The Missionary Review of the World — February 1888

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE OF THE UNITED STATES

MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

"- VOL. XI. No. 2.-Old Series.-FEBRU ARY.-VOL. I. No. 2.-New Series.

I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS. THE EVANGEI~IOAL ALLIANOE OF THE UNITED STATES.

[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] IT may be doubted whether, during these eighteen Ohristian centuries, any body of EvangelicalOhristians has met to consider questions of greater practical importance than the National Oonference of the Evangelical Alliance recently held in Washington, December 7th, 8th and 9th. Like the Oouncil of Nice, more than fifteen centuries ago, it brought together the scarred and battle-worn veterans from many fields of social and religious conflict. All denominations were represented, and by their prominent representative men. Episcopal and Methodist and· Moravian bishops, Presbyterian, Baptist, Oongregationalist, Lutheran pastors, theological professors and college presidents, distinguishe<.l merchants and scientists, Ohristian students and aggressive workers, assembled to consider the perils, opportunities and responsibilities confronting us in this great land. The first impression of such a meetipg was that of Ohristian Unity. For three days there was the freest, frankest discussion; there was no concealment of denominational peculiarities and preferences; no attempt to compromise conscientious convictions or reconcile irreconcilable differences; ~nd yet not one inharmonious chord was struck during the three days! Brethren dwelt together in unity, and it was obviously the unity of the Spirit. Nothing evoked applause, more hearty and instantaneous, than any expression that gave utterance to the oneness of all true disciples. There was an involuntary magnifying of the things in which disciples agree, while those in which they differ were seen to be insignificant in the comparison. No addresses were more catholic and fraternal in tone than those of Bishop Harris of Michigan and Dr. Gordon of Boston. Never did the few remaining obstacles to even a visible and organic Unity seem so small. The singing of psalms or hymns, the use of liturgical or extemporaneous prayers, the baptism by sprinkling or immersion, the open or restricted Lord's Table, and the episcopal ordination of the clergy-these are the five bars in the fence that nowk€eps Christians from being organically one. Are they not insignificant in comparison to the ties which bind us in a common faith?

At the late Presbyterian Council at Belfast, a French delegate said, "I find you here agitated over the question whether hymns may be sung at public worship; over in France people are inquiring whether there be a God!" Never have we been in any gathering representing disciples of every name where the disposition was so unanimous to lift into prominence only the great fundamental, rudimental truths of our -common faith.

The second thing that impressed us was the grand body of Ohris(ian men that were here brought together. The lower floor was reserved for delegates, admitted by ticket; and a careful look over the great assembly revealed the unmistakable signs of intellectual, moral and spiritual power. The giants had evidently met. From all quarters they came who had studied intently the problems of the age, and were endeavoring to work them out in the great reforms of the century. If physiognomy is a test, there were no weak men in that assemblage. The papers read, the addresses delivered, and even the impromptu, or less stndied, remarks in discussion, gave evidence of a titanic grasp of the subjects that were treated. Some of these papers and addresses were obviously the product of a quarter of a century of thought and study upon the themes brought before the Conference. It would be invidious to single out particular, speakers, where almost without exception everyone commanded such earnest attention. But to observe the range and scope of the topics discussed, and the peculiar qualifications of the speakers for the work assigned them, will convince anyone that this Conference was in the best sense a missionary gathering. Its influence on every form of Christian work, both at home and abroad, will be felt, as perhaps that of no other public assembly that ever met in this country.

The programme was arranged with great care, so as to lead up ~o a climax. Mr. Wm. E. Dodge, the President, opened with a singularly felicitous speech, in which he briefly outlined the work of the Conference, and after the graceful welcome address of Bishop Andrews, Dr. Dorchester plunged at once in medias res, and showed us the Perils of the Oities. This was a fitting opening of the great discussion. The concentration of popUlations in these great centres, the association of vicious elements and the combination of heterogeneous elements, the prevalence of intemperance, the social evil, class alienations, socialism, anarchism and atheism-these constitute the city, "the ulcer upon the body politick," and the menace upon our civilization. Dr. McPher- son, of Ohicago, followed in a similar strain, and showed the rapid growth, the vast hordes of foreigners massed in one locality, the in- adequacy of churches, both in numbers and endeavors, to reach and overtake this growth. He showed that when two such influences meet one will prove dominant. If we do not assimilate these vicious elements they will assimilate us. We must transform or be transformed.

When the morning session ended we were all oppressed, if not distressed, with the peril already upon us. The city loomed up as a dark and threatening object, filling the horizon, and the question was, "What shall be done?"

In the afternoon Prof. Boyesen, of Oolumbia Oollege, delivered an ad.:. dress on Immigration, so exhaustive and complete that its repetition· was called for at the overflow meeting on Thursday night. He believes that restrictive measures must be passed by Oongress; that foreigners are pouring in faster than it is possible to assimilate them to onr institutions, and faster than is safe for the Republic. He believes the prevailing American notions are too optimistic, that ambition for office is too much stimulated, even in our public schools, and that discontent is growing among the immigrant population. He has formulated a plan by which immigration shall be restrained and some guaranty be given for the character of those who come to our shores, so that so-called "Benevolent Societies" shall not busy themselvea providing money to transport to our country, as though it were a penal colony, the refuse population of other lands.

This consideration of our perils was further intensified by President Gates, in his powerful address on the l1fisltse of Wealth. He showed how vast our financial resources are, how they are perverted to selfish ends, how greed grows with its gratifications, and what power lies la- tent in hoarded treasure. He emphasized the Bible idea of steward- ship, and showed what a mighty basis for evangelization consecrated wealth would furnish.

Bishop Hurst then introduced the great topic of the Estrangement of the People from tlte Oh1~r'"h, and was followed by the writer of this article, on the same subject. The great multitudes are alienated from the church. And while thus the foreign popnlation is growing, and the artisan class is rapidly increasing and massing in our cities, the gulf between the church and these multitudes is widening. The caste spirit is growing and has invaded even the churches, so that they seem to the people in league with aristocracy. The remedy for these evils was shown to be, sympathetic contact, democratic spirit in the churches, and aggressive and systematic effort to save the lost.

In the evening, Bishop Ooxe discussed Ultramontanism. The Roman Oatholic Ohurch was not in any of these sessions assaulted as to its religious faith, but solely as a political body owing and owning allegiance to aforeign potentate. For an American citizen to acknowledge a civil head outside this government is constrtlctive treason, and when an issue arises may prove destructive treason.

Dr. McArthur then portrayed the evils of the Saloon~ We hoped he would present the saloon as a comparatively modern institution, and show its power in society and politics. But his address was little more than a temperance appeal, and a vindication of high license. Dr. Haygood, of Georgia, followed, giving some interesting facts about the influence of the saloon upon the colored people of the South and upon our general moral and political life.

Rev. S. W. Dike and Col. Greene, in two first-class papers, followed on Thursday morning with the Perils to the Family and the perils involved in the Social Vice. It was steering between Scylla, a~d Oharybdis, but it was magnificently done. In presence of a promiscuous audience these great themes were so handled as to exhibit thEl awful danger, yet offend not even the most fastidious ear. The Family, as the germ of all other institutions, must be guarded; and in order to guard it, marriage must be hallowed-virtue systematically cultivated. Col. Greene traced the social impurity to the public school, the novel, the perversion of French art, the details of vice in the newspaper, the saloon, etc. The" White Cross" movement was warmly commended.

President Eaton, on Thursday morning, also discussed Illiteracy. Out of 12,000,000 voters, over seven per cent. of the whites, and nearly seventy per cent. of the blacks, are illiterate. We have upwards of 6,000,000 illiterates over ten years of age; that is, more than the entire popUlation of New York and New Jersey. This class of people become dupes of Mormons, demagogues, and the vicious.

Dr. McCosh discussed Capital. and Labor, as did also ex-Mayor Seth Low. Both addresses were very fine. The strife between capitalists and working classes was traced to its source, and the wrongs on both sides were faithfully depicted and denounced. Monopoly, selfishness, the hard, cold policy of insatiable greed, and the tyranny and nnreasonable violence of labor unions and strikes, all got impartial treatment. Mr. Low beautifully illustrated the fact that the highest development of the individual only prepares for combination, by the printing press, whose separate characters were never successfully combined, until they each reached individual completeness.

The evening of the second day brought the turn of the tide. The perils to the family, the nation and the church having been reviewed, the remedy and encouragement now came to the front. Dr. King opened by a thrilling exhibition of our Ohristian resources. This is essentially a Christian government and nation, and our republicanism, separation of Church and State, free schools, Sabbath, Protestant Ohristianity, wealth, etc., were shown to be a reservoir of power in the prosecution of every good work. President Gilman then pleaded for • the universities and popular education of the higher grade, and Dr. Hatcher of Richmond spoke for the South.

Dr. Storrs not being present, his paper was read by Dr. Ohamberlain, on the Necessity of Oo-operation in Ohristian Work, and thus began the last day of the feast. Bishop Harris made a manly plea for the largest unity of all disciples, and emphasized co-operation instead of competition. No more catholic-spirited speech was made at the Oonference. Dr. Washington Gladden's ringing sentences delighted the assembly. He criticised incisively the miscellaneous, irresponsible evangelism of the day, but earnestly advocated the fullest evangelistic activity on the part of every church, and insisted that no kind of help or money gifts could release individuals from the claim of duty. Dr. Post, of Syria, followed in a brief but very powerful plea for co-operation in heathen lands, and instanced the Union Ohristian Ohurch in Svria, in which aU denominations practically and actually work harmoniously, and have so worked for sixty years.

In the afternoon Dr. Josiah Strong, in a paper worthy to go side by side with his great book, "Our Oountry," drew plans of methods for such co-operation, and proved it perfectly practicable by a proper combination of forces and division of territory to compass with the gospel the entire unevangelized population of our country. Then Dr. Frank Russell, in a most pointed and telling speech, showed how it had been done in Oswego, N. Y. The plan is essentially to divide up the city into districts of one hundred houses each, and divide these districts among visitors, putting over the visitors supervisors. Visits are made once a month, reported, and resnlts tabulated and compared. Meetings are held at stated times for conference and counsel. The most gratifying results have been reached, and there is a perpetual refreshing. Dr. Schauffier of New York presented the needs of great cities, advocating an undenominational work in destitute districts..

The closing meeting on Friday night was opened by a very finished paper from Dr. A. J. Gordon of Boston, on Individnal Responsibility. He spoke of three great perils and consequent duties -1. Oolossal fortunes in the hands of a few; 2. Prevalence of agnosticism; and 3. Intemperance and crime; and with great force and unction urged greater liberality, simpler faith in God and his Word, and a heroic dealing, both by law and gospel, with public vice.

A few short, pithy and powerful addresses from Dr. Van Dyke of New York, Thane Miller and others, and the Oonference adjourned.

If great results do not follow, in the quickening of the public conscience, the informing and arousing of the best citizens of the land, and especially in the active, practical co-operation of disciples in aggressive Christian work, all the signs of the times must fail. Those three days were packed full. Facts were trumpeted forth; there was a careful, accurate presentation of figures; not a peril was concealed, exaggerated or disguised. And there was a remarkable honesty among both speakers and hearers. There seemed to be a profound desire to face the whole truth and obey its mandate. Those men had not come to Washingi;on

JAPAN AND FOREIGN MISSIONS

for nothing. They were there for businsss, the King's business, and it. required haste. The most unpleasant facts, the most searching exposures, the most severe home thrusts, the ;most self-denying calls, seemed to be met only with candor and a docile, obedient spirit. Every man seemed to want to know the whole of the danger and the whole of his own duty. We look for great results. Oertain it is that no man could go back from such a Oonference without being better or toorse.

In Retzsch's illustrations of Faust, as· the demons of the under world contend for his soul, the angels hurl down on their heads the roses of Paradise; but as they touch the demons the roses turn to burning coals. Light is a blessing only to him that uses it. Abused knowledge becomes a source of condemnation. What leaves God's hand a rose of Paradise turns to a burning coal when it touches the ungrateful, unfaithful soul. We went down from that mount of privilege praying for a new anointing for service. Whether in missions in the city, on theborders of civilization or beyond the sea, what avails the fullest flood of knowledge without a spirit of consecration? Let every church, combining with every other without undue regard to denominational name, undertake this winter to reach all unsaved souls about it. Let a systematic monthly visitation of all non-church-goers be undertaken in every city and village, and be kept up. Go out is the Lord's command. As Dr. Ohalmers used to say, tliere are two ways a church may follow to win souls: "the way of attractiveness, or the way of aggressiveness." There may b@ every effort inade to secure a good, attractive house, organ and choir, minister and programme, and yet people will stay away; but when aggressiveness is the law-when the church goes out, and at any cost lays her hands on the poor and neglected souls and says, "Oome with us and we will do thee good," and compels them to come in-empty churches will be crowded, and souls will be saved. Nay, more; when the church thus maps out home missions and city evangelization, we have no doubt that aggressive efforts will begin, the like of' which the world has never seen, to bear the gospel message, and all flesh shall see Ohrist crucified the only hope of a lost world!

JAPAN AND FOREIGN MISSIONS By PROF. AND REV. GEORGE WM. KNOX, A.:~L, UNIVERSITY, TOKIO, JAPAN.

THE nineteenth century is sometimes called the century of missions. Enthusiastic men declare that it will be remembered as the era of Foreign Missions. In truth, it is the century of missionary eXI!eriment. The church makes explorations, tentative endeavors, plans. It is studying its problem. And now, as we draw near the close of the century, we can justly measure the work in all its vast extent; we can. plan for Its accomplishment, and give intelligent reasons for hope ot ultimate success. The early romance of missions gives w:ty to the prosaic commonplace of well-known facts. Our missionaries go to no mysterious and distant world never to return. Every land has been explored; we know the geography of our globe. Every people has been studied; we know the history, the language, the population, the customs, the religion of all. No land is far away, no nation is alien-modern civilization binds all together. The world grows small as we can state its area accurately in square miles, but our work grows large as the consciousness of the mighty populations of heathen empires is thrust upon us.

A new study of engrossing interest is begun-new questions of supreme importance press for solution. What is to be the future of the East? Are the great empires of Asia forever to repeat the history of the past? Shall the coming centuries bring no Kingdom of God for the great majority of the human race? Is Asia to continue oppressed, superstitious, ignorant, idolatrous, degraded, wretched? Is there national regeneration, is there new birth for a continent, is it possible ·for great empires to start upon a new life of liberty, progress and truth after millenniums of slavery, stagnation and error?

Such questions demand earnest study from all who study their fellow men, from all who love their fellow men; and to the Christian no subject can be of more absorbing interest. Foreign Missions are not remote, of far-away interest; to the Christian they c~ncern his own personal faith and hope. He confesses Christ to be Lord, he calls Him Light of Light, Very God of Very God. Christ is not one among many prophets; He is the brightness of the Father's glory. Christ's teaching is absolute and final truth; not one of ten great religions. Such a faith makes great demands-it is everything or it is nothing. Christ is Son of God, or an impostor. This faith is to be vindicated, not so much by labored argument as by victory. Let Christ divide the sovereignty of the world with others, and we cannot hold our faith. As we learn the world, we learn also that Christ must reign over all, that at His name every knee must bow. Foreign Missions are the realiza,- tion of the faith of the church.

Japan, first of all Asiatic empires, seeks answer to these problems. Under most favoring conditions it tries the great experiment, turning from the East and striving for position among the progressive, enlightened and Christian nations of the West. So far as man can judge, upon the issue of this experiment rests the future of Asia. Let Japan succeed, and China will follow in the same path; let Japan fail, and what hope remains for the greater empires which. will face their greater problems under less favoring conditions? Let us briefly con. sider the conditions in Japan favorable to success.

I. Japan is,an empire of thirty-seven millions of people. It has a JAPAN AND FOREIGN MISSIONS.

population larger than the population of France, and an area greater than the area of the British :,rsles, with our Stat.e of Maryland added. The Japanese are not a feeble folk, like the Sandwich Islanders, nor a rude and barbarous folk, lil}e the dwellers in the islands of the South Seas. It is an empire with ancient civilization, and of extent sufficient to fully test the experiment. Success there will be an earnest of success in all Asia. And yet Japan is not so large that the mind is overpowered by the vastness of the problems. It does not stretch away to the centre of a continent, like Ohina, nor teem with hundreds of millions, like India. Already plans have been formed for education, internal commerce, medical reform and religion, that reach to every province and embrace the whole empire.

II. Japan is in the temperate zone, with a climate favorable to high development. Nature does not enervate her children, nor overwhelm them with her profusion. Man has sufficient reward for his labor, and yet is ever incited to fresh toil.

III. The Japanese are an unconquered race. From the earliest dawn of history they have been governed by native princes. Their ships have ravaged the west of Ohina, and their armies have fought campaigns in Korea, but never has Japan submitted to foreign rule. The representative men of Japan have the independence, manlinesss and patriotism that belong to freemen; and these qualities are of the highest importance in furthering the new national development. Indeed, patriotism has been the ruling motive in the movement.

IV. The Japanese are not isolated by caste, nor held fast immovable in conservatism. They have ever shown themselves tractable, receptive, open to foreign influence. The very civilization that seems to us so unique, the art and architecture that are so separate from the forms met upon the continent of Asia, are yet foreign in their origin. India, Ohina and Korea sent the rudiments of civilization to the Island Empire. Literature, education, laws, rules of war, medicine, philosophy, religion, art, all claim foreign origin. The Japanese welcomed the foreign teaching, assimilated it, and made it thoroughly their own. They stamped upon it their own national character so completely that only the trained student can detect the foreign origin.

A well-known episode in Japanese history illustrates the national peculiarities. Oenturies ago European merchants visited Japan. They were welcomed, and their commerce thrived. With them went missionaries of the Order of Jesus. Oultivated, devoted gentlemen, they were, and the people gladly listened to their teaching. The Japanese recognized a religion of higher sanctions and nobler morality than the religions they had known; they saw in the Jesuits men of character far better than the ignorant priests of Buddha. Nobles took upon them the sign of the cross, and their subjects were baptized by thousands. The joyful tidings were sent to Roffle that an empire had been won to Mother Ohurch. But already Japan had decreed the destruction of Ohristianity. The converts were slain, the priests were expelled, and Japan was closed for three hundred years against the West. The Pope, in virtue of his pretended authority over the islands of the sea, had transferred the allegiance of the Japanese from their Emperor to the King of Portugal. But the Japanese would submit to no foreign dominion; they would do without Western commerce, wealth, and religion, but they must be free.

Again in our own time are the same traits manifest. When Oommodore Perry sailed up Yedo Bay with big ships, big guns and threats of more big ships and more big guns, the rulers of Japan recognized the decree of irresistible force and made a treaty. That treaty cost two rulers their lives and a dynasty its throne; it cost the bombardment of two cities, the lives of thousands, fifteen years of internal disquiet, and civil war.

It did not seem to the Japanese to be peaceful diplomacy. In 1868 the national discontent found full expression. The great clans of Tosa Satsuma and Ohoshu in their triple league gverthrew the Shogun. They captured the Shogun, destroyed his armies and ships, took his capital and became masters of Japan. They rallied Japan with the war cry, "Restore the Emperor! Expel the barbarians!" Restore the Emperor-that meant punishment to the Shogun for daring to treat with the foreigner. Expel the barbarian-that meant restore the policy of national seclusion. They restored the Emperor; they did not expel the barbarians!

When these barbarian-hating Japanese visited on diplomatic errand the centres of Western civilization, they saw their great mistake. Japan had slept for centuries in a fools' paradise, while the West had been wide awake. And now there remained for Japan a single alter-: native-it must learn, or it must submit. With wonderful appreciation of the situation, the government sent the men of Japan on great (lxcursion parties at public expense. They visited Europe and the United States, and they returned preachers of a new gospel of progress and civilization. All through Japan they told their wonderful story, and their countrymen listened and believed. Thus it comes to pass that there is no conservative party in Japan, no party desirous of reaction. The people by unanimous consent desire the new civilization: Emperor, nobles, samurai and commons, all are ready to make sacrifices in the cause of national advancement. It is a phenomenon unparalleled in history.

By the year 1872 the revolution of sentiment was complete, and the nation was fully committed to the new civilization. We need not say how intimately these great changes affected the work of missions. It is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Not by the work of any missionary, or of all the missionaries, has the great result been accomplished. They are workers together with God; but His leading has been plain as when He led forth Israel by flame and cloud to its promised home. His servants follow where He shows the way.

The edict forbidding the profession of the religion of Ohrist was taken down, but' sentiment was still almost wholly adverse. Of foreign names the name of Ohrist was still most hated. When Ohrist, the Prince of Peace, is made apostle of war; when His cross, the sign of self-sacrifice, is used as symbol of deeds worthy of the Prince of Darkness, small wonder that He is hated. And among the Japanese Ohrist's name had been blasphemed by His professed apostles. His cross was a stumbling block and an offense. The men of influence did not desire the preaching of His Word.

Fifteen years have passed away, and sentiment has changed. The leading men desire the Ohristianization of the empire. Statesmen, teachers, editors, men of influence, declare that the doctrine. of Ohrist is indispensable. The government protects and aids the preachers, and the leaders of the opposition are ready to give their influence to the infant church. Most of these men do not accept Ohrist for themselves-they will not forsake all, take up the cross and follow Him; but for many reasons they unite in desiring the Christianization of Japan. They know that the highest civilization is impossible without religion, and, quick-witted, keen-sighted, in this as in all else, they recognize Christianity as the best religion, as indeed the only possible religion, for the new Japan.

Buddhism is not a possible resource. The educated Japanese of three hundred years ago rejected it for the agnostic Chinese philosophy, and their descendants will not return to its puerile superstitions and its hopeless Nihilism. Even the priests know that their hour has come, and there is no heart in them. 'rhe philosophy of Confucius also comes to be understood as unworthy of the new national life. It points forever to the past; it holds to a dead conservatism; it so exalts obedience that women, children, and the lower classes are degraded; its high moral maxims can never influence and control the passions of the multitude. When Japan first became acquainted with the West, our agnostic systems gained great influence. They seemed to meet the educated classes with familiar teaching-they, like the moralists of old Japan, said that ethics without religion would suffice for men of intelligence and brains. But they are less popular to-day. The lessons of Europe are not lost upon these men; they understand the connection of atheism and agnosticism with socialism and anarchy. Against these foes the government desires the stable aid of the church of Christ. The government also strongly desires full recognition from the Western powers, and is convinced that it will more easily attain its ends as a Christian empire. But the liberal opposition also desires the rapid extension of the church, believing this to promote the intelligence, the manliness, and the independence of the people. These and other reasons combine to form a sentiment everywhere favorable to missionary work.

In 1872 the first church, of eleven members, was organized in Y 0kohama. From that time work was carried on with steadily increasing energy. In 1886, fourteen years afterwards, 193 churc'hes, with 14,815 baptized members, were reported. In 1877 the first Japanese clergyman was ordained; nine years later there were 93 ministers. These Christians are not" rice" Christians. Out of their poverty they gave in 1886 almost $27,000 for church work. Sixty-four churches are wholly self-supporting and 119 are partly so. In proportion to their. means the members of the Presbyterian and Congregational churches give as liberally as do Presbyterians and Congregationalists in the United States. In the 11 theological schools 169 students are preparing for the gospel ministry. In the various schools are nearly 5,000 students, who are trained in Christian knowledge as thoroughly as in secular learning. The Bible has been translated, and the New Testament has been sold in all parts of Japan. Something has been done toward creating a Christian literature.

When Japan was freely opened to. Christian work and it was apparent that a field of unusual promise invited labor, every denomination, and almost every sub-denomination, of Protestant Christians sent on its tiny contingent. For the most part, each follows its own course, and takesc oun- 'leI only with itself. In 1886 twenty different societies were represented. At how great a loss of money and strength is this petty denominationalism maintained! Never are the divisions of Protestantism so contemptible as when brought face to face with the multitudes of heathendom. When the church undertakes this warfare with full appreciation of its dangers and difficulties it will find means to combine all its resources in confederate league for the great crusade. It has not yet learned this lesson. In 1887 the missions of the Reformed Church, the American Presbyterian Church, and the Scotch United Presbyterian Church, united in forming the United Ohurch of Christ in Japan. The mis- 13ionaries of two other churches, kindred in doctrine and polity, have joined with them, and now, in 1887, a wider Union, embracing all of the Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational names, is formiug.

To this United Church will be given in large degree the work of shaping the Protestantism of Japan. In 1886 these churches had twothirds of all the church members in the empire within their folds, and wielded more than two-thirds of the Christian influence. The church is independent, free of all foreign ecclesiastical control, Japanese in form, and, we believe, Christian in heart.

The Methodists are seeking a like union for the churches of their name; and the Episcopalians have united the efforts of their three societies in the establishment of a single independent Japanese Epis- (lopal Church. The Japanese ministera exceed in number the foreign missionaries. They excel also in their success in gathering converts into the church. Many of their men are of good social position, well educated, zealous, faithful, devoted. Some of them have labored for years and have gathered much fruit for the Master. They are workmen who need not be ashamed. Not since apostolidimes have the elements of a strong, national church been so soon gathered. When we consider the rapidity of the growth, the completeness of church organization, the number and quality of the ministers, the readiness of the people to give, we conclude that God now grants His gracc as freely as to His servants of old.

We anticipate the conclusion of foreign missionary labor by the close of this century. Not that Japan will then be Ohristian, or that all who dwell in the land will know the story of redemption. But we believe that in thirteen years more Japan will cease to be foreign missionary ground. Thenceforth the preaching of the Oross will be the Home Missionary work of the Japanese church. The church will be widely established, well trained, well led, equipped for its work, and, under God, able and willing to carry the enterprise to a triumphant completion.

The missions in Japan ask the churches of the United States for reinforcements. First of the great heathen empires Japan turns to Ohrist. In our own day we see this church formed on its foreign soil. 'rhe work is not of the future-now it must be carried to its end. The rapidity of growth, the quick extension of the church, makes reinforcement imperative. The church must be guided, taught, aided. Ohurch buildings must be erected, colleges, seminaries and theological schools equipped, and all the organization of varied Ohristian work completed. These years are ours, but soon the opportunity will pass. It cannot be that the church will not respond; it cannot be that enough of its abounding wealth of men and money will not be given to meet to the full Japan's appeal.

God's providence gives this test to His Ohurch. Had Ohina moved first, how prodigious would have been the demand I Has the church enoug4 of consecration and faith to minister to the needs of that mighty empire? Would it send its missionaries by thousands, and its money by millions? But it is not Ohina; it is Japan. The call is not for men by thousands, but by tens. Thus does God first test His Ohurch; and as the church responds He will grant it rich reward by granting wider fields and grander harvests in the lands beyond.

Let us sum up the lessons taught by the story of God's dealings in Japan.

1. When God reveals His power, the strongest walls fall flat before His people; and God works in our day as manifestly as in the times of His ancient Ohurch.

2. The wonders of God's power demand obedient following, faith..

THE PROGRESS OF ISLAM

consecration and love from His servants. He works, and they lab9f'

with Him. His power never mak9s needless their effort, but demands with each display new exertion on their part.

3. Modern foreign missions are not a failure. Their success is assured. Japan is not an exception; it is the leader of the Orient. By God's providence China, Siam, and India enter upon the same path.

4. The evangelization of the world by independent native churches may be speedily accomplished. The work of foreign missions is the planting of these churches. The end of foreign missions is home mi!l- SlOns.

5. The planting and organizing of these native churches in every great land will make great demands upon the church at home. Every resource must be husbanded and every expenditure made to the best ad- vantage. And to this end: (1) Mission stations must be adequately equipped. Single men must not be left to perform all functions, and little bands of men must not be sent to evangelize great empires.

Broad plans with ample forces are imperative. (2) For best results churches of kindred faith and polity should unite on foreign soil. Their converts may unite in national churches, and strength, native and for- eign, may be doubled by the union. (3) The great denominations of the Protestant world should unite in council, in federal 'league, that plans may be formed in common-or, at the very least, be mutually discussed.

Missions in Japan bear peculiar relation to missions everywhere.

Success in this one land inspires the church for the greater conflict in other lands. Christ proves himself Divine as by the power of love He draws all men to himself. Not to a divided sovereignty does He come. Not to bless a portion of His creatures is His kingdom estab- lished. We confess Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. And as the Church is loyal to its vows, it is builded everywhere. Soon will the day come when every language shall speak His praise-when in every land His Church shall come. Not by power or might, but by His Spirit will it come.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

THE PROGRESS OF ISLAM.

[THE views of Canon Isaac Taylor, a dignitary of the Church of England, recently expressed at the Church Congress at W olverhampton, have justly attracted wide attention, and called forth earnest discussion both in the church and secular papers and magazines. The burden of criticism is against the Canon. His facts' are shown from a variety of sources to be unreliable or greatly distorted. The subject is of such general interest to the missionary world that we give the following brief and temperate presentatiQn of the case from the Home and Foreign Mission Record of the Church of Scotland.

~EDs.] THE paper read by Canon Isaac Taylor at the Church Congress at Wolverhampton on the subject of Mahommedanism has given rise to more discussion than any other subject brought under the notice of the Congress. The Church papers have had their pages filled with correspondence, mostly adverse to the learned essayist. The columns of ·Tlte Times have been opened to the discussion, and Tlte Times has passed its judgment upon the points in dispute-a judgment also unfavorable to the view set before the Congress by Canon Taylor.

The contention of the learned Canon may be regarded as threefold: That Mahommedanism is spreading in Africa and India at a rate far surpassing the Christian rate of progress in these countries; that its teachings and methods, so far as suitability to native races is concerned, might well be adopted by the promoters of Christianity; and that as a temporary and preparatory scheme of religious belief it may be let alone to do the work it is doing. We may conveniently follow this contention in the order here laid down.

1. It is only in a vague and general fashion that we can estimate the progress of Mahommedanism in Africa. It is the dominant faith in Egypt, and from thence westward to Morocco, whilst it is widely prevalent from the Mediterranean to the Equator. It is essentially a missionary religion, and from time to time there are outbursts of missionary zeal which undoubtedly subdue whole tribes to the faith of Islam. In the great AI-Azhar University at Cairo it is said that there are in attendance every year some ten thousand students who go forth as Mollahs, Moulvies, and teachers of religion into all parts of the Mahommedan world, and some of whom are sent for the propagation of Islam into the regions beyond. This, however, is only a popular estimate, and it is, we believe, considerably exaggerated. If the number of Moslem students ever reaches eight thousand, that large figure is made up of persons who become students to escape conscription. The great majority learn little and pass no examination. When we turn from the propaganda to the results we do meet with evidences of missionary success.

In his interesting paper in the Oontemporary Review, December, last year, our countryman Mr. Joseph Thomson set Maho~.medanism in a comparatively new and favorable light as a missionary agency. This is what he found up the Niger: "The sights and scenes I witnessed burst upon me like a revelation. I found myself in the heart of Africa among undoubted Negroes; but how different from the unwashed, unclad barbarians it had hitherto been my lot to meet in my travels in Africa! No longer did the naked savage throw himself before stocks and stones, • or lay offerings before snakes or lizards, but as a well-clothed and reverent worshiper he bent before that One God whose greatness and compassionateness he continually acknowledged." This is testimony which' there is no need to disparage. For those regions of W~st Africa to which it refers it may be accepted as the true state of the case. It is sad to think that Mr. Thomson should have to be accepted as a true witness also when he regretfully declares that" for every African who is influenced for good by Ohristianity, a thousand a~e driven into deeper degradation by the gin trade.'" It is mainly on this evidence that Oanon Taylor relies for specific support of his contention as regards the mis- sionary progress of Islam in Africa. Without denying the statements of Mr. Thomson, we may still ask whether there is not another side to this question. General Haig, who has recently published the' results of inquiries made by him personally as to the condition of the Arab tribes on both sides of the Red Sea, mentions deductions which are to be made from this missionary zeal and activity of Islam. He says, after careful inquiries in Oairo, and after calling' intelligent Moslems themselves to witness: "There may be intense belief and a desperate clinging to 'the tenets of Islam, but hope for its extension in the world has long died out in the minds of the more intelligent and thoughtful. Mahommedanism may still be spreading among the simple fetish wor- shipers of Oentral Africa, by such means as Arab merchants and slave- raiders know how to employ; but even there it must nearly have reached its utmost limit." It is easy enough for the learned Oanon, when dealing with the generalities which alone are available as statistics in the case of Africa, to make good his contention, and we need not deny that in Africa up till now Islam has made more rapid progress than Ohristianity. Yet even that progress is not shown to be overwhelming; and when it is considered that Islam is in Africa practically on its native soil, and that Ohristianity has only recently got into the interior and holds its ground under the most adverse conditions of climate and health, a faster rate of progress for Islam is not to be wondered at.

When Oanon Taylor attempts to show from Indian statistics that Mahommedanism is sweeping over India, with a steady increase of over 600,000 per annum, he lays himself open to direct and conclusive contradiction. In a recent letter to The Times the same General Haig whom we have already quoted, shows from the last census returns that Oanon Taylor has been entirely misled in his calculations. General Haig's carefully elaborated c<{nclusions-in which the Til1U3S leader concurs-is that in Bengal, with a population 42 per cent. of the whole Mahommedan population of India, Mahommedanism is at a stalldstill; while in the Punjab and Northwest Provinces, with 36 per cent. of the total Mahommedan population, Islam is slightly advancing. Regarding India as a whole, it would seem that the advance of Islam is too slight to be of any practical political importance. 'Even what advance there is is more a social than a missionary movement. There is no occasion to take an alarmist view of the present advance of Mahommedanism, although there is every reason why Ohristians should redouble their zeal and save the tribes of Africa from the searing, deadening influence of the religion of the False Prophet. 2. Oanon Taylor con'siders 11ahommedanism a faith much more easy ot_comprehension to the Negro mind, and, moreover, a faith which contains in a simple form the essentials of Ohristian truth. He finds in the Koran undeveloped seeds of Ohristian truth; Mahommedanism is· an imperfect Ohristianity; the Moslem and the Ohristian alike worship the One God, and regard the Lord Jesus Christ as the one sinless and perfect pattern of humanity; and there is nothing in lfahommedanism antago:::J.istic to Christianity. It is astounding to hear a dignitary of the Church of England seriously telling us that for the Negro ill the heart of Afric3t Mahommedanism and Christianity are convertible terms; that to deal with him effectively we must go, not to the simple verities of the Christian faith, but to a faith whose highest principles are a corruption of an imperfect Judaism. And the ground on which he offers us this advice is the rapid spread of Mahommedanism among these degraded African tribes. We do not want and do not expect to see Christianity spread in such a fashion. It is easy to teach even a Negro to articulate the words Allah 01' Bismillah; when this is done he is a Mahommedan. There is a simplicity in this sort of conversion which cannot be denied. But we do not expect conversio~ to Christianity with the same rapidity and simplicity. We believe, in spite of Canon Taylor, th~t the Negro mind can take in Christianity-not such undeveloped germs as are found in the Koran, but such clear and distinct statements of truth as we find in the gospels. In the conversion of the Northern nations, it is true, whole tribes were indiscriminately baptized and called Christians. That is a mode of propagating Christianity which is not in favor now. Christianity does not gain tribes and nations in masses. It is one by one that it lays its hold upon the souls of men. Its power to convert and renew one Negro is sufficient to show its suitability for the race. And we have happily abundant illustrations of this power. We have heard the Rev. David Clement Scott again and again declare-we thought he went a li~tle too far-that there was no truth which tho African as he knew him was unable to grasp and thoroughly understand, and no spiritual attainment of which he was not capable. We have heard Dr. Laws, of the Free Church Mission on Lake Nyassa, speak in similar, if more measured terms, Although the number of converts in connection with African Missions is small, and although many converts are not successes, there are African Christians with as firm a grasp of the doctrines of grace as is to be found among communicants at home, and with characters which, for consistency and devotion to Christ, would put many professing Christians in Britain to shame.

When Canon Taylor quotes the earnestness and devoutness and humilityof the Mahommedan missionaries, who go about without purse or scrip disseminating their religion by quietly teaching the Koran, he identifies himself with a picture which is only an ideal, and with a description which as matter of fact is very questionable. When he sets this description over against the efforts· of Ohristian Missions, which have made the natives hate rather than admire Ohristian civilization, the implied reproach of Ohristian missionaries is unworthy of him. Our civilization, alas! is another thing from our Ohristianity ; it means gin, brandy, gunpowder, and too often shameful debauchery on the part of British traders! But that our missionaries should by implica- tion be described as behind the Mahommedan fakirs in earnestness und devoutness and humility is an imputation to be indignantly repelled. The life of the European missionary, especially in Oentral Africa, is a life of hardship and of peril. It is surely unnecessary to call witnesses to this fact, when in our own pages from time to time we have to chron- icle hardships and fevers and deaths. But we may give the testimony of a witness more competent than most. Mr. H. H. Johnstone, now our consul at the Oameroons, well known for his charming books on the Oongo and Kilima Njaro, and well known also to be no idolater of Mis- sions, says in the November Nineteenth Oentury, in an article on "Brit- ish Missions and Missionaries in Africa": "A protracted stay at .the Mission will also convince yon of the earnest sincerity of purpose which inspires the missionary and his wife. It will show you how the pursuit of an exalted idea can clothe an inherently commonplace nature with unconscious poetry and pathos. And you will also learn that the life of those modern evangelists in Africa is full of disappointments, dan- ger, and monotonous discomfort."

3. Oanon Taylor evidently looks upon Mahommedanism as a step- ping-stono from heathonism to Ohristianity. But comfortably to do this he has to soften down the Mahommedanism we know by winking at the monstrous wrongs and immoralities which are inseparable from it. As to the moral results of Islam he does not feel comfortable. Islam does, to be sure, insist on temperance, although it is certain that Arab traders are among the chief importers of the spirits which are degrad- ing Africa. But, letting alone that, what about the slave trade, which has its tap-root in Mahommedan polygamy? What about the degrada- tion of women? What about the fierce fanaticism of the Mahommedan devotee? The head of our Mission at Blantyre in our last number de- scribed whole tracts of country inhabited by dense populations as turned . into a waste howling wilderness by the visits of Mahommedan slave raiders. Is this long to be tolerated upon the. face of God's earth? Even as the adjunct of a temporary scheme of religious truth is its spread to be desired? But it is notorious that Mahommedanism, so far from being a stepping-stone to Ohristianity, is one of the very stronge"t fortresses of unbelief. Oonverts from Mahommedanism are comparatively few, although not so few as some would represent. It is with Mahommedanism as with Judaism-the difficulty of gaining con- verts from them is in proportion to their likeness to Ohristianity. They

JAMES HANNINGTON, THE MAR'l'YR OF USOGA

have part of the truth, and their adherents are loath to give up the little that they have in order to obtain the whole as it is set forth in the religion of Jesus Christ. We should be sorry to think of Mahommedanism be- ing allowed to occupy the ground as a preparation for Christianityany_ where. The duty of the Church, on the contrary, is plain: it is to increase her laborers and to redouble her energies, so as to make known the trnth to the most degraded even of African tribes. It is the dnty of the Church further to do what in her lies to remove the stnmbling- blocks thrown in the way of the heathen in Africa and in India by the evil lives of Europeans and even of her professing members. Let us not fail nor be discouraged. Th~ Gospel is making way in those lands of which we have been speaking, and God has been giving it access to regions hitherto closed against it. We need have no fear of its efficacy.

The earthen vessel has its weaknesses, but the excellency of the power is seen to be of God. .

JAMES HANNINGTON, THE MAR'l'YR OF USOGA. * [EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] WHEN, in October, 1885, in Ukassa, on the north shore of Victoria Nyanza, the noble form of Bishop Hannington fell before the savage soldiers of Mwanga, a pall overspread the whole missionary host. Another heroic spirit had, at thirty-eight years of age, joined the noble Army of Martyrs. And when, on the 4th of February following, at sunrise, the sorrowing procession approached the mission station at Rabai, bearing the blue pennon-the African symbol of mourningwhereon, in white lett.ers, was sewn the word « ICHABOD," many a mourner, outside the Dark Continent, with bowed head, said, "The glory is departed ! "

We have read this story of his life and work with profound interest and deep emotion. It would draw tears from eyes unused to weep, to follow that tale of heroism to its singularly pathetic and tragical conclusion, while from first to last it abounds in lessons in livi~g.

Heredity and environment go far to determine character. Hannington seems to have inherited from his great-grandfather a strength almost superhuman that enabled him to do and bear what few stalwart men can endure. The texture of the ancient stock reappeared in the modern tree. He was consequently fond of athletic sports; gunning, boating, and the hardest. games were natural to his conscious vigor.

Hannington inherited another trait from his grandfather-a devoted attachment to his mother; and this filial love, that transfigured her with a peculiar radiance, was the magnet that gave a true poise to his character, a true direction to his life. Not only so; but the heart that learned the expansive, expulsive, explosive power of a noble, ennobling * "James Hannlngton: A History of his Life and Work." By E. C. Dawson. A. D. F. Randolph & Co., PnbHshenJ. N. Y. love toward a mother, was prepared for another love that had a wider reach, drove out all mean and selfish affections, and demanded vent in a life of missionary labor. Her death, in 1871, left his heart fearfully lacerated, but free henceforth to have but this one love. That pathetic inscription in a Paris cemetery Hannington might well have written: ." Dors en paix, 0 ma mere; ton fils t'obeira toujours."

At fifteen his father put him in a counting-house at Brighton to seek a fortune throngh the common path of commercial life. But the " zebra" could not be harnessed to the" cart-yoke," and after six years the young man, reaching his majority, chose his own path. At eighteen he inclined toward Romanism, and once in later life even toward the solitude of the cloister; but Oardinal Manning's funeral sermon for Oardinal Wiseman showed how the highest ecclestiastic turned even on his deathbed to mere external rites, for peace, and Hannington felt that the system must be rotten, and turned from it as from a falling fabric.

His early education seems to have been neither skillful nor successful. He says of himself that, being naturally idle, and not being sent where he was driven, he made little progress. But he was intelligent, quick to learn, and strong to hold; and if his early life lacked in application, his industry in later years went far to compensate. Up to his twentieth year, he had worshiped in a Non-Oonformist chapel; but in October, 1867, his ;father's chapel became an institution of the Ohurch of England, and the young man came into frequent and close contact with clergymen of that communion; and he awoke to the fact that he had a stra~ge drawing toward the ministry, and in 1868 he entered Oxford.

In 1873, at 26, Hannington reached a parting of the ways. Jesus was henceforth to be, in a double sense, his Redeemer-Rex, Lex, Dux, Lux. A college friend of his, a country curate, had James Hannington strangely laid on his heart as a burden. His own life having lately felt a strange transforming -power, he somehow yearned to have Hannington share his consecration and satisfaction. He wrote him a plain letter, telling him of his new experience, and urged him to devote his life to Jesus. More than a year passed, and the letter was unanswered; but the seed, though buried, was striking roots downward and was yet to bear fruit upward.

His pride was just now hurt by the Bishop'S harsh rejection of one of his trial papers, and his wounded spirit flamed into a burst of passion. Suddenly he bethought himself: "If I can thus give way to -anger, am I fit to offer myself as a minister of Ohrist?" That thought at once cooled and calmed him, and he applied himself anew. When he was admitted to deacon's orders, he trembled with the sense of his responsibility. On Sunday after, he preached at Hurst, and the next began to act as curate of Trentishoe. He soon found that he was doing his duty in a perfunctory spirit, and that he was not right with God. Oandor compelled him to confess that, though he was God's messenger, he did not bear God's message, and was ntterly without divine uncti()n; and he was much distressed. Then that letter, long treasured up and many times re-read, prompted him to send for the writer. He could not come to see Hannington, but he wrote him again and sent with the letter Mackay's" Grace and Truth." He began to read the book, but its unscholarly tone and blunt dogmatism offended him, and he threw it down. But it subsequently got a reading, though meanwhile on a second trial he had been tempted to fling it across the room in disgust. He waded through a few chapters, till he came to the question, "Do you feel your sins forgiven?" That chapter opened his eyes. He saw that faith must rest, not on feeling or consciousness, but on the unchanging Word of God. He leaped into light. He was in bed when he read that chapter; but he sprang out, and literally, like the cripple at the Gate Beautiful, walked and leaped, praising God. Subsequently the tract, "Gripping and Slipping," helped him to a firmer grasp on the hand of Jesus, and he held fast and followed on wherever that hand led. Henceforth he " knew whom he had believed." From this step it was comparativelyeasy to another. His friend urged him to try extempore preaching, and before long he bravely laid his written helps aside and went before the people to tell them simply and in dependence on the Spirit what he had learned of God, though he soon found that to preach effectively without manuscript leaves no room for indolent mental habits. On a visit to Hurst, he got "stuck" at the· text 'and had to dismiss the congregation with a hymn!

The parish of Darley Abbey, to which Mr. Hannington was transferred in 1875, and where he remained seven years, gave opportunity for the study and practical solution of the problem how successfully to deal with intelligent working people. There dear old Miss Evans, or, as the people called her, ·"Miss Ivvins," then nearly ninety years old, lived and swayed her sceptre of love, the very life and centre of Christian work. At the Darley House she made Hannington a welcome guest; and there he found himself in a new school of Christian experience and training for better work. Apollos was once more in the school of Priscilla.

While curate at St. George's Hannington threw himself into the work of Parochial" Missions," then already beginning to be a power, himself afterward conducting similar meetings. Here also he learned and lived the lesson of self-sacrifice. Fond as he was of his horse, he sold it, and made of the stable and coach-liouse a mission-room for popular meetings. The hero-missionary was rapidly preparing, though nnconsciously, for the" regions beyond."

He was eccentric-if anybody knows what that means. Those who knew him best say that they never knew another Hannington. A queer mixture of oddity and simplicity, gentleness and fire, bluntness and brusqueness, he reminded people of William Grimshaw. The children learned that in his cabinet there were curiosities, and in his pocket were goodies for them; and when he stopped to give them his blunt counsel and ask them questions, he rewarded their attention with ,a "bull's-eye." Free and familiar, he maintained his self-respect. Chalmers once said, to one who thought the clergy should" stand on their dignity," "Sir, if we don't mind, we may die of dignity." Hannington unbent easily and naturally, if he might get down to men.

In 1875 he became Secretary of the Hurst Pierpoint Temperance Association. He was about the only teetotaler in Hurst, but, despite the nnpopularity of the cause, he determined on a deadly war against drink. He went nowhere without a pledge-book, and would drag a poor sot out of the mire and take him to his home. He owned that he had never taken in hand a work so hard as to wage this war in face of the apathy if not antipathy of those who ought to be in sympathy.

There was a time when Hannington looked to the life of a celibate, as the most consistent with supreme devotion to his JJord; he meant that his 100rk should be his loife. But he found his" affinity" in Blanche Hankin Turvin, and married her in 1877. And it was well. He found her in every way his help, not his hindrance. As a married man he was relieved of many awkward embarrassments, had fuller access .to the families he visited, and learned that curious fact in life's mathe- matics, that two like-minded people can accomplish not twice, but ten times as much as one. If one chases a thousand, two put ten thousand, to flight. And nowhere is this truer than in the sacred calling.

Facts furnish the fuel on which missionary zeal is fired and fed. One can scarce believe that there ever was a time when the martyr Bishop felt no interest in missions. Yet so it was when he went to his first missionary meeting at Parracombe. He was called on to speak, but it was too evident to himself and others that he ~new very little about the subject and cared correspondingly little.

Hannington reached the turning point of life in 1882, when he de- termined to go to Africa. When, four years before, he heard of the violent death of Shergold Smith and Mr. O'Neil, beside the waters of Victoria Nyanza, he felt prompted to push ahead and take their place in the ranks. Conversations with Miss Evans and others whose hearts burned with missionary fervor stirred him up to study the facts; and the logic of facts no true disciple can resist. God had been making the workman ready, and the time had come for,him to enter the work. He had both a native fitness and a cultivated fitness for just such a work. A wife and three children, ~ delightful and successful parish work, bound him to his home, but he felt th~t the foreign field was wider, needier, more difficult to provide with workmen, and he heard God calling him. Mary Lyon used to say to her pupilf': "Girls, in choosing your work, go where no one else is willing to go." And so he offered himself to the Ohurch Missionary Society, and was accepted, March 7, 1882, and was appointed to the leadership of the little party of six who were to go to Uganda.

We pass by his journey, with all its discomforts; the filthy vessel in which he sailed from Aden to Zanzibar; the dilatory· Zanzibari, the horrors of the African well, the" water of which you might cut with a knife," and African mosquitoes, the swarm whereof might be sliced in the same fashion; the wading of streams, the fightings with fiies, the falling into pitfalls set for game, the alarms of robbers, encounters with tarantulas, swarms of mosquitos and of bees and caravans of black ants, the stings of the poison bean-pod, the storms of dust, the rack of African fever, prolonged dysentery and acute rheumatism. At Uyui, his fellow-travelers had to leave him behind, as he was too ill to go forward, and in care of Cyril Gordon, who nursed him night and day and would not let him die. How desperate his case was may be inferred from the fact that when he asked Gordon, "Can it be long before I die? " the answer was, "No, nor can you desire that it should be ;" and in one of the few walks he was able to take, he actually selected the spot for his grave. But his iron will pulled him through, and he was borne in a hammock to the lake, where again he was so ill that he confessed he was "done."

Christmas Day, 1882, was spent by the lake; and the manner of its keeping illustrates out of what unpromising materials love and faith can extract honey. Gordon was very ill, and two others only convalescing, and Hannington himself just ready to go to bed. But they kept the Holy Communion at 8 .A.M., and forgot their solitude, sickness and separation from home, in praising God. Then came Christmas dinner. Hannington killed the kid, and as he tried his hand at the "plum-pudding," drawbacks there were, in shape of fiour both musty and f1m of beetles and their larvffi, sour raisins and burnt dough, but.

they ate with mirth and gratitude. He amused the natives and himself by showing them his watch, which they declared had a man in it, that said, "Teek, teek," and was lubari-witchcraft; or he would dress and undress a doll which a friend had sent him, to show the women the mysteries of English attire.

When he reached Msalala it became plain that he must return to Eubaga and to England. He felt himself to be a complete wreck. On his way to Uyui, borne in a hammock, he was at death's door, and, humanly speaking, owed his life to the assiduous attention of Mr. J. Blackburn, one of his party. Yet he was no sooner on the deck of the homeward-bound steamer than h«;l was studying how he could return and plant Christ's Cross in the heart of the Dark Continent. June 10, 1883, he landed in England, and was received as one from the dead. He spoke constantly in behalf of the Church Missionary Society, but the verdict of the doctors was, "Africa, never-anywhere but Africa and Ceylon." But still he was hoping and praying to go back. The Church Missiouary Society determined to organize the churches of Eastern Equatorial Africa under 11 bishop; and it was plain that he combined just the traits needed for such a trust. And when Sir Joseph Fayrer, the climatologist, gave his opinion that he might safely go back, the position was thrust upon his acceptance, and he was consecrated June 24, 1884, and he sailed November 5, leaving his wife an(t baby to follow. He tarried in Palestine O]lt the way, and reached Mombasa January 24, 1885.

He determined himself to go to the front. The bishopric meant for him no easy berth or sinecure; and the journal of his second journey reads like a romance of heroism. We see "the image of a weary, overdone man, who had given up his hammock to his sick friend, stumbling through the sodden grass of the muddy plain, yet refusing to own himself beaten, and doggedly plodding forward, ever forward."

The Bishop desired to push through to the north end of,Nyanza. The way was shorter, healthier, better, and he had then no s'Uspicion that the Baganda would oppose approach from the northeast. This ignorance led to the fatal mistake. The people of Uganda regard all visitors from the northeast with suspicion and apprehension. The tribes of Central Africa lived in fear of a European invasion. The chiefs were busy urging the young King Mwanga to repel any attempt of white men to enter his realm by the" back door" of Kavirondo. The report of German annexations and encroachments had penetrated to the interior and created a panic.

King Mtesa, who had invited missionaries to his dominions, was fickle. Arab traffickers in the souls and bodies of men had poisoned his mind against Englishmen:, and persuaded hIm to profess the faith of Islam, and now they sought to render him averse to Christian teaching; while the French Roman Catholic priests tried to persuade him that Protestants would only delude and mislead him. The perplexed Mtesa would exclaim: "Whom am I to believe? The Arabs say there is one God; the English tell me of two; and now I am told there are three" (God, Christ, the Virgin). Christianity had been rapidly gaining ground in Uganda. Mtesa, who, for an African potentate, was unusually magnanimous, inclined to a liberal policy. The missionaries asked no favor, but were glad of an open door, and improved the opportunity. They set up their printing presses and distributed the New Testament books and other religious matter in Laganda. It became the fashion to learn to read. At the end of 1884 a native church of 88 members existed, of which Mtesa's own daughter was one. But after !Hesa's death, Mwanga, elated by his promotion, feeble, vacillating, vindictive, suspicious, presented a ready tool for designing enemies of Christianity; and when Mr. Mackay sailed to Msalala, at the south extremity of the lake, to meet three companions, and returned alone, there were not wanting those who persuaded Mwanga that his mission was a pretense under cover of which he had communicated with enemies of theking. Just then a rumor of the approach of white men, at the northeast of the lake, in Usoga, added fuel to the flame of suspicion. The chiefs ot- Uganda were ablaze with alarm. Toward the south the lake itself was a barrier ; the west they had not come to regard as a perilous quarter; but the northeast seemed to them a highway of danger. While Bishop Hannington was approaching Mwanga's country, the route he had chosen was daily involving greater risk, and he knew it not. With his letter to his wife, dated Kikumbuliu, August 11, 1885, all his correspondence ceases; and its last words are, "And now, just leave me in the hands of the Lord, and let our watchword be, 'We will trust and not be afraid.' " His friends heard of him no more until that fatal telegram, received from Zanzibar New Year's Day, 1886. Let us linger a moment over these last days.

It was Sunday, November 8, 1885, twenty-eight days after the Bishop left Kwa Sundu for the lake, when Bedue, one of the men, came to Mr. Jones, sighing and breathing hard, reporting that two men had come with the report that the Bishop and party were killed. On further investigation, it was said that October 31 was the fatal day, though it now seems to have been two days earlier.

Bishop Hannington, all unconsciously, had marched into the very jaws of death. When the friends at the mission in Uganda learned of his approach, they did all they could to rid the king's mind of suspicion; but in vain. He and his council of chiefs considered that the Bishop was only the head of a conspiracy to take possession of the land, and must not be allowed to enter. Indeed, it was seriously proposed not only to kill the Bishop, but to stamp out the whole mission, killing all the white men in Uganda. The suspense was terrible. A fatal pitfall was before him, and friends could give no signal. On October 25, one of the court pages reported that a tall Englishman was in Usoga, who had lost a thumb. The king's council decided on his death, but represented to the missionaries that he was only to be escorted: out of the country.

Hannington came within sight of the Victoria Nile, at the head of the lake, when he found himself confronted by more than 1,000 insolent soldiers, and was subjected to robbery and insult; While dragged by his legs over the ground by the ruffians, he said, "Lord, I put myself in thy hands. I look alone to Thee." Believing he was about to be murdered, he sang "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." Hours of awful suspense followed. His panic-stricken men were all held as prisoners. Thrust into a hut, which was horribly filthy with ordure and vermin, he was guarded by twenty men, though so exhausted as scarcely to be able to hold up a small Bible. Yet, even when tears were wrung out from him by sheer exhaustion, he still praised His holy name whose servant he was. Expecting to be murdered, he simply turned over, shut out the murderers' yells and cries, and said, "I shall not make the slightest resistance; let the Lord do as He sees fit."

He was. allowed by the chief whose prisoner he was to send a hasty ."!crawl to Mackay, saying that he was a prisoner and begging him to <come; and at times the closeness of his confinement was relaxed; but he disdained to escape, leaving himself in the Lord's hands. The last -entry in his diary is dated October 29. The ink is faint which records the development of his fever and his prayer for a merciful release. No one will ever know in what utter exhaustion he laid down his pen for the last time. When the guards led him out to his death the ink may still have been wet. But we have this comfort-that however he was torn with pain and racked with fever, his sublime trust in God knew no change.

He hoped the messengers sent to Uganda might return with orders for his release. And when he was led out to an open space outside the village and saw his men once more around him, he doubtless thought the danger was past. But with a hellish yell the warriors fElll upon the caravan-men and speared them. The ground was covered with dying and dead. It was plain that his hour had come. His murderers closed round him. Then the man, the hero, the Ohristian martyr shone brighter than ever. Lifting himself to his full height, he calmly surveyed their poised spears, and spoke words which will not soon be forgotten: "Tell the king, Mwanga, that I die for the Baganda, and purchnse the road to Baganda with my life." Then he pointed to his own gun, which one of them fired at his breast, and there were one more widow and three orphaned children left on earth, and one more martyr added to the roll of the Martyrs. Dying at thirtyeight, he has "completed the circle of that great ring of Ohristian nations, of which the signet stone is the Victoria Nyanza; and, in joining the two ends, has welded them together with his death." As his biographer well says: "What if his busy hands and feet, torn from his body, rattle in the wind above the gateway of some savage town? What if the bleaching skull wherein once his active brain wrought for the good of all, now hangs like a beacon from the leafless arm of some withered tree? He would have been the first to tell us that no such things could affect his life, for that was hid with.Ohrist in God. His last words to friends in England were : " , If this is the last chapter in my earthly history, Then the next will be the first page of the heavenly; No blots, and smudges, no incoherence, But sweet converse in the presence of the Lamb.'

"OBDOmnVIT IN OHRISTO."

Let us now glance at the conspicuous traits of his character. A very important element in Hannington was his humor. It permeated and pervaded his whole being. Oarlyle, in "Sartor Resartus," makes laughter the cipher key to unlock the whole man, and thinks few are able to laugh what deserves to be called laughing. .. The Bishop could laugh, from the roots of his hair to his boots; could laugh till he shook and cried, and till he compelled you to laugh and shake and cry, out of mere contagious sympathy. His laugh turned him inside out, and was a revelation of a certain heartiness in his humor, an unreserve in his genial, congenial nature that was a pledge of his frankness and fidelity.

His humor was his actual salvation in more than one experience. In the midst of the intensest suffering it never forsook him. Like Thackeray, he embellished his journal with his own original drawings, and original they are. They remind us of McLeod's biography, with its graphic and wonderful pen sketches, where a stroke means a whole paragraph. In the encounter with a lion, he forgot the danger, as he saw his excited companions rally to his defense, one armed with a revolver, the other with an umbrella! His humor had a heroic element in it which enabled him to say of all the multiplied tortures of his journey, they were H trifling drawbacks." Nothing could be more delightfully serio-comic than his own description of his 'hammock' experiences, written for his children, and illustrated with his own pencil. That must have been a remarkable susceptibility to the ludicrous which made soaked clothes by day and wet sheets by night powerless to "damp" his spirits; which made him laugh outright, notwithstanding his weakness and illness, when a hippopotamus almost stumbled over his cot as he lay half-shielded by his umbrella, and, "bellowing out his surprise," started at double quick for the lake; nay, which, when he thought he was about to be murdered, made him laugh aloud at the very agony of his situation-his clothes torn to pieces, and wet through, and his body half naked, and every limb strained, while he was alternately dragged and pushed and jostled along five miles an hour. Such an abundant humor commonly has as its companion a mischievous temperament, for they are close of kin. He w:.,s full of boyish pranks to the very last, and whenever he felt well would break out at times with irrepressible animal spirits.

He had wit as well as humor. His" skimmery album" was a series of caricatures in which, from the Principal at St. Mary's Hall down, few escaped being pilloried in a humorous depiction. But no malice was mingled with his mirth. If he teased he was willing to be teased. Sometimes his wit was merciless. When, at Oxford, he found among the undergraduates a set of clerical posturists who with a dilettante air observed all the niceties of ritual observances, who dressed themselves in their own rooms in short, lace-trimmed surplices, and got photographed with crozier and censer-when in the bedroom of one of them was found an old trunk rigged up as an altar, draped with an antima- , cassar, with a row of tiny candlesticks, a vase of flowers and a plaster crucifix, he reveled in the opportunity to lampoon such follies. He was an active man, never a loungeI'. He did not hang like a rusty trumpet against the walls of society, waiting for some one to come and blow a blast; he had always something to do. Immense will.po",er lay back of his activity, and, like most men of great energy, he was nat;.. urally headstrong and passionate, having a marked individuality. When seriously angry, he was formidable, not a man to be trifled with; but in his later years he never became angry'unless his indignation flamed at the wrongs done to others. He was passionately fond of travel, and once had made up his mind to go to sea, when the determined opposition of his parents prevented. He had a natural aptitude for scienc'e, especially natural science, which he inherited from his mother. From infancy he watched the birds, studied the insects and plants, and curi- {)usly examined" specimens." During his short halt at Mpwapwa, he scoured the conntry to collect specimens of its flora and fauna, with which he afterward enriched the British Museum. His enthusiasm was boundless. He could endure in his ragingthirst to find only a dry bed of a pool, if he discovered a new shell; he shouted for joy over a vestige of moss or a new butterfly. When nearly dead of dysentery he would sit up in bed, to paint flowers, brought in from Mr. Gordon's rambles. In the midst of a lion hunt he stopped to pluck an unknown flower, press it and take note of its classification.

Hannington's character was based on a courage that verged on rashness and a faith that quite crossed the limits into abandonment. As to'courage, it. was both of the physical and moral sort. He seems to have been absolutely a stranger to fear. At Martinhoe he took delight in perilous scrambleSlfrom ledge to ledge of precipitous cliffs that shot down to the sea in sheer walls hundreds of feet high, exploring their stalactic caverns fringed with fronds of fern. In one of these ex- ·cursions he was caught by the tide in a cave whose only mouth was below water mark, and got out of the "straits" only by leaving his -clothes behind and pushing his naked body through the narrow passage. The perilous had for him a fascination. He had a natural calenture in his temperament; the sea was only a green field, and the Alpine peak only a hill to his daring soul.

That his courage bordered on recklessness, and sometimes overstepped that border: cannot be doubted. He met a rhinoceros and fired. Ten yards off there rushed from the jungle a bull and another cow rhinoceros, bellowing and charging fiercely down upon him. He simply stood, and eyed them defiantly till they turned round and disappeared. But what shall be said of that lion story, that some have declared a lying story? On Dec. 16, 1882, he shot a large lion's cuh. There was a double roar, and the bereaved lion and lioness bounded toward him. Again he faced his enraged enemies, and, keeping his eyes upon them slowly retreated backwards, till he put a safe distance between him and them. But he actually ventured back to secure the skin of that cub! The lions were tenderly licking. its body and growling their revenge. This man, a stranger to fear, coolly ran forward, threw up both arms, and shouted! The astonished beasts turned tail and ran, while heshouldered the cub and bore it back to camp! When blocked by a mobof armed men, on the march to Mboni, he walked on regardless of their ferocious ydls, and coolly passed through the human fence, smiling at their menacing gestures. Sometimes his courage was manifestly born of a determination to win confidence, as when he ran to the front amid foes and waved grass in token of pacific intention, exposing himself to, shots from behind. How often it was born of prayer, only God knows; but in the severeRt exposures of his second journey toward the lake, when time after time he seemed to escape death as by a hair's-breadth, at the hands of the savage Masai, he writes: "I strove in prayer, and each time trouble seemed averted."

He thought himself lacking in moral courage, out no one else thought so. Mr. Dawson defines moral courage as a certain" fearlessness in exposing the inner self to possible laceration and rebuff," akin to the physical courage which without fear exposes the budy to rude Msaults, and finely suggests that if he is to be accounted brave who is insensible to fear, he is no less so, rather more so, who, though he vibrates through all his nervous system and shrinks from exposure to pain and violence, yet schools himself to encounter them without flinching, like the general who, on the eve of a hot engagement, said to his trembling knees, "Ah ! you would quake worse if you only knew where I am going just now to take you! "

Carlyle says that sincerity enters prominently into any heroic type of character. Hannington was sensitively conscientious and trustworthy. He hated a lie-and his hatred was inborn and inbred. His piety was as ~ar from a pretense as genuineness is from hypocrisy. His faith in the unseen was implicit and unhesitating. Prayer was the breath of life to him, almost an unconscious exercise of his vitality. His transparency drew everybody to him, and especially young men, who were strangely attracted to him, even in danger. He was a fearless, faithful preacher, who called things by their right names. And he was equally fearless and faithful as a pastor, never refusing any risk to serve his flock, even in times of contagious disease. He was no hireling-and could not forsake the sheep, even though the lion and bear threatened them.

The Bishop was one of the most generous of men. After his return to England, his friends noticed that he was excessively careful of expenditure, weighing the cost of everything. Was he growing parsimonious? Only after his death was it explained. He was giving onefifth of his limited income to one society alone, irrespective of other charities. Unselfish, open-handed even to lavishness, he left the impress of his self-giving upon all who knew him. Consecration to Christ, like a master musician, "pulled out all the stops" and played on all the keys of his being, and his life became one grand anthem.

THE CRISIS IN OUR COUNTRY. Ill'

Mr. Dawson, his biographer, well likens Hannington to Xavier, for single-mindedness, fiery zeal, scorn of personal discomforts, indifference to luxury,· contempt of, danger, childlike faith in truth, and magnetic power of contact and communication. But he could never have been a monk, for he could not have been shut out from the sin and sorrow and suffering of the world.

"Non vivere, sed bene vivere."

THE ORISIS IN OUR OOUNTRY.

[EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] THIS our country is a colossal heritage, and our peril is gigantic a~ well as our possibilities. Weare reminded of the rim of the wheel in Ezekiel's vision, resting on earth, reaching to heaven, so high as to be dreadful. Here is an area that will take in Oonneticut as a unit from six hundred to eight hundred times. We have ten thousand miles of coast-line. The utmost western limit of Alaska stretches farther west from San Francisco than San Francisco from the Penobscot. No wonder the Englishman defined our boundaries as "the North Pole and the Equator, the rising sun and the Day of Judgment !" Our heritage is colossal; but what foes are in the land? The sons of Anak, with their chariots of iron; the ten nations of the Oanaanites, with their foreign faiths and vicious practices; the daughters of Moab, with their seductive wiles; the golden calves all the way from Bethel to Dan and from the rivers to the sea; the pagan deities, with their pagodas and fanes – Baal and Astaroth, Milcolm and Molech. Whatever threatens the stability and permanency of other peoples seems to confront us on American shores-Romanism, Ritualism, Rationalism; Socialil>m, Oommunism, Nihilism; scepticism and infidelity, intemperance and sensuality; ignorance and superstition; materialism and anarchy; while these five great questions demand adjustment-the Indian, Mormon, Ohinese, Freedmen and Southern questions. God has given us the Belt of Power within which all the greatest achievements of history have been wrought, from the days of Assyria and Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, down to the days of France, England, Prussia. Our very position on the map is a prophecy of prosperity and corresponding responsibility. Our very prosperity constitutes our peril. There have been seven golden ages of history: those of the Ptolemies in Egypt, of Pericles in Athens, Augustus in Rome, Ivan iIt Russia, Leo X in Italy, Louis XIV in France, Elizabeth in England. Yet those golden ages were marked by political corruption, moral profligacy and religious decay. Under the Ptolemies Egyptian society was divided into priests, military and common people. The priests held a monopoly of knowledge, even in art and science, and used their knowledge to impose on the credulity of the people, and with the king at their head used the military class to uphold their tyrannical priestcraft. Egypt was so grossly idolatrous that her divinities were countless and ranged from the beetle to the sun.

In the days of Pericles, wisdom and art were atheistic in tendency. With all her philosophers and artists, Athens had over 50,000 women who made it a part of their religion to sacrifice sobriety and virtue in the worship of Bacchus and Venus. In the days of Augustus, Rome had no middle class-single families controlled 50,000 slaves; no philanthropy-the old and the infirm were turned out to die even by their own childrpn; no religious faith-the Pantheon was ready to receive any new divinity or even human hero. In I van's days in Russia the government was a despotism, and the people were virtually serfs. Ignorance and superstition abounded. Might was the only right, and every command of the Decalogue was broken with impunity. Law was only a cobweb in which the little flies got hopelessly entangled, but all the big flies broke through. In Leo X's time Italy had a hierarchy built on the ruins of primitive faith. Rites and ceremonies engrafted upon the church from paganism displaced all spiritual worship, and religion was a skeleton leaf, from which all the sap of life had been withdrawn. Formalism and hypocrisy were christened under the name of faith and worship. In France the Grand Monarch made his court the Olympus of gayety, extravagance and sensuality. Vice had not even the charm of a blush. Wealth was lavished on luxury and crime, and the seeds of the Revolution were sown, that ripened in the guillotine and the Tribunal. In England Deism was regnant. You might have heard every preacher of note in London, and not have known whether he were a follower of Oonfucius or Buddha, Mahomet or Ohrist. Marriage was but a name, and religion a cloak for infidelity and immorality.

Our rapid £ncrease in population is our peril. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants land on our shores every year. They come representing every nation and tongue and shade of political and religious faith and opinion.. They come so fast and multiply so rapidly that we do not assimilate them to our social and national character. We !:,.re to-day not a homogeneous but a heterogeneous people–composed of ever:r thing, compacted into nothing. These people largely gravitate toward our great cities, one-fourth of whose population, and sometimes threefourths, are foreign born. And so Thomas Jefferson's proverb is truethat the cities are the ulcers of the body politic.

The fables of the Ancients sometimes seem to be prophetic of modern history. Jason with his Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece is Oommerce with her white wings sweeping over the wide seas in search of gain. Augeas is Immigration gathering her hordes into overcrowded tenements, like cattle herded in stalls. The only stream that can flood and purge these Augean stables is the river of the Gospel, and the only Hercules that can break down the wall of the court and turn the flood upon the homes and haunts of all this poverty and misery is Conse- <lrated Capital.

Our rapid development is our peril. Few of us realize the amazing growth of new cities in our great West. In 1878 I went to a new settlement in Wisconsin. Eighteeu months before an iron mine had been discovered and the first tree felled for a human habitation. There was then a population of twelve hundred men, and twenty grogshops, with gambling saloons and other accompaniments, and one church just organized! The advancing wave of civilization sweeps westward thirty miles a year, and the centre of gravity swings westward so fast that, while it was east of the Alleghanies before the Revolution, it now hovers near the Mississippi !

These new villages are becoming strategw centres of population and influence. The gathering of these hordes makes necessary the railroad for travel and traffic; then cross-roads are built, until new settlements become railroad centres. There the opposing forces of Christ and the Devil meet and clash in conflict. There we ought to put our strongest men, competent to organize the forces of Christ and the Church an.! lead them on to victory and turn the tide of battle. What are we doing? Weare so crippling our Board of Home Missions that they cannot man tnese strategic centres as they ought. The home missionary gets but a pittance from the Board, and the local church cannot sustain him. He retires to other fields where he can command a support, and the consequence is that some of the most important posts in the Grand Army of Christ's Church are left ungarrisoned or with a weak, insufficient, inefficient force.

Nehemiah was the model organizer. He acted on three great principles: division of labor, co-operation and concentration. When the trumpet sounded it was the signal that at some weak point in the wall the enemy had made an assault. One weak place in the waU exposedthe whole city. And so, when the trumpet sounded, every workman left his own place and rushed to the assaulted point. I think I hear the signal of distress from the weak points in the wall.

God has a plan in the ages-and in every age a special providential purpose. Prince Albert used to say to the young men of his day, "Find out God's plan in your generation-and then beware lest you cross it, but fall into your place in that plan." We may, toward that plan, hold ourselves in one of three attitudes-either apathy, antipathy, or sympathy. We may yoke ourselves to God's chariot, and while we seek to bear it on be borne on with it; or we may cross its path and be crushed beneath its wheels, or we may simply lag behind in listlessness and indifference and be left behind in its onward progress. But we must quickly decide. While we deliberate the crisis is upon us and the opportunity is gone!

Can you doubt that God has a plan in our history? Why, then, did he keep this continent veiled, until the Reformation in Philosophy and Religion had prepared the church for the occupation of this land? Why did He by a flight of paroquets divert Columbus to the West Indies, and so preserve this land from papal domination? How came it that, in the early struggles for supremacy, He turned the scale in favor of cross and not crucifix; and in our late four years' war gave the triumph to the Union armies, having first rid the land of slavery? God has evidently designed that here republican institutions and Protestant Christianity shall have a great theatre for the prosecution of the work of world-wide evangelization. Weare made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. Weare on .the corridors of a vast coliseum. On the east side, toward the sunrise, Norway and Sweden, Denmark and Prussia and Russia and Austria and Germany and France and Italy and Spain and Portugal and Great Britain are looking down upon us; on the west, China and Japan, Siam and Burmah, India and Persia, and the Islands of the Sea intently watch our history. .Our only hope is a pure, aggressive, misbionary Christianity. We must put the gospel in every destitute district; we must keep pace with population; our missionary force must be multiplied tenfold, and our missionary cQntributions in proportion.

We must look after the common people. Some say there is always room at the top; but that is just where there is no room. Society is a pyramid; there is but one capstone, but the stones of the foundation are myriad. There is plenty of room at the bottom; and there all missionary work must begin. The base of the pyramid must be strong enough, broad enough, firm enough, to sustain all that is above it; a defect there is a radical, fundamental defect, imperiling the whole. In other words, the condition of the common people is the condition of the commonwealth. It is a fact fraught with tremendous meaning that the churches and the common people are growing apart, the gap between them becoming a gulf which we seem helpless to bridge. We find chl;rches, situated amid the densest masses of our popUlation, that used to be places of assembly thronged with the people, that are now mere stately mausoleums, where defunct church organizations may have a decent burial, and the preacher seems preaching in an empty vault a funeral sermon to a few mourners. Shaftesbury said at the anniversaryof the Open-Air Mission in Islington that only two per cent. of the working classes in England attend public worship.

We must, as a matter of self-preservation, carry our Christian effort down to the least and the lowest. The health and wealth of the highest are bound up with the lowest. Robert Peel gave his daughter a superb riding habit on her eighteenth birthday, and proudly rode by her side in the park as she wore it. She came home, sickened with malignant typhus, and after a few days died. The poor seamstress who wrought the rich embroidery of that garment lived in a wretched attic, amid the London slu.ms. Her husband was dying of the worst form of typhus, and during the intervals of fever, when he shook with the chills, she threw over him the riding habit she was working, and so the germs of disease were borne from the hovel of the poor to the palace of the peer.

Ah! society has her own way of avenging herself, and avenging the wrongs of her poorest and lowliest ones. You might as well neglect the cesspool and the sewer, the stagnant pond and the slimy lllarsh and expect to escape miasma and malaria, as to expect to have a safe and healthy society when the slums of vice are not purged with the gospel. You are compelled to flush your sewer, drain your cesspool, displace stagnant by running water, or disease and death creep stealthily into your most princely homes.

We must have a new type of Christian effort if we are going to save society from ruin. We must have men and women that are not to be turned back by the" poor smell," like the heroine in "The Iron Cousin," or Dr. Duff's foreign missionary candidate; who are willing to leave behind them their dainty fastidiousness, and go among the poorest and most degraded as identified with them. Our Christianity is too aristocratic and fashionable. Silks and satins, beaver and broadcloth, repel poverty and misery. A kid glove is a non-conductor.

Shaftesbury was the philanthropist of his generation. No man of his age had such skill in reaching, touching, moving, moulding, even the worst and most hopeless criminals. One man recently dischar~ed from prison went to him for counsel, and years afterward, redeemed to God and humanity, he was asked where his reformation began. "With my talk with our Earl." " But what did the Earl say?" " It was not so much anything he said, but he put his arm around me and he said, 'Jack, we'll make a man of you Yilt. t" It was his tonch that did it.

Ah ! yes; the Man, of Sorrows understood it. The first miracle in that " Scriptura Miraculosa," the eighth of Matthew, was the healing of the leper. That walking parable of sin and its curse, that living corpse, was before him-whom nobody dared touch. But Jesus put forth his hand and tonched him, that he might teach us that he who would reach the lepers of society must touch them with the naked sympathetic hand. The gospel of the hand as well as tongue and life. * We shall meet opposition, and the more as we advance the faster and farther. If the Devil sees he has but a short time, he will come down having great wrath. We shall find the drink traffic and the Sabbath-breakers allied against us; personal liberty bills proposed and perhaps passed in legislative bodies; anarchists and socialists, skeptics and infidels using vile books, and even dynamite cartridges, to prevent social purity and good government; but all these are but birds of the night that beat their beaks against the lighthouse in the harbor, raised *Dr. F. A. Noble.

A NOBLE TESTIMONY TO AMERICAN

to guide mariners to a safe haven, and that fall stunned and dying at the base. Weare in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we are to shine as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of Life. He who uplifts God's Beacon has nothing to fear. The church is on the Rock of Ages, and survives the shock of all assault, moveless and ·serene.

"0 ! where are kings and empires now, Of old that went and came?

But, Lord, thy church is praying yet, A thousand years the same."

A NOBLE TESTIMONY TO AMERICAN MISSIONARIES. LETTER FROM THE AMERICAN MINISTER TO CHINA.

[The following remarkable letter was addressed to Gen. Jas. M. Shackleford as a private communication, but the writer has yielded to th·, desire of many to have its testimony made public.-Ens.] Legation of Unitea States, Peking, March 20, 1886. Letter to Gen. Shackleford,Evansville, Indiana: DEAR GENERAL-I wrote you some time since about the missionaries. Since then I have gone through some of the missions here, and will go through all. Believe nobody when he sneers at them. The man is simply not posted on the work. With your enthusiastic religious nature, YOl'o can realize the view that the believing Christian takes of the divine side of the question. I, unfortunately more worldly, look at it as the ancient Roman wonld have done, who said, "I am a man, and nothing that is human i~ indifferent to me."

I saw a quiet, cheerfnl woman teaching forty or more Chinese girls; she teaches in Chinese the ordinary branches of common school education. Beneath the shadow of the" forbidden city" I heard these girls sing the Psalm~ of David and "Home, Sweet Home." I saw a male teacher teaching forty or more boys the translation of the arithmetic used at home; these boys did examples for me at the blackboard. I saw their littk ChinElSe dormitories, where they slept on kangs; their plain bu';; neat refectory; their kitchen, with its great piles of rice. I saw their chapel; I visited the dispensaries, complete and perfect as any apothecary. shop at home; then the consultation rooms, their wards for patients, coming, without money or price, to be treated by the finest medical and surgical talent in the world. There are twentythree of these hospitals in China. Think of it! Is there a more perfect charity in the world? The details of all the system were explained to me. There are two of these medical missionaries here who receive no pay whatever. The practice of the law is magnificent; but who can rival the devotedness of these men to humanity?

I have seen missionaries go hence a hundred miles, into districts where there is not a white person of any nationality, and they do it as coolly ad you went into battle at Shiloh. And these men have remark~ able learning, intelligence and courage. It is perhaps a fault that they court nobody, make no effort to attract attention, fight no selfish battle. I made the advances that have secured their warm and cordial per.. sonal affection. My person;tl magnetism, if I have any, came into play. I gave them a "Thanksgiving" dinner; I had the Missionary Society meet at the Legation, and gave them, as is usual, tea. I invited them. to visit me and to discuss questions of interest to Americans, pa,rticularly, lately, the threatened reprisals at Canton, which called forth some energetic action on the part of this Legation and Admiral Davis. It is idle jor any man to decry the missionaries or their 1vork. I care not abont statistics as to how many souls they save, and what each soul costs per annum. The Catholics alone have 1,200,000 Chinese church members. How many Protestant denomination~ have I do not know.

I taught school, myself, for more than two years in Alabama. The men or the women who put in from 8 o'clock to 4 in teaching Chinese children, on a salary that barely enables one to live, are heroes, or heroines, as truly as Grant or Sheridan, Nelson or Farragut; and all this in a country where a handful of Americans is surrounded by ,300,000,000 Asiatics, liable at any moment to break out into mobs and outrages, particularly in view of the tremendous crimes committed against their race at home.

I am not particularly pro-missionary; these men and women are simply American citizens to me as Minister. But as a man I cannot but admire and respect them. I can tell the real from the false. T,hese men and women are honest, pious, sincere, industrious, and trained for their work by the most arduous study. Outside of any religious question, and even if Confucianism, or Buddhism, are more divine than Christianity, and better for the human race-which no American believes-these people are doing a great work in civilizing, educating, and taking care of helpless thousands. They are the forerunners of -Western methods and Western morality. They are preparing the way for white-winged commerce and material progress, which are knock~ ing so loudly at the gate of the Chinese wall.

At our missionary meetings at home you may quote these sentiments as coming from me. I fancy that I hear your burning eloquence, arguing much better than I have done, a cause which, outside the re,Iigious denominations, has no advocates. I do not address myself to the churches; but, as a man of the world, talking to sinners like himself, I say that it is difficult to say too much good of missionary work in China, from even the standpoint of the skeptic. Should your people send me any sum whatever, and however small, to be given to any denomination, I will faithfully see that it is transmitted.

Yours, very truly, (COL.) CHARLES DENBY.

The same writer, in a letter to Dr. Ellinwood, Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, say~: "l have made it my business to visit every mission in the open portR

ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK

of China. This inspection has satisfied me that the missiona.ries deserve all possible respect, encouragement, and consideration. I find no fault with them except excessive zeal. Civilization owes them a vast debt. They have been the educators, physicians, and almoners of the Chinese. All over China they have schools, colleges, and hospitals. They are the early and only translators, interpreters, and writers of Chinese. To them we owe our dictionaries, histories, and translations of Chinese works. They have scattered the Bible broadcast, and have prepared many school-books in Chinese. Commerce and civilization follow where these unselfish pioneers have blazed the way. Leaving all religious questions out of consideration, humanity must honor a class which, for no pay, or very inadequate pay, devotes itself to charity and philanthropy. "

II. ORq.ANIZED MISSIONARY WORK.

Missionary Society of the Methodist There was a balance in the Treasnry Nov. 1, 1887, of $161,010.20. Against this there were Episcopal Ohurch. outstanding drafts for $60,263.59, leaving a net SIXTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. balance in the Treasnry Nov. 1, 1887, of $80,- THIS societv was organized in 1819, '700.61. and for thirteen years its missions The disbursements for foreign missions were were confined to the United States. The first mission work beyond the as follows: English-speaking people was to the Bulgaria …………………….. $1'7,454 21 Wyandotte Indians. It now has Central China………………… 37,08153 flourishing missions in almost every Denmark ………………….. 43,81950 part of the globe. From the pro- Foochow ……………………. 17,61438 ceedings of the last annual meeting, Germany……………………. 23,328 7ll and the doings of the quadrennium " Am. Bible Soc. Ap. . . • . . 5,000 00 General Missionary Committee, we Italy………………………… 54,088 67 are able to present to our readers the Japan ……………………….. 55,472 88 following highly interesting sum- Korea. . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . .. .. …. 16,012 96 mary of facts and figm'es relating to Liberia… ……… …………… 2,87330 this venei'able and wide-awake mis- Mexico.. .. . .. .. …. …………. 52,601 '74 sionary society: North China …………………. 35,134 51 North India …………………. 72,542 41 The Treasurer's report showed that the re- Norway …………………….. 15,786 62 ceipts for the year ending Oct. 31, 1887, were South America ………………. 42,11978 $1,044,795.91, from the f~llowing sources: South India.. . . .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. … 82,835 14 Sweden ……………………… 36,148 33 Frlm collections ……………. $932,208 91 Am. Bible Soc. Ap……. 225 00 From legacies………………. 35,848 78 Switzerland.. .. .. .. .. . …. . .. . .. .. 6,005 08 From suudries……………… 76,743 22 West China ………………….. 13,769 91 'rhe increase over the previous year iu collectious had beeu $95,616.54, aud in the total re- TotaL …………. · ……. $576,914 74 ceipts $52,667.44. The balance in the Treasury Nov. 1, 1886, was The collections from the Conferences have $124,444.48, and the receipts of the year added to this gave $1,169,240,39. increased each year during the previous eight The disbursements as fonows: For Foreign Missions…•..•….$576,91474 years. For Domestic Missious. . . .. . . . . .. 376,864 88 For office expenses ……..•….. 2O,2iO 35 1880, Collections ………•…… $500,182 46 For publication….. .. .. . .. . … . . 9,97245 For incidental expenses ., . . . . •• . 24,2,,7 77 1881, " . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 570,965 77 Total…… , ………. , ,.$1,008,230 19 1882, . .. .. .. .. •.. .. .. 621,381 08 1883, …. ………… 650,771 54 1884, .. .. .. .. …. .. .. 652,188 99 1885, .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . 694,034 95 1886, … .. . .. .. .. …. 836,592 37 1887, ………… " .. 932,208 91 We give the address of the General Missionary Committee to the min- isters and members of the M. E. Church, which presents other facts, ought not in justice to forget that a large ftoac- tion of our numerical strength at home as well and urges considerations of interest as abroad Is made up of the subjectaof mission: to all. ary benefactions.

The General Missionary Committee expresses In the Christian sense, aU our work is Home gratitnde and greeting at the ~lose of another work, and all our missions are Foreign Misyear and of another quadrenninm, the most no- sions. The Redeemer said: "The field is the' table in the history of onr Church in Missiorary world," and that repentance and remission of effort and in Missionary giving-gratitude to sins should be preached in his name among all God and gratitnde to His people; greeting at nations, beginning at J ernsalem. The plan of the dawn of a better day and the opening of redemption makes the nations neighbors, and broader possibilities. th~ human race a family under one Fatherhood. He " hath made of one blood all nations of men We present to you the following brief state- for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and' ment oCfinaneial faets : Your Committee appro- hath determined the times before appointed, priated last year, with their faith in God and in the bounds of their habitation. That they your abitity and pnrposes as the foundation for shall seek the Lord, if haply they might feel their aetion, the sum of $1,089,000. You placed after him, and find him." " For we are also his in the treasury $1,044,795. Your MisSionary offspriug." "Made of one blood," the nations treasury is now not only free from debt, but has have" redemption through his blood, the forin hand $80,000, with whleh to commence the giveness of sins, according to the richness of his work of a new year. grace." The net inerease of reeeipts over last The sum appropriated for the current year, year ..·………………………. . $52,667 after the most carefnl and conservative exami- Gross increase of receipts over last nation, reaches $1,201,819. This sum may seem a large advance, but on the basis of last year's year………………………… . 150,781 increase large thiugs ought to be expected. In Increase by collections over last year, 95,616 addition to the increase in giving, the increase Total reeepts for quadrennium, 1880- in numbers and in ability of our membership, and the undoubted increase in the iutelligent un- 1883………………………. .. 2,626,170 derstanding of the claims of Christ npon our Total reeeipts for quadrennium, 1884- Church, and the glad news from the different fields telling of conqnest and of opening oppor- 1887………………………… . 3,595,878 tnnityand of conseqnent demand for increased Excess received during present quad· resources-all of these things but emphaSize the assurance, the commiSSion, and the demand rennium………. ……………. 1,968,708 from the Great Head of the Church. Hear The total reported receipts for the year for Him: "All power is given nnto me in heaven Missions from the Methodist Episcopal Church and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all through organized forms of giving, including the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Missionary Society, the Woman's Foreign Mis- Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: sionary Society, the Woman's Home Missionary teaching them to observe all things whatsoever Society and the Bishop Taylor Transit Fund, I have commanded yon: and 10, I am with yon amount to $1,386,874. alway, even unto the endoC the world." "And This creditable aggregate sum is not the re- this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in sult of a few giving of their abundance, but of all the world for a wituess nuto all nations; and the many giving of their meagre store; and a then shall the end come." large proportion of this trea.nry increase has beeu gathered by the hands of childhood and We exhort you to remember that the advance yonth. of Christ's cause cannot depend for its human In attempting to snrvey the exteni!ed territory motive power upon the large gifts of the few, where these benefactions have been at work for but must depend upon the self-sacriAcing fidelity the good of man and for the glory of God, it of the many. Let us face the future with an inwould be difficult to ascertain, even approx. telligent courage and faith proved by Our imately, the extent of the work of onr Home works. Missions as distinct from our regnlar church work. The following figures may approximately Boards of Missions of the M. E. Ohurch, but inadequately represent the condition of onr South. work as a church iu Foreign fields: ·The number of miSSionaries, assistant THE Board held its 41st Annual missionaries, helpers and native workers exceed……………….. 1,300 Meeting in Nashville, Tenn., May 10, Members of the church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,000 1887. In an address to the Church Probationers……………………. 14,000 Adherents…… …………………. 40,000 the Board says: "Our missions are Snnday-schools.. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,575 full of promise. The harvest is white. Sunday-school officers and teachers. . . 4,385 As we listen to the reports from Snnday-school scholars. ………….. 2,800,000 Value of church and school property.. $85;000 China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, the In· While we are grateful to God for our large membership, in estimating our beueficence we dian Territory, and the Far West, an reports frolll the several Oonferences advance all along the line seems the and Mission fields were full of interimperative duty of the Board. " The est.

RECAPITULATION. e, ~~gj. CONFERENCES. "Eaj ~0.,,Q" e~ ~:.: ~ .P< ~ ~—-'I~—–I——-I—– Total. .. .. …. .. .. .. .. .. $263,050 00 $159,634 77 $81,765 66 $241,400 43 $296,783 13 22' Specials …………………………. . 1,861 11 ………… 1,861 11 ………… . …..• Church Extension. .. .. .. … . ………. . 2,943 55 ………… 2,943 55 ………… . ….. .

Grand total…………. $263,050 00 $164,439 43 $81,765 66 $246,205 09 $296,788 13 23 Whole amount of receipts, 1886-7 …………………………….•…….. $164,439 43 Bonds and notes in assets, 1886.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . • • •. . . . . . . •. . 566 66 Cash in bank, April 1, 1886………………………………………….. 2,758 45 Cash on hand, April 1, 1886…………………………………………. 25 Loan, 1887. . . . .. . . . . . . . . •. . . . •. ••. . . . . . . . • . . • •. . . •. . . •. •. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. 90,241 12 Expended……………………………………………………….. . $258,905 91 $179.561 92'

Bonds and notes included among receipts, and other items (see Cash Book, ~:I~!~r~~;·~;~i i1;·,·il·W····r·:·..:.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:…:..:..:.::.:.:..:..:…:..:..:..:.::..:.:.:..:.::..:…:..:…::…::.:.:..:.:..:.:.: :…: 481 75· Cash on hand, April 64,409 08 11,544 16 2,009 00 The total assessments for lfissions $258,00591 $258,005 91 on the various Conferences for the next year amounted to $300,000. the 66th Annual Report, then pre- sented. During the year, 1,398 per- Bible Ohristian Missionary Sooiety. sons were added to the Lord at the Mission stations of the society, and THIS society celebrated its 66th nearly $7,300 was contributed to the· anniversary in London Aug. 1, 1887. funds of the Missionary Society. We give a summary of statistics from The following table will show the status of the Missions: TOTALS.

e~ ~ ~ caa~~i ~Qtt)l ~ ~~~rn A~rn'.~~_~~ I-0~.'~l".-'.iS:~"_8".;~j~("g~I!)o….;§:.M• emE~.b~:ie.rs.~.;'~" . ~ 8 f HOllIE AND ABROAD. =~CD ~ ….. r.l (15 ~,.. ~g~CD E-t("'I')~ ;Ell< ~cup:; -'05 <Il · –47'~ ~.~ -::-:~ :~ I n-o-m-e-M-i-SS-i-on-s-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-.-..-.-..-. 144 – 27 4191789 1241 -Mil South Australian Conference…. … 35 204 130 21 30 .. 281 315 2765 66 .. 6329 Victoria……………… ………. 36 167 94 63 23 .. 3981275 2525 79 .. 884 5147 Oueensland.. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. 1 7 6 . . . . .. . . . . 70 5 . . 24 235 New Zealand….. " …………… 3 15 3 3 1 ~ 5 19 150 9 .. 40 260 China………………………… 4 .. .. .. .. .. …. …….. ..

726 100 Totals, 1887…….. … . …. 126 377 120 2£1110311398 105131323 177309920721 1" ..I.. "I" . Increase………………. 5 "1 5 11 .. 5 90 Totals, 1886……………. ~ ~ 372 _ ~ 165 ~I' 10131~~ 20756 395 ~ 3111 ~~2 -"1-" Decrease ……………… – .. 35 – .. – .. – 45 397 -24ai72 95 '12 '71 ]lALANCE SHEET, 1886-7.

RECEIPTS. £ s. d. DISBURSEMENTS. £ s. d ..

By Home contributions……….. . 4,81915 5 To Balance, with interest……. , . . • 730 2 2 .. SouMl Australia ………….. .. 570 5 11 " Home disbursements ………… 3,886 3 5 " Victoria…………………. .. 1,949 15 5 " South Australia.. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. 570 5 11 •• New Zealand…………….. .. 43 10 9 " Victoria ……………………. 2,094 14 6 " O.ueensland………. ……….. 25 0 O' .. New Zealand.. …………….. 141 4 10' " China…… ………… ……… 555 10 3 Total disbursements……… 7,953 10 1 Total receipts.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7,388 13 7 £7,388 7 6 £569 13 '; Board of Foreign Missions of the Ra- the General Synod at Catskill, June, 1887, we make the following abo . formed Ohurch.

FROM the 55th Annual Report to stract: GENER<L SUMMARY, 1886-7. EXPENSES. To cash disbursements during year … $24,506 92 Stations………… …. … …. 1 8 2 11 AllOY 1IIISSION. O~i~~:~i~~~ ..~~~…~~~~~~I.~~ 18 83 ** 101 To cash disbursements during year. .. 15,913 66 Missionaries, ordained•.. ,. . . .• 5 8 9 22 11 JAPAN 1IIISSION. MisSionaries, nnordained. . . . . . 6 10 21 To cash disbursements during year .. , 45,387 94 Assistant Missionaries, married 5 24 8 Hon. Secretary for salary….. $300 00 Assistant ]ll1ssionaries, single.. 2 Corresponding Sec. for salary. 2,400 00 Bookkeeper for salary.. …. . . 500 00 Under appointment, ordained Postage, home and foreign… 123 59 Missionaries . …………. … Rent of office… ….. ….. …. 640 00 2 Traveling expenses.. . . .• . . . . . • 497 32 On account of Mission Monthly 225 95 Under appointment,nnordained Incidental expenses, moving Missionaries . . .. . ……… . office, etc…………. …… 688 38 Under appointment, single as- Printing "Annual Report," etc 885 34 Books, magazines and mite sistant Missionaries……… 1 23 Native ordained Ministers….. 4 3 ** 7 boxes. .. .. .. .. ….. . .. …. .. 357 87 Other Native Helpers, male … 21 151 ** 172 Care of office.. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. 44 00 35 ** 35 Other Native Helpers, female.. 6,600 45 Chnrches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8 23 ** 31 " Loans due bank… $20,ooo 00 Communicants ……………802 1669 ** 2471 " Interest on loans.. 1,067 43 " Premium, exch. of Seminaries, male………….. 1 4 **1 6 bonds……………. …… 282 57 Seminaries, male pupils. . . . . .. 11 163 *21 195 – – – 21,350 00 Balance in treasury………….. 518 00 Seminaries, female. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 5 $114,398 97 Seminaries, female pupils….. 34 90 112 236 RECEIPTS. By balance in treasury, last Theological Scl:ools or Classes 1 1 **1 8 report………………. ……….. $611 95 April 30, 1387. Theological Schools-Students. 7 *12 **9 28 By cash from churches …. ,$38,244 59 Day Schools. . . . . . . . . .. ……. 6 95 101 from Sunday-schools 9,785 56 Day Schools-Scholars…….. 91 2531 2622 from individuals through churches. . . . . … 17,380 62 Contrihntion. of Native Churches-China, By cash from individuals $2.076.29; India, $760.75. not through churches. . . 8,862 40 By cash from miscellaneous *The whole number of helpers in India are sources …….. , .. .. . …. 16,493 85 By cash from legacies…… 1,020 00 under theological instruction. 86,78702 ** The number of ordained ministers and Borrowed from bank during other helpers in Japan, of churches and com- year ………………………….. 27,000 ()() municants, and their contributions, cannot be re- $114,39897 ported separately, as they'are included in the statistics and work of the Union Church and the Council. of United Missions. The Steele Memorial Seminary at Nagasaki is not so included, and had 21 scholars-since increased to 42. The Theological Class at Nagasaki had six students.

For statistics of the Union Church reference is made to the Report of the Japan Mission.

The General Synod resolved "that the Mission is Bishop Smythies, and it is our duty, and entirely within our in its service at present are 23 English ability, to raise $100,000 for this pur- and 3 African clergy, 21 laymen and pose during the current year, and that we will use our best endeavors 19 women missionaries-total, 91. to reach this amount, realizing that Central Africa, London, is the organ in doing so we are simply obeying the Master's 'call to follow where He of the Society. leads." THE FOLLOWING TABLE OF RECEIPTS COVERS Universities' Mission to Oentral Africa, 1886-87. THE YEAR 1886.

FROM its Annual Report we glean £ s. d. £ s. d. the following facts: At the head of General Fund·……….. . 8,143 8 5 Nyassa Fund………… . 750 2 S Usambara Funds…….. . .m 3 1 DrngFund …………. .. 362 3 8 Miscellaneous.. " …….. . 237 210 – – – – 599 6 6 Rest Fund…….. …….. 34 18 S £ s. d. Itinerant preachers, 1,123; miasionaries. 542.

'Steere Memorial Fund•..• 100 6 5 Thus nearlY one-half of our preachers are mis- AfrIcan Students' Fund•.• 26 0 0 sionaries.

Children's Fnnd……… . 201819 9 Increase In the number of preachers In fonr Ladies' Association C.A.M. 109 8 10 years, 70; increase in the number ofmiaSionaries.

Mbweni Church Fnnd….. 79 8 I 115. In other words, the growth of our mis- Received in Zanzibar.. …. 700 16 5 sionary force has been about 60 per cent. greater Received by A,rch. Farler. 100 0 0 than that of our regular pastoral force. 800 16 5 Total membership of the Evangelical Assocta- Guild of St. Luke.. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. … 200 0 0 tlon, 138,668.

£13,123 19 7 Total membership of our missions, 46,531. A falling oft' of £2,000 from previous year. WORK AND COST 011' THE lIl1SBION DURING 1886. That is to say, over one-third of the member- MKUNAZlNl.-School of 40 boys. Day- school for 20 children. Town Mission ship of our church is on mission fields. Four with some 150 Christians. Serves as hospital for sick members of the Mis- years ago the proportion was considerably less sion. Medical attendance for natives. Clergy 3, Laity 12 ……………… .. £1,787 than one-third. llBWENl.-Home for 72 girls. Day- school for 26 children. Village of 300 Total net increase in the membership of the released slaves, with workshop, trac- tion-engine, lime-kiln, etc. Clergy 2, church in four years, 18,437. Laity 5, 1 Native Deacon, Native Teachers 6……………………. .. 2,278 Total net increase in the membership of 0lH' KroNGANI.-Home for 96 boys. Print- ing office. Laundry. The Bishop missions, 10,764. when in Zanzibar. Clergy 1, Laity 7, Native Teachers 2……………….. . 1,185 Phis meana that jlfJd-nintlt8 Qf our 'ncr8tue NYAssA.-Steamer for Lake. Journey during the last jour year8 luJB been gained in of Bishop with nearly 30 porters, etc., from Zanzibar to Nyassa. Return jour- our mis8ion.fteldB. By so much more successful Hey of Bishop and porters. Clergy 4, Laity 5. 6 Natives as Teachers, etc., have we been in our mission work than in the and others……………………. .. 2,469 Rovuma-Mlo.SASI, NEWALA, ETC.-Col- regular work of the church. ony of released slaves, and evangelistic work extendin!, over a wide range of Summary receipts in 1884.. . ……. $110,120.14 country. Home for 30 boarders. Clergy 6, Laity 2. 1 Native Deacon, " 1885. " …….. 111,652.38 Native Teachers, etc.. .. . .. … .. ….. 1,522 U8ambara – MAGILA, UMBA, MKUZI, 1886.. .. .. . .. .. 124,255 03 AND MISOZWE.-Four stations, one of them a large central work. Homes for 1887.. . .. .. . .. . 138,848.54 115 boys. Evangelistic work in vil- lages. Clergy 6, Medical Missionary, Total for iast four years, including 2 Schoolmasters, 2 Native Deacons, standing fand……….." ….. , $496,613.64 Trades Superintendents, 2 Native Readers, 12 Native Teachers…….. . 3,300 Or nearly half a million. MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH ……… . 888 HOME EXPENSES…………………. . 1,230 Moravian Missions.

£14,608 THE church mab.tained in July, 1887,107 Mission stations, with eleven Evangelical Association. filials, in various parts of the earth, FROM The Evangelical Messenger, which were served by 335 mission- aries (of whom 48 were native) and the organ of this Society, we derive 1,598 native assistants. There were the following interesting statistics: under its care 29,283 communicants, 53,769 baptized adults, candidates for Whole number of miSSions, 542; increase in baptism, etc., making a total of 83,052, Cour years, 115. Ther~ were 208 day schools, with 17,- 407 scholars, ani 98 Sunday-schools, Whole number of misSionaries, 552 ; increase with 13,492 scholars. in fORr years, 132. I Ttltal membership on these missions, 46,531; The income of the Missions net increase in four years, 10,764. amounted in 1886 to £19,069 7s., and the expenditure to £20,252 6s. ld., Compare these figures. with .our general sta- leaving a deficiency of £1,182 19s. ld, tistics: December 31, 1885, the Mission fund showed a deficiency of £389 19s. ld. This, added to the defici~ncy of 1886, makes a total deficit of £1,57218s. 2d, But there was in hand £535 Os_ 4d., contributions received for deficiency fund; so that net deficiency, 31st December, 1886, was £1,037 17s. 10d.

The sum raised annually at the various stations towards the support

CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

of the work is estimated at about m. BoARDING SoBOOLS- PupUs. Schools. £25,000. Including the interest of capitals left for the support of specific British.. •.. . .. .. . …. .. … 28i. 12 missions, government aid, etc., the actual expenditure of our whole mis- German………. ……… 1.170 J!Ii sion work reaches a total of about £50,000. The number of brethren American, about. . . . . •. . . . 500 4 and sisters employed in this service from its commencement, in 1732, is Total…… :….. 1,954 41 about 2,300. IV. DAY SCHOOLS- PupUs. Schools.

British.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1.263 11 German.. .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. • 890 18 Foreign MIssions… . . . . . . . 17,407 208 Total………… 19,560 237 -Moravian Almanac, 1888.

GENERAL CHURCH STATISTICS. Ohurch of England Zenana Missionary L llJomBBS- Communicants. Total. Sooiety, British Province (38 Congre- IN giving the statistics of this So- gatious, ineluding Home ciety in the December number of the Missions). ……. ……… 8.164 5.465 Missionary Review, Mr. Wilder was German Province (27 Con- gregations, iucl. Bethel. . . 6,123 8,841 in errol'. The Secretary sends us the German Province, Diaspora true figures, which we are bappy laborers…….. ………. 115 150 to give in correction. He puts the American Province, North- fi~ures in rupees and sterling, as they ern (57 Congregations) …. 9,098 14,796 'American Province, South- refer to India 01' English currency.

ern (5 Congregations) … . 1,598 2,468 1885. 1886. 79 Bohemia……………… . 131 305 Missionaries …………. . 48 as Assistant missionaries … . MissioBs (107 stations)….. 29,21£ 83,052 Bible women and native 349 49 151 Missionaries and families, teachers……………. . 5,775 396 Schools ……………… . 137 about. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 400 Pupils……………….. . 5,534 Total. .. .. . .. . …. 49,817 114,977 n. SUNDAY SClIOOLS- Scholars Teachers Zenanas ……………,… . 1,977 2,364 Government grants……. . R19,255 R19,497 British. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,873 565 School, Zenana, and med- RB,758 R7,916 American, Northern. . . . … 6,9R1 880 ical fees ……………. . £26,177 £28,251 Total income …………. . Southern… . . . . . 1,564 138 The income includes am't £4,500 £4,600 Foreign Missions………. 13,492 955 raised in Missions.•…..• Total. . . . . . . . . . .. 25,910 2,538 IlL-CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLI- GENCE.

A Mission Tour in India. cleaner, and happier lOOking, and they wear no -[This graphic paper is kindly fur- heathenish ornaments. These little villages are scattered all over the district, giving Mr. Uft'- nished us by Wellesly C. Bailey, Sec- mann about 800 sonIs to look after; there would be many more, bnt that many go away retary, of Mission to Lepers, in India, to work on the tea gardens in Assam. There is no "hothouse system" here, but a natural Edinburgh, Scotland.-Eds.l growth of the Christian church. The schools are all elementary, just giving the people enough DEC. 29, '86. education for their simple village life. This is PURULIA, which I reached a tmidnight, is the what one might call ideal mission work, and chief town of th~ Manbhoom district of Chntia yet, indeed, it, is not at all ideal, but very real. Nagpore, and contains about 6,000 inhabitants. It is one of the stations of Gossner's Mission, I was introduced to an old man who had been and i~ in charge of the Rev. Mr. Uffmann, who a Fakir and a priest in an outlying village at has been laboring for more than twenty years. one time. The villagers sent him to PurulIa I have been visiting some of the Christian vil- " to find the way of life," and he has found it, lages with Mr. Uft'mann, and have been mnch and will now, it is hoped, bring the whole vilenconraged hy what I have seen. The people lage to Christ. His wife has been baptized with are living in their own villages in a natural him, but so far seems only a nominal Christian. 'way, and earning their own liviug, farming, and There is a native Christian mahajan-grain merso forth. The villages are neat and clean, pict- chant-here who is carrying on his business most ures of comfort. When you go into a village, successfully, retaining his Christian character. men, women and children come forward and Mr. Uffrnann tells me that this man is most kind greet you with "Isa Sahai "-" Jesus be your and liberal to the poorer Christiaus. hclper "-shaking your hand at th" same time. 'I'hey are just like the other natives, except There are many lepers in this district. At met "lith a native polieeman; who procured me one time there was a. district ,olllcer here who wllter and firewood, and helped me to boil my was very kind to. them; he had hnta built for kettle. When leaving I went over to my newthem and collected money to snpply them with found friend to thank him and say good-bye, clothes and food; but when he left the station when, to my snrprise, he advanced to meet me, he was replaced by a inati who did not care to holding out his hand and saying, " Isa Saha!.'.' have them so near, and so burnt their huts My joy can be imagined at thns coming across a and drove them away, sending away in carta brother in the Lord in this unexpected way. He those who were not able to walk to their had, in the spirit of his Master, used" hospital· former homes; but, as many of them had no ity without grudging." This trifiing incident homes to go to, those who could manage it gave me a good idea of the way in which Chriscrawled back again, and died under the trees tianity is, little by little, reaching all classes of where their huts had been! Mr. Uffmann longs the population in India, and what a grand proof to be able to establish an asylum for the lepers it is of the truth of the Gospel, that wherever at present in the district, and so the Mission to one goes one finds the same resnlts from its re, :Lepers in India have agreed to build an asylum caption! and put it in Mr. Uffmaun's charge. The Committee of Gossner's Mission in Berlin have kind- Ranchi is the chief and central station of Gossly consented to this arrangement, and are send- ner's Evangelical Lutheran Mission, which may ing ont another missionary to Purulis to assist be considercd One tof the most prospeous Mis- Mr. Uftinann, who has already quite as much sions in India. This Mission was originally work as he is able to do. The starting of this known as Pastor Gossner's, so called after its asylnm will, it is estimated, cost £100, and there fonnder; indeed, it is still known by that name. will be a probable annnal expenditure of £50 at The converts now nnmber 33,000, and these are first, and £100 afterward. All this will be a to be found living in their villages, scattered all heavy addition to the expenses, of the Leper over the different districts of the Mission. Here Mission, but this Is but one of many instances I was the guest of Mr. Onasch, the senior miswhere we feel bound to go forward and look to sionary, to whose kindness lowe a great deal of God to put' it into the hearts of His people to the comfort with which I was able to make my snpply this need. Mr. Uftinann'andlhavebeen journey in Chutia, Nagpore. In Ranchi I could ont fixing npon a site for the new asylnm, and have spent a month with the greatest delight, we have hit upon one which seems in every there is so mnch to see and to hear. There is way most snitable, if it can be obtained. a Christian Sarai here on the mission prem- ises, which seems to be a great power for There are many Santals in this district, but good. It is a large square courtyard with the chief work is going on amongst the Mun- open rooms all round, in which any Christians daris and Uraos. are allowed to put up who may be in from the district on bnsiness; they get their fire- Left Pnrulia at noon in a bamboo cart (a kind wood free, and tbe anly condition of admittance of light, dog-cart) drawn, or rather drawn and is that they should attend morning and pushed, by six men. 'l'his is a common mode evening worship on the "Componnd." There of conveyance in this part of the country, the were 70 pntting up in the Sarai the day I saw it. number of the men in each case depending npon Occasionally heathen people stop there too. The the weight to be drawn and the roughness Or idea is a capital one, as it keeps the missionaries otherwise of the roads. Two or three light in touch with their native converts in a way bamboos are fastened across the shafts, which which otherwise it would be very diflicult to acthe men lay hold of with their hands, and, plac- complish ; it is a plan well worthy of adoption ing their chests against them, run along at a fine by other societies who have large numbers of rate, sometimes traveling as fast as fiye miles in converts widely scattered. The missionaries the hour; the average rate, however, over a very kindly took me all ronnd the place. We long jonrney would be about three miles per visited the printing press, the boys' and girls' hour. The stages vary from seven to ten miles, schools, the Sarai, etc. I was particnlarly struck according to the state of the roads to be trav- by the bright little Urao girls, they answered so eled, and at each fresh stage you get a fresh set intelligently when I qnestioned them, while their of men. Yonr men divide themselves according part singing was jnst beautiful. The Kohls are to their Own pleasure, some pushing from be- naturally Tery musical, their ear being, as a rule. hind, others pulling in front. Sometimes the very good. The girls sang softly and sweetly ; front men will raise the shafts high over their some of them even sang alone for me. They heads, and at others will lay the bamboos o'er were being tanght by a native who seemed to the backs of their necks, working like bullocks. have a great deal of musical talent; he had just These wild, nnsophisticated men of the jnngle picked up a new thing himself-by ear, I supseem to enjoy the work, and will sometimes pose-and was putting it to notes for his girls. run yon down a hill or along the level with a They were being taught on the Tonic Sol Fa sysringing whoop and hurrah, and nnless you are tem. I wish some of onr friends at home could of a morose turn indeed, or of a very neryons have heard taat singing; it would pnt to shame a temperament, you cannot help thoroughly entering into their fun and enjoying it. great deal of the school" bawling" one hears at At Yohna, where I rested for refreshment, I home. I was greatly strnck by the practical work rented buildings on the 25th of Feb., 1888. I have being done by these German missionaries. This received some $10,000 of the $50,000 needecl practical character enters into everything. The for buildings. This sum will purchase the children were being taught in an elementary and grounds, and I will have to wait till the' funds practical manner suitable to their village life. come in for buildings. The sum of $2,500 will For instance, the girls were given a sum; one erect a residence for a Professor, of which we stated it on the hlackboard, another worked it need three; $5,000 will erect a dormitory to ac· <lut in her head and gav-e the answer, and then commodate 100 students; $25,000 will erect the both had a pair of scales and weights with some college building, with a large hall, in which all sand, and before the others they weighed out will assemble for daily prayers, and the necesthe amount which, according to the sum, they sary recitation rooms, offices, etc. These sums were entitled to. In the same practical way.the are very small as compared with the amoun~ girls were tanght cooking ~nd other things needed for the erection of buildings for similar which would he useful to them as the wives of uses in this country. Those contributing any of country villagers. these sums will be entitled to give the name to the buildings erected by their contributions. We These missionaries are planting out pastors hope that some of the friends of education and and teachers in the villages, while her" in Ran- religion will connect their names with the instichi they themselves are surrounded by 1,150 tution by furnishing the funds for the erection Christians, all earning their own livelihood. Mr. of some of these buildings. Onasch told me that ou oue occasion he baptized people till his arm ached-I believe about 500 The rented building will only accommodate were baptized lu that one day I Oue can some, thirty or forty stUdents, while the statescarcely think that all these people had" passed meuts come to me that more than a hundred from death unto life"; but what a blessing to are waiting to enter the institution. The college think they have forever renounced their awful will lose the opportunity to receive students till devil worship, have come from under its terri- its own permanent buildings are provided., ble thralldom, and have placed themselves and From this statement all the friends of the colchildreu under Christian instrnctionl And in lege will see the urgency there is for fttnds with this way, I think, one mnstregard a great deal of which to build. the wonderful work that is at present going on amongst the low castes in the Punjab aud other I have reason to expect that some twelve or places, such as that of the American United fifteen young men, who have been converted in Presbyterian and Church of Scotland Missions, the Sabbath-schools for Chinese in America, in Sealkote, and Mr. Knowles' work in Oudh, will return to China to study in this college and amongst the Tarns and others. The multitudes fit themselves for Christian work. All will now being baptized do not at the time all come readily understand what an influence for good to " a saving knowledge of Christ," but they are will be exerted among the other students of the desirous of renouncing their own abominable college by such a company, that have felt the systems, and of placing themselves and their warmth and earnestness of Christian life in this children within the visible fold of Christ's flock; country. I expect a number of Christian Chi- and who are we that we should say them nay ~ nese will return each successive year to study in Should we not rather rejOice at this wonderfu the college. This will connect the labors for movement and extend to them the right hand of the conversion of the Chinese in America with fellowship? the colleg~ in a very interesting and important way. It will serVe as a great stimulus both to I was taken to see the Theological Seminary the teachers and their pupils. The teachers and boys' boarding school, and the fine church, will rejoice that there is an opportunity for their where aoout 800 of the native congregation meet pupils to get an education that will fit them to every Sunday for the worship of the true God ; oe missionaries to their own countrymen. The and yet we an told that missions are a failure! pupils who have a desire excited to get an edu- Thi. church still bear~ the marks of the mutiny, cation will rejOice that there is an institution to but fortunately it was not destroyed. which they can go, for the sum of $50 will meet the necessary expenses of a Chinese young man One very striking thing in the semiuary was attending the collegrl for a year, for board, tuition tke singing class; I was amazed at the splendid and clothes. The school from which any stu- way in which they rendered selections from dent will come will, in most cases, afford thd Handel's" Messiah." money necessary to meet his expenses. The sum of $50 a year for four years will put a man China. through his college course, or $200 in all ; whilst here in America that would hardly meet half the Extracts from a letter of Dr. Hap- expense for one year. The sum or' $1,000 will per, President of the New College at endow a permanent scholarship, by which the Canton, China, Editorial Correspond- giver can have a student in the college for all ent, addressed to Dr. Pierson. future years. I hope that many who are pray- ing for a large supply of ministers in China will NOVEMBER 17, 1887. . take a yearly scholarship by paying $50 a year, or endow a permanent scholarship oy giving I Alii: on my way to China. I leave Chicago on the 21st, and hope to sail from San Francisco $1,000. on the 29th, '87, and to commence the college in Wishing you an ever-increasing circulation heatheu feast and disposed of 1,000 New Testaand UsefulnllllS for THB :MISSIONARY REVIBW OJ!' THB WOHLD, I remain yonrs, very trnly, ments and Gospels.

A. P. HAPPBR. In Augnst, a tiger came near our station. The India. Santhals tnrned ont to take away his head; they BBTHBL SANTHAL MISSION, were many and thonght it could Soon be done; BRISTOL, ENGLAND, Nov. 14, 1888. bnt the tiger tnrned and caughtand mangled four DlIAR EDIToRs.-Malarious fever and death in my family have sent us for a change to England. of them. Then he retired into a sogar-cane However, the work 01' God goes forward, and the tidings have been rather cheerful. During field and laughed at the whole lot. The people th~ last four months, twelve new schools in vil- lages were opened, and, as much as lies in us, were so disgusted with his ferocity that they the heathen children are instructed in the Word of God. Some years ago we had thirty village lefthiril there. schools, but we committed an unpardonable of- fense, in baptizing nearly 200 men and women, September 25th, Christians from thirty-three and then the dear people thought that I was too lively, withdrew their children, aud, as I had villages commemorated the Lord's death. There baptized seven schoolmasters the others be came rather boisterons, and had to be dismissed were 146 men and women. In April, 1875, there- so that of thirty only twelve remained. These went down to live, and to-day seventeen do work was not a single Christian in the whole district. I wish we could do more work among the 20,000 children growing up in iguorance and wicked- Thank God for the change! A. HABGERT. ness in our parish. It is enough to make angels weep; but the people of God are much cooler; England. they hear ever so many times that they are l EAST – perishing, and yet how few go to the Mission LONDON INSTITUTB J!'OR HOMB I A~D field I FORBIGN MISSIONS. LONDON, Dec. 9, 1887. Seven new chapels were completed during the last four months. They have been built DBAR EDIToRs.-We have been much in– under difficulties and mnch provocation. Fonr- terested in the lirst number of THB MISSION- teen men and women were baptized during that ARY REVIEW OF THB WORLD, which has jnst time; they have come from six villages. More reached us. I need not say how grieved we" to follow. Since 1883, 244 men and women from were to hear of the death of Mr. Wilder, whose forty villages have been baptized. There are labors for so many years as editor of The Mis, still mnltitudes going to perdition. sWna1'Y Review have told so much upon mis- sion work at home and abroad. We had the Patients from 103 villages applied at our nine pleasure of meeting Mrs. and Miss Wilder here, dispensaries doriog the last four months to have on their way to India, and of bidding them fare- their aches and pains sent away. Well, sir, in well only yeAterday. They seemed in good our jungle it is a great and good work, as it re- health, and in really good spirits for their work, moves much hnman misery and saves many thongh neither of them was so strong as we- lives. Beside, it saves many women from be- should have liked to see them. Mr. Foreman coming widows and maoy children from becom- spoke at onr annnal meeting of the Stodents' ing orphans. Some doctors say that their work Missionary Leagne on Friday, December 2. We makes them dry: poor fellows I for me to go into wish he had been longer in England, as there a dark and sad home, and bring health, peace was not mnch opportunity of hearing him. It and prosperity, makes me sing for joy and shoot was a great pleasnre to ns to welcome to Eng- all the louder: land those whose names we had so long been in- terested in, and whose conrse as leaners of the- .. Unto Him who hath loved ns recent missionary revival in America we had And washed us from sin, watched with the deepest sympathy. Unto Him be the glory forever. Amen." My mother and father a1'e greatly interested to Also, it makes the whole district talk of yon, hear of the new departnre in connection with- and long for yon. Patientd come from ten, the Review. The enlarged monthly issue will twenty, fifty milllll, and do they not carry the entail- a great deal of work, but the impetns- good news far and wide 1 Since 1883 I observed that snch a book (for it will really amount to that about twenty-live persons were drawn to that) mnst inevitably give to the foreign mis- Christ through my medical work. Is that noth- sionary canse cannot easily be estimated. May I ask you to direct that three copies of the Re- ing! view be sent regularly to Harley Honse, and In March last I attended three men with pnen- one to the stUdents of the branch of our Insti- monia, and saved a dozen children from orphan- tnte, at Cliff College, Cnrbar 1 I am not sure age. It did not make me a bit dry; I jnst long to whether you have been receiving The RegWniJ do the same to a few hundred more children. Beyond' We are making it monthly, com- In September a dozen of onr people visited a mencing with Jannary, '88. This is a new de- parture for us here. I edit the Ilttle journal, and shall look forward to getting a good deal of- help and information in that department from yonr Review, which is so exhaustive and com- pendious a repository of all missionary facts.

Yon will be interestec). to hear that my only sister, Geraldine, hopes to go to China as a mis- sionary, God willing, early in the new year. Her- heart has long been centered in that far Eastern empire, bnt she has been so mnch engaged with With kindest Christian regards I am yours in heme mission work onate years as to have been prevented from leaving previously. Now that the same faith and hope, B. LA TBOBE. my brother and his wife have taken up the work at Harley House, she is set free for the foreign Madagascar. mission field. We feel it a high privilege to be called upon to give up one of onr very ANTSEHANAKA MISSION, MADAGASCAR, } . October 1, 1887. own to the great cause of the gospel among the DEAR EDIToRs.-When living with Dr. Maxheathen I It is not a light step to take, but well (late missionary of the English Presbyterian Christ allows many of His people in these days Church to Formosa), Secretary of the London .. not only to believe on Him, but also to snffer Medical Missionary Association, I had often the for His sake." I am sure yon will join ns in pleasure of seeing the Missionary Review• prayer that all our missiouary efforts here may Since coming to Madagascar, in company with be prospered by our Father who is in heaven, the Rev. E. H. Stribling, in the capacity of. and that the work in His great world-field may H medical" helper in the Lord's work, I have. grow through the instrumentality of our train- not seen any comprehensive missionary paper, ing colleges. dealing with missions all ronnd. And this is a , With hearty Christiau sympathy, in which we felt want in an isolated spot like this. all jOin, in yonr efforts for the spread of the gospel among the heathen, You may be interested to have a brief word about this part of the great vineyard. Very faithfully yours in Him who loved us, Lucy E. GUINNESS. As yon probably know, the Central Province of Imerina(Madagascar) is all but civilized. It is sitn- MORAVIAN MISSIONS, SECRETARY'S OFFICE,} ate between four and five thousand feet above 29 ELy PLACE, LONDON, E. C., sea level, and on the central tableland. The . December 9, 1887. work of civilization, in conjunction with active mission agency, has of late years been spreading DEAR DR. PmRSON.-I am glad to have an to the other provinces-notably Belsileo, to the south, and Antsehanaka, to the northeast. The opportunity of thanking you for yonr cordial Rev. J. Pearse, now of the former province, had the European direction of the Antsehanaka commnnication of May 23. My present object in Mission for a number of years. This region has the unenviable reputation of being malarial, and writing is to say how glad I am that you have on account both of fever and other causes the Mis- sion has been without adequate European superseen your way to edit the admirable MISSIONARY intendence for five or six years. Four Hova " evangelestra " from the Central Province have REVIEW, now that your predecessor has been had the oversight of the work during that period, aided by an occasional visit from one of the Miscalled to rest. May the blessing of the Lord rest sion's staff in Antananarivo. Last year the Di- rectors of the L. M. S. finally decided to recruit on this and all your labors. the Madagascar staff, and on September 1st a party of twelve sailed from London to fill up You speak so warmly aud kindly of the spirit. vacancies in the staff thronghout the island. Our party of four, Rev. L. H. Stribling and Mrs. of our forefathers aud the missionary legacy Stribling, Mrs. Mackay and my"elf, were at first detained in the capital on our arrival there by which we have inhetlted, that I feel sure our the advent of the wet season. Later on, how- ever, death came into our ranks and took away present fields of labor will, from time to time, one of our number; Mrs. Stribling. She was not, like ourselves, new to the country, bnt had find mention in the pages of your Review. And spent many years in the Vonizongo district, a day's journey from the capital, in happy Chris- I may add that, like others, we shall be glad of tian work for the Master, together with her hns- those Love Tokens, which bring needed kindly band. On July 1st, this year, we arrived at Ambatoncriticism in love and in the wisdom which is drazaka, and forthwith took up our work. The from above. following is a short summary of the work done during the past-our first-three months, ending I was sorry to see that Mr. Wilder (p. 346 Sept. 30th.

(M'UiBionary Review for '87) erred somewhat Mr. Stribling has made a three weeks' journey round the entire district and another shorter in giving the statistics of onr church. In July journey of a week's duration to four or five stations in particular. Besides these he has appears the German Report of our Mission coutinually been preaching the gospel, both in the" mother-church" here, and in the various Board, containing the statistics from forms filled rush-made structures, so-called churches, in the immediate neighborhood. A five or six up by our missionaries to the end of the previous years' absence of European direct help in an year. The correct figures for 1887 are therefore those of Dec. 31, 1886, viz ………Total, $83,052 1885…… . .. …. 82,462 1884….. '" . …. 81,552 1883.. . . . . . . . . . . . 81,258 1882. . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,021 This will form a guide. Thank God for con- tinuous growth. I send you the last number of .Periodical Accounts, as far as I know" the old- est missionary journal "; so I esteem it a great honor to be the editor; but The .Missionary Review is not quite correct in describing me as tke Secretary of Moravian Missions. I am a Secretary of onr Mission Board for England.

Ours is not a society, but a missionary church, and the Mission Board is a section of the Unity's Elders' Conference. important mission like this must needs leave ac· for England soon. Brother Harvey has beeD. counts, correspondence, etc., in a very dUapi- four years out this time (his second), and is get, datsd condition, and consequently our beloved ting into a low state of health. brother's work has been all the heavier, as he has had this extra burden fall on his shonlders. The work at the various stations goes slowly in comparison to the times ;we enjoyed ten Mrs. Mackay has now organized a sewing-class months ago. But no doubt the work j.s deepen- of over 60 native girls, has three or fonr of the ing and widening, though we are seeing but very better class Hova women to help her, and these few cases of conversion. latter, with the women of the town, come to her earlier ill the week to learn themselves. On A :Mr. Brooks (English) recently passed up the other hand, onr medical department bids fair with a colored young man (Soudanese) from Mr. to be no insignificant part of the work. Twice a Guinness' Instltute, going into the interior with week I see patients in my ootdoor consulting a view to founding a Central Soudan mission. room, and my wife, OI these days, dispenses the Mr. Brooks, I believe, pays all the expense of medicine. At all other times I am likely to be this preliminary expedition. called upon to help to heal the body and say a word in as yet very poor Malagasy, maybe, about Of Bishop Taylor's mission I caa say but the Saviour. Our experimental hospital Is in little. Some are sick, some are not satisfied, course of erection. It is to contain bnt five or others go on but meet dilliculties which time and six beds. It is our intention, D. V., to build a determination will probably overcome. I refer permanent strncture next dry season. Trusting more especially to transport difficulties. One that these points may not be uninteresting, and thing, bowever, is certain: whether or not they that yoo will kindly claim the kind prayers and succeed in establishing a self-supporting mission interest of the readers ofyonr joornal, and prom- here, it is necessary to have men set apart for iSing an occasional note as to the people and the preaching the gospel who can devote their wkol8 progress of oor work, if so desired, time to this and to the teaching and spiritual training of the converts. There are thousands I remain yours, very sincerely, on all sides yet nnreached by any of the agen· JAMES G. MAOKAY, D. M. S. cies now employed. Granted that those now wholly engaged in evangelizing, translating the Congo Free State, Afrioa. Scriptures into the native tongues, and in teach- ing native evangelists had to spend half their PACAVALA STATION, L. I. MISSION OF THE} time in digging and tilling the gronnd, or in A. B. M. U., CONGO FREE STATE, otherwise raising their own food, the cost to the Sept. 12, 1887. church in Europe and AmeriM. or these mission- aries would be less, but the loss to t.he church in EDITORS MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WOBLD. Africa would be such that dollars or pounds -We have recently heard the sad tidings of the sterling could not cover it.. Hundreds about death of Rev. John E. Biggs, of the English Bap· each mission station that are now frequently tist Missionary SOCiety, at their station at Kin- hearing the gospel would not be reached, and shasha, near Stanley Pool, on the Congo, the this saving in cash would be a loss of jewels in . 26th of August. He was a young man of great the crown of our Redeemer. promise, and had been but 22 months in the conntry. Last month's mail also carried home At home the Christian workingman who the news of the death of Rev. H. G. Whitley, of spends his spare time in speaking and working same mission, who was on his way from Stan- for Jesus cannot supplant him who has been ley Pool to Eugland when he was called to separated for the work of an evangelist or pas- glory. He died at the A. B. M. U. station at tor. Both are required; both have special Lukunga, having accomplished about half the work allotted by the Lord; and as at home, so land journey between Stanley Pool and the here-each will find his place and work. coast. In your issue of July (p. 439, MISS. REVIEW) In the Swedish Missionary Society a new sta- Bishop Taylor speaks of meetings at Lukunga tion has been opened on the north bank, about 18 presided over hy Brother Newth, of the Bishop's miles below their Mukimbungu station, which is party. To some of your readers who know on the south side and formerly was an A. B. M. that Lukunga is an A. B. M. U. station this may U. station. This new station is the second of need a word of explanation. Brothers Harvey the S. M. S., and Is being planted by Rev. K. J. and Richards, with native evangelists from Banza Pettersson and two other Swedish brethren. Mauteke, held special evangelistic services for some time at Lukunga, and the Spirit of God was In the A. B. M. Union the only changes are: present in power, and souls were saved. Both Rev. C. B. Banks and wife and Rev. J. B. Mur- these brethren had to come down country to phy are now on the way to relieve Rev. J. Mc- meet their wives, and they left the BaDza 1fau- Kittrick and Mr. T. Gerrish at our Eqnator teke evangelists and a fine young preacher and station. :Mr. McKittrick has spent three and interpreter there to carryon the work. Bishop one-half years in the field, and goes home for Taylor had received permission previously change. Mr. Gerrish, who Originally came out to erect on our mission property a small house, as a member of a New York mission (Simpson's as store, etc., for goods in transit, and for ac- :Mission Band), returns to America, being now commodation of any of his people who would in want of change. We also hope that Mr. and require to stay there to engage carrierA. Mr. :Mrs. C. H. Harvey and child will be able to leave Newth was staying there then, and thongh he "Section 1. Be it ordained by the General knew nothing of the langnage, it was known Assembly of the State of Deseret : That all that that his presence .(being a white man) wonld portion of the inhabitants of said State, which tend to maintain order, and he was asked to now are, or hereafter may become residents overlook those native Christians in their work. therein, and which are known as the Church 01 Of CODrse he conld take part only through one Latter-Day Saints, are hereby incorporated witb of our interpreters-thongh we all prefer speak- perpetnal succession, with full power to . . . ing directly to the people in their own tongne. hold real and personal estate, and to have and Notices of this have appeared in England in such use a seal." Thus a whole people, whose posa way as to cause considerable confnsion in the sible increase in nnmbers was limitless, was minds of people there, as it was made to appear made a body corporate. that the work was being carried on by others than our missionaries; and in the same way our " Section 3. And be it further ordained: That U. S. brethren may wonder why our Lukunga as such Church holds the Constitutional rigbt to work should be iu the hands of Bishop Taylor's worship God according to the dictates of conagents. I need not assure you that, so far as I know, the members of the A. B. M. U. have SCience, to reverence communion according to done all in their power to aid and accommodate the Bishop and his people, looking on them as the principles of truth [the italics are mine], and servants of a common Lord. I have repeat,edly to solemnize marriage IXlmpatilJle with the revbeen thanked for small services rendered. elations Of Jesus Christ [polygamy], for the security and full enjoyment of all blessings and Your servant in tbe Lord, privileges embodied in the religion of Jesus Jos. CLARK. Christ [including tbe theocracy, blood atone- ment, celestial marriage, etc., etc., etc.], it is Mormondom. also declared that said Church does and sball possess and enjoy continnally the power in and BY THE BEV. D. L. LEONARD, EDITORIAL COR- of itself to originate, make, pass and establish rules, regulations, ordinances, laws, customs RESPONDENT. and criterion. [whatever these may be] for THE startling news has gone forth that the the good order, safety, government, conveni- Mormon Zion is in the hands of her foes. ence, currifort and control of said Church, and for United States Marshal Dyer, under a decree the punishment or forgiveness of all offenses from the Snpreme Court of the Territory, has relative to fellowship, according to Church covtaken possession of the el!'ects of the Latter-Day enants [even to capital punishment, and which church, now defunct and dissolved by an act of right during ten or fifteen years was freely ex- Congress, snch as the temple block, holding the ercised]; that the pursuit Of blis8 and the en,}lYybig tabernacle, the tithing honse and groundS, ment oflife in every capacity of public association the" Historian's Office" containing the chnrch and domestic happiness, temporal expar.sion, or library, and even the Gardo House ("Aurelia spiritnal increase upon the earth, may not legally Palace "), equivaleut to the White House for the be questioned: Provided, however, tbat each President, or the Vatican for the Pope. He has and every act or practice, so established for law, also possessed himself of all effects visible or cnstom, shall relate to solemnities, sacraand tangible of the Perpetual Emigration Soci- ments, ceremonies, consecrations, endowments, ety, and called on the church authorities to turn tithings, marriages, fellowship, or the religious over to his keeping all books, records, papers, accounts, etc., of the two corporations that were. duties of man to his Maker: inasmuch as the And such is the conclusion to one phase of a gigantic scheme to set np a theocratic church- doctrines, principles, practices, or performa1UWl state in the Great Basin, whose beginnings were support virtne and increase morality, and are not jnst forty years ago. The plot began to take inconsistent with, or repugnant to, the Constitushape in 1851 by the attempted formation of the tion of the United States . • . and arefO'Unded "State of Deseret," with boundaries that in- in the revelations of the Lord." cluded an area some 700 miles square, or only about one-sixth of the national domain at that Well might Jndge Zane declare that" no predate. A constitution was formed, Brigham cedent can be found for conferring upon a pri- Young chosen Governor, and upon the leaders vate corporation such a variety of capacities, and were conferred all the offices. A Legislature some of them, it is believed, are above the reach took its seat, of which every member was full of of human InWB." And in the followiug his irony zeal for" the kingdom" and stood high in the is exquisite: "This is probably the first time priesthood, and at once proceeded to clothe the that any Legislatnre ever attempted to contract church with legal authority as a corporation by. away to a chnrch, or any other body of men, the bestowing upon it a charter. When, a few years regnlation of tithing and marriage. Nor are we later, Congress decreed a Territory instead with aware that the right to regulate a man's duty to sadly shrnnken proportions, that charter was re- his Maker was ever included in a contract. This, conferred. This legal instrument npon which too, probably, is the first time that a Legislature the church has stood stands peerless and alone. expressly limited the rnles and laws that a cor- It ranks high among curiosities both of litera- poration might make by the revelations of the tum and oflegislation. And here followeth the Lord, and make a grant thereof to any person choice substance thereof: natural or artificial " I I Thns the church set forth upon its career, mar- rying and giving in marriage, and especially looking well to its treasury. From that day it Sheta Naga, with a vocabulary and illustrative has gone on accumulating farms and factories, sentences, otrto tbe publishers, and bave since cattle and horses, stock in mines, banks, rail- written and translated several hymns and trans- roads, street-car lines and commercial enter- lated a portion of the Gospel according to St_ prises, and now owns tithing property in every John."

considerable settlement. In 1862 Congress The time rapidly draws on when passed a law forbidding any church in the Terri- all the inhabitants of the globe, listories to acquire or hold real estate of a value tening to the gospel of Christ, will greater than $50,000_ To this prohibition, as to be able to say-in view of a miracle that relating to polygamy enacted at the same time, no sort of attention was paid. But now at hardly less astonishing than that of length the blow has fallen, and, at least in part, Pentecost: "How hear we every retribntion for past grievous offenses. It is not man in our own tongue wherein we likely, however, that the school fund of the Ter- were born? • .• We do hear them ritory will be greatly enriched by the sale of speak in OUL' tongues the wonderful church property held illegally. For months, and day and night, the process has been going on works of God_"

apace of hiding, and deeding a way, and turning Who would not have a share in into cash. The best result will be found in the this obedience to the last command of enforcement of the national will upon these the Lord, "Go ye into all the world proud and presumptuous theocrats, making them to know and feel that even they must obey and preach the gospel to every the law of the land, .. revelations" of Joseph creature" ?

Smith et al. to the contrary notWithstanding.

And tbis new phase of a1rairs goes well with Decay of Liberality in the what Congress and the courts are achieving at other points. It is cbeering to know tbat not Churches. The apparent inerease in less than 33,000 contemners of the law in Utah the benevolent eontdbutions of the have been disfranchised, while almost 600 po- ehurehes does not, as is shown by lygamists have been indicted, 32.~ have been sent Dr. Dorehester in The Congregationto prison, aud during the last year alone nearly alist, keep paee witl' the increase in 400 arrests have been made. But it shonld be membership of Ameriean churches, remembered that all this gain would be worse and lags still further behind the inthan lost if the cnrrent plot of Utah priests and Eastern politicians shall succeed, and Statehood . crease of wealth. The total amount be conferred. And, in the present balance of of receipts of all Home and Foreign parties and mad eagerness to win, tbe danger of Missionary Boards and Societies in tricks and bargains is very great. The press- the United States "has increased from both religious and secular-must be watchfnl, and sound constantly tbe alarm. $1,232,123 in 1850 to about $7,000,000 And is it not full time that this monstrosity yearly at the present time, beingfourknown as a chnrch was put politically lwrs de fold for foreign mission and six-fold for home ~issions. But the memcomlJat' For tbirty years and more it has been constantly before the courts, scarcely a Congress has failed to pass or to discuss a bill to abate the bership of the churches has increased nUisance, and, without exception, every Presi- during the same time from three and dent has felt constrained to call special attention a half millions in 1850 to ten millions to the gross evils and grave perils centering in in 1880, and largely since. Making Salt Lake, Once an army was sent to bring cburchly lawlessness to terms, and since 1862 all allowance for the greater thor- troops have been kept within easy cannon shot of oughness with which religious statisthe church headquarters. Forbearance has gone tics are gathered now, we have 35 too far. Sweet oil and the olive branch are a cents per member contributed for' failure. Special and extraordinary measnres are both these objects in 1850, 63 cents in imperatively demanded.

A WORD FROM PROFESSOR WILKINSON. 1870, and 59~ cents in 1880, which shows a falling off in the ten years And So the World Goes On. preceding_ And when we conle to UNDER date" Kohima, Naza Hills, Nov. 17, 1887. Rev_ W. E.Willis, mis- the property test, the case is still sionary, writes from the other side worse. "Supposing church mem- of the planet to his old instructor, bers," says Dr. Dorchester, "to have our corresponding editor, PROFESSOR just an average amount of the wealth W. C_ WILKINSON, as follows: of the country-we do not doubt they •• I have at last gotten my Grammar of the have more-in 1850 they gave to missions one and one-tenth mills to each adopted the policy of the prohibition dollar of their property; in 1860 this of intoxicating liquors in trading was reduced to nine-tenths of a mill; with the African tribes, for financial in 1870 to eight-tenths, and in 1880 reasons. It has been found that rum to six and a half tenths of a mill. so demoralizes the natives as to ruin Thus, while the total gifts have in- trade. So serious has the menace to creased four times, the amount given commerce from this source become by each converted dollar has been re- that the Niger company is also bring- duced nearly one-half." ing a strong pressure to bear on the Ultramontanism vs. Protestant· Congo Free State and on the German ism. I hold in my hand a book is- and Belgian governments to adopt sued by the Catholic Publication the same policy, The experiment is Society in New York. It is printed made none too soon, as the traffic in in Baltimore, under license of its late intoxicating liquors has assumed Archbishop (Bailey) and the certitr:- alarming proportions on the Dark cate of his official censor that it is Continent. Mr. Wight Hay, speak- unobjectionable-" nihil obstat." It ing recently in Sheffield, England, is a book of instruction for children. made the appalling statement that Its motto is (quote"d from Benedict where one missionary had been sent XIY): "We affirm that the greatest to Africa to evangelize its heathen part of the damned are in hell, be- tribes, 70,000 barrels of rum had been cause they did not know those mys- sent for purposes of barter! teries of faith which Christians must Eastern Bassuto.-The missionaries know and believe." What are these of the Berlin Society, established hel'e mysteries? Let us read this author- since 1860, regard their work as the ized Ultramontane school-book. I most important and hopeful of any of quote (pp. 97-104) as follows: the missionary operations in that part " Q. Have Protestants any faith in Christ f of Africa, not only as regards its im- " A. They never had. mediate results, but in its influence "Q. Why not f on the future of mission work in the "A. Becaustl there never lived such a Christ C2ntre of Africa and along the eastern as they imagine and believe in. coast. This hopeful view is partly bas.ed on the fact that the Bassutosand " Q. In what kind of a Christ do they believe Y Bechuanas, among whom they work, "A. In such a one of whom they can make a liar with impunity, whose doctrin"e they can in- terpret as they please, and who does not care are agriculturists as well as cattle- breeders, and are not, like many native what a man believes, provided he be an houest races, destined eventually to die out. Dlan before the public" Another reason is that belief in a God "Q. Will such a faith in such a Christ save Protestants f " A. No sensible man will assert such an ab- is not extinct among them. They surdity. say, for instance, of the man about to die, "God calls him." Again, the "q. What will Christ say to them on the day Christianized Bassutos often give of judgment f "A . •I know ye not, because ye 'never knew me.' proof of possessing the evangelistic " Q. Are Protestants willing to confess their spirit and gifts. Nevertheless, the Berlin Society has found their portion sins to a Catholic bishop or priest, who alone has of this great field a very diffiuult one power from Christ to forgive sins y. •Whose sins you shaH forgive they are forgiven them.'

.. A. No; for they generally have an utter aver- to cultivate. It lies in the eastern sion to confession, and therefore their sins will and northern portions of the Trans- vaal, and is inhabited by Matebeles Dot be forgiven them throughout aHeternity. as well as Bassutos; and as the for- .. Q. What follows from this f mer are of Zulu origin they are more .. A. That they die in their sins and are damned."-Bishop OoaJ6, at Washington Ormj'er- ence qfJ1Joang. Alliance. opposed to the Gospel. WaI'S, too, A.Mea.-The British Weekly says have frequently occurred. Neverthe- that the Niger Trading Company has less, they reckon more than 9,000 converts as belonging to their sta- the immense services which miSSionary enter- tions. It is difficult to estimate the prise has rendered to Africa, to the world at number of the heathen Bechuanas, large, and to Great Britain in particular. When Bassutos and semi-Bassutos living in the history of the great African states of the fu- the Transvaal, but Missionary In- ture comes to be written, the arrival of the first spector Merensky thinks they may missionary will with many of these new nations number at least 400,000. If to these be the first historical event in their annals. Al- be added those of the same tribes most invariably it has been to British mission- dwelling elsewhere, a total of 750,000 aries that the natives of interior Africa have is reached, of which one-tenth or owed their first acqualutance with the printing- thereabouts have received Christian press, the steamboat, and sawmill. Most of the baptism. The same missionary great lakes and rivers of th~S little-known couti- speaks of the satisfactory character nent have been navigated in the first instance by of the work of the Berlin Society. the steamers of British :Missionary Societies, Unlike the Frencb. missionaries, he which may now be seen plying on Tanganyika says, the German missionaries have and Nyassa, on the Upper Congo, the NIger insisted on the entire abandonment Binue, and Zambesi. Missionary enterprise of polygamy and the sale of daugh- has widely increased the bonnds of our knowl- ters by their parents and the myste- edge, and been the means of conferring benefits ries of the Kama, and in this they on science. For missionary enterprise in the have met with the greatest suc- future I see a great sphere of usefulness." cess. The prospects of the work in the Transvaal are hopeful. A net- The Spectator also, which shows work of ·mission stations covers the remarkable intelligence in treating whole land, some of them, indeed, belonging to the Hermansburg So- missionary questions, in a paper on ciety. The gospel is working as a leaven throughout this territory, "The New Attack on Missionaries," which is as large as France. In Southern Transvaal there is scarcely says: a village in which at least one of the natives cannot read and is not ac- " At an expense of about a million a year the quainted with the truths of the gos- Protestant chnrches send out to the heathen pel; and as the baptisms amount to and parts of the :Mussulman world a perpetually about 1,000 every year, it is hoped renewed force of men and women to teach to that within twenty or thirty years those who know them uot Christianity and civ- almost the whole native population ilization. Those men and women are of all will have become Christians. The sorts, some unfit, .oue or two in a thousand chief anxiety for the future arises hopelessly unfit-bad persons iu short-a few from the immigration into the coun- fit to a degree no words of ours will adequately try of fifteen 01' twenty thousand describe, bnt a majority well qualified in ex- white gold diggers.-London Mission- tremely varied ways for the burdensome duty ary Society. they have to perform. :Manyare teachers, many preachers, many scholars-many, like Dr. Mof- Testimonies to Christian Missions. fat, born rulers of men; but in all but a very . The EnglishVice-Consul at the Came- few there is one quality rare in any other profes- sion-absolute devotiou to the work to be done. ,. roons, in West Africa, in a paper on If they cau do it living as quiet, hard-working " British Missions and Missionaries in pastors in the tropics, they do it 80. If it re- Africa," says, in the November num- quires of them excessive toil, abstinence from ber of the Nineteenth Century: all that is pleasant to mau, the incessaut facing of physical danger, including what is a moral "Ifthe immediate success of British mission- certainty of death by torture, they accept these aries in spreading their religion over barbarous conditions, not boasting, uot murmuring, as Africa be doubtful, if the average type of their part of the burdens their consciences have converts seems an unsatisfactory product of so placed upon their necks. How it is possible for mnch labor and expenditure of lives and wealth, Christians of auy sect to condemn snch a profes- it is, on the other hand, consoling to refiect on sion, with such results, we can no more con- ceive than we can conceive how a Christian church can be fully alive yet never wish to pros- elytize. "-Church ofScotland Miss. Rewrd.

" The Chief Glory of England," says Archdeacon Farrar, "has ever been that she has told it out among the heathen that the Lord is King, in what Carey did for India, Henry Mar- tyn for Persia, Ellis for Madagascar, Morrison for China, Marsden for New Zealand, Allan Gardiner for Patago- for the knowledge that has been imnia, Patteson for Melanesia, Macken- parted by these humble, unpretend" zie and Livingstone and Hannington ing men, not English laws and Engfor Africa. And in this abbey, at lish science, no! nor British arms, this very day, not even the grave of would have effected such changes in Newton is dearer or more interesting the social condition of India as is evito thousands of visitors than the dent to all observing men in these grave of the Glasgow cotton-piecer, days!" The prince referred to his David Livingstone, who, in the burn- own struggles in forsaking the religing heat of that dark continen:t, died ion of his ancestors, and of the fact with black faces around him, afar that the missionaries must always from all he loved. To sneer at mis- wound the feelings of the people in sionaries, a thing so cheap and so the very act of showing them that easy to do, has always been the fash- their ancestral faith" is a great imion of libertines, cynic~ and world- posture, and must almost be blotted lings. A living duke has vf'ntured to out and forgotten to admit the simassure us that missionaries are an or- ple doctrine of faith in Christ." ganized hypocrisy and a deplorable Though he admits that the opposifailure. The charge of hypocrisy de- tion to Christiauity is now greater serves only a smile of disdain, the than ever, he believes that the varicharge of failure an absolute contra- ous societies, like the Brahmo-Sodiction. So far from having failed, maj, the Arya-Somaj, and others, there is no work of God which has re- will help to break the chains of caste ceived so absolute, so unprecedented and superstition, and that Christiana blessing. To talk of missionaries ity will in the end prevail.-Missionas a failure, is to talk at once like an ary Herald. ignorant and a faithless man." With reference to the difficulties of India.-Among the distinguished winning converts from Islam to Chris- East Indians who came to England as tianity, a correspondent of the Times representatives of that portion of the (8th November) recalls the name of British Empire, at the Queen's Jubi- Maulvi Imad-ud-din. When certain lee, were the Prince and Princess of English missionaries (one of them Kapurthala, one of the semi-inde- now Bishop,of Lahore) held a discuspendent states adjoining the Punjab. sion with learned Mahommedans of This man and his wife are eal'llest Agra many years ago, Imad-ud-din Christians, having sacrificed much to was one of the champions of Islam. take a stand as disciples of Christ. An eloquent and graceful preacher, The kanwar, or prince, made a re- he was employed during the week of markable address before the commit- the discussion to preach in the Agra tee of the Church Missionary Society, mosques against Christianity and the in which he expressed his deep sense miSSIOnaries. Having zealously and of indebtedness to Christian mission- conscientiously studied Christianity aries and gave emphatic testimony and searched the Scriptures for this to the value of their labors. He af- purpose, he was terribly shaken in firmed that, notwithstanding all that his belief. After much distress and has been done for India by the great many struggles he became a Chrisstatesmen, such as Lords Dalhousie, tian, and since then he has earnestly Canning, Lawrence, Ripon, and preached the faith which once he deothers, it is to such men as Marsh- stroyed. In recognition of his worth man, Carey and Duff that India owes and learning, and of his eminent sermost. "There are many who put vices to native Christian literature, the question, What good are mission- the Archbishop of Canterbury four aries doing in India? I say, without years ago conferred on him the honanyhesitation, that had it not been .)rary degree of Doctor of Divinity,

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

There are others who are almost Jesus Christ every day for the par~ equally striking examples of the don of his sins. It is not too much powerof Christianity to win converts to say that the whole Brahmo movefrom M,ahommedanism. The pastor ment, which takes a lead in all social of the native congregation at Pesha- and moral refornis in India, and wur, amid the bigoted Afghans of the which, although decidedly unchrisborder, is a convert from Islam. tian, pays to Christianity the sincere Barkhurdah Khan, our native doctor flattery of imitation, is the direct pr!>- presently in charge of the Medical duct of missionary teaching." Mission in Chamba, is also a convert from Mahommedanism. The Madras Presidency contains the largest Christian population of all Progress and Value of Missions.- India, the number of native Chris- Sir Charles W. Atchison, Lieutenant- tians, including ROlllan Catholics, Governor of the Punjab, India, says being 700,000. This shows that, out, of that anyone who has "no faith in every 1,000 of the population, are 23 the work of missionaries in India native Christians. But it is in edumust be either ignorant of facts or cational matters that the native under the influence of very blinding Christians have shown most satisfacprejudice." He further says: "Mis- tory progress. According to the latsionary teaching and Christian liter- est census return, in the municipal ature are leavening native opinion, towns, while the percentage of eduespecially among the Hindus, in a cated Hindu males is 36.30 and of Mahommedans 30, that among the way and to an extent quite startling male native Christians is 53.67. The to those who take a little personal proportion of educated females is trouble to investigate the facts. Out equally striking, and largely in favor of lllany examples I could give, take of the native Christians. Taking the one I know of-one of the ruling total population, male and female, of l)!"inces of India, who probably never the three creeds throughout the Prese saw or spoke to a Christian mission- idency, we find the averages to be ary in his life. After a long talk with Hindus, 9.90 per cent.; Mahommeme on religious matters, he told me dans 8.57, and Christians, 16.53.- himself that he reads the Sanskrit The Indian Witness. translation of our Bible and prays to IV.-INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GRACEY, D. D., OF THE "INTERNATIONAL MIS- SIONARY UNION."

The Evangelioal Allianoe and Missions. that locality to French Protestants. The Indian Bureau of the United THERE are many secular transac- States Government has unsettled tions which seriously affect the pros- mif:lsionary work on our Indian Reserperity and power of missions. A vations by an order that no teaching prominent illustration of this is shall be done in its own schools or just now presented in severa] por- any other, except in the English lan- 'tions of the globe in the matter of guage-an order which seriouslyoblanguage. The French Government structs the progress in civilization has interdicted teaching in other and preparation for citizenship than the French language through- amongst many of these red races, and 'out its West African colonies, thus will practiqally shut off large numseriously embarrassing the Wesleyan bel'!> of them from the acquisition of :Missions on the Gambia, and obliging literary training, for fifty years to the American Presbyterian Mission comp-an orcler we are. however, 'Of the Gn-boon to resign its work in pleased to learn, through private Christians therefore are to receive channels, which those highest in our government protection, may have' national Government already recog- awakened undue expectations in this nize to have been a mistake, and country. The event is hailed as "a. which, therefore, we may hope will be new era in China," which it would' soon modified. scarcely be considered by those who recall that the same government An illustration of an opposite ten- has sent out similar proclamations in dency is seen in the movement in other periods of its history, and that Japan for the adoption of the Roman the British Consul, Mr. Medhurst, afalphabet in writing the Japanese firms that the religious toleration language. The Romaji Kai is a Ro- clause was the easiest to secure of all man alphabet association of Japan, in the great Treaty of the nations with numbering, we are told, six thousand China. That government has always members, and led by professors in the been liberal in religious matters. National University of the country, Weare doubtful, too, of the extent which seeks to substitute for the Jap- to which the late Imperial order has been published throughout the anese characters a simple system empire. Mr. R. H. Graves says, in of Romanizing. It may be recalled The Ohinese Recorder, that these pro" that ten centuries ago the Japanese clamations have not been issued in threw away the Chinese characters. Kwang Tung Province, and others Analyzing their own language, they certify to instances where they are found that it could be constructed on posted face to the wall. But after all forty-seven distinct syllabic sounds. such deductions are made from the Borrowing the Chinese characters, original force of the proclamation,the severing them from their Chinese fact remains that this broad religious ideals, and dismembering separate liberty and protection are affirmed characters arbitrarily, they composed over the vermilion signature of the foriy-seven representative characters Emperor,and a contrary order,though for their own use. But that simple even less regarded by the Provincial base had, in use, to be adjusted to authorities, would have spread conrepresent three hundred and fifty sternation through missionarycirc1es. symbols. It is said that by the new system of Romanizing, a Japanese It was, however, to those political measures which seem to demand some will be able to learn to read in as concerted and specially representa- tive agency to deal with their relation many weeks as the old system re- to Christian Evangelism that we inquires years. It does not need com- tended to allude. Some of these are ment to show the important relation delicate questions, and can only be of such a modification of national let- dealt with indirectly. Yet they detel's to the work of the teacher who mand thought, and possibly action. carries thither a foreign literature and An illustration is afforded by the fola foreign-written religior;. lowing from the New York Observer: Tpere are amongst these secular de- " A somewhat peculiar condition of affairs in velopments those which seem to Japan consists in the fact that among the repredemand representative as well as sentatives of oth.,.. and Christian nations all of concerted action in dealing with them who have any church connections are them. Of this sort are many politi- either Catholic or Greek. Even the English cal movements. Weare not unmind- Minister and his AmeriClln wife are stanch adful that the importance of such events herents to the Romish church. is frequently underrated, and sometimes overrated. Perhaps, for in- "Thus in every diplomatic question that may arise it is quite evident that should any religions a stance, the edicts that have been sent matters be involved the combined inlluence of other nations as now represented here would be out within short period in China, almo,t a unit against Protestantism. Since the assuring the people that the Christian religion is a good one, and that bitter experience with the Jesuit missionaries in Mexican Government of his friendly former times it is very unfortnnate that the J ap- influence, in the event that the anese are left almost wholly alone in their efforts Church of his choice should come to resist the intrignes of the Romish emis- into open collision, as it is all the saries, as time does not change the methods or while in secret collusion against the spirit with which Catholicism seeks to gain the President. temporal and spiritnal sway in all lands." The missionaries may not be the It does not seem to be just the duty best, and certainly should not be the of anyone mission, or of all, to inau- only, organized body to look after the political privileges and protection of gurate the flow of influences necessa- Protestants in that country. ry to guard against any such catas- The illustrations we have furnished trophe as is here pointed out as pos- are only two out of a multitude from sible. The individual missionaries which wem.ight select: What we now ask is if there cannot be some other might render aid to some prop- than a purely missionary agency erly constituted agency better than which can be organized ubiquitously, so as to be a medium, ready at hand become such agents themselves. in every mission field of the globe, Mexico affords another field where through which to command the sym- pathy, influence and power of its occasions for protection of the in- central body, as the proper and recogterests of Protestantism may arise. nized central force of Protestantism. The Republic of Mexico is now dis- We not only believe that such ought to be, but that such is partially in tinctly and avowedly Protestant. existence, and only needs to be more The following sections from the new widely extended till every mission Laws of Reform, issued from the field of the globe shall be within easy office of the Secretary of State, will touch of its sympathy, its counsel and abundantly confirm the statement: its protection. Weare, perhaps, an- ticipated by the reader. The Evan- "SECTION. I.-Article 1. The State and the gelical Alliance is seeking to extend Church are independent of each other. No one itself in local organizations through- can dictate laws so as to establish or prohibit out the United States, and we hope any religion; but the State exercises authority this impulse will not expend itself over all of them in relation to the preservation merely on this country, vastly im- of public order aud the observance of the insti- portant to all Christian growth and tutions. permanence of our civilization as we recognize the principles it seeks to "Article 2. The State guarantees in the Repub- spread through the body politic to be. lic the exercise of all worship. It will only per- secute and chastise those acts and practices What we are urging upon the which, although authorized by any worship, Christian public of the world is not become a fault or misdemeanor by the penal anything new, but rather only plead- laws. ing for a very large extension of what already exists, till it is localized, " Article 3. No authority of corporation, or not only in every principal portion of any association which may be formed, can be the world, but in every chief centre carried on with any official character under the where there are eyangelical interests acts of any religion. Nor with the object of re- to foster, guide or defend. A report ligious celebration shall there be made by the before us says: State any demonstrations of whatever kind. In consequence, there shall cease to be festival "One oCthe great objects of the Alliance is to days of all those which have not for exclusive maintain the principles of freedom of conscience. object the solemnization of events pnrely civil. It is to Tnrkey and Syria, as well as to the &1: Sunday shall remain appointed as a day of rest tic Province of Russia, that the attention of the for the public offices and public establishments." Council has been principally directed during the We are not apprehensive of any serious danger to the Government now, but there is always the priestly party to antagonize it, and just now an effort to secure the appointment as Minister to Mexico from our Gov- ernment of a Roman Catholic gentle- man, against the wishes of most of the Americans in that country. The religious proclivities of such an am- bassador would scarcely assure the year. In Turkey there are many signs of in- the functions of such a representllitive creased activity on the part of the officials with body. The Vatican is proposing to a view to hinder Protestant mission work; and be represented in China by a special many schools in Syria and other portions of the legate at Peking to look after the-inempire have been closed. The Council ho.ve terests of Roman Catholics in that been in constant communication with the Con- country and, just now, to take care of stantinople Committee in order to ascertain that Church's general interests in definitely the facts in regard to the various the "triangular struggle between cases. The information thus obtained is most France, the Vatican and the Tsungvaluable as coming from those who, by long Li Yamen." There is no thought resideuce and great experience in Turkey, are that any political advantages are to well qualified to advise what steps should be be sought for the Protestants of that taken. Only lately an evangelical hall at empire other than are common to Smyrna, in which gospel services had for some all nations in treaty relation with it. years been held without hindrance, was closed But there are evils to be forefended by order of the Sadi as the result of mob vio- against at Peking that this Branch lence evidently instigated by the clergy of the Alliance may well look to, and for Greek Church. The disturbers of the peace, the prevention of which probably having been unchecked, proceeded a week later no better ag-ency can be found. to attack the Protestants as they came out of church, and also damaged the building and We doubt not but that a Japanese school-house as well as the residence of the Evangelical Alliance might exert an pastor. It is very satisfactory to find that the infll}ence favorable to the revision of American consul took prompt steps in the mat- the present treaty of the Western nater. He telegraphed to Constantinople, and in tions with Japan, which so humilia few hours full protection was secured for the atingly discriminates against and Protestants. The whole qnestion of religious threatens to bankrupt that nation. liberty in the Russian empire demands prayerful The missionary force of that country, consideration. Protestant Christians are con- we believe without exception as to tinually oppressed and persecuted in various nationality, is making strenuous efparts of the empire, some even being exiled to fort to secure a juster recognition of Siberia for preaching the Gospel. Early in the Japanese rights in the premises; but year an appeal was made to the Alliance to use a Japanese Branch Alliance could its influence with the French Government on command strong influence and backbehalf of native Christians in the island of Marie, ing from the Alliances in the sev- New Caledonia, who had been cruelly perse- eral Christian lands. cuted under the orders of the chief. These poor people are French subjects, and a representa- Thus in Madagascar, the Fiji Isltive of the Government of France is resident in ands and other remote parts, the orthe Island. It was, therefore, considered most ganization of Branch Alliances would suitable that the snbject should be referre'd to come to be of vast value. 'he French branch." Pifty 'Years of Protestant Progress in The General China Branch of the Europe. Alliance was organized in May, 1884, FIFTEEN thousand dollars is not a and as early as March, 1885, addressed large income for a modern mission., ary society, but if it is to distribute the American, British and German that sum judiciously, to meet emer- gencies of other missionary societies, Ministers at Peking regarding the it may become a very important moral and money agency. Such are the foranti-Chinese riots in the K wang Tung tune and the force of The Evangelwal Oontinental Society, which was in- Province, and in July, 1886, they stituted in London in 1845 and has as its object "to assist and encourage sent out an appeal for united prayer from the Christian Church for the young Emperor, then soon to be en- throned. The Shanghai Branch of the China Alliance, formed only two years ago, we are told, "has appealed to the Municipal Council of the city, urging that body to use its influence with a view to suppressing the large number of houses of ill-repute, in- cluding the gambling and opium dens." The Ohinese Recorder points out a new opportunity for the exercise of <evangelical societies on the Continent Independent Church in Neufchatel. [of Europe] in their endeavors to pro- These, together with the Theological pagate the gospel." School of Geneva, form the three The 38th report of this worthy so- theological centres of Switzerland tociety contains a rapid but strong review of the progress of religious lib- day. The national churches are ~rty and Christian enterprise on the practically without doctrinal resh'ic- Continent of Europe during the last tions, and this has eompelled the fifty years. Half a century ago Bel- members of that communion to orgium only accorded religious liberty, ganize an Evangelical Union. Swiss and the laws which granted it had Protestant Christianity has been thus long been in abeyance. But 11letween healthfully and generously aroused. 1837 and 1849 the evangelistic movements of the country grew into Germany fifty years ago was fol- "The Christian Missionary Church lowing Strauss, stirred by his then of Belgium." This has now some new "Life of Jesus," and Bauer was twenty-six churches, with an aggre- arraying Paul against Peter. But gate of 4,300 adult members, and at Tholuek had been teaching at Halle the same time the State churches for eleven years, Dorner was busy have six, stations under their Evan- on his" Person of Christ," and Degelistic Committee. litzsch was preparing for work on that mighty evangelistic agency, the He- Half a century ago France had but brew New Testament, while the Dealimited religious liberty. The pres- coness Institute of Fliedner was ent state of things has been brought furnishing the type of the" House of about by strenuous efforts and grad- Mercy" for the" Fatherland." Since ual advances. The earlier Monods, then the churches and schools have and Lutherans like Meyer, with others appeared in hundreds of parishes, of their co':laborers, at last saw their the Bible – reading Nazarenes are labors develop into" The Free Church reaching the lower classes, and the of Lyons." The Evangelical Society Scriptures are having a wide cireulaof Geheva and that of France were tion among all grades of society. begun over half a century ago, and they grew into the Union of Free Russia prohibits evangelistic work, Churches in 1849 and into the Re- but the Scriptures are being circuformed Church later, with now twen- lated. Half a century ago there were ty-one stations, and the McAll Mis- not twenty-five schools in all Servia; sion, with a hundred more. Add now every village has one. Bulgaria these together, and the evangelistic has been reaehed, though with varyforce of France has numerically irig fortune, both north and south of trebled in fifty years. The Reformed the Balkans. In Greeee a beginning Church, the Lutheran Church and has been made. the Free Churches now enroll a thousand pastors. Half a century ago, except in the valleys of Piedmont, not a native Fifty years ago Switzerland had Protestant community was to be an Evangelical School of Theology found in the peninsula of Spain or under Merle d'Aubigne and his com- Italy. Men were allowed forty-eight peers, and Pastor Pilet drew crowds hours to quit the boundaries of Italy to the OratoireChurch to be charmed for circulating the Scriptures, and by his eloquence. Fifty years ago those were imprisoned who reeeived Alexander Vinet was teacher of them. But in '69 the Spanish Repub- Practical Theology at Lausanne, and lic proclaimed religious liberty for all in 1846 the Free Church of Vaud was its citizens, and in '70 Victor Emmanformed under his lead; and again in uel took possession of Rome. Now, 1873 Godet led the organization of the exclusive of the Waldensians in the Alpine valleys, the communion of the e-angelistic churches of Italy numbers 9,000; and thirty churches Methodistbodies of Japan are invited "in Spain proclaim the truth that to unite. These bodies are the Methomakes men free. dist Episcopal Church South, the Evangelical Church of America and The editor of The Non-Oonformist :alludes to the vast variety of nation- the Methodist Protestant Church. alties in Europe, each with a his- As it may afford help to some other tory behind it, and to the continent churches in other parts of the world as the mother of our civilization who may be seeking for a closer coand of all that goes to make the operative base, if not organic union, elevation and dignity of human life. The cry from Europe is now, as it we give the text of the action pro. was 1834 years ago, "Come over posed, though it has yet to receive and help us!" This society has sta- the approval of the home churches tions of its own in Bohemia and of each of the parties in the premises. Spain, and has aided other societies It reads: in France, Italy and Belgium, such as the Free Churches of France, the " Whereas, During the period of transition Free Italian Church, the Evangelical through which Japan is now passing the religi- Society of France, the Belgian Evan- ous character and ecclesiastical relations of the gelical Society, the Cicily Mission and Japanese will be moulded and settled so that the McAn missions. Many others subsequently radical changes Will be extremely have received aid through this chan- difficult; and nel also. There certainly seems imminent need and a favorable oppor- " Whereas, In accordance With their strong tunity for this sort of work. national instincts, and with a view to securing the highest economy of means and the most ef- Co-operation in Missions. fective methods of Christian evangelization, all Ittchi Kyokwa is not a very fa- Japanese Christians urgently recommend that Protestant Missions operating In Japan lay aside miliar title in this country, but it minor points of difference, and, as far as possible, will become more 80. It is the Japa- unite in common lines of church organization nese name for the Union Presbyterian and activity; and, Church, as we find it in (the Hiogo News. The Presbyterian Church of " ll'7!ereas. The more prominent Protestant the United States, both North and Missions in Japau have been greatly blessed and South, the Reformed (Dutch), the prospered by organic nnion on the basis of inde- United Church of Scotland, and the pendent Japanese c,hnrches; and German Reformed of the United States, and possibly ere now the " Whereas, The Methodist Episcopal Church Congregational Church, compose this and the Canada Methodist Church are Identical body. Fifty-seven churches were in doctrine and almost identical in polity; there- represented at the meeting at which fore the union was accomplished. Nip- pou Sei Ko Kwai, or Japan Holy "RESOLVED, 1st, That we, the members in Ja- Public As::;embly, is the title under pan of the Methodist Episcopal Chnrch, and of which the Protestaht Episcopal the Cauada Methodist Chnrch, trusting In God Church of America, the Society for and seeking only His glory, hereby agree to unite the Propagation of the Gospel and iu organiZing and perpetuating the Methodist the Church Missionary Society have Church of Japan, into which Union the other been drawn into close affiliation. Methodist bodies in Japan are cordially iuvited to enter. And now we are furnished with the text which is proposed as a base: of "211. That the polity of the Methodist Chnrch union between the Methodist Church of Japan shall be Episcopal; and that the Gen- of Canada and the Methodist Episco- eral Superintendency, the Itlnerancy and other pal Church, and with which the other esseutial features of Methodism shall be pre- served; and that its doctrines, drawn from the Holy Bible, shall harmonize with the accepted standards of Methodism.

"3d. That In each contracting Mission the ad- ministration of its Missionary Society shall not be disturbed by this union, except as provided iu resolution 4th. Each Society shall, as here- tofore, appoint the Treasurer in its own Mis- Sion, who will receive the appropriations and make such reports as may be required by each Society.

"4th. That all appropriations made by the Home SocietieR for direct evangelistic work among the Japanese-aside from those made for Foreign Missionaries directly engaged therein- The Assamese are malnl1lIindns and Ma., and also all the funds raised by Japanese churches hommedans. The work among them has met for the same purpose, shall be administered by a the obstacles usual to missionary labor for such. Joint Finance Committee. people. And yet it has had a gratifying measnre of success. But the work most highly favored "5th. That the Joint Finance Committee shall is of later origin. It is that among the Garos., be composed of – – members, one half of the westernmost of the several tribes inhabwhom shall be Foreign Missionaries, and one iting the hills lying sonth of the Assam valley. half Japanese ministers or laymen. The foreign These people are not idolaters, but, like the members shall be appointed hy their respective many aborigines of India, are demon worship- Missions in a manner to be hereafter determined, ers. They have no written language, and are it being understood that representation on the therefore less civilized than the Hindus and committee shall be in an approximate ratio to other residents of the plains, but excel them in the contributions of the several Societies. The truthfulness and chastity. Their prominent vice Japanese members of this commtttee shall be is intemperance. Their drink is of home manappointed by the Japan Annual Conference of ufacture and is made from rice. the Methodist Church. Onr work among them began a little more 6th. That the Joint Finance Committee shall than 20 years ago and came to us unsought. It prepare estimates for evangelistic work as pro- was the providence of God which put it into vided in resolution 4th, and that these estimates our hands. Some years before the Indian govshall be submitted to the contracting Missions ernment as a hopefnl civilizing agency for these for approval; afl;er which they shall be for- savage people established a vernacnlar school at warded to the Home Boards by the Missions. Gowalparah, the station nearest to their terri- The Finance Committee shall disburse t)le funds tory, and gathered Into it a number of Garo granted according to the appropriations made, young men. In 1863 two of these men were and it shall prepare full reports of all disbnrse- found at Gowhatty and in government service. ments for the Missions; and those reports shall Omed was a non-commissioned officer in a Sebe transmitted by the Missions to the Home poy regiment. Ramkhe was a writer, or copy- Boards. ist, in the JudiCial Commissioner's Court. There '''Ith. That the property in each of the con- was no missionary in the place, and the mission tracting Missions now belonging to its Mission- houses were let to English occupants. One of ary Society, or that may hereafter be acquired these was Col. Campbell, the commander of' by it, shall be held, or disposed of, by each so- above-mentioned native troops. ciety for the benett of the Methodist Church of Japan." One day Omed was acting as the Colonel's orderly, and as he paced back and forth he es- In Italy, union progresses slowly, pied a tract npon the gronnd. This had once even amongst churches accepting the been the property of a missionary occupant, but same doctrines. The Waldensian now had been carelessly swept ont by a servant, Omed picked it up, and was struck by the title of Synod has had before it the question it-" Bhrom Nahok "-" The Destroyer of Darkof union with the Chisea Libera of ness." He furtively read some ofits contents, and Italy, but it seems to have been was still further impressed. He carried it with unanimously of the opinion that no him to the sepoy lines, when he was relieved of" duty, and then read it at his leisure. His previous union is at present possible. Denomi- impressions were only deepened thereby. He nationalism amongst the foreign afterward sought out a native Chrlstian preacher, churches in Italy is certainly too who had been left in care of the station when strong at present to encourage the the missionary departed, that he might get fur- ther instruction. He had become by this time hope that they will speedily be ab- a sincere inquirer after the truta, and it was sorbed into the Evangelical Church not long before he avowed himself a believer in of Italy. Christ. Meantime he had talked with his coun- tryman, Ramkhe, the writer, and his investi- HOW A. MISSION ORIGINATED FROM A gations, with the instructions of Kandura, the TRACT. native preacher, led to the same result in his case. In due time Rev. Miles Bronson came By REV. M. B. COMFORT, OF ASSAM. from Nowgong, a station 70 miles up the valley, AssA.lll is a fertile valley of about' 500 miles in length, through which flows the Brahmaputra and baptized both of these men in 1864. River. Our mission was established in 1836 and They at once desired to ~arry to theIr countrycelebrated its jubilee in December of last year. Its origin was due to an attempt to reach North- men the light which they had themselves reern Burmah from Upper Assam. The mission- ceived. They pleaded to be sent to them with aries engaged in this effort were baffled by the the message of salvation. At Mr. Bronson's so– hostility of the hill men through whose territory licitation they were released from government they sought to pass. Retracing their steps they employ and entered the service of the mission, located in the Assam valley instead of returning thou~h for less compensation than they had been to Burmah. receiving. Ramkhe was sent by Mr. Bronson to ,start a school for training Garo teachers. It was and, though no lives were l()St, and nearly every. ,at Damra, the location of a market as well as a thing on the wreck was saved, 'their goods were thana, or police station. Bnt Omed went at damaged. They were relieved by the Day- '<lnce into the hills as a herald of the good news. spring. Bnt when the crops began to snft'er for lack of rain, the snperstitious people ascribed this fact Rev. Jacob Chamberlain, D.D., M.D., and to the anger of the demons because they per- wife, and their son, Rev. W. T. Chamberlain; mitted a man to remain among them who was Rev. J. G. Fagg and the Misses M. and D. Root 'seeking to turn them away from the religion of sailed together from Liverpool in the Persia. Dr. their ancestors. They therefore persecuted him, Chamberlain returns to the Arcot Mission, but and when he could only remain at the peril of Mr. Fagg's Ultimate destiny Is Amoy, where the his life, he came down from the hills and built a Reformed Church co·operates with the English hut at a point where two mountain' paths con- Presbyterian Mission. While in Europe he visverged. TheBe were used by the Garos, going to Ited the Netherlands in the interest of missions .and from Rongjulee, where a market was held in Cl)ina. The Reformed Church of the Nethertwice a week. This gave him an opportunity to lands has had no missionary in China since the tell them about Christ, the Saviour of men. This death of Gutlaff. As a result of Mr. Fagg's work he continued for three years, keeping up, visit, a permanent Committee was organized at meanwhile, a correspondence with Mr. Bronson. Amsterdam with a view to co-operate with the As fast as he gained any adherents to ChristI-/ daughter of the Old Dntch Church, the Reformed '>lnity, they left the hills and built themselves Church ofAmerica, in missionary effort in China, houses by him. Thus there grew up in three and 3,000 guilders have been raised for a hospi- .years a Christian village. Iu April, 1867, Mr. tal near Amoy, under the supervision of the Bronson visited the place, baptized 40 men and newly-appointed Medical Missionary of the Rewomen, and organized at Rajasimla the first formed Board, Dr. A. J. Otto. 'Garo Christian church. The Rev. Dr. J. M. Thoburn, of the Method- From that the work has gone on with contin- ist Episcopal Mission in South India, has been uous and marked success. More and more of for a year past endeavoring to secure 25 men for 'Garo territory has been occupied, numerous the field. He reports having secured the fol- ·schools have been established, churches have lowing, who have already sailed: been multiplied, many Christian teachers have been employed, several native preachers have The first man sent out was R. L. Kinsey, of been ordained, and in a score of years, in all India, a layman, who sailed in October to be that constitutes success, the work among the manager of the mission press in Calcntta. Garos has far surpassed that of a half century in all the rest of the Assam field. And in carrying B. F. West, M. D., wife and two children, of on this deeply interesting work we have found Iowa, to Singapore. Final destination probably our most efficient helpers among the young men Malacca. who had received some intellectual training in the Government school before spoken of. It is E. F. Frease, wife and child, of Ohio, and Miss not to be supposed that the English authorities Thompson, of Ohio, to Bombay. -contemplated such a thing when they estahlished that school as a possible evangelizing agency. A. E. Winter and wife, of Ohio; G. W. Isham, But through the overruliug providence of wife and child, of Nebraska, and W. H. Hollis- God they builded wiser than they knew. And ter and wife, of WisconSin, to South India Conin the fact that this wor'k originated in the ference. ·casual finding and reading of a single tract, we can see evidence that God can use a very R. H. Craig, wife and child, of Minnesota, and simple agency for the accomplishment, event. F. W. WaI'lle, wife and child, of lIIinois, to the ually, of a great result. Bengal Conference.

PERSONAL. Neil Madsen, of New Jersey, and Miss Files, of New York, to Calcntta. No persons have ever attended the annnal meet- 'ings of the International Missionary Union whose Re,'. Henry Jackson, formerly of India, and presence awakened more enthusiasm than Rev. family, which inclndes an adult daughter. and Mr. and Mrs. Annand, of the Canada Presby- Rev. W. L. King, of Minnesota, are also under terian Mission in the New Hebrides. Som. fif- appointment. teen months since they retnrned to their work, 'and were designated to open a new mission work The whole number is twenty-one adults and on the Island of Tongoa, a small, healthy island eleven children. 'Off the sonth end of Santo. A large extent of eoast can be readily reached from this favored ORIENTAL SUBJECTS IN PERIODICAL .situation by hoat. We learn through The Fre6 Ohurch of Scotland Mcmthly that they reached LITERA TURE. their destination last summer, but the Cairndhu, ·on which they sailed, was wrecked on the way, IT is matter of regret that three years ago Freiderici of Leipsig ceased to compile his useful annual sum- mary, Bibliotheca Orientalis. It was not known as widely as it deserved to be, but its contents were indicated in the title," A Complete List of Books, Papers, Serials and Essays pub- lished in England and the Colonies, Germany and France, on the His- SUNDAY SCHOOLS OF THE WORLD. tory, Languages, Religions, An- tiquities and Literature of the East." THE Sunday-school as an institu- The compilation included all litera- tion has become a very efficient mis- ture relating not only to China, In- . sionary agency. The Kaukab-i-Iswi dia and Arabia, but to Australia, Bur- of Lucknow furnishes the following· mah, Egypt, Palestine, Algeria, West table, prepared by Rev. J. E. Scott Africa and South Africa. An annual of the Methodist Mission of Nortb. volume contained some 1,500 entries, India: all numbered and indexed, and was sold for a few shillings. After eight N.AMERWA- years of useful service, from 1876 to 1883, it was discontinued, as a similar U. States ..99,762 8,034,478 1,107,170 9,141,648 monthly compilation by J. Klatt was being published in the Literature British A. Provinces 6,322 436,938 52,268 489,206 Blatt f. Orientalische Philologie. In C.America, 53,000 8,250 38,250 themeantime Triibner & Co., in their Mexico & .American, .European and Oriental W.Indies. 850 Literary Record (a monthly" Regis- ter of the most Important Works EURoPE- Published in North and South Amer- ica, India, China, Europe and the England 5,200,776 593,436 5,794,212 British Colonies," 5s. per ann.) have & Wales.• attempted to form an index to " arti- cles relating to Oriental subjects in Scotland .. 561,269 53,113 614,375 current periodical literature," which we know to be hard to refer to after Ireland … 298,639 28,155 326,794 we have read them.-The Harvest Field, Bangalore, India. Italy… ..• 200 12,560 850 13,41~ THE English Baptist Missionary SWI tzer- 6,522 97,893" Society recently adopted the follow- land••…• 1,591 91,371 4,000 49,000- ing: "That, in view of the lonely 13,000 263,000 position occupied by so many of our Denmark….. . 45,000 8,800 145,440 missionary brethren in distant fields 5,600 70,600· of labor, and their practical exile Germany.. 2,851 250,000 8,700 216,700 • from home, friends, and associations, 5,220 126,870' the Committee feel it most desirable Holland .. ' 1,291 141,640 8,400' that efforts should be made to secure 400 2,100 for each missionary in the field some Norway …… . 65,000 100 2,510' friend or friends in this country who 160 3,139 will undertake to keep up personal Sweden …… . 208,000 264 1,21/0· sympathetic communication by peri- 110 odical despatch of Christian litera- France…. 1,197 12,150 ture-say, of papers, magazines, pam- phlets and books, and occasional cor- Spain.. …. 100 8,000 respondence-it being the judgment of the Committee that such sympa- Portngal .. 110 2,000 thetic thought and consideration will Belgium .. , 57 2,350 tend greatly to the happiness and Bohemia. . 9"~ 2,875 encouragement of their missionary brethren, who are now bearing the Moravia.. . 110 1,200 heat and burden of the day." Russia …• 10,761 795 11,556 Otker parts. . … 10,000 500 10,500 Asu- Persia….. 107 4,876 440 5,816 5,000 105,000 India….. . 100,000 7,019 Japan….. 150 7,019 Oen'l Tur- 7,000 600 7,600 key…… 60 110,000 2,000 32.000 Other part8. . …

AFRICA- 2,649 2,649 Egypt….. 62 Other part8. . … 158,745 8,355 167,100 S. AMERICA 350 150,000 3,000 153,000 OCEANICA– 408,701 42,639 451,340 Australasia Hawaiian 15,000 1,300 16,300 Islands …

Other parts. . ••• 25,000 1,500 26,500 Total. . . .. . •.. 16,447,990 1,952,167 18,400,157 FIvE missionalies and their wives, connected with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists bound for the Cassia HIlls, where the Welsh have a large and prosperous mission, arrived in Calcutta this week. Oue is a medical missionary.-Calcutta Witness.

PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS-MONTHLY BULLETIN

V.-PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF MISSIONS- MONTHLY BULLETIN.

AFRICA. the boat and machinery is 13,!4' tons, -Zulus. Dr. Elmslie, missionary and on her trial trip on the Thames, /among the Zulus west of Lake Ny- a speed of 9 miles an hour was at- assa, has sent home the first book tained under unfavorable circum- printed in the Ubungoni language, as stances. The vessel was so con- issued from the neighboring mission structed as to be taken to pieces and press at Blantyre. It contains the packed in 500 man-loads for trans- Decalogue, passages from the Psalms, portation. Proverbs and the Gospels, and four- teen hymns. -Rev. C. W. Kilbon, of the Zulu -Bishop Taylor calls for forty mis- Mission, has been in this country sionaries for Liberia. Seventeen of some two years, preparing a hymn the number sailed from New York, and tune book in the native language, Oct. 1. which is now ready for shipment. -'['he Institution of Rev. H. Grat· It includes about 250 hymns, and, tan Guinness, in London, has just owing to the peculiarity of the sent 100 missionaries to Africa, and language, both hymns and tunes 500 during the last 14 years. He has have had to be largely reconstructed. at present 100 missionary students, and on an average sends out a mis- CHINA. sionary to some part of the great -The population of this great mission field every week in the year. empire nas long been a matter of dis- -Whiskey in Africa. Two or three pute. A recent estimate, based on years ago 900 barrels of whiskey were a Chinese ofijcial census of ten out of landed at Madagascar from a profess- the eighteen provinces, made in 1882, edly Christian nation. The authorities gives to China proper about 383,000,- of that once heathen nation purchased 000 inhabitants, or a little more than this cargo and knocked the barrels in one quarter part of the population of the head, that their vile contents might the globe. Within this empire there be swallowed up by the sand rather are now laboring the representatives than by the people. The Congo Free of 38 foreign missionary societies, State bids fair to be almost literally numbering in all 919 missionaries, 446. destroyed by the barrels of whiskey of whom are men. The ordained na- and still worse forms of spirituous tive laborers number 40; the unor- liquors which the Christian nations dained, 1,296. There are now over- of Europe are yearly pouring upon 28,000 communicants. the untutored but rum-loving people -Down to the close of 1886, 38 of the great Congo Valley! Protestant societies had missionaries. -The steamer "Heury Reed," there, aggregating in number 925, of for the navigation of the Upper whom more than half are women. Congo and its tributaries, was a gift Native helpers, ordained and unor- to "The Livingstone Inland Mis- dained, 1,488, and communicants reg- sion "by MI'S. Reed, of Tasmania, in istered, 28,506. memory of her husband. It was -The Baptist Mission in the Shan- built in London in 1882, and is 71 tung Province have in the' single dis- feet long, 10 feet wide, and 3 feet trict of Tsing-cheu Fu fifty-five deep. It is a stern-wheel steamer, churches, all being self-supporting, of very light draught, in order to pass ministered to by native pastors and the 'shoals, which are num(>rous in teachers. the Upper Congo. The weight of -In the Province of Shansi, in connection with the China Inland Mission, 210 adults were baptized in one day, on profession, and many portions of the New Testament into more were inquiring. Within a short it. He also translated some of the time, in theFukien Province over 900 best classics of China into English. have been received into the church by The first wife of Dr. Lord was Miss the Church of England Miss..Society, Lucy Lyon, a niece, and for some time and 2,300 additional inquirers and an associate teacher of, the founder of applicants for baptism reported. the Mt. Holyoke Seminary.

-The overtlow of the Yellow -China Inland Mission. Hudson River, in the Province of Honan, Sept. Taylor and his noble band of workers 28, inundated Chingchow and ten covenanted to pray that God would other cities. The overflowed district send 100 new laborers into the field is a sea ten to thirty feet deep. The in 1887. Some doubted, and others loss of crops and lives is fearful, and said, "Impossible!" But" is there worse evils seem ahead, as colder anything too hard for the Lord?" weather has already begun. They asked for two men each week. At Oct. 26, with seven weeks of the -Twenty-tlve years ago there was year yet left, there were but six men no professing Christian in the Chin- lacking! Oh, for more faith in God! ese Province of Shantung; now there Mr. BroomhaU, Sec. of the Mission, are 300 places where Christians meet writes: regularly on the Sabbath. .. You will be glad to know that 64 out of -The English Presbyterian Mis- the lOOhave already gone, and that 30 others sion at Formosa was begun in 1865, have been accepted." and now reckons 5,000 native church members, who last year contributed FRANCE. $2,000 for Christian work. The Canadian Presbyterian Church has a -The Mission Honse of the French mission in the north of the same Protestant Churches was recently island, begun fifteen years ago, and opened in Paris. This beautiful buildhas about 3,000 converts. In these ing, which has cost 242,000 francs, is facts from Formosa we have proph- more than the centre of the adminisecy of what is coming in Hainan. trative machinery of Fr~nch Prot- estant Missions. It is an institution -Dr. Mackay, of Tamsni, reports in which missionaries may obtain a that complications have risen by rea- training afforded by no other schools. son of the advent of a large number Apart from useful information upon of Spanish Roman Catholic priests. the countries and the people they are These Romanists are seeking to entice to evangelize, they are trained in difaway the converts connected with the ferent kinds of manual labor, such afl Presbyterian Mission, paying no at- may be practiced in the fields to which tention to the heathen. The Protest- they will be sent. The basement of ant mission is working vigorously this house is a real workshop. to withstand the intrusion, by opening new stations and by commission- -Greenland is a colony of Dening new men, and it is hoped that mark. In 1884 it reported an area of these intruders will be discouraged in 46,740 square miles, and a population their divisive movement. of 9,780. The Lutherans have mis- sions there, but the principal mission!' -Edward Clemens Lord, D.D., are those of the Moravians, begun by of Ningpo, China, in which country Rev. Hans Egede in 1721, and which he has labored faithfully for" forty last year reported six stations, 19 years as a missionary of the Baptist missionary agents, 43. native helpers Union, has recently died. He was a and occasional assistants, 749 comlaborious student, and was among municants, 115 baptized adults, 211 the first to reduce the colloquial candidates, 475 baptized children; 29 Chinese language to writing in the schools; with 33 teachers and 393 pu- English character, and to translate pils. -Labrador. The Moravians sent Protestantism and all its blessings on .

iheir first missionaries there in 1750, Ascension (or Ponape) Island and sub- but they were slain. The effort was stitute Romanism in its stead.

successfully repeated in 1771. Since -The South Sea Islanders, at then a missionary ship has been sent their last missionary nleeting, raised each year from London to Labrador. $1,531 for a new yacht to carry the The following are the latest statis- gospel to New Guinea. This repreiics: Six stations and out-stations, 34 sents a degree of generosity and sacmissionary agents, 59 native helpers rifice not often paralleled in the home and occasional assistants, 450 com- churches. municants, 227 baptized adults, 143 candidates, 443 baptized children; six INDIA. schools, with five teachers and 220 -Hinduism is Declining. The pupils. number of pilgrims to the Puri shrine this year was only about one-sixth of -Fiji Islands. Wesleyan stations former years. The Doorga Pugah report about 23,000 church members; festival was a complete failure.-The 104,000 attend public worship in the Oalcutta Englishman calls attention· 1)00 churches. The Sabbath is sacredly to a remarkable decline in the popobserved. In every Christian family ularity of the Festival of Juggernaut, there is morning and evening wor- at Orissa. This has been going on ship. Over 42,000 children are in- for some time, but is especially restructed in the 1,500 schools, and the markable this year, as there is no last relics of heathenism in the re- longer a wild rush for the car in mote mo~ntain regions are rapidly which the idol is dragged from the dying out. temple to a grange and back; on several occasions coolies have had to -Micronesia. It is scarcely more be hired to do this. than a quarter of a century si.nce the -The Baptist Foreign Mission first converts were baptized; this mis- Board of the Maritime Provinces has sion now i.ncludes 46 wholly self-sup- been empowered to confer with the porting churches, with 5,312 members, a larger number of communicants than Baptist Board for Foreign Missions in any other mission of the Board. of Ontario andQuebecwith reference Six high schools, for training native to the union of their Missions among preachers and teaching their wives, the Telugus. gather 178 pupils, and send out new and well-trained labol'ers every year, -The United Presbyterian Church began its work in India in 1855 with while 42 common schools, taught by one missionary, Dr. Gordon, and his natives and wholly self-supporting, wife, at Sialkot. Now they have 8 give instruction to some 2,800 pupils. districts, with several hundred vil- The Scriptures are translated wholly lages, 68 stations, 35 missionaries, and or in part into five different lan- 136 native helpers. There are over guages; and other Christian litera- 4,000 communicants.

ture, as well as school-books, has -The Punjab. A remarkable been provided by the missionaries. work of grace in the English Church The work thus far has extended to Mission, chiefly in and about Amrit- about half the islands of the three sal'. Several prominent men, as well groups embraced, and new islands as people of low caste, have been are visited every year. reached. About 150 low-caste con- -Mrs. Rand, of the Micronesian verts were baptized the previous year, Mission, reached here by a recent but nothing like this work, in vigor steamer from China, and reports a and growth, had been seen before in most flagrant outrage upon the rights that region. The ingathering of low of American citizens and missionaries, caste people is affecting the Hindus, consisting in an attempt to cr~h out Sikhs, and the Mahommedans, and several of these higher classes have means to send ont a missionary. Many ebnrches been reached. "Our compound re- would raise three or Conr times as mnch for sounds from morning to night with their own representative ss they do on the voices repeating to each other the present plan. If a number of our most aggres- Lord's Prayer, the Ten Command- sive and spiritnal churches will now send their ments, and the Creed, with bhajhans representatives it will be the beginning of a and bits of the Gospel." Much o;f glorious era. Take two Baptist churches of this has been· the result of medical eqoal strength In the same city, Let one choose missions. out a man or woman caIJed of God to bear the glad tidings of salvation to the heathen. Let -The Reformed (Dutch) Church them support him in his work from their Own General Synod, 111.oved by the ap- funds, and let the other church take collections peals of the Rev. Dl'. Chamberlain, of for the general work. I venture to predict that. the Arcot Mission in India, and by before five years the former will have so outthe wonderful blessing which at- stripped the latter in spiritual power and evantended the work in that field, re- gelization that no further experiment will be solved, in June last, to raise the sum needed. Five hundred men ought to be sent of $50,000 to establish a Theological ont thiB fall." Seminary in connection with that Mission, where native preachers are JAPAN. in great demand. The church at once endorsed the resolution by sup- -Native converts, with average plying the money. wages of less than twenty-five cents a day, contributed last year $27,000 -A discussion recently took place at Lucknow between the Arya So- to mission work. One man gave maj and the orthodox Hindus, when the attacks made upon Christianity $10,000 to found a school under the by the former aroused the ire of the care of the American Board. Dur- Mahommedans, who took sides with ing the year 3,640 adults were bapthe Christians, declaring that Christ tized, making a total membership of was holy and sinless. 14,815. There are now 193 organized churches, 64 of them self-supporting; -British India contains not far 93 native ministers and 169 theologifl'om one-seventh of the population cal students. of the glObe. Including a number of feudatory States, its ponulation by -The Japanese Gazette regrets the last census-that of 1881-was " to say that Buddhism cannot long 256.982,495, of whom about 50,000,000 hold its ground, and that Christianare Mahommedans, 187,000,000 Hin- ity must finally prevail throughdus, and 1,862,634 were classed as out all Japan. Japanese Buddhism Christians. Within the seven years and Western sciences cannot· stand since this census was taken, the together. They are inconsistent the Christian adherents have increased one with the other." The Buddhists greatly. The island of Ceylon has a continue to make a most vigorous population of 2,761,396, but the Mis- effort to counteract the spread of sion of the American Board on the Christianity in Japan, and the Honisland is confined to the northern ganji sect was never so busy. One peninsula of J affna, which has less school in Kioto alone is to be rebuilt than 300,Ooo.-Mi88. Herald. at a cost of $12,000, and other Bud- dhistic seminaries and colleges are – Rev. R. R. Williams, President being started in various parts of the of the Romapatam Theo. Seminary, who has done excellent work in train- country. ing young menfor pastorsandpreach- -The Universalists are looking ers in India, writes: towards Japan as a mission field. At "I believe that the time has come when God their' General Convention in New calls upon every Baptist church that bas the York a report was presented, urging .. Japan as a specially inviting field. All religions are now practically on the same footing there. The for- eigner is no longer hated and perse- cuted. American and English ideas are received with favor. The Eng- enormous sum of nearly $500,000 to estahlish a technical school in Galicia. lish language is taught in the schools, for Jewish orphan children.

and bids fair to become ere long not – It is said that in Kischene:tr, Russia, 50,000 Jews have become only the tongue of scholars, but of all Christians. The converts have not joined the Russian Orthodox Church, persons of average education. Chris- but have constituted themselves into a Judreo-Christian community, and tianity ha'l already gained many con- call their places of worship by the old familiar name of synagogue. The verts and accomplished mighty re- Russian Ministry of Worship has conceded State acknowledgment to sults." The Christian Register (Uni- these new and flourishing Christian congregations. DeJitzsch's Hebrew tarian) quotes this much of the report, translation of the New Testament is being eagerly read and studied by the and' says, "It may encourage U nita- Siberian Jews.

rians to know that their Universalist -N. A.. Indians. The Indian Pres- bytery of Dakota, composed of conbrethren are taking the same view of verted Sioux Indians, during the last ecclesiastical year gave $571 more the opportunities for missionary labor to foreign missions than any other presbytery in the synod, and during in Japan." the last synodical year gave to the nine boards of that church $234 more -By the censns of 1885 Japan had than any of of the white presbyteries of the synod. a population of 37,868,987. Its area -Madagascar, Electric Telegraph. is 148,456 square miles, equal to that A good deal of interest and inquiry has been excited among the people of New England, New York and Indi- of Antananarivo and its neighbor- hood by the completion of the first ana combined. The first Christian line of electric telegraph in Madagas- car, from Tamatave to the capital. church in Japan was organized fif- This has been done by a French com- pany, and is to be taken over by the teen years ago, in 1872. The latest native Government in a few months, on payment of a considerable sum. reports from all missionary societies Great is the wonder of the people as to how messages are sent through working within the empire give 193 this insignificent-Iooking wire. It seems strangely familiar, ,Yet novel, churches, with 14,815 members. to the European residents to see the line of poles and wires crossing the There are 261 stations and out-sta- hills and valleys oflmerina.-Ohron- cle of London Miss. Society. tions, with 324 male and female mis- -Palestine. There are now Young sionaries. The American Board has Men's Christian Associations at Jeru- salem, Beirut, Damascus, Jaffa and opened three new stations within the Nazareth.

last year-one at Sendai, in the north- -The Carmelite monks on Mount Carmel offered their 20,000 acres in ern section; one at Tokio; one at Galilee to the Roman Catholic Pales- Kumamoto, on the island of Kiushiu.

-Rnssia is fully awake to the QPPOl·tunities in Japan. According to the statement of the Russian news- papers there are 205 communicants of the Greek Church in Japan, with 16 priests and 104 native preachers, and the number of Japanese belonging to that religion is 12,500. The number of churches and prayel'-houses is 108, and there are three children's schools, with a total of 150 pupils.

There is also a girls' school, attended by some fOliy young Japanese fe- males. The latter building, which was a gift by the Countess Pontiatine, is capable of accommodating 100 pu- pils. In 1886 the number of converts and children bapti:r.ed amounted to 1,470. The number of teachers is said to be too small, and recruits are called for. '

.- Jews. The Israelit announces that Baron De Hirsch has given the tine Society, which alrElady has es- ary labor in India, where he is to be tablished a colony on Lake Tiberias. supported by his late fellow-students at Princeton, and he has taken the -The Church Missionary Intelli- opportunity of addressing students at gencer prints an order addressed to the the Scottish and English Universi- Moslem Muchtars by the Governor of ties. Mr. Forman has a unique mis- Jerusalem, in which be says his Ma- sionary conneetion. His grandfather, jesty the Sultan forbids the attend- father, mother, three uncles, two ance of any Moslem children at any brothers and a sister have been misfor~ign school within the Ottoman sionaries. He has helped not a little domiJ;lions. Penalties are attached to promote a missionary spirit among for those who violate this order, and students in America, and we trust his one father has been thrown into zeal and enthusiasm will have the prison for sending his child to the same result among our students in mission school. Scotland. The University Missionary Associations have been working his -Persia. The Amerisan Presby- meetings at the University seats, and terian Board is protesting strongly they are sure to get a blessing from against the interference of the En- contact with a man so thoroughly glish ritualists who, apparently under consecrated. Weare glad to notice the patronage of the Archbishop of that Sir Charles Bernard, K.C.S.I., Canterbury, have planted their men was to address the Edinburgh Uniclose by the side of those who are versity Missionary Association on carrying forward a successful work, 26th November, his subject being and where collisions must inevitably "Missions in Burmah."-Ohurch of occur. They have allied themselves Scotland Missionary Record. with two notoriously corrupt Nestorian bishops, who are pronounced by -Siam. A Christian High School all parties deserving of deprivation is to be established to train Christian from their office. This utter dis- workers and raise up a native minregard of missionary comity deserves istry. Rev. J. A. Eakin, for foul' the severest condemnation. years a teacher in the King's School in Bangkok, is to be the principal. He -Russia. A new religiOUS sect has raised nearly $13,000 conditionhas appeared in the Government of ally, and asks for about $2,000 ad- Saratoff. Its adherents do not rec- ditional, which he thinks will be ogl)ize the use of the mass or of image, and consequently do not frequent sufficient to establish it on a permathe churches. Their canon of Holy Scripture consists only of the Penta- nent basis, with a fail' prospect of its teuch, the Psalms of David, and the becoming self-supporting. Aid will Gospels. They take their meals in probably come from native Siamese common, and abstain from meat, of wealth and liberality, and the atbrandy, and tobacco. titude of the king towards Christian- ity is friendly. The Siamese are de- -The New Testament in Calmuck pendent on the Presbyterian Church has recently been published by the of this country for their evangeliza- Russian Imperial Academy of Sci- tion. In Siam propel' are only four ences, and copies have been sent to ordained missionaries and foul' or five Astracha~, where they were rapidly native preachers for a population of purchased by converts, and the re- six to eight millions. mainder sent for distribution by European missionaries in Asia. -Spain. Twenty years ago the gospel was not allowed to enter. -Scotland. The students at our What hath God wrought! Scottish Universities have recently been visiteq by the Rev. John N. FO,r- -The evangelist Juan Fuente, of man, a graduate of Princeton, United Granada, son of a Catholic family in States. He is on his way to mission- Northern Spain, who was intended

MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS

for the priesthood and studied seven selves without such a public profesyears i'n a seminary, became it con- sion. Fuente estimates the whole vert to Protestantism. He states number of Protestants in Spain at that on Palm Sunday, 1869, the first present to be from 26,000 to 30,000 evangelical church in Spain was dedi- souls. cated in Madrid. About sixty larger or smaller societies have been formed, -Yo M. C. Associations. The Inwhich are under the direction of mis- ternational Committee reports 1,176 sionaries or pastors, and in all the associations in the United States and larger cities of Spain there are fully Canada, with an aggregate memberorganized Protestant congregations. ship of 155,000. In Germany there Many denominations are engaged in are about 700 associations, with a. this work. The Scotch and English membership of 40,000. They are Mission Societies are, however, tak- called " Evangelical Young Men's ing the lead, and have scattered Associations," and recently held thousands of Bibles and Testaments their second National Assembly at through the land. The number who Dessau. In Germany these associahave openly embraced the evangel- tions stand in a closer connection ical faith are from 12,000 to 14,000; a with the churches than they do in large number have connected them- America, but their general aim and work are about the same.

VI.-MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.

China: The distinguishing charac- or from six to eight times the poputeristic of the" Middle Kingdom" is lation of the United States. Should VASTNESS. With the exception only they pass us in single file the proces-. of Russia it is the largest empire of sion would never end, for another ancient or modern times, stretching generation would be on the stage of over nearty forty degrees of latitude history before the present generaand seventy-five of longitude. and tion had passed before us.

having one-tenth of the area of the The Chinese are a very uncommon people. Their national life is marked habitable globe. by both antiquity and tenacity. A Ii:; lies on the eastern slope of the nation that was already strong when Rome was in infancy, and even when grand plateau of Central Asia, and Saul rose to the throne of the Hebrew consequently always looks toward people, may be pardoned for boastthe sunrise; and from the sea-line at ing of old age. China is not only its base rises to the snow-line at its ancient but antiquated. The Chinese summit. From the altitudes of Deod- boast of t.he past and they live in the hunga and Tengri Khan the slope past. Yet they have not been a lazy sweeps almost uninterrupted toward people; there have been both industry the Sea of Japan and the China Sea. and invention, as the mariner's com- What wondersucha water-shed sends pass, printing, porcelain and gunrivers to the sea such as the Yang- powder attest. When Britain was in tse-Kiang and the Hoangho, which barbarism, China was civilized; and bear to the ocean the commerce of when Britons wore skins the Chinese 200,000,000 and are respectively 3,000 wore silks. What America is on this and 2,000 miles long; or that, with side of the Pacific, China is on the such varieties of climate, every prod- other, in the Oriental world-the conuct may be found which ministers to trolling nation. man's needs or indulgences! The pride of the Chinese in their But we are concerned mainly with ancient civilization is unique in its the vast popUlation occupying such a absurdity. Their nine sacred books territory, and which has been estimated at fl'om 350,000,000 to 500,000,000, contain all needful knowledge; their _000,000 of heathen women. What past with its 3,000 years comprises all if there are 250 missionary ladies, the glories of history. They do not three-quarters of whom have do- see that their golden age is pa8t- mestic duties? Could they all de- that, like Confucius, their empire vote all their time, each would have· reached its maturity centuries ago about 800,000 women to care for I and has simply been embalmed and Their language seems a master sepulchred. For a thousand years device of the devil to shut out the they have been virtually standing Gospel. Chiefly monosyllabic, every still, while the earth has moved character is the name of a thing.. In around them. Their civilization is a their official lexicon the vocabulary petrifaction. Their self-conceit op- reaches nearly 50,000 words, at least pose, improvement, which is insanely ten per cent..of which are needful for resisted as innovation. They are iso- a scholat'. The characters are so Com- lated, a walled kingdom, and opinion- plicated that they require from five ated to a farcical ex.tent. While to fifty strokes, and uttered in ten their Emperor sits on a dragon different ways may mean as many throne, and, as Son of Heaven ruling different things. There is only a tone over the Celestials, signs his decrees between ocean and itch, and in say- with the sacred vermilion pencil, ing " My Lord" you may say" My their antiquated geography gives pig" I nine-tenths of the world to China, a With all this vast vocabulary there square inch to Great Britain, and is no capacity for sacred ideas. The leaves out America altogether I very language is leprous-40,000 They are at antipodes with all the words for vices and passions; none rest of mankind. We read horizon- for spiritual graces I For half a cent- tally, they perpendicularly; we from ury translators doubted what name the left, they from the right; we un- to use for God. The expressive na- cover the head in salutation, they tional emblem is the dragon.

put on a cap; we black boots, they The idolatry costs annually about whitewash them; we shake a friend's $200,000,000, and the making of idols hand, they shake their own; we put and articles for worship is the trade footnotes below, they above the page. of millions. It is easier to find a god The educational and civil service than a man. Oonfucianiffm, built systems have won wide praise. No on the moral precepts of Confucius, matter how poor, if a student can is the State religion; Tauiffm is Chi- pass the great national examination, nese rationalism leavened with sorce- he can hold any office. Scholarship ry; Buddhism is the pagan original is the key to every position. Knowl- of Romanism. And yet, with aU these edge of reading, writing and numbers gods and religions, the Chinese are a is quite universal. In the Southern nation of atheists-cunning, corrupt, provinces every village supports its given to drink, gambling, lust and.

school. There are 10,000 cells for ex- opium. Woman is fearfully degrad- amination, and the names of the suc- ed. The birth of a daughter is a cessfullist are graven on stone in the curse, and infanticide of girls is fear- temple of Confucius,and the leader ful; they are drowned and buried.

of the successful candidates is led alive, exposed and sold. Woman is about in honor like Mordecai. denied a soul even by their sages.

But all this civilization bears one That the Chinese Government ap- sad and awful brand of sin. In preciates our Western civilization their ethical and religious systems was shown in the new policy of the resides no redeeming power. The Chinese Government in sending Chun light of Asia is darkness. Within Lai Sun and Yung Wing to this that empire alone are nearly 200,- country in 1872 to superintend the education of one hundred and fifty declares priests to be eunuchs, with Chinese youth for future service in whom the people practice sodomy; their native country, and devoting a which is called "adding to knowl- million dollars to this educational edge." This vile book accuses worship- project. But whence came the sug- ers of the wildest licentiousness at the gestion? Who first taught Lai Sun close of religious services. Brides are and Yung Wing, and brought them said to spend the night after marriage to this country for a Christian educa- with the religious teacher. The men tion? The British intervention for are all charged with adultery. The the overthrow of the slave-trade at Christians are said to Iive by com- Zanzibar and in Interior Africa is merce and plunder; to gain access to creditable to the Government and the foreign lands by knowledge of math- nation; and the enterprising news- ematics, astronomy and machinery, papers which instituted the Expedi- and to give a pill to converts which tion to Ujiji has received the praises confuses their brains and excites of the world. But there would have their passions. Baptism is declared'

been no occasion for winning such to be performed in nudity, and pros- applause in either case had not Rob- tituted to the basest purposes. The ert Moffat and David Livingstone first eyes and heart of the dying are cut gone as missionaries to South Africa. out to be used in magical 'arts. In- How violent some of the opposition cest is practiced, parents are dis- to the Christian faith is may be seen honored, children are killed, converts from the following. It is almost too are bribed, the cross is worshiped, bad to print, but we know of no other and seizure of the whole land is in- way to expose the truth: A very tended! Professed testimony is ad- singular Chinese book, intended to duced in support of these vile slan- inflame the masses against the Chris- ders and diabolical lies !

tians, was, some years ago, trans- When Peter Parker and S. Wells lated into English from one of the Williams went to China, they had not only two copies which the mission- room to set foot to preach the gospel.

aries could obtain, it having been cir- But they never gave up, and now Dr.

culated secretly by the mandarins, Williams, after nearly thirty-two and kept out of their reach. The years in China, belie''es that, at the translation was forwarded from present rate of progress, fifty years , Shanghai, and a perusal shows the will transform the government to a malignant opposition of the upper nominally Christian one.

dasses to foreigners, and well ex- A word as to the history of Chi- plains the massacres and burnings nese Missions. Twelve centuries ago perpetrated by the Chinese. Its title the Nestorians planted churches, is "Deathblow to COlTUpt Doctrines , which were trodden out by the iron -A Plain Statement of Facts. Pub- heel of Genghis Khan and the Ming lished by the Gentry and People." dynasty. In the 13th century Rome Skillfully written by some of the lit- came with seven archbishops, and terati, it professes to give the history, again, 300 years ago, with Ricci, the the doctrines and the practices of Jesuit, and now claims about 400,000 Christians, who are held up as mon- baptized converts. '

sters of lust and crime. Much of the The pioneer of Protestant missions book is too obscene in its representa- was Robert Morrison. In 1808, in tions to be quoted, intended to dis- Canton, he wore native costume, gust all decent people with the very studying and praying in broken Chi- idea of Christianity, whether Romish nese by night, and working by day.

or Protestant. It t'eats Romanism After seven years he gave China the as the real religion of Jesus, and New Testament in the native tongue, Protestantism as only a disguise. It and baptized his first convert. Joined "by Wm. Milne, in 1818, they two gave think of the statement by tke Rev. the whole Bible to China. In 1829 Dr. Norton that the average yearly the A. B. C. F. M. sent Bridgeman and contributions to the cause of missions Abeel. Converts increased from 351 by converted heathens is $1.50, and in 1853 to 8,000 in 1871, multiplying the average contribution of EpiscotwentY7two fold in eighteen years! palians in the United States 7:14' cents?

The China Inland Mission, origi- MISSIONARY TEXTS AND THEMES. nated in 1866, is doing a marvelous A TEXT for parents who withhold work. Its principles are: 1. No ap- their children from this work-Jno. peal fOI' funds. 2. No rigid denomi- iii: 16: "For God so loved the world national features. 3. No uniform that He gave His only begotten Son." educational standard. 4. No stated The Orisis of the Harvest-field. salary. 5. Occupation of unoccupied Matt. ix: 37. Compo Rev. xiv: 15. fields. 6. Probation for candidates be- Ripeness rapidly reaches rottenness. fore taking rank as full missionaries. When a harvest is" ripe it must be 7. Adoption of native dress, queue, reaped. Thesickle mustbe putin now, etc. Rev. J. Hudson Taylor is the if ever. Compare Joel iii: 13. Mark head of the Society. iv: 29. Also Matt. ix: 36. Christ's Com- SUGGESTIVE PARAGRAPHS. passion. THE author of "Crisis of Missions" 1. The multitudes. 2. Their shepsent a copy to a clergyman. This is herdless condition. 3. Their scattered the note of reply: "Dr. – – returns state, without fold or protection, exthanks for the book, whose research posed to beasts of prey; 4. Their and composition are worthy of a bet- exhausted state-like sheep, ready to ter subject than Foreign Missions. die in the wilderness. Excessive foreign missions always re- Matt. x : 27-42. The Laws of the mind me of Mrs. Jellyby and Bor- Kingdom: rioboola Gha, in 'Bleak House! ' " 2. Promulgation of Gospel (27). 1. For years the cry of the various Fearlessness in duty (28). 3. Faith in Boards has been retrenchment, and Providence (29-31). 4. Open confeswe seem to be unable to get beyond sion of Christ (32, 33). 5. Separation the fatal line of ten millions annually unto God (34-36). 6. Supreme preferas the sum total of all the great de- ence for God (37). 7. Sacrifice of self nominations. In 1881-2 it reached (38, 39). 8. Final recompense (40-42).. $8,967,000; in 1882-3, $9,623,850; in We heard a stirring address from 1883-4, $10,021,796; in 1884-5, $10,- Mr. Telford, of which we give the 371,702; in 1885-6, $10,297,238; we outline: When God wanted prophets have not the complete reports for in old time, He called shepherds to· 1886-7, but they will not reach much go to His lost sheep. When Christ beyond this. Thus for four years we wanted evangelists, He called fisherhave stood virtually still at the ten men. A fisher of men must be million dollar line, varying only about 1. A man offaith-believe there are a quarter of a million, while in every fish to be caught, and that the means department of mission work the de- he employs are effective. mands have been growing with mar- 2. A self-sacrificing workman. Paul velous rapidity. Is this responding the champion soul-winner. See 2 Cor. to the providence of God? xi: 23-29. 1 Cor. ix ;.19. The English Church receives in 3. A man who can set others at tithes about $20,000,000 a year. Of work. All sorts are needed in the this amount $5,000,000 is expended in boat-men keen for the nets, who sit hospitals, schools, church building, at the end and keep hands on the nets etc., and the remaining $15,000,000 to notice when the fish are caught ~ others strong at oars, etc. goes to pay the salaries of the clergy.

What do Protestant Episcopalians

STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS

4. A man who looks /01' guidance net to the shore, when the fish ~e -when and where to let down the enclosed, to secure them. Many a fisherman loses his haul by delay. net. Codfish get among his herring, etc. 5. A man who promptly drags the VII.-STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS.

-The Seven Protestant Missionary Societies age contribution: To Foreign MiSSions, per of18OO have become more than 100. Their total member, 23 cents; to Home Missions, per mem- income then was less than £50,000; now it has ber, 27 cents; to State MiSSions, per member, grown to £2,220,000. Then the converts num- 11 cents; to general benevolence, per member, bered about 50,000; now they are nearly 3,000,- 70 cents ; to church expenses, per member, $1.80. 000. Every Protestant denomination of the least importance has uts foreign missionary so- -There are more than 500 Baptist churches in Burmah, with over 26,000 communicants. ciety. -IUhe missionaries sent out by every Prot- -Dnring the reign of Queen Victoria the Church of England has built 6,000 churches and estant society be distributed among the 1,030,- places of worship. Seven dioceses have been 000,000 of the pagan world, there is but one to created, and $405,OOO,OIJO subscribed voluntarily in !the last twenty-five years for church pur- each 2OO,000! Is that enough ? poses. -The American Home :Missionary Society has -The reports of the Ueformed Episcopal aided in planting 8,m churches, and 1,600 minis- Church for last year are: Baptisms, 907; con- firmations, 916; received otherwise, 519 ; pres- ters are now under commission, 135 preaching ent number of communicants, 8,429 ; contribu- in foreign languages. tions for all purposes, $155,861.51; church bnildings, 87; value of church property, less in- -The snm of $171,000 has been returned to cumbrances, $1,077,758. the Congregational Union in the last thirty-four years by churches which were aided in the erec- -The statistics of missionary work in Japan tion of houses of worship by this society. There for the year 1886 contain many cheering facts. are now 550 unhoused congregations that are ap- Adults baptized, 3,640, making a total member-· pealing for aid. ship of 14,815. There are now 193 organized churches, 64 self-supporting; 93 native visitors, -To-day there are 500,000 native Christians in and 169 theological students; £5,377 were con- India. Yet there was a time when a di.cour- tributed by the native converts. The average aged missionary said: "If I ever see one of wages of a day laborer do not exceed twenty these natives converted to Jesus Christ, I shall cents. One man gave £2,000 to found a school see something more nearly approaching the res- under the care of the American Board. urrection of a dead body than anything I have ever seen." -There are now :-'7 vessels engaged in mis- sionary work in different parts of the world, -'l'he China Inland Mission has 129 unmar- under the auspices of 16 societies; of tbese mis- ried and 43 married missionaries; these, with sionary vessels 16 are running on the coasts or 117 native workers and the wives of the mission- rivers of Africa, and six among the islands of aries, constitute a band of over 800, and the the Pacific.- Calcutta Witne88. mission asking for 100 more, of whom 94 are al- _ ready secured. The income of the past year was -The A. B. C. 1<'. M.'s receipts for the first £28,OIJO. Donations were received from Africa, three months of the ftoancial year are $106,811- Palestine, America, New Zealand, Australia, .93-an Increase over corresponding months of India, and every European country except Aus- last year of about $39,000. tria, Turkey, and Greece. Of converts, the so- ciety mention 1,655 as "in fellowship," and 402 -Samoan Islands. Of the 27,1JOO inhabitants ~OOO are church members, and there are at as baptized during the year. present 3,000 candidates for membership I -Asa general statement in reference to Prot- There are two hundred native pastors at work, and asking for money or collections is unknown. estant MiSSions throughout the world, the fol- The people give themselves and their money lowing may be regarded as a fair approximation eagerly to the work. to the truth: Ordained missionaries, 3,500; fe- male missionaries, 1,800 (many wives of mission- -The British and Foreign Bible SOCiety has aries not reported); native helpers, 30,000; an annual income of $1,125,000; has auxiliary communicants, 620,000; annual receipts, about societies numbering 5,300, and issues over $11,000,000. Not far from two and one-half mil- 4,000,000 copies of the Bible in 280 tongnes and lions of souIs in pagan and Mahommedan lands .langnages. are receiving Christian instrnction. -The London Missionary Society, with only -The Moravians report for the past year »9,- thirty English missionaries at Madagascar, re- 283 communicants in their mission fields, with a ports the astounding number of 828 native or- Wtal of 83,052 persons under the care of their dained ministers and 4,395 native preachers, missionaries. The total receipts were £24,000. with 61,000 cl!urch meJ!lbers and 230,000 "ad· There is a deficiency of upward of £1,200. herents.'· -Taking the Baptist Chnrch membership in the United States at 2,782,570, there is an aver- -BerU. tlOlltaiU more thaa one million Minutes of 1887. Theyrepresent the year 18ll6, Protestanta, yet, according to olllcial statlsties save in a few instances where they are from the just published, there are sittings for only 50,422 olllcial books of 1886, 1885, or 1884_ O~OIl>' in the Protestant churches. ally the Year Books say "congregatiollll," but in nearly all cases the fignres represent organ- -Aeeordlng to the eonll1la of 1881 there were Ized churches. in India ~,980,662 widows. Of these, 1169,100 were under nineteen years of age. BAPTIST. I J -The Cli1lreh MlmoDlll7 Society's baptized Regniar Bap., North.. 174,,334488 6,7.~ 681,585 tmtive Christians in Ceylon are 6,378. The adnlt Regul.3r Bap., Sonth.. 8,828 …… 1,005,170 baptisms last year were 126, and there are 273 Regular Bap., COlored adnlt candidates tor baptism. There are six 5,562 985.815 Singhalese and six Tamil native clergy, 156 Singhalese and 187 Tamil native lay teachers, Total Regular Bap. 30,522 19,377 2,732,570 and 9,'135 scholars in the 192 schoolA, 5,841 being Other Bap. and kin- Singhalese and 3,952 Tamils, dred hodies ……. . 11,867 8,626 997,175 -central Asia, including Thibet, is the only large region destitute of missionaries; yet, at Total Baptist and this late day, there is but one Protestant mls- kindred bodies : 42,889 28,000 3.729,745 sionary to 200,000 pagans. CONGBlIGATIONAL. -Estimated British Contrlb1ltlODll to Foreign Missions•………. , .. , ..•.••…•.•..£1,220,000. Congregatioual " •. . . • 4,2'1'7 4,01/0 486,379 Equal to 3 times annual income of wealthiest :415,005 EPISCOPALIANs. -3,~ nobleman. 8,000 Equal to 1-110 cost of liquors in the United Prot. Episcopal……. 3,450 .., Reformed Episcopal 76 Kingdom. Total Episcopal .. 3,528 910 1!18,988 Equal to 1-25 of the Government revenue from 1,449 180 their sale. LUTHliiBAN. 006 ls,~ 360 1,094 Equal to 1-25 of cost of British.Army and Navy. General Synod••…… 1,835 813 297:881 -CardInal Larigerle, Archbishop of Ag1ers, United Synod, South. 2,006 206,00 General Connell …… 1,923 who is deeply interested in Missions, calcnlates Synodical Conference. that Roman Catholics contribnte only about 1-20 Independent Synods.. as much to this end as Protestants. Total Lutherau•.• 7,573 3,990 930,830 -The English Methodists have completed 12,0111 one century of Foreign MiSSionary work, at first lIfETHODIST. 10,951 12,O'i5 2,002,452 withont a distinct organization for this, which 4,434 1,066,377 did not come until 1814. First published report Methodist Episcopal_ 'ii;Q 1,882 ~,~ in 1818. Their income then was £18,434, now M. E. South ……… . 2,000 £128,584. African M. EpIS ….. . 1,729 166;729 A. M. Ellis. Zion.•…. 60 21,000 -Amerleans claim to be sending 76 per cent. Col. M. Episcopal. … . of the missionaries who go to Japan, 40 per cent. U. Amer. M. Epis… . of those to China, and 18 per cent. of those to India. Total M. Epis… . 23,114 22,180 4,081,558 Protestant Methodist. 1,570 128,709 -8e1'81ltr-three missionaries for India, China, Congregational Meth. I'M: and Palestine sailed October 20, on the steamer Independent Meth… . 35 200 8,000 Khedive, of the well-known P. & O. line. They Free Methodist…… . 30 5,000 represented the Winter Mission to India, the Wesleyan Methodist.. '400 514 16,826 China Inland, the Church Missionary, and Eng- Primitive Methodist .. 113 280 18,260 lish Presbyterian Societies. Reformed Methodist.. 60 53 5,002 Kindred bodies …… . 6,286 -Boston, Jan, ii. Intelligence has been re- 50 2,500 ceived by the American Board of Foreign Missions that the Tnrkish Government is revising 2,656 335,561 its schoollaws, with the aim of suppressing the American and other foreige schools. Total Metb. and kiudred bodies. 32,071 27,642 4,601,416 -Drl Jessup, of Beirut, writes that "the Sultan ofTnrkey has set his seal of imperial ap- l'1IESBYTEBIAN• probation upon thirty-two editions of Arabie Bcriptares, allowing them to be sold, distributed, General Assembly…. 5,654 696,767 and shipped without let or hindrance." Of the Gen. Assem., Sonth.. 1,116 150,398 booksissned by the Beirut press, 290 have passed U. P. Ch. of N. A …. . under examination in Damascns by the govern- Cumberland Pres … , 'T36 94,641 ment officials. and have received anthorization. CumberlandPl·es.,Col- 1,563 145,146 -Evangeli~,al Christianity in the United ored………….. .. 200 15,000 States. The following statistics are from ad- Reformed Pres…… . 119 100 10,832 vanced sheets of the "History of Christianity Gen. Synod of Ref_ 54 32 6,800 in the United States," by Dr. Dorchester, who 116 66 7,015 bas compiled them, as' far as possible, from the Presbyterian……. . 175 84 9,563 Associated Ref. Syn., 400 300 25,000 South………….. Welsh Presbyterian.. Several other small bodies …… '" .. .. .

KINDRIID l'1IESBYTElIIAN BODIES.

Reformed (late Dutch) 547 547 85,543 Church ………. .. 13 1,481 8 564 True Reformed Dutch 802 183,980 Church…………

Ref.(1ate Ger.) Church Total Pres. and kindred oodles. 15,002 11,24.1 1,431,249 0Tmm BoDUl8. Che. Min. 13P4O, E7'7 – Mileelloeou. a,~ 1,32l. 82,000 In 1837 there were of Foreign Kii!SIOBary ; Adventists, ete..••… 553 500 60,009 Societies, in rreat Britain ……………… 10 ~:.nd~=: 'Church 1,755 142,000 U.S. A………………………………… '1 689 Continent of Europe. .. .. ….. .. . .. …. .. …. 10 Union•…………. 1,500 125,000 Christian………… . 8 1,3~ 35,850 Total……………………………… 2'1 Christian U n Ion 1,200 Estimated Incomes-British …….. £300,000 Churehes……… . 10 Bnndry small bodies..

Aggregate …….. 112,744 83,84512,132,851 American and Continental (com· 'CHURCHES NOT TABULATING COJUroNIOANTS. bined). . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . . . . .. . $725,000 Minis- 1Ilissionary Agenta (of every kiD<l)- ters. P()p'n. Roman Cath.-<Jhurches 8,912 7,858 . t7,wo,OOO British, abont.. ……………. 1,084 Jews-Congregations. .. 250 t300,OOO American and Continental, abont 542 Shakers-Commnnities. 18 t9,OOO Oonverts-Britlsh, abont. .. ……. 200,000 Pto~slve Friends . . . . t23,OOO New Jernsalem Church American and Continental, abont. 100,000 -Societies . . . . . . . . . . . 128 115 *5,004 1800.. Protestant Missionary Societies '1 UniversalistR-Parishes. 934 873 *34,987 1886.. 100 Unitarians-Parishes… 355 *Members as far as reported. tEstimated. 11:lOO..Estlmated income….. . . . . . . . . $250,000 • -British and Foreign Bible SooletJ. 1886.. abont ……. $11,100,000 1817…. Income ………… ………. £120,000 188l..Converts (commnnicant and 1887…. .. (estimate)…. :……. £225,000 non-commnnicant), abont…. 50,000 1817..•.Auxiliaries at home……….. 2,370 1887…… .. •.••.. .••• 5,300 1886..Converts (commnnicant and 1817.•..Annual issne…………….. 000,000 non-commnnlcant), abont…. 3,000,000 1887…. .. .. (estimate)……. 4,000,000 -London MlssionarySoeiety. Founded UBi. 1817….Cheapest Bible…………… 28. First missionaries went ont 17~ (4 minis- 1887…. " "…… .•……. M. ters); 1817…. .. Testament…. …… lOd. 1816. Itl. Sta- Mlsslon- 1887…. .. tions. aries.

-Bible Distribution in la,o bJ the A. B. S. In Asia. .. .. . . . .. . . .. .. .. 12 23 Year. Vois. No. Pal!:es. Cash. Africa.. . .. . . .. .. . . .. .. 20 38 (12 natives.) 757,Il00 Rae'd. 1874……… :.. 7,500 North America…….. 5 5 1,378,500 $400'00 1875………… 12,500 499,500 Sonth Sea……. …… 1 12 587 38 1878………… 4,500 1,843,492 59600 West Indies…. ……. 5 4, 4,009,941 431 41 1877………… 13,000 4,791,483 628 60 10,203,723 1,769 32 1878………… 22,831 10,899,884 1,988 25 43 80 10,394,389 4,071 18 1826………. 83 ordained missionaries. 1879.. .. . .. .. … 28,121 5,31385 16,137,738 6,57117 17 assistants and artisans. 188l…•..•….. 85,973 14,715.172 7,247 70 Abont 52 native assistants of all grades. 1881 ………… 68,798 12,857,701 Income 1796-1805…………………. £64,016 1882………… 38,439 17,946,712 .. 1806-1815………. …•.••…•• 83,828 1816-1825 …………………. 247,585 1883. • . • . . • ••. .• 30,257 1826-1835…………………. 349,359 • 1884………… 35,771 1885………… 34,360 1886.••••••••••• 41,345 401,795 106,235,693 $29,584 66 I Dates. tiSotnas-. EaunroOpred-.I Lay Lady Native Native Income. Miss. MiSs. Miss. Ord. Native Commn- Chn. Miss. Preachers nicants. Adher'nts Scholars. 11431 – – ——— 18371~ 1 ——– 451 6,615 34,222 £64,372 1886 1,786 136 10 23 1:072 6,096 90,661 327:374 140,387 124,078 INDIA. Assoc18tes ………………………. . 10 GENERAL STATISTICS. 1886. Total…. ……………………… 225 590 1851. 620 Native helpers………… …………. 11'1 490 Stations …………………. . 222 Stations……… ………………….. 52 2,000 Foreilm missionaries ………• 339 3,880 Out-stations…………….. ,………. 66 Native ordained ministers….• 21 Provinces occnpied of the 18.. . . . . . . •. •. 14 Evangelists and catechista…. . 493 Income last year………………….. £22,149 Churches or conl'(1'egations …. . 267 Increase over former year …………… £1,900 Native Christians………….• 91,092 487,000 Commmnnicants. ….. ……………… 1,655 Commnnieants …………… . 14,661 125,325 Boarding-scholars. . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. 120 CHINA.. .Day scholars. . .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . . .. . .. 88 Ptotestant communicants in 1853…… . 350 Native contribntions ………………. £94 98. 1883…… . 2,000 1873 …… . 8,000 Dec. 31, 1886. 1883…… . 22,000 Inclndlng adherents …………… . 100,000 Societies reported for China. . . . . . . . . . 3'1 -china Inland Mission. Missionaries-Men ………•…. 446 MiSSionaries, married and unmarried… 172 Wives ……….. 316 Inclnding wives. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. . 215 Unmarriedwomen 157- 919 China Inland Mission …•..•.• 92 men.

Presbyterian societies. . . . . . . .. 93 u Congregationalist. . . . . . . • . . . .. 53 "

BRITISH CONTRIDUTIONS TO MISSIONS

Methodists. . . .. . . . •. . .. . . . . . . . 70 men. Communicants – English Presbyterian. .• 3,312 Episcopalians ……………… 39 .. London M. S.. .. .. .. … 2,545 Americans ………………… 164 " M. E. North '" …….. 2,408 English.. . .. .. .. .. •.. .. .. .. … 230 " Basel Mission………. 1,611 China Inland.. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. •• 55 single ladies. AmericanBaptist,North 1,433 Americans……………….. 69 China Inland……….. 1,314 —————– Communicants-American Pres. North… 4,368 American Board……. 1,235 Statistics of the Principal Foreign Missionary Societies of the United States, 1886–87.

1 . ~ .; Mission- l'l ..: aries. ,"e. ~ J ! — ~ =~o~ ~ 1il SOCIETIIilS. -0 – ~ .;, !1 .; oS – – " e".<:I – – -0 – – -""""'"'"""l- – – S- – -6-" ~ — -&""! – American Board……………….. 89 891 190 2TI 2,037 325 28,042 2,906 $679,574 Presbyterian Board, North …•….. 110 R272 203 298 1,0« 310 21,420 2,791 784,158 Presbyterian Board, South•…•….. 23 105 29 33 48 39 1,616 375 S4,072 Reformed Church (Dutch) …•…… 11 101 26 32 214 31 2,471 77 86,787 United Presbyterian Board•…•..••• 15 106 18 36 375 31 6,161 2,341 Reformed Presbyterian Church….. 2 43 84,344 Cumberlaud Presbyterian Chnrch… 3 7 39 1 145 8 16,691 45 8 12 6 275 67 13,589 "Baptist Missionary Union ……….. 54 974 102 140 1,116 621 58,108 3,219 406,639- Baptist Southern Convention…..•. t19 24 35 58 38 1,551 228 87,705 Free Baptists………………….. 6 6 8 16 17 9 584 37 18,913 Seventh Day Baptists…………… 3 3 3 2 7 3 73 5 3,542 *Methodist Episcopal Church …….. t501 192 20,906 2,4~ Methodist ~scopal Church, South. t55 ..85 147 133 1,9:: 828,000 30 17 54 3,710 ;98,317 1~~ For. Chris. iss, SOCiJjr, (Disciples). 23 9 13 23 1,856 592 40,559 Protestant Ets. For. iss. Society.. 34 22 24 164 29 1,630 . 215 155,109 11 280 82,19& Evangelical utheran. Gen. Synod .. 2 69 88 ~,903 1,287 Reformed Chnrch of the U. S., Ger.. 3 1.1. 5 Evangelical Association•………… 5 4 2 10 5 750 n 1,275 4 4 8,965 United Brethren in Christ……….. 28 269 8 4 6 150 79 Southern Associate Reform'd Synod. 5 7 2 5 23 86 3,~ 638 1 4 4 78 20.100 – – – – – Friends……………………….. 7 11 -1-0 5,000- 7 – -6 4 – 392 . – 6-7 – – -22-,76-0 Totals ………………….. 998 3,048 912 — 1 1,091 7,478 1,903 159,216 17,494 $3,508,295 * Work of these societies in Protestant countries of Europe is not here reported. t Principal and subordinate stati<lns. :I: The portion of the missionary receipts of the church appropriated to Foreign Missions. II Incomplete returns. The work of the American Province of the Moravians is included in the statistics of Moravian Missions given in the table of British Societies.-Missionary 1lerald.

BRITISH OONTRIBUTIONS TO FOREIGN MISSIONS, 1886.

[WE are indebted to Rev. W. A. Scott-Robertson, Hon. Canon of Cant~r­ bury and Vicar of Throwley, England, for these highly interesting statistics, summarized and analyzed.-EDs.l Summary of British Contributions to Foreign MiSSions, 1886.

IlI)……………… Church of England Societies (Table No. 1) ….. …………… £486,082 No. 193,&17 Joint Societies-of Churchmen and Non-Conformists (Table English and Welsh Non-Conformist Societies (Table No. .I.I.)…………………… 330,128 Scotch and Irish Presbyterian Societies (Table No. IV)…. … …………… 177,184 Roman Catholic Societies (Table No. V) ……………………………. _… 8,703 Total British centrlbntions for 1885… .• . . . • •• • . • . .•.• ••• • . . ••• .• £1,195,714 N.B.-ThiB total does rwt include any funds derived from rents, dividend, or interests, 1W1' bal· ances in kand from the prevWuli yea1', 1W1' any foreign wntrilJutions.

ANALYSIS OF THIll RlIlCEIPTS, 1886.

Table No. I. Foreign Missions of the Church of England.

A~iS o~ Receipts.

From British A:b~~rot~a!d~t&s Contri- When Name of each Society, and 1~~~ Amount of its Receipts for butions Founded.

1799…. CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, £234,639 (in addition to £24,759 received £222,175 at Mission stations).

British contributions…… .. ………………………………….. Analysis o~ Receipts.

From Abroad & British When Name of each Society, and Total Amount ofits Receipts for from In- Contri- Founded 1886. vestments. butions. Home receipts from Churchmen abroad.. . .. •.. .. .. . . .. . . .. . .. .. .. •.. .. £938 Dividends, interest, and rents. .. . . . . . . .. .. . . .. ………………….. 11,526 N.B.- This Society maintains the Church MiBliWnary College at Isling- ton. which itfounded in 1B25. 1701 …. S0CIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GoSPEL. £107,390. £94,236 British contributions. . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. • . .. .. .. . . .. .. … .. .. .. Home receipts from Churchmen abroad. … ..••… …. ….•.•••.•.•• 2,985 Dividends, interest, and rents. ……………………… ………. … 10,100 1808….LONDON SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE JEWS, £36.734. I British contributions… .. ………………………………….. .. 33,251 Home receipts from Churchmen abroad ……………………….." 606 Dividends. interest, etc………….. …….. ……. ……………… 2,877 1880…. CHURCH OF ENGLAND ZENANA MISSIONARY SOCIETY. £23.651. British contributions………………………………………… .. From abroad ……………………………………………….. . 14 23,637 1823 .•.. COLONIAL AND CONTINENTAL CHURCH SOCIETY, £38,697. British contributions………………………………………… .. 19,920 Raised and expended abroad…. ………………….. ………….. 18,674 Dividends, interest. etc……… , . . .. .. .. .. • .. .. . . .. .. .. .. . …. . .. . .. . 98 1698…. S0CIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, £28,243 (in addition to £1lO.000 derived from trading).

Portion paid in aid of Foreign Mission work, ahout……….•••..••.•• 13,000 1800 …•CENTRAL AFRICAN MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITIES, £13,014. British contributious……….••………..•……….•…•••••••••..• From abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 947 11.310 Interest …………………………………………………… .. 757 1844….SOUTH AMERICAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. £12.578. British contributions …………………………………… , …. .. Raised and expended abroad………………………………….. 3,779 8,747 Interest, etc……………………………………………….. .. 44 1870….MISSIONARY LEAVES ASSOCIATION (aiding native clergy of the Church Missionary Society), £8.290. _ British contribntions ……………………………………….. .. 8,260 Dividends………………………………………………….. . SPANISII AND PORTUGESE,CHURCH AID SOCIETY. £5,279. 30 British contributions ……………………………………….. .. 5,279 1865..•.LADIES' ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING FEMALE EDUCATION AMONG THE HEATHEN. £5,S}5 (Included above iu the S. P. G. total). 1860.•••BRITISH SYRIAN SCHOOLS, £4,751. British contributions……….•••..•….•.•.•.••………••…•.•.•.• Interest……………………………………………………. . 4,661 90 MELANESIAN MISSION, £7,100. British contributions ………………………………………… . 2,307 Interest. £2,002; from abroad. £2.791……………… ………….. 4,793 1841. ..• COLONIAL BISHOPRICS' FUND, £18,049. 'British contributions. . . . . . .. . . . . . . ………………………….. .. Dividends and interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. .. •.. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . . •• 11,845 2.809 Grants from S. P. C. K. and S. P. G…. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. • .. 3,395 1869 …•" THE NET S" collections, £3, 946. For Mackenzie Memorial Mission ……………………………… . 74 2,502 For other funds … ' , ……………………………………….. .. 1,370 1883 ..••CENTRAL AGENCY FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. £1.678. . Sums not herein included in the totals of other Aocieties, about ….•.•. 1,500 1848..•. ST. AUGUSTINE'S MISSIONARY COLLEGE (exclusive of endowments for a Warden. a Sub·Warden, and tbree Fellows). £2,233. From Missionary Stndentship Associations …………………….. . From funded exhibitions ……………………………………. .. 611 1,621 1860…. CORAL MISSIONARY FUND (to aid schools and catechists of'Church MIs- sionary Society. £1.207. British contributions ……………………………………….. .. Interest……………………………………………………. . 1,185 1840…. FOREIGN AID SOCIETY (for France. Belgium, Italy, and Spain), £1,059 …• 1.059 1854 …. ANGLO-CONTINENTAL SOCIETY, £777 ……………………………… . 777 1867….DELHI MEDICAL MISSION TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN. £554 …………… 574 1877…. CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO :PELHI, £865. 492 British contributions ……………………………………….. .. Interest ….. ,.. .. . .. .. . .. .. . . . .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . . . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. 62 1691 …. CHBISTIAN FAITH SOCIETY FOR THE WEST INDIES (rents).. ………….. 2;176 COLUMBIA MISSION. about………………………………………. . 305 Total amouut of donations. legacies, and annnal subscriptions from the British 460,982 Isles to the societies above named for 1886. . . . . . . . .. .. . . . .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. 25,100 EsTIMATED VALUE of other gifts sent direct to Mission stations, or gathered specially for missionary dioceses, schools, or Zenana work ………………. .

Total for Church of England Foreign Missions, 1886………………………. £486,082 Table No. II. Foreign Missions-Joint Societies of Churchmen and Non- Conformists.-A. D. 1886.

1804..••BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY, £116,761 (iu addition to £104,888 £100.000 derived from sales).

Devoted to Foreign Mission work, about……………………….. ~~ o~ Receipts.

When Name of each Society, and Total Amount of its Receipts for From Founded. 1886. Abroad & BritiBh from In- Contri-· vestments. butlons.

1799 …. RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, £15,358 (exclusive of £184,833 derived from trade).

Devoted to Foreign Mission work, £17,117 ………••….•……….. £558 £16,559 1886…. CHINA INLAND MISSION, £22,149. 21,367 British contributions ………………………………………… . 762 From abroad ………………………………………………. .. 54 11,311 12 10,562 1852…. INDIAN FElIlALE NORlIlAL SOCIETY, £11,365 ……………..•……….. 1843…. BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GoSPEL AlIlONG THE 5,178 JEWS, £to,574……………………………………………. .. 1834….SOCIETY FOR PROlllOTING FElIlALE EDUCATION IN THE EAST, £6,074 (in addition to needlework sent abroad, valued at £4,447). British contributions ………………………………………… .

Dividends, etc., £500; grants, £183 …………………………… . 713 5,171 1732….MORAVIAN (EPISCOPAL) MISSIONS OF THE UNITED BRETHREN, £19,069. 13,275 British contribntions ………………………………………… . 623 Foreign receipts ……………………………. '" …… …….. Dividends and interest. . .. ….. .. .. …. . ….. . .. …… .. .. …. . …… 1872…•EAsT LONDON INSTITUTE FOR HOlliE AND FOREIGN MISSIONS, £10,594.

Portion devoted to Livingstone Mission and other Foreign Mission 3,367' work, about …………………………………………….. .. 1,306 1858….CHRISTIAN VERNACULAR EDUCATION SOCIETY FOR INDIA, £4,733 (in 58 addition to £3,928 received in India from sales).

British contributions………………………………………… . Grants and contributions in india… … . ……………………… . Interest……………………………………………………. .

W ALDENSIAN MISSIONS AID FUND. 2,354 English and Irish.contribntions………………………………. .

TRINITARIAN BmLE SOCIETY, £1,458 (in addition to £4,262 from sales). 1,443 British contribntions……………………………………….. .

Interest…………………………………………………….. 15 1,659 1856….TuRKISH MISSIONS (FROlll AlIlERICA) AID SOCIETy ………………… . ESTIlIlATED VALUE of other contribntions in money and In needlework,etc……. . 7,646 Total amonnt of British contributions through Uusectarian or joint societies of Churchmen aud Non-ConformiBts for 1886..•……………….. £19'3,617 Table No. III. Foreign Missions of English and Welsh Non-Conformists, 1886.

1813…. WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, £134,814 (in addition to £1,371 raised and expended in Mission stations.) Britiah contrlbntions………………………………………… . £121,708 From abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. £6,807 Dividends and interest……………………………………… .. 6,299 1795 ..••LoNDON MISSIONARY SOOIETY, £106,283.

British contributions…………………………………………. . 78,117 Raised abroad ………………………………………………. . 23,r03 Dividends and interest ………………………………………. . 4,133 1792..•. BAPTISr MISSIONARY SocIllrY, £79,884.

British contributions………………………………………… . 60,945 Raised abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17,640 Dividends, interests, ete…………………………………….. .. 11,299 1855….ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN FOREIGN MISSIONS, £16,075.

British Contributions………………………………………… . 16,075 For Women's Mission Fund see below. 1867…… FRIENDS" FOREIGN MISSION ASSOCIATION, £7,289. 6,778 British contributions……………………………………….. .. Dividends and iuterest ………………………………………. . 511 1832…. WESLEYAN LADIES' AuXILIARY FOR FElIlALE EDUCATION, £7,447. Britiah contribntions………………………………………… . 7,373 74 Interest …………………………………….•……………… 1856…. UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCHES' FOREIGN MISSIONS, £17,290. British contributions………………………………………… . 7,535 Raised abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,755 184ll….WBL8H CALVINISTIC METHODISTS' FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, £7,905. .

British contributions……………………………………….. .. 5,652 From abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,860 Interest, &c ………………………………………………… . 393 1817•.•. GBNERAL BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY, £6,949. 3,795 British contributions……………………………………….. .. From abroad ………………………………………………. .. 2,~ Interest, etc………………………………………………….. 2,654 METHODIST NEW CONNECTION FOREIGN MISSIONg……………•……. 2,999 1~••.•ENANGELICAL CONTINENTAL SOCIErY, £3,000.

British contribntions………………………………………… . 31 Interest, &c ………………………………………………… . 1836..•.COLONIAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY, £3,642. . British contributions………………………………………… . 3,141 471 ~~~~~~.t~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.:::::::::::::::::::::: 30 1,947 .. FRIENDS" MISSION IN SYRIA AND PALESTINE ………………….. .. 2,000 PROOTIV1It METHODIST COLONIAL lIISSIONS, about …•…•…•………. .Analysis o~ Receipts.

When Name of each Society, and Total Amount of its Receipts for From Founded. 1886. Abroad & British from In· Contri- vestments. butions.

PRIHlTIVE METHODIST AFRICAN MISSION, £1,775.

Briti.h contribntions………………………………………… . £1,711> From abroad ………………………………………………. .. £60 ENGLISH PRESBYTERiAN WOMEN'S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION, £1,740.

British contribntions……………………………………….. .. 1,694 Interest…………………………………………………… .. 46 ESTIMATED VALUE of needlework sent to Mission stations, and of other unreported contributions …………………………………… . 6,000 Total British contribntions through English and Welsh Non-Conformist Societiesfor 1886… . ……… ………….. .•.. .. .. …. …. …. …………. £330,128 Table No. IV. Foreign Missions of Scotch and Irish Presbyterians.

FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MISSIONS, £95,256.

( British' contribntions…………. " ………….. . £6,471 £if'I,~ Foreign Missions.l From abroad……………………………… . 25,972 5,099 7,068 ) Schoolfees and grants……………………… . 4,446 1,403 3,576 t Interest …………………………………. .. 143 2,735 61 30,500 Ladies' Society for Female Edncation…………………………. . Jews' Conversion Fund…………………………………….. .. 1,662 Continental Fund………………………………………….. .. '4,662 Colonial Mission ……………………………………………. . 18,501 UNITED PRESBYTERIAN FOREIGN MISSIONS, £43,164. 5,964 4,611 iBritish contributions, and legacies…•……•…..•…• 911 5,220 5,428 General fund From abroad …………………………………. .. 490 Interest, etc…………………………………… . 17,801 Continental and ColoniaL ……………………………………. . Zenana Mission …………………………………………….. . 8,571 3,000 1 :::::::::: J CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MISSION BOARDS, £16,481. 8,943 1,306 British contributions ………………. '" ……. . 1,264 Foreign Missions ~~:~t.~~~~~:.~~~~~~.~~~~'.~~:~: .~~::: 174 312 3,000 Jewish Mission …………………………………………….. . 2 Colonial and Continental Missions …………………………….. . Ladies' Association for Foreign Missions ………………………. . 1,137 Ladies' Association for Educating Jewish girls …………..•…….• 1 18&4….NATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND, $18,554 (in addition to £15,955 753 from sales). 321 British contribntions………………………………………… . Interest………….. : ……………………•…•…•….•.•…..•• 1841…. EDINBURGH MEDICAL MISSIONABY SOCIETY, £8,878. British contributions ………………………………………… . Interest……………………………………………………. .

WALDENSIAN MISSIONS AID FuND, about ………………. '" ……… . 1853…•LEBANON SCHOOLS ……………………………………………… . 1871…. ORIGINAL SECESSION CHURCH'S INDIAN MISSION, about•………….•.• EsTIMATED VALUE of other Scottish contributions………………..•..

Total Scottish Presbyterian contributions 1886……………………… . £161,&84 IRIsiI PRESBYTERIAN MISSION £19,458.

( £8,507-British contributions….•…•…•.•••••• 2,088 5,991 { .'::::::::::::. . . .::::::::::::: Foreign Missious 1 rS:c~h'o:o'el:f~e~e~s~a~:n:d::g:r:a:nts…………………….. . 161 261 Jewish Mission…………………………………………….. . 5 3,693 Ladies' Female Missionary Society……………………………. . 5 2,600 Colonial Mission ……………………………………………. .. 223 g~~!n~!f~~:f.:'n::::::::.':::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : 103 293 2,600 )Jrs. Magee's Indian, Education Fund (interest}………………….. 1,229 Total British contributions through Scottish and Irish Presbyte- rian societies for 1886………………………………………… .. £117,184 Table No. V. Foreign Missions of British Roman Catholics, 1886.

Founded. British ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH, £6,652. Contri· butions.

t~~~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: £::E aoout No B.-The total income of the Roman Propaganda for 1886, CQ/l8cted from every diooeu i·n Okrl,gtend<nn, anwunted to 6,649,958 FRANOS; i.e., £t65,998.

1870…•ST. JOSEPH'S FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY AND COLLEGE, at Hill Hill, Hendon……………………………………………………. ……… 2,051 Total. . .. . . . • . • . . . . … . .. . . . .. .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. . • .. … .. .. .. …. •.. …. … £8,~03

STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS

Summary for Sixteen Years.

British Cont. in 1871 for For. Missions £855,742 British Cont. in 1879 for For.Missions £1.086.678 " 1872 " 882 886 " 1873 " 1,002:176 " . 1880 " 1.108 950 " 1881 " 1,093:569 1874 1,009,199 1882 1.191.175 1875 1,048,408 1883 1.216,530 1876 1,048,472 1877 1,100,798 1884 1.220.861 1885 1,228,951 1878 –1-,0-7-1,-94-4———- 1887 1.195,714 Oomparison of Protesta.nt Ohristian Workers in the United 8t~tes with those in the Foreign Field.

MINISTERS WITH MISSIONARIES.

Population of the United States (est. 1886) ……………………………………. . 60,000,000 Total Protestant Ministers in the United States (1886) ……. ., …..•…..•………… 79,032 Average, 1 Minister to 769, or, jproundnumbers ……………………. . 800 Total population }-Heathen……………..•……………………….856,000,000} in the Mahommedan …………………………………. 175,000 000 1,181,000,000 Foreign Field. Catholic countries, like Italy, Spain, So. America, etc.. l50,ooo;OOO 'Total of all Ordained Protestant Missionaries in the Foreign Field (1886) …………. . 2,975 Average. 1 Missionary to 396,941,or, in round numbers ………………. . 400.000 . Proportion Home to Foreign, 500 to 1.

WORKERS WITH WORKERS. Total Protestant ~ Ministers in the United States (1886)…………….. 79,032} r Christian Workers LLay Preachers. … .. . ….. …… . ….. .. .. … ……. 83,950 in the Wives and other wom. workers, est.1 to each preacher 112.982 1,883,184 United States. J Sunday-school Teachers………………………. 1.107,170 59.666,866 Population. 60,000,000, less 883,134= ……………… : …………….. .. 1 Average, 1 Christian worker to each 44 persons. 37,837 2,975} Total Protestant Ordained Missionaries. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. •.. .. .. • 732 Christian Workers Lay…….. ….. ……… …….. .. …………… , . th-3J Id jWomen…………………………………….. 2,420 ,F Ordained Natives…… ……………… ………. 3,068 '? 28,642 oreIgn e. All other workers….. …… ……………… ….

Average, 1 worker to each 31,213 persons.

Proportion Home to Foreign. 70f) to 1.

CHRISTIANS WITH CHRISTIANS. 11,560,196 48.489,804 Protestant Ministers, Christian workers, and Chnrch members in the U. S. (1886) …•. Population, 60,000,000, less 11,560,196= …….. .'……………………………… .. 37,837 Average, 1 Protestant Christian to each 4 2-10 persons, or nearly 1 in 5 in the 652,028 Home Field.

Missionaries and Christian workers in Foreign Field ………………………….. . Total native communicants. .. . . . . .. . .. .. .. . .. .. .. …. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. .. 802,028 Less members in Protestant countries. like Germany. Sweden, etc., abont.. .. .. .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . 150,000 Total milIsionaries, Christian workers and church members in Foreign Field …….•• 689.865 Average, 1 Protestant Christian to each 1,712 persons in Foreign Field. Proportion Home to Foreign, 408 to 1.-Wm. E. Blackstone.

The Statistios of Lutherans in the United States, 1887.

The Lutheran (Philadelphia) gives the following summary: CHURCH ALMANAC. Comm. SRALI'S YEAR BOOK. 237,558 Mins. Congs~ 271,249 Mins. Congs. Comm. 31,487 General Conncil……… 821 1,484 297,100 General Council………1,096 1.924 281,320 Add. Ia. & Nor. Aug… 1,080 1,961 140,122 United Synod, South…. 188 366 29,545 Synodical Conference..l.167 314,9TJ United Synod, Sonth …. 166 3.51 213,893 General Synod ………. 964 2,257 138,479 Synodical Conference…l,101 1,618 Independent Synods…. 766 1.484 213.283 General Synod ………. 903 1,324 IndependentPastors & 1.921 10,eoo Indep't Synods (Iowa & 1,687 Congregations……… 34 40 Norway omitted) .. … 760 Ministers unconnected.. 77 Total. ……………4.215 7,992 9S7,BO?

Total. ……………4,058 6,841 947,357 LUTHERAN ALMANAC AND YEAR-BOOK.

LUTHERISCHE KALENDER. 289,827 General Council……. " 823 1,457 241,622 32,700 Add. Ia. & Nor. Aug.. l,096 1,984 281,648 General Conncil,………1,088 2,025 322,399 United Synod, South…. 182 378 140,267 United Synod, South…. 174 354 30,506 Synodical Conference.. 1,1.'1 194,122 Synodical Conference…l,169 2,202 320,822 General Synod ………. 910 1,638 15,000 General Synod ………. 928 1,482 138,669 Independent Synods…. '(87 1,373 994,405 Indepe't Synods (Iowa Independ't Pastors and 1,872 & Nor. Aug. omitted). 804 1.889 195,233 50 15,000 Congregations …….. 64 50 Independent Pastors & Congregations.. . . . . . . . 64 Total …………….4,202 7.336 TotaL …………… 4.243 7.972 981,28-3 Average of Almanacs ..4,179 7,535 977,661 ERRATrrM.-Ou page 41, Jannary number. onr printer made us to say Seventh Annual Meeting of the A. '8. C. F. M., instead of Seventy-seventh. as it was in copy.

The Missionary Review of the World — January 1888

PROSPECTUS OF THE REVIEW FOR 1888

JOINT EDITORS: J. M. SHERWOOD, A. T. PIERSON, NEW YORK. PHILADELPHIA.

VOL. XI. No. 1.—Old Series.—JANUARY, 1888.—VOL. I. No. 1.—New Series.

TEN years ago the Rev. Royal G. Wilder, who had spent 30 years in missionary work in India, unable longer to continue in that field, established this REVIEW at Princeton, N. J., on an independent basis, and has conducted it until now with remarkable energy and ability and won for it a very high character in all missionary circles. Failing health constrained him a few months since (he has since been called to his rest) to relinquish, with great reluctance but entire acquiescence in God's will, the further conduct of it; and at his earnest request Rev. A. T. Pierson and Rev. J. M. Sherwood consented to assume the editorship and regular issue of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW, beginning with January, 1888. In accepting the sacred trust, we realize the responsibility connected with it, and are anxious not only to carry on the work, so happily begun, but to enlarge the scope of the magazine, and broaden the field of its influence. Hence we propose at the start greatly to enlarge it, making it a monthly of 80 pages, give it a fine mechanical appearance, enlarge its scope, increase its literary and intellectual attractions, and bring it into harmonious relations with all the great missionary agents and movements of the age-in a word, to make it THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD in fact 'as well as in name-a Review truly Representative of the Spirit, Policy and Work of Modern Missions in their Unity, Entirety, and Universality.

THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD will embrace the following departments and features : I. LITERATURE OF MISSIONS. We shall studiously aim to give to the REVIEW a high literary and intellectual character, putting it in this respect on a par with our best Quarterlies and Literary Monthlies. The Missionary literature of the world is already rich in materials, and is rapidly increasing in breadth and in the power of inspiration and instruction. The annals of the past, and all new materials in this department, will be laid under generous contribution to impart value and interest to the pages of the magazine. The ablest pens available, and from all parts of the wide field, will be enlisted in this service. Essays, addresses, biographies, missionary sermons, travels, discoveries, missionary life, and discussions of the vital themes and questions relating to the policies and methods,

which will arise from time to time in the broad field of the world's missions, will combine to inform, interest and inspire the friends of the cause.

A sharp eye will also be kept on the current issues of the press, at home and abroad, and whatever appears in books and periodicals of special interest to missionary readers will be brought to the attention of our patrons. Each month will present a resume of current discussion and press contributions to the Literature of the missionary work.

II. MISSIONARY ORGANIZATIONS. As far as space will permit, a detailed account will be given in each number of some specific part of the general field and of the particular societies operating on it, so arranged and apportioned as that the entire missionary field of the world shall be embraced in our report of each year, and due attention given to all important missionary organizations and agencies known to exist. Thus a bird's eye view of the universal life and operations of the grand missionary cause will be given in each volume. It will be a yearly Epitome of the History of Modern Missions.

III. CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. The editors will put themselves en rapport with all the chief Missionary Societies, Missions, and workers in all lands; they will establish Editorial Correspondents in every part of the field, so as to insure the latest and most reliable intelligence from every available quarter, and co-operate with the friends of missions everywhere in pushing the Missionary Cause to the front, and in imparting increased power and efficiency to the vast machinery of missions. They will strive to make THE MISSIONARY REVIEW a focal light and guide to "the whole sacramental host of God's elect." moving in concert for the subjugation of the world to Christ.

IV. PROGRESS AND FRUITS OF MISSIONARY WORK. This department will contain a comprehensive account of the leading missionary events of the month, embracing the receipts, disbursements and operations of the various societies; items of special interest from the various fields; facts, statements, experiences and appeals bearing direct on the missionary cause, and whatever else will be of special interest to all engaged in the work. This will furnish a practical Summary of what has been attempted and accomplished during each month throughout the entire field of operations.

v. STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS This department will be emphasized and made of the utmost interest and value to the friends of missions everywhere, and especially to pastors and those who conduct the Monthly Concert. It will be a unique and leading feature of the REVIEW. No pains or reasonable expense will be spared to obtain the fullest, and latest, and most reliable figures and statistics of the world's entire missionary operations, both in the Home and Foreign fields, and so to classify, arrange and tabulate them as to make them of the highest practical value. The labor in this department will be immense, but the result will be worth more than the price of a year's subscription to every pastor, every public library, every missionary society, and every intelligent friend of the cause of Missions. We mean to make the REVIEW an authority on this subject.

VI. THE MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS will be under the special charge of Dr. Pierson, who, in addition to being the pastor of a large and efficient church, possesses special qualifications for this service. His best endeavors will be put forth to make this important service increasingly attractive and profitable, and to suggest topics and methods in aid of pastors and others in the conduct of it that will make the REVIEW an indispensable aid to them, and to every church which observes the «Monthly Concert of Prayer for Missions."

VII. INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT. This will be under the editorial charge of Rev. J. T. Gracey, D.D., of the « International Missionary Union," who will be able to make it highly conducive to the general purpose and scope of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD.

VIII. EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS of special interest to missionary circles. These will be brief, condensed, and on a great variety of topics, which we have not space to discuss at length and yet shall wish to express an opinion upon.

If this ideal of the editors can be realized-and we believe it can be -THE MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD, with God's blessing- for whose glory this work is undertaken by them-may become a great power for good. World-wide in its field and scope; independent of local and ecclesiastical boundaries and prejudices; fearless and independent in its expression of opinion and in its advocacy of methods and policies; consulting the highest interest of the Cause in its widest relations; having an eye on the entire field, and lending a helping hand wherever needed; and presenting a current history of that work, which is «the glory of the age," in all its departments and agencies and results, it must possess an interest and a value far above that of any other missionary magazine of the world.

We congratulate the friends of missions that we have been able to secure as Publishers of this Review, Messrs. Funk & Wagnalls, 18 and 20 Astor Place, New York, by whom it will hereafter be published.

This enterprising House is too well known in the book world, and in religious circles, to need any introduction or indorsement from us.

We expect to issue the January number at an early date, and succeeding numbers on or before the middle of each month in advance, to be in ample time for the Missionary Ooncert.

NEW YORK, OCTOBER, 1887.
J. M. SHERWOOD.
A. T. PIERSON.

SALUTATORY

I.-LITERATURE OF MISSIONS.

SALUTATORY.

[EDITORIAL.] CICERO says that the orator, in the exordium of his address, should establish between himself and his hearers a mutual understanding, and get with them upon a common ground.

The same law applies to the editor and author. It is highly important, that, at the very outset, the writer and reader should understand each other; and therefore we give these opening pages of this Review to a word of salutation and explanation addressed to all our readers.

Led, as we believe, by the Providence of God, we undertake to carry on a good work which originated ten years ago in the mind and heart of a beloved returned missionary from India, *and which has, by his hand, amid much physical suffering, been carried to its present stage of growth and success. God's workmen are constantly changing but His work goes on. We have yielded to what seemed a providential pressure thrusting us unexpectedly into the gap left by the necessary retirement of the previous editor from the control of the Review, and we shall seek to perpetuate and perfect what was originally designed and has been so far, and so well, developed under his care.

It does not always follow that even a good work needs to be carried on : sometimes it reaches completion, and addition is superfluous. In this case we conceive that to discontinue this Review would be disaster. So far is it from a finished structure, that thus far only the cornerstone has been laid and the foundation built; the scaffolding is not yet ready to be removed, and we are beginning a new story with such modifications as the building demands as it advances.

There is now room for more of the literary, the æsthetic, the intellectual; a demand, as circulation increases and a firm financial basis is secured, for the best labor properly compensated. We have no less aim than to make this Review the commanding Missionary Magazine of the World, sparing neither labor nor money to make it one of the foremost agencies for the evangelization of the world and the information, organization and co-operation of disciples in the direction of world-wide missions.

That such a Review is needed, we should be ashamed to argue. There are two great, potent factors which must enter into the solution of the problem of missions-the tongue and pen. The printing-press multiplies them both a thousandfold. It gives volume and compass to the voice, like the trumpet of a Titan, and it scatters the products of the pen, as though it had at command the hundred-handed giants that helped the Titans. Great is the power of type and of printers' ink! Surely we should leave out a whole division in mustering our forces, if, in going forth to a world's conquest for Christ, we should neglect the printed page.

Facts are the fingers of God. There is no logic like the logic of events; no demonstration like the demonstration of the Spirit. Apathy, and even antipathy, toward the work of missions, are turned into positive and powerful sympathy, when a true disciple learns how mightily God has wrought and is working with the little missionary band. Men, like James Hannington, who once were indifferent to foreign missions because they were ignorant of them, have, like the martyr bishop of Africa, found that a simple knowledge of the wonderful work of God's Providence and Spirit, even among the most depraved and degraded tribes, has lit a flame in their souls that could neither be quenched nor confined; a flame that has grown into a fire, a conflagration-consum- ing selfishness and worldliness; displacing the carnal lusts-appetite, avarice and ambition, by a divine ardor and fervor, passion for souls, and zeal for the glory of God.

To put such facts before the reader, in the most truthful and telling form, comprehensively and attractively, is one of the foremost objects of this Review. We shall aim to exhibit the miracles of missions, which are at once signs of Christ's messiahship, manifestations of the Power of God, wonders of the Spirit, and works possible only to Deity.

To secure a proper and perpetual stream of such information, we shall seek to secure a large number of tributaries. First, we shall, as fast as we are able, select a large and competent corps of editorial correspondents, who shall sustain a close relation to the Review, and by whose contributions these columns will be enriched. Next, we purpose to find at least one commanding personality in every great missionary territory, and especially at great strategic centers, who shall be as a living link between the Review and the various fields of Christian effort. Furthermore, we hope to secure able contributions from men and women of learning, piety and consecrated spirit, whose opinions compel respect, whose statements are accurate and authoritative, and whose suggestions are sagacious and practical.

The need of such a Review of missions is pressing. The demand is immediate and imperative. With all the existing channels for conveyance of information and the exchange of views, there is yet a wide gap to be filled. The work of missions is world-wide, and we need a missionary Review of the World; the need of man is universal, and so must be our survey; the whole church is called to this grand crusade, and the Review must be unsectarian and undenominational, gathering the whole army, with all its tribal standards, closely about the Tabernacle and Ark of God; the Christian nations are all united in the work, and hence the Review will be international; and as even the best methods are liable to be defective, and custom is often, as Cyprian says, only the" Antiquity of Error," a true Review will be critical though not controversial, and will aim, not only at a wide view, but at a close, careful, candid review.

The time is now especially ripe for such an undenominational, international, independent missionary organ, as a means of expression and impression, communication and co-operation, education and evangelization. Missions are comparatively modern. The Church slept for more than a thousand years; then slowly awoke to the sense of a world's destitution and her own obligation. Let us remember that it yet lacks five years of a full century since in Widow Wallis' humble cottage at Kettering, that first Missionary Society was organized in England, that was the pioneer of the whole host now numbering over one hundred organizations. And already, and within the lifetime of some veterans still living, the network of missions has overspread the globe. Surely it is time that in this special department there should be abundant and adequate agencies to put and keep before the reading public the entire progress and prospects of the grand campaign which is now conducted by all Christendom against the strongholds of the Pagan, Moslem and Papal world!

Such is our word of Salutation. The primary object of this Review is not money-making, but the informing of disciples, and the quickening of our whole church-life, the promotion of an intelligent interest in the work of missions everywhere and the inspiring of an unreserved personal consecration to the work. We desire the fullest support of a large constituency of readers, in what we undertake as an unselfish labor of love for the sake of Christ and His Church. As the circulation of the Review increases and its income allows, more and more will be expended upon the periodical itself, that we may give back to the reader and subscriber the largest returns for his investment; and it is our fond hope that by the abundant blessing of God upon our labor, direct and indirect results may follow, on the largest scale, in furthering and hastening a world's evangelization.

Gladstone says that eloquence in the orator is "receiving from the audience in a vapor what he pours back upon them in a flood. " We shall depend largely upon our readers for the inspiration in our work; and we hope that whatever is received from the subscribers to this Review by way of its support, they may find comes back to them in abundance; that, like the water poured on the roots of the cocoanut tree, which returns in the sweet milk of the cocoanut itself that falls from the top, there may be not only an equivalent rendered but something sweeter and richer by way of recompense.

IN MEMORIAM: REV. ROYAL GOULD WILDER

IN MEMORIAM: REV. ROYAL GOULD WILDER.

Born Oct. 27, 1816, Bridport, Vt. Died Oct. 10, 1887, New York City.

THIS heroic man, the originator and for ten years the editor of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW, closed a life of service and suffering by a blessed entrance into glory, on the very day on which, to his successors in the editorial work, the REVIEW was formally transferred. He only tarried long enough to see the transfer completed and to bestow his blessing on the new administration, and then took his departure for the better country.

It is no mere tribute to a predecessor, however, that impels us to erect to him, in this first number of the new series, a memorial tablet. Though his kingdom came not with observation, and no trumpet was sounded before him, the veteran who, having passed his allotted three score and ten, has been honorably retired from earthly service and gloriously promoted to a heavenly sphere, was no common man. His name belongs high up on the roll of missionary heroes, among the "King's mighty men" and valiant ones, and we gladly open our series of missionary biographies with a pen profile of Royal Gould Wilder.

Few there be that find their way to their sphere of service through such a strait and narrow path. His was no "royal road to learning." He was one of twelve children, and the family knew what it was to struggle against poverty. The father's name was Abel, and he was born in Maine, near Portland, and by trade a ship-carpenter, but was also a shoemaker and farmer, ready to turn his hand to any employment to get bread for his wife and children, but unable to provide luxuries-even those of an education. His mother, Hannah Payne, descended from Robert Treat Paine, was of a high family and of rare ability. Her father was a school teacher until he was sixty, and she grew up amid education and refinement. Shortly after marriage she with her husband removed to Vermont, and during the year in which Royal was born there was a great revival, and his father and mother joined the church that same year. Afterward they moved again to Franklin County, New York, then regarded as somewhat "far west." It is certain that the family endured great hardships and were very poor for a long period of years-during the entire boyhood of Royal. In course of time the natural increase in the value of property, hundreds of acres of which were cleared by his father and brothers, bettered their circumstances, and to-day the three brothers and three sisters who survive him are living in comfortable homes, showing those elements of character which insure worldly success.

Royal went to district school in winter, and was the first to enter an "academy," as he was the only one to enter a college. With a keen relish for reading, before he was ten years old he devoured every religious book that came in his way, and even the papers of whatever date. His father's library was very small, but what it contained was not trash, and the young lad grew strong on such books as the "Pilgrim's Progress" and the "Saint's Rest."

When he determined to seek an education, his father could give him no help. His time and a cow composed the curious capital which was Royal's only dependence; and in the academy at Malone it was the beef from that cow that kept him at school the first term. Many a time he cut in one day two cords of wood, to relieve his father's financial distress or his own.

His first money he earned by selling melons at Malone, and the half dollar he got he kept his hand on, even in his pocket as he ran home, till a stumble compelled him suddenly to withdraw his hand, and away went the precious coin down a hole. Royal was not a boy to give up easily, and down he went on hands and knees, and dug away till he recovered his lost half-dollar. The incident was typical and prophetical of his future; only what he digged for was not silver or gold.

At thirteen years, began his religious life as an intelligent, conscious experience. He had been brought up to pray, and on one occasion, at least, had found the value of prayer. Going through the woods to find his brothers, and carry them dinner, he got lost and wandered about dazed and bewildered, coming back continually upon his old track. Then he knelt down and prayed for guidance; rose and determined to trust in God and go straightforward, following one direction; presently he emerged from the thicket, coming out into the very field where his brothers were at work. Here was another typical and prophetical incident. He got into many a tangled thicket afterward; but never did he forget Him who had led him out into light and safety, and in answer to prayer he was guided in every new experience of darkness and danger into a larger liberty and success.

Though he first consciously found Christ as a Saviour in time of revival, his religious life was singularly free from emotionalism. He had no sudden transitions nor violent revulsions of feeling. Mainly through an awakened conscience, a calm but quick sense of duty, and the study of the Word of God, he came to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord. At that time his sister Hannah joined the Baptists, as that sect prevailed in the neighborhood where the family lived; but he preferred the Presbyterian fold, and at sixteen united with Dr. Parmelee's church at Malone. Never but once had he uttered an oath, and he never forgot it. His religious frame though always calm, was never cold; he was moved more by love and less by fear, more by deliberate judgment and choice than by sudden impulse or glowing enthusiasm. He knew he must found his whole Christian hopes upon the new nature regenerate in Christ; and believing that God had wrought in him the new creation, he enjoyed a quiet assurance seldom disturbed by doubts.

He studied by night by the light of pine knots, and worked by day to get the pine knots for his fire and the books for his study, until he entered Middlebury College in his twentieth year.

When he left home, his capital in life was less than ten dollars, most of which he had saved, and a dollar of which his mother gave him the morning he left home for college. He walked the entire distance, working his way over the lake by helping in the loading and unloading of the boat, and going barefoot part of the way to save his shoes. The same habits of frugality and economy and bodily exertion followed him through life.

From first to last he was a patient plodder. So desirous was he of a training for a useful life that he was willing to work from five o'clock in the morning till breakfast, and from noon till school again opened; that he might pay his board, cutting hay in summer, and splitting wood in winter, to earn the right to be a full-grown and well-equipped man. In college it was the hand on the axe-handle and the bell-rope that helped him through. When he was graduated in 1839 he had worked his passage; but he had won deserved honors, for, with his classmate, Foote, he stood-they two at the head of the class, and, strangely enough, they two had been born on the same day.

When he turned from the flattering prospects of a high position at home to spend his life among the pagans of Asia, he left a path that might have led him where one of his schoolmates, Mr. Wheeler, afterward came-to the Vice-Presidency of the nation. Foote, his twin honor-man, said to him: "Wilder, why bury yourself among the heathen?" Mr. Wilder was singularly attached to Mr. Foote, and for years they corresponded. Foote rose rapidly in his profession; very successful as a lawyer, he amassed wealth, and married a woman of unusual beauty. But death, in the midst of his prosperity, smote wife and daughter, and poor Foote blew out his own brains!

Mr. Wilder taught in Mississippi and Vermont; and then went to Andover for a theological course. There he found a missionary band, like the famous "Haystack band" of Williams, with the same constitution and covenant. Only twelve belonged to it, and even the professors seemed to feel little interest in it, but Royal Wilder became a member, heard Dr. Grant of Persia and Dr. Scudder of India, and others, speak on the great needs of a lost world, and so the missionary was preparing and maturing for his work. Here he had his first and last period of doubts about the Divinity of Christ. They were incident to the transition period when the mind was budding into full independence. Henceforth he was to feel too much of the Divine life of Christ in himself and see too much of the Divine power of Christ in others, to doubt that He was the Son of God. He was graduated from Andover in 1845. At the last, R. S. Storrs, Jr., was his classmate-and when he with five others of his class became missionaries, they all went to India, leaving Storrs to remain behind and become the Corinthian column of the Congregational Church in this country, while they departed for the regions beyond.

His missionary life was the final flowering of a gradual growth. No sooner did he believe himself to be a disciple than, like Dr. Duff, he began to feel the value of other souls and a yearning to save them. The idea of a mission to the heathen world was slowly and steadily taking form within him; first consciously turned toward the lost in other lands by reading Jonathan Edwards on Redemption, the story of "Henry and his Bearer" especially interested him in India.

During his college days Mr. Wilder became acquainted with a family living near West Rutland Village, Vt. In this family he found deep piety and a love for missions. The aged grandfather said, he thought he had not missed reading a page of The Missionary Herald for twenty years.

At the time of the departure of missionaries for the Sandwich Islands a collector visited this home to solicit funds. The devoted mother gave something, but her sad countenance that day showed her deep disappointment that the gift was not larger. As she gathered, with her nine children, for family prayers, she asked God to accept of one or more of her children for missionary work. A daughter in that group says of this incident-"that prayer struck me." This daughter was the one chosen to help cheer Mr. Wilder in his great work. For some five years the two were many a time alone at communion services. She shared with him the anxiety of the first months at Kolapoor when almost in despair of striking rock for the foundation of his church. She suffered with him the violence of the people who one night hurled a large stone through the window pane across the cradle of their little girl. She was his companion in such experiences as meeting a snake in the parlor, finding a scorpion on her son's coat, seeing a panther while on her morning walk, living for weeks in the mountains without seeing a white face. But she had also the joy of starting the first girls' school in a kingdom where not a respectable woman or girl could read, and of welcoming to the communion table, as the first native convert in Kolapoor, a woman.

Mr. Wilder's intention was to go to the Walled Kingdom. But Dr. Anderson, then Secretary of the A. B. C. F. M., wanted him for Ahmednuggur. The greater need was to Mr. Wilder always the louder voice, and so he went to India. From the day of his connection with the Andover Band he had no hesitation in promptly, cheerfully following the leading of God.

When his vessel was ready to sail, he departed from Malone, and his departure was the means of a revival in which many were added to the Church. His father rejoiced to give up his son to such a great work as was before him. His mother, to whom he had been particularly devoted, and for whose sake he had walked from Middlebury to Malone to spend vacations, was dead.

The vessel rounded the Cape of Good Hope and consumed 121 days in the passage to Bombay. Mr. Wilder had given three months, at Newark, Delaware, to the study of Mahratta, and, after another three months in India, Mr. Ballantine, being called away, asked him to preach. The invitation was a joke, but Mr. Wilder actually accepted it and did preach. The native Christians were astonished and said, "We prayed for him."

In Ahmednuggur Mr. Wilder spent six years. The day he reached there, he found a seminary with from fifty to eighty boys. Very soon after his arrival, this seminary was put under his care by a vote of the mission. Within a year there were six city schools, and, within three years, twenty more village schools. Fees had been given to induce attendance; he did away with fees, and had a larger and better school.

He went to Kolapoor in 1852. This city was especially holy in Brahmin eyes, and never had been contaminated by the presence of missionaries. The day he got there the leading Brahmins petitioned for his banishment. But, undismayed, he got a foothold and worked five years for his first convert. His school was the entering wedge of all his success. At the time of his coming he found in Kolapoor 44,000 inhabitants, and only one school, in a back street, with twelve boys in it. When he left, a college building, at Government expense, costing $200,000, had been built, and «Father Wilder" was asked to make the address at the opening. He was too busy to comply, but his associate, Mr. Seiler, made the address, and took as his theme, "The Evidences of Christianity."

The cholera drove him from India in 1857, and by a remarkable Providence, he sailed the very day after the breaking out of the great mutiny of the Punjaub. Some of his nearest European neighbors were killed in that massacre.

To this period belongs his well-known disagreement with the American Board. He was an ardent advocate of schools and edncation, and next to actual conversion he placed the education of the Hindoos. He zealously urged the hiring of pundits and native teachers where Christian teachers could not be obtained, and refused to curtail his schools and school-work because he could not get just such teachers as he wished. This got him into a difficulty with Dr. Anderson, and resulted in the abandonment of his mission and his dismissal from the Board. Backed by his Presbytery and friends in this country, he returned to India in 1861, and went back to conduct his work on an independent basis. For twelve years he labored, supported by no Board or Society. However low the funds ebbed, he would never give up. At one time, in distress for means to carry on his work, he and his devoted wife covenanted to commit all to God anew in prayer; and the next morning's mail brought eleven hundred rupees from an unknown donor in Calcutta; and to this day the source of that benefaction is a secret. The mission received cordial support from Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay; Col. Phayre, Robert Arthington of Leeds, and others. But it was sustained wholly by voluntary gifts. These years of simple trust, leaning on God, were the happiest years of Mr. Wilder's life, and became the basis for his subsequent and enthusiastic .advocacy of the voluntary principle in missions.

In this enterprise he was largely aided by the English, because they thoroughly respected him, and also by the natives themselves. Sir Bartle Frere and other prominent Indo-Europeans have said that Royal G. Wilder did more for the present system of national education in India than any other man. From 1861 to 1869 he was a constant contributor to the Bombay Times and Gazette on that subject, and wrote the editorials for the former paper relating to educational matters. He was prominent in memorializing Parliament and inducing the Indian government to establish the present system of national education. The money obtained from his contributions to the Indian press aided, in no small measure, in the support of the mission that he conducted for so many years at Kolapoor.

At the date of suspension of schools by Dr. Anderson, Mr. Wilder's scholars numbered some 500 boys and 100 girls. He writes of this: "Our deepest conviction from all past experience assures us that the loss of these schools involves the sacrifice of our most effective agency for prosecuting our missionary labors. If our Deputation could exchange places and labor with us for a twelvemonth, we cannot, for a moment, doubt that they would advocate these schools with all the persistency and authority with which they now oppose them. Our friends in India have manifested a very kind interest in these schools from the first, and it may gratify them to know that their generous contributions have wholly supported them. Not a farthing of their expense has come from the home funds of the Board, since their origin." Before Mr. Wilder came home in 1857 the schools were reopened. While at home the mission was abandoned. His appeal, published at the time, gives the reason for his returning as an independent missionary. Upon reaching India he found that his beautiful church, the only one among 252 heathen temples, had been sold and turned into a Mohammedan mosque.* He was remarkably helped in getting the site for his second church. He closed the year 1863-the second after his return as an independent missionary-with a native church of eight communicants and four baptized children.

In 1855 an intelligent man visited him from the Putwardhun States, and showed so much interest in the truth, that he gave him a Bible, hymn-book, catechism and the creed. He returned to his country and was lost sight of for nine years. In a report of 1864 Mr. Wilder writes: "On our recent tour he was the first man to visit us at Sanglee, brought all the books carefully preserved, and read and repeated from memory portions of Scripture, the creed, a tract of eight pages, and the entire cathecism of forty pages; avowing his faith in the truths and doctrines thus learned."

After building a home and church Mr. Wilder devoted himself with renewed energy to village work. The report of 1872 speaks of the interference of the S. P. G. His characteristic firmness was shown in this experience. This was a sore trial to him, and in the Appendix to the Report of 1871, his reasons are fully stated for his course.

Mr. Wilder was very anxious to stimulate in native Christians a desire to work for souls, not because paid for doing so but from love to Christ. In 1873 he writes: "Only four of all our converts receive any support from the mission, and these, small monthly sums of Rs. 8, 7, 5 and 3 as Christian teachers. "

The property of the Kolapoor Mission he gave in 1871 to the Presbyterian Board, and in 1875 left the field of his labor, partly from considerations of health, and partly to educate Robert and Grace in this country. The time between his sailing for India and his resignation from the Board covered a period of nearly thirty-two years.

During those thirty years he had preached in more than 3,000 cities, towns and villages, had scattered over 3,000,000 pages of tracts, had gathered in schools over 3,300 pupils, 300 of whom were girls. In a parish of 4,000,000 of people he and his wife were the only persons to take care of their souls. Beside all this work he had been on committee for translation and revision of the Bible; and was one of the committee in the Mahratta language, spoken by 16,000,000 people. Up to the time he left India he had already written and published commentaries on three gospels, and had edited and translated many books.

His hand was not forgetful of its cunning, even as his tongue did not cleave to the roof of his mouth. Every nail in the roof of his church building at Kolapoor he drove with his own hammer, and when the houses went up to shelter converts' families he led in the work. In the early years of the mission, he wrote many articles for the press, chiefly on educational subjects; and it is said by those in high official position, that his anonymous letters in The Times of India influenced Parliament in adopting measures for the education of the masses. He was offered a very influential position in the educational department.

His whole policy in India was to watch for the opportunities to plant and support indigenous primary schools. He cared for no high colleges. His ruling passion was to lift up the masses. He graduated salaries of teachers according to the number and progress of their pupils, thus indirectly striking a blow at caste by setting a premium on numbers and proficiency, without reference to the class from which pupils came. He encouraged only a moderate allowance to helpers, on the ground that natives could not support men who received large salaries. Like Wheeler on the Euphrates, he felt that by the tithe system ten believers might support a teacher or preacher who was willing to live on their level as to expense.

Whereas when he first went to Kolapoor there was not in the kingdom one respectable woman who could write or read, only recently they have sent to this country for a governess to go to the palace itself.

Of incidents, this one may illustrate the power of direct prayer. One day he had preached in some eight villages. Disputations and popular indifference had made him feel discouraged, and thus wearied he sat under a tree to rest. While here a coolie came from his home, bringing provisions, bread, etc., and also the overland mail. The mail was the most welcome. Among other letters was one from a dear friend in Philadelphia. It contained words of warm sympathy and encouragement, and more than all, this assurance: "Brother Wilder, we are praying for you by name every Wednesday evening." The effect of this letter and the blessing which came with it were immediate. He rose from under that "juniper tree" with fresh realization of nearness to God. He walked two miles to a large town. He went, as was his custom, directly to the Pahtil-the head man of the town. He was in his court-room, surrounded by some fifty clerks, but received him in a polite, cordial way, and upon learning his errand ordered all the clerks to drop their work and listen. After Mr. Wilder had talked about an hour they urged him to continue, and before he closed those learned men were wiping the tears from their eyes. This is one of the choicest experiences in his life, showing the power of the simple story of Christ's love. No wonder he believed in special objects for prayer and gifts. His convictions of Missionary methods, both at home and on the field, seem to have been rooted into his very nature by deep personal experience. This was so of his conviction that native churches should have native pastors; that native churches should be self-supporting; that native Christians should be trained to responsibility, and taught to keep on a level with their neighbors, that they might win them, and show them that they had not become Christians to better their temporal condition. The prayer-meetings were largely reporters' meetings. From the Christians were expected accounts of services, interviews, discussions, etc. Sometimes he would call on them by name for their report of the week. These reports suggested very definite subjects for prayer. This was true also of the women's prayer-meetings conducted by Mrs. Wilder. Praying in meeting was a part of their Christian life.

Mr. Wilder was, so far as known, but once in peril of his life. On the outskirts of a village a mob gathered around him, and demanded money. Though mou:p.ted on his horse, the leader of the gang had hold of the bridle; so, for a few minutes, the missionary seemed completely in the power of the fierce men. With seeming Cf'mposure he entered into a conversation with them. Their interest increased; he held their attention until he noticed the grasp on the bridle gradually loosening. Watching a favorable moment he spurred his horse and with a boun~ was out of their reach.

On his return, in 1875, he himself crossed the Continent and left his luggage and property to come by sea. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, his goods were lost in the vessel's wreck. But among those lost effects was his whole manuscript on the Kolapoor kingdom, with full diary of his missionary work.

During later years his home has been in Princeton. There his parlor has been the Sabbath afternoon gathering place for the students, and the training school for missions.

In 1877, he started THE MISSIONARY REVIEW. The readers of that Review will not need to be reminded of the causes which led to its establishment. Even before he went to the General Assembly and presented his vigorous, incisive criticisms of the methods and expenditures of the Presbyterian Board, he felt there was need of a periodical that would review missions from a point of prospect more elevated than any denominational one, and the REVIEW became the channel for the expression of his personal convictions founded on a long and large experience, and a means of presenting the status of all missions of all denominations throughout all heathendom and nominal Christendom.

He yearned to return and die in India, and nothing held him back but his waning strength and the REVIEW. But so soon as he felt that the REVIEW was provided for, he determined, notwithstanding his keen bodily suffering, to sail for Kolapoor. "My whole soul," he said, "would leap, could I go back. Could I not place twenty missionaries there at once?" That humble Presbyterian Church at Kolapoor was very dear to him, for in its construction his own hands as well as heart were engaged for months. When the church first built by him, was sold to the Mohammedans, and a mosque built on the old site, it is characteristic of his quiet persistence to have bought ground and placed the new church as near as he possibly could to the site of the old one, and his efforts to obtain that site make a very interesting story in themselves.

To the last his heart went out to Kolapoor, and he charged his son Robert to settle about fifty miles from there, in a district peculiarly destitute, where, when he once told the story of the cross, the people with weeping followed him quite a distance, yearning to hear more.

His dying eyes were fixed on Jesus. When the death of his daughter, in 1861, was referred to, and he was asked: "Do you expect to meet her in heaven?" he said, "Yes; but it is my Saviour about whom I think most."

In looking over Mr. Wilder's life, we are impressed with the singular appropriateness of the motto he chose for the REVIEW: "Nil desperandum, Christo sub duce," as applied to his experience.

As a young man, he was extremely retiring and bashful and painfully sensitive; and at times he has, to very intimate friends, expressed his amazement that God had used him, and accomplished through such material His work. It seemed almost incongruous to him that one so timid and shrinking should be thrust into such severe fighting in the forefront of battle.

Of the tender side of his nature few can form a true estimate. These things do not appear in any public reports.

His life closed very beautifully and appropriately when his work was done. The last Saturday, Oct. 8, he sent proof to the printers to complete the closing number of the last volume of his REVIEW, and on the very day when the final arrangements were completed for its transfer to other hands, "he was not: for God took him."

MISSIONARY PROBLEMS IN INDIA

MISSIONARY PROBLEMS IN INDIA. [EDITORIAL.-J. M. s.] IN the Andover Review for September, the Rev. Edward A. Lawrence gives an elaborate and valuable article on this subject, the gist of which we condense and reproduce, for the benefit of our readers. Written by one on the ground, and in an intelligent, and impartial spirit, his views and statements are entitled to respectful consideration. The "Problems" he considers have a world-wide interest and application, and to solve them for India, is, in effect, to solve them for the whole missionary world.

The Problems here discussed are I. Mission Oo-operation; II. What shall be the Treatment of Oonverted Polygamists? III. Who shall be Employed as Teachers in Mission Schools? IV. Instantaneous Baptism.

I.-MISSION CO-OPERATION. The organized union of different mission societies, which happily exists in Japan, and in Amoy, China, has not yet extended to India. Still there is no division or bitterness of feeling. In the main, the field of the several societies is well defined and generally respected. 'fhe Irish Presbyterians occupy Rajputana, the American Methodists, Oudh and Rohilcund; the American Presbyterians labor in the Punjab side by side, and on friendly terms with the Church Missionary Society; while the American United Presbyterians, alike in Egypt and the Punjab north of the Lahore, are fortunate in being almost without competitors. In the south, the Lutheran Missionary Society in Trevancore, and the Church Missionary Society in Tinnevelly, amiably divide the end of the Oape. The bounds of the Madura Mission of the American Board have been settled by agreement with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, dividing the field between them. In Madras, Oalcutta, and Bombay, and in a few other places, there are Monthly Mission Oonfederacies, where members of most of the missions gather for paternal intercourse and discussion. While the general Mission Conferences, like that of the Punjab, or of the whole country, held decennially-the last at Calcutta, 1883-have gone far to prove to the heathen world that Protestants are really united in spirit and aim.

The Presbyterian family take the lead in the movement for organic union. For years past, the Dutch Reformed, the American, Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, have met in a general alliance, seeking to accomplish in India what has been done in Japan. At their last meeting in Bombay, committees were appointed to press forward the work of union, and it was decided to establish a periodical for that purpose.

The evils of sectarianism are nowhere so serious as in great heathen cities, where missions compete, and sometimes conflict, one with another. The natives fancy the divisions greater than they are, and the converts sigh for a national church, and complain of the burdens imposed by reason of differences.

The City Evangelization problem, which astounds and confounds the Church at home, is pressing heavily on the Church in heathen cities. Says Mr. Lawrence: "It is difficult and painful to express my disappointment with most features of mission operations in the Presidency cities of India. The educational work, indeed, is excellent; in some cases, unequalled. The Christian College in Madras, at the head of which is Dr. Miller of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, may well rank as the best institution of learning in India. But other forms of work languish. Not only that: in many cases the fat school-kine have swallowed up the lean evangelistic kine, and there is an actual famine of God's preached Word for the heathen. One great reason for this neglect of important branches of work, one explanation of the weakness or restlessness of the native churches in these cities, and of the fact that in the three where so many societies concentrate there is but one native church which is strictly self-supporting-the Congregational Church in Bombay-is to be found in the rivalries and confusions of sectarianism.

In Calcutta, matters are still worse. The Bengali Christians have able and fluent leaders among them, some of whom show their sincerity by great labors and self-denial. Several are successful lawyers or government officials, who devote their spare time to gospel work, or even take charge of some church. One of these laymen has just been ordained to the preaching office by the Presbytery of the Scotch Free Church Mission."

But the question of lay baptism is exciting earnest attention. A test case has been brought for trial before the Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland, but not yet decided. Even such men as Ram Chandra Bose, well known in this country, favor lay administration of the sacraments.

"It is plain that some change in these city missions is needed before these great centres will become centres of Christianity. It is equally plain that we cannot expect to stereotype and perpetuate in the Eastern church the divisions which mark the Western church. The selfish desire of any mission board to keep its work intact and not to be swallowed up in a great union movement should be rebuked by Christians of every denomination, and the dangers of disorder and license should be checked by earnest sympathy with the aspirations of the native Christians on one side, and by earnest co-operation between all mission bodies on the other."

II.-THE TREATMENT OF CONVERTED POLYGAMISTS.

To us in the home field, this question seems very simple, but in India, and on other mission fields, it is a complicated and knotty problem.

"The opinion of missionaries on this subject is much divided, and the matter has been discussed at various conferences. An excellent statement of both sides of the question is made in the 'Indian Evangelical Review' of April, 1886, by Rev. J. J. Lucas, who has taken pains to inform himself of the opinions of many leading missionaries. My own impression, formed from conversation with a large number is, that a majority of the missionaries in India, especially of those longest in the field, would decline to advise a man to dismiss one of two wives, and that many of them would baptize him, in that state, while protesting against polygamy as unchristian. The Madura Mission not long ago decided to baptize converted polygamists who had acted in ignorance of Christian ideas, in cases where there was no way of separation without injustice. Of this decision the American Board has expressed its disapproval. But Mr. Jones, of that mission, avows the belief that the policy of refusing baptism to such candidates must in time be reversed."

To over sixty representatives of different missions, Mr. Lucas sent the following question: "Would you, under any circumstances, baptize a convert with more than one wife, allowing him to retain his wives ?" And an affirmative answer was received from the great majority.

Yet, Mr. Lucas himself opposes baptism in such a case, because of the apparent sanction given to polygamy, the temptation laid in the way of inquirers, the formation of two classes of Christians within the church, and the injury done to the church itself. Yet he would not ask the husband to put away either wife, but he would say, "Wait. Your first outward step towards Christ must not be marred by a cruel wrong and flagrant injustice. Wait, holding fast your faith, and time will bring a change." And still he admits that the majority of missionaries, if left free to act, would go further than this, though leaving much to be determined by the circumstances of each case. Mr. Lawrence was assured by old missionaries, that their opinions in this regard had been changed by long experience on the field.

III.-WHO SHALL BE EMPLOYED AS TEACHERS IN MISSION SCHOOLS.

Great trouble and perplexity are experienced in this matter. Hindus are hostile to the work of missions, actively so less perhaps than formerly, but have still to be carefully watched. Mr. Lawrence relates his experience in addressing a school of boys and girls in Bombay. He was obliged to use a Hindu teacher as interpreter. He spoke of the evils of idolatry, of the position of women, and of what each member of the school should do in opposing these evils. To his surprise he afterward found that the interpreter had added his own comments: to his words about idolatry he had added the remark that these were the sentiments of the speaker, not his own. The teacher had to interpose and say emphatically that they were the sentiments of the mission, and should be those of the scholars.

"It is supposed that a Hindu or a Mohammedan, secretly, perhaps, inclined to Christianity, will not do much harm while teaching mathematics or the languages from text-books chosen by the mission. It frequently happens, indeed, that the heathen teacher is himself converted while connected with the school. A Mohammedan boy in a school in Bombay came recently under the favorable notice of a government inspector, who, in commending him, expressed his purpose to find a place for him to teach. The boy left the school and was not seen there again. On being questioned as to the cause of his leaving, he said that he was afraid he should be made a teacher, and if he became a teacher, that meant becoming a Christian. But it is gratifying to find that the number of Christian teachers is constantly increasing, while that of non-Christian is constantly decreasing. In 1871, of 4,201 native male teachers in the mission schools, 2,206 were Hindus or Mohammedans. In 1887, of 5,943, but 2,462 were non-Christians. A much greater reduction may be expected during the present decade."

If only Christian teachers are employed, many schools must close, and the instruction given in others be far less efficient than now. The aim therefore is to secure at least a Christian head master or mistress, and Christians for religious instruction, while other positions are filled with Christian teachers as fast as practicable.

But for the present, Hindu teachers in part are inevitable. None desire more than the missionaries themselves to supersede them entirely, and none will so rejoice when a sufficiency of competent Christian teachers can be had. And to this end, says Mr. Lawrence: "Nothing can serve better than the Normal schools in charge of the Society for Vernacular Christian Education. In its excellent institutions which I visited in Dindigul, in South India, and in Ahmednagar, in West India, it receives to be trained as teachers Christian young men sent by any mission. And to the missions of the American Board it has furnished many of the best teachers in their employ. One of the greatest needs of India is devoted, well-trained Christian teachers, and anything which can increased their number is worthy of all the aid that can be given."

IV. INSTANTANEOUS BAPTISM.

This question has assumed prominence and importance largely by the remarkable conversions attending the preaching of Rev. Mr. Knowles, an English missionary, and his colleagues of the North India M. E. Conference, at the Hindu festivals. Mr. Knowles holds some peculiar views as to the gift of the Holy Spirit, on condition of faith, which leads him to press an immediate decision upon his hearers at these great religious gatherings of the Hindus. All who come forward and publicly declare their belief in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, he will baptize at once, taking their names and homes, and seeking to follow up the work thus begun. Hence the number of baptisms made of those who up to that hour were Hindus in full caste relations, is very large.

The same question is pressed in the Punjab, where the American United Presbyterian Mission has been very successful. Whole villages have come to Christ, and called for immediate baptism, and the United Presbyterian missionaries have granted it, with full admission to the church. The Methodists defer such admission, and the Church Missionary Society prefers, as a rule, not to grant immediate baptism.

There are serious objections against this policy. Many hearing the gospel for the first time get no just idea of its requirements. Their conversion to Christianity is liable to be so only in name and form. The danger is of getting into the mission churches a mass of Hinduism in reality, under the outward rites of Christianity, to say nothing of the scandal which their relapse into their old faith would bring upon the Christian life and faith. The evils of such a hasty admission into the church-membership without due consideration and teaching, are serious and damaging, even in Christian lands, and where public sentiment is comparatively strong and on the right side. What must they be in heathen lands, and even in India, where the church is feeble, and public sentiment for the most part hostile?

"In reply, it is urged that Christ has made distinct promises to those who are not ashamed to confess Him; that when this is done publicly, and with public explanation of the preacher, the church may claim the fulfillment of the promise. It is true, moreover, that Hindus universally attach great importance to Christian baptism, regarding it as a decisive act, which involves the breaking of caste and excommunication. If anyone goes so far as to take this step, so important in his own eyes, why should he not be baptized, followed up, instructed, and, at the proper time, received into the church? And is not this the way, after all, in which the bulk of the people of India are to be brought to Christ-not by preliminary education, which can reach but a few at a time, and may draw men away from Christ instead of towards Him, but by conversion, with instantaneous baptism to seal the act, followed by subsequent training in Christ? If the conversion of Indians occurs by masses, instead of as individuals, must it not be in some such manner, the old barriers giving way suddenly, and great bodies of the people becoming disciples of Christ while ignorant of Him except as their Saviour?"

There is great force and pertinence in these questions. Experience must, in the main, settle the matter in India, and in other mission fields. It is admitted, by the best informed, that very many of the Hindus acknowledge the truth of Christianity, and are looking for a widespread movement among their people. Immense and rapid changes are the order of Providence all over the Heathen, Pagan and Mohammedan world. It seems morally certain that only by some grand mass rising can India ever be brought to Christ. "For, of the majority of Hindus, even more than of other peoples, it is true that, like Wadsworth's clouds, 'they must move all together, if they move at all.' "

We have thus condensed and given the substance of this valuable article, largely in the words of its author. In reviewing it we are impressed with the fact that the Problems which press on the mission church in India, press also, with more or less modification, on the Christian church of America, and of other Christian lands. It is our firm conviction that the great lesson of the day of Pentecost has yet to be learned by the modern Church of Christ. While that glorious manifestation of Divine power was largely supernatural, yet there was a general expectation on the part of the mass of disciples-there was united, continuous, and importunate prayer on the part of the infant church, and a believing waiting for the fulfillment of the Master's promise given on the eve of his departure. Hence it was no surprise. They were "endued with power from on high" in answer to prayer, and thereby fitted for the emergency and the work it laid upon them. And they did not hesitate, in reliance on Christ's promise, to baptize on the same day the thousands of professed converts, though among them were some of the very murderers of our Lord.

And what did the disciples do when driven from Jerusalem and scattered abroad, but go straight into the great cities of the Roman world—into the very centres of idolatry, and heathen superstition, and philosophy, and corruption, and wickedness-and boldly plant in the midst of them the banner of the cross, and preach "Jesus and the Resurrection," to Gentile and Jew, to philosophers and peasants, to the high and the low, and straightway gather converts into Christian churches, and push on from city to city, and from province to province, till they entered Rome itself, and even invaded "Cæsar's household." Their simple reliance was "the gospel of the grace of God," which they carried in their hearts, and preached in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, confident that Christ would verify his ascension promise, and that the Cross in the hands of the Eternal Spirit was, of itself, without circumlocution, or previous training, or litany, or visible machinery, able to convert the soul to Jesus Christ. It was the policy of faith-the policy of simple trust in God and the power of the gospel-and it wrought wonders. It went everywhere, "conquering and to conquer." And the nearer the church of our day, both at home and in the missionary work abroad, approaches this apostolic method, the more will God honor and bless her instrumentality. In no other way-on no other principle-can the mountains of unbelief and difficulty be removed; the infinite masses of vice, ignorance, irreligion, and

BIOGRAPHY OF MOFFAT

indifference, which now lie and fester in the great cities of the world, be reached and penetrated by the light and influence of the gospel, and the world of guilt, ungodliness, hostility, infidelity and agnostic materialism, be shaken, upheaved, cleaved assunder, and the Son of Righteousness find entrance. If this world shall ever be won to Christ, it will be by Pentecostal seasons of power and ingathering; by tidal waves of grace that shall sweep the earth from pole to pole, by sudden simultaneous movements and forces in the moral and spiritual world, that shall be irresistible and general in their majestic sweep, challenging the faith of the Church, overawing a guilty world, and "converting a nation in a day," in fulfillment of prophetic promise.

BIOGRAPHY OF MOFFAT.

The Lives of Robert and Mary Moffat, by their son, John S. Moffat. With Portraits and Illustrations. New edition with Preface and Supplementary Chapter. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. 8 vo, pp. 484.

[EDITORIAL.-J. M. S.] THE name of Robert Moffat has been dear to us ever since we read his thrilling "Southern Africa," more than forty years ago. The leading facts of his life have long been familiar to missionary readers; but in this Life we have the outlines fitly filled up by the hand of filial love. The picture, as now completed, only enhances our estimate of the man and of the importance and enduring value of his work.

Dr. Wm. M. Taylor, in his brief Preface to this new edition, which has just issued from the press of the Armstrongs, well says: "The name of Robert Moffat deserves a high place on the honor roll of modern missionaries. It is not so well known, indeed, as that of his son-in-law, David Livingstone, but it may well be held in reputation as that of the pioneer, without whose labors those of Livingstone and others would have been far otherwise than they were. When he went to South Africa in 1817, he found tribes of idolaters and savages, constantly at war with each other and with the white men, utterly ignorant and degraded. When he left it in 1870, churches had been called into existence, a permanent body of native pastors had been reared from among the Bechwanas, and the whole region had become largely civilized and Christianized."

On the day after his funeral, which occurred in August, 1883, the following leader appeared in the London Times, which is so remarkable, coming from such a source, that we venture to reproduce the substance of it. It is not always that the secular press bestows such just, discriminating, and lofty praise on our heroic missionaries and their achievements.

"Dr. Robert Moffat, who was yesterday laid in the grave, has left an abiding name as a pioneer of modern missionary work in South Africa. He was born in 1795, a year memorable as that of the foundation of the London Missionary Society, and in 1816 he entered on his career as one of the Society's missionaries. His first purpose was to proceed to the South Seas, but his final choice was the vast and yet unexplored field of the central region of South Africa. His chief work was among the Bechwanas. His picture of what they were when he first knew them would hardly now be recognized, so entirely have they changed under the new influences which Moffat was among the first to bring to bear on them. He found them mere savages, idol-worshipers, constantly at war among themselves and with their neighbors, ignorant of the arts of agriculture, and in the utterly degraded state for which we must seek a counterpart now in the more distant tribes whom the message of civilization has not yet reached. It was Moffat's mission to civilize as well as instruct, to free those with whom he was brought in contact from the curse under which they seemed to lie, to raise them to a higher life, and so to fit them to become recipients of the sacred message of good tidings which it was his main ultimate purpose to announce. His success within the limited field to which he confined himself-a field which has been now far overpassed by the subsequent labors of other devoted men, most notably by those of his own son-in-law, David Livingstone—was very marked. His first care was to make himself thoroughly master of the language of those to whom he was sent. For fifty years, he has declared, he had been accustomed to speak the Bechwana tongue; he reduced it to written characters, and, as an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, translated the Scriptures into it. The Bechwanas, under Moffat's guidance, became new men. Mission work grew and spread among them; what Moffat had begun to do was taken up by other hands; a permanent body of native pastors was created from among the Bechwanas themselves, and the whole region was raised out of the savage state in which Moffat had found it, and became in no small degree civilized as well as Christianized. To effect this, and to make it possible for others to effect it, was the chief business of Moffat's working life. He went out to South Africa in 1816. He left it finally in 1870. During that long interval the dark continent was attacked and explored in all directions. Scientific travelers and missionary travelers were busy pushing their way into regions to which Moffat never penetrated. It is Moffat's honor to have been the first in the field, to have laid, as it were, the stepping-stones by which his successors have been able to outstrip him; to have borne the burden and heat of the day in early missionary work, and at once to have given an example of devotion to his noble cause and to have furnished proof that the ground was not barren, and that even in South Africa the good seed might be trusted to spring up and to bring forth abundant fruit.

"It is the fashion in some quarters to scoff at missionaries, to receive their reports with incredulity, to look at them at best as no more than harmless enthusiasts, proper subjects for pity, if not for ridicule. The records of missionary work in South Africa must be a blank page to those by whom such ideas are entertained. We owe it to our missionaries that the whole region has been opened up. Apart from their special service as preachers, they have done important work as pioneers of civilization, as geographers, as contributors to philological research. Of those who have taken part in this, Moffat's name is not the best known. Moffat, it may be said, has labored, and other men have entered into his labor. Livingstone has come after him, and has gone beyond him, and has linked his memory for ever with the records of the South African Church. Speke and Stanley have become household names where Moffat has been unknown or has been forgotten. In his own simple words, it never occurred to him, while working among the Bechwanas, that he should obtain the applause of men. His one care was for those among whom he had cast his lot. He was an enthusiast, of course-a man would be worth little for missionary enterprise if he were not this at all events. But he was an enthusiast with a clear sense of the right means to employ for the accomplishment of his unselfish task. He had a message to deliver of love and of peace, and he must prepare men to receive it by instructing them in the arts of peace. The progress of South Africa has been mainly due to men of Moffat's stamp. In him, as in David Livingstone, it is hard to say which character has predominated, that of the missionary proper, or that of the teacher and guide. Certain it is that apart from the special stimulus they felt as proclaimers of the gospel message, they would never have thrown themselves as they did into the work to which their lives were consecrated. It was by no zeal for the spread of civilization on its own account that they passed weary years laboring and teaching among savage tribes, amid dangers of every kind, amid privations of which they themselves made light, but which only a sense of their high spiritual mission could have prompted them to face and undergo. One part of Moffat's work has been to prepare the way for others. He has given, so far, what promises to be a lasting stimulus. It is another question whether his own work will endure. . . . It is the missionary alone who seeks nothing for himself. He has chosen an unselfish life. If honor comes to him, it is by no choice of his own, but as the unsought tribute which others, as it were, force upon him. Robert Moffat has died in the fullness both of years and of honors. His work has been to lay the foundation of the Church in the central regions of South Africa. As far as his influence and that of his coadjutors and successors has extended, it has brought with it unmixed good. His name will be remembered while the South African Church endures, and his example will remain with us as a stimulus to others and as an abiding proof of what a Christian missionary can be and can do."

How this life work was performed; what a world of difficulty and opposition he encountered; with what tireless and persistent energy he wrought for more than half a century; amid what perils, hardships, discouragements and heroic endurances he stood at his post, this intensely interesting volume sets forth, modestly and lovingly, in fuller detail. Mrs. Moffat shared in her husband's work, and spirit, and missionary career. "Both," says Dr. Taylor, "were of such stuff as heroes are made of, and their names are worthy of a place in the peerage of faith, beside those which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has ennobled by his praise."

Robert Moffat was the child of poor, hard-working, and pious parents in Scotland, to whom he owed much of his shrewd sense, industry, frugality and ability to turn his hands to anything. He learned to be a gardener, but at 16 left home for a situation in Cheshire, where he speedily attracted the notice and sympathy of his employers. He was soon after converted and joined the Wesleyan Methodists, and quickly thereafter resolved to be a missionary. But parents, employers, and others, tried to dissuade him from his purpose. But he persevered at the cost of his place, but soon found employment with a Mr. Smith, a Scotchman of Covenanting descent, who entered heartily into young Moffat's plans. So likewise did their daughter Mary, some months Moffat's senior. She had been carefully and religiously brought up and schooled at the Moravian Seminary at Fairfield, whose traditions are so full of missionary romance. Here she spent some happy years, and had engaged in home-mission work. She was strongly drawn to Moffat, as he to her; and both earnestly devoted themselves to work among the heathen. This union of heart and work at home was subsequently renewed in Africa, where, for a long and eventful period they worked together as husband and wife.

As the biographer says, Moffat did not become a great missionary by virtue of his collegiate opportunities. He valued learning highly, but he had no chance to become a great scholar. But he had a knack of seizing what was essential to him, and a gift for forgetting what was useless or secondary. His studies, in face of the greatest difficulties, completed, he was accepted by the London Missionary Society, and would have been designated for the South Pacific with the venerated Williams, had it not been for his youth-he was only twenty years of age. Says the biographer: "During the discussions in the Missionary Committee as to how the present band of men was to be distributed, it had been first proposed that Williams and Moffat should both go to Polynesia; but this was overruled at the suggestion of Dr. Waugh, who deemed that 'thae twa lads were ower young to gang thegither;' so they were separated. On these small links hang our lives."

Moffat was not long in South Africa before he gave proof that years are not the only gauge of wisdom and self-reliance and tact in management. His first difficulty arose from the caprice of the Governor, who refused, on account of disturbances, to allow the party to proceed beyond the limits of Cape Colony. Moffat at once set himself to learning Dutch, that he might the more efficiently do his work when he did reach Namaqualand. At last the Governor gave his consent; and for more than a year in Namaqualand, and for more than five-and-forty in Bechwanaland, his life was one ceaseless labor and difficulty and danger, fearlessly faced. He was builder, blacksmith, carpenter, thatcher, ditcher-for he dug canal after canal to bring water to his garden and field-gardener and dairyman by turns-and everything to which he set his hand he did well-even down to darning and sewing, which he was thankful that his mother had taught him how to do.

His life at the Oape, and in Namaqualand, however, was but a preparation; his real work began at Kuruman, where he was assisted by his wife (Miss Mary Smith having joined him at Cape Colony, where they were married), whose noble character and remarkable gifts are brought out in the volume by means of her letters. She was helper, inspirer, and a strong supporter.

Soon after their settlement at Kuruman, Mrs. Moffat writes to her parents: " At present Moffat is applying himself with all diligence to the language, as the particular object of his destination here. He finds immense difficulties from the barrenness of the language and imperfect interpreters, but he is naturally too persevering soon to lose courage. This is his sole motive for undertaking a journey at present, in order to become familiar with it by being for a time out of the habit of speaking Dutch with our own people here.

I think it will also be of advantage to me in that respect; having so much to employ my time with at home I have little chance of learning much of it. You beg of us to pay particular attention to the instruction of the rising generation, but alas, we have no opportunities of doing this: the people instead of desiring that their children should be instructed, are afraid of their becoming 'Dutchmen,' so tenacious are they of their old customs and habits, and if a boy and a girl venture to come they are soon laughed out of it. Perhaps if we gave them a meal of meat every day or a few beads, we might have the place crowded-but on no other condition. Oh! how we were affected on reading an account of Madagascar, when we thought of the difference between that people and this; they so desirous and these such despisers of instruction. As to some of these people having correct notions of God and of heaven, death and hell, as has been asserted, you must not believe it; for daily conversations convince us that the wisest of them have most corrupt notions on these subjects. We are astonished at their dreadful stupidity about these things. My beloved parents, we have much need of your sympathy and prayers, and those of all other Christians. Could we but see the smallest fruit we could rejoice amidst the privations and toil which we bear; but as it is, our hands do often hang down."

Their faith was put to a very severe test. They toiled for years without any visible fruit. But though disappointed, neither were disheartened.

" 'Mary,' he said one day to his wife, 'this is hard work.' 'It is hard work, my love,' she replied; 'but take courage, our lives shall be given us for a prey!' 'But think, my dear,' he replied, 'how long we have been preaching to this people, and no fruits yet appear.' Mrs. Moffat rejoined in this manner: 'The gospel has not yet been preached to them in their own tongue wherein they were born. They have heard it only through interpreters, and interpreters who have themselves no just understanding, no real love of the truth. We must not expect the blessing till you be able from your own lips and in their own language to bring it through their ears into their hearts.' 'From that hour,' said Mr. Moffat, in relating the conversation, 'I gave myself with untiring diligence to the acquisition of the language.'''

At the close of the year 1822 Moffat wrote his brother: "I shall now give some particulars of our present situation. The most important is the cause of Christ. Alas! we still hang our harp on the willows, and mourn over the destiny of thousands hastening with heedless but impetuous strides to the regions of woe. They turn a deaf ear to the voice of love, and treat with scorn the glorious doctrines of redemption. This often causes our hearts to languish, while our eyes fail with looking upward.

"It is, however, pleasing to reflect that affairs in general wear a more hopeful aspect than when we came here. Several instances have proved the people determined to relinquish the barbarous system of commandoes for stealing cattle. They have also dispensed with a rainmaker this season. We rejoice in this, because his services and presence must ever form a strong barrier to the spread of the gospel. "We prayed and hoped that a good season would thoroughly convince them that the power of giving rain belonged only to God, but He whose footsteps are in the sea has been pleased to order it otherwise. The season has been so dry as to destroy their corn, except a little which happened to be sown on ground a little marshy. Nothing, however, has been said as to the cause of the drought. We continue on friendly terms with them, though we have also much to suffer, especially from thieves, who pester us on all sides."

God chose his own methods of bringing his servant into favor with this people and giving him a powerful influence in their affairs. The Niantatees, a terrible horde of marauders, came pouring down upon the western Bechwanas, who, if driven back, would have no option but to perish in the foodless and waterless wastes of the Kalahari. The people were panic-stricken. The dreaded enemy drew nearer every day. And still nothing definite was known of their purpose or strength. Moffat, choosing a few companions, plunged into the wilderness, and after perils innumerable (seeing nine lions in one day) accomplished his purpose and hastened back and warned the people, and roused them to action, and gave such advice, and exercised such strategy and commanding ability as resulted in saving the people from destruction. His forethought, coolness, courage, and sagacity excited the admiration even of these savages, and led the grateful people almost to worship him.

From this time on the mission brightened and the influence of the Moffats widened and deepened. Mrs. Moffat writes home to her father about this time: "To hear of the steady and growing piety of these sable children of Adam, together with the increase of Divine knowledge in the minds of others, must be reviving to the hearts of all who love the cause, but especially to such as are so nearly connected with this mission as yourself. Our gracious God has been very condescending to spare the lives of His unworthy servants to witness some fruits of missionary labor-a felicity we frequently despaired of enjoying in this lower world, where crosses and disappointments seemed to form so large a proportion in our cup. We now often wish you could be with us, to witness for yourself what we see. . . . The converts are going on well, and though the general commotion in the minds of the people has in a great measure subsided, we have solid reason to believe that there are many persons who are the subjects of an abiding conviction of their position as sinners before God, and are in the constant and diligent use of the means of grace, which we doubt not will be effectual through the Spirit in leading them to the Saviour of sinners. The Spirit of God has commenced His operations, and surely He will go on."

We have not space to follow Moffat through the long and fruitful years of his toil and sacrifice among this people, nor to describe his manifold labors in the wide field of Southern Africa exploration, civilization and Christianization; nor his intercourse with and influence on the career of David Livingstone, who married his daughter Mary; nor yet his great work in the matter of Bible translation and the circulation of the Scriptures as agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, laying the foundation of a Bechwana literature; nor his visit to England in 1838, and the wonderful interest he awakened in his native land; nor of his return to Africa and subsequent career there, till in a ripe old age, he returned to his native shores in 1870, and until the day of his death, worked on unceasingly in behalf of the cause to which his life had been devoted.

A single parting glimpse we give the reader.

"On Sunday, the twentieth of March, 1870, Robert Moffat preached for the last time in the Kuruman church. In all that great congregation there were few of his own contemporaries. The older people were for the most part children at the time when they had first seen the missionaries. With a pathetic grace peculiarly his own, he pleaded with those who still remained unbelieving amid the gospel privileges they had now enjoyed so many years. With a fatherly benediction he commended to the grace of God those who had been to him a joy and crown. It was an impressive close to an impressive career. Many years must pass before that service can be forgotten in Bechwanaland."

We note a single trait of Moffat's character. He was not a man of one idea; was not wedded to a system or preconceived methods, but studied to adapt himself to the existing condition of things. While he insisted that no civilizing processes were of any effect without conversion, he despised no means of gaining influence in order to lead the heathen to better modes of living, to improved methods of agricul- ture, and to thrift and settled habits.

" He was first a missionary; but he was also a great' captain of industry,' a man who, if he had devoted himself to any form of worldly enterprise, would probably have made a colossal fortune. He could govern men. He knew how to attach them to him, and could gauge their capacity with the eye of a master. He could direct each to the exact task suited to him, and, what is more, keep him heartily at it. Impulse and will went together, and he seldom missed his aim. A mere stripling of twenty-one, he tamed the redoubtable Africaner, and made him a humble follower and helper; he subdued Moselikatze, the warlike Matebele, and made him feel that the missionary was essential to him. His simple manhood and fearlessness, with great natural tact and independence, enabled him always to appeal to that side of their nature which was most open to him. And he could wait. It has been well said that the courage necessary to face indefinite perils, such as those to which Moffat was constantly exposed-especially in the first portion of his career-is greater than that which supports the soldier in the midst of excitement of battle. What a probation was that of the long years in the dry and waterless Kuruman, without the token of a single impression being made on any human creature! Shamelessly the people stole; neither grain could grow to ripeness, nor cattle or sheep be left in the fold, or a tool allowed to lie where a bit of work was being done, or a canal made, without the risk of the water being diverted before it reached the mission station. Many a time on returning from their out-door labors, or from a service, they found a stone in the pot instead of the meat they had left to cook. But all undismayed, Robert Moffat and his heroic wife toiled on, assured that their reward would come."* And come it did. He lived to see great changes wrought in South Africa and to lay the foundations of the South African Church with his own hands. The progress of South Africa has been mainly due to Moffat and men of his stamp. In him, as in Livingstone, it is hard to say which character has predominated, that of the missionary proper, or that of the teacher and guide. His mission largely was to prepare the way for others. He has given a great and apparently lasting stimulus, and laid Africa and the whole missionary world under great obligations.

On one point we think Mr. Moffat's testimony bearing on the policy of missions is entitled to serious consideration. We quote from an admirable paper in the Leisure Hour for November, 1883: "Much might be added in illustration of Dr. Moffat's extreme versatilIty in acquiring every industry or art which the exigencies of the place might demand of him. His treatment of the bodily ailments of the natives who came to him was almost prophetic of the medical missionaries, of whom so much has happily been heard in later days. Enough, perhaps, has been said to indicate the manifold resource and adaptiveness which helped to establish the memorable mission to Bechwanaland.

" The question of the bearing of civilization in such circumstances upon the work of evangelization is a weighty one, and the testimony of such a veteran missionary as Dr. Moffat would not fail to be of the greatest value. It is one, also, on which he has spoken with no uncertain sound, for the facts were pressed upon him at an early period of his work among the Becnwanas. After twenty-six years of missionary work he writes: 'Much has been. said about civilizing savages before attempting to evangelize them. This is a theory which has obtained an extensive prevalence among the wise men of this world, but we have never yet seen a practical demonstration of its truth. We, ourselves, are convinced that evangelization must precede civilization. It is very easy in a country of high refinement to speculate on what might be done among rude and savage men, but the Christian missionary, the only experimentalist, has invariably found that to make the fruit good the tree must first be made good. Nothing less than the power of Divine grace can reform the hearts of savages, after which the mind is susceptible of those instructions which teach them to adol'n the gospel they profess."–Leisure Hour.

"One of the great attractions of this biography is, that it faithfully presents Mrs. Moffat alongside her husband-a heroine in every sense of the word. There was no work in which she did not share-no enterprise or adventure however perilous-in which she did not take her part. For years she made it her work to accompany him in the wagon, when he meant to be absent for more than a couple of days, for the double purpose of insuring that he should have ordinary comforts (which in bachelorhood in Namaqualand he had been apt to overlook), and that she should learn what she could of everything. Moffat had laid it down as the result of his three-year-long single-life experience that, 'A missionary without a wife in South Africa was like a boat with only one oar. A good missionary's wife can be as useful as her husband in the Lord's vineyard.' She over and over again undertook journeys to the Cape without Moffat (whom she would not permit, for her sake, to leave his work for a moment), and with faithful Bechwanas and Hottentots only for attendants, who never failed her. She combined missionary help with attention to family matters, and conveyed back printing materials or other goods, which were needed and waited for. Once, when she was ordered to the coast for her health, she persisted in going alone.

Unfortunately this time they found the Orange River in flood, and could not get across. For a whole month in ill-health she had to wait on the bank in the hot weather. But she never got disconsolate or even depressed, and her power of taking the best and most hopeful view of things amounted almost to an art. This is how she tells of her suffering: " 'I was in company with Mr. Hume, who rendered me every possible assistance, but my health being in such a delicate state, I could not but suffer much from the extreme heat and exposed situation, and was severely tried. Frequently were we tantalized with the prospect of being able to ride through "to-morrow," but as sure as to-morrow came the river rose again, till all hope was gone, and we came at last to the conclusion to cross on a raft. . . . There were eighteen wagons altogether, and with hard labor we got everything over that dreadful river in less than three days without a single accident. How much have we to be thankful for! And it was gratifying to find that, for all I had endured, I was no worse, but rather better. Perhaps being obliged to take it easily was in my favor.'

"This so entirely expresses the character of the woman as she appears to us throughout these pages-patient, courageous, equal to any emergency, gifted with power of command such as few men have, and yet tender and true to every claim of womanhood-that we can only praise her sufficiently by saying that she rose to the same heights of unconscious heroism as her husband. To read of her must prove an inspiration in many a home."*

THE CHRISTIAN AND NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS

THE CHRISTIAN AND NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS. SIR MONIER-WILLIAMS, Professor of Sanskrit in Oxford University, is universally recognized as an authority in all questions relating to the literature and faiths of the Orient. At the late anniversary of the Church Misssionary Society in London, he delivered an address which is so remarkable, that notwithstanding its appearance in other forms, we desire to give extracts from it a permanent place in this REVIEW. He says: "An old friend, a valued missionary of this society, founder of the James Long Lectures on the Non-Christian Religions, said to me a few days before his death: 'You are to speak at the anniversary of the Church Missionary Society; urge upon our missionaries the importance of studying the non- Christian religious systems.' Unusual facilities for this study are now at our disposal; for in this Jubilee year of the Queen, the University of Oxford has completed the publication of about thirty stately volumes of the socalled Sacred Books of the East, comprising the Veda, the Zend-Avesta of the Zoroastrians, the Confucian Texts, the Buddhist Tripitaka, and the Muhammadan Kuran-all translated by well-known translators. Our mIssionaries are already convinced of the necessity of studying these works, and of making themselves conversant with the false creeds they have to fight. How could an army of invaders have any chance of success in an enemy's country without a knowledge of the position and strength of its fortress, and without knowing how to turn the batteries they may capture against the foe? Instead of dwelling on so manifest a duty, I venture a few words of warning as to the subtle danger that lurks beneath the duty.

"In my youth I had been accustomed to hear all non-Christian religions described as 'inventions of the devil.' And when I began investigating Hinduism and Buddhism, some well-meaning Christian friends expressed their surprise that I should waste my time by grubbing in the dirty gutters of heathendom. After a little examination, I found many beautiful gems glittering there; nay, I met with bright coruscations of true light flashing here and there amid the surrounding darkness. Now, fairness in fightmg one's opponents is ingrained in every Englishman'S nature, and, as I prosecuted my researches into these non-Christian systems, I began to foster a fancy that they had been unjustly treated. I began to observe and trace out curious coincidences and comparisons with our own Sacred Book of the East. I began, in short, to be a believer in what is called the evolution and growth of religious thought. 'These imperfect systems,' I said to myself, 'are clearly steps in the development of man's religious instincts and aspirations-interesting efforts of the human mind struggling upwards towards Christianity. Nay, it is probable that they were all intended to lead up to the one true religion, and that Christianity is, after all, merely the climax, the complement, the fulfillment of them all.'

"Now there is unquestionably a delightful fascination about such a theory, and, what is more, there are really elements of truth in it. But I am glad of the opportunity of stating publicly that I am persuaded I was misled by its attractiveness, and that its main idea is quite erroneous. The charm and danger of it, I think, lie in its apparent liberality, breadth of view, and toleration. In The Times of last October 14, you will find recorded a remarkable conversation between a Lama priest and a Christian traveler, in the course of which the Lama says that 'Christians describe their religion as the best of all religions; whereas, among the nine rules of conduct for the Buddhist, there is one that directs him never either to think or to say that his own religion is the best, considering that sincere men of other religions are deeply attached to them.' Now to express sympathy with this kind of liberality is sure to win applause among a certain class of thinkers in these days of universal toleration and religious free trade. We must not forget, too, that our Bible tells us that God has not left himself without witness, and that in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Yet I contend, notwithstanding, that flabby, jelly-fish kind of tolerance is utterly incompatible with the nerve, fibre, and backbone that ought to characterize a manly Christian. A Christian's character ought to be exactly what the Christian's Bible intends it to be. Take that Sacred Book of ours; handle reverently the whole volume; search it through and through, from the first chapter to the last, and mark well the spirit that pervades the whole. You will find no limpness, no flabbiness about its utterances. Even skeptics who dispute Its divinity are ready to admit that it is a thoroughly manly book. Vigor and manhood breathe in every page. It is downward and straightforward, bold and fearless, rigid and uncompromising. It tells you and me to be either hot or cold. If God be god, serve him. If Baal be God, serve him. We cannot serve both. We cannot love both. Only one name is given among men whereby we may be saved. No other name, no other Saviour, more suited to India, to Persia, to China, to Arabia, is ever mentioned-is ever hinted at.

"What! says the enthusiastic student of the science of religion, do you seriously mean to sweep away as so much worthless waste paper all these thirty stately volumes of Sacred Books of the East just published by the University of Oxford? "No-not at all-nothing of the kind. On the contrary, we welcome these books. We ask every missionary to study their contents and thankfully lay hold of whatsoever things are true and of good report in them. But we warn him that there can be no greater mistake than to force these non-Christian bibles into conformity with some scientific theory of development, and then point to the Christian's Holy Bible as the crowning product of religious evolution. So far from this, these non-Christian bibles are all developments in the wrong direction. They all begin with some flashes of true light and end in utter darkness. Pile them, if you will, on the left side of your study table, but place your own Holy Bible on the right side-all by itself-aU alone-and with a wide gap between.

"And now, I crave permission at least to give two good reasons for ventur- ing to contravene, in so plain-spoken a manner, the favorite philosophy of the day. Listen to me, ye youthful students of the so-called Sacred Books of the East, search them through and through, and tell me, do they affirm of Vyasa, of Zoroaster, of Confucius, of Buddha, of Mohammed, what our Bible affirms of the Founder of Christianity-that He, a sinless Man, was made Sin! Not merely that he is the eradicator of sin, but that He, the sinless Son of man, was himself made sin. Vyasa and the other founders of Hinduism enjoined severe penances, endless lustral washings, incessant purifications, infinite repetitions of prayer, painful pilgrimages, arduous ritual, and sacrificial observances, all with the one idea of getting rid of sin. AU their books say so. But do they say that the very men who exhausted every invention for the eradication of sin were themselves sinless men made sin. Zoroaster, too, and Confucius, and Buddha, and Mohammed, one and all, bade men strain every nerve to get rid of sin, or at least of the misery of sin, but do their sacred books say that they themselves were sinless men made sin! I do not presume, as a layman, to interpret the apparently contradic. tory proposition put forth in our Bible that a sinless Man was made Sin. All I now contend for is that it stands alone; that it is wholly unparalleled; that it is not to be matched by the shade of a shadow of a similar declaration in any other book claiming to be the exponent of the doctrine of any other religion in the world.

" Once again, ye youthful students of the so-called Sacred Books of the East, search them through and through, and tell me, do they affirm of Vyasa, of Zoroaster, of Confucius, of Buddha, of Mohammed, what our Bible affirms of the Founder of Christianity-that He, a dead and buried Man, was made Life? not merely that he is the Giver of life, but that he, the dead and buried Man, is Life. 'I am the Life.' 'When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear.' 'He that hath the Son, hath Life.' Let me remind you, too, that the blood is the Life, and that our Sacred Book adds this matchless, this unparalleled, this astounding assertion: 'Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.' Again, I say, I am not now presuming to interpret so marvelous, so stupendous a statement. All I contend for is that it is absolutely unique; and I defy you to produce the shade of the shadow of a similar declaration in any other sacred book of the world. And bear in mind that these two matchless, these two unparalleled declarations, are closely, are intimately, are indissolubly connected with the great central facts and doctrines of our religion: the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension of Christ. Vyasa, Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, are all dead and buried; and mark this-their flesh is dissolved; their bones have crumbled into dust; their bodies are extinct. Even their followers admit this. Christianity alone commemorates the passing into the heavens of its divine Founder, not merely in the spirit, but in the body, and 'with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature,' to be the eternal source of life and holiness to his people.

"The two unparalleled declarations quoted by me from our Holy Bible make a gulf between it and the so-called Sacred Books of the East which sever the one from the other utterly, hopelessly, and forever-not a mere rift which may be easily closed up, not a mere rift across which the Christian and the non-Christian may shake hands and interchange similar ideas in regard to essential truths, but a veritable gulf which cannot be bridged over by any science of religious thought; yes, a bridgeless chasm which no theory of evolution can ever span. Go forth, then, ye missionaries, in your Master's name; go forth into all the world, and, after studying all its false religions and philosophies, go forth and fearlessly proclaim to suffering humanity the plain, the unchangeable, the eternal facts of the gospel-nay, I might al- most say, the stubborn, the unyielding, the inexorable facts of the gospel. Dare to be downright with all the uncompromising courage of your own Bible, while with it your watchwords are love, joy, peace, reconciliation. Be fair, be charitable, be Christ-like, but let there be no mistake. Let it be made absolutely clear that Christianity can not, must not, be watered down to suit the palate of either Hindu, Parsee, Confucianist, Buddhist, or Mo. hammedan, and that whosoever wishes to pass from the false religion to the true can never hope to do so by the rickety planks of compromise, or by help of faltering hands held out by half-hearted Christians. He must leap the gulf in faith, and the living Christ will spread his everlasting arms be- neath and land him safely on the Eternal Rock."

To this remarkable testimony, we add that of Professor Max Müller, who, in addressing the British and Foreign Bible Society, said: "In the discharge of my duties for forty years, as Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford, I have devoted as much time as any man living to the study of the Sacred Books of the East, and I have found the one key-note -the one diapason, so to speak-of all these so-called sacred books, whether it be the Veda of the Brahmans, the Puranas of Siva and Vishnu, the Koran of the Mohammedans, the Zend-Avesta of the Parsees, the Tripitaka of the Buddhists-the one refrain through all-salvation by works. They all say that salvation must be purchased, must be bought with a price ; and that the sole price, the sole purchase-money, must be our own works and deservings. Our own holy Bible, our sacred Book of the East, is from beginning to end a protest against this doctrine. Good works are, indeed, enjoined upon us in that sacred Book of the East far more strongly than in any other sacred book of the East; but they are only the outcome of a grateful heart -they are only a thank-offering, the fruits of our faith. They are never the ransom-money of the true disciples of Christ. Let us not shut our eyes to what is excellent and true and of good report in these sacred books, but let us teach Hindoos, Buddhists, Mohammedans, that there is only one sacred Book of the East that can be their mainstay in that awful hour when they pass all alone into the unseen world. It is the sacred Book which contains that faithful saying, worthy to be received of all men, women and children, and not merely of us Christians-that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. [EDITORIAL.-A. T. P.] "Let the dead bury their dead! Follow thou ME.

Go thou and preach the kingdom of God." -Matt. viii: 21, 22; Luke ix: 60.

WORDS of deep meaning are those words, "life" and "death." The difference between them is the difference between holiness and sin; the distance between them is the distance between Heaven and Hell.

We are in a world of Death. It is full of the dead-those who have neither spiritual vitality nor sensibility; who lack all true spiritual life and all proper sense of the powers of the world to come.

God made man, like an ideal house, in successive stories. On the earthward side, the body, identified with matter; next above it, the intellectual, affectional and moral nature, higher up and nearer God; then above all, and crowning all, that which constituted the very "image of God," -the spiritual nature, the oratory and observatory, nearest to Heaven.

The fall of man shattered the whole house, but it left the upper story in absolute ruin. The spiritual image of God was effaced, while the whole man was defaced. That observatory that looked out upon the celestial scenery, became at best "a death chamber." The noblest, highest, divinest affections, affinities, and capacities of man were left in a state of decay; and so this world became the abode of the dead.

Yes; and the dead are burying the dead. All human history, without God, is one long burial. What is burial? It is the magnifying of the material and mortal; it is lavishing care and cost upon the body, when the invisible spirit has departed, and putting it out of sight and contact of the living. So are the ways of the world. That unseen reality and personality which we call soul, is habitually neglected, while lavish attention is given to the body; and selfishness, that it may revel in ease and indulgence, seeks to bury out of sight and touch of the living, the want and woe, sorrow and suffering of humanity.

The sayings of our Lord, which introduce these paragraphs, are far more comprehensive than may at first appear. Christ is not denying to a son the privilege of fulfilling the last sad offices of filial love to a deceased father. A soul has reached the crisis of history and destiny, and stands trembling and wavering upon the verge of a decision upon which hang eternal issues. To go just now, even to a father's funeral, with its elaborate ceremonial and tedious period of formal mourning, would prove a diversion that might prevent conversion, dissipating serious impressions and convictions. What if that son, drawn back into worldly associations, should lose all interest in things divine; and going to bury his father, should end in being buried himself ! But let us mark the grandeur of the scope of those two words of command: "Follow thou me !" "Go thou and preach the kingdom of God!"

Christ is the Lord of life. He came to give life and to give it more abundantly-not to bury but to revive; not to commit to the sepulchre but to call the dead from their tombs. "Follow thou Me !"

and so get life; then, "Go thou and preach the kingdom of God," and so give life.

We have intelligently chosen these words as the motto of this MISSIONARY REVIEW OF THE WORLD. Taking the two accounts as presenting the whole incident in its spherical completeness, we find here the entire duty of every human being, comprehensively expressed: first to be a follower of Christ, and then a preacher of Christ; receiving life from the dead, to go forth bearing the potent message of salvation, and so imparting life to the dead.

Our Lord thus sounds, in these sayings of His, the silver trumpet of evangelization, and down through the aisles of the ages, with growing clearness, rings the clarion peal. It is time that it had reached and rallied the whole church of God to the universal assembling of the Lord's hosts, and the universal onset of the army against the foe.

Evangelization is the one word that deserves to be emblazoned on the banners of the believing host. The one immediate, imperative duty of every follower is to become a "herald." To bring this gospel of life into contact with every living, human soul in the shortest possible time and the best possible way-that is evangelization.

The scheme is so grandly colossal that it fills the whole word of God, and reaches round the whole world of the dead. Like the wheel of Ezekiel's vision, it is so high that it is dreadful. Its rim rests upon the earth, but reaches to heaven.

God's gigantic plan of evangelization embraces the whole family of man. That family consists at this time of fifteen hundred millions of souls now living upon earth. More than one-half of this vast number have never yet had a copy of the Word, heard the sound of the good tidings, or even seen the face of a missionary. There are some thirty millions of evangelical Christians within the territory of a nominal Christendom; and the problem is how to bring those thirty millions into contact with the seven hundred and fifty millions who have not the gospel within the space of a generation's lifetime!

How can it be done? That is the absorbing question. We should utterly despair of doing it but for one fact: The Captain of our salvation has commanded it, and the existence of the order is the warrant for obedience, and the assurance of success. Let the whole church but take the attitude of obedience, and we should see wonders of achievement that would astonish us.

It is, nevertheless, very plain that the methods now employed by the church of God are inadequate to this great work. All Christendom sends to the foreign field to-day less than seven thousand workmen, of whom more than half are unordained laymen and women. The native Christian churches contribute some thirty-three thousand more, of whom nine-tenths are laymen. We have, therefore, a total of forty thousand Christian disciples scattered among the millions of Pagan, Papal, and Moslem communities. Were these evenly and equally distributed, it would still give every worker, male or female, native and foreign, ordained and unordained, a parish of 18,750 souls to reach with the gospel in the space of about thirty years, the lifetime of a generation.

"What are these among so many?" And with all the obstacles of foreign language and hoary superstitions to surmount before there could be even an approach or access to them. Our missionary workers-nay, even our missionary stations-are like stars set in the centres of vast vacancies. And, therefore, it is that with over 100 missionary organizations belting the globe, the unevangelized population of the world grows faster than the church; population strides more rapidly than evangelization can keep up with it; and there is to-day a larger number of unsaved souls on earth than during any previous decade of years.

Where lies the core of this difficulty? We have forsaken the standard set up for us by our Lord and adopted by the primitive church. To every human being our Lord's double message is "Follow me, and preach me." The command is representative. The only qualification necessary for preaching the kingdom is to be a subject in it; and every follower of Christ must be a fisher of men.

This is the doctrine of the New Testament, and this was the practice of the New Testament church. Our Lord laid down the law of evangelization: ALL ARE TO GO, AND TO GO TO ALL. The occasion on which, upon that Galilean mountain, He said: "Go make disciples of all nations," was, without doubt, the occasion on which he "was seen of above five hundred brethren at once," commissioning all disciples to make disciples.

And they accepted the commission. The persecution that followed Stephen's martyrdom scattered the disciples abroad, and they went everywhere, preaching the word.* Observe!-not the apostles, for they are expressly excepted, as remaining at Jerusalem. Philip, though only a deacon, not only evangelized but baptized. The careful reader of the" Acts of the Apostles" finds there the acts of a great many beside the Apostles. He finds there a vital truth of Scripture side by side with a vital fact of history. The obvious intent of our Lord was that every follower should be also a witness, warrior, worker, winner of souls. The so-called "ministry" properly exists in the interests of law and order, sound doctrine and safe polity; but does not properly exist as a clerical caste, drawing a line of division between the followers of Christ in the matter of work for souls. Neither the world nor the church can afford to confine or entrust this work of evangelization to a class. The world needs all disciples as heralds, if all men are to hear the gospel; and the church needs all her members to be workers if she is to fulfil her great commission, or even escape the dry rot of indolence and inaction. Growth there must be where life is, and action there must be where growth is. What we do not use we lose. Current alone keeps the stream from stagnating and freezing.

Go thou, whoever thou art, if thou followest the Lord, and preach the kingdom of God. This is a universal duty, an individual responsibility. It is not necessary to change our sphere, but only to pervade our sphere with a new spirit of life. "In whatsoever calling he is found, let every man therein abide with God."* Let him use the shoemaker's shop, the carpenter's bench, the merchant's desk, the artist's studio, the market stall, the senator's chair, the kitchen or nursery, the throne or palace, as the pulpit from which to preach Jesus. If, like Wesley and Whitefield, Moody and McAll, you can reach the multitudes with your voice, thank God for the privilege. But if not, perhaps, like John Pounds of Portsmouth, you can win the confidence of street gamins by a hot roast potato, or, like Maria Millis in the humble nursery, teach infant lips to pray, and sow in a child's heart the seeds of a mighty passion for souls that shall yet sway, with resistless persuasion, the Lords and Commons in Parliament! These opening words of salutation from the editors to the reader, are not the result of any sudden, transient outburst of feeling. Here are crystallized the solemn convictions reached or wrought by a quarter of a century of study and thought upon this great theme. Before the church stands a great problem, for which the Scriptures furnish the only practical, possible solution. The whole church must accept the duty of telling the old, old story. Each of us is his brother's keeper. Every hearer must become a herald. This is the theory of evangelization in a nutshell; and we have only to put this principle into practice, and the wisdom of our Lord's words will be demonstrated; we may thus bring the gospel to the ears of every living member of our ruined race before the bells of God's great clock of the ages shall ring in the natal hour of a new century.

"Go THOU, AND PREACH THE KINGDOM OF GOD."

A VIOLENT thunder storm once preserved the town of Basle from the shells of the Russians and Hungarians, who were besieging the place. The pious people, in gratitude, founded a training-school for Christian Missionaries. This was the origin of the Basle Missionary Society, which has sent out over five hundred devoted men to the heathen.

*1 Cor. vii.

MISSION WORK IN PAPAL EUROPE

MISSION WORK IN PAPAL EUROPE.

By WILLIAM CLARK, D.D., FLORENCE, ITALY.

[Dr. Clark has a right to speak on the subject which he here briefly intro- duces to the notice of our readers. During the past twenty-five years he has resided in Papal Europe and made its institutions, especially those of an educational character, a matter of special study. The female college which he has established at Florence is an important mission agency and deserves the sympathy and aid of American Christians, and especially of the friends of female Christian education. Previous to this-from 1850 to 1860-he was in the service of the A. B. C. F. M. in Turkey, having charge of the Bebek Theological Seminary, out of which grew Robert College.-EDs.) THE moral and spiritual transformation of Central and Southern Europe must be done for women and by women. Establishing evangeli- cal schools of higher female education is the great mission agency to be employed, and the agency the most successful of all others. It is not by any denominational propaganda arrayed against Popery, or by Protestant Mission Boards of England and the United States sending their forces into these countries with their agencies of sect. I have been intimately conversant with mission work in foreign and Papal lands for nearly forty years, and, with all my experience and observation during this long period, I am fully convinced that true and successful mission work can never be accomplished, especially in Papal Europe, by a strictly denominational agency. I speak what I know when I say that the greatest obstacle to the work of a true religious reform in Papal Europe for the last twenty-five years has been the introduction of different religious denominations, and the sectarian spirit that has characterized them. To do true Christian work in Europe, churches must leave sect at home, and carry alone the essentials of Christian salvation and Christian character.

In 1866, Hon. George P. Marsh, our honored Minister in Italy for thirty years, wrote me thus: "Garibaldi is right in saying that Italy must owe her salvation to her women. No country has produced, and none now produces, nobler women than this, and there never was a crisis when such could render greater service to the cause of humanity and truth than now." The union and independence of Italy, that have taken place since that time, have proved a powerful incentive in ennobling and quickening the life of woman. Nowhere is the regeneration of Italy more marked than in Italian female life. They now ask earnestly for a new and improved system of higher female education. They wish schools and colleges for women similar to those in America. Our system of higher female education has been made known in all these countries by the Expositions at Vienna and Paris. My classmate, Hon. John D. Philbrick of Boston, our Educational Commissioner at those expositions, made such a beautiful exhibit of our female schools and colleges as to make our system of female culture so popular that it is everywhere desired in all these countries, and desired as a system to take the place of the Convent system, with which from year to year they are more and more dissatisfied.

Establishing evangelical schools of higher female education would be setting up a great agency that would be attended with immense results, an agency having no sectarian taint to poison it, and most cordially welcomed by the people. In Italy, for instance, this agency affords us a rare opportunity of doing a most noble work for Italian young women of the higher classes, in bringing a high and ennobling religious influence, as well as a high culture among those who really have the destinies of their country in their hands.

The great obstacle to the regeneration of Italy, is woman. Educate woman, and bring her under a true religious influence, and Italy will quickly become a truly enlightened and a truly evangelized country. And this work is feasible, if means and lady teachers can be obtained among Christians of America. The present is a time so favorable for instituting a great enterprise and an undenominational mission agency, that I cannot but urge it upon the attention of Christian women in America. I have heard many Italians express deep regret that, in all Catholic Europe, there was not one superior college where they might send their daughters for a higher culture. Is not this fact a sad one, especially when we consider how much high Christian culture there is among the women of America and England? Is it true that this culture is really Christian and benevolent in its character? Why, then, are not greater efforts made to extend it among other nations? Establish, for instance, schools in Italy bearing the stamp of our culture and our religion. This would be the noblest possible way of doing mission work. It is not enough that we boast of our higher female education at home; we must consecrate it to the good of other nations.

We want $10,000 to make a college, already established in Florence, Italy, an agency of great good to all the Papal States of Europe. Similar schools we wish to establish in all the principal cities of Italy, Austria, France and Spain; and such schools will bring these countries into the kingdom of Christ. To the importance of this work we have the testimony and endorsement of the best men of all Christian nations. Lord Shaftsbury, J. B. Braithwaite of England, Sir William Muir, Prof. Calderwood of Scotland, Mark Hopkins, Dr. Roswell D. Hitchcock, Mrs. ex-President Garfield, and many others in our own land-all these speak of this agency as mission work of the highest importance.

Many years ago Mrs. Emma Willard, of Troy Female Seminary, gave $3,000 to establish a school for young women in Greece. This school, nobly sustained by Mr. and Mrs. Hill, has educated more than 20,000 Greek young women.

BRIEF NOTES ON NEW BOOKS OF A MISSIONARY CHARACTER

BRIEF NOTES ON NEW BOOKS OF A MISSIONARY CHARACTER.

James Hannington. By F. C. Dawson, M. A. A. D. F. Randolph & Co., N. Y.

This is a graphic story of the life and work of the first Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. It has already gone through six editions in England, 'and two here. It is a thrilling narrative. There are many incidents of great interest in the volume; but the central figure is the manly, unselfish, heroic Hannington, whose martyrdom so shocked the Christian world. The reading of the book has suggested so many useful and instructive thoughts that it is the purpose of the editors to give hereafter a special article on the subject of this memoir.

The Cross and the Dragon. Rev. B. C. Henry of Canton. A. D. F. Randolph & Co.

Few books of 500 pages contain more interesting and useful matter. Mr. Henry is an acute observer. He has eyes and ears and knows how to use them: and he has the rare quality of being able, both by his tongue and pen, to reproduce in vivid, graphic style, those matters which are most apt to enchain the attention of the hearer or reader. This book will be one of the standard books on Missions.

Siam, or The Heart of Farther India. By Mary L. Cort. Published by Randolph.

This book, in size and style, corresponds to The Cross and the Dragon, and is not unlike it in value and power to interest and instruct. Few people know what a unique country and people are presented in this book, about which so little has been known until of late. The supreme king, Chulalangkorn, is a wise, intelligent, charitable monarch: like his father before him a patron of art, science and literature. In this empire all practical hindrances seem removed to missionary work. There have been no marked results which can be expressed in figures and statistics, but the gospel seems to be slowly but surely preparing for a great conquest. We advise everybody to read Miss Cort's book.

The Dragon, Image, and Demon: or, the Three Religions of China, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Iaoism, giving an account of the Mythology, Idolatry, and Demonolatry of the Chinese. By Rev. Hampden C. DuBose, fourteen years a missionary at Loochow. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. 12mo, pp. 468. 1887.

We give the full title of this book as explanatory of its contents. The work is profusely illustrated, and is gotten up in gorgeous yet appropriate style. Written by one who knows whereof he writes; who is familiar, from study and observation on the ground, with the system of religion and philosophy which he describes; and who has taken pains to gather information on a great variety of points little understood by the Christian world, it will prove a valuable addition to our missionary literature. The work is of interest to the general reader, as well as in all missionary circles. Even the London Saturday Review says of it: "It is a book likely to be widely read. Of the author's minute description of popular and household deities, and the mass of legend connected with them, the book and its curious illustrations can alone speak. Mr. DuBose has much to say that is fresh and suggestive, and he says it with force and conviction."

The Crisis of Missions: or, The Voice out of the Cloud. By Rev. Arthur T. Pierson, D. D. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. 12 mo, pp. 370.

Like all their issues, the publishers have given this little book an attractive dress, befitting the character of the work. It is a marvelous book, in its power to inform, impress, and electrify the reader. The grouping of inspiring facts; the rapid action of the discussion; the intense glow of missionary feeling; and the irresistible array of motives and argume~ts and

ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK

Providential movements, all conspire to challenge the reader's attention, thrill his soul, and cause him to hear "the voice out of the cloud," as he never heard it before. If our beloved associate had not written the book, I should use still stronger language. I am not surprised that the reading public are showing their appreciation of it by exhausting six editions of it in one year!

Woman and the Gospel in Persia. By Rev. Thomas Laurie, D. D. Adoniram Judson. By Julia H. Johnston.

The Woman's Presbyterian Board of Missions of the Northwest, located at Chicago, is publishing a series of brief works entitled" Missionary Annals." The first in the series was a Memoir of Robert Moffat. The two, whose titles are given above, form Nos. 2 and 3. Others are in preparation. They are neatly produced, and sold at a small price, only 30 cents in cloth. .

The plan is an excellent one. Its execution will greatly widen the circle of missionary readers and create a demand for larger works. The materials for the sketch of Dr. Judson were drawn from Dr. Wayland's memoir of him, from Dr. EdwardJudson's "Life" of his father, and from "The History of Baptist Missions." "Woman and the Gospel in Persia," is an abridgment of "Woman and her Saviour in Persia," by Dr. Laurie, and was generously prepared by him and presented to the Board which publishes it.

n.-ORGANIZED MISSIONARY WORK.

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

THE seventh annual meeting of the Board was held at Springfield, Mass., Oct. 5-8, 1887. It was a remarkable assemblage, both as to number and character—one hundred and sixty-five corporate members and over 800 ministers. The discussion of two reports from the Prudential Committee was long and earnest, and resulted in an overwhelming vote sustaining the policy of the Board. Still it was not unanimous, and the outcome of the trouble it is impossible to predict.

The editor of The Independent, who was present, gives the following as the substance of the action of the Board:

"1. That the Board, acting through its Prudential Committee, will hereafter as heretofore assume and exercise the right to judge and determine upon the qualifications of all persons applying to it for appointment and support as foreign missionaries. 2. That, in the judgment of the Board, the Word of God teaches that the moral conduct of men in this life, whether living and dying in heathen or Christian lands, is determinative of their condition and destiny in the life to come, and hence that this Word excludes the hypothesis that any persons who in this life have failed to secure the great salvation through Christ will, after death, have another probation in which salvation will be offered to them, and by them may be obtained. 3. That all persons applying to the Board for appointment and support as foreign missionaries, if holding as a positive faith or a probable hypothesis the doctrine of a second probation or that of this life continued into the next life, are to be regarded as not possessing the proper qualifications for such appointment and support, since, in either case, their position is contrary to the Word of God, and is calculated in its natural effects to impair the power of that Word over human hearts."

The report of the year's missionary operations was highly encouraging, and the several papers submitted by the Secretaries, particularly "The Appeal of the Hour," by Secretary Smith, and "The Message and Messenger," by Secretary Clark, were inspiring in the highest degree. We regret that our space will allow but a bird's-eye view of the year's results.

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.

From churches, individual donors, and Sunday-schools, $218,427.58. From the four Woman's Boards, $148,530.82 (from Woman's Board of Missions, $89,304.60; from Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior, $55,248.12; from the Woman's Board of Missions for the Pacific, $3,678.10; from the Woman's Board of Missions for the Pacific Isles, $300); a total of donations of $366,958.40. From legacies, $98,414.59, and from the income of the permanent funds, $11,071.28; making the total receipts from these sources, $476,444.27.

From the Swett bequest, set apart to meet special calls for a brief period of years in the evangelistic and educational departments of our missionary work abroad, $154,319.96 has been appropriated for the purposes named, including, for Japan, $43,745, and for China, $34,762.83.

From the Otis bequest, set apart for new missions, $48,808.31 has been devoted to work in West Central and East Central Africa, in Shanse, in Northern Japan, and in Northern Mexico.

These amounts, added to receipts from ordinary sources, with balance in the treasury at the beginning of the year, $1,381.49, make the total $680,954.03. The expenditures of the year amounted to $679,376.90, leaving a balance in the treasury of $1,577.13.

GENERAL SUMMARY. 1886-87.

CONCLUSION.

Such is the brief record of that great work which the Board sustains in twenty-two missions among unevangelized people in all parts of the earth. In almost 1,000 populous centres a force of 2,500 laborers, foreign and native, is preaching the gospel in twenty-five different languages, and conducting a great evangelistic and educational work. Fifteen new churches have been organized, and out of a total membership of 28,000, nearly 3,000 have made profession of faith this year. In ninety-six high schools and colleges 6,000 picked youths of both sexes are in training to reinforce the native agency, besides 34,000 pupils under Christian instruction and influence in common schools. And above all, the Christian character of the native converts is assuming greater depth and earnestness, and their share in evangelistic work is steadily increasing in value as well as in amount.

THE FIRST MONTH.—The financial beginning of the new year is favorable, the receipts being more than double those of the first month of the preceding year; amounting to $30,668.57, of which over $22,000 is from donations.

American Baptist Union.

THIS Union represents some 600,000 or 700,000 Baptists in the Northern and Western States, and is the second oldest foreign missionary society in the country. Its 73d annual meeting was held in Minneapolis, Minn., May 27-28. We give an abstract of its annual report.

Its first field was Burmah, where it has planted a vigorous and self-supporting Christianity, which, with its admirable system of schools and its missionary spirit, is making constant inroads on heathenism. Since Upper Burmah was opened to the world by the overthrow of King Thebaw, the Union has been sending missionaries into that kingdom. It has also a strong mission in India, among the Telugus, thousands of whom were gathered in during the remarkable awakening in South India some years ago. Besides these missions the Union has others in Assam and Siam, China, Japan, Africa (in Liberia and on the Congo), and in Europe.

The European missions are in Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, and Greece, where their membership foots up more than the Asiatic and African missions. In Sweden and Germany the work may be said to have passed the missionary stage. There are regular churches, ordained ministers, and associations of churches and ministers. In Sweden alone there are 460 churches, a gain of 26 the past year, 483 preachers, and 31,064 members. In Germany there are more members (33,451), but fewer churches and ministers. The latter number 450, of whom 300 are unordained, and the churches count up to 168 only. The work of the year was very successful, if we may judge from the fact that there were 3,473 baptisms in Sweden, and 2,530 in Germany. An effort is being made to reach the Finns, of whom there are about two millions, who are said to be in a state of dense spiritual darkness. They seem anxious to know the truth and be saved. The amount of contributions in Sweden last year was $79,187.

Germany received $5,628 from the Union, raising among its own churches $98,900. The German Baptist Union, consisting of 13 associations, embraces missions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Russia, Roumania, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Africa. The mission was begun by Johan Gerhard Oncken, a German who married and settled in England and became an Independent. Traveling in Lower Saxony, as an agent of a Bible and a tract society, he organized a Baptist church in that kingdom and became its pastor. This was in 1834. Next year he was appointed missionary of what is now the American Baptist Missionary Union, and he went all over Germany and Denmark preaching and baptizing. From this beginning have sprung all the churches and missions in connection with the German Baptist Union. There is an association in Austria embracing 5 churches, 62 stations, and 930 members; one among the Poles, with 8 churches, 52 stations, and 2,624 members; two in Russia, with a total of 18 churches, 183 stations, and 5,026 members; one on the Baltic with 4 churches, 9 stations, and 1,206 members; one in Denmark, with 22 churches, 101 stations, and 2,181 members; and one in South Africa, with 3 churches, 16 stations, and 676 members. Of the 58,108 members which are returned from the Asiatic and African missions 26,574 are in Burmah and Siam, showing an increase for the year of over 700. A special difficulty in the work in Burmah is the fact of the division of the population in language and race characteristics, requiring distinct missions to the Burmans, the Karens, the Shans, the Kachins, and the Chins. And these separate missions are to be found in the same territory, in the same towns and cities. In Henthada, for example, there is a Burman, a Karen, and a Chin department; and the Karens are sometimes divided into the Red-Karen, Bghai-Karen, and Paku-Karen departments, and there are still other varieties of Karens. The majority of the members in Burmah are Karens, who are an inferior people and were formerly slaves to the Burmans. The total of baptisms in Burmah last year was 1,794. The appropriations from the Union aggregated about $100,000, to which the mission added about $35,000 for churches, schools, and general benevolence. The missionary force is 107, and the number of ordained and unordained ministers 513. Of the 510 churches, 310 are self-supporting. In the 7 stations in Assam are 1,922 members, gathered in 30 churches, of which four are self-sustaining. The field in India is among the Telugus. This was for many years a fruitless mission, but it now reports more members than the Burmah mission, and was the most fruitful mission last year in the list of the Union, returning 1,000 of the 1,668 net gain of all the missions.

The mission in China reports 1,516 members in 18 churches, of which 4 are self-supporting. There are 519 members in Japan, with 13 churches, only one of which pays its own expenses.

The African mission is yet in its infancy. A few years ago the mission received the Congo mission from the Livingstone Inland Mission, an undenominational organization, which had its headquarters in Cardiff, Wales. There are now seven stations on the Congo, one being at Stanley Pool and one at the equator, above the Pool.

The following is a summary of results for the seventy-three years of the Union's operations:

The American Missionary Association

HELD its 41st Annual Meeting in Portland, Me., Oct. 25-27, 1887. Items from its Annual Report: The receipts of the year cover all the expenses of the year, wipe out the debt of $5,000 with which the year began, and leave $2,193.80 with which to start out on the coming year.

EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE SOUTH.

Total number of schools planted in the Southern States is fifty-four. Six of these are chartered institutions, fairly entitled to the rank of Colleges. Sixteen are Normal and Training Schools. Thirty-two are common schools, scattered throughout nine different States. In these schools are 246 instructors and 8,616 pupils.

CHURCH WORK.

These statistics show a substantial gain over last year. Seven new churches were organized.

There has been during the year a quiet Christian work throughout the South, which has borne gratifying fruits, over 1,000 having confessed Christ for the first time. The Sunday-school enrollment has increased by nearly 2,000. They contributed this year for benevolence, outside of their own work, $2,322.51, and for their own church purposes, $16,014.50, making a grand total of $18,337.01. This was an increase over the previous year of $610.96 in their benevolences, and $3,075.61 in the total. This is an average contribution of $2.32 per member for every man, woman and child in these churches.

INDIAN WORK, chiefly in Nebraska and Dakota. The following is the summary:

CHINESE WORK.

RECEIPTS.

The total disbursements for the year have been $298,783.80, a decrease in the expenditures of last year of $13,467.

Foreign Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

FROM 52d Annual Report, closing Sept 1st, we glean the following facts and figures:

In Japan the advance is rapid. In Africa, notwithstanding the political disturbance at the lower end of the Missionary Jurisdiction of Cape Palmas, the workers are brave and true and the work is being systematically prosecuted; not only in the localities with which the Church has been familiar for years, but also in the regions beyond. In China, the evangelistic work, largely conducted by the native clergy, as well as the parochial work among the converts, and that of the day and boarding-schools and St. John's College, and the medical mission, each has its own story to tell of diligence and encouragement, notwithstanding the publications during the year which have given the impression that the work in China is suffering. Bishop Holly makes his own report of the labors of himself and of his little band of clergy in Haiti. It is a story of energetic labor amid discouraging conditions and with limited resources. All of these statements will be fully borne out by the particulars that will be submitted. Still the call is for more workers. The fields are indeed white unto the harvest. We thank God that the whole Church is praying, in the Litany, that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest.

*From Church Almanac. †Including $4,250, specifically contributed toward paying off the Mexican Loan. ‡Including a single gift of $13,200, and also $2,000 for Mexican Loan. §Including $2,481.50 for Mexican Loan.

This table shows the exact resources for Foreign Missions of the Board of Managers since its organization in 1877. During the decade there have been but three years in which the contributions for the general work have exceeded those of the past year, and in two instances that excess is accounted for in the table. At the same time the amount received from legacies available for the work of the Society in Foreign Lands is much less than in any other of the ten years named.

The total receipts of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society for the year were $402,440.52, a decrease of $1,732.45 from previous year. The receipts for Domestic Missions were $219,439.33.

Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.

ABSTRACT of the 50th annual report presented to the General Assembly at its meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May, 1887.

No less than eight of the missionaries of the Board have died during the year, while seven ordained and three medical missionaries, and six lady teachers, have permanently withdrawn during the same time. To strengthen the posts weakened by this depletion, the Board has sent out during the year seven ordained missionaries, of whom six were married, eight medical missionaries, of whom two were ladies, and eleven unmarried ladies.

Work has been prosecuted among 11 tribes of American Indians, and the Chinese and Japanese in the United States; in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil and Chili; in Africa, among the inhabitants of Liberia, and those of the Gaboon and Corisco region; and in Asia in important centers of influence in India, Siam, China, Japan, Korea, Persia, and Syria. In addition to this the Board has rendered substantial assistance to the evangelical work in Papal Europe through approved societies on the Continent. There have been in commission during the year, 173 ordained missionaries, 30 laymen, mostly physicians, and 296 ladies. Besides these, the missionary force includes 134 native ordained ministers, and 154 licentiates, which, with 756 Bible readers, catechists, etc., makes a total force in the employ of the Board during the year of 1,543. Three hundred and ten organized churches are on the roll, with 21,420 communicants, of whom 2,791 were added during the year. These churches report contributions to the amount of $28,552. The aggregate attendance on schools of all grades was 23,329.

In the various fields occupied by the Board there has been much to encourage, and yet not a little to perplex and disturb. In some of the missions, the Holy Spirit has so sealed the truth upon the hearts and consciences of the people that precious ingatherings have been witnessed, and the joy of harvest experienced. In others it has been a time mainly of diligent sowing and patient waiting. When the deep poverty of many of those gathered out of heathenism is remembered, the contributions of native Christians for the support of the Gospel during the year indicate high attainment in the grace of Christian beneficence. In some parts of the field a noteworthy advance has been made in the measure of government favor accorded to our missionaries, as in China, Japan and Siam, showing that the mission work is commending itself to those in high position, and that the door of access to the nations is constantly widening. On the other hand, the restrictions of the French government, in the territory occupied by the Gaboon and Corisco Mission have become so severe, as virtually to tie the hands of our missionaries, and to drive them from the field. After repeated efforts to secure some modification of the restrictions imposed, the Board has felt constrained, at the urgent request of the brethren on the field, to take measures to transfer that mission to another evangelical body, should the way be clear, and secure a foothold, if possible, within German territory.

RECEIPTS FOR THE YEAR.

This shows an increase last year of $55,618.14, although $34,696.39 was a special gift for the debt in the previous year's receipts.

The Assembly resolved to aim at the raising of $1,000,000 for the current year for foreign missions.

EXPENDITURES AND STATISTICS OF THE MISSIONS.

For missions among 11 tribes of Indians, with which are connected 15 American and 13 Indian preachers, 2 Indian licentiate preachers, 3 American laymen and 35 women, 15 native assistants, 1,741 communicants, and 13 schools, with 422 scholars, of whom 194 are in boarding-schools—$28,839.79.

For missions to the Chinese in this country, with stations in New York, San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and other places, in connection with which are 4 ministers, 8 female teachers (unsalaried teachers not enumerated), 7 native assistants, 286 communicants, and 17 schools, with 779 scholars, not including pupils in Sabbath-school—$17,909.57.

For mission in Japan, at 4 stations and several outstations, with 12 American and 11 native ministers, 15 licentiate preachers, 2 American laymen and 31 women, 2,178 communicants, and 11 schools, connected with which are 1,184 scholars, of whom 200 are in boarding-schools—$63,166.27.

For 3 missions in China, with 13 stations and over 150 outstations, 36 ordained Americans and 15 ordained natives, 35 licentiate preachers, 8 American laymen and 49 women, 144 native assistants, 4,306 communicants, and 94 schools, with 1,983 scholars, of whom 572 are in boarding-schools—$102,626.57.

For mission in Korea, with 1 American minister, 2 American laymen and 3 women—$8,868.63.

For 2 missions in Siam and Laos, at 4 stations and 14 outstations, 11 American ministers, 4 native licentiate preachers, 3 American laymen and 17 women, 23 native assistants, 676 communicants, and 14 schools, with 380 scholars, of whom 112 are in boarding-schools—$37,928.20.

For 3 missions in India, at 25 stations, 13 outstations, with 35 American and 19 native ministers, 31 licentiate preachers, 2 American laymen and 57 women, 216 native assistants, 1,033 communicants, and 9,671 scholars—$113,317.21.

For 2 missions in Persia, with 5 stations and about 100 outstations, 10 American and 32 native ministers, 35 licentiate preachers, 5 American laymen and 30 women, 120 native assistants, 2,052 communicants, 115 schools, with 2,731 scholars, of whom 230 are in boarding-schools—$61,430.83.

For mission in Syria, at 5 stations and 86 outstations, connected with which are 13 American and 4 native ministers, 32 licentiate preachers, 1 American layman and 23 women, 143 native assistants, 1,440 communicants, 119 schools, with 5,172 scholars, 270 of whom are in boarding-schools—$55,248.22.

For mission in Liberia, Africa, 7 stations, 3 American and 3 native ministers, 1 American layman, 1 woman, 1 native assistant, 284 communicants, 5 schools, and 157 scholars, of whom 88 are in boarding-schools—$3,669.17.

For Gaboon and Corisco Mission, at 6 stations and several outstations, with 5 ordained American and 3 ordained native ministers, 2 licentiates, 1 American lay missionary and 9 women, 14 native assistants, 688 communicants—$20,216.79.

For missions in Brazil, at 9 stations and several outstations, with 10 American and 6 native ministers, 2 licentiates, 1 male and 12 female missionaries, 29 native assistants, 1,895 communicants, 21 schools, with 518 scholars, of whom 42 are in boarding-school—$50,640.59.

For mission in Chili, at 3 stations, 8 ministers, 1 native minister, 4 native licentiates, 6 female teachers, 11 native assistants, 449 communicants, and 3 schools, with 260 scholars, of whom 27 are in boarding-school—$23,089.59.

For mission in U. S. of Colombia, at 1 station, with 2 American ministers, 3 female missionaries, 5 native assistants, 66 communicants, and 1 school, with 50 scholars, of whom 10 are in boarding-school—$5,798.99.

For mission in Guatemala, at 1 station, 2 female missionaries, 12 communicants, and 1 school, with 26 scholars—$4,536.72.

For mission in Mexico, with 6 stations, and about 100 outstations, 8 American and 27 native ministers, 21 licentiates, 12 female missionaries, 29 native assistants, 4,314 communicants, and 20 schools, with 620 (partial report) scholars, of whom 51 are in boarding-schools—$80,597.82.

For missions in European Papal countries—France, Belgium, Italy, etc.—$4,354.70.

For Home Expenses—printing, salaries, miscellaneous—$36,727.93.

*Includes $13,368.28 for investment.

United Presbyterian Church.

Abstract from the 28th Annual Report, presented May 26, 1887.

The Board report a year of unusual interest. "Every department of the work has shown the signal presence and favor of God." In the Indian mission, 1,934 professed Christ. The native church increased from 2,176 members in 1885 to 4,019 at the close of 1886. A marked advance was made also in Egypt. At home additional interest has been shown. Women's Missionary Societies increased from 501 to 593; members from 13,585 to 15,004; and contributions to foreign missions from $10,765 to $13,803.

MISSIONS.

There are two—one in the Punjab, or northwestern Province of India, and the other in the Delta and valley of the Nile in Egypt. In the former, the mission embraces the eight districts, Sialkot, Zafarwal, East and West Gujranwala, Jhelum, Gurdaspur, Pasrur and Pathankot with their several hundred villages. The latter has the districts of Alexandria, Cairo, Mansoora, the Fayoom, Lower, Middle and Upper Thebaid, and is in as many as possible of the 12,293 town and villages that are in them and the country at large.

GENERAL SUMMARY.

Missions 2, Stations 121, Foreign Missionaries 16, married women 16, single 20, Physicians 2. Total foreign laborers 54. Native ordained ministers 20, licentiates 9, other workers 346. Total native workers 375. Total of all laborers 429. Churches 31, Average Sabbath attendance 7,759. Communicants 6,161. Increase during the year (India 2,030, Egypt 311) 2,341. Baptisms 2,881. Sabbath-schools 138. Sabbath-school scholars 5,625. Other schools 192. Scholars in them 9,219. Contributions for church purposes $5,587. Appraised value of mission property $325,701.

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. The receipts for the year were:

The Expenditures for the year were for the Egyptian Mission $37,620.45, for India $30,351.04, for sending out, returning, and new missionaries $4,325.60, for salaries and children of missionaries at home $5,056.02, for other necessary home expenses $1,899.07, for payment of debt to Quarter Centennial fund $5,091.62, and for payment of debt to Egyptian mission $3,248.70, making a total of $87,592.50. The contributions of the church were less by $3,648.70 than the expenditures.

CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

III.-CORRESPONDENCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

ONE of our esteemed editorial correspondents, Prof. W. C. Wilkinson, D.D., writes us in the following inspiring words:

A World's Missionary Council.

THE MISSIONARY REVIEW will, if God prosper the enterprise, fulfilling the hopes and prayers of its conductors, become in some sort a realization of a certain broad and beneficent idea lately breathed in a published volume. One of the editors of this REVIEW, in a book entitled "The Crisis of Missions," proposes in the serene boldness of faith, the plan of holding an Œcumenical Council of a new order, a Pan-Christian Conference in behalf of Missions in every part of the world. A "World's Missionary Council," he calls it.

The idea is inspiring. There is a tonic audacity in it. It has the spirit of the beginning of the era of modern missions. It might have been William Carey's proposal. Its motto well might read, "Expect great things from God."

THE MISSIONARY REVIEW is already in purpose something like a fulfillment of such a noble dream. It offers to be a council in perpetual session, to consult for the spread of the Gospel throughout the whole earth. It will do what it can to bring about, in God's good time, the actual convening of Christendom in a council to concert measures for the speedy evangelization of the world. The reflex influence upon present Christendom of an effort to make itself commensurate with mankind would be such a strengthening of the things among us at home that remain, and that, without such a forthputting like this of power to save, are themselves ready to faint—such a strengthening, we say, as would mark an historic epoch in the advance of Christianity comparable to that of the Protestant Reformation—comparable, but, perhaps, superior.

May that God who has promised His Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession, graciously accept each successive number of this REVIEW as one more prayer of His expecting Church,

THY KINGDOM COME!

China Inland Mission.

Letter from J. Hudson Taylor, our London Editorial Correspondent:

LONDON, Nov. 1st, 1887.

DEAR DR. PIERSON:

May I, for Mr. Radcliffe, as well as myself, reply to your kind letters about Editorial Correspondents? We are both so circumstanced that, while we should be very willing to be occasional correspondents, we could not undertake to write at regular intervals, or to any large extent. For myself, I must also add that perhaps half my time is spent in China and half in England.

We are both in hearty sympathy with you, and would gladly do anything in our power to help you. May the Lord make the REVIEW more than ever a blessing and a success.

Yours, faithfully,
J. HUDSON TAYLOR.

One of our editorial correspondents, Dr. H. H. Jessup, of Syria, writes a private letter, but it is of such public interest that we venture to print it. It was in acknowledgment of a copy of the little book on missions recently sent by the author to his old friend in Syria.—A. T. P.

BEIRUT, SYRIA, May 9, 1887.

MY DEAR BROTHER PIERSON:

I have just received a copy of your excellent book, "The Crisis of Missions," with your card, and write to tell you how highly I value the book.

Your preliminary word, that "the spirit of Christ is the spirit of Missions," is the keynote to the whole book, and should be the keynote of the life of every Christian disciple. One of the problems which I cannot solve, and which I shall be anxious to have solved when I reach the kingdom of glory, is this: "How will those Christians who say that they do not believe in missions explain their position to the glorified Redeemer?"

There can be no question as to your position on this great subject. I trust every young man and woman in our colleges and seminaries will be enabled in some way to read this stirring volume. But perhaps I was hasty in writing that sentence. For supposing that they should read it, and be stirred and thrilled by it as I have been, and hundreds of them should be led to say, "Lord, here am I; send me." "Churches of Christ, here we are; send us:" and all this in addition to the 1,500 mentioned by Dr. McCosh in his letter who have already decided to go, what would be the effect on the churches? Of one thing I am sure, and that is, that while a few "Thomas" churches might doubt and even despair, the great body of Christ's own children everywhere would be set on fire with the conviction that now is the Crisis; that God hath verily spoken to his people; that the silver trumpet has sounded the note of advance; that the church must either rise to the duty of the hour, or be swept aside, and another church be raised up to do the work.

I have just had under my roof that devoted man of God, Major General Haig, long in India, and now from England, who has just journeyed all around the west, south and east coast of Arabia, looking for openings for planting Missionary and Bible Stations; and his reports which are appearing in the Church Missionary Intelligencer are like the journals of an apostle.

The fact is that the last bolts and bars with which Satan clinched the gates of heathen empires centuries ago are dropping to the ground, and the rusty hinges are creaking open while the imprisoned nations stand wondering and waiting for the liberty of Christ.

Let us continue, my dear brother, to lift up our voices and call on our brethren and sisters everywhere to go forward.

I was greatly moved, when a lad, by reading Dr. Enoch Pond's "World's Salvation." But the facts and figures of that book, as I recall them, were far less stirring than those of your little volume. The darkness and the want then existed and were well described, but the open doors were few, and the actual call for men quite limited. But now the 1,500 candidates preparing to go could find work ready to their hands in Japan, or in Interior Africa.

The church's ear seems to be heavy and the church's hand to be shortened, while the Lord is calling louder and louder, and His mighty providence is moving on.

For years I have been waiting to hear Brother Moody's voice on this great subject of Foreign Missions, and now that he has thrown his heart and help and voice into the work, the Lord has granted a rich blessing. Your plan of apportioning out the unevangelized world among the Christian churches is a grand one. See how the nations of Europe are cutting and carving the continent of Africa for their own commercial objects! It is time that the whole world were thus taken possession of for Jesus our King.

We are working on quietly here in Syria. Our last annual report shows a greater advance than in any previous year, in additions to the church and in all other departments of our work.

Yours, affectionately,
HENRY HARRIS JESSUP.

Japan.

Rev. James H. Ballagh writes:

YOKOHAMA, May 4, 1887.

REV. DR. PIERSON:

Dear Brother—Knowing well your interest in mission work in general, and also something of your interest in particular in Japan, through your acquaintance with native brethren, now members of your church or residents of your city, I take the liberty to present the claims of an interesting field of work for assistance. It is to ask aid for help in erecting a church building at Tokosuka, the naval station in this part of Japan, and where most of their ship-building is carried on. There are extensive dry docks and works there, several marine hospitals, a fleet of vessels, and a considerable body of marines, besides a very live and enterprising population. Iniquity is also very active. The brothels are large, and thronged at night like a fair—the veritable Vanity Fair of "Pilgrim's Progress." To the outside world it is interesting as being a most beautiful land-locked harbor in an inner bay of Yedo bay, near Perry and Webster islands.

At this place the French Romanists had a fine chapel when they commenced work at the navy yard, but it has been sold for old lumber on their loss of influence in Japan. There is now an active Protestant Church of our United Church of Christ in Japan with 76 members. It is only of two or three years' growth. The work was commenced mostly under Dr. Saiki's influence, and, though himself a Congregationalist, he threw his influence in favor of a Presbyterian Church being established here. The Church meets in greatly straitened quarters at present. As the town is small, lots expensive, and few houses to let, the Church desires to build a suitable chapel. One thousand dollars will secure land and erect a modest building. $500 we hope to be able to raise here, and they would like an equal amount in gold from America. Their pastor, the Rev. Ito Tokichi, is an indefatigable worker and an excellent Christian man. The membership is largely doctors—naval physicians—and their families.

Hoping that some practical manifestation of the hearty interest which American Christians take in the establishment of Christ's cause in Japan may result from this appeal,

I am sincerely yours in Christ,
JAMES H. BALLAGH.

Revised Edition of Dr. Judson's Burmese Bible.

The following extract from a recent private letter of the Rev. Dr. Jameson, Baptist Missionary in Burmah, to his seminary classmate, Prof. W. C. Wilkinson, D.D., will be read with interest. The date is Rangoon, Aug. 31, 1887:

"I am here for two weeks on the proofs, for I have agreed to give half my time to watching the new edition of Dr. Judson's Burman Bible through the press. I read each form seven times. Once correcting copy, and three times for typographical and other errors—besides verifying corrections. Of course I have good native help. But they need me as much as I need them. When I go back to my own district, I take my work along. For example, on that jungle trip, I corrected eight pages of the quarto for copy. After the Bible was printed, Dr. Judson made many changes in spelling, and the spelling of the Bible must be corrected from the dictionary. The whole must also be newly punctuated, and Dr. Judson's own corrections of the text must be made. When I am away, I leave the work in the hands of the Burman proof-readers, who do their best, and these forms I read only five times. But no form is put to press except when I am here. I will send you the next form with an English word in it, that will tell you where we are. When you receive it, you may comfort yourself with the thought that we are through that Book [Deuteronomy], probably."

India.

Communication from Rev. Jacob Chamberlain, M.D., Madanapelle, India, one of our editorial correspondents:

A Brahmin on the Bible.

In 1870, after three years of baffled effort, a lot was obtained in the bazaar street of the native town of Madanapalle, Madras Presidency, India, and a free reading room was erected and opened by the missionary in charge, Rev. J. Chamberlain, M.D., of the Arcot Mission of the Reformed Church of America. It was designed to obtain a hold of the educated young men of the place. Well-stocked with newspapers, periodicals and books, and with copies of the Bible in seven different languages on the tables, and with Scriptures, tracts, Christian books and school books for sale, it was thrown open for their use on every week-day and evening, with the exception that on Wednesday evenings there was to be a Biblical lecture, which all were invited to attend.

On each lecture evening a parable, a miracle, a biography, a prophecy, a sermon on Christ, a historical account—as of the creation, deluge, Joseph in Egypt, the exodus, etc.—was taken up and illustrated. While it was endeavored to make the lectures attractive as a literary treat, the bearing of each subject on the gospel of Jesus Christ and His salvation was never lost sight of.

From the beginning the room was always crowded on these occasions by intelligent heathen. At the close of one of these Bible lectures by Dr. Chamberlain, a Brahmin—one of the best educated in the place, not a convert—arose and asked permission to say a few words. In a neat address he urged upon his fellow-citizens the importance of availing themselves of the advantages offered for their intellectual and moral advancement, and in conclusion gave the following remarkable testimony to the Christian Scriptures:

"Behold that mango tree on yonder roadside! Its fruit is approaching to ripeness. Bears it that fruit for itself or its own profit? From the moment the first ripe fruits turn their yellow sides towards the morning sun until the last mango is pelted off, it is assailed with showers of sticks and stones from boys and men, and every passer-by, until it stands bereft of leaves, with branches knocked off, bleeding from many a broken twig; and piles of stones underneath, and clubs and sticks lodged in its boughs, are the only trophies of its joyous crop of fruit. Is it discouraged? Does it cease to bear fruit? Does it say, 'If I am barren no one will pelt me, and I shall live in peace?' Not at all. The next season the budding leaves, the beauteous flowers, the tender fruit again appear. Again it is pelted, and broken, and wounded, but goes on bearing, and children's children pelt its branches and enjoy its fruit.

"That is a type of these missionaries. I have watched them well, and have seen what they are. What do they come to this country for? What tempts them to leave their parents, friends and country, and come to this, to them an unhealthy climate? Is it for gain or for profit that they come? Some of us country clerks in Government offices receive more salary than they. Is it for an easy life? See how they work, and then tell me. No; they seek, like the mango tree, to bear fruit for the benefit of others; and this, too, though treated with contumely and abuse from those they are benefiting.

"Now look at this missionary! He came here a few years ago, leaving all, and seeking only our good! He was met with cold looks and suspicious glances, and was shunned, avoided and maligned. He sought to talk with us of what he told us was the matter of most importance in heaven or earth, and we would not listen. But he was not discouraged. He started a dispensary, and we said, 'Let the Pariahs take his medicines, we won't;' but in the times of our sickness and distress and fear, we had to go to him, and he heard us. We complained if he walked through our Brahmin streets; but ere long, when our wives and daughters were in sickness and anguish, we went and begged him to come, even into our inner apartments; and he came, and our wives and daughters now smile upon us in health. Has he made any money by it? Even the cost of the medicines has not been returned to him.

"And now, in spite of our opposition, he has bought this site, and built this beautiful room, and furnished it with the choicest of lore in many languages, and put in it newspapers and periodicals, which were inaccessible to us before, but which help us now to keep up with the world around us, and understand passing events; and he has placed here tables to write on, and chairs to sit on, and lamps for us to read and write by in the evening; and what does he get for all this? Does he make money by this free reading-room? Why, we don't even pay for the lamp-oil consumed by night as we read.

"Now, what is it makes him do all this for us? It is his Bible. I have looked into it a good deal at one time and another, in the different languages I chanced to know. It is just the same in all languages. The Bible—there is nothing to compare with it in all our sacred books for goodness and purity and holiness and love, and for motives of action.

"Where did the English-speaking people get all their intelligence, and energy, and cleverness, and power? It is their Bible that gives it to them. And now they bring it to us and say, 'This is what raised us; take it and raise yourselves.' They do not force it upon us, as the Mohammedans did with their Koran, but they bring it in love, and translate it into our languages, and lay it before us, and say, 'Look at it; read it; examine it, and see if it is not good.' Of one thing I am convinced: do what we will, oppose it as we may, it is the Christians' Bible that will, sooner or later, work the regeneration of this land."

Death of Rev. E. P. Swift.

Rev. G. W. Scott, of the Reformed Presbyterian Mission, India, writes Sept. 17, 1887:

The Rev. Elisha P. Swift died at his residence, Gujranwala, North India, Aug. 16th, 1887. His health began to fail about a year ago, when he had a fall while out in the district. Still he kept on with his duties, whether the weather was hot or cold, wet or dry, realizing that he was approaching the gates of death, preaching as a dying man to dying men. He was taken sick while in the district looking after the Christians he had baptized with his own hands, who were scattered through the towns and villages of western Gujranwala, many hundreds in number; for in some months he baptized as many as three or four hundred persons. His co-laborer, the Rev. J. P. McKee, was with him to the last. About a month before his death he was confined to his house with carbuncles, caused by diabetes, which caused him great pain. Yet he bore all with Christian patience, knowing that the Hand which afflicts is able to heal. His death was a peaceful and quiet one, surrounded by his wife and children, whom he leaves to mourn his loss. His funeral procession was a very large one, attended by several hundreds of people—the majority being from the Hindu and Mohammedan classes. These people, while opposed to Christianity, had learned to love the "man of God," and followed his remains to his last resting place, which is in the Church of England graveyard, close to the city of Gujranwala.

Africa.—Nothing was known of the interior of the Dark Continent until within a few years; now Africa is girdled with Christian missions. Between thirty and forty societies are working there. On the eastern coast the English penetrated to the great lakes, walking over the burning sands a thousand miles on foot, to plant the standard of the Cross. On the Congo River the Baptists of our own country have recently taken charge of the missions founded by Mr. Guinness, and their work is to be pushed into the interior—into the centre of cannibalism. Truly "Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God." The island of Madagascar, on the eastern coast of Africa, has been so largely Christianized that the natives of late gave some ten millions of dollars to Christian missions and evangelistic work.

To-day thirty-four missionary societies are at work in Africa, and all its 200,000,000 souls are practically within the reach of Christian missions; thirty-three societies have begun work in China, and all its 350,000,000 souls may be visited with the message of the gospel; more than fifty societies have entered India, and the light is dawning upon its 250,000,000; Turkey and Persia and Japan are filling with mission churches and mission schools; practically, the whole world is open, and the grandest day of opportunity for the kingdom of God that the earth has ever seen has fully dawned. If the cry of the lost nations reached the ear of those young men at Andover, with whom our work began, and would not let them rest, how that selfsame cry, to-day repeated from every people and land, and grown more articulate, must thrill the very heart of Christendom, and command instant and glowing response!—Judson Smith, D.D.

India.—The Church Missionary Intelligencer shows how the British Government and the East India Company were shamed out of their base patronage to Indian idolatry. Sir Peregrine Maitland accepted from the East India Company the office of Commander-in-Chief of the Madras army, and a seat in the Council—an office worth $50,000 a year—only on the condition that he should not be required to have any official connection with the idolatry of the country. He knew how the company had catered to the heathen ceremonies of India, even making large grants for their support. A few days after his arrival in Madras he received from the company's office in London a document sanctioning the appointment and payment of dancing girls in a certain Hindu temple, to which he was expected to affix his signature. He resolved to throw up his lucrative appointment and return to England rather than put his hand to any such scheme. The company declined to excuse Sir Peregrine, and, although comparatively poor, he sacrificed his $50,000 and returned to England. The annual festival of the goddess Yayagathal, the protectress of a part of Madras, was approaching; and the annual ceremony of marrying the East India Company to the image of this goddess was to be performed with great pomp. The goddess was borne in procession around the "black town," and then brought to government headquarters; a high official of the company came out, with a handsome cashmere shawl as a bridal present to the idol, and an ornament to be put around the bride's neck, the latter being used in native marriages in place of a ring, while repeating the words, "With this I thee wed," etc. The East India Company and the idol Yayagathal were thus pronounced husband and wife. Two missionaries in Madras united to caricature the scene. One wrote a minute description, the other with graphic pencil made a telling sketch of the nuptial scene. These were sent home. Bishop Blomfield carried them to the House of Lords, held them up to view, and declared that if the connection between the East India Company and the idol system of India was not abolished, he would send the letter and the cartoon broadcast throughout the land. This was sufficient. The absurdity and degradation were potent. Probably a petition signed by all the missionaries in India would scarcely have been so effective.—The Church.

There were in British India, according to the census of 1881, no less than 207,388 widows under fourteen years of age, and 78,976 of these were under nine. They can no longer legally be burned, but their earthly sufferings are worse than burning. Their widowhood is viewed by all Hindus as the punishment for horrible crimes committed in some previous existence. They are closely confined to the house; forbidden all companionship; confined to one meal a day, which they eat in solitude; obliged to conceal themselves in the morning, lest the sight of them bring bad fortune on the beholder; cursed, abhorred, suspected of every crime—and all this for life. Yet the doom of these innocent children is only the door-mat theory brought to its completeness. Because there is no one man living who has the right to tread them under his feet, they are trodden under feet of all.—Harper's Bazar.

There are in India 135,000 lepers—men, women and children—victims of the most terrible disease known to humanity. This society seeks to proclaim to them the blessed gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as far as possible, to relieve their dreadful sufferings, and provide for their simple wants.—Mission to Lepers in India.

At Lucknow, where so many were murdered during the Sepoy rebellion 30 years ago, 2,000 children, nearly all of Hindu Mohammedan parentage, recently marched in a Sunday-school procession. Two men in Dr. Chamberlain's hospital, on leaving for home asked for copies of the Testament read and explained to them while there. Being told that they could not read it, they replied, "When a peddler or tax-man comes around we'll make him read before we buy anything or pay our taxes." Four years after this, Dr. Chamberlain visiting a town some miles away, these men brought their whole village to him to be baptized.—The editor of The Star of India writes to The Independent: "There are no less than 36 missionary societies represented in India, besides ten or more private missions. The English Baptists were the first to enter this field (passing by the early Danish Missionary Society which sent the first Protestant missionaries to India in 1705), and the Disciples of Christ, whose mission dates from 1883, the last. All branches of the Church are represented. Europe and America, Great Britain, the Continent, the United States and Canada—all are here, laboring hand in hand for the uplifting of India. According to the statistical summary for 1885 there were 137,504 communicants representing the fruits of these missions."—In the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Dr. Hunter, Director-General of Statistics to the Government, says Christianity is now the faith of over two millions of the Indian population—a number twelve times as large as that of those who follow the teachings of Buddha. Whereas in 1830 there were only 27,000 native Protestants in all India, Ceylon and Burmah, in 1871 there were 318,363. The Government expends £170,000 per annum in supplying the spiritual wants of the troops and civil service.

Madura. There is worshiped by the natives a deity whose name means "Prince of Darkness." "They sacrifice to devils." The name of the village is "Temple Village," but it is a heathen temple. The ideas of these heathen, and even their language, are degraded by association with idolatry. (Compare "Hawaiian Islands," by Anderson, p. 291.) By religion they understand idol worship. When you tell them of Jesus living and dying 1800 years ago, they say their gods are 18,000,000 years old. When, on outbreak of war, the native disciples heard of the Missionary Board as straitened, they gave their jewels; one man gave a silver chain, worth half a year's savings, and children brought their toe rings and earrings and gave them to the mission treasury.

Revival in the Punjab. A remarkable work of grace is progressing in the English Church mission in Punjab, chiefly in and about Amritsar. Several prominent men, as well as people of low caste, have been reached. About 150 low-caste converts were baptized the previous year, but now the work seems much more extensive. Nothing like it in vigor and growth had ever been seen before in that region. The ingathering of low-caste people is affecting the Hindus, Sikhs, and the Mohammedans, and several of these higher classes have been reached. The missionary at Amritsar writes of the remarkable interest manifested in the simple story of the gospel: "Our compound resounds from morning to night with voices repeating to each other the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Creed, with bhajhans and bits of the Gospels." Much of this is the result of medical missions.

Japan.—English Books in Japan. The great spread of instruction in the English language in Japan has led to a great demand for English books. Over 85,000 English books of all classes were imported last year, as against 40,000 in 1885. The import of American books increased from 59,000 in 1885 to 119,000 in 1886. Sir F. R. Plunkett, British Consul at Tokio, remarks upon this: "An argument against a large import of educational works has hitherto existed in the fact that foreigners have no claim to the protection of the Japanese copyright, and any work that gained extensive popularity was sure to be pirated by Japanese publishers, and cheap editions of it issued that could be profitably sold at far less cost than the imported originals. This difficulty has been and can be got over by the co-operation of Japanese booksellers, and in this way not only is the benefit of copyright obtained, but the books are sold at lower prices than were formerly obtained for them by European booksellers in Japan." A large demand during the year for printing paper is traced principally to the publication of numerous translations of English works on law, political economy, history, and other educational subjects.—London Globe.

Japanese on Hawaii. The number of Japanese who have emigrated to Hawaii within two years is 2,859. Only about 100 of them have returned to Japan, and about the same number have died.

Greek and Roman Catholic Missions. The following statements respecting these missions are by Rev. J. Hartzler: "Bishop Nicolai furnished the statistics of the Greek Mission in Japan for 1886, as follows: Bishops, 1; foreign priests, 3; native priests, 11; deacons, 2; theological students, 104; whole number of native members, including baptized infants, 22,546. The Roman Catholic Mission in Japan reports: Bishops, 2; missionaries (all French), 59; native priests, 3; churches and chapels, 100; theological seminaries, 2; theological students, 72; catechists, 284; schools and orphan asylums, 69; pupils in the same, 3,340; total native membership, 32,294."

The Bible. The Bible is to-day translated, either wholly or in part, into 287 languages and dialects, including all that are widely spoken; so that the message of salvation from the printed page may reach nine-tenths of the entire population of the globe. The adherents of the religion of Jesus Christ to-day outnumber the followers of any other faith in the world. Christian missions number more than 2,000,000 adherents on heathen soil, and at the present rate of increase will include 20,000,000 before this century closes. Obstacles are not all overcome; the hardships and perils and heroisms of the work are not all past; Christian faith still finds itself often tried and courage is put well to the test, and checks and defeats enough attend the work to prove that the evil spirits of hate and murder are not yet exorcised: that still "through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God."—Judson Smith, D.D.

Increase of Protestantism. So extensive have been the defections from the established Greek Church in Southern Russia that the Holy Synod have appointed a commission to investigate the matter. This commission has now reported, acknowledging that these defections are great, and accusing their own clergy for their failure to discharge their clerical functions. The remedy for what they deplore seems to them to be greater zeal in attendance upon church services, more preaching, and more attention to church music. This report is substantial evidence of the power of Protestantism; and even the effort to withstand this new movement is very likely to help forward a needed reformation in the Greek Church.

Spiritual Progress in Persia.—The Church at Home and Abroad has an intensely interesting report of what has occurred in Persia within the last two years. This was the field of the old Nestorian Mission of the American Board, and is very dear to us still. A year ago it was reported that a larger number had been received to the church within the twelve months than during any former year. During the last winter more converts were won than in any of the first twenty-five years of the mission, though that period was marked by some memorable revivals. In Western Persia there are now 1,932 church members, in place of 713 fifteen years ago. During the revival which followed the Week of Prayer, the number of inquirers was over five hundred. This revival was conducted wholly by native pastors. Of the seventy-nine students in the college at Ooroomiah, seventy are followers of Christ. The western mission has ninety-four village schools, with over two hundred scholars. Dr. Labaree reports that the Moslems of Persia are more accessible than those of any other land. They are receiving large editions of the Bible, and those who have accepted Christianity, though a small company, have shown remarkable steadfastness and zeal.

An Egyptian papyrus, forty-two feet long and containing all the chapters of the "Book of the Dead," has been received and unrolled at the Sage Library, in New Brunswick, N. J. It was secured for the library by Rev. Dr. Lansing, a well-known missionary in Egypt. Experts pronounce it to have been written nearly 3,000 years ago.

The Bible in the Last Fifty Years.—The last anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society falling in the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria's reign, the speakers naturally reviewed the progress of the Bible cause during the last half century, and made some striking comparisons. The Earl of Harrowby, President of the Society, said:

"Fifty years ago our receipts were £100,000; now they are nearly £225,000. Fifty years ago the Auxiliary Societies amounted at home to 2,370; now they are over 5,300. Abroad you had 260 auxiliaries and branches fifty years ago; now 1,500. Fifty years ago the annual issue of the Bible and portions of it from this Society was 600,000; now it is about 4,000,000. The cheapest copy of the book, half a century back, was issued at about two shillings; now the price is sixpence. The cheapest Testament then was tenpence; the cheapest now is Lord Shaftesbury's, and the price is a penny. And that is not done by any grinding of the people who produce these works. One of the first questions I asked when I had the honor of being called to occupy this chair was, how were the workpeople treated who manufactured the cheap Bibles; and by the testimony, not only of ourselves but of the outside press, I have assured myself that there is neither overwork nor underpay. Fifty years ago the Scriptures were circulated in 136 languages; now they are circulated in 280. Fifty years ago fourteen fresh languages of Europe had been honored by Bible publication. Now the Bible has been published in twelve fresh languages in Central Asia and Siberia, twelve in India, fourteen in China and Mongolia, nineteen in the Pacific, thirty in Africa and thirty in America. In this fiftieth year of the Queen's reign there is only one great language which has not a complete translation of the Scriptures, namely, the Japanese language."

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT

IV. INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

CONDUCTED BY REV. J. T. GRACEY, D.D., OF THE "INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY UNION."

FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY UNION.

The International Missionary Union is an organization composed of returned missionaries of all Evangelical churches, whether at home temporarily or permanently. It seeks to promote mutual sympathy and co-operation of missionaries in their work, and holds annual meetings for the discussion of important questions connected with the work and the diffusion of missionary intelligence. The fourth annual meeting was held Aug. 10-17, at Thousand Island Park, the entire body of missionaries being entertained without cost by the Thousand Island Park Association. The forenoons were devoted to business, covering discussion of methods and recommendation of measures calculated to increase missionary efficiency. The afternoons consisted largely of presentation of incidents, statistics and facts bearing on specific topics of missionary interest, while the evenings were given to more formal platform addresses.

The "Seventy" missionaries present were as follows:

From India: Miss Dr. M. A. Anderson, Congregational Church; Rev. and Mrs. Chandler, Congregational; Miss M. J. Frith, Canada Baptist; Miss E. Gibson, Methodist Episcopal; Dr. and Mrs. J. T. Gracey, Methodist Episcopal; Rev. A. Hazen, Congregational; Rev. G. J. Martz, Evangelical Lutheran; Mrs. Rev. G. H. McGrew, Methodist Episcopal; Rev. James Mudge, Methodist Episcopal; Mrs. Stella Nichols, Evangelical Lutheran; Rev. C. W. Park, Congregational; Rev. Dr. J. L. Phillips, Free-will Baptist; Rev. D. W. Thomas, Methodist Episcopal.

From Turkey: Rev. Dr. H. M. Barnum, Congregational; Rev. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, Congregational; Rev. L. O. Lee, Congregational; Rev. and Mrs. J. G. Leonard, Congregational.

From Bulgaria: Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Belden, Presbyterian; Rev. and Mrs. D. C. Challis, Methodist Episcopal.

From China: Mrs. Mary D. Culbertson, Presbyterian; Rev. J. G. Fagg, Reformed; Rev. Benj. Helm, Southern Presbyterian; Rev. and Mrs. Spencer Lewis, Methodist Episcopal; Rev. John Murray, Presbyterian; Rev. Dr. Speer, Presbyterian; Rev. and Mrs. C. A. Stanley, Congregational; Rev. and Mrs. J. L. Stuart, Southern Presbyterian.

From Assam: Rev. M. B. Comfort, Baptist; Rev. T. J. Stoddart, Baptist.

From Italy: Rev. Dr. Cushing, Methodist Episcopal.

From Jamaica: Rev. Dr. Douglass, Canada Methodist.

From Japan: Rev. and Mrs. W. C. Davidson, Methodist Episcopal; Miss Julia Gulick, Congregational; Rev. Dr. D. McDonald, Canada Methodist; Rev. and Mrs. J. M. McCauley, Presbyterian; Rev. J. H. Pettee.

From Siam: Rev. Dr. Wm. Dean, Baptist; Rev. and Mrs. Dr. S. R. House, Presbyterian; Rev. and Mrs. Lisle, Baptist; Rev. Dr. S. Mattoon, Presbyterian; Rev. J. Wilson, Presbyterian.

From Germany: Bishop and Mrs. J. F. Hurst, Methodist Episcopal.

From Mexico: Miss L. M. Latimer, Methodist Episcopal.

From Burmah: Rev. and Mrs. C. A. Nichols, Baptist.

From Ceylon: Rev. and Mrs. T. S. Smith, Congregational.

Missionaries to North American Indians: Rev. and Mrs. Egerton R. Young, Canada Methodist; Rev. and Mrs. Dr. Geo. Young, Canada Methodist; Rev. and Mrs. E. Arnold, Methodist Episcopal.

Persons under appointment to foreign fields: Rev. H. F. Laflamme, Canada Baptist, India; Rev. J. F. Smith, Canada Presbyterian, China; Rev. J. P. McNaughton, Canada Presbyterian, Turkey; Miss Dr. May Carlton and Miss E. J. Hinckle, both to be sent to China this autumn under the auspices of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Thirteen mission countries were thus represented, besides which one native of Armenia, one of Japan, and a Karen took part in the exercises. Missionaries from Saskatchewan and Ceylon clasped hands in the fellowship of a common cause. Veteran and volunteer inspired, either the other. The utterances of Dr. Dean were rendered weighty by the fifty-three years of self-sacrifice and toil behind them. His address on "The Translation of the Scriptures into Chinese," will be found on another page in this Department.

Dr. Leonard had preached in Tarsus, Iconium and Cappadocia. Miss Gulick of Japan was born of missionary parents in Honolulu. Mrs. McGrew of India was born on mission soil in Buenos Ayres. Rev. Dr. Phillips and Rev. Mr. Smith of Ceylon claimed India as their native land, being of the second generation of missionaries.

Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, after more than forty years of missionary service, and with the weight of seventy years upon him, intellectually demonstrated that his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated. He was appointed by the A. B. C. F. M. to Constantinople in 1837, and was the father of Robert College. The manner in which he secured for the erection of this College the most desirable of all the sites commanding the view of the Bosphorus, makes a story of thrilling interest, and gives him the highest rank for diplomacy. For seven years he held on to a pledge of Ali Pasha, who, under the influence of a protest from the French Ambassador, crowded on by the head of the Jesuits, and a like protest from the Ambassador of Russia, goaded on by the Patriarch of the Greek Church, was openly declaring that it was not possible for the pledge to be redeemed; because the property was so related to that of these powers, that the college could not be erected on that commanding site. But notwithstanding all this, he held his position, until at the end of seven years he received a note from Ali Pasha saying, "You may begin the erection of your college as soon as you please." He had outdone the diplomacy of the head of the Jesuits and the French Ambassador, as well as of the Greek Patriarch and the Ambassador of Russia, and had secured from the Sultan himself by Imperial Volition a permit to build the college. This was infallible, and neither Ali Pasha nor any one else would dare call it in question. But this was not all. An order was given to allow all the material brought from England and France to enter duty free.

Here were men and women who had hazarded their lives for the Lord Jesus. The "beloved physician," Dr. S. M. House, had been gored by an elephant; Jonathan Wilson, a pioneer to the Laos mission, was imperilled, when his converts were slain by royal order. The younger brother and sister Lewis, of far Western China, had faced the fury of a Chinese mob that plundered and destroyed their chapel and their home, compelling them and their colleagues to set off in native boats on a 1,500 mile journey down the great Yang-tse-kiang to the sea. Here were those whose hearts had been kept from fear when 2,000 in a day were dying of cholera in the capital city of Siam, where they lived; men who had given bread to the famishing thousands in North China, saving many lives at the risk of their own; those who had ministered to the lepers and outcasts of India. Some had lived with the savage Santals in their jungle homes, and with the red men of our continent in their wigwams. Others, on their mission-preaching tours, had traveled in wheelbarrows, in sledges drawn by dogs, in palankeens, in jinrikshas, in birch-bark canoes, on elephants, on camels, and hundreds of miles on snow-shoes. One member had been speared by Malay pirates, and another, like Paul, had been shipwrecked and cast ashore on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. But whatever else had been their experiences or deliverances, all could speak of the blessedness of the Master's service, and of souls once without God and without hope turned from darkness to light and rejoicing in the Saviour they had found.

THE THEMES DISCUSSED.

"The place of higher education in mission work" was presented by Rev. Mr. Smith of Ceylon, who gave an interesting account of the development of the educational work of the American Board in that island. The prevailing view seemed to be that when there appeared to be a general desire among people for higher education the missionary should endeavor to meet it with Christian schools, where English should be taught, if desired. Astonishing statements were made of the eagerness among many to learn English. On "The voluntary desire of the heathen for the Gospel," and "Remarkable instances of Divine grace, as manifested in the lives of converts from heathenism," there were narrated incidents drawn from personal experience and observation of so valuable a nature, it is a pity they could not have been preserved in a permanent form. So great was the interest in some of these topics that the discussions were prolonged several hours. Even then not a tithe of the important questions was so much as touched upon. Bro. Davidson, of Japan, gave a vivid sketch of the wonderful revival which recently swept over that empire. He hoped that in fifteen years Japan will be Christian. Turkey, partially dismembered, was served one evening. Dr. Barnum, speaking of eastern Turkey, said that there was the cradle of the race. "The cradle does not need rocking, for the people are all asleep." "We jog the cradle now and then, and the occupants are beginning to open their eyes and yawn." Bro. Challis, of the Methodist mission in Bulgaria, told something of the outlook in that country. He compared the people, with their liberty-loving spirit, to Americans, and expressed firm faith that, in spite of the designs of Russia, God would overrule to give them independence and freedom.

One evening was given to addresses by missionary ladies on different phases of woman's work, and a special woman's meeting was held one afternoon. On Sabbath morning the large tabernacle was filled, when Bishop Hurst preached an excellent and inspiring sermon from "Whoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed," etc. The "mountain" was heathendom, and "whoever" was the Church, which should remove it by the power of faith. The theme was "God's day our day for the salvation of the world." The audience numbered over three thousand. The bishop also delivered, one afternoon, his excellent lecture on "Protestantism in Mexico." At the children's meeting on Sabbath afternoon there were several short and spicy talks and an exhibition of curiosities, singing in a dozen or more languages, and presentation of natives of foreign mission fields who were in attendance.

TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES INTO CHINESE.

BY REV. WILLIAM DEAN, D.D.

THE entire Bible was first translated into Chinese at Serampore by Joshua Marshman, D.D., in 1807-8, with the aid of Joannes Lassar, an Armenian, born at Macao, who was a good Chinese scholar. Dr. Marshman went out to India under the patronage of the Baptist Missionary Society of England. He was born in Wiltshire 1768, sailed for India 1799, and died at Serampore 1837, at the age of 69, having had 38 years for missionary work.

A similar translation of the entire Scriptures was made at Macao and Canton by Robert Morrison, D.D., who went to China in 1807, under the patronage of the London Missionary Society, and died at Canton 1834, at the age of 52, having 27 years of mission work in China. In addition to the Scriptures, the Chinese dictionary of Kang Hi was translated into English by him, in six quarto volumes—a great and important work, to aid subsequent missionaries in the acquisition of the Chinese language.

In Morrison's version of the Scriptures, William Milne, D.D., translated the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Job.

Dr. Milne was born in Scotland, 1785, went to China in 1813, under the patronage of the London Missionary Society, and died 1822, at the age of 37, after nine years in the China Mission. During these few years he acquired a good knowledge of the language, had the superintendency of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, performed an important part in the translation of the Scriptures, and prepared some of the best Christian tracts we have in Chinese.

He is the man who (before the committee), when asked if he would be willing to go out as an assistant to the mission, replied, "I would be willing to be a hewer of wood or a drawer of water to help to build the Lord's house;" and perhaps no man ever did so much in so short a time for the Chinese mission as William Milne, the little Scotchman.

Another translation of the Scriptures into Chinese was made by Walter H. Medhurst, D.D., and his associates, which was called the Shang Ti mission. Dr. Medhurst went out as a missionary printer, under the London Mission Society, and became a prominent preacher and writer in Chinese. He was born in London, 1796, went out, in 1816, worked efficiently 40 years for the Chinese in Batavia and China, and died on landing in England, 1856, aged 61 years.

Another version was made by Charles Gutzlaff, D.D., born at Pyritz, in Prussian Pomerania, 1803, went out under the appointment of the Netherlands Missionary Society in 1826, landed at Batavia, visited Rhio, Singapore, Siam, and finally became Chinese Secretary to the English Government of Hong Kong, where he died in 1851, at the age of 48 years.

He was a man of portly form, quick motion, rapid speech, possessed a practical knowledge of various European languages, and a ready use of the Chinese colloquial and written language for missionary work and political purposes. His hasty action was not always promotive of the nicest accuracy, and his multitudinous labors did not allow of the most finished completeness in all.

Another version of the entire Scriptures in Chinese was made by Elijah C. Bridgman, D.D., Walter M. Lowrie and M. S. Culbertson, completed at Shanghai, which uses the term Shin for rendering the words Elohim and Theos. This, in most cases, has been a distinguishing mark between the versions made by the English and American missionaries. The former mostly use Shang Ti and the latter use Shin as the term for God.

Dr. Bridgman was born in Belchertown, Mass., 1801, and went out under the American Board to China, 1830; he died at Shanghai in 1861, aged 60 years; 31 years were spent in China, and he was the first representative of the A. B. C. F. M. Society in their mission to China, and to the end was a faithful and honored missionary. Dr. Culbertson went to China in 1844, finished the translation of that version, and died the day before they commenced printing it. He went up suddenly like Elijah in the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. One of his associates reported his departure by saying, "A translator translated." Josiah Goddard made an excellent translation of the New Testament in Chinese—some think the best extant—with some portions of the Old Testament also. His mission work began with the Chinese in Siam, and ended at Ningpo, China. Dr. Goddard was born at Wendell, Mass., 1813, graduated, the first in his class, at Brown University in 1835, graduated at Newton in 1838, sailed for the East the same year under the patronage of the American Baptist Board, spent a year at Singapore in the study of Chinese, landed at Bankok in 1840, removed to Ningpo in 1848, where he died in 1854, at the age of 41, after 16 years of efficient missionary service, in translating the Scriptures and preaching the gospel to the Chinese. Some may have labored longer to do less work. Men's lives are measured, not by the years they live, but by the work they do.

William Dean published two editions of the New Testament and one edition of the Pentateuch in Chinese, with a commentary on Matthew and Mark, Genesis and Exodus. Dr. Dean was born at Eaton, N. Y., in 1807, sailed for China in 1834, labored for the Chinese in Siam till 1842, when he removed to Hong Kong; returned to Bankok in 1864, and ended his missionary work in 1887, at the age of 80. He was 50 years in the service.

In 1843 a Convention of missionaries assembled at Hong Kong, to consult with reference to a new translation of the Scriptures in Chinese. There were present Medhurst, Dyer, and Stronach, of the London Society; Bridgman, Ball and Bonney, of the American Board; Dean, Shuck and Roberts, of the American Baptist Board; Bishop Boone, of the Episcopal Mission, with others, who spent days of prayerful endeavor to harmonize on some general plan of Scripture translation.

First there was a want of agreement on the proposition to make the Textus Receptus the model of a new version. Some thought we should make the original Hebrew and Greek the standard for a new translation in Chinese. Then came up a question regarding the rendering of the terms θεος, επισκοπος, βαπτισμα, on which there was a want of harmony of sentiment, so that it proved necessary to divide the Convention into classes, or for each one to go on in his own way, and look to God for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead him to understand the meaning of the original text, and call in the help of native scholars to aid him to express it in idiomatic Chinese. In this way a number of versions, in a variety of style, have been prepared, and some portions of the Scripture have been made to harmonize with the Mandarin and the colloquial of the local dialects, and some have been Romanized, or the sounds expressed in Roman letters as used in English words, and the Chinese women taught to read them easier than to learn to read the complicated and multitudinous characters of the Chinese written language. One objection to this mode of learning to read is found in the fact, that learning to read Chinese in this way would limit the reader to one dialect or province, whereas learning to read in the Chinese way, prepares one to read in Chinese in every province, or wherever the Chinese language is written, as in Cochin China, Japan, and all over the world, where you find a Chinaman who can read his own language; the form and signification of the written character is the same, however the spoken dialect may differ.

In preparing the various translations of Scripture into Chinese, other persons, whose names are not mentioned above, have rendered important aid. Such men as J. R. Morrison, Chinese Secretary to the English Commissioner and the Government of Hong Kong; G. T. Lay, Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and various other missionaries, such as David Abeel, James Legge, Walter Lowrie, George Smith Bishop of Victoria, and, indeed, all missionaries to the Chinese, may have contributed, in some measure, to aid in giving the written word of God to the people for whom they labored orally, and all translators have depended upon Chinese scholars for the idiom and style of the language by which the idea is expressed.

LIQUOR ON THE CONGO.

AMONGST the resolutions of the Missionary Union none deserves more persistent and prominent advocacy than that relating to the International sanction of the introduction of Rum into the Congo Free State. The extension of European Colonial possessions and protectorates in Africa means a fearful extension of the use of intoxicants in the Dark Continent. We are assured, besides, that the article furnished for the Congo is a specially vile compound prepared for that market. A representative committee of missionary societies laboring in Africa have published a pamphlet entitled "The Liquor Traffic and Native Races," to be had of the secretaries of these societies. The Bishop of London presided over a meeting in London last spring which condemned the traffic and the government protection it has received. A meeting of members of the House of Commons, held to consider the subject, resulted in the expression of their readiness to aid in suppressing this trade and of the sanction the governments give it. Public meetings have been held in Manchester and Cambridge with like result. Bishops and Archbishops, and leading men like Canon Farrar, have entered the arena to oppose this great evil, which blasts the progress of civilization and missions, and hinders the elevation of the people. Archbishop Johnson, a Negro of Lagos, west coast of Africa, and member of the Legislative Council, is appealing to Africans to circulate petitions all along the coast, and the king of Belgium, with other prominent persons, encourages this West African remonstrance to the trade. It is high time the voice of the people of America was heard on this subject. The missionary societies might very properly take the initiative in a public meeting in Boston or New York. A remonstrance should be sent to our own government, that it may feel the force of public sentiment in the case. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the Bishop of London, have addressed the following letter to the Bishops of the British Colonies and dependencies:

"My Lord: The attention of the Church has been recently drawn to the widespread and still growing evils caused by the introduction of intoxicating liquors among the native races in the colonies and dependencies of the British Empire, and in other countries to which British trade has access. Part of the mischief is certainly due to other traders than the British, but British trade, as exceeding in volume that of many other countries put together, is mainly responsible. This mischief cannot be measured by what we witness among our own countrymen. The intemperance is far greater; the evils consequent on intemperance are far worse. Uncivilized people are weaker to resist, and are utterly unable to control temptations of this kind. The accounts given of the numbers that perish from this cause and of the misery and degradation of those who survive are painful in the extreme. And besides the grievous wrong thus inflicted on the native races, reproach has been brought on the name of Christ. The English missionary who preaches the gospel, and the English merchant who brings the fatal temptation, are inevitably associated in the minds of the heathen people, and by many not only associated, but identified. It is asserted by travelers of repute that in many parts of the world the moral character of the natives gains more by the preaching of Mohammedanism than by the preaching of the gospel, for the former tends to make them sober.

"The evils of intemperance in the British islands have, as you are well aware, long engaged the attention of the Church at home. The report of the Lower House of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury in 1869, and that of the Province of York in 1873, in each of which a large mass of evidence from every class of society was got together, had a painful effect on the public mind at the time, and they have served as trustworthy manuals on the subject ever since. The formation of the Church of England Temperance Society has organized and concentrated the efforts of those Churchmen who have been deeply impressed with the necessity of combating intemperance, and that society is daily growing in numbers and in influence. Owing to these and similar endeavors made by both Churchmen and Nonconformists, drunkenness has been and is still being diminished in these islands, and there is every reason to believe that before long public opinion will demand of the Legislature that steps should be taken to remove, wholly or partially, the temptations which now make it so difficult for weak men to lead sober lives.

"It is not for us nor for the bishops at home to suggest to your lordship or your clergy the best means for dealing with similar evils in our colonies and dependencies, and in the heathen countries in your own parts of the world. But we have felt it our duty to bring to your notice the painful accounts that have reached us, and to assure you of our warmest and most earnest sympathy with any efforts that you may see fit to make to deal with the serious difficulty. You may have the means of influencing your Legislature; you may do much to form public opinion; you can at least make it plain to all men that the Church is not, and never can be, indifferent to this great sin. In whatever you may be able to do in this matter you may be assured that the Bishops at home are supporting your action with their earnest prayers, and, where co-operation is found possible, with their most hearty co-operation."—EDWARD CANTAUR, W. EBOR, F. LONDIN.

A GENERAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE IN LONDON IN 1888.

IN October, 1878, a General Conference on Foreign Missions was held in London. Upwards of 150 members represented nearly 40 distinct missions. Six American missionary societies were represented in the number. Much information was elicited, and considerable missionary stimulus was given.

Arrangements have been begun for the holding of another such conference in London, in 1888. Forty European Missionary Agencies are represented in the call, and the American societies are to be invited to send delegates. The Committee say that they "are most solemnly impressed with the conviction that there has never been a time, since the days of the apostles, when it was of more urgent importance than it is now, that all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity should labor 'in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace,' in order that 'the gospel of the kingdom of God' may be carried out into all the world and preached 'unto every creature.' They, therefore, entreat that earnest and continued prayer may be offered unto God by His people, that it may please Him in all things to direct their efforts, as a Committee, on behalf of the proposed Conference, and eventually to grant such an outpouring of His Holy Spirit upon its meetings, that His cause shall mightily prosper, and His name be exceedingly glorified in the ingathering of great multitudes in every part of the earth, into the kingdom of His dear Son Jesus Christ."

The Committee have classified the ends aimed at under three heads, viz.:

1st. To turn to account the experience of the past for the improvement of the methods of Missionary enterprise in the foreign field.

2d. To utilize acquired experience for the improvement of the methods for the home management of Foreign Missions.

3d. To seek the more entire consecration of the Church of God, in all its members, to the great work committed to it by the Lord.

The following Topics have been suggested for consideration, subject to modification:

I. MODES OF OPERATION IN THE FOREIGN FIELD.

1st. Self-Support and Self-Government in Native Churches.

2d. How to Educate Native Evangelists and Pastors, and to stimulate the higher life and enthusiasm of converts for the conversion of the heathen.

3d. How to adapt Missionary methods to the different states of Civilization or Barbarism among heathen nations: (a) Education. (b) Woman's Work. (c) Medical Missions, etc.

4th. How to adapt Missionary methods to the different forms of Religion among non-Christian peoples; especially those having sacred books.

5th. The providing of Christian literature for Converts in all parts of the Mission Field.

6th. The proper treatment of such questions as Polygamy, Slavery, Caste, the Marriage of Infants and of Widows, etc.

II. METHODS OF MANAGEMENT AT HOME.

1st. Comity of Missions, or their relation to one another and to their respective spheres of labor; and the apportioning unoccupied fields to different Societies.

2d. The Choice and Training of Missionaries with reference to different spheres of labor.

3d. The nature and extent of the Control to be exercised over Missions by Committees or Churches at home.

4th. Support of Missions, and Finance.

III. THE MUTUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND MISSIONS.

1st. The reflex influence of Foreign Missions on Home Evangelization and Church life.

2d. The duty of Christians, in their personal and collective capacity, to obey the Lord's command to "make disciples of all nations."

IV. A POPULAR SURVEY OF THE RESULTS OF MODERN MISSIONS AND OF THE GREAT WORK WHICH REMAINS TO BE DONE IN "THE DARK PLACES OF THE EARTH."

V. THE CONSECRATION OF COMMERCE.

The Rev. James Johnston, F.S.S., has been appointed Organizing Secretary of this Conference, and has, by request of the Committee, come to the United States to secure, if possible, a good representation of the American Societies at the Conference. Dr. Johnston needs no introduction to the American churches. He was appointed to draw up the report of the Imperial Commission on Education in India, and is the author of important pamphlets, amongst which is that entitled "A Century of Protestant Missions, and the Increase of the Heathen during the Hundred Years," which has already run through an edition of several thousands. Mr. Johnston can be addressed care of Dr. Gilman, Bible House, New York.

Amongst the subjects discussed was "Methods of arousing interest in Missions among Home Churches." Rev. W. H. Belden opened this discussion with a valuable paper on "Simultaneous Missionary Meetings," and Dr. Spear spoke on "The Consecration of Wealth."

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:

President, Rev. J. T. Gracey, D.D., Buffalo, N. Y. Vice-Presidents: Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, D.D., Rev. S. L. Baldwin, D.D., Rev. S. H. Kellogg, D.D. Secretary, Rev. C. W. Park, Birmingham, Conn. Treasurer, Rev. W. H. Belden, Bridgeton, N. J. Executive Committee: Rev. J. L. Phillips, M.D., Howard, R. I., Rev. E. R. Young, Rev. J. Mudge, Rev. M. B. Comfort, Rev. B. Helm, Rev. H. N. Cobb, D.D., Miss C. H. Daniels, M.D.

The following Resolutions were adopted during the session:

THE STUDENT MISSIONARY MOVEMENT:—Having learned that large numbers of students in the higher institutions of learning in this country and Canada are proposing to devote themselves to the Foreign Missionary work in obedience to the Saviour's last command, we wish to express our gratitude to God for this new proof of His own determination to secure the speedy coming of His kingdom among the nations.

And furthermore we wish to express the profound conviction which we have, that this uprising of laborers greatly emphasizes the responsibility of the churches at home; that it calls upon all who love the Lord to give these candidates for service a large place in their sympathies and prayers; and also to devise liberal things by their contributions, not merely for the support of a large number of new missionaries, but for greatly enlarging the sphere of missionary labor, and for speedily carrying the gospel to every creature. "How shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent?"

QUEEN VICTORIA'S JUBILEE—Resolved: That the International Missionary Union of different evangelical denominations do offer on this Jubilee year our sincere and hearty congratulations to Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India, on the signal prosperity, extension and glory of her reign. Some of our members saw her ascend her throne, and we would most gratefully acknowledge the great kindness and protection which we have enjoyed from officers of Her Majesty's government in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the islands of the ocean, where we have been called to preach the gospel of Christ. And we do supplicate Almighty God to continue the bestowal of His distinguished mercies upon Her Majesty, Her Royal family, and Her wide extended domain. May grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ be and abide upon Her Majesty forevermore. Amen.

BIBLE TRANSLATION—Resolved: That this Union, having heard from Bishop Hurst of the most interesting races of Indians in Mexico now numbering eight millions, who are an honest, independent race, friendly to Protestantism, and yet who have no translation of God's word, do hereby overture the American Bible Society to take such steps as will lead to the translation and publication of the word of God in the leading dialect of this most interesting race; and that our Secretary forward a copy of this resolution to the Secretary of said Society.

ON DR. TOURJEE'S OFFER—Resolved: That the International Missionary Union, having heard of the kind offer of Dr. Tourjee, of the New England Conservatory of Music, to furnish free instruction in music to missionary candidates, and believing that both vocal and instrumental music constitute an important auxiliary in all our work among the heathen, cordially recommend to such candidates the special training of the ear and voice with a view to acquiring and improving whatever of native melody they may find in their several fields.

ON LIQUOR ON THE CONGO—Resolved: That as missionaries of the various denominations in the International Missionary Union, we protest against the wicked and disastrous policy of allowing the introduction of intoxicating liquors into the free Congo State, and that we suggest to the secretaries of all missionary societies to exert their combined influence to induce the governing powers to change their policy to one of prohibition.

ON THE OUTLOOK ABROAD—Resolved: That the members of the International Missionary Union returning to their respective fields abroad be constituted an Outlook Committee, and requested to report to the Union, through the officers, movements of promise, signals of danger to missionary interests, and tokens of cheer in foreign lands, thereby increasing the efficiency of this Union and strengthening the bond that binds us together as one in the work and hopes of the Gospel.

PROGRESS AND RESULTS-MONTHLY BULLETIN

V.-PROGRESS AND RESULTS-MONTHLY BULLETIN.

IT is a sign of great good that not one man has yet been asked by the editors to accept a close relation to this REVIEW as editorial correspondent who has not cordially responded in the affirmative. Already we have secured Dr. J. T. Gracey, Dr. Josiah Strong, Rev. D. L. Leonard, Rev. A. P. Happer, D.D., of China; Prof. W. C. Wilkinson, D.D.; Rev. Jacob Chamberlain, M.D., and Rev. John Forman, of India; Rev. and Prof. Geo. Wm. Knox, of Japan; Rev. Geo. W. Chamberlain, of Brazil; Rev. J. Hudson Taylor and Mr. Reginald Radcliffe, of China Inland Mission, and Rev. H. H. Jessup, D.D., of Syria. We expect to enlarge this list until we shall have at least one competent correspondent in every great missionary land in the world.

The Eighth Annual Convention of the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance was held in Alexandria, Va., Oct. 27-30, 1887, and addressed by Rev. J. E. Grammer, D.D., and Rev. F. M. Ellis, D.D., of Baltimore; Rev. Jos. Packard, D.D., of the Theological Seminary; Rev. R. A. Goodwin of Petersburg, Va.; Rev. Wm. E. Griffis, D.D., of Boston; Rev. H. A. Nelson, D.D., and Rev. A. T. Pierson, D.D., of Philadelphia, and Rev. G. W. Chamberlain of Brazil. Papers of a high order of excellence were also read by Messrs. T. J. Villiers of Rochester, E. R. Chadwick of Bates Seminary, Isaac I. Gorby of Union, Benson Sewall of Bangor, Robert I. Fleming of Garrett, D. A. Murray of Princeton. So earnest, prayerful and consecrated a body of young men is not often brought together. We look for great results.

AFRICA.

—Cairo. The University of El Azhar. Dr. E. W. Blyden differs from Gen. Haig, in thinking the Mohammedans very active in propagation of Islamism among the Nigritian and Soudanic tribes.

—Madagascar. In the capital, Antananarivo, the Protestant school has 2,387 pupils. . . . The Queen recently attended the opening services of two Christian churches at Ambokimanaga. In fourteen years 700 Protestant chapels have been built in Madagascar, making the number now 1,200. There are 8,000 Protestant communicants, and all the churches are self-supporting. In the Protestant school at Antananarivo 2,387 children are in attendance.

The statement made in the Roman Catholic Review that the German government would allow but one missionary society (the R. Cath.) in its East African territory cannot be correct. From three societies seven missionaries have already gone to Zanzibar.

—Soudan. Emin Pasha pleads for British sway over the equatorial provinces of the Soudan. The missionaries unite in the plea. It is thought it would be a death-blow to the slave trade. Stanley's force found E. Pasha on the south shore of Albert Nyanza, and in health.

—Congo Baptist Missions. Rev. T. J. Comber, the courageous, untiring pioneer, so useful and so beloved, who was penetrating toward the interior, died on board the "Lulu Bohlen," while anchored off the Loango.

An Evangelical German East African Missionary Society has just been formed in Berlin, "to preach the German evangelical faith, and prepare the way for the introduction of German civilization into East Africa, where this year only Englishmen and Frenchmen have been at work." Whether the primary object is the advancement of Christianity or of German civilization does not yet appear.

—Professor Stewart, of Liberia, says it is estimated that for every missionary that goes to Africa 70,000 gallons of liquor are sent to that country. Who shall estimate the wretchedness and degradation of an African heathen under the power of rum and tobacco? And what a greed for blood the liquor dealers must have who, not content with killing 70,000 human beings in this country, extend their work of destruction across the sea!—Cent. Presbyterian.

CHINA.

—Nankin. The North China News states that a benevolent gentleman in the United States has subscribed $300,000 for the establishment of a university at Nankin. It is hoped that the amount will be increased by contributions to $500,000. Several missionaries are interested in the undertaking, which promises to be of great advantage to China, and incidentally to the cause of missions in that empire.

—Dr. Happer returns to China, having secured $100,000 for his Christian college, and $5,000 more toward endowment. He finds it hard, however, to get the money subscribed fast enough to go on with the buildings.

—Dr. Williams, after thirty-two years in China, thinks that half a century more of Christian missions will evangelize and even Christianize the Empire. Mr. Burlingame testifies that intelligent men of China put no faith in popular religions; and Dr. Bartlett adds that "this Gibraltar of Pagandom may become its Waterloo."

—A Christian missionary, on entering a new field in China, was kindly received by the Mandarin, who promised to do all in his power to help him. "I have not heard your doctrine," said he, "but I have seen it. I have a servant who was a perfect devil, but since he received your doctrine he is another man, and I can now trust him."

—The New Version of the New Testament prepared by Rev. Griffith Jone, of Hankow, is said to be superior to any other, and it is confidently expected that it will be adopted as a basis of a union version for all China. Such a book will be in a language spoken and understood by three hundred millions of people. Unlike India, China has really but one language, and if once the Bible were satisfactorily translated into that language the result may be something such as the world has never before witnessed. The book has worked wonders before. It will doubtless work wonders again.

—Tientsin. Mrs. Bryson says: "Some little time ago we commenced a special service for women at three o'clock on Sunday afternoons in the rooms used as a class-room for Mrs. King's medical school in Tientsin. We are getting regularly from twenty to thirty women and a large number of girls. The service takes the shape of a Sunday-school, our older and more intelligent members teaching the others. The women seem to be much interested in the service, and I trust that God's blessing will rest upon it."

—The Spirit of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church for October states that "the Chinese Governor of the large island of Formosa, in starting a College, has chosen a missionary to inaugurate and organize the institution. Such a step would have been regarded as a miracle one generation ago."

—"The North China Herald" of Sept. 10 publishes in a letter from Tientsin, where the great statesman of China, Li Hung-chang, has his official residence, the following statement, viz.: "A letter was recently addressed to Mr. Smithers, the American Consul of this place, requesting that he should see H. E. Li Hung-chang in regard to the location of the College which Dr. Happer is laboring to establish at Nankin, and requests His Excellency to memorialize the throne on the subject, giving all the particulars, that the future institution might also have imperial cognizance. As the Chinese are always partial to knowledge and learning, the Viceroy readily assented to the proposal. But he requested that, as the institution was to be founded at Nankin, the parties should address a written petition to the Viceroy at Nankin on the subject, and also present a copy to him, after which they would jointly memorialize the Emperor on the subject."

—In Canton, with its 1,500,000 inhabitants, are now opened fifteen Christian chapels, where the missionaries and the native ministers preach the gospel not on the Sabbath day only, but daily, and from two to four hours each day, to audiences varying from fifty to several hundred. After the sermon, Chinese evangelists continue the services. Free conversations and discussions follow; rooms are at hand for private conferences, and Christian books and tracts are kept in readiness and disposed of in large numbers. The preaching halls are thronged during the hottest months—July, August and September—and from noon until three o'clock—the hottest part of the day. Tens of thousands of visitors to the city have heard the gospel in these chapels and have carried it hundreds of miles into the interior. The missionary encounters these in the most remote places on his inland tours, and sometimes listens with surprise while they repeat the substance of the discourses which they have heard. The dialect used by most of the missionaries, in preaching, is the Pun-ti, or pure Cantonese, by which they have access to twenty millions of people.

FRANCE, in order simply to be prepared to cope with other nations, has within five years built 45,000 school-houses, at a cost of $80,000,000! What might not Christian America and England accomplish for missions, if the opportunity were appreciated! It is said that if a rod 71 inches long represents the income of the Presbyterian Church, one inch would stand for their gifts!

—McAll Mission in Paris. The attendance at the services has increased largely during the past year, although the number of stations remains the same. The McAll Mission Record says: "The missionary schooner 'Annie' having again been placed at the disposal of the Mission, a very interesting campaign was organized on the coasts of Brittany. Of this work Mr. McAll writes in a private letter: 'Brittany, so long supposed to be completely enthralled by Popish teachings, is now evidently open for the proclamation of the Gospel, and the people—a race much resembling the Welsh in many things, as well as origin—are kindly disposed. To them the message of divine love comes as a new and strange discovery, in contrast with the almost idolatrous ritual to which alone they have been accustomed.'"

JAPAN.

—Rev. George Wm. Knox, of Tokio, writes: "In the Tokio First Presbytery, the additions on profession of faith were more than 240 during the six months previous to April 1, an increase of 15 per cent. In the Tokio Second Presbytery over a hundred adults had been baptized. He himself took a trip of 250 miles to the north. At Sendai, the most influential city in the north, the Miyagi Presbytery was organized with five churches. Large meetings were held in the theatre, and most attentive and respectful congregations were present. Similar meetings were held for lectures at three other towns en route, and in all much interest was manifested. Opposition seems to have died away, and the best part of the people unite in saying that Christianity is a necessity for the further development of Japan."

—Tadmor in the Desert, or Palmyra, City of Palms, is a beautiful type of the Church of God among the gentiles, a historic parable of foreign missions. A great stretch of wilderness lay between Jerusalem and Babylon, arid, barren, without rest or food. King Solomon, Prince of Peace, had the pure water from the springs on the high hills conducted along the plains, and made "rivers in the desert," a very Elim for palm trees and springs of water, and called it "the City of Palms." It was a new Jerusalem transported into the wilderness, and making it blossom as a rose, providing a rest and a refreshment for the hungry, thirsty, weary pilgrim. What a figure of what the true Prince of Peace is doing to-day in the wilds of pagan lands!—bringing the streams from celestial springs to turn the deserts of sin into the Palmyra of Pilgrims.

—London Missionary Society. In fifty years the communicants in the missions have increased from 6,615 to 70,561, and the native preachers from 451 to 7,168.

—The Moravians have an important mission on the Moskito Coast, Central America, among a mixed population of Indians, Creoles and Spaniards. Begun in 1849, down to 1881 it had been quite successful, there being at the beginning of that year about a thousand communicants. A great awakening occurred, and all classes were most deeply moved. Bands of Indians at work in the forest, away from the mission stations, were seized by an overpowering conviction of sin, children at the stations knelt and prayed for forgiveness, and an almost universal awakening followed. It seemed to come spontaneously; it continued without special effort of the missionaries, and there was great excitement, which the missionaries labored to subdue as much as possible. The result of the revival was the adding of 1,500 or more to the list of communicants. Tested by time, conversions proved genuine; few have fallen away. A spirit of consecration possesses the older members, and the field of mission work is greatly extended. The natives no longer say that God does not love the poor Indian as he loves the white man, but rejoice in the revival as a special manifestation of God's grace toward them. Not a few heathen and dissolute characters were thoroughly converted and reformed.—Independent.

—The statistics of Presbyterian missions from the report of 1886 show the total number of communicants in the mission churches to be 20,294. This shows a gain during the last decade of nearly 136½ per cent.

—Some statistics appear in a recent issue of the Siglo XIX, of the City of Mexico, which will surprise many who regard an acquaintance with the Spanish language as merely an accomplishment. That it is of great use is proved by the tables submitted and the growth of our commercial relations with Mexico and South America. English is found to be spoken by 87,000,000 of people throughout the world; Spanish by 63,690,000; German by 53,000,000, and French by 43,000,000. Thus Spanish is second in importance, as a commercial language, being the only means of communication with a large percentage of the population of the earth. We must, however, take into account the fact that a larger part of them are of inferior importance to the bulk of the population of the United States, and of the other countries; yet it still holds that a vast extent of territory exists in which nothing but Spanish is spoken.

MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS

VI.-MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.

VI.-MONTHLY CONCERT OF MISSIONS.

THE following letter is from Dr. James L. Phillips, Chaplain State Institutions, Howard, R. I., a medical missionary "from Midnapore, Bengal, India, now at home on furlough, but earnestly hoping to return to his work abroad, in which it has pleased God to grant him 17 years, and very happy years, too."

REV. ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.:

Dear Brother—I learn that you are to take up and carry on Mr. Wilder's Missionary Review, and I am delighted to know this. From the first number I've read it eagerly, and have done what I could to introduce it to friends in Europe and India. I most earnestly hope that by God's blessing upon your labors it may continue to hold its high place as a thoroughly independent, undenominational, faithful and fearless review of all missionary enterprises, home and foreign. So far as I know, it stands without a peer, in its own special province, in Christendom.

I should like to know the plans for the future conduct of the REVIEW, with a view to getting our pastors to subscribe. Some of our people have been taking it from the first, but hundreds more ought to.

Could you devote space in THE REVIEW to the Monthly Concert of Prayer for Missions, which has fallen into sad neglect during these 20 years? I am continually hearing of Congregational and Presbyterian churches—the two churches that observed it most faithfully years ago, when I was a student in this country—that do not even have the Missionary Concert. In this State the Baptists are keeping it up, I think, better than any other church.

My proposition is: Let THE MISSIONARY REVIEW consult with The Gospel in All Lands, and draw up a Programme for the Missionary Concerts of 1888, so that our pastors may have ample time to read up and be ready. As dear Dr. Duff used to say, "the hitch is with the pastors." What an added power we should gain in all our missionary work, at home and abroad, could we establish, and faithfully sustain, in our American churches such a grand CONCERT OF PRAYER, by taking up each month the same general topic, and instructing, interesting and inspiring our congregations with it! I cannot doubt that British Christians would join us in this good movement, for they have held up the monthly concert better than we have in America. Could we not have something like the International Sunday-school lesson—the same verses of Scripture studied in many lands and languages? For months these and kindred thoughts have been revolving in my mind; and the reading of such books as your noble "Crisis of Missions" only adds fuel to the fire already kindled. If there be a work in which sect-lines must more and more disappear, it is this great work of the world's evangelization. Christians must come into close fellowship with Christ, be more loyal to His government by keeping His great and last commission, before the "greater things" he spoke of can appear. Believe me, my dear sir,

Yours, with high esteem and very sincerely,
JAS. L. PHILLIPS.

This letter was followed by another from the editor of Gospel in All Lands:

NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 1887.

My Dear Dr. Pierson—I have just learned that you will have charge of the Monthly Concert Department of THE MISSIONARY REVIEW. I have been arranging the topics for the Monthly Concerts for 1888 to be treated in Missionary World and Gospel in All Lands, and a letter from Dr. J. L. Phillips urges me to see if Gospel in All Lands and MISSIONARY REVIEW cannot agree on topics for next year. I propose those on the enclosed paper. Several are the same as those adopted by the Presbyterians North and South.

EUGENE R. SMITH.

1888.

January—The World.
February—China.
March—Mexico, Central America.
April—India.
May—Burmah, Siam and Laos.
June—Africa.
July—Islands of the Sea, North American Indians, Chinese and Japanese in America, etc.
August—Italy and Papal Europe.
September—Japan and Korea.
October—Turkey and Persia.
November—South America.
December—Syria.

[The above arrangement will be adopted.—EDITORS.]

THE WORLD FIELD.

IN looking at the great field of missions, we are first of all overwhelmed with its vastness. We talk of continents as covered with the death shade, but how vague are the terms we use.

Let us take Connecticut as the unit of measurement, with its area of 4,700 square miles. It is contained in Dakota 47 times, and Japan is about as large as Dakota. And now we begin to get some definite conception of the Island Empire of the Rising Sun that is just now attracting the attention of the world by changes so radical and revolutionary that the like have never before been seen.

But Japan, large as it is, is very small in comparison with other heathen and pagan lands. Japan could be contained in India 10 times, and even India could be contained nearly three times in China; or, to be more accurate, you might carve out of China two empires like India, and have left enough to make seven more like Japan, or three hundred and thirty like Connecticut. And yet out of Africa you might construct China and two Indias besides!

Next we are impressed with the vastness of the vacancies where as yet no gospel light has shone. Great districts that are themselves empires have never yet been approached by the heralds of the Cross. When Samuel Hebich reached Calicut in 1834, the whole coast from Bombay to Cochin was as yet unoccupied, and looking inland, Bangalore, Bellary, Belgaum were the nearest stations, each between one and two hundred miles distant. When Robert Moffat landed in Africa, in 1817, the greater part of that Continent's interior had never been trodden by a white man's foot. And even as lately as Stanley's passage across the continent, ten years ago this summer, he came out at Banana, at the Congo's mouth, having, since he left Zanzibar, seven thousand miles distant, seen no man who had ever heard the gospel! About the same time two missionaries of the China Inland mission went from Bahmo in Upper Burmah to Chun-King, in China, one thousand miles, without finding one gospel station.

A third thing that impresses us is the wonder-working of God in connection with the history of modern missions. The days of supernatural signs in the church were the days during which the church was one great evangelistic body. When evangelism began to decline, the dark ages came rapidly on; and only since evangelical faith was revived and the church reformed, and so prepared again to take up the work of world-wide missions, have the days of manifest supernatural influence returned. We do not hesitate to say that the history of modern missions is a history of modern miracles—manifest workings of divine power, as convincing in their way and as peculiarly adapted to the present age as any miracles wrought in the days of the apostles. Single men, like Robert Moffat in Africa, Robert Morrison in China, John Williams in the South Seas, Wm. Johnson in Sierra Leone, Zeisberger and Duncan among the Indians, have been permitted to see results that as plainly show the hand of God as when the paralytic took up his bed and walked, or Lazarus came forth in grave-clothes.

A fourth impression is made upon us by the long study of missions, viz., that if a man or woman wants to make the capital of life yield the largest interest, here is an investment worthy the full engrossment of all the aims and powers of manhood and womanhood. To some, a life given to Christ in the great field of foreign missions means a life buried, wasted, thrown away. And it is so, if the standards of the world as to money-making, selfish indulgence, aspiring ambition and worldly emolument are to be taken as the measure of success or failure. But if a higher point of view is once got and held from which to survey life, it is not so.

Follow Moffat in his fifty years of consecrated toil, the apostle of Africa. Not only did he lead the way as an explorer, even for the heroic Livingstone, but he translated the Bible into the Bechuana tongue, dialects of which, varying but little, are spoken over almost the whole of the Dark Continent south of the equator! We have no proof that to any person it was ever given to render into Saxon the whole of the Scriptures. Bede was engaged on "John" when he died; Wickliffe and Coverdale had helpers. But Robert Moffat was permitted to translate the whole word of God into the pagan tongue of South Africa—an achievement which, had he done no other service, puts him among the most distinguished of the world's benefactors.

But Moffat is but one among a host of men and women whose lives have shaped the destiny of whole continents. The quiet work of the preachers and teachers at Beirut is permeating not only Syria but the whole Arabic-speaking world. Bishop Taylor in Africa, leaning only on God, going almost single-handed among the most barbarous tribes, and making the very chiefs tributary to his mission work; Dr. Clough among the Teloogoos, baptizing ten thousand in less than two months, and breaking down caste in his noble schools; Royal G. Wilder, "burying himself" among the heathen, that in thirty years he might preach in 3,000 villages and cities, scatter three million pages of tracts and gather 3,300 boys and girls into Christian schools—these are examples of "wasted life." If so, let our lives be wasted. Such a buried life becomes the seed of a harvest that neither time can measure nor man estimate.

II. SUGGESTIVE PARAGRAPHS.

The first Protestant sermon preached west of the Mississippi was preached by Samuel J. Mills, the father of the American Board. Desiring to get out of this "pinhole," he went abroad. He had before said: "I cannot suffer my influence to be limited by Atlantic, Mississippi, great lakes, or gulf."

Miss Tucker (A. L. O. E.) went to India as a missionary, leaving the field of authorship for the comparatively obscure field of mission work. Judge Tucker, of Futtepoor, was her brother. He served long in India, giving to missions $200 per month. To those who remonstrated as to his liberality, he replied: "Here are 86,000,000 adult population; 5,000 die daily; every day's delay means 5,000 souls!" At the entrance to the station he had four stone tablets erected. On two, the Ten Commandments; on two, John iii: 14-18. After the duties of his office were fulfilled, he preached Jesus. "If every hair were a life," said he, "I would give them all to Him." He fell in 1857, at the hands of the mutineers. On his sitting-room walls were inscribed: "Fear God," "Love your enemies," "Prepare for death."

The gospel is still foolishness to the Greek. He mistakes the twilight of the morning for the twilight of the evening; what light he sees in the gospel he thinks is the last lingering, fading ray of a declining day, instead of the precursor of a splendid noon.

Post-mortem Gifts. "Father was wont, at this season of the year, to look with great anticipation to the great missionary anniversaries. I desire to act as his steward and pay in his behalf his ordinary annual contribution, which I enclose."

"W. E. D."

"SACRIFICE IS GOLD IN HEAVEN."

Bishop William Taylor: "I feel such a yearning in my soul to help the Lord Jesus to convert this world, that I would gladly be multiplied into a thousand workmen, and then live a thousand years to help on this work."

John Wesley loved to scatter every penny above his scanty necessary outlay. In 1782, his income was £361 19s. (about $1,820); of this he spent for clothing some $30, and gave away the entire remainder with his own hands. His book steward the same year, by his directions, gave away $1,185 more. At the end of his days Wesley wrote: "For upwards of 86 years I have kept my accounts exactly. I will not attempt it any longer, being satisfied with the continual conviction that I save all I can and give all I can—that is, all I have. I never put sixpence out at interest since I was born; nor had I ever a hundred pounds together, my own, since I came into this world." He regarded riches as a "necessary evil," a "serious danger."

A very fine article on Foreign Missions may be found in "Appleton's Encyclopedia," from the pen of an eminent writer.

There is needed a far larger recognition on the part of Christians of the duty of a personal instead of a proxy evangelization. "You see the day is past when the Church could say, 'Silver and gold have I none,'" said Innocent IV. complacently to St. Thomas of Aquinum, as he pointed to the masses of treasure which were being carried into the Vatican. "Yes, holy father," was the saint's reply, "and the day is also past when she could say to the paralytic, 'Take up thy bed and walk.'" It is not simply gathered treasure, whether of gold, or of social position, or of culture, which can make the Church able for her duty, disarm distrust of her among all classes, and fill her with power for the compelling of the millennium. It is scattered treasure which will do it. It is as each one of her members does and keeps doing his share and hers of the priestly ministry of personal interest and invitation. Why should you be willing to sit in one corner of your empty pew on Sunday? Why should you not be restless until even from the highways and hedges you have compelled them to come in—shown by divine deed that God's house is for all, and at least done your share toward the disarming of any possible distrust?—Dr. Wayland Hoyt.

It is never safe to make an exception a rule of conduct. One of the best illustrations of this fact was given by the Rev. Dr. Lorimer, during the Minneapolis meetings, in a little dialogue, which, if not veritable, is certainly suggestive. Talking with a man who had professed to be converted, a minister said: "Have you joined the church?" "No; the dying thief did not join the church, and he went to heaven." "Have you talked to your neighbors?" "No; the dying thief did not talk to his neighbors, and he went to heaven." "Have you given anything to missions?" "No; the dying thief never gave anything, and he went to heaven." "Well, my friend, it seems to me the difference is that he was a dying thief, and you are a living thief."

France: The Paris City Mission, started at the time of the Exhibition in 1878, in 1880 fairly commenced work with a staff of three missionaries, subsequently increased to 13. Latterly, funds have failed, and the number has been reduced to six. The income has ranged at different times from $3,200 to $3,600. One-third of this money is raised by pastors and congregations in connection with which the missionaries labor; the rest by private subscription.

India: Bengal.—Ten native young men have responded to the call for missionaries to preach to the Bengali coolies in Fiji.

Ahmednuggur.—It is said that the A. B. C. F. M. is going to establish there a college to train young men in English.

Japan: The first Japanese missionary student to the Basle Mission is Geusi-Igutsi, who was instructed and baptized (John) in China. The missionaries who have had opportunities of closely observing him have great confidence in him.

Korea: There is a call for a woman to work among the native women, and the government will encourage schools, though open preaching of the gospel is yet somewhat restricted.

North American Indians: At the late Indian Conference at Mohawk Lake, it was said that the effect of the recent orders of the Indian Bureau forbidding the use of any other language but English in the native schools would close some twelve to twenty Dakota schools where native teachers are at work. Another order stops the government boarding-school children from coming to Sunday-school! What do such orders mean?

Palestine: The opposition of the Turkish Government to the Mission Schools in Palestine, so far as the education in them of Mohammedan children is concerned, has culminated in an order from Constantinople forbidding the attendance of Moslems altogether; and one father has been thrown into prison for sending his child to a Mission School.

Persia: Persia has had a remarkable spiritual awakening, beginning with the Week of Prayer. The revival extends to several villages. Many lukewarm Christians were greatly revived, and sinners of all grades, young and old, converted. Places of worship have been found too small to accommodate the crowds. Mr. Labaree, of Oroomiah, reported the work still progressing and spreading. In several towns there are from twenty to forty, and even sixty inquirers.

Scotland: Free Church of Scotland sends out 109 missionary workers, of whom 30 are laymen and 30 women.

Syria: Beirut.—Two young men, members of the Senior class in the college, offer themselves to African missions. Dr. Jessup commends them highly. They have taken all the deprivations and difficulties into account, and make no stipulation as to the nature of their work or the amount of their pay. Their familiarity with Arabic would be of great help.

Thibet: The United Brethren have recently established a station at Leh, the chief town of Ladak, or Middle Thibet, a province of Cashmere. Many persons who at Kyelang have been brought to the knowledge of the truth have returned to Leh. Permission to reside there was given to these missionaries by the maharajah, at the request of the Marquis of Ripon. The town is situated in a fine, open valley, surrounded by lofty mountains, and is close upon 11,300 feet above the level of the sea. The winter has been spent here by Mr. and Mrs. Redslob and their family, who, by reason of the climate of this elevated station, have had much sympathy with the ice-bound missionaries of Labrador and Greenland.

III.—MISSIONARY TEXTS AND THEMES.

The field is the world.—Matt. xiii: 38.

1. World-wide extent, and the period, all time.

2. Two kinds of seed, the word and the children of the kingdom.

3. The harvest is to be sure and abundant.—Is. lv: 13.

4. The results will be rapid and marvellous.—Amos ix: 13.

5. All mainly depends on prayer.—Matt. ix: 38.

"Missions, Past and Prospective." In the "Bampton Lectures" by Anthony Grant, 1843, the following is the outline of the argument:

1. The adequacy and tendency of the gospel to gain universal sway. Its adaptation to mankind at large is contrasted with other religions, as adapted to a limited area; there is not one so much better than others as to pay to attempt to propagate it extensively; and when this is done it is only as a defensive measure to prevent decline.

2. The Universality of the Message and tendency to unity. He well says that "The gospel is not to be in all places at all times, nor in all places at one time; but in some place at all times and in all places at some time."

3. Christianity is not a spiritual influence on the soul of man, solely; but rather a spiritual and visible institution in which souls are gathered unto the Lord and nourished unto eternal life. Body, soul and spirit benefited. The gospel is communicated through external and visible system, which is threefold, viz.: 1. The conveyance of spiritual blessings. 2. The education of man as a social being. 3. The perpetuating and propagating of truth.

The New Testament contemplates both voluntary and commissioned agents for preaching, combining the authoritative teaching of the Church with that of the written Word of God.

Preaching, teaching, living, are to go together: Non magna loquimur, sed vivimus.

"There is no question as to whether or not missions are binding upon Christians. Missionary effort is not a matter of choice but of obligation. Indeed, it is as much an obligation as baptism or the Lord's Supper. Christ gave very few detailed instructions for the guidance of his Church. He left her policy to be shaped by the Holy Spirit. But one definite injunction He did give, and that his last as the risen Saviour: "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." This is not merely a commission for baptism. It is the outline of a policy—the missionary policy of the Church. It presents to us a command, a duty, a statement of the principal object of the Church's existence; with the encouraging promise, in view of the immense obligation, of power commensurate with the task—"Lo, I am with you alway." Missions are not optional. "Make disciples of all nations," is as binding as "This do in remembrance of me."

The Chinese are proverbially dull when first reached by the story of the gospel. Yet one woman in Shanse, though a cripple, came a long distance for a second visit to the missionary, and when asked what she remembered from the previous Sunday's talk, replied: "I am old, and my head is thick, and I have no memory. I only remember two things: That God is my Father in heaven, and that his Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins."

STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS

VII.-STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S MISSIONS.

British Contributions to Missions in 1885. Rev. W. H. Scott Robertson has summarized and analyzed them as follows: Grand total, including dividends, interest and rents, $7,936,870, an advance over 1884 of $71,990. He includes Roman Catholic contributions, $33,440. It appears from his tables that the Christian world raises over $11,000,000 a year for Protestant Missions, while Romish Foreign Missions receive but $1,325,850, little over one-eighth of that sum. (Missionary Review, Feb., 1887.)

—While the Church of England in 25 years has spent on Foreign Missions $50,000,000, seven times that amount has been spent on Home enlargements, improvements, etc. From a careful examination of the statistics of Christian Missions, the Quarterly Review states that during eight years the ordained missionaries from Protestant Christendom have increased fifty per cent., and the total income seventy per cent.

—Foreign Missions in 1885-1886, as reported in Wilder's Statistical Tables:

These tables, of course, only approximate the truth. But some things in them are noteworthy. 1. The year's growth in communicants at home was nearly 52,000 less than the previous years (1884-5), and only 1.35 per cent.; abroad it was nearly 150,000, and nearly 19 per cent.

2. The total of workers has risen from 37,837 to 40,246, but still all Christendom sends but 6,647, while the native churches provide 33,600, five times as many. Christendom sends one out of every 4,332 members to the field; the native churches give one out of every 28! At that rate Christendom would have to-day one million workers in the foreign field, or one to every 850 of the unevangelical population of the globe!

—"The Independent" takes note that Dr. Daniel Dorchester has just made a fresh study of statistics, which are not specially flattering:

The total yearly receipts from all our American Home and Foreign Missionary Societies in 1850 were $1,232,123; in 1860, $2,525,549; in 1870, $4,225,952; in 1880, $5,939,845. Since 1880 the average amount has been about $7,000,000 yearly. The increase has thus been large, being four-fold for Foreign Missions and six-fold for Home Missions in the thirty years from 1850 to 1880.

But when we come to count the members of the Protestant churches we have a different story. The number of church members are given by Dr. Dorchester as having been 3,529,988 in 1850; 5,240,554 in 1860; 6,673,396 in 1870, and 10,065,963 in 1880. Now, assuming these figures to be correct, we have 35 cents per member given in 1850 for Home and Foreign Missions, 48 cents in 1860, 63 cents in 1870, and 59½ cents in 1880. In the last period there has been a falling off, and there has been no adequate increase since 1860. It must be that there is an immense number of church members reported who give absolutely nothing for missions; and it must be that the interest of those who do give is much less than it should be. An average of less than sixty cents in a year is vastly less than what ought to be given.

But when we come to the property test, the case is still worse. Supposing the church members to have just an average amount of the wealth of the country (we do not doubt they have more), in 1850 they gave to missions one and one-tenth mills to each dollar of their property; in 1860 this sum was reduced to nine-tenths of a mill; in 1870 to eight-tenths, and in 1880 to six and a half tenths of a mill. Thus we see that while the total gifts have increased five times, the amount given by each converted dollar has been reduced nearly one-half. This is very far from a creditable showing, and proves that not near as much sacrifice is made for the cause of missions as forty years ago.

The one great duty of the Church is to convert the world to Jesus Christ. Are the effort and the self-denial adequate which give sixty cents a member per year, and two-thirds of one-tenth of one per cent. of property?

—Foreign Missionary Organizations raised last year in the United States $3,898,944. The total gain in communicants was 22,069.—Wilder's Tables.

—Since the Methodist Board of Church Extension began its work, in the year 1865, it has helped to build 5,805 churches. It has collected and disbursed nearly $3,000,000.

—Presbyterian Growth. From the narrative of the state of religion to the last Assembly we learn that the additions to the membership during the year were over 52,000 on examination and 29,000 on certificate—the most fruitful year in the Church's history. The Boards received $1,915,987. Foreign Missions had the largest receipts ever known in the history of the Church, $784,157.59. Of this the Women's Boards contributed $248,649.50. The growth of the contributions of the latter is a remarkable exhibit of what can be done by "organizing the littles." In 1871 they reported $7,000. This amount has gone up by the following strides during subsequent years: $27,000, $64,000, $87,000, $96,000, $115,000, $124,000, $136,000, $170,000, $176,000, $178,000, $193,000, $204,000, $224,000, $248,000.

—Moravians have a noble missionary record. During the last century 25,000 of them have been sent to "the regions beyond," while $300,000 have been expended yearly, and nine vessels been kept busy in the interests of missions. This small band of disciples may well put us all to the blush by their sanctified liberality and self-consecration.

—Roman Catholics in China.—The Chinese Recorder gathers from a table of statistics of Roman Catholic missions the following facts: "There are in the various provinces of China 483,403 Catholic Christians, 471 European missionaries, 281 native priests, 2,429 churches and chapels, 1,779 colleges and schools, with 25,219 scholars, and 33 seminaries and 654 seminarists. In Corea, Japan, Manchuria, Mongolia and Thibet there are 130 European and 15 native priests, 227 churches and chapels, and 77,254 Catholic Christians. In the Indo-China peninsula there are 694,286 Catholics, and in India 1,185,538 Catholics. The grand total for these Asiatic countries is 2,440,486 Catholics, 2,639 missionaries and native priests, 7,293 churches and chapels, 4,469 colleges and schools, with 112,359 scholars, and 76 seminaries, with 2,746 seminarists. These countries are divided into 67 vicariates apostolic and 4 prefectures apostolic. Six of these vicariates are worked by the Jesuits. Most of them, however, are under the charge of missionaries of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris and the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Milan."

—There are 40,000 Wild Indian Children in this country. Of this number, all told, there are but 12,000 gathered in the Government and Mission schools, leaving 28,000 children to whom no school opens its door, and to whom no Christian missionary comes. There are at least sixty whole tribes upon whose darkness no ray of Gospel light has ever fallen, as pagan and as savage as were their ancestors when the first white man landed upon these shores!

—Perhaps the power of God has been manifest in the islands of the Pacific more than in any other part of the world. In the Sandwich Islands one pastor baptized 12,000 converts in 45 years. In the group of islands called the Philippine, the Society, the Friendly and the Caroline, the natives were savages and cannibals of the worst type; but they have exchanged their savage life for the life inspired by the gospel of Christ; and in those groups of islands there are nearly 200,000 native Christians. In the Fiji Islands, also formerly a centre of cannibalism, out of a population of 120,000 all but one-seventh are said to be attending the Wesleyan meetings, and the most of the remainder belong to other meetings; so that church-going there is quite universal.

—The Salvation Army, entering India five years ago, has now 120 English and 80 native missionaries.

—The Imperial Academy of Sciences has recently completed the publication of a translation of the New Testament into the language of the Calmucks. This, it is said, is the first attempt to make known to the Calmucks the text of the Christian Gospels. The initiative is due to the British Bible Society, by which the work of translation was confided to Prof. Pozneieff, of the Chair of Mongol and Calmuck Literature in the University of St. Petersburg. Two hundred copies have been sent to Astrachan and sold to the converted Calmucks of that province. The rest have been sent abroad for distribution in Asia by European missionaries.—St. Petersburg Dispatch to the London Times.

—The Australian Church, under the direction of the Bishop of Sydney, has resolved upon the establishment of missions in the English portions of New Guinea, which portion is about equal in size to the whole of Great Britain. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel has appropriated £5,000 to aid the work.

—The "Ragged Sunday-schools" in London have 40,000 scholars and 4,000 teachers. Its president was the late and honored Lord Shaftesbury. His son succeeds him in the work. The income of the society, consisting wholly of voluntary contributions, amounts to $80,000 per annum.

—There are 400 Mormon bishops in Utah, 2,423 priests, 2,947 teachers, and 6,854 deacons. Salt Lake City is divided into wards of eight or nine blocks each, and a bishop is put in charge of each ward. Under him are two teachers, whose business is to learn the employment and income of every resident of the ward and report the same to the bishop. Then the bishop collects the tenth of each man's income and turns it in to the church authorities. The Mormons are as adept as the Roman Catholics in getting their hands into the pockets of believers.

—Two hundred and fifty millions of women depend for the Gospel upon the women of the Protestant Churches of America. Nine-tenths of the contributions to foreign missions are given by one-tenth of the church membership, while only one-half of the membership give anything. The average amount per member is fifty cents per annum—only the seventh part of a cent per day for the conversion of a thousand millions of people. An average of five cents a week from every member of the Protestant churches of the United States would bring into the treasury during a single year $16,500,000. Ninety-eight per cent. of the Church's contributions for religious purposes is spent at home, while only two per cent. is applied to the foreign mission field. There are 75,000 ministers in the United States, or one to about every 600 persons, while only one is allotted to half a million in heathen lands. There are 1,500 counties in China without a single missionary.

—There are about 600 native newspapers in India, all of which, with the exception of about half a dozen, are bitterly opposed to Christianity. Societies are now being organized for the dissemination of the skeptical writings of England and America. An important society is in operation from Lahore, as a centre, while another has its headquarters in Benares. The pictures of the gods best known to the Hindu pantheon are even lithographed in Germany and England and sold in Calcutta! Native rajahs interest themselves in circulating Hindu tracts, and have adopted shrewd methods to carry on their work. The Rev. Mr. Craven says he knows of one rajah alone who is printing at his own expense 2,000,000 of Hindu tracts, and intends to distribute them at the large fairs of North India. The missionaries, however, keep close watch over these antagonistic forces. They too are enlarging their operations rapidly. But the churches and societies which they represent should adopt far more liberal measures to furnish the millions of natives to whom they are sent with sound Christian literature. The passion for reading has struck every part of India. The people will have books and newspapers. It is for the western Christian world to say what their fibre shall be.—Dr. Hurst, in Harper's Magazine.

—The Chinese Recorder gives the following statistics of Christian missions in China to Dec. 1, 1886:

Of the single ladies nearly half are American. Others are not named.

—The China Inland Mission has 43 married and 129 unmarried missionaries. Including wives and 117 native workers, the entire force numbers over 300. They are asking for 100 more for this year. Their operations have been continued for years, and the hundred new men are called for by way of celebrating the majority of the society.

—The Japan Mission of the Presbyterian Board are asking for ten new men instead of a hundred, and the question is whether the Presbyterian Church is able and willing to grant their request. What will the synods, the presbyteries and the churches say to their petition?

—The Chinese Governor of the large island of Formosa in starting a college has chosen a missionary to inaugurate and organize the institution. Such a step would have been regarded as a miracle one generation ago.

EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS

VIII.-EDITORIAL NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.

A WORD TO OUR PATRONS.

Enterprises are nowadays so commonly started with supreme reference to pecuniary returns that it seems like an affectation of unselfishness to claim any other and higher motive in the wide circulation of this REVIEW. Nevertheless, the editors are conscious of no ulterior end but the arousing of the Church of God to a more vigorous prosecution of the missionary campaign. And in our effort we desire the warm, sympathetic co-operation of all our subscribers. We undertake the work with a deep persuasion that it is God's work laid upon us, and we care for no reward beyond the consciousness of His approval. We mean to make this REVIEW indispensable, if we can, to all who love the cause of Christ, and especially to all who wish to know the needs of a world-wide field and the progress of the Kingdom,

We wish to establish between the Church at home and the workers and warriors on the outposts a line of communication, which shall also be a line of supplies; to create and foster a living bond of active and intelligent sympathy; to know what is doing and needs to be done—what needs are met and what lack is felt; to mark progress and trace causes of defeat, to canvass methods and criticise defects, to prevent waste and relieve friction, to promote co-operation and allay antagonism, to stimulate giving and especially self-giving—such are some of the many glorious results we aim to further. The wider the circulation of the REVIEW the more rapid and widespread the success of our measures.

We want those whom God has blessed with means and a generous heart to put at our disposal a Fund for gratuitous distribution to those who cannot afford to pay for the REVIEW. For example, in this country and in England, there are some three thousand young men and women who have signified their desire and intent to go to the foreign field when their studies are completed, if the way shall open. Many of them are poor and self-dependent. Can any man or woman make a nobler appropriation than to put at our disposal such sum of money as may enable us to send the REVIEW to such young persons free for one year?

While at Rochester, two young persons came to one of the editors, who made an address there on Nov. 15, and said: "I have just read your book, 'The Crisis of Missions;' it has decided me to give myself to the foreign field." A similar scene occurred at Buffalo, next day, and at Alexandria, Va., a few weeks before. If some man or woman who cannot go himself, or herself, can, by the free distribution of such a missionary organ as this, make missionaries, what offering can be more acceptable to God? We are willing to be custodians of such benevolence and see that it is made just as powerful as it can be in furthering the work. And if there be any who cannot give, will they not at least pray that our work may prove to the churches the world over even a greater blessing than our hearts could dare to anticipate?

The fund is already started by a gift of $100 from the editors and $100 from the publishers, and a considerable addition will be made from arrears of subscriptions on THE MISSIONARY REVIEW, all of which Mr. Wilder put at the disposition of the editors. We want to raise $5,000 for this purpose.—P.

The recent meeting of the American Board at Springfield, Mass., was in many respects the most eventful one since its organization. It was generally felt that the meeting would be a battle-ground between the new theology, with its post-mortem probation, and the older, more conservative, and, we hesitate not to say, more Scriptural and evangelical position held by the Reformed churches for centuries. Happily, as we think, the issue of the battle was on the side of the old and not the new theology. The landmarks which the fathers set up will not be removed, and Dr. Storrs' manly and Christian letter, accepting the presidency of the Board—a letter too long to be reproduced in these columns—covers, to our view, the whole case.

In this letter of acceptance, he expresses the opinion that the question of the "new theology" is, for the present, practically settled, so far as the Board is concerned; and adds that a withholding of funds from the treasury, "if that should unhappily come to pass," would not change the convictions on which the decision was based. He frankly gives as his belief that it would be unsafe to allow the same latitude of opinion in the missionary field which local churches here occasionally allow, whether properly or not, to those who transiently minister to them. There is a loyal and royal ring in words like these: "This society exists for a purpose wide as the world, solemn as the Cross, connected with eternal issues. It is always responsible to the Lord of the Gospel for what its messengers proclaim in His name."

Dr. Noble of Chicago one year ago expressed on this subject, comprehensively and briefly, the practical bearings of the whole question. He said, in effect, that there are two ways which we may pursue: we may either spend our time and energy speculating as to whether mankind will have probation after death, or we may give ourselves to the endeavor to secure their acceptance of this great salvation in the present probation before death. "As for myself," he added, "I propose to give all my thought and powers to securing for men a present salvation." To all of which let all the people say Amen!—P.

In New Jersey, the week between November 13 and November 20 was kept as one of simultaneous meetings in the interests of Foreign Missions. The whole work was in the hands of five members of Synod, Rev. Dr. Augustus Brodhead, of Bridgeton, being Chairman. He lived long enough to make the arrangements and was then called up higher.

All-day conventions were arranged for in every one of the 219 towns in the State where there was a Presbyterian church. The convention was not held on the same day in every place, but some time within the week. Fifty-eight places were designated as centres, provided with special speakers at the evening meeting. The plan of the conventions was uniform: A morning prayer-meeting, followed by an open meeting for familiar conference as to the mission field, its work and workers; in the afternoon, separate meetings of ladies', young people's and Sunday-school societies and bands, and in the evening the main meeting, with at least two specially prepared addresses.

To our minds, this simultaneous meeting is one of the grandest plans ever adopted to arouse, concentrate and vitalize the interest in the great foreign Mission work. We hope to see the day when, throughout the whole land, simultaneous meetings shall be held, and, like the three annual feasts of the Jews, all the tribes go up to take part, bring offerings and carry back a new inspiration and blessing. The movement is timely, popular, grand, effective, and promises results far beyond our present calculation.—P.

MRS. WILDER, widow of the late editor of The Missionary Review, and Grace E. Wilder, the daughter, sailed for Kolapoor, Western India, on the 26th of Nov., under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Miss Grace was born there, and the mother spent thirty years of her life there in missionary work in connection with her devoted husband. She had a school of 300 girls, at one time, and gave Christian education to a large number of the native women of India, who regard her in the light of a mother. Denied the privilege of going back to her work, after twelve years' absence, in company with her venerated husband, she, after his death, begged to be allowed to go back with her daughter and resume active work there, as a Bible reader, on her own charges. Her first love is still fresh and strong, and poor India, for whom she and her life companion sacrificed so much, is dearer to her than her native land, and even the sons whom she leaves behind. The daughter inherits a full measure of her parents' spirit, and, having rendered her father important help on The Missionary Review, and received rare training for the work, consecrates her life to the same blessed service. And one son, now in Union Seminary, New York, who has gone among our colleges lately and helped to kindle the missionary spirit among the students, will follow his aged mother and youthful sister as soon as his studies are completed.

What heroism have we here! The timid maiden and the solitary, aged widow, parting with children dear, the comforts of a good home and the dust of her loved one, and braving the winter storms of ocean, embarks joyfully for her long voyage, to carry once more the message of redeeming love to her sisters in India, and with trembling voice to repeat to the children the sacred lessons she taught in early life to their mothers!

The God of the widow and the Father of the fatherless preserve and speed them on their glorious mission and spare them to sow the seed of an abundant harvest! Just before his death the husband and father said to the writer: "I consider it a privilege and a joy inexpressibly great to have been permitted to spend forty-two years of my life in the service of Christian missions, and my one desire to-day is, now that you have kindly relieved me of this Review, to be spared to go back to India and lay my worn-out body to rest among the people there, whom I love. Yes, I would gladly start, even if sure I should not live to get there and my body find a grave in the deep."—S.

"THE day is breaking,
We are living, we are dwelling
In a grand and awful time!
In an age on ages telling;
To be living is sublime.
Hark! the waking up of nations—
Gog and Magog to the fray!
Hark! What soundeth? 'Tis creation's
Groaning for its latter day."

Yes, the time is hastening. God is rolling on the ages with awful sweep and force. He is crowding a whole century of opportunities into a day. He is bringing the world together, so that the Church may compass it, know it, traverse it, a hundred-fold quicker and better than in former generations. Competent engineering authorities assure us that in five years we shall be able to go round the world in forty days; and go in all the comfort and with all the security of our modern civilization! And are not such facts the voice of God, speaking out of the cloud to His people to go forward?—S.

WE beg our friends and patrons to be a little lenient in their judgment of this our first number. The call to the editors was sudden and unexpected. It found them both full of work, and yet they dared not decline what seemed a call of Providence. We have done what we could, at short notice, and with the material and help we could command; and yet we have not realized our ideal. We hope to improve as we get familiar with the work and gather in a vaster and more select amount of material. We expect also to enlist competent pens to aid us in the Literary department, ensuring greater variety and ability. We have also arranged for assistance in Statistical matters, and fuller information from our Editorial Correspondents. The editors are mainly responsible for this initial number.—S.

As it is pleasant to know whose thoughts one is reading, the following rule will be adopted: All editorials will have the initial of the writer. The names of other writers will be given in connection with their contributions. To Parts I., V. and VIII. both editors will contribute. Dr. Pierson will conduct Part VI., while his associate will be responsible for Parts II., III. and VII.

Through an oversight, Dr. Pierson was not credited, as he should have been, for Mr. Wilder's Biography, on pp. 7-16. An excellent likeness of Mr. Wilder will be found in the number.—S.