local church they ported themselves as Roman Catholics, 31 % as do not seem to be able to make the church people understand their desire or to comprehend their Jewish and 1870 as Protestant. No doubt these situation. It is here that the city-wide or regional figures would be different for other cities but it is groupings of young people function from time to obvious that for any city of significant size there time, in youth councils, week-end conferences, or may need to be a considerable revision of former larger gatherings. The smaller groups of youth assumptions as to religious majorities. realize that they are part of a larger fellowship; they meet youth of other churches or of other de- Here again, the Church Society or the City Mis- nominations; they are inspired by a leadership sion Society has been the carrier of the Christian that it may not be possible for the local church to message. Many immigrant groups have colonized provide, and they meet and plan with leaders who are in constant touch with youth, know their probin areas consistent with the economic limitations lems, and "speak their language." There is a placed upon them, and it is almost impossible to growing fellowship-growing somewhat slowly it picture the conditions of physical congestion and must be said-around the United Youth Program spiritual depression under which the children projected by the Christian Youth Council of North grow into their youth. Here is set down the bi- America. This is related to the International lingual church under the ministry of a foreign- Council of Religious Education representing a speaking pastor, oft-times with a staff of one or large number of denominational groups and remore workers trained in religious education and lating itself to the major Christian youth orsocial service. A dramatic illustration of the re- ganizations. sults of this kind of work was given at a recent dinner meeting of the Baptist Social Union and Youth and the Local Church New York City Baptist Mission Society when some forty young people, both men and women, Of course the most effective and most direct representing a dozen different national groups work with youth will be done in the local church, from these by-lingual churches, sat upon the platform. Five young people gave responses to the especially in the suburbs or semi-suburban areas. theme of the evening; one of them (Czechoslovak) For while the suburban youth is not city-bred in was engaged in banking; one (Italian) was a the truest sense, neither is he rural- far, far teacher in a city high school and the others were from it! He has been infected with the cynicism, either studying or held positions in business es- disillusionment and unrealities of urban philosotablishments. All had found opportunity for phies without knowing personally so much about growth – psychological room – in a Christian the conditions of city life whch have given rise to church supported by a city-wide organization. these attitudes. This type of youth must be caught The writer knows of one instance in which a by an attractively presented, intelligently con- "gang" of what some might call "hoodlum" youth, ceived and largely youth-directed set of activities was invited by the pastor of the neighborhood which leads him to recognize the church as the church to transfer its activities from the street best place for him to spend a good share of his (where it was causing some annoyance) to the leisure time. A typical program of this type is inside of the church building. Subsequently this being followed in one of the churches in New group became one of the "clubs" of the church York City. A Sunday evening program consists and some of its members found places of service of a supper, a chapel service, and interest groups. in the program of the church itself.
Another phase of the youth problem is being attacked from another angle – that of youth fellowships, both denominational and interdenomina-
The terminology is that of the sea with "courses" There is also an imperious demand for a listed which may be "charted" under the direction changed philosophy of human relationships-ecoof a "crew" of leaders and with "cruises" begin- nomic and social. The survival of the fittest thening on certain dates, continuing for a number of ory when applied to human relations is untenable. weeks, and then terminating, to be followed within A disturbing phase of the life of the city youth is a week or two by another "cruise" with a different the seeming tendency to forget one's idealism set of interest groups. One virtue of this program when one begins to prosper materially or is reis that the interests are selected by a group of the ceiving some special recognition. Jesus met it in young people of the church and are built around the Rich Young Ruler. Here was a personable, their own suggestions. There are such topics as : "successful" young man, confronted with the "Choosing One's Life Work"; "Social Problems charge of disregard of his social obligations. At of Our City"; "Love, Courtship and Marriage"; the close of the interview the young man "went "How Can I Find God?"; "Boy and Girl Relation- away sorrowf-ul." One wonders whether he was ships"; "Science and Religion"; "The Art of not saying also in his heart, "The man must think Praying." Each interest is carried for a few I'm a fool!" weeks and the young people are invited to remain each Sunday evening as long as there is a hot-spot This insidious thing that we might perhaps call of interest to hold them. This church is a magnet a personal-prosperity-inspired unconcern is apt of centripetal force every Sunday evening for to become a part of the maturing process of the from one hundred to one hundred and forty young most promising individuals among city youth and people. youth will respond to a program in which it must be recognized not only as a characteristic they have a part with informed, dynamic leaders. of the urban psychology but also as a moral chal- lenge which, if it is not met adequately, becomes One of the most acute needs of youth is for en- a spiritual defeat. One of the most decisive op~ terprises in which they may have the opportunity portunities of the Christian church is the inspirfor the practice .of democracy-in which they may ing of the youth of the city by helping them to feel themselves factors. Unfortunately in many share the comradeship of adults who are themchurches this is what they do not find. selves successful-"men among men"-but who are also Christ-inspired persons, engaged in a mu- If it is true that youth is "looking for something tual quest for the highest realization of the "statto believe in," then the church stands on the thres- ure of the fullness of Christ"-not for themselves hold of an oportunity – the opportunity to con- alone, but also for the other-the "forgotten"- vince youth that here is a democracy in microcosm man. in which he can have a part, a cause to which he may dedicate himself, a Master who will not let What is this if it is not the missionary motive, him down. the witnessing urge, the continuing determination of those who have "been with Jesus" to share that Two or three things need to be emphasized in which we know. The youth problem in the city Christian work with city youth. There must be is a challenge to the Christian forces for the dea larger place for youth in the program of the velopment of a spiritually adequate leadership. church. It is a truism to say that the church can- "The blind cannot lead the blind," for to those not live unless it can succeed in holding its youth, who "study to show themselves approved," God yet it seems to be recognized generally that one opens many doors. of the church's outstanding problems is its youth problem. On the other hand churches that are Youth time is decision time. Through the home, most successful in work with youth are those who give to youth a voice in the councils of the church the Sunday School and the communicant's class, and present an interpretation of the objectives of the church in terms that youth can understand this important work of teaching and winning and claim for himself. must go on perennially. In one large city of New There is need also for a comprehending and sympathetic adult leader·ship for youth. It is a York State, which is an important educational question whether youth comes more in contact with the minister, trained and consecrated to his center, an interview program is being carried on work, or with an adult lay leadership which has not been trained and whose consecration may this winter in behalf of youth. Over nineteen leave considerable to be desired. In spite of what has been said for the larger recognition and par- hundred written applications were sent in by ticipation of youth in its own program the youth problem will never be solved by youth themselves. youth within thirty days after the plan was in- The most serious aspect of the youth problem is an adult problem. augurated, requesting interviews with some Christian person – pastor or teacher – to help them with personal problems. These interviews are being conducted on Saturdays and Sundays by a group of devoted individuals who know the prob- lems of youth. When we work with childhood and youth we are not "saving the lost but saving from loss." JESSE M. BADER.
CLERGYMEN LOOKING INTO INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS AT CARNEGIE-ILLINOIS STEEL CO
What Church Federations Can Do By WALTER R. MEE, Chicago, Illinois Executive Secretary of the Chicago Church Federation THE story of one great American city is, in of labor relations, strikes and struggles for power its general phases, the story of every large between labor and capital. metropolitan center in the country. Rapid growth, expanding industry, improved transpor- These are some of the city's characteristics tation have all combined to produce, in the last which confront the modern church. These are a five decades, characteristics in every American few of the practical problems upon which the city which challenge the Church and confront its church must strive to bring its Christian influministry. ence, while, at the same time, discharging its su- preme responsibility for the Christian life and There is in every large city the tendency of spiritual growth of city men and women. populations to shift .rapidly as more prosperous families move out to finer residential areas or sub- To Christian leaders faced with such changing, urban districts. Into the abandoned central wards ever-troubled and needy communities, there has of the city there come, on the other hand, great become increasingly evident the conviction that numbers of foreign-born, with large families of individual churches or even individual denominalower economic status, seeking the city's cheapest tions cannot make any great and lasting impreshousing. In complex,conglomerate patterns they sion on such city problems. Here is a need that settle close to the business district; later they too can be adequately met only by programs of cooppush outward into adjacent areas as soon as their eration uniting the resources, the ideals and the economic fortunes permit. Thus population tides energies of every church, every denomination, of a city constantly ebb and flow. The result is within the city's limits. Where the Christian community disintegration, deteriorating housing, church is most staunch and where its program is delinquency and racial conflicts, as central areas most effective today, we find a strong Federation of the city lose their more substantial members of the city's churches, maintaining a widespread and receive newcomer groups. program under a single leadership, unitedly doing the work of Christ in the city. . There are the political aspects of a great city, with the apparently inevitable tendency in every In Chicago one finds these characteristics of the urban center toward political corruption, ineffi- large city in some of their most pronounced ciency and vice in greater or less degree. stages. Here is a Federation of Protestant churches that effectively illustrates wh,fltchurch There is the vast industrial life which all cities Federations can do to save the city. The Chicago have in common, with its ever-present problems Church Federation was org.anized in 1907 and [273 ]
4~; I[I[!rt·~; (I) ;t3;11 ~ I] ~:l?1 i e,l ~ II 77 WEST WASHINGTON STREET 18 DENOMINATIONS 1049 CHURCHES Denominations which are Members of the Chica80 Church Federation BAPTIST CHURCHES North LUTHERAN REFORMED CHURCH IN AMI CHURCH Of THE BRETHREN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES AFRICAN METHODIST [PISCOPAL REfORMED EPISCOPAL DISCIPLES Of CHRIST AmlCAN MEntODI5T [PIS. ZION REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH METHODIST PROTESTANT 'UNITED BRETHREN I EVANGElICAlSt REFORMED PRESBYT£RlAN CHURCH INU5.A UNITED PRESBYTERIAN fRIENDS The purpose offhis organization is founile IJewrious branches of the Christian churches in Chicd80 and vicinitv in d continuous co-operative endeavor to bring the Gospel to all the people and to promote the application of the law of Christ in every relation of life ,——-~ – -, I OF"F"lCE:RS I I BOARD of TRUSTEES I I OF"F"ICE fTAF"F" I I EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1 • DEPARTMENTS I CHRISTIAN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WOMANS DEPARTMENT "I"SocIALRELATIONS COMMITTEES Co-ordinating DIVISIONS COMMITTEES Ludership Traininll Vacation Schools -!1jviHes inthe Field Missionary Rtli~ious 'I15tructiOll W"kdaySchools Education Drama, Recreation Social Service and Interracia I – – – – DIVISIONS Welfare Children Social Action. BeHerFilms YounS People …. r -. — – — Adult meetmg. delegates from churche .Metropolitan Chicagos onlq Month/I} of '.Innttehredefnieoldm.mofa.CtlOhrnisatliaonr8Eadmu.czaa.ttiloonn. Workers – Boys Parental School Park Ridge School for Girls Criminal 'Court – fide/is Inn COMMISSIONS I • -. I I WORLD F"RIENDSHIP I I I 1 I R~~~~,T,NS I I~TEELRATRIAOCNJ~L I I PUBLICITY I I I I I I 1 I L I • CI.HNUDRUCSHTRAYND COMITY EVANGELISM MINISTRY IN THEd STANDING.COMMITTEE: I PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS Armistice Day J M• •t l n i i '
STANDING CQt:1t:1ITTEE~: Outdoor Evangelism Emploljed Workers:- county Jail FiElds Foreign Origin Groups and Lenten Noon-day Meetings Bridewell Communih" service Geneva School for Girls Unified Evangelistic- Juvenile Court Strategy Program Juvenile Detention Home -Survey Oak Forest Infirmary -Chaplains City Council MeetingsI–… Hines Memorial Hospital ….. Undenominational Churches …..BOY~Rdo~rhter Institutions -=– COMMITTEES l I CHURCH I FINANCE 1 1 I PROTEST AND APPROVAL DIRECTORY .
I ENDORSEMENTS I . I UNION MINISTERS MEETING 1 C.H.KETCHt.
HOW AN INTERDENOMINATIONAL CHURCH FEDERATION IS ORGANIZED
WHAT CHURCH FEDERATIONS CAN DO
today is directing a program involving the inter- More directly related to the task of "saving the ests and assistance of 1,049 churches of eighteen city" from its own evils and destructive tendencies denominations, representing a membership roll are other aspects of the Federation's program. of 750,000. It is a program carried on by over The annual report of 1937 records enlargement 500 religious workers serving gratuitously on and development of a new department of Social eighteen commissions and committees. The board Service with a paid staff to correlate the work of of trustees consists of 110 influential religious and Federation committees and commissions in this social leaders of the city. field and to relate more closely the churches of Chicago with the social service and medical agen- The work of this Federation shows how closely cies of the city. Under the leadership of this dethe organization is matching the stride of the partment the Federation has maintained for some church to the growth of Chicago. To undergird years a supervision service in the Boys' Court of its work with factual knowledge, and to direct Chicago. By means of this service hundreds of more intelligently its comity program which boys brought into the court are placed under the strives to eliminate competition and duplication care of the Federation's case workers instead of receiving jail sentences. A FI L IPINO COMMUNITY CHURCH GROU P , CHICAGO One of the activities sponsor ed by the Ch icago Church Federa tion. The second major concern of the Federation is the friendly, constructive, religiously-motivated among churches while seeing to it that no area service rendered by chaplains and other paid goes unchurched, the Chicago Church Federation workers in the public institutions of Chicago. has for some years maintained a United Religious This has been a significant ministry to the inmates Survey. The survey attempts to bring together of hospitals, jails, prisons, courts, the county data of a statistical, sociological, economic and farm and other institutions for the destitute, the religious nature about each sector of the city. Against this background the Comity Commission sick and the erring. has analyzed the history, the program and the fu- What of the many human problems and civic ture service of the Protestant churches in each area in order that such information may enable dangers which arise from the racial composition denominational leaders to eliminate more intelli- of large cities, from its labor crises, from its gently competition between churches while better political complexities and its immoral influences? adapting programs of stronger institutions to the Here, too, the church must have a militant, united particular needs of their communities as indicated voice. In Chicago active departments, commisby the surveys. sions and committees of the Chicago Church Fed- eration bring to a focus the concern of ministers For the first time in history a group of metro- and members of all denominations, providing politan churches is basing its effort to "save" a media for investigation and dissemination of incity not alone on spiritual fervor and theological formation to every church, and offering a recogtechnique, but on a careful study of the facts con- nized organ through which protest or approval of cerning the life about them, replacing a policy of the city's churchmen may be expressed in effeccompetitive drift with one of cooperative inten- tive manner to city officials and law enforcement tion. The Chicago Church Federation is combining, it has been said by a prominent denomina- agencies. tionalleader, "the method of the scientist and the An annual city-wide observance of Race RelaviaiQn of the prophet." tions Sunday, including an interchange of pulpits between scores of white and colored ministers, and numerous meetings throughout the year, in- crease the understanding and brotherhood that must ultimately prevail between all men, regard- less of color or nationality.
A special commission of the Federation closely studies industrial problems and the role the church should take in industrial conflicts. In many instances the standards and practices of Christianity have influenced the trend of the city's industrial life and affairs, outside of the tradi- tional vista of the community church. Frequently the City Federation of a large urban center, in behalf of hundreds of city churches, can speak challengingly and vigorously for arbitration, for the privileges of labor or the rights of capital, for the improvement of working conditions and the passage of satisfactQry laws.
Through letters, conferences, interviews with thousands of human souls living in its congested city and state officials and by means of the city's neighborhoods. In the end it will be the building newspapers, the Federation may lead strenuous of more religious cities which will ultimately prove fights upon undesirable elements of city life. Last to be the most valuable contribution of Church year the Federation led in the movement to repeal Federations. an ordinance licensing gambling establishments, to close offensive theatrical productions, to stim- Surely, in the fields of evangelism, of Christian ulate more aggressive citizenship, and to protect education, and of spiritual life, the value of coopthe honesty of public elections and the security of eration between evangelical denominations by the ballot box. means of central leadership becomes clear; for the city presents a tangled, sharp animosity to the Because the school system of Chicago-with its practice and teachings of Christ. apparent political influences, the tendencies of its curriculum, and some of the standards of its op- When individual churches unite, when denomeration – recently became a civic issue, it was inational lead'ership cooperates in city-wide relicharacteristic of Protestant leadership in this city gious mass meetings, in interdenominational days that the united denominations s,hould turn atten- of prayer, in downtown Lenten worship services, tion to this phase of urban life. A committee on in far-reaching Preaching Missions and Schools Public Education was organized to provide a of Christian Living, in radio broadcasts and clearing house for churches which take public edu- young people's conferences, as is true in Chicago, cation seriously, and to point out channels through then our Christianity assumes a dramatic appeal, which both churches and individuals may render a magnitude and a forcefulness which enable it to useful s'ervice. arouse the indifferent city.
In addition to these activities, which some may In these two phases of city life-its practical, consider as' "extra-curricular" tasks of the church everyday problems and its great s,piritual needin its work in the great city, there remain the City Federations of churches continue to provide fundamental religious needs of thousands and effective leadership and dramatic techniques to save American cities of this generation.
"God. & Company, Unlimited"
By MILTON W. PULLEN, New York City Pastor of the Central Park Baptist Church, New York CAN you imagine a business house that would ten lepers who asked for cleansing "Only those of bar the door to its neighbors, or a com- you who have been baptized are eligible for heal- mercial firm that would insist that all of its ing." The only credentials the dying thief on the customers become members of the company? The cross presented were in the form of a prayer and Church, which is the biggest business in the on the strength of it Jesus promised him "Paraworld, is doing exactly that. The Founder of the dise." Church proclaimed "My House shall be called the House of Prayer for all people." Too often this In any great city a local church in a community has been changed to read: "Accept our creed and of homes may consider itself the center of a posyou will be welcome in our church." sible "100,000 customers." So long as human hearts are incurably religious and so long as men "God & Company, UnIt'd." needs to be written and women and children sin and suffer and seek in large letters over the doorway to every church -just so long the Church has a responsibility to building. After 1,900 years the vision of the every person within reach of its doors. Founder of the Company has been lost. Hospitals do not require patients to "belong" Jesus did not require a certificate of church before they may be admitted to the Operating membership from the 5,000 before they could Room. The simple fact that a man is sick opens share in partaking of the loaves and fishes. The every door and puts at his disposal the skill of the Sermon on the Mount was preached to the dis- surgeons and the facilities of the institution, often ciples, but we hear no protest from the Great without money and without price. A hospital con- Preacher when the multitude listened in. It siders itself, and is considered by the community, would be difficult to imagine Jesus saying to the a health Mecca for folk of all races, creeds and
"GOD & COMPANY, UNLIMITED"
cultures. On the other hand, a church in the neighbors, many of whom are neither Protestant same block is usually considered the personal nor Christian. The attitude of the neighborhood property of the Methodists, or the Baptists, or the originally was one of apathy and of suspicion. Catholics or of some other proprietory group. It Our problem at first was to build good will; to does not take the 100,000 possible customers long that end we set about getting acquainted with the to learn that their need is not necessarily a guar- folk round about us. We visited every store withantee of help. The Church seeks to make new in a radius of several blocks, but we did not ask members who will become regular "sitters" at the business people for anything except their worship services and regular contributors to the friendship. We offered to give them the names budget; consequently, the average Pastor gen- and addresses of our Church Members and sugerally must busy himself with the routine matters gested that they circularize these church neighinvolved in keeping the church solvent and suc- bors of theirs by mail as often as they liked. We cessful. This too often means just one thing- joined the local Chamber of Commerce and atperpetuating an institution largely for the sake of tended meetings regularly. Officials of the the institution. Chamber were used occasionally as special Speak- ers at Church Suppers, club affairs, etc. We ac- Many a conscientious minister rebels and longs cepted an invitation to sit on the dais between the to be the Pastor of the whole community. He Mayor and a United States Senator at a testiloves the people outside his church about whom monial dinner to a local politician and we are inno one else seems to care. The tragedy is that in clined to think that it was our presence that made too many cases the Church no longer exists for the dais the only table in the hotel dining-room the community-rather, the community must that was not drenched with liquor. "support the Church." The problem is too largely "Come, Get Acquainted" one of money since churches have bills to pay, repairs to make and salaries to meet. Many a An approach to the rank and file of the neighpastor is placed in the embarrassing position of borhood was made through the distribution of feeling obliged to spend much of his time and attractive cards with a "Come Get Acquainted" energy in raising money. A rich old vestryman invitation. We sent out members of the Church with a grouch thus often has first claim on the who went from door to door with a smile and a pastor, rather than a gang of street boys shooting friendly invitation that was seldom rebuffed. "craps" on the church steps. When there was a death near the church, we An increasing number of ministers are rising went to express sympathy, and upon the invitato protest against the old order – young fellows tion of the family we remained to conduct a brief just out of Seminary, middle-aged rebels of ex- funeral service. When a fee was offered, we gave perience, and old veterans with vision-are say- it back saying, "We want no money for help and ing to the churches of America, "The Church was sympathy in times of death." The news spread made for Man, not Man for the Church." They that here was a church that did not have its hand are insisting that the raising of money is inci- out for money and that only wished to be friendly. dental, while a ministry to the sick and the suffering and the seeking is the real work of the Church. Our next approach was to the children. This is They are insisting "Open wide the door and say a prolific neighborhood and the coming generation with Jesus 'Whosoever will, let him come' even is everywhere under foot. We built a gymnasium though he comes only for what he can get and may with shower and locker-rooms and said to the never join or give the Church a nickel." "But," children, "Come in and play." When they dissome official of the church may say, "this is sui- covered that a Jew and a Catholic and an Unbecide. What about the money we need for local ex- liever were as welcome as any of our own Sunday penses and for our Missionary Budget?" As a School children, they literally laid siege to the matter of fact, if the Church has done its work church pleading for a club and a Leader. We well it will have fewer financial worries. A Chris- advised them to ask permission at home and at tian who is thoroughly Christian is a generous church to join a club in our building and we urged Christian, but an unregenerate Church Member them to make it clear that, although every club who can "take his religion or leave it" must be would be led by a Christian Leader and would feaeternally urged to give to the Church and its work. ture a brief period of worship at each session, no Or a church may have a top-heavy budget. boy or girl now attending another church would be asked to join this church. Next we purchased The church I serve is attempting to render a a moving picture machine and once more circularcommunity service to its 100,000 possible cus- ized the neighborhood with news of the "Chiltomers. Located on the congested East Side of dren's Hour," with the two-cent Movies each Manhattan Island in an area of deterioration, this Thursday from 6: 30 to 8: 00 p. m. From 250 to church is the center of· much of the life of its 300 children come to this activity each week.
They sing lustily patriotic and religious songs, A Library is maintained where decent books listen to the Bible or hero story, bow reverently are loaned. Sunday School, Sunday morning and during the prayer and laugh uproariously during evening Worship Services, Church Prayer Serv- the four reels of motion pictures. At intermis- ices, Apartment Prayer Services, and all kinds of sions invitations are given to the children to at- religious meetings are regular weekly activities, tend Sunday School and to join various clubs. and everyone who comes into the building is in- When they leave, the children are given a letter, vited to attend.
signed by the Pastor, inviting the parents to vari- Why did this church, twenty years ago, attempt ous church meetings and activities if they do not this sort of an approach to its neighbors? Partly attend another church. We send home also "Hello, because its Leaders believed the church possessed Neighbor" cards inviting the parents to come to a treasure too valuable to be selfishly hoarded the neighborhood meetings in the Church Audi- within its walls for the benefit of its Members torium each Sunday night, with moving pictures only; partly~-because of a small Spanish boy and as the attraction and a twenty-minute worship his gang who were trouble makers. They almost service and sermonette as a feature. always found the church door locked and so they Young people were invited to join dramatic pounded on it, threw rocks at it and even cut their initials in it. They found a can of paint and covclubs. The girls were organized into cooking ered the front door with specimens of futuristic classes, sewing classes, singing classes; children art. Decidedly out of patience, the church-worker were put into children's choirs, a week-day school in charge hid just inside the church and, when the of religious education and, during the summer, a gang returned again to the fray, the worker gave Daily Vacation Bible School. Down through the chase. After running a block he caught the years many have shown themselves ready to join leader, a Spanish lad of about ten, and brought instruction classes in preparation for Church him back to the church in righteous wrath and Membership. virtuous triumph. "Now," he chortled, "now we will deal with this gang of rowdies." He was just Women have been organized into Mother's calling Police Headquarters when he thought to Clubs, Bible study groups, and a White Cross ask the boy his name and why he and his gang Sewing Circle. The men are invited to join a hated the Church. The boy replied tearfully,"My Men's Club and have fitted up the Tower Room name is Emanuel Jesus. We do not hate the of the church with fresh paint, new furniture, a Church. We come to play on the church steps bepool table, checkers and chess and a radio. The cause there are no playgrounds and we find exciteroom can scarcely accommodate the growing ment pounding on the locked church door." The group of neighborhood men. worker was stricken to the heart. Suddenly he saw a great light-it was not the gang of boys Young people, with no possible privacy in their who was guilty, rather the church that kept its "railroad fiats," have enthusiastically painted and door locked against the neighborhood. He realfurnished a "parlor," just inside the front door ized that he had kept "Emanuel Jesus" loc~ed outwhere they enjoy clean social contacts, and where side the Church of the original Jesus who once upon occasion they may even do their courting. said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and Dozens of them have gravitated to the three Sun- forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of day-night Societies. Here, under competent Chris- Heaven." tian leaders, they spend an hour in worship and in the discussion of topics vitally interesting to them. Some of these topics follow: "Is War a Necessary Evil?"
"Can Crime and Poverty be Cured?"
"What Has the Church to Offer to Youth?" The ninety-six metropolitan districts of 1930 "Is a Lie Ever Justifiable?" contained almost 801'0 of the total urban popula- "Who Is My Neighbor?" tion. "What Is the Value of a College Education?"
"Is Jesus the Answer to World Confusion?" In view of the nearly 301'0 increase of urban "What of Love, E'ngagement, Marriage and Divorce?" population during the last census decade (from The charm of these meetings is their frank and 54,305,000 in 1920 to 68,955,000 in 1930 or a gain unrepressed discussion. in urban population of 26.91'0) and in view of We also set ourselves to find jobs for the job- the American assumption that all cities grow, one less, so far as possible to feed the hungry, to give is quite unprepared to learn that many cities fared friendly help to the juvenile delinquent and to se- badly during the decade. Nearly one-half of cities cure scholarships for young people interested in with 10,000 population or over-354 out of 746- a college education. Everyone with a problem or failed to keep up with the population increase of a heartache is encouraged to talk it over with the the nation as a whole, while 512 cities from 25,000 workers. For years the Pastor's Office has been population to 100,000, actually lost population in- thronged by lines of troubled folk. cluding four cities in the 100,000 group.
Christ in Crowded
By DR. ROBERT A. McKIBBEN, . Los Angeles, California Superintendent of "All Nations Foundation"
I F JESUS were to walk the streets in the neigh- laundry workers were started, a girls' club, a borhood of "All Nations" in Los Angeles, he boysl club, and a small library to make possible a would find forty thousand people crowded into closer acquaintance with those less fortunate. one square mile, descendants of almost every race As new needs were revealed, new opportunities on the face of the globe; these include thousands were recognized. With Christian faith and intelof unattached transient men, ten to fifteen oc- ligence, a ministry was begun to that community cupying a room built for two; young women which outgrew the buildings and facilities of the forced to ply their trade as prostitutes or prefer- church. The old property was sold and two apartring that manner of livelihood to other personal- ment buildings and a play area were purchased. ity-destroying trades; mothers seeking to protect A "Church of All Nations" was started, and by their daughters amid conditions of vice and crime; those who disapproved it was called "The Church residents who have sought this area hoping to of All Notions." hide themselves in such surroundings; aged persons barely eking out an existence; children try- The need for additional workers and for new ing to play Indian or tag and barely escaping buildings became apparent. The site selected was death as they dodge in and out among trucks and justified when later studies revealed that more autos; youth wondering how they are to get a boys and girls per thousand population were gostart so as to marry. ing to the juvenile court from this area than from any other in the entire city. After Dr. and Mrs. In this part of the city, Christ would discover Oxnam had completed ten years of Christian minno house built in the last forty years, no home istry in this area, and had successfully led in a with less than two persons. per room (including campaign to build, equip and staff a Christian kitchen or dining room), no lawns or parks, no service station in the heart of the city, he was playgrounds other than one connected with a called to the Episcopacy of his church. small school. He would find one liquor establishment on the average to every two hundred and Today the All Nations Foundation includes the seventy of the population; here the theaters Church of All Nations, the All Nations Boys' Club, schedule "strip-tease dancers" for the benefit of the All Nations Community House, the All Naunattached men; here are quack doctors and heal- tions Clinic, Hollenbeck Center and Sunset Center, ers, night missions that deal out bread and soup and the All Nations Camp. All of these are owned as, bait not only for those whose souls need sal- and operated by the Methodist Episcopal Church, vaging but for those whose money support such some units being supported by the Community proje~ts. Jesus wept over the City of Jerusalem Chest, Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions Clubs, and and He would have just cause to weep over this women's organizations. Service is rendered with- "City of the Angels." The church in the city out regard to class, creed, or color. today must fight and fight hard alongside other organizations if the many degrading influences af- The second ten years has now been added to the fecting the life of individuals are to be overcome, record of service. Houses are twenty years older; if conditions are to be altered, and if the city the population is transient; the problems of unbeautiful is to be created where there may be life adapted men, prostitution and liquor have inabundant. creased with population; play area has lessened by incoming warehous-es and industry. These Twenty years ago a young minister, the Rev- hardly indicate progress but in this neighborhood, erend G. Bromley Oxnam, later a Bishop of the where juvenile delinquency was at its worst, the Methodist Episcopal Church, came fresh from the Judge of the Juvenile Court has said, "All Naseminary and, with his wife was assigned to the tions is spoiling my business." area described. His church was rapidly being deserted by "We Americans" as they moved into After the completion of the new buildings and better communities. Noonday luncheons for the equipping and staffing for the larger program, the public school authorities noticed a decided change for the better on the part of the youth who [279 ]
were participants in the activities at All Nations. for folk from our neighborhood to adjust to new There was a change for the better in attitudes and communities and to life in a new church. Their habits of the children and in personality traits. habits and attitudes are not readily accepted by A study under the Department of Sociology at the the new group; they are not given social status University of Southern California revealed that and there is often a lack of warmth in the wel- in five years time juvenile delinquency was re- come accorded them. Thus much that has been duced 65% within a mile radius of "All Nations." gained may be lost, but there have been gains for A View of All Nations the Master individually and socially. It is recog- nized that one can point out individuals about The work at All Nations was registering effec- whom a thrilling story can be told-ignoring the tively in the area of life with which Jesus was hundreds with whom we have failed. There have most concerned and upon which he placed the been failures, particularly among the adults. All greatest value, the personal life and character of Nations has,been more concerned with youth. In an individual. The All Nations Foundation is one of our offices there is being accumulated "be- community rather than institutionally centered. fore and after" pictures. Boys and girls are seen Its program aims at the individual and his needs as they have come into activities – with their rather than the mass ap.proach. A glance at All clothes in tatters, dirty, physically retarded in Nations as an organization may most clearly de- school and dwarfed in outlook on life; somehow scribe how its work is carried on. they have caught something best described by the Each of the seven units of service has its, own word "spirit" that has changed their personality executive board which is responsible to the board and purpose as they have grown with us. The of trustees for devising programs and activities, "before and after" pictures show something of recommending its personnel and its budget. The what has taken place. The Gospel of Jesus and Church of All Nations is a completely organized the Spirit of Christ have registered outwardly as church which seeks to link individuals and fam- well as inwardly in the life of the individuals.
ilies to the church of their own choice. If that is Some time ago an anonymous donor made not possible and there is no choice, then every ef- available $40,000 to make a -scientific and thor- fort is made to link them with this Church of All oughgoing study of the youth of our community.
Nations'. Because of the transient population the The first 200 youth studied revealed that they had church membership will always be small and no 1,154 problems – mental, physical, social, spir- stable membership can be built up. itual. We at All Nations, the school authorities, The Boys' Club and Girls' Club each has a three- the family, and other organizations who might be story separate building to house their activities. serving the family, recognized less than 20% of Hollenbeck and Sunset Centers are located two those problems. In other words, the youth of our miles from the main buildings, while the moun- community were facing an 80'10 handicap.
tain camp is ninety miles away. About two hun- For instance, there was a young Japanese lad dred volunteers serve in varying capacities in the who never participated in the normal group or several units and there are twenty full-time paid club life other than merely attending. He was staff members and twenty part-time staff. Dur- never elected to office and could not even read a ing the past ten years there has been an increase verse out of the Bible. Now that nationality is in the budget-from $35,000 to $65,000 a year. in no wise retarded mentally. As we studied this During the past five years a $20,000 camp has youth we tried from every angle to discover what been constructed. These facts are further evi- was wrong. Finally a very simple test was given dence that this type of approach to anti-Christian which revealed a slight speech defect. Six months and anti-social life is not only recognized by in a university speech clinic eliminated that de- church members but by non-church members an~ fect in a lad who had been retarded four years in folk of other faith, who do not hesitate to con- school. Another lad who was rapidly developing tribute to its support. There has been no financial an inferiority complex eagerly entered into life drive nor is anyone in the field for finances. The within his own age range, was elected an officer program and its results in terms of Christian per- in his club, and was one of the first to request a sonality is its own credential. high school young people's organization. The Christ would not find in this area a large num- simple defect might have wrecked the personality ber of persons connected with the church within of this youth, but his growth was advanced by a this organization. As soon as a family begins to slight Christian service.
show promise of reconstruction, we urge them to Another youth, a half-breed from Texas, was move out of the coinmunity. It is not a good place kicked out of his home at the age of nine, and to raise their children, thus we cannot build up arrived in San Diego via a box car, determined to a large church membership. We find it difficult become a newsboy. Finding that the only way to
SERVING CHRIST IN CROWDED STREETS
occupy the most remunerative corner was by fight- bully leader finally turned in a gangster's revolver ing his way to the top, after twenty-three battles which he had stolen from an automobile. These in twenty-eight days he occupied that corner. two groups of youth pledged us that they would Then he moved to Los Angeles to "conquer a call off the gang warfare. Finally, as the five larger world." He was so successful as a fighter older fellows were about to leave, the boys' leader that the prize-fight ring offered him a contract. suggested that when they arrived at the high On his way to the eastern part of the city to sign school tomorrow somone would probably slip up a contract, he dropped in to our Boys' Club and behind them and call them "yellow." They disbecame interested in talking with the Director. cussed such a situation rather thoroughly. To He stayed on as a member, finally became a volun- this same bully, who professed to be a Christian, teer leader and later a part-time staff member. we suggested that here was a place where the He decided to enter the field of Christian service Master would help him. That was four years ago to youth and began an uphill fight to educate him- and not one act of hatred has been observed in self. Graduating from high school at twenty-five, these four years between these two groups, as he then went to the university, and for two years they have met one another on the street and in was young people's director in one of the city school. This former "bully gangster" last year churches. Upon graduation he became assistant served as president of his high school student head of one of the large boys' agencies and today body, winning a univerity scholarship, and today is a prominent and successful Christian leader. is studying for the Christian ministry.
There was a time when we were bothered The old Seventh Street Gang, with some fifteen with petty stealing and finally discovered that "Frenchy," one of our boys, was being used by a members, was one of the worst gangs in police clever pickpocket and thieving gang. When anything was stolen all we needed was to tell him history. They robbed, stole and were accredited things must be brought back and then more was returned than we had missed. Three years' mem- with burning down one of the school buildings in bership in the activities of this human service station brought about a transformation in the life of the neighborhood. A young lad was forced to this young man. One day he approached me, saying, "You know, I'm different." There was a new move into the neighborhood because of the famspirit in that youngster. When his club was offered a very elaborate Thanksgiving dinner he ily's financial difficulties. Like most boys he was the one who led in the movement to see that wanted company and went out into the street to what was to be provided for him and his pals, find it. Without knowing it, he became a member should be given to those who needed food much of this old Seventh Street Gang. He had never more. As chairman of the committee after he robbed or stolen before. He was a natural, norcame back from his first jaunt out into human mal boy wanting excitement and he got it. So helpfulness his remark was, "That's the first kind able was he that he became the leader of this old deed I've ever done." Seventh Street Gang. One day he dropped in at the All Nations playground and laughed and Some time ago we became aware of a feud or sneered at what was going on. He came again gang warfare among some of the youth. It grew another day and still another. Finally he joined to rather serious proportions before we discovered in the activities and soon brought one of the memwhat it was all about. A bully, an older boy, had bers of the gang with him. He too laughed and been mistreating three younger boys until they sneered and refused to participate but it was not finally determined they would stand it no longer. long until the appeal of fun got the best of him One evening they ganged up on him in the alley and he followed the leader. All fifteen of that gang joined All Nations and were later baptized. and when he came out of the hospital he decided That leader of the Seventh Street Gang became to retaliate and formed a gang with the help of a member of the board of trustees governing All four other fellows. The three youngsters, discov- Nations. ering this, organized a gang Qf ten. We called the boys in singly and collectively, even summon- These are evidences of a change in attitude, a ing the parents in most cases. When we were change in habit, and a change in personality which through, on the desk of the boys' leader there were we believe that Jesus Christ would recognize as deposited pieces of pipe a foot long, nicely taped a part of the Kingdom of God movement which he on one end in order that it might not slip while sought to create in this old world. being used, brass knuckles, pieces of steel that would fit into the palm of a hand and knives. The The Church is most effective as it translates the Gospel of Jesus Christ into practical forms of hu- man helpfulness. Such evidences of Christian love and understanding eventually find a response in the hearts of those who reside "on the other side of Main Street."
the Gospel in a City
By H. A. IRONSIDE, Litt.D.
Pastor of the Moody Memorial Church, Chicago THE new dispensation was ushered in on the wide to welcome people to hear the Gospel and to day of Pentecost in a city, and that the enjoy Christiftn fellowship. The main auditorium guiltiest city in the entire world. John Bun- has seats for 4,040 people and there are some yan has well used the term "a Jerusalem sinner" seventeen other halls and rooms used every Sun- for the very worst kind of an offender. In Jeru- day (many of them much more frequently) for salem, Ghrist had demonstrated His deity by Sunday School work, young people's meetings and many marvelous works. There He had proclaimed other 'gatherings of various kinds. It has never His wondrous message of grace. Even the chil- been found necessary to use unscriptural methods dren had welcomed Him enthusiastically and in order to draw people. From 3,000 to 4,500 many joined with them as they cried, "Hosanna people are found in this church twice every Sun- to the King that cometh in the name of the Lord." day, listening to plain, simple, Bible preaching.
Yet it was in the same city a few days later that In the morning service we endeavor to expound He was rejected, and outside the gate of that city the Word for the building up of the people of God, he was nailed to a cross. But when he appeared going through book after book of the Bible and to His disciples as the Risen One, he commanded finding constant interest in this method of presentthem to go into the entire world, beginning at ing the truth. The Sunday night meetings are Jerusalem, and to preach to all men the Good evangelistic gatherings where the Gospel is pro- News of remission of sins through faith in Him. claimed with no uncertain sound. The three R's And so the first great revival took place in that are continually insisted on: man's Ruin by sin, very city where fifty days before He had been so the necessity of Regeneration by the Holy Spirit, cruelly and wickedly crucified. and Redemption by the precious. blood of Christ; T.oday the grace of God is as truly sufficient for almost invariably there is definite response in the the city as for the rural community. In spite of way of anxious souls coming to the inquiry room, the varied attractions which the average metrop- seeking for light and help. It is my firm convic- olis provides – its theaters, its cinemas, its tav- tion that wherever these methods are followed, ems, dance halls and kindred places where every under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, people will possible appeal is made to the lust of the flesh, the find their way to the church that refuses to know lust of the eye and the pride of life-the Gospel anything among men "save Jesus Christ and Him is still the power of God unto salvation to every- crucified." one that believeth, in the city as elsewhere. Eight Not for a moment do I mean to imply that we years in the largest evangelistic center of the City should ignore men's social and economic needs. A of Chicago have demonstrated this beyond a department for ministering to those in financial doubt. There is abundant proof that men will tr.ouble is maintained in this church, and through still come to hear the Gospel and will respond to it many poor, distressed .ones have been helped that Gospel if it be preached in dependence on and numbers have been won to Christ.
God, in simplicity and in the power of the Holy Personal evangelism is emphasized and it is Spirit. Dwight L. Moody began his work in this doubtful if there are many wh.o make public pro- great city more than seventy-five years ago. His fession in this church who have not been spoken little church was largely made up of poor, neg- to personally by some friend, inviting them to the lected people wh.o had been won for Christ by meetings and trying to lead them to Christ.
Moody's faithful testimony and kindly interest; The Sunday School work has a pr.ominent place, today there stands in close proximity t.o the city's for we believe that the instruction of boys and great business district, a massive temple erected girls in the Word of God, even before they have in memory of the evangelist and to the glory of definitely decided for Christ, is like setting every- the Christ he preached. The Moody Memorial thing in order for a fire in the stove or furnace.
Church is a building which, as we often announce, Then the match of evangelism often starts the has over three hundred doors and all swinging flame which burns brightly unto eternal life.
[282 ] DR. IRONSIDE AND AN AUDIENCE IN THE MOODY MEMIORIAL CHURCH, CHICAGO Moody himself began as a Sunday School worker their courtesy the Moody Church uses this station and the Moody Sunday School today is an out- to broadcast the Sunday morning services which standing testimony to the value of his methods in thus carry the message into places we could otherdealing with young and old. wise never contact. The Christian Business Men's Committee uses another station, and so reaches In many cities, since the advent of the automo- many more. bile, open-air meetings have become alinost taboo. It is difficult to gather people together to hear the In the neighboring town of Cicero there is a message on the streets when parking space is at a splendid work of evangelism carried on from the premium and it is well nigh impossible to find a Cicero Bible Church. In fact, time would fail me place where a crowd can be gathered. But for to tell all that God is doing through many of the years every summer, open-air testimony has been independent tabernacles, as well as recognized given in various places where it is possible to over- evangelical churches and Gospel halls, the Salvacome these obstacles. Many a wanderer has been tion Army and other groups, who are constantly reached in this way. at it, not only reaching the submerged classes, but the higher-ups as well, with the glad, glorious mes- In this great city there have been other remark- sage of God's free salvation for sinful men. able movements throughout the years, and God has owned them in a marvelous way. Downtown One thing is very striking. When some in the heart of the loop, theater meetings have churches close their doors for the summer, or give been carried on by a Christian Business Men's up any attempt to hold a Sunday night meeting, Committee at the noon hour for nearly eight the churches that stand for a full, clear Gospel years, with the exception of the hot summer find that the crowds will come,and that there is months when outdoor meetings take their place. no occasion whatever to relax their activities in These meetings have resulted in the conversion of the sumWIer months. In many"instances they remany, numbers of whom return from time to time double them. to bear testimony to the reality of the change in their lives. As a result of an experience of nearly fifty years preaching Christ I have no note of pessimism to Radio ministry has proven to be a great help sound. I do not find, as some insist, that there is in giving the Gospel to the city. The Moody Bible a decrease of interest in spiritual realities. On Institute maintains its own station WMBI, carry- the contrary, I can say honestly that there has ing on a continuous evangelistic testimony, which never been a time, excepting during the special reaches tens of thousands of homes. Through great awakenings which have occurred at dif-
ferent intervals in our history as a nation, when drunkard out of the slums, get him to sign the people were so ready to listen to the Gospel, if pre7 pledge and if possible to keep it, clean him up and sented in a kindly and gracious manner by men give him a good suit of clothes, remove him and and women filled with the Holy Spirit, who have his family to a nice, little home in the suburbs, no axes of their own to grind, but who are seeking give him gainful employment, and then let him to make Christ known to those who need Him. die and go to hell unsaved-really, it is not worth while, and I for one would not attempt it." These As to the social gospel-this term which is so are serious words that we may well take to heart. widely used today is, to say the least, extra-scrip- Our great business should be preparing men for tural, and often means "putting the cart before eternity, and when they close with Christ, their the horse." Our Lord Jesus did not say to his dis- outward circumstances will soon undergo a marciples, "Go ye into all the world and seek to clean velous change. Our Lord's words are still apup the slums, to introduce better sanitary condi- plicable, "Seeks.-ye first the Kingdom of God and tions, to improve the environment of the poor and his righteousness and all these things shall be relieve the wants of the needy, to build hospitals added unto you." and endow schools and universities." He did say, "Go'ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to Let me add a word as to Christian education. every creature." But wherever that Gpspel goes, The term "Religious Education" is one that I it proves to be not only the power of God unto abominate. It savors too much of a carnal con- Salvation to everyone that believeth, but it brings ception of religiousness, as fitting a man for untold temporal blessing in its train. The best heaven, in place of emphasizing the importance social work is that which is definitely linked with of a new birth. But Christian education, if really evangelistic testimony. It is true that it would be that, is of great importance. To start with the folly to preach the Gospel to a starving man when youngest children and seek to bring them up in it is possible first to provide him with a good meal, the nurture and admonition of the Lord, ever inbut, unfortunately, the great danger is that phi- sisting on the importance of their own definite lanthropists will be satisfied with giving him the acceptance of Christ, but making them acquainted meal and forget that the need of his soul is far from their earliest days with the great outstandgreater than that of his body. I remember hear- ing truths of the Word of God, will go far toward ing old General William Booth of the Salvation building a substantial Christian constituency in Army talking to a large group of officers when their later years. The danger comes, however, lecturing on "the submerged tenth" in connection if Bible knowledge and catechetical instruction is with his "Darkest England" project. I can see substituted for a definite work of the Holy Spirit the flash in his eye and hear that powerful voice of God, producing conviction and leading the soul yet, as he exclaimed, "Take a poverty-stricken to personal decision for Christ.
Putting the Gospel to the Test By REV. J. F. HARRISON Director of Practical Work, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago HERE are some of the many experiences of large for his age, eleven, with a serious little face those who are putting the Gospel to the and quiet, dignified manner. Just as the meeting was to be closed with prayer Robert said, "I'd like test in our cities. to have Jesus for my Saviour but I've never heard In the Bible class in homes-At the close of the this story and I don't quite understand it all." Bible story the teacher gave, as usual, the invitation to any child present to open his heart and He was asked to stay and talk it over after the ask the Lord Jesus to come in. Several in the others had left. As the other children were obclass of twenty-five expressed the desire. While taining their assortment of caps, coats, mufflers, the other children bowed their heads and closed mittens and galoshes, Robert and the teacher went their eyes, those wishing to accept Christ stood up, into the kitchen to be alone. There Robert told her confessed their sins and their need of a Saviour. that his mother and father were separated and One boy, Robert, there for the first time, seemed he had been sent to a home for unfortunate chiltouched but he did not express a desire. He was dren. "The worst of it is," he said, "that Daddy
PUTTING THE GOSPEL TO THE TEXT
MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE STUDENTS STARTING OUT TO CARRY THE GOSPEL TO THE CITY and Mummy seemto have forgotten me. I haven't In the jail-The following is from a letter writeven heard from either of them in over three months." Robert's big brown eyes filled with ten by an ex-convict: tears and lips tried hard not to tremble. "I have just returned from the South and There was unspeakable joy in telling Robert that God has said: "When thy mother and thy thought I had better answer your letter. I was father forsake thee, then the Lord will take thee up." He learned that God, the Heavenly Father, over at the Institute on Sunday and I heard a very wanted him to be .His little boy; that God so loved him (Robert) that He sent His only begotten Son helpful service. I am now a very devoted reader that if Robert would believe in Him he should never perish but have a loving Father in Heaven of the Testament which you so kindly gave me. watching over him day and night. He listened so eagerly as he was told how he might be taken into lt gives me great strength and courage to carry the family of God. He asked Jesus to take away all his sins and to adopt him for His own little boy on. forever. "You were a great comfort to me while I was in In the mission–One evening during the testimony meeting a man came forward to say that he prison. God bless you for helping me find the wanted to take Christ as his Saviour. He was a typical bum, intoxicated and filthy. At first the Light. My entire life and way of living have been leader thought he was a "moocher" (one of the kind that profess to accept Christ and then ask changed and I praise Him daily and pray cQnfor a dime to buy a drink) but after taking him into the back room and praying with him we tinually for further guidance and comfort. I hope found that he was sincere. you will always remember me in your prayers. He had spent twenty-three years of his life in a peniteritiary and had been out only a few Sometime I should like to have you make arrangemonths. He was lonely and despondent. As he passed the mission he heard the singing and came ments for me to be baptized." in. He felt that he needed God and accepted Jesus as his Saviour, giving his testimony publicly. In the .hospital-On a Sunday afternoon as I was visiting in the Hospital I stopped beside .the bed of a Jew. After speaking with him for a few minutes I offered him a tract. I never saw a man change so suddenly. He cursed me and he cursed God and Jesus Christ. I opened my Bible and started to read from the Old Testa- ment certain things pertaining to the Jews. He listened until I referred to Jesus Christ. After he had agreed to the fact of God, the truth of the Old Testament, and to the laws and ordinances of the Old Testament, I asked him if he ever took a lamb or a bullock to the priest for a sacrifice for his sins. Of course he had not. I read to him from the Gospel of Matthew without telling him
where I was reading. He agreed to the truth of sands of dollars in intoxicating liquor. For some the portions that I read and when I told him they days he had been under conviction of sin and this were from the New Testament he would not be- night, in desperation, he had been walking the lieve me. I left a Gospel of John and some tracts, streets seeking God. He passed a mission, and telling him I would call again in a few days. going in, explained his desires. They prayed with him but he received the idea that until he could When I returned he had read the Gospel of either speak in tongues or prophesy he was un- John and said that he believed it was true. To saved. make sure that he understood, I went back through the Bible, showing him that Jesus Christ was "the For the greater part of an hour we stood behind Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the a schoolhouse near a street lamp where we were world," and that He was the eternal sacrifice. The undisturbed, and here this man found the Light. man finally prayed and wept for joy that he had He has been a gangster, and had associated with found the Messiah. some of the bi~est politicians in Chicago, and had a great battle to fight. Later I brought hjm aNew Testament with the Psalms, and he took them as ,a man grasping for One Sunday afternoon I walked up to his apart- a life line. He fairly "ate the Word" and in three ment and found him in a very low frame of mind. weeks his Bible was almost worn out. The remedy prescribed was the confession of Jesus Christ before his associates. In the open air-One evening, after a prayer service, we drove to our district and scouted The next Wednesday evening he came to see me around for a good location. We decided that the and the first thing he said was: "Well, I have Lord wanted us to speak on a corner in a neighbor- done it. I have burned every bridge I had." After hood where Germans, Poles, Russians, Serbians, two days of thinking and praying and reading the Italians and Roumanians reside. We started with Word of God he had come to the conclusion that the song service and in a few minutes over 125 it had to be a clean break. Wednesday morning people had gathered from all directions. Three he went out to the gangsters' headquarters where special songs followed and then the message was he requested that his name be taken off the list. given and those who desired further information The men thought at first he was drunk; then, that and help were asked to step out from the crowd. he was crazy. He was offered whiskey and money About two thirds did so and personal work lasted which he refused, telling them that all the money for half an hour. We knew that the Lord had he got from them was fools' money. He then told given a special blessing and we were jubilant. them of the step he had made and that he was all We found that 63 people had been dealt with and through with them and the kind of life they led. 38 had professed conversion. Nearly four hun- dred tracts had been distributed and people had After convincing them of his sincerity he went taken twenty-one Gospels of John. Other names to several places where he owed bills, paid them . were taken and Gospels were mailed later. so as to have nothing to draw him into the temp- tation of his former life. When he had made the In the street-One evening I had a feeling that slate clean he had ten cents left which he used I must go for a walk. After about twenty minutes in calling up a former friend. I turned the corner to go to my ,apartment, but felt that I should cross the street. As I stepped "Broke but happier than in years," he said and up on the walk a man passed me and I held out a felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoul- tract which he took. After walking about twenty ders. Without a job and no connections, he faced steps he turned and said, "May I talk with you?" life with more confidence than he had ever known. This man has since been sorely tried as he has His first question was: "Must I speak in sought work. However, God has now graciously tongues to be saved, or believe in any other of provided his need. these things, such as prophesying or healing?" Does the gospel work today? Moody Bible In- I learned that this man had drunk down thou- stitute students say, "Yes."
Why cannot the young people's groups and the church congregations, unite to meet the common task of taking the Gospel to the whole community without disturbing the forms and the confessions of the individual church and the individual denomination? If we do not do this and do it quickly, how can we hope to make our city part of the kingdom of God? .
Let these be our three objectives: 1. To minister as Christian individuals in so far as possible to all whose condition is a challenge to Chris- tian friendliness. 2. To bring the common conscience of the church to bear upon community conditions that are unjust and that degrade life. 3. To carry the preaching and the teaching functions of the church out to those who are at present unreached. ROBERT W. SEARLE.
with the Industrial
By REV. A. J. MUSTE Director of Labor Temple, New York I GNAZIO SILONE is the foremost Italian nov- quisitive, pseudo-scientific, materialistic indus- elist of today. Being an anti-Fascist he does trialism which has been the "respectable religion." not reside in Italy. A few years ago he at- But none of these faiths is meeting the world's tained fame with a novel entitled "Fontamara" needs; on the contrary, under their leadership (Bitter Stream) which pictures village life under and amid their clashing, the world is headed for Fascism. Later he published another novel, catastrophe. "Bread and Wine," which is his portrayal of how Fascism may be overcome. The hero of the book The basic reason why these rival faiths are failwas in the secular revolutionary movement in ing to meet the world's needs and are leading it Italy before Mussolini came to power. Now, ac- to catastrophe is that they are built upon rotten cording to the story, he is back in Italy working moral and spiritual foundations; they deny some in the underground movement for a free regime, of the most fundamental concepts of the Christian but with a very different approach and methods view of the world and of man. from those previously employed. Here are some typical utterances which Silone puts in the mouth We briefly mention three points at which Chrisof his hero: tianity stands in opposition to materialistic indus- trialism, Fascism and Communism. First, the The dictator's henchman must be opposed not with other three systems all hold degraded and degrading henchmen who merely spoke differently, but with men who conceptions as to the nature of the individual, in lived and acted differently…. The evil I see around me contradistinction to the Christian view that the is deeper than politics. It is a canker. . . . There is the human being is spiritual, a child of God, having class-struggle, the struggle between the town and the moral dignity and worth. Let us illustrate. To country, but underlying all these things there is man, a the pseudo-scientific world-view of the pre-war poor, weak, terrified animal. The canker has penetrated period which saw everything in terms of mechanto his marrow. . . . All that remained alive and inde- ism, the human being is "a highly temporary structible of Christianity in me was revived: a Chris- chemical episode on a most petty planet" or "a tianity that neither abdicates in the face of Mammon, nor tiny lump of impure carbon and water." To a proposes concordats with Pontius Pilate, nor offers easy certain kind of industrialism, man is a mere cog careers to the ambitious, but rather leads to prison, seeing in a machine. Henry Ford once said, in effect, that crucifixion is no longer practised. that it is the duty of management to take the load off the worker's back and put it on the machine, For anyone who is acquainted with the modern and to take the load off the worker's mind and literature, especially that of "the Left," which has put it on the office. From the spiritual and moral influenced the thinking of industrial workers in point of view, what is left that is human in a the western world even though not many of them creature with nothing on its back and nothing on . read it, these sentences sound a startlingly new its mind? And practically, of course, this creanote. Yet dozens of quotations could be cited from ture ends on the scrapheap of industry, lucky if recent essays, poems and novels of such impor- the state adopts him as a ward. tant figures as Aldous Huxley, Edmund Wilson, John Dos Passos, Sidney Hook, Josephine John- In Fascism the human being is degraded to a son, W. H. Auden, Andre Gide, Eugene Lyons mere pawn in the hands of the totalitarian State. and others in which the same approach is implicit In Communism the proletariat, idealized in the if not quite so explicit as in Silone's book. People abstract, is in the concrete subjected to the dicin this mood are likely to be much more receptive tatorship of an absolutist Party, and in the Party to the Christian message and philosophy than the member is a pawn: if the Party says that a they have been until recently. man must steal, lie, spy upon and betray his What has brought about this new trend in mod- closest friend, he has no alternative. ern thought? We may put it in this way. The Second, all of these systems, as might be inthree modern faiths which have been rivals to Christianity on the soil of Christendom itself are ferred, regard the system rather than the indi- Fascism, Communism and the get-rich-quick, ac- vidual as important. "Keep this system, with all our marvelous inventions and progress, just as it [287 ]
is, and all will be well; we shall progress auto- man is a part. For obviously, man is a dependent, matically and forever"-is or was the naIve faith a contingent being. We did not create ourselves. of a materialistic capitalism. "Smash it all and Weare the product, the creation of something- put another system in its place and all our prob- Some One. lems will be solved"-is the equally naIve faith of the secularist Marxist. Christianity knows that Of what, then? Of whom? Creatures of mat- any "system" is only human beings living in cer- ter? "Tiny lumps of impure carbon and water"? tain relationships; unless something happens in How then can we, out of "mere matter," produce the human being, nothing has happened at all. creatures who can make moral decisions and re- spect themselves? Or is man the product of some Third, all of these systems believe in power and vast cosmic mechanism? How shall he then be- domination. They reject and despise gentleness, come more than a cog in that impersonal machine? meekness, love. They believe that "the end justi- fies the means." They think that the world can No, if our problem is what so many are coming somehow, by violence, ruthlessness, repression, again to see, what "high religion" has always _ dictatorship, reach the goal of peace and democ- known it to be, then must we not conclude that racy and brotherhood. The civilized, capitalistic there is no salvation for us from suicide, indi- world believed this doctrine so firmly that twenty vidual and collective, no means of maintaining or years ago it spent directly and indirectly thirty recovering the self-respect without which man million human lives and four hundred billion dol- cannot go on living, unless man can know him- lars' worth of wealth in a war that was to make self as the creation of Spirit, living in a universe the world finally "safe for democracy" and put which is somehow governed by moral and spir- an end to war. Having observed the results, this itual law? Is there then any escape from "the capitalistic world cannot yet make up its mind to gods many and lords many" who rule this age save renounce the method of war, even though that too in "the one God, the Father," whose very nature involves a bit of risk, any more than Russia is it is to produce sons and daughters who can re- prepared to renounce the method of dictatorship, spect themselves and love each other? Can there chekas, espionage and repression, though all it be then any Lord save the "one Lord, Jesus seems to lead to is more dictatorship, chew, Christ," who thus saw man and God and lived in espionage and repression. the light and power of that vision?
Obviously on the terms of any of these systems How else, furthermore, shall we find the dy- life becomes meaningless at last; human beings namic for building a sane and brotherly world? cannot respect themselves; they cannot make It is a question of dynamic. "Never higher than moral decisions because they do not think there in our time were the vital advantages." The vis- is such a thing as morality apart from expediency. ion of a new order has never been clearer; the Men who really think thus of themselves do not material resources are at hand. But confusion, worship God, do not create great art, do not build cynicism, ruthlessness, oppression, terror stalk democratic societies. To do these things we have the earth. "When hatred promised an immediate to believe in the dignity and moral worth of man. dividend all of us hated." We have to understand that the basic question is the nature and quality of the human being. We, who stand on Christian ground and who share the Christian experience, are alone able to The Christian message may again receive a speak with confidence to the "Wise Men" of our hearing which it has not had for some time, since day and to the industrial masses who have been 'a growing number of important writers, particu- under their influence; as Paul spoke to the men larly writers of "the Left," are beginning to pro- of Athens: "I observe, wherever I turn, that you claim again the great human and Christian truth are a most religious people. As I passed along that we must know whether human beings are and scanned your objects of worship, I actually creatures of spirit and so are capable of building came upon an altar with the inscription and living in a free fellowship; changing systems is not enough; the means that men use inevitably TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. determine the ends they achieve. I proclaim to you this God whom you worship in If we really become desperately concerned about your ignorance." the nature and quality of the human being; if we are convinced that we cannot build a new world The Church of Christ today is confronted, as merely by changes in external arrangements, that in its first days, with dictatorship, absolutisms, we must have first of all people capable of making modern Cresarisms – persecuted and hounded by moral decisions and living in a free society, then them. It will probably become increasingly diffi- inevitably the argument will have to be pushed a cult in all lands for the Church to meet the de- step farther back. We have to ask what is the mands of the State for an absolute allegiance and nature and character of the universe of which .retain its own soul. The Church may well be put again in the position of a small minority spiritual fellowship in a hostile world, driven to carryon
A POLICEMAN TRANSFORMED
its worship in the catacombs, "in deserts and Christian evangelism to the industrial worker mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth." must meet him in the arena of his intellect. It On the other hand men everywhere are sensing must prove itself competent to demonstrate the that such a world is doomed and are raising their inadequacy and falsehood of materialistic indusvoices again in the cry for the help which is to trialism, F,ascism and Marxism. It must meet be found only in the Eternal Word of God's re- the worker in the arena of his needs as a cog in deeming love, which by grace is ours. the machine of industry. It must be the voice of a church which does not attempt to defend, much A church which is not prepared to undergo the less to identify its own fate with that of a selfish terrific intellectual and theological labor involved economic order, based on acquisitiveness and in translating its Gospel into the language and strife or with a political order based on violence thought-forms of our day-as Paul, John, Origen, and dictatorship. It must be a church which Augustine, Luther and Calvin did for their day brings the economic order under the judgment of -will not be able to "speak to the condition" of Christ and must insist that in all relationships His these people. A church which, like the Russian spirit and teaching shall be the standard. On church under the Czars, becomes a mere bulwark these terms the Church will also be able to proof the existing order, deaf to human needs, bless- claim to the workers the prophetic truth that they ing or condoning the war-system, a mere tool of will reap nothing but disillusionment and despair the Cresars and the economic and political Cresar- if they seek to achieve freedom and peace and ism of our day-such a church will not be able to brotherhood by the way of dictatorship and vio- "speak to the condition" of troubled and seeking lence and hate. modern men. But a church which is prepared to think through and state the Christian faith in the Modern Christian evangelism must also prolanguage of the present age; a church that is claim to industrial workers the personal Gospelready to be indeed an international fellowship, the eternal message that each man must settle his animated by and obedient to the spirit of Jesus, own account with God; he can by no means pass ready to break loose from entangling alliances on to ,another the responsibility of his own sin or with the Cresars and Cresarism of today, and eager to "society" or "the system"; nevertheless he canto seek to realize the will of God on earth as it is not himself settle that account nor carry that in Heaven – such a church is in a position to burden; God himself by grace wipes out the accall upon modern "Wise Men" and masses alike count and takes upon His own redemptive love the to follow Christ and not Barabbas. This church burden, and so sets man, His child, free and makes will call today with more likelihood of being him a member of the church – the fellowship of heeded than for many decades past. the Redeemed.
A Policeman Transformed By PAUL L. BUFFA, New York City A CERTAIN Christian worker has taken ad- Meadows, where the new Exposition Grounds are vantage of the dearth of candidates in all being landscaped, the policeman drove his car off Fraternal Orders and made it part of his the road and stopped it on an ash dump. To his astonished companion he began to speak of his responsibility to give some of his time to large own spiritual problem. After being confirmed in his mother's church, he never entered a church. groups of men who are always looking for inter- He had tried to live a clean, upright life; he was esting speakers. He has found that the plain happy in his family life, his mother making a story of God's redeeming love, told without an- home for him. Being ambitious and capable, he thropomorphic "gaucheries," without mythology was studying with a view to advancement and and ecclesiastical trappings, always secures the therefore had not yet given thought to getting rapt attention of many rather sophisticated audi- married. He was popular with the "boys" with ences. whom he worked but, said he, "I am not popular with myself. I wish I could become different. I On one such errand, during the first week of am not at rest when I am alone with myself." last November, after he had delivered his message and while putting on his overcoat in the ante- The police officer stated he had talked with sevroom, dismally considering the long street car and eral clergymen-"all very nice men; but some subway journey from Brooklyn to the Bronx, he were too learned for me and said things which was approached by a tall man in a police officer's sounded lovely but did not mean anything to me. uniform who offered to take him home in his car.
While the two were crossing the Flushing
Others treated me like a Bowery tramp and ex- she had gained hope and that the Holy Spirit was horted me to give up my 'wickedness' ; others gave at work in her heart. me easy assurances that I was all right and all I needed was to join their particular church." He New Year's Eve came around and with it the was neither learned, wicked nor desirous of Watch-night service in the Christian worker's church membership, but he was hungry and parish. It was a Candle Lighting Service and, thirsty for new incentives and new motivations after everyone had gone home, he made his cusand a new drive. tomary rounds to make sure all was right in the building. At about one o'clock in the morning, The Christian worker, who does not believe in there was a terrific pounding on the main door of argumentation but in the unfailing power of the the church. The worker opened it and was sur- Word of God when "fitly spoken," quietly asked prised by the sight of his policeman friend accomhis heavenly Father for guidance and was led to panied by over a dozen of the toughest and shadquote (Ezekiel 36: 26), "A new heart also will I iest characters,;irom his neighborhood, together give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; with a generous sprinkling of the "caulyflowered and I will take away the stony heart out of your ear," punch drunk "punks" who love to be conflesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." sidered dangerous, without being really criminal at heart. The policeman apologized for the late- Having slowly repeated this word of promise ness of the hour but he had to finish his day's three times, he felt compelled to silence. For sev- work. He had received the Pastor's circular aneral minutes an atmosphere of tenseness and ex- nouncing the Candle Lighting Service and had depectancy pervaded the car. Then the policeman cided to come and place his candle on the Altar. spoke: He had conceived the plan of inviting the hangers- on, who, at night, are always loafing in front of a "It may be inconvenient to kneel in this car; certain saloon in the vicinity. He remarked: but I feel there should be prayer here. If I stick "They were not in a position to say no; so here my knees in your eyes, just forgive me; my legs we are!" are rather long." Having lit a candle and placed it in the proper He then asked the Christian worker to pray. place he turned to the motley crew who, in the The worker told him to pray for himself. An- penumbra of the church, looked like some of other silence followed, when there took place the Dore's damned; he told them the laws of man most beautiful thing which can happen on earth had touched many of them but evidently had -that which causes the Angels in Heaven to re- helped them very little. He asked if, like himself, JOIce. In simple, sincere language, the young any of them would give the Saviour a chance. policeman started groping for the hand of the Father, which was stretched out to him in his Three of those boys have since come to the darkness. Before the two arose from their knees, Christian worker for spiritual guidance. this valiant young man had taken his oath of allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. To the verse quoted in the car on the Flushing Meadows, the worker now would add the marvel- Thanksgiving Day came around and with it ous words of Ezekiel 36: 29. joy was brought to many, and silent, bitter sor- "And I will call for the corn and I will increase row to others. Our police friend was cruising in it." a Radio Car with his Irish partner, when the screams of women and children from the windows "The greatest church in all the land, of a tenement drew their attention; upon inves- With wealth and power in its control, tigation, it was found that a young mother had tried to commit suicide by inhaling gas and to Holds naught but ashes in its hand, asphyxiate also her little children. The Irish Unless it guards the city's soul. officer went for the telephone while our policeman proceeded to administer first aid. He succeeded in What means this stately granite pile, reviving the woman when, in a hysterical fit she To Christian worship set apart, badly bit his finger, cursing him for bringing her back to life. When he saw her physical life re- If crowded streets, mile upon mile, turning he felt immediately concerned for her Feel not the throbbing of its heart? spiritual life and, disregarding his own hurt, he raised his heart in prayer to God on her behalf. "Respond, 0 church! these myriad calls After completing his day's duty, tired and hungry, Appealing, come from street and mart, the officer, before even taking food, made it a point to pick up the Christian worker and take Where every man whom sin enthralls, him to see the woman who had been snatched from Expects a welcome to thy heart. such untimely end. He found that, in her despair, Reach out, 0 church! this is the hour To make thy ministry complete!
God waits, to furnish thee with power, To lift the city to his feet."
A SKETCH OF THE CONCENTRATION
THE GOODS AND ILLS OF . URBAN LIFE / INNER CITY AREA OUTER CITY AREA RESIDENTIAL SUBURB~ " FOREIGN BORN MINGLING OF NATIONALITIES NATIVE AMERICAN POOR HOUSING APARTMENTS-HIGH RENT SPACIOUS RESIDENCES —……… ~ Af~ POOR HOME FURNISHINGS LOW RATE OF HOME OWNERSHIP LOW AATEOF HOME OWNERSHIP1HIGH RATE OF HOMEOWNERSHI! , DOWNTOWN MUNICIPAL COMFORTABLE FURNISHINGS 'f/<-P~.~ ~ . CROWDING LIMITED SPACE MUCH SPACE PER PERSON POOR LIGHT AND AIR LESS SMOKE AND DIRT PURER AIR BUILDINCS (:)", ('" POOR PLA'1 FACILITIES LIM1TED PLAY FACiliTIES GOOD PLAV FACILITIES LIBRARIES .~.~, – MUSEUMS NO TREES AND GRASS FEW TREES-SMALL VAROS TREES AND CRASS 0~ DIRTV STREET~AlLEYS CLEAN STREETS THEATRES ~ti;E§~<~:_:> IHIGHHIDHGEIHAGTHHINRFBAATIRENTBTYHDTUREBAAETTREHCURLOASTISE I BIG STORES LOW BIRTH RATE lOW BIRTH RATE LOW INFANT DEATH RATE OFFICE BUILDING CENTRAL BANKS LOW DEATH flATE BY TUBERCULOSIS TRANSPDRTATIO CENTRE ~~ ~'yZ HIGH DELINQUENCV RATE JINCREASING DELINQUENCY RATE, LOW DElINQUENCV RATE -' ~'~~~,,»'/INADEQUATE FOOD AND CLOTHING/ADEQUATE FOOD AND CLOTHING / PLENTY OF FOOD AND CLOTHING/ I MUCH UNEMPLOYMENT I I LITTLE UNEMPLOVMENT ;/ I I I MEDIUM RELIEF ~ATES ~ HIGH REUEF RATES LOW RELIEF RATES LOW WAGE II I MODERATE INCOME HIGH INCOME I I '"' "OUTWARD MOVEMENT OF' LEADERSHIP RAPID MOVEMENT FROM / LOW "MOBILITY RATE CONCENTRATION OF -ILLS" PLACE TO PLACE / ICONCENTRATION OF "GOODS"j The Inner and the Outer City By REV. ERNEST GRAHAM GUTHRIE, D.D., LL.D.
General Director of the Chicago Congregational Union I T IS impossible to describe a Modern American ulation, an accumulation of problems of poverty, City in terms that would be true of all, for they delinquency, and crime. So hostile is this environ- differ widely in what they do to and with hu- ment to human life that, no matter what racial man life. Nor is it easy to describe in general group takes up its aoode in these areas, no matter terms. the varied relationships of the Christian how good the stock from which they have come, Church to these differing patterns of life. We sooner or later the same signs of deterioration becan, however, recognize certain facts that create come starkly revealed. And yet out of these very one of the major problems with which the Church areas have come some of the best life we have, has to deal. There is a flight of human life to- rising on ladders visible and invisible to high wards the suburbs, under the drive of the home- place in industry and commerce, in the arts and making instinct, carrying with it many of the religion, in the public life of the city and the naablest citizens, and much of the wealth and other tion. The outer area of the city, with singular resource that was formerly available for the In- exceptions, in industrial suburbs, and even "subner City. The ultimate result is, that the city has urban slums," is marked by the power of wealth, two sharply contrasted areas. The one is marked the advantages of education and superior trainby poor housing, suffocating densities of pop- ing, and, often by a" deep ignorance of, and de- [291 ]
tachment from, the massed disadvantages to is never primary, although often it grows with human life in the central area from which they the growth of all the rest. This means that every have escaped. suburban church has one such relationship to an The resources of the Christian Church have in institution of the Inner City, and the strongest the main followed the course of this economic and churches may have four or five. On the other social drive. The great churches of the suburbs hand, every institution in the Inner City has, in are, in the first instance, the products of this turn, some three to six suburban churches as an movement, and it would not be difficult to substan- inner circle of dynamic fellowship. This Plan is tiate the thesis that these churches have not only fostered within the general organization of the been built up at the expense of the old mother church for the whole city, and is guided constantly churches of the Inner City, but are still dependent by a Cooperating Committee of eighteen repre- upon them for much of their best Christian lead- sentatives of the suburban churches, but the point ership. This movement of the Church life leaves is that these relationships are direct. They grow behind it a situation that is tragically familiar. at both ends through deepening understanding The older fortresses of the faith and service are, and knowledge, and above all by mutual respect with outstanding exceptions, being constantly de- and mutual service, as common participants in pleted, not only in financial resources but in the one faith and one Christian trust.
character of their ministerial and lay leadership, The various strands of this fellowship are all at the very moment when they are facing new important and for different reasons: and often alien populations and the vast complexity of human problems that are the result of the (1) The local boards of the Inner City institubasic movement referred to above. The total re- tions are drawn from the several churches to sult is that the Christian Church is weaKest, in which they are related, and are so carefully chosen every form of resource, in the very area of the that it is not too much to say that many of these most bitter and complex human need. institutions have a calibre of Christian men and women directing them that is, on the average, But that the Christian Church is not satisfied higher than that of anyone of the suburban to leave this situation as it stands, that it is seek- churches related to them. Nor are these men and ing a way and is finding a way to return in the women concerned with finances and bills alone. power of its faith and service into the Inner City Here is one powerful enough to change the whole there is abundant evidence. It is the purpose of attitude of the police to a foreign group the instithis article to briefly indicate some of the ways tution serves. Another caused even a Judge of a in which this is being, and can be increasingly court to be disciplined for unseemly reference to done by a si.ngle communion, by a united Prot- the race for which the Center was maintained. A estantism, and by the still more comprehensive third reaches into the City government, to correct action of the religious leadership of the city as a the menace to health of open drains and sewers. whole. Still others, of the right training and gifts, help the institution to evolve from simply doing am- The Strategy of a Single Communion The first necessity is for any given communion bulance work for those wounded by hardship and to establish an adequate stake of its own life and evil into a powerful center of thought and action, service in the Inner City. If we leave aside, for striking constructively to eliminate the sources of the moment, the older original churches, this stake misery at their origin.
is represented by a group of institutions that (2) A second and a golden strand is the stream range all the way from Rescue Missions and For- of volunteer assistance in the service of these in- eign-Speaking Churches, to Neighborhood Houses, stitutions. The original settlement movement was which are the Church's forms of the Settlement an effort to give to the blighted areas of our cities Movement, and smaller churches of the conven- the kind of intelligence, high moral character, and tional type. One of the vexed questions within trained service and leadership for education, several of our communions at the present time is recreation, and community reconstruction, of to determine in what proportions its resources which these areas had been depleted. To the set- should be divided between churches that build the tlements of London came some of the best life of fellowship and institutions whose ministry is Oxford and Cambridge Universities. In these poured forth, without hope of any kind of return, training grounds were created some of the great out of the chalice of a self-forgetting service. Proconsuls of the empire who, like Milner in Af- Our problem is to create a vital sense of fellow- rica, however highly placed, never forgot how the ship between these two arms of the Church's serv- other half lived and the high trust they held for ice. In one communion what is known as the Fel- that other half. 'From these suburban churches lowship Plan binds these two groups together in have come volunteers, equaling and sometimes a multitude of strands of which the financial bond surpassing in number, the regular staffs of these
THE INNER AND THE OUTER CITY
MEXICAN BOYS AND GIRLS ENACTING THE CHRISTMAS STORY IN FIRMAN HOUSE, CHICAGO institutions, who have given their talents freely ways consciously and wisely kept subordinate, to communities which yesterday they did not even nevertheless grows in a myriad ways. Equipment arrives, from baseball bats to an organ, for the know existed. institution; boys and girls are given opportunities (3) A third important strand is the leadership to recover their health; scholarships are founded by which the more talented may climb towards at both ends of the relationship. The fellowship high careers; golden ladders are let down into the is conceived to be mutual, and it is increasingly darkness, not one, but many. And when any great becoming so. The business of the leader of the single undertaking for some desperate need of a Inner City institution is to enlarge the social con:" single community is set before the communion as sciousness and quicken the social conscience of a whole, it is not the four or five suburban the suburban church; and, where the leader of churches that are its inner circle of fellowship the suburban church rightly uses his opportunity, alone, that respond, but the entire fellowship of his church, at meeting after meeting, in group churches, rising in a single year to contributions after group, is exposed to the cruel pressure and amounting to $75,000, beyond all that is given by the disfiguring results of the city's pitiless forces, the central organization of the Church. As one on other neighborhoods. But always these tragic of the active leaders in this plan has said, "Its scenes are depicted by a leader who offers through basis is found in the fact that fundamentally each his own institution an arm of Christian service one of us regards himself as a part of this great and power that day in and day out is battling city and the city a part of himself." against these evils for human life. As a consequence, many of these churches are beginning to We turn, for a 'moment, to the old mother ask for surveys of the neighborhoods in which churches in the heart of the city. Some of these their related institutions work to go beyond vague are still strong in membership, in resource and impressions and face directly the bitter facts. influence. They have maintained themselves, amidst the currents and the tides that have swept (4) We can hardly wonder that, where these, others into weakness or oblivion. They are susand other strands, of direct fellowship are grow- tained by the loyalty of members who live in the ing in strength, the financial exchange between these two arms of Christ's service, which is al-
suburbs, but whose spiritual home is in the heart bankruptcy and moral and spiritual treason that of the city. And how greatly some of these old it is? Are no great spiritual questions being churches are maintained, a center of tranquility asked,if not in the churches of the suburbs, then amidst the increasing perturbation, full of deep in the souls of suburban men and women as they and great ministries to myriads of lives otherwise drop off, at their quiet stations in the evening, without close human ties, sanctuaries of all forms and pass, through long avenues of beauty to their and moods of worship, on whose altar, as one of homes, or as, in the morning, their train stops their ministers has said, "will burri unobtrusively for a moment to give them a close sight of the but perpetually, a flame symbolizing the everlast- blighted areas of the great city's life?" ing presence of a Friendly God." Perhaps there is no greater service rendered by the suburbs to In one of our great cities the united religious the Inner City than by those who maintain such leadership has set itself to analyze the forces that loyalties, as long as life lasts, and who are sup- make and mar the city, to give a synoptic picture ported in their loyalty by the approval of minis- of the vast orga'frism, as a whole, and this picture ters and churches in the suburbs who look not at is being painted by economists, by industrialists, their own things alone. by politicians, mid all that great company who know how the segment of its mighty life with On the other hand, is' there anything more which they are familiar came to be, what exactly tragic, and, in a great sense, more unnecessary, are the sources of its evils, and from which directhan the dying back of these great centers of wor- tion its salvation must come. ship for lack of support? One by one they perish within their own little denominational fellowships It is only as the organic wholeness of the city that can no longer maintain them. Will the day slowly forms itself in the minds and hearts and never come when these things will be counted challenges the wills of the total leadership of the among the scandals and the high crimes of our Church, in all its branches, and in all its locations, divided Protestantism? Is there not sufficient that the great Kingdom of cooperative life, topower, despite the tribal spirit that still infects wards which the true Church ever lives and them, working with the rising tide of protest serves, will come to pass. In Elizabeth Goudge's against their divided and composite futility, for "A City of Bells," it is said of the old Canon of the Protestant churches to take their stand on the Cathedral, as he moved, one Christmas eve, this at least, and determine that, no matter who through the slums of that Cathedral city: "He comes or who goes, as long as human life inhabits hated segregation, inevitable though he knew it these inner areas, there shall be enough great to be. He hated the barriers of time and age and churches to give a united witness, a united serv- class and language. He longed for the time when ice, and enduring expression to the high resolve all the different lights carried by man in the pagthat, under God, it will not let the heart of the eantry of life should grow into one." city go. No greater service could the churches of the suburbs, as a whole, of every and all commun- Enough has been said above of the active and ions, render than to take an unbroken stand that serving church in the city to show that those diftheir gifts shall not be made to the Inner City ferent lights have grown into one, wherever privexcept under the high policy and technique of, a ilege has shared with those who lack it, wherever United Church. love has found the way to blend life's myriad lights together, in the fellowship that is of, in, Different Lights Grow Into One and through Christ. But these things, of which we dream, and for which we work, in the great- But these are at best but superficial movements ness of our hope, will never come to pass until the towards the greater solidarity of life, that must power of God in Christ so invests His Church be realized in the Modern City. The church in the that we shall learn anew what the Church is and suburbs must delve deeper into its owngonscience can be when it becomes in reality "the act of God and ask, of those who can answer it, "How came in Christ in the midst of time." these things to be?" What industry was it that enticed these 200,000 Negroes from their cabins There are churches which say to their people in the Southland and hurled them, helpless, into the great maelstrom of the city? By whose mor- that one of the requirements of Christian fellowtal and human enactment do both Church and City have on their hands, this multitude of ap- ship is service for which no material reward is parently insoluble problems? paid. One church has, in addition to those who "By whose retreat from citizenship of the great city into the toy citizenship of the beautiful sub- give service in its own program, nearly one hunurban village, does municipal government become the combination of graft and cloaked crime of dred and fifty members who regularly each week are working in the community as volunteers in Christ's name. They are teaching the blind, work- ing in hospitals, calling on the aged, leading groups in boys' and girls' clubs, helping out in other churches. ROBERT W. SEARLE.
A United Church
By the REV. GORDON R. LAHRSON, New York Minister of the Henry Street United Church I NTERDENOMINATIONALISM has often been greener pastures. Why move as long as the com- an interesting subject for speculation and de- munity is filled with human beings whom the bate. The recent conferences in Oxford and Church of Christ is supposed to serve, regardless Edinburgh indicate certain avenues of cooperative of their social or economic rating? effort upon which all Protestant groups may travel. Too frequently, however, the much-ado These two churches have had a flexible minisabout denominations getting together has been try which has sought to interpret the message of like Mark Twain's observation concerning the Christ in light of the human problems and condiweather, it is a subject of much talk but nothing tions in the community. No church can long exist is done about it. While a feeling of helplessness in Manhattan with a static program. Traditional may be justified in the attempt to bring about practices must often yield to newer methods; and ecclesiastical union between certain denominations, church union is being successfully attempted yet, is not the glory of a rich tradition for any .inon the common ground of Christian service. stitution a ministry of service with enough viSIOn Two of the oldest churches in Manhattan, the and understanding to adapt itself to the deepest Mariners'Temple (Baptist) and the Sea and Land needs of men? (Presbyterian), have now joined forces in a united Christian program. The ministers and Mariners' Temple was built in 1795 as the workers in the two churches have been brought Oliver Street Baptist Church and is the oldest together and a coordination of activities has been Baptist edifice in New York City. It was rebuilt affected. While each church maintains its eccle- in 1844, and since that time has been known as siastical identity, all worship and service enter- Mariners' Temple. It is frequently referred to prises have been combined under one adminis- as the "Mother of Churches," several Baptist churches in the city having sprung from it– tration. American, Chinese, Danish, Italian, Norwegian, In evaluating this significant step of church Lettish, Swedish and Russian. Baptist work in Sweden, Norway and Denmark was begun by seaunion, one must recognize the drastic changes men who were members of Mariners' Temple. which have taken place in downtown New York, During the pioneer days, other members of the affecting every aspect of community life. With "Mother Church" were instrumental in organizing the shifting of Anglo-Saxon populations away churches in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. A very from the downtown area, the vast majority of impressive work was carried on among seamen in churches have joined in the exodus. This commu- the early days and from this ministry came the nity upheaval, however, has not resulted in a name by which the church has been popularly dearth of human beings. Great masses are forced known. The daily and nightly ministry to hometo live in these congested areas, in a setting which less men has been an outstanding feature of the lacks many cultural and spiritual advantages. work, and throughout its history this church has People with small incomes must dwell in these opened its doors to people of high and low degree. deteriorated, tenement districts. The same has been true of the Church of the Only a few of the old churches have been able Sea and Land. The present building goes back to to remain to interpret Christ's way of life to the the year 1817. It has had a dramatic history. throngs of human souls who must live in these Frederick Bruckbauer's book, "The Kirk on "haunts of wretchedness and need." Among the Rutgers Farm," portrays the thrilling story of few the Mariners' Temple and the Church of Sea this church up to the year 1919. George Alexand'Land are outstanding examples. Facing the ander, in his introduction to the book, made this social changes of more than a hundred years in revealing observation: the lower east side, these churches have stayed on the job, adapting their ministry to meet the needs In its first half century it sheltered a worshipping conof the changing population. They did not run gregation of staid Knickerbocker type, which, though blest away when their leading members moved to with a ministry of extraordinary ability and spiritual power, succumbed to its unfriendly environment and per- ished.
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In its second half-century it became the home of a flock who come for aid. A large number have been of God, poor in this world's goods, but rich in faith, to whom the environment even when changing from bad to given a new hold on life through this work. worse, was a challenge to faith and valiant service. ("The The week is filled with many activities, includ- Kirk on Rutgers Farm," Frederick Bruckbauer, page 5.) ing movies for children, Weekday Church School, The Sea and Land has carried on work not only Boys' and Girls' Clubs, Greek Service, Spanish for English-speaking peoples but for Italians, Service, meetings of Italian groups, Women's So- Greeks, Russians, Spaniards and Jews. At pres- cieties, Gymnasium Classes and Socials. ent, the Italian congregation ranks as one of the strong, foreign-speaking Protestant groups in the The work with children and young people is one city. For many years Sea and Land also had an of the most challenging aspects of the program, important work with seamen when such a minis- for the building of Christian character in childtry was vitally needed. Always the purpose has hood and adolescence constitute a major function been to serve the people of the community. Mr. of every Christian church. Bruckbauer fittingly expressed the spirit of the church. The lower ea~ side is rapidly changing. The new Knickerbocker Village, with its 1,600 fam- ilies, has already made a difference. It is like a lovely oasis in the midst of a desert. The Henry Never has this been a selfish, self-contained organism, Street United Church is providing a place in its but a living, throbbing influence that went out beyond the program of worship and service for the unshadow of its gray walls, prodigal in giving to others the churched people who live there. At present, good things of the gospel that were fostered there. Many scores of old tenement buildings are being torn a church at home and abroad has cause to bless Market Street for the men and women that she brought up in the down, and a re-zoning of the entire district is benurture and admonition of the Lord. ("The Kirk on ing proposed, making it predominantly residential. Rutgers Farm," Bruckbauer, page 105.) If these plans are carried out, a new community Today, the Henry Street United Church brings will come into being. Whatever the changes, together these famous institutions. Once again, Henry Street United Church will once more seek they have met the need of a change which means to adapt its ministry to meet the needs of the more effective service. Each group discovered people.
that it was seeking to do alone that which could be Many hope that there will be enough social accomplished more effectively in a cooperative imagination to provide the kind of housing that enterprise. There has not been the disposition on will be decent and respectable and at the same the part of either church to bemoan the loss of de- time within the economic means of families now nominational glory. Rather, there is a sense of living in the tenements. Those who work in pride in being a part of a denominationalism that underprivileged areas are keenly aware that has the glory of an interdenominational spirit and Christianity must do more than extend the hand a cooperative movement for the common good of of personal kindness. These people need also a the community. social and economic environment with the kind of This Union has made possible stronger leader- soil in which the seeds of personal character can ship and the interchanging of ideas and the fel- grow. When such conditions are provided, the lowship under a united staff of workers. Both beauty and power of the Christian life will find buildings are used: Mariners' Temple (at 3 Henry the best opportunity for expression. Then the Street) and the Sea and Land (at 61 Henry missionary efforts of the church will count for the Street) are only one block apart and the two most. "Men do not gather grapes of thorns or buildings provide adequate equipment for the figs of thistles." Truly this principle applies to work. The Sunday program includes Church social as well as to personal living.
School, Morning Worship, Italian Service in the The vision and support of this united enterprise afternoon, Young People's Meeting and Evening come from the New York City Baptist Mission Worship. Society, the Church Extension Committee of the The ministry of the United Church to homeless New York Presbytery and the New York City men is unique. A Service is held for them every Mission (interdenominational). The work of the night in Hubbell Hall of Mariners' Temple. Food Henry Street United Church is indicative of the and free lodging are provided daily for as large a indispensable part which City Societies have in number as can be accommodated. During the win- bringing the Christian message to our crowded ter as many as 200 men are kept for a single night. urban communities. The splendid way in which Friendly counsel is given to individuals as young these societies have been working together in and old pour out their heart-breaking stories of sponsoring the work reveals a significant phase misfortune. The purpose of this ministry is to of interdenominational cooperation. We have dis- aid in the rehabilitation of manhood. Frequently covered that such church union is a great success men of fine education and culture are among those when expressed in terms of Christian service.
"What Can a Suburban Church Do?"
By the REV. FRANK FlIT, D.D.
The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan T HIS church is situated three miles from the applies to all of life across the whole world, the official limits and nine miles from the chief groundwork is laid for a vital and intelligent serv- shopping center of the fourth largest city in ice to the multitudes who live in the near-by city.
the United States. It stands on the rim of a half- The condition of the world since 1914 has been circle of twenty square miles containing nearly compelling us to loosen and to thrust away our two million people. Within that half-circle are theological strait-jackets. Now, in this year gathered races and religions from all the world. 1938, as all of us are compelled to gaze at the very We have almost a thousand adult members, per- pit of hell by the terrible course of events, we see haps fifteen per cent of whom would be reckoned clearly, as never before, the true meaning of in the well-to-do class. A similar proportion Christ's message of salvation to mankind. That would be counted at the other end of the economic message means redemption for a man's nature, scale. The remaining seventy per cent of the for his home, for his school, for his shop and members belong to the middle-class group, neither store 'and factory and for his local and state and rich, nor poor. All local groups are represented, national government. It is a message for a man take part in the services and sit on the official and for the society in which he lives. It is for the boards. We have a very adequate church house individual and for all men. This is the conviction in which a program is carried on seven days a by which we Christians truly live and serve. week. In its tradition and opportunity there is nothing in what this particular church may offer Bonds of Service and Understanding to the near-by city which cannot be offered by al- Such a conception of the Christian Gospel is most any of the thousands of Protestant suburban certain to bear fruit in a process of education and churches surrounding the ninety-four cities of the service between the suburban church and the city. United States which in the 1930 census had a pop- It is quite incredible that such a Gospel should be ulation of over one hundred thousand. Some proclaimed and accepted without a constantly inchurches, more favored by resources and per- creasing interchange of information and effort. sonnel and opportunity, can offer more, and some Like other churches this church has its regular churches, less favored, can offer less. services of prayer and praise and instruction.
Th~ First Essential Here are some sample speeches addressed to groups in the interests of the city in recent weeks. Surely the first essential of such a church in its In their aggregate they were heard by the maoffering to the city is that the Christian Gospel jority of the adult members of the church. proclaimed from its pulpit, believed in by its members and assumed in its program from begin- "Making a Department Store a Civic Institution," by ning to end, is as broad and deep as human life the publicity director of a large department store; and its varied needs. Although the Grosse Pointe Farms church must of necessity bear certain "Mosaic or Melting Pot," by a member of the Detroit labels, in the sense that it is Presbyterian in its Council of Social Agencies; connection and witnesses to evangelical Christianity, there is nothing denominational in its offering "Life in a Settlement House," by the director of a setto the city. We believe that the Christian Gospel tlement; is greater than anyone parish or any single denomination, and that the flow of a redeeming and "Security amidst Uncertainty," by the special supertransforming Divine Grace can come down all visor of the Detroit Edison Company; channels that minister truly to mankind in the name of Christ. When such a conception of the "Cooperatives in Michigan," by an authority on coop- Gospel is proclaimed and believed, when the as- eratives; sumption of the entire parish is that the Gospel "The Church and Youth Delinquency," by a member of the Social Service Department of the Detroit Council of Churches; "The Negro of Detroit," by an authority; "Human Interest in Industry," by the personnel director of a large automobile company; "Bargaining between Employer and Employee," by an official in a large industry; [ 297]
"The Christian Approach to the Jew," by a Christian perance organization. Again the list might be minister, formerly Jewish; considerably extended. Almost every man and woman who holds an official position within the "Detroit's Challenge to the Churches," by the director membership also holds some official position in of the Church Extension Board, given before the the agencies which minister to Detroit's need, and Sunday morning congregation. many other men and women in the membership, holding no special responsibility within the parish, In the yearly program of activities there are are giving hours of their time each week to some many carefully planned service projects. The var- outside service. ious groups within the parish are brought into contact with the city needs and institutions. Some Two decades ago a distinguished English samples of this in recent weeks are listed. preacher who exercised a remarkable ministry on New York's Fifth Avenue is reported to have said The Married People's Class visited the Florence that one of his major problems was that he did Crittenton Home on a Sunday afternoon; not have sufficient tasks to offer to his people. That can only be true if the tasks are limited to The Women's Association visited a Community the local church organization. After all, there are House in an underprivileged district directed only a limited number of services within the local by our denomination; church, and the larger the parish the less is the proportion who can serve. But outside the church, A Professional Women's Club sponsored a Sun- particularly if that church be in or near a city, day night story hour at a Protestant Chil- there is no limit upon the opportunity for service. dren's Home; The mission Sunday Schools, the hospital boards, the settlement houses, the Y. W. C. A., and the Sunday School classes visited Negro churches, Y: M. C. A.-there is almost no end to the open- hospitals, old peoples' homes, settlements, ings. Heroic workers among the underprivileged bringing toys, clothing, etc. are sighing for the active personal assistance of the men and women of the churches. Let it be The list could be made much longer. Through- understood that every church member is expected out the year numerous organized trips take place. to serve his fellows by attaching himself to some The effort is made to give every member of the agency which ministers to human need. church a chance to become acquainted with the needy phases of Detroit's life and to appreciate The Offering in Money the methods by which the Christian forces are meeting those needs. It is safe to claim that no The question of the financial responsibility of adult member of the parish has any excuse for the suburban church is left to the last. That is pleading ignorance of the open sores of civiliza- where it belongs. First must come the proclamation in the city so close at hand. tion of the Christian message and the obligation to shoulder the responsibility. Then must come The Offering in Personnel the education in vivid terms of the proportions of the responsibility. Then must come the actual When such a Gospel is proclaimed, and when working amid the need. Then, last of all and with such an inter-related program of education is af- this careful preparation, is the' basis laid which forded, it is to be expected that earnest-minded makes the financial appeal compelling. Convicand devoted men and women within the church tion, education, participation, giving-those are membership will offer themselves for service and the four steps in the full rich contact between the accept positions of responsibility in those religious suburban church and the city. And the methods and philanthropic organizations which minister by which the money will be collected will be nudirectly to the needs of the city. A trustee and merous. Who can chart them? In the local treasurer of our church is the active head and church there is the official treasurer of benevoldirector of the Detroit Community Fund under ences. There are the gifts from Sunday School which some eighty agencies minister to the life classes and other groups. There are the appeals of the city, many of them under Christian aus- from the agencies outside the church. There is pices. The president of the trustees is also presi- the Community Fund through which most givers dent of a leading hospital board, and a former in these days prefer to donate their largest subpresident of the trustees is president of another scriptions. In addition, there are the ,anonymous hospital board. The teacher of a woman's class offerings which keep coming in, the private exin our Sunday School is president of the Detroit pressions of an earnest generosity which the giver Y. W. C. A. The president of our Women's Asso- would reveal only to God. Who can measure all ciation is also president of Detroit's Women's City of these? After all, it is not the method, but the Club and a former president of our Association motive behind it, which counts. is president of Detroit's Colony Club. A woman member of the church is president of Detroit's Protestant Children's Home. Another member is treasurer of the same institution. Still another member is president of the Allied Youth, a tem-
It would be quite impossible, even if it were de- of the evicted family into their new home. After sirable, to reckon up the giving in money to the that he slipped away without even stopping to tell needs of Detroit by the members of this parish. his name. Adding together amounts that are known, through the church treasurers, through the Detroit Com- Just as there is courage and practical kindness munity Fund and through other channels, it would so, too, there is happiness and love. But the handequal several times the budget of the local church. icaps are too great-the blight and misery and In all probability it should be much greater than waste of life are tragic. it is. There are few among us who really give away money to the point where it means personal The people whom you have met in the foregodeprivation. Let us be grateful for the number, ing pages are not creatures of the imaginationfound among rich and moderately circumstanced they are actual human beings. In some instances and poor, who really give to the point of sacrifice the details of their stories have been somewhat and set the standard for the rest of us. altered. In no instance has a story been exagger- ated. And they are not all dwellers in one city. This is a brief report of what one suburban Moreover, their counterparts may be found in any church is attempting to accomplish in the direc- one of the 6'06 communities in the United States tion of the great city on the border of which it having a population of 1'0,'0'0'0 or more-part of an stands. Undoubtedly other suburban churches are aggregate population of more than 64,'0'0'0,'0'00. doing more. Some suburban churches, because of limitations beyond their control, are not able to Has not every city its lonely aged, its physicaldo as much. The point is that every suburban ly, socially, and economically handicapped, its negchurch must do what it can. The order and lected and delinquent children? Are there not in method of procedure, as it has been found fruitful nearly every city one or more groups which suffer in at least one such church, has been pointed out. from prejudice and discrimination? It has been The Christian Gospel, wide, deep and high, in its said that "every American community has its New Testament power and glory, for every aspect slums or substandard area." And every city has of human need; the carefully planned, educational its impoverished families whose income is less connection between the agencies of the church and than the amount necessary for the maintenance of the agencies of the city; the going forth of con- healthy life. secrated men and women within the church to minister where they are needed, offering their These then are neighbors to us all! varied talents to the varied opportunities; and lastly, and as a natural result, the giving of money MARK A. DAWBER. to support the good causes. Surely this is what any suburban church can do for any city. What we Christians have to give is Christ and NEIGHBORS IN THE SLUMS what we have to tell to this urban world is the It is well to remember that there is probably story of Christ. We want to give to the present more courage to the square foot in the slums than on the avenues. And there is abounding kind- world once again the teaching of Christ. One of ness among the poor. Dickens said, "What the poor mean to the poor only God and the poor the reasons why some of the strong and powerful know." people in our big or little communities have been I remember a man who, coming home after a fruitless quest for work, found an unknown neigh- so hesitant with respect to what their duties are bor's goods upon the sidewalk. The evicted family were just sitting there, dejected and helpless. in a modern world, with its constantly demanding The returning job seeker took the situation in at a glance, rolled a barrel to the middle of the side- social changes, is that they have not paid adequate walk, placed a pan upon it, and appealed to everyone who came along the street. When money attention to the teaching of Jesus Christ. The enough had been secured he searched the neighberhood until he found an available fiat, paid a most sure approach we have to make to the people month's rent in advance, and then recruited a gang of men who moved the household possessions in our churches, when we wish to impress upon them the real significance of what is called the social gospel, is what Jesus himself taught. We begin with the assumption that when the Lord Jesus spoke He knew that He was speaking with authority. We are having to begin to present that argument all over again. I heard one person, who was engaged in the marvelous task of religious education, teaching the Christian religion to chil- dren and young people; one of the first things he told them was that they "should not assume that what Jesus said was right," but that they must hear Him critically. It is a help to me to know that Jesus was right, that He really spoke with authority. J. V. MOLDENHAWER.
MONEY IS MYSELF – IS IT MINE? * How can we raise a generation of men and women who will understand the truth about the stewardship of money? Here is a financial creed for Christians who wish to be good stew- ards: 1. Money is not "filthy lucre"; it is not the "devil's coin"; it is stored-up power. Money is much more than a standard medium of exchange. Money represents coined manhood. The five or ten dollars or more paid me for a day's work represents so much toil of my hand and brain. Through money I can also employ men to toil for me. Thus it sets me free from the limits of place so that I can heal the sick in China, or teach the children of India, or light up the dark places of Africa.
2. My money is mine only in trust; it belongs to God, sinc~I myself belong to Him. He created me, and created wealth. Christ redeemed me-purchased me with His own life- blood.
3. God is expecting me to use this money-this stored-up power-to build His churches and preach His gospel, to train His workers and send them out to teach and heal, and to save His children and help establish His rule of righteousness and brotherhood and peace.
4. To use my income aright so as to please God is one of my first responsibilities as a Chris- tian. Until I make up my mind to do this, my prayers and confessions and claims will be like saying "Lord, Lord," while not doing the will of my Father.
5. God tells me to set aside a definite proportion of my income for His work. By this I acknowledge my debt to God and His sovereignty over all my possessions. By acting on this principle, I also guard against selfishness. Giving away money on impulse and without prayer and regularity is not in harmony with the importance of God's work.
6. The proportion of my income set aside for God's purposes should be not less than one- tenth and may be much more, according to the standard given in the Old Testament. I am re- ceiving far more from God than did the ancient Hebrews or the men of any former generation, and God expects me to give not less than one-tenth and more if I am able, for my debt is great and the need is great.
7. I should seek to use money for God as carefully as I use my resources in my ordinary business. I should study the needs of the Church and the world-wide work of Christ so that I will give wisely. If I give systematically and pray with my giving, God will multiply my gift and bless the results.
8. But money is not only a means of service, it may also be a dangerous weapon. It com- mands so many things that men often forget the real values which it can never purchase: the riches of righteousness, love, happiness, a clear conscience and fellowship with God. Three rich men stand forth in prominence in the Gospel pages. One was a fool who bartered his soul for barns and acres; one was a man hard of heart and blind, who saw neither God nor his beggar brother at his door. The third lacked the courage to leave his wealth and choose the higher good by following Jesus.
9. Money spells opportunity. Today, when money offers men so many chances for self- indulgence, it also brings great opportunities for loving service. Never were doors, at home and abroad, so wide open and so appealing. Never were the forces for education and evan- gelism and Christian service so well organized. Never were there so many men and women waiting to be put into service through the use of money.
10. Money also spells obligation. Not only are the Church and Jesus Christ saying this, but the State is saying it, and so are conscience and common sense. Christian faith and loyal- ty are not shown by those who leave large gifts to heirs who have not earned it, who do not need it, and who cannot be trusted to administer it wisely. But the greatest responsibility is not in leaving money behind when we can no longer use it; the greatest obligation is in the use if it while we live. What a tremendous obligation rests upon the man who has been entrusted with wealth or the ability to get wealth. The war against poverty and suffering and igno- rance and sin is with us all the time; money is one great weapon against these, when entrust- ed to wise heads and loving hearts. It is a powerful means by which my life may be given to God and made more fruitful and beneficial to mankind.
• Adapted from the United Ohurch Reoord.
Ways of
'fested Met1wds for Increasing Interest at Home EDITED BY MRS. ESTELLA S. AITCHISON, GRANVILLE, OHIO NEW HOME MISSION women will have a part in writing the reading up on the subject will BUILDING MATERIAL programs for the eleven meetings of convince you of its significance the year. .. . Mrs. Dan Brummitt, and its possibilities. Program The Department Editor is national vice-president, will plan the handicapped, as always at this lessons and point out "The Skyline of builders will be interested in the City." Bridges in History and Legend, time of the year, by the fact that "Widening Horizons" will be a two- by W. J. and S. R. Watson, a book brimful of poems, stories, the program builders to whom months' study of the fields and projshe usually turns for "Effective quotations, etc. Ask for it at Ways of Working" have not yet ects of the women's missionary enter- your public library." (Suggested prise of the M. E. Church:. this 'U!i~l include both home and !oretgn actwt- had opportunity to familiarize ties. for reference only.) themselves with the new study "New Horizons in Christian Relabooks and incorporate them into "The function of bridges may workable plans in time for the tiohs" will be a two-months' study of be described as the starting of a June issue, copy for which must the missionary work of the women of stream of human traffic hitherto be sent weeks in advance of pub- the M. E. Church South and the Meth- impossible; the surmounting of lication. Some of the denomina- odist Protestant Church. This is to a barrier, the linking up of two tional magazines ann 0 u n c e give understanding and preparation worlds divided by a gulf." (Enfrankly that "While information for future relationships with all the cyclopredia. ) as to themes and titles of text- women of United Methodism. books can be furnished, the "There can be little doubt that study courses cannot be ready An Achievements Poster upon which in many ways the story of bridge earlier than June." Hence it goals accomplished may be marked building is the story of civilizawill be necessary to supplement will again be included in the study tion." (Franklin D. Roosevelt.) 'our material on the Home Mis- course. sion topic, "The City," with Most of these programs verify other timeless plans which can Bridges the theme in that they disregard be adapted to any program pres- the invidious distinction between entation, and await the harvest This has been chosen for the the "home" and the "foreign" from summer conferences for theme of the women of the sections of the world-field and more specific outlines. Northern Baptist Convention present a blended and unified for 1938-39. It is a particularly theme. Much abbreviated, they "Forward Looking Plans" fertile and adaptable one. run as follows: Under this title Woman's The builder who first bridged Ni- THE INTER-BOROUGH BRIDGE Home Missions says: agara's gorge, The Bridge which Connects Our Before he swung his cable shore to City with God's City shore, "A Prayer for the City," from Sent out across the gulf his venturing kite Bearing a slender cord for unseen hands To grasp upon a farther cliff and draw The ,Forward Looking Committee A greater cord, and then a greater Prayers of the Social Awakenfelt that the task they faced this year yet; ing, by Rauschenbusch. was somewhat different from that of former committees. Naturally, they Till' at last across the chasm swung Ten-minute Talk, "The City" should be forward looking in offering The cable-then the mighty bridge in (its growth in the last decades, plans for the year's study in methods its importance in our civilization and achievement. They should also air. today. The sociology teacher in cultivate a spirit of readiness for new So we may send our little timid near-by high school or college adjustments that would help every would have material for rewoman to look farther in her own mis- thought sponse. See "City Man," chapsionary service and relationship than Across the void, out to God's reaching ters 1 and 2). she has ever done before. "New Horizons" therefore was the theme chosen hands, Ten-minute Talk, "What Our for the coming year. Send out our love and faith to thread Church Can Do for the City" (t h r 0 ugh establishing new Mrs. Merle English, secretary of the deep, churches, through the Christian Wesleyan Service Guild and a mem- Thought after thought until the little ber of the "Spiritual Life Committee cord Has greatened to a chain no chance can break, And-we are anchored to the Infinite!
EDWIN MARKHAM.
will write the devotional book, "New "If on first thought 'Bridges' Center, by helping our bilingual Horizons in Worship." Conference women, missionaries, seems an unusual theme for mis- neighborhood church. If you sionary programs, even a hasty live in a city secure a map and national officers and local auxiliary [301 ]
locate the projects of its city means the professors as well. every woman into the church, in mission work). Education must be evangelized." friendship, getting our neigh- Ten-minute devotional. (The Bible begins in a garden but (E. Stanley Jones.) bors, in evangelism, getting the soon drives man out. It then tells about cities. It ends with Panel Discussion: Why Is strength of united effort in orthe City of God coming down out of heaven. Gen. 1: 1-5, 27-31. Education a Legitimate Interest ganized missionary work, to get Amos 5: 4-24. Rev. 2'1: 1-7. Pray that our cities may become of a MissionarySociety? (Choose power for all in Jesus Christ God's cities.) at least five intelligent persons (the devotional). THE PEACE BRIDGE seated around a table discussing ON THE BRIDGE The Bible in Many Languages this question. They might con- Missionaries, reaching the sider (1) need of trained work- This program is on the responpeople, had to become the philologists and translators of the ers in local churches, (2) train- sibility of each individual for world, in order to supply the Bible. Thus they built the lexi- ing of future lay readers in our Christian Citizenship. It lends cons and grammars and translated the Bible into over 100 lan- home mission fields, (3) need of itself especially well to another guages in Africa and more than a score in India-more than 600 trained native leaders in the for-'" consideration of "The City." A living languages the world over today. Thus they surmounted eign field, (4) our contribution round table discussion on "The the lingual barriers and built bridges of intercommunication as (insert name of the denomina- Needs of Your Community" is and possible understanding. tion) to denominational schools suggested, with sub-topics as Through the printed word, inclusive of magazines and papers, in America, our educational follows: we are helping to build the foundations for Christian literature work abroad, to union Christian (1) The Temperance Advocatein lands where reading will be colleges. Other suggestions are What is being done in temperance one of the chief methods of edu- (1) a reception to the graduates education, the number of local places cation. Acts 2: 5-12. Psalm 19: 1-4. Dan. 7: 13, 14. in the local church, (2) presenta- dispensing liquor, etc. t I·On f the work f th e IocaI st u- Ar(e2)thTehekinMd ootifonpicPtiucrteusreshSowcnouitn- Five-minute talks on (a) the your community the kind you want American Indian Bible, (b) the 0 0 young people to see? etc. Spanish Bible, (c) the Burmese Bible, (d) Bible translations into dent counsellor, (3) arousing the language of India. interest in some near-by denom- Review the work of the Com- inational college.) (3) The Reporter on Gamblingmittee on Christian Literature Closing prayer for youth What is being done to obliterate it for Women and Children in Mission Fields, as this is the project around the world. This program locally? for the World Day of Prayer. Iends 1·tseIf to theCl·ty t heme. you(4r ) grTohuep, Pyeoaucer cPormompaugnaitnyd,istta-kinIgs In advance, ask the member- THE SILVER BRIDGE part in the study of international reship to bring Bibles in other lan- This is a meeting for exhibi- lations? In the Peace Movement? guages. tion of White Cross gifts (for mission hospital work) , and (5) The Member of the League of THE BRIDGE IN BUILDING Women Voters-The voter's obliga- tion in community and national af- Our Students suggests that they be arranged fairs. "The Christian Church must set· its own house in order and as for a shower, with ribbon tied THE OLD COVERED BRIDGE get ready for the greatest crisis to each hidden gift. Give each in history. . . . It must win the Village Work in India students. The students have member a ribbon and let her changed. Never have they been hunt for the "shower gift." On With masses of India crossing more open and responsive than each gift has been fastened a tag the bridge from ignorance and now to a message that is sincere, containing a fact or two about superstition to new life, the topic real and adequate. . We must the missionary for whom it is in- symbolizes the old ways giving launch a" nation-wide movement tended, the tags to be taken home place to the new. to win the high school, the college, the university students to as souvenirs. When all packages 1. Describe life in villages of India. have been found, group them ac- 2. Review work of our Christian centhe Christian Way. And this cording to their destination ready for presentation by the ters in that country. president to the guests of honor 3. Ten-minute discussion of the values (impersonated by members of of Christian centers in rural com- the society), each such "guest" munities. responding with an account of 4. Moving picture or stereoptic·on lec- her work and the joy the gifts ture on "Village Life in India." 5. Base devotionals on the villages in which Christ lived and worked.
will bring. A summer Christ- THE TOWER BRIDGE mas tree or an umbrella ar- ranged like a tree with gifts tied The Ministry of Healing a Tower on may be substituted. of Strength to All Nations Prayer that the gifts may Arrange program specific to bridge the distance and carry the medical mission work of the love of Jesus to those receiv- your denominaton, having "A ing the articles. Consultation of Doctors in In- dia," contrasting hospital work THE SWING BRIDGE used by missionary pioneers and ours today, impersonating actual HTo-geth-er-to-get-her"
This may consist of five-min- medical missionaries nQW Qn ute talks in regard to getting their felds.. etc.
EFFECTIVE WAYS OF WORKING
THE FOOT BRIDGE books, to be hunted for and read "I also knew a Methodist; He couldn't sing, he said. It Connects Our Neighbor's when all are found. He'd holler 'glory' loud enough, Home with Ours The missions end of the en- To almost raise the dead. "Seeing You r Neighbor," velope tells the story of life But as to his apportionment, "Loving Your Neighbor," "The Neighbor's Response," might be abundant or its lack. Though his barns were waxtopics under which to consider Stewardship ought not to be ing fat, this theme, the last being by women in the old-world costume thought of primarily in terms of His s h 0 uti n g wasn't loud and the new. enough possessions. Neither can it be thought of apart from posses- To ever help raise that!
sions. Charity that begins at home, THE TOLL BRIDGE and stays. at home, dies of close "God bends from heaven above confinement. . A Visualization.of the Budget and says: MARION LAWRANCE. 'I gave thee the gift of Life; On a map of the world mark *** Art thou not blessed in many your location and church, then William Allen White, in mak- ways?
from this take bright ribbons to ing a magnificent gift to human- Are my heaven and earth at the countries in which your home ity, said that there are three strife?
and foreign missionaries are la- kicks in every dollars: one kick I gave thee of my seed to sow; boring, giving number of mis- when you earn it; one when you Bring thou Me thy hundredsionaries in each country, the save it; and one when you give fold.' high lights of their work, etc., it away. *** Can I look up with face aglow closing with a meditation on And answer, 'Father, here is "Are We Faithful Stewards." Give more if you would have gold?' " Opening of gift boxes. more, Spend less and you will want *** THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE Time: A recent Sunday morn- less, "Christ – the Invisible Bridge Keep all and you will lose all. ing. Place: A near-by drug store. that Leads from Earth MAE ROTHROCK. Customer: "Give me change for a dime, please." to Heaven" *** Clerk: "Certainly, and I hope Reading of Longfellow's poem One of the biggest and short- you enjoy the sermon!" on "Follow Me." est sermons ever preached was *** Solo, "Were You There When that by Dean Swift on an occa- They Crucified My Lord ?" sion when a special appeal was Dramatization-"The Proces- being made for funds. The The Miser: sion of the Ages," covering wom- Bishop of London had been in- "Pity that poor old man whose en of Christ's day, saints of the vited to give the sermon of the golden store, middle ages, frontier women, occasion, but when he failed to If stacked, were high as foreign-speaking neighbors in appear, Dean Swift was called yonder minaret; America today, women of other upon. He mounted the pulpit Yea, pity him; he covets lands, women of the Church to- and said, "My text is, 'He that more and moreday, etc. (This is to be secured giveth to the poor lendeth to the His soul has never had a from Baptist state promotion Lord.' Those who believe in the birthday yet." offices, but could readily be im- security, down with the cash!" *** -From "The Window of provised as desired by those out- Y. W. A."
side the denomination.) "We can do more than we've The Secret of Power The suggestion is made that ever done, this meeting be held in the form And not feel a whit the The secret of Christianity is of a Spring Breakfast, asking worse; that you can have Power if you women to respond briefly to the Loving never emptied a heart, are willing to accept Jesus Christ topics of Love, Joy, Peace, Go- Nor did giving empty a as a Lord and yield the absolute ing, Coming, Getting, the last purse." allegiance to him. Do you think talk being on "Christ." Each *** St. Francis or Luther or Carey woman lights a candle in a "Once I knew a Baptist; or Wesley did what they did in seven-branched candlestick as He had a pious look, their own power? These men she finishes, the central candle He had been wholly im- were certain that they did not. representing Christ. mersed- And so were Moody and Philips Sayings on the Subject Except his pocketbook. Brooks. So in fact are all those of Giving He'd put a nickel on the plate who really produce abiding re- And then with might and sults. One and all, they say, "It Arrange the s e attractively main is God who worketh in us." And and let members of the circle He'd sing, 'When we asunder God will work in you if you de- read them. They may be in a part sire to have him.
basket, on flowers, or hidden in It gives us inward pain.' ROBERT W. SEARLE.
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BULLETIN Council of Women for Home Missions EDITED BY MISS EDITH E. LOWRY, 297 FOURTH AVENUE, Nmv YORK, N. Y.
——-~·-.–I~ THE CITY AND OLD face the inevitable and do all in ting acquainted. The Indian our power to help in the adjust-" school and the missionaries could AMERICANS ments which must be made. help by letting city churches know where their people "go There is much discussion re- Although the majority of the garding "minority g r 0 ups." into town" to live; then be will- Who are they? A Mashpee Indian young men and women ing to go nine-tenths of the way. (American) ,Indian boy on Cape from the schools return to their The Indians are reserved and Cod was refused work recently home communities or take posibecause he was an alien. An fear they are not wanted. Give Oneida woman in Milwaukee tions in the government service them a place in the church and was asked how long it was since there are many who are seeking a share in its work. Do not treat her people came to this country. education, professional or busi- them as novelties. They make She answered, "several years"; ness training or work in the not wishing, she told me, to em- true and loyal friends and it is barrass those kind white ladies towns and cities near or far worth much effort to secure this by telling them who she really from the reservations. In some loyalty and friendship for our- s tat e s, Oklahoma especially, selves and our churches. was! many Indian families live in the "But how do they happen to As proof of what can be done towns which have grown up on we can look at the clubs of Inbe in the cities?" is a question their former reservations. They dian girls in City Y. W. C. A.'s. often asked. And the next one are at home and yet are pracis, "Are there any in my town?" The oldest club in the Oakland, For many years some of us have tically strangers in these new California, Association is the had countless opportunities of communities. Children are en- Four Winds Club. Reno, Neintroducing our friends to the tering into all phases of public aliens among whom they as a vada, has two clubs, the newest minority group have come to school life but few of them have one for the Indian girls in public find work and to live in the found their pIa c e in the school. The Los Angeles Club is strange new world which has churches. grown up on old camp grounds perhaps the oldest. It was where the deer and the buffalo Studies of various kinds and around 25 years ago that Cynare no more. Why do they come? in various cities have been made thia Big Tree was president. regarding their Indian citizens Years ago I asked Miss Julia Her husband posed for the Lathrop what we could do to and transient dwellers. The statue, "The End of the Trail," keep Indian young people from most complete is that made by but as he had short hair, Cynthia going to the cities. "Nothing," Mr. G. E. E. Lindquist, of the posed for the long braids. They she answered quickly, "Why Society for the Propagation of should they differ from any were beautiful as she presided at young people in feeling the lure the Gospel, of Oklahoma City, the club meetings. Syracuse, of the city?" This was even be- with the cooperation of the Min- New York, has the most eastern fore the movies were as wide- isterial Alliance, the Y. M. C. A., spread as they are now, with of these clubs, which are to be their pictures of the wealth and the Y. W. C. A., and the Indian found in many cities east, west, wonders of the city, and before Service Employment officers. It north and south. Then there drouth and dust bowls and grass- is impossible to give even a sum- are the cities in which the Inhoppers were driving all before mary of the report in this arthem. dian girls have become so much ticle, but it shows that other a part of the community and the Miss Lathrop did not mean cities should be studied in the Association that they join clubs that we should not make every same manner, and ways opened effort to keep Indian Youth from and classes with girls of all races the economic struggle to which by which the churches can serve and no longer feel happier in they were wholly unaccustomed, this group. It was found that segregating themselves. but she did mean that we must the majority of the Indians in Oklahoma City were members of This transition from segrega- the Mission churches at their tion to complete friendliness homes-the very missions prob- with all, is taking place in the ably to which these city churches public schools and should con- were contributing. tinue and increase. But most of What can be done about it? all it should be encouraged and First, look about you-a scien- fostered in our town and city tific study or just a friendly get- churches. There are few reser- [304 ]
BULLETIN: COUNCIL OF WOMEN FOR HOME MISSIONS
vations left; the number of "full and an appeal from an American opposite a great school center. blood" Indians will continue to citizen brought action. Then, I Disquieting rumors of events godecrease. They are fellow citi- ing on in the school were conzens, fellow Christians with all found that the property was stantly brought to the men and our church people. Let us do owned by one of the large women of the community. Peoour part in making them feel ple spoke of the high school and that all are one in Christ. schools in the East-a Christian shook their heads. Some of the college which sounds a fine mes- leading officers of the church Prepared by Miss Edith M. Dabb, member sage of social reform; I found, sent their boys away to acadof the Committee on Indian Work of the too, that this was one of the emies. But what about poorer Home Missions Council and the Council of school's investments which had families who could not afford W'omen for Home Missions. never paid. There are other private schools? Had the' church any obligation for these chil- Making Your City God's City problems in connection with bet- dren? In our country with its ter housing. Recently elaborate separation of church and state, Did you ever think what housing programs in many cities has the church performed its your city would be like if it were have replaced slums with large full duty to the school by its God's City? Sunday services in the commu- spacious buildings, but have they nity? John, the Apostle, had such a ministered to the need of poor vision on a Sunday afternoon people, or made a little more God's city will be a city of long ago-a vision not alone of comfort for families of the mid- neighborliness. Many an urban his city but of all the world. dle class? Is Italy making more dweller of today might ask the "The kingdoms of this world are progress in housing than Amer- age-old question of the lawyerbecome the kingdoms of our "and who is my neighbor?" I Lord and of his Christ, and he ica? What must your city do to live in a community of 5,000 peoshall reign forever and forever." house its people in a way com- ple, housed in two blocks. After It was a distraught world that six months there, I am ac- John faced. His own city, mensurate with abundant liv- quainted with only two of the Ephesus, was rich and beautiful. ing? 5,000 people, and I have met It contained one of the greatest them in connections outside the libraries in the world and a uni- If your city is to be God's city, community. In earlier days oldversity which was a famed cen- it must have every provision to fashioned neighborliness solved ter of Greek culture. But John many relief and health problems. knew also of the distressing need make sick people well and to Are our substitutes today as efof its poor people, of the many keep well people from getting fectual? youth in that city who had no sick. What wonderful things opportunity for abundant life. God's city will be a city of Was he thinking of his city on philanthropists and doctors have that Sunday afternoon when in done for the poor of our genera- w 0 r s hip. We do not lack a vision he saw "The new Jeru- tion! What fine laws we have salem, coming down from God, to help maintain health! But churches in our cities.. If you out of heaven, made ready as a even yet the middle-class man bride adorned for her husband" ; who cannot lay claim to a free will look out of the window as and when he heard voices say- hospital bed must spend in a ing, "The tabernacle of God is few months of illness the earn- you ride along on the train, you with men, and he shall dwell ings of a lifetime-his security with them and they shall be his will be surprised how often on peoples"? Have you, a Chris- for old age. tian of today, any such vision of the skyline, the steeple or the your city becoming God's city? God's city must be a place of economic justice. First Avenue, tower of a church may be seen. In God's city abundant life must be possible for everyone. with its lines of miserable tene- Exquisite in architecture are Can that be true in the housing ments leans heavily against the the churches in our cities. But conditions of your city? "You beautiful modern buildings of what proportion of the people in can kill a man as easily with a the city attend those churches on house as with a pistol, only the Second Avenue. anyone Sunday? How far does process is longer and more pain- There are other forms· of jus- the influence of the Master reach ful," someone has said. A few outside the walls of those years ago, in calling among some tice in the city of God: political churches to the children playing Italian friends, I found them liv- justice, legal justice. Does your on the streets, to the brokening in a tenement the sanitary hearted or distraught cooped up condition of which was so un- city boast of these? What a in apartments near by? It is wholesome that it was affecting dream Israel had when the peo- not more churches or more beauthe health of all the families liv- ple believed that their God might tiful buildi~gs that we need, for ing there. Intensely disturbed be their king, and that their worship, but more of the spirit by the dreadful condition, I ap- prophet who guided their actions of the Christ. "And I, if I be pealed to the Board of Health, on earth might be God's repre- lifted up, will draw all men unto me." How can you make your sentative. Will we ever have city God's city? political justice until some of that conception comes to Amer- Prepared by Miss Alice W . .s. Brimson, ican cities? member of the Executive Committee of the If your city is to be God's city, Council of Women for Home Missions.
it will be a community where education is carried on in a way to lead young lives into rich, in- telligent social living. In a cer- tain city, a large church was just
r OUJM!n?:~~;sp';!~:cu5?t~~Ok
~~~J~.I~,===============–==E=D=IT=E=D=B=Y==M=R=S'=H==EN=R=I=ET=T=A=H=='_F=ER=G=U=S=ON_,_X==EN=I=A_,_O=H=IO==================~ AFRICA when the waiting room is full at an end by the Italian conquest, Medical Work in Morocco 7: 30 in the morning. a party of the workers were Conquest by Healing tells the "Each morning w hen the '. able to take up their quarters story of the beginnings of med- women have gathered we have a in Khartoum with a view to ical work for women and chil- short service of prayer, gospel starting fresh work in an entire- dren in Fez. In 1888, Miss teaching and hymn-singing. The ly new field on the Ethiopian women generally listen well; we border, in the Anglo-Egyptian Emma Herdman, of the North know that some of them come Sudan.
Africa Mission came to Fez to only to hear the teaching, and A considerable delay has oc- start work. There were no make the need of medicine an curred before any effective work roads, 0 n I y cam e I or mule excuse for coming. After this can be done, but now, after the little service we take about twen- necessary negotiations h a v e tracks; no inns or hotels. Trav- ty-five women into the dispen- been concluded, permission has elers were obliged to car r y sary and attend to their ail- been given by the Sudan Gov- ments. Teaching and hymn-sing- ernment for a station to be everything they required. Miss ing goes on in the waiting room opened in the Maban tribe, at a Herdman and her two compan- with those who are left behind place called Boin. The area ions had to consent to being accompanied by a Moorish soldier, till the first lot have passed out north of this is dominated by as a sign of authority for the by a second door. There are not Mohammedanism, and permis- great results to be seen from all sion has not been given to beundertaking. He was so old and this fifty years' work; but we gin work there. Permission is infirm that the ladies had to believe that the old Indian Mo- being sought to open a mission help him mount his horse, but hammedan was right when he for the K 0 mat rib e. The said, 'In the Day of Resurrec- Maban and Koma people have he served as notice to all they might meet that they were un- tion many Christians will arise much in common. They are pader protection of the government. from Moslem graves.' " gan, wholly uninfluenced by Mo- When they arrived in Fez, Unusual Methods hammedanism. they found that no one would The difficulties that have to be rent them a house, so they had to put up with a caravanserai. Here is the way one foreign overcome are the cost of maih- Later, the Sultan let it he known missionary in Africa obtains a taining a base so far from civithat anyone who wished to rent hearing for the Gospel message. lization, the hardships of travel, them a house had nothing to fear the home building problem and from the government. S 0 0 n The natives were timid, and not learning the unwritten lanafter that Miss Herdman and easily approached, so when mis- guages.-The Christian. her fellow workers opened a dis- sionaries trek softly through the pensary, which is still going on. For several years, two days were jungle to a cluster of huts there Uganda After Sixty Years given to men; now, there is only is usually a quick exodus of the Women's Dispensary. Miss S. M. Denison has this to say women and children in panic at Prebendary W. Wilson Cash, of the work: sight of a white face. Cupping Secretary of the Church Mis- sionary Society, closed an evan- "There are now s eve r a I his hands over his mouth the gelistic mission in Uganda with French Government Dispensa- missionary shouts after them; a sermon in the great Namirries and two Hospitals for na- "Have you heard the goo d embe Cathedral, with over 2,000 tives in the city, but this has news?" Fern i n i n e curiosity reverent Africans pre sen t. not lessened the numbers of causes them to halt cautiously, Looking down from the pulpit those who come to us. We still and the speaker adds, "About have from 800 to 1,000 patients God's Son?" This has often he saw, in review, the work of each month. There would be proved to be the beginning of a sixty years of the Uganda Mismore if we could manage to at- new group of believers.-Alli- sion. Here are some of his imtend to a greater number; each ance Weekly. pressions: day people are turned away New Field of Work (1) Every tribe in Uganda was represented at the service, When the promising work of tribes that for hundreds of years the Sudan Interior Mission in had been incessantly at war. Ethiopia was rudely brought to (2) All the people present [306 ]
OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
were free, men and women. man was referring to a solar great family, and cook their Forty chiefs had liberated every eclipse of a few years before. meals around the same fires. slave because they were fellow- This proved to be the case, and Often a patient comes with his Christians. he was greatly interested in the whole family, that he may have scientific explanation. The mis- company along the way. (3) Many in the congregation sionary then went on to say that had formerly been haunted by he had come to tell him of the At the larger hospitals are superstition, had tried to propi- true God, who made the sun, training schools for nurses, and tiate evil spirits by human sac- and the moon (which they call here the mission has an imporrifices; now they all worshiped the sun's wife); as well as the tant part to play. If a native God as revealed in Christ. stars, the world, trees and nurse has not been brought up rivers; the God who, in His under the influence of the mis- (4) This self-supporting and love, had given His Son for our sion and learned to know Jesus self-governing c h u r c h raises salvation. A young man who Christ, the chances are that he more than 9,000 pounds every had listened intently, said: "The will degenerate into a practitionyear for the maintenance and old men in this country would er, doing things not much differextension of its work. greatly rejoice if you would ex- ent from the old witch-doctors. plain this affair to them. It Christianity has indeed taken would be well for you to tell us -Congo Mission News. root in Uganda, and church about the true God." members are reaching out in all Greater Freedom in Angola directions to witness for Christ. Medicine in the Bush They have carried the Gospel His Excellency, the Governor not only to all parts of Uganda, Modern medicine in the Con- General of Angola, in reply to but members are serving as mis- go is being practiced along sev- an appeal by the missions for a sionaries in the Sudan, the Bel- eral lines. There are the hospi- ruling on the question of evangian Congo, the Pigmy Forest, tals in large centers, for the na- gelism, in which work they have in Ruanda and Urundi. Recent- tive as well as for the white been hindered by officials in ly, some men walked 300 miles population; the bush station certain parts of Angola, has sent to appeal for more missionaries. hospitals; the rural dispensa- the following communication: They were not thinking of white ries and the visits of doctors and men but of Africans as mission- sanitary agents in the villages. "Doubts have arisen as to aries for their fellow-Africans. whether foreign missionaries The large hospitals compare may do evangelistic work out- -C. M. S. Outlook. quite favorably with the average side of mission stations journey- hospital in Europe; and the ing through the native villages. When God Died rural dispensaries where native It is understood that as evangel- nurses are in charge might be ism is the way in which mis- R. V. Reynolds, a writer for compared with first-aid stations. sionaries propagate their reli- World Dominion, visited the The bush station hospital serves gion, they may, as many as are Marakwet tribe in Kenya, a as a sort of approach in reach- competent for such work, carry region which, so far as he knew, ing the native sick. These latter on such among natives in their had not previously been visited are usually in the charge of mis- settlements." by' any missionary. An old man sion doctors, and are carried on said to him: "I am very much as regular missionary w 0 r k; This permISSIOn does not puzzled over God's death." Al- and while the greater part of mea n that missionaries may most as much puzzled as the old the work is done for the natives, build, or own houses for evanman, Mr. Reynolds asked, "Did there is always a certain amount gelistic work in the villages. God really die?" "Oh, yes," was to be done for other mission- That would require special authe answer, "several seasons ago a r i e s, and occasionally for thorization. at the second hour of the day white traders. At these bush God became very ill and died." hospitals, the x-ray, special lab- -World Dominion Press. As he said this he indicated the oratory procedures, all the modtime by pointing where the sun ern mechanical appliances and Education of Women would be at eight o'clock in the sometimes even electric lights morning. He was then asked are in most cases things to be "Educate a man you educate whether God remained dead. desired, but not obtained. an individual, but educate a "No," said he, "after a while he woman and you educate a famgot better and came to life A bush hospital is a very ily." This axiom governs the again; but I am overcome to democratic p I ace. Here are Native Administration Commisknow about this affair. It is a gather.ed· people of many tribes sion in regard to the education bad thing when God dies; so and languages. Knowing that of women in South Africa. The many things go wrong. Locusts they may have to stay some time Commission urges a more thorcome, and famine." at the hospital, they bring with ough training of women teach- them things to work with, such ers, the establishment of more Remembering that this tribe as the making of mats, baskets, primary schools, the opening up has an undue reverence for the etc. They live together as one of secondary education to girls, sun, amounting almost to sun- the training of nurses and teachworship, it occurred to the mis- ers of domestic science; also, sionary that possibly the old the thorough teaching of domes- tic arts in all schools for girls.
However, the Commission turns tiniest village may have a place American missionary organizathe cold shoulder to the idea of of meeting. co-education, in spite of the suc- tions are at work there, the cess of the Church of Scotland Here is an extract from a let- largest single cultural and reli- School in Kikuyu. ter of one of Mr. Gale's con- gious investment being the Jeru- -South African Outlook. verts: salem Y. M. C. A.
The Malagasy Church "We think of the work of the The fact that the work in Gospel achieved here by our fa- Who Are the Alaouites? Madagascar continues to progress in spite of the fewness of ther. More than a hundred A sect of Islam, followers of European workers there indicates that the Malagasy have de- churches he has built in our Ali, are known as Alaouites. veloped considerably of late in the matter of self-control and land, and year by year each of They are illiterate, and under self-support. these churches beheld his face the bondage of powerful over- The 14th of August last was and heard ~rom his own lips the lords. From these people came the centenary of the death of Word of LIfe. W~er~ver. there . patients to the Kennedy Memo- Rasalama, the first Malagasy Christian martyr. The whole of was a human habItatIOn In the '> rial Hospital in Tripoli, and to the Malagasy Protestant Church remembered this great event in Marofotsy land.. even to the them went evangelists to follow the i r church history. About 40,000 people gathered on the smallest hut bUIlt of grass and up the contacts made in the hoss pot w her e Rasalama was speared to death, remembering leaves, the;re he stooped to.enter pital. Young women from the with gratitude her faith and all that it had meant to them; and that. he mIght lead our trIbe to Junior College tried for several at the same time proving that her death had not been in vain. ChrIst. He showed l?ve to the summers to raise the social level The task of the Malagasy most debased, and kIndness to of the women in a needy Alaou- Church is one of the first mag- those who ,oppose<l: the Gospel, ite village. Throughout the ennitude. A spirit of materialism and nationalism is affecting the that. he mIght brIng them to tire district colporteurs toured, life and outlook of the people, C~rIst. ~ar G,od se.nd us a man giving out portions of the Scripand additional w 0 r k e r s are WIth a spIrIt lIke ,hIS. M,ay the tures, and proclaiming Christ. greatly needed. work of redempb?n wh~ch he Pastors worked from two cen- be.gal!, be accomplIshed. I~ our ters, and later the British Syria Friends Service C.ounsel. trIbe. -World Domtnwn. Mission sent a nurse evangelist, Church Planting in WESTERN ASIA and a young convert from Islam. Madagascar Following all this seed-sowing, W. Kendall Gale after leading Hard Pressed Palestine the Presbyterian Mission has some of the Malagasy people, opened a new center in Massyaf, step by step, to a realization of Writing in the New York Sun a government center to which sin, and from that to a Saviour on "The Truth About Palestine," Alaouites come to transact their from sin, asks: "Would you like Mr. Phelps Adams says that business. Except for the family to have a church and learn more four opposing elements are in of the evangelist, not a single about God and this Jesus; to the unfortunate clash in the Christian lived in this town of know what is really sin that you Holy Land, One is the pressure 3,000. may not be wrong before Him, of 16,000,000 Jews seeking to and about the way of salvation make Palestine their national Within two months the evanand eternal life?" home; another, the 100,000,000 gelist had made amazingprog- Arabs who know that the coun- ress. He had gained the friend- An eager "Yes" is the usual try is too small to accommodate ship of the best people and of response, for these are strange all the oppressed Jews in the government officials. His wife things they have heard and they world today; the third, the had enlightened the women in wish to know more. Then out British Empire, which finds Pal- various phases of family welcomes a sheet of paper; every estine essential as a military fare. Already, there is marked name is taken down, with age base in the eastern Mediterra- improvement in behavior, cleanand name of village. French law nean and fourth, the expanding liness and a spirit of helpfulpermits worship in a hut, if ten Italian Empire. The situation ness. Here is pioneer evangeladult si2'natures are secured (or is complicated by the ambiguous ism that promises large returns. crosses in lieu of signatures). promises made to both Jews and Eighty signatures assures the -Syria News Quarterly. erection of a church, so that the Arabs. In return for Arab aid Christianity in Iran to the Allied cause, the British promised to recognize Arab in- Rev. H. H. Riggs, accompa- dependence; while to the Jews nied by representatives of the they promised to establish for Near East Christian Council, them a national home in Pales- the British and Foreign Bible tine. Thus the final fate of Pal- Society, World's Sunday School estine depends upon reconciling Association and some other or- these two promises, or the vic- ganizations, made a visit to the tory of one of these four oppos- missions of Iran, and has record- ing forces. ed some of their impressions.
About 10,000 Americans are First in importance was the living in Palestine, of whom unity of s p i r it noticeable 9,000 are American Jews. Eight throughout the country between
OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
the missionaries and members There is ready sale for the Bible, good. Women from the four of the local c h u r-c he s; also and small groups of people are corners of India came to the among the different elements of meeting regularly to study it in latest session in Nagpur. The the Iranian Churches. An evi- many places. resolutions dealt with primary dence of this unity was seen in The Bishop of Iran gives a education, the main emphasis a communion service attended typical incident. being for free and compulsory by the group. The five elders "About two years ago nine education throughout the land, were an Assyrian, a Kurd, an people came to an important and that these primary schools American, an Armenian and a town and were accepted by the be open to both boys and girls Hebrew Christian. The same church council the r e as in- of every caste and religion. Res- spirit was seen in many of the quirers. Last autumn a colpor- olutions on soc i a I questions churches visited. In some of teur visited the place, to find formed another large group.
these the majority of the mem- about twenty men who all con- Subjects dealt wit h included bers of the church are converts fessed .to their faith in Christ. rural uplift, condition of women from non-Christian religions of They said that no one had been in jails, prohibition, d rug s, Iran, but in perfect fellowship out to visit them, and that they cruelty to animals, equal rights with them are others whose an- had not been able to get teach- for women, age of marriage and cestors have for centuries been ing; and so they had decided to many other things.
Christians. While in some places appoint one of themselves as a The conference stands square- differences of language have led leader, and to obtain a sp€cial ly for prohibition and for peace.
to separate churches, act u a I place, to which they could in- Here is a message from Nagpur union in some others and the co- vite new inquirers." for American women: "We are operation of all these different The newspaper Iran reports a convinced that increasing armaelements everywhere, are proof great advance in adult educa- ments of warfare by land, sea of the strength of the Christian tion. In June last there were and air, and the harnessing of movement in Iran. 1,597 classes and an enrolment the knowledge of science for the Another striking fact in the of 93,371. The Institute of purpose of destruction are not Preaching and Public Speaking going to bring peace to a strickchurch situation in Iran is an received 4'00 students. Primary en world. We feel that it is element of both strength and school enrolment also increased through the weapons of love weakness. Relatively few of the by 15,255, and that of middle alone that a new order can be churches have full-time ordained schools by 3,271. Teheran Uni- ushered in. Standing on the ministers; but the leadership of versity enrolled 1,549 students, the Church is nevertheless Iran- of whom 86 were girls. Boy threshold of another year we ian as to administration, and Scouts are popular and number dedicate ourselves to non-viomuch of the preaching is being 18,354. lence in thought, word and deed, and appeal to women throughout done by laymen who feel that the world to join hands with us, the responsibility rests upon INDIA, BURMA, SIAM for we are confident that this them. doctrine alone can quell the de- sire for possession, can save the The visitors were also im- All-India Women's Conference nations from racial jealousies pressed by the fact that while and communal strife, and pro- Thirteen years ago the Di- tect humanity from oppression some converts had been cast off rector of Public Instruction in and exploitation." by family and friends, for others Bengal called on the women of the acceptance of Christianity India to "tell us with one voice -World Call. had not necessitated a break of what they want, and keep on family ties; and few seemed to telling it until they get it." This Woman's Place question the right of any indi- challenge led to the formation of the All-India Women's Con- Woman's place is not in the vidual to choose the religion he ference, which has from its be- home in rural India; it is in the thought to be the true one.
Inquiring. Minds in Iran ginning concerned itself with field, to supplement the family education and social reform. income. In the rainy season Better roads, more rap i d Political activity is taboo. The when field work is impossible, transit, increasing number of Conference has been laughed at she has her only chance to break schools, a wider outlook through and called futile, but has accom- the monotony of her life by gosnewspapers and new freedom plished a great deal. No one can siping with her neighbors. "Cotfor women, all are having their estimate how much it has helped tag~ Industries" seemed to be influence in opening the minds to shape public opinion. the answer. A special fund proof Iranian villagers. With these There are now 118 branches vided by three rural missions changes has come a spirit of in- scattered over India. The an- paid for the training of a teachquiry, followed by a readiness nual meetings of these branches er and she in turn taught three to listen to the Gospel. Public have d eve lop e d leadership g i r I s what she herself had preaching is not permitted ex- among women, trained them in learned. Two of them, with a cept in the few villages where public speaking and in service. Bible woman, went to a near-by there is a church, but Iranian Women of all religions plan and village to teach the women some Christians may teach their faith. work together for the common simple crafts, while the third
stayed at home to teach her the depressed classes, and social that one of its number has been neighbors. At the end of the six reforms on many other lines. appointed as Chairman. He has weeks' experiment a number of long been recognized as an able women not only had tangible re- The thought of educated peo- and responsible statesman. His sults of their efforts in handi- ple is arrested, and centers for wife has also been honored by work, but passed a creditable the cultivation of deeper spir- being chosen President of the examination on the Gospel of ituality are multiplying. There All-India Christian Association. Mark, which had been taught are multitudes of followers who them as they sat weaving. The are reading the Bible and other -The Indian Witness. whole project turned out to be a Christian literature who do not "seven days wonder" to the com- call themselves Christian, but Industrial Project at Cossipors munity. who are influenced by His life and teaching. The India Industrial Mission -Presbyterian Board News. Beautiful churches, 0 f ten at Cossipors, which is training Century's Work for Girls somewhat adapted to Indian ar- chitecture, are r i sin g every- ~elf-supporting evangelists, has An ancient Ahmednagar prov- where. Many congregations are erb said: "A woman's wisdom seated on the floor in Indian sent out a traveling workshop should not extend beyond the style, and use Indian music and oven"; and an Indian gentleman Indian forms. Christian gather- wit h f 0 u r trained mechanic was heard to remark: "To teach ings are notable for order, cleana donkey is just as possible as to liness and attractiveness of ap- preachers. It undertakes to reteach a woman." The refuta- parel, especially notable among tion of this idea can be seen in the women. Many village wom- pair metal work, overhaul mathe 76 girls who have just en come to meetings with bright passed their examination at colored or clean white saris. The chinery, do general repairs in Ahmednagar Girls' High School, men and boys show commendaas well as in the happy homes ble care in their appearance and the line of cement, wood and presided over by girls trained in clothing. Followers of 0 the r India's Christian schools. The faiths, attracted by such gath- paint work. This is done during secret lies in the fact that conse- erings, are increasingly attencrated educators have passed on tive, respectful and approacha- the day. Evenings and Sundays to the women of India the story ble, undoubtedly impressed by of Christ's redeeming love, dur- the influence Christianity' is are devoted to evangelism. ing this School's hundred years' having upon the masses, and history in training several thou- seeking to know the reasons for A second-hand Ford van and sand Indian girls. it. The cumulative effect of a century or more of intensive trailer were fitted up with living -Dnyanodaya. evangelization is manifest to ob- servers who are able to look be- accommodations, tools and weld- Christianity's Growing low the surface. Influence ing p I ant. The preacher-me- Two Reforms Undertaken "One cannot travel widely chanics work on various repairs throughout India and Burma in The United Provinces Govthese days without being im- ernment is undertaking two spe- along the way, in order that pressed by the enormous sweep cial reforms w h i c h have the of Christianity in one way or support of all the better ele- they may be entirely self-sup· an 0 the r," says a Methodist ments of the country. A prohi- Board Secretary, who recently bition program is being worked porting. Excellent results are made a visit there. He found out, and is in the experimental strong, well-equipped central stage in a number of districts. reported. -So S. Times. churches, colleges, high schools, It should be noted that the liquor middle and primary schools, evil has not yet gained the hold Sangli Movable School theological and other training on the general population that it schools, hospitals, dispensaries, has in occidental countries. Having seen the Booker T. asylums for the treatment of Was hi n g ton "Agricultural leprosy and tuberculosis, centers The other proposed reform is School on Wheels" actually at for the reclamation of criminal the abolition of bribery among work in a small village, Dr. J. L. tribes. Christianity has been government officials. This vice the leading force in rural and has a very deep hold, and little Goheen was moved to secure a agricultural experimentation, in or no effort has heretofore been similar one for the Sangli In· village reconstruction, in special made either to create public dustrial and Agricultural School forms of work for women and sentiment against it or to pass with which he is connected; and children, in the production of laws to eradicate it. An Anti- this hope was realized in 1931. literature, in the attack on illit- Corruption Committee is to be It is not an exact duplicate of eracy, the relief and uplift of appointed, and the Christian Washington's School, but in the community rejoices in the fact main, the idea is the same. It has been fitted up so as to be of special use in the way of prac- tical teaching and demonstra· tion to the people of village In· dia, through the use of charts, posters and pictures on all kinds of subjects pertaining to village life. It carries samples of seeds of improved and tested varieties of field and garden crops and specimens of potatoes and sweet potatoes, groundnuts, wool, cot- ton, etc. There are books on ag- ricultural and similar subjects in Marathi and English as a ref· erence library, and there are simple and useful books on many subjects for sale. There is a medicine chest with much need·
OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
ed remedies, a gramophone and limit the number admitted. The us. What our inherent powers a magic lantern and cinema total enrolment of the entire of endurance, philosophy and paprojector with small special elec- School was 328 at the close of tience have enabled us to do in tric generating unit. last year. Most of the appro- the past they will fortify us to priations from the Board went do in the present, as well as in The school will stop from 30 into scholarships for children the future." to 45 days in any given place, from out-villages, and sixty boys this depending on the size of the and girls w ere helped, who The Church and War Relief place and interest shown. otherwise would not have been able to attend school. Even with The National Christian Coun- -Indian Witness. this help, parents are required cil, representing sixteen Protes- to pay something toward the ex- tant denominations in China, has Medical Outposts penses. The chief problem is to been ever since the recent Sino- secure sufficient funds to main- Japan war began, a clearing- On the northwestern frontier, tain the kind of school that can house for information both in five hospitals guard as many successfully compete with the securing news from almost all mountain passes, and receive pa- government schools. parts of China and in forwardtients from countries which, for ing news. It has constantly rethe most part, do not acknowl- -Siam Outlook. ceived detailed information reedge Christ and where Chris- garding conditions in the war tianity may not be preached. CHINA area, such as has not come to any Most of these patients, if they other agency in China. It has embraced Christianity, would Spiritual Mobilization sifted this material and prepared meet death upon their return. for publication in the foreign Slowly but surely, medical treat- In an address made on March daily press in China as well as ment and the kind atmosphere 15, Madame Chiang Kai-shek in a considerable number of Chiof a Christian hospital are work- said spiritual mobilization is of nese church papers. ing changes. Suspicion is giv- the most vital consequence to ing way to friendliness, sullen- China, and announced a move- In addition to its work of pubness to smiles, until the patients ment to stimulate public interest lication, it has conducted a leave with a new outlook on life. and active participation in three weekly broadcast both in Eng- Sometimes patients are entirely major national requirements: lish and in Chinese since Sepchanged even in a week, and for the practical application of the tember 5, to support the morale such results these frontier mis- tenets of the New Life Move- of the Christian Church. When sion medical centers are worth ment; the continuance of reso- news of indiscriminate aeroplane while. lute and unfaltering resistance bombing b e cam e generally against the Japanese invaders, known, there was panic in many Chiengrai Christian School and the planning of realistic church centers, and these broad- measures for reconstruction and casts helped many Christian Definite progress has bee n rehabilitation in the vast areas groups to stay at their posts, made in improving the standing that have been deliberately laid especially when associated with of this School during the past waste by the Japanese. hospital and refugee work. year. The English and Bible departments have had the help of Here are a few extracts from Perhaps the one Christian ora teacher who spent five years her address: ganization in China with the in the Philippines preparing for greatest difficulties to face is the such leadership. It is difficult to "Our barbaric enemies have Y. M. C. A. This is because of include much religious teaching boasted that they intend to beat the hatred of the Japanese army during regular school hours, be- us to our knees and break our toward Chinese students. All cause of strict rules laid down spirit. We shall show these the big patriotic movements and by the government, but in the enemies, as we shall show our disturbances in China have been boarding department and the friends, that in the blood of our initiated by students. A large Christian Endeavor Soc i e t y fellow men and the ashes of our number of schools and universimuch of such teaching is worked burned homes has flowered a ties in the occupied areas have in. All the teachers are active new national spirit. suffered damage or complete dein the religious work of the com- struction, and several of the munity, and many of them help "We shall show them that the leading institutions have moved in the out-village churches on new China that was in the mak- far into the interior. Sunday. The School furnished ing, before war was invoked to the superintendent and several destroy it, is still marching on- Southern Methodists Lose teachers in the Sunday School, wiser, more patriotic, and un- Heavily officers of the King's Daughters a!raid. We Chinese, .in our long and Christian Endeavor leaders. hIstory, have survived great nat- Before the outbreak of hostili- Thus, the School might be called ural and political calamities; we ties last August, the Southern the backbone of the church in have triumphed over prolonged Methodist Episcopal Mis s ion Chiengrai. adversity, and we have carried maintained 60 churches, over 30 our culture and civilization and chapels, three large hospitals, There is also a kindergarten, our nat ion a I entity safely one un i ve r sit y, ten middle which has become so popular through the ages, no matter that it was found necessary to what nations rose or fell about
schools and more than 30 pri- that last year in two places the looked about for ways to cause mary schools in the populous Band left behind groups of from his houses and lands to be con- Shanghai – Nanking – Hangchow thirty to forty inquirers, and fiscated on the ground that he area. Today, as a result of Ja- this year in another place a had no legal right to them since pan's invasion, all but one of the group of some twenty-five. Of he became a Christian. A few churches, all but two of the edu- these a few already have been of the leading Buddhists in the cational institutions, and all baptized. Foster states that he country went so far as to say three hospitals, which had taken is particularly impressed by the that they would rather a whole 89 years, considerable sums of extensiveness and thoroughness village became Christian than money, and the enthusiasm of a of the Band's house-to-house vis- that one of his rank should re- large number of American mis- itation. Their presence has been nounce the faith of his father. sionaries and Chinese to build an inspiration. Still, this intelligent and cul- -The King's Business. tured young man with two years up, have been either completely destroyed or partially damaged Outlook in Tibet '>of Christian experience tells his by shell-fire and aerial bombs. fellow Christians that when he Material losses alone, accord- In spite of a relatively slow was suffering the intrigues and ing to a conservative estimate, rate of progress and many dis- persecution of his erstwhile relareach the figure of over $300,- appointments, the Superintend- tions and friends, his greatest 000. All enterprises, religious, ent of the Moravian Mission in support were the words of the medical and educational, under- Tibet reports that the outlook is text he had chosen: "Rej oice taken by the American Southern bright, and work among the in the Lord alway: and again I Methodists in this region are at Tibetans exceedingly w 0 r t h say rejoice." present at a standstill. It will while. One most encouraging -Moravian Missions.
take several decades to restore feature is the sense of responsithe losses sustained. JAPAN-CHOSEN bility that has developed in the organized churches, with their Thirteen Commandments "Spreading Light Mountain" ordained native ministers, evan- Japanese leaders, threatened The Biola Evangelistic Bands gelists and elders. by fascism and distressed by the are groups of from six to ten Tibetan evangelists are mani- continuance of the war which was expected to speedily reach a men, trained at Hunan Bible In- festing greater readiness for victorious end, have formed a stitute (which is the China self-sacrifice. Two have recently "Central Federation of General branch of Los Angeles Bible In- Spiritual Mobilization," and this stitute). Many have questioned left their homes to serve in has promulgated the following lonely places; one to open up thirteen "commandments": whether these bands are still at new work and the other to take work during the present strug- charge of a difficult field when 1. Every morning give prayers to gle. Dr. Frank A. Keller, of the missionary goes home on the Imperial Grand Shrine and pray Changsha, writes that five of for the safety of the Imperial Family. furlough. Another wishes to these bands are now at work in learn rock carving, so that he 2. Hoist the National Flag properly peace and safety. Small self- may carve wayside pulpits. At on holidays. supporting churches are being Leh, all the Christians from var- 3. Worship the deities and endeavor formed in districts where the ious stations assembled to con- for the harmony of the family. Gospel was unknown previously. fess their shortcomings, and to Band number 4 began work in pray for renewed spiritual life. 4. Live on a budget, pay cash, save October from Liu Kuang Ling regularly, and buy National bonds. -The Indian Witness. 5. Wear simple clothes and avoid foreign-style hair-dressing. as a center, the name meaning Tibetan's Maiden Sermon 6. Observe wedding, funeral and "Spreading Light Mountain"- a prophetic name, for in eleven Not long ago a member of one other home affair!! simply but sol- emnly. weeks the Gospel story was told of the oldest and most aristo- 7. Reform the mad custom of late to bed and late to rise. in 4,265 homes where it had cratic families in Western Tibet 8. Economize on metal, wool, cotton, never been heard before. Fifty conducted the Sunday service in inquirers came to a definite de- the small church at Leh, Ladak. paper and fuel and utilize wasted and His text, "Rejoice in the Lord other buried things. cision; two sorcerers were con- 9. Endeavor to prevent fire and prepare for air raids. verted and two homes were alway; and again I say rejoice," cleared of idols. Before the seemed paradoxical for most of 10. Rear the children to be strong band left, a little self-supportng his experiences were of the sort in mind and body. to make o.ne weep rather than church was established. A well- 11. Have bodily exercise every day to train the mind and body.
to-do convert is supplying a rej oice. Two years ago he be- 12. Economize in drinking sake. 13. Be friendly to neighbors and room for the services. came a Christian and his Bud- help one another. Reports from other bands are dhist relatives contrived to equally gratifying. Their work involve him in a charge of em- This may be regarded as pav- is appreciated by missionaries, bezzling state funds. The fact ing the way for making the sacas well as by the Chinese. Rev. that he was acquitted only served rifices the government expects J. N. Foster, the superintendent to make them more determined to demand. -Christian Advocate. of the Yiyang Circuit, reports to bring about his ruin, so they
OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
Urged to Keep Silent a building that will head up the work satisfactorily become A Japanese writes to Amer- Christian Endeavor, Y. M. C. A. voluntary leaders in the local ican friends: and Junior Boys' work, and also village churches from which serve a-s office space for mission- they come. Under the auspices "I would urge you to use the aries and nationals in the vari- of one Mission alone-the Amerutmost caution as regards what ous other activities of the ican Presbyterian – nine such you say or do concerning this Church. It will be operated schools are held each year. One crisis. At this juncture Japan under the management of the for girls reached its high water is taking action at the peril of Bible Institute, so there will be mark last year, with an attend- her future destiny, according to no competition and fullest coop- ance of 67 for the five weeks'
whether she succeeds or fails. eration, especially in educational work. It is not surprising that As a matter of course, the whole facilities. in numbers and spiritual force nation is aroused. Without this the Korean Church is one of the feeling of intensity Japan could Education in Korea strongest.
not fight the war, though our The Evangelistic Farmers' AUSTRALIA AND government does not declare it School at Masan, Korea, has THE ISLANDS a war. The whole of Japan is bought ten acres of very rich soil now resorting to a procedure for experimental farming; the New Field Opening unanimously supported by our income is to be applied to the people, and not a single soul is maintenance of the S c h 0 0 1. The decision of an Australian suffered to protest. If anyone Buildings to be erected will be of you feel inclined to protest according to Korean rural style. firm to search for oil in Papua against this course there may be no other way than for you to re- Since there are more than ten has made possible a considerable main silent. At any rate, I do churches in this vicinity, the stuheartily request you to remain dents will have opportunity to do extension of the work of the completely silent. religious educational work. The Unevangelized Fields Mission "On the other hand, if you ob- School will also send out wellject to this course, you may ex- trained farmers whose influence there. This company will shortly press your attitude on the will do much to improve farm ground that you are a foreigner, send out a large number of men but please bear in mind that life. such liberty of speech, if exer- The only Christian college for to prospect, and their equipment cised by you, will not be acceptable nor will it be recognized in women in all Korea is Ewha Col- will include six large launches; this country. Still I hope that lege. At present, it fairly brisnothing unhappy will come and where prospectors go, the about between you and our peo- tles with great ambitions from ple. It is our urgent prayer that within and great expectations missionaries can go. Hitherto in our relations to each other we may get along smoothly and with from without. Graduates are they have been greatly hindered the utmost friendliness, without expected to enter the field of any ill will and with no mis- church and community service because of poor means of transunderstanding until the present trouble is ended." or rural welfare. This calls for port – small and dangerous an extension center for commu- -Bulletin of English Meth- nity work; also, a course in canoes. -Life of Faith. odist Mission, Canton. nursing and public health. Em- C. E. Convention in Melbourne phasis must be placed more upon the Christian nature of the The first Christian Endeavor School, since the secular and hos- Society in Australia was founded tile forces continually multiply. in 1888, resulting directly from a Christian Endeavor Constitu- -Korea Mission Field. tion which a sailor from New- buryport, Mass., had carried in his pocket. In 1893, the United Society of C. E. was formed in Australia, and a year later a World C. E. Union. In 1894, Coordinated Effort Korea Sets Example Australian Christian Endeav- orers had launched their mis- A missionary in Taiku, Korea, In the creation of its Bible sionary program in a most pracwrites that one of the most hope- Schools, the Manchurian Church tical form, when a society was ful projects of the past year has has followed the example of organized among the Aborigines been the effort to consolidate the Korea, a Church which in pro- at LePerouse, New South Wales.
Christian activities of that city, portion to its size is the most This being Australia's na- especially among the young peo- vigorous in the Orient. For tional jubilee year, dating from ple. A man with both univer- years the Korean Church has the first settlement of this com- sity and seminary training was made it a practice to send work- monwealth, it is fitting that the secured to organize this work, ers to its annual schools for spe- fiftieth birthday of Australian and permission was secured cial training. Usually, these C. E. should be observed by en- from the Board to use the Bible schools last six weeks,and stu- tertaining the tenth World Institute compound as a center dents are expected to attend Christian Convention. This is from which to work. Earnest them for two or three years in to be held in Melbourne, August efforts are being made to erect succession. Those who complete 2-8 of this year.
New Hebrides Mission LATIN AMERICA Negro Missionaries to Indians The New Hebridean of today Evangelizing the Firemen Negro missionaries are workis a different person from his forefathers, who murdered the Doors do not open easily for ing among the aboriginal Inpioneer missionaries, John Wil- the Gospel in Mexico, but Mr. F. dians of Central America, the liams and James Harris in 1839. J. Huegel writes of one that Valiente tribes, who live in the His environment and manner of forests of Panama. There are living have altered, largely opened in Mexico City when he about 10,000 of these, and their through outside forces; some became acquainted with the fire mode of living is hardly changed have been for the better, but chief, with four stations and 250 sin c e Christopher Columbus others have been disastrous. landed on their coast in 150l. Depopulation has gone on stead- men under his charge. He is Mr. E. S. Alphonse is a Methily, until no longer do crowds eager for his men to have the odist pioneer among these peoline the beaches when a vessel ,.ple. When he first went there arrives. But amid changing con- Gospel. In all four of these sta- twenty-one years ago, the Inditions, the upbuilding of Chris- tions systematic Bible study has tian character goes on. The begun. Says Mr. Huegel: missionary has a two-fold task; first, to bring Christ into the "One afternoon in the hall at dians called him a crow, because hearts; and second, to stand as Santa Julia just as I came to the of his black skin, and were suspithe natives' friend against harm- close of the message and was cious of him. Now there is a ful outside influences. If it were about to make a call for the men Christian community of 500, and not for these influences it would to accept Christ as their Saviour, a number of Christian schools. be possible for native Christian the fire alarm rang. You can Mr. Alphonse was the first to leaders to hold their people in the imagine my feelings, for nat- study their language and reduce Way of Life. These natives very urally every man leaped for his it to writing. A grammar, sevquickly learn foreign ways- boots and helmet and before I eral books of the Bible, a hymn whether they be right or wrong. could catch my breath, was gone. book and a catechism have been They had gone to put out a fire produced in the Valiente tongue. -United Church Record. and I had come to kindle one. -The Life of Faith. Filipinos Seek Union "Some 200 Testaments have Last February Philippine been given out and the eagerness Opening Doors Christians made another significant advance on the road of co- of the men for study promises a In Colombia, a number of facoperation and union by forming tors are contributing to wider the Philippine Federation of harvest of souls for the Kingdom opening doors than ever before Evangelical Churches. This is the third in a series of three or- of God." -World Call. ganizations set up since 1901 to guide the Christian movement in Santo Domingo on the Air to the entrance of the Gospel. the way of unity and peace. The Improved methods of transporfirst was the Evangelical Union. It grew into the National Chris- For two and a half years the tation, especially the building of tian Council organized in 1929. Now the federation marks a still Evangelical Church of the Do- highways, are making many new further growth and the pros- minican Republic has been regions accessible. Fanaticism pects of comparatively early preaching the Gospel over the is gradually giving way, even in organic union of all major denominations are hopeful. air. In all this time, except for the isolated areas; and the new The object of the federation is two nights when the government constitution adopted in 1936 as- "to unite various Christian bodies and agencies in the Philip- shut off all the radios in Tru- sures liberty of conscience in the pines for the twofold purpose of securing comity, cooperation and jillo City, the capital, the weekly matter of religion. Two selfeffectiveness in their operation, and searching out possible bases program has gone on. From supporting and self-governing for organic union with the view to bringing the churches to such Venezuela, Colombia, Central churches were organized last union in due time." America, Cuba, Porto Rico, even year in the state of Tolima. -Christian Century. from the United States and as Missionaries and national far away as Maine, have come workers are constantly meeting requests for special hymns. new problems. There is a greatly Worship groups meet in the awakened interest in education homes, and follow that broad- on the part of the people in gen- cast; one group in Venezuela eral; parents are pathetically writes that this broadcast is the eager for their children to have only worship service they have. the opportunities which they did A group of Cuban Christians not have. Parent-teacher meet- who lost their church building in ings, enlarged libraries, im- a hurricane meet for this serv- proved equipment of schools and ice, and a restaurant proprietor philanthropic projects sponsor~d in Porto Rico sent a small con- by students all indicate a pro- tribution from his patrons who gressive trend.
listen to the restaurant radio. Two new buses added to mis- He is confident that there has sion equipment will greatly aid been at least one definite decision in evangelistic work, and the for Christ as a result of the pro- Spanish publication Evangelista gram. Colombiano will bring the Gos-
OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
pel to many living in isolated "To study the possibilities of the simpler and more efficient the areas. The bookstore has in- foundation of a daily newspaper and working of the Federation. creased its stock, and doubled its a press association; These plans for a greater meascirculation. ure of cooperation have yet to be "To prepare a worship manual; approved by the churches con- -Colombian Clippings. "To promote a revised translation of cerned. When this approval has the Bible; been given the Federation will Indian Ohurch in Peru "To study social problems in the enter on a new era of usefulness light of the Gospel, and to the whole evangelical cause in Such a work has been estab- "To disseminate information con- Brazil. lished among the Indians of cerning the work done by the intersouthern Peru, after seven years national movements. -World D.ominion Press. of progressive evangelism. In 1931, these people had never MIGUEL RIZZO, JR." NORTH AMERIOA heard the Gospel message; today, there are 500 Christians in Gospel Boat on Amazon A Return to Ohrist? twelve communities, eight of which are properly organized Medical relief w 0 r k has An Episcopal Bishop of Chichurches, with their own leaders, proved to be a valuable entering cago sees, in the recent unpreceelders and deacons, conducted wedge for the Gospel message in dented church attendance during quite independently by the na- Brazil. A Seventh Day Advent- Lent, a return to religion to face tionals. In spite of the fact that ist missionary writes: the challenge of the present day. 95 per cent of the people are Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyteilliterate, the converts have "During the flood season the rian, Baptist and other churches manifested a steady spiritual Amazon and its tributaries rise are also reported to have had growth. This the missionaries about fifty feet above normal, larger congregations than in attribute to three factors: the and when these waters subside many years, with a marked deepvital prayer life of the churches; each year, there is an epidemic ening of reverence and earnestthe persecution through which, of fever. This year the govern- ness. as individuals and as communi- ment furnished us with $1,000 ties, they have had to pass; and worth of medicine, and in a five- Said the Chicago Bishop: the very high standard of con- month period we were able to duct, supported by strict disci- treat 5,800 sufferers. We have It looks as if the great religious pline, which prevails in the an electric light plant on our awakening for which the Christian churches.-Life of Faith. boat and every night we hold Church has been praying to meet the services somewhere along the spread of paganism and the defeat of The Ohristian Task in Brazil river. The light attracts the na- worldliness, is at hand. Worshipers tives for miles around. In one are revealing a new earnestness, a The Evangelical Congress of village where we were stoned new devotion to their faith which Brazil which met in Sao Paulo in six years ago we this year bap- comes only from a sense of frustra- December, 1936, was composed tized twenty-five people. tion and helplessness. It has often of official commissions from six been that man's extremity is God's different denominations. The "These Christians along the opportunity. declarations of the Congress are river believe in the 'Win One' proof of the attitude of the movement. Three of our boys I believe the hour has struck. This churches toward the ideal of co- go out each Friday night to a Lenten season should bring joy to the operation am 0 n g Christians. neighboring village where they hearts of all true Christians every- Here they are: "The situations have organized a Sabbath school, where, because God is again being enof the Brazilian Protestants, di- and the latest report received throned in human hearts. vided in various churches, is a from them tells of thirty-nine problem to be solved. It is neces- members being present." -Living Church. sary to make an effort in favor of the union of the churches Evangelical Federation Why Honor Ingersoll? through an ample formula Progress which respects principles and In March, 1937, a resolution established practices. The Con- The Evangelical Federation of was introduced in the House of gress committed to the Federa- Brazil has drawn up a modus Representatives proposing the tion the following tasks: vivendi for the churches and erection in Washington, D. C., of missions which are affiliated a monument in memory of Rob- "To investigate what is the religious with it. This has been prepared ert G. Ingersoll, the famous insituation of the zones occupied by the by a special committee in order fidel lecturer. The First Baptist churches; to solve problems arising from Church of Paso Robles, Cali- over-occupation of some fields, fornia, protests to the Govern- "To organize a general plan of evan- to ensure the adequate occupa- ment that since the plan is gelization; and to organize the pro- tion of regions not yet reached, sponsored by an atheist organigrams for teaching religion in the and to eliminate friction in inter- zation, and that organization has public schools; denominational relations. At alleged affiliations with the In- the same time, certain Articles ternational Freethought Union "To promote the Qrganization of the of the Constitution of the Evan- of Europe, and that the monuyoung people; gelical Federation of Brazil have ment is proposed as a "recogni- tion of Robert G. Ingersoll's been modified so as to make most noteworthy contribution to the emancipation of mankind
from religious superstition," A New York Church "The colony will be a place where more than 1,000 homes, they are unalterably opposed to "Resolves" built in the Moorish style of architecture, will be set up in the any legislation of that character. Christ Church, New York, very near future. Land in the Further reasons for their objec- Dr. R. W. Sockman, pastor, is Gardens Heights section has altion are expressed in these discussing world topics at the ready been purchased with mid-week services; and the con- funds representing contributions words: sensus of opinion is gathered to- to the Moorish Science Temple gether in a set of resolutions. of America, and construction on "That we recognize the impor- Sometimes these are transmitted some of the houses was begun tance of Christian faith and to the groups concerned. Some about a month ago. We feel that practice in regard to the safety of the topics already discussed the colony we are anticipating and well-being of democracy. are the religious situation in ,will provide better housing con- That we believe the enemies of Mexico; the boycott of Japanese ditions for the persons in this .Christianity seek to express goods, and more recently the De- country of Moorish descent, and their contempt for God, the pressed Classes in India. The will permit them to practice the Bible and our Christ by the erec- resolutions adopted in this in- customs and religious tenets of tion of· this glorification of Rob- stance were: Morocco. It will establish a defiert G. Ingersoll. That it is our nite religious center for us." opinion that this would encour- WHEREAS, The outcaste millions of age the youth of our land in India for centuries have been disfran- New Church for Hoopa Indians atheism, materialism, radical- chised by the Hindu religion of their ism and revolt against God and rightful position as "sons of God and The Hoopa Indian Reservation established government." in California has a population of approximately 2,000; 1,100 of -Christianity Today. joint heirs with Christ"; and these are children between the WHEREAS, 3,000,000 or more of the ages of 6 and 18. About 3,000 acres are under cultivation, but Religious Education Council outcaste people have responded to the the average per capita income of Gospel as presented by Christian mis- these Indians is only about $120 The 20th Session of the Inter- sionaries and have accepted the Chris- a year. national Council of Religious tian faith; and Education is to assemble in In the Hoopa Presbyterian Columbus, Ohio, June 28-July 3. WHEREAS, Christianity has brought Church there are 83 members, The theme for this convention is to these hope instead of despair, free- with 115 in the Sunday School. "The Christian Challenge to the dom instead of endless slavery, knowl- There are two outstations, the edge in place of ignorance, self-respect most promising of which is instead of self-degradation; and Weitchpec, where the interest has been growing steadily, espe- WHEREAS, Leaders of the outcaste cially during the past two years. A fine constituency has been de- Modern World," and eight out- classes seeing these changes have veloped and upwards of forty . urged their 60,000,000 fellow outcastes church members are enrolled. comes are hoped for as a result to abandon Hinduism and seek a new They are ready to effect a forof the deliberations: religion; and mal church organization. Mrs. Nellie Masten, a devoted Chris- 1. An improved a t m 0 s p her e WHEREAS, It is our belief that such tian Indian, has deeded the Board a site for a church, and throughout North America in which a reconstruction of the social order money is available to put up the building. The Indians will take to carry out a steady and continuous can only be carried through on the care of practically all the labor involved. program of Christian education. lines of Christ's teachings and that any other possibilities seem to be di- Alaskan Leaders All 2. A clearer understanding of the nature of Christian education and its rectly in the line of revolution or civil Graduates of Sheldon Jackson responsibilities. strife; therefore, be it School in Sitka qualify for posi- tions that call for excellent train- 3. An increased recognition of the Resolved, That we, the members of ing. One of them is responsible existence of many practical steps Christ Church, New York City, up- for organizing cooperatives in which may be taken by lay and pro- hold and support our missionaries and Alaskan villages; two are nurses fessional church workers in fulfilling their work in India in their self-sacri- in government hospitals; three the Christian challenge through Chris- ficing labors for these· needy and re- are teachers in government tian education. sponsive people, millions of whom will schools. Others are in mission undoubtedly turn to Christianity for work; one is the minister at 4. Help on specific problems which release from their present captivity each delegate faces back home which into the new liberty of the Gospel of will put new zest into the work of the Christ; and be it further churches from which they come. Resolved, That we send a letter to 5. A deepening of the religious ex- the bishops of our church in India asperience of every delegate which will suring them of our sympathy and inprovide the dynamic without which all terest in these inspiring days. of our efforts will be in vain. -Indian Witness. 6. A great stimulus to the work of Christian education in every part of the North American continent through Moorish Colony in America the publicity, before, during and after Plans are under way for the the convention.
7. Greater unity and closer coopera- establishment of a Moorish Coltion of Christian forces. ony at Yaphank, L. 1., which is 8. Delegates to the convention will to serve as a mecca for the 20,- return to their local communities to 000 Moors in Greater New York and surrounding area. The form an informed nucleus of local Grand Seik Turner-EI, spokes- leaders who understand more fully and definitely the basic principles and outreach of Christian education. man for the Moorish Council, -Advance. explains the plan:
OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
Wainwright Pre s b y t e ria n in two or three decades. When and Work, issues this warning; Church, another is nurse at reminded that thousands of no protest should be made on a Sheldon Jackson School. The gatherings of Christians were political basis because this would two native organizations, the being held throughout Germany, increase the danger in which Alaska Native Brotherhood and with no interference from au- Pastor Niemoller stands. It is the Alaska Native Sisterhood, thorities, Dr. Barth explained important that churches should whose objectives are competent that at such meetings the only state clearly that the reason for Christian citizenship, have al- message allowed was one which their protest is that he has taken ways been under the leadership Hitler considered "harmless." A his stand entirely on the basis of of former students of Sheldon spiritual gospel is permitted, but the rig h t of the Christian Jackson School. only so far as it does not affect Church to proclaim the Word of the actions of men on earth. God. Expressions of sympathy -Monday Morning. There is no toleration at all for on any other basis would only the teaching of real Christian increase his danger. The Ger- EUROPE ethics, which mean something in man Government should be in- the present situation in Ger- formed in no uncertain terms Something Alive in Denmark many-for example, "race wor- that concern for Pastor NiemOl- ship," anti-Semitism, the cult of ler is very widely felt. Here are some characteristics hatred, etc. of student Christian work in Dr. Henriod also calls atten-. Denmark: -Religious N eW8 Service. tion to the gravity of the present world situation, manifested by (1) The emphasis of instruc- Fascist Youth Niemoller's continued imprisontion is upon the awakening of ment after being cleared in a the spirit rather than upon the There is something ominous trial. Christian churches should acquiring of knowledge or skill. in the official report that Ger- be awake to the danger at the (2) The method of instruction many's juvenile crime record has root of such a situation in its stresses the "living word." increased 40 per cent in the past religious and ethical implica- (3) The historical approach three years. In the depression tions. characterizes a 11 instruction, years of 1931 and 1932 there was even the sciences, and history is a rise in juvenile thefts, but then Pastor Niemoller's spirit rea living subject. (4) The sub- they were driven to crime by mains unbroken, as is shown by ject matter is confined largely to poverty and hunger. Today, the the following extract from one those subjects which are useful record shows that less than 10 of his letters to his wife: to the average man in his per- per cent are motivated in lawsonal or civic life. (5) There lessness by poverty. Somehow in these last six months are no grades, credits, degrees or the ship of the Church has got afloat examinations. The primary em- Brutality has been the pop- again. The color is dimmed, the masts phasis is upon instruction and ular word of Nazi leaders, and are broken, the whole appearance is not on competition among stu- violence their approved method. not handsome; but the Lord Christ dents. (6) The fact of a group German youth follow their lead- still sits at the helm, and the ship of students living together is ers. Two or three afternoons moves forward. . . . utilized as a fundamental edu- and Sunday belong to the Hitler cational medium. The teachers You t h, irrespective of the And I think my imprisonment also utilize this opportunity by living schools. During this period they belongs to the holy humor of God. with the students and using their are trained in Nazi ideals, which First the mocking laughter: "Now influence to create a cooperative include the "instinct of freedom" we've got that fellow" and then the community. (7) The schools are against the school and the fam- imprisonment; and what are the conalso dominated by a high ethical ily. The result is now evident. sequences? Full churches, a praying purpose. They seek to give the Only the more serious crimes community. student the opportunity to know ever come before the courts. himself, and to supply him with The report says that moral of- To get bitter about such things the motivation to exert a con- fenses increased over 150 per would be shameful ingratitude. structive influence in all rela- cent, and that all crime is most tionships of life. flagrant among college students. Anti-Alcohol Museum Thus Fascism bears its fruit. -Intercollegian and Far With all the fanfare the Poles Horizons. -The Churchman. like so much, the Minister for Social Welfare recently opened German Youth and the Church Pastor Niemoller's the Anti-Alcohol Museum in Imprisonment Warsaw, one of the first of its Dr. Karl Barth, addressing a kind in the world. There are group of church leaders in Lon- In regard to the petitions pre- twenty-four departments dealdon, said that it is Hitler's inten- sented to the German Govern- ing with as many phases of the tion to cut German youth off ment on behalf of Pastor Nie- alcohol problem. Arresting disfrom all church connection, so moller, Dr. Henry L. Henriod, plays trace the history of the that the Church, becoming a so- general secretary of the Univer- battle against alcohol. Photociety of old people, will die with- sal Christian Council for Life graphs and diagrams show how alcoholism is treated. The tech- nical use of alcohol is described. The discoveries of science about alcohol are set forth. The value
of propaganda for and against disturbed by the Soviet order are where there are no 'Keep Out' alcohol is assessed. The problem of alcoholism in art and among the church members. signs against the inquisitive and caricature is presented, with abundant illustration. There is questioning mind. Disinterested a display of non-alcoholic drinks. Some fourteen departments in MISCELLANEOUS research cannot survive in an the museum are given to exhibits Good Will Commandments atmosphere of compulsion and on alcoholism in relation to repression. Particularly in the health, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, child welfare, school Dr. Walter W. Van Kirk of broad range of subjects covered life, the family, suicide, acci- the Federal Council has pro- by the social sciences, and in the dents at work, sports, business posed "Ten Commandments of humanities as well, the world and many other interests. Ap- Good Will." They reflect a spirit has recently witnessed in several propriately enough, there is a sorely needed in the present countries the progressive disinfrank appraisal of alcohol as a tegration of creative scholarmeans of raising national and world crisis: municipal revenues. ship." 1. I will respect all men and women '" -The Christian Advocate. -Christian Advocate. regardless of their race or religion.
Christians Resist Soviet 2. I will protect and defend my Pressure neighbor and my neighbor's children Salvation Army Year Book against the ravages of racial or reli- Moscow has opened a new gious bigotry. This Year Book for 1938 indrive to curb the churches. The arrests of clerymen during the 3. I will exemplify in my own life cludes a list of outstanding Salpast year, culminating in the arrest of twenty-five on Russian the spirit of goodwill and understand- vation Army events of 1937, Easter on treason charges, fo- ing. with much interesting informacused attention once more on the tion as to nationalities among status of religion in the Soviet 4. I will challenge the philosophy which the Army works, the lan- Union. It would be hard to of racial superiority by whomsoever parallel in modern times the per- it may be proclaimed, whether by guages in which it preaches and secution the Church in Russia has had to endure during the kings, dictators or demagogues. twenty years of the Bolshevik regime, yet one finds religion 5. I will not be misled by the lying a glossary of Army terIns. holding on with amazing te- propaganda of those who seek to set nacity-both holding and carry- race against race or nation against Under the heading, "Signs and ing on. According to a despatch nation. Wonders," M a j 0 r Reginald to the New York Times, great Woods, of International Headnumbers of young people still at- 6. I will refuse to support any or- quarters, describes the begintend church, as was strikingly ganization that has for its purpose evidenced by the overflowing churches on Easter Sunday. the spreading of anti-Semitism, anti- ning, in London, of work among Catholicism or anti-Protestantism. the deaf. There were 120 peo- Factors in the renewed activi- ple present at the first meeting. ties against religion are the un- 7. I will establish comradeship with Similar endeavors have, for expected stubbornness of the all those who seek to exalt the spirit many years, been a feature of people, and the signs of progress of love and reconciliation throughout in the Church. The Soviet gov- the world. ernment now frowns upon the anti-religious excesses of earlier 8. I will attribute to those who dif- the activities in Sweden, Noryears. Freedom of religion is fer from me the same degree of singuaranteed by the constitution, cerity that I claim for myself. way, Finland, Denmark and the but in actual practice the Soviet Near East. can close any church it sees fit 9. I will uphold the civil rights and on the grounds that the building religious liberties of all citizens and The Home League, a work is needed by the State. Widening of the streets has caused groups whether I agree with them or among women with 100,000 many prominent churches to be not. demolished. Recent arrests are members in the British Isles, is based on alleged plots against 10. I will do more than live and let the government. The code for live; I will live and help live. described. U n d e r the title, treason is broad and loose, so "From Fetish. W 0 r s hip to that the greater number of those New Barriers Christ," Col. Ethelbert Grimes tells of fourteen years' work in Rockefeller Foundation is West Africa, where there are finding them. Operating in fifty- 20,000 Salvationists, located in two countries, from Norway to 350 centers. An article on "Mi- the Fiji Islands, the Rockefeller gration and Settlement" reveals Foundation has been encounter- that more than 200,000 persons ing difficulties as it has tried to have been taken from over- spend something over $9,500,000 crowded areas to lands overseas a year in the dissemination of since this department of the knowledge. In some fields where work was started. It is said that they formerly went it is now fewer than 1 per cent have useless to go because the search proved failures.
for truth has been made impos- -The Christian.
sible by local conditions. While the Foundation works without Said the Robin to the Sparrow, 'I regard to political doctrines, should really like to know creeds or sects, it has become Why these anxious human beings harder and harder to follow this rush about and worry so?'
ideal. Says Dr. Raymond B. Said the Sparrow to the Robin, Fosdick: "Objective scholarship 'Friend, I think that it must be is possible only where thought is That they have no heavenly Father free t and fr~edQm ~IHl ~{CJst onl~ such as qare}) for you and w,e.,' "
Missionary
Books Briefly Reviewed for the Readers' Information BOOKS ON THE CITY AND THE CITY CHURCH RECOMMENDED BY THE REV. CHARLES H. SEARS, D.D.
Foremost among these books The Crowded Ways. By Charles sions. (Home Missions Council, are those announced by the Mis- Hatch Sears and The City's Church, New York City, 25 cents.) sionary Education Movement of By H. Paul Douglass. Two book'! the United States and Canada, published by the M. E. M. in 1929. City, The. Robert E. Park, Ernest designed particularly for mission W. Burgess and Roderick D. Mcstlldy courses. We list in the The Movement announces Kenzie. Chicago, University of order given by the Movement; manuals to assist in the study Chicago Press, 1925. $2.00. they may be secured from of the major books, guides for Friendship Press, 150 Fifth community and church surveys, Our Cities. Their role in the Nation- Avenue, New York City. and other helpful materials. al Economy. June, 1937. Report of the Urbanism Committee to The The American City and Its Church. It is possible for any group National Resources Committee. The basic study for adults. By Sam- to greatly extend its study of Washington, U. S. Government uel C. Kincheloe, is a careful analy- the city by use of biographies Printing Office, 1937. 50 cents. sis of city environment and adap- and autobiographies such as (Especially useful in this study be- tation of the program of the church "The Story of a Varied Life," cause of its striking maps and to this environment. Both from !:tis by W. S. Rainsford, (Double- charts.) academic and practical approach day, Doran & Company). "Ed- Dr. Kincheloe speaks with author- ward Judson, Interpreter of City Church, The. H. Paul Doug- ity. God," (Judson Press). Dr. H. lass. New York, Friendship Press, Paul Douglass' books remain of 1929. Cloth, 50 cents; paper, 25 City Man. By Charles Hatch Sears. permanent value, "The City cents. A new imprint edition, recently Church," "How to Study the published by Harpers. This is a City Church," "1000 City Church City Planning. Charles Hatch study of the intensive form of ur- C h u r c h e s," and particular Sears, editor. Philadelphia, The ban development, the metropolitan church surveys, Springfield and Judson Press, 1928. $1.25. community, with particular empha- St. Louis notable, (Harper & sis upon the eife<:!t of this environ- Brothers) . We call particular Suggestions to Leaders of Study ment upon the city man himself. attention to Dr. Wilbur C. Hal- Classes using "The American City (M. E. M. 75 cents.) lenbeck's study of Church City and Its Church"; by Kenneth D. Societies "Urban Organization Miller. Paper 15 cents. City Shadows. By Robert W. Searle. of Protestantism." Finally, ev- For the senior high school age, ery student of the city should My Community, My Church, and Me I equally valu,able for others, here is secure a copy of "Our Cities, by Wilbur C. Hallenbeck (Study a revealing series of true stories of Their Role in the National Econ- and Action Series). Paper 35 cents. city life. omy," a publication of the Na- tional Resources Committee, for Urban Scene, by Margueritte Har- Street Corners. By Harold B. Hunt- sale by the Superintendent of mon Bro. (A pictorial book for all ing. As a source book for juniors, Documents, Washington, D. C., youth and adult grades.) Paper this is particularly valuable for its at fifty cents a copy. 25 cents. portrayal of the work of churches arid social agencies. OTHER BOOKS ON THE CITY A Course for Young People on the Church in the City, by Owen Geer. All . Around the City. By Esther City Challenges the Church. Ad- Paper 25 cents. Freivogel. For primary children. dresses made at an Interdenomina- A story of how two children from tional Conference on the City A Course for Seniors on the Church the country find friendly places and Church, January 13 and 14, 1937. in the City, by Donald Gordon Stew- friendly faces in the city. Under the auspices of the Commit- art. Paper 25 cents. tee on City and New Americans of City and Church in Transition. By the Home Missions Council and the The City I Would Build, by Emily Murray H. Leiifer, published by Council of Women for Home Mis- Gaither. For intermediates. Paper Willett, Clark & Co. The book is a 35 cents. (A work book for both in- definite outgrowth of the request termediates and their leaders.) made by the Committee on City and New Americans for a study of A Junior Teacher's Guide for study- the medium-sized city. It summa- ing the Church in the City, by Nina rizes results of a four-year study of Millen. For elementary grades. Pa- 140 cities which have a population per 25 cents. of from 50 to 150,000. A Primary Teacher's Guide for Studying the Church in the City, by Esther Freivogel. Paper 25 cents.
Any of the books noted in these columns will be sent by the REVIEW publishers on receipt of price.
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OUR WORLD-WIDE OUTLOOK
Joe Lives in the City, bv Jeanette tions, substitutions and correc- make a modern village; he in- Perkins Brown. (A picture book tion of the text are not always troduced the bicycle into Borneo for primary children.) Paper 25 easily grasped. Dr. Jeffery of and organized river fleets and cents. Cairo is preparing a critical edi- little holding companies to keep tion of the Koran text, which alive the commercial life of the (Above publications obtainable from when completed will be of great community. At the same time Missionary Education Movement, value to all missionaries to Mos- he was winning them to God, New York.) lems. It will facilitate their task spreading the Gospel of Christ of interpreting the Gospel to farther and farther into the Churching the Small City, by Wil- those who have, in their own Dyak-head-hunter filled jungles. bur C. HaIlenbeck. (A method of sacred book, countless stumbling Finally in 1935 in Sarawak, at study and survey of a smaIler city.) blocks against a' right under- the age of 63 he passed into the Paper 25 cents. Home Missions standing of the Holy Scriptures. greater Glory Beyond, but not Council, New York. 'ttntil he had seen a large part of S. M. ZWEMER. his ambitious plans mature and The Qur'an. By Richard BeIl, B.D., bear fruits. D.D. Volume 1. pp. 343, $6.00. T. Tuan Hoover of Borneo. By Frank & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1937. T. Cartwright; 186 pp. $1.75. Ab- Dr. Cartwright, the Secretary ingdon Press, New York, 1937. of the Methodist Episcopal There is no lack of English Board of Foreign Missions, was translations of the Koran. Those The work of the Christian himself a missionary for eleven by Sale, Palmer, Rodwell are missionary has never been easy, years in China. His personal well known, and each is distin- but even so, unusual difficulties contacts with Hoover left many guished for special points of val- were encountered by Jam e s memories which are brought out ue. In addition, we have had in Matthews Hoover, the stalwart in glowing, moving biography recent years four translations bearer of the Gospel into the that depicts true Christian adby Mohammedans. Nevertheless, steaming jungles of Malaya. venture as well as inspirational this is the first t.t~anslation with achievement. a critical rearrangement of the "Tuan Hoover," a Pennsylcontents of the chapters and it vania village boy, shortly after MARSHALL R. HALL. therefore fills a gap. One cannot the turn of the present century, state more clearly the justifica- heard the call to the foreign Ship East-Ship West. By Elizabeth tion for this piece of scholarly field; he obeyed and spent thirty Miller Lobingier. 87 pp. $1.00 work and its character than by years as a real pioneer mission- Friendship Press, New York. 1937. quoting from the preface: ary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Blest with an un- This is a children's book with The translation goes frankly on the usually rugged physique and a definite purpose-to train the assumption that the Qur'an was in ability to withstand hardship, he youthful mind in the way of written form when the redactors was the ideal type for the par- peace among nations. In six difstarted their work, whether actuaIly ticular work he was called upon ferent stories, children are told written by Muhammad himself, as I to do. How well he did it, and that nations need not fight when personally believe, or by others at his how enduring are the results he they have disputes to settle. War dictation. This conclusion also has left behind must stand as a is shown to be foolish, and in been forced upon me in the course of monument which all Christians summing up a list of war's evils my work. The translation itself must may well admire. is contrasted with the blessings furnish the proof. If, by the hypoth- of peace. The book deserves a esis that the present form of the Mr. Hoover began his work wide reading among our chil- QUr'an rests upon a careful repro- in Malaya with only a moderate dren, seeing how important it is duction of a confusion of written doc- preparation, but it was soon de- that right ideals should be conuments, that confusion has been in termined that he was the man stantly set before them. any considerable number of passages to take over the difficult task of cleared up, the hypothesis will have carrying the Gospel to the Chi- Little Talks to Little Folks. By C. justified itself. All the possibilities nese immigrants from Foochow A. Puncker. 92 pp. Is. Pickering of confusion in written documents who were settled in Borneo. He & Inglis, London. 1937. have had to be considered-correc- accepted the challenge and went tions, interlinear additions, additions to work among them-on a The author has given chilon the margins, deletions and substi- crocodile-filled river in the ma- dren's talks for over 25 years, tutions, pieces cut off from a passage laria rid den jungle. Here he and the stories in this volume and wrongly placed, passages written found them, miserable, afraid are the ones that seemed to im- on the back of others and then read and alone, overwhelmed with press his small hearers most. continuously, front and back foIlowing home-sickness for their home- Realizing that the only way to each other. It is to this, rather than land. get the children's attention is to to textual defects, or to confusion in interest them, he introduces a Muhammad's own thought and style With all the strength of his va r i e t y of subjects – ants, that the dreary welter of the Qur'an huge body and stout heart he set watches, escalators, and for the so often deplored by Western writers to work. Among the material cur i 0 u s – "bent sunbeams." is due. advantages he brought to them These talks are a practical help were electricity, an ice plant, to those who would lead the Dr. Bell of the Edinburgh lights and other conveniences to "lambs into the fold." University has unraveled many of the puzzles that confront the reader, but he has also left un- solved a still larger number. His translation is accurate but not always literal, as we have in Palmer's translation. The de- vices used to indicate altera-
Book. Cbe. Upper
Church Comity. A Study of Cooper- July, August, Now READY FOR DISTRIBUTION ative Church Extension in Ameri- can Cities. H. Paul Douglass. Se tember The Daily Devotional Guide Garden City, N. Y., DoubledaYi of 1,000,000 People – Issued Doran & Co., for Institute of Socia Quarterly in English, Spanish, and Religious Research, 1929. (Out and Roman Urdu of print.) THE UPPER ROOM is beinq distributed in 25,000 churches. Church in the Changing City. Case representing every evangelical denomination. We have evi- Studies Illustrating Adaptation. dence of thousands of family altars beinq established and New York, George H. Doran Co., daily devotions in the home beinq conducted. with the aid of for Institute of Social and Religious THE UPPER ROOM as a devotional quide. The best help Research, 1927. (Out of print.) available for individual devotions.
Community Survey in Relation to Church Efficiency, The. Charles E. Carroll. New York, Abingdon Press, 1915.
Negro Problems in the Cities. Subscription price, 30 cents per year" postpaid. Pastors may secure ten or Thomas Jackson Woofter, Jr. New more copies on consignment to be paid for, when sold at 5 cents per copy. York, Institute of Social andRe- ligious Research, 1928. (Out of Send all orders to THE UPPER ROOM, Doctors' Bldg., Nashville, Tenn. print.) 1000 City Churches. Phases of Adaptation to Urban Environment. H. Paul Douglass. New York, George H. Doran Co., for Institute of So- Types from City Streets. By Hutch- troduced the pension plan of the cial and Religious Research, 1926. ins, Hapgood, New York, 1910. (Harper & Brothers. $2.50.) • • Presbyterian Church. Redemption of the City. Charles Christian Message in a Non-Chris- Hatch Sears. Philadelphia, The tian World. Hendrik Kraemer. • Griffith & Rowland Press, ,1911. 455 pp. $3.00. Harper Bros. New Cloth, 50 cents; paper, 35 cents. York. 1938. Dr. George B. Winton, missionary, , Social Characteristics of Cities. editor and educator" died March 11, William F. Ogburn. Chicago, Inter- Fun and Festival from India. Rose in Nashville, Tenn., in his 78th year. Wright. 48 pp.' 25 cents. Friend- Soon after entering the ministry of ship Press. New York. the Methodist Church, South, he went to Mexico, where he served as pastor, national City Managers' Associa- president of the theological school in San Luis Potosi, and as editor of tion, 850 E. 58th Street, Chicago, Obituary Not.. E1JQ,ngelista Me:mcana,. From 1926 Ill., 1937. Paper, $1.00. until his death he wrote regularly the (Concluded from 2d cover.) "Watch Tower" column of the No,sh- ~trategy of City Church .Planning. 'ViUe Christian Advocate. Ross W. Sanderson. New York, . . '. a of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. L.Fry and Institute of Social and Religious Rev. Harry *Co.m'p.ton, one of the Research, 1932. (Out of print.) was graduated from Muhlenberg Col- The Shame of Our Cities. By lin- lege in 1916. earliest educational evangelists in coln Steffins. South America, died December 30, in Mr. Cecil Henry Polhill, member Delaware, Ohio. He had been on the of the original "Cambridge Seven," retired list since 1919. He first served died at his, home at Hempstead, Eng- in Chile, then in Montevideo, and land, March 9. Two other members of later was president of Quito CoIIege, .!,mn~ this "Cambridge Seven" are still liv- ing, Sir Montague Beauchamp and D. in Ecuador. • * • E. Hoste of the China Inland Mission. of tbe Mr. Polhill was educated at Eaton Miss Emily L. Peterson, Presby- School and was converted and led to terian missionary in India since 1913, €bri~tian offer his life to Christian service where she was principal of the Girls' through the late Dwight L. Moody. Middle School in Saharanpur, died in He sailed for China in 1885 and served India, March 17,at the age of 58. as a missionary in Shensi, Kansu and Miss Peterson worked in the New Szchwan, where he did effective work York City Mission for five years be- fore going to India. There, in addi- lLift among the Tibetans on the western tion to directing the Indian faculty and aQout 150 students, she spent cA BOOK of worship in song, com- border of China. He retired from many hours visiting in homes, going China in 1902 but continued to give into areas where cholera and small himself and his means to promote the pox were raging in order to bring work of the China Inland Mission. comfort to the suffering; helping in community projects and working for •• • the better .education of women. Rev. Charles Scott Deming, an American Methodist missionary in •• • bining a hymnal for general Mrs. Isabel Edgar McFarland, wife church use, and a song book for evan- of Rev. A. J. McFarland, D.D., passed to the Heaven Home, in February in e;elistic purposes. Oitly songs sOund Latakia, Syria. Here they began their m the faith and inspirationaf in char- work on the Mission Field in 1906, acter included–.emphasizing Evan~el at Mersine, and at Latakia after the war. Mr. and Mrs. McFarland were ism, Missions, and the Deeper Life. Manchuria and Korea for thirty- among that band of veteran mission- Many of the new—the best of the old. three years, died in a Brookyln hos- aries of the Reformed Presbyterian pital on March 15. For a number of Church. Dr. McFarland is retiring 504 Songs Responsive Readings years he was an officer of the Chris- and returning to America this sum- tian Literature Society of Korea, and mer. Topical Index Gold Embossed Published in round notes and Roxite cloth had translated several theological edition only at $65.00 per lOO-an especially books into Korean. He returned from low price. Single copy, SSc postpaid. Manchuria on furlough last December. Writ<! today f<rr ~etumable sample copy ••• CHRISTIAN PUBLICATIONS, Inc. Dr. W. Courtland Robinson, for- mer editor of The Presbytrian, died in 1502 NORTH THIRD STREET HARRISBURG, PA. Delhi, New York, Marc:h 15. I!e w:as chairman of the commIttee whIch In-
LIFE OF GEORGE BOWEN, OF
By ROBERT E. SPEER This is the biography of a very remarkable Christian missionary to India and for twenty years the inBuential and able editor of the Bombay Guardian. Dr. J. Sumner Stone called him, "The White Yogi."
When George Bowen died in 1888 there was call for a worthy biography but its preparation was delayed. Later all the biographical material-including his diaries, letters, reminiscences, and the books and pamphlets of which he was author-was turned over to Dr. Speer. This material has now been put into shape for publication and the result is a frank and stimulating picture of the man,-his experiences, unique character, forceful views and methods of work. Here is a life story that is of absorbing interest and will richly reward the thoughtful reader. The book is now ready for delivery. .
CONTENTS I. Family of George Bowen. XI. A Decisive Year, 1849. II. Boyhood and Youth. XII. III. Three Years Abroad. XIII. From 1850 to 1855. IV. Life in New York, 1840·1844. XIV. V. Illumination of a Hopeless Love. XV. TenYears of Independent Work. VI. Conversion to Christianity. XVI. VII. At Union Theological Seminary. XVII. The Bombay Guardian. VIII. ftisMissionary Appointment. XVIII. IX. The Voyage to India, 1847. XIX. Relations with the American Board. X. Beginning Missionary Work. Association with the Methodist Church.
Bowen as a Writer.
Correspondence with Henry W. Rankin.
Closing Testimony. • This latest work by Dr. Speer may be ordered at $2.50 per copy from THE MISSIONARY REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY IS6 Fifth Avenue. New York MORE ABOUT THE MODERN CITY and HOW THE CHURCH CAN MEET ITS PROBLEMS Coming in the July and September Numbers The Church Challenges the City Dwight J. Bradley Looking to the City Tomorrow Charles H. Sears Religious Problems of a Mid-West City L. Merle Rymph What a Downtown Church Can Do The Privileged Helping the Underprivileged Frederick B. Fisher A Charge Rather Than a Retreat Samuel E. West Responsibility for a Whole Community What Does Outdoor Evangelism Accomplish Richard E. Scully WiUiam C. Munds . J. Arthur Springer ORDER COPIES OF THESE NUMBERS FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR SOCIETY 25 cents a copy $20 a hundred $2.50 a year THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD Third and Reily Streets, Harrilburg, Pa.
ROBERT E. SPEER, President DELAVAN L PIERSON, Editor
The Missionary Review of the World — November 1916
AMI';RICAN-MEXICA", PEACE CONFERENCE. AT HOTEL BILTMORE, NF]W
IDlnltn,tnmml"IH""'"II"n'l 1-'IIIIWI"IIIlIO'IB,m,mm'WIIIIIII'"Ulmmumllmll'lIImlllllllll'lIIl11nIllUIIIIIIUlIIIII1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIHnllllnlllllllllllllUIIIIII,I,III1OIIIIIImlll,mlllUliUlIIIIIUlIIIIII,I,UI,IIU1U1"UI, Ii A~~.~~~~~Y.~-= I iiI IiI NOVEMBER 8th to 10th-Annual Meeting Women's Board of Missions, Northampton, Mass.
~ 10th-Day of Prayer for Foreign Missions. ~ ~ 12th-World's Temperance Sunday. §I ~ 13th to 15th-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Concord, N. H. ~ iI iI 16th-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, New York, N. Y. 17th-John Williams sailed for the South Seas, 1816. 100th anniversary.
I! :::~ ~ ~:~h L~::n~='B::k~onv. Moo, H~"'bu,g, Moth,';" 23d-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Chicago, Illinois. r. i,==========_, 24th-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Detroit, Mich.
27th t., 29th-Laymen's Missionary Ministers' Council, Waterloo, Iowa.
29th to Dec. 3d-Medical Missionary Conference, Battle Creek, Mich. i- 30th-Founding of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, 1841.
30th-Thanksgiving Day Service, Home Mission Sermons.
DECEMBER 4th-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Minneapolis, Minn.
6th to 7th-Friend's Foreign Missionary Conference, Gloucester, Mass: 6th to 8th-Friend's Foreign Missionary Conference, Belfast, Me.
6th to 13th-Third Quadrennial Council, Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, St. Louis, Mo.
7th-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Pittsburgh, Pa.
llth-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Cincinnati, Ohio.
14th-Laymen's Missionary Movement Decennial, Cleveland, Ohio.
19th-Birth of Adolphus Good, 1856. 60th anniversary.
23d-William Duncan sailed for Fort Simpson, British Columbia, 1856.
24th to 28th-Quadrennial Conference of Student Christian Association of India and Ceylon, Poona, India.
– 24th-Allen Gardiner sailed for South America, 1836. 80th anniversary. 24th-Christmas Sunday. Foreign Mission Services.
24th-Dedication of Duncan's Church at New Metlakahtla. 20th anniversary. 26th-Bishop Selwyn sailed for New Zealand, 1841. 75th anniversary. 31st-Death of Bishop Crowther, 1891. 25th anniversary. 31st to Jan. 6th-Universal Week of Prayer.
IL-.,___un••,_ _- These are the men to whom the American and Mexican Governments have entrusted the task of bringing diplomatic order out of chaos. Standiug: Mr. Stephen BonsaI, Secretary Lansing, Elisio Arredondo and Dr. Rowe. Seated: Dr. John R. Mott, Judge Geo. Gray, Hon. Fredk. K. Lane, Hon. Luis Cabrera, Ignacio Bonillas and Albert J. Pani. (See page 831.)
MISSIONARY
EVIEW~ VOL. NOVEMBER, 1916 NUMBER ELEVEN XXXIX SIGNS OF THE TIMES THE MEXICAN PUZZLE T HE United States has been distracted beyond measure for the last five years with the Mexican turmoil-and no doubt this distraction will continue through the years unless Americans come to realize that it is not the question of stopping a fight, but the matter of solving a problem. Mexico is endeavoring to change from sixteenth century to twentieth century conditions. It is not the ca~e of a revolution that must be squelched, but an evolution that needs to be guided. We might as well settle down to the fact that the problem is that of slowly changing a nation into the image of God-a God whose very name is unknown to one-fifth of the population, and whose Book cannot be read by four-fifths of its people. The Mexican people are not to blame for the chaotic condition of their country. What nation under the sun has ever developed a real democracy without having had preached and ground into her life the principles of the Sermon on the Mount 1 We may expect no permanent settlement of the Mexican problem until her people have been imbued with the democratic teachings of Jesus. Is this the word of a missionary enthusiasU During a visit to the People's Institute at Piedras Negras after having examined its work, Governor Carranza (now Chief Executive) said that if there were twenty-five such institutions scattered over Mexico, the problem of revolution would soon be solved. And that sentiment has been echoed by a hundred Mexicans who care little for the propaganda of a foreign religion, but who recognize the saving power of a Gospel such as is there exemplified.
There would be no Mexican problem if to-day the United States had displayed the same interest in the development of Mexico's soul Tbe editors seek to preserve accuracy and to manifest tbe spirit of Christ in the pages of this REVIEW, but do not acknowledge responsibility for opinions exprest, nor for positions taken by contributors of signed articles in these pages.-EJ)ITORS.
as we have in the exploiting of her natural resources. American capital has invested $1,000,000,000 in Mexico. Protestant missionary forces have invested about $2,000,000, or only one five-hundredth of the former sum. For the Christianizing of the 3,000,000 Indians, many of whom have recently been taking part in raids on our border, Protestant Christianity is not sustaining one lone worker. Yet the United States has assigned to pay for the present troop movements to protect our border the sum of $130,000,000. This amount is too tremendous for us to grasp. How far it would go toward the real solution of the Mexican problem I It would place in every town and city of Mexico with more than 4,000 people, a church, a college, a hospital and a social center, all magnificently equipped, and sustain an ample corps of workers in all these institutions for a period of ten years; and over and above this it would enable us to endow the public school funds of municipalities with the sum of $750,000, the annual interest at 6 per cent on which would be more than the Mexican government has ever paid for education in any single year of its history I Because of the European war America to-day practically holds a mortgage on the world financially, but the world holds a mortgage on America's soul. God pity us and save us!
ENLARGEMENT IN LATIN-AMERICA CHRISTIANS in the North American continent are becoming increasingly interested in the problems of their southern neigh- bors. One evidence of this is the Latin-American Development Fund started by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. On April 17, 1916, the Board voted that" a special effort be made to raise $100,000 to be devoted to the development of the mission work in Latin-America and the Philippine Islands, and especially to the direct evangelistic work and to provide for native evangelists and preachers."
The Panama Congress on Christian Work in Latin-America revealed the inadequate number of missionaries in these fields, the hopeful and ambitious spirit of the Latin-American peoples and their welcome to all friendly, uplifting influences, the widespread religious dissatisfaction and the increase of intellectual doubt and unbelief, the growing intimacy of intercourse between the United States and Latin- America. The American nations should be united in their faith in the Christianity of the New Testament, and'avoid the danger and failure of international relations governed by principles of selfishness and distrust. "Above all, the claims of neighborliness and brotherhood and the need of human souls everywhere for the Living Christ, combine to summon the churches to a more earnest and sympathetic support of the missions and of the national evangelical churches in Latin-America." .
1916J SIGNS OF THE TIMES
As another result of the Congress at Panama the Christian Woman's Board of Missions of the Disciples Church has decided to enlarge their work in Argentina and has asked the Committee on Survey and Occupation to assign them the three unoccupied provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes and Misiones in northern Argentina, and also the republic of Paraguay, in which there is no American society at present. This Board has also decided to send twenty-one new missionaries to Mexico in the next five years.
The Lutherans have organized a Pan-Lutheran Society for Latin- America, and steps have been taken, pending the biennial meetings of the General Bodies in 1917, to send Pastor Ephraim Ceder, of the Swedish Augustana Synod, to Buenos Aires. This will be the means of avoiding all further division of Lutheran forces 'in the Southland Republics, and should unite all Lutherans interested in Latin-America. They will urge the Lutherans of the Argentine and other countries to organize churches and schools, not only for themselves, but also for the native populations.
These are but a few of the plans for promoting Christian work in Latin America. More will be done when the North American Christians have a better understanding of the Southern Republics as revealed in the reports and text-books recently published.
AMERICAN RELATIONS WITH THE ORIENT T HE relations of the United States with China and Japan is a matter of growing interest, not only to statesmen and poli- ticians, but specially to those who are promoting Christianity in these lands. The situation may become acute if left to drift at the mercy of present-day politics and certain sections of the press.
The rise of a new China makes it inevitable that sooner or later the American exclusion laws should be reconsidered and the Chinese be set free from humiliating discrimination. The California antialien land law leaves room for the possibility of misunderstanding between Japan and America, especially in view of the interpretation given by the radicals and the sensationalists in both countries to the raising of Count Terauchi to the premiership and to measures of military preparedness in both nations.
Christian leaders discredit all suggestion of the possibility of war between any of these three great nations, but they recognize the need for serious thought on the problems presented in their mutual relations. A conference on American Oriental problems was therefore held in New York on September 26th under the joint auspices of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the Churches and the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. There came together some fifty missionary leaders and prominent citizens interested in Oriental problems. Chin~ was
represented by Bishop L. H. Roots, Bishop Wilson S. Lewis, Presi- dent H. H. Lowry and Fletcher S. Brockman, of the Y. M. C. A.; Japan and Korea by Bishop Herbert Welch, Bishop M. C. Harris, Dr. Sidney L. Gulick, Dr. John L. Dearing, Dr. Hilton Pedley and Dr. A. D. Berry. Among the Mission Board Secretaries were: Dr. Robert E. Speer, Dr. Frank Mason North, Dr. William I. Haven, Dr. James L. Barton, Mr. William B. Millar, of the Laymen's Missionary Movement, and Bishop A. S. Lloyd.
There was unanimity in the conclusion that there must be an emphatic rejection by America of "Imperialism" and "Dollar Diplomacy" ascribed to Americans by Asiatics. There must be an outspoken declaration in favor of the new internationalism in relations with Asia.
Japan has observed with fidelity the terms of the "Gentlemen's Agreement" entered into by Secretary of State Elihu Root and Ambassador Takahira some years ago, with the result that the emigration of Japanese laborers to the United States has ceased, while the number of Japanese living in the United States is 15,000 less than at the time of the agreement. Its operation has caused hardship and misunderstanding among graduates of Christian schools in Japan and Korea who have wished to enjoy the privileges of an American college education.
The immigration question seems to be practically solved for the present, but there are two possible sources of friction: The California land law and the conflict of American and Japanese policies in China.
A resolution was passed recommending to the President that he ask Congress to create a non-partisan commission whose duty it shall be to study the entire problem of the mutual relations of America and the two great nations of the Far East, and to invite the government of China and the government of Japan each to appoint similar commissions. The American commission should then visit the Far East and confer with the commissions of China and Japan in their respective countries.
Another resolution indorsed the bill proposed by the American Bar Association for an act by Congress providing for the adequate protection of aliens. A third resolution affirmed the importance of establishing a Publicity Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs for the purpose of supplying to the public accurate information as to events in China and Japan and their relations to the United States.
If these resolutions are carried out effectively a long step will have been taken to strengthen friendly relations and the way will be open for other conferences of representatives from Japan and China with citizens of America interested in the development of international good will and the advancement of Christian ideals.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
THE P AN-TURANIAN MOVEMENT ONE of the remarkable results of the war is the change in the attitude of the Turks toward their fellow Moslems. The Sul- tan of Turkey has for centuries claimed to be -the "Defender of the Faithful" and the great head of the Moslem faith. With the advent of the young Turk to power, the Sultan lost his prestige. When Turkey entered the war she formed an alliance with an infidel power and fought against fellow Moslems from India and Africa. Then Great Britain announced her policy to protect the sacred Shrines of Islam, and in other ways sought to win the favor of . Moslems. In the Egyptian Sudan the British do not allow Christiani ty to be preached to Moslems in Khartum and are making Gordon College practically a Mohammedan institution. Moslems are more free to do missionary work than are Christians. This also has helped to lessen the power of Turkey with Moslems. Finally the Sheikhs of Mecca and Medina have revolted from Turkish authority and have declared that Turkey is traitor to the faith.
The result of this is seen in a Pan-Turanian movement. The Turks declare themselves enemies of Arabic-speaking Moslems, and word comes that they are adopting a policy for the extermination, not only of Christians in Turkey, but of Arabic-speaking Moslems as well. They proclaim "Turkey for the Turk," and some of them even advocate a return to pre-Moslem forms of faith and worship.
The line of cleavage in Europe and Asia between the spirit of Christ and the spirit of paganism seems to be growing more and more marked. It is clear that "those who have not the spirit of Christ are none of His." It will be a benefit to mankind if men come to realize to what the anti-Christian spirit ultimately leads.
CHURCH AND STATE IN MADAGASCAR S INCE the French took possession of Madagascar the Protestant churches have been in many difficulties, which at times have threatened their existence. An unfortunate incident has occurred there, to mar for the time being the good understanding that was gradually growing up between the French Government and the Protestant missionary societies in the island.
A political plot, having nationalist significance, was discovered by the authorities, and some of the leaders of the movement were men connected with the Christian Church of Madagascar through the various missions. The French Government consequently decided to press more closely its insistence upon the separation of political and Christian ideals within the missions, and its hand has been heavy upon the small minority of people whose connection with this plot was revealed. The French Government has, however, through its
representatives in Madagascar, expressed once more its confidence in the foreign leadership of the Christian Church, and has given evidence of its friendliness toward the missionaries of the five societies-the Paris Society, the London Missionary Society, the Friends' Foreign Missionary Association, the Norwegian Missionary Society, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
Friends of this great work are asked to pray that there may be no unworthy use of the organization of the Christian Church by the Malagasy, and that the Church itself may show by all its actions its full understanding of the purpose and scope of the Gospel message, so that in the days to come nothing may occur to hinder the free course of the Gospel in tlie island and the bringing into the knowledge of the salvation of God those hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants who have not yet accep~ed Christ.
COOPERATION IN HOME MISSIONS T HERE is yet to be shown a consistent example of interdenomi- national Christian unity and cooperation on a broad scale. A few attempts have been made to practise it, but they have been narrow or feeble. One of the recent attempts has been in Utah, the state of which a Mormon remarked, "This is the only place on earth where a Jew is a Gentile."
In Utah the line of demarcation religiously is not that of the Protestant and Roman Catholic, but that of the Motmon and Gentile. Under the general classification of Gentiles are included Roman Catholics, Protestants, .Tews, Buddhists, Hindus, or people of no faith.
In the first zeal of the missionary boards to establish churches everywhere throughout the State there was much overlapping which has caused great confusion in recent years. Because of this situation representatives of the denominations gladly welcomed the organization of the Utah Interdenominational Commission, following the work of the Neglected Field Survey a few years ago. This Commission has completed a thorough organization and the denominations cooperating under the plan are the Baptist, Congregational, Christian, Episcopalian, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian.
The following quotations from a "Statement of Principles" which the Commission has issued show the spirit in which it is working: "A community being served by one or more evangelical denominations should not be entered by any other denomination through its official agencies without consent of the Commission. A feeble church should be revived, if possible, rather than a new one established to become its rival. The preference of the evangelical element in a community should always be respected by the Commission."
It is to be hoped that this effort in Utah will be fruitful in true
and interdenominational unity, and will set an example for other states. Another fine example of the possibilities of denominational co- operation is found in the Church Federation in St. Louis, which consists of 115 of the most prominent churches in the city. Twelve denominations are represented. The unique feature of the federation is found in the executive function which it assumes. Unlike the federations in some cities, which act only in an advisory capacity, collecting data and furnishing material for the churches, the St. Louis Federation attempts to act for all of the organizations as a representative of a united Protestantism. One of its achievements is the St. Louis Training-school for Sunday-schQol workers, which has completed three years of successful work.
The Church Federation is also doing a notable work in connection with the Juvenile Court. A paid worker gives his time to this work and seeks to cooperate with the court in behalf of the Protestant boys and girls who are brought there.
The federation is seeking to act as arbitrator in the location of new churches in the city. Two years ago the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., made overtures to the other denominations in the federation that the churches locate no new enterprises or relocate any old enterprise without the ratification of a council representing the denominations in the federation. Eight denominations have agreed to this proposition.
In many other ways the Church Federation of St. Louis is justifying its existence.
THE WAR AGAINST INTOXICANTS T HE traffic in strong drink is on the defensive; liquor dealers face defeat. The battle is not yet won, but there are encouraging reports from many lands. In New York an advertiser offers to introduce beer "incognito" into the home. Some patrons are ashamed of their purchase. At a Sioux Indian conference in Mitchell, South Dakota, seven hundred Red Men recently passed resolutions against "fire-water" and demanded prohibition. The State and national prohibition movement in North America is growing rapidly and many brewers and distillers are seeking to dispose of their properties before it is too late. In Washington an earnest effort is being made to pass laws against the exportation of intoxicants to undeveloped races. The need for such a law is acknowledged. Only commercial interests stand in the way of the legislation. Porto Rico, Africa, and the Pacific Islands are being destroyed by rum, but friends in America and England are endeavoring to make the exportation il1egal.
In Peru, a remarkable man, Dr. Jose Pardo, who has recently been elected to the Presidency of the Republic, is an able opponent of King Alcohol. In his recent message to Congress he said:
"It is time the government should intervene in this industry in view of the great damage which the traffic in brandy occasions among the native population of the Sierra."
In France, the women have made the following powerful appeal to Parliament: "No more half-measures, no more compromises I Drink's ravages continue. We expect you to deliver the country from d'rink by the abolition of the distilling privilege and by the suppression of the use of alcohol as a beverage. Save the French race I Deliver France from drink I' , Simultaneously appears an appeal to French women from the "French Society for Action Against Alcoholism," of which the president is M. Raymond Poincare, president of the French republic. This appeal is in the form of a poster written by M. Jean Finot, one of the leading editors of France, and was posted in every postoffice in the country. It is in part as follows: Drink is as much your enemy as Germany, Since 1870 it bas cost France in men and money much more than the present war. Drink tickles the palate; but it is a real poison that destroys your constitution, The cordials of your parents reappear in their offspring as great hereditary evils. Drink decreases by two-thirds our national production; it raises the cost of living and increases poverty. Mothers, young men, young girls, wives! Up and act against drink in memory of those who have gloriously died or suffered wounds for the fatherland! You will thus accomplish a mission as grand as that of our heroic soldiers.
In Russia the temporary injunction against the sale of vodka seems about to be made permanent by a law which has already passed the lower house of the Duma. The proposed law contains an element of local options, but the government gives up the degrading traffic.
When will America and Great Britain make illegal this business which destroys men's bodies and souls?
Editorial Comment WHY STUDY LATIN AMERICA-AND HOW?
N ORTH AMERICAN Christians are gradually awakening to the fact that they are densely ignorant of the countries and peoples of Latin-America, and are beginning to realize that these neighbors are worth knowing. This ignorance and the intensely interesting facts concerning South America were clearly brought out in the correspondence and investigation conducted in preparation for the recent Latin-American Congress.
It is to be hoped that the result of revealing this ignorance and the rich field for study will be to bring Christians into a fuller
1916J EDITORIAL COMMENT
realization of their responsibilities for helping to solve South Ameri- ca's moral and spiritual problems.
The first requisite is knowledge. It would be interesting to hold an examination of the members of any church of average intelligence in Great Britain or North America to discover their knowledge of even the main facts concerning these southern republics. What would be the answers to such questions as: Locate Bahia, Cuzco, Surinam, Oaxaca, Lapaz. Bound Bolivia. Compare the size of Brazil with the United States of America or with Spain. What is the climate of Lima and of Buenos Aires? What language is spoken in Chile ¥ What kind of an educational system have they in Uruguay¥ To what country does Patagonia belong? How long has Brazil been independent? Compare the number of Indians in North and South America. How long since the last revolutions in Chile and in Argentina ¥ Such an examination, touching only on geography and history, would probably reveal appalling ignorance. There would be still less accurate knowledge concerning the marriage and divorce laws, the literacy, the religion of the Indians, the extent of unevangelized territory, the standing of the Roman Catholic Church, the beliefs and. spiritual state of the educated classes and the real character, strength and result of evangelical work in Latin-America.
A second cause of the prevailing indifference to missions in Latin- America has been that missions to these republics seem to many to be an impertinence. They find it difficult to conceive of great material wealth and civilization, such as are evident in the capitals of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, as coincident with real spiritual poverty. Some have thought also that since the Roman Catholic Church has been dominant in Latin-America for four hundred years, and has so much of Christian truth and has accomplished so many good things, therefore this church meets the need and there is no call for outside religious interference or help. Christians who really know the facts are convinced of the great need for such work as that carried on by the evangelical missions.
There are other causes for lack of knowledge of Latin-America, but it is hoped that the excellent courses of study and reading provided by the Missionary Education Movement and the Woman's Home Mission Study Circle books, and the reports of the Latin-American Congress, will dispel this darkness and bring information and enthusiasm to many misinformed but earnest Christians. We call attention to the article by Mr. Hicks in this number, entitled "Light on Latin-America," in which he describes the excellent books that have been prepared for different ages. Several of these volumes are intensely interesting and take away every vestige of excuse for a continuance in past ignorance. The reports of the commissioners of the Congress will be found particularly rich and stimUlating. For detailed description and prices see the advertising pages.
HATRED AND LOVE T HE European conflict has opened the flood-gates both of hatred and of love. Can anyone doubt which must ulti- mately conquer? Early in the war songs of hate burst out in uncontrolled fury as the nations locked in a death grapple. Unspeakable deeds of murderous anger have been perpetrated and the seeds of hatred have brought forth a plenteous offspring. But in the midst of it all the spirit of Christ has been struggling for expression in the relief of suffering, in the spiritual ministries to soldiers on the battlefield, in hospitals and in prison camps. The campaign for the relief of Syria and Armenia, of Persia and Belgium and Poland goes on without cessation. Sunday, October 22d, was set aside by President Wilson as a special day of intercession and offerings for Armenian and Syrian relief.
Another encouraging sign is the occasional word, from Germany, or France or Britain, denying the appeal to baser passions and preparing the way for the return to brotherhood after the war. Such a word has recently been spoken by Viscount Bryce, one of Great Britain's greatest men. At a recent meeting in Birmingham (October 3d) he urged the churches to do their part in helping form public opinion in regard to the terms of peace and the treatment of their enemies. He counseled Englishmen to repress the spirit of hatred and not to talk of banning a whole people for all time to come. "To indulge in revenge would be to sow the seeds of future wars. Nations could not hate one another forever. The victors should not seek to impose on the foe any terms dictated by the spirit of hatred."
Lord Bryce urged his fellow countrymen to consult reason rather than passion.
What would be the consequences if the leaders in Great Britain and Germany should indeed be wholly controlled by the spirit of Christ, who said to His disciples: "Love your enemies; do good to them that despitefully use you"? It would not result in a policy of weakness, but in the conquering spirit of love.
CALLS TO PRAYER FOR 1917 W E do not hear as much to-day, as in the early stages of the war, concerning the increased spirit of prayer and spiritual interest in the countries engaged in the con- flict. The hope that a return to God would bring speedy victory to the cause of the petitioners has not been fully realized, and as the spirit of prayer has waned the fact becomes clear that too much of the apparent religious awakening was not founded on abiding faith in God and submission to His will. Men were asking to have their own wishes fulfilled rather than that God's way might prevail.
EDITORIAL COMMENT
There have been, however, many deep spiritual movements among the troops, in prison camps and among the watchers and waiters at home. The distribution of gospels and the personal work has been fruitful-how much so, only eternity will reveal.
Never was there more need for united and universal prayer on the part of all Christians, and it is fitting that the last day of the present year and the first days of the new year (December 31st to January 6th) should be set aside for that purpose. New Year's day is assigned to thanksgiving and humiliation. What great need there is to remember the temptations and dangers of the year to come! What need for prayer in America for deliverence from cowardice and covetousness and self-satisfaction! What causes for thanksgiving for the spirit and opportunity to help the afflicted peoples of Europe and Asia.
The World's Evangelical Alliance has sent out an urgent call to Christians in every land to observe this week of prayer, bridging the old year and the new. 1'he call says: "There are special reasons for thanksgiving as we enter upon this year. While God's judgments have been in the earth, many have been learning righteousness. These are testing times for each man and for each man's work. We have witnessed the hopeless failure of all systems and philosophies built up on other foundations than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He has not failed. The Spirit of' Christ is spreading over the earth. The Kingdom of God is coming. The walls of the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, are rising faster than Satan can cast them down."
The first days of the new year are devoted to prayer for "The Church Universal," for "Nations and their Rulers," for "Missions among the Heathen," for" Families and Schools" and for" Missions at the Home Base. "
Any satisfactory and fruitful observance of this week of prayer will require preparation-a study of the conditions at home and abroad, a knowledge of the principles of successful prayer, a selfexamination and confession of sin. The season of ,united prayer may prove the opening of the flood-gates of God's power, or it may prov.e to be only another opportunity lost.
Never in the world's history was there greater need for the Christians everywhere to take advantage of the divine privilege of prayer. The present problems are too great for man to solve. The relations of China, Japan and America, the mass movements in India; the awful condition of the Syrians, Persians, Poles and Armenians; the shadows cast by the war over Africans and other primitive peoples; the needs of Mexico and other Latin-American lands; the inconceivable sufferings in Europe; the dangers to moral and spiritual life in America-all these and other subjects demand study in the light of God's will.
INDEPF.N DENCE DAY HOLIDAY IN
A celebration of tbe anniversary of Mexican Independence (Sept ember 16, 1910) in front of the P resident's Palace
A Program of Peace for
BY REV. JOHN W. BUTLER, D.D., MEXICO CITY, MEXICO Missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Chnrch Dr. Butler, a son of the founder of the Methodist Episcopal Mission in Mexico, has lived with and worked for the Mexicans for forty years. His view of the situation and of the forces that make for peace are therefore especially noteworthy.-EDIToR.
W HY not? God intended it, the Shepherds of Bethlehem chorused it. and the Prince of Peace included it in his Commission to the Seventy. It may seem to some that the past history of the country does not indicate any such program. However, the past does not necessarily control the future. Custom and tradition, in this case, may fail as indicators of what is to come.
In writing of Mexico one can never forget her long night of suffering. The poor Mexicans, victims of a superstition, were too weak to oppose the foreign foe which landed on their shores four hundred years ago. Due to that superstition, the many became the serfs of the few invaders, and through three centuries were the unwilling, though abject subjects of over-sea masters.
Then came the glorious struggle for liberty and independence. Five years are still lacking to complete a century of sovereign national existence, and during this century it has been one long story of revolution, civil strife and foreign war. In this period there were only about thirty years of peace and prosperity, from 1878 to 1910. The recent disturbances seem to many to be the worst of all Mexico's sorrows. And yet, this may be the final mortal struggle before her entrance upon the enjoyment of permanent peace.
We should not forget how other nations have come up through long tribulations to times of peace and modern civilization. England needed upward of four hundred years prior to the great Revolution of 1640 and 1688 before coming, as a nation, to the full enjoyment of inalienable civil and religious rights.
France records one struggle after another preparatory to the Revolution of 1789 when Liberty, Fraternity and Equality were assured, and then nearly a hundred years later she learned the supreme lesson of giving the nation's heart not to Napoleon, nor even to the President, but to the people. It was after this achievement that the French Republic has developed an unparalleled strength in the past forty years of peace and prosperity.
The American RepUblic was conceived and really born across the sea. When launched on the shores of the new continent it was already a robust youth. Yet it took the Revolution of '76
ANO'l'TIJiJR REASON WHY MEXICO NEEDS A NNW PROGRAM rovcrty and Ignorance–Beggars at Ctltoric(~ and the bloody civil war to produce the united and vigorous nation of the present day.
We need a little more charity and patience with Mexico. Looking thoughtfully at her many struggles, some of which were imposed from the outside, we can see how after each great effort the nation took a step forward. The throwing off of a foreign yoke, the breaking of an ecclesiastical one, the, endurance of entailed land abuses of colonial times, the thraldom of ignorance and superstition, the merciless severity of the rich and other privileged classes, and further abuses have caused the sacrifice of thousands of lives and the shedding of rivers of blood-and yet after every struggle the nation has moved forward and the peopJe have moved upward. Such advances may not appear to have been great, yet advance there was. All this is very marked in the last five years' commotion. No one more than the leaders of the present dominant influence in Mexico, for instance, recognize not only the need of effective suffrage, of land rights for the masses, but over and above these and to make reasonable and
A PROGRAM OF PEACE FOR MEXICO
truly successful all these things, there must be a liberal education for the rising generation.
So we see in such states as Yucatan, Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, and Michoacan, practical plans in- augurated with tremendous activ- ity. Already over two thousand new schools have been opened since the triumph of the Oonstitu- tional cause! This is equivalent, in two short years, to one school fqr every pupil reported by the Spanish Viceroy after two centu- ries of Spanish domination. It is the most hopeful sign of the times and the first shining number in the new program for Mexico.
If the feeble efforts of recent years reduced illiteracy from 95 per cent. to 80 per cent., what may we expect from the present energetic and well-directed cam- paign in the hands of such men as Palavichini, Osuna, Herrera WHY MEX I CO -'EEDS A KEW PROGRAM and other equally broad-ml'nded and live-wire men ? One phase of their religion. Dancers before the Shrine of Guadaloupe, n ear Mexico City Moreover, the leaders, who without loss of time are making good along this line, are more or less committed to all the neces- sary reforms which have for their end the uplifting of the masses and the building of the nation on more rational and permanent foundations. They will not be slow to profit by the mistakes of the past.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST The second number in the Program of Peace for Mexico is the possibility, if not the probabilit.y, that the Historic Ohurch will at last come to learn wisdom from the past. It is difficult for Americans to understand the real condition and spirit of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico. In order to do so one must bear in mind the hasty, not to say superficial work carried on at the time of the Conquest. The masses were never Christianized, and of the fifteen million people in Mexico to-day probably not 20 per cent. of them could give any intelligent definition of Christianity. Among the early friars were a few real missionaries who did as good work as the Roman Catholic Ohurch has ever done in any land. Las Casas, Gante, and others like them, loved the Indian and labored with the spirit of sacrifice and devotion rarely seen, and never excelled by missionaries of any age.
But after these came hundreds of men who seem to .have been more mercenary than spiritual, more anxious for numbers than for the character of the work done. Hence ignorance, superstition and idolatry have come down through the centuries as part and parcel of the historic Mexican Church. Roman Catholic authors are eloquent confessors of this sad condition of things which has led to the lamentable fact that the Church, doniinant for four hundred years, has kept from the people the Bible, liberal education and a true knowledge of the living Christ.
In addition to all this is the spirit of intolerance and narrowness among the leaders of the dominant Church. There are POLITICAl, EXCITEMENT IN MEXICO A street 'scene in Mexico City on the occasion of the resignation of President Diaz, May 30, 1911 also the clerical abuses, especially through the confessional, such as are not known outside of Latin ·countries. This is not the opinion of Protestants alone. In the New York Times of August 27th a Roman Catholic writer says: "I have enjoyed the excellent accounts that you have given of the Catholic Convention. I was delighted to see that they were considering the important subject of religion and morals. In the sphere of morals the Holy Church should be the leader. This should be supremely true of Catholic countries. The Catholic Church should be able to hold them up as object lessons of what she can do for morals. I have in mind especially Latin-America. ' There is need in these countries for the leadership of the Catholic Church. in morals.. I aI!l a good
Catholic, but like many other American Catholics, when I am in Peru or Brazil I am ashamed to call myself a Oatholic. The immorality and the superstition that are mixed up with the re- ligion of the Holy Church are shocking and startling to an Ameri- can. I would suggest to the Convention that a Commission of five priests be appointed to visit Latin-America, going as five American laymen, and report what the Church can do for these countries in the domain of morals."
Unfortunately, these abuses in Mexico have led recently to seeming severity on the part of revolutionary leaders. Archbish- ops, bishops and other higher clergy, self-exiled from that Repub- lic, are found in considerable numbers in San Antonio, Texas and other cities of the Southern States, from which they send out literature to air their grievances and to create sympathy among their co-religionists of the United States. Fortunately, their sOc journ in the northern Republic has been pro- tracted. I n their time for reflection will they be wise enough to see some of the mistakes of their Church? If they are led to accept; even though they do not like, present conditions in their na~ tive country, the hour of their salvation is at hand.
The y still control more than 90 per cent. of the people in Mexico. Let them make an honest effort to give something beyond the Ripaldi Cate- chism to the rising generation, and their future membership will be worth to them and the coun- ONE OF THE NEW FORCES FOR PEACE IN MEXICO The Margaret Whittaker McMutrie Memorial Presbyterian Church, Coyoacan
try ten times what it is to-day. Let them give the Holy Scriptures to the people and they will cooperate as none others can in the diffusion of such principles of democracy as will exalt a nation. Let them enthrone the living Ohrist in the hearts of the masses as fully as they have installed the idolatrous myth of Guadalupe, and they will help to produce such a revitalized Ohristianity as will delight the very heart of God. These evidences of regeneration would give back to the church the confidence of the leaders of the present day and would make for a permanent Program of Peace.
But the most important number of the Program of Peace is the extension of evangelical Ohristianity. The evangelical Ohristians stand here, as everywhere, for the open Bible, the education ANOTHER FORCE FOR PERMANENT PEACE 'rile I<'aculty and Students of tile Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary, Coyoacan,- before tile revolution (1906) of the masses and the incarnation of the living Christ in the hearts and lives of men and women. Such Christianity is the one great need of Mexico to-day, and its extension now would mean immensely more than at any time in the future.
The initial years of Protestantism in Mexico have given the cause a commanding influence, so that Constitutionalist leaders in many ways are urging the extension of missionary operations. Pending plans of federation and unification of all Protestant missionary agencies will immensely facilitate the work and make this number on the program a power in the uplift of Mexico.
MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES The American Government can not be a silent onlooker. The two countries are so related that they need each other and can be mutu-
1916J A PROGRAM OF PEACE FOR. MEXICO
ally helpful in many ways. Intervention is the last thing to be advocated. The honest big brother is what is needed. The landing of troops ill Vera Cruz in 19141 and the sending of the punitive expedition into Chihuahua, justifiable or otherwise, only aroused suspicion, and made many enemies for Americans south of the Hio Grande.
Our expectation is that the Joint Commission now in session in New London, made up as it is of able men of both nations, will bring about a better understanding, restore confidence and open the way for the American people to be truly helpful in the development of the Program of Peace. The Mexican people themselves realize this. At a mass meeting held in Buffalo nearly a year ago, a missionary A PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM FOR MEXICO A classroom s(,pne in the missionary " Coh~gio Morclos," Aguascaliclltes from Mexico spoke for over an houi' to this effect. The audience of over three thousand was most sympathetic, and when the speaker had concluded, a young Mexican who chanced to be present, rushed uninvited to the front of the platform and said: "I am a Mexican and was born in the Roman Catholic Church, but I would not be true to my convictions and this hour if I failed to make public my convictions. What we want you American people to send to Mexico is not cannon and soldiers, but missionaries like this one who has just addressed us; then before long we ~ill have a happy and prosperous people."
Mexico's rehabilitation will surprise the world. Her God-given resources are limitless. With the advent of peace and the coming togetlier of the various factions to work unitedly for the fatherland, these resources will speedily become available, and abundant fruits of peace and prosperity will give us such happy neighbors on our south as will lead every true American, and especially every true Christian, to rejoice with them in their acceptance of God's program of peace for Mexico.
and the" U tterlTIOst Parts" *
BY MR. S. D. GORDON, NEW YORK The author of "Quiet Talks."
T HIS world is God's prodigal son. Very naturally the heart of God is broken over His prodigal. He has been gone so long. And the home circle of God is broken. The hearth-fire of God is lonely. There is always the vacant seat when they gather around the family board in the Father's house. He has given the wealth of His love to a plan for winning the world back. That plan called for His only Begotten, and He spared not His only Begotten. That plan called for the life of His only Begotten. And His only Begotten spared not his life.
But Jesus' dying is not enough. It is the tremendous beginning, but it is not the ending. Understand me here. Jesus was very man of very man, and very God of very God. He was born of a virgin, in a way unknown before and unrepeated afterward. He died as our substitute Savior. Only through his blood can anyone be saved. And he emptied the tomb where they laid Him. But Jesus' dying is not enough. Men must be told that He died, that so they may choose. For the one thing with which God the Father is concerned is a man's choice. Everywhere, always, this now is the thing that concerns Him regarding men.
Our living is to be like Jesus' dying. And the Father's plan for the world will never reach to its fulfilment till we live as Jesus died. He died for a world. We are to live for a world. It took the very life of His life to die for a world. It is meant to take the life of our lives that we live for a world.
It meant everything to Jesus that He died for a world. It ought to mean everything to us that we live for a world, in Jesus' Name. It meant everything to the world that Jesus died for it. It ought to mean everything to the world that we live for it. And a man is living distinctly below par, whoever he be, who is living on a lower level than this, that he lives as Jesus died.
In order that we may help in winning the old world back to God, we have been given five' things: our life, what we are; our lips, what we say or sing; our service, what we do; our gold, what we do not keep, selfishly, for ourselves; and, lastly, prayer, what we claim in the name of Jesus the Victor. The greatest of these is prayer, God's power going out through prayer.
The power of a life touches one spot. The power through the lips depends on the life back of the lips. The power through service is always less than the power of the life. The power of money depends upon the motive back of the money. The old Church is in no need of were money to-day; not a particle. But she has need of money * An address delivered at the Washington Laymen's Congress of Missions. with the red tinge of sacrifice on it. But the power through prayel' is as tremendous as the power of life, and it may touch, not one spot like a life, but anywhere in the round world where we choose to turn its power.
THE GREATEST THING THAT ANYBODY CAN DO The greatest thing 3:nybody can do is to pray. It is not the only thing, but it is the chief thing. The greatest people are those who pray, those who put prayer first, who make prayer the pivot, and adjust the whole of life around that prayer pivot.
But prayer is a variable term. The word stands for so many different things. Prayer is not saying religious words with your eyes shut and a terminal amen attached. Prayer is a life. It is an act, a habit, a mental attitude, a life, and, given these things, the man becomes the prayer.
The prayer takes on the quality of the life (hat the man lives. Every man has the choice of living anyone of three lives. He may live a bad life, outwardly sinful, or selfishly cultured. He may live a normal Christian life; or he may live an emergency Christian life.
By the normal Christian life I mean that he may live as if the world were in a normal condition. Perhaps he has money; he has a luxurious home; he likes certain rare books; he is fond of music and works of art, and surrounds himself luxuriously in his home with these things. He is a consecrated man; he believes in prayer; he is a real Christian. Christ is his Master, but his life is led as a Christian life in a normal world. He gives, and gives freely. But he surrounds himself with luxuries, which are very enjoyable, which most of us would enjoy very much, I think of that as a normal Christian life. Such men are good and do good.
Then there is the third life, the emergency Christian life. The man may be controlled in his life by the fact that the world is in an emergency. Abnormal actions to meet abnormal conditions excuse many things we sometimes criticize. Jesus found an abnormal world, made so by sin, and so ,Jesus lived the emergency life. The cross was an emergency transaction. I plead for no extremism, but for men who are swept and swayed by the Holy Spirit, and who live the emergency life, as the Spirit guides.
I say a man's prayer takes on the quality of his life-a deep life, deep power in prayer; a shallow life, shallow prayer; a broad life, a broad power in prayer; a selfish life, yes, a selfish Christian life! (how men's lives compel you to tie together words that contradict each other!) a selfish Christian life gives the quality of selfishness to the prayer. The prayer takes on the quality of a man's life.
Prayet opens the planet to a man's activity. This is not a perfunctory statement; it is a fact. A man in New York may control the touch of an electric button, and a thousand pounds or a million dollars in London or Berlin or Petrograd changes control. Just as
really a man may touch a spirit-prayer-current button and change the control of lives in those same cities or elsewhere. The man touching the electric button has to have certain relationships with the banker, or his touch does not count. And a man must have certain relationships with the power in the prayer current and the power house up yonder; and then as truly as the money changes control by the touch in New York so the lives are changed yonder by the touch here through the spirit current of prayer.
'.rHE OUTWARD AND THE INWARD ,]he true Christian life has two sides, the outward side and the inner side; the outer narrow side, the inner broader side. The outer side is concerned with the common round of a man's life in its outer circumstances and surroundings. _It is a narrow circle, even where it is broadest. The inner side is concerned with the spirit of a man's life. Look at a man who has got the Master's touch of prayer. He leads faithfully the commonplace round of his outer narrow life; and then under the touch of God's Spirit, he goes alone with God into the inner, broader place. In every prayer room there is a spirit switchboard, as in every electrical power house there is the electrical switchboard. Here the man can go and loosen out the current that changes things around the world.
No, this is not just talking. This is I!ot rhetoric. This is tremendously, intensely so. And may the intensity of it grip all our hearts and sway all our lives anew. As a man goes into the inner, hidden-away, broader side of his life, and begins to pray, he loosens out the spirit current of power. He prays for his family circle, his church, his partners in business, his own pastor, his own neighbors, his own club members, perhaps his own city, we will trust, his own state, we will hope, his own nation, as the Spirit guides. And thenlisten I-hush your heart I-notice what a man can do; for it is tremendous. For instance, on Sunday, he may turn this key on the switchboard, and the current of power is loosened out, and he can touch the whole of Turkey, Arabia, Syria, and the other countries hanging on the eastern- fringe of the Mediterranean, that is, the Middle-of-the-earth Sea. He comes out again to his outer round; goes in again, perhaps on Monday, and turns the current in on India j on Tuesday he turns it in on China; Wednesday on Japan and the Island World of the Pacific; Thursday pushing across the Pacific waters, he turns it in on the Americas; on Friday across the Atlantic waters to Africa; on Saturday he turns up across the Mediterranean into old Europe, from which we all largely come.
He can do it. And-hush your heart!-things change. Things change while he is to~ching the current. He does not know it. A.b, yes, he does, by the knowing of faith. The man in the New York brokerage office orders the sending of a cablegram, and money
1916J PRAY AND THE "UTTERMOST PARTS"
changes control in London, Paris, Shanghai, Calcutta, wherever he wills. The money control is changed. He does not know it. You can't hear across the ocean directly, yet. He can't see. But he knows in his heart that the money is changed, that his control is sure through his bankers.
"PRAYER CHANGES THINGS"
Just as really, things are changed around the world when a man loosens out that spirit current of prayer. There is a missionary in China. It is his first year. He is still pegging away with the language. It's hard work. Will he ever get iU He is a bit tired, a bit nervous, not yet acclimated. He has none of the inspiration of service yet. He says to himself, "Did I make a mistake in coming out here~ I might have been useful back home and . . . " And, even as he is talking, something like a bit of fresh air blows in upon his spirit, he digs his heels in, and braces up afresh with new courage and says to himself: "Ah, the Master did send me, and He will help me in getting the language." And all because some fellow out in Jersey or in Indiana, perhaps a shipping clerk hammering in the nails, prayed for him. The fellow hammering the nails here did not know, and the fellow out there did not know, but the man here touched the prayer button and things out there were changed by it.
Or, there is a fellow in India who has been a Christian only six months. The ground gets pretty slippery under his feet one day, and a whole heredity is pulling him back to the old evil standard. He is nearly gone. But he stops and says, "I must not do this; I must be true to this ,resus.' , And he digs his heels in, and locks his jaw, and says, "No" to the temptation, and goes along without slipping. Why~ Because some one over here was praying.
Ah! God's best friend in the old world to-day is the man who will put his heart in full touch with ,resus and out of touch with the com- promise atmosphere of the earth, and put prayer in the pivot place in his life.
Let me use the electrical figure again. I have been talking about the current. He who "insulates" himself, heart and life, from the compromise spirit round about him, and puts himself in full touch with the Lord Jesus ~yonder in the place of power, and who as the Spirit guides, goes his faithful round, doing the simple commonplace task, but every day wears down a bit flatter the doorsill into the prayer corner and uses the spir-it switchboard, he changes things round the world.
Jesus was a big man, a world man. And the Jesus-man is a worldman in size. Jesus died for a world. He asks us to live for it. And we live for it best as we make prayer the pivot, and let everything else grow out of the prayer life, and circle round about the prayer pivot.
One afternoon, just outside of London, a lady spoke to my wife and said: "I was reading in a pook that said' prayer changes things.' I believe that, of course, but I wondered if it were so." She is like some of her neighbors in America. Then she went on to say that she had a brother in Oalcutta, a fourth or a third the way around the world, who was not a Ohristian. She had prayed for him, and she had spoken to him, but he had rebuffed her until she had lost heart, which meant she had practically lost faith, which meant she had lost the power out of her prayer. And now she was set to thinking about it again. She asked herself, "If I pray in London will something happen in Oalcutta 1 This book that I have been reading says it will."
Now there was a fresh touch with the Master. Her heart began burning anew under that touch. She began anew to pray, to pray for this brother, to. pray that something would happen in Oalcutta while she was praying in London. And in the course of her family correspondence she put a question in the letter to her brother, not directly asking what she wanted to know, but a question. She asked, "Has anything unusual happened to you lately'" The letter went, and in due course an answer came back, taking weeks in transit. His letter spoke of the usual family matters, and then he said, "You ask if anything unusual has happened to me lately. Yes, something has happened. Last (naming the time) I began thinking about God. I remembered what mother had taught us, and I knew my life was not right, :and my heart was not pure, and I tried to push the whole thing aside. But it wouldn't push, and I slipped into my room one day, and I knelt there and took our mother's Savior as my Savior; and so this has happened, I have become a Christian."
"I wonder if you can feel as my words can not say, the almost feverish eagerness," this lady went on, "with which I thought back to the time when I prayed, and my feelings when, after a moment's thought, I knew that the time of which he spoke was the time when my new prayer began." She touched the prayer button, and a man -and the hardest thing to change is not money, it is a man, the hardest thing to bend is a human will- a man's will was bent; he was changed in Calcutta because she went to the switchboard of prayer in London.
Shall we pray' Shall we put prayer firsH Shall we make this our pivot~ Jesus has never failed us. Jesus never fails a man. God did not fail us. God never fails us. May we not fail Him, in putting prayer things first, for Jesus' sake, for a world's sake, in Jesus' great Name.
apanese
In response to the Editor's request, Han. T. Tanaka, the Japanese Charge d' Affaires at Washington has sent us the following statement as to the influence of Christianity on the Japanese, their ideals and customs.
–EDITOR.
CHRISTIANITY has more than anything else diffused among our people the notion of international brother- hood. Secluded as we were from the outer world for more than two centuries, we had very little conception of what the rest of the human beings were doing in the meanwhile. At least the mass of people thought that we were the only civilized nation existent on the globe. Commodore Perry's expedition and many other events brought about the opening of the country, and the denizens of the island empire became more and more alive to their real international position. The scales were falling from their eyes and their points of view were gradually being broadened. However, nobody could deny the tender influences of Christianity which is giving the final touch to their catholicity of mind.
It would be amiss if I failed to mention the enormous benefit Christianity is contributing to Japan in the line of women's education and philanthropic works, which would never have attained their present magnitude and development but for the guiding hand of foreign missionaries.
I believe that in Japan freedom of conscience obtains more than In any other country; but religions will become the integral part of a nation only when they are thoroughly acclimatized. I hope and believe that in the fulness of time a real Japanese Christianity will evolve and be a beacon light in the path of the Japanese people in the progress of civilization.
THE TESTIMONY OF COUNT OKUMA Count Okuma, the recent Prime Minister of Japan, publicly made the following statement regarding the past and the future of Christianity in Japan. This is especially striking in view of the fact that half a century ago death was the penalty to those who became Christians.
A LTHOUGH Christianity has enrolled less than two hun- dred thousand believers, yet the indirect influence of Christianity has poured into every realm of Japanese life. -It has been borne to us on all the currents of European civilization; most of all, the English language and literature, so surcharged with Christian ideas, have exerted a wide and deep influence over Japanese thought.
Concerning the future it is my own conviction that no practical solution of many pressing problems is in sight apart from Christianity.
'l'HJj) LA'l'E AR'l'HUR
l!'ormerly President of the Allahabad ChrIstian College. (Now the Arthur Ewing Christian College)
Influence of a Life in
A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THE LATE ARTHUR H. EWING * BY PROF. MOHAMMED ISMAIL Professor of Arabic and Persian. Ewing Ohristian Oollege, Allahabad, India.
For twenty-one years (1890-1912), A.rthur H. Ewing, a brilliant scholar, labored in India and became known and loved for his Christlike character. He died September 13, 1913. .This testimony of one of the Indian Christian converts from 181am is inspiring.
I "vAS brought up a Moslem, but from 1890 to 1893 I was a secret believer. In January I confessed the Lord Jesus Ohrist openly, and consequently was driven out of home and deprived of every~ thing that would have been mine had I not taken the step. But that was not all-I had to run for my life from place to place. In Lahore, I was ill-treated and robbed of the little money I had by a Ohristian. That wolf dressed in sheep's clothing was caught, and I got back my money; but it was a great shock to me spiritually, and I began to doubt whether Ohrist would deliver me from the power of sin. In March, 1894, I went to Ludhiana, where I was a perfect stranger and knew nobody. I was a youth of eighteen and had studied only up to the middle class; but in religious literature I was a little ahead of my age, and knew Arabic and Persian well enough to be a teacher in some school. In my first interview with Dr. Arthur H. Ewing, he made a great impression upon me, and I felt drawn to him. He made me a pupil-teacher, and I settled down in his school. Within a few weeks he won my love and respect, and I began to feel myself brought in direct contact with a truly Ohristian life.
One of my classmates was known as the bully of the school. He was a terror to the little boys, and the teachers were tired of him, and his character was so unsatisfactory that there was hardly a day on which nothing was brought against him. He did something very hideous, and it was thought best, for the good of other boys, to expel him from the school. All the boys and the teacher assembled in the prayer hall, delighted to see him punished and sent away from our school; but there was one face that looked quite sad and still loving. It was the face of the truly sympathetic teacher and friend of all who were entrusted to him. He knew that the unfortunate young man belonged to a very poor family; had thrown away his chances, as far as his education was concerned, and, now, with a black mark against him, was going out into the world where he would be surrounded by greater temptations. These thoughts weighed so heavily upon his tender heart that when, at the end, he got up to offer a prayer for the expelled young man, he was choked and could not utter a single word. He made a sign to the headmaster who prayed. I saw tears • A contribution to the proposed biography of Dr. Ewing.
rolling down Dr. Ewing's cheeks. It was the first time that I saw the great man, full of vibrating vitality. broken and overpowered with grief. I can not describe the effect it had on me; but I would like to tell that it melted the heart of the young man who was expelled from the school. He repented of his sins, became entirely a new man, and now is a preacher of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Once, in the rainy season, a low field, near the school, was flooded and the owner, who was physically weak, asked his neighbors and relatives to help him; nobody came to his help. The man came actually crying to Dr. Ewing and told his story. Within a few minutes Dr. Ewing was seen with a spade on his shoulders, sleeves and trousers rolled up, and wading through knee-deep water, going to help the poor man. Many of the boys followed him. For about two hours he worked with the spade. The boys helped him, and the field of corn was saved.
My stay at the school, for two years, was most delightful. I passed my entrance examination and got a scholarship; but the prospect of going to college could not help me to make up my mind to go away from the dearest teacher and friend as Dr. Ewing had become. But, in obedience to his advice, I went to Lahore and entered the Forman Christian College, but constantly dreamed of Ludhiana, and longed to get back. His letters comforted me a great deal, and occasionally some business took him to Lahore; and whenever I was able I made a trip to Ludhiana and enjoyed a visit with him, and satisfied my soul by looking at the dear face which has left a permanent impression upon my heart.
One of my friends promised to bear my expenses at college, and I gave my scholarship to another poor student; but after about six months, that friend was compelled to discontinue. I did not know what to do. I had no money to pay for my board, so I told the messmanager not to have anything cooked for me. For two days I went without any food. On the third day I was unable to move about and had to confine myself to my room. Meanwhile, some business brought Dr. Ewing to Lahore, and he learned from his brother, Principal J. C. R. Ewing, that I was absent from the college. He came to my room to see me, and as soon as he looked at me, he was able to dis- cover that there was something wrong with me. r could not refuse to tell him what it was, and when I told, he said: "Ah! foolish boy, why didn't you send me word at once? r really feel hurt. You did not believe that I was your friend and would help you. Whenever you are in a tight place always let me know." r can not tell what he did, for he told me not to tell anyone.
r was still at college when he went back to America, on furlough, and by the time he came to India to found a college at Allahabad, I had left Lahore and was working under Dr. E. M. Wherry, in Ludhiana, in connection with the Christian Literature Society, but as
THE INFLUENCE OF A LIFE IN INDIA
soon as the college at Allahabad was started I told Dr. Wherry of my intention to go to Allahabad. He thought, perhaps, some higher salary was tempting me, and said: "If you are going for the sake of money I won't let you go." But I told him that it was not the money, but the man. So eventually, with Dr. Wherry's permission, I wrote to Dr. Ewing. He answered and said: "If Dr. Wherry has no objection, then come and see the place, and, in case you should finally decide to come, we will plan accordingly." In the last week of February, 1904, I came and found him marking the ground for the new high school building and carrying about bricks with his own hands. I spent a few days with him, then went back to Ludhiana, and on the 8th of July came back to Allahabad and joined the staff of the new college on half the salary I was drawing at Ludhiana.
From July, 1904, to September, 1912, I had the good fortune of working with him and knowing things of him which are of very great value to me and to many other members of the college. Apart from his private life, which is too sacred to be described by a worthless man as I am, he was a pillar of light to those who came in contact with him and saw him perform the varied duties of every day.
As the principal of the college, he knew every individual student by name. In his time, the number of college students went up to 350 (with 800 in the high-school), and it seemed that he had the picture of everyone of them in his brain, together with the name.
In the staff meetings, whenever a student was discussed, he never had to ask the question, "Who is this fellow1" or "What does he look like 1" The secret of this was that he was a personal friend of every student, and helped his memory- by constantly associating with the students. He took part in their games, invited them to his house, in groups, almost every week, while Mrs. Ewing entertained them with tea and many different kinds of cake, and also tried to teach them etiquette-especially how to behave in the presence of ladies. She still remembers many of them and, as I know for certain, all of them have a very high regard for her.
Dr. Ewing knew the circumstances of almost every student and for those who needed help he was. always able to find some means to help them. In matters of discipline he was very strict; but nobody ever thought he was unkind. On the contrary, love and good will were manifest in all his dealings, and those who were disciplined always felt confident that Dr. Ewing did every thing for their good, though they could not see and understand it clearly at the time.
In cases of illness he did all in his power and risked his life. Once two students got cholera. They were at once segregated and Dr. Ewing himself ministered unto them, from the beginning to the end, while some people looked at them from a safe distance and some he himself told not to come near, fearing they might take infection to their families. His love and service were not limited and confined
to students and professors and their families, but he went about doing good to the outside world as well. Once a leper, being tired of his miserable life, threw himself into a well and it was Dr. Ewing who touched the untouchable and pulled the dead body out.
At a considerable distance from the mission compound a woman died of plague, in an upper room, and none of the neighbors came forward to help the husband take her body down. He came to the mission and learned from the church-bearer (the janitor) that if he went to Dr. Ewing he would receive all the help he required. He came to Dr. Ewing and told his sad story. Was he disappointed 7 No, Dr. Ewing went at once with him to his house. The stairway was so narrow that the dead body could not be brought down that way, but there was a large window. So Dr. Ewing tied the dead woman to the bed, lifted the bed on his own back, placed it in the window, and then let it down by means of a rope. After doing everything that was to be done, and making every necessary arrangement for the burial, the man of God returned home. There are many other similar and nobler deeds done by him, to which I have been an eye-witness; but I am afraid he would not like me to speak of them.
As a scholar and philosopher Dr. Ewing was undoubtedly one of the best; but he had no pretentions and never boasted of his literary attainments. He was so busy in doing things that he had no time to speak of them. I have never known another man as willing and able to see things from other people's points of view, as Dr. Ewing was. To everything he did, whether great or small, he devoted all his energy and attention, and tried to do everything to the best of his ability. Even in the little things, like games, he was never satisfied with anything less than putting in every ounce of his self.
He was, physically, very strong and, intellectually, wonderfully bright. He occupied many responsible positions at the same time, and every position he filled in such a way as if he had nothing else to do. The amount of work he did, and the things he accomplished in the course of twenty-one years, it is hardly conceivable that any man could do. But the real glory of the man was in his moral strength. He always took time for prayer in deciding things, consulted others, and did not despise the opinion of anyone; but when he had decided anything in the way he thought right, then it was easier to move a mountain than to change his decision. He made the best possible use of the powers God had given him; but above all things he depended on God for every thing; and this sense of dependence, coupled with his firm faith in God under all circumstances and his love for God and humanity, was the secret of his marvelous success in life.
:My heart is full of thankfulness to God for the blessing of the consecrated life of Dr. Ewing, which has proved a blessing to me and to many of my friends and relatives. :May He give me grace to follow the footprints of the beloved teacher who shall never be forgotten, and whom I hope to meet again beyond the river.
Religious Question In
A STATEMENT BY HON. LUIS CABRERA The following authoritative statement concerning the much-dJiscussed religious question in Mexico is by the head of the Mexican Commrission sitting with the representatives of the United States at Atlantic City. It would be difficult to name anyone more capable of clarifying this sub- ject than Licenciado Cabrera. After General Carranza and Secretary of War Obregon, he is probably the most influential citizen in Mexico. Edu- cated in his own country, in France, Spain and the United States, he is not only a lawyer and well-trained dJiplomat" but an author.ity on inter- national questions. He occupied for some time the position of Confi- dential Agent of t,he Constitutional Government in Washington, and was later appointed lIIinister of Finance.-EDITOR.
T HE question of the Church in Mexico has not been well under- stood in the United States, because the conditions of the Mexican Catholic Church differ vastly from those of the Catholic Church in the United States. . . . Before the war of the Reform (1856 to 1859), the Catholic Church was the strongest temporal power existing in Mexico, and the laws of the Reform enacted during that period all tended to deprive the Church of its power and bring about the absolute independence of Church and State.
The laws of the Reform are a collection of rules passed previous to 1860, with the aim of depriving the Catholic Church of its temporal power; and these rules have remained effective, because the conditions which then demanded their enactment still prevail and still make it necessary that the laws should remain in force.
The principal laws enacted previous to 1860, for governing the Church and stripping it of the temporal power which it enjoyed, are the following: (a) Separation of the Church and State. (b) Incapacity of the Church to possess landed property. (c) Abolition of convents. These laws of the Reform were established in Mexico after a revolution which may be considered the most bloody that Mexico has ever witnessed-a revolution which affected the country more deeply than even the present revolution is doing. The clergy defended themselves desperately against the laws which stripped them of power, and on finding themselves defeated, they resorted, in 1860, to the inter" vention of foreign Powers (Spain, France and England), which attempted to intervene on the pretext of the fulfilment of the financial obligations of the Juarez Government. The treason of the Clerical party had, as a result, French intervention only, out the laws of the Reform enacted against the clergy were of such importance and so necessary, that the Emperor Maxi-
milian himself did not dare to undo what had been done in the time of Juarez.
The French troops being withdrawn and the Constitutionalist Government of Mexico reestablished, the laws of the Reform were not only maintained, but in 1874 they were incorporated in the political Constitution.
It becomes necessary at this moment to distinguish between the real aims of the Constitutionalist Government regarding the religious question, and that part of the actual happenings which is merely a deplorable consequence of the attitude assumed by the Catholic clergy since 1910 against the revolutionary movement.
The aim of the Constitutionalist Government with regard to the Mexican Catholic Church, is to enforce the strict observance of the laws known as laws of the Reform, which up to the present time have been disregarded. '.rhe Constitutionalist Government demands the fulfilment of these laws, because they form an integral part of the Mexican Oonstitution. These laws must be maintained because the causes which demanded their enactment are still prevalent in the country.
A brief analysis of the principal laws of the Reform will further clear up the matter.
THE SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH AND STATE According to the Mexican Constitution, there must be absolute separation between the Church and State. This signifies that the Church is to lack all temporal power and that, as an organized institution, it is not to participate in the political affairs of the country.
It has never been intended to deny Mexican Catholics either the exercise of their religion, or their right to take part in the political affairs of Mexico. We Constitutionalists are Catholics; the Villistas are Catholics; the Zapatistas are Catholics. Ninety-nine per cent of the Mexican population is Oatholic, and, therefore, the Oonstitutionalist party could not in the present struggle attempt to deprive the Catholics, who form the totality of the Mexican people, of their right to profess their religion, or of their right to take part in political questious.
The Catholic clergy and the Church in general abstained for a long time from interference in the political problems of Mexico. During the time of General Diaz, the Catholic clergy made no attempt to organize themselves for political campaigns, but appeared to maintain themselves in strict obedience to the law, in the belief, perhaps, that they could avail themselves of other indirect proceedings for exercising their influence in the political affairs of the country.
On the retirement of General Diaz from the Government, and on Francisco de la Barra's accession to the Presidency, the Catholic clergy of Mexico believed the moment had arrived to organize themselves for the political struggle, and to that effect a political group
THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION IN MEXICO
was formed, under the patronage of the Catholic clergy, made up chiefly of big land-owners. This group took the name of "Catholic Party," with deliberate intention of taking advantage of the religious sentiments of the population to induce it to vote in conformity with their directions. The Catholic clergy started to make propaganda in favor of the Catholic party, first in a discreet manner, bringing moral pressure to bear upon the ignorant masses, who were unable to discern clearly where their duties as Catholics ceased, and where began their rights as citizens.
The Catholic party is, in a nutshell, the political organization of the Catholic Church in Mexico. This single fact constitutes a peril for democratic institutions, and was naturally bound to be looked upon with great disfavor by the anti-reelectionist party, first, and later by the Constitutionalist party.
At the time that de la Barra was President, the Catholic party attempted to rob the revolution of the fruits of its triumph, designating de la Barra as its candidate for the Presidency of the Republic. The considerable prestige which Madero enjoyed at that time frustrated this attempt of the Catholic party, which had to limit its pretensions to the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, resigning itself to have as President, Madero, a man sprung from the revolution; and as Vice-President, de la Barra, a man perfectly well known as belonging to the ancient regime and the principal leader of the Catholic party.
In the elections of October, 1911, the formula of .the progressive Constitutionalist party triumphed over the Madero-de 1a Barra formula, which was that of the party of the principal enemies of the Catholic government, but from that moment that of the enemies of the Government of Francisco 1. Madero.
In the elections for deputies and senators of 1912, the Catholic party succeeded in obtaining a considerable number of deputies, amounting to almost 30 per cent. of the Lower House; while the Senate, which was almost completely made up of Porfirista elements, was only renewed by half and scarcely obtained eight or ten senators as followers of the new regime.
The Catholic clergy of Mexico, directly and through the intervention of the Catholic Party, were among the principal factors in the downfall of Madero, and although perhaps Huerta was not the candidate designated to replace him, the fact is that the Clerical chief, de la Barra, formed part of the Cabinet which resolved upon the murder of Madero and Pino Suarez.
Subsequently, the party obtained important posts for its principalleaders in the Government of. Huerta, and finally supported the candidacy of Federico Gamboa.
It is unnecessary to enter into details regarding the decided assistance lent socially by the clergy, and the political support given
by the Catholic party, to Huerta, with both their men and money. But the principal assistance given by the Catholic clergy to the Government of Huerta was contained in the efforts made by their principal dignitaries and other members of the high clergy to create an opinion, if not favorable to Huerta, at least very unfavorable to Constitutionalists.
This end was accomplished, not through the individual means that any citizen is at liberty to place at the disposal of a political party, but by taking advantage of the religious influence exercised by the Catholic clergy over the faithful, from the pulpit and in the confessional.
During the war against Huerta, one of the things which most greatly surprised the Constitutionalists was the extremely hostile and unjust opinion encountered by them in each of the towns which they came to occupy. It was in the nature of a paradox.
The strongest armed resistance that the Constitutionalist party encountered in .the cities, in the form of social defense, was not an opposition caused by the sympathy which the residents of the cities might have experienced in favor of Huerta, but was originated in the antipathy which had been created against the Constitutionalist forces, whom the Catholic clergy on all occasions represented as bandits who were intent on seizing the towns solely for the purposes of plunder, theft, violation of women, and murder. This opinion had its source in sermons, in the confessionals, and in an extensive correspo:Qdence, proofs of which have been secured.
The work done by the clergy in creating an opinion antagonistic to the Constitutionalist troops explains, if it can not justify, many of the acts of aggression, and even attempts of Constitutionalist soldiers against members of the Catholic clergy.
Since the triumph of the revolution, there has been on the part of the Constitutionalist Government no other aim with regard to the clergy than that of restricting them within the limits of their facilities and of their spiritual mission, that of making effective the separation of the Church and the State, and of keeping the clergy from taking any participation, as a religious institution, in our political questions. But a political struggle having developed, it is natural that the military groups should come under strong displeasure, especially laboring under the effects of the clerical propoganda against the revolution, and that, instead of limiting themselves to restrain the clergy within due bounds, they should overstep this limitation and even, on some occasions, attempt to interfere in matters of a purely religious character. The restriction of religious services in some places and the destruction of the confessionals are instances of this. The destruction of confessionals has been the most ostensible manifestation of the ill will with which the revolutionary troops have regarded the use that the Catholic clergy have made of the sacrament of confession as a weapon of political strife.
THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION IN MEXICO
If the Catholic clergy had maintained themselves within their religious attributes, without interfering in the struggle, and, what is more, if they had not put in action the advantages which they derive from. their capacity of intellectual directors of the masses, the counter-effects on the part of the Hevolutionary troops would not have occurred.
It is unnecessary to repeat that the Constitutional Government itself has never pretended to interfere in religious matters, or to restrain in any manner the religious liberty of the Mexican people. The Constitutionalist Government does not propose to establish laws which affect religion, nor does it in any way propose to restrict religious practices.
The course of action followed by the Constitutionalist Government justifies this statement, since, owing to the influence of the First Chief of the Revolution, Venustiano Carranza, the military acts which were considered restrictive of religious liberty have been diminishing in number and in gravity.
PROPERTIES OF THE CHURCH The Mexican Constitution and the laws of the Reform determine that neither the Catholic Church nor any other religious corporation, regardless of character, denomination, duration or object, can own landed property.
The reason for this ordinance is that the Catholic clergy constituted, previous to 1856, the strongest economic power existing in the country.
In 1856, an attempt was made to disentail the properties of the clergy, that is, to destroy the mortmain, compelling the clergy to alienate their landed property. This was the tendency of the laws of disentailment.
The clergy vigorously resisted this law, believing that their economic power was thus considerably reduced, and with this motive started the struggle called the War of the Reform or Three Years' War.
The laws of 1856 did not expropriate the clergy, but in view of the laHers' completely rebellious attitude, in 1859 Benito Juarez issued In Vera Cruz a law called "Nationalization of the Lands of the Clergy," by which was expropriated all the landed property of the Catholic clergy who had resisted and struggled against the disentailment of these lands.
In virtue of this law, the temples became national property, the titles of ownership remaining in the hands of the State, but the usufruct of the same being reserved to the Catholic Church. As to the clergy's landed property and real estate investments, these were turned over to the nation and awarded to individuals.
The vital point of the laws of the Reform regarding the Catholic
clergy lies in the declaration of civil incapacity of religious corporations to own lands. This meaSUI'e, though it may appear extreme, was absolutely necessary in 1859, in order to deprive the clergy of their temporal power. The measure still continues to be absolJItely indispensable, because if religious corporations were at this moment permitted to acquire landed property, a considerable mortmain would immediately be created, from which a great amount of power would again be derived by the Catholic Church, who would thus recover their temporal power, which all countries have admitted should not be tolerated. Moreover, it can be said that the reason for which the Catholic Church of Mexico has taken, as a Church, participation in the political struggle, and attempts to recover its influence and its temporal power, is that for several years past it has been successfully evading the law in so far as regards the possession of lands.
A.ccording to the Mexican law, the Oatholic Ohurch is incapacitated from acquiring lands, by which is understood not only landed property, but also capital invested in real estate.
The Mexican law also prohibits the feoffments which might cause the property to appear in the hands of an individual, when it really belongs to the Church, or is used exclusively for the benefit of the Church.
Feoffments from bishop to bishop are not permitted in Mexico, and the estates owned by members of the clergy are considered as their personal property, to be freely transmitted to the voluntary or legal inheritors of the owners.
The estates of a bishop in Mexico, when not acquired through agreement or bequest, are to be transmitted to his legal inheritors.
For a long time past, Mexican bishops, rectors and even a number of laymen have been owning lands which apparently are their personal property, but the products of which in reality are destined to be turned over to the ChUI'ch. These lands effectually constitute a mortmain, because their owners, before dying, have to bequeath them to the persons previously designated by the Church, whether to the succeeding bishop or to any other person especially designated to that effect.
Briefly, it can be said that the Catholic Church, transgressing the law which prohibits it from acquiring landed property, has found means of necessary, just and legal appearance for possessing lands, which have served it to recover little by little its political influence.
A.s regards the temples, since the passing of the laws of the Reform, the ownership has been retained to the State, their use being reserved to the Catholic Church. In fact, the Catholic Church has for many years used the temples without restriction of any kind and without paying rents, pensions or contributions of any sort.
The limiting of the number of temples which are needed in each place for religious services would have to be left to the judgment of
THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION IN MEXICO
the Church; but as the Catholic clergy of Mexico exercise absolute control in religious matters, without intervention of any kind by the community, that is, by the parishioners, in the administration of the estates or in the management of the temporal interests of the parishes, or still less in the organization of the religious services, there is nothing to serve as a basis for determining the number of temples required by a certain parish or a certain city.
It is, therefore, with the State alone that the Church can come to an understanding regarding the number of temples to be reserved for the service, and the Government, as administrator of the nation's property, has the unquestionable right to dispose of the temples, when required for uses which, in its estimation, are of higher impor- , tance than the religious service, and above all, when, because of the abundance of temples in a single city, the number of those available for religious services is considered excessive.
A population of 10,000 inhabitants has enough with one or two temples open for worship; however, there are towns, such as the City of Cholula, in which the number of churches is so great in proportion to the population that a source of real curiosity is found by tourists in the vast number of temples, all of which are open for service, all affording occupation to priests, and, therefore, signifying a strong contribution on the part of the faithful.
Puebla is a city of 100,000 inhabitants, and it is curious to note that, until the time of its occupation by the Constitutionalist Army, it had nearly 200 temples open to the public.
Up to the present time, the number of temples destined for public service in each place has been unlimited. The Government, notwithstanding its unquestionable right to dispose of the buildings and to determine which a.re those that should be reserved for religious services and which can be destined for other purposes, had not limited the number of temples which the Catholic Church controlled.
Lately, however, the attitude assumed by the clergy against the Constitutionalist revolution brought about the closing of certain temples to religious services by a number of military chiefs and State Governors, on their capturing towns.
This could be regarded as an act of hostility, or as a sort of reprisal against the Catholic clergy, but in reality, and even supposing that such were the case, the closing of some of the temples, which never reached the extent of the total closing up of all the churches in a town, does not constitute an illegal act and is not censurable except in so far as regards the occasion on which it occurred, which, on the other hand, was elicited by the attitude of the clergy themselves.
In substance: as regards goods and chattels, the Catholic Church has full capacity to acquire and handle property. But in so far as landed property is concerned, the Mexican Constitution forbids the
Catholic Church to own teal estate or capital invested in the same, and the only right granted the Church by the laws is to maintain the temples immediately or directly destined to religious service.
MONASTIC ORDERS AND CONVENTS The laws of the Reform established the abolition of all convents and of all religious associations of monastic life. The monastic orders existing in Mexico, not only those of a merely contemplative nature, but also those of an educational and charitable nature, were abolished in virtue of these laws.
In 1874 they even went so far as to abolish the charity institution known as "Sisters of Charity," and the other regular orders, especially those of the Jesuits, were then expelled.
The abolition of the monastic orders in Mexico was a measure clearly taken in defense of human liberty, which was found to be threatened by them.
This was esp,ecially so in regard to women, whose education was still very deficient, so that they were not in a condition to defend their liberty when the tremendous moral pressure of parents and relatives was brought to bear upon them in order to force them to enter a convent.
The Mexican woman, particularly the one who possessed riches in her own right, was always exposed to the danger of seeing her liberty restricted by her entrance into a convent, where it became impossible to prove that her permanence there was not absolutely voluntary.
The laws of the Reform completely abolish the monastic orders, and within the principle established by them, all religious congregations of a monastic character must be dismembered.
The existence of these orders was tolerated in the time of General Diaz. Many of them constituted an open violation of the law, others, chiefly the French educational orders, tried to conform themselves to the laws of public instruction and acquired greater freedom of action in their work.
On the fall of General Huerta and the inauguration of the Constitutionalist Government in the principal cities of the RepUblic, ~everal monastic orders were abolished, and as the members of these Here mostly foreigners, the majority voluntarily expatriated themselves.
It is not true that the nuns were made victims of such offences as have been attributed to the members of the Constitutionalist army. The only occurrence has been the dispersion of several religious groups, whose members have withdrawn to foreign countries.
1916J THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION IN MEXICO
RESUME The religious question in Mexico can be summarized as follows: 1. The aims of the Constitutionalist Government regarding the Catholic Church are not such as might be inferred from the isolated acts which, as a consequence of the war, and above all, of the intervention ofthe clergy in our political contentions, the Catholic Church has on several occasion had to undergo. 2. The conditions of the Catholic Church in Mexico are totally different from the conditions of the same Church in the United States. 3. The laws of the Reform establish a determined condition for the Catholic Church in Mexico, which is totally different from the condition which it has according to the laws of the United States. 4. The said Jaws of the Reform correspond to a situation which is peculiar to Latin-America, and the laws in question are absolutely indispensable in order to deprive the Catholic Church of the temporal power which it had before the War of the Reform. 5. These laws must subsist at the present time, because the social conditions which made them requisite are still prevalent. 6. During recent years the Catholic Church in Mexico was entirely lawless, transgressing the regulations of the Mexican Constitution and of the laws of the Reform. 7. The intervention of the clergy in political matters, the possession of landed property on the part of the clergy, and the existence of convents, are acts wholly illegal and violative of the Constitution. Briefly, whatever abuses or excesses which, without the knowledge and without the consent of the Government, may have been committed, are far from having the importance which is attributed to them, and are nothing more than a consequence of the conditions in which the same Catholic Church placed itself on taking an active part in the struggle against the Constitutionalist revolution. The Constitutionalist Government has tried and continues trying to reduce to a minimum the possible reprisals against the Church. The Constitutionalist Government intends, at the same time, to maintain the absolute separation of the Church and State, and proposes to make effective the abolition of the monastic orders existing in Mexico, and, above all, of those of a merely contemplative character. To sum up, the Constitutionalist Government proposes to give full guarantees in reJigious matters to the exercise of any cult, but strictly enforces the observance of the laws of the Reform and of the Mexican Constitution.
Indians of South
BY H. C. TUCKER, D.D., RIO DE .JANEIRO, BRAZIL Agent of the American Bible Society It is not the purpose of this paper to deal with the phases of the South American missionary problem involved in the condlition of the Roman Catholic Church there. Our object is to call attention to the extent, and some of the conditions of the great interior of South America, to awaken interest and to start investigation along the lines relating di- rectly to the responsibility of Protestant missionary occupation of this ter- ritory.-H.C.T.
ON the most authentic maps of South America are to be found large regions designated as yet unexplored. Roughly stated, we might say these constitute a vast territory reaching from the Equator on the North to points beyond the Tropic of Capricorn on the South, and from 50° West Longitude to 70° and at points 75° West. In other words, a section embracing a territory of 2,500,000 square miles, about five-sixteenths of the entire area of South America.
Protestant Missions have a responsibility because of the commercial expansion and industrial developments that must speedily come through this region, attracting thousands of men from many different parts of the world.
It is true that the thousands now inhabiting this unoccupied mission field are few in numbers compared to the millions in the unoccupied fields of Asia and Africa; and yet they constitute a legitimate part of the problem of "Carrying the Gospel to all the non-Christian world." Eight of the ten republics in South America has each a considerable Indian population, which in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay and others, is sufficiently large to form a part of the economic, social and political problems of these countries. Let us look at the facts with reference to Brazil. Senhor Couto de Magalhaes made three journeys of exploration from Buenos Aires, at the mouth of the La Plata River in Argentina, to Para, at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. In 1876 he stated that two-thirds of the territory of Brazil could not yet be peacefully inhabited by civilized people because of the savage Indian tribes scattered over this vast territory. Brazil has an area of 3,218,130 square miles, which, according to the writer's statement, gives about 2,000,000 square miles as inhabited at that time by the savage red men. He also says that Brazil ought to endeavor to teach the Indians the Portuguese language, and in this way one million more persons already acclimated would be most useful in the development of the great interior of the country, and in preparing the way for the white man. "In the interior, that is, beyond the line occupied by the savages that are in contact with us, there exist powerful nations (tribes) that have not yet attracted our attention, because the backwoods of the interior, which has by no means been traversed or known, is so immense. The basin of the Xingu River alone is greater than France, and there is no record that a Christian ever touched it." A few years after this was written, two German explorers went some distance up the Xingu River and reported that they had discovered two large tribes of Indians who had never before seen a white man. In 1884 Senhor J. Capistrano de Abreu, a Brazilian and philologist of note, confirmed the opinion of Dr. Oouto de Magalhaes that the wild Indians in Brazil WHAT SOME SOUTH AMERICANS WORSHIP A group of Indians and two of their idols number not less than one million. The census of 1890 gave the Indian population at 1,295,000.
Mr. Magalhaes says: "To accomplish the task of civilizing these Indians will be to bring about the realization of that sublime command that Ohrist entrusted to all Ohristian people with reference to a barbarous people in the following sublime words of the Gospel: 'Go ye to those who sit in the shadows and darkness of death and direct their steps in the way of Peace!' "
The Brazilian Government has recently taken up the problem with some definite purpose, and has organized a department for the protection of the Indians, and for locating native laborers. This department has sent out groups of men through different states, who are endeavoring to establish agricultural and industrial centers for civil-
izing and instructing these scattered tribes. If we are to believe the frequent reports in the papers, those engaged in this service are making commendable headway. The laws of June 20, 1910, author- izing this work, are liberal and interesting. The State is entirely foreign to the propagation of any religious ideas or practises among the Indians, but grants perfect liberty to the ministers of religion to visit them and invite them to their churches or places of worship. Lieut. Plino Mario de Carvalho presented, under date of March 22, 1910, to the Department of Agriculture, a detailed and interesting report on eleven tribes inhabiting a section of the State of Matto Grosso through which the Federal Government is projecting a railroad. He concludes his report by saying, "It is certain that further interior, on the plains as well as along the tributaries of the great rivers there exist tribes more numerous and war-like." An editor of an English paper published in Rio de Janeiro recently said: "The way in which the Government has guietly been sending its emissaries into the interior to gain the confidence of the Indian population and thus tap this great source of labor, is most satisfactory. The President states that cordial relations are now being established with many of the tribes, some of them still in a nomad condition. In Matto Grosso, where- the Indians were a source of a great deal of trouble and of actual hostilities, they have now been so far brought into line that many of them are working on the construction of telegraph lines in those regions, and thus, as the President says, are working hand in hand with civilization in advancing the progress of the country. Undoubtedly the Indians constitute a great reserve force in Brazil, and one which should be utilized with all possible despatch."
Governments may accomplish great and commendable things for the civilization and uplift of such backward and long-neglected tribes j but to the Church of Christ remains the task of Christianizing them and bringing them into a knowledge of real life and conscious fellowship with God, the Creator.
Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and perhaps other countries have absorbed into their civilizations a larger element proportionately of their aboriginal population than Brazil. At the same time there still exist in all these republics considerable numbers of Indians in an uncivilized state. Sr. Mendo Vaz writing in a Rio de Janeiro paper said: "It is worth while to note that even after the explorations made last year by Major Fawcett in the region of the Heath River, Bolivia, there remains about 25,000 square kilometers probably never yet visited by a man of the white race."
It is estimated by some that the Indians unreached by civilization in the other countries of South America other than Brazil number several millions. It would be safe to say that there are from 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 of Red men still living in a wild state through the hea:r:t 9f the continent.
1916J THE INDIANS OF SOUTH AMERICA
There is also a vast undeveloped region in South America lying between the border of civilization that extends around the continent for a few hundred miles interior and those great sections of almost unexplored territory in the heart of South America. In this region are to be found several millions of souls in a semi-civilized state. Their religion is a strange mixture of paganism and perverted traditions of Roman Catholicism.
They have never had the Bible, know nothing of the real truth concerning Jesus Christ, the .only sufficient Savior of the world, worship supposedly miracle-working images, believe in pilgrimages and offerings at those shrines, and follow many pagan practises. Racially they are a mixture of Portuguese or Spanish with Indian and many times African descent. Thousands of them are the offspring of concubines that the early Portuguese and Spanish adventurers took in large numbers from the primitive races. Very few have any knowledge of letters, and their customs and modes of life are most primitive. The gold and diamonds on the earth's surface, wild game, an abundance of running water and fertile lands attracted adventurers and pioneers far into the interior; there they settled, amalgamated with Indians and have remained for more than a century undisturbed and unmolested by the great modern, progressive, busy outside world. These South Americans are even more backward and undeveloped than the Indians in North America. Their condition is more like that of the rustic mountaineers and undeveloped country people of the Philippine Islands. They have only partially adopted civilized customs and ways of living, and practise a few of the perverted outward observances of the Roman Catholic Church. I have visite-d communities that had not even seen a Catholic priest for seven years; I have seen many whose social customs and habits were most primitive, among whom there was scarcely anything like a marriage ceremony or an idea of the family. In the warm climate of the tropics, clothing was reduced to the minimum, if not altogether dispensed with. A section of the Government Commission now at work in behalf of the Indians reported a few days ago to have visited in the State of Maranhao, a community of which it is said, "The community composed of ex-slaves is hostile." The writer of the report says further, "I sought with gentleness and kindness to prove to them the benefits we were bringing. They received me with manifest antipathy, but we became good friends." There are many such communities scattered throughout the country.
If we estimate that 8,000,000 are living in this backward and but partially civilized state and that there are not less than 5,000,000 of Indians still in the wild State, and there may be more, we have at least 13,000,000 of souls in the unoccupied field of South America who must have consideration in an effort to carry the Gospel to all the non- Christian world.
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY PREACHING IN SOUTH AMERICA IN THE OPEN
THE GIRLS' DORMITORY OF THE EL CRISTO BAPTIST SCHOOL NEAR SANTIAGO, CUBA CAUSE AND RESULT IN LATIN-AMERICA 'rhe preaching of the Gospel brings light to mind and soul, and leads to the establishment of Christian educational institutions
on l.Jatin-America
BY HAHHY WADE HlCT,S, NEW YORK GCllel'al Sccretary of the lll.ssionary Education ~10VCll1eHt The Latin-American Congress in Panama last February attracted attention to these Sister Republics. This description of available litera- titre is a valuable guide to the recent books on "The Two Americas"
-EDI'l'OR.
T HE people of the United States and other Anglo-Saxon nations need light on Latin America. Ohristian people in particular need light, for on their devotion to Ohristian work in Latin America largely depends the spread of evangelical truth among the eighty millions who constitute the population of the twenty republics to the south. No contribution made by any people to another equals that of the open Bible with its attendant blessings. The establishment and development of Ohristian churches in which the Bible is cherished and its teachings are made the basis of daily conduct is the objective of Ohristian work in Latin America. Every Ohristian therefore should be eager to learn of the conditions under which the Latin-American evangelical churches are growing. The abundant new literature on Latin America furnishes light.
There are many reasons for bringing new light to bear on the work of Ohristian missions as carried on in Mexico, Oentral and South America and the West Indies. These are well summarized by Robert E. Speer in the preface to Dr. McLean's "The Living Ohrist in Latin America" in the following words: "The opening of the Panama Oanal, the enlarged commercial relations of the American nations and their increasing friendliness and political good understanding, the pressure of the European war, the community of interests and endeavor in North and South America, and many other influences have united to strengthen at this time our interest in our neighboring peoples. The Panama Oongress on Ohristian Work in Latin America has drawn attention afresh to the duty of the churches of the United States and Oanada to draw nearer in sympathy and helpfulness to the evangelical churches in Latin America and to the people among whom they are doing their work."
Because of the extraordinary significance of the Panama Oongress, and the hope that out of it might come better understanding by the churches of Latin-American peoples and conditions, the missionary educational leaders of the Mission Boards two years ago agreed upon "The Two Americas," as the theme of united study in the churches for the year 1916-17.* A varied literature has therefore been prepared for study and • Because tbe Woman's Foreil,,'ll Missionary Societies had previously decided upon anotber subject of study and bad a few years before studied South America, it did not seem practicable for tbe Federation of Woman's Boards of Foreign Missions of the United States to join in the current plans for Latin America.
reading within the next nine months, to be used in the churches whose boards maintain missions in Latin America. The five volumes in English, one in Portuguese, and one in Spanish, reporting the Panama Congress, now coming from the press, taken with the literature for systematic study in the churches, together furnish the light every Christian should have.
In order to make available the vast fund of information needed by Christian people in a form suitable for systematic reading and study, and to bring different ages into the plan, the following books have been prepared and issued by the Missionary Education Movement for use by the churches, obtainable from the mission boards:* "South American Neighbors," by Bishop Homer C. Stuntz, presenting in popular form for adults the present state of the missionary enterprise, the problems faced by evangelical churches and Christian leaders, the history, and results of Roman Catholicism in South America. This volume reveals the aspirations of the peoples for education, the attitude of Latin-Americans toward Anglo-Saxons and the Evangelical Church, and many other vital questions of current interest to those who should foster Christian Work in these lands.
"The Unity of the Americas," by Robert E. Speer, is a fourchapter book intended for laymen. Its use will be advocated in the series of laymen's conventions and ministers' conferences now being conducted throughout the United States by the Laymen's Missionary Movement. It will also be used by many mission boards. Its chief purpose is to show what are and what should be the uniting influences binding all the Americas together. When business between the Americas is developing at such an enormous rate, Christian business men should be leaders in friendly relations based on Christian sympathy, confidence and fair-dealing.
"The New World," by the Rev. Arthur R. Gray, is a book for adults presenting the work of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Latin-America. It lays special emphasis on the influence of European pioneers in Latin-America on the religious, social and political life to-day.
"The Living Christ for Latin-America," by Rev. J. H. McLean, is for use in Presbyterian churches, and deals with the work of that communion in South and Central America and Mexico.
In order to help local church leaders to conduct a parish-wide study of Latin-America, a literature for young people has been prepared to meet this need: "Makers of South America," by Margarette Daniels, is a book for high-school boys and girls, belonging to the Servants of the King Series. The book is biographical and in successive chapters sketches the lives of seven Latin-American national heroes, and five missionary leaders who were or are pioneers and heroes also.
• For prices see the advertisement at the end of this issue.
ttGHT ON LAT1N-AMERtcA
,'Martin, of Mansfeld," by Margaret R. Seebach, is for boys and girls from twelve to fifteen years of age. It is a captivating biogra- phy of Martin Luther, and is specially suited to the current program of reading, for in it is given the story of the religious leader who gave the Bible to Germany in the tongue of the people, conferring on them the untold blessings for which the Latin-American people as a whole even yet wait.
"The Land of the Golden Man," by Anita B. Ferris, bears upon child life in South America, and is intended for children of the Junior and early Intermediate ages. This book stands alone in the great multitude of volumes on Latin-America as suitable for use among children, in churches, schools and homes.
"Pictures on South America." Twenty-five selected pictures, printed on a large sheet with description, are for cutting out and pasting in scrap-books, by children.
"An Easter Program," for use in Sunday-schools, will bear upon the theme of Christ and international peace. "Christ of the Andes, " the statue of Christ erected between Chile and Argentina, is used prominently for illustration.
The majority of Christians, even those who believe in and sup- port Christian missions, have left Latin-America out of their study.
The readers of the REVIEW are therefore urged to secure and use these books, and to help pastors to inaugurate a church-wide program for the study of Latin-America this fall and winter. One of the best methods of starting interests in the study is to use one of the new stereopticon lectures on South America, Central America, and Cuba and Porto Rico, now being circulated by the Missionary Education Movement, or one of the lectures furnished by the mission boards on their work·in Latin-America. .
The literature reporting the Congress on Christian Work in Latin-America is of a different type. While it has not been prepared for use as text-books, the five volumes in English should be owned by every church leader who desires to keep ahead of his group by hav- ing perspective and background, and a vast reserve of knowledge of his subject. No subject of a missionary character has received such careful treatment in two or more decades, excepting possibly the Worid Missionary Conference at Edinburgh. The reading of these volumes will transform notions concerning the adequacy of Roman Catholicism for Latin-America, and show why Latin-American condi- tions cry out for Evangelical Christianity. In urging upon Christians everywhere the circulation of the reports, no feeling of hesitation arises, for otherwise pastors and lay workers, Christian teachers, donors, business men, legislators, publicists, and others who should know the facts, will fail to read them, and will lose the privilege of .
service therein presented.
Two volumes are being prepared, one in Portuguese and the
other in Spanish, by Professor Erasmo Braga of San Paulo, Brazil, and Prof. Eduardo Monteverde, of Montevideo, Uruguay, respectively, for circulation in Brazil and the nineteen Spanish-speaking countries. These will embody a purely Latin-American interpretation of the Panama Congress to Latin-American peoples. It is a matter of deep regret that these brilliant evangelical Christian leaders, of whom there were many at Panama, can not also speak to Anglo-Saxon Americans through English translations. The two books will be advertised widely in all the countries reached by evangelical mISSIons. Already considerable numbers of volumes have been ordered. Plans are under way to provide a fund to be used in distributing these two books widely in each country of Latin-America, on a cost basis and as gifts, among influential national leaders, so that a true interpretation of the Congress, and the significance of present evangelical movements may be correctly understood. The groups to be reached are educators, journalists, public officials, business and professional men, philanthropists, leaders in social movements and others who are sympathetic with the Evangelical Churches, or who are favorably disposed toward one or more of the phases of missionary effort. Aid in carrying this important plan into effect is still needed.
For English readers five books bound in uniform style and sold separately or in sets, are being provided. These are: 1. "Reports of Commissions 1., II., and III. on Survey and Occupation, Message and Method, and Education, with Discussions Thereon."
2. "Reports of Commissions, IV., V., VI., and VII., on Christian Literature, Woman's Work, the Church in the Field, and the Home Base, with Discussions."
3. "Report of Commission VIII. on Cooperation and the Promotion of Unity," important appendices including complete statistics, a directory of agencies and a bibliography.
4. "Renaissant Latin America," by Professor Harlan Page Beach, of Yale University, a general and condensed review of the history, work and significance of the Panama Congress.
5. "A Report of the Regional Conferences," by Rev. Charles Clayton Morrison, D.D., describing 'and estimating the work of the strategic meetings held by four selected groups of delegates after the Congress in the cities of Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Havana, San J nan and Barranquilla.
In all the volumes described in this article light is shed on the privilege and duty of evangelical churches and Christians of Anglo- Saxon peoples, in Latin-American countries. Intelligent readers will in turn became light-bearers.* • Until November 15th the five in English may be ordered for $3.50 as a set, or with the Portuguese and Spanish volumes for $5.00. After November 15th the price of each volume in English will be $1.00.
Christianity on
Rio Grande BY REV. SAMUEL M. GLASGOW, MERCEDES, TEXAS Home Missic>nary of tbe Presbyterian Churcb (Soutb) CHRISTIANITY, since the day that the Apostle Paul responded to the Macedonian call, has steadily followed the trail of the setting sun. Its determined and well-organized impact upon the Western l!'rontiers in North America continues the normal expression of Christian life and growth.
With the huge tide of population ever flowing forth through the great gateways to the Western Plains, and to the calls of the new life in the great States that are still in the making, there must go the Christian colonizer, to stand for God where God is not in all men's thoughts, so that by that power unseen and little valued in commercial standards, He may have a share in making a frontier that fast crystalizes in its ideals before it is too late. The great peril on the frontier is that the Church, having consulted ease rather than duty, shall find her once glorious opportunities departed. To-day we seek to create a Christian atmosphere, to-morrow we must struggle with precedent and habit; to-day we may mold the child, to-morTOW we must face the giant full-grown.
Typical of the new work in the great West has been the establishing of the Church of Christ in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, a strip of territory twenty by sixty miles in the ext'reme southern toe of Texas. Here is a semi-tropical, rich, delta section that engineer's magic and commercial sagacity have transformed from a tangled jungle into an agricultural paradise. The climate admits of at least two crops annually; the soil is fertile beyond the dreams of the most sanguine, and the water is dispensed over extensive acreage by superb canal systems connecting with the Rio Grande. Lusty towns, scarcely yet weaned, are springing up throughout the length of this fertile section and great home-seeker trains pour their quota of new life into this attractive and promising country. Within three or four years after the land had partially been reclaimed from the jungle, thousands of people had come here to make homes and develop this garden spot.
In the summer of 1909, I visited the little village of San Benito, a new irrigation project twenty miles north of Brownsville. It was then a scattered town of some five hundred people, whose only religious activity expressed itself in a feeble Sunday-school and an occasional preaching service by a visiting missionary. To-day San Benito is a small city of three or four thousand, having over twenty-five two-
story brick business buildings, miles of cement sidewalk, numbers of retail and wholesale business houses, and its own forty-mile railroad system traversing its rural community.
There is an eighty-thousand-dollar sugar mill, two pre-cooling stations, canning, brick, and tile factories, and the largest cotton gin in the world. How has the cause of the Master fared? Five repre- sentative denominations have erected splendid churches; four pastors live there, the Sunday-school enrolment runs up to some six hundred; besides these there is a well-equipped mission for Mexicans, who num- ber thousands in this section. It has its church-house, school-house and residence, a native pastor, and an American missionary. It main- tains day-school, Sunday-school, and Gospel services regularly, all conducted in the Spanish language. Recently as a colporteur went among the Mexican people in San Benito a customer, hungering for the Bible and without means to purchase it, offered to exchange some loaves of bread for the Word of God. A few weeks ago a call came from this valley for Gospel services from an outlying ranch not previously visited by the missionary. When the worker, Rev. J as. O. Shelby, responded, he found and received into the church a believing Christian man who had never heard a Gospel sermon, but who had found the Way of Life through the Living Word as his Christian wife had expounded it to him.
Leaving San Benito and traversing the valley following the sun's trail we pass through Harlingen, where our initial efforts to build a house of worship were met with hitter cursing and opposition on the part of one of the then leading citizens of the town. Three splendid churches and three located pastors now are proof of the Kingdom's progress there. Farther west we pass through Mercedes, where capitalists have spent a million and a quarter dollars on the finest private irrigation system in the world. Here Christian activity has blossomed from a meager union Sunday-school effort into three stalwart churches. The total Sunday-school enrolmeEt is over three hundred.
Passing westward, we pause at Mission, a small thriving city of three thousand people, whose religious development has been marked with many evidences of Divine power. The first Sunday-school organized here was gathered in an unfinished pool-hall. In the summer of 1909, I found that, though it was then a town of five hundred or more, there had never been a Protestant religious service of any kind held there. Sunday was distinguishable only by diligently consulting the calendar, and the mad rush for money was rapidly destroying the higher motives and principles in men's hearts. The Sunday-school missionary and myself organized the" pool-hall" Sunday-school one Sabbath afternoon soon after this visit, and I had the privilege of preaching the first Gospel sermon in that town to a listening audience of twenty-eight souls. From Sabbath to Sabbath this infant organization struggled along, meeting in private homes,
ESTABLISHING CHRISTIANITY. ON THE RIO GRANDE
unfinished buildings, and wherever shelter and improvised seats could be secured. One Sabbath afternoon we were meeting in a storeroom with open, unfinished front on the main business street. As my audience sat patiently on nail-kegs and benches made by placing boards across boxes, listening to the message, suddenly there burst on the air the clanging music of a passing Mexican band advertising a theater for the night. As the band wagon approached I slowed down expecting developments. When it appeared opposite the store blowing lustily, an old lame settler, lately honored with the title of Justice of the Peace, limped out to the street and shouted for silence. The musicians, however, not knowing the English, and mistaking the rebuke for praise, blew up the more bravely. Whereupon the enraged dignitary strode out into the street and first over the heads of the burrows and then over the heads of the musicians he used a universal medium of communication. Nursing their heads the astounded musicians departed in silence, and we resumed our service.
Some years later on that same street we were holding street services in connection with a mission at the church each evening. As we sang, spoke briefly, distributed leaflets, and prayed, I saw standing on the saloon porch, by the side of which we were holding the meeting, Bill Schaefer, the" bad man" of the town. Bill carried about with him a great and tender heart under his rude and rough exterior, and as they sang I spoke and pleaded with Bill for surrender to the Savior. He took out his check book and wrote me a check for seventeen dollars and handed it to me. His eyes glistened with tears to which they had been stranger for many years. I said: "Bill, it's not your money we want, but you."
This town of Mission now has three excellent church buildings, each with its own Sunday-school, the second generation of the poolhall gathering, and the cause of the Master is seeking to contribute its vital ingredient to this community's life and growth and future..
It has been our uniform experience that in those communities where the Church has entered early, and has labored faithfully, it has secured results impossible and unattainable through delayed efforts. The time for molding and controlling a town and its future destiny is the same psychological period that we use in the case of a child, and early efforts bulk large in comparison with deferred endeavors when the ideals are formed and God and the Sabbath omitted.
The initial efforts in many of the towns were made through evangelistic services held under the Gospel tent, available buildings being in the early days scarce. The crude trials of those days might interest one unfamiliar with the contingencies incident to tent preaching on the frontier. At Donna, in the summer of 1910, the evangelist and myself held a tent Gospel service that was fraught with many vicissitudes. To test our patience at the outset the railroad company delivered the tent at a station nine miles distant, and so we had to delay
until it could be brought overland. When we were erecting it one of the large poles fell hvice before we could get them set in their places. At the first service the whole tier of seats went down-nobody hurt. The next morning a whirlwind caused the complete collapse of the entire tent, one of the main poles snapping in the wreck. Finally we repaired the wreck and started again; but such whirls of dust greeted speaker and audience that the talk was muddy and many wept, not from sorrow, but from sand. We finally abandoned the tent for a building that was offered for completing the services. In other places such a comedy of mishaps was fortunately avoided, and many of the strong organizations that are now the Kingdom's strength in this valley were brought to Christ in this tent.
Establishing the Church on the frontiers is an investment with deferred payments of both principal and interest. Patience, therefore, and faith are necessary for the richest and most permanent returns. When these are exercised just hopes are amply rewarded. The Home Mission Church at Mercedes, about six years old, gave, during last year, an average of two dollars and fifty cents per member for foreign missions, and one dollar and fifty cents to home missions. That year the average for the whole denomination was one dollar and ninety cents per member for foreign missions, and fifty cents for home missions.
A spiritual mind bringing a spiritual message, sincere sympathy with inevitable frontier environment, foresight and Christian statesmanship, are among the essentials for permanent and adequate success in establishing the Church upon the frontiers. Patience and the power to see steadily amidst vacillating and changing conditions and standards are objects of prayer in the home missionary's personal pleadings at the throne of God. Let the unknown home missionary find a quiet place in the interest and prayers of all who wish to sustain him in his unromantic and unheralded, but far-reaching services.
"It is great to be out where the fight is strong To be where the heaviest troops belong And to fight there for man and God."
"Oh, it seams the face and dries the brain And strains the arm till one's friend is pain In the fight for man and God."
"But it's great, to be out where the fight is strong To be where the heaviest troops belong And to fight there for man and God."
BY MISS BELLE M. BRAIN, 38 UNION AVENUE, SCHENECTADY, N. Y
WORKING WITH CHILDREN "What of the children, my sisters ~ What of the coming band 1 Who will take up the work of the Master As it falls from your trembling hand ~ Are they trained to the cause, 0 mothers~ Are they strong and brave and true~ Are they ready to lift the burden iVhen the Master ealls for you ~' , ISABELLE MACKAY SUGGESTIONS FOR CHILDREN'S heating, ventilating and seating of the SOCIETIES* room; the second to act as ushers, pass the hymn-books, and take up the collection; BY MRS. ROBERT STUART SANDERS, the third to deliver the gifts of flowers and fruit. THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA The children should have a choir of No method will avail without the their own, and each meeting should be led , believing prayer of a conse- by a different child-leader who should strive to make his meeting interesting with crated leader back of it–a special music, recitations, chalk-talks, or an occasional march. But he must never leader who is enthusiastic, omit the more important parts of the meeting-his own opening prayer, Bible loving, punctual, and above reading and talk on the subject, and the talks and sentence prayers by all the chilall, not worldly. Her great aim should be dren present. The children never refuse to lead if the adult leaders appoint them to train the children to be leaders in and their subjects long in advance. If possible there should be printed programs Christian work, for from their ranks will with dates, topics and leaders for a year. If this can not be, a written program for come our future missionaries, ministers, the year should be put on the church bul- letin or wall, where the children can refer church officers and Sunday-school teach- to it.
ers. What wonderful opportunities and The text-books needed are the Bible, de- nominational missionary magazine and the privileges the mission band leader has! Church Year Book of Prayer. Each child should prepare something on the subject And what responsibility! of the meeting before coming to it. He should read up on it, get his family inter- The children should be asked to bring ested and talk about it to his friends. To spread information about missions is to flowers or fruit for the sick to the meet- arouse interest, then love, then giving.
ings and, if there is a prison, hospital or At each meeting the children should be asked: orphanage near by, other donations also. How many have read the Bible (or had A committee at the meeting should put it read to them) every day of the past week'! appropriate Bible verses on these gifts How many have prayed daily that the and address them ready to be delivered by the boys at the close. Perhaps a choir of the children could go occasionally to the children's ward of the hospital to sing hymns to the little sufferers. There is no town too small to need the ministrations of a wide-awake mission band.
The officers of the band and the leader for the day should meet in a separate room before the meeting to pray for a special blessing on it.
The boys of the band should be divided into three groups: the first to attend to the • Condensed from The Missionary Survey. The author is a pastor's wife, who is an expert in workin~ with children.-B. M. B.
people of their community may be brought THE OAKLAND SUNSHINE CLUB nearer to Christ' In the Oakland Presbyterian Church, How many have prayed daily for mis- Springfield, Ohio, there is a girls' mission sions' band which has many commendable fea- How lllany prepared something on the tures. At our request the Misses Jessie subject before coming to the meeting' and Mary Brain, two of the leaders, have The names of the books of the Bible sent us the following data concerning it: should be learned and a drill conducted at The name of the band is "The Oakland each meeting. Call out Bible references Sunshine Club," and it includes all forms and see who finds them first. Such a drill of missionary work-local, home and for- will keep the children quiet before the eign. It was organized on February 6, meeting begins. 1915, with 23 members and will soon be A Bible match in which the child who two years old. The membership grew so knows the greatest number of verses stands rapidly-it now has 6 leaders and 50 up longest has been very successful, and a members-that it was divided into two missionary contest with 75 to 100 questions sections, which meet together for opening and answers about our missions gives in- exercises and then separate for the re- formation that will never be forgotten. mainder of the program. The division Large maps of the mission fields are was not made on the basis of age, but very helpful. The children may be given follows the grading of the city schools- little paper flags with the missionaries' an excellent arrangement. The Junior names, and if mounted on pins, may place section comprises girls attending the 4th, them at the proper stations on the map. 5th and 6th grades; the Senior, those of Missionary scrap-books divided into the 7th and 8th grades. On entering High seven parts, one for each of our seven School members are promoted to a Mis- foreign fields (Southern Presbyterian) can sion Study Club under different manage- easily be made by each child. Each part ment.
should contain a flag of the country, a In addition to the opening exercises, map, clippings and pictures, and a short the program for the Juniors includes: description of the missions there. The (1) A missionary talk, 20 minutes; cover may be made of plain wall paper (2) Missionary education developed decorated with a foreign design or water- through scrap-books, 30 minutes; color sketch. (3) Practical work for some needy A chest of pictures and ·curios from mis- field, about 40 minutes; sion lands is a souree of never-failing de- (4-) Refreshments, 15 minutes.
light, and the reflectoscope with postals Last year the missionary talks fol- and pictures interests many. lowed "Jack and Janet," and were given with the help of maps, paper dolls in cos- "What of orchards when the old tume, suitcase mite-boxes, etc. trees are worn out, when all methods The scrap-book work of the Club is of pruning, spraying and harvesting are of no avail? worthy of special mention. The two books sent on for our inspection are of a high "Is not the great task of the order of merit-things of beauty and mothers of the Church to plant hun- likely to implant an abiding interest in dreds and thousands of new trees, missions. At first the scrap-books used not to bear for years, perhaps, but were a kind in use in the city schools, trees planted by rivers of water which have 28 pages of gray mounting bringing forth fruit in their season? paper, 9 x 11 inches, inclosed in board covers, and sell for 5 cents each. When "What of the work for children these were filled a loose-leaf system was and ~irls in your clmrch? Do en- inaugurated. Instead of the books a list them for this world work."- number of tablets were purchased with Mrs. Henry W. Peabody, at the blank sheets measuring about 8 x 10lh Philadelphia Triennial of Woman's inches. The covers of these were removed Boards. and are used for protecting and designat- ing each girl's work. A.t the meetings
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they are given out with one or two sheets lad in the local tuberculosis camp. As of blank paper and the material to be Christmas approached, yards and yards of pasted thereon. At the close they are col- red and green crepe paper chains were lected and kept until the next meeting. made and sent to San Juan to decorate This loose-leaf work is planned to run the children's ward in the hospital. At through a year and a half or two years; Easter the club decorated the home then attractive covers will be made, holes church, and at the close of the Easter will be punched in the finished sheets, and services sent seven boxes of daffodils, each the books tied with raffia or ribbon. The with a card bearing an Easter message, advantage of using loose leaves is that to sick persons in the neighborhood. if a member drops out there is less waste These are but a few of the many helpful of material. activities reported for the year.
The first page of each scrap-book has The Club's Christmas Party the name of the Club and its motto. Following this, two pages facing one another The Oakland Sunshine Club is financed are devoted to each of ten fields-five by the Mothers' Club of the church-a home and five foreign. Each field has its fine idea. So, when Christmas came, inmap and flag and pictures illustrative of stead of an entertainment being given for the people and missions among them. the girls, they gave a Christmas party for There are also paper dolls in native cos- the mothers. The date was December tume and various appropriate little de- 30th-after Christmas, to avoid the Christvices cut from red paper such as a toma- mas rush for the mothers and give the hawk and bow and arrow for the Ameri- girls time to prepare. can Indians. The Korean pages have the Korean characters for the name of Jesus The party proved to be the Red Letter done in pen and ink. Day of the year. Each girl was allowed to invite her mother, and the program was Pictures for the work were obtained to be a surprize. It was really very simfrom old missionary magazines (the ple, but the halo of mystery made it seem church people are glad to save them for like a real Christmas secret. It consisted the Club), from The Christian Herald and of sacred song and story, rendered for the most part by the girls themselves. The from Mrs. Horace Hill of Minneapolis serving of the refreshments, which took who supplies them at small cost. Most of the form of a very simple pageant, was the flags and maps were drawn and col- both novel and charming. Before the ored by the girls themselves, but the little meeting a large table had been arranged Alaskan maps were blue-printed by the across the front of the room. It was covleaders and those of "Darkest Africa," ered with white cloth draped with broad were traced with colored crayon by red ribbons and had on it two sandwich the leaders and cut out by the girls. "All baskets filled with little red tarlatan bags this means work," says Miss Mary Brain, containing white peppermint candies. "but the interest and pleasure in the books would repay anyone for the trouble. I After the program there was 8 brief have had more than one mother tell me intermission during which the mothers how her daughter prizes her book." were given pencils and slips of paper with anagrams-liThe Contents of a The practical work of the Club gave Christmas Basket"-to occupy their time. the opportunity for expression that is es- Then one of the larger girls wearing a sential to success. Sets of colored paper white robe (cheesecloth) entered by a dolls found in The Ladiesl Home Journal side door. On her head was a silver and other magazines, were cut out and crown with one white star, and in her done up in white envelopes tied with scar- hand a silver wand. As she advanced to let raffia. These went to the local hospital the head of the table she said, "I am the and to the Presbyterian Hospital at San spirit of Christmas. I am present at Juan, Porto Rico. Picture scrap-books every happy gathering at the Christmas made of gray cambric and filled with time. I will now call my helpers and togaily-colored pictures went to the Indian gether we will serve the Christmas feast." children in Arizona and to a little Italian
Stepping to the door she opened it, and Missionary Education Movement, 156 as the piano began a march she led in to :B'ifth Avenue, New York, at $1.50 each; the room a procession of forty girls, each the Congo Box put up by "B. Martin" wearing a little Christmas apron of red for the children of the Southern Presbycrepe paper and having a band of the terian Church and sold by the Woman's same around her hair. Each carried some- Auxiliary, Peachtree and Tenth Streets, thing with which to decorate the table and Atlanta, Georgia, at 50 cents; and the they marched, single file, first around the Mary Hill Literature Boxes originated room, then around the table where each by Mrs. Horace M. Hill and put up at placed what she carried. This feature had her famous missionary workshop, 415 been so carefully rehearsed that the table Oak Grove Street, Minneapolis, Minn. seemed decorated as if by magic, and the These boxes are in endless variety; in all result was very beautiful. A decorated more than 3,000 have been made, no two Christmas tree was placed in the center of alike and are designed for both leaders the table and around this twelve crystal of juniors and grown-ups. They may be candlesticks with red candles (not lighted purchased outright or may be rented for fear of fire). A smaller decorated tree for a moderate sum and are exceedingly was placed at each corner and around the helpful. entire edge a carefully placed border of holly. The Mary Hill "Band Box" filled with sample programs, invitations, notebooks, When the work was completed the girls mottoes and other devices for band work, marched around the room· again, finally is one of the daintiest and most fascinatforming in two' rows back of the table. ing things we have seen. Children take de- Standing there they sang, softly and light in examining its contents. It sells sweetly, as a blessing, "Holy night, silent for the modest sum of 50 cents plus night." This climax was very effective, postage and we wish that every band and with its spirit of reverence and sim- might own one. plicity seemed to touch the mothers deeply. For junior work Mrs. Hill also has box- es of literature and pictures on the var- At the close the girls passed cherry ice ious countries, a box filled with stories and little white cakes and gave to each for junior reading, a larger one on the guest one of the littIle tarlatan baw of pep- same plan for the leader and two boxes permints. In all, 115 were present and the of suggestions for leaders, the prices party proved a great success. It got the varying according to the contents. She mothers (lut and added to their interest will prepare boxes to order on almost any in the club besides giving the girls great given topic and will furnish charts, and pleasure. packets of pictures at moderate cost. Her work is a labor of love, not a financial THE NEW MISSIONARY BOXES venture, and often entails loss rather than profit. In writing her for help, band There are a good many kinds of mis- leaders should inclose a generous amount sionary boxes-mite-boxes in endless of postage. variety for collecting missionary money; boxes of clothing and supplies for home A MISSIONARY BIRTHDAY BOX missionaries and home mission schools; boxes of dolls, scrap-books, picture post- The newest box of all is the "Missioncards, games, etc., to be used by mission- ary Birthday Box" devised by the Junior aries at home and abroad in winning Superintendent of a Congregational Sunchildren to Christ. day-school in which, for various reasons, it seemed impossible to do very much to Boxes on this order have done a great interest the children in missions. Miss work for missions. And now there is a Mary Preston tells about this box in Life new variety which also promises to do a and Light as follows: great work-boxes filled with helps for missionary leaders in their work. These "The box was prettily prepared and include the curio boxes on Africa, Japan tied up ready to be carried home for a and the American Indians PlLt out by the week by the fortunate youngster whose
1916J BEST METHODS
birthday pennies should proclaim to the directions are given as follows for making school that he or she had just passed a simple yet effective Chinese cap and another milestone. Can you see in your cue. mind's eye the glow of anticipation on the face of the temporary possessor of that "Take a long black stocking and cut box? off the foot. Then, beginning at the bot- tom, cut the 'leg into three equal strips "So much for the box. What of the leaving five or six inches (enough to fit things inside it? The real test of" its the head) uncut at the top for the cap. value depends upon the contents. When Then braid the strips tightly and near the brave, bright box is open, when the the end weave in some strands of bright veil of mystery is torn aside-what then 'I red yarn. Tie the end of the cue with the yarn and finish with a gay tassel of it. "Suppose the children are hearing You will be surprized to find how well about the boys and girls of India-would these caps and cues look when finished." not such things as these be of interest'! Colored picture postcards of scenes in A Wampum Necklace India which can be obtained from many mission boards; pictures from the N a- The Missionary Survey gives the foltional Geographio Magazine, The Mission- lowing directions for making a wampum ary Herald, Life and Light, Everyland necklace such as Indians wear: and other magazines, mounted on sheets of attractive blue, green or brown paper; "A good imitation of a wampum neck- Orient Pictures on the order of Perry lace can be made by cutting hollow macapictures but missionary in subject, print- roni into pieces an inch long and stringed by the American Baptist Missionary ing them on cords or ribbon. Paint each Society, Ford Building, Boston, Mass.; of the beads in streaks of red, yellow, directions for games such as children play blue and black, Indian fashion, and the in India copied from 'Children at Play result will be a necklace that every one in Many Lands,' by Katherine Stanley will admire and wish to copy for them- Hall; two dolls painted brown, dressed selves." in the costume of India and given native names; brief facts about the children of ALMA MATE~* India bound into a little home-made booklet; stories about specific children in BY PRISCILLA LEONARD India such as may be found in back numbers of children's magazines. The oldest university Was not on India's strand, "Perhaps this is enough by way of suggestion. Box-makers once imbued with Nor in the valley of the Nile, the idea will find no dearth of material. Nor on Arabia's sand; Why not try the plan in your Sundayschool department or class, or in your From time's beginning it was taught, Junior Endeavor Society or mISSIon And still it teaches free, band? Remember that when such a box goes into a home it reaches not one mem- Its learning mild to every childber of the family but several." The school of Mother's Knee.
THINGS TO MAKE The oldest school to teach the law, And teach it deeply, too, A Chinese Cap and Cue Dividing what should not be done Printing a little missionary magazine And what each one should do, is a plan used in the Junior Department of the First Baptist Sunday-school, Ben- Was not in Rome nor Ispahan, nington, Vermont. It is called The Tra- Nor by the Euxine sea; veler and is a bright little sheet of four pages measuring 6 x 9 inches. In the It held its sway ere history's day- "China Edition" issued March 7, 1915, The school of Mother's Knee.
* Reprinted from The Youth'8 Oompanion. It Is hoped that every mother will include in the curriculum of this most effective of all schools the subject of world-wide missions. Because the mothers of Robert Motl'at. Alexander Mackay, James and Isabella Thoburn and hosts of other great missionaries did so. the world has been mightily blessed aud the door of heaven opene'] to millions of souls that might otherwise never bave beard the Gospel.-B. M. B.
The oldest seminary, where ies' at a missionary exhibit at our State Theology was taught, Sunday-school Convention held here re- cently and we are making enthusiastic Where love to God, and reverent prayer, use of it. We are all so pleased to make And the Eternal Ought, the acquaintance of Mrs. John G. Paton in it, and are delighted to find that she Were deep impressed on youthful hearts had sueh a sense of humor. We have In pure sincerity, promised the book to the one having the best record in my summer school. We Came to the earth with Abel '8 birtb- are having drawing, sewing, botany, etc., The school of Mother '8 Knee. at home.
The oldest-and the newest, too- "We think of you whenever we play It still maintains its place, our card game, 'Who's Who in Missions.' Sarah and Elizabeth are getting a real ABd from its classes, ever full, interest in these heroie men and women. It graduates the race; We are taking one missionary a Sunday and have about eight or ten now. It is a Without its teaching where would all fine idea. I don't think the children will The best of Jiving bef easily forget the few definite facts about each one. As soon as we know enough 'Twas planned by Heaven this earth to cards we will play the game according to leaven- directions."
The school of Motber's Knee. MISSIONARY ANAGRAMS AN IOWA "SCHOOL OF MOTHER'S One of the things we found in a Mary Hill "Band Box" is an ordinary white KNEE" envelope measuring about 3~ by 5~ inches with a picture of John G. Paton Not long ago the Best Methods editor pasted on the outside and this suggestion received a letter from a mother in Iowa daintily printed by hand: IILet the who conducts a modell/School of Mother's Juniors learn the names and faces of Knee" for her three little daughters- great missionaries by this means." In- Sarah aged eleven, Elizabeth eight and side the envelope are the letters, A, N, Mary five. Missions have such a large 0, P, T, from which the name Paton may place in this little school that althQugh be formed. They are two inches high and the letter was strictly personal and not cut from heavy paper-each of a differmeant for publication, we take the liberty ent color bright enough to prove attracof printing a portion of it for the in- tive to a child. spiration of other mothers: This is an excellent plan either for a liThe first thing I read our children mission band or the home circle. Sets of along missionary lines was the life of envelopes on this order can be easily made John G. Paton-not the youth's edition. at home and really constitute a game of It was about a year ago and I thought I high educational value. would run my eye ahead and boil down the big words and leave out a little of the sermonizing. But I wasn't allowed to! Sarah sat on one arm of the chair and Elizabeth on the other and I was vigorously urged to go right on and not change it.
"l found your 'Fifty Missionary Stor- PRACTICAL WORK IS OF UNTOLD VALUE IN WORKING WITH CHILDREN If you do not know just what to undertake along this line, write (inclosing postage) to the Rev. Samuel D. Price, superintendent of the Department for Utilizing Surplus Material, The World's Sunday-School Union, 216 Metropolitan Tower, New York City.
See also THE MISSIONARY REVIEW for August, 1914, when the Best Methods department was devoted to this topic.
BEST METHODS
TEACHING MISSIONS THROUGH A PLAN FOR THANKSGIVING* DOu..S When the refreshments were served at "We say a great deal nowadays about the close of the November, 1914, meeting toys that have some educational value as of the Woman's Missionary Society, opposed to those that merely amuse," Union Presbyterian Church, Schenectady, said The Youth's Companion recently, New York, there were five grains of corn "but it has remained for an ingenious on each plate. They had been placed woman to use dolls as a means of teach- there by the hostess at the request of the ing history. president who, in connection with the de- votional service had given the gist of an "She began by dressing for her own article in The Continent by the Rev. little dltughter a 'Priscilla,' about which Ernest Bourner Allen, D.D., pastor of she wove stories of the early settlement of the Washington Street Congregational the country. The appeal to the interest Church o'f Toledo, Ohio, which explained and imagination of the child was remark- their purpose and use. able. 'Pocahontas' furnished an occasion for various stories of the relations be- In the early days of New England it tween the white men and the Indians and was the custom for the house-mother to 'George and Martha Washington' gave an place beside each plate on the heavily excuse for colonial and Revolutionary laden Thanksgiving table, five grains of tales. corn. This was to keep in remembrance the dark days of the Pilgrims when in "The mothers of some of the little girl's the heroic struggle to found a republic playmates became interested and adopted where there would be freedom to worthe plan for their own little daughters; ship God, the daily allowance of food for and since they all played with their dolls each person was gradually reduced until together all of them got the benefit of it became merely five grains of corn. Bewhat each had learned. . . • The lieving that these heroic days should still success of the plan depends largely upon be kept in remembrance, Doctor Allen has the selection of characters that are inter- revived the custom in his own home. esting and attractive to children and upon a reasonable fidelity to the dress of the "Ever since the children came to bless country and period. There should be a our home," he says, "we have placed five carefully worked out chronological scheme grains of corn at every plate on Thanksand good story-telling." giving Day. Briefly, in simple form, some phase of the great Thanksgiving epic has This plan is quite as good for teaching been told to the children. Then every missions as for teaching history-perhaps member of the household, from the todeven better. Dressing dolls in the cos- dling youngster to the smiling grandtume of the period to represent great mis- mother, has given five reasons for Thankssionaries and in native costume to repre- giving, one for each grain of corn. They sent famous native Christians would not grow mighty precious as you begin to be a very difficult matter and would arouse count. You finger them hesitatingly, and great interest. thoughtfully, and wish there were ten! And each one realizes the relation between What wonderful stories could be woven 'think' and 'thank! This custom of placaround dolls representing Ann Judson, ing and counting the corn, itself the great- Gertrude Egede, Fidelia Fiske, Mary est crop-except children-which we pro- Moffat, Eliza Agnew, Pundita Ramabai, duce in America, has developed the sense Doctor Mary Stone, Chundra Lela, and of Thanksgiving in our home and helped Mrs. Ahok! And what fascinating dia- us to give it a 'sane' celebration." logues could be arranged between Fidelia Fiske and Eliza Agnew, Dr. Li Bi Cu and During the social hour at the mission- Doctor Clara Swain, or Isabella Thoburn ary meeting, as at Doctor Allen's thanksand Lilavati Singh! It seems to us there are infinite possibilities in the plan. • Though this plan was originally used in a woman's society, it could be made very etl'ective In a children's meeting, either with or without retresllments.-B. M. B.
giving table, each one present was asked work among the Indians and teach them to name five reasons for Thanksgiving, to trust in Him. 'When you see an Indian one for each grain of corn. It was so penny thiuk of this and make the prohelpful and met with such favor that cession two miles long." many of the ladies present derided to inaugurate the custom in their own homes A little girl in Schenectady heard this on the coming Thanksgiving Day. story and was so much interested in it that when she received a little tepee mite- A MILE OF INDIAN PENNIES box* from a cousin in Ohio, she announced Collecting Indian pennies for Indian that she was going to use it to collect Indian pennies as the little Marylander work is a fine idea that originated with had done. The entire household agreed the Episcopalians of Maryland dnring to join her in this and now the little tepee Lent last spring. bank whieh occupies a place of honor on the desk in the study is getting quite "The children of :Maryland and their heavy. Not only all the Indian pennies friends have collected a 'Mile of Indian that come into the house promptly find pennies' as a special Easter offering to the their way into it, but occasionally one of Indian work in Alaska," says The Spirit the new Indian nickels also. of Missions. "They happened to notice that the Indian penny is not marked 'In • These tepee banks arc vcry attractive. They God we trust,' so they decided to set apart may be obtained from the Woman's Baptist Mistheir Indian pennies to support God's sionary Society, 2969 Vernon Avenue, Chicago, Ill., at 7 cents a dozen.-B. M. B.
-The Spirit Of Missions.
TVill you write and tell the editor of any ways in which you have found this de- partment of Best lYlethods useful? We 1vill also welcome a description of other methods used with success.
THOUGHTS
MISS ADDRJBSSJB§ The Editor invites contribj~tions to this departm,ent-unique and practical suggestions as to topics for sermons and missionary talks, striking outlines) impressive facts, and brief but powerful incidents to illustrate lessons and talks. Direct to the EDI'roR.
William Carey's Text Outlined The Cost of the War "Enlarge the place of Thy tent," etc., COS1' of the war at the present time is Isaiah .54: 2, 3. I. THE SETTING at the rate of over $100,000,000 daily, 1. Prophetically following Chapter 53. 2. Historically linked with Wm. Carey. or $36,500,000,000 a year. The costs to II. THE EXPOSITION 1. "Enlarge." Accept the World-Wide date and the present daily costs are divided Commission. A t tern p t great things. Build for God among the nations approximately as fol- 2. "Spare not." Large unused wealth. Superfluities. Blessing of giving up and lows: giving largely. 3. "Lengthen thy cords; strengthen thy Cost to March 1st Daily Cost stakes." Cooperation. Each cord and stake needed. A responsibility for each. Great Britain … $ 7,440,000,000 $ 25,000,000 4. The promise. "Thou shalt break Prance ….. ,… 5,400,000,000 15,500,000 forth; Thy seed shall inherit; make deso- Russia ……… 5,500,000,000 16,000,000 late cities to be inhabited." Work fruitful Italy ………. 1,200,000,000 8,000,000 to workers and to the world. Other allies …. 980.000,000 3,000,000 IMPRESSIVE FACTS Total for allies $20.520,000.000 $ 67,500,000 Women of the World Germany … … . 6,260,000,000 22,000,000 Austria~Hungary 3,560,000,000 . 12,000,000 Roman Catholic .,. 100,000,000 rl'urkey and Bul- Protestant ……. . 90,000,000 Greek Catholic, etc. 50,000,000 garia ….. . 580,000,000 – -1,-500-,0-00 Central Powers $10,400.000,000 $ -35-,50.0-,00-0 Total Christians 240,000,000 – Grand total $30,920,000,000 $103,000,000 Pagan ……………….. 60,000,000 Confucian ……………. 120,000,000 The total cost of Foreign Missionary Hindu ……………….. 100,000,000 work is about one-thousandth part of this, Buddhist …………….. 60,000,000 or $30,000,000 a year. All Christian work Mohammedan ………….. 90,000,000 at home and abroad for one year would. not exceed the cost of the war for ten days. To many of these 600,000,000 of women, only women can go. 1'hey are in harem Thoughts Worthy of Enlargement and zenana; they are field laborers and burden bearers; they are caste-bound and THE hardest thing in the world to confoot-bound and soul-bond, in a bondage trol and influence is not money but that women who breathe the free air can it is the hnman will.-S. D. Gordon. not understand. They known not that the world's Savior is woman's best friend. Practical Christianity is divine at the center of life, flowing in definite ex- pression toward God and man.-Worth M. Tippy.
The weakness of most missionary ser- mons is that they are long on exhortation and short on facts. Men are convinced by facts more than by theory.-Cornelius H. Patton.
When we know then we will feel; when we know then we will pray; when we feel and pray then we will give-the three things necessary in the Church before we can ever get an adequate force to go,. and before we will ever be able to properly support them when they have gone.
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE paper images of Kwan and Ngoh. Then "To Whom Shall We Go?" these two Christian soldiers came to the A CONVERTED Mohammedan was Rev. Harry Barton, of Ningpo, and asked called before the authorities to an- him to pray that a way of escape might be swer the charge of reading Christian books. found for them. Just before the date Before judgment was passed he begged to llxed, Dzing and Yih presented a petition be allowed to ask a question. "I am travel- to their commanding officer, saying that ing," he said; "I look around for some di- they had mada their vows to the one true rection and discover two men; one is dead, God, and could not take the oath before the other alive. Which of the two am I idols. The officer praised them for good to ask for advice-the dead or the living 1" conduct, but said that they could not be "Oh, the living, of' course," all cried out. excused from obeying the President's "Well," he added, "why require me to go order. to Mahomet, who is dead, instead of to Christ, who is alive'!" "We must obey God rather than man I" they replied. "We would risk our lives in At Azzimur an intelligent Moor said any place of danger at the President's to Mr. Robert Stevens, a missionary in command, for we could then only lose our Morocco, "No, we will not buy your books, bodies; but to worship paper images for they will make Christians of us." "Ex- would mean the loss of our souls I" aetly so," Mr. Stevens replied; "that a book is capable of doing what you have said The officer threatened them with the proves it to be a book of power. It death penalty, but they answered: "We changes a man's heart and conduct, and this do not fear that. It would only prove proves it to be what it claims to be-the that we were counted worthy to die for Living Word of God." Christ's sake!'
Finally a way of escape was opened for them; their names were struck from the The Key to the Situation roll of the Army, without reproof or pun- «FOR years the Moravian missionaries ishment. This they regarded as an answer labored in Greenland teaching the to prayer, as it also gave them privilege of attending the second Sunday service natives about the creation and the fall, the at the mission. flood and the dispersion, and all to no pur- * pose. But one day John Beck read to a small company the old story of Christ's dy- Pleading on the Roadside ON ing love, and one of them, Kayampek, with one of our last trips our cart be- tears streaming down his face, said to him, came stuck in the mud, almost waist 'Tell it me once more, for I, too, would be saved.' At last they had found the key to deep. We had to remove the luggage and the Greeenianders' hearts." The lash of take the cart apart in order to get out morality will never mold men, but the of the hole. Old Nursamma, one of the light of Calvary always does. glorious results of our never-to-be-for- Like Daniel in Babylon gotten revival, was with us and helped to remove the load from the cart. I shall TWO Christian soldiers in the Chinese never forget the picture of her as I saw army, named Dzing and Yih, stationed it that day. A Hindu man passed along at Ningpo, were missionaries to the bar- the road as we were in the midst of our racks. They prayed constantly, and never dilemma. Nursamma, her heart aflame gave up testifying that Jesus is the Savior for God, could not bear to see him pass of the world. They started daily prayer and not be spoken to; so there the dear meetings for their comrades, and attend- old saint stood, in mud and water up to ance increased. But one thing troubled her knees, a bundle of bedding under them: they could only get leave for at- one arm, and several chickens in her tending one service on the Sunday. hands, pleading with that man to give his The President of the Republic issued an heart to Christ I-REV. CHARLES E. PAR- order that the whole Army and Navy KER' Hyderabad, India.
should take an oath of loyalty before the * From Missionaru New•.
EVOLUTION
PORTO RICO – RICH PORT – WIDE OPEN PORTAL 3hctU 1lade Health Edueation outstrip The Gos,etf From a drawing by Miss Edith P. Thomson and Miss B. F. Bennett NEWS fROM ~JLANID)S LATIN AMERICA lishing a juvenile court. The child prob- lem is one of exceeding difficulty. The New Ideals for Porto Rico abandoned and neglected contingency is relatively large. THERE are 1,184,489 people living in Porto Rico. The Federal govern- There is need of strong reinforcement ment is working through a Board of Ag- in the missionary schools. The proposiriculture aiming to improve farm condi- tion to confer American citizenship on the tions. The low grade of intelligence Porto Ricans has met with a good deal of among the farm laborers makes it difficult favor, but if Porto Rico is to become an to introduce effectively the modern agri- integral part of the United States the recultural methods. The chief products are ligious ideals must be changed. sugar, coffee, and tobacco. The educational work has made fine advancement. Christian Book. Make Their Way Gradually but surely the standard of intelligence is rising. There are 2,084 white ONE of the biggest agencies of evanteachers employed and 377 colored, mak- gelization in Central America is the ing a total of 2,461. That number of mission printing press in Guatemala, of teachers at work upon the social life of the which Rev. William B. Allison has superpopulation certainly means a good deal. vision. Good JlOads are so few in Central After all, the teaching force is entirely America and the mountain trails so diffiinadequate. There is only one teacher for cult that a large number of the towns and 209 children of school age and only one villages have very little contact with the for about 80 of the pupils in actual at- outside world. The Jnissionary's journeys tendance. The educational problem is a must be made on muleback, and the time vast one. needed to cover the distances makes his trips to the different places few and far The last legislature passed a bill estab-
between. But the unusually liberal postal them to reopen soon but nnder strict state regulations permit Christian literature to :;llpervision, the buildings being used durbe sent to all parts of the country free ing the week for schools until structures of charge, and as the Christians in the for that purpose can be built. General distant towns receive these papers and Alvarado intends to end Catholic tyranny tracts, they carry them along on their over the people. short foot journeys to be left wherever they will do the most good. Surinam Lepers Cured Recently two Indian men voluntarily THE Surinam Government Leper Hosmade a 400-mile journey on foot simply pital at Groot Chatillon is near Befor the purpose of distributing literature thesda, where Moravian missionaries are and doing personal work. Mr. Allison, at work. They report the cure of two who acts as editor of the Guatemala News, young women patients, one of whom has the monthly organ of the station, is anx- been four years under treatment at Beious now to institute correspondence thesda, and the other seven years. Both courses of Bible lessons along with his have regularly used Aiouni. This is a other work.-The Continent. preparation of the Chaulmoogra oil, long known in India as a palliative for leprosy. A Reform Governor in YucataJ!, It is mixed with olive oil and other ingredi- ents to make Aiouni, which is the discov- G ENERAL SALVADOR ALVARA- ery of a M. Delord, a French missionary DO, before the outbreak of Car- resident in Switzerland. ranza's successful revolution a storekeeper in his native state of Sonora, has com- After six months under special observapleted one year of his governorship in tion, the two girls were dismissed by the the Mexican state of Yucatan. Although highest medical authority in the colony as only 35 years old, he is nevertheless one cured, and were permitted to return to of the most remarkable men of Mexico their homes. and in the reconstruction of that land he is likely to play a leading role. Since EUROPE twelve months ago, when he entered the peninsula with a conquering army, he has "AEvangelism and Women Speakers established free schools for the compul- NATIONAL mission of repentance sory education of all children-though and hope" is the title given by the heretofore only 15 per cent. of the chil- Archbishop of Canterbury and other predren attended any school-and has reduced lates of the Church of England to what crime to such an extent that a few weeks might be called an evangelistic campaign ago there were only twenty-eight prisoners which they have been planning for this in the state penitentiary, which had been autumn. It has been proposed to have built to accommodate 2,000 and had al- evangelistic preaching in every 'established ways been crowded. The state has been parish throughout England, and with the notorious for its vices, but it is said there expected cooperation of many of the free is now not a disorderly house in Yucatan, churches it was hoped that genuine revival and the crowds of beggars have dispersed. might spring forth in many centers. But most unfortunately the high-church party One of Alvarado's first acts was to turn has broken into these preparations with a the Catholic churches at all the haciendas bitter controversy. It is caused by an into schools. He managed to induce announcement made by the bishop of Lonteachers to go from the United States, and don that parish rectors might arrange if under their direction the children are re- they wished, in connection with the mission ported to be showing surprising advances movement, meetings of girls and women to in learning. The governor general finds be addressed by women speakers whom he has made some mistakes in his efforts the bishop promised to accredit as "mesquickly to give the co=on people of the sengers" for such service. These women country a chance, and is said to regret his were, however, forbidden to speak in consummary action there against the secrated churches or before any audience churches. He has promised to permit including men.
1916J NEWS PROM MANY LANDS
'fhe high-churchmen have appealed Men's Cbristian Association in all these without success to the Archbishop to for- lands and haye the same facilities for obbid this plan, and they are now denounc- servation that I had in Italy. }<'rom my ing it as a conspiracy on the part of the experience here, therefore, I make the women "to capture the priesthood step by cheerful generalization that there are few step." One of their leaders protests men in Europe that are physically better against the "very mischievous nonsense" off than the prisoners of war. It is with of talking about the "equality of men and respect to their moral condition (to use women in the sight of God." the word moral in the largest sense) that they are to be pitied, and it is in this Welah Christiana at Work sphere that the Association is diligently rendering a sort of assistance which could T HE Welsh Porward Movement cele- not be expected from the military author- brates, this year, the twenty-fifth an- ities." niversary of its beginning. The object of this Movement has been to reach non- Mission Among Swiss Gypsies churchgoers, to rescue neglected children, to provide Christian nurses for the sick I N the spring of 1914 a mission among poor, and to promote temperance and the gipsies in Switzerland was started social welfare, especially in the industrial by the Evangelical Mission of Switzerland. districts of Wales. Sixty large Gospel Already a number of auxiliary stations halls have been built at a cost of about have been established, whose purpose is: $700,000. Sunday-schools have been or- (1) To help wandering gipsies where it ganized, also prison-gate missions, sol- is necessary and possible to do so; (2) To diers' and sailors' social institutes, and distribute suitable literature among them; rescue homes. A gift of $50,000 has (3) To bring the Gospel to them in a lately reduced the debt on the Movement's simple, childlike manner. properties to a minimum. Baptist Work in Portugal Among War Prisoners in Italy DR. Z. C. TAYLOR, a missionary of REV. WALTER LOWRIE, of the the Poreign Mission Board of the American Church in Rome, was in- Southern Baptist Convention in Bahia, vited by the Italian Ministry of War to Brazil, was in 1909 commissioned by the visit the prison posts in that country. He Brazilian Baptist Convention to visit attended at the same time to the arrange- Portugal and report to the brethren in ments for the libraries and tools and musi- Brazil the advisability of the Brazilians cal instruments and games provided for doing mission work in their fatherland. the Austrian prisoners through the Young The report of Dr. Taylor encouraged the Men's Christian Association. He says of Brazilian Convention to begin work in his trip: Oporto, Portugal, and in 1911, Rev. J. J .. OIiviera was appointed with his wife to "In every case the prisoners' food and undertake the mission work there. lodging were better than their Italian guards enjoyed. The barracks of the A building has been erected in order to Italian soldiers have never been distin- accommodate the church, the residence of guished for their cleanliness, but the the pastor, day school and Sunday-school, prison posts rarely left anything to be containing an auditorium with a gallery desired in this respect. The greatest hard- which seats 400 persons, and five rooms ship the soldiers complained of was the around the main hall which are used for lack of work and (as an incidental conse- school purposes. quence of this) the impossibility of getting hold of any money to buy tobacco. It was While this work was being carried on, the socialist party in Italy which objected two fields were opened in the interior to putting the prisoners to work. I can where there are two flourishing churches, not distrust the testimony of the Ameri- scores of thousands of tracts have been cans who are working for the Young published and distributed, and there is a monthly paper, 0 CristO,{) Baptista.
The Slav Relieion is very great, and the people are said to be dying in large numbers. T HE attempt to explain to the English MOSLEMS IN ASIA – people the rea-I mea-ning of the re- ligious outlook in Russia and Serbia is Missionaries Return to Maraovan one which needed to be made. Hence the lectures being delivered at St. Margaret's, ABURDEN was lifted from many Westminster, on Thursdays, are full of hearts with the receipt, through the interest and importance. But they will State Department at Washington, of a also serve to show how great is the need cable dispatch from the American emin Russia for a reformation which will bassy at Constantinople announcing that bring to the people the light of the pure one Swiss and four American missionaries Gospel. In his lecture, Mr. Stephen Gra- left that city for Marsovan July 20th. ham, who is an enthusiast in all matters that pertain to Russia, threw the color of No sooner did the evicted party reach his genius upon such excrescences as pil- the capital than efforts were begun to perlar saints, rock hermits, celibacy, the wor- mit some of them to return, to recover ship of the virgin, etc. which he called control at least of portions of the prop- "fair things!' Those who have seen with erty and to safeguard the American plainer eyes the groveling of much of this Board's interest there. Repeated delays saint-worship in Russia, will hardly call and obstacles were encountered. Hopes it "fair." Mr. Graham, however, admits were kindled only to be disappointed. At that "Russia is feeling the need of Puri- length permission was given and the way tanism," and in this he is right. There opened for the return of five missionaries. has never passed over Russia a movement Their safe arrival in Marsovan was re- 'akin to the Reformation. The Eastern ported by cable to the State Department Church holds firmly to its place and power in Washington, August 4th. over the people.. No mention, hitherto, has been made III these lectures of the It remains to be learned what they great Stundist movement. It is in that di- found at Marsovan j whether they will rection that we may look for a new day- actually recover the property, and if so, break. The creation of interest in Rus- in what condition it will be turned over sia is timely, for reasons other than those to them. It has been learned that their supplied by the war. An evangelized Rus- houses have been occupied by the military, sia would be as the Temple of God in the despite orders when they were vacated that East. they should be sealed. It will mean much for the saving of the work as well as the Jewi.h Refugees in Russia plant that some of the staff are once more on the ground.-Missionary Herald.
THE Jewish Missionary Intelligencer Open Hearts in Persia reports that some six millions of people from Russian Poland have had to leave A MISSIONARY in Persia writes:· their homes and places of business and "The missionaries who went to Delisettle down in different parts of Russia. man had a very satisfactory stay in that These millions, most of them destitute, place, reporting on their return that much have been planted in towns already over- work can be done there. The Moslems, crowded, owing to the Government having both men and women, are quite ready to commandeered many of the larger hotels, -hear and to discuss matters of religion buildings and houses for hospitals, muni- with the missionary. tion works, training-schools for troops, and for the accommodation of recruits. "In Khoi the work is very open, espe- cially for Mohammedans. In one of the In Petrograd and Moscow the need of villages visited (Mohammedan) I was the refugees is fairly well met. The work thronged morning, noon and night, and the of English, Russian, Polish and Jewish only limit to the work was my own physicommittees have provided food, houses, cal resourceS. Our worker in Khoi has and clothing for refugees in and around certainly thoroughly prepared the soil for those cities. In the smaller cities the need intensive work and it was a grief to have
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
to leave' so soon. I had no difficulty in them. More than a hundred corpses are giving my message and the people were all taken out daily from Aleppo. very ready to listen. One old woman after listening to my tale of how, while people "The more educated inhabitants of Al- were seeking various means of escape in eppo maintain that the Germans do not these days of trouble, I had come to tell really approve of these outrages. Perhaps her of a road of escape I had found from the German people, too, are ignorant of the oppression and misery of sins here these events. How would it be possible and hereafter, turned to her daughter and otherwise for the usually truth-loving said: 'Can your Mullah give you any bet- German press to report the humane treatter word than thatf'" ment of Armenians accused of high trea- son 'I . . • Every cultured human being is A German Proteat Against Atrocities competent to intel'vene, and it is, in fact, his sacred duty to do so. . . . FROM trustworthy German sources comes confirmation reports of atroci- "We know that the Foreign Office has ties committed by the Turks against Chris- already received descriptions of the local tians in Turkey. A protest has been sent condition of affairs frOID other sources. to the German Foreign Office by the Fac- Since, however, the procedure of deportaulty of the German High School at tion has in no way been ameliorated, we Aleppo, Turkey, which states that unless feel it more than ever our duty to submit Germany restrains the Turks the crimes this report for your perusal. and outrages committed by the Turks "will always remain a terrible stain on Ger- "Above all, we realize to the full the many's honor among the generations to danger with which German prestige is here come." The protest in part reads as fol- threatened. lows: "DIRECTOR HUBER, Aleppo, 8th October, 1915. "DR. NIEPAGE, "We feel it our duty to call the attentionof the Foreign Office to the fact that "DR. GRAETNER, our school work, the formation of a basis of civilization and the instilling of respect "M. SPIELER." in the natives, will be henceforward impossible if the German Government is not INDIA in a position to put an end to the brutalities inflicted here on the exiled wives and A Missionary Survey of India children of murdered Armenians. IN response to the desire expressed at "In face of the horrible scenes which take The Continuation Committee Conferplace daily near our school buildings be- ences voted in 1912 that a missionary sur-. fore our very eyes, our school work has vey of India be undertaken as follows: sunk to a level which is an insult to all '£he Indian National Missionary Council human sentiments. . . . should appoint a Committee on Survey. Since large measures of reconstruction "Girls, boys, and women, all practically and readjustment, in the missionary, as in naked, lie on the ground breathing their other spheres, must inevitably result from last sighs amid the dying and among the the war situation a comprehensive survey coffins put out ready for them. of the field appears indispensable. The survey will aim to gather such information "Forty to fifty people reduced to skele- as will guide the Societies and the Indian tons are all that is left of the 2,000 to Church to a duly coordinated policy for 3,000 healthy peasant women driven down each part of the field, and as will enable here from Upper Armenia. The good- the Church in India and at the home base looking ones are decimated by the vice of to realize the nature and extent of the their gaolers, while the ugly ones are task committed to it. Its results are to victimized by beatings, hunger, and thirst. be presented in a report some time in the Even those lying at the water's edge are year 1917. Rev. W. H. Findlay, for many not allowed to drink. Europeans are years an English Wesleyan missionary in prohibited from distributing bread among India, has been appointed Director, with his headquarters in Bangalore, and Rev. W. H. Hannum is to serve as Associate Director.
Conversion of a Holy Man there are lots of diflindt problems con- I N the report of the Marathi Mission nected with them, their parents and so for the current year is told the story forth."
of a guru of the Mahar caste, who exer- Caste Breaking Down cised full sway over nearly 200 villages and" had a following of several hundred REV. F. E. JEFFREY, of Aruppudisciples, and who had been present at a kottai, India, states that a marvelous village preaching service. "He came to revolution is in progress. Twenty-five see us, and said that we must feed him years ago he was stoned for innocently with milk like a mother; that he had taking a low-caste Christian servant missed the true way to God; that he was through the Brahmin street. The other blind, but that light was now beginning day he sat down to a banquet with colto break. Taking a piece of camphor, lege students of all castes, including three he showed us how he prayed; lighting it, divisions of Brahmins. All were served he became absorbed in meditation as he by servants of low-caste extraction. watched its bright flame. Then he told us how he prayed that as the flame left It will be remembered that in Bombay, no trace of ash behind so might his soul last December, an All-India Inter-caste rise to God, absolutely consecrated, with dinner, organized with the avowed object not a trace of earthliness. After one or of doing away with caste differences, was two more interviews, when I found he held. Of the 450 guests from various had been listening to preachers for years rastes 225 were Brahmins, 50 were Indian women, and 20 were the "untouchables."
unmoved, he expressed full readiness to SIAM AND THE LAOS accept Christ. 'I only want to go and What Kru Sook Said give my son a farewell kiss and tell him I am dead,' and the big tears ran down REV. F. L. SNYDER, of Tap Teang, his face. Three Hindus called on him Siam, sends an interesting account the day after his baptism and asked him, of an opportunity which was unexpect- 'Have you become a Christian 0/' His edly given to one of the native preachers simple answer was, 'All my life I've been to witness for Christ in a place of great seeking light and peace. Seeking, seek- influence: ing, seeking-but never finding. Now I "On St. Patrick's Day, His Excellency have found.''' the High Commissioner called a meeting HTEarnest Hindu Students of all the people at the market and ex- HE life here is not only interesting tended a special invitation to all our Christian people to be present. They all and pleasant, it's just great," writes turned out in their best. The principal Mr. Mason Olcott, from Vellore, South business was to secure subscriptions to India. "There are four Hindu chaps in the warship fund. This business over, my Bible class that are all enthusiasm His Excellency the High Commissioner about Jesus Christ. They are trying with proposed a preaching service. First heart and mind to follow Him. Their there was a sermon by the Abbot of Wat earnestness puts us to shame. M. Streene- Po at Nakon-Sri-Thamarat, on the five vasan, for example, read two hundred great commands of Buddha. Next fol- pages of a book, 'The Crown of Hinduism,' lowed a remarkable and lucid talk by in less than three days, in order to learn our chief helper, Kru Sook, giving the something more about Christ. Without reasons why he became a Christian, and any suggestion from outside, he looked setting forth the salient teachings of up all the Bible references in the book that Christianity. Kru Sook did not dream he could not understand. In one week he he would be called on for an address, and read the whole of the Gospel of Matthew, was quite taken by surprise, but God by himself. I wish you all would pray gave him a wonderful message. His for him and the other three who are espe- address was most tactful, gTaceful and ciaIly interested in Christ. Pray also for uplifting, and presented Christianity in me in trying to deal with them wisely, for all its charm and attractiveness. The
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High Commissioner, the Abbot, and the This unique tract has been pasted up in officials frequently applauded the address many mosques, as a warning to the and afterward spoke, again and again, 'Faithful,' but in so doing, Mohammedan of their profound impression of all that friends have drawn increased attention to Kru Sook said." the original testimony, and to the Scrip- ture texts that were added. CHINA "The Arabic literature is still in de- Political Outlook in China mand by the men who can read it, and we are in touch with many who under- T HE latest report from the China In- stand the Nile Mission Press publica- land Mission workers says that the tions. A Chinese Mullah recently wrote political situation in the provinces to me: generally has considerably improved since Li Yuan-hung succeeded to the " 'I have received the parcel of books Presidency. "There now seems to be you kindly sent (Arabic books at his reasonable prospect of order being fully own request). Many thanks. Through restored, and of a period of peace being your kindness, the compassion of the enjoyed throughout the country. It is True Lord has reached me. 'Blessed are cause for thanksgiving to God that, during the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' the time of revolt and consequent unrest (I had in a Chinese letter quoted among the people, while some of our Matthew 5: 6.) 'It is my great desire to workers who reside in the regions more be one of those who understand deep particularly affected were subjected to truths. Receiving the books you sent has strain and anxiety, none of them sus- been like a fountain of water to a thirsty tained personal injury. Nor was the work man." of the Mission in many stations seriously interrupted; on the contrary, at not Practical Christianity in Manchuria a few centers increased opportunities for preaching the Gospel were furnished. One SOME two years ago a band of brigsad result of the temporary loss of con- ands attacked the homestead of a trol by the Central Government, however, Manchurian farmer, named Tung. They is that in several districts which were tied him up, burned his home, and carried previoll,llly regarded as free from the off his property. Mr. Tung, who was a opium curse, the poppy has again been ex- humble Christian man, did not inform tensively planted, and the officials have en- the authorities. He bore his loss, recouraged its cultivation. stored his home, and went on with his work. About two years afterward he Christian Literature for Chinese Moslems met in the city one of the robber band, who seeing that he was recognized, MR. F. HERBERT RHODES, of begged for mercy. Mr. Tung said "I do Chefoo, China, sends to Dr. Samuel not bear any grudge against you. Tell me M. Zwemer the following interesting about yourself." The man hardly believfacts in regard to the results of the dis- ing his ears told the story of his troubles, tribution of Christian literature among among them being that his feet were Chinese Moslems: frost-bitten, that he owed money at the inn but had none left, and was in need "We are just sending out to more than of food. 200 missionaries small parcels of two Christian Parable Tracts: 'Lost in the "Well," Mr. Tung said, "go back and Desert,' and 'The Acceptable Robe,' and get some food," a.nd he gave him some hope to follow later with more. money adding, "Go back and pay your account if you can. I will call for you "In the Testimony Series (also in to-morrow and take you to the hospital Chinese) we have recently sent out num- and see if something can be done for your ber five: the first one, which you sent feet." The man, who feared that behind from Arabia, created snch an impression this generosity there must be some plot that the Chinese Moslems reprinted it t.o capture him, would fain have run word for word, but prefixed a Moslem away in the night, but found it imposstatement as to what they consider truth.
sible, his feet were so bad. Next day of Peking. He writes that Mr. Yung sent Mr. Tung came for him in his own cart, his motor car to take him to the church and took him to the hospital, saying to service. In the afternoon of the same day himself', "Perhaps he will learn of' Jesus the celebration of the Bible Society cenas I did, and will come out a different tennial took place in Peking, and Mr. man," and he did. Yung made an address, speaking earn- estly of the power of the Bible to change Church-going in China men. "Half of the expenses of the cele- l)ration/, Dr. Goodri$ concludes, "in- HI WAS glad when they said unto me, cluding the putting up of the tent, which 'Let us go into the house of the seated 4,000 people, were paid by Mr. Lord.' Here in China as we go to Yung. He has lately promised the Young church on Sunday we notice many minor Men's Christian Association $4,000 (Mexdifferences between a Chinese church ican) a year for some of their educational service and one in Canada. In Weihai- work, and he has in mind other work for wei OUt church bell is rung early Sun- the church." day morning just to let the people know that this is 'Worship Day,' as Tithing in Spite of Famine some of them find it hard to keep track of the days of' the week. Then the A MISSIONARY from north China bell is rung again at church time. On writes: "This province, out of the going into church, probably the first last four years, has had three years of thing a newcomer notices, is that a practical famine, and to this has been family can not all sit together as we added war conditions which have stopped love to see them at home. The older money from coming from Europe. Many boys and men must sit on their own and far-reaching industries rnn by forside, while the women and girls go to eigners and many Chinese businesses have the women's wing. There is no scarcity been destroyed, so that from observation of children in church here; even the it seems within truth to say that the babe of a few months comes as often as people here are worse off in the way of its mother does, and does not miss its food than are the refugees in Belgium and meals either. A Chinese mother does Poland. Right now there are people in not need to 'stay at home with the chil- this province who are stripping the tendren'; she just takes them with her der leaves of the trees to eat, who are eatwherever she wants to go. To be sure ing the last portions of' dried sweet pothe little ones often make a noise, and tato leaves and dried turnip leaves. All are taken out, but there is a good deal through my mountain district I saw of going back and forth anyway. Of women gathering baskets of thistles to eat. course, the older .Christians know better You can imagine what this means to poor and sit still during the service, but Christians sending their children to school, groups of non-Christians often come in much more what it means for the Holy at any time during the service, and go Spirit to have touched the churches of my out if they do not find the service inter- field, to tithe and to plan to build new esting.-J. M. Hattie. churches, as they are doing. In one of the heathen districts in this field on this trip, A Church Member Now some twenty men of a district had sub- scribed a tenth of their earnings, which T HE distribution of 5,000 New Testa- amounted to about one-fifth of the cost ments by Mr. Yung Tao, who de- of the church, and another had given a scribed himself as "not a church member" beautifully located piece of land for a on the slip which accompanied each book, church site, set up on an elevation back containing a personal message for the of the village, surrounded by the hills, like recipient and calling attention to the Jerusalem. I walked all Saturday in· t1re merits of the Bible, was mentioned in the rain in order to worship with them, and September REVIEW. Now the welcome was mighty glad of the privilege." news has come of the baptism of Mr. Yung by Rev. Chauncey Goodrich, D.D.,
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
JAPAN-CHOSEN headquarters offices of the American so- Dr. Nitobe and the Teachers ciety in New York and the British society in London, and in 1907 the American O NE thing that is very marked in Japan society set up in Seoul an independent is the growing sense of a higher moral agency. The missionaries object to comstandard for teachers, particularly public peting Bible colportage, and believe that school teachers. This desire is constantly one organization at the same amount of expressed by the Government as well as expense could do a work very much more by many leading officials. Dr. Nitobe, one extensive and very much more thorough. o! the leading Christian educators in The proposition of the Bible committee Tokyo, told recently of a school superin- to the American society is, therefore, not tendent who came to him and said: "Dr. that it shall cease to send Bibles to Nitobe, I am in need of teachers. Will Korea, but that it shall permit the Brityou give me a list of those who you think ish society, which has a well established would be good for my district?" And agency working from its own building, Dr. Nitobe gave him a list of ten names to distribute Bibles from America as well of those whom he knew to be good as those printed in Great Britain. teachers. The superintendent interviewed them all and came back to Dr. Nitobe and The Bible for Every Home said: "I have chosen 'only four out of the ten whose names you gave me. They T HE Oriental Missionary Society is seemed to have a different spirit in their placing a portion of the Bible or a work than the others and appeal to me tract in every house in Japan. During as the most qualified." And Dr. Nitobe six weeks thirteen native and two forsaid it was rather significant that the four he had chosen were the only Christians. ana eign workers covered the entire Sanuki Thus the thoughtful Japanese seem ready to recognize Christ as the great Leader to Province, distributing 128,000 tracts whom men must go. portions of the Bible. Every worker aver- aged 300 homes a day. Every home in The New Premier in Japan this province has received Christian lit- erature, from the houses in the cities to the most isolated in the mountain districts.
IT is significant that the new Premier in A Korean Opinion of American Japan, who takes the place of Count Churches Okuma, is Count Terauchi, who was Governor-general of Korea during the trial of THIS is what Dong Sung Kim says Christians. He is a militarist and a of churchgoing in his "Oriental Imbureaucrat. General Baron Yusaku pressions in America": Uehara, former Minister of War, is to be Governor-general of Korea. "Along with our wonders and sur- prises, we came to one place where we Bibles in Korea were quite disappointed. We used to at- tend, in our homeland, a full prayer- T HE Bible COl;nmittee of Korea, com- meeting with as many people present as prising twenty-two missionaries rep- there were on Sunday; but here in Amerresenting seven missions at work in that ica just a handful of faithful few turned country, the majority being Americans, out for this mid-week service. At the has addressed a very important letter to first prayer-meeting, our pastor told us the American Bible Society seeking to in- that he had the largest prayer-meeting duce it to retire from Korea. in the State, although the crowd was The letter recites that, prior to 1907, quite small. Yet this pastor was such a the British and Foreign Bible Society, wholesome and lovable man of great the Seottish Bible Society and the Ameri- power. He was among the choicest of can Bible Society maintained in Korea the leaders of his State, yet he was una joint agency. which satisfaetorily uni- able to pull the people out to a mid-week fied the work of Bible distribution in that prayer-meeting. fleld. But friction developed between the "Once, in a church, on our travels, we
took the last seat in order to get out Moros, the famous Malay pirates, have re- sooner, but we did not succeed, for some sisted all attempts to pacify them by mili- one followed us out, shook us by the hand tary force. On the large number of small and bid us come back again. This was an islands comprising the southern group unnecessary invitation to us. The moral about 200,000 of the tribe still lead a is, we are not to go to church because semi-nomadic life. They are Mobamme- a half-dozen people come around and pat dans, and are without the civilizing in- our backs and ask us to come back. We fluences that attend the spread of the should attend church because our con- Christian religion. As the Igorots and science directs us to do so."-World Out- other head-hunting tribes of northern look. Luzon were civilized largely by the men who brought them medical relief, it was ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC decided to reach the Moros in the same A Distinguished Filipino way. The hospital ship will go from TEODORO R. YANGCO, of Manila, island to island, meeting the people at es- who has been on a visit to the United tablished points, bringing medical relief States, is one of the striking figures in to the sick and giving medical instruction the commercial, civic and religious life of to the natives.
the Philippines. As president of the Fili- pino Chamber of Commerce, president of NORTH AMERICA the Insular Life Insurance Company, and The New Mandingo Association head of large shipping interests, Mr.
A Yangco is representative of the commercial GROUP of business men and mission- ary leaders have recently formed a ability and leadership of the Filipino peo- ple. Mr. Yangco is also president of the unique corporation to conduct a Christian Young Men's Christian Association of business enterprise in the interior of the Manila, and as a philanthropist is active Guinea district of west Africa. The As- in various enterprises, giving time and sociation has been formed as a result of money to unselfish causes. He has recently the indefatigable work of Mr. M. R. Hil- founded a much-needed orphanage in ford, who was for some years a mission- Manila, and pensions worthy Filipino stu- ary in that district. The purpose and plan dents in America. He has also made of the organization was described in our generous donations to public school build- June number. It has now been incorpo- ings and playgrounds. Mr. Yangco's last rated with a board of fifteen directors, visit to America was in 1886, and his including James H. Post, Wm. Fellowes present tour is for the purpose of making Morgan, Edward C. Delafield, R. Bayard a study of American life and institutions, Cutting and Frank A. Horne. This cor- also hoping to interest American capital poration plans to send Mr. Hilford to in developing the natural resources of the Africa to establish a plantation and cattle Philippine Islands. Mr. Yangco spent ranch where Africans can be made self- several weeks in Washington, gWlllg supporting and at the same time may be counsel in connection with the bill before educated in Christian ideals.
Congress concerning the future of the In this connection a missionary associa- Philippine Islands. tion has been formed with a separate A Hospital Ship for Moros board of nine directors to control the re- ligious part of the work. This Associa"
COOPERATING with the International tion, which is to work in harmony with Health Board of the Rockefeller the denominational mission Boards, in- Foundation, the Philippine government cludes Dr. H. B. Frissell, Dr. Talcott Wil- will send a hospital ship to the Moros of liams, Mr. Mornay ·Williams, Delavan L.
the Sulu Archipelago, in an attempt to Pierson, and W. B. Millar of the Laymen's bring these people under the influence of Missionary Movement. The headquarters civilization. The ship is being equipped, of the Association are at 30 Pille Street, and will be maintained for five years. New York, and the Treasurer is Mr. Ed- For more than two hundred years the ward C. Delafield, of 46 Wall Street.
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
Leopold Cohn Exonerated were represented in this number, including A COMMITTEE was recently ap- 137 Chinese, 67 Japanese, and 65 Latin pointed at the request of the RE- Americans. Several announced their de- VIEW and of the Moody Bible Institute cision for the Christian life and were bapto investigate charges made against Rev. tized; in this group there was a nephew Leopold Cohn of the Williamsburg Mis- of a former premier in China and a prosion to Jews, Brooklyn, New York. For fessor of science from Japan. Many letters have been received from some years charges have been made per- delegates since the conferences, one of sistently against Mr. Cohn's claims to be them from an Armenian student: "I can an ex-Rabbi, against bis character and not think of a better way of acquainting financial methods. The committee con- the foreign student with the ideals of the sisted of Mr. Hugh R. Monro, vice-presi- American students than by giving him an dent of the Niagara Lithograph Co., and opportunity to attend the s.tudent Confe~ treasurer of the National Bible Institute, ences; false ideas and notions formed m Mr. E. B. Buckelew, secretary of the Ex- the minds of the foreign student concerntension Department of the Moody Bible ing student life in this great country are Institute and Rev. John F. Carson, D.D., cleared and he is enabled to get a clear former moderator of the Presbyterian picture of all that is right and pure. If General Assembly. Mr. R. M. Hart, a there is anyone thing in the world that lawyer served as council for the Com- will help to increase the prestige of Amermittee.' The character and ability of ica in foreign countries, it is the foreign these men are sufficient to give authority student educated and cultivated in this to their verdict. After very thorough and country." painstaking investigation they found all of the charges "unproved"; they ex- Twenty Japanese delegates at Northpressed confidence in the Christian character of Mr. Cohn and highly commended fpieerldi~linNcaluvdyi,ntgherelparregseesnt tcaotimv~eesrcoifatlheinItemr– ests, the Imperial Pos~al SerVICe, and other the work of the mission and, in general, prominent interests, SIgned a statement exthe financial system in operation. The committee suggested some improvements pressing their deep appreci~tion o~ the in- vitation which had made It pOSSIble for in the methods and these are to be them to attend the conference, and conadopted by Mr. Cohn. The charges have evidently been due either to misunder- cluding with these words: "Be it further resolved, that the J apanstandings or to malice. It is earnestly ese students, having enjoyed themo~t helphoped that they will now be dropped and ful fellowship not only with theIr own that the work of Jewish evangelism will Japanese fellow-students, but with stube no longer hindered. "There has been dents of America and of other lands, and abundant testimony," says the report, caught the vision of larger things in life, by pastors, missionaries and other Chris- and seen the possibility of world brothertian workers of the highest character, hood, pledge to stand ready to coop~rate who have been in close association with fully with the members of the Co.mmlttee Mr. Cohn and his work for periods of on Friendly Relations among ForeIgn Stufrom five to twenty years, affirming in dents in furthering its cause and executstrongest terms his integrity and self- ing its program among all the Japanese sacrificing devotion to the cause of Jew- students in America." ish evangelism." Further inquiries may be made from Mr. Hugh R. Monro, 209 The Union Missionary School West 38th Street, New York. THE control of the Union Missionary Foreign Students at Conferences Training Institute, of 131 Waverly Avenue, Brooklyn, was taken over by the As guests of the Friendly Relations National Bible Institute, of 214 West Committee, 330 foreign students at- Thirty-fifth Street, Manhattan, at the an- tended summer conferences in the United nual meeting of. the corporation and the States this year. Over thirty nationalities Board of the Brooklyn institution.
Don O. Shelton, president of the Bible soldiers signed clean-living cards. Chris- Institute, was elected president in place of tian manhood was the foundation of the Rev. Dr. Jesse W. Brooks, resigned. appeal made publicly and in personal in- The Institute wiil become the Brooklyn terviews.
Department of the National Bible Insti- It is not often that a Bible class teacher tute, but will continue along the same lines is given three cheers as an expression of as in the past. It is expected that as a re- appreciation. In the Army Young Men's sult of the merger the number of pupils Christian Association building at Douglas, in the Waverly Avenue institution will Arizona, eight nationalities were repre- be increased. sented in a group led by the secretary as Several vacancies in the Board of the follows: Polish, Hebrew, Canadian, Ameri- Missionary Institute have been filled by the can, Italian, Irish, Scotch and English.
election of trustees of the National Bible It was after the class broke up that the Institute. Beside Mr. Shelton, the officers Hebrew representative proposed the three are: John M. Harris, vice-president; J 0- cheers for the leader, which were given seph A. Richards, secretary, and Hugh R. with enthusiasm.
Monro, treasurer.
The Experience of a Tither Gordon Bible College M R. H. Z. DUKE, a well-known Bap- tist layman of Dallas, Tex., is a firm T HE Gordon Missionary Institute in believer in tithing, and gives his own ex- Boston has entered a new period of perience as the ground of his. belief: development, with a new building, Frost Hall, and a new legal name, Gordon Bible "I went into a mercantile business, College. The entrance requirement is now known as j he 'five-and-ten-cent business,' college preparation or its equivalent, and in Bowie, Tex., in 1894, and in January the curriculum includes eighty courses re- following my pastor, Brother F. M. Mcquired for the varied needs of its stu- Connell, and I agreed to tithe for one year. dents, including thirty-two courses in the Before the year was out I said: 'This suits Bible in English and Greek, fourteen in !)le, and I will tithe, not for one year only, theology, psychology, ethics and apolo- but for life.' The business prospered from getics, fourteen in rhetoric, homiletics, the start, although begun in a small way. and literature, twelve in history of Chris- Having only about $700 capital, doing a tianity, missions and comparative religion, strictly cash business, both in buying and and eleven in pedagogy, phonetics, evan- seiling, of course our business was limited. gelism, sociology, hygiene, stenography Yet the first year our tenth was $110; the and expresskn. second year, $154; third, $360; fourth, $388; fifth, $330; sixth, $662; seventh, The School of Theology and the School $556; eighth, $150; ninth, $556 i tenth, of Missions both report strong work al- $1,040; eleventh, $650; twelfth, $1,223; ready accomplished and large plans for the thirteenth, $1,221; fourteenth, $1,143; fifcoming year.
teenth, $2,742. I have tried the Lord in Cheers at a Border Bible Class this business way, and I would no more REPORTS from secretaries of the Army quit tithing than I would quit providing Young Men's Christian Association, for my family."
in charge of Association activities in the military camps on the Mexican border, Help for German Missions T say that the opportunities for religious HE Lutheran pastors of several states have agreed to raIse money to conwork are almost without limit. There are men in the camps of all kinds and tinue the German Lutheran Missions in beliefs. They have considerable leisure, British India, which at present are de- but often do not know what to do with prived of all their missionaries. It is it and are glad to listen to anything which considered that $5,200 is necessary to keep will fill in their spare time. the work going financially-and plans are In thl' "Clean-Living Campaign," con- being made to secure this amount. There ducted by the Association, thousands of is also an appeal for volunteers who would
NEWS FROM MANY LANDS
be willing to go to India as missionaries available plan, they conducted such a conto fill the vacancies. Heading this appeal ference September 16th to 23rd, at Stillis Dr. L. V. Wolf, Treasurer of the Mis- man Institute, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where sion Committee of the General Synod in the dormitory and equipment were placed Baltimore. The Neuendettelsauer Mission at their disposal. in German New Guinea is cared for by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa The conrse provided by the conference and other states. Since the outbreak of included Bible teaching and talks on Christhe war this Mission has received from tian living, Christian homes, the relation- America $1,500. The Rhenish Mission in ship between the home and the school, the New Guinea has also received help from physical care of children, home making America.-Evangelisches Missions Maga- and community service. zin. AFRICA The Indians as Farmers Effects of War in East Africa T HE Indian Office has taken aggressive C ONSIDERABLE fighting has been steps toward the development of im- taking place between British and proved vocational training and has adopted German troops in German East Africa. plans which will accomplish the education Though news of it is very slow in coming, necessary to instil in the Indian youth the it is of interest to all friends of missions responsibilities of self-support and citi- because of its effect on the future of that zenship. Emphasis is being placed on region. The British are reported to have agriculture and domestic science. All In- taken several important points. dian schools and reservations are being required to utilize every acre of available The Rev. A. W. McGregor who, since farm land for the production of the things his return to East Africa, has been atthey consume. They are fast becoming tached to the East Africa Brigade as chapobject lessons of industry, economy, and lain, visited his old station at Taveta last self-support. Every effort is being put April, and describes the hills on which the forth to the end that the Indians shall no mission buildings were situated as honeylonger be altogether consumers but shall combed with trenches and bomb-proof become producers. The number of acres shelters. With respect to the converts he farmed by the Indians has been greatly in- says that Yohana Nene ( an African deacreased during the last year, more than con) and two evangelists who remained at three times the amount of seed having heen the station, had been imprisoned-Yohana distributed last spring than ever before. for refusing to give up his daughter to the There is now every indication that the In- German officer. Before the Germans redian will soon become a real farmer and tired from Taveta they sent the Christians successful stock raiser. The Indian Office at the station to Morogoro, and rumors has developed a new type of cotton of the are current from native sources that two long staple Egyptian variety which has of the workers just mentioned have been been given the name of "Pima," after the executed. name of the Indian reservation in Arizona on which it was produced. On May 26th a cable arrived in London stating that the native clergy and teachers Conference for Negro Women in the northern archdeaconry of the Zan- zibar diocese had been imprisoned by the T HE women of the Southern Presby- Germans, and twenty of them had died terian Church who have been espe- from hardships. The European missioncially interested in the problems of the aries interned by the Germans were all negro women, feel that the greatest diffi- well. culty is the lack of leaders among the women themselves. Work for Moslem Children in Cairo Believing that a summer conference or THE World's Sunday-school Associatraining-school for negro women would lition, of which Rev. and Mrs. Stephen do more to meet this need than any other Trowbridge are the representatives in Cairo, reports excellent progress among Moslem children in Cairo. Thousands of
parable stories in Arabic and of the lives persons to give up using European spirits of Livingstone and Hogg, eagerly read by entirely, and many native traders to with- Moslem children, are being distributed draw themselves from the traffic. We through the Sunday-school, and the Sun- ar) told that now very many interior naday-school attendance is doubling at many tives would not buy any class of gin in any points. Teacher-training books in Arabic of the markets where it had been before and pamphlets for workers are being the chief article of trade; and that this printed and distributed. The Sunday- measure of success has been sufficient to school committee is planning to issue a alarm several European traders and cause Boys' Own Magazine in Arabic to offset them to be very anxious for the future of the stories of crime and other demoraliz- the trade in this line." ing literature for boys which is being sold. Needs of Con~o Land Mr. Trowbridge says: "Last Sunday I visited a Sunday-school among the very T HOUGH the Congo River was discovpoorest of the Coptic and Moslem people ered seven. years before Columbus in the Boulac quarter of Cairo. The fifty reached America, it was not till after or more who gathered for the Sunday- Stanley's descent of it, in 1877, that Protschool were among the dirtiest people I estant Mission work began there. The have ever seen in my life. It made one's Gospel is now being preached in about heart yearn to help them. This Sunday- twenty-five languages. In many places school has .been open only four weeks. the principal evangelists are now Chris- There are three classes-for boys, girls tian natives. The five thousand churchand women. On Sunday morning I members of the English Baptist Missionpreached for the first time in Arabic at a ary Society subscribe $40,000 a year to church service following the Sunday-school the work, and provide 600 responsible in the Mahmasha district of Cairo. It was teacher-evangelists, besides other helpers. hard work for me, but I think the people Other societies have had similar success. understood. I am so glad to be able to But the call for missionaries is still urgent. express myself somewhat in Arabic, for it brings me so much closer to the people. The area of the Congo Basin is 150,000 All the Copts in Egypt use the Arabic square miles-more than twenty-five times language and are thus accessible with the as large as England. Its population is Sunday-school literature we are using." unknown, but certainly numbers many millions. There are numerous languages, An Elijah II. Movement in Nigeria still unwritten (perhaps a hundred or more). The only religion of the people A NATIVE teacher in the New Calabar is the degrading superstition of fetishism district, named Garrick Sekari Braid, They fancy that evil spirits or evil-discalls himself Elijah 11., the prophet spoken posed illen bring sickness and death, and of in Mal. 4: 5. everything else that is bad. Thousands of innocent men and women are killed Other subordinate teachers have risen on charges of witchcraft. The only prowho describe themselves as the "sons of tection of the people lies in charms. Their the prophet." They all speak as though poor religion has nothing to do with sm their utterances were really those of God and salvation, character and conduct; Himself, and Garrick is treated with the they have no hope of eternal life. utmost reverence by both chiefs and the common people. A New Race of Pigmies Faith healing is prominent in the move- A NEW race of pigmies has been disment, and as confession of sins is required covered in the central portion of the before healing, what is almost the confes- French Congo, according to The Scientific sional has been instituted. American. Members of this race never surpass four feet nine inches in height and There is, however, good in the move- are often smaller. They have vague noment. It leads the people to cultivate the tions of good and evil, and a certain cult of spirit of prayer. Bishop Johnson, writing the dead. They are said to be very valiin the Church Missionary Review, says: "It is inducing a very large number of
NEWS }'ROM MANY LANDS
art in the def<lnse of their liberty and in- school superintendents, leaders of young dependence. They live in huts of hemi- men's and young women's societies, and spherical shape, erected in the forests, the principal believers of the whole disfrom five to thirty of these buildings being trict. grouped together. "For these meetings many had tramped Forty Years in Livingstonia four, eight and ten miles, in order that they might meet the representatives of the FORTY years ago the Free Church of Christians of France-the first that most Scotland founded its mission in Ny- of them had seen, apart from their regular a~~aland, and called it Livingstonia. Rev. missionaries, and they said: 'Now we be- Donald Fraser, in a historical sketch re- lieve in the love of our fathers of France, cently published, emphasizes some of the and we have seen them through you. Tell changes which the years have brought. them that they must not abandon us, for The Arab slave-dealer has disappeared j we are still children.' Yes, perhaps, they the Ngoni have laid aside their raiding are children j but they are learning to habits and become peaceable taxpayers and walk in a very encouraging way. Not laborers. A telegraph line runs through only do they build their own meeting the country, bringing its scattered popu- places and schools, supporting also their lation within a few hours' reach of Lon- own native pastors, but several catechists don. A regular mail service calls every and evangelists are paid by funds raised week at the Chinde mouth of the Zam- among the natives. They are well on the besi. way to becoming a self-supporting and properly organized church." When the missionaries came to Nyassa, they found a people without an industry, OBITUARY NOTES whose wealth was mainly got by plunder or by selling one another. There was no Dr. Underwood, of Korea literature, no written language. Ancestral spirits were scrupulously worshiped, and A VERY great loss to the Christian witch doctors controlled and interpreted Church and an irreparable loss to the spirit world. Hideously cruel customs Korea comes in the death of Rev. Horace throttled the people. To-day scores of Grant Underwood, D.D., LL.D., of Seoul, thousands of men are engaged in remun- Korea. Dr. Underwood was born in Engerative labor. land fifty-eight years ago and came to America in his boyhood. He was gradu- Eight languages have been reduced to ated from Rutgers College and from New writing, and there are now 850 schools in York University and went out to Korea the Livingstonia Mission alone, with 51,- as a pioneer missionary of the Presby- 000 pupils. Few villages are now without terian Church in 1884. Dr. Underwood the opportunity of an education. was a brother of John T. Underwood of the Underwood Typewriter Company, and The Christians of Madagascar was president of Union College in Seoul. He was for four years administrator of REV. DANIEL COUVE, one of the di- the Arthur T. -Pierson Memorial Bible rectors of the Paris Missionary So- School in Seoul-a union training insticiety, who recently made a journey to tution for Christian workers. Dr. Under- Madagascar, describes his visit to the dis- wood died in Atlantic City, N. J., on trict of Vonizongo, which was the scene of October 12th, after a lingering illness, many martyrdoms at the time of the great and is survived by his wife, who was Miss persecutions under the cruel queen Rana- Lilas Horton of Chicago, and by two valona: sisters. A fuller notice will appear later.
tiNow this great district comprises sev- Dr. Marcellus Bowen of Turkey enty churches, divided into twelve groups, each group being in charge of an evan- DR. MARCELLUS BOWEN, repregelist. Representatives of these seventy sentative of the American Bible Sochurrhes were convened in four large ciety in Constantinople since 1888, died gatherings, and by this means I met all the October 3rd in Geneva, Switzerland, in evangelists, pastors, preachers, Sunday- his seventy-second year. Dr. Bowen was
a princely man of unusual ability, and and most effective service in the Madura his advice was sought by many American Mission, his influence not only dominating Ambassadors on account of his knowledge that mission, but being felt in all the mis- of the Turks, Bulgarians, Greeks, Egyp- sionary movement in India. He was at tians, and Sudanese. He was born in various times located in several stations, Marion, Ohio, in 1844, and was graduated but his last and distinctive work, that from Yale University in 1866. Six years which rccupied him for more than a score later Dr. Bowen was graduated from the of years, was as principal of the Theo- Union Theological Seminary, and was or- logical Seminary in Pasumalai. This indained into the Presbyterian ministry. stitution he made one of the strong forces During 1872-74 he was a pastor in Spring- of the Mission, securing the funds, and field, N. J., and then went to Smyrna as supervising the erectiolr of a fine building a missionary, remaining there for ten which is now its quarters. years. On his return to America he becaine principal of a private school for In addition to his teaching work, Dr. boys in Hartford, Conn., but in 1888 he J ones was indefatigable in literary labors, was sent to Constantinople as agent of thtl being editor of the United Church Herald, American Bible Society. In his nearly and in 1912 editor of the India Mission twenty years of service there, Dr. Bowen Year Book, a most valuable compendium became greatly beloved by his fellow mis- of missionary activities throughout India. sionaries and was an honored counselor in the missionary circle. His work foJ' He was compelled by ill health to re~ the Bible Society was manifold, including turn to America in 1914, and he then the supervision of translation work; the accepted a professorship in the Kennedy printing at Constantinople in six or seven School of Missions, Hartford, Connectilanguages and at Beirut in two or three; cut, where he was able to render distinthe circulation of Scriptures in thirty- guished service to the missionary cause. three languages, including the Armenian, Greek, Slavic and Hebrew groups, and Rev. Wilbur C. Swearer of Korea Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Syriac, Albanian, Roumanian etc.-averaging in re- ONE of the recent losses to the missioncent years.over one hundred thousand ary forces in Korea comes with the volumes a year. death of the Rev. Wilbur C. Swearer, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal During the present war the difficulty of Church, who died at Adams, N. Y., on Sepreaching his entire field from Constantin- tember 11th. Dr. Swearer was for a time ople led Dr. Bowen to transfer temporar- a member of the Board of Trustees of the ily his headquarters to Geneva, where he Pierson Memorial Bible School in Seoul. died. W. Sjoeholm of Sweden Rev. J. P. Jones of India T HE death of Mr. W. Sjoeholm, sec~ REV. JOHN PETER JONES, D.D., retary of the Swedish Missionary So- for many years one of the most able ciety, has been a great loss not only to missionaries of the American Board in his own society, but to the entire mission India, died in Hartford, Conn., on October work of Sweden. He was secretary of the 3rd. Dr. Jones was a Welchman, but Executive Committee of the General came to America at an early age and was Swedish Mission Conference. Secretary educated at Western Reserve College Sjoeholm entered the Missionary Insti- (1875), and at Andover Theological Sem- tute of the Swedish Mission Society in inary (1878). He was ordained and 1886. In 1889 he arrived at his field of married at Hudson, Ohio, and with his labor in the Congo, where he remained wife sailed in 1878 for his field in South until 1903. In 1904, at the General Con- India. For 36 years he rendered a varied ference, he was chosen secretary of the Society, where he was used of God greatly until he passed to be with his Lord.
MKSSKONAJRY IJ1BlRARY
The Disintegration of Islam. By Rev. The Christian Movement in the Japanese Samuel W. Zwemer, D.D., F.R.G.S. EInpire. 1916. Edited by Dr. J. L. lliustrated, 8vo. $1.25, net. Fleming H. Dearing. 8vo. 556 pp. $2.00, net. The Revell Co., New York, 1916. Conference of Federated Missions, Japan. For sale by The Missionary Education It has taken Dr. Zwemer nearly thirty Movement, New York, 1916. years of constant study, wide travel, personal experience, and Christlike devotion One must examine carefully this mine and sacrifice to make him the authority of information on Japan in order to unthat he is to-day on all things Moslem. derstand the magnitude of the missionary His books and addresses have spread in- work in Japan, Korea and Formosa. The formation and interest in Mohammedan- general survey describes the events of the ism allover the world. year and is followed by an account of the federated movements and the denomina- This latest book from Dr. Zwemer shows tional and other Christian activities. The conclusively that Islam is dying and re- evangelistic campaign has been fruitful. veals the causes. The lectures reveal the The one thousand meetings reported an author's fiery zeal and keen insight; they attendance of nearly 200,000 hearers and are entertaining reading though they deal over 9,000 inquirers. The story of the with superstition, fatalism, sin and dis- moral and religious conditions in Japan integration. Even the efforts to rejuvenate show that gambling, concubinage, drink- Islam have failed. One of the most il- ing and licentiousness are exceedingly luminating chapters is that on the present prevalent. From some districts the reday attitude of Moslems toward Christ. ports came, "No prostitutes but almost all adults licentious." This acknowledged Old Spain and New America. By Robert condition alone is sufficient to prove the McLean and Grace P. Williams. Illus· need of Christian missions. There are trated, 12mo., 161 pp. The Association both lights and shadows in this informing Press, New York, 1916. volume.
Spanish Americans in the United States The China Mission Year Book. 1916. are almost as unknown to the majority of Edited by the China Continuation Comthe population as are the people of Latin- mittee. 8vo., 554 pp. $2.00. Christian American lands. They are introduced in Literature SOCiety for China, Shanghai, this text-book of the Council of Women 1916. for Home Missions. If any doubt that Mexicans in .the United States, Cuba and This handbook, indispensable for all in- Porto Rico need evangelical Christian terested in China, is the seventh annual teaching they will be convinced by these volume, but the first edited by the China graphic glimpses of the intellectual, social Continuation Committee. There are eighty and religious conditions among them. contributors to the various sections. Dr. Many will be astonished to learn of the Arthur H. Smith, the well-known writer work of the Protestant churches along in China, describes the past two decades of evangelistic, educational, medical and so- missions, politics and social developments cial lines. These foreign missions on in China. Mr. F. L. Platt tells of the Home Mission territory present charac- constitutional developments and Consul teristics of both types of work. The his- Julean Arnold reports encouragingly on tory of the Spaniards in America is fas- economic and commercial conditions. The cinating and mission work among them section on evangelism is especially interabounds in heroic sacrifice and encourag- esting as it reports actual experiences and ing achievement. results during the year. The missionary directory is omitted.
}'or any who seek reliable up-to-date Men and World Service. Report of th{' knowledge of China and Chinese missions National Missionary Congress, Washing· this volume is tbe storehouse whence they ton, D. C. 8vo., 350 pp. $1.50. Lay· may draw. mens' Missionary Movement, New York, 1916. The Apostles of India. By J. N. Ogilvie. 12mo, 447 pp. 6s., net. Hodder and A world of inspiration and information Stoughton, London, George H. Doran, lies bound up in these reports and ad- New .York, 1916. dresses. The ablest speeches and most ac- tiv3 lay workers in America contributed These Baird Lectures were delivered to make the Congress an epoch-making last year by the honorary Fellow of the gathering of a thousand men. Every pas- University of Madras, India, now minis- tor, especially those who could not go to ter of New Grey Friars Parish, Edin- the Congress, would do well to see that burgh. They are exceedingly well written this report brings the Congress to them. biographical sketches of the founders of the Christian Church in India – St. The Why and How of Missions in the Tho mas, Pantaenus of Alexandria, Sunday-School. By William Brown. Francis Xavier, Aleixo de Menezes, Robert 12mo., 126 pp. 50 cents net. Fleming de Nobili, and the better known Protestant H. Revell 00., 1916. pioneers, Ziegenbalg, Schwartz, Carey, Martyn and Duff. Live Sunday-school workers are coming more 'and more to realize that the teachers Dr. Ogilvie has consulted Roman Catho- and superintendents who fail to give their lic as well as Protestant authors, and his pupils a vital interest in God's program accounts of the work of representatives of for the world are dead. Mr. Brown, the the papacy contain many interesting facts. International Sunday-school Missionary Francis Xavier, for instance, reports in superintendent is a practical and stimuhis letters the methods which he followed lating speaker and writer. He tells why in gaining converts. He memorized the and how Sunday-school workers should Creed, Lord's Prayer, the Ave Maria and enlist their pupils in missionary work in Ten Commandments in Tamil and then a way that will thrill and uplift them. required the people who attended his Some valuable hints are given on missionmeetings to learn them. When this was ary programs and libraries. done and they assented to the creed, Xavier baptized them in large multitudes. Sunday·School Missionary Incidents and Exercises. By John W. Somerdike. All the biographical sketches are valu- 12mo., 105 pp., paper. 25 cents. Presby· able studies in missionary character and terian Board of Publications, Phila· method. delphia, 1916.
The Black Prophet. By Guy F. Phelps. An excellent little handbook for the use 8vo., 360 pp. $1.35 net. The Standard of teachers and speakers to children. It Press, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1916. has ideas for graded studies, a number of stories and five fifteen-minute programs. This well told and interesting story is as polemic against the practises of the A Challenge to Life-Service. By Frederick Rom a n Catholic Church – especially M. Harris and Joseph O. Robbins. 16mo., against the confessional and the calebate 152 pp. 50 cents. National Board of priesthood. The facts and arguments are the Y. W. O. A., New York, 1916. woven into a love story and reveal in powerful word pictures the evils that so often, Young men and young women still unif not always, accompany the giving of settled as to their Ilfe work will find defauthority to grant absolution and hear inite guidance in this statement of princiconfessions by men subject themselves to ples and challenge to unselfish service. temptations and sin. It is a book to open The world never called so loudly as now the eyes of those who have not understood for men and ':Vornen who will give themthe evils too frequently found in the selves to Christlike work. These practical Roman Catholic church in all lands. Bible studies are arranged, with daily Bible readings, to cover, twelve weeks. The thought questions are such as will pro- voke helpful discussion.
The Missionary Review of the World — August 1895
DAl'GHTER OF A NEW HEBRIDES CHIEF. A CHRISTIAX TEACHER READIXG THE BIBLE
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XVIII. No. S.-Old &rie8.-AUGUST.-VOL. VIII. No. S.-Net.O &rie8.
AN APOCALYPTIC CRISIS IN PAPAL HISTORY.
BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
The most careful students of the history of that mysterious politico- ecclesiastical power, the papacy, have been compelled to identify it with the apocalyptic mystery of the woman whom John saw sitting upon a scar- let beast,and borne by it-the woman drunken with the blood of the saintE and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and declared to be id~ntical with a certain great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth, and which is somehow connected with seven mountains or hills (Rev. 17 : 18).
One may w.ell hesitate to interpret symbols found in the Apocalyp~e, that most brilliantly Oriental of all the poems of the Scriptures, save where, as in this case, God has hung a key close by the lock. We know f~om the Word itself that the woman is supported by the beast-the world power-and that she is the same as a great city which is identified with rule over earthly kings, and has seven hills within its compass. If that woman be not the papal church, supported by the temporal sovereignty, so long controlling even earthly empires, and finding its seai. and centre in . Rome, the seven-hilled city, then we may as well give up all attempts to read history in the light of· prophecy. There is so remarkable a cOnsensus of the most devout commentators and students of God's word that it becomes almost a safe guide to interpretation : that the harlot, as in at least fifty cases elsewhere in the Word of God, describes an apostate or unfaithful body of professed believers, whose doctrine is corrupted and whose practice is perverted. Again, Rome, the new Babylon, is on a river, as were Nineveh and Babylon; and rivers are symbols of commerce, and so of temporal prosperity and a flood of aHluence. Again, there is agreement that this liarlot is a world city, distinguished from the beast or world. power•. The beast is clad with scarlet-colored trappings, which appear to have embroidered upon them certain names full of blasphemy or irreverent assumption, as when men claim Divine honors. The woman's methods are seductive; with an artful policy she seduces nations into obedience, and politi~!ol 4~fQ:rmitiC[l!:l and enormities result. The abominations of the
AN APOCALYPTIC CRISIS IN PAPAL 'HISTORY
earih-unbelief, superstition, sensuaIi1.y. and idolatry-are somehow espe- cially associated with this world city. The shedding of the blood of the witnessing saints is laid to her charge j and one has but to read the story of the Inquisition and the Vaudois Church to understand this. At least 30,000 martyrs belong to Spanish historyalone! A Christian Church, calling herself" mother of all churches, " has poured out and drunk saints' blood as though it were wine. As to the seven mountains, who does not know that Rome is urbs septicalis? If the inspired writer purposely avoided naming the city in order not to provoke heathen hostility, and yet wished to indicate the city to any attentive reader, how could he do it more clearly ~ The Palatine, Quirinal, Aventine, Cllllian, Viminal, Esquiline, and Janiculan hills constitute the sevenfold key to this description. It would seem that, as the writer intimates, the mind which hath wisdom may easily discern beneath "all this metaphor the Divine meaning.
Now, it is also a very remarkable fact that in the Apocalypse a certain marked period of prophetic time is represented under three forms: "Forty and two months" (13. : 5 j 11 : 2) j " twelve hundred and sixty days." as in 11 : 3 and 12 : 6," and a time, times and half a time"-i.e., three and, a half years, as in 12 : 14 j Dan. 7 : 25 j 12 : 7. If we seek a meaning, it cannot be overlooked that each of these terms is the exact equivalent of the other. Three and a half years are forty and two months j and these, at thirty days each-the even month of prophecy-contain 1260 days. , We see no reason for not accepting this as a literal period at the close of the age, and for ourselves so hold it ; yet, as hundreds of prophecies have a double meaning-a larger and less literal and a narrower and ~ore exact-we see no reason why this period may not, as most commentators believe, represent first a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, during which the antichristian systems of the beast and false prophet continue in full sway. Such a period, whether it be reckoned in years or days, repre- sents both in Daniel and the Apocalypse the time during which the world power dominates and the earthly king9.oms usurp the authority properly belonging to the heavenly.
Now, here again some very startling facts confront the devout student who compares prophecy and history, and, without any disposition to sub- stitute ingenuity for ingenuousness, or read into either Scripture or history any biassed interpretation, we cannot close our eyes to a marvellous coin- cidence and correspondence.
The papal power is peculiar in its claim upon temporal sovereignty. With the Roman Catholic faith as a religious creed or polity we are not now concerned, but only with an ecclesiastico-political power known as papal -in other words, with a church borne on the back of a world kingdom. Thl( first great epoch of the papacy extends from the rise of the papal system until the year 720, when Boniface boldly in Germany preached obedience to the Roman bishop. When the Pope's pretensions began to be acknowl- edged is a question now hard to settle. Judging from the sixth canon of the Council of Nice, 325 A.D., no Divine prerogative was then allowed to Rome not conceded also to Alexandria and Antioch. In the fourth century, toward its close, we see Rome coming into a sort of spiritual dictatorship ; when advice and assistance were asked, the replies, at first mild and moderate, soon bec~me arbitrary and mandatory, and this led to concessions and silbmissions from smaller and weaker bodies j and so, by the middle of the fifth century, the sceptre of authority begins to be more boldly claimed by Rome. Leo I., surnamed the Great (440-467), a man of commanding genius an~ eloquence, secured from the Emperor Valentinian III. a law which he is believed himself to have framed, declaring the primacy of the Roman see. Yet even then the Council of Chalcedon in 451 gave the see of Constantinople a second rank, admitting Rome's superiority only because the city on the Tiber was more ancient than that on the Bosphorus: In 484 Felix III. calls himself the Vicar of St. Peter. Gelasius, who succeeded him eight years later, asserted the supremacy of the pontifical over the imperial powers, although a period of great humiliation followed; but Gregory the Great, at the close of the sixth century, had, more than any previous Pope, advanced Rome's ecclesiastical authority.
Yet even this great Pope, whose character ranked so deservedly high, had a controversy with John the Faster, Fatriarch of Constantinople, because he assumed the title of fficumenical, which Gregory interpreted as meaning thereby universal bishop, pronouncing that a " proud and foolish word," and its assumption an imitation of the devil, which proves that Gregory set up no claim to be sole and supreme bishop and head of the Church of Christ. But it was during this time that the ground of Rome's priority and authority was shifted from mere antiquity to the succession from Peter the apostle.
But the decisive point from 'which Rome's temporal sovereignty is to be traced belongs to the days of Gregory's successor, Boniface III., who persuaded that blood-stained monster Phocas, in the year 606 or 607, to issue an edict conferring on him the title of universal bishop. And as Canon Pennington well says, "this concession must be regarded as a landmark in the history of the papacy and as constituting the foundation of its spiritual supremacy." Thus, at the very time when the false prophet was preparing in the cave of Hera his religious " compound of lust, cruelty, and fatalism," the papacy was taking its seat on the beast of the world power and deriving its own authority and power from that beast.
If Phocas thus represents the imperial power whose decree first establish· ed the papacy and laid the way for its world kingdom, we have the terminus a quo, the starting point, and the four years between 606 and 610, the date of his death, seem peculiarly significant. If also the 1260 days be typical of as many years of supremacy, we may expect some peculiar culmination, perhaps catastrophe, at the end ofthis term, from 1866-70, in papal lands, and especially in connection with Rome, the very seat of this world empire: It is to be counted one of the most startling coincidences' of all 'history that precisely such culmination aud catastrophe did occur from 1866-70. Let us, however, first go back a little in the history. In 1846, twenty years before the 1260 years expired, an event occurred that Wl!oS most significant. On June 16th Cardinal Ferretti succeeded Gregory XVI., nnder title of Pius IX. The history of that pontificate is so remark- able that it has been considered worthy of a special record. It was a period ,of revolution. Less than two years after Pius IX assumed the tiara, Count Rossi was murdered and the Pope was fleeing to Gaeta (November 24th, 1848), and a republic was established at Rome under Joseph Mazzini. The French undertook an expedition to Rome to restore the exiled Pope, and after their repulse, under Garibaldi, at length com- pelled the city to surrender, July 3d, 1849, and, under protection of Louis Napoleon,-Pius IX. returned to the Vatican, April, 1850. 'He came back , an absolutist of the worst stamp, prepared for the most aggressive meas- ures and the most arrogant assumptions. He coolly. divided Protestant Britain into Roman Catholic dioceses, gave new life to the Jesuit order, granted indulgences to earthly saints, and canonized saints in heaven. The most astounding of all his acts was the summoning of the Vatican Council on December 10th, 1854, that proclaimed the dogma of the" im- maculate conception." The Virgin Mary's claim to worship was thus rein- forced by affirming that she was not born in sin, needed no mediator, and could therefore be safely associated with Divine honors. This has been justly called the " most violent strain of papal prerogative to be found in the annals of the papacy." For the first time, and with unbounded arro- gance, a Pope added on his own responsibility a,n article of faith which no one could reject without forfeiture of salvation; for Pius IX. called together his bishops not to decree this dogma, hut to promulgate it! Of conrse the implication was that the Pop~ himself was infallible.
Then followed during those memorable years the Austrian invasion of 1859, WIth Louis Napoleon's victory at Magenta and Solferino.. Victor Emmanuel comes to the front, and Count Cavour, and in 1861 the Italian Parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel King of free and united Italy. In 1866 he became responsible for the integrity of the Pope's dominions, and the French forces withdrew. Again for a time the French troops occupied Rome, and under shelter of their presence Pius IX. called another Vatican Council on December 8th, 1869. A thousand ecclesiastics in august procession and gorgeous apparel moved up the nave of St. Peter's, with a disgraceful disregard of order and decorum that would have dishon- ored a political caucus; by Jesuitical intrigue and violent measures, on July 18th, 1870, the Roman pontiff was declared possessed of infallibility, and thus the summit of papal arrogance and blasphemy was reached, for there was one who sat' in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. At the time when this result was reached, a thunderstorm was roll- ing over the Vatican as though Heaven itself were remonstrating against
A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND CONGREGATION
NEW HEBRIDES WOMEN MAKING BASKETS AND SLEEPING MATS FROM SPLIT PANDANUS LEAVES.
YII!8l0NABY WOU IN TRlII mnr ~
the impious assumption of Divine attributes by mortal man. Surely if ever a time had come when we might expect God to say in unmistakable language, as to Belshazzar, "Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting! God hath numbered and finished thy kingdom. Thy kingdo~ is divided and given to others," this was the time.
Let the heedless reader of history note that this was the very year when the 1260 years were complete, from the death of Phocas. And on the very next day, July 19th, 1870, within twenty-jour hours, the Franco- Prussian War was declared. Louis Napoleon, the Pope's protector, being overwhelmed with a defeat, was compelled to withdraw his troops from the Eternal City; and before this memorable year had fled, on September 20th, 1870, the troops of the King of Italy took possession of Rome, and the Pope became prisoner in the Vatican, his temporal sovereignty gone. The 1260 years were just expired. The longest pontificate of history be~ held the shattering of the tempo~al sceptre! Pius IX. had dec~eedthe immaculate conception, exalted the papal supremacy, and declared himself infallible. He had declared temporal sovereignty indispensable to the support of his spiritual sceptre. Yet God chose his own pontificate as the time of the loss of the temporal power, never, as we believe, to be regained. Since then in France clericalism has been declared the foe of the nation, and the papal yoke is broken, as also in Austria and Germany and Central America. With the assertion of infallibility comes the end of papal dominion and usurpation.
Among the abominations traceable to papal Rome are the doctrine of justification by meritorious good works, penance, and purgatory, masse/il for the dead and intercession of saints, the worship of the host and of the Virgin Mary, immaculate conception" and papal infallibility. God seems to have decreed that with the daring assumptions impl~ed in the last two, His forbearance should cease and swift judgment descend. Well may men stand in awe as they behold such signal catastrophes in history!
MISSIONARY WORK IN THE NEW HEBRIlJES.
BY REV. J. H. LAURIE, I;).D., ANEITTUK, NEW HEBRIDES.
The Presbyterian churches in Canada, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand made themselves responsible for a very difficult task when they undertook to evangelize the New Hebrides group.
From north to south the thirty islands extend over a sea space of about 350 miles, and, instead of having one common language, as in Eastern Polynesia, there are at least twenty languages spoken by the New I{ebridean natives-truly a " Babel" of tongues. Even in that limited area the idolatrous and heathen customs are distinctly different on the northern and southern ends of the group. In the north, hundreds of hideous carved
MISSIONARY WORK IN T1IB NEW HEBRIDES. [AIi~t
idols, standing from four to ten feet high, are to be seen, while in the south the superstitious savages are content with. rude water-worn stones of all shapes and sizes.
Some thousands of years ago the many languages might have been called dialects, but at the present day the only affinity that can be seen is in a few root words, such as the words for " earth," " water," "house," etc., in various forms, running through a few of the languages as at present spoken.
Even the structure of these languages, the one from the other, are distinctly different, so that each new missionary opening a new station has as a rule been obliged to begin exactly where Drs. Geddie, Inglis, and Paton began, getting from the lips of the heathen people among whom they settled, by many comical pointings and signs, as best they could the nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc., until by painstaking labor, aided by their very isolation from civilized surroundings, the Word of God has, to a greater or less extent, been translated into seventeen of these New Hebridean languages.
The real beginning of this great work was the settlement on Aneityum of native teachers from Samoa j but to the Rev.•Tohn Geddie, the Nova Scotian missionary, belongs the credit of having first reduced the langual;e of Aneityum to a written form, the Gospel according to St. Mark, which he translated, being the first complete book published in any language in the western Pacific. The missionaries have all along endeavored to utilize the services of their most intelligent converts as teachers of their brethren. As soon as the back of heathenism was broken on Aneityum Dr. Geddie took charge of the printing-press, while Dr. Inglis established an institution for the training of native teachellB.
Many of these Aneityum helpers sacrificed their lives while assisting to carry the gospel of peace to their heathen brethren on their own and other islands. Now, from many islands in the centre of the group, which were in the densest heathen darkness twenty years ago, numbers of Christian teachers have gone and are now helping to evangelize the more recently occupied islands farther north. In this aggressive work the reverend Messrs. Milne, Mackenzie, Macdonald, Robertson, and others have done noble service in training converts and ~ollowing the example set by the founders of the mission, enlisting their sympathies in foreign service, besides keeping up a necessary staff of village teachers on their own respec· tive islands.
The native teachers at present employed number about 180, mostly married men. These are under the superintendence of 18 resident missionaries, who each work from given centr~s, endeavoring to influence the whole surrounding region by the aid of these willing helpers.
The mission has now reached a stage when a fu/rther development is necessary. The United Synod last year (1894) decided to establish a native teachers' training institution for the group, the students to be drawn from
1895·1
all,the islands, and the instruction to be given in' English, the ultimate ob- ject being to raise an intelligent and educated staff of native pastors and te~chers to occupy outlying stations which can be visited periodically by the missionary superintendent.
The Rev. I. Annand, M.A., South Santo (of the Canadian Church), was appointed principal, to be aided by a lay teacher, who will also help in giv- ing the native students an industrial training. This further effort to establish a native Christian church on a firm basis in the New Hebrides is worthy the fullest support of all the Presbyterian churches interested in the mission.
Many remarkable men have been raised up on all the Christianized islands, and interesting details of these could be given by their respective mISSIOnaries. The force of character manifested by early converts is always striking; it has cost such men something to give up their plurality of wil'es, their enmities, and their unrevenged insults. After enjoying the peace and happiness which the hearty acceptance of the Saviour brings, such men can fully appreciate the light and abhor the darkness in a way that can hardly be understood by their children, who are now having the benefit of an early Christian education, and home example of Bible-reading and prayer.
A few notes of one of the most remarkable of our native teachers on Aneityum, who passed away some time ago, may be interesting; it will also give an idea of the kind of fruit that is being gathered in this far-off portion of the great vineyard. Waihit was the first native convert in Western Polynesia, who left his own island to become a foreign teacher; after a few years' training he went to Futuna, where he suffered many privations that he would never have been called upon to do had he remained at home; but the first step having once been taken, he never even dreamed of turning back or withdrawing his hand from the plough of Christian service until his loving Master saw fit to call him up higher.
, As a savage ,Vaihit was a cruel man, and all the more does the change illustrate the wonderful grace of God. He was believed to be in league with the spirit of Natmas, who controlled the sea-he was supposed to have the power to raise a storm or proclaim a calm. When the fish-trap or the drag-net was used, he was always consulted, and certain leaves that had touched his sacred stone were attached to the trap or the net, so that fish which were caught were accredited to his goodness.
On one occasion a tabu had been set on the fishing ground, so that when the fish came to feed on the coral reef at full tide there might be a great haul for a prospective feast. A poor woman recovering from sickness had gone to seek some shellfish; this act was observed, and, highly incensed that his authority should be set aside by a woman, he with a heavy hard wood club broke the arm that broke his law. Truly the tend~r mercies of the wicked are cruel indeed !
At first Waihit did all he could to annoy the missionary, and stole
August
whatever he could lay hands on. European stores could not be obtailled oftener than once a year in those days; the. flour was going down in the cask, and the baked bread was mysteriously disappearing, so it became imperative that the thief should be detected.
The expedient employed was to sift some coral lime into an empty flour cask and put a few grains of tartar emetic into the next loaf that was baked. The story soon got abroad about the man Wanbeka who had helped himself to the lime, and a messenger with a pitiful look was sent to say that Waihit was vomiting violently. Dr. Geddie visited his friend as quickly as possible; the sickness was soon allayed; the cause, was scarcely referred to, but Waihit became a humbler man afterward, and more honest than he had ever been in his life before.
In conversation one day I asked Waihit what was the first thing that turned him toward God. His reply was that one day he was seen by Dr. Geddie lying on the path drunk with intoxicating liquor that he had got from a white trader. Dr. Geddie met Thetu, Waihit's wife, and told her that her husband was lying on the path like a pig. " That comparison," said he to me, "with an animal that wallows in the mire, was the means of leading me to seek forgiveness from the God whom the missionary had been telling us about." When the change of heart really came, " old things passed away and all things became new" in a true sense.
The various efforts made to evangelize the island were by this time causing a commotion. The women wore a grass girdle, but the men were content with a bark belt and a few leaves in addition to a coat of red ochre and cocoanut oil.
The missionary had said that the natives should get loin cloths from the traders in return for their produce and labor, instead of the continual supply of beads, powder, and tobacco. When this good advice became known it was construed into an order to stop the tobacco supply, which angered the heathen very much.
A general meeting was called; hundreds of volatile savages were there ready for anything. Dr. Geddie wished to attend the meeting on their own ground; but Waihit said, " No! these men wish to raise a quarrel with you, and evil will come of it. You will stay in the house and pray, while I go and meet them and defend' the worship.' The four young men whom·you have taught to read the catechism will go with me."
Thus that small band of babes in Christ, whom we can count on the fingerS of one hand, went fearlessly to face another Amalek and his people.
They carried their banner, which was a small eight-page catechism of Christian doctrine. As soon as this Joshua and his four followers appeared on the scene, the heathen orators began their speeches, and in the usual manner, with violent gesticulations, they charged the missionary with all the evils under the sun, especially the displeasure of the" Natmases," or spirit gods, whom they continually propitiated to avert calamity, disease, and death.
THE MISSION HOCSE. ANEITT)1
2. MOCRNERS AT A NATIVE FCNERAL. 3. NATIVE HCTS IX THE NEW HEBRIDES.
MISSIONARY WORlt IN THE NEW
When the orators sat down exhausted, Waihit was asked what he had to say for the missionary. His youthful companions whispered that they could not open their lips to speak before all the old men. " You have got the Intas Ahothaing" (literally "The Question Book"), "ask me the questions, and I will give the answers before all the people." '
Then these five Christian soldiers stood up and the best reader began: " How many gods are there 1"
Waihit answered in a loud voice, "One only."
" Who is the true God 1"
" Jehovah, He is the true God, and beside Him there is none else."
" What is God 1"
" God is a spirit. He has not got a body like us."
" Does God see us or not 1"
, , Yes, God sees everyone of us."
" Does God hear our words 1"
" Yes, God hears every word we utter."
" Does God know our thoughts 1"
" Yes, God knows all our thoughts."
When they had got thus far, question and answer before the great crowd who had been amazed at the calm composure of W aihit and his com- panions, instead of an excited reply, Tikau, the leading opponent, a fierce- looking man, highly decorated with red paint, shouldered his war club and said to his followers, " Who can answer these words ~ Let us be going j"
and in shorter time than it takes to tell the agile savages were following the leader, everyone to his own home. The faintest rays of gospel light had penetrated these five minds. Yet their simple faith was rewarded in a marvellous manner j it had been given them, according to promise, in that same hour what they should speak-for it was the spirit of their Father who spoke in them.
A favorable impression had been made j a certain awe had been in- stilled into their ignorant minds. As soon as suitable converts had been instructed at the mission station they were sent to the out-districts, and then could have been seen daily what would have gladdened the hearts of all supporters of foreign missions-children, parents, and grandparents sitting side by side learning to read portions of the Word of God in a lan- guage that for the first time had been reduced to writing.
As Waihit's knowledge of the Bible increased he became an excellent preacher, after having served as a teacher on Futuna for a number of years j he returned to his own islimd and was ordained an elder of the Church- the permanent church building having been erected on his own plot of ground, which he gave to the missionary for that purpose. In latter years, although his eyes grew dim, he never failed to take his due share in con- ducting the Sabbath services. When his turn came one of the younger office bearers would read the chapter while the vigorous old man delivered'
the address. On communion Sabbaths it was his special delight to sit on the pulpit steps, so as to be as near the feet of the missionary as possible ; and the crown of blessing, had he been spared to see it, is that his eldest son was last Sabbath taking my place at the central church while I was preaching at a branch station.
Nasauwai, another teacher, was Waihit's bosom companion in the days of heathenism; they had accompanied each other in their tribal raids. Nasauwai cut off his long corded hair, which was the badge of heathenism, whenVaihit became a Christian, and at his suggestion attended the missionary school. After Waihit's death Nasauwai became so depressed in spirit that, eleven months afterward, he too died. He had been an excellent helper in all mission work, and was ever ready to contribute largely with sugar-cane and other native foods to feed the people who came from a distance when mission buildings were being rethatched or repaired.
As long as health continued he was never absent from Sabbath and week-day services. He had a special gift in prayer; and often I felt what a blessing it would be to many a country minister in civilized lands if more ordinary working laymen could express themselves as freely at the weekday prayer-meeting as this convert from heathenism. ·When nearing his end, Nasauwai told me that his heart was at peace witn God because he was" leaning upon Jesus," which is a literal translation of the phrase he used. After a little conversation I prayed, sang" Rock of Ages," and bade my friend good-bye. On the Sabbath morning during divine worship this good old elder died, his only attendant was his faithful wife Nlipia.
When Nasauwai felt his strength ebbing away he asked his wife to read to him a portion of Scripture. She opened her Bible and read in the native language, "Let not your heart be troubled," etc. (John 14). He thanked her, and after a little while turned round and said, " Have you got another portion for me 1" She then searched out and read, "There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God" (Heb. 4 : 9). Getting stilI weaker, he asked for yet another portion" as a pillow" for a dying man. Then the good woman turned to Psalm 116 : 15 and read, " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
" That will do," said he ; and this ripe Christian feebly commended himself to God in prayer, and shortly afterward passed away, a redeemed soul.
This woman had a colored skin and frizzly hair, yet was not she truly a ministering angel to her husband in his hour of need g The apt portions of Scripture she selected may be explained from the fact that she is a Christian convert of thirty-two years' standing, and her whole library consists of the hymn collection, the Catechism, the "Pilgrim's Progress," and the Holy Bible.
Had it not been for the prevalence of Christian sentiment, the law of the island would have condemned this woman to"death when her husband died. It would then have been the duty of her son to have strangled his
THE OBLIGATION OF TJIB CHURCH TO IlVANGBLIZK TJIB WOltLn. 3'71
own mother; so that husband and wife might accompany each .other to " Uma-atmas," or the land of spirits.
Who can describe all the untold blessings which the teaching of Jesns has brought to women and girls in every land where Christianity prevails?
Since the advent of the Gospel cannihalism, infanticide, widow strangling, and tribal war has ceased, and a felt sense of peace and security has been bronght to many poor heathen natives in the South Sea Islands, who formerly had no hope, neither had they any idea of the loving character of the true God.
THE PERPETUAL OBLIGATION RESTING ON THE CHURCH TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD. * BY THE RIGHT REV. G. E. MOULE, BISHOP IN MID-CHINA.
If this subject is not, for all Christians, in the nature of a truism, I confess it seems to me, in a meeting of evangelical churchmen, an all but self-evident proposition. To deserve the denomination of evangelical, not assumed by our great forerunners, but assigned to them by their critics, more. was needed than those critics credited them with, to pronounce accurately a doctrinal shibboleth, or to observe a certain rule of demonstrative unworldliness. It im.plied that the evangelical churchman made much of the duty and the privilege of evangelizing his fellow-men; that he was an earnest, however imperfect, imitator of St. Paul, who regarded the "preaching of the Gospel" as his apostolic function, distinctivelyand pre-eminently. A real evangelical can, therefore, hardly need to be told of the perpetual obligation of the Church, and the individual churchman as far as lies in him, to preach Christ to the nations that know Him not, and so cannot call on the Name of the Lord through Him. My brethren know what their own salvation cost their Lord, they know what it has been worth to themselves, and they cannot but feel that though, like St. Paul, "free from all men," His love has" enslaved them to all that they might win the more," "that they might by all means save some."
Such thoughts, I confess, which occurred to me only after I had -accepted the chairman's invitation to take part in to-day's discussion, made me doubt whether anything I could put on paper would in any degree be worthy of the attention of this meeting. I bethink me, however, that from an old missionary you will not ask for an "Essay on the Philosophy of Missions," however truly so called. You will be rather disposed to accept it if 1 can lay before you, frankly and simply, some of the considerations which constrained me, an evangelical churchman, as I venture, • A Paper read at the Islington Clerical Meeting, January 15th, 18115, aud reprinted from the (/kUTch Mis8Wna1"'l/ Intelltgencer. however unworthily, to write myself, to offer myself long ago as a missionary to China j, which still keep me, and will, I think, keep me a missionary to the last. I have known, among my fellow-laborers, admirable and devoted men who had a confessed preference for foreign travel, foreign residence, and work in a foreign field. It was the very reverse with me. The whole thing was distasteful j expatriation, foreign travel, all were against the grain j and the country toward which my thoughts were directed was exactly the one which, in my ignorance, appeared the least interesting, the least attractive of all the missionary regions. I say this because it has always seemed to justify the conviction that my experience was a fair test of t.he st.rength of the scriptural motive to missionary enterprise, acting on a nature without enthusiasm and the reverse of enterprising. It was not through any real or imagined personal revelation, or conscious spiritual impulse either, that I was led to offer my services j but that I saw; as an inference from New Testament principles, "necessity laid on" the Church to undertake the evangelizing of the nations, and, in my special circumstances, on me to quit country and kindred, and betake me to a land, as it proved, of which I knew nothing at all except its place on the map. Where did I find these principles 1 The texts are familiar to every Christian j but since it has been thought right to place the Church's missionary obligation on the programme of this clerical 'meeting, I shall be pardoned for adducing some of them, and reminding you of the conclusions, however obvious, to be drawn, and which I in fact drew from them more than forty years ago. _ I do not go to the Old Testament-not because the missionary motive is not there, but becausQ the New Testament supplies it so abundantly, and because the two Testaments are in such close and obvious connection, as on other subjects so also on this.
First, then, there is the prediction spoken on Mount Olivet of the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the alwv (age), recorded in its fullest detail by St. Matthew, in whose chapter 24 : 14 we read, " And this Gospel of the kingdom must first be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." The phrase " preach for a witl).ess" is, 1 suppose, equivalent to the word "testify," used once and again by St. Paul in his charge to the Ephesian presbyters at Miletus (Acts 20 : 21)-" testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ j" and (v. 24), "the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify," to preach as a convincing, saving testimony, "the Gospel of the grace of God." A little earlier than that scene on the Mount of Olives, though the narrative is given in a later chapter, occurred, the supper at Bethany, where the Lord, in His justification of Mary's devotion, anticipates the certain accomplishment of the prediction just quoted (St. Matt. 26 : 13), "Verily, I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, there shall also this, which this woman hath done, be spoken of for a memorial of her." In harmony with the prediction and the anticipation comes a little later (St. Matt. 28 : 19, 20) the solemn injunction of the Lord, not long before His Ascension : "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded -you; and, 10, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." This injunction-St. Matthew is explicit on the subject-was uttered on a Galilean mountain, we know not how many days after the Resurrection. St. Luke, in his Gospel, gives us the report of another and earlier interview with the eleven, not in Galilee, but, as it seems, in the upper chamber on the evening of the Resurreetion. The injunction is just as explicit, though in another form (St. Luke 24 : 46-49 : "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead on -the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things . . . but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." [St. Mark's account (16 : 14-18) seems to be meant to describe the same occasion.] If we understand rightly the notes of time, the whole interval of the forty days must be inserted between verses 49 and 50-i.e.• between the promise of "power from on high," and the walk to Bethany, to witness the Ascension and receive the parting benediction with its resulting joy. It is in his later and fuller narrative of the Ascension (Acts 1 : 7 sqq.) that St. Luke records a repetition of the evangelical commission, as _well as of the words of promise spoken at the earlier date in the upper room: "Ye shall receive power . . . and ye shall be My witnesses • . . unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Thus we havoC three occasions on which the injunction to preach the Gospel and testify of their Master was laid by Him on His servants; in the upper room on the evening of the Resurrection, on the hill in Galilee probably after the first octave of the great day, and on the Ascension day on the Mount of Olives. In one particular the three events are exactly in accord. The charge of the risen Lord is addressed, on each of the three occasions, and according to each evangelist, to "the eleven disciples," " to the eleven as they sat at meat," or in the Acts, "the apostles whom He had chosen." There is nothing to show that any other Christian, male or female, was present on either occasion. What are we to infer from this 1 Was the charge addressed personally to those eleven men, so that when the last survivor left the scene the obligation to evangelize ceased and came to an end 1 Or was it on the apostolic order, the clergy of the Church, that the command was laid, so that laymen and women were and are exempt from all obligation to give freely the inestimable bounty they, no less than the clergy, have so freely received 1 It is clear at any rate that such was not the view of the early Church, apostolic or sub-apostolic. Else we had never heard of the evangelical work of Stephen and Philip, or of the domestic ministry of Aquila and Priscilla, among the honored laborers of the inspired narrative. No, rather is it not clear that the eleven were convened and were addressed, not personally as eleven believing and ordained men, but as the whole Church by representation, as first recipients of a charge to be regarded as the" deposit" of that holy Catholic Church which is " built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets," a charge to be transmitted laterally to each convert of their age and time, and then, by a true apostolic succession-I mean no slur whatever on the historical succession of the clergy–to every generation of Christians to the end of time ~ The obligation to evangelize the world is proved, I should think, sufficiently from the synoptic evangelists. But, in his own characteristic form, St. John's record of his Master's words corroborates it emphatically. Thus, in the pastoral allegory of chapter 10 we read (v. 16), "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring C"a"EtVa f'E del dyayElv). And there shall be one flock under one Shepherd." And that He would accomplish this in-bringing not without His Church's aid is intimated in the discourse of the Paschal evening (e.g., St. John 16 : 8 sq., compared with 15: 26, 27), "When" the Comforter "is come He shall convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." "When the Comforter is come, He shall bear witness of Me, and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with Me from the beginning." If I do not detain you longer within the limits of the writings of the evangelists it is not, you know well, that their evidence respecting the expressed will of their Master, or their understanding of it, has been exhausted. The three great parables of common life-the Sower, the Fisherman, and the Shepherd-might each have been adduced as illustrating, in that special didactic form which is inseparable from our idea of our Lord as teacher, His purpose concerning the waste places of the world-field,. the wandering tribes of the gentile-ocean, the sheep strayed from the ideal fold which should have enclosed and protected all the human family. The field everywhere is to be tilled and sown, the nets flung into all waters and the good fish gathered into vessels, and the lost sheep are to be sought and saved.
Thus far we have been listening wholly to our Master's words. It is His anticipation, His injunction, His allegorical forecast of the future, as reported from His own lips by the evangelists, of which I have been reminding you.
Now, for a few moments, recollect how that typical convert and typical apostle of Christ and missionary of the Church, St. Paul, apprehended the duty to. be inferred from the Gospel record, and not less from the prophetic word of the Old Covenant. Reference to one context must suffice. I quote from the tenth and eleventh chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. ,( The Scripture saith j whosoever believeth on Him shall not be- ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the
THE OBLIliATIOl'! OF THE ClIUROiI TO EVANGBLIZE.THE WORLD. M5
Greek, . . . for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed W and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent~" The purpose of our Lord that Gentile and Hebrew, on terms of perfect equality, should be partakers of His salvation j that salvation should be gained through the hearing of faith j that there should be men to carry the tidings, and that these should have the mission of the Holy Spirit, ordinarily by the ministry of His Church, were for St. Paul obvious conclusions from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, corroborated no doubt by the evangelical tradition, if not the earlier Gospels, and no less by his own experience as a convert, an inspired volunteer, and finally an ordained missionary of the Church. Following out the argument in the eleventh chapter, which was proceeding in the tenth, we find him anticipating, before the consnmmation of the evangelical purpose, a wide, if not an universal conversion of the Gentiles. " Blindness in part is happened unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentile be come in," until (docs he not mean ~) the" teaching of the nations" has had its due development and accomplishment in a large ingathering of heirs of Abraham by faith, created out of the stones of the Gentile wilderness, "and so," in this way, " all Israel shall be saved. "
I have now brought together scriptural warrant, more than sufficient,· in a meeting of members of our evangelical Church, especially among men who feel constrained to emphasize her evangelical character, to make plain the obligation laid upon the Church of our Lord to evangelize the world. Is that obligation perpetual? Is it binding, so far as we can gather, to the end of time? Or is there any reason to think that it has ceased or will cease at any term before the end 1 To see the apathy with which some churchmen who agree with us in their views of doctrine, and are not ashamed to be known as evangelicals, nevertheless regard the missionary enterprises of the Church, one would think there must be some reason to conclude that toe obligation was temporary, and had ceased at some date. in the past. I have sometimes thought, though never, it is true, met with a case, that such lukewarm friends might have fixed on the ruin of Jerusalem, and the close of the Mosaic dispensation, as the poi~t of limitation. Our Lord's prediction, already quoted, was, "This Gospel of the kingdom must first be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations j and then shall the end come." St. Paul, writing to the Colossians about the year 63 A.D., after, say, a quarter of a century of missionary activity on the part of himself and his brethren, apostolic and unofficial, uses remarkable language concerning the propagation of the Gospel so far accomplished (Col. 1 : 6). "It," he says, "is come to you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it does also in you j" and, stronger still (v. 23), it "was preached unto every creature which is under heaven. " Our Lord's prediction and His servant's record
M6 THE OBLIGATIOH OJ' THE CH1JBCJH TO lI:vAHGlIILIZill TBJII 'WQBLJ
of fact are couched in nearly identical language. "The world," and the phrase " under heaven," may be interpreted-we have a similar usage in Chinese-as the world of the empire, under the Roman heaven-i.e., Southern Europe, Northern Mrica, and Western Asia. Within those limits we have St. Paul's unexceptionable evidence, the world had been evangelized within, say, forty years after Pentecost. And again in correspondence with our Lord's prediction, in seven years more came the fall of Jerusalem, which marked the" end of the world," the f1VVTEI..Eta TOV alwvos, a signal for the exultation of believers, not at the ruin of the Mosaic Church, but at the final enfranchisement of the Church of the New Covenant.
I have ventured the supposition that the indifference to missionary enterprise on the part of some of our brethren is justified to their own ~on8Ciences by the plea, grounded on what has just been adduced from St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, that our Lord's command to the Church was not of perpetual obligation, but ceased and determined with the fall of Jerusalem. I need hardly refute the imaginary argument. Amid the perplexities of prophetic interpretation nothing seems more certain than the principle o~ successive and enlarging fulfilments of the great predictions of the kingdom. A nearer and a remoter (J1JVTEA€ta, with corresponding periods of preparation shorter and longer, can be distinguished in the context of St. Matthew from which I have drawn my principal quotations. The two " ends," the corresponding twofold 7TapOVf1ta, had led to confusion in the minds of some of thc early Christians, notably the Thessalonians. They had heard of an end and an advent to take place during the 'lifetime of the contemporaries of Jesus Christ, and had concluded that this meant the final Advent, the return in the guise of the Ascension. St. Paul, in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians, took pains to correct this; not denying the near approach of an end, with its vengeance and its emancipation, but explaining the interval predestined to allow for the manifestation and development of the man of sin before the great and final judgment. The same twofold teleology can, I think, be seen in the Apocalypse, in which the work of universal evangelization is foreshadowed at a period long subsequent to the end of the Mosaic Church, and the evangelization of the Roman world attested by St. Paul. This is a point, however, which time forbids me to discuss in detail, and which will not need discussion in this assembly, in which there is nobody who does not accept the nineteenth verse of St,. Matt. 28 as the" general order" of the Captain of the Lord's host in the warfare of these Christian centuries, to run until the end, or until it is superseded by some other and equally explicit injunction of the same Divine authority.
So far as Holy Scripture is concerned, I have alleged enough, certainly as much as I have time to allege, in order to establish "the perpetual obligation laid upon the Chureh to evangelize the nations. " A secondary, but not unimportant, corroboration of our argument may be drawn from the hiRtorical phenomena of the successive centuries, and notably of this almost completed century, both within the visible Church and without it.
1. Within the visible Church the most conspicuous phenomenon of the century is the development of the missionary spirit to such an extent tllat it has extorted a degree of respectful attention even from the reluctant pen of the public press. No doubt a certain interest in the spread of the Gospel existed within the Church in the previous centuries. The annals of the S.P.C.K. and of the S.P.G. prove that. But the interest taken by churchmen was on the smallest possible scale, and that of the Nonconformist bodies practically nil, down to the last years of the eighteenth century. Then, as one of the results of the evangelical revival, good men in troublous times laid the modest foundations of the now influential, if still inadeql1ate, organizations-to name some of the best known-of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the missionary societies of the Methodist, Baptist, and independent bodies, and our own honored Church Missionary Society. At whose prompting, and under whose influence, did these great agencies come into being ~ The names of certain founders, supporters, patrons of the societies are known and revered. But a glance at the documents of the time, lately summarized for us with so much skiII and pains, will compel you reverently to conclude that "not by might, nor power, but by the Spirit of God" these agencies, for the extension of the frontiers of the Redeemer's kingdom, were started and have been sustained. Recollect what the century has been. The infidel and lawless principles that found vent in the French Revolution were nol, yet exorcised in its early years. England was again and again in imminent peril, hardly less from disaffection at home than from the hostile attempts of foreign powers. Men's hearts-the very men who were laying the first stones of our missionary enterprise-failed them again and again, for "looking after those things that" seemed from moment to moment to be " coming on" their beloved land. Look through Richard Cecil's sermons or Robert Hall's, and you will feel, I think, that it must have been a very real afflatus that roused and nerved our great forerunners in the Church and the societies, to find heart and leisure so to "look on the things" of Africans, Hindus, Chinese, and the rest, when they knew not how long their beloved England would stand still unconquered, unenslaved, girt with her silver sea.
And what have been the succeeding decades ~ A few words may help to recall their characteristics, and to enhance the grace which sustained the missionary spirit throughout. In domestic politics, the great Reform Bill, Chartism, the Corn Law agitation, factory reforms and their occasion, the Irish question in its unremitting importunity from O'Conllflil to the present moment; one common element conspicuous through all, the steady advance of the democratic principle. In the Church, that religious movement which some have treated as a second spiritual revival, but which signalized itself by the early secession of its great leader to Rome, a step in which he has been imitated by a deplorable number of followers, cleri- cal and lay; side by side with this movement, the introduction of conti- nental principles of biblical criticism and exegesis, with the spread of infidelity disguised as agnosticism; while dissent all the while,-becoming more and more political, has worked for the disestablishment of the Church; and Rome, by open assault or by sap and mine, has labored before all things at the reconquest of England. In foreign politics, the Eastern question with its Crimean War, two Chinese wars, the terrible Mutiny and its momentous sequel, the American War of Secession, and the great wars which have resulted in the reconstruction of the map of Europe, not one of them all unattended with hazard and anxiety for our England. No matter where you look, or whether you think of the commencements or the maintenance and extension of the missionary enterprises, what can you do but confess with Jacob, " Surely the Lord is in this." All honor to Thomas Scott, to the second Henry Venn, to the devoted and able men who stood with them, as well as to those on whom their mantle and their office have devolved in turn ; but the work-they were quite sure of it and avowed it repeatedly-was not theirs but the Lord's, who set in motion, and has kept advancing, the great, the often hopelessseeming, undertaking of evangelizing the heathen and Mohammedan nations. The men I have named promoted the Church Missionary Society; but my contention is illustrated everywhere in the religious world, from the marvellous renewal of youth in the venerable societies of the Church, to the only too numerous organizations of each smallest sect, and of the non-denominational coteries.
I may not detain you with statistical evidence. It is hardly necessary, but it is full of interest, whether you look at financial progress or at the .extent and variety of home organization, or at the number of missionary volunteers, and particularly of such as spend their own money, as well as their lives, in the service of the Church on this behalf. What can all this development mean but the presence of our Lord with His Church, compelling His people, in this selfish and preoccupied age, to recognize our obligation to persevere in the great task until it is accomplished in the world-wide "teaching of the nations," the evangelization of the world 1 2. There is just one more argument of the same kind which I would suggest before I have done. I find it in the opening of the gates of the nations to the approach of the Christian messenger. When Mr. Venn became Secretary of the Church Missionary Society what were the practicable fields for our work 1 New Zealand had been added to Sierra Leone, and also the West Indies and portions of Norihwest America. India, too, was open after a fashion ; but missionaries there were viewed with disfavor, and converts were subject to serious social disabilities. China, Japa.n, Korea, and almost the whole of Mrica were closed, were in large measure unknown. Nay, this was still the case when I received the missionary call. China by that time had, indeed, been compelled to admit us at five of her seaports ; but beyond their immediate precincts her 300,000,000 were as inaccessible to the Gospel as eyer. Meantime, Japan and Korea stood still with gates fast closed. It was in the year in which I reached China that Japan was induced to relax her exclusiveness in some degree. In 1861, when I paid my first and only visit to Japan, there were still but very few resident missionaries, not a single English missionary among them; and there was no perceptible omen of the extraordinaryadaptation of European ideas and material civilization which has transformed Japan. It was still some years before Korea was unlocked. Thus; within not quite forty years, in India, the way has been widened and levelled, notably by the revolution that succeeded the Mutiny, and by the influence of the many distinguished Christians who have adorned the civil and military services, by whose agency that revolution has been carried out; while in China, Korea, Japan, and in Africa, an addition of perhaps 600,000,000 has been made to the human souls who are now accessible to the message of Christ's salvation. Is all this chance, is it a freak of destiny, or is it rather our Lord in His providence confirming His ancient injunction to the Church to go and teach all nations?
I have endeavored to illustrate my appointed theme from Holy Scripture, and, more briefly, from considerations based on recent phenomena, religious and secular. I ventured to speak of the scriptural witness to the missionary obligation of the Church, as tested in my own case, when my aversion for all the conditions of missionary life was overborne, and I was constrained to offer myself to the Lord and His Church for foreign service. I did not mean that the argument from Scripture operated, directly and without a medium, on my conscience. My father and mother, convinced themselves, had accustomed us their children to think of the missionary duty of the Church as an axiom, and to expect that our Lord might honor their house by calling for volunteers among us. We learnt that as an elementary Christian principle, before ever Christ had been revealed with power to any of us. When at length I saw Him, "telling me all that ever I did," and then by degrees relieving the terrors of conviction by holding out the hope of pardon through His blood, it was not long before the reviving soul asked itself, "How can I thank Him f' "Can He possibly make use of me 1" So it came to pass that I cast myself at His feet, ready for whatever He would have me to do. His claim, once recognized, has never been questioned since. For nearly ten years, however, He postponed the requisition, and set me meantime taska at home; till, I confess it, I began to cherish the hope that home, England, might, after all, be my lifelong scene of service. But the pillar moved at last, and He helped me to follow it to China. The obligation on the Church is clear and cogent. The obligation on the individual Christian, to " offer and present" himself a living sacrifice, in unreserved devotion to his Lord, is equally clear. But the field of service at home
5eO LA MISSION DTT1E1tIEUltE, FRANCE
or abroad, and all the details of duty, are for Him to dictate, " the latchet of whose shoes we are not worthy to stoop down and unloose." He will dictate in His own language to the soul whom He has once made " willing to do His will." May I close with this testimony to His faithfulness in this as in all other things, proved to me in a lifelong experience ~ LA MISSION INTERIEURE, FRANCE.
BY J. MURRAY MITCHELL, LL.D., NICE, FRANCE.
The Mission Interieure is an association for the evangelization of the French people. It was founded twenty-three years ago, when France had pallsed through a time of war and bloodshed, by a few Christians who were fully persuaded that the only real means of healing and comforting the suffering people was the making known to them a Redeemer's love. The best way to do this seemed to them to secure the co-operation of Christians in all parts of the country. The aim of the association, which is undenominational and helps all Protestant churches alike, is to arouse in church-members a sense of· their personal responsibility regarding the Lord's work, and to stir them up to assist as far as in them lies the pastor and evangelist. To this end agents are employed who visit the congregations throughout the country, and by means of revival meetings, friendly gatherings, etc., seek to form in these groupes of Christians, who unite together with a view of engaging in work for Christ. Last July there were 152 such groupe&. There is a yearly General Assembly, to which these should each send representatives, when all questions regarding the work are examined and settled. Then there is the Central Committee, also the district and the local committees. The headquarters are at Marseilles.
The agents, after forming the g1'oupes, visit them at intervals, seeking to infuse new life into them, encouraging, directing, etc. They also help in any work carried on by them, and hold evangelistic meetings.
These visits are much appreciated, as the numerous letters of thanks addressed by pastors and others to the Society testify. When the isolated position of many of the congregations in which these groupes are formed is considered, it may easily be understood how these occasional visits serve to encourage and I'ltimulate the members. One pastor writes saying, that after the agent's visit, the number of his hearers was doubled on the following evening, without any special effort whatever being made. He says: "He did us all good. "
The agent in his last monthly letter tells of large meetings in which views from the life of Christ were exhibited. Rain, cold, and the counter attraction of a special performance at the theatre did not prevent the people from coming. "Jesus Ghrist," says the agent, "a remporte la lJictoire /" Interesting meetings on a new plan with a view of attracting infidels, socialists, etc., were carried on in a theatre this summer. The subjects of the addresses, such as " God, Have You Seen Him~" "No God, No Master," were announced by 150 bills which were pasted on the walls of the town, and by the distribution of 10,000 handbills. Fully from 500 to 600 people were present on each of the five evenings, all classes and all conditions being represented. Professors, journalists, workmen, and ladies elbowed each other; a general and his aide·de-camp attended most of the meetings. More than half the throng probably had never heard the Gospel preached before. The addresses could not have been listened to with more attention had they been given in a church. Afterward some said, " We do not share your faith, but we are glad to hear such things j" and on the last evening several thanked one of the workers for the five good evenings they had passed.
The last evening was not looked forward to without some fear, as liberty had been granted to any opponents to bring forward their arguments. But God, to whom all the enterprise had been committed, disappointed all fears. Mter the address on "All Religions are Good," which was loudly applauded, not one voice was raised in opposition.
A groupe has been formed in one place among soldiers with cheering results.
The forming of Young Women's Christian Associations, prayer-meetings among ladies, weekly meetings for mutual edification, the conversion of several hesitating ones, are named as being some of the fruits of the agent's visits.
A chief feature of the Society's work is the publishing of a paper, the Relevement, up to 15,500 copies monthly. It is sold at a loss (5 centimes) to further the circulation. Many members of the various groupes make the distribution of this paper a special work; and many are the testimonies received as to the good done by it, in opening and preparing people's minds to receive the Gospel. Several conversions, too, have been traced to the reading of it. One worker tells of the great assistance he received from this paper when called to labor under the Societe Evangelique, of Geneva, in a department of the Basses Alpes, where fanaticism and infidelity reigned, and there was not a single pastor. He felt very isolated, but the Relevement, he says, "was just what I needed," and 500 to 600 was the number sold or distributed monthly. One gentleman said to him: "Since your last visit we have lost a dear child, and we should not have known what to do had it not been for your paper, which was so well fitted to console Uil."
The mission is carried on at small expense, but each month of course a certain sum is needed for the publishing and carriage of the two monthly papers, as also for the agents' salltries and expenses (700 francs per month for the former, 2000 every quarter for the latter). Only two agents can as yet be employed, and one of these has been laid aside for a long
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE WORK IN JAPAN
time owing to an accident. Many more are really necessary to do the work thoroughly, the visits pa.id to the groupes at present being possible only at rare intervals.
The mission is conducted on the "faith principle." It employs no collectors and has no collections, only making its work known to the public by the agents' addresses and a little monthly paper bearing the Association's name, Mission Interieure. A branch of this mission, following a different manner of working, has left this principle, and sends out agents for collecting purposes to England, etc. This is known as Branche de la Mission Interieure, but it is quite distinct from the Mission Interieure itself.
Some months ago the directors of the Society were anxious in regard to their funds, but in the report just issued (December, 1894) they mention, with devout thankfulness, that all their fears have been disappointed. Friends in various parts of France have generously come to their aid, and the Society is burdened with no debt.
As has been mentioned, 152 groupes have been already formed among the 800 Protestant churches of France. To stir up the members composing these congregations to realize their duty, and to stir up all who are the redeemed of Jesus Christ to consider that there are but twelve hours in the day, when "~he night cometh, and no man can work," so that they may be up and doing without delay-this is the object of the Society, as expressed by a devoted agent, appealing for further aid after giving some experiences of his work.
The Central Committee is composed of pastors belonging to various churches. M. Ie pasteur Houtet, 7 Rue Dragon, Marseilles, is President; M. Ie pasteur Lenoir, director of the McAll Mission, is Vice-President; M. Ie pasteur F. Roux is travelling agent.
* THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE WORK IN J APAN.
BY REV. J. P. MOORE, D.D., SENDAI, JAPAN.
In speaking of the present condition of the work, the first question that naturally arises is, Is there an improvement upon the past, say the past year or two 1 And if so, in what respect 1 The general opinion of the missionaries already referred to, and that of some native workers with whom I have spoken on the subject, is that there is a decided improve- • I feel less hesitancy In giving expression to the views contained in thl.i article, since they are not simply nor principally my own views, as having grown out of my own experiences and observations in the part of the country which is principally the field of operations of the mission to which I beloug. The statements here made are in a large part a summary of the views and opinions of a number of the most experienced and prominent missionaries in all parts of Japan, with whom I have been In correspondence, and an expression of whose views I have thus been enabled to obtain on the subject of "The Present Condition of the Work In Japan." ment as compared with only the last year, and my own opinion fully coincides with theirs.
This improvement has reference, first, to the external circumstances or conditions-the setting, so to speak, of the work. The last year, especially the last six months, have witnessed a more friendly feeling toward the workers and their work, on the part of the Japanese public. The attitude of non-Christians seems to be less hostile than before, and in the War Department, which used to be regarded as the least friendly among all the departments of the government, there seems to be an entire change, as judging from the encouragement and favor that is accorded to Christian workers among the soldiers.
" A more receptive attitude on the part of those outside." "The outside opposition is not so waspish, and the numher who listen to the truth has increased." "The people are more willing to listen, and have greater interest in investigating the trnth." Such are the expressions from the lips of some of the most experienced and successful men laboring in all parts of the empire.
As an evidence of this more friendly feeling and greater confidence, reference must especially be made to the work done in behalf of the soldiers in hospitals and barracks, and that not alone with .the full consent of the officials in charge, but with their encouragement and approval as well. The work done at Hiroshima in the interest of the sick and wounded in the hospitals, and those in the barracks awaiting transportation to the front; the permission granted the Rev. H. Loomis, agent of the American Bible Society, by the War Department, to distribute Bibles to the officers and men in all the different barracks of Japan; and more recently the permission received· from the authorities to send Christian chaplains to the front, is a thing so surprising and remarkable, that it may be said to form an epoch in the history of missions in Japan.
It is a known fact that previous to the war Christian soldiers had rather a hard time of it; that they were hindered from attending to the performance of their religious duties ; not allowed, in some cases at least, to read the Bible and religious books in their quarters, and were considerably persecuted. But now this intense prejudice has given way so far that workers, both native and foreign, are encouraged to furnish Christian literature, and to teach the religion of Christ openly to the rank and file of the army. Why this so great a change of sentiment q Due, it is said, to the admirable conduct of the Christian soldiers both in the army and navy. Their moral conduct, their faithfulness, their fearlessness in battle is marked, and has won for them and their religion the good-will of their superiors.
The Rev. M. Oshikawa, of Sendai, on a visit to a neighboring province, addressed an audience composed entirely of officials, educators, and other prominent and representative men on the subject of Christian education. More recently the same gentleman, as the President of the Kaigwai Kyoiku-kwai, a society organized by native Christians for the purpose of engaging in educational work in Korea, addressed a large audience of representative men of the city of Sendai, including the governor and vicegovernor, on the importance of the society's work; and in this work he and the society of which he is the honored president receive the earnest support of not only the local officials, but of ministers of State a,; well.
This improvement has reference, second, to a healthier condition and a more earnest and settled spirit on the part of the churches themselves. This comes very prominently to view in the correspondence already referred to. From all over the country-from the Hokkaido in the north, and from Kiushu in the extreme south-comes the cheering news that the churches are better organized for work, are in a better spiritual condition, that there are clearer conceptions of the Christian life, that the faith of preachers and people iR more intelligent and stable. And this, in spite of the fact that the wave of rationalism which swept over the country several years ago, and which carried several well-known native pastors into the unorthodox camp, has not yet fully snbsided, but is still exercising its baneful influence over the minds of many young men who come within the sphere of the influence of several prominent Christian leaders who are known to hold and to preach rationalistic doctrines.
The present political situation seems to have itR good influence upon the Christians. They regard the present as a very important time to engage in more aggressive work. They seem to be imbued with the idea that the set time to favor Japan has come, and to be moved with a desire to do their utmost to make the most of the present circumstances for the furtherance of the Redeemer's kingdom in Japan; and this to me is one of the most hopeful features of the work at the present time. As the secretary of our Mission Evangelistic Committee, I read and tabulate the monthly reports sent in by some sixteen evangelists and pastors working in twenty-two different places, in five of the provinces of the empire. At the beginning of the year, in connection with the usual reports, they expressed an opinion as to the present situation, the importance of the times, and the necessity and the duty of earnest work during the year before us.
They were of one mind in saying that the present is the most important time, because of the ontward conditions at hand; and many of them seem to have caught something of the same spirit that is shown by the civil and military authorities in the prosecution of the present war. May we not confidently expect and believe that this spirit of earnestness, if continued, as we pray it will, on the part of the Japanese pastors and workers of all grades, will result in great advancement along the whole line of the work, and will usher in a new and better era of Christian work in this island empire of Japan ~ In the next place, then, what are the assignable reasons for this favorable change, both in the external circumstances and the improved spiritual condition of the churches 1 Of course the war between China and Japan, the growth of the national prestige, because of the splendid successes of the Japanese forces on land and sea, together with the revision of the treaties, is, for the most part, the reason of the more favorable external conditions. By the treaties, as recently revised between Japan and several of the leading nations of the West, Japan is admitted into the family of civilized nations, thereby realizing her long-entertained ambition, and receiving the just recognition to her rightful position among the nations of the earth. The Japanese are putting forth their best efforts in the present war to conduct it on the principles of humanity, and according to the rules and usages of civilized warfare, and that this effort is seen and appreciated by the outside world makes them feel more kindly toward outsiders, and then also toward that which they represent; for with the masses Christianity is associated with the people of the West, and anything that conciliates them toward Western people conciliates them measurably towarrl our religion.
In connection with the war it is in place to speak of the Red Cross Society. This association is not only doing, directly, a good work in helping to alleviate suffering and aiding distress among the sick and wounded, but, indirectly, by recommending our religion to the people. The immense popularity of this association, the fact that it is generally acknowledged to be of Christian origin, that anumber of the foreign missionaries are active in it, has served, as I believe, to remove some of the prejudice with which we have to contend.
In accordance as the scales of prejudice are falling from off the eyes of men, will they be enabled to see the good there is in Christianity in its influence upon the individual, national, and social life of the people. It seems as if that time has come-that it is beginning to be understood that a man can be a true Christian and at the same time a true Japanese. If this latter fact is once thoroughly established, one of the strongest arguments now used against Christianity by its enemies will have been removed.
It is true that Christianity has been for some time if not the only, at least by far the greatest power working for righteousness in Japan. Christian ideas, Christian principles are affecting life from centre to circumference, yet the people hitherto have been unwilling to acknowledge it. But the growing and accumulated influence of the religion of Christ is such that it becomes harder to cover over this truth, to bury it under prejudice, or to smother it by opposition.
The Christians of Japan stand identified with the burning questions of the day. In relief and charity work they are often the leaders. In earthquake disasters, in the hospitals among the sick and wounded, and by the bedside of the dying they show the kindly helping hand. They have founded orphan asylums; they organize charity and benevolent schemes by which to succor the poor and the needy, to relieve the sick and the
MISSIONARY THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS IN INDIA
infirm; and in this way they are teaching, by example, that Christianity is a saving, helping religion, and all these things are gaining for it its just recognition.
What, then, is the outlook 1 On this there is a variety of opinion. Some are looking forward to great gains in the near future, others have no ground for such hope. It is believed that some time will be required to recover from the serious setback the work has received during the last five years. It is also known that the opposition of the Buddhist has never been more determined than it is now-that there is an immense amount of indifference in regard to religion in general, and the Christian in particular; so that the idea once entertained that Japan will be born a Christian nation in a few years is pretty generally abandoned.
But that the outlook is hopeful, more so than for the last three or four years, is generally acknowledged, since all the facts in the case go to show it. This should greatly encourage the workers on the field, leading them to still greater effort, and stimulate the churches of the West to meet all demands of men and money required by the present improved condition of Christian work in Japan.
MISSIONARY THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS IN INDIA.
BY REV. T. J. SCOTT, D.D., BAREILLY, INDIA.
At the great decennial missionary conference held in Bombay in December, 1892, the education of the native ministry was a burning question. The heads of a number of theological schools were present.. These held a special meeting and planned to get more completely in touch by correspondence and interchange of reports. This plan brought together the material from which this paper is made up, with a view to let the friends of missions in India see what is being done for the training of an indigenous ministry for India. We all feel that such a ministry alone under God can evangelize the country.
There are twenty-eight theological schools in the Protestant mission of India, of various grades. The oldest of these was planned fifty years ago, but most of them are but more recently organized. Some of them attempt a very thorough course of study, while some are more elementary in character. The number of students in all is not large, being only about three hundred and fifty by the latest figures. American missions take the lead in this work, in keeping with the fact that America is the land of theological seminaries. In the main, the traditional three years' course of study is adhered to. Great stress is bid on the study of the Bible, with the study of the Hebrew and Greek text in some schools. As these institutions are in the midst of a people whom the missions are seeking to evangelize, naturally enough work and study are well combined, and the students have constant practical training in evangelistic work. As might be expected, much less is made of the polemics of the West, where for centuries bitter wars of theology were waged. Here in India the conflict is with Hinduism and Islam, and with certain new sects and reforms that have sprung up among these seeking to head' off Christianity from the conquest of the country. Of course in maintaining the commonly received orthodoxy of the West, the so-called heresies are noticed, that our people may not fall into them, but it seems quite certain that we will not have to fight over many of those battles here. Our conflict is with other faiths. All seem to recognize the importance of keeping close to the Bible as the great text·book of theology. In order to guard the best interpretation of the book, it is felt that the foreign missionary must for some time be largely entrusted with the teaching of the seminary. The native mind is acute, and in time fine teachers will be raised up, but for a while there may be some danger from the bias of Eastern systems. When the native mind is thoronghly indoctrinated, less of the work of these seminaries will depend on foreigners. Meantime it is felt by many that we must be on our guard, as intimated, about importing theological disquisitions that in other days shook the Christendom of the West.
A peculiarity of these seminaries is the association with them, sometimes, of the normal school. Almost all missions make use of secular education as an aid to their work. In this they repeat the practice of the monks and evangelists who Christianized Europe. The secular teacher can be a lay evangelist, and is often a pastor teacher. In associating the normal school with the seminary the teachers catch something of the spirit of the preachers. They can study methods of work in the same classes; the normal class can be used for brightening up some preachers in secular studies, and in some cases is the preparatory school for the seminary.
Another peculiarity of these seminaries is the large proportion c', married men in them. The natives of the country marry early, and hence if they get a theological education at all, accommodation must be given to them as married men. This brings women within reach of the seminary, and in some institutions they are found pursuing the same course with their husbands; in others they have their own normal or biblical course to fit them to be co-workers with their husbands. Thus the fact of the students being married gives enlarged opportunity of training workers for the field. The importance of women in the work is very great. Women only can reach women in a country with such a social organization as most parts of India present. Many women are secluded from public life, and can only be reached in the seclusion of home and by women. The trained wife-evangelist is thus the needed complement of her husband. In one seminary at least the kindergarten is an appendage of the theological seminary, since it is attached to the women's school. The women cannot leave their little children at home while they are at their books, but they can be taken care of in the kindergarten of a side room, and the future
TWO FRENCH ANARCHISTS AND THE GOSPEL
professors and clergymen and their wives are thus early started on their career at the same institution with their parents.
Something is made of singing and music in all these seminaries. An attempt is made to utilIze native airs, and to make use of the comnion musical instruments of the country. In no country is the power of song felt more than in India. Singing is a common accompaniment of preaching in the bazar and village. A good collection of hymns may now be found in many Indian languages, and a part of the seminary training is drill in the use of these.
All mission boards should see to it that the most possible be made of their schools for training native pastors and evangelists. The great human need is endowment. Most of these schools are struggling along with almost no endowment, if any at all. A very few of them have perhaps fifty or sixty thousand dollars invested in aid of the work, and yet princely sums are being lavished on such schools in America. It seems so hard to arrest the attention of our noble givers to anything on the opposite side of the globe. The flag indexing the benevolence of the giver must float in sight of himself and friends, and yet Jesus and the angels can see it in the opposite hemisphere. We do not need great sums. A $50,000 gift would put many of these schools on their feet for a noble career, and this small sum might be given by many who are looking about for an object.
One special need of a fund in the Indian schools of the prophets is in aid of students. In most cases on entering such a school the student has left any means of support he had. As a convert, perhaps he has lost his all, and becomes dependent while pursuing his studies. As this is a country of very early marriages, in many cases he is a married man, and this makes the problem off supporting himself during his course of study more difficult. Hence in these schools, scholarships are given that would seem very small in America. The student will be content, as single or married, on from two to four dollars a month. The great revival of this age is said to be a revival of giving. If a small end of the wave, flowing to India, would strike these twenty-eight theological seminaries, it would give an impetus to the evangelization of the country possible in no other way.
TWO FRENOH ANAROHISTS AND THE GOSPEL.
BY PROFESSOR J. L. BERTRAND, PARIS, FRANCE.
Some time ago, when I was giving a religious lecture in the south of France, a man exclaimed, "Lecturer, you do not believe what you say, for you know that the Ohurch is the mother of iniquities, and religion the art of making fools of ourselves." Ten people shouted back, " Tricot, va a la lutte /" (" Tricot, to the struggle !") Three or four years later I received a letter, signed Tricot. The writer related that he was formerly the editor of The Struggle (La Lutte). At once I remembered the man and the newspaper. Tricot was the most violent writer and lecturer that we were afflicted with. Once, on the tombs of the victims of a mine, near St. Etienne, he advised all workpeople to gather during night, in order to burn all the houses of the rich and to murder their proprietors. For that he was condemned to two years' imprisonment, after which he edited another paper called The International -more violent still than The Struggle.
One day a compagnon said to him, "Tricot, if we had men as devoted as the disciples of that. man, Jesus Christ, they would go throughout France, preach our Gospel to workpeople, and, ten years after, the whole nation would be converted to what we prudently call' Revolutionary Socialism,' though we mean the overthrow of society. But the disciples of Christ have for their motto, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself,' while ours is 'Charity begins and ends at home;' with such a principle we cannot succeed. " " But," shouted Tricot, "that is not my principle, and I will prove it."
The next day he bought an old omnibus, an old horse, put his wife and children in the omnibus, left his paper and his town. He had resolved to go throughout the whole of France, lecturing from place to place, and selling revolutionary pamphlets.
At St. Jean-du-Gard he received a letter from a lady, saying, "M" Tricot, I want very much to see you to-morrow; meanwhile read first this letter, and then this extraordinary pamphlet, called' The Sermon on the Mount. ' I also am a socialist. I also deplore the sight of Lazarus by the side of the cruel rich man-the poor never thinking of justice, but hating the rich and coveting their riches. Believe me, you will not conciliate the two parties, nor subvert the rich with powder, dynamite, or knife, but with love for the rich, and for the poor. Our motto ought to be that of the author of the ' Sermon on the Mount,' Love thy neighbor as thyself."
Tricot read her letter and was astounded, for that lady knew more than himself about socialism. Then he read the famous pamphlet. At every verse he stopped to say, " Whoever wrote such glorious sentences? I never read anything as sublime as that. . . ."
His reading was interrupted by the visit of a compagnon who said, " Ah ! Tricot, I am in great trouble, and I come for advice. My daughter is ready to pass her examination at the Medical Faculty, but I must pay the 200 francs, and I cannot find them." "Why!" replied Tricot, "you a socialist, and you cannot find 200 francs among all your compagnons! Go to Cette, speak to the Municipal Counsellors, who are all socialists, and they will lend you 400 francs if you like."
The man returned to say: "'Would you believe that I saw every counsellor, and that everyone and all sent me away as a beggar who could never pay them back? Their principle is: 'Charity begins and ends at home.'" "So," replied Tricot, "you and I have learned what our compafl1Wns are. Did you n!>t tell me that you were born a Protestant 1" "Yes, but that means nothing, for I am an atheist." "Never mind, go and see your pastor." "My pastor! but I hate him, and my wife insulted him last week." "So much the better. I have been told that your pastor reads at church a part of this 'The Sermon on the Mount. ' If he really reads it and believes what he reads, go to him and he will help you in spite of you and your wife. . . . No, no, that is not the spirit of 'The Sermon on the Mount;' he will help you more surely because you hate him and because your wife insulted him. He belongs to a very peculiar branch of socialists."
The man went to Pastor Benoist, of Cette, who ran to the Dean of the Faculty to tell him. "That father is certainly the worst French Protestant and the worst of our citizens; his wife is certainly worse than her husband. But they have a daughter; you, I, and my good people must save her, because her parents are too bad for her."
When Tricot heard that the money was found, and that the girl had pa3Sed successfully, he read again and again the pamphlet, "Sermon on the Mount," and at last shouted, " No, the author of that book is not a man, He must be God Himself! I believe in the author of 'The Sermon on the Mount.' Christ of Calvary, I have been told that Thou art the Author, I believe in Thee."
The next day Tricot burned all his brochures on soci~lism and anarchy, bought a great many copies of the new pamphlet, " Sermon on the Mount," and said, "Wife, I mean hereafter to lecture on that book only. Let us travel as before."
Tricot is now an agent of the Societe E'lJangelique de Geneve. A contributor to the Re1Iue des J)eux J.l£ondes and I crossed the flower market of the Madeleine, Paris, when we met the wife of a pastor whose daughter was dying of consumption. Hoping that a bouquet of white lilac would please the girl, I bought one and gave it to the mother. A workman very neatly dressed crossed the Boulevard and said: "If you please, M. Bertrand, allow me to bring the bouquet to the lady'S house." Thinking that he was a porter, I did not answer. My friend said to me : " Observe that he call!! you by your name. " I turned and asked the man how he knew me. " You remember," said he, "your giving lectures at the Salle Ornano. At that time I was the greatest drunkard of that district and an incorrigible gambler. One cold evening, being penniless, I strolled along the Boulevard, when I heard people singing in the hall. I tried to see through the curtains, when a neighbor said: 'Halloo, Jacques! what are you doing hero l' • Nothing j I am penniless, and cannot go to the bar l' Esperance. Is thil! place a dancing-room l' 'No, it is a salle de conftrences.' , Conferences! What is that? ' , Come in, and you will know.' " I went in to hear you speak on the joys of the family. After fifteen minutes I had enough of you, and went away murmuring: 'That speaker is evidently an old priest or an old bachelor i he never had a wife or children. Well, I know the joys of the family better than he does. I take daily one single meal with my worst half, leave immediately after, return as late as I can, leave in the morning as early as I can, and we find plenty of time for quarrelling. She unceasingly complains that I do not give her money for the children j so much the worse for her and the children. She pretends that I drink and gamble too much j so much the better for me. I patch .my clothes, and wash my linen when I can and as I can, because she refuses to help me as long as I do nothing for her. I am the poorest of all poor, with only one shirt j and when I wash it, with no shirt. I cut the top of my socks, sewed them on the top of my boots, to make my compauions believe that I wear socks, but I have indeed no socks. When I leave the house the policeman threatens me because my boys are mischievous. Well, I suppose that is because they receive more boxes on the ear than pieces of bread-these are the joys of the family, and the beauty of present society.'
" A fortnight after, penniless again, I met on the same boulevard my neighbor, who said: 'Why did you leave the conference so quickly ~ , , Because I could no longer listen to the trash of that old priest.' 'He is not a priest, but a layman.' , Well, he has no wife and children, or he would not be as ignorant as he is.' 'He has a wife and children.' , Never mind, he knows nothing about the joys of the family.' ' Well, what can you do this cold evening ~ Come in again, warm yourself, do not listen to the speaker, and when the meeting is over, we will go home together.'
" I went in and you spoke on the workman. 'Workmen,' you said, , my father had one hundred of you. I was somewhat educated on your knees, and therefore I know you. If you belong to such a class of workmen, you gain so much a day, you spend so much for your breakfast, so much for your lunch and dinner, so much a day for your room.' When I heard you say that I murmured, 'That fellow is not a priest, but he is a Jesuit, for he knows everything we do.' But you went on : 'Now, my friends, subtract what you spend from what you gain, and do not tell me, because I know it, what you do with the rest. You go to l' Esperance to drink and drink, gamble and gamble. I cannot convert you j God alone can do it. Every Saturday evening you go to your boss for your weekly pay, which you honestly deserve. I have been working a whole year for you, and this evening I ask you to pay me in this way. To-morrow evening, ati l'Esperance, look not in the first glass, for there may be nothing, but in your last glass, and you will be quite surprised to see your health and the health of your family, on which I spoke three weeks ago j your happiness and the happiness of your family, on which I spoke two weeks ago. Then look at the bottom of the glass, and you will see your soul and the souls of your dear ones swimming and swimming toward eternal damnation, on which I spoke last week. I have served you faithfully for a whole year j if you do not pay me in that easy way, then I will think that each of you is far more unjust than anyone of your bosses.' . . . When I heard this I got up, and with rage slammed violently the door, shouting, 'That speaker is a horrid man!' On my way I said to myself, 'Who is he 1 Who are those 400 fools who patiently listen to him ~ What is his aim ~ What does he mean when he says, " Workmen, show me a workman who reads the Gospel with his wife and children 365 times « year, and I promise you to bring here a happy family?" The Gospel is probably a book. Why should I read it 365 times, and not 368 or 350 times? Read it with my wife 365 times j • • • surely that would be no joy for me.'
" However, when I reached my miserable home I said: 'Wife, you must come and hear that man.' 'What man ~' 'A priest without a cassock.' ' My poor drunkard!' said my wife, and left me.
"On the next day I went to l'Esperance, drank, gambled, and lost. I was going to take my last glass, when I remembered your words. , Ah !' said I, 'there is the famous last glass. Oh, ho ! it contains a great many things. My health, the health of my bad wife and of my bad children, my happiness and their happiness, my soul and their souls. . . . What is a soul? Have I a soul ~ I am surely not superstitious, for I am a free-thinker, an atheist, a socialist j ••• no, I am an anarchist, and ready to blowout the brains of my boss, if I ever meet him away from a policeman or a witness. However, that glass contains too many things. I cannot drink. '
" On the next day I said, 'That horrid man made me lose a glass of wine j if I go to the bar this morning I am sure to lose another. It is better to wait.' On the third day God laid hold of me. He placed the glass on my way, on my tools, on my table-everywhere. The Saturday evening came, and not knowing what to do with my money, I said, ' Wife, here is money for you and your children. '
" My wife, who had anxiously followed the struggle during the week, came close to me with tears in her eyes and exclaimed, ' I want to see your priest without a cassock and hear his conference.' We went to hear your address on ' Christ, the Friend of the Workman.' Since then you have left, but we go every week to the same hall to hear Pastor Bersier.
" Now, if you want to have a proof of the Gospel's power, and if you pass one evening in such a street and before such a number, come up, and you will see two nicely furnished rooms, while formerly all had gone to bombard house j you will see the father, the mother and children round a table, they read the Gospel together 365 times a year. Those children receive now more" pieces of bread than boxes on the ears. That wife is the very best of all French wives j she does everything possible to please me. I do no longer patch my clothes, I have socks and even gloves, and in spite of all those expenses we have some money at the savings-bank.
" If I could deliver lectures or sermons, I would go from factory to
GLEANINGS FROM THE EAl'TIST ANNIVlIIllISARIES
factory and prove to workmen that the Gospel is not only the guide to heaven, but also to happiness and prosperity in this world, because it is the most practical of all books on social economy. Rich and poor, will you have a good wife, good children, good neighbors 1 read the Gospel with them 365 times a year. Will you have a peaceful, prosperous, and glorious France? give the Gospel to every Frenchman, the Gospel to every French family, the Gospel to every French priest, and let them read it 365 times a year."-Missions of the World.
GLEANINGS FROM THE BAPTIST ANNIVERSARIES.
THE EIGHTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMAN'S BAP'1'IST HOME MIS- SION SOCIETY constituted the prelude to the anniversaries of the great mis- sionary and publication societies of the Baptist Church, held in Saratoga, N. Y., May 27th to June 1st, 1895.
THE HEATHEN AT HOME was the theme of an address by Mrs. Wil- liam M. Isaacs, of New York. After eulogizing woman in all ages, she said: " Christian women in the close of the nineteenth century occupy a posi- tion unique and unparalleled in history. Noble women have lived in all ages. Patriotism and martyrdom have not been confined to the stronger and sterner sex. It is the divine right of women to train children, to de- velop the first appearing thought in the human mind. Among the dangers which menace our country are the Sunday newspaper, pernicious literature, the unspeakable abominations placed on the stage, and none more alarming than the great influx of immigration. In 1894 there landed in America 25,513 immigrants who could neither read nor write. Many are totally unfit to become citizens of this country, and a ready imagination could easily picture their future."
Mrs. Crouse discussed in her annual address, THE AVOCATION AND THE POSITION OF WOMAN. She traced the gradual emancipation of woman until four ways of livelihood were open to her-housework, dressmaking, school-teaching, and marriage. She told of the prejudice that had to be dispelled before women were allowed to teach school. We hear a great deal about the coming woman, the advanced woman, and the new woman. But God has ordained for woman the higher and more ennobling duties of motherhood and the household, and her highest attainment comes in this manner. The Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society is now of age, and has never found it necessary to contract a dollar of debt.
The following are the nationalities among whom work is being carried on, and the number of missionaries maintained for each by the Woman's Board: Americans, white (frontier), 11; Asiatics (Chinese), 4; Germans, 18; Jew, 1 ; Danes and, Norwegians, Swedes, 15; Indian and Oklahoma Territories, 13 ; Mexicans, 7 ; Negroes, 42 ; detailed for special service, 3, Total, 114. Eighty-first Anniversary of the Missionary Union. -President Augustus H. Strong made the annual address from Psalm 90 : 10 : " The days of our years are threescore years and ten."
The greater part of Dr. Strong's address was upon the Holy Spirit as the one and only power in missions. He said: "The Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. He is coequal with the Father and the Son. In the Holy Spirit we have the Divine and incarnate Christ. Christ could not have been in two places at once. He could not have spoken to Paul at Galilee and John in Jerusalem, but through the Holy Spirit He is enabled to be present with the little band of worshippers at Swatow and at the saIlle time be in Saratoga..
" The Boly Spirit should be recognized as a leavening power in society. There are times when great public questions are settled, when slaves are freed, when there is a mighty revival of religion. In these instances the Holy Spirit reveals His power. The ordinary methods of the Holy Spirit are quiet, but it is capable of exerting tremendous power, as at Pentecost. There are times when the air is so still that we almost forget its existence, yet it has the power to prostrate buildings, lofty trees and carry them miles. Is not the Holy Spirit for missions ~ He is God Himself €llgaged in the mighty work. It is the power whereby prayers made in this country produce an effect in China. To seek for results in missions, without regard to the Holy Spirit, is not a due recognition of the source of power."
The annual report of the society, a document of 228 pages, was generally distributed, and may be had on application.
During the year there were received, from all sources, $661,255.68, decreasing the debt of $200,000 of the year before by $13,e39.08. Remaining debt, April 1st, 1895, ~189,956.82.
The following are the statistics of the Missionary Union: Br d Sunday· . MI3eIONS TO THE HEATHEN. Preachers Churches. l'naPl819z4e Members. School Contrlbu· . Scholars. tions.
—-,—————– ———– Bnrma…………………….. . 632 613 2,318 33,636 10,391 $40,675.28 A!sam……………………… . 2,3'%7 1,058.33 Telugu…. "" …………….. .. 34 35 523 3,721 : China …………………….. . 266 82 938 56,683 5,398 2,291.91 523 333.20 ~~~…..•:…………. …::::::::::.:::: 57 23 105 1,391 549.02 35 19 179 1,633 1,870 29 421 15 271 1,287 771.80 Total. ………………… , . • 1,053 787 4,334 98,851 20,931 $45,679.54 EUROPE.i.N MISSION:S.
:.'::: ':. :.::::: :::::::::: Sweden……………………. . 645 552 2,595 37,601 40,353 $109,156.58 t.~:~:. 2,596 29,42'Z I 21,524 102,510.72 300 149 1,200 17,041 3,958 17,690.20 90 Finland …………………… . 67 152 I ~:~~~ 1,329 251 10 21 280 3,303 .. ·ii,2·17·.OO ::::::::. ::: :::: :::::: Denmark……………………. 1 70 25 378 1,961 …. ·:i,27ii.52 '%7 1,900 ~::c~::::: 16 . .. Spain …………………….. . 30 19 5 90 858 II 6 Mi!sions to nominally Chril!tian 866 7,457 92,647 71,395 $243,853.02 lands ••••••• , …. •••• •••• ••• •• • 1,167 Grand total…. …….. •. •. . . 2,220 1,653 11,791 190,998 92,326 $289,523.56 The report of the committee on the relations of the women's societies to the Missionary Union strongly urging the unification of the missionary work of the societies, with one treasury and one treasurer, and the apportionment of money by joint sessions of the Board of Managers of each society was unanimously adopted.
Rev. Thomas Moody, missionary from the Congo, spoke on THE WORK IN AFRICA. He is located 850 miles inland on the south bank of the Congo, 40 miles south of the equator. The people in the central part of the continent are brighter, perhaps, than the negroes of this country. One million lives are lost every year by the slave trade. All Stanley and Livingstone have said might be magnified thrice, and then it would not be half so bad as it really is. Four fifths of the people are slaves. There is no such thing as family life among those people. Missionaries are few j and if there was one station in every district twice as large as Rhode Island, 3000 more mission stations would be needed in Africa.
Rev. G. N. Thomssen, calling himself a German-American-Hindu, of Telugu, India, spoke on WORK IN INDIA, saying that he loved America better than Germany, but he loved India more than Germany or America. He thanked God that he was called when a boy to do mission work, and marvelled that so many could stay in this country when there are countless thousands in India who had never heard of Christ. He had seen the great work in Telugu, something similar to that Andrew and Nathaniel had seen. When his work was begun, Mr. Thomssen said it seemed as if Satan were determined to unJo it. He had learned to believe in a personal God, but he thought that in India there was a personal devil also. There were great heathen revivals, and the natives would ask scornfully, "Where is your God 1 See, there is but a handful of you Christians, while thous811ds come to worship the village god.' , Englishmen seeking fortunes in that far land asked the missionaries, " What do you come here for 1 We leave our bones on the plains for the filthy lucre, but you have no business here." Mr. Thomssen said that he had been asked the question, " When will India be a Christian land 1" He could see progress now in all directions, ILnd believed that before a great while'lndia would be converted.
Rev. Donald D. MacLaurin, of Michigan, spoke on a. MILITANT CHURCH.
" If we believe the Bible, there is penitence and pardon for every soul in this world. We also believe it is the duty of the Church to send the Gos- pel into the world. It is not an incidental, but a paramount, characteristic mission to give the Gospel of the Son of God to every son of earth. The Church is an army whose duty it is to reduce every rebellious province on the globe to its rightful obedience. The Church is militant. Look at our marching orders: 'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to . every creature.' The good soldier always accepts his position without question. We see the signals of heaven telling us what heaven expects in this day of unparalleled opportunity. Now almost the whole world is open to the soldiers of Jesus. Do we appreciate our opportunity 1 Paul did in his day, for he said, 'I am a debtor to the Greek and the barbarian.' These comprised the whole known world at that time, and Paul was a whole missionary society in himself.
"There are fields to be won. 'fhe heathen world, with its one thousand millions of human beings who have never heard that Jesus died for them and rose again from the dead. In India alone there are 280,000,000 who have never heard of Christ. There is also a great defect or lack of training of missionary ministers at the present day. Pastors and people did not pray for missions as they should. How many times are we in agony for missions 1"
The report of the committee on SELF-SUPPORT ON FOREIGN FIELDS emphasized the necessity for the exercise of great economy, and offered a number of recommendations: "First, the true aim in foreign mission work is the planting of native churches, and they that. will be self-supporting and reproductive; second, there should be a modification of excessive and sentimental pity when contemplating the hardship that natives must undergo to contribute to missions. Proportionate giving should be urged; third, native churches should be plain in architecture and cheaply constructed; fourth, the congregation should choose the pastor rather than the missionary, as the source of support should be the source of authority; fifth, the practice of some churches sending money to support native preachers should be discouraged, as this designation hampers the work of the executive committee, which should have all the money to spend for the furtherance of the general work; sixth, some form of industrial education should be maintained in connection with the mission."
In an address on WORK IN JAPAN, Rev. L. Halsey said he was the foreign pastor of the Japanese Baptist Church. While 40,000,000 Japanese· worship idols, many do not. The worship of the Mikado is a severe hindrance to the cause of Christianity. Confucian teachings were also brought into the country. It is now brought into disrepute, as are all things Chinese. Japan needs our sympathy in her intellectual and spiritual progress. Rev. Father Sutherland, of Burma, has put his life, his wife, and family into the missionary work. He said: " Buddhism cannot be conquered in a few years; but we are going to conquer it. The Burman will eventually become converted to Christianity. The Burmans are generally dignified and distant, and our mode of preaching is like Christ's-from street to street, from crowd to crowd. "
Rev. M. C. Mason spoke on MISSIONS IN ASSAM, saying: " The people in Assam are the most vigorons, intelligent, and manly in all Asia. Assam is the gateway to Thibet on the north, China on the east, and Bengal on the south and west. The Asamese are the most ready to receive the Gospel of any people on the face of the earth. The people associate with their sickness or sorrow some sin that they have committed. Children were, not long since, offered as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Since the English took possession of the country the practice of human sncrifice has been abolished, but missionaries are often approached by natives to intercede with the British authorities that a child might be sacrificed for some real or imaginary cause, so that the Great Spirit would be appeased.
" The religions of the country are principally Hindu, Mohammedan, spirit worship (Hill tribes), Buddhist, and Christian. The Christians in 1891 were numbered at 16,844 j Hindus, 2,997,072; Mohammedans, 1,483,974. As a mission ground Assam is most strategic. It lies Iiku an arm of a countrv stretched out into the midst of heathen nations. It is where India, Thihet, China, and Burma dovetail into one. It is the most natural gateway to the great region of Central Asia. Within close range of civilization and extensive railways building and under British protection, it is like a fortress from which to push forth the forces of the Lord. The missionaries do not ask a cent for a minister as a minister j not a cent to build places of worship, and never have. Money only is wanted for sala. ries and expenses of native preachers who are sent out to distant fields to preach until they can make it self-supporting. The expense of the mis. sionary work in Assam has cost less than in any ol;her field in the work. "
The American Baptist Home Mission Society antedates the birth of almost all of its members. The receipts for the first year were $6586.
For the past year the total receipts were $515,446.96. During the first year the number of teachers and missionaries employed was 50. Last year the number was llID. This alone indicates the progress of the society.
The annual report of the Executive Board states that the work of the society embraces: (1) The prosecution of Western missions; (2) evan· gelization of the various foreign population of this country j (3) missionary work among the negroes of the South; (4) missionary work among the North American Indians; (5) missionary work in the republic of Mexico; (6) educational work for the negroes; (7) erection of meeting-houses.
Rev. Dr. Grenell, of Detroit, said, in speaking on How TO DEVELOP THE LIBERALITY OF THE PEOPLE: "The most important factor in the problem is the pastor himself. The pastor must have heart-convictions of interest in missions. If a church fails for one year to contribute to the mission society, it is evident the pas· tor has not a heart interest in missions. If he had he certainly would have contributed himself. Had he done so others would have joined him.
" The pastor must instruct his people in the Scripture teaching in reo gard to this duty. Affecting incidents, pathetic appeals may be used, but cannot be relied upon to secure the measure of duty of the people in regard to their duty to a lost world. The radical teachings of the Word of God shnuld be made familiar to all in order to secure obedience to this word in their beneficence.
" There should also be systematic laying aside· and distribution of the good things which God may give us. There should be more system in religion as well as more religion: in business."
Mr. -Waterman well described a GOOD HELPER OF THE PASTOR: 1. He must be desirous of pleasing his Master in His service. 2. Like a good soldier, should desire to serve wherever and whenever necessary, even in the front ranks. 3. The results of such helpers, with wise leaders, could scarcely be computed.
Field Secretary Rev. Dr. H. L. Morehouse made an address on A STUDY IN CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE, saying: " Pitifully small amounts per capita are contributed by Baptists in fourteen States. The average for five years was as follows: New Hamp~hire, 23! cents; Vermont, 14t cents; Massachusetts, 37 cents; Connecticnt., 23 cents; New York, 24 cents; New Jersey, 20~ cents; Pennsylvania, less than 18 cents; Ohio, 12t cents; Michigan, 10 cents; Illinois, 10 cents; Indiana, 5 cents; West Virginia, 3t cents; Rhode Island, 36 cents. " These are facts that we must facc, and which ought to make us ashamed of ourselves when we do face them. With an average of 50 cents per member the society could do a noble work, and with an average of $1 per member could do a magnificent work. The society, however, could not be expected to make bricks without straw. "
CITY MISSIONs.-The proportion of Baptists to the population in cities ranged from 1 in 25 in Providence to 1 in 270 in San Francisco.
Rev. Dr. W. C. P. Rhoades, of New York, said there was a limit to the growth of agricultural districts, but no limit, apparently, to the growth of cities. The cities control the country, and the question for Christians is how to control the cities. They are the workshops of the country, and where the workshops are the workers are. There also should the Christian workshops be located. The rate of increase of church-members falls far below the increase in the population.
Eighty per cent of the population in New York City is of foreign extraction. There are the German, the Italian, and the Irish quarters, and there seems to be a disposition to crowd out the Americans. Three fourths of the popUlation of New York City live in 37,000 of its tenement-houses. The average to each house in New York City is 16, while in London it is but 9. It is a vital question-how to heal these sores in the cities, how to conduct evangelical work in the slums. The more appalling the vice the deeper the degradation, the more heroic is the call for Christianity. It is not a question of creed. The slums won't listen to denominationalism. An Episcopal clergyman, who had come over from the other side, said to a brother who had a little floating Bethel and was doing missionary work among the seamen of New York, "Is your church a High or Low Church~" The brother said: "It depends on the tide." There 1s more difficult mission work in the big cities than in many foreign countries.
THE WORK OF THE LOCAL CHURCH IN CITY MISSIONS was the topic of an address by Rev. Johnston Myers, of Cincinnati, O.
Some reforms were suggested; first, in the architecture of churches, so that the entrance to the prayer-meeting-room and the pastor's study would be readily accessible to the timid in search of Christ. There should be a reform in the ministry, too, if this question is to be solved. The theological seminaries are educating men more for suburban than for downtown districts. Methods and rules are powerless and conventional customs of clergymen are not efficacious, and must be cast aside in order to cope with this question. Jesus Christ never placed a premium on monotony and stupidity. Paul, if he were on earth to-day, would be called a sensational preacher and be criticised by the newspapers.
Dr. H. L. Wayland reported a resolution respecting THE LORD'S DAY: " Whereas, It is widely reported through the public journals that in some portions of the United States professing Christians, who have conscientiously observed the seventh day of the week as a day of religious rest and worship, and who have, hereafter on the first day of the week conscientiously engaged in labor which in no wise disturbed those desiring to observe the first day, have, for this act, been arrested, fined, imprisoned, and sent to the chain gang, therefore, " Resolved, That, assuming these facts to be as reported, we earnestly and solemnly protest against this violation of the right of religious liberty, a right for the defence of which our forefathers have suffered imprisonment, the spoiling of their goods, stripes, exile, and death itself."
The greatest obstacle to overcome in converting the POLES AND ITALIANS is the Roman Church. These people chng to the Catholic religion, they know not why, and the less they know about it the more tenaciously they cling to it. The more ignorant they are, the more difficult it is to approach them. Poles are in Western cities and Italians are in Eastern cities. They colonize, have their own stores, papers, physicians, priests, and almost everything.
Rev. N. F. Roberts spoke on WHAT SHAW UNIVERSITY HAS DONE FOR THE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH.
It was founded by the late lamented Dr. H. M. Tupper twenty-four years ago. For many years the average enrollment has been 341. Five graduates have been elected as principals of State normal schools, 24 are teachers in colleges and high schools, 13 are principals of academies. Last year, in North Carolina, 18 counties out of 36 reported that they had Sunday-schools containing 31,393 pupils. Shaw University students have imbibed a missionary spirit which they have carried wherever they have gone. They have also done a great deal for temperance. A few years ago in the South it was common even for the deacons to get drunk, but now a man is not received into the Church if he uses strong drink. Shaw has laid the foundation of medical and professional schools. One of her physicians treated 2500 different patients in a year. Industrial training has been kept constantly in' view, which is necessary among the colored people. Some of the pupils have erected neat houses of worship with their own hands. Pulpits are now closed against those so-called ministers who oppose anything for the uplifting of the colored race. It has been a power in changing the feeling against the education of the colored people.
THE EVANGELIZATION OF MEXICO was the subject of an able address by Rev. H. L. Morehouse, D.D., Field Secretary, who said: "Mexico is entering upon a new era. Old things are passing away. The old order is changing for the new. When political independence was secured, religions questions overshadowed all others. Early in the century the fight began. It was that of human progress against the medireval hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Prelates and hosts of religion conspired against the coming of the republic, but the republic was victorious, and for seventy years Rome has been its implacable enemy. The people, upon acquiring their independence, stripped the Church of its power, and thus ended the vision of papal power on this continent. Millions of dollars of church revenue were cut off, convents were abolished, and there is not a hooded nun in Mexico. The ploughshare of public opinion was run through the largest monastery in the City of Mexico. Mexico has emerged from medireval gloom into the sunlight of the nineteenth century despite the fact that the tethered Roman tiger still growls. Rome robbed Mexico of its intellectual birthright as Spain robbed it of its treasures. Since the dawn of the republic the schoolmaster has been abroad in the land. In the early part of the centurJ there were but three newspapers in the land j now there are 328. Now is the time to present the pure Gospel to the anxious, inquiring, and reading Mexicans. They now read what they please despite papal interdiction. The day of Mexico's complete emancipation is drawing nigh-not her constitutional emancipation, but her spiritual emancipation. This is the hour of the missionary's opportunity. Upon this country has devolved the evangelization of Mexico. This society needs twentyfive missionaries next year and ll. girl's school, an academic school, and a theological seminary for the training of native missionaries.
Rev. Dr. J. B. Hawthorne, of Atlanta, Ga., President of the Home Mission Board of the Baptist Southern Convention, spok-e on CO-OPERA.- TION WITH THE SOUTH.
Over one half of the Baptists on this planet were in the territory of the Baptist Southern Convention. In some districts nothing but a Baptist could be found with a search warrant. A member of the Georgia Legislature, when asked the geological formation in his county, replied that it was mainly Baptist. Above and below the sod the Baptists are very numerous, The joining of forces for the amelioration of the colored people is sure to have a powerful effect, besides the promotion of a fraternal feeling. The society South seeks co-operation with the society North in the religious improvement of the colored people. They must be prevented from relapsing into barbarism. If they become barbarians, the people will be compelled to resort to barbarous means to protect themselves. Dr. Harthorne spoke of the high regard the negro preachers were held in by their people. Their word was infallible in more things than one. Hence t.he great necessity to train these preachers. Many of them in their pulpit gave way to vehement outbursts of mere animal emotions. John Jasper's sermon, " The Sun Do Move," is a marvel of exegetical and homiletical h:uth compared to the sermons of many of the native preachers. With the' co-operation of the two societies he predieted great results in the cause of Jesus Christ.
CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONS
The work of the Baptist Publication Society may be summarized as follows: For Year 1894-95. From Beginning.
Nnmber of missionaries and workers ……………….. .. 85 3,393 21,656 281,075 li~fe~ ~~a"::rt!~~·::::::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::::::::·· 471,253 8,935,170 35,172 965,086 Books sold ……………………………………. . 6,594 151,442 Books given awa.f………………………………… . 486,153 43,060,743 Pages of tracts distributed.. •.. .. . .. .. .. . . . . … ….. .. .. 16,014 866,015 Hermons and addresses ……………………………. .. 4,684 119,460 Prayer-meetings beld ………………………………. . 41,679 1,287,167 Families visited…………………………………… . 24,997 Persons baptized…………………………………. .. 648 Churches constituted…………….. _ …. ……….. . 62 1,14';" Sunday-schools organized …………………………. . 244 10,162 Jr,stitutes held and addressed …… _.. .. .. . . . … .. . .. .. 007 6,705 Sunday-schools aided by donations of Scriptures, books, 500 6,241 periodicals, etc ……. …… .., ……………..••…. Sunda.y-schools, pastors and ministerial students aided with 233 6,597 grants for their libraries…………………………. .
CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONS.
BY REV. JAMES H. ROSS, ROXBURY, MASS.
The Congregational Home Missionary Society held its sixty-ninth annual meeting in Saratoga June 4th-6th. Five of the six Congregational missionary societies are devoted to home missions. Three of them, the Sunday.school and Publishing Society, the Educational Society, and the Church Building Society, met with the Home Missionary Society, technicaUy so caUed. The absentee society, the American Missionary Association, will meet by itself in Detroit next October. The Home Missionary Rociety has 4104 mission stations. Like most missionary societies at the present time, at home and abroad, it is heavily in debt, yet hopeful that the better times and special efforts will relieve the existing burden of $132,000.
Rev. Secretary Coit, of Boston, reported indications that the movement from the country hill towns in Massachusetts, which has been at work now for decades, depopulating them for the benefit of the cities and the West, has reached its climax.
There are of these country towns not a few where the population has begun to increase again. although not at a very rapid rate. The rapid increase of the electric railroad system will tend to help this return to the country. The State before long will be not only gridironed, it will be checkerboarded by the electric roads. And when the remote farmer has such facilities for reaching the centre as a railroad before his very door will furnish, there will be less and less forsaking the farm by the younger people and a more ready return to it as years advance.
The fact reappeared that the majority of gifts and givers are centralized in New England. The West is yet to be developed in t!J.e lbe of systematic beneficence.
Tourists who visit cities and towns near the coast of California, between Santa Barbara and San Diego, are disposed to regard Southern California as well evangelized. But there are two Southern Californias. The smaller and more populous Southern California, with which they become acquainted, situated between the mountains and the sea j the larger, six times larger, but less populous Southern California, lying north and east of the mountains. The former illustrates most wonderfully the value of home mission work put forth in large measure at the right time, immediately upon the rapid movement of immigration hitherward, planting the Church at the very outset of the new settlements along the coast j the latter illustrates as remarkably the woeful r~sults of the neglect of gospel ministration. The former has crowded churches, revivals of religion, in some placeR a church-membership equal to one third of the population, and a prevailing Christian public sentiment. The latter has crowded saloons, in some places as many as one to every fifty inhabitants, churches generally thinly attended, if they exist at all, and vice Haunting itself without restraint in open day.
Mrs. Joseph Cook read a paper entitled " A Woman's Club of National Interest." It might well have been entitled" A Woman's Club of International Interest." It referred to the Woman's Missionary Society, whether devoted to home or foreign missions. It showed that these societies are pioneer organizations, not only up to date in their spirit and methods, but antedating the various women's clubs that receive most attention from the press and the public. They afford just as good opportunities for study of the highest themes as any other clubs, themes of international statesmanship, such as the Japan-Chinese war, and themes of profound significance and learning, such as comparative religions and comparative philology. The points made by Mrs. Cook should be food for reHection, while the " new woman" is a phrase and a fad, and as long as the daily press fails to discover that, multitudes of women repudiate with scorn that they are interested only in fashions and small talk.
Rev. William Ewing called attention to .a census recently taken in New York, showing that in the district bounded by Fifth, Canal, Essex, and Mercer streets, having nclarly 95,000 residents, there are 7 churches and 563 liquor saloons, or 1 church to 80 saloons and nearly 14,000 people.
" In many places where labor troubles have prevailed, the Gospel as preached by Congregational home missionaries has been wonderfully successful in allaying animosities and saying to the turhulent elements of society, ' Peace, be still.' From the mining regions of Indiana the superintendent reported that ' the outrages upon law, order, and decency were only in those Tegions where the work of the mission had not yet extended. '
" The most distinct and notable increase during the year has been Oklahoma, the number of whose churches has risen from 48 to more than 70."
Rev. Watson L. Phillips, D.D., of New Haven, said that there are classes in our population whose needs are peremptory and cannot be disre- garded. "There is (1) the vicious and criminal class, who live by charity and pilfering, and constitute the dangerous, combustible element at the bottom of society. (2) The second class is composed of that great multi- tude to be found in every large community, sober, industrious, working hard for low wages, filling the tenement-houses, the hall bedrooms and back attic chambers of cheap boarding-houses." Rev. Superintendent W. S. Bell, of Montana, described an eighty-mile drive through a series of valleys running down from the snowy mountains, on the border of Wyoming, to the great Yellowstone valley, through which the Northern Pacific Railroad runs for several hundred miles in its stretch across the continent.
" Three years ago this whole region, about equal in area to the State of Rhode Island, was in the hands of the Crow Indians To-day, after ample provision has been made for the red man, thousands of acres remain for the use of the white settler. Already many of them are occupied. Hum- ble log cabins can be seen in every direction, and the upturned soil tells of the coming crop.
" These settlers are, for the most part, either cowboys with or without families, who, after years of wandering, have determined to enter upon a more settled hfe ; or miners, who, by the depression of the mining indus- tries, have been driven from the various camps of the State. In either case they are those who have for years been beyond the reach of religious privileges, or who have failed to avail themselves of such as were at hand. One woman in my congregation said it was the first sermon she had heard for twenty years, throwing in the remark that she 'didn't know what all the preachers had been about that they hadn't looked her up before. ' Several others testified to the fact that they had not attended a religious service before for from five to ten years. With one exception, all of the churches so situated that they can reach out toward this unoccupied field are Congregational churches. Each year a larger appropriation has been needed to meet the imperative demands of new work. From all parts of the State, from small towns, from country neighborhoods, and from mining campS, comes the cry for religious services. On every hand the testimony is heard even from men of the world. Things are not as they used to be. There is a better 'observance of Sunday, there is more of a sentiment in favor of church-going. Vice is less open and bold."
Rev. Joseph B. Clark, D.D., of New York, formerly Secretary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, in Boston, said: "The Congregational churches of America represent at least $700,- 000,000, and add to that sum every year, over and above all expense of living and all gifts of benevolence, about $20,000,000. A clear income of $20,000,000 a year above expenses is not a condition of poverty that should make timid its pressing the home missionary appeal. Yet the homeland societies were able last year, by every art of statement and appeal, to draw scarcely more than $1,000,000 for the redemption of America. Field secretaries and the secretary of woman's department during the past twelve months have carried appeal into 20 different States, making 1060 home missionary addresses in the presence of 244,000 hearers. The mass of non-giving churches numbering a year ago 2000 has been reduced to 1837. The Congregational churches do not yet appreciate the home missionary crisis. Congregational giving is at fault. Last year $750,000, or one third of all the reported gifts of Congregational churches, was for objects outside of the regular denominational channels. Foreign missions received one sixth of the whole; home missions did a little better, securing about one fifth, while the' other' objects of every sort and kind took the lion's share of one third. It is the violation of common sense when Congregational churches give 70 cents per member for foreign missions, $1.07 per member for home missions, and $1.40 cents per member for odds and ends."
tNTERNA~IONAL P:B:l'ARTMENT
II.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY BEV. ;r. T. GIaCEY, D.D.
International Missionary Union. Miss N. J. Dean (Persia); 1880, Rev. W. C. Dodd and Mrs. W. C. Dodd TWEI,FTH ANNUAL SESSION. (Laos); 1876-90, Mrs. Rev. A. Dowsley (China); 1888-!J4, Rev. J. B. Dunlap The International Missionary Union and Mrs. J. B. Dunlap (Siam); 1871-77, held its twelfth annual meeting at Clif- MissC. P. Dwight (Turkey) ; 1876, Rev. ton Springs, N. Y., June 12th-19th; C. S. Eby, D.D. (j"apan); 1887-89, Rev. being the sixth session held at this place, W. P. F. Ferguson (Mexico) ; 1887, Miss under the generous invitation of Dr. M. Estelle Files (Burma); 1881, Miss and Mrs. Henry Foster, who hospitably Estelle Fletcher (Micronesia) ; 1853-55, entertained for eight days nearly all of Mrs. O. M. Ford (Africa); 1888, Rev. the missionaries in attendance. J. M. Foster and Mrs. J. M. Foster (China); 1880, Miss Elsie M. Garretson The missionaries participating were (China); 1875, Rev. Lorin Samuel Gates as follows, the dates preceding the name (India); 1886, Rev. Frank P. Gilman indicating the year of entering the for- and Mrs. Frank. P. Gilman (China); eign field, and the year of discontinu- 1890, Rev. George A. Godduhn (Afriance thereon; where no second date ap- ca) ; 1861-68, Rev. J. T. Gracey, D.D., pears, they are still in the service, ex- and Mrs. J. T. Gracey (India); 1889, pecting to return to the work abroad at Miss Isabella M. Hargrave (Japan); the earliest opportunity: 1884, Miss Emily L. Harvey (India); 1867, Rev. H. C. Hazen-1884, Mrs. 1889, Rev. George D. Adamson (Afri- H. C. Hazen (India); 1872, Miss Ariena ca); 1850, Rev. William Ashmore, D.D. S. Henderson (Brazil); 1840, J. C. Hep. -1872, Mrs. William Ashmore (China) ; bum, M.D., and Mrs. J. C. Hepburn 1858–80, Rev. S. L. Baldwin, D.D. (China and Japan); 1880, Miss Janet H. (China); 1885-94, Rev. J. L. Barton, Houston (Mexico); 1873, Rev. S. W. D.D. (Turkey); 1879-81, Rev. W. H. Howland, D.D., and Mrs. S. W. How- Belden and Mrs. W.. H. Belden (Bul- land (Ceylon); 1890, Rev. F. E. Jeffery garia); 1849-61, Rev. Jacob Best (Afri- and Mrs. F. E. Jeffery (IndJa); 1855, ca); – – Mrs. Birdsell (China); 1853, Rev. H. H. Jessup, D.D., and Mrs. Rev. Henry Blodget, D.D., and Mrs. H. H. Jessup (Syria); 1884. Miss Carrie Henry Blodget (China) ; 1886-87, Mrs. 1. Jewell (China); 1885, Miss Theresa J. G. A. Bond (Malaysia); 1889, Rev. Kyle (India); 1860. Rev. Benjamin Lar- James Cantine (Arabia); 1890-92, rabee, D.D. (Persia); 1887, Charles J. Rev. W. A. Carrington (Brazil); 1886, Laffin, M.D. (Africa); 1885, Mrs. T. A. Rev. F. A. Cassidy, M.A., and Mrs. Large (Japan); 1888, Miss Alice Little F ..A. Cassidy (Japan); 1893, Miss M. 1. (Micronesia); 1874, Mrs. Robert W. Casterton (China); 1889, Miss Ella R Logan (Micronesia); 1888, Rev. Will· Church, (Japan); 1869, Mrs. .E. W. iam McClure, M.D., and Mrs. William Clark (Assam) ; 1859, Rev. J. F. Clarke, McClure (China) ; 1887, Rev. .E. W. Me- D.D.-1893i Miss Lizzie Clarke (Bul- Dowell and Mrs. E. W. McDowell (Turgaria); 1893, Rev. James Craighead and key) ; 1889, Miss Margaret I. McIntosh ?tIrs. James Craighead (Assam); 1876, (China); 1895, Miss Laura Mellen (Afri- Rev. S. P. Craver, D.D. (Mexico); ca); 1885, Rev. C. P. W. Merritt, M.D., 1881-85, Mr. Samuel Cross (Siam); and Mrs. C. P. W. Merritt (China); 1871-80, Rev. E. Cunningham and Mrs. 1890, Rev. Thomas Moody (Africa); E. Cunningham (India) ; 1878–79, Rev. 1887-92, Miss F. Kate Morgan (Japan); C. W. Cushing, D.D. (Italy); 1869-70, Rev. J. A. Davis, D.D. (China) ; 1883, Mrs. J. D. Davis (Japan); 1868-93, 1879, Miss Maria Morgan (Persia); 1888, 2 ; Ceylon, 2; China, 81; Greece, 1; Rev. Robert Morrison (India); 1891, Hawaii, 1; India, 28; Italy, 1 ; Japan, Miss Effie Murray (Ohina); 1869, Mrs. 15; Laos, 2 ; Malaysia, 1; Mexico, 6; M. J. Noyes (India) ; 1886, Miss Maria Micronesia, 4; Persia, 5; Siam, 4; G. Nutting (Turkey); 1890, Rev. Otis Syria, 2; Turkey, 8. Total fields, 133. C. Olds (Mexico); 1877-83, Rt. Rev. C. C. Penick, D.D.-1882-83, Mrs. By Board8,' American Board, 38; C. C. Penick (Africa); 1888, Miss Sarah Baptist, 16; Methodist-Canada, 6, Peters (China); 1878-80, Miss Mary United States, 24 = 30 ; Presbyterian- Priest (Japan); 1872-93, Mrs. A. E. Canada, 4, United States (North), 26, Randolph (China and Japan); 1889, (South), 5 = 35; Friends, 1 ; Hawaiian Mrs. E. G. Ritchie (China); 1877, Mrs. Evangelical, 1; Church of Scotland, Grace L. Roberts (China); 1884, Rev. 1 ; Protestant Episcopal, 2 j Reformed Noble L. Rockey (India); 1878,..92, (Dutch), 9. Total,133. Rev. T. R. Sampson, D.D. (Greece); 1862, Rev. T. J. Scott, D.D. (India) ; At the RecognitiO'h Meeting of Wed- 1855-76, Rev. E. C. Scudder, D.D., M.D. nesday evening, 80 missionaries respond. -1855, Mrs. E. C. Scudder-1890-94, ed to the roll-call, which was increased Mr. Henry J. Scudder-1890, Miss Ida to 120 the nex:t morning, and later, to Sophia Scudder-1861, Rev. John Scud- the number shown above. A large der, M.D., and Mrs. John Scudder- number of notable missionary workers 1883, Miss Mary K. Seudder (India); was present. The devotional hour from 1881, Mrs. F. M. Simpson (Hawaii); nine to ten o'clock each morning was 1891, Miss Jennie V. Smith (Burma) ; specially emphasized by petition for a – – Rev. J. Frazer Smith, M.D. (Chi~ baptism of the Holy Spirit for service, na); – – Rev. Jacob Speicher (China) ; special prayers for native Christians 1881-89, Rev. :rtf. Luther Stimson and exposed to persecution, and mission- Mrs. M. Luther Stimson (China); 1889, aries known to be in peril. Numer- Miss Cora A. Stone (Japan) ; 1887, Miss ous instances of cruel and unjust treat· Lucy W. Sullivan (India); 1854,..64, ment were detailed in many coun- Rev. R. Telford (Siam) ; 1868-73, Rev. tries, C. C. Thayer, M.D., and Mrs. C. C. Thayer (Turkey); 1869-72, Miss Mary One of the earliest topics discussed A. Thompson (China); 1881, Rev. related to the use the missionary should George N. Thomssen and Mrs. George seek to make of the protection by his N. Thomssen (India); – – Rev. Mil- civil government. ton S. Vail and Mrs. Milton S. Vail (Japan) ; 1876-92, Mrs. Loretta C. Van Rev. Dr. William Ashmore said: .. It Hook(Persia); 1859,Rev.J. W. Waugh, is the right of an American missionary D.D.-1871, Mrs. J. W. Waugh (India) ; to claim the protection of his Govern- 1884, Miss Jennie E. Wayte (India); ment. An opinion. has obtained that 1880-91, Mrs. Wellington J. White when an American becomes a missionary (China); 1871-81, Rev. Joel T. Whit· he ought no longer to claim protection ney (Micronesia); 1848-·57, Rev. J. K. from his Government." Against this Wight (China); 1880, Rev. S. G. Wil- the view of the Apostle Paul was adson (Persia); 1883-88, Rev. W. E. Wit- vanced. He endured persecution at all ter, M.D. (Assam) ; 1838-86, Rev. G. W. times and in all places. At the same time Wood, D.D. (Turkey); 1886, Rev. A. C. he never failed to claim his rights as a Wright and Mrs. A. C. Wright (Mexico) Roman citizen. .. We never ask for government help in any way in the The summary of this list shows the propagation of our fltith; on the conattendance. trary, we utterly refuse and repudiate it. But when we go abroad we are By Fields,' Africa, 9 ; Arabia, 1 ; As· American citizens still. We claim we sam, 4 i Brazil, 2; Bulgaria, 4 ; Burma, are in a lawful and honorable pursuit in preaching the Gospel, and so long as we are, we claim our rights simply as American citizens, the same as do mer· tors. He gave a number of instances of chants, sailors, and other classes. " men who seemed very unpromising, Dr. Henry Jessup, of Syria, said: who had been trained and developed , .. American citizens occupy a vantage into men of ability, able to lead and ground In Turkey from the fact that direct the native church. They must the United States Government has no have the best of training, because they political interest or intrigue there. The have to meet and contend with a SUbtle six European powers, England, France, philosophy. an old literature, and super- Germany, Russia, Austria and Italy, stitions hoary with age_ They needed to are the powers of the political treaties be thoroughly grounded in the Chris- with Turkey, and their subjects are rEl" tian life, taught a theology grounded on garded as haying political designs in the Bible, and made to understand the empire. In 1842 Commodore Por- practical Christianity. The theologi- ter took the grouud in Constantinople cal school which he represented, con· that American missionaries in Turkey nected with the Methodist Episcopal had no rights of protection. The United Church, was founded in 1872 and had States Secretary of State rebuked the sent out 536 native pastors. Even the commodore, and laid down the princi- women had also received training on ple that an A.merlcan citizen everywhere the same lines, and 192 had received in- and always will be protected by the struction and gone out as Bible readers United States Government in alllegiti- and teachers.
mate occupations. United States ships Rev. F. A. Cassidy, of Japan, spoke of war have been sent to Turkish ports of the Missionary in the Native Church, at the request of the United States Min- saying, among other things, there was ister to protect American interest!; but plenty of material in Japan for the min- the missionary did not ask it, nor did istry, but the missionary in Japan as an the missionaries ask arllled intervention educationalist, is indispensable and will in A.byssinia, nor in Uganda. With re- be for some time.
gard to the United States' protection A discussion was opened by Rev.
to naturalized foreigners, our Govern- C. W. Dodd, of Laos, on the subject of ment has no treaty of naturalization Mission Oversight and Individual Free- with the Turkish Government, and all dom in Mission Work. Rev. J. B.
Turkish subjects naturalized in the Dunlap, of Siam; Dr. J. Hepburn, of United States at once become Turkish Japan, and Rev. J. T. Whitney, of Mi- subjects again on entering Turkey." cronesia, took part. Dr. S. P. Craven, Dr. Scott, of India, said that the of Mexico, wanted some information in missionary has the same rights of civil regard to the relation of the missionary protection as anyone else. In India no and the native pastor and church, say- convert is supposed to lose his rights by ing that this matter had given the mis- changing his religion. sionaries some concern in Mexico, and 'fhe Need and Means of Securing an he desired to kuow if such was the case Efficient Native Ministry was presented in other mission&. Dr. Hepburn said by Dr. T. J. Scott, for thirty-five years that in Japan the natives felt able to in India. Dr. Scott has had large ex- take entire charge of their work, and perience, having been the president of thought they could do without the super- the theological Beminary in BareilIy, In- vision of the missionary! Dr. Ashmore dia, for many years. He said it waB then made an address on the subject as fundamental to the success of all mis- related to China, saying they encour- sionary work to have a trained natiye aged the Chinese pastors to push out and ministry. Foreigners cannot evangel- become independent as soon as they ize a country; it must be done by the were able.
natives. They must be trained for pas- Rev. J. W. Waugh, D.D., for thirty- tors. The priests of India are not pas- five years in IndJa, spoke on The Inliuence and Power of Music in Missionary turies the Nestorians sent out great men Work. He referred to the fact that the as missionaries, but afterward became world uses music to influence the mind corrupt, lind they are now low, degrad- and heart. Music is utilized in the ba- ed, and ignorant. They have their zaars to draw a crowd, that the Gospel Scriptures in manuscript, but their may be preached to them. The natives priests are unable to read them. Sixty do not know very much about foreign yeaTS ago work was commenced among music, and prefer to sing their own na- these Bedouin Arabs and Koords, by tive airs instead of translations of our Drs. Perkins lind Grant. They have hymns. All their music is in a minor now six organized churches, and a num- key. All missionaries ara beginning to ber of preaching stations, with twenty recognize the great evangelistic power or thirty village schools. Rev. James of sacred song. The people in the rural Cantina, of Arabia, followed, and his districts of India sing these native Chris· theme created great interest, as very tian songs in the evenings, after their litUe is known of that far-away barren day's work is done. Dr. Waugh and unevangelized land, the home of Mo- his wife, son, and daughter, sang sev- hammed, the false prophet. There are eral of these Hindustani hymns illus- only four mission stations on the four trating his remarks. thousand miles of coast, and no mis- Bishop Penick, of the Protestant sionary in the whole interior. It has Episcopal Church, referred to African been entirely neglected until recent music, and said he never heard in Afri- years. Formerly Arabia had a great ca anything like the music on the plan. caravan trade; but since commerce left tations in the South. A.ll African music, the land, and chose the sea, the entire was an imitation of Bounds in nature. country has suffered and become in II Dr. Jessup, of Syria, said the Arab sense deserted. The country is low.
race had no conception of harmony. hot, rainless, and almost barren of trees He told of organizing a singing school or vegetation. The Arabian mission.
when he first went to the mission field as represented by Mr. Cantine, was or- and of the difficulties encountered, but ganized in America in 1889. Three said there had been great improvement, coast stations have been entered-viz.• and the music in many of their churches Busiah, Bahrein, and Muscat. In the lat- was very good. He sang an Arabic song. ter city a Bible·and·book-store has been One hour of one of the mornings was opened, and villages in the surround- devoted to the discussion of Industrial ing country visited. Some etfort was schools in mission fields. Mr. Henry made to start schools, but the Govern- J. Scudder told of one in connection ment interfered with all educational with the Reformed Church in India work. Rev. S. G. Wilson, of Tabriz.
that had been a great success, the pupils spoke of the great Improvement in being compelled to study part of the day many things during the forty-seven and devote the other part to learning years' reign of the present Shah. There some useful branch of industry. Such was oppression still, but many things schools have been tried in some fields had been changed. The Jews have been and had been failures. What is suc- and are still oppressed; but the Govern- cessful in one mission may not be in an- ment issued an order saying, " Let any other. Africa needs something differ- Jew be a Christian, or any Christian a ent from India. Jew without molestation." In 1880 MOHAMMEDAN LANDS. two native Christians visited England in order to bring before the Govern- Rev. E. W. McDowell was for eight ment the condition of native Christians.
years in Mosul, on the Tigris River. The Government is capricious, and He spoke chiefly of the Nestorians, re- sometimes suddenly shuts up churches viewing their history, In the early cen- and school-houses without any explanation. Mr. Wilson gave several instances Christian thought. Dr. J. W. Waugh of severe persecution by the officials of compared the present condition of India native Christians, and told of one case with what it was thirty-three years ago, which resulted in the death of one of when he entered the country.. It was a their most prominent native preachers. mistaken policy to begin with the high- Dr. Jessup, of Syria, said the Turk- est classes. The poor have the Gospel ish Empire was shrinking in dimen- preached to them. He gave examples sions constantly. . The Mohammedan of caste being broken down by Chris- religion was a religion of works, it has tianity. Every method known in mis- nothing to do with moral character sionary warfare is used.
whatever. A Mohammedan may say Miss T. Kyle spoke of village work his prayers, or make a pilgrimage to in North India, giving a description of Mecca., then do what he pleases without a native village, pastor's home, and the restraint. He graphically described way people live and support them- these pilgrimages to Mecca, the filthy selves; Mrs. Clark spoke of Assam as habits of pilgrims, the great cause of being a road to 'fhibet, and of the great outbursts of cholera during these pil- success among the aborigines, the Kohls, grimages, and stated that in 1893, 50,000 and of the early work of herself and died of that disease. He exhibited a husband. Dr. E. Witter referred to curious certificate, a little over a yard work among the hill tribes; Rev. W. C.
in length, covered with extracts from Dodd told of the Laos people in Upper the Koran, and illustrated. It is a cer- Siam, of the remoteness of the field, the tificate given in l'Iecca to all pilgrims few laborers, the people, deadly climate, as a passport to Paradise. It was given religion, and demon worshippers. The to a friend of the doctor's who had mission was organized over forty years given medical help to a pilgrim. He ago, and does not need money as much stated that there were 100,000,000 of as it does laborers.
Mohammedans under Christian rule, Rev. S. L. Howland, principal of the and the Queen of England rules over Jaffna College, in Ceylon. said that there many more than the Sultan of Turkey. is scarcely a person in Jaffna who had The American colleges were doing a not a knowledge of Christ; the mission great work in educating the young work there is largely self-supporting, men. These are located at Beirut, Ain- the missionary board now giving very tab, Harpoot, Marsovan, and Constan- little toward the work. Dr. John Scud- tinople. There are 26 Protestant female der took for his theme, Are Missions a seminaries, with 2000 young women Failure? There were signs all over the under Christian training, and 75,000 vast country of India where he had children studying the Bible. The print- labored of the power of the Gospel ele- ing-housesin Constantinople and Beirut vating the people. IIinduism was or- are great lights in a dark land. The ganized in its opposition to Christianity, Bible is printed in eleven different lan- and in all his thirty years' experience guages. and the Arabic Bible is sent out he had never known such opposition as over large parts of the Mohammedan in the past few years, and he took it as an world. Dr. Jessup by request gave the encouraging sign. Hindus have their Muezzin, or call to prayer. which is own tract societies, reform movements, heard from the mosque five times a day. such as those to prevent infant mar- SOUTHEASTERN ASIA. riages, societies to encourage widows to remarry giving a bonus to everyone Rev. R. Morrison, of t.he Punjab, who will marry a widow, and they util- spoke on the movement among the ize the press and send out their missiona- lower classes. He said the country ries to teach Hinduism. A native prince moves in masses. Caste is found only issued a proclamation that no girl in his in India, and it must be saturated with territory should be married under sixteen. He was asked if he didn't get Congo. Rev. G. A. Goddhun, of Badiscouraged, but said such a word tanga, spoke of the needs of educawas not in the missionaries' vocabulary. tional work and a trained native mInis- Discouragement came when he could try, while Dr. C. Lafflin emphasized not supply help to those who wanted the power of medical ministration in it, and he had to tell them to go back winning the people. Rev. G. D. Adamto their idols. He was discouraged by son, who has been on the Kussie, one the apathy of the Church at home, and of the tributaries of the Congo, told of not by his work. the habits and customs of the natives. Bishop Penick, now advocating the CHINA, AFRICA., MEXICO, BRAZIL, ETC. work of the Protestant Episcopal Church among the colored people, made Rev. Dr. S. L. Baldwin spoke on the an address, which was replete with Chino·Japanese War. He did not be- bold pictures of coincidences which lieve there was any great necessity for marked the singular providential movethe war. The Chinese are not cowards ments for the advancement of the interin war. "Why have they met with ests of the African race, 'all of which such disasters?" was asked. " Be- mark the fact that God has some great cause the Chinese were unprepared and purpose to work out for and through her offinials corrupt. The Chinese Em- the African peoples. pire is not and will not be destroyed and is not going to be disintegrated. A whole session was devoted to mis- China will take a new course, and will sions in the Roman and Greek-Cr.urch be reedy to be taught by foreigners. Lands, Mexico, Bulgaria, Brazil, etc. There is a strong movement toward Western civilization. That was a sig- SOME SPECIAL TOPICS. nificp.nt fact, the presentation of the Scriptures to the Empress dowager. Rev. Dr. Blodget, of China, read a Christianity and Western life will and paper on How Shall They be Sent? must come to China." He referred to the young men and wom- en of the Student Volunteer Movement, Dr. Ashmore followed, and said: saying many were now ready, and more " The missionary progress in China was were preparing, and it was a question by stages, bordered every time by war. whether existing boards could send After the opium war five ports were them, or whether other measures should opened and missionaries entered; the be devised. The whole subject of the opening of other ports followed, and economical administration of missions now there are seventeen hundred mis- was considered. He proposed that sionaries. The war is a blow to Chinese young men and women should tender official corruption and to Chinese edu- their services to the boards under pledge cation, and to the whole system of Con- of ten years' service as unmarried misfucianism." Dr. Ashmore spoke for sionaries, favoring thus Dr. Cust's sugsome time and was roundly applauded. gestion of the establishment of mission- It was probably one of the most com- ary " brotherhoods." The paper coverprehensive accounts of the war and its ed, besides, the sending out of married possible results ever given to an Ameri- and unmarried missionaries, the style of can audience. living on the field, the economizing in Tarious ways to help the various boards One evening session was devoted to to carryon and extend their work. A the consideration of work in Africa. vigorous and spicy debate followed the Thomas Moody, for some years on the reading of this paper. In this connec- Congo, made the opening address. He tion there were many touching incidents delineated the low state of morality brought out of self-sacrifice on the part among the people and the wonderful success of mission work. There are ot the workers, of how they had suffernow 150 missionaries working On the ed, health had been impaired, ILnd even death had followed, because missiona- with the outside world only as the misries tried to live too economically in sion steamer visits the island once a year. climates where they should have every protection and comfort in order to do Mrs. Hepburn gave some reministheir work successfully. The best cences of her early life and connection economy was to take good care of mis- with missionary work in Japan, and sionaries. The discussion almost snowed her house-keeping experiences. Miss under Dr. Blodget's proposal of pledg- Scudder, of the Arcot Mission, India, ing too years of unmarried service. But located at Vellore, told of work among he was not disconcerted. He did nut the zenanas. Mrs. Large, connected expect it would meet with favor, but with the Methodist Church of Canada, anticipated confidently that ten years made a brief address on her school work. hence it would be commonly adopted. A few years ago Mrs. Large's husband was murdered by the Japanese, and to WOMAN'S WORK. this day the police have no clue of the perpetrators of the deed. They entered The session devoted to Woman's the house, it was supposed, for robbery. Work presented a panorama of the She has 11eroically carried on her work. various mission fields of the world. Fifteen women took part, and spoke Mrs. Richie, of Tungchow, told of briefly and comprehensively of their her connection with the college In that various forms of work. There were station, she also carrying on work that three women on the platform whose ag- she took up after her husband's death. gregate time of service reached one Every student who had gone out from hundred and twenty-five years-Mrs. the school was a Chriiltian. Mrs. Mc- Hepburn, of China and Japan; Mrs. Clure, of Honan, said she was the only Scudder, of Southern India, and Mrs. white woman in the province, and was Blodget, of China. located three hundred miles from a post- office. Scarcely a Chinese woman in Miss Houston, who had worked on the province could read. the Mexican border for fourteen years, told of the influences that led her to be Mrs. McDowell, of Turkey; Mrs. Dr. a missionary. Mrs. Logan, :who had Ashmore, of China; Miss Smith, of Burbeen connected with the work in the l!la; Miss Van Hook, of Tabriz, Per- Caroline Islands, stirred everyone by sia; Mrs. Jessup, of Syria, and Mrs. her story. She had been on the island Clark, of Assam, also took part. of Ponape when the work had been interrupted by Spanish occupancy. The MORAVIAN MISSIONS. work west of Ponape was begun aud carried on for years by converted na- A paper on Moravian Missions was tives, supervised by American missiona- read by Mrs. W. H. Belden, formerly ries. They practically reduced the lan- of Bulgaria. She said ; guage to writing, which was revised by Mr. Logan, who translated the New " The Moravian Church is, above all Testament into the language. The churches, a missionary church. Its polwork spread until it reached the lagoon icy is and always has been to go to the of Ruk, where there is a population of very lowest of the heathen, and to diffi- 12,000 to 15,000 people. In 1834 Mr. cult and dangerous fields where no one and Mrs. Logan were sent there. They else goes. So unworldly and unobtrufound the people fierce, sa"Vage, and sive is this church, so pure and simple treacherous. There was no law and no its doctrines and life, that from a worldregard for rights of property or, indeed, ly view it seems an unimportant deof human life. Mr. Logan lived only nomination. It has stood for one hunthree years, and Mrs. Logan has carried dred and sixty-three years an example on the work since, having no connection and inspiration to all Christendom. The home of the Moravians was mostly in Moravia and Bohemia. They were the followers of John Huss, who suffered martyrdom in' 1415. They formed of the Oroomiah College, supervisor of themselves into an association called all church interests, and devoted much the Unitas Fratrum (United Brethren). time to itinerating among the rugged a name they still retain. They received mountains of Koordistan.
the rite of episcopal ordination from the Dr. Nathan Sites, of the Methodist last remaining of the Waldensian bish- Episcopal Ohurch in Foochow, China, ops, Stephen, who also suffered mar· died in February. He had been a mis- tyrdom. This makes them the oldest sionary there for thirty-four years.
Episcopal Church in existence, the his· Miss Jewell ilpoke of his life and tri- tory of the Waldensiane showing an un· umphant death. Reference was also interrupted line of episcopacy connected made to the death of Rev. Mr. Good, with that of apostolic time.. Their of Africa, and to that of Rev. Lewis Bod- great leader was Zinzendorf, a man of well, who was chaplain of the sanita- royal blood and incomparable piety." rium for twenty-five years. Mr. Bod- Mrs. Belden gave a graphic descrip- well was not a member of the Union, tion of a visit she made some years ago but closely identified with it. Suitable to Herrnhut, the headquarters of their resolutions of condolence were passed.
church and missionary board. This old historic town is about tifty miles from CoMMUNICATIONS. Dresden, and is built upon land donated to the church by Zinzendorf. There The members of this Union who are are no paupers and no millionaires on their fields constitute an Outlook among the MoravianB. Before they ar· Committee to report annually on events rive at that place they leave the church. occurring in the parts of the world The ancestors of the Vanderbilts were where they may be. Many such com- Moravian!. The number of missiona· munications were received. Dr. J. L.
ries at present is 2500, or about 1 out of Phillips reported on the Sunday-school every 50 of it! members at home and on work of India. Miss Rice, of Oroo- the foreign field. One little community miah; Mr. Ford, of Syria; Mr. Kilbon, of. 418 souls has 21 of its sons and of Zululand, and many others sent im- daughters in foreign mission work. portant communications. Rev. F. Cole, of Bitlis, Turkey, wrote of the unset- MEMORIAL SERVICES. tled condition of affairs, and stated that the missionaries were in receipt of their Three members of the Union had died letters which at one time were inter- within the year-Dr. A. P. Happer, of cepted, but newspapers were considered China; nr. J. H. Shedd, of Persia. and dangerous, and were still not allowed.
Dr. Nathan Sites. Dr. Hepburn pre- He referred to the death of Mr. Knapp, sented the paper relating to Dr. Hap· for many years a missionary of the per. American Board, and said that he was Dr. Happer organized the first Pres- so popular and had such an influence byterian Church in China, and during that 2000 people attended his funeral, a visit home raised some $50.000 tow- and three heathen priests asked to take ard establishing a college for young part in the services. While the people men in the city of Canton. but did not do not always accept Christianity, yet ljve to see the work accomplished. Dr. this shows the infiuence and power of Labaree read a paper concerning the the life of a good man among tbem.
recent death of Dr. J. H. Shedd, for A communication was read from Rev.
thirty-five years a missionary in Persia. H. M. Woods, of China, accompani6'J Such was his devotion, his learning, his with a petition which the missionaries .oversight of the work. that he was called of aU denominations have sent to the by the natives "Priest·Bishop-Patri- United States Government regarding the arch." He was a great leader, President rights of missionaries in the interior of China. It is asked that the Missionary RESOLUTIONS. Union adopt a resolution approving the petition, and urging the President and Armenia and the massacre of Arme- Senate to come to the relief of mis· sionaries in the interior. It calls atten- nians came in for a full share of consid· tion to the ill-defined and unsatisfactory status of the rights of missionaries eration. In extent Armenia was stated under the treaties now existing between the United States Government and to be a country as large as New Eng- China. For twenty-five years missionaries have settled in the interior, and land. It includes the upper Euphrates now hundreds of Americans are there, holding property amounting to several and the Tigris. There are 5,000,000 hundreds of thousands of dollars. While they believe they have a clear, construc- people-1,500,000 are Armenian Christive right to residence in the interior, the treaties do not, as they should, tians. They are among Mohammedans, guarantee them this right in explicit terms; and they desire that a clear itate- ruled by them and hated by them. ment of the rights of missionaries to reside in the interior be inserted in the Massacres have been many. In 1822 on treaty, believing it would do much toward putting an end to litigation and the island of Seio 23,000 men, women. riots, and secure full protection for United States citizens. and children were slain, and 17,000 of They request also that the Chinese them sold into slavery. The mas- Government be asked to suppress certain widely circulated books, which if sacres of 1860 in Syria and Damascus not regularly authorized by Government are published by high officials, are remembered; also in 1876 in Bul· and have among the people the weight and authority of Government publica- garia. The worst one was in August, tions, and which contain foul calumnies against foreigners and Christianity. 1894, and the particulars of it are too These books inflame the mind, and to such publications are largely due the horrible to print. Unless European riots which endanger the lives and property of American citizens. Also to re- powers combine to act, the Christians lieve the oppressive condition requiring missionaries to hold property only in Turkey will be put to the sword. in the name of the native church, for this puts the property of the United There must be a reform government, or States citizens completely at the mercy of Chinese officials, which can be con- death awaIts all. Terror reigns among fiscated at any time. This petition has already been signed by 164 representa- Armenians, Syrians, and Nestorians. tives of all denominations of the Christian Church in Amedca from 28 differ- The Union took action upon sevent States. The paper and petition was referred to a committee of three, with eral important matters, notably the fol- Dr. Gracey as chairman, with power to represent the Union during the year in lowing on the Armenian question: this matter. " Whereas, The official reports of the joint European commIssion on Armenia and the correspondence of the secular and religious press, have confirmed the reports of the massacre of thousands of Armenian Christians in the Sassoun province In August and September, 1894; and " Whereas. The six Christian powers of Europe, signatories of the treaty of Berlin which gua.ranteed the protection of the Armenian people from oppres- sion and outrage, are to a great extent responsible for the present state of things in Armenia ; and " WherelM, The British Government, from the fact that it has four times saved the Turkish Government from destruction, occupies a position of promi- nent responsibility and influence for the future of the Ottoman Empire and peo- ple ; therefore, "Re8olved, That we, more than one hundred Christian missionaries of all branches of the Church, and from vari- ous parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, North and South America, and the Islands of the Sea, are moved to extend our sympathies to the sufferers from the dreadful events in Sassoun, and would call upon our brethren and sisters of the Christian Church in Great Britain to unite in prayer to God and in petition Christian Temperance Union is that of to Her Majesty's Government that such Khama, chief of the Bechuanaland. measures may be taken at the present The .Aborigines' Friend is a journal of ~risis as will secure the peace, prosper· the transactions of the Aborigines' Pro- Ity, and protection of the Armenians tection Society, and we note with anxand their Christian subjects of the Sul- iety the report in a recent number of tan of Turkey in the future."
The Union also passed another reso- that magazine, that the Chartered Com- lution uttering its emphatic protest pany favors such interference with the against the introduction of rum into present arrangement for the prohibition Africa and of opium into China from na- of all strong drinks in Khama's coun- tions claiming to be Christian. For try as will enable the English and others some time past there has been a great traveIling there to gratify their tastes agitation in India of the opium ques- in this respect. The highway from tion, and a committee was appointed to that country to l1atabeleland passes report to Parliament concerning the through Bechuanaland. A line of rail- whole question of its use. That com- way thither is now being built, but the mittee reported upholding it, and this road is at present traversed by the help has called forth the condemnation of all of cattle-wagons or horses. Meanwhile Christian people. The Union, in the the travellers, road·makers, and others resolutions adopted, say, "The circum· employed on the route want to be sup- stances of a glossing report being made plied with liquor. It is apparently for to the English Parliament calls only for their convenience that canteens and more vigor in this protest. The pro· " hotels" are proposed. But all experi· prietles of law and equity justify a ence shows that wherever canteens and challenge of witnesses in cases when the like are set up it is impossible to rethe testifiers themselveS" are known to strict the use of them to those for be dependent on the opium traffic to whom they were ostensibly designed. maintain their exchequer, and their This is the statement of the LJ.borigines' salaries are more or less an outcome of Friend. Six years ago Khama wrote opium proceeds, Ilnd when they are the British authorities: possibly amassing riches out of opium " It is not the same thing to offer my sales. The Chinese people themselves country to Her Majesty to be occupied have not been fairly and fully heard on by the English settlers, as it is to allow the subject. The missionaries maintain men so worthless and unscrupulous as the hope that there wi1l be instituted an – – and – – to come outside of all extended, systematic and exhaustive in· governments and flood my country with quiry that will end in setting the undis- their drink, after all the long struggle I made against it, withstanding my guised truth before the world." people at the risk of my life, and just Woman in Missions-papers and ad- as they have themselves come to see dresses presented at the Woman's Con- how great a salvation my drink laws gress of Missions at Chicago: 1893, have proved to be. It were better for compiled by Rev. Dr. Wherry, Secre· me that I should lose my country than taryof the World's Congress of mis· that it should be flooded with drink.
sions, published by the American Tract To fight against drink is to fight against Society, 10 East Twenty.third Street, demons, and not against men. I dread New York-is a valuable contribution the white man's drink more than the to current missionary literature. assegais of the Matabele, which kills men's bodies; but drink puts devils Kkama and l)rr:nk.-There is some- into men and destroys both their souIs thing pathetic in the fact that one of and bodies forever. Its wounds never the most honored names of the Poly- heal. I pray your honor never to ask glot Petition of the World's Woman's me to open even a little door to drink. "
l"mLD OF MONTHLY SURVEY
I1I.-FIELD OF MONTHLY SURVEY.
llY D. L. PIERSON.
PAPAL EUROPE AND THE PAPACY.* who piously recite it, should open the eyes of some blinded men and women Missions to Roman Catholic countries to the real aims of the popish propado not receive from many the sympathy ganda. The reunion of Christendom and support which they deserve. Those means to the Pope and his emissaries who are familiar only with Romanism absorption into the Romlsh Church, as it appears on the surface in Prot- nothing more and nothing less. estant countries like England and America fail to appreciate the great Romanism is an enemy to purity, necd for giving to papal lands the pure since the priest, however carnal, is the Gospel. What unopposed Romanism people's guide and example, and by his will do for a people may be seen by the power to sell indulgences and forgive ignorance, degradation, and political sins puts a premium upon evil doing. and moral impotence which exists in Fra Paolo Sarpi, the greatest of the countries where the priest has been the Venetians of the sixteenth century, dictator to tlle popular conscience, as in early took the stand that he held Spain, Mexico, and South America. through life, that confession is unscrip- Some of these countries are iust now tural and demoralizing to confessor and throwing oft' the papal yoke: but the confessed. Like Count Cambello, the question which confronts the Church is present leader of the Catholic Reform whether they will take instead the yoke movement in Italy, Fra Paolo would of infidelity and difference, or that of never accept a license to hear confes- Christ. sions and risk becoming an accomplice with his penitents in their sin, ae is the That the majority of Roman Catho- case with so many priests at the preslics need to be converted as truly as any ent day. He directed those who came unsaved Boul is never doubted by those to him to confess to God. CeUbacy in who are familiar with Roman!sm as it the priesthood has ever been a promoter is seen in papal lands, where the of laxity of morals. A Catholic priest, "works of the fiesh" (Gal. 5 : 19) en- writing in the London Daily CMonicle, tirely crowd out the "fru!t of the in regard to a rumored relaxation of the Spirit ;" where forms are observed, but discipline of celibacy, says: the Spirit is absent, and the priests set an example of almost unrestrained ".If there were any evidence that a parlicentiousness; where the Bible is a ticle of itnruEthurlaoypeunwdoeur ltdhejruummpofr~r50jo00y0. closed and forbidden book, since igno- priests rance of its teachings is the great safeguard of the Romish Church. The Celibacy of the clergy has always been Pope's encyclical letter on the" Study of the Scriptures" is said to be unheard to some extent a sham, and its profesof by the masses in papal lands. sion a hypocrisy. It has caused almost The Pope's letter to the English people, recently published with the copy of all the defections that have taken place the prayer to the Virgin Mary, and the from among the clergy, and has depromise of 300 days' indulgence to all prived the Church of some of her most * See pp. 20, 27 (January), 179, 213 (March), brilliant and devoted ministers. To say 427, 434 (June). 523 (July), 561, 580, 588 (August). Literature: "The Bible In Spaiu," Barrow; that the Catholic priest renounces the "The Awakening of Italy and the Crises of best of good things for the love of Christ Rome," J. A. Wylie, LL.D.; "The White Fields Is mere fiction. Two out of every three of France," Andrew Bonar. of us, to put the matter mildly, do so in order to get a living. The modU8 oper- andi Is this: A certain number of boys of ten or twelve, mostly of artisan par- entage, are picked up by the clergy and sent to a preparatory school. There, and afterward at a higher school, they receive a fairly liberal education, to- gether with a religious and theological training. They are taught to look upon indulgences, 1095; use of beads in wor- every act or word, or even momentary ship, 1090; the sacrifice of the mass thought which may lead in the direc 1100; the confessional box, 1215; pur: tion of marriage as a mortal sin. So gatory, 1439; worship of Mary, 1563 ; continuously is this doctrine dinned into their ears that probably 90 per cent at seven sacraments, 1547; creed of Pope t~e tl~e of their ordination actually be- Pius IV., 1564; immaculate conception, lIeve It, and the other 10 per cent im- 1854; papal infallibility, 1870.
agine they do. In two or three years Roman Catholics n1u53m,0b0e0r,0a0b0ouatr2e20!~- 000,000, of whom there comes a rude awakening. What can the poor men do? Their education unfits them for any other walk in life. Europe, 9,000,000 in Asia and Malaysia, A priest may do many things and be 1,150,000 in Africa, 56,000,000 In North forgiven; but let him honestly marry, and South America, and 850,000 in Aus- and the Church does her best! to exe- crate him. She will not, under any cir- tralasia and Polynesia.
cumstances, give him leave to withdraw A glance at the conditions of the peo- into lay communion and marry. Stay ple and progress of the work in some of he must, and be asapvrieedstifhheeshcaalnl '~oitf he the European countries may show the ceases to live as be saved if the Church can help it. So a need for laborers and the encourage- good many go in despair-more than ments there presented.
Catholics dream of-and a good many Italy.-This country, whose commis· stay in despair, and make the best of a very bad job." sian entrusted with the selection of pri- Romanism is a foe to the intellectual mary school text-books not many years progress of the masses, for she has found ago decided to exclude every book in by experience that their intellectual which appeared the name of God, is training tends to emancipate them from now raising up statesmen who are acservile obedience to the dictates of the knowledging His power. The Minister priests. Eight papal countries, with a of Finance, in view of the depression in population 91 per cent Catholic, show business, exclaims, "May God protect an illiteracy of 60 per cent. Liberty of Italy!" and the Prime Minister says conscienee is denied, or when per- that they only are good citizens upon mitted, it is only as the" lesser of two whose banner is inscribed "Dio, Re, evils," of which the greater is the op- patria" (" God, the king, the fatherpression and suppression of Romanism land"), a sentiment echoed by King by a Protestant majority, and when Humbert himself. A distinguished able to do so, Rome would abolish the member of the Chamber of Deputies lesser evil by establishing herself in speaks of the Papal Church as " a rotthose "rights she possesses by Divine ten bough upon the tree of Christian- ity." Another says: "The Church of and historic right. ,,* The Papal Church was not always so Rome seems to be the antithesis of the encumbered with forms and so filled Gospel of Christ." Even though these with error, although she claims to have men know not God, this is at least a been always the same. The Christian step in advance of the atheism which Irishman enumerates its successive steps they have for many years openly proin error and assumption in the follow- fessed. ing order and at the following times: Invocation of the saints, 375 A.D. ; the The Church of Rome, in spite of a service in Latin, 600; papal supremacy, seeming change of attitude, stilI keeps 606 ; images and relics, 787; baptism the Bible as far as possible from the of bells, 965; canonization of saints people. The Bible societies, however, 993; the celibacy of the priesthood: are doing a grand work in putting the Word within the reach of young and 1000 ; transubstantiation, 1000 ; sale of old. The mission of Pastor Cav. Capellini • See Father Baumgartuer in the" Kirchenlexicon," edited by Professor Franz Kaulen, Bonn, to soldiers in Rome has now been in Germany. existence for twenty·two years. The Military Church began its life amid con- walls, but you cannot take from us the flicts with priests and Jesuitism; and precious truths we have learned within although the Church of Rome has never them I" During the winter both serceased its persecution, and just now is vices and schools have been carried on making every cffort to draw away con- in one of the peasant's cottages, in a verts by opposition services and to other- small low room altogether insufficient, wise hinder the work, yet every year and for the children unwholesome, with greater progress has been made. the variation of an occasional meeting in In Rome there are SO cardinals, 35 the open air under the chestnut-trees.* bishops, 1369 priests, 2832 monks, and 2215 nuns, and yet in the same city live The Waldensian Church, of historic 190,000 people (adults) who can neither note, numbering over 20,000, and formread nor write. ing the bulk of Italian Protestants, reports as one result of its mission An example of the opposition of the work, 44 churches, 63 stations, 43 or- Church of Rome to the Protestant move- dained pastors, 6 evangelists, 76 other ment is the case of the little Alpine vil- helpers, 5018 communicants, and 55,194 lage of Montorfano, near the Lake Mag- adherents. This church has recently giore, whose inhabitants some five years passed through a remarkable spiritual ago left the Church of Rome and formed revival, and almost daily meetings have themselves into an evangelical commu- been held with undoubted manifestanity. In their secession, they brought tions of the power of the Holy Spirit. with them the ancient church of the hamlet, removing from it images, con- The Evangelical Church in Italy refessionals, and other symbols of the ports 26 churches, 35 stations, 132 placeil worship they had abandoned, and adapt- visited regularly, 21 ordained and 10 uning it to the aimpler and purer services ordained preachers, over 50 other reguof their new faith. This was done in lar helpers, 1697 communicants, and the full conviction of their right thus to 6315 adherents. Work has been cardispose of the building, and with the ried on amid much opposition from the sanction of the local civil authorities. Church of Rome and in the face of seri- In fact, for nearly four years their use ous difficulties arising from hard times, of the church for evangelical worship emigration, and the prevalent indifferremained undisturbed. But rather more ence, superstition, and infidelity. than twelve months ago the bishop of the diocese interposed. and brought the Statistics of Protestant churches in case before the civil courts. The supe- France report Protestant houses of worrior tribunal restored the edifice to the ship in 781 localities, 887 Reformed Church of Rome, thus depriving the pastors in charge of congregations, and little community both of house of pray- 12 Reformed chaplains in the army. The er and of school·rooms. This issue, Lutheran clergy number only 90, the though grievous and disappointing. has Free Evangelical Church has 47, and not shaken in the least the steadfastness the other Protestant denominations have of the ¥ontorfano Evangelicals. Not a 72. There are also 5 Bible societies, 19 member has left the church, not a child Protestant societies for home missions, has been withdrawn from the school. 6 for foreign missions, 44 orphans' The effect has rather been that of puri· homes, 47 refugee houses, 60 hospitals fying and strengthening their faith in and 118 Protestant periodicals. Christ, by eliminating from it all nonessentials. The sentiments of all were The McAll Mission continues to do a well expressed by one of their leaders, noble work in its 129 halls in 73 cities who, when the priest was carrying off and townships. The work takes the the keys of the church, exclaimed, form of evangelistic meetings in mis- " Yes, you may take from us the four sion rooms, on the street and public and * Contributions toward the erection of a sim- ple building for their needs may be sent to Hen- ry J. Piggott, 28 Via delle Coppelle, Rome, Italy. private hOUlles, from road wagons, and overcome. One ex-priest is now sup- on the Mission Boat; singing and stere- porting himself as a day laborer until opticon lectures are useful auxilia- he can secure better employment.
ries, and dispensaries and industrial Since its establishment the Bible 80- schools do an important work ; special ciety has circulated over 12,000,000 of meetings for the blind, the chimney French Scriptures in whole or part, and sweepers, the cabmen, soldiers and fish- there are constantly accumulating evi- ermen, for mothers, children, young dences that the liberal sowing of the men and young women, also form good seed has been by no means in vain.
branches of the work, and the training The minds of the common people of classes for converts are no less impor- France are open to the Gospel in a won- tant and interesting. derful way. They will listen to any The Salvation Army is engaged in a presentation of it, no matter how un- very active and successful work. At usual; in fact, every form of presenta- Rouen one evening over 100 people tion of the Gospel is unusual to nine- testified to blessings received, causing teen twentieths of these people. The restitution of goods, preventing murder opportunity for evangelistic work is and suicide, and bringing infidels of abundant; with God's blessing only twenty years' standing to Christ. men and money are needed to bring Hitherto no missionary movement has about wonderful results.
affected the universities of the Conti- In Spain there are working 14 Prot- nent, and the societies have been com- estant societies, 20 male and 29 female pelled almost entirely to educate their missionaries, 41 Spanish pastors, and 37 own missionaries. For three years a evangelists. There are 3600 communi- quiet Christian work has been going on cants. The Reformed Church of Spain among the 15,000 students of Paris. A arose in 1881, and consisted of 15 con- society of about 200 has been formed gregations and 3000 members. There for Protestant students which Pastor are said to be in Spain and Portugal to- Monnier superintends and conducts. gether over 50 Protestant congregations Not a few of the men have been quick- and 10,000 adherents. Roman Catho- ened. The Volunteer Movement in lics are more intolerant here than any- Britain and America have been brought where else in Europe, and hinder the to their attention, and at the first meet- work by threats, false accusations, ing at which the "declaration card" bribes, and every form of persecution.
was used, nine men put down their The people are often friendly, but fear names. Most of these had been pre- the priests. Spain needs the Gospel paring for the foreign field, but the even more than a revival of commerce.
nucleus has been formed; the volun- An extremely interesting but quiet teers have begun to work, and there are work has been going on among the Ro- strong hopes that there will be some manists in Ireland, carried on by stu- considerable increase in Paris, and an dents from Harley House, London. The extension into other colleges in France work has been against many obstacles and Switzerland. and amid many dangers, but there have An interesting work among the 50,000 been glorious results.
French priests has been going on under The report of last year's operations Professor Bertrand, of Paris. Many of the Irish Evangelization Society tells priests are ignorant and many have lost a tale of devoted effort. accompanied confidence in the ceremonies which they by much encouragement. During the mechanically perform. Numbers of past year 2375 meetings were held at these have become Protestants and 146 places. Two movable buildings and workers among their brethren. Their many tents are used ; churches, school- training unfits them for other life, and houses, and barns are employed where their prejudices are hard for them to possible.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.
The March of Events. Among other questions brought be· fore the General Assembly at Pittsburg Startling reports were current about in :May was that of " polygamous con- June 9th of the massacre of English, verts." The channel through which French, and American missionaries at the matter again found entrance to the Chengfu, and stating that the whole body was a memorial from the Synod of province of Canton was in a state of India, asking the Assembly to leave the anarchy. Subsequent tidings, however, adjustment of questions growing out of show that all missionaries are safe, and this abnormal relation to the Synod, and that it is the mission property that is de- adding that in the almost unanimous stroyed. It is attributed to a riotous judgment of the missionaries on the resistance to Roman Catholic move· ground, ,. converts who have more than ments, which makes no discrimination one wife, together with their entire between them and Protestants. One of families, should be baptized" in certain the Chinese missionaries says that, for circumstances. Dr. Robert Morrison, instance, these Romanists sometimes of Saharanpur, India, argued that the excite the people to violence by using recognition of polygamous marriages yeUow tiles for their buildings, which by the Church in India was absolutely even a Mandarin would not presume to necessary. ITe explained that the first do, etc. wife in India was usually a child-wife and a childless wife, and that if the rule The disclosures of the" sweat shop" were applied, a convert would have to investigation have been absolutely ap- put away the second wife, who was the palling. The law forbidding the em- wife of his heart and the mother of his ployment of children under fourteen children. Under such a rule the chilyears of age is trampled under foot; dren would be cut off from the control notaries and corrupt justices conspire and support of the father, and the to make even the system of certification mother driven to a life of shame. He meant to prevent this null and void; pleaded that the way to protest against women are compelled to work nineteen polygamy was to keep the mother and hours a day to earn thirty cents ; and children under the influence of the the choice of many is between slow Church. starvation and the sale of personal chastity. It is time another Shaftesbury The following letter will be read with arose to become the champion of Ameri- peculiar interest. It is from :Mr. Doncan as well as English operatives. ald Fraser, of Scotland, one of the ex- ecutives of the Student Volunteer Mip· The Mandalay Baptist Mission OltapeZ is to be the memorial of Adoniram Jud· sionary Union : son's centenary-the hundredth anni· versary of the birth of this most illus- LONDON E. C., March 22, 1895. trious missionary, one of six greatest DEAlt DR.' PIERSON: The British men on the field since Paul. The estimated cost was $10,000, of which one Student Volunteer Missionary Union fifth was to be raised in Burma. One Christian native widow gave 3000 ru- have resolved to hold a great inter· pees, and another proposed to give the bell. No man was ever more a martyr national conference at Liverpool from in spirit or left a deeper impress on the native mind and heart. January 1st-5th, 1896. The purpose of the conference is to rally the volun- teers. to rouse the colleges, and to awaken the churches. . Never since we began has the ·mlS- siont1l"Y movement been spreading with greater rapidity than now; and !hat, not through stirring, exciting meetmgs, but through the visibly quickened reo ligious feeling of the students. We Assembly at Pittsburgh, in undertaking seem to stand to·dayon the threshold of a great movement toward Christ-a to raise a" reunion" fund of $1,000,000, deeper and wider movement than has may not only relieve the present distress, yet been seen in the British colleges. but secure a positive advance. Thir- Therefore we feel assured that never teen young men and 10 young women has the student world been more ripe for such a great movement as must reo wait, to be sent to the field. Posts will suit from this conference. We have remain vacant and advantages already now more than 850 volunteer!! in our secured be abandoned unless this action colleges. A most healthy percentage of April 4th is reversed. of these are sailing for the foreign field.
Now the Volnnteer Union is spreading into the continental universities, and we The South American Evangelical are being brought into close touch with Mission has been organized for the negthe students there. lected continent; evangelical and inter- At Liverpool all denominations are combining to make the conference a denominational in character, and essen- migb.ty success. We want to sound tially on the basis of the China Inland there a loud clear call to the Church to Mission-a work: of faith and prayer, to step out on a Bwift, forward march. I write, therefore, on behalf of the execu- be supported by free·will offerings. tive of the Student Volunteer Move- Its headquarters are in Toronto, and ment Union to extend to you II mOBt Rev. T. B. Hyde ill chairman of the hearty invitation to come across and help council, and Rev. J. McP. Scott, secreus in our enterprise by taking a promlnent part in our conference. tary and treasurer. If the eight.page folder sent out as its initial document is If there is anything we can do to make our invitation more tempting- any sign of the future work of this new any further British, arrangements- organization, it Is safe to predict for it please mention them. We long to have you come into closer relationship with an energetic service to missions. This our British volunteers. Your books little circular is packed full of informa- and the REVIEW have been large con- tion, and hal two excellent maps withal. tributors to the present advance. It would be well for our readers to send I am sure this request will have your prayerful consideration. Our daily pray- for copies and help on such a noble ers will follow it across the seas, and we pioneer work for the millions of un- shall earnestly wait to hear what God evangelized souls south of the equator. directs.
Yours very sincerely, The Central Soudan Mission has been organized, with Hermann G. Harris, at DONALD FRAilER.
This letter is given to the public, not- Tripoli, as its director, and the support withstanding its somewhat personal of a council of six and six referees have character and the invitation extended organized a ?tome department under to the editor to take part in the confer- supervision of Dr. and Mrs. Fallon, ence, becanse it concerns all who love late of Nyassaland. The purpose of the cause of God; and the editor solicits this forward movement Is fourfoldmuch prayer on behalf of this great viz. : movement, now becoming more and more conepicuous, and for himself, that 1. Circulation of information as to he may be divinely guided as to the per- the mission. sonal invitation herein conveyed. 2. Formation of local helpers' unions, for prayer 8S to the field, the laborers, and the funds.
With no little sorrow we read of the 3. To secure and assure fit candidates action taken by the Presbyterian Board, for the work.
April 4th, cutting down appropriations 4. To take charge of secretarial and for 1895-96, from $1,015,000 to $900,. financial work in connection with the 000, involving, of course, disastrous cur- mission.
tailment and retrenchment. We de· Many eyes are now directed toward voutly hope the recent action of the the speedy occupation of this neglected territory; and it is particularly notice· which placed Dr. Miller in his high able that the importance of consecration position should reconsider his appoint- on the part of candidates and believing ment. prayer on the part of supporters is more than ever emphasized. According to the Standard, he de- clares Hinduism to be the divinely or- The International Geographical Con· dained channel for emphasizing the gress, soon to meet in London, will have "omnipenetrativeness of God" and to construct a new map of Africa. The "the solidarity of man," language Dark Continent, large as it is, has ade- which Spinoza might have used as quate maps for only one tenth of its vast well as Dr. MiIIer. As to the attitude territory. Changes take place so rapid- of the lecturer toward Christ and the ly that maps of yesterday are obsolete Christian faith, there i~ not one word as to-day. The new frontiers of Britain to His divinity, atoning work, or effialone measure nearly ten thousand miles cacy as a Saviour of sinners; and the in length. The recent annexations Christian system is held up as one full make the speedy settling of vexed fron- of error and evil, "Every section of tier questions on a scientific and fixed Christendom believing in the corrupbasis absolutely necessary. Italy has tion of all sections except itself." already changed the map of East Africa by her advance to Kassala, and French Of course the inference is that Hininfluence has been extending itself tow- dus have a sphere within Hinduism for ard the head-waters of the Nile, and the development of these grand concepboth in the Soudan and on the Gold tions of "omnipenetratlveness" and Coast seems now in the ascendant. The •• solidarity," and if so missions become Germans have begun surveys for their an intrusive and impertinent meddling railway from German East Africa to proselytism. Lake Tanganyi~a and the Victoria Nyanza. International disputes are in- It remains to be seen what Dr. Miller evitable without an accurate and accept- has to say to the Standard's criticism. ed map which shall define the limits of territory. " Good line fence8 make peace- Missionaries' Sons. ful neighbor&." Rev. Sereno E. Bishop, himself the In the Indian Standard of April, 1895, son of a missionary, and knowing whereis a severe arraignment of Principal of he writes, hilS, in The Independent, Miller's lecture on " The Place of Hin- made a noble defence of the sons of duism in the Story of the World." This missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands, lecture was given before a large audi- in answer to certain calumnious assaults ence of graduates and students of the recently made. He says: Madras Christian College, and is printed in the college magazine. .. There are in those islands 55 sons of missionary fathers; 27 of them live The editorial comments on this lec- in Honolulu, 44 are members of the ture are evidently reluctaut, but se- Congregational Church in good standverely condemnatory. The indictment ing, and 81 prominently active. Not against Dr. ?tliller is threefold: first, one of the 55 has been arrested for crime on the ground of a pantheistic tendency; or been a slave to any form of vice. second, a Unitarian liberalism; third, Nineteen have been graduated from the inferential bearing on the Hindus American colleges, and several from and their duty. law and medical schools, and all have received at least high-school education. We have not seen the lecture; but if Twenty-one are under fifty years of the criticisms of the editor are well age, 20 between flftyand sixty, and 14 founded, it is time that the Church over sixty years of age. Of these, 6 are missionaries or ministers, 8 are on sugar plantations, 8 aTe cattle ~ ranchers or farmers, 3 are merchants, 3 are physi- cianll, 3 are practising lawyers, etc. Fifteen are in the Government service, from preSident, chief justice, down to department clerks. A few are wealthy but generous; 30 enjoy a comfortable Nowhere isedncation more sought than income, depending upon their own in China. The Government is to some exertions. Only 6 are in straitened cir- extent founded on it. There is a Chicumstances, but of highly reputable nese imperial college at Peking, the character. Can 55 men be found among Tung-Zoen, presided over by our distheir detractors whose record can favor- tinguished fellow-citizen, Dr. W. A. P. ably compare with theirs? To their Martin; also a university conducted by fathers and these sons are the Hawaiian the Methodist Mission. There are also Islands indebted for their educated and many foreign orphan asylums in vari- Christian condition In liberality_ and ous cities, which take care of thousands Christian activity the Central Union of waifs. Church of Honolulu, with its 500 members, sets an example worthy of being " The missionaries translate into Chifollowed by churches in this country. nese many scientific and philosophical The amount they do for their own and works. A former missionary, Dr. Adother islands of the Pacific is truly won- kins, translated a whole series of school derful. Many of these sons left the readers. Reflect that all their benefacislands for work in the United States, tions come to the Chinese without much, of which the late General Armstrong, if any, cost to them. Where charges of Hampton, Va., was a worthy sam- are made they are exceedingly small, ple. To the missionaries and their sons made only when they are necessary to is the honor of making, in spite of the prevent a rush, which in this vast popuopposition of the native rulers, a Chris- lation would overwhelm any institution. tian country out of the former degraded There are various anti·opium hospitals, and wretched condition." where the victims of this vice are cured. There are industrial schools and work- Minister Denby, who represents the shops.
United States in China, has given " This is a very brief and incomplete summary of what missionaries are doing many testimonies to the character and for the Chinese. Protestant and Catho- lics from nearly every country under work of the Christian missionaries in the the sun are engaged in this work, and, in my opinion, they do nothing but good. Middle Kingdom. His latest despatch There are supposed to be 40,000 Prot- estant converts now in China, and at to the Department of State, at Wash- least 500,000 Catholic converts. There are many native Christian churches. ington, May 16th, may well be put The converts seem to be as devout as people of any other race. alongside of the open assaults or covert " As far as my knowledge extends, I attacks of enemies of the Lord's work, can and do say that the missionaries in China are self-sacrificing; that their or hypercritics who would see only flaws lives are pure; that they are devoted to their work; that their influence is beneand spots even in the sun. ficial to the natives; that the arts and sciences and civilization are greatly Mr_ Denby says in substance: spread by their efforts ; that many use- ful Western books are translated by " No one can controvert the fact that them into Chinese; that they are the the Chinese are enormously benefited leaders in all charitable work, giving by the labors of the missionaries. For- largely themselves and personally diseign hospitals are a gre!lt boon to the bursing the funds with which they are sick. China. before the advent of the intrusted; that they do make converts, foreigner, did not know what surgery and such converts are mentally benewas; now there are more than twenty fited by conversion." charity hospitals. presided over by men of as great ability as can be found else- Detractors and depreciators of miswhere in thc world; Dr. Kerr's, at Canton, is one of the great institutions of sions might do well to scan the follow_ the kind In the world. The Viceroy Li Hung Chang has for years maintained ing summary of the work of William at Tien-Tsln, at his own expense. a foreign hospital. In education, the move- Carey: ment is immense. There are schools and colleges all over China taught by The first complete or partial translathe missionaries. I havc been present tions of the Bible printed in 40 lanoften at the exhibitions given by those guages and dialects of India, China, schools. They showed progress in a Central Asia and neighboring lands at great degree. The educated Chinaman a cost of $80,143; the first work and who speaks English becomes a new man. A long time before the present war the Emperor was studying English, and, it is said, was fast acquiring the language. vernacular newspaper In Bengalee-the tened for slaughter. So little did they language of 70,000,000 of human be· understand the charity and compassion ings; the first printing press on an or· which the Gospel of Christ teaches. gani1.ed scale, paper-mill and steam en· This reminds us of one of the experigine seen in India; the first Christian ences of John Williams in the South primary school In North India; the first Seas, when the Christian party, being efforts to educate native girls and wom· victors, set a feast and fed all the capen; the first college to train native min- tives taken in war, which so melted isters and Christianize educated Hindus; their foes that for sheer emotion they the first Hindu Protestant convert, could not eat, and actually knelt at the Krishna Chundra Pal, baptized In 1800 ; tables and SUbmitted to the God of their the first medical mission, of which that captors I convert was to some extent the fruit; the establishment and maintenance of at Rev. Dr. Henry Martyn Scudder, so least 80 separate larga mission stations, well known for his work in India, and besides Judson's great work in Burma, afterward in Brooklyn and in Chicago, which resulted in the foundation of the died,June4th, at Winchester, Mass.,and American Baptist Miseionary Society; leaves behind him a record of great serthe first private garden and society for vice in manifold forms. He was one of the improvement of native and Euro- the brightest, keenest men ever on the pean agriculture and horticulture in missionary field. Even the acute, ag- India; the first savings bank in India; tute Brahmans found their match in the the first translations into English of the ready wit and fertile resource of this great Sanskrit epics, the Ramayan and missionary. Indeed, he had himself Mahribarat, and the first translation of much of the best traits and characterthe Bible into Sanskrit, both being means istic subtlety of the Hindu mind. To of bringing the learned classes of India the last he continued the warm friend and the Gospel into sympathetic accord. and powerful advocate of missions. He The indirect results of the work of belonged to a family, of remarkable char- Carey or his beloved associates can best acters and careers, whose names will not be expressed as the PrOlparatio EDan- soon be forgotten. We hope a biogragelica, which 50 years only after Carey's phy of Dr. Scudder will bc given to the death has increased the Protestant native world. If the material! exist for an Church of India to a community of half autobiography-that is, as Dr. Holmes a million of souls, who have more or- used to say, what a biography ought dained pastors of their own than foreign to be. missionaries, and who increase at the rate of 86 per cent every decade. Mrs. Wllliam Thaw, of Pittsburgh, forwards a copy of the " Constitution As an exchange remarks, May 8th of the Westminster Society," which it ought to be a red-letter day in Japan. is proposed to make the basis of an The sun rose on Perry's fleet anchored organization in various churches. in Mississippi Bay on that morning in 1858. In 1857 our envoy, Townsend "The object of this society shall be Harris (aided by his Dutch secretary, to train the young members of the secured by the Rev. Dr. De Witt), con- Church in the history, doctrines, and cluded treaty negotiations in Yedo on customs of the Presbyterian Church. to that day. Thirty-eight years after- the end that the kingdom of the Reward, on the same date, Premier Ito, deemer may be advanced through the at Cheefoo, in China, ratified the treaty upbuilding of believers and the develof peace which adds Formosa to the opment of a true missionary spirit." island chain of Japan, which now stretches from Arctic to tropic regions. It embraces a missionary and relig- ious committee, whose work is the When a company of wounded Chi- study of missionary methods; the diffunese soldiers were taken to the Red sion, by obtaining subscriptions or Cross Hospital at Tokyo, were taken care of there, laid on soft beds and provided with good food, they were astonished, and feared they were being fatotherwise, of missionary literature. and the never-to·be-omltted cup of hot They shall secure from the various tea, which with biscuit. sugar, and but· boards such pamphlets as describe the ter. we had brought with us. After our work of the Church, both at home and abroad, and shall cultivate such a hammocks were hung and things made spirit as will lead them, if need be, to go snug for the night, came a meeting in into the work itself. They shall, with the co·operation and counsel of the pas- the church, which was packed, then tor, have charge of the weekly prayermeeting of the society, choosing the the natives had supper, sang hymns, leaders and subjects. This committee and chatted till eleven o'clock, then shall, with the pastor, arrange for meetings to be held for special instruc- evening prayers in the different camps, tion, by the pastor or some member of the session, in the doctrines and gov· and by daylight we were up, had a cup ernment of the Presbyterian Church. of tea, took a photograph of the group, and were off again. and so on each day till we got home. Chrissie walked 175 miles and I, 195, as I wanted to visit some inland villages, and she remained with the teacher's wife. My daughter is the first white woman who ever walked round Erromanga, and perhaps the only one who will ever attempt it, Rev. H. A. Robertson, of Erromanga, where John Williams was cruelly for it is a great undertaking for any clubbed to death, writes of his recent woman. Next year, if spared. I intrip around Erromanga, where he has been as a missionary of the Canadian tend to take two months over it, and Presbyterians for twenty years: thus be arblheatvoeenxoawmi3n7e carefully every school. teachers on full pay. The Canadian Church provides for 30 of them. The teachers them- October 10, 1894. selves provide for 2, both last year and this year, and the remaining /) I have Chrissie and r accompanied by a settled onfaith. An Erromangan never band of young men as carriers and a betrays teeling, and in twenty·two number of chiefs, elders, teachers, etc., have just completed a thorough visita- years, except in their prayers, they have never expressed any word about our tion of every district round this large work for them, but their changed life island. We walked every inch of the rwsaeyttleexdcseipxt when carried over rivers. and the glorious vlctorv over heathen· teachers, examined several l~m, rendering life and property safe all over Erromanga, these are our reo schools, gave short addresses, taught ward, and above all God's precious new hymns, gave out books, had talks presence and blessing. Mrs. Robertson with leading men, roughly surveyed has much improved in health since June; the country, and completed the cen~us. until then she spent most of her time There are only 1745 natives on the Isl- in bed, but now is up all day, able to and, 897 males and 848 females. This time I took no notice of the natives who attend to many household duties.
have gone in labor v_els, for they are as good as dead. I know exactly by name 1800 souls, and have visited them The Man of the Book.
in their own villages. Our following, When, in 1853, a rebellion broke out during the three weeks of our journey, in the region around Amoy, and all Eu- ropeans were in danger of their lives, was never fewer than fifty, and some· and when no other European would venture out among the rebels, William times it ran up to three hundred, and C. Burns was free to go where he liked. .. That's the man of the Book," they one day there were three hund1'ed and would say; "he must not be touched. " The Lord was with him, because he so .fifty. What a grand sight it was to lIlagnified His word, and the freedom look back as we journeyed over the he enjoyed was itself a convincing testi· winding path I Women in their bri~ht mony to his character as a disciple. Birmingham prints, men in their shIrts What says the first Psalm of him whose delight and meditation centre upon the and trousers, and some· with their Lava· law of the Lord? .. Whatsoever he doeth lava of calico round their loins, and the 8halt prosper /"
boys and girls with bright flowers in their black hair, and all carrying some- thing. When we came to the teacher's house and church, where we were to sleep, his people met to shake hands with the missionary and his daughter, and then with all the people I Then came the opening out of our clothing, etc., and later a supper of native pud- ding, baked fowls, drinking cocoanuts, Those who bury the Lord's money in them I And an old negro, who was an stocks and real estate and various officer in a church of colored people in worldly luxuries would do well to read Princeton, N. J., once prefaced the colwhat John Wesley said at the close of lection with a few words to the people, life, after having served God and the in which he remarked that he had no- Church between sixty and seventy ticed a good deal of " bowin' to de plate, years: "I am pained for you who are but dat bowln' to de plate would not fill rich in this world. Do you give all you de plate ," can? (Nay; may I not do what I will with my own?' you reply. Here lies Didn't Believ8 Ie.-Bishop Whipple, of your mistake. It is not your own. It Minnesota, says that the Dakota Indcannot be, unless you are lord of heaven ians once held a war dance near a misand earth. Who gave you this addi· sion house. He went to Wabasha, the tion to your fortune? Do not you chief, and said: "Wabasha, you asked know that God intrusted you with that me for a missionary and teacher. I money for His work?· • But I must gave them to you. 1 visit you, and the provide for my children.' Certainly. first sight is this brutal scalp dance. I But how? By making them rich? knew the Chippeway whom your young Then you will probably ruin them. men have murdered. His wife is crying • What shall I do, then ?' Lord, speak for her husband; his children are asking to their hearts, else I speak in vain. for their father. Wabasha, the Great Leave them enough to live on, not in Spirit hears His children cry. He is idleness, but honest industry. And if angry. Borne day he will ask Wabasha, you have no children, upon what prin' , Where is your red brother? '" The ciple can you leave a groat behind more old chief smiled, drew his pipe from his than enough to bury you? What does mouth, and said: "White man go to it signify whether you leave £10,000 or war with his own brother in the same ten thousand boots and shoes? Haste I country; kill more men than Wabasha haste I Send all you have before you can count in all his life. Great Spirit go to the better world." smiles; says, 'Good white man I He has My Book. I love him very much. The Rev. F. B. Meyer, of London, I have a good place for him by and by.' tells of one whose income is $10,000 per The Indian is a wild man. He has no annum, who lives on $1000 and gives Great Spirit Book. He kills one man, the remaining $9000 to the cause of for- has a scalp dance. Great Spirit is mad, eign missions; another, whose income and says, 'Bad Indian I I put him in a is $10,000, who lives on $1200 and gives bad place by and by.' Wabasha don't away the remainder. A governess who believe it I"-New York Tribune. earns $500 gives $250. Another, who has a comfortable competence, remains Noone can read Mrs. William Booth's in business, all the profits of which he life, published by Revell, without wishgives. This is truly laying up treasure ing it were not spread through two in heaven, and although their earthly great volumes. octavo, with 700 pages wealth may not amount too much, they each. Nor can one read the thrilling shall be rich as princes when they have story of the" Mother of the Salvation gone to the " great beyond." Army" without being reminded of the well-known and heroic woman who was Any interest in missions that is no called to account for her evangelistic deep enough to incite to and inspire giv- activity in the Baptist field in Burma. ing is spurious. We have heard of an .. Were you ever ordained to preach ?.. old lady who would not give any money, asked the committee. .. No; but I but who always went to missionary was foreordained to preach the Gospel meetings to "give her eountenance" to to the unsaved," was the answer.
V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
EDITED BY BEV. D. L. LEONAlID.
Extracts and Translations from Foreign -" Notwithstanding' wars and ru· Periodicals. mors of wars,' all the religious work of the Malagasy Christians is, as yet, car- BY REV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, ried on without any interruption. Very hearty and earnest services were held at MASS. the end and beginning of the year, and stirring addresses given both by mis- LONDON MIsSIONARY SOCIETY. sionaries and native pastors. It is very touching to hear the prayers offered by -Lord Plunkett, Archbishop of Dub· the Malagasy, not only for themselves lin, at a centenary meeting of the Dub- and for God's protection against their lin auxiliary of the London lIisslonary enemies, but also for the French ; even Society. remarked: "I dare say that the escort which left soon after the spe- we shall all agree in this, that if any- cial commissioners' departure were spe· where there is to be found a meeting. cially remembered in a way that I fear place where members of different de· many English Christians would hardly nominations may find a standing ground have done. Defective as Malagasy together it is on the platform of the Christianity is in many ways, the peo- mission field. I remember having had ple here have certainly learned some of a conversation with a Presbyterian the essential lessons of the Gospel; and clergyman in the north of Ireland. He the absence of revengeful feeling, not· wall a Protestant of a pronounced type withstanding the many provocations -an out·and-out Protestant, and no they have received, is certainly very mistake-and yet that clergyman told marked. Yet for all that it seems cer- me that, when amid the darkness of tain that the best people will rally round heathendom in some far· off land, he their queen and fight to the last if the met with a Roman Catholic missionary interior is invaded. " serving in all sincerity and singleness of mind, and with much self·sacrifice, -The Rev. W. E. Cousins says in to promote the kingdom of Christ The (Jhronicle, speaking of Madagas- along the lines dictated to him by the car: "Of the 1300 native congrega- Church of Rome; that he, this clergy- tions under our care not less than 8U3 man of whom I speak, this Protestant are in the central province of Imerina. clergyman, this out·and·out Protes· Here our work was begun three quar- tant clergyman, yet felt himself drawn ters of a century ago (1820); and here, to his Roman Catholic brother by ties as the result of long-continued and well· of common sympathy such as he had sustained labors, the majority of our never felt toward him had he come churches are to be found. in contact with him under other cir- cumstances here at home; and if this " Our work in Madagascar is essen- be the case as regards our relationship tially the care and guidance of con- to a church between which and our own verts. Indeed. from the reopening of there are divergencies of such vital and the mission in 1862 we have always tremendous import, should it not be the worked mainly among a professedly case among those who, as I have more Christian people. In developing and than once made bold to say from this guiding the existing congregations we platform, have among them many dif· have, indeed, been the means of attract- ferences which I do not desire to min- ing and winning thousands of heathens ; but the organized churches have themof imize, yet, as I believ"', are agreed in selves been the -great attra8tive force.
.all the real essentials the Christian Faith?"
EXTRACTS ANl) TRANSLA'J'JONS
Only indirectly have the missionaries Sunday in the' great Hova city;' and in Imerina had to deal with the heathen in this general observance of the day of as such. But they have, nevertheless, rest we have a clear indication of the had the happiness year by year of sec· hold the Christian religion has taken on ing how God uses His churches as a the people. true missionary agency for spreading the light, and for drawing men away .. If we enter with these church-going from the superstition and impurity of crowds we shall usually find good con- .heathenism. The organized churches gregations met for worship. The men are still the great instruments for ex- will all be seated on one side and the tending Christ's kingdom; and all that women on the other. This is the unitends to strengthen and develop church versal practice in Madagascar ; and it life hastens on the day when the whole has arisen, I think, not from any rule of Madagascar will be indeed a Chris- laid down by missionaries, but from natian land; and, on the other hand, all tive feelings of propriety. that tends to break up or to hinder their work seems to us calculated to re- "The visitor will soon find that the tard, at least for the present, the exten- Malagasy are a music-loving race. Much sion of Christ's kingdom in the island. of the singing is really excellent. The voices are musical and the parts are well "Christian churches are to·day one sustained, though the style of tunes of the most prominent and easily r~cog most popular, many of them of native nized forces in the land. Religion no composition, does not always commend longer hides its head in the depths of itself to our taste. The singers occupy the forest or in the caves of the earth, a prominent position near the pulpit, but buildings set apart for worship and and a,re considered by themsel ves and schools erect their heads boldly in the others as very important functionaries. most conspicuous positions. In and Occasionally they cause trouble, as I around A.ntananarivo this fact forces it- understand singers have been known to self upon the notice of a traveller. The do in more advanced communities. four stone memorial churches of our Some time since I met a native pastor own society, the cathedral of St. Law- from the country, and on my asking rence-belonging to the Anglican Mis- him about tbe progress of the congresion-and the great Roman Catholic gation in his village, he said: • Oh, we cathedral are one and all well-built and are doing well now. Those singers imposing structures. These and other cause us no more trouble; we punished public edifices in the capital tell their them for their insubordination by mak- own tale, which is also confirmed by ing them stand with heavy stones upon the districts around. Anyone standing their heads '-Dante's purgatorial pun- on the higher parts of the city may ishment for the crime of avarice_ count well·built village chapels by the dozen. Indeed, almost every village .. Malagasy congregations, and espearound A.ntananarivo has its Protestant cially Antananarivo congregations, are piace of worship. generally well behaved, and the people listen with attention and interest to the "These' houses of prayer,' as they sermons either of missionaries or of their are called by the natives, are on the own native ministers. Public speaking whole well attended. The Hovas are a is an art in which many excel, and the religious people. The Sunday morning man who has the gift of uttering apt is ushered in by the church-going bell, and well-chosen words exercises great and the streets of the capital are crowd· influence for good. ed before and after service time by hun- dreds of neatly dressed worshippers. .. The strength of our Protestant ser· Even casual visitors are struck with the vices is the supreme place which is air Qf order and quiet that reigns on given to the reading and explanation of God's Word. Bible-teaching has al- ways held a prominent place in our work, and the open Bible is the glory day would be the usual wages of II labor- of our churches. Protracted labor has ing man, it is a fact full of encourage- been expended on producing a stand· ment that no less a sum than £7336 was ard translation-Protestant missionaries raised in 1894 for church purposes. _ • _ of all the societies having, under the "'I'he missionary spirit is certainly superintendence of the British and For· growing, . . . and many among the eign Bible Society, spent eleven years Hova Christians are deeply in earnest in on this important work. The 2000 Prot- the attempt to win the whole of Mada- estant churches now existing in the gascar for Christ. . • • island have as their most cherished pos· " The coming war may, it is feared, session, as their perennial fountain of check much of this growing activity for healthful teaching, and as their shield a time. Disorganization and confusion against all the wiles of error, this care- may be caused in many districts if the fully considered ver5ion of the Holy French persist in their attempt to obtain Scriptures. by force what they have not been able " Much activity is manifested by the to gain by milder measures. But I do various congregations, and a healthy not for a moment believe that these Prot- interest in church affairs exists among estant churches of Madagascar will be the people. A very strong democratic turned away from the faith they have spirit prevails, and anyone from within accepted. The conservatism of the peo- or from without, missionary or native, ple, which sometimes proves a hindrance attempting to 'dictate to the Church' to the plans of an earnest and enthusi- (mandidll Jia,ngOnana) soon finds he has astic missionary, will in this matter be to reckon with a spirit of sturdy inde- a strength to the churches. But above pendence. all else the knowledge of Holy Scrip- "Great interest is taken in the dis- ture possessed by the people, the way cussion of church business; but I no- in which the Bible has rooted itself in tice that nothing draws so many as the their reverence and love will now prove knowledge that some personal matter their safeguard. Roman Catholic mis- will come up, pos5ibly some case of dis- sionaries have nothing to offer that cipline. I have known very happy and would take the place of the free, healthy helpful church meetings in Madagas- church life they now enjoy. and of the car; but I have also been present at supreme place the Bible has taken in some in which party feeling ran high, all their services and in the develop.
and the feelings and tongues of the ment of their religious life. We may people were both unduly excited. A be prepared to hear of changes in Mada- year or two since I attended a meet- gascar, perhaps even of temporary, ing in a country church where some retrogression, of work interrupted, of difficulty had arisen about the choice of schools broken up, of churches discour- II pastor, and I found the village almost aged. The war may cause many evils in a state of riot, bludgeons and long such as these; but looking at the char- knives having been brought bV some as acter of the people, at the way they aids toward the settlement of a question have borne severe trials in the past, at that had evidently caused strong party the condition and work of the churches feeling. Happily the discussion of the to·day, and, above all, looking upward matter in question was postponed aine to Him who is the Guide and Defender die. of His people, we cannot, I think, in- " A growing spirit of liberality is no- clude among the evils to be feared ticeable among our people. Remem- any large measure of departure from bering tbat a dollar means to an ordi- the simple, Bible-nourished Christian nary Malagasy about as much as a sov- faith which has now for so many ereign does to the average Englishman. years existed among the Malagasy peo- and that threepence or. fourpence per ple."
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
AFRICA. Therefore, although these missiona· ries are not ejected as Protestants, but _H Sharp as a knife, but kind as a as foreIgners, the practical result is mother," was the witness borne by the likely to be the same as if they were. people of the Pokomo )lission, in East Africa, when they heard that the found- -" The bishopric of Nyas8aland, va- er of the mission, Ferdinand Wurtz, cated by Bishop Hornby, has been ac- had just died at Marseilles. cepted by Archdeacon Chauncey Ma- ples, who has been laboring in the .. The attitude adopted by France in Universities' Mission for. fifteen years its positions toward Protestant mis- or more. His name is familiar to all sions"-more properly toward English, friends of that mission. It is dltlicult American, and German mlssions-H sup- to think of any IUan whose qualifica- plies the Allgemeine Missions Zeit8chrifl tions for the post are 80 obvious."- with a mournful vaticination anent the Ohurch Missionary IntelUgencer. prospects of West African evangeliza- tion. The republfc, unhappily for Prot- -Herr SEEGER, in the OaZwer Mia· estant effort, has received the lion's 8ionsblatt, remarks that we all our Iives share in the partition of West Africa, a have been receiving moral and spiritual share emphasized by the latest Anglo- truth by pailfuls, and are disposed to French delimitation of the Sierra Leone pour it out upon the heathen by pailfrontiers, in which Sierra Leone sacri- fuls, unmindful of the fact that we fices its political ambition to the secu- spill the· most of it, that they are only rity of its exi~ting commercial interests. capable of receiving it by drops. We Taking as West Africa the coast from ought to learn, he says, that in this mat- Senegambia to Angola, with an indefinite ter less IUay be more. interior boundary, we find, according to the Evangelische Mission, that the Ro- -It is frequently said that no living man Catholic power has, in proportion man can read Eliot's Indian Bible. to its extent of coast line, largely ex- This, however, is an error. We have ceeded the Protestant during the last been informed by J. Hammond Trumten years. The religious attitude of bull, Esq., the. eminent Algonquin schol- -France is, therefore, the more unwel- ar, that he finds Eliot's Bible, from the come, especially as not being seriously greater familiarity of its dialect, a good shared by Portugal, Spain, or Belgium_ stepping-stone to remoter forms of the In Fernando Po the Primitive Metho· Algonquin speech. dists continue their labors·; in Angola the American workers remain apparent- -Dr. F. M. ZAHN remarks, in the ly unmolested; in the Congo Free Allgemeine Mi8siona Zeit8Ch1-ijt, that it State, theoretically interkonfeBBional, might almost seem as if" a spirit from though practically under Roman Catho- the Lord" had gone out, portraying lic control, Protestant missions are yet Africa in such alluring colors to the tolerated, whatever uncertainty, born Christian nations that, in spite of themof p088ible economic changes, may lie selves, they have to strive for its approaround their future. But from the priation. H We Germans, none too well French spheres of influence foreign supplied with earthly wealth, find our- workers, on various trivial pretexts, are selves laying out marks by the hundred being steadily ejected. True, the Paris thousand on the sandy stretches of Evangelical Mission has hitherto been Southwest Africa, and millions yearly permitted to offer substitutes, yet a on the savannas of East Africa. The larger contribution than that available Belgian king is possessed with a costly from the 650,000 Protestants of France fancy which drives him to the laying is requisite for the needs of its colonial out of enormous sums on the Congo empire."-Ohurch Mi88'i.onary Intelli- Free State. He has already spent some $5,000,000 on it, and still goes on spendgencer. ing, although it brings in yearly $400,-
ENGLISH
000 less than it cost. Belgium itself, a few more days' work like this" Is a which has finally taken the State off the natural wish on his part.
hands of the king, seems to be equally CTtina.-The Rev. Jonathan Lees, of profuse with its money. France, too, Tientsin, has received a most pathetie out of her great wealth, easily spares letter, signed by representatives of the 30,000,000 francs to free Africa from churches in the Leusan district. II They the tyrant of Dahomey, and grants 65,- themselves likened it to the cry from 000,000 franc.s for the unhappy end of Macedonia in St. Paul's vlsion-a cry subduing the Hovas." And lives are for teachers and guidance. Would that spent as unhesitatingly as treasure. we could do tenfold more than they -It appears that Father Vaughan, ask! Alas! we cannot do that. Yet the brother of Cardinal Vaughan, is the whole country thereabouts has been much disturbed, as well he may be, open to us for years, and any worthy that atheistic France is likely to over- effort might have won thousands for master Christian Madagascar. The Christ. But what are the two or three . Hova Government is Protestant, it is men we could send them in view of true; but this eminent priest justlyac- their dense Ignorance and many needs? counts this religious difference, impor- Oh, that God would raise up some na- tant as he would doubtless esteem it in tive apostles! While we are very slowitself, as a small thing compared with ly training the few preachers, the peothe difference between a thoroughly ple are dying without hope." "Here. " Christian government and a thoroughly he concludes, "is something for our infidel government, such as he says the English friends to pray about."
French would infallibly establish. He Hong Kong Medical Mia8ion.-Much· sees the heroism of a Christian Judith satisfaction is expressed at the prospect in the queen, who, in her own chapel, of the return of Mr. J. C. Thomson, exhorts her subjects not to despair of M.D., to resume the superintendence of Divine help against this mighty foe. the medical mission of Hong Kong. Where the right is, it is easy to see. Mr. Thomson is a native of Lockerbie, The Jesuit.Cauneque, as we have seen, Scotland, and at a valedictory service himself a Frenchman, pronounces the held there recently he urged his townspretentions of France unwarranted. men to consider whether the time had not come for them to fall into line with the forward movement in missions that English Notes. is now belp.g proclaimed by nearly all BY JAMES DOUGLAS. the great societies. Men talked of ex- pecting great things of God. God ex- New Guinea.-TheRev. W. G. Lawes pected great things of men. The failreports' the baptism and reception into ure is that we are so slow to :work out the Church of 68 candidates, many of what God works in. whom are old scholars, who for a time had left the mission-the fruit from old The Bt01"1J of My Oon'lJM'BWn.-From a sowing. He describes them as •• ear- lengthened statement of the story of his nest and sincere" and as II coming from conversion, supplied by Atul K. Nag, all parts of the three villages of Port who says, II I was born of Hindu par- Moresby." ents, and I am a Bengali by race," we Mr. Dauncey has also an encouraging make the following significant extract: experience to relate. Speaking of a II I did not become a Christian for any recent visit to Klvorl, he says, II The worldly gain-not to obtain a situation, two New Guinea teachers are working for I was already an independent man; well and eeeing the result of their not that I might marry an English or labors." After examination, Mr. Daun- an accomplished wife. for I had already ooy baptized 34 adults. II I would like a wife who came out with me. thinking
GENERAL IDSSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
it tit to Ca.st in her lot with me, a.lthough is now at Wei-hai-wei, keeping a'food she was not then a Christian; not for shop and evangelizing; some soldiers the sake of English food, for as yet I have been his trophies there. have not been able to take flesh, having a natural aversion to It (not that I have We8leyan Mi8,iona1'1J Societll.-The any prejudice against it), and I still live General Committee have agreed to the upon a genuine native diet. I mention immediateoccnpation of Buluwayo, Mr. these things, not to make a parade of Eva commencing work there pending them, but to show such of my readers the arrival in the country of bIr. Shimas may ascribe all sorts of unkind and min and the new missionary. evil motives to one who wishes to come out and become a Christian, that it is Oape Hayti, Hayti.-A new chapel the love of Christ alone which con- has been erected at a cost of $7400. strains him to follow Christ." Only a debt of $800 remains. "Best of all," writes Mr. Picot, " the new chapel, Mongolia.-Much interest attaches to which seats 820 persons, is full of worthe testimony of the Rev. W. E. Mac· shippers, and already we have had sevfarlane, with respect to the undying in- eral conversions to God in it. The old fluence of that devoted servant Gil- chapel is now used as our day school." mour, in the unpromising field of Mongolia. Mr. Macfarlane, fresh from that "Kwang Tung ,. or, Five Years in land, speaks of Gilmour as having, by &uth Ohina. "-This is an interesting his self·denying labors, paved the way work by the Rev. John A. TurntJr, who for other missionaries. He points out spent fi ve years as one of the Wesleyan that while formidable obstacles to tho missionaries in South China. Since reception of Christian truth exist there, 1842 the number of Protestant commufrom the stolid indifference of the Mon- nicants has risen from the unit 6 to gols and the immense number and power 40,000. Despite all discouragements, of the Lamas, yet the laborers in that Mr. Turner holds that we have" as sterile soil looked forward confidently to much reason to believe in the final conthe dawn of a brighter day for Mongols version of the great Chinese Empire to and Chinese alike. Christianity as any missionaries in any non-Christian country ever had."
Ohri8tians at Wei-hai·wei.-It is in_ Baptist Mi88i~na1'1J Sodetll-Makunda teresting to find that in this fortitied Das, of Orissa.-The Rev. Thomas quarter, recently captured by the Japan- Bailey, of Cuttack, Orissa, reports the ese, a little work for Christ has been death of Makunda Das, to whom he proceeding. The evangelist there was pays an affectionate tribute. Makunda formerly a dominie, having reached that Das occupies a foremost place as a writer appointment through having proved his of beautiful hymns, and probably as unfitness for anything else-a method long as the Oriya language continues, now obsolete in the West. When serv- his hymns alone will cause his name to ing as a schoolmaster in Ning-hai; he be gratefully remembered. His conwas spoken to by a Christian Chinaman tributions to Christian literature have about Jesus, but, by way of answer, also been widely read and have done said he wanted no foreign religion. immense service. This especially ap- "But Jesus can save you from your plies to a non·controversial tract ensins t" The idea took hold on him, titled" What is Christianity t" the oband thinking a Saviour from sin might ject being to furnish an exposition of have something to offer him, he took a Ohristian doctrine and practice. As a New Testament home and read it far preacher Makunda Das had a profusion into the night. It brought him to Christ, of tropes and tigures. His language and since his conversion he has been was glowing rhetoric. With him it trying to lead others to the Lord. He was natural to be ornate, and, we may add, intense. He could not stoop to and an impression is taken on thin, note interruptions or objections at the damp paper. This paper, officially time, but moved on swiftly in his course signed, is his passport. like a ship with full canvas under a stiff breeze. In December last he -Dr. Bonar, the author of many preached, for the last time, a spfrited hymns, dreamed that the angels took sermon on the nature of true conver- his zeal and weighed it, and told him sion, "For this my son was dead and that it was excellent, for it w~ighed exis alive again." After serving weH his actly 100, which was all that could be generation he has departed in the sixty- asked. He was greatly gratified at Ihe seventh year of his age. result. Next they.wished to analyze it. They put it in a crucible and tested it THE KINGDOM. in various ways, with this result: 14 parts were selfishness, 15 parts secta- -" What shaH I do for Christ?" rianism, 22 ambition, 23 love to man, asked a young disciple of Bishop Sel- and 26 love to God. He awoke humwyn. .. Go where He is not, and take bled, and determined on a new conse- Him with you," was the venerable cration. bishop's reply. -Some years ago a missionary in -The day is long past when any ex- Bunnah came to a village where the rats cept the ignorant and prejudiced speak had destroyed the rice crop. A deacon of foreign missions with a sneer. The of the church brought him a large century now drawing to a close has no offering to help carry the Gospel to the prouder laurel than that which it wears Karens in a remote region. The mis· as distinctively the century of mission- sionary. seeing the destitution in the ary effort and progress recorded in the village, objected to taking the money ; evangelization of the world.-Harper'8 but the deacon said, "Take it ; we can Bazar. live on rats, but the Karens can't get along without the Gospel." – Two Bavarian missionaries belonging to the station at Killalpaninna, in -Hundreds of young men annually Central Australia, were sitting chatting leave our shores as cadets. 'All their with the Christianized aborigines after friends rejoice when they think of them the midday meal, when the conversation bearing the commissions of our queen. turned on their state before their con- When any dangerous expedition is version, and it was asked if any of planned by government. more volunthem had ever committed a murder. It teel'S apply than are necessary to man turned out that out of the nine who it. On the proposal to send a band of were present only one had never killed brave men in search of Sir John Frank:- a man, and that only becaus~ he was lin, a full complement for the ships too cowardly; but he had helped at the could have been procured of officers murders of others. alone, without any common sailors. And what thousands rushed to Califor- -Did he say it? Or, what is far nia, from different parts of America, on more to the purpose, is the aHegation the discovery of gold I How many true? John Wanamaker is reported husbands left their wives and families I to have remarked: "It is the hardest How many Christian men tore themthing in the world to find a clean, selves away from all home endearments strong. healthy, earnest, upright young to suffer and toil and perish by cold man." and starvation on the overland route I How many sank from fever and ex- -The lines of no two human hands haustion on the banks of the Sacraare exactly alike. When a traveHer in mento I Yet no word of sacrifices there. China desires a passport. the palm of And why should we so regard aU we the hand is covered with fine oil paint, give and do for the Well-beloved of our vine name, while in portions of India souls? Our talk of sacrifices is ungen- the translators are as sorely ~ut to it to erous and heathenish.–David Liming. decide whether to choose taalia or salus stone. in the Urdu speech as the equivalent for our term trinity. -It is figured out that the Christian churches of America give on the aver- -The Deutsche Kirdtenuitu'fI{j, of age one sixty-fourth of their ordained Berlin, has computed, on the basis of men to foreign missionary work; that the latest scientific and statistical sources it takes 7862 church-members to sup- accessible, a table showing the distribuport one foreign missionary, and that tion of the human family according to the average giving per member is but rellgion. The population of the earth 40 cents. is as follows : -An extra cent a dai from each one Europe … , …………………… ·881,200,000 of 15,500,000 Protestant Evangelical Africa………………………… 127,000,000 church-members in the United States Asia…………………………… 864,000,000 would add $56,575,000 a year to the Australia……. …. …. ……….. 4,730,000 Lord's treasury. Only an extra cent a America… .. .. .. .. …… ………. 1S3,670,00!l day is required. The First Church at Newton Centre, Mass., has an Extra- Total ……………………. 1,500,000,000 Cent-a-Day Band, which has raised on the average $359.20 every year for the The leading religions are represented last five years, in all $1796, of which it by the following figures : has given one half to the American Board and one half to the several home Protestant ChristIans…………… jl()(),000,000 missionary societies. Roman Catholic Christians……… 195,000,000 Greek Catholic Christians. •. . •• . . . . 105,000,000 -The Synod of Missouri has agreed to send to the foreign field five of the Total Christians…… ………. 500,000,000 young men who had offered themselves to the Board, and whom it was unable Jews ………………. , …. .. .. .. 8,000,000 to send on account of lack of funds. A Mohammedans….. …………… 180,000,000telegram to the Assembly on the last Heathens……….. …. ……….. 812,000,000 day of its session from the synod announced that $3500 was pledged, and Total non-Christians ………… 1,000,000,000 that it would be made $5000. WOMAN'S WORK. -We are wont to pity the poor missionaries for their trials and hardships, -" Twenty-five years ago," says Dr. while we envy the secretaries because of Booth, "permission was asked to put the ease and honors which fall to their something in the report on foreign mislot; but Dr. Jessup, having been a mis- sions concerning the women, and I was sionary in Syria during ali his life, and told that I might say a word with refhaving acted as secretary for six months, erence to employing them as medical claims'to be ready to endure the hardest missionaries.' , trials of the foreign position rather than the nervous strain and excitement of the -In Regions Beyond for April there secretary's chair. is a statement to this effect: "The women of Great Britain and Ireland -Ignorance and superstition, original are sending to their sex, by means of 12 sin and total depravity do not constitute different organizations, 770 European the source of all missionary trouble. women, of whom 38 are medical work- By no means; for in China Christian ers, 20 being fully qualified doctors. scholars find it Impossible to agree upon These reach 20 different countries, emthe best word to use to express the DI- ploy about 2000 native helpers, and manage 900 schools, in which branch· of their work 64,400 are brought under _ Christian teaching, while it is impossi- ble to reckon the thousands of lives they daily touch and infiuence in their evan- gelistic zenana and medical work." J , -Rev. A. C. Good writes this of the sex throughout the entire denomination, lot of women among the Bule of West but rather, for the must part, only such Africa: "Although the garden may be as dwell within certain subdivisions of a mile from town, no effort is ever made the Union. Thus, within the Presby- to improve the road, which often passes terian Church are found no less than 7 through swamps, along the bed of woman's boards.
streams, or over fallen logs and brush. -The Presbyterian women sustain in Over this road she must carry a big Alaska 8 schools with 37 teachers; basket of firewood, day after day, as among the Indians. 24 schools with 140 she returns from her work. Later, she teachers, and reaching no less than 31 must add to this load the daily supply tribes; among the Mexicans. 27, with of food for the family and guests. 57 teachers; Mormons, 30, with 84 Then a big jar of water must be teachers; mountain whites, 25, with 77 brought from the stream." teachers: a total of 114 schools and 395 -The Baptist women. are able to teachers.
make this report: .. Work Is carried on UNITED STATES. ~ 114 missionaries, 63 of whom are representatives of our own society, and -According to Mr. Mulhall, this is 51 other missionaries of the Union, 142 the most favored of nations. Thus, the Bible women, 539 native teachers. Our United States possesses .. almost as appropriations have aided 434 schools much energy as Great Britain, Ger- with 10,238 pupils, reporting 611 bap- many, and France combined." "An tisms." ordinary farm hand in the United States -Two hundred pulpits in London on raises as much grain as 3 in England, 4 a recent Sunday were occupied by rep- in France, 5 in Germany, or 6 in Ausresentative women, drawn to the great tria." .. Our annual expenditure for metropolis by the International Conven- schools is 3 times that of Great Britain, tion of the Woman's Christian Temper- 5 times that of France, and 6 times that ance Union. Ignored by most of the of Germany." .. No nation ever before London journals, this assembly, never- possessed 41,000,000 instructed cititheless, was one of fa:.reaching signifi- zens. " He estimates that in 1890 our cance and intense interest. Australia, wealth was $65,037,000,000, or an aver- America, India, and Continental Eu- age of $1039 to each inhabitant.
rope were fully represented. -The last annual volume of Apple- -At the recent anniversary of the ton'a EncllcZopaJdia supplies a list of gifts London Missionary Society, speaking of what her sex had done in co-opera- and bequests in the United States extion, Mrs. Matheson stated that "65 women are actively engaged: in India, clusive of " the ordinary denominational 33; China, 21 ; Madagascar, 6; South Africa, 1, and the South Seas, 4. besides contributions for educational and beneva large staff of Bible-women. She also mentioned that the gifts from native olent purposes, and State and munici- Christians in China reached a larger total than was received by any other society, pal appropriatibns to public and sectaand then asked, in comparison with that fact, where were the self·sacrifice, ear- rian institutions." It includes those for public purposes, such as schools, academies, hospitals, homes, libraries, etc. In 1894 the amount bestowed was $32,000,000; in 1893 it was $29,000,000.
This great sum includes only· gifts and bequests of $5000 and upward. '
nest pleading, and sacrifice of the -The Epworth Herald takes note that churches at home 1" " within a few weeks" some 15 colleges, -For some reason our Christian wom- from living donors, have received gifts en do not unite in missionary societies, varying in size from $20,000 to $1,800,- each one of which shall represent the 000, and aggregating nearly $3,000,000. -The Baptist Home Missionary So- and 37 building and loan associations ciety, which ended its year with a debt are also conducted by them." of over $100,000, has met with unexpected relief. At the anniversary at -Rev. J. P. Williamson writes, in a Saratoga it was announced tlIat since late Norllt and Weat, of "Our Twenthe books of the former year were tieth Church Among the Sioux Ind· closed, a legacy from the Cook estate ians," which is located in the Lake had been received, a legacy of $10,000 Trayerse region. Some 200 copper-. from the Stearns estate, and one from colored saints were present at the orthe Sampson estate amounting to ganization, and among the" exercises" $87,000. was a feast, at which 4 fat beeves con- stituted the piUe de r~si8tance. Five -The Springfield Republican indi- members joined by letter, and 10 on cates the extent to which New England confession. is being transformed by the following fact: "The increase in foreign popula- -The General Assembly of the Prestion in the small New England towns byterian Church voted to make an effort is instanced in Hinsdale, N. H., where to raise $1,000,000 as a quarter-centu,ry the census of school children recently memorial of the union of Old School completed shows a total of 185 of and New School, the first contributions American and 186 of foreign parentage. to which shall be used to wipeout the Nearly two thirds of the children of debts on all the boards. It was recomforeign parentage are of French de- mended that the beginning of the effort scent." be made in connection with July 4th memories, and a committee of 30 was -Presbyterian home missionaries appointed to have in charge and to push the movement to success. preach the Goapel in about 30 lan- -The total contributions to the guages and dialects ; and 227 of those benevolent agencies of the Presbyterian Church for the last twenty-five years, as of the Congregational Home Missionary reported ill thE! minutes of the General Assembly, were as follows: Society employ tongues other than the Home Missions ••••….•…….•..••. $15,320,520 English. . Foreign Missions ……… , . . .. .. . . .. 13,526,844 Education. … . . . . …. . . .. . . .. …. .. . 4,424,054 -Rev. E. P. Cowan, of the Presby- Publication and S. S. Work… ,. ….. 1,538,836 terian Board, states these encouraging Church Erection………………… 2,618,723 facts concerning the Freedmen: •• There Relief………………………….. 5,207,155 are among them 25,000 public-school Freedmen…… ….. .•. ••••…•…… 1,953,960 teachers, 57 college presidents, 500 theo- Aid for Colleges…………….. …. 1,813,5.';8 logical graduates in the ministry, and sustentation.. .. ……………….. 902,776 2500 other men who have studied for one or two years in theological semina- Total. …………………….. $47,306,426 ries and are now preaching; 400 physicians practising, one of them editing a In addition to the contributions to the medical and surgical journal; 300 law- boards, the churches gave the sum of yers, graduates of law schools; 65 $24,280,002 to miscellaneous benevodentists and 65 pharmacists. There are lence, and $192,044,780 to congrega- 200 newspapers and 4 magazines edited tional support; a grand total for all by colored men. In 1892 the colored contributions of $263,631,208, or an people contributed $300,000 for educa- average of $10,500,000 per annum. tion, and paid taxes on property valued at $274,000,000; 100 books on poetry, -Within twenty-five years the Ameribiography, religion; science, and gen- can Board has established 11 colleges eral literature have been written by col- (3 of them for women) in foreign lands, ored men; esssys, poems, and other and 7 theological seminaries. articles have been published in the lead- Ing magazines of the country ; 4 banks
-At the end of the fifth week after 170 congregations in embryo, with al- Easter, Lenten offerings had been re- most 20,000 members. H While the ceived by the Episcopal mission board average increase for the last fourteen from 1958 Sunday-schools, and amount- years has been 682, last year shows the ed to $46.188, an average of $23.58 from memorable figure 777."
each school. During the corresponding -The Free Church of Scotland has term in 1894, $31,033 was received sent forth 28 medical missionaries with from 1508 Sunday-schools, an average a full British qualification, of whom 5 of $20.57 from each. are women, aDd supports 2 native mis- -Bishop Thoburn, with 7 or 8 others sionaries, at Madras and Thana, making fresh from heathen soil, Is to conduct 30 medical missionaries in all. Besides a missionary campaign of six months' these, at Blythswood and other stations, continuance, and in eager quest of mis- chiefly in Africa, simple medical cases sionary funds. Alas! that 80 much are attended to by the missionaries and vigor must needs be expended upou the their wives. About 120.000 cases, surgi- saints at home to rouse them to do their cal and medical, were treated by 17 of duty. the missionaries who have reported, be- EUROPE. sides the large number of women dealt with by the surgeons and physicians of Great Britain.-Accordlng to Rev. their own sex at Madras and Nagpoor, J. M. Eppstein, there are no less than and the many relieved unprofessionally. 160 Israelites in holy orders in the At least 150,000 men, women, and chil- Church of England, who have either dren, sufferers of all Asiatic and Afribeen converted or else are the sons of can races and creeds, annually receive pa!ents who have been converted. healing and sympathy, and have the love of Jesus Christ preached and read -The China Inland )Iission was to them in our Church's dispensaries founded in 1865 by Rev. J. Hudson and hospitals, in zenanas, and in the Taylor, and as to character, is evangeli- tented camp.-Free Ohureh Monthly.
cal, interdenominational, and interna- The Continent.-A Protestant mistional. Upon its staff are 634 foreign sionary at Oporto writes that Roman missionaries, including associates, and Catholic parents are constantly apply- 366 native helpers. The stations num- ing to him to take charge of the educaber 112, with 108 out-stations, and are tion of their children, assuring him they located in 14 provinces. Over 4500 would rather let the children run in the members are in fellowship with 134 Of- streets than hand them over to the ganized churches. Jesuits. In Roman Catholic countries -The Presbyterian Church of Eng- the people know exactly what the land has 50 stations in Amoy. 29 at priests are about, and that whatever Swatow, and 36 in Formosa, with others schools exist are simply maintained for also in Hak-ka and Singapore, with a extending the dominion of the Church total Christian native membership of and undermining the liberties of· the 7780. There are 56 European agents people. The Roman Church is, in the on its staff, 22 of whom are women, in judgment of those who know It best, addition to the wives of missionaries; . H a great conspiracy against the liberties and the native evangelists number 117. of mankind. "-Indian Witne88. The total income for last year was returned at £19,629 ($98,145). -The report of the Rhenish Mission- ary Society has just been published.
-The United Presbyterian Church of This society employs 100 European Scotland reports 150 trained agents in missionaries in its various stations in the foreign field, with about 750 native Africa, New Guinea, the East Indies, helpers; 116 full congregations and and China. The greatest ingatherings
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
have been in Sumatra, where a Chris- ment there are 38 freshmen, 18 sophotian community of 30,000 Battas has mores, 6 juniors, and 2 seniors; in the been formed in 13 years. New tribes medical department 17 pursue the course of heathen are constantly asking for of pharmacy, 21 are in the first year of teachers' and preachers, and 60 youug the regular course, 15 in the second, 10 natives are studying for the work of in the third, and 8 in the fourth. evangelists. -:Mrs. Cochran, of Oroomiah. relates -The Basle Missionary Society has this strange incident: .. Last Sunday published some encouraging statistics was a day we shall not soon forget. of its operations in India, China, the About a week before, a brother of the Cameroons, and the Gold Coast. In the Nestorian Patriarch was brought to the last-named field the Gospel has become hospital sick. He died on Saturday a mighty power, the number of Chris- morning. The news spread rapidly, tians (13,036) having doubled during and people began to gather. Word was the last decade. In India the mission brought me that about 60 people were has 28 stations, with 11,903 converts; gathered and coffee was needed. It is in China the converts number 4071, and the custom to serve Turkish coffee to in the Cameroons, 1103, making a total all who call at such. times. Soon the of 30,200 Christians under pastoral care. number increased to 100, then to 200. People were seated In rooms in the col- -Twelve months hence it will be lege, and my cook made coffee and the nine hundred years since Iceland was medical students served it. Many of evangelized by Scandinavian misslona· these callers came to our house, to the ries. In 1530 the Reformed faith was Anglican Mission, the old Nestorian introduced, and to-day the popUlation bishops, etc., to consult about the place of 75,000 are Protestants. The Pope of burial. The friends all wished it to had the satisfaction, last Easter, of send- be the old Nestorian Church in the city, ing 2 Roman Catholic missionaries from but it is the law that no dead body shall Copenhagen to say mass, a service that be taken in at a city gate, so they had has not been performed in the Island to decide on another church in a village. for three hundred and sixty-five years. Meanwhile dinner had been prepared The only Roman Catholic family in the for all these guests, in charge of one of island is that of the French consular our hospital men. Four sheep, I think, agent, who resides at Reikjavik.- were used, and 125 pounds of rice. L'Egliae Ohretienne. About 800 partook."
ASIA. India.-The American Baptist Telu· gu Mission records 881 baptisms in 1894, Islam.-A special collection for the and has a membership now of 53,502, debt that oppresses the Presbyterian with 8048 Christian pupils in the schools Church, and hinders it in its work of and 54561n Sunday-schools. The medi· foreign missions, was taken in the little cal work is increasing, with 8204 new native church in Tripoli, Syria, at the patients treated during the year. Rev.. preparatory service before their com- A. C. Fuller, of this mission, writes: munion in March. It amounted to 1219 .. I find my people have heard and been piastres. That sum is equivalent to baptized, but are almost wholly unabout $50, and was probably contribut. taught, so this fs to be my greatest work ed by less than 50 donors. as soon as I can get at it. The starving sheep and lambs must be given the nec- -The annual catalogue of the Syrian essary spiritual food before we try to Protestant College at Beirut shows the reach out after others, though of course total number of students to be 262, of the gathering in of great numbers is a whom 127 are in the preparatory, 64 in great joy to the miSSionary. I mention the collegiate, and 71 in the medical department. In the collegiate depart· this so that you may know my inten- ant in South India than in any other tion, as it is not 80 strictly in the line of part of the country. Ii: recent expres- evangelizing as the work of a mission· sion of this feeling is found in an appli- ary is ordinarily, nor as I had hoped it cation presented to the agent of the would be; but those who now call South Indian Railway asking that sepa· themselves Christians must be built up rate carriage accommodation be made in the faith, and thus those coming after for high-caste Hindus. The directors will better know what Christianity is." will probably refer the matter to their -The Lutherans and the Baptists successors for consideration about the middle of the twentieth century.-Indcome into near contact in some of the ian Witness. parts of the Telugu mission field north and northwest of Ongole, and confusion – Woman'8 Workfor Woman tells of a and interference have taken place, with successful battle against caste recently charges of violations of comity. The fought in the high·school at Kolhapur; matter has now been amicably settled The son of a government schoolmaster by mutual agreement not to use certain (of the shoemaker caste) was admitted.
terms in speaking of their missions; The students came in a body demand- not to receive each other's members and ing his expulsion. If the principal'
mission workers without the consent of would not expel him, the boy must be the mission to which they belong; not put into a separate room. "No?"
to receive excommunicated members Then the matting must be cut between and dismissed workers without such him and the other caste boys. "No?"
consent; and not to undertake to ex- Then he must sit on the floor. A sepa- clude each other from any particular rate chair was given him. Still he field where either may be working. touched the matting, and they would -Some people think of India as a have to bathe twice every day. Then very rich country, and forget entirely parents came in deputations to remon- that in that Tery country about 2.000,- strate, but the school was declared to 000 die yearly of hunger or of utterly be Christian and " public." A dozen bad food. It is a rich country ; but the boys left as a consequence, none of wealth is in few hands, and much is them from the higher classes. Most of , uselessly buried in the temples. This the teachers resigned, and 50 students is very striking in Malabar, where 81 were bound to leave. But it blew over ; per cent of the population are small every teacher asked to come back, and farmers, under' extortionate landlords, one boy was the total loss.
and under the oppressive taxes of the -When Dr. Duff began work in Cal- Government, which fall so heavily on cutta he found that a cow had more land and salt. And what makes this rights and higher rank than a woman, poverty ever increasing is the excessive and he said that to try to educate wom- over-population of the country. In en in India was as vain as to attempt to Ponani the population is at the rate of .. scale a wall 500 yards high." To- 450 to the square mile. day in the province of Bengal alone -Of 955,000 low castes in the Bam. 100,000 women and girls are under In- struction, and India's most gifted daughbay presidency, only 6000 can read. A ters are laying hold of the treasures of the higher education. Zenana doors school has been opened for children of have been unlocked by the gentle haild of Christian womanhood, and a transthis class, in a cow shed, and into this a formation is already accomplished which centuries of merely human wis- Christian master went, occupying one dom and power could not even have half the space, the other half being par- titioned off by cocoanut leaves for cows and buffaloes. • -Caste feeling is much more Intoler. begun.-Dr. A. To Pieraon. China.-Dr. Henry Blodgett, a re- forces in molding the religious phases turned missionary from China, says the ofa Korean's character are the sysanti-foreign sentiment in Peking is very tem of ancestor worship, which enmuch exaggerated; that the Chinese are shrines filial piety as the chief duty restrained by the emperor's proclama- of man, and side by side with it a systion, which is tacked up in all missionary tem of spirit worship known as Sham· churches, and has completely quieted manlsm; which conceives of supernatuall manifestations against foreigners. Li ral beings only as hobgoblins and capri. Hung Chang is in favor of Western cious demons. The announcement that world civilization, and favors educating there is an obligation on man that is Chinese in arts and sciences abroad. He superior even to filial piety, a virtue believes in everything Western except which embraces it, comes to a Korean religionc lie attributes Chinese defeat with a shock, while the appeal to the to a supercilious disregard of the ad- supernatural and spiritual meets with vance of the world in warfare. He no response. He will early throwaway sends his children to the school of Rev. the absurd fetiches which adorn his Charles Harney, an American mission- home, but he finds himself for a time ary, for English branches. Li Hung unable to rise to the spiritual concep. Chang's liberalization is only his belief tions· which are the very essenc~ of in the fact that in the arts and sciences Christianity. Having overcome these the rest of the world long ago passed opposing forces, which are inherent in China. There are in Peking three Con- his nature and training, the Korean gregational churches, three Methodist, Christian must encounter violent oppo· three Presbyterian, 'one Alliance, and sition from his kindred as well as opsix English Protestant. To these the probrium and scorn from friends. emperor has extended protection, main- Moreover, the dignity of labor is a ly because he feels friendly to them, as Christian and not a Korean Idea, and it they educate the people. is difficult, indeed, for a member of this race who is con.templating a profession -The Presbyterian hospitals in Pekin of Christianity to regard as brothers and and Canton in 1893 treated 57,541 cases. equals those whom he had previously How much that means of Christ-like considered far below him in the social work, and who can estimate the reo scale. Another difficulty growing out suIts! of the industrial conditions concerns the keeping oce day in seven. These are Korea.-The KOTilan Repositorv states severe tests to try the Korean Christhat at a public meeting of the Korean tian's motives and the strength of his Religious Society nearly $400 were con- resolve, but there is little doubt of the tributed by the people of Seoul. The sincerity and constancy of one who has Korean Christians gave 55,000 cash surmounted such obstacles.- Congrega· (about $110) as their first o1fering. tionaZi8t. Well done! AFRICA. – From the same source comes this -A new map of this continent will strange intelligence: .. Since the ap- probably soon be made in London under the direction of the International Geo· pointment of the new ministry, on the graphical Society, which soon meets in tbat city. The cost of such a map is so recommendation of the Prime Minister, large that it will prolJably-be borne by the European powers interested. The the Government offices are closed from new frontiers of the British possessions in Africa measure more than 10,000 Saturday afternoon till Monday morn- miles.
ing, and the king does not hold court on Sunday. .
-In a recent number of the KOTila1/, Repositorv appears an interesting article on the obstacles encountered by Koreans in becoming Christians. The chief
GENERAL MISSIOlUBY
-The British Government, after a Lakes Company quickly carried him to year or two of hesitation, has .11nally the mouth of the Zambesi."
decided to raise Uganda and the region lying between Victoria Nyanza and the -To' the same paper F. W. Crossly East Coast to the estate of a protee· writes: "Johannesburg is now a city torate, has voted a snug sum for the of first importance in South Africa, situ· maintenance of order, and in due season ated among the gold fields, and with a • rapidly growing population of. say. is likely to construct a railroad. .from 60.000 to 80,000. Mr. Dudley -England has lately annexed the Kidd and Mr. Frank Huskisson went small strip of territory in South Africa to labor there about a year and a half that separates Swaziland from Amaton- ago. They commenced under many galand. It will be seen, by a glance at severe trials, and are prominent in faiththe map, that this shuts out the Trans, fully preaching the Word. God has vaal from the sea, and encloses it within owned their labors, and the hall they either British or Portuguese territory have occupied is now much too small. on every side. The Boers are deter- About £2500 is required to build a mined to fight England on this issue, larger one, about £1200 being in hand. and the President of the Transvaal Re· Rev. Andrew Murray is president of public has called into the field an army the South African General Mission, with of 20,000 men. His attitude is taken which they are working.
too late. The Transvaal has ceased to -In MiBBionsof the World, Rev. Henry be Dutch. Its foreign residents greatly Rowley, formerly of the Universities' outnumber the Boers. Its gold fields Mission to Central Africa, sets forth have attracted thousands of aliens who these several and su1llcient reasons for cannot now be expelled. Johannes· the utter failure of Portuguese missions burg is to all intents and purposes an in Africa after a continuance of three English city. It is a question of only hundred years: "1. The reckless and a few years when the Boers will either VI' holesale administration of baptism. 2. be assimilated or find a home elsewhere. Unholy accommodation of Christian -Zion's Herald. truth and observances to heathenish superstitions and customs. 3. The neg- -The London Ohristian states that lect of education for the young. 4. The F. S. Arnot has returned from Africa. attempts to prop up waning influence " Last year he journeyed to Garenganze by a pretended exercise of miracles. 5. by the East African Lakes route, taking The cruel punishments inl1icted for the supplies to Messrs. Thompson and slightest deviation from the prescribed Crawford and their fellow·laborers, rules of the Church. 6. The connec- now on the western shores of Lake tion with the slave trade, illustrated by Moero. He hoped to be able to settle the marble chair to be seen until lately again in Africa. After, however, hav- on the pier at Loanda, from which the ing written to Mrs. Arnot telling her to bishop used to give his blessing to the make arrangements to join him, he be· slave ships. In the old kingdom of came so seriously ill that those with him Congo the entire population was Chris- quickly realized the fact that he could tian, in the Roman sense, in the sixnot live many mOllths in Africa. They teenth century. The capital still bears consequently persuaded him to leave the name of San Salvador, but Chris- for England, which he did as soon as tianity has disappeared." .
he had recovered su1llclently to travel.
Another severe attack of fever prostrat- ISLANDS OF THE SEA. ed him near the south of Lake Tan ganyika, but after reaching Lake Ny- -Last November 21st, the birthday assa, the steamer of the East African of the Queen of Madagascar, the first
HISSIONARY I:NTELLrGJl)~CE. [August
pocket edition of the revised 'Malagasy fields in the Dutch East Indies. But it Bible was issued. The books are in appeared to be our duty first of all to clear type, neatly bound, and sold below spread the Gospel in those districts cost at one shilling, so as to be within where Islam has not yet gained possesthe reach of most. This pocket Bible sion, arid where the people are much is esteemed a great boon, and when the easier to win. In the course of the last consignment reached Antananarivo ten years, however, an alteration has there was a great rush to secure copies. taken place; gradually and almost un- In a few days every copy was sold, and con.sciously we have been forced to the people were crying out for more. work among the Mohammedans them- selves. This is especially the case in -The first translation of the Scrip- Sumatra. We have two stations there tures in the Malayan language was where our missionaries have to do exmade by John Van Hasel, a director of clusively with BaUas who have been the East India Company. When he converted to Islamism. In many other had completed a version of the Gospel stations the missionaries have a great according to St. lIatthew, he delivered deal of work among Mohammedans. the manuscript to Peter de Carpentier, And the conclusion which has been the chief director of the company, and reached is that these people are very far therefore this honor belongs to the from being as inaccessible as has been Dutch. The kingdom of Menangha- hitherto supposed. More than 1000 bon, in the central region of Sumatra, Mohammedans have joined our Chrisappears to have been the original coun- tian communities during the last ten try of the Malays, but impelled proba- years." bly by a love of adventure, they possessed themselves at a very early period -Rev. H. A. Robertson writes: of time of the Malayan peninsula. Ma- "One fact which must rejoice every layan is a branch of the ancient and one is this, that I now have 40 teachers widely extended language of which at work on Erromanga. Of that numfragments are to· be found in many of ber, our church in Canada supports 30_ the Islands of the Pacific. The Poly- These 30 teachers themselves support 2 nesian language, ranging from the others, and 8 besides these 32 have been South Sea islands to the East, as far as settled on faith. But as we live in a Madagascar in the West, bears in the practical world, and they must have Malay tongue the same proportion as something to eat, I am going to ask a Anglo-Saxon does in English, and words few friends anywhere and everywhere borrowed from Sanscrit and Arabic oc- to help us pay these 8 men and their cupy in it the same relative position as wives, as they are thus far with~ut any words derived from Greek and Latin guaranteed salary. The sum total of do in our own language.-General C. W. £40, I feel bound in honor to give the 8 DARLI:NG, in OhriBtian Intelligeneer. of them as coworkers with us, for they are as able and useful as any of the -In two recent numbers of the .. Re- other 32, who are on a salary of £5 ports of the Rhenish Missionary So· each. " He has this to say of their ciety," Dr. Schreiber discusses the arduous service: "In this work may prospects of missions among Moham- be mentioned visiting and nursing the 1i:J.edans, and maintains that they are sick and dying, going on foot, 5, 10, 20, nowhere so hopeful as in the East In- 30 and 40 miles, as the case.may be, to dies, and in Dutch East India most the missionary, for counsel, medicine, hopeful of all. .. For mOre than thirty and nourishing Euro!,ean food for these ; years our society has expended at least carrying all that stutt back; and, if need half its force in the effort to combat the be, repeating again and again the same extension of Islam in our three mission joumey for thll same objects…
The Missionary Review of the World — January 1893
OUR WORLD. I
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XVI. No.1.-0ld 8eries.–JANUARY.–VOL. VI. No. 1.-New &riu.
OUR WORLD.
BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
A GENERAL GLANCE AT SOME GREAT FACTS.
Facts are first forms of truth. In all solid and substantial structures they are the base-blocks. To ascertain them, classify and arrange them, and then utilize them are the triumphs of the scientist, the sage, and the seer.
There are certain great facts pertaining to our world and its inhabitants which we need to master. They so seriously affect our work and our success that to know them and to have them at command are of the first importance. Some of these we seek hero to collate and compare, aiming at comprehensiveness and accuracy, and hinting the lines along which investigation should be <,arried on, and additions constantly made.
I. OUR EARTH. -The dimensions of our globe are familiar-its circumference of about 25,000 miles, its diameter of about 8000, its surface of 200,000,000 square miles, of which three fourths represent water. Europe, inclusive of the British Isles, has an area of 3,600,000 square miles, with a coast-line of 20,000 miles; Asia, an area of 17,000,000 square miles, with a coast-line of 40,000 miles; Africa, an area of 11,500,000 square miles, with a coast-hne of 16,000 miles. To North America belongs an area of 8,000,000, and to South America an area of 6,800,000 square miles, while the united coast-line of these twin continents cannot fall much short of 30,000 miles on the Atlantic frontier alone. Australia, the island continent, has an area of 3,000,000 square miles; and the estimated area of the ;polar regions is over 3,000,000 square miles. The islands of the sea embrace about one hundredth part of the land area, or 550,000 square miles. If, then, Australia represents the unit of measurement, Europe has a fraction more area, South America twice as much, North America more than two and a half times as much, Africa nearly four times, and Asia nearly six times as great area.
The river systems are immense. They represent a total length of over 125,000 miles, or five times the circumference of the earth. The navigable waters of the Mississippi and tributaries reach 40,000 miles; the Nile, over 5000; the Amazon, 3750; the Yenisei, 3400; the Volga, 2400. The Americas claim over 65,000 miles of river system; Asia, 33,000 ; and Africa and Europe each 15,000, but Africa has probably much more.
II. OUR RAcE.-'l'he earth's population can be stated only approxi- mately, as the data are incomplete. The most carefuUy compiled statistics are probably those of E. G. Ravenstein, and those given in ., Die Bevolke- . rung der Erde," according to which the total population runs from 1,467,920,000 to 1,479,729,000. These figures approach so close to 1,500,000,000 that for all practical purposes this round number may be safely and conveniently used for the totality of the human race at this date. Of this number, Asia has about 840,000,000; Europe, 360,000,000 j Africa, 170,000,000; North America, 90,000,000; South America, 35,000,000 j and Australasia and other islalli~ systems, 5,000,000 j or, if we divide the population into 150 parts, Asia has 84 ; Europe, 36 ; Africa, 17 j North America, 9 ; South America, three and one half parts, and the islands of the sea, one half part.
Ravenstein reckons the increase from 1880-90 at 6 per cent in Asia j 8.7 per cen~ in Europe; 10 per cent in Africa; ] 5 per cent in South America; 20 per cent in North America, and 30 per cent in Australasia. These figures are startling in significance. While Asia has the bulk of the race, the lowest rate of increase is there; and in America and Australia, where the least numbers have been found, the rate of increase is so much more rapid that an actual transfer is taking place from Europe and Asia to the New World.
At least 3065 languages and dialects are already known to prevail. The Bible has been translated into about 260 of them. The sexes are almost equally divided, with a slight preponderance i~ favor of the males. As to color, the extremes of white and black are as 5 to 3 ; the other seven fifteenths are intermediate brown and tawny.
As to density of population, China leads, with from 200 to 400 to the square mile j next come Great Britain, India, Western and Southern Europe, and the Eastern States of North America with from 50 to 200 ; Africa, Russia, and the bulk of the United States bring up the rear with from 10 to 100 to the square mile. Asia will probably average 60, and Europe 100 to the square mile.
As to clothing and housing, about otle third of the race are well clad, about half partly clad, and one sixth practically naked. Curiously enough, about the same proportion holds as to dwellings ; the best clad being the best housed, and the practically nude being practically houseless.
III. OUR THRoNEs.-The governments of the world fall into four convenient classes: despotisms, or unlimited monarchies; kingdoms, or constitutional monarchies; republics, and petty soveff~ignties ruled over by chiefs. Russia is an example of despotic rule,. the whole legislative, executive, Ilnd judicial power being practically united in the Czar, whose will is law. The sultanate, the Empire of Morocco and of Turkey are absolute sovereignties, unrestricted by laws, civil or religious, and with authority unlimited. Of constitutional monarchies, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Belgium, Denmark, and of late Japan, furnish examples. Of republics, the ITnited States, France, Argentine Republic, Brazil, etc. ; of petty sovereignties, irregular and tribal governments, Africa is a most conspicuous example, divided among almost countless chiefs; and where a traveller may meet a new language with every sixty miles of advance, and about as many new rulers.
It is a most noteworthy fact that precisely according to the progress of the race in civilization do despotic power and arbitrary force yield to government by the people and for the people. .
IV. OUR FAITHs.-The best presentation of the religious systems of the world is probably that of the Church Missionary Society, which givps to the heathen faith 874,000,000 adherents; to Mohammedans, 173,- 000,000; to the Roman Catholics, 195,000,000; to the Greek Church, 85,000,000; to the Jews, 8,000,000; and to Protestant communities, 135,000,000. This would make over one half the race heathen; one in about 180 a Jew; one in 18 a Greek; one in 9 a Mohammedan; one in 8 a Romanist, and one in 10 or 11 a Protestant. Protestant church-members, however, do not number over 40,000,000 ; all who fall into no other class being reckoned as in Protestant communities-a very unsafe and unsatisfactory mode of classification when we are estimating the available force of the Church. More than 1,000,00(1,000 human 1.Jeings are without even a nominal Christianity; and though about 450,000,000 are reckoned as nominally Christian-or nearly one third of the race-less than one tenth of these actually belong to the evangelical churches.
It ought to be noted, also, that Mohammedanism has more in common with Christianity than any other false faith. It accepts the bulk of the Old Testament, admits many of the patriarchs and prophets, and even Jesus among saints and seers, while affirming the supremacy of Mohammed; is the foe of idolatry, and maintains the unity of the Godhead as against polytheism. Its very approaches to Christianity have, ho~ever, been its secret of resistance. The Mussulman claims that his faith embraces all that is worth retaining in the religion of Christ, and, in all else, is an advance upon it. And thus far the territory of Islam is almost untouched by Christian missions. The Greek Church stands midway between Protestantism and Romanism, with decided leanings toward the doctrine and practice of the Vatican. Romanism, especially in South America, is but one remove from paganism; though in some parts of the world, especially in the United States, it approaches very closely to Protestantism in intelligence and pure morality.
There is a vast gulf between heathenism and paganism, so called, both names being very inadequate. The faiths of Confucianists, Brahmanists, and Buddhists are immeasurably above the fetich worship of Africa, among some (If whose tribes the very conception of God seems to have almost died out. But nowhere among men have any yet been found who have absolutely no form of religion or worship, or conception of Ii deity.
V. OUR AGE.-There has been no such an epoch of general progress since the world began. Such books as McKenzie's" Nineteenth Century," Routledge's" Inventions and Discoveries of the Century," etc., give some conception of the immense strides of modern civilization. to which the advance of all past ages seems like snail's pace. We seem to stand at the culmen or apex of material and social progress. During the past ninetytwo years, since the century began, the movement onward and forward has been incredible. Mr. Gladstone is credited with saying that during the first fifty years of this century the race made more progress than during all the preceding centuries j that in the next quarter century the advance was greater than during the previous half century j and that during the next decade it was even more rapid than during the twenty-five years before. If this be true, then the ten years between 1875-85 were marked by a material advance so marvellous that it puts at a distance the progress of the five thousand years preceding-or, in other words, the rate of onward march was five hundred times as rapid !
A glance at the inventions and discoveries of the nineteenth century, or even the latter half of it, will astound any student of history. At n) period has the race touched such a golden age of intelligence and social improvement. These ninety golden years are each of them centuries measured by achievement. They are the age of the railway and steamship j of electricity as a motor, messenger, illuminator j of the telegraph and telephone and photograph and phonograph j of the ocean cable, the signal service j of the perfected microscope and telescope, and the more marvellous spectroscope and spectral analysis j of aniline dyes, of petroleum and all its compounds j of the steam printing-press, the typewriter, the sewing-machine j of the discovery of forty new metals, and the revolution of chemical science j of the tirth of geology, of anIBsthetics, and a score of new' sciences and arts. The world is now one neighborhood, and no nations are any longer distant or inaccessible. This is the age of world-wide exploration, occupation, communication, association, civilization, organization j the age of the postal union and cheap postage, of newspapers and magazines and cheap books j of free schools and universities; of machine work displacing hand work j of universal opportunity and consequent responsibility. It is the age of giant enterprises and giant explosives, when nothing seems impossible to men, and when we seem to be on the verge of a new era, when the air will be traversed, as the sea is now navigated, by vessels built for mastery not of waves, but of winds!
Could moral and spiritual progress but keep pace with material and ,;ocial advance, it is impossible to foresee or foretell to what millennial mountain heights of glory and of bliss, of purity and power the 'race might come hefore the now opening year should close j and as to the dawn of the new century, not even the most enthusiastic seer could give us the faintest foreshadowing of the possible grandeur of the future of mankind!
In studying our age, it is of the highest importance to appreciate the time factor in human history-the fitness and the fulness of the times. But one fit time and but one full time ever comes to any man or to the race. Then, if ever, the door must be entered j then, if ever, the work must be done. Delay means disaster, and sometimes destruction. If the work for which God gives us the season-the seasonable hour-is not then wrought, it can in most cases never be done j or, if at all, only out of season and at disadvantage, amid unfavorable conditions.
VI. OUR FOEs.-No careful, 'calculating man will stop with the more hopeful vision of progress. Humanity never had to face foes more numerous nor more deadly. If this is the promised lanEl. and age, the giant sons of Anak are in the midst of us with their walled cities and chariots of iron. In presence of some of them we feel ourselves to be as grasshoppers, so insignificant and impotent have even Christian nations proven in coping with these colossal, destructive forces of society.
Dr. G. W. Samson has mentioned four forms of intoxication and idolatry: those of the imaginative, nervous, generative, and acquisitive centres and powers of man's being; and the" strong drink" on which these respectively debauch themselves are the theatre and the novel for the imagination j alcohol and opium and tobacco for the nerves j lust and sensuality for the generative system, and greed and Mammon for the faculty of acquisition.
Perhaps the most formidable foe of human health and happiness is the d1'ink habit. Whatever may be said to vindicate or extenuate the use of intoxicants, the awful fact remains that the main cause of disease and death, of vice and crime, of poverty and misery, of vagrancy and lunacy, is RUM! The natural tendency of the use of all forms of spirituous liquors is toward abuse. "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. " In the United States alone the total consumption of distilled spirits, wines, and malt liquors is 900,000,000 gallons annually, or nearly fifteen gallons per capita. In Great Britain and Ireland the annual expenditure is still worse. In the United States it is about $900,000,000 (£180,000,000) a year, and growing, for a population of 66,000,.000. But in Great Britain, for less than 40,000,000 PQople, it was, in 1891, over $706,000,000 (£140,000,000), and for beer alone over $390,000,000 (£78,000,000). "Enough spent for beer to provide the country with two navies and armies, and with the civil service thrown in," says the London Times " "enough to pay the interest on the national debt for three years j or, if funded for nine years, to pay the whole debt and leave no more annuities or interest to pay."
Judges and magistrates affirm that at least seven tenths of all crime and acts of violence are traceable to the use of strong drink. One philanthropist quaintly says that in nine cases out of ten murder finds its secret in two words-formed by spelling murder backward. The total abstinence pledge adopted by every intelligent human being to-da~ would give us, a generation hence, a world free from its principal curse.
Next to drink, and strangely allied to it as a destructive foe of man, comes lust. Gross or refined sensuality in Protean forms stalks everywhere, the moral pestilence of the darkness, and in some parts boldly walks at noonday. Legalized prostitution in Roman Catholic countries, and to some f'xtent in Protestant communities, puts the sanction of law and license abou~ sexual sins, and undertakes to secure immunity, if not impunity, to that vice which God has signalled out for condign judgments in the bodies of the transgressors. Secret and systematic indulgence in sexual sins hides under the veil of domestic privacy and even of marriage, and corrupts the very springs of personal virtue and family purity. Children come into the world with the awful marks of physical and moral leprosy, or are criminally disposed of before birth by nameless and shameless practices which the pen refuses to record on these pages. A few years ago even in Christian England facts were coming to the front involving those in high life-facts so awful and alarming that their full exposure was never permitted. And in America a system of wholesale procuring of victims for illicit practices was, five years ago, unearthed, that would have disgraced the annals of Pompeii or Sodom. When a distinguished social philosopher of Oxford made a catalogue of dominant social sins threatening the destruction of the race, he placed first in the list a form of vice to which Paul refers in Romans (1 : 27), and which, though too shocking to allow description, is openly practised in the baths of Constantinople and throughout the Orient, and is not unknown in the heart of New York City.
These may suffice as two examples of our foes, whose name is legion. To mention greed is enough-that practical and insatiate lust of gain which makes the worshipper like unto his idol (Ps. 115 : 8). The man who is the victim of avarice comes to have a metallic ring, is changed into a coin, and drops into his grave with a chink. If the lust of sensual pleasure begets putrefaction, the lust of gain brings petrifaction j the miser is a hard man, of a. stony nature, and comes to love nothing but the golden calf. The opposite vice to this is extravagance-a lavish, careless, godless expenditure, scarce less hurtful than hoarding miserliness. And these are days of extravagance scarce equalled in the- days when suppers in Rome cost a fortune, when Nero tickled his throat with a foather to make way f(r a new gluttony, or Cleopatra dissolved costly pearls for her drink.
Our ri.sks are even more inclusive than our viceB and open sins. Our pride of numbers, our dependence on the patronage of the wealthy and socially great j our dependence on occasional appeals and impulsive responses for benevolent work and funds j the prevalent disposition to work by proxy. and shift individual responsibility j organizations, with the perils they involve; autocracy and virtual despotism, resulting from lodging undue responsibility with a few j the growth of frivolity and the habit of
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ONE OF PREPARATION
pleasure-seeking, with the consequent decay of earnestness of character; avarice, appetite, and ambition as controlling influences in the lives even of many of the better class; fashion and fashionable slavery; perilous social amusements, such as the dance, the card-table, the theatre, the horse-race, the gambling-table-these are a few of our foes and risks. And we have said nothing of ecclesiasticism and sacerdotalism and a worldly or secular type of church-membership, on the one hand, and infidelity and irreligion, on the other j a nominal Christianity and a defiant atheism; of the aristocracy of culture and the plutocracy of wealth; of the caste lines in society; of the monopolies in trade, and the perpetual war between labor and capital. And who shall measure the gulf which yawns beneath our feet in the desperate designs of the socialist, communist, and nihilist!
Here, for lack of space, we arrest this paper, leaving to a future issue to discuss further and no less important matters which affect our world and race and age-our history, responsibility, destiny. But surely this is the golden age of opportunity. The ends of the world stand looking with august interest to see what the true followers of God will do to uplift humanity, to repel and defeat its foes, purify its faiths, displace its false thrones, and usher in a greater age of peace and purity and power!
(To be continued.) THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ONE OF PREPARATION.* BY REV. JOSIAH STRONG, D.D.
We are entering on a new era of which the twentieth century will be the beginning, and for which the nineteenth century has been a preparation.
Though many of the achievements of the past century have been unequalled in the world's history, they generally suggest not finality or completeness, but rather beginnings. Many and great as have been the changes of this century, there is reason to expect that those of the next will be even more and greater. It is not proposed to call on the imagination to anticipate them. This ·work is not speculative. It does, however, attempt to trace some of the general lines of development in the past, to note their present trend, and, within certain limits, to project them into the future. It is quite true, as Lowell remarks, that "the course of events is apt to show itself humorously careless of the reputation of prophets." But surely one may study discerningly the signs of the times, which are only I the shadows of coming events cast before, without attempting the prophetic role.
If eventt"l were simply strung tOi!ether in orderly fashion on the thread of time, like beads on a string, without any relation of cause and effect, * See Editorial Notes. there could be no signs of the times; but because to-morrow is folded within to-day, because human nature and its developmt:nt are under laws which remain constant from age to age, because, as Carlyle says, "The centuries are all lineal children of one another," and bound by the law of heredity like other offspring, it becomes possible, in measure, to forecast coming events, to draw from the study of past experiences and present conditions reasonable inferences concerning the future.
Let us glance hastily at some of the more significant ehanges which have taken place during the past century and note their meaning.
1. Changes which may be called physical. There is nothing more fundamental touching the circumstances which affect all human beings than time and space. They condition all human activities and relationships, and hence to change them is to affect all human activities and relationships. This is the reason that steam and electricity have had fIlO profound an influence on modern civilization. They have materially changed t.hese two great factors that enter into all lives. It is as if the earth had been, in two or three generations, reduced to a much smaller scale and set spinning on its axis at a far greater speed. As a result, men have been brought into much closer relations and the world's rate of progress has been wonderfully quickened. Time-saving methods and appliances now crowd into a day business which a generation ago would have occupied a week or more. The passage of the Atlantic, which once required weeks, is now a matter of days. It is possible to be in the United States one week, and before the close of the next in Asia. A little time suffices to compass great events as well as great distances. We read of the" Thirty Years' War" in the seventeenth century; the Franco-Prussian War, which destroyed one empire and created another, was begun and practically ended in thirty days. By reason of the increased ease of communication Rew ideas are more speedily popularized, public opinion more quickly formed and more readily expressed; both thought and action are stimulated; reforms are sooner accomplished, and great changes of every sort are crowded into as many years as once they would have required generations or even centuries.
And it must be remembered that these quickening processes are not yet completed or their results fully apparent. Science is daily making easier the conquest of space; and there is reason to believe that the victories of electricity are only well begun.
Thus these changing physical conditions will continue to render the isolation of any people increasingly difficult – a fact of the utmost importance to the world's progress, for isolation results in stagnation, and we accordingly find that the civilization of all peoples is inversely as their isolation. The conformation of Europe and the exceeding irregularity of her coast line are favorable to the intercourse of her various nations with each other and the world, and Europe has developed the highest civilization. Moreover, ~hose of her peoples who are most favorably located for intercourse with their neighbors have made the most progress. The great mountain ranges of Asia, her vast plains, the absence of water communica- tion, or oceans so broad as to discourage the timid navigators of earlier centuries are much less favorable to intercourse, and the civilization of Asia is much lower t,han that of Europe. That part of Africa which lies on t1.e MeditTJrranean has been in contact with the world, and has had at times a high civilization; but the remainder of the continent has been for the most part a terra incognita. Her people have looked out, not upon the highway of narrow seas or straits, but upon the barriers of boundless oceans. The location of Africa and her coast line are much less favorable to intercourse than those of Asia, her people have been much more isolated, and there we find a lower barbarism than any in Asia.
The world is entering on an era in which the isolation of any people will become impossible, and then will the world's barbarism disappear.
2. Notice, briefly, the political changes of the past century. The explanation of most of them is found in the growth of democracy.
During the eighteenth century the spirit of free inquiry became uni- versal in Europe, but it was purely speculative. 'l'hough England enjoyed a measure of liberty. absolutism still reigned on the continent. For sixty years of that century Louis XV. disgraced the throne of France. He regarded the people of his domain as his personal property. Their lives and substance were at his disposal. But wretched and enslaved as was the condition of the French, that of other continental nations is shown by De Tocqueville to have been even worse.
The French Revolution made the people conscious of their power, and hence prepared the way for liberty as soon as the people should become capable of it. Napoleon, in accomplishing his own selfish and despotic purposes, did inestimable service to popular rights, and though, upon his fall, the old order of things was re-established for :l season, at least in form, absolutism from that time on must needs reckon with the growing spirit of democracy.
Says Robert Mackenzie :* "Sixty years ago Europe was an aggregate of despotic powers, disposing at their own pleasure of the lives and prop- erty of their subjects j to-day the men of Western Europe govern themselves. Popular suffrage, more or less closely approaching universal, chooses the governing power, and by methods more or less effective dictates its policy. One hundred and eighty million Europeans have risen from a degraded and ever-dissatisfied vassalage to the rank of free and self-governing men." When we remember that freedom is the most favorable condition for' a natural, healthful development, we see the significance of the growth of modern democracy. This great political change is prophetic of progress because it has removed the barriers which most seriously obstruct progress.
* The Nineteenth Century, p. 459. 3. Consider, now, certain social changes. Since the middle of the century there has sprung up and spread well-nigh throughout Christendom a deep discontent on the part of workingmen. Its causes and its signifi- cance will furnish the subject of a later chapter (VII.), in which it will be shown that this popular discontent foreshadows important changes in our civilization. Suffice it now to remark that a condition of political eq'bality having been achieved, it is short-sighted to suppose that society has, there- fore, arrived at a state of stable equilibrium. Democracy necessitates popular education, and popular education multiplies popular wants. If the many have the same wants as the few, they will demand the same means of gratifying those wants. To give to the poor like tastes with the rich is to create an inevitable demand for substantial equality of condition, and to stimulate dis<:;ontent until such equality is secured.
The discontent of labor has gained such a hearing, that there has been awakened within a few years an unprecedented interest in industrial and all sociological questions. Books treating these subjects have had an , astonishing circulation. A large number of periodicals devoted to social economy, and advocating industrial, economic, or social reforms, have sprung into existence. Labor organizations. whose avowed object it is to effect important change in the laws and in the whole status of labor, have appeared and grown powerful. Advocates of the reorganization of industry on a co-operative instead of a competitive basis have made many disciples. The word socialism is growing less obnoxious to Americans. It is, as Dr. Gladden says, being "fumigated j" and it has needed it, for some foul meanings have infested it. Socialism, separated from all adventitious doc- trines, has been accepted by many Christian men and women of the Ameri- can stock, and among them are many of the YOIlnger clergy.
The growth of socialism in Germany during the past twenty years has been surprising. The Socialist vote for members of the Reichstag in 1871 waf! 124,655 ; in 1890 it was 1,341,587. Schmoller well remarks: "A social movement of thousands is possible only when thousands of thousands have become doubters. "
The German Government has taken an important step toward State socialism, by insuring German workingmen against illness, accident, and bId age, making such insurance compulf!ory. Like measures have been proposed in France, Hungary, and Denmark. "The question at issue among most continental statesmen and students to-day concerns the details rather than the principle of such State help. The era of full reaction against laissez faire theory and practice 'has come, and Emperor William II. is its prophet." * Taken in connection with the discontent of workingmen, and an in- creasing readiness on the part of society to listen to their demands for change, there is great significance in the tendency toward organization and centralization which is seen everywhere.
* u. W. Hinman, in the Social Economist, April, 1891. The progress of the race has been along two lines-viz., the develop- ment of the individual and the organization of society, the. kind of organi- zation of which society is capable being dependent on the measure or type of development attained by'the individual. In the history of Europe, for centuries together, progress seems to have been along only one of these lines at a time-a development of the individual at the expense of social organization, followed by a closer organization of society, a centralization of power at the expense of personal liberty. Thus when society began to emerge from the lawless individualism of the barbarians, it was organized under the aristocratic form and then passed into the more centralized form of absolutism, which culminated in the seventeenth century, and under which individual rights were ruthlessly sacrificed. In the next century the reaction toward individualism came with the French Revolution. The remarkable growth of democracy during the past one hundred years, which, of course, meant the development of individualism, has already been noticed; aud now we see unmistakable evidence that the pendulum of the ages has again begun to swing in the direction of a closer organiza- tion of society, which movement is greatly facilitated by the increased ease of communication afforded by steam and electricity.
Look at some of the evidence of this reaction. In the commercial world the tendency toward consolidation is most striking. First, many independent railway corporations were united into a system, and now great systems are being consolidated under one management. The same is true of telegraph lines. A like tendency is seen in all kinds of production.
In various lines of manufactures there appears an increasing output and a decreasing number of factories, showing, of course, consolidation. This tendency must continue 80 long as production on a large scale is cheaper than production on a small scale. "The following statements have re- cently been made in California, on what is claimed to be good authority [Overland Monthly], of the comparative cost of growing wheat in that State on ranches, or farms of different sizes. On ranches of 1000 acres, the average cost is reported at 92t cents per 100 pounds; on 2000 acres, 85 cents; on 6000 acres, 75 cents j' on 15,000 acres, ao cents; on 30,000 acres, 50 ; and on 50,000 acres, 40 cents."* One of the most striking features of the modern business world is the growth of powerful corporations and more powerful combinations in the form of " pools" and" trusts." The conditions of production and trans- portation have largely ceased to be democratic j and the question may be reasonably asked, Can our Government remaiQ democratic and our indus- tries continue aristocratic or monarchic ?-that is, controlled by the cor- poration or the industrial" king." The Encycloprodiri Britannica t says: " The great American Republic seems to be entering upon a new era, in which it must meet and solve a new problem-the reconciliation of democ- racy with the modern conditions of production. "
* D. A. Wells' "Recent Economic Changes,"_l';.~; t Vol. xxiii., p. 787· Ever since our late civil war there has been a marked tendency tow- ard the centralization of the Government of the United States. Justice Miller, in an address at Philadelphia on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the adoption of the Constitution, said: "While the pendu- lum of public opinion has swung with much force away from the extreme point of States-rights doctrine, there may be danger of its reaching an extreme point on the other side."
This centripetal tendency of the times is further illustrated by the creation of the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Germany out of politi- cal fragments. In the latter part of the eighteenth century there were in Germany nearly 300 independent powers.
Another manifestation of the same tendency is seen in the wonderful drift of population to the cities, which see~s to be a world phenomenon.
So general a tendency toward the centralization of population, of politi- cal power, of capital and of production, manifested in ways so various, can indicate nothing less than a great movement toward a closer organization of society, a new development of civilization.
Thoughtful men everywhere have become expectant of great social changes. Says President Andrews, of Brown University :* "If anything has been made certain by the economic revolution of the last twenty-five years, it is that society cannot much longer get on upon the old libertarian, competitive, go-as-you-please system, to which so many sensible persons seem addicted. The population of the great nations is becoming too con- densed for that. " '
Canon Westcott, professor at Cambridge, writes:t "On every side imperious voices trouble the repose which our indolence would wish to keep undisturbed. We can no longer dwell apart in secure isolation. The main interests of men are once again passing through a great change.
They are most surely turning from the individual to the society." The author of "God in His World" remarks: t "We are now approaching such a crisis. No human wisdom can predict its shaping any more than it can prevent the issne. The air is full of auguries, and even our fiction has become very precisely apocalyptic. It is theoretic prophecy, anticipating the realization of perfect scientific and social economics-the paradise of outward comfortableness. " The Westminster Review says: § "It is felt by every student and every statesman that some movement, vast and momentons, though indefinite, is passing like a great wave over the civil- ized world." And the Ohurchman says:/1 "It is idle to refuse to admit the fact that modern civilization is in a transition state. There are a thousand evidences that the present state of things is drawi;-:; to a close, and that some new development of social organization is at hand. "
Says Mr. William T. Stead : ~ " Everywhere the old order is changing and ** The Oongregationalist, Jannary 22d, 1891. t "Social Aspects of Christianity," p. 4. P. xxv_ § London, May, 1890. i New York, January 17th, 1891.
'J .. The Pope' and the New Era," p. 20. giving place untO the new. The human race is now at one of the crucial periods in its history, when the fountains of the great deep are broken up, and the flood of change submerges all the ~ld-established institutions and conventions in the midst of which preceding generations have lived and died." Srich citations might be indefinitely multiplied.
Many expect violent revolution. Whether such expectations are realized will depend probably on the Christian Church, whether she is sufficiently awake to see and to seize her opportunity. The Church is not yet adequately aroused, hut I believe that she can be, and therefore do not deem revolution probable. We may have social revolution, we must have social evolution. Social systems are never invented, they are evolved, they grow out of what has preceded. A revolution may suddenly sweep away existing institutions as a fire destroys a forest, but the new forest which rises out of the ashes is a growth. Surely it is too late for the world -or at least the Anglo-Sa~on part of it-to fall into the" French fallacy, that a new system of government" or a new social organization" can be ordered like a new suit of clothes."* The social changes which are sure to come will doubtless be great, but they will be natural-the effects of causes long antecedent-hence the importance of comprehending, as far as possible, existing conditions and tendencies.
4. Consider, now, briefly a few suggestions touching the changes of which the progress of science is prophetic.
Most of our scientific knowledge is the growth of the past century. It would be idle to attempt even to enumerate its numberless practical applications to life. By making communication easy and swift, science has effected all human relations and conditions, by perfecting the press ·it has popularized knowledge and powerfully stimulated the mind, by means of labor-saving appliances it has revolutionized the industrial world and added enormously to the world's wealth, awakened new aspirations on the part of the multitude, and created new problems and possibilities of life. If all that science has done for the world during this century were suddenly struck out, it would leave our civilization in ruins; so universal and profound would be the changes wrought, that we should hardly know whether we were living on this planet or had been mysteriously transferred to some other. And we must remember that much of the progress of seience'is so 0: recent that as yet we have seen scarcely a beginning its endless applica- tions to life. Moreover, some of the most practical sciences are still in their infancy; the field of knowledge is boundless, and each new acquisition makes others more easy. Science is certainly destined to make great progress during the next century, and therefore to work great additional changes in civilization.
What if it could be certainly known that during the twentiet.h crntury there would be a new revelation of God's will, another table of the Divine * James Russell Lowell's Democracy, p. 23. law given to men to meet new needs of civilization, and to hasten the coming of the kingdom of heaven upon earth; and so given as to authenticate itself and carry conviction of its truth to all the world? With what profound and eager expectation would it be awaited! What supreme blessings should we expect it to bestow on mankind, and what a mighty upward impetus would it give the race!
Just such a revelation has been made during the past century, and is to be continued in the next. Its truth is evident, but all do not yet perceive that the truths of science are God's truths, that its laws are God's laws. The Church has even looked askance at it. It has been regarded not only as secular, but as actually hostile to religion. Books have been written and professorships established to "reconcile," if possible, these two " foes;" but science is as truly a revelation from God' and of God as are the Scriptures, as really a revelation of His will as was the Decalogue, and one which is to have as real a part in the coming of His kingdom among men ~s the New Testament. God's will expressed in what we call natural law is as benevolent and as sacred as His will expressed in what we call moral law. The more perfectly His law, whether natural or moral, is known and obeyed, the better is it for the race. This new evangel of science means new blessings to mankind, a new extension of the kingdom. The Church ought to leap for joy that in modern times God has raised up these new prophets of His truth. It will be shown later that this modern revelation of His will means a mighty hastening of the day when His will is to 1:-e done on earth as it is in heaven.
One of the great services which science has rendered has been to clear the world of an immense amount of rubbish which lay in the path of progress. The scientific hahit of mind is fatal to credulity and superstition, it rests not on opinions, but facts j it is loyal not to authority, but truth. This means that as the scientific habit of mind obtains, men will break away from t1e superstitions of h€athenism and from the superstitious forms of Christianity. Scientific knowledge is rapidly becoming a necessity to all civilized peoples. Commerce is bringing the nations into an ever closer contact, which means increasing competition, and however cheap flesh and blood may be, they cannot compete with steam and steel. The Bureau of Statistics at Berlin estimated, in 1887, that the steam-engines then at work in the world represented approximately 1,000,000,000 men, or three times the working population of the earth. This mighty force is at work for the Christian nations. What are all the millions of China and India compared with it? Cheap labor cannot compete .with machinery which enables one man to do the work of ten or twenty or a hundred men. Labor·saving machinery is destined to go wherever men toil, and with it will go an increasing knowledge of science.
Moreover, China, IJating foreigners, wishes to become independent of them. She has been compelled to employ them to build her navy, to arm her soldiers, and make her munitions of war. In order to become independent of them she must needs introduce the study of the sciences into her schools. Thus science is destined to become the great iconoclast of the heathen world. What then! Men react from superstition into in- fidelity, which has already become the great peril of Japan and is becoming the peril of India. The ·greatest of modern Hindoos, Keshub Chunder Sen, once said: "I fear for my countrymen that they will sink from the hell of heathenism into the deeper hell of infidelity." The prospect is that in the course of a few generations the heathen world will become either Christian or agnostic. Which it will become will depend on the Church.
In this connection we may not inappropriately remind ourselves of the familiar and significant changes which have already taken place during the past century among heathen and Mohammedan peoples. * A hundred years ago the Japanese were so separated from the remainder of mankind that, so far as any intercourse is concerned, they might almost as well have inhabited the moon. There was then in force a law providing that" no ship or native of Japan should quit the country under pain of forfeiture and death, that any Japanese returning from a foreign country should be put to death, that no nobleman or soldier should be suffered to purchase anything from a foreigner, that any person bringing a letter from abroad should die, together with all his family, and any who might presume to intercede for him. "
Until within a few years the following royal rescript, issued on the extirpation of the Jesuits, remained posted up through all the kingdom : " So long as the sun shall warm the earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan j and let all know that the King of Spain himself, or the Christian's God, or the great God of all, if he violate this command, shall pay for it with his head." To-day there is a new civilization in Japan.
As a Japanese lecturer said, there is nothing left as it was thirty years ago, " except the natural scenery. "t The nati.on is now eager to place itself in the forefront of progress.
China has for centuries been separated from the world by a barrier far more effectual than her famous " ~yriad Mile Wall"-a wall of pride and prejudice, more immovable, more impenetrable, more insurmountable than any possible wall of stone and mortar.
But a trial of Ilrms with Great Britain and France taught China a whole- soine respect for Western Powers j and her pride was sufficiently humbled to employ foreigners to teach her sons ship-building and navigation, together with the military science by which her armies had been beaten.
The War of 1856 resulted in the Treaty of Tientsin, which guarantees the protection of the Chinese authorities to all persons teaching or profess- ing the Christian religion, thus opening the door to Christian civilization.
* For a full and able discussion of these changes see the missionary classic, "The Crisis of Missions," by Rev. A. T. Pierson, D.D.
. t" The Crisis of Missions," p. 1()(). At the beginning of this century the gates of India were locked to Christian missions, and the East India Company held the key. That com- pany was hostile to missions because it received large revenues from native idolatries, and" as late as 1852 $3,750,000 were paid from public funds to repair temples, provide new idols and idol-cars, and support a pagan priest- hood."'"
The East India Company was abolished in 1858, and the British Gov- ernment is in hearty sympathy with Christian' missions in India. Its officials there annually contribute many thousands of pounds for their maintenance. Moreover, social caste, which in India separates classes as oceans separate continents, and which has served to maintain isolation and stagnation, is giving way before modern civilization, which is every- where bringing men into closer relations.
At the opening of the nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire was characterized by the same spirit which had once rendered it a terror to Christian nations. To.day the Protestants of Turkey, like the other re- ligionists of the empire, have their recognized rights and a representative at the imperial city, religious liberty having been assured by the Treaty of Berlin.
Only a few years ago the vast interior of the Dark Continent was a mystery. Now the great •• open sore of the world" has been thoroughly probed-a long step toward its healing.
The changes which have been very briefly recited have a significance which is simply boundless. During this century the barriers which sepa- rated more than 800,000,000 heathen from the transforming influences of modern and Christian civilizatiou have been broken down. The prison- pens which condemned more than one half of the hnman family to isolation, and, therefore, stagnation, have been thrown open. The contact of the Occident and the Orient has already produced in the latter unwonted signs of life. The dead crust of fossil faiths is beginning to be shattered by the movements of new life underneath. "In every corner of the world," says Mr. Froude, t " there is the same phenomenon of the decay of established religions. Among the Mohaqnnedans, Jews, Buddhists, Brah- mins, traditionary creeds are loosing their hold. An intellectual revolution is sweeping over the world, breaking down established opinions, dissolving foundations on which historical faiths have been built up. " And it should not be forgotten that religious beliefs underlie and determine social and political institutions.
The door" great and effectual" which is thus opened to the Christian Church has been only partially entered. Noble as has been the work of modern miRsions, it must be regarded chiefly as one of preparation. The languages of savage peoples have been reduced to writing, the Bible and a Christian literature have been translated into tongues spoken by hundr~ds * "The Cri8is of Missions," p. 48. t N{fftlt American RtvielO, December, 1879.
1893.J A CENTURY OF MISSIONS
of millions, schools and seminaries for training up a native ministry have' been established, missionaries have learned much of native character and of the necessary conditions of success. A foothold has been secured, a fulerum found, the Gospel lever put in place, and the near future will see the mighty uplift.
We have cast a hasty glance over Christendom and heathendom, and have sought to interpret briefly, though not superficially, the great changes of the century. They seem to me to point unmistakably to One conclusion : the drawing of the peoples of the earth into ever closer relations, wh'ich will render isolation, and therefore barbarism, impossible, and will operate as a constant stimulus j the growth of freedom which removes the greatest !:-arriers to progress; the social ferment and the evident tendency toward a new social organization; the progress of science, destroying superstition, thus clearing the way for truth; the opening of the heathen world to the power of the Gospel and the quickening forces of modern life; the evident crumbling of heathen religions, which means the loosening of the foundations of heathen society-surely all these indicate that the world is about to enter on a new era, for which the nineteenth century has been the John the Baptist• .. Out of the shadow of night The world moves into light; It is daybreak everywhere I"
-Longfellow.
A CENTURY OF MISSIONS. * BY THE REV. F. EDWARDS, B.A., OF HARLOW, ENGLAND.
The end of the first century of modern Christian missions is upon us. Weare entering on a new century of work and service, and we are entering it with enlarged privileges and with widened responsibilities. As we cross the threshold from the one century of completed lahor to the other century of anticipated blessedness, it will be well for us to lay to heart the teachings of the past, that we may be strengthened by its results and inspired by its experiences. Our preparation for our work and our consecration for its duties cannot fail to be increased.
It would 2eem as if the most prominent feature of our centenary celebration is to be the raising of £100,000. Other elements enter into the' official celebration, but they are all subservient to this great pecuniary purpose. I cannot help the conviction that if this is all, or that if this is mainly its result, we shall have prostituted to unworthy ends our opportunities; at any rate, that we shall have failed to secure for them the .. This address was read at the annual meeting of the Essex Union; and at the request of the Secretary of the China Inland Mission we cordially insert it in the pages of THE MISSIONARY RE- VIEW. It i8 one of the most thoughtful papers we have read,-En. highest possible good. If we succeed in raising the money-and about that I do not think there is much doubt-in a few years every trace of it will be gone. The new expenditure which is essential, and which must be met by it; the removal of the debt now existing, to which in part it is to be devoted; the meeting of what seems to promise to be a chronic annual deficiency, will exhaust the resources even before the last instalment of them becomes due.
We misunderstand our opportunity if this is the only end we can make our centenary serve. It may and it ought to minister to an enlarged liberality on the part of us all. If this is all that it does, it will just serve ·as our annual debts have done in the past-furnish the occasion for a spasmodic and unsatisfactory generosity. To my mind the announcement of our debts has often been most humiliating and saddening. It has come out that we have been behindhand, say, some £5000. The fact that there is a debt has led to the discovery on the part of many of our friends that they are wealthier than they had supposed, and that the contributions they had given had by no means exhausted or even crippled their resources. It has been no unusual thing for one to find that he could spare another £500, and for many to find that they could part with another £100 each. Collectively and individually the debt has been a curio~s revelation. We have found out that we have not done all that we could have done. We have done for the removal of a debt what the needs of the world and the claims of our Lord never moved us to do. We are high-souled as to the dishonor of not meeting the liabilities that have been incurred, but we should have kept our contributions if the work had not been done at all, or if the work could have been done at a cheaper rate. Our donations must be raised to a higher level, in which our obligations to our Lord and to the world He has redeemed will be met according to our ability. We ought not to need the stimulus of a debt to prompt us to liberality. It is not fitful and occasional liberality that will secure the evangelization of the world. We could well dispense with this £100,000, if all our churches, and all their members, recognizing the need, and thankful for the privilege of meeting it, would imitate one whose memorial is to be an abiding one, but whose greatness arose from the fact that her work and her ability ran together.
There is no doubt that the pecuniary aspect of our work is Of the utmost, the deepest importance. If we were more spiritual we should not feel that there was anything derogatory in this. There was one of whom we read that his alms as well as his prayers had come up before God. Ollf psalmody and our prayers form part of our worship, but the collecting boxes and the subscription lists need not be secular and unspiritual. The love which is shed abroad in the heart finds its response as much in our gifts as in our prayers. It feeds on liberality as well as on de1l:0tion.
And, as to this giving, it seems to me that our conception of our duty and our methods of giving all need to be revised. We are being constantly reminded that we have so many churches in our denomination, and that we have so many members in connection with thosEf churches. Weare told what the income of our Society is, and what it would be if every member of our churches, and every teacher and scholar in our schools, gave some small sum every week in every year. These calculations are made with the utmost nicety, and are, from time to time, printed in our Heralds and reported at our meetings. The one great aim of all these calculations seems to be, not the declaration of the fact that there is a work to be done, and that be its cost littJe or much it must be done, but to show that it can be done without much trouble and without any great loss to anybody in particular, as if the great recommendation of the great missionary enterprise were its cheapness. And, to encourage this idea of cheapness, we examine every item of expenditure abroad and cut down every possible expense to the lowest point-as if we were resolved that, while its cost to us is unfelt, we will give our agents the opportunity of showing their zeal and exercising their self-denial and winning their crown by bearing their cross. It would almost appear as if we did not mind who met the e~pense provided it did not fall too heavily upon ourselves. It costs thoae who do our work more sacrifice to live upon what we give them than it costs us to provide those means. I know we need to encourage the poorest among us to give, and it is a grand thing to believe, and know, that if we had only poor people in our communion the largest work on earth could still be done. The man is strongest among us who is supported by the contributions of the many by whom he is beloved, and not the man who is indebted for his living to the one or two rich people he happens to have in his congregation. In these days of democracy, it is not the power to have their own way, and to do as they like, that people want to be taught, but the power to work. The privilege of carrying on the work of Christ in the world is not the heritage of the rich among us, it is the heritage of us all alike, and we may all claim our fair share in its execution.
I know all this, and yet I am cODvinced that these calculations and this penny-a-week sYiltem are open to misapprehension. Somebody, whose resources are almost unbounded, hears that 28. 6d. a year from everybody will produce a certain sum, gives us the utterly inadequate sum as if that were his proportion, and forgets it was not for his sake, but for the sake of the widow and orphan that the calculation was made, that they might be encouraged to believe that they were not shut out from the privilege of partaking in the work of the extension of the kingdom of God. The lad was right in his tlfeology, though, perhaps, a little wrong in his history, who, in answer to the question, Who were the Pharisees ~ replied that they were a sect of the Jews noted for their stinginess, and that one of them one day brought a penny to the Lord Jesus, who took the penny into His hand and turned it round, and looked at it and said, Whose subscription is this? The widow who casts in her all to the Lord's treasury, though it only comes to two mites, need not wrap up the mites in paper, as if she would fain cover their littleness; those mites shine with the light of God's love, and are glorified thereby in the eyes of Him who gave His best and His all when he gave Himself for us. The penny a week of many of us who pride ourselves that we are doing our fair proportion, and that we have no right to deprive others of their privilege in giving by doing all ourselves, will be met by the withering rebuke implied in the question, Whose subscription is this? Its fault is not in itself, but in its giver.
When we have reached the highest ground and found the right principle that ought to secure this result–that the money in the Church's hands shall be adequate to meet all the legitimate expense connected with the Church's work-we shall not need 58. centenary cards or ingeniously devised £13 2s. 6d. collecting books, or clever calculations as to how far we shall be able t6 go if all the members of our churches will contribute a penny a week. I maintain that appeals for missionary purposeli ought not to be needed, and that when our funds are only forthcoming as the result of debt, there is something radically wrong. Our institutions ought no more to need to ask for ftmds for their working than our children ought to need to ask us for their food and clothing. All we can legitimately demand or look for is the opportunity of giving, and if that opportunity be but wisely afforded, all that is needed to induce us to embrace it is knowledge-knowledge of the work that is being done, and of the work that yet has to be done before we shall have overtaken the trust committed to us by our Lord. It is ignorance that paralyses our effort, and knowledge is the only power by which our liberality will be brought into active operation. If our churches did but know what has been done, what is being done, what has still to be accomplished, they would rise to the occasion, and there would be no need to plead with those who were already anxious to give. I suppose we shall all be agreed upon this point, and the only possible divergence of feeling and opinion will be as to the means by which this needed knowledge is to be disseminated. I take it t.hat we are preventing the development of missions when all we know about them is derived from our annual meetings, and I take it that we are not much improving matters when we seek to supplement their inspiration by readings from the llfis8ionary Herald at the monthly prayer-meetings, especially if the reader makes it clear that he is gaining his own information at the same time that he is communicating it to his hearers. There is a more excellent way than this, and, after testing it for nearly a quarter of a century, I venture to speak of it. God knows that we get enough sermons, and I dare say that, whether we preach or listen to them, we should all be glad to have fewer of them. So weary are we who listen that thirty minutes is as much as we can endure, and so exhausted are some of us who preach, that we find it hard work to find fresh and interesting materials for our sermons. It surely would be well if we could find something more interesting and stimulating without resorting, as some, unfortunately, do, to sensational methods of making the Gospel palatable. Something fresh to us who speak, and something fresh to us who listen, might bring about marvellous results. And we have not far to go to find out what that something should be. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles is the one unfinished book in the Bible. Apostles have been at work in the midst of us, and God has been working with them, and shame on us if we do not rehearse unto the people all that Jesus is continuing to do. If we would but tell out the story of this past century of modern missions, we should kindle enthusiasm where it does not now exist, and revive it where it is decaying. The triumphs of the Cross in this nineteenth century have even surpassed those of the first. On the part of the workmen, we can tell of heroism that has rarely been equalled: their labors in every sphere of service have been abundant; they have not counted their lives dear unto them, but have made them living ~acrifices unto the Lord. And as to the converts, why, even apart from Madagascar, we can tell of sacrifices that have been made, and of martyrdoms that have been endured, and of professions that have been witnessed, which make us sometimes think that if where there is no cross there can be no crown, our chance of coronation is but slight. It is these last chapters of the ever-growing Book of the Acts of the Apostles that we have' to make ourselves acquainted with, and we must preach them and expound them if missions are to be carried on successfully and triumphantly.
It will not hurt our churches or our minIsters to dispense with one sermon a month, and to have in its place a missionary lecture which shall tell the people about the work of God, and make them familiar with the signs and wonders which the ascended Lord is still doing in the world. The man who tries this will find that his theme is practically as exhaustless as the Bible itself. When I began this work, there were not wanting those who said I should soon come to the end of my materials. I remember saying, I will always have three months' stock in hand, and, when you hear me announce as my subject Carey and Ward and Marshman, you may conclude I have come to the end of my tether. Their work I have often spoken of, but, as yet, I have not told the story of their lives. The missionary literature and biography of the last hundred years are extremely rich. Contributions have come from every quarter. From the Moravians downward to the last of the Combers, God has given us men of whom we may well be proud; and I am sure the Apostle Paul will forgive us if we sometimes let our people know that there are other missionary travels and labors beside his. Every year adds to the already large list from which we can draw, and surely one night in the year might well be spared for our own annual report of the work of the Lord during the year. For years I have given one night to the review of the work of the year of our own Society. It will not do to read it or to make extracts. Read sermons are bad, enough, but read report~ are infinitely worse. We must master these reports ourselves, and we may nlry our lectures as much as we like. He is a poor preacher who can preach only one sermon on a good text. We can begin with the money, and tell how it was raised and how we Bpent it. Or we may describe the work and the workers-the spheres of their labor and what they do in them, and astonish our hearers by telling them the small cost at which it has all been done. Or we may begin with our European missions, and go on till we reach those farther off. There are a hundred ways of giving the same report. It took four evangelists to give us a picture of Jesus Christ, and when we have done our part in telling the story of modern missions, we shall have left more unsaid than we have told.
I am not unmindful of the fact that all this means work, and that the work must fall mainly upon the ministers of our churches. It is, however, for work that we ministers exist, and if we do not do it the reason for our existence is ended. I know it is easier to preach a sermon than it is to give a lecture. It is astonishing how easy we can make sermons and how often. Such lectures, however, as those I have been speaking of are different matters. They will involve an amount of reading and preparation from which we ought not to shrink. I may, however, remind you that during the last year or two the necessary labor has been much lessened. Cassell's" Conquests of the Cross," Snow's" Missionary Outlines," Partridge's "Missionary Biographies," the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge's books on the non-Christian religions of the world, and other books I need not specify, have brought within reasonable compass materials which those of us who in the past have gone over the same ground have had to collect for ourselves. I know that epitomes of history are not the safest help to the study of history, and mention these books simply to indicate the fact that no one need be deterred by the reading he will have to go through. A more serious objection arises from the expense involved in book-buying. It is hard that the men who most value books should find it hardest to get them. If our rich members did but know how they themselves would be benefited by their ministers having good libraries they would see to it that they should be provided with them. I may mention, however, that the books I have referred to are cheap, and many of the larger biographies which could be turned to good account are procurable at low rates from second-hand booksellers. I think, however, that if our Missionary Society were approached, the committee might do something to remove this difficulty~ The cost of a book il!! as legitimate an expenditure as that of a deputation. I once asked our late treasurer to give his book on the Congo to everyone of our ministers on the condition that he would read it and lecture on it to his people, and give them an opportunity of contributing to our funds. I am certain that £1000 would have been I raised without difficulty. I once offered, if the committee would find the hooks, to send them out to the brethren, who would use them, and to give the benefit of my experience as to subjects to all who would not be offended at my offering it. A small floating library of this sort would bring untold wealth to our Society. The books would be a treasure to those who read them and to those who had the substance of them given to them. My offer was not accepted. I suppose one must be inside the committee before one is considered wise enough to make suggestions, or one must forget his modesty and press his views forward at annual meetings to get heard. My time for work of this sort is over, and I therefore feel free to speak upon this subject. We make provision in our colleges for the study of Church history, but we do nothing for the history of modern missions. I well remember one who had gone nearly through his college course, and had been stirred by one of Livingstone's books, who has since done work in Africa which will live, who had never heard of Saker, and knew nothing of his stupendous work at the Cameroons. Give, I would Ray, at any cost, to our ministers the means of instructing the people, and, as !!loon as they are familiar with the work that is going on they will be ambitious of the privilege of partaking in it, and the only appeal that will be needed for the raising of the funds requisite for the carrying on of the work of Christ in the world will be the collecting-box at the doors. We shall not need the excitement of annual meetings, but our contributions will be stimulated by our knowledge, and our subscriptions and donations to missions will come to be regarded as parts of our necessary expenditure which must be met and cannot be curtailed.
And it is in this direction that our true centenary celebration is leading us. It seems to me that the grand characteristic of our mission work has been this, that we were the first to show that we were in touch with the great evangelical movement which came as a second Reformation into England. The other societies followed in our train, but it would, I think, be untrue to say that our work led to theirs. The true explanation is that their formation resulted from the same causes as our8, only it came later. We felt the inspiration first, and responded to it to the measure of our strength. If we are wise enough to see it, the outpoured blessing from on high which brought us into existence has tinged and baptized our development ever since. It was God's providence and not our wisdom that led to the choice of our first missionary sphere. Carey's longings and feelings would not have taken him to India. It was John Thomas who led to the establishment of our Indian Mission. The providence that took us there has never forsaken us. In addition to the earnest evangelists who in true apostolical succession have labored in India, we have had a succession of competent linguists who have laid the foundations which are essential to permanent success in the translations they have made of the Word of God into the vernacular. The scholarship that has marked some of our foremost men in India has never been surpassed even in our home churches. God has given us men who, as to the gift of tongues, have made us feel that' the wonders of Pentecost have not ceased. In our African Mission, the same Divine blessing has been realized. Itself the expression of the gratitude of redeemed and emancipated slaves, the first mission driven by persecution into new quarters, and the second given up as the result of the restlessness of German colonization, the forsaken stations and the renounced work have led step by step to the establishment or the Congo Mission, around which there is a halo of consecration and heroism which is as bright as any the Church has ever been privileged to rejoice in. The silent graves, as well as the still living voices, alike are eloquent in telling what the love of Christ can inspire men to attempt and to do. We may and we do weep over our losses, and in our unbelieving and calculating moods may ask the purpose of this waste j but those who have made the sacrifices would call back nothing that they have given, and presently in a regenerated Africa we shall have the convincing proof that the way of the Cross is still the way of light. And the Lord that has led us where we have gone' has blessed us in all that we have done. The direct results of our work are such as fill us with adoring gratitude. One has planted and another has watered, and everywhere God has given the increase. The very character of our progress is the highest proof that it will be maintained and augmented. In all lands it has been a growth, and the growth has been maintaineu," and it has increased. As we have pursued our course we have sometimes wondered whether we have been doing anything at all j but the review of every ten years of work has furnished us with accumulating evidence that if the ratio of our increase be but maintained, we are within measurable distance of the end. The mountain is becoming a plain before the Lord of hosts.
And as to the indirect results of our missions we can rejoice in them all. In Jamaica evangelization has been followed by emancipation. In India, some of the excrescences of Hinduism, if they were not its true growth, have disappeared. Our religion, even· where it has not been accepted, has touched and advanced civilization. Education has sprung up and has become general, and will soon be the birthright of every Hindu as it is already of every Englishman. The very women of India have been reached in their seclusion. "'Te have by science and philosophy undermined the foundations of the old faiths, and are preparing a highway over which the Lord Himself will pass in triumph over India.
And in another way we ha'"e reaped unexpected results. Affinities between the Indian races and ourselves have been discovered, the science of languages has been stimulated, the history of religions has been studied, the materials for the study of comparative religions have been gathered. It is missions that have made possible the researches and labors of sllch scholars as Max Muller and Dr. Legg. And by the increase of our knowledge of all the religions of the world we are enabled to approach men, not so much on the side that is sure to awaken their antagonism-for we have found that there are beliefs that are common to us all, and longings to which no human heart is a stranger-and we are able now to declare unto the heathen Him whom they have ignorantly worshipped.
The hand that has guided and blessed us is beckoning us forward, and if we have learned aright the lesson God has taught us, we shall be sure of this-that no work for God can be done in vain, and that in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
And if, forgetting for the moment all that has been done among the heathen through our instrumentality, we think of the effect of our missions among our home churches, again we shall have another illustration of one of the great laws of God's kingdom, that in blessing others we get blessed ourselves. If not to others, yet doubtless to ourselves, our missions have brought incalculable advantages and blessings. It is a memorable fact that the very men who were the originators of the foreign missions established, and for years themselves conducted, a mission in Cornwall. The cry that home has the first claim upon us originates with those who have no care either for home or foreign work. Our home missions are the offspring of our foreign missions. The last century has witnessed a growth of religion at home that would have been deemed impossible when it began. We have shown that we care for men's bodies as well as their souls, for their minds as well as for their spirits, for their earthly homes as well as for their heavenly dwelling-places. Life is more worth living to-day than it was a hundred yearl'! ago. Everything is not yet perfect, bllt we are better housed to-day than our fathers were. Nursing, medicine, surgery, have brought relief and alleviation to us that our fathers never dreamed, and there is a Christian element in it that once was absent. Much yet has to be done for middle-class education, but we are a better educated people than our fathers were, and the growth of education is showing no signs of decay. There has been an awakening on the part of the Church that it has a duty to perform which extends into every department of life. And with all our efforts for social and educational reform, direct evangelical work is more common than ever. And I cannot help noticing that we may find in our mission fields the true answer to many of the pressing questions that from time to time spring up among us. We are discussing at home what the Gospel is that is to be preached-and some, perhaps, are wondering whether, after all, there is any Gospel that can be preached-and the answer that comes home from every mission field is that the story of God's Jove and of Christ's redemption is still working wonders, changing men's hearts, and altering men's lives. Perhaps if we told the story oftener and plainer, we should have less need to doubt, and less time to discuss, for here, as everywhere, the Gospel will prove God's power unto salvation to everyone that believes.
I am sure of this-that this work has brought us into closest communion with our Divine Lord. As our work has grown upon us, and we have taken wider views of our responsibilities and our prifileges, we have seen the grandeur and the magnitude of the work He came to accomplish in redeeming the world to God as we never saw them before. Our hearts have beaten in harmony with the heart of the Lord Jesus. We have been in tOl1ch, in sympathy with Him. The enthusiasm of humanity that
DR. PENTECOST AT NORTHFIELD
moved Him has been realized by us. In forgetting ourselves and living for others, we have come nearest to Him. Our own spiritual life has been quickened by our work. We have never felt so sure of our oneness with our Lord as we have done when, in imitation of His sublime example, we have gone forth to seek and to save that which was lost.
Our retrospect of the past leaves but one feeling uppermost in our minds, and that feeling is one of thankfulness. It hal been a century of blessing, and the memory of it leads us forward to the work which claims our attention and tasks our energy, strong in faith and strong in hope. We cannot lag behind, we cannot falter. The Lord is with us, and we follow where He leads. He is leading us to vietory, and presently we shall reign with Him.
I close with words that have a deeper meaning now than they had when they formed the conclusion of the fiftieth report of our Society : "When God by His providence has effected such preparation, may it not be taken in connection with the promises of His Word, and the all-prevalent intercession of His Son, as an indication of His purpose? We think it may, we believe it must. Temporary and local reverses there are and will be, to awaken to fresh diligence and trust in God, but we believe that the general movement of His cause will still be onward; that, if not at every point, yet at most points of the line, the outposts of this year will be made the trenches of the next, till at length every encampment of hostile spiritual domination shall be broken up, and' the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.' "
DR. PENTECOST AT NORTHFIELD.
OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCES IN INDIA.
BY REV. H. B. HARTZLER.
Dr. George F. Pentecost is always a welcome presence at Northfield. Years ago he was drawn into the town, as were also the Gospel singers, Mr. Sankey and Mr. Towner, by the charms and associations of the place, to seek a home under its stately elms and maples; but Providence has not permitted him long to remain in his chosen home. The great cities of America, Englaud, Scotland, and India have claimed him for special service in the interests of the kingdom of God. After an absence of nearly two years in India, Dr. Pentecost once more appeared before a Northfield audience on Sunday, August 28th. It was the closing day of the Northfield "season," which had begun wit.h the World's Student Conference in July. The Congregational church was crowded to hear the words of their favorite speaker. In the morning and afternoon he preached with all his wonted energy and power, and in th~ evemng he g,'lve a remarkable account of his experiences and observations in India. The report which follows, lengthy as it is, falls far short of reproducing the magnificent, kaleidoscopic picture flashed upon the view of the audience by the eloquent orator. Dr. Pentecost spoke in substance as follows: " We have no time for the expression of personal feeling. I can only say that this day has been a very happy one to me. After coming from the high and low places of the earth, the great mountains and the great and boundless plains. from looking on the grandest scenery of the world, I come back to Northfield, and it seems to my eyes that thil!l is the brightest spot on the earth. Even the vale of Cashmere, celebrated by poet and sage, to my eyes is not more peaceful and restful than this dear old Connecticut valley. I regret that after all these years of absence I can spend so short a time among you, my friends and neighbors j but I must again say that this has been a sweet, restful, delightful day to me. And now I will try to tell something of the wonderful work of God in India as I have seen it during the last two years.
" Well, friends, I do not think if you should take a journey to another planet, that you would find yourself in the midst of more surprises than if you were to he suddenly transported from Northfield to India. I have the feeling, after having been in India only a little over seventeen months, that I have been in another planet. If I should speak to you of the geographical wonders of India, its billowy mountains, its magnificent forests and jungles, its wide, cultivated plains, it would require the whole evening to do so. Think of th~ vast snow ranges with mountains thirty thousand feet high, as if the Matterhorn were piled on top of Mt. B-lanc and then the two capped with the Rigi, and you still fail of the conception. Think of travelling through forests of oak an hundred miles, through which you could scarcely creep because of the dense undergrowth, and millions of orchids peeping and twinkling at you likfl myriads of fairy spirits, of forests of rhododendrons, towering from an hundred to an hundred and fifty feet in height and covered with one mass of brilliant flowers. Another evening might be spent on the architecture of IndIa. Take the one outstanding, illustrious example from the ten thousand of beautiful buildings in India: the celebrated Taj Mahal, the most symmetrical, the most restful and beautiful building the world has ever seen. I have looked at it in all lights j quivering in the first throbbing light of the day, and under the soft light of the setting sun j under the peaceful light of the full moon, and thrilling under the light of a million stars, when the whole structure had such a fairy look, that it seemed as though it might take wings and fiy up into the heaven, from whence it seems it must have come. The architecture of India, as wonderful and more spiritual than that of ancient Egypt, goes to prove that when we speak of the people of India as heathen, we are not to think of them as barbarians or savages or as untutored black men. Perhaps India holds a people the most cultured of any in the world. They have a religious literature the most massive, and written in a language more musical than the Greek, more prolific than the Latin, and more exact than either of them-a people who have a religious cult that antedates every religion of the earth, with a philosophical system from which both the ancient and modern western world have borrowed their most subtle thoughts.
"In India, as I said here a few years ago. in my judgment, we find the chief centre of the missionary problem. Africa has its teeming millions, China has its teeming millions, and India its teeming millions, but in these three great centres of the world's population it seems to me that India holds the key of all the foreign missionary problem of to-day. In India there are three great religions: Mohammedanism, Hinduism, and Christianity. We often think of Turkey as being the seat of the Moham- medan power; but the real head is in India. We might convert Turkey from Mohammedanism and still its chief strength would be left in India. Here is the home of Hiuduism in its double form, the philosophical Hinduism of the monasteries, the monopoly of the priests and scholars of India; and the gross and bestial idolatry with its millions of votaries among the common people, centred about its tens of thousands of temples. Christianity is the David in the midst of these twin Goliaths. Mohammedanism has 70,000,000 followers; Hinduism, 200,000,000 ; Buddhism, which once dominated all India, does not exist in all the length and breadth of the Jand to-day. Centuries ago the astute Brahmins seeing that Hinduism was doomed in the prevalence of Buddhism, finally embraced Buddha and made him the ninth incarnation in their pantheon. This was the doom of Buddhism, for, having embraced Buddha, they proceeded to squeeze him to death in their loving embrace.
" A few years ago there was a large gathering of Brahmin Pundits and priests, who came together from all parts of India to discuss the duty of Hinduism with reference to Christianity. They recognized the fact that Christianity was making rapid strides in India, and they decided that they would adopt Jesus Christ as they had centuries before adopted Buddha, and thus dispose of Christianity, but their scheme would not work, because they forgot that Jesus Christ would not be adopted by them. So we have these three religions struggling in that land for the supremacy. India is the land par excellence of romance and destiny. Weare prone to forget what an influence India has had upon the countries of the world. All history shows us that India has had a predominating influence upon the West. It is a settled· fact that the European country which has held in the past the keys of India's commerce has risen to the highest rank among European/powers; and the country or city that has had that key and then lost it has fallen from the high place which it occupied to the lowest, histori.:ally and politically-as witness Alexandria, Venice, Portugal, and Holland. In dealing with this country we are dealing with the mightiest people and country in the world. Ethnologically we are brothers. The Hindus who possess the country to-day are Aryans, who emigrated into that land before the time of Moses. "Weare the same race as the Indians. They are black, we are white; but we have the same features, and our "European languages are sprung from the same Sanscrit roots. The differ- ence is that in that great migration part went in one direction and part in another. The part of that great Aryan family which travelled toward the West and thence toward the North, and strained itself through the western barbarian people, emerged at last in the great and now all-predominating Anglo-Saxon race. The Hindus are those who went South and East through the Bolen and Khibar pas3es of the Himalayan Mountains into the Punjab, and thence spread over all India, overlaying the Dravidian people. I remember talking with a very distinguished Brahmin on this subject. I said, 'But, my brother, you know that I am also a Brahmin.' He wanted to know what I meant. Then I spoke a parable. I said, ' Some three or four thousand years ago two brothers started from a certain part of Asia. The older one moved west and north ; the younger south and east. The elder brother settled in Europe, while the younger brother settled in India. The only difference is that you are a descendant of the younger brother and I of the older.' He was inclined to question the statement, but I told him that at least he could not disprove it.
" After two years of intimate intercourse with the educated men of India, my love for them has increased. The better I came to know this people, the more I talked with them, and the oftener I got on my knees with them, the more tenderly and sympathetically I carne to love them; and when I turned away from the last meeting held with them, I turned away with my heart filled with emotions of tenderest love for those splendid men who for nights and weeks together came to hear the story of Christ.
" It has been said of the Hindu religion that it is eternal and unchangeable. They claim that their religion is based upon an eternal revelation and that it is unchangeable. The critics of Christianity. who have discussed the question whethe.r it is possible for Christianity to pervade India, have said that in India we have to contend with an unchangeable religious system, bound and linked together by an indissoluble caste system which renders it an impregnable religious fortress. If I had time I might show you, through well-certified facts, that, while it is the boast of the Hindu that his religion is unchanging and unchangeable, no religion in the world has given so many evidences of erosure and decay as theirs has under the influence and impact of Christianity for the last hundred years. Of course when we think of the 300,000,000 Hindus and Mohammedans, and our little force of Christians in India, it looks to the superficial observer like a hopeless undertaking to Christianize these millions. It seems as though the means were entirely inadequate to reach the desired end, and that the task could never be accomplished. So the passing stranger, the coldhearted friend, and the hot-hearted enemy are constantly saying that the conqueBt of India by forces that are there is an impossibility. There are those who take delight in counting up the number of Christian converts and then counting up all the money that has been appropriated and ~pent for carrying on the work; comparing the number won over for Christ with the number of dollars spent for that purpose, and by this commercial test declaring that modern missions are a wasteful extravagance and that practically the work is a failure; but just here, in passing, I would like to say that in my judgment the result of Christian work in India is any way from fifty to five hundred times greater than the result of Christian labor in Christian America, when you compare the number and cost of instrumentalities in that country with those in this. The most hopeful field of missionary labor to-day is India. If I had money to invest in religions work and were seeking the most profitable investment for it to-day, I would invest in India rather than in the Connecticut valley.
" Let me illustrate: I had the pleasure of several interviews with the distinguished and honorable and most able Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne. On one occasion we retired into the private office of the VICeroy, and were talking about the possible conquest of India for Christ. He was of the opinion that we could never win India for Christianity ; that our force was too small to cope with the vast and increasing millions of India. I told him I not only felt hopeful, but was filled with a trinmphant gladness when I saw what had been and what is now being accomplished there. I also reminded him of the small number of British soldiers now occupying India compared with the hordes of natiyes. It is not a question of conquest now with them, it is only a question of holding what they have conqu~red. India was taken for Christ a hundred years ago, when William Carey landed at Calcutta and began his missionary labors among them. Since the baptism of Krishna Pal, Carey's first Brahmin convert, the question is not one of the conquest of the land, but of the subduing of it to Christ. For eight or ten years Carey labored without a convert ; then one man was converted, and that gave India into the hands of the Christian Church, just as the falling of the walls of Jericho gave Canaan into the hands of the Israelites. The first convert was not a low-caste man, but a high-caste man. This is significant. When William of Normandy crossed the English Channel and fought and won the battle of Hastings, his first battle on English soil, he had practically won England. There he built a castle, and wherever he won a battle after that he built a castle. So the conversion in Calcutta of Krishna Pal was the battle of Hastings for us. There Carey took possession of India for Christ. Many victories have been won and the missionaries have built Christian missionary bungalows to signalize these victories, and these Christian bungalows are the fortifications by which that great country of India will be held until the entire subjugation of the people is accomplished for Christ.
" To-day there are in India three million native Christians. I suppose the number of real Christians among the gross number of nominal adherents to Christ is much less than this i but suppose we should say that we have no more than one million, we have demonstrated the power of the religion of Christ over their religion. The great mass of native Christians are from the low castes, but there are enough high-caste men among them to demonstrate the power of Christ j that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is adapted to reach the heart and the conscience and the will of all the inhabitants of that land, the high as well as the low.
" Let me give you a bird's-eye view of the results of the work of mis. sions for the last hundred years. The missionaries in India during the last hundred years have accomplished more for Christ than the first Christians under the leadership of the apostles accomplished in all Western Asia and Europe during the first century of Christianity. This demonstrates that the Gry for apostolic days and apostolic power is based upon a misconception of facts. If you should go to India for a year, you would see that it is a time of apostolic men and apostolic power now. The power of the Holy Ghost is being felt in that land to-day as mightily as in the days of the apostles in Western Asia and Europe.
" It has been said that the great mass of convcrts in India are low· caste men. This is certainly true, and it is well that it is so. There are the three great castes, the Brabmin, or priest caste, the soldier and the farmer castes, supposed to bave sprung respectively from the head, the arms and the legs of Brabma; but there are innumerable other castes that have grown out of these. The Brahmins are the first caste. A Brahmin considers himself a god aud exacts worship from the low-caste men. It is among the low-caste mAn that the greatest number of converts have been made to Jesus Christ, and this is sometimes spoken of as an illustration of the lack of power of the Gospel to subdue India. But can you call to mind anY,country where the great bulk of its converts have not been among the low-caste people ~ In America, for instance, how many of the noble, how many of the rich, are included in the living body of Jesus Christ ~ Let us admit that the great bulk of Christians are from the common people. Would we have it otherwise ~ We lay foundations not in the top soil, but in tbe sub-soil. When they laid the piers of Brooklyn Bridge, they did not plant them in the top soil, but dug deep down. Christianity has always rooted itself in the low-castes. Read the story of the Corinthian and the Roman churches, and you will see that the great mass of these churches were made up of low ·caste men; the driftwood of the nations, in Corinth, and slaves and freedmen in Rome. Why, friends, if I wanted to take a city by pulling down its walls, do you suppose that I would rig a derrick to take hold of the cope stones and pull them off ~ No, I would set my sappers and miners to dig out the stones at the bottom of the wall and then thc whole would fall. Practically that is what is going on in India. Indian society and Hinduism rests on its castes. The top caste flourishes on the support which it gets from the lower and the lowest castes. If we pull out the lower castes, the top caste must come down in fragments. The bitter cry of the Brahmins to-day is that Christianity is alienating the low castes. Some time ago a high-caste man, the head master of the Maharaja of Daypoor's College, complained to me because, as he said, we are lifting up the low-caste men and withdrawing their respect forever from the Brahmins and making them equals, and this is so. Whereas a few years ago, if a low-caste man met a Brahmin on the street, he would prostrate himself and allow the proud Brahmin to walk over him ; now he merely makes a salaam to him, and coutends with him for the best places in the gift of the government, and, withdrawing his offeriug, he compels the Brahmin to labor for his bread as though he were a mau and not a god.
"Is it possible to elevate the low-caste man? The Hindus worship caste." Here Dr. Pentecost gave an illustration of the daughter of a sweeper who has graduated from the University of Calcutta aud taken the degree of B.A., also of a now lady, the daughter of a low-caste man, who is teaching the children of the elite in a private school in Poona ; and several other illustrations of the same order. He said, " What may we not expect in a f,ew generations from this low caste, if in one generation such great upward strides are made. God is giving to the American Methodist missionaries alone from a thousand to fifteen hundred converts a month in India. The rapidity with which the conversions are going on among the low-caste people in India is wonderful.
" In the Punjab forty years ago there was not a known Christian; then Messrs. Newton and Forman, of the American Presbyterian Church, went into the country and built their missionary bungalow there. To-day the baptized communicants are numbered by tens of thousands. We sometimes pray that God would open doors for us, that He would pour out His Spirit upon the land. It is not a question of that, it is only a question of our going through the doors that are opened and gathering up the ripe fruit that is lying there. Dr. Forman said to me some time ago that he could not baptize a tenth of the converts who are waiting to be baptized, because they had not the teachers to take care of them. Only recently returning from a missionary tour of the villages, out of two hundred converts he had selected twenty for baptism. The rest he had to leave until his working force should be enlarged. That practically is the problem of India to-day, not to get converts, but to take care of those they have, and the thousands who are knocking for entrance into the Christian Church. The rate of progress among the Christians during the last ten years has been 23 per cent, while that of the population is only about 17 per cent. So great and rapid is the increase that some of the English secular papers have been compelled to confess that in the last ten years they have been utterly blind to the great strides of the Gospel.
" Weare told that the high-caste men are not being converted. I have been in about a hundred cities and villages, and in none where there are Christian missionaries do you find less than five or ten high-caste Christian men. There are enough of these high-caste Christians 1:0 stand as monuments of the power of God. "In every government office in the land, among the men who are holding high and honorable positions are high-caste Christians. In the colleges the men who are taking high stand as scholars are. the native Christians. There is something in the power of the Gospel that sets the minds of these men at liberty, and sends them over the dead point of intellectual power.
" These are some of the encouraging features. But is this all? Why, my friends, we count our Christians at three millions. There is not a city or a town or a village where a Christian missionary lives and has preached the Gospel, but there are beside the open converts great numbers of secret Christians. I speak from experience that among the high-caste men there are more secret Christians than among the low-caste men. In Calcutta I found a great many Christians among the high·caste men. They did not come out from their cas~e, but they openly confessed Jesus Christ.
"The Brahmin gurus or pastors have finally consented that they may confess Jesus Christ and retain their caste, if they will not be baptized. Thus they acknowledge that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has taken a great hold upon the people, and they are afraid of losing their hold upon them.
" We do not need to hurry. The fabric of their religion is being undermined and will eventually fall of itself. All over India great cleavages are taking place-mighty cleavages from the Hindu rock, under the impact of Christianity. The Brahmos, the Aryas, the Devas, and the Sadharans, and theistic sects acknowledge the Bible, especially the Gospel, to contain the best ethical system and Jesus Christ to be the most perfect human example. These various Somajes or churches have thousands of adherents in the Northwest, in the Punjab, in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. I was recently shown the confession of faith of one of these societies or Somajes, drawn up by its living founder. In it there was not a single sentence the substance of which was not plagiarized from the Gospel, and they acknowledge it. Here are thousands and thousands of men who have been brought out of Hinduism under the influence of Christianity. True, they are not Christians, but they are on the way to Christ. There must be destruction before we can have reconstruction. These things are not given in the translated reports of the missionaries. A man said to me, , Yon will not make many more converts from among the Brahmins, but you are Chritltianizing all Hinduism.'
" There is one other thing in regard to results. There is a Christian atmosphere. There is a passage in the Bible which says that the devil is the Prince of the Power of the Air, and I never knew what that meant until I went to India. There is a strangely hell-impregnated atmosphere in that land. It is almost impossible to resist it. I have seen Americans and Englishmen, not Christians themselves, living there, who have become Brahminized by the very atmosphere; but wherever there is a Christian bungalow, wherever there is a Christian song sung, or a Gospel testimony given, the air becomes purer j the devil is exorcised. The Spirit of God is pervading the very atmosphere where before the devil reigned without a rival, and this is doing more to destroy Hinduism than the direct preaching of the Gospel. Hinduism cannot live in this new heavenly air. You cannot tabulate this. The results of the Christian missions that cannot be tabulated are ten times as great as those which can be.
"I have not told you anything of what God has done among the women. I can only give you the most meagre outline of the most visible results. The Christian women of the missionary force in India are begin- ning to work a revolution in the Indian homes, where Hinduism is anchored more firmly than in its temples." Several striking illustrations were here given. Of his own work Dr. Pentecost had time only to speak a little. He was seventeen months in India, and had the joy of seeing nearly two thousand Englishmen and Eurasians converted to Christ. In Calcutta for eight weeks, every night, he addressed audiences of educated native men. They listened with attention and courtesy, and oftentimes with tears in their eyes. He has now nearly a hundred covenant cards, which are signed by as many native gentlemen in that city alone, in which they declared their acceptance of Christ as Saviour and Lord. Similar meetings for educated native gentlemen were held in Lucknow, Cawnpore, Delhi, Lahore, Poona, and other places, in all of which most gratifying results followed.
" Some of these young men before I left India were baptized. Others said as soon as they could manage it they would be baptized. These men are not yet seen upon the missionary reports, but the power of the Gospel is being felt and is working in their lives. The Hindus are a very peculiar people. In the great college halls of Calcutta I preached to thousands of these Hindus. They are very excitable, and when excited have a habit of grasping one foot and swaying back and forth. I told one night there the story of the Saviour's nativity. After I had finished, I said, , Perhaps some of you have not had the opportunity of reading this story. I have a New Testament here, and if anyone cares for it, he may have it.' Now the Hindus have never learned to act independently. They are entirely bound by caste. When I offered that Testament, a wave of feeling rolled over the audience. The excitable men began to sway back and forth and shake their feet with great rapidity. Finally one man raised his hand. Instantly every foot was still. He rose and came forward for the Testament, but the cold perspiration stood out on his face, and he was trembling in every joint of his body. The cause of the excitement was that he had dared to act independently, without the precedent or consent of his caste followers. Once a vast audience was thrown into a state of volcanic excitement by a Brahmin rising to his feet and openly confessing Christ, and on other occasions when one and another rose to ask the prayers of God's people for his soul and that his sins might be forgiven. After he had taken the Testament I offered a number of others; but when I held up my last Testament and offered it to whoever wished it, the ice was broken and the audience rushed forward as one man for that Testament. There was a perfect mob.
"The Hindus are very anxious to learn English, and many of them come to the service for that purpose alone. At one of my services I spoke to a man who listened with great attention, and told him how glad I was to see him so interested, and asked him why he came. He said, ' I wish to improve my English.' One night during a meeting a lot of fellows got up to go out. I said, ' I see there are a number of yOlmg men here who do not understand English, and so, of course, cannot be expected to remain. I will therefore give time to those who do not understand English to leave the hall.' Everyone of them sat down as if he had been shot. They consider it very infra dig not to be able to understand and speak English. Whenever anyone tried to go out during a meeting, I just intimated that he did not understand English, and he immediately sat down again. These meetings were, of course, for the native gentlemen alone, as the women of the higher castes are never seen in public.
" In Lahore we had a hall that held nine hundred people. I announced meetings for educated, English-speaking Indian gentlemen. I announced that the entire body of the hall would be reserved for these gentlemen j and the two side aisles reservcd for the English and Eurasians. At the first meeting there were about one hundred natives. Before the meetings closed, at the end of three weeks, the entire, body of the house reserved for them, accommodating about six hundred, was packed to the doors. On either side we had three hundred Christians, English or Eurasians. At the end of the meetings I ventured to pronounce the benediction. When I did this the English rose, but the natives always remained seated, as it would have been acknowledging Christianity for them to have risen. At the last meeting I preached on the love of Christ and there were many wet eyes. At the end I sung the doxology and pronoullced the benediction. I turned to go, but before I got away some impulse made me turn around, and I came again to the front of the platform, and lifted my hands and said, 'You have been listening to me for three weeks, with a patience and courtesy that I hal'e never met with before. I have pronounced the benediction and I was grieved that you were not on your feet to receive God's benediction. God has sent me back to pronounce that benediction again, and if there is one here who desires to receive the blessing of God, and will indicate it by rising, I will lift my hands and ask the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to abide with you.' I lifted my hands and waited. It seemed as if there was a movement like the rushing of a mighty wind over that audience, and those six hundred native gentlemen sprang to their feet as one man and waited in reverent attitude while I pronounced the benediction. They would not have done this if the Ho9' Spirit had not moved them.
" After preaching three weeks in Poona I was asked to come back again, and they even offered to pay all my expenses if I would return.
MISSIONARY PROGRESS IN CHINA
I have given you only a bird's-eye view of what God is doing in India; what He is doing through these men and women who have taken their lives in their hands and gone there to work for Him.
" I come back from India with a profound respect, almost veneration, for the noble men and women who have gone out to that land to spend their lives in missionary work. We should give them every support of sympathy, of love, and of money to carryon their work."
The Rev. Dr. Waugh, of Lucknow, for thirty-four years a mIsSIOnary in India, who chanced to be at Northfield, and heard Dr. Pentecost's address, was moved to follow the speaker with words of emphatic endorsement and confirmation. "Weare thankful," said he, "that America gave us tte loan of this glorious preacher for seventeen months. He has aroused an interest in Christianity in India, of which he has told you something here, but there are a thousand things which he has not told you. His statements concerning the rapid progress of Christianity and the condition of things in India is confirmed by solid facts. I can testify that his witness is true. I wish that every church in Amadca could hear the speech that we have heard to-night. I do not think Dr. Pentecost could do India and the world any better service than to go all over this country and Europe telling his wonderful story as he has told it to this congregation to-night."
MISSIONARY PROGRESS IN CHINA.* BY REV. JOHN CHALMERS, M.A., LL.D., HONG KONG, CHINA.
Christianity has not shown much vitality in Canton, although in ita Roman form it has been planted there for centuries; and since Morrison arrived in 1807, Protestant missionaries have been at work in the city of Rams with little interruption. It is not, however, safe al ways to judge by appearances, 'even about things material, and still greater is the danger of mistake when we come to judge of spiritual changes. Within the last three years a scheme has originated and taken shape among the native Christians of Canton for the ultimate evangelization of the whole province. I had heard of this in conversation or by letter from time to time, and of course rejoiced in it as a sign of life and progress; though not by any means convinced that it was more than a well-meant attempt on the part of a few to help the missionaries. But I have to-day received two printed pamphlets purporting to be the Regulations and the Report up to date, of * "The accompanying article seems to me of such interest aud importance to Christians the world over. that I have asked Dr. Chalmers, of the London Mission. to permit me to send it to the REVIEW. It speaks of the Chinese Church waking up from the lethargy that has characterized it and beginning to realize that it too has the commission, • Go,' 'make di~ciples.' That it should adopt new methods tells of life with movement.
"Yours very truly, JOHN C. 'fHOllPSON, M.A., M.D." the Canton "Book-lending and Evangelizing Society," the perusal of which has left a strong impression upon my mind that the conquering of the province is no mere dream, but they mean to do it. It is no exaggeration to say that for earnestness of purpose and breadth of view these tracts resemble far more chapters of General Booth edited by Mr. Stead than any utterance of natives of Canton. If these publications were translated into English as good as the Chinese is, which I hope they may be, they wou~d astonish English readers, whether friends of missions or not, by their completeness of detail, by their eloquence of appeal, and perhaps, most of all, by their thoroughly business-like character. In this last feature they present a striking contrast to General Booth's scheme, for no conceivable point seems to have been overlooked in the way of safeguarding the application of the funds.
As is fit and needful, this scheme originated in a prayer.meeting. It appears that the native members of six missions-Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Congregational, Baptist, and Lutheran-have been wont to hold a joint prayer-meeting once every two months, and at such a meeting about three years ago the scheme of a book-lending society was devised. The name is a modest one. Book-lending, provided the books are on hand, most of us find easy. Only about the returning, which is part of the programme, there is sometimes a difficulty. There are about a hundred districts in Canton Province, and it is proposed to send a book-lender into each district. The books are to be the Holy Scriptures, commentaries, other Christian books and tracts, and works on European science. There is a great variety of such books procurable; but a judicious selection is to be made by the managing committee, which consists entirely of Chinese. Nothing is asked from foreign sources except the books, which are cheerfully supplied by the Bible and Tract Societies .in Great Britain and America. A fund for the purchase of books amounting to $1379 has been placed in charge of foreign missionaries to be paid out as required. Beyond this it does not appear that the missionaries have any share in the concern, or any direct control of it. The constituents are the native Christians in town and country, in Hong Kong, in America, in Australia, and wherever else they may be, who are all invited to subscribe, and assured that, whether it be a mite or ten thousand dollars, each subscription will be duly acknowledged for the encouragement of others, and carefully devoted to book-lending purposes. The centre of administration is at Kukfau, in the vicinity of Dr. Kerr's Hospital, Canton. There, at bi-monthlyand annual meetings, all subscribers may' attend personally or by their deputies, and vote on or discuss any matter of the Society, as is done in Exeter Hall by similar bodies of supporters. A full staff of officebearers, a managing committee, and an advisory committee, have been appointed by impartial selection from the six missions. It is stated in the programme, that when the scheme of the Society is matured the foreign missionaries will bl) asked to endorse. And it is declared that the object of the Society is not to baptize or form churches, not to settle questions of terms or dogmas, not even to preach (lest they should thereby gefinto difficulties with one another, or with the heathen), but, in the first instance, quietly to circulate Christian literature in every city, market town, and hamlet in the province of Canton. The book-lending is, howevet, to be followed, after two or three years, by a general offering of prizes for the best essays by non-Christians on Christianity and kindred subjects; and then again, in due time, by the establishment of permanent centres of Christian work, when each of the missions will be invited to come in and take a share in the wide field thus opened, in order to form and build up churches. There are eighteen very practical rules laid down for the conduct of book-lenders. They are to be plain, honest, peace-loving men chosen from the Canton churches, who are willing to serve in this capacity for a consideration of $6 a month. They take with them, besides the books, a small supply of stationery for sale, by way of introduction to schoolmasters in the villages. Books are, of course, to be lent only to schoolmasters and such other respectable residents as can read; and they are lent on trial with the prices marked, a register being kept of the place, the person borrowing, the date, and the book lent, and an intimation given that the lender will return, say, a month after to inquire, and effect a sale or an exchange as may be desired. The lenders are to avoid disputes with the natives, not to resent rudeness, but take it as a thing to be expected, and even if harm is done to the books, they are to be content with the smallest compensation or apology. The only literary qualification necessary in a lender is ability to keep his register and make his report, which is to be transmitted every two months through the nearest mission station.
About $400 have been subscribed, and four book-lenders are at work for the present year in the Prefecture of Shiu-chow on the North River. A letter from one of them giving his report for the first two months is published, and is highly satisfactory.
It is an article of the Society's constitution never to spend the whole of the income in any year, but to accumulate a reserve fund, to be invested for the permanent carrying on of the ever-increasing operations of the Society.
It seems but fair to all concerned, and to the cause of Christian missions, to give publicity to the above statement; and I do not think that I have laid myself open to any charge of trumpet-blowing by giving to the public an abstract of these pamphlets, showing the beginnings of what may turn out to be a very important movement in favor of the Christian leligion in the south of China. At all events this is something to set off against the brutal and Satanic attacks of the Hunanese.-Cltina Mail.
INDUS'l'RIAL EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN FOREIGN FIELDS
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN FOREIGN FIELDS.
BY MRS. J. T. GRACEY.
Industrial schoolI have come to be of great importance in foreign mission work. The Rev. D. A. Day, of the Muhlenberg Mission, Africa, says: "The mission of the Gospel is to develop nan, not in one direction only, but in his entire being. Give the heathen simply brain culture without teaching him industrial habits, and you have a fool. Take a naked heathen boy, put him in a mission, feed and clothe him without teaching him to work, and you have a man vain in his imaginations. To train the young people of Africa into habits of productive industry is essential to the redemption of the Dark Continent.", The Bishop of Sierra Leone says: "The great need of Africa is not the importation of an army of clerics, but of Christian men and women able to teach the natives useful callings," and on a recent visit to England made arrangements to take out a numbel' of carpenters and agricultural implements, so that all the children in his diocese should be taught some trade. What is true of Africa is true of all mission lands. Some one has said that " honest toil is not an article of complexion," and this lesson needs to be taught to many connected with our missions. In the Methodist Mission in India the Christian boys are taught to make wire mattresses, foldingchairs, boots and shoes of all kinds, and in the Presbyterian Mission Persian rugs of all sizes are made in its carpet shop, in which only Christian labor is employed. So we could mention various lines in which boys are trained; but another problem confronts the missionary force. Bow to take care of the girls and give them proper trades and employment-that is the problem troubling many of our missionaries. Educate the women, and it is surprising what avenues are open to them. Miss Hedrick, the principal for years of the Calcutia boarding-school connected with the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, wrote a very excellent article in a recent number of the Indian Evangelical Review on the " Future of Educated Girls in India," in which sbe says, " When one seeks for something tangible to lay bold of, this subject becomes the veriest will-o'-the-wisp, dazzling for a moment, but persistently eluding the grasp. When I came to India I was often called upon to settIe disputes between my pupils about the respectability of labor. All agreed that certain work was respectable; other class of work was for low-caste people only." She luggests a revolution in old-time practices in India, and says, "Turn the men out into the fields, the foundry, the factory, and let the girl take her place in the hospital, at the desk, in the shop. Let men stop their dressmaking and sewing, and give such work to the women, to whom it properly belongs; let them stop sweeping and making beds, and then this work will drift into the hands of women." She then pleads for the industrial school, and the training of girls in specialties. " Teach them," she says, " to do one thing, and to do it well. Our educated girl must be Christian first; and when willing, yea, anxious to do and be all that God intended her to do and be, just as surely as God made her will she find her place and work."
The native Christian girls of India are many of them taking respoqsible positions. One graduate of a miesion school has charge of one of the Lady Dufferin hospitals, some are clerks in dispensaries, another has been appointed to the charge of a post-office-a thing unknown before in India– and some are in charge of waiting rooms at railway stations.
An industrial school for Mohammedan women was established recently at Guntur by the American Lutheran Mission, the only school of its kind in Southern India. The wives of poor Mohammedans are often obliged to support themselves and their children. To keep a respectable character and earn a livelihood is a difficult question often to settle. These women are paid according to ability in work, the highest receiving about six cents a day, and this is a larger sum than they could get elsewhere. In connection with their work they have one hour devoted to Bible instruction. They have also secular iustruction. The industry taught is Mohammedan embroidery. The patterns are Oriental, worked in gold and silver, brass and silk thread. Their work I ".s been sent to America, England, and Australia, and found a ready sale. A writer says: "A marvellous change has taken place in the workwomen since they first entered the school. When they began to go to the school they were lazy, dirty, and ignorant; now they are growing into careful, energetic, quick women. The pretty patterns, the bright colors, the order around them, have an elevating effect upon them. Every opportunity is used to introduce lady visitors to the school, and these visits bring a bit of the bright outside world into the cramped lives of the poor women. For months after the visit of the collector's wife the women talked of the wonderful English visitors. The lady assistant in charge of the school talks to the women during working hours of the duties of wives and mothers, the care of children, simple remedies for the sick, and gives practical hints concerning general housekeeping. "
In Pithoragarh, a station in the Himalayas, some forty women support themselves by working on the farm in connection with the Home for the Homeless. During the harvest season the missionary spends hours in the field directing the work, and these women are paid the usual ~ages for such work.
In the city of Lucknow a home for women is maintained by the work of the women. They are trained in the use of the sewing-machine, and do plain and fancy sewing and embroidery.
A woman's workshop has been opened in Rangoon, Burma. A large building is rented on one of the principal streets, a forewoman is employed, who lives on the premises, who devotes her time to overseeing the work and receiving orders, and' some sixty women are here making their own living.
18113.] PASTOR-TEACHERS' TRAINING
Some curious information has recently been brought out in regard to the occupations of native Indian women_ In some statistics furnished by the government, we find women reported as officers of local and village government, some as officers of national government, and others as officers of independent States and Governments. We find some as authors, a few as artists, some in mercantile occupations, quite a large number employed in construction of houses, and some as shipbuilder!! and workers in precious metals.
PASTOR-TEACHERS' TRAINING.
BY C. P. HARD, NARSINGHPUR, CENTRAL PROVINCES, INDIA. • This problem has been confronting us for two years. Special success among sweepers, and some advantage gained among mat-makers and a few workers in leather, with a sprinkling from other classes, began in this place on September 29th, 1890.
In four sub-circuits, for a hundred miles along the Grand Indian Penin- , sular Railway, in the eastern part of the Nerbadda Valley, we directed that the new workeI'l!, forty chosen gradually from these classes, should gather at central points for weckly instruction by the older catechist in charge. We called at these points as often as possible. The Rev. Paul Singh went the rounds during the hot months, too; but we were on the lookout for a trained instructor for these pastor-teachers. With the transfer of this station by Bishop Thoburn from our brethren, the Swedes, we also received a letter from sixteen hundred miles away from Mr. H. W. Butterfield, for a long time head clerk and head master for the Government. He proposed to go on pension and give the rest of his life to educating Christians at Narsinghpllr, where he had once been in Government duties. He is assisted by a man from the Bareilly Theological Seminary. Vole have fifty men and boys in the morning school for reading, writing, spelling, and geography, but the Scriptures are the special subject of study.
The first class, a dozen, is to be scattered among the villages at the close of the year, after the District Conference shall have again been held here, and they shall all have had the adv"'-ntages of the Christmas-tree, their first celebration.
Miss Nash has a day school for the wives of students. The married families live in the numerous out-offices of these two mission compounds. The single men, beyond those who have homes in the town or live with relatives, are housed in the ample old rest near the town. Epworth evening debates are lively on themes which are vital to the thought of these men, whose friends are yet so largely in heathenism, or who on the border-land see men as trees walking. We have had compulsory side taking, half the alphabet for and half against propositions regarding callte, idolatrous customs, early marriage, and such questions as, " Shall we employ the young or those over twenty years in the mission~" "Shall we go at once to our fields or stay here for preparation F' "Is it well to buy and sell wives Y" and for to-night it is to be, " Is it right under any circumstances to have more than one wife!" Though they admire Abraham, we shall have a later authority to offset any inference that Sarah's advice would be tolerated in this dispensation.
All the means of grace find prompt participation, all pray, all testify, all are hearty in learning new hymns, all preach in the streets, all do some work in the villages, as Saturdays and Sundays they are free to visit their homes or are appointed to duty, and some are detailed for tours to help the evangelists who are in the districts j but JURt now it is chiefly the obedience to the command to " tarry" for the preparation.
SOUTH AMER!CA AND 'l'HE PAPACY
SOUTH AMERICA AND THE PAPACY.
BY REV. GEORGE W. CHAMBERLAIN, D.D., BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA.
Crowning the "Hay-stack" Monument at Williamstown is a marble globe. The lands in view as you approach that memorial of the" pray- ing club" from the front are Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Only as you retreat from it, facing it, on the rear, does South America ap- pear. It lies on the western slope of the globe and bathes in the warm sunshine of the afternoon.
Even so in the history of the ever-unfolding drama of Redemption, in the growth of the" Oity of God," whose limits extend to the" uttermost parts" of the earth, South America is coming in our day into full view, in that all including providence of the wheel within a wheel. By force of the Divine plan it will come yet more into the prominence for which it was of old prepared, and unto which it has been reserved until the fulness of times.
PREPARED OF OLD.
The idea which held the prow of the ship which Columbus commanded steadily to the West when an unbelieving crew clamored to put about the helm was no new idea, however much so it appeared to the men of that day. It was God's idea, communicated with such force to the mind of a rough sailor that he had to follow it, even as the Magi the star which they in the East had seen. It led to a land prepared of old to be the theatre for the " gathering of the nations." The continent from which he sailed away had been a divider of the nations, for the which also it was of old ordained. But the time was full for the" discovery" of that continent which should gather into its ample hosoms dispersed humanity, and there suckle and nourish it " until we all come to the stature of the perfect man in Christ Jesus." For Humanity is One. And He hath made of one blood all nations. He will prove it against all the vaporings of " philosophy falsely so called," or the crudities of "science," which has yet many things to learn, when it shall clothe itself with humility and sit at the feet of Wisdom (Proverbs viii.). Humanity, harassed and hamlJered on the old continent, has been for more than a hundred years seeking rest on the northern bosom of the Western Continent. It seemed as if the milk of human kindness would flow forever toward the oppressed of all nations from that breast of Mother Earth called the United States of America. No doubt it will ; but just now, in the year of our Lord 1892, and of Columbus 400, the supply is running short, and the Asiatic, including China's millions, " must go." Go where ~ To Ireland-to the only land which the Irish don't govern ~ No! for Ireland, like China, is casting out her children. Where shall they go ~ They will go precisely where they were foreordained to go by that wisdom which the Lord possessed in the beginning of His way, before'His works of old . . • while as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust (Dust thou art, 0 man I). Where is that ~ Let physical geography-God's handwriting in " depths" and" fountains abounding with water," in " mountains settled" and" hills"- answer. The course of human progress has beoo predeter- mined by the contour and relief of the earth's surface. If the old hemi- sphere said, " Scatter," the new says, "Gather." And they will gather despite all laws of men in Congress assembled; in virtue of the law of God, who not only" hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," but also " hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation." The" wrath of man" against his fellow shall help to carry out this plan. South America's time has come. She is now unbaring her bosom to all nations of men. Notable coincidence! At the crisis when the United States of America is saying, " Go" to the Chinese, the United States of Brazil is forced by economic reasons to say, " The Chinese must come." Africa contributed her quota, but African slave labor has had its day. European free labor comes slowly to the rescue and is sparse. South America stretches out her arms to Asia in the year of our Lord 1892. No longer can the Pope divide this southern continent and give it to whom he will. He, too, has had his day. Papacy in South America has been " found out."
Members of the congress of all American nations visiting in the" City of Brotherly Love" said to the gentleman who led them in worship at Girard College: "There is not a man of us who does not know that the greatest foe of liberty of our nations is Rome;" not Rome of Victor Immanuel, but Rome of " His Holiness." "The Pope and the Council" has been allowed to run out of print in its English edition, which is only one of the many symptoms of the blindness which has happened to English-speaking peoples. A Portuguese edition lies before me, translated and edited, with a notable introduction, by a foremost statesman of SOl).th America. "Of all emergent questions," he says, " none equals in reach, none exceeds in urgency, the religious. . " No one ignores that the pontifical Church is an organization universal, an ambition nniversal, a plan universal. . . . The evolutions of her tactics. are reproducing themselves in America with the same strategy as in Europe. The features of the papacy will be always identical with those of to-day, and each time more accented, because on the one hand its spl:rit, child of a gestation multisecular, incarnated in the most marvellously wise of all centralizations, and chained to the interests of an innumerable caste, can by no man be transformed; and on the other, the galvanic life of this institution, inwardly decomposed by the vices on which it feeds, has its secret in the reactionary audacity which constitutes its type. The papacy goes its way . • . it can perish more easily than go back."
Availing himself of the book of " Janus," "the most notable product and the most expressive symptom of Christian re-birth of the nineteenth century," " one of those rock-books of perennial tempestivity which abide, transmitted from generation to generation," this writer contributes some solid material to the instauration of religious liberty in the South American States. He speaks not from the religious, but from the political standpoint when he says: "It may be seen there (in' Janus ') with noonday clearness how from that millennial superposition of vices, abuses, and crimes; • . • from a system of falsification, employed indefatigably upon the Holy Scriptures, upon canonical and patristic collections, upon acts of synods, the liturgy and the imperial history, arose and was forn:ed that idolatry of pontifical infallibility which places the whole invincible abysm of the Gospel between the Church of Rome and the Christ. . •. The substantial character of the book (' The Pope and the Council ') is a rigorously historic demonstration of the intimate and exclusively political natu1'e of the papacy. • • ." It is demonstrated that Romanism is not religion but politics, and the most vicious, the most unscrupulous, and the most pestilent of all politics. Sketching rapidly the" incursions of the pontifical primacy in national churches, its usurpations in the bosom of States, and the repeated and peremptory denials of catholicity to the infallibilist presumptions of the tiara i" evidencing" the absolute identity between the idea of infallibility and that of omnipotence in the jurisdiction of heaven and in that of earth;" proving" the incompatibility, philosophically and practically irreconcilable, between the syllabus-that abominable symbol of papolatry-and any modern constitution," he ventilates the religious question in all its relations, and indicates the natural and definite solution of the problem.
.A FREE CHURCH IN A FREE STATE• .A State free from the dominion of the Church and the Church free from the papacy is an aspiration of young South America. For three centuries she held her breath at the bidding of the Pope; but her breast is heaving with the breath of the .Almighty. It bccomes articulate in the language of South .American statesmen. "A curia Romana has been at all times a potency only nominally religious, and always intimately, essentially, and indefatigably political. Religion, moral authority, for long centuries has not been for the papacy anything else than the occasion, the means, or the pretext for interference in the temporal administration of the State. "
" The heresy of domination is the greatest of heresies against the cross, because it transforms into a word of discord for human societies the word of Him who, to bring them peace, instituted the universal city in the higher world, vos de mundo hoc estis, ego non sum de hoc mundo."
., Rome has not renounced the principle that the Pope is the Lord over cru.wned heads, and has power to release subjects from their oaths of fidelity." "Gregory VII. left in his doctrines to papal Rome a tradition which has not ceased until now to be the soul of the Roman Church. . • ." " If the Holy See received from God the power to pronounce sentence in spiritual things, why not in temporal things also? The episcopate is as much superior to royalty as gold is superior to lead ; well did Constantine know it when, among bishops, he took the last place." "The prince (or in modern States the gov~rnment, parliaments, and cabinets) who incurs in heresy loses all authority. Subjects can, and ought when they can, rebel against him. This theory is a point of faith admitted by all theologians worthy of note in Rome. . . . It is to be noted that Rome has not repudiated. these principles. She has left them in reserve because she lacks coercitive resources."
"Papal centralization • . • the continual invasion of the temporal authority by the Church, gave us Protestantism. The' heresy' dominant in the sixteenth century was resistance to the abusive Roman unity•••• A counter-blast was needed. The Jesuits appeared. Instituted in a century full of vital energy, in a century of intellectual, political, and religious resurrection, they consubstantiated in themselves in an unheard-of degree all the principles hostile to these three vivifying forces of the world. Rome breathed her soul into the company. The order is not the evil genius of the papacy, but its delectable offspring. A rule of evangelical wisdom, proverbial everywhere, teaches us to know the tree by its fruit. Wherever Jesuitism has taken root no one can find any difference between its fruits and those of the soil where the papacy reigns directly, absolutely, visibly.
"Cast your eyes on the States of the Church before the fall of the temporal power-sad evidence of the sterilized virtues of the theocracy. There the observer encounters the most authentic and instructive example of the absorption of the individual conscience by absolutism exercised in the nallie of heaven. The social state wherever their principles have been filtered in during generations was never anything but the lowest.
" There is Paraguay-Paraguay, the prime work of the Jesuits, their boast, the miracle of their beneficent propaganda, the mysterious land of blessing with which they deluded, in Europe, even sincere and illustrious wen like Chateaubriand! Even to this day they describe that as a para- * dise. ' Paraguay,' says Padre Sambin, 'presented marvels similar to those of the first Christian centuries.' , In a few -years,' says another Jesuit, praising his own order, t 'the most savage tribes formed, under their influence, model societies, such as philosophy could never create in the bosom of civilized peoples; THE MOST PERFECT REPRODUCTION OF EDEN which it has been possible to obtain from our fallen nature.' 'These marvels,' he adds, ' the Catholic apostolate created in the past century in Paraguay, and can yet renew them.' Says the Brazilian author: 'Yet five years of war, in which our armies (the allied forces of Brazil, Argentine, and Urugnay) penetrated the interior of that country enabled us to judge of Edenic state idealized and desired by Jesuitism.'
" Everyone knows what we found there-a nation of creatures debased below slavery, without law, without rights, without tribunals, without government, without morality, social or domestic, without family, without * Da Cornpautria, Histoire du Concile, Lyon, 1872, t Ramiere, Lea doctrine romaines, Paris, 1870, instruction, without industry, without commerce-a tribe of fanatics poor to penury, savage even to ferocity. This is Jesuistic Catholicism which Roman Catholicism boasts of as the most perfect image of heaven on earth, as an ideal superior to all civilized peoples. • •• Behold the prosperity which our Catholic party (political) reserves for their fellow-countrymen."
I have quoted largely from the book" 0 Papa e 0 Concilio," by the eminent writer and patriotic Brazilian senator, Ruy Barboza, that the readers of the MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD may see not through the ('yes of a missionary, but of an enlightened South American statesman what papacy has done and is expected to do in this region of the world.
Iii there no brighter side ~ Thank God, answering to this cry of distress and dire need, the heart of the Church beats responsively, and already the blessing of the Lord on the efforts of the past thirty-three years (one generation) has created self-sustaining churches in Brazil and other South American republics, so that if a relative progress is observed it will not be many generations until this will cease to be a missionary field except in the sense of home missions. These are already begun. MisswB Nacionws at least, in Brazil, is an established arm of service. By the fund thus called, to which all churches and all individual believers are urged to contribute as the Lord prospers them, weak churches are yearly rising to self-support and becoming in turu nursing mothers. A Revista de Missws Nacionws, edited by one of our ablest nati va ministers, is contributing to create and foster the spirit of self-help throughout the bounds of the Brazilian Church. Many affecting examples might be given of those who give to the extent of their power and beyond it.
Into this field the Y. M. C. A. entered a year ago in the person of their first secretary, Myron A. Clark. He has justly merited the sympathy of Brazilian Christians, and now that he has begun to use fluently the Portuguese will soon be able to communicate with the youth of the land. I append some notes of Mr. Clark.
Things accomplished: (1) Organization in Sao Pr.ulo of a young men's Bible class, to study special association course; lessons being published weekly in the Exposi,- tor. Average attendance, 13. (2) Adoption of resolution, assuring support, sympathy, and co-operation by the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil. (3) Adoption of similar resolution by the Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Brazil. Difficulties : (1) Lack of preparation among young men. (2) Lack of realization of duty, value and privilege of Bible study. (3) Lack of desire for personal aggressive work among their fellows. Hopes for future : (1) To stimulate a desire for and appreciation of Bible study. (2) To arOURe on the part of Christian young men an earnest effort to evangelize their fellows. (3) Regular organizations later in such cities as Rio and Sao Paulo.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
n.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GBACEY, D.D.
THE OVERLOOK AND OUTLOOK. pire. A clear view of its history and effects gives one strength and inspira- A. NEW YEAR'S SYMPOSIUM. tion. What has it done in Turkey in a little over fifty years? It has introduced 1893. femrue education and compelled its ac- ceptance. It has done much toward re- The Outlook. storing the home as God intended it to exist. It has brought forth or spurrea BY BISI£OP J. M. THOBURN, D.D., CALCUTTA, on to efficiency whole systems of educa- tion. It has done more than anything INDIA. else in the vast interior of the country, not to say in the chief cities, to bring in The present outlook is the best since enlightened medical practice, and drive Carey's trumpet was first sounded. The old systems to the wall and make them era of experiment is over now, and the a laughing-stock. It has given the Bible time for action has fully come. All do and a considerable body of excellent not realize it, and some do not believe literature to the people in several lan- U; but every year adds to the number guages. It has brought into being hunof those who dismiss their scruples and dreds of evangelical congregations, with their fears and hasten to thrust their schools and meeting-places, these being well on the road to self-support. It has sickles int~ the first ripe field of golden introduced colleges and seminaries for both sexes. It has founded hospitals grain which they find within reach. I and orphanages. It has brought forth am confident that before the year 1900 missionary societies. It has diffused every missionary body in India will be general intelligence. It has, in some found fully committed to the great work ways, made as great a difference between of gathering in converts by the score the first half and the last half of this and the hundred and nurturing them .century, in that country, as there is befor God and heaven. I shall be sur- tween the sixteenth and the nineteenth prised and disappointed indeed if the in Europe. ingathering of the next eight years does not exceed that of the previous ninety- What, then, is the prospect? If the two. The converts may be from the Gospel of Christ exert its benign and ranks of the lowly, but the lowly of this peaceful influence for half a century century will be the leaders of the next. more, as it has for half a century past, it The Brahman must accept Christ, or see will increase light and knowledge, prothe pariah walk past him in the rltce of mote love and good-will, multiply happy progress. The first converts in India homes, reform abuses, alleviate the will be the Brahmans of a future genera- woes of infancy and age, develop public tion. Already the valleys' have com· spirit and promote social improvement menced to rise. and the mountains are -all these secondary things it will do, beginning to be brought low. Now, as as it has been doing, till that shall bein ancient days, God is choosing for come a pleasant land to dwell in; all Himself a people who were not a people, these secondary things will it do, but, and in the sight of all the nations a better than all, it will do what it has worm shall be chosen with which to been doing-make peace between man's thresh the mountain. soul and his God, purify the heart, and teach man, while living here below, to Results and Prospects in Turkey, live as a citizen of the heavenly country, BY REV. C. C. TBACY, MARSOVAN.
Before the Crimean War evangelism had begun its work in the Turkish Em- "The Poor have the Gospel Preached did the Macedonian cry sound 110 loudly to Them." as at the present moment.
BY REV. CYRUS HAMLIN, D.D., LEXINGTON, " O'er the desert's burning sands, O'er the ocean's stormy wave, MASS. Voices cry from distant lands, The highest glory of modern missions Come to help us! Come to save I" is that unto the poor the Gospel is preached. Its greatest triumphs are And veteran toilers in the foreign field, among the poor-the common people. as they fall, one after another, echo with It should be so; for emphasis the words of Father Gulick, of the Sandwich Islands, uttered just be- 1. It is ill accord with the spirit and fore his death: "The nearer I get to example of Christ. He gave to the meso eternity the more grand and momentous sengers of John as proofs of His mes- does the cause of missions appear. In siahship, "The dead are raised, and comparison with this, how insignificant unto the poor the Gospel is preached." the pursuit of earthly pleasures, riches, or honor !" 2. They are the chief part of the human race. The common people in Naturally my own vision turns par. all heathen lands may justly be called ticularly to Southeastern Africa, where the poor. I have spent most of my life, and where the outlook is full of encouragement. I 3. They are the most accessible. The thank God that the British South Africa common people heard Him gladly. The Company, dominates so large a territory missionary churches in all lands have populated by tribes which for centuries very fe w converts among the rich and have been sunk in superstition and adprosperohs. dicted to barbarous customs. Of the Bantu race, numbering, it is supposed, 4. They constitute the brightest ex· about one fourth the population of Afriamples of the transforming power of the ca, the most interesting are those speak- Gospel. Out of these poor, degraded, ing the Zulu dialect, all of whom are ac. ignorant people come forth men and cessible, if we except the Amazimu, on women of saintly character, of superior Lake Tanganyika, to missionary opera. mental endowments, pure in life, un- tions. God in His providence has sent selfish, consecrated to the service of the the Anglo-Saxon race to the southern Lord, often not counting their lives dear part of the continent to prepare the way unto them. This is a transformation for the dissemination of His truth. which the world is compelled to take Laborers of the A. B. C. F. M. have been knowledge of. busy, during the past fifty years, in stocking the divine arsenal wit.h weapons 5. They are furnishing the agents for to use in the " holy war" that is to be the world's conversion. In God's good waged in conquering for Christ, Africans time they will rise into all the places of widely extended, but with a common power, for "the people shall be all kinship, ethnologically and linguisti. righteous," and the whole world shall cally considered. The Bible, religious haTe one Lord, one faith, and one bap. tracts, and elementary school books in tism in the Spirit. the Zulu language are available.
Signs of the Times in South Africa. The Zulu Mission has made a new de. parture, the result of which will be can· BY REV. JOSIAH TYLER, D.D., ST. JOHNS· templated with interest. I refer to the sending of Bome of its members to initio BURY, VT. ate work in the northern part of Gaza. land, with the promise of protection The most encouraging sign of the from its chief, Gungunyana. We have times, viewed in relation to the world's reason to believe that Natal natives, evangelization, is, in my opinion, the fact that nearly all parts of it are open And ready to receive the Gospel. Never graduates of the theological school, will labor, in treaty stipulation with Christian soon follow, and under the guidance of Powers. white missionaries, do good work for the Master in that new field. The Bible is translated into the lan- guages used by nearly nine tenths of these In Natal itself the missionary pros- vast multitudes of people. Christian pects were never brighter. labors have already been commenced in aU these lands. Converts have been Then and Now. made, churches organized, schools and colleges have been established, Christian BY REV. A. P. HAPPER, D.D., GLENSHAW, teachers and preachers have been train- ed, and a Christian literature prepared PA. in all these lands. The fields are every- where white to the harvest. Those who The outlook for missions is as hope- go forth now enter into the labors of ful as the providences and promises of their predecessors. These are a few of God can make it. the favoring providences of God. How great and glorious they are ! Our blessed Lord said : "All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth. Go The promises are all " yea" and ye, therefore, and teach all nations. " amen." "I will pour out My spirit Lo, I am with you always, unto the end upon all flesh." "All the ends of the of the world." For three hundred years earth shall see His salvation." "The after the ascension of our Lord, His dis- knowledge of God shall cover the whole ciples, in carrying out the commission, eaTth." "The kingdoms of this world were subject to persecutions,revilings, have become the kingdom of the Lord scourgings, imprisonments, and martyr- and of His Christ." The outlook, theredom by the authorities and people in ac- fore, of Christian mission is as hopeful cOl'dance with the laws of the empire of and sure as the existence and faithful- Rome. These things existed in addition ness of God. Heaven and earth shall to the ignorance, superstition, idolatry, pass away; but not one jot or tittle of wickedness and enmity to God which all that God hath spoken shall fail of a everywhere filled the hearts of the peo- glorious accomplishment. ple. With the accession 6f Constantine to the throne this exposure to legalized The Day is Dawning. opposition and violence was r(lmoved, and freedom and safety in the prosecu- BY REV. ALONZO BUNKER, D.D., TOUNGOO, tion of evangelistic work were secured. BURMA. A hundred years ago, when the first Protestant missionaries were sent forth, When Dr. Judson was once asked, the lands in which the 800,000 hea· after several years of labor in Burma, then and Moslems Jived were closed without a single convert, "What the to the entrance of the missionaries. prospect of success was?" he replied, The whole of Asia and Africa were "Success is as sure as the promises of closed. Now the countries in which the God." 1,000,000,000 of the non-Christian populations are, are open to the unrestricted In any outlook for success on mission entrance of the missionaries of the cross. fields, the promises of God afford a sure There is safe and comfortable convey-' resting-place for the feet of the weary ance on the vessels of commerce to every worker, and by faith the future is full land. In every land the messengers of of a glorious victory. Jesus" shall see the Gospel are under the protection of of the travail of his soul and be satisthe rulers of the Christian Powers of the fied." world. The free use of all evangelizing agencies and the liberty to converts to In the present age, however, there are profess Christianity are guaranteed by many" signs of the times" which give the rulers of the lands in which they us a lively hope of great successes in the near future, These signs 'are so manifest that it seems almost presumption cannot fail to show ~ remarkable mto mention them. crease of missionary knowledge and zeal First is the noticeable unrest among in Christian lands. The organized work those heathen nations with which the for the instruction of youth in all Chris Gospel has had most to do. Both among tian work, the practical results of this the Hindus and the Buddhist races teaching, as well as a drawing together their leaders are putting forth so maDY and a better organization among God's efforts to steady the ark of their faith people generally, is a wonderful adthat it is evident that they regard it in vance on the past. Taking this great danger. These attempts to adjust old movement as a response, under the faiths to the new light indicate their col- direction of the Holy Spirit, to inlapse, which may be much nearer than creasing calls from heathen lands, we many think. The Paramats of Burma, are obliged to stand with uncovered the Buddhist revivals in China and heads, for it is the work of our God. Japan, and the Brahmo.somaj of India He creates the call and prepares the anare but" signs of the tiwes. " swer. He sets the battle and plans the victory. Again, as God has a perfect plan in the natural, so in the spiritual world. Finally, the success of such evangel- " Even the hairs of your head .are num- ists as Miiller, Somerville, Pentecost. hered." So His places for the kingdom and others among nations where, a fllw of His Son are laid with infinite care, years ago, they would be neither reeven in the minutest detail. He calls ceived nor understood, is significant. His servants, chooses the nations He This, with the rapid progress of the will use, and plant.. His strategic cen- English language among Eastern natres of light wi th Divine wisdom. Look- tions, leads us to believe that the time is ing for this plan in work alreadyaccom- near when a nation shall be born in a plished, there is enough revealed to day. Yes! The day is dawning, and make the outlook for the immediate God's weary workers may well congratufuture full of thrilling anticipations. late each other, for all these things be- token a speedy proclamation of the This is true, not only among the more Gospel to all nations of the earth, and civilized races, hut emphatically so then cometh the end. among the" no peoples" who have been reached by the Gospel. Who could South America. have anticipated the results which have been achieved among the despised races BY BEV. CHARLES W. DREES, D.D., BUENOS of India? What a glorious outlook for the future of the Redeemer's kingdom, AIRES, ARGENTINA. through the zeal which they show in proclaiming the truth, even among their Doubtless each of the great mission former masters! fields of the Church possesses its own characteristic features of interest which Again, wherever we look there is, in constitute for each its own peculiar all the world, a marshalling of forces for claim upon the sympathy and help of or against our Lord. In heathen lands those who are engaged in the work of the work of the last century has been sending the Gospel message to a world largely preliminary. That work is now lying in darkness and in sin. near completion. Spiritual forces are cumulative. For this reason statistics South America, though perhaps least always fail to represent spiritual resnlts. heard of and least thought of, has its This massing of spiritual forces shows own case to urge, its own plea to make. us that the great battle is about to be And surely it has some special claim joined ; and this means victory, for our upon the interest of the churches of Captain was never defeated. A com- America. parison of the present with the past It is an American mission field. Its people share with us the heritage given By a marvellous historic development to the world by the penetrating genius, under the gllidance of that Providence the mighty faith and the God.sustained, which administers the government of indomitable perseverance of Coillmblls. this world with a view to its redemp- It is constitllted a mission field by the tion, this whole continent has been fact that its predominant religiolls opened to the proclamation of the Gos- thought and life are determined by a pel. With the siugle exception of Equa.
perverted and corrupted form of the dar, there are everywhere to be found Christian faith, while in the heart of religious toleration founded upon legal the continent there still remains the enactment, or upon a well-defined and darkness of paganism, unillumined by intelligent public conviction, a strong a single ray of the Light of the World. sentiment among inllllential men in This field, therefore, invites to each of favor of the prosecution of our evan- two chief forms of mission work. On gelical work, hearts prepared to receive the one hand it calls for the continu- the message and embrace the truth, and ance among peoples of Latin origin of frllits already gathered which are God's the work of the Reformation, which in seal of ap'proval upon the work already the sixteenth century won such mighty done and His call to the wide-open victories among the nations of Central doors which no man can shut.
and Northern Europe, while it was so strangely hindered in its progress and finally completely paralyzed among the Under the Southern Oross. Latin peoples of Southern Europe. On the other hand, it invites to the first MIsSIONS IN AUSTBALIA.
evangelization of pagan tribes who have BY REV. ROBERT STEEL, D.D., NEW SOUTH for centuries resisted the efforts of WALES. Roman Catholic missionaries, and have as yet never had the offer of a pure Gos- At the Federal Assembly of the Pres- pel teaching held out to them. A con- byterian Chllrches of Australia and Tas- tinent with 23,000,000 of Spanish and mania, held at Adelaide, in September, Portuguese mixed races, with 3,000,000 some interesting particulars were given of negro freedmen, and 40,000,000 of regarding the missions in Australia.
pagan Indians surely offers a vast field These embrace Chinese, the aborigines, for evangelization. and the Kanakas or Polynesians. Re- It is a continent of American repub- garding the latter there are some strik- lics, with ten nations who have modelled ing facts. There are now 9000 in Qlleens- their civil institutions after those of land. Several missionaries are working the United States of North America, among them. The Presbyterian mis- yet are lacking in that sense of indi- sionary is at Walkerstown, in a centre of vidual responsibility to God and regard 16 plantations. He has 1800 under in- for His revealed Word which are the struction, 233 of whom have been bap- only sure ground for truly republican tized. A great change for the better institutions. If we are to maintain has resulted from his labors. These American institutions for all America, natives are now learning habits of thrift, we must give the Bible and the faith of and they have $100,000 in the savings the Bible to South America. banks.
This continent, considered as a mis- The aboriginal mission in Northern sion field, has been left to the Christian Queensland is making progress. The churches of North America. The great government Resident at Thursday missionary societies of Great Britain Island lately visited the States, and and continental Ellrope have relegated expressed a hope that many more of to us the evangelization of this Western sllch might be established and a mis- world. sion vesst>l secured, New Hebrides. who loved us and gave Himself for us.
THE NANUA SLAVE TRAFFIC. We believe that the Gospel is the only real civilizer of man wherever found; BY RloIV. J. G. PATON, D.D. all brought under its power and influ. ence soon enjoy all the blessings of civ- Mr. Sawers, who was murdered lately ilization which accompany it and follow on Santo, was not "a young English in its train. The Master's advice is, missionary." as stated, but a trader liv- " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and ing on Santo. He had just been mar- His righteousness, and all other things ried to a British woman, to whom he shall be added unto you."
had been engaged for some twelve years; Many lives were taken, and are yet but instead of taking his bride with him taken, by the cannibals of those islands to his home, he left her at the mission who have not been reached by the en.
house of Rev. Joseph Annand, M.A., lightening, sanctifying power of the who had celebrated the marriage, and Gospel ; but on the twenty islands our went off in his boat avowedly to prepare mission occupies, life and property are his house for her. On reaching his sta. now comparatively safe, and they will tion, the Santo natives murdered him, become safe on all, as the natives are led for some reason unknown to us ; but to love and serve God. Trade and large even among our savages there is gener- commercial business is also now follow- ally some cause for such revenge upon ing in the wake of the teaching of the traders living among them. Gospel where a few years ago no white Mr. and Mrs. Annand, our excellent man durst set foot on shore without the missionaries living on Tangoa, off Santo, fear of being killed and eaten by the having recently opened a new station savages. Oh that such races could en- there among the cannibals, were placed joy communion with its blessings with- in considerable difficulty and danger by out its curses in intoxicating drinks, this murder. The natives all left their opium, dynamite, fire·arms, and vice, station and gave up attending the school as forced upon them by trading pioneers and church, and for a time the work of from civilized nations to their destruc- the missions among them was suspend- tion, as now among the remaining ed ; but Mr. Annand wisely and devot- heathen of our island! The wonder to edly improved the time at his printing- me is that they don't murder ten for press, printing the Gospel by Matthew, everyone of the slavers, or "Kanaka which he had translated into their Ian. labor traffickers," who are sailing about guage. French and Englishmen.of.war among the islands to kidnap and get have since punished the murderers of away, by every means in their power, Sawers and his party, if possible to in- all the young men and women who so timidate the il!landers from taking the fall into their hands. Britain would lives of other traders, and make them murder every man who so, under any and their property more safe till those pretense, robbed her of her sons and islands are annexed and under the gov. daughters, and the world would praise ernment of some civilized nation. How- her for it and support her in it ; and ever, we look not to ciVilization, but to yet she tolerates this blood-stained traffic the blessed, enlightening, and sanctify. with its many evils, as by law author- ing influences of the Holy Spirit on the ized in Queensland, New Caledonia, teaching of our dear Lord ,Jesus as reo etc., which is rapidly depopulating the vealed in the Scriptures to lead civil. islands and sweeping away defenceless ized or savage nations to fear God and races to satisfy the godless white men's respect the li ves and propert.y of others; greed of gain by them. Oh for the time hence we pray and labor by the Gospel when everyone sball do to his neighbor to lead all to know and love and serve as he would be done by from love to the Jesus Christ as theif God a!:ld SaViour, Lord Jesus! Double the Force. little for Christian nurture and the up. building of men unless they are supplied BY BD. BENBY N. COBB, D.D., NEW YORK with the Bible. 'rhe full equipment of mankind for the service of God calls not CITY. for the four Gospels alone, or the epis- tles alone, but for the law, the prophets, I don't know that I could put into and the Psalms also; for promise and .. 300" or 3000 .. Vords" my idea of type as well as fulfilment ; for the Old the really stupendous work before the Testament as well as the New; for the Church of Christ, the grand openings Bible as the one Book which teaches and opportunities for work or the bless- what man is to believe concerning God ed results already achieved. I am sure and what duty God requires of man. the churches of every name might, with immediate advantage, double at once Thus far we have only begun to supply the number of men and the amount of the world with this Book. It Bounds means now contributed to their foreigIl well to enumerate 3M languages in work. I know ours could. We should which men may read of Christ and His hardly need a day to consider where the salvation; but in only 90 of the 304 is increase should be bestowed. If this the entire Bible printed; and of these be so, how great does the responsibility 90 one half only are the product of this of the churches become, in view also century of missions. We count, then, of the means at their disposal! 214 languages which convey to men a part only of the revealed Word, while The Outlook for Bible Work. the entire Scriptures are inspired and profitable for them. Moreover, 56 of BY BET. EDWARD W. GILMAN, D.D., BIBLE the 214 have only a single portion of the Bible, a Gospel, or some other book, BOUSE, NEW YOBK. and 131 of them have less than the New Testament. Not to speak, then, of Ian. Every Christian heart recognizes with guages as yet unstudied and unwritten, gratitude and wonder the work which there is a call during the present decade has been accomplished in a century in for competent scholars to go on and preparing new versions of the Holy complete the translation of the New Scriptures and circulating them far and Testament in 131 languages and dia. wide in all parts of the world. A hun. lects, and to carry on to its end the dred years ago there were barely 50 lan- translation of the Old Testament in guages in which the Bible had been more than 200 different languages. printed; now some parts of it can be found in more than 300 languages and It takes a man a lifetime to translate dialects. The long list of new transla- every chapter of the Bible and faith. tions made since the founding of the fully reproduce the mind of the Spirit British and Foreign Bible Society in in a strange tongue. Mr. Bingham has 1804 is an enduring monument of PI'· just accomplished this for the Gilbert tient scholarship and resolute effort in Islanders, whose language he began to one line of Christian endeavor. reduce to writing in 1857, and his com- pleted work will not appear until 1893. But there remains an immense amount Then, as a rule, first translations are of work to be accomplished. The Bible tentative, sure to require revision and constitutes what St. Jerome called the chang!l after mistakes have been point. "divine library," and until all nations ed out and improvements have been snghave that entire library in a printed gested by experience. The Syriac Bible, book and in their own vernacular, the begun by Dr. Perkins and his associates evangelization of the world will not be in 1836, and first printed in 1852, has complete. A single chapter of the Bible been for years undergoing revision to may"indeed cast a flood of light upon a meet the wants of outlying communiti,s community, and, like the star in the east, may lead men to Christ. But the evangelization of a people implieR Christian institutions, and the family, the schoo], and the church accomplish hal whose dialects had not been studied by with the help of the Rev. John Edwards. the earliest missionaries to Persia. The Zulu Bible, commenced nearly sixty And for Spanish.speaking America it years ago, and first printed in 1883, is in the hands of revisers who will need has nearly ready for publication aver. years to get their work ready for the press. Marshman's Chinese Bible, sion of the Bible in Spanish, made by printed as early as 1822, has been followed by numerous recensions and in- the Rev. H. B. Pratt, of the Southern dependent versions; but for a standard Presbyterian ChUl'ch, with the aid of Chinese Bible, embodying the results of enlarged study of the language, we must numerous scholars, among whom are the look to the labors of a large committee which has but just been organized for Rev. H. C. Thomson, D.D., of the Theo. work. These are but hints of the toil and effort which must be given by the logical School at Tlalpam, Mexico, and missionaries now in the field and by their immediate successors and associ- the Rev. J. M. Lopez, of New York. It ates in one line of Christian service. is hoped that this translation will Their work will hardly be done in this generation. eventually be accepted as preferable to the one in common use, which was made nearly three hundred years ago.
[With two exceptions, the short arti. cles composing our Symposium were kindly contributed in response to a re- quest for a brief Bulletin. The other two are used, being adapted to the same end. All the writers have placed us under obligation, and have our thanks. -J. T. G.] Besides the above, Dr. Gilman favors A Word from the Arabia.n Mission. us with the following items: BY BEV. S. lII. ZWElIIEB. For missions in the Pacific Ocean under the care of the American Board We feel very much encouraged with (Congregational), the Bible Society has the prospect of work here. I am just just printed an edition of the books of back from a preaching tour of 700 miles Genesis and Exodus in the Ruk lan- up to Bagdad and down the Euphrates. guage, and also has in press the entire The latter river was never before visited Bible for tl1e Gilbert Islanders. by a missionary, as far as I could learn. From Hillah I came down in a native To meet an urgent appeal for Scrip- boat, and had some real experiences of tures from missionaries of different so- Bedouin life and Moslem prejudice, cieties laboring in South Africa, it is the more so as I went at Moharram preparing a set of photo-engraved plates season right through sacred territory. for a new edition of the Zulu Bible. Rev. Catine has much work with our Bible shop. We find quite a demand It has on hand for the Mission of the for our books, and sales have been en- Presbyterian Board in Persia a very couraging. difficult and costly work, the printing of the revised Syriac Bible, under the Re'enforcement in Japan. supervision of Rev. B. Labaree, D.D. This version has been very dear to the In the September REVIEW one of our Nestorian Christians since it was first esteemed corresponding editors, Rev. given to them by Dr. Justin Perkins Dr. Knox, of Japan (p. 654), reviewing and his associates some forty years the year 1891 in Japan, argued for the ago. maintenance of an adequate force, as "nothing is more discouraging than For the Creek and Seminole Indians, work half manned and half done." He who come under the care of Presbyte- advocated the policy of strong re·enrian, Methodist, and Baptist native pas- forcements of existing missions, and tors, it is printing for the first time a deprecated an increase of the number version of Genesis in the Muskokee lan- of feebly manned new missions. He guage, prepared by the Rev. J. R. Ram- referred to the new mission of the Evansay and Mrs. A. E. W. Robertson, Ph.D., g!~l Lutherans, who, he said, had sent out but one man. He asked: "Must it Lutheran Church. Its boara carefully send its little force, too small for effi- and prayerfully and long considered the ciency and yet large enough to increase question of beginning work in Japan_ our denominations already far too According to their best jUdgment, there many?" was still room there for our work_ The Rev. L. G. M. Miller, minister 'Every creature' has not yet been of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, reached there with the Gospel, and Winchester, Va., writes a bitter com- until this is the case, surely we too are plaint against these utterances finding equally entitled with Dr. Knox to seek their way into the REVIEW. We beg to to oueyour Lord's command. We in remind him that the REVIEW assumes no no way seek to hinder or disparage him responsibility for opinions or state- or the body of Christians he represents ments which appear over well-known in their work. We accord them the names. We seek to furnish an arena, right of judgment as to where they had not for controversy surely, but for free best labor. He ought to do the same expression of even widely divergent by us."
opinions. That there is more than one view concerning" polity" in Japan is well known. We cheerfully make room Programme for the Decennial Oonferfor the following from our corre- enoe in Bombay! 1892-93. spondent's communication, though it seems to UR that Dr. Knox's only plea [We are indebted to Rev. J. L. Philis for a large force, if any. Bishop Mal- lips, M.D., for this advance copy. He lalieu, of the Methodist Episcopal and Mr_ A. Manwaring will accept our Church, during his recent visit in Japan, pleaded with his board for re-en- thanks.-J. T. G.] forcement, because he could place the Thursday, Dec. 29th, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M.
right kind of men in a dozen cities not -" Missionary Work among the De- now occupied by a.ny missionary.- pressed Classes and the Masses." (a) [J, T. G.] Nature of Instruction given (i) before Mr. Miller says: Baptism (ii) after Baptism. (b) Moral and Spiritual Results Produced. (C) The "Dr. Knox's statement seems to im- Best Methods of Work for the Future. ply that 'one man' was contemplated Papers-Rev. J_ E. Clough, D.D., Onas the extent of our force in Japan. It gole, Madras; Rev. S_ Martin. D.D., appears that this is not the case. Not Sialkot, Panjab; Rev. E. W. Parker, only is another on the way now, but we D.D., Lucknow. Speakers-Rev. A. hope to continue to add to their num- . Campbell, Manbhum, Bengal; Rev. ber. We go with no purpose of creat- W. H. Campbell, M.A., B.D., Cuddaing 'any confusion.' Our aim is to pah, Madras; Rev. .Ruttonji Nowroji, preach the Gospel and that alone, and Auruugabad, Berar ; Rev. W. S. Sutherin no way to interfere with others who land, M.A., Kalimpong. Bengal.–2 to may be doing the Lord's work in other 4.30 P.M. (Sectional.) (1)" Social and parts of the field. Dr. Knox seems to Legal Rights of Native Christians.-Marimply that the field is already fully oc- riage and Divorce." Papers-Rev. R. A. cupied. It is very far from being so. I Hume, Ahmednagar; Rev. H. E. Perquote from Rev. J. A. B. Scherer, our kins, Atari, Panjab. Speakers-Rev. missionary now on the ground. Appaji Bapuji, Poona ; Rev. K. C. Cbat- There are not less than four cities of terjee, Hoshyarpur, Panjab. (2)" Work over 30,000 souls each where no foreign among Lepers." Paper, W. C. Bailey, missionary resides, not to mention nu- Esq., Edihburgh. Speakers-Rev. G. M. merous smaller towns and clusters of vil- Bullock, Almora. N-w. P. ; Rev. W. J. lages, 80me of which are actually asking Richards, Allepy, Travancore. for foreign assistance. Dr. Guido F. Friday, Dec. 30th, 10 A.M to 1 P.M.- Verbeck, the leader of Japan missiona- "The Native Church in India-its Or- ries, who authorizes the use of his name ganization and Self·Support." K. C. in this letter, said to me this summer Banerji, Esq., B.A., B.L., Calcutta. that he could undertake to name a hun- Papers-Rev. Jacob Chamberlain, D.D., dred places where missionaries could be Madanapalle, Madras; Rev. S. Coles, advantageously placed at once. He is Cotta, Ceylon. Speakers-Rev. F. Hahn.
not only the oldest missionary on the Lohardllggll, Chotta Nagpur ; Rev_ T_ S.
ground, having lived here thirty-three Johnson, M.D., Jabalpur, C. P. ; Rev.
years, but is everywhere respected for A. T. Rose, D.D., Rangoon, Burmah.– his wide knowledge and solidity of 2 to 4.30 P.M. (Sectional.) (1) "The judgment. Religious Training of the Young." (a) "Dr_ Knox is entitled to his opinion, General. (b) Y. M. C. A. ann. Y. W.
but so also are the authorities of the O. A. (c) Sunday-schools. Papers- Miss Gardner, Calcutta; D. McConau. Speaker, Rev. F. W. Warne, Calcutta: ghey. Esq., M.A., Madras; Dr. J. L. (The Calcutta Conference has been asked Phillips, Calcutta. Speakers-Miss Ab- to arrange for another paper and another bott, Bombay; Rev. W. J. P. Morrison, speaker.)-5.30 P.M. (Sectional.) (1) AmbalIa, Panjab ; Rev, J. E. Robinson, Men's Meeting. "Public Morals in Bombay; Mrs. Sorabji, Poona. (2) India." Speakers-Dr. Condon, Mus- "TheJesuitAdvanceinIndia." Paper, Boorie, N-w. P. ; A. S. Dyer, Esq., Bom- bay. (2) Meeting of the Christian Rev. C. A. E. Diez, Mangalore, Madras. Women Workers' Union. Speaker, Rev. M. H. Clark, M.D., Am· ritsar.–5.30 P.M. .. Public Temper- Tuesday, Jan. 3d, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M.- ance Meeting." Speakers-Rev. J. H. (2) "The Social and Legal Standing of Bateson, Simla; Rev. Thomas Evans, the Lower Classes." The Madras Con- Mussoorie ; Rev. A. Parker, Benares. ference has been asked to appoint writ. ers and speakers.–2 to 4.30 P.M. (Sec. '&turday. Dec. 31st, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M.- tional.) (1)" Work among Anglo.Ind- "Work among the Educated Classes of ians and Eurasians." Papers-Rev. India." (a) Their Numbers, Influence, H. Gouldsmith, M.A., Calcutta; Rev. and Diffusion; (b) Their Religious Atti- I. F. Row, Poona. Speakers-Rev. D. tude; (c) Methods of Dealing with Osborne, Mussoorie ; Rev. T. H. Whita- Them. Papers-Rev. R. Wright Hay, more, Madras. (2) ,. Missionary Com- Dacca, Bengal; Rev. M. Phillips, Madras; S. Sathianadhan, Esq., M.A., ity." Papers-Rev. A. Clifford, M.A., LL.B., Madras. Speakers-Rev. J. Calcutta; Bishop J. M. Thoburn, D.D., McLaurin, D.D., Bangalore; S. R. Calcutta. Speakers -Rev. F. Ashcroft, Modak, Esq., Ahmednagar; Rev. Gun- M.A., Ajmere ; Rev. H. Gulliford, Banpatrao Navalkar, Alibag.–2 to 4.30 galore; Rev. J. Shilli.dy, M.A., Surat. P.M. (Sectional.) (1)" Work among Women." Papers-Miss Bernard, Poo- Wednesday, Jan. 4th. 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. na; Mrs. Bissell, Ahmednagar ; Miss S. – " Christian Literature." (a) Vernacu. Mulvaney, Calcutta; Miss Thoburn, lar; (b) English; (c) the Scriptures. Lucknow. Speakers-Miss Greenfield, Papers-Rev. H. Haigh, Mysore City; Ludiana; Mrs. Longhurst, Madras; J. Murdoch, Esq., LL.D., Madras; Rev. Miss McPhail, L.R.C.P., Madras; Miss S. W. Organe, Madras; Rev. G. P. Tay. Wanton, Amritsar ; Miss Warrack, Cal- lor, M.A., B.D., Ahmedabad. Speakers cutta. (2) .. The Native Church-the -Rev. C. B. Newton, D.D., Lodiana ; Training and Position of its Ministry." Rev. A. W. Prautch, Thanna, Bombay; Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht, Ph.D., Batala, Papers-Rev. W. Hooper, D.D., Allaha- Panjab.–2 to 4.30 P.M. Business Arbad; Rev. J. P. Jones, M.A., Madura. rangements and Closing Exercises. Speakers-Rev. H. D. Goldsmith, M.A., There will be a prayer-meeting every Madras; Rev. J. Lazarus, B.A., Mad- morning at 7.30. The Bombay Confer- ence is asked to arrange for two or more ras ; Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D., Insein, lectures on "Questions of Religious Burmah.–5.30 P.M. "Public Mis- Thought in India," on evenings not sionary Meeting." Speakers-Rev. S. W. Howland, D.O., Jaffna, Ceylon; Rev. otherwise occupied. J. L. PIlILLIPS, J. E. Scott, Ph.D., Muttra, N-w. P. ; F,ev. J. Wilkie, B.D., Indore, C. I. Secretary Decennial Conference Provisional ISunday, Jan. 1st, 1893, 3 p.M.-Sermon Committee. by the Rev. G. Kerry, Calcutta; fol- A. MANWARING, lowed by United Holy Communion. Secretary Bombay Missionary (Jonference. Monday, Jan. 2d, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M.- " Education as a Missionary Agency." The statistical tables prepared for Papers~Rev. W. H. Findlay, M.A., Negapatam, Madras; Rev. D. Macki- this Conference show an enc{)uraging chan, D.D., Bombay; Rev. A. B. Wann, B.D., Calcutta. Speakers-Rev. J. C. R. increase in many particulars. The Pres- Ewing, D.D., Lahore; Rev. L. B. Wolf, M.A., Guntur, Madras; Rev. J. W. byterians lead in the number of socie- Youngson, Guzrat, Panjab.–2 to 4.30 P. M. (Sectional.) (J ) "Industrial ties at work in India; the Church of Work." Papers-Rev. J. Frohnmeyer, Tellicherry, Madras; Rev. T. Snell England in the Iumber of foreign or- Smith, Jaffna, Ceylon. Speakers-Rev. S. B. Fairbank D.D., Bombay; Rev. J. dained missionaries and in the num· Small, Poona.' (2) .. Plan of Uniform ber of native Christians; the Baptists Missionary Statistics." Paper, Rev. J. W. Thomas, Calcutta. (3)" The in the numter of communicants. The Observance of the Lord's Day in India." Paper, Rev. W. B. Phillips, Calcutta. PIesbyterians lead in Anglo-vernacular schools; the Church of England in ~he vernacular schools; and the Met,hodlsts in female education.
As the documents are not in full be- feonrceouurs~gweemewntiththheoyldafrfeomrdarbkys as to the compari- son of growth with that of other decades.
DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN
III.-DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR.
CONDUCTED BY PROFESSOR AMOS R. WELLS.
Ten Christian Endeavorers have gone dred and twelve scholars to its Sundayfrom societies in Victoria, Australia, to school during the past year. A noble foreign mission fields. That is one rea- showing, yet one that many an Amerison for the great prosperity of the Chris- can society might equal with a little tian Endeavor cause in that colony. more effort.
Here are some new committees they Not satisfied with separate temperhave adopted in Australia: a "good ance committees in the various societies, word" committee, to encourage and the West Division of the Chicago Union practise kindliness of speech; a .. flour has established a union temperance committee," to make dainty dishes for committee, which can unite the forces the sick and prepare more substantial and focus them effectively on many of food for the poor; a band of housekeep. the most crying evils of that wicked ing young ladies, to take charge of city. Why is not this a good idea for house, children, and Sunday dinner, all city unions? and give overworked mothers a chance to go to church; prayer bands, to ask The Friends are rapidly banding toand receive special blessings; and many gether their Endeavor societies into others. Of course, these things might Yearly Meeting Unions, analogous to be done without "committees," but the Conference and Presbyterial unions how seldom they are I of other denominations. Eight of these have been formed, and it is a most hope- A novel and valuable form of commit- ful fact that four of these unions are tee work, born on American soil, is that furnishing funds to support each a forof the "whatsoever" committee of a eign missionary. certain church in Washington, D. C. This is a committee whose purpose is to It is a distinctly understood Christian do the little things that, being every- Endeavor principle that all officers of body's business, are usually done by State and local unions-yes, and of the nobody. It does odds and ends of work United Society, too-shall serve without that Christian leaders are likely to think salaries, solely for the love of the Mashardly worth while. It is the gap-fill- ter. Secretary Baer has recently obing committee, and every society and tained the written statements of nearly church needs one. all State presidents and secretaries, who cordially affirm their agreement with Endeavor societies took active part in this principle. Even Dr. Clark himself what was, it is to be hoped, the final gets no pay for his services as president contest for Sunday closing of the World's of the United Society. The trustees Fair, the petitioning of the commis- also all serve purely for the love of the sioners. A large number of societies cause. and unions sent earnestly worded requests, fully signed, not only by their The earnest Canadian niissionary, own ;members, but by the prominent Rev. Egerton R. Young, has founded a men of their towns. large Christian Endeavor society among the Cree Indians of the Northwest Ter- Societies on this side the Pacific ritory. The essential Christian Endeavshould be stirred to healthy rivalry by or literature is being translated into the the brisk news that is coming in such a Cree language. :flood nowadays from Christian Endeavorers in Australia. An especially in- Two famous churches in the United spiring record is that of the Sunday- Kingdom have recently formed Chrisschool committee which o.dded one hun- tian Endeavor societies. One is in Glasgow, Scotland, the church of Rev. James Stalker, D.D. The other is in organized in the Presbyterian Mission of Birmingham, England, the church of Oakland, with the assistance of Rev.
Rev. R. W. Dale, D.D. Ug Poon Chew. Ly Moon was chosen A full Christian Endeavor manual in president. Among the refreshments the Armenian and Turkish languages that followed the first meeting was genu- has lately been prepared. The French ine tea.
are also translating Christian Endeavor The board of trustees of the United literature, and the societies are mul- Society has suffered its first loss at the tiplying, not merely in Paris, but in the hands of death. Choate Burnham, country districts. Esq., one of the earliest and stanchest Here is a good Christian Endeavor friends of the cause, has passed away.
missionary incident. In a certain so- He was an old man with a young and ciety a young lady tried earnestly for ardent heart, and he has been of the ut- four years to persuade her comrades to most service, not merely in the present establish a missionary committee. At prosperity of the Christian Endeavor last, wearied with her importunity, Miss movement, but in the earlier days, A. remarked, "Oh, do give it a trial! when it was winning its way and fight- G. will never let us alone until we do." ing its battles.
They gave it It six months' trial, and It is the Moravian Church now that the committee was not discontinued. wisely proposes to draw its Endeavorers On the contrary, the very Miss A. who together into a denominational Chris- made that slighting remark is now in tian Endeavor union. A strong or- training for missionary work, to be sup- ganization has been effected, the field ported by that same society. well divided, and great Christian En.
Mr. Alfred Hutton, a member ot Par- deavor growth may be expected among liament from Yorkshire, England, is an the Moravians.
ardent Endeavorer, and the treasurer or During the month of his stay in Aus- the Bradford Christian Endeavor Union. tralia Dr. Clark was expected to attend We have lately heard of several socie- and speak at seventy different meetings, ties whose temperance committees have and at many of them more than once!
made a specialty of raising money to Evidently his tour is more than a pleas.
send dmnkards, who wish to reform, to ure trip.
Keeley Cure or similar establishments. Here is the portrait of Dr. Clark as he • A few weeks ago news reached the appears to a prominent Australian Boston headquarters simultaneously of clergyman: "We think here that we extensions of Christian Endeavor work can understand some of the success of in localities as widely sundered as Chili the Christian Endeavor movement by and Burma. In each of these lands are the bearing and character of its founder.
seen the genuine Endeavor zeal and His magnificent sincerity and openness, helpfulness and methods of work. the complete and conspicuous absence Quietly but surely the idea of " senior of artificiality in nature and manner, societies of Christian Endeavor," where- mark a Christian gentleman strong in in older church-members and graduates attractive power. This to the general from the young people's society may observer. To those with whom he lived, work on in Christian Endeavor ways, is he blossomed more richly. At closer gaining ground. The Connecticut State quarters one felt that one was having convention urged the idea by a formal fellowship with a good man. The con- vote, and several religious papers of tact of sympathy was complete. Diplo- prominence are pushing the plan. Prac· macy was out of court. Heart touched tical trial in a number of churches is heart in a fellowship which one ever felt proving its value. precious. " California now has ..~other Chinese Dr. Clark's month in Australia was society of Christian Endeavor. It was one eminently fmitful of good to the cause. Everywhere were thronged audi- Moffat, Dr. Chapman, and many others. ences, eager attention and inquiry. the New York held the best convention of most unbounded hospitality and over· its history, with two thousand delegates, flowing cordiality. Through this visit with Mr. Sankey, Faye Huntington, Dr. of the president of the United Society, H. H. Stebbins, Rev. C. A. Dickinson, Christian Endeavor in America will gain and many other able speakers. Oregon as much as it gives, in enlarged plans had a wide·awake convention, and Minof work and revived enthusiasm. Pos· nesota too, with Dr. Wayland Hoyt, Dr. sibly the chief gain to the cause from H. H. French, Rev. R. W. Brokaw, and this journey will be the assurance, ·Rev. W. W. Sleeper. Vermont'sconven. placed beyond doutt, that Christian tion was the best in her history, from Endeavor is a world.movement, suited Dr. H. C. Farrar's stirring address to to all nations, and bringing forth equally the close. Iowa gathered five hundred glorious fruit under all skies. delegates from outside the convention city, and held a rousing meeting. New The conventions held by the State Jersey had eight hundred delegates, and, Christian Endeavor unions this fall among many 'other strong speakers, Dr. have been remarkable for their spiritual C. F. Deems. Seven hundred met in tone. the prominence and ability of the Wisconsin; Quebec's second annual speaker~. and the large numbers of the convention was large and enthusiastic; delegates. Never have Christian En· Missouri had seven hundred dele,g/ltes deavor State conventions excelled those and a magnificent programme, and Onof this season in these three particulars. tario's convention, with nearly a thou- The third annual convention of Texas sand delegates, with Dr. A. C. Dixon, drew together two hundred enthusiastic Bishop Baldwin, Dr. J. A. R. Dickson, delegates and a large body of able clergy- and Dr. S. P. Rose, was remarkably sucmen. Over a thousand Endeavorers cessful. Not the least noteworthy of came together in New Hampshire, to be the conventions of the two months addressed by such speakers as Dr. Ar. under review was the first State conven· thur Little, William Shaw, treasurer of tion held in South Carolina, a State far the United Society, William McNeil, behind the rest, hitherto, in Endeavor Thomas E. Besolow, the African prince, work. A full list of the prominent and Mrs. Alice May Scudder. Mr. San- speakers at these conventions would be key led the singing. The rousing meet· a remarkable one, not merely in the ing in Connecticut emphasized evan- number and prominence of the men, but gelization, and set on foot many practi. in the variety of evangelical faith repre· cal plans. Among the speakers were sented. Baptists and Methodists, Pres- General Howard, Dr. J. Wilbur Chap- byterians lind Congregationalists, Luman, Dr. Josiah Strong, Dr. D. J. Bur- therans, Reformed, Disciple, Moravian, rell, and Rev. N. Boynton. More than Quaker-all these, lind a score more, fifteen hundred Endeavorers gathered would be found fairly represented. To in Massachusetts, to be aroused to fresh fill Dr. Clark's place lit these convenenthusiasm by such men as Dr. James L. tions many men have given much time Hill, Rev. Lawrence Phelps, Rev. C. P. and earnest zeal. Prominent among Mills, Rev. Leroy S. Bean, Secretary these are Treasurer Shaw, Mr. William Gordon, of the Boston Y. M. C. A., Rev. McNeil, brother of the famous Scotch Henry T. McEwen, and Dr. W. E. Park. evangelist, and many members of the Five hundred Nebraskans held an espe· board of trustees. Overflow meetings cially helpful Endeavor convention. have been the rule at these meetings, More than two thousand of Pennsyl. the utmost enthusiasm has been mani. vania's Endeavorers met, and were ad· fested, and a beautiful spirit of consecra· dressed by Dr. W. H. McMillan, Dr. J. H. tion has been exhibited and fostered. Weber, Dr. Sylvanus Stall, President
DEPARTMENT
IV.-EDITORIAL. DEPARTMENT.
Dr. Strong's New Book. pIes Applied to the Two Great Prob- lems. Theadmirable article* in this number, by Dr. Josiah Strong, author of " Our Chapter XVI. An Enthusiasm for Hu- Country," alld one of our editorial cor· manity. respondents, we have obtained, by joint permission of the author and his pub. London, and, infact, all .England, is in a lishers, Messrs. Baker & Taylor, it being state of ferment. The well-known con- Chapter I. of Dr. Strong's forthcoming flict between Labor and Capital comes book, .. The New Era." Knowing the now and then, and with greater fregeneral plan and scope of the work just quency, to the front. Ten thousand about to appear, we greatly desired to Jews in the city'of London propose to print in thl'se pages the substance of its march barefooted through the streets ; magnificent opening chapter, partly for and it is said they are in a practically its intrinsic value as a source of inspira- half-starved condition. It is also said tion on missions, and partly to whet the that nearly twenty thousand engineers appetite of the reader for more. Dr. are out of employment in this metropo- Strong has struck the philosophy of his- lis alone. The poverty is abject and tory, and as one of the most vigorous appalling, and the condition of the thinkers of the age will command a poor threatens the very stability of the hearing. Our readers may be interested nation. This matter of the conflict beto know what other themes are to be tween employeril and employed must discussed in this book, and by Dr. have a speedy settlement; and he will Strong's permission we give the titles of be the greatest statesman of this present the other chapters : era who is able to reconcile these adjust.. ing interests and claims. At present no Chapter II. The Destiny of the Race. one has appeared above the horizon who Chapter III. The Contribution made seems competent to grapple with these by the Three Great Races of Ahtiquity. immense issues. There seems to be lit- Chapter IV. The Contribution made tle use in preaching the Gospel to halfby the Anglo-Saxon. starved people out of employment,whose Chapter V. The Authoritative Teach- particular clamor is for bread ; and this er.. is one of the greatest missionary ques- tions of the age. Chapter VI. The Two Fundamental' Laws of Christ. A Most Startling Faot, Chapter VII. Popular Discontent. One of the most remarkable events of Chapter VIII. The Problem of th, modern times is that vast Hindu Con_ Country. ference recently held at Benares India Chapter IX. The Problem of the City. to take steps toward the saving'of Hin: Chapter X. The Separation of the duism from the encroachments ot Masses from the Church. Christianity. Chapter XI. The Mission of the Church. Among other things, the Conference Chapter XII. The Necessity of New recommended that October 30th 1892 Methods. should be set apart as a special 'day of Chapter XIII. Necessity of Personal prayer to the Supreme Power for the Contact. preservation of the Hindu religion. Chapter XIV. Necessity of Co-operation. Probably in the whole history of the Chapter XV. The T~o Great Princi. world there has never before been a day set apart in the heathen or pagan or * "The Nineteenth Century One of Prepara- ~ohammedan lands for prayer for the tion," page 7. preservation of false faiths. But what This society has been in existence a mighty concession to the growing about five years, and its Board of Manpower of Christianity is the fact that its agement consists of 30 ministers and foes are impelled to cry to their gods, Christian workers representing the varilike the prophets of Baal, for their in- ous evangelical denominations. Its terposition in behalf of the corrupt reo head offices are in New York City, ligions of the world. corner of Broadway and Forty.fifth Street. It has now about 150 missiona- That same day-October 30th-was ries in various countries. About 25 set apart by the Student Volunteers for went out to the Congo last May, and two prayer for the breaking down of the bar- other parties to India in July and Auriers of heathen, pagan, and Moslem gust, consisting of 16 persons. On faiths. It is perhaps an equally signifi- Wednesday morning, November 9th, cant though melancholy fact that the another party of 14 sailed for Liversucceeding Sabbath, November 6th, was pool on their way to the Soudan. Their set apart in London as the" Museum field is the largest single country in Sunday," and that in many even of the Africa, with a popUlation of about evangelical churches and chapels that 90,000,000, stretching from Khartoum day was given up to the public plea for on the Red Sea to Sierra Leone on the the opening on the Lord's Day of the Atlantic Ocean, a strip of 4000 miles various museums and galleries of art. long by 1000 miles wide. This densely populated region is wholly unevangel- The preaching of the Gospel largely ized. gave way to what, in the eyes of the most sagacious students of social and The first missionary party sailed two religious questions, means the breaking years ago under the leadership of Mr. down of the sacred limits of Sabbath Kingman to this field from New York. rest. Others have since followed. The pres- ent reinforcement will increase the A Free Ch'lrch congress has just been working force to 20. Their base of held (November) at Manchester for the operations is Freetown, Sierra Leone, emphasizing of points of agreement be- and their line of advance is up the Rotween Nonconformists. It was very kelle River, which they have already aslargely attended, and many very admi- cended nearly 100 miles, and planted a rable addresses were delivered. We can- number of stations. The present party not have much hope of any close unity will occupy about 8 stations. while two obstacles continue to exist: first, denominational bigotry, such as Hardships in the Mission Field. shows itself in those Baptists who either cannot or will not see that any devout, It is a sign of the imperfection in our intelligent Scripture student can hon- mission work that we still hear so much estly differ from them on infant bap- spoken of the privations with which mis_ tism, believers' baptism, and immersion sionaries have" necessarily" to put up. as the only proper mode of baptism ; To every servant of God who offers himor secondly, loose and unwarrantable self for the work the question is put, views of the inspiration of the Scrip- " Are you really going to give up all sotures, such as some of us never can cial comforts and live in those barbarabide or quietly tolerate, make such ous regions ?" unity impossible. Naturally the earnest and obedient Missionary Reinforcements. follower of J eSUR Christ replies that "the love of God constraineth him," The International Missionary Alliance and lays his ha~d on the passages has just sent out a new party of mis· which mark out to him this path of sionaries to a most important and novel duty. He leaves the "hardships" in field. God's hands, for Him to manage. Once, tiously to resolve by the grace of God in conversation with a lady missionary, to undergo only those troubles and diffi- I let drop the word" hardship" in con- culties which He will see fit to lay upon nection with her work. She immediate- him, and no more. All other burdens ly broke in with, "Do not let me hear borne will tend to the exaltation of you use that word. We who have gone " self." His duty will not demand of feel the peace and joy we have in His him to live in a hut when he is able to service ample reward for any sacrifice." build his house and furnish it with some degree of comfort. Our Church .. In a service which Thy will appoints will never maintain a Christlike mis· There are no bonds for me, sionary activity upon the motto, " Use up and get more." For my inmost heart is taught thc truth That makes Thy children free ; I was struck with this in reading the life of James Gilmour. His career had And the life of self-renouncing love been very active and full of trials; he Is the life of liberty." had lived through many sufferings, but it was only when he learned to "pray But this is a subject continued for us more and work less, so that God may in any journal or biography of missiona- work through His servants," that his ries. work became largely blessed to himself and the people around. On the other hand, it is a mistake on the part of " friends" at home to think As a future missionary I look forward that the life of foreign workers must to enduring hardships, but only such as needs be a life of hardship. Does it fol- He may be pleased to send, and as long low that because he is going to heathen a life spent in such service to His glory lands he is to be poorly supplied with as possibly care and prudence can the ordinary comforts of life? Should make it. there be any difference between the minister at home and the minister in "Lead us not into temptation, but the foreign field? Are not both work- deliver us from evil. ' , We find nowhere ers in the same cause, servants of the in the Bible any hint authorizing us to same Master, and all Christians stew- pray for more suffering, so as to grow ards of God's money? holier by means of it. We accept it as He is pleased to send; His will be done. Must it be that the men who preach to those from whom the funds are drawn W.J.N. be better supplied than those who preach to those for whom funds are col- Light for the Ohuroh at Home. lected ? Where, then, is Christian love and unselfishness, hy which we prefer The missionary cause, which lies so one another? Nay, it i. the fault of close to the Saviour's heart, has now those very talkers whose months are full found a new channel to a multiplication of " hardships" that such actually exist! of its power. And this, like all inven- Let them begin by supplying fitly those tions, is so simple that we wonder that workers already in the field; and by it has not been in use for ages. The sending forth more men by their pray- Cross.Bearers' Missionary Reading Cirers and their money, these privations cle is swiftly binding the Christian world will speedily disappear. together and concentrating missionary zeal. Lastly, however, the future missionary should not think that he has a per- All those who are interested in mismit to sport unnecessary hardships. sions, and who earnestly desire to get The time for extraordinary deeds of into the depths of the missionary cause, mortification does not any more exist in may write to Rev. Z. M. Williams, A.M•• our Church. My body is a temple of St. Joseph, Mo., for a Handbook explain- God, and the endangering of it is break- ing this movement. Already inquiries ing the sixth commandment.
The young missionary has conscienhave been pouring in from all parts ever-widening area and with constantly of the United States, from Canada, increasing results. and even from England. Many great leaders of the different churches have " The missionaries, mostly young, are given their hearty endorsement to the all Presbyterians, all university men, and enterprise, and there have been a num- all carefully selected; partly by the Unitber of additions to the Circle recently. ed Presbyterian Church of Scotland and partly by the Irish Presbyterian Church. The movement contemplates an intelligent study of the whole subject of mis- "Besides the stations enumerated, sions, and without doubt will prove of there are many scores of other places immense value to the" Forward Move- where the Gospel is proclaimed by memment" in Christian missions. bers resident or sojourning for busi- ness. I am not aware of the existence It offers a three years' course of pre- of any considerable village where the scribed daily readings, with yearly ex- Gospel has not been proclaimed and aminations on the same. Such a course, Christian books offered for sale by the comprising travel, history, biography, admirably conducted colportage system philosophy, and studies of peoples, lan- of Manchuria, where every colporteur is guages, and customs is in itself an edu- an itinerant evangelist. Years ago the cation and promotive of real culture, preacher had proclaimed his message while stimulating men to noblest pur- again and again in every city ; and at poses and highest resolves. present there is scarcely a city in which there is not a permanent station or into Two Oorrections. which we are not taking steps to enter. Unless soma sudden blight, which I SOUTH AMERICA. cannot believe in, falls upon our widely spread and aggressive church, there is The statement in regard to the popu- no reason why every inhabitant of Man- churia will not have had an opportunity lation of South America on page 869 of of understanding the Gospel message within two or three decades. the November, 1892, REVIEW should " Our congregations begin at the port have read, "A proportion about equal of Newchwang and extend northward to the neigbborhood of the Songari. Last to one tenth that of Europe… The popu- year we added 3 new congregations to the 16 which were organized when our lation of South America is variously es- 2 missions combined to form the Pres- byterian Church of Manchuria. timated from 30,000,000 to 35,000,000, "The native preachers are mostly or somewhat less than that of the Brit- men of a fair amount of learning, who have been carefully selected, and are ish Isles. constantly trained in Scripture truth. They are set apart only after they have MANCHURIA. proved themselves fit for the seriously responsible position which they occupy. A correspondent calls our attention They are paid at an average of less than to a misstatement on page 711 of the £1 sterling per month. We look be- September REVIEW, where it is said that sides to at least 1000 of our members "Manchuria has 12,OOO,OOO-without a to act as unpaid preachers of the Gossingle missionary." It is an old-time pel. Indeed, we count upon every statement, long since out of date, and professed believer as a. preacher to all we gladly give the correction in full : his circle of acquaintances. We look to our native brethren, not to foreigners, to " There are in Manchuria 17 missiona- evangelize the country. JOHN Ross. rIes, 19 congregations, 43 dut-stations, 57 native preachers, 12 colporteurs. October 31st, 18n, there were 2037 members; there were baptized last year 490 persons. This year's statistics are not yet formulated, but the baptisms cannot be less.
.. The first of the above-mentioned members were baptized in 1873, since which year the work has gone on in an
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
V.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
Extracts and Translations from Foreign in the work that Central Africa is not to Periodicals. be evangelized by white men; too many of the conditions of life are against it. BY BEV. C. C. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, MASS. The European cannot make his home there as he does in South Africa, or on AFRICA. the highlands of the East Coast, or even at the extreme north; and we increas- _co A French Roman Catholic mis- ingly feel that the greater part of the sionary has laid before the French Geo- burden will have to fall upon the people graphical Society some interesting facts of the country themselves. Happily in regard to the Fangs, a well-known the natives are responding right nobly tribe in West Africa. He represents to the responsibilities laid upon them them as having an unusual degree of by their Master ; and their readiness to energy, and as virtually monopolizing witness concerning Him is one of the the ivory trade in the region in which most encouraging features of our work. they are found. The interesting fact is Their testimony is often very elementary brought to light that, although they wor- and crude, but God is being glorified ship as fetiches the skull of the gorilla thereby, and seeing that He is making and the horns of antelopes, they believe such use of His servants, we feel we are in a Supreme Being who created and pursuing the right policy in locating who upholds all things. This affords a ourselves in the most important centres fresh evidence that fetichism is often that are available, and in looking' to only a convenient device, a sort of in- Him to raise up messengers who, termediate, every-day, working religion, through the gracious influences of the which may co-exist with a clear concep- Holy Spirit, shall be enabled to carry tion of one Supreme Being, compared on the work in detail. We do not adwith whom the fetich is little more than vocate the maintenance of native evana convenient appliance. These people gelists by European churches, for we are warlike, and they always eat the feel it is wiser to throw the burden upon prisoners whom they capture."-Ohurch the native churches; for though it may at Home and Abroad. mean less apparent progress, we feel sure we are on right lines. Just so long _co You can never win an African un- as we bolstered up the native church at less you first love him; and then when Cameroons they were dependent upon you love him, like all human nature, he us, but when the Germans stepped in, responds to the love. The African has and they had to depend upon thema sweetness of character which I have selves, they developed a resourcefulness not found excelled even in England. and an ability that most surprised those The Africans of the Bible were gentle who knew them best; and not only and kind. I call to your mind Ebed have they been able to stand alone, but Melech, who lifted Jeremiah the Prophet they have so progressed that they have from the dungeon and the mire; Simon just completed their fifth new chapel the Cyrenian, who carried the Cross of since the fostering care of the English our beloved Master and Lord; the Ethi- churches was withdrawn. " opian eunuch who asked Philip the Evangelist to step up beside him, and -" To-day I saw the young Khedive. was willing to listen to the explanation His appearance impressed me most of the old Book. The African is the favorably. He has a fresh European same to-day." -Canon TAYLOR SMITH, in complexion, a frank, modest, pleasant Ohurch Missionary lntelligencer. expression, and seems to be resolved to take the reins, so unexpectedly put into -The Rev. George Grenfell writes to the Missionary Herald (English Baptist) : " It is quite plain to us who are engaged
EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATIONS
his hands, with honest purpose to do they proceed: "Does a European colohis best. All who know Sir Evelyn nist really expect that even the most Baring agree in regarding him as a thor- , down-trodden' African would willing. oughly wise, as well as firm adviHer; ly leave the cultivation of his own food but one thing that has specially im- crop to do the work of anyone else? pressed me in connection with the Brit- As long as the transport of the said disish occupation of Egypt, and Britain's trictis carried on in primitive fashion place and influence here, is its unob- by native bearers, so long will it be trusiveness. The British army of occu- hampered during the garden season by pation is the smallest; there is no un- failure of the supply of carriers. 1m· necessary parade of that force; in al. prove the means of transport by intromost all branches of administration ducing bullock wagons, and the diffi. Egyptian officials have the chief places, culty, comparatively speaking, disap. and in most cases only Egyptians are in pears. . ., Does a European colonist official authority; but what surprised imagine that the native of the Shire me most was to learn that Sir Evelyn Highlands is unwilling to work and can Baring has no precedence over the only be made to do so by presents or representatives of other European na- threats? Let him go and see the plan. tions. He comes in simply in order of tations of the Messrs. Buchanan Brothseniority. The Consul-General of Spain ers at Michiru, Lunzu, Chiradzulo, and is Dean of the Consular body, and ranks Zomba; then let him look at the buildfirst. ings erected at Mandala, Blantyre, and Zomba. These are the products of free "Next to the unobtrusiveness of labor. Does he remember the carriage Britain is its beneficent effectiveness. of the Good News, the Charles Janson, It is now twenty-four years since I was the Domira, and the other craft sailing last in Egypt. In that time I noticed now on Nyassa? . " That was done several very marked changes. I remem- by free labor in the days when no Euro. ber, for example, near the town of pean employer dared think of evic- Keneh, on a Sunday afternoon, seeing tion. . .. The natives themselves are 10,000 fellaheen (peasants) assembled on saying that if there occurs oppression the bank of the Nile, and being packed in such or any form, they will migrate into large barges, to be carried to some to the districts where there are no Europlace two days' sailing distant, to work, peans, and where they can be free to it might be, on some embankment, but live and cultivate their gardens in peace. as likely on something which was to en· The results will be the melancholy rich the arbitrary and self-indulgent spectacle that we see in the Cape, Free Khedive Ismail. For such work there State, Transvaal, and Natal colonies, was no pay. That system of forced where native and European life have labor, or corvle, has now nearly or quite separated entirely." ceased. The dual control of Britain and France condemned it, and British -The Moravian Brethren sent out to influence has pursued it to a timely end. Lake Nyassa, after a good deal of jour. It was the very same system applied to neying hither and thither in the counthe previously independent children of try, have finally found a settlement in Israel in Egypt which led to the Ex- the country of the boy-king Makapalile. odus."-Rev. JOHN ALISON, D.D., in Mis- " There is a village of neat cottages very sion Record of the Church of Scotland. near 0111' camping-place, and others not very far removed, about seventy in all, -Life and Work in British CentralAfri- with still others somewhat farther off. ca-printed at Blantyre-animadverts The inhabitants appear diligent, having on a practice which, unchecked, might hedges, fences, and irrigating ditches, easily degenerate into slave-holding. and growing in their gardens maize, The extracts will explain themselves as
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
sweet potatoes, malesi, and owning ernor, who for many years had been, cows. There is running water near by, and now is again, pastor of the Ando- clay for bricks, a supply of wood, a shel. halo Church in Antananarivo, and to ter against the detestable northwest whose wise administration and kindly wind. No swamps and no white ants, Christian character 1 had many testi.
and a situation 5000 feet above the lake monies. One of the natives, for in.
level – airy therefore and relatively stance, speaking of Ramaka, said to healthy. In short, all the external me: 'When anyone was ill, high or conditions are inviting; but that in the low, Ramaka would put his dignity on eyes of our brethren, and with right, is one side and go and visit him.' . . . A not that which alone suffices, nor yet fortnight's journey from Ambohimarina that they are in the region commended bl'Ought us to Anorontsanga. The gov.
to them by Dr. Kerr-Cross. Rather do ernor here, thank God, is one of the they seek for the earth the final deci- most intelligent and earnest Christian sion from heaven. They would fain men in the island. It is impossible to have from thence, if not a sign or won· be long in his company without seeing der, yet a token of assent, manifesting that for him' to live is Christ.' He is, itself in inward certainty and tranquil- in the first place, the servant of Christ, lity of mind respecting their undertak· in the second the servant of Ranavalo· ing. They know, moreover, that such manja1!:a, the queen of the island. All light from above must be the reward of the people I conversed with-Euro- prayer. Therefore, before they seek peans, Hindus, Johannamen, Hova, their rest, each for himself apart and Sakalava, Mozambiques-were lOUd in likewise all conjointly, they set forth his praises. 'He is truly our father and their thoughts and apprehensions, the mother,' said one man to me, 'and his matter on all its sides, as so often 0.1- only thoughts are for our good.' Thank ready, before Him, to whom this place God, again I say, for a man like Rako- is to be consecrated-Him whose name tovao, the Governor of Anorontsanga.
is to be proclaimed here in the wilder- He not only takes his turn in preaching ness. Thereupon there falls upon them at the church, but also teaches a weekly a joyful and settled confidence, and in Bible class. Every August, it seems, he that very evening it was decided for has a large gathering of children from them: Here abide we and build. Human nearer the schools, and also representa.
habitation and God's kingdom." -.M"~ tives from all the churches, which- sions·Blatt aus der Brildergemeine. though five years ago there were only MADAGASCAR. :five in existence-now number twenty. . Two days' journey south of -From the Chronicle: ., I had several Androvahonko brought us to Alldra- opportunities of meeting the congrega. nosamonta, one of the most important tion at this place, and preaching the trading centres on the northwest coast.
Gospel to them "-Ambohilllarina, in The governor is a man somewhat ad- the Province of Antornboka, at the north vanced in years, and is under Rakotovao.
end of the island-" as well as examin. He, too, is an earnest Christian (indeed, ing the school.children. There are more it was for this reason, added to his in- signs of life in the church here than in telligence, that Rakotovao placed him any of those I had hitherto visited, and here), and takes the deepest interest in I believe that there is a considerable religious matters, he himself teaching a number of genuine Christian people. Bible class every Monday morning.
They have formed as many as five out- "A series of special religious meet- stations, have placed over them an evan- ings have been held at Ambohipaning, gelist, and have provided teachers for in the centre of the Rev. C. Jukes's dis· the schools. • .• This good work was trict. • I have never,' says Mr. Jukes, initiated by Ramaka, the former gov· , known such a time since I have been
EXTRACTS AND 'l'RANSLATIONS
in the ctmntry. Nothing but the work- FARTHER INDIA AND THE ARCHIPELAGO. ing of the Spirit of God could have touched the people in such a way. Peo- -" What benefits can come to the ple came from all parts of the district, people [of Siam] through the preaching bringing little baskets of rice with them of the priests when it is given in a lanto last three days, some a distance of guage understood neither by the priests two days' journey. On the first morn- nor by the people? The homilies of ing, at half-past six, we had a prayer- Buddha in the Bali language are simply meeting, at which two hundred were committed to memory by the priests and present, and at nine 0' clock we assem- recited. It would be sinful for them to bled again, and after a Bible reading on preach in any other language. Neither " Sin" all united in making a solemn have I discovered in the priests any eviconfession to God. The chapel was dence of the missionary spirit or of care crowded, and the extreme stillness for the good of their fellow-men. The showed that the thoughts of the people two words which characterize Christianwere working. We broke up after a ity and Buddhism are as unlike as light three hours' service, and as the people and darkness. Christianity, love; Bud· left the chapel scarcely a word was dhism, selfishness. spoken. In the afternoon we met again at two o'clock, and continued until " For years I spent much time in pre. nearly five. Next morning there was senting the Gospel to the Buddhist another service at 6.30. At least three priests, and as I went from temple hundred were present. At the close of urged the priests to take up a crusade the subsequent meetings the people against the giant evils of Siam-gam. were very reluctant to disperse, and in bling, opium, and liquor-telling them the evening there was singing and pray- how these evils were ruining the poor er all over the village. All seemed to people, body and soul. be in some way concerned about the " Great Salvation." One after another " But invariably I received the heart. got up to acknowledge the good they less reply, 'Let them alone. Let it be had received at these meetings, and unto them according to their merit or likened the three days to the day of demerit.' "-Rev. EUGENE P. DUNLAP, Pentecost. After the meetings num- in Ohurch at Home and Abroad. bers came to us broken down under a sense of sin, and to ask what they must -" Beyond doubt we think a great do to be saved. During the whole time deal about the East Indies, but it is not I have been in Madagascar I have never always nor universally felt with any seen anything like this work.' .. vividness that the Christian Netherlands have in the East Indies a lofty, serious, -The Preachers' Union in Antanana- and noble calling to fulfil. It cannot rivo has, in addition to Sunday preach- have been the sole purpose of Divine ing, formed itself into a sort of Salva- Providence to make the Netherlands rich tion Army of sixty men, for the purpose through India. It has unquestionably of holding service on market days. also had in mind to make the Indies Three fourths of the London Mission- happy through the Netherlands. Be. ary Society's adherents throughout the yond doubt, on the whole, our dominworld belong to the Madagascar Mission. ion has been a blessing for India. It Each missionary has the oversight of has gradually introduced there order from sixty to seventy congregations. and quiet, peace and security, and here The college' has sent out two hundred and there has promoted prosperity; but and thirty young men, and more than is that enough ? Would that satisfy one hundred and ten of these are still God's ,will ? Have we no concern with in large centres of popUlation, higher than material interests? Shall we not suppose that these magnificent lands have been entrusted to the Chris- tian, the Protestant Netherlands, in
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
order that their simple.minded, on the and from the written word of doctrine, whole so obedient and far from intel- in order to ground it merely upon the lectually unapprehensive population subjective experience, only covers with might receive a share in our spiritual artificial flowers the bottomless depth be- advantages; that we should bring to fore which it places us. This faith that them the Uh1-istianity in which our ad· is thus left to lean on itself is not the vantages are rooted; the Gospel, which victory that has hitherto overcome the avails for them too as a power unto sal. world or that to-day is overcoming it. If vation ?" – Orgaan der Nederlandsche any work in the world reqilires a faith Zendingsvereeniging (organ of the Neth- that is not left to lean on itself, it is the erlands Missionary Association). work of missions."-Dr. WABNBCX, in – " Islam, in the East Indies, is very AUgemeine Missions.Zeitschrift.
favorably circumstanced for the work of -" There is an extraordinary inorease proselytism. While the Christians have of Jews to be noted generally. In spite to send missionaries from afar, with an of all their troubles and persecutions exclusively religious aim, and so are and tribulations, the nation is rapidly obliged to care for their support, the increasing. There is a great change in Islamites have no concern for any of their social condition. They are no these things. Their millsionaries are longer hooted and spurned in most the Arabs and the hadjis, who come to countries, as they used to be. We trade with the islanders, and Iwho in- know, of course, what is going on in struct them at their ease in the Moham- Russia-but that is the exception, not medan profession. If it were only the the rule. It is the desire of great Prot- Arabs that did this it would be bad estant societies, and generally of all enough; but now that of late years the thinking Protestants, to do good to the voyage to Mecca has become so much Jews. Then there is a general expecta- eosier, many of the natives journey tion, which we cannot deny to be a great thither. On their return they are hadjis, factor in the life of any people, that and have the repute of being initiated there is to be speedily Ii great national into all the mysteries of Islam; and in movement. Even the Jew begins to fact what the islanders need to know of look forward, and even the Jew thinks Islam is so extremely little, that any that, perhaps, after all, he has made a hadji can teach it with small pains. It mistake and that, perhaps, after all, the is simply the well-known profession of Messiah has come; and although you faith, circumcision, and the five duties, have not so many converts as could be of which practically the observance of a wished or expected, there are many single one is commonly held to suffice." thousands, in addition to professors, who -De Macedonier. really in their hearts believe that Jesus MrscELLANEous. Christ is the Son of God. But, my Christian friends. the return of the Jew -" We need a firm foundation nnder to his native land forebodes strife. We our feet if we are to have courage and know that in the last days perilous times joyfulness, to conquer the world for our shall come, and that there will be much Heavenly King; and this sure founda- suffering and sorrow among nations; tion can be no other than the univeraal but we believe that the Jew, with his Divine will of salvation, as it has been proud history and his long lineage, will made known in deed and word, and is again come to the land of his fathers, settled in the Scripture. Missions hover and that the prophecies will be fulfilled in the air if this objective authority for in relation thereto. We know also that the obedience of our faith is under. our Lord will come again with great joy, mined. All the brilliant rhetoric of and we know that we ought to be the modern theology, which divorces faith pioneers in the work. "-MABK STBWAllT, from the historical facts of redemption, ESQ., M.P., in Jewish Intelligence. THE WORLD AT LARGE. every appliance that science, ingenuity, -As a specimen of the" piety" cur- and lavish expenditure of money can rent in Christendom not so many centu· provide to make them comfortable, ries since, this is worth preserving. In spend one or two seasons in Arctic re- 1565, in a ship named The Jesus, Sir gions ; but very little is heard of the John Hawkins had aeized and was trans- men, and women, too, who, with scanty porting to America a cargo of slaves. appliances for making themselves com- Terrible storms were endured, but when fortable, spend twenty.five or thirty captain and crew came out alive, the years, and even their lives, in these officers entered in. the journal: "'Twas same regions, that the dark, desolate of the Lord, who never suffers His elect homes of the natives may receive the light of the Gospel. It takes from to perish '" $25,000 to $50,000 to fit out an Arctic expedition for two years-to do what? -Worth repeating, and equallyappli. Perhaps get a few miles farther north cable in every land under the sun. The than anyone else. But the Church question has frequently been asked, hesitates if asked to provide $10,000 for .. How shall we reach the full· blooded an Arctic mission." Indians with the Gospel?" A Quaker lady says : "To reach the full.blooded -It is two years since a band of mis· Indian, send after him a full-blooded sionaries assembled at Shanghai, China, issued a call for" 1000 men for China," Christian '" to be sent within five years. It was a large draft, but it is likely to be hon. -It is a great question, in what things ored. It is said that 350 of the recruits and just how far to conform to native called foi.- are already in the field. ideas and customs-that is; in non. essential matters like dress, modes of living, music, etc. For example, Dr.
Grundeman is positive that it is a serio -A poor colored man in the West In- ous mistake to attempt to reproduce in dies brought to one of the missionaries India the church architecture of Europe the sum of $13 to help in spreading the or America. -For that land Indian ideas Gospel, and when asked if that were and methods are vastly better. not too much for him to give, replied, -A.D. 395 is the date commonly " God's work must be done, Massa, and given for the complete evangelization I may be dead.'
of the Roman Empire, or three centu. -The following inscription was ries and a half after St. Paul set forth. placed upon the grave stone of a lit- The story of Europe's evangelization tle Irish boy: "I want to be a mis· fills 1000 years. Modern missions, sionary when I grow up to be a man; about which we are sometimes so im· but if I should die before I am old patient for immediate great results, are enough, I want this wish put on my but about 100 years old, and in some of tombstone, so that somebody else may the' great :fields they have been carried see it and go ill my place." on for a much shorter period. -John Ruskin has said, "If you do -Well, really, we must hasten to cut not wish for His kingdom, don't pray down expenses in the foreign field, for for it ; but if you do, you must do more it actually costs as much to support two than pray for it ; you must work for it." , missionary families in Japan for a year as it does to fire a single shot from one -The commander of a Chinese war'
of our big cannons! junk, when asked the nature of his ser- -Or, put it this way, as does Mr. vice, answered promptly: "Why, or- Lopp, a missionary of the American As. ders come, then go; that's it… And sociation in Alaska: " The world lauds why not also receive the command and admires Arctic explorers, who, with given by the Captain of our salvation? -A young Christian negro, who has arrive at Tabor Collegp, Iowa, this year spent four years at the Central Tennes- was Tonami Hyashi, from Kyoto, Japan, see College, in Nashville, Tenn., has sent by one of the missionaries who been called to a throne in Africa. His went out from Tabor_ The last to enter name is Momolu Massaquai, and he is Alexander Vozaks, from ThessaioniclL, came from the Vey country, a region of Greece. In the class of 1893 is a native interior Africa adjoining Liheria_ of Iceland. These all are preparing for -In Abyssinia, it is said, the ilIus- missionary service. A promising Botrated editions of the Bible all have the hemian is also one of the students.
original man, as a matter of course, -Wanted-a just proportion in our ebony-hued, While the devil is always giving to advance the Lord's work.
white. There do not seem to be very many -Dr. Sheldon Jackson, some time Mrs. Jellehys exclusively and absurdly Presbyterian" bishop" of the far North- devoted to Borrioboola Gha on the left west, and now Government Superin- bank of the Niger j for, according to a tendent of Schools in Alaska, seems to report of the foreign missions commitunite in happy fash,ion in his person the tee of the Buffalo, N. Y., Presbytery, functions of church and state. Thus, the Protestant Christians of the United he has heen breaking up the whiskey States expend annually for religious traffic with the Indians. He found 30 work in our own land $80,000,000 per barrels of the stuff on the whaling fleet year, or $1.32 for the evangelization of at Port Clarence, and had the satisfac- each person. The same Protestant tion of emptying it all into the sea. Be- Christians expend in behalf of those in sides. he has been making several trips heathendom $4,000,000 per year, or one to Siberia in search of reindeer, and has third of a cent each for the total popuimported 150, with experienced herders, lation. to teach the Alaskan natives how to take care of ,the animals. Thus it is expected -A missionary in China affirms that " during this very month more money that a new home product of flesh food will be spent in propitiating evil spirits will be provided. Along with these en- that have no existence than all the couraging items, the doctor also reports churches in the United States give in that there are now 34 Indian schools in one year to foreign missions."
Alaska with 1700 pupils. -Homes for the children of missiona- -No missionary periodical has re- ries are becoming refreshingly common cently reached this portion of the edi- in the home field. Thus, in addition to torial table fuller of interesting matter Auburndale, Oberlin has her Judson than the November number of Life and Cottage at least started in an old build- Light for Woman. In particular, Mrs. ing refitted for the purpose, but much Rand's story of calamities is worth read- needing a larger and better structure; ing. and Mrs. Eaton's account of work and the Presbyterian Board is pushing in Chihuahua, Mexico, and of scarcely forward a movement to establish two less interest is Mrs. Gulick's account of homes in Wooster, O.
the girl's boarding·school in San Sebas- -Connecticut contains nearly 30,000 tian, Spain. French Canadians, and Massachusetts -The oldest church in America is that about six times as many_ of San Miguel, in Santa Fe, N. M. It -In addition to the Chinese, and WIlR built in ] 545. Japanese, and Indians, and negroes, THE UNITED STATES. and Italians, and Finns, and Poles, and Hungarians, and Hebrews, Germans, -The ends of the earth are brought Scandinavians, and Irish, and many together. One of the first students to more thrust upon us to be Americanized and taught the Gospel according to the the education and the evangelization of New World conceptions thereof, New the negroes since the war." And it is York City and Brooklyn alone hold not estimated that to this sum the South has less than 45,000 Spanish.speaking peo- added $20,000,000.
ple. -'I.'he reinforcements to the fields of -A writer in the Catholic World, after the Baptist Missionary Union for 1892 a lamentation over the unbelief of numbered 81 missionaries. Of these 29 Americans in the claims of the Catholic returned to the fields of labor from Church, proposes an "apostolate of periods of rest, and 52 were missiona- prayer for the conversion of the United ries going out for the first time.
States." He charitably affirms that Practical Christian Oomity.-The atten- there is " practically little true knowl- tion of the Methodist missionary au· edge of the supernatural life outside of thorities being called to a violation in the Catholic Church." He prints a form Bulgaria of the agreement made years of prayer in which GOD is asked to in- ago with the American Board, they cline the hearts of Americans " to be. promptly rectified the matter, withdrawlieve in Thy Church." He promises ing the new mission begun inadvertent- that "24 masses shall be offered up with- ly in the territory of the Board. out charge for the benefit of those who will recite this prayer daily." -The Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society of the Methodist -The Tuskeegee, Ala., Normal and Episcopal Church received for the year Industrial Institute is by, of, and for ending June 30th, 1892, $367,751, aod the colored people; is undenomina- expended $363,613. Of the expenditional ; is located in the midst of the tures, $210,783 was for the support of great" black belt," and has 34 officers schools among colored people. and teachers, and 511 young men and women receiving industrial. mental, and -The income of the American Mis- Christian training to fit them for leader- sionary Association for 1891-92 was ship among their race. Of the 18 build. $430,569. In addition to its splendid ings used, 16 have been constructed al- work among the Freedmen in the South most wholly by student labor. There and the "mountain whites," 90 misis great need of funds for enlargement sionaries and teachers are sustained and to aid indigent pupils. among the Indians, and in boarding and day.schools 500 pupils are found. Be- -The Baptists, Methodists, and Pres· sides, 45 missionaries devote themselves byterians led the way, and now the to the Chinese upon the Pacific coast; Episcopalians, and also the Congrega. and as one result, we find this muchtionalists, follow hard after in declin- sinned-against class contributing $6290 ing to receive any longer government to th e treasuries of the local missions. aid for church schools among the Indians. The world will now watch with -The American Millennial Associadeep interest to see the Roman Catholic tion issues an appeal for funds sufficient Church join this noble procession. J.Jet to send one or more missionaries to church and state be separated and kept China to labor under the care of the apart. China Inland Mission.
-There are 2 Chinese girls studying -The Presbyterian Review, of Toronto, medicine in the University of Michigan, says that in his paper to the Council, who mean to return to their country as the Rev. Dr. Phillips, " the secretary of mISSIOnaries. They have exchanged colored work in the Southern Presbyte- their Chinese names for those of Mary rian Ohurch, made handsome acknowl- Stone and Ada Kahn. There are 3 edgment of the $30 000,000 of Northern young Chinese men also studying medi- money which has been freely spent on cine in the same institution. • Statistios of the Missionary Societies of the [THE following tables are intended to include only Foreign Missions-that is, missions to foreign hence is omitted the work of the Methodists, Baptists and others to Protestant Europe, as well as efforts almost wholly derived directly from the annual report. of the various Societies, and which in most cales figures were not at hand, recourse was had to a number of the most reliabl!, statistical authorities.) Home Missionary Constituency. Income.
·i. . ~ ~ ~ !~ i~ – SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
– – – – – – – – – – . – -~ – – -~ – – iii – – ~ – -~-w;; – – – — – Baptist Missionary Union…………. 1814 6,288 8,061 748,890 $575,773 $80,891 1,068 Southern Baptist Convention…. …… 18t/) 8,824 16,091 1,235,76~ 114.826 8,956 185 Free Baptist………. ..•…•…….•• 1836 1,531 Seventh·Day Baptist….. …………. 1847 1,314 82,683 34,913 215 13 Christian (Disciples)………………. 1875 100 American Christian Convention. . . . • . . . 1886 5,388 110 9,000 4,655 II 2 Congregationalist (A. B. C. F. M.)… .. 1810 1,510 4,886 7,246 641,051 65,366 250 45 1,700 120,000 5,203 ……… . 33 4,985 525,097 841,569 92,723 1,221 Lutheran General Council … , •. " • . •. .. 1869 925 1,995 317,145 1~,675 50 127 Lutheran General Synod…. •..•…•… 1837 979 1,437 164,640 Methodist Episcopal………………. 1819 12,914 25,861 2,240,354 48,772 2,945 12 786,295 169,999 320 BishOp Taylor's African Mission……. 1885 50,000 …….. .. 43 Methodist Episcopal, South…. ……. 1843 Protestant Methodist…..•.•.•.•.•…. , 1882 5,321 15,017 1,266,562 294,578 106 Wesleyan Methodist ………………. 1887 1,441 2,003 147,604 P..,otestant Episcopal……. . . .• . •• •. .. 1835 20,767 290 6 Presbyterian……………………… 1837 300 800 18,000 4,250 5,282 549,250 2,000 300 2 6,331 7,208 880,179 275,601 8,597 228 931,292 49,423 691 Presbyterian, Sonth……………….. 1861 1,239 2,572 182,516 130,276 2,850 132 United Presbyterian…… , ………… 1859 782 902 106,385 114,687 .24,491 20'1 Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) .. ' 1856 120 115 10,574 24,781 1,034 11 Reformed Presbyterian (Gen'! Synod).. 1836 SO 33 4,602 6,000 40 7 Cumberland Presbyterian………… .. 1852 1,670 2,916 171,609 22,499 1,386 10 Reformed (Dutch)………………… 1832 560 572 92,970 112,164 8.032 198 Reformed (German).. .. .. .. … .. .. . .. .. 1878 835 1,554 204,018 15,745 2,079 17 Associate Reformed, South. . .• ••.•. .. 1879 81 121 9.040 4,9~5 800 11 Evangelical Association. . . . . .. . …… 1876 1,864 2,043 145,603 14,899 609: 31 German Evangelical Synod………… 1883 675 870 187,432 10,800 1,000 8 United Brethren…………………… 1853 1,476 4,203 197,12.3 30,000 1,077 282 Friends………… …………… . .. 1868 .. . 794 80,655 29,278 125 22 Canada Baptist …… …………….. 1873 532 550 77,247 36,420 672 15 Canada CongregatIOnalist.. . … ……. 1881 103 140 10,103 2,287 ………. 1 1 Canada Methodist…….. …….. ….. 1873 1,285 1,268 250,89~ 93,060 Canada Pre.byterian……………….. 1844 1,000 I 6,2441 84 1,200 170'1521115'766 4,500 143 = Ten other Societies……….. …….. …… … …… …. …… ……… 178,921 [ 5,3~0 81 _ _ _ _ _T_o..;,tll;""l_'. _……………….. 73.~ lo8.768 iO,797,(f79 $5;006-;283 $469,419 5,346 United States and Canada for 1891-92.
landi, either heathen or Romanist, and nnder the management of missionaries other than natives; and for the evangelization of the Jews, the Freedmen, and even the Indians and Chinese. The figures are covered the bnlk of 1892, and BOmetimes the closing months of 1891. When, as in a few cases, the official Missionaries. I Native Helpers. Countries in which ~• Missions are Sustained.
-~ 1I – – – – – 89,014 12,285 1,188 22,284,India, Burmah, Assam, China, Japan, Africa I 748ICh(Clnoan,gJoa)p. an, Africa, Bra- 2,728 526 20 zil, Mexico, Italy.
7 2 9 8 Ii 13 44 13 815 41 95 3,619 India (Bengal).
2 2 2 …… 14 20 1 32 4 4 70 China (Shanghai). 17 7 12 1,015 158 10 2 .•..• 15 5 11 30 85 4 …… . 1 183 18 434 40,333 3,516 1,123 1 …… 10 …… 13 89 817lJapan, India, China, Tur- 5 ….. . 3 978 76 key. 174 159 200 2,400 3,034 150 Japan (Tokyo and two Ii II 2 89 103 l other centres).
47,380 Africa., Turkey, India, China, Japan, Microne· sia, Mexico, Spain, A us- tria, Hawaiian blands.
1,473 India (Madras).
6 …••. 6 2 3 178 195 374 8,082 848 223 5,174,India (Madras), Africa.
182 ….•. 175 139 247 2,397 3,595 334 24,717 3,636 1,430 86,878 Africa, S. America. China, 34 31 ……… .. 21 86 India, Korea, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Mexico.
9 320 100 38 500 Africa (Congo).
50 ….•. 42 5 … .. 187 284 62 5,980 936 22 800 Africa (West Coast), West 3 . . . .. 13 26 2 217 11 Indie•. Ii .•…. 5 4 241 iJapall (Yokohama, etc.).
2 •.•..• 2 1.. .. 10 15 1 250 10 1 208 Africa (Sierra Leone).
24 8 20 83 56 289 420 . 24 3,203 300 106 3,387 Greece, Africa, China, Japan, Haiti. 46 198 142 165 1,363 2,124 884 30,479 3,430 771 29,011 S. America, Guatemala, 210 Mexico, India, China, Japan, Korea, Siam, Syria, Persia. Africa. 7 33 21 32 91 186 35 2,702 391 26 1,363 China, Japan, Korea, Af- 43 rica, Greece, Italy. Mex- ico, Brazil. 8 24 26 24 494 601 41 10,445 947 253 10,887 Egypt, India.
1 5 7 …… 40 58 3 269 29 28 74OIsyria, Cyprus.
3 ….. 3 ……….. . 12 18 3 100 40 3 30 India (N. W. Provinces).
6 .••••• 66 2 17 37 10 650 89 4 298 Japan, Mexico.
I 24 8 25 14 37 282 385 53 5,559 498 146 4,541 ,China, Japan, India (Arcot). 2 66 Japan (Tokyo and Sen- 3 ….. . 3 3 7 15 31 12 1,656 125 dai).
2 •••••• 21 2 5 12 9 235 24 4 65 Mexico (Tampico, etc.).
7 ….. . 7 …… 5 24 48 5 378 43 18 Japan (Tokyo, etc.).
5 ….. . 4 1 …. .. 24 34 8 356 70 14 410 India (Central). l …. . 4 8 ….. . 40 5fi 25 6,500 1,000 19 600 Africa (West Coast, Sher- bro, Shaingay, etc.). 5 ….. . 36 56 13 465 10 19 848 Mexico, Japan, Syria, etc. 87 17 ….•. 15 ……….. . 102 134 24 2,660 420 41 350 India (Telugus).
2 …… 1 ……….. . 4 ••.. , ……. . ·1 40 Africa (We!t Central).
51 ….. 42 …… 16 89 198 …… 6,494…… 40 2,500 Japan (Tokyo, etc.), I 35 4 27 20 6 214 806 87 6,172 1 . . . . • 101 4,200 China, India, New Hebri- 20 [ ~~ 1,239 I Im 54 52 47 22 70 269 41 3,700 837 5ti .3,209 1,216 9,822 14,524 2,5251l56.649 30,600 5.882 182.205 2:J2 1,116 EUROPE. 218,000 : 140,000 from England. 20,000 from Scotland, from Ireland 57,000. In Great Britain.-This glowing set. 37 years, between 1853-90.3,415,000 Eng. ting.forth of Britain's greatness from lish have emigrated; 710,000 Scotch; an English source may well kindle also 2,832,000 Irish-in all, 7,211,000. To the American heart. And tremendous what numbers they have increased at missionary responsibility comes with their various destinations it is impossi. such dominion : "The material great. ble to calculate." ness of that world-wide realm which hails Victoria queen is indeed amazing. -It reads strangely. Can it benecos· It far exceeds that of any other empire, sary to use $150,000 of the Lord's money ancient or modem. The total area of for such a purpose? ., Dr. Clifford states the whole in square miles is nearly that Mr. Arthington, of Leeds, the well- 9,000,OOO-that is, 74 times the size of known benefactor of missions, is deepthe British Islands. The population of ly impressed with the mournful results the whole is 343,000,000, 9 times that of sectarian and ecclesiastical divisions of England, Scotland, and Ireland. in the mission field, and makes the The revenue of the whole reaches the munificent offer of £30,000 for the proprodigious sum of £222,000,000. Its motion qf denominational comity and mistrade in imports and exports sounds sirmary economy. The offer has set the like a fairy tale-£1,218,000,OOO. Im- friends of union to work, and it is proagination is exhausted as W'l glance from posed to convene a meeting of the secre· the docks of London, with her 5,000,000, taries of the leading missionary sociepast Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham, ties at once, to take advantage of the Leeds, and Sheffield, to the lakes, rivers, offer of Mr. Arthington." mountains, and forests of Canada; or to the fabulous splendors of India and -In October last the London Society Burmah ; or to the boundless J'esources bade farewell to 26 missionaries about of Africa, now beginning to be revealed to sail for foreign lands, making in all from the Cape and from Zanzibar; or 40 for the year, an encouragingly large to the stately cities of Australia and fraction of the 100 it is planned to send New Zealand-rivals to the ancient out in four years. European capitals. Canada, it has been said, with its popUlation of 5,000,000, -The Church Missionary Society has is as powerful as England was in the a loan department for supplying magic days of Cromwell, and may be as power· lanterns, slides, curiosities, etc. Dur. ful100 years hence as England is to. ing last:> ear there were loaned 808 sets day. Australia, with her 3,000,000, is of magic lantern slides, 72 lanterns, 347 as strong as the United States were diagrams, 372 maps, 81) sets of curiosi· when they became independent, and ties, and 1039 books. The slides were may at no very distant date be as strong lent for periods varying from one day as they are at the present time. Possi. to a month, and on an average each lanbilities of wealth and power beyond -the tern represented at least two exhibidream of the enthusiast lie within the tions. making a total of from 1600 to grasp of the English race in these inex- 2000 lantern lectures. haustible possessions. Our language is daily spoken by more than 100,000,000 -The United Methodist Free Church of people, is understood by 50,000,000 of England, organized in 1857, has more, and bids fair to become the lan- 417 ministers, 1608 churches, 3341 local guage of the world. The process of preachers, and 85,461 communicants. peopling from these shores the VRst ter. In its missions in Jamaica, Africa, ritories which have fallen to the English China, Australia, and New Zealand it race is continuaUy progressing. In 1890 has 66 ministers, 785 assistants as local the whole number of emigrants was preachers and class lea,ders, and n,7()1) members. -The Primitive M.ethodist Church of months of 1892 they were able to report England, organized in 1812, has 1049 50 Romanists received into 4 of the travelling preachers, 16,317 local preach- churches. ers, and 193,658 members. It has in .Africa 7 European missionaries, 44 white ·-Dr. HBrdeland, for 30 years Director and 486 colored members. of the Leipsic Society, retiring from that position, states that when he began, -The British and Foreign Sailors' So- in 1860, the number of Tamil converts ciety raised over £21,000 (including the connected with the society was 4600, sums raised for local purposes), and the and now it is over 14,000. Then there Missions to Seamen's Society, English were 9 missionaries, and now there are Established Church, raised £28,000 26. The pupils in the schools were during the last fiscal yeBr. 1000, and now there are 4700.
-The Bible Christians of England -The Lutheran Church is being pernave 271 ministers, assisted by 1899 secuted in the Baltic provinces of Ruslocal preachers, and about 30,000 mem- sia. Of 140 pastors in one province, bers. They have 8 missionaries in over 90 have been arrested on various China. pretexts, the chief one being that they have supplied their people with Bibles, -A new missionBrY society has been and so have been engaged in the book formed in England called the" Evan- trade. Another pretext is that they gelization Society for South America," have kept their records in German and taking as its doctrinal basis the Evan- not in Russian. It is plain that the gelical Alliance. It is undenominational government intends to stamp out every in its character, and will seek to co- system of religion but that of the Greek operate as far as possible with other so- Church. cieties in the South American field. The occasion for its formation was the -The Waldensian Church in Italy giving of a large sum of money to the has 137 workers. of whom 44 are pasmissionary bureau in connection with tors, having the oversight of as many the Y. M. C. A. of London, for the pur- churches, and 54 stations where the pose of evangelizing the Indian tribes work of evangelization is carried on. of Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. Religious services are held in 200 places, and it has been ascertained that the -Mr. Stanley declares of Alexander Gospel has been preached in the past Mackay that he was " the best mission· year to more than 50,000 persons to ary since Livingstone," and of his char- whom it was not preached, at least by acter," He had no time to fret and Waldensian workers. groan and weep; and God knows if ever a man had reason to think of ASIA. 'graves and worms and oblivion,' and to be doleful and lonely and sad, Mac- -According to Dr. H. H. Jessup, of kay had, when, after murderin~ his Beirut, the Oriental churches contain, bishop (Hannington) and burning his not including any in Greece or Russia: pupils and strangling his converts and Greeks, 1,000,000; Maronites, 230,000 ; clubbing to death his dark friends. Nestorian Catholics, 20,000; Greek Mwanga turned his eye of death on Catholics, 50,000; Jacobite Syrians, him." 30 000; other papal sects, 300,000; Nestorians. 140,000; Nestorians in In- The Continent -The climate is of dia, 116,000; Armenians, 3,000,000; the Arctic order in Austria, and the soil Copts, 200,000 ; Abyssinians, 4,500,000 ; is sterile. But the toilers of the Ameri- total, 9,586,000. Thus we have about can Board in that country are permitted 10,000,000 of nominal Christians scat· to taste in some measure the joys of the tered throqghout the great centres and harvest. For, during the first eight seats of Mohammedan population and impossible cures. One man wants' to power. be made clever, another to be made fat; -III. Persia, as elsewhere in the another to be cured of insanity, another Orient, the missionaries are sorely per- of tobacco, another of whiskey, another plexed over the problem of what to do of hunger, another of tea; another about the steady stream of promising wants to be made strong, so as to con· young men continually setting toward quer in gymnastic exercises; most men Europe and America for education and want medicine to make their beards other purposes. Many of them are thus grow; While almost every man, woman, lost to their people, though converted and child wants to have his or her skin and educated in the mission schools; made as white as that of the foreigner.
or, if they return full of evangelistic -In a Chinese Christian family at zeal, they bring also so many Occidental Amoy, a little boy, on asking to be bap. ideas and tastes as to be largely unfitted tized, was told that he was too young; for service. In particular, their de- that he might fall back if he made a mands for salary are altogether beyond profession when he was only a little the ability of the poverty-stricken popu- boy. To this he made the reply, Jesus lation to pay. has promised to carry the lambs in His -Communications from Persia to arms. I am only a little boy; it will be EngJish papers credit Miss Bradford, oosier for Jesus to carry me." This an American missionary, with remark- logic was too much for the father. He ably faithful service during the recent took him with him, lind the child was cholera epidemic. While others fled, soon baptized.
she stayed bravely at her post nursing -Robert Morrison went to China in the sick, and by her efforts many lives 1807, and died after twenty.seven years were spared. of labor, in 1834. At his death there China.-Theregion of Western China were only four converts and four Prol.
alone, that magnificent new world now estant missionaries in the whole empire.
fast 'opening to exploration and com- Now we find Morrison's converts reo merce, a region comprising the three placed by a host numbering 35,000 provinces of Szchuen, Yunlan, and chUl'ch.members, who last year gave Kwiechow, is larger by 20,000 square $44,000 for the spread of the Gospel in miles than Great Britain, Ireland, and their own land. "Behold these shall France, and contains 80,000,000 inhab- come from far ; and 10, these from the itants. north and from the west; and these -It is two years since a band of mis- from the land of Sinim [or China]" (lsa. sionaries assembled at Shanghai, China, 49 : 12).
issued a call for" one thousand men for -Again has the fateful Hoang.ho, or China," to be sent within five years .Yellow River, overflowed its banks, from the issuing of the call. It was spreading destruction far and wide.
a large draft, apparently, upon the The number of victims is stated at forces of the Church at home, but it 50,000.
is likely to be honored. It is said that -Manchuria, though lying outside three hundred and fifty of the recruits the limits of China proper, is yet a por- called for are already in the field. Fully tion of that vast empire. Its area is five hnndred young men are preparing about 400,000 square miles, and the to be preachers of the Gospel, and proba. population 12,000,000. Rev. John Ross, bly one hnndred and fifty more getting of the Scottish United Presbyterians, ready to be medical missionaries_ It is was the pioneer missionary, entering a good time to live. that country in 1872, and was soon fol- . -In Mongolia the missionary is often lowed by others. some of them sent by asked to perform absurd, -laughable, or the Irish Presbyterian Churoh. And now, after so short a time, there are will of their own. Women, indeed, are more than 2000 in the churches, of human beings, but they are of a lower whom 1550 have been gathered by the state than men, and never can attain to United Presbyterians. The toilers now full equality with them. The aim of number 17. female education, therefore, is perfect submission, not cultivation and develop- -A convert in the Shansi mission ex· ment of mind. In the other world the pressed it well when he was asked how condition of affairs is exactly the same, the Lord had changed his heart, He for the same laws govern there as here." said: .. I cannot tell how it was done, but I know that my heart is exceedingly Japan.-The Universalists report en- not the same." couraging progress in their mission in Japan. Three men and 1 woman are at -The :first insane asylum ever erect- work, together with 2 Japanese converts ed in the Chinese Kmpire is now being just ordained. In the Tokio theological projected by Dr. E. P. Thwing, who, school 6 students are found. with his wife and daughter, has gone to China at his own expense, to complete -A year ago Dr. Gordon received the arrangements at Canton. into one of the mission churches of Japan a woman who had kept a house -Are Chinese converts sincere and in of prostitution. Immediately on her earnest 1 It looks so. For Miss Grace conversion she set free all the girls she Wyckoff, of Pang.chuang, gives an ac- had bought, and since has been useful count of a hot Sunday afternoon in July in leading other notorious sinners to the last when she was greatly surprised to Saviour. see 4 women come into the yard from a .village 10 miles away. Three of them India.-The evils and follies of fash· were over sixty years of age, and their ion are not all confined to ci vilized faces were red with heat, and they were lands. It is in the heathen village of very weary. They came simply for a Senite, Burmah, that the women wear Christian service. At the same meet· from 30 to 40 pounds of brass wire about ing 16 other women were present from neck and limbs for ornament; and so villages at least 6 miles distant, and a attached to them are they, it is counted goodly number from nearer points. a sign of sound conversion when a Karen woman is willing to dispense with -With such teaching as this from the the load of metal. .. divine" classics of Confucius, we can understand why Chinese women are in -The Asiatic Quarterly Revimo is not a condition so abject. The authority is much in sympathy with missionaries. Dr. Faber, an eminent scholar, and the It is all the more remarkable that the statement appeared in the Chinese Mis· editor should speak of them as .. an un- sionary Recorder. Quoth the ancient rivalled disintegrating force," .. true sage : " Women are as different from alchemists, possessors of the philoso. men, as earth is from heaven. Dualism, pher's stone." He asks: "Isthis mag- not only in bodily form, but in the very num opus, on which the teaching of sev- essence of nature, is indicated and pro- eral hundred sects converges, a small claimed by the Chinese moralists of all matter 1 Is it naught to take the base . times, and the male belongs to 'yang,' metal, the outward civilization, the the female to 'yin.' Death and all pomp and riches from the heathen, and other evils have their origin in the to convert this dross for his benefit into , yin,' or female principle; life and blessing everlasting 1" prosperity come from its SUbjection to the ' yang,' or male principle, and it -A fine old Sikh said lately to a mis- iii therefore regarded as a law of nature sionary: .. Sahib, these neighbors of that women should be kept under the ours, since they became Isais (Chris. control of men, and not allowed any tians), have given up lying and thieving, and seem to be altogether changed." !
-For shame, if true! Can it be that the mint of the Holy Spirit."-Rev.
prejudioe has oolored this statement? A. J. Gordon. D.D.
"In India the Plymouth Brethren disturb -A zenana Christian worker in Delhi the missions. They are intense seota- says that there is scarcely a house in rians, and operate upon the mission that city not open to the reception of ohurohes rather than upon the heathen. the Gospel. The mission of the United Presbyterian Churoh at Gunjarala, in Upper India, AFRICA. has been seriously troubled by these proselyters_ Rev_ Babir Masih and his -Thanks to the energy and skill of son-in-law, a teacher in the mission the Frenoh, the Desert of Sahara is beschool, have resigned and joined the coming a garden. Within a few years Plymouthites. This sect is there under 12,000,000 acres of land have been made the direction of a ruan who was origi- fruitful by artesian wells. But there nally an Episcopalian, but who became a are 900,000,000 aores yet to be reolaimed before all the sand wastes are utilized.
Presbyterian, and is now outside of all – The stories told of the wealth to be churches. Its operations tend to divi- found in the gold and diamond fields of sion, always and everywhere." South Africa are well-nigh beyond be.
-An English justice in India, who is lief. Rev. Josiah Tyler, missionary, also honorary treasurer of the native writes of 100,000 ounces of gold a month church councils of the Church Missionary as the product of the Witwattlrsrand dis· Society in the Northwest Provinces, has trict ; and Sir Cecil Rhodes may well be offered a prize of 100 rupees for the best set down as the foremost of millionaires, essay on native churches. The special since he is owner of one of the richest question is the raising up of a self-sup- diamond-mines in Kimberly. a distriot porting native pastorate in that section, which has turned out thirty-six tons of and the essays are to make suggestions diamonds, worth about £6,500,000 a ton, for improved organization, oheapness of or, say, a total of $1,160,000,000. work and voluntary work in the pastoral, evangelistio and educational agencies – ' , The average Afrioan, if at all edu. of the churohes. The writers must be oated," declares Bishop Smythies, of members of the Church of England. Central Africa, "is a muoh more ready The essays may be in English, Urdn, speaker and a much better preacher Roman· Urdu, or Hindi. than the English clergy, when at three- and-twenty they are ordained deacons."
-Roman Catholic papers please copy. -Though it is unfortunate whenever Miss Mary Reed, the young lady mis- in any degree the Gospel must needs sionary of the Methodist Woman's For- lean for support upon an arm of flesh, eign Missionary Society, who was or resort even indirectly to carnal weapstricken with leprosy some months ago, ons, we yet read with pleasure that the and has consecrated her life to work strong arm of British authority is not among lepers in India, will take up her to be withdrawn from Uganda until permanent residence in the leper hos. March 31st of 1893 at least, and possi. pital at Chandag. She has been living bly not at all.
alone in a little bungalow near Miss -In spite of his hosts of terrible Budder's school at Pithoragarh. Amazons, King Behanzin, of Dahomey, -" Nearly $25,000,000 invested in has oome utterly to grief at the hands search for gold in India, and not $2500 of Colonel Dodds and his Frenoh troops, obtained after three years of hard since he has been ernshingly defeated labor."-India Times. "Look at aur in battle. and has lost his oapital, Abo· gold-mine in India -50,000 Telllglls dug mey. Nobody can object to "protec. from the heart of heathenism, whose tion" from such a monster.
faces now shine like precious ooins from -It costs to send missionaries to the new districts ~f Africa; but then it also – " You missionaries trouble us,"
pays. Since 1887, when missionary said an unchristianized Zulu lately.
labor began at Lake Tanganyika, 11 "Before you came our wives got food missionaries have fallen, and 11 others out of the ground for us, and brought have been forced to withdraw. But 3 us children and cattle. You make us centres of labor are firmly established, give up our wives, our beer, cattle for 2 gospels have been translated, and the our daughters, aud want us to spend people have learned to assemble for wor· money for clothes, books, and preach- ship, and converts are being baptized. ers. Life was easy before. You make -It is evident that missionary life, it very hard."
even in the interior of Africa, is not -The Berlin Missionary Society is altogether without its compensations. engaged in 6 sections of South and East For Mr. Arnot, in Garenganza, tells us Africa, and at the various stations has of a hunting expedition in which he gathered 11,456 communicants. A misbagged 8 antelope, 3 zebra, and 2 im- sionary stationed at Konigsberg writes: mense hippopotami. With his larder ,. Twenty-five years ago the number of thus supplied, he gave a Christmas feast baptized heathen in Natal was 2000, and to a great company of the natives, with the hippopotami for the piece de resist- now it is 8000. And the Boers, who ance, and zebra and antelope for side formerly looked coldly on, now regard the mission with favor. dishes. As the only drawback, during – an interval of the supper a family of -The French Protestant Mission in hyenas and 2 dog leopards made an as- Basutoland has 13 principal stations sault upon the camp and captured a por- and 129 out-stations, with day-schools tion of the provender. scattered through the whole country. It -In the Congo region at the present has nearly 8000 children upon its orditime there are 3 Catholic missions and nary school rolls, and has, besides these, 8 Protestant, among which is that found about 700 young men in training, either ed by Bishop Taylor. There are 28 sta- as teachers or in industrial schools tions and 95 missionaries. where trades are taught. At the princi- pal station at Morija there is a printing -It is now 150 years since the first and book-binding establishment, where, Hottentot was baptized by the Mora- a few months ago, an edition of 3000 vian missionary George Schmidt. There copies of a Sesuto reading-book was are at present in Cape Colony, under prepared entirely by native compositors the direction of the Moravian church, and printers. "In this way," says a 11 flourishing stations, with 22 mis- recent visitor, "the native is converted sionaries and about 9300 souls in their from the condition of a loafing savage care; 1 normal school and 19 common to that of a laborer." schools at the stations, with 2200 schol- ars ; 2 ordained natives, 2 aS6istant na- ISLANDS OF THE SEA. tive ministers, and about 150 native as- sistants. -Every Sunday morning 60 per cent -Mr. Swan, of the Arnot Mission in of the popUlation of the Hawaiian Central Africa, writing of the ravages Islands are in the pews of Protestant of the slave trade, says that at Katanga churches. Eighty-three pllr cent of the a boy of eight or ten years brings popUlation of the Fiji Islands are com.
about 40 cents in our money, a young municant members of the Protestant girl from $3 to $4, a woman from $1 to churches. But what a task is laid upon $1.20. Most of them are sold to Bihe the Hawaiian Christians in connection traders or to Arabs from the east. They with the 15,300 Chinese, 12,000 Portu- die in great numbers before reaching guese, 20,000 Japanese, and several the~r destination. thousand Mormons among the natives antI waifs and outcasts from all parts of audience-room with its two galleries was the world! crowded; the singing was magnificent. With one or two exceptions, every so- -Dr. Paton says of the New Hebrides: ciety in the whole colony was represent- .. Since I entered the field, thirty-four ed ; sometimes, in the case of the more years ago, by God's blessing on the nnit- distant, by only two or three members; ed labors of our missionaries He has often by a large company. As the roll given us about 14,000 converts, and of societies was called, each responded about 200 of them are engaged asnative by a passage of Scripture or a verse of a, teachers. " hymn, and the consecration was so genuine and spontaneous. the expres- -It is scarcely a quarter of a century sion so hearty and vigorous, that I am sinee the first baptism in Micronesia. sure the meeting will not soon be for- Now there are 46 self – supporting gotten in the religious circles of Sydchurches, with over 4300 church-mem- ney. Even after the Mizpah benedicbers. tion had been pronounced, the young people could not refrain from ,:inging ; -The United Norwegian 'Lutheran but all the way home through tne dark Church in the United States has been streets, at the railway station, and at notified that the Mission Society of Nor- every suburban place, where the train way will hand over to it the southern left its contingent of Christian Endeavpart of the island of Madagascar, includ- orers, the Endeavor songs were heard." ing the three mission stations, St. Augustine, Mangasoa, and Ft. Dauphin. -The Methodist churches of various names allover Australia are conferring -The rumored occupation by the with a view to union. In Sidney the British of the Johnston Islands in the representatives of the various bodies Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of have resolved. by practically unanimous Honolulu, and of the Gilbert Islands, votes, that union is desirabl!J. The have an important bearing upon mis- name of the united church is to be sionary movements, since the rule of .. The Methodist Church of Australia." England would be more tolerant and conducive to the growth of Protestant· CENTRAL AMERICA. ism than that of Spain.
AUSTRALIA. -The Moravians have received the cordial consent or the Catholic govern. – A missionary training home has ment of Nicaragua to establish a mis. been opened in Melbourne. sion on its territory. It is hoped that this will result in the opening up of the -After hearing two missionary ser- whole of Nicaragua to mission work. mons in Melbourne recently, a man in very moderate circumstances sent $2500 -The Moravian Mission on the Mosto be divided between missions in India kito Coast (Nicaragua) has lost the little and New Guinea. sailing vessel (the Meta), so indispensa- ble to convey the missionaries, mails, -Here is Dr. Clark's account of an provisions, and other necessaries to Australian eonseoration meeting. It their 9 stat.ions north of Bluefields, the reads like a description of one of our capital of the Moskito Indian Territory. great conventions: "I have attended No lives were lost in the wreck, but the many consecration services in my life, schooner and her cargo are a dead loss, but very few that have exceeded in genu- and the vessel must be replaced as Boon ine spiritual power this meeting in the as possible. Centenary Wesleyan Church. The great