The Missionary Review of the World — July 1893
THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA. [July
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XVI. No.7.-0ldSerieB.—JULY.—VOL. VI. No. 7.-NewSwiel.
THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA.
BY REY. SAMUEL MCFARLANE, LL.D, F.R.G.S., ETC., FOUNDER OF THE NEW GUINEA MISSION.
Early on a lovely morning in August, 1796, a vessel might have been seen gliding out of the docks of London, from which could be heard the sweet strains of music, so unlike that of the sailors at snch times that you would naturally pause to look and listen. There is nothing in the appearance of the vessel that differs much from the others, but the mnsic is strange and startling. You trace it to a gronp of ladies and gentlemen standing on the deck of the vessel, and as you look and listen the words come floating distinctly over the still water, "Jesus, at Thy command we launch into the deep." What vessel can it be ~ What sort of passengers Itre those ~ You look for the name of the ship, and find that it is called .Duff. You inquire, and find that the passengers are a band of missionari~s. You naturally ask, Where are they going? what is their object ~ and you are told that they are a few humble, faithful followers of the " Captain of our Salvation," who have volunteered to go to the most distant parts of the earth and attack heathenism in its darkest and most dangerous places, and there plant the standard of the cross.
What an army for such a mission ! and such a mission at such a time! It was like an angel of mercy rising amid the scenes of strife and blood and anarchy and crime which burst forth in appalling and destructive violence from the French Revolution, spreading horror and panic through surrounding nations. There were wars in America, ending in the independence of the United States. Wars in the East, leading to the establishment of the supremacy of England in India.
It was also a time of maritime discovery and scientific research. Men like Captain Cook returned from their voyages and gave stirring descriptions of the countries and tribes they discovered; hence the awakening of the Church to obey the last command of the gleat King and Saviour of men. "The revival of religion at home and the universal spread of the Gospel were regarded by many as events which might be expected to flow from existing calamities." To the Christians of that day" the prospects of the fnture triumph of the Church spread a mildness over existing gloom, and cheered them amid the miseries and wickedness which distressed the nations and distracted the world."
This little band were armed for their work with books, tools, medicines, printing apparatus, etc. Among the presents was one somewhat singular in its character. Two ladies presented a brass plate, on which was engraved the following inscription: "See that ye fall not out by the way" (Gen. 45 : 24); "Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God" (Isa. 41 : 10).
Ten ministeis of different denominations took part in the farewell service, showing the catholicity of the society that was sending them out. The missionaries were told plainly that" it was not Calvinism, nor Arminianism, but Christianity that they were to teach. It was not the hierarchy of the Church of England nor the principles of Protestant Dissenters, but the Church universal that they were to serve." They were to be " infinitely more concerned to make men Christians than to make them Church of England men, Dissenters, or Methodists. "
This being the pioneer mission in Polynesia, all subsequent missions have profited by its example, its errors, its failures, and its successes. Its history has effectually exploded the idea that civilization should precede Christianity in the evangelization of a heathen people. This, the greatest of all reforms, must begin within and work o?dwa1·dly.
There was a long dark night of toil in that first mission to the islands of the sea. Deaths, desertions, and martyrdoms reduced the ranks of that little army, but a faithful few held on, hoping, working, praying. The interest awakened in England at the outset had almost died away, and the question was seriously discussed of abandoning the enterprise. There were, however, a few friends of the mission who were determined to persevere and sustain the efforts of the missionaries, and, like all faithful builders of the spiritual kingdom, they had their reward.
Seventeen years after the landing of that brave little band a crowd of savages were assembled in one of the beautiful cocoanut groves of Tahiti. The blending of the feathery tops of the trees protected them from the sun, while the branchless stems allowed the refreshing trade wind to fan the group. Mr. Nott, the missionary, was reading to them a translation of the third chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. It was a strange congregation-a motley group. Tall, well-built, powerful savages, decked in feathers, flowers, and paint, leaning on their spears or squatting with their clubs' between their knees. Some are talking and laughing, others are declaring what is being read to be untrue ; but there is one man in the crowd who is looking earnestly at Mr. Nott, who, when the sixteenth verse is read, calls out in Tahitian, " Will you read that again~" What ~a thrill must have passed through Mr. Nott when that request was made, especially as he looked upon the anxious face of the well-known warrior who made it. Read it again ~ Yes, a hundred times if you like, and with a silent prayer, no doubt, that God would bless it to the poor man's soul. Amid unusual stillness, every eye turned to the missionary j he reads solemnly, emphatically, joyfully: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
We can easily see what words would be emphasized in this verse- how the last two would echo through the cocoanut grove 1 and before the echoes had died away the savage earnestly asks another question, "Does that mean Tahiti~" Mr. Nott looked steadfastly at the man, and'stretch- ing out his arm, with his finger pointing at him, said, "It means YOU." That man became the first convert in the islands of the sea.
Those who count heads, money, and years in estimating the success of missions, might say, "One convert after all this expenditure of life, labor, and money for seventeen years 1" and then begin to reckon how long it would take to convert the world at this rate. The same might have been said when any of our great reformers and preachers were converted, although the conversion of such an one meant the 'conversion of half the world. Spiritual work cannot be measured by man. How can we measure a thing of which we can only see one end, the other stretching into eternity ~ and who can estimate the influence for good of that first convert of the South Sea Islands ~ He was a trained and noted warrior, who became a valiant soldier of the cross, ready to go anywhere, do and dare anything, and make any sacrifice for his newly found Saviour and King.
The South Sea Islands mission has been pre-eminently distinguished for its noble band of native pioneer evangelists. The European pioneers at Tahiti labored for seventeen years before a native embraced the Gospel j but where native pioneers have gone it has rarely been as many months, and they have gone from island to island and group to group, from Tahiti to New Guinea. The secret of their success is that they are, above all things, consecrated men. From their early days they have been trained as warriors, beginning their education with toy bows and arrows and spears. "'-hen they embrace the Gospel they carry their war-spirit with them. "We have been," as I have often heard them say, "the soldiers of the devil. Weare now the soldiers of Jesus Christ. Tell us what He would like us to do."
The writer has trained over a hundred of these native pastors and pioneer evangelists, and consequently knows them well, and greatly admires the beautiful simplicity of their Christian life and faith. Tell them that Christ would not like them to go to a place, and they say, "Then I won't go j" that He would not like to hear them using such language, and the reply is, " Then I won't say that any more j" that He would not like to see them doing so and so, "Then I won't do it," is the quick response. With consecrated, enthusiastic converts like these it is easy to understand the rapid progress of Christianity among the islands of the sell. How great would the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom be among our own countrymen if professing Christians made the will 0/ Ghrist the rule of their life! That first South Sea Island convert was a true missionary, as all con- verts ought to be. The new light led to a new life. His soul began to throb with new desires and ambitions. It was not enough for him that the Gospel was spreading in his own land, that the idols were being burned, and schools and chapels built; he longed to carry the good news to the regions beyond, and by means of his canoe he became the messenger of peace to the surrounding islands.
The arrival of the celebrated missionary apostle of the South Sea Islands, John Williams, gave a new impetus to the infant mission and to the missionary zeal of some of its converts. At that time the work required just such an ardent, enterprising, and adventurous missionary as the" Martyr of Erromanga. " "For my part," he wrote to the directors, " I cannot content myself within the narrow limits of a single reef, and if means are not afforded of getting to the regions beyond, a continent would be infinitely preferable to me ; for there, if you cannot ride, you can walk ; but to these isolated islands a ship m'H,st carry you." There being no ship at his command and no money to buy one, he set to work and built one. It was seventy or eighty tons burden and proved to be a very good sailer, and was called The Messenger of·Peace. By means of this vessel a noble band of enthusiastic converts, with Mr. Williams at their head, raised the standard of the cross on the Harvey and Samoan islands; and then by means of a larger vessel, supplied by the English people, carried the Gos: pel to the New Hebrides group, where the renowned and lamented leader lost his life, being clubbed to death by the savages of Erromanga, whom he was seeking to save.
The writer has a very vivid recollection of his first contact with real cannibals at Erromanga and Tanna thirty-four years ago, where he first met Mr. (now Dr.) Paton and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon, who were beginning their work on those islands. Dr. Paton had recently buried his wife and cliild, and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon, with whom we spent tl:tree days and nights on Erromanga, were murdered by the cannibals soon after our visit. The scene rises before me as I write. It was a lovely, quiet Sabbath evening. We were standing on the small veranda in front of the little welttherboarded house, situated on a hill that rises from the deep blue waters' of Dillon's Bay. The full, clear moon is coming forth" like. a fair shepherdess with her full flock of stars." The mountains, like silent fortresses, raise their heads, tier on tier, in solemn grandeur against the azure sky. All above is peaceful, glorious, godlike. We talk of " dark Erromanga." At the foot of those beautiful mountains are the habitat,ions of cruelty. " Do you see that winding path down the hill?" said Mr. Gordon. Yes, we could !lee it. "That is the path along which John Williams ran with the murderous natives after him, and just where the rays of the moon are dancing upon the rippling waters of the bay is the place where he was killed. " We gazed sadly and silently upon the scene, imagination filling in the boat containing Captain Morgan and crew, waiting for the missionaries; the crowd of yelling savages pursuing ,Williams and Harris; the latter murdered by the roadside, the for.mer rushing into the water toward the boat; the shouts, the confusiol)., the forest of uplifted clubs round Mr. Williams; then the yell of triumph. At that moment there arose from a cannibal village at the foot of the hill the screams of a woman, piercing the stillness of the night. Shriek after shriek rolled along the valleys snd echoed among the hills, sending a thrill of horror to our young hearts. It was a rude reminder that we were among the cannibals. These were the sort of people that we were to live among! Our appointed station was on the island of Lifu, about one hundred miles to the west of Erromanga, and among the first letters that we received in our new home was one informing us that Mr. and Mrs. Gordon were murdered.
We missionaries are often given credit for more than we deserve. The humble native evangelist is generally the man who does the real pioneer work; and the missionary is, as a rule, most successful who trains a good staff of these men, superintends them in their work, and translates Scriptures and prepares books for them.
The Tahitian converts not only carried the Gospel to the islands of their own group, but to the Harvey Islands, which have supplied such a splendid staff of native evangelists to Western Polynesia. One sample will show the character of these Christian soldiers. Lifu, near New Caledonia, was the sphere 'of labor where the writer spent the first twelve years of his missionary life; and the apostle of Lifu was .a native of Raratonga, who, like the first convert at Tahiti, had a burning desire to carry the Gospel to the regions beyond. To qualify himself for the work he was placed in the native seminary, where he had been only six months when the John Williams arrived on its way to the cannibal islands of Western Polynesia. Pao hastened to the mission house and asked to see the missionary on urgent business. Mr. Buzacott listened to the young enthusiast pleading to be allowed to go at once in the mission vessel to tell the cannibals the" good news. " "You have only been here six months," said Mr. Buzacott;'" wait till you have been with us four years, that you may learn more about the GospeL" Pao's reply was characteristic of the man. "Don't I know about the true God ~ Don't I know about Christ being the Saviour of the world? Don't I know about the future after death ~ Let me go and tell the heathen about these things. You can send other young men after me to teach them to read and write and other things that I don't know. Oh, let me go and tell them what I know f"
What missionary would take the responsibility of detaining such a man? He went; was landed at Mare, which is between forty and fifty miles from Lifu. Missionaries had recently settled there, and there being occasional intercourse between the two islands, it was determined that Pao should remain till the next visit of the mission vessel in the following year, and thus have the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the people and their language; but Pao was not the sort of man to spend a year in such quiet preparations almost within sight of the island to which he was appointed. Mixing freely with the people, he was soon able to converse with them, and finding a man who was acquainted with the language of Lifu, he persuaded him to accompany him thither in a canoe that he built for the purpose.
What must have been Pao's thoughts as he sat in the stern of his canoe, guiding it with his paddle as it sped over the waves! and when the tops of the cocoanut-trees of Lifu became visible, how eagerly he would watch them as they appeared to rise from the sea, I can conceive from my own feelings when we first sighted New Guinea. He knew the danger to which he was exposing himself, both from the sea and the savages; but he felt that he was engaged in God's service, and looked to Him for protection. As he neared the island he saw the savages assembling on the beach. They were wild cannibals, governed by a despotic chief whose word was law. Pao knew that if the chief regarded him as an enemy he would be clubbed, cooked, and eaten at once; but that if he received him as an enemu-friend-that fate would happen to any who dared to injure him. He prayed, and believed that God would dispose the mind of the chief to receive him as an enemu,. and believing this, he did not wait in his canoe till a message of welcome was brought from the chief, but dashed over the barrier reef and steered for the crowd on the beach.
Taking his Raratongan Bible and a present for the chief from a little box in the canoe, with a silent prayer for success, he jumped on to the beach among the crowd, requesting his Mare interpreter to say that he had a message from the Great King to the chief of Lifu. Some of the leading men led him at once to the chief's house, where he found the old warrior sitting on a mat waiting to receive him. He was pleased with Pao's present, and listened to his message. Regarding the Bible as the new god that Pao was introducing, and willing to test its power, the oJd chief declared that they would make war upon their enemies on tlie other side of the island; that Pao should accompany them with his god; and that if they were conquerors he should be treated as a friend, but if they were conquered, he should be regarded as an enemy. It was in vain that Pao declared that his was not a fighting god, but the God of peace and love and life. He was obliged to go with the warriors, and fortunately for him they were successful. He was proclaimed the chief's enemu, which not only assured his safety, but secured for him kindly treatment and a respectful hearing throughout the chief's dominions among five thousand people.
For a time all was hopeful. Wherever Pao went the natives crowded to listen. It appeared as though the Gospel would easily and speedily triumph ; but the powers of darkness are not so easily overcome. The native priests-the medicine men-soon perceived the danger to their craft, and rose in their might, leading to civil war and the flight of Pao to Mare for a time. He could not remain long, however, and was soon back in his canoe and visiting among his people. The priests tried to kill him by their incantations, and their failure only increased his power. Natives were sent to kill him, but they declared themselves powerless in his pres- ence to raise an arm against him. A number of braves undertook to throw him down' a cavern which he had to pass, but when he appeared and calmly asked them why they wished to kill him, and what evil he had done, and if he was not their best }riend, the would-be murderers hung their heads in confusion and shame, and instead of their killing him, he preached the Gospel to them.
Not satisfied with preaching among the subjects of the great chief, Bula, he marched intp the camp of their enemies, on the opposite side of the island, as the messenger of peace. Here he met with the most deter- mined opposition from the chiefs and leading people, who indignantly refused to receive the religion of their enemies; but the common people heard him gladly, which led the principal chief to depute one of his orators to follow Pao from village to village and charge the people not to receive the foreigner'S religion. A very remarkable thing now happened. The .orator's tongue became ulcerated, rendering him unable to speak. The effect upon the people was marvellous. They declared this to be the hand of God. This man, they said, has been using his tongue to oppose the spread of the Gospel, and God has silenced him. The result was that whole villages burned their idols and placed themselves under Christian tea.chers. The writer arrived about this time, and so mightily grew the Word of God, that in twelve years afterward the entire popUlation (between nine and ten thousand) had embraced the Gospel. Their language was reduced to writing-a school-book, catechism, hymn-book, and the New Testament and Psalms translatQd into it. Schools and churches were built in almost every village, and filled with eager scholars and congregations. A seminary had been established in which all the native pastors and teachers had been educated, and a missionary society had been formed as an auxiliary to the London Missionary Society, which had sent out native pioneer evangelists filled with Pao's spirit, and urged on by his example to New Caledonia and the New Hebrides j and it was with eight of these men that the writer set out in a chartered vessel in 1871 to establish the mission on the long-neglected yet largest island in the world-New Guinea.
The social and commercial progress of the people advanced side b} side with the religious. The natives built f(lr themselves better houses, made good roads, and surrounded themselves with many of the appliances and comforts of civilized life. The resources of the island were being rapidly developed. Half a dozen Europe8Jl stores had been established,
ELIOT, THE APOSTLE OF THE RED INDIANS
and trading velilsels were frequently visiting the island, so that another market was opened to English ltnd American produce.
While this remarkable and rapid change was going on at Lifu, the same sort of thing was taking place on many of the islands of the sea. In the Sandwich Islands, by the American missionaries; in the Fiji Islands, by the Wesleyans; in the New Hebrides, by the Presbyterians and Episeopalians; and in all these groups men like Pao, the Apostle of Lifu, were prominent as pioneers.
The South Sea Islands' mission has solved the problem as to how the world is to be won for Christ. It must be done chiefly by the converts of the different countries to which the Gospel is introduced by capable mililsionaries who are able to train and superintend these valuable agents.
JOHN ELIOT, THE APOSTLE OF THE RED INDIANS.
~ BY THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
Though he belongs before the century whose marvels we are witness- ing, no study of modern missions would be complete without a mention of John Eliot, that pioneer of pioueers. His period reaches from 1604 to 1690, aud hence nearly spans the seventeenth century. Southey well said of him that he was " one of the most extraordinary men of any country," and R. Baxter declared that there was no man whom he honored above him. The effect of his life and work upon David Brainerd, James Brainerd Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, and so upon William Carey and Adoniram Judson makes Eliot the father of the fathers and founders of modern mis- sions, and gives him a certain right of pedigree in this apostolic succession.
His godly parentage, his position as usher in Thomas Hooker's gram- mar school, where the godliness of Hooker's family was the means of his conversion, and his subsequent following of Hooker with sixty others to Boston, an exile for nonconformity, were the three great steps which prepared him for the one and only pastorate in Roxbury which he held for sixty years. He had been graduated at Cambridge in 1623, and young as he was, had there acquired a thorough knowledge of the original languages of Scripture, and evinced unusual aptitude as a grammarian and philologist.
As early as 1639, at the age of thirty-five, he was one of a committee ,appointed by the colonial leaders to prepare a new version of t~e Psalms, and this Psalter of 1640 was the first book printed in America, afterward known as the" Bay Psalm Book."
Early in his pastoral life Eliot became so interested in the Red men that through a young Pequot Indian he acquired a hold upon their language, and in 1646 preached in the wigwam of Waban, the chief, the first sermon ever preached in the native tongue on American soil. This service in the camp near Brighton lasted three hours, and aroused much inquiry. At another visit, two weeks later, an old warrior wept lest it should be too late for him to find God, and at a third visit, two weeks later, so deep was the interest exhibited that, notwithstanding the violent opposition of the Indian priests, 'Vaban himself at the camp-fire talked to his people of the wondrous story of redemption which he had heard from the pale-faced missionary.
Eliot was fired with a holy passion both to Christianize and civilize these Indians, and so undertook what William Duncan two hundred years later realized in his Metlakahtla. Nonantum, the Indian name for rejoicing, was the title of the model community five miles west of Boston, and the name of " praying" Indians has clung to these converts as tenaciously as "Roundheads" to Cromwell's soldiers. Here we have the rare instance of a settled pastor acting also as a missionary to a foreign tribe close at hand, and as the virtual organizer of a new State, with civil court and social and industrial improvements, as well as religious institutions.
But such a man could 'not be pent up within the five miles radius from Boston. Neponset, Concord, Pawtucket, Brookfield felt his power, and clamors for Christian teachers, new codes of laws, Bible institutions, poured in from all quarters. Chiefs and their sons become converts and leaders, and in one case, where 1 visit involved peril, the sachem himself with a score of warriors came to escort Eliot. He set out on horseback, and his privations and perils rival those of Paul. Not only did he risk death at the hands of hostile chiefs and treacherous sachems, but his own countrymen, not content to withhold aid and cheer, pelted him with the mud of aspersion, and shot at him with the arrows of jest and ridicule. He was actually charged-this unselfish, heroic man-with being prompted by greed and dealing in fables j but, as Eliot said, "God stepped in and helped." Before the'middle of the century Eliot's work had compelled recognition. In 1649 devout souls in England, stirred by the fame of what the nonconformist exile had done, formed the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, which thus antedates by over half a century even the S. P. G. This society sent £50 per annum to Eliot, and thus nearly doubled his Roxbury stipend (£60).
In 1650 this heroic missionary general and statesman gathered all his converts except one tribe into one settlement caUed Natick, on a tract of six thousand acres on the Charles River, eighteen miles from Boston. The town was laid out, a house-lot being assigned to each family, and a large building el'ected for church and school, 'and there the governor and other visitors heard praying Indians teach and preach.
This Roxbury pastor could not be content to be a missionary evangelist and statesman j he must also train a native ministry. Converts were formed into a church in 1660, and fourteen years later he had as the fruit of thirty-eight years' labor eleven hundred and ten converts under his immediate care, and scattered over a wider territory, in at least thirteen other settlements of praying Indians, were twenty-five hundred more j and before Eliot died he saw twenty-four converts preaching the Gospel.
THE JAPANESE RELIGIOUS PRESS
This Roxbury pastor was al:;;o a translator. In 1661 the New Testament and in 1663 the Old also was published, and Eliot's Indian Bible, that now has not one living reader, was the first printed west of the Atlantic, and is the pyramid which, no longer used, witnesses to the royalty of the man who against such odds became the Apostle of the Red Indians. Both as a monument of fine scholarship and evangelistic zeal, it deserves what Edward Ev'erett gracefully said of it, that the " history of the Christian Church contains no example of resolute, untiring labor superior" to it. Eliot likewise undertook to create a Christian literature for his praying Indians. He translated Baxter's Call and other practical books, prepared an Indian catechism, Psalter, primer, and Indian grammar, and one brief sentence, written at the end of the grammar, may furnish the key to his whole career and the motto for missions: "PRAYER AND PAINS Through Faith in Jesus Christ Will do anything."
Age and weakness made it no longer possible to go to the Indians as once he had done ; but even then he prevailed on several families to send to him once a week their negro servants that he might teach them the saving truth. The last words on his lips were, " Welcome joy /"
Note that all this life of sanctity and service, that inspired Edwards and Brainerd and Carey and Judson, owed its own great transformation to the power of one life. "When I came in~o this blessed family" (Rev. Thomas Hooker'S) "I saw, as never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigor and efficiency."
THE JAPANESE RELIGIOUS PRESS.
BY REV. JAMES I. SEDER, A.M., TOKYO, JAPAN.
The new religious life is making itself felt in Japan among all classes of people. Of this there is abundant testimony in the ably conducted religious press from month to month. Anyone acquainted with Japan fifteen or even but ten years ago would scarcely have believed a prophecy that to-day so many able editors would be wielding a religious pen.
Nearly every denomination has its organ, either alone or in conjunction with another church. Thus the Methodist Episcopal churches, North and South, and the Canadian Methodist together publish an Advocate. But churches having less than one hundred adherents have their papers; and that the Christian press is a giant of power in this land will not be denied. It is busily engaged in edifying the Church, and is skilfully and effectively refuting errors within and repulsing attacks from without. But that is not all. They are constantly sounding the key-note and carrying the banner of an aggressive Christianity, It living, conquering army into the ranks of the enemy. As these papers give us much valuable news concerning the general progress of mission work in Japan, between the lines we may also read how far real, true Christianity has taken hold of the hearts of these native leaders ; a~d it is gratifying to know that the work done here is, I feel safe to say, as genuine, deep, and thorough as anywhere in the world.
The Christian press reports many revivals from all over the country, and speaks in the most hopeful terms. They believe that the rationalistic wave, which for a time seemed to threaten disaster to the churches, has spent its force. They speak also of moderation of views among the hitheJ;to extreme conservatives, and hope, therefore, for a return of better days.
The Kiristolcyo Shimbun, one of the leaders among the religious papers in ability and variety, has just issued (February 24th) its" No. 500."
President Kozaki, of Doshisha University, Kyoto, in a letter of congratu- lation says the publication was begun ten years ago, when there were but ten thousand Christians in Japan. As the State policy regarding education was then undergoing a change, which gave preference to Con- fucianism over Western ideas, the opposition against Christianity was strong. It was a bold undertaking then, but on account of the spirit of intense union among Christians, without reference to sect, it was possible to successfully launch the paper.
Another writer thinks Christians are laboring diligently against intem- perance, prostitution, and the like, but all efforts should be concentrated upon the evangelization of Japan. The first and most important thing is to gather a strong church, and then reforms of various kinds can be under- taken with a better basis for success. The evangelistic spirit must pervade everything. .
The great question in Japan to-day is, "What means will be most successful in reforming Japanese society~" Unhesitatingly, Christianity; because it is the motive power of social reform. Western civilization is justly called "Christian," because it is the result of Christianity. Its points of superiority are chiefly progress of morality and knowledge, reform of the home, better relation of government and people, and of the people among themselves.
An editorial of another paper sharply criticises the imperfection and partiality of the Japanese Criminal Code concerning adultery. The law in question provides no punishment to the. husband who is guilty of this crime, if only his wife brings complaint; but if the husband of the guilty woman complain, then the adulterers will be punished. It alleges that Article 311 holds the man guiltless if he kill on the spot either his adultero~s wife or the guilty man. He goes free. But as there is no such pro- vision in the law for woman, although the grounds that justify the homi- cide in the one case should do the same in the other, there is strong com- plaint of unfairness.
Other papers are now also taking up this subject, and even Buddhists join in tl1e good work of airing this law. The effect of combined effort can only prove successful, and a satisfactory reform may be confidently looked for.
THE N.ATIVE BUDD~IST PRESS.
What we said with reference to the Christian press applies in a some- what different sense also to the non-Christian. The new religious life we mentioned there is also making itself felt in Buddhist circles; though while there is joy in the Christian camp over the fact, the harps are hang- ing on the willows in the temple yards. The new missionary enterprise to France, now under contemplation, is called upon to dry a few of the tears shed over the gloomy situation. Almost everyone exclaims: "We must do something else," but of the " something else" really accomplished for the good of the. nation, and in regard to any consequent jubilant feeling or hopefulness, all are profoundly silent.
Buddhists are seeking to enforce the claim that their religion has a most intimate historical relation to the country and its former civilization, and ought therefore to be officially recognized by the Government as the religion of the nation, though not the national religion. They further petition that priests may be excused from military duty, that the moral training of the youth of the land be entrusted to their care, and that the preservation of the temples be provided for by law.
Against this it is argued by those of a different religious persuasion that if Buddhism has not sufficient inherent str~ngth to sustain itself with- out in this manner leaning on the State, it cannot long survive, as it must finally still depend upon the people themselves, whom they hereby acknowledge to be disaffected toward the religion of old Japan.
The papers and leaders of the old religions seem driven by the very force of circumstances to constantly invent some plausible argument to hinder the spread of Christianity. But they also constantly acknowledge themselves behind the times, and unable to cope with the healthy, strong, aggressive Western religion. Then the defectiveness of the moral state is freely acknowledged on nearly all sides, and each professes it his duty to find a remedy.
In its antipathy to the " Jesus religion," one of the stronger Buddhist papers, discoursing on the question, "Have our citizens a right to believe Christianity?" delivers the following: "Christians will answer this question by quoting the 28th article of the Japanese Constitution, which guarantees them religious freedom. But if this doctrine conflicts with their duties as citizens, then they are not free to adhere to it. In the fourth year of Keiwo (1867), the Government put up a sign openly prohibiting Christianity, which was removed in the 2ixth year of Meiji. The Government said, the people being fully aware of this prohibition, it is unnecessary longer to keep up this public notification. And, as it was not taken down in consequence of the former law being rescinded, it is stilI in full force. And, al-though the Constitution was promulgated later, it did not abrogate the former decrees. People have, therefore, neither moral nor legal right to believe Christianity.
Buddhists are also rejoicing because they are about to send a Buddhist preacher to France. They say this is treating Christianity as Scipio did the Carthaginians when the army of Hannibal was pouring into Italy over the Alps, and the Roman ,general attacked Carthage. Christianity ha~ obtained its present stronghold in Japan because it came in upon us while we were unprepared and took advantage of our defenceless condition. We also learn that a Buddhist hospital is to be built in Tokyo and finished by spring.
An article which is calling forth much criticism from the Christian press is that by Professor Inouye, of the Imperial University, on the "Conflict of Religion and Education." Many Christians, he thinks, grow up under the care of foreigners, and thus lose their true patriotism in time. Christianity is in a numher of ways disadvantageous to Japan. Don't you see that great building on the top of Surugadai, Kanda, Tokyo ~ It is the Greek Church. In the Roman Catholic Church the Pope is the head, but in this Greek Church the Czar is the head. Thus if a Japanese becomes a member. of this church it is as though he became a Russian subject. If ten join, we lose ten of our citizens.
Of course as not all churches are like this, we cannot judge Christianity by this alone; but all the Christian sects together make up the religious system which prevails in the West. Therefore, if Japanese subjects believe this religion they will soon come to regard foreign countries as their real native land. Then, too, Christians believe in only one God, to whom there is no distinction of persons, no difference between emperor and eta, or persons of the lowest social position in Japan. Therefore often things are done which are disrespectful to our emperor.
Last year's papers contained notices, referred to by Dr. Inouye,~ saying that until recently only Buddhist priests had been permitted to officiate in the prisons of Hokkaido, but that they have now been supplanted by Christian teachers. Hitherto prisoners have always worshipped the emperor's picture on New Year's day, but this year it was stowed in the warehouse instead of being displayed for worship, all the result of Christian teaching. Such is the wail of the dying forms of religion in Japan.
The Shinto papers also complain. During the immediate past they have been lamenting that while Hokkaido is rich in mineral and agricultural, as well as marine products, and is destined to be the future granary of Japan, -the patriotism of the inhabitants is cold. They regret to know that many Christian preachers are laboring in Hokkaido, as also many Christian grammar-school teachers, bycause they are slaves of a foreign religion; but they have one comfort in' this, that Shinto is also sending forth some able preachers.
Thus, while the Christian press is jubilant and hopeful because of the
TWO mNDOO REFORMERS
progresS of the Lord's work in Japan, the Buddhist press also lends its convincing though unwilling testimony to the fact that the "Western religion" is marching grandly on to victory.. The Christian papers rejoice because of a new life and power, a mighty Saviour in the heart. The others weep, conscious of the utter absence of such life and power, and because of their consequent infinite disadvautage and hastening doom.
TWO HINDOO REFORMERS.
BY REV. JAMES MUDGE, D.D., CLINTON, MASS.
Notwithstanding the supposed changelessness of the East, there have been many chauges, and in spite of their assumed indifference to moral and religious reform there have been many reformers. Among the many, two, whose careers have influenced many millions of the people of India, and whose personal traits were very interesting, ought to be better known than they are to the students of the West. As it happens they were contemporaries, although in such different parts of the country that very likely neither knew of the existence of the other. They were also contemporaries of Luther, one being born two years after him, and the other dying seven years before him. Hence, while the great Reformation was going on in Europe, other reformations, if not of so much consequence to the world, yet of great intrinsic importance, were proceeding in Asia. It is time that they were more fully understood in America.
NANAK.
The Sikh nation, planted in the Punjab or country of five rivers, has played no insignificant part in the history of modern India. Culminating in power under Runjeet Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, who ruled from 1805 to 1839, it crossed swords for a time successfully with the best British armies, but was finally conquered in 1846, and then, in turn, when the Mutiny arose became the main strength of the empire. The Sikhs, who are still one of the most interesting people in India religiously, and number according to the recent census about two millions, were founded by N{mak, who was born in Sirhind, not far from Lahore. in the year 1469. His father, of the Kshatriya caste, was the village accountant, and considered his son a scapegrace, unlikely to make anything in life. When set to watch cattle he lost himself in meditation. Money given him to trade with lie distributed to mendicants.
After a while he married and had two sons, but he found it impossible to settle down into quiet village life. The preaching instinct was strong within him; he felt that he had a mission, and, against the remonstrances of all his relations, he cast off all family ties and set forth on his wanderings. They are said to have extended over all India, and also into Central Asia. A visit to Mecca is also ascribed to him.
Just what he preached it is not easy now with certainty to say. Some good stories are told of him. Going into a Mohammedan mosque, while all around knelt down, he stood up in silence. On being remonstrated with by the Nawab with whom he went, he said, "0 Nawab, you were not praying j your thoughts were wandering, and you were at Kandahar buying a horse." The Mohammedan, struck with awe, confessed that it was so. When the Emperor Baber, at a friendly interview, offered him bhang, he declined, stating that his bhang was to take the name of God, with the drinking of which he was always in a state of intoxication. He protested at all times against the untruth and folly of the age, and the hypocrisy and formalism of the Brahmans. He told these latter that all ritual observances were vain so long as the heart was not pure. When they stood up and looked toward the east and poured out water to their ancestors, he mockingly stood up and poured out water to the west. When they asked him his reason, he remarked that he was watering his field in the Punjab. When they urged that the water would not reach so far, he asked how, then, they expected that their water would reach to the other world. A thief met him, and the Guru (teacher) remonstrated with him on his way of living. He pleaded the necessity of supporting his family. " 'Vill they," said the Guru, "agree to share the penalty of your misdeeds in a future state~" They all declined, and assured the thief that he alone would be responsible, upon which he abandoned his dishonest profession, and became a disciple of the Guru. On one occasion he found himself with his disciples in a jungle, and they stumbled upon a corpse. " Whoever is my disciple," said the Guru, "let him eat of that body." All drew back in horror except Angad, who, lifting the sheet to obey the order, found only sweet provisions. Nanak blessed him, and told him that he should be his successor.
Nanak's character seems to have been without reproach. He was peaceful and benevolent. He had much piety and truth and common-sense. Beholding and pitying the miseries produced by fanaticism and religious strife, his object was to blend the Hindoo and Mohammedan faiths into one strifeless compound, making a harmonious brotherhood who should worship the one invisible Being. In this, of course, he failed, and it would seem that he could not have had any clear or deep conceptions of the irreconcilable differences between the two systems. He appears to have adopted in general the philosophical syst6m of his countrymen, and regarded bliss as the dwelling of the soul with God after its primitive transmigrations should have ceased. "Life," he said, "is as the shadow of the passing bird, but the soul of man is as the potter's wheel, ever circling on its pivot." He asserted no special divinity, declaring himself to be but the slave, the humble messenger of the Almighty, making use of universal truth as his sole instrument. He did not claim for his writings, replete as they were with wisdom and devotion, the merit of a direct transcription of the words of God; nor did he say that his own preaching required or would be sanctioned by miracles. He taught that asoetiClsm or abandonment of the world was unnecessary, the pious hflrmit and the devout householder being equal in the eyes of the Almighty. He disengaged his little society of worshippers from Hindoo idolatry and Mohammedan superstition, and placed them free on a broad basis of religious and moral purity.
At length, when old age had dimmed his eye and whitened his hair, N{mak settled down in the midst of his disciples at Kirtarpore, on the banks of the Ravee, as poor, as simple, and as benevolent as when, fifty years before, he had abandoned his home and the ordinary ways of men. To avoid the snare of a hereditary priesthood, he excluded his sons from the succession, and named as his successor Angad. He died peacefully at the age of seventy, in the midst of his followers.
CHAITANYA.
Shri Krishna Chaitanya, founder of the Vaishnavas of Bengal, a religious sect whose numbers are estimated at from ten to twelve millions, was born in the year 1485 in the village of Nadiya, on the banks of the Bhagirathi, seventy miles from Calcutta. In his childhood he was by no means a model of gentleness and modesty, but performed many wild, boisterous, and imprudent pranks.
After the death of his father he was married and commenced life as a schoolmaster, attracting many pupils by the fame of his learning. His wife soon dying, he was married a second time with great pomp. He made a pilgrimage to Gaya, a place of great sanctity in Behar, and read with deep attention the Purana called Shri Bhagavat. This more than any other book moulded his soul and tinctured his fancy. By incessant meditation on Krishna he acquired an unbounded affection for him, and repeated his name day and night with highly-wrought enthusiasm. He soon started out as a reformer to proclaim" the riches of Krishna's love" to the world. This was his one idea. He devoted all his powers and energies to the contemplation of this object, the furtherance of this thought. He boldly proclaimed the name of Hari or Krishna as the only deliverer of mankind. He easily gained over some of the respectable Brahmans of Nadiya, and the number of the disciples speedily grew. Devotional dances, ecstatic singing and vociferations, and sensational processions through the streets attracted great attention, stimulated the zeal of the faithful, and spread the excitement.
Chaitanya was now twenty-four years old. He resolved to become an ascetic. So, having been taught the formulas ct Vairagism by a holy sage in a neighboring village, he received his new name (Nimar was his youthful name), and amid the lamentation of his devoted followers set. out on his travels. He went first to Orissa to see the far-famed Jagannath. At the sight he was filled with ineffable delight, and so ardent were his emotions that he fell insensible to the ground. He made many proselytes, and divine honors were ascribed to him. He next went southward through the Deccan, repeating everywhere incessantly the name of Krishna, and calling on others to do so. He visited all the places celebrated in the Ramayan, and at length returned to Orissa. He became the chief leader of the celebrations there around the great idol. He propagated his doctrines vigorously, and proselytized multitudes. He spent four years in this way, and then returned to Bengal for a season. He visited Benares, Allahabad, Muthea, and the other sacred places of the north, but soon went back to Orissa. Twelve more years were spent in this vicinity, instructing his followers, receiving visits and adorations, and performing severe devotions. He soon fell into fits of insanity. His mind, early tinctured with no small degree of fanaticism, now showed unmistakable signs of imbecility. His day dreams and night visions were incessant and full of wild hallucinations. In one of his insane fits he threw himself into the sea, fancying it to be the sacred Jumna, and was drowned. He was then about forty-three years of age.
To the doctrines that he taught we can give but a brief space. The theology of the Vaishnavas is thoroughly pantheistic, like that of the other Hindoo sects. Krishna is the supreme object of adoration, and the earth with all it contains is but a modification of this divinity. The peculiarity of this Bengal sect is the identification of Krishna with the mendicant of Nadiya; and Chaitanya's most distinctive doctrine was that of bhakti, or faith. According to him the way of salvation was not by knowledge or by works, as others had taught, but by faith. Sinners have now only to believe in Krishna-that is, Chaitanya. But the faith inculcated is a blind one, discarding knowledge, without rational basis, and divorced from all practical religion. Anything whatever-a water-pot, a plant, a log of wood-believed by the devotee to be Krishna or Chaitanya becomes to him such, and insures to him happiness in the realm of Vaikantha. Faith is divided into five stages: Slinta, or quietism, a cold, merely intellectual belief; Dlisya, or servitude, the more active devotion of an attached slave; Slikhya, or friendship, the allegiance and intimacy of personal companionship; Blitsalya, or filial affection, the closer communion of true sonship; and Mlidhurya, or sweetness, the enthusiastic, passionate attach. ment of a lover. The similarity between this and some aspects of Christian faith is very striking; but in the hands of theVaishnavas, who are universally idolaters, the degradation of it to formalism and licentiousness is swift and sure.
The Gurus, or religious teachers, receive a reverence almost divine, no matter what moral turpitude they are guilty of, and have a power over their deluded votaries compared with which that of the worst priestcraft in the Church of Rome is mild and reasonable. The worship abounds in Kirtans and Sankirtans-that is, repeating the names of Krishna by a
A LETTER TO THE STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
rosary of beads, or singing and vociferating them aloud in company with instrumental music. There are also many 1Yahatsabs, or feasts of great joy, and gatherings to listen to the reading or repeating of the Bhagavat.
The system of Chaitanya is an interesting development of the religious consciousness of India, an important innovation on orthodox Hindooism, an index to some extent of the march of liberal ideas. It contains the germs of certain great truths. It is simple, it elevates faith, it lays great stress on the affections and sensibilities. It is in some respects a slight advance toward that Christian system which alone contains the full development of what was good in Chaitanya's doctrines, and which in time must supplant them.
A LETTER TO THE STUDENT VOLUNTEERS.
BY REV. WILLIAM JESSUP, SYRIA.
My DEAR FRIENDS: It has occurred to me that you who are still in America preparing yourselves for the work of foreign missions would like to hear from one of the first and original members of the great movement that has since affected you. The writer signed his name to the list when there were only about six members one Sunday afternoon in Mr. Wilder's parlor in Princeton. He has now been a little over two years on the field in Zahleh, Mt. Lebanon, Syria. In this mission, at the end of two years, the young missionary is supposed to have acquired enough Arabic to pass a final examination in grammar before the mission, and also to preach an Arabic sermon in Beirut church, beside mastering the difficulties of pronouncing the gutturals in regular conversation. Having weathered this part of the voyage, your fellow-volunteer now stands ready for the regular routine work of missionary life, and at last at the end of all examinations. You know what that means. Three years at least reckoned for preparing for college, four for the college course, three for theological seminary, and two for study of Arabic make up a round twelve years of preparation before a man stands ready for work. To those of you who are still in process of preparation, the writer offers a few hints that may be useful to you before the last step is taken on American soil.
Some of you may already be thinking about what to bring with you to your foreign home. If so, then be careful to ascertain accurately what can be obtained at your destination, and then take all the comfortable durable furniture not obtainable there that is consistent with your means. You have no idea how much you will have to depend upon the cheerfulness of your home in your outpost work to give you courage and power to work. If these comforts are not taken at the start, you are not apt to get them afterward. Few Oriental lands abound in things to furnish an American's home.
Do not be alarmed about " luxury in missions" that some people talk so much about. The man who has the small salary of a mIssIOnary is entitled to use it as he sees fit. If he also has property, the fact of his being a missionary should not hamper his use of it. Let your missionary home have every reasonable comfort within your reach.
Once on the field and engrossed in frontier work, you will find it diffi- cult to ascertain what are the best books for your library, should you have money to invest in them. Therefore one good plan would be to make an extended list of books that your taste would select, buy what you can, and preserve the list for future reference.
Upon arriving at your post resolve to live on terms of peace and har- mony with your fellow-workers at any cost to your personal feelings.
You cannot afford to let the Lord's work suffer for a difference of opinion.
Respect the experience and advice of your seniors in service.
Learn the language during the first two or three years if possible.
Postponing this is perilous. You will hear the cries of practical hard work every day calling you away from s~udy. You can heed but few of them at first, although everywhere you will feel that you must relieve your colleagues of some of their burden as soon as possible; but you must learn to speak the language first of all. There are plenty of things that must be done whether or no. One of them is making a habitable house for yourself in which to work. Either a native house must be made habitable or a new house built. In most countries you must fight a war of extermi- nation against vermin. The articles of food obtainable will be different from what you have known. Perhaps at first you can eat but few of them.
You must learn to eat some distatseful things, however, or you will fare poorly. It is expensive getting canned goods from America. Foreign countries also levy import duties.
Th.e currency in some places is very complex and the values of the different denominations apt to be variable. It will take you a long time to realize how much you are expending, unless you 'study your table of equivalents constantly.
You will find it requires humility for the college and seminary grad- uate, who comes to his field as a "leader and reformer," to sit down patiently at his ABC book and be condescendingly patronized by his neighbors because of that. .
The natural disposition does not love people who need foreign mission- aries. Children of the devil and followers of the False Prophet are WICKED through and through. They cheat, and so will cheat you. They lie, and will deceive you. You are as apt as anyone to be cursed by them. Be- cause they persecute you, you must not cease to work for their good.
These things are all signs that they need salvation. A mere sentiment of love for sinners in general does not make you love such people. Nothing but the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you will make you really LOVE linneTs.
Expect to meet the Jesuits. They follow the Protestant around the world trying to subvert and hinder his success. They seem to be inspired by the devil. As yet Americans have not realized what they are. In America they keep hidden. On the foreign mission field they bribe people unblushingly to misuse all the means available to oppose the reading of the Bible, the establishment of good schools, and the preaching of the Gospel. Very recently the French Jesuits have been taking up collections in Paris, from house to house, saying that they wanted the money to use in "extirpating Protestantism from Mt. Lebanon." They bribe Government officials to persecute Protestants, and when they gain any slight success, publish most enormous falsehoods about it in the French papers.
When my father came to Syria, more than thirty years ago, Dr. De Forest gave h~m a list of maxims concerning a young missionary's life in Syria. My father handed them down to me and I offer them to you, for although they are particularly applicable to a SYrian missionary, they are general enough to help all. They are these: " Don't ascend hill Difficulty till you get to it. "Don't build too many "ridges of sighs, expecting to cross deep waters on such fabri~s. Follow the Great Shepherd right through the floods. " Don't expect American-built air.castles to stand Syrian siroccos. Build solidly upon the Rock. Don't expect to find Lebanon all levelled to your hand on arriving. If you get fatigued in your work, don't get tired of it. " Don't count upon too much fragrance in bouquets of Sharon roses until the roses have had time to blossom. " Don't expect to convert a soul by talking a foreign language badly when you could not convert one by speaking English ever 80 glibly j but remember that abroad, as here, sufficiency is of God. " Let not the juvenile expect t,o be eloquent in Arabic in three months. Juveniles do not learn their English so quickly. Stammer, trip, blunder, but keep talking. " Don't expect natives to be aware of your superiority all in a day, and don't believe them if they profess to be. "Remember it is human, not merely American, to believe that one's own peculiar race is the best ever fashioned. " Remember that you go to win, not to browbeat or ridicule nor yet to fail, but to win sorrls. " Remember how many years passed before you could consent to love God. " Don't be more careful to keep fleas out of your house than to get Arabs in. " Don't condemn every building which is not of American shape, nor all costumes and cnstoms not fashionable in New York. " Prove ail things. Hold fast the good. Fret not thyself because of evildoers. " Remember that you dwell in houses of clay, and that it is an nnwise zeal that kills the missionar" l}efore he can save a single soul.
EVANGELIZATION OF THE ISLANDS
, , Walk in the way you point out to others. Tricks of ventriloquism, throwing Jour voice where you do not go, will not deceive those before whose eyes you are evidently standing still.
" Asiatics will detect your weak side sooner than recognize good and godly characteristics.
" Envy is one of the oldest inhabitants of Asia, but Master 'God's peace' is a stranger, and must not expect to be recognized.
" You will have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise.
" Remember in prayer those whom you expect to remember you." In closing, one word more. The general course of instruction now given in most of our colleges and theological seminaries does not give a man a complete practical mastery of his English Bible. He is expected to make the acquaintance of that friend in private. If you have not made a prayerful and systematic study of your English Bible already, so as to use it in leading souls to Christ, don't expect that transplanting you among heathen will superinduce it. Get Mr. Moody to show you how if you cau, The vital power of your Bible in your hands is more necessary to you than a college education when you get on the mission field.
With warmest regards to you all, I remain sincerely yours, WILLIAM JESSUP.
EVANGELIZATION OF THE ISLANDS. * BY REV. EUGENE DUNLAP, PETCHABURI, SIAM.
One of the most intensely interesting studies of our time is the fulfilment of the prophecies concerning the evangelizing of the islands.. These prophecies are very explicit, as, for example, Isa. 42 : 4, "And the isles shall wait for His law i" Isa. 51 : 5, "The isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust;" Isa. 60 : 9, "Surely the isles shall wait for Me i" Isa. 66 : 19, "To the islands afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory." The student of the progress of the Gospel in the islands cannot fail to see that these prophecies have been almost entirely fulfilled, largely in our own time. God seems to have chosen the people of very small islands in a great measure to carry out His purposes in evangelizing and civilizing the world. Undoubtedly man would have chosen people of a huge continent. But God, evidently to glorify Himself, for a large part of the work chose the people of the British Isles.
We too often forget that the people of these islands were once as in. tensely heathen as the people of the Pacific islands were one half century • An addre." given in the Sanitarinm Chapel, rlifton Springs, N. Y., Novemher 20th, 1892, and publlsh.,1 by request. ago. And too many of us so magnify the blots on English rule in the East -namely, the shameful liquor and opium traffic-that we lose sight of her beneficent work for the multitudes of India, and the isl~nds under her power.
Come with me into Hong Kong, a British city. Behold the asylum, the hospital, the home of the friendless, the chapels, the churches, and see as pure a municipal government as may be found in any city in our own coun- try. Christianity has stamped itself upon the public institutions of the city, for over the door of the post-office building we see carved in granite words from Holy Writ: "As cool water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." You will then be glad that Christian England has placed this model city, an object lesson to the 400,000,000 of that great empire, China.
Then come with me to that beautiful city, Singapore; First of all you notice the rooms of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which has brought the Word of God to that city in the thirty-two languages spoken by the people on its streets. You will hear earnest laymen, business men of the city, publishing the Gospel on the esplanades of the city. In yonder fort on the hill you will hear the British officers in charge pleading with the soldiers to sign the total abstinence pledge. Here, too, you will find as cleanly a city and as pure municipal government and as just courts as in any Christian land-a model city for the people not only of the Malay Peninsula, but of the entire Archipelago.
Not long since an Indian prince visited England and viewed with pleasure the great institutions of the country. When afterward privileged to an audience with the Queen, he expressed his gratification with all that he had seen, and inquired the cause of all this greatness. The Christian Queen, pointing to a Bible on the table, said: "That Book is the foundation of all our greatness." Wherever England places a diplomat or soldier, she there plants the Christian Church. All are familiar with her beneficent rule in India-abolishing the cruel, murderous rites of heathenism, and giving it the common schools and humane institutions. The vantage points of the East are in the hands of the people of the British Isles, and 67 per cent of the ships of the world fly the British flag.. Truly it was a wonderful Provideuce that chose these once heathen islands to be the centre from which to so great an extent the purposes of God concerning this world should be carried out.
Leaving these islands, let us go down through the seas to Madagascar. The early missionary of Madagascar was greeted by the French diplomat upon the island after this fashion: "You make the people of Madagascar Christians? Impossible! They are mere brutes, and have not as much sense as irrational cattle." The missionary was not chilled by this wel- comc U), but labored faithfully on until banished from the island by a cruel queen. His heart was sad over having to forsake the infant Church, but God did not forsake that little Church ; cruel persecutions came upon it, they were endured with faithfulness not surpassed by the Christians of apostolic times. These poor Christians were sold into slavery, banished to fever districts to die, were stoned, dashed over precipices, burned at the stake. More than 1600 died in persecutions, and yet when the missionanes were permitted to return to the island after long banishment, they found a stronger Church than when they left it. To-day the London Missionary Society alone has 1200 Christiau congregations in Madagascar, and in all, on the island, there are 1000 native pastors. The missionaries were the pioneers in educational work in Madagascar; they reduced the language of the people to writing, and now have 1300 schools, and lived to see the time when the Government requires every child between eight and sixteen years of age to learn to read and write. Through the influence of Christianity idol worship, polygamy, and other glaring forms of heathenism are prohibited by law. There are some interesting statements concerning the success of missions on this island from diplomats and soldiers. General J. W. Phelps says that" during the present century, Madagascar has passed from a state of pagan barbarism to one of Christian civilization." The prophecy concerning this island is fulfilled. She has taken her stand among the Christian nations of the world : "The ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord."
Leaving this island, let us cross the sea to Ceylon, the Mecca of the Buddhists, for here is a favorite shrine to which Buddhists from all parts of the world come to worship the supposed tooth of Buddha. The selfrighteousness of the Pharisees of Christ's time did not excel that of the Buddha priests of Ceylon. A leading priest was asked by a traveller: " Do you worship the gods 1" He replied: "No, the gods worship me." The progress of the Gospel iu this island has been encouraging; the work is marked by strong educational institutions. The Jafl'na Mission has nine self-supporting churches and 135 mission schools. Self-support is a marked feature of the native Church. A traveller, accompanying a missionary on his pastoral visits, noticed as they walked through the garden of the parishioner every now and then a cocoanut-tree marked" X." He inquired why these trees were thus marked. The native Christian humbly answered, " Because every X tree is devoted to the Lord." Noticing the wife as she cooked the noonday meal throw a handful of rice into the pot for each member of the family, and then two handfuls into a pot near by the fireplace, the traveller inquired, Why two handfuls into this pot 1 She said, " That is the Lord's rice pot, and I remember 'Him when cooking each meal." Surely we can learn some lessons from the Christians of that island.
Let us now go to Sumatra. You will notice a monument erected to the memory of the first missionaries to this island, who were cruelly murdered and devoured by the cannibals. You will be glad to learn that thr~)Ugh the power of Christianity cannibalism has been wholly abolished, and the Netherland missionaries rejoice over 12,000 Christians upon the island. We have ('ntered the Netherland India. Our next island of this group is Java. A gratifying change has taken place in the attitude of the Holland Government in these islands. Formerly she smiled upon Mohammedanism and frowned upon Christian missions. Recently her Minister for the Colonies recommended "the establishment of missions as a sure method of securing loyalty of subjects. " Well do I remember the day that I entered the beautiful city of Batavia. I learned with joy that there were two Americans in the city, and sought them at once. We had a pleasant talk regarding our native land; but when I inquired about the missionaries in this region of Java, one replied, "Why, they are not accomplishing anything; the natives don't take to them." I sought a venerable Hollander, forty years resident on the island, and deeply interested in all Christian work for the islanders. He at once invited me to accompany him to a Christian colony at Depok, ten miles from the city. It was his custom, although a busy banker in the city, to spend two hours in Christian work in this colony every morning before he went to business. It was a delight to witness the great contrast between these Christian homes and the homes of the heathen islanders. We visited a strong native church in the colony, ~ school having its 230 children. Above all, we were delighted with the theological seminary of the colony; for there we looked into the faces of ~O students earnestly at work in preparation for the ministry. These students are sons of the cruel head-hunters of Borneo, sons of the fierce islanders of Celebes, descendants of the cannibals of Sumatra, and 150ns of Java. All this we found within ten miles of the spot where the coffee merchant had said, " Missionaries are not accomplishing anything in" this part of Java; the natives don't take to them." He was looking for coffee plantations; I, for mission stations; each found just the thing he was looking for. In all Java there are 25 stations, 26 missionaries, and 12,000 converts. Let us not forget there are 23,000,000 of people upon that small island. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, send more workers into Java. Brahmanism, Buddhism, and now Mohammedanism have all been at work on the Javanese, but have not routed the worship of the aborigines. While the religion of the people is supposed to" be Mohammedanism, spirit, fetich, and devil worship prevail throughout the country.
We cross to Borneo, once called the " Nation of head-hunters," because skulls of enemies garnished their rude huts and were their fttvorite offerings to the gods. In some portions of the islands no one was allowed to marry who could not show a certain number of human heads which he had struck off. Imagine a father returning after a day's exploit, and his daughter running out to meet him with the inquiry, " Well, papa, how many heads did you cut off to-day~" It is a certain proof of the divinity of the Gospel that it can tame, yea, elevate such people. In the southern part of the island the Netherland Missionary Society has 4000 churchmembers, ll;nd among the various tribes may be found 3000 members in the English Church. A traveller, in speaking of the change wrought on this island by the Gospel, says: "We can no longer call them head-hunt- ers ; their deadly instruments, which could easily cut off a man's head at a single sweep, have become rusty heirlooms. Nowhere in the world, so far as I know, is life and property more secure than among the once fierce head-hunters of Borneo." "Surely the isles shall wait for Him."
And what as to Celebes, so near Borneo ~ Alfred Russell Wallace, in his book called" The Studies of Man and Nature in the Malay Archi- pelago," says : "The missionaries have much to be proud of in this country. They have aided the Government in changing a savage into a civilized community. Forty years ago the country was a wilderness, the people naked savages, garnishing their rude huts with human heads. Now it is a garden." There are 200 Christian congregations and 125 schools upon the island. "To the isles afar off that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory, they shall declare My name."
As we leave Dutch India, let us not forget the 27,000,000 of people there, and only 79 missionaries working for them; in all Malaysia only one American missionary.
New Guinea has not yet yielded much fruit, but it is ready for the seed. Holland missionaries are in the northwest of the island, London missionaries in the southeast. The island has 1,500,000 people. There are some 70 stations on the mainland, and baptized converts number some 5000. One of the most interesting features of missionary work on this island is the devoted, self-sacrificing labors of the native missionaries. The converts from other islands sent there by the native church, the first native evangelists to reach New Guinea, were Polynesians, and they were massacred-12 in all. But did this chill the missionary spirit of the young native Church ~ No; for volunteers came from Loyalty, Samoan, and Savage islands. These Christians of these islands offered to go to the heathen in New Guinea until the missionaries decided by lot who should stay home. Fifteen were asked for-40 volunteered to go. Surely our missionary zeal has not surpassed theirs.
Before leaving this hemisphere, let us make our way up to Formosa, and as we do so we pass by the Philippine Islands with their 7,000,000 of people. Have you thought of these 7,000,000 ~ Has your heart ever yearned for their salvation ~ It is gratifying to know as we pass by that almost all so unjustly taken from the missionaries by the Spauish Government has been returned to them.
Reaching Formosa, we find the English Presbyterian missionaries very much encouraged in their work in the south of the island, and the Canadian Presbyterians hard at work in the north. There is a thrilling history concerning the introduction of Christianity in northern Formosa, and it centres largely in the life of one man, the devoted McKay. His first home was an abandoned stable, which, during a tour, was torn down and the stones scattered. Once while seeking to preach the Gospel in the marketplace, he was confronted by a native with a long drawn sword, intending to sweep off his head. He faced him, and the native's arm seemed to drop as if paralyzed. Afterward that very native presented him with the sword, saying, " Christ has subdued me." After patient labors we have the report that during a recent revival more than 500 people have cleared their homes of idols and converted their heathen temple into a house of worship for the true God.
Crossing over to Japan, our hearts are thrilled with the wonderful progress of Christianity on that island. The Japanese Christians may be making some mistakes, but there is much in the native Church that is commendable. It might be characterized by three terms: Self-governing, self-supporting, self-extending; these are essential to a live church. It has been asserted that there are more self-supporting churches, in proportion, in Japan, than in Kansas or Nebraska. The Church of Christ in Japan reports 50 ordained native ministers, 87 licentiates, 70 students of the ministry, 11,622 communicants. This has been rated as one third the force of the native Church.
Now let us glance at the other hemisphere. In New Zealand there have been wonderful strides in the work of missions. The missionaries of the church societies waited eleven years for their first convert, and five years longer for the second. We now read of 1197 churches and chapels in New Zealand, and 241 schoolhouses used for Sahbath services. One third of the population attend the churches. In the Presbyterian churches of the island there are 40,000 church-goers. Even Mr. Darwin, the scientist, was so impressed by what he saw of the influence of the Gospel upon this island that he said: "The lesson of the missionary is the enchanter's wand. When I looked at the whole scene I thought it admirable. I took leave of the missionaries with thankfulness for their welcome and high respect for their upright and useful characters." He afterward made substantial contributions for the support of Christian work upon the island.
Our hearts are glad over the grand fulfilment of the prophecies concerning the islands, when we glance at Polynesia. Seventy years ago this great region was entirely heathen, its peoples most cruel. Now more than 300 of the islands are Christianized, so that we can say of them, not only that they shall wait for His law, but have received His law. On the New Hebrides islands there is a suggestive memorial slab over the grave of Rev. John Geddie: "When he came here in 1848 there were no Christians, and when he left in 1872 there were no heathen." If you would have your heart thrilled with the triumphs of the Gospel among such people as the cannibals of the New Hebrides, read the biography of that venerable miSSionary, John Paton. The people of these islands, once gloating over human flesh, have within a few years given $3500 for the printing of God's Word. The native Christians in Samoa have contributed $6000 annually to the London Missionary Society.
The man who first entered the Friendly Islands as a missionary told me that the people were so ignorant that they aidn't know of fire; they ate
INDIAN MISSIONS IN THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST
everything raw. Neither did they know that water would boil: "When I kindled a fire and boiled some water I could scarcely restrain them from worshipping me as a god. You can imagine how they marvelled when myself and wife reduced their language to writing, and printed the Word on our little printing-press." Although this venerable servant has gone up higher, he lived to see more than 30,000 church-members in the Friendly Islands.
The late Rev. James Calvert said: "When I arrived at the Fiji group, my first duty was to bury the hands, feet, and heads of eighty victims whose bodies had been roasted and eaten in a cannibal feast." Can the Gospel do anything for such people? Is it within the power of Christianity to tame and elevate them? Let the same missionary answer: "I lived to see those very cannibals who had taken part in that human feast gathered about the Lord's table, members of His Church." Cannibalism on these islands is wholly given up. Fifty years ago not a Christian in Fiji. Now, with only 9 white missionaries, we have 1468 native preachers, 1268 chapels, 1735 day and Sunday-schools, and 2526 native teachers. Surely, instead of the brier there has sprung up the myrtle-tree.
All are so familiar with the story of the Hawaiian Islands that I need hardly relate it. Within fifty years this people, saved from extinction, have entered the great family of Christian nations. Years ago their hearts went out to Japan, and they gave $1000 to aid in establishing the first Christian Church there. Besides supporting the work among themselves, they have carried on mission work in other islands. One of the most striking facts indicating the missionary spirit of the native Church is that" 30 per cent of the native ministry are foreign missionaries, and 22 per cent of the Christian giving in the islands goes to support mission work in other islands." Thus their missionary zeal and liberality in supporting foreign missionary work is not surpassed even by the Christian Church in America.
INDIAN MISSIONS IN THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST.
BY A. G. MCKITRICK, RIVER QUI BARRE, ALBERTA, CANADA.
The most of the Indians in this vast extent of country may be divided into four great nations : First, the Ojibways or 80tos (Saulteaux) of the east and northeast, around Lake Superior, Hudson's Bay, and Lake Vinnipeg, and the country between, together with some on the prairies in and west of Manitoba.
Second, the Crees, found all along both sides of the great Saskat9hewan River. Those eastward at Lake Winnipeg are called the Muskeg or Swampy Crees j those in the timbered region north of the Saskatchewan, Woody Crees j while those on the prairies south of it are called the Plain Crees. Third, the Blackfeet, who are found in Southern Alberta, east of the Rocky Mountains and north of Montana, in the United States. The Bloods, Peigans, and Sarcees are branches of this nation, speaking different dialects of the Blackfoot language.
Fourth, the Sioux or Dakota nation, of which many are found in Canada, although the bulk of them are in the United States. There are Sioux outlaws who escaped to Canada after the Custer and other massacres who have made themselves at home in Manitoba and Assiniboia. The Assiniboines, or Stony Sioux, are a numerous branch of the Sioux found in Assiniboia and Alberta, of whom the Mountain Stonies, living in the foot-hills of the Rockies, on the Bow River, compose the greater part.
The languages of the Crees and Ojibways have so many words similar and in common that they may be called sister languages ; but those of the Blackfeet and Sioux are very different.
Time fails us to speak also of the Beavers, Chippewayans, Esquimaux, and others of the far Northwest along the Mackenzie River basin. And the many tribes of British Columbia would make another subject, on which I hope some of the missionaries on that side of the Rockies will write to the REVIEW.
What has been done for all these tribes and nations 1 Four churches have undertaken mission work among them. Perhaps the first to go to them was the Roman Catholic, though the Church of England and the Methodists were not far behind, and later the Presbyterians came to the help of the Lord against the mighty pagan strongholds of ignorance and superstition.
Of the Roman Catholics we have nothing to say, except that while we have often admired their earnest self-denial in going back among the heathen where others had not gone, even into the very cold regions of the far north; still they have improved their Indians very little if any, simply giving them another form of idolatry and superstition, which is often only added to the old paganism. At the writer's home we can hear the heathen drum and dance going all night long, even by those who have just been to the Roman Catholic church for morning mass, and often the men go off to work or shoot as soon as they return from church. The Sabbath is just the same as other days except while they are in church, even after many years of mission work, or rather want of real true Christian work. This mission is no exception. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
The English Church has done some splendid work, for they have many earnest missionaries who have also gone into the very coldest regions of Canada, around Hudson's Bay, and in the Mackenzie River basin. They have also missions in Manitoba and among the savage Blackfeet and Bloods of Alberta. Among the latter they have made little progress, though they have many converts in the far Northwest and NorthQast.
The Methodists not only sent out a few missionaries direct from England via Hudson's Bay, along with those of the English Church, hut have also sent a few northward from Ontario to the Ojibways along the great lakes. Much success has accompanied them. Then the Canadian Pacific Railroad was being built north of Lake Superior a contractor employed Indians as well as whites, and when Sunday came he tried to induce them to work that day as other days. But although he could hire the whites, not one of the Indians could be either persuaded, hired, or forced to do so, but went to hear their missionary as usual. Methodist missionaries pushed on northward along Lake Winnipeg and westward to the Crees on both sides of the Saskatchewan and even to the Stonies at the foot of the Rockies. Here by their earnest devotion, attendance at religious services, and observance of the Sabbath, some of these Crees and Stonies would put to shame many far more highly favored church-members in Eastern churches, who perhaps look down on the poor Indians. The names of missionaries George McDougall, Henry Steinhaur, Rundle, and Woolsey will long be remembered as pioneers in this work among the Crees and Stonies, while to-day it is still carried on by Revs. German, Glass, J. McDougall, R. and E. Steinhaur, Nelson, Summerset, and Adamson.
Although the Presbyterians only began a few years ago to spend much on Indian missions, still their work is not without success. Missionaries Nisbet and John McKay have gone to their reward, leaving Revs. Fleet, Hugh McKay, Moore, and others still plodding on. Industrial boarding mission schools, partly supported by the Government, are being preferred to day schools by all these denominations, and the hope is principally in the children.
Very many of the Indians of the Northwest are still pagan, especially among such tribes as the Blackfeet, where the sun dance and other heathen dances and practices are scarcely surpassed for cruelty and dense darkness by any in Africa or India.
In the sun dance they build a circular tabernacle of poles covered with green branches and worship the sun, when the leaves are opening out in the spring. Here, in part of the worship, those who have made sacred vows to the Great Spirit during the year come forward to pay their vows in the presence of the assembled crowds. For instance, a man's child has been at death's door, and he promised the Kitche-manito that if He would restore the loved one to health he would give himself to be tortured at the next sun dance. The child recovers, and the Indian, with a faithfulness to his god that should make many of us Christians hang our heads in shame, comes forward and stretches himself on his back on the grassy floor of the large green worshipping place. Indians then come up with knives and make two cuts on each side of his breast, so as to leave a strip of flesh between. Through this wooden skivers are thrust. Then one end of a long rawhide thong is attached to each, and the other end is fastened to the top of the centre pole of the leafy tent. In olden times often this was not enough, but cuts were made in the arms near the shoulders and skivers put in these also, and by thelie a heavy gun was hung on each side. Others
1i10 HOME MISMONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
were put in his back and buffalo heads attached to them. This done, the music of the drums and dance song grew loud and rapid, and the tears trickled down his cheeks as he danced and jerked till the flesh broke out at each skiver and he was at last free.
What terrible suffering! Which one of us Christians would do as much to pay our vows to our God ~ Surely we should be willing to go to the ends of the earth to carry the Gospel message for our Master when an ignorant, pagan Indian will do so much in his religion.
These sun dances are still carried on every year, though with less severe cruelty than in bygone days. The Government is discouraging them to some extent, but more stringent measures should be taken to put a stop to all this torture and cruelty.
When visiting a sick Indian one day, the writer stopped to see a" dog feast" dance. The drums were beating at a lively rate, and about half a dozen young men, almost naked, and with their skin painted in several colors and adorned with many eagle feathers, were dancing around a pot of meat, singing as they danced, " Hi-yi, hi-yi, hi-yi-yi," etc. The meat was that of a dog which they had killed. The skull was on top, with the teeth showing in anything but a pleasant fashion. The drums beat faster, the song grew louder and more earnest, until finally it ended with a short, quick yell. This was repeated over and over again for some time. Then a long, slender, carefully made stick was inserted in a small piece of the meat and this was waved around in a mysterious way over the eagle feathers several times, as if it were offering to the spirits before the feast. Then they dished out the meat and broth and ate it with a relish.. They offered the writer some, but of course he replied, " Nin kawin bakete" (I am not hungry). We might describe other dances and customs, but these will suffice to show that we have still heathen in America who should call forth on the part of those who have been favored by being born in Christian homes a desire to support missionaries and teachers in sufficient numbers to teach them the better way of serving and worshipping their Creatc;>r.
HOME MISSIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
BY REV. A. SUTHERLAND, D.D., TORONTO, CANADA.
" Home missions" is a term of comprehensive import, and its meaning widens with each decade. Half a century ago home missions meant, in popular estimation, only those scattered frontier settlements where Christian ordinances were maintained by aid from wealthier communities. Today the term means that, of course, but it means much more. It includes all those forms of organized Christian effort whereby the Church seeks to carry the Gospel message to all who need it in our own land; to the lapsed masses in the great cities, and to the wandering Indian of the mountain or plain j to the votaries of false or perverted religions, and to those whose Christianity is but a lifeless form; to the adventurous miner and the hardy settler, those pioneers of civilization who on this continent have more than once laid the foundations of empire ; and last, but by no means feast, to the polyglot millions from beyond the seas who come to seek homes in a land where poverty is no bar to advancement, but who bring with them cus- toms, belief!!, and inherited tendencies which are not favorable to a healthy social or religious development, and may prove-indeed, have already proved-to be a standing menace to national freedom and stability. In a word, the object of home missions is to evangelize the heterogeneous peoples that compose the population of this continent, and to solve, by the application of Gospel principles, the difficult problems presented by diversi- ties of race, language, religion, and national life.
While treating this subject in relation to the Continent of America, it will be necessary to keep in view its two great political divisions, the United States and Canada; for although there are some religious problems common to both countries, each has some problems peculiar to itself. To these two nations is committed, in the providence of God, the destiny, social, educational, political, religious, of a vast continent, that in less than another century will contain a majority of the English-speaking people of the globe, and will exert a more potent influence upon the world's religious future than perhaps all other nations combined. In the accomplishment of a great providential mission by these two nations, home missions will be a powerful factor, and it is most important that the question should be understood in all its bearings. The object of this article is not to present an array of statistics showing what each denomination has accomplished by means of its home missions-that would require a volume-but rather to outline such facts and principles as will give a general view of the whole situation, and perhaps afford some hints as to lines of action in the future. With this object in view various departments of home mission work will be considered Reparately.
1. Oity .ilfissions.-The streams of humanity flow toward the centres. The cities are congested, the country parts are depleted. In large centres of popUlation the conditions of life change for the worse. Home life, in any healthy sense, becomes for all difficult, and for the poor impossible. The result is a state of society that is inimical to health, morals, and religious advancement. City populations have increased, are increasing, far more rapidly than are the necessary accommodations for home life. Out of this has grown the tenement system. To take a single instance, more than three fourths of the population of New York dwell in tenement houses, in an atmosphere that is for the most part physically, morally, and religiously unwholesome. Nor is this all. Many of the great cities of the United States are peopled largely by foreigners and their immediate descendants, and civic government has passed, in some instances, into hands least qualified for its wise and honest administration. In such great centres the problems presented are vast and complicated, while the appliances for solving them seem to be very inadequate. Nevertheless, there are some hopeful signs. City mission work has largely increased its scope in recent years, and methods and agencies for reaching the masses are now freely employed that were undreamed of a generation ago. Among the hopeful signs are: 1. The consecration of wealth, time, and social influence to the task of reaching and' uplifting the lapsed classes. 2. A thorough study of great social questions-labor, poverty, pauperism, crime -and a sustained effort to solve the problems they present by the application of Gospel principles. 3. Co-operation among churches and charitable organizations, whereby waste is prevented, imposture detected, and the deserving are promptly relieved. 4. The building of large and comfortable " people's churches," instead of small and dingy mission chapels, which latter only emphasize the contrast between the rich and poor. 5. The multiplication of agencies, so as to reach all cla€ses and conditions of people. And, 6, a more general recognition of the fact that " man shall not live by bread alone j" that he has needs on the spiritual as well as the temporal side, and that it becomes the Church to adapt her methods and agencies so as to meet these various needs. A glance at the religious organization and work of such cities as New York, Boston, and Toronto will be sufficient to show that city mission work is well to the front, and that resolute and sustained efforts are being made to solve the problems presented by the rapidly growing urban populations of this continent.
At the same time, it may not be out of place to aay that the Christian activities of our cities must further widen their scope and turn their efforts in some new directions before the desired results can be achieved. There is little profit in lopping off a few twigs and branches while the great roots of social and civic evils remain untouched. It is of little use that we attempt to check wickedness in low places as long as we tolerate it in high places. The Gospel so faithfully preached in the slums has a mcssage to the parks, and boulevards, and avenues. Christians who support Sunday street cars and patronize Sunday newspapers cannot protest, with a good grace, against other forms of Sabbath desecration j and they whose votes legalize and protect the saloon have little right to complain if wholesale drunkenness and prostitution neutralize their best efforts to reach and uplift the masses.
2. Missions among the Immigrants, etc.-There are two circumstances which render missions of this class highly important, namely, the enormous extent of territory open to those who come as immigrants from abroad' or who move westward from the older States and provinces j and the diversified character of these new settlers in regard to nationality, intelligence, religion, and knowledge of municipal and public affairs. Notwithstanding the vast numbers who have spread themselves over the States and Territories west of the Mississippi, there is room still for the population of an empire to be added j while in the Canadian northwest there is fertile territory larger in extent than the whole of Europe excepting Russia, and capable f'Jf sustaining a population equal to that of the United States. Into these two countries the bulk of Europe's surplus population will pour for many years to come. The Dark Continent may get a share, and Australia has still room for millions more i but the mighty Gulf Su-eam of immigration that has been flowing westward for three decades cannot easily be checked or turned aside. Once this great influx of strangers was hailed with joy by the people of the United States; to-day it is regarded by many as the gravest danger that threatens the cherished institutions of the rcpublic. In Canada the rush has not been felt to any great extent, but it is coming, and all the more because of repressive legislation by the American Congress, intended to prevent the introduction of undesirable immigrants into that country.
But whether these unevangelized millions find homes north or south of the international boundary, the problem will be the same, the dangers the same, the remedy the same. If Christian civilization is to survive on this continent, the incoming millions of Germans, Scandinavians, Russians, Jews, Italians, et hoc genus omne, with their Old-World ideas, socialistic tendencies, religious skepticism, and atrophied power of self-government, must in some way be fused at white heat and cast into the mould of a new national life. In this colossal undertaking minor forces will play their part -education, intercourse, commcrce, political discussion, and a hundred things beside-but no one of these, nor all of them combined, can save American civilization from ignominious failure or disastrous eclipse. There is but one factor that can completely solve the problem, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But if even this is to succeed, the home mission work of the churches must be done with a zeal, a wisdom, a thoroughness, and on a l'!cale far exceeding the best work of the past. In the sudden rush of population into the Western States and Territories during the past few decades, it is scarcely to be wondered at that the churches were bewildered hy the rapid and enormous dcmands made upon their resources, and found it literally impossible to keep pace with the requirements of the work.
There is no use in shutting our eyes to the truth. America, including Canada, is not yet completely evangelized. Other forces than that of the Gospel hold sway. To-day Chicago is, for a time, the cynosure not only of " neighboring eyes," but of the eyes of all the world_ She stands before the nations in a fiercer light than that" which beats upon a throne," the representative of all that is best in American civilization j but to the shame of many, and to the bewilderment of more, she dishonors her white shield with the "bar sinister" of a continental Sunday, defies alike the national law and the national conscience, and proclaims as openly as if inscribed in characters of fire upon every dome and archway that the Christian's God is dead and buried and that Mammon reigns in His stead. The home mission work of the churches cannot be regan1ed as finished until tbe thought and conscience of the people is so aroused and the law of God so recognized as to make the repetition of this huge blunder an impol!lSibility.
To what extent have the churches kept pace with the growtk and needs of the population 1 Some will say they have kept fully abreast j and statistics, read in a certain way, seem to support the claim. Thus it has been shown that during the century the percentage increase of church members has been far greater than the percentage increase of population, the latter having increased fifteenfold (say 4,000,000 to 60,000,000), w!J.ile the former has increased over thirty-sevenfold (360,000 to 13,000,000). It is also claimed that there is, at the present time, in the United States, one evangelical minister for every 560 people, and 01l.e evangelical church organization for every 370, while the ratio of church membe~hip is one for every 4.70. Taken at their face value, these figures seem to prove that the aggregate results of Christian effort, through home missions and otherwise, have been all that could be desired. But when we place the figures of the census alongside the facts as revealed in the present state of society and the tendencies of the times, it becomes at once apparent that some important factors were not included in the census returns-indeed, they could not be-and that this has vitiated the result. To guard against misapprehension, the writer wishes it to be understood that he is by no means disposed to take a pessimistic view of the situation-quite the contrary. The work of the century has been a grand one, almost justifying the remark of a recent writer that "we are living to-day in the midst of an evangelical conquest without a precedent and without a parallel." But still there is need to emphasize the thought that, for the thorough evangelization of this continent, the churches must push their home mission work on broader lines, with greater energy, and in a spirit of co-operation beyond what the past has witnessed.
Taking the figures already quoted as correct-namely, that there are in the United States one evangelical minister to every 560 people, and yet remembering that there are vast numbers almost untouched by any evangelizing agency, the conviction comes that there must be a very unequal distribution of forces, and that this, in turn, has arisen from the endless divisions and consequent rivalries of our common Protestantism. That very many localities, towns and villages especially, are overstocked with feeble churches and underpaid ministers is a circumstance too notorious to require proof. Time and again has the writer found viIlages of from 400 to 1000 of a population with as many as three, four, five, and in one case eight, Protestant churches, where one was ample for the needs of the people, each struggling for an existence, and in many cases eking out its slender resources by drafts on the home mission fund of its denomination. In Canada this source of weakness has been eliminated to some extent by the various union movements. Previous to 1874 there were six branches of Methodism and four of Presbyterianism j now there is one Methodism and O1Ie Presbyterianism throughout the entire dominion. Suppose it were
THE HEART OF BUDDHISM AND THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY
and six Methodist churches were competing for a foothold among the spares communities of the Northwest, and the absurdity of the situation becomes at once apparent. I trust it may be said without offence that in the matter of consolidation and more equal distribution of forces, Canada has shown an example that the churches of the republic would do well to imitate. It is said there are in the United States some sixty-seven distinct denominations, not a few of these maintaining substantially the same doctrines and usages. While such a state of affairs continues we must expect, in regard to home missions, the maximum of expenditure and the minimum of results.
Other branches of home mission work will be considered in another article.
THE HEART OF BUDDHISM AND THE HEART OF CHRIS- ~IANITY.
BY REV. W. C. DODD, LAMPOON, LAOS MISSION, SIAM.
It is not going too far to say that the heart of Buddhism is selfishness, even as distinguished from self-interest. There is a Buddhist sacred book in this land called the thirty virtues or merits. And of the thirty, the one which puts its possessor nearest Nirvana is a state of supreme indifference to the fate of others. The teaching of the book is in the form of a parable, which- has a shadow of resemblance to the parable of the good Samaritan. A merchant fell into the hands of thieves, who killed him and robbed him of even his clothing. Ten fellow-merchants came upon this poor fellow in succession. One bathed his body j another set food and drink before him for his journey into the spirit world j another merely pitied him j another, seeing him lying dead, was afraid, and ran for his own life. This one exhibited the virtue of wisdom, according to the author of the parable. Each of the ten merchants showed one kind of virtue, but all ten of them together did not do half as much as did the good Samaritan. All that they did do had more reference to themselves than to their fellow-merchant. But the one of the ten who exhibited the highest form of virtue and received the highest praise was the one who looked on with the merest indifference, and whose only remark was, " Let his own merit determine for him." And why was this such high form of virtue? Because desire and emotion are the causes of all sorrow. Existence itself is an evil. The goal of the soul is the extinction of all that characterizes individual existence. This is Nippan. The road thither is the extinction, through discipline, of all emotions-pleasure as well as pain, joy equally with sorrow, pity and compassion as thoroughly as contempt and hatred. The true disciple must trample upon everything and everybody else. Why? In order to escape personal sorrow.
Centuries of such teaching have borne their legitimate fruit. The most otherwise ; suppose the old divisions remained, and that four Presbyterian common thought among the people here, and one as frequently heard as any other religious (1) sentiment, is this: "Every man for himself. "
People do everything of a ceremonial and religious nature only in order to make merit for themselves. Disinterested actions are foreign to their thought and experience. Hence they cannot understand them when they see them in Christians. No matter how great a kindness you show to a Buddhist, he does not usually consider it as occasion for gratitude. It is owing to merit on his part, aud to desire to make merit on your part. Even famine relief is so spoken of sometimes: "YO'l are making more merit than anybody else in the country," not" You are showing kindness or doing good."
The heart of Christianity is love. And the highest expression of love, according to Christ, is service-service even going to the point of laying down life for another. And the innermost core of service is foreign missions. Home missions and city evangelization may involve as much hard work, and they are as truly service. Not one word of "ven seeming rivalry, not a breath of disparagement of these or of the Salvation Army, or any and aU philanthropic or even humanitarian efforts! One needs only a short residence in a heathen lltnd in order to realize how barren of these and of common morality-even the kind that will not confess its Christian pedigree-is the land that is without Jesus Christ. No disparagement, but a comparison. Foreign missions is service, not only to other individuals, but to other peoples living in another land, speaking another language. Motives perfectly justifiable in the highest Christian ethical code are urging on home missions and city evangelization. Patriotism, selfdefence against vice and ignorance, commercial advantage, and the interests of civilization are all here. None of these is in missions to Siam. Siam has nothing to give America except what brought Christ down from heaven -souls lost in darkness and sin. All service to Siam is purely disinterested. It is the core of Christianity.
The heart of Buddhism and the heart of Christianity are as far apart as the poles. Does anyone suppose that the same soul may at different times heartily embrace and strikingly exhibit each 1 Not six months ago the author became acquainted with a lady nearly ninety years old. ,On his first visit she told how since her early youth she had been an earnest seeker after truth. So long as she was able to visit the temples she had been the leader in merit·making in her neighborhood. But she had become disgusted with the puerility and the self-contradictions of the Buddhist books and the universal immorality of the day. Having heard of Christianity. she began to hope that in it she might find the true religion of her lifelong search. Some of the workers in our training school had visited her, and she had listened with joy. At the next visit she told us she had not slept any the night following our visit-could not sleep for very joy. Soon after she received baptism in her own house.
But the infirmities of age soon began to prostrate her. It was as if
THE PRESENT ASPECT OF MISSIONS IN INDIA
God had preserved her in an nnusual degree of vigor of body and mind only until she should find Him. She is now failing fast.
At a recent visit she said: "My son, are you very busy every day!" " Yes, mother." After a long pause, "It sometimes seems to mother as if a primal mistake had been made." " Why ~" " Because there are so few of us." "You mean, mother, that if you were still a Buddhist, priesti and head-priests would be in here to see you every day; but I can't come ?" ,• Yes, that is it." Who can blame her ~ Who would not have felt the same in the circumstances ~ It was not wholly the old spirit of Buddhism that spoke in her. It was" the cry of the human;" but it was not yet the spirit of Christ. " But, mother, the priests are in every village of the land ; but there is only one minister of the Gospel in this province. Besides, the Holy Spirit is more to you than ten, or twenty, or one hundred priests. " "Y~s, yes." She was silenced, but did her heart give hearty assent?
The next Sabbath we went again to hold services at her house in the afternoon; spoke of the blessedness of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. After service this conversation occurred: "Mother, your son wishes to go away off to the south and hunt out other hungry souls who have not been filled as you have. I shall expect to be gone more than a month if I go, and may never see mother again in this world. What do you say?" In her reply it was as if the Spirit of Christ Himself spoke. Knowing that it might be our last meeting on earth, she replied quickly, " Go, go. Mother has not aword of objection. I am glad to have you go." Then she added a form of blessing as she held my hand in parting. With generations of Buddhist ancestry behind her, and after nearly ninety years of unusually hearty following of Buddhist teaching herself, she had within less than six months gotten at the very core of the Gospel-the heart of Christianity.
THE PRESENT ASPECT OF MISSIONS IN INDIA.-I.
lIY JAMES KENNEDY, HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, ENGLAND.
Scientists tell us that the great depths of ocean are unaffected by the severest storms, the agitation seldom extending beyond forty feet from the surface. To terrified voyagers the wild waves look as if the whole ocean was in turmoil, while in fact only a small part of it is moved. Frequently the great ocean of human life is regarded with similar illusion. We see only a little way into its depths, and we conclude that all below accords with all we see above. The result is a mistaken and misleading inference.
This tendency to illusion ought to be carefully guarded against when we look at India. The remark has been made about the late John Bright that he had fallen into many mistakes wheu discussing Indian questions, but that he had discovered two things-that there is no Indian country and no Indian nation-in other words, that India is a continent., not a country, and that its inhabitants are not a nation, but a congeries of nations and distinct races.
On the eve of Lord Dufferin's departure from India, in 1889, he deliv- ered a speech which in the strongest manner corroborates these great facts, which need to be again and again presented to the minds of God's people, if they would have any just conception of the work before them when gird- ing themselves for the evangelization of India. It is to be hoped the read- ers of this REVIEW have carefully read that speech as placed before them in substance in the April, 1889, number. When we consider this skilful array of well-attested facts, we are almost dismayed at the magnitude and difficulty of missionary work in India. If success depended on human energy and resources, it would be folly to advance. With the assurance that the work is God's, it would be folly, nay, it would be craven cowardice, to retire. As believers in Christ we are optimists, and our optimism is strong in proportion to our faith. This Christian optimism does not require us to confine our view to pleasing facts, to bright appearances. When we have facts before us of a promising nature, let us be thankful for them and cheered by them, but let us look full in the face, so far as we can, the real state of things, and try to have some just conception of the enormous difficulties that the Gospel in India must overcome in order to triumph. This resolute faithfulness to fact should strengthen us by leading us to cast ourselves more unreservedly on our Master's strength. When we are weak, then we are strong. In this spirit let us ponder facts presented to us in the India of to-day.
Few things will surprise many readers of Lord Dufferin's speech so much as the statements he makes about the illiteracy of India. Some time ago the following statement appeared in one of our most widely circulated Christian papers: "India waits a vast extension of colportage agency. All the men are educated more or less j so, now, are many of the women. Native colporteurs, male and female, mighL be ranging the land, entering zenanas, and casting seed into many a furrow at small cost to immense result. " Lord Dufferin, with full and accurate knowledge, makes a very different statement. Speaking of the peoples of India under the direct government of England, he says: "Of these two hundred millions not more than five or six per cent can read and write, while less than one per cent has any knowledge of English. Of the ten or twelve millions who have acquired an education, three fourths, or perhaps less, have not attained to more than the most elementary knowledge." A large number of the trading class can write business letters and keep accounts, but cannot read a page of a printed book. In the April, 1889, REVIEW it is stated that" of the forty-two millions of childreH. who ought to be at school, only three millions and a half are receiving auy education, and less than two hundred thousand of this numher are learning the truths of Christianity." For ages there have been educated classcs in India j our government has an educational department, officials are instructed to encourage educational effort, and now on the highest authority we learn that the vast majority are utterly illite~ate. Among certain classes there is a strong desire for the acquisition of our language, but apart from these educational progress is very slow. The Bengalese have been called, the Greeks of India. They have wandered far beyond their own country, and fill many responsible and lucrative offices. Many are excellent English scholars. Their great city, Calcutta, has been called " the centre of Western learning and culture in the East." Education ought wisely to bc advancing rapidly in Bengal, so populous, so wealthy, deemed so intelligent. The expectation is not fulfilled. We are startled to find from a review of the report published by the Director of Public Instruction for 1887 that the people generally have no desire for knowledge. "The pupils in secondary schools have increased slightly in numbers, but the numbers cannot but appear smallviz., one hundred and ninety thousand out of a population of sixty millions. It is significantly pointed out that these schools, which are to some extent aided by Government, are not supported by the people." "Primary education has reached a stationary stage. There is said to be no spontaneous tendency to the spread of elementary instruction beyond the classes which it at present reaches. As a matter of fact, less than one fourth of the school-going male popUlation is touched by the educational system, and this is said to be a sanguine estimate. Of this one fourt.h it appears that little more than one tenth passed the very elementary tests prescribed, and thus only about two per cent of the male popUlation of Lower Bengal are gaining any benefit from the wide-reaching system of state education." When we consider the illiteracy of the masses in India, the sad but certain fact ought to be frankly acknowledged, that the vast majority of the inhabitants scattered in millions over the vast spaces of that continent, away for the greater part from the cities, toiling for their daily food, are to the present day steeped in ignorance and superstition, worshipping the gods of their fathers, following their ancient customs, fast bound by caste fetters, and averse to change. Can we speak of these millions as ripe for the Gospel ~ We must sorrowfully confess that, so far as the vast major:ty are concerned, the work of the Christian Church has yet to begin.
Among the classes of society brought within the cognizance of Europeans there is more movement, we have every reason to believe, than at any previous period. The stagnancy of ages has been thoroughly disturbed. Questions affecting religion, morals, politics, and social life are keenly discussed in conversation, newspapers, periodicals, public meetings, and books. The press is free, and often uses its freedom to the extent of license. Residents in India have been for years watching this awakening with increasing interest. Visitors to India who stay a few days in its cities, and whose knowledge of the vast regions through which they travel does not extend beyond the look obtained from a railway carriage, are often delighted with what they see and hear. If of an inquiring mind, they come into contact with persons who speak English well, and 3re ready freely to express their views. These visitors see a new tide setting i.. with apparently irresistible force, and go away with the idea that the p,alilt in thought, feeling, habit, and act has no resisting power, and will be speedily swept away. Those who are cognizant of the real state of things know that the old, though greatly shaken, continlIeIil fearfully strong, and Pl"esents no appearance of immediate collapse.
Let us look for a little at some of the manifestations of old India. 'If a traveller from Europe had landed in Calcutta at the end of December, 1887, and proceeded at once to Allahabad, the capital of the Northwestern Provinces, he would have seen a sight which would have astounded and disgusted him. At that season there is an immense gathering from all parts of India to bathe in the sacred Ganges. The festival lasts fOf a month, but there are certain high days, when vast crowds assemble for WOfship, for traffic, and for amusement. At the festival of 188'7-88, on one of the principal days, four hundred naked ascetics walked in procession to the river, an English official on horseback going before them to keep order, with thousands of men and women on either side looking on with apparent approval-many, we suppose, with reverence. Among these, we Are told, there were not a few who were the alumni of our collegiate schools. What more striking proof could be furnished of the power of superstition in its most disgusting forms ~ At this very festival I have seen women bowing down to the ground before naked ascetics.
Another instance of the power of superstition was furnished some time ago by the excitement caused by the discovery that ghee-clarified butter, largely used by natives in their food and also in offerings to their godshad been adulterated by lard. The offence had been committed by Hindu traders. There was an outcry of horror at the discovery. Injury to health was not to be named beside the inj ury done to their caste purity and the insult to their gods, whose wrath might bring down on them fearful calamities. In the enlightened city of Calcutta the native newspapers called on the Government to enact a law by which this impious conduct might be declared penal.
The horrid shrine of Kalee, at Calcutta, continues to be frequented by all classes.
The contest between the Hindus and Mohammedans about the slaughter of kine never ceases, and at times it breaks out into furious fighting, to the disturbance of the public peace. Beef-eating Englishmen, to whom the Mohammedan butchers minister, come in for a large share of odium. Some time ago a cow preservation society was formed, and has received large and enthusiastic support. One native gentleman, well versed in our language, who has held office under our government for many years, has received signal benefits from it, and has been raised to the rank of Raja, proposed to his brethren at Benares to go to England, to fall down before the Queen with straw in his mouth, to implore her to forbid the slaughter of kine. The one condition he laid down was that his visit to England should not impair his caste position; but his caste people refused the condition. A Pundit addressed a crowded meeting in the town hall of Calcutta, and maintained that the killing of kine was as wasteful as it was wicked. One of the great feudatory princes of India, on his return from London after the Queen's jubilee, in order to restoration to caste, was obliged, along with the Maharanee and suite, to take the unutterably horrible penitential pill, the product of the cow, prescribed by the modest Hindu law. There was great rejoicing over the Raja's submission. Three thousand caste people were feasted on the occasion.
The facts we have mentioned-many similar ones down to the present day might be easily adduced-are in accordance with what may be seen all over India in the daily and occasional conduct of the vast body of the people in attendance at temples, in great religious gatherings-the people in thousands availing themselves of the facilities afforded by railway trains-in clinging to caste, in steady purpose to maintain at all cost their position of orthodox Hindus.
Notwithstanding the patent facts which seem to prove that Hinduism retains its ancient strength, and can defy every assault, there are facti equally patent which assure us that a breach has been made in its walls, and that the entire structure is undermined by influences which will bring it certainly, though not perhaps speedily, to the ground. Page after page might be given of statements made by Europeans and natives, by English officials who have seen much of the people and are deeply interested in their welfare, by missionaries of large experience, by natives of caste, rank, and intelligence, some of the number hailing a new order of things, others discarding it : to show that Hinduism is undermined.
Let us refer to native opinion. In the January, 1889, number of the Madras Ohristian Oollege Magazine there is an article by a graduat9 of the Calcutta University entitled" Are there Hindus Now~" The writer informs us that at a public meeting in Calcutta, composed of the elite of native society, a gentleman of the foremost rank in position, intelligence, and general esteem, himself still a member of the Hindu community, propounded the question, "Are there true Hindus to-day in Bengal~" He said: "In name they might be Hindus, but they had in almost every particular departed from the teachings. traditions, and customs of their forefathers, and drunk in deep draughts of foreign thought. " Those present were a little startled at first, but came, after a little searching of heart, to the conclusion that a right answer had been given. A Brahmin writer in a Madras paper says: "Hinduism It a corpse out of which the life has fled, and yet it is a living force. The moribund in expensive creed is still able to perform ceremonial functions." The cries of alarmed Hinduism attest its decadence. At Madras a Hindu tract society has been formed, and is prosecuting its work vigorously. In its first tract it says: "How many hundreds of thousands have these Padrees turned to Christianity, and keep on turning? How many hundrerlH of thousands of dear children have they swallowed up? Oh, over how many more havc thcy cast their nets ?" We may exclaim, when we read these words, " Would that the success achieved corroborated the statements drawn by Hindu fears !" The success falls far behind. The following words are very characteristic: " Is there no learned Pundit to be securfJd for money who will crush the Christians ?"
Many are the influences which tend to the disintcgrati(}n of Hinduism. Among these the spread of the English language and of Western knowledge deserves a prominent place. More than half a century has passed since a great impulse was given to the study by Duff, Lord Macaulay, and Sir Charles Trevelyan. Since that period every year has witnessed a large increase to the number of students, and during the last few years the zeal for the acquisition of our langnage has risen to fever heat. It is regarded as the direct road to mental culture and still more as the avenue to a place of honor. The rising, ambitious youth of our cities, and, indeed, of the higher class generally, are eager in the prosecution of this study. One result is that even in seminaries instituted for the purpose of cultivating Eastern along with Western languages and literature, Eng- 1ish and English literature are in such favor that the other department receives scant attention. It is not uncommon to find native gentlemen in middle life who cannot speak a sentence of our language whose sons speak it with ease and accuracy. Many pupils, however, have neither the application nor the leisure required. They attain to the merest smattering, which enables them to talk in a broken fashion, but is insufficient for the understanding of an ordinary book. These are often fond of appearing where an address or discourse in English is delivered, and English visitors are thus often misled as to the degree in which our language is known by the large audiences they see. Still it is certain that many natives know our language well. A striking proof has been furnished by its having been chiefly used at the sessions of what has been called the Indian National Congress, composed of persons of the different nationalities of the Indian continent. On a few occasions members spoke in Hindustanee, a language unknown to the greater number. English-taught persons are of all Indian religions, but the great majority are Hindus, and they come from government, missionary, and private institutions, in what proportion we cannot say.
What is the character of the educated class? To what extent are they intellectually and morally elevated? What is their bearing to their own and other religions? These are questions of the greatest importance, and most difficult to answer. In a class so large and brought up under such varied influences there must be marked differences, and any attempt to describe them under one generalization must be misleading.
One thing is obvious. The whole tone of the Western mind, of its religion, literature, and science is so antagonistic to the legends, superstition, and idolatry of the Hindus that English education cannot fail to have a disintegrating cffect. The Hindu stndent, as hc pursnes his studies in our higher seminarics, feels himsclf in a ncw atmosphere, breathing a purer and more invigorating air, with nobler views of man and nature, more worthy of God, and more accordant with truth t,han those which havc come down to him from his fathers. He may still practise the rites of his religion to please his family and maintain his place in society, he may follow the customs of his conntry, superstitions notions may linger in his mind, but he has ceased to believe in his ancestral religion. It is acknowledged on all hands that this is to a great cxtent the effect of English education. It must be so in normal minds, where contradictory views cannot dwell together. There are, however, in India abnormal minds which manage to reconcile what we deem irreconcilable.
A minority of highly educated persons, larger than is gen-!rally supposed, contend strongly for their hereditary religion, and cling tenaciously to it. I have before me a lecture in clear, manly English, in which a native professor of the government college, Benares, contends that modern Hinduism is the development of the great phIlosophic principles of the ancient Rishees in the form best adapted to the popular mind. He has a great regard for Christianity, but in its principles, philosophy, and working deems it far inferior to Hinduism. The Nineteenth Oentury for May, 1889, contains a brightly written article by the Countess of Jersey on " The Hindu at Home," in which she gives us the views of a highly educated native in words evidently supplied by himself. He tells us that the few natives of high caste who have become Christians have been deteriorated by the change, while the lower classes, Hindus and non-Hindus, are greatly benefited by it, are raised to a measure of civilization, and are freed from degrading habits. "Brahmins who know their own religion have in the Vedas and Upanishads such a profound philosophy and lofty religion that they can never embrace the Gospel." This gentleman acknowledges there is nothing in the Vedas for the millions outside the high-caste pale. They are to a large extent devil-worshippers, and there is a variety of hells where there is room for them all. The countess was so impressed with the proofs of the strength of Hindui&m, of the zeal and liberality of its adherents, that she gives no credit to the report of its decay, and thinks that personal observation in India would induce Canon Taylor to write still more strongly than he has done. This lady has an observant eye, but has no conception of India's need of the Gospel, has no faith in its Divine power, and is ignorant of or misrepresents the facts of Indian missions. Yet it is from articles of this kind that thousands of our people gather their views of what is being done in India to promote the cause of Christ. When we compare her impressions with those of a visitor like Dr. Jesse Blake, and of eminent officials who have spent a large part of their life in India, we see the contrast in the observation and estimate of facts between persons who come to them with entirely different sentiments.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTlDI:NT
II.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
EDITED AND OONDUCTED BY BEV. J. T. GBAOEY, D.D.
The World's Oongress of Missions, sions. The committee having in charge RY REV. E. M. WHERRY, D.D., CORRE- the management of this congress is as SPONDING SECRETARY OF THE CON- follows: Rev. Walter Manning Bar- GRESS. rows, D.D., Chairman; William E. Blackstone, Vice-Chairman; Rev. AI- The opening ceremonies connected virus N. Hitchcock, Ph.D., Secretary; with the World's Columbian Exposition Rev. Eo M. Wherry, D.D., Correspond- presented a pageant of uori valled splen- ing Secretary; Rt. Rev. Samuel Fal- dor. The beautiful Park, the lake and lows, D.D., Rev. Frank M. Bristol, islands, the lagoons covered with elec- D.D., Rev. Theodore N. Morrison, tric boats and Italian gondolas, the pa- D.D., Rev. O. P. Gifford, D.D., Rev.
latial buildings adorned by beautiful J. J_ Keller, President William R. Har- works of art, the procession of great per, LL.D., Rev. A. J. Canfield, Rev.
men from this and other lands, and a Moses Smith, Rev. George E. Young- vast multitude of men and women in dahl, Rev. E. C. Ray, D.D., W_ B. Ja- holiday dress from every nation, pre- cobs, Esq., Peter Sinclair, Esq., Rev.
sented a scene of grandeur and beauty L. G. Abrahamson, Rev. R. Blomendal, never before witnessed in the New Rev. John Schneider, Rev. H. W. Roth, World, and rarely if ever surpassed D.D., Rev. William T. Meloy, D.D., in the Old. The touch of an electric Rev. W. F. Black, Rev. Charles M.
button at once signalling the close of Morton. .
the Presidential address and the unveil- This committee represents thirteen ing of the magnificent statue of Liberty, Protestant denominations. •• Every set in motion the great electric motor known Christian missionary society"
and the varied machinery of the Expo- has been invited to send representatives.
sition. Every spectator was filled with A number of these have already ap- wonder, and the delight of the assembly pointed delegates. It is expected that was voiced in the shouts of the vast missionaries and converts from various multitude. All were more than satis- mission fields will be present. It will fied. The scenes of this great day have comprehend the whole mission field, and been photographed, and already the will therefore include city, home, and eyes of myriads in every land have foreign missions. "No such mission- gazed upon them. ary assembly has ever before been pos- There are, however, other things In sible." The" address" sent to the va- store for those who can appreciate them, rious mission societies of the world, of no less interest and of far more lasting from which we have quoted above, influence than the material exhibit on goes on to say: "A broad and compre- the Exposition grounds. Connected hensive programme has been prepared; with the Columbian Exposition is the vital principles of missionary policy; World's Congress Auxiliary, which has burning questions of missionary'rela- sought for the first time in human his- tions, aims, and methods; the whole tory to gather up what is best in the field in the light of past successes and thought of the world, and so present disappointments; the limitless possi- through a series of congresses what is bilities and responsibilities of to-day- best in the spheres of science, philoso- these and similar themes will be pre- phy, and religion. sented by representative men and wom- Among these congresses there is none en from different denominations of of so much interest to the Christian Christians, as well as from diverse parts world as the World's Congress of Mis- of the world." The programme adopted by the com· 2. Problems and Methods, The Scat- mittee seems to fully justify the expec· tered Populations, etc.
tations created by this letter. From Co-operative Agencies: this programme we learn that the Con- 3. Bible Societies.
gress is to be held during the eight days 4. Tract and Book Societies.
beginning September 28th. Meetings 5. Sunday-schools.
will be held from 10 A.M. to 12 M., from 6. The Demand for a Larger Co-oper- 2 P.M. to 4 P.M., and in the evening ation. By the essential spirit of Chris- from 7.30 P.M. to 9.30 P.M. All meet- tianity; by the urgent needs of the ings will be held in the auditorium pre- field, etc.
pared for the auxiliary congresses in 7. Co-operation Applied, Practicable the new Art Palace on the lake front at Methods.
the foot of Adams Street. SEPT. 30TH, TilE UNEVANGELIZED NA- All sessions of the Congress will be TIONS.
introduced with devotional exercises. 1. A Geographical Survey, especially Besides the papers and addresses pre- the Totally Unreached Fields.
sented by those chosen to address the 2. Ethnic Religions: Hold on the Congress on the various topics. volun- People, Attitude of the Missionary, Re- tary addresses will be made by mem- sults upon Social and Moral Life.
bers of the Congress. "It is expected 3. Special Fields.
that the entire proceedings, including 4. Obstacles to Foreign Missionary stenographic reports of the addresses Success: Language, Customs, Perni- and discussions, will be publisbed by cious Influence of Nominal Christians, the Congress Auxiliary… etc.
"The Women's Congress of Missions 5. Environments of the Native Con- will be in session simultaneously in the vert: Caste, Polygamy, and other He- same building during Monday, Tues- reditary Customs.
day, and Wednesday, October 2d-4th, 6. The Inaccessible Fields of Islam: with two sessions each day. Other mis- How Shall we Reach Them?
sionary services, as many as may be de- 7. The Jews and their Land.
sired, may be held in the same building 8. The Jews and the Gospel.
during any of these days." SUNDAY, OCT. 1ST, WORLD'S MISSION- The subjects of the programme are ARY DAY.
8S follows: Morning.
SEPT. 28TH, CITY MISSIONS. Missionary services will be held 1. The City of To-day: Its Place, throughout the world. All churches and congregations are invited to unite. Perils, and Possibilities. 2. The City the Storm-centre of Law- 1. General Sul!ject: The World's Speedy Evangelization. lessness and Immorality. 3. City Missions-Past Progress; Les· .Afternoon.
sons. 2. The Century of Modern Missions 4. Denominational Comity and Co- a Prophecy of Final Triumph.
operation.
5. Independent Missions. Evening.
6. Woman's Work in City Evangeli- 3. Special Responsibility of Young zation, Bible Women; Nurse and Visit- People and their Societies. ing Deaconesses. 4. The Church's Responsibility for· 7. The Salvation Army and its Meth- the Speedy Evangelization of the ods. World. SEP'l'. 29TH, HOME MISSIONS. OCT. 2D, FOREIGN MISSIONARY AGEN- 1. The Field, The Unevangelized in CIES.
Christian Lands. 1. Missionary Societies: Their Place and Function in the Work of the fered and formally passed upon by the Church. Congress in relation to these subjects.) 2. Missionaries: The True Aim of OCT. 5TH, FORWARD TO VICTORY. their Work, Witness Bearing, Evangeli. zation, Development of Native Church· 1. Consecration of Property, Propores, National Reformation. tionate Giving.
3. Educational Agencies. 2. The Call for Laborers, Personal 4. Concessions to Native Customs and and Parental Responsibility. Ideas. 5. Medical Agencies and Relief Work: 3. Native Agencies the Chief Hope of Physicians, Hospitals, Dispensaries, etc. National Evangelization. 6. Denominational Comity and Co· operation on the Foreign Field. 4. Thy Kingdom Come. 5. Divine Assurances of the World's OCT. 3D, WHAT THE WORLD OWES TO Evangelization, Scriptural and Provi- dential. MISSIONS. 6. The Power of the Spirit. Among those who are expected to 1. Reflex Influence of Foreign Mis· speak on these subjects are the followsions upon Christendom: Commerce, ing distinguished persons: Rev. Alex- Science, Spiritual Life. ander Mackay-Smith, D.D., the Rev. Graham Taylor, D.D.,* the Rev. J. 2. Direct Influence upon Native Peo· Spurgeon.* of London. the Rev. Fredpies: Industrial, Social, :Moral, Spirit- erick Charington* (England), Miss ual. Frances Willard,* General llooth* (Sal- vation Army), Bishop Ethelbert Tal- 3. Beacon Lights from the World's bot,* the Rev. William C. Roberts, Mission Fields, Conspicuous Examples D.D.• the Rev. John Hall, D.D.,* the of the Gospel's Triumph, Aboriginal Rev. Dr. Hillis, the Rev. Eugene Americans. Stock,* Sir Monier Williams,* the Rev. H. C. Hayden, D.D., the Rev. Dennis 4. The Island World. Osborne* (India), Rev. Thomas P. 5. The Dark Continent. Hughes, B.D.,* Professor H. M. Scott, 6. Eastern Asia. D.D., the Rev. F. W. Clark, D.D.•* 7. The Ottoman Empire. Rev. A. B. Leonard, D.D.• Rev. George 8. India. Washburn, D.D. (Robert College. Con- stantinople), Rev. Dr. Miller* (India), OCT. 4TH, RESPONSIBILITY OF CHRIS- Rev. S. Slater* (Bangalore, India). Rev. Dr. Post (Beirut, Syria). Rev. George TIAN GOVERNMENTS. W. Knox. D.D. (Tokyo, Japan), Pro- fessor Henry Drummond* (Glasgow), 1. As to International and Treaty Rev. H. C. Mabie, D.D., Rev. Edgerton Rights of Unevangelized Peoples. R. Young,* Rev. Hudson Taylor, Rev. G. F. Pentecost, D.D.. Rev. W. Elliott 2. As to the Citizen Rights of Mis· Griffis, D.D., Sir Richard Temple. sionaries. G.C.S.I.* (London), Judge E. S. PheJps,* Bishop Charles H. Fowler, 3. Responsibility of Christian Govern- D.D.,* Rev. A. A. Miner, D.D., Rev.. ments as to Human Slavery. A. J. Gordon, D.D., Rev. H. Grattan Guinness (London), Rev. J. 1'. Gracey, 4. The Bearings of International Law D.D., Rev. Arthur T. Pierson, D.D.,* on Religious Toleration. and Mr. D. L. Moody. * It is the confident expectations of the Evening. * The namel marked with a star have not y~t WORLD'S CONCERT OF PRAYER ]'OR lIlIS- signified their acceptance of invitation to apeak. eIONS.
All Christian churches and congregations throughout the world are invited to unite in prayer for missions in their mid-week services.
5. Christian Governments and the Opium Traffic.
6. Christian Governments aud the num Traffic. (Resolutions will be ofcommittee that the Congress of Missions welcome to them: and if, therefore, will not only prove a most interesting worth anything, they need only the assembly, affording instruction and form-skeleton-in which they come to profit to all who shall attend upon you. You can clothe them with flesh, these meetings, but also a source of per- blood, nerve, and make the dry bones manent influence for good to Christ's live. You speak of "Plans and Polikingdom on earth. Ministers and others cies. " How will some of these do ? able to do so should plan to visit Chicago during the sessions of this Con- 1. All mission boards in locating a gress. Mission societies which have field new to them should be careful to not sent representatives and yet purpose observe interdenominational comity. to do so should forward the names to This some have not always been carethe corresponding secretary. ful about.
Seats will be reserved for all repre- 2. In locating the workers on the field, sentatives of missionary societies. Ad- place them at least two and two. (1) If mittance to all the meetings will of there are cranky and incompatible peocourse be free. The prayers of all ple, who prefer to be alone, well-better Christians are earnestly desired that not send out cranky people. (2) If a this Congress may, under the Divine question of precedence is to be settled blessing, be made an era in mission his- at anyone station, the missions in epistory, and that a new impetus may be copal governments readily settle that given to missionary work throughout by their very constitution; and the the world. missions with independency or Pres- byterian equality can preserve ,those If Points" on Plans and Policies. principles in the per80nality and ojJice of the two (or more) associated workers, BY REV. ROBERT H. NASSAU, M.D., D.D. and yet by division of work give room for an (inevitable) precedence. [Some of the best things that come t() us come in private correspondence, S. Let the missionary workers be marwhich we do not feel at liberty to print. ried, for the sake of their personal com- We wanted a paper from Dr. Nassau, fort and also for the removal of unjust the oldest representative of medical mis- but still possible cause of scandal besions in West Africa-perhaps in all fore impure-minded heathen; but Africa-and incidentally in writing to him asked for some " Points on Plans 4. Let both men and women go to the and Policies" for our personal use. We field unmarried. If they can stand the received the following in reply, which climate let them return in two or three we esteemed too personal for us to ap- years for marriage, or better, marry on propriate, and" too good to keep" to the field. It is unwise to add the care ourselves. We solicited the privilege and strain of maternity immediately on of passing on to others, with proper ex- arrival on the field, at a time when all planations of their having been written the strength is needed for meeting and currente calamo, and he graciously con· adapting one's self to the many and sented.-J. T. G.] strange new environments of a new climate, etc. The (admitted) objection Yours of the 14th inst. was received that the married man or woman is hamon the 20th. In the pressure of my pered in their mission work by family closing weeks of furlough in this coun- and personal cares is counterbalanced try I am making no more engagements, by (1) advantage of marriage for perand can answer no more requests for sonal comfort, (2) immense advantage written articles. My last will be at the for an ohject lesson of the Christian International Missionary Union at Clif- family to the heathen, (S) the preventon Springs; but your jocular appeal tion of a growth of selfishness in the fOf a few "points" is too good to be man or woman who lives alone. put off. I will simply name some points that occur to me this morning. 5. Let missionary parents retain thei~ If they are worth anything, you are young children on the field with them, 14. Employ native aid on the field, until they need to send them, at about using it to the farthest extreme in all twelve years of age, home for educa- departments of the work.
tion. In some countries, like Syria and 15. Let missionaries on the field lift India, educate them themselves or in natives, by admitting them into their advanced mission schools. Do this (1) lives, even into social life-e.g.• inviting to save pain of parting. How many them to their tables and to their par- missionaries have given up their field lors; not "keeping them at arm's rather than take that pain! (2) Keep length," nor requiring them" to keep the child for the sake of the family ob· their place."
ject-Iesson. (3) All countries, even 16. Push all missions and Chriatian Africa, are now under improved mis- responsibility as rapidly as possible into sionary environments, safe for keeping native hands. Yes, I know they will infants there. (4) If they should die, so make mistakes and even prove unfaith- do infants die here; and that separation ful. So do ministers and bank cashiers by death is no harder than some separa- in this country. They will have to be· tions some missionaries have known, to gin some time; better begin at once.
see their children grow up, trained Even missionaries themselves make away from them, and even for the child egregious mistakes.
to forget them. 17. Encourage the formation of an 6. Make large use of iti'TUJrant work indigenous native church, free from the on the field. minute denominational divisions of 7. Make very large use of education America.
on industrial lines, to give natives safe means of self-support. The Zulu and his Language. * 8. Give a medical education to all mis- The study of the construction of lansionaries, male and female, if for the guages has a great fascination for the sake alone of putting them on their writer. The" crude base" of Sanskrit guard against disease. is more interesting than the plot of the most powerful novel. Grout's Revised 9. Let those who have the special Grammar of the Zulu Language held taste and adaptation take the medical us till we had gone clear through it. degree, and carryon the medical work of foreign misions, which is very im- 1. It illustrates the great indebtedness portant, and which should be developed of the world to missionaries for origall along the lines of the present grow- inal philological investigation. The au· ing interest on that subject. thor began to give his thoughts to this work even before he left this country 10. Control of mission plans should for his Zulu field in 1846. Reaching be in the hands of the workers on the the field of his labors, finding no book, field, but not. indeed, a single line of genuine vernacular in printed form, he saw at 11. Missionaries on home furlough once that if he would ever get a corshould not be permitted to make special rect knowledge of the Zulu language, appeals for their pet objects, except on he must begin by catching it 8S best he endorsement of their respective boards. could from living lips of the best speak· ers. In this way, and by repeatedly 12. Bring no natives for education to testing his attainments by referring this country, and give no aid or encour· agement to the native tramps who find their own way here, to appeal to foreign missionary interest for their own personal ends. * The" Islznlu," a reviled edition 01 a Gram- 13. Let the missionaries on the field mar of the Zulu language, by Rev. Lewis Grout use, as far as possible, native food and (339 pp., 8vo, solid), Irom the Yale University custom, and even a modification of dress Press. Published by the American Board. Bosto suit the climate. ton: Trlibuer & Co., London, 1898. them to the· people, and by putting the interesting characteristics of this them in daily use in his labors of teach· race. Wherever else the evolutionists ing, preaching, and translating, he may turn to find the data concerning gradua.1ly made himself familiar with primitive man, they must pass by these the idioms, forms, and principles of the Bantu races. The Bantu is not a language. Being soon asked by the " primitive" race.
American mission, and afterward by S. There is much interesting and in- the local (English) government of Natal, structive matter in this grammar aside to prepare a grammar of the language, from its linguistic design and worth.
he took every opportunity to enlarge We gather much about the mental his literary store of sentences, narra- capacity of the Zulu, as well as his tives, Zulu histor.y, native songs and religious and social nature and notions.
folk-lore, all as before from the living We learn much of him from his saws lips of the best speakers he could find and proverbs, such as the following: among the tribes, which the Zulu mon- (1) Of his mental method or philo- arch, Chaka, had subdued, unified, sophical way of putting things: .. If "welded" into one now great homo- we don't know, let us stop and be still."
geneous nation. .. Two kinds of money may look alike, 2. The grsmmar throws light on the while one is good and the other not intellectual character of the Bantu races. good. " "The child cannot be too "The author has found full play for ex- young to obey its mother." " Did actness and clearness in illustrating the you ever see a cloud of dust? our sins principles and rules of the remarkably are quite like it." "Each man has unique yet philosophic character of the some peculiarity in his mind as well as BAntu languages, so different from in his face." "Working does not help every other great family, and yet so us if we waste what we obtain." " The perfectly adapted to all the ends of lan- hands are the servants of the soul."
guage in expressing the thoughts and "Men bind the body only; the heart sentiments of men. The author not they cannot bind."
only traces the resemblance of the Zulu (2) Of his religious notions, practices, to other members of the Bantu family, and divinities: "I was restored to health but to the Aryan and other families as by a ghost of yours." " Let the pater- w"U. The Zulu, for instance, resembles nal shades eat and grant us great wealth, the Hebrew and Greek in the conjuga- so that our children may be saved with tions of the verb. From the root form us. " ., Let your cow bellow on and tanda, love, we get tandisa, cause to bring out the ev{l that is in me." The love; tandela, love for; tandana, love doctor (medical priest) says, " The pa- one another . tandeka, be lovable; zitan- ternal shades requires that particular da, love self. The great power of the cow." "Why is it that cattle are not Zulu language evidently centres in the still offered to me as usual? with me verb; its compass and facility for ex- how is it that I offer my cow-it is sald pressing the nicest shades of meaning, it is required by my paternal shade- in respect to the manner, state, and and yet I never recover 1"
timc of the acting, being, or suffering (3) Of his mode of life: "He who denoted by the essential verb are re- hates, hates himself. " •• Diligence is the markable. The author points out the mother of gain." "There is no profit resemblance of the Zulu to the Greek where there is no care." "If we are in some of these respects. The great industrious we shall never see famine. "
love which the Zulu has for euphony, " At the house of the industrious famine the "melody of ordered wordR," and casts a wistful look, passes on, and goes the rigid regard he pays to the physio- to that of the sluggard." .. Don't be logical laws of phonetics in the changes afraid of perspiration." " We help made to promote euphony, are among those who help themselves." " The women do the digging." "To err is time the Congregationalists had Bent the character of man." "The believers their contributions to foreign missions have begun to buy wagons." "Faith through the London Missionary Society has need of care." "He that does not and the American Board of Commisrise early shall say, Heigh.ho; and not sioners for Foreign Mi!80ns. It was overtake his work at night." "A per- felt that a more direct and personal conson who believes walks like a man walk- nection between the foreign field and ing in a thorny place, for a man walk- the churches at home would be muing among thorns looks carefully where tually beneficial. Africa, to which the he puts his feet." eyes of Christendom were turned, was chosen as the field of labor. The Ameri- 4. There is much in the introduction can Board had recently opened a misof this grammar which is of popular in- sion in West Central Africa; about eight terest, such as the theoretical views of hundred and sixty miles south of the able African philologists on the origin equator, and offered to share the field and import of the" prefix" in the Zulu with their brethren in Canada. In 1886 and other Bantu languages; and in the the Rev. W. T. Currie, B.A.• with his interesting statements of their general wife left for Africa. He had been there principles, as well as the inquiry as to but a few months when Mrs. Currie the origin and early migrations of the was laid to rest in an African grave. Bantu race. Henceforth Mr. Currie labored alone. Two years were spent in learning the 5. The book is rich in material for language and exploration; as a site had comparative uses, and thus well fitted to be found for the Canadian station, to be of great service to any who would Chisamba, where the chiefs were friendanalyze or learn any other member of ly, in the midst of a large population, the Bantu languages. This extends to a great many villages being within easy different members of the Aryan families, reach, was chosen. This station is and includes sample sketches of a dozen about two hundred miles from the of the leading Bantu languages. coast, and thirty·five miles from Kamon- dongo, the nearest mission station. Mr. 6. We feel particularly grateful tQ Currie spent a year at Chisamba. alone, the author for striking a blow, which laying the foundations for future work, we would might be a demolishing one, and gathered around him a number of at the absurd method of Romanizing boys, who are proving their attachment the Bantu languages which has till now to the cause of Christ amid a good deal obtained, in the capitalizing of root let- of persecution. In 1889 Mr. Lee went ters in the midst of words. There is no to Chisamba, but had to return for a. more reason for doing this in Bantu year to take charge of the station at the than in Arabic. There is no more coast. On the arriva.l of Mrs. Lee .he propriety in writing U·Ganda, than returned to Chisamba, where he remains there would be in writing muHaMmaD. in cha.rge of the mission. In 1890 Misa We are glad to be assured by Mr. Grout Clark left for Africa, and after remainthat a great many competent authors ing one year at Bailunda she went to discard this fanciful and bewildering, Chisamba. to open a school for girls, and as used, unexact method, using and do what she could for the women. only one capital in all these proper In 1892 Mr. Currie came home to renames, and putting that at the begin- cruit his health and report to the ning, as Uganda, Waganda. [J. T. G.] churches .. what great things the Lord had wrought through him. " The same THE CANADA CONGREGATIONALISTS year Mr. and Mrs. Reid left Canada, and IN FOREIGN FIELDs.-In June, 1881, a are now settled at Cbisamba. Two foreign missionary society was formed other missionaries are expected to leave in connection with the Congregational. churches in Canada. Previous to that this !lummer with Mr. Currie, who re- anywhere else is marching to the grave turns to resnme his labors with, we or to misery."
trust, still greater results. The mission This statement is unwarrantably has been thoroughly established. The strong and exclusive. Instead of re- influence of the missionaries is felt garding all that portion of Angola north throughout all the surrounding- coun- of the 140 south latitude as unflt for try. The people are realizing that the white colonists, I speak from six years missionaries are their friends, and con- of personal experience, when I confi- sult them in all the difficulties of life. dently affirm that the line might with A great many attend the Sunday ser- all safety be extended two degrees far- vices. A few, including some of the ther north-namely, to 12° south lati- old men, are anxious about their per- tude.
sonal salvation. The Christian lads- In making this recommendation, I wlll compare favorably in their Chris- have but one reason-namely, that the tian life with the most promising in our soil in the northern district is so much home churches, and are anxious to more productive for generalagricultnre teach their fellow-countrymen the way than in the south. Neither at Mossa- of life. One is about to leave the mis- medes (150 south latitude) nor at Ben- sion to go and make known to his own guella (120 30') are the immediate coast people the Gospel of salvation. Thus districts to be taken into consideration; the work goes steadily on. Our rela- these are notoriously unproductive and tions to the American Board have al- barren, having little or no rain all the ways been most cordial. They have al- year, and when it does rain. the region ways rendered and still render every becomes more or less unhealthy, for possible assistance. J. MCADIE. want of proper natural drainage. Be- ginning, however, say, twenty miles from the coast and thence eastward for Another Word About a Ohristian Oolony five hundred miles, there Is as choice in Afrioa. pasture and agricultural land as in any portion of the United States. That BY FRANK A. WALTER, UNIVERSITY whole plateau being at an altitude of PARK, COL. over five thousand feet above the Atlan- In THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF' THE tic renders the climate as bracing and WORLD for May, 1893, pp. 370 and 371, as exhilarating as is this famous climate in an article entitled " A Christian Col· of Colorado. Since the establishment ony in Africa," are noted some practi- of the West Central A1rican Mission of cal conditions of success by H~li Chate- the A. B. C. F. M., in 1881, at Bailunda lain, an old-time personal friend of and Bihi (east of Benguella), out of a ours, wI om my wife and I had the large force of missionaries of both sexes, privilege to entertain for some weeks in only three adults have died till the our home at Benguella, Africa. I de- present time; and neither of these sire for the sake of the success of any deaths is directly attributable to the cli- Ohri8tian colony who may go to the mate. No better general health report province of Angola to make a correction. can be shown by any similar mission in In the last half of the last paragraph Central Africa (east or west) than this occurs this statement: "As everything mission of the American Board in 12· depends on the climate, do not forget south latitude.
that nowhere north of 14° south latitude has the white man a chance in the strug- Union of PreBbyterian Missions in Korea. gle for life. In the district of Mossamedes (Angola) alone of all West BY REV. W. M. BAIRD, F'UBAN, KOREA.
Africa can sites be found which are There are three Presbyterian missions suited for white colonization. Going in Korea, the Northern, the Southern, and the Australian Presbyterians. press its judgment that it is best for us These churches began mission work to carryon all our native work with a here respectively in 1884, 1891, and view to the organization of but one na- 1892. The Northern Presbyterians tive Presbyterian church in Korea."
have the largest force, being represented Steps have now been taken by which by ten gentlemen and eleven ladies. the Presbyterian workers will be fairly The Southern Presbyterians have three distributed throughout all the prov- gentlemen and four ladies. The Aus· inces, though still in very insufficient tralians have one gentleman and four numbers. The call is especially em- lady workers. Besides these, there are phatic just now for some Christian phy- two gentlemen working on more or less sicians to 'consecrate themselves for independent lines, one being a member Korea. The Southern Presbyterians of the Canadian Presbyterian Church, have no physicians here yet, the Aus- the other belonging to the Southern tralians have none, and the Northern Presbyterian Church. Since the ar- Presbyterians have not nearly enough rival of the last comers there has been to thoroughly man the fields. Is it pos- a mutual feeling that our work is too sible that there are not men of God closely allied to admit our working among the Christian physicians of along on separate lines in the same ter- America who are willing to come to ritory, and thus helping to perpetuate Korea ?
differences which had their origin half- way around the world. A common de- sire for some sort of working union led Our Government and Protection ic. the the Northern Presbyterian mission New Hebrides.
(which held its sessions in Seoul, Jan- It is an interesting matter to know uary 16th, 1893) to issue 'a call for the meeting of a council which should have just what is the position of the United States Government in the case of the advisory powers on all mission SUbjects. proposed international treaty looking to The council held its first session in the effective prohibition of the sale of Seoul, January 28th, 1893. The fol- opium, intoxicants, and fire-arms in the lowing resolution constituting the coun- New Hebrides islands. A Washington cil was adopted: .. Re8olved, That we correspondent of the Philadelphia Evenhereby constitute ourselves the Presby- ing Telegraph wrote to that paper on terian Mission Council of Korea, said April 10th last, making the following council to consist of all male Presbyte- statements, which if correct relieves the rian missionaries in Korea, and said Government of any apparent hostility council to have advisory powers only." to the project: Besides the discussion of other ques- tions the council decided upon two im- " The subject of an international dec- laration for the protection of natives in portant measures. One of these re- the islands of the Pacific by prohibiting garded the location of the Southern the sale of fire-arms and liquors was brethren in Korea. They requested first broached to the Government in a the council to advise them which part note of August 11th, 1884. from Minis- ter West to Secretary Frelinghuysen. of Korea to select as their own individ- who responded on the 22d of the same ual field. It seemed unnecessary for month that 'this Government looks us all to distribute our workers side by with favor upon any humanitarian work, and would like more information side over each province. Consequently as to the scope and form of the prothey were advised to enter the two un- posed agreement. '
occupied southern provinces of Chylllla .. In a note of October 11th, 1892, to Do and Chyoong Chyung Do. Secretary Herbert. of the British Lega- tion. and then (,'harge d'Affairs, Secre- The other question relates to the na- tary Foster, referring to his predecestive church. It was adopted as fol- sor's statement, said: 'In this concur- lows: " Resolved, ,That the council ex- rence in principle I cheerfully acquiesce, and welcome with pleasure the oppor- but we forgot our weariness, and detunity now afforded to consider the for- voured it all before laying it down.
mulated plan, ' and announced the Presi- We have a number of copies. but they dent's assent to the general scope of the have all been "keeping lent," till we proposed convention, suggesting some have none at hand now that we wish to !ninor changes in the draft submitted wIite about it. They are "Six lecby Mr. Herbert. ' tures" which were delivered at the Re· " At about the same date a circular formed Theological Se!ninary, New note was forwarded from the Depart- Brunswick, N. J., in 1892, on the ment to the representatives of the Gov- "Graves" Lectureship. They deal ernment at the principal courts in Eu- with the Programme, Preparation, Adrope, inclosing a copy of the note to ministration, Fruits, Prophecies and Mr. Herbert for the purpose of setting Present Help of the Holy Ghost in Modthe United States right on the record, ern Missions. They read, as they ought there being a misunderstanding of the to, "like a romance." Ministers will find here suggestive material for many position of this Government. " Secretary Foster, in his note of Oc· a missionary address. Dr. A. J. Gor· tober 11th, stated to Mr. Herbert that don is the pastor of the Clarendon Street , this Government will be glad to be ad- Church, Boston, and since Bishop vised in due time of the views upon this Brooks's death the oldest pastor in Bos· project of other Governments, whose ton. He is resI;>0nsibly connected with adhesion to it has been solicited, and to the administratIOn of the Baptist Misgive attentive consideration to the exact sionary Union. The first chapter on form which it is eventually proposed to the Holy Ghost's Programme of Mishave it take,' but no further communi- sions will command the respect of even cation indicating progress or otherwise those who dissent from the author's in the consideration of the Convention view. The readers of this REVIEW are by the other Powers interested has been familiar with Dr. Gordon's style of ex- pression and his attractive and well·orreceived. " dered thought, and need not be told that this book is luminous, thought-pro· Rev. Caleb Frank Gates, of Mardin, voking, and inspiring. If twenty thou- Turkey, sends a line saying: "One sand copies were sold at once, it would problem in Turkey is this, Persecutions mean more than $20,000 to the missioncompelled the organization of Protes- ary exchequer. (Fleming H. Revell tant civil communities, thus adding one Company, Chicago and New York.) more to the Christian sects in Turkey. All Christian sects are more or less hos- -The Gospel of the Kingdom (Bakel', tile toward other Christian sects and Taylor Company, New York) is a popu- Jealous of them. Government relations lar exposition of the Gospel according mcrease this hostility. How, then, can to Matthew, by C. H. Spurgeon, late we ~et outside of the Protestant com· pastor of the Tabernacle in London. mumties and reach the other Christian Dr. Pierson writes an introduction to the American edition, calls this commen· communities? "I do not know, but am trying an taryon Matthew" the latest and ripest" experiment in the line of Christian so· of Mr. Spurgeon's life labors•• ciology. We have organized a Young Men's Society to do good in the name of Christ. The nei~hborhood in which -C. Hachiro Hajiwara. a Japanese he lives is the field III which each mem- student at Princeton, N. J., has preber ill to work. He is to report to the pared a reliable cyclopredic map of Society the poor, the sick. the erring Japan. It is a large. boldly printed ones in his neighborhood. The Society and colored wall-map. The popUlation is to investigate all cases and devise re- of cities, post-offices, roads, railroads, lief if possible. I t will also distribute Buddhist and Shinto temples, location Bibles and useful books, and try to do of organized churches, numerical all the good it can without regard to strength of Buddhist and Shinto priests denominational lines, only , in His and students; the comparative strength of Christian denominations in the whole name.'" Empire; the position of the coal·fields of the country; diagrams, tables, and a vast deal besides are shown on this reo markable map. It ought to be studied Book Mention, by all missionary workers, and might -We were very weary when we first well be placed iu every public library. chanced to take up Dr. Gordon's new It costs, elegantly mounted, $6; adbook, " The Holy Spirit in Missions," dress author. DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. [July III.-DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR.
CONDUCTED BY PROFESSOR AMOS R. WELLS.
The society of Christian Endeavor in and churches to be built, teachers to be Arabic is "Nedwat el Ijtehad Mes~ supported, colporteurs and Bible-women seahy." Dr. Clark found two of these to be adopted. mission stations to be societies in Syria. manned and strengthened, missionaries to be paid-something for every one and In Beirut Dr. Clark found a school every society." supported by the Presbyterian Christian Endeavor society of Rome, N. Y. He The Mexican mission paper, El l'e8- thus describes his visit: "In the room ti{/o, supports a regular Christian En- are about forty little girls from six to deavor department. sixteen years of age. They are attired in their best; and very pretty and at- Rev. W. 1. Chamberlain, the mission- tractive many of them are in their red ary of Chittoor, India, who is support- and blue dresses, their white clocked ed by the Christian Endeavorers of the stockings, and their wooden clogs, very Reformed churches, under the direction much, after all. like many little Ameri- of their denominational board, has been can girls that I have seen. They sing appointed Christian Endeavor superin- their Arabic songs, and repeat the ~fty tendent in that great empire, and he third chapter of Isaiah in English, and will look after the interests of the some other Scripture passages in Ara- Christian Endeavor movement until the bic. and go through with their pretty societies shall become numerous enough motion songs. Then two rows of them to hold a convention and choose their stand up facing each other, and one girl own officers. repeats a Bible prayer, and the girl op- posite to her responds with a promise Chester, England, has successfully that contains the answer to the prayer. carried out the first English united Gos- Then another prayer and another an- pel mission under Christian Endeavor swering promise, until all have recited. auspices. The meetings were continued This school, this teacher, these forty for ten days, and were held in Baptist, girls, all this instruction, all these good Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congrega· influences, all the streams of blessing tional churches. that flow out. from this school, are de- pendent, for the time, on a little elIort, The contributions of Reformed a little self-denial, a little uuselfish fore- Church Christian Endeavorers to their thought on the part of one Christian denominational mission boards were, Endeavor society in Rome, N. Y. Mul. during the single month 6f March this tiply this school by twenty-five thou- year, over five hundred dollars-half to saud, and you will know what the Chris· go for the support of their" Christian tian Endeavor movement throughout Endeavor missionary" and half toward the world might accomplish. Some the building of their second" Christian could do more; some must <10 less; but Endeavor church." By the way, a I am confident that, on the average, all worthy clergyman, who "had always our societies might do as much as this, had his suspicions of the Endeavor in addition to what they would natu- movement," seeing an item in this rally give in other directions. In all magazine similar to the above a few the mission lands that I have visited I months ago, jumped to the conclusion .have found all kinds of special work to that Christian Endeavorers had organbe done, costing from ten dollars to ten ized a new denomination that was buildhundred dollars. There are boys to be ing churches and ordaining and sending educated in schools, little schoolhouses out missionaries. Forthwith this watch- man on the walls of Zion rushes into print in a series of long articles setting forth the baleful elIects of Christian
189A.] DEPARTMENT OF CHRIS'I'IAN ENDEAVOR
Endeavor, which he had prophesied the past year." And so the noble list from the very first. Unfortunately for runs on, and similar records may be Utose articles, this" Christian Endeavor found in nearly all the denominational missionary" and these" Christian En- papers of the land. Truly Christian deavor churches" are the creations sim- Endeavor is a missionary movement. ply of the home and foreign missionary boards of the Reformed Church in In the last week in April the Christian America, who have chosen to apply in Endeavorers of Reformed churches these two directions Ute money received held in Dr. Burrell's church, New YOlk from their Endeavor societies. City, their first denominational mission- ary convention. It was a notable con- A recent writer finds a singular provi- vention, and addresses were made by dence in the fact of the simultaneous many missionaries-Rev. C. A. S. uprising of the Student Volunteer and Dwight (Turkey), Rev. P. W. Pitcher Christian Endeavor movements. "Thou- (China), Rev. E. R. Miller (Japan), and sands of young missionaries going into Dr. J. W. Scudder (India)-as well as all the world to preach the Gospel to by the missionary secretaries. every creature; and thousands of Christian Endeavor societies, in all parts of In Concepcion, Chile, a Spanish Chris- Ute world, with millions of members, tian Endeavor society has been formed ready to encourage, give, pray, and aid -the first Spanish society, probably, in in every way-what does it mean 1 Is South America. So far three Christian God at the same time raising up the Endeavor societies have been formed in commissioners for this chief work, and ChUe. Ohio Endeavorers are support· the constituency that is to send and sup- ing a missionary in Santiago. port them 1" Rev. James H. Pettee, of Okayama, The Hindoo Endeavorers of the girls' Japan, reports a decided growth of school at Madura, India, have organ- Christian Endeavor societies in Japan ized a little Sunday-school of their own, since Dr. Clark's visit to the Sunrise into which, every Sabbath. they gather Kingdom. In his own field are now some twenty or thirty little children. four wide-awake societies as against one when Dr. Clark was there. The same A Turkish Endeavorer of Harpoothas is true in many other places. In the lately started a new Christian Endeavor orphan asylum at Okayama is a Chrissociety, in which Protestants and Grego- tian Endeavor society of twenty-eight rians serve together on the committees. members, each pledged to give at least one tenth of their earnings to Christian Here are a few samples from a recent work, and many of them give more than column of Christian Endeavor items. that. What would have been thought of such items ten years ago? "The Delaware The Presbyterian societies of Phila- (N. J.) Endeavorers are supporting a delphia have set in operation a method native missionary at Ningpo, China.- of "missionary extension" somewhat The Spokane (Wash.) Union ia taking similar to the "missionary extension" steps toward the organization of a Chi- course of lectures inaugurated by the nese mission in thatcity.-The Fletcher Illinois union. There is a committee (Oat.) Presbyterian society will support of ten, divided into three sub-commit· a home miSSionary this summer.-The tees. The committee on organization is Courtland Street Congregational En- ready to organize missionary effort in deavorers of Chicago educate an Arme- any Presbyterian society that desires nian boy at Yozgat.-The Hennepin their assistance, or strengthen plans al- Avenue Methodist Endeavorers of Min- ready in operation. The committee on neapolis undertake the support of a for- information furnishes missionary ineign missionary.-The Lehigh Avenue formation, or directs societies to the Baptist Endeavorers of Philadelphia proper sources. One member will tell raised over eighty dollars for missions about the mission boards, their publication8, returned missionaries with whom midday meetings throughout the colo· appointments may be made. and the nies simultaneously with the final con- like. Another will answer questions secratiou meeting at the Montreal Con- about missionary periodicals and books, vention, July 10th.
and courses of missionary study. A Several new societies have sprung up third publishes announcements, mission· in China sInce Dr. Clark's visit.
ary letters, and so on, and suggests In one Junior society of Christian En- methods for creating an interest in mis· deavor that we know of, each cllild is sions. The committee on meetings assigned a missionary to think about, provides missionary lectures, and rents read about, and pray for. Not only a fine oxyhydrogen stereopticon or 9 fine would this be a good plan for all Junior oil lantern and sets of slides to societies societies, but why should not the older that wish to gain a knowledge of mis- Endeavorers adopt it ?
sionary lands in this pleasant way. On Only a few months ago delegations the whole, this is a very practical and from four German Christian Endeavor admirable plan, and has a.lready proved societies met in Detroit. By the last of itself very useful. April so many new societies had been Policemen are decidedly neglected by formed among the Germans in this Christian workers, and there are some country that it was thought necessary signs that Christian Endeavor may take to hold a second convention, which as- up this neglected work. At any rate, sembled in Chicago. Nineteen societies the first police society of Christian En- sent delegations, and a German Chris- deavor has been formed. It is in New tian Endeavor union was formed. This York City, and has a membership of union starts out with forty-nine socie- about twenty.five, about half of whom ties. Though these are chiefly found in are police officers. It is planned to or· the German Evangelical Synod of North ganize a Junior Police Christian En· America, some of them are from the deavor society, to be composed of po· German Presbyterian Church, the Ger· licemen's children. man Reformed Church, the Evangelical Dr. Farnham, of Shanghai, has pub. Association, and the Society of Friends.
llshed articles on Christian Endeavor This German union has its German methods of work in every number of Christian Endeavor organ, De'/" Nitar- the Chinese Illustrated News since Dr. beiter, which was established at the be- Clark's visit. ginning of the year.
The Presbyterian Board of Home In Clinton, Ia., the Presbyterian and Missions received during March from Congregational Endeavorers have en- Presbyterian societies of Christian En· tered into a home missionary combina- deavor nearly a thousand dollars. Under tion. They watch the police records, the guidance of the young people's and whenever they see that a woman secretary, Mr. Thornton B. Penfield, the has been arrested, they see her and plead societies are taking up special work in with her, trying, if possible, to get her Alaska, the Indian Territory, New Mex- to live a better life. Why could not all ico, Minnesota, Colorado, and Utah. Endeavor societies take up some such The Christian Endeavor society in work as this? Especially if it were done Allahabad, India, is a union society, with the advice and assistanee of older made up of Baptists, Presbyterians, and and experienced workers, it might be- Episcopalians. Catholics visit the meet· come a wonderfully blessed work.
ings, but do not join.
The Christian Endeavor society at Sir Monier WilliaIDS, in his work on Baraka, Libreville, Gaboon, Africa, has "Buddhism," says: "Christianity degrown to a membership of forty, and mands the suppression of selfishness. their meetings are exceedingly helpful. Buddha demands the suppression ot It is the plan in Australia to hold self. In the one the true self is ele· vated. In the other it is annihilated."
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
IV.-EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT.
The death of Dr. Arthur Mitchell and who but kp.ows Christ must love Him ; Dr. R. W. McAll, following close on he who loves Him must adore Him; that of Dr. Kendall, takes away two and he who adores Him understands more of the missionary generals. Each when He says, "I and the Father are of these three men was, in his way, one." , His little tract, 'Das Blut without a rival. Dr. Kendall was the Christi,' will show you how clear he is most marvellous organizer home mis- on the point of the atoning nature of sions ever had in America. He was the work of our blessed Lord Jesus. the Wellington of home missions, and I have not seen the article mentioned, in many things resembled the Iron but Dr. Schodde evidently does not Duke. In all the advocates of foreign know very much of Rabbi Lichtenstein missions I have known no man the or his teaching. He perhaps only saw equal of Dr. Mitchell for scope, fluency, his first one or two pamphlets, in which, graphic power, and pathos; and as to however, although Christ's divinity is Dr. McAll, no student of missions can not particularly dwelt on, it is not defail to see that his work was absolutely nied." unique. Twenty years ago he went to the worst quarter of Paris, and began in [The editors are not responsible for the simplest way to work among the the statements of their contributors, and Communists of Belleville. He was therefore gladly give place to any such God's man at God's set hour, and the correction.-A. T. P.] results are surpassingly grand. In due time we hope to have fuller papers in Bible Institute Workers in Foreign these pages, more fitly commemorating Lands. these two marvellous men. A large percentage of the ladies who A.T.P. have attended Mr. Moody's institute in Chicago have devoted their lives to Rabbi Lichtenstein. work in the foreign field. Twenty-five of the two hundred and twenty ladies Rev. David Baron, himself a convert- who have attended the Institute are now ed Jew, of Mildmay Mission to the in foreign lands; six more are under Jews, writes May 3d, 1893, to Rev. appointment, and still others are volun- John Wilkinson: "The statement of teers. No mission field of prominence Dr. Schodde in THE MISSIONARY RE. is without one of these workers. China, VIEW OF THE WORLD in reference to India, Japan, Africa, Persia, South Rabbi Lichtenstein is most erroneous America, and other lands have received and contrary to fact. At least two of most effective missionaries from those the Rabbi's addresses at the Central who have attended the Institute. Hall during the past month were devoted by him to the special purpose of My DEAR DR. PIERSON: In correctproving that Jesus is indeed the Christ, ing an error in the article of Dr. Nevius the Son of the living God; and in one (in your May issue) about the .J Volunaddress he spoke most touchingly on teers," I do so, not to criticise Dr. the Trinity of God, as being the essence Nevius's article, but to place my beof Old Testament teaching in relation loved seminary-McCormick, of Chicato the character of the God of Israel. go-in her true light. In my conversations with him he has more than once told me that he regards The article reads, "From Princeton Jesus as none other than the Jehovah there went out to the foreign field last of the Old Testament. In his J Juden. year three men-only about seven per thum is Christenthum' he says: 'He cent of the graduating class. Union and Chicago sent out about tTl£, same num· most useful of the series. In it we find ber, if I am rightly informed. while Au- given the pronunciation of geographi. burn, Allegheny. Lane, and Danville cal and proper names, money values, furnished none." The italics indicate weights and measures, distances, words the error. McCormick's class of '92, found in missionary literature, and samcontaining 46 men, has 10 men accept· ples of Bible texts given in the language ed, and all but two, who are making of the country. The book is carefully final preparation in Europe, now in the prepared, and all interested in missions foreign field. This is over 21 per cent will find it helpful. of the graduating class. Fourteen others of the class decided to offer themselves, The "Stories from Indian Wigbut some were rejected for worthy rca- wams," by our friend, Rev. Edgerton sons, some pray that they may yet go, Young, is one of the best, most fasciand I am sure aU are more earnest to" as nating, instructive, and stimulating of BUrne, emphasize, and reiterate that every modern books on missions. I have minister of the Gospel is by his being brought it to the attention of many sucb necessarily pledged to the cause of friends, several of whom have bought foreign mis.sions." it, and no one has been disappointed.- A.T.P. Sincerely, BURTON A. KONKLE. English Notes.
A declaration bas just reached us BY REV. JAMES DOUGLAS. from Madras, signed by twenty-nine missionaries, representing sixteen soci- Exeter Hall Breakfast Meeting-Emeties, in which they state that, "re- phatic Protest.-It is evident that Chris· gretting the misapprehension occasion- tians in the home country are deeply ed by the action of the Decennial Mis- stirred by the action, or rather inacsionary Conference of 1892-93, in with- tion, of the Bombay Decennial Confer· drawing the resolution relating to legal. ence in respect of the social evils to the ized impurity, and desiring to allay support of which the Indian Govern· anxiety caused thereby in the minds of ment has been for 80 long committed. Christian people," they declare their The Exeter Hall Breakfast meetillg, c< abhorrence of any system which pro- held on March 21st, was large, repre· vides for or sanctions the practice of sentative, and entirely consentient ; and. vice. " A similar declaration from the while not to be interprcted as a protest lady missionaries of Madras will follow. against Indian missionaries, cmphasized all the more on that account the gen- Our heartfelt sympathy is extended eral grief felt at tlleir unfortunate sito Dr. Clough, of India, whose wife lence, or worse, when in conference as· was killed in a folding bed at Evans- sembled. The Rev. W. F. Moulton, ton, TIL, on May 19th. Mrs. Clough D.D., presided, aud introduced the was in America to superintend the edu- painful business in an address of studied cation of her children, and her husband moderation. The speaking took a much bad recently returned to bis field of warmer turn under tIle Rev. H. W. labor. . There will be much sorroW Webb.Peploe, who moved a. threefold everywhere at the news of this sad acci- resolution condemnatory (1) of thc dent, for Mrs. Clough was beloved by opium trade; (2) of the eucouragement all who knew her. given to the liquor traffic by the Indian Government for the sake of revenue; How They Say it in Mi88wnary Landa, and (3) the provision made for licentiousthe latest booklet from the hands of the ness. Dr. James L. Maxwell confined Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of himself to one point, which, like a nail. the Presbyterian Church, is one of the he drove home and clinched-the fact that ever since there had been a church sionary work had all passed: and they in China (for fifty years) the voice of that church had been absolutely unani- now knew the needs of the world anu n:ous in the condemnation of opium- smoking. Mr. George Gillett expound- how to lUeet those needs. ed the iniquity catered for in connection with the Indian military cantonments; Dr. E. E. Jenkins, speaking of the and the Rev. H. Price Hughes traversed the whole ground, and in a speech of prescience of Carey, remarked that it great fire and force showed that the questions dealt with were not disputable was no poetical exaggeration to say that among Christian men and could not be. , , 'Ve demand, then," said he, "that the main foundations of the enormous these three deadly evils shall curse our Indian Empire no more." structural work of missionary India to- The resolution, on being put to the day were laid by that man, who, one meeting, was enthusiastically and unani- mously carried. hundred years ago that day, was set Baptist lrJissionary Olosing Oentenary apart in the Baptist meeting in Leicester OelelirationB.-Northampton, " the Mec- ca," as Mr. Baynes observed, " of Bap- for the labors to which the Holy Spirit tist foreign missions," has recently been the scene of animated closing services had called him. • in connection with the celebration of the Baptist missionary centenary. The Great interest was taken in these fund in cash and promises has now reached the sum of £110,800. Of that meetings, which were varied in char- amount only about £13,000 in promises is outstanding. According to Mr. Rick- acter and fraught with stimulus ett, the treasurer, the aim of the com- , mittee is to reserve, if possible, £100,000 throughout. of the sum collected for aggressive work, and, further. to raise the annual income The Bahamas and Ouba.-According to the same level. to the Rev. George Lester, Nassau, Bahamas, there is a good sphere in the Dr. Swanson, a Presbyterian mission- Bahamas for some young, efficient local ary, described China as the greatest field preachers as lay evangelists. One ad- for Christian missions in the wurld. and vantage is that there are no difficulties as containing 380,000,000 people domi- of language to be struggled with; and nated by the same civilization which another is that even on new stations the existed before that of Assyria, or Per- people are sufficiently acquainted with sia, or Greece, or Rome had even begun. the order of Christian worship to be Dr. Swanson also alluded to the aggres- able at once to enter upon our public sive character of the Chinese. .. I have services. never been to a place where I have not met with a Chinaman and a Scotchman. Speaking of Cuba, which lies within You cannot say that of any other hea- two days' sail of the port of Nassau, then people." Mr. Lester observes: " As far back as 1839 the Bahamian missionaries looked Rev. R. Wardlaw Thompson, who longingly toward Cuba, and desired to next spoke, pointed out that the work enter it with the message of a full, free, of missions by the lleginning of the and present salvation. But Cuba has new century had developed into a sys- been jealously closed for generations to tem. The experimental phases of mis· the Protestant preacher. Now, how- ever, it is open to him by reason of re- ligious toleration granted under the Spanish constitution." Who will be the first to carry into Cuba the banner of the Church of the :Reformation?
The Om'e of the Ohurcltes.-In Wes- leyan Missionary Notices for March, 1893, a thoughtful paper appears from the pen of the Rev. W. H. Findlay, M.A., on "Phases of Mission 'Work in South India." In this article the view is earnestly maintained that more im- portant than the number of accessions from heathenism is the growth in grace tion in many other fields of missionary of those who have been received. The effort. " unit that stands for a man just out of heathenism is one thing; that same State Regulation of Vice.-Much re- unit, invested with the gift of spiritual gret is expressed that, through an un- understanding, and in whom the graces fortunate error of management, the of the Christian character are developed, Bumbay Decennial Conference has put is another. Mr. Findlay holds that itself into a very false position as re- .. there is no more occasion to be anx- gards the State regulation of vice. ious about the numerical advance of Bishop Thoburn has done much to clear Christianity in India than about the away the bad and misleading impres- spreading of light when dawn has ap- sions created by the action taken. It peared in the east. " The main business would be a mistake to conclude either now is to see to the gradual transforma- that the missionaries present at the con- tion of the members and churches that ference did not know their own mind or are. The point is an important one. that they were callous on the subject. The evangelism that is insufficiently When presented, the motion was" pass- supported by pastoral oversight and ed by an :Jverwhelming vote, and amid spiritual nurture is certainly not in tumultuous applause." Its withdrawal keeping with the analogy of faith. was due, not to the merits of the case, but to the feeling of some that the reso- The Hill T1'ibeIJOf .A88am.-The Welsh lution in question exceeded the powers mission to the Khasi Hills, in Assam, is of a body constituted as theirs was. taking firm hold. Dr. Macphail, a The incident is none the less to be re- medical missionary who himself labors gretted that it is not so black as at first among the Santals, reports, concerning painted. the above mission, that .. the fields are white already to harvest." Tangible Japanese Women.-Madame Tel Sono, results have already accrued. .. Out of of Tokio, Japan, has been endeavoring, a population of 200,000 about 8000 are not without success, to interest British now Christians;" and the prospects are Christians in her projected training bright. The chapel at Shillong, which school for the educating and uplifting holds a thousand people with comfort, of Japanese women. Her. story is a is often well filled. strange one, as, indeed, so often hap- pens in the case of elect souls. In early A feature of great interest in this life there was the groping after God, if mission is that the Welsh missionaries haply one might find Him. Her . have brought with them their peculiar father must have been another such dim institution, the Wel8h Sundall- 8chool. seeker, for at the age of thirteen she "It is attended," says Dr. Macphail, was taught by him to worship the one "by the entire congregation, some living and true God. How true it is classes consisting of gray-headed men that there are the brooding influences and women. Two advantages are that of the Spirit before the sovereign word it affords a good field for voluntary mis- of command, "Let there be light, and sion workers, and of these there is no light was;" and in heathen lands this lack; and it insures that the great bulk period of incubation is often very pro- of the people, old as well as young, non- longed. But the light, when it does readers as well as readers, are thorough- arise, is all the more precious and wel- ly well drilled in the Scriptures." The come. Savinglyenlightened in Ameri· Oh1'istian, commenting on the above, ca, :M:adame Tel Sono is on ber home- observes: " We should not be sur- ward journey by way of England, and prised if the Welsh Sunday-school sys- hopes, on her retuI'D, to devote the re- tem became a favorite means of instruc- mainder of her days to a scheme fo.r the raising of the mental and spiritual Duta, who told him that the" English" status of Japanese women of the higher Europeans taught their people to read; social ranks. We are a little doubtful so Mika determined, on his return home, of the qualification •• higher social to seek out the" English" Europeans ranks," when we remember that" not with this object in view. Thus Mika many noble are called." Howbeit, we became a constant visitor to Mackay, by trust she may have much cause to bless whom he was baptized in 1884; and' God for the letter m. After all, not was chosen, some two years after, as many means 801ne, and the some would one of the" church elders" to carryon not appear were the mfrom ,. the many" the work of preaching the Word should crossed out. the Europeans be compelled to leave the country. Heathenism Renounced.-The Olt1'onide, organ of the London Missionary So- Recently (March 7th) a meeting was ciety, reports that two villages in the held at the Guildhall, Cambridge, for Madras Principality, within six miles of the purpose of hearing an account of Tripassur, have renounced heathenism the Church Missionary Society'S work and placed themselves under Christian in Uganda. The master of Trinity Colinstruction. These villages number 54 lege presided, and both Mr. Walker and families and contain 238 souls. The M.ika Sematimba spoke. The audience Rev. M. Phillips says that among these was large and appreciative. " Mr. people, who are pariah cultivators, Walker graphically enforced the diffithere seems to be a general mOM toward culties and the reality of the work, and Christianity. God grant that it may be the great need and importance of preso. The 'lTW'/)e in question has stirred paring native Christians for evangelup the rancor of the higher castes, istic labors. Mika, who met with an who are wroth because the villagers are enthusiastic reception, especially emembracing the religion of Christ. Mean- phasized the oneness of the Uganda and while a teacher has been d6puted to English Christians in the Lord, and the teach them; and the people themselves, deep thirst among his fellow-country. acting on Mr. Phillips's advice, have men for Christian instruction." built a mud-and-thatched school-room for divine service. Mi8sionaries for South America.-Dr. Grattan Guinness and those who labor Mika Sematimba, Ohillfin Uganda.- with him at the East London Institute The Rev. R. H. Walker, of the Church for Home and Foreign Missions have Missionary Society, has brought over felt a great concern for the unevangelwith him to England Mika Sematimba, ized masses of South America. The a Uganda chief. The chief is now badly neglected condition of Peru has twenty-eight years of age. He has been especially laid to heart. In the spent in that time an exceedingly event- September number of Regions Beyond, ful life, having been" in deaths oft," for 1891, the needs of Peru were set but the Lord, in presenting goodness, forth in one of the articles. Referring has safeguarded him, and, according to to this, Dr. Grattan Guinness remarks: His eternal purpose, brought him into "We are glad to say that some hearts the Good Shepherd's fold. Having have already been stirred by our article noted, in the first instance, how far on Peru to feel for its needs, and that superior the Europeans were to the several of our students have volunteered Arabs, Mika went to the Roman Catho- for missionary work in that country lic priests for instruction, and first heard and in the neighboring State of Bolivia." from them, by word of mouth, the The names of these students are R. facts of the Gospel. Later on, when Stark, F. Peters, J. Jarrett, T. Joyce, Mika was about fifteen years of age, he and T. Berkeley. May they each refell in, at Zanzibar, with Henry Wright ceive a full reward I
THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
V.-THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
Islands of the Sea;* Greenland, Labrador, and Alaska; Amerioan Indians;t Ohinese in Amerioa;t Mormonism.§ CIRCIDoG'OLAR EVANGELIZATION, OR musty chronicles told. The Danish court had given countenance to his THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN GREEN· plans, and in 1721 three ships' compa· nies, colonists and soldiers, had set out. LAND, LABRADOR, AND ALASKA. Disappointed in his quest of Norsemen, Egede had begun to work for the na· BY REV. J. TAYLOR HAMILTON, D.D., tives, but had been baffled by a dread· ful visitation of small·pox. Just when SEC. S. P. G., BETHLEHEM, PA. he was thinking of returning to Europe, the Danish Government having with· GREENLAND. drawn from the project of colonization, assistance had come to him in the per· One hundred and forty.four years sons of three Moravian laymen from ago there met in the town of Bethle· Herrnhut in 1733, Matthew and Chris· hem, at the forks of the Delaware, in tian Stach, two cousins, and Christian Pennsylvania, founded less than a David, utterly ignorant of the condl· decade before, men who might have tions of life in Greenland, but enthusi· been regarded as a pledge of the future astic for Christ. Egede had welcomed of Protestant missions. They greeted them at Godhaab, the most northern of one another as brethren in Christ, the Danish colonies, and about a mile though some were negroes of the Dan· away they erected their modest sod ish West Indies, others Indians from hut, calling it New Herrnhut. Berbice in South America, others Mo· hicans or Delawares, and yet others, Awful hardships followed. Scurvy Greenlanders I and small·pox broke out, and within a year carried off about two thousand na· The last were three in number-two tives. Meantime the kind offices of the young men and a young woman, one of missionaries to the sick and dying and the former being a son of the first con· dead made no impression. Christian vert of the Moravians in Greenland, David returned to Europe in 1735, and Samuel Kajarnak, baptized in 1739. his place was taken by Frederick With a married Christian couple, Si· Boenisch and John Beck. The sup· mon Arbalik and wife, they had visit· plies failed to reach them from Europe. ed Europe in 1747 in the missionary ship Starvation was fought off only by hav· Irene, whose captain and crew had dedi· ing recourse to shellfish and seaweed. cated their pursuit of the sea to the Egede's wife having died, he returned service of Christ and of their church. in 1736. The missionaries' boat was The married people had succumbed to destroyed. An attempt was made to the climate of Europe, and the young murder them. It seemed as if the dull people were now returning home by natives had no capacity for the Gospel. way of the American colonies. Their language, with its gutturals re- sembling the growls of a polar bear and The story of the mission in Greenland the crunching of drift ice against a berg, is a story of patient self·denial and per· was a terrible barrier. But at last Ka· severing victorious faith. jarnak was touched by the story of the suffering Saviour, and in time was bap· Hans Egede, a Danish Lutheran pas· tized with all his family. In spite of tor, had been the pioneer, fascinated the angekoks (medicine·men) the good with a hope of finding the descendants work went on, and when the first church of Eric the Red and his Norsemen, of whose ventures centuries before the • See pp. 62 (Jannary), 188, 211 (March), 481, 50!, 5112 (present issne).
t See pp. 488, 507 (pre.ent issue).
1: See p. 443 (June). I See p. 266 (April). was built, having been framed in HoI- with the missionaries at Frederiksdal, land and brought thither in 1747, the and a number have been won for Christ. baptized numbered 147 souls, and native assistants began to be trained. A sec- On the whole, the outlook of. the ond station followed in 1758, Lichten- Greenlanders as a race does not seem fels, about ninety miles south of New bright. The introduction of European Herrnhut. A third, Lichtenau, was luxuries by the trading company {to its founded ·in 1774, in a comparatively credit be it said that the sale of intoxisheltered position, so that a little flock cants to natives is prohibited) and the of goats and a few cows could vary the gradual extinction of the natural food diet of fish In this inhospitable region, supply by the superior weapons of where for more than half the year the civilization are reducing the Eskimos to land is shrouded in ice and snow, and a dependent position. Terrible epiintense cold confining vegetation to a demics have been only too frequent_ few stunted eyergreens and birches Their only capital is their young manand willows, lowly Alpine plants, and hood. When one male is lost at seacoarse grass, the food of the natives and the frail skin boat easily proves his must be taken from the sea. From an coffin amid the tempests and the ice-a early day a very serious hindrance to whole family is deprived of its breadeffective evangelization has been the winner. Poor at best, the membership half nomadic life of the people in pur- find it impossible to bring the mission suit of the seals and other means of sub- to a condition of self-dependence. Yet sistence, a life fostered by the policy of the contrast of their lives with those of the Royal Danish Trading Company, a their kinsmen on the east coast strikingmonopoly which insisted and still insists ly shows that even for them the Gospel upon the scattering of the people in has been the power of God unto civilizasmall companies along the coast. Hence tion as well as salvation. As· far back continuous Christian influence cannot be as 1823, through the agency of the Britbrought to bear on the people. To coun- ish and Foreign Bible Society, the printteract this, steady endeavors have long ed New Testament was placed in their been made to train reliable native assist- hands. ants, and with measurable success, two training institutions being maintained. LABRADOR. In 1824 Frederiksdal, near Cape Farewell, was added to the list of the sta- In some respects the counterpart of tions. Umanak was begun forty miles that In the twin land across Davis' from New Herrnhut in 1861, and three Strait, the mission in Labrador has had years later Igdlorpait, south of Lich- distinctive features of its own. Its tenau. founder, John Christian Erhardt, had been converted while a sailor through Years have elapsed since there was a the agency of a Moravian missionary In single professed heathen family on the the Danish West Indies. Soon after west coast, and ever since 1843 repeated selecting the site of the first station in expeditions have been made to explore 1752, he and the captain of the ship the superlatively desolate east coast. that brought him from London and five In 1881 the missionary Brodbeck man- of tho crew were treacherously muraged to reach Narssak, where he dis- dered by the savages. But the project covered the ruins of a Norse house did not die with him. Jens Haven preabout lat. 60° 30' Lieutenants Holm pared himself by a two years' stay in and Garde, as a result of their explora- Greenland, where he learned the lantion from 1883-85, estimated the popula- guage, and in 1764 reaching the coast tion of the east coast at only from 500 via Newfoundland, by donning the to 600 souls, savage beathen. Since Eskimo costume and using the Eskimo tben some of these have come into touch speech won a welcome. It was not till 1771, after intermediate visits, that a missionary colony, among whom were of the system is that Intoxicants are ex- Haven and Lawrence Drachart, a former cluded. Lutheran and later Moravian mission· ary in Greenland, founded the first sta- The Eskimos of Labrador seem to tion, Nain (N.lat. 56° 55', W.long. 62°). possess more sturdy independence of From the first the Brethren's Society character than their kinsmen in Greenfor the Furtherance of the Gospel among land, even as in their heathen condition the Heathen, organized in 1741, with they were more fierce. Visitors speak headquarters in London, has taken spe- of their talent for music, both vocal and cial charge of this mission, and year instrumental. We read of the singing after year has sent its own ship with in the church at Hopedale as being acsupplies. During the whole period no companied by a cabinet organ, a clarioserious ac()ident ever befell this mission- net, five violins, and a violoncello, the ary ship, though navigating a long musicians being natives, and of the effecchartless Arctic coast, nor has the com- tive rendering of difficult anthems both munication between the missionaries there and at Nain. In the southern staand their brethren in Europe in a single tions there are some neat log houses, instance been completely interrupted. where one would not need to hesitate to The present bark, the Harmony, the sit down at table with Christian Eskifourth of that name, was built in 1861. mos, and where the old habit of taking the meat between the teeth and cutting The first Eskimo convert in Labrador it off near the lips bas been abandoned. was baptized at Nain in 1776, and in the same year a second station was com- ALASKA. menced at Okak, about 150 miles to the north_ The third, Hopedale, a similar In its inception the third circumpolar distance to the south, followed in 1782. mission of the Moravian Church, that The first decade of the present century in Alaska, illustrates strikingly the exwas marked by wonderful revivals of pansive element in Protestant evanreligion, promoted largely by letters gelization. One of its pioneers, and its from the native assistants in Greenland, most eminent missionary ever since, so that the membership was doubled. the Rev. John H. Kilbuck, a full-blood- Hebron, between Okakand Cape Chud- ed Indian, is a great-grandson of Geleleigh, commenced in 1830, and Zoar, lemend, who was baptized by one of between Nain and Hopedale, begun in the Moravian missionaries among the 1865, -and Ramah, the most northern, Delawares of Pennsylvania in the midundertaken in 1871, to reach the few re- dle of .last century. After receiving a maining semi·nomadic heathen Eskimos thorough classical and theological eduwho rove in the region of Cape Chud- cation and for a brief time serving leigh, complete the list of the stations. among his own countrymen in Canada, in 1885 he sailed to the mouth of the Aside from the terrible rigor of the Kuskoquim River, together with his climate and the natural depravity of the wife, and the Rev. William Weinland human heart, the chief difficulties of and wife, and Hans Torgersen, a practhe mission in Labrador are connected tical carpenter, who accompanied the with the trade carried on by the mission missionaries as a lay assistant. In the stores, In the absence of other avenues, previous year tbe second-named, tofor the disposal of the furs and fish and gether with the Rev. A. Hartman, a cod-liver oil procured by the natives. veteran Moravian missionary, formerly Though those who labor among them of Australia, then and now laboring in spiritual things are distinct from the among the Indians of Canada, had been managers of the trade, annoyance and sent on an exploratory tour by the Soperplexity are caused by the tendency ciety of the United Brethren for Propaof the natives to run up large debts in gating the Gospel among the Heathen, seasons of scarcity. The one advantage an organization at Bethlehem, Pa., dating back to 1787, in response to the in- In the very nature of the case these Esvitation of the Rev. Dr. Sheldon Jack- kimos are tending to extinction, their Bon, of Presbyterian missionary fame. food supply disappearing, and will be- As in the explorations which led to the come extinct unless saved by the propacommencement of Okak, in Labrador, gation of the domesticated reindeer two missionaries lost their lives by ship- which Dr. Jackson is seeking to have wreck, so also before Bethel, on the Kus- Congress systematically introduce from koquim, was begun, Hans Torgersen Siberia. Yet there is a value in miswas snatched from his companions, sionary work among these polar tribes. being drowned in the river. But the When successful among them, the young couples persevered, though ut- Church of Christ will not only convey terly umcquainted with carpenter to them an unspeakable boon, and have work, and erected their house, where- •• the blessing of Him that was ready to in to face the rigors of an Arctic win- perish come upon" her, but thereby ter, the thermometer once registering also testify to the Christless in civilized 50.6° below zero. Weinland's health lands, that there are higher motives in gave out, and he had to return in 1887. this world than those which well up A second station was meanwhile begun from the fountain of selfishness, and at Carmel, on the Nushegak River, by that there is an unquenchable and limitthe Rev. Frank Wolff in 1886. In Sep- less power in "the glorious Gospel of tember, 1888, eight souls were gathered the blessed God." in as the first-fruits of the work at Bethel. Schools have been established Ohinese, Japanese, and Indians in the at both places. Several of the missiona- United States. ries-who will number thirteen with the reinforcements now on the way- The census of 18110 gave the number have acquired fluency in the Eskimo of of Chinese in the United States as 107,- Alaska, a dialect decidedly different 475, of whom over 70 per cent are in from that of Greenland and Labrador. California. Congregations are being built up. A number of filial stations are connected The Japanese number 2039, of whom with Bethel. The power of the over one half are in California. shaInans, or witch doctors, has been stayed, is beginning to wane. Terrible The same census gives the number conflicts have, indeed, been experienced, of civilized Indians among the general and life has been in danger from more population and not under tribal relathan one cause; but God has preserved tions as 58,806. Of these over 19,000 His servants. Two most valuable and are residing in the Atlantic States. faithful native assistants have been for- The total Indian popUlation of the mally set apart for their office by Bishop United States exclusive of Alaska is BachInan during an official visitation. 249,273. Of these 66,289 are in Indian Family life is being introduced in Chris- Territory, 8278 in New Mexico, 5304 in tian fashion. Cleanliness is being pro- New York, and 2885 in North Caromoted. The women as well as the men lina. are being made acq~ainted with the amenities of life. It is being proven The population of Alaska is 31,795, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can and is classified as follows; Whites, reach and eventually remove even the 4303; mixed (Russian and native), lowest type of savagery. 1819; Indians, 23,274; Mongolians, 'None of these circumpolar missions 2287 ; and others, 112. possess special strategic significance like those among the higher races of heathen. (We hope to have an article from Dr. Sutherland on work among the Indians, Chinese, and Japanese in the United States, in our next number of the RE- VIEW.)
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
VI.-GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.
EDITED lIY BEV. D. L. LlIIOl(ABD.
Extracts and Translations from Foreign of great value in their own way, might P eriodioals. as well have been delivered at the an- niversary of any other society. so little BY REV. c. c. STARBUCK, ANDOVER, had they to do directly with the cause of missions. Perhaps the first man- MASS. certainly one of the first men-to realize this fact was Canon Miller, Rector of THE UNITED KINGDOM. Greenwich. I well remember dear Samuel Hasell telling me. with intense -" The policy. recently adopted, of delight, that Canon MUler had asked to be put in possession of the most imgiving to the world before the anniver- portant incidents in the recent history of the Society, because he wished not sary the financial statement, robs the to make a great speech, but to impress on his audience facts which would annual meeting of what used at one stimulate missionary zeal. Perhaps to- day the danger is lest men should fortime to be an element of surprise. get that eloquence is a mighty power, and also lest some, at any rate, should Those who have attended the meetings look upon the platform as a pulpit. In a meeting which lasts from eleven to for many years will remember occa- two there is absolute need of variety, and in my humble opinion those to sions on which ringing cheers greeted whom God has given the gift of humor, though they must keep it well within the announcement that a dreaded deficit bounds, are doing good service to re- ligion when they allow its pleasant inhad given place to a handsome balance fluence to relieve the tension of mind which is the inevitable result of speeches in hands. Sometimes the reverse has that tax the mind, the memory, and the feelings. Of appeals to the eye, none, been the case. A soleIun, subdued, but perhaps, was more telling than that of the three chiefs from Uganda. I, for by no means unwholesome sensation one, have aways felt that I know more of the physical and mental characterishas passed through many hearts when tics of the Waganda, than I would ever have done had I not seen those fine, tall it has seemed as if the Lord's work men, beside whom most Englishmen looked small."-HENRY SUTTON, in must languish because the Lord's peo- Ohurch Mi88ionary IntelligencM".
ple had failed to give, or stir up others -" The triennial return compiled for the Society of Friends shows that the to give, what was needful to sustain membership of that body has appre- ciably increased in the London andand extend the work. But I for one Middlesex district, which is numerically the largest denominational district in. entirely approve the present plan. The the country."-Bombay Guardian.
Society's friends ought not to be kept in the dark a day longer than necessary as to its poSition in a p'ecuniary point of view. There have been speeches de- livered on the Church Missionary plat- form winhtieclhlefcotur ailmrpaansgsieo,neadn delowquheantcef~ wide still better, profound spiritual power, could not be surpassed. Hugh Mc- Neile, Hugh Stowell, and Francis Close were wont in their day to rouse their hearers to a. fever-heat of enthusiasm; but not always were such speeches cal- culated to inform the mind on the mat- ter in hand or to give practical direc- tion to missionary zeal. It is interest- ing to notice how gradually there grew a desire on the part of the audience to hear speeches which should keep well in view the special work of the Church ~Ilssionary Society rather than those which, able, interesting, and sometimes
EXTRACTS AND. T~ANSLATI.ONI!. li47
-" On November 19th, 1891, took call the scriptural admonitions as to the place the one hundred and fiftieth anni- deceitfulness I)f riches, the fragility of versary of the Society for the Further- power, the weakness of everything that ance of the Gospel. Since 1771 this is only human? And unless we are in- Society has dedicated itself exclu- curably frivolous and ~rjfiing, how can sively, infact, to the temporal Aupport we but look for some fixed poin~ in the of our Labrador Mission, which was general convulsion, and seek beneath then established. It has likewise de- these tossing waves for an immovable served the warmest thanks by securing ground in which to cast anchor?
the sale of the Eskimo products and the .. The will of God, which he that importation to them of the necessaries doeth endureth forever, when the judges of life. A business undertaking set on and princes of the earth are scattered foot by Christian people, whose pro- and dissipated like chaff, this is the ceeds have been and are entirely de- fixed point, this is the solid Rock I"
voted, without any by-ends of private' advantage, exclusively to the extension -" Grindelwald Conferences have of the Gospel, this Society, we may be- turned' out very much what was exlieve, is unique in the history of the pected. There have been delightful, kingdom of God. And as the Lord hllll and we believe profitable reunion8 j recognIzed and blessed its whole activ- but a reunion of the churches, in the ity, In the most palpable way, He will English sense of the word, has been doubtless also remember with a gracious plainly declared to be meanwhile prac· reward all those who, as members of tically impossible. Not the less is it a this Society, in all secluded stillness, hope which should govern their reciphave exercised this activity out of love rocal attitude and conduct. The dito Him. "-Jahre8hericht 01 the Unita8 visions of the Church are really a leg- acy from its self-centred, non-expansive Fratrum. periods; and the key to reunion is to THE CONTINENT. be found not at Grindelwllld, but on -The J(YI/,rnal d-e8 NiBsiona for De- the mission field. "-Minionary Record cember remarks: "The dolorous cir- (U. P.).
cumstances in the midst of which we -The admirable HerIDannsburg Mis- are bringing to a close the year 1892 sion, resting on so pronounced and po· have nothing to do with missions. Are lemic a basis of intense Lutheranism, there not, however, in the spectacle had from the beginning difficulty in which is unfolding before our eyes les- maintaining accord with the established sons by which we can profit? church of Hanover, although this is " A sort of earthquake has come to Lutheran. However, during the life pass in the world which surrounds us; of Louis Harms himself unity was col08sal enterprises, which have laid maintained. After his death his brother, under contribution the savings of a Theodore Harms, assumed the direction whole country, appear destined to a of the mission. The latter, in 1878, wretched I'.ollapse ; reputations hitherto with some other pastors seceded from intact are dissolving in an hour; men the Establishment, and formed the Free hitherto powerful are falling from the Church of Hanover. However, the Es· summit of power; and these shocks ap- tablishment continued to have a voice pear to forebode others, profounder still. in the .mission; but now the Free "How shall we not be shaken in Church has declared that so long as the view of such an overturning? How Hermannsburg missionaries shall con- can we but be struck with the vanity tinue in communion with the Establish· of all that which in the eyes of the ment, they shall be shut out from the world is brilliant, wealthy, powerful, altars and pulpits of the Free Church, well assured? Ifow can we fail to reo and the pupils of the Mission House
MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
shall not be allowed to hold any meet- can tolerate, can listen while the claims ings in the Free Church places of wor- of Christ are presented, and, as our misship_ The grounds of dispute are cer- sionaries are able to tell us, in many tain formulas so subtle that Dr_ War- cases do more."- The Ohurch Month.ly. neck declares tJlat even a German theologian cannot understand what possible , –".It is significant of the violence of occasian they can give why a body con- the popular prejudice against the Jews, cerned with the conversion of Caffres which the anti-Semitic agitation has should divide into two hostile camps. succeeded in reviving, that Dr. Noel- deke, Professor of Semitic Languages TIlE JEWS. at the Strasburg University, has been called as a witness to state that neither -" Nowhere have we more reason the Talmud nor any Jewish law-book to expect great things than in Constan- contains a single passage capable of tinople. The ,Tew there is a different being construed into connection with man somewhat from what he is in many ritual murder, or of warranting the baseother parts of Europe. If kindness can less charge that Jews require the blood soften tbe human heart-and the Jew is of Christians for the practices of their human, although there are those who ritual."-Jewi8h Herald. seem to deny him that quality-and make it more susceptible of impression, -This charge against the Jews Is we shall expect the Jew of Constantino- singularly like the wild charges brought ple to be most susceptible. It is only against the Christian missionaries in to toleration we refer when we speak of China, especially against the Roman kindness; but to a hungry man even a Catholics. dry crust is acceptable. We question very much if the treatment to which he -The Jewi8h Herald, speaking of the has been SUbjected for centuries at the sufferings of the Russian Jews, says: hands of so-called Christian nations has " What evil thing have these people not done much to steel him against done to suffer such humanity? They Christian influence. We deplore the only refuse to enter the Greek Church. perversity of the Jew, when we ought The Christianity they are accustomed to deplore and repent of that spirit of to Is to see a rude, ignorant Russian intolerance which, to a great extent, has kneeling before a wooden cross on the made him what he is. But while in roadside and kissing an Image, and then Western Europe-alas! now in Eastern rising up to spit on the first Jew he Europe also-the Jew has had to experi- meets and to curse him. " ence the harshest Intolerance, in Turkey he has had liberty and toleration extend- -The Rev. Dr. Ellis, missionary of ed to him. When, four hundred years the London Society for the Conversion ago, some 160,000 Jews were driven of the Jews, has baptized in Warsaw, from Spain by Christian jealousy, and, within a few months, fourteen adult after years of wandering. found no Jews and Jewesses of good condition. place to rest in, the Sultan of Turkey extended to them his hospitality; we THE SAILORS.' use the word advisedly, for while the Greeks were termed yeshir (slaves), the -" The origin of the best-known sailhaughty Padisha condescended to treat ors' hymns is interesting, most of them the Jews as rTl()7UJaphir (visitors). From being produced after perilous experithat time till now they have dwelt se- ences at sea. Perhaps no hymn is more curely under the Crescent. The result sung on the water than Charles Wesof four hundred years of toleration upon ley's, beginning their minds is just what we might expect: those who have been tolerated " 'Jesus, lover of my soal.'
It was written in 1740,. shortly after Wesley's re1;urn from America to Eng- land, and during the first stormy scenes
EXTRACTS AND TRANSLATrONS
of his itinerant preaching. Whether ter Christian and firmer believer for it the figures in the first stanza were sug- during the forty years following. The gested by the storms of the Atlantic, Christianity of most of us does not rate which the writer had but recentlyen- high enough to know how to dispense countered, or by the storms of human with occasional contact with a class of passion, we cannot say; but most of men whose vision of God, where they the sea hymns of Charles Wesley were do have it, seems almost like the vision but the unfolding of actual experiences. of Moses, " face to face."
.. Bishop Heber's matchless hymn be- -" Our Lord was sensitive to the roginning mance of the fisher!Dan's life. So, too, He felt deeply, as we do, the interest of … When through the tom sail the fisherman's character, that sim- The wild $empest I. streaming,' plicity, that sensitiveness to external impressions, that natural delicacy, that was written after similar experiences. spiritual touch which are what we to- The bishop took an affectionate interest day love in Him. Our Lord's heart in the humblest sailors during his voy- turned toward him with peculiar force. ages. 'Only to think,' said a grateful Here was the trnest and purest type of seaman, • of such a great man as the the man He wanted. Here He found bishop coming between decks to pray His special friends. Whether it was with such poor fellows as we.' "-Sail· Andrew with his straightforward modorB' Magaeine. The Magazine then re- esty, or Peter with his eager simplicity, fers to similar hymns of John Newton, or James with his rush of zeal, or John P. P. Bliss, and others. with his mystical passion, it was still in fishermen that He sought and won His -" The King of Sweden, incog., has four chief supporters, with whom He been visiting the Sailors' Home in trusted His whole secret. Something Stockholm. Besides inspecting the there was in the characteristics bred Home he dined with the sailors, and among boats and nets, in the companwon their hearts by his free and easy ionship of this mobile and exquisite converSation with them and by listen- water, which tuned them to the key in ing to their sailors' yams. Of course which the music of His voice spoke they had no less loyalty to the king home. These were the men who best when they subsequently discovered his felt and understood Him. These were identity. Why not drop in at the Sail- they who could bring Him the fairest ors' Home at 190 Cherry Street, or at harvest. "-Canon HOLLAND (S. M.). the Reading Room at 46 Catherine Street, or at 128 Charlton Street, or at -" Christian men and women going 31 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn"–{)r at to sea have an opportunity to make the corresponding sites in other cities- mention of the Name, which is often " why not, good men and good women, allowed to slip by unimproved. Plausl· and cheer them up? King Oscar went ble reasons can be given for the failure, away from his interview with them say- all of which are best answered by the ing that he had never spent a pleasanter example of those who embrace it and afternoon. Your experience will be are made a blessing. 'What God hath like his if you can unbend like him, and Wrought' is the title of a book de- • give and take' like him. By the scribing a mission tour made by Rev. way, he left a substantial reminder of G. C. Grubb M.A., and his companions, his visit, which doubtless helps to ac- whose experience is an answer to all count for his enjoyment of it."-Bail- who assume there is ' no use' in attempt-, ora' Magaeine. ing religious work among the motley body of passengers and crew that -The present writer" dropped in" throng our modern steamers. Mr. once to a prayer-meeting in Cherry Street, and he has been noticeably a bet-
GENERAL MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
Grubb and his friends had tact for pub· ing this high moral principle, our fiery lic address or private talk, were able to London contemporary sees only that sing, above all, were truly consecrated moral degradation which comes from and self-sacrificing regarding the hum- exercise of despotic power. He close~ blest service to anybody-a great busi· his criticism by saying that 'Nothing ness, for the proper doing of which they but ceaseless watchfulness and prayer had need of the immediate help of the can save an Englishman in India from Divine Spirit. With this equipment becoming an irrational tyrant.' There they had success with officers and crews again we have the conclusions of mere and with passengers from every rank of theorists raising themsel ves in helpless society, and the record of their converts opposition to incontrovertible facts. on every ship they sailed on is a mod- From viceroy and lieutenant governor ern postcript to the Acts of the Apos- down to the district magistrate, the tles."-S. M. Englishmen who rule over the millions of India manifest a degree of consider· -" Now when old Gloucester is cele- ation and patience and solicitude for brating its two hundred and fiftieth an- the welfare of the people, that is the niversary, it is fit time to note that even amazement of all who see it. The pe· a thing so fiat and dry as a salt cod has culiar helplessness of the people of India its romance. Its very alias, • Cape Cod so appeals to all the noble and generous turkey,' tells of a world of deprivation sentiments of the foreign rulers that, and struggle. It is the harvest of won- taken as a class, they exhibit more of derful fields. A potato patch may be the virtues and fewer of the vices of commonplace, a wheat-field monoto- power than are shown by any other nous, the ocean never. The beauty. ruling class in the world."-Indian mystery, pathos of the sea, fioat around Witnea, (Am. M. E., Feb. 4th). the Gloucester dory to-day rather than about the Venetian gondola. • •. Mrs. ,–" It has been said, 'Man may pos- Ward has been pre-eminently the poet sess the authority, but woman has the of Gloucester life, making her summer power;' and this is in a measure true home here for years, and entering in India as elsewhere. Religious sancdeeply by sympathy and service into its tion and social custom have combined fascinations, its: sorrows, its tempta- to make our Indian sister's nominal potions and tragedies, as her striking sition little better than that of slavery, stories and exquisite poems bear wit- and yet her influence is real and powerness."-Rev. C. M. SOUTHGATE, in ful. Uncrowned, she yet often rules, Oongregationaliat (S. M.). and is destined to play an important part in the fashioning of the future re- INDIA. ligious history of India."-The Oltrqni- -" The Methodist TifMB calls the ac- cleo tion of the Bengal Government on the jury question a bit of reactionary bar- -" The Maharajah of Travancore barism. If the writer knew hi!! ground called at Nagercoil on .his way back to better he would simply say that the his capital after visiting the Governor Bengal Government has had the moral of Mackas. It may be remembered courage to risk temporary unpopUlarity that in our September Ohronicle we for the sake of protecting the people gave an excellent portrait of His Highfrom injustice. Few men, and still less ness, with a biographical notice. ' }lao few governments, have nerve to ac· harajahs have sometiJn.es been in these knowledge their own mistakes. The parts when princes,' writes the Rev. J. Bengal Government frankly acknowl- Duthie, 'but for a very long time no edges that in granting trial by jury it reigning king had visited this town. made a mistake. Instead of recogniz- The royal visit was, therefore, an event of very great importance, and the preparations for the reception were on the Orient shall be redeemed to Christ the grandest scale. The Christian streets King!
were decorated after a fashion nevel' -Not only the London Timuj but seen before; and we had three thou· sand children on the spot from the va· the New York Trillune also, beglliil to rious schools of the Nagercoil district to have faith in Christian missions, and welcOme the Maharajah. Just before admiration for the heroes who push I left for my last furlough His High. them forward, as this good confe8i!ion ness requested me to purchase a clock will show: .. The Protestant evangel for the town, very kindly offering to on Lake Nyassa or the Catholic mispay the whole cost. The clock was ac· sionary on Victoria Nyanza takes his cordingly bought, and has been placed life in his hand and buries himself in in a beautiful tower, also provided by barbarous countries. He does not go the Maharajah. Advantage was taken to the Dark Continent in search of adof the Maharajah's visit to formally venture, nor does he return to write open the clock tower. His Highness, books and deliver lectures. Whether too, I must not omit to say, did the he dies of fever the first summer, or is mission the honor of calling upon us massacred at his station, or works year personally, as also subsequently did the after year among the natives. his heroprime.minister, who was in attendance; ism passes without observation_ It is and though the reception of an Oriental his mission to teach degraded races the prince and suite at a mission bungalow elements of civilization and Christiancould not be in any but a very humble ity. He suffers and grows strong. He style, yet much satisfaction was ex· communes with his own heart and is pressed at what we and our people had still. He does the work in a sublime done to show our loyalty on the occa· spirit of self-sacrifice, unclouded with sion. His HIghness received his Prot· premonitions of notoriety and publishestant Christian subjects in the kindest ers' bargains. That is moral heroism manner. What a contrast to the old of the finest fibre. The men of action days of darkness, when poor people of the Stanley campaign of adventure dared not have approached their king I have noble and commanding traits, but The elevating power of Christianity is they are not types of the highest qualicertainly evidenced in a remarkable way ties of heroism and self-sacrifice."
in our mission here. Thanks be to -What testimony to the value of God I' "-TIM Ohronicle. missions can be more trustworthy than that of Sir Bartle Frere, late governor THE WORLD AT LARGE. of Bombay, and he writes: .. I speak simplyas to matters of observation and -It is said that in the great Moham· not of opinion. and assure you that the medan mosque of Damascus, on the teaching of Christianity among 100,000,- lintel beam of an ancient portal, in 000 of civilized and industrious Hindus dimmed letters of Greek, is the inscrip. and Mohammedans is effecting changes, tion, "Thy kingdom, 0 Christ, is the moral, social, and polltical. which for kingdom of the ages, and Thy domin- extent and rapidity of effects are far ion is throughout all generations. " For more extraordinary' than anything you more than a thousand years the follow- or your fathers have witnessed In mod- ers of the false prophet have passed be· em Europe. Presented for the first neath that word, carved there when the time to most of the teeming Indian mosque was a Christian church; but, communities within the memory of men though even yet the glad day may be yet alive-preached only by a few score distant, who that has faith in the Gos· of Europeans-Christianity has never- pel fa not well assured that not only theless in the course of fifty years made Damascus and Jerusalem but the entire its way to every part of the vast mass of Indian civilized humanity, and is take the vacant place." In November now an active, operative, aggressive one of the party died; two more were power in everv branch of social and po- killed the following year; and in a very litical life on that continent." few years, of the eight who went out, Mackay, who lived unti11890, was the -There is hope for the enslaved even sale survivor. Yet there were plenty in Africa, for behold what God hath of volunteers for the posts of those who wrought within a period of only sixty had fallen. years. In 1833 the British Government paid $100,000,000 to liberate 1,000,000 Then further, Dr. Mabie, of the Bapbondmen; in 1844 in India 9,000,000 tist Missionary Union, has recently were set free; in 1846 the Bey of Tunis stated that .. notwithstanding the lIlorgave liberty to all who entered his ter- tality among our missionaries on the ritory ; in 1848 the French Republic Congo, yet three out of every four canforbade the further entrance of slaves; didates for the field express preference in 1861 the Czar emancipated 20,000,000 for Africa. " Surely the age of heroism serfs; in 1863 by the stroke of a pen has not gone, or if it hall, the era of a 6,000,000 in the South became free better heroism has dawned. men; and in 1889 Brazil wiped out the last vestige of slavery on the Western -There be honors and honors. When Continent. William Carey learned that his mission- ary son had accepted a diplomatic ap- -According to Dr. Josiah Strong we pointment in the British service, he said have not yet attained, and the Divine regretfully, " He has shrivelled up into call is clear and imperative to press on : an ambassador." And Mr. Spurgeon "Noble as has been the work of modern may have had that remark in mind missions, it must be regarded chiefly when he once affirmed that he didn't as one of preparation. The languages want anyone who could be a missionof savage peoples have been reduced to ary to drivel down into a king, nor one writing, the Bible and a Christian liter- who was:fit to be a missionary to die a ature have been translated into tongues millionaire. spoken by hundreds of millions. A foothold has been secured, a fulcrum -Not many years since the officers found, the Gospel lever put in place. of one of our societies were surprised . ., The world is about to enter on a by a visit from a man who brought his new era, for which the nineteenth cen- check for $1000 as his offering to misturY has been the John the Baptist." sions. When the question arose whether this was not a large gift for him, he .. -In spite of disgusted Brutus to the said, ., It is! It is one quarter of what contrary, "Rome" (that is, Christian- I own. I found that as I was prospered ity) has not "lost the breed of noble my money engrossed more and more of bloods. " Listen to Mackay of Uganda, my thought. I am not going to be a as he and his party took leave of the slave to the money God may give me, Church Missionary Society's committee and I am going to conquer the love of on April 25th, 1876 : "I want to remind money by giving it away." Some such the committee," he said, "that' within heroic course of treatment is required six months they will probably hear that in desperate cases. one of ns is dead. Yes; is it at all likely that eight Englishmen should Another man of wealth tells how start for Central Africa and all be alive the scales have fallen from his eyes in six months after? One of us, at least- these words: "I used to give as I felt it may be I, will surely fall before that. inclined; now I intend to give of that But what I want to say is this: When which God blesses. I have bank stocks, the news comes, do not be cast down, railroad stocks, United States bonds, but send some one else immediately to etc. These draw interest seven days in the week. But the :first day of the week is the Lord's day, and all that per- ply give the Bible and say, 'Read tains to it belongs to Him. So one sev· that.'" Bishop Thoburn, after years enth of my income from investments is of experience in India, takes the same saved to the Lord. Then I manage to view. secure an income during the six days of the week, and I will set apart to re- -In New York City are found over ligious purposes a certain part of that." 3000 physicians'to minister to 1,500,000 persons, while in the foreign field for -One of the teachers in the Doshisha 1,000,000,000 there are only about 350 considers it In many cases a disadvan- medical missionaries, or one to 3,000,000 tage for Japanese students to attend col- -that is, one to the combined popula· leges in England and America. He tion of New York, Brooklyn, and Jer· says it is quite a common remark among sey jity. missionaries, "Oh, he has come back spoiled." A brilliant graduate of one WOMAN'S WORK. of the great American universities made the remark on his return that "the -The first zenana teaching ever atmembers of a certain mission did not tempted in the East was in Siam in come from the best society In America. " 1851, as zenana work in India did not Another young man, who had spent begin until 1858. Twenty·one of the many years in this country and had 30 young wives of the king composed taken a course in theology, was offered the class. And the beginning in India a position in the Doshisha on his return, was on this wise : A certain missionbut refused because the salary was not ary's wife in Calcutta sat in her parlor high enough; and it often happens that embroidering a pair of slippers for her missionaries in other lands are pierced husband. A Brahman gentleman adthrough with the same sorrow. mired them. Mrs. Mullen asked him if he would not like to have his wife -The Chinese RermdfJr concludes taught to make them. He answered, that the popular theory which inspires yes. "That was a fatal word to those the call for large reinforcements in who wished to cling to idolatry. but a China and India is not wholly based in. joyous 'Ilea it has proved to be to them. reason. To attempt the evangelization As this lady was teaching the woman of the masses in the heathen world by of India to twine the gold and purple force of numbers would be a folly like into the slippers, she was twining into that of the Crusaders. Comparatively her heart the fibres of the sufferings few men and women of the right char· and love of our Lord and Saviour." acter, well sustained by the prayers and After one home was opened to the mispractical sympathy of the Church at sionary it was easy to gain access to home, would do more than thrice as others. many ill-supported, poorly equipped, though sincere and earnest missionary -In Mexico there are many saints to toilers. The true missionary policy be worshipped, from those who bring comes to us in this lesson of the past. rain to prevent famine to those who No country was ever yet evangelized keep food from burning while cooking. but by its own sons. Yes, a tug hard Woman', Work tells of a poor woman and long is before the disciples of Christ who was a cook in a family and who in the world-fight with ignorance, su- did not succeed well, although a devout perstition and sin, while wisdom and per- worshipper of the kitchen saint. One severance rank highest among the qual- day she appealed to God Himself, and ities required. one of her friends coming to visit her about that time taught her many of the -" I would never argue, if I were a secrets of the culiJlary art. so that her missionary," said a Brahman graduate path was much smoother. Her faith of MadraS University. "I would sim- in the saints was shaken, and she be- came a Protestant. -Helping Hand tells of Rebecca Cox, an's Executive Committee of the Pres- of Galway, N. Y., who has left to the byteriau Church, with 67 teachers. Baptist Woman's Missionary Society a The first one was opened in Salt Lake legacy of $800, earned by weaving rag- City in 1875, and others followed in carpets! And reading, who is not af- rapid succession along a line which fectingly reminded of Dorcas, and the stretches north and south from Idaho widow's two mites, and the alabaster almost to Arizona; and in the fierce box of precious ointment? Therefore struggle with the abominations set up is it not written in the Book of Life: in Utah no weapon has been found By faith, Rebecca Cox, etc.? more potent than these same Christian schools. -In the foreign field woman has had an ever-widening work ever since the -The Presbyterian women of the condition of her sisters in the seclusion Dominion of Canada are joined in a soof the harems and zenanas was made ciety which has 543 auxiliaries wilh known to the Christian world. She is 12,517 members, and 221 bands with not only a teacher of schools, guardian 5998 members. The cash income for of orphans, Bible reader, helping evan- the last year was $41,793, and this gelist, but by force of circumstances a after seventeen years from the beginfellow-minister with ordained mission- ning. Work is done in China, the New aries to bring the Gospel light to the Hebrides, Trinidad, and among the Indignorant. She has not been sent out as ians of British Columbia. The Letter ordained to this work, but as one has Leaflet has a circulation of 11,205, and said often foreordained to it. In not a last year paid expenses with $382 in few countries the women preach ; they addition. preach by the way-side, from the boat, in the home, on the street-everywhere, -The Baptist Zenana Society (Eng. indeed, but in the pulpit. To describe land) had an income in 1892 of $42,015, their work in medical and evangelistic if $3650 be included for work in China lines would be an endless story. not yet begun. Four missionaries were sent out last year and 3 others are un- -The Baptist women of the North der appointment for India, with others have 103 representatives at work in the to be dispatched to China as soon as arunevangelized world, and mainly in rangements can be made. Medical Burmah and China. work has a prominent place. Over 200 women are now in the field. -In 1871 the women of the Protestant Episcopal Church organized the UNITED STATES. Woman's Auxiliary to the Board of Missions, whose object was: to increase -Probably not all the readers of THill the funds; to circulate missionary publications: to educate missionaries; to MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD distribute clothing for the families of missionaries, and to educate the chil- know that humble, poverty-stricken dren of missionaries. At the close of Mrs. Phebe Brown, who in 1818 wrote the. twenty-first year, they lately re- the familiar hymn, "I love to steal ported for the year: Raised for home awhile away," has a double title to imand for foreign missions, in money, mortal fame, 'and because she was $154,323; in boxes for the missionaries, mother to the first American missionary $197,724. In the twenty-one Yflars they to Japan, tho Rev. Samuel R. Brown, have raised $3,623,505, an average of D.D. $172,548. -In the decease, May 12th, of General -There are 31 schools among' the S. C. Armstrong, Founder and Princi- Mormons under the care of the Wom- pal of Hampton Normal and Agricul. tural Institute, near Fortress Monroe, Va., the negro and the Indian have lost one of their truest and most valuable friends. He was of missionary birth in a native workers in the foreign field. the Hawaiian Islands, and of Massachusetts Scotch-Irish descent, a fine soldier Two of these ale young men under the in the War of the Rebellion, and at the direction of Dr. Hunter Corbett, of call of the Government one of the first Chefoo, China. The third is a native to undertake to look after the well being ordained minister of the Gospel in India. of the freedmen. In 1868 the school The support of the first two costs $30 was opened, and ten years later Indian each. The salary of the latter is $120. boys were also received. To the ordi- So for a total cost of $180 per year the nary studies technical and industrial Gospel is preached and taught by 3 eartraining was joined, and his burdens in- nest men in two of the largest mission cluded not only those of instruction and fields of the world. discipline, but the heavier one of secur· ing funds for current expenses, build· -Five services were held on one Sunings, and endowment. The institute day in a certain church in Albuquer. now has some 200 Indian and 560 negro que, N. M. In the morning the Presyouth in training for citizenship and byterian pastor preached in English; usefulness. at half-past two a Lutheran missionary preached in German; at four o'clock a -In New York City 4300 Jews, all Chinese service was held ; and in the men between the ages of eighteen and evening and between these two afterforty-five, have recently signified in noon services two other English services writing their determination to become occurred. Doubtless Spanish services members of .. Christ's Synagogue." also are held each week.
-It is a Hebrew merchant in the -The last page of the Bible in the same city, Mr. Nathan Straus, who last Gilbert Island tongue, upon which Rev. winter opened a coal-yard where the Hiram Bingham has been at work for poor could purchase fuel in small quan- thirty·four years, was read a few weeks tities at cost, or at about one third of since in the composing and press-rooms what they otherwise would have been of the American Bible Society in New compelled to pay. The value of this York. After the last verse of the last exquisite benefaction appears in this chapter of Revelation was set up In table. The total number of tiCkets sold type and a proof taken, Mr. Bingham was nearly 54,000, and divided as fol- read the words aloud, his voice trem· lows: bling with emotion. The superintend. ent of printing then led the way to the. 20,501 five-ceut tickets procuring 20 snd 25 lb•. press-room, the type was placed in the form, and the last page of the first Bible 18,933 ten.cent u " 4 0 H 50 u in the Gilbert Island language was com· pleted and the missionary's long task 7,799Arteen-cent " 60 " 75 " was ended. Mr. Bingham is the only man who has ever reduced a language i,93S twenty·cent " 80 "100 " to writing, completed a vocabulary, constructed a grammar, and translated 8,121 twenty-Ave-cent tickets 100" 125 " the entire Bible and then revised all the proofs. And be it further noted that, Hebrew though he be, this same Good Samari· -The American Tract Society during tan has secured permission to erect on its career of sixty-six years has issued one of the East River piers a building over 12,400 distinct pUblications in 150 where during the hot weather will be sold sterilized milk for sick children. languages. or these 30,000,000 vol· -The Student Volunteer for March urnes have been circulated, besides more and April contained an excellent article than 415,000,000 tracts and 220,000,000 from Robert E. Speer on" The Possi- copies of .periodicals. On an average ble Perils of the Volunteer Movement." 175 missionaries have been annually The same capital monthly states that a student in one of our Western theological seminaries is personally supporting employed, who have ma~e more than 386, and the church-members number 14,150,000 family visits, and circulated 2923. Besides there are 12.961 commuabout 15,700,000 volumes among the nicants in the Indian Territory. scattered and most needy spiritually of our population, including immigrants -The American Friends sustain misand Indians. sions in Mexico, Jamaica, Japan, China, Syria, and Alaska, and also assist in the -The Society for the Prevention of support of various others controlled by Cruelty to Children, in New York, dedi- other denominations-e.g., 4 women cated recently its new building, erected went out last year under the care of at a cost of $475,000. The structure is Bishop Thoburn. 50 X 100 feet, on Twenty.third Street and Fourth Avenue, and is 8 stories -The United Presbyterians are at high. The second story is taken up by work in India and Egypt, where they the offices of the society ; the third by have of foreign missionaries, 28 ; female the living rooms of the Superintendent missionaries, 51 ; medical, 3-total, 82. and his family ; the fourth by a play- Native ordained ministers, 24; licentiroom, a dining-room, and a reception- ates and theological students, 32; other room; the fifth by a girls' dormitory; native workers, 522-total, 580; total the sixth by a boys' dormitory; the foreign and native laborers, 662. Naseventh by kitchen, laundry, and ser- tive churches, 41; communicants, 10,- vants' rooms; and the eighth is an 641; increaSe during the yeaI', 929. open-air playground so arranged that Schools, 264; male scholars. 9472; feit can be enclosed in stormy weather. males, 2577-total, 12,049. Books dis- tributed: Scriptures, 12,747 copies; re- -Since it was opened by Dr. Muhlen- ligious books, 6482; educational, 19,226 berg, in 1858, St. Luke's Hospital has -total volumes, 38,455, or nearly 4 volreceived for treatment more than 36,000 umes for each communicant. Moneys patients, and contains 152 endowed raised : The total in the two missions beds. A new building is erelong to be for all purposes from the churches, constructed upon lots already secured. Sabbath-schools, and missionary sociconsisting of 10 semi-detached portions, eties, and for school salaries and buildand which will afford facilities scarcely ings and for books, $37,496, or an aver' second to those of any other similar in- age of over $3.50 for every churchstitution in the country. member.
-A marvel almost unheard of since EUROPE. the world began has really come to pass; for the famous Anti-Mission Great Britain.-One day in February (" Hard-Shell") Baptists-at least a sec- last Dr. Barnardoreceived 1413 separate tion of them-after fighting Sunday- letters containing gifts for his Homes, schools, missionary societies, et al., for the total amounting to $9750. On an- fifty years, and nearly dying out in con- other day, more recently, the 1651 gifts sequence thereof, have come to them- that came to hand reached the goodly selves at last, and for the future pro- sum of $12,500. But every day he pose to bestir themselves looking after needs $750 for food alone. their children and sending messengers to bear the glad tidings to the heathen. -It was a fine example of Christian fraternity when the other day the Soci- -The Southern Baptist Convention ety of Friends sent a check for $8930 . has representatives in Italy, Brazil, to the Salvation Army for use in its so- cial scheme. Mexico, China, Japan, and Africa; re- ceived last year $154,686, and sent out -The Zenana Bible and Medical Mis- 19 new men with their wives, and 6 sion publishes in The Zenana a table unmarried women. The baptisms were exhibiting its progress during the last ten years. Since 1882 the number of to What an alarming extent few are stations occupied has risen from 17 to aware. It seeIns the drinking places in 30, European missionaries and assistants that country have ikons-images-set from 40 to 78, native teachers, Bible- up in them. The rulers of thc Church women, and nurseS from 93 to 210, are not shocked at that incongruity.
schools from 31 to 68, pupils from 1862 What troubles them is that the men to 5000, dispensaries from 1 to 5, at- who frequent the saloons may not al· tendances at dispensaries from 2000 to ways take off their caps or hats in the 24,500. presence of the holy emblems. So an The Continent.-The King of Bel- ordinance is formulated which obliges gium has been foremost in efforts to do placards to be hung up enjoining the good in Africa, especially to bring the removal of the head coverings when the civilized nations to agree that no rum drinkers enter the holy places.
shall go from their ports to that conti. – The Bible Society has a colporteur ntmt. He was asked why he took such in Siberia, Golubeff by name, who sent an interest in Africa,. and replied: the following despatch from Irkootsk : "When my only son and heir died, " Returned to-day from my four weeks'
leaving me alone, I determined to do journeys. Circulated in December, for the orphan and friendless. God 2151 copies; in all, during this expedi- seemed to say, adopt Africa. Hence I tion, since February last, 11,120 copies.
have devoted my private revenue to the Mercury, 32t Reaumur (about 30° below interests of Africa, and when I die zero, Fahrenheit)_ Am suffering from Africa shall be my heir." All which is the cold; face frost-bitten; rheumatism kingly in the highest Sense. in the feet; more work to be done in -The London Ohronicle is authority Irkootsk terntory. Start for Baikal in for the statement that a certain priest, February. Eight thousand volume8 one Arnold Janssen, with the full con- have reached me here ; am forwarding sent of the Propaganda in Rome, has to Chita and Blagovetschemsk."
founded 3 institutions-1 in Holland, ASIA.
1 in Austria, and 1 in Silesia-which, Turkish Empire.-The Ohurch Mialike the great missionary school in sionary Gleaner alleges that the authori· Lyons, founded by the late Cardinal ties in Constantinople recently made a Lavigerie, have for their express object curious blunder. The Bible Depot is· the training of priests and others to sued a Turkish translation of St. Paul's work ,. in places where Protestant mis- Epistle to the Galatians. The authori· sions wist, and in order to destroy ties got hold of a copy, and thought the them!" Galatians were the people of Galata (a -Days of sorrow and suffering seem part of Constantinople), and conseto be in store for the Jews and Stundists quently imprisoned the colporteur, and of Russia, who must conform to the when the matter was explained said ideas and ways of the Holy Church, or they would only grant the man's reflee with the loss of all their goods, or lease on St. Paul's death certificate perish in Siberian exile. As an ex- being produced I change suggests in righteous indigna- -In the Church of Scotland's mission tion: "The' Orthodox' Church thinks at Smyrna 21 Russian Jews were bapit is verily doing God service in crush- tized not long since, of whom 12 were ing our eVangelical brethren, but such adults. .intolerance is one of the blackest her. esies above hell." -A native of Damascus has been trying to get permission to establish a -The Russian Church is well under- brewery in Jerusalem. But the Gov- stood to be nothing if not orthodox, but. ernor of Syria has thus far declined to grant permission-" in deference," visions of caste. It seems that there he says, "to the scruples of the Jewish are 1354 divisions of caste, tribe, and and Christian residents." race, specified by name, while there are 7109 similar divisions not so specified in -Pastor Faber, a German who is en- the printed lists, but noted in the manudeavoring to found a mission in the script returns. The census gives specific Kurdish district, has just recorded some names to 521 kinds of Brahmans who experiences which testify to the ad- are priests. The varieties of the cultivancing light. In his journey in Kur- vator caste, called Marathas or Kunabis distan he visited one of the most noted indifferently, number 957. The carpenof the Kurd sheiks. The sheik re- ter caste has 94 divisions; the blackceived him kindly. A sheep was slain smiths, 76; the goldsmiths, 86; and and prepared, and before beginning to the coppersmiths, 108. A single dieat he said, "We will remember your vision of the merchant caste, the Wani- Jesus, of whom I have read, that He al- as, has 411 subdivisions. Even the outways thanked God before eating… pastes have their classes, for the census And when the meal was over he took notes 244 kinds of Mahars and 154 kinds out of his pocket a well·worn Persian of Mangs. New Testament, and showed that he knew it better than many a Christian. -Formerly few high-caste people be- came Christians, but now it is other- India.-A wealthy Hindu has given wise. The Rev. A. Clifford, a missionfunds for a proposed "snake labora- ary of the English Church at Calcutta. tory" in Calcutta. The scientific inves- says that recent converts are of all tigation of the poison of different snakes, classes and of greater numbers than and the investigation of present reme· ever before. Of 31 recently baptized dies for snake bites, will be the labora- he says: "These included a Kulin tory's work. In such a country as Brahman, headmaster of an important India, where 20,000 die annually from Hindu school, with his wife and famsnake bites, such an institution ought to ily; a wealthy Hindu gentleman of pobe of great value. The wonder is it sition and culture, and an honorary was not established before. magist.rate, with hiB wife; a Bengail doctor, with wife and family; a young -In the India of to-day, to be able Inan, the son of the civil surgeon of a to add mediMl to missionary is like Mofussil station; a young educated placing a cipher after other figures-it Brahman; a Brahman lady of wealthy gives a tenfold value, says a writer in family; a Hindu fakir; a leper man the India Female }!}oangeli8t. and leper woman; a respectable young Mohammedan and others." -Bishop Thoburn thinks that the converts in India during the next eight Siam.-Probably the largest idol in years will outnumber those of the last the world is the "Sleeping Idol" in ninety-two years. Bangkok. It is at least 160 feet long, and is made of brick, and heavily gild- -The Indian Witneaa contains the ed. The feet are 5 feet long. and the statement that one missionary in North soles are beautifully inlaid with mother- India has raised up 170 preachers. of-pearl. This man has not been at any time in charge of an orphanage or theological -The success of the Laos mission is seminary, but during a ministry of seen in this urgent request for enlargesome twenty-six years he has sought ment:: "We ask for 3 ministers, 5 phyout and led into active work this large sicians, their wives and 2 young womnumber of assistants. en, in all 18 new laborers. We ask for the establishment of 3 new stations and -The census for 1891 reveals some the building of 5 residences, besides the astonishing facts in regard to the dienlargement of the boys' school build- most liberal contributor to the Methodist ing." The cost is set at $28,000. Episcopal Mission in Singapore is· & Chinese banker, Mr. Tan Jiakkim. He -The most common practice as a gave $1500, and collected from his Chipreventive of cholera is wearing a few nese friends nearly $5000 more. " strands of cotton yam about the neck or waist to keep off the evil spirits, -In 1890 there were in the Empire which bring disease. They also place 61 hospitals, 44 dispensaries, 100 medilittle rude straws containing offerings cal students; patients treated in one to the spirits, on the sides of the street, or year, 348,439. These figures represent float them down the stream. And the fol- the medical work as a whole. In 1891, lowing Siamese prescription for a snake in Shanghai alone, the number of pabite will show the great need for medi- tients treated by medical missionaries cal missionaries: "A portion of the was 56,1133. And Dr. John G. Kerr, of jaw of a wild hog; a portion of the the Presbyterian Board, in Canton, has jaw of a tame hog; a portion of the during his forty years of service personjaw of a goat; a portion of a goose- ally given over 1,000,000 of attendances bone; a portion of a peacock-bone; a to the sick and suffering; performed portion of the tail of a fish; a portion over 35,000 operationil, and trained 100 of the head of a snake." or more of the 'native Chinese in sur- gery and medicine. China:-" It is very strange," says a Chinese scholar who believes in Christ, -The Presbyterian Church, South, .. foreign ships came here; everybody has 6 missions, manned by 36 represaid they are better than ours. Foreign sentatives, and all are located in cities steamships came; all are glad to travel standing upon the line of the Grand in them. Fire-oil (kerosene) came; Canal. everybody said, • This light is better.' Foreign cotton came; people every- -The Chinese Christians in Canton where began to use it for clothing; not have joined in a book-lending associamuch market now for native white tion, and send out a staff of book·lendcloth. Foreign needles came; every- ers to distribute and gather good literbody agrees they surpass our own. But ature. the foreign doctrine came and nobody wants it. Very strange 1" Japan.-" J. H. P." writes to the Congregationali8t that "the Christia.ns -The Chinese have no term corre- of Japan are somewhat aroused just sponding to our amen. The translation now over the subject of church indeof their word means, " The heart wishes pendence. Some of the leaders are exactly so." stung by the taunt of Buddhists and others that Christianity tends to make -Says Morris, in his .. Winter in men disloyal. They long by some strik- China," "While the Chinese excel in ing act to convince these opponents of intellectual ability, patience, practica- the Western religion that the Church bility and cheerfulness, what they lack of Japan, like its government and its is character and conscience. And noth- schools, while borrowing ideas and ing less than the Gospel will meet methods from the outside world, is a China's need." Japanese institution thoroughly adapted to Oriental tastes and ambitions." And -Of the 1670 persons received into a missionary writes in a semi-discour- Christian fellowship in the Swatow aged strain to the ChriBtian Observer of Mission of the Baptist Missionary Union, the disposition manifest in all quarters nearly one half were baptized after they on the part of .Tapanese saints to were fifty years of age, and no less than take the management of things, creeds, .361 after they were sixty. and church order included, into their -Says the Chinese Recorder: "The own hands. In all of which not only Mendi and Sherbro Mission, on the West is there ground for grave fears, but also Coast, have discovered an immense de· for grandest bopes. posit of plumbago of the richest qual· tty, and an extraordinary deposit of AFRICA. quicksilver, and some pearl and shell fisheries. A London mining engineer -Dr. Field, of the New York Evan- has gone to report on these properties, gelist, writes from Africa: "But it is and if the statements should be corroupon the women that falls the extreme borated a syndicate will found a comof poverty and all that it brings. How· pany to work these mines. ever pretty they may be wben young, they have to carry burdens that soon ISLANDS OF THE SEA. break their backs and their spirits, till they fade and at last wither up into -That Fiji, a crown colony, has no the hags that we saw to.day, sitting by British troops, the only armed force the road and stretching out their hands being a bandful of native police, speaks in utter want and misery. Such is the volumes for the value of Christianity, curse of Islam upon manhood and which, sixty years ago, was not known womanhood and childhood." And he by name in the islands. closes his letter with these ominous words: "To-night, I must confess that -The Wesleyan returns from New Africa sits heavy on my soul. It is the Guinea are as follows: Churches, 8; Dark Continent, indeed. And is this missionaries, 4; lay missionary, 1 ; misall to which it has come in the thou- sionary sisters, 2; teachers, 26; local sands of years of its history-to be given preachers, 1; native members, 44; up to the most brutal despotisms that schools, 8; scholars, 240; attendants ever trampled upon human beings, and on public worship, 5790. to know even religion only in its lowest and most cruel forms, in fetichism and -It is impossible but that occasions witchcraft, in devil worship and human of stumbling should come; but woe sacrifices 1" unto him through whom they come! That is, even the weakest of converts -The Mission Record of the Church from heathenism must needs meet fierce of Scotland refers to the fact that Alex- temptations, but how dreadful beyond andria is rapidly becoming a great centre expression it is that their most deadly for miS!!ionary and educational effort. foes are transported from Cbristian .. The Italian College is well known. lands! As an illustration, Dr. Paton, The Greek schools are splendid build- in an address on .. Rum in the South ings, and there is soon to be added to Seas," said that the Christian natives them a new school for girls, at a cost of voluntarily gave up their native drinks, about £10,000. The mission to the pipes, and tobacco, and have nothing Jews has been developed in many direc- to do with the liquors brought to the tions. A neat new Episcopalian church islands. But traders in great numbers has recently risen in Ramleh. The came with liquors, and murders and Wesleyan pastor, Mr. Elliott, has a very suicides are the consequence. IImall congregation and no church, but he ministers to a large number of the -Recent disciples on Futuna, New soldiers of the army of occupation. Tbe Hebrides, were sacred men who proold-established American Mission finds fessed to be able to make rain, and by its work chiefly among the Copts. sorcery to bring diseaso and death. Evangelistic work is carried -on by other When they joined tbe class for Chrisagencies among Europeans of various tian instruction they willingly brought nationalities. " their sacred stones, held as dear as life itself, and burned them in the public -The missionaries attached to the square.
The Missionary Review of the World — September 1888
THE CENTENARY CONFERENCE OF MISSIONS
MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.
VOL. XI. No. n.-Old Series._ _SEPTEMBER, _ _VOL. I. No. 9.-New Series.
I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS.
THE OENTENARY OONFERENOE OF MISSIONS. SECOND EDITORIAL LETTER FROM REV. A. T. PIERSON, D.D.
LONDON, June 26, 1888. My DEAR DR. SHERWOOD :-This great World Oouncil impresses me as, so far in history, the climax of a series of astounding developments, which, like a pyramidal structure, have been rising from the broad base laid a century ago in the recognition of duty and debt to this lost world. 'These developments may especially be noted in seven directions or successive stages. First, there came the opening of doors till the whole world is now practically open. Then the organization of Missionary Societies and Boards now numbering over two hundred. Then the revival of the doctrine of divine stewardship and the consequent consecration of money; then the multiplication of laborers until the church knows not how to send those that offer. Then the development of the woman's agency in direct mission work. Then the bestowment of a new spirit of united prayer, and now the exhibition of the essential unity of all true disciples in what seems to me the most important and thoroughly ecumenical council that has ever yet assembled. The greatness of this gathering grows upon us all. Babel's miracle was reversed at Pentecost-the confusion of tongues that divided and dispersed mankind was offset by the tongues of fire uttering in every language the wonderful works of God. But here we have an advance even on Pentecost. Then and there, disciples could do nothing more than utter the gospel message, each in his own tongue. Here, from the east, west, north, south, the scarred veter~ns from a thousand fields have come up to the metropolis of the world, to translate into our one English tongue the stupendous triumphs of this gospel as wrought under their own eyes, in the isles of the sea, in India and Ohina, Japan and Burmah, Turkey and Syria, Africa and Papal lands. But though we have reached a climax of development, the topstone and capstone have yet to be laid before the pyramid of wonders is complete. The 1JJhole world must now be taken possession of and occupied for Ohrist. Without this grandest result, all else is comparatively not only unfinished, but is failure. To this end all elsc points and tends. For this God led His people to see and feel their debt to a dying world. For this He opened wide the doors, led to the organization of societies whose network of effort should encompass the globe; for this He led disciples to give money and offer themselves; for this ·He brought woman to the front, gave a spirit of prayer and manifested the essential unity of all true disciples. And if now, with all these encouragements and helps, we do not go up and possess the land and drive out the sons of Anak, it will be the most faithless and cowardlyapostacy of the ages! Never came the words of the inspired apostle with more force to the church: "See then that ye walk circllmspectly, not as fools, but as wise, buying up opportunity, because the days are evil! Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine, wherein; is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." Eph. v. 15-18.
Another impression most profoundly made by this Oonference is the necessity for a positive, aggressive type of Ohristian faith and life. The gospel needs no defense-if it does, the best apologetics are found in ener·getics. ;, To use the spade and throw up defenses may be well enough for those whose principal thought is to put up a barrier and a rampart between themselves and the foe. But whenever an enemy can put the opposing army on the defensive an immense advantage is gained. The only hope of successful warfare is to carry the war into the enemy's country-give him all he can do to take care of himself, press him to the wall, divide his forces, giving him no chance to combine and concentrate; compel him to garrison every imperiled point, not knowing where next you are about to strike. God never meant that His troops should busy themselves throwing up intrenchments and hiding behind defenses. To attempt to defend the Bible is a confession or concession of its weakness, or rather our own. Ohristian missions have shown that the gospel needs no defense. It is the power of God unto salvation, and the wisdom of God, too. All we have to do is to let philosophy, speculation, doubtful hypotheses alone, and simply, persistently, faithfully, lovingly, positively preach Ohrist, and the gospel will assert its own authority and vindicate its own divinity. There is such a thing as obscuring its glory even by the smoke of the incense of our own praises. There was one paper read on the work in the Fiji Islands; it occupied but twenty minutes, yet that twenty minutes, packed full of simple facts, carried conviction not to be produced by a half a day's subtle reasoning. The logic of events is the demonstration of the Spirit. The world may dispute the conclusions of argument: the keen edge of the metaphysician's sword often only whets the edge of his antagonists. But there are wonders of God's power that compel even Oharles Darwin to say, with Pharaoh's magicians, "This 1:S the finger of God." Those facts, modern missions must multiply and spread before the people. We nc:cd not yoke our arguments to God's chariot: only gather out the stones and give it free course and it will be glorified.
Another profound impression left by this World Oouncil is that of the. marvelous celerity of movement in this march of the ages. Truly God is marching on, and he who would keep pace with God must not lag behind or lack for energy and enthusiasm.': This is an age of steam and telegraph. There has been an amazing development of human invention and discovery. The march of humanity has been so rapid as to leave every other age far behind in rate of advance. Within a quarter of a century changes have taken place which have revolutionized human society. The spectroscope has been added to the telescope and microscope. The telegraph has yoked the lightning to its chariot, and now outstrips even the wings of the wind. We have devised photometers so delicate that stars which the greatest telescope cannot reveal are detected by the delicate instruments that betray the presence of the faintest light.. 'The deaf are almost made to hear and the blind to see. The most terrible surgical operations are performed while the patient is wholly unconscious through the beneficent action of anmsthetics. But if the march of man is rapid, how much more so is the march of God. He never falls behind. ~'The faster man moves the faster God moves. The celerity of His march is always in proportion to the preparation and capacity of His people to follow. And hence we may expect Him as leader to move onward and forward with more and more astounding rapidity as He gives us facility and opportunity for a corresponding rapidity of advance.
The unthinking man and even disciple may sometimes become discouraged and complain that it is impossible to meet the growing demands of the constantly advancing and enlarging work of missions. But such forget two things. First, this is the comincing proof that it is God's work and He is in it. No human power could have opened doors as He has done it, or swept away obstacles such as He has removed, or insured such miraculous swiftness of movement. In every part of the world-field God is manifestly working, and because He is working, His church finds new developments perpetually challenging her attention and response. While hurrying to occupy one new point and post of advantage another and another invite immediate occupation. While going up to possess some fair land that has suddenly been thrown open, fresh territory on every side commands and demands our prompt entrance, lest the enemy go in before us. While we are hurling back one wing of the enemy, the other gives way and the very center reels and staggers, and God sounds the trumpet call for fresh battalions to come to His help and complete the route of the foe. All healthy work and successful war makes constantly increasing demands on our resources, our sacrifices, our energies, our endeavors. A healthy boy will outgrow and outwear his old clothes, in fact they never get old, for while yet comparatively new, he gets too big for them, or his very activity quickly wears them through or tears them through. But no sensible mother ever complains because her boy is growing. A poor sickly cripple may wear the same pants till they rot from mere age, but the cripple does not grow. Because missions represents the healthy offspring of the church in her best type of life, the work of missions will always astonish us by rapidity of development. The more rapid~ the more normal and healthy and hopeful.
Secondly, let us not forget that it is the salvation of the church to be il'l, stra£ts. Laodiceanism is always already developed whenever and wherever disciples become rich in goods and easy in mind, as those that have need of nothing, or are sufficient unto themselves. Emergencies drive us to God for new help and strength, as they drove Moses and Joshua and Hezekiah to the throne of grace. To feel deeply our own inadequacy to the task; to be consciously in the minority; to be humbled by our own weakness, poverty, jgnorance, infirmity-this is the first condition of real power. If our trust in God be only as great as our distrust of ourselves, there are no triumphs impossible.
It is an indisputable historic fact that the eras and epochs of the greatest power in the church have been those when the exigencies and emergencies have been the most trying and desperate. The very fires which, by a seven-fold t"rial in the furnace, kept the Huguenots and Waldensian churches pure and true, were the fires of persecution. The most startling supernatural deliveranccs were wrought when every human hope had been crushed by apparent and overwhelming disaster. The church of God will never be in easy circumstances. Whenever J eshurun waxes fat he always kicks. Whenever God's people get in comfortable and especially luxurious circumstances, then evangelism declines, worldliness creeps subtly in, devotion dies, and the church has but a name to live. But to see a host of foes in our very front, which we cannot meet in our own strength; to behold a work whose very opportunities far overtax our available resources of men and means; to find God's chariot hastening on at such a rate that at our utmost speed we can barely keep it in sight-ah, this deepens the spirit of prayer, evokes consecration, and compels close fellowship with each other and with God.
Another impression left by this conference is the necessity of closer and more acUve fell01lJsMp among disciples.
Much has been said of our un'ity as expressed and developed in this great conference. Let us not forget that the very emergency of the church compels unity. Our opportunity and our peril alike make unity absolutely necessary. Before a united, determined, malignant, desperate foe, marshaling all his hosts and concentrating all his force against the Bible, the Ohrist and the instItutions of the gospel, we cannot afford to be divided. We unconsciously and involuntarily draw together in presence of a common danger. When the ark is in danger, we forget our tribal standards and close up our ranks about the tabernacle of God, until we touch shoulder to shoulder and forget our tribal allegiance in our anxiety for the treasures of our faith and hope. Macaulay says that in presence of men that worship a cow, the differences between evangelical disciples become positively insignificant. We add that to magnify and emphasize them till they become separating barriers and dividing lines, in the presence of foes that, like Herod and Pilate, become friends for the sake of crushing Ohristianity, is positively criminal. I take no merit or credit to myself that in this great conference I have forgotten my own country and my father's house, and almost lost my own identity and denominational connection. In the presence of issues so vast, and perils so tremendous, and work so herculean, and foes so colossal, all has been driven from my mind save the fact that I am a servant of God, and am standing with other servants of God, watching the imperative signals of His hand in the crisis of the opportunity of the church and the destiny of the world. And if, in- presence of such an enemy on the one hand and the Jehovah of the covenant on the other, I could not forget all else but this, that we have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one common cause, hope, and home, I should doubt whether, after all, I am a disciple. A man who, in such a presence, magnifies his denomination is only a fossilized ecclesiastic-a mere mummy.
In connection with this necessity of closer fellowship, one other impression this conference has graven on my heart, and that of many others, as with the pen of iron and the point of adamant: The voice of God to-day commands active co-operation among disdples in mission qoork. Here for ten days we have met from every quarter and every evangelical branch of the great Ohurch Oatholic, and not a discordant note has been sounded. Brethren may dwell together in unity, may talk freely and frankly of things in which there is wide difference of opinion, and yet feel one heart-beat of responsive sympathy. This harmony of feeling and concert of action would continue if the contact and fellowship could continue. But there is danger that when we separate, diversities of sphere, denominational view and practical working may leave the way open for misapprehension and possible conflict. Oan we not perpetuate this contact and preserve this fellowship? The conference has bound itself by wholesome restraints not to open the door to resolutions. But even wholesome restrictions must not become a yoke of bondage.
I am fully persuaded that there is at least one way in which we may preserve certain links of contact and co-operation. We have spent hours upon the discussion of missionary comity, and in it we were touching the very core of practical mission problems. Now the only hope of permanent adjustment of missionary comity is by a missionary committee. Change the emphasis of your accent and you have the remedy suggested. This blessed contact which has developed such overflowing charity it would be a disaster to have broken and lost. Could there not be a committee, not legislative but advisory, representing different denominations and societies, to whom might be referred any questions pertaining to the adjustment of our common and co-operative missionary work? What if such representative men as Sir John Kenneway and Eugene Stock, Wardlaw Thompson and A. C. Thompson, Ellenwood and Gordon, Hudson Taylor and Wm. M. Taylor, Bishop Wilson and Ninde, could be organized into an interdenominational and international missionary committee, to keep up this blessed contact and counsel with each other by correspondence or converse as new exigencies arise I Let me mention one direction especially in which such a committee would be pre-eminently helpful: the occupation of fields for Ghrist. First, as to fields already fairly preoccupied, it could be determined to leave them to those now working in them, unless too large. So has the Nile Valley been practically left to the United Presbyterians, Turkey to American Congregationalists, Palestine to English Churchmen, and Siam to American Presbyterians.
Second, as to fields now open but unoccupied, whose very vastness demands division of labor, such a committee might aid in securing prompt and united occupancy without overlapping and interference.
Third, as to fields not yet opened fully but just about to be-like Korea and Thibet-preparations might be made by which both delay and waste of material might be prevented. So important does this matter seem to me that I can think of no other work more important, and for the sake of doing this any man might feel honored if he were called of God, to lay down any other and separate himself unto this. I am painfully conscious that the occupation of the world-field, vast as it is, is not a matter of numbers. There is an enthusiasm of mere numbers that is often misleading and mistaken. God can work by a few humble faithful consecrated souls better than by a vast host of nominal disciples. Quality is far more important than quantity. But the fewer the heroic souls ready to dare the self-denying work the greater the need of preventing waste. We shall need all the men and women and all the money and means which can be obtained for the Lord's work. Let us have wise and holy counsellors, who act for the church and the Lord Christ, in mapping out the world-field and distributing the workmen widely and wisely.
But above !}ll our eyes need to be turned to the Lord. In the year-1863, in the midst of the great war for the Union, the ordinarily rainless summer in Nevada was suddenly interrupted by a
THB TRAINING OF WORKMEN
densely dark and threatening sky of storm-clouds. So heavy the pall that rested over Virginia City that Mount Davidson could scarcely be distinguished in the distance from the black masses behind it.
A remarkable phenomenen then appeared. Upon the very summit a little tongue of golden flame swayed to and fro like some weird supernatural signal; strange flame, indeed! for it neither waxed nor waned, but steadily burned on. It was the flag of the republic. There chanced to be a rift in the dense clouds, and the setting sun through that unseen rift flung its radiant beam upon that nation's standard and transfigured it to golden flame, an(l for an hour that burning bauner held the charmed gaze of the multitude. And, stranger still, that very day marked the fall of Vicksburg and the victory of Gettysburg!
Darkness that may be felt overspreads the earth, and gross darkness the people. The black clouds of skepticism and infidelity, irreligion and idolatry gather their awful masses in our sky and threaten a destructive storm. But on the very summits of Pagandom, in the midst of the death-shade, waves God's own signal. '1'he flag of the Cross burns in the ray of the Sun of Righteousness, the glory of God transfigures it. Even while we gaze upon it Satan's strongholds are giving way before the onset of God's missionary hosts, and the very tide of battle is turning. We have only to keep our eyes fixed on that banner, . and by that sign we shall conquer!
THE TRAINING OF WORKMEN.
• BY HENRY GRATTAN GUINNESS, LONDON.
[Dr. Pierson writes, concerning this paper, read at the London Conference and furnished 08 by the author for publication: "Clear, practical, pungent and powerful, it captivated the Rssembly. "-EDS.1 WE have in thiJ'l year 1888 reached an important crisis in missions. A hundred years of missionary labor lie behind us, and we gather at this International convention from east, west, north, and south, to study its records, and to learn its lessons, that we may start with the fresh knowledge and renewed energy for our still unreached goal-the evangelization of the world.
The century has been a glorious one in gospel work. After ages of apostacy-followed by stormy times of Reformation-the church awoke a hundred years ago to its duty to publish the gospel to all mankind. During the century, thousands of devoted laborers have gone forth; hundreds of heathen languages have been learned; the Scriptures translated into them; the Wora of God widely proclaimed, and some three millions of heathen converted to Christianity. Among all people the gospel has proved its soultransforming power. A co-operative providence has opened the world. Railways and steamers traverse it in every direction. Meanwhile Protestant Great Britain, America and Germany have largely increased their Ipopulation and their wealth. England alone, after spending freely on necessaries and luxuries, hoards annually now no less than 240 millions of money (1,200 millions of dollars). The means to accomplish our God-given work are increased and increasing. What we want now, and what we seek, is full purpose and resolution to use the powers we possess. God grant that this conference may be, as it ought to be, a tUrning-point in missions-a stage from which the church will make a fresh start, and push on her glorious warfare against sin and Satan with tenfold courage and energy, l'esolvingby divine help to evangelize the world before the present generation has passed away!
If this is to be done it is clear that there must be an enormous increase in the missionary army. The non-Christian nations number over a thousand millions. To give no more than one missionary to every ten thousand of these we should need a hundred thousand missionaries. There are at present only six thousand-in the entire field-men and women, all told. A new era, however, seems dawning-witness the hundred missionaries added to the China Inland Mission in 1887, and the thousands of undergraduates in England and America who have recently pledged themselves to missionary work.
God is evidently answering prayer, and thrusting forth laborers into His harvest.
We gather here to-day at the outset of this convention, to consider the qualifications and training necessary for missionaries. Four points al'e raised for discussion-the first as to mental and spiritual qualifications; the second a as to special training at home; a third as to training in the field; and fourth as to the advisability of establishing missionary lectureships in our colleges. I take up here the first two of these points-the testing of candidates to ascertain their suitability for the work, and their training after acceptance, and before being sent out.
And firstly as to the qualifications required. A missionary is an ambassador for Christ to the heathen-or to any non-Christian people. It is of necessity, therefore, that he be a true Christian-an anointed man, one called of God to the ministry of the gospel, and sent forth by Him. The church cannot create such laborers; only He who made the world can make a true missionary. No training can manufacture him; no human ordination can fit him for his work. The best musical education cannot make a musician of one who has no ear, nor the ablest instruction an artist of one who has no taste. It is clear that we cannot create even genius, how much less grace. A true missionary, like a true minister, is a supernatural gift to the church and to the world from the ascended Saviour. He ascended np far above all heavens, and gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. He alone gave them then, He alone can give them now, In considering the application of a candidate, therefore, the question to be settled is not, Can he be made into a missionary? but, Has God called him to be such? Have the necessary qualifications been bestowed? Only where this is the case can the training be of any use. If a man or woman is to become a true and useful missionary, there must first be not only genuine convel'sion and sincere personal piety, but whole-hearted self-consecration to the work of God, and a call to His holy service; including a strong inward sense of vocation, together with providential indications and adaptations. There must be mental and physical fitness for foreign service, and abQve all the spirit of Christ, for no matter what other qualifications So mah may have, he will never be a missionary unless he is filled with Christ-like compassion for the lost, and with a burning desire to seek and save them. This should be the ruling feature of his character. With this almost any special talents may be utilized in missionary service; without it, even the most brilliant are useless, If the heart be intensely set on the salvation of the perishing, love will teach ingenuity, and lead to painstaking and perseverance. Love will overcome all obstacles, and accomplish its object. The love of souls, the longing for llalvation, is one of the leading qualifications that should be looked for. But even the presence of this does not make testing needless, for there may co-exist with it physical, mental or moral disqualifications. Delicate or unsound health, a nervous irritabitity or desponding temperament, a lack of vitality or vigor, personal defects of a serious character, hereditary or acquired tendency to any dangerous malady or bad habit-these are so many physical disqualifications. So again, a prevailing mental obtuse~ess, the absence of general intelligence and common sense, the want of good memory, of the power of attention and observation, of ability to distinguish between thin~ which differ-to reason correctly and to reach right conclusions-any conspicuous defect in these mental requisites should create grave hesitation as to a candidate's fitness for missionary work.
And there are moral dejects also which would hinder usefulness even if body and mind were all right. Pride, obstinacy, want of docility, of meekness, of sympathy; habits of exaggeration, misrepresentation, or mischiefmaking; indolence, selfishness, rashness, levity of character, lack of patience and perseverance, of faith and courage, of self-denial and prayerfulness; all these are prohibitory defects, and the candidate in whom any of these are observed should be recommended at least to wait till he has grown in needful grace.
On the other hand, it should be noted that there are defects of a different character, which constitute no real disqualification, because training may, to a great extent, remedy them. Ignorance, lack of habits of study, or of experience, narrow-mindedness arising from want of intercourse with various classes of men, awkwardness of manner, and many and similar faults, indicate only a candidate's need of education and training, and should not stamp him as ineligible.
2. We turn now to the subject of the TRAINING of accepted candidates. The question stands in the prospectus, "Should there be special training for the missionary service in addition .to general education?" The answer is, ttndoubtedly. God always trains His instruments. Every true missionary must be specially trained for his work, though not all in our schools. God has His own schools. They are very various, and some of them strange and severe. Moses was trained to be the deliverer and lawgiver of Israel in the courts and schools of Egypt, and in the mountain solitudes of Midian, for eighty years. David was trained to be king over Israel by years of spiritual experience, and by many dangers and toils. Daniel was trained for his wonderful prophetic office by his education and career in Babylon. Any training that we can give to a volunteer for missionary work will form at best but a small part of a greater and more effectual training which God himself bestows. We can do something to help, though not much. Let us see to it that what we do be done in harmony with that which is done by the'great Master. Our Lord himself carefully trained His apostles for the great work He committed to them-;-the evangelization of the world. His example is full of instruction for us.
Christgave His disciples a threefold training-theoretical, moral andpractical. This was one of the principal works which He accomplished in the world. He prepared the instruments, He trained the men who should afterwards evangelize it. He chose them, called them, kept them, taught them, prayed with them and for them, impressed Hisspirit upon them, breatheditinto them : He corrected them, expanded their minds, exalted their conceptions, and purified their motives and purposes. Before He sent them forth into the world He kept them for over three years with himself, during which He set before them His own glorious and sacred example. What a development of soul! What a training for service! "Follow me," He said, "and I will make you to become fishers of men." "Take up your cross and follow me." "Learn of me." " Abide in me."
Besides this He imparted to them priceless instructions. He tanght them the nature of His divine kingdom, His own personal character and claims, the nature of true holiness, the simplicity, spirituality and power of prayer, the excellence of humility, the essential duty and blessed results of self-sacrifice, the sin of hypocrisy and formality, the spirituality of worship, and the supremacy of the Word of God over all human tradition,;. He revealed to them also the future, unfolding the prospects which lay before the church the Jewish people and the Gentile world. He revealed the advent and th~ work of the Comforter, to whom they were in future ,to look for guidance and help. It was by these instructions and influences that He fitted His disciples to be the promulgoators of a pure, spiritual, universal religion, with charity as wide as the world, with consciences sensitive about sin, yet free from superstitious scruples; with habits of obedience to the divine law, though emancipated from bondage to human customs, and with characters cured of pride and passion, impatience, selfishness and self-will. Christ employed as His first ambassadors God-given, God-taught and God-sent messengers, and even these He had both sifted and trained.
Hence it is evident that the development of spiritualli!e is the great thing to be aimed at in missionary training. Woe to the church if she neglects this, or gives it a secondary place! Her messengers will be of little use, for un_ spiritual agents can never accomplish spiritual work. Are we not building up a spiritual temple? Must not each stone of it be a living stone, seeing the house is to be the habitation of God through the Spirit? If, then, the end in view be spiritual, so must the means and methods be-we must follow the example of Christ.
The effect of this training was to transform the men who received it. They became a wonder in the world. Men marvelled at these Galilean fishermen -ignorant and unlearned as they were in earthly things-that they should possess such spil"itual light and love, such wisdom and boldness as they evinced. Men took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Yes, they had been with Jesus. That was the secret of their power; that was the method of their training. The society of Christ was the school of their apostleship, the college in which they graduated. They had been with Jesus, and as the Father had sent Him so He sent them into the world, promising himself to be with them, and with their faithful successors even to the end of the age.
The calling, qualifying and directing of the laborers thus commenced by our Lord was afterwards continued by the Holy Ghost througoh the church. He sent forth missionaries unto the Gentiles. The Apostolic Church acted directly under the Spirit's guidance. " As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Then the church fasted, prayed, laid their hands on those men and sent them away. That is, they set apart and sent out those whom God had qualified and called. The Lord was with these missionaries and wrought glorious things through their instrumentality.
We cannot improve on this example of the primitive church. The Acts of the Apostles form the best guide-book for missionary societies and missionaries. The impulse and the energy must always come from heaven. Successful missionaries are God-appointed men. We must pray for such; watch and wait for them; welcome them and utilize them as they are given. Yes, for the thousands of workers still needed in the mission-.!ield we must first of all pray-pray as Elijah prayed for the rain, fervently, effectually, incessantly tIll the prayer is answered; pray as the church prayed for the promised Spirit before Pentecost. Such prayer would bring another Pentecost, and we need such a season to-day. We want the world to be evangelized, but we must remember that He who redeemed it and commanded His apostles to evangelize it, forbade them to leave Jerusalem on their glorious mission till they were endued with power from on high. They obeyed Him; the power came, and thousands were converted by it. But there never was and never will be any substitute for this spIritual power, this holy anointing. Without it evangelistic or missionary work must be in the deepest sense a failure.
With these sacred examples before us we cannot but ask the question whether our mode of testing missionary candidates is sufficiently careful and thorough, and whether our plan of training them aims, as it should do, at the development of the moral and spiritual naturH even more than at the invigoration of the mental powers, and the impartation of mere knowledge. Do we seek and select in the first place, and cultivate in the second, the type of character which Christ cultivated? Are we guided in our selection mainly by the spiritual stature of the candidate-by his humility, patience, prayerfulness, and faith-by his possession of the Spirit of Christ? In our training, again, is our aim the right one? We educate abundantly, and education is undoubtedly a good thing, but it is a poor substitute for grace exercised and spiritual gifts strengthened by use, for habits of practical devotion and self-denying labor formed and established. Collegiate study and examinations are not enough. Degrees are no criterion. Men of high scholastic attainments have been sent out in our own day to convert the heathen, who have been converted by the heathen, or rather perverted by them from the truth. As Gideon tested his three hundred, so do we need to test and sift our missionary volunteers, and the testing should include the Oross. "Master," said one of old, "I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests," was the answer, "but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." That is, Christ intimated to the would-be disciple that to follow Him, he must be prepared to share His lot." No training that misses this element is worth nluch.
'fhe reality of the missionary's devotedness is best proved and developed by hard a.nd humble work among the ignorant, the prejudiced, the poor, the degraded at home. If a man objects to, or slurs labor among them, as beneath his dignity or disagreeable to his tastes, it is useless to send him forth as a missionary. Selfishness may make a good student, natural ability an acceptable speaker, but only distasteful service puts to the proof a man's grace, his sense of duty and strength of principle. Fifteen years' experience in the training of young men, and personal dealing with more than three thousand volunteers for missionary service, leads me to urge the importance of this test. Next, perhaps, in value to spirituality may be ranked evangelistic gift and ability. How is this to be developed? In the same way that skill in any other line is imparted-by instruction and practice. The preparation for all ordinary work consists in the actual doing of it, not merely in gaining a theoretical knowledge of how it ought to be done. No one would employ a mechanic who had never worked at his trade, nor an architect who had never erected a building. No one would employ a doctor who had not treated the sick, nor should we ever send out missionaries-preachers and teachers for the heathen-who have not done teaching and preaching work, and been blessed to the conversion of souls at home. If a man is not a successful soul-winner in his native land, he is not likely to become such in China or Africa. It is surely unwise in a high degree to commit to unproved men one of the most difficult of tasks. Unless a man has succeeded in turning others to righteousness in these lands where it is comparatively easy, what reason have we to conelude that he will do so in heathendom where it is much more difficult? There are home heathen enough in our crowded cities to afford practical training for missionary students. Just as medical students walk the hospitals, so should om' missionary students learn their future work in our courts and alleys-in the centers where sin-sick and perishing souls needing the gospel remedy congregate. East London, for instance, with its vast and varied population, is an admirable training ground for missionary students. It was this fact which led uS,many years ago, to plant there our Institute for Home and Foreign Missions, from which, during the last fifteen years many hundreds of missionaries have gone forth. We have more than a million of the working classes in this quarter. We have infidels, Romanists, English and foreign Jews, French, Germans, and Italians; Africans and Asiatics, including Chinese, Hindoos, and other nationalities. We nave drunkards and paupers, and multitudes who are heathen in their habits, if not in their creed. Among these the evangelist can prove his gifts; he can either deal singly with indiVIduals, or preach to companies gathered in rooms, mission-halls, lodging houses, or on board ships; and above all, he can address crowds in the open air.
The value of open-air preaching as a preparatIOn for missionary work is exceedingly great. It cultivates aggressiveness, boldness, simplicity, directness, and earnestness of style, an extemporaneous delivery, and an interesting and striking manner of presenting divine truths. The open-air preacher 'must first gather his congrq'ation, and then hold it in spite of surrounding distractions, with nothing but the simple power of his words. He must suit his style to the roughest and shrewdest of his auditors. He must promptly meet objections, answer questions, and quiet disturbances, as he seeks to win an entrance to unwelcome truths in the hearts and minds of neglecters and rejecters of the Word of God. He has to face opposition, and enaure at times contempt and shame for the Master's sake. It is not easy work, and there is nothing in it to foster conceit or gratify self-esteem. It is really hard, self-denying service, more analogous to that which would be required of a missionary in the streets of India or China than almost any other form of gospel labor.
To preach from a pulpit to orderly congregations, prepared to listen re- spectfully and sympathetically, is no preparation for labor among the heathen. There is no trouble in gathering the people under such circumstances. Everything in their surroundings helps religious impression, and intelligent attention is bestowed on the preacher.. But there is nothing of this sort in heathendom lOne who is only up to work of this conventional type might almost as well stay at home. The missionary has to press his message on mim who have no notion of its importance, no disposition even to listen to it, no substratum of religiOUS knowledge on which to work, no enlightened conscience to which to appeal, no habits of reverence or decorum, no sym- pathy with the preacher's mode of thought, and but an imperfect compr~hen sion of his language. Like the open-air preacher, the missionary must not expect either to be sought, appreciated, or thanked for his service, nor to find in it any other gratification than that of serving Christ and saving men. In this and in other similar efforts to raise and transform degraded and sunken populations at home, the missionary candidate is not the best trained for his future work, but best tested, best proved fit for it.
In addition to such experiences a missionary needs, of cours'e, knowledge of various kinds. Education of the mind has its place, though it be not the first place. The higher the mental qualifications of a man or woman (other things being equal) the better. But here it should be clearly stated that the nature of the case indicates that only a certain proportion of missionary workers require what we call a thorough education. Do we not limit too narrowly the class of men from which we select missionary agents? Do we sufficiently remember that the first missionaries were mostly poor and uninfluential in worldly position, ignoran t and unlearned as regards mental attainments, not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble were called. For one learned Paul of Tarsus there were elev.en plain men of no special erudition, fishermen and men of that class whose principal education was that which they received from Christ himself. The army requires more privates than officers; and one architect can plan a building which will need many hands to erect. Some highly-cultured men are of course needed in a mission, and are essential to its highest prosperity; they are needed to do literary work, reduce unwritten tongues, and translate the-Scriptures; to train and teach native evangelists, to lead and organize, to direct and to originate. But are they the only men needed? Did any army consisting of officers only ever march to victory? Are not rank and file required as well? and does not the mission army need hundreds and thousands of privates? Is it essential that all, or even the great majority of missionaries, should be scholarly gen- tlemen who have studied from boyhood to maturity at heavy expense of time and money? Do the ninety per cent. of thc population of China who cannot even read, 01' the savages of Central Africa or the New Hebrides, de- mand teachers of a higher stamp than do the working classes in these coun- tries? Should we not elSteem it a great waste of rQsources to insist that all home and city missionaries should be classical scholars? And are not work- ers of all classes required among the heathen as much as at home? May not many men without either the leisure or the means, or perhaps even the incli- nation for a long and elaborate course of study-intelligent artisans, young clerks in banks, in offices, assistants in shops, the sons of farmers, mates of vessels and skilled mechanics, tradesmen, teachers and others-be well suited to serve Christ among the heathen, to preach the simple gospel to the masses of the people?
On the other hand, to send out ignorant and untrained men to undertake missionary work were clearly folly. "Let such first be proved," is a dictate of common sense as well as a precept of Scripture. Paul said to Timothy as regards the truths of the gospel which he had taught him, "The same com- mit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also." Of all men a missionary should be a man of general intelligence and fertIle resources. Without a measure of cultivation it is impossible that he should be this. Knowledge is power, and missionaries as a class should know something of everything. A missionary has to travel, and should understand geography. He may perhaps have to build his house, to make his own furniture, to till or direct the tillage of his garden, the cooking of his food, to work the printing- press. Knowledge even on such matters will therefore be valuable to him. He may be situated far from any skilled physician, and ought there- fore to have at least some elementary knowledge of anatomy and physiology and of the use of simple surgIcal and medical aids; The more grammaticaJ, knowledge he has the better, for he will have to learn and use a foreign tongue, and possibly to translate into it the Word of God. He ought to know enough of nature to appreciate the works of God, and enough of history to perceive the background of Bible facts. As he has to teach Christianity, he should know something about the history of its planting, its early sufferings and triumphs, the origin and progress of existing apostacies, and the story of the Reformation. He should also be acquainted to some extent with the history of modern missions, including the lives of eminent missionaries. But above all, he ought to be well acquainted with the Bible. That Book will have to be the companion of his loneliness, the guide of his perplexity, the support of his life, the instrument of his labors. It should be the chief subject of his study. His mind should be familiarized with the sacred text, with the evidences of its lDspiration, and with the varied doctrinal and practical truths which it reveals. He needs to be rooted and built up in Christ, and established in the faith, and the aim should be to give him afirm grasp of the teachings of Scripture, and instruction; as far as possible, in the whole counsel of God.
It is a serious question whether in our training of missionaries we give the Word of God the place which it deserves. Is not Bible study in our colleges apt to be too cramped, and too merely critical? We teach our stu- dents to dissect the Scriptures, but are they taught to dissect their own hearts, to understand themselves? We teach them the letter of Scripture, but do we lay due stress upon the posession of its spirit? We teach them to judge the Book, but they should he taught to let it judge them, and by its light to judge of all things. Is not God's Word a fire and a hammer? Woe to us if by our processes we strip it of its sacredness and strength. Let us give the Word of God its propel' place, and own its supreme authority, pre-eminence. and power.
It is the desire of this conference that those who take part should contribute to the general stock the,results of their experience, suggesting for the con- sideration of their brethren the chief practical conclusions to which they have been led. I may mention, then, that guided by the principles indicated in this paper, we founded, fifteen years ago. in East London, an institution for training' and helping into the foreign field young men who desired to be mis- sionaries. We subsequently added a country branch of the Institute, and later on a Training Home for Deaconesses. During these fifteen years we have dealt with more than three thousand volunteers for missionary work, have re- ceived on probation between eight and nine hundred, have trained and sent out five hundred missionaries, and have now about a hundred students in the Institute. Our plan is to give the students, where they require it, preiimi- nary secular instruction in the country branch, and then practical training in East London, including missionary, evangelistic, linguistic and medical de- partments. All our students receive from a qualified medicaJ man the train- ing of the ambulance corps, the results being tested by a public examina- tion. The deaconesses, in certain instances, are sent for three months to live in hospitals where the maternity cases are treated. Students going to Africa receive instruction in the treatment of tropical fevel's, and where there has been special fitness we have given students the advantage of a four years' medical course in the London Hospital. In almost every case these have be- come qualified medical men, and are now in the mission-field. The time spent by students in the Institute has varied according to their age and needs. Our system has been an elastic one. We have tried to give to each the help he or she was capable of receiving, and to introduce each to the sphere in which we saw they could best do good gospel service.
The results have not disappointed us. We have received men of all nationalities and all classes, as well as of all evangelical denominations. We have trained them for all countries, and former students are now working in connection with between twenty and thirty societies and organizations, while many of them have founded new and independent missions. As a rule they had done well, and given much satisfaction in the missions they have joined. There are exceptions. Every rule has such, but we thank God on remembrance of the majority of them. They have gone into every country in Europe. They have gone to the roughest and most westerly parts of North America, to the negroes in Jamaica, and to the Roman Catholics and English settlers in South America. They have evangelized in Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Egypt, in North Africa; have established missions in Cape Colony, Natal and Kaffir-Iand; and have penetrated the heart of equatorial Africa, founding fresh stations, reducing the languages of the people to writing, translating the Scriptures, and turning hundreds from heathenism to the knowledge of God. They have suffered, literally, thousands of attacks of fevers, and many of them have laid down their lives in the service of Christ and for the gospel. They have founded medical missions in Constantinople, Syria, and Armenia ; have evangelized in the wildest parts of the HaUl'an, have preached in the crowded cities and mountain wilds of India, and opened many mission-stations in the most distant provinces in China. They have scattered the Word of God in every province in that vast empire, and have traversed in their missionary labors almost every country in the world. Our experience has shown us that there are thousands of devoted young men and women suited for missionary work, and desirous to give themselves to it, that they are capable of rapid improvement under Christian training, and willing to go anywhere for the sake of the gospel, that there are open doors in all lands, and fields waiting for reapers, white to the harvest, and that the Christian Church may increase with appropriate effort the number of its missionary laborers to an almost indefinite extent.
Allow me, in conclusion, to summarize what I have said, and to emphasize certain points.
First, we agree most thoroughly with our highly esteemed and respected friend, Dr. Pierson, in his published opinion that "if we would largely increase the missionary force we must in some way lessen the time and cost of preparing the average workman.. . A most formidable barrier to the work of evangelization is that even where both men and money may be obtained it takes too long a time and too costly a culture to train the average workman; and this one obstacle often overtops all others, and is practically insurmountable. •• There ought to be a change in our ecclesiastical tactics; our system of training for the mission-field must be more flexible and more economical of. time and money, or we cannot send workmen mto the great world-field in adequate numbers." Without any rigidly uniform system.of training, we must encourage every willing soul to do the work for which he 01' she is best fitted, and endeavor further to fit eaeh for their proposed sphere of labor, and we must shorten and simplify the course of training.
Secondly, no candidates whatever should be accepted for training save spiritually-minded men and women, possessed of good health, good common sense, devotedness to God's service, and a divinely indicated call to the work.
Thirdly, such persons should be thoroughly tested, and carefully trained.
THE WORK AMONG THE FIJI ISLA.NDS. [SlU"f
Their training should be adapted to develop the unworldly spiritual character which missionary work requires. It should always be adapted to the individual case. All missionary students should be trained in laborious and self-denying habits, and exercised in evangelistic work among our own lapsed masses, especially open-air preaching.
Lastly, every missionary student should be furnished with the practical instructions of the ambulance corps, as to how to deal with accident cases; while those who are prepaung for labor in Central Africa and other parts of the world where no qualified medical aid is to be had should receive, in addition to other teaching, special medical instruction of an elementary and practical nature, and in those instances where there is marked aptitude and desire for it, the missionary student should have the advantage of a full medical course.
THE WORK AMONG THE FIJI ISLANDS.
[A Paper read before the London Conference by Rev. John Calvert.1 [The facts concerning the missionary life of this remarkable man, stated in a note to Dr. Pierson which we give below, will add interest to bis paper.-J. M. S.
.. DEAR DR. PIERSON: .. SEVENOAKS, KXN'!', June 19, 1888.
"IN 1838 I went to Fiji with John Hunt. 1n 1856 I came home with the printed New Testament and MS. of the complete Bible, and was four years in England. In 1860 I went again to Fiji with several younl!; missionaries newly married. Iu 18721 went to South Africa for nine years. In May, 1886, I went on a visit to Fiji and returned through America, and I am now settled down here as supernumerary. 1 have lately supplied twenty cases of Bibles and Testaments, from the Bible SOCiety, and four cases hemispheres iu ziuc cylinders to keep them safe, when not used, from the cockroaches, And I am now putting to press Hunt's Theology, Hymns. Catechism and Book oC Offices. .. Affectionately yours, "JAMES CALVERT."] OF all the many Oceanic missions in the Pacific, I am here to represent but one, in which a. great part of my life has been spent-the Mission to Fiji. This large and beautiful group, which lies 1,800 miles northeast from Sydney, and 1,200 north of New Zealand, consists of some 200 islands and islets, eighty of which are inhabited; and the two largest are ninety miles in length. The islanders are a fine race, of fair intelligence, and, according to the measure of their own simple wants, very industrious. Having been left to themselves and to the undisturbed control of bad influences in all the past, they became extremely vile and degraded. Cannibalism was a recognized institution among them and practiced to a frightful extent. Infanticide was a general custom, and the burial of sick persons before death was common. Cruelty of all·kinds abounded; and polygamy, with its inseparable consequences of evil, was established throughout the group.
The condition and claims of Fiji were brought urgently before the Chris- tian people of England, and particularly before the Wesleyan Methodist Churches, about fifty years ago. Already two white missionaries were doing noble work in the Islands. They were re-enforced from time to time. They never exceeded thirteen at anyone time-now they are only nine; and this number will probably be still further reduced, the work being carried on chiefly and successfully by agents raised up among the people themselves. Happily we have always been heartily one, so that our prayers and. labors . have not been hindered, but greatly helped. Regular weekly English wor- ship and the class-meeting among the mission families were of the utmost value in keeping our own souls alive. God chose the men employed; none of them extraordinary or great, but suitable, well adapted, ready to rough it and go on heartily with every branch of the work that had to be done, making little of difficulties, dangers and affiictions, but the best of everything and everyone. And all our work personally, and in the training of native agents, has always been done in the Fijian language, and interpreters not employed. On a recent visit to Fiji, my heart was gladdened at finding the same stamp of men supplied by Australia, carrying on the work successfully. A very great help to our progress was, as I believe, that we had the whole field to ourselves, and our laborers were not interfered with, by the presence of any other Protestants. The Romanists came too late, arriving after we had got a good footing, and supplied the Scriptures. They avowed themselves as our opponents, and relieved us of a few troublesome persons. They have never succeeded. to a large extent, and are now losing ground, though they have zeal and self-denial worthy of any cause.
The vital, experimental and practical truths of God's Word were explained, applied and enforced. Christ, the living Saviour of all, especially of them that believe to the saving of the soul, was shown to be all in all, able and willing to save to the uttermost all who came to Him. The divine personal Spirit, in all His glorious energy and saving power, was prominently set forth, and He was ever present, convicting of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Great numbers from the beginning of our work, and, thank God, to the present time, were thoroughly awakened by the truth and by the Spirit. They sorrowed after a godly sort, turned from sin, and turned fully to God through Christ alone. And such penitents in very large numbers have, throughout the whole history of the mission, found peace with God through believing, and have shown to all men the evidences of life renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Old things passed away: behold all things became new. On several occasions, on many of the islands, there have been special outpourings of the Divine Spirit, when considerable numbers were saved, and all ~ere quickened into life and prosperity.
The spirit in which they endured trials, persecution and loss, and their steadfast aim with all kindness to do good to anyone by any effort or sacrifice, proved the truth, depth and excellence of the religion they experienced, enjoyed and practiced.
Many of these new creatures in Christ Jesus, quickened and raised into newness of life, began to speak, and testify and entreat as the Spirit gave them utterance. It was more than meat and drink to them to spread among their relatives and countrymen the religion that was such a reality and boon to themselves.· Thus the truth and saving grace of God spread from one to another, from village to village, from tribe to tribe, from island to island. None could gainsay or resist their testimony in holding- forth the Word of life. The missionaries and our mission needed no better or stronger commendation. These real converts have been and are" manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written with the Spirit of the living God," "an epistle known and read of all men." And by their agency a most substan- tial, most blessed and extensive work of God has been wrought in all direc- tions throughout Fiji.
On my last visit I was d4llighted with the grand sight I witnessed at the District Training Institution. There I found 109 fully-devoted men, selected from the institutions in each circuit, under training as preachers of the gospel: fine, strong, whole-hearted men, who 'cheerfully surrender them- selves to the cause of Christ in Fiji or elsewhere. To the oversight of this vastly-important branch of our work are devoted a missionary and his assist- ant, a native minister, who are specially qualified and adapted. Since my return an appeal was made to these students to hazard their health and lives among the dangerous people and in the unhealthy climate of New Guinea, where Fijian teachers have already been sacrificed. Fifteen were asked for: forty volunteered! eighteen were chosen, and sent forth.
Mission work in every-conntry must mainly be done by the converts them- selves. The foreigner is an expensive agent, with the many real and im- aginary wants of himself and his family. His continuance is often inter– rupted, and his stay shortened. And he can never manage the climate and customs, or find out and adapt himself to the native character, so well as one of themselves. The native agent was well-known before the glorious change that has renewed him on the spot before their eyes: and he is a liv- ing specimen-well studied-of the power of the gospel to transform. He is already there without any expense, can be employed at small cost, and that raised mainly by those for whose benefit he labors: and mission funds are not required for his removal and sustenance should he fail. With only 9 white missionaries, we have 3,505 native preachers: 56 ordain{>d, who take full part in the work of the ministry with the English missionary, 47 catechists, 983 head preachers, with 1,919 ordinary local or lay preachers. There are 1,268 chapels and other preaching places; 28 English church members, 27,097 full native church membQrs. These are well cared for by 3,480 devoted class-leaders. There are 40,718 scholars in our 1,735 day and Sunday-schools, taught by 2,526 teachers; and 101,150 attendants on public worship. The jubilee of the mission was lately held. Fifty years previously there was not a Christian in all Fiji; then not an avowed heathen left! Canibalism has, for some years past, been wholly extinct, and other immemorial customs of horrible cruelty and barbarism have tiisappeared.
Behold! what hath God wrought! A nation has been born at once!
"Instead of the thorn the fir tree came up: and instead of the brier came up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for aname, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." "The wilderness has become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted for a forest." "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel [and of all nations, great and small], who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen."
Though poor, the people are most liberal in contributions for carrying on their own work, building all the schools and chapels and teachers'
houses; and they give generously, at much personal sacrifice, to the general mission funds. Had it not been for the business calamities that have come upon Fiji, as upon most parts of the world, the mission promised well ere this to have been self-supporting. Their deep poverty is borne well: and the riches of their liberality abound. I was delighted now to find them thoroughly good and fully devoted to God and His cause. Their religion is a grand , and powerful reality in very trying circumstances.
When this mission began, the Fijian language had never been written; the missionaries, therefore, had to supply it with an alphabet, and reduce it to a written form, and then to set to work to explore its grammatical structure, so as to give the people in their own tongue the Word of God, and furnish them with a useful literature. Very early in the history of the mis- sion the printing-press was brought into use.
When our printer failed in that far-off and out-of-the-way place we were in great difficulty, as a new edition of the New Testament and other books were urgently required. We ordered a man from London who would rough it, be content with the poor fare and small pay and hard work we were ac- ';:l!stomed to, but slch a man was not found. Then it came to pass that il! French count, an infidel, who was wrecked from an American beche de mer vessel, was thoroughly awakened, and sought and found mercy and saving grace. He was completely reformed and wished for employment with us. I taught him printing and book-binding, which he quickly learned; and just then, when we were in deepest need, he became a most efficient laborer wIth us. He could make sails, splice a rope, pull an oar, sail a schooner, floor a house, put in windows, make a door and fit it in. He became a teacher in our schools, and a good local preacher. The people felt that he loved them, and the best of our converts from any part of Fiji were cheerfulJy ready to settle down and work with him, so that we had a good staff of earnest and cheap workers in our printing and book-binding establishment. A new edition of the New Testament and all the books we required were well done and quickly supplied, helping on the work amazingly: A wh'ole-hearted man like that was beyond all price. Had one been made to order on purpose for our needs and work, he could not have been better adapted. And the case proved to us the all-sufficiency of God's resources; and just at the right, the very best time on the spot the demand was supplied, and without any cost. Oh, that we looked more to God for all we need I Then we printed innumerable portions of the Scriptures, catechisms (one especially, consisting o~ passages of Scripture only, which was invaluable), reading, and other books, as well as an excellent and immensely valuable system of theology, prepared by the eminent John Hunt when his heart and mind were in their best state, and when he had gained an excellent knowledge of the language; also an invaluable dictionary and grammar, provided by David Hazlewood, a man not known to fame, but whose record is on high, who did service of immense value in the language and translation department.
Since 1856 large supplies of Bibles and New Testaments in good bold type and strong and some elegant binding are constantly forwarded by the British and Foreign Bible Societies, on which many missionary societies are largely dependent, and from which all are cheerfully and promptly supplied with all they require. These Scriptures are highly l)rized, eagerly purchased and diligently read, the natives in many instances depriving themselves of the conveniences of life that they may secure and possess God's Word. The proceeds of these books are returned to the Bible House. They have supplied two editions of the completed Scriptures and fifty-six thousand of the New Testament in six editions. Other books in large quantities are also supplied fl'om England, better and at less cost than they can be printed and bound in Fiji, or obtained from the colonies.
Though Fiji is small when compared with the great nations, yet it affords a specimen and example of what can be done by the Word and Spirit and Providence of God, and it enheartens and encom'ages all to attempt and expect great things for all the nations of this sin-stricken, redeemed world. Ample provision for all our race has been made in the grand atonement and all-prevalent intercession of our great and loving Redeemer, who by the grace of God tasted death for every man, and wills that all should be saved in the gift of the life-giving Spirit who works mightily and can renew every depraved heart; and in the glollious gospel which saves all who believe, God intends to save our fallen race, and will do it. His glory shall be revealed antl all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. He hath said it, and He will assuredly bring it to pass. Christ must reign over all. Let us then go fOJ;'th in faith and preach the gospel to every creaturel feeUng sur~ tbat we have strongest ground for ille utmost hopes iu Him who has said: "And I, if 1 be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." And again: "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth; go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into 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 always, even unto the end of the world."
SEVENOAKS, KENT, June 1,1888. JAMES CALVERT.
THE KARENS.
[Paper read belore the Conference by Mrs. W. F. Armstrong. It made 8 deep impression.-Ens.J THE only apology for my appearance here this evening is that I am the only Karen missionary attending this Conference, and so noble a people should not be passed by unnoticed. Thousands of them are praying for us, and it is right that we should remember them.
The Karens were once the hill tribes of Burmah, treated by the Burmese with the greatest injustice and cruelty. While they were under the Burmese Government they hid themselves in the jungle on the mountain sides, con- cealing the paths to their bamboo homes, and constantly moving from one place to another to avoid detection. They were content to live on the pro- duce of their gardens, to weave their own clothing, and to be as independent in the forest as the birds or the bees.
Their religion was peculiar to themselves. They lived pure, honest, truthfullives-I speak advisedly-they were unbounded in their hospitality, had no idols; but made offerings to propitiate the demons whom they feared.
They had no books, but they had carefully preserved traditions of a book they once possessed to which they were disobedient, and it was taken from them. Some day-so their legends ran-their white brethren would come across the sea in ships and bring back the book which told of the Great Father. They retained much of the moral and historical parts of the Old Testament in sayings of theil' old men, and it seems probable that tpey had at some time had access to its sacred pages.
No wonder such a people should receive the gospel when it came. No peo- ple have ever been discovered who were so prepared for it or whose very prejudices were on its side. When missionaries came among them their old men said, This is what our fathers told us of, it is this for which we have so long waited; and they flocked by hundreds to receive it. Not without change of heart. Their simple faith took Christ at ilis word; the Spirit accom- ied that word. Though they were ignorant and untaught in schools, they came forward eagerly to learn, believing with all their hearts, and re- ceiving the promise of God" to everyone that believeth."
An entire change has been wrought among them in the last fifty years.
Now there are over 450 Karen parishes, each one of which supports its own native pastor and lts own village school, and many subscribe largely to send the gospel farther on. !
There are about 30.000 baptized communicants, and fully 100,000 nominal Christians, about one-sixth of the whole tribe in Burmah.
A marked characteristic of their Christianity is that th.ey are earnest for- eign missionaries. They have their own foreign missionary society and send out their own young men to distant countries and other languages, support- ing them there and re-enforcing them as the need arises. These have opened up new fields of labor where other missionaries could not reach; they have tuken educated <Lnd devoted Karen wb'esto assist them, and have undergone
HOME WORK FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS
much hardship and privation with a true spirit of heroism worthy of any Christian nation. One instance, which I was personally cognizant of, and I have done.
I loved the people dearly; I looked upon them as brothers and sisters indeed, but when my husband went to the Telugus I went too. One of my teachers, who had traveled with me in many a jungle tour, and who loved souls as well as I did, who had risked her life over and over again for Christ's sake, was moved to go wIth me. This Karen girl went to India and learned the Telugu, both written and spoken, and this more rapidly than any missionary I have ever known. She started a girl's school among them, teaching them in Telugu more efficiently than any of their own people could do on account of her previous training. Of course I speak of work in a new station where mission work had to begin from the foundations. She won many women and children to listen to the gospel, and was everywhere treated with respect. The natives giving her the same title they applied to myself. Indeed, she proved herself in all respects a genuine foreign missionary.
She is now living in Rangoon, where she is married, and works among Burmese, Telugus and Karens, as she has opportunity. She is Secretary of the Karen Women's Foreign Missionary Society, which supports and directs its own Bible women. She is not in mission employ, but is supported by hel" merchant husband, who also is an educated Christian Karen, speaking daily for his Master during business hours and giving nobly to the cause of Christ, as you in this country do.
I always felt that work among Karens was only half way to heathenism. Among the Telugus I saw many debasing influences of idolatry which I did not find among Karens. In the estimation of those who know them best they are the most remarkable of all Eastern tribes. God has surely some wonderful purpose for them in the future, and we see a forecast of this in their eagerness and ability to work as evangelists among other nations.
Another conference, I trust, may see some of them in your midst to speak for themselves.
HOME WORK FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS.
BY REV. A. T. PIERSON, D.D. [A paper read at the World's Missionary Conference on Monday. June 18.] WHAT the source is to the supply, the motor to the machine, the home church is to the foreign field. The vigor of the heart's beat determines the ' pulse beat at the extremities. It is of first importance that, at home, work for missions abroad be continuous and constant, healthy in !one and spiritual in type.
How shall the churches be raised to the degree of consecration required for the evangelization of the world? Sheldon Dibble used to say that two conversions are needful: first, to Christ as a Saviour from sin; and then to missions as the corrective antidote to selfishness. A century ago William Carey felt the thrust of the keen lance of Sydney Smith, who, by his unsanctified wit, proposed to "rout out thai nest of consecrated cobblers"; and Carey had to fight for fifteen years the apathy even of his own Baptist brethren. Dr. Judson's hand was nearly shaken off, and his hair shorn off, by those who, in the crisis which can be met only by self-sacrifice would, to save themselves, willingly let missions die.
Foremost among the means by which deeper devotion to the work of eV'an~ gelization is to be secured, I would put the education of the chu1'ch in the' very principle of missions. Where the hearty acceptance of this is lacking, the impulse and impetus of missions are wanting. The church of God exists, not only as a rallying, but as a radiating, center. It is indeed a home, but also a school; a place for worship, but not less for work. For a society of disciples to be engrossed even in self-culture is fatal to service, and even to true sanctity. The church is no gymnasium where exercise is the law and self-development the end. The- field is the world, and each sower and reaper. while at work for a harvest, gets in his exertion the very exercise which is needful to growth.
So important and so fundamental is this principle of missions, that any church which dj!nies or practically neglects it, deserves to be served with a writ of quo warranto. This law of church life must be constantly kept before believers, enforced and emphasized by repetition-that upon every believer is laid the duty of personal labor for the lost. This conviction must be beaten in and burned in, till it becomes a part of the very consciousness of every disciple, until the goal is seen to be not salvation or even sanctification, but service to God and man in saving souls.
In the educatiop of a church in foreign missions, nothing is more essential than that the missionary spirit burn in the pastor. A stream rises no higher than its source; and, ordinarily, the measure of the pastor's interest In the world-field determines the level of his people's earnestness and enthusiasm. He ought to be a student of missions, an authority on missions, and a leader in missions. He is not the driver of a herd, but the leader of a flock: he must therefore go before. His contagious enthusiasm and example must inspire in others the spirit of consecration. The personal character of the man gives tone to his preaching, and is perhaps itself the best kind of preaching. That must be a frozen church in which a man, alive with intelligence and zeal for the work of God, could not warm into life and action under such a pastor as the late W. Fleming Stevenson.
The rudiments of a true education being laid, we must go on unto perfection; and among all the means of this higher training we put, first and foremost, a knowledge of the facts of missionary history and biography. Information is a necessary part of all university training in missions; not a partial, superficial impression, but information-a knowledge of missions complete enough and thorough enough to crystallize into symmetrical form in the :mind and heart. Facts are the fingers of God. To a devout student of His will they become signs of the times, and signals of His march through the ages. Like the gnomon of a sun dial, even their shadow may mark the hour in God's day. Prince Albert used to say to the young men of Britain: " Find out God's plan in your generation and never cross it, but fall into your own place in it." There is a pillar of providence, the perpetual pillar of cloud and fire, whereby we may be led. That pillal'is built up of facts, oftentimes mysterious and dark, like a cloud, yet hiding the presence and power of Him who dwelt in the cloud and made it luminous.
To a true disciple missions need no argument, since the chm'ch has what the Iron Duke called her" mat'ching orders." But duty becomes delight, and responsibility is transfigured into privilege, when it is clearly seen that to move with the missionary band is to take up march with God. The apathy and lethargy prevailing among believers upon the subject of missions is to me unaccountable in view of the multitude and magnificence of the facts which demonstrate that in the movements of modern missions, more <han in any other of the ages, there has been a demonstration and a revelation of God.
We are observing the centenary of modern missions. But the most amazing results of this century have been wrought during its last third, or ihe lifetime of the generation now living. This World's Conference is simply the church coming together at the Antioch of the Occident to hear those whom the Holy Ghost has chosen and the church has separated unto this work, rehearse all that God has done with them, and how He has opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. Who dares to say, in the light of modern missions, that the days of supernatural working are passed? So far, as in primitive days, the disciples have gone forth and preached everywhere, it has still been true that the Lord has wrought with and confirmed the Word with signs following-signs unmistakable and unmistakably supernatm-aJ. Doors have been opened, within fifty years, that no human power could have unbarred. The mighty moving of God can be traced back through the centuries, long since g'iving Protestant England a foothold in the very critical; pivotal center of Oriental empires and religions. The necessity of protecting her Indian possessions, of keeping open the line of communications between London and Calcutta, determined the attitude of every nation along the water highway. Then from beyond the Pacific another mighty, puissant people, the offspring of Protestant Britain, moved forward thirty years ago to turn the extreme eastern wing of the enemy while Britain was piercing and holding the center. Commodore Perry knocked at the sea gates of Japan, and in the name of a Christian Republic demanded entrance. Rusty bolts that had not been drawn for more than two centuries were flung back and the two-leaved doors of brass were opened to the commerce of the world. Rapid has been the progress of the march of God. Japan unsealed her gates in 1854. From that time not a year has passed without some mighty onward movement or stupendous development. In 1856 the g-reat breach was made in the Chinese wall, and by the treaty of Tientsin one-third of the human race were made accessible to Christian nations, and, as Dr. Gracey says, that wide door was opened, not by the vermilion pencils of the Emperor, but by the decree of the Eternal. The same year, 1856, also saw signed and sealed the Hatti Sherif in Turkey, by which the Sultan, at least in form, announced the era of toleration. The next year the mutiny in India changed the whole attitude of the East India Company towards missions, and prepared the way for the surrender of its charter to the Crown of England.
Let us leap the chasm of twenty years and nole the progress of eventR on the Dark Continent. In 1871 Stanley pierced the jungle to find the heroic Livingstone. In 1873 Livingstone died near Lake Bangweolo; in 1874 Stanley undertook to explore equatorial Africa; in 1877, after a thousand days, he emerged at the mouth of the Congo. At once England took up the work of following the steps of the explorer with the march of the missionary, and now, ten years later, the missions of the great lakes in the east, and those of the Congo basin at the west, are stretching hands to link east and west together. Give us ten years more and Krapf's prophecy will be fulfilled: "A chain of missions will cross the continent." In 1884, fifteen nations, called together by King Leopold and presided over by Bismarck, met in Berlin to lay the basis of the Congo Free State; and in that council not only Protestant, but Greek, Papal, and Moslem powers joined I Such are some of the great providential signs of a supernatural presence and power. What shall be said of the gracious transformations that have displaced cannibal ovens by a thousand Christian churches in Polynesia; that reared Metlakahtla in British Columbia; that made Madagascar the crown of the London Missionary Society; that turned SielTa Leone into a Christian state; that wrought mightily with Hans Egede in Greenland, Morrison and Burns in China, Perkins and Grant in Persia, Carey and Wilson and Duff in India, McAll in Paris, ,and a host of other missionaries!
If disciples are indifferent to missions it is because they are ignorant 'of missions. A fh'e needs first of all to be kindled, then to be fed, then to have vent. The only power that can kindle the flame of missionary zeal is the Holy Spirit. The coal must be a live coal from God's altar. But, having that coal and a breath from above, all that is needed is fuel to feed the flame, and that fuel is supplied by a knowledge of facts. Too much care cannot be taken to supply these facts in an attractive, available form, at the lowest cost. The women's boards and societies have done no greater service than in providing and distributing a cheap literature of missions. The printed facts that are to do this work of education must be put in the briefest and most pointed form. This is an age of steam and telegraph. While Methusaleh turned round, we have gone around the globe. Men need now what they can catch at a glance. Ponderous volumes may do for ponderous men, who have leisure for prolonged study and research, but the bulk of people must get their knowledge of facts in a condensed form. Our bulletins must be bullet-ins. Some of us must skim the great pan and serve up the cream in a little pitcher, rich and sweet; we must boil down the great roots and give others the sweet liquorice in the stick, so that a bite will give a taste and make the mouth water for more. Students of missions will read with avidity the Ely Volume, and" the Middle Kingdom,"and kindred books that are the authorities on missions; but students of missions are not made by this process. We must feed first with milk, and not with strong meat-and by the spoonful, until both capacity and appetite are formed.
The value of simultaneous meetings, missional:y conventions, and other special services consists perhaps mainly in the wide, rapid, and attractive and effective dissemination of intelligence. Truths and facts are brought before the mind with all the help of the enthusiasm of a public assembly. The eye helps the ear in producing and fastening impression. The hearer comforts the living men or women who have come from the field, perhaps with the very idols of the heathen in their hands, or the relics of their superstitious practices; sometimes the native convert, or preacher, himself pleads for his benighted fellow countrymen. And so the most apathetic soul, III whom grace has kindled the fire of love, finds the fire burning, spreading, consuming selfishness, and demanding a proper vent in Christian effort! This is the way that missionaries are made.
In 1885 there assembled at Mr. Moody's boys' school at Mount Hermon, in Massachusetts, about 300 student." from the various colleges for a few weeks of study of the Word of God. A few who had in view the foreign field greatly desired a missionary meeting, and all the students were invited. There was not even a missionary map to assist in impressing the facts; the speaker drew on the blackboard a rude outline of the continents, and then proceeded to trace the great facts of missions, and so deep was the interest awakened, that meeting after meeting followed; from about a score, the number who chose the mission field rose to a hundred; then certain chosen men resolved to go and visit the colleges and carry the sacred fire; they went, met their fellow-students, and brought out the leading facts of missions; and to-day, in America and England, a band of probably no less than 3,000 young men and women stand ready to go to the foreign field if the door shall open before them. If disciples do not wish to flame with missionary zeal, ~hey must avoid contact and converse with the facts and the heroic souls who are the living factors of missions. It is dangerous business to trifle with the combustible material, unless you are quite sure there is not even", spark of life or love in your soul!
Among the means of education we mention last what in the order of time and of importance belongs first: the influence of Christian women in the home life. If God has shut out the ordinary woman from much participation in public life, and shut her in the home, iii is because her sphere makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity. Here are life's arcana, veiled from the common eye; the home is the matrix of character. The faith of the grand- mother Lois and mother Eunice still descends to Timothy. Anthusa and Monica still give the church her golden-mouthed Johns and her giant Augustines. To one woman may be traced the rise of the seven kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy. At evet'y stream there isa point where a human hand might turn its current, and at that point in human lives the wife and mother presides. The heathen rhetorician Libanius exclaimed: "What women these Christians have!" And, if the secret things were brought to light, it might be found that many, beside Morrison and Burns and Lindley and Pat- teson, have owed their saintly character and missionary career to the sanct- ity of a mothet'. Even before birth, maternal character leaves its impress upon the unborn, and at the mother's breast and knee the earliest lessons are learned in piety and prayer and personal consecration.
The nursery may be the garden where the precious germs are first nourished from which develop pillars of cedar and olive for the temple of God. The Earl of Shaftesbury learned of humble Maria Millis the first lessons in living,which made his influence capable of being measured only by parallels of latitude and meridians oflongitude, and its results only-to be computed by the :eons of eternity! My sisters in Cht'ist, do not hesitate to break on your Master's feet your alabaster flask; though it may seem but as waste to some, the house shall be filled with the odor of your consecration, and you shaH at least create in the home a mighty mould of chat'acter from which shall go forth men and women whose words and deeds shall shake the world: Here, in the home, if prevailing selfishness and extravagant self-indulgence are to be correctea, must be taught first lessons in giving, the divine doctrine of stewardship, and the responsibilities both of wealth and poverty. Munificent legacies cannot atone for parsimonious gifts. It is not God or His poor who need our gifts, so much as we ourselves need to give. Giving is the sovereign secret of serving, but also of getting and growing. To deny self and help others is God's antidote to that monstl'ouS sin of selfishness w,hich is the root of all others; and soit is more blessed to give than to receive. And if there ever was an altar that sanctified, magnified, glorified the gift, it is the altar of missions. Let the ethics, the economics, the :esthetics of giving be taught at the mother's knee, and we shall have a new generation of givers.
Too much emphasis cannot be laid on placing at the center of the family a consecrated woman. She is like Goethe's mythical lamp, which, set in the humblest hut of the fisherman, changed all within it to silver. She pours on the root of the cocoanut-tree the water, which comes back, by and by, sweetened and enriched, in the milk of the cocoanut which falls from the top. A selfish, sordid woman, presiding in the home, perverts child-life; in such a household there is a malign influence, which, like the mirrors in the temples of Smyrna, represents the fairest images distorted and deformed, and makes even piety seem repellant. The more I see of woman's influence on the whole structure of society the more I feel the stress of the apostolic injunction that the believer should marry only in the Lord.
The responsibilities of wealth are to be discussed by another in a separate paper.' BlIt I must add, to complete my own thought, that, among other necessary reforms in our church life, we must cease to depend upon the donations of the rich. It is alike harmful to them and to the church. God never meant that with such wealth of divine promises we should appeal to the rich, and especially the worldly wealthy, for money for the kingdom. Such appeals discount our faith, dishonor our Lord, and humiliate the church, while they inflate the rich with self-righteous conceit and complacence as patrons of the cause of God. Let there be a Bible type of systematic and proportionate giving by every disciple, and the treasuries of the church would overflow with voluntary gifts of disciples.
Above all other spiritual agencies affecting missions from the home side, we place earnest and habitual prayer. This is a supernatural gospel and demands a supernatural power, for conversion is a supernatural work. Not even a knowledge of facts can make a missionary or inspire a missionary spirit. The coal must be there, and the breath of God, before even the best fuel will take fire. A thermometer may be held in the direct line of the sun's rays and show but little rise in temperature, because the radiant heat is reflected from the bright, glassy bulb, like light from a mirror. Heat rays from the sun may pass through a lens of ice, and concentrated to a sufficient deeree to ignite, at the focus, combustible material, and yet those rays may not melt the ice of which the lens is formed. It is only when knowledge is sanctified by prayer that it becomes a power.
For one, I regard the increased-or rather the revived-observance of the monthly concert as a necessity to true home work for missions. It is now comparatively a thing of the past. Once it was a regular observance of the first Monday of each month; then merged into the first Sunday evening; then the first mid-week service; and in many cases, divided between home and foreign missions, it lost its original special character, and has now only a name to live, and is practically dead. I know a church member who thought the monthly concert meant a musical entertainment. To allow so valuable a help to the culture of intelligent interest in missions to he dropped from our church economy and become an arclu.eological curiosity is a fundamental mistake. It may be made both interesting and stimulating. I have found the most successful way of conducting it to be to divide the world-field among the church membership, so that every man and woman, willing to help, may have a special field from which to report from time to time, changing the fields once a. year, in order to broaden both intelligence and interest, Then have maps, and, best of all, maps made by the church members themselves. A man or woman who draws a map of any mission field will never lose the image of that field from the mind's eye. I have had a full set of fine maps made for me without a penny's cost, by members of my own congregation.
The lack of earnest, believing, united prayer for missions is both lamentable and fatal to success. Prayer has always marked and turned the crises of the kingdom. No sooner do devout souls begin to unite in definite supplication than stupendous results begin to develop. Fifty years ago the burden of prayer was for the opening of doors, and one after another the iron gates opened as of their own accord. Then the plea went up for larger gifts of money; and at a critical period, when the whole onward march of missions was threatened, God gave a spirit of liberality; in 1878, that annusmirabilis, some twenty persons gave about four millions of dollars. Woman came to the front, and showed how, by gathering the mites systematically, the aggregate of gifts may grow steadily year by year, and rapidly. Then devout dis-
1888.J THE HEROIC MISSIONARY SOCIETY
ciples were led to pray for more laborers, and especially for the consecration of our foremost youth; and now from the universities of Britain and America a host of three thousand young men and women are knocking at the doors of the church, saying, "Here we are; send us;" and even the church that has been praying for this very result can scarce believe that they stand before the gate.
Brethren, we shall have learned little at this Conference if we shall nothave learned new lessons of the power of prayer. Themistocles delayed the naval engagement at Salamis until the land-breeze blew which swept his vessels toward the foe, and left every oarsman free to use the bow and the spear. How much wasted time and strength might be saved if the church of God but waited for the breath of the Holy Spirit to provide the impulse and momentum which we vainly seek to supply by our own energy and endeavor! When He breathes and blows upon us, how tbey who have toiled in rowing are left free to wield the weapons of the Lord's warfare, to exchange secular anxieties for spiritual successes!
Zoroaster bade his followers let the fires go out periodically upon their hearthstones, that they might be compelled to rekindle them at the sacred altars of the sun. What mean the smouldering en;bers on our hearths and altars, but that we have forgotten whence come the live coals, and the breath which alone can fan them into an undying flame!
THE HEROIC MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
BY ROBERT N. CUST, J.L.D., LONDON.
(Ooncluded from page 603, August number.) I NOW pass to the Heroic Missionary Society. I take as my type "the Moravian, 01' the Church of the United Brethren;" for the church and society are identical. It was the offspring of a bitter persecution by the Roman Catholics in Moravia: a small remnant fled across the boundary of hated Austria into Lusatia, and settled on the estate of Count Zinzendorf, and founded their city of Herrnhut. I have lately visited it, sat in the councilroom, conferred with the leaders of the community, visited their widows and worn-out missionaries in their humble homes, and knelt in their great Freidhof: they were first in the Protestant mission field, they are one ot the few associations that have obtained a footing in everyone of the five portions of the world: and they deliberately chose the most debased and degraded tribes as the object of their love, because such as they seemed to need the gospel most; their agents in truth wore the garb of poverty, and were poor in spirit also; in the countries, where they worked among slaves, they became slaves also, even as our Lord took upon himself the form of a slave, "p.6p</>1JV dOVAOV Aaf3wv." With the poor Hottentot they were not ashamed to suffer hardship and persecution, and to maintain that these poor outcasts had souls for which Christ had died: with the Eskimo they lived as brethren, and won them to themselves, content with the poorest and most unsavory fare, laboring with their own hands, trying not to be a burden to their church, which was so poor that it has still to be sustained by the alms of universal Christendom, for they were doing work which no other society could do; they literally went about as the disciples of Jesus, without scrip 01' change of garment, and their examples of self-denial carried the hearts of their people by storm: in these last days they have opened an asylum for lepers at Jerusalem. Their doctrmes were as simple as their practice, "Nothing but Christ crucified"; they had a courage which no danger could daunt, and a love which no harsh treatment could efface; who ever heard of a Moravian appealing to public meetings, or a public press, to organize armed relieC-e:fpeditions, or avenge their slaughtered brethren? They took death and the spoiling of their goods joyfully; they had a quiet constancy which no hardship could exhaust; there were, and are, no Exeter Halls to trumpet their praise; in their church there are no rich men to sub- scribe annual thousands, and yet they have left a mark on the world which no time can efface. Their types were, ,singleness of pm'pose, simplicity of bearing, self-consecration, and contentment with a little. If I wished to praise a missionary, I should say that he is worthy of being a Moravian. Many societies have done well, but this has excelled them all, for it has most nearly approached to the ideal church, formed after the pattern of the Founder-first and foremost in the great battle-field, yet seeking the last and lowest among the ranks of men. "I was a stranger, and ye took me in; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." The blessings of those ready to perish have accompanied, and still accompany, the gentle footfall of the Moravian brethren, as they tread the soil of distant and inhospitable climes, unknown, unpraised, but not unrewarded, The mode of conducting missions must be heroic also. We have but one _.life to keep or lose: how can we spend it in the best way? If souls are to be won to Christ, it must be by men or women whose souls are overflowing with lo'e to Christ. We ask not for ascetics, nor adopters of the native dress, nor the turner of the formal prayer-wheel, nor the daily celebrant, but such an expression of character on the countenance, such a mode of utterance, such a voice, thoughts that move, words that burn, as display earnestness and that the soul of the missionary is on fire. All human talents are only so far profitably employed, as they are used to save souls; all human knowledge is of no avail, unless it conduces directly or indirectly to the extension of our Master's king- dam: the simple gospel outweighs it all, so simple that all can understand, so profound that no one can get beyond, ,The great he- roes of whom I have spoken, and the great missionary band of Moravian heroes, differed from each other essentially, but they had formed the same conception of Christ, and of their duty; they looked over the human fences of churches, and saw the awful vision of the face of Christ only; they had a burning desire to carry His message face to face, mouth to mouth, in i{s naked simplicity; they thought nothing of chapels, and altar-cloths, stoles, m.usic, painted glass and decoration; they took the living Word to dying souls, teaching the poor heathen to live decent, holy lives in this transitory world, and through faith to inherit eternal life hereafter. There was no necessity for hair shirts or flagellations, for long ceremonies or retreats; theirs was the daily round of holy duty, whether steering the mission-ship, building the mission-school, or preaching the mission-sermon, until the very hour that they are called away, which is the best proof that their allotted task was done. I would have you realize the dignity, the greatness of the office: it is not a romantic or sentimental employment, such as discoursing witb Brahmins under a tree, or gathering sweet little children in a school; there is much that is distasteful, and humbling, and sometimes a feeling of despair.
The hero must not be cast down, must not be diverted from his purpose, must not change his ground. We can admire the perseverance of a bad man in a bad cause, how much more 01 a good man in a good cause I The famous Las Oasas had a fixed purpose to protect the poor natives of America, and he IS reported to have done,something every day of his life to advance the one great idea which dominated his existence. Hudson Taylor has put it well, "GO· in glad obedience; in fullest confidence, without anxiety, to do a definite work." Such is the high type, s,uch the practice of those hero-missionaries, * * * whom I have noticed. (See our !August number.) Let me look at the subject from another point of view. How much do we read, in missionary letters and reports, of theirfamilies, birth of children,death of children, illness of wife, and domestic cares, while the reader is anxious to know how the gospel warfare goes on, what progress has been made. Only imagine the public dispatch of a general or governor in which such details were even alluded to! In private letters to friends such things might be noticed, but not in the documents placed before the dommittee. Nothing strikes a committeeman more than the preponderate proportion of the corre- spondence which is occupied with notices of the wives and children of mis- sionaries, as if the committee were a board of guardians of the poor. How often a missionary comes home in full health and vigor, leaving for a time, or forever, a field of work for which he is suited, and in which, after some years of pupilage, he has learned to be useful, because his wife is ill ! Would the general commanding an expedition, or the governor of a province, have done so? How often the Indian official, or soldier, has to ship off a sick wife and cannot accompany her! We have not far to look to find out what St.
Paul would have said, and what our Lord did say (Mark x : 29). Even in the life of John Williams we find mention of the illness of his wife brought much too prominently forward: he was !1lways anticipating the necessity of an early return to England for her sake: but he clung on for eighteen years, and she arrived home in excellent health, and outlived him some years. It is against this exaggeration of human affections that the servant of Christ should struggle valiantly and prayerfully.' * * * * There are giants amidst the body of missionaries, for whom nothing is too good, for they would in secular professions have risen to distinction and wealth, but to a very large proportion this would not have happened. The praise of the good, self-denying, consecrated missionary is in the heart of all who care for such things, and many, unknown to him personally, talk lovingly of him when he is absent, and sadly when he is dead; but the great missionary is thinking always of his own infirmity, of how much he has left undone, and how much he could have done better, and rejoicing that it is given to him to spend and be spent. There is in modern times a far wider spread of missionary spirit than in past years, but it is not so deep; it has become a fashion, not a revelation, in a man's mind.
We find no idle calls on the part of the heroic missionary society, or the survivors and relatives of hero-missionaries, for vengeance on the murderers of the slain; this is one of the features of the gradual degeneracy of the age and the overweening self-assertion of a certain section of the British middle classes. It is well to have a giant's strength, but it is not well to use it as a bully. Nothing would have been easier than to have swept the islands of Erromanga and Nikapu from sea to sea clean of all their inhabitants to re- venge the deaths of Williams and Pattison; but the missionary societies pro- tested against the very idea of retaliation, nor would tl:J.e British responsible authorities have tolerated it. The relations of the deceased did not gather excited meetings in British towns, and pass resolutions, as in later cases, to petition the Government to send expeditions of rescue or intimidation. Such weakness of faith, such want of sound judgment, such incomprehensibleruis- 1 We do not indorse all the strictures and criticisms of the writer in this paper, and think he is at times unduly severe and sweeping. Still, what he writes on mi.sionary subjects-and few write more-deserves careful reading and candid consideration. Missions and missiOnaries have not IL warmer friend thllIl he.-EDs. understanding of the duty of a Christian man, were reserved to a later age. On the platform the missionary proudly, yet humbly, professes that he C.al'- ries his life in his hand, ready to live, God willing, and ready to die: if this were not the case, how low the British missionary would rank after the Swede, the Norwegian, and the Swiss, who have no ships to send, and whose countrymen still are ready to give up their lives, and fill up all that remains of the sufferings of Christ. If a misdionary has not stomach for such warfare, he had better retire into the safe refuge of a London curacy, or a Lancashire manufactory, where he will find heathen to minister to, without risk to his life, or causing alarm to his over-anxious relations.
The hel'o-missionary remembers that his service is a life-sel'vice, not the pastime of youth, or the employment of manhood, until a good living and a pleasant home is provided for him in his native country. Nothing is so disheartening as to !;lee so many instances of this forgetfulness of their first love, and of the words of our Lord (Luke ix : 62), "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 'l'here should be no discharge in this warfare save death or certified ill-health of the missionary himself, not of his wife and his children. It is a matter of congratu- – lation that we have aged bishops content to occupy their posts until death, that we have missionaries who have not preferred tbe ties of blood or the claims of family to the work which has been the desire of their youth, the joy of their manhood, and the solace of their old age. The hero-missionary is tender in heart, gentle in words, slow to anger, and easy pacified. He is not insensible of the heinousness of sin, but his heart melts in pity towards the sinner. He does not strike with his hl),ud or stick the bodies of the poor natives whose souls he has come out to try to save; he does not usurp an authority over them because his face is white and he is one of a strong nation, as he remembers that he is their minister, the servant of servants, as was his Master, who washed the feet of His disciples; he doe~ not tie them up to trees to be flogged, and kept in durance for whole nights, but he .attaches them to himself by the silken cords of love.
He may be the son of a noble in his own country, and he is not puffed up, or he may be the son of a country shopkeeper, and he is not abashed, nor does he strive in his new profession to be coventionally treated as a gentleman, for in his humility he takes in either case the standpoint of being a Christian, occupying the same position that was occupied by Paul the great scholar and Roman citizen, and by Peter the humble fisherman : he seeks not high places, nor great companies, nor first-class accommodation in steamers or railways; he is economic of the funds of the good society which is his nursing mother; he is not always calling out for grants for his wife or his children; he does not dwell in a fine, comfortable house, for he minds not high things, and is content with men of low estate; his door is ever open to the people, whom he came to win to Christ; his attire is simple, and he seeks not the company of this world, though indirectly the type of the holy, upright man, which he presents to their eyes, has a reflex blessing on their souls; though silent, his life is a sermon to them. He acts up to the ideal of the Christian soldier which he had conceived in his youth when the message came to him, when the Holy Spirit overshadowed him; to be brave and strong, yet loving and tender; full of holy ardor yet self-controlled and free from spurious excitement; firm in convictions, yet tolerant; firm of purpose, yet merciful and considerate; meek and lowly, yet proud of his calling; fearing God, and fearing no one else.
~y friends, you must lJe thorou~hly equipfled for th«;l cQmbilot with something more than the surface teaching of the ordinary theological college. One of my fellow-students, forty years ago, at the East IndIa Cl>Uege, was a Jew, a believing Jew and a clever Jew, and he took the highest marks in PalPy's Evidences. I asked him whether he were not entirely convinced, and he re- plieu that it had not the least effect upon him. Such must often be the teach, ing of the oruinary missionary to a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Mahometan, and, to a certain degree, to the Pagan. It is always easy to speak with contempt of the Indian Fakir, smeared with ashes, and sneer at the pJ'ayer-wheel of the Buddhist (something very like which in kind is found ill many a Christian church) and point out the blots in the Mahometan scheme of salvation; it seems casy to show up the utter abomination of pagan human sacrfiices; but the missionary will find that behind these exoteric symbols there is a rad- ical misconception of the problem of human nature in the minds of the pro- fessors of a false religion, and behind the poor ignorant devotee he will flnd men with minds much more l;ubtle than his own, gifted with a power of argu- ment far .exceeding his own, appealing to authorities, of which the ITltssion- ary is ignorant. The idol is something more to the believer than a bit of wood and stone; the believers are not men of the nineteenth century, and with the impress of European training. To miracles and prophecies quoted by the missionary the teachers and believers of the false faith will quote prophecies and miracles of their own; to the words of the Bible and the claim of inspil'ation they will oppose the words of their own sacred books, and claim equal supernatural authority; the sequence of historical events and the facts of geography are unknown to them; it becomes at last a struggle for life upon the first principles of human existence, and the contest must take place upon an arena, of which the poor theological student of England never dreamt, behind the altar, out of sight of the church, in scorn of the Bible or any Christian authority, and nothing but the outpoUl'ing of the ,Holy Spirit can bring the unbeliever to see, and know, and bow to the truth.
The Hindu in his prolific literature works out his great metaphysical ques- tion, "What am I? whence came I? whither dol go?" , lIov yev6f1a1; 1f60ev ripl; rivo, XaplV i;')JJov, a1fij')JJov; and it ends in nothingness; his successor the Buddhist makes this nothing- ness the object, aim, and end of existence; the Mahometan boldly pillages the Old and New Testaments to fashion a system which can never respond to the yearnings of the human heart or satisfy its aspirations; the pOOl'
pagan in his blindness is so far ahead of the modern educated atheist, that he feels and admits the presence of the Deity and His omnipotence, and tries to appease Him by sacrifices; he is ready, however, to listen to some- thing better, and welcomes the teacher, who .comes with a semblance of greater knowledge of the great Unknown. We read how, when the first missionary arrived from Rome in Northumbria, and a council was summoned to discuss how be should be received, a wise old baron remarked, that the life of man seemed to them in their heathen ignorance, like the flight of a bird outo[ the dark winter outside into the warm and lighted chamber, and then out at a window into another world of dark winter at the opposite side; the passage of a moment from a long unknown past into a long and unknown future; the contemplation of this was crushing; and, if the stranger from Rome could tell them something a little more certain, he should be wel- comed. Such is the spirit, with which a teacher is welcomed in many a pagan community. But is the ordinary missionary equal to this occasion?
Bred up in an atmosphere permeated by Darwinism and atheism, in a church whel'!~ more value is plac~d on the human surroundings, the ritual and th~ externals than the eternal truth, can it be hoped that he will mount up to the level of the religion of religions, the object and aim of human existence, and with the Bible in his hand aRd in his heart, and nothing else, grapple with the Hindu, Buddhist, Mahometan, or Pagan on the common ground of right and wrong, truth and -falsehood, judgment and mercy, sin and repentance, pardon and peace, opening out new worlds of thought to his astonished hearers? The hero-missionary can do this. He exhibits his principles, and his doctrines in his Christ-like life and words, and challenges his hearers to show him a better way than the way of self-sacrifice, self-control, and selfconsecration, to procure a higher conception than that of the fatherhood of God, of faith in a Redeemer, of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit leading poor weak men to personal holiness.
There are plenty of men who will volunteer to go out and dwell a season amidst the polished Persian, the civilized Arabized races, the Indian, who, with all his faults, is gentle and reasonable, the intelligent Chinese, and the progressive Japanese. They represent nations on the highest roupds of the ladder of civilization, our superiors in many arts and graces, with their monuments of literature, and architecture, and their time-honored customs: they have centuries ago got beyond the epoch of human sacrifices or cannibalism; they have had in their midst great sages who felt after God, if haply they could find Him, men standing on the same platform as Socrates, and Aristotle, and Pythagoras. There is very little discomfort in such service, and no danger; mere worldlings dwell among such races for the purpose of commerce and the service of the state. We do not wish to undervalue such services, for such were the missionary operations of St. Paul among the Greeks and Romans. The process of sapping and mining has long been going on. Education has brought with it a contempt for idolatory, but civilization has brought with it a contempt for all religions, and a disbelief in the supernatural, a doubt as to the reality of a future state.
But this is not the higher order of service; it does not mean the same self-sacrifice; it does not approach so near the services rendered to man by our Saviour; our Lord abased himself when He took the form of a slave and became man for our redemption. He thought it not vile to dwell in the tents of men, and associate with the poor, erring children of men. Patteson and John Williams, and the whole army of Moravian missionaries, learnt to look over the-wall of partition that separates race from race, and to call no one common and unclean; there have been missionaries who have had the fortune given to them to go in and dwell among lepers, and have succumbed to the disease themselves; there are those who have found a grace vouchsafed to them to dwell among the POOl', dirty savage outcasts of the human family, to submit to insult, hardship and perils; to die in spirit every day, and at length breathe out their last breath in some round straw hut, looking to Jesus, yet still thinking of friends and home.
U Dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos."
But there was no murmuring, for they knew how to be humbled but not ashamed, to be cast down but not disheartened, bearing about them the marks of the spear in their sides, and the print of the nails on their hands and feet. The service of such was great and noble; the heart of the worlding beats high when he hears of such achievements. Surely there must be joy in heaven w/len one of the miserable savages, to the outward eye nearer the beast than the man, is brought into the fold, and his body becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost, for Chris~ in very deed died for him also. The seU-sacrificing missionary teaches the men to lJe br(l.ve, yet not cruel, and the women to be sweet and affectionate, yet not unchaste; out of the stores of his acquired experience he teaches them humble arts, and the very rudiments of knowledge, the very fundamental of human graces, to be decent in act and word, to respect human life, to recognize property, to be sober and chaste, to love God as a father and cease to fear Him like a slave, to bow in gratitude to the free offer of pardon. And yet all this is possible: it has been done, it may be done again; it must be done by some of you who stand here and hear me this day: "EV 'TOV'Tr,J VlK(L."
It will be nothing wonderful, if in due time we convert the people of India, China, and the extreme Orient. They are not wiser and stronger than were the Greeks and Romans in the day of their greatness, and we know that the cross proved sufficient for their conversion. And experience has shown that the same cross is sufficient for races whom Cmsar never knew, of whose existence the Greek philosophers, and even St. Paul, had not the faintest idea. We thus begin to realize the full meaning of the prophecies of Isaiah, "The isles!lhaU wait for his law," and the words of our Lord, "They shall gather his elect from the uttermost parts of the earth," and again, in the Revelation, "Behold a great number, whom no man can number, out of every nation, and all tribes, and peoples and tongues."
There are three classes, in one or other of which you must, as Christian men, range yourselves : I. Whatever secular station you occupy, whether at home or abroad, you -must place the duty of assisting the evangelizing of mankind in the very first rank of duties, for nothing can approach it in impdrtance; if your lot takes you to non-Christian countries, you will find plenty of opportunities to serve the cause, and bitterly you will regret in your old age, if you neglect your opportunities.
II. If you have a call to go forth as a missionary to the civilized non-Chris- tian nations, if you find yourself in possession of special gifts, consecrate them; do not take a worldly view of the subject, and mix up a mission to a dying world with visions of early matrimony, social advantage, and a pleas- ant career. Mere worldlings act thus. Many a soldier, many a student of nature, ml:ny a ruler of men has risen far above such a low level of human aspirations. The athlete and the mechanic give you a lesson. Show to the heathen that you come among them unjerstanding the law of self-sacrifice, and that you come not, as the haughty Briton, one who lords it over, and sometimes strikes or ill-uses the lower races, but as then' brother and their servant for Christ's sake.
III. But Jet me show a more excellent way to those who are strong in body, strong in spirit, and also have worked out the sublime idea of self-sacrifice and self-consecration. The call will come to some of you, as it has come to others, in your dreams by night, in your visions by day, as you walk alone, or are in prayer, or in the midnight watches. It will gradually overpower you and make you captive, and at length you will call out with a loud voice, "Send me, Lord, for I am ready." For still many a sunny island of the South Seas, many a retired valley of the great central plateau of Asia, many a dark, forest-clad savannah of ,the great valley ot the Congo, many a wild tribe of South America, and, alas! our own fellow-subjects, the neglected, ill-treated Australian aborigines, and the poor Bushmen of the Cape Colony, are waiting, waiting for the moving of the waters of the fountain of life, and for some one to help them down; lifting up their eyes for the sight of the blessed feet of those who bring the gospel message; calling for their man, the Allen Gardiner, and Patteson, and Williams of this generation; they are standing in your midst, though not as yet revealed to the eyes of men. In the long course of centuries no prophet or evangelist has ever come near these poor heathen; they have laid out of the course of the revolution of the gospel; they are waiting for one who, in his life as well as his words, will illustrate to them the life and passion of our Lord and their Lord; they ask not for the refinement, nor the fantasies of modern religious thought and practice, but with dumb voices they ask the men of the nineteenth century and civilized Europe to teach them to clothe their nakedness, to dwell in decent dwellings, to cluster in villages, to live with one consort, and to respect human life, to do all things in a Christian way, and to realize the presence of the risen Saviour. In the last desperate struggling of heathendom it may be .:that the man of God, who thus appears like an angel among them, will be killed and devoured; but his death will prove the dawn of the new life; over the martyr-tomb will spring up the new chapel, and the younger generation, who witnessed the slaughter and partook of the ter~ible feast, will, by the grace of God, be converted and made new men, and, like St. Paul, become evangelists. When their day of grace comes, and they understand the matter, like the Jews at Jerusalem a few days after the crucifixion, they will be pricked to the heart. History is always repeating itself; but on this generation, the men of your age and country, rests the duty of completing the work, till the gospel cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. At the present moment there are regions still unevangelized, sufferings for Christ's sake not yet suffered, and crowns of martyrs and confessors not yet won.
Finally, my dear friends, suffer me to say to you one word more, and this word applies not only to the missionary, whose vocation is the highest of earthly vocations, but to each one of us, however humble and prosaic our special vocation may be. What were we created for? Why are we kept alive, except to do some special work which is marked out for us by the inexorable teaching of circumstances, circumstances wqich are controlled by the omniscience of God I How can we succeed in any work if our attempts are not sanctified by prayer! "Labora et Ora," for true prayer is somethmg done in the service of the Master, followed by praise for being selected to do it; not the empty litany or the conventional prayer-meeting. Say what we like, we are all day-laborers, and he serves his God best who does his day's work in the best manner and in the best spirit. None miss so entirely the mainspring of human action as those who strive to dissociate religion from the simple round, the common task of the most prosaic, the mostunroniantic, the most depressing lot in life.
It is not success that sanctifies the work, fot many of the best of us in our noblest undertakings do not succeed. We are thwarted by some narrowminded obstructers standing on the next round of the ladder above us; we are baflled at every turn, and at length laid aside by poverty, sickness or death. It is not striving that wins; the race is n()t to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. We must not look for the selfish satisfaction of thinking that we have done something; we must not hope for the applause of bystanders, for the foolish multitude generally praise the wrong person, or praise the right person for the wrong thing. We must find our reward in the work itself; something each day accomplished; something done; some kindly word spoken; some cup of water offered to the suffering; some noble thought cherished, some achievement, which the world ought not willingly to let die, shadowed forth, thought out, conceived, If not actually brought forth. Good work, earnest work, prayerful work, can never be without a
A TRINITY OF MONSTROUS EVILS DENOUNCED. 6'75
blessing to the worker, which will follow him after life's endless toil and endeavor to his rest, and what greater work than the saving of a soul I I once stood at the mouth of the great Panjab Salt Mine on the river Jhilam, and watched the long procession of women, children and men, of young and old, slowly advancing towards me, toiling up the steep incline, each with his head bent and back curved under the burden of rock-salt, which they brought from !he bowels to the surface of the earth. This was their hard and palpable day's labor. To the strength of each the burden was adjusted ; the young daily grew into capacity to bear heavier, the old daily felt their strength less equal to their diminishing load, but all rested night after night wearied with their daily round, and all each morning rose to the consciousness of a day's sweating and straining, and a risk of accidents and disease, and the dark river to be crossed at last. Tears started in my eyes as I thought of the sad procession of my contemporaries, whom dut'ing my own life I had seen toiling and striving, lifting their heavy burdens, or sinking by the way under them. I thought of the strong and enthusiastic, too eager for the strife, who fell years ago; the patient and uncomplaining, who toiled on till within the last few years; the yearly diminishing group of fellow-laborers, with yearly diminishing force, and the dark unknown future before me.
But there is no prison so deep that its depths are not reached by some ray of God's interminablfl day, and, as I looked into the faces of the salt-bearers, I became aware that one ray of light reached to the lowest slope of their dungeon, and, as they advanced upwards, it ever became brighter and brighter, shining hopefully in their uplifted eyes, and gladdening their hearts with the thought of home, and rest, and of labor, sanctified for the sake of the little ones, the old ones, the sick ones, to whose cOljJlforts their earnings ministered. The hero-missionary places the heathen, to whom he goes as Christ's ambassador, in that corner of his heart where other men place their families. Nay, more; God's greatlessons are taught in His works and in His creatures. As each laborer reached the outer world, and flung ((own his burden, his eyes insensibly turned up with a look of thankfulness and acknowledgment to the kindly light which had led him, and then each unconsciously shrouded his eyes with his hands, as if unable to bear the full glow of unutterable gladness, which the grace of Gcd sends to testify to the sanctity and dignity of labor, however humble and contracted the sphere: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things. 'Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
A TRINITY OF MONSTROUS EVILS DENOUNqED.
[A popular meeting of an extraordinary character was held on Wednesday evening, the twelfth dl>y of the session for the express purpose of giving public and indignant expression to the intensified feeling of the Conference in relation to three stupendous evils which had been brought to its notice during the meeting. It was not down on the programme, but the Loudon papers speak of it as a "magnificent dembnstration," and the most .. enthusiastic as well as the largest meeting of the series. Several of the speakers were Americaus-Dr. William M. Taylor of New York, Dr. A. J. Gordon of Boston, Dr. G. E. Post of our Syrian Mission, and our associate, Dr. Pierson of Philadelphia. We have full reports of the meeting in various English papers, aud proceed to give our readers a bird's-eye view of the great meeting, that they may feel the pulse of the world's missionary representatives in regard to such giant social, commercial and national sins as those here unauimously denounced by the largest and grandest popular council ever held. We follow chiefly the report in The Christian of London.-J. M. S,1 THE final meeting of the great Missionary Conference will not soon be fo.rgotten by those who were present. It was the largest of the series, and by far the most enthusiastic. The subjects under consideration-the Opium Traffic, the Drink Traffic, and Licensing Sin-naturally lent themselves to the expression of strong feeling; both speakers and hearers fully took advantage of the opportunity. The opinion was expressed during the evening that in the matter of the opium trade the Christian conscience of Great Britain has of late gone to sleep. The proceedings of Wednesday evening ought to do something in waki:e.g it up and keeping it wide awake till the cause for such wakefulness has disappeared. The outstanding features of the evening were the powerfully explosive utterance of Dr. Taylor, of New York, the remarkable reception given Mr. Alfred Dyer, on his return from India, and the heartiness of feeling shown towards our two eloquent American brethren, Dr. Gordon and Dr. Pierson.
"The chair was taken by Sir Arthur Blackwood, who was supported on either side by an array of gentlemen well known for their active interest in questions of national morality. In the opening prayer, Dr. Parsons, of Toronto, struck an appropriate keynote by his reference to the foes that oppose the kingdom of Christ and prevent the salvation of men.
SIR ARTHUR BLACKWOOD'S ADDRESS.
" After some remarks on the wisdom of the decision to hold such a meeting in connection with the Conference, the Chairman said: 'Not as part of a cutand-dried plan prepared beforehand, not as an outburst of hasty enthusiasm, but as the deliberate, solemn conviction of men and women qualified to judge, you have decided to speak out and denounce certain deeds and practices, and to deplore their terrible results. I a!ll sure I am right in saying that we do this in sorrowful confession of the blameworthiness of the churches, as well as in solemn condemnation of these practices. Were it not for lack of faithful testimony, watchful attention, earnest prayerfulness, courageous utterance, these things could never have attained their present magnitude. Surely the standard of morals in so-called Christian nations and governments must be low ir..deed, when practices like those cannot only continue unchecked, but be defended; and that not merely ou the ground of expediency, but of actual necessity. Where have the churches of Christ been in their testimony against these things? We must confess om' own guilt. We are not met for discussion; that time has gone by. Denunciation is our object to night-unanimous, I hope, and vehement if need be. What cause can demand it more? It is to be the denunciation of deedsdone contrary to every pre- cept of the gospel, contrary to the whole spirit of the Christian dispensation, and even protested against by the very heathen themselves. We are indeed deeply thankful that no sooner has one of those practices in its clear and ter- rible character been fully exposed and recognized than the British House of Commons resolved unanimously (for the few defenders of the practice dared not record their votes against the resolution) that this system should be abolished root and branch.* That proves, thank God, that the moral sense oC this nation is still alive with regard to such matters. But doomed systems often live long, and your denunciation and your protest to-night are none the less needful because, so far as that judgment has been uttered, this thing is doomed in all its horrible enormity and atrocity.
We are not only here to denounce, but to deplore the results, direct and in- direct, of these deeds and practices. The direct results, alas! who can esti- *This reference is to the formal licensing of harlotry by the British Government for the gratifiea- tion of the army in India. A fierce fight has been going on against the awful and scandalous in- Iqnity for months past, led on by Mr. Alfred S. Dyer, who in return has been assailed with as mnch bitterness as the Pall Malt Gazette once received for uncovering similar, though unlicensed, in- iquities in Lonaon. The British Parliament was finally forced by the terrible revebtlons made and the protests nttered to repeal the act, just as the Conference came together.-EDs. mate? Eternity alone will disclose the ruin to the thousands and thousands of bodies and souls of those amongst whom these practices have been carried on by members of so-called Christian nations-carried on by those who ought to have been the protectors and the friends and the saviors of the heathen to whom they went. The indirect results have been no less fatal. What might not the progress of the gospel of Christ have been among the nations of the earth had that gospel been commended and enforced by the lives of those who profess to be Christians? What can more effectually have barred its advance and have stayed its progress? I must allude here, for one mo- ment, to a challenge thrown down to you by the world. It is not often need- ful nor wise to pay much heed to what the world says about Christian work. Yet at times it is necessary, and I wish to draw your attention to the utter- ances of The Time8, which, in a leading article dealing with your Conference, spoke the other day in these words :- .. , Criticism cannot express itself aR altogether contented with the amoont of groond which has been annexed. • . • Before the promoters of missionary work can expect to have greater resources confided to them they will have to render a satisfactory acconnt of their trnst in the past. Their pro- gress, it is to be hoped, is sure; indisputably it is slow. A Congress like the present would be better employed in tracing the reasons for the deficiency in quantity of success than in glorifying the modi- com which has been attained. • • • The cause marches at a pace which, unless it is registered by the enthusiasm of Exeter Hall, appears little more than funereal. • • • For eyes not endowed with the second sight of the platform, the principal citadels of heathendom continue to 1lannt their banners as before. If some people profess to believe that they hear too much of foreign missions, the explanation is that they see too little of their results.'
"I think that demand is a fait- one, and that we are right in answering the challange. The world asks, Why have you not accomplished more? It says: 'Traae the reasons for your want of success, instead of talking about what you have done.' We have come together for that purpose to-night. Whilst . in the spirit of self-judgment and true humility before God for our well- known shortcomings in enthusiasm, in zeal, in self-denial, in prayerfulness, in effort, we declare before the world that, foremost, perhaps, amongst the causes which have hindered the progress of the gospel of Christ in heathen lands, have been the three practices which we desire to hear denounced to- night. How could it have been otherwise, when wherever the missionary has pitched his tent the rum merchant has sent his barrels, so that we have gone to the heathen in certain lands with the Bible in one hand and the rum-keg in another. What can those people have thought of the character of the Chris- tianity which thus presented itself to them? How can we wonder that the gospel makes small progress? With our cannon balls and bayonets we have forced the introduction of opium into China, and, alas! taught the popula- tion to grow the drug itself in order to oust our Indian products, thereby inflicting upon them irretrievable injury. What can that people think of the Christianity that came to them in that guise? And, again, when upon the defenseless, uneducated female population of India, a Christian government has fastened the horrible diabolical system to which allusion must be made to-night, and enforced it with all the tremendous weight of its authority; when side by side with the chaplain and the church has been the Govern- ment brothel, how can we wonder that there, in India, they have laughed at our Christianity, and cast contempt upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? If the world taunts the missionary enterprise with its little progress, and says, 'Find out the reasons for your lack of success,' we can indeed say, with all self-judgment as regards our own shortcomings, 'These practices, carried out by Christian nations, and authorized and enforced by so-called Christian governments, have much to bear of the blame for our want of success.' It is our business to-night to lift up our voices, and that with no bated breath; a.nd in no indistinct manner, to declare, in the name of the Lord, and on the ground of every obligation that we owe to Him who has redeemed-us by His blood, that, so far as lies in our power, so far as our protests and prayers can effect it, these deadly evils shall be stayed, and, by God's help, be impossible for the future."
THE CHINA OPIUM TRADE.
Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, moved the following resolution: .. That this Conference, representing most of the Protestant Missionary Societies of the Christian world, desires to put on record its sense of the incalculable evils, physical, moral, and social, which continue to be wrought in China through the opium trade-a trade which has strongly prejudiced the people of China against all missionary eftort; that it deeply deplores the position occupied by Great Britain through its Indian administration in the mauufacture of the product, and in the pr'Qmotion of the trade which is one huge ministry to vice; that it recoguizes clearly that uothing short of the entire suppression of the trade, so far as it is iu the power of the Government to suppress it, cau meet the claims of the case, and it now makes its earnest appeal to the Christians of Great Britain and Irelaud to plead earnestly with God, and to give themselves no rest until this great evil is entirelv removed; and further, that copies of this resolution be forwarded to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for India.'
"Mr. Taylor observed that the fact that the opium traffic is a huge ministry to vice, and an obstacle to the evangelization of China, is surely sufficient reason why the subject should be brought forward and protested against by this Missionary Conference. He then said: 'I made the statement at a previous meeting, which I will repeat, that while the result of eighty years of evangelistic effort in China has brought us to rejoice in 32,000 converts to Christianity, about 150,000,000 of the Chinese have been either turned into opium smokers or have come to suffer from the opium vice, as husband, wife, father, or mothe)'. If the evil is so rampant, and it is most difficult to help the smoker or his unfortunate family, surely it is high time that our protest was raised against it, and that we did our utmost to bring the evil to an end.'
"Proceeding to quote from official documents and the writings of wellknown men, Mr. Taylor showed the iniquitous character of the traffic. Rev. Griffith John condemned it unsparingly, and appealed to 'the great heart of England' to remove the curse. Rev. Howard Malcolm, of the United States, remarked that' the proud escutcheon of the nation which declares against the slave trade bears in this trade a blot still broader and darker.' Mr. C. Aitchison, chief commissioner of British Burmah, in a memorandum addressed to the Government of India, speaks of the' demoralization, misery, and ruin produced among the Burmese by opium smoking.' After quoting other testimonials, Mr. Taylor contended that England is directly responsible for every acre of Chinese soil engaged in the cultivation of opium. We introduced the drug, and then the people of China raised it themselves. The Chinese appealed in vain to England's kindly feeling and sense of.rectitude; they appealed to every sentiment which was likely to move a professedly Christian people: but in vain. Then they came to the conclusion that Eng- land has no moral sense, no conscience, but only a pocket, and that the only way to move England was to prevent the money from reaching her revenue by China producing the drug at home, until the pressure of England is removed. , "The government of India is to a large extent the producer of the drug. More than half the drug manufactured in India is produced and sold directly by the government of India. It is said that we need the revenue. Remem- ber the well-known words of Mr. Henry Richard in the House of Commons. He said he had a firm conviction that no nation had ever been engaged in any business so absolutely indefensible on all grounds as the opium traffic: … It might be true that the power of England was forcing it upon the Chinese, and was spreading among them demoralization. disease and death-but there was the Indian Revenue. It might be true that the tralllc created an enormous amount of ill-will and heart-burning towards England on the part or the Chinese Government and the Chinese people, which had led to one war and might lead to another-but there was the Indian Revenue. It might be true that the traffic constituted the most formidable of obstacles to Christiauity among the Chinese-but there was the Indian Revenue. It might be true that it interfered with the development of every kind of legitimate commerce-but there was the Indian Revenue. It might be true that it dishonored the character of England in the eyes or other nations, and prevented her from protesting against similar practices elsewhere-bnt there was the Indian Revenue.'
"To put it plainly, as Mr. T. A. Denny had well put it, this plea amounts to this, that' the English nation cannot afford to do right.' I sincerely trust that this meeting will make it very plain that in its estimation the English nation cannot afford to do wrong. In conclusion, Mr. Taylor expressed a hope that the wrong may be put right while there is opportunity, and before the wrong-doer is visited by divine judgment.
Dr. James L. Maxwell, formerly missionary to Formosa, seconded the resolution. It is quite true, he said, that the Indian Government is the chief party to the evil. But before that there is a BritIsh House of Commons to be reached, and still before that there is the conscience of England to be reached, and, yet again, before that, there is the heart of the Christian church in England to be touched. The question is absolutely beyond discussion. We deliberately cultivate the poppy and minister to the vice of a heathen people; more than that, we fatten upon that vice, in spite of the fact that the rulers of the Chinese have again and again remonstrated with us, and in spite of the fact that our action is leading to the physical, moral and social ruin of the people. Of late years there has crept over the Christians of this country a very strange apathy in dealing with this opium trade. Intellectually we have acknowledged that it is wrong, and we have signed memorials against the traffic; but we have not kept it in our hearts as a burden upon our souls before God. Why do we not arouse ourselves? In this hall to-night, there is a constituency large enough, if set on fire on this subject, to begin to move England from end to end. Who dares to measure what the progress of speed in dealing with this would be, if each of us pledged himself before God not to forget the matter; but in private and in public so to move that this blot shall be removed from the nation? Only let us get to faithful handling of the evil, looking to God for help, and absolute suppression will in due course be reached." The resolution was carried unanimously.
NATIVE RACES AND THE DRINK.
Dr. W. M. Taylor, of New York, submitted the following resolution, which he supported, by a tremendous earnest and rousing- speech :'- " That the International Conference, compristng delegates from most of the Protestant Missionary Societies in the world, is of opinion that the traffic in strong drink, as now carried on by merchants belonging to Christian nations among native races, especially in Africa, has become a soarce of terrible and of wholesale demoralization and ruin, and is proving a most serions stumbling-block to the progress of the gospel. The Conference is of opinion that all Christian nations should take 8teps to suppress the traffic in all territories under their influence or government, especially in those under International control, and that a mutnal agreement shonld be made to this effect without delay, as the evil, already gigantic, is rapidly growing.
" After stating that he had received several pressing mandates on this topic, to be delivered to the Conference from Presbyterian bodies in the United States, Dr. Taylor said: 'We who look back to this as our dear old home-land have a very tender regard for her reputation, and we feel sad to have to hang our heads in shame over her when the opium traffic is brouglit up against her. But our hands in America are as deep in this drink traffic~ yours are, and we come here to beseech you a!ongwiih us that the Christian Church of Europe and America as a whole shall advertise itself out of this business, and shall declare that whosoever hereafter is responsible for its continuance, that responsibility, by the help of God, shall no longer lie at our doors. I protest against this traffic because of the demoralizing effect it has on the native races. We know something of what it does at home, but these effects are far more tremendous abroad. These native races are in the position of minors or infants. If we insist, and rightly insist, that those who sell liquor to children and minot'S shall be punished, shall we force this traffic on those nations that are composed of minors altogether? I protest against the traffic, also, because it is destructive of legitimate commerce. The expenditure of resources for the gratification of the drink appetite renders it impossible for the natives to deal in more wholesome articles of trade. I ask you, in the name of common sense and righteousness, if you are going to allow this one deadly traffic to deprive you of honest gain in those countries which in so wonderful a way have been opened up to trade in modern times? If you force rum upon them, you cannot give them cotton, because they have nothing to buy cotton with. But stay, there is one trade that may be Improved by the rum trade. I saw in one of your morning papers this week a paragraph with reference to King Quamin Fori, and a visit paid to him by Sir Brandford Griffith, Governor of the Gold Coast: 'All that King Quainin Fori asks is that Her Majesty's l'epresentive will instruct the merchants of Addah to pay for palm-oU in cash instead of gin.' The Governor, III answer to this appeal, said he could not interfere with the course of trade. The last sentence in the paragraph is to the following effect : of .. The prevalence of the habit among Christian traders in that region paying the heathen for his goods • in gin,' may possibly have something to do with the curious circumstance that king after king with whom the governor held a palaver, during his official progress, appears to have asked for a supply of handcull's,"
"Yes, the trade in handcuffs is one that is stimulated by the gin traffic. Here is a trade-mark for the gin bottle. Handcuffs! Handcuffs ! Yes, handcuffs that enslave, handcuffs that degrade; 0, yes, put it on the gin bottle everywhere.
"I protest against this traffic because of the retribution wbich it is sure to bring on the nations who protect it. I rejoice in the ringing words quoted by Mr. Hudson Taylor from Mr. Henry Richard: 'The government of God is real; the government of God is moral; the government of God is retribu- tive.' Has Great Britain forgotten to read the lesson of the Indian mutiny? Has America forgotten to read the lesson of the civil war? Shall we allow ourselves to go to sleep agamover an eVil like this, folding our arms and saying : ' Let it alone; it will take care of itself'? The Governor of the Gold Coast said, 'We cannot interfere with the course of trade.' This has been said again and again in history. It reminds me of the passage: 'Yet a little more sleep, a little more slumber . . . so shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth, and thy want as an armed man.' Oh, that armed man! We saw him in America twenty years ago, and Gettysburg was the retribution of letting it alone. You saw it in the Indian mutiny away back among the fifties, and that fearful time was the retribution of letting it alone. Are we to let it alone again, and bring down still greater retribution upon our heads in America and upon you here?
" Once more I protest against this detestable traffic because of its neutral- izing effect upon the efforts of our Chrlstian missionaries. Why should we go to the heathen handicapped and hampered by men who have no care but to make money, and who have yoked the motive-power of appetite to the car of Mammon, that they may ride the more surely over men? Oh, brethren, as the representatives of the Missionary Societies of the world, let us rise in our might and say: 'It is time that we should be unlimbered and unhampered and delivered from this terrible evil.' If the churches of England were united, and in earnest, and right, no government would be able to resist them. If the churches of England, of Europe, and America were united, and in earnest, and right, no evil in the world could stand before them. Let there be no pessimism among us in regard to this. PessimIsm is lor those who have no Christ; courage is the characteristic of those who know they have Him with them and in the midst of them. But we must ourselves have clean hands. Let us labor, and pray, and determine in the might of God to lay low everything in the shape of demoralizing traffic with these native races. Let us knock it on the head, and sweep its kennel clean out. The resolution was carried by acclamation.
KING LEOPOLD AND THE TRAFFIC.
" A third resolution, recognizing the benefits that have already accrued to Africa in connection with the founding of the Congo Free State by the King of the Belgians, invoking his aid in suppressing the drink traffic, and appointing a committee to proceed to Brussels and lay this important matter before his Majesty, was submitted to the meeting by the Rev. Dr. J. Murdock, of Boston. In doing so he mentioned an incident told in New York by Mr. H. M. Stanley. When that explorer met the King in Uganda, the King asked him many questions about Queen Victoria, the Emperor of Germany, and others i then he said, •What tidings can you bring me from above?' Mr. Stanley, unhappily, was not an expert in these matters, but he gave the King a New Testament, which he declared contained the only answer which man could ever receive to that most momentous inquiry. After a long passage across the continent, Stanley came at last to meet with the colored people of the Western Coast, and the first question they asked of him was, 'Have you any gin?' That, said Dr. Murdock, is the difference between heathendom pure and simple and heathendom as touched by the curse of Western civilization. It was in order to touch this evil at its very core that the matter would be laid before the King of the Belgians. The resolution was seconded by Mr. H. Grattan Guinness in a paper full of startling facts, most eloquently and impressively stated. The resolution was heartily agreed to i the gentlemen appointed to carry out its provisions being Dr. Murdock, Mr. Grattan Guinness, Mr. J. Bevan Braithwaite, and Mr• .Alfred Baynes.
L!OENSED VICE IN INDIA.
"The fourth and last resolution was moved by MI'. Alfred S. Dyer, who, as the Chairman remarked, had only a few days before returned from India. On rising, MI'. Dyer was greeted with oft-repeated rounds of cheering, and it was some time before he was able to speak. He read the resolution as follows: " That this Conference has heard with shame and sorrow of the extensive system of State·licensed vice carried on throughout India by authority of the Indian government; that at the same time it desires to place on record its deep sense of the great service rendered to the canse of morality and religion by the House of Commons determining the repeal of all legislation which anthorizes and en· courages vice; and it confidently expects that Her Majesty's government will now take Immediate measures to abolish what constitutes a social degradation, and so remove a stnmbling-block to religion, and the dishonor to the name of Great Britain which have resulted from this system; and further. that copies of this resolution be forwarded to the Prime :Minister and the Secretary of State for Indis.
"The time being far spent, Mr. Dyer had proposed simply to read the resolution, leaving it to speak for itself without any advocacy of his own. In response, however, to the calls of the audience, he said: The uppermost feeling in my heart is one of unbounded thanksgiving to God for the great victory which has been gained in the House of Commons in this cause of social purity. I honor the noble men in that House who have stood faithful to this cause amid so much ridicule. I honor them in that they have been • faithful to the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I look upon this victory entirely as an answer to the prayers that have been offered up. We have been praying about it in India. Not a day passed that I did not pray for it, so that I feel, as I have said, unbounded thankfulness to God, while I thank those members of Parliament. After seven or eight months' patient investi- gation in India, and coming into contact also with the drink traffic, I have come to the conclusion that the two great obstacles to the success of mission- ary work in India are the systems of licensed vice and of licensed drink. I would only add that we must see that the resolution of the House of Com- mons is carried out in India. I hope in a few weeks to go back there; and I intend to stay there, to act as your representative, to exercise a due vigil- ance, and to see that the system of licensed Ivice is abolished. While I am there, I shall also make it my business to investigate further these questions of the drink traffic and the Chinese opium traffic, and to see if I can help you to get rid of them.
"Rev. G. E. Post, M.D., seconded the resolution. He said: 'It was with extreme repugnance that I undertook to speak. My repugnance arose from the fact that I felt myself to be a citizen of another land, and that this was a question which primarily concerned Britain. But in presence of such a ques- tion you are not Eng-lishmen, and I am not an American, but we are all of us citizens of the commonwealth of man, and endowed from heaven with the freedom of the city of God. I take that freedom to protest against the worst form of outrage that has ever been perpetrated against a defenseless people, Anglo-Saxon fathers, hang your heads with shame for the cause that brings us here to-night. Anglo-Saxon mothers, turn your hearts away from your husbands and your sons; you cannot look them in the face as you discuss a question like this. Anglo-Saxon daughters, draw your veils over your eyes lest you put me to silence by ihe mantling blushes on your cheeks. Twelve years ago the civilized world was stirred to its depths by the story of the Bulgarian atrocities. A few undisciplined Bashi Bazouks, elated by victory, were guilty of atrocities which brought down upon their country a desolating war, which dismembered it, and which drew from one of your statesmen that famous utterance that the Turks must be driven, 'bag and baggage,' out of Europe. We have been guilty of an atrocity which surely might justify the statement that we ought to be driven, 'bag and baggage,' out of Asia. This, moreover, is not an atrocity by a few guerilla soldiers, but by a Christian Government, with its two estab- lished religions and its numerous churches and chaplains. We have gone into India in an official capacity, to degrade, first our own sons, and then the daughters of the weak subject races. It is with shame that we confess that our race has sunk to such a degradation as that. Turn to a lIlore cheerful aspect, and reJoice at the action of the House of Commons. All honor to those noble men who have stood up and vindicated the right. I repudiate, and never will believe, the accusation, that the medical profession stands behind these acts. I have been a member of that profession for twentyseven years. I say that when you press this matter on your legislative bodies, you may rely upon the medical profession being with you. And let us press forward in the consciousness that God is with us." The resolution was carried unanimously.
CLOSING WORDS.
The evening was now far advanced, but the Chairman called out Drs. Gordon and Pierson for brief addresses.
Dr. A. J. Gordon said: "It has been said, and I think truly, that there is enough sentiment, and conscience, and enthusiasm, and spiritual power in this audience to move our governments to the abolition of these terrible iniquities. Let it be remembered for our encouragement that in England, when the slave trade was to be abolished, agitation began with only two or three men, who carried it to a successful issue. I remind you also that our great conflict in America began with two or three men, who for years stood alone. Again, remember that the leader of that movement placed on his banner the motto, 'Immediate, Unconditional Emancipation,' and in spite of all ridicule and all abuse, and all dissuasion, he never would take that motto off his banner, but carried it forward until at last the whole nation followed him, and we swept the curse of slavery from our land. I suppose it will be admitted by our American brethren that the most eloquent man America has produced in modern times was Wendell PhiUips. He stood side by side with Lloyd Garrison-the two stood alone for years. I remember the time when they could not rally twenty men in a city to listen to them, eloquent as they were. This, however, is what I am going to say: Dh, English women! oh, American women! do you know what you can do? Just before Wendell Phillips died, I had a memorable conversation with him. Knowing that he had sacrificed social position, and much besides, I had the curiosity to ascertain what led him into the agitation. He had an invalid wife, who for years never left the house. I asked, 'What first led you to espouse the cause of the slave and to stand by him? ' He replied, 'My whole career is due to my wife. She said to me before the thought had ever touched my conscience, 'Wendell, you must take up the cause of the slave,' and I did it at her request, and I fought it out because she stood behind me.' There is a lesson for Christian women! And now let us remember that if two leaders can. finally bring a whole vast nation to follow them in deIpanding the abolition' of such an evil, we are more than two, and we have had as eloquent men leading us to-night as either of those I have named. Let us follow them. There is nothing that ca'n stand against iteration and reiteration. Suppose you suspended a piece of iron .weighing a hundred pounds In the midst of this hall, and, when it was perfectly poised, you brought a schoolboy to pelt it with pieces of cork. At first there would be no impression, but if the boy kept at it long enough and directed the pieces of cork at one point, the time would come when the whole mass would begin to mo,'e. In like manner, our testimony may in itself be very weak and unworthy, but let us bring it to bear long enough-testimony after testimony, protest after protest, demand after demand, abhorrence after abhorrence, expressed in the intensest terms against these evils; and by and by the great mass will begin to move, and it will be swept out of the way. Let us not be disheartened. Let us take courage from the assurance that God will bruise Satan under our feet shortly."
Dr. A. T. Pierson, lD the course of a stirring address, said: "If I had time I would like to take up the challenge thrown down in that secular news-
MISSIONARY MONTHLY
paper. For I reckon that it knows a good deal more about the kingdom of Britain and other kingdoms than it does about the kingdom of God. We stood this afternoon in the London Missionary Society's premises, and had rehearsed to us in brief outline the wonderful story of the progress of the gospel in Tahiti and the neighboring groups of islands. The missionaries labored in Tahiti for years without any apparent results, but then within a very short time the people became so thoroughly Christianized that they sent to the otqer groups, and within forty-four years the regeneration of Polynesia was accomplished. And yet this newspaper thinks that the progress of foreign missions has been funereal! Having told of wonders wrought in China, Dr. Pierson said :We have spoken much in this Conference about the union which has been exhibited. I want to say that I take not the slightest credit to America or to myself for this unity. If in the presence of the gigantic foe that unites all its forces and masses all its hosts against the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, I did not forget that I am an American, and also forget the denomination to which I belong, I should consider myself a fossilized ecclesiastic, and not a disciple at all. When Herod and Pilate are made friends in order to crush Christ and Christianity, it behooves all true disciples to stand shoulder to shoulder, and to close about the ark of God. The fact is, our unity is largely the involuntary unity of those who in the presence of the adversary have come together because they cannot help it ; and I think that the methods and manner adopted by our foes make it clear that we can pursue no successful policy of warfare but an aggressive one. We had better stop throwing up defenses, and carry war into the enemy's camp. A positive, aggressive gospel is surely the one that is going to win the day."
THE MISSIONARY MONTHLY CONCERT.
BY DR. JAMES L. PHILLIPS, CHAPLAIN TO STATE INSTITUTIONS, R. I. ALMOST a century ago a few earnest Christians in England founded the Monthly Concert of Prayer for Missions. To this day it is faithfully observed in many churches of the mother country. More than twenty years ago, when I was a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, this monthly concert was regularly held in many of the New England and New York churches; and while visiting friends in the Western States, before embarking for India, I found it in some of the churches there. On coming back to America I have been making many inquiries, and regret to learn that there seems to be a marked falling off in the observance of this missionary service. The history of this meeting for nearly a hundred years affords ample proof of its importance. Its real value cannot be estimated, for facts and figures can neither detect nor determine the full benefit it has brought to the church of Christ at home and abroad. The journals of missionaries in foreign fields, and records found in our best periodical missionary literature, and in the memoirs of men who have been valiant pioneers in extending the triumphs of the kingdom of God on earth, yield abundant and remarkable testimony to the benefit and blessing that this monthly concert has been to Christian toilers in many lands. It is very cheering to find THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD calling attention regularly every month to the Concert of Prayer, and the following incidents may serve to illustrate and impress the importance of this service. Ten years ago, when at home on furlough before, one of the last things I had to do was the raising of an endowment fund for our Bible School in India. While engaged in this work, which occupied several months, I was traveling much and met with many very Ct9nvincing proofs of the educating power of the Missionary Concert. One of these I wish to cite, because it illnstrates how the regular observance of this monthly meeting tends to plant the habit of cheerful giving, one of the hardest habits, so the pastors tell us, for Christian disciples to acquire.
The committee sent me to some strange spots for money. Everyone who has done such deputation work among the churches on either side of the Atlantic knows wh~t surprises, pleasant and otherwise, drop into this line of service, and some of these become the salient points of the scene as you look back upon it in after years. One week day evening I had an fLppoint- men t in a village of Central Ohio. On stepping off the train, and looking over the place from the railway station, and there learning that the church to which I was sent was without a pastor, I wondered how this appointment came to be made. The outlook was anything but bright.
The hour for the missionary lecture found about seventy people seated in a plain house, the women on one side and the men on the other. They listened admirably to what was said about gospel work in India, and the demand for. trained native helpers. A stranger minister had offered the opening prayer, and no one volunteering to take pledges or the collection for my endowment, I asked my brother to wait upon one side of the house, while I did on the other. Catching up paper and pencil, he straightway went for the men, fancying no doubt that the pocket-books belonged on that side of the house. For once it wasn't so, for in cash and pledges together moire . than ten times as much came in from the women's sIde as from the men's side of that small congregation. I shall never forget the very first woman whom I asked for money that evening. Her quick answer to my question, "Would you like to help our Bible School?" was significant and cheered me so. Looking up through her glasses squarely into my face, she said :- "Indeed, I should, sir," and she gave me fifty dollars. Anotherlittle woman gave me twenty-five dollars, and still another ten. On reaching my lodg- ings I learned from my kind hostess that these three women were sisters, and naturally I was curious to know their history. One of them lived close by, so the next morning on my way to the railway station, I called upon her and thanked her and her sisters for the good cheer they had given me at the meeting. And from this humble Christian woman I learned these facts. Their childhood home was in Western New York, and they used to attend a Presbyterian church. Their pastor never failed to observe the monthly concel·t of prayer for missions, at which service he regularly brought be- fore his people the conditions and claims of the pagan nations, the freshest news from the front ranks of Christ's advancing army in all lands, and also the duty and the privilege of helping on this grand movement for the world's evangelization by earnest prayers and cheerful offerings. That faithful pastor had reached his rest and reward in heaven, and I, a stranger from the opposite side of the earth, had been permitted to reap' some of the golden harvest for which through years of patient toil he had sown the seed.
Another incident of more recent date illustrates the other side of the ben- efit that accrues from thIS missionary concert, that is the cheer it carries to our brethren across the seas. On the 6th of March, 1887, the concert topic in quite a number of churches was New Fields, and particular men,tion was made in the addresses and prayers of a little station recently opened on the Orissa coast. The young missionary planting this station had met with serious obstacles. A cyclone had blown down his first buildings, there had
ISLAM AND CIVILIZATION
been lack of funds for pushing on the work of rebuildhtg, and other discouragement. He did not know that on the first Sabbath of March we were to offer up special prayer lor him in our monthly concert. But the blessing came just the same.
In a private letter this missionary writes: "On the 6th and 7th of March I received a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Such courage I have never felt in my work, and all the native Christians felt more or less the same spirit of consecration. The following Sabbath I baptized six, and there are a number among the Hindus and Telugus here who, are seeking Christ. Wherever we go, the Spirit of the Lord seems to be going before to open up the way. It has been surprising to me, and the native workers have remarked a number of times, how wonderfully the people accept the gospel."
By the slow course of an ocean mail, our brother on that Ori!'sa coast learned on the 3d of April, from a Boston newspaper dated February 24th, that the missionary concert of March 6th was to make him and his field the special subject of prayer. Whereupon he writes: "Then it flashed upon me like light from heaven that my wonderful blessing on the 6th and 7th of March was a direct answer to your prayers, and I went into the service and told the Brethren. Instead of preaching, we had a consecration meeting, in which the power of the Spirit was wonderfully manifest. It was a blessed day. I believe the prayers offered there for this special field were answered. Today the hardest man in this place sent to buy a New Testament. God's Word will make its way, and His kingdom prevail."
These words from a lone man on a far-off shore speak volumes to every pastor in America and Europe. Would that all pastors, in city and country alike, could be of one mind in observing this Monthly Concert of prayer for Missions. How the church at home needs the quickening and refreshing it would surely bring! One of the most interesting sessions of the Convention of the International Missionary Union, held at the Thousand Island Park in 1887, was devoted to discussing ways and means for stirring up our home chnrches to persevering prayer and systematic beneficence in behalf of the millions still in pagan darkness. Over and again during this discussion, it came out that wherever the monthly concert was regularly kept up, the interest i,missions was intelligent and aggressive. Beloved pastors of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout all lands, will you revive and sustain this MONTHLY CONCERT, and so teach your people to obey His great command to disciple the nations?
ISLAM AND CIVILIZATION. "THE recent controversy as to the comparative merits of Islam and Christianity raises issues deeper and wider than the so-called' religious world.' It is not Christianity alone, but civilization, which is involved in the issue. I believe that under Christianity alone can man reach the perfect development of his nature. • . • Islam can raise to its own level tri,bes lower than itself in the scale of humanity; but this it does at the terrible cost of petrifying them at that level forever-the level, that is, of the barbarous Arabs of Mahomed's day. For, except in the matter of idolatry and infanticide, Islam, as we find it in Mecca, its metropolis, is not in advance of the social and intellectual condition of the Arabs of that time; and inasmuch as the Koran claims to be the last declaration of the divine will to man, it follows that any progreiis beyond the Koran is not only superfluous, but impious in addition. And the history of Islam all ovel' the world proves to demonstration that what was antecedently to be e~pe~ted has in fact occurred. • • • The Koran, in Islamic belief, was written by the finger of God in the highest heaven before all time, every word and letter of it, in the Arab tongue; was· then, at the predestined time, taken down to the third heaven by the angel Gabriel, and there recited, word for word, to Mahomed in an audible voice in 'suras' or chapters, as occasion required, and was by him miraculously re- produced from memory. This is an article of faith throughout the world of Islam; and as the Koran professes to be the last revelation of the divine will to man, it follows, of course, that nothing which is sanctioned in the Koran, explicitly or implicitly, can· ever be abrogated, altered, or become obsolete.
Nobody who realizes this fact will believe that the Koran can possibly be a preparatory discipline, like Greek philosophy, for Christianity.
There is no living voice in the church of Islam to reconcile the past with the present and make provision for the future. It claims an infallibility more sweeping and more rigid than that of the Vatican decrees, but it is the in- fallibIlity of a dead pontiff, an ignorant and immoral Bedouin, who died twelve centuries ago. . . . As a spirtiual force, in so far as it ever was one, Islam is not advancing, but retrograding. The Musulman world contains no longer a single center from which radiates any intellectual light 01' any sign of material progress. There is not one Mussulman state in the world which wields independent sway-which, in fact, does not exist solely by the suffer- ance of Christendom. A creeping paralysis has fastened upon Islam, and the shadow of the devouring eagles may even now be descried on its horizon.
How stands the case of Christianity in comparison? Its Pattern Man is not only to the Christian, but to the great mass of intelligent and educated un- believeJ's, the highest and noblest ideal of humanity that history records or the human mind can conceive. His teaching and example are the most per- fect exhibition of human virtue that the world has seen. . • . As to the comparatively slow progress of Christianity and its imperfect success, even within the frontiers of Christendom, we must distinguish between the essence of a system and its separable accidents. Islam, at its best, bears within it the incurable germ of inevitable decay and dissolution. The hin- drances to the spread of Christianity, on the other hand, are but parasites whioh cling to it and which it may shake off. They may be summarized as follows: "1. The divisions of Christendom. Islam, too, has its sects, and many of them; but they close their ranks and present a united front to the 'unbe- lievers.' 2. Faulty methods of propagandism, such as neglect of rearing in foreign lands a native ministry, while importing European habits, customs and dress among native converts. 3. The discredit cast upon the Christian name by the lives and demoralizing traffic of professing Christians. 4. To which may be added, as regards India, the active discouragement and even resistance which, until a recent period, a professedly Christian government offered to the propagation of Christianity. . It is a superficial view which would confine the comparison between Christianity and Islam to the numerical proportions of their respective adherents, though even on that score Christianity has no reason to blush, as I have already shown, and as Sir William Hunter has explained with respect to India. At the time of Christ's dea.th, 'the number of names together,' who owned themselves His disciples, 'were about an hundred and twenty.' Was that a fair test of the success of his ministry? The apparently signal failures of Christianity have generally been the preludes to fresh victories. So it may be now. The suc- cess of Christianity at any given time is not to be measured by visible r~sults.
In India, in Japan, in China, in Africa, throughout the Turkish empire, it is
ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK
silently sapping the foundations of rival religions. Its ideas and principles are in the air, like those minute yet potent germs of which physical science tells us. Only they are germs of health inoculating diseased organisms with the seeds of a. regenerate life. Christianity is impregnating Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Paganism, with hopes, aspirations, ideals, principles, which are gradually but surely disintegrating the old order of things, and preparing the way for the reception of Christianity."-Malcolm MacOoll, in Oontemporary Review.
n.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK.
Established Ohuroh of Scotland. crease in the membership of the church to the number of 7,973_ The total number of commu- AT its recent session the Foreign nicants is 579,002. In 1873 the membership was Mission Committee reported to the 460,464, so that there Is an increase of 118,538 in General Assembly 827 baptisms as fifteen years. the fruits of the labors of their missionaries during 1887. Of these The Free Ohuroh of Scotland. 676 were in the Punjab, around Sialkot; 120 in the threefold Darjeeling GEN1IRAL abstract, showing the sums raised Mission; 13 in Madras, and 13 in Ar- for the various objects of the church for tbe konam; 4 in Calcutta, and 1 in Bom- year, from 31st March, 1887. to 31st March, 1888: bay. To these add 1 at Calcutta and 2 at Madras, in connection with the I. Sustentation fund ………… £167,37474 Ladies' Association. There are at II. Local building fund. . . . . . . . . . 65.689 8 IIJ-ii present about 3,000 baptized persons III. Congrega- In the Church of Scotland's missions to the heathen in India, Africa and tional fund. £16:>,005 8 5J-ii China. Congrega- RECEIPTS. tional mis- cellaneous The Foreign Mission Revenue from all sources objects …. 43,123 12 6 in 1887 was £43,399. This sum inclndes income – – – – 208,129 0 llJ-ii IV. Missions and education.. . . •. 117.916 5 1 at home, £24,481; income abroad, £10,799; in- V. Miscellaneous ………….. 33,746 3 2 terest on J1lvested funds, £1,267; income of Total……………………£592.855 5 1 Ladies' Association for Foreign Missions, £6,8,;2. The missionary receipts were as follows: Revenue at Home…………………. £50,295 As regards income, results, and additions to the Revenue Abroad………………….. 33,5UI For tho Conversion of the Jews…….. 8.682 sta1l', 1887 has been the most prosperous year ill Making the whole missionary revenue the history of the Foreign Mission. of the Free Church of Scotland for – – 1887-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £100,756 The total contributions to the various schemes of the church for the year amounted to £151,805, an Increase on the previous year of £9,293.
DUring the past year there bas been an in- United Presbyterians of Sootland.
SUMMARY FOR 1887.
Annual Income, '£43,430 13s.• Including a Small Expenditure in Spain.
No. of Com- Native Fields of Labor. Sta- Foreign Workers. Native Workers. muni- Schools. Schol- Contri- – – – – – – – – tions. cants. ars. butions. ——— —— — — — Or- Fe- Or- !~~. dained. Lay. male. dained. Lay.
Jamaica ………… 46 19 . …. …… 13 82 ………… 8,796 68 £ Trinidad ……….. 3 2 "2" 1 ··42" 359 2 5,967 6,000 Old Calabar. 6 6 7a 4 "iil' 269 ]6 Kaft'raria ……….. 11 11 3 76 1,426 India…………… 10 15 10 ….2· .. 65 2,180 3'~ 517 194 195 1,482 1,266 .. ..2.. 15 2 445 92 5,029 . 217 ..2… …1… 499 5 – – – -13- – – – – – – – – – – – China ………….. 43 -3-90 Japan ………….. 4 –** – ** 80 – -ll!2- Totals………… 84 61 7 21 22 389 44 12,938 210 13,071 £9.325 *Not reported.
The Income as given above IS over 1886 gaye, and 161 more native com- .£3,800 more than our report for municants. Irish Presbyterians. Total home receipts .. " ……•.. £124,581 19 fa FORTY-SIXTH annual report on FOREIGN RECEIPTS.
Foreign Missions, presented to the Mission districts auxiliaL·'ls…… 5,803 0 6 General Assembly in Belfast, June, Total ordinary receipts. . •. . •. . 130,337 19 8 1888. EXTRAORDINABY RECEIPTS. The report is encouraging. The Contributions for special missions year 1887 has been a notable one in the Indian Mission. There were 147 in UpperBurmah, Central Atrica, baptisms, and an increase of communicants, and two natives were China, India, etc…………… 1,508 18 6 ordained over congregations of conveds from heathenism. The outlook Ditto, for St. Vincent Hurricane in China to.day is more hopeful than it has been for many years. The in- Di5tress Fund…. …………. 20 4 4 come of the Society is also steadily, though not rapidly, increasing, as Total Income ..•…………. £131,867 2 6" the figures below will show: PAYlIlENTS. Total sum raised 1884-5, £11,130 5s.; 1885-6, £12,032 lOs.; 1886-7, £12,728 18s.; 1887-8, General expenditure …………. £136,124 8 0 On account of Special Missions, £13,054 16s. If we add to last year's sum the £2,000 raised etc ……………………… . 1,529 210 Ditto,Ladies'AnxiliaryCommittee 313 19 5 for the Stevenson Memorial Fund, it would Total expenditnre ……….. £131,967 10 3 make the sum total above £15,000. From which deduct ordinary and Presbyterian Ohuroh in Oanada. extraordinary receipts for the year.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. …. . 131,867 2 '> THE report made to the General Leaving a deficiency on 1887 Assembly, which met in June, is account of……………. . 6,100 7 9 highly interesting and inspIrIng. To which add the debt of 1886.. . 10,768 19 11 Decided pl'ogress is reported in all Leaving a total deficiency of. £16,869 7 8 the Missions under the Assembly's GENERAL SUMMARY.
care. Missions nnder the immediate direction of the Wesleyan Missionary Committee and British According to the returus the Canadian Pres- Conference, in Europe, India, China, West byterian Church now embraces 1831 churches 4(rica, the Transvaal, B,"itish Hondura8, and stations, with 793 ministers. The active and the Bahamas. membership aggregates 76,226 families, 13,261 single members, while the church-goers number Central or Principal Stations called Cirahout 400,000. There are 112,940 Sabbath cuits ……………………………. 336 scholars, and 12,976 teachers, having the privilege of libraries containing 183,471 volumes. Chapels and other Preaching Places in The income of the Church last year was $1,772,- connection with the above-mentioned 000, against $1,215,000 in 1881. Last year Central or Principal Stations, as far as $738,000 was paid in stipends, or an average of ascertained.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . 1,338 $943 to each minister. $112,000 was also subscribed last year towards Home and Foreign Missionaries and ASSistant-Missionaries, missions; $86,866 for foreign missions, as including Supernumeraries.. . . . . . . . . . . 333 against $69,000 last year. Knox and Queen's College each have sent out and support a mis- Other paid AgentR, as Catechists, Inter- sionary to China. The Women's Foreign Mis- preters, Day-school Teachershetc…… 2,000 sionary Society contributed over $23,000, as against $18,500 last year. Unpaid Agents, as Local Preac ers, Sab- bath-school Teachers, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,859 Wesleyan Missionary Sooiety. Full and accredited Chnrch Members…. 32,lt?O THE seventy-fourth annual meet- On trial for Chnrch-Membership…….. _ 4,1114 ing of this society was held in Exeter Scholars attending either the Sabbath or Hall, London; April 30. The abstract of the report shows that the Day·schools… . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. .. .. . … 59,388 Society's debt has been increased by £6,100, and is now £16,869. Unless Ohurch Missionary Society. there is an increase of income this year it will not be possible to main- THIS society, which has the largest tain the existing missions of the income of any missionary society in society. the world, held its eighty-ninth an- niversary in Exeter Hallin June. Its income for the year was £221,331 ($1,106,655). We give an abstract of the financial report: Last year the committee reported the larg- est ordinary income on record, viz., 207,7931., the advance being mainly due to an exceptional amount of legacies. This year the total is only 191,557l., the lowest in the past five years; but this again is due to a falling-off of nearly 14,- ODOl. in legacies. The receipts from all sources except legacies, viz. 173,7561., are the highest in the past five years. The committee therefore feel constrained to utter a note of heartiest thanksgiving. Moreover, some of the most im- surplns of one year and being charged with the portant gifts of the year do not come nnder deficit of another, is entirely exhausted for the ordinary income. The Extension Fund has re- first time since it was formed, in 1880. Judged, ceived, 8,6791., including a benefaction of 5,5OOl., therefore, from a business point of view, the po- specially allocated to Japan and the Punjab. sition is a seriOlls one. Yet the committee dare More than 4,0001. has been received for the Ny- not send back the candidates for missionary ser- anza Mission. The contributions for the Winter vice who are coming forward in increasing Mission to India amounted to 1,700l.; and 700/. numbers, and who are plainly brought by the has beeu given towards the proposed Hanning- Lord of the harvest to be thrnst forth into His ton Memorial Church at Frere Town. The total harvest. Nor do they believe it is necessary to receipts from all sources amount to 221,3311. do so. If only there is faith to roll upon Him the whole burden, and to follow in simple obedience Nevertheless, the facts remain that the defi- the clear indications of His will, there is no ciency in legacies has diminished the resources cause for fear. But the committee are bound to at the committee's disposal for carrying on the state the case to their friends exactly as it stands. work by Over 13,0001. ; that the expenditure of Put in one sentence, it is this: to replace the the year is more by 2,333l. than that of last year, Contingency Fund, and to cover the estimated and though considerably under the estimate, expenditure of the current year, will require a sum exceeding the income of the past year by I has exceeded the receipts by 12,oool. ; and that 3'.ooOl. the Contingency Fund, which is always the bar- ometer of the Society's position, receiving the Fields of Labor. – – ——– — – – ——– – – No. of Com- Schol- Native Sta- Foreign Workers. ars. Contri- tions. IDuni- Native Workers. Schools – butio-ns. cants.
Or- Lay. Fe- 01'- J..ay. Fe- £ dained. male. dained. male. West Africa…….. 42 10 14 49 151 75 9,598 96 6,995 7,875 East&Central Africa 11 14 11 1 Egypt aud Arabia .. 2 2 14 ..7 281 .. 8 528 95 Palestiue ……….. 9 6 13 1 1 '5 2 140 9 11 45 1,875 266 48 12 885 Persia and Bagdad. 2 4 1 .. 1 11 11 93 8 309 Poenrslyia } 343 India…………… 91 Ceylon………….. 12 109 1..2 12 137 1,724 421 24,531 1,314 47,089 6..,8..73 Mauritius ………. 6 12 250 93 2,009 192 9,793 …… China ………….. 20 18 1 ..1 29 1,470 Japan ………….. 5 3 52 4 16 3 421 115 2,007 New Zealaud……. 42 10 5 N. W. America ….. 31 23 3 I .. 242 16 2,570 129 North Pacific……. 7 8 '43 11 ~17 ~415 is 336 1;211 15 I .. 122 2,562 1,115 227 2 .. 92 201 7 268 Totals………. 280 247 40 22 265 2,881 653 4i,115 1,859 71,814 £15,452 The London Missionary Sooiety. and kindred societies to preach the The ninety-fourth annual meeting gospel to the heathen." The plea of this society was held in Exeter Hall, May 10, under the presidency of Lord Brassey made for the extension the renowned traveler, Lord Brassey, K.C.B. The testimony of the chair- of the work was very effective. man, who has had such exceptional opportunities for witnessing the " Iu the report reference is made to the splenwork of missionaries in different did success which has attended the work of lands, haviug, as he himself indi- your Society under those illustrious missioncated, seen the work in Labrador, aries, Lawes aud Chalmers, iu New Guinea. We Terra-deI-Fuego, in Turkey, India, have very interesting details with reference to Tahiti and elsewhere, is very valua- the progress of the work iu Iudia and in China; ble. He admits that there have been and as a most remarkable instance of the sucindiscretions in some cases, but he cess of our work, let me refer once more to that adds: "I venture to say that few in- devoted zeal which is shown by the native misdeed are those instances of indiscre- sionaries who are recruited from the South tion in comparison with the mass of Seas. I do not know any evidence more imnoble work which has been done for pressive of the good results of the work which generations by those who have been is done by this Society than this most telling sent forth under the auspices of this fact, that the work which is being carried on by those 160 devoted men and women, who have gone forth from this country, is being supple- mented and carried forward by no less than 1,000 native ordained ministers, and 6,000 native preachers. Aud looking to another and per- haps a less impressive circumstauce, is it not ex- ceedingly grat!(ying to observe that the statement of income which this society has at its dis- tary (Dr. Green), set forth that: posal for its good work contains an item of nO less than £17,000, which Is subscribed by the The receipts from !Ill sources during the year, native people from theIr limited aud narrow re- ncluding the balance at commencement,. were sources,to carry forward the missionary work?" £211,108. There was a net increase on the year of £9,098. The total expenditure had been The total income of the society Cor 1887 £208,662. The number of new publications isamounted to £157,000. But uo less than £27,000 sued during the year amounted to 757, of which of this sum came from legacies, which is £16,000 214 were tracts and leafiet.. The circulation above the yearly average, necessitating mnch had reached 61.061,050, including 24.590,600 more liberal giving the current year to avoid a tracts. To this number must be added that of heavy debt. the Issues from foreign depots, estinlated at 15,- 000,000; the total amount being 76,061,050, a Religious Traot Sooiety. slight diminutiou upon the whole as compared with the issues of the previous year, although EXETER was crowded on the occa- the circulation of the tracts has shown an insion of the eighty-ninth annual meet- crease of 870,300. In the year 1887 no fewer than ing of the Religious Tract Society. 222,000 of the London Board School children Lord Balfour, of Burleigh, presided. were presenled for examinalion in Scripture, of The annual report, read by the secre- whom 5,555 received prizes and certificates.
Methodist New Oonnenon Missionary Sooiety.
Annual Income, £7,106.* No. of Ad- Com- Native Sta· herents. Contribu- tions. muni- cants. tions. Fields ofEntered Foreign Native Schools. Schol- Workers. Workers. arB. —- —- I ;LaY'1 – – — – – – – Labor.A.D.
— £ daOiure-rl. Lay. • mFaele-.
Ohina …. 1859 50 6 1 47 3 2,436 1,218 6 162 388 *Iucluding the sums spent in Ireland, Canada and Australia. The Missiou in Canada 1D 1874 united with the various other Methodist bodies in the Dominion, and thus was formed '.' The Metho- dist Church of Canada."
United Methodist Free Ohurch Missions.
Annual Income, £21,876 178. 9d. * No. of Foreign Native Com- Schol- Native Sta- Workers. Workers. muni- ars. Contribu- tions. cants. tions. — – – – —- – – – – – —- —- Entered A.D. Fields of Labor. Schools.
'– Ordained. Lay. £ China ……………… 1864 3 3 11 306 4 77 34 East Africa ………… ]861 5 4 9 180 5 241 24 West Africa………… 1859 6 5 92 2,894 11 1,122 641 J-am-aic-a .- – ……. – – ……..- -1838- -10- – -9 – – -48 – – – 3,342 -31- -1,-924- -1,-188- – Totals ………………… 24 21 160 7.622 51 5,864 1,893 * This total includes the sums expended in the colonies of Australla and New Zealand, as well as in heathen lands and in Jamaica.
The Southern Baptist Oonvention Maryland. . •.. . . •. . •.. . •••. •.. . . . .. .. •.. .. 2 M!ss?u~i…………………………….. held its forty-third anniversary in 4 MISSISSIPPI. .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . .. .. . .. . .. • 3 . ~r::i~i~· …………….:.:::.::::::::::: 1~ Richmond, May 11-15.
Total income from April, 1887 to Western Arkansas and Iudian Territory.. 15 Western North Carolina……………… 18 April,1888 $86,385,66 West Virginia………………………. 1 Total expenses 84,848,34 Total………………………… ~ Actual balance for the new ••• WORK DONE. MISSIonarIes ………………….. '" year – $1,748,60 287 Churches and stations …………… . 1,114 The number of missionaries in the employ of Baptisms ……………………… .. 4,857 the Board during the past year has been as fol- Reeeived by letter……………… .. 2,63n Total additions . . . . . . . . . . . " ……… _ '1,4H6 lows: S. S. organized ………………….. _ 431 Arkansas ……………….. ~………… 22 Cuba………………………………. 17 Teachers and pupils ……………… . 17,240 District ocColumbia……… …. …….. 1 Churches constituted……………. . Houses of worship built………… ,_ 306 FlOrida…………………………….. 37 Georgia…………………….. …….. 5 64 Iodi!,,! Territory. . .. .. . … .. . . .. . .. .. .. . . . 15 Cost of bouses of worship ………..• $54.068 LOulSlana………………….. ……… 21 Pages of tracts distributed……….. . 442,852 Bibles and Testaments …………… . 1.769 Total Snnday-school publications…. . 4,754,000
CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE
III.-CORRESPON DENCE and GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.
The Jews of Morocco. or forced outside the city walls and there m~ dered in cold blood. Their hodies were then cat By Rev. E. F. Baldwin, our Ed- into pieces, and their clothes as well. The money itorial Correspondent at Tangiers. that each one had was put into hi. hands, which MOGADOn, MOROCCO, May 25, 1888. were severed from the bodies. Their headlcss DEAR EDITons.-Although I am working as trunks, their heads themselves, their hands and a missionary among the Moors aud Arabic- feet were laid in order in a long ghostly row.
speaking Berber races of this great empire, yet The scene of lamentation and woe the next morn- I feel great ,interest iu the Jews which are found ing, when the entire Jewish population poured crowded tcgether in all its many cities. A few out to behold the harrowing sight, was inde- notes respecting them will doubtless interest scribable. The heads only conld be recognized.
your readers. It was impossible to know to which of the mur- Large numbers of these ancient people of dered men the severed members belonged.
God are supposed to have been settled in Moroc- Doubtless the Jews often exasperate the co from the earlier centuries of the Christian era. Moors beyond endurance by their nsurious if They were greatly increased by the influx from not dishonest extortions. The following incident Spain about the end of the fifteenth centnry. was just told me by a credible witness. In an When Columbus was sailing westward to dis- inland Morocco city a Moor died, leaving a wid- cover a new continent many scores of thousands ow and three little children. Before there had of wretched Israelites were sorrowfully making time elapsed to bury him, a Jew appeared, de· their way out of Spain and Portugal, where they manding from the widow the sum of $600, which had been enslaved and persecuted, and from he clainaed was dne him from the deceased. The which they were now finally banished. Spain had widow protested that it could not be so or she long afforded them an asylum. To them is would have known of it. She had nothing to largely due the attainment in arts and letters pay. He was one of the protected Jews referred that marked the period of Moslem conquest and to. At his demand the body of the dead man rule in Spain, and which has been so vaunted by was brought out of the house which had bethe admirers of Islam, which in itself is incapa- longed to him, and his widow and her children ble of aught but blight and ruiu. The descend- were also ejected. She buried her husband and ants of these forlorn Jews are now found then made her way to the house of the chief throughout Morocco. They densely fill the sep- rabbi of the Jewish community. She was ad- arately walled off portions assigned to them in mitted, her children being with her to add force the Moorish cities. These Jewish quarters are to her appeal. She tcld hina her piteous tale.
called the Mellahs or places of damnation. Into He was an upright man. He sent her away to these they are shut from sunset to sunrise. They return after three days. That night he called are downtrodden and despised. They formerly together the leading Jews of the place, the of- were compelled to wear only black garments. fending Jew among them. The rabbi, when Also when outside their Mellaha in many towns the Jew persisted in its being an honest debt, they must go in their bare feet. Neither may counted out before him the $600 in gold from his they ride through the Moorish part of the town. own store, and, placing their Scriptures before They are in constant dread of the Moors, who him, demanded of him that he shonld swear tc oppress and maltreat them. The Jew never the righteousness of his claim and then take his makes the least resistance. The fear of the na- money and restore the widow her house. He tions among whom they dwell is indeed upon refused to swear, from which his gnilt was evi- them as foretold. dent. The next morning the rabbi sent for I recently heard from an eye witness of an mules, and began lading them with his goods, appalling circumstance that occurred in Fez, the saying he would leave such an iniquitous people northern capital of Morocco, now less than a year before it was smitten with the wrath of God.
ago. ·Several Moors, it is asserted, had been The Jews gathered about hina and entreatedhina thrown into prison on false claims for debts and entreated him to stay, but without avail. brought against them by Jews who had the ben- Then they insisted on the offending Jew leaving efit of foreign protection, that is under the pro- the town, hanishing him from their midst. Upon tection of one of the foreign consuls. Such pro- this the old rabbi consented to remain. The tected natives, whether Jews or Moors,cannot be Moorish authorities were appealed to, and the called to account for their actions by the Moorish addule, or Moorish officer who conspired with authorities, being only answerable to the minis- the Jew and gave him a false paper on which he ter or consul who gives them protectIOn. The made his claina, was arrested, and on confessing friends of the agrieved Moors took summary his gnilt was thrown in prison, where he still re- and dreadful vengeance by waylaying nine of mains. the chief men of the Jewish community, includ- On the Jewish Sabbath just passed I accoming some of the offenders. They were on their way from the business part of Fez to the Mellak, panied a missionary of the Jews who is laboring In the gathering dusk, when they were enti~ed here to the Jewish synagogues, and there saw much the saml) scene as was witnessed when the Lord and IDs apostles were on the earth. sible tiDle; and to this end it is the duty of There was the venerable rnier of the synagogne. Christians to give personal effort and money. Then, too, after their reading of the law and Besides. this there are some things that need prayers it was virtually said to the friend I was special attention. One is to sonnd out a strong with, "If ye have any word of exhortation for voice against the Drink Tramc in the Free Congo tile people, say on." Whereupon he preached State. Such a protest will be concurred in by Christ to them from their own law, much in the the leading inlluence of the Established Churches same way that Paul did in Antioch, in Pisidia. of England and Scotland. At the same time, The place, the faces, the dress, the manners, the however, the arts of the opium trade aud use in service were all Oriental, Jewish and full of China and India, and of the free still system of Scriptnre suggestions. I noticed also that" when India'ought to be noticed as great hindrances to they heard that he spake in the Hebrew ton!(ue the evangelization of the 600 millions in these to them, they kept the more silence." The two lands. brother I speak of was a converted Persian Jew who is the assistant of Mr. Zerbib, the mission- Another question in relation to which the ary of the London Jewish Society for Promoting Conference should give expression is this, viz.: the Gospel among the Jews_ He succeeded Mr. What shall be done with converts who have, in Guinsburg, who was long here, but has now accordance with the laws and us~ges which prebeen removed to Constantinople. He was much vail in China and India 'from the days of Abrabeloved in this field. ham, and before them, two or more wives. The present prevailing usages of different mission- I have no space to speak of my own work, ary societies is to require them to put away aU which is among the Moors and other Arabic- wives but one. I think this contrary to aposspeaking races of this vast and almost entirely tolic usage. I think they should be permitted til unevangelized empire. I have recently come to retain their wives till separated by death. I Mogador in the sonthern part of Morocco, from seud you a printed copy of my views. Tangier, where I have been working for several years. The outlook is full of promise. We are The estimated number of Buddhists. EdwlJ: hoping soon to be joined by others. Perhaps I Arnold, in his .. Light of Asia," states the num ought to mention that I am an independent missionary, unconnected with any society, and ber to be 470 millions-the greatest number or therefore looking to the Lord alone for needed direction and supplies. But we find it true that religionists of one sect in the world_ Others, al "He is faithful that promised." Mr. Eugene Rev. James Freeman Clarke, in his" Ten Great Levering, 2 Commerce street,Baltimore, receives Religions," states the number to be 300 millions, and forwards funds for me, Dr. John Peddie, and others at 250 millions, and so on_ These pastor of the Fifth Baptist Church, Philadel- statements are made with a view to discredit phia, and Rev. A. C. Dixou, pastor of the 1m· our holy religion. I regard these statements as manuel Baptist Church, Baltimore, know me entirely unwa'/"1"anted and uiuJUpported by facts well. The church of the first licensed me to and principles which guide in classifying re preach, and in the church of the second I was ligionists. I inclose a pamphlet in which I dis- ordained. My father was formerly a pastor in cuss the subject and give my reasons for fixing New York city. the number of Buddhists at 8eventy·two millions. Prof. Monier Williams, who is a very much Ohina. more reliable man than EdWin Arnold or Dr. Freeman Clarke, states, as his opinion, that 100 LETTER from Dr. A. P. Happer: millions would be a large estimate of the Bud- [This lp.tter was written before the dhists in the world. It is too bad that Christian writers should accept and publish the opinion of meeting of the London Conference, skeptics and infidels on this point when there is and contains several important sug- positive testimony. If the Conference should appoint a committee on this point who would gestions in relation to its action, most publish a report, accepting Prof. Monier Will- iams's estimate of the number of Buddhists in of which received due attention.- the world, viz., 100 millions, it would be ac- cepted by Christiau writers as a reliaQle state- EDS.] ment, and do away with this infidel reproach to Christianity. For, with Protestant, Greek and CANTON, April 30, 1888. Roman Catholic followers, Christianity has the My DEAR DR. PIERSON.-THE MISSIONARY most numerous following lin the world, and au REVIEW OF THE WORLD for April has just ever increasing multitude. I include a pamph- reached me. I suppose you expect to be in Lon- let on this subject that may go into the hands of don from Juue !l-19th at the World's Missionary such" committee. Conference. I pray that the Spirit of God may be poured out upon the members with great Iu this day of multiplying the number of mis- power. sionaries, I think it specially importaut that There are some things that should have con- sideration of the Conference. First, and above some arrangements should b'e adopted to give all, it will seek to deepen the conviction in the whole Christian church that it is its duty to them some distinct and practical instruction aud evangelize the whole world in the shortest pos- training regarding the work to be done, and the best way to do it, by missionaries, men and women. :Many men and women come out with In what lis God glorified t 1110 being kTI(JWn. the most indefinite idea of what they are to do, A biographer. in making people adniire his hero, or how to do it. I inclose a pamphlet on this does a great deal of "touching-up," cutting paint. I do emphasize !uno it may best be none. down faults and expanding virtues. A homan I favor a professorship in existing institntions, character suft'ers by being perfectly known. But though a distinct institute for that purpose may the glory Of God is in being known. Our busibe best. ness is simply to cry with Isaiah, "Behold your God! " One cannot look at the sun without Some of these papers may be of use to you, if Beeing ItB brightness. One cannot look on Jethese pOints come up in the Conference, and I hovah without beholding His glory. noticethat several ofthem are on the programme. The drink trade in Africa, and the opium trade If, then, we would be God-gloriften, we in India :and China, I observe, are not down, must be God-revealers. Isa. ii : 9-" The earth but I think they ought to be acted upon. The shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord." number of Buddhists is a matter of fact, and it Hab. Ii : 14-" The earth shall be filled with the somewhat concerns the honor of our Lord, and knowledge of the glory of the Lord." The two it is easy to vindicate that point from the taunts are one. To know Him is to know His glory. of infidels by Btating the fact. . When His glory is known, then He is glorified. The end of creation and redemptionis attained. With best wishes, and praying that a special In both passages it is written that this knowlblessing may rest upon the Conference and the edge is to fill the earth "as the waters wver the Spirit of God direct all their counsels. sea." God has set the limits of the sea, and from limit to limit the waters sweep. The Yours in Christian work, limits of the gospeJ.sea are uothing short of the A. P. HAPl'ER. limits of "the earth." "As the Waters Cover the Sea." Here, in India, we have tracts nearly equal to FROM Rev. John M. Forman. London in population, which are unoccupied. FATERGARR, N. W. P. INDIA, May 26, 1888. In China there are a thousand counties, averag- .. What i8 the chief end of man!" "To ing in population about the same as English glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." counties, unoccupied. The Soudan, with about To ENJOY GOD. 1. The Christian is sure of 70,000,000, occupied by two young men I If all heaven, and the JOY of heaven is God. So, as this extent is to be filled with the knowledge of to future enjoyment of God, he is certain. Let the King of Glory, we must be at work. him, then, be glad of what he has, and go on to " As THE WATERS COVER TI'IE SEA."-The the next point. waters fill every crack and crevice. How differ- 2. The present enjoyment of God. Any child ent from the knowledge of God thus far. Look at London, Boston, New York, Chicltgo and the knows that when he takes candy into his mouth he need not try to enjoy it. The enjoyment is Great West. The number of unfilled corners is iuevitable. A man who tries to be happy is un- allpalling. Then look at our nominallyoccupud happy. But even an atllicted and sorrowful fields in India, China, etc. Here in the district soul, when once occupied in seeking to make of Fauakhabad (one of our oldest mission-fields) others happy, is itself happy. When the enjoy- we have yet some half million practically unment of God is our aim, we fail to eUJoy Him. touched. If this world is really to be filled with Simply because the aim is selfish, and selfishness the knowledge of Jehovah we must be up and is sin, and sin hides God from us. doing. "Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion." A man who carries the name of Christ The way to enjoy God is so to live that He and does not try to fill the earth with the gospel enjoy us, i. e., to please Him. There is no ques- is a clog to the wheels. He is a destroyer… He tion as to Enoch's having a keen enjoyment of also that is slack in his work is brother to him God, as he walked with God; for in that walk- that is a destroyer." ing he had "witness borne to him that he had been well-pleasing unto God." But wbat an inspiration in this prophecy I It will be fulfilled. The sea bed with all its rough- The way to enjoy God is to please God. The nesses,ups and downs, is covered by one great way to please God is to fall in with His plans. ocean. So this earth, scarred and furrowed and The consummate plan of God is God's glory. valleyed by sin, is to be covered by the glory of Then, though man has two ends, he must have but one aim. That one conscious aim or pur- the Lord. And when we look we Bee His glory, pose Is TO GLORIFY GOD. glory; nothing but a sea of glory I Praise the Lord I "Let us fall in line with God's plan, not :Many Christians think this savors of tran- with theories but with work, giving first of all . scendentalism. But Paul, by the Holy Ghost, makes it a plain, business·like. every-day prin- our own selves unto the Lord. " ciple. "Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, ·do all to the glory of God." "Now concerning the collection," give cheer- Our first petition must be, "Hallowed be Thy folly, give liberally, give to the last cent. What uame." Christ's loftiest prayer is "Father, is holding the wealth of a million millionaires glorify Thy name. And there came a voice from compared with knowing that we have" fellowheaven saying, 'I have both glorified it, and I ship with God" in His glorions purpose! When will glorify it again.' " Alexander Duff was a yonng man he locked his closet door and said," Silver and gold have I years, at last will throw open the doors to none, but such as I have give I thee; I give thee missionary efforts over the length and breadth myself." Young man, young woman, go and of Dutch India. Being thus challenged to send do thou likewise. And let the mother teach her out more missionaries it is to be confidently ex- child from infancy that the only thing worth liv- pected that the Christians of Holland w!ll, in the ing for is to fill the earth with the knowledge of name of God, accept the challenge. So be It.
God. Japan . .. What Beest thou 1 And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree (shaked). Then said the Lord LETTER from Rev. C. S. Eby: unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch (shaked) over my word to perform it." As TOKIO, June 23, '88. sure as God is sure, this earth is to be filled DEAR BRETHREN.-I "m not sure whether I with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah as have not already sent you a copy of my " Appeal the waters cover the sea. Brother, if you are for Japan," at all events I send you a copy each not striving for foreign missions, you are miss- by the present mail, and also a copy of the ing the purpose of your creation. course oflectnres delivered in the Meiji Kwaido in 1583, English edi!ion.
LETTER from Rev. F. Leon Cachet: I am delighted with tl:.e MISSIONARY BEVIEW OF THE WORLD, and wish it godspeed ; it will [Foreign Secretary of the Dutch do much to stimulate the missionary zeal of the Reformed Missionary Society, Rot- churches and to promote the missionary revival terdam, Holland. The news it con- almost upon us. God grant that the real misveys will carry joy to the missionary sionary age may soon dawn when the efforts of world.-EDS.] the churches will be commensurate with their AlIlLITY and with the OPPORTUNITIES of the DEAR EDITORS.-Will you allow me room in hour.
your highly valued REVIEW to state that the Rev. The " Appeal " will speak for itself. I do feel Mr. Cook's' powerful appeal,' which you give in that the imperial opportunity in Japan is not your June number (p. 448), respecting the want being fully met by ordinary methods, arid tre- of missionaries in Dutch India, and which ap _ mendous forces of prejudice and unbelief and peared at length iu The Straits Times, is bearing imported misbelief run rampant and almost un- good fruit alre!,dy. You must know that there rebuked, except in a small way. A large and was a change of government in the Netherlands bold movement" takes" with the Japanese as a few weeks since, and one of the first official well as with any people, and through the central acts of the new Secretary of State for the col- institution piIrpose we shall be able to speak so onies, Mr. Reuchenius, was to send a circular as to be heard by an empire.
to all the Protestant mission society in the Neth- Will you give the aid of your powerful advo- erlands, of which the following is a translation: cacy? Surely there are devoted men of wealth "COLONIAL OFFICE, No. 46. who would invest. May our common Master THE HAGUE, May 8, 1888. guide.
In an article, 'Netherland's India: An Ap- Spain. peal,' appearing In The Straits Times, a Singa- pore newspaper of March 6th, attention is drawn ~ur readers will recall the brief to what Dr. Schreiber, Secretary of the Rheney appeal we made in our July issue in Mission at Basmey, had pointed out ten years behalf of these heroic missionaries. ago, that the number of missionaries in Dutch The Lord gl'antedspeedy help, and we India should be greatly increased, in order to rejoice with His sel'vants.-EDS.] counteract the growing influence of Islam there: and it is further shown how great the need FIGUERAS, SPAIN, June 30, 1888.
yet is that the number of missionaries should he DEAR EDlTORs.-The pastor nnites with me increased. It appears to me that this article de- in thanking you very warmly for so kindly in- serves, in every respect, yonr attention, and I serting my last letter in your valuabie MISSION- therefore do myself the pleasure to offer you a ARY REVIEW. If you remember, it was there copy thereof. stated that we were anxious to build a Gospel I need hardly state that the government Hall in this dark Spanish town, and that £400 would valne it highly if the mission societies in was needed for a site. A friend, then traveling the Netherlands would put forth their utmost in Italy, most kindly wrote telling us to buy the efforts to increase the number of missionaries in land at once, adding, 'I will cover the cost.' The butch India, and to counteract the increasing pastor lost not a moment in trying to secure it, influenee of Islam among the heathen in the but the lawyer would not credit the assurance Indian Archipelago. that the money would shortly he sent from Eng- The Minister for the Colonies, land, and refused to draw up the legal document.
(Signed) " REUCHENlUS." The landlady, however, agreed to wait a couple This is a most important docnment, as it of week•.
shows that the Dntch Government, after having The Romanists at once seized their opportu- more than favored the Mohammedans for many nity. Deputations from the Societies of St. Yin·
INTERNATIONAL DEPAtfT:M:E~'t'. [SEP'l'
cont de Paul and the Holy CroBS, beaded by tbe returniug home iill after midnight. Will your rector of tbe largest church here, called on the readers praythat his precious life,and thoseofhis landlady and urged that she on no account be fellow workers, may be preserved. Our comfort gnilty of selling land for a Protestant capilla. At and conlldence is that .. not a shot cau hit till the same time they laid down the money (£400) the God of love sees lit." For the angel of the for·the site, and also £1,400 to purchase a house Lord eilcampeth ronnd them tbat fear Him, aud "nd garden adjoining, thus effectually shutting delivereth them. From month to month our the Protestants out on each side. All we could do little party give a hearty welcome to your valuwas to unite in prayer that God would undertake able and most interesting M,SSIONARY REVIEW for US and for the honor ofilis cause. The triumph OF THE WORLD. Wishing it increased blessing of the enemies of the trnth seemed complete. and a yet wider circulation, But, contrary to all expectations, a far better Yours faithfully, site was immediately offered for sale. It is EMILY LOPEZ RODRIGUEZ. situated in the principal street, in a central part of the town, having also the great advantage Afrioa. that it commands a back street by which many who, like Nicodemus, lack courage, may be LETTER from Rev. Jos. Clark: able to enter the hall unobserved. Our only dilllculty was that the price, including govern- CONGO, PACAVALA STATION, May 9,1888. ment payments and legal costs, came to £250 Rev. J. H. Weeks and Mrs. Weeks, also more than we had in hand. This we laid Rev. A. D. Slade, all of B. M. S. (English), arbefore the Lord in prayer, and He graciously rived safely at Bauana ou the 24th of April. Mr. answered by inclining the hearts of two of His and Mrs. Weeks spent some considerable time servants to come to the rescue. In addition to at San Salvador, Congo, and have beeu to Enga former donation of £100, a friend in Surrey land for rest and change. sent us £200 more, and another in Scotland Receut reports from Bishop Taylor's party £50. Thus the e:JJact sum needed arrived just state that M,.,.. Walker has been ill and delayed in time to make the purchase I Truly the in journey to Stanley Pool. When taken ill she Lord has made what seemed so evil to • work was fortunately able to be taken on to our Lu- together for good,' kunga Station. Messrs. Waiker and Burr are also there. About 600 loads of their steamer are What would not the Romanists give if they now at Isangila; none beyond. could take from us that precious site I But it French, State and trading steamers refuse to is legally secured. .. If God be for us, who can take Mr. Brooks and his companion to the falls be against us f" All that now remains for us to of the Mobangi, where he desires to be placed so do is to build the first permanent Gospel Hall as to work his way to the Soudan. They refuse in the province of Gorona. Being for the to leave him in any place except where there is Mastor's glory, we believe that through His a station with white men. servants He will provide the means. Recent news from Stanley's Aruwimi camp report the whites there all well, bnt a good deal Since writing the above we have heard, on of sickness among the Zanzibaris. No news of reliable authority, that a priest belonging to a Stauley. church quite near to our new site, said, 'I All well at various missiou stations. would gladly have given $5,000 to have 'Jre- May, 12, '88.-Mr. J. S. Cutler of Ohio, who vented the Protestants bnying that plot of land.' joined himself to Bishop Taylor's mission here, Last Sunday night, while we were returning died at Vivi on the 3d May of gastritis. He was home from the service, a man was seen hanging about 65 years of age. about our house armed with two long knives, and At Vivi aud Isangila the bishop's people are was arrested by the civil guards. We thank God working hard at getting the steamer up country, for what we have reason to believe was a narrow but they are hampered for trade goods (cloth escape. Of Rome our Lord's words still hold etc.,) wherewith to pay carriers. Those that good, .. The time cometh that whosoever killeth are left are not at all dismayed, though their you will think that he doeth God service." In numbers have been greatly reduced. If the preaching among the villages the pastor has to Methodist Church "Would only take up the work, drive along very lonely country roads, often not they have a grand opening before them.
IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.
CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D., OF THE "INTERNATIONAL MIS- SIONARY UNION."
The Medioal Work in Missions.* sityof urging the importance of the BY REV. EDWARD CHESTER, M.D., medical, in connection with other forms of mission work. And more INDIA. than ever before, most missions are feelIng that the medical work THE time has passed for the neces- must be cared for and }'alued, just *Read before International Missionary Union, Bridgton, N. J., 1888. as are the educational, the evan- Fourth, and lastly, the exigency of gelistic and the congregation and the times demands a much larger church work, and that for women force of medical men and women and girls. upon mission fields.
There will be cases where the par- 1. The medical work should be ticular circumstances of location, given a place in every well organized custom, a deficiency of funds, or a mission. I do not mean the having paucity of laborers may render it one or even more men in a mission almost impossible to carryon every who know a little about medicine, or form of mission work. But in a mis- even have a degree,. providing they sion with a sufficient force, not confine their medical work to the lim- cramped for funds, and with ability o its of their own family and servants, to undertake the various forms of or even the families of the catechists mission work, the medical work and teachers living at headquarters.
should be conducted with the same Nor do I mean an occasional taking care and energy as the educational up of the medical work for a week or or other form of labor. two, and then giving it up for months The statement that the medical at a time. With the same expecta.- work is very expensive, almost as tion of permanency as you would much so as the educational, will not commence a high school or boarding be found true in all cases. And it is school at headquarters, with the a question whether it may not al- same use of recognized appliances, ways be almost self – supporting. the same amount of energy and sys- Certain it is, that the medical man tem in carrying on the work, and the himself in each locality may do same generosity in the use of funds very much to make this work in a for necessary expenses, thus only, is mission inexpensive, and it depends it of any real use to conduct the greatly upon him whether it is pop- medical work in missions. One or ular with the people and a success more dispensaries at important cen- or not. tel's; a hospital, if the funds will I would start with the proposition allow, and accommodation in this for "that in organizing any new mission at least a dozen in-patients, a good in a locality where none had existed supply of inexpensive medicine, so before, the medical work should be. that all the out-patients as well, who given a place, as much as the educa- attend the dispensary, may receive a tional or the WOJ:k of preachmg. supply of medicme; a sufficient staff And even in missions of long stand- of native trained assistants to pre- ing, if the medical work has not been scribe, compound, and look after entertained, I would' urge a trial of surgical cases, with a sufficient stock it, with an eye to the great gain it of surgical instruments for all mi- would be to the mission. nor operations. All these are neces- My second point would be that the sary for a successful medical work in medical work in a mission must be a mission.
eminently evangelistic, and In har- I have for years, m my mission mony with all the other work of the work in India, found it wise, as en- mission. abling me to save myself for more A third consideration is that if the important work, to do nothing my- medical work is taken up at all in a self which could be about as well mission, it must be a thorough and done by a native. It is on this line efficient work-one which will com- that I have always had, in my work ..land the respect and regard of all in the Dindigal Dispensary, such a classes. staff of native assistants that I could trust the work to them for a few the relief of suffering and saving of days at a time, when obliged to be life. myself out in the villages. In short, I think that in the medical work 2. But I pass to the second point: in missions, as in the educational that the medical work in a mission work, those steps must be taken which must be eminently evangelistic and will insure success. The natives of in harmony with all the other work India are clever enough to know of the mission. The more skilful the which are the best schools, the gov- medical missionary as a physician, ernment or the mission schools, and the more clever as a surgeon, the choose the best, which are, as a rule, better for the work and for making the latter, even though they know it a success, so far as popularity goes. they will have to give an hour a day, But it will not be a success as a for five days of the week, to the study mission work unless the saving of of the Bible. And just so is it with souls is ever brought to the front as dispensaries in India. As a rule, the the main object to be accomplished, mission dispensary is the most popu- and unless the medical missionary is lar and has the largest attendance. eminently a spiritual man with much And it is good policy for any mission of the mind of Jesus. As in New to make its schools and its dispensa- England of old, the church and the ries the best in the market. schoolhouse were side by side, and each helping the other, so should the Tothe work of the dispensary and church and the schoolhouse and the the hospital already noted, I would dispensary, on mission ground, work add, to be attended to, if possible, into one another's hands and be emiby the medical missionary, the train- nently fellow-workers. In a mission ing of good native men and women dispensary, among out-patients and for the work of hospital assistants Ill-patients, there is ample opporand nurses. Then native Christians tunity for making known the goscould be selected, and a choice made pel. And oftentimes the patients among these, so as to secure those are in such a state of mind that they who would add evangelistic to their may truly be said to hear the Word medical work:. gladly. In every part of our mission work we turn to the Lord Jesus as I would give the medical work a our great example. But eminently place in every well organized mission, in the medical work must we follow because I believe that, in a very His example in striving to reach the specialdegree, it adds to the efficiency heart and save the soul by showing of every branch of mission work, and our desire to relieve suffering, to heal makes the work, as a whole, more the sick, to give sight to the blind, successful. and hearing to the deaf. The medical work in missions is nothing, save as I would do so, also, because I think it helps to show to the heathen that that it furnishes, in the course of a the divine Christ is the center, the year, a very large number of most at- soul anltthe life of Christianity, and tentive and mterested hearers of the that we are His disciples and followgospel, not to say scholars. I would ers. do so because I think it gives us an entrance into many houses, 3. Our third consideration is that and an intimacy and friendship If the medIcal work is taken up at all with many of the more intelli- in a mission, it must be a thorough gent, respectable and influential na- and efficient work, one which will tives, such as could be secured in no command the respect and regard of other WilY. And all this quite aside all classes. In all cases with which from the positivegoodresulting from I am acquainted in India, the medical form of medical disease and surgical, missionary has become proficient in of which our best American medithe vernacular, so that he speaks cal text books inform us. And a with his native patients without the medical missionary has seldom the help of an interpreter. 'I'his is sel- opportunity of holding a consultadom the case with the civil or govern- tion with a brothel' doctor, even in ment dispensaries. But this greatly a dangerous case, requiring, perhaps, pleases the natives, especially the a most difficult surgical operation. women. Then, with hardly an ex- The nearest European doctor, as in ception, the rule in a mission dis- the case of the writer, may be 38 pensary is one of kindness. Not only miles away, and the medical missionis the medical missionary very care- ary may have to treat all his medical ful to gain the affection of the native cases and decide upon all his surgIcal patients by his invariable krndness, operations entirely by himself. If a but he insists upon his native assist- mission would have the medical ants in the dispensary following his work a Slccess, it must be willing to example. And here the natives are take pains to secure a really efficient not slow to mark the difference be- workman and grudge no expenditure tween the mission and other dispen- which is necessary to secure him a saries. competent corps of native assistants and a fair supply of surgical instru- But, important as it is to let the ments and medicine. law of the dispensary be a law of love, other things must be added. The medical mission work has been The work of the dispensary must be found to pay, and to pay well, in all carried on with the greatest regular- cases where it has been conducted ity, precision and care. It must be properly and in a liberal spirit. Indecidedly first-class work. There is stances to prove this could be given no place here for half-way work, by the hour. Thorough work and skimping 01' sham. He who is not the best, carried on in love to Christ willing to give his whole time, his and souls, and for Christ's sake, this whole heart, and his whole love to must be the motto and life of all sucthe medical mission work, had better cessful medical mission work. leave it alone altogether. The loathesome leper must have our best care 4. Fourth, and lastly, the exigency as well as the simple cases of fever. of the times demands a much larger Case;; of cholera and small-pox can force of medical men and women in no more be avoided or neglected than mission fields. I can speak of India the farmer neglect to feed his horses from what I know of the state of 01' cattle. The best results, which mission work there, after an experionly follow the best service, must ence of twenty-eight years. But gain for a mission dispensary a good what I note of India, I think, I may, name. Let no one imagine that a with equal force and truth, say of mere smattering of medical matters, China, Japan, Turkey, Persia and the knowledge of medicine which Syria. Never before has there been would be picked up in reading a few such an interest felt in medical mis- pages here and there of the books sion work; never before such an denominated" Medicine for the Fam-' opportunity afforded for reaching the ily" would suffice to enable a man people through the dispensary. In to have charge of a dispensary in India the Lady Duiferin scheme has India, Japan, China 01' Africa, where, excited an intense interest through- in the course of a month, there may out the whole of India in the medical present themselves almost every work for women, and though more lady physicians have come out to India in connection with the various pensaries. Even for this purely evangelical missions during the past evangelistic work we need more medten years than in all previous years, ical missionaries. And I can speak yet it seems to-day as if there were from personal experience when I say places for scores more. And in the that with an efficient corps of trainmedical mission work for women, in ed native assistants in his dispensaall the countries noted above, there ries the medical missionary can do is, perhaps, the strongest argument a great d('al of evangelistic work. for the importance of the medical For 24 years I have been compelled, mission work, the strongest ground from th£' smallness of our mission of its great necessity as a part of force, to have charge of a large and mission work, than can possibly be important station, with its churches given. I need not take fl'om any and congregations and schools of table of statistics the proportion of various grades, and the work of the women to men in the population of itineracy, or preaching in heathen the prominent countries of, the East. villages, while carrying on all my Their number is immense. And with medical work. An English service all this countless number of women every Sunday evening, with an Engand girls there is no possible way of lish sermon, has been thrown in as a reaching them and influencing them, matter of simple recreation. It has and blessing them, which will com- truly, however, been a great pleaspare with that in the power of the ure. Christian lady physician. To ev('ry lady physlCian now on the ground, That my Dindigal dispensary has in the countries noted above, if there been of the greatest help to me in were ten, yes, a score, it would not my general mission work, I have had be one too many for the great and many proofs. I have gained the good impol·tant work the Lord is giving to will of the people; our native pastors just this class of Christian laborel's. and catechists can preach and sell Scripture portions and tracts in any And the number of male medical part of the station without any fear missionaries should be greatly in- of insult or opposition. They are creased. We can do much of our listened to with the greatest interest. work through our native Christians, I would receive a welcome in the but they require to be trained for house of any man in the whole of the special work. We can never, in any Dindigal district. I find it more easy, heathen or Mohammedan country, on this very account, to establish expect to have all the European or schools in the villages, and I receive American laborers required for the more money from the people for evangelization of these countries. their support. And the Dindigal dis- We must call to our aid the natives pensary and hospital, with about of the different countries. But for 9,000 new cases every year, and 20.- aid in Christian work the missionary 000 old cases, or those coming more must train them for each specific than once to the dispensary, and form of mission work. For the med- patients coming in the same period ical work, both among men and from 500 and more different villages, women, many more native men and have cost the mission nothing these women need to be carefully trained, 24 years, from the first year they and this is an important work de- were established. For my services, volving on the medical missionary. which I am only too glad to give gratuitously, the English Govern- I have already alluded to the large ment gives me the whole cost of the and appreciative audiences which the dispensary establishment, all the medical missionary has in his dismedicines required each year, and all about doing good to all. A mission the surgical instruments and hospital dIspensary on heathen ground is a. appliances. The American Board of beautiful and strikmg object lesson. Foreign Missions kindly gave me the It is ever educating the heathen in money for the hospital and dispen- the first principles of the gospel. Its sary buildings, which secures these golden word is "Love," its motto, permanently to the mission. " Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do And I see no reason why the Eng- ye even so to them." lish Government would not grant International Missionary Union, Fifth this favor in any part 0/ India, if Annual Meeting.
satisfied that a medical work in a As the International Missionary given locality is needed, and will be Union IS a unique institution, not yet carried on efficiently. fully understood in many quarters, and unheard of in some others, we After these twenty-eight years in may once more introduce it to our India, watchillg with intense interest readers as a permanent organization the work in various missions and va- seeking to accomplish in its measure, rious localities, I have been forced to the same general ends aImed to be the conviction that it is not best to reached by the great missionary undertake anyone form of mission conferences in bringing together the work at the expense of the others, missionaries of all societies, from all but rather have them all carried on fields, that they may annually comwith as much skill and energy as pare views on current developments possible, letting each help and sup- of Christ's kingdom in the several port the other. I would not, there- parts of the globe. The Union was fore, exalt the medical work beyond organized at Niagara Falls, Canada, others, which for many veal'S have in the summer of 1884, met there been found worthy of trial. I would, again in 1885, and at Thousand Island however, strive to have this work Park in the River St. Lawrence in given the place it deserves, and fairly 1886 and 1887. It is composed of re- turned foreign missionaries of all tried. branches of the Evangelical Protest- W hen we see m England and ant Church, temporarily or perma- nently in America. Its international America the splendid building's which character has thus far embraced are being erected for hospitals, when representatives of the British Empire we know what large amounts are and the United States of America. necessary to carry them on success- The constitution names as the object fully, we cannot believe that this of the Union "to promote the gen- medical work is being tried, and the eral cause of Missions in all possible large expenditure made without care- ways, chiefly by the diffusion of mis- ful consIderation. More costly hos- sionary mtelligence, the discussion pitals are being built and a larger of missionary topics, and the increas- expenditure incurred, because it is ing of mutual acquaintance among known that the work appeals to the missionaries of different churches interest and sympathy of the whole and countries." people. And none the less is this medical work needed in heathen The Union holds one meeting a. lands. We cannot conduct it on such year, as near August as possible, on a magnificent scale as in this country. invitation of such community as may It is not necessary. But we can show proffer entertainment to its members the heathen, in a much less expen- sive manner, the same lesson of the gospel, and how our Lord and Master cared for His fellow men, and went a.nd be easily accessible.Thetotal num- fifth annual meeting, held in Bridgel>er of missionaries now enrolled is 134. ton, New Jersey (1888), are found On the roll of attendance at the the following names: Years of NAME. Field. Denomination. Service.
1858–…•. Rev. H. N. Barnum. D.D ..•.•••………••.•…•. Turkey•••••.. American Board. 186(}-'64….. Rev. A. Bates …………•…•••.••…..••.•….• Ceylon.••…… American Board. 1879-·81. •.•. Rev. W. H. Belden…………………………. Bulgaria.•.•••. AmericanBoard. " ….. Mrs. " …………………………. Bulgaria..•…. American Board. 1861-·69•…. Mrs. M. H. Bixby………………………….. Burmah .•.•…. Baptist. 1S6{}–•…. Rev. E. Chester. M.D ..••••…•…•••••.•.•…… India ….••..•.. American Board. 1867-·74•…. Rev. M. B. Comfort ……………•.. , ..•••…… Assam•…•….. Baptist. 1878-'84•..•• Miss C. H. Daniells, M.D ……………………. India ……….. Baptist. 1869-'70….. Rev. J. A. Davis …………………………… China………. Reformed " ., … Mrs. " …………………………… China………. Reformed. 1834-'84•…. Itev. William Dean, D.D ……………………. China……… Baptist. 1883- – ….. Rev. N. H. Demarest……………………….. Japan .••……. Reformed. 1846- – ….. Rev. S. B. Fairbank……………………….. Iudia……….. American Board. Rev. L. A. Gould…………………………… China………. Baptist. Mrs. " …………………………… China………. Baptist. 1861-'68•••• Rev. J. T. Gracey. D.D ……………………… India ……….. MethodistEpiscopal 1856- – ….. Rev. R. H. Graves. M.D .•……………•……• China………. Southern Baptist. 1837-·77….. Rev. Cyrus Hamlin. D.D.• LL.D ……………… Turkey ……… American Board. 1885- – •…. Ira Harris. M.D.. . .. .. . . . . ••• .. . …………… Syria ……….. Presbyterian. 1884- – .•… Mrs. " ……………………………. Syria•…•…… Presbyterian. 1846-·72••••. Rev. Allen Hazen ………•••.•••…………•… India…..•….. AmericanBoard. M. B. Kirkpatrick. M.D …………………….. Burmah …….. Baptist. Rev. R. M. Luther. D.D. (Secretary) ………….. Burmah…….. Baptist. 1878-'83….. Rev. James Mudge ………………………… India ………. Methodist Episcopal 1870-'78….. Rev. R.E. Neighbor ………………………… India……….. Baptist. 1861-'82….. Mrs. S. E. Newton ………………. , ……….. India……….. Presbyterian. 1866- – ••••. Rev. H. V. Noyes ………………………….. China………. Presbyterian. 1872- -…. Mrs. " ………………………….. China………. Presbyterian. 1873- – ….. Rev. G. W. Painter………………………… China………. Sonthern Pres. 1570-'81. …. Rev. C. W. Park ………………………….. India ……….. AmericanBoard. 1885- – ….. Rev. J. L. Philli~s. M.D., D.D ………………. India ……….. Free Baptist. " ….. Mrs. ' ……………….. India ……….. Free Baptist. Regillald Radr.lilfe. Esq ..••.••..••…•.•…••…. Russia ..•••…. Church of England. 1877- – ….. Rev. J. H. Roberts …………………………. lJhina………. American Board. 1880-'86….. Rev. W. Royall ……………………………. China………. SouthernM.E. 1682- – ….. Rev. E. C. Scudder. Jr ……………………… India……….. Reformed. 1854- – ….. Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, M.R.C.S.• F.R.G.S ……. China………. Inland Mi,sion, 1848-·56….. Rev. Geor~e Thompson …………………….. Africa………. Am. Miss'y Society. 188()…'87….. Miss Jeume S. Vail ………………………… Japan ………. MethodistEpiscopal 1846-·64….. Rev. Edward Webb ………………………… India ……….. American Board. 1872-·82….. Miss Lula Whilden …………………………. China………. Southern Baptist.
To this group of missionaries was heartily sustained the Executive added Rev. Dr. Wm. Kincaid, one Committee in the experiment of apof the Secretaries of the American pointing the meeting aw&y from pop- Board, who made a handsome ad- ular summer resorts, and though the dress, in which he recognized the spe- smaller number was doubtle·<s in part cial benefits of such a union, not only attributable to this "new departto the missionaries, but to missionarv ure," yet the meeting was acknowlsecretaries and other prominenthome edged as equal to any of the precedworkers for missions. Rev. Dr. ing meetings in all other respects, Luther, a member of the Union by and superior to them in some features. virtue of service in Burmah, is also Bridgeton, through its churches, Di&;trict Secretary of the American represented by their Ministerial Un- Baptist Missionary Union. Miss ion, became the host of the Union McIntosh was the only lady secretary from July 5 to July 12 inclusive. It is this year, and she represented the a beautiful, thriving city, with glass, young organization .of the Woman's nail and iron manufactures and ex- Board of the Southern Baptist Con- tensive canning interests, seminaries vention. No one was discouraged by of learning, a personally highly rethe small number in attendance, as spected mayor and council, and not a compared with previous years, but 8aloon! The hospitality was cordial, and the guests found themselves af- annual meetings are usually inaugu- fected with "enlargement of the rated served to stir the finest relig- heart" ; the local newspapers gave ious emotions. This "Recognition daily reports of the meetings; fast meeting," in which each missionary friendships were made, and we trust introduces himself or herself, stating both entertainers and entertained field, form and years of service, call were made mutually helpful to each to the work, special difficulties, trials other in spiritual things. It will not and triumphs, or other personalfacts, be surprising if a gracious revival of tends at once, and at the beginning, religion shall follow on this sweet to blend souls that have hitherto only season of the "communion of saints." known each other through remoter The devotional meetings which agencies in purest fellowship. Cloud- occupied the first hour of each day's pillar and fire-pillar, springs in the exercises sustained the character of desert, manna that "tasted to every those of previous sessions. Dr.Dean man like that which he liked best,"
pronounced them amongst the most dew on Hermon, vision, miracle, par- precious· of his experience, and de- able and prophecy-all were recalled clared that of Tuesday morning to or realized in this mosaic of Chris- be the best meeting he had beep in tian narrative. One becomes confi- since he returned from China. Of dent that neither the Acts of the course, it was with depth of tender- Apostles nor the eleventh chapter of ness that these members prayed for Hebrews is yet finished, as he listens missionaries' children. The session to these "testimomes." God does devoted to interchange of thought on "in very deed yet dwell upon earth the specific power of the Holy Ghost and among men.
was not only one of earnest self- Turning from this feature of the searching, but of discrimination be- week to the free" round table" con- tween even the most highly analyzed versations on practical problems, one moral character and power and the finds in these meetings What Dr.
supernatural c~:;erations of the adora- Chester would call "sanctified com- ble Spirit. mon sense." The hour given to the If ever, since Pentecost, a company consideration of the subject of re- of Christians realized more fully the production of western ecclesiastical unity of the Spirit, it wDuld be diffi- forms on foreign mission fields was cult for any who enjoyed these hours the most remarkable of its kind the to name the place or time. The writer ever knew.
deeply spiritual character of the de- It was much more remarkable than votional hours of the Union through any participating in it had planned its five annual meetings suggests that or could have anticipated. The frank- that they be placed in the list of ness and freedom, the manifest intent "movable feasts." It were worth· to lay aside as far as possible the bias traveling across the continent to ex- of education, association or other perience the indwelling, the abiding preference, that each might contrib- presence of the Holy One as it· was ute his quota to the honestest pos- realized at Bridgeton. One may go in sible inlook to the real needs of the the strength of such meat more than foreign churches; earnest Chris- forty days. Some of the addresses, tian rivalry in making concessions, eminently those of Rev. J. Hudson without yielding or expecting any to Taylor and his associate, Reginald yield what he was supposed honor- RadclIffe, Esq., only served, if possi- ably to maintain-all made this ble, to deepen the divine impressions company of ten denominations ap- of the devotional hours. Even the pear a charmed circle. The equal of peculiar service with which these it has seldom been experienced. If the spirit that pervaded that com- American Indian vernaculars by pany could become the spirit of the Rev. E. _Arnold, of the St. Regis churches everywhere it would make Reservation, caused considerable dis.
but a mite of difference what forms cussion and showed wide diversity of of church government and polity ob- view. The question whether it was tained. Herfil was a Congregationalist desirable to bring natives from the brother saying that in his district the foreign fields to give them an educa- churches would in his judgment soon tion in Europe or America developed form into a modified episcopacy, as a the existence of only one set of opin- form of government most suitable to ions. All declared against the course, the native mind ; and another, a Pres- as leading to most unsatisfactory re- byterian, declared to be, in fact, a sults.
bishop over the churches under his A paper from Rev. Dr. Cunnyng- care; and others, not Presbyterians, ham, formerly of China, now Secre- conceding that the Japanese would taryof the Sunday-School Union of probably prefer and possibly come to the M. E. Church, South, was read, demand a Presbyterian form of gov- and followed by healthy discussion ernment, and yet another declaring on the development of this and other that the Anglican Church in China agencies for increasing-the interest of did not aim to strictly reproduce the the home churches in missions. Rev.
Episcopal polity, but to recognize in Dr. Barnum of Persia, who contrib- it such modifications as might nat- uted much of wisdom and interest to urally grow out of its new relations. several of the leading discussions, Some oC the discussions were much read an able pap{'r on" Some points more formal than others, and were of comparison between the mission- introduced by able papers. One of ary work of to-day and the early these was by Rev. Edward Chester, planting of Christianity."
M.D., on "Medical Missions," to Women's work for -heathen women which we have given the position of was considered during one session, leading article in this department, and the missionary ladies took part and which it is possible may be in the discussion, rendering there, as printed hereafter in other form for they did at the evening platform general circulation. meetingsand specialafternoon ladies'
Dr. Cyrus, Hamlin's paper on services, the most helpful interest to "Five Hundred Years of Islam" the whole annual session. Their con- was a terrible impeachment of Is- tribution to the spiritual directness lamic civilization. We hope to be and power of the devotional exercises able to favor the readers of the RE- was of great worth.
VIEW with this paper, and some others The papers and addresses cannot also hereafter. The wide range oC be all recounted, though none were experience and observation, and the below the merit that would entitle intimate personal acquaintance with them to speCIal mention. The even- Islam in Turkey, Persia, Bulgaria, ing platform meetings were devoted Africa, India, China, Ceylon, and to countries or to subjects, as other quarters of the globe, by the "India," or "Medical Missions."
members present, made the discus- One whole evening was occupied by sion of the subject of "Islam as a Civ- Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, founder and ilizer" one of rare value a.nd interest. present Superintendent of the cele- A paper presented by the writer of brated China Inland Mission, in these lines on Bible and other trans- narrating his personal experiences lations in' the Mexican vernaculars, and the development of his peculiar and another paper on the narrow- work which challenges solargeatten- ness and the limitations of the North tion. The spiritual effects of the simpIe story were not the least of the Several missionaries not present results of the evening with this sent their congratulations, and made brother, who was admitted to mem- suggestions of value for the future bership in the Union. The Union usefulness of the Union. We furhad been represented at the World's nish herewith the personal letter of Missionary Conference in London by the venerable Dr. Wood to the meettwo of its members, Rev. W. H. Bel- ing at Bridgeton. den and Mrs. Belden, and an hour was profitably and entertainly spent LETTTR from Rev. George W. in listening to their report of the Wood, D.D., to the Secretary of the great meeting from the personal and International Missionary Union: social, as well as the more official side. They evidently absorbed much, Unable myself to attend yonr meeting last and were able happily to reproduce it year, I was glad that the missions in Turkey for the delight of others. It was to Mr. and Mrs. Belden that the Union were so well represented by Drs. Hamlin and was primarily indebted for the courtesy of entertainment in. the city Barnum; and I hope tbat they and others from where they reside. that field may be with you also at Bridgeton dur- The address by R. Radcliffe, Esq., before the Union, on his personal ex- ing the present week. It would gratify me highperiences as an evangelist in several countries in Europe, eminently ly to be with you in bodily presence, as I shall Italy and Russia, was instructive and practically suggestive. It was a be in spirit and fullest sympathy; but the ordersurprise to most of those present, surely, to be told that Russia is pEn'- ing of the Divine Will, ever wise and good, defectly free for any number of evangelists who may go from person to nies me this privilege. From my late temporary person, and do effectivework through interpreters. sojourn in Summit, N. J., I have come with my The officers of the Union were, in wife for a little visiting among relatives and the main, re-elected, but Dr. Dean was added to the list of Vice-Presidents, friends in Livingston County, N. Y., on our way a class which Dr. Hamlin already. graced. to Dakota and Montana, to spend the summer, if The Rev. Mr. Mudge says; the Lord will, with children whom we have in .. Notes can give but ltttle idea of the rich those Territories. feast that was spread before us for each of the seven days, enlarging our stores of information, The death of our brother, Dr. Byington, has qnickenlng our sympathies, broadening Our view, deepening our consecration, and intensi- brought a great a1lliction upon the missions in fying our love for the work of saving the nations. We lloated ou a stream 01 keen enjoyment where Bulgaria and Turkey. Cut off in mid career of the pOints of beauty .ucceeded each other with almost bewildering rapidity. The people of a most useful life, he speaks to us impreSSively Bridgeton, who opened their doors to us with most cordial and abundant hospitality, showed of the supreme importance of spiritual and eteralso by their attendance a high degree of appreciation of the great privileges thus brought nal realities as a motive power in all Christian withiu their reach. Their pulpits were nearly alllll1ed on Sunday by the ·misslonaries, and the activity, and in the spirit of a true consecration, testimony of the pastors was that an entirely new era of interest in lllissions among their of a wise husbanding of physical energy in order people would date from this Convention. The members of the Union will certaiuly hold in to continuance of service in a world where the grateful remembrance their unstinted kindness. " most that we can do in the longest period that may be allowed to any of God's servants, is so greatly needed. '
May I exprees in a word the joy which I feel in the multiplying evidences of a new uprising of a zeal, not blind or tranSitory, for the conquest of the whole world to the dominion of Imman- uel, our Saviour and Lord 1 The trend of divine providences over our entire globe and the work of the Spirit in its measure and fruits in the hearts of Christ's true disciples, while accom- panied with much that is painful, bring to the church an appeal which it becomes us to wel- come with cheer and thauksgiving, and glad re- sponse in the line of individual and organized efforts to which we are called. :May you con- sultations be stimulating and productive of richer results for good than in years past, when occasion for congratulation was so great. In the might of the forces of evll in our Own country and in other lands, let ns see no ground of dis- couragement; for greater is He that is with ns than can be all they who are against us. What- ever drawbacks or defeats may occur, these are permitted for benellcent ends to which they are noedful or may be made subservient. What we may not now understand, we shall see hereafter
70ti THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS
With adoring admiration of the wisdom that Is Dege of carrying it forward to new triumphll higher than oura, May the, be wise, faithful and happy, lind ui As I look forward, knowing that my con their turn be succeeded by a generation who nection With present Corms of service Is com- Ing to Its termination, I desire, with penitent 'shall be more honored and blessed even than confession and supplication in respect to my own relations to the cause I love, to give the hand of they, as workers together with God for the fulfellowship, with words only of encouragement, to the young and vigorous who have the prv- filment of all that He has promised to do for men, With fraternal affection and regard, youra most sincerely, GEO. W. WOOD.
V.-THE- MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.
BY A. T. PIERSON, D.D.
JAPAN. of fellowship." What a scene was that to betoken the change that ABOUT twenty-five years ago a twenty-five years had brought I native of Japan, not known by name to modern history, conceived the The whole nation is awake and adidea that for his country to open her vancing. In 1872 the name of Chrisgates to Occidental civilization would tian was odious in Japan; now there be a benefit and blessing, and with are 16,000 who are loyal to Christ, a the prophetic foresight of a practical multitude of students there are waitpatriot and statesman, he dared pub- ing to learn of this new religion; and licly to advocate the abandonmen~ thousands are on the very pivotal of the exclusive policy hitherto pur- point of destiny, the question must sued by his nation. For such advo- speedily be determined whether they cacy he became so obnoxious to his become Ohristians or agnostics and countrymen that it was resolved to atheists. Years ago a school for put an end to his influence by put- boys and girls began in Yokohama; ting an end to his life. On a great now 'the boys' school is moved to festival day, when Japanese came Tokio, and becomes the Union Colfrom all quarters to do honor to the lege, with 300 students, under presigods of the kingdom, three bands dency of Dr. Hepburn; and the girls' prepared to waylay him: he escaped school remains at Yokohama as the the first, but fell into the hands of Isaac M. Ferris Seminary. Christhe second and perished. tianity is penetrating to the very borders of the land of the Rising A few months ago, a native pastor Sun. The Government itself offers was celebrating the Lord's Supper in to aid teachers while they are studyone of the Christian churches of the ing the Japanese tongue, and the island empire. He was a relative of door is wide open to Christian misthat murdered man who was the sions. Five denominations are united first modern martyr to his country's in the Union church, which is repreadvancement. In the congregation sented in the Union College. Young an old man arose and begged to be men are so anxious to get an educaheard. He said, "I am one of those tion and be fitted to preach to their who murdered that man, twenty-five countrymen that they resign lucrayears ago, and I want to confess my tive positions, or refuse tempting part in that crime. " The young pas- offers for secular positions, in order tor said, "By all the ancient customs to fit themselves for Christian serof Japan, I am bound to avenge that vice. Who shall guide these inquirblood-feud by plunging my dagger ing, intelligent minds and encourage into the throat of the man who was these young disciples, unless the the murderer of my relative. But church in this land supplies men and Christ's blood reconciles all blood- means? Was there ever such opporfeuds, and in Christ's name I wish to tunity offered by God 'for the evan~ extend to this brother the right hand g'elization of an empire containing on a persecution, and the Catholic thirty-eight millions of people I How converts recanted or fled to China, slow we are to go in and possess the or endured torture and martyrdom. 131nd I With a proper, prompt, ener- In 1835 Roman Catholic missions getic occupation of these wonderful again found a way into Korea by way fields of Christian labor, we might of China and Mantchuria, and the turn the whole future of the Sunrise Jesuits claimed 15,000 converts even Kingdom in the direction of the as late all 1857. cross: Not only is all antagonism abated, but Japan actually invites But we are especially concerned Christian teaching and missionary with the late opening for Protestant labor. The plowman may overtake missions. Japan in 1876 made the the reaper, and the treader of grapes first complete treaty with her neighhim that soweth the seed. The sower bor across the channel; six years' must carry the sickle. later, partly through the aid of the great Chinaman, Li Hung Chang, a KOREA. similar treaty was made with the United States. In 1884 the Presby- AFTER a strict isolation of centuries terian Board, at the solicitation of this hermit nation is open to the Rijutei, a Korean of rank, who was gospel. Its territory is partly penin- converted while representing his sular and partly insular; the penin- government in Japan, established a sula is about 400 miles long and 150 station at Seoul, H. N. Allen, M. D., miles broad, and is shaped like Italy. a medical miSSionary in China going Numerous adjacent islands constitute there. The American resident minthe Korean archipelago, chiefly of ister, General Foote, gave him an granite rock, some rising 2,000 feet appointment as physician to the above sea-level. The population legation. Dr. Allen was simply numbers from 8,000,000 to 12,000,000. tolerated at first by the Koreans; but during a revolt 10 Seoul, he skilfully The predominant religion is Bud- treated several persons of rank who dhism; though there are some follow- had been wounded, and saved the life ers of Confucius, as in China, and of the king's nephew, Min Yong Ik. some of a religion similar to that of He found the native doctors and sur- the Sin-tu in Japan. Indeed, Korea geons trying" to staunch the wounds seems, in some respects, a cross be- with wax, and his own scientific tween these two immediate neigh- treatment won the admiration of the bors. In 1882 Korea was, by treaty, Koreans. The king's nephew de- opened to American commerce, the clared they that believed him" sent key used by God to unlock this em- from heaven to cure the wounded." pire to the gospel was the medical His medical services to the royal m~88ton. Somewhere between the family led the king to build a gov- sixteenth and eighteenth centuries ernment hospital, which he named Romanism was carried into this Hay Min Lo, House of Civilized country by papal converts from Virtue, and which he placed under Japan and China. About one hun- the care of the Presbyterian mission dred years ago, Senghuni, a distin- and the supervision of Dr. Allen. guished official, professed conversion The mission finds in Rijutei a true and was baptized under the name of helper who has devoted his energies Peter; the missionaries were popu- to giving the Koreans the New lar, and the more educated classes Testament in their own tongue. Mr. saw that even this corrupted form of Arthington, of Leeds, gave the money Christianity was an improvement to pay for printing 3,000 copies of the upon "paganism. The government Irospels of Luke and John; and so became alarmed; the priesthood led the last door is opened by this her- change in public opinion, we would emphBSlm mit nation for the admission of the this fact, which very much simplifles the probgosPIlI. The working force has been lem : that you are not now asked to build and increased by the addition of Rev. Mr. furnish school-houses, supply native teachers, Underwood and Dr. Herron and his pay annual detlciencies, etc., but simply to fur- nish and support lady teachers to work witla wife; and some are so sanguine as to sympathetic Japanese in giving the girls ot Jwhope that God is going to work a pan .. Christian education. The ripe opportlD" greater and more rapid change here ity consists in this-that not only Christian than in Japan. Fragments of evan- clmrches, but non-Christian philanthropists, are gelical truth, brought by stealth from looking to Christianity as to the ouly force they the· Sunrise Kingdom, found their know of that will lift woman ont of her Ignoway to the heart of Rijutei. Years rance and degradation, and enable her to exert passed by, and the crisis came. such an Influence in the home as do the womell Rijutei was the means of saving the ot Christian lands." life of the queen, and so earned favor with the king. At once he went to Dr. Wm. Fleming Stevenson, while Japan, where he learned the way to Christ more perfectly, and so was an enthusiast in Missions, said to his led to undertake, like Luther, to give brethren: his own countrymen the Word of God in their own tongue. Here is .. We must not be over sanguine as to the rll' another pruof of God's seal on the ception given to the gospel in heathen communiwork of missions. A few years ago ties, as in Japan. It is partly of an Athenian type, born of cnrioslty and love of novelty; and we were just beginning missionary partly the result of proverbial politeness, giving teaching in Japan, and now Japanese courteons audience to a foreigner; and partly converts are proposing to go to the fruit of a Progressive, aggressive spirit, Korea as evangelists I which, especlaily in educated people, takes to Occidental civilization; and partly the movement SUGGESTIVE PARAGRAPHS. of governmental policy. From motives of State, neutrality is exercised. The Sabbath is ob- Desire of Japanese Philanthro- served in Japan only in government omces pists.-The Rev. J. H. De Forrest, a where are many foreiguers. The edict against missionary in Japan of the American Christianity Is not repealed, and much real Board, says in a recent letter: hostility hides behind the veil of indifference."
"Thoughtful Japanese have long been watch- The Mildmay meetings and all the ing missionaries and their methods of work; and when they compare the gifted women en- great religious societies' anniversagaged in school and evangelistic work with the better classes of women here, tbey see tbat ries held in England and America, in something-either that Christianity or civilization-has given tbe women of the west a posi- the month of May, have already their tion that excites their admiration and earnest longing to bave the women of Japan gain a sim- counterpart in Japan. This year the ilar place of influence. They also see that unless some way of elevating woman is systematically tide of these has been at its flood for uudertaken, Japan cannot push forward into the position of a truly civilized country. Hence it nearly the entire month in Tokio and happens that woman's work is now attracting tbe thought of philanthropists, who are asking vicinity. The meetings may be said in pnblic and in private that we aid them, espe- cially in the establishment of Christian girls' to have commenced with the fourth schools. We have already at hand importnnate calls for lady teachers from TokiO, Okayama, biennial meeting of the General As- Takahashi, Matsuyama, and other large cities; and what &11all we do in the face of these re- sembly of the United Church in qnests? Professor Toyama vehemently says, •It is an opportunity that missionaries cannot Japan, when fifty-seven churches, afford to lose.' In asking you to do all you an to take advantage of this unexampled represented by their delegates and a nearly equal number of natives and foreigner ministers met in Tokio, and a large number of clergymen of other churches were invited to sit as corre- spo n ding me m be-rs-. – .
. Mistaken Devotion.-In one of the great temples in Japan the devotion of the worshipers consists in running around the sacred building one hun- dred times, and dropping a piece of wood into a box at each round, when, the wearisome exertion being ended, the worshiper goes home tired and 000, about that of the United States very happy at the thought of having in 1845. done his god such worthy service. Are there not some Christians whose How the Gospel was first Planted activity is very similar to this, and of in Korea.-This incident is related about as much value? They are on by Mrs. Fannie Roper Feudge, Balthe street, running to all sorts of timore, Md. : meetings, and ever bustling from place to place. They feel and talk as .. Among many efforts made during the presif they were rendering most valuable ent century to carry the gospel into Korea, and service, and solace themselves in their weariness with the comfort that with little apparent success, one seed ot sacred they are doing great good and will have a rich reward. Yet really they truth was planted by a little Chinese lad shortly are accomplishing nothing. Their before Korea was opened to missionary effort ; exhausting labor is really only run- and this, so far as we know, was the first in nil ning round and round the temple; the hermit kingdom to spring up and bring forth no cause is advanced by it; God's fruit to the glory of God. This little boy's name name is not honored by it. was Ah Fung. He had been taught at one of the mission schools at Ningpo to read the Bible, Every indication goes to show that and to go to Jesus iu prayer whenever he was the Hermit Nation, as Korea is called, in need of help. When he was about nine years is rapidly leaving the hermitage and of age, his father took Ah Fung with him on one coming to the fore. The United of his trading expeditions to the Korean capital. States steamship Omaha has just By some mishap, while there, the boy was stolen arrived at Yokohama from Korea, and sold to the governor, who presented him to and Captain McNair reports his ob- his wife. She made him her page, and he would servations from a visit to that coun- often attempt to tell hili young mistress of the try, at whose capital, opened up to Saviour he loved and trusted, but withont avail, Americans by the treaty of 1882, he until one day the reaper Death took away her met the American Consul. For baby girl ; and then, in her great loneliness and miles, in the journey to Sevul, the sorrow, she recalled the words of her little page capital, the country looks like one about Jesus and His love, and asked him to teU vast cemetery, with its thousands of her the story agalu. Day after day did this green mounds on hillsides where Christian child talk of the Saviour, until she, too, sleeps the dust of more than ninety came to love this same Friend." generations. The crops are grown, the trades flourish as they do here. TEXTS AND THEMES. They have crime and criminals just as we do, but unlike our own courts, Zech. iv : 6-" Not by might (num- Korea punishes thieving with decap- bers), nor by power, but by my itation, consequently a great many Spirit." heads roll about wanting bodies to fit them. Remington and Martine rifles, Zechariah is encouraging Zerubbawith Gatling guns, the telegraph and bel,who was disheartened in attemptelectric lighting abound in parts of ing to build the second Temple by Korea, so rapid is the march of civil- paucity and poverty of the returned ization. Mission work is just begin- captives, who must be his human dening to occupy the ground, and no pendence. God assured him that not doubt there it will meet with great by a host of people, nor by human' opportunity for spreading the gospel, resources, but by His Spirit, all although at flrst the work will have work for <Sod is to be accomplished. to be limited to the youth. Korea When His Spirit moves, the most now contains a population of 20,000,- colossal mountain of obstacles be- comes a plain.
To enforce and illustrate this, the vision of this chapter is portrayed.
The candelabrum represents the church of God-God's golden light- bearer. The reservoir of prophecy supplies the lamps with oil. _ But the reservoir itself must be supplied by golden pipes, and these must connect with the living trees, which are per-
PROGRESS AND RESULTS 01' MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETIN
ennial oil-producers. These trees, personal influence more obviously represent Jesus Christ in His royal appear. This compels us to shout and priestly offices as Mediator, in " grace! grace!" all the way from which offices He was typified in Ze- cornerstone to capstone. rubbabel and Joshua. Exodus xxxviii: 8-" And he made The way to build and nourish the laver of brass . . . of the churches is to depend on the Holy looking glasses of the women assem- Spirit. The foundation must be laid bling." in Jesus, and then the structure carried from corner to capstone as a The banished metal mirrors of ~he work of grace. Let us not despise women were contributed to be melted the day of small things. If the seven and cast into a laver for God's tabereyes of omniscience are supervising nacle. What a sacrifice of vanity! our work, and the seven hands of and what a lesson for us on the way omnipotence are building for us, to furnish God's house with needed even the feeblest, faintest body-a supplies! mere remnant-can build the temple of God in a strange land. This has 1. We ought to sacrifice our luxbeen the hope of missions always. uries. Not one step has ever heen taken successfully in d~pendence on num- 2. Common things may be put to bers or wealth or social patronage. uncommon uses-a brazen mirroJ' In no work does the Holy Spirit's becomes a brazen laver.
2. The instruments of vanity unto the sacred vessels of the tabernacle.
VI.-PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS: MONTHLY BULLETIN.
Africa•…,..Mr. Moil', of the African The native church among the Hydahs, Rev. J. Lake Company, states that at least Loomis Gould, missionary, has 42 communiten thousand slaves cross Lake Ny- cants. At the communion of the Thllngit Presassa every year. "I once looked into byterian Church, Sitka, on May 5th, Rev. A. E. the hold of a slave-dhow," he says, Austin received six adults and baptized four "and saw eighty or ninety little chil- infants. dren there. Oh, friends, if you had seen those eyes gazing up into yours, Austria.-The British and Foreign you would pray earnestly that this Bible Society distributed by sale and 'open sore,' as Livingstone called it, gift 20,597 Bibles, 102,01l Testaments might be healed."-Spirit of Mis- and 45,391 portions, making a total sions. of 167,959 volumes. The largest number was in the German language, -The first Christian church in the the next in Hungarian, then Bohe· Congo Free State was organized in mian, Hebrew, Roumanian, Servian, November of last year, and there are Polish, etc. now 1,062 converts in the Congo Mission. Burmah.-Sir Charles Bernard, wbo has two sisters working as missionaries of the Alaska.-The reports of the churches in South- Church of Scotland in India, has recently stated some interesting facts a.bout the east Alaska are f8ll of encouragement. Rev. S. Christian Karens of Burmah. He says they number about 200,000, that is, about one- Hall Young reports from Fort Wrangel47 com- third of the Karen people. There are from 500 to 600 congregations practically if not municants ; 7 added on examination and one by entirely self-supporting. It is their practice to set apart as much produce of their land certificate; adult baptisms, 7 ; Infant baptisms, as will support their native pastors,and this they do before appropriating any of the har- 4; enrollment of Sabbath-school, 50 ; collections vest for themselves. They also sen4 mig. sionaries into Siam, and support them fully. Corall purposes, $277. Rev. Eugene S. Willard -The annual meeting ofthe Bassein reports from the native church, Jnneau, com- Sgau Karen Churches was held remunicants, 'rI ; 'added on examination, 14, and by cently. During the year, 562 have certficate,13 ; adults baptized,14, and Infants, 1 ; enrollment of Sabbath-school, 80. Rev. Alonzo E. Austin reports from the native church, Sitka, communicants, 222. Added on examina- tion, Ill, and by certificate, 1. Adults baptized, 108, and Infants, 75. Enrollment of Sabbath- school, 175. Collections for all pnrposes. $70. been baptized on profession of faith, given away, the rest sold. The of whom an unusually large number American Bible Society has also have come from the heathen. The made a grant of $1,500 to the Evantotal contributions of th(l churches of gelical Society of France to aid in its work of Bible distribution. That the association for the year amount society has had in its service durto Rs. 41,000. The pupils in the town ing the year 42 colporteurs, and high school have increased to 400, the distributed 28,745 volumes of the largest number ever known in the Scriptures. history of the Bassein Sgau Karen Mission. Besides the Sgau Karen Germany.-Fifty years ago seven Association, there is a Pgho Karen Association having about 1,500 com- shoemakei's in a shop in the city of municants. The Henthada Karen Mission numbers 2,000 communi- Hamburg said, "By the grace of cants. These Christians have taxed God we will help io send the gospel to our destitute fellow-men." In themselves voluntarily to raise Rs. 5 twenty-five years they had estabper member toward new school buildings in the town of Henthada. Al- lished fifty self-supporting churches, ready Rs. 7,000 have been paid in, and the rest ,will be forthcoming had gathered out '10,000 converts, soon. It must be remembered that the great body of the Karens are had distributed 400,000 Bibles and small rice cultivators, yet they are willing to bear heavy burdens in or- 8,000,000 tracts, and had carried the der that their children may receive gospel to 50,000,000 of the race. It would take only 150 such men to carry the gospel to the whole world in twenty-five years. • -Pastor Rohrbach, of Berlin, said that he an education.. . gaioed his first ideas of evangelistic work from China.-The news from Central Mr. Moody, and when he read of the work of China, received by the China Inland Robert Moffat in Buchuanaland, he asked, Mission, is very cncoura.ging. Mr. " Cannot the same power be' brought to bear Stanley Smith reports 210 baptisms upon Germany Y" He was glad to say that the at one time, and as many inquirers. initiatory work of Dr. Schluembach, Dr. Somer- The Rev, G. Clark tells of preaching ville, Dr. Ziemann, and others, had done a great deal for the caose of evangelization. to immense audiences, sometimes as Hawaiian Islands.-Seventy years many as 4,000. It is stated that "a ago the inhabitants were depraved few as influential men as the empire has produced have embraced Christi- heathen, and human sacrifices formed anity, others are ready to do so, or a part of their religion. In 1820 the wish to reap the benefit of its civiliz- American Board sent the first mis- ing influences." Nine men have been sionaries there. From that time baptized and admitted to the Lord's Supper by the China Inland Mission there was steady progress; at one at Honan. This is stated to be the first Christian church founded in time, during a great awakening, 1,700 this province of 15,000,000 souls. The only other society at work in persons being received into the the province IS the Baptist Mission- church in one day. The time came ary Society, and there are but three when the islands could be called European agents in all this vast Christianized, and in 1863 the Amerpopulation.-O. M. Intelligencer. ican Board closed the evangelizing agE:ncy, continuing only the educa- China Inland Mission.-Ohina's Millions for tional, and an independent self-sus- taining native church was formed July says of last year's labors: "Looking on under the name of "The Hawaiian the work of the whole year, we have to praise Evangelical Association." From a report of the Association made in God for the addition of between five and six 1886 we gather the following: There are fifty-eight Hawaiian churches hundred members to the churches-a larger ac- connected with the Association re- porting 5,387 members, who paid cession than we have ever yet had to report. $8,463 for pastor's su~port; $9,829 for church building; $3,655 to send We look for yet greater results this year. All the gospel to others; $5,593 for misthe stations and oot-stations can be better cellaneous purposes; a total in one year of $28,142. worked by our augmented numbers."
France.-By the aid 01 the Ameri- Holland.-The Ministerof Colonies, can Bible Society the Bible Society of France has printed 10,000 copies of the New Testament, and distributed by sale and gift 13,938 volumes, of which 196 were Bibles, 9,486 Testa- Mr. Keuchenius, has sent a missive ments andS,487 portions. About one third of the entire number were to the various Missionary Societies in the Netherlands, declaring in it, that 8,523 probationers and 10,180 Chris- tians. This is Bishop Thoburn's the Dutch Government should like to " diocese."
see if the societies 01' unions afore- At the Conference on Foreign Mis- sions in London, Sir W. W. Hunter said could contribute largely to in- saId that while the ordinary increase of the population of India had been crease the number of missionaries in 10~ per cent. the increase of Chris- tians had been 64 pel' cent. in the last the Dutch East Indian Archipelago ten years.
and to stop the progressing influence -The Indian census shows that the native Christians are increasing of Islam among the heathen popula- fifteen times as fast as the general population. tion of these islands. -The Maharajah of Darbhauga, of N. D. SCHUUMANS. Bengal, has given $25,000 for a hos- HAARLEM, July 5. pital and dispensary in connection with Lady Dufferin's medical work. -The evangelical population founded a union His gifts for benevolent purposes the last eight years reach fully $1,- for the purpose of establishing schools independ- 700,000.
ent of the State becanse of the law forbidding Italy.-In this stronghold of Ro- man Catholicism the work of the the reading of the Bible and Christian teaching British and Foreign Bible Society has met with marked success during In olllcial schools. These independent schools the past year, the distribution being 83,349 copies in advance of the year are prospering; at the end of 1886 there were preceding. The figures are: Bibles, 7,322, Testaments, 18,885, and por- 441, In which 71,000 children receive a good ed- tions, 102,821; total, 129,028.
ucation.-JOIIN1Cil Reli{lieux. -A Japanese correspondent writes India.-The Hindus are not disposed to the Christian Union: to allow Christianity to win a victory " Sunday, March 25, was another rad·letter in India without a struggle. Publica- day in Kyoto. Twenty-five yonng men and tions in defense of Brahminism are eight young ladies, students in· onr Doshisha scattered widely over the country. schools, publicly confessed Christ as their Just now we hear of a Hindu Tract Society started in Madras, which is Savionr. This, with six young ladies baptized issuing large editions of handbills monthly, in which the Christian re- in January, and forty-three young men baptized ligion is furiously attacked. The English missionaries report that all In December, makes eighty-two accessions from this is working for good, and that "the Tamil country is being stirred the school during the current school year. Ten as never before." These conflicts are rousing men from their indifference, were received Into one of the city churches on and will lead to decision, either for Christ or against him. the same day. One of the young men joini~ -A Parsee Student. A Parseegirl in from the school is a son of one of the most fa- India named Sorabji has become mous men in Japan. The Osaka Church will quite distinguished for her intellec- dedicate a very large and commodious chnrch tual ability. In her University course April 5."
she has gained scholarships each Jews.-The number of Jews in the world is estimated by the Hebrew year, and has kept at the head of the .Annual at 6,500,000; of these 800,000 list of competitors in English. She are in Palestine. The largest disperhas recently graduated in the first sions are in Russia, which contains class. Only six students in all, of 2,550,000, of whom 766,000 are inRuswhom the remaining five were men, sian Poland; in Austria-Hungary, succeeded in obtaining this degree. 1,645,000; Turkish Empire, 800,000; Miss Sorabji is the only" girl gradu- Roumania, 265,000;· United States, ate" in the Bombay Presidency. 230000, and Abyssinia, 200,000. Best of all, she is a Christian, and the child of Christian parents, one of -Alexandria Reports for 1887. The seven sisters, all of whom have been Rev. William Kean, the head of the well educated and are doing good station, givesa frank statementof the service as educationists. Her mother difficulties of work among adult Jews. has established a successful high Miss Kirkpatrick reports continued .chool in Poonah. success in the two schools under her charge, the fees of the girls' school -calcutta has 200,000 Mohammedans and one not only paying:aU expenses, but with ordained missionary to them.-Indian Witness. £25 from the Glasgow Ladies' Associ- -The Methodist Episcopal Church has in India foreign, native and zenana missonaries, 4,450 members, ation, meeting all the requirements rents, $32,986, and the remainder ~m mis_ of the pOOl' school in the Jewish cellaneous sources. The appropriations already quarter of the town. Mr. Douglas pledged by the Board for foreign work during Dunlop, the head of the boys' school, the coming year amounted to $183,076. To reports 251 pupils (124 being Jews) translate, publish and distribute 500,000 volumes enrolled in the boys' schools, 190 be- of the Scriptures In foreign lands, $143,570 was ing in attendance at St. Andrew's paid. school. Of the 190 there were 63 Jews, 42 Roman Catholics, 31 Protestants, -The address ofthe Methodist bishops 24 Moslems, 23 Greek Church, and at the Geueral Confereuce shows that In the 7 Copts; 01', with regard to nat:ion- past few years 450,000 souls have been brought ality, 51 Egyptian, 45 British, 25 into the church, and the membership Increased Greek, 25 Italian, 20 German, 11 from 1,769,534 to 2,093,935. Receipts for mis- French, 8 Austrian, 3 Spanish and sionary work last year upwards of $1,000,000; 2 Swedish pupils. The ages of the approprlatlons for next year, $1,200,000. The pupils were remarkable. Of the 190 church claims 12 theological semi)laries, 54 colenrolled in St. Andrew's school 6 leges and 120 seminaries, with a property valua were over 20 years of age, or 21 over tion of $25,000,000. seventeen, or 42 over fifteen, or 78 in all over thirteen. The New Testa- -'l'he General Assembly of the United ment is carefully read and explained Presbyterian Church of North America recently in various languages every day, and held its sessions in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ten all the Jewish boys without exception Synods and 61 Presbyteries belong to the Assemtake full part in the devotional exer- bly, with 753 ministers, 3,580 elders and 9S,992 cises and religious instruction. At members. The contributions of Sunday-schools the Sunday-school there is a good at- and missionary societies frp: the past year tendance of Jewish boys-sometimes amounted to $1,019,937. a dozen of them senior pupils. The basis of the success of the school is -The foreign missions of the Protestant the solid and high-class commercial Episcopal Church report communicants as foleducation provided, for which £347 lows: Liberia, 472; China, 374; Japan, 429; were realized in fees in 1887.-0hurch Haiti, 855; total,1,730. The income was $175,- of Scotland Record. 84S.46, including a balance of $20,739.51 from last year. There is a balance of $44,974.3Sln the -The Mission work among the treasury. 6,400,000 Jews of the world has been developed with especial rapidity -The English Wesleyan MisBiona.ry since 1881. An investigation made Society expended last year $700,000, and reports then showed that there were engaged statistics as follows: Stations, 339; preaching- in it 20 societies, employing 270 mis- places, 1,224; missionaries and assistant mis- sionaries. Statistics recently pub- sionaries, 324; other paid agents, 1,825; unpaid lished report the existence of 47 so- agents,3,651; cburchmembers,31,26S; scholars, cieties, with 377 missionaries. The 58,10S. increase in contributions has not been proportionally large, being only -During the six years, 1881-7, the North- about $96,000. Of the $432,000 which ern Baptists expended for Home Mission work, constituted last year's income, $363,- as shown by the receipts of the "American 163 were given in the British Isles. Baptist Home Missionary Society," $2,256,656. The missionaries make their head- For the same period they expended for foreign quarters at those cities where the missions, as shown by the receipts of the Jews chiefly congregate. Fifty-eight "Baptist Missionary Union," $2,327,289. The work in London; 14 in Buda-Pesth; Southern Baptists duriug the same six years 33 in Constantinople, and 28 in Jeru- contributed for Home Missions $455,399, and for salem. A proportionally smaller Foreign, $472,411. number of wQrkers are stationed at the less important cities. -The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, reports a total of members and preachers MISSIONARY SOCIETIES' RECEIPTS FOR of 1,107,456, an increase of 41,079. It has 11,364 churches, valued at $15,204,883. 1887-8. -The United Presbyterian Church of -The seventy-second annual meeting Scotland reports 565 congregations, an increase of 1, aud 182,170 members, an Increase of 107. olthe American Bible Society, New York, was The total congregational Income the past year held May 10. The cash receipts for general pur- was $1.603,500. -The German Evangelical Luthera.n poses amounted to $557,340, and disbursements, Church Synod embraces 246 ministers, 387 con- $506,443. The receipts from legacies for gen- gregations and 38,000 members, 219 parochial schools, and an average yearly attendance of eral purposes amounted to $113,778; from 6,427. churches, individuals aud auxiliary donations, Russia. – Rabinowitz. The Free $85,405 ; from books and the purchase account Church of Scotland Monthly contains $296,540 ; from trust funds, etc., $23,944; from a letter-written by Rabinowitz tp Dr. ary who came to this country to ob- Wilson of Edinburgh, dated March tain funds for the erl'!"ction of a Chris- 12. Dr. Somerville, who will be re- tian high school in Bangkok, has remembered as the Scotch minister turned to his field of labor. He sewho has preached in Constantinople cured $15,000 in this country, to and in various parts of the world with which the King 01 Siam will add such good effect, had visited Rabinowitz at Kischineff, which is the capi- $5,000. The erection of the school is tal of Bessabaria, some eighty-five thus made possible. miles northwest of Odessa. Dr. Somerville stayed with this Christian Sweden.-The Swedish Magazine, Israelite a few days, preaching, as Lunds-Missions Tidring, gives the Rabinowitz says, "to a house crowd- present number of baptized converts ed to overflowing by children of of the Berlin society as 16,539 at 47 Israel coming to see the eminent and stations. The last year's contriburespectable doctor." And he adds: "Dr. Somerville was 'moved to his tions of these amounted to $3,780. very heart, seeing how here the Jews, Syria.-The Quaker women have a with God's Word in the hand, are seeking the Lord their God, and "Syria-Ramalleh Home." They pro- David their King, Jesus Christ." pose to build a girls' training-school there, for which ,3,000 is raised, twice -Lord Radstock gave some interesting in- that amount being needed. Sybil Jones was the first woman to preach stances which had come under his notice. Two the gospel in the land since the apos- tles' day. They have a school at prominent workers had heen banished; one had Mansnrieh, near the Svrian Mission, on Mount Lebanon. The Philadelto walk 1,000 miles in chains to Siberia, bnt his phia Society supports a Bible woman in this mission. joy was that he would" now have the privilege -The Mission at Brumana on the of preaching the gospel to the prisoners," who heights of Mount Lebanon. overlook- ing Beirut, is under the joint mancould not otherwise be reached. In St. Peters- agement of the Society of Friends in Great Britain, Ireland and the burg the" open meeting" principle works ad United States. There is a training home for boys, with 30 inmates, and mirably, hecause when the gatherings are broken for girls with 20, and a well-ordered hospital with 15 beds, besides disup by the police-as is invariably the case when pensary, open five days a week. The mission has the charge of various discovered-the converts are each competent to day-schools for both sexes in several surrounding villages, in which more minister the Word to others, and thns, as in the than 300 children are under instruc- tion ;, it also employs a colporteur early days of the church, the scattering of the and several Bible-women. There are people secures the scattering of the seed. In also two mothers' meetings, which in earlier days had sometimes to be fact, on one occasion a number of imprisoned shortened becaulile of fights among the women, but which now are comconverts were released, hecause by their testi- posed of large numbers who delight to learn texts of Scripture, and be mony " they did more harm in prison than out." read to, rather than give vent to evil passion.-Presbyterian. Scotland.-,At the first meeting of the National Bible Society directors -The Pilgrims to Mecca this year for the new year, held in Glasgow, the from Syria are very few. The steamtotal income for 1887 was reported to ers offer great inducements, but as be £33,432 7s., being only £335 Is. less the pilgrimage takes place in June than the income of 1886, which in- and July the people dread the intense cluded £4,875 ofa fund raised in heat of Mecca and stay at home. A honor of the society's semi-jUbilee. Moslem of Beirut was asked, "Are The expenditure had been £30,992 6s. The issues in 1887 were 6a2,073 copies many of the Beirut Moslems going or parts of Scripture, including to Mecca this year?" "No," said he ; 164,729 Bibles, 180,662 Testaments, "only about ten." " Are those who and 286,682 portions. Though some- go generally made better men by the what less than the exceptional circulation of the last two years, these fig- pilgrimage?" " Better I They are uresare considerably beyondany form_ worse. Mecca is the wickedest place er record. The issues at home were in thQ East; full of robbers, thieves 220,754 copies, and abroad 411,319. and pickpockets, and everything vile.
Siam.-At a meeting of the Pres- Hardly a man goes but is robbed." bytery of Siam, it was reported that an addition of 48 members by confession, and five by certificate, makes the Whole number of communicants in connection with this Presbytery now 881. One new church was organized and one student licenl:!ed to preach the gospel.
-The Rev. Mr. Eakin, the mlssion~ Swltzerland.-The Basle Mission native Bible readers, and more'than has 111 missionaries and European 150 schools. teachers in its three fields, and 489 native pa.stOl'S, catechists, evangelists -The Woman's Foreign Missionand teachers. In 1884 there were ary Society of the M. E. Church just made to the quadrennial conference, baptized in Africa, India and China is full of encouragement. The re- 531 adult heathen,204 heathen chil- port covers the past four years. dren and 773 Christian children. The Basle Mission Church numbers to:day The society now nUlllbers 4,888 auxiliaries. with an annual membership of 115,228. The 17,053 members. German work had fnlly justified the expectations Turkey.-We are beginning to hear of the originators and had grown constantly. The last report gave a total of 104 auxiliaries, of spiritual result'i following the ad- with 2,694 annnal members and 19 life members. ministration of relief to the famine The aggregate recelpte of the last four years sufferers in Turkey. In some places have been $658,898.77, an increase over the pre· portions of the Scriptures have been vlous fonr years of $154,314.23. distributed with needed bread for the body. Mr. Gates of Mardin reports -The Woman's Society of theAmerican Bapthat in one village a man said, after tist Missionary Society received, East, $55,880 ; an earnest discussion: "It is nothing West, $25,882. other than the words of this book -Reports of the Five Women's Foreign which have sent us this aid." A Mos- Missionary SOCieties of the Presbyterian Chnrch lem at one village affirmed: "I know Cor the year ending May 1, 1888, namely: that the Protestants are the best of all the sects." " How do you know Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the that?" said a bystander. .. You are Presbyterian Chnrch, Philadelphia: Receipts, a Moslem. What do you know of the $149,640, a gain of $19,821; Anxullarie., 2,000, teachings of the Protestants?" The gain, 221; Missionaries, 133; Native Teachers and Bible Women, 91. Moslem replied: "I know by one sign. If I go to a priest, he says to Woman's Presbyterian Board of Missions or me, Give. If I go to a Moolah, he the Northwest; Receipts, $132,472, gam, $15,412; says to me, Give. If I go to an offi- Auxiliaries, 1522; Missionaries, 6~; Native cial or a friend, they say to me, Give. Teachers and Bible Women, 49, All;ay, Give. The Protestants alone say, Take. Theil' schools say, Take; Women's Board of Foreign Missions of the their teachings say, Take; their Presbyterian Chnrch, New York: Receipts, charities say, Take. By this I know $62,544, gain, $12,407 ; AUxiliaries, 900, gain, 76 ; that they are the· best." Mr. Gates Missionaries, 41; Native Teachers and Bible reports that villages are asking for Women,3D. teachers, and that the evangelical Woman's Presbyterian Foreign Missionary helpers are honored wherever they go Society of Northern New York: Receipts, $10among the mountains.-Mi88ionary 418 ; Auxiliaries, 118, gain, 14; MiSSionaries, 5 ; Herald. Native Teachers and Bible Women, 13.
Women's Missionary Work.-The Woman's Presbyterian Board of Missions of Women's Foreign Missionary So- the Sonthwest: Receipts, $7,217, gain, 503; ciety of the Presbyterian Church in Auxiliaries, 47, gain, 8; Missionaries, 7.
Canada reports $10,058 as the amount Total receipts, $812,286, gain dnring the year. of last year's receipts. Its foreign 848,143; Auxiliaries, 4,587, galu, 319; Missionwork is thus summarized: Three aries, 254; Native Teachers and Bible Women, schools for our Own Indians in the 83. Northwest, one girls' school in Formosa, six schools under the care of -The Fifteenth Annual Report of the Woour ladies in Central India, six native man's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presteachers assisting in these schools, byterian Church of the Pacific Cocst Is an ex- ceedingly Interesting one. The receipts from two Bible women, general mission- all sources were $10,700.4Q. ary work in the hospital, villages and zenanas, three missionary teachers, -The Woman's Union Missiouary SOCiety of one medical missionary, one lady America has In Calcutta and the villages south ready for the work, one lady in of It 22 schools with 1,178 girls, and 114 zenanas Canada receiving medical education, in which are 130 regular pupUs. A Bible lesson donation for Trinidad. Is given every day in the schools and at every visit in the zenanas. -The money given by the women of the Presbyterian Church in the -At the recent annual meetIng ofthe Chnrch United States during the past sixteen of England Zenana Missionary Society It was years amounts to $2,150,000, repre- stated that there had been good success at al- senting the entire support of more most every station. The receipts for the year were $133,000. There are now at home nearly than 200 women missionaries, 200 900 ass,ociations, and upward of 600 working parties in support of the mission.
'716 STA.TISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS
VlI.-STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS.
WORLD – WIDE DISTRIBUTION OF THE The issues of the Hibernian Bible So- 59,105 ciety for the same year were as fol- BIBLE. lows: Bibles, 20,897; New Testa- ments, 25,862 : Portions, 12.846. To- [Rev. John Wilkinson (London) has tal…. ….. ….. ………. …. …..• published a powerful tract with the Portions reduoed to Bibles, 402, which 46,661 above caption. We avail ourselves with Bibles and New Testaments of his statistics relating to Bible dis- make a total of Bibles, New Testa- ments and Portions reduced to Bitribution.-EDs. ] bles, of…………..••…..•……• REv. JAMES JOHNSTON, in his" Centnry of The Issues of the American Bible So- ciety, as given in the report for the Christian Missions," puts the population of the same year, were as follows : Bibles, world at about 1,470.000,000: Protestants, 135,- 369,714; New Testaments, 598.515; 000,000; Greeks, 85,000,000; Papists, 195,000,- PortiOns, 469,211. Total……….. 1,437,440 000; Jews, 8,000,000; Mohammedans, 173,000,- 000 ; heathen, 874,000,000; altogether about Total Bibles, New Testaments and 1,473,000.000 as the world's population at present. Portions reduced to Bibles. . . . . . . . . . 982,892 The Mohammedans and the heathen together The report states that "there are at least make 1,047,000,000, besides about 11,000,000 of .Tews. These 1,058,000,000 are unevangelized. twenty-five German Bible SOCieties. Some of Besides, there are millions of Greek Catholics them are very small." Only four or five-occupy and Roman Catholics as destitute of the Bible as a prominent position. These are: (1) the Prus- 8re the Mohammedans and the heathen. sian Chief Bible Society, for the eight original provinces of Prussia; (2) the Wllrtemberg It is esthnated that there are yet more than Bible Institute, for the kingdom of Wiirtem- 3,000 langnages and dialects into which the Holy berg; (3) the Saxon Chief Bible Society, Cor the Scriptures have never been translated. kingdom of Saxony; (4) the Nuremberg Bible Association, for the kingdom of Bavaria; and A.t the head of the list of agencies for the dis- (5) the Berg Bible SOCiety, on the Rhine. The tribution of the Bible is the British and Foreign circulation of the Prussian Chief Bible Society Bible Society. According to the report of 1886 for 1885 reached 97,400 copies; SO,694 of them the issues of the Society were as follows: Bibles. None of these were issued by the From the Bible Honse, London: Bi- British and FOreign Bible Society, but were ad- ditional. " The other four Societies mentioned bles, 636,411 ; New Testaments, with put into circulation, in 1881–39,539,20,731, 6.752 or without Psahns, 1,100,891 ; Por- and 17,477 copies respectively. About one-half tions,365,517. TotaL………… ..• 2,192,819 of these books were supplied by the British and From depots abroad: Bibles, 195,102 ; Foreign Bible Society. The work of the re- New Testaments, with or without maining twenty Societies was limited in extent, Psalms, 625,295 ; Portions, 1,110,688. and comprised but few of the British aud For- TotaL…………… …………… 1,931,085 eign Bible SOCiety's books. "
Total for the Jear, of Bibles, New Now let us gather the sum total of Bible cir- Testaments and Portions. . . . . .•. . . .. 4,123,904 culation by these German Bible Societies: First we have the Prussian Society… 97,400 Total portions, 1,476,205, divided by 82, Then we have the Wilrtemberg,Saxon, and thus reducing them to whole Bi- bles, make 46,181 ; which brings out Nuremberg, and Berg SOCieties, al- the following total of Bibles, New together 84,499; from these we must Testaments and Portions reduced to deduct half, as reckoned to the Bibles: Bibles, 831,513; New Testa- British and Foreign Bible SOCiety's me nts,l,816,186; Portions, reduced issues-so these four Societies cir- to Bibles, 46,131. TotaL…. •. . . . .. 2,693.830 culated ………………………. . 42,250 We put down for the other twenty The issues of the National Bible Soci- 645,662 small Societies a circulation of….. . 60,350 ety of Scotland for the same year, 1886, were as follows: Bibles, 154,- 450; New Testaments, 256,507 ; Por- tions,234,705. TotaL…………..
Total portions, 234,705, divided by 32, 418,692 This will make a total for the twenty- and thus reducing them to whole Bi- five Societies of………….. …… 200,()()(1 bles, make 7,335; which brings out The Trinitarian Bible Society's report fOl the following total of Bibles, New Testaments, and Portions reduced to 1887 says: "The circulatiou of Scripture dur Bibles: Bibles, 154,450; New Test- ing the past year has been as follows, in twenty aments, 256,507; Portions reduced languages" :- to Bibles, 7,335. TotaL………… Bibles, 3,354; New Testa- ments, 11,038; Portions, 96,620…•…•••.•.••Total 111,012 Special sale or HebrewNew PRESBYTERIAN MISSION OF NORTHERN BRAZIL.-STATlSTICS FOR 1887. Testaments, 75,000; special NAlIlE OF grant oC Hebrew INew CHURCH.
Testaments, 25,000..Total 100,000 Recife ………. 1~ ~ ~'i 25 58 39 . . . . . . . . Total circulation, sales, and grants… . 211,012 Goyanna……. 11 •. 32 29 1 …. 1 8 The Portions, 00,620 rednced to Bibles, i" .. Fortaleza. . . . .. 9 .. 1 47 40 27 " .. 1 1 by being divided by 32, make, In Mossoro.. .•. . . . 5 20 21 12 ……. . Parahyba .•…. 11 3 1 1 16 ~~ <I I ….. . round numbers, 3,020; which with Maranham….. 1 1 …. 15 …. 1 ..
the Bibles, New Testaments, and Pao de Assucar. 8 7.. .. … IS 17 .. 1 .. ·. Maceio……… 8 1 …. ,.. 3 1 1 ….. . special 100,000 oC Hebrew New 8146 3 3 108 215 143 3 1 2 2 Testaments, make the total……… 117,412 Totals. Catholic and Protestant Converts.
British and Foreign Bible -DR. WARNECK, who also is a lead- Society – Bibles, Testa- ments and Portion: issued ing authority on mission matters, from the London House and from def.ots abroad.. 4,123,904 has compiled some statistics on the The same tota , with Portions reduced number of converts reported from to Bibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. •. . .. 2,693,830 Catholic and from Protestant socie- National Bible Society ot ties. His summary is that the former Scotland-Bibles, Testa- ments and Portions. . . . . . 645,662 reports 268,700 converts in Africa, The same total, with Portions reduc- 2,000,000 in Asia, 55,000 in Oceanica, ed to Bibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . • 418,692 330,000 in America, or a total of Hibernian Bible Soclety- 2,053,700. Protestant societies report Bibles, Testaments and 577,000 in Africa, 700,000 in Asia. Portions. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 59,105 280,000 in Oceanica, and 688,000 in The same total, with Portions reduc- America, or a total of 2,245,700. Dr. ed to Bibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . 56,661 American Bible Society- Warneck remarks: Bibles, Testaments and Portions ………………. 1,437,440 .. I must confess that these figures sur- The same total, with Portions reduc- prised me. Considering the grand and im- ed to Bibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 92,982 posing organization of the Catholic Church. The twenty-five German Societies…. 200,000 the larger number of its missionaries, their Trinitarian Bible Society- rapid method of receiving into church com- Bibles, Testaments and munion larger numbers, and the great ad- Portions …………. , . . .• 211,012 vantage enjoyed by the fact that they have The same total, with Portions rednc- been at the work many centuries before our ed to Bibles…………….. ……• 117,412 work began. I had thought that numerically Grand total, InclndingBibles – – – their mission success would vastly exceed Testaments and Portions. 6,477,123 that of the Protestants. Leaving ont of consideration Asia, where chiefiy those who The same total, with Portions rednc- are descendants of converts of earlier cen- ed to Bibles.. ………………… 4,4.59,487 turies in China and India swell the number in the Roman Catholic reports. it must be Only frrur-and-a·1uJlj' milliOns of Bibles are seen that everywhere else the mission work being prodnced a year, while the annual increase of the world's popnlation is estimated at twelve of the Evangelical Church is far in advance mUli0n8! of that of the Roman Catholic."
BlBLE WORK IN CHINA IN 1887.
B. & F. Bible Soc. North China. …… ~~ 790 75,228 76,212 Central .. . . . . . . . 839 83,652 84,664 – – Sonth " .. . . . .. …. -. .-. . – -. . . -. 91,010 TotalB. &F….. 367 1,629 158,880 251,886 Scotch Bible Soc. -Mission work ofthe Catholic Church North China. . . . . .. …. 136 7,229 7,366 Central" ….•…… 1,952 168,859 170,31J is in the hands of the Propaganda Total N. B. S. S.. 2,088 176,088 178,176 Society, In the periodical Kathol- iscke Missionen recently this Society Amer'nBible Soc. 80 689 713 1,482 Sales-Depot …… . ]20 2,082 29,932 82,13'" makes its report for 1886. 77 2,059 :103,782 205,918 h Missionaries. 35 121 1,145 1,301 According to this France furnished about 48 899 9,837 10,784 two-thirds of the funds needed Cor the work. " Colportenrs.• namely. 4,855,658 francs; Germany contrib- Donations-Depot .. 72 1,184 1,256 uted 409,271 francs; Belgium, 358,767 ; Elsass " Missionaries. and Lorraine, 286,987 ; Italy, 382.214; Great " Colportenrs.. Britain. 166,319; Switzerland, 77,139; the Total Am. B. S . . 360 5,922 246,593 252.875 Netherlands, 112,551 ; Spain,97,522; Portugal, 47,249; Austria, 88.403; Hungary. 3,952 ; Bnl- SgacrainadainnadviRaonnmcoaunnitar,ie5s0,0;84R7u; ssAiaSlia5,288;,4t0h5e; Grand total, 1887. . . 727 9,639 581,581 682,937 Total, 1886… . . . . . .. 1,019, 14,256 493,678 583,429 Africa. 35,373; North AmerlCa.l00,928; Cen- tral America, 566; South America, 55,569 ; – Chute8e Recorder. Australia, 14.519. ' .Je'll'I.-lI'rom the HelJrsUJ Annual we learn A.merlcan Baptflt 1Illmoa&l]' tlnton• that France contains 000,000; Germany. 562.000, of whom 89,000 inhabit Alsaee and LorraIne; REOAPl'rULA'rI01I'. Austria-Hungary, 1,644,000, of whom 688,000 are in Galicia and 638,000 In Hungary; Ita!;!'l to.QOO ; The Burman Ml88ion.-51 mll!l!Ol1aries, 1ft Ns~'e!Ith~e~r,laOnOdOs, 82,000; RPooluamnda,ni7a6,8,2O6OO5~U;WTu; r~kUeIyI, men and 85 women (including wfflllJ of mis- (Russian sionaries) ; 13 Ordained and 89 nnordalned na- SloWotlutuzuerilanBde,lg7iu,0m0,0; 3,O:Kl ; Bulgaria, 10,000; tive preachers; 21 churches, 1,680 members, Denmark, .,000; Spain, 150 baptized in 1881. 1,900; Gibraltar, 1,500 i. Greece, 8,000; Servia, 3.500; Sweden, 3,000. m Asia there are 30,000 TAe Karen .Mi8rion.-47 missionaries. 15 men of the race. Turkey In Asia has 195,000, of whom and 82 women; 10 ordained and 851 unordained 115,ooo are in Palestine, 407,000 In Russian Asllr, native preachers; 494 churches, 26.008 mem- 18,000 In Persia, 14,000 In Central Asia, 111,000 In hers, 1.877 baptized In 1887. India, and 1,000 in China. In AfrIca 8,000 Jews lgievrel~In.60E,0g0y0pitn, 55 000 In Tnnisia, 35,000 in AI- TAe Shan Mi88ion.-6 miSSionaries, 2 men Morocco, 6,000 in TrIpoli, and and 4 women; 7 unordained native preachers; 2OO,uuu In Abyssinia. America connta 280,000 2 churches. 42 members, 1 baptized In 1887. i;rg~clr:; g}::n:ee~~~s ~l~em~':ts~fIa:ll:; continent, while only 12,000are scattered through TAe Kachin MiBrion.-2 missionaries, 1 man Oceanica. The entire total ~f the Hebrew race and 1 woman; 2 ordained and 1 unordained na- tive preachers; 3 churches. 39 members, 3 bapon the surface ot the globe Is estimated at tized in 1887.
6.300.000. TAe Ohin'Miasion.-5 missionaries, , meB and 3 women; 15 ordained Bnd 16 unordalned -The French Protestant mission- native preachers; 7 churches. 174 members. 62 aries among the Bassutos of south- baptized In 1887. eastern Africa report for 1886-7 as follows: The M8Gme8e .Mi8sion.-9 missionaries, 8, men and 6 women; 2 ordained and 9 unor Stations……………… . 17 (Same as previ- dained native preachers; 15 churches. 786 mem- ousyear. bers, 37 haptized In 1887.
Out-stations…………. . 89 Increase of 5 The Garo MiBrion.-4 missionaries. 2 men and 2 women; 5 ordained and 6 unordalned na- Native helpers•……….. 160 18 tive preachers; 10 churches, 986 members. 165, baptized in 1887. Marriages…………… .. 109 14 TAe Naga .Mi88ion.-8 missionaries. 4 men InCant baptisms.. . . .. . .. . 322 64 and 4 women; 6 unordalned native preachers; 8 churches. 70 members. 6 bap.tized In 111117. Catechumens.. . . . . . . . . . .. 2.245 387 The Tcl'U(fU Mi8sion.-44 missionaries, 19 men Communicants. . . . . . . . . . .. 5,525 385 and 25 women; 56 ordained and 137 unordalned native preachers; 52 churches. 68.629 members, Total number adherents… 7.770 672 2.321 baptized in 1887.
– – – Scholars….. . .. . .. . . . 4,066 982 The OAineBe MiBBiOn.-1IOmi8sionaries,12 men and 18 women; 7 ordained and 33 unordalnod Congregational Statistllll. native preachers; 19 churches, 1.568 members. 51 baptized in 1887. Chur~hes: whole nnmber………. .. 4.404 new ………………. .. 246 TAe Japan MisBion.-2/i missionaries. 8 men gain in number……… . 127 and 17 women; I) ordained and 21 unordalned Mell!.'>ers: whole number ………. . 457.584 native preachers; 11 churches, 770 members, added on conCession…. . 41,156 211 baptized in 1887. .. by letter …….. .. 26.185 total [189 not di- T1Ie Congo MilI8ion.-28 missionaries. 17 men vided] …………. .. 67,530 and 11 women; 4 churches, 248 members, 1111 removed…………… .. 38,644 baptized in 1887. apparent increase ……. . 28,886 gain [actual. comparing JiJurqpean Ml&siom.-1I72 preachers; 654 totals] ………….. . 21.200 churches. OO.14l1 members, 5,532 baptized In difference [due to Inacu- 1881. rate report<! …….. .. 7.681 BaPHsms : I!-dult………………. .. 20,123 In the missions to the heathen there are 60 mfant……………… .. 11,1166 stations and 831 out-stations. Including those Families reported.. . .. .. .. .. . .. …. . 268,775 now absent from their lI.e1d8, there are 282 mis- Sunday;~chools. me.mbers ……….. . 551.691 sionaries. including 159 single women lll!d 84 gam in members … . 29.704 wives of missionaries. " average attendance . . 324.719 united with the church In an the missions there are 262 misaionarles from……….. .. 18.399 (Including la1 evangelists), 1.798 preachers, 1.296 benevolent contribu- churches. and 127.208 members; 10.602 were tions ot…. ….. . $162,012 baptized in 1887.
BENBVOLEN'r CON'rRmU'rlON8 oJ!' 'rHIII I1IJIJ'tWUe frum laBt Slear.-14mia8Ionaries, 31 OHURCHES: churches, 8.678 members.-8eventy;fourth ~ lIual Report. For the year 1887 only………….. $2.095.485 Increase over 1885.. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. (18,275 O~,which lor ~oreign Missions. . . . . . 319.404 ~ucation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 221.287 .. .. Church BuildiIlg……. 122,590 Home Missions…. . .. . 436.577 .. A. M. A…… ………. 151,698 .. Sunday-schools……… 28.986 .. New West………….. 43.960 .. Ministerial Ald….. …. . 9.138 " •. Other ob,tects……….. 787,731 Legacies paid. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . 829,663 !lome Expenditures……………… 5.078,980 Increase. . . . . . . . . 1,100,750 U U – Congregational Year-Book JfYr 1888. " Faetl COllCemiDg the COllege Department of or more tl'&veling secretaries, and the Interna- YOlIIIg lieD'. Christian As.oelatloDs of North tional Committee's secretarial force numbers America. 14. 77 or these associations are engaged 231 college associations are In existence. specially in work among raUway men; 10- 41 have been orgallized within the year. , among German-speaking young men; 273 are in ' 179 have an aggregate membership of 9.863. colleges; 29 are colored and 18 Indian. 226 203 have an active membership of 8,699. associations report educational classes in trom 174 have an associate membership 0(2,240. one to fifteen branches of study; 287 report 177 have 2,570 members serving on committees. special attention to physical culture through 143 expend annually $6,067. gymnasiums and out-door sports; 898 Bible classes, 367 Bible training classes, and 661 4 haTe buildings; Princeton, valued at $20,000; Hanover, '$1000; Toronto University, weekly prayer-meetings are among the services $7,000, and ~"e University, $50,000. Cor young men only, which are reported.
59 have rooms devoted exclusively to their UStt. -In heathen countrie. Protestants occupy 54 have furniture valued at $20,732. 100 separate mission fields, containing 20,000 18 have libraries of 8,655 volumes, valued at mission .tations, supplied by 40,000 missionaries. In these 20,000 mission stations there are 500,000 $3,577. Sabbath-school scholars, an average or 25 to 27 had 101 lectures during the year, and 68 ha. each station. In the 20,000 Protestant mission stations there are 1,000,000 of native communi- 144 sociables. cants, or an average of 50 to each etation. There are also 2,000,000 of adherents who are friends BELIGIOUS MEETINGS. of the evangelical faith and hearers of the gospel preached from tbe Bible, an average of 100 to 87 report 98 Bible classes, with a total average each station. Including all classes, there are attendance of 1,688. now identified with Protestant Christian mis- sions 3,500,000 persons, served by 40,000 mis- 59 report 99 traiuing classes, with a total aver- sionaries. The nationalities friendly to Protest- age attendance of 1,024. tant Christianity, or nominally Christians, contain a population of about 150,000,000, or 188 report 198 prayer-meetings, 147 ofwhich have one-ninth ot tbe whole population of the earth, a total average attendance of 3 998. ' covering 14,000,000 of square miles, or one-fourth of the whole geographical surface oC the globe. 84 report gospel meetings, 50 of which have II The Greek and Roman Catholic churches cover total average attendance of 1,481. 18,000,000 square miles in nations friendly to them or dominated by them, and have 250,000,000 23 report song services, 13 of which have a to- of adherents. The Mohammedans bave a fol- tal average attendance of 394. lowing of "bout 200,000,000 nominally. Strictly pagan conntrles, therefore, have yet a popula- 80 report missionary meetings. tion of OM bution souls who are not reached by 3 report daily prayer-meetings. Mohammedan, Catholic, Greek or Protestant 19 report 21 cottage or neighborhood prayer- churches.
meetings. -Statistical tables In the Baptist Year-Book 8 report meetings In almshouses, jails and hos- show the total number of members In the 31,891 Baptist churches to be 2,917,815, indicating a pitals. gain of 184,745 members during the year. Tho 18 report 27 Sunday-schools conducted in their number of baptisms reported is 158,373, which ia 2,995 more than were reported a year bofore. members. 137 881!OCiations observed the day of prayer for -" The Presbyterian Church of the United States, ,,11 branches, have over 15,000 churches, colleges the last Thursday in January, :1886. 11,500 ministers, 1,500,000 members, and ex- 181 observed the day of prayer for young men, the second Sunday In November. 200 report 81,420 young men as studenta In their colleges. 157 report 9,956 young men, stndents of their colleges, 8S members of evangelical churches. 150 report 1,7~ professed conversions during the year. 161 report that 2,750 students in their colleges intend to enter the ministry. 48 report tbat 135 or these have been convocted since entering college. 24 report that 86 of these have been converted the past year. 19 report that 64 have been inflnenced in their , decision for the ministry by tbe work of the College Association. 59 report that 126 students in their colleges In- tend to be foreign missionaries. 4 report that 5 of these have been converted the past year. 3 report that 16 of these have been influenced in their decision for the forei!(n field by the missionary department of the College Asso- ciation.
– The International Committee of Young pends annually in her work 816,000,000 ; has also Men's Christian Associations at 40 East 23rd 46 colleges, with 5,000 students; 20 theological street, New York, bas just issued the Associa- seminaries, with 1.900 studenta ; 34 female sem- tion "Year-Book for 1888." There are now, inaries, with 4,000 pupils."-Dr. G. P. Hay,.
according to this annnal report, 1,240 associa- -The statistics preseuted at the last Interna- tions in America, aud 8,804 in the world. The tional Sunday-school Convention show that American associations bave a membership of whlle there are in the Sunday-schools oC our 170,000 ; they own buildings valued at $5,609,- country and the Dominion of Canada seven mil- WS, and have a total net property of $7,261,658 ; lion children and youth, there are more than IIIstyear they expended $1,181,888 In local work, nine million outside of the Sunday-school. Dr.
~d $104,949 In general work. 752 men are de- Worden stated that of this number 800,000 are In voting their entire time to the local, State and New York State,575,OOO In Pennsylvania. 440,000 IIlternational work as secretaries and assistants; in Ohio. 365,000 in Kentucky, 840,000 in Indiana, ~here are 23 ,Btate committees that employ one 600,000 in DlinOi8, 550,000 In Missouri, 228,000 In Kansas. In three years the gain In" Sunday- l!'aith in foreign /parts was organized in L7ona.
school membership has been nearly 500,000 ; but France, in 1822. Since that time it has received an aggregate of 220,000,000 francs, mainly in this ill small, compared"with the gain in our pop- small amounts. Its receipts during the past year were 6,648,000 francs, of which 4,850,000 ulation, which Increases more rapidly every were drawn from France.
year. -According to the Directory of the Roman Catholic Church for 1888, there are, in England -The Weilih Calvinistic Methodists embrace aud Wales,2,314 Catholic priests to 1,728 in 1876, and these preside over 1,:lO* churches, chapels 1,:e20 churches, 129,000 members, 1,012 minis- "nd stations. Scotland has 5 bishops, 324 priests and 237 churches aud chapels. The R0ters, aud 1,450 Sabbath·schools, with home and man Catholic population iu 1887 is given as 1,354,000 in England and Wales, 326,000 iu Scotforeign missionary societies. land, 3,961,000 in Ireland. Together with the colonies, the number of Catholics under British -The German Evangelical Lutheran Chureh rule is 9,682,000.
Synod embraces 246 ministers, 381 congrega- -New England Catholic statistics count up as follows: Priests, 906; seminariaus, 233; tions, and 38,000 members, 219 parochial schools, churches, 602 ; chapels and statiOns, 133; col- leges, 7 ; academies,38 j parochial schools, 205 ; and an average yearly "ttendance of 6,4'l7. pupils, 69,105 ; charitable institutions, 36; Cath- olic population, 1,185,000. This estimate is -The African Methodist Episcopal Chureh, based on the reports of the parish priests to their ordinaries. It is rather uuder thau over the fig_ whose General Conference recently in session at nres. Exceeding care is taken in making this ceusus. Estimations are generally based upou Indianapolis, reports 1 membership of 408,351, baptisms, marriages, etc., which yield a certainty on the safe side, but which exclude that host and the total of money raised for all purposes of Catholics who hold their religion loosely, who seldom attend church, who frequently neglect to during the year 1887 as 51,064,569. There are have their childreu baptized, yet who are sub- stantially Catholics, if anything, and who some- 3,394 churches and 660 parsonages, valued at times, soouer or later, return to the faith of their rathers. There are at least a million and a half $5,340,889. There are 11,009 stewards, 14,190 Catholics in New England. It has been assertsd, without contradiction, that over half the popustewardesses, and 14,778 class-leaders. lation of Boston are Catholics.- Catholtc Re- view. The statistics of the United Presbyterian – In 1881 the 1,200 members of the United Church for the present ecclesiastical year are: Presbyterian Board in Egypt-most of them very poor meu and women-raised more thau 1887. 1888. $17 each, for. the support of churches and schools. Look on this picture, then on that. Total membership… . . . . . . • 94,641 98,991 Christians in America give 50 ceuts each to mis- Total congregations" . . . . .•. . 885 1107 sions. Christians in poor Egypt give $17 each Total pastoral charges…… 618 708 for missions, and yet America is considered" Total contributions ………• $977,860 $1,019,937 Christian nation -Presb. CoUtge Journal.
-According to the Year-Book of the Disciples -The wealthof church members in the United States of America in 1880 was 8,723 m!llion dolof Christ for 1888, they have 6,437 churches, lars. Of this pne-sixteenth of one per cent. or one dollar out of $1,586 is given in a year for the 620,000 communicants, 4,500 Sunday-schools, salvation of eight hundred million heathen.
with a membership of 318,000, and a teaching – I t is difficult so learn thstatistics of J emsa- em. Probably as reliable information as can be force of 33,340 ; number of preachers 3,263. The secured is given by the Bote aus Zion, a carefwly edited German Protestant quarterly, published value of church property is $10,368,361. in the Holy City. The Mohammedans number about 9,OOJ, the Jews 18,000, and the Christians -In Germany and Switzerland there are eigh- 7,000, making a total of 34,000. The Jews genteen foreign missionary societies, with betweeu erally claim more, making the estimate as hlgil 522 and 550 missionaries in the field, and with an as 30,000.
Income of about $720,000. The particular cir- cumstances of their origin, no doubt, account for this state of things, bnt it certainly ought now to be possible to consolidate the smaller so- cieties, and thus save the expense of so many different officials.
-Mr. David McLaren has made II careful ex- amination and analysis of the home contribu- tions of four great missionary societies and of the British and Foreigu Bible Society during the ftftyyears of the present reign. The annual av- erage amount of the five societies for the last ten years was £556,631, shown as follows: Baptist Missionary Society. . . . . . . . . . . .. £57,229 Wesleyan Missionary Socie!y………. 109,433 Church Missionary Society…………. 193,670 London MisSionary Society..• , . . . . . ••• ro,742 British and Foreign Bible Society. •.•• . 109,557 The total contribntions for the IIfty years were £10,798,160, being about the amount spent on drink in this country in sixty days.
One feature bronght out by the examination is that, when al large sum has been raised for a special object, the income of sncceeding years has not suffered In consequence.
-The Roman Catholic Propaganda of the